Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Newsroom
Uvalde School Board Votes Unanimously To Fire Police Chief; L.A. Voters To Decide If Hotels Must Rent Vacant Rooms To Homeless; U.S. Economy Shrank Less Than Thought In 2nd Qtr & Weekly Jobless Claims Fall In Last Week; As Biden Forgives Millions Of Student Loans, Critics Slam Economic Impact. Aired 2:30-3p ET
Aired August 25, 2022 - 14:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[14:30:00]
SHIMON PROKUPECZ, CNN CRIME & JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: And we heard a lot of that frustration last night, including from a little girl who spoke about her feelings and what she thinks should happen to law enforcement.
Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CAITLYNE GONZALEZ, 10-YEAR-OLD ROBB ELEMENTARY STUDENT: I'm here today to make a statement. If a law enforcement's job is to protect and serve, why didn't they protect and serve my friends and teachers on May 24th?
(CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE)
GONZALEZ: I have messages for Pete Arredondo and all the law enforcement that were there that day. Turn in your badge and step down! You don't deserve to wear one!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PROKUPECZ: And also, Victor, you know, one of the things that we keep hearing from a lot of the family members and certainly the kids is that they do have this fear.
They have a fear about going back to school and whether or not the police are up to the task in protecting them. They have concerns over the security.
Of course, law enforcement saying that they're going to be out here on the first day of school, on September 6th, making sure that they're giving the right protection, making sure that the students are going to feel safe.
But as to accountability, Victor, it's going to continue here. The parents are asking for more people to be held responsible.
VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN HOST: All right, and we know that the investigation into that shooting is going on.
Shimon Prokupecz with the reporting from Uvalde.
Let's go now to Justice Eva Guzman. She is a member of the Texas House committee investigating the shooting at Robb Elementary. She's also a former Texas Supreme Court justice.
Thank you for being with me.
I want to start with where Shimon ended there, the question of security and those kids who are afraid, and their parents, to send those kids back to school when classes start on September 6th.
Has the district made the changes necessary to guarantee the safety of the teachers and the students?
JUSTICE EVA GUZMAN, MEMBER, TEXAS HOUSE INVESTIGATIVE COMMITTEE ON UVALDE SHOOTING: Good afternoon. Thanks for having me on.
Every district in the country is evaluating, how are we going to keep our children safe? And imagine being in Uvalde and not knowing until last night that Pete Arredondo would not be in a leadership capacity.
I can understand the parents' frustration. Leaders take responsibility. And the citizens of Uvalde are entitled to have their children safe in those schools, just like every other parent in America.
BLACKWELL: Now, on the question of the security changes that are coming, we know that there are fences that are being installed, different elements of the schools across the district.
Should parents send their kids back to school before those improvements are made?
GUZMAN: Every parent has to make that decision for themselves. I know that school districts have explored learning from home.
But I believe every school district is moving as quickly as possible to -- I know, just even where I live, fences are going up, classroom doors are locked, teachers are on alert.
This type of incident has the effect of making, you know, those that sacrifice so much to teach our kids more aware of their own responsibilities for safety.
BLACKWELL: Let's talk about the defense that came in. The 17-page report right before the vote from the board to fire Pete Arredondo. His attorney submitted it.
In the preliminary report from your panel, you identified what you called "egregiously poor decision making."
Arredondo's attorney said that, "The complaint that an officer should have rushed the door, believed to be locked, to open it without a shield capable of stopping an A.R.-15 bullet, without breaching tools are all reasonable expectations when they are wholly unreasonable actions is tantamount to suicide."
Your response to what you hear as the defense from Pete Arredondo?
GUZMAN: Seventy-seven minutes is too long. Pete Arredondo knew on his way to the school that shots were fired. The principal called him -- Mandy Gutierrez -- and he said to her, "Shut it down, Mandy, shut it down."
Pete Arredondo wrote the training that addressed active shooters. And so he knew that his job was to go in and protect those kids.
Whether it was stacking up with a group of officers, whether it was a distraction through the windows that were -- windows in the back of the classroom, there were a number of avenues available to every officer there.
And what we heard -- some officers did say, if there are children in there, we got to go in. We got to go in.
BLACKWELL: You think the school board made the --
(CROSSTALK)
GUZMAN: And it took 77 minutes.
BLACKWELL: Do you think the school board made the right decision by firing Pete Arredondo?
GUZMAN: That's up to the school board. But I can't imagine, being a parent and sending your school -- your child back to school with Pete at the helm.
[14:35:03]
Given the factual findings that indicate he knew, he wrote the -- and submitted to the state the response that Uvalde IDS during an active shooter training, he wrote, I think, 90 percent of that.
He knew what to do. He didn't do it. And he has to assume responsibility.
BLACKWELL: So, also in this preliminary report, 77 pages submitted to the state legislature, you wrote that "these local officials were not the only ones expected to provide the leadership needed during this tragedy."
I want you to listen to the state Senator who represents Uvalde and his thoughts on what should come next.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
STATE SEN. ROLAND GUTIERREZ (D-TX): To place it on the cafeteria school cop, all the responsibility, is wrong. He is absolutely responsible, but so is every other cop that was in that hallway, including a Texas Ranger that was on the phone with higher-ups at DPS, and they did nothing. They told him -- they didn't say, hey, go get 12 of our guys and go
in. That didn't happen. So, Steve McCraw has to account for why his officers failed to act on May 24th.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLACKWELL: What is your thought there, that there are plenty of consequences that should be spread around after this shooting?
GUZMAN: The report addressed that. It said, you know, Pete Arredondo was first on the scene. But there were 370-some officers on the scene. There were plenty of officers to provide leadership. It didn't happen. There was no effective incident command.
Every law enforcement agency on the scene, whether it's DPS or BORTAC or Uvalde ISD, every single agency is looking into, what did our officers do? When did they do it? How did our training fail?
The alert training that is the gold standard for addressing active shooter, it discusses what happens when higher-ranking officers get on the scene.
It's not supposed to happen the way it happened at Uvalde -- at Robb Elementary that day.
BLACKWELL: Justice Eva Guzman, thank you so much for your time.
GUZMAN: Thank you.
ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN HOST: Well, President Biden's student loan plan is a potential game changer for countless Americans drowning in debt. But what effect will it have on the economy? We're going to take a closer look. But first, social media is going to have its say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: 20K in student loan forgiveness for Pell Grant recipients? OK, come on, Joe. I know a lot of us wanted more, but I'm going to take what I can get.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You have not needed my money in two years. More than two years. So, why -- why do I have to give you anything?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[14:42:30]
BLACKWELL: Los Angeles voters will have to decide whether hotels must offer vacant rooms to the homeless.
CAMEROTA: CNN national correspondent, Nick Watt, takes us inside this controversial plan.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NICK WATT, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In Los Angeles County, more than 60,000 people are homeless on the average night and more than 20,000 hotel rooms lie empty on the average night. See where this might be going?
STUART WALDMAN, PRESIDENT, VALLEY INDUSTRY & COMMERCE ASSOCIATION: It's just -- it's insane. It isn't going to solve the problem.
JURT PETERSON, CO-PRESIDENT, UNITE HERE LOCAL 11: We think this is one part of the solution. By no means do we think this solves a homelessness crisis. But do hotels have a role to play? Of course, they do.
WATT: So, the union he leads, which reps hotel workers, gathered enough signatures and Angelenos will vote on a bill that would force every hotel in town to report vacancies at 2:00 p.m. every day, then welcome homeless people into those vacant rooms.
MANOJ PATEL, MANAGER, MOTEL 6: Honestly, would you check into a hotel knowing that the chance of your neighbor to the left or right is a homeless individual.
WATT: Manoj Patel voluntarily rent some rooms to homeless people who are vetted and paid for by a local church. But he's against this bill that would make that mandatory.
PATEL: We barely are surviving, number one. Number two, we have to think of the safety of our staff. And number three, we're not professionally or any other ways equipped with any of the supporting mechanism that the homeless guest would require.
WATT: What services would be provided remains unclear. Also unclear, the funding. And hotels would be paid fair market rate.
PETERSON: It's up to the city. I mean, they did it during Project Roomkey.
WATT: The pandemic-era program now winding down that inspired this bill by placing more than 10,000 people in hotels that volunteered.
Shawn Bigdeli among them.
SHAWN BIGDELI, RECIPIENT, PROJECT ROOMKEY: Well, first of all, it's a blessing. It's a great room. The technology is not up to par. But, you know, what technologies do you have in a tent?
WATT: This bill would also force developers to replace housing demolished to make way for new hotels. And hotel permits would be introduced. As well as making every hotel, from a Super Eight to the Biltmore, accept homeless people as guests.
BIGDELI: I don't think that's a good idea.
WATT (on camera): Why not?
BIGDELI: Maybe for some, but you know, there's a lot of people with untreated mental health and some people do some damage these poor buildings, man. [14:45:04]
WATT (voice-over): This happened in Manoj Patel's motel.
PATEL: And she marked all walls. Curtains she burnt. Thank God there was no fire. Even marked the ceiling.
WATT: Opponents of housing the homeless in hotels fear this and fear tourists could be put off from even coming to L.A.
WALDMAN: I wouldn't want my kids around people that I'm not sure about. I wouldn't want to be in an elevator with somebody who's clearly having a mental break.
The idea that you can intermingle homeless folks with paying normal guests just doesn't work out.
PETERSON: We don't want to head backwards into the segregated south. But that's kind of the language that they're talking about. There's a certain class of people, less than humans, animals they almost describe them as, to honest with you.
They don't seem to understand who the unhoused are. We're talking about seniors, students, working people. That's who the voucher program would benefit the most.
WATT (on camera): So, it's about 18 months before this will be on the ballot here in Los Angeles. And expect plenty of mudslinging between now and then.
Some opponents of this bill, well, they claim that the union is only pushing as a negotiating tactic, as leverage.
The union tells us that is false, that they just want to hold the hotels accountable and make sure that they are playing their part in trying to solve this problem here in Los Angeles, which appears to only be getting worse.
Nick Watt, CNN, Los Angeles.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CAMEROTA: That was a fascinating look at all sides of that debate.
BLACKWELL: It presents a lot of provocative questions here. What I appreciate, though, is that this extends to the three-star hotels, the five-star resorts as well.
But these hotel owners and managers certainly need some resources if this program goes forward.
CAMEROTA: Yes, we'll see how the vote goes.
BLACKWELL: All right, more conflicting signs over where the U.S. economy is heading. The revised GDP report beat prior reports, but the economy is still shrinking. Next, what this tells us about the chances for recession.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[14:51:16]
CAMEROTA: Two new reports released today, both optimistic on where the economy is heading. First, the revised GDP report shows the economy shrank as a slower rate than experts previously thought.
BLACKWELL: And weekly jobless claims are also down.
CNN's Matt Egan joins us now.
What are we seeing in these reports?
MATT EGAN, CNN BUSINESS REPORTER: It's just the economy is still in a weird place, right? Some metrics look pretty strong. Others look concerning.
Let's start with GDP, which is the broadest measure of the economy. We learned today that GDP in the spring got an upgrade. That's because Americans actually spent more money than people previously realized.
The bad news though is that, despite this upgrade, the economy did still shrink. And this is not a one off. This is the second quarter in a row where you get negative GDP.
There's a rule of thumb that if you get back-to-back quarters of negative GDP, then that means you're in a recession. But that is just the rule of thumb.
Recessions are declared by the National Bureau of Economic Research. And they look at a wide range of metrics, including jobs.
And these new numbers out today show that the jobs market remains strong. The initial jobless claims fell in the latest week. Second week in a row of a surprising decline.
You know, during recessions, you get layoffs and we're just not seeing evidence of widespread layoffs right now.
CAMEROTA: Make up your mind, economy. Which one are you, you know?
(LAUGHTER)
CAMEROTA: Now let's talk about President Biden's student debt relief plan. Is that good for the economy?
EGAN: Well, there's a lot of debate about this plan. And from an individual basis, this is obviously a big deal for a lot of people.
The White House estimates that up to 43 million borrowers are going to see some relief from the student debt plan. That includes about 20 million borrowers who will get their full remaining balance wiped out. That's huge. Some economists argue that by forgiving student debt, you're going to
fuel inflation. First, because it's going to drive up the deficit. Second because it's going to give people more money to spend.
So if you increase demand without increasing supply, prices could go up and that would be inflationary.
That is a concern we've heard from Larry Summers, the former Obama official. He obviously was right more than a year ago to warn about inflation.
But some of the early analysis that's coming it, it suggests that some of these inflation fears are overblown.
I talked to Moody's economist, Mark Zandi about this. Mark Zandi was actually and economic adviser to John McCain in 2000.
And here's how he summed it up to me. He said, "The end of the moratorium will weight on growth and inflation, while the debt forgiveness will support growth and inflation. The net of these cross- currents is a largely a wash.".
Because remember, the Biden administration isn't just wiping out student debt for some people. They're also lifting this moratorium on student debt payments. That should ease demand and should take some pressure off of inflation.
I think, at the end of the day, this may be a policy that is a big deal for a lot of people, but when you zoom out and look at the economy as a whole, it's going to be hard to actually measure the impact on the economy.
BLACKWELL: All right. We'll see.
Matt, thank you.
EGAN: Thank you.
[14:54:12]
CAMEROTA: Well, a student in Georgia testing positive for monkeypox. And now the CDC issued new guidance. What parents need to know, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLACKWELL: Every English major worth his or her salt knows the greats, Morrison, Shakespeare, Swift -- not Jonathan Swift.
The University of Texas at Austin will now offer an honors, honors college course on Taylor Swift. Specifically the Taylor Swift song book.
CAMEROTA: According to the university Web site, all of the interesting contexts for literature are alive in her work. So shake it off, cynics.
Do you like this idea?
BLACKWELL: The song I know is the one you named. So beyond that, I don't know.
CAMEROTA: "Shake It Off"?
BLACKWELL: Yes.
CAMEROTA: How can you fight that this is not one of the greatest literature -- greatest moments of literature ever?
I wish I were back in college.
BLACKWELL: There are 11 words in here that just are put in different order.
CAMEROTA: No. No, no. You're missing the entire cultural construct.
BLACKWELL: I guess I am.
CAMEROTA: Which is why I think you should go back and take this.
Next --
BLACKWELL: I'll skip it.
[14:59:51]
CAMEROTA: Next talking point here, do you have a doppelganger out there? Someone who looks just like you though you're not related. Chances are you do, and now you're more connected than you know.
BLACKWELL: So according to the "New York Times," genetic researchers studied pairs of lookalikes and found those who have the most facial similarities also shared important parts of their DNA sequences.
