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President Biden To Unveil New Plan To Address Gun Violence During NYC Visit; ADP: Private Sector Lost 301,000 Jobs In January; Competition Begins Ahead Of Tomorrow's Opening Ceremony. Aired 5:30-6a ET

Aired February 03, 2022 - 05:30   ET

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

[05:30:00]

STEPHEN XIANG, CNN BEIJING BUREAU CHIEF: And this, of course, has the potential of reducing or even minimizing the impact of the so-called crippling sanctions President Biden has promised to impose on Russia in the event of an invasion.

Now, the two men obviously increasingly seeing eye to eye on dealing with the U.S. And for China -- for Xi Jinping, of course, the Ukraine thing has the added benefit of distracting the U.S. from dealing with the rise in China -- Laura.

LAURA JARRETT, CNN ANCHOR: Stephen, thank you -- appreciate it.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: All right, back here to inflation watch now. American consumers complain bitterly about increased costs and rising inflation but they keep spending.

Starbucks, for example, raised its prices in October and again just last month. The coffee giant's CEO says it's planning more price hikes throughout the year. All those price hikes but it's not scaring customers away from their frappes and lattes. Starbucks sales are up 13 percent globally; 18 percent across North America over the past few months.

We saw something similar at McDonald's as well. And a couple of, sort of, the -- you know, like the detergent makers have said they're raising prices but sales are still going up as well. So, so far, Americans complain bitterly about inflation but they're still spending the money.

JARRETT: You've got to wash clothes. You've got to drink your coffee.

ROMANS: Yes.

JARRETT: Some things you can't give up.

ROMANS: Absolutely right.

JARRETT: All right, just in to CNN, Joe Biden out with a brand-new plan to fight crime just hours before his visit to New York City. We're going to bring you all the details on that. ROMANS: And NASA's far-out plan for the International Space Station. How they plan to get rid of it. That's ahead.

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[05:36:16]

JARRETT: Welcome back.

Just hours from now, President Biden will arrive here in New York City to meet with Mayor Eric Adams. He's expected to roll out new efforts to fight gun violence, building on strategies his administration announced last summer. This, as shootings in New York and other cities are on the rise.

Let's bring Erroll Louis, CNN political commentator. Erroll, so nice to have you this morning.

We're told these new Biden strategies are going to include a crackdown on those untraceable -- what they're called ghost guns -- those homemade kits used to avoid background checks. Also, a plan to address drug-related violence. And once again, calling on Congress to pass common-sense gun laws. No coincidence the president is rolling this out in New York City.

ERROLL LOUIS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR, POLITICAL ANCHOR, SPECTRUM NEWS (via Webex by Cisco): That's correct. We've got a violence problem here just like in other cities. There are at least 16 cities that have hit all-time highs in violence. New York is not one of them. We're kind of on our way in the wrong direction though after having reached a longtime decline -- a long-term declining crime just a few years ago.

So, there's a lot of uncertainty in a lot of cities and that's what the president is going to be aiming at today.

ROMANS: You know, Mayor Adams has his own blueprint to end gun violence, you know. What do you make of how Democrats appear to be tying crimefighting directly with gun violence? Smart to put those two things together?

LOUIS: Not necessarily. It's very hard to imagine how they're going to get legislation that wasn't passed in the wake of Sandy Hook, for example, or how they're going to finally get the Senate to take action on some of these measures when we've heard even from Democratic senators it's just not on the agenda.

So, it's easy to blame the guns and it's important to deal with some aspects of illegal gun violence, but there's a much bigger problem here. And frankly, the criminologists that I've interviewed are not clear on exactly what is going on -- why we reached this low in 2017 and now are seeing a spike in the wake of the pandemic.

JARRETT: And part of that is the way that data is gathered. It's just woefully incomplete. Let's drill down for just a second Erroll on New York City and what's going on here. We've seen young officers killed in the line of duty. These two terrifying incidents on subways, frankly. The mayor said last week no one wants to hear stats when they don't feel safe. But the reality is, as you mentioned, New York is actually much safer than it is was in the early 90s.

So how do city leaders balance the optics of this with the reality?

LOUIS: Well look, it's very hard. You try to tell people -- look, on average, we are doing better, but if people don't feel better then they stay home and it becomes a negative feedback loop.

JARRETT: Yes.

LOUIS: If people stay off the subways and ridership is really down compared to before the pandemic, there are fewer people out there. Fewer eyes on the street means it's actually -- it is literally less safe because criminals can really thrive if there are no witnesses around.

And that's kind of the scenario that they have to try and break through and convince people to do what, really, policing is based on, which is the public's belief that we can all keep ourselves protected and that the police are there to supplement that effort; not constitute the entire effort in safety.

ROMANS: And we were just showing the sea of blue in New York City yesterday for the second funeral of a police officer gunned down. It just shows you this is really issue number one in New York. And clearly, the president coming in at a -- at a -- at a --

JARRETT: Critical time.

ROMANS: -- critical time there.

Erroll Louis, CNN political commentator, thank you so much for that. Nice to see you this morning.

JARRETT: Thanks, Erroll.

LOUIS: OK.

ROMANS: All right, at the same time, workers all over America telling the boss this: take this job and shove it. Workers quitting. Help wanted everywhere. The great resignation, next.

JARRETT: And Taylor Swift 101 -- a college course on the mega pop star.

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[05:44:06]

ROMANS: All right, let's get a check on CNN Business this Thursday morning. Looking at markets around the world, markets in China and Hong Kong are closed, by the way, for the Lunar New Year. European shares have opened lower here. And on Wall Street, stock index futures leaning down.

But stocks in the U.S. managed to string together a four-day winning streak. Tech stocks led the charge, driven by Google parent Alphabet, on strong earnings.

But a different story for Facebook parent Meta. Mark Zuckerberg -- there he is in the Metaverse but his company in the real world posted a rare drop in profit. Meta earnings down eight percent from the same period a year ago, well below Wall Street projections. The stock careened after hours.

And evidence of millions of people out sick in the workforce, denting the job market last month. ADP reports the private sector shed 301,000 jobs, the first decline since December 2020. And this was a surprise.

It doesn't bode well for Friday's government jobs report, expected to be unusually weak. Omicron cases peaked at the very same time the government was collecting this jobs data.

[05:45:08]

I want to bring in ADP's chief economist Nela Richardson. So nice to see you, Nela, bright and early this morning.

NELA RICHARDSON, CHIEF ECONOMIST, ADP (via Skype): Good morning.

ROMANS: We know that Omicron meant millions of people were not at work. They were out sick. They were in quarantine. They were out taking care of kids in quarantine. That's distorting what is otherwise a strong job market, right?

RICHARDSON: Well, it sounds like from the government statistics that's when you have a significant impact. But the ADP number, it's really a different story. What we model is how many people who were active on the company's payrolls -- whether they got a paycheck or not. And so that gives you a sense of what businesses were going through during that reference week where the data was collected.

There was widespread, temporary business closures which had led to some shedding of jobs. And so, we anticipated that in the December release that Omicron would have an important, significant, negative but temporary impact on the labor market recovery.

ROMANS: A temporary impact. So we'll have to watch ahead. We'll have to keep in mind that the --

RICHARDSON: Right.

ROMANS: -- government number we see tomorrow will be a rearview mirror picture.

At the same time, we have more kind of context about this thing called the great resignation. These people who are quitting -- leaving the labor market.

"The Wall Street Journal" this week reporting that teachers are being recruited by headhunters -- teachers who are quitting and moving to other jobs in sales, in finance, in I.T.

Do you think all of this is a temporary result of COVID or is this something more permanent happening in the job market?

RICHARDSON: I think it has legs. I mean, the transferrable skills of the teachers -- my mom's a teacher. She has a lot of transferrable skills. I actually think she'd be great in sales.

But we're seeing a lot of turn in the jobs market and that is evident in the government data. But one thing we are seeing is that hires are higher than quits, which means people now are not leaving the jobs market, they're just leaving for other jobs maybe in the same industry. And there's never been greater opportunity. Job openings are at record highs.

And the pay to switch jobs, we found in our own data, is also at record highs. Companies are paying up for good talent.

ROMANS: So is this the year of the worker? If 2021 was the year of the investor is, finally, this going to be a year for the worker?

RICHARDSON: I think there is a little bit more opportunity to be flexible, but let me be clear. The employer is always driving the car. They're the ones who are deciding the opportunities, the pay, the skills, the job description, and the hours.

But they are, more than ever, listening to the workforce and trying to incorporate that and be sensitive to that, even though they plan for their own business needs. It's a different work environment than it's ever been.

ROMANS: We do know that many employers have talked about how they're going to have to raise wages. Jamie Dimon at JPMorgan Chase was sort of grumbling a couple of weeks ago -- you know, we can't bellyache about or complain about this. This is just the way it is and we have to pay people more.

Is that a permanent new fixture, do you think, in the job market -- these wage gains? I know inflation is very high, too, but are these wage gains something that people can count on this year?

RICHARDSON: Year-over-year wage gains like we've seen them -- and we see them pretty strong -- are not sustainable for most businesses. When you think about small businesses, they have slim margins. They don't have the opportunity to keep escalating wages because it cuts into their profit and longer-term, it might be -- it might run them out of business as labor costs go too high.

But there is still more flexibility that companies that are not JPMorgan can do and that is really be flexible about working conditions.

ROMANS: Yes.

RICHARDSON: Change the hours, the schedules. Be more attuned to the worker and professional development. And so, I think that's also where you're going to see some shifts. When it's not just about the wage for a lot of workers, it's about the opportunity to matter -- to be part of a mission, especially for younger workers.

ROMANS: Yes, I think you're right. There's just a whole new reassessment of priorities post-COVID and people want a little bit more out of their job, especially if it's going to be a risk management and health decision every day -- every day you're walking out of your house.

Nela Richardson, ADP chief economist, so nice to see you. Thank you for stopping by. Have a nice day.

RICHARDSON: Thank you.

JARRETT: Great interview. That was so revealing.

ROMANS: Yes, she's amazing.

JARRETT: So interesting.

All right. The opening ceremony for the Winter Olympics is now just one day away, but the competition is already underway -- some curling.

Coy Wire is in Beijing with this morning's Bleacher Report. Hey, Coy.

COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Laura and Christine. I was there for that curling and it was nice.

Beijing is the first city to host the summer and winter Olympics and there was a seemingly endless string of hoops that Olympians had to go through just to get the approval to come here. And then actually getting here -- well, that was a nerve-racking, anxiety-building process for which the athletes I have spoken to could have never prepared.

[05:50:00]

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WIRE (voice-over): Beijing 2022 -- nearly 3,000 athletes from 90 nations going to China chasing dreams.

Our journey from the United States started with an approval process that took weeks -- be fully vaccinated, show two negative PCR tests, acquire a Green Health QR code, and so on. It's not like anything I've experienced in the U.S. where some places have hardly any COVID protocols. We're headed to one of the most locked-down places on the planet.

Team USA chartered flights for its athletes for the first time ever.

MAAME BINEY, USA SHORT TRACK SPEED SKATER: I know that I've done everything in my power to not get COVID, and I've done everything right.

JAMIE ANDERSON, USA SNOWBOARDER: Life has just been so strict lately. It definitely makes things like going to the Olympics not as enjoyable.

WIRE (voice-over): Our plane ride, via Paris, was packed with Olympians from France, Brazil, Netherlands, Monaco.

This is my neighbor, Clement Parisse, bronze medal skier for France at the last Winter Games. He says these are crazy times. No family allowed and one positive test could squash his dream of a second Olympic medal.

Seeing a flight attendant doing random temperature checks on sleeping fellow Olympians made it even more real.

Deboarding a plane, being greeted by people in hazmat suits was a bit shocking, like a pandemic paradigm shift. Everyone here has been exceedingly kind. They take their jobs very seriously. The COVID test upon arrival -- it's been called the brain scraper, and let's just say it's thorough.

China's zero-COVID strategy is a harsh contrast to the packed arenas of screaming maskless fans in other. No tickets being sold to fans here. Athletes are being asked to mask up and not even cheer for their teammates out loud. It's unsettling.

While here, you could get a knock on your door at any time with a hazmat messenger revealing you've tested positive. You'd have 15 minutes to gather your things before being taken away and put on lockdown at a designated isolation facility for an uncertain length of time, like Hong Kong's Audrey King, one of the Olympians who has already tested positive.

They're very serious about COVID protocols here. It's a process we have to respect. These Beijing Games are a lot different than the Tokyo Games just six months ago. Daily COVID testing. Being confined to a well-defined closed-loop system -- and instead of closed-loop, you could say fenced in.

If there's any doubt about how strict Chinese authorities are in regard to preventing the spread of the virus, these heavily-branded, chain-linked walls say it all.

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WIRE (on camera): Now, we are in lockdown, Christine and Laura. And the stress to these athletes, you can't even imagine. It doesn't stop when you get here.

I texted Team USA's flag bearer for tomorrow's opening ceremony, four- time Olympian bobsledder Elana Meyers Taylor. She tested positive upon arrival. She was taken to an isolation facility and been there about a week.

But the good news is just moments ago she texted me and she said she had her first negative test. Now she needs just a second consecutive one after a 24-hour period in order to be released. It's her first Olympics as a mom, so she's certainly -- Elana Meyers Taylor -- someone we're rooting for.

JARRETT: All right, Coy -- appreciate it.

ROMANS: So nice to see you. Thank you, Coy.

All right. NASA has announced the International Space Station will end its life not in the icy cold of orbit but in a giant ball of flame.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Engines start. Four, three, two, one. We have booster ignition and lift-off.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JARRETT: Initially launched to much fanfare back in 1998, NASA will retire ISS by crashing it into a remote part of the Pacific Ocean at the end of 2030. In newly-announced plans for the space station's future, NASA says commercially-operated stations will replace it as orbital platforms for collaboration and scientific research.

ISS has hosted more than 200 astronauts from 19 different countries over the past 21 years.

Finally this morning, New York University students are taking a deep dive on Taylor Swift.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TAYLOR SWIFT, SINGER-SONGWRITER: Singing "ME!."

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JARRETT: The mega pop star's career and cultural impact is the subject of a new course at NYU's Clive Davis Institute. According to "Variety," Swift, herself, has been invited to speak to the class. That's going to be popular.

ROMANS: She is a business powerhouse, by the way. She is a business and cultural powerhouse, so --

JARRETT: I think they should bring in Rihanna.

ROMANS: I know, right, OK. I would go to that class.

Thanks for joining us. I'm Christine Romans.

JARRETT: I'm Laura Jarrett. "NEW DAY" is next. The star witness in Donald Trump's first impeachment trial speaking out now. Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Vindman tells "NEW DAY" why he is now suing the former president's son.

ROMANS: And Rudy Giuliani unmasked. The reality show reveal that caused two judges to walk off the set.

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