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Many Americans Shopping for Black Friday Online and at Brick- and-Mortar Stores; Cold Weather Hits Large Areas of U.S.; Some Democratic Lawmakers Report Receiving Bomb Threats over Thanksgiving Holiday; Elon Musk Joins Trump And Family For Thanksgiving; Irregular Sleep Patterns MayRaise Health Risks; Australia Becomes First Country to Ban Social Media for Those Under 16. Aired 8-8:30a ET.

Aired November 29, 2024 - 08:00   ET

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

[08:00:00]

DONALD TRUMP, (R) U.S. PRESIDENT-ELECT: I said, well, he's going to be indicted by these lunatics for saying that. A year later, he got indicted.

JOHN MILLER, CNN CHIEF LAW ENFORCEMENT AND INTELLIGENCE ANALYST: Would the founder of the MAGA movement use his power to rescue a high- profile Democrat from criminal charges and scandal? Sources tell CNN the two men have spoken since Trump's election win, but it's unclear whether a pardon has ever been discussed.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR, THE SITUATION ROOM: Would you accept a pardon if Trump offered it to you?

MAYOR ERIC ADAMS, (D) NEW YORK CITY: I don't deal with hypotheticals.

BLITZER: So can I assume that's a yes?

ADAMS: Nope, I wouldn't do any assumption. I will allow my legal team to handle it.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

ERICA HILL, CNN ANCHOR: Tech companies on notice. For the first time ever, a country bans social media apps for kids under 16. We'll speak with the expert who warns social media might already be rewiring our kids brains.

Plus, a massive recall on eggs sold at Costco. The concern this morning, salmonella, where the warehouse store is warning its members to toss them out.

And we all know how critical sleep is to your overall health. Now researchers say how and when you get those Zs could also have a major impact.

I'm Erica Hill with Omar Jimenez. This is CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN ANCHOR: This morning, millions of Americans rushing to stores. And if you're like me, checking your shopping apps, hoping to score the best Black Friday deals. More than 183 million people are expected to shop in person or online this weekend. And the National Retail Federation says that would be a new record. And two-thirds of Black Friday shoppers say they're going to brick and mortar stores today. Concerns about inflation and high prices, many are saying they plan to shop because the deals are really just too good to pass up.

CNN's Meena Duersun joins us now. Meena, you are at a mall in New Jersey. I can see a line behind you. Just give me a lay of the land, what are you seeing right now?

MEENA DUERSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, so I'm here at the mall. Someone said to me this morning the days of people lining up at the mall might be over, but there are still malls doing these in-person promotions. We're here at the American Dream Mall, and they're doing this, I guess what you could call a doorbuster. They have this wheel of prizes where people are spinning. People have lined up for the past hour to win things like TVs, gift cards for major retailers. So people are very excited here.

As you can see, they're trying to get hundreds of dollars of potentially in prizes. And they've been waiting for hours, upwards of an hour to, for their chance to win. So people are definitely still -- there's still the enthusiasm there, even though a lot of people are definitely doing their shopping from home in their pajamas. So we're going to wait and see.

JIMENEZ: It's still spinning.

DUERSON: Everyone's a winner. So that's the appeal. It's still spinning, yes.

JIMENEZ: I was going to say, Meena, at some point, because we're going to keep coming back to you. What's it going to land on there? What did it land on?

DUERSON: Yes, yes. She won a ticket to the to the mall attraction. It's a --

JIMENEZ: Don't we all want to take it to the mall attraction?

DUERSON: Yes, so no, I mean, a lot of these people --

(LAUGHTER)

DUERSON: Yes. No, it's one of those things that's like a couple hundred dollars in value. It's a big deal. So that's one of those items that people were really excited about here. So yes, some of these shoppers told us they had been waiting here. Other people hit the doorbusters at Kohls at 5:00 a.m., some of these people who were here. A lot of enthusiasm among younger shoppers is what we're hearing about Black Friday, that the 18 to 24 demo is the people who are still really the most excited and probably the most enthusiastic about shopping this weekend. So that's what we're seeing.

JIMENEZ: And we're going to keep coming to you over the morning, and we may have to get you to do a guest role, but we'll talk about that a little bit later.

But also, look, on a wider scale, there are some serious concerns that people have with their wallet as well. I mean, President-elect Donald Trump has said he's going to increase tariffs on foreign goods. Obviously, for some that translates to prices may go up. I mean, is that influencing any shopping habits today? I can't imagine people are talking tariffs as they're spinning the wheel, but maybe I'm wrong.

DUERSON: Well, I think it might be a little too early to tell as far as to how it's influencing user behavior. But what we have heard from experts is that if you are in the market for some of these bigger ticket items that might be impacted by tariffs, things that are manufactured overseas, China, Mexico, Canada, it might be the opportunity to look for those deals, things like washer, dryers, big household appliances, tablets, smartphones. If you are already looking at that kind of stuff, maybe you should look for those deals right now before those prices could go up upwards of 20 percent after those tariffs could take effect. So that's what we're hearing.

JIMENEZ: All right, Meena, thank you so much. Don't let me down on that wheel turn. Keep an eye on your camera.

DUERSON: Thanks, Omar.

(LAUGHTER)

JIMENEZ: Erica?

[08:05:01]

HILL: We are expecting big things.

This morning, millions getting ready to maybe head home after visiting with family and friends for Thanksgiving. Good news, some of that wet weather that really impacted a number of Thanksgivings, that is starting to move out. What is staying behind, though, a lot of cold temperatures for many people across the country.

CNN meteorologist Allison Chinchar is tracking the very latest for us. And it's going to be cold in a lot of places for a while.

ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, just in time to bring out all those ugly Christmas and ugly Hanukkah sweaters that you have, perfect timing for this. Yes, because this is really going to impact quite a significant portion of the population. So in terms of travel, the sky is not necessarily going to be as big of an issue this weekend as road travel, especially across portions of the Midwest and the northeast, where lake effect snow is really expected to tick up today and through the weekend. You can already see some of those bands beginning to form right now as the wind really pushes that cold air over across those very warm Great Lakes, at least warm in comparison to the air temperature.

But you can start to see the snow bands beginning. They're going to continue to increase, and as we go through the weekend, you can see a lot of these alerts already set in place, the winter storm warnings, winter weather advisories, and even some lake effect snow warnings as well. Some of these locations are expected to pick up significant amounts. The National Weather Service office in Buffalo reporting that some of these areas could see paralyzing amounts of snow. We are talking three to five feet of snow expected to fall over the next several days for areas around Watertown and areas south of Buffalo as we head through the weekend.

And that cold air has already come out in portions of the northern tier of the country. Take a look at this. When you take that temperature of zero degrees in Fargo, mix in the wind, that feels like temperature is minus 15 right now, it feels like minus three in Minneapolis, and minus eight in Sioux Falls. That cold air is going to continue to spread south and east over the next several days, really reaching a pretty significant area. In fact, almost 70 percent of the U.S. population is going to see temperatures at or below freezing in the next several days. That reaches even all the way as far south as the gulf coast. Some of these counties here, even in Florida, looking at those freeze alerts in effect.

Here's the other thing, too. It's going to be multiple days. This isn't just a one and done for these cold temperatures. So you see Chicago, the normal high right around 29 to 30 degrees. The temperatures are going to be half that through the weekend. But even on Monday as they, quote, warm up, they're only going to get to 18. Atlanta, St. Louis, Washington, D.C., all looking at those incredibly cold temperatures. And for Chicago, look at this. They are going to spend every single one of the next seven days below average, both for the high and the low temperature.

HILL: Wow. Yes, get out those sweaters and a hat and your mittens and a scarf and a down coat and all the things. Allison, appreciate it. Thank you.

CHINCHAR: All of them.

HILL: Still to come here, the Thanksgiving Day bomb threats, the FBI now investigating new threats targeting some Democratic lawmakers as they were home celebrating the holiday with their families.

Plus, planning to buy a car. What the promise is from President-elect Donald Trump on his tariffs could mean in terms of sticker shock.

And a miraculous story of survival. A hiker missing for more than five weeks found in the freezing, snow-covered Canadian wilderness.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:12:53]

JIMENEZ: New this morning, Democratic lawmakers from Connecticut are now the latest in the last several days to receive bomb threats, including house intelligence ranking member Jim Himes. Now, the threats came as the four lawmakers were at home celebrating the Thanksgiving holiday with their family. Law enforcement ultimately determined there was no evidence of any bombs, and the members report that their families are safe. CNN political analyst Jackie Kucinich is with me now. Good to see you.

I just want to pick up with that latest headline there on these Connecticut Congressmembers facing bomb threats. It came -- it comes just a day after some of president-elect's cabinet members, or cabinet appointees were targeted in a similar way. Still more investigating to do all around, but I wonder how you assess sort of this dynamic?

JACKIE KUCINICH, WASHINGTON BUREAU CHIEF, "THE DAILY BEAST": Well, you're right. We don't know yet why these threats were made, who made them. However, this is an unfortunate reminder of even though that the presidential campaign and the election is over, the toxic environment that really defined it still remains. And we know that threats over the last couple of years have ticked up against members of Congress, the United States Capitol police released a report in January of this year detailing how many threats that they had to investigate over the course of the last couple years, and it really, it's a reminder that -- and they attributed that to political rhetoric and the heated political rhetoric that has come to define our politics over the past decade or so.

JIMENEZ: And one of the -- outside of this, of course, I mean, one of the main focuses has been on President-elect Trump's cabinet picks, which, again, we know were targeted as part of this as well. But a lot of what we've been keeping an eye on is sort of this revolving door out of Mar-a-Lago to see who is coming to meet with the president- elect and whether that translates to something more. We've seen a lot of that in the tech world. I mean, Elon Musk, I think, is maybe the most prominent example. We saw him -- I mean, during Thanksgiving, he was seen at Mar-a-Lago with Trump and some of his family members, but also Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has been down there at points. There's Elon Musk dancing to YMCA with the president-elect there.

[08:15:00]

I mean, overall, what do you make of their relationship? But also when you think of the Mark Zuckerberg of it all, what do you make of tech leaders and how they're approaching this incoming administration?

JACKIE KUCINICH, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Elon Musk seems to be -- he's in one category, right? He very much backed the president-elect during the election. He's become a fixture at Mar-a-Lago like an auxiliary family member or something. And he's been helping vet -- we know from reporting, he's been helping vet some of these Cabinet nominees and is not in the Cabinet, but is part of a new organization himself trying to reduce government waste.

That said, then you look at the people like Mark Zuckerberg, who has been a target of President-elect Trump's rhetoric over, you know the years he's been very critical of Facebook and Meta and some of the restrictions that were put on him after January 6th.

Now, it really seems like, be it Jeff Bezos or Mark Zuckerberg, they're really trying to make nice with President-elect Trump. They've really extended out a hand. And that's why you see these meetings continue. We'll see if -- you'll never know if these relationships are going to hold with the president-elect. But it seems like they're really trying to forge a new era with him, perhaps because they're afraid of what he might do rhetorically and, you know, potentially with regulations going into his next term.

JIMENEZ: And to add to one of your points, Trump previously called for Zuckerberg to be jailed for "plotting against him" during the 2020 election. So, that was sort of the rhetoric that was going around at the time.

I want to ask you about one other thing, because, you know, we also were keeping an eye on international relations here, especially between the United States and Mexico including with Trump's threats of tariffs. He and the Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, just had a phone conversation where he posted that she agreed to stop migration into the United States and close our southern border.

She then denied that happened in her own statement about the conversation, saying her country's position is not to close borders. That part of the call seemed a little contentious, but overall, both sides seem to report a pleasant call. Bottom line, are you optimistic about the relationship based on where it appears to be starting?

KUCINICH: I mean, so, initially after the president-elect made his threats of tariffs you had President Sheinbaum of Mexico really react angrily to that. Now, it seems like the two of them have spoken.

As you note, they had positive, contradictory but positive reports coming out of this. They have incentive to work together, but you never know with the president-elect how things are going to go down the line. But certainly now that there's open communication between the two, you know, optimism abound, I guess.

JIMENEZ: We will see, you know, you never doubt at the very beginning. But you know at least they reported it was it was pleasant even if it was a little contradictory. Jackie Kucinich, thank you so much, really appreciate it.

KUCINICH: Certainly.

JIMENEZ: All right, if you don't have a regular sleep schedule, I don't know who that would be. They might be in the room with us. It might be time to make it a priority because coming up, new research on how irregular sleep can damage your health.

All right, Australia just passed the first law in the world banning teens under 16 from social media. But some critics say it doesn't go far enough, coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:22:50]

JIMENEZ: We all know sleep is good for your health but a new study shows that if you don't have a regular sleep schedule, you could be at greater risk of a heart attack and stroke.

All right, let's bring in CNN health reporter Jacqueline Howard. So Jacqueline, tell me about this study knowing full well that you and I have probably both been up since at least 4:00 AM or maybe earlier.

JACQUELINE HOWARD, CNN HEALTH REPORTER: Exactly, I know it's really interesting data though here, Omar, and it's a good reminder for all of us to keep a consistent schedule because what researchers found is people who had an irregular sleep schedule were 26 percent more likely to have a major cardiovascular event like a heart attack, like heart failure, like a stroke.

And how researchers came to this finding is they looked at data on more than 72,000 adults in the UK. They tracked their health and their sleep for eight years, and they found that those people who did not have a consistent bedtime schedule, they didn't wake up around the same time each day.

They saw this 26 percent increased risk. And this is despite differences in peoples age lifestyle factors like exercise, smoking or drinking alcohol. So, it really is a major, major finding when we think about sleep and our health -- Omar.

JIMENEZ: All right, let's just say you don't have a consistent sleep schedule. I mean, what if you're still getting the recommended seven to nine hours of sleep each night? Does that offset those risks, please?

HOWARD: Well, that was really interesting because it did not seem to be sufficient to offset the risks. And I was shocked by that because even though as journalists, we both have very irregular schedules, I still try to get that seven to nine hours, and it didn't seem to offset risk.

The reason why is because that consistency is key for supporting our natural circadian rhythm, and that's why researchers say, try to go to sleep within the same 30 to 60 minute window each night, try to wake up within that same 30 to 60 minute window each morning and some other helpful tips is to keep your bedroom at a cool temperature. Keep your bedroom quiet, avoid devices at least 30 minutes before bedtime and before you go to sleep, avoid large meals, avoid caffeine and avoid alcohol.

So these are good tips to follow just again to improve your sleep.

[08:25:14]

JIMENEZ: All right, Jacqueline, I'm going to use this report as evidence for the next time I take off saying, hey, Jacqueline told me I need to watch out for my natural circadian rhythm. So I'm not going to be able to make it in tomorrow.

Jacqueline Howard, appreciate it.

HOWARD: Exactly, I'm going to try to do the same.

JIMENEZ: Yes exactly -- Erica.

ERICA HILL, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, I'm going to follow your lead too. So, let me know the playbook. Well, Australia is now the first country in the world to pass a law prohibiting anyone under the age of 16 from creating a social media account.

This follows months of debate and a process that saw the bill introduced, debated and passed in just a single week. There's no date right now for when the ban would take effect.

Joining me to discuss is Jonathan Haidt. He's a social psychologist and the author of the book "The Anxious Generation." In the book, he shows how social media has impacted a generation of kids who had access to those accounts at younger and younger ages.

Jonathan, it's great to have you with us.

So, according to this new law, the onus is on the tech companies here. They have to take, in the words of the law, reasonable steps to prevent underage users from creating these accounts, from accessing social media. The headline is great, Australia says it wants to be a model for the rest of the world.

Practically speaking, though, do you see this being enforced?

JONATHAN HAIDT, SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGIST: Oh yes, I do. First of all, we have to do this, countries have to do this. In the real world, if the law said -- hey, the drinking age is 18, but, you know, it's up to you parents to keep your kids out of bars. The companies that are making money off your kids, they have no responsibility to enforce the age limit. That's what we have on the internet.

And as a result, eight, nine, ten year old children are all over the internet. They're seeing porn. They're seeing horrible things. So yes, it has to be done and it can be done.

Scott Galloway here at NYU, he says that the industry could easily do it, but they really don't want to. He says when you pay an industry not to understand something, it will never figure it out. And there are already more than a dozen methods of age verification. So the technology is there. It will get better. It's going to get done.

HILL: Do you have any concerns that some of those in opposition in Australia, and we heard too, from some of the tech companies, specifically Meta who will be required to enforce this age restriction, they say this was rushed. Do you see this as a rushed process?

HAIDT: I don't know about the specific Australian process, but we've been talking about this for years. It's really clear that this needs to be done. What's most striking to me, and then talking about my book, "The Anxious Generation" wherever I go, parents journalists, politicians, everyone says, yes, we see it in our own kids.

So, I think that the time has come, it's good legislation. It's very necessary and Australia is going to be a beacon to the world. HILL: For people who have not yet read your book or may not be familiar with you part of what you're saying is that these apps have literally started to rewire our brains. How does that happen? How are they able to do that?

HAIDT: Yes, so we're mammals and mammals need to play a lot and learn to live in the three dimensional world but what happens when kids get a smart device, a touch screen. It gives them very quick feedback. It hooks them and it knocks out most physical play. It knocks out hobbies, reading books, looking at people in the eye.

It changes development -- social development, sexual development. It changes development in almost every way. And what has happened is a gigantic epidemic of anxiety, depression, self-harm, and suicide. And it all begins in the early 2010s, just as our kids get their first smart devices.

They start spending five hours a day on social media, ten hours a day on their phones. This has to interrupt childhood and it does.

HILL: So we know, and I know you've discussed this as well. It's not just about the phone sort of gets the bad rap for everything, but your kid could have an iPad and you could say, oh, my doesn't have a phone, and they can still access a lot of this.

What's been really striking to me is the parent of two old teenagers is what we have seen, which seems like a pretty swift shift over the last couple of years in a number of states to ban cell phones in schools as a first step to take them away.

And then the studies that have come out of that, that it's not just the social media, it's the texting, everything else about how much better kids feel about themselves when they don't have that phone around all day long.

HAIDT: Yes, exactly. When I was in school in the 1970s and 80s imagine if they had said, you can bring your television set into class and you can watch it during class. You can bring in your radio, your walkie, everything, bring it all in -- and that's what we've done with smartphones and kids are literally sitting in class especially in the back row of every classroom sending texts, watching porn, playing video games and it's no coincidence that academic achievement around the country and around the world have begun to decline after 2012.

It wasn't because of COVID, it began as soon as the kids got smart devices in school. Guess what? They stopped paying attention to the teacher and each other. They started to feel more lonely at school. Since 2012.

Every school that goes phone free says the same thing: We hear laughter in the hallways again, every school that bans phones loves it.

[08:30:18]