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CNN This Morning

Blinken Arrives in Middle East; New Report on Gun Control and Deaths; Jobs Report for December; Pam Seagle is Interviewed about Flight 1549. Aired 8:30-9a ET

Aired January 05, 2024 - 08:30   ET

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

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[08:30:10]

PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN ANCHOR: Well, just hours from now, Secretary of State Antony Blinken will arrive in the Middle East to begin his fourth trip to the region since the October 7th Hamas attacks in Israel. His visit comes as fears are rising that the Israel-Hamas war could erupt into a much broader conflict after a suspected Israeli attack on a senior Hamas leader in Beirut, twin ISIS explosions near the graveside of an Iranian commander and Iran-backed Houthi attacks on commercial shipping in the Red Sea. Also, a drone attack on a pro- Iranian - Iraqi militants in Baghdad, which the U.S. says it was behind because it blames the group for its recent attacks on American troops.

At the same time, Israel is unveiling its plans for the next phase of its war in Gaza, including a new combat approach in the north and sustained focused on targeting Hamas leaders in the south.

CNN's Oren Liebermann joins us now from the Pentagon.

Oren, there is a lot to unpack here. What's on the secretary of state's plate? How is he going to handle this in the days ahead?

OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, Phil, Secretary of State Antony Blinken's goal here, at least part of his goal, is to find some way forward here without escalating tensions in the region, or at least trying to contain potential conflicts that could very easily grow into open war. And look here at the challenge he has ahead of him. And this is just in the last week.

As you pointed out, on Thursday, so yesterday, the U.S. took a strike in Baghdad that killed the commander of a pro-Iran militia. Those strikes have angered the Iraqi government in the past. They've called it an infringement of Iraqi sovereignty. Just a day before that, there was a major ISIS terror attack in Iran. Iran blaming Israel, at least in part for that, saying they'll respond. A day before that, an Israeli strike in Beirut, in Lebanon, killed a senior Hamas leader there. Both Israeli and Lebanese officials warning there could be open war if there isn't some sort of arrangement found on that border. And then two days before that, U.S. Navy helicopters sank three Houthi boats that fired on the U.S. military and were approaching a commercial vessel in international shipping lanes.

All of these are essentially across the Middle East. The U.S. sees Iran as largely responsible here for the attacks on U.S. forces and on international shipping lanes. But the U.S. is trying to find a way forward, grappling with how to respond to these without sparking a wider conflict. And that is part of Blinken's challenge here as he meets with the Saudis, the Qataris, the Egyptians and more, as well as, of course, the Israelis and the Palestinians, because that war is very close to the three-month mark here, Phil.

MATTINGLY: Yes, an enormously consequential trip, as they all have been over the course of the last several months.

Oren Liebermann, live from the Pentagon, thank you.

AUDIE CORNISH, CNN ANCHOR: This morning, the community reeling in Perry, Iowa, after the deadly high school shooting Thursday that killed a sixth grader and wounded five others, including the principal. Schools in the area are now shut down. Police say the 17- year-old shooter, Dillon Butler, died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. ABC News reports his friends say he was bullied.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He got tired - he got tired of the bullying. He got tired of the harassment.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We tried to be there when he needed us, which clearly we weren't there for him enough.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: Now first on CNN, a new study on gun violence reports nearly 300,000 lives could potentially be saved over the next decade if every state enacted stronger gun control laws, like in New York and California.

CNN's Omar Jimenez joins us now.

So, tell us a little bit more about this report.

OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, so this study from Every Towns, the gun violence prevention non-profit, essentially looked at the state gun death rates from the CDC and compared them with the strength of the gun policies and laws for each of these states and essentially created a score or a ranking. So, when you look at some of those top states, California, New York, Illinois, for example, again, a composite of gun death rate and gun law strength. And at least for California and New York, they had some of the lowest gun death rates in the country, which includes homicides, suicide and accidental killings, which is interesting because they have the two largest cities in the country as well. On the other end of the spectrum, Arkansas was ranked last because of their weaker gun laws and high gun death rate there.

Now, when it comes to the laws that they studied, Every Town essentially looked at five foundational ones. So, that's requiring background checks, that's securing -- secure firearm storage, that's rejection of stand your ground laws, extreme risk laws. They could take away someone's access to firearms if they're deemed to be a threat to themselves or others. There are other metrics, but those are sort of the foundational ones. And based on the implementation of those, they claim that nearly 300,000 lives could be saved over the next decade if every state followed the example of some of those top ranked states, like California and New York.

MATTINGLY: I mean, again, too much experience in Washington here. California and New York and try and tell states that don't have their gun laws, that's what you should be like, and you're going to anger a lot of people. What do they want this report to spark, if anything?

JIMENEZ: Well, one of the distinctions they drew is that a lot of people look to the U.S. Congress for action when it comes to gun violence and gun bills.

[08:35:04]

But there's a lot of action happening at the state level.

So, Michigan, for example, Governor Gretchen Whitmer signed a number of gun violence prevention bills, including requiring background checks for all gun sales, secure firearm storage, keeping guns out of the hands of convicted domestic users. Their score on this ranking went up as a result.

Meanwhile, states like Florida and Nebraska, essentially said you don't have to have a permit to open carry in public anymore. Their rankings went down by Every Town's standards.

But the key thing to look for here, is because those just passed in 2023, is how are those passages going to affect the gun death rates in many of these states. And this study affirms sort of the first version of it, which is that they believe the weaker gun laws are directly correlated with higher deaths -- gun death rates.

MATTINGLY: Omar Jimenez, thank you.

JIMENEZ: Yes. Of course.

CORNISH: This just in, the final jobs report of 2023. We'll break down the numbers and the state of the economy as we kick off the new year.

MATTINGLY: And it's been nearly 15 years since Captain Sully pulled off one of the greatest emergency landings with the history - in history with the "miracle on the Hudson." Up next, we're going to speak with someone who recounts what it was like to be on that plane.

Stay with us.

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CORNISH: This just in, the final jobs report of 2023 showing the economy added 216,000 jobs.

We're going to bring in CNN anchor and business correspondent Rahel Solomon.

Welcome back.

RAHEL SOLOMON, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Good morning.

CORNISH: All right, so, first, help us understand the connection between the jobs numbers and everything else. How should we think about it?

SOLOMON: Yes, I mean they're super important, right? They tell us - I mean you think about the consumer being the backbone of the U.S. economy.

CORNISH: But they kind of have (ph) automatic good news, right, like --

SOLOMON: No, they're not. And I can tell you that the future, last I checked, were actually down on this news. So, let's put this in perspective. So, 216,000 for the month of December, that is hotter than we were expecting. I don't know if you guys are feeling a little warm right now, but this was a hotter than expected report. The expectation was closer to about 160,000. The unemployment rate sort of remained at 3.7 percent.

And we can show you the unemployment rate over the last few years or so. And, guys, we've been in this really tight range, as you can see. So, that spike was, of course, the pandemic. And now you see that we've been sort of below 4 percent for almost two years. I mean we've been at or below 4 percent for unemployment, which is very low, since January of 2022.

If you look at the sectors where we added job, you can see they're some of the sectors that we expected, health care, government, construction. Government adding 52,000 jobs. Health care, 38,000 jobs. And construction.

Wages, which, of course, have inflationary impacts and implications. Wages increased as expected, 0.4 percent on an annual basis.

So, what this means broadly is, it's still a hot labor market, it is still a strong labor market. But when you step out and look at the broader picture, you do start to see some cooling on the fringes. So, you look at job postings, for example. Those have started to fall. We haven't seen layoffs like some had been expecting, but we're seeing job postings start to fall. So, it may not be as easy to find another job, but by and large you're still looking at a pretty robust labor market.

MATTINGLY: So, I mean, I thought we'd secured mission accomplished on the soft landing, goldilocks, we nailed that one down. You mentioned that there are peripheral elements too that are being considered. How's the Fed looking at this given what Jay Powell said just last month? SOLOMON: Yes. No, it's a great question. So, a hotter than expected

report sort of increases the likelihood that when we do see rate cuts, it's going to be later in 2024, right? So, we have, I want to say, seven or eight Fed meetings next year. And so the hope had been, well, maybe if this was a cooler job report we would start to see rate cuts, maybe in March, maybe in April. This is starting to look like we may start to see them actually later in the spring, earlier in the summer. So, those are the implication because it's still a strong labor market, it's still a strong economy, because you have to remember, the labor market powers consumer spending, right. Consumer spending is two-thirds of the U.S. economy. So, if people are employed, people are having their wages go up, they can spend. That that, of course, has an inflationary impact.

CORNISH: Consumer spending is meaningful in terms of how people feel about the economy. Help us with the disconnect. Why do these big numbers not kind of translate to people at home?

SOLOMON: One word, inflation, right? I mean, you are still seeing -- even though we're seeing inflation, the price rises cool, they're still higher prices by and large, are still higher than they were a few years ago. People, of course, know that. Even in the last CPI report, Consumer Price Index report, you still saw prices for categories like shelter, rent, for example, the cost to put a roof over your head, that still continues to go up. That's going to take some time. Food prices, grocery price, those are still going up. And so even though most people by and large, at least according to the data, are meaningfully employed, you still have to go to the grocery store and eat, and it's more expensive. You still have to put a roof over your head, and it's still expensive.

On the bright side, though, gas prices, about $3 a gallon right now on average. That's lower than it was a month ago. That's lower than it was a year ago. And so that's helping. But I think until inflation is really in the rearview, until people don't feel like, gosh, it's so expensive to buy most things, it's still going to be that disconnect.

CORNISH: All right, Rahel, thank you.

MATTINGLY: Thanks, buddy.

CORNISH: Now this month will mark 15 years since Captain Chelsey Sullenberger executed one of the most famous emergency landings in modern aviation history. You'll remember he landed U.S. Airways Flight 1549 in the mid of the Hudson River after it struck a flock of birds and lost all engine power. All 155 people onboard survived in what the FAA called the most successful ditching in aviation history.

MATTINGLY: Now, this Sunday on "THE WHOLE STORY WITH ANDERSON COOPER," we'll look back on the harrowing details of that fateful day. And in exclusive interviews with the crew and passengers, we'll look at how their lives were changed forever.

Here's a preview.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: About ten years before I had been on a really, really turbulent flight. And when I was on that flight, there was a pilot who was a passenger. He leaned over to me and he said, ma'am, do not worry about turbulence.

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He said, all we worry about in the cockpit are birds and fire.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The birds had been completely consumed by the engines.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And that burning smell came into the airplane.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: For whatever stupid reason, I took off my seatbelt. And I went over and I looked out the window. The engine's still there, but it's not running.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What was most frightening to me was the silence. There was no engine noise.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And we could feel our blood pressure shoot up, our pulse spike, our perceptional field narrow and tunnel vision because of the stress.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I knew without a shadow a doubt that life was over.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I honestly thought that I was going to die.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I thought this was it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MATTINGLY: Joining us now is one of the passengers from Flight 1549, Pam Seagle.

Pam, one, thank you for joining us. Two, I was thinking when we were - kept going through research before this segment, I'm very -- can't wait to watch it. This flight was part of your work routine. You said, though, that on that day something felt off.

PAM SEAGLE, PASSENGER, FLIGHT 1549: Yes, it was -- so you have to remember, this was the height of the financial crisis. I worked for Bank of America. We were merging with what was then Merrill Lynch. And you flew up every Sunday or Monday, you came up to New York from Charlotte. You worked three or four days and then you went back. So, this was routine. This was something that I was doing every day for the past three or four months.

But on that Sunday night, prior to this flight, I had a dream. And in this dream I'm standing - I'm on a bank of water - I don't know if it's a river or it's a lake, but I'm standing on the water and I watch a plane go down. And it was frightening. And it woke me up. And I told my husband about it and I said, I don't - I don't know if I can get on that flight tomorrow morning, that Monday morning. Got to Charlotte airport and this is - you still had paper tickets.

You know, you didn't have digital. I walked to the gate. And I got there and I handed - and I pulled it back. I couldn't do it. I was just too frightened to actually get on that flight. So, I went back home and I was convinced that I was going to turn on the news, probably CNN, and watch that this plane had gone down. And it didn't. So, Tuesday morning, yes, I felt a little bit foolish, but got back, resumed my travel schedule, flew back up to New York on that Tuesday. And so everything seemed fine other than that was still kind of lingering, this feeling.

And then the other thing that was a little odd and off that day was that everyone knew that flight. So, when you did that -- that routine, it was the same thing all the time. You went to the same gate. You kind of sat in the same space. You ate at the same restaurant. And they moved the gate. And I know gates get moved all the time. But for those of us where it was very routine, that was off. That was odd. We had a delay, and they moved us to a gate. So, I was feeling uneasy when I got on. I'm not a comfortable flyer anyway. So, feeling just a little bit more off that day.

CORNISH: Must be strange to re-live this, right, to have this conversation and describe it all over again. How have those experiences changed you?

SEAGLE: So, there's - you know, there was the small impacts in the early days. There was the having to be more educated about flying, having to understand the aircraft, paying attention to where I was. But then there's the more significant impacts. And those came over time. And one of the most important things, as I mentioned, you know, I was there, I was working for Bank of America at the time. They came to us -- I was on a work trip - and said, what do you need? Do you need mental health? Do you want to continue flying back and forth to New York? Do you want to do something different with your life? And it was that intervention that helped me say, you know what, I'm not enjoying my job. I do want to quit.

CORNISH: Were you feeling the stress? Was it, like, happening in real time? Was it affecting your mental health?

SEAGLE: Yes. I mean, it was -- you couldn't sleep. It was difficult. You had - I had to form a narrative in my head. I had to come up with what happened. Part of it, I remembered. Part of it was filled in. So, people would say, no, you said this, or you - you went there. And then suddenly you become -- and that becomes your story. But it was surreal in the early days. It was almost as if it -- it didn't feel like it had actually happened. So, I had to create and tell myself what had happened. I did not get, you know, any mental health counseling at the time. I dealt with it. I learned breathing techniques. And I had to take some control. I had to learn to do that.

But when this job opportunity presented, and now, you know, I travel the world and I was given this opportunity to help women and I run global women's programs for Bank of America, and I traveled. And so I had to go to Haiti and India and Japan and Singapore and Brazil. And all these places required getting on a flight. I had to get over that fear. In the early days, I couldn't even touch the mouse when I was making the reservation. I would sweat and I would -- it was really, really difficult. But now, you know, I've learned to do it. Now I can get on there. And I had to create a new normal that planes don't fall out of the sky and they take off and land.

[08:50:01]

So, that's my new normal.

MATTINGLY: That's a good, new normal at that. An unbelievable story at the time, both for you personally, but also for everybody on that plane.

Thanks so much for coming in. We can't wait to watch.

SEAGLE: Thank you.

MATTINGLY: You have to be sure to tune in. An all-new episode of "THE WHOLE STORY WITH ANDERSON COOPER," one whole hour, one whole story, airs Sunday at 8:00 p.m. Eastern and Pacific only on CNN.

CORNISH: And right now a storm is forming in the Gulf of Mexico and it's expected to bring severe storms to the south and snow up north. Around 20 million people under winter storm alerts. And there's also a flood threat across the south today and severe storm threat for the Gulf Coast.

MATTINGLY: Well, tomorrow marks three years since the attack on the U.S. Capitol, but today some Americans believe January 6th may have been an inside job. That's a lie. We're going to break down the reality of what happened on that faithful day in Washington, next.

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MATTINGLY: Tomorrow will mark three years since thousands of Americans lied to by the president of the United States and their elected representatives perpetrated an assault on the building that has come to symbolize democracy across the globe and the men and women who work on its grounds.

That's not an opinion. And it's not an interpretation.

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And it's not one side of a debate. It is an unequivocal, demonstrable fact.

Here's some others. Nearly 700 January 6th defendants have pleaded guilty to federal crimes ranging from trespassing to violent assaults on police. Another 130 have been convicted at trial. One hundred and forty officers guarding the Capitol that day reported physical injury. The actual number with physical injuries or grappling with trauma is far higher according to the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) MATTHEW GRAVES, U.S. ATTORNEY FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA: The siege of the Capitol is likely the largest single day mass assault of law enforcement officers in our nation's history.

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MATTINGLY: These are facts, unequivocal, demonstrable, which is why this "Associated Press" headline was so jarring this week, "one attack, two interpretations, Biden and Trump both make the January 6th riot a political rallying cry."

There aren't, in fact, two interpretations here. There's what happened and then there are lies. But the point of the actual "AP" story itself should be jarring because it helps explain. "The Washington Post"/University of Maryland polling this week that laid bear the reality of this moment, for this nation, about that day. More than seven in ten Republicans say too much is being made of the attack and that it's, quote, "time to move on." Fewer than two in ten say the January 6th protesters were, quote, "mostly violent." Thirty-four percent of Republicans say it's probably or definitely true the FBI instigated the attack. For one, there's zero violence - or zero evidence of that last one, despite its rampant prevalence in conservative conspiracy circles. Circles that include Republican members of Congress.

Here's the FBI director last fall.

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CHRISTOPHER WRAY, FBI DIRECTOR: If you are asking whether the violence at the Capitol on January 6th was part of some operation orchestrated by FBI sources and/or agents, the answer is emphatically not.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You're saying no?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MATTINGLY: But, here's the thing more broadly, viewing that day through the lens of a campaign or politics at all is exactly why the country is in this place. Republicans have made a political calculation, one tied directly to their 2024 frontrunner runner's grip on the party.

So, let's try this. Put aside campaigns. Put indictments aside too. Hell, put the former president aside for a moment. Here are Republicans, in their own words, on or shortly after that day.

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REP. MIKE GALLAGHER (R-WI): I am sheltered in place in my office because we have protesters who have stormed the Capitol.

This is banana republic crap that we're watching happen right now.

(END VIDEO CLIP) MATTINGLY: That was Congressman Mike Gallagher, a Wisconsin Republican. He's not a rabid pro-Trump MAGA lawmaker. He has said he won't support Trump in 2024 on account of his age, but that, what he described, is the reality of that day.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. KEVIN MCCARTHY (R-CA), FORMER HOUSE SPEAKER: These men and women in the uniform, they got overrun. One officer got killed. I wouldn't doubt that they got broken arms. You don't understand what was transpiring at that moment and that time.

They scaled walls, they brought ropes. They were scaling the scaffolding. They overtook the place.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MATTINGLY: That was Kevin McCarthy, a week after the attack. He's currently unemployed, but he was once the House speaker and did more than any other Republican to halt the party's break from Trump after January 6th. McCarthy endorsed Trump last month for what he described was the reality of that day.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOSH HAWLEY (R-MO): And the criminals who did it ought to be prosecuted, as they are being, and ought to be given the full measure of the law.

You're not going to get anything but condemnation from me for what happened with those criminals at the Capitol on January 6th.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MATTINGLY: That was Senator Josh Hawley, a month after the attack, as the Senate weighed impeachment of the former president. Hawley endorsed Trump last month over what he described was the reality of that day.

"Mark, I was just told there's an active shooter on the first floor of the Capitol. Please tell the president to calm people. This isn't the way to solve anything." That was a text from a lawmaker to Trump's chief of staff, Mark Meadows, as the attack was taking place. That lawmaker was Marjorie Taylor Greene. She endorsed Trump the day he launched his 2024 campaign for what she described was the reality of that day.

And here's Senator Ted Cruz the day before the first anniversary of the attack.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. TED CRU (R-TX): We are approaching a solemn anniversary this week. And it is an anniversary of a violent terrorist attack on the Capitol where we saw the men and women of law enforcement demonstrate incredible courage. (END VIDEO CLIP)

MATTINGLY: That was the reality of that day. It was unequivocal. It was demonstrable. It is now political. Think that's an exaggeration? Remember those Cruz comments we literally just played for you? This is Ted Cruz the very next night.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TUCKER CARLSON, FORMER FOX NEWS ANCHOR: You called this a terror attack when, by no definition, was it a terror attack. That's a lie. You told that lie on purpose.

[09:00:01]

And I'm wondering why you did.

SEN. TED CRUZ (R-TX): Well, Tucker, thank you for having me on.

CARLSON: Of course.

CRUZ: When you aired your episode last night, I sent you a text shortly thereafter and said, listen, I'd like to go on because the way I phrased things yesterday, it was sloppy and it was frankly dumb.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MATTINGLY: The key point, they know better. They all know better.

CORNISH: Phil, thanks for showing that tape. It's important.

MATTINGLY: Everybody, have a great weekend, and thanks for having out this week.

CORNISH: Thank you for having me.

MATTINGLY: Always great to be with you.

"CNN NEWS CENTRAL" starts right now.