Return to Transcripts main page

CNN News Central

NTSB: Toxic Burn In East Palestine, Ohio Was Not Necessary; High Stakes As Biden Delivers State Of The Union Speech Tonight; Biden To Tout Economy, Draw Sharp Contrast With Trump Tonight; Weight-Loss Drug Ad Warns Against Vanity During Oscars. Aired 3:30-4p ET

Aired March 07, 2024 - 15:30   ET

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

[15:30:00]

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: A massive controlled burn conducted after the Norfolk Southern train derailment in Ohio last year was apparently not necessary. And testimony on Capitol Hill yesterday, the chair of the NTSB said that evidence shows there was no scientific basis to support it and that there were better options. The disaster itself released more than a million pounds of toxic chemicals into the air, water and soil of East Palestine. And some residents say they are still suffering from health issues because of it.

CNN's Jason Carroll has been following this story. So Jason, walk us through these findings by the NTSB.

JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Boris, really, this is the strongest indication yet from the NTSB that that so-called controlled burn, the controlled release, really may not have been needed at all.

I want to take you back to the events of quickly what happened there on the ground. When those rail cars were burning, we were there on the ground, and I remember what officials were saying. They were telling us that they basically had two options.

They said they were facing either a catastrophic explosion, one that would spread shrapnel in all directions. That's why they evacuated the town of East Palestine. So the decision was made to do the so-called controlled release to avoid that explosion.

And at the time, East Palestine's fire chief said the consensus in the command center was that releasing, doing this controlled release was really the least bad option. That release created that huge mushroom cloud that we saw there on the ground that you see there of toxic smoke that spread throughout the area, many residents still telling us that's part of the reason why they got sick. And now you've got the NTSB saying there was another option, one that some officials there were not aware of at the time, to just let the cars cool down.

That's because evidence shows that the decision to do the controlled release was not justified because the rail cars were not in fact heating up. The NTSB says data shows they were actually cooling down. The chemical company, OxyVinyls, the one that makes vinyl chloride, had experts apparently on the ground with some of that information showing that there was not a danger of a chemical reaction.

The NTSB says while that information was relayed to Norfolk Southern's contractor at the time, it did not make it to the people who ultimately made the decision about what to do.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JENNIFER HOMENDY, NATIONAL TRANSPORTATION SAFETY BOARD CHAIR: OxyVinyls was on scene providing information to Norfolk Southern's contractor who was in the room when the decision was made and when advice was given to the governor of Ohio, to the incident commander. They were not given full information.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CARROLL: So Norfolk Southern released a statement. Let me read it to you.

It says: The final decision to conduct a controlled release was made by the incident commander with input from multiple stakeholders, including Norfolk Southern, local, state and federal authorities.

The successful controlled release prevented a potentially catastrophic uncontrolled explosion that would have caused significant damage for the community.

They also go on to say that to date, that the air, the water is safe there in East Palestine.

The NTSB will ultimately release its final report on what happened and caused the derailment. That's going to happen this June -- Boris.

SANCHEZ: Jason Carroll, thank you so much -- Brianna.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: Tonight is President Biden's third State of the Union address, and it may be the most consequential speech of his political career.

This afternoon, the president held the traditional White House lunch with journalists previewing his remarks. And CNN anchor Erin Burnett was at that lunch with the president.

[15:35:00]

She's joining us now from the White House. Erin, tell us about what you heard.

ERIN BURNETT, CNN ANCHOR: So Brianna, as you say, it's a tradition. It obviously goes back a long time where journalists have an off the record lunch with the president ahead of the all important State of the Union address. And there were about a dozen of us in the room, old and new media. And it was an off the record lunch, as you said, Brianna.

So I can't talk about the topics, but I can say to tell you this. It was a freewheeling conversation, a lot of back and forth from the president. It went about an hour and a half. He spoke extemporaneously. There were no notes. And he had a lot to say.

Obviously, you know, throughout the day today, we've seen the announcements from the White House on everything from corporate tax changes that they want to make, to Gaza and humanitarian aid with a port deal in Gaza. Also, we've heard them talk about bank fee changes that they want to make. And it wouldn't surprise me if a lot of those specifics happen to be in the speech tonight.

From the back and forth, though, Brianna, I can tell you he's very thoughtful. While he there was some moments of humor, for sure, as he is known for, he was serious. And I think it is a moment of great gravity.

It certainly appeared to me from the way he was speaking today that that's what we're going to see much more of tonight. And although perhaps he's also ready to, you know, interact maybe more on that stage tonight than has been in some years. Obviously, last year, you remember sort of the moment that went viral about Social Security, you know, wouldn't surprise me if something spontaneous like that is possible from him.

But the comments in that room today, off the record again, so I can't share the topics, but extensive and expansive. And he did speak without notes, Brianna, for about 90 minutes.

So we'll see if that's much more of what we get tonight, if that's indicative of what we hear. But I do think that there is a very -- he knows the seriousness of the moment and the importance of the moment coming into what is now a head to head with Donald Trump. And that is the feeling that we all are going to see tonight as Americans watching.

KEILAR: Yes. It is a big night this evening for the president and for the country. Erin, thank you so much for sharing that with us. And we'll be right back. You're watching CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KEILAR: We expect to hear President Biden drawing a sharp contrast with former President Trump on the economy in his State of the Union address tonight. His speech is expected to be heavy on economic populism, how it helps everyday people, and how he wants to raise taxes on big corporations and the wealthy.

Joining us now is Jared Bernstein. He is chair of the White House Council of Economic Advisers. Jared, great to have you.

JARED BERNSTEIN, CHAIR, WHITE HOUSE COUNCIL OF ECONOMIC ADVISERS: It's a great pleasure to be here with you on this exciting day.

KEILAR: It is a big day. And I know the President, he needs to appeal to a lot of people. He needs to appeal to young voters for sure who helped him win in 2020, especially as they're taking issue with his handling of U.S. support for Israel's war in Gaza. I know he'll address that. But on the economy, this is such an issue of concern for them. What vision of the future is Biden going to sell specifically for them tonight?

BERNSTEIN: One of the great opportunities in State of the Union is to speak directly to tens of millions of the American people, younger people included, but of course much broader than that, about the historic progress we've made on the economy. The fact that when he got here, the economy was in a very tough place.

You know, a vaccination program didn't even really exist. And in a matter of months, with shots in arms and checks in pockets, he started getting this economy back to full employment where it's been ever since. The unemployment rate below 4 percent for two years. 15 million jobs since this president got here. About 800,000 in manufacturing. And real wages rising. That's part of his effort to put downward pressure on costs. And folks will hear about that tonight too.

KEILAR: And specifically for young folks, is there going to be anything tailored for them?

BERNSTEIN: Well certainly the president will talk about the extensive student debt cancellation he's been able to pull off. $138 billion affecting almost 4 million people. That's some real breathing room for young people for whom that's an important issue.

There's another part of the speech which I think is particularly important in this space, and that's about housing. This president has a truly ambitious set of ideas. You're going to hear some tonight that involve direct lowering costs -- I won't get into details because I don't want to get ahead of him -- for affordable housing, which is again a critical issue for many young people starting out.

KEILAR: And what about, you know, we know a lot of young people obviously, as they are starting out, they're feeling like they can't really realize what their parents and their grandparents did. What do you say to people who are being told, yes the economy is great, but they're being priced out of not just buying a home, but they're feeling the squeeze on child care?

BERNSTEIN: Well here I think you have to look at both our agenda. We have a child care agenda which we've been trying to get Congress to help with for quite a while now. And of course the president will be talking directly to Congress about that very issue, to make child care affordable, to make housing affordable. I actually would call those two of our most important pieces of unfinished business. And we have great legislation in that area, but we need Congress to work with you. So you'll hear the president speaking about that directly.

[15:45:02]

But Brianna, it's also really important in this setting to talk about and to tell young people about the contrast, about who's fighting for whom.

And this speech is replete with the president explaining who he's fighting for and how he's fighting to lower costs, improve the living standards of low-income families, good jobs, union jobs, standing up production in this country. And who the other side's fighting for, which looks a lot like tax cuts for the very rich.

KEILAR: Interest rates -- and I know probably you spout these economic positives, and they are positive. And looking at some of the poll numbers that aren't so great for Biden, I know that some of these actions the administration has taken probably feel thankless.

But you also have these interest rates. They are not expected to come down soon. You had the Fed chair, Jerome Powell, he was on the Hill today. He's making that clear. 30-year fixed-rate mortgage average is 6.88 percent today, pretty high, food costs still burdensome.

Where can Biden talk about that to people about their everyday lives and finding a little more room in their margins?

BERNSTEIN: Well, he can talk about that directly, again, to tens of millions of people tonight in the speech, and he does so. He will talk about measures in the housing space. He'll actually cite the mortgage rate. And he'll talk about measures that are directly intended to make housing more affordable, even with the mortgage rate being where it is.

Now, look, we'd like to see that rate come down. That has nothing to do with Federal Reserve policy. They're going to do what they're going to do. But as inflation comes down, remember, it is down six percentage points, two-thirds off of its peak. We have every reason to believe that interest rates should eventually ease as well. And that will help on the mortgage front.

But from our perspective, what can we do to increase the supply of affordable housing? He's going to talk about measures that could add two million units tonight of affordable housing. So I don't mean it could add them tonight.

He's going to talk tonight. That was a dangling participle. He's going to talk tonight about a policy to add two million affordable units to our housing stock. And I think that will be very welcome for people who are listening for that.

KEILAR: All right. We'll be watching tonight. Jared, thank you so much. White House Economic Adviser Jared Bernstein, we appreciate your time.

BERNSTEIN: My pleasure.

KEILAR: And we'll be right back.

[15:50:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JIMMY KIMMEL, TELEVISION HOST, COMEDIAN: Everybody looks so great. When I look around this room I can't help but wonder, is Ozempic right for me?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You're about to watch the 95th annual Academy Awards sponsored by Ozempic.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Ozempic. I guess everyone in Hollywood has diabetes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: Alright, it's no secret that weight loss drugs are often associated with Hollywood and perfect bodies. That's why Eli Lilly's new ad is kind of surprising.

SANCHEZ: Yes, just in time for the Oscars, the drug maker is telling people not to take these drugs for, quote, vanity.

CNN medical correspondent Meg Tirrell joins us now with the details. Meg, what's this all about?

MEG TIRRELL, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, guys, this is a pretty unusual pharmaceutical TV commercial. Usually you're listening to people saying, ask your doctor about this drug.

Well, now they're saying, don't ask your doctor about this drug if you want to use it for cosmetic weight loss. Eli Lilly actually makes a competitor to Ozempic called Mounjaro for type 2 diabetes and one called Zepbound, which is approved for obesity. They are rolling out this new commercial this weekend around the Oscars and you can see it really references a lot of those themes. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Some people have been using medicine never meant for them. For the smaller dress or tux. For a big night. For vanity. But that's not the point.

People whose health is affected by obesity are the reason we work on these medications.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TIRRELL: Now I talked with Eli Lilly's CEO about why they made this ad and he said essentially they've only tested this in type 2 diabetes and obesity. Also, there is a shortage of these medications.

People with diabetes and people with obesity can't necessarily access them. So that is a big problem. And the third reason, he said, is because health insurance coverage for use in weight loss for people with obesity or weight related health conditions, he says, is really bad.

So they are trying to capitalize on this attention around the Oscars. The joke made last year, perhaps more discussion this year. Here's what he told us.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAVID RICKS, CEO, ELI LILLY: This is a serious condition with a serious medication. And yes, the media attention drawn on that from last year and might be drawn this year. We're taking a point of view on that. That these medicines were invented for people with a serious health condition. They're not invented, you know, just to have someone who's famous look a little bit better.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TIRRELL: And so you guys, the reaction to this, of course, is there's some skepticism out there. Some folks are saying, is this reverse psychology? Are they trying to get people interested in these drugs? Other people are saying, are they trying to protect themselves from liability if these drugs are used off label inappropriately? But they are trying to make a point, guys.

KEILAR: All right. They sure are. Meg Tirrell, thank you for that. And "The Lead" with Jake Tapper starts now.

JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: So how much are we going to hear about Shrinkflation and Cookie Monster tonight? "THE LEAD" starts right now.

A jam-packed room expected for what could be the president's final State of the Union address, theoretically. But the primetime speech also being used as a campaign address. Will Biden be successful in his big pitch?

[15:55:00]

Plus, the guy that said the president's capacities are diminished now endorsing him, Congressman Dean Phillips, joins me on set for his first interview after dropping out of the Democratic presidential race.

And what do lawmakers want 150 million Americans to understand about one particular social media app on their phones? What they want the Chinese company to do. Will they hold TikTok accountable?

Welcome to THE LEAD on a very busy Thursday. I'm Jake Tapper, and we start today in our politics lead, perhaps the most consequential speech of Joe Biden's long public life.

In 1972, of course, at age 29, he became one of the youngest people ever elected to the U.S. Senate. He turned 30 before he was inaugurated.

And tonight, the stakes are unusually high for the now 81-year-old who wants four more years in the White House amidst voter dissatisfaction and, frankly, voter concerns about his age and wherewithal.

Biden is headed for a rematch with the man he felled in 2020, and we can't expect Biden to draw sharp contrasts between his record and Trump's this evening. What we should not expect, perhaps, bipartisan civility. Congressional leaders are worried, particularly about unruly House Republicans heckling him.

I know I will be looking out for Republican protests about the border. And you might remember last year, less than an hour into his speech, after Biden accused Republicans of wanting to sunset Medicare and Social Security, this happened.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I'm politely not naming them, but it's being proposed by some of you.

Look, folks.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: It was true. There were a few people proposing it.

Biden was able to deftly deal with the outbursts, and that, frankly, might be the most memorable part of the entire night.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BIDEN: So, folks, as we all apparently agree, Social Security and Medicare is off the books now, right? They're not to be swung. All right.

I'm ready. We got unanimity.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: His team is, frankly, praying for such deftness this evening, though some Democrats are also worried that tonight might also bring shouts from the left, from progressive members of his own party or their guests or protesters in the gallery, angry and frustrated with Biden's support of Israel amidst its war on Hamas.

Let's start things off with CNN's M.J. Lee live at the White House for us. M.J., what are we going to hear from the president tonight?

M.J. LEE, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Jake, you know so well how important this moment is for President Biden. But the pressure really is incredibly high for this president.

This is the last speech of this kind that the president gets to make before he faces voters again come November. And this is a chance for him to address a really huge audience on everything that he feels like he has accomplished over the last three years and try to paint an optimistic picture for a second term that he is trying to earn.

Now, of course, there are a number of incredibly weighty issues both abroad and here at home that we expect the president to address, everything from the Israel-Hamas war, to the health of the economy, to reproductive rights that we have heard the White House talking about for so many months.

And we also know that the White House has teed up for this evening a number of new announcements, whether it is on raising the corporate tax rate to 28 percent or a new proposal on getting in more humanitarian aid into Gaza.

Now, keep in mind, Jake, that this is, of course, us hearing President Biden and Commander-in-Chief Biden. But we're also hearing presidential candidate Joe Biden. And to that end, we certainly expect that throughout the course of the evening, he is going to be consistently finding opportunities to contrast his vision for this country with the policies that he says are so broken coming from those across the aisle, including, of course, former President Donald Trump.

TAPPER: And, M.J., we're being told that the president is expected to address the Israel-Hamas conflict this evening, quote, in a very meaningful way. What does that mean?

LEE: That's right, and that is no surprise given how much this issue has completely consumed this president and this White House over the last few months since the October 7th attacks.

We are learning that he is going to be announcing that the U.S. military is going to be setting up a new port in the Mediterranean off the Gaza coast so that he can help bring in more humanitarian aid into Gaza, which is, of course, in dire straits right now.

And the context that you have to keep in mind is that there was a point in time not that long ago when officials here at the White House had hoped that by the time the president delivered this address tonight that they could have been touting a humanitarian ceasefire and aid and hostages release deal. That, of course, is not going to happen.

So this is going to be one way in which the president gets to address the nation and the anger that people are feeling across the country. That is going to be an incredibly important moment to watch of many tonight -- Jake.

TAPPER: All right. M.J. Lee at the White House for us. Thanks so much.