Return to Transcripts main page
New Day
U.S. Economy Adds 943,000 Jobs in July; House GOP's Path Back to Power; The Bunker Boom; Creed Bratton is Interviewed about "The Office". Aired 8:30-9a ET
Aired August 06, 2021 - 08:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[08:30:00]
TRAVIS CAMPBELL, COVID PATIENT WHO REGRETS NOT GETTING THE VACCINE: After you leave your earthy shell, please consider being an organ donor and give a life back to 20 others and allow them the opportunity to live. There's no greater gift in this world that you could offer and show character to your family, and to the world to be organ donors.
And I love you so much. And I'm so thankful and I'm so sorry that I made the mistake of being negligent to not get vaccinated. Vaccinations are so important. And I can do better as a parent, as a human. And I hope to God everybody else can, too.
I thank you for your time, and I love you.
JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Travis, Kellie, Madison, we thank all of you for the message you're sending and we're so glad you have each other. The love you all share is something remarkable and an example to us all.
CAMPBELL: Thank you. Have a good day.
BERMAN: All right.
We'll be back in just a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[08:35:13]
BERMAN: All right, breaking news, the Labor Day just released the brand-new jobs numbers. With us now, CNN anchor Julia Chatterley.
What do we see?
JULIA CHATTERLEY, CNN BUSINESS ANCHOR, "FIRST MOVE": We see a healthy number, 943,000 jobs added back into the U.S. economy.
BERMAN: That's a good number (ph).
CHATTERLEY: Yes, this is great. This is the workforce gradually rebuilding from its pandemic losses. We also got revisions for the prior months, which is also pretty good, too, and added around 100,000 jobs in May's and June's numbers. So all of these numbers positively revised as well.
The big contribution coming from leisure and services, the restaurant sector's hiring back. We know they've been challenged. They managed to do it in the past month. Education was a big wildcard as well, and we saw over 220,000 people added back in education. You know, not shed through the summer, of course. We know this has been a challenging thing all year because less people are in education and, therefore, the seasonal affects you would normally see in this month not feeding through.
That means an unemployment rate of 5.4 percent. Significantly lower from the 5.9 percent. That's what we saw --
BERMAN: That's a big drop.
CHATTERLEY: That's a huge drop. But what we didn't see -- and this is always the kicker here, we're still in a pandemic economy -- we didn't see more people participating. We're at a 45-year low for participation in the jobs market in the United States. So we didn't see people coming off the sidelines. Remember, we've still got 8.7 million people unemployed. That doesn't include the people that aren't looking for jobs at this stage. We're still down just shy of 6 million people since the pandemic began.
So it is a recovering economy. It's a pandemic economy. There's still a pandemic puzzle here that we have to wait till September to see. Will we get all our kids back into schools? That could bring another 2 million people back into the workforce. What about the COVID variants? Of course, Delta, what impact's that going to have? That's not really filtering in the bump up in cases that we've seen in these numbers. So that's another thing we have to focus on as well.
And, of course, half of states that are still paying the top up in benefits. That will run off in September.
So it's a great number. A healthy number. We'll wait and see what happens throughout the summer.
BERMAN: Yes, it was the very high end of predictions.
CHATTERLEY: We'll take it.
BERMAN: The biggest number we've seen in a long time.
CHATTERLEY: We'll take it.
BERMAN: And that drop in unemployment, I can't think of a time I've seen half a percentage point in any one month. That seems like a lot.
CHATTERLEY: Yes, because we're not bringing people off the sidelines.
BERMAN: I get it. I get it. Yes.
CHATTERLEY: So it's a good number, but, you know, we'd still like some more jobs, please, (INAUDIBLE).
BERMAN: All right, Julia Chatterley, thank you very much for that.
Up next, Republicans with their eye on retaking Congress next year with the help of Republican women.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[08:40:36]
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: New CNN reporting uncovers the crucial role GOP women are playing in the Republican Party today. After an historic number of Republican women were elected to the House in 2020, the party is viewing their wins as a blueprint for future success and doubling down on that strategy to regain the House in 2022.
Melanie Zanona is with us now. She's been reporting on this.
So tell us a little bit about how Republican women are going to factor into this campaigning for the midterms approach.
MELANIE ZANONA, CNN CAPITOL HILL REPORTER: Well, Republican women are critical to the GOP's strategy to winning back the House, really pulling from the Democrats' 2018 playbook. Last year 11 of the 15 seats that were flipped by Republicans were flipped by Republican women in some of the most competitive races in the country.
So first and foremost, the priority is keeping those seats. And it won't be easy. Like I said, those are tough races in swing districts. But you've seen GOP leadership fundraise for these candidates, campaign for them, elevate them inside the conference in different ways. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy even gave a speaking slot to freshman Rep. Ashley Hinson at his major donor retreat in Jackson Hole, which is a really big deal. And some of these women are the top earners right now in the party in terms of fundraising. So it's working.
The second part of the strategy, of course, is recruitment. One hundred and fifty-five Republican women have already filed to run for office, that's a new record, compared to 60 at this point in the cycle last year. And they only need to flip five seats. And GOP leaders have already gotten involved in some primaries backing female candidates in at least three swing districts of Kansas, Texas and Illinois. So, theoretically, Republicans could win back the majority just on the backs of GOP women alone.
KEILAR: I mean that's a huge -- that's not just record-breaking, that's like., you know, more than twice that they had at this point.
ZANONA: It is a big deal for Republicans, yes.
KEILAR: That is wild.
OK, so Democrats, this is tough with such a slim margin. How are they going to counter this? ZANONA: Well, so, listen, the GOP has made some noble gains with
women, right, but oftentimes that is overshadowed by some of the loudest and most controversial members of that freshman class, like Marjorie Taylor Greene, Lauren Boebert. And Democrats have made clear they are going to yoke the entire party to those controversial members, including some of these really tough swing districts and some of these vulnerable members.
And it's also worth pointing out that even though Elise Stefanik was just elevated to the number three position in GOP leadership, that only happened after the Republican Party kicked out Liz Cheney, then the highest ranking woman, from her leadership job. And so Democrats are not going to let voters forget that.
KEILAR: Yes, they are not.
All right, Melanie, thank you so much for following that for us.
ZANONA: Thank you.
BERMAN: Coming up live on NEW DAY, another star from one of the most popular sitcoms ever. One of Brianna's favorites, but she doesn't know who it is.
Stay tuned.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[08:46:23]
KEILAR: This summer, CNN is bringing you a special series of all new CNN film shorts spotlighting people striving to build different kinds of communities across America. "The Bunker Boom: Better Safe Than Sorry" is the next documentary in the series and it's introducing us to a community of doomsday preppers who have uprooted their families and started new lives completely off the grid.
Here's a preview.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Who knows what's really going to happen.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hey, baby, do you warrant cheese?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't think that you're going to wake up the next morning and there's going to be chaos. It's going to be a gradual, slow thing and you're going to say, holy crap, look what this world is doing. And I'm out here in the middle of nowhere trying to avoid it. If worse comes to worse, I'll lock us in this bunker.
There's a foot (INAUDIBLE) concrete and (INAUDIBLE) dirt. We're in a steel bunker, rebar reinforced. This thing is designed for a blast. You ain't getting in.
(END VIDEO CLIP) KEILAR: All right, so imagine living like that.
Joining us now is Arianna LaPenne. She's the director of "The Bunker Boom: Better Safe than Sorry."
You got quite a look at this. And this community that you visited here, it's on a former military base. You have people living in these military bunkers buried under dirt and cement, no natural light. This is in the Black Hills of South Dakota.
What is daily life like for them, Arianna?
ARIANNA LAPENNE, DIRECTOR, "THE BUNKER BOOM: BETTER SAFE THAN SORRY": Um, there's a -- it's probably something akin to, they'd say like frontier life. So it's a lot of getting back to basics. In this day and age, that means also setting up your Internet connection, because that's a basic and it's essential. But it can include, you know, identifying and supplying yourself a water source, powering your personal electrical grid maybe with a generator, satellite to get the Internet working, a lot of learning how to do fundamentals that you don't think of doing in city life because you have all the conveniences.
KEILAR: And so this --
LAPENNE: So this is a life without any of those conveniences.
KEILAR: Yes, which a lot of us can't even imagine. Maybe aren't going to seek out. But, you know, this is a trend, and I wonder if it's trending more after the pandemic, too, having started.
LAPENNE: Yes, I'd say that the pandemic was kind of the black swan event. As John Reme (ph) mentions, who's also in the film. There's been a growing trend, an increase of the survivalist real estate market, and emergency preparedness in general, right? So you guys might have even covered -- or many people have covered the Kardashians started doing an emergency preparedness kit. Everyone's kind of gotten in on it, so to speak, but over the years I'd say probably really since 9/11, but recently in the last year or so since the pandemic there's been a real resurgence or uptick in the growth of real estate options.
And this is not the only one. There are many others on the market. I didn't want to just do a survey of real estate options,
KEILAR: Yes.
LAPENNE: But here we go into one community really, especially to get to know the people there. But there are things like survival condo, or -- oh, there's another place, I can't recall the name of right now, but several other communities -- like, not quite communities in this sense, but groups who are tapping into that desire.
[08:50:08]
KEILAR: Yes. No, it is fascinating and I want to thank you so much for telling us about it. I can't wait for this one.
Arianna LaPenne, thanks to you.
And you can watch this. It's the CNN film short, "The Bunker Boom: Better Safe than Sorry." That's tomorrow night at 9:00 Eastern on CNN.
BERMAN: This week's CNN Hero was saved by a heart transplant 12 years ago. And now Ava Kaufman has turned her good fortune into a mission to help others.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
AVA KAUFMAN, CNN HERO: So this is your new home for now.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, wow. Oh, this is beautiful.
KAUFMAN: It's a very scary feeling not to know that you're going to have a roof over your head to recover or that you're going to go broke.
I understand that feeling.
My life changed on a dime. I went from living this big life to not knowing how I was going to survive.
The bed's going to go there. Put the black dresser here.
We have two homes now.
It's not just a place to live. It's a place to recover. It's a place to heal. It's a place to feel supported and loved, you know, not just by me, but by a family of people.
And this is your bedroom.
The last 12 years of my life have been the most challenging and the most happiest. I feel like I was chosen to do this. When I can talk to a family and make them feel better, there's absolutely nothing like it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BERMAN: For Ava's full story, go to cnnheroes.com.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[08:55:43]
BERMAN: We are celebrating the history of the sitcom with an all-new original series called the "History of the Sitcom." And we have another special mystery guest this morning from one of Brianna's favorite shows. And we're going to get her to the right place here.
KEILAR: Maybe.
BERMAN: So, Brianna Keilar, this show takes place in Joe Biden's hometown. Birthplace.
KEILAR: Oh, is this "The Office" again? Oh, someone else from "The Office"?
BERMAN: Correct.
KEILAR: OK. All right. All right.
BERMAN: Correct.
KEILAR: OK.
BERMAN: This act -- this character is not a woman, which makes it a --
KEILAR: A man.
BERMAN: Yes.
KEILAR: Which is like half the cast or more. OK.
BERMAN: You are on fire. En fuego here.
KEILAR: All right. OK.
BERMAN: OK. This actor's name on the show is the same as his name in real life.
KEILAR: Oscar?
BERMAN: Negative. This actor was arrested in the series finale.
KEILAR: Creed.
BERMAN: Yes! Joining us now is, in fact, the man who plays Creed Bratton, Creed Bratton.
KEILAR: Oh, my gosh, Creed, thank you so much for joining us today. This is awesome to have you on.
CREED BRATTON, ACTOR, "THE OFFICE": Great! I can't see anybody there, though, you know.
BERMAN: You're much better off not seeing me.
KEILAR: OK. Yes, don't worry about that. We can see you, which is --
BRATTON: Well, I worry about that, but -- you can see me? Well, thank -- yes, how are you?
KEILAR: Yes, we can see you. Everyone wants to see you.
BRATTON: Hi, Brianna.
KEILAR: They're used to seeing us. Oh, my God, it is so wonderful to have you on. And, you know, as we're promoting this "History of the Sitcom." BRATTON: Yes.
KEILAR: This show, I mean, we had your -- your colleague, Kate Flannery, on last week and we were talking to her and I just wonder what -- what it is -- what it's like for you reflecting back on that time, you know, like nine seasons?
BRATTON: It was -- it was sad, Brianna, because they were very -- they were actually very cruel to me. The (INAUDIBLE) sort of worked on. Especially at my age. I came on and they treated me like I was a background character.
The reality is, guys, I had done more -- I had more film credits than everybody on that show combined. Now, albeit they were mostly black and white and silent films, but, still, I believe the numbers count, you know.
KEILAR: OK, but -- but you were, I mean you were one of the most fun characters to watch. You never knew what Creed was going to do.
BRATTON: No.
KEILAR: And I wonder have you -- one of my favorite things about Creed was his desire to do -- it was like a casual cart wheel or something, that was his goal. Your goal.
BRATTON: Right. Right. They (INAUDIBLE) --
KEILAR: Can -- can you do a cartwheel better than you did?
BRATTON: I can do a little bit -- a little bit better than that, yes, yes. I'd been around (INAUDIBLE) service a little too much at that time, you know, as I was pushing 200 pounds at that time. So I got -- I got in much better health after the show.
BERMAN: I'm with you, Creed. I mean I think that the original title of the show was going to be the office with Creed Bratton or Creed Bratton's office and somehow that got lost over the course of the first season or so.
BRATTON: I think -- it would actually be (INAUDIBLE) the office an American workplace, you know? And Ken Quafis (ph) got me on that show, the famous director. And he introduced me to Greg Daniels (ph). And he took a shot with me. And --
BERMAN: How --
BRATTON: But I had -- I had done quite a bit of television and film before that, they just didn't realize it.
BERMAN: Not to mention music. You're like a totally legit rock and roll, you know, music star.
BRATTON: I am playing The Greek here in a couple of weeks, yes, yes.
KEILAR: That's amazing. Yes, you have this background as -- BRATTON: Yes, (INAUDIBLE) band called Mount Joy (ph) actually.
KEILAR: OK.
BRATTON: But I am going to tour for two weeks all over the California, Oregon, Washington, Nevada, Idaho and then off to Europe, Ireland, England and the continent in February. So, yes. So, no.
KEILAR: That's going to be amazing. Post-pandemic.
BRATTON: Yes, no question (INAUDIBLE).
KEILAR: I'm sure you're just so ready to get back out there.
OK, you're Creed Bratton, which is -- that's the name of your character on the show.
BRATTON: Correct.
KEILAR: So how much of Creed Bratton on the show is the real Creed Bratton you?
BRATTON: Well, I don't know what the statute of limitations are here on this stuff, guys, but just -- I'm a little reluctant to talk about that.
KEILAR: It did appear that your character might have been a bit of a criminal.
BRATTON: But I would (INAUDIBLE) strangler situation, you know, I've got to tell you for sure they got the wrong guy on that one.
[09:00:05]
KEILAR: That is -- you know, that is very important to note. Very important to note.
