Return to Transcripts main page

First Move with Julia Chatterley

Crews Rescue Child from Rubble after Russia Attacks City; Anti- Government Protests Persist Amid Violent Crackdown; Ukraine, Energy Crisis to Dominate Talks in Washington; U.S. Annual Inflation Running at 8.2 Percent in September; House Select Committee to Hold Public Hearing; U.S. Stocks Down Sharply after September CPI Report. Aired 9-10a ET

Aired October 13, 2022 - 09:00   ET

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


[09:00:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MAX FOSTER, CNN HOST, FIRST MOVE: Live in London I'm Max Foster in for Julia Chatterley. Welcome to "First Move". Inflation in the U.S. remains

stubbornly high the consumer price index rose 8.2 percent last month from a year ago.

That is hotter than expected. The CPI is closely watched by the Federal Reserve as the Central Bank battles America's red hot inflation. On Wall

Street U.S. Futures now are lower, as you'd expect that latest data rising concerns that the Fed is likely to continue raising rates frankly.

Meanwhile, in Ukraine, the capital region was attacked by Kamikaze drones are live report from Kyiv coming up in just a moment. Plus, a rare public

protests in China, because President Xi Jinping and his COVID policy just days before he set to secure an historic third term. But first let's get to

those price pressures. Rahel Solomon joins us now. It's getting in the right direction inflation, isn't it, but not as quickly as many had hoped?

RAHEL SOLOMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I think that's certainly a way to put it, right? I mean, it's not necessarily getting much worse, but it's really

taking some time Max, before it starts to get significantly better so just to reiterate some of those numbers, September consumer inflation coming in

at 0.4 percent, yearly about 8.2 percent.

But Max, to put that in perspective, 0.4 percent on a monthly basis, last month, that number was actually closer to 0.1 percent, the month prior was

actually 0 percent so really not moving in the right direction in a significant way. And when you look at Max, were the largest increases in

consumer inflation were this month, it's really all of the essential categories.

It's things like shelter, or what folks around the world might think of as accommodations. It was things like medical care, it was things like food,

in fact, including in the report, every major category, every major food category, and Max saw increases. Things like cereal, and bakery products,

fruits, vegetables, meat, poultry, fish, eggs, can go down the row and see these price pressures; these increases were pretty widespread in the food

category.

And then some of those other categories that I mentioned, we did see decreases, however, we did see declines of course, and energy, but also

things like use cars and trucks, things like apparel. So we did see some declines. But certainly in the major categories, the essential categories,

we are still seeing increases.

And what's really important for the Fed, of course, Max is core inflation, which strips away categories like food and energy, which can be a bit more

volatile. But even that continued to increase. So core inflation, Max increased 0.6 percent, that is the same as last month on a yearly basis,

increased 6.6 percent.

So at a time when we're all trying to figure out when will the Fed start to cool it with these massive rate increases? A report like this certainly

doesn't suggest that it will come certainly not in the next meeting.

FOSTER: Massive rate increases, as you say, but presumably, some people are saying they need to be even more aggressive, because it's not working

quickly enough.

SOLOMON: It's not working quickly enough, that is fair. And yet, the more aggressive they have to be Max, the greater the likelihood of overdoing it,

right? I mean, you have to put in perspective, 75 basis points, which is what we saw the last three Federal Reserve meetings, it's starting to feel

normal, but that is unprecedented.

I mean, you would have to go, we haven't seen it in modern history. So you're right. There are some people who are saying it's not working, go

harder, go harder. And then on the other hand, you have people saying you're doing too much Slow down, slow down.

And the harsh reality is no one really knows how this is going to end on the other side of this right, how significant or how harsh these interest

rate hikes will actually be felt in the economy. And so it really is a great mystery. I was talking to an economist recently from Harvard, who

said, no one knows how this is going to end.

But looking ahead to the next Federal Reserve's meeting, it is looking more likely that we will see another massive rate increase of three quarters of

a percent. Because, as you said, Max, the medicine isn't working certainly not quickly enough.

FOSTER: Rahel, thank you, fascinating insight. We're going to go to Ukraine now though, as Russia continues to punish innocent civilians. We have

reports of massive shelling in the Southern Ukrainian City of Mykolaiv.

The Mayor posted on telegram that a 5 storey residential building was hit and two of the upper floors were destroyed. Rescue is pulled out a child

but at least seven other people are still missing in the rubble. Fred Pleitgen joins me now. A familiar story sadly.

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, it's certainly a familiar story and it's certainly something that especially

those two bigger Southern cities Zaporizhzhia and then also Mykolaiv like in these overnight strikes.

[09:05:00]

PLEITGEN: They keep getting hit once again by some pretty heavy Russian ordinance. And you know one of the things that we picked up on as we read

those reports. And the local Governor saying that that building had been leveled and other buildings quite frankly, and had been damaged, as well as

that apparently the Ukrainians believe that the Russians use S-300 rockets for all this Max.

Those are rockets that are normally used to shoot down planes, their surface to air missiles that can obviously reach very high. But if you use

them against ground targets, if you fire them against ground targets, then they're not very accurate. And then obviously, the chances of civilian

casualties are very high.

Now, by now, the authorities there on the ground and Mykolaiv have confirmed that at least 2 people that have been killed in those strikes.

One younger child was rescued from the rubble earlier today, after apparently having been there for several hours. But it once again

underscores the Ukrainians saying that they need additional surface to air assets, Western assets.

The country's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, he actually told a meeting of European lawmakers by video conference, of course, that right now the

Ukrainians only have about 10 percent of the anti-aircraft capabilities that they actually need. And so that's definitely something that certainly

hampers and it makes it quite dangerous in places across the country, not just there in the south, Max.

FOSTER: Right in terms of why the efforts to resolve all of this Turkey getting involved, again, putting it forward as a proposed peacemaker. Do

you think that's useful plan?

PLEITGEN: Well, so far, Turkey's track record has actually been quite good. As far as trying to broker at least some sort of limited deals, you'll

recall the grain agreement that Matt managed to get a lot of grain released from those ports in Ukraine. That had been caught up there for a very long

period of time that essentially had been blockaded. Now that is able to get out.

So Turkey is one of those countries that at least have a certain amount of trust, both with the Ukrainians, and with the Russians. Of course, the

Ukrainians, very much appreciate the fact that the Turks have sold them, those Bayraktar drones that made such a huge difference, especially in the

early stages of this war.

At the same time, we know is also from a meeting today between Vladimir Putin and Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the President of Turkey. That those two

countries also have very good relations, and ones that of course, that have been strengthened, especially over the past couple of years. If you look

at, for instance, those two countries interacting in Syria, or for instance, a church by S-400 rockets are from the Russians.

So the possibility is there. But of course, we also understand that there's so little in the way of common ground right now between Ukraine and the

Russians. And quite frankly, the Ukrainians are saying the proposals that the Russians have been putting forward are just absolutely outrageous and

unrealistic.

And certainly as long as Russia continues to claim that four or five regions of Ukraine are now part of Russia, the Ukrainians really don't see

any reason to negotiate. In fact, there is a decree in place by the Ukrainian President saying that there can be no negotiations under these

circumstances with the Russians.

So certainly, it seems difficult. But at the same time, the Turks today in the form of their President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he wants to see this

conflict end as fast as possible. And of course, the Turks do have a vested interest in that they are, of course, a country that's on the Black Sea

that is directly affected by this conflict as well, Max.

FOSTER: OK, Fred, thank you. Let's also speak to Salma Abdelaziz. She's been following that meeting between Putin and his Turkish counterpart is.

You know, you'd love to be a fly on the wall, wouldn't you to see how they could possibly resolve this. But at least there's some optics there, right,

that Russia wants to move forward? And, you know, or is that just pure optics and a distraction, frankly?

SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, I think what was really interesting was just a short time ago, during this meeting on the sidelines

of this meeting in Astana with regional leaders. President Putin yet again, made this really curious proposal Max, of setting up a gas hub, a natural

gas hub in Turkey.

President Putin going so far as to say we can build a pipeline to Turkey and use it to sell gas to Europe. It's a really curious idea when that we

only heard just yesterday from President Putin. Turkish officials seem to be taken aback by it, as you heard there from our colleague, Fred.

President Erdogan has maintained a good relationship with Moscow throughout this conflict, but absolutely no indication that Turkey was aware that

President Putin was going to make this proposal and the first thing of course, that comes to mind when you hear this is sanctions is the

collective actions that European leaders have taken to try to wean themselves off of gas and oil.

So President Putin seems to be using this as an opportunity to remind everyone of the leverage that he has. Europe was heavily dependent on

Russian gas before this war. Some 40 percent of gas imports to the EU came from Russia prior to this conflict. President Putin knows that European

leaders are worried about getting through the winter with rising cost with the stockpiles of energy supplies.

[09:10:00]

ABDELAZIZ: They have the hope here from the Kremlin is that the cost to Europeans for supporting the war in Ukraine, will become so high that it

breaks the resolve that we've seen across Europe so far, Max.

FOSTER: Salma, keep watching those meetings thank you. In China, rare protesters erupted over the governments strict zero COVID policy.

Demonstrators hung banners attacking the official policy on a busy overseas, overpass rather, in the capital, Beijing.

It just a few days from now the Communist Party begins its next Congress, which President Xi Jinping is expected to secure an unprecedented third

term. CNN's Selina Wang is in Hong Kong with more on this. And this really sort of stood out to you didn't it because these things so rarely happen,

and they rarely get out in terms of footage as well.

SELINA WANG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And Max, this type of demonstration, it's not just rare in China, it's especially extraordinary and rare because it

happened in Beijing. This brazen show of defiance in the capital added very sensitive time period, as you say, just days away from this Communist Party

Congress. This is a time when Beijing is really ramping up that security and surveillance.

And what really sticks out to me about this, Max is that it's not just attacking the zero COVID policy in China. But these banners are directly

attacking Xi Jinping himself. So one of the banners read, "Go on strike remove dictator and national traitor Xi Jinping".

There was also a loudspeaker that was repeating these messages over and over again. We also saw plumes of smoke coming from that bridge. We don't

know what the cause of it was. There was also another banner that had this longer message it said, "Say no to COVID test, yes to food. No to lock

down, yes to freedom no to lies, yes to dignity no to great leader, yes to vote don't be a slave, be a citizen".

Now this really reflects this growing frustration in China over China's persistence and following this zero COVID policy. Right now, as the rest of

the world is moving on from COVID. China is still locking down entire cities, over just a handful of COVID cases.

They are sending all close cases, all close contacts and cases to government quarantine facilities. We've seen so many scenes of people

struggling to get enough food, basic necessities and these very harsh lock downs. And the fact that this demonstration happened during such a critical

period is really, a really strong show of defiance.

This is also in Beijing right now. They've turned it into a fortress leading up to this party congress. Our CNN team actually went down to this

bridge area, shortly after it happened a few hours later, and everything had been cleaned up.

The police had taken the banners away it was as if nothing had happened. And all these images that we're seeing coming out of this, they've been

completely censored and scrubbed from China's internet. This is a regime obsessed with stability. So yes, this was a shocking show of defiance, but

it was also very short lived, Max.

FOSTER: It's been what we had on Washington as well, this report about from the Biden administration on future relationship between the U.S. and China.

And this was long awaited, wasn't it?

WANG: This was a more than 40-page report laying out the U.S. National Security Strategy. And what leapt out to me was just how big of a focus

there was on China. And this document clearly lays out that China is the greatest long term National Security Strategy for the United States.

The document says that yes, Russia is in the immediate short term challenge as they've waged this brutal invasion on Ukraine. But when it comes to the

long term, the document says, China is the only country with the intent and increasingly the power to reshape the international order. Now some of the

backdrop here is that the Biden administration has said over and over again that they do not seek a new Cold War.

However, this document does lay out this strategic vision of the world where the U.S. and its allies are increasingly united against and competing

against China. And U.S.-China relations, of course, are now at their lowest period in decades and the U.S. and China, Beijing looking at this document,

they increasingly see it as part of the U.S. is moves to contain and suppress China's rise, Max.

FOSTER: OK, Selina Wang in Hong Kong, thank you very much indeed. As students across Iran continue to join the nationwide anti-government

protests they now face the threat of being detained and sent to so-called psychological centers, where they can then be reformed, according to the

country's Education Minister. CNN's Jomana Karadsheh has the latest.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOMANA KARADSHEH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Calls for nationwide protests on Wednesday brought Iranians back onto the streets of cities

across the country. Protesters undeterred by a ruthless regime's crackdown on peaceful demonstrations.

[09:15:00]

KARADSHEH (voice over): And they were met with utter brutality, the taunts swinging policemen beating up those who tried to get away. And this

disturbing scene caught on camera, plainclothes security forces opening fire on the streets of Tehran, after a small group gathered chanting

Mullahs get lost.

But perhaps the most terrifying response to protest this week is the government's decision to detain school children protesting and send them to

psychological institutions to be, "Reformed". And we educated a chilling message from a regime that now appears to feel threatened by fearless young

school girls.

Regime clearly under pressure, not only struggling to contain protests, they're spreading like a wildfire, now facing strikes that could hit an

economy already on its knees. Some oil workers now striking blocking roads and burning tires, their strikes so far limited and not unusual. But some

are now joining in the anti-regime chance could be a sign of trouble the government literally can't afford.

ROHAM ALVENDI, IRAN HISTORIAN: Strikes have historically played a very important role in Iranian revolts the oil and gas industry of course

particularly sensitive because that is where much of the state's hard currency earnings are derived from.

KARADSHEH (voice over): Many businesses in the mostly Kurdish region have been shuttered for days, as calls grow for a national general strike.

ALVENDI: There is a general strike if there is a nationwide general strike. I mean, what the government can do really, I mean, you can't send troops

into people's homes, to drag them out and force them to go to work. So you know that would completely paralyzed state and would show the powerlessness

of the state in the face of this movement.

KARADSHEH (voice over): And movement of nationwide protests. That's morphed into an uprising, growing stronger by the day, proving harder and harder

for the repressive Republic to control. Jomana Karadsheh CNN, Istanbul.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: Straight ahead on "First Move", coming in from the cold Germany moves to avoid a winter energy crisis. Plus, a fuel shortage of a different

kind grips France the petrol protest that's pretty transport to its knees, new hopes for a new breakthrough.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:20:00]

FOSTER: Welcome back Russia's President Putin says Europe's energy crisis is a problem of its own making. He was speaking at an energy conference in

Moscow where the head of Gazprom the state owned Energy Company warned that whole countries run the risk of freezing this winter. Clare Sebastian looks

at how Germany is preparing.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Through the early autumn drizzle Germany is racing against time. Construction started on this

liquefied natural gas terminal on its North Sea Coast in May.

HOLGER KREETZ, COO ASSET MANAGEMENT, UNIPER: Normally it takes four to five years to realize such a project sometimes even six years.

SEBASTIAN (voice over): This one will be up and running by early next year. Its operator says capable of providing up to 8 percent of all the gas.

Germany needs gas that used to come from Russia.

Until the war in Ukraine, Russia provided more than half of Germany's gas. Now because of Germany's own efforts to reduce its reliance and Russia

cutting supplies. No Russian gas is currently flowing.

KREETZ: Obviously we had to bring coal fired power plants back into operations we had to invest into bringing for a certain period of time new

gas into Germany. It was not a question of whether we like it or whether we will not like it, but it really it's a must for the society.

SEBASTIAN (voice over): Skyrocketing gas prices have already forced some German companies to curb production. Inflation mostly due to rising energy

prices hit 10 percent in September.

And amid fears of shortages, the EU agreed on voluntary cuts to energy usage this winter. At the same time the German Government says it will

borrow almost $200 billion to shield consumers from soaring costs a policy that for cloudier comfort, a longtime adviser to the German government

doesn't make sense.

CLAUDIA KEMFERT, GERMAN INSTITUTE OF ECONOMIC RESEARCH: Actually, the households are not saving enough gas. But also the government is doing the

next mistake and announcing that we might get a gas price cap. And that brings a signal to the private household. Oh, everything's fine. We can

continue in consuming gas as we did in the past.

SEBASTIAN (on camera): Are you worried about the winter.

KEMFERT: If the winter gets very cold and we do not get any Russian gas anymore it might come to scarcities.

SEBASTIAN (voice over): Some Germans are not waiting around to find out. Domestic solar panel sales were up 22 percent in the first half of the

year. Marika Schmidtman have come to this Berlin workshop to learn how to operate well for their balcony.

MARIKA SCHMIDTMAN, BERLIN RESIDENT: Because energy costs have skyrocketed so much that we're simply saying we can somehow throttle them.

SEBASTIAN (voice over): They are also hoping to be part of a renewable energy transition one that is now happening alongside an energy emergency.

Clare Sebastian, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: Well, the European energy crisis and Russia's war on Ukraine are set to dominate discussions, the International Monetary Fund meeting in

Washington. The EU says it'll use every lever to keep the financial system stable, despite the threat of energy flows.

Mairead McGuinness is European Commissioner for Financial Stability, Financial Services and the Capital Markets. You've been busy recently,

haven't you? Just explain what you're getting out of these meetings in terms of support for Ukraine, because the feeling is in Kyiv, of course, is

that you can always do more.

MAIREAD MCGUINNESS, EU COMMISSIONER FOR FINANCIAL STABILITY AND CAPITAL MARKETS: Indeed, I'm in Europe, support for Ukraine is very, very strong.

And that's the message I'm getting here as well and when I meet colleagues from other parts and other places. I think the issue is around how energy

has been used, and indeed, food has been used as blackmail, really, by Vladimir Putin.

So we are already weaning ourselves away from Russian fossil fuel because he is playing very dangerous games with it. We've got storage quite

complete, almost close to it 95 percent a gas in store. We're preparing well, for this winter energy efficiency is a real key issue. And I saw in

your report there how individuals are taking action, and companies are doing the same.

I mean, the truth is that this war is horrific for Ukraine and we empathize and sympathize with the citizens there. It also speaks to another truth

that the European Union was over reliant on a very unreliable supplier of gas, and that is Russia. We are now requiring ourselves to become more

resilient, and do it fast.

So infrastructure construction is really, really important. Getting a diversified range of suppliers to give us gas that we need and the U.S. and

others are doing that for us. But clearly, there's a price implication. So when it comes to my role on financial stability, for me the key there are

two key points.

One is out of COVID we might have anticipated some instability that didn't happen. And that is because the financial crisis and we reacted in the

right way we put in place strong regulation. So our financial system is well resilient and well capitalized to deal with shocks and crisis. We're

in a very different place.

[09:25:00]

MCGUINNESS: This is a war and illegal invasion perhaps prolonged. So we are mindful to watch for problems that might arise around financial

instability. We also have the SRB clearly saying that there could be problems down the road, it is my role and the role of my colleagues to keep

a very close eye on all of the parameters.

And to prepare and be wise to what might come out of this crisis. What's interesting for me here, when I talk to colleagues from the U.S.? Is that

the financial system and indeed the corporates appear to be strong? And this is their message.

We know inflation is a big concern for citizens and business and interest rates are rising. But I don't get a sense in which there is a great deal of

angst. But it is always the role of policymakers to move further and watch the weaknesses that might be in our system.

FOSTER: Clearly very well prepared. If it's a particularly cold winter, though, you can't sort of prepare too much for the temperatures, and you

don't get enough gas in. How concerned are you about blackouts on the European mainland?

MCGUINNESS: Well, there have been lots of discussions across the 27 member states about what if we don't have enough energy? What if there's a very

harsh winter? We can't control that. But what we can do is control what we have.

And therefore the issue of energy efficiency of waking us all up to the idea that you might be a bit more careful about switching on power, a bit

more investing in what you might do internally in your business or your home, so that you use less energy. And equally and I think this is the big

challenge and perhaps opportunity.

We talked about the European Green Deal moving away from fossil fuel. This war requires us to do that more rapidly. So private investment must go

towards renewables, we have to get rid of the bottlenecks in the supply system, and indeed, in permitting.

But I gather and get from all of our member states a desire to ramp up investments in renewables, to tell citizens about how and when and what

methods they can use to reduce their consumption because that also reduces the cost for individuals and for businesses. So indeed, it is sometimes in

moments of deep concern and worry about what might happen.

That we make decisions which help us avoid that the worst would happen. And that's why we have been working as a commission not just yesterday, but for

months to prepare for what might lie ahead.

FOSTER: I would just want to ask you in your role on financial stability, obviously, I speak to you from London. And the markets are in chaos here

because of this mini budget, as the government calls it. Talk of another U- turn today from the government in an effort to stabilize the markets. How concerned are you that instability in the British markets may infect the EU

markets?

MCGUINNESS: Well, look, we watch our own patch, but also we watch what's happening globally. And this is a globalized world where energy and

politics interplay. For me, the issue of for Europe is that thus far, our system is strong. But we watch for all points of perhaps weakness, and

sometimes it is the unexpected that can cause difficulties.

And indeed, my conversations this week are about those issues. So we wouldn't comment directly on a third country on our neighbor, the United

Kingdom. But of course, we're mindful of what's happening around the world. And I think the big words that everyone uses here, and indeed in Europe is

uncertainty.

And some you know, when you have uncertainty markets are nervous. And they might over exaggerate or over if you like, react to it signs of upset in

the marketplace so that we have to be very mindful about swings and balances in our system.

My role is to protect financial stability in the European Union; we have good solid bedrock of regulation, regulation matters in times of crisis.

And I think that when we work together both internally in the EU and with our global partners.

We can minimize the disruption that might arise from all of these unpredictable, uncertain issues that we are surrounded by. And don't

forget, this comes after a pandemic COVID-19, which we managed really well to hold on to stability. But there are clearly some hangover effects on

supply chain. So these are times when policymakers need to get a good night's sleep, and be eyes wide open and alert to any weaknesses that may

be in our system.

FOSTER: All right, McGuinness, thank you very much indeed for joining us in Washington, D.C. MCGUINNESS: Thank you.

FOSTER: Richard Quest will bring you an all-star cast of guests at the IMF meetings in tonight's "Quest Means Business". It's on a little later than

usual though. 10 pm in London and 11pm in Frankfurt. To stay with CNN coming up U.S. consumers feel the pain of rising prices, a closer look at

the new inflation numbers next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:30:00]

FOSTER: Welcome back to "First Move". The headlines this hour the British pound on the rise and bond yields are falling after reports that the UK

Government might announce a U-turn on controversial tax cut plans and not their first one.

Meanwhile, Wall Street opening sharply lower after the latest U.S. inflation data came in hotter than expected. The Consumer Price Index

climbed 8.2 percent last month from a year ago. Bad news for the Federal Reserve as the central bank chose to call those rising prices.

Let's speak to Nathan Sheets, the Chief, the Global Chief Economist at Citi Bank. He previously served as Undersecretary of the Treasury for

International Affairs. Nathan, thank you so much for joining us!

Really frustrating numbers I imagine for the Federal Reserve, they've been acting very aggressively to try to tame inflation has come down a bit,

hasn't it but not nearly as fast as perhaps they'd hoped.

NATHAN SHEETS, GLOBAL CHIEF ECONOMIST, CITI: Yes, this is a pretty painful report in a lot of dimensions. And as you highlighted, the markets are

responding. And it pretty much locks in a 75 basis point rate hike by the Federal Reserve at its upcoming meeting.

Now digging into the numbers a bit and we're still kind of in the early stages of parsing through it. There is a silver lining in the sense that we

finally started to see some decline in goods, inflation. And that feels like consistent with supply chain pressures coming off the boil and the

like that that is starting to cool.

The really the bad news here the concerning news, is it services inflation accelerated and that's reflecting the tightness of the labor market, rising

wages, and that's the part of inflation now that's most persisted. And I think the part that has the fed the most concern.

FOSTER: Yes, those market numbers are really sharply down, aren't they? The stock market numbers is down more than 2 percent on the NASDAQ and the S&P

500 also looking at the monthly price jump is at point 4 percent isn't it, which is much higher than last month?

[09:35:00]

FOSTER: So what figures should we be looking at here?

SHEETS: Well, the headline the 0.4 accelerated, that was higher than we were expecting. I think our expectations were consistent with consensus was

something more like 0.2. But the real, the real ugly bit of that is in the core, and particularly in core services, where core services have now

accelerated and are rising by close to 7 percent relative to a year ago.

And extinguishing that inflation and its shelter, its medical services, its transportation services, instead of all of that is driven by wages,

extinguishing that inflation from the system is going to be a first order challenge for the Federal Reserve, and is likely going to require rates

that are notably higher than we've been have so far.

FOSTER: I want to ask you the big about - big international story I'm not sure how close you've been watching the ins and outs of British politics

but the government under huge amount of pressure. And the markets very unhappy with the latest mini budget as they call it this "Un-Costed" plan

to cut taxes.

It's put a lot of pressure on the British central bank, the Bank of England, someone described it to me as a case of them trying to dry but you

know, putting their foot on the accelerator and the brake at the same time, because the way they're buying up bonds, trying to calm the markets, but

also trying to fiddle around with interest rates. What do you think of the performance of the Bank of England at the moment?

SHEETS: The Bank of England has been dealt an extraordinarily tough hand. On one hand, they've got to fight inflation. Inflation in the UK is soaring

in response to global pressures, but now more eminently the rising price of gas. And that's a first order challenge for them.

But at the same time, you have the government coming out with this discretionary fiscal stimulus, and the markets choking on that

inconsistency between a contractionary central bank and a simulative government policy.

And then the Bank of England is leveraged into buying bonds, which feels inconsistent, as you say, with what they're trying to do with their rates

policy and tackling inflation. I think the Bank of England has played its hand reasonably well.

I would quibble with Andrew Bailey's explicit deadline that he's given the markets is going to Friday, and we're out Friday in that set, that those

kinds of hard deadlines tend to exacerbate financial stability risks.

And if anything, make the situation you're trying to address all the more severe and increase the probability of spill overs' into other markets. I

think that there may be a little bit of posturing between the bank and the government, where the bank is hoping to put some pressure on the trust

government to do a U-turn. And some of the news flow this morning suggests that maybe that's under consideration.

FOSTER: Yes, that's I mean, seems to be heading in that direction. Nathan Sheets Chief of Global Chief Economist at Citi, thank you so much for

joining us with your insight on these really complex issues today.

Now, the oil company, Total Energies says it is offering staff in France a 6 percent salary raise amid a damaging strike over pay. There are still

long queues at gas stations across France as strikers blockade oil refineries. Labor unions haven't yet responded to the offer from Total

Energies. Joining me now CNN's Jim Bittermann in Paris, what's your insight? Are they finally going to find some resolution here?

JIM BITTERMANN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, there is some evidence of a thought at least one of the refineries now is back off strike

that leaves force for the seven refineries in France on strike.

Those are all for them are run by - and we'll have to see what the union's say how they react to this offer, which has just come up this afternoon in

very good terms. It sounds like it's 6 percent at a 6 percent raise, as well as a bonus which is about the equivalent of one month's salary for the

refinery workers.

But the union had been hoping for this the CGT anyway; it was most radical of the unions in the refineries the union had been hoping for a 10 percent

raise.

[09:40:00]

BITTERMANN: So it's unclear whether or not they'll the workers of the remaining four refineries will go back to work. Even if they were asked to

go back to work today or tomorrow, it's going to still cause disruptions and especially lines at the gas station probably well into next week.

The Head of the CGT Mr. Barton has asked that workers across France go on strike and a general strike next week, Tuesday. And that may be one of the

real dangers for the government with the settlement that's taking place today, of course, would like to get this settled, and they've gone as far

as requisitioning workers to work on the refinery.

They'd like to get this settled as possible. But the danger in that is that the other workers, the other public sector workers are all going to come in

and say, wait, if these guys are getting 6 percent, we're going to want 6 percent and they're going to ask for across the board raises. So there may

be continued strikes here in other sectors as well as what we're seeing right now Max.

FOSTER: OK, Jim in Paris. We'll keep watching thank you! Straight ahead, the January 6th Committee returns for its public hearing in - first public

hearing in months we discuss what the next bombshells could be?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FOSTER: The January 6th Committee returns today for its first public hearing in months. The committee is expected to reiterate that Former

President Donald Trump is a danger to democracy. Sources say it could feature new testimony and evidence but no witnesses will be appearing in

person at least. Sara Murray joins me now with the details. Hi, Sara!

SARA MURRAY, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi there, that's right. As you said unlike the previous hearings, we are not expecting live witnesses

today. But there are still a number of areas where the committee could be breaking new ground.

You're expecting them to be using new video perhaps from witnesses we've seen before. New witnesses they interviewed over the summer as well as new

emails from the U.S. Secret Service. But it is clear that they have a one message that they want to drive home to U.S. voters ahead of the midterms

and that's the Donald Trump still poses a danger.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MURRAY (voice over): The House Select Committee investigating January 6 preparing its closing arguments ahead of the midterms.

REP. ZOE LOFGREN (D-CA): There's some new material that you know I found as we got into it pretty surprising.

MURRAY (voice over): Sources say the committee will use today's hearing to hammer home that Former President Trump is still a clear - danger to

democracy.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I do think that he poses a threat to democracy. He failed to act that day. He had every opportunity to call off the mob and

condemn the violence.

[09:45:00]

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We've seen from tape testimony from several of my colleagues that folks were pleading with him to do that, and he didn't ever

pick up the phone once.

MURRAY (voice over): The committee may present new evidence from witnesses who were in Trump's cabinet, including Former Secretary of State Mike

Pompeo, Former Secretary of Treasury Steve Mnuchin, and Former Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao.

Chao resigned from her position on January 7th. Evidence could be presented from Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas's wife Ginny Thomas. The

Committee questioned her about her false allegations of election fraud after the 2020 presidential election.

REP. BENNIE THOMPSON (D-MS): We still have significant information that we've not shown to the public. That's available to us.

MURRAY (voice over): The Committee is also preparing to present new communications from the Secret Service after the agency recently turned

over more than a million communications. An official with the Secret Service also telling CNN that, agents did reach out to members of the

Oathkeepers prior to the Capitol attack as part of standard intelligence and response duties. The committee will try to argue links between Trump's

inner circle and far right extremist groups like the Oathkeepers and the Proud Boys.

REP. JAMIE RASKIN (D-MD): The inner circle includes the three people that he pardoned between the election in November and January 6th. Flynn, Stone

and Bannon I call him "The Flintstones", then absolutely, there is abundant evidence that we are going to present about, for example, Stones' in

measurement with domestic violent extremist groups.

MURRAY (voice over): Trump's staunch ally Roger Stones communications with these groups is under the committee's scrutiny. CNN obtained clips from a

documentary that followed Stone for portions of about three years. In the clip Stone is heard advocating for violence before January 6th.The Director

tells CNN Stone was in constant contact with the Proud Boys.

DON LEMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Did he spend a lot of time with members of the Proud Boys or the Oathkeepers or any groups like that QAnon people?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Proud Boys. Yes, he, I mean Proud Boys, is very close to the Proud Boys.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MURRAY: Now Roger Stone has insisted he did nothing wrong. But of course, we're waiting to see what new evidence could be unearthed today. And even

after today's hearing, the committee is still going to have worked to do. They need to finish off their final report, and they still need to decide

if they are going to make any criminal referrals to the Justice Department.

FOSTER: OK, Sara Murray, thank you for joining us! You can watch the January 6th Hearing live today with Anderson Cooper and Jake Tapper. It all

begins at 1 pm in Washington 6 pm in London right here on CNN.

Now next to a huge legal wind for family members of children killed in the Sandy Hook school shooting. Their case against Infowars Hosts Alex Jones

saw them awarded an eye watering sum by the jury. It comes after Jones spent years spreading disinformation about the shooting. Our Jean Casarez

has the details on the case in this report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ladies and Gentlemen the jury--

JEAN CASAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): A stunning verdict in Connecticut.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is a moment years in the making.

CASAREZ (voice over): And nearly a decade after the Sandy Hook school shooting.

NICOLE HOCKLEY, MOTHER OF SANDY HOOK VICTIM DYLAN HOCKLEY: This is sending the right message that people are good and that good does prevail.

CASAREZ (voice over): A Connecticut jury of six unanimously decided right wing conspiracy theorist Alex Jones must pay $965 million in compensatory

damages to 15 plaintiffs 14 are family members of victims and the 15th is an FBI agent who responded to the shooting scene.

CHRIS MATTEI, PLAINTIFFS' ATTORNEY: A jury representing our community and our nation rendered a historic verdict. A verdict against Alex Jones' lies

in their poisonous spread and a verdict for truth and for our common humanity.

ALEX JONES, INFOWARS HOST: The whole thing's fake.

CASAREZ (voice over): The Infowars Host spent years spreading disinformation about the 2012 Sandy Hook massacre, which left 20 children

and six educators dead, calling the shooting a hoax and alleging the families involved were crisis actors. During four weeks of emotional

testimony, family members of the victims described how they had been harassed over the past decade.

HOCKLEY: I got sent pictures of dead kids because I was told that as a crisis actor, I didn't really know what a dead kid look like.

FRANCINE WHEELER, MOTHER OF SANDY HOOK VICTIM BEN WHEELER: And she said who's fat? And I said that's my son Ben. He died in his first grade

classroom at Sandy Hook school. And she said what I said yes he died at Sandy Hook and she said you're lying that didn't happen.

[09:50:00]

CASAREZ (voice over): Plaintiffs and their attorneys were visibly emotional when the jury's decision was read one of them Robbie Parker, the father of

six year old victim, Emile.

ROBBIE PARKER, FATHER OF SANDY HOOK VICTIM EMILE PARKER: The payoff for me was being able to take Emile's story back. Being able to, throughout all of

this mess, remind people about who she was and what she meant to me and her mom and her sisters. It's not just the families that are on this lawsuit

that number numberless amount of people in this country, even his own listeners that have fallen victim to Alex Jones. So I think this number

represents more than just us.

CASAREZ (voice over): Jones did not attend the verdict instead; he was streaming it live on his Infowars show.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Defamation slash slander damages past the future $24 million.

CASAREZ (voice over): Mocking the decision and using it to fundraise.

JONES: I don't have any money so it's all a big joke.

ERICA LAFFERTY, DAUGHTER OF SANDY HOOK VICTIM DAWN HOCHSPRUNG: Money is all that Alex Jones cares about. And the only way to start to explain how he's

made us feel is that to hit him in the pocket.

CASAREZ (voice over): It is unclear when or how much of the money the plaintiffs will ultimately see. But some plaintiffs see it as a warning for

those who spread these types of lies.

BILL SHERLACH, HUSBAND OF SANDY HOOK VICTIM MARY SHERLACH: People like Alex Jones will have to rethink what they say how they say it, how long they say

it?

CASAREZ (voice over): Jones attorney planning to appeal.

NORM PATTIS, ATTORNEY FOR ALEX JONES: Well, certainly it's more than we expected. That's an understatement. But we look very much forward to an

appeal in this case. Today is a very, very, very dark day for freedom of speech.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: We'll have much more on this story around the inflation after the break for you back in just a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FOSTER: Welcome back to "First Move"! U.S. stocks down sharply after inflation came in hotter than expected for September. The Consumer Price

Index rose 8.2 percent from a year ago raising fears that the Federal Reserve will continue with its steep interest rate hikes we're going to go

back to Rahel to see if things are getting any better the numbers are still down, but not as bad as they were?

SOLOMON: The lows that we've seen, but Max, you know, we're only 30 minutes into the trading session. So it's looking like it could be a choppy day.

Max you know, we spoke within the last hour about that hotter than expected inflation report.

And the markets weren't open and they are open now and they are clearly speaking they do not like what we saw, which was an acceleration of

inflation for the month of September on a monthly basis 0.4 percent on a yearly basis. 8.2 percent. But what was also problematic about this report

is not just that we saw inflation increase in essential categories, like shelter or accommodations, food, medical care, but it's also that core

inflation which the Fed pays even close closer attention to that continue to accelerate 0.6 percent on a monthly basis or 6.6 percent over the last

year.

[09:55:00]

SOLOMON: So Max, what this essentially means is, this was another gut punch. This was another harsh dose of reality, certainly for us American

consumers, certainly central bankers at the Federal Reserve, but also investors that this inflation fight might prove to be quite difficult to

solve and might be with us for quite some time.

You think about the Fed, it's already raised interest rates five times this year. There are two more meetings this year and so it is looking like Max

unfortunately, we're still in the very early days of this because the medicine doesn't seem to be working. Not yet at least.

FOSTER: You're wearing the right color, at least Rahel, thank you for joining us! That's it for the show. Thanks for watching. "Connect the

World" with Becky is next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:00:00]

END