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Talks In Cairo Were Productive, But No Breakthrough Was Reached; New York Special Election Winner Tom Suozzi To Fill Santos Seat; GOP-led House Impeaches Secretary Mayorkas; Coalition Government Deal In Pakistan Leaves Imran Khan's Party Out Of Power; Pakistan's Coalition Government Deal Excludes Imran Khan's Party; Inflation Report Hotter than Expected; Texas Church Shooting; Doctors on Earth Control Surgical Robot on Space Station. Aired 1-2a ET

Aired February 14, 2024 - 01:00   ET

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

[01:00:00]

JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: Coming up here on CNN.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TON SUOZZ, U.S. DEMOCRATIC CONGRESSMAN-ELECT: We won.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: A special election win for Democrats in New York narrows a razor thin Republican majority in the House. It could be a bellwether of November's presidential election.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. MIKE JOHNSON, SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: The resolution is adopted.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Impeach, Republicans get a do over and charge the Secretary of Homeland Security with willfully refusing to enforce border laws and breaching public trust.

And for those who don't eat or live in a home, the latest inflation report is good news. Not so much for everyone else.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Live from Atlanta. This is CNN Newsroom with John Vause.

VAUSE: The being described as serious and productive. But so far, there's been no breakthrough in talks in Cairo aimed at reaching a deal to pause the fighting and free the remaining hostages in Gaza. That's according to a U.S. official who says the negotiations will press on.

CIA director Bill Burns traveled to Cairo for those talks. He discussed the situation in Gaza with Egypt's president who also had met with Qatar's Prime Minister. The hostage talks have failed to bridge gaps between the parties, with one key issue being a disagreement over the ratio of Palestinian prisoners to hostages that would be released as part of a deal.

Towards commerce international concern and opposition grows over Israel's expected ground offensive on the southern Gaza City of Rafah. The U.N. aid chief says such an operation could lead to a slaughter or the U.N. Secretary General says it would have devastating consequences.

Meantime Israeli officials say they've obtained CCTV footage showing Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar inside a tunnel below the southern Gaza City of Khan Younis. He was there with his wife, child and another unidentified man.

The IDF says the video was recorded October 10. CNN cannot verify the video shows Sinwar and when it was actually recorded. This column (ph) says possible ceasefire and hostage release talks were held in Cairo. CNN's Nic Robertson has warned that from Tel Aviv.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Well, it appears the intelligence chiefs meeting the Israelis, the Qataris, the Egyptians, the Americans, in Cairo that is breaking up at the moment. The Israeli team is on their way home. We understand from U.S. officials that it's been productive. It's been serious, but some gaps do remain.

In particular, one of those gaps is the ratio between the hostage release and Israeli prisoners of Hamas prisoners, how many Hamas prisoners should be released, that still remains an issue. And Hamas had indicated if the tools are gone? Well, they send a delegation over to Cairo fairly quickly.

The early indications from them from Hamas is at the moment that they aren't going to be sending a negotiating team to Cairo.

In Rafah, however, the population there 1.4 million, some of them beginning to leave the area because they're concerned about this possible IDF ground offensive coming. The IDF has not set a date for that yet. There's growing international opposition from that the Secretary General of the United Nations said there would be devastating consequences. The Italian Foreign Minister raised concerns, the German Foreign Minister raised concerns as well. And of course, President Biden has said it shouldn't go ahead without proper planning to avoid civilian casualties.

The IDF in the meantime, however, has released a video showing Yahya Sinwar, the political chief of Hamas, what this tells us about where Sinwar is at the moment really isn't clear. But it's indicative of the fact that the IDF continues to gather information about where the leaders of Hamas are. And we heard as well from the Army Chief of Staff today saying that so far, they believe they've killed 10,000 members of Hamas, including commanders, but Herzi Halevi, the IDF Chief of Staff said that he was expecting this to be a long war a lot more to come. Nic Robertson, CNN, Tel Aviv, Israel. (END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: To Jerusalem now and Gershon Baskin is a former hostage negotiator. He joins us now live. Gershon, thanks for being with us. We appreciate your time.

GERSHON BASKIN, FORMER HOSTAGE NEGOTIATOR: Thank you.

VAUSE: Realistically, from your experience, from what you know, how close is a deal between Israel and Hamas for the hostages and for a ceasefire.

BASKIN: You know, these things are completely unpredictable because it could be a sudden change in position of one of the sides that allows it to reach an agreement. In the case of the Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, he was held in captivity for five years and four months.

There was a proposal on the table six months after he was abducted, but it took another five years before the parties were willing to agree to it. And we don't have five years now. We have a matter of days perhaps weeks before there is Israeli ground defensive in the Rafah area where there are one and a half million Palestinians packed. It will be catastrophic.

[01:05:10]

And all efforts need to be done in order to avoid that attack and to achieve a ceasefire. But the parties seem reluctant to make an agreement with Hamas didn't send a delegation. The Israeli delegation was instructed by the Prime Minister not to present an Israeli initiative to go there and listening, which is a very bizarre way to carry out negotiations. And it seems that Netanyahu is more committed to the war effort than he used to bring in the hostages home.

VAUSE: As far as Hamas is concerned, they've only used the hostages as a way of winning a pause on negotiating a pause in the fighting and a chance to regroup. Let's assume a deal does happen. And all the Israeli hostages are released. Is that then the beginning of the end for Hamas for this war? So they if that's the case, why would they do it at this point, and will they go for broke?

BASKIN: The Hamas proposal that they put on the table last week was in three phases and implementing it if Israel were to accept it as essentially agreeing that all the hostages would be released, all the Palestinian prisoners would be released, and Hamas would remain in power in Gaza.

It's a complete surrender of Israel to the demands of Hamas and completely unacceptable. It's clear why Hamas made those demands because they want to continue to rule Gaza and they believe that they will continue to rule Gaza, but it's unacceptable to Israel.

Any kind of deal that will leave Hamas in place and release prisoners who Israel considers very dangerous to Israel's security.

VAUSE: According to a statement from the Egyptian government during negotiations, President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, emphasize the keenness to continue consultation and coordination between the two countries, indicating there's not been a deal so far.

But, you know, the two countries he's referring to is Egypt and Qatar, we also have the United States, which is really pushing these talks forward. All them, to your point earlier seem to want to do a lot more than the Israelis and Hamas. So how do you get a deal when the main parties aren't really interested?

BASKIN: I think that the possible breakthrough for a deal is if the mediators can convince the Hamas to separate phase one of the deal from phase two and three of the deal, in other words, implement a 45- day ceasefire, release the civilian hostages, women, children and wounded people in exchange for a large number of Palestinian prisoners, but less of those who are serving life sentences that Hamas is dealing -- is demanding.

That would give a 45-day period to continue on negotiations, and perhaps come up with a diplomatic solution that would include ending the war and the Hamas leadership exiting the Gaza Strip voluntarily to another country like Qatar.

This is something that might be possible. I wouldn't put a lot of money on it. But it is the one area where I see the possibility for a breakthrough.

VAUSE: What's driving the timing here is the ongoing hostage negotiations driving the timing of the Rafah offensive or as the Rafah offensive driving the timing of the hostage negotiations.

BASKIN: I think it's a bit of both. Right now the Israeli army is working on a plan, which the Prime Minister demanded on the evacuation of the Palestinians or most of them from the Rafah area. This is almost impossible to imagine, with so many people there and no place left to go.

They're already in a 20 percent of the Gaza Strip in the southern corners of the Gaza Strip. And it's hard to imagine how you can move a million and a half people in order to wage a war offensive.

So, I think that the army is being cautious right now in terms of submitting its plan and being very careful in order not to have massacres take place and in Rafah area. The Prime Minister, I don't know what his concerns are with regard to the offensive. They seem to have destroyed most of the Gaza Strip already. And the Israeli government doesn't seem to be particularly bothered with the possibility of destroying the rest.

VAUSE: Gershon, thank you for being with us. I should mention that you are key to the release of the Israeli soldier, Gershon Baskin, who was held by Hamas for five years so you know of which you speak. Thank you, sir, for being with us.

BASKIN: Thank you.

VAUSE: 265 days before us voters cast their ballot for President. The results of a special election in New York's third congressional district could be an indicator of voter sentiment on a national level. A narrow win for democratic Tom Suozzi defeating Republican Mazi Pilip, who considered the race to Suozzi and congratulated him in a phone call.

These other results almost 54 percent for Suozzi and 46 percent for Pilip, just about 13,000 votes in it, 91,000 for Suozzi. His win narrows a very thin Republican majority in the House of Representatives.

National issues like immigration and border security dominated the special election with many seeing the outcome as a bellwether for November's presidential election.

[01:10:05]

The special vote was held to replace disgraced Republican Congressman George Santos. He was expelled from the House last year, has pleaded not guilty to multiple federal charges including wire fraud, money laundering, and theft of public funds.

More details now on the results from New York from CNN's Miguel Marquez.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: this was an incredible result that nobody expected to come this big and that this fast I've covered this campaign for almost two months now. Tom Suozzi felt that they had the momentum going into Election Day, but did not think that they would be calling it this early and this big, just a huge result for Democrats in this purple district.

This is a district that Joe Biden won and then it was won by George Santos and then he was expelled after just a very tumultuous time in office. Suozzi ran a, you know, he's a three time Congressman of his district, he ran unsuccessfully for governor and then ran again. He ran a very focused, very tight campaign and ran on Republican issues, immigration and taxes and crime and try to take that from the Republicans.

In his victory speech tonight, he said there is something for Democrats and Republicans to learn about this race, everywhere.

SUOZZI: It's time to find common ground and start delivering for the people of the United States of America. The people are watching. They want us to start working together. So our message is very clear. Either get on board or get out of the way.

MARQUEZ: So one thing that works in favor of the Democrats was the weather the Republicans in Nassau County, like Republicans everywhere tend to vote on election day, but there was a massive snowstorm that blew in that may have depress their vote some, but it was just a very, very good result for Democrats tonight.

And right now, Tom Suozzi is still in the room. They are partying and feeling very good about the result tonight, back to you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: Well, a (INAUDIBLE) by congressional Republicans to impeach the Secretary of Homeland Security has passed by the thinnest of margins. For the second time in U.S. history and the first in nearly 150 years, the House has now impeached a member of the President's Cabinet. However, the impeachment trial is unlikely to go anywhere in the Senate where Republicans did not have the votes. CNN's Melanie Zanona has details now reporting in from Capitol Hill.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MELANIE ZANONA, CNN CAPITOL HILL REPORTER: The House voted tonight to impeach Alejandro Mayorkas, the Homeland Security Secretary after failing to do so on the House floor last week. The final vote tally was 214 to 213. So it was a very narrow margin here in the House and three Republicans crossed party lines to vote against these Articles of Impeachment for Americans that includes Tom McClintock of California, Mike Gallagher of Wisconsin, and Ken Buck of Colorado. Those are the same three Republicans who voted against impeaching Americans last week.

But we should note there was one key difference here tonight, and that was Steve Scalise, the House majority leader. He has been absent from the Capitol. He's been out battling cancer receiving treatments. But he was back tonight and I got a chance to sit down with him for an exclusive interview ahead of the Mayorkas vote where he talked about how important his vote was, and just how narrow the margins are in the House right now.

But he disputed the idea that the House is rushing through this vote ahead of a special election in New York tonight, where a key seat is up for grabs. Now in terms of Mayorkas impeachment, it's going to head to the Senate. But we're being told it's dead on arrival in the Senate with Senate Republicans and Democrats collectively saying that they just don't see the support and the appetite in the upper chamber to impeach Mayorkas.

Republicans have accused him of mishandling the situation at the southern border and the flow of migrants that have crossed the southern border but some Republicans saying that that is a policy dispute and it does not rise to the level of impeachment.

So the Senate has some options. They can vote to just entirely dismiss the trial. Or they could have a trial and go through with the process. But either way, very clear that even though Alejandro Mayorkas was impeached in the House, he is not going to be convicted in the Senate. Melanie Zanona, Capitol Hill, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: Ron Brownstein is CNN senior political analyst and senior editor for The Atlantic. He joins me now from Los Angeles. Hey, Ron.

RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Hey, John. VAUSE: OK, so here's a little more from the Congressman-elect Tom

Suozzi. And the context here is immigration, which as we know, was a major issue with this race and in particular, an immigration crisis created by Democrats, which is central to Donald Trump's campaign for the White House. Here he is. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SUOZZI: Let's send a message to our friends running the Congress these days. Stop running around for Trump and start running the country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[01:15:03]

VAUSE: So given his win, are there lessons here for Democrats? Can you use this election outcome as some kind of national indicator of where the country is?

BROWNSTEIN: Yes, I think there was. And that bite may be the most important kind of signal from a messaging point of view, where this may be going. Look, Joe Biden's problems in polling are real. They are sustained. And they are not erased by a special election in New York.

But I take two big things out of this. The first is that Democrats keep winning races in suburban areas in the Trump era. Despite all the unease about the party's performance, in some ways, this was an especially difficult district for them to win because immigration and crime are so hot in the New York Metro, and concern about abortion being banned is lessened because of the extent of democratic dominance of the state.

And yet they won. They want a special election tonight more even more easily outside of Philadelphia that ensure they continue to control upstate health in Pennsylvania, who was what was the state legislative rush of elections last year in Virginia, and there was constant state Supreme Court elections and the key swing state elections in 2022. The Trump era, Republican Party has a problem in suburbs, especially white collar suburbs.

And the other big thing was in that sound bite, I mean, you can begin to see how Democrats including Biden, may be moving toward running against a do nothing Congress, Harry Truman in 1948. A Congress that because it is in thrall to Trump is more interested in scoring political points and solving problems was he kind of ran as a Bill Clinton era Democrat, who was talking about bipartisan solutions to problems including immigration.

VAUSE: Well, the Donald Trump losing streak featured prominently in a statement from Nikki Haley, the last challenger to Trump for the Republican party's presidential nomination, his part of it reads, let's just say the quiet part out loud, Donald Trump continues to be a huge weight against Republican candidates. Despite the enormous and obvious failings of Joe Biden, we just lost another winnable Republican House seat because voters overwhelmingly reject Donald Trump. And this is a problem for the Republicans. There's this disconnect

between the popularity for the former president, and which doesn't seem to translate to these local races. And what we saw back in 2022, of the midterms, when all those Trump endorse candidates fell one after the other. That's when the Republican Party became very critical of Donald Trump.

You know, kids in cages and mass deportations, it was fine, but then they start losing seats and start losing races and suddenly, the Republicans turned on Trump at least for a time.

BROWNSTEIN: Yes, it was. You know, look, this -- Trump is probably stronger in this district than he is in almost any suburban district north of the Mason Dixon Line in the U.S., and yet, I think we saw again, and partially for the reason that we were discussing the snowstorm, Trump turns out Democratic voters.

I mean, you know, damn right, you know, I believe the number is 93. The best estimate is at 93 million separate human beings have come out to vote against the Trump era Republican Party at some point in the last three elections, and that is a big number.

The dynamic that you saw again, in this district where Biden as Tom Suozzi himself said was underwater is as we saw in 2022, there were a significant and unusually large number of voters who said they disapproved of Biden, and maybe were unhappy about the economy, maybe weren't happy about the border and still voted for Democrats anyway, because they view the Republican alternative as too extreme. That is the pathway to a second term if there is one for Biden, and we saw that dynamic continuing to function tonight as it did in '23 and certainly as it didn't '22.

VAUSE: Also the past few hours for the first time in 150 years, a cabinet secretary has been impeached. Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas was impeached on a vote of one, a majority one rather in the Republican controlled lower House. Here's House majority leader Republican Steve Scalise, listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. STEVE SCALISE, HOUSE MAJORITY LEADER: Said it really ought to take seriously the message that was said that we're serious about securing the border and the Secretary has failed to do his job. And the American people are disgusted by it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: OK, so there's no way that, you know, he'll be found guilty in a trial in the Senate and in many ways impeaching the office was kind of stunt which is loved by Trump's base. But how's it viewed sort of beyond that by, you know, garden variety Republicans, especially, you know, after Republicans in Congress killed a bipartisan deal on border security week ago?

BROWNSTEIN: Well, that, you know, that's where a kind of circles back to what we were talking about before and the way Suozzi ran. There's no question that Republicans have a big lead on immigration and the border in all polls. People say they trust Trump more than Biden. They trust Republicans more than Democrats, but that doesn't mean that you can't overplay your hand.

[01:20:00]

You know Trump is talking about explicitly as I wrote last week, deporting millions of people, a project that would require hundreds of thousands of federal law enforcement agents, National Guard, sheriffs, and the building of internment camps in Texas, the dismissal and rejection of the bipartisan border deal. This impeachment of Mayorkas, which is obviously a political statement.

Suozzi kind of, as I said, ran as a 1990s Bill Clinton Democrat who said, let's work together to solve this in a grand compromise. It is not right to say that he simply ran to the right on this issue. His last his big ad on immigration, did talk about securing the border and did show razor wire but also said that we had to open pathways to citizenship for people who are here to play by the rules.

And you can see a still an advantage for Republicans on this issue. But you can see I think, in his election, a pathway for Democrats, and certainly Biden, I think, is inclined to go down this direction, to basically run in saying we want to solve the problem. They are posturing because they are in thrall to Trump, who is offering extreme solutions, or Democrats got an advantage of the border, probably not. As Suozzi show, can they neutralize the deficit, reduce the deficit, potentially.

VAUSE: Ron, great to have you with us. We really appreciate it. Thank you.

BROWNSTEIN: Thanks for having me, John.

VAUSE: Well, after months of congressional stalling, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy, welcome to U.S. Senate vote approving a $95 billion aid package. But the bill still must pass the lower House. Right now it's unclear if speaker Mike Johnson will even call a vote.

$60 billion of the packages is for Ukraine, the rest for Israel and humanitarian assistance in Gaza and the West Bank and others. So let's see now urging us lawmakers to do the right thing.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT: I thank each of the 70 senators who voted in the affirmative. Ukraine, appreciate it very much. This was the first step. Next step is the House of Representatives and the vote of the Congressman there. We expect a positive decision. We hope for principled support. And we believe that America will continue to be a leader.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Maybe not if Donald Trump wins reelection. The Republican front runner has been trying to torpedo bipartisan efforts to pass that funding for Ukraine. And he's been under fire for recently saying that he would encourage Russia to invade countries which don't meet their NATO defense spending guidelines.

U.S. President Joe Biden lashed out on Tuesday with some of his harshest criticism yet of Donald Trump. Here he is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, U.S. PRESIDENT: No other president our history has ever bowed down to a Russian dictator. Let me say this as clearly as I can. I never will. For God's sake. It's dumb. It's shameful. It's dangerous. It's unAmerican. When America gives us word it means something. When we make a commitment, we keep it and NATO is a sacred commitment.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: When we come back here on CNN, coalition building in Pakistan, a power sharing arrangement, which shuts out the party of the former Prime Minister Imran Khan. Live in Islamabad with the very latest when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[01:27:03]

VAUSE: With no clear winner from last week's general election in Pakistan, two major political parties have agreed to form a coalition government. But the party of former Prime Minister Imran Khan has been shut out. Even though candidates affiliated with his PTI party won the most votes.

CNN's Sophia Saifi is live for us in Islamabad. So Sophia, is this coalition deal is done and dusted? And will it mean to return to power or the former prime minister, Nawaz Sharif?

SOPHIA SAIFI, CNN PRODCUDER: John, what's going to happen now is that many analysts leading up to this election have said that this is the time for Nawaz Sharif is coming back. But that is not the case. What's happened is, is that none of the major policies according to the Election Commission of Pakistan has received enough votes to form a government. They do not have a majority.

The party that did win the most votes is the one affiliated with Imran Khan PTI. The independents affiliated with that party won the most seats in parliament, but not enough to form a government.

Now Imran Khan has come out and said that he is not going to be forming a coalition with the two other major parties, the PTI, sorry, the PPP and PMLN. Now at the same time last night, late last night, there was an announcement by the PMLN, the PPP, that they will be forming government with four other smaller parties.

Imran Khan has said that this is daylight robbery this sort of coalition. So we're just going to have to wait and see. It's likely that Shahbaz Sharif, the candidate for PMLN, the prime minister candidate for PMLN, the former Prime Minister for the past two years, is anticipated to be the incoming Prime Minister, John.

VAUSE: OK, so will this now as the question of bringing stability back to Pakistan, which has been rocked by violence in the last couple of weeks, especially over the last couple of weeks in the lead up to these elections?

SAIFI: Yes, definitely. There's been a huge spike in militant attacks across Pakistan, all through last year and into this year as well. And along with that, there's a lot of concern internationally, domestically about the economic crisis plaguing the country. There has been record inflation and that's a don't that Shahbaz Sharif for example, joke in which he said that they were making this decision for the sake of the country, the decision to form the coalition with the PPP, which is the party of former prime -- former foreign minister, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari.

The PTI has been at the receiving end of an ongoing crackdown, which is why they ran as independent candidates who do not have the electoral symbol. They are implying from their statements that they do want peaceful protests. They're contesting what they say is a stolen mandate that their votes were stolen from them. They've accused of manipulation. So this -- the results that did come out -- came out after a couple of days after the election did take place, but for now -- has formed an alliance with one smaller party.

[01:29:48]

And we're just going to have to wait and see whether they will stand in opposition against this current coalition and what lies ahead, John.

JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: Sophia, thank you. Sophia Saifi there in Islamabad with a few glitches on your transmission from the Pakistani capital but thank you nonetheless.

Right now, more than 200 million voters are expected to cast their ballots to elect a new president of Indonesia, as well as more than 20,000 national and provincial lawmakers.

With half of registered voters aged under 40, winning over the youth vote has been a key focus for many candidates.

The top presidential contenders include the current defense minister and two former governors.

When we come back here on CNN, U.S. inflation cools, but not enough for Wall Street, taking a major tumble. We'll break down the numbers in just a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VAUSE: Welcome back. I'm John Vause. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM.

New CPI numbers in the U.S. show inflation is cooling while also being persistent and stubborn and that rattled Wall Street.

The report released Tuesday is the first real measure of U.S. inflation this year, 3.1 percent for the 12 months ended January, a slight drop from December, but still hotter than expected.

That sent Wall Street tumbling on Tuesday, the Dow falling more than 500 points over fears the U.S. Federal Reserve might wait a while longer before lowering interest rates. The selloff came just a day after the Dow closed at a record high.

[01:34:51]

VAUSE: Rana Foroohar is CNN's global economic analyst, as well as a global business columnist and associate editor for "The Financial Times. It's good to see you.

RANA FOROOHAR, CNN GLOBAL ECONOMIC ANALYST: Good to see you, John.

VAUSE: Ok. So apart from stocks taking a dive on Wall Street, the overall reaction to the CPI report seems to be neither hither nor thither when it comes to what the Fed may actually do with interest rates. So a wait-and-see approach in many ways.

FOROOHAR: A little bit. You know, we started out this year with a big hoopla. We're going to see three rate cuts this year. I was always a little bit skeptical about that.

And I think that we -- the market and the enthusiasm is catching up with the reality, which is we might not see a rate cut now until the summer. You know, we thought maybe in May, I think that's looking a little less likely.

But again, the situation is here is just so incredibly volatile. I would not be surprised to be back here in two months with very different sentiments regarding different data.

VAUSE: So if you want to find the good in this CPI report, simply just take out the really expensive stuff like food and shelter. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KRISTINA HOOPER, CHIEF GLOBAL MARKET STRATEGIST, INVESCO: If we were to strip that out and we looked at just core CPI x-shelter, it's running at about 2 percent annualized for the -- for the past six months. That is not a terrible number. In fact, it's at the Fed's target.

So I think it's important to take a step back and not over-react to this CPI print.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: So in other words, for those who don't need some kind of roof over their heads or have any real need to eat that inflation is not your problem. So why do the calculation in the first place? What does it actually reveal about the economy? What's the benefit of doing that?

FOROOHAR: Well, you know, by stripping out volatile categories, it gives us a read as to how the overall economy is doing. So you know, are companies really having to raise costs across the board? Are we seeing supply chain mishaps really kind of, you know, broadening out inflation in more and more categories. Are we -- are we seeing it in both goods and services?

The problem which you've just spelled out is that people need to eat and people need to have a place to live and people have health care costs -- and you know, all these things are what is really part of the felt experience of inflation, which is why we've seen such a gap between the data, which shows that yes, the fed and the government have been getting a control on the inflation situation in the last few quarters.

And people's sentiment, which is trailing still. I mean, people I think even though they feel things getting a bit better they're still worried and they sense that there is still volatility, maybe some vulnerability that they need to be worried about in the future.

VAUSE: It turns out that the people over at the Fed pay closer attention to another inflation report, one published by the Commerce Department. That's coming out in a couple of weeks.

They call it super-core inflation, which "The Wall Street Journal" tells us comprises the price of services, things such as barbers, lawyers or plumbers, and excluding energy and housing -- those expensive things, not so much energy, I guess.

So, what's the difference between the report on Tuesday, the one we're talking about right now, and the one expected later this month.

FOROOHAR: So in looking at services, officials are trying to get a handle on something interesting that we've seen and really atypically since the pandemic.

So usually inflation goes in different cycles than what we saw during the pandemic when COVID hit, we saw really a big price spike in goods inflation, which then receded. But then was followed by services inflation.

And the Fed is going to be looking to see, hey, is that under control or is that getting worse? And that will give them a sense of just, you know, where the cycle is at the moment and how worried that they should be coming in the election year, I would say and into November.

VAUSE: Well, very quickly, here's the chairman of the White House Council of Economic Advisers. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JARED BERNSTEIN, CHAIRMAN, WHITE HOUSE COUNCIL OF ECONOMIC ADVISERS: If we can maintain the tight job market while easing off on prices so that real -- that is inflation adjusted -- incomes can grow, increasing people's buying power while doing everything we can to actually lower the cost of food, of eggs, of milk, of airfares, of used cars, appliances -- things that, you know, really matter to everyday folks for families like the one the president grew up in, it should start showing up in consumer confidence. And in fact, it has.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Joe Biden, he's just like you and me, you know, the economic timing here could actually be crucial in determining the outcome of the presidential election and Biden could have some good timing.

[01:39:42]

FOROOHAR: 100 percent. You know, if we don't see any kind of major geopolitical strife, if we don't see something -- really unexpected, I would say in the economic picture then I would say, yes, the second half of the year coming into the election cycle could be a pretty good run for the president.

Now, I would caveat that by, by saying economic data itself has become partisan. You know, there's research to show that Democrats see good news maybe as good news. Republicans at this point may see it as maybe not quite as good.

I mean it's really very polarized rise even down to how we see the economy. So well, we'll have to see how that plays out in November.

VAUSE: Yes. Numbers become politicized. That's kind of shocking, but not surprising.

FOROOHAR: Frightening.

VAUSE: Yes. Rana, thanks so much good to see you.

FOROOHAR: Thank you.

VAUSE: Layoffs are coming for hundreds of workers at Paramount Global, the media giant owns the Paramount Plus streaming service and broadcast network, CBS, which pulled record ratings and advertising revenue from the Super Bowl this past weekend.

Sources say around 800 employees or 3 percent of the company's workforce will be impacted. Paramount joins a number of media companies making major staffing cuts this year. That includes "Los Angeles Times", "Business Insider" and "Time".

There's more fallout for Boeing in the wake of a door plug blow out on a 737 Max 9 jet while it was in the air earlier last month. The airplane mechanic says one customer ordered three 737 Max planes in January, but three other orders were canceled, ending up to zero net orders for the period.

That makes it the company's worst month for new plane orders since the height of the pandemic.

Meantime, citing the Boeing door plug issue, safety investigators are urging the Federal Aviation Administration to require all planes, not just new ones, to expand the length of voice cockpit recorders from just two hours to 25 hours.

The NTSB estimated it would cost more than $740 million to put 25-hour recorders on all aircraft.

In a moment here on CNN, the mother-in-law of a Texas shooter says the state did not prevent a woman with a history of mental illness from obtaining guns and that resulted in her opening fire in a church.

Up next, more on why she is blaming authorities.

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VAUSE: U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has confirmed he recently spoke with American Paul Whelan, reassuring him U.S. efforts continue to try and free him from a Russian prison.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANTONY BLINKEN, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: Our intensive efforts to bring Paul home continue every single day and they will until he and Evan Gershkovich and every other American wrongfully-detained is back with their loved ones.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: This is at least the third time Blinken has spoken with the former marine who was detained in Moscow in 2018 on espionage charges. The U.S. State Department says Whelan has been wrongfully detained by Moscow. The State Department says, the U.S. has been trying to secure the release of Whelan and Evan Gershkovich, a "Wall Street Journal" reporter who is also detained in Russia for spying.

The U.S. Defense Secretary now out of hospital ed working from home. Lloyd Austin was admitted for a bladder issue Sunday, treated without surgery. He's expected to return to the Pentagon later this week.

Austin had surgery for prostate cancer in December without informing the president. This time we're told the White House was informed.

The mother-in-law of the woman who opened fire in a Texas megachurch on Sunday speaking out about the shooter's mental illness. She says her daughter-in-law should never have had access to firearms in the first place.

More details now from CNN's Ed Lavandera.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ED LAVANDERA, CNN SENIOR U.S. NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The mother-in- law of the 36-year-old woman who opened fire on the Lakewood Megachurch here in Houston says this event was a completely preventable horror.

Police say 36-year-old, Genesee Moreno showed up here on Sunday, opened fire, and that's where two off-duty officers shot and killed her just after she unleashed a barrage of gunfire inside the church.

The mother-in-law of Genesee Moreno, details an extensive list of mental health issues and efforts that the family underwent for several years trying to get her help. In a Facebook post, the mother-in-law says that Moreno suffered from a form of schizophrenia that caused her to be violent.

Investigators here have been saying that they also have an extensive history of mental health issues. But despite all of that, what frustrates the mother-in-law, according to her Facebook post, is that she was legally able to obtain the weapons used in all of this.

The investigators also say that they had found anti-Semitic writings that belonged to Moreno, but the mother-in-law says that she believes -- the mother-in-law is Jewish, but she does not believe that that hate aspect of this is what is central and what caused this horror at the Lakewood Church in Houston.

She believes that this is much more an issue with a Genesee Moreno's mental health issues that she struggled with for years. And also her son as far as we know, the seven-year-old son who was shot in the head remains in critical condition.

Ed Lavandera, CNN -- Houston.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: In Wichita, Kansas authorities have charged a man for the theft destruction of a statue of Jackie Robinson, the legendary athlete who broke the Major League's color barrier as a black player. The statue was stolen nearly three weeks ago from a youth baseball field. It was burned and then dumped in trash.

Police believe the suspect wanted to make money selling the bronze statue for scrap. Once police identified the suspect, they didn't have too far to find him. He was already in custody, arrested a few days earlier for an unrelated case.

Police say they're working on other arrests because surveillance video shows at least three people at the scene. (INAUDIBLE) say they've not found any evidence of a racial hate-motivated crime.

When we come back, surgery in space. The Doctor's on earth, the patient in orbit, and a remote-controlled robot does all the delicate work. That's the theory.

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VAUSE: Parts of the northern United States had been blanketed in snow Tuesday. A powerful nor'easter brought New York's snowiest day in two years. More than eight centimeters falling in Central Park.

Thousands of customers in Connecticut and New Jersey lost electricity and classes there were also canceled. On the road more than 250 car accidents reported in New Jersey, according to the state's governor.

More than 1,000 flights canceled across the United States, majority out of airports in New York, Boston, and New Jersey. That's according to FlightAware.

Well, a tiny robot could create a world of possibilities for surgery in space with a patient in orbit and doctors operating remotely from earth. The first trial run in zero gravity was a success as CNN's Kristin Fisher reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KRISTIN FISHER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Sitting on top of this SpaceX rocket when it launched in January, was the first surgical robot bound for outer space.

SHANE FARRITOR, CHIEF TECHNICAL OFFICER, VIRTUAL INCISION: So MIRA is a small surgical robot.

FISHER: MIRA made by a company called Virtual Incision, arrived at the International Space Station in February and on Saturday, it did something that's never been done before.

FARRITOR: Saturday was the first time that surgical robot in space was controlled by surgeons on earth to perform simulated surgical activities.

FISHER: Virtual Incision provided CNN with exclusive video, has six surgeons at the company's headquarters in Lincoln, Nebraska, took turns operating the robot after it was powered up by NASA astronauts, roughly 250 miles above.

DR. MICHAEL JOBST, SURGEON: The adrenaline was pumping I could feel my heart pounding. It was it was really exhilarating, but at the same time once I saw that robotic device doing the things that I'm used to it doing settled down.

FISHER: Dr. Michael Jobst says he's already performed 15 surgeries with MIRA during clinical trials on human patients here on earth. But he's never had to contend with zero gravity or a time delay of about half a second.

JOBST: A split second or half a second is going to be significant. So this was a big challenge.

FARRRITOR: You can see a left hand with a grasper and a right hand with a pair of scissors. And we use rubber bands here to simulate surgical tissue.

[01:54:50]

JOBST: So you could think of those rubber bands as perhaps, you know, blood vessels OR tendons, are other connective tissue that has elasticity. So we're able to grab hold of the rubber bands and then take the scissors and just basically to cut them.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All right. I'm going for it. That was one small rubber band -- but a great leap for surgery.

FISHER: Now, in addition to someday performing remote surgeries on people in space, they also want to use this type of technology here on earth in places where it may be tough to find a surgeon, places like really remote rural areas, or maybe even war zones.

Kristin fisher, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: Before we go, this Valentine's Day isn't just for lovers. Think about your ex and what they really deserve on this day. And in the process, you might just help control the feral cat population.

New Jersey animal shelter is offering to quote, "neuter your ex". Here's how.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: For a $50 donation, really anyone can send in the name of one of their exes. And what we'll do is we'll name a community cat after that person. First names OR nicknames only. And then that community cat, will be spayed or neutered, vaccinated, ear-tipped and then released back out to the community.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Yes, thanks to that promotion and the unkindness cut of all, a whole bunch of four legged Jeffs, Mikes, Ians, and Tylers roaming the streets in New Jersey. There's even a cat named Gaslight Guy. (INAUDIBLE) so popular, it's now being extended beyond feline types.

Thank you for watching. I'm John Vause. Please stay with us NEWSROOM -- CNN NEWSROOM continues with my friend and colleague Rosemary Church.

See you back here tomorrow.

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