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Wall Street Journal Reporter Gershkovich Appealing Detention Ruling In Moscow Court; Ukraine Claims Notable Success In East, South Due To Slow But Steady Counteroffensive; USDA Approves Lab-Grown Chicken For Sale. Aired 5:30-6a ET

Aired June 22, 2023 - 05:30   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[05:30:00]

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: It appears that there are no longer journalists within the courtroom able to watch what happens. We know the U.S. ambassador Lynne Tracy is in there. We know his parents, Ella and Mikhail, are also -- who emigrated to the United States from the Soviet Union in 1979 -- they are also there in the courtroom.

And when you compare and contrast the pictures of him in detention in the courtroom now compared to when he was first put in the courtroom a couple of months ago, he doesn't look as tired, but he doesn't all -- he also doesn't look as if he's been allowed to have a haircut. He perhaps looks a little more relaxed. But there is no reason, of course, for him really to be able to relax.

This is all about trying to get his three-month extra detention cut there. A month ago, when he was last in court, he was given three months additional custody before his case of espionage was going to be heard. There's been appeals against that.

We heard from the deputy Russian foreign minister today saying the Russian Foreign Ministry is considering the U.S. request to have a meeting with Evan. We know that at least -- on at least two occasions, so far, that consular access has been denied. It's not clear if the Russians are being genuine when they say this. They seem to be dangling this out just on the very day when he appears in the courtroom.

Though his physical condition looks OK, his parents will be there. They will be perhaps the best judge of that.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Yes.

ROBERTSON: What is going to happen -- I think expectations are low that this three-month extension will occur.

ROMANS: All right, Nic. Thank you so much. Nice to see you this morning.

Ukrainian officials say their slow but steady counteroffensive is making notable gains in the south, both in the eastern Donetsk and the southern Zaporizhzhia regions, but Russian President Vladimir Putin claims that Kyiv's offensive is failing because of heavy losses.

We want to warn you about some disturbing video we're about to show you. CNN's Ben Wedeman reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): An unknown Russian soldier lost his life here on a dirt road in this small village of Neskuchne. He was killed in Ukraine's counteroffensive which has at best, so far, put a small dent in Russian lines -- hardly the turning point so many had hoped for.

WEDEMAN (on camera): This is one of the villages that was liberated by the Ukrainians -- this one on the 10th of June. And clearly, the Russians were in a hurry. They left behind this blood-soaked stretcher.

WEDEMAN (voice-over): It's still too dangerous for civilians to return to these once tranquil farming communities and there isn't much left for them to return to.

The mortar crew of the 35th Ukrainian Marine Brigade has moved into a house recently vacated by Russian troops. This afternoon they're busy piling up newly arrived American-made shells -- far better than the old Soviet ammunition, says Andri.

ANDRI, UKRAINIAN 35TH MARINE BRIGADE: (Speaking foreign language).

WEDEMAN (voice-over): "It's amazing. They're just great," he says. "They hit the bullseye -- my favorite."

Throughout the day, shelling echoes around them. The Russians may have left the village but they're still nearby.

Yuri's mortar training in Britain didn't prepare him for the front. This is only his third day in the line of fire.

YURI, UKRAINIAN 35TH MARINE BRIGADE: (Speaking foreign language).

WEDEMAN (voice-over): "There are moments when I want to hide," he says, "but I have to stay put and wait.

Unit commander Oleksandr takes coordinates from headquarters. His men make the adjustments and prepare their rounds.

WEDEMAN (on camera): They're firing these rounds at Russian lines, which are four kilometers or 2 1/2 miles away.

WEDEMAN (voice-over): It's going to be a long, hot summer.

Ben Wedeman, CNN, on Ukraine's southern front.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROMANS: All right.

Quick hits around the globe right now.

Hundreds of Israeli settlers attacked a Palestinian village in the West Bank Wednesday, killing at least one Palestinian man. It follows the deaths of four Israelis the day before in a nearby town.

Investigators are looking into what caused a powerful gas explosion in central Paris Wednesday. Officials say at least 37 people are injured, four of them in critical condition.

President Biden facing backlash from Beijing after calling Chinese leader Xi Jinping a dictator. This, just hours after Secretary of State Antony Blinken wrapped a trip there aimed at calming tensions.

Just ahead, the U.S. needs India to counter China's influence in the Indo-Pacific, but does it come at a cost? And draft day is here. Who has the number one pick in the NBA?

(COMMERCIAL)

[05:38:54]

ROMANS: Here is today's fast-forward lookahead.

The Coast Guard says the air in the missing submersible will likely run out today. The sub disappeared a few hours after its launch Sunday on its way to tour the wreck of the Titanic.

The NTSB begins a two-day investigative hearing this morning into the East Palestine, Ohio train derailment in February. The public is invited to attend but cannot ask any questions.

President Biden hosts India's prime minister at a state dinner tonight during his first official U.S. visit. Narendra Modi will address Congress today followed by a joint news conference this afternoon.

All right, the NBA Draft is now just hours away and all eyes are on the 19-year-old phenom from France who will be the first overall pick.

Andy Scholes has this morning's Bleacher Report. Hey, Andy.

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, good morning, Christine.

So, Victor Wembanyama is considered the best prospect since LeBron. Some call him the best ever. He's got the height of Yao Ming but the skills of a shooting guard.

Wemby has been taking in all the scenes this week in New York as he prepares to become the top pick by the San Antonio Spurs tonight. And the seven-foot-five 19-year-old from France said he's been preparing for this moment for a very long time.

[05:40:02]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VICTOR WEMBANYAMA, PROJECTED NUMBER ONE NBA DRAFT PICK: I think I started to realize I could be a professional basketball player at the age of 12. And yes, it's just -- it's just -- tomorrow something is going to happen that -- something that I've been thinking for years and years.

I'm trying to be the best, so being the best, it's not only on the court. There's all dimensions of an individual basketball player -- an NBA player. And I want to be the best also at the media, the press conference and all this stuff. So it's -- you know, I don't like to do things halfway.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHOLES: Yes. Wembanyama's English is so good because he says he made sure to learn it because he knew that's what he needed to do to be an NBA star.

The Spurs the top pick tonight, followed by the Hornets, and then the Blazers. Lots of buzz that one of those teams could trade their pick. We will see.

We already got a huge trade on Wednesday. According to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski and The Athletics' Shams Charania, the Celtics trading Marcus Smart to the Grizzlies in a three-team trade. Boston is getting Kristaps Porzingis in the deal, while Tyus Jones goes to the Washington Wizards.

The Celtics also got a pair of first-round picks in the trade from Memphis, including the 25th pick this year. It's after five conference finals and an NBA finals together. This deal ends the Smart-Jayson Tatum-Jaylen Brown era there in Boston.

All right. Elsewhere, Florida is now on to the finals at the College Baseball World Series. This one was a nail-biter. TCU down to their final out. Brayden Taylor just smokes this ball to center, but Michael Robertson -- a great catch as he slams it into the wall. The Gators win 3-2, eliminating TCU and clinching a spot in that final for the first time since they won it all back in 2017.

They'll now await the winner between Wake Forest and LSU. The Tigers staying alive thanks to a big third inning. Cade Beloso, the big three-run home run there. LSU would win that one 5-2, setting up a rematch for a spot in that final. That game is at 7:00 Eastern tonight.

And finally, a night after the Rangers were hosed on a replay call that Bruce Bochy called the worst call ever, it happened to the Padres last night. Fernando Tatis guns down Blake Sabol here at the plate, but the Giants challenged it. And the umpires came back and said that Gary Sanchez blocked the plate. Therefore, the runner was safe.

You see Sanchez just going to get the ball and make the tag. So that would have been the third out in the inning. Instead, the Giants score four runs and would win the game 4-2.

Padres manager Bob Melvin -- he was not happy after the game.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BOB MELVIN, SAN DIEGO PADRES MANAGER: It looked like they showed the replay from where -- when the throw was already on the way. And as a catcher, you have to have some feel for that. You've got to also understand the impact and where the runner was. And it just -- to me, it was just one of the worst calls I've seen this year.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHOLES: So, Christine, second night in a row that we had a manager saying is the worst call he's ever seen. So we've got a streak going. Let's see what we can get tonight.

ROMANS: Is two a streak? Well, maybe.

All right, nice to see you. Nice to see you, Andy. Thank you.

SCHOLES: All right.

ROMANS: Coming up on "CNN THIS MORNING" Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito facing scrutiny over a trip he took to Rome.

And next, right here, the new number-one in America when it comes to high gas prices.

(COMMERCIAL)

[05:47:27]

ROMANS: All right, your Romans' Numeral this morning, 495. That's $4.95 a gallon in the state with the highest cost of gas, which surprise, surprise, is not California. Washington State has now replaced California for that honor. In fact, regular gas is now nine cents more expensive in Washington State than California. California, of course, notorious for high fuel prices.

The good news, though, is that Americans overall are paying a lot less for gas today than they were on the first day of summer last year. It's down about $1.38 compared to last year to a national average here of $3.58 a gallon.

All right. Looking at markets around the world, Asian markets finished lower. The Hang Seng down nearly two percent. You know, Chinese stimulus efforts -- people concerned that it's not enough -- hurting markets there. European markets are lower as we await a Bank of England rate decision.

On Wall Street, stock index futures leaning down just a little bit. I wouldn't call that decisive.

But it was a third down day for markets yesterday. The Nasdaq fell more than one percent. The S&P had its worst day this month after the Fed chief Jerome Powell told Congress more rate hikes are likely to come to combat inflation.

Weekly jobless claims, existing home sales, and mortgage rate data are all due out later today.

All right, imagine eating chicken raised not on a poultry farm but grown in one of these giant stainless steel vats. The USDA has now approved lab-grown meat for restaurant sales in the United States. Store sales will come later. The meat is created by fermenting animal cells.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

AMY CHEN, CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER, UPSIDE FOODS: You choose the ones that will grow well, that taste delicious. You feed them nutrients that they would normally get inside of an animal's body but we do it in different cultivators. It's made out of more than 99 percent chicken cells so it's as close to conventional meat as you can get. It's got the taste and the deliciousness and the fibers that you expect of chicken.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: Two companies producing the product say it could help fight climate change because it does not emit greenhouse gases like actual chickens. Experts say it could be a while though before lab-grown meat can be produced economically on a scale that would make a difference in the climate.

All right. Just ahead, time running out for the five people on board that Titanic sub. The latest on the search.

(COMMERCIAL)

[05:53:58]

ROMANS: All right. Car loans, mortgages, credit card interest rates all more expensive since the Federal Reserve began raising interest rates to fight inflation -- and the Fed is not done. Fed chief Jerome Powell testified before the House Financial Services Committee Wednesday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEROME POWELL, CHAIRMAN, FEDERAL RESERVE: Inflation has moderated somewhat since the middle of last year. Nonetheless, inflation pressures continue to run high and the process of getting inflation back down to two percent has a long way to go.

Nearly all FOMC participants expect that it will be appropriate to raise interest rates somewhat further by the end of the year. But at last week's meeting, considering how far and how fast we've moved, we judge it prudent to hold the target range steady to allow the committee to assess additional information and its implications for monetary policy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: Let's bring in Jeanna Smialek, Federal Reserve and economy reporter at The New York Times. Good morning, Jeanna. Bottom line, a way to go on inflation and more rate hikes ahead.

[05:55:00]

JEANNA SMIALEK, FEDERAL RESERVE AND ECONOMY REPORTER, THE NEW YORK TIMES (via Webex by Cisco): That's what it sounds like. I think we heard from Chair Powell that the Fed is not ready to declare victory over inflation. They think they've made some progress but they do not think that the sort of inflationary beast has been slayed here, and that means that they are likely to raise rates further.

They are suggesting -- he suggested yesterday that it is probably a good guess that assuming the economy plays out the way that they are anticipating, we'll see two more rate increases this year. So about half a percentage point of additional increases in addition to the five percent that we've already seen.

ROMANS: Powell was asked at one point to simplify for Americans where the economy is headed. This is part of his answers.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

POWELL: This is our job is to bring inflation down. The way we do it is by raising interest rates. And while that can be painful, what it does is it gradually slows down demand so that supply and demand can get back into alignment and so that we can have inflation running at two percent and people can get on with their lives and basically not have to think about inflation.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: Powell explaining that wrestling inflation has trade-offs. And he has said before, Jeanna, that everyone feels the terrible effects of inflation but not everyone feels the softening in the job market that you sometimes need to get to slay the inflation beast. There's a trade-off here for Powell and crew.

SMIALEK: Yes, absolutely. And I think the challenge is it is certainly the case that everybody feels that inflationary -- the brunt of inflation. And it actually falls most heavily on people who are least capable of affording it in the sense that if a lot of your budget is going to food, and gas, and these necessities, it's harder to just pull back on those things when prices go up. So that's obviously an issue.

But on the other hand, when you have a recession or a significant slowdown that's induced by these interest rate increases, people who lose their jobs tend to be very vulnerable people in society. And obviously, a job loss completely zeroing out your income for some time is even more significant -- more acute, perhaps, than increasing prices.

And so, it's a very unpleasant trade-off but the argument that Chair Powell and his colleagues make is if you don't make that trade-off -- if you don't get the inflation under control, we just don't have the stable foundation for the rest of the economy to grow on and that can haunt you for decades.

ROMANS: You know, Powell, yesterday, made the case that the inflation story is global and the U.S. is in better shape than most -- listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

POWELL: Our recovery is by far the strongest of any country. And then I would say inflation that we have is actually -- everybody is -- everybody has very high inflation -- the EU, the Bank of -- I mean, sorry, the United Kingdom and many countries within Europe as well.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: Yes, U.K. inflation, 8.7 percent -- more than double the U.S. I think France is something like five percent.

So -- I mean, the U.S. is in a better situation but he is still adamant about fighting inflation here.

SMIALEK: Yes. I think part of the challenge here is while we did see that big U.K. inflation right before Chair Powell started to speak, actually, the challenge is that a lot of that is tied to the war in Ukraine. All of those European nations are much more exposed to the war in Ukraine than we have been in the sense that they had big energy price increases -- not as bad as expected but still pretty bad -- and those passed through to other types of goods and services.

And so, I think that you just don't want to declare too much victory over inflation at a time when some of the reason inflation is lower here really does tie back to good luck rather than necessarily a policy success. And so, I think for the Fed, that's why you have to stick to the message that this process isn't over. Four percent is good but four percent isn't two percent, and two percent might be a long way away.

ROMANS: Yes, and I think the bottom line for people who maybe don't follow Fed policy is this means likely higher credit card interest rates and likely higher car loan rates. I mean, when you have more rate hikes in the economy it will mean a higher cost to borrow money, right?

SMIALEK: Yes, absolutely. Higher cost of money, higher cost to borrow to spend -- to buy anything that you might need to buy. But also, potentially, down the road, a slightly slower economy. I think any time you have additional rate increases it ups the risk that you have that sort of hard, painful economic landing.

And so, I think, really, a thing to watch out for going forward. If we have -- the further they have to push the economy to slow it down the more risk of an accident.

ROMANS: Yes. Powell speaks again today in front of the Senate. This is his monetary policy -- his congressionally mandated monetary policy testimony so we'll watch that as well.

Jeanna Smialek -- I know you will, too -- of The New York Times. Thank you. Nice to see you.

SMIALEK: Thank you.

ROMANS: All right. We're getting another look at the new "Barbie" movie that brings the famous Mattel doll to life in just a few weeks.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

Clip from Warner Bros. "Barbie."

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[06:00:00]

ROMANS: Warner Bros., which produced the movie, and CNN are both part of Warner Bros. Discovery.

The new trailer gives us a look at the characters featured in the film and their stomping ground, Barbie Land. Very pink.

Thanks for joining me. I'm Christine Romans. "CNN THIS MORNING" starts right now.