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Report: Net Worth Of U.S. Homeowners Nearly 40 Times That Of Renters; Bipartisan Backlash To Federal Response Over Unexplained Drones; Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson Debuts On Broadway. Aired 7:30- 8a ET

Aired December 16, 2024 - 07:30   ET

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

[07:30:00]

MATT EGAN, CNN REPORTER: That is a small, small fraction of the $400,000 net worth of the median homeowner. And those numbers are as of 2022 so you could imagine that the gap has actually only gotten bigger since then because we know home prices have gone up.

And it's not just about net worth. This same Aspen Institute report also found that renters are likely to have smaller cash flow and more burdensome debt than homeowners, and also less savings.

And listen, the problem is a familiar one, right? Homeownership remains the ticket to building wealth in America but there's too many people trying to chase after too few homes, and so home prices have gone higher and higher. We've seen this across the country.

Here in the Northeast we've seen home prices over the last 12 months go seven, eight percent higher to almost $500,000. That's the median home in the Northeast. An even bigger gap -- a bigger increase in the Midwest.

And look at that -- in the West the median home price is well over $620,000. That's the median home. So that means half of them are actually valued north of that.

And John, I've talked to a number of parents -- millennials who -- you know, they want a yard for their kids. They want a bigger home for their kids to run around but they just feel like they can't do that right now because prices are too high, and mortgage rates are too high.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Yeah. Look, in the Northeast, just a simple math thing. If the average home price is $472,000-$500,000, 20 percent down is 100 grand. You've got to have a 100 grand in the bank. That's hard.

EGAN: It's really, really hard.

BERMAN: And homeownership, it's not the only issue here. Rent is going up, too.

EGAN: Yeah, absolutely. We've seen rent take up a bigger and bigger chunk of paychecks. Zillow found that to afford to rent in America you need an income of almost $80,000 a year. That is up by 33 percent since before COVID-19. Now, wages are up too but often not by 33 percent.

Now, there is some good news out there for renters. We have seen rent dip a bit between October and November. There is a building boom of apartments in America and so that means there's more supply on the market now and coming. And so we've actually seen some landlords have to offer some more concessions. Things like free parking, free weeks or even a month of rent, so that is helping.

But listen, John, clearly, this housing affordability issue is a major problem, and this does put pressure on officials in Washington to address all of this. To try to boost supply.

Analysts at TD Cowen -- they said that Republicans realize that they will not remain in power if housing inflation continues to outpace wage growth.

So listen, John, hopefully we see some action to try to boost supply because there's a lot of frustrated renters out there.

BERMAN: It's such a hurdle for young people.

Matt Egan, thank you very much --

EGAN: Thank you, John.

BERMAN: -- for this -- Sara.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: Those are crazy numbers, guys. Thank you for that.

The concern over unexplained drones now affecting multiple states. In Ohio over the weekend airspace over a critical U.S. Air Force base was shut down for hours because of unexplained drone activity. And in New York, the governor says the situation has gone too far after mysterious drones forced the Stewart International Airport to shut down its runways late Friday night for about an hour.

Joining us now is New Jersey Assemblyman Brian Bergen. Thank you so much for coming in this morning.

I know you're one of the people that is just super, super worried about what is happening here. And it was your state where this all seemed to kick off -- where people started noticing these enormous drones in the skies.

You, I think, met with Homeland Security officials. Did you get any answers as to where these drones are originating and who is behind them, and if they indeed pose any kind of risk?

BRIAN BERGEN, (R) NEW JERSEY STATE ASSEMBLYMAN (via Webex by Cisco): No, we didn't. We had a meeting with Homeland Security officials and with the state police and others and no, we got no answers. And you know what, this was almost a week ago that we met and nothing has happened since then except we had federal government people deny that there was really an issue, and a lot of delay, and a lot of talk by politicians, but not a lot of real action.

And I -- you know what I think is starting to happen now? If you look over New Jersey right now there's a tremendous amount of air traffic at night. So not only is there the drones that were originally there, which are the big concern, but there is probably people looking for them with other drones, with planes, with helicopters. So the night sky in New Jersey is crazy.

And if officials had acted back when this originally started, I think we'd have a lot more answers than we have today, and people deserve answers.

And one thing to keep in mind. This happened -- I think it was a year ago over Langley, Virginia, and it happened for a period of time and then stopped for good. So we have a limited opportunity to figure out what the hell is going on before it stops in New Jersey and moves on. And based on your reporting it seems like it already had.

SIDNER: Yeah. I do want to ask you about some of the comments made by Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas. Over the weekend he told ABC that in September of 2023 the FAA actually changed the rules so that drones could fly at night so it may be that people are seeing more drones now than ever before.

[07:35:00]

Could that be an explanation for some of this?

BERGEN: No. I don't think that would be logical. I mean, so all right, let's assume for a second that maybe that could be part of the cause. Well, how does that explain the fact that there's a six-foot drone flying at night and not a six-foot drone flying during the day, ever? I mean, have you ever seen one? I never have. But now we're seeing those things at night over New Jersey.

I think what he is constantly doing is trying to justify why it might be the way that it is instead of what he should be doing, which is taking immediate action to figure out what the heck is going on in the state of New Jersey.

And this is what we hate when the government does. We hate when the government kicks the can, points the finger, tries to over-excuse things that are happening. What the average citizen and my 250,000 constituents want to see is someone just do something. And this guy seems to be trying to over-justify what could be there instead of taking action to figure out what is going on in New Jersey, and that bothers me.

SIDNER: New York Gov. Kathy Hochul had said that this has gone too far this weekend, and she directed the New York State Intelligence Center to actively investigate drone sightings -- these are her words -- and coordinate with federal law enforcement to address this issue. And those efforts are ongoing. But in order to allow state law enforcement to work on the issue she called on Congress to pass the Counter-UAS Authority, Security, Safety, and Reauthorization Act. She says that the feds are deploying a drone-detection system.

Are you satisfied with that, and do you agree that something needs to also be done in Congress?

BERGEN: Yeah. There's probably lots of stuff that has to be done in Congress but we're in a position right now where people -- again, people need to take action. So while I appreciate what the New York governor said about how she's going to activate some of the resources there in her state, the governors have a tremendous amount of authority and power that they can utilize to help us figure this out.

Look, we don't need to figure out what all thousand drones, or whatever they are, are doing. We just need to follow one back to whoever is controlling this thing and figure of what is happening.

So we don't need massive legislation and overhaul of the system to figure out what's happening here and now. But we do, as a long-term solution, need to figure out how drones are going to operate in our airspace, how we're going to control them, how we're going to identify them, and how to prevent this in the future.

But those are two separate things and in the here and now we need to figure out what's going on today and who's responsible for it so we can ease the concerns of our citizens. That's first and foremost. Legislation doesn't happen overnight. That's for another time.

SIDNER: Yeah. You're talking about what's going on now. The concerns that people have right now -- citizens and local and state law enforcement.

I do want to get your take on what we saw from President-elect Donald Trump who posted this on Truth Social saying, "Mysterious drone sightings all over the country. Can this really be happening without our government's knowledge? I don't think so. Let the public know, and now. Otherwise, shoot them down!"

I looked this up. The FAA says it is illegal for citizens to shoot at any aircraft which, of course, includes drones. But at the moment, do state and local authorities even have the authorization to take action like that against drones if needed because hearing from Mayorkas it seems like there may be some issues there?

BERGEN: Look, I was an attack helicopter pilot in the U.S. Army. I flew overseas. I have seen bullets fly through the sky. It's not a great idea to do over the United States. We shouldn't be shooting things down right now. I know there's some rhetoric that's asking and Donald Trump, in this case, said that. So, no. Things should not be shot out of the sky. That is a very dangerous thing to do.

Right now we just need to -- again, it's very simple to me. Just follow one back to wherever it's going. It doesn't seem to me to be that complicated. Does -- do we in the future need to make sure we have the technology to disable drones? To maybe take control of them? Yeah, of course, we do. But from a person speaking from experience seeing bullets fly through the air it's not a pretty thing and we don't want that happening over the state of New Jersey.

SIDNER: Brian Bergen, I so appreciate you getting up early for us and talking through this. It really does have a lot of people's attention and concern. I appreciate you.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: This morning kicks off a critical week for President-elect Donald Trump's cabinet picks on Capitol Hill.

Today, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Donald Trump's pick to head up the Department of Health and Human Services, is headed to the Hill for the first time since being nominated. The vaccine cynic is set to meet with many of the senators that he will ultimately face in confirmation hearings.

Also headed to the Hill this week another of Trump's cabinet picks facing some very serious questions. Tulsi Gabbard nominated to be the next Director of National Intelligence.

Let's get over to CNN's Steve Contorno. He's much more on what will be a big week ahead for Donald Trump and his potential cabinet. What are you hearing?

[07:40:00]

STEVE CONTORNO, CNN REPORTER: Kate, we are learning this morning that RFK Jr. will meet with about two dozen Republican senators this week as he makes that journey to Capitol Hill and try to build support for his nomination.

And over the weekend a group closely aligned with RFK Jr. -- a group called Make America Healthy Again Action -- released a letter from about 800 doctors and medical professionals professing faith and urging Congress to support his nomination to lead the country's health agencies.

Now, I should point out that the vast majority of the professional medical community -- doctors, including 75 Nobel Laureates -- have all expressed deep skepticism about RFK getting in charge of these health care agencies and have urged the Senate not to consider him. But Donald Trump has stood firmly by him.

And he has stood firmly by his other contentious nominees as well. Over the weekend he went to the Army-Navy football game and there in his box he was joined by Tulsi Gabbard who, as you mentioned, will be continuing her meetings on the Hill. And as well as Pete Hegseth, his pick to lead the Pentagon as defense secretary.

Meanwhile, there has been some pushback on Capitol Hill from some Republican senators who against this sort of pressure campaign that is building behind the scenes to urge and, in fact, almost bully some Republican senators to essentially blindly follow Trump's nominations. Take a listen to what North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis had to say over the weekend.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. THOM TILLIS, (R) NORTH CAROLINA: What's amazing to me is how people -- we're not even in the new administration and we're -- and we haven't even seen the background checks, which I know the administration is sending our way. So there's a lot of information that needs to be gathered. And these folks who are making primary challenges and running ads, they seem more like political opportunists to me than thoughtful members of the Republican Party.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CONTORNO: Now, Trump -- while his cabinet appointees continue to meet on Capitol Hill, he'll be across the water from me at Mar-a-Lago and he will actually be speaking to the press about American investment. He recently floated the idea that if you invest a billion dollars in the U.S. economy than you should have your permits fast-tracked. And I imagine that is what he will be discussing today, Kate.

BOLDUAN: All right, Steve. Thank you very much for that reporting. Let us see -- John.

BERMAN: All right, with us now, CNN political commentator Karen Finney, and Doug Heye, a Republican strategist and former RNC communications director.

It's the season of giving, so I want to give you guys the chance to actually choose what we talk about here. So, Doug, do you want to talk about RFK, or do you want to talk about drones?

DOUG HEYE, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST, FORMR RNC COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR: What's the third option?

BERMAN: A or B, buddy. The season of giving. Don't be greedy.

HEYE: Oh, this is -- this is -- this is great. Let's go with drones. Why not?

KAREN FINNEY, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST (via Webex by Cisco): I was going to say don't be greedy, Doug. Come on.

BERMAN: So, drones. Here's my question on drones then. It's a multiple choice question, Doug.

This whole situation with these drones -- the frenzy and fury over what's going on -- is it a) people overreacting, b) the government underreacting, c) the beginning of a modern day "Red Dawn," or d) all of the above?

HEYE: Well, first John, I'm not going to acknowledge that "Red Dawn" ever had a remake. Those kinds of things should never happen.

But I'll tell you I was in New Jersey in September. I was in Asbury Park seeing Bruce Springsteen on the beach, as one does when they're in New Jersey, and there was a drone flying overhead. And I look at it a few times thinking hmm, I wonder what that's all about. Now fortunately, it was filming the concert -- totally normal.

But I understand concerns about New Jersey and drones. I was born just a few miles away from Asbury Park. And if we go back to Orson Wells "War on the World" this was headed -- this was basically started in New Jersey. So there's a history there probably of overreacting but also of governments probably not doing enough.

BERMAN: So you're sort of -- "Red Dawn" aside -- choosing all of the above.

You know, Karen, you're great with communications and a communications adviser. How would you advise the government to maybe handle the communication on this whole thing differently?

FINNEY: Tell us a little bit more about what the heck is going on. I mean, look, on one level in the season of giving it gives us all something to talk about around the Christmas table if that is the holiday you celebrate. Instead of politics we can talk about drones because I think there's probably a lot of agreement that there's a lot more we should know.

But the second piece, actually on a more serious note, is this may be the beginning of conversations about how do we regulate drones? Because over the weekend, I think we learned there's been like a million drones have permission to fly. That's too -- that's a situation that's going to get out of control very quickly. So the Trump administration may find itself having to do a drone policy, actually.

BERMAN: All right.

[07:45:00]

And because it is the season of giving, I want to give you the opportunity to weigh in on RFK even though I said it was a choice. Actually, to me it's more about Mitch McConnell right now. That's where the interesting part of this discussion is because Mitch McConnell --

FINNEY: Yeah.

BERMAN: -- late Friday put out a statement after it came out that an attorney advising RFK Jr. had pushed in lawsuit to revoke the vaccine for polio. McConnell put out a statement that said, "Efforts to undermine public confidence in proven cures are not just uninformed -- they're dangerous. Anyone seeking the Senate's consent to serve in the incoming administration would do well to steer clear of even the appearance of association with such efforts."

McConnell also separately -- and I'm not going to go through the draft but actually put out an article in Foreign Affairs this weekend sort of laying down the line on foreign policy, saying where he's going to fight with the Trump administration. How much do you think Mitch McConnell is going to take a stand, Karen, over the next several months?

FINNEY: I think it's very clear and actually, I am with him on this one when it comes to the polio vaccine because goodness knows he has a personal story that so many of us have heard. I mean, the idea that in 2024-2025 we might have to worry about polio coming back is absolutely absurd.

So I think we are going to hear McConnell -- look, he's freed up now that he's no longer leading the Republicans in the Senate. He's -- I think our own Scott Jennings said he's kind of unplugged. He can do and has a lot more leeway to do and say what he wants. And I think that will be a good counterbalance to some of the extremism. I and other Democrats are very concerned about not just RFK Jr. but the whole Project 2025 implementation across the Trump administration.

BERMAN: Doug, Karen putting her hopes in Mitch McConnell. Is that something a) you'd ever thought you'd see, and b) how much do you think McConnell will involve himself here?

HEYE: Yeah, John. Earlier Karen said we've got to figure out what the heck is going on. That's Donald Trump rhetoric. And so I'm not surprised by this at all by Karen and I agree with her on this.

And there's sort of a parlor game in D.C. of getting a Mitch McConnell statement and trying to figure out what did he say with one word or two, or not say by not including a word or two? It's why his comms team is so skilled at the craft of writing when they put these statements out.

He's making it clear by just a word or two -- he doesn't have to say RFK, he doesn't have to say Tulsi Gabbard -- his intention is very clear that he's going to scrutinize these nominees pretty severely. He may end up voting yes for one or two of them as these come along with various revelations. What do we know? What did the background check say?

But he's making it clear I'm not an easy vote.

BERMAN: All right, Karen Finney, Doug Heye. Thank you so much for bearing with me in the spirit of "Red Dawn --

FINNEY: Thank you.

BERMAN: -- Avenge Me." Thank you -- Sara.

SIDNER: All right. More than a half dozen tourists at a popular resort in Fiji end up in the hospital. Authorities now investigating if their cocktails were poisoned.

And trying to get those holiday packages to your friends and family on time? for all of us procrastinators out there we're going to help you figure out the last day that you can possibly send them so that they're on time. Spoiler alert -- it's really, really soon.

(COMMERCIAL)

[07:52:55]

BOLDUAN: Cocktails at a five-star resort in Fiji ending up sending seven guests to the hospital. This morning an investigation is underway into whether they were poisoned. The tourists became violently ill over the weekend after drinking at a hotel resort bar. Five of the seven have since been discharged from the hospital but two are said to still be in intensive care but reported to be in stable condition.

In Laos last month tourists died after being poisoned, they believe, from drinking at a hotel bar there.

Witnesses say it was like an atomic bomb was dropped. A massive cyclone has killed at least 11 people in the French territory of Mayotte located between the African mainland and Madagascar. Government officials fear the death toll though could rise into the hundreds. The territory has just over 300,000 residents.

The storm that hit Saturday was the equivalent of a category four Atlantic hurricane. Winds topped 136 miles per hour. It flattened entire neighborhoods, damaged the airport, and clearly knocked out power in many places. The cyclone is described as a 100-year event.

And a Miami Dolphins player is in stable condition today at a Houston hospital after an extremely hard hit to the head. Play was stopped for 10 minutes after the helmet-to-helmet hit on receiver Grant DuBose. Medics cut -- ended up having to cut off his jersey to put a -- to put him in a neck brace before transporting him off the field, as you saw.

Players on both teams very clearly shook up, gathering to gather. Some of them seen praying as they watched this. And then you saw him carted off the field. The coach of the Dolphins says that initial medical scans are showing positive results.

Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson making history and fulfilling a lifelong dream. The justice made her Broadway debut on Saturday in the musical "& Juliet." Watch this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JUSTICE KETANJI BROWN JACKSON, U.S. SUPREME COURT: Female empowerment.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[07:55:00]

BOLDUAN: The justice showing off her acting chops in this walk-on role. It was a one-time event.

In her memoir, "Lovely One," the justice actually shared that in her application essay to get into Harvard she wrote that it was her fantasy to be the first Black female Supreme Court justice to appear on a Broadway stage. So, I mean, what's next? Check and check, John Berman.

BERMAN: Pretty hyper specific right there --

BOLDUAN: I know, exactly.

BERMAN: -- right? She was a theater person in college.

All right. Happening now winter weather alerts in effect across parts of the Northeast with a mix of sleet, ice, wet snow, and rain expected through the morning making for dangerous travel conditions. We've also got new developments in those hoping for a white Christmas.

First, though, this morning CNN's Derek Van Dam with this storm we're watching -- Derek.

DEREK VAN DAM, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yeah, good point. Let's start with the most immediate, right?

This is kind of a sloppy start to our Monday, and we've got a one-two punch coming across the East Coast. So here it is right now exiting the first storm for today, and that's our second storm. And believe it or not there's an additional two storms that will impact the East Coast through the course of the week.

But focusing in on this morning we've had reports of two to three inches of heavy, wet snow across the lower Hudson Valley. There's been a lot of cold air. Remember, cold air is denser and it sinks closer to the surface of the air. So we get this precipitation riding over it and that cold, dense air near the surface -- what happens? Sometimes we receive freezing rain when that precipitation falls and attaches to the surface there that's already below freezing.

So it's very tricky here just north of the major suburbs of New York. But Hartford to Scranton -- that could be the tricky spot for travel conditions this morning.

There is the secondary storm system. That'll be another rainmaker for the East Coast. Yet another rainmaker for the day on Wednesday. Look at the wet weather ahead of us -- ugh. I wish it was snow.

BERMAN: Well, as I was leaving the house I was walking through slush, and I was thinking this is almost snow and it's almost Christmas. It had me thinking will we see that white Christmas, Derek?

VAN DAM: One could hope, but the probability of a white Christmas -- I hate to be the bearer of bad news -- not looking that positive for most people across the country.

Remember, we have to have one inch of snow on the ground, according to the definition from the National Weather Service. Historically speaking, yeah, you look towards the mountains and the typical areas across northern New England. But we did a bit of deep dive into the climatological data and it's been almost 15 years for Boston, New York, Newark, Philadelphia, and Baltimore since you've had that one inch of snow on the ground. Here's where we have snow on the ground and likely to stay through the course of the next week and a half before Christmas arrives next Wednesday. You can see downwind of the Great Lakes, the Colorado Rockies into the Sierra Tahoe region. But look at this. We have a cold spell that'll come. So any precipitation that falls maybe next week, we can hope that will actually be snowfall, but not looking that likely -- John.

BERMAN: No. Not just like the ones I used to know, as they say.

Derek Van Dam, thank you very much.

VAN DAM: (Laughing). Perfect.

BERMAN: Sara.

SIDNER: At least you didn't sing it, John. We really appreciate that.

All right. This morning time is running out to get your gifts to their destination before Christmas and Hannukah. And that winter weather Derek's talking about could come into play.

CNN's Vanessa Yurkevich is here with what you need to know to make sure your presents arrive on time. OK, so what are some of the biggest factors causing delays this year? I am the most procrastinating person in the history of procrastination, so -- and I know a lot of people feel the same.

VANESSA YURKEVICH, CNN BUSINESS AND POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: I'm right there with you. Two-point-two billion packages are shipping between Thanksgiving and Christmas and that is a lot. So we're just one of 2.2 billion. And more than half of Americans right now say they're actually worried are their packages going to arrive on time.

But some of the key factors that both retailers, shippers, and we should be looking at right now is severe weather. We just heard Derek saying that maybe some light weather -- nothing big yet but that, of course, could change.

Out-of-stock items. This is you're purchasing something. You wait until the last minute and then all of a sudden, it's out of stock.

Also, you want to look at your information. Are you putting the right address in there? I've made that mistake. I've shipped to my old address.

SIDNER: Guilty.

YURKEVICH: Exactly.

And then, of course, supply chain concerns. Everything's looking good now because retailers brought a lot of stuff in early this year, so things are on the shelves.

But if you're feeling that crunch this year that's because you are for a reason. The shopping season is just 17 days between Thanksgiving and Christmas -- a week shorter -- and that's why people might be saying uh-oh, I've got to make my purchases now and get that shipping done now instead of thinking about it a week ago. The shipping season is shorter this year.

SIDNER: OK. So what is the last day that we can ship?

YURKEVICH: Well, it depends on your provider, right? The USPS says that you could ship up to Saturday and get everything in time for Christmas. UPS says you can do it on the 23rd, so that's really living on the --

SIDNER: You're cutting it close.

YURKEVICH: -- living on the edge.

That's USPS up there. Look at those dates and take note.

UPS on the 23rd.

And then FedEx is the one where you're really, really waiting until the last minute. FedEx is saying that you could potentially ship on the 24th -- same day. But, of course, you're going to be paying for that. I looked at what same-day costs are. It could be up to $60, $100 depending how much your item weighs.