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NYC New Job Listing Requirement; SpaceX to Launch Falcon Heavy Rocket; Thirteen Injured in Drive-By Shooting in Chicago; Border Patrol Fires Pepper Balls at Protesters; Supreme Court Blocks Trump's Tax Returns. Aired 9:30-10a ET

Aired November 01, 2022 - 09:30   ET

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

[09:30:00]

ERICA HILL, CNN ANCHOR: Really changed the way you look for a job. The city is now requiring employers post good faith pay ranges in their job listings. So, why does that matter? Because this is some much- needed transparency for job seekers so they can get a sense of what that position will pay. And it's expected to have some ripple effects across the country.

Here now CNN business correspondent Rahel Solomon and civil rights attorney Nancy Erika Smith. We should point out, there's similar laws already in Colorado. California passed a similar one which goes into effect in January.

Nancy, as you look at this, a number of companies have started posting this information in advance of New York City's law and what's expected in other places. Give me a sense, how much could that transparency really impact employee bargaining power and ultimately salaries.

NANCY ERIKA SMITH, CIVIL RIGHTS ATTORNEY, SMITH MULLIN: Oh, this is huge. It should go further. It should be all jobs, even existing jobs, not just promotions or transfers or new jobs. But wage transparency is the only way we're going to finally end the wage pay gap we have in this country, which is extreme. Ninety-four percent of jobs have a wage pay gap. And, still, in 2022, women make 83 cents on the dollar.

Let's break that down. That means like - and mothers make less than just - than single women. So, let's take a single mother. A single mother in - single mothers in this country have children who live in poverty only because they are not paid fairly. A black mother loses about $34,000 a year on average. A Latino mother, about $36,000 (ph) a year on average. A native mother, around $38,000 a year on average. Now, just think about that. That affects Social Security. That affects your benefits. That affects whether you can go to school, whether you can take a vacation, whether you can get medical care you need.

So, this is a big step. It should be national. And it should be more.

HILL: And we'll see if this does, in fact, influence other areas.

What was striking to me, too, Rahel, is, this is not just major corporations. So, New York City, this applies to any company that has four employees or more. Does it also apply, though, if somebody, you know, is doing this job remotely?

RAHEL SOLOMON, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Yes.

HILL: Is that a way companies can get out of this?

SOLOMON: No, it is not a way that companies can get out of this. In fact, this law essentially says that any job posting, promotion, transfer, et cetera that will be or can be performed in New York City must comply with this law. Meaning, even if it is a remote job, you must comply too, right? In fact, Mark Goldstein, a partner at Reed Smith, who specializes in this type of employment law, told me just about an hour ago, it may end up, you know, becoming a de facto national requirement by virtue of having so many remote workers. So this is going to have very broad implications. This is not just a New York City law. This will have much broader implications.

HILL: You know, Nancy, you mentioned too existing employees. I wonder, could this be a bargaining tool for them because if they see their position or something similar and they see that salary listed and they realize, hey, wait a minute, I'm being underpaid, does that give - does this now give them more bargaining power?

SMITH: Absolutely. And that's a great point. Once we have wage transparency -- and the idea that we even fight this is crazy. We all know how much the president of the United States make. We all know how much judges make. We know how much our local mayors and teachers make. The idea that the business community wants this kind of secrecy, the only thing it benefits is discrimination. So, yes, current employees are going to see what the new person or the person getting promoted into their job is getting. And I think it's going to affect women and people of color the most.

SOLOMON: You know what this does, this empowers employees with information, right? I mean if you are not the type of person who is great at negotiating for yourself, this is going to empower you with information and you can't really argue with data.

HILL: It also takes away maybe what could be an awkward conversation even with your colleagues. We keep hearing - we've been told for years, right, especially as women, we should share our salaries. That's still, you know, to Nancy's point, it shouldn't be but it is an uncomfortable conversation because it's been made to be that way.

SOLOMON: Yes.

HILL: That takes some of that discomfort away.

Has there been much pushback from businesses, Rahel?

SOLOMON: You know, as I've been talking to employment lawyers this morning about it, I have not heard that there has been pushback necessarily, but there are a lot of questions administratively about how to comply with this law.

HILL: Who's going to police it? SOLOMON: Who's going to police it? So, there is an enforcement agency

that will police it. It's the New York City Commission on Human Rights. And the enforcement is actually pretty stiff. First violation you get a 30-day grace period to fix it, after that the penalties actually go up to $250,000.

HILL: Wow.

SOLOMON: So, pretty stiff.

But, to your point, I do think for smaller companies who don't necessarily have huge HR departments, administratively this might be a heavier lift for them to make sure that they're in compliance.

HILL: Yes, could be (INAUDIBLE) a pretty significant change, not just here but across the country.

SOLOMON: Right.

[09:35:02]

HILL: Rahel, Nancy, great to see you both this morning. Thank you.

Still ahead here, the launch window soon going to open for SpaceX's Falcon Heavy rocket. That blast-off and also what this mission is set to do, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HILL: Minutes from now the launch window will open for the SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket.

[09:40:01]

Now, this marks the first time the rocket has been launched in three years. This time it's on a mission for U.S. Space Force.

CNN's Martin Savidge is following this.

So, what more do we know about the launch and even the collaboration here between SpaceX and Space Force?

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, take a look at the imagery there. Pretty stark and shrouded in fog. A lot of weather can impact any launch of the space flight, but fog is not necessarily one of them, surprising to many people. You take a look at the countdown there as it is progressing.

The SpaceX Heavy is interesting because what's going on with this particular mission is it's the USSF, United States Space Force, Mission 44, and the fog isn't the only thing shrouding this launch. It's shrouded in mystery somewhat because it's considered this secret mission.

There are two major payloads that are going to be launched as a result of this. And most of these launches you get to watch everything as they progress this up into space. That is not going to be the case once it gets to the second stage of this mission because sometimes when you release information such as when do the engines stop, that can give you an indication of where this payload is going to be in orbit. And the government doesn't want you to know that at this particular time because this is all part of a national security mission.

So, interesting that you can't clearly see this mission too well on television when, in fact, it is also meant not to be seen too well in the spy world as well. And we await the countdown.

HILL: So - so the fog -- the fog is fitting then, as you pointed out, Martin.

Let's listen in. We're just about ten seconds - a little over 10 seconds now away.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one, zero. Lift-off.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The Eagle is (INAUDIBLE) downrange.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) chamber pressure is now (ph).

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) power and telemetry.

HILL: Martin Savidge back with us.

I was a little worried of what we would actually be able to see because of that fog, but you can see a fair amount.

SAVIDGE: Yes, once it clears the ground, that's primarily ground fog, of course, then you can see it. And if you're anywhere down there by the launch site, it's a spectacular thing, not just to see, but to feel.

HILL: Yes.

SAVIDGE: You've got the nine merlin engines that are cranking away there, delivering over 5 million pounds of thrust. Now, a lot of people may say, hey, this is the most powerful rocket there is. Not true. It's the most powerful rocket that's operational. But, of course, it's still a long way off from the old Saturn 5, which was used to launch and carry Apollo 11 and all the Apollo missions. That actually had about 7 million pounds of thrust. It also was over 300 feet tall. This one's about 260 feet tall. So, not the biggest ever, but still quite an impressive feat.

The other impressive thing that you're going to eventually see are those rocket boosters. There are two of them. And we're accustomed to seeing those on rocket launches. They help deliver the trust to get you up into orbit. They will eventually peel away. But those two are actually going to come back and land about eight minutes after launch. And they're going to land simultaneously about nine miles away from Launch Pad 39A, where this all took place.

So, that's one of the coolest things to watch these rockets return, as they do -

HILL: Yes.

SAVIDGE: Which is part of the mission of SpaceX here it to make space flight much more affordable. And to do that, you make it much more reusable, something with Saturn 5 they did not do.

HILL: Yes, that is key. And, as you mentioned, cool to see those come back down.

We're hearing our folks in the control room are listening to the control room over there. They're talking about a normal trajectory, which is - which is excellent news.

SAVIDGE: Yes, there's the separation.

HILL: There we go. We see the booster separation right there. More cheering you can hear from the folks behind the launch.

SAVIDGE: The SpaceX people love their launches. And no wonder because it's a whole new era of space flight here. It shows you how the government now is deeply intwined with commercial operations to get its national security flights, to get its space program back on track.

And this particular program, of course, run by Elon Musk, who has been the focus of some controversy over the years. So, there are questions about how much a government wants to rely on a private corporation.

HILL: Yes.

[09:45:02]

SAVIDGE: But the successes that they have had, one after another, speak for themselves.

HILL: Yes, they really have.

It's interesting too just to see, I would say, maybe the renewed interest in space. You talk about what it's like to see that launch, to feel it. I covered the final shuttle launch, you know, more than ten years ago now and that wall of sound that hits you and just these amazing moments. And there were so many questions after that about what happened. So, I think, too, this is helped - that public-private partnership is really helping draw a lot of interest as well about what the future could hold.

Martin Savidge, appreciate it, my friend. Thank you.

SAVIDGE: You bet. Any time.

HILL: Still to come here, the victims including children as young as three years old. Thirteen people injured overnight in a drive by shooting in Chicago. We're going to take you there live for the latest in that investigation. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [09:50:17]

HILL: Chicago police are asking for any information related to a drive-by shooting that injured 13 people, three children among them, who had gathered for a vigil. Authorities say two people were traveling in a dark SUV. They opened fire on the crowd last night. One person was also hit by a car during that incident. The youngest victim just three years old.

CNN's Adrienne Broaddus is live in Chicago for us this morning.

Adrienne, what more do we know about this shooting?

ADRIENNE BROADDUS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Erica, good morning to you.

Just moments ago we received an update from the Chicago Police Department. They are now telling us 14 people were shot. And as you mentioned, among the youngest, a three-year-old. The others who were injured were also children, including an 11-year-old.

Investigators say a group of people were gathered at a corner holding vigil for someone else who died according to investigators of natural causes. And that's when this drive-by shooting happened.

Police are looking for a shooter who was driving what was described as a dark colored SUV. The motive this morning is still unclear. But think about this, children and adults were all standing here on Halloween night holding vigil for an unrelated incident when someone drove by and opened fire.

Investigators say another person was injured while trying to run away. That person was hit by a vehicle while trying to cross the street.

Of course, if anyone has any information, they are asked to contact police.

Again, at least 14 people shot, including three children. A majority of these injuries, according to Chicago police, are gunshot wounds.

Erica.

HILL: Oh, it's just horrific. And the fact that they were also at a vigil at the moment that all of this happened.

Adrienne, appreciate it. Thank you.

Civil rights activists are criticizing Custom and Border Protection agents for firing pepper balls at protesters near El Paso, Texas. The video, from CNN affiliate KINT, shows protests running after what appears to be federal agents firing projectiles at dozens of people. Here is some of the video. There you see it. Along the Rio Grande International Boundary. CBP says the agents initiated what they refer to as crowd control measures after a Venezuelan protester through a rock and injured an agent.

CNN's Rosa Flores joining us now with more. So, what more do we know about this TikTok and how everything happened here, Rosa?

ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know, Erica, here's what we know from CBP. CBP says that all this went down at about noon yesterday in the El Paso area. So this is across the border from Juarez, Mexico. And they say that there was a group of Venezuelan nationals who were demonstrating on the Mexican side and attempted to enter into the country and it was at that point that the situation escalated. CBP says that one of the protesters allegedly assaulted one of the agents with a flagpole and that a second protester allegedly threw a rock at an agent injuring that agent. That's when, according to Customs and Border Protection, that's when agents then used these pepper ball guns to disperse the crowd.

So, these pepper ball guns are used in crowd control as a crowd control measure and that after that is when the Venezuelans nationals and others returned back to Mexico.

Now, all of this is under investigation by the Office of Professional Responsibility. And civil rights groups have come out denouncing what has been captured in this footage and saying that they're appalled by what these images show.

Now, all of this is happening as the Biden administration recently expanded a Trump era pandemic public health rule known as Title 42 and applied it broadly to Venezuelans. And, again, you're hearing Venezuelan nationals a lot during this report because it's impacting Venezuelan nationals. And thousands of Venezuelans have been returned to Mexico under this new policy since mid-October.

And, Erica, I'm in contact with a lot of these non-profit organizations along the border. They tell me that there are hundreds of Venezuelan nationals who are actually now in Juarez, which is across the border from El Paso, some of them living on the banks of the Rio Grande, others in shelters. But the point of the matter being, these individuals feel stuck in limbo. A lot of them say that they sold everything, all of their belongings in Venezuela, and now they're on the border, they're desperate and because of this change in policy now they're stuck there in limbo.

Erica.

HILL: Wow. All right, Rosa, we know you'll continue to stay on any developments there for us. Appreciate it. Thank you.

Still to come here, we're going to take you live to the White House. Democrats, of course, putting on a full-court press, trying to win voters over.

[09:55:05]

Talking about the economy. So, what's changing in the message? We're going to speak with the director of the National Economic Council.

Stay with us. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HILL: This just into CNN, the Supreme Court -- Chief Justice John Roberts, that is, issuing a temporary stay in the dispute over former President Donald Trump's tax returns. Those records were set to go to the House Ways and Means committee, which is investigating. They were set to go there this week.

CNN's Paula Reid joining us live.

So, this is a stay. Paula, is this more procedural at this point? What does it actually mean?

PAULA REID, CNN SENIOR LEGAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: It appears that Chief Justice Robert here is granting this temporary administrative stay to giving the justices more time to discuss this matter. Effectively what this does is it puts on hold a lower court order that would have required the IRS to hand over former President Trump's tax returns to the House Ways and Means Committee.