hello and a warm welcome to our viewers joining us in the united states and all around the world. i'm christina macfarlane in for max foster here in london. just ahead -- >> the president and his team are willing to take extraordinary steps to bring our people home. >> russians have not constructively engaged with this offer that the biden administration has put on the table. >> there are others at the white house who are also coming into talk to prosecutors. >> i think doj is keeping an eye on who is coming before january

6 and who has helpful information. >> do you believe you share responsibility? >> i believe i did my i don't think think -- job to the best of my abilities. >> i don't think we're in a recession. >> and we're having to cut back a lot just to get by. it is thursday, july 28, 9:00 a.m. here in london, 4:00 a.m. in washington where the u.s. president is now testing negative for covid and coming out of isolation. only to face a deluge of critical domestic and foreign policy challenges. decisions joe biden makes could impact his presidency in the months to follow and his legacy in the years to come. his administration remains under intense pressure to rein in inflation and has a very vested

interest in the historic hike to the interest rate. abroad biden is dealing with a new showdown over taiwan and as well as complex communications with moscow. the u.s. government has been loudly condemning russia's aggressive actions in ukraine, but also made a surprise offer to the kremlin on wednesday for a prisoner swap. it is a risky proposition first reported by cnn. free and infamous arms dealer dubbed the merchants of death in exchange for two americans in russia custody, brittney griner and paul whelan who is serving a 16 year sentence for alleged espionage. to get them back, the biden administration is reportedly offering up victor boot who was once one of the most wanted men. the former soviet officer was convicted of selling military grade weapons to terrorist groups committed to killing americans. he is now serving a 25 year sentence in a u.s. prison. so far there is no indication moscow will agree to the deal.

the white house officials say the u.s. president was directly involved in the offer. >> the president and his team are willing to take extraordinary steps to bring our people home as we demonstrated with trevor reed. and that is what we're doing right here. it is actively happening now. >> we have two objectives. we of course want to see those who are wrongfully detained be released and be able to return hole. at -- home. at the same time we need to reduce the global norm against these arbitrary detentions, a horrific practice. and so we're working concertedly on both. meanwhile china is lashing out at the u.s. over a political trip that may never happen. sources say house speaker nancy pelosi plans to visit taiwan, though she's not yet confirming that. the white house is hoping to better gauge china's possible reaction in a phone call scheduled in the coming hours.

kaitlan collins explains. >> reporter: president biden is set to speak with chinese president xi jinping on thursday. cnn is told that will be their first conversation in four months and white house officials say there is a lot to discuss including tensions in taiwan, chinese aggression in the indo-pacific region and of course the ongoing war in ukraine caused by russia. when it comes to tensions in taiwan, there is also this looming potential visit by house speaker nancy pelosi that is really causing some issues for the white house as national security officials have worked to try quietly to get her to not go on that trip, at least not right now. white house officials say they believe that it is a politically sensitive time for president xi given he has a very important political meeting about extending his rule coming up. he is facing a pretty bleak backdrop with covid-19 cases and the economy growth shrinking in china. and so the white house is concerned that he may try to get a political win by responding to

pelosi's visit. and you have seen the warnings from chinese officials that there will be a forceful response if she does go to the self governing island. white house officials know that they can't tell pelosi not to go, they are working to get her to not go, but ultimately the decision is up to her and given she is third in line for the succession of the presidency, we're told by the pentagon that they are working on a security plan to get her to go if she does. of course still waiting on a formal announcement from speaker pelosi, all as president biden is set to speak with president xi. kaitlan collins, cnn, the white house. and steven jiang is standing by live in beijing, but we begin with clare sebastian here in london. clare, we were expecting a prisoner swap to be in the works for brittney griner at some stage, but i think the announcement that the u.s. were prepared to swap victor boot came as a massive surprise to everyone. how potentially risky is this?

>> extremely risky. victor boot is one of the most -- he was when he was arrested one of the most prolific arms dealers in the world, world most wanted man. striking things will this, one, that it is him that the u.s. is willing to go there, the reporting is that president biden essentially overruled objectives to this from the justice department. and the second thing is that the time lag that this was first presented to the russians in june according to a senior administration official. they haven't responded to it yet. and i think that there is some surprise on this from the u.s. administration officials telling cnn that they had thought that this was a substantial offer that it would be accepted based onhistory of conversations with the russian side. and that is true. every since paul whelan was arrested in 2018, most of the mentions of victor boot have come from the russian side. but the only concrete thing that we can point to as a reason why they could be waiting to respond is that they have said that there can be no discussions on

brittney griner's future until her trial is concluded. we expect that that will be at the beginning of august. and certainly in my experience of covering russia, once they set a condition like that, they usually stick to it. >> so we are waiting for that. we heard of course from brittney griner yesterday for the first time. what did she say and how did she appear? >> two key things. one, reiterating the fact that we've heard from her before that she didn't intend to break the law, that she was in her woordw stress packing when she accidently put those cartridges of the hashish oil in her luggage. and exactly what happened when she was arrested. take a listen. >> there was documents that i had to sign, i can only assume that they were about the search and cartridges. we had to use my phone and google translate for him to be able to tell me a little bit.

my rights were they ever read to me, no one explained any of to me. i did not plan or have the intent to bring any cannabis or banned substance to russia. >> clearly something of a traumatic experience that she went through at the airport. her lawyer said that was improper the way that she was arrested, that they are going to speak more about that at a later date. meanwhile as i said early august is when they expect the trial to be concluded. they are hoping for leniency because the charges she faces carry a maximum sentence of ten years. >> fascinating to follow. clare, thank you very much. and i just want to turn to steven jiang live for us this beijing to talk about that forth companying trip by nancy pelosi. some would say that it is likely pollone city pelosi will be see

to make this trip. what are the consequences if the trip goes ahead, what could it lead to, and would any call by president biden at this stage work to ease those tensions? >> reporter: some analysts say the call would probably make things worse because it is all but certain that xi jinping would weigh this issue with biden and ask him to stop pelosi from going to taiwan especially because the way the chinese see it, both are democrats but of course there is separation of powers in the u.s. and also not to mention that no u.s. president, biden included, wants to be seen as caving in under chinese pressure. so after this phone call if pelosi still goes ahead, from the chinese perspective, it would be considered a bigger humiliation for xi jinping which could in turn compel them to take even more forceful actions than if there was no such a phone call. but of course there are warnings of forceful and resolute measures have been nonspecific, that is a challenge for the u.s. and taiwan. there have been some

speculations and educated guesses that the people's liberation army could i believe pose a no-fly zone during her planned visit or scrambling jets to shadow her plane or even sending warplanes to send over taiwan itself to prevent her plane from landing there. but even how a direct attack on her plane seems unthinkable but the worry is that because of so many military assets operating at the same time in the same region, there is a growing possibility of miscalculations that could lead to real conflict. that is why the situation is so precarious at a time when no one can afford to look weak. so a lot is riding on pelosi's decision. >> such a delicate and sensitive time politically. steven jiang, thank you very much for breaking that down for us. now to a new warning from the north korean leader. according to state media, kim jung-un says the north is fully prepared to fire off nuclear weapons, or as he put it

faithfully accurately and swiftly deploy our country's nuclear deterrents. the remarks came during an event celebrating the 60th anniversary of the arms disagreement that ended the fighting of the korean war. the north korean leader appears to be triggered by the recently joint military exercise conducted by the u.s. and south korea which he called duplicitous and gangster-like. the investigations into efforts to overturn the 2020 election and the riot at the u.s. capitol appear to be gaining steam. the justice department has obtained a second warrant to search the cellphone of right wing lawyer john eastman. eastman is one of several people federal prosecutors are trying to get more information from it. they are also reaching out to more former white house officials and former secretary of state may appear before the congressional committee. evan perez has the details. >> reporter: mike pompeo former

secretary of state is in discussions to sit for a deposition in the coming days with the house committee investigating the january 6 riot. members of the committee think that pompeo could shed light on discussions that were ongoing at the time among cabinet members and top republicans to invoke the 25th amendment to possibly remove trump from office in the closing days of his presidency. the committee has shown interest in hearing from former trump cabinet members, a few of whom resigned after witnessing the conduct of the former president in the leadup to and during the attack on the u.s. capitol. this comes as the justice department investigation appears to be making deeper in-roads in to the former trump white house. cassidy hutchinson, a white house aide who delivered devastating testimony about the former president during a hearing last month is now cooperating with the justice department's criminal investigation. and other white house aides are also providing their cooperation sources tell us.

evan perez, cnn, washington. and the commerce department will release the latest report on the u.s. economy in just a few hours and if the gross domestic product shrank for a second straight quarter, that could be a major indication that the country is in a recession. many expect the report to show that it continues to show but economists are predicting growth of less than 1%. meanwhile the u.s. federal reserve is hoping to tame inflation with another interest rate hike. the fed boosted its benchmark rate by three quarters of a percentage point wednesday for the second straight month. that has never been done before. chairman jerome powell says he doesn't think that the u.s. is in a recession but curbing inflation may bring some pain. >> we're trying to do just the right amount. we're not trying to have a recession. and we don't think we have to. we think that there is a path for us to be able to bring inflation down while sustaining a strong labor market. as i

mentioned, along with in all likelihood some softening in labor market conditions. so that is what we're trying to achieve and we continue to think that there is a path to that. we know that the path has clearly narrowed really based on events that are outside of our control. and it may narrow further. >> the rate hike was welcome news on wall street with the dow and nasdaq each gaining more than 400 points. more now on the impact of the rate hike from brian todd. >> reporter: at his pawn 1407 in the kansas city area, denny russell sees a lot of new customers, people dealing with runaway inflation, selling off their personal items just to make ends people. >> people come in every day that they have never seen this place before. >> reporter: the federal reserve is desperately trying to tame inflation in america again raising interest rates three quarters of a percentage point, the fourth interest rate hike in america this year and fed chairman jerome powell says there could be more coming. >> inflation has obviously surprise to the up side over the past year and further surprises

could be in store. we therefore will need to be nimble in responding to incoming data and the evolving outlook. >> reporter: analysts say this means higher borrowing costs for many americans. >> going to make getting a mortgage more expensive, it will make paying off credit card debt more expensive, auto payments, et cetera. so those pressures particularly for people who have any debt at all are going to rise. >> reporter: rising interest rates have already been jacking up the cost of mortgages for months. in the weekending july 21, the rate for a 30 year fixed rate mortgage averaged 5.a54%. last year it was under 3% at the same time. this latest hike, reaction says it could be mixed. one says that people may not feel the pinch immediately because many banks already figured in the right makes. >> if you are a homeowner in the market today, you've seen your opportunities limited by what has gone on.

house prices are up a lot and mortgage interest rates are up a lot. so you may have already had to adjust your home buying budget. >> reporter: but others say the down side is that rate hike after rate hike while inflation persists could start to catch up with people. >> that is the possibility that you are going to start seeing more defaults, you are going to see people finally being unable to pay their bills. and those auto loans that have been sliced and diced the way things were back in the financial crisis, those will start going bad. >> reporter: how can the average american consumer cope with the rate hikes? >> be a little more stringent on your family budget, set aside some of the discretionary expenditures, avoid borrowing for something that you could splurge for later on when you've got already an extra cash cushion set aside. >> reporter: the analysts we spoke to say that means don't borrow money for things like vacations and they are giving same piece of advice now that they have been giving americans throughout these rate hikes.

pay off your credit card debt or at least try to pay it down as much as you can. brian todd, cnn, washington. spirit irl airlines has cal off a planned merger with frontier. the deal failed to get the support of the majority of spirit shareholders. jetblue expects to move forward with its effort to buy spirit. after more than 60 years, the soft drink sprite is retiring its familiar green plastic bottle. parent company coca-cola says instead it will come in a new clear bottle that is easier to recycle. the soda is also getting a revamped label in the brand signature shade of green. and sudden reversal from a key democratic holdout breeds new life into joe biden's agenda. how senator joe manchin is finally getting on board with his party's climate and health care bill. plus soaring temperatures and drought conditions fueling

fires in the u.s. we'll see when conditions might improve. yeah, the pacific northwest bracing for big time heat yet again record temperatures in the past 24 hours, record temperatures once again in store. parts of washington state, parts of oregon besting records that are in some cases just two years old but shattering those. we'll touch on this coming up. if respect to keep p you both comfortabl. our smart sleepers get 28 minutes more restful sleep per night. save $500 on the sleep number 360 c4 smamart bed, queen now only $1299. lowest price ever!

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let's be more than our allergies! zeize the day. with zyrtec. . a sudden reversal from the key democratic senator joe manchin means that joe biden's plans to improve the climate and health care are back on track. jessica dean reports from capitol hill. >> reporter: it is a surprise agreement that has democrats only, climate tax and health care provision package, moving forward when most people thought that this was all but dead. senator joe manchin and majority leader chuck schumer announcing that they have a deal between the two of them to move forward on this democrats only package. of course remember it is going to need 50, all 50, of the

senate democrats to pass. and it is going to need to pass the very narrow democratic majority in the house to pass. so it is going to require threading of the needle as it were by democrats in both the house and senate. but what this deal apparently includes according to a release from schumer and manchin is climate provisions, it will try to reduce carbon emissions by 40% by 2030, this is something that many democrats simply did not think would be included in any sort of legislation that they could get through, it also has some tax provisions in there. most importantly noting a minimum tax on corporations. it would be a corporate minimum tax of 15%, that is how they want to raise money to support a lot of this. and then of course allowing medicare to negotiate prescription drug prices and 12e7bd extending the affordable care act subsidies to many more

years. and again the big news is these climate and tax provisions will be added on to this deal. it is not quite done yet. they will need all 50 democrats in the senate and there is no indication yet as to where everybody is on this. we do know they are slated to miss thursday morning to go over a lot of this and then of course it has to go to the house where nancy pelosi is working with an incredibly small vote margin and she is also working with various factions, that is where you really see the different factions of the democratic party coming into play. namely some northeastern democrats that really want to see these local -- state and local tax provisions in there that are currently not in the deal that schumer and manchin have negotiated. so again, a lot more to go through. and it is an ambitious time line o democrats want to get it passed before they go on recession in about a week so they can go home and campaign on a lot of this. it has to get through all of the

democrats both in the house and senate and also the parliamentarian who will have to rule on whether all of this can be done. so a bit of a road to go on this. but again, a big surprise here on capitol hill. jessica dean, cnn, capitol hill. the states of oregon reported two suspected heat-related deaths on wednesday. the preliminary cause lines up with the increasing heat-related illnesses across the state as the pacific northwest endures a scorching heatwave. in oklahoma, two firefighters had to be hospitalized for heat exhaustion fighting a wildfire with temperatures topping 100 degrees farenheit. and in california, drought conditions are helping to fuel the oak fire just 26% contained so far. pedram javaheri has more from atlanta. >> yes, the pacific northwest really dealing with pretty impressive heat here with temperatures running as high as 113 degrees. and that certainly is the case with portions of oregon into

washington. look at seattle, you factor in the humidity across this region, yes, temps will feel close to 100 degrees in seattle over the next couple of days and then finally, we get a break here going into monday, tuesday and wednesday where more seasonal temperatures are expected. i can tell you having grown up in the pacific northwest, the air conditioning there is very limited and so folks feel every single one of the degrees when it gets this hot outside. portions of oregon, 107. ellensburg makes it to 105. two years ago the record was 100. so they really shattered the record in the span of two years. incredible what is happening across the pacific northwest. but the south, monsoonal motive will touch on this. we've had some severe weather generally related to the winds and large hail in parts of missouri, they saw some significant flooding. and the energy along this region will produce some they have have

i rai heavy rainfall. and even along the east coast, heat indices as high as 109 degrees. we've had similar sort of numbers every single day for weeks now. and it continues there in parts of texas, oklahoma and arkansas where temps will be well above 100 degrees. the southwest beneficial rainfall, that is across the four corners region about we know the drought situation, so anything that comes down and they will take it. certainly looks like it will be coming down in bunches. goes to help some of the fire situation there, but in california unfortunately not much of it gets here. but containment numbers are up to 32% containment for the oak fire outside of yosemite. san francisco, 66. salt lake city, 99 and st. louis, 88. and this was news to me, if you are taking extra vitamin d

to protect your bones, a new study says don't bother. it looked into the chance of bone fractures amongst people taking vitamin d supplements for more than five years. the study found that the supplements don't make a difference for healthy middle age or elderly adults but they say the conclusion does not apply to everyone including people suffering from bone disease or those living in nursing homes. the study was published in the new england journal of medicine. still to come, the principal of a texas school where 21 people were killed in a mass shooting speaks to cnn in an exclusive interview. plus millions of tons of grain could soon begin shifting from ukraine's black seaports to hungry nations. coming up, the latest on the fragile export deal with russia. pick an order print everything you need slap the label on ito the box and it's readydy to go our cost for shipping, were cut in n half just like that gogo to shipstation/tv and get 2 months free hey, i just got t a text from my sister.

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welcome back to "cnn newsroom." i'm christina mcfarland. here is an update on our top stories this hour. in the coming hours u.s. president joe biden is expected to speak to his chinese counterpart xi jinping. the white house hopes to get an idea of china's reaction to u.s. house speaker nancy pelosi's possible trip to taiwan. and the biden administration says that it has offered russia a prisoner swap. infamous arms dealer victor boot in exchange for two americans in russian custody, paul whelan and brittaney griner. russia has yet to respond. and several key reasons of ukraine are assessing the damage from a series of overnight russian strikes. ukrainian officials say the capitol region was hit in the northeast. powerful explosions were also heard in the southern city of

mykolaiv. and this comes as the u.s. warns that russia will soon make moves to annex ukrainian territory that it is occupying. >> here is what we expect to see next. russia installed leaders will hold sham referendums to manufacture the fiction that people in those places want to join russia. and then they will use those false votes to claim that the annexation of these regions is legitimate. we must and we will act quickly to make clear to rush sia that these tactics won't work. >> and the grain exports will help ease a global food crisis. jason carroll is joining me from the kyiv region and nada bashir is in istanbul. jason, to you first. we know that the ukrainian counteroffensive has made some ground overnight, mostly in the south and kherson. but what more can you tell us about the reports of the major

strikes in the kyiv region? >> reporter: right, well, there have been a number of major strikes, some overnight in the area of kharkiv, two missile strikes there. one in the city center, another one on the outskirts of town in the surrounding area. also this morning as you mentioned in kyiv in the surrounding area on the outskirts, saw a missile strike there at what is being described as an infrastructure facility the last time the area saw a strike was back in june. but once again, christine, this is moscow's attempt to show that they can strike anywhere basically at anytime. and i think when you are taking a broader look across the country, when you look at the east, what they are seeing are incremental gains going back and forth on both sides. i think there is still a lot of attention in terms of what is happening in kherson. military experts say this is where ukrainians are making a real effort. we saw the bombing of that bridge there, a key bridge to

the russians who are occupying that area. key to them in terms of trying to move resources in and out. so a real effort there in the area of kherson to either push the russians back and try to regain some of that territory. >> jason, thank you. let's turn to nada. we saw the opening of the joint coordination center there yesterday. did we learn anything more about plans to maneuver this grain safely out of the black sea? >> reporter: we heard from the turkish defense minister who opened the joint coordination center yesterday to much fanfare. and he outlined the purpose of the center which is of course to follow and oversee the safe export of the grain from ukraine southern black seaports through the black sea through the turkish straits. but he also outlined that this had humanitarian objective at

its heart. they are very much focused on the impact this will have on the global food security crisis. and it was remarkable to see those delegations sitting across the table from one another taking part in this black sea grain initiative. this has taken weekses a and we of negotiation. and of course there are still some concerns because we saw that attack on the port of odesa last week just a day after that agreement was signed in istanbul on friday. so there are concerns around the russian federation's true intentions on the black sea. but as we understand at this stage, preparations are very much under way, they are in ukraine to ensure that the grain exports are ready to leave the country. and ukrainian armed forces will be escorting those vessels to leave ukraine through safe corridors that is been

identified and agreed upon by all four parties. and it is this joint coordination center that will play a central role, it is the heartbeat of this operation overseeing that entire process, that transfer of grain and other vital agricultural goods from both ukraine and russia. we also spoke to the u.n.'s interim coordinator to the jcc and he was present yesterday and i asked him whether or not there were concerns around whether russia would fully adhere to its commitments to this agreement, whether the u.n. had plans of how it would hold russia to account. he didn't want to elaborate on how they would hold the russian federation to account, but he did stress the united nations remains very confident that all four parties will remain fully committed to the terms of the agreement. we've heard from turkey's nato allies answer thy and the unite united kingdom raising concerns that perhaps a plan "b" which doesn't involve russia, but at

this stage all eyes are on this agreement and whether it will work over the coming days and weeks. >> and striking as you say to see those four parties including russia sitting down together. nada bashir, many thanks. still to come -- >> starting at that school at robb, that school needs to be gone. all of thele s school board neeo be gone. >> they are entitled to their opinion. i followed the training that i was provided with to the best of my abilities. >> in an exclusive cnn interview, we'll hear from the principal of robb elementary in texas for the first time after the deadly school shooting. a fast walker. thanks, gary. and for unexpected heartburn... frank is a fan of pepcid. it w works in minutes. nexium 24 hour and prilosec otc can take one to fofour days to fully work. pepcidid. strong relief for fans of fast.

pope francis will celebrate mass in quebec city as he continues what the vatican calls

his pilgrimage of pen nance in canada saying that he is sorry for the role christians played for the abuse of indigenous children. some say his apologies haven't gone far enough. wednesday he met with the canadian prime minister justin trudeau and mary simon, canada's first indigenous governor general. he will meet with inuit groups before heading back to vatican city. and the principal of robb elementary school is denying school officials have been complacent about school security. 19 student and two teachers were killed oafter a gunman stormed her school. this is her interview. >> when i was calling chief

arredondo, i heard the initial three shots. >> reporter: the principal of robb elementary breaking her silence and answering questions about lack security at the school. >> i believe that i did my job to the best of my abilities. >> reporter: while law enforcement's handling of that day has seen the most scrutiny up to now, families of the victims -- >> you don't give a damn about our children or us. >> reporter: turning their calls towards the school administration including the principal who was suspended with pay pending a performance review relating to campus security. last school year was her first year aspi principal. >> that principal needs to be gone, all of the school board needs to be gone. >> i believe they are entitled to their opinion. i followed the training that i

was provided with to the best of my abilities. >> reporter: the texas house investigative committee report revealed that robb elementary had a culture of noncompliance with safety policies requiring doors to be kept locked which turned out to be fatal. guttierez responding to that criticism -- was there is a culture of noncompliance at robb elementary? >> absolutely not. anytime that an alert went out, every single teacher on that campus took to mean it could be a potential escalating situation. and so everybody follows protocol. >> reporter: so you disagree with the findings of the texas house investigative report? >> i disagree. >> reporter: according to the house investigative report, a coach that was somewhere on school property saw the gunman jump this fence, she used her radio to report it. the principal heard the call and tried to initiate a lockdown using a software application but the wi-fi was bad and she did

not use the school intercom. >> it could magnify a situation. >> reporter: that is the door the gunman used to enter the school. according to the report the door was unlocked. had the door been locked as the policy required, would have likely slowed down the gunman. instead surveillance video showed the gunman walked into the building through an unlocked door. >> why was that door unlocked that day? >> i'm not sure why that door was unlocked. >> so that door was normally locked during the day? >> always locked. >> always. >> yes. >> reporter: then walked in to a classroom. the report also states that the principal, teachers and even many fourth grade students widely knew of the problem with the lock to room 111 but no one placed a work order to repair the lock. not the principal, not anyone else. the guy guttierez disputes that account. >> what i know for a fact is that the door to the room 111 did in fact lock. >> reporter: it did.

>> the teacher has to use the key to enter. >> reporter: so somehow the report says that it was likely unlocked, so somehow it could have been unlocked on that day. >>s that possible. >> re >> reporter: some of the victims of the families say any safety lances were inexcusable. >> what would you tell her? >> you failed our children. >> i'm very close to my staff. and my students. and many of their families. it is an unimaginable pain to nknow that we don't have those individuals with us anymore and that there is families that are missing their loved ones every single day. >> reporter: the texas house investigative committee standing by its report, the chairman issuing a statement to cnn saying that that report is based on interviews with multiple individuals from multiple

agencies. as for the school district, a spokesperson said that they received our request for comment, but said that they are too swamped to answer questions. rosa flores, cnn, san antonio. and we will of course continue to follow this story and bring you the latest. still to come with prices going up on just about everything these days, costco still has one inflation-proof deal with a local fan base and a price that hasn't changed in almost 40 years. plus the nfl's aaron rodgers explains his halloween costume in july. why he dressed up as one of his favorite actors on the first day of training camp. , and looking to buy life insurance on a fixed budget, remember the three ps.s. what are the three ps? the three psps of life insurance on a fixed budget are price, price, and price.

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life is not that serious. you know, i think it is easy to take things a little too seriously. there is a time and a place for everything. but i felt like i gave an ode to one of my all-time favorite actors last year for halloween and an ode to my -- possibly my

all-time favorite actor day one of training camp. >> quarterback aaron rodgers explaining why he dressed up like nicolas cage's character from the blockbuster "con air." rodgers says it is one of his favorite cage movies. and last halloween he dressed up as keanu reeves from the john wick movies and in 2019, he went as rico from thatnapoleon dynamite. and customers at costco can count on the deal of the hot dog combo, which has cost $1.50 for the last 40 years. here is gary tuchman. >> reporter: typical scene at a costco warehouse, lots of shoppers looking for good deals on items ranging from paper

towels to big screen tvs. but among many customers, there is an emotional attachment to one thing in particular. >> i love these hot dogs. >> reporter: the hot dog that is inflation-proof. how much did you pay for that hot dog? >> $1.50 with the soda as well. >> reporter: all three of you are enjoying hot dogs. how come you come here dogs? >> because they are $1.50. >> reporter: if i told that you this hot dog and soft drink that you can refill as many times as you want, has been $1.50 for more than 40 year, would you believe it? >> i believe it because i've been buying it. >> reporter: and she's far from the only one. they have sold about 1.6 billion hot dogs at stores around the world and despite inflation from now and in the past, the price has stayed the same for all those years. how old are you in sn. >> 29. >> 30. >> 26. >> reporter: and these hot dogs with the drink have been $1.50 for longer than all three of you

have been alive. >> we've been going to costco since we were kids with our parents, so that is how we know. >> reporter: if the price had kept pace with inflation, that 1985 buck 50 hot dog/soft drink combo would now cost more than $4. this store alone sold more than 1,000 dogs a day in the last week. cost t co loses quite a bit of money on them. >> i don't buy them anywhere else. this is the only place. >> reporter: the company recognizes the sangity tie of the $1.50 price point. so now in this time of high inflation, costco is publicly declaring it has no plans to raise the price. >> it is the one thing that i can depends on being the same price. >> i think it is great and probably the best hot dog i've ever had. i don't eat other hot dogs. >> reporter: and frankly not increasing the price looks like a shrewd business move. do you think that you do more shopping at costco because of

the hot dogs is this. >> absolutely. >> reporter: it makes you shop at costco more? >> yes. >> reporter: the fact that they have low hot dog prices. >> yeah. >> reporter: gary tuchman, cnn, las vegas. >> i could really do with a cost t costco hot dog right now. and 30 years since the release of never going to give you up. ♪ never going to give you up, never going to let you down, never going to run around and dee desert you ♪ >> besides going five times platinum, the song took on a new life as the famous rick rolling prank when you unwittingly click on something unrelated and the tune pops up. the english singer's career ham given up either. he's released a remastered version of the hit and recently concluded a major u.s. tour with other performers whose hits are now golden oldies. ♪ ♪ you won't break my soul, you

won't break my soul ♪ deja vu for beyonce, her s newest album released two days ahead of its scheduled release. so far the only official release has been the lead single break my soul. the news got beyonce fans dubbed the beehive buzzing calling on others not to share or listen to the leaks. and it is not the first time it has happened. in 2011, her album leaked three weeks early. guys, some respect for queen bey, please. and that is it, "early start" is next.

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two tickets to nascar! yes! find rewards like these and so many more in the xfinity app. it is thursday, july 28, it is 5:00 a.m. here in new york. thanks for getting an early start with us. i'm christine romans. welcome to our viewers in the united states and around the world. we begin with the white house waiting on the kremlin. will moscow take the offer now on the table to bring who detained americans home from russia? the biden administration would send a convicted arms dealer back to mass c