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Wholesale Inflation Soars to Highest Level in Four Years; Trump Arrives in China for Critical Talks With President Xi Jinping; Epstein Survivors Give Emotional Testimony Before Lawmakers. Aired 10-10:30a ET

Aired May 13, 2026 - 10:00   ET

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

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PAMELA BROWN, CNN ANCHOR: Happening now, breaking news, soaring inflation. A new economic report sending wholesale inflation skyrocketing. In fact, prices are at the highest they've been in nearly four years.

Plus, critical meetings, President Trump is now in Beijing. The leaders of the world's largest economies meeting as the Iran war looms over the visit.

And then later, one-on-one with Congressman James Comer. The chairman of the Oversight Committee will join us, and we'll discuss the Congressional investigation into Jeffrey Epstein and the shocking revelations from his survivors.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Iran's missile capabilities, The New York Times now reporting that Tehran's military still has access to most of its missile sites, launchers, and underground facilities.

Plus, one-on-one with Congresswoman Katherine Clark, the Democratic minority whip will be here in The Situation Room. So, what is the Democrats' strategy right now? The shift on redistricting just ahead of the midterm elections.

And later, the CIA's escalating secret war in Mexico, new exclusive CNN reporting on how the spy agency is taking on the Sinaloa cartel, seen in this video.

Welcome to our viewers here in the United States and around the world. I'm Wolf Blitzer with Pamela Brown, and you're in The Situation Room.

Breaking news, key new economic data shows inflation soaring in the United States. The headline, it's worse than expected. The new report shows wholesale prices are at the highest level in nearly four years.

Let's go live to CNN Business and Politics Correspondent Vanessa Yurkevich. Vanessa, what's behind the headline?

VANESSA YURKEVICH, CNN BUSINESS AND POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, what we are seeing is that price increases for businesses just blew past analyst expectations. On an annual basis, inflation for businesses rising to 6 percent. Just in March, it was 4 percent. So, you're talking about a 2 percent increase in just the monthly calculation of annual inflation for businesses. And then on a monthly basis, rising 1.4 percent, that is the largest jump that we have seen since March of 2022 when the war with Russia and Ukraine broke out.

Now, this report in particular, PPI, is broken down into services and goods. Services rising 1.2 percent just in April alone after remaining flat in March, and goods rising, excuse me, 2 percent in April.

This is interesting because services takes into account transportation, trucking, so you're seeing those diesel prices impacting that service sector, diesel prices rising more than 40 percent since the beginning of the war with Iran. And then on the goods side of things, up 2 percent in the month of April because of gasoline prices, accounting for over 40 percent of the increase in April for goods, gasoline prices alone up 15.6 percent in a single month.

Now, Wolf, we look at this very closely because this is ultimately an outlook of what businesses could decide to do in terms of passing the costs down to consumers. They don't always pass it down because businesses know that consumers are very sensitive to price increases right now.

So, businesses will have to take a look at their bottom line and decide, do they pass these increases down to consumers, or do they try to absorb it so that consumers don't continue to feel the pain of these rising prices. Wolf?

BLITZER: Is President Trump addressing this issue right now, Vanessa?

YURKEVICH: Well, Wolf, just yesterday he was asked about rising costs for Americans. Here's the exchange with a reporter just yesterday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REPORTER: When you're negotiating with Iran, Mr. President, to what extent are Americans' financial situations motivating you to make a deal?

DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: Not even a little bit. The only thing that matters when I'm talking about Iran, they can't have a nuclear weapon. I don't think about Americans' financial situation. I don't think about anybody. I think about one thing. We cannot let Iran have a nuclear weapon. That's all. That's the only thing that matters.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

YURKEVICH: So, there are Americans out there that believe that shouldering the cost or the burden of price changes because of this war is certainly worth it, but the majority of Americans, according to a CNN poll, 73 percent do not believe that the economic conditions in the country are working for them.

[10:05:09] And that is because, Wolf, just yesterday we got consumer prices, and we saw that consumer prices jumped to 3.8 percent, now outpacing wages for the first time in four years.

And look at some of these changes at the grocery store. This is where Americans feel the price pressures every single day. Beef prices actually jumping to nearly $7 a pound, 2.7 percent increase in April. Some of that is very much related to the herd sizes in this country, so still demand on shorter supply. Also, fruits and vegetables rising at the grocery store by 2.3 percent, led primarily by fruits and also some tomatoes and vegetables because of some also growing conditions, but certainly transportation costs to get these items to consumers at the grocery store rising.

Also, on the electricity front, that has jumped significantly for everyday Americans, rising 2.1 percent in April alone. That's the energy costs trickling down to electricity costs, also because of A.I. data centers putting a lot of pressure on the electricity grid, raising prices for everyday Americans.

Of course, we always want to see inflation moving closer to 2 percent, but in these last two reports, Wolf, both consumer prices and producer prices moving farther away from that 2 percent target. Now for producers, businesses, 6 percent annual inflation, Wolf.

BLITZER: Yes, very worrisome indeed. Our Vanessa Yurkevich, thank you very, very much. Pamela?

BROWN: All right, Wolf. More breaking news right now, President Trump is in China's capital after being greeted with pomp, ceremony, and hundreds of schoolchildren.

As you see right here, a red carpet welcome and the chants of, welcome, welcome, set the stage for a three-day visit that will be felt around the world. Technology and trade will be a focus of the world's top economic superpowers, but it's the Iran war that will likely dominate the talks with Chinese leader Xi Jinping.

China is a close partner with Iran and Iran's biggest buyer of oil. The president is expected to ask Xi to pressure Tehran into reopening the vital shipping route, the Strait of Hormuz, though Trump is saying publicly he doesn't need China's help.

CNN Senior White House Correspondent Kristen Holmes is in Beijing with the president. So, Kristen, lay out how the president's visit will unfold.

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Pamela. So, right now, we know President Trump is back at the hotel. Obviously, it is 10:00 P.M. where we are. In just a few hours, we're going to see him again, and that's where the real pomp and circumstance is going to begin. He's going to have this official greeting with President Xi in the Great Hall of People.

Now, this is something we saw back in 2017 when he was here last time, a red carpet, a huge ceremony. This is really every single detail meticulously planned by President Xi and his team. They know what President Trump wants to see, and this is what President Trump has really dreamed about.

He remembers this trip so fondly back in 2017 to the point where he often talks about his ballroom and says, can you imagine, in this current state, us inviting President Xi here, the way it looks? You know, that's why we need the ballroom, so clearly something that he likes. Now, they're going to have -- Then after that, they're going to have a bilateral meeting. Then, of course, they're going to have some downtime before they have a big state banquet.

Now, of course, the bilateral meeting, that's the time where we're going to see these potential business deals taking place. It's also going to be the time where you see the war in Iran hanging heavily over this confrontation, over this meeting. Are they able to get the business deals done that President Trump wants to get done?

Now, we know there's going to be some public deals that they're going to talk about between the governments. Commercial airliners is likely on the table, as well as soybeans, other agricultural goods. On the other side of this, there are likely to be private sector deals. We saw Elon Musk. We've seen a number of CEOs that are traveling with this delegation. So, there's a lot on the agenda. Whether or not they can get to it with Iran looming over everything, that is what remains to be seen. Pamela?

BROWN: All right. Kristen Holmes, thank you so much. Wolf?

BLITZER: And still ahead, redistricting strategy shift. I'll speak to the House minority whip, Katherine Clark, about her Democratic Party's strategy as multiple states push to renew, to redraw, I should say, Congressional maps.

BROWN: And up next, Epstein investigation. We'll speak to GOP Congressman James Comer on his committee's probe into the convicted sex offender.

You're in The Situation Room, and we'll be right back.

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BLITZER: We're tracking multiple live events this morning. Right now, the NATO secretary general, Mark Rutte, is speaking as he works to shore up the alliance amid the war in Iran.

And in Texas, a hearing on Camp Mystic, the girls' camp where 27 campers and counselors died in that devastating Texas flood. This could determine whether the wrongful death lawsuits against the camp will be heard by a jury or go to private arbitration.

And up on Capitol Hill right now, the Senate Homeland Security Committee is holding a hearing on whistleblower testimony involving COVID.

We're following all these new developments in the Congressional probe into Jeffrey Epstein and the people surrounding him as well.

BROWN: That's right, Wolf. Survivors of Epstein's abuse appeared before Democratic members of the House Oversight Committee in Florida yesterday.

[10:15:01]

Here's what one of them revealed.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROZA, EPSTEIN SURVIVOR: Jeffrey Epstein was under house arrest for the molestation of underage girls at the exact time I was -- he was abusing me.

I woke up one day with my name mentioned over 500 times. While the rich and powerful remain protected by reduction, my name was exposed to the world. Now, reporters from across the globe contact me. I cannot live without looking over my shoulder.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: And joining us now to discuss this and more is Republican Congressman James Comer of Kentucky. He's the chairman of the Oversight Committee leading the Epstein investigation. Chairman, thanks for coming on the show. It's good to see you back on here.

I want to start with what you heard there from Roza. In your view, has the Justice Department done enough to protect these women and right the wrongs that they've dealt with over the last two decades?

REP. JAMES COMER (R-KY): Well, let's start with the first. When Epstein was on house arrest, and that was somewhere around 2010. We had heard this story before from some survivors when we met privately, that when he was on work release, he wasn't working. He was still up to no good and meeting with young girls. And at the time, I think the girls were 18 or 19. He had been convicted of a minor -- you know, having sex with a minor prior to 2010.

So, the work release was a joke. And, I mean, it's criminal what he was allowed to do, and thus far, no one has been held accountable for that. And that would be the officials in the Palm Beach area back during that time period. So, that's part of our investigation, how the government failed the victims.

So, you go back to I think some other testimony that you heard yesterday, stuff that we've listened to the survivors in private meetings and said the same thing, that, you know, it was a sweetheart deal. And I've said that publicly on multiple networks, that Alex Acosta, you know, they did a sweetheart deal for Epstein.

But the worst part of the deal was the work release program where he continued to meet up with these girls. So, yes, that's a huge problem. The government has failed these girls. There's no question about it. And that spans several presidential administrations, several attorneys general all the way back to the early 2000s. BROWN: Right. And just to follow up, so you addressed the first part. On that second part, she talked about how her name wasn't redacted in the files that were released. At the end of this month, former Attorney General Pam Bondi will testify in front of your committee on her Justice Department's handling of the files and their release.

Lawmakers, like Ranking Member Garcia, say DOJ has only released half of the documents relating to Epstein, and Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said the DOJ is moving on from Epstein. So, again, do you support how DOJ has handled this? And what questions do you have for Bondi about all of this?

COMER: Well, the main question is, are there more documents? You know, the Democrats say there are. I believe there was a Department of Justice official that said there were 6 million documents. When this investigation started, the victims, their attorneys, they were estimating there were a few hundred thousand documents, which is a lot of documents. The Department of Justice has released 3 million documents. So, if there are more documents, I'm going to do everything in my ability to get them because we are supposed to get them. I subpoenaed them, then Congress passed a bill codifying everything that we wanted to get in our subpoena. We want the documents. So, that's going to be the first question Pam Bondi has.

Now, we asked her that when we met with her for a briefing that the Democrats made their big outrage stage and got up and walked out and went on, you know, liberal media and started complaining that she wasn't under oath or whatever. Well, she's coming in, and she's going to be under oath. They missed an opportunity to talk to Pam Bondi. We talked to Pam Bondi that day, the Republicans that stayed in the room, and, you know, they keep saying that they've released all the documents.

So, we're going to try to find out. I don't think Todd Blanche is moving on from Epstein. If there's more evidence that comes forward, then I think the Department of Justice is more -- is able and willing to prosecute people. And that's been one of the hard things. We've met with these victims. They had that deal yesterday in Palm Beach. They haven't named any names.

And we're trying to find names. We're bringing in people. I've already brought in ten people for interviews and depositions. We have eight more on the books. That'll be 18 of the most prominent people affiliated with Epstein, some famous, powerful, rich men. And, you know, it's -- I've interviewed -- the Oversight Committee, we've interviewed more people with respect to the Epstein investigation than the government ever did.

[10:20:00]

We brought in the accountant and the lawyer for Epstein, and they were never interviewed by the Department of Justice, and that goes back during the Obama administration, during the Trump administration, during the Biden administration. Where was the Department of Justice for these victims? They have failed the victims. There's no question about that. We want to get the truth to the American people and see if there's any way we can prosecute any men for any wrongdoing.

BROWN: Let me follow up on that because, as you know, one of the top issues for survivors is that only Ghislaine Maxwell has been charged related to the Jeffrey Epstein case. And Todd Blanche, for his part, has said no further charges should be brought. He said he's looked at the evidence and what he's seen, no further charges should be brought. I mean, what do you say to that?

COMER: Well, it, you know, again, we've pleaded with the survivors, if there are specific names of people that are still alive that have, you know, committed terrible crimes to underage girls, then if they would tell us, we will bring them in. And in a bipartisan fashion, we will ask them every question under oath. And if we can have criminal referrals to give to Todd Blanche at the Department of Justice, we are able and willing to do that.

I've got Nancy Mace on the committee, Anna Paulina Luna, Lauren Boebert. These ladies on the committee, these Republican women, they are just as committed to prosecuting people and holding people accountable for wrongdoing. I've subpoenaed all the documents from the estate. We have every single document from the estate. Many of the survivors and their attorneys thought that getting the documents from the estate would lead to some names to of people that could be convicted, but there weren't any.

Now, did someone go in and clean out the estate? You know, the lawyer said they didn't. The accountant said they didn't. Did the federal government? I don't know. We have lots of suspicions about Epstein, whether he was an asset for, you know, a foreign country or the United States.

We're trying to get to the bottom of this, and I think we've been very transparent with it. It's just been a very difficult case because, you know, there's just -- there's not been any evidence revealed other than many, many hundreds of poor, innocent women that have come forward and said how they were abused by Epstein and Maxwell.

BROWN: All right. Chairman James Comer, thank you so much for your time. We appreciate it.

COMER: Thank you.

BLITZER: And coming up we're following some breaking news. Alex Murdaugh's murder convictions have just been overturned. We're here bringing the latest developments. That's next.

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BROWN: Breaking news, the murder convictions of Alex Murdaugh have been overturned and a judge ordered a new trial, saying the first one was marred by the, quote, improper influence of the county clerk.

Murdaugh was convicted of killing his wife and son back in June of 2021.

BLITZER: I want to bring in attorney Areva Martin right now. She's joining us on the phone. Areva, how significant is this, and how often does this happen?

AREVA MARTIN, ATTORNEY AND LEGAL AFFAIRS COMMENTATOR: Wow, this is a stunning turn of events, Wolf. This doesn't happen very often, where you see a unanimous five-justice Supreme Court, and this is the Supreme Court of South Carolina, vacating both murder convictions and life sentences.

Essentially, the court found that Murdaugh's Sixth Amendment right to an impartial jury was egregiously violated by this court clerk. Her name is Becky Hill. We remember that she made comments, or was reported that she made comments to jurors about his testimony midway through the trial.

According to this opinion, this Becky Hill placed her fingers on the scales of justice. This is pretty extraordinary, Wolf.

BLITZER: So what happens now?

MARTIN: Well, it's not as if he's walking out of jail, or prison, I should say. He still remains incarcerated on state, and, remember, there were federal financial crime convictions that he plead guilty to. The state has to decide whether to retry him on the murder, the charges of murder.

The current attorney general and all four candidates to replace him, that attorney general have already said that they would retry him. So, probably what we will see is a series of motions filed by his attorneys and a new trial date set.

BROWN: Wow, what a turn of events here.

BLITZER: Yes.

BROWN: Areva Martin, thank you so much. Wolf?

BLITZER: And just ahead, Congresswoman Katherine Clark will join us live right here in The Situation Room. I'll ask the House minority whip about her party's strategy on redrawing Congressional districts.

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