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New Day

Oil Takes a Dive; Russian Cosmonauts Celebrate Ukraine Territory Capture; Ukraine Medic Speaks Out; Polling on Midterms; Eichmann Tapes Unearthed. Aired 6:30-7a ET

Aired July 06, 2022 - 06:30   ET

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


[06:30:00]

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Move yesterday. So we're really watching what the oil market is telling us. It's telling us it sees slowing demand for oil and it sees worries about a recession around the world.

RAHEL SOLOMON, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: And, guys, it's interesting because we talk so much about, are we entering a recession. It begs the question, does that even really matter right now because we all feel so lousy, we all feel like we're in a recession. And we're seeing that play out in the markets in terms of oil prices, copper prices, stock prices I mean they have taken such a hit. And even when you look at the S&P 500, the broadest measure of U.S. stocks, the sectors that are getting hit the hardest, consumer discretionary.

The idea that in a slowing environment, in a recessionary environment, where we start to pull back, we're not going to restaurants as much, we're not going to hotels as much. Stocks, excluding energy, which, of course, are higher because crude oil has been so much higher, stocks that are doing the best relatively are sort of safe plays, utilities, health care, consumer staples, things that we will continue to spend on even in a weakening environment. So, whether we are already in a recession or not, people feel pretty lousy about the state of things right now.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Christine, you've got some new reporting on this unique moment we are in, in this economy, because even as there are a lot of lousy things happening, workers are in a fairly decent moment if you have a job because companies need to hang on to you.

ROMANS: Yes. It's so odd. I never remember a time talking about recession fears at the same time talking about how companies will do anything to keep their workers, right? You're seeing some job losses in crypto and tech, in real estate and mortgages for all the obvious reasons. But we've got some big companies that are doing these mid- year bonuses and pay raises. Usually don't see this this time of year. And they're doing it because inflation is biting in their workers' bottom lines and they need to retain their best workers.

There's another inter - and you can see some of them, ExxonMobil, they gave - they gave a salary bonus, 3 percent of the salary bonus, they were doubling some of the merit-based raises over at Microsoft, T. RowePrice announcing a raise in July. Usually it's not that time of the year.

And then there's this other thing that I found that is happening that companies are telling me. They have 11.7 million people who are still working remotely because of what - the Covid. You have all these companies that want people to come back, even for a few days a week, and now they're saying, OK, we realize gas prices are $5 a gallon. So, just, please, you can continue to work remotely, just don't turn over to another company, right? They really want to keep their workers. And so, in some cases, recognizing that inflation is now part of this retention story that we've been talking about for so long.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: It also feels like, you know, oil prices are dropping. Well, that should be good news, but not exactly.

SOLOMON: Right.

KEILAR: Oh, the idea that the jobs market is so hot, that's great, not exactly, but so what -

ROMANS: Everything has an asterisk.

SOLOMON: It's such an interesting point because we hear the Fed talk a lot about the jobs market because demand, as Christine was saying, for workers has been so hot. I mean Powell has talked about how there are two open jobs for every one person looking. And that has really benefited candidates and job seekers.

The issue for the Fed is that that keeps wages sort of elevated, right, and that companies then start to pass on the higher labor costs to us consumers in terms of prices. Well, that just makes the jobs - the job of the Fed much harder. It becomes a vicious cycle.

So, you're right, it's like, this is great news, but, wait a minute, the Fed is trying to tame inflation. So, in this context, it makes the job of the Fed much harder.

But you can't blame workers right now. Inflation last read was at 8.6 percent. Of course they would want more in terms of wages. It's not a surprise.

ROMANS: Yes, it's great, though, that those 11 million people who are not doing a daily commute they're not getting the bite of those gas prices and

their bosses know it and know how hard it is to make them come back in right now. So, I think there's a lot more at play here in that return to work, return to the office story as well.

SOLOMON: Yes. By the way, guys -

KEILAR: So is - it's - sorry.

SOLOMON: Jobs report on Friday. So we're going to know a lot more.

KEILAR: We'll be watching.

BERMAN: See you then. KEILAR: Yes, we will. It's so interesting these different moves we're

seeing.

ROMANS: Yes.

KEILAR: Christine, Rahel, thank you to both of you. Appreciate it.

So, cosmonauts on board the International Space Station celebrating Russia's capture of territory in eastern Ukraine. U.S. Astronaut Scott Kelly calling it disgusting.

BERMAN: Why Joe Rogan will not have Donald Trump on his podcast.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE ROGAN: I've had the opportunity to have him on my show more than once. I've said no every time. I don't want to help him. I'm not interested in helping him.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:38:26]

BERMAN: So, controversy in orbit. Three Russian cosmonauts on board the International Space Station holding the flag of the self- proclaimed Luhansk People's Republic. This is the area in Ukraine conquered basically by Russian troops. The Russian space agency says they were celebrating the capture of the Luhansk region in Ukraine, celebrating the Russian invasion.

CNN's Kristin Fisher joins us now.

This is exactly the kind of posturing that American space officials have been warning against, Kristin.

KRISTIN FISHER, CNN SPACE AND DEFENSE CORRESPONDENT: That's exactly right. And it's something that NASA has really been trying its best to stay away from since the beginning this conflict. But as you just saw there, I mean, the day after Russia claimed that it had seized control of the Luhansk region in eastern Ukraine. You see right there, Roscosmos, Russia's space agency, posted that photograph of the three Russian cosmonauts aboard the International Space Station posting with that flag, the flag that's called the Luhansk - the self-proclaimed Luhansk People's Republic.

And along with that photo they posted this caption which reads, it's a liberation day to celebrate both on earth and in space. That's coming from Roscosmos.

But, John, as you know, the problem here, this is not Russia's space station. This is the International Space Station. NASA is a major partner, along with several other countries, Canada, Japan, the European Union. And those cosmonauts have to work alongside all of those NASA astronauts every single day. And so NASA, so far, has really tried to stay out this conflict. They

have not responded to that specific photograph.

[06:40:02]

But, John, several former NASA astronauts have, including Scott Kelly, who was a commander aboard the International Space Station, famously spent a year in space. And he said on Twitter yesterday that he concurs with a fellow former astronaut. He says, this political statement is disgusting and consistent with the man child that leads Roscosmos. A man by the name of Dmitry Rogozin. And Kelly goes on to say, if the cosmos - short for cosmonauts -- were against it, they would have had to choose between this or a rocket to Siberia. The ISS - the International Space Station -- is no place to promote genocide.

Especially when the International Space Station has long been hailed as one of the last places where the United States and Russia actually work together and cooperate.

And, John, I know you may be thinking, hey, didn't we see these cosmonauts, just a few months ago, showing up at the International Space Station wearing those yellow and blue -- there you go -- space suits right there. Everybody thought towards the beginning of the war that this was a show of support and solidarity for Ukraine. But, John, we now know that Roscosmos says that those were just the colors of their university that they were promoting, that it was just a coincidence.

But this latest picture with the flag really no mistaking the message that they were trying to send there.

BERMAN: IT seems deliberately provocative.

Kristin Fisher, thank you so much.

KEILAR: In an exclusive new interview, CNN sits down with a Ukrainian national hero, a medic who was captured by Russian forces during the battle for Mariupol and was released in a prisoner exchange after months of brutal imprisonment.

CNN's Alex Marquardt is joining us live from Lubny, Ukraine, with this story.

Alex, tell us about this.

ALEX MARQUARDT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Brianna, as Ukraine braces for a major Russian offensive in the eastern Donetsk region in Donbas after the Russians took over the Luhansk region, as you were just saying, we have just met a volunteer paramedic whose nickname is Taira who was just released from captivity in Donetsk. She has been hailed as a hero for her work on the front lines with Ukrainian troops and civilians. And she was just released after 90 days in captivity in conditions that she described as a gulag.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) MARQUARDT (voice over): In this Russian propaganda film, Yuliia Paevska is marched, hooded and handcuffed into a dark interrogation room. The hood yanked off, harsh light blinding her.

Paevska, who is Ukrainian, goes by the nickname Taira and is a famous medic known across Ukraine. Until very recently, she was a prisoner of war, held by Russian and pro-Russian forces made to appear in the propaganda film which access her of harvesting organs and compares her to Hitler.

After three months in captivity, Taira, whom we met today with her husband, was freed in a prisoner exchange. But in her first sit down interview since then, it's clear the wounds are still fresh.

YULIIA PAEVSKA "TAIRA", VOLUNTEER PARAMEDIC (through translator): There was physical abuse and psychological pressure. The extreme psychological pressure did not stop for a minute all these three months. Constantly you are told that you are a fascist, a Nazi.

MARQUARDT (on camera): It sounds like torture.

PAEVSKA (on camera): It was. And physical also.

MARQUARDT (voice over): Taira says she was deprived of food for days, beaten and threatened with the death penalty.

PAEVSKA (through translator): They kept interrogating, but at some point they realized that they would not get anything out of me. They threw me into solitary confinement, into a dungeon without a mattress, on a metal bunk.

MARQUARDT: When the war started in February, she headed to the brutal fight in Mariupol, capturing dramatic video on a body camera she wore. In March, as the Russians closed in, the memory card was smuggled out by journalists in a tampon. Then, at a checkpoint, Taira was recognized and taken prisoner.

PAEVSKA: I asked to be allowed to make a call, call my husband. They said you watched too many American films. There will be no call.

MARQUARDT: She says she was told lies about Russian battlefield successes and used against her will as a character for Russian media to claim that their forces are fighting neo-Nazis.

PAEVSKA: They are absolute victims of propaganda, of a ruthless propaganda that completely destroys their ability to think critically. If it were not for this, this conflict would not exist at all. I am absolutely sure of it.

MARQUARDT: It may be some time before Taira returns to the front lines. She also wants to train for next year's Invictus Games for wounded veterans as the reality sets in that this will be a long war.

[06:45:02]

PAEVSKA: This is an absolutely ruthless regime that wants to dominate the world. They told me that the whole world only had to submit to Greater Russia and "this is your destiny. You have to accept, just stop resisting."

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MARQUARDT: Just stop resisting, Taira says she was told by her captors.

Of course, Brianna, Ukraine has mounted significant resistance with much success, some losses, including the Luhansk region. What Ukraine needs now, Taira says, echoing Ukrainian leadership, is more help from the west, more military support.

Brianna.

KEILAR: Yes, stop resisting just is not in their DNA.

Alex, thank you so much for that amazing story.

The polls say Republicans are poised to retake the Senate, but new data is saying something different, actually, and Harry Enten is here to break it all down.

Plus --

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYOR DON MCLAUGHLIN, UVALDE, TEXAS: I think it's a cover up on - on -

SHIMON PROKUPECZ, CNN CRIME AND JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT : On DPS - they're covering up.

MCLAUGHLIN: McCraw is covering up for -

PROKUPECZ: For who?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: Cover up? The mayor of Uvalde, Texas, tells CNN he suspects a law enforcement cover up surrounding the elementary school massacre in his town.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:50:16]

BERMAN: So the midterm elections just four months away. And you've heard right here all kinds of data pointing to huge headwinds for Democrats. But is there a ray of hope for them when it comes to holding the Senate?

Joining us now, CNN senior data reporter Harry Enten.

Harry, you've been digging in here and you noticed something of a schism -- let's use the word schism --

HARRY ENTEN, CNN SENIOR DATA REPORTER: It's a nice word.

BERMAN: Between some of the national trends and some of the specific polling in the Senate races.

ENTEN: Yes. So we can drive right - I believe I was partially responsible for a lot of that bad numbers for Democrats being shown on this program. But take a look here, this is a 2022 Senate election forecast. And if you look solely at the state polling, that is race by race, which we'll get to in a minute, what do you get to in the fight to 50 or 51 seats? Look at this. In the state polling, you look at it, Democrats at 51, Republicans, 49. That would point to a Democratic majority come next year.

But if you look at the national indicators, and non-state polling data, ergo the past presidential vote and the president's approval rating, which is quite low, we see something very, very different. If you just looked at the non-state polling and the national indicators, you would see Republicans at 53 seats. A clear majority.

If you average the two of these together, the state polling and the national indicators and non-state polling data, what you get is a very, very close fight, but with Republicans favored at 51 to Democrats' 49 seats.

BERMAN: All right, let's take a look at what this means in some of the specific races.

ENTEN: Yes, let's do that.

So, here are essentially the five key races that I think a lot of us will be watching, Arizona, Georgia, Nevada, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. If you look at the state polling right now what do you see? You see an Arizona where there's limited state polling, you sese Mark Kelly up by 10 points over Blake Masters. You look at Georgia. We have a tie. You have Nevada. You have the Democrats plus two. Pennsylvania, the Democrats plus six. Wisconsin, a tight race we spoke about it last week, Republicans plus one point. So, in the state polling, you see the Democrats are very much in this thing.

But if you look at the non-state polling, for example, again, the past presidential vote and the president's approval rating, you kind of put that into the equation, you would see that the Republicans would be overwhelmingly favored by eight or nine points in all these races. So we see a very clear divide where the state polling is saying that Democrats are very much in this. But if you look at the non-state polling fundamentals, again, the past presidential vote and the president's approval rating is two key examples of that, Republicans would be very much favored in this race.

BERMAN: Look, if you're a Democrat and you're looking at this, you say, the Democrats could even gain seats based on the polling.

ENTEN: Yes.

BERMAN: What happens when you squish these two things together, Harry? ENTEN: If you squish these two together, you basically get a very,

very tight race whereby in Arizona the Democrat Mark Kelly would be favored by a point and the rest of the races you'd see the Republican candidate favored by anywhere from one to five points.

But here's a key nugget for you. If you go back over time you'd see chances are one side won't win all the races that are close at this point. So, basically, when you squeeze it all together, the way I would put it is Republicans are favored but not by that much.

BERMAN: What are these national indicators, these national trends that are so difficult for Democrats?

ENTEN: Yes, I mean, here we go. Look at this. Thirty-nine percent approve of the job that Joe Biden's doing as president. A 70-year low for the University of Michigan Consumer Confidence Index. Eighty-seven percent of Americans think the USA is on the wrong track. So you put these together, you go, there's no way. How could Democrats possibly ever hold the Senate. But the fact of the matter is that when you look at this state polling you say, hey, maybe they potentially could.

BERMAN: Harry, people who have studied government and political science know that House race right side different.

ENTEN: They can be very different.

So, if you look right now at the estimate, you would see this, Republicans 237 to 242 seats, Democrats 193 to 198 seats. That's based on a formula of historical House ratings. So, a very different picture from the United States.

BERMAN: The House typically more responsible to these national trends you were talking about.

Harry Enten, we're going to discuss this much more over the next four months.

ENTEN: It's going to be a fun time.

BERMAN: And you're going to be back later in the broadcast. We'll tell you why.

ENTEN: That will be a fun time too.

BERMAN: Brianna.

KEILAR: Legendary guitarist Carlos Santana collapsing on stage last night during a concert in Michigan. His team is blaming heat exhaustion. Temperatures had hit 90 degrees on the outdoor stage there. As medical personnel attended to Santana, the stage crew held up a black tarp to block the crowd's view, and he was then taken to an area hospital. His management says he is doing well. So that is certainly good news.

BERMAN: I'm glad to hear that. Look, I know a little something about the old heat exhaustion, heatstroke there. It knocked me out of the Boston Marathon. So -

KEILAR: It's serious.

BERMAN: So Carlos Santana (INAUDIBLE).

[06:55:00]

KEILAR: So, long lost Nazi tapes revealing the chilling confessions of one of the main architects of the Holocaust.

BERMAN: And new information on the man charged with murdering seven people at the July 4th parade in Highland Park. How he was able to get the firearms despite several run-ins with police.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KEILAR: Long lost tapes of Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann have emerged in a new documentary series. Eichmann was executed by Israel for his role in the Holocaust. And on the tapes Eichmann is heard boasting about his actions in devising the final solution for Jews.

CNN'S Hadas Gold is live for us in Jerusalem with this.

Hadas.

HADAS GOLD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Brianna, these tapes are part of a new documentary called "The Devil's Confession: The Lost Eichmann Tapes." They were recorded in 1957 in Argentina while Eichmann was in hiding.

[07:00:00]

And he wanted them to be part of memoires after he died. But, in 1960, Israeli agents apprehended him, brought him to Israel to face trial where he claimed he didn't know.