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FBI Crime Data Shows Droop in 2023; Trump and Harris Compete for Omaha; Vivek Ramaswamy is Interviewed about Politics; Emmer to Help Vance for Debate. Aired 6:30-7a ET

Aired September 24, 2024 - 06:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:31:26]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT AND 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Crime is rampant.

We will crush violent crime and protect all law enforcement.

I will make you safe at the border, on the sidewalks of your now violent cities, in the suburbs where you are under migrant criminal siege.

You will be protected, and I will be your protector.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KASIE HUNT, CNN ANCHOR: Donald Trump claiming crime is spiraling out of control under the Biden-Harris administration. But new FBI crime statistics don't seem to bear that out. According to the bureau, violent crime dropped approximately 3 percent in 2023. The data also shows murder and non-negligent manslaughter dropped in the United States nearly 12 percent from 2022 to 2023, which represents the largest decline in decades. Reported rapes also dropped by more than 9 percent, and reported hate crimes fell by nearly 1 percent.

The Harris campaign put out this statement, "new data submitted to the FBI confirms that our dedicated efforts and collaborative partnerships with law enforcement are working. Americans are safer now than when we took office."

Of course, there, Brad Todd, is a lot of argument on the internet about whether these statistics are accurate or not, but 12 percent is a very significant number. And we should note that these statistics, the FBI has been putting them out for many years now, and we all collectively rely on them.

Does this help significantly pushed back against, for the Harris team, the Trump argument on crime, or does it not matter in your view?

BRAD TODD, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: I think - I think this is a very dangerous thing for Harris to talk about. I mean she has a philosophical disconnect with the center of the electorate on it. You know, she said we needed to reduce incarceration. She said we needed to stop thinking that putting more police on the street makes us safe. I don't think she wants October to be about crime.

KAREN FINNEY, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: So, here's where I would disagree. I think she was talking about mass incarceration, over incarceration, which is a huge problem in this country. Additionally, I think it is important to talk about the declines in violent crime. The challenge, though, I think on the issue is, whereas those statistics are correct in our daily lives, we're still - like I - here in D.C., we've got carjackings. We've got, you know, people getting mugged in the middle of the day. So, it's the -

HUNT: Doesn't feel like crime is down in a lot of places, right?

FINNEY: Exactly. I mean, agreed. But we should say, if murder rates are down, that is a good thing, right? But it is the crime that we interact with on a more day-to-day basis that I think makes us feel like it's not down. And I think that's the challenge.

And the problem with talking about that at the presidential contest level is, that's really about what's going on in cities and states. One of the things that President Biden did do is put more police on the streets. Kamala Harris was part of that. So - but that's having mixed effect, I think, in different communities.

ALEX THOMPSON, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, and the statistics did show that carjackings were one of the types of crime that did go up in 2023.

FINNEY: Yes.

THOMPSON: The other thing - and I think the reason why the feeling is because you saw a huge spike during Covid. And the fact is that we've seen a steady decline, but now crime is only about back to where it was in 2019, which is why I think that the - that the vibes, the feeling is because we have this spike because of the pandemic.

HUNT: Yes.

Well, I mean, and, Jonah, it - it matters not just what's going on in your own community, what you personally experienced, but also what you read about, which are consuming via news media or on TikTok on your phone. And there is - I mean carjackings are one that, you know, I mean, I get warnings to not rent certain classes of cars because they get stolen all the time, right?

[06:35:01]

JONAH GOLDBERG, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yes. Yes, I mean, I - I used to do - I used to be a statistics nerd on crime stuff when I was a policy gnome when I first came to Washington, and I find this stuff -

THOMPSON: Cool. GOLDBERG: Really fascinating and -

TODD: We suspected this about you.

GOLDBERG: Yes. The National Crime Victimization survey stuff contradicts the FBI thing and yada, yada, yada, we can get into all that.

I personally have a theory that the pandemic, because it just upset the applecart on all of these sort of settled rules of daily life, did so for crime as well.

FINNEY: Yes.

GOLDBERG: And so like it used to be understood, there's this unspoken agreement between police and - and criminals about these are neighborhoods where like you can do this or that or whatever and like - and all of a sudden it was just a sort of a free for all and the police didn't remember how to do the old sort of law enforcement stuff and the criminals didn't obey any of the old rules. And we are still settling out from that.

The thing that makes this all difficult to talk about is Trump lies about crime period, right?

FINNEY: Yes (INAUDIBLE).

GOLDBERG: In 2016, when he ran, he was, like, you know, talking about American as a crime scene and all that kind of stuff. He loves this talk. He grew up in New York City. He speaks the language of "The New York Post" when it comes to crime. And - and so he's going to say this stuff regardless. And - because he wants people to be on edge and fearful, period.

FINNEY: One last thing, though, I would say. Somebody who has been an attorney general, who has actually dealt with crime and who understands how states and - she's also been a district attorney, how states and communities are dealing with crime, as the president, that could actually help change the dynamic because that's a different conversation than has been had in a White House in a very long time.

HUNT: Yes.

THOMPSON: When you look at their paid ads, they're very much focusing on her prosecutorial record.

FINNEY: Yes.

THOMPSON: And like a tough on crime border state prosecutor, right?

FINNEY: Yes.

HUNT: Yes. For a reason, as you point out.

TODD: As she thinks she has a problem there. And that's why she's doing that. HUNT: All right, let's turn now to this. A last-ditch effort to change

Nebraska's election laws has seemingly hit a dead end. National Republicans, including Donald Trump, putting pressure on Nebraska's lawmakers to change to a winner take all system for the Electoral College. The state currently awards electoral votes by congressional district, with one vote going to the winner of Omaha's congressional district. The only other state that does it this way is Maine. Yesterday, a key state senator from Omaha announced he would not support this effort.

Omaha's single electoral vote, it really matters because depending on how the battleground states go for Harris and Trump, it could make it all or break it all.

Let's look at this map of how it could look on election night. If Harris were to win Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin, while Donald Trump were to win the sunbelt. In this scenario, Omaha's single electoral vote would determine whether Harris wins with exactly 270 votes or if we would have been headed to a truly unprecedented scenario, because if Trump were to win that fifth Nebraska vote, the election would result in a true tie, which would, of course, throw the election to the House of Representatives to decide.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JASON BROWN, NEBRASKA DEMOCRATIC VOTER: It's plausible that we could have a tie. And that whole notion of, oh, my vote doesn't matter kind of gets really tossed out the window because this could be it. This could be the deciding factor.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNT: So, of course, he's wearing that blue dot shirt.

FINNEY: I love it.

HUNT: Because the idea is that Omaha is this blue dot, right? That it goes for Democrats.

Brad, we were talking about this in the break because it really did come down to this one member of the state legislature in Nebraska who was under immense pressure. He had been a Democrat. He's now a Republican. They were trying to convince him, hey, change this law in Nebraska. They thought a couple other people would follow him if he did that. And he came out and he said, no, I'm not doing it.

So, this is apparently off the table, is it? And - and what are the dynamics here?

TODD: Well, if it - if it worked, but the tie goes to the U.S. House and each state delegation in Congress votes by itself, which means, for instance, Minnesota's a 4-4 tie in their delegation. Tim Walz's home state might not even vote for them, even if the people did.

But I think, in the end, this is a bad idea. I didn't like it in 2020 when Democrats were changing election rules in the middle of the election. I think it's a bad idea to do it now. Last year I could have been for this, but I think now it's a bad idea.

HUNT: Yes, the -

THOMPSON: One - well, one thing I just wanted to add is, the Harris campaign, and the Biden campaign before them, had been incredibly focused on Omaha. They've spent over $10 million there. They've sent people to this district because they know that - exactly what you said, that all they have to do is hold the blue wall and then they win with it exactly 270.

FINNEY: Yes.

HUNT: Yes. Well, I mean, and it's - it's smart politics, right? I mean, Jonah, it's - "The Wall Street Journal" sent a reporter to go look in Warren Buffett's yard to see if he had a blue dot sign. They didn't find one.

FINNEY: It's a point of pride there.

GOLDBERG: Well, I mean, it's also - it's - look, Nebraska, what, 20 - voted for Trump by 20 points or something like that. So like, without the blue dot, you don't get any national media parachuting in and looking for blue dots in Warren Buffett's front yard.

[06:40:04]

I would have no problem on the merits of them changing this one way or the other. I kind of agree that in the middle of the election it's a little creepy.

FINNEY: I mean, that's the problem, right? It's - for the football fans, fourth quarter, five minutes to go and they're trying to change the rules in Nebraska. We're seeing them try to change the rules in Georgia. And it's very clear what this is about. This is about either, a, trying to foresee if there is a tie, but also injecting a bit of chaos into this system. I mean I'm sure we're going to hear Donald Trump rail against Omaha, Nebraska, and now it's not fair and it's not right, even though it's the law.

But it's all about injecting a bit of chaos so that he has the rationale to - you know, and we're already hearing him do it, talk about, you know, we were just talking about mail-in voting, how he's already trying to say there's something wrong with that. Get ready because it's coming.

TODD: What a minute, though. Four years ago every blue jurisdiction, every blue state was changing the rules right now, like four weeks after the election. Like, Democrats should - are in no position to say this. Like, Republicans can say, let's don't change the rules, but Democrats would do anything in 2020, even against the guidance of state attorney general, state supreme courts, state constitutions.

FINNEY: I think they were dealing with Covid is actually what was happening. People were changing -

TODD: But it was changing - they were changing the rules against the constitution in some states.

FINNEY: In a national pandemic, trying to protect people's lives -

TODD: For their political advantage.

FINNEY: Not - not the same as - no, it was actually to make it easier for people to vote.

TODD: For the Democrats' advantage.

FINNEY: Actually, if your guy would have stopped telling people not to vote by mail, you might have won.

TODD: (INAUDIBLE).

FINNEY: I'm just saying.

HUNT: All right, let's move on now, though.

He's been out of the race for months, but he hasn't gone away. Coming up on CNN THIS MORNING, former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy joins us live. His take on the state of the race.

Plus, Donald Trump making a unique introduction to the woman behind his campaign.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT AND 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I don't want to use the word OJ. (INAUDIBLE).

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, no, no.

TRUMP: I don't know if he was OJ (ph).

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:46:16]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Since this story leaked, and this is something that everyone needs to hear, the hateful language in this community has spiked. It's - it's - it's really, really bad.

I'm half black. I'm half Hunguarian and half like half white, whatever you want to say. I've become a target of the hate. I can probably count on my hand, both hands, how many times a racial slur has been said my whole life. I've been called the n word twice this week by just people who group me.

Friends of mine, friends of friends that say, like, get out of here, you're Haitian, we don't want you here. Even with a six-month-old baby at a grocery store.

So, regardless, I find it shameful, and I find it inappropriate, whether I'm Haitian or American.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KASIE HUNT, CNN ANCHOR: That was one lifelong resident of Springfield, Ohio, last week telling former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, during a local town hall, what he has experienced in the wake of Donald Trump's false claims about Haitian migrants eating pets in his hometown.

Trump, once again, evoking Springfield on the campaign trail during a Pennsylvania rally last night, and reiterating his promise to deport the towns illegal migrants.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT AND 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Do you think Springfield will ever be the same? I don't think - the fact is, and I'll say it now, you have to get them the hell out. You have to get them out. I'm sorry. They've destroyed it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Send them back!

CROWD: Send them back! Send them back! Send them back! Send them back! Send them back! Send them back! Send them back! Send them back!

TRUMP: It's terrible.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNT: Joining us now is entrepreneur and former Republican presidential candidate, Vivek Ramaswamy. He is the author of the new book, "Truths: The Future of America First." It is out today.

Mr. Ramaswamy, congratulations on the book. Thank you very much for being here.

You, in the book, have a chapter, one of your truths is dedicated to border security. You say an open border is not a border.

But I want to ask you about that moment in Springfield, Ohio, from someone who has lived there their whole life, and who says they've not experienced this kind of racially motivated animosity from the members of their community before this past week. Is President Trump's rhetoric contributing to what happened to that man? And do you think it's right?

VIVEK RAMASWAMY, AUTHOR, "TRUTHS: THE FUTURE OF AMERICA FIRST": So, look, the reason I went to Springfield is I wanted to have open dialogue with the citizens of that community close to where I grew up as well. That was important to me. And I want to be precise about what that man said, because I think it was actually really important and insightful. He didn't say it was in the last week. You heard in that clip, he said it was in the last year. And I did - I'll tell you what I told him to his face, which I believe

is true, is a big part of the uptick we are seeing in anti-black racism and anti-minority racism, and we are seeing that uptick in the country, and it worries me, is a response to the anti-racist policies that have increased race consciousness in this country over the last several years.

I say this - I'm releasing a new book today. I wrote a book about three to four years ago called "Woke Inc.," predicting exactly this trend. And that's my concern with race conscious policies. There is no better way to create racial animus in this country than to take something else of value from somebody else based on the color of their skin. That's a prediction I made in my first book several years ago, and I'm sad to say that it's come to transpire.

And that man and I had a great exchange. I also think we need more of that in this country. We had several hundred people come out, about 2,000 people RSVPed for that event in Springfield, which tells me people across this country are hungry to be heard. And that's how we get our country back, through open debate, free speech, and open dialogue. And that's the core thesis of the book that I'm putting out today.

HUNT: So, Mr. Ramaswamy, I - I understand you've made -- you're - you're making this argument about raising race consciousness from the left, and that's one way you put it in your book.

[06:50:04]

But I do want to kind of circle back to some of the things that we're hearing from your party, from your Republican presidential nominee, who has been traveling, for example, with Laura Loomer, who wrote on Twitter, quote, "if Kamala Harris wins, the White House will smell like curry and White House speeches will be facilitated via a call center."

Marjorie Taylor Greene came out and said that that was racist. Do you agree with her?

RAMASWAMY: Look, I'm against identity politics in all of its forms. Whether it comes from the left or from the right. I've been crystal clear on that. I think we need to revive our shared American identity.

That being said, I do think we've gotten into a bad habit where Donald Trump says some word or a supporter of Donald Trump says some word. That gets airlifted out and becomes the story. Rather than focusing on the substance of the actual underlying issue.

The truth of the matter is, as recently as three months ago, or even three weeks ago, we, as a country, weren't really talking about the kinds of issues confronting communities like Springfield in Ohio, a town that's really important to me and to the country. And so what I do think we need more of is focusing on that actual substance. There are people struggling in that community, including not least of whom are even many people who are, I believe, used as political pawns as migrants in this game. And so I think the more open debate we're able to have on the

substance, and the less we're able to fixate on airlifting some particular quote, the better off we're going to be in our discourse.

HUNT: Well, do you think that this debate's been good for Springfield, Ohio, though? I mean the schools have been closed. There have been bomb threats. Every day denizens of the place because of the focus, the national, political focus on them by - when this is a group of legal migrants. These Haitians have come here legally. I mean the Republican governor of Ohio has - has said as much and said they're taking jobs that - that businesses in that community needed to be filled.

RAMASWAMY: Look, I met - went and met with many of those Haitian community leaders during that trip myself. I think it's important to get all perspectives.

What I will say is this, I think this debate about immigration is in the long run going to be a good thing for the country. We can't sweep under the rug, in a town of 50,000 people, you had an influx of 20,000 Haitian migrants to a community that was unprepared to actually integrate them. Migrants who were unprepared to integrate themselves. That's a tough conversation, but it's one that we actually need to be having in this country. And we weren't before.

It's one of the things I talk about in this book is, how do we actually get to solutions on this issue? People skirt around this issue of legal immigration. I'll tell you what I told those Haitian migrants. It was a tough exchange, but one where we actually came out stronger for it. I said it's my view that if anybody enters this country, the United States generally should not admit somebody who's going to be a client of the welfare state, somebody who's going to be a recipient of government assistance. I don't think the U.S. policy should admit those immigrants, legally or not, into the United States of America.

And in that exchange, the people on the other side, they thought about it, they said, you know what, that's a fair policy. That's constructive. And I think that we need to think about immigration (INAUDIBLE).

HUNT: Well, a lot of these migrants came from jobs, right? I mean people that are working in the manufacturing roles in the city of Springfield, which is why they're there, not - are not what you just described there.

RAMASWAMY: Well, actually - actually, I respectfully disagree. When you look at the rates of usage of welfare, Medicaid, et cetera, I think it's a reasonable immigration policy for the U.S. to set that if you're going to come to this country, we want people who are able to speak the English language that's broadly used in the United States, and able to stand independently without relying on government assistance or the welfare state. That's the kind of debate we need to be having. If people believe that we should admit migrants who are going to be reliant on Medicaid or welfare, then they could represent that view. But we haven't been having that debate today. Those are the kinds of issues I explore in my book, focusing on the

substance rather than in the mudslinging that we sometimes see in the media-driven fueled, social media fueled political discourse. We need to speak about stone-cold hard truths and have that debate, even when it's uncomfortable in the open. That's how I think we're going to save the country. It's a big part of why I wrote this book.

And I also think that I'd like to see that standard applied a little more even handedly across the board. In that same debate you had Kamala Harris making the claim, also repeatedly many times since, that women are bleeding out in parking lots when there isn't a shred of evidence of a single woman bleeding out in a parking lot of a hospital.

HUNT: Well, there was actually a woman who died in Georgia, who - because she - there were two women, in fact, one in particular who couldn't receive the care that she needed.

RAMASWAMY: There's - there's no evidence of a woman bleeding out in a parking lot. My point is, the kind of rhetoric that's used across the board, we should apply evenly.

HUNT: But - but is there - is there evidence - have you seen evidence of Haitian migrants eating pets. Like if we're going to talk about evidence, have you seen evidence of Haitian migrants eating pets?

RAMASWAMY: Having gone to Springfield, I didn't see that evidence. But what I will tell you is I'm bringing that up because you brought up the Haitian migrant point. There are residents in the community that have pointed to that. There isn't even that level of a shred of evidence to support a single woman in the United States bleeding out in a parking lot. That's been a repeated claim made by Kamala Harris.

So, I think when we're getting into fact checking, I think we should apply the same standard 360 degrees. And I think we should not use Kamala Harris' quote there to sidestep a debate about abortion policy, just as we shouldn't use some other quote as an excuse to sidestep a debate about immigration policy.

[06:55:06]

And a core thesis to this book is, let's not use the fringe words that somebody on either side might say, and let's focus on the actual content of the debate, even when we disagree most. I think that's going to be a key step to reviving our country. And the beauty of America is, we can disagree badly and I believe still get together at the dinner table at the end of it. That's the America I miss when I grew up not that far from Springfield myself.

HUNT: All right.

RAMASWAMY: I think that's the America I'd like to see us revive. And that was a core motive for me writing the book that we're releasing today.

HUNT: All I - all I will say is that we did see that the family of the woman in Georgia, she was at - they were at the event where Kamala Harris did an interview with Oprah, and they heartbreakingly had lost their daughter, who, of course, was - was also a mother.

But, look, Vivek Ramaswamy, I really appreciate your time today. I'm sure we're going to see much more of you on our political scene. And like I said, congrats on the book. Thank you very much for your time.

RAMASWAMY: Thank you. Thank you for having me, guys.

HUNT: All right, 55 minutes past the hour. Here's your morning roundup.

New video of the Titan salvage operation released by the Coast Guard. You can see a remotely operated underwater vehicle recovering parts of the submersible. Also released, the final message from the Titan crew. Dropped two WTs. That refers to the weights that the submersible could shed to stop its descent. Six seconds later, all contact was lost.

And this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. JIM BANKS (R-IN): It's disappointing. We have a Republican majority. We should be cutting spending, not continuing to pass spending bills that grow the national debt.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But the votes weren't there and so now we move forward.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNT: Opposition growing on the right flank of the Republican Party to Speaker Mike Johnson's three-month government spending bill. Later today, House Republican leaders plan to use a procedural floor moves to rely on Democrats to help pass the legislation and avoid a government shutdown. This move would require two-thirds majority to pass.

J.D. Vance has recruited House Majority Whip Tom Emmer to help him practice ahead of the vice presidential debate. Here's what Emmer had to say about those preparations.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Mr. Emmer, what is it like playing Tim Walz?

REP. TOM EMMER (R-MN): Well, I've got to learn how to lie with a straight face.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNT: But according to Vance, they haven't started yet. They might want to get started. The debate is just a week away.

I want to spend a minute talking about this vice presidential debate that we're about to see because, Jonah, the dynamics between these two men, in many ways very different profiles. In many ways, not a lot to lose necessarily. What do you expect when they meet on the debate stage next week?

GOLDBERG: Look, Vance has decided that a big part of his future is to play to a certain kind of bro out there. And I don't think it's all that helpful for the Trump campaign. But I think he thinks it's helpful for him. And so I think you could actually see former high school coach, who I do think takes liberties with the truth too, but like scolding young - obnoxious young man vibes as the dynamic of that debate.

HUNT: Well, it's sort of going to be - it might be a debate over who owns masculinity and what it is, right?

FINNEY: Possibly, although I agree with Jonah, I think it's the - the dynamic, I think, J.D. Vance is probably not even aware, he could end up looking very small and - and not very masculine, by the way. But also it's an opportunity for Democrats to point out that, given Trump's age, this guy could end up being your president. And he says wacky, crazy stuff. I think that's a big part of what you're going to see coming out of the debate.

THOMPSON: I mean Jonah's also right that, you know - you know, J.D. -

GOLDBERG: You can stop there.

THOMPSON: I mean J.D. does sound like a young uneducated (ph) lawyer, right? But I will - I will say, the one thing that I'm going to look out for is, you know, J.D.'s been getting in reps. You know, he's been doing interviews. He's been doing tough interviews, press conferences. You know, Tim Wal is not. And Tim Walz, that's also raised the stakes for this debate because Tim Walz is - basically has not done a solo national interview yet. This is going to be Americans real first opportunity to see him. So, I think the stakes might even be a little bit bigger for Tim Walz.

TODD: Last time we saw Tim Walz, he was in the interview with Dana Bash. And best I could tell, all he was there for was to be the emotional support animal.

You know, and so he's not been doing that kind of combat that a VP nominee has to do on the trail. J.D. has. And while we weren't watching, J.D. Vance has become a much more effective communicator in the last two months or so.

FINNEY: Uh, childless cat lady? I would beg - there's a lot of -

TODD: That was four years ago. So, he's better than that.

FINNEY: Wait a minute, that he - no, but he doubled and tripled down on - on that. So -

TODD: Let's see. We'll see on Tuesday night.

HUNT: Well, I mean, Brad, I mean, the thing that I keep coming back to with that is just how much that particular thing has broken through with normal people. The childless cat ladies issue.

TODD: J.D.'s fault is communications. I think is that he's a little bit too online. He's a little bit too aware of what right-wing Twitter says.

[07:00:03]

He has to get passed that. It's a challenge for anybody running for president in this generation. He's not going to be the last candidate for president or vice president who has that problem. People have grown up on Twitter. He needs to aim at that middle of the electorate that's conflicted.

HUNT: Well, and that's why we ended up with the pets in Springfield -

GOLDBERG: For sure. Yes.

HUNT: Is J.D. Vance being very online about it.

GOLDBERG: Yes. And speaking - I mean I think you're absolutely right, both parties have problems with people who are way too addicted to Twitter. In fact, you just interviewed someone who was like the poster child of that.

HUNT: All right, guys, thank you very much for being here today. I really appreciate it.

Thanks to all of you for joining us as well. I'm Kasie Hunt. Don't go anywhere. "CNN NEWS CENTRAL" starts right now.