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One World with Zain Asher

U.S. Labor Market Reported Surges In September Adding 336,000 Jobs; Trump Expresses Support For Jim Jordan To Be House Speaker; "One World" Plays A Snippet of Christiane Amanpour's Exclusive Interview With Hillary Clinton; CNN's Fred Pleitgen Files A Report On The Aftermath Of The Latest Russian Attack On Ukraine; President Biden Delivers A Speech On The Economy And The Latest Jobs Report; Biochemist Dr. Katalin Kariko Receives A Nobel Prize In Medicine. Aired 12-1p ET

Aired October 06, 2023 - 12:00   ET

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

[12:00:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BIANNA GOLODRYGA, CNN ANCHOR: The battle for U.S. House speakership heats up as candidates vie for votes and airtime.

ZAIN ASHER, CNN ANCHOR: ONE WORLD starts right now. Donald Trump has officially signed off on a candidate for U.S. House Speaker. We'll tell you

who it is and what it might mean.

GOLODRYGA: A vow of revenge. Syria says it will respond with full force following a deadly attack on a military academy.

ASHER: And later, the woman who changed the world. Our conversation with the Nobel Prize winner who laid the groundwork for covid-19 vaccines.

GOLODRYGA: Hello, everyone on this Friday afternoon. Live from New York, I'm Bianna Golodryga.

ASHER: And I'm Zain Asher. So good to be with you. Those stories that we just laid out there, in just a moment. But we begin with an economic report

card for the U.S. that is so much better than expected.

The labor market surged. It surged in September -- 336,000 jobs added. It literally blew expectations out of the water. It's nearly double by the

way, what economists had been predicting and it is the largest monthly employment gain since January.

GOLODRYGA: Yeah, President Biden is expected to tout these numbers any minute now and of course, we'll bring that to you live when it begins. Our

White House Reporter Priscilla Alvarez joins us now from Washington.

Priscilla, as noted, these are blockbuster numbers that not even economists had expected and yet poll after poll continues to show that the President

is not being rewarded for this economy and its improvement. What is he expected to say today?

PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Well, he's still expected to tout these numbers and use as an example of an economy being on the right

track, because as you point out, the expectations by economists were that these numbers were going to be around 170,000 -- they ended up over

300,000. And so, this is an opportunity for the President.

And one of these he's going to use to try to tell Americans that the economy is on the right track, that the jobs market is strong and push a

message that has been one that he seized on over the last year, which is Bidenomics and push that message through.

Now, this is a message that could still be under strain and one that voters remain skeptical about because of high interest rates, nationwide labor

strikes, as well as this month, resuming the repayment of student loans. So, it's still up against some cross currents.

And really while the jobs work it, is signaling that it is strong and that it is adding jobs, a lot of Americans are really looking at their pocket

and seeing these high interest rates and inflation is what makes them nervous about spending and the economy overall.

And that is really the message that the President and the White House is trying to break through, is explaining the different dynamics that play

here and that in the end, there should be confidence in the economy. So, that's a little bit of what we're expecting.

Now, again as you mentioned, the Americans just based off surveys are skeptical of this and this is going to be an issue for the White House if

they can't break through that messaging because it is a centerpiece of Biden's 2024 election.

But the bottom line in what we're going to hear in these remarks is that the President reminding Americans of his Bidenomics strategy, which is

focused on the middle class and trying to raise and elevate these numbers as a positive sign and one that Americans should have confidence in moving

forward.

GOLODRYGA: Yeah, the administration though, quite frustrated. They need some sort of course -- correction with their messaging to the American

public. As noted, according to CNN's recent poll, 37 percent of Americans - - only 37 percent of Americans approve of how the President has handled the economy. We'll see what he has to say when he speaks. Priscilla Alvarez,

thank you.

ASHER: And joining us live here in New York, my good friend, CNN Business Correspondent, Rahel Solomon. Rahel, I thought that Priscilla just really

laid out some interesting points. That's this idea is no matter how high these jobs numbers go, I mean, 336,000 jobs, those numbers are incredible.

But the bottom line is there are ordinary Americans who are still struggling, who are just not feeling it. It is not translating for them.

Just walk us through what the Federal Reserve does with these numbers. How do they see this?

RAHEL SOLOMON, CNN BUSINESS ANALYST: Yeah, I think for the Federal Reserve --Zain, good to be with you. I think this is the first time in this new

iteration that I'm with you and Bianna. So, congratulations for the show.

ASHER: Thank you, my love.

[12:05:00]

SOLOMON: Good to be here with you both. Yes, great. You know, I think for the Federal Reserve, it's a bit of a complicated picture because it is a

lot stronger than I think even the Fed would like to see. But there were some sort of silver linings here, and I'll get to that in a moment.

But I want to put in context, $336,000, Zain. If you look at job growth over the last year, we're talking about an average of about 267,000. And

even that is above what we tend to see pre-pandemic. So, this is a very strong labor market.

When we look at sectors and industries that add at the most, we're talking about leisure and hospitality. We saw some gains there that are even above

the average monthly gain over the last year. Government employees also adding a nice job gain, 73,000, and healthcare adding 41,000.

Here's the silver lining. When you look at wage growth, which has pretty significant inflationary impacts. That actually cooled a touch. So, we had

been expecting on a monthly basis average hourly wages to increase 0.3 percent. They actually only increased 0.2 percent.

So, this is important to the Fed and here's why. If you think about wages increasing, that's great news for workers. Everybody wants to make a little

bit more, but the concern is if that becomes a vicious cycle. So, you're making more, you are spending more. You are -- companies have to pay you

more, obviously, and so then they raise their prices and it becomes a sort of vicious cycle.

We haven't necessarily seen a ton of evidence that that is happening, but that is the concern. So, for the American worker, you look at a report like

this and you're like, great, job market is strong.

But hey, by the way, inflation is still there and so it's hard to pay for certain things, hence the pessimism that American voters sometimes feel --

Priscilla laid it out really well there. If you're the Fed and you're looking at this report, it's -- the economy is hanging on strong, but

perhaps a little too strong.

ASHER: I mean, it's interesting, then, you know, because obviously President Biden is about to speak. I mean, the big question is how does he

bridge that gap? Because you do have that divide, this idea that wages are rising, this idea that the economy -- the labor market is really strong

right now.

But again, as Priscilla was just talking about, ordinary Americans are just not feeling it. I mean, you touch on inflation, but just to give us more

detail as to why.

SOLOMON: You know, Zain, I had a conversation with an economist from the National Bureau of Economic Research, and I think it really illustrates

what you're talking about very well here. And this is a group, this is a committee that would ultimately decide when, in fact, we are in a

recession. They date the recessions.

And when I asked him to explain the disconnect between what we see in the data and the pessimism that we see in polling, the pessimism that we hear

from voters, he said what's been really remarkable to him is just how significant inflation has been on the perception of the broader economy.

And so, in terms of the President and the administration, I think this is going to be a real challenge for them. One thing that may be helping the

administration moving forward is that gas prices have started to come back down.

That was a pretty big concern for a lot of economists because, one, I mean, it's what a lot of us spend a lot of money on, but two, that has

inflationary impacts and that has started to come back down.

So, perhaps we hear the president. speak about that. That would certainly be something that might help him a bit. But in terms of inflation, people

still feel it. People still feel pretty sour about the larger economy, even when the labor market remains red hot.

ASHER: Yeah, I mean, that's the fact. I mean, the fact that Biden's re- election chances really -- does hinge on his ability to really convince people that his economic policies are actually working. We're actually

going to be hearing from President Biden.

In just a moment, he was supposed to speak about 40 minutes ago. We still haven't heard from him. We will, of course, bring it to our audience live.

Rahel Solomon, live for us there. Have a great weekend, my love.

SOLOMON: You, too.

ASHER: Well, one of the most far-right voices in Washington, a man once labeled a political terrorist by a former Republican leader, has Donald

Trump's stamp of approval in his bid to become the next U.S. House speaker.

GOLODRYGA: All right. The former president says that he is throwing his support behind this man, Jim Jordan. Jordan, who is known for his

polarizing politics claims that he wants to unite his deeply divided conference.

His main competitor is House Majority Leader Steve Scalise who is also making a pitch for unity. You see both men there together. And here's how

he responded to Trump's endorsement of his colleague, Jim Jordan.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEVE DOOCEY, FOX ANCHOR: Did Donald Trump call you and say, hey, sorry about it this time. I'm going with J.J.

STEVE SCALISE, U.S. HOUSE MAJORITY LEADER: Yeah, we spoke, obviously. You know, a lot of friendships in this race, a lot of folks that, you know,

have been talking to other folks on the outside to bring in to this race. There's a lot of interest in this race, you know, but at the end of the

day, it's a lot of one-on-one conversations over the last few days I've been having with my colleagues.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GOLODRYGA: For more on this, let's bring in CNN's Eva McKend. So, Eva, it's interesting because Jim Jordan wants to find a way to unite. And yet,

let's remind viewers that he, among other things, is overseeing now this impeachment inquiry into President Biden. Their own witnesses, by the way,

have yet to prove any evidence that the former president has indeed conducted impeachable offenses.

[12:10:00]

Let's put that aside. Break us down -- break down for us what this means now, if anything, to have the former president give his endorsement.

EVA MCKEND, CNN U.S, NATIONAL POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: He is, Bianna. And you know that there is no issue that is more deeply divisive than that

impeachment inquiry.

But I think that's why we heard such a temperate response from Congressman Scalise, because Jordan's Trump endorsement could be more of a liability

than an asset with moderates in the party. And the far-right members, they were already inclined to support Jordan, even without a Trump endorsement.

All eyes now really turn to next week to see if Scalise and Jordan will debate or participate in a joint interview. They were set to spar in a

debate on a conservative news channel, but received significant blowback from members of their own party who are saying, isn't this all enough of a

circus? There really needs to be an internal conversation among us, Republicans, about who we want to elevate to the speakership.

Now, next week, House Republicans and Democrats will both hold internal secret ballot elections to officially select their nominee for speaker,

secret ballot, so they'll do that in private.

But then it becomes public when the final votes are tallied on the House floor. I think many are hoping that it won't be as dramatic as it was when

they elevated Speaker McCarthy.

GOLODRYGA: I mean, it really is quite stunning. I mean, so many firsts here, and I guess Monday will be another first, where those candidates

vying for speakership will not be doing it on the floor of Congress, but instead will be doing it on television screens via Fox News. Eva McKend,

thank you. Great to see you.

ASHER: And a lot of people are actually weighing in on the possibility of Jim Jordan becoming the next House Speaker. Our Christiane Amanpour asked

former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton for her take on Jim Jordan's bid for the speakership and also, of course, the growing dysfunction within

the Republican Party. I want to play you some of that exchange.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN ANCHOR: Here we are in Washington, D.C. amidst another malfunction. The whole world is looking at what's happening in the

House and the historic ouster of a speaker. Is American democracy in trouble?

HILLARY CLINTON, FORMER U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: Yes, absolutely it's in trouble. It was in trouble before this latest incident. This just makes it

abundantly clear to anybody paying attention that we have one political party that unfortunately is in absolute hostage situation with its most

extreme members.

And Kevin McCarthy, who, you know, I have, you know, relationship with of any kind, but when he actually did the right thing for the country and kept

us from going into a government shutdown, he was punished.

And he was punished because he worked with Democrats, he worked for the good of the country, he was not continuing to be captive to the far-right

extremists. They toppled him. It was a very small number, as you look at the vote. But now we're, you know, reaping the consequences of their

misbehavior.

AMANPOUR: It's said that the main contenders for his position are Jim Jordan, who you know very well from Benghazi.

CLINTON: Well, I don't know him well. I watched him and you know, stared at him for eleven hours while he made stuff up about me. So, I don't know

him but I've seen him in action.

AMANPOUR: So, what would it mean if he gets the speakership?

CLINTON: Well, I mean, he is one of the principal ringleaders of the circus that's been created in the Republican Party for the last several

years. I have no inside knowledge about what the Republicans will do, who they will end up voting for.

But when do they put the country first? They do not represent a majority of even the Republican Party, when you look at the extremists in the House.

They certainly don't represent a majority of the country. And you know, somebody has to stand up and say, enough.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOLODRYGA: Well, Christiane also asked the former Democratic presidential candidate to weigh in on former President Donald Trump's popularity within

the Republican Party during their wide-ranging interview. Here's what she said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CLINTON: The base of the Republican Party for whatever combination of reasons, and it is emotional and psychological, sees in him someone who

speaks for them, determined that they will continue to vote for him, attend his rallies, wear his merchandise, because for whatever reason, he and his

very negative, nasty form of politics resonates with them. Maybe they don't like migrants. Maybe they don't like gay people or black people or the

woman who got the promotion at work they didn't get.

[12:15:00]

Whatever the reason. You know, "Make America Great Again" was a bid for nostalgia to return to a place where, you know, people could be in-charge

of their lives, feel empowered, say what they want, insult whoever came in their way, and that was really attractive to a significant portion of the

Republican base. So, it is like a cult.

And somebody has to break the -- break that momentum and that's where I believe Joe Biden will defeat him and hopefully then that will be the end,

and the fever will break, and then Republicans can try to get back to, you know, fighting about issues among themselves and electing people who are at

least, you know, responsible and accountable.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ASHER: Well, that was actually just a snippet of that riveting conversation that Christiane had with Hillary Clinton. If you want to catch

more of it, be sure to tune in here on Monday on CNN. Amanpour airs at 1 o'clock if you're watching from New York and 6 P.M. if you're watching from

London.

GOLODRYGA: Well, coming up for us, a small village in Ukraine is still reeling after an attack that killed dozens of residents, including a child.

We'll have an update on Russia's war on Ukraine when we return.

ASHER: And later, a message from captivity, a woman who has stood up to the Iranian regime for decades, is now awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. We'll

tell you what she told CNN about her quest for freedom -- coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GOLODRYGA: Well, this has been an especially brutal week for Ukraine. One day after one of the deadliest strikes on civilians since Russia's war

began, Moscow is now launching a fresh round of missiles and drone attacks across the country, including this strike on a residential building in the

country's second-largest city of Kharkiv. A grandmother and her 10-year-old grandson were killed.

ASHER: And nearby buildings in the village of Hroza reduced to rubble after Thursday's devastating attack. This is what the aftermath looked like

with emergency workers trying to rescue people.

At least 52 people were killed after a missile slammed into a cafe and a grocery store while people were gathered to mourn a fallen Ukrainian

soldier. U.N. Human Rights Chief says that a field team has been deployed now to investigate.

GOLODRYGA: CNN's Fred Pleitgen is in the village of Hroza and filed this report just a short while ago.

[12:20:00]

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: This was the building that was hit. As you can see, there's pretty much only the

foundations left of it. And a lot of the debris that was here has already been cleared. That's why it became very certain to the authorities here who

were working here pretty early on that they weren't going to find any survivors anymore underneath rubble.

So, this quickly turned from a search and rescue operation into a recovery operation, and now a clearing operation, as you can see. Folks still coming

out here, laying flowers over here.

Obviously, as you've noted, this entire village is extremely devastated as large portions of this village, quite frankly, were wiped out. That's a

makeshift memorial that's been set up there, a lot of candles, and we have seen throughout the day extreme -- a large amount of villagers come out

here, pay their respects, many of them, of course, bursting into tears.

It was interesting, because earlier today, I was speaking to one gentleman who witnessed the attack, and he was simply recounting the people who had

died here, and he said pretty much from every family here in this village, somebody was killed in that strike, a devastating strike here on this

village, which of course happened during a funeral wake for a soldier. Nevertheless, the authorities here are telling us that the people who were

killed, pretty much all of them were civilians.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GOLODRYGA: And we're going to break into Fred's reporting there to take you live to the White House, where President Biden will be speaking on the

economy and the latest jobs report this morning.

(LIVE COVERAGE BEGINS)

JOE BIDEN, U.S. PRESIDENT: -- a lot more on the paycheck. It's about your dignity. It's about respect. It's about being able to look your kid in the

eye and say, honey, it's going to be okay and mean it.

Well, 336,000 more Americans, if they have children, can say that to their children and mean it. The unemployment rate has stayed below four percent

for 20 months in a row, the longest stretch in 50 years.

We've achieved a 70-year low in unemployment rate for women, record lows in unemployment for African Americans and Hispanic workers, and people with

disabilities, folks who have been left behind in previous recoveries and left behind for too long.

We have the highest share of working-age Americans in the workforce in 20 years. And it's no accident. It's Bidenomics. We're growing the economy

from the middle out, the bottom up, not the top down.

And inflation is coming down at the same time. It's down 60 percent since last summer. Core inflation was just 2.2 percent over the past three

months. And now we have the lowest inflation of any major economy in the world.

Today, we're celebrating National Manufacturing Day. We didn't name it that. It was already National Manufacturing Day. But it seems appropriate.

I can think of no better way to mark the occasion than to thank the 13 million Americans who are in manufacturing jobs, as we speak.

They're restoring our pride, making things in America. And today, I want to highlight that, of those 13 million manufacturing jobs, 815,000 of those

jobs were created since I took office. Twice as many as the previous administration.

And report -- what we learned earlier this week that spending on construction for new factories being built to generate more economic growth

and jobs hit an all-time high last month.

Folks, Bidenomics is about investing in America and investing in American workers. And businesses are investing more in manufacturing than ever

before and bringing the supply chains home.

Before the pandemic, supply chains was a phrase most people didn't even associate with, didn't think much about. And -- but today, after a few

delays in availability of parts and products everyone has known about, they know why it's so important.

My economic plan is bringing supply chains home and investing in industries of the future so we can make things in America again with American workers.

We're creating good jobs in communities all across the country, including in places that have been left behind for the last, in some cases, 20 years.

Because the factories they used to work at for years and years shut down, leaving them with no options, no jobs in that community, all over the

Midwest and all over the Northeast.

That under Bidenomics, you won't have to leave home now to get a good job. I don't know how many times I heard out on the road people saying, my kid

came up to me, got a decent education in the state, came up to me and said, mom, I got to leave. No jobs. No jobs. Well, you're going to be able to

find a good job close to home, more and more, all across America.

We're also making sure the jobs we're creating offer workers a free and fair right, if they choose, to join a union, to form a union. Bidenomics is

leading the surge in unionized workers exercising their collective bargaining rights.

[12:25:00]

For example, our Clean School Bus Program under the bipartisan infrastructure law is replacing dirty diesel buses with clean electric

buses, so children getting on a bus program under the bipartisan infrastructure law is replacing dirty diesel buses with clean electric

buses so children getting on and off those buses can breath clean air, not diesel fuel.

We're encouraging the companies building those buses to allow their employees to unionize if the employees choose. And it's working. We saw in

Georgia when at Blue -- workers at Bluebird, the electric school bus manufacturing company that's receiving federal funds, voted to unionize

because that was their choice.

Treasury Department laid out recently in a major report that unions and collective bargaining are good for the economy overall. They help raise

wages not only for the workers in that factory but for everyone, whether or not they're union --whether or not you belong to a union. And they also

increase -- excuse me, they're going to also increase corporate growth.

And today's job report is just another example of what it looks like when we focus on building an economy from the middle out and the bottom up, not

the top down, while bringing deficits down at the same time.

You know, just this summer, I signed a strong bipartisan law where I shook hands with a former speaker, and we passed it in the House and the Senate,

as well, to cut spending by $1 trillion over the next 10 years.

Unfortunately, last weekend, Republican House members decided they were going to put that progress in jeopardy. Instead of honoring that commitment

they made, they once again brought us to the brink of a government shutdown, creating unnecessary instability and risk in order to secure more

extreme cuts and programs that help working Americans and seniors.

Cuts that would have hurt everyone from -- hurt U.S. manufacturing. It would have stymied the pay of military people, a whole range of things.

They tried cutting funding by 30 percent for small businesses, which are growing under our administration, for local manufacturers, for

manufacturing extension partnership program that helps small and medium- sized manufacturers attract and train workers and grow their businesses. But we stopped them.

Quite frankly, I'm sick and tired of Republicans in the House saying they want to cut the deficit when all they really want to do is, once again, cut

taxes for the very wealthy and big corporations, which will only add to the deficit. When I was able to cut the federal debt by 1.7 trillion over that

first two years, well, remember what we were talking about.

Those 50 corporations that made $40 billion and weren't paying a penny in taxes. Well, guess what? We made them pay 30 percent. Fifteen percent in

taxes. Fifteen percent. Nowhere near what they should pay. And guess what? We're able to pay for everything, and we end up with an actual surplus.

You know, it's not about -- it's not what the economy needs right now -- more tax cuts for the wealthy. I've said it before, and I'll say it again.

We've cut the deficit by over $1 trillion since we've taken office. The laws that I sign will cut it by another $1 trillion over the next 10 years.

And my budget would cut it by another $2.5 trillion over 10 years.

Here's the deal. The federal debt went up by 50 percent under my predecessor, in part because he passed a $2 trillion tax cut overwhelmingly

skewed to the very wealthy and large corporations.

I believe we should be reducing the deficit by making sure that the wealthy and large corporations and just pay their fair share. I'm not just going to

pay 90 percent. Just pay their fair share by cutting wasteful spending on special interests like big oil, all the money they made and paid so little

in taxes.

Big Pharma, same thing. You know, we just gave the American public a real gift in terms of what -- not gift, but fairness -- in terms of what they

have to pay for insulin and what they're going to have to pay for other things. Well, guess what? That also cut the federal debt. Cut the federal

debt.

For example, over 1000 billionaires in this country and I know you're going to hear me say this until I'm able to change it. You know what their

average rate of pay --federal tax rate is? Eight percent. Eight percent. I think you should be able to be a trillionaire, a billionaire, a

zillionaire, if you want, but pay your taxes for God's sake.

Pay some fair -- something approaching a fair tax. That's less than a teacher or a firefighter or a cop pays in their taxes. It's just wrong.

Look, House Republicans should put us back -- shouldn't put us back in a crisis mode again.

We have only 40 days for Congress to get back to work around the same House Republicans we have on recess now to fund the government, avoid a shutdown,

and protect the tremendous gains American workers have made over the past two and a half years. Shutdown would mean troops don't get paid, air

traffic controllers wouldn't get paid.

[12:30:00]

There'd be all kinds of problems at airports. Loans to small businesses would be delayed and closing some of them. It's time to stop fooling

around. House Republicans, it's time for you to do your job, continue our progress, growing the economy, investing in America, investing in the

American people.

So, let's get to work for the American people. They're waiting, and they're watching. We've got to get to work. Thank you all very much.

UNKNOWN: Mr. President, what are the prospects for a meeting between you and President Xi of China in San Francisco next month?

BIDEN: There has been no such meeting set up, but it is a possibility.

UNKNOWN: Mr. President, former President Trump endorsed Congressman Jim Jordan for House Speaker. Could you see yourself working with Congressman

Jordan if he is the next Speaker? And do you have any concerns about who might fill that position?

BIDEN: Look, whomever the House Speaker I'm going to try to work with. They control half the Congress. And I'm going to try to work with them. For

some people, I imagine it could be easier to work with than others. But whoever the Speaker is, I'll try to work with.

UNKNOWN: Mr. President. Can you be specific about what you did to try to reappropriate those border funds, especially when Democrats controlled both

chambers of Congress?

BIDEN: Oh, you mean the wall thing? Is that what you're talking about?

UNKNOWN: Yes, Sir.

BIDEN: Yeah, they passed. Well, I was told that I had no choice, that, you know, Congress passes legislation to build something, whether it's an

aircraft carrier, a wall, or provide for a tax cut. I can't say I don't like it. I'm not going to do it if it's -- had been vetoed. It was the law.

UNKNOWN: But you said, assuming that you tried to reappropriate the funds.

BIDEN: Yeah, if you're trying to ask the Congress to consider changing the law, to reappropriate. Say, don't use it for other purposes. Give me more

border agents. Give me more technical capabilities, to tech -- fentanyl and that's what I wanted to do.

UNKNOWN: Mr. President, you started your remarks here today by saying it was good news today with the economic report. Why do you think most people

still don't feel positive or feel-good news about the economy?

BIDEN: Well, first of all, you just heard the news today, too. They haven't heard it. I think the people, those 300-plus thousand people who

got jobs feel better about the economy. I'd -- look. I got to choose my words here.

You all are not the happiest people in the world. What's your report? And I mean it sincerely. It gets a more -- little -- you get more legs when you

report something is negative. I don't mean -- I don't mean you're picking on me. I'm just the nature of things.

You turn on the television and there's not a whole lot about boy saves dog as he swims in the lake, you know, to say, you know, it's about, you know,

somebody pushed the dog in the lake.

I mean, I get it, but if you just listen to what's going on around the world, there's reason for people to be concerned. There's reason for people

to be concerned with what's going on with Russia, with the reason to be concerned about what's going on in other parts of the world.

I think that the American people are smart as hell and know what their interests are. I think they know they're better off financially than they

were before. It's a fact. And all the -- all that data, all that polling stuff shows they think they're more positive about the economy than they've

been, more positive about their jobs, et cetera.

I just think if you -- let me put it this way. If you just watch what happened last week in the Congress, how excited are you going to be about

much of anything? Anyway.

(LIVE COVERAGE ENDS)

ASHER: All right, that was a wide-ranging news conference with President Biden. He started off obviously talking about the economy. It meandered to

talking about everything from the border wall to what's happening in Washington and the stalemate there.

But the bottom line is that even though there have been these blockbuster job numbers in terms of 336,000 jobs added in September, an unemployment

rate of 3.8 percent, the bottom line is that a lot of Americans just simply are not feeling it. There is this disconnect.

Thirty-seven percent of voters are saying that they don't think that President Biden is doing a good job when it comes to the handling of the

economy. And of course, inflation -- is a lot to do with that.

[12:35:00]

GOLODRYGA: Yeah. And the President noted all of these positive economic indicators. And we should note that 3.8 percent unemployment, we've now had

unemployment below four percent for the first time since December in 2021. That streak has been the first time we've seen a streak like that since the

1960s.

That having been said, we had the President address that very question that we keep asking, why is this not resonating with more Americans? He seemed

to not only view the media as somewhat Debbie Downers, but also just the atmosphere in the country and in the world with the government shut --

perhaps on the verge of a shutdown without a speaker right now and the events going on around the world.

But yes, these are issues that are affecting everyday Americans and we will be continuing to cover them. Well, I guess we'll do it more with a smile

now. I don't know if that was an indictment on us. We'll be back with more.

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ASHER: This is my favorite story of the day.

GOLODRYGA: For sure.

ASHER: Billions of people around the world are currently protected from COVID-19 because of the genius of Dr. Katalin Kariko. Kariko and her

partner, Dr. Drew Weissman, are the creators of the medical technology found in most COVID vaccines.

GOLODRYGA: Yeah, and this week they were awarded the Nobel Prize in Medicine for their work. They achieved their breakthrough by harnessing the

power of a genetic material known as messenger RNA. Now, despite all of her success, Kariko was surprised when she was told about her Nobel prize win.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNKNOWN: On hearing the news, I mean you're no stranger to awards of course, they've been coming so thick and fast recently, but what were your

first thoughts on hearing this news?

KATALIN KARIKO, BIOCHEMIST, 2023 NOBEL PRIZE IN MEDICINE: That somebody's just joking.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GOLODRYGA: Well, time now for The Exchange. Joining us is a Nobel Prize winner herself. It was not a joke, Dr. Kariko and your mother was

anticipating this, too.

So, she was quite prescient, waiting for you to be awarded for what was decades worth of work that you were determined to continue to pursue

against all odds, coming to the United States from Hungary, trying to secure a grant, actually meeting up with your partner at a Xerox machine.

You worked on this together and your pursuit of mRNA and this messenger molecule got us to the point where millions of lives were saved with the

COVID-19 vaccine.

[12:40:00]

This together and your pursuit of mRNA and this messenger molecule got us to the point where millions of lives were saved with the COVID-19 vaccine.

Talk about not only how this win feels for you, but also what it is that kept that determination and grit going to pursue this quest.

KARIKO: Yes. So, you know, as a scientist, the scientists like that, you know, have a problem to solve, and, you know, it is -- we ask a question

and then we usually not get the answer, but with the experiment, but we get more and more questions.

And actually, it was this messenger RNA is a fragile molecule. And at the beginning, like in the 1990s, other scientists started to use it. They

tried to develop to therapeutic purposes.

But you know, this RNA is a blueprint to produce protein, but when we deliver to the cells, very small amount of protein was produced, very short

period of time and it seems like it will be not useful for anything.

But what kept me going, that during the experimentation, changing certain elements, introducing new nucleotides, composition aid, purification and so

on, eventually constantly the performance of this mRNA increased. And that's why it's important. You have to see the progress.

ASHER: Dr. Kariko, I just want to start by saying thank you. You know, on behalf of me, on behalf of my husband, my children, everybody that I know

and love, who are out leading normal lives and who probably wouldn't be if it wasn't for you, from the depths of my soul, I want to say thank you. Do

you actually understand and appreciate what you have achieved on this planet?

KARIKO: Thank you that you ask for thank you, but I will accept this in the name of all of those hundreds and thousands of scientists who've worked

for decades. I mean, RNA, mRNA was discovered 60 years ago. So, in their name, because so many people contribute, science is like that, science

builds on science.

So, when people are telling me that, you know, I did -- I know that I was part of it. I was very happy. I knew what I was doing, but you know, I

acknowledge all of our colleagues.

ASHER: Brilliant and humble, right? Brilliant and humble.

GOLODRYGA: It's fantastic and you know, you now, you now can share medals at home. You know, her daughter is an award-winning Olympian, too.

ASHER: Oh my gosh.

GOLODRYGA: So, there you are. I don't know which I value more, but what an incredibly valuable, wonderful family. And congratulations. And I, along

with Zain and everyone else, do thank you for all of the work that you have done.

KARIKO: Thank you.

ASHER: Thank you, Dr. Kariko. And that does it for this hour of "One World". I'm Zain Asher.

GOLODRYGA: And I'm Bianna Golodryga. I'll see you in just a few minutes on Amanpour. But for now, Marketplace Africa is coming up.

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[MARKETPLACE AFRICA]

[12:50:00]

[MARKETPLACE AFRICA]

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END