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At This Hour

U.S. Economy Grew At Fastest Pace In 2021 Since Reagan Admin.; Wake For Slain NYPD Officer Jason Rivera Held In NYC; Tennessee School Board Bans Pulitzer-Winning Holocaust Book. Aired 11:30a-12p ET

Aired January 27, 2022 - 11:30   ET

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


[11:30:00]

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KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Developing right now, the U.S. economy grew by 5.7 percent in 2021, the fastest pace since the Reagan administration as soaring inflation and the effects of the pandemic though continue to impact every American.

Joining me right now for more on this as CNN White House Correspondent John Harwood and CNN Global Economic Analyst Rana Foroohar, she's a global business columnist and Associate Editor at the Financial Times.

You know Rana, this report, take it in the context of all of the other economic data that we're looking at all the time, this is yet again, confusing so where are we?

RANA FOROOHAR, CNN GLOBAL ECONOMIC ANALYST: Well, you know, we have the fastest growth rate since 1984, in the fourth quarter of last year. Now, that adds fuel to the fire for the Fed to hike interest rates. You know, the economy is, it's kind of like a fire, you want it to burn a little bit, you don't want it to burn out of control, so it's a delicate balancing act right now.

On the one hand, it's great that people are buying, it's great that companies are stocking inventory, but we don't want it to get out of control otherwise inflation does, too.

BOLDUAN: John is just -- as Rana was talking about with the decision coming from the Federal Reserve signals now that it's going to raise interest rates, does the G -- does this GDP number complicate this?

JOHN HARWOOD, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: No, I don't think so. It -- as Rana just indicated, it strengthens the case. I think one thing we have to keep in mind is in terms of the record-breaking numbers, some of this simply reflects the adjustment reopening the economy from the shutdown during the pandemic, so the other years since Ronald Reagan aren't directly comparable to this because of those unusual circumstances.

Secondly, some of this growth has been purchased with higher inflation, that is to say, the size of that rescue package contributed to other inflation pressures and that's part of why the growth rate is so high, but it's also why many people are discontent with the Biden administration because of that higher inflation. I think the Fed's job is now to try to engineer a smooth reduction in the rate of inflation by raising interest rates and trying to avoid touching off a nasty recession.

BOLDUAN: Rana, there are new examples all the time of how people are feeling inflation, you know how the economy feels to them, CNN is now reporting that Kraft Heinz will be raising prices on dozens of products on spring, cold cuts, beef hot dogs are going to cost 10 percent more, some drink packs will go up by 20 percent, turkey bacon, up 30 percent. When will people likely see a change there?

FOROOHAR: You know, I think about half of Americans are already really starting to feel -- feed, sorry, feel food and fuel inflation in their pocketbooks. No question. Um, housing markets are another area where people are really failing. If you're trying to buy a home these days, forget it, you know, you're being outbid by cash buyers.

I think that what's going to happen this year is if inflation really starts to bite and the Fed gets behind the curve, which a lot of people feel that it is, and maybe jacks rates up, at a time when you know, later on, the economy starts to slow, that's when the rubber really hits the road, you know. It's just such a delicate balancing act. And as John mentioned, so much of this is about, you know, timing and getting it right, and it's just unclear what's going to happen in the year ahead.

BOLDUAN: With all that lack of clarity and uncertainty still, John, what does the White House do with all of this?

HARWOOD: Well, the White House has to tout the positive aspects because the labor market is very tight, that's good for workers, they're getting pay raises, and try to emphasize the belief that inflation is, in fact, transitory. I know that word has gotten out of favor, but economists expected inflation will slow down to maybe 3 percent later this year. If they're right, that will be good news.

The best thing that can happen for inflation and for the economy, in general, is to get control of the pandemic. If Omicron shifts us from an emergency pandemic to a manageable endemic situation, that will be very good news for the economy.

BOLDUAN: John, thank you so much, Rana, great to see you. I really appreciate it guys.

[11:35:00]

BOLDUAN: All right coming up for us, this is live pictures outside of St Patrick's Cathedral in New York City. What you're looking at is the hearse and the casket of a Fallen Officer Jason Rivera. Officer Rivera was gunned down in an ambush attack last week, his casket now arriving at St. Patrick's Cathedral for a wake and funeral. And what you will see is a sea of law enforcement turning out in New York City to honor one of their own. We are going to take you there, live after the break.

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BOLDUAN: You have a look just now at St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York City. The casket of fallen NYPD officer Jason Rivera is arriving at St. Patrick's Cathedral just moments ago. A private wake will be getting underway shortly for Rivera's friends and family. The sea of officers in law enforcement are standing outside too in silence now paying their respects to one of their own.

The 22-year-old officer and his partner, Wilbert Mora, were killed last week in an ambush attack while responding to a domestic violence call. CNN's Shimon Prokupecz is live outside St. Patrick's Cathedral. He's been there all throughout the morning. He's joining us now. Shimon, what are you seeing there?

SHIMON PROKUPECZ, CNN CRIME AND JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, the officers that you see standing out here are officers from the 32nd precinct where Officer Rivera work. These are his brothers and sisters, the people he reported to work with every day. And so they have the honor of saying goodbye to him as they stand outside this iconic Cathedral, probably one of the best-known cathedrals in all the world where this officer is going to be honored.

As you said, there's a private ceremony for him this morning for his family and close friends. And then the doors open for the public. His coffin was brought here just after 11 a.m. taking up the stairs and through those big brass doors of this cathedral and down the center aisle, where it now sits before the altar and then services will begin here shortly.

His family will be here and also, that hero officer who gunned down -- who fired and killed the shooter in this, that officer was with them is here too. I saw him here today hugging some of his fellow officers, people coming over hugging him because truly as the mayor said, he is a hero here and probably in the end saved other lives.

And so this will be certainly an emotional day for the city. The mayor, asking people to come out to show their respects, hoping to use this as a way to unite the city which unfortunately has seen so much gun violence recently and so he's urging the public to come here. The mayor will be here at four o'clock and other dignitaries what will be certainly an emotional day. And then tomorrow, of course, the funeral, and then next week we have the wake and funeral for officer Mora.

BOLDUAN: Yes, Shimon, thank you so much for being there. Joining me now on this very difficult day is Orlando Bido. He's a friend of Officer Jason Rivera. Orlando, thank you for being here, how are you doing?

ORLANDO BIDO, FRIEND OF SLAIN NYPD OFFICER, JASON RIVERA: Just taking it day by day. Every time I hear Jason's name and just my neck, my -- I lose my voice, my speech, again overwhelmed by the very tragic loss. Such a short life, he has so much to offer. Tata -- he was known to us as Tata when he first joined Dyckman Run Club.

His passion was to become a police officer and he had the willpower to train and accomplish this mission. His goal was to become a police officer. His mission was to bridge a gap between the police department and our community. And he was a great man. He was a great young man, humble, and we truly going to miss him.

BOLDUAN: As you mentioned Orlando, you know Officer Rivera through your running club. What was he like to run with?

BIDO: He was a nice young man who was quiet but at the same time friendly, always had a positive attitude, never complain about how tough the route or the tasks was and he was consistent. He always put his best foot forward. Definitely, he was someone that you can admire or use as an influence on the younger peer.

[11:45:00]

BOLDUAN: A lot of people I know -- I add myself into this, just kind of struck by his smile. I know his teachers from high school have talked about his great attitude, his smile. You see that in his NYPD portrait. What do you remember most about him?

BIDO: I -- what I remember about Tata as being a person that would we've seen like, much more. Like, for example, he seems like a person that seems much older because he's so mature. But you're -- when you find out his true age, you're getting shocked. You're like, wow, I thought you were much older than the way you carry yourself. Tata was a very educated young man. His parents did very well for him.

BOLDUAN: His death has hit a lot of people in the city and you know, really around the country, as we look at just gun violence and violent crime surging in New York, and other cities in America. And today, you just see this outpouring of love outside St. Patrick's Cathedral for him and we'll continue to see that. What do you think -- what do you think knowing that now so many people know as you call him Tata as name and know about him or learning about him, and now he's being held up because of gun violence in your own city?

BIDO: This will definitely draw awareness to everyone. That he doesn't feel as safe as you would think. Even myself, I feel some type of fear of going outside at night and afraid that I won't make it back home. If this happened, so police officer what is so the innocent bystander, as usual, that was beaten? Definitely, there's got to take it under serious consideration going forward.

BOLDUAN: Orlando, I'm so sorry for your loss. Thank you for coming on and speaking about your friend. I really appreciate it.

BIDO: Thank you.

BOLDUAN: We're looking at live pictures. We'll go to break just looking at these live pictures outside St. Patrick's Cathedral. Officers Jason Rivera, Wilbert Mora, giving their lives in the line of duty.

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[11:50:00] BOLDUAN: A powerful winter storm is set to hit a big portion of the country. 35 million people are under winter storm watches from Massachusetts all the way to North Carolina with hurricane-force winds and blizzard conditions, expected. CNN Meteorologist Chad Myers is with us. He's tracking all of it. Chad, it's called a bomb cyclone. So what could happen?

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes. It could get to that rapid intensification that we see sometimes with hurricanes. Hurricanes can go from a cat one to a cat three. This isn't going to get to a three, but this could certainly get to hurricane-force wind gusts.

We have two models we're watching. The American model would say is two inches for New York, maybe afoot for Boston and MIT. And then the European model that says well, not so fast. There's a lawful lot of snow year possible over a foot in all of the pink and maybe even 30 in Boston. So which one's right? Well, we don't know. Because technically right now the low that you see here that will be there tomorrow is still in Salt Lake City.

And that's a long drive to get here, but not exactly sure if that low is going to be 50 miles that way or 50 miles that way. So this is the European model and how we get so much snow along the coast because the low is closer to the coast, the European model much closer by about 70 miles while the American model is offshore.

This is called the Goldilocks. This storm is too hot, this storm is too cold and this storm is just right. Here's where the American model is and here's where the European model is and I don't see anything over here. That's that close to the shore to make mostly sleet and snow. This is going to be a wind and snow event, some -- a lot of snow for some, but not for everybody, Kate.

BOLDUAN: Chad, thank you so much for that. I really appreciate it.

Finally, there is this, we will end the hour with. A Tennessee School Board has banned a Pulitzer Prize-winning novel about the Holocaust. The McMinn County Board of Education voted unanimously to remove the novel called Maus, a survivor's tale from the eighth grade English curriculum over curse words and a nude illustration.

The author of the novel, Art Spiegelman wrote the story about his parents and their experiences of Auschwitz during World War Two. It depicts Jews as mice and Nazis as cats. The author told CNN this morning, he is baffled by this decision.

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ART SPIEGELMAN, AUTHOR, MAUS: I think there's so myopic in their focus and they're so afraid of what's implied and having to defend the decision to teach Maus as part of the curriculum that it led to this kind of definitely myopic response. Today's Holocaust Remembrance Day -- International Holocaust remembrance was as so the poignancy, irony, and madness of this to some degree because it's not -- one would think that the word remembrance is important.

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[11:55:00]

BOLDUAN: Today is Holocaust Remembrance Day, and the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum responded to the school's decision this way in a statement saying, Maus has played a vital role in educating about the Holocaust through sharing detailed and personal experiences of victims and survivors. Teaching about the Holocaust using books like Maus can inspire students to think critically about the past and their own roles and responsibilities today.

In just minutes, think -- in just minutes, Justice Stephen Breyer will make his retirement announcement at the White House with President Biden. INSIDE POLITICS with John King will bring you that live up to this.

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