reported, get this, a stunning 52% drop in first quarter profits, that was just a day after shares in the nation s largest retailer walmart had their worst day in 35 years. what is going on here? they have their fingers on the pulse of the american consumer and they say inflation was the problem, their customers are sticking to the basics when they come in, leaving with fewer items in their shopping carts. those purchasing decisions being driven by sticker shock of course. basics are getting much more expensive, gas up 44% the last year, car, food and shelter also way up. americans are also making more money. wages rising in this tight labor market, but that is also feeding into worries about inflation because of wages. and because of rising prices, people don t feel secure so they are cutting back and that is shaking market confidence. right now stock index futures are leaning lower. asia closed mixed overnight. looks like except for china all down here. let s bring in krist
donald trump did. and who can actually get there on day one and make a big difference because the country is sliding away from us. the pennsylvania senate race has the democrats best chance to flip a republican seat to their side. live from london, this is cnn newsroom with max foster. it is tuesday, may 17th. and in the coming hours joe biden and the first lady are set to travel to buffalo, new york where they will pay their respects to the victims of saturday s racially motivated shooting and meet with their families. the visit comes as we learn new details about the 18-year-old accused of opening fire in a supermarket. investigators say the suspect travelled 200 miles to the area two months ago and he was there this past friday for what authorities say was recognizance. just a day before the massacre. absolutely incredible someone with so much hate in their heart, so much hate in their head, traveled from more than three hours to get to this community, a commun
eyewitness video showing the very moment the suspected shooter was taken, there you see it, wearing ing camo, into cust we re keeping a close eye today on primaries in several key states across the u.s. the spotlight shining very brightly on pennsylvania and the republican senate primary there, tv personality dr. mehmet oz facing off against hedge fund ceo david mccormick and kathy barnette. we ll keep an eye on that for you and the latest involving the push from sweden and finland to join nato. leaders set to hold a joint news conference from now, their applications expected to be formally submitted in the next day or so. we ll stay on top of all of those stories. we want to begin this hour in buffalo. cnn s joe johns is outside a community center there. joe, a couple of days into this, it is still very raw. talk to us about what you re hearing on the ground. reporter: probably the first and important thing to say, erica, is the president is coming to try to grieve with
our hostages released. senator tim scott announcing he is spinsding his presidential campaign. it s a surprise, but it s also not a surprise. i m going to hold on and keep working hard and look forward to other opportunities. chaos and finger pointing among house republicans as the u.s. barrels towards another spending dead laine. mike johnson unveiled an unconventional plan. whether all democrats will oppose this proposal. donald trump will launch his defense against him, his two adult sons and his business. the son back on the stand, they will continue to be the notion, what are we doing here? the defense has already concluded they are going to lose. good morning, everyone. there s a the lot of news to get to, but we start with this. this just in from israel s military. president the idf says another evacuation corridor has been opened today, even as fighting intensifies and the medical system collapses. some of the images you re about to see are disturb
agency is releasing some new crucial guidance about school reopenings. they now say classrooms can reduce their physical distancing rules from six feet to three feet, a game-changer for administrators and teachers. but there are some caveats. we ll talk about that. and a heat confrontation between the biden administration and china unfolding on camera. this is a rarity during these types of diplomatic meetings. we ll show you what secretary of state tony blinken said that caused such an uproar. we begin with cnn s steve zeleny and natasha chen. steve, first, who are the president and vice president meeting there with today? reporter: president biden and vice president harris arrived on the campus of emory university moments ago and they are meeting hyped closed doors with members of the asian-american community. elected leaders in the state and house who have been speaking out urging the white house to forcefully condemn these shootings and acts of violence, which the whi