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CNN Tonight
Leak Suspect Is Arrested; DOJ Is Asking Supreme Court To Intervene On Abortion Drug Ruling; Do We Define Ourselves By Our Jobs?; Protests In France Ahead Of Court Ruling On Raising Retirement Age; CNN Presents "On The Lookout." Aired 11p-12a ET
Aired April 13, 2023 - 23:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[23:00:00]
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ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN HOST: Hi, everyone. Thanks for tuning in for this hour where we bring you "Tomorrow's News Tonight." We have our great lineup of reporters to show their scoops. We've got Shimon Prokupecz, Arlette Saenz, Harry Enten, and Zain Asher. Great to have all of you with me here tonight.
Okay, so let's start wit this suspected leaker of a trove of classified Pentagon documents who is now in custody. Tonight, the FBI arrested 21-year-old national guardsman Jack Teixeira outside this Massachusetts home. Teixeira was reportedly the leader of a tightknit online community of gamers, many of them teenagers, with whom he shared these military secrets.
Shimon Prokupecz has been covering this story for us. So, Shimon, this 21-year-old is now in FBI custody for disseminating top secret national, you know, security documents. So, what's going to happen tomorrow here?
SHIMON PROKUPECZ, CNN CRIME AND JUSTICE REPORTER: I mean, just really look at these pictures of the FBI going to his house in that way. It wasn't supposed to go down like this. It's significant when we see something like this.
CAMEROTA: How was it supposed to go down?
PROKUPECZ: I mean, they weren't planning to get him at that moment. And they never make arrest during the day like that. You never get to see them make arrest, you know, at six in the morning. They come to the house. Either they knock on the door or whatever, if they have to take more aggressive measures, but you never see activity --
CAMEROTA: Because they thought he was going to leave? I mean --
PROKUPECZ: Well, what happened was his name got out there, right? There was a lot of information. And then "The New York Times" went ahead and published his name. And that just set off a chain of events that we're seeing here today.
Indications to us is that perhaps they were planning to arrest him later today, uh, when he got to work or that maybe they were going to wait a little bit. They were still working the case.
But, look, this is a very significant leak case. The allegations are very serious, and that this 21-year-old who had access to all this really sensitive, sensitive intelligence just decided, you know, because he wanted to be cool, decided he's going to share it with people on this social media platform Discord. And that's what he did.
And, you know, when you listen to his friends, this group of people described what it was like and why he was doing it, it really raises some interesting issues. Take a listen to one of those friends describing those events.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNKNOWN: He was a young, charismatic man who loved nature, God, who loved shooting guns and -- and racing cars.
He did have sort of a bossy attitude at some points, but it was more of a fatherly bossy. He did see himself as the leader of this group. Ultimately, he was the leader of this group. And he wanted us all to be sort of super soldiers to some degree. Informed, fit, with God, well-armed, stuff like that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PROKUPECZ: I mean, they look up to him. When you look at the reports out there and people who have spoken to other -- other people who are part of this group, I mean, he was their leader. He was the guy that was coming in and giving them all this information.
It's not entirely clear that they understood what they were getting, but certainly, this was a person who they look up to, who is coming into this check group, giving them information.
But at point -- at times, what's really interesting is that they weren't even interested in what he was saying, and he would get so angry at them. And he would say, come on, guys, you got to pay attention to what I'm saying.
CAMEROTA: They also didn't understand the acronyms. So, he was typing -- he was using a lot of the acronyms as they use in the military --
PROKUPECZ: Yes.
CAMEROTA: -- and his friends, they were, like, what's this?
PROKUPECZ: Right.
CAMEROTA: You know, it is all (INAUDIBLE) to them. He had to sort of kind of educate them on that.
PROKUPECZ: Yeah, kind of showing off. You know, he's like look what I know, look what I have. And, you know, look, the concern here is that there are indications that, you know, he had antigovernment views, that this group which -- you know, he would talk about racial issues and racist things. And he would talk about guns, and they would talk about obviously video games. This was all on Discord. The whole group got together because of video games.
CAMEROTA: Yeah.
[23:05:00]
Arlette, isn't it incredible that he could access these national security secrets? He's 21 years old. I mean, he was described -- I know that you said that it was deeper than just an IT guy. But they've sort of downplayed his role in this. It doesn't sound like something -- somebody who should be able to be able to get their hands on this.
ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, you know, there are so many thousands of government officials who go through these security clearance processes so that they could have access to this classified information.
But it does raise questions about what exactly those reviews are like and how someone could just so easily take these types of materials and documents (INAUDIBLE) with the public.
Now, I know the Pentagon, you know, has already started to limit some of the sharing of classified information as they're going through this review at this time to see how to try to prevent crises like this from happening again. But it's just -- we've seen this over and over again, when you think about Edward Snowden and Chelsea Manning.
ZAIN ASHER, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Can I just say -- can I just say one thing on that point? You know, one of the things that came after 9/11 was this view that the intelligence agencies needed to be better about sharing information, that that would make the U.S. much, much safer. So, after 9/11, more people got access to classified information.
And I think there's a worry now in intelligence community that because of this leak, they're now going to restrict it. They're going to say, okay, who absolutely needs to know this information? How can we limit the number of people who have access to information in order to prevent leaks? But the fear is that that ends up making the U.S. less safe, so then you have to walk that very fine balance.
PROKUPECZ: That's a really good point. And I think -- so, other intelligence agencies, whether it's the CIA and the NSA and, you know, parts of the FBI, um, sort of treat this information more securely.
That's what, you know, people who cover this issue and cover intelligence say the Pentagon, in particular, has a problem, a bigger problem than any of the other agencies because they have to disseminate this to so many different people.
This air base where this 21-year-old work is an intelligence collecting part of the military. They deal with drones. They deal with cyber security. He's a system engineer. He's the IT guy. He got to make sure that all those computers and all those systems are running.
He has no business looking at this stuff, but he has access to it because he has access to the systems. So that's the problem. Like Snowden, similar. But, you know, Snowden and --
CAMEROTA: The motive is so different.
UNKNOWN: Right.
PROKUPECZ: Different. Different motivations.
CAMEROTA: Yeah. Shimon -- sorry, Harry. Let me just move on to this other crime story that we want to get, too, because there's a development. So, this, uh, Louisville --
PROKUPECZ: Yeah.
CAMEROTA: -- the Louisville mass shooter, his family is saying that they want to have his brain examined. Why?
PROKUPECZ: So, they're concerned. Look, they're looking for answers. They're trying to figure out, is there something that led him to do this, right?
CAMEROTA: Because his mother had no idea. When we heard on the 911 call --
PROKUPECZ: Yes.
CAMEROTA: -- his mother said he has never been violent. He's a good kid.
PROKUPECZ: Right.
CAMEROTA: He doesn't have a gun. All of that turned out not to be true.
PROKUPECZ: There were mental health issues. So now the family is saying when he was a kid, when he was in eighth grade, he had some concussions. He had two at some point in the eighth grade. Then he had one in high school. He was an athlete. He was playing basketball.
So now they're concerned and they're asking questions that could something as a result of that have led to this, this kind of mental health issue. CTE, right? It is chronic traumatic --
CAMEROTA: Encephalopathy.
PROKUPECZ: Right. And so, look, we see this in football players, right?
HARRY ENTEN, CNN SENIOR DATA REPORTER: Hmm.
PROKUPECZ: Harry, you know. And so, this is what they're now looking at to see if that in any way contributed to what he did here. You know, I think this family is just desperate for answers for why their son would behave like that.
ENTEN: I mean, I could -- I can only imagine what a parent has to go through in this type of situation, right? We oftentimes look at it from the side of, you know, if your child dies at the hands or something and say, oh, what could I have done? You know, you just think just all of these things.
You know, parent is supposed to out -- is supposed to die before the child. But on this other end, right, what could I have done differently that my son might not have done this?
PROKUPECZ: Yeah.
ENTEN: And just go on. How do you live with that? I almost have to feel like there's sort of this guilt that's going on here.
CAMEROTA: Oh, I'm sure. I'm sure. I mean, the family, particularly if they had no warning sign other than that he was struggling with mental illness.
ENTEN: I mean, we heard that, you know, phone call last night, right, where it was like he won't harm anyone, he's a good boy. Clearly not. But maybe she knew a different version of him before whatever it was that happened that caused him to do these things.
But I just have a larger question for Shimon here. You know, we were talking about this last night and we were speaking -- you know, I couldn't -- I thought we were coming in and we're going to talk about Nashville. And instead we were talking about Louisville. And these things happen week after week after week.
I'm just wondering, as someone who covers this, you know, how the heck you keep your head on straight?
PROKUPECZ: Look, I think certainly the last year, right?
[23:10:00]
So, we're talking from last year to now. There has been a lot of mass shootings and I've covered almost, I think, all of them at this point. Nothing bigger for me personally than you've all do, right? I've invested a lot of time in that.
We're approaching a year. It's hard because when another mass shooting happens, it brings me back to the time when I was in Uvalde. When I talked to those families, it brings back that horrible day. And part of it, as a reporter, this story has been very different because I've been closer to a lot of the families than I have ever been on anyone involved.
CAMEROTA: Uvalde.
PROKUPECZ: And also, because I have seen things that no one should ever see. And that's stays with me. Body camera footage, kids that were shot, kids that sadly died in horrific injuries, um, bloody, messy hallway, seeing officers reacting to once they get inside the room and seeing the kids who died --
CAMEROTA: And how do you keep your sanity? PROKUPECZ: Well, I mean, talk a lot about it, you know. I mean, I have moments where I'm -- I'm very down and I get sad. And sure, I cry and I feel terrible for these families because it's so unfair. This should never have happened. It should never happen to any of these families.
Um, it's hard because -- you know, I want to -- I wish there was more I could do, right, as a person. I just wish there was more I can do, but there's really not much more I can do.
In Uvalde, the thing is I'm still living with that every day because the families still call me every day. And there are still things going on that really are not right, that are unjust. And I can't do everything.
But I do live with guilt sometimes, honestly, because I feel like, you know, if I'm not there, if I'm not covering this story, I feel bad. I'm like something happens, sometimes it's very small, but I feel like maybe I can make a difference if I was there.
SAENZ: And you are doing by continuing to report on it. I just went to Uvalde for one day when President Biden went, and I just remember people saying we don't want to be forgotten, we don't want people to move on. And what you do, ensures that it's not forgotten because you continue to push and you continue to share their stories.
PROKUPECZ: It's -- yeah, it's been -- you know, there are nights when, you know, I think about it a lot, I think about the families. But it's harder when it keeps happening --
UNKNOWN: Oh, my gosh.
PROKUPECZ: -- because it just comes back. And then like last night, listening to those 911 calls. I listened to all the 911 calls in Uvalde and the screams --
UNKNOWN: Hmm.
PROKUPECZ: -- from the teachers who couldn't do anything to help these kids. And then when I heard the woman screaming yesterday, kind of brought me back to that moment.
CAMEROTA: Shimon, I mean, as somebody -- I don't know. I speak for all of our viewers as well who watched you this whole year, particularly all the time you spent in Uvalde. You have brought accountability to that story. That wouldn't have happened, otherwise.
You have chased down local officials to demand answers. And you didn't leave. I mean, as Arlette says, you didn't leave like so many other cameras did after that. And you have brought them accountability. You can't -- you can't solve it all.
PROKUPECZ: You know, I have a team that I do this with. But I also think, as an organization, what CNN has allowed my team to do here is what made this, you know, kind of happened, and why. I think this is what journalism should be and why I think, um, why it happened, you know, and why we we've been able to have such success.
And people who trusted us there in Uvalde as a journalist, they allowed us into their homes, but the sources and the people that we made friends with opened up to us and gave us information that really put their lives in jeopardy, but they felt that justice needed to be done.
ASHER: Alisyn is right. Sorry, I know we have to move on. Alisyn is right. I mean, the fact that you focused on that story, the fact that you brought it so much attention to it, the fact that you really fought for accountability, I mean, I got emotional with -- you know, I'm not from the U.S. I actually just became a U.S. citizen. But just thank you.
Just sort of being in this country and seeing what's happening in a place like you Uvalde, I mean, it brought tears to my eyes. And just thank you so much for all the work that you have done, especially when it came to, you know, making sure you've got answers about why those police officers waited one hour, why they waited one hour, which is -- I just -- I can't even think about it. It's going to make me emotional. But, Shimon, you've done great work.
PROKUPECZ: Thanks.
CAMEROTA: Yeah. Thanks for explaining all of that, Shimon. All right, we're going to be right back. Many more stories to cover.
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[23:15:00]
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CAMEROTA: The Supreme Court has until midnight, central time tomorrow, to rule on an emergency filing from the Justice Department over abortion medication.
Overnight, a federal appeals court froze parts of a Texas judge's ruling from last week that would have suspended the FDA's approval of an abortion drug.
Arlette Saenz has been reporting on all of this. So, Arlette, tell us what happens tomorrow.
SAENZ: Yeah, so really, the clock is ticking. These next really 24 to 26 hours are going to be critical. The Justice Department wants the Supreme Court to intervene. They do not like this decision that came out from Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, which said that they're keeping that FDA approval of mifepristone in place, but they're issuing and following through with some restrictions from that federal judge down in Texas.
I was talking to people at the White House today, and they are very troubled by the fact that these restrictions could go into effect. And essentially, what this would do, I think we have a graphic with some of these items, one thing it would do, it would stop any, um, ability to get mifepristone through the mail.
That is going to severely impact telehealth services, which is increasingly a way that some people are trying to get access to this medication abortion.
Secondly, it really narrows the window of when exactly you can use this from 10 weeks to seven weeks. All of this is of concern to the White House as they just thinking about the -- potentially -- I don't want to put a number on it, but like how many women and girls this could affect who wouldn't have access to this medication abortion pill.
[23:20:03]
So, Justice Department is hoping that the Supreme Court will move quickly to -- they want them essentially to freeze this whole thing while this appeals process plays out. But I think with the Supreme Court, we all know it's hard to predict what and when exactly --
PROKUPECZ: And then what happens, let's say, if they don't?
SAENZ: Right, yeah.
PROKUPECZ: I mean, look at what happened with Roe v. Wade. Right? So, what happens? What is the Justice Department -- what is the White House ultimately going to do?
You know, one of the things with this story that I have found very interesting is that states are kind of taking an action now about the governors of the states who are -- who are stockpiling this drug just in case they're ordered to stop making it. So, they're now stockpiling it all across the country.
Um, the other thing is that -- I don't understand. This thing has been, you know, was approved what? Twenty plus years ago. All of a sudden, some judge comes in and says, yeah, disapprove the process, something stinks here, sort of, we're not doing this.
SAENZ: Yeah, that's the argument, you know, from the government. This has been approved for 23 years at this point. And there's this big question that they're raising that says, well, if you're going to question this approval of a drug from 23 years ago, it completely opens the door to people questioning --
PROKUPECZ: It is a big problem. That could potentially be a big problem for the FDA, right? I mean --
ENTEN: Just talk about the potential or maybe it was intended consequence of overturning Roe v. Wade, right? I mean, that was the law of the land for 50 years. You throw it out the window. Who knows what might exactly happened next? And I think we're kind of seeing that right now, right?
CAMEROTA: Yes. But furthermore, not -- I mean, not just in terms of abortion --
ENTEN: Correct.
CAMEROTA: -- but in terms of all of the other medications.
ASHER: Totally. And medications like -- medications for, for example, COVID-19, medications for people who are transitioning, they could come under fire as well.
But I think what's interesting is that, um, the person who has done more to limit women's rights to an abortion in this country in terms of the makeup of the Supreme Court, Donald Trump has been the most silent on this issue. I think it's -- I think that is fascinating. Whenever --
PROKUPECZ: (INAUDIBLE).
ASHER: -- whenever he's asked by reporters, he just sort of ties himself into knots, trying to avoid talking about this because he understands that this is a losing issue for Republicans.
CAMEROTA: Is it, Harry?
ENTEN: It absolutely is. I mean, we got polling on this, you know, about the idea that a federal court would ban this abortion pill from, you know, going into effect. What was the opposition to this ruling? Look at this. Seventy percent oppose a ruling like this. And it's the rare time in which a majority of Republicans and a majority of Democrats agree on this particular issue.
Donald Trump may be a lot of things, but he's not a moron. He understands what's going on in the politics of this. This is a losing issue for Republicans. They just had a midterm election in 2022, right, in which Joe Biden, the incumbent, Democratic president, approval rating is in the low forties, and yet it was perhaps the best midterm election for the incumbent party since 1934.
So, Republicans realize what this is politically. Democrats realize what this is politically. We are going to see what happens.
ASHER: They are focused on the primaries, though.
SAENZ: Yes.
ASHER: They're focused on the primaries. That is the goal right now. And that's why they're trying to rally the base. So, you see what's happening with Ron DeSantis. He's about to sign that legislation in terms of six weeks. Tim Scott is coming out talking about potentially supporting a federal ban of 20 weeks. They're focused on the base and on the primaries.
What they don't understand -- I guess they do understand, they're not -- they're not focused on it right now, is that, of course, after the primaries comes the general, and that's where they're going to be punished.
ENTEN: And how -- and how many very conservative Republicans lost very winnable seats last year, especially in Senate races, right? Pennsylvania, Arizona. The list goes on. Georgia.
CAMEROTA: Yeah.
ENTEN: The list goes on and on and on.
CAMEROTA: But yet in Florida, I mean, Governor DeSantis signed a six- week ban.
SAENZ: Yeah. I mean, it's really going to make Florida one of the most restrictive states in the country when it comes to abortion. But Ron DeSantis can go and sell that to people in a primary. It will be interesting because people are looking for ways for Donald Trump and Ron DeSantis kind of differentiate themselves from each other. This might be one of those issues.
But as harry and Zain were talking about, it is going to be a troubling issue for Republicans heading into a general election when we saw the way that abortion rights really helped Democrats prevents the red wave that so many people had been predicting in these past midterms.
You have suburban women, you have many men who are speaking up and saying this is a right that women should be having. So, it's going to be interesting to see how the Republican Party positions themselves as they come out of the primary.
PROKUPECZ: That's what I was -- I was -- in my head, that's what I was thinking. What's going to happen as we get closer to the general election? Are more Republicans going to come out? I mean, are they going to change their tune? Are things going to -- is anything going to be any different?
ENTEN: The one thing I'll note is when Donald Trump won in 2016. He was seen as more moderate than Hillary Clinton was. But the percentage of Americans who see Donald Trump as -- quote, unquote -- "very conservative," has risen 30 points since then.
[23:25:03]
He is seen as far more conservative in part because of what he did as president. So, I'm not quite sure that his tries to sort of tacked towards the middle will necessarily be sort of bought by the American voters. But, of course, we'll wait and see, right?
CAMEROTA: Thank you all very much. All right, so, how many of us define ourselves by our jobs? Harry has some new reporting on how the number of Americans who say their job gives them their identity is changing. Hmm. He's going to explain all of that.
ENTEN: Hmm.
(LAUGHTER)
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[23:30:00] CAMEROTA: So, what do you do? You get that question whenever you meet someone new? What do you do? Well, "The Wall Street Journal" is out with a new article titled "Stop Telling Everyone What You Do for a Living."
CNN's Harry Enten loved this piece so much that he started digging into the numbers, and he found that 45% of people say their job gives them a sense of identity. But that number has steadily declined since the 1980s.
Okay, so, Harry, tell us who still define themselves by their jobs. I feel like you do.
(LAUGHTER)
PROKUPECZ: No. I know who -- everyone who lives in Washington, D.C.
ENTEN: Oh, here he is. That's why I had to get out of that town, right?
PROKUPECZ: Every time -- I lived there for a couple of years. It's the biggest thing, right? It's, like, what do you do? Who do you -- you know, it's like the first question -- any social event --
SAENZ: The first question.
PROKUPECZ: Right?
ENTEN: You know, you got to sit like this.
PROKUPECZ: Yes.
ENTEN: Do the thing and, you know, oh, we all shop at the Brooks Brothers store together. It's fantastic.
PROKUPECZ: Where you shop.
ENTEN: That's -- no, I don't shop. I have my girlfriend shop for me now at least because otherwise, I would honestly just wear the --
CAMEROTA: That's why the girlfriend.
ENTEN: Yeah. Otherwise, I just wear the clothes that my mom got me when I was in high school.
PROKUPECZ: You definitely -- you definitely upgraded since she has been in your life.
ENTEN: Absolutely. Absolutely.
CAMEROTA: You got traipsing around the office with a blanket and you're basically like, uh, sweat suit.
ENTEN: Although I did use Berman's blanket earlier today to take a nap. Either way, um, let's just say that it's the people who have the highest education levels who have been defining, you know, their lives by what their job is. So, post graduates are far more likely than, say, high schoolers. Some college grad -- college grads are near post- grad degree.
But it does seem the longer that you've been in school, the more likely you sort of say that their job gives you a sense of identity. And I think that kind of makes some sense, right, because you sort of invested more time in school to get that degree and maybe you spend more time at work in all, honestly, like my mother, pediatrician.
How much time did she spend at work? My goodness, gracious. Thankfully she did because she was able to give me a good education with -- with the money that she made. But still, I think that when you look at the numbers, there's no doubt the longer you spent in school, the more likely you are that you say that your job gives you a sense of identity.
CAMEROTA: Zain, don't you feel like all of us here also define ourselves by our work? I mean, not solely --
ASHER: But you know what? I don't actually think there's anything wrong with that. I think it's fine to take a little bit of professional pride in what you do. I have, um -- I have a bit of a strange trajectory to coming to CNN. I mean, most people who end up as an anchor or reporter at CNN usually work in news, local news, perhaps, not everybody, but they may work in local news for about 10 years or so.
Um, two years before I got the job as a correspondent at CNN, I was working as a receptionist for about four years. Four and a half years, actually.
CAMEROTA: In what kind of office?
ASHER: It was a production company. And, you know, my job was obviously to answer the phone and then also to validate people's parking. I can -- I can tell you, first of all, can I just say, you can learn a lot about someone based on how they treat the receptionist.
Some people would come in and they would make conversation with me. Um, I would be so touched. But other people would just literally teach me -- treat me like I was invisible. And so, I learned a few things from that whole experience.
And also, you know, when I would go out, people would ask me, what do you do for a living. And I would say, I work at a production company. And then they would say, well, what -- what do you do at the production company? And I would say, I'm the receptionist.
And oftentimes, I would notice that their reaction towards me would change. You know, they wouldn't be as -- I was not as useful to them. This is in California where everyone was obviously --
(LAUGHTER)
ENTEN: (INAUDIBLE). ASHER: Exactly. Everyone is in the movie industry. And so, it was really tricky. But I think that now, you know, after, you know, having that job for four years and, of course, there's nothing wrong with being a receptionist, I just think that for me personally, I wanted something different.
Now, coming to this particular job, I take such pride. I take such pride in what I do. I remember, you know, for the first -- I mean, still now, but certainly for the first few years of my time at CNN, I used to be so happy on Sundays because I get to go to work on Monday, you know. And when you have your dream job, I'm not just, you know --
(LAUGHTER)
ASHER: But it is true. So, I think there's nothing wrong with taking a little bit of --
PROKUPECZ: No. I don't think you should like -- obviously, I think as journalists, you know, we take a lot of pride in what we do.
ASHER: Of course.
PROKUPECZ: But, you know, I could see where in some situations, you know, people sometimes feel, oh, you're talking about work again. Why are you talking about work again? You get these situations like, okay, can you put your phone down? Can you stop working? You know, we have very demanding jobs, so it's much -- so it's much different.
CAMEROTA: But people do like to hear about our jobs. So, I mean, that's part of it. Out in public, we do talk about our jobs. People ask a lot of questions about it. And Arlette --
SAENZ: Sometimes, I'm like I don't want to talk about work all the time, so I'm not going to ask you about work either. But, I don't know, I remember going out to dinner a few months ago with someone for the first time. They're, like, what do you do for fun? And I like literally was blank.
[23:35:00]
(LAUGHTER)
PROKUPECZ: I hate that question.
SAENZ: I know. It's a really hard question. And after the fact, I'm like I'm an interesting person.
CAMEROTA: (INAUDIBLE).
(LAUGHTER)
PROKUPECZ: Right, right, you feel like you have to come up with something -- yeah.
SAENZ: I didn't. I think I was just like I work a lot --
(LAUGHTER)
-- but like I also enjoy hanging out with friends and I like working out and like --
CAMEROTA: And --
SAENZ: I need to work on a hobby.
CAMEROTA: Right, you need to come up with something. You need to have an elevator hobby.
SAENZ: I do.
(LAUGHTER)
And I haven't -- that was two months ago and I haven't come up with the -- like a hobby pitch. I'm going to work on it.
CAMEROTA: That's great. All right, thank you all very much. So, thousands of protesters in France are angered by the government's plan to raise the retirement age from 62 to 64. Zain is going to explain what happens tomorrow when a French court weighs in on this battle. We'll be right back.
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[23:40:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CAMEROTA: Violent protests breaking out across France for 12th straight day. Demonstrators venting their anger at President Macron's plans to raise the retirement age from 62 to 64. Tomorrow is the big decision day.
Zain, tell us what's going to happen tomorrow.
ASHER: I wish I could look into my crystal ball for you. But, um, the constitutional council has a couple of choices in terms of what they're going to decide on. One is whether or not there should be a referendum. But the key decision is on the constitutionality of the bill.
Um, there's a few scenarios that could play out. One is that they could just say, yes, you know, this is constitutional, Macron thumbs up, go ahead, or they could say, yes, it's constitutional, but we're going to tweak it slightly or they could reject it.
In terms of what I think is going to happen, I would say the likely scenario is that they accept it, but possibly they tweak it. So, you're going to see these protests continue for the time being.
I think what's really interesting, especially for an American audience, is how the French view work. We're just talking about work. How the Americans view work? How the French view work? It is so different. CAMEROTA: Tell us. How is it different?
ASHER: I think that for a lot of -- I mean, I would say that it's the polar opposite in that in France, work is a means to an end. You know, your quality of life is so much more important than making money. And even if you don't necessarily have that much money, if you even if you aren't rich, you still deserve a healthy and good quality of life. That is what the French believe.
And I think that the reason why people are -- it's actually interesting because I have a very close friend who's American who works in Paris. She always, um, talks to me about the typical French work day. You know, you get into the office at 9:30. At 10:30, there's a break. There's a coffee break.
CAMEROTA: Is there a croissant?
(LAUGHTER)
I hope so.
ASHER: By the way, you can't eat at your desk. You know, it's frowned upon to eat at your desk, right? So, there's a lunch break.
(CROSSTALK)
ASHER: And then you're having a lunch break from 12 to 2. And then, there's another coffee break at 3:30. You know what I mean? They just really value the quality of life. That's not a bad thing. I think that -- you know --
CAMEROTA: Sounds delicious.
(LAUGHTER)
Harry, what about in the U.S.? Do you have research on how Americans feel about their retirement age?
ENTEN: You know, the French don't like what's happening over there. They should come over here and see how they like it. All right? I mean, my goodness, we've seen the retired --
PROKUPECZ: We'll get lots of protests.
ENTEN: Exactly. You know, we've seen, you know, Americans retiring later and later and later. And what do we see here? You know, Americans take on raising the retirement age when, you know, you get full social security benefits, raising it from 67 to 70. Look at that. Seventy-eight percent of Americans oppose it. Just 17% support it. Now, that has not obviously stopped some politicians from offering that up.
But the fact of the matter is Americans don't like the fact that they're retiring later, but they're not at this particular point going out on the streets and causing a lot of trouble for the incumbent president. CAMEROTA: Because we are working too hard to go out. That's right.
ENTEN: No croissants for us.
PROKUPECZ: Harry is never retiring.
CAMEROTA: I mean --
ASHER: I think what's also interesting is that this goes -- this goes well beyond just the retirement age. This is a about -- I mean, a lot of people loathe Emmanuel Macron.
PROKUPECZ: That is the other thing. I was wondering if this is more about him.
ASHER: Yeah, totally. They see him as arrogant. You know, the way he went about trying to shove the legislation through. And it's also I think quite interesting how differently he was perceived. When he first came into the office, he was seen as this breath of fresh air. He basically created a political party from scratch which is very hard to do in a country that's divided, you know, based on left and right. He created a centrist party from scratch. Not only did he win, but he won twice.
But he also, especially right before the second time he won, he promised everyone, listen, I tell you now, if you vote for me, I'm going to do pension reform. I'm just letting you know, by voting for me, you cannot say that you're surprised when I raised the retirement age.
So, I think there are some people who say, look, everyone saw this coming. Everybody saw this coming. But I think a lot of people on the ground in France will say we didn't actually vote for Macron, we voted against Le Pen.
ENTEN: That was exactly what I was --
PROKUPECZ: I was like -- I was watching the footage today. The protests. I mean, there was something. You know, it's --
CAMEROTA: Oh, yeah. It's violent.
SAENZ: It has been like this for weeks.
PROKUPECZ: Yeah.
CAMEROTA: Yeah.
PROKUPECZ: And is it effective? Do people there feel like this is --
ASHER: Yes.
PROKUPECZ: -- going to really --
ASHER: Well, yes and no. So, the thing about social unrest in France is that generally, I think -- we are looking at some of the images now. Generally, it actually is more effective in France than in other countries.
You think about the history, 1789, storming of the Bastille. You think about the fact that social unrest led to the collapse of the monarchy in that country.
[23:45:02]
You know, people who lived and worked and who are educated in France are taught that history from such a young age that listen, you can go into the streets and you can actually change the entire country.
I think it was about 15 years ago or so, they were -- the president at the time in 2006 was trying to change the law to make it easier to fire French people, French workers. I mean, that's -- that's a big thing, how difficult or how easy it is to fire people.
He was trying to create a law whereby anyone under the age of 26 who have been working at a company for less than two years could be fired without any reason whatsoever. And people went out into the streets. I kid you not. It was bad. And very quickly, he said, okay, you know what, I'm not going to do this. They're used to that. They're used to getting their way.
CAMEROTA: That's a really interesting context. And then Arlette, there's our Congress, which let us remind everybody what happened during the state of the union address when President Biden sort of seized on Republicans starting to express their, I guess, dislike of his plan, but this was about social security during the state of the union. Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: Some Republicans want Medicare and social security sunset. I'm not saying it's a majority.
(BOOEING)
BIDEN: Let me give you -- anybody who doubts it, contact my office. I will give you a copy. I will give you a copy of the proposal. That means Congress doesn't vote. I'm glad to see you. I'll tell you why. I enjoy conversion.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(LAUGHTER)
CAMEROTA: So, that was that day they were objecting to how he characterized their position.
SAENZ: Yeah, and then, you know, he kind of go to them a little bit more to say, okay, are you going to commit to not putting social security cuts on the table? And they say, yes. And so, it's like, okay, great.
But -- I mean, this issue of social security is going to be a huge issue in the coming years. I think that the trustees of social security said that they're going to face solvency issues within the next decade.
But there's certainly different ideas about how to go about hands like social security. You know, you had the Republican Study Committee, more conservative group in the Congress, that said that you should be raising the age from 67 to 70 or 67 to 70 for retirement.
That's not something that they're pursuing at this time but -- I don't know. I think about social security and like when I'm going to get to a period that I'm ready to retire. What social security looks like at that point?
CAMEROTA: Yeah, very good question. But that's the level of unrest we have in our country, what do we just showed right now.
SAENZ: Yeah.
CAMEROTA: All right, everybody, stand by because up next, on the lookout, our reporters are going to tell us what developments that we are looking for on the stories that they're covering or anything really that they want to talk about, whatever they're looking forward to even in life.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[23:50:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CAMEROTA: Okay, our wonderful panel of reporters are going to tell us what they're keeping an eye on. We will call it "On the Lookout." Okay, Zain?
ASHER: I'm going to be watching -- this is over the coming weeks, by the way.
CAMEROTA: Sure.
ASHER: Okay. King Charles in the U.K. just launched an investigation into the royal family's ties to the slave trade, which I think is a very big deal. That is a big deal. I mean, I don't know necessarily whether he would do that without 100% knowing what he was going to find. I think that the royal family got a lot of flak for their treatment of Meghan Markle. And I think that this is their way of showing that -- showing some humility, showing that they are listening to all Britons.
I do think, in terms of the outcomes -- you're getting the information, what do you do with them? I think in terms of the outcome, it could open up a can of worms for him in terms of reparation. So that is what I'm watching. A few weeks before the coronation.
CAMEROTA: That's really interesting. You're right, he must know something before just waiting into this (INAUDIBLE). ASHER: Yeah.
CAMEROTA: Okay. Thank you very much. Shimon?
PROKUPECZ: So, the Dominion trial. Obviously, this is the Fox News- Dominion trial. Jury selection underway. You know, I think the judge hoped it may be wrapped up by tomorrow but it looks like it is going to head into Monday. You know, starting next week, certainly, it is going to get really interesting once testimony there starts.
So, will continue with jury selection tomorrow. Monday, we will see. We can see our first witness and that is going to be significant. And then that is going to keep us busy, I think.
The other thing I think we need to do is start looking for a new pillow.
CAMEROTA: You don't like that pillow?
(LAUGHTER)
SAENZ: This scratches my outfit, actually.
PROKUPECZ: You know this has been a thing for me the last two days.
CAMEROTA: What is the problem with the pillow?
PROKUPECZ: It is not comfortable.
CAMEROTA: Okay.
(LAUGHTER)
PROKUPECZ: I feel very uncomfortable.
CAMEROTA: All right.
PROKUPECZ: But thank you. This has been a great two days and thank you.
CAMEROTA: Thank you.
PROKUPECZ: So, it has been great.
CAMEROTA: Thank you. I will find better pillows. Harry?
ENTEN: The Tampa Bay Race, God bless them, have not lost a game so far this year in the Major League Baseball. If they win one more game, they will, in fact, set the record for most wins to start out a season since the beginning of the 20th century. And as a person who hates the New York Yankees, I love seeing their chance of winning the World Series ever so slightly --
PROKUPECZ: Couldn't help himself.
ENTER: -- every single day. CAMEROTA: Excellent. Okay, Arlette, I understand this has to do with Lady Gaga.
SAENZ: Yes, it does. President Biden made a very important appointment today and that is that he named Lady Gaga as the co-chair of the president's Accounts Commission on Arts and Humanities. This is a group that advises the president on all things cultural. There's a host of other celebrities like George Clooney, Jennifer Gardner, Shonda Rhimes, Carrie Washington who are all part of this group.
It actually was disbanded during the Trump administration because people who were on that committee were really upset about the way he handled those clashes down in Charlottesville. But what's really interesting is that Joe Biden and Lady Gaga actually like been friends for some time.
[23:55:02]
CAMEROTA: They have?
PROKUPECZ: Will she come to the White House? Will she perform?
SAENZ: Um, I don't know if she is going to perform at the White House. I don't want to rule it out. But, you know, he introduced her at the Oscars back in, I think, 2016. They worked on trying to combat --
PROKUPECZ: (INAUDIBLE) see her. It's fantasy.
SAENZ: Oh, yeah. It's an amazing --
CAMEROTA: Fantastic.
SAENZ: Like little monsters.
CAMEROTA: I just like that she -- that Lady Gaga is an adviser to President Biden. I like this. That's amazing. Thank you for alerting us to that.
All right, everybody, be sure to tune in to "CNN This Morning" tomorrow. New York City Mayor Eric Adams will be there to respond to GOP Congressman Jim Jordan's planned field hearing on New York crime.
All right, thanks so much for watching. Our coverage continues now.
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