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Biden Calls UAW-GM Tentative Agreement "Great"; 75 Trucks From Egypt Awaiting Entry Into Gaza; Humanitarian Crisis In Gaza, A "Catastrophic Failing", Says ICRC President; Landlord Scheduled For Arraignment On Murder Charge Of 6-Year-Old Boy; Despite Legal Issues, Trump Leads GOP Contest in Iowa; Antisemitic Threats Directed Towards Jewish Students At Cornell University. Aired 10:30-11a ET

Aired October 30, 2023 - 10:30   ET

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

[10:30:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

JOHN BERMAN, CNN NEWS CENTRAL CO-ANCHOR: So, moments ago, President Biden reacted to news of a deal between General Motors and the United Auto Workers which would end their strike. Let's listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The UAW deal, Mr. President, what do you say?

JOE BIDEN, U.S. PRESIDENT: I think it is great.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: I think it is great, he said. Let's get right to CNN's Vanessa Yurkevich on the details and the significance, Vanessa.

VANESSA YURKEVICH, CNN BUSINESS AND POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, General Motors was the last of the three big automakers to come to a deal with the Union. Over the weekend, we had heard that General Motors was moving towards a deal, but then on Saturday, moments after the union announced a deal with Stellantis, they said that they were striking at another plant at General Motors.

And so, over the weekend, we were hearing that talks were still going on with General Motors and the union, but this morning, a deal is in place. Now, GM nor the union are commenting on this. However, a source close to the negotiations is telling us that a tentative agreement has been reached. And if this, in fact, is going to be a deal on the table that will be voted upon by membership along with the Stellantis deal and Ford that we know have been agreed to, this would end what has been a nearly seven-week strike costing the automakers, the economy, the employees billions of dollars.

And we don't know details of the -- the details of the GM quite deal yet, but we expect that it will pattern or mimic the deals that we've seen from Ford and Stellantis, it's called pattern bargaining. We have seen in those deals that employees will see wage increases of 25 percent over four years or four and a half years as this contract is going to be. And we have seen cost-of-living adjustments reinstituted, something that the union gave up in 2007. And we also see in this contract with Ford and Stellantis, and the expectations that we will see this with GM, is that workers now have the right to strike over many or any plant closures.

And additionally in this GM deal, we've heard a couple of weeks ago that they were going to be putting in any electric vehicle plant. So, those are new jobs potentially coming online that may be added to this deal, including all of these big economic raises that these union members are going to be getting in this deal. Of course, we will need to wait to see the fine print. And, John, once the union makes this formal announcement, we can expect the last remaining UAW GM workers will come off the picket line and soon head back to work soon, John.

BERMAN: All right. The update and announcement of a deal between GM and United Auto Workers Union. Vanessa Yurkevich filling in some of the blanks there, thank you so much. Keep us posted.

Sara.

SARA SIDNER, CNN NEWS CENTRAL CO-ANCHOR: All right. Right now, officials in Egypt say 75 aid trucks are now on the Egyptian side of the Rafah Border Crossing with Gaza, and a majority of them are undergoing security checks right now. They contain desperately needed aid as hundreds of thousands of Palestinians in Gaza face a dire humanitarian crisis that is worsening by the hour.

As Israel's assault from the ground and sky intensifies this morning, a horrific sobering headline from the charity organization Save the Children, it says, more children have now been killed in Gaza during this short period of war of three weeks than were killed in armed conflicts across the globe in all of last year.

[10:35:00]

CNN's Salma Abdelaziz is in London with more on the effort to get aid into Gaza which is desperately needed. Salma.

SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. And Sara, you described those 75 trucks, we understand some of them are undergoing inspection procedures. But again, this is just crumb of crumbs, Sara. I mean, yesterday there was 10 trucks that crossed, but you have to compare that to what Gaza was used to getting on a daily basis which was more than 450 trucks on a daily basis before this conflict.

The result of that is just the spiraling humanitarian crisis on the ground. The U.N. saying that desperate families broke into a warehouse over the weekend, grabbing what they could, just basic life supplies. We're talking about flour and soap, hygiene products. They say civil order is breaking down in the Gaza Strip now entering the fourth week of this conflict with two million people, half of them sealed into that enclave with bombs raining down on them almost constantly in a siege that is choking them.

And you have to also remember, what's not on those trucks which is fuel. Israel says, it will continue to bar fuel from entering Gaza, that means you can't power hospitals, you have no electricity, you have no means of communication potentially, that's also been cut off.

And you mentioned that death toll. It's almost difficult to fathom, according to Save the Children. And they're sourcing Gaza's health ministry which is controlled by Hamas, more than 3,000 children killed in just three weeks. Imagine the heartbreak. Imagine the anguish on the ground. We see the footage coming in of near constant funerals for these children. Their families, their parents are desperate to find refuge, desperate to find a safe place.

Israel reiterating that evacuation ordered to the south of the Strip, but even there, the bombs are raining down. Some families are looking for shelter in hospitals, I know you're running images right not of the al-Quds Hospital, that's in Gaza City, those are images after an airstrike nearby. Even there, even in the hospital which should be protected under international law, there is no safety, Sara.

SIDNER: Salma Abdelaziz, a terrible, frightening situation there for families, civilians in Gaza. Thank you so much.

Kate.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN NEWS CENTRAL CO-ANCHOR: Thanks, Sara.

This morning, the Illinois landlord now facing murder charges in the stabbing death of a six-year-old boy, a Palestinian-American boy, is due in court. Police say, Joseph Czuba, he stabbed the boy two dozen times and targeted him and his mother because they were Muslim. The Department of Justice is now investigating this as a hate crime on top of all of this.

CNN's Whitney Wild is outside the courthouse, she joins us now. Whitney, what is expected to happen today?

WHITNEY WILD, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT CORRESPONDENT: Well, today, our anticipation is that the judge will read the charges to Joseph Czuba, and he is very likely to enter some kind of plea. This is just the beginning, Kate, of what could be a very long journey for justice for this family. We saw family members walking into court today.

Six-year-old Wadea Al Fayoume, the victim in this case, that six-year- old boy who was stabbed so many times to death was laid to rest about two weeks ago. His mother though, Kate, was unable to attend his funeral because she was so badly injured. She was only just released from the hospital last week. So, certainly something that we're continuing to keep an eye on is how the family is seeking peace in this moment and how they're healing after just this horrific crime.

The day that this happened, Kate, Hanaan Shahin, the mother who was stabbed around 12 times told police that this began like any other day. They were renting two rooms from Joseph Czuba, they were on the bottom floor, they had breakfast. It was a normal day. But over the day's leading up to this attack, Joseph Czuba became more and more agitated, according to Hanaan Shahin. This is what she told police the day of the stabbing. And she said, the morning of the attack, he confronted her about the conflict in the Middle East. And she said something to the effect of, let's pray for peace. And then she told police that's when he attacked.

It was horrific. She locked herself in the bathroom. She called 9-1-1. And while she was on the phone with first responders, Kate, she could hear Joseph Czuba stabbing six-year-old Wadea to death. Again, today, we're expecting that the judge will read these charges which include murder, attempted murder, two counts of a hate crime. And we are expecting some sort of plea. But, you know, Kate, as we've seen in some cases, anything can happen. So, this could be, again, the start of a very long journey for justice. Back to you.

BOLDUAN: Whitney, thank you for being there. Thank you for the update.

John.

BERMAN: All right. We have brand new polling out just this morning from Iowa.

[10:40:00]

Several candidates have basically said it is Iowa or bust. So, is it Iowa or bust?

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BERMAN: All right. There is brand-new polling out of the state of Iowa. It shows where the race for president on the Republican side is headed. Let's get right to our Senior Data Reporter Harry Enten, what does this poll say?

[10:45:00]

HARRY ENTEN, CNN SENIOR DATE REPORTER: What does this poll say? Well, I have a real none surprise for you. Look who's out ahead, Donald Trump. He's at 43 percent, lapping the field. The next two -- top two, DeSantis at 16, Haley at 16. They don't even get up to the 43 percent. Trump is basically steady. But the other story here is Nikki Haley. She was only at seven percent in August. Look where she is today. She's more than doubled her share. That gets her to 16 and a tie for second. But Donald Trump still well out ahead at 43 percent, an over 20-point lead at this point.

BERMAN: So, Trump holding steady. Haley rising. What's the lead here? 27?

ENTEN: Yes, 27 points. That's --

BERMAN: 27 points. OK. How big of a lead is that from historical perspectives?

ENTEN: Yes. So, you know, I'm always interested -- can somebody, in Trump's position, has anyone actually ever lost? So, take a look here. Had a 20-point Iowa -- 20 plus point Iowa lead at this point. There is actually one example of someone who had an over 20-point lead in Iowa at this point and went on to lose. I think Ronald Reagan had an over 30-point lead at this point in the Iowa caucus. He lost those. But the rest of them, Dole in '96, Bush in 2000, Gore in 2000, all went on to win the caucuses. We don't know what will happen with Donald Trump this time around. But the fact is, from a historical perspective, if you have a 20 plus point Iowa lead, chances are pretty good you're going to win. Ronald Reagan, of course, being the exception.

BERMAN: All right. What about the views of the candidates? When you look under the hood a little bit, what do you see there, Harry?

ENTEN: Yes. So, I'm always interested in the very favorable view. Not that, just that you like a candidate, but that you love a candidate. And here we look here, very favorable views. Donald Trump, 42 percent. Again, has the highest percentage saying they have a very favorable view of him. But we do see this metric as a little bit closer. DeSantis 29 percent with a very favorable view. Haley 25 percent with a very favorable view.

So, there is probably something going on here with DeSantis and Haley are kind of splitting the anti-Trump vote. But even on this metric, Donald Trump is very well liked among Iowa caucus goers. He leads on this metric.

BERMAN: Are people's minds made up?

ENTEN: OK. So, there are two different ways you can kind of look at this metric. Mind made up on your vote choice. Among those who are backing Trump, look at this, 63 percent of those backing Trump say their mind is made up. That is much higher than DeSantis backers at 30 percent or Haley backers at 26 percent. That means Trump has a pretty big base already built in.

But what this also means is I do think there's a chance for some consolidation. The DeSantis backers and the Haley backers, if they're not going for Trump at this point, hey, one of these two vote blocks could in fact decide, you know what? Our candidate isn't going to win. Let's go with the candidate who has a real chance of winning. So, this to me is a metric, perhaps the best metric. For those who are hoping Trump isn't going to be the nominee, it might be this one.

BERMAN: But even if you add it up, every Haley voter and every DeSantis voter in this poll, you'd still be less than Trump here.

ENTEN: You would still be less than Trump. You'd have to win over those Ramaswamy, those Scott, those Burgums who are all pulling at the single digits at this point. It's going to be a tough road to climb to beat Donald Trump in the State of Iowa.

BERMAN: Harry, thank you --

ENTEN: Thank you.

BERMAN: -- very much for all this.

Kate.

BOLDUAN: Coming up for us, the FBI is now investigating a series of antisemitic threats at Cornell University, including threats to shoot Jewish students. That's next. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:50:00]

BOLDUAN: So, the FBI now says it is working with Cornell University after Jewish students were targeted in a series of antisemitic threats. And the New York Attorney General is also speaking out about this. In a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, today she wrote this, these threats targeting Jewish students at Cornell are absolutely horrific. There is no space for antisemitism or violence of any kind. Campuses must remain safe spaces for our students.

CNN's Athena Jones is tracking all of this for us. She joins us now. What more are you hearing about all this?

ATHENA JONES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Really, this is disgusting stuff. Violent language. We're talking about, as you mentioned, a series of antisemitic posts on a website that is not affiliated with the university. It's a website where people can discuss fraternities and sororities, Greek life. But a series of tweets were made threatening, for instance, to shoot Jewish students, encouraging others to kill them or commit other acts of violence against them. Some of the handles on these posts were things like Hamas.

So, of course, people are very, very upset on that campus. We know that the threats also targeted a center for Jewish living, the building that houses the university's kosher dining hall, multicultural center. And so, students are -- we're very, very concerned. That center includes a residence hall. So, you can go in and live there.

Governor Kathy Hockel, the New York governor was just on campus meeting with Jewish students --

BOLDUAN: Just this morning.

JONES: -- holding a roundtable -- just now, just this morning. She just concluded it, saying again that the FBI is involved here. We know that there's a stepped-up police presence at this one area where that houses the Jewish -- the Center for Jewish Living. And they want to make sure that whoever did this is held accountable and is prosecuted.

We also have a statement from the university president, Martha Pollack, who said in part, we will not tolerate antisemitism at Cornell. The virulence and destructiveness of antisemitism is real and deeply impacting our Jewish students, faculty, and staff, as well as the entire Cornell community. This incident highlights the need to combat the forces that are dividing us and driving us toward hate. This cannot be what defines us at Cornell.

So, as I mentioned just now, a roundtable. We know that the White House is also introducing new steps that they are taking among them. Making it clearer -- they're updating the complaint form when you're filing a complaint for a violation of civil -- federal civil rights law. They're making it clearer that acts of antisemitism and Islamophobia are illegal. [10:55:00]

And we also know that Education Secretary Miguel Cardona at some point this week is also going to be sitting down with Jewish college students to talk about these concerns about rising antisemitism.

BOLDUAN: I mean, it is -- it's just horrific. I mean, it's over and over in the past two weeks. We've seen just a continued series from Cornell to other places. It's just -- it is horrible.

It's good. Thank you, Athena, for tracking it.

JONES: Thanks.

BOLDUAN: John.

BERMAN: All right. Israel has increased its count of how many people are being held hostage. We will speak with a woman who was kidnapped by Hamas. She has been released, but her husband is still being held.

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