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Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA) is Interviewed about Biden's Speech; The Balogun Family is Interviewed about Graduating High School at the Age of Nine; AMC Prices Based on Seat Location; Biden to Deliver Second State of the Union. Aired 8:30-9a ET

Aired February 07, 2023 - 08:30   ET

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

[08:30:00]

SEN. TIM KAINE (D-VA): Infrastructure and research that's been unparalleled probably since the Eisenhower administration.

So, I think, as I go around Virginia, I think people are starting to get the hang of it. They don't yet see everything that they want to see. They're - they're - they're weary about getting their hopes up. But I think what President Biden needs to do is emphasize the wins, but say, you ain't seen nothing else. We got more to do.

KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Well, and he's expected to announce he's running for re-election So, you know very well how brutal the campaign trail can be.

KAINE: Yes.

COLLINS: How important is it for his delivery to be - to be forceful, to be vigorous tonight, to show voters that?

KAINE: I think it's important, and I think it will be, because I think he has a lot that he can promote that we've gotten done. And the good news, Kaitlan, you mentioned he has some legislative wins with the exception of the American Rescue Plan and the Inflation Reduction Act, the wins, infrastructure, chips, veterans bill, gun safety, have all been bipartisan. And so what he can say is, look, folks, I spent 36 years in the Senate, then eight years as vice president making deals, including making deals across the aisle. This is what we need in this country right now is people who are willing to work together, and I know how to do it, in a way that nobody else can match.

COLLINS: And we have Kevin McCarthy will be, the Republican House Speaker, over his left shoulder tonight.

Senator Tim Kaine, thank you so much for joining us to share your perspective on this this morning.

KAINE: You bet, Kaitlan. Glad to be with you. Thanks.

COLLINS: Really appreciate your time.

POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: I am so excited, are you, for this next story?

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Oh, yes, I was like, what are you talking about.

HARLOW: This next guest. The nine-year-old.

LEMON: I'm excited about that interview, Kaitlan just did, but this guy.

HARLOW: I'm so excited about that interview.

No, this is an - he is an academic wonder kind (ph). A nine-year-old just graduated high school and has already started college. And David Balogun will join us next.

LEMON: Smarter than us. Me for sure.

HARLOW: Definitely. Definitely both of us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:36:20]

HARLOW: Well -

LEMON: Well -

HARLOW: This is what I was excited for.

Our next guest's dream is to become an astrophysicist. He's taking the steps towards that dream. He has finished high school in under three years with a 4.0 GPA and has already finished a semester of college.

LEMON: Oh, my gosh.

HARLOW: Here's the kicker though, OK, he's nine. That is him. In addition to being one of the youngest high school graduates in the company, David Balogun is a member of MENSA, of course.

David and his parents, Ronya and Henry, join us now.

Oh my goodness.

LEMON: Good morning!

HARLOW: Good morning.

RONYA BALOGUN, MOTHER OF 9-YEAR-OLD HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATE: Good morning. Good morning.

HENRY BALOGUN, FATHER OF 9-YEAR-OLD HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATE: Good morning.

DAVID BALOGUN, 9-YEAR-OLD HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATE: Good morning.

HARLOW: Hey, David, how's college? D. BALOGUN: Good.

HARLOW: What - what was it like graduating from high school at nine?

D. BALOGUN: Well, everybody started talking about how this is an incredible accomplishment. And I was thinking how all I did is graduate. And then my mom said you - yes, you graduated at the age of nine. And -- and then I say, yes, I graduated, what's the big deal? You graduated at the age of nine. So what is the big deal?

LEMON: So, what is the big deal? Do you know what the big deal is? Or is this just normal to you? Like, you know?

D. BALOGUN: It just comes. You just -- for me, you just do it.

LEMON: Yes.

So, mom and dad, what did you do? Because every parent watching is going to be like, well, wait a minute, what did they do and what am I doing wrong? So, did you do anything special, you think, or different that put - puts David ahead of the pack?

R. BALOGUN: I think you just have to listen to your child and get outside of the box. He was the one leading the charge. He's the one that was motivated. I just had to break out of the box and think outside of the normal schooling, think outside of what people know and what I know growing up and just give him a chance to be and do what he's dreaming to be and do.

LEMON: What could you mean by that because we want to see like what specifically?

H. BALOGUN: And in addition to that -

LEMON: Sorry. Go ahead, dad.

R. BALOGUN: Go ahead, dad.

H. BALOGUN: In addition to that, there are so many factors that we saw very early when David was growing up. And he is the type that is very curious about everything. And everywhere we went, he always asked, what is this? What is that? And then if you explain and you use big words, he will want you to break it down and tell me what does that mean. And when he comes with me to my clinic, I have an outpatient psychiatric clinic, when he comes to me, I mean to the clinic, he always asks questions. Why do you do this as opposed to doing that? And what does this mean? Instead of, you know. And you have to explain without explaining, if you know what I mean, because you still have to pay attention to the requirements of the law. We keep patient information highly confidential because of the HIPAA law. And I still have to break it down for him. I never - I never said to him, shut up.

[08:40:00]

HARLOW: Yes. No.

H. BALOGUN: Or, go and do something else. No, I would take the time to break this down.

LEMON: Dad, I'm just going to make this point with Poppy, because Poppy and I were talking about it, and you as well. When - talking about when I was a kid, my mom would like make -- pull me back. I'd go talk to people.

HARLOW: Yes.

LEMON: And my dad would say, don't make him afraid of people.

HARLOW: Yes.

LEMON: Let him be curious. And you do the same thing with your kids.

HARLOW: Yes, I do.

LEMON: You don't tell them no. You let them be curious.

HARLOW: I try to say, we can't do that now, but what else could we do.

LEMON: Right.

HARLOW: Present options.

Hey, David, what do you - what do you want to be when you grow up, David?

D. BALOGUN: Well, there are a few things that I want to be. An astrophysicist, an engineer, a nuclear chemist, a software developer, to rocket engineer and what's the last one?

R. BALOGUN: A website designer.

LEMON: A website Nothing like a - I was going to say a ballplayer. That would be great, too, right?

HARLOW: Yes.

LEMON: He has all kinds of skills. I'm sure he can do it.

Hey, David, and mom and dad, we have a surprise for you. OK, are you ready?

R. BALOGUN: OK.

H. BALOGUN: Yes.

LEMON: So, one of the world's most famous scientists wants to say hi to you. Astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson is here with us.

Hi, Neil. Good morning.

R. BALOGUN: Yeah!

LEMON: We want to show (ph) you to David.

H. BALOGUN: Are you serious?

NEIL DEGRASSE TYSON, AMERICAN ASTROPHYSICIST: Hey, everybody. Hey! Hey, David.

R. BALOGUN: Good morning. Good morning.

H. BALOGUN: Hey, how are you?

TYSON: Yes. Yes. Hey.

R. BALOGUN: Hi.

TYSON: David, I was nine when I decided I wanted to be an astrophysicist, except I was still in fourth grade, OK? So (INAUDIBLE).

In case you didn't know this, it is unusual to be entering college at that grade. But the greatest value to knowing this early, what you might want to do, looks like you're giving yourself a few options there, and that's great. The greatest value is you can align decisions related to your life to feed that interest and curiosity. So that by the time you become a professional in that world, your whole life has been invested on that path and then you'll become better at that than you would anything else you can imagine.

So, I'm especially intrigued that you know what you want to be when you are grown up. But you're kind of already grown up, so I don't even know what that means.

HARLOW: David, is there anything - is there anything you want to say to the great Neil deGrasse Tyson before we got to go?

D. BALOGUN: Um.

H. BALOGUN: Well, we are really blessed to have you talk to David. I mean, he has read so much about you and heard so much about you. And every time he sees you on the TV and doing something somewhere, he's always impressed and to talk to you --

LEMON: Well, Dad, let him talk about it. Let him talk about it, dad.

R. BALOGUN: Yes, tell him about your theory.

H. BALOGUN: Go ahead. Go ahead.

R. BALOGUN: Yes, dad.

Tell him. Tell him about your theory.

H. BALOGUN: Go ahead. Tell -

LEMON: How to you feel?

D. BALOGUN: My theory?

R. BALOGUN: Yes. Go ahead.

H. BALOGUN: How do you feel?

D. BALOGUN: So, I've created -- so I was in my earth and science high school class. And I created the theory to refute the big bang theory.

HARLOW: Wow!

D. BALOGUN: So -

TYSON: We love new ideas.

D. BALOGUN: The main -- thanks.

TYSON: Go on.

D. BALOGUN: So, the main part of the theory is that matter cannot be created or destroyed. According to the big bang theory the little -- I guess you will call it balcosmiceck (ph), something like that, it was infinitely dense. Now, in order for it to be infinitely dense, it has to be constantly creating matter.

LEMON: Oh, my gosh.

HARLOW: Wow.

D. BALOGUN: But in order for it to constantly be creating matter, it would have to violate the laws of physics. And since we're technically talking about the universe, not all the space outside of the universe, then the laws of physics should still apply.

LEMON: OK. So, wait, Neil, is he -

D. BALOGUN: The second thing -

LEMON: Hang on one second because we -- we have to go, I'm sorry, David, because we are just out of time. I don't mean to be disrespectful from a nine-year-old who graduated college and is explaining how he refuted this.

Neil, is he - is he schooling you right now before -- we got to run, but an you -

TYSON: Right. Right. So, we love new ideas that challenge our previous ideas. So, in the end, David, what you have to do is come up with a way to test your idea.

LEMON: Yes.

TYSON: Then we can then hand it over to people with telescopes and space probes and this sort of thing and then we can see if your new hypothesis about the universe is correct, that that's how - that's how we do that. So, that's how we roll on the frontier of science.

HARLOW: Wow. LEMON: This -- we roll -- we have time. We have to deal with time issues here and get to breaks and pay the bills.

[08:45:01]

We're so happy to have all of you on.

David, best of luck to you.

R. BALOGUN: Thank you.

LEMON: Mom and dad, as well.

Neil, thank you. It was very kind of you to be on this morning.

R. BALOGUN: Thank you.

HARLOW: Very kind of you, Neil. My day has been made.

TYSON: Well, and, by the way -

H. BALOGUN: Thank you very much.

TYSON: A quick thing. My -

HARLOW: Yes, go ahead, Neil.

TYSON: My podcast coming to the Keswick Theater in Pennsylvania at the end of - in -- outside of Philly at the end of March. So I'd be delighted to offer your family some tickets for that.

HARLOW: Oh, that would be great!

LEMON: Well, that would be great.

R. BALOGUN: That would be amazing. Thank you very much.

TYSON: (INAUDIBLE). Yes.

H. BALOGUN: Thank you very much.

LEMON: Thank you.

HARLOW: All right -

LEMON: And we'd love to meet all of you in person, have you all come on the set.

David, keep us abreast of what you're doing. Good luck. Keep killing it. Thanks.

HARLOW: Have fun.

TYSON: All right.

HARLOW: Have fun, too. Have fun, too. R. BALOGUN: Thanks.

LEMON: Thank you.

Don't forget to be a kid, right?

HARLOW: All right. Yes, have fun too. What a great thing.

LEMON: Up next, AMC Theaters will now be charging ticket prices based on seat location. Details on the company's new policy and what it will cost you.

Maybe we should have talked to David about that and see -

HARLOW: Yes.

LEMON: Got his thoughts on that.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:50:42]

LEMON: So, it's back to movie theaters, right? Just as Americans are getting back to the movie theaters, AMC, the country's largest movie theater chain, is rolling out a new way of charging for tickets. Say what? Moviegoers will soon have the option to pay more or less depending on where they choose to sit.

So, joining us now, CNN's business correspondent Rahel Solomon.

So, wait, what is this all about?

RAHEL SOLOMON, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Right. So, the movie industry --

LEMON: Preferred seating?

SOLOMON: Exactly. Premium seating essentially. The movie industry is still trying to find that secret sauce, that it factor that gets people back into theaters. So, they've been trying different promotions, trying different ideas. AMC now saying that depending on where you sit, that will determine your price. So if you want that best seat sort of in the middle of the theater, well, you might pay a premium for that. But if you are willing to sit in the front row, maybe withstand a bit of neck pain to look up at the screen, well, you can save a bit of money there. And then the rest of the seats will all be the traditional price.

Why are they doing this? Of course to add to the bottom line. To sort of increase the average ticket price, right? Because the industry is still not where it was before the pandemic. So, the hope here is that it adds to the bottom line, but it is also not without its risk because you could turn off some consumers.

One research analyst who follows the company very closely told me, look, he is cautiously optimistic. This comment coming from Mike Hickey of Benchmark Company. He told me he is cautiously optimistic that dynamic pricing could provide an aggregate ticket price in boost but we're also concerned that it could damage the movie goer experience.

HARLOW: Is Nicole Kidman going to do a new AMC promo about this? That is all I want to know and that is for our teammate Andrew.

SOLOMON: That I don't have the answer to. I don't have the answer for that, but what I can tell you is everybody is talking about this idea, would you pay more to have a good seat. Would you guys?

HARLOW: (INAUDIBLE) Our producer is looking at me like, did I get it wrong, Andy, or something? Everybody's right. OK.

LEMON: I do. I do. The seat is right on my couch watching (INAUDIBLE).

SOLOMON: No, but it's about the experience.

HARLOW: No, go to the movies.

LEMON: Yes, I love going - I love going to the movies.

SOLOMON: It's about, you know.

HARLOW: OK.

LEMON: I'm just messing with you guys.

HARLOW: Thank you.

LEMON: Thank you, Rahel.

SOLOMON: Yes.

LEMON: See you soon.

HARLOW: All right, Van Jones is here live as we begin the countdown.

LEMON: Oh, no.

HARLOW: Don't listen to him -- to the State of the Union.

LEMON: Van's like, what?

HARLOW: Oh, he's here in-person. Yeah!

LEMON: There he is.

HARLOW: You look particularly beautiful. Don -

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:55:09]

LEMON: And we were talking -

HARLOW: Do you want to tell him what you were asking?

LEMON: I was asking where our flower arrangement was. (INAUDIBLE) table. Van is our flower.

VAN JONES, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Exactly. Yes.

HARLOW: Yes.

Tonight, President Biden will take the stage for a second State of the Union. Joining us now, CNN political commentator and former special adviser to President Obama, Van Jones.

Hi.

JONES: Hey. Good morning.

LEMON: Hi. What you looking for?

JONES: Well, first of all, as you guys know, and, Don, you're the same way, I'm happy to criticize Democrats, even though I'm a Democrat. Happy to praise Republicans, even though I'm a Democrat. You aren't going to have to fake it tonight if you're a Democrat. Joe Biden is going to be able to talk about a record of passing legislation that is historic. When you're talking about the biggest investment in climate ever, when you're talking about getting something done on gun safety, you talk about marriage equality, when you're talking about bipartisan stuff on infrastructure, there is a bunch of great stuff that he's done, but the American public is really not tuned into that. The Americans are still, I think, you know, sad about a bunch of other stuff. So, he -- he has a great case to make tonight and I think he's going to make it.

LEMON: So, yes, I don't know if you saw my interview with Kate Bedingfield at the White House. And I asked her, I said why -- why do you feel Americans aren't getting the message? And I said, is it the communications department? Is it the president? But also, is it us as well? I probably was remiss in not asking if it's the media as well.

JONES: Yes. Look -

LEMON: While I'm asking her about that, right?

JONES: Hey, look, there is real bad news to talk about. The people -- there's economic pain that's still out there. The hangover from Covid is still real. Inflation has been tough. Listen, all the police stuff that we just went through. So, there's reason for people to be sad. But, guess what, there's reason to be glad, too. The thing is starting to turn around. America's government actually has been working on some of these problems. And I think sometimes we're almost scared to be happy. We're almost scared to hope.

LEMON: Right.

JONES: And I think tonight we should start to turn that around.

LEMON: Yes, I keep wishing -- I feel like I keep wishing a recession (INAUDIBLE) we've been talking about in the country.

HARLOW: Yes.

Kaitlan, you're there. You're previewing the State of the Union.

COLLINS: Yes. Yes, we're here.

And, Van, I'm curious what you think is going to be different with the dynamic looking so different. I mean it's just going to look different with Kevin McCarthy being over President Biden's left shoulder instead of Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

JONES: Yes. Yes.

COLLINS: It's that dynamic is what I'll be watching tonight. I wonder what you make of it.

JONES: You know, it's going to be very interesting. Does Kevin McCarthy want to signal to the American people that he's a grown up, that he's there for serious business? He had a great meeting with President Biden. Does he want to follow up on that. Or is he going to start trying to play to the cheap seats? Is he going to try to signal to the base that, hey, I'm going to roll my eyes a bunch, I'm going to huff and puff a bunch, I'm going to tear up the speech, like Pelosi did. What is Kevin McCarty going to do tonight is going to be a big part, I think, of the theatrics.

And then also you're going to have a bunch of conservatives who are sitting there, you know, from the less constructive part of the Republican party. They're thinking, hey, if I throw a paper airplane or spit wad or do something nutty, I can get famous tonight. And so how - you're going to have a big dynamic where you've got -- people have been rewarded, like Marjorie Taylor Greene, for being unconstructive. Are they going to show out? Is Kevin McCarthy going to scold them? Is he get -- what's going to happen with the Republicans dealing with what I think is going to be a strong speech for a president with a strong track record to run on.

HARLOW: What about who is going to be there. You mentioned earlier in the show the Congressional Black Caucus, Van, has invited -- not only will Tyre Nichols's family be there as a guest, but other families of victims of police violence.

JONES: I think that's really, really important because the one thing that President Biden has not been able to get done, despite the incredible track record, is to get something done on police reform.

HARLOW: Right.

JONES: He did the executive order. Frankly, his executive order matches a little bit with Trump's executive order. But everybody knows the executive order is not enough. You've got to get legislation done. That is the one undone piece of business.

HARLOW: And - yes.

JONES: And I think the more pressure on that the better

HARLOW: And Cory Booker said this weekend that he and Tim Scott never stopped talking.

JONES: Yes.

HARLOW: So maybe tonight pushes that forward.

LEMON: But that's -- that's a tightrope because he has to appease the progressives in his party who want to say defund the police, although they don't talk about that anymore. That's not what President Biden has ever said and it's not an initiative for the Democratic Party.

The people who want police reform, law enforcement, he's got to, you know, walk that tight line, and also, you know, people who are concerned about crime, quite frankly.

JONES: Yes. The reality is they got very, very close and Tim Scott and Cory Booker and Karen Bassly (ph) just couldn't get the last 1 percent of it done. Given what's happened with Tyre, I think there's a reason to go forward.

Also, you do have Tim Scott, who maybe wants to run for president. This could be an opportunity for him to step up and show some leadership. You never know.

LEMON: Yes.

HARLOW: Thank you.

LEMON: Well, we look forward to it and -

JONES: Like I said, if Biden had switched on everything and wasn't able to give a good speech tonight, was going to have to spit a bunch of nonsense, I would say that. He's got good stuff to say. You can be happy tonight. Tune in.

LEMON: Is he going to talk about - we have just a couple seconds here, truth, like having a shared reality and what facts are, because that -- we've been truth challenged.

JONES: I think that there is a shared reality you can talk about. A lot of this stuff he got done was bipartisan.

[09:00:02]

It doesn't have to be a negative partisan speech.

HARLOW: Yes.

JONES: He can brag on the other party for helping him in the past and talk about how we can go forward together. This should be a good speech tonight.

LEMON: All right, Van Jones, thank you very much.

Kaitlan, we'll see you tonight and tomorrow. So, make some room, squish the chairs over for us there in Washington.

COLLINS: I'm warning you, it's a tight squeeze over here on the balcony on Capitol Hill. So, get ready.

LEMON: And it looks a little chilly.

Thanks, Kaitlan. We'll see you later.

And thank you everyone for watching. We appreciate it. Have a great day. We'll see you later on tonight for the State of the Union.

CNN "NEWSROOM" starts right now.