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Summer Economic Boom; Nelly is Interviewed about Returning to Performing; Clashes in Jerusalem; Gwenda Blair is Interviewed about Trump Organization Investigation. Aired 8:30-9a ET

Aired May 21, 2021 - 08:30   ET

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

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[08:31:34]

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: America reopening and primed for a summer economic boom.

Christine Romans, CNN chief business correspondent, here with me this morning.

Romans.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, what a year this is turning out to be. Probably the strongest economy we've since Reagan was in the White House. We expect the best economic growth in decades.

The economy essentially booming here. Here's what it looks like, John. I want to start with housing. A red-hot housing market. Homes are selling above asking price with multiple offers, sometimes cash. Sales are up. Prices are up. Record highs. It's so cheap to borrow money still people want more space.

And, John, the inventory of homes for sale is so low, homes aren't staying on the market very long. Just a matter of days in many cases.

As everything reopens here, big employers are raising wages. They need to attract and retain their workers. Look at all of these companies raising wages just announced in recent weeks. Under Armour, Amazon, Chipotle, Walmart, McDonalds. Bank of America has doubled its starting wage over the past decade. It's now $20 an hour. It now avows $25 an hour by the year 2025.

Travel is snapping back. Newly vaccinated Americans hitting the roads, flying the skies for the summer. More than 1 million people have passed through U.S. airports every day since early March. After big losses, hotel profits are now about halfway back to their 2019 levels.

And look at restaurants. You've probably seen this in your own neighborhood. U.S. dining about 90 percent now of 2019 levels.

And live events are back. Chicago's Lollapalooza, that comes back this July. Grant Park, full capacity. Mosh pits in Chicago. And here, Bonnaroo in Tennessee, the governor's ball in New York City, Austin City Limits will all return this fall.

John, America is ready to party again. But what about the hangover, right? Consumer prices rising the fastest since the Great Recession. The Fed says don't worry it will be temporary. We've been hearing a lot about labor shortages. More businesses will have to pay up to win the talent war. And that's tough for small businesses, really, because they don't have those big margins. Big public companies have deep pockets. Small businesses don't. So we'll watch this space here on the labor shortages.

BERMAN: Really interesting to see. Get ready for the mosh pits, Romans.

ROMANS: Yes, I've been looking for you in this video. I haven't found you quite yet.

BERMAN: (INAUDIBLE).

Brianna.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: You heard Christine there mention Bonnaroo.

Well, joining us now is Grammy Award-winning rapper Nelly, who is going to be performing at Bonnaroo later this year.

Look, it is so wonderful to have you on. I just have to tell you, "Country Grammar" was the soundtrack of my early 20s. And now I'm like, you know, now I'm like a mom and I have kids and "Ride Wit Me" comes on and I'm like, shush, mama's listening, mama's listening.

But, look, you know, you know, you've had so many albums. You know what it's like to normally be promoting an album and instead you've gone through this year where nothing has been the same. What does it mean for you to be heading back out there and performing in front of fans?

NELLY, GRAMMY AWARD-WINNING RAPPER: Well, yes, I mean you said it, I mean, for our business, it was catastrophic. Like a lot of things. But, you know, we deal with crowds. We deal with the energy. We deal with getting out there, touching our fans, being able to give them, you know, what we love to do so much.

And it's just been tough. It's just been tough all the way around. So we've been trying to figure out different things to try to make this go by a little easier, this transition. So, yes, it's been crazy.

BERMAN: Look, as you're getting ready to perform, what precautions are you taking? You, other performers, all vaccinated, crews vaccinated. Are you looking for the audience to be vaccinated?

[08:35:02]

NELLY: Yes, I've been vaccinated. I mean, obviously, you would like for everybody to go and get vaccinated. Yes, I think it's going to be a little different, you know, because we're used to reaching out, touching so many people. I think that will be a little bit scarce, if not fist bump, but, I mean, you know, we'll find other ways to feed off the energy of the crowd.

KEILAR: Yes, I mean, usually you're talking about tens of thousands of people, right, that you're in front of. So you're going to find other ways to kind of interact with them.

But this year has also changed just what you have done for promoting your albums. For instance you actually had a latest -- your latest single "Lit Bit" with Florida Georgia Line, you were set to release it when you were touring last year but then you had to change things up. How did you do that?

NELLY: I mean, it's just on the fly. I mean -- I basically had everybody's been trying to co-exist just period in life with this -- with everything going on. I mean we basically took it as we got it, tried to figure out certain things, what would work, what would not work. I'm not the most techie person in the world. So I had to step my tech game up. I mean even being here with you all this morning probably took me about five or six people (ph) to get ready. And so, I mean, you know, you just try to find creative ways to reach out and touch people. Obviously, streaming has been very, very successful. We did versus (ph). We've been doing a lot of Zooms and a lot of calls such as these.

BERMAN: It is interesting, you talk about the creative process. I wonder if it's changed your art at all, if it's changed, you know, the music that you've been making?

NELLY: Well, no, because the studio is really your sanctity, so to speak. So a lot of times it's just you and whoever your creative process allows to be in there a lot of times. And that's not a lot of people. I know that's not for me. But that part was pretty -- was pretty OK. I think just getting out there and being able to experience things, to be able to put it into your music is the part that I think has stumped a lot of people.

KEILAR: You have a new album called "Heartland" which is coming out soon. Putting you on the spot, though, what is your favorite -- your favorite Nelly song, of your songs, of all time?

NELLY: You know, those are like kids. I mean, you know, depending on who made you mad that day probably who you will say (INAUDIBLE). But I would probably say if I had to say any "Country Grammar," that was the first song that represented where I was from. That started the whole thing for Nelly, for St. Louis, for St. Lunatics. So definitely "Country Grammar" would probably be my favorite.

BERMAN: See, spoken like a true parent. I'm glad you admit it. Yes, we love all of our kids, but we definitely like some more at given times. Every parent should be willing to admit that based on -- based on certain dynamics that might be in play there. Am I right? Am I right?

NELLY: Yes, sir, you hit it on the head. You hit it on the head right there. We love them all. But depending on the day is how much you like them. BERMAN: What do you think, when you look back years from now, and

you're still turning out Grammy Award-winning songs, what do you think you're going to say about this last year? What do you -- how do you think you're going to feel about it?

NELLY: You know what, I don't know. And we talked about that conversation once before when we were in the studio with a group of people that I was with. And we were just saying how this is going to be a final for some kid. How this is going to be a lot of papers and just -- and each area of education, how this would affect them as far as learning and, you know, the type of adjustments that had to be made.

You know what, I'm clueless about it. I don't know because, just like you're interviewing me, I'm interested in knowing how it affected somebody else's area of expertise, what it is that they do as well.

KEILAR: Well, and that is going to be the story through music, through what everyone is doing. And, Nelly, look, it is wonderful to have you on. We're so excited. I know you are for this year ahead of you just to get back to some normal and to bring some joy to fans who enjoy your music.

So, thank you for being with us this morning.

NELLY: Well, thank you for having me. Appreciate it. Thank you, guys.

KEILAR: That was very cool, John Berman.

BERMAN: I know. Was it everything you hoped it would be after all that?

KEILAR: It was more.

BERMAN: Yes.

KEILAR: It was more.

BERMAN: Ys. I can tell.

KEILAR: He's a special artist in my sort of personal story.

Will the Trump Organization's CFO Allen Weisselberg flip on his longtime boss? Weisselberg's former daughter-in-law thinks she knows. We'll have her prediction next.

And Prince William and Harry ripping the BBC. Why they believe the broadcaster contributed to their mother's demise.

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[08:43:53]

BERMAN: All right, this is just in to CNN. This is new video of fresh clashes breaking out in Jerusalem -- that's the old city there -- just hours after a cease-fire was declared between Israel and Hamas. Again, this video just coming in.

This recent conflict, much of it began over tensions surrounding the area you're looking at right now in Jerusalem before it devolved into an all-out shooting war between Hamas and Israel. Unclear yet how this will affect the cease-fire that is just hours old at this point.

Our Ben Wedeman is actually in Gaza City with the very latest on that.

Ben, I don't know if you can see our pictures from Jerusalem, but give us the situation where you are.

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Where we are is, of course, this cease-fire, John, has now been into effect for 14 hours and people are out. Lots of people finally have the opportunity to come out and look at the damage to their towns and cities.

We're in Gaza City.

[08:45:00]

Behind me is -- this is the Jala (ph) Building, which, of course, last Saturday was brought down in an Israeli air strike and it contained the offices of the Associated Press and al Jazeera.

But certainly the atmosphere clearly is much more relaxed than it was 24 hours ago while the shooting -- while the firing from Gaza of rockets and the Israeli air strikes were going on.

As far as Hamas is treating this latest development, they say it is a triumph. But for a group like Hamas to survive is to triumph. Two hundred and forty-three people were killed in -- during this war. Sixty-six of them children, according to the Gaza health ministry.

But people you talk to just tell you it's a relief that the bombing, that the war has come to an end. But there's lots of destruction. Many tales of horror of what people have gone through over the last 11 or 12 days.

But keep in mind, John, that since December 2008, there have been four wars between Gaza and Israel. So despite the trauma, there is a certain sense that people here have become accustomed to this. Not happy about it in any sense, but there's a certain relief that they made it out alive, John.

BERMAN: Ben Wedeman for us in Gaza City. Ben, our thanks to you. Stay safe.

On the other side of your screen, we are watching these developments unfold in Jerusalem, where we're seeing some clashes there at those Islamic holy sites.

Brianna.

KEILAR: The former daughter-in-law of top Trump Organization officer Allen Weisselberg says in regard to business there's been nothing legal going on in the past 21 years. Speaking with CNN's Erin Burnett, Jennifer Weisselberg, the ex-wife of Allen's son Barry Weisselberg, says it appears from her conversations with the Manhattan District Attorney that the next steps of their investigation will focus on sections of the Trump Organization which her ex-husband ran. Jennifer Weisselberg has been cooperating with the DA's investigation and offered a prediction for what happens next.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JENNIFER WEISSELBERG, FORMER DAUGHTER-IN-LAW OF TRUMP ORGANIZATION CEO ALLEN WEISSELBERG: Donald Trump and the Trump Organization are one in the same. Allen and Donald may look different, but they are not different inside. There is no difference. The power that they've been -- they were handed by -- when he became president.

The power is palpable. And I thought, this is so dangerous. I cannot believe they're giving this much power to -- and control to someone that is doing it for their own benefit.

There's nothing going on that's a witch hunt or a fishing expedition. That is not true.

It's no one's fault but their own. They need to be accountable for what they've done.

ERIN BURNETT, CNN ANCHOR: Will Allen Weisselberg flip on Trump?

WEISSELBERG: Yes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: Joining me now is Trump biographer Gwenda Blair. She is the author of the book "The Trumps: Three Generations of Builders and a President."

Gwenda, thank you for being with us.

What did you think of this interview?

GWENDA BLAIR, AUTHOR, "THE TRUMPS: THREE GENERATIONS OF BUILDERS AND A PRESIDENT": I thought she sounded pretty solid. She sounds rueful. She sounds like she's been through it. She was in the room.

KEILAR: So, you know, this is someone who is formerly married to a Weisselberg. How do you think -- you know, is she credible? Is she credible, do you think, to the folks she's cooperating with?

BLAIR: She sounded, like I said, she sounded pretty solid, excuse me, and like she knows how it works, how it operates, how Trump keeps people loyal and dependent, how everything is arranged. Allen Weisselberg was up close with not only Donald but his father. He -- Allen Weisselberg is the financial wizard who made it possible for Fred Trump to avoid inheritance taxes, to pass on a massive fortune to his children without paying appropriate taxes, set up shell corporations. Donald -- Allen Weisselberg, sorry, is the financial wizard that made that all happen. The two arms of the Trump Organization have been people -- Allen

Weisselberg doing the finances and a battery of lawyers dealing with the, I believe it is more than 4,000 lawsuits that Donald Trump has been involved with, and finding out the ways to -- finding the ways around all sorts of regulations, laws, tax benefits. That's how it works.

[08:50:08]

KEILAR: Now, if she is correct, I think the most important thing that we heard her say was that last bit there where she was asked if Allen Weisselberg would give up Trump, and she said, yes. How bad is that for Trump, do you think?

BLAIR: It could be catastrophic because Allen Weisselberg knows who said -- who does -- you know, who should do this. He's the one who knows who gave the directive for payoffs, for checks being written. He's the one who knows. He was right there.

And as we've learned, a lot of the way -- in fact almost entirely the way that Donald Trump operates is kind of by inference. He doesn't necessarily tell a lot of people what to do, but he makes it known what they should do. And Allen Weisselberg was there where that was happening.

From the beginning of the Trump Organization, it was a no paper trail place. People were not -- memos were not written. Everything was oral. And Donald -- and Allen Weisselberg was in the room when those oral arrangements were being made.

KEILAR: So he is the keeper of the receipts, as you would say.

BLAIR: Yes.

KEILAR: Gwenda, thank you so much. It is -- it's wonderful to get your perspective as a biographer.

BLAIR: Thank you.

KEILAR: A blistering attack on the BBC from Prince William and Harry. The stunning report that has the royal brothers blaming the broadcaster for their late mother's pain and her demise.

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[08:55:17]

BERMAN: All right, this is video just in to CNN a short time ago. This is clashes at the al-Aqsa compound in Jerusalem. Israeli police squaring off with what they are calling rioters at these mosques. The Israeli forces say that they were having rocks thrown at them and other devices.

Now what you're seeing here, and you can see them firing rubber bullets right there, the Israeli authorities, this comes several hours after a cease-fire in place between Israel and Hamas. We are told that the rocket fire out of Gaza and the corresponding Israeli response has been quiet over the last several hours, but this development right here, this is reasonably perilous. The latest round of conflict between Israel and the Palestinians began after fighting at this very compound.

We are following this throughout the morning. Stay with CNN for our special coverage. It continues in a moment.

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