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CNN This Morning

More Than 1.8M Early Votes Cast In Georgia Ahead Of Runoff; Economy Showing Resilience Despite Recession Fears; Biden Signs Bills Averting Crippling Rail Shutdown; Lava Flows 2.7 Miles From Major Hawaiian Highway; Alex Jones Files Bankruptcy After Sandy Hook Judgments; Biden Admin To Lift Monkeypox Emergency Declaration Jan. 31; GOP In Fighting As McCarthy Preps For Speakership Floor Fight. Aired 8-9a ET

Aired December 03, 2022 - 08:00   ET

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

[08:00:00]

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Boris Sanchez.

Closing arguments are underway right now in Georgia, the final sprint in that key Peach State Senate race. We're going to take you on the campaign trail.

AMARA WALKER, CNN ANCHOR: And we're tracking another red-hot jobs report. But the strong numbers coming at a price. We'll break down what it says about the economy and the fight to bring down inflation.

SANCHEZ: Plus, President Biden signing legislation to avert a nationwide rail shutdown. But the bill leaves out paid sick leave a major sticking point for rail workers. We're going to be joined live by a representative from one of those unions to hear his message to the President.

A. WALKER: And how does a four-day work week sound? Amazing, right? Well, according to the organizers of a new global study, employees and companies found it to be a smashing success. We're joined by the live -- we're joined live by the lead researcher on "CNN This Morning."

SANCHEZ: You can feel us it is the weekend Saturday, December 3rd. We're grateful to have you the dream team is back. Amara and I spent a couple of weeks apart.

A. WALKER: Yes.

SANCHEZ: But now it's great to be back with you, Amara.

A. WALKER: Yes, I was watching you while I was in California, and I decided I would come back to joining because I did miss the team a little bit. Just a little.

SANCHEZ: I can't say the same when I was away. I didn't really turn the TV on but I was thinking of you from a beach in Mexico.

A. WALKER: No wonder because every time I message you take like hours or days to get back to me. So clearly you didn't want to hear from me. SANCHEZ: It's not you. It's not you. It's the beach. I had other priorities. Yes.

A. WALKER: Understood. Amara, great to be with you again.

So, we start with the final push to turn out the vote in Georgia heading into Tuesday's Senate runoff. More than 1.8 million ballots were cast after only five mandatory early days of voting.

A. WALKER: Both incumbent Senator Raphael Warnock and Republican challenger Herschel Walker are using this final weekend to make one last pitch to voters.

CNN's Eva McKend is live in Atlanta with more. Eva, I guess, what are the candidates doing our, I guess not to doing in these final days?

EVA MCKEND, CNN NATIONAL POLITICS REPORTER: Well, good morning to you. Both Senator Warnock going to take the stage here in Atlanta in about an hour, rallying with union workers. Herschel Walker surprisingly no listed campaign events this weekend. But both candidates running out of time to make their case to voters. Those final pitches they'll have to do soon before election day when all the votes are counted on Tuesday.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MCKEND (voice-over): On the final day of early voting, long lines did not deter Georgians from heading to the polls.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This runoff is so important.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There's a sense of accomplishment to come in and get it done early.

MCKEND (voice-over): Just four dates until Tuesday's runoff, and neither candidate is letting us.

HERSCHEL WALKER (R-GA) SENATORIAL CANDIDATE: And I said, enough is enough. Now what we got to do, we got to get out and vote.

SEN. RAPHAEL WARNOCK (D-GA) SENATORIAL CANDIDATE: We can't rest on our laurels. We -- Is way too early to do a happy dance.

MCKEND (voice-over): New CNN polling shows Democratic incumbent Raphael Warnock holds a slim lead over Republican challenger Herschel Walker. Among unlikely runoff voters, 52% say they plan to support Warnock, 48% say they plan to vote for Walker. Both candidates enjoy overwhelming support from their respective parties. Independents, however, break in favor of Warnock 61% to 36% but make up a relatively small slice of likely voters. Turnout has been strong during the early voting period, nearly one and a half million have already cast ballots, according to data from the Georgia Secretary of State's office.

But the overall turnout still lags behind the Georgia Senate runoffs in January 2021. With this year's runoff having fewer days of early voting under the state's new voting law.

WARNOCK: Hello (INAUDIBLE)!

MCKEND (voice-over): Both candidates making their closing arguments to voters and with Walker continuing to tie Warnock to President Joe Biden.

H. WALKER: He went to Georgia and said that he was going to represent Georgia, but what is who is he representing Joe Biden.

MCKEND (voice-over): And Warnock urging voters to keep pushing, not taking the early vote totals for granted and maintaining the race is about competence and character.

WARNOCK: Georgia, I need you to do it one more time!

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MCKEND: So potentially some good news for Democrats, about 40% of the black voters that turned out in the general election returned and voted during the early vote period. We know that that black voters by and large support Democrats. But still one woman on the ground here this week at a Walker rally told me, don't ask to underestimate the ground game that Republicans have built in this state. But really that is the name of the game is turnout because historically and runoff elections, you have some attrition, you have got to get those voters that voted just four weeks ago to come back out and vote again. Boris, Amara.

[08:05:01]

A. WALKER: All right. Eva McKend, thank you.

And here with me now is Washington correspondent for the Atlanta Journal Constitution, Tia Mitchell. Tia, it's great to see you this morning.

First off, I mean, record breaking early voting in Georgia with more than 1.8 million ballots cast. I mean, that is a lot of interest, a lot of enthusiasm, you know, for people to vote for the second time in four weeks. You know, what do you make of this? And do you see that this early voting is going to benefit Democrats through Election Day?

TIA MITCHELL, WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT, ATLANTA JOURNAL CONSTITUTION: Yes, as you mentioned, as Eva mentioned, early voting has been very robust, but some of that is kind of a byproduct of that condensed runoff period. So, you were early voting days meant that, you know, folks had to squeeze into what was available. That being said Democrats have a lot to be encouraged by particularly because the early voting last weekend was optional for counties. And although there were Republican and Democratic leaning counties that offered early voting last weekend.

Overall, it really benefited Democrats, those bigger, most hot, more populous counties that tend to really, really lean Democratic, were able to bank votes. Warnock was really able to bank votes last weekend. Yes, Republicans say they hope to have even things up over the week. But now the question is, what voters are still out there, and how many will show up on Tuesday?

A. WALKER: So, Tia what are you hearing about what is motivating people to come out and cast their vote again? And I found it interesting, and I do want to point this out before you answer. A new CNN poll shows that nearly half of those who back Walker, the Republican challenger, they say their vote is more about opposition to Warnock. And then on the flip side, you have 83% of Warnock supporters saying they're casting ballots in support of Warnock.

I mean, how does that impact turnout? And, you know, I guess motivate who's coming -- who is coming out to the polls?

MITCHELL: Yes, that's a really good point. Because the message we're getting for Republicans, the message we're getting from Governor Kemp, isn't so much about Herschel Walker being that candidate that they all want to get behind and support, it's more about what he represents, what he can do for the party, if he wins the Senate seat.

But the risk there is, is that enough of a factor, especially those people who are skeptical of Herschel Walker. They want to support a Republican, but they're not sure they can support Herschel Walker. We heard that, for example, from Lieutenant Governor, Jeff Duncan, he got to the booth and he said, you know, he doesn't want to support a Democrat. He doesn't support Warnock, but he couldn't pull himself to vote for Walker. That's the question.

Whereas on the Democratic side, we're seeing a lot of energy for Raphael Warnock. It's not just they want a Democrat to win. Most of his supporters say they believe in him, they think he is superior candidate to Herschel Walker. And there's also that energy on Democratic side just about voting rights, voting access, they weren't happy that Republicans tried to prohibit that early voting on the Saturday after Thanksgiving, for example.

So there seems to be a lot more energy for their candidate on the Democratic side. Whereas on the Republican side, it's more about getting a Republican in the seat and encouraging voters to want to do that by supporting Herschel Walker.

A. WALKER: I don't know about you Tia, but I would love for Tuesday to hurry up and come because I'm so sick of all those ads and the text messages. I just keep texting back, stop, stop, leave me alone. But you know, a lot of these ads, there's been a lot of negative ads, especially about Herschel Walker that really underscore you know, his erratic behavior and his rambling speeches. And I'm curious, do you think that's resonating, especially with the moderate conservatives, who, you know, he has Walker has to appeal to get him -- get them to support him, especially those who didn't support him in the general right?

MITCHELL: Yes, I think it is resonating because quite frankly, that ad represents what people are saying amongst their friends and their family, as they talk about this Senate race you and I know as we've talked to voters for the past few months, that's what we've been hearing from voters, even those who want to support Herschel Walker, we're hoping that he would give them reasons to show he is competent, he is ready to kind of catapult on that national stage. They're weighing that against some of the behavior in the remarks he's made that they have found more problematic.

So, the question again, for people who are inclined to support Herschel Walker, we know that Democrats in general aren't so inclined. We know from the recent CNN polling for example, CNN polling showing that a lot of independents aren't particularly inclined. But those who are inclined, who are open to voting for Herschel Walker, want that check on President Biden. They're saying, is Herschel Walker, someone that I can have representing me for six weeks in ads like this aren't intended to kind of undermine that or have been questioned that.

[08:10:25]

A. WALKER: Six years, I know that's what you meant. Tia Mitchell, really appreciate you joining us this morning. Thanks so much.

MITCHELL: Thank you.

A. WALKER: And it is the final election of a surprising midterm season. As you know, join us for coverage of the Georgia runoff between Senator Raphael, Warnock and Herschel Walker that starts Tuesday at 4:00 p.m.

SANCHEZ: The White House is touting the latest jobs numbers as evidence that things are headed in the right direction. Employers added some 263,000 jobs last month, unemployment remains steady at 3.7%. And wages are trending up. The Biden administration says this all points to an economy that is strong and resilient.

Here's how the labor secretary Marty Walsh describe the November jobs numbers.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARTY WALSH, LABOR SECRETARY: We're seeing areas that that quite haven't fully come back pre pandemic, seeing the biggest gains in this report. And we're also seeing opportunities for nearly lows in unemployment numbers across the board.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: Inflation though remains a major concern and that is putting more pressure on the Federal Reserve to continue raising rates to try and cool the economy, potentially risking a recession.

CNN's Matt Egan has details.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MATT EGAN, CNN REPORTER (on-camera): Boris and Amara, the hope was for a Goldilocks jobs number not too hot that would fuel inflation, and not too cold, that would hint at a recession. We did not get Goldilocks we got hot jobs growth has slowed. But the slowdown recently has been glacial. You almost need a magnifying glass to see it. Now some sectors did lose jobs at retail, transportation and temporary help.

They were all down in November. But otherwise, there was a lot of demand for workers. Leisure and hospitality continues to recover from COVID, adding almost 90,000 jobs one-month alone. Health care, government and construction all of them added jobs. The part of the jobs report catching the attention of economists and investors is wages.

Coming in the thinking was that wages would cool off which would be encouraging because that would take some pressure off inflation. That did not happen, wages heated up growing by 5.1% year over year, some context that is roughly twice as hot as the pre COVID pace. That's a just very strong demand for workers. At the same time the supply of labor is shrinking as the worker shortage continues. The labor force participation rate dipped for the third month in a row. Now, this will not please the Federal Reserve which is trying to get inflation under control by easing this imbalance between supply and demand in the jobs market.

Now, this is good news for workers in the sense that their paychecks are getting hammered by inflation. So, they want pay, of course to go up. But despite the hot wage number today, wages are still not keeping up with inflation. I think when we take a step back, this is a good news bad news situation.

The good news is that there's nothing about the November jobs report that screams imminent recession, this jobs market is still chugging along. And that is a relief. No one wants to see the job market go ice cold. And the bad news, though, is that this jobs report is probably going to embolden the Federal Reserve, to keep raising interest rates to cool this economy off. Not just at the upcoming meeting this month, but also raising rates continuing into next year. And the more the Fed does, the greater the risk that they will do too much keeping this economy into a recession.

Boris and Amara.

(END VIDEO END)

SANCHEZ: Matt Egan, thank you so much for that.

A. WALKER: That's inflation.

SANCHEZ: So more positive economic news. It is costing you less to fill up your gas tank, gas prices are lower now than they were before Russia invaded Ukraine.

A. WALKER: Yes, AAA says the price for a gallon of regular is $3.43 a gallon that's down from $3.57 a week ago, and $3.78 a month ago. That's a good trend to see.

CNN's Pete Muntean looks at what's behind the drop in prices and how long the relief is expected to last.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PETE MUNTEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on-camera): Boris, Amara, oil producing nations are holding a key meeting on Sunday, but the latest signs show that OPEC will not lose oil production which could mean that oil continues to go up and this drop in gas prices could be short lived. Think back to where we were back on February 24th, the average price for a gallon of regular was $3.54. That's the day that Russia invaded Ukraine and gas prices really started to shoot up.

Industry analysts think that prices are going to stay stabilize at least in the short term, they've dropped more than $0.13 for an average gallon of regular in the last week. Not all good news though, there are still some pretty big uncertainties out there like Chinese COVID lockdowns, fears about a recession.

[08:15:14]

The thinking though right now from Patrick De Haan of GasBuddy is that we could see gas continue to go down maybe sub $3 a gallon by Christmas time. Think about where we were back on June 14th, $5.01 for an average gallon of regular. That's the highest we've seen ever, the all-time record. We are down more than $1.50. down more than 30% since that all-time record.

Boris, Amara.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: Pete Muntean, thank you so much.

President Biden this week signed a bill to avert a rail shutdown, but one of the main sticking points for workers was paid sick leave, and it's not included in the bill. We're going to be joined live by a representative from one of those unions for his response.

A. WALKER: Plus, lava continues to flow in parts of Hawaii's Big Island the spectacular scene really out of a movie, right? It's captivating residents and visitors alike. The concerns though among officials is Mauna Loa spews ash and lava into the air.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:20:16]

A. WALKER: President Biden signed a new bill into law narrowly averting what could have been an economically devastating rail shutdown.

SANCHEZ: The measure comes after Biden urged Congress to take action in a long simmering dispute between unions and the rail industry. But that intervention potentially puts the President in a difficult position with labor groups that have long been one of his key constituencies.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) JOE BIDEN (D) PRESIDENT OF UNITED STATES: I know this was a tough vote for members of both parties. It was a tough for me. But it was the right thing to do at the moment, to save jobs, to protect millions of working families from harm and disruption and to keep supply chain stable around the holidays.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: CNN White House correspondent, Jasmine Wright joins us now live from the North Lawn. Jasmine, what else is the President saying about this?

JASMINE WRIGHT, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Boris, we saw a little bit of image rehab happening yesterday from the President when he visited an Electrical Workers Union in Boston. The President said that he would not be where he was -- not standing where he was at the IBEW without their support. Now, of course, that comes as he's facing tough questions from other union members. The President fashion himself as we can remember as the most pro union president that this country has ever seen. But some say that when that the push came to shove, the President chose the economy over protecting workers rights.

Now, you're right. The thrust of the problem here is that the President and a deal that he negotiated in September and then asked Congress to impose on these two groups just a few days ago, really is about that lack of paid sick leave something that these advocates really wanted to see, which led four out of the 12 union members to really reject this negotiation. But the President, as you heard in that clip before, say, faced with the potential of a devastating railway strike just above the holidays, before the holidays, rather, he chose really to try to do the best thing possible. And he said it wasn't an easy decision for him. It was a tough decision. But he went forward with it, asking Congress to intervene.

Now the President yesterday when signing that bill, he doubled down and said that he wants to get paid sick leave in for railway workers, but also for all Americans is something that he's been trying to get since he initially took office in that initial proposals that he put to Congress but he didn't get it back then and 2021. And it's still likely a less of a chance that he could get it now in the future, especially as the House flipped to Republicans in January.

But still, of course, what matters most of the White House in this case, is protecting the economy, protecting the games that they feel that the economy has made since he has took office. That is what he believed that he did when signing that bill on Friday.

Boris, Amara.

SANCHEZ: Jasmine Wright from the White House. Thank you so much, Jasmine.

Joining us now to share his perspective is Peter Kennedy. He has been a member of the Brotherhood of Maintenance Of Way Employes Division for 19 years. The BMWED is a national union representing workers who build and maintain railroads all over the country. Peter, we're grateful to have you this morning. Thanks for sharing part of your Saturday with us. Your impression of the President signing this bill.

PETER KENNEDY, BROTHERHOOD OF MAINTENANCE OF WAY EMPLOYES: Good morning. Thank you for having me on. You know that the impression is that the rounds over, but the issue still exists for the lack of paid sick leave for rail workers, and we're going to keep going after it. I was glad to hear that President Biden said that he's going to keep pursuing paid sick leave for all workers. And because we're going to hold them to it, we're going to keep pressing him, we're going to keep pressing the railroads.

And frankly, we're not going to give up on this message. Because right now, they say in the maintenance away side, it's all back, no brains, and no, and they say, no heart. But let me tell you something, it's all heart. But the railroads have become a place where it's no heart anymore. And we got to get back to having heart and treating people like people.

SANCHEZ: What are some of your members sharing with you about this decision? Have you heard any anger about it?

KENNEDY: Oh, we've had overwhelming responses from the members. They're very upset, you know, that they feel like that they have been betrayed. But look, they have been betrayed. They've been betrayed by their own employers. And that's who the bad guy is here. It's the employers. It's the billionaires. It's the rich executives who have a bloated $20 million, your salary and get to fly around on private planes and walk around and talk about how great their corporate family is and how much they appreciate these, these family members in this corporate family.

[08:25:00]

But I'm going to tell you something this is the most dysfunctional modern family in America right now. If it wasn't we wouldn't be having our own sitcom across the nation like we have been for the last 30 days. And so, it's time for these corporate leaders to really lead. And what I mean by that is they need to listen to their employees, and then to follow the conscience of these employees and do what's right and provide them with paid sick days. This issue is not done. It's not going away anytime soon.

SANCHEZ: Let's talk about that, that sticking point. In this deal, the President signed, rail workers get a 24% raise over five years, there are caps on health care premiums, one additional personal day, but still no paid sick days. Why has that been so hard to obtain?

KENNEDY: It's been so hard to obtain, basically, because the railroads won't agree to it, they refuse to agree to it. Look, that paid personal day that we gained was the first additional paid day off that we were able to gain since 1981 if I recall correctly. The National Vacation Agreement was established in the 1940s. And it's been amended over time, but it's out of date, you have to work 120 days in the current year of your employment to qualify for five pay days of vacation in the following year.

And then it's scheduled by seniority order, and then it's subject to carrier approval, or the railroads approval. So, it can be cancelled at any time. There's not a good paid time off schedule in this industry. And we've been trying to address that for years. But then the lack of paid sick time, it compounds on that, because people get sick, and they need time off to deal with it.

And by the way, we tweeted something out yesterday about a railroad CEO bragging about how you have to take time off to maintain your body. And you know, it's pretty, it's pretty disturbing that somebody during the midst of all this, a rail CEO would go around and say this and tweet it publicly or post this publicly on their LinkedIn page. And you know, because it's like, it's totally tone deaf to what they're doing and how they're treating their workers. They're just trampling on these people that are making them wealthy, they're trampling on the people that make this country great. And it's about time that this comes to an end. Government, employers, all of them need to do their jobs and take care of their people.

SANCHEZ: So Peter, you mentioned that this round is over. But this is a fight that you are going to continue into the future. I'm wondering if the President signing this bill potentially hampers bargaining power that you may have looking down the road?

KENNEDY: Well, look, the railroads put out a public press release saying that they'll consider this issue and the next round of bargaining. That next round of bargaining technically doesn't start for another two years. But look, we don't have two years, the railroad industry has been in a freefall for the last several years. They're down employees compared to where they were last year.

They're down 45,000 employees from where they were, you know, 10 years ago. So, the industry is not running well. And as Ian Jefferies from the AAR said, you know, there's no elasticity in the transportation industry right now. He's right. And it's because they have no workers, they don't have enough workers to maintain this infrastructure.

So, there is an opportunity here for both parties to cut the acrimony and get serious and have open discussions and dialogue about this. And they can do it outside of the bargaining process, the processes of Section 6 under the Railway Labor Act. So, we have the opportunity to do the right thing here, the railroads can come to the table and do the right thing. It's just a matter if they're going to.

SANCHEZ: It is such an important issue and it affects so many people. I hope that the dispute is ultimately settled in a way that appeases both sides.

Peter Kennedy, thank you so much for sharing your story with us this morning.

KENNEDY: Thank you for having us on. And we hope that they'll continue to have attention to this very important issue.

SANCHEZ: Thanks. A. WALKER: Well as unrest continues in Iran following the death of Mahsa Amini, the young woman who allegedly broke the country's strict headscarf rules, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton telling CNN the U.S. needs to be on the side of the protesters and abandon any talks with the regime.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HILLARY CLINTON, FMR SECRETARY OF STATE: I would not be negotiating with Iran on anything right now, including the nuclear agreement. I think that, frankly, horses out of the barn when Trump pulled us out, we lost the eyes that we had on what they were doing inside Iran. And I believe that they started those centrifuges spinning again, and I think it's unlikely that any agreement would be agreed to, and I don't think we should look like we're seeking an agreement at a time when the people of Iran are standing up to their oppressors.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[08:30:00]

A. WALKER: Well, discussions but between the U.S. and Iran on the 2015 nuclear deal have been pushed to the sidelines since these protests erupted. The United States has imposed a slew of sanctions against Iranian officials involved in the ongoing brutal crackdown.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken last week saying he still believes the best way to revive that nuclear deal is through diplomacy, but that Iran has chosen to, quote, insert extraneous issues into the effort to revive that deal.

Still ahead, a battle brewing and the GOP tensions rising over the House Speaker race. The latest from Capitol Hill as Kevin McCarthy and his critics prepare for a floor fight.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WALKER: And time now to take a look at some of the stories we are following this morning. Eruptions from the world's largest active volcano Mauna Loa putting on a show with lava spewing 148 feet into the air and inching closer to a major highway on Hawaii's Big Island.

[08:35:13]

The dangerous molten rock is less than 3 miles from the road. Officials say a safety route is now accessible and they're hoping to keep curious drivers a safe distance away.

SANCHEZ: Right-wing conspiracy theorist Alex Jones says he is broke. He can't pay what he owes. Jones filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy Friday in Texas claiming his assets are worth between $1 million and $10 million, but that his liabilities are now up to $10 billion.

Earlier this year, a Texas jury ordered the Infowars host to pay 50 million bucks for claiming he took the Sandy Hook School massacre as a joke and claimed it was a hoax. He also owes more than $1 billion in a separate Connecticut case.

WALKER: The Biden administration is set to end the health emergency declaration for monkeypox on January 31. Data shows new infections have declined and vaccination rates have increased. Health officials say the decision was based on current numbers but they plan to revisit the decision if conditions change.

Tensions building within the GOP as House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy and conservative hardliners gearing up for a potential floor fight over his speakership bid.

WALKER: Republicans who oppose McCarthy include Congressman Andy Biggs of Arizona, Matt Gaetz of Florida and Ralph Norman, of South Carolina, I should say. CNN's Melanie Zanona has more from Capitol Hill.

MELANIE ZANONA, CNN CAPITOL HILL REPORTER: Good morning, Boris and Amara. So Republicans are bracing for a potentially messy floor fight in January. Under House rules, if no candidate secures a majority of the vote on the first round, then House Republicans keep voting until someone does.

Now McCarthy's critics are vowing to oppose him on the floor. And they say they have enough detractors in order to deny him the speakership. But McCarthy is saying he's not going down without a fight, and that he's going to keep fighting and go through as many ballots as it takes to get there. So this is really shaping up to be a game of chicken.

And the prospect of a messy floor fight is starting to anger some of the more moderate members who are warning that this could really undermine the GOP just as they are about to head into the new majority. They wrote in a letter to their colleagues, "Such quarrels will only delay our ability to establish a working majority in the People's House. Make no mistake. We will not allow this conference to be dragged down a path to a paralyzed House that weakens our hard- fought majority."

Now, at this point, no serious candidate or challenger has emerged, but it's not for lack of trying. I'm told that the anti-McCarthy group has been trying to recruit some challengers. They've been having informal talks with some Republicans, trying to see if they'd be interested in jumping in the race. That includes Steve Scalise, the number two Republican, as well as Jim Jordan, who is in line to chair the Judiciary Committee, and Tom Emmer, who's going to be the majority whip.

But they all said that they're supporting McCarthy and they wouldn't challenge him. However, it is really unclear what would happen if McCarthy can't get to 218 or if he drops out of the race before then. At that point, if that scenario emerges, it's likely that a number of Republicans could throw their hat into the ring. So just a ton of uncertainty hanging over the speaker's race right now. Boris, Amara?

WALKER: Melanie Zanona, thank you.

And coming up, the verdict is in. A new study shows -- why do we need the study -- that a four-day work week is good for business. Of course, it is. The lead researcher on that pilot program joining us next to discuss.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:43:11]

WALKER: All right, Boris, this next door isn't your cue to walk off the set --

SANCHEZ: No.

WALKER: -- but it is -- you're not going to leave. You have to make ready to go, stop it. It's official, a four-day work week on full pay I mean really is good for business. Of course, it is. It's good for everybody. That's just my opinion, though. And that's according to an international pilot study involving 33 campers and companies and 903 workers, including Boris, kidding.

And now, that it's over, most of them say they are unlikely to do the five-day schedule again. Yes, you just can't go back. The majority of companies gave productivity and performance a nine out of 10. And worker said they weren't as stressed or tired and that their physical and mental health improved.

Let's dig it a little deeper on this with Juliet Schor. She is the lead researcher on this study and professor of Sociology at Boston College. Good morning, Juliet. First off, thank you so much for doing this study because we do need the proof, right, to convince all the companies and all the businesses in the country to sign on to this.

Tell us more about the productivity. I just found it fascinating that according to this trial, average revenue rose 38 percent when compared to the same period last year. That is amazing. So you can correlate a four-day work week to heightened productivity?

JULIET SCHOR, LEAD RESEARCHER, 4 DAY WEEK GLOBAL: Well, we measured productivity in a couple of ways. One was we asked the companies how has the trial affected your productivity and 27 companies out of the 33 responded to this particular survey and they gave their productivity performance of 7.7.

We also asked employees at the beginning of the trial how productive did they feel compared to their lifetime bests, that is their workability compared to a lifetime best.

[08:45:07]

We asked them that again six months later and that had gone up quite significantly. So from both the employee side and also the employer side, everybody thinks productivity has gone up. And part of the reason is that the companies undergo work reorganization, before the trial starts, they try and cut out the stuff they're doing that isn't really adding that much value.

WALKER: Does four days a week actually mean less hours, though? I mean, it seems like it's just -- it doesn't mean that. SCHOR: Oh, no, absolutely. This is a four days of work, 32 hours, five days of pay trial. So it's not your compressed work week of 410s. Not every company and every person got all the way down to 32. Some of them actually started considerably above 40. We have a restaurant chain, for example, that had much longer hours than that.

But the vast majority over 90 percent said that they got a full day off most day -- most weeks and for almost the entire six months. So yes, it's a 32-hour week.

WALKER: Yes. And so why this trial then? And I asked you this, because I know that there are several European countries that have already adopted, or at least given the option of four-day work weeks, right, like Iceland and Belgium?

SCHOR: Not exactly. Iceland is at a 35 or 36-hour, although there's movement there to go all the way down to 32. Belgium has given people have of -- the option for four days, but not necessarily with fewer hours of work, so for longer days. The -- there's one other place, Sharjah in the UAE, a city there that's gone to a four-and-a-half-day week for public employees. But there really isn't a place in the world, you know, a government entity, a city or a region or a country that has yet gone to four days, 32 hours.

WALKER: Got it. What have people been saying about how this has impacted or changed their lives, being able to have three days as their weekend?

SCHOR: Employees are thrilled. 97 percent of them wanted -- want to keep with this schedule. There were four people in the trial who said they didn't have a preference for it. And when we asked them how much money it would take to get them back at the next job to a five-day week, quite a few of them required a lot of money and 13 percent said no amount of money. Another 13 percent said they need more than a 50 percent pay rise.

They're less stressed -- and by the way, it's not that their reporting being less stress, we measured their -- ask them about stress levels at the beginning and the end of the trial, less stress, less burnout, better physical health, better mental health, less negative emotions, more positive, more satisfaction, less work, family conflict, across the board, everything. They're doing a lot better with the three-day weekend.

WALKER: We have a few seconds left, but I do have to ask you because it seems like a win-win situation. Are you optimistic that this four- day work week will be adopted I guess almost universally at some point and how soon?

SCHOR: I am. I think it's going to take some time. But we're beginning to see more and more understanding that --

WALKER: Yes.

SCHOR: -- the two-day weekend is not enough.

WALKER: It's definitely not enough. Juliet Schor, appreciate you. Thank you so much. Back after this.

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[08:53:05]

SANCHEZ: It is Match Day at the World Cup. The U.S. taking on the Netherlands and Captain America Christian Pulisic is good to go.

WALKER: Andy Scholes joining us now from a watch party in Atlanta. Andy, the U.S. has their star and really, they're playing with house money at this point.

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: Yes, and I tell you what, guys, U.S. fans really want to be a part of just the festive atmosphere that today is going to bring. I'm at a Fado Irish Pub here in Atlanta. This place holds about 600 people. 7:30 a.m., a line around the building of people trying to get in here to watch the game. They're still a line.

I'll tell you what, people trying to get in here and they're going to shut it down soon. Because when you're at a bar watching the game like this, you're hanging on every moment. It's so much fun when U.S. scores a goal and it's such a festive atmosphere. And this is like I said the biggest game the U.S. has been in in eight years.

And I tell you what, I talked a lot of these fans. They're competent Team USA is going to come away with a win.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm so excited. I think we're going to win.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think there's so much pressure. I think it's one of the biggest games we'll have. So, I'm excited.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think there's a little bit of pressure but certainly more on Netherlands. On paper, I think Netherlands isn't as strong as England. So we've shoved pretty well against England, we actually probably should have won that game. So I think we got a good shot to win this one today as well.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think like the win is needed today. I mean, if we look and says we have the best defense. So I think there's a strong possibility that we might go through.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I mean, I'm really excited to be here. I'm used to watching the women's game so it's nice to see the men join in on the fun. And yes, just excited to enjoy it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHOLES: Yes, and the good news for Team USA, their star Christian Pulisic is going to be in the starting lineup after suffering that pelvic contusion scoring that 38-minute goal against Iran that put the U.S. into the knockout phase. And, you know, guys, it doesn't get any bigger than this for Team USA. They've only been to the quarterfinals twice. They made it back in 2002 and then like way back in 1930. [08:55:05]

So they've only won this game that they're in right now twice in their history. It's going to be a festive atmosphere here at Fado Irish Pub in Atlanta. And I was thinking I couldn't imagine bars across the country being more packed at 9:00 a.m. than they are right now.

SANCHEZ: That is going to be an exciting game.

WALKER: Drinking before 9:00 a.m. too.

SANCHEZ: Yes, yes, a lot of drinking today I imagine. Andy, it's going to be great if Christian Pulisic could actually have his Landon Donovan moment. He couldn't celebrate the goal last time around.

SCHOLES: Yes, he's writhing in pain. So he's hoping he gets another one today and he can get mobbed by his teammates. I tell you what, this place will go absolutely berserk if that happens.

SANCHEZ: Yes, except for what appears to be an Oompa Loompa over your left shoulder. Andy Scholes, thank you so much. Appreciate it.

WALKER: Pace yourself, Andy. Pace yourself.

SANCHEZ: Hydrate (ph) there. Hey, thank you so much for sharing part of your morning with us.

WALKER: Yes, we'll be back in an hour. Smerconish up next.

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