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Solar Eclipse Boosting Business; Huge March Jobs Report; IDF Releases Report on Aid Workers Killed; Rare Earthquake Shakes Northeast; Interview With Rep. Madeleine Dean (D-PA). Aired 1-1:30p ET

Aired April 05, 2024 - 13:00   ET

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

[13:00:26]

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: We're following breaking news, an extremely rare 4.8-magnitude earthquake hitting the Northeast, the shaking felt across several states. Travel is now being impacted in and around New York City.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: Plus, mistaken identification and errors in decision-making, that from the Israel Defense Forces' newly released initial findings into the airstrikes that killed seven aid workers in Gaza. We're going to tell you how the IDF is responding and the Biden administration's reaction to the report.

And numbers from the new jobs report come in way higher than expected, but are they so hot that the Federal Reserve might scrap planned interest rate cuts?

We're following these major developing stories and many more all coming in right here to CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

SANCHEZ: We're following breaking news out of the Northeast, a rare 4.8-magnitude earthquake shaking the tristate area today. The epicenter was in New Jersey, but people felt shaking as far north as Maine all the way down to the Washington, D.C., area.

KEILAR: Yes, the good news is that, right now, at least, there appears to be little damage and officials in New York say the quake posed no threat to life so far.

But we are learning that the quake may significantly impact travel. That may really be the thing that we're seeing here.

We have CNN aviation correspondent Pete Muntean standing by in Washington, D.C., on that.

First, though, let's go to CNN's Polo Sandoval for the very latest in New York -- Polo.

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Brianna.

Take a walk through Times Square, and you wouldn't know that it was a 4.8-magnitude earthquake that shook America's largest city just a few hours ago, and not just New York, as you point out, really all throughout the Northeast.

We heard from New York City officials in the last hour really emphasizing that, thus far, they have received no reports of any sort of structural damage in and around New York City, certainly no injuries as well, though they are still conducting their assessments.

Of course, the infrastructure, it's always a key question here, the bridges, the tunnels. Well, officials are sharing today that, in fact, the tunnels are meant to sort of move with the earth during seismic events. And the roughly seven bridges in and out of New York City that are operated by the Mass Transit Authority, they're actually built to withstand a seismic event even greater than what we experienced earlier this morning.

So, really sort of a reassuring tone from officials here in New York, encouraging people to go about their day, but also to remain vigilant. We also heard from Zach Iscol, one of the emergency officials here in New York, saying that the risk of any aftershocks, that is low, though encouraging people to remain vigilant and also, should that take place, to take those precautions to take care of themselves and their families.

But, again, that is really the key line right now, no major impacts, and, as officials described, no major safety events to report after this truly historic and highly unusual event. The people on the streets of New York, Brianna and Boris, it depends on who you ask. Some people certainly felt it. If you're like myself, you didn't feel it on your way in this morning.

SANCHEZ: Polo Sandoval, Sandoval, live for us in Times Square, thank you so much.

Let's bring in CNN aviation correspondent Pete Muntean.

Pete, on the Richter scale, 4.8 in the grand scheme of things is not really a huge earthquake. Like Polo said, a lot of people didn't even notice it was happening, but it can impact travel, especially in an area that doesn't frequently see this kind of event.

PETE MUNTEAN, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT: It was so big that they had to evacuate the tower, the control tower, 325 feet high, at Newark Liberty International Airport.

And there are still delays going into and out of Newark. In fact, the ground stop was canceled only at the top of the hour, but there is a ground delay program in place for flights going into Newark; 77 minutes' long, that is the average delay, so an average delay of about an hour and 17 minutes.

And the FAA says that will remain in place until about 10:00 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time. So, we are just at the start of that story. The only good news here right now, at least when it comes to air travel, is that the ground stops at places like JFK, at La Guardia, at BWI, at Philly International, all of those have been canceled.

It seems like flights are getting into and out of those airports and that the cancellations remain low, although the delays have gone up, just checked FlightAware, about 1,900 delays in the U.S. right now, although cancellations remain in the double digits.

The dangling chad right now is the impact on ground-based travel, especially rail. And Amtrak says it is slowing the speed of some trains as it does track inspections up and down the Northeast Corridor. The trains will remain slow and the delays will remain in place until those inspections are clear.

[13:05:03]

This is such a manual job, really requires a visual inspection, the use of a mark one eyeball to make sure that things are OK. Remember, New York is a place that is heavily bridged, heavily tunneled. So, you heard Polo talk about the fact that a lot of the tunnels are OK right now.

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, they say that the Lincoln Tunnel and the Holland Tunnel both have been inspected. Those are OK. MTA, which operates the subway system, they say service is normal right now. New Jersey Transit, which operates a lot of the regional rails into and out of New York, they say that trains are still delayed right now, about 20 minutes on average, because of these issues.

It's a city on the move. A lot of people come in and out every day. About a million-and-a-half people commute into and out of New York City each and every day, Boris.

SANCHEZ: Yes, fortunate that it doesn't appear that anyone was hurt. Still got to be cautious, though.

Pete, you got a dangling chad reference in there. I appreciate that, pal.

(LAUGHTER)

SANCHEZ: Pete Muntean, thanks so much.

MUNTEAN: Any time.

SANCHEZ: Brianna.

KEILAR: The Israeli military fired two of its commanders involved in the killing of seven aid workers in Gaza earlier this week.

The Israel Defense Force is releasing their preliminary report, which highlights a series of mistakes behind the three airstrikes that took out three World Central Kitchen vehicles over the course of a mile- and-a-half. The IDF says soldiers involved in the drone strike misidentified a shoulder bag that one of the passengers was holding as a weapon.

The IDF says the surveillance drones did not capture the large World Central Kitchen decals on the vehicles because it was nighttime. Israel released the report just hours after President Biden held a tense phone call with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and public warnings from multiple administration officials that U.S. policy toward Israel's Gaza war will change if Israel doesn't take significant steps to protect civilians and particularly aid workers in Gaza.

CNN's Jeremy Diamond is live for us in Israel.

Jeremy, tell us more about the report.

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Brianna, this is without question the most thorough and public admission of wrongdoing for killing civilians in Gaza by the Israeli military since the start of this war.

The Israeli military says that commanders violated the military's protocols, made errors in decision-making in ordering these airstrikes which resulted in the deaths of these seven World Central Kitchen workers, three missiles fired at these vehicles, three vehicles by the World Central Kitchen over the course of four minutes, killing all seven of those workers.

The Israeli military says that they -- their forces identified a gunman aboard an aid truck at the beginning of this journey after receiving the aid that was loaded onto these trucks, and they subsequently -- the military commander subsequently made a very deadly and very incorrect assumption that Hamas militants were inside these three vehicles once they left this warehouse where these aid workers were unloading pallets of aid.

They also misidentified what was likely a bag slung over the shoulders of one of these workers as a weapon. And, as you also noted, they -- the Israeli military says that they were not able to see the logo on the World Central Kitchen vehicles because it was nighttime.

Now, as a result of this, the Israeli military has dismissed two of the officers involved in this strike, Colonel Nochi Mendel, the brigade chief of staff involved in this, as well as an unidentified major who was serving as the brigade's fire support officer.

The Israeli military's chief of staff also reprimanding three other senior officers, including the head of Israel's Southern Command. There are still questions, of course, about exactly what kinds of changes the Israeli military will institute following this review. They say that they will take the lessons learned from this report and apply them going forward, but it's not clear exactly what specific policy changes this will result in.

KEILAR: And the U.S. will be watching very carefully for those.

Jeremy, what's the latest with the hostage talks?

DIAMOND: Well, earlier this week, the Israeli government submitted its latest counterproposal.

And we are now learning, according to a diplomat familiar with the conversations, that Hamas has turned down that latest proposal, asserting that it does not reply to any of their demands. Particularly, as we know, one of the key sticking points here is the return of Palestinians who have been displaced from Northern Gaza, to allow them to return back to their homes.

Hamas has been demanding unfiltered access for people to return north. The Israeli government has been insisting on security checks and limiting the number of people who can return per day. We know that there are other sticking points as well, but this certainly puts talks in a very difficult position.

[13:10:00]

We do know that there are still going to be talks going forward. In fact, this weekend, the head of the Mossad is set to meet with the CIA director, Bill Burns, and other mediators in Egypt over the weekend.

So there are still discussions happening, but this is a key moment, with Hamas refusing this latest counterproposal, which I know, from speaking to Israeli officials, they viewed as taking significantly more steps in the direction of some of the demands that Hamas has been making, and so questions about whether or not a deal can be reached.

We know that the Israeli government has said that they will move into Rafah, especially if there is no deal. And so we really are facing a ticking time bomb here in terms of the amount of time that remains for these negotiators to try and forge a deal before the Israeli government chooses to move in with that offensive.

KEILAR: All right, Jeremy Diamond, live for us in Israel, thank you -- Boris.

SANCHEZ: Let's discuss now with a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Democratic Congresswoman Madeleine Dean of Wisconsin -- rather, of Pennsylvania.

Congresswoman, I apologize for mixing up the state. I do appreciate you being with us this afternoon.

I was distracted for a moment because we just heard from President Biden. Reporters were able to shout questions as he was departing the White House. He's on the way to Baltimore to speak to folks there about the bridge collapse last week.

He was asked if he was happy with the response from Israel thus far, with the U.S. asking them to do more to get aid into Gaza and to protect the lives of civilians and aid workers. The president said -- and I quote -- "I asked them to do what they are doing."

Would you agree with that assessment from President Biden?

REP. MADELEINE DEAN (D-PA): Well, Boris, it's good to be with you.

And you're right. I'm from suburban Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and I can report we felt the earthquake here too.

I'm proud of the president. I know we are less than 24 hours since his, I believe, very direct, stern call with Prime Minister Netanyahu, where he told the prime minister that he must not stand in the way of humanitarian aid, that he was outraged.

I can presume he said he was outraged by the death of the seven World Kitchen Central workers, who were so precisely taken out in their aid vehicles. It's a horror. But he also said, as the readout shows us, that Mr. Netanyahu must allow and empower his negotiators to get the hostages out.

In addition, more aid must come in, opening of other passageways, whether Jordan border or not. So I'm not sure what the president meant, but, certainly, we are seeing some evidence that Mr. Netanyahu and his coalition are taking this seriously.

But I have to tell you, we are 32,000 civilians dead in Gaza, in addition to those seven angels, as the chef called them, that were killed in a very targeted, accidental, I hope, but very targeted strike on their vehicles; 200 other aid workers are dead.

I had the chance when I was in Israel, twice now since the beginning of this war, to meet with UNRWA officials, in fact, UNRWA officials in the ground -- on the ground in Israel, but also the director in Rafah. They have lost 200 of their aid workers. And he says, somehow, the remaining ones come in faithfully day after day to do the impossible.

So, I praise the president, and I lay all of this at the feet of Prime Minister Netanyahu.

SANCHEZ: Congresswoman, something that you said stuck out to me about the strike against the World Central Kitchen aid workers. You said, "Accidental, I hope."

There has been a lot of speculation that perhaps, because this happened in a deconflicted zone, that it wasn't a mixup. I have not seen any evidence that has given credence to that theory, but I do want to ask you about the investigation itself.

We know that U.S. officials received the initial results of an investigation by the Israelis. Do you believe that is going to be transparent and thorough enough to give you peace of mind that whatever steps Israel takes toward accountability actually meet the moment?

DEAN: I don't know. And I will reserve judgment on that, but I hope that the world will come around and say we actually need an independent investigation, because we have lost too many lives.

And these were lives of aid workers in what was apparently a deconflicted zone, literally a street that was deconflicted. So I do hope it is accidental, but, man, oh, man, these accidents with a military that boasts -- and the prime minister literally, in my meeting with him on November the 11th, boasted of their superior intelligence and their superior ability to pinpoint and target.

[13:15:02] Well, it looks here like terrible intelligence and the ability to pinpoint and target. We need a full investigation. We need full transparency. And I'm remembering we had three hostages who came out, shirts off, who were shot and killed by the IDF.

There's just way too much of this going on.

SANCHEZ: Congresswoman, you are describing an investigation that is independent, something that the secretary of state, Antony Blinken, initially called for.

But the White House has since walked that back or tried to clarify it, saying that he was referring to the IDF probe that's already under way. World Central Kitchen wants an independent review, not one conducted by the IDF or the Israeli military. It sounds like you agree that you want someone outside of Israel to take a look at what happened more thoroughly.

DEAN: I do. I agree with that.

And I believe the administration will take a look at the investigation that is provided by Israel, by IDF, and we will decide whether or not they think it is a full investigation. And I would urge the administration to have that followed up with an independent investigation.

SANCHEZ: Congresswoman, I want to ask you about some recent polling from "The Wall Street Journal," specifically in your state.

There was a question asked of folks whether they preferred Donald Trump to Joe Biden on handling the war between Israel and Hamas. And the former president came out on top, beating Biden by double digits. It was 43 Trump, 29 Biden.

I'm sure you have heard from constituents who are frustrated about what they're seeing in Gaza. What's your message to voters ahead of an important election in a state like yours that could be critical to a path to the White House?

DEAN: Well, thanks for sharing that poll.

But when we're talking about this very critical subject, I can't think of anything more starkly clear. Mr. Netanyahu, I believe, is waiting his days out because he would like to have the return of what I believe is a useful idiot to people like Mr. Netanyahu.

Mr. Netanyahu, after all, let's think about this. He was not honest about how he was going to prosecute this war. He told us they could be more targeted and strategic. Instead, he's dropped 2,000-pound dumb bombs and taken out whole villages, whole buildings and neighborhoods.

Mr. Netanyahu does not want a two-state solution. Neither does Mr. Trump. We are better off, the world is better off, and the Palestinian people, the Israeli people will be better off if Mr. Netanyahu is ultimately decided in a new vote whether or not he should continue. But Mr. Trump would be a useful idiot to Mr. Netanyahu's, I think,

failed ways, the failure of the prosecution of this war. Israel had the right, has the right and obligation to defend itself, its security, its borders. Jews around the world have the right to this homeland.

But, at the same time, we have to lift up the homeland of the Palestinian people. Mr. Trump would not be anywhere near that, just as Mr. Netanyahu isn't. Mr. Biden is the world leader who can lead us toward a two-state solution, toward the region living in a more peaceful place.

SANCHEZ: Congresswoman Madeleine Dean, we very much appreciate your perspective.

Glad to see you made it through the earthquake. I hope nothing fell off the shelf.

DEAN: Not at all. Thanks so much, Boris.

SANCHEZ: Thank you so much, Congresswoman.

So, the jobs market is still red hot, blowing past expectations. What does this mean for the Fed's war on inflation? A complicated picture we will break down.

And speaking of the economy, the total solar eclipse already bringing big business to cities in its path -- up next, how those five minutes of totality in several states are going to boost the U.S. economy by more than a billion dollars.

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[13:23:35]

KEILAR: The jobs market is still red hot, new numbers out today from the Labor Department showing the U.S. economy blowing past expectations with a whopping 303,000 jobs added in March, while the unemployment rate fell to 3.8 percent.

We have CNN's Matt Egan with more on this.

All right, Matt, economists were way off in their predictions here. What are the numbers telling us?

MATT EGAN, CNN REPORTER: Well, Brianna, this report was shockingly strong.

It was the proverbial earthquake this morning before the actual earthquake, 303,000 jobs added in March alone. That's 50 percent more than the consensus from economists. They were baffled by just how strong this is.

One economist said that he's -- quote -- "borderline speechless." Bank of America described this as exceptionally strong. And I just heard from Mark Zandi over at Moody's. He called it picture-perfect. Look, this is another reminder that this jobs market continues to defy

expectations, both in the short term and also in the long run, because a lot of people thought that the Fed's war on inflation was going to cause unemployment to go up or even cause a recession, right? But that has not happened.

People thought the jobs market would cool off. Instead, it heated up. And one of the reasons is because the supply of workers continues to rebound from COVID. And that's in part because of strong immigration. So, when you look at these numbers, historically, they are really, really strong, the unemployment rate now down to 3.8 percent.

[13:25:04]

That's 26 consecutive months of sub-4 percent. You can see on the left side of that chart is the spike during COVID, up to almost 15 percent. We're miles away from that, miles away from a recession. And this is now the longest period of time below 4 percent unemployment since the late 1960s and early 1970s under LBJ and Richard Nixon.

If anything, there could be some concerns that maybe the Fed is going to think twice before it starts cutting interest rates. But what's interesting is that markets are actually responding very positively to today's report. The Dow is up by 1 percent, almost 400 points, nearly regaining all the points lost yesterday.

And I think the message from the market is, yes, the jobs market is hot, but, no, it's not overheating. And so, in this case, it does look like good news for Main Street is being viewed as good news for Wall Street too -- Brianna.

KEILAR: All right, Matt Egan, thank you for taking us through that. What a big day -- Boris.

SANCHEZ: A red-hot jobs market, and some brands are working overtime because of Monday's solar eclipse. It means big bucks for businesses.

And many major companies are cashing in with celestial-inspired foods and deals. Along the path of totality, some businesses are gearing up for a surge, as millions of people are going to be traveling in that shadowy area to witness this celestial event. Airbnb says the site has seen a 1000 percent spike in searches for listings sweeping from Texas to Maine.

CNN's Stephanie Elam joins us now with more on this.

So, Stephanie, how are companies preparing?

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: They have been preparing, the ones who realized maybe they missed out in 2017, Boris, to ones who are just like, you know what, this is just too great of an opportunity.

And you're talking about an economic impact of up to $1.5 billion from this eclipse helping small and large businesses across the United States. And if you take a look at the map of Airbnb, they say, oh, yes, they're totally booked. And if you look at the map, it's very clear where that path of totality is.

You can see they're all booked up in that area. You have got airlines offering special flights for the path. Like, Delta's doing that. Southwest is doing that. United's giving away special glasses if you're on one of the flights that will go through the path of totality.

I also spoke to one small business owner, Roger Sarkis and his wife, Allyssa. It's just the two of them. They started up Eclipse Glasses USA. They are still selling glasses through their Amazon site. Take a listen to what he told me.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROGER SARKIS, ECLIPSE GLASSES USA: And so we have been spending hours in our garage folding and sending them. Our Amazon stores -- we're on track to sell out on Amazon as well, but we are -- it's just my wife and I right now.

And so we're just sitting out there sending stuff, going back and forth to the post office, UPS, you name it. It's been wild. But, interestingly enough, we actually sold out of our original inventory in February. So I bought more inventory.

And I think we're on track to sell 500,000 pairs.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ELAM: And he said that is way beyond what they thought that they can do it at all. They're also collecting these used glasses to send them to Latin America, so that they can use them for their upcoming smaller eclipse.

So, you look at how businesses are responding, it's -- and it's a lot of food too. I mean, SunChips is going to have solar chips that are only going to be available for four minutes and 27 seconds during the time on Monday that you can get for free.

So, people are looking at the branding here. MoonPies, they missed out last time. This time, they're playing into it again, a small family- owned company. But, Boris, I'm kind of surprised, because there's one company that I thought would totally be into it. And maybe they will e-mail me and tell me that I'm wrong, but Eclipse gum seems like a no- brainer.

Can't find it. Cannot find anything about -- like, that just seemed to be so easy. But we can see companies all over the place. And it doesn't just have to be in the path of totality, because I should tell people, most of the contiguous 48 states will be able to see some of the eclipse.

Even if it's cloudy, you will see some changes, Boris.

SANCHEZ: I'm shocked about the Eclipse gum thing. It's so obvious, so obvious.

Look forward to those Krispy Kreme donuts, though.

ELAM: So obvious.

SANCHEZ: Stephanie Elam, live from Los Angeles for us, thank you so much.

ELAM: Yes.

SANCHEZ: And you can join CNN for the eclipse. "Eclipse Across America," our special live coverage, starts Monday, April 8, noon Eastern right here on CNN.

Brianna and I are going to be out there enjoying the eclipse with thousands, perhaps millions of others across the country. You can join in. It's going to be fun. It could get a little weird, but you should join in. The screen says 1:00 p.m., but the special coverage starts at noon. Don't miss out.

Still ahead: Lawyers for several defendants in the Georgia election subversion case are weighing whether to press for a gag order against district attorney Fani Willis. We will explain why.

And the GOAT, Caitlin Clark, back on the court today with a spot in the national championship on the line, standing in her way, the most dominant team of the decade, a huge head-to-head match.

We have a live preview in just moments.

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