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Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D-NY) Discusses Trump Moving Residency from New York City to Florida, Taxes, New York City Investigations of Trump; Better Than Expected Jobs Report Released as Economy Slows Down; Five Officers Team Up to Save Choking Toddler Going "Beyond The Call Of Duty". Aired 2:30-3p ET

Aired November 01, 2019 - 14:30   ET

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

[14:30:00]

ERICA HILL, CNN HOST: Stand by for that. I have one guess. Adam Schiff --

(CROSSTALK)

CHRIS CILLIZZA, CNN POLITICAL REPORTER & CNN EDITOR-AT-LARGE: It's a matter of time.

(CROSSTALK)

HILL: Always good to be with you.

CILLIZZA: Thanks, Erica.

HILL: Ahead, the U.S. economy adding 128,000 jobs in October. That's better than anticipated after that massive G.M. strike. It comes a day after we learned the economy is slowing down. How do the two square? We'll counter that.

And did the president announce he is moving to Florida because he is being investigated in the state of New York? The governor of New York thinks so, and he joins me, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HILL: President Trump is in so many ways synonymous with New York where he made his mark and money as a real estate developer. The president seems to be done with the Empire State.

In a series of tweets, the president says he is making Florida his official home. He and the first lady have changed their permanent residence to Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach where he spent 99 days since taking office, more often than in Trump Tower in New York.

In his tweet, the president says he is leaving New York because, quote, he's been "treated very badly by the politicians" in his home state.

[14:35:13] It's worth pointing out Florida may be more favorable to the president financially as the state has no state income tax.

Joining me now, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo.

Governor, we know, there's no love lost between you and the president. That said, Donald Trump claimed to have significant wealth. Will the loss of his taxes hurt New York state?

GOV. ANDREW CUOMO, (D-NY): Well, first, we don't even know what he pays in taxes. Right? Because the president won't release his taxes.

But I don't think this is taxes. I think this is a legal maneuver, Erica. He's being sued by the Manhattan district attorney in New York for release of his taxes. Which he doesn't want to do, obviously.

And I think he -- this is a desperate legal tactic whereby they're going to argue, well, we're not New York residents anymore. We're Florida residents. So New York doesn't have a right to the tax returns.

I don't think it's a legal tactic that's going to hold up. I don't think it's dispositive.

But I think the president is in desperate times, as we know, and we know he'll take any legal tactic imaginable. We see it with impeachment, we see it with witnesses. And this is more of the same. He does not want to release his taxes. And he is in trouble before the judge here in New York.

And the timing is just too coincidental. That you're in the middle of this lawsuit for him to release his New York tax returns, which would have a lot of information obviously that would reveal federal information and, all of a sudden, he wants to decide to leave the state of New York. Nothing else explains it.

And he said as much in his tweet. You know? He said it was the -- that he was not being treated well by the political forces. He's referring to the Manhattan district attorney.

He's also being sued by the state attorney general for information on his charity. So I think -- I think it's all about another legal tactic to avoid justice, which is what we've been accustomed to.

HILL: You've been critical of the 2017 federal tax law passed by Republicans. You blame it for some residents fleeing your state because of the cap, the SALT cap which limits state and local tax deductions to $10,000. The average deduction in New York State is more than $22,000.

High taxes, though in New York, were obviously an issue before 2017. Are you seeing a significant difference since then?

CUOMO: Here's the only difference, Erica. Under my governorship, the tax rate for every New Yorker has come down. Donald Trump pays a lower tax rate under me than he did before. The only tax that went up is the tax that Donald Trump imposed on New

York with his 2017 federal tax, so-called, reform. Not only did it give big corporations a big tax break, it shifted the burden to Democratic states and shifted the burden to wealthy Democratic states.

And New York was already the number-one contributing state in the nation to the federal government. And he increased that contribution by $15 billion.

So to the extent taxes have gone up in New York, the only one who raised taxes was Donald Trump.

I have lowered taxes for every New Yorker, controlled state spending to an historic extent.

So it's not about the tax rate. It's about this legal tactic. He does not want to release his taxes. He doesn't want to do it on the federal level.

And the lawsuits in New York are very heated and very strong and that's what he's trying to get away from. He doesn't want to disclose, doesn't want transparency, doesn't want people knowing his personal information. We know that on every level and that's all this is. And I don't believe it's going to work.

HILL: We'll be watching.

Before I let you go, I want to check in. Nonstop rain in New York State this week. Significant flooding in Upstate New York. That's a major issue for the state. Where do things stand today

CUOMO: Anyone who's in denial about climate change is really putting us in a dangerous position. We've had a weather pattern in New York that's unlike anything we've seen. We never had hurricanes and tornadoes and these flash floods you see now. The fires in California.

[14:40:07]

We had a flash flood that came in overnight that literally took small creeks and rivers and made them explode.

We had one situation where literally a house was about to get swept away, and we had to deploy a swift-water rescue team to take a family and an infant out of the home under very dangerous conditions.

So we keep fighting these ongoing weather emergencies that are more and more frequent, more and more dangerous. We had one fatality last night, unfortunately.

But it's frightening. I have no other word for it, but it's frightening.

HILL: Governor Andrew Cuomo, appreciate your taking the time to join us today. Thank you. CUOMO: Thanks. Thank you, Erica.

HILL: It is certainly a topic that has everyone talking. Former President Obama getting bipartisan support for taking on the, quote, "woke culture" in America.

Plus, a solid jobs report and an economy that's slowing down. What those two things mean for you.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:45:38]

HILL: Better than expected jobs numbers today. U.S. employers adding 128,000 jobs in October. And those numbers beat the former gloomy forecast economists predicted. Predictions mostly tied to the G.M. strike.

While the report is good the president tweeting these were, quote, "blowout jobs numbers." Talking about the 303,000 jobs added.

To be clear, 128,000 added last month in October. The president's number comes from adding in revisions from last month as well as temporary jobs to get the larger number. So we're on the same page.

Economic commentator, Kevin Hassett, served once at President Trump's top economist.

As we look at this, Kevin 128,000 jobs, beating expectations. That is a very good report for the president.

KEVIN HASSETT, ECONOMIC COMMENTATOR & FORMER CHAIRMAN, COUNCIL OF ECONOMIC ADVISERS UNDER PRESIDENT TRUMP: Look at equity markets agreed a blowout number. So really the big news was almost revision to previous months. People are falling asleep already. The fact is, a really big blowout number surprised a lot of people because GDP was weaker. A lot of weak signs.

HILL: Leading into that, GDP's 1.9 percent. In particular, clothing, footwear slowing. Consumer spending, a consumer-based economy. Incredibly important. Tariffs for the summer and a new set of tariffs to come in, in December. How concerning is that?

HASSETT: Fed put out uncertainty as trade policy is a big negative. There's a couple of others. You mentioned the G.M. strike. Also Boeing slowed production of the 737 because of the problems with the safety devices.

So I think if all of that stuff is fixed before trade, looking at a 2.5 percent number. Most of the economists think we might have lost a half a percent because of trade uncertainty. But I think it's fair to say.

The president is focused on the up side. He wants to have a deal with China. Has the USMCA deal. He's trading off some uncertainty now for hopefully a much stronger economy in the future. HILL: I get that. I'm a glass half-full person myself.

That said, this can't be ignored.

(CROSSTALK)

HILL: You've been there, been in the White House, had these conversations.

HASSETT: Sure.

HILL: How much is that a conversation happening behind closed doors? You can look at all the things you want to come down the pike you think will be great. But you have to take into account the reality of the moment and what else could happen.

HASSETT: Right. There are divergent views in the White House. One of the things I respect most about the president and like working with him he likes to have people that disagree.

Peter Navarro and I disagree a lot on trade policy. He thought it would be more positive than I thought and so on. The data seems to be more consistent with what I thought than what he thought.

But the president is presented with all points of view in the White House and Oval talking about this. And some are this could be slightly harmful until we get a deal.

But the other side, flip side, you get the deal, a really big positive. If Boeing goes back to full production, the quarter that happens that will add a little less than a percent to GDP growth.

So there's a lot of stuff that suggests to me the strong jobs report number today is the true signal and that the GDP numbers are things that will start to be stronger going forward.

HILL: Looking at that, we can't ignore what's happening in manufacturing. Jobs in manufacturing.

How much do you think President Trump -- if you're back in that room with him, what are you saying to him in terms of how you feel about the trend for manufacturing jobs?

HASSETT: Manufacturing was doing great until this year, then slowed down. You're right, even in a really slow jobs report, the manufacturing numbers nothing to write home about. They're at about zero after revisions.

So manufacturing stopped skyrocketing but it's at a higher level. I think if we open -- USMCA passes and we open up the Canada and Mexico with products and also get a deal with China, manufacturing will recover strongly.

But right now, you're right, the weak spot I the report is really manufacturing. HILL: Based on your experience with the president and your time in

the White House, what we've seen this week. Yes, talking about the jobs report. Yesterday was a big day with this vote we saw in the House. Not a single Republican broke ranks. We know and understand there was a lot of work behind the scenes, including from the president, to make sure that was the way things went.

How would you characterize this week for the particular ed?

HASSETT: So at CEA, I always focused on my job, the economy, and wouldn't at all would be involved in discussions with things like impeachment.

There are other things that I could say --

HILL: Right.

HASSETT: The Mueller report going by, it affects the mood of folks. Folks like CEA members go in and think they're there to make policy better and there's all this going on, it's hard to ignore and do your job. That's what we did and I bet what others are doing who are not involved in this situation.

[14:50:17]

HILL: Right. I didn't mean how it would affect you. But in terms of characterizing the week for the president and how he's taking it in, because, as you point out, all other factors can influence the person you're working with, right?

HASSETT: Sure.

HILL: In terms of weighing on someone.

HASSETT: That's actually a fair point. Interesting thing, I've never seen this stuff weigh on him. When I went into the Oval Office, he was always the same person. And in the end, if you look at it when there's impeachment news, it's not affecting markets, but the employment news really, really did.

I think it's still true that there's a big academic lecture that says, if the economy is strong, it's good for him politically.

As an economist looking for literature, I'd say he had a positive week. His odds of re-election are probably higher given the strong economy than we were at the start of the week.

HILL: Appreciate it. Thank you.

HASSETT: Thank you.

HILL: Just ahead, the next phase of impeachment is set to include public testimony of the officials listening on that call between President Trump and President Zelensky of Ukraine. President Trump says he is so confident he did nothing wrong he is now thinking about reading the transcript in a live televised fireside chat. Plus, after months of dodging questions about how she plans to pay for

Medicare-for-All, Elizabeth Warren releasing a $20 trillion plan and a promise not to raise taxes on the middle class.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:57:02]

HILL: Five police officers in Kissimmee, Florida, racing against time, going "beyond the call of duty" to save a choking toddler.

I warn you the video you're about to see may be tough to watch.

CNN's Rosa Flores has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

AMANDA ZIMMERMAN, MOTHER OF CHOKING TODDLER: Go! Oh my God!

ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): These dramatic moments of a toddler nearly choking to death in Kissimmee, Florida, all captured on body camera as five police officers worked feverishly to save the boy's life.

POLICE OFFICER: Come on, baby, come on.

FLORES: Amanda Zimmerman's 18-month-old son, Michael -- or M.J. -- was eating Goldfish crackers when he began choking.

ZIMMERMAN: So, immediately, I just turned him over and started doing the back pats. And I lifted him up to look at him and it wasn't working.

FLORES: Desperate for help and with time quickly running out, she sprinted outside with M.J. in her arms, intending to drive to the emergency room just two blocks away.

ZIMMERMAN: And by that time, he was blue. He was started to go blue. That's when I was in a full panic.

FLORES: But before she could even reach her car, she ran straight into Officer Miguel Lanzo, who just happened to be driving by.

OFFICER MIGUEL LANZO, KISSIMMEE POLICE DEPARTMENT: At that point, when she's -- when she's approaching my vehicle, I'm not -- at that point, I'm not knowing what's going on.

FLORES: Lanzo called for backup and got to work.

LANZO: I'm being flagged down by a female and a baby. I think he's choking.

Just kicking my training in. Just, at first, assess what I have, which was him choking and not breathing.

FLORES: The footage shows Lanzo attempting to dislodge the cracker as Zimmerman, screaming helplessly, is restrained by the second officer to arrive on-scene, Lenora Wooten.

OFFICER BAYRON BAEZ, KISSIMMEE POLICE DEPARTMENT: I saw him on the ground with the baby and I immediately took over. I looked inside his mouth. I couldn't see anything, really, so I started doing the back thrusts again.

FLORES: Officer Bayron Baez, arriving just moments later, said the situation was dire.

BAEZ: He was purple.

FLORES: Baez made way for a fourth officer, Monica Gavilanes, who then stepped in to try and save M.J.'s life.

ZIMMERMAN: And the longer it went, the more I got worried.

FLORES: Before finally, the fifth, Sgt. Craig Putriment, a seasoned veteran, who has had to save a choking child before, his own daughter.

SGT. CRAIG PUTRIMENT, KISSIMMEE POLICE DEPARTMENT: I did the abdominal thrusts and he started spitting up.

FLORES: At that point, Putriment says M.J. took a giant gasp. But then, something went terribly wrong.

PUTRIMENT: And then nothing. He stopped breathing again.

FLORES: Determined to save M.J.'s life, the five officers continued working as a team until paramedics arrived.

M.J. was transported to the hospital where he made a full recovery.

And as the nightmare ended, a new kinship began.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Their family is our family, so it just brings us all closer. We don't see it like hero police officer-type thing. It's our community. Like everybody said, that's what we do.

FLORES: Rosa Flores, CNN, Kissimmee, Florida.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[15:00:08]

HILL: Top of the hour here on CNN. I'm Erica Hill, in today for Brooke Baldwin. Thanks for joining me on this Friday.