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Amanpour

Inflation Worries. Aired 1-1:06p ET

Aired November 19, 2021 - 13:00   ET

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

[13:00:25]

BIANNA GOLODRYGA, CNN INTERNATIONAL HOST: Hello, everyone, and welcome to AMANPOUR.

Here's what's coming up.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Twenty ounces. How many ounces is that? Twenty-four. So get that one.

GOLODRYGA (voice-over): As inflation starts to bite around the world, we take a wide-ranging look at jobs and the economic recovery plan with former

Obama labor chief economist Betsey Stevenson.

Then:

MARTY WALSH, U.S. SECRETARY OF LABOR: The investments here will be game- changing. It won't add to inflation. If anything, it will help bring inflation down.

GOLODRYGA: U.S. Labor Secretary Marty Walsh tells Walter Isaacson why the Build Back Better agenda will alleviate the pressure on working America.

And "From Warsaw With Love." I speak to former "Washington Post" reporter John Pomfret about his new book on the CIA's unlikely alliance with Polish

spies.

Then:

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You have one chance at life. For God's sake, live it the way that makes you comfortable.

GOLODRYGA: A bucket list adventure. The mother and son behind the "Duty Free" documentary join us.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GOLODRYGA: Welcome to the program, everyone. I'm Bianna Golodryga in New York, sitting in for Christiane Amanpour, who will be back next week.

A victory for the Biden administration today, as House Democrats finally passed the Build Back Better bill. Speaker Nancy Pelosi couldn't contain

her excitement when she announced it on the House floor.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA): On this vote, the yeas are 220, the nays are 213.

The Build Back Better bill is passed.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GOLODRYGA: This sweeping $1.9 trillion social safety net legislation now heads to the Senate, where it is bound to face some obstacles.

Now, this all comes at a time when the cost of living in the United States continues to rise. Higher prices at grocery stores and gas pumps are

hitting Americans' wallets in ways not seen in decades. And it's not just in the United States. The U.K. is seeing prices surge at the fastest rate

for nearly 10 years. And inflation in the Eurozone is also up.

So, what's going on?

Let's ask Professor Betsey Stevenson, who served as a top economic adviser under President Obama.

Betsey, welcome back to the program.

So, finally, we have the House passing the Build Back Better legislation. Now it goes to the Senate, where there will be some changes, though the

House speaker said that they had been working with the Senate and the White House on this bill.

So, presumably, there won't be much different here. But, from an economic standpoint, what in this bill do you think is crucial as far as pertaining

to American households? And what do you think should not be cut out?

BETSEY STEVENSON, FORMER COUNCIL OF ECONOMIC ADVISERS MEMBER: Well, there is just absolute historic investment in child care that is going to benefit

so many families that have really struggled over the last year-and-a-half with COVID, where they have lost access to child care. They have been

scrambling on their own to get kids back in school, to find child care.

But long before COVID, families struggle to pay for -- struggled to pay for quality child care. And this bill is going to make high-quality, affordable

child care in the reach of every family in America.

And I think that -- and for all the parents out there, this is just such a big deal.

GOLODRYGA: Yes, and that is what I just hear anecdotally from parents across the country as well, that this is going to be potentially a game-

changer.

But you have those in the Senate -- and I'm not talking about Republicans. I'm talking about Democrats, specifically Joe Manchin, who's saying, wait a

minute here, we may need to cool our horses for a little bit, because he's concerned about inflation, and says that we need to see what happens with

inflation before he agrees to sign on to this bill, perhaps even into next year.

Is there an inflationary component here? Is he right to worry from that standpoint?

STEVENSON: So, I really don't think he's right to worry.

So if we think about what's going on with inflation right now, some of this is the stuff that's happening overseas, the problems with shipping, the

chip shortages, but some of it's coming to a labor shortage. Americans need to get back to work. They can't get back to work without child care.

So, if we want to slow inflation, what we have to do is get more workers back into the work force. And a great way to do that would be to make sure

that they can afford child care.

No, I think, ultimately, when we're talking about inflation, the issue is, demand is outstripping supply. And his concern is that...

[13:05:04]

GOLODRYGA: Betsey, I am so sorry to interrupt you. I am so sorry.

We are going to have to break into this to go to live coverage here, because a verdict has been reached in the Kyle Rittenhouse case.

We will continue with you in a while.

JUDGE BRUCE SCHROEDER, KENOSHA COUNTY CIRCUIT COURT: Yes, you folks can be seated. It may be a few minutes.

(LIVE COVERAGE OF RITTENHOUSE TRIAL - CNN SIMULCAST)

END