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New Day

Veterinarians Perform CPR on a Distressed Elephant Mother in Thailand; Shark Attacks Off Long Island; Truck Drivers Are Considered Economic Barometer of the Nation; Retail Sales Are Considered in Our Economy; CNN's W. Kamau Bell Speaks About Black Americans Living in Appalachia; CNN Hero Nelly Cheboi Teaching Computer Skills in Kenya. Aired 8:30-9a ET

Aired July 15, 2022 - 08:30   ET

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

[08:30:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BRIANNA KEILAR, CO-HOST OF NEW DAY: A dramatic rescue of two elephants in Thailand. A baby elephant fell into a muddy well and its mother refused to leave its side. Crews came to rescue the baby and have to give the panicked mother an anesthetic to subdue her, but then she too fell into the ditch head first and they used a crane to help hoist the mother from the hole, but then she fainted presumably from the stress and that is when a team of veterinarians jumped into action performing CPR.

JOHN BERMAN, CO-HOST OF NEW DAY: Elephant CPR.

KEILAR: Elephant CPR to resuscitate her. Rescuers dug a root for the baby to escape the ditch, while a man jumped up and down on the mother's side and she finally woke up. The successful rescuers then got to watch as the mother and the child safely returned to the wild.

BERMAN: That's amazing. (Inaudible), how do you give an elephant CPR? And the answer is carefully.

KEILAR: Apparently not, you jump up and down on it, oh my goodness but being a veterinarian helps.

BERMAN: All right. So just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water, at least four people have been injured in a 10 day span on the beaches off Long Island in shark attacks, expected shark attacks. Nobody was killed but the frequency of these attacks has people on edge.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, I'm careful. I'm not going all the way in there.

STEVE BELLONE, SUFFOLK COUNTY, EXECUTIVE: We have to be reacting to what appears to be a new reality.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: All right, with us now is Forest Galante. He's a biologist and an expert on Discovery's Shark Week. Thank you so much for being with us. I know you're going to tell me I shouldn't be scared. I know you're going to tell me that, but come on. I mean, four of these, like, you know, off these beaches that we're all at off the coast of Long Island. Why shouldn't I be scared?

FORREST GALANTE, BIOLOGIST AND DISCOVERY CHANNEL EXECUTIVE: Well, it's not necessarily that you shouldn't be scared. It's more that you should be respectful. You know, anytime that you enter into the ocean, you're signing a mental waiver. You're leaving your domain as an "alpha" being in -- on land and going into the shark's domain where they are in charge. And as summer comes around and more and more people go into the water, we're more and more likely to have these encounters with sharks.

KEILAR: What's the pattern that we're seeing here? And I'm not asking for a friend, I'm asking for myself because I have plans to go to a beach off Long Island tomorrow.

GALANTE: Well the pattern is the fact that its summertime and these animals are moving in cluster. They're hunting in the shallows and sharks aren't out to get you. They're not trying to bite people or eat people intentionally. Instead they're making this case of mistaken identity and they're going for a nibble, hence the fact that nobody's been killed and then oops, shouldn't have bit onto that. That's not the fish I was looking for and leaving the person alone.

BERMAN: I like to tell Brianna, I don't have to be faster than the shark. I just have to be faster than you, but what's better advice than that if you are going to be swimming?

GALANTE: That -- that is not very good advice. So I will say this, what you can do is take certain precautions when going to the beach, that are going to drastically reduce your likelihood of a shark encounter. So don't go swimming near river mouths, where the water's murky. Don't go in the ocean at dawn or dusk because sharks are typically crepuscular meaning they're hunting at those times. Don't swim where people are fishing or putting bait into the water. Try not to wear anything shiny with sequins or keys hanging off. Don't have beer cans or water balls that crunch which could emulate the sound of fish bones cracking. If you do all of those things and you stay in regular safe swimming areas and you swim while the sun is up, the likelihood of a shark encounter is incredibly low.

KEILAR: I don't even want to nibble. That's the difference between us. I don't want to get nibbled. I don't want you to get nibbled. I want no one to get nibbled.

BERMAN: Forrest, we do appreciate -- we do appreciate the advice. Thank you --

[08:35:10]

BERMAN: -- so much for calming us down this morning. And you can of course see Forrest on Shark Week on Discovery, July 7th at 8pm.

KEILAR: I'm not calmer. Speak for yourself.

BERMAN: No -- no -- I'm terrified of sharks, period.

KEILAR: Also crepuscular, we learned -- learned a new word there.

BERMAN: I didn't learn it. He said it, doesn't mean what it means.

KEILAR: I think its us. We work at dawn. We go to bed at dusk.

BERMAN: All right. Some call them the economic barometer of the nation, America's truck drivers. CNN is live at the nation's largest truck stop.

KEILAR: And this just in, a key report on retail sales. We're going to break down the numbers, what they say about the state of the economy.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BERMAN: All right. This just in, the June report on retail sales, CNN Business Correspondent Rahel Solomon here with the numbers. This continued nuanced, complicated version of the new economy Rahel.

RAHEL SOLOMON, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, John and Brianna, some signs of continued strength for the consumer. Retail sales for the month of June coming in at a stronger than expected one percent. The expectation --

[08:40:10]

SOLOMON: -- among economists had been an increase of eight-tenths of a percent. Even when you remove the automotive category, that came in better than expected. Of course there have been growing questions about the health of the consumer in this high inflationary environment. Inflation that we haven't seen, of course, for 40 years, 9.1 percent and in this environment where the Fed is increasing rate heights to try to get a handle on inflation. There have been so many questions about how is the consumer weathering this environment and these headwinds, and it appears that the consumer is still spending things like online shopping, like restaurants. We should say that this number is not adjusted for inflation so there is the likelihood that part of this is the increase in prices that we are all of course paying.

We should say we also heard from Jamie Diamond from J.P. Morgan yesterday when the company reported, when the bank reported and he too in the press release talked about the strength of the consumer as still showing signs of health. And so, this of course is great news, the U.S. consumer is the backbone of our economy, we want to see numbers like this, whether this complicates the job for the Fed is a different question because of course, the Federal Reserve wants to cool spending as it tries to lower inflation. So good news for the state of the consumer, not sure Chairman Powell will view it. BERMAN: Yes, trying to wrap your head around all this, almost

conflicting news we've been getting the last few days is one way to look at this, that the -- there is enough strength in the economy so maybe, just maybe it is possible for the Fed to raise rates to fight inflation and not push it into a recession?

SOLOMON: Well John, that's exactly what the Federal Reserve and Chairman Powell have said that they believe there is so much strength in the consumer, there's so much strength certainly in our jobs market, 3.6 percent unemployment rate. We saw 370,000 jobs added last month. That -- for those reasons they believe that we can weather this period of increasing rate hikes. The question is how much longer can the consumer weather these rate hikes. We know that we see them bank notes quite a bit. The consumer's still sitting on quite a bit of cash coming out of the pandemic but with inflation being 9.1 percent, the question is for how long.

BERMAN: Sort of a finger's crossed report out this morning. Retail sales better than expected. Rahel Solomon thank you very much for that.

KEILAR: Underway right now, a gathering of the Americans who deliver the goods everyday. We're talking about the "Trucker Jamboree" at the nation's largest truck stop in Iowa. More than 40,000 truckers attended last year, CNN's Ryan Young is at the jamboree and he's with us now. Ryan.

RYAN YOUNG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Brianna you talk about all the numbers that we just talked about when it comes to inflation, but the truck drivers a lot of times are considered almost like the weatherman for the economy. And a lot of them said during COVID, they saw a boom but when we talked to drivers yesterday, they said they started to see finally a little bit of a pullback. When you think about what truckers do across this country, 72 percent of all goods across this country are moved by truckers. That's $12.7 trillion of goods that they move each year.

And we were talking to some of the small business owners who supply truckers and they say they've seen the impact in terms of the truckers pulling back on their orders as they get more concerned, especially with this high fuel cost, as they see those diesel prices near $5.00 higher across this country. They are concerned that's finally starting to have an impact on their bottom line and they're worried, and also when you think about the fact when they show up at some of these truck sites where they drop off their loads. There's not enough labor to pull that stuff off their trucks, so they sit idle not making as much money as they can. We talked to one small business owner who's worried about the next few months.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RALPH BANKS, OWNER OF ROADWORKS CUSTOM: Now it's starting to slow down. That's right. Yes. So, I think there's -- I think -- I think there's a fear out there that -- that is being placed. We've got to figure out a way to -- to get these fuel prices back and -- and -- and get back to business. (END VIDEO CLIP)

YOUNG: Yes, Brianna when you think about this, there is at least maybe 40,000 truckers they're expecting to be in this area over the next three days. We talked to more than 50 drivers yesterday as we walked around here and got an idea of what they are dealing with out there. They -- some of them are very excited about the fact that infrastructure is finally going to get a chance to be improved across this country, because they say doing maintenance on their trucks is very hard in this economy. So they want to see the roads get better, but when you put all of this together, they've had the power through COVID and at this point they want to see this move forward and this economy keep rolling. But with inflation as high as it is right now, they are worried about the next six to eight months.

KEILAR: Yes. I think about filling up a car and the shock you have looking at -- at -- at the price of that. I cannot imagine when you're filling up a big rig. My god.

YOUNG: I'm -- I'm glad you said that because some of these guys are having their pumps shut off at $999.00 and that's not even for a full tank.

KEILAR: Not even a full tank. Ryan Young, thank you for that report. New overnight, Democratic Senator Joe Manchin dealing a big blow --

[08:45:09]

KEILAR: -- to the Biden economic agenda. We'll have the fallout ahead.

BERMAN: And CNN's W. Kamau Bell here with a look at the significant but largely unknown population of black Americans that have called Appalachia their home for centuries.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BERMAN: When people picture -- picture Appalachia, people generally see the white working class but now W. Kamau Bell is back and in this weeks episode of "United Shades of America", he looks at the significant but largely unknown population of black Americans that have called Appalachia home for centuries. Here's a preview.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

W. KAMAU BELL, HOST OF UNITED SHADES OF AMERICA: Often America tells the story of Appalachia without the black folks.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Right.

BELL: So can we tease that apart from people watching like, what is it -- what is it to be black from Appalachia?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If I am in a place where there are black people and mountains, I am at home. It feels like home.

[08:50:10]

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's the land that makes you Appalachian. My family's been here since before there was such a thing as Tennessee. So slaved and then freed and then black. Our relationship up those hills I probably made everyone of those hills out there. (Inaudible) just about this place.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: Joining us now is the Emmy Award Winning Host of "United Shades of America" and the Emmy Nominated for a number of other things, W. Kamau Bell. Kamau, it's great to see you this morning and congratulations on your continued success in everything. Talk to us about this --

(CROSSTALK)

BELL: -- me on.

BERMAN: Why did you want to go tell this story?

BELL: You know, we did an episode in Appalachia years ago where we focused on ex-coalminers and largely white ex-coalminers. While we were there I met some black coalminers and, you know, the director of this episode Morgan Found worked on parts unknown for years and also from that area of the country, was like, let's go back and talk about the black folks in Appalachia. And there's really an episode about black excellence and a lot of times "United Shades" we focus on trauma, on issues that are bleeding now and this was an episode that we got to sit back and talk about some hidden stories that Americans don't generally know.

KEILAR: You also have a moment that I think people are going to want to see which is a culinary adventure. So let's take a look at that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BELL: Before you start making fun of Appalachians eating squirrel, this is not an everyday meal anymore. Squirrel is how they teach nubees to hunt. They're doing this for me. My welcome to the family.

BELL: There we go. Nice. First bite of squirrel.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Make sure you don't get no buckshot.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ain't no buckshot.

BELL: Mmmm. I think it passed. I think it passed.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK.

BELL: You have to have a lot of skills. That's a damn certain about living out here.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Necessity is a good teacher. Well I grew up in the coalfields and there were no deer and the only thing that, you know, my dad taught us how to hunt was squirrels and rabbits.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: How was it? Oh my god. Those biscuits look amazing.

BELL: It was actually -- that was some good squirrel. Now I don't recommend you have a New York City squirrel. I wouldn't recommend that. This is free range, locally sourced squirrel. So if you hunted on the show you're seen me hunting squirrel. So yes, don't -- don't have a New York City squirrel but Appalachian squirrel was delicious.

BERMAN: What did you find Kamau when you went there? You said it was a success story over all beyond just the free range squirrel?

BELL: I mean, I think again, there's so many stories in this country of black folks and one of the -- and one of the themes of "United Shades" of the season is black is not a monolith and so I think the more we can tell stories of regional black folks who have regional black lives and also a lot of times, black people. I don't think the average black person knows there's black people in Appalachia and so many stories come out of there. We talk about it in the show. It's a little bit more of the "United Shades" sneaking critical race theory into people's homes.

KEILAR: People -- that snuck up on me Kamau. So people are surprised -- they are surprised with this story. They're surprised when they find out that there are Asian Americans living in the Bayou. You know, they don't expect this. What is the imprint that black folks are leaving on the Appalachian culture?

BELL: You know, there's so many things. There's like the -- so there this -- there's a center there that is one that it was founded by the Quakers that is a place that is one of the founding places that like, a lot of black social justice advocates from the civil rights era went there to learn how to be social justice advocates including a young Martin Luther King Jr. And so you think about just that alone, about that there was a place where Martin Luther King Jr. could go and relax and rest in the mountains and really connect to the bigger ideas. As I say in the show, maybe that's where he started to have that dream. So it is a place of restoration for many black people.

BERMAN: W. Kamau Bell, again, thank you for being with us this morning. Always great to see you and be sure to tune in everyone to an all new episode of "United Shades of America" with W. Kamau Bell, Sunday at 10pm. Eastern. President Biden, just moment ago, parting Israel heading to Saudi Arabia. This is the first time a U.S. president has ever made this specific flight. He is due to meet with the Saudi crown prince. More on CNN's special live coverage coming up.

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[08:55:10]

KEILAR: This weeks CNN Hero is a software engineer who is using technology to end poverty in Kenya. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NELLY CHEBOI, SOWFTWARE ENGINEER: Most of the computers are ending up in landfills. Well, we have kids here. I myself including back in the day who don't know even know what a computer is. We refurbish them. We install our own custom operating system that is geared to teaching our kids South Africa's troubleshooting and (inaudible) skills. We're working with institutions, colleges, companies, even individuals and then we bring it to the schools. All of you are going to be graphic designers today. They can go from doing a remote class with NASA. We do production, coding, personal branding and so on. The thing that was really fascinating me growing up, not seeing change, not seeing hope, not even seeing progress. I feel like with these kids I can see a path. I can see a way where they can make a living online and that is really, like, why we're doing this work.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: And if you want to see Nelly's full story go to CNN Heroes.com.