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Fed Delivers 0.75 Percent Hike For Fourth Straight Time; Rep. Tom Malinowski (D-NJ) Discusses About His Take On Things To Consider In Upcoming Midterm Election; Top Dem Demands Answer From Capitol Police After Pelosi Attack; Audio Reveals 10-Year-Old's 911 Call During Uvalde Shooting. Aired 3-3:30p ET

Aired November 02, 2022 - 15:00   ET

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

BIANNA GOLODRYGA, CNN SENIOR GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: The union says pilots deserve better now that the airline is profitable once again. But that's not the only labor issue for United these days. The airline says the demand for mechanics and other technicians is so great that they've launched an initiative apprenticeship program to train thousands of new workers. CNN's Pete Muntean joins us with more now. So Pete, they're going to pay people to train for these jobs now, is that right?

PETE MUNTEAN, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT: Pay mechanics to train on the job, Bianna. That is right. That's United's new approach to this huge mechanic shortage. The latest Boeing forecast, airlines need to hire 610,000 new mechanics globally in total over the next 20 years. United calls its program Calibrate and it does this by having workers apprentice in house. They want to pump up a thousand new mechanics through this by 2026. Another 6,000 on top of that through traditional hiring means.

This is so critical because who has not waited on a plane from the airlines because of a mechanical issue and remember that airline fleets got smaller over the pandemic, so the issue is particularly acute. United says that Calibrate is really interesting because typically to train on your own to go to school to become an airline mechanic $50,000 for tuition.

If you apprentice for United, you make $24 to $52 an hour, so forget about the tuition, you're getting paid the entire time. There are so many labor shortages right now at the airlines. We've been telling you about pilots. United has its own program to tackle this called the Aviate academy, I've seen it myself. Airlines are really trying to tackle this issue, especially with the holidays on the horizon. We know that staffing issues contributed to a lot of cancellations and delays over the summertime, Bianna.

GOLODRYGA: Well, at least we know one industry that continues to hire though. Pete Muntean, thank you.

It is the top of the hour on CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Bianna Golodryga. Victor is off today.

Well, for the fourth straight time, the Federal Reserve is raising interest rates by three quarters of a point in an effort to curb inflation. Fed Chair, Jerome Powell, spoke just moments ago on the historic decision.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEROME POWELL, FEDERAL RESERVE CHAIRMAN: Today, the FOMC raised our policy interest rate by 75 basis points and we continue to anticipate that ongoing increases will be appropriate. So we still have some ways to go and incoming data since our last meeting suggests that the ultimate level of interest rates will be higher than previously expected.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GOLODRYGA: CNN's Matt Egan and Rahel Solomon join me now.

So Matt, what did Powell say about what the Fed is planning next? He did say ongoing increases are needed right now, what should we be expecting?

MATT EGAN, CNN REPORTER: Well, Bianna, we are expecting interest rates to go higher, I think the question is how much higher and for how long. I mean, the Federal Reserve is moving with almost unprecedented speed here. They've gone from zero interest rates to 4 percent in about eight months. We really haven't seen anything like that since at least the early 1980s and this is raising some concerns because central bank policy hits the real economy with a lag.

It actually takes many months before you actually feel it. It's kind of like if you took pain medicine for a headache, you might not feel it right away. But it doesn't mean it's not working. So the concern is that the Fed may end up going too far and they may raise interest rates so high that they cause a recession and they don't realize they've gone too far.

Now, everyone is wondering when the Fed is going to slow the pace of interest rate hikes and Jerome Powell offered some hints about how that could be coming soon. Listen to what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

POWELL: That's why I've said at the last two press conferences that at some point it will become appropriate to slow the pace of increases. So that time is coming and it may come as soon as the next meeting or the one after that. No decision has been made.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

EGAN: So that means maybe they go from 75 basis points today to 50 basis points in December, but Powell went on to emphasize that the speed is not quite as important as ultimately how high interest rates have to go and how long they have to stay high. The other question is whether or not the Fed should pause here. Take a minute to look around and see how much damage has been done to the economy and how inflation has cooled off or not.

On that point, Powell went on to say that he does not think it's time to pause. He said it is too premature at this point to even start talking or thinking about a pause, which I think is an interesting point there. So Bianna, I think there's a little bit of something for everyone. Maybe the Fed is going to slow down the pace of interest rate hikes, but clearly they are not ready to declare victory anytime soon.

GOLODRYGA: And Rahel, it's interesting and appropriate, I think, that Matt made that analogy to taking pain medication, because I remember it was the last time, I believe, that the Fed raised rates, that Powell warned that this may be painful for some Americans as he goes through this process of lowering inflation. So what should Americans be expecting to see in the months to come?

[15:05:02]

RAHEL SOLOMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's a great point because it may be painful. And for some it probably already is painful, right? We're already seeing the impact of this really all across different borrowing classes. So, for example, mortgage rates as we know, they have more than doubled this year.

Look at credit card rates. I mean, credit card rates are now at about 18.7 percent, on average. And I talked to an analyst earlier this morning from Bankrate, who suggests that he believes Bankrate credit cards are actually going to be approaching 19 percent as early as next week. That is something we have not seen in about three decades.

So that pain that Powell will talk about, some are already feeling that in terms of, one, by the way, these higher costs in terms of inflation, oh, and by the way, also higher borrowing costs, so you're getting hit on both sides and so some are already feeling that.

GOLODRYGA: Yes. Which is why some politicians, especially Democrats, are suggesting that the Fed really put a tap on the brakes for now and see what happens in the months to come. Rahel Solomon, Matt Egan, thank you.

A new poll shows the economy and inflation remain top of mind for voters specifically among independent and Republican voters. And even before today's rate hike, recession fears were growing. CNN's Political Director David Chalian joins me now. So David, how will the economy shape Election Day? It's the number one issue for voters.

DAVID CHALIAN, CNN POLITICAL DIRECTOR: It's not only the number one issue, Bianna, it is far and away the number one issue. Take a look at our brand new CNN poll conducted by our partner SSRS. Most important issue to your midterm vote 51 percent of likely voters in this poll say it's the economy and inflation.

The only other issue, you see there that cracks double digits is abortion and that's way down at 15 percent. So this is an economy election. What I find so interesting is when you look at it by party, you see a different issue matrix, depending on - if you're a likely Democratic voter or Republican voter.

Look there, among Democrats, the economy inflation is still important, 27 percent say so. But abortion actually edges that out at 29 percent voting rights, gun policy in double digits. Republican likely voters, there's like nothing going on for them, but the economy, seven out of 10 of them say it is the most important issue to their vote, everything else is single digits.

GOLODRYGA: But putting party aside I mean, this poll also shows that 75 percent of Americans think that this country is currently in a recession, which is not, so that is a bad headline for Democrats and for this administration. What - on that note, where does President Biden's job approval stand?

CHALIAN: Well, President Biden's numbers are upside down, which is no help to his party six days out. In this poll, we have him in the low 40s, among likely voters he's at 42 percent, among all Americans he's at 41 percent, 59 percent disapprove. If you look at that, compared to his modern era predecessors, he's down in the range of where Donald Trump was in 2018, of where Ronald Reagan was. And you see, he's even ticked down from where he was there in September and October, we had him at 44 percent. And now he's ticked down a bit from there as we have seen gas prices continue to tick back up as the concern about the economy as a top of mind issue continues to get more robust for voters.

GOLODRYGA: So he's juggling support for the economy and support for democracy, really. I mean, he's giving a speech tonight on protecting democracy, a prime time speech. What does the polls show about where Americans stand on that and trust in our elections?

CHALIAN: Yes. Bianna, the White House says you - the President doesn't have the luxury of just talking about the economy or democracy, that he needs to talk about both. But they understand this as an economy election. My sources inside the White House don't expect his speech tonight to all of a sudden make democracy become the top issue.

But it is an issue a president needs to be concerned about because look at those numbers, half of Americans in our poll, 50 percent are confident that the election results will indeed reflect the will of the people but half are not confident in that. And, of course, there are partisan divides here. When you look at it by party, we see that among Republicans, nearly six in 10, 59 percent are not confident that elections will reflect the will of the people. Independents are a little more trustworthy of them and Democrats the most of these partisan groups.

GOLODRYGA: All right. David Chalian, thank you for breaking it down for us.

CHALIAN: Sure.

GOLODRYGA: Well, with me now is democratic congressman from New Jersey, Tom Malinowski. He's running for re-election against Republican candidate Tom Kean, Jr.

Congressman, thank you so much for joining us. So also in this new polling, it shows that Democratic enthusiasm is way down from where it stood in 2018, when Democrats took control of the House. These numbers don't bode well for your party. They don't bode well for you. You are in a tough reelection and a swing district. What are you doing in these final days to turn these numbers and enthusiasm among your constituents up?

REP. TOM MALINOWSKI (D-NJ): That's not my problem in the 7th District in New Jersey. Our enthusiasm is through the roof here. We have so many volunteers we barely know what to do with them in our district and my opponent who rarely campaigns even himself is, I think, facing a much bigger enthusiasm gap.

[15:10:07]

So I - look, I can only talk to you about what I'm dealing with. Our closing argument is very simple and I think resonates with middle of the road voters in New Jersey and that is that the Republicans are running on inflation, but they have absolutely no plan for dealing with it. But they do have a very concrete plan to, for example, go after Social Security and Medicare. They do have a very concrete plan to ban abortion.

And so, it's not an either or thing for voters in my district. They care about all these things. They want people in Washington, who are serious, who are adults, who are not extremists and we're actually going to focus on practical solutions to the economic challenges we have.

GOLODRYGA: So let's talk about what you are up against in your district in the 7th District. It is a tough reelection against Tom Kean, Jr. You ran against him in 2021 by just one percentage point. You've repeatedly said that you don't think Democrats can keep hold of Congress if you lose this district in this race, why?

MALINOWSKI: Because I represent the medium district in America. About half of the other districts are more Republican, about half are more democratic. We have a four seat majority in the House, as you know. I'm one of those four. And so we got to hold on to this seat, everybody knows that. That's why the Republicans are pouring millions of dollars from these Super PACs into this race to defeat me. They know how important it is.

GOLODRYGA: Yes, that's what I was going to ask and pick up on that, because why aren't Democrats doing the same? I know you got an infusion of about $600,000 over the last year, but that pales in comparison to the millions that your opponent has received, you are not included in the DCCC's list of candidates who need immediate resources. And some are reading into that as Democrats really suggesting you're not going to win and they're factoring that in already.

MALINOWSKI: No. All of our polls for the last six months show a race that's exactly tied, not statistically but exactly tied. We're getting a lot of support from not just the DCCC but the House Majority PAC, which is the other big Democratic national organization. And I've also vastly outraised my Republican opponents.

So if you - when Democrats nationally look at the balance, how much are we spending versus how much the Republicans are spending, we're roughly even in my district and there are some other places where things don't look quite as good for Democrats. So I think that's why I'm not on that final list. This is going to come down to turnout in my district.

Again, as I said, the polling here shows a tide race. And where we have a huge advantage is that in this year, unlike 2020, and much like in 2018, we've got our army of volunteers out on the doors again and the Republicans don't have that.

GOLODRYGA: Yes. Look, there's - it's clear that there are some headwinds you're facing that are out of your control, whether it's the economy, whether it's inflation and gas prices, I get that. But there are some things that are sort of problems that you've created for yourself, you're currently under an ethics investigation after you fail to disclose stock trading upwards of a couple of million dollars. So I guess my final question to you is why should your constituents have faith in you once again and give you another shot?

MALINOWSKI: We delivered a bipartisan infrastructure bill. We cut the cost of health care. We cut the cost of prescription drugs. We passed a bill on energy independence. We're actually trying to do something about cost of living for middle class folks in the United States. The Republicans are basically promising two years of Marjorie Taylor Greene, and Jim Jordan and Kevin McCarthy in charge of the House of Representatives. And last I checked, they don't actually have a plan to deal with inflation.

My constituents want a government in Washington, not a circus. They want moderation. They don't want MAGA. It's a very, very clear choice for them. And you're right, my opponent is running on personal smears. He's actually not talking about the economy or inflation, because he doesn't have any answers to that.

So I think we're winning on the economy. We're winning on a woman's right to choose. We're winning on democracy in the direction of the country and I look forward to another two years representing the swing district in the House of Representatives.

GOLODRYGA: Congressman Tom Malinowski, thank you for your time.

MALINOWSKI: Thank you.

GOLODRYGA: One top Democrat is now demanding answers from Capitol Hill Police about how to better protect members of Congress. This, of course, following the attack on Speaker Pelosi's husband.

And CNN obtains chilling 911 calls from a terrified Robb Elementary student trapped inside her classroom. Hear what she says and her parents' response, that's up next.

[15:14:53]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:19:10] GOLODRYGA: This just in, Democratic Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren just sent a letter to the chief of Capitol Police. Now, she is demanding answers about security protection for members of Congress after the break in at House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's home and the attack on her husband. CNN's Whitney Wild joins me now.

So Whitney, I have this letter right here. What else is Congresswoman Lofgren laying out here in terms of her questions?

WHITNEY WILD, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT CORRESPONDENT: Well, basically what she's saying is what were the policies that you had in place prior to this, were those policies followed and if there weren't any policies, why not? This is a blistering letter. These questions are very direct. And they hit really at the heart of some of the major questions here.

For example, one of the big questions she has is what is the relationship between U.S. Capitol Police and the San Francisco Police Department. We have learned from sources, me and my colleague Jamie Gangel, that there was at some point San Francisco Police officer who did do pretty regular patrols at Nancy Pelosi's home, but that ended last year.

[15:20:08]

And so the Committee on House Administration, which is the main oversight committee for the Capitol Police is wondering, what is the relationship, what was the memo of understanding, how is this supposed to work, do they train together, basically, how do you guys work together to protect arguably the - one of the biggest targets in America.

Further, a Congresswoman Lofgren points out that the FBI had offered U.S. Capitol Police officers a spot on the FBI's very well regarded Joint Terrorism Task Force and that would have been in San Francisco as well as in Tampa. And what this letter indicates is that that offer was declined, which really would have put Capitol police outside of the ability to be getting this real time information about threats that would be generating from San Francisco and Tampa. So that could have been a very crucial role. But for whatever reason, this letter indicates that they declined that offer, Congresswoman Lofgren wants to know why.

And then further and perhaps most importantly, what this letter makes very clear, Bianna, is that Capitol Police has been saying for two years that the threats to members of Congress are heightened and they have - they point out twice in this letter that Pelosi is the biggest target that they deal with and effectively this letter says, you know she's the biggest deal, you know that she maintains the biggest threats, she's second in line in the succession to the presidency, how did this happen? We want very detailed answers, Bianna.

GOLODRYGA: Yes. And what's notable is this comes just days after Chief Manger issued a statement of his own saying that the Capitol police need more resources, so interesting and the timing of this very lengthy list of questions here, you'll continue to follow this for us. Thank you so much, Whitney Wild. CNN has obtained exclusive new audio from the horrific school shooting in Uvalde, Texas. For the first time, we're hearing the terror a 10- year-old student lived through while she was trapped in her elementary classroom pleading with 911 for help. A warning that this call from Khloie Torres may be difficult to listen to.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KHLOIE TORRES: Hello?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, hello. This is (inaudible) I'm calling with the police department. Are you okay?

TORRES: No, there's a school shooting.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Okay. Yes, ma'am. I have multiple units there. Are you with the officers or are you barricaded somewhere?

TORRES: I'm in classroom - what's the classroom number? 112.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: 112 (inaudible)?

TORRES: 112, 122, yes, ma'am.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What's your name, ma'am?

TORRES: Khloie Torres. Please hurry. There's a lot of dead bodies.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Stay on the line, okay? You said you're in room 112?

TORRES: Yes, ma'am. Please send help.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You need to tell them that they need to be quiet.

TORRES: I am. I am. I'm telling everybody to be quiet and now nobody is listening to me. I know how to handle situation. My dad taught me when I was a little girl. Send help. Some of my teachers are still alive but they're shot.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GOLODRYGA: CNN's Shimon Prokupecz is here. Shimon, you've been covering this specific story all day for us and what strikes me is to hear Khloie say my dad taught me when I was a little girl. She's a little girl. She's 10 years old. How is she doing? How is her family doing?

SHIMON PROKUPECZ, CNN CRIME & JUSTICE REPORTER: So it's been tough. They thought maybe there was some progress and she was getting better. But it seems that it's not really - it's not the case. And so they're certainly very concerned about her. We spoke to her parents this morning at CNN. She was on the morning show. The parents of - her parents are on the morning show this morning talking about her, talking about how difficult things have been - take a listen to what they said. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAMIE TORRES, DAUGHTER KHLOIE CALLED 911 DURING UVALDE MASS SHOOTING: She's not doing very good. She's a really strong girl, so one day at a time is - we have to do it.

RUBEN TORRES, DAUGHTER KHLOIE CALLED 911 DURING UVALDE MASS SHOOTING: Those kids actually that day, in my opinion, stopped being kids that day and now are - had to be as grown as parents in survival mode, protection mode. And that's what we see with our daughter and that's what we hear from the other survivors as well.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PROKUPECZ: And that's absolutely right. I've spent the day now again today talking to family members who want to hear this 911 call, because the authorities are not providing them any information. The DA there, the district attorney, has prevented the authorities from releasing any information because of claims that she's running this investigation and so none of this information can be made public.

So we're having to obtain it through several sources and now the families are coming to us asking us to listen to this 911 call, in part because they're trying to answer questions about their kids, the experience and what was going on in that room because the kids are raising questions. The kids are bringing up things that are not necessarily making sense.

One parent I spoke to said, oh my god, this is now making sense. I didn't know this was happening. She was talking about some of this, but it doesn't really adding up. But after listening to the 911 call, they've connected some of the dots and they really think it's helpful to them to get an idea of what was going on inside their room because these kids are reliving it.

[15:25:11]

And from - a lot of these kids, what's happening is, parents will start to see some signs of improvement and then all of a sudden, something happens and then it changes. And that's what we're starting to see from some of these parents who are talking about their kids, not being able to go to school not wanting to go to school, but they're unable to answer some very simple and needed questions about what happened in that room. And they're hoping now, with this audio tape, with this 911 call that it gets them inside that room, they can start putting some of the puzzle together.

GOLODRYGA: They're clearly traumatized children and families and we'll be for years to come. It's just hard to square what we just heard and what we keep on hearing from reporting like the ones you've been providing for us. And the fact that DPS chief says that as an institution, they have not failed. That was just last week that he said that.

PROKUPECZ: It's hard to believe that. I think he was trying to be kind of - he was trying to have it both ways there, because he said that he would resign if any of his officers and agents and law enforcement officials in - at the DPS were culpable, he would resign? Well, people have been fired at the DPS as a result of it.

GOLODRYGA: Yes.

PROKUPECZ: So yes, I mean, I think, obviously law enforcement - the thing is with this audio tape, what's so important about it is that it really gets us inside that room and really shows us how badly the police officers performed that day.

GOLODRYGA: And how horrifying it was for those children. I know you're still talking to those families today. Shimon, thank you so much for all the reporting you've been bringing us.

Well, U.S. officials are divided over new intel that suggests Russia weighed in using nuclear weapons and its war on Ukraine. We'll have the new CNN reporting up next.

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