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Airbag Inflator Issues Led GM Recalling Nearly 1M Vehicles; Millions of Airbag Inflators Have Serious Flaw, According to NHTSA; ARC Manufacturer Contends with US's Request to Recall 67 Million Airbag Parts; Republicans Swear to Overturn NC Governor's Veto of Ban on Abortions; Israel and Islamic Jihad Maintain Tenuous Ceasefire; Some Mothers Leaving Professions Due to Price Hikes. Aired 10:30-11a ET

Aired May 15, 2023 - 10:30   ET

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

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[10:30:00]

SARA SIDNER, CNN NEWS CENTRAL CO-ANCHOR: The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is calling for an immediate recall of 67 million airbag inflators because of a dangerous defect. The NHTSA sited at least nine incidents of airbags rupturing, leading to significant injuries or even death beginning back in 2009. But the manufacturer of those airbags, ARC Automotive, is disputing the need for it to conduct any sort of broad recall at all. For its part, General Motor says it's recalling nearly a million vehicles over the airbag concern.

CNN's Matt Egan is joining us now. What' GM saying about this recall, because this is slightly unusual that a company has pushed back this hard again the NTHSA?

MATT EGAN, CNN BUSINESS AND ECONOMY REPORTER: Yes, Sara, you know, airbags obviously are supposed to save lives, and now there is this renewed concern that some of them could injure or even kill people. And so, that's why General Motors is recalling almost a million vehicles in the United States because of a faulty airbag inflator. The company warns that this airbag inflator may, "Explode during deployment be -- due to a manufacturing defect."

So, what vehicles are being recalled here, this voluntary recall impacts certain 2014 to 2017 models of the Buick Enclave, the Chevy Traverse, and the GMC Acadia. GM says that the dealers will replace the airbag modules here. Now, this comes after General Motors learned of at least three incidents where these airbag inflators ruptured. And this is key, all three of those incidents involved airbag inflators made by a Tennessee company called ARC Automotive.

And so, U.S. federal safety regulators, they actually want to go ahead and recall 67 million airbag inflators, all of them made by that same company, ARC Automotive. Safety Regulators, they say, that again, these inflators, they could actually explode and hurl shrapnel. They cite, at least, nine incidents in the United States where there were injuries, including one death.

[10:35:00]

But here's the thing, as you alluded to, ARC Automotive is refusing the recall. Here's what the company says in the statement. They say, "We disagree with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's new sweeping request. When extensive field testing has found no inherent defect." All of this, of course, coming after that infamous 2013 recall of airbags by Takata, remember, that was a deadly recall that impacted hundreds of people who were injured, there were at least 18 deaths. That Takata recall was the biggest in automotive history. And Sara, ultimately, it ended up taking down the whole company with Takata filing for bankruptcy.

SIDNER: Yes, it's really interesting there. Matt Egan, thank you so much for explaining all of that.

John.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN NEWS CENTRAL CO-ANCHOR: All right, Sara.

Important new developments out of North Carolina this morning. The Democratic governor has vetoed a Republican batch 12-week abortion bill in his -- I think, it's a 12-week abortion ban. A ban after 12 weeks, but Republicans hold a super majority in the state legislature and could block the governor's veto, override that veto.

CNN's Dianne Gallagher is in North Carolina, in Charlotte for us this morning. Dianne, explain what happens now.

DIANNE GALLAGHER, CNN U.S. NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: So, essentially the Democratic governor of North Carolina has vetoed this bill. He has the most-narrow path to sustain that veto, and that because there is just a one Republican, essentially, that would need to break with their party when it comes to an override vote. That is expected, according to party leaders this week, it could happen as early as tomorrow in North Carolina to begin that override vote.

The governor has essentially gone across the state trying this high- pressure campaign on specific lawmakers whose past platforms maybe don't gel with what this bill has. Now, there are four particular lawmakers that he is focused on. One of them being a senator, Michael Lee, and three members of the House, John Bradford, Tricia Cotham and Ted Davis. Two of those members have come out against the governor saying they don't believe that their past positions conflict with this bill.

But we have not heard back from Representative Tricia Cotham who, of course, infamously switched parties from Democrat to Republican last month. She has long been a proponent of abortion access for more than a decade in the state house. And, look, as far as her current beliefs, no one is quite sure. She did vote for this bill, but she was also listed as a sponsor of a bill earlier this session, just a few months ago, that would have codified Roe V. Wade into law in North Carolina.

The other lawmaker, Representative Ted Davis, told CNN he wasn't going to comment when we reached out to him. He is the only other Republican who did not vote for this bill about a week and a half ago when it was jammed through the legislature in 48 hours. He was absent. And an absence could give the governor the number of votes he needs to sustain that veto.

Now, party leaders have said that they are not worried about this. They say they have the votes. That Republicans are unified. They've tried to spin this bill as a compromise bill, something that they call mainstream. But the governor, Democrats, as well as abortion rights activists have said that's not the case.

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GOV. ROY COOPER, (D) CAROLINA: Now, we need people all over this state to learn how bad this bill is. And maybe it'll be a friend, a family member, a minister or even a doctor of one of these Republican legislators who convinces them to step up and do the right thing.

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GALLAGHER: And again, all of that is likely going to take place in talking about that override vote, John, sometime this week. Republicans say they are confident, but Democrats say that they have not lost hope. The governor, again, continuing that pressure campaign and has said that he will do that until that override vote actually takes place.

BERMAN: So, a big week in North Carolina. A lot of posturing to come. Keep us posted. Dianne Gallagher in Charlotte, thank you.

Kate.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN NEWS CENTRAL CO-ANCHOR: A fragile ceasefire is holding in the Middle East after five days of intense fighting between Israel and an Islamic Jihad group left 35 people dead. A live report from Gaza, that's next.

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BOLDUAN: Life in Gaza appears to be returning to normal as a fragile truce between Israel and the Islamic Jihad group is holding. The ceasefire followed five days of intense fighting in the region that killed 35 people, most of them Palestinians in Gaza.

CNN's Ben Wedeman is in Gaza City for us. Ben, the ceasefire, it went into effect Saturday evening. What have you been seeing since?

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, what we've been seeing is that the ceasefire has largely held. There was one incident yesterday, Kate, when a rocket was fired, a single rocket was fired from Gaza. Security sources here told us it was, in their words, a technical malfunction. There was an Israeli response with artillery, but by and large, as you can see, it's pretty much life back to normal here.

[10:45:00]

Kids are back in school in those areas where there was damage from Israeli airstrikes. They're starting to try to clean things up. But keep in mind, this was the 15th major Israeli operation in Gaza since 2005 when Israeli settlers and troops pulled out of the Gaza Strip. And the worry is that, you know, there has been, basically, three major outbreaks of strikes and counterstrikes in the last three years. The worry is that nothing has been resolved as a result of the fighting we saw between Tuesday and Saturday. And there is a very high probability that the same scenario is going to repeat itself again in the next few months or perhaps within just a year. Kate.

BOLDUAN: Yes, the cycle continues. Ben, thank you for being there.

Sara.

SIDNER: The rising cost of childcare in the United States is forcing some parents, mostly mothers, to leave the workforce in order to save money. How some groups are trying to help families out, that is ahead.

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SIDNER: Child care, typically one of the biggest expenses for families in the United States, often costing as much as monthly rent or a mortgage. And that is why some parents, especially moms, have chosen to drop out of the workforce just to save money. CNN's Natasha Chen is following the impact of these rising costs on parents.

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BRI DWIGHT, WORKING MOTHER: Let's pick out a book.

NATASHA CHEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voiceover): Bri Dwight says a nanny used to cost $15 an hour when her first daughter was born five years ago. Now, with her new baby, it's at least $25 an hour.

DWIGHT: It lights the moon.

CHEN (voiceover): The U.S. Department of Labor says, the median cost of child care can range for more than $5,000 a year in small counties up to more than $17,000 a year in very large counties, that can mean nearly a fifth of the median family income in the U.S. per child.

DWIGHT: At first, I could not believe it. But then, you know, when you go to the store and see a loaf of bread is $7, it kind of makes sense.

CHEN (voiceover): Dwight is lucky, she receives $7,500 a year in child care subsidies from her employer, soap manufacturer Dr. Bronner's. Even so, she'll have used it all by midyear due to high cost. Nearly 16,000 providers permanently shut down their facilities during the pandemic, according to a report from a non-profit Child Care Aware of America. Then, the so-called great resignation of workers quitting for better paying jobs, coupled with soaring inflation pushed up the price child care providers need to charge.

DWIGHT: We wouldn't be able to pay $15 an hour and know that they can afford a place to live.

CHEN (voiceover): The cost of operating is up at Sanderling Waldorf School in California where they offer tuition assistance to eligible families.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm going to show you the tricky ones.

ANDREW UPRICHARD, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, SANDERLING WALDORF SCHOOL: But actually, what we're finding is that gap is too big, and actually we're losing families because of it.

CHEN (voiceover): Decreasing child care costs by 10 percent could result in two and a half percent more mothers in the workforce, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce.

JEFF MCADAM, COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR, TOOTRIS: When the child care program started to close down left and right, these working, especially moms, were sidelined. And they don't get included in the unemployment numbers.

CHEN (voiceover): Jeff McAdam is with TOOTRIS, a platform for finding child care and administering child care benefits. He says their partnerships with companies offering these subsidies shot up 500 percent last year. In April, President Biden signed an executive order calling on federal agencies to try to lower the cost and expand access to child care for their workers, and the recent CHIPS Act to try to draw semiconductor business to the U.S. by letting them qualify for over $150 million of federal funding only if they have a plan for employee access to child care.

LINDA KUROKAWA, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, COMMUNITY EDUCATION AND WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT, MIRACOSTA COLLEGE: We absolutely have to do something.

CHEN (voiceover): MiraCosta College prepare students for those semiconductor jobs but saw a drop in female student enrolment since the start of the pandemic.

KUROKAWA: I suspect that a lot of them discovered that by staying at home, they were saving an awful lot of money.

CHEN (voiceover): So, the college is partnering with TOOTRIS too and got a grant to offer some child care subsidies beginning this summer.

ADRIANNA GONZALEZ, WORKING MOTHER: And my job, we do 3-D printing.

CHEN (voiceover): Adrianna Gonzalez is a MiraCosta alum.

GONZALEZ: I'm a single mom.

CHEN (voiceover): She was still paying for afterschool care for her son when she first enrolled.

GONZALEZ: Even for the boys and girl club, they was 50 back then. Now, it's like 230. I couldn't study. I was thinking about my eviction notice.

CHEN (voiceover): Now, she makes more money as an engineering technician and can breathe a little easier. The hope is that future students can benefit from a little child care assistance. But even the best subsidies can only take parents so far.

CHEN (on camera): How do you make the rest of the year work?

DWIGHT: We just -- are going to be cutting back.

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CHEN: You saw Bri Dwight tell me she's also concerned about child care workers. Saying, we're all just trying to survive here. And Department of Labor says, those worker wages are relatively low, below a living wage in most states. And yet, their reports says that child care provider prices are already unaffordable for families. So, they recommend a lot more government investment and quality affordable care. Sara.

SIDNER: Wow. It seems counterintuitive to leave your job because you can't pay for child care. It is such an important story and issue. Thank you for bringing us that. Natasha Chen there live for us from Los Angeles.

John.

BERMAN: All right. CNN chased down House Speaker Kevin McCarthy just a short time ago. What he said about White House negotiations that might rattle the stock market.

[10:55:00]

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BERMAN: A notable drop in crossings at the border. New reporting on what is behind it and why officials believe it might not last.

BOLDUAN: It is seen as a first of its kind wrongful death lawsuit. The families of the victims in the Buffalo supermarket mass shooting are taking on the social media giants alleging that they radicalized the gunman. Their legal teams are telling us they want to sure this never happens again.

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