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CNN This Morning

Monterey Park, California Shooting; Shooting in Monterey Park Claimed At Least 10 Lives; Manhunt for Mass Shooting shooter in Monterey Park, California Underway; Monterey Park's Lunar Festival Has Been Rescinded; During a Protest in Atlanta, Police Car Was Set on Fire, 6 People Arrested; Downtown Violent Protests are Condemned by Police Chief; Mother of Fatally Shot Activist Expresses Rage and Powerlessness; Graceland to Host Public Memorial for Lisa Marie Presley; Interview with Ziprecruiter Chief Economist Julia Pollak; Some Businesses are Discontinuing Work-From-Home Policies; Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles Made it to the NFL Playoffs; Patrick Mahomes Perseveres Despite Ankle Injury leading the Kansas City Chiefs' victory; Eagles Defeat Giants 38-7; Cincinnati Bengals versus Buffalo Bills in emotional rematch. Aired 7-8a ET

Aired January 22, 2023 - 07:00   ET

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

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[07:00:47]

AMARA WALKER, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning and welcome everyone. It is Sunday January 22. I'm Amara Walker.

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Boris Sanchez. We're grateful that you are spending part of your morning with us. We begin with breaking news out of California where at least 10 people have been killed after a shooting in Monterey Park, just east of Los Angeles. Investigators say at least 10 others were injured.

We want to take you now live to the community where this happened. CNN National Correspondent Camila Bernal is live on the scene for us this morning. Camila, we heard from law enforcement officials just about 10 to 15 minutes ago and the main point that they were expressing was that they need help from the community because this suspect is still on the loose, and they don't have a description of him that they can publicize right now.

CAMILA BERNAL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: They do not, Boris. Good morning. And they say they will likely release more information in the coming hours. But as of now, all they're saying is that it was a man who was here last night at around 10:22 and began shooting. The sheriff's department describing it as people screaming and pouring out of this business.

We know it was a ballroom. It was a dance club. I talked to witnesses here on the scene who told me this is a popular dance club. People regularly come here on the weekends. We also know that they were celebrating the Chinese Lunar New Year. And so as the celebrations were going on, these shots rang out. And as you guys mentioned, 10 people killed, 10 others have been injured. We know that those injured ranged from injuries that are so stable and also critical. So we still do not know if more people will die as a result of this shooting. But we are also again expecting more updates in the coming hours in terms of what happened and in terms of the conditions of the victims.

Now, again, it is really important to point out that they do not have a person in custody. That person is on the run. During this press conference, we did ask, you know, how did this person get away. And authorities not saying whether he ran away or whether he was able to get in a car and get out of this area. But we do know that they are looking for this person.

The sheriff's department also saying that the FBI is involved in all of these. We asked many times whether this was targeted, whether they're looking into this as a hate crime. And the answer to that was we are looking into everything. Nothing is off the table at the moment.

Again, they are not giving us a motive. And so, we will have to wait and see how this all develops as we get more information from authorities. But they are looking for a male suspect in all of these. We just do not have a description. We do not know what type of weapon he used, all of that likely coming in the next couple of hours as we continue to ask and press authorities for information.

WALKER: Appreciate you being there on the ground. Camila Bernal, thank you very much.

Let's bring in Senior -- CNN Senior Law Enforcement Analyst and former Deputy Director of the FBI, Andrew McCabe and Juliette Kayyem, a CNN National Security Analyst and former Assistant Secretary at the Department of Homeland Security. Welcome to you both.

Andrew, I will start with you. And, of course, the glaring reality is that Monterey Park is an Asian majority city and that this shooting happened just as Monterey Park, the city's Lunar New Year celebrations was wrapping up at around 9:00. The shooting happening at about 10:22 in the evening. Do you believe investigators are operating on the assumption that this was possibly a hate crime?

ANDREW MCCABE, CNN SENIOR LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Well, I don't know that operating on the assumption is the right way to characterize it. I think is our -- as your reporter mentioned in the segment we just listened to, I would expect that investigators are considering that as a possibility in the same way they're considering every other possibility like a domestic violence issue that could have spilled over into the communities, all kinds of potential motives and narratives behind this horrific act.

But because it seems to have been perpetrated in an area where you have, you know, just such a high concentration of Asian American Californians and in the middle of a holiday, I mean, yes, there's a lot of indicators that point in that direction. But investigators are going to be looking for evidence of that sort of motive or intent before they draw that conclusion.

[07:05:13]

And right now, it seems that we're a long way from that without even a suspect described at this point. So they have a lot of work to do.

SANCHEZ: And Juliette, to you now, give us an idea of what it's like to be in this manhunt scenario when officials are combing through visual evidence, whether it's video or photos from this ballroom, or just witness statements. It seems like a --

JULIETTE KAYYEM, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Yes.

SANCHEZ: -- very difficult task.

KAYYEM: It is, and we're only a couple hours into it. So you're going to start as you said, with the witness statements, what did they see? Who did they see? Did they know the person? You know, to Andrew's point about the possibility that this may have been unknown assailant or complete stranger acting on a hate crime motivation is going to be relevant, then you're going to look to physical evidence, bullet, bullet casings, footprints, things left behind.

And that may lead you to a suspect, then you're going to look at the information that may be on video cameras and cell phones. And that's why they're essentially crowdsourcing this right now. Anyone who was there, anyone who was in the area may have seen someone running, may have seen someone getting into a car, and then they'll try to narrow it down.

These Manhattan's can take a while. They tend to be successful, just simply given the amount of information that is likely available to law enforcement right now. But I do want to pick up on what Andrew is saying. Because we don't know the motive, although one would put forward a hate crime and motivation, simply because of the time the area.

A lot of mayors and police departments are waking up this morning with their own events in their own cities nationwide. And this is going to be the security assessment that is going to be taken this morning right now in every police department about how they might lean in to protect communities here in Los -- at this event.

They've now obviously canceled Sunday's celebration that impacts the community. It is another another casualty so to speak of what happened last night, and this is going to be true across the nation because the community whether it was, in fact, a hate crimes motivated killing. The community is completely rational to believe that it is and law enforcement is going to have to respond.

WALKER: Yes, it makes sense to cancel the Sunday portion of the Lunar New Year celebrations --

KAYYEM: Yes.

WALKER: -- organized by Monterey Park. It's supposed to go on starting at 10:00 a.m. until 7:00 p.m. --

KAYYEM: Yes.

WALKER: -- in the evening. And again, the fact that the suspect is still on the run, obviously, that's probably a security concern to even continue with this event.

Andrew, I heard on the ground there during the news conference reporter to asking the L.A. County Sheriff's Department captain about a possible second location in the neighboring city of Alhambra. Did you -- what did you make of that? Are there any questions you have surrounding a possible second location? Have you heard anything?

MCCABE: You know, second locations and additional instances of gunfire are very common. Reports of second locations are very common in mass shootings, as we know, because we've seen and have these conversations in the immediate aftermath of mass shootings so many times in the last couple of years.

So it's not uncommon for people to send us a report of a possible second incidence. Typically, those second locations don't prove to be related to the mass shooting. Oftentimes, they don't end up being shootings at all. It can be people reacting with understanding sensitivity to loud noises and things like that and connecting the two.

So until we hear more from law enforcement about a confirmation of a second location, it's hard to assess quite honestly, Amara, at this point whether or not there was one and if there was whether it was related to this first shooting that we're aware of.

WALKER: Yes.

SANCHEZ: And Juliette, I wanted to get your thoughts on something because as we heard Captain Andrew Meyer with the L.A. Sheriff's Office there describing the timeline of events. He made --

KAYYEM: Yes.

SANCHEZ: -- no specific reference of this gunman exchanging gunfire with Police Diddy (ph). The specific order of events was that authorities arrived at this ballroom, they immediately discovered 10 deceased victims, they mobilize 10 others to hospitals, but he didn't describe actually an exchange between the gunman --

KAYYEM: No.

SANCHEZ: -- and officers. He just described patrons pouring out of that ballroom. Does that suggest anything to you? What do you gather from that?

[07:10:16]

KAYYEM: So, I found that interesting too. Look, the parade is going to be heavily fortified by police, trash trucks that keep cars out of the area. These are huge celebrations. I'm from the area. I mean, these are massive street celebrations. And so, streets would have been closed. And there would have been a strong police presence.

So the killer enters a facility that is not viewed formally as part of the New Year's celebration, or at least the public New Year's celebration, but everyone there is, of course, celebrating. So the fact that he may have chose what might -- what we have come to call a soft target may suggest that he knew the surroundings, knew what police deployment was going to look like.

And this gets back to now every city that's having an event is going to have to assess what its security posture is today because we simply don't -- we don't know what it is, but it looks like it would be a targeted attack on a Lunar New Year celebration, and not simply an, you know, something happening in a Chinatown or in an -- at a Chinese restaurant.

WALKER: Yes, I mean, like it's the Lunar New Year weekend. It's --

KAYYEM: Yes.

WALKER: It's observed and celebrated in many East Asian cultures and, of course, California with a huge Asian population. A lot of people will be waking up now in the next few hours. And, you know, this is going to be on their mind as they gather with family, and perhaps think twice about attending an event.

We're going to have to leave it there. Andrew McCabe and Juliette Kayyem, thank you very much.

KAYYEM: Thank you.

SANCHEZ: We will, of course, continue to follow the latest developments out of California and bring you any updates as we get them. CNN, of course, working together more details as we speak.

The other big story we're following this morning, the FBI finding more classified material at President Biden's Wilmington, Delaware home. We'll tell you what they found during a nearly 12-hour search on Friday coming up.

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[07:16:26]

SANCHEZ: More documents, more questions, more headaches for President Biden. An FBI searches turned up additional classified material at the President's home in Wilmington, Delaware.

WALKER: President Biden's personal attorney says agents searched the home Friday for almost 13 hours discovering six items consisting of documents with classified markings. One day earlier on Thursday, the President downplayed the controversy.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We're fully cooperating and looking forward to getting this resolved quickly. I think you're going to find there's nothing there. I have no regrets. I'm following what the lawyers have told me they want me to do. It's exactly what we're doing. There's no there there.

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SANCHEZ: Republicans who are obviously now in control of the House of Representatives were quick to react. This tweet from the account of the House Oversight Committee led by Congressman James Comer said this, quote, "Biden's White House claimed all classified documents were turned over. Now the Justice Department found more. Is the scavenger hunt over? Americans need answers now."

WALKER: White House Reporter Jasmine Wright joining us now live. Jasmine, the President's personal attorney revealing some of the documents go back to Biden's time in the U.S. Senate?

JASMINE WRIGHT, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Yes, Amara, Boris, that's right. Look, there's no doubt about it. This is a major shift in the investigation into the President's handling of classified documents for the simple fact this is the first time that we know about that the Department of Justice has actually searched one of President Biden's properties.

So his personal lawyer Bob Bauer put out that statement last night at about 7:00 p.m. acknowledging that there was a Department of Justice searched the property that they did find those additional items, six of them with classified markings on them.

And now, one thing that he was very quick to assert is the fact that this was done in complete cooperation with the Department of Justice, no subpoenas, no warrants, an official told us afterwards. Instead, President Biden actually offered up his home for the Department of Justice to search.

Now sources told CNN that it was actually conducted by the FBI for 13 hours, as you can see on the screen there, 9:45 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. While the President's personal legal team and White House Counsel were present, and that they searched living, working, and storage areas for that nearly 13-hour period. And, of course, President Biden and the First Lady were not home.

Now, I want to read you a part of this statement because it's pretty detailed. Bauer said the Department of Justice had full access to the President's home including personally handwritten notes, files, papers, binders, memorabilia, to-o lists, schedules, and reminders. going back decades.

Now the DOJ took possession of materials that deemed within the scope of its inquiry, including six items consisting of documents with classification markings and surrounding materials, some of which were from the President's service in the Senate, and some of which were from his tenure as vice president. So now, Boris and Amara, this amounts to about the fifth time the documents were found that location tied to the President. And the timeline, it's pretty expansive. Remember, the first time that they found the documents at that Biden Penn Center where he had an office after leaving the Biden administration was November 2, it is now, you know, the 22nd.

They searched Biden's property on the 20th. So it's about six weeks in between where they found the documents, when they found the last one. Again, I just want to say that they really said that they'd been in full cooperation with the DOJ really trying to put a contrast between what President Biden is doing and what former President Trump is doing with their classified documents cases. But of course, this drip, drip, drip nature is only going to continue as we've reported that there could be more areas for the DOJ to search. Boris, Amara?

[07:20:06]

WALKER: Yes, the drip, drip, drip, potentially hurting Biden's credibility. Jasmine Wright, thank you very much.

Let's break this down and what this could mean legally for the President. Joining us now to discuss is former Federal Prosecutor Michael Zeldin. Good morning to you, Michael. Thank you so much for your time. So what is your reaction? I mean, the FBI searched the President's home for nearly 13 hours and yet again, another batch of documents with the classification markings.

MICHAEL ZELDIN, FORMER FEDERAL PROSECUTOR: Well, in political terms, it's not good for the President because as everyone knows, and stories like this, you want to get out in front of it and be as fulsome in your disclosures about what's going on as you can. And here we're getting the drip, drip, drip of stuff. But legally speaking, we don't know whether this has any significance, because we don't know what documents were taken.

And what the former president at the time Vice President Biden did with those documents, whether he altered them, whether he disseminated them in any way. If this is purely a mishandling case, that is he improperly handled documents that were classified at the time they were taken. But he cooperated fully. Didn't as I say disseminate or destroy or alter in any way, then the outcome legally should be a finding that he mishandled documents, but no criminal prosecution (INAUDIBLE).

WALKER: So does legal liability come down to whether or not that these classified documents were in his possession intentionally versus unintentionally?

ZELDIN: Generally speaking, yes. The three most recent cases against Alberto Gonzales who was attorney general under George W. Bush, Sandy Berger, who was the national security adviser and former Army Petraeus -- Army General Petraeus, all come down to intentionality. Petraeus and Berger intentionally took disseminated or altered documents, they had to plead guilty. Gonzales took inadvertently and returned and he didn't have to face criminal liability. So that really is, Amara, a key linchpin of these types of cases.

WALKER: And again, you know, people continue to see -- make comparisons between Trump's handling of classified documents versus President Biden's handling of documents. Look, both of them now have special counsels investigating their handling of these documents, both their private homes, residences were searched by the FBI.

But, of course, you have one side that's been at least on the surface cooperative, while a search warrant had to be executed at Trump's Mar- a-Lago. What do you find more significant, the parallels or the differences in between Trump and Biden?

ZELDIN: From a legal standpoint, the differences are more important. It's sort of like one person is driving down the highway to rapidly has pulled over for speeding and asked for his lights since the registration cooperates. The other one is driving down the highway, recklessly driving, he gets pulled over and resists arrest. The latter is going to be in much more difficult legal jeopardy than the former.

And I think that in this case, we really have what is most significant for Trump is the obstruction of the investigation. And I think that it'll be outcome determinative between the two meaning. Trump if he faces liability, it'll be for obstruction. I don't think either of them would face liability for just the initial mishandling of the documents.

WALKER: OK, so then where does the investigation go from here?

ZELDIN: Well, what each of the special counsel have to do is look at what those documents contain, how those documents were handled, as I say whether they were disseminated to others, whether they were altered or destroyed. And whether with knowledge of the fact that you had something that you weren't supposed to have. What did you do?

Did you cooperate or did you resist? And each of those determinations will be made by the prosecutors, and they'll have to ultimately refer this back to Merrick Garland, who has to make it been a final decision about whether a charge should be brought or not.

WALKER: OK, got it. Michael Zeldin, really appreciate you joining us this morning. Thank you very much.

ZELDIN: Thank you.

SANCHEZ: Still ahead, what began as a peaceful protest turned violent in downtown Atlanta in response to a shooting at a near a proposed and controversial police training site. That left one person dead and a Georgia trooper injured. How the city's mayor is now responding.

And of course, we're continuing to follow this breaking news out of Monterey Park, California. At least 10 people killed, another 10 injured after a shooting at a ballroom dance hall. Investigators still on the hunt for a suspect. We're going to have another live update for you after a quick break.

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[07:28:53]

WALKER: And we are staying on top of the breaking news this morning near Los Angeles. Investigators are looking for a gunman they say shot and killed at least 10 people and injured at least 10 more. It happened in Monterey Park which is a suburb about 8 miles east of downtown Los Angeles.

Camila Bernal, she was near -- Camila Bernal is on the scene with more. And we know that the shooting took place near a Lunar New Year celebration that was happening there in Monterey Park, right?

BERNAL: Hey, Amara, yes. So I talked to one witness who told me that at the ballroom, at the dance studio where this shooting happened, they were celebrating the Lunar New Year and it is a place he told me that frequently has people celebrating on the weekends there.

So I just want to go through the timeline. Authorities saying this habit at around 10:22 last night. Shots were fired and when police arrived, they started seeing people just pouring out of the business, people that were screaming, Authorities saying that they were able to go inside and help some of those victims, some of the people that were injured, and total of 10 people were killed. We know that 10 others are injured and at the hospital with injuries varying from stable to critical conditions.

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[07:30:00]

So, we'll have to wait for an update in terms of those injured. Those are still in the hospital and we're waiting to see what their condition ends up being in a couple of hours.

Authorities are expected to give us an update in the coming hours. not just about the victims but also about this investigation overall, because as you mentioned, there is a suspect, but he is on the run. All authorities have said is that it is a man. They have not described who this person is or how he was able to get away from the scene. But they are looking for him. Authorities saying that not just homicide detectives are involved but the FBI is also involved in this investigation.

We specifically asked what the motive was behind the shooting if this was, in any way, targeted, or if in any way, authorities are investigating this as a hate crime. Here is what the captain with the sheriff's department had to say about that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CAPT. ANDREW MEYER, LOS ANGELES COUNTY SHERIFF'S DEPARTMENT, HOMICIDE BUREAU: As far as the suspect, knowing any of the victims, it's too early in the investigation. We do not know that information at this time.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Was it targeted?

MEYER: That's -- yes, we don't know if it's targeted. We will look at every angle. As far as whether it's a hate crime or not, it's just too early in the investigation to know whether this incident was a hate crime or not.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERNAL: and authorities are, of course, asking anyone with information to come forward as they are still looking for this suspect. In the meantime, though, authorities also saying that the Lunar New Year celebrations have been cancelled.

All of yesterday, people were celebrating in this area. They were expected to celebrate again today. All of that, of course, has been cancelled just because of the scope of this investigation and also because of the victims, the families that are grieving today and the families that are still at the hospital waiting to see what happens to their loved ones. Amara, Boris?

WALKER: Yes, and I wonder what this means for all the other new year -- the Lunar New Year celebrations that are set to take place in Los Angeles and in Garden Grove and other cities surrounding the area.

Camila Bernal, appreciate it. Thank you.

SANCHEZ: We want to pivot now to a fiery night in Atlanta where six people were arrested, Saturday, in the downtown area after a protest of a proposed police training facility nicknamed Cop City by its opponents turned violent.

WALKER: Video from the demonstrations showed a police car on fire as protesters marched in the street. No one was injured. But police say, several businesses were damaged. Let's go now to CNN's Nick Valencia in Atlanta.

Nick, last night's violence comes days after the shooting death of a demonstrator after police say he fired on law enforcement officers. What are officials saying?

NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right. Good morning, Amara.

They're denouncing what happened here last night, saying that they support peaceful demonstrations. But the chaos that erupted here in Downtown Atlanta on Saturday night was anything but. In fact, speaking to the media, Mayor Andre Dickens said that several of the demonstrators arrested yesterday were from outside the city of Atlanta.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYOR ANDRE DICKENS, (D-ATLANTA): Make no mistake about it, these individuals meant harm to people and to property. Now, we continue to protect the right to peacefully protest. We will not tolerate violence or property destruction. My message is simple to those who seek to continue this type of criminal behavior, we will find you and we will arrest you, And you will be held accountable.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VALENCIA: now, hundreds of demonstrators showed up here in Downtown Atlanta to protest against the construction of the proposed Cop City, which is a training facility for Atlanta Police and Fire Department about 85 acres or $90 million. It would be the largest facility of its kind in the country.

They also were remembering the legacy of one of their own activists who was shot and killed earlier this week at the sight of this proposed facility. Manuel Teran known affectionately by his -- their activist friends as "Tortuguita" was shot and killed by police. They say, police say, that he shot -- or they shot, rather, first and they only returned fire. Activists are denying that police narrative, saying that he was a known pacifist.

In fact, his mother believes the police were aggressors in this incident as well. I spoke to her while this violence was occurring last night, saying that denounced what was happening, the destruction of property. Saying, non-violent ways are the only way to stop the construction of this facility. She is planning oncoming from Panama City to the United States to join this movement, she says.

And also very quickly, Boris and Amara, she's trying to talk to human rights lawyers later this morning to see what her options are going forward to find justice for her child. Amara, Boris.

WALKER: Just an awful situation all around.

Nick Valencia, appreciate you being on the ground there. Thank you.

VALENCIA: You got it.

WALKER: Well, next hour, a public memorial for Lisa Marie Presley will be held in Memphis at Graceland where family and friends and fans of the late singer can come and pay their last respects.

[07:35:00]

SANCHEZ: Presley, the only daughter of Elvis and Priscilla Presley, passed away on January 12th at the age of 54 after she suffered cardiac arrest at her home. CNN National Correspondent Nadia Romero is live for us in Memphis, Tennessee this morning.

Nadia, what are you seeing there? It looks like there's already a display behind you and people have already lined up?

NADIA ROMERO, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Boris and Amara. This is going to be a day full of somber memories, but also a lot of smiles as they celebrate the life of Lisa Marie Presley. And we came out last night to talk to people who were putting down these flowers and candles and posters. And one woman who wrote this on it, you can see it says RIP, LMP, Lisa Marie Presley. Love, Katie (ph) on January 21, 2023.

So, these messages largely for Elvis, but now you're seeing new ones pop up for lisa marie presley. Now, you won't be able to get in. On the other side of this famed stone wall is Graceland. And they're not opening the doors until 8:00 a.m. local, 9:00 a.m. eastern time. But people started lining up at 2:00, 3:00 in the morning. We're talking six hours before they'll even be able to get in to see that public memorial.

And I want you to take a look. Michael Humphries (ph) has our mass cam, he's going to show you that line that line that has just been building for hours. Look at all the people who have come from near and far just to be a part of this moment to honor Lisa Marie Presley, but also just to be here for what many people told me that this is history. This is celebrating the life of someone they consider to be a part of an American royal family, like the Jacksons, the Osmonds (ph), the Kennedys, the Presleys. And so, they wanted to be here for this moment.

Now, we know that Lisa Marie Presley is most known for being the daughter of the king of rock n roll, Elvis, and being married to the king of pop, Michael Jackson, and other famous marriage to Nicholas Cage in the 2000s. Being married four times, having four children. But two women told me, she's a star in her own right as well. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHERRI CHILDS, FAN FROM CLEVELAND: She looked just like Elvis. And she had so many talents herself. And she was absolutely beautiful person inside and out.

CHRISTIE ABRAMS, FAN FROM TAMPA: Lisa Marie Presley, I really enjoyed her music and I loved her father's music. And I would love to come and pay my respects and leave a flower for her.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMERO: And a lot of people did just that. We're expecting some big- time Elvis impersonators to be here today. But there is a lot of talk about what is surrounding this looming question about her death. Did she -- we know that she went to the hospital suffering from cardiac arrest, but the autopsy has been deferred, meaning that they're still looking for that exact cause of death. So, people here tell me they're definitely curious. They want to know what happened to Lisa Marie Presley, but today is about celebrating her life. Boris, Amara?

SANCHEZ: Yes, a life tragically cut short. Nadia Romero reporting live from Graceland. Thank you so much.

WALKER: Well, as the world shifts back from pandemic policies, many companies are looking to bring employees into the office. But getting workers to leave the comfort of their own homes, well, of course, it may be harder than we all assume it will be hard, right? Well, let's discuss it next.

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[07:40:00]

WALKER: So, many Americans have grown accustomed to the comforts of being able to work from home. But now, one of the country's biggest advocates for those policies is now taking a step back, at least for some. Citigroup CEO, Jane Fraser, says her company is bringing some of its less productive staff back into the office for coaching. However, that does not mean the bank is abandoning its hybrid work policy or making any formal changes.

Joining me now to discuss is Julia Pollak. She is a chief economist at ZipRecruiter. Good to see you. Thank you so much for joining me, Julia. So, earlier this month --

JULIA POLLAK, CHIEF ECONOMIST ZIPRECRUITER: Good morning, Amara.

WALKER: -- Disney's CEO, Bob Iger, he told hybrid employees that they must return to corporate offices four days a week starting March 1st, stressing the importance of in-person collaboration. When you look at the data surrounding the productivity of those who work from home, tell me what you're seeing.

POLLAK: So, there's a very interesting challenge here for employers. On the one hand, when you post a job remotely, you get a huge recruiting benefit. So, 50 percent increase in engagement on your job posting and twice as many quality candidates. And that's because your job can appeal to people across the entire country. But here is the other problem, among the lowest performing candidates, there is a clear preference for remote work. If you want to work from home and work while stoned, well, then you want to do it from home where no one can monitor you.

WALKER: OK. Well, and in a piece in "The New York Times" you say many, many companies in recent months insisted that people come back to the office five days a week, only to reverse that mandate within about a week after hearing that they lose their best and their brightest. Are we seeing a huge shift in the mindsets of employees who now see working from home almost as a requirement more than a perk?

POLLAK: So, we've seen the share of workers who want to work remotely stay very steady across the entire year. So, 60 percent of job seekers on ZipRecruiter want remote work at any one time. But here is the thing, we just did a survey of workers who were hired in the last six months that allows us to see where people are moving to. And the number one work arrangement now among recent hires is hybrid work. So, 39 percent of people hired in the last six months took a job that allows them to work in the office three or four days a week and at home the rest of the time.

[07:45:00]

So, that's a huge increase, about 40 percent increase over where they were before. Only 28 percent worked in a hybrid situation before.

WALKER: Yes. So, what kind of tools do companies have to determine workplace productivity, productivity on an employee by employee basis?

POLLAK: Well, it's -- you know, it's a very big challenge. And many companies are struggling. That said, you know, being in the physical office is not necessarily a good measure of productivity. Often it -- it's far more illustrative of whether you're actually available or whether your logged in on slack.

So, this is something that the companies are trying to figure out how to do. One of the reasons people so like to work remotely is because of the autonomy, because of the sense of trust, because their employers are basically saying, we trust you to do your job. We know you're an adult.

And so, when companies install some monitoring technology on their employee's computers, that triggers a huge backlash. Employees don't like that at all. And so, companies need to find ways to incentivize and inspire productivity and to reward productivity, right, real productivity, to measure objective output rather than just figure out who is working by seeing who is standing in the office.

WALKER: Yes. I mean, look, I have to say from personal experience, there is something to be said about the autonomy being home and also not being distracted, right, when you see co-workers and --

POLLAK: Right.

WALKER: -- you know, shooting the breeze for however long. But I do understand the whole person to person collaboration is extremely important. But lastly, can you tell us more about how companies feel about work from home practices and in general, you know, when it comes to productivity and profitability, has it remained pretty stable?

POLLAK: So, there are still very mixed reviews on remote work from management and leadership. Some of our clients have converted in- person jobs and call center jobs like customer service rep and insurance agent to remote jobs, and they've seen a huge improvement in recruitment and retention and productivity.

And also, of decrease in wage growth pressure, right. Because now they can recruit people from lower cost parts of the country and also workers see the opportunity to work remotely as the equivalent of a 10 percent pay increase. And so, they don't actually ask for as much pay. On the other hand, there are some companies that haven't found a way to get people to collaborate and coordinate well online and that are still struggling with that technical problem.

WALKER: Julia Pollak, appreciate your time. Thank you.

POLLAK: Thank you.

WALKER: And we will be right back.

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[02:50:00]

WALKER: The Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles are moving on now a win away from reaching Super Bowl LVII.

SANCHEZ: Let's head out to Buffalo now where CNN's Coy Wire is there watching the play off rematch between the Bengals and the Bills.

Coy, we know you're pumped to talk about your Bills, the team you played for. But first, we got to talk about Chiefs' quarterback Patrick Mahomes and his ankle.

COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT: Yes, probably a cankle this morning, a little bit of swelling. Boris and Amara, good morning to you.

Patrick Mahomes is the driving force behind Kansas City, making it to five straight conference championship games, but now he's got this injury. And he's going to be battling it from here on out. Mahomes and his Chiefs hosting the red hot Jags on a cold afternoon at Arrowhead Stadium and this is the play that had 70,000 plus fans holing their collective breath.

Arden Key's full weight landed on Mahomes' ankle late in the first. And Mahomes limps off the field, visibly upset. But after missing after almost the entire second quarter, he would check back in the game. Tough. And he puts on one of the gutsiest performances of his career. He touched down passed in the fourth quarter there, secured a 27-21 win for KC. They're moving on.

Meanwhile, the Eagles, looking every bit like that, mean green team that won 13 to 14 games the start the season. Top seed. Coming off of a bide, they're feeling rested and they're running all over the Giants last night. 268 yards on the ground, Jalen Hurts his injured shoulder, looking just fine. His Eagles scoring touchdowns on four of their first five drives. Games was over by half-time. Philly wins 38 to 7, back in the NFC title game, for the first time, since winning the Super Bowl in 2018.

The Bills and Bengals playoff game here in Buffalo today will be intense. First meeting between the teams since Damar Hamlin's near fatal collapse when they met 20 days ago. And here's star offensive lineman, Dion Dawkins talking about Damar's remarkable recovery and how that has made this tight team even tighter.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DION DAWKINS, BUFFALO BILLS OFFENSIVE LINEMAN: He's won and she's till winning. And then that just goes -- just into a confidence bank for us that, you know, like we see our brother every day and that, you know, things are pushing closer to why we said that we wanted to start playing ball. And that's to, you know, get as close and then win the whole thing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WIRE: Damar Hamlin and his number three have become a symbol for spreading love everywhere. There's a mural near Buffalo's Larkin Square, two stories high, about 100 people rolled through just in the hour or so that we were there yesterday. Artist, Adam Zyglis says, it's dedicated to all the people, Amara and Boris, who have come together to support Damar and Buffalo Bills, favored at home here today against the Bengals.

WALKER: That's so -- it's been so heartwarming to see all that. Coy, thank you so much.

SANCHEZ: Thanks, Coy.

[07:55:00]

WALKER: All right. Before we go, we do want to update you on the breaking news we've been following all morning out of Monterey Park, California, just outside of Los Angeles. At least 10 are dead, 10 more injured after a mass shooting at a ballroom dance hall in downtown Monterey Park. We are told the suspect is still on the run. Police have not given out a description of him.

SANCHEZ: Yes, it's important to put this into context. It all happened near a Lunar New Year festival. That festival was supposed to extend into today. It has now been canceled after the shooting. We want to point out we have a CNN crew that is on the scene that is monitoring for updates. Of course, we're digging at every angle to try to bring you the very latest. We're going to continue to update you throughout the day right here on CNN. Our coverage continues in just seconds with CNN's Abby Phillip.

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[08:00:00]