Good evening. I'm Jeff Bennett. On the Navas is away. On the news hour tonight. Is inflation

under control enough for the fed to lower interest rates.

We'll talk with one key player watching the health of the economy.

The Environmental Protection Agency puts strict limits on the amount of so-called

Forever chemicals in drinking water.

And Christian groups face a violent crackdown in Russian occupied Ukraine.

They go to the churches, they shut them down, they frequently torture the pastor,

and sometimes they murder believers for their faith. Welcome to the news hour.

Inflation came in higher than expected last month, raising concerns once again about

its persistence.

Some experts also worry this rise could either delay or prevent a series of interest rate cuts

expected from the Federal Reserve later this year.

Last month, the Consumer Price Index climbed 3.5% year over a year pushed up by gas, rent, and car insurance.

Neil Cashkari is the president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, and he joins us now.

It's great to have you with us.

Thank you. It's great to be with you.

So federal officials, federal reserve officials,

initially penciled in at least three interest rate cuts by the end of

2024. You've raised the possibility that we potentially shouldn't have as many or

any cuts this year. How does this report today affect your thinking on this?

Well you know it's a little bit concerning in the second half of last year we made a lot of

progress in bringing inflation down very quickly not all the way to our 2% target, but to around

...