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Pentagon: We Know This Is A "Surveillance" Balloon And Is Maneuverable; Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL) Discusses About The Decision Not To Shoot The China's Surveillance Balloon; 55M People Under Wind Chill Alerts In Midwest, Northeast; U.S. Added 517K Jobs In Jan, Unemployment Drops To 3.4 Percent. Aired 3-3:30p ET

Aired February 03, 2023 - 15:00   ET

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

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[15:02:13]

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN HOST: It's the top of the hour on CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Alisyn Camerota.

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN HOST: I'm Victor Blackwell.

We're following mounting concerns over that Chinese spy balloon floating over the U.S. Secretary of State Tony Blinken just postponed his high stakes trip to China hours before he was set to depart. And we're going to hear from Secretary Blinken a short time from now. The Pentagon also confirmed that this is a surveillance balloon and that it is maneuverable. The balloon is about the size of three buses. It's huge. It was spotted soaring over Montana in recent days at 60,000 feet.

CAMEROTA: Now, just moments ago, the balloon was spotted over Columbia, Missouri. And just before that, the National Weather Service tweeted these images of what they say is a large balloon in the Kansas City area, despite growing calls to shoot it down. For now President Biden is opting against that, the Chinese continue to claim it's just a weather balloon that blew off course.

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AIR FORCE BRIG. GEN. PAT RYDER, PENTAGON PRESS SECRETARY: We are aware of the PRC's statement. However, the fact is we know that it's a surveillance balloon and I'm not going to be able to be more specific than that. We do know that the balloon has violated us airspace and international law, which is unacceptable. And so we've conveyed this directly to the PRC at multiple levels.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: John Miller is here with us. CNN's Chief Law Enforcement and Intelligence Analysts and Kylie Atwood is CNN's National Security Correspondent.

Okay. Kylie, tell us about Blinken postponing his trip. KYLIE ATWOOD, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY REPORTER: Postpone quite dramatically because he was supposed to be heading to China to meet with officials in Beijing tonight and it was canceled this morning. So he called up his Chinese counterpart just this morning to explain that the U.S. assessment was that the conditions for this trip aren't right anymore and that's because of this balloon with senior State Department officials saying it's unacceptable that this balloon is over U.S. territory violating U.S. sovereignty.

And what they are saying is that they really wanted this trip for Blinken to be wide ranging, right? They want to talk about Russia, Taiwan, a number of issues, trade issues and the like. But this would have greatly reduced the number of things they were going to be able to talk about. This was such a distracting thing. And they're saying that they want to reschedule it, they're calling this a postponement. But I asked what are the conditions that are required to put this back on the schedule and they aren't saying that very clearly right now.

And that's all while this is still moving over the United States. This balloon headed east and reporters asked the Pentagon earlier today, if they would shoot it down, if it was over a body of water, or if they would shoot it down if it was headed towards the Capitol, Washington, D.C.

They didn't answer that question. They're reviewing all their options. But at this point, the President has decided not to shoot this down because they're worried about what could happen on the ground, civilians being hurt or infrastructure being hurt because of just how massive this thing is.

[15:05:06]

BLACKWELL: John, let me bring that to you, the decision not to shoot it down when it was over a sparsely populated areas, what do you make of it?

JOHN MILLER, CNN CHIEF LAW ENFORCEMENT AND INTELLIGENCE ANALYST: I think when you're at 66,000 feet and you shoot something down, you don't really know where it's going to land. I mean, its height is the thing that makes it good as a collection platform. Because from that altitude, you can see over so many miles, and that it's collecting it on video as it moves. But I also believe that is still an open question as long as it's floating over the United States.

CAMEROTA: Yes. I mean, is it possible this is - they say it was a mistake, which is a possibility that it wasn't ever supposed to be over U.S. airspace (inaudible) ...

BLACKWELL: John laughs.

CAMEROTA: ... no.

MILLER: I have a little - I mean, I get the mistake there, which is I had my weather balloon and it drifted off course. And when it drifted off course, it came across the Aleutian Islands through Canada and then went directly to the intercontinental ballistic missile site in the middle of Montana and then the Malmstrom Air Base and the 341st Air Wing and now it's down in Missouri.

CAMEROTA: (Inaudible) ...

BLACKWELL: Curious path.

MILLER: I don't know when, when my weather balloon drifts off course, I don't know if it goes right to critical defense locations. But this is - Chinese intelligence collection is vast, it's persistent, it's - it covers so much ground and they're claggy.

I mean, because there's so much of it in so many different directions, you hear them coming a lot. This probably wasn't an accident, this was probably something we were meant to find, meant to see and I think when you look at the cancellation of the Secretary's trip, they may have overplayed their hand in message sending.

ATWOOD: And you do have U.S. officials today saying very clearly that they're confident in their assessment. Meaning, they don't believe Chinese officials in what they're describing this balloon to be. And I think we should also consider the backdrop of all of this right now.

China and U.S.-China relations are a very - it's complicated right now and you have particularly the Republican Party in Washington, pushing the Biden administration to be tough on China. We heard calls in the last 12 hours from members of Congress, particularly Republicans calling for Blinken to cancel this trip.

So there are political considerations here for this administration and I do think those are significant, because the administration has said that there wasn't actually a threat to civilian populations here in the United States or to U.S. Military.

BLACKWELL: All right. Kylie Atwood, John Miller, thank you.

CAMEROTA: Thank you, guys.

BLACKWELL: All right. Let's bring in now Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi, a Democrat from Illinois. He's also the ranking member on the select committee on the strategic competition between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party.

Congressman, good to see you again.

I'm going to put the question to you that we just discussed with John and Kylie, what's your assessment of the decision not to shoot this down when it was over sparsely populated areas of the U.S.

REP. RAJA KRISHNAMOORTHI (D-IL): Ideally, you have to listen to military commanders who have the best information. It appears that Chairman Milley as well as the Commander of the Northern Command said not to do it and I think they cited obviously the debris field that would be created. The fact that it's not really collecting intelligence, because (inaudible) and then one thing that I would just bring up as a member of the Intelligence Committee as well is, a lot of times we actually want to preserve the tech that is actually doing reconnaissance so that we can learn more about their capabilities.

So when you put all that together, I think you have to listen to the military commanders on the ground or in this case in the air.

BLACKWELL: So if you say that the goal is to preserve the tech that they're using, I assume that your conclusion is that at some point, this balloon will be in U.S. custody.

KRISHNAMOORTHI: I hope so. But I can't say what the military is going to do exactly at this point. But I think that let's just say that it's not a weather balloon that would be a Santos-style whopper, Victor. I think it's a reconnaissance balloon. It's a military balloon and we have to treat it as such.

BLACKWELL: So you released this joint statement with the chair of the committee I just mentioned here and you ended the statement with we must act to counter this threat, how?

KRISHNAMOORTHI: Well, I think that there are a couple of things going on. One is I'm glad that Secretary Blinken has postponed his trip to Beijing, because obviously what they're doing here seems to run counter to their diplomatic overtures. So there has to be consequences to their hostilities or violating airspace.

And then secondly, I think we have to send - I'm sure that it is being sent right now clear messages about what's going to happen if this occurs again. And I think that the Chinese Communist already needs to know that we are going to do everything we can to protect our homeland.

[15:10:03]

BLACKWELL: What should be the conditions to put that meeting with the - or the visit, I should say, from the Secretary of State to Beijing back on the calendar?

KRISHNAMOORTHI: I think that the Secretary and his - and, of course, the President will decide that ultimately. But I think that we don't want a situation where anyone's violating our airspace, that's good ...

BLACKWELL: Well, they're already doing it.

KRISHNAMOORTHI: Right. And that's not a good thing to be occurring while we're engaging in diplomacy. So I think that would be a precursor to us have our precondition to us being able to engage in talks in-person in the People's Republic of China.

All that being said, I'm sure that they are communicating right now directly, but obviously not in-person in Beijing.

BLACKWELL: So the big question why China would do this, as we discussed there, Chinese satellites, if they are on some intel harvesting mission, potentially they can use those. This is a big, bold exclamation point, floating maybe for a few days over the continental U.S. Do you have an answer to that why China is doing this so flagrantly?

KRISHNAMOORTHI: Well, as your viewership might know, these high altitude balloons are different in kind than satellites in the sense that even at a high altitude, in this case, 60,000 to 70,000 feet, they can loiter in place and persist in their collection on one target on the ground, because they can be steered both up and down and sideways.

The - of course, the one thing that folks can't control is the jet stream, which is extremely powerful at that altitude and can blow it in directions that maybe beyond their steering capabilities. But I think that's what they were trying to do, they're trying to surveil certain targets on the ground for extended periods and that's why they use the balloon.

BLACKWELL: So I've left the political question intentionally for last year. You've heard from your Republican colleagues there in the House, over in the Senate some potential 2024 candidates as well saying that this makes the president look weak with this balloon that has not been taken down. This Chinese spy balloon.

What do you think the political cost is for the administration, if any, of this continuing maybe through the weekend and into next week?

KRISHNAMOORTHI: I don't think there will be any significant toll in that regard, but I think the main point is that there's hostilities began long before President Biden took office. That's why we've had Republicans and Democrats call for the very committee that has been stood up to deal with CCP threats.

The Chinese Communist Party has long posed a technological, economic and military threat and we're just seeing the latest evidence of this right now. And we have to counter it on a bipartisan basis. And we should avoid partisanship on this particular issue.

BLACKWELL: Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi, always good to have you, sir. Thank you.

KRISHNAMOORTHI: Thank you, sir.

BLACKWELL: All right. In just a few minutes, we will hear from Secretary Blinken. We'll see if he addresses his decision to postpone his trip. We'll bring it to you live when he begins to speak.

CAMEROTA: Meanwhile, life threatening cold temperatures sweeping across the Midwest and the Northeast. 55 million people under wind chill alerts. In New England, forecasters are predicting some of the coldest wind chills ever recorded, negative 100 at Mount Washington in New Hampshire.

And here's some video from Bangor Maine. The airport reported wind - gosh, look how cold that looks. I'm freezing just looking at it. These are wind gusts up to 35 miles per hour.

BLACKWELL: Officials say prepare for this just as you would for blizzard. Even without the wind chill, the temperatures in Boston are expected to bottom out at seven degrees below zero.

That's where we find CNN's Athena Jones, comfy cozy in Boston. How are you doing out there?

ATHENA JONES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Victor, it is very, very, very cold. I mean, we're not at Mount Washington, thank god. I don't know if anyone can stand a hundred degrees below. But here it is about 13 degrees. That's the actual temperature, but it feels like temperature is already, last check, at negative six.

And so this is how the temperature has been progressing over the course of the day. It was just under freezing several hours ago when we began reporting and it has steadily declined. It's going to be even further, of course, in the - into the single digits as time goes on.

And it's not just the temperatures, the actual temperatures. It's the wind chills as you mentioned. We could see really record breaking wind chills.

[15:15:01]

And it's not even just the wind chills which can lead to dangerous frostbite or hypothermia. Hypothermia, of course, can kill you. It's also the speed of the wind itself. Some of these gusts, according to the National Weather Service meteorologist we spoke with could reach 30 - 50 miles per hour. That's the kind of gust that can knock over trees into power lines, causing power outages. That is not what you want to see at temperatures like this.

And so that is one reason the city of Boston has declared cold weather emergency, schools have been closed all day, public schools, so kids don't have to commute to school and long walks waiting for buses. There are also warming centers that have been open all around town, and they have - they're keeping South Station open.

That's a train station where people who don't have homes often end up sleeping, but they usually have to be kicked out at the end of the night. They're not going to be kicked out, those stations will be open 24 hours. All of this to make sure that people can avoid this - being hurt by this dangerous, dangerous cold snap, Victor.

CAMEROTA: I mean, Athena, I used to be a reporter in Boston, my mouth would freeze, okay. My mouth would actually freeze. Why does she sound and look so good? How is she - how are you doing that, Athena?

JONES: I think it's going to change the next few hours. But I can tell you I have on several layers, I have on three hats. I just added a third hat. I have on eight layers on top and four layers on the bottom. And I do have those toe warmers in. I haven't used any other kind of warmer because I've been waiting, just in case it gets worse. I want to feel real relief in a few hours.

So I'm not from here. I'm from Texas. I'm doing okay. But as the wind picks up, I don't think it's going to be the same story.

CAMEROTA: Well done. JONES: Alisyn and Victor.

CAMEROTA: You're doing the right thing. Athena, thank you.

BLACKWELL: And we're going to stop asking questions so you can get back to the vehicle.

CAMEROTA: Yes.

BLACKWELL: That's the quickest way to get warm.

CAMEROTA: That would be nice of us. That would be nice.

BLACKWELL: All right.

CAMEROTA: Yes. Athena, thank you.

BLACKWELL: President Biden is about to speak in Philadelphia at a Democratic Party event. It will undoubtedly serve as the chance to take a victory lap after today's huge jobs report.

CNN White House Correspondent, Arlette Saenz is in Philly following the President.

This jobs report tees up next week State of the Union quite well. President though is also going to go on the attack in his speech, we understand?

ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Victor. President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris are making this rare joint appearance out on the road today. And Democratic officials have said that here at that DNC speech a little bit later this evening, the President is expected to go on the attack against "MAGA Republican's" extreme out of touch plans.

But really, this trip has a twofold purpose. First, just an inch - just moments away, President Biden will be speaking in more of an official event as they're trying to tout some of the elements of the bipartisan infrastructure law that he signed, just last year.

The President announcing $500 million in water infrastructure upgrades and lead pipe removal initiatives, part of which is funded through that (inaudible) infrastructure law. This really caps off a week from the administration, as they've been trying to promote the President's accomplishments as he travel to Baltimore, New York City and now here in Philadelphia.

And, of course, this speech comes on the heels of that robust jobs report earlier today that gave the President that line that he was able to say that the State of the Union and the state of the economy is strong. Now, a bit later this afternoon, President Biden will be speaking here on Democratic National Committee's winter meeting, a speech that's expected to have a bit more of a political tone and could act as a preview for a possible 2024 run.

BLACKWELL: Arlette Saenz, for us there. We will, of course, watch the President's speech. Thank you so much.

More on the jobs report better than expected, so what does this mean for recession concerns, we'll talk about those.

CAMEROTA: And failed Republican politician Solomon Pena is back in court for accusations that he orchestrated shootings that targeted Democratic lawmakers. We have more ahead.

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[15:23:20]

BLACKWELL: We're waiting for Secretary Blinken to speak possibly address the postponement of his trip to China after the discovery of a surveillance balloon over the U.S.

Meanwhile, pilots flying at high altitudes are spotted the suspected Chinese spy balloon as it drifts over the central U.S.

CAMEROTA: According to the FAA, the crew of a Cessna private jet noted a quote derelict balloon adrift around 11:30 this morning. The pilot of the flight which was at 43,000 feet said the balloon was 20 miles north of Kansas City International Airport at 50,000 feet. A source familiar with the situation tell CNN that other pilots are reporting seeing the balloon to air traffic controllers.

BLACKWELL: Well, now to the jobs report for January so strong it's actually changing the minds of some economists on a potential recession. More than half a million jobs were added, nearly triple the number experts were forecasting.

CAMEROTA: President Biden bragged today that the hiring surge proves his economic policies are working and added the unemployment rate has not been this low since man landed on the moon.

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JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The unemployment rate fell to 3.4 percent - 3.4 percent, that's the lowest in 54 years. In fact, the last time unemployment rate was that low was May of 1969. Think about that. And what's more, Black and Hispanic unemployment are near record lows, this matters.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: CNN's Matt Egan diving deeper into this latest labor report, so what do you see, Matt?

MATT EGAN, CNN REPORTER: Well, Victor and Alisyn, this jobs report was hot, shockingly hot.

[15:25:00]

I mean, this would be like if you went to bed thinking that it would be 50 degrees and then you wake up and it's 90 degrees, you're pretty amazed by these numbers. Just to give you some context around this 517,000 jobs that were added, that is 200,000 jobs higher than even the most optimistic forecaster on Wall Street was expecting.

And as the President mentioned, the unemployment rate down to 3.4 percent, the lowest since 1969 and a far cry from that peak in 2020, of almost 15 percent. And we saw across the board strength here, almost every sector added jobs, bars and restaurants added almost a hundred thousand jobs. Hotels, manufacturing, government, health care, retail, you name it, all of them, increased jobs in January.

And I think these numbers suggest that a lot of companies are more scared of the worker shortage than they are scared about anything that the Federal Reserve is doing. A lot of companies are hoarding talent because they're worried that they won't be able to hire workers when - if they need them.

So a lot of this raises questions about what this means for potential recession, what this means for the Federal Reserve, and the markets are pricing in a greater chance that the Federal Reserve has to continue raising interest rates in March, in May and may be even further out.

As far as the recession goes, I talked to Moody's Chief Economist, Mark Zandi, and he told me that the numbers were so strong that he thinks that they may overstate the strength of the jobs market a bit, perhaps had been boosted by mild weather in January, maybe some of the COVID reopening distortions. But he said there's nothing about this report that suggests an ongoing or imminent recession. And even some economists who are in the recession camp are changing their tune a bit.

Bank of America top economist, Ethan Harris, he told me he doesn't think that the 2023 recession that he's been forecasting is canceled, but he said it may be get - may actually get delayed instead of the first half of this year, he thinks that maybe the recession could get put off to the second half. And Bank of America conceded that the chance of a soft landing, which once looked improbable, that's gone up because of these numbers that are out today, Victor and Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: That all sounds good. Matt Egan, thank you very much for breaking that down.

Okay. Now to Alex Murdaugh, it's not just the double murder charges, prosecutors also drilling down on his alleged financial crimes, how that could change this trial, ahead.

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