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Live Coverage of President Biden addressing America on the January Jobs Report. Moody's Chief Economist Mark Zandi Talks About the Jobs Report. RNC Votes to Censure Representatives Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger. Aired 12-12:30p ET

Aired February 04, 2022 - 12:00   ET

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

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JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: In almost all of them, increased prices for consumers. Look, I'm a capitalist, but capitalism without competition is not capitalism, it's exploitation.

So I'm going to continue to do everything in my power to work with the Congress to make our capitalist system work better to provide more competition and lower prices for American consumers. They're still going to do well, but that isn't going to be enough.

We still need to ease the burden on working families by making everyday things more affordable and accessible. Look, average people are getting clobbered by the cost of everything today. Gas prices at the pump are up. We're working to bring them down, but they're up. Food prices are up, working to bring them down as well.

Look, I grew up in a family where if the price for a gallon of gas at the pump went up significantly, it was felt by the family. I get it. I understand. But these things are necessities, but that's not the totality of what family needs. They still have to pay for child care. They still have to pay for prescription drugs. They still have to pay for health care.

There's more than one way to help a family when it comes to their standard of living. We're going to work to bring down the prices on the way up, but guess what? Guess what? We're going to keep strengthening the supply chain to bring down the cost of every - all these goods.

But in the meantime, there's a lot we can do to give families a little extra breathing room. For example, child care. Families can spend $14,000 a year per child, and in some cases in this country, some cases less than $14,000 a year, for child care. Our plan cuts in half most - what most families are paying, helping their budgets, helping keeping millions of parents, and especially women, a lot of people back to work because they can get child care.

Or the cost of prescription drugs like insulin. Insulin costs about $10 to make, but for families who need the insulin, they're paying up to $650 a month on average in some places and as high as $1,000 a month. Think about all those Americans out there with Type 1 Diabetes who need this insulin to stay alive and stay healthy. For the 200,000 American children with Type 1 Diabetes, think about being one of the parents without the insurance or the money to pay for that insulin. How do you look your child in the eye who needs that insulin and they have no idea how they're going to figure out how to pay for it?

Think about what it does to them, their self-esteem, their dignity and their ability to look their child in the eye. We capped the cost of insulin at $35 in our plan, $35 a month. The companies are still going to make a healthy profit. We can do that tomorrow with the stroke of a pen, but we have a generation of so-called, for example, sandwich generation. That is you have a young child and an elderly parent and they both need help.

Now look, we can help them take care of mom and dad and make it work. There's a program that allows us to - on the Medicare that someone can come and install a handrail in the shower so mom doesn't fall, to make sure they have what they need to live in safety and dignity in their home, pick up the prescriptions, make an occasional meal. We can do all that.

So when mom and dad put their head on the pillow at night, they can have peace of mind that their elderly parents are doing well and their children are okay. We're still going to work on gas prices. We're still going to work on the food prices. But in the meantime, we can deliver that peace of - we can deliver that peace of mind to the American people and give them a little breathing room.

And by the way, the proposals that I have out there, nobody earning less than $400,000 a year would pay a single additional penny in taxes, not a single penny. A lot of companies I've spoken to are willing to pay a little more in their corporate taxes and their personal taxes to see that happen.

You've heard me say it a hundred times, you've got 55 companies in the fortune 500 companies that paid zero tax the last couple of years and made over $400 billion. Look, we can do this without increasing the deficit, actually we've reduced the deficit over $300 billion. And 17 Nobel laureates in economics came to me several months ago to say that this plan would not only not raise inflation, it would ease long-term inflationary pressures.

Look, the bottom line is this, the United States is once again in a position to not only compete with the rest of the world but outcompete the rest of the world once again. We can keep coming together and invest in the backbone of America, the working class and the middle class folks.

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There's no limit what we can achieve. So let's keep the raising - the wages rising and let's start lowering costs. Our businesses are the best in the world. Our workers are the best in the world. Give them half a chance. They'll outcompete anyone anywhere in the world. We can have a quality of life for working people that they deserve at the same time.

And by the way, the middle class, when it does well, when the working class does well, everybody does well. Everything is better for the wealthy, the super wealthy and the slightly wealthy. Nobody gets hurt. So let's face these challenges head on. Let's keep building a better America. I want to thank you, and god bless you and may god protect our troops. Thank you.

QUESTION: Mr. President --

QUESTION: Mr. President --

JOHN KING, CNN HOST: Hello everybody. I'm John King in Washington. Welcome to INSIDE POLITICS. Thank you for sharing your very, very busy news day with us. You've just been watching right there the President of the United States at the White House celebrating what he calls historic economic progress. The president making the case America is back to work.

That after the government today released some new and some shocking numbers on the economy. They are shocking because they are so good and they defy predictions of a January swoon. 467,000 jobs, take a look, added in the first month of 2022. Yes, unemployment did tick up, but for a promising reason, more Americans are out there looking for work.

We also got some big upward revisions to the end of 2021. Look at those revised numbers, 647,000 new jobs in November, 510,000 new jobs in December. Add it up, 700,000 more jobs in those two months than initially reported by the government. So how good is this economic comeback? Let's get some perspective.

Mark Zandi is Chief Economist for Moody's Analytics. Mark, grateful for your time today. The president calls this historic. And the president at the beginning of his remarks made - raised a point, he's essentially making the point that finally the American economy, the strength of the economy, has outwrestled COVID and the economy is now driving the show. Is that true?

MARK ZANDI, CHIEF ECONOMIST, MOODY'S ANALYTICS: I think that's a good point. Yeah, I think the economy is on track doing well. You know, the - I think the broader message in today's jobs numbers was how resilient the economy is, creating about 500,000 jobs per month for more than the past year.

So despite the ups and downs and all the rounds in the pandemic, the waves, the Delta wave, the Omicron wave, the economy continues to chug along and produce 500k in - every month, and that's enough to bring down unemployment and here we are at a 4% unemployment rate.

So yeah, it feels like the economy finally is breaking free of the pandemic. Obviously, the pandemic is still on. There's going to be future waves in all likelihood. And who knows, I mean, what the next wave will bring us. But it does feel like the economy is finally breaking free, yep.

KING: And so you hear the president there talk about this as historic. I just want to look at some of the sectors, leisure and hospitality up 151,000 jobs, professional services up 86,000, retail up, transportation up. So you look across the economy and you see strength, Mark Zandi. The question is the sustainability. We have been through this roller coaster where you get a good month and a bad month, two bad months then a good month.

The president seems to be making the case and those upward revisions to the end of last year seem to give the numbers to support the case that finally, now, you're on a growth track. It's obviously important for Americans out there wondering what's next in the economy. It's critical for a president too because we are now in February of an election year.

ZANDI: Yeah, I - you know, again, I think, you know, the interesting thing is, you know, the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the folks that put this data together, you know, release a number and, you know, some months it's a big number, we get a million jobs, the next month it's a - kind of a soft number, 100, 200,000 in job creation.

But then with today's numbers, with all of the revisions that go back in history, it looks like that the economy amazingly has been creating about 500,000 jobs per month, give or take. So, you know, those big swings up and down, they - they're all gone. It feels like the economy is just doing what it's doing and making its way through.

And obviously that's good for the economy. It's good for, you know, working Americans. You know, we're getting back to full swing. Not quite there yet. We've got a bit ways of - ways to go, but we're getting there. But it's obviously, you know, good news for the president in the midterm elections because he does need to show that the economy has made progress for it to and, you know, work out for him.

KING: So let me close with this question, then. The president was quite candid, talking about if he now has these job numbers at his back, in his face is still inflation which is causing a lot of pain to American families -

ZANDI: Yeah.

KING: - and he was quite clear there. When you have such a strong job market like this, that can exacerbate inflationary pressures. What has to happen in your view for that to start to ease in the days, weeks and months ahead?

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ZANDI: Well, you're absolutely right, John. I mean, I think the problem now is inflation really stings. I mean, we haven't seen this kind of inflation in 40 years, two generations, so a lot of Americans don't even - have never really experienced this, it's, you know, pretty tough.

But in my view, most of the inflation we're observing is, again, back to the pandemic, the supply disruptions, the global supply disruptions due to the pandemic, the - the fact that a lot of people have been out sick, creating shortages in different parts of the economy and causes a wage growth and inflationary pressures to develop. So if the pandemic continues to fade away here, and I think that's the

most likely scenario, I think the inflation should abate. But at the same time, you know, as the economy comes into full employment, as we get unemployment down into the threes, we will need to see growth start to slow and I think that's, obviously, what the Federal Reserve is now working - going to be working hard to do by starting to normalize interest rates over the course of the next year.

So, you know, if everything kind of sticks to script, I think we're going to be feeling like things are pretty much back to normal, you know, a year down the road.

KING: Mark Zandi, grateful for your insights on this important day. Appreciate it, sir.

ZANDI: Sure thing.

KING: Let's get some political perspective now from our great reporters with me to share the reporting and their insights. CNN's Nia-Malika Henderson, CNN's Ryan Nobles and NPR's Ayesha Rascoe.

Ayesha, let me start with you. You covered the Biden White House, obviously. The president has had a tough few months when you look at the polling, when you look at the COVID case count, when you look at some up and down, especially inflation numbers on the economy in his face.

So the president didn't want to stop talking there. If you noticed, he was happy. He was in a good mood. He was calling this historic, showing numbers, going back to Ronald Reagan. The thing that has haunted the Biden team so far is when you get a good day, it is often followed by a bad day. Do they have the sense that actually finally, at least on the economy, it will be a steady wind, not a roller coaster?

AYESHA RASCOE, NPR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, I think that they - this - at this point, you have the numbers that, you know, will allow them to breathe a sigh of relief. And that they can point to - now, they can point to a trend that when you average things out, you know, these jobs have been adding - you know, the economy has been growing at a relatively regular pace.

Now because of issues with surveys and, you know, the pandemic, you know, the expectations are kind of out of whack, you know, you think there's going to be a bad report and then all of a sudden, it wades these expectations. But, of course, you get the other side of that. But then when you get the revisions, oh, the month was actually better.

So I think you probably have some frustration there because the revisions often don't get as much coverage, even when they're revised up, but I think what was really important that Biden was saying was this didn't happen by accident, this was me. This was what I did, our plans. He is taking credit for it. And, look, presidents do get to take credit when the economy is going well, you know, no matter how much influence they actually have. KING: Right. And so Nia-Malika Henderson, the challenge for the

president, there's economic numbers but there's psychology out there in the country. Forgive me, no offense to the president, but there are not a lot of, you know, couples sitting around the breakfast table saying, hey babe, did you check the BLS? Did they revise - did you - did they revise upwards the job numbers last month?

It's just not the way it goes. It's not the way it goes, but Americans do know this, the price of gas.

NIA-MALIKA HENDERSON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL REPORTER: Yes.

KING: The current price of gas, $3.42 a gallon. It dropped. Remember, the president tapped the strategic petroleum reserves. He asked other countries to help. It did go down a little bit for a little bit, but now it's back up again.

The president was quite candid there, saying there is still a lot of frustration, pain and stress on American families out there. It's February in election year. His big hope has to be that the Fed helps him, other supply chain issues help him, the pandemic eases and that number gets better.

HENDERSON: And it's also - he was making the pitch for Build Back Better without actually using the phrase Build Back Better because that is essentially dead. So he was really, I think, tailoring what he was saying to people like Manchin, what can actually pass? Something around prescription drug prices? Something around elder care? Maybe something around child care?

So you can tell the sort of slimmed down expectations and hopes he has around passing something that he does hope alleviates some of the stresses and economic pains that people are feeling at the pump because he's being realistic. But it could be months and months and months before Americans see any real change in terms of the supply chain issues as well as those high gas prices at the pump.

KING: And that's where we get to your territory, Ryan Nobles, in the sense that the president making the case there to Democrats, talking to the country, but making the case to Democrats, at least let's pick up some of the big popular pieces of my agenda. We couldn't pass it last year. We haven't passed it yet this year, but let's try to do some of it.

And one of the key dynamics here for Democrats, you know, he's the President of the United States, they're running to try keep their majorities in the Congress. Just look at the president's approval ratings on the economy. If you go back to April, he was at 52%. He's now underwater, he's now at 38%.

You see that big drop. Democrats need that graphic to change. They need the president's standing on the economy to get better. The question is do they agree with what - one of the ways he says get there, pass some of my bills?

RYAN NOBLES, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, John, there's no doubt that the hopes and fortunes of the Democrats and their majorities in the House and Senate are intrinsically tied to the president and his approval rating and his ability to get something done. And I think what you heard in the president's message there today is that we've made progress, but we have more to do.

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And if we're going to build on this progress, we've got to pass some of these other packages that we've talked about that we promised to the American people during the last election cycle. And you - you almost sense a bit of urgency from him here.

We are starting to see some headwinds that are now heading in our direction. It's at our back now instead of in front of us, but we're in big trouble if we don't capitalize on that and move forward. The big question is can he get those two, you know, (inaudible) senators, Manchin and Sinema, to agree with him and at least come to the table with something that they're willing to pass. That has always been the big problem for Biden and the Democrats.

KING: Right. Good numbers, great numbers for the president to talk about today. The question is does it help him or have no affect on the persuasion efforts to come. Everybody stand by. A lot more to come, including this. Up next, Republicans meet to discuss their 2022 agenda. One top priority, punishing those who dare to speak the truth about Donald Trump and about his big lie.

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KING: Got some live pictures for you from Salt Lake City. You see right there. That's Rona McDaniel, the Chairman of the Republican National Committee. The Republican National Committee is about to vote to formerly censure two of its own, Republican House members Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger.

They are being punished because they think Donald Trump is dangerous and because they are working with Democrats on the select committee investigating the January 6th attacks. Now that RNC meeting, as I just noted, is in Salt Lake City, Utah. One of that state's Republican senators takes issue. Senator Mitt Romney, who ten years ago was the party's presidential nominee says this on twitter.

"Honor attaches to Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger for seeking truth even when doing so comes at great personal cost." Our panel of reporters is back with us, and Nia-Malika Henderson, to you first, the great irony here. It is Rona Romney McDaniel.

HENDERSON: Right.

KING: She is the niece - she is the niece of Senator Mitt Romney, former presidential nominee Mitt Romney. She is a Donald Trump ally. Many would use a stronger, more negative term. He is very much not.

HENDERSON: Yes, and listen, we heard that Romney, part of her name, has essentially disappeared because Donald Trump doesn't like Mitt Romney, so that's something that she did to please Donald Trump. But, you know, on the one hand, this is kind of meaningless, this censure from the RNC. It's not going to mean much. Adam Kinzinger isn't even running for re-election. But it is quite meaningful and it shows you how loyal the RNC is to Donald Trump.

He tweeted, I think, just a few days ago about how terrible the work of the January 6th committee is, how it really should be focusing on the big lie he's been telling about 2020 which we, of course, know is a crazy conspiracy theory. But, yeah, I mean, she is enthralled to Donald Trump. Many Republicans are, too, and Liz Cheney has got a real battle on her hands in her fight for re-election.

She's been able to raise a ton of money. You've got a challenger in that race that Donald Trump has given, I think, something like $5,000 to, which isn't that much money. But nonetheless, she has become a big target of Donald Trump and hence she's going to be censured, it looks like, by the RNC.

KING: I agree with you mostly to your point that does this matter in the sense that I don't think there's any voter in Wyoming or if Adam Kinzinger is not running for reelection, if he runs for something down the line, who's going to say what does the RNC think? Let me check in with the RNC's official position on these candidates.

But I do think this - it does matter this because she is the head, she's the CEO of a institution, one of America's major political parties, the Republican National Committee, and this is what she says, Ryan Nobles, to "The Washington Post" about January 6th. "We've had two members engage in a Democrat-led persecution of ordinary citizens who engaged in legitimate political discourse."

Ordinary citizens who engaged in legitimate political discourse. No, insurrectionists who attacked the United States Capitol, the United States government, chanted "hang Mike Pence," were trying to find Speaker Pelosi and were trying to disrupt the peaceful transfer of power in a democracy. You cannot have a political party in the United States of America say that its official position is that that was "legitimate political discourse."

NOBLES: You know, John, you're absolutely right, and that statement just shows how day by day Republican leadership has become further and further tethered away from the truth. And - in an attempt to almost whitewash what happened here on January 6th.

But I also think that we shouldn't lose sight of the machinations of what happened in that RNC meeting. Keep in mind that there was pretty powerful forces within the Republican Party that wanted the party to expel Adam Kinzinger and Liz Cheney. They wanted them out of the party completely. And there were some working - work that was done behind the scenes to rein that in a little bit.

So what that shows is that there's still a lot of Republicans that are uncomfortable with this idea that they should just get rid of anyone who talks bad about Donald Trump, but the loudest voices are the ones that kind of saddle up next to the former president and pledge their devotion and loyalty to them.

This is going to be a - play a big role in the speaker's race if the Republicans win back the House minority, right, or they win the majority back, I should say, that loyalty to Trump versus that middle lane of Republicans that want to, you know, expose themselves to a bigger political tent.

KING: But - and Ryan makes a key point, Ayesha, that they did have to water - they did have to water down the language some so they could get a big unanimous vote. That's what they wanted. And you have some old friends of the Bush family, I was just looking at the pictures there, old friends of Mitt Romney in that room. So they did have to water down the language.

But this still is proof that Donald Trump is calling the shots because they are changing the party rules today. Normally, the party would not spend money against one of its incumbents. They are changing the rules so that the party can spend money to support Liz Cheney's challenger, who Nia mentioned the numbers, we can just show you on the graphs, Liz Cheney has raised $7.1 million, her challenger is below a million dollars, $745,000.

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So, the fact they're changing the rules so they can flood party money in there to help is, A, a big deal and, B, proof this is a Trump grievance and he's calling the shots.

RASCOE: He is calling the shots. And there could be long-term repercussions. You know, part of the reason that there was pushback on throwing, you know, Liz Cheney and Kinzinger out of the party is that the idea was like, well, what happens if some other Republicans get out of line with Trump, which happens very often, are they going to get thrown out of the party?

So that's why there was pushback, but now that this door is being opened so that you can, you know, raise money against Republican incumbents, that is going to open the door to give Trump even more power because what if somebody else makes him very upset and he feels betrayed and he wants them to pay?

Now he can use the RNC to even more do that within the party. But at this point, basically the Republicans who are there and are - have the power, they are the ones who are, you know, with Trump and that they are willing to do what he says and what he wants.

KING: Yeah. Grievance is the magnet in Trump's compass. We have seen that for five-plus years now. Everybody, appreciate it very much.

Up next for us, the midterm climate and the president's biggest challenge.

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