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Ohio Governor Signs Bill Limiting Bathroom Use by Transgender Students; Treacherous Post-Holiday Travel Conditions for Millions; CNN Underscored Reviews Black Friday Deals. Aired 1:30-2p ET

Aired November 29, 2024 - 13:30   ET

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

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BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: Ohio's Republican Governor Mike DeWine just signed a bill into law requiring transgender students use bathrooms and other facilities based on the gender they were assigned at or near birth. The so-called Protect All Students Act affects students in public and private schools from kindergarten all the way through college, and it takes effect in about 90 days.

We're joined now by Adam Bird. He's a Republican state representative from Ohio who sponsored a House version of this bill. Sir, thank you so much for sharing part of your holiday weekend with us.

First, I just want to know how many trans students are there in Ohio? How many people will be affected by this law?

STATE REP. ADAM BIRD (R-OH): Thanks for being. Thanks for having me on today. Boris. It's great to be with you. The answer to that question, I'm not sure that we know. I've never heard statistics brought to me about that. Certainly, this is a bill that wants to protect all students as it's entitled. And in Ohio, I think we want -- that's the message. We want to protect all of our young students.

SANCHEZ: I think what we've heard from critics is that this is a law that is a solution in search of a problem. They have a hard time finding specific incidents in Ohio where students have been hurt because they've had to share a bathroom with a trans person. Do you know of any such incidents?

BIRD: Yes. And so that's a great question because, during the committee process we did hear people come in and share their stories that they've had and, of course, the riveting testimony of Riley Gaines, who came to Ohio to testify about what she has experienced in a college locker room.

And then, of course, there's the whole issue of cancel culture. And I believe that's real in Ohio and it's a real around the world. And, yes, there are some people that experience these kinds of things in a locker room or in a restroom, but they're afraid to say something about it because they don't want to be canceled.

SANCHEZ: Did you also hear testimony from transgender students that might have described how this would impact them.

BIRD: Absolutely. There was a lot of testimony on both sides and everyone very passionate about the side that they were coming to committee to testify about. And so, yes, I think that it's important for us to be compassionate to those affected by this. But it's also important that we be real. And I think that this is a law now in Ohio that is seeking both those things, compassion and real reality.

SANCHEZ: So, what about the concerns of transgender students who feel that it's a difficult time for them to find privacy when they have to use a bathroom for a gender that they don't identify with? It can trigger harassment in some cases. What did you say to those folks?

BIRD: Yes, I mean, certainly the concern there is real. I understand that. And so I think that there may be the practical offshoot of this legislation is that there will probably be more construction of single-use restrooms across Ohio and in K to 12 buildings and in colleges and universities. And so that issue will continue to be there.

But then there's also the point, Boris, that in Ohio, we passed a bill that said that we were not going to allow chemical castration or gender mutilation surgery anymore for those under the age of 18. And so I think that that will become less of an issue over time.

SANCHEZ: I also wonder, sir, about how this is going to be enforced. How are school officials going to prove that a person is using the bathroom of their gender assigned at birth?

BIRD: This is going to be an issue that I think we as a legislature are saying that local school, you decide how to enforce this. But my recommendation would be that when someone comes to me as the principal and says, you know, so and so is using the bathroom and they're not supposed to be in there, then I'm going to talk to that student.

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I'm going to give him a warning. And if they continue to do that, there's going to be progressive discipline.

And so you're not going to start right off the bat suspending somebody for somebody like that. But it's not the intent of this legislation to tell school districts how to enforce this. And certainly they're not going to be posting somebody outside of every restroom. They're going to decide how to deal with it in a way that is best for their local school.

SANCHEZ: You bring up something that's interesting in this legislation. It does not spell out an enforcement mechanism. Obviously, you had a suggestion for how certain schools might handle it, but does it concern you that leaving it up to the schools potentially creates a situation where you make very approaches, even some that undercut what you're intending to happen with this law, depending on administrators?

BIRD: Sure, and that happens all the time. And we passed law in Columbus and the governor signs it. And we allowed various agencies, villages, townships, counties to decide how to enforce it or how to deal with that, and so we do believe in local control in Ohio, and we want, to the extent possible, to allow that to continue.

But we are saying, and the governor signed off on this, that we're not going to -- we're going to protect our young people. And that's the real purpose and intent of this bill is protection and safety.

SANCHEZ: Ohio State Representative Adam Bird, we have to leave the conversation there. I look forward to potentially continuing it when this bill impact students.

BIRD: looking forward to it. That will take place 90 days from Wednesday. I think it's in February. And so we'll know a little bit more then. But looking forward to the opportunity to talk to you again about how we want to protect kids in Ohio.

SANCHEZ: Thank you again, sir.

Stay with CNN New Central. We'll be right back.

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JIM ACOSTA, CNN ANCHOR: If you hit the road for Thanksgiving, returning home could be pretty difficult next to impossible in some cases, with some interstates getting buried and snow. This earth cam shot shows just how much is already covering the Adirondacks. Actually, a beautiful shot right there.

Other parts of the northeast could see as much as five feet of snow, unbelievable.

SANCHEZ: Yes, believe it or not, it's just as cold in some parts of the south. Nearly 15 million people from Texas to South Carolina are facing freeze watches.

Let's take you to the CNN Weather Center now with Meteorologist Elisa Raffa. Elisa, just how cold is it going to get and where?

ELISA RAFFA, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Like everywhere. We're looking at those freezing cold temperatures getting as far south as the Gulf Coast. And the reason why we're going to have so much snow is because that cold air is coming over very warm lakes.

This is the Lake Effect snow machine pumping through the weekend. You can see that snow coming off of all of the Great Lakes here. We're very concerned going into the weekend off of Lakes Erie and Ontario because a lot of that snow, that's where we could get some of that several feet.

But if you're looking at some of the interstates, I-94, I-196 up near Grand Rapids could have some problems here. These snow bands tend to be very localized. The snow can be pretty heavy and visibility could be pretty poor. That would definitely be the case along I-90 from Cleveland over towards Erie and up towards Buffalo. There would be problems driving along the lake there with the lake affect snow bands. Again, that could be pretty heavy and drop that visibility.

Look at all the winter alerts again that are covering here, the Great Lakes. And then we have lake effect snow warnings, in effect, east of Cleveland, south of Buffalo, and then near Watertown too in Upstate New York. Because what's happening is we have the winds coming in with this Arctic air over record warm lakes. So, we're able to pick up the moisture with that cold air and just dump all of the snow.

Now, the weather surface is also warning that the snowfall rates could be so turbulent that thunder snow is likely. We could have an atmosphere that's like a thunderstorm with all of that snow because of just how turbulent it is.

So the snow continues as we go into the week and, again, in the same spots off of the Great Lakes, those lake effects snow bands just keep going. And that's where we get feet of snow off of those lakes and the cold temperatures. Yes, I mean it's six degrees right now in Fargo, guys.

SANCHEZ: Yes, great idea to stay inside and just eat leftovers.

ACOSTA: Watch some football.

SANCHEZ: Yes.

ACOSTA: And some CNN.

SANCHEZ: Yes. Preferably, you know, 1:00 through 4:00 P.M. and also 10:00.

ACOSTA: That's always helpful as well, and whenever Elisa's on.

SANCHEZ: Yes, of course. Thanks so much for joining us, Elisa. I appreciate you. Good to see you.

Now to some of the other headlines we're watching this hour, some organic eggs sold at Costco are being recalled over concerns about salmonella. It affects 24-count packs of organic pasture-raised eggs sold under Costco's Kirkland signature brand. It only applies to cartons that include the code 327 and a used by date of January 5th. We understand they were sold at 25 Costco stores across five southern states. So, definitely check your fridge.

Also, Australia now the first country to approve a social media ban for kids under 16. This new law means that social media platforms, like TikTok, Facebook, Snapchat, Reddit, X, and Instagram could face fines up to 32 million for failing to prevent kids from holding accounts.

Now, parents and children won't be fined for violating the ban, but companies must show that they've taken reasonable steps to enforce it. Facebook and Instagram parent company Meta called this measure rushed.

And we're getting a first look inside the newly restored Notre Dame Cathedral.

ACOSTA: You're thinking about football.

SANCHEZ: Yes, five years after that devastating fire that gutted the iconic French chapel. French President Emmanuel Macron leading a world televised tour earlier today showcasing the monument ahead of its grand opening next week.

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The church's white stone now stripped of ash, once again, sparkling. The stain windows meticulously restored. Macron thanking workers behind the nearly $800 million project, saying the cathedral is now more beautiful than ever before.

ACOSTA: It really is a miracle that they've been able to pull that off. It's such a beautiful place.

All right, in today's home front, a heartwarming reunion this holiday season. After being apart for more than two years, Staff Sergeant Payton May has welcomed home his now retired military working dog, Jacob. They bonded during their deployment in Iraq but we're soon split up. After returning to the United States, they told CNN that it was quote soul crushing.

Jacob was also going through it and dealing with separation anxiety. But now, with the help of the organization, American Humane, they are finally back together. So, after serving seven years as an explosives detection and patrol dog, what does the Belgium Malinois do with retirement? Well, May is still in the military and heading to his next assignment in Italy, while Jacob will be at his side, we are told. That's a good dog right there, a very good dog.

And we'll be right back

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SANCHEZ: If, like a lot of other folks, you're doing some Black Friday shopping today, you're probably looking for the best deals. CNN's Erica Hill spoke with Mike Bruno from CNN Underscored, our independent product testing group, and they're here with recommendations to make the process a bit easier, smoother and cheaper.

ERICA HILL, CNN ANCHOR: With Black Friday upon us, it is the perfect time to highlight some of the year's best products, as recommended by our team of experts at CNN Underscored. The Underscored team works independently from the CNN Newsroom. They test and review thousands of products to make their recommendations, and it's a great first stop before you shop, to make sure you're not just falling for the excitement of that Black Friday deep discount, or maybe the online hype.

Mike Bruno is the Vice President of CNN Commerce and one of the founders of CNN Underscored. We should note, when you make a purchase from an Underscored link, CNN may earn a commission.

Okay, so this time, Mike, you have for us some sound choices for sound.

MIKE BRUNO, VICE PRESIDENT, CNN COMMERCE: Some sound choice for sound and tech, yes. We could start over here with the Beats Studio Pro Headphones. These are one of our picks for best over ears, so obviously not the ear buds, but the best over here, and our pick for best with iOS, best with Apple, best with Apple. It works very seamlessly with Siri. You get a lot of the functionality that you're going to get within the operating system.

Very good bass, Beats is known for good bass, really nice crisp sound. And they're good looking. And if you're wearing something on top of your head, having something good looking doesn't hurt.

HILL: It doesn't.

BRUNO: It doesn't hurt. Nice soft pads on there. They fold up real nice. And you can put them in the case there. Yes, really, really good pick for over your head.

HILL: And how's the battery life?

BRUNO: The battery life is great. It's about 24 hours you'll get. And if you turn off the noise canceling, it goes up to 40 hours.

HILL: Oh, so that's great. And are the -- and these are $250?

BRUNO: These are about 250 on sale this week, yes.

HILL: All right, very nice. So then, if you want something a little smaller, you don't want the over your head.

BRUNO: Yes. If you want the ear buds, these are the Sony XM5s. These are our pick for the best true wireless ear buds, so like your AirPods and all the other ones that have no wires and you just pop them right in. These are true audiophile ear buds. The sound quality is above and beyond what you're going to get on almost any other.

The noise canceling is the best that we tested of any earphones at all. And it comes with a customizable app so you can kind of get an E.Q. and you could do some other settings within the app onto the ear buds.

HILL: That's pretty cool. And you say the battery life on these is also really good.

BRUNO: Yes. I mean, it's not quite as good as what you're going to get on an over ear But on this one you're going to get ten hours without a charge. And then in the wireless case, you can get it up to 36 hours.

HILL: That seems pretty good to me.

BRUNO: Yes. HILL: The longer than what I have now the brand that will remain unnamed.

So, moving on here, you brought in a laptop for us.

BRUNO: We brought in a laptop. This is the Macbook Air. This is our longtime pick for our best laptop. We love this thing. This is the M2. That's Apple's chip, the M2 chip. They have an Apple M3 chip now. So, this is an older model, but this thing's still going to run circles around just about anything else. We definitely recommend going with the M2 and saving the money.

HILL: I was just going to say, it saves me a little bit more money, but I'm still getting about the same performance?

BRUNO: You're getting almost the same performance. This will do everything. This will do your email. You could do even some light video editing. You could do some light gaming. I mean, this thing is going to do everything. You could certainly watch videos, comes in four different colors, comes in a 13-inch or 15-inch size, and you could get this for under $1000 right now for Black Friday. We're seeing the M2 MacBook for about $750.

HILL: I do love a deal. Okay, very nice.

And then a portable Sonos speaker.

BRUNO: Portable Sonos speaker, yes. A couple years ago, Sonos, the multi-room audio purveyors put out a couple of wireless speakers. This is the Move 2. This is the bigger one. There's a smaller one called the Roam. It's more of a traditional Bluetooth-type speaker. This one's a little bit bigger. You could also Bluetooth into this, but it also goes onto the network and becomes one of the components within a Sonos multi-room system.

This one is booming.

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It will just fill a room with booming sound. It's also a little bit heavy though. This is about six pounds. So, if you're going for a hike, you might not want to like lug this thing around, but if it's for people who -- it's for people for whom sound quality is the priority. Or if you just want to fill a big room, this is the portable speaker.

HILL: Yes, you don't want to put it in your backpack.

BRUNO: You don't want to put it in your backpack.

HILL: But fine to bring to the barbecue.

BRUNO: Exactly, fine to bring outside. And then if you want to listen to the tunes outside, you want to go inside, you push on the next room and you can keep listening to the song.

HILL: That's great. And that is about how much? $400?

BRUNO: That one's about $350. It's come down a lot, yes. So, it's not too bad, starting to get comparable to some of the other Bluetooth speakers.

HILL: Okay, great. I love it. So, we have a lot of sound choices for sound.

BRUNO: Yes.

HILL: From our friends at CNN Underscore, thank you. And, of course, if you'd like a little bit more information on any of these products, you can go to CNN Underscored -- I'm sorry, go to underscored.com. You'll find the full reviews for all of the products, as well as real- time coverage of any Black Friday deals popping up and, of course, hundreds of other great products that our friends over at Underscored recommend.

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