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Rep. Mike Quigley (D-IL) is Interviewed about Harris; Brian Kelly is Interviewed about Airfare Prices; Biden Says a Hostage Deal is Close; Disney Pulls ABC and ESPN from DirecTV. Aired 9:30-10a ET

Aired September 02, 2024 - 09:30   ET

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

[09:30:00]

REP. MIKE QUIGLEY (D-IL): Exactly why you're seeing most of - both of those campaigns focus on battleground states, going after swing voters with swing issues.

So, they did step one, which is get the resources and the energy necessary to go forward with that battle after today. Now the battle takes place. You've got a couple months and the work just begins.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: So, I think the statute of limitations of mentioning the fact that you were one of the earliest congressman to come out and say that President Biden should drop out of the race, I think we've almost reached that, but not quite. So, I'm going to remind people, you were one of the first to ask for him to leave the presidential race.

And given that, what do you think the advantage or disadvantage is of having him on the campaign trail for Vice President Harris today? He's going to be a Pittsburgh for today, Michigan later in the week.

QUIGLEY: I think we have to remember that Joe Biden beat Donald Trump four years ago. Joe Biden still, you know, remains very popular with many of those swing voters. He knows what it takes to accomplish that task. So, look, I'm - I'm very happy we are where we are. I couldn't have asked for a better transition. And I appreciate and respect President Biden for taking a very tough choice, a courageous, selfless decision. And I'd like to think that he helped save our democracy for a second time.

BERMAN: On the convention floor, one of the things that I noticed talking to people there, labor super pro Joe Biden. Always has been and remains so. Not uncertain on Vice President Harris, but listening more on Vice President Harris. What do you think the labor movement needs to hear from the vice president?

QUIGLEY: Look, I do think you're right, it's a continuation of the Biden theme and how they felt about President Biden. And, you know, I think being part of that administration and talking about the same issues, we saw presidential campaigns fail because they didn't go to the union halls. They didn't talk about these issues. The Harris-Walz campaign isn't making that mistake. So, today's a great day to talk about that. I'm going to be doing so

at Labor Day parades in Chicago. I look forward to working with the campaign the next two months.

BERMAN: Six Israeli hostages murdered in Gaza. There are protests on the street in Israel today. There are reports that the United States may be working along with Qatar and Egypt on what is being called - again, this is reports right now, a final peace plan proposal, basically telling Israel and Hamas this is it. This is the one you're going to have to take. How effective a strategy do you think that would be?

QUIGLEY: Look, first, I have to pay my respects to the families that we have lost over the weekend, in just the last 24 hours. Our thoughts are with them.

And remembered, and at the convention, that the parents of Hersh Goldberg Polin talked about this and they were tireless advocates, not just for a release of the hostages, but for a ceasefire. I hope that the Netanyahu administration comes to the table, recognizes now is the time clearly the protest in Israel, a further indication of the desire to move forward with this.

So, I believe the Biden administration, working with them, can get this done because it's the right thing to do.

BERMAN: I think we're looking at live pictures right now of Hersh Goldberg Polin's mother speaking at the memorial service for him in Jerusalem right now. Amazing to think that when they spoke at the convention he was still alive and now he has been murdered.

Congressman Mike Quigley, we do appreciate your time this morning. Thank you very much.

Sara.

BERMAN: All right, record-breaking holiday travel is in full swing this morning on the roads, in the sky. What you should know before heading home, if you aren't already caught in traffic this Labor Day.

And ESPN and ABC goes dark on a very busy night for reports. The standoff between Disney and DirecTV that's affecting 11 million TV customers.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:38:55]

SIDNER: All alright, sorry for the bad news, but this Labor Day weekend is expected to be one of the busiest ever for travelers. AAA says travel for the holiday is up by 9 percent. The TSA predict up to 17 million travelers will be passing through airports across the country by Wednesday.

This could also be a great time to plan your next vacation. I said it. That's because airfare is actually down. And today may be a great day to score some deals.

Brian Kelly, founder of thepointsguy.com, joins us now.

We are lucky to have you in the studio. Never going to let you leave because I like free stuff, OK?

BRIAN KELLY, FOUNDER OF THEPOINTSGUY.COM: Yes.

SIDNER: I think we all do. What - first of all, what's causing this price drop?

KELLY: Yes, so while there's a lot of travelers, the good news is, prices are down. So, the airlines increased capacity. So, they added tons of flights to the market, which brought airfare down. So, they're looking to fill those flights as much as possible. And, obviously, I'm the points guy, so I have to encourage everyone, you would be shocked. My friend flying today, Paris to New York, book a last-minute business class award for 60,000 miles. There are tons of deals out there. And I just saw, if you're looking for fall travel, Swiss Airlines at a lot of their major U.S. hubs has the cheapest, 60,000 mile business class awards.

[09:40:06]

So, whether you want to do Christmas holiday markets, ski, you know, skiing this winter in Europe, use those points and transfer to foreign frequent flyer programs. That's where the most value is these days.

SIDNER: I am out of here. Let me go book this trip for 60,000 miles. I am all over that. That is really good.

John, can you hear that, 60,000 points to Paris, get on it.

Which airline has the best program? Because we're always arguing over -

KELLY: Yes.

SIDNER: You know, we all love our certain airlines. Which one has the best one?

KELLY: So, here's the deal, the U.S. programs have been a little naughty. They've been increasing the amount of miles you need for a flight.

SIDNER: I noticed.

KELLY: So, you know, four years ago you could get 100,000 miles round trip to Europe.

SIDNER: Yes.

KELLY: Now it's like 500,000. So, my tip is, use foreign frequent flyer programs because they have not devalued their programs as much.

Now, you might be saying, well, I don't have an Air France account or Virgin, but most of the major U.S. credit card programs allow you to transfer your points to foreign partners. Now, you might be saying, well, I don't know which airline to transfer to. So, there's a website called point.me. And point.me will basically tell you that you can put in what point you have, in Amex, Chase, American, and it will tell you, transfer to Air Canada, where it's only 60,000 points to book that Swiss flight I was talking about.

SIDNER: Dude.

KELLY: So, booking through United would be 88,000, only 60,000 if you leverage foreign frequent flyer programs. So, that's the trick. It takes a little bit of getting used to, but that's where all the real points and miles experts are transferring their miles these days.

SIDNER: I have a - there's so many attempts. I mean, you're never leaving.

Can I quickly ask you about, is there a specific day that people should be traveling because obviously everyone wants to travel during the holidays because that's when they have time off, but is there a day, like a Tuesday, when you should be taking a flight?

KELLY: Yes, so, in general, like Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Saturdays are the cheaper days to fly, right?

SIDNER: OK.

KELLY: Everyone wants to go on a Friday or Thursday, come back Sunday, Monday.

SIDNER: Right.

KELLY: The biggest trick here is just being flexible. So, if you want to find the cheapest flight, don't search once and assume that's what's there. Flight prices change by the minute. So, Google Flights. You've got to become an expert in using Google Flights. Google.com/flights. It's free. It'll pull in most of the available flights. But get this, you can set alerts. So, don't just book right away. You know, flight prices may drop.

SIDNER: Right.

KELLY: And in Google Flights it will actually tell you over the last 60 days has this price increase or decrease. And let me just tell you, in general, fares do increase over time, especially internationally.

SIDNER: OK.

KELLY: So, if you want to get away for Thanksgiving or even Christmas, New Years, you should start looking, setting alerts today. You really want to book about three months out for international. Six weeks is the sweet spot for domestic travel in advance. So, you don't want to procrastinate too much these days.

SIDNER: Oh, I'm such a procrastinator. That's been my biggest downfall. All right, Brian Kelly, thank you so much. You will not leave here

until John gets a hold of you, just so you know. Appreciate you.

KELLY: Thanks for having me.

John.

BERMAN: All right, we do have breaking news. President Biden just returned to the White House, where he did take questions. I think we're getting the sound in right now. Let's listen to what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The national security meet - I'm heading to a national security meeting right now. And then I'm going to Pittsburgh. And so checking out with - following up on what's happening in Israel, and then I'll be off to Pittsburgh.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are you planning to present a final hostage deal to the - both sides this week?

BIDEN: We're very close to that.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What makes you think that this deal will be successful in a way that the other deals were not?

BIDEN: Hope springs eternal.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. President, do you think it's time for Prime Minister Netanyahu to do more on this issue? Do you think he's doing enough?

BIDEN: No.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mr. President, what is your reaction to the demonstrations across Israel? What is your reaction to the demonstrations?

BIDEN: I'm going to get the detail when I walk in and I'll talk to you after that, OK. Thank you.

(CROSS TALK)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you have a message for the hostages family, sir?

BIDEN: Yes, I've spoken to the American hostage, I spoke to his mom and dad. And we're not giving up. We're going to continue to push as hard as we can. Thank you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: All right, that's President Biden returning to the White House, where he will hold meetings in the Situation Room. Our understanding is Vice President Harris will be there too. This is with the hostage negotiating team. The team that has been presenting plans overseas in negotiations, I think very significant what President Biden was just asked. Do you

think the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, is doing enough to achieve peace, to achieve a hostage exchange. His answer was, no.

Let's go right to the White House. Kevin Liptak is there for us.

Kevin, what did you hear in all that?

KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Yes, that one word, no, doing a lot of work. President Biden, of course, has been reluctant to apply pressure on Netanyahu in public, but certainly he's willing to do it in private. And you hear him saying there that he doesn't believe that the prime minister is doing enough to get this deal over the finish line.

I did ask President Biden whether he plans to present a final hostage deal to all of the sides this week.

[09:45:01]

And he said that he believed that they were getting close to doing that. And I think that does speak to the urgency that American officials feel in this moment to try and get this hostage deal completed, particularly in the light of the deaths of those six hostages who were found over the weekend. When you talk to American officials, they do say that those deaths do raise some questions about how serious Hamas is towards reaching a deal, but they also acknowledge that it will apply new and enormous pressure on Netanyahu to try and come to some kind of agreement.

And I think it's clear that at least on the U.S. side they want to use this window when that pressure is the highest to present an agreement, a framework. that will at least try and bridge the gaps that these two sides have. Whether or not that will be enough to bring this over the finish line, I think remains to be seen. And when I asked President Biden why this deal would be any different than the ones that have been presented over the last several months, he said only, hope springs eternal. But I think you can bet that those details and that framework will be the key topic of discussion when President Biden heads into the Situation Room just in a couple of minutes from now to talk this over with his team.

BERMAN: Important meetings ahead.

Kevin Liptak, thank you so much for being there for us.

All right, NFL kickoff, college football and "The Bachelorette" finale, all viewing experiences you might miss if you have DirecTV, as Disney pulls their programming from the service.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:50:59]

SIDNER: This morning, Pope Francis is preparing to embark on a 12 day landmark trip to Southeast Asia and the South Pacific. The four-nation visit will be the longest of his pontificate. Between today and mid- September the pope, who is 87-years-old, will visit Indonesia, Papa New Guinea, East Timor, and Singapore.

Chicago Sky rookie Angel Reese - this is super cool - she is making WNBA history again. The 22-year-old just broke the single season rebounding record, grabbing her 405th board in a game against the Minnesota Lynx. The new record adds to her record as the fastest player to hit 20 double-doubles in a season. She also broke the record for most consecutive double-doubles in WNBA history. Let's just say, she's good. I mean she's that good.

All right, Grammy Award singer Adele says she is, quote, "going to take an incredibly long break" from music after her Las Vegas residency finishes on November 23rd. So, get there and get your ticket because it's going to be awhile. In a new interview, Adele says she does not have any plans for new music and wants to focus on other creative things.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: September 2nd, watch the greatest competitive eaters go head-to-head for the first time in 15 years, in a rematch where winner takes all. "Chestnut versus Kobayashi: Unfinished Beef."

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SIDNER: I might be the only one, but this just makes my stomach hurt. Just watching that makes my stomach hurt. But - and not John. John loves it. Champion eaters Joey Chestnut, who you know well, John, and Takeru Kobayashi, the biggest names in the competitive eating, are about to face off in a huge, livestream event on Netflix later today. The two haven't faced off in a hot dog battle in 15 years. Chestnut currently holds the record for most hot dogs and buns eaten in ten minutes at 76. So gross. Kobayashi popularized competitive eating as a sport back in 2001 after he doubled the previous record for most hot dogs eaten during the Nathan's Hotdog Eating Championship.

John, you feeling loose and empty this morning?

BERMAN: They are - they are amazing athletes. And as you just noted, Joey Chestnut says he likes to go into these events empty and loose. So, we hope he is feeling both of those things this morning, Sara.

SIDNER: Thank you, John, for that.

BERMAN: This morning, a standoff between Disney and DirecTV has left a lot of sports fans angry and in the dark. Disney pulled ABC, ESPN, and other cable networks off of DirecTV Sunday because of a dispute over a new distribution deal. That means millions of viewers were out of luck trying to watch the U.S. Open, the LSU-USC kickoff game, which I did watch last night. All access still up in the air going forward.

CNN's Hadas Gold is here now.

This is going to be prickly. HADAS GOLD, CNN MEDIA CORRESPONDENT: Yes, not good if you are a college football fan, if you're a U.S. Open fan. At the last minute suddenly you had a blackout. And DirecTV is the third largest pay TV provider in the United States. So, some 11.3 million homes lost their access to these channels.

And it's not just sports. Of course, it's ESPN, it's also your local ABC channels, it affects its Disney channels. So, it's quite a lot of channels.

Now, this all comes down to a carrier dispute, a distribution dispute between Disney and DirecTV. It's about how much DirecTV will pay Disney to be able to show these channels to their customers.

And this is all coming down, of course, while we are so radically changing how we watch TV. You can kind of create your own bundle, right? You can pay for certain streaming services. Still, when you add them all up, that price might still be a little bit high and that's why we still see places like DirecTV having customers. And still these carrier deals are still make up the bulk of the revenue and profit for these companies.

Now, as happens in these distribution, you know, disputes that they have, there's a lot of finger-pointing going on right now. So, DirecTV says that they want to create smaller, flexible bundles for their customers, and that Disney is just trying to charge them too much. DirecTV said in a statement, sort of playing on the Disney brand, saying "Disney's only magic is forcing prices to go up while simultaneously making its content disappear." Disney says that it is trying - it had proposed a variety of flexible option and say, hey, look, it's costing more and more money for these sports deals, for these production costs.

[09:55:06]

They saying, "while we're open to offering DirecTV flexibility and terms which we've extended to other distributors, we will not enter an agreement that undervalues our portfolio of television channels and other programs."

But the clock is ticking on this deal because what is happening next Monday, John? It is Monday night football on ESPN, which it is Disney owned channel. And it is Aaron Rodgers' return to football. So, a lot of people will want to be turning on, on DirecTV. So hopefully they will get this settled before them.

BERMAN: So many people want to see the Jets lose. It probably will be what drives a deal going forward.

No, look, the sports is what drives this thing. This is a big, big deal.

Hadas Gold - she's the first office I visit. After every show I walk by Hadas' office. So, this saves me a stop.

GOLD: It's the highlight of my day. BERMAN: I can say hi to you know as opposed to going by your office.

SIDNER: I make sure my door's locks, but anyway, when he comes by.

BERMAN: (INAUDIBLE).

SIDNER: Hadas Gold, thank you so much for being here with us this morning.

Thank you for joining us. CNN NEWS CENTRAL with John Berman, Kate Bolduan and Sara Sidner, signing off. "CNN NEWSROOM" is up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)