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October Noted 150,000 Job Increase in U.S. Economy; Interview with Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg; Interview with Senior Adviser to President Biden Mitch Landrieu; $653M New Port Funding Announced by Biden Administration; Israel-Hamas War; October 7 Attacks on Israel Applauded by Hezbollah Leader; NYC Mayor Eric Adams' Primary Fundraiser's Home Raided by FBI. Aired 10:30-11a ET

Aired November 03, 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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JOHN BERMAN, CNN NEWS CENTRAL CO-ANCHOR: All right. New this morning, the latest job support was just released. It shows 150,000 jobs were added in October. It's still a positive number and continues a positive trend, but it's a little bit lower than economists were expecting for the last month. The unemployment rate ticked a bit higher to 3.9 percent.

With us now, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and Senior Adviser to President Biden on all things infrastructure Former New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu, great to have you both here with us together on set.

Secretary, I just want to ask you about this jobs report, 150,000, a little bit of a deceleration in jobs growth there, a little bit of a chill. What do you think that reflects in the economy? And where does the infrastructure bill that is being implemented law that is being implemented play into that?

PETE BUTTIGIEG, SECRETARY OF TRANSPORTATION: Well, it's hard to read too much into going from one month to the next month. The overall pattern, of course, is extraordinary job growth and the extraordinary fact that unemployment is and remains below four percent. To get to your question about infrastructure, what excites me is that we have infrastructure work we're launching today that will be creating good jobs throughout this decade.

Some of the projects that we have underway. There's more than I think 31, 000 just on the transportation side alone. Some of them will be done in one construction season. Simple, relatively small projects. Others rebuilding an airport terminal or the Hudson Tunnel that we're starting work on today, those will be generating good paying jobs for years because they're so complex. So, this isn't just an investment in one season. It's not just about goosing demand. It's about long-term investments in the capacity of this country with a lot of jobs created along the way.

BERMAN: You know, Mayor, part of your gig is to spend the money that was, you know, it was passed as part of the infrastructure law. Republicans -- the government, by the way, as you gentlemen, both those about to shut down again in a couple of weeks unless something is done about it. Republicans over the summer and through the last almost shut down, were trying to pass some measures that would claw back some of the money from the infrastructure bill. How does that complicate what you're doing?

MITCH LANDRIEU, SENIOR ADVISER TO PRESIDENT BIDEN: Well, the president's vision is that you have to invest in America and you have to invest in American people and American things to grow the economy from the bottom up in the middle out. And as the secretary said just a minute ago, we already have 38,000 projects going on in the country, rebuilding roads and bridges and airports and ports, waterways, high speed internet, clean energy economy. For example, we're breaking ground today on the Hudson Tunnel because we want to fix the Northeast Corridor. The president thinks that we ought to have world class rail.

So, it's a little bit curious to us that some folks on the Republican side and the House on the Hill actually want to make rail go slower and be less safe and not help people get to and from where they're going. So, we hope that they don't make the unfortunate decision to try to leverage a government shutdown and stop this progress that we've made. As the Secretary said just a minute ago, since the President's been in office, created 14. 5 million jobs, that's a lot of money going into people's pockets to build generation of wealth. And that's what the president talks about when he says that we're going to make a better America.

BERMAN: Does it make your job harder what's happening in Congress?

BUTTIGIEG: Absolutely, and it's also going to make the fight against inflation harder. Look, part of what has helped reduce inflation has been increasing the fluidity of our supply chains. That means investing in things like ports. Today we're announcing 41 port projects around the country from a slack water harbor on the Arkansas River to improvements in -- for some of our biggest container ports like Newark or Long Beach, California.

But what they just voted through committee and what House Republicans want to do would take a hundred million dollars out of the funding for our port's programs. I don't know why you would do that. It also shorts our FAA systems, equipment and technology by about $500 million compared to what the president put forward. I just don't know how anybody who's been on an airplane lately would think this is a time to do less on aviation.

BERMAN: Mayor, I was reading, you said that with Bloomberg and in the write up of the discussion you have with Bloomberg -- in a recent poll, 38 percent of swing voters say they trust President Biden to handle infrastructure.

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42 percent say they trust Donald Trump. Why do you think that even with the fact that the infrastructure law was passed and pushed by President Biden, he's trailing on that? LANDRIEU: I think that -- I think I find that really curious, but I think that people will see this. There's a phrase that calls the thing speaks for itself. When people see these projects coming out of the ground, they see it. They're going to know who did it. They're going to know how it happened. And If the Republicans of Congress keep actually going in the opposite direction, I think they're going to understand pretty clearly who's on their side and who's not.

BERMAN: Mayor, I -- we have a new speaker of the House, Mike Johnson from Louisiana, and the "KFile" here at CNN reported that back in the mid to late 2000s, he worked with a group that promoted conversion therapy. The idea that people who are gay can be turned not gay, and this is something that's been widely discredited and considered dangerous over time. And back then he's quoted as saying, "Homosexual behavior is something you do, it's not something that you are." And since he's been confirmed as speaker just last week, he did an interview where he talked a little bit about this. I want you to listen to what he said.

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REP. MIKE JOHNSON (R-LA), U.S. HOUSE SPEAKER: When the Supreme Court issued the Obergefell opinion, that became the law of the land, OK? I respect the rule of law, but I also genuinely love all people, regardless of their lifestyle choices.

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BERMAN: Regardless of their lifestyle choices, he said, which is very similar to what he said 15, 20 years ago when he was working with groups pressing conversion therapy. What do you make of that statement?

BUTTIGIEG: Look, if -- I've often said, if being gay was a choice, that was a choice that was made way above my pay grade. But my lifestyle is that I'm a dad. I'm a married, father of two. A beautiful boy and girl, twins, two years old. And our family deserves to be protected. It deserves to be supported, just like every American family.

Most Americans get that. Most Americans believe that. I will admit it's a little bit difficult. Driving the family minivan to drop our kids off at daycare, passing the dome of the Capitol knowing that the Speaker of the House sitting under that dome doesn't even think our family ought to exist. But that's one of many, many reasons why I'm grateful to live under the protection of the Constitution, which according to the Supreme Court established our right to have that family, and serving under a President who is making sure that everybody is included and protected, including families like mine.

BERMAN: You know, I don't know if you've heard that interview before, but to hear that language from someone who's second in line to the presidency, how did that hit you?

BUTTIGIEG: I mean, it almost feels like time travel. You know, most Americans -- by the way, most Republicans, as well as Democrats and Independents, respect things like marriage equality. And if you really are pro-family, if you care about families, if you want to support families, then you have to support things like the president's push to have insulin be $35, which we were able to do for seniors and would do for everybody if House and Senate Republicans hadn't blocked it.

If he really cares about families, maybe take another look at the child tax credit, which cut child poverty in this country in half. And then when they let it expire, because people like Mike Johnson were against it, the child poverty rate doubled again. Let's talk about what it really means to support families, whether it's LGBTQ plus individuals or any other family in America trying to get through life.

All I can do, from the seat that I'm in, is try to support American families with better infrastructure. Whether it's the 2nd Avenue subway that we're going to be doing work on today, the Hudson Tunnel that hundreds of thousands of people count on to get to where they need to be in the New York area, or the supply chains were improving that they go into how a family puts a box of cereal on the table. That's our focus. I would love for him to be helping, not hurting those families.

BERMAN: Mr. Secretary Pete Buttigieg, Mayor Mitch Landrieu, thank you so much for being here. You're announcing infrastructure progress right here in our neighborhood. I was hoping maybe my office would get extended, knocked out a wall there. Really appreciate it. Thank you.

BUTTIGIEG: Thanks.

BERMAN: Kate.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN NEWS CENTRAL CO-ANCHOR: Great to have them here today. Coming up still for us, Secretary of State Tony Blinken speaking just now, is also now on his way to Jordan. His urgent mission in the Middle East continues. What are the options on the table? What's being discussed? We know that the leader of Hezbollah has just called for a ceasefire. What is happening right now on the ground, and the impact and the conversations that the Secretary of State is having in it? We'll be right back.

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BOLDUAN: Secretary of State Tony Blinken, he's headed next to Amman, Jordan after speaking to reporters in Tel Aviv. We were just talking about all throughout this show. And in his remarks, he reiterated the United States stands with Israel. Listen to this.

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ANTONY BLINKEN, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: This right to self defense, indeed this obligation to self defense, belongs to every nation. No country could or should tolerate the slaughter of innocents. It is striking, and in some ways shocking that the brutality of the slaughter has receded so quickly in the memories of so many. But not in Israel and not in America. (END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: Also, from the Secretary of State, he said very clearly, we need to do more to protect Palestinian civilians. How Israel conducts its campaign to defeat Hamas matters. We heard him say that more than once.

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And speaking at the very same time, the leader of Hezbollah, his first public remarks since the October 7th terror attack carried out by Hamas. Hassan Nasrallah calling the Hamas terror attack a, "Great and blessed operation." Joining me now for more on this is CNN National Security Analyst Peter Bergen.

Peter, it's so good to have you here. We also heard from Nasrallah, he said that his fighters are engaged in an unprecedented battle with Israel. Also saying that the possibility of the Lebanese front escalating into a broad battle is a realistic option. There's a lot of messaging in this, but there's -- but it's also a real threat. What do you see -- what do you hear in these remarks? And what do you see as what -- where the red line is for Hezbollah?

PETER BERGEN, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST VP FOR GLOBAL STUDIES AND FELLOWS AT NEW AMERICA: Well, Kate, I think -- you know, for me, the headline in that speech was he repeatedly said that this was a Palestinian only operation, e.i., Hezbollah wasn't involved. Iran wasn't involved. The Palestinians kept it secret.

Now, of course, he's going to make all sort of rhetorical attacks on Israel and celebrate what happened on October 7th, and that's all to be expected. But will he actually engage in a full-scale war with Israel? I think right now, the conventional wisdom is that's unlikely. There are a bunch of reasons for that.

One, the last time it happened, it was sort of a draw in 2006 when Israel fought Hezbollah. Nasrallah, the leader of Hezbollah, who we just heard from, certainly derived quite a lot of, kind of, praise in the Arab world for effectively handing a bit of a stalemate to the Israelis in 2006. But it was very damaging to Lebanon, billions of dollars of damage.

Now, Lebanon has had a, you know, as you know, Kate as -- in an economic freefall right now. And so, I think the appetite for a war with Israel is surely less than it might be otherwise. But you know, one -- what could change things is if the Gaza war goes on for weeks or months, you know, the pressure on Nasrallah might rise. But I took away from that speech that there was no kind of definitive. We're going to declare a war on Israel. And he was at pains to say that they had nothing to do with what happened on October 7th.

BOLDUAN: Yes, that context, so -- it's so important. Also, part of this is a broader message. We heard from the FBI director just this week that the October 7th attack is serving as a big boost to terror groups. This is how Ray put it, we assess that the actions of Hamas and its allies will serve as an inspiration, the likes of which we haven't seen since ISIS launched its so-called caliphate several years ago. This speaks to the need of just -- for Israel and allies of not just taking out Hamas, but taking on the Hamas ideology. How hard is this?

BERGEN: Well, it's interesting, Kate. You know, if you go back to the 9/11 era, you know, bin Laden was always talking about Palestine and the Palestinian issue and all his public statements. And since then, jihadist terrorist groups that -- at that issue has receded in favor of sort of the anti-Shia message that we saw from Isis. But clearly, as the FBI director, Christopher Ray, and others who testified just this week said al Qaeda, ISIS, other groups are seizing on the Palestinian issue again and they're using it for propaganda purposes.

And I think their statements speak for themselves that they're certainly very concerned about it, and we've seen a rise in antisemitic incidents around the world. We've also, of course, seen Islamophobic murder in the United States of a six-year-old boy. So, on both sides of the issue, in the United States, where is kind of elevated emotion and that may lead people to violence.

BOLDUAN: Yes. Peter, it's great to have you. Thank you so much.

BERGEN: Thank you, Kate. Thank you.

BOLDUAN: John.

BERMAN: All right. The FBI raids the home of the chief fundraiser for New York City Mayor Eric Adams. What they were looking for and how the mayor is responding this morning.

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BERMAN: We're getting new information this morning about an FBI raid at the home of New York City's -- the New York City Mayor's chief fundraiser. It is now said to be part of a broader investigation into Mayor Eric Adams 2021 campaign. Law enforcement officials tell CNN that investigators are looking for evidence of illegal contributions to his campaign, possibly from foreign nationals.

CNN's Gloria Pazmino covering this for us with me now. All right. Tell us more about what's being said here and what the mayor, how the mayor is now responding.

GLORIA PAZMINO, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, John. Let's start with what we know so far. As you mentioned, we know that the home of the mayor's chief fundraiser was targeted in an FBI raid yesterday morning and that FBI has secured phones, computers, tablets as part of that raid.

Now, why is this important? Brianna Suggs, the woman who was targeted in this raid is the mayor's chief fundraiser. Now, we should make it clear, the mayor has not been implicated or mentioned in any of these investigations so far. But this is the mayor's inner circle. The mayor is running for reelection, and that campaign has already raised millions of dollars.

Now, what a law enforcement sources are telling us here is that they are looking for evidence that the 2021 campaign, the first -- the mayor's first campaign, conspired with foreign nationals from Turkey to get donations funneled into that campaign.

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As you know, foreign nationals cannot make political contributions to campaigns here in the United States. So, what they are alleging is that these foreign nationals used members in New York City's Turkish- American community to make those donations and funnel the donations into the campaign.

There's a lot we don't know yet, including what, if anything, people got as a result of making those donations. But so far, the mayor has said he is not connected and that he will cooperate with any investigation. Here's what he said.

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MAYOR ERIC ADAMS (D-NY): I owe my campaign to the highest ethical standards. Any inquiry that is done, we're going to fully participate and make sure that it's done correctly. I have not been contacted by anyone from any law enforcement agency. And that's why I came back from D. C. to be here, to be on the ground and look at this inquiry as it was made.

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PAZMINO: Now, although the mayor has not been mentioned in this investigation, as you heard it there, he had a very important meeting scheduled with the White House yesterday to discuss the ongoing migrant crisis here in New York. He canceled that meeting and returned to the city to deal with this matter. So, even though the mayor has not been directly involved or named, it is very much part of his inner circle. And there seems to be a lot of smoke around the political operation. So far, we are hoping to learn more throughout the day. John.

BERMAN: All right. Let us know if and when you do hear more. Gloria Pazmino, thank you so much for that.

Kate.

BOLDUAN: All right, coming up, Secretary of State Tony Blinken, he's going to be heading out of Israel very soon and on to the next leg of his urgent diplomatic mission. As we're learning, Jordan's foreign minister is set to tell Blinken that Israel must stop its war on Gaza. That's a head.

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