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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin
Canadian Trucker Protest Disruptions Spreading Into U.S.; White House Okays Plan For U.S. Troops To Help Americans Leave Ukraine; Nathan Chen Claims Elusive Gold In Men's Figure Skating. Aired 5:30-6a ET
Aired February 10, 2022 - 05:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: The sound of Canadian protests against vaccine mandates now growing louder on both sides of the border. With the usual interstate routes and bridges into Canada blocked by protesters, officials in Michigan tell CNN truck drivers are now taking back roads to cross the border.
Meanwhile, auto plants in the U.S. and Canada already having trouble finding parts. Supply issues causing Ford and GM to cancel production shifts.
LAURA JARRETT, CNN ANCHOR: Plus, DHS now warning U.S. drivers may join these protests to disrupt traffic during big events, including at the Super Bowl this Sunday and around the State of the Union address on March first.
Let's bring in -- bring in Edward Keenan, Washington bureau chief of the "Toronto Star" newspaper. Good morning, Edward. Thanks so much for getting up with us.
I guess the first question -- is there any sort of dialogue happening between the Canadian government and these protesters, or are we still, all these days later, at a standstill?
EDWARD KEENAN, WASHINGTON BUREAU CHIEF, THE TORONTO STAR (via Webex by Cisco): It appears that we are at a kind of a standstill.
From what I can understand, the dialogue that is happening is happening in public. Police warning the protesters in Ottawa to go home or else they're going to be arrested. The premier of Ontario, for example, who is a conservative, pleading with the protesters at the border and in Ottawa to go home. But I don't -- I don't think there's extensive talks behind closed doors between them.
ROMANS: The DHS here is warning of American truckers potentially joining this protest, which could further tangle the supply chain. What do you think the likelihood of this actually happening?
KEENAN: I think we have seen copycat protests in other countries already. There's one in New Zealand that they're just cracking down on today. I -- and there's been a lot of back and forth conversation between American right-wing movements and the protesters in Ottawa. And I -- and I think you're likely -- fairly likely to see sort of copycat movements in the United States. How successful they'll be here is a different story.
My observation in Washington, D.C. is that the police and security apparatus is much more elaborate and much quicker to react to large protests -- much more used to dealing with it. So, I mean, how effective it will be will remain to be seen but I think there is a lot of energy to organize similar things like this in the United States.
JARRETT: You know, Edward, I wonder what is the general view of these protests in Canada? Canada has an extraordinarily good vaccination rate, at least compared to a lot of other countries. Certainly, better than the United States. I don't typically think about Canadians protesting against vaccine mandates in the same way as the states.
Does the general public see this as damaging?
KEENAN: The general public is not on the side with the protesters.
JARRETT: Yes.
KEENAN: And I think -- you know, as you said, 80 percent of Canadians are vaccinated and 85 percent have at least their first shot, including 90 percent of Canadian truckers. And I think the public polling that exists on these protests shows that well over two-thirds of Canadians, in most cases, disapprove of the protesters' goals and disapprove of the protests themselves. And, you know, like 78 percent of Canadians recently told a Leger poll that they're in favor of more restrictions on unvaccinated people.
So, this is a loud and, in some respects, effective protest at getting attention and shutting down the city, but it doesn't -- it's not resonating with most of the common people in Canada.
JARRETT: Yes, it's interesting and it's obviously so disruptive in a lot of different ways.
ROMANS: A very loud, disruptive minority, you say, in the Canadian public.
JARRETT: Yes -- see how long it goes on.
ROMANS: Edward Keenan, "Toronto Star" Washington bureau chief. Nice to see you. Thank you for dropping by this morning.
KEENAN: Thanks for having me.
[05:35:00]
ROMANS: All right, now to the crisis in Ukraine. The White House approving plans for U.S. troops to help Americans leave Ukraine if there is a Russian invasion. In the last 24 hours, Moscow has added 2,000 more combat troops to the border. CNN has reporters on the ground in Russia and in Ukraine. I want to begin with Nic Robertson in Moscow. What are we hearing this morning, Nic, from the Kremlin?
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Yes, we've just been listening to a briefing -- a press conference by Russia's foreign minister.
Sergey Lavrov is meeting with the British Foreign Sec. Liz Truss. Very clearly, both sides talking past each other. And I think (INAUDIBLE) early diplomacy in the week when President Macron came and had a meeting with President Putin, Sergey Lavrov seemed to be referring to that saying that so far, they have not found common ground.
Liz Truss essentially accused the Russians of trying to litigate past international agreements about security arrangements in Europe, saying that it was just not true what the Russians were saying and Lavrov saying that we're sitting there in the meeting with the British foreign secretary. We're talking to them but it's very clear they're not listening.
And you just listen to the frosty nature of this press conference and Lavrov laying out a litany of complaints against the West, against NATO, against the British and, indeed, going as far as to say we don't really know what the British are planning. They're using President Zelensky in Ukraine as a tool. Perhaps they're planning to foment something, even going as far as to say perhaps we, Russia, will have to consider pulling some of our diplomatic staff out of Ukraine.
So, I think the conversation between Russia and the U.K. is exceptionally frosty. Lavrov made a reference to that earlier in the day. But if this is indicative of the diplomatic track that President Macron's tried to put in place, it just points up to the rising concerns and tensions about Russia's massive military exercises around Ukraine that kicked off today in Belarus as joint exercises. Russia saying that it's had to commit more troops to it because of what it says are unprecedented threats from NATO.
It's very tense right now.
ROMANS: Unprecedented threats from NATO -- that's the Russian view.
All right, Nic Robertson in Moscow. Thanks, Nic.
JARRETT: At the same time, any potential Russian invasion of Ukraine could get bogged down in mud.
CNN's Melissa Bell is live for is Kyiv, Ukraine. Melissa, we understand the weather might actually affect Russia's strategy here. Tell us more.
MELISSA BELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right. Even as the world waits to see what Vladimir Putin intends to do with regard to Ukraine, there is that question of the weather and impact it would have on any potential invasion and the type of weaponry that might be used given the geography of Ukraine and its flat, marshy plains that you see specifically near that border with Belarus where those military exercises are happening today.
It is a few degrees more than it is at this time of year -- normally, the average at this time of year, and that means that the ground is not as frozen as it might be. That could, of course, have an impact in terms of his calculations and certainly in the type of weaponry used. Tanks, for instance, would make it, but it's the support vehicles needed to support those tanks that would have a harder time.
And what we've been seeing -- what analysts have been seeing is that other kinds of weaponry -- long-range artillery and ballistic missiles have also been being moved to key positions near the Ukrainian border, suggesting that they are factoring that in.
But, of course, we wait to hear. We've been hearing from the British prime minister just now, speaking next to the secretary-general of NATO, saying we don't believe that Putin has made up his mind. Clearly, the pressure is coming from these military exercises that kick off today in Belarus.
And what's important -- what's interesting, Laura is that they're not just taking place in towns like Luhansk (ph) that's just north of the border with Ukraine -- and that's what we've been focusing on so far. They're also taking place in cities like Brest, right on the Polish border.
In the last hour or so, we've been hearing from Poland's defense minister saying that allied troops would now be moved east of the Vistula, which means that they'll be coming up against that border with Belarus, meaning that NATO forces and active Russian troops are going to come face-to-face on the border between Poland and Russia -- the first time they've been anywhere that close in a very long time, Laura.
JARRETT: All right, Melissa Bell. Thank you so much.
This just in to CNN. The Biden administration rolling out a plan to combat range anxiety for drivers of electric cars. The goal is to build a nationwide network of electric charging stations by 2030. The federal government will make $5 billion available to the states to put in half a million charging stations over five years, most of them along interstates.
ROMANS: Yes. Interstate highways and also fast-charging stations.
JARRETT: Yes.
ROMANS: So this is going to be before there are in -- you know, in big urban areas. So the focus will be first on highways --
JARRETT: Yes.
ROMANS: -- so that range anxiety is something that has been a problem for E.V.
All right, two words, Laura -- hot dogs.
JARRETT: I like them.
ROMANS: The only thing that won't cost more for your Super Bowl party, hot dogs. For everything else, inflation is your uninvited guest to the party this year. Up 14 percent -- up to 14 percent from last year, the price of that spread will be. That's according to Wells Fargo.
We get a fresh read this morning with January's Consumer Price Index. But this weekend, watch out at the meat counter. Those hot dogs are cheaper but all the other meat is more expensive. Chicken wings, prices up nearly 12 percent from last year. Ground beef for your chili, 13 percent more.
[05:40:09]
I would advise against serving steak, although I would never serve steak at a Super Bowl party. Prices there up more than 21 percent.
Another way to save money, go big on the chips and dip. Potato chips only up one percent. But holy guacamole. Avocados, your wildcard. Bloomberg found that exporting Hass avocados from Mexico, up 25 percent from last year -- the cost of that.
Of course, it won't be a Super Bowl party without drinks. The picture there is mixed. Beer prices up four percent almost from a year ago. Wine, a little less -- three percent. Non-alcoholic drinks, though -- look at this -- a 2-liter bottle of soda 12 percent more than last year.
Perspective, though -- you didn't even have a party last year. And this year, there are still ways to be creative to keep the costs down -- hot dog, chips, and wine.
JARRETT: So you're telling me that one year where I'm not drinking at Super Bowl -- actually, I'm going to actually have to pay more for non-alcoholic drinks?
ROMANS: You're absolutely right.
JARRETT: All right, great.
ROMANS: It's not fair -- not fair.
JARRETT: But it's worth it, I guess.
Still ahead, a doping scandal puts a gold medal on hold at the Beijing Olympics.
ROMANS: And the new revelation from Bob Saget's family. What they say caused his death.
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[05:45:26] JARRETT: Nathan Chen with a huge comeback from his poor performance four years ago, now winning Olympic gold in men's figure skating.
Coy Wire is covering the games in China and joins us with his morning's Bleacher Report. Hey, Coy.
COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Laura.
Nathan Chen was generally known as the most dominant figure skater on the planet the past several years and he'd been on this collision course with these games, this moment, since the last winter games when he fell short of expectations.
The quad king, though, came through big-time, winning gold for Team USA. The three-time defending world champ landed five quadruples in an action-packed long program performance. He won by more than 22 points. And that score, of course, was fueled by the new world record he set in the short program just a couple of days ago.
Nathan Chen, student a Yale, now officially can say that he is -- has won his first-ever individual Olympic medal. Japan finished two, three, and four in this event.
Chen talked about his remarkable journey after the big win.
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NATHAN CHEN, MEN'S FIGURE SKATING GOLD MEDALIST: Truly, I never imagined I'd be able to make it this far in my career and be able to go to two Olympics. And then, of course, having the opportunity that I had today. It really means the world. Of course, I have to take a little bit more time to process everything. Honestly, I'm at a loss for words right now but just very happy.
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WIRE: And repeat. Team USA's Chloe Kim has done it again, defending her Olympic gold in the snowboard halfpipe, becoming the first woman to ever win two golds in the event. And how good is she, Laura and Christine? She said afterwards that she was just playing it safe on her first run there because she had the worst practice of her life.
She was feeling all sorts of self-doubt but she still scores a 94. Even the commentator said well, that's enough for the gold. She doesn't even need to go again. She didn't need --
Chloe talked about, often, how she struggled with her superstar status after winning her first Olympic gold four years ago. She elaborated on that after this win.
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CHLOE KIM, WOMEN'S HALFPIPE GOLD MEDALIST: After my last Olympics I put that pressure on myself to be perfect at all times, and that would cause a lot of issues at home. I would be really sad and depressed all the time. And so, I think the biggest challenge for me now is just to be as open as possible because I hope that maybe one day a little girl can hear my story and be inspired to be -- you know, to keep going. To never give up.
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WIRE: Asian-American excellence on full display at these games. Chloe Kim, whose dad came to this country without much money in his pocket -- she's now a student at Princeton, now a two-time Olympic gold medalist. Nathan Chen's mom grew up poor. Now he's a student a Yale and a new Olympic champ. Inspiring stuff.
JARRETT: So cool.
Coy, what is that little trinket they're all getting? Christine and I are wondering.
ROMANS: Is it a panda? We don't understand the little thing with the laurel leaves.
WIRE: So, up here in the mountain regions we're so far away from where the medal ceremony is. That is Bing Dwen, a stuffed panda that has been all the rage seen all over these games. It's given to the snow athletes when they don't yet have time to get to the real medal ceremony --
JARRETT: Got it.
WIRE: -- which is just a bit away where they'll get the actual hardware.
ROMANS: Mystery --
JARRETT: Thank you for resolving that for us. As always --
ROMANS: Mystery solved. All right, thank you.
WIRE: You got it.
JARRETT: -- Coy with the answers.
ROMANS: All right, let's get a check on CNN Business this Thursday morning. Looking at markets around the world, Asian shares closed higher. Europe has opened narrowly mixed. And on Wall Street, stock index futures also barely moving here this morning.
Stocks closed higher Wednesday -- tech leading that rally. A rebound after a pretty brutal January loss. The Nasdaq, a good day, up about 2.1 percent. The broader S&P 500 also about 1 1/2 percent. And the Dow is still clawing away from all those January losses, almost back to where it started.
In earnings, Chipotle's shares up 10 percent on strong sales. That's even after Chipotle raised prices. This is a trend. They raise prices; people still keep buying.
Lyft rose nearly seven percent even though Omicron hurt demand for rideshares last quarter.
Disney reported after the bell. The streaming service regained some of its magic. Disney+ added 12 million subscribers last quarter.
Big inflation news is the main event today. January's Consumer Price Index out in just a few hours. The forecast up 7.3 percent from last year. That would be the highest level in 39 years -- ouch.
Let's bring in CNN economics commentator and "Washington Post" opinion columnist Catherine Rampell to sort through it. Nice to see you again here, Catherine.
I think you and I agree that there's no reason to think that inflation has suddenly cooled. When you look at a chart of that CPI it is very clear what's happening here. Year-over-year, a dramatic difference in all kinds of different categories.
[05:50:08]
What are you expecting this morning?
CATHERINE RAMPELL, CNN ECONOMICS COMMENTATOR, OPINION COLUMNIST, THE WASHINGTON POST (via Webex by Cisco): Just as you said, it looks like the expectations are 7.3 percent-7.2 percent -- somewhere around there, which would be the highest in nearly 40 decades (sic). That's year-over-year, though.
So, one thing that I would urge viewers to pay attention to is what happened month-to-month from December to January. The last couple of months we have seen that month-over-month change -- slow a little bit. I mean, the overall year-over-year number is going to be high no matter what just because we've had, most of the past year, tons and tons of inflation.
But if you want to pay attention to where things are going you need to look at that change just over the past few weeks. And there is some hope that maybe that has slowed again. That did actually slow in December. Maybe it slowed again in January, in which case we could see some slight reversal of this troubling trend of inflation eating up all the wage gains.
ROMANS: Talk to us a little bit about this tug of war between the higher prices for just about everything and those higher wages. I know that on the -- on the very -- the very front end of the -- of the spectrum of earnings -- so, people who earn the least -- their earnings are actually outpacing inflation. But that's not true in general.
RAMPELL: Right. Overall -- again, if you look at the year-over-year numbers -- how are we doing compared to a year ago -- the amount of increase in prices has outpaced that in wages, which is obviously not good. It means peoples' standards of living are declining. People can get their dollar to stretch less far than it used to.
But at the very bottom of the wage distribution -- people who are working in food services, for example, or at hotels -- other kinds of low-wage sectors -- they have been getting bigger raises. Now, it's from a relatively small, low starting point. Maybe your wage went from $10.00 an hour to $12.00 an hour and you got a pretty big raise in percentage terms, but you're still not making a ton of money.
In any event, your raises have been outrunning inflation --
ROMANS: Yes.
RAMPELL: -- for now. And the hope is that will continue.
ROMANS: You know, inflation is one of those things that really weighs on consumer sentiment, especially when you are buying a cup of coffee that costs 10 cents -- 10 percent more this year than last year, or filling up the gas tank, which is about 50 cents more than last year.
Ironically, the solution to that is the Fed. The Fed is the inflation fighter. The Fed is going to go and start raising interest rates. So to cool inflation they're going to raise borrowing costs -- something else that consumers will feel.
RAMPELL: Right. The idea is that if it becomes more expensive to borrow then demand will cool, right? If it becomes more expensive to get a mortgage or a car loan, or even a credit card loan, effectively, then you'll go out and buy less stuff and that will put less demand -- excuse me, less pressure on other kinds of prices.
People are going to be like maybe I'm not going to buy a car right now, or maybe I'm not going to buy a house, or I'm not going to go on a big spending spree at the department store, et cetera. So, that will cool demand and perhaps, as a result, pull back that upward pressure on prices.
Now, it does have other unintended consequences, like maybe it's harder for businesses to expand and we have a lot of supply chain problems because it's more expensive for them to borrow and to build the new factory or to invest in new equipment, or whatever it may be.
So, you know, it's not exactly a silver bullet but that is the key tool that the Fed has to try to get inflation under control.
ROMANS: Yes. If there's one thing we know, there is no silver bullet, there is no magic pill, and it's going to be a very interesting year.
Catherine Rampell, CNN economics commentator, thank you.
RAMPELL: Thanks, Christine.
JARRETT: Finally this morning, he's the leader of the free world, she's the leader of the pop charts.
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BILLIE EILISH, SINGER-SONGWRITER: Singing "Therefore I Am."
(END VIDEO CLIP) JARRETT: Billie Eilish meeting President Biden at the White House on Wednesday. The president shared this little snapshot on social media. Billie's brother Finneas was there, too.
The White House says the Biden family have been longtime fans. I assume that means his granddaughters and not actually President Biden himself, but you never know. I shouldn't judge. He might be a big fan.
ROMANS: All right, Billie and Biden.
JARRETT: That's what you get to do when you're president.
ROMANS: Right -- exactly.
JARRETT: You get to welcome pop stars.
ROMANS: Exactly.
All right, thanks for joining us. I'm Christine Romans.
JARRETT: I'm Laura Jarrett. "NEW DAY" is next.
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EILISH: Singing "Therefore I Am."
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