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Tonight: Biden Gives First State Of The Union Before GOP- Controlled House; 7,200+ Dead As Rescue Teams Scour Debris For Survivors; 7 More Officers To Face Disciplinary Charges In Tyre Nichols' Death. Aired 2-2:30p ET

Aired February 07, 2023 - 14:00   ET

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

[14:00:00]

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VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: Hey there. I'm Victor Blackwell. Welcome to CNN NEWSROOM.

BIANNA GOLODRYGA, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Bianna Golodryga.

We are just hours away from President Biden's State of the Union speech tonight, his first to a divided Congress with a Republican- controlled House. Instead of Nancy Pelosi over the president's left shoulder, it will be Speaker Kevin McCarthy. Now, the speech is expected to draw the largest television audience for the president this year. AMERICANS will hear Biden lay out why he believes the State of the Union is strong as he said last week.

BLACKWELL: He's expected to talk about lowering inflation, improving infrastructure, and getting past the worst of the pandemic. He's also expected to talk about America's stand against China, of course, just days after an American fighter jet shot down one of its spy balloons. And the president will likely increase the urgency for Congress to act on policing reform and an assault weapons ban. All of it insiders say it will be a test run for his reelection bid.

CNN's chief White House correspondent Phil Mattingly is with us now. So, Phil, what more should we expect from the president tonight?

PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: You know, Victor, one, you laid out pretty much everything to some degree. But I think it's important to note one of the key pieces of this, which is just how many people are going to be watching this president in primetime in this moment, given kind of the backdrop here of a divided Congress, kind of a critical inflection point of his first term in office, and what we expect to be a couple of weeks before he announces that reelection bid.

And the importance of this moment for this president. One, to connect with White House officials' view is very real, intangible accomplishments of his first two years in office. Particularly on the legislative side, the economic recovery, the public health crisis, they believe is now waning largely under control. But trying to connect those not just to the American public, that still seems to some degree to be skeptical when you look at the polling right now, but also connect them to what they believe they can accomplish going forward.

When you talk to White House officials, they make clear progress will be a key element here but not a mission accomplished type moment, that there is more work to do and the president is going to lay out why he believes he can finish the job not just over the next year or two years, but perhaps the next six years. And I think that is kind of the undercurrent here, that's very important.

Now the president will, as you noted, detail economic agenda, will details foreign policy plans. You can look at the guests in the First Lady's box to get a good sense of the president's decisions to talk about police reform, to talk about mental health, to talk about the war in Ukraine that is still ongoing, that is such a focal point of the president's foreign policy at this point in time. And -- but he will also talk about Republicans.

And don't expect this to be when he talks about as officials any kind of political attack line speech or partisan warfare type speech He will lay out very clearly that when it comes to the debt limit battle that we're already kind of in the middle of right now, the president has a diametrically opposed view than the individual that will be sitting behind him, speaker Kevin McCarthy But he will also detail where he believes there are areas of overlap where the two parties can work together and try and kind of lay out a lowering the temperature steadfast leadership type moment when he knows tens of millions of Americans are going to be watching. It'll be a long speech, but it will be an important speech for the president not just for what he's done or what he's doing right now but what he expects to do in the months ahead, guys.

GOLODRYGA: All right, Phil Mattingly, thank you.

BLACKWELL: So, as we said, the economy will be a major focus of the president's address. Millions of Americans face sticker shock on prices. We know about the cost of eggs and rent and gas has come down a bit.

GOLODRYGA: I had Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell spoke just moments ago in Washington, and he really made it clear that inflation isn't going away anytime soon.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEROME POWELL, FEDERAL RESERVE CHAIRMAN: It's a process of getting inflation down, has begun and it's begun in the goods sector, which is about a quarter of our economy. But it has a long way to go.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GOLODRYGA: CNN's Rahel Solomon joins us now. So, it has a long way to go, signaling him to also say that more Fed hikes are coming, as well as more interest rate hikes from the Federal Reserve,

RAHEL SOLOMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Exactly, in saying that it could be a bumpy road ahead, Bianna and Victor, so this was a 45-minute conversation covered a lot of ground on inflation. As you just heard there, he said that we have started to see the disinflationary process play out -- start to play out in goods. Think physical things, electronics appliances, we've seen those prices start to fall, right? But in services think rent, airline fares, well, that still has a ways to go. He said that 2023 will be a year of significant declines in inflation, but that it will take until 2024 before we likely get back to the Feds' 2 percent target. Also, no indication in these comments at least, that they have any plans to change that 2 percent target.

And what about the state of the economy? Well, he pointed to the red- hot labor market. He said the labor market is strong because the economy is strong. But guys, this is the first time we are hearing from Chairman Powell after that blockbuster January jobs report. Remember, it showed that the U.S. economy added more than 500,000 jobs in the month of January, the unemployment rate ticking to a fresh 50- year low of 3.4 percent. It was shockingly high that shocked many economists, including Powell, and listen to what he said about that.

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POWELL: We didn't expect it to be too strong. But I would say it kind of shows you why we think that this will be a process that takes a significant period of time. The labor markets extraordinarily strong. And by the way, it's good -- it's a good thing that inflation has started to come down without -- it -- that has not happened at the -- at the cost of strong labor markets.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SOLOMON: So, a good thing but a complicating factor for the Fed as it tries to tame inflation. We also learn, guys, on a lighter note that as a stress reliever, of course, every job comes with its stress, the Chairman of the Federal Reserve, no different. Chairman Powell sharing that he likes to ride his bike, and he also likes to play the guitar. That's a bit of stress relief. So that was a bit of a fun note, too.

BLACKWELL: That's nice. Rahel Solomon, thank you so much.

SOLOMON: A lot of the power player, Victor?

BLACKWELL: I'm not, but we now know.

GOLODRYGA: But it's nice.

BLACKWELL: All right. Joining us now is CNN senior political analyst John Avlon, hosted the CNN digital series Reality Check: Extremists Beat, and CNN political commentator Margaret Hoover, host of firing line on PBS. Welcome to you both.

MARGARET HOOVER, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Hey, Victor.

BLACKWELL: John, let me start with you, former speech writer.

JOHN AVLON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Yes.

BLACKWELL: What is the mission for not just the president delivering the State of the Union, but this president now?

AVLON: This is the most important sales job, I think of Joe Biden's presidency because he needs to make a case for what he has done in a way that the American people haven't fully recognized yet, polls show. He needs to then make a case for what he wants to do and how he's going to do it with the Republican Congress. But it's not just the substance of speeches, it's going to be about physical vigor. It's going to be about clarity of vision, and crispness of delivery. You know, the style matters a lot for this president to answer some of those questions about his age.

GOLODRYGA: So, Margaret, we've now heard from Speaker McCarthy telling his party and his members to behave tonight, that mics will be hot. Does that suggest perhaps we can have a night of civility?

HOOVER: Well, one can always hope. Can we? I -- look, I hope we do have a night of civility. This State of the Union address is two years into President Biden's, what would have been and what -- you know, he can still say was a first two years of a lot of legislative achievement.

AVLON: Yes.

HOOVER: But the fact is -- I know John Avlon, you're really for that. But I just want to point out that he had a Democratic Senate and a Democratic House. And really the major legislative achievements happened without his sort of rabble-rousing leading the crowd, barnstorming the country in order to pass Respect for Marriage, or the ECA or the CHIPS Act. This happened kind of without him.

Now, he has an opportunity to demonstrate how he can actually broker deals at the negotiating table with Kevin McCarthy, a Republican Speaker of the House, and a Democratic Senate, which is frankly a very divided Senate. So, this is where we're going to really test the mettle of Joe Biden. And I think you're going to begin to see that today marks the beginning of that.

BLACKWELL: I couldn't tell if that grunt was one of approval or disapproval on the happening without it.

AVLON: That was a disapproving -- that was a disapproving grunt.

BLACKWELL: OK.

AVLON: Go ahead, yes.

HOOVER: A middle of something here.

BLACKWELL: couldn't tell.

AVLON: I mean, look, Biden objectively has achieved a great deal legislatively over the first two years. And look, it was a narrow Democratic majority, so he had to herd a lot of cats. And there was a hand-in-hand aspect to the presidency. He corralled a lot of senators --

HOOVER: I hate --

AVLON: in (INAUDIBLE) which is an old Eisenhower term, as you well know. But he corralled a lot of the senators to help get that legislation through. The question will be, can he identify the areas where he's objectively got a weakness in public perception, work with Republicans to get legislation passed that may not be in the Democratic strike zone? And will Republicans under Kevin McCarthy take yes, for an answer? Will they find a way to reason together?

It's not going to be about the debt ceiling. It's going to be about other things. But there's room for bipartisan compromise. A divided government does not need to mean a dysfunctional government.

BLACKWELL: What do you make of this polling that shows -- this is from ABC News and The Washington Post that shows that six out of ten Americans think that the president has achieved very little or nothing at all. One of the criticisms that he had of the Obama administration after the passage of the Affordable Care Act was that they didn't go out and sell it. Is he having that messaging problem as well?

AVLON: Yes. And I will say usually when politicians blame the messaging --

BLACKWELL: Yes.

AVLON: -- it's an excuse for their own weakness.

HOOVER: OK.

AVLON: In this case, objectively, it is -- it is not true that he has not accomplished a little or nothing.

HOOVER: Yes.

AVLON: He objectively, the first -- the Biden administration has been consequential, it has been legislatively successful, but there has been a problem in selling it to the American people. And that's why the sales job is job number one for Joe Biden tonight.

GOLODRYGA: So, objectively and accurately, how can Sarah Huckabee Sanders respond tonight with a Republican rebuttal to the State of the Union speech, newly appointed sworn in with Governor right of Arkansas?

HOOVER: Yes.

GOLODRYGA: Former press secretary for former President Trump. What can she say to counter what is a booming economy, right, a job number that even surprised the Federal Reserve Chair?

HOOVER: Yes.

GOLODRYGA: And we also objectively know that there was a historic legislation passed over the past two years. [14:10:05]

HOOVER: Yes. Well, I mean, I think first of all, nobody underestimates Sarah Huckabee Sanders. If you do, you do it at your own peril. I think we've seen that time and time again She's a talented communicator, a talented politician, and now she's raising her children in how she grew up and when her father was Arkansas -- governor of the same state of Arkansas.

She will make -- she will plant the flag for what a Republican conservative populism is. And what I'm looking for is exactly what policy she's going to shape. She's going to talk about social conservatism. She's going to talk about how good the overturning of Roe v. Wade is, that's very popular in her state. Of course, hers is a state without exceptions for rape and incest. So, this is -- these are extreme positions even in -- within the context of the Republican Party.

But then she's going to -- she's going to put out some other economic pushbacks, I think to the Biden message to your point, Bianna, I think it'll have to do with pouring a bunch of money into the economy, and what role did that have in stimulating the jobs market? And what we're all -- well does that happen simulating payrolls? I am looking for this rift in this wedge that you're going to see.

This is sort of a precursor to the Republican 2024 nomination because you're going to see a split about ideas. Some more traditional conservatives like Asa Hutchinson, perhaps Nikki Haley, Larry Hogan, Chris Christie, and the populace conservatives like Ron DeSantis, and Sarah Huckabee Sanders. And there's a real ideological sort of fissure there on the right. Sarah Huckabee Sanders is going to represent the latter.

BLACKWELL: So, let me stay with you on this question of we know that some of what the president will discuss will be this unity agenda, what he thinks that both Democrats and Republicans can get done for Veterans Against Cancer. I wonder as we talk about optics, how much of we -- will we see Kevin McCarthy support all of that, knowing that there's some in his conference who don't want him to applaud, stand support the president at all?

HOOVER: I suspect Kevin McCarthy spent a lot of time thinking about where it's appropriate for him to applaud and support and to do the thing that the Americans are looking for, which is government to work --

BLACKWELL: Yes,

HOOVER: -- and not just be obstructionist. He knows he has a national stage. 40 million people are going to have their eyes on Kevin McCarthy for the first time ever.

BLACKWELL: And he's waited a long time.

GOLODRYGA: Yes.

HOOVER: He's waited a long time.

BLACKWELL: A long time -- ye.

HOOVER: But HE absolutely has to -- has to -- you know, corral the far extremes of his very, very tenuous majority. So, I suspect that will be one of the people who are reading between the lines of his body language and gestures. We'll be looking for exactly that, Victor. But I suspect he will not -- I mean, he has told them to behave. He wants this to -- not to reflect well upon Republicans.

GOLODRYGA: So, no ripping up a script --

AVLON: No.

BLACKWELL: Yes.

GOLODRYGA: -- to be expected from him. Can I ask you about something that you wrote about?

AVLON: Sure.

GOLODRYGA: And that is sort of a delicate dance that this president is going through right now in terms of deciding his future.

AVLON: Yes.

GOLODRYGA: And whether he says I'm a one-term president, or I'm going to run for a second term. If he does, that would make him 86 years old by the end of the second term if he does win. Talk about what's going on in the decision-making process before he does make his announcement.

AVLON: As you -- as you mentioned, I did write a column about this for CNN Opinion. Look, I think that, you know, Biden has a strong case to make for why he deserves a second term. The two countervailing factors are, of course, his age, and the additional factor, which is most second terms are dogged by disappointment. And if you're thinking about presidential legacy, there's a case to be made that he should go out on his own terms, create a clear contrast with his predecessor, show the virtue of democracy is not about holding on to power at all stakes, and really focusing on a long-term policy agenda.

But being real, there's a power of incumbency. Democrats giving that up would be seen as a self-inflicted wound. And so, these are the kinds of calculations that are being made. All the gravitational pull seems to be about him running again. And if he does, he's got to show he can work with Republicans and that we can pass things that we're not as divided as we seem. That's core to, I think, the appeal of this presidency. But there's these other factors, age and the right arc of history, which you should keep in mind.

GOLODRYGA: A lot of people wondering are we going to have another Biden-Trump run-off,

BLACKWELL: Yes.

HOOVER: You're right.

AVLON: That's not popular often.

GOLODRYGA: Not very exciting for many Americans. John Avlon, Margaret Hoover, thank you so much.

AVLON: Take care.

We'll join Anderson Cooper and Jake Tapper for live coverage of the State of the Union Address. It starts tonight at 8:00 p.m. Eastern.

BLACKWELL: In Turkey and Syria, search teams are digging through rubble of thousands of collapsed buildings desperately trying to reach anyone who may have survived Monday's massive earthquake before it's too late. The death toll is now above 7000. It will likely rise even more.

GOLODRYGA: Now, we want to warn you what you're about to see is upsetting but conveys the heartbreak of this disaster. This is a father holding his daughter's hand. Now, she died in her bed when the quake struck and he didn't want to leave her there, so there you see a father holding his daughter's hand.

There's also been some miracle stories to tell you about as well. A little girl trapped in a wrecked building crawled out of the debris to rescuers. Look at her. Now, more than 70 countries including the United States have already offered to help.

[14:15:09]

CNN's Becky Anderson is in southern Turkey and joins us now for more. Becky, I know you've been there throughout the search and rescue today. This is one day later. What have you seen there?

BECKY ANDERSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: It's been interesting. You talk about the international support. A search and rescue team from Kazakhstan, for example, on a site just about 50 yards down from where I'm standing at the moment on what was a live search and rescue operation until about an hour ago, they've had to call a halt to that because the building which was partially collapse is in danger of fully collapsing. There were 24 people in that building when the quake struck at 4:15 on Monday morning, it's now ten o'clock at night on Tuesday. Four of those 24 have actually been recovered live today. There was a three-year-old, Bianna, a seven-year-old, and two adults, which is absolutely a heartwarming given the heartbreaking scenes that we are witnessing today.

On the site behind me here, we understand there are some 15 people unaccounted for. We have been hearing signs of life or reports of signs of life from the team here who have been using, and it's incredible to see -- I mean, they're using heavy equipment, you may be able to see the drills or hear the drills behind me, they're using space. But, Bianna, they're using -- and Victor, they're using their bare hands at times to just shovel away the debris because they understand -- that they believe through the equipment they're using that there are or there may be a void underneath here in which there may be people still alive.

In fact, a couple of hours ago, there were reports that somebody had actually contacted them with a mobile phone to say that they were still alive. So, we've been hearing these calls for silence. When all the heavy equipment is turned off, everybody goes silent. Those on the site, those who are gathered here, and many of those gathered here beside me are family members. Everybody goes silent, hoping against hope that the rescuers will actually be able to recover somebody. Sadly, while we've been here, that hasn't happened.

Certainly, that hasn't -- they haven't rescued anybody alive. And in fact, they held a white sheet up about an hour and a half ago. They were clearly bringing out a body. But the rescue goes on -- the search and rescue goes on. This is not a recovery scene as of yet. And I can tell you, every single person working on that site will continue until they have to close this out.

It is not quite as cold as it was. It was bitterly cold when this earthquake struck. But it's about minus one -- minus two now. So, these conditions are not easy for us. I say while there is hope, these guys and these women will continue. We're like 41 hours into this operation as things stand at the moment. Back to you two.

BLACKWELL: It's miraculous that in these conditions, you talk about the temperature and the lack of tools to --

ANDERSON: Yes.

GOLODRYGA: Yes.

BLACKWELL: -- to dig some of these survivors out that they are still bringing people out. And as you said, they will continue to work for as long as they believe that there will be survivors of this earthquake. Becky Anderson for us there in Turkey, thank you.

Now, for information about how you can help the earthquake victims go to cnn.com/impact.

GOLODRYGA: Back here in the states. The Memphis City Council holding their first meeting since the video was released of the deadly Tyre Nichols police stop. And we are now learning that seven additional police officers are going to face discipline. We'll take you live to Memphis next.

BLACKWELL: Plus, what officials are learning about other Chinese spy balloons that flew over the U.S. during the Trump administration? The CNN exclusive reporting ahead.

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[14:22:56]

GOLODRYGA: We now know that seven more Memphis police officers are expected to face disciplinary charges in the deadly beating of Tyre Nichols. BLACKWELL: The announcement came today during the city's council meeting there. The first public hearing on policing reform since the video of Tyre Nichols' fatal arrest was released.

CNN's Nick Valencia attended that meeting. What can you tell us about it?

NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Victor and Bianna, this is a significant development here out of the city council meeting with the city attorney telling me in addition to the six officers who have been terminated for their role in the Tyre Nichols' stop, an additional seven officers will face some sort of administrative discipline. This is separate from the TBI's investigation. They are pursuing a criminal investigation, so these officers are expected to be disciplined bringing the total to at least 13 officers who have been or will be disciplined for their role in the Tyre Nichols stop. These officers were not identified nor were any details given as to their involvement.

But the city council meeting has been tense at times and was certainly emotional. And there was a very tense exchange between one councilman and the police chief here, CJ Davis, during which this councilman said that she was like Where's Waldo in the days after that this incident was made public. She was also asked whether or not what happened to Tyre Nichols was a cultural problem within the police department or a training problem. Listen to her response.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CERELYN "CJ" DAVIS, MEMPHIS POLICE CHIEF: Culture is not something that changes overnight. You know, there is a saying in law enforcement that culture eats policy for lunch. We don't want to just have good policies because policies can be navigated around. We want to ensure that we have the right people in place to ensure our culture is evolving and it's changing to the philosophy that we're talking about the reforming and the reimagining of what policing looks like in our community. So, having the right people in the right place at the right time is critically important.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VALENCIA: As many as a dozen public safety reforms are being proposed here today, those reforms, if enacted, would take weeks to enact, about six weeks according to one council men's estimation.

[14:25:05]

Meanwhile, we are expecting public comments to be made later this afternoon. And those who did attend from the public, Victor and Bianna, are very clear the changes they want to see. They want to end pretextual stops. They want the end of plain clothes and unmarked cars during traffic stops. And they also want data transparency, which they say is an ordinance that would give them a better idea of why people are pulled over and what happens to them afterwards, Victor and Bianna.

GOLODRYGA: Now we know Tyrese parents will be there at the State of the Union tonight as guests --

BLACKWELL: Yes.

GOLODRYGA: -- of Dr. Jill Biden's tonight carrying those messages and asks. Nick Valencia, thank you.

BLACKWELL: There are new questions about Congressman George Santos's finances, and we hear from the House speaker on the possibility of an official House investigation into that Republican congressman.

GOLODRYGA: And China's government says the debris from the balloon shot off the South Carolina coast belongs to China and not the United States. New brazen details about what China is saying and what was inside that balloon.

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