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Second Juror Dismissed As Rittenhouse Trial Focus Turns To Witnesses; Jayapal Says House Should Wait For CBO Score To Assuage Moderates; Biden Touts 531,000 New Jobs; McCarthy Argues Good Jobs Report Means We Don't Need Biden's Bill; Wave Of Republican Led States Sue Over Work Vaccine Mandate. Aired 3:30-4p ET

Aired November 05, 2021 - 15:30   ET

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

[15:30:00]

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN HOST: Well, now to the Kyle Rittenhouse trial in Wisconsin. We are hearing witnesses describe Rittenhouse's behavior and his demeanor on the night of those deadly shootings. Some called him frazzled, also in shock after the first shooting.

CNN has is also learning that a second juror has now been dismissed after experiencing what have been described as mild -- some mild discomfort from pregnancy.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN HOST: One juror was dismissed yesterday after reportedly telling a deputy a joke about the police shooting of Jacob Blake. Rittenhouse is accused of killing two men and wounding another during protests that followed the shooting of Jacob Blake last year.

So, let's get to CNN's Shimon Prokupecz in Kenosha, Wisconsin, so Shimon, what happened in court today.

SHIMON PROKUPECZ, CNN CRIME AND JUSTICE REPORTER: Yes, so the prosecutors brought forth another witness who was with Kyle Rittenhouse on the day of the shooting, this was an armed individual who was part of this paramilitary kind of group that came into Kenosha.

Key here, why prosecutors brought him in was that they needed him to describe the demeanor of Joseph Rosenbaum. He is, of course the man who was shot and killed by Kyle Rittenhouse. And so, he came in to describe that while Joseph Rosenbaum himself was belligerent, at one point calling him a babbling idiot. He didn't feel threatened by Rosenbaum.

And of course, this is a key part of this case because the defense is trying to argue that he was threatening Kyle Rittenhouse, and that is why Kyle ultimately used his weapon to shoot and kill him. This is a self-defense case.

The other thing that has been really interesting is in listening to this individual, Jason Lakowski, describe some of the tactics, some of the things they were thinking about as they came to Kenosha. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JASON LAKOWSKI, WITNESS IN KYLE RITTENHOUSE TRIAL: Just to make sure nobody would come and harm the property that we were supposed to protect.

ATTORNEY: And how exactly, what methods were you going to use to accomplish that goal?

LAKOWSKI: Shouting.

ATTORNEY: Anything else?

LAKOWSKI: I was trained in the shout, shove, show, shoot.

ATTORNEY: What does that mean?

LAKOWSKI: You shout, you shove, you show your firearm, and you shoot.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PROKUPECZ: And of course, Alisyn, and Victor, he's talking about military tactics, and what has been really striking in sitting in the courthouse and listening to some of this testimony from some of these groups that came in here, two individuals now have testified here telling the jurors about how they came to this community. You know, almost seemingly like it's normal for them to come to communities, armed with these heavy weaponry, military gear, all in an effort they say to protect the community.

But it's as if all of this is like very normal, and it's sort of brushed over, discussed in front of the jury. And obviously, the focus is on what happened here with Kyle Rittenhouse. But it's just really striking to hear some of this testimony, and just how normal it was for some of these people to come into this neighborhood with their own weapons to try and defend the community.

CAMEROTA: Such a great point, Shimon. Who sent them, who trained them? I mean when he says he was trained to do this. I mean he's not trained in crowd control.

BLACKWELL: The property that we were charged to protect. Who?

CAMEROTA: By whom?

BLACKWELL: Who asked you to protect this?

CAMEROTA: Shimon Prokupecz, thank you very much for all of that reporting.

OK, we're watching Capitol Hill. I'm going to speak with a member of the White House economic team about today's jobs report and what it all means.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:35:00] BLACKWELL: Well, things are moving fast on Capitol Hill. Minutes after we got this plan from Speaker Pelosi, a new suggestion now from the chair of progressives on Capitol Hill that could shift the timeline. Let's go to Manu Raju. Manu, what do we know?

MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: We know that it's looking not very good for the Democratic leaders. They may have to be forced to punt yet again on their efforts to advance the Biden agenda, because the two wings of their party are at odds over the strategy, something we have seen time and time again.

Now, Nancy Pelosi had indicated that she wants to move forward with a plan to essentially separate the two bills, the larger $1.9 trillion expansion and social safety net and the $1.2 trillion plan.

They wanted to move those together today but they had to push back to moderates who demanded that that larger plan get a full cost analysis. Then Pelosi came back and suggested, OK, separate these two out. We'll deal with the larger bill later. Now let's just pass the infrastructure plan.

Progressives just put out a statement saying they will just not go along with it. This is what the Congressional Progressive Caucus just said. The chairwoman of the caucus, Pramila Jayapal, she said if six of our colleagues are falling to the moderates, still want to wait for a CBO score -- friend of the Congressional Budget Office -- we would agree to give them that time after which point, we can vote on both bills together.

So, translation, that means they would have to essentially punt on this issue up until later in November. Maybe around Thanksgiving. Maybe even after thanksgiving to deal with this.

So, as we're seeing time and again, the leadership pushing ahead, trying to force their members to fall in line. Their members are pushing back, and now as a result, the leadership is unclear of any way forward on moving forward with this plan, and they may have to decide to wait until much later before anything gets to the president's desk.

[15:40:00]

BLACKWELL: Another self-imposed deadline blown, we'll see where this goes, Manu Raju on Capitol Hill, thank you.

CAMEROTA: Well, President Biden started the day on a high note with a jobs report that exceeded economist's predictions in economy -- sorry, in October, the U.S. added 531,000 jobs, and President Biden touted that as a win.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: And a sign that we're on the right track. This did not happen by accident or just because. We laid the foundation for this recovery with my American Rescue Plan that Congress passed in the beginning of my term. It put money in working family's pockets. It gave families with kids a tax cut each month. It helped keep small businesses going in the dark days earlier this year.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: With us now is Jared Bernstein, a member of the White House Council of Economic Advisers. Jared, great to see you. Let's start there. 531,000 new jobs, a significant improvement over September, higher than analysts had predicted. So how do you explain it? What are those jobs?

JARED BERNSTEIN, MEMBER, WHITE HOUSE COUNCIL OF ECONOMIC ADVISERS: Well, interestingly, those jobs were created in sectors across the economy. 72 percent of industries in the private sector added jobs in October. And you know, one of the things we have tried to do, Alisyn, is never over focus on one month. We get these kind of high frequency numbers and they can bounce around. So, we like to take averages to smooth out the bips and bops.

And if you do that, you'll learn that since the president got here, job creation has proceeded at a pace of 620,000 jobs per month, 5.6 million jobs in cumulative since he's gotten here. That is a historical record.

Here's another near historical record, the unemployment rate as you mentioned fell to 4.6 percent. We haven't had a year where unemployment has fallen this quickly since 1950.

So, this is a job market that is welcoming to entrants, that is offering people good, better-quality jobs with rising pay, and it won't surprise you that I agree with the president that the Rescue Plan shots in arms, checks in pockets was instrumental in getting us to where we are.

CAMEROTA: OK, so that's all of the good news, as you point out. The bad news is that a lot of Americans don't feel all of that because of inflation. So, let's just look at where gas prices are right now compared to last year. They're up -- I'll pull this up. Last year they were $2.12 per gallon. Last month, $3.20 per gallon, now their $3.42 per gallon.

And then our own financial guru, Christine Romans put together this cost of a Thanksgiving dinner and how much more expensive it will be this year than last year. Potatoes are up, biscuits are up, mixed vegetables up, Apple pie is way up. And so, what is the administration's plan to deal with inflation?

BERNSTEIN: It is really important to get under the hood of inflation and try to understand what's behind the numbers you were just citing, and it's not just our view. This is that of the Federal Reserve, and virtually every other forecaster, I've seen two critically important facts.

One is that this inflation is the result of pandemic oriented supply chain constraints. We know that supply chains are snarled and we know that that's boosting prices. Two -- and this is equally important -- all of those same forecasts predict that as those supply chains become unsnarled, inflation also will normalize.

Now, as that happens, we are confident that the job market will continue to perform much like it did in October. So, what you see there, continuing job opportunities, strong wage growth, and normalizing inflation as supply chains come unstuck. That is, by far, the most common forecast you'll find out there. And again, it's very much a function of the pandemic. And it's one of the reasons why the president's vaccination program has been so critical to get the economy not just to where we are, but to get to where we need to be.

CAMEROTA: As you would predict, Republican Kevin McCarthy, looked at the positive jobs report through a political lens, but he points out something --

BERNSTEIN: Shocking.

CAMEROTA: Well, I mean, but he makes a point that I think that some moderate Democrats might also fasten on to, which is the economy is humming, the jobs report is so good, why would you need the Build Back Better $1.75 trillion spending? So let me just have him make his point, and then you respond.

BERNSTEIN: Yes.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. KEVIN MCCARTHY (R-CA) MINORITY LEADER: That's great for America. Well, to the Biden's I don't know, they have been utilizing their poor job numbers to say why they need Build Back Better. So, if this was the case today, why would you need the bill?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: Jared, do you worry that some moderates like say Senator Joe Manchin will fasten on that also and say no rush for Build Back Better.

[15:45:00]

BERNSTEIN: No, not at all, in fact, the president has consistently been in contact with Senator Manchin, and he shares many of the same goals.

First of all, let me say, it's nice to hear Representative McCarthy -- McCarthy recognized that the Biden boom is working for the American people. You don't get that kind of across the aisle kind of praise that much from Republicans. So that's good.

Look, we have had a very strong jobs recovery, as I said, but we also have a country where affordable child and elder care is uniquely unavailable to people who want to get into the labor market. It's hard to find another advanced economy that hasn't worked that out. This president is not OK with that. And neither are so many of his constituents in the Congress.

We want to make sure that working parents have the help that they need. We need to make sure that prescription drugs are affordable. We need to make sure that people have the housing options that they currently lack, that we're finally pushing back on climate change.

So, two things can be true at the same time, and in fact, they are. There's more work to do, but this president has set a really solid foundation with this labor market recovery.

CAMEROTA: Is the moderate's demand in the House for a CBO score for the Build Back Better bill taking some of the wind out of the sails of President Biden's good news today?

BERNSTEIN: No, I mean, the president has continued to work the phones and be in constant touch with Democratic leadership as well as the other members of his party around both of these bills.

I want to say this about the score. Yesterday, we got numbers from the Joint Committee on Taxation, the JCT, they're the ones who calculate the revenues, and they confirmed, along with work from our U.S. Treasury that this bill is not just fully paid for, it is more than fully paid for.

CAMEROTA: So why isn't that good enough for the moderates in the House?

BERNSTEIN: Let me just finish, that's the progressive tax increases, nobody under 400,000 gets a tax bump, the progressive tax increases in this bill more than pay for the reconciliation plan. And that has been confirmed by the official scorekeeper on the revenue side, along with our own U.S. Treasury. So, what was your question?

CAMEROTA: So why isn't that good enough for the moderates in the House? You say they have to wait for the CBO.

BERNSTEIN: Look, I can't speak for the moderates, and you know, precisely what they're waiting for. Some of this news is breaking as I'm talking to you. I haven't gotten a readout from it yet. But what I can tell you is what the president has said all along, as that this plan will not add to the deficit, and we are getting official scores confirming that he's correct about that.

CAMEROTA: Jared Bernstein, we really appreciate your time. Thank you so much for being on.

BERNSTEIN: Great talking to you.

CAMEROTA: You too.

BLACKWELL: More than half of the states all led by GOP attorneys general say that they will fight the Biden administration's vaccine mandate in court. We'll tell you what that will look like ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:50:00]

CAMEROTA: About half of the states in the country are fighting the Biden administration's vaccine mandate for private businesses that employ 100 or more workers.

BLACKWELL: More than two dozen states led by Republican attorneys general have filed suit or are threatening to sue. CNN national correspondent Athena Jones is here with more on the backlash. Tell us about these cases.

ATHENA JONES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Which probably shouldn't be very surprising that there is resistance to these mandates. Because we've seen resistance to COVID related mandates throughout this entire pandemic.

But this about the newest rule -- we knew this rule was coming but didn't know the deadline. The Biden administration now announcing that by January 4th, anyone who works at a private business, any private business that has 100 workers or more will have to require their workers be vaccinated or if they are not vaccinated, they have to show a weekly negative COVID test and wear a mask.

So, you don't have to be vaccinated but you have to at least show a negative COVID test. We're talking about 84 million workers that this affects. About two-thirds of the U.S. workforce.

And as you mentioned now, more than two dozen states, it's 26 we expect that number could grow. Now challenging this rule in court. If these companies don't comply, they face a fine of up to $14,000 per violation. So, it could be very expensive. That fine can go higher if it's seen as a willful violation.

So, the companies are kind of thumbing their noses at this ruling. And so, this is why states -- most of them, almost all of them led by Republican governors. Louisiana is one state that isn't. But these states are coming in and challenging this mandate in court.

And this is one of several parts to this vaccine requirement rule. You may remember the Federal government is also going to require healthcare workers who work at facilities that receive Medicaid and Medicare funding and also Federal contractors are subject to this rule. So, there's going to be a series of lawsuits.

Also, already several lawsuits have been filed based on the Federal contractor rule. This is the latest round of lawsuits looking just at this private employer's role. We don't think this is going to end. The White House believes they're on firm legal footing but we'll see if the courts agree.

BLACKWELL: Yes, as you pointed out, not a surprise considering the rhetoric we've heard leading up to this point and the implementation in January. Athena Jones, thank you.

JONES: Thank you.

BLACKWELL: All right a CNN Hero spreading kindness and self-confidence on L.A.'s skid row.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHIRLEY RAINES, CNN HERO: What I am going to do is do your hair. What I am going to is give you a hug. What I am going to is encourage you and speak life into you. And that's what I can do.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: Meet this incredible CNN Hero, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:55:00]

BLACKWELL: Last week we announced the top ten CNN Heroes of 2021. One of whom will be named the CNN Hero of the Year.

CAMEROTA: So, as you vote for the next few weeks, we'll be reintroducing each of our top ten. This week we reintroduce you to Shirley Raines.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RAINES (on camera): It is just being seen, being touched, being cared for.

RAINES: You want a face mask?

RAINES (on camera): It plants a little bit of self-esteem in them so they feel like, OK, maybe no one knows I'm homeless because I have a fresh cut.

RAINES: Good to see you all. Happy Saturday, king.

RAINES (on camera): I address them as kings and queens because that is who they are. We want to make them feel beautiful.

RAINES: What you want, hair? Haircut? Hair? OK.

RAINES (on camera): When they say they're broken, I am, too. They're like, how did you get fixed? I'm not. I take Prozac, 20 milligrams every day. What the heck? I ain't fixed, child. I ain't fixed at all. I'm not going to lie to you and tell you things are going to be better now but what I am going to is feed you while you're out here.

What I am going to do is do your hair. What I am going to do is give you a hug. What I am going to do is encourage you and speak life into you. And that's what I can do.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That was Mickey on the mic you guys, give her a hand! Give her a hand! Give her a hand!

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLACKWELL: I love that. I love it. Go to CNNheroes.com right now to vote for your CNN Hero of the Year.

CAMEROTA: I want her to do my makeup. Her eye makeup is on point.

BLACKWELL: I just love that she says, I'm not fixed but I will feed you.

All right, Atlanta on cloud nine. We've got video of the championship parade today in the city celebrating the Atlanta Braves World Series victory over the Houston Astros.

CAMEROTA: You must be a huge fan coming from Atlanta, I'm guessing.

BLACKWELL: I am. Listen, somebody who lived in Georgia for nine years, so I am just celebrating with all of the Braves fans there.

CAMEROTA: Vicariously, I like that.