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New Day

New Jobs Report Out; Bob Wright's Take On Cancer and Trump. Aired 8:30-9a ET

Aired December 02, 2016 - 08:30   ET

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

[00:00:00] UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Of these other business interests that we deal with in terms of U.S. policy and that's OK but it wouldn't be OK for Bill and Chelsea Clinton to have had that same deals. Explain it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think because Mr. Trump has disclosed his so- called conflicts around the world.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, by coming out and saying that he owns some of the best real estate and some of the best businesses in the world.

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He didn't release his taxes, so you don't know exactly what the level of connection is to some of these places.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: But --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And what's the purpose of releasing his taxes anyway?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I mean, what are we looking for?

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You know --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't agree with that.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You know what, I don't --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't think that shows --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: -- you know, Alisyn (ph), that that's a tax return, he wasn't in politics. Next year, I'd like to see his tax return when he's president. But right now, he's private. I like to see every member of Congress give us -- show us every tax return so they can prove that they're paying their taxes because we know some of these hypocrites down in Washington don't pay taxes. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It comes down to trust. People trust Donald Trump, OK, even if they don't admit to it because, again, their party affiliation, they -- behind closed doors, they trust him, he -- they trust him as a business man, he's had a solid career.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That's right.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: People do not trust Hillary Clinton.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Genuinely, they know she's crooked Hillary, even --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: But if --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: -- the people that supported her.

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And if he violates that trust, he'll be brought out --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She is, the husband is, the family is.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So you're willing to give him -- that basically you're willing to give him the benefit of the doubt and if you find out --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Of course. That he violated that trust, then we'll feel differently.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Donald Trump is not doing this to become rich like the Clintons and a lot of other corrupt politicians, he's doing this for the sole reason to make America great again.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: It is so interesting to listen to them. Although in the campaign, we said, you know, Donald Trump wasn't releasing his taxes, his voters didn't care. That's clearly true. That's different than saying he has given lots of disclosure, which is untrue.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: I think that --

BERMAN: He has not granted lots of disclosure about his money.

CAMEROTA: I think that they think that there's a lot of disclosure because he's been in the public eye for so long.

BERMAN: He has been very public but not with his business deals.

CAMEROTA: Right, I mean, you're drawing a distinction that they don't draw. You heard them say, they're willing to give him the benefit of the doubt. BERMAN: Yes.

CAMEROTA: They believe in him right now. If he betrays that trust, they say that they will turn on him and feel differently. But for the moment, they see good signs.

BERMAN: It's very interesting to me that there's clearly this solid base of Trump support, but there are other people who voted for Trump who I assume don't feel as passionately as them. And I wonder how much leeway they're wiling to give.

CAMEROTA: I'm going to take that as an assignment. John, I am going to be -- I'm going to find them, people who voted for Barack Obama and then Donald Trump.

BERMAN: There have to be some. There were a lot of counties that swung (ph).

CAMEROTA: Stay tuned. Oh, by the way, this was shot, I think we might have said that in intro, we shot this on Wednesday before the carrier deal came out, so that's why they didn't know some of the details nor did I. But I think that they still feel the same way today.

BERMAN: All right, we have a new jobs report out. Christine Romans is crunching the numbers. I saw one number and it is a wow. We'll tell you right when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[00:06:54] CAMEROTA: We do have some breaking news for you now, because the Labor Department has released the November jobs report moments ago. The unemployment number is now the lowest of President Obama's administration. For more, let's get to Christine Romans. She has all the breaking details. What do you see?

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: The lowest since his administration and then some, let me show you the jobs added first. This is 178,000 net new jobs in the month. Look at September, revised up 208,000, so this has continued strong jobs creation. The big headline, though, I would tell you here is the unemployment rate, 4.6%, that is the lowest since May 2007. Think about what you were doing in May 2007, it was before the housing crisis, or at least we knew the housing crisis was going to blow up. It was back then when we had kind of vibrant job market and we had an economy that was moving forward.

So this is, you know, rewind all the way back of all those battle days (ph) to talk about May 2007. The labor force participation rate, this is something you often hear Donald Trump talk about still the lowest in a generation, those are the people who are out of the labor market altogether, there's big hope that over the next year, with these strong jobs numbers in this hiring, you're going to see these people start to come back in to the labor market.

Sectors, very important here, business information services, these are jobs that tend to pay well. These are office managers, computer scientists, engineers, health care, we've seen continued strength there. Guys, look at manufacturing, down another 4,000 jobs. Over the past year, I think we're down almost 60,000 jobs. We're light to 60,000 jobs on manufacturing. So that has been a soft spot.

Witness what we saw in Cincinnati yesterday, witness what we were seeing in Indianapolis in these -- and what the president-elect has been talking about manufacturing jobs, that's where the anxiety has been over the past year overall. We have futures this morning that are down a little bit and I'm going to tell you why I think a strong job support, why would the stock market be down? Because the Federal Reserve now has the ammunition to start raising interests rates.

And high environment costs are already here in terms of the bond market. So, I likely think you'll see the stock market continue to look at the strong jobs numbers and say, wow, the economy is having a long hair, that means higher rates are coming.

CAMEROTA: Interesting. I mean, so -- but when you look at the manufacturing numbers, you can understand why there are some people in the country who feel --

ROMANS: Yes.

CAMEROTA: -- as though things are not going in the right direction and others who say, what are they talking about.

ROMANS: That's the big disconnect right here, the manufacturing jobs down another 4,000 there. They've been weak all year.

BERMAN: Christine Romans, Early Start, keeping this (ph) correspondent. Have a great weekend. Thanks so much.

Want to discuss this more of the job numbers and all the other political goings on with CNN political analyst David Gregory. The bottom line here, David Gregory, 4.65 unemployment is very, very low. That is a terrific number if you're looking at the economy.

DAVID GREGORY, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Yes, you're going to have two presidents, a current one and the president-elect fighting to grab the mantle of the jobs president. Obviously, President Obama is going to tout this as the impact of policies over the past eight years and rescuing the economy from financial crisis. But the more immediate issue is how Donald Trump moves into this new economy and tries to become a jobs president, an economically competitive America president.

[00:10:03] I think that's really going to be the signature issue. The manufacturing pieces you've just been talking about is a big area of concern as well. And this is obviously with this carrier announcement of the past couple of days where this new administration wants to go to work.

CAMEROTA: But David, I mean, is Donald Trump going to be able to bring back manufacturing jobs, because that was the promise unless manufacturing jobs are sort of being modernized into obsolescence. GREGORY: Yes, I mean, I think the Wall Street Journal editorial page

today has instructed in this regard as a more kind of conservative establishment point of view is saying this kind of intervention into the economy is dangerous. It might produce some short-term political gain for Donald Trump which he is enjoying. But it's really not a model to follow, the kind of strong arm companies to keep some jobs back. This is still a sector that's under so much strain and we're in a society and in an economy that's being so severely disrupted that manufacturing jobs are not going to come back and not going to exist in the way they did before.

How does the economy shift? How does the government try to encourage that? What's the skill set that people try to acquire to find their way in this new economy? These are bigger issues --

BERMAN: Right.

GREGORY: -- than just, you know, the issue of terror ops (ph) and trying 2to preserve a certain number of jobs at a manufacturing plan (ph).

BERMAN: Well, Donald Trump told us one hire he would like to make in the near future, and that's retired general James Mattis to be secretary of defense. Mattis is a highly respected commander but, David, one who will require a congressional waiver to get to the Pentagon because he's only been out of the military for a few years and a law says you need to be out for seven. This is so that there is civilian control --

GREGORY: Right.

BERMAN: -- of the military.

GREGORY: Yes, and I think that's a concern. And I know talking to some important thought leaders around Washington, they have some concerns about a general moving into civilian leadership, but it's really the first time in my reading that this has happened since Omar Bradley had the job. So I think it's an important consideration.

But General Mattis also brings a lot of credibility, a lot of excellent credentials and experience, wisdom and judgment particularly in the past 10 years with regard to our conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq. And I think it's very positive sign that President-elect Trump would turn to him for this role, especially with regard to how he's going to position himself in the rest of the world.

CAMEROTA: David, let's talk about what happened at John's alma mater, some little weird place called Harvard.

GREGORY: So much goes on up there. It gets so contentious.

CAMEROTA: I know. So there was something contentious that is noteworthy that went on. The top strategist of both the Hillary Clinton campaign and the Donald Trump met and it was for the sort of postmortem, you know, for history, I mean, for posterity at Harvard. They recorded this to say, what went wrong, what happened during the campaign, it did not go as planned because it once again got testy.

Did you read the transcripts between Jennifer Palmieri and Kellyanne Conway?

GREGORY: Yes, I did. And look, you know, this is still a pretty raw time in our politics. And, you know, I think it's different than just which, you know, ideological point of view triumphed here. I think the Clinton campaign made a bet and made an argument that Donald Trump was unfit to serve, unqualified to serve and a dangerous figure, and a lot of Americans believe that is the case. They took him at his word. And I think those raw nerves (ph) still come out. They made that decision but they didn't prevail and they didn't prevail in part because not enough Democrats came out to vote for them.

And I think you saw that play out in that disagreement last night.

BERMAN: All right, David Gregory, great to have you with us. That is --

GREGORY: Thanks.

BERMAN: -- the bottom line. Enjoy your weekend, sir.

GREGORY: You, too.

BERMAN: All right, his grandson's autism diagnosis inspired him to action years ago. Now, former NBC executive Bob Wright has a new mission inspired by the death of his wife. Bob joins us live next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[00:17:36] CAMEROTA: Our next guest is the co-founder of Autism Speaks, he and his wife Suzanne established that organization in 2005, after their grandson was diagnosed with autism. But now, former chairman of NBC Bob Wright is taking on a new fight against pancreatic cancer after the death of his wife this summer. And Bob Wright joins us now.

Bob, nice to see you.

BOB WRIGHT, CO-FOUNDER, AUTISM SPEAKS: Thank you, Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: Gosh, I know what a heartbreaking time that you've had. Suzanne was a wonderful, lively, spirited, fantastic person. And I know that pancreatic cancer, which took her life, is such a cruel disease. And this has been a rough year for you.

WRIGHT: Well, and so, Alisyn, I feel like an investigative reporter and I've been on the investigation of pancreatic cancer now for 13 months. Nine months of it was during her life as a pancreatic cancer patient and the last four is, I'd say, after her death. And my report back is extremely harsh.

CAMEROTA: What have you learned?

WRIGHT: I've learned that there's been no change in mortality rate for pancreatic cancer in 40 years. So 93% of the people have it die mostly in the first year. And this is -- and yet we have no attention to this from the NCI, which is the National Cancer Institute, from the NIH and from Health and Human Services. These are the groups that have not been appropriately dealing with this horrible killer. This is the third largest killer of cancer.

CAMEROTA: Yes. And when people get this diagnosis, they do think of it as a death sentence because of those statistics that you've just laid out. So why hasn't this -- I mean, is it just the people who've thrown up their hands and they think there's no way to cure this? Why hasn't it gotten the attention?

WRIGHT: Well, you know, it's ironic but I -- my book is devoted to management. And the tenants (ph) of -- that aren't here is there's, you need leadership, you need prioritization and you need urgency. If you're going to succeed, any kind of an organization is going to run into problems, whether it's not for profit or for profit. And a large organization is when it's a serious problem, people have to mask quickly. They need leadership on it. They have to prioritize what kind of -- what do I have available. Can I use -- how can I put it altogether to deal with this. And lastly, they have to do it immediately. That does -- that has not happened in the case of pancreatic cancer. And it's -- and so this is real management failure.

[00:20:06] CAMEROTA: And you and Suzanne are people who when faced with a hardship, you are action-oriented doers. Autism, another unattainable problem for so many families but you seized it and you started Autism Speaks. What is your plan to tackle pancreatic cancer?

WRIGHT: Well, I learned a lot with Autism Speaks and if I had to do some things over again, it would probably be a little harsher in many respects in the same issues. In that case, there was a denial in the medical community about autism. Some people win it, some people weren't (ph). It was controversial.

CAMEROTA: A denial that autism existed?

WRIGHT: Existed, right, right, right. But we got past all that. And then the question was, the medical professionals said, well, we don't have the tools to -- now, that we don't have the tools so we're going to have to pass it on to specialists, neurologists, and psychiatrists who are over that there aren't enough of them to deal with that issue. So we ended up, you know, going and we raised tons of money at the federal government level.

And I -- but I wish I could say honestly that 40% of $3 billion, that's how much we raised, I wish 40 -- I wish I could tell you 40% was truly done properly, used properly.

CAMEROTA: Yes.

WRIGHT: It's not about how much money you use in medicine and science would work, it's how it's being spent.

CAMEROTA: And is that your plan for pancreatic cancer? Where do you begin?

WRIGHT: Well, I begin with the facts. This fact sheet is -- it's like a -- you know, I was a lawyer. I was a lawyer for many years. It's just like you go into the judge and say, I wanted a -- this trial is already over. Here's the facts. I don't have to even read them, just you read them.

CAMEROTA: Yes, they are --

WRIGHT: So, it's like how did this happen? It's too hard to answer that question but it's happening every day. There are five people an hour that die from pancreatic cancer, 117 a day, 3,500 a month, you know, 43,000 people a year. It's just unbelievable.

CAMEROTA: Well, the numbers are just one, if anybody can get to the bottom of it and make some progress, it's you, Bob. Last, before we let you go, do you have the appetite for a little politics right now?

WRIGHT: Sure.

CAMEROTA: OK. You were Donald Trump's boss for a long time --

WRIGHT: Yes.

CAMEROTA: -- when you were at NBC. And --

WRIGHT: Yes.

CAMEROTA: -- he was on The Apprentice, what do you think he'll be like as a president?

WRIGHT: Well, you know, I was an early supporter of his. And I told people, I said I worked with this man for many years and all these things that you're seeing and worrying about, you know, I said, I wouldn't worry about that. He's -- I think he's going to do just fine.

CAMEROTA: But meaning, all the things that people are worried about, his rhetoric, his fiery rhetoric, the things that media takes literally as we know.

WRIGHT: Yes.

CAMEROTA: But he doesn't necessarily mean literally, the feeling that some people feel as if they'll be marginalized under him. Why not worry about those?

WRIGHT: Well, you know, that we've already gone through that whole cycle. You know, and (INAUDIBLE) that is there. That he is a George Patton type individual.

CAMEROTA: It's so funny, we keep hearing that analogy.

WRIGHT: But it's only a part of him. He is easily -- he will differ in the face of facts that he did know or understand that are different. He is so results-oriented. And I think that's a great trait to have for elected official but especially a president who really has power, but he doesn't have unlimited power. Everything has to go through Congress. So --

CAMEROTA: Which, of course, Republicans control right now so he does have --

WRIGHT: But that doesn't mean they're going all agree with everything he wants to do when he wants to do it. So, he has to be very cagey and very smart about how he does these things to get it done. 2

The idea, for instance, the carrier situation, I think that's a sign that he's willing to put himself into a situation right away. That was very common in the 1950s and the '60s and presidents did get involve with steel worker things, coal mine issues and so on. It's just not been the way recently. But, you know, that's just one incident. He can't fix all the manufacturing. But all of a sudden, it's drawing attention. You have six or seven of those incidents, maybe we'll get some attention paid to manufacturing and ideas coming forward and people saying, I have an idea. You know, retraining different things. I think that's symbolic.

CAMEROTA: Well, it's great to get your take on it. You know him better than certainly most people. And Bob, thanks so much for being here to share, obviously, your loss about Suzanne and what you're going to do and how you're going to move on.

WRIGHT: Well, it's --

CAMEROTA: That will help a lot of people.

WRIGHT: -- the name of -- it's Suzanne Wright Foundation. I formed it and the name of the campaign, it's Code Purple Suzanne and code purple is a hospital term. When a hospital has a problem that they can't resolve, they go out to the medical community. It's like a three, you know, a three-alarm fire saying, please, come to us immediately, we need your help.

CAMEROTA: I'm going to put that on Facebook and tweet it out. Bob, nice to see you.

WRIGHT: Thank you.

CAMEROTA: Let's get over to John.

BERMAN: All right. Thanks, so much Alisyn.

Voting is now underway for the CNN hero of the year. One of this year's top 10 provides free health care to thousands of people in remote and potentially dangerous areas of her native Kenya. Meet Umra Omar.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[00:25:10] UMRA OMAR, HERO OF THE YEAR: If you look at Lam (ph), one of the biggest challenge in health care is professionals, health care professionals. We have about six villages that have absolutely zero access to health care.

To come back to where I'm born, it was kind of a sense of responsibility. We see monthly plagues (ph) and at least 10 of the villagers going in with a medical officer, making sure that the drugs in each facility are available.

Being here, being close to home to be able to feel some of the gaps and access in health care, it's been an I.V. drip for life and purpose. You can see the impact in 0.1 seconds. I have absolutely zero regrets for taking the leap of faith. I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world right now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: You can vote for Umra and your favorite top 10 heroes now with CNNheroes.com.

CAMEROTA: Despite everything I've said to you during commercial breaks, this has been fun.

BERMAN: I'll never forget these two days.

CAMEROTA: Yes, me either. "NEWSROOM" with Carol Costello picks up after this very quick break. Have a nice weekend.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)