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U.S. Economy Added 236,000 Jobs In March, Missing Expectations; Tennessee GOP Expels 2 Dem Lawmakers Over Gun Reform Protest; Israel Foreign Ministry: 1 Killed, 6 Wounded In Tel Aviv "Terror Attack"; New: Surveillance Video Shows Cash App Founder After Stabbing; California Dermatologist Indicted On 3 Felony Charges Of Poisoning Husband With A Liquid Drain Cleaner. Aired 3-3:30p ET

Aired April 07, 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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[15:00:24]

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN HOST: It's the top of the hour here in the CNN NEWSROOM, I'm Fredricka Whitfield in New York.

And today's jobs report revealed a slight cool down in the labor market, employers added 236,000 jobs last month, a figure that missed economists' expectations and significantly below the number we saw the last two months. The unemployment rate meantime dropped to 3.5 percent.

A new CNN poll found half of Americans say their personal financial situation is worse than it was a year ago. And the President of the nation's largest bank exclusively telling CNN that the threat of a recession still looms following the recent banking crisis.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: Has this banking crisis even though you think it's almost over, which I'm really glad to hear, though increased chances of recession here?

JAMIE DIMON, CEO JPMORGAN CHASE: Yes. But I look at it like it's not definitive. It's just like another weight on the scale.

HARLOW: Okay.

DIMON: And think of it as people who says like raising rates of 50 basis points or something like that. I - we are seeing people reduce lending a little bit, cut back a little bit, pull back a little bit. It won't necessarily force recession, but it is recessionary.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: CNN Chief White House Correspondent, Phil Mattingly, joining me right now. So Phil, what is the President saying about today's report?

PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Fred, White House officials make clear this is a complex moment in the U.S. economy. It has really been since the pandemic and as the country is trying to come out of the pandemic. When they look at this jobs report with the President but also his economic team, look at this jobs report, they actually see the deceleration in jobs growth as a positive. And while that seems a little bit paradoxical, let me explain, they need some cooling.

Why do they need some cooling in the U.S. economy? Well, what's been the biggest economic issue for the better part of a year? It has been inflation, which has also started to decelerate, but they need it to decelerate more in order for this - the Federal Reserve to pull back on those rapid rate increases.

So the President saying it is a good report, acknowledging that there is certainly more work to do at this point in time, but also trying to draw very clear contrast saying in a statement: "Extreme MAGA Republicans in Congress, on the other hand," comparing to the administration's work, "are threatening to wreak havoc on our economy with the debt limit brinksmanship. Their extreme agenda would send the unprecedented investments we've made here in America - along with the jobs that come with it - overseas."

So White House officials and the President making very clear that, yes, there are certainly concerns and potential dark clouds ahead in the U.S. economy, although they believe the recovery has been very robust, particularly when you look at the labor force participation rate. But you compare that to what Republicans are proposing and they think voters are, at least politically, it's on their side.

WHITFIELD: And then tell us more about this new CNN poll that says most Americans are not feeling too good about the economy.

MATTINGLY: Yes. This is the contrast to what I just said about what the administration thinks Americans may be thinking right now. And I think it also underscores though, in all seriousness, why White House officials - why the President, why his team have been so consistent on trying to raise the contrast. When you look at the latest CNN polling, only 29 percent of Americans feel good about where the economy is right now.

Now, here's the very low bar from last fall. It's actually seven points better than what it was last fall. That is not necessarily a bar that only clearing by seven points put you in a great position on, but it is the reality in this moment. And the reason why that's problematic, politically, is like most elections, like most election cycles, most important issue in our poll by far for Americans was the economy.

So seeing some positive growth in terms of how people are feeling, people are generally still feeling not great about where things stand, a lot of uncertainty over the course of the last couple of weeks, Fred, and I think it underscores why you see the President out constantly talking about his legislative wins out in the country, they think that will have an effect and they needed to have an effect, Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right, we'll see. Phil Mattingly at the White House, thanks so much.

All right. So what do these numbers mean for the nation's economic outlook? Let's ask Catherine Rampell, CNN Economics and Political Commentator and Washington Post opinion columnist. Great to see you in-person, finally.

All right. So what is your reaction to what JPMorgan Chase CEO Dimon said, just how much trouble might the economy be in?

CATHERINE RAMPELL, CNN ECONOMICS AND POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I think we don't know for sure at this point. The jobs report that came out today was actually pretty good. It was a slowdown as this - the lowest amount of job growth per month in a little over two years, but it's still a totally respectable report. It's kind of what the Fed is looking for. The problem is a lot has happened in the last month, right? We've had these banking failures. We don't know the full effect of those going forward, how much will regional banks around the country pull back lending and how might that affect, how much businesses expand and hire or shrink their payrolls for that matter.

[15:05:08]

So we don't entirely know what the future holds. I mean, that's always the story with the economy. But this jobs report in and of itself had some good things going for it. It's just what's not in the jobs report that I'm worried about.

WHITFIELD: So the President remains optimistic, but what do you think about what he has to say in terms of the GOP lawmakers, this back and forth over the debt limit that all of this is impacting the outlook.

RAMPELL: I am very worried about the debt limit. I have been worried about the debt limit for months, I've been writing about it for months, I think that markets have not adequately priced in the risk that is still there. I think that a lot of market participants think that, oh, we've been through this brinksmanship before, they were always able to resolve it. Yes, there were some bad moments in 2011 and 2013 and that was unpleasant and scary, but they've learned their lesson.

I think that's the wrong takeaway. In fact, if anything, the Republican Party has gotten nuttier since then. Speaker McCarthy has a much narrower majority this time around, which means that he has to appease every fringe element of his party and I don't know how he's going to do that, so I'm very concerned about the debt limit. Either that we default deliberately, which would be incredibly stupid or accidentally, which I think is quite possible.

WHITFIELD: Oh, my gosh, that's nerve-racking. So a very low unemployment rate, that seems like something everyone should celebrate, but why does there remain this reticence, this worry?

RAMPELL: It's been a puzzle for several months now. Why is it that we have unemployment at near record lows? In fact, for some subgroups, black Americans, for example, a record low unemployment level. WHITFIELD: Mm-hm.

RAMPELL: Why is it that you have a job market that looks so strong and yet a public - a set of consumers who looks so dour, who looks so pessimistic, particularly when asked to evaluate their finances. And I think there are a few things going on here.

One is that, of course, even if you have a job, your wages are not keeping up with the cost of living.

WHITFIELD: Yes.

RAMPELL: That is especially true, in fact, for workers who are at the lower end of the income ladder. It looks like their wages are rising a lot in percentage terms, but they're still not keeping up with how quickly their expenses are rising.

WHITFIELD: Mm-hm.

RAMPELL: I think it's partly that it's sort of the psychological tacks of always having to do price shopping and go to multiple grocery stores and triangulate to different gas stations, because there's so much uncertainty about prices. And it's the lingering uncertainty about where the economy is headed all of that is weighing on consumers.

WHITFIELD: All but very exhausting for consumers. All right. Catherine Rampell, good to see you.

RAMPELL: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: Thanks so much and have a great holiday weekend.

All right. Vice President Kamala Harris is set to travel to Nashville this hour to meet with the two black state lawmakers who were expelled from the General Assembly after they protested in favor of gun control on the statehouse floor. The third legislator who was not expelled will also be meeting with the Vice President. And we just heard from the black caucus of state legislators, its chairman calling the proceedings a kangaroo court.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. SAM MCKENZIE (D-TN): The world saw the optics. I don't have to say a word about the fact that our two young African-American brothers were unfairly prosecuted with information, evidence introduced inappropriately, but they handled themselves like true champions.

REP. JESSE CHISM (D-TN): It looked like a Jim Crow era trial, where we saw two black men fighting for their careers, fighting for their reputations, fighting for their political lives.

ALL: Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

(END VIDEO CLIP) WHITFIELD: The expelled lawmakers are vowing to continue their fight

for gun reform. A third representative Gloria Johnson, you see right there who took part in the protests survived the expulsion vote.

Joining me right now our CNN Political Commentator Bakari Sellers and CNN Senior Political Analyst Ronald Brownstein. Good to see both of you. First, I do want to get both of your reactions to what everyone witnessed in the Tennessee House yesterday. Bakari, you first.

BAKARI SELLERS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, I think you saw injustice, but it's not anything we haven't seen before in this country. We go back to 1966, when my uncle Julian Bond was refused to be seated in his Georgia State Senate seat or statehouse seat. We see - we've seen this before.

But those two young men, they stood up, they were eloquent, they were passionate and what we saw were their white colleagues attempt to shut them up, sit them down and tell the young Negro they had to stay in their place. But we will not tolerate that level of injustice and that's why the country now faces this ire on the State of Tennessee.

WHITFIELD: Ron?

RONALD BROWNSTEIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, look, I think what happened in Tennessee yesterday was the most egregious example of a trend that has been gathering speed over the last several years across roughly two dozen red states.

[15:10:06]

And then what we are seeing in state after state is a Republican coalition using its control of statewide power, statewide power that is rooted in their dominance of non-urban and predominantly white areas to roll back a wide array of rights and civil liberties in the states, LGBTQ rights, abortion rights, voting rights, a whole range of issues.

And in the process pre-empting the ability of voters in their largest metros, which are more diverse and more blue-leaning to set their own course. I mean, forcing from office expelling from office, two young black men from the states' two biggest cities, is I think, the most dramatic example of what we are seeing in state after state where Republicans, again, through their dominance of non-urban areas, predominantly white areas, are trying to override the ability of local governments in more diverse communities to make their own decisions.

Fred, Tennessee, 85 percent, of the citizen - of the residents above 65 are white, 40 percent of the citizens younger than 18 are non- white. And you saw that collision between generations very clearly on the floor ...

SELLERS: Yes.

BROWNSTEIN: ... this week.

WHITFIELD: Mm-hm. Bakari, so glaring that it was to save the job of Gloria Johnson. I mean, she was just on with us last hour and she gave great praise to Pearson and Jones, their eloquence, their poise, the power of their voice, and the generation, how for a very long time she's worked alongside them and even she is perplexed as to why her job was saved.

But then I wonder, too, with this moment, as the nation reflects on what was witnessed yesterday, do you see in any way these Tennessee Republicans feeling regret, embarrassment, reconsidering ...

SELLERS: No.

WHITFIELD: ... their actions yesterday?

SELLERS: No.

WHITFIELD: No, not whatsoever? I mean, this is extreme action, but it seemed to has - it has already backfired, right? I mean, these young men have been elevated. Their voice has been elevated through their example and what universally is - people are universally aghast at what they witnessed, Bakari.

SELLERS: Yes. They won't be outraged, because what we've learned is that type of outrage is what sells. The ability to be able to tell someone to stay in their place is what sells. And no they will not be outraged, they will not have any shame. In fact, they probably see themselves as winners.

But what Ron stated is so true, the age difference, the generational difference. The fact that young people are on the side of what's just and what's right, particularly in the great state of Tennessee is beginning to shown through. And so when you look at what happened yesterday and you look at Gloria Johnson, who by the way, is an outstanding ally to the movement, outstanding ally of freedom and justice, you're starting to see this country push back on fascism, push back on racism, push back on injustice. And that's why these voices that they attempted to expel, they did nothing but put them on a higher pedestal.

WHITFIELD: Ron, is this a microcosm of - a consequence, an action that comes with a supermajority? Tennessee is not the only state right now with this supermajority. There are others that may be exercising or thinking about exercising the very same thing?

BROWNSTEIN: Yes. Look, absolutely, Fred. I mean, like I said, there are about two dozen states where Republicans have unified control of government and you see a very similar agenda advancing across all of them, right? I mean, loosening restrictions on gun ownership and permitless carry, restricting abortion rights, restricting voting rights, restricting LGBTQ rights, censoring what teachers can say in the classroom, making it easier to ban books.

And in all of these states, in essence, what you see is the Republican coalition moving to lock into law the values and priorities of their predominantly white, predominantly non-urban, predominantly Christian coalition of supporters before the demographic change that's underway in many of these states, has the potential to change the balance of power in the states.

That demographic shift - they have - I've said that what the Republican legislators are doing in places like Texas and Georgia, and Florida and Tennessee, is they are stacking sandbags against a rising tide of demographic change. But no one should underestimate how powerful those sandbags are.

I mean, this demographic change is real. A majority of the people turning 18 in many of these states every year are kids of color. But the gerrymandering, the voter restrictions and the other barriers that are being put in place means that this coalition that is now running these states can remain in power potentially for a very long time, even as they do things that most of the state opposes. Like six-week abortion bans, permitless carry and denying red flag laws.

[15:15:03]

WHITFIELD: All right. Yes, we'll have to leave it there for now, gentlemen. Bakari Sellers, Ron Brownstein. I mean, there were so many resonating things that came from Pearson and Jones yesterday. One in particular from Jones saying we asked for a ban on assault weapons and you respond with assault on democracy. Those messages resonating today. Thank you so much, gentlemen.

All right. We're also following this breaking news right now. There are reports of an attack in Tel Aviv, we'll take you to Israel next.

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[15:19:37]

WHITFIELD: This breaking news, one person has been killed and several wounded in a terror attack in Tel Aviv. That's according to the Israeli Foreign Ministry.

CNN's Salma Abdelaziz is in Jerusalem. Salma, what more are you learning?

SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN REPORTER: Very alarming news just coming into us, be patient with me. This is breaking news. We are just getting the details. But the Israeli Foreign Ministry has just tweeted one person killed in six wounded in a terror attack.

[15:20:05]

They say that the police has received reports of a vehicle that hit several pedestrians at a Tel Aviv Promenade, on the Promenade. So that's right on the ocean front. This would normally be a very busy area where you would see shops, restaurants, where families would be out and about but it's important to remember that right now is Passover. So many businesses are closed, are shut down still. This is a very deadly attack just based on these initial reports.

Again, one kicked - one killed rather, six wounded in these reports of a vehicle hitting pedestrians along that Promenade. Again, this is a highly sensitive time in the region. You have multiple holidays that are coinciding, Ramadan is taking place, Passover is taking place, Easter is taking place. And of course, the larger context of this is this huge escalation, this massive escalation in recent days, all of it being driven, the catalyst being the raid on Wednesday of Al-Aqsa Mosque by Israeli Police that was responded to with condemnation from the Muslim world but also rockets being fired from Southern Israel, the largest barrage seen from that region since the 2006 war and rockets coming in from Gaza.

So you can only imagine that this attack again, breaking news, we're just getting the details, but that is just going to ramp up tensions, ramp up fears at an extremely sensitive time in this region again so far, the Israeli Foreign Ministry saying one killed, six wounded, a vehicle involved in the attack. Those victims, pedestrians in that very busy thoroughfare.

Again, a promenade in Tel Aviv, right along that shoreline. You would expect that those businesses were closed, were shut down for Passover. But still, of course, people out and about. This is a time for families to get together. This will be shocking, horrifying, heartbreaking news and you can expect at the scene right now, you have emergency services, rushing to help, rushing to get to those wounded, rushing to take people to hospital.

This is going to be extremely difficult news tonight, again, with the Passover holiday taking place. We are waiting to find out more.

WHITFIELD: Terrible. All right. Salma Abdelaziz, thank you so much.

All right. And new information today in the stabbing death of Cash App founder Bob Lee. We are getting our first look at surveillance footage showing Lee's final moments. And because the video is graphic, we are only showing this still image.

But in the full surveillance footage obtained by the Daily Mail, Lee is seen walking alone gripping his side with one hand and his cell phone in the other leaving a trail of blood behind him. Lee had been stabbed multiple times early Tuesday morning.

CNN's Veronica Miracle is in San Francisco. What more are we learning?

VERONICA MIRACLE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Fredricka, if police do have leads, they are not sharing that information. They're keeping everything about this investigation very tight. So in terms of the circumstances around his death, why it happened, if there's a suspect or any suspects that they're looking at or a motive, that information is not being released.

And of course, all of that keeping it so tight has renewed fears and anger in San Francisco people just very scared and saying that it is not a safe place to live. The San Francisco Police Chief said last night, it is too early to say if this was a targeted attack or a random attack. At a community meeting last night they tried to dispel some of those fears that community members are having, take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) CHIEF BILL SCOTT, SAN FRANCISCO POLICE: Our homicide investigators

are working tirelessly on this case. And unfortunately, there's a lot going on. There's evidence that we found that I can't talk about because we don't want to jeopardize this case. And I know that's really hard for people because they want to know this is a very high profile incident. I'm confident that we're going to have a good resolution to this case and --

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MIRACLE: City leaders and police certainly recognize San Francisco has its fair share of problems between homelessness, property crime. According to FBI data from 2020, the property crime rate here is three times that of New York City. But they point to data around the murder rate. They say that it is far lower than some other large cities. They also say that overall violent crime is relatively low compared to its high in 2013, though it is up 7 percent last year, another 6 percent so far this year.

Of course, none of these statistics really make a difference for those who knew and loved Lee. They just want answers and so far right now, no answers really to share for those who loved Lee, Fredricka?

WHITFIELD: Yes. More questions than answers. All right. Thank you so much, Veronica Miracle.

All right. And now to Southern California where a dermatologist is now facing multiple felony charges amid accusations of poisoning her husband with a toxic liquid drain cleaner.

[15:25:06]

Her lawyer says she didn't do it and that the events seen here captured by a hidden camera were engineered by her husband to take advantage of her in divorce court. CNN's Camila Bernal joining us now with more on all of this. Camila.

CAMILA BERNAL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Fred. So the dermatologist's husband, Jack Chen, who is actually also a physician says that he believe his wife was trying to poison and kill him. This was all in documents that we actually reviewed. And in these documents, he says that he started noticing a chemical taste in his hot lemonade, that's when he got suspicious and put the cameras in the house.

He says that there are at least three different incidents where he sees his wife allegedly trying to poison him. She would get that drain out from underneath the sink, pour it into her - into his lemonade and then put that Drano back underneath the sink.

He says he had to go to the doctor and was diagnosed with to stomach ulcers. She eventually was arrested and she is now facing three counts of poisoning, one count of domestic battery. Now she plans to plead not guilty, that's according to her attorney. I spoke to that attorney and he says that this was all orchestrated in order to win in divorce court. What he says here is that the house had a known ant problem and that

they use to try to bait and kill these ants with the lemonade and the Drano so the defense attorney saying that Dr. Chen, essentially would have known if he was drinking that Drano because of how strong that chemical taste is, how it smells. He says the injuries are not consistent. And he says he didn't call 911. Instead, he went to his divorce attorney.

So again, it's kind of a he said, she said situation. It is obviously very serious because she has been indicted. And if she is found guilty, she could face a sentence of eight years and eight months, Fred.

WHITFIELD: Wow. All right. Quite the array of sorts of details. Camila Bernal, thanks so much.

BERNAL: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: All right. So having screenshots of what appears to be classified documents about Ukraine ended up on social media? What the Pentagon is learning straight ahead.

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