Return to Transcripts main page
CNN News Central
U.S. Working on Ceasefire in Gaza; Biden Speaks about Ukraine; U.S. Added 275,000 Jobs in February; Officer Saves Girl's Life; Bill to Ban TikTok in the U.S.' Viewers React to Biden's Speech; Wyatt Gable is Interviewed about Winning in the NC Primary. Aired 8:30-9a ET
Aired March 08, 2024 - 08:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[08:34:11]
SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: Foreign policy took center stage at the State of the Union with President Biden calling on lawmakers to approve Ukraine aid. The president also touched on Israel's war on Hamas and the humanitarian crisis going on right now in Gaza.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I've been working nonstop to establish an immediate ceasefire that would last for six weeks to get all the prisoners released, all the hostages released, to get the hostages home and ease the intolerable and humanitarian crisis and build toward an enduring -- a more -- something more enduring.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SIDNER: We have team coverage this morning with our Fred Pleitgen, who is in Berlin, and our Jeremy Diamond, who is in Tel Aviv.
Jeremy, the president had a very strong message of support for the people of Gaza.
[08:35:01]
Can you give us some sense of how all of this is being received where you are?
JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, listen, we heard President Biden, you know, he began by reaffirming Israel's right to go after Hamas, but then he went into the suffering of the people in Gaza, talking about the enormous humanitarian toll that this war has had on civilians. In fact, he noted that of the more than 30,000 Palestinians who have been killed, he noted correctly that most of those are not members of Hamas. Most of those appear to be civilians. And he talked about the humanitarian aid situation in Gaza, saying that Israel must do more. And he also urged Israeli leaders not to use humanitarian assistance as a secondary consideration or as a bargaining chip. And, of course, he spoke also about what the United States was doing
to try and alleviate this humanitarian crisis that is unfolding in Gaza, where more than half a million people are now on the brink of famine. He announced, of course, these plans to open a port, a temporary port off the coast of Gaza in the Mediterranean Sea. That, of course, will take weeks to actually get into place before it can allow for what will likely be hundreds of truckloads of aid per day. And so it's not an immediate solution. It's not a short-term solution to what is unfolding in Gaza, particularly in northern Gaza.
Instead, what we are seeing there is this continued effort to drop aid via the air from the United States, Jordan, Egypt, multiple countries. But today we're getting a picture of why that method is so inefficient and also why it is so dangerous. We're getting reports today of multiple people having been killed or injured as a result of some of these airdrops in northern Gaza. And that just gives you a sense of how perilous this can be. And it also gives you a sense of the importance of opening up more of these land crossings into Gaza. We heard the president talk about that last night. And reportedly Israeli officials are set to open this week another crossing into northern Gaza, although they haven't yet confirmed the details of exactly where that will be or how much aid can get in that way.
Sara.
SIDNER: All right, thank you, Jeremy.
Let's go now to Fred Pleitgen.
Fred, you've been in and out of Ukraine throughout this entire war. Can you talk to us about how Ukrainians may have perceived the president's comments very high up in his State of the Union speech?
FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, and I think that's absolutely key, Sara. I think that's one of the things that the Ukrainians will certainly have taken note of is the fact that it only took I think it was about one minute for President Biden to start speaking about Ukraine and start speaking very broadly and very strongly about Ukraine, but also for the need, as he put it, to not bow down to Russian President Vladimir Putin and, in fact, stand up to Vladimir Putin. Of course, one of the things where he tried to sort of make a difference between himself and former President Donald Trump was that he said that he is going to remain tough on Russia and never bow down.
And I think for the Ukrainians, it will have been extremely important to hear very high up in that speech President Biden really try to make a case to Republicans also in that venue to say, look, let's work together to try and make more military aid for Ukraine happen and let's do it quickly because that's one of the things that the Ukrainians have been saying for a very long time. Obviously, they're suffering a great deal of shortages as far as ammunition is concerned, but also now, in the meantime, a lot of other gear as well.
One of the things that doesn't get focused on very much but that's also extremely important is for surface to air missiles and replenishing the ones that the Ukrainians are using because, of course, they're having to shoot down a lot of Russian missiles and are now also shooting down Russian planes near the front line. A lot of that needs to get replenished.
So, the Ukrainians obviously saying, this is something that's extremely pressing for them. And they've also been saying that if more military aid from the United States doesn't come, that that will be measured in Ukrainian lives. That more Ukrainians are -- will be wounded and more Ukrainians will be killed.
Now, of course, Sara, the Ukrainians are under no illusion that all this could possibly be easy. They understand that, of course, Republicans in Congress, specifically, the Republican speaker, Mike Johnson, have a big say in if there's even going to be a vote, but I think yesterday from that speech that they heard from President Biden, they'll have been very pleased to hear that.
SIDNER: Fred Pleitgen, for us there in Berlin, and thank you also to Jeremy Diamond, who was reporting from Tel Aviv.
Kate.
KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: And we do have breaking news. This just in, fresh data on the strength of the U.S. economy, the strength of the U.S. jobs market. New numbers, new data in from the government just now. The economy added 275,000 jobs last month.
Let's get more on this. CNN's Vanessa Yurkevich is here.
You've been listening in to get all of the details that are just coming in. Talk to me about what we see here.
VANESSA YURKEVICH, CNN BUSINESS AND POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: A nice, strong number. Better than expectations. Analysts were predicting around 200,000 jobs added last month, 275,000 jobs added. Strong. The economy is still chugging along.
BOLDUAN: Yes.
YURKEVICH: The jobs market is very robust. The unemployment rate, though, ticking up to 3.9 percent.
[08:40:02]
However, we are on a streak of a sub 4 percent unemployment rate, something we haven't seen since President Nixon was in office. And important to note that the sectors where we've seen job gains over the past couple months -
BOLDUAN: Yes.
YURKEVICH: Even year or so, traditionally have been in health care, government, and food services. That's exactly where we're seeing these job gains today, 67,000 in health care, 52,000 in government and food and drink 42,000 added. BOLDUAN: One of the things that we always -- that is fascinating and important to also talk about is not just the number released today is the revisions that have been popping up from months prior. What's happened in this one?
YURKEVICH: Right. In January we saw a huge number.
BOLDUAN: Yes.
YURKEVICH: A gangbusters number, 353,000 jobs added in January. But today, as you note, we do get revisions. That number in January was revised down pretty dramatically to 229,000 jobs.
BOLDUAN: Wow.
YURKEVICH: But that's still good. That is still robust job growth. That's nothing to be concerned about. But we are coming off of the January surprise, realizing that the numbers were a little more in line with what economists and the Federal Reserve wants to see. They want to see numbers around 200,000 jobs added because that will be an indication to them that it's steady job growth, not gangbuster job growth, like we saw in January, which will indicate to them that they can maybe start to -- maybe start to cut rates as --
BOLDUAN: Yes, give that -- give that confidence.
YURKEVICH: Yes.
BOLDUAN: What about wages real quick.
YURKEVICH: Wages cooling a little bit, 4.3 percent annually. That is maybe not good news for the average worker because they want to see their wages go higher. However, for the Federal Reserve the big concern is, when you have wages outpacing inflation by such a dramatic number, that's concern that it will fuel inflation further. So, just a slight cooling from 4.5 percent we saw in January to 4.3 percent annually, going back to what we saw at the end of last year. The Fed, though, wants to see wages at 3.5 percent. So, still a little ways to go. But people are going to be happy that they have more money in their paychecks.
BOLDUAN: Well, this one definitely exceeding expectations at 275,000 jobs added last month.
YURKEVICH: Yes.
BOLDUAN: It's great to see you, Vanessa. Thanks for running in.
YURKEVICH: Thanks.
BOLDUAN: Sara.
SIDNER: Vanessa also got the memo that it's red and black day, apparently.
BOLDUAN: Yes, what the - SIDNER: I don't know what's going on here, but I like it.
BOLDUAN: I mean, I have email. I have text message.
SIDNER: Sorry, we - we should have joined you in. it would have been good.
All right, he's on the ballot this fall to win a seat at the state house, but right now he's finishing up his junior year in college. We'll talk to this potential rising star in politics.
And, do you know where that tire went? Something you might ask your children about their Lego set. Not a conversation you'd expect between a pilot and an air traffic controller. What happened there, we will explain.
But first, a Connecticut officer goes beyond the call of duty. Detective Mike Harton answered a panicked mother's pleas to save her baby's life. Then, as CNN's Brynn Gingras shows us, he became part of the family.
Watch.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DEPT. MIKE HARTON, NORTH HAVEN POLICE DEPARTMENT: Putting the princess crown on.
BRYNN GINGRAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Five-year-old Tooka and Detective Mike Hearten have an unbreakable bond. It started when Tooka was three months old and a Connecticut movie theater.
GINGRAS: So this is where you were?
HARTON: Yes. I was standing right about there, and that's when she came running towards this way.
NIKKI HUCKABY, TOOKA'S MOTHER: I'm screaming, like, my baby is not breathing. Please help me, sir.
GINGRAS (voice over): Harton's body camera video shows the baby in distress.
HARTON: She curled back, trying to take her breath, and then she completely went limp on me.
GINGRAS: In your arms?
HARTON: In my arms.
GINGRAS (voice over): Tooka was choaking. Harton's training kicked in.
HUCKABY: I need you, God. God, I need you! God, I need you!
GINGRAS (voice over): While mom prayed.
HUCKABY: That was all I was thinking is, like, she cannot die in this movie theater.
HARTON: And all I could think in my head was, not on my watch, not on my watch.
GINGRAS (voice over): After about 30 seconds of chest compressions and back blows, a cry.
HUCKABY: Jesus. Please, God! God, I need you! God, I need you!
HARTON: You're OK. She's good. She's good. She's good. She's good.
That - that cry was the best cry ever.
HUCKABY: I literally watched a miracle happen before my eyes for the first time in my life.
GINGRAS (voice over): Harton feels the same. It may be why he now only calls Tooka -
HUCKABY: Little Angel. That day was - an angel came down. She did more for me than I did for her. My life changed that day. Our family got extended. And it's - it's amazing.
GINGRAS (voice over): Ever since that day, Harton has showed up for Tooka. Birthdays, holidays, first days of school. Harton's heroic act securing him a permanent spot in Tooka's life as her godfather.
HUCKABY: I don't know anyone else who can say my godfather saved my life.
What are you going to be when you grow up?
TOOKA: A policeman.
HARTON: Yes. Yes.
[08:45:01]
GINGRAS: You want to be a police officer like Uncle Mike?
HARTON: Yes. And I'll guide you through it too.
HUCKABY: A lot of people don't, you know, get a chance to have that positive relationship with police officers. I always hope that this story is an example of how you can come together from different worlds and really be family, because we are humans first.
GINGRAS (voice over): Brynn Gingras, CNN, North Haven, Connecticut.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[08:50:00]
BOLDUAN: TikTok firing back now after a House panel advanced a bill that would ban the app in the United States nationwide. Some lawmakers say the popular social media platform poses a security risk. TikTok users, though now are flooding Congress with calls after the China- backed parent company urged them to take action.
CNN's tech reporter Brian Fung has much more on this.
Brian, what's going on?
BRIAN FUNG, CNN TECH REPORTER: Well, Kate, this is a big bill that could potentially lead to TikTok being banned from U.S. app stores. And lawmakers in -- on a key House committee yesterday unanimously voted to advance this bill. It's going to go to a House floor vote next week according to House Majority Leader Steve Scalise.
There are a lot of concerns here reflected in this bill. You know, the lawmakers that have put it forward have cited years of fears that TikTok could be forced by its parent company, ByteDance, which is linked to China, to hand over the personal information of U.S. citizens to the Chinese government. Of course, TikTok says that's absolutely false and that it poses no threat to U.S. citizens.
But nevertheless, that objection hasn't resolved some of the concerns around TikTok. And this bill would force ByteDance to sell off TikTok within five or six months, or else TikTok could be banned from U.S. app stores. And, you know, TikTok and other civil society groups say there's some issues with this bill and it could lead to First Amendment violations of TikTok and Americans who use TikTok.
But, you know, it seems like lawmakers are determined to push this forward. TikTok has engaged in a large call to action among its users, trying to drive users to call members of Congress. We heard from numerous congressional offices yesterday that they were being flooded with calls from users of the app, some of whom were confused about what was going on. And president - former President Donald Trump has also weighed in on this, interestingly, saying that he actually would be opposed to a TikTok ban. It's not clear why exactly he's reversing his position that he took as president, though, Kate.
BOLDUAN: It's good to see you, Brian. Thank you so much for that.
So, TikTok fighting mad at Congress. There's a lot of fighting going on. A lot of heat -
JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: A lot of heat.
BOLDUAN: Coming from Capitol Hill right now, boys.
BERMAN: And a lot of energy. We saw Chuck Schumer, you know, downright giddy over the president's State of the Union Address.
HARRY ENTEN, CNN SENIOR DATA REPORTER: That's right.
BERMAN: What did the viewers think? People out there in America watching the State of the Union Address.
CNN's senior data reporter Harry Enten is here. We asked. We did a poll last night after the speech.
ENTEN: We did.
BERMAN: Generally it had -- people had a positive view. Where does that rank historically?
ENTEN: Yes, and let me just say, the heat is radiating off of you, John.
All right, here we go, positive view of Biden's speech to Congress. Look, 65 percent of Americans had a positive view. That's a pretty good number, at least according to the speech watchers. But here's the thing to keep in mind, John, speech viewers almost always have a positive view of Biden's speech to Congress. In fact, the 65 percent is lower than the 72 percent in 2023, 71 percent in 2020, and 78 percent in 2021. So, I guess this is like a kind of glass half, full, half empty type of thing going on here. Yes, a lot of speech viewers liked the speech, but fewer than normal, and they almost always like to speech.
BERMAN: And again, we see these same types of numbers when you ask them questions from the subjects of his speech.
ENTEN: Right. So, you know, if you were essentially look, OK, Biden's policies will put us in the right direction, pre-speech, post-speech. Look, post-speech, 62 percent this year. That's far higher than the 45 percent pre-speech. But that type of upward trajectory is what we normally see. In 2023 it went from 52 percent to 71 percent. 2022, 52 to 67 percent. So, sort of this 15 to 20 point jump is well within the range of the historical norm. Turns out that people who tune in generally like the president's direction, that direction the country will go in, that the present will take us in, far more after the speech than before the speech.
BERMAN: Well, you say the people who tuned in. Who tuned in?
ENTEN: Yes, who tuned in. All right, so this, I think, is rather interesting. The Democratic share of the electorate, this is all adults, that's according to a prior poll, CNN poll, versus speech watchers. This year the audience was slightly less Democratic than it normally is, less than the 41 percent in 2020 and 41 percent in 2022. But the jump, that is, how much more Democratic are the speech viewers than the general electorate? That generally stayed the same. That seven point jump that we saw. Last year we saw an eight point jump. Back in 2022, we saw an 11 point jump.
So, the fact that they viewed it a little less positively, Biden's speech, than normal isn't that much of a big surprise because the audience was less Democratic.
BERMAN: No. And if you're a Democrat, you could look at this as a positive. You could say President Biden may be reaching a wider audience than just his fervent base.
ENTEN: That's exactly right. Independents actually made up a larger share of this speech than they normally do, which is a big part of the reason why Democrats made up a smaller share.
So, you know, if more independents like Biden, that's a group he's struggling with, maybe it would be better for him.
[08:55:03]
BERMAN: And we have talked, Harry. You have pointed out before the difference the State of the Union Address can or can't make.
ENTEN: Yes, you know, historically speaking, it doesn't tend to make a very big difference. Now, perhaps this year is different because Biden starts off so low. But the State of the Union average effect on overall approval ratings among all adults, it's just been one point upwards for Biden historically since 1978. It's been zero points. Will this speech have a larger effect than normal? We'll just have to wait and see.
Again, Biden's floor is so low. So, you know, if there's a lot of positive spin coming out of the speech, which generally there seems to be, or as you point out to me the speech clips well, maybe the approval ratings will rise.
BERMAN: Yes. And look, Chuck Schumer and other elected Democrats do seem genuinely pleased with it.
Harry Enten, great to see you. Thank you.
ENTEN: Nice to see you.
BERMAN: Sara.
SIDNER: All right, in a stunning upset, a 21-year-old East Carolina University student defeated Representative George Cleveland, a ten- term North Carolina lawmaker in the primaries.
Joining us now from Jacksonville, North Carolina, is Wyatt Gable.
Thank you so much for being here this morning.
Just the first question, why did you decide to run at 21 years old?
WYATT GABLE, BEAT 10-TERM INCUMBENT IN NORTH CAROLINA GOP PRIMARY: Yes, thanks for having me.
Just the biggest thing for me was junior year of high school in senior year and freshman year at college, dealing with all the Covid stuff. You know, it was always seemed like it was rules for me but not for the, you know, when dealing with administrators and things like that. So, I just thought that was wrong and I wanted to help make a difference in my community.
SIDNER: I want to ask you about how you think you beat a ten-term incumbent for the state house position, to be on the ballot now instead of him.
GABLE: Yes. For me it was just a lot of door-knocking and a lot of phone calls made. Me and my team put in a lot of hard work, that was for sure. Then just a big thing for, you know, not even something I did. I just think a lot of people were ready for something new. I mean we have a lot of people that are older in our elected bodies, you know, whether it's the senate or the house and I think just a fresh set of ideas was really important to people.
SIDNER: I want to ask you what you think the biggest issue for you, that you would like to tackle first. You have a different group of friends, a different set of folks at your age than the incumbent would. What's the thing that you think is the most important for you to tackle if you are ultimately elected?
GABLE: Yes, I think a big thing is working on our education system here in North Carolina. It's teaching simple things like home economic, shop, auto repair, carpentry, things like that, so our students are prepared for the real-world when they leave high school because a lot of it nowadays is, if you don't go to college, you're not going to become anything, which isn't true. There are so many career paths you could take in life and I want to make sure students are prepared for that.
SIDNER: OK, that's really interesting. You don't hear that all the time, so you're bringing some -- some new ideas as well.
If someone says to you, you're, at 21, too young and inexperienced, what do you say back to them?
GABLE: I'd say, well, a lot of people that are in the legislature now have a lot of experience and look where that's gotten us. I mean it doesn't take experience to understand what's right and wrong. And then, in terms of, if you want an example of my experience, I've had a lot of experience on my college campus involved with politics and been a big part of what goes on there. So, I feel like the hunger and the will to get something done is more important.
SIDNER: I want to ask you about the gubernatorial showdown that's expected in your state. It's supposed to be one of the most competitive races of the year. Democratic Attorney General Josh Stein will square off with Republican nominee Mark Robinson. He's known as a right-wing firebrand. And he's currently serving as lieutenant governor. Have you thought about that race at all and who you're going to back? Does it play into -- into your mind?
GABLE: Oh, yes. I mean we've thought about it. It's obviously been a huge talking point here. And for the entertainment side, unfortunately, our gubernatorial elections in the primary for either side were not very close. I mean I'm definitely going to be supporting Mark Robinson for governor. I just -- the biggest thing for me is how much money is going to be spent in that race. It's going to be quite the show. So, be a far, far cry from my little house race here where we spent a few thousand dollars.
SIDNER: Do you think that there should be less money sort of flying around?
GABLE: I mean I'm a full believer and if you -- if people want to donate the money to you, then absolutely you should be able to spend it. I just - I think everyone's kind of in the same mindset. They're like, I hate how much money is spent. But, at the same time, if people are willing to donate the money to you, then you should absolutely be able to spend it.
GABLE: Spoken like a true politician, Wyatt Hable.
Thank you so much for your time this morning.
A new hour of CNN NEWS CENTRAL starts right now.
[09:00:01]
BOLDUAN: Team Biden fanning out across the country today, trying to drive home the president's fiery, new message.
BERMAN: So today it becomes the Trump.
