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White House Unveils Speech Preview; Oil Prices Drop; Family of U.K. Terror Suspect Speaks Out; Alabama Wins Fourth College Football National Championship; Terror Attack in Istanbul. Aired 9:30-10a ET
Aired January 12, 2016 - 09:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[09:30:00] BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: And part of what I want to do in this last address is to remind people, you know what, we've got a lot of good things going for us. And if we can get our politics right, it turns out that we're not as divided on the ideological spectrum as people make us out to be.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: OK. Let's bring in CNN White House correspondent Michelle Kosinski. She has more for us.
Good morning.
MICHELLE KOSINSKI, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Carol, right, just how different this address is going to be has been the question. But lately we've been hearing from some senior administration officials that they're not sure they would use the word non- traditional. This is, after all, still going to be a speech. It's not going to be a song or iambic (ph) pantamer (ph) or anything like that.
What we do know, though, is it's going to be shorter, not longer than usual. That the president doesn't want to spend pages and pages of it focusing on his past achievements. Of course he's going to mention them. But he has said he wants to look into the future, maybe well into the future, to talk about what he termed the big things that are affecting Americans. Things like the economy, how changes are affecting the American worker.
Now, we have seen the White House use some unusual methods, though, surrounding the speech. They've already enlisted Amazon, Google, Genius, YouTube, and even Snap Chat now. The White House just joined that. And check out this preview of this speech, which is kind of interesting. The White House tweeted this out.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I want us to be able, when we walk out this door, to say, when couldn't think of anything else that we didn't try to do. That, you know, we didn't shy away from a challenge because it was hard. That we weren't timid or got tired or somehow we're thinking about the next thing because there is no next thing. This is it. And never in our lives again will we have the chance to do as much good as we do right now. I want to make sure that we maximize it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KOSINSKI: I'm not sure that it -- anybody know what to make of that organ music there, but it added a little something extra, I guess, to this unusual White House preview. They also snap chatted out some behind the scenes pictures. But for this speech itself, the White House says, look for the tone to be extremely optimistic. That the president will speak passionately. That he's going to be talking about how Americans shouldn't let cynicism change the way they approach problems. That he -- he might be fired up, as he's talked about being in the last couple of days.
Now, remember, the White House has been using this kind of contrast between the president's optimism and the way that they view the Republican presidential candidates.
Carol.
COSTELLO: All right, Michelle Kosinski reporting live from the White House, thank you.
Just a reminder, you can watch the president's final State of the Union here on CNN. Special coverage begins tonight, 7:00 p.m. Eastern, followed by the president's address at 9:00 p.m. Eastern.
So, what were you doing back in 2003?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BEYONCE, MUSICIAN (singing): Got me looking so crazy right now, your love's got me looking so crazy right now, got me looking so crazy right now.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Oh, Beyonce was crazy in love back in 2003. 50 Cent was in the club and you were paying $1.75 for gas. Well, get ready to go back to the future because oil prices are tanking and gas could go as low as $1.00 a gallon. The oil producers in OPEC are now considering an emergency meeting to rethink their production levels because a glut of oil has sent the price per barrel down to $31. That's down from a record high of $145 in 2008, and that price could go even lower. CNN's Christine Romans is here to tell us more.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: And we're seeing all of these forecasts this morning of $30 after $30 a barrel, $20, even seeing $10 a barrel crude. Back in '98 it was $12, and that was almost unheard of back then.
But, Carol, these crude prices just keep falling, tumbling really. Now you've got concerns about bankruptcies in the oil sector, talk of emergency meetings from oil producers and that's what crude oil prices looked like over the past year. That is a crash. It's great for drivers. You're out there, some of you have been telling us, tweeting us pictures of how cheap your gas is. A year ago you had gas at $2.13. A month ago it was $2.01. Today it's 1.95.
And, look, there are a lot of places in the country where you're below $1.75 now. Look at the lowest gases in Missouri. Look at Oklahoma, South Carolina, Arkansas. You're going to see in some of these places, gas prices fall, fall, fall closer to $1.00 a gallon, Carol, especially if you get down to $20 or so in crude oil prices. It's because there's a lot of supply. There's not as much demand. China is slowing. That's factoring into it. Very tough if you have a job related to the energy industry. Very great if you're a driver.
COSTELLO: Interesting. Christine Romans, thank you very much.
So, yes, a buck a gallon for gas is possible. The final 2015 jobs report was pretty spectacular. So why do Democrats, as "The Washington Post" points out, sound as gloomy as Republicans. With me now to talk about that and more, CNN political analyst and editor and chief of "The Daily Beast" John Avlon. I'm also joined by CNN political commentator Ana Navarro. She also supports Jeb Bush and Marco Rubio.
[09:35:20] Welcome both of you.
JOHN AVLON, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Good morning, Carol.
ANA NAVARRO, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Good morning, Carol.
COSTELLO: Good morning.
So I want to take you back to July of 2008. The price of gas was $4.11 a gallon. John McCain was running for president. Remember, he blamed Barack Obama for that, who was also running for president. Sarah Palin came up with her signature line "drill baby drill." And then there was this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (voice-over): That's $4, $5. No end in sight because some in Washington are still saying no to drilling in America. No to independence from foreign oil. Who can you thank for rising prices at the pump? One man knows we must now drill more in America and rescue our family budgets. Don't hope for more energy.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: OK, so you get the drift there. So, Ana, how might Republicans react to gas that's a dollar a gallon?
NAVARRO: You know, I think you're seeing both party, politicians and, you know, the folks running, reacting the same way, which is, having the pulse of the American people that the American people are feeling gloomy. Despite what the numbers may be, there's more of a story here. You've got three-fourths of the American people who think the country is going to wrong direction. You've got the majority of American parent whose believe their children are not going to do as well as they did. You have the majority of American children who believe they're not going to do as well as their parents did. So I think what you're hearing on the campaign trail, on both sides of the aisle, is that reflection of gloominess from the people running.
COSTELLO: And I think Ana is right, John.
AVLON: Yes (ph).
COSTELLO: But that puts Democrats in a really weird place, doesn't it?
AVLON: Well, it does to some extent, but let's have a couple reality checks here. First of all, that prediction ad from 2008 was flat out wrong. So that's a big fail. Second of all, anxiety about the future is, to some extent, as American as apple pie. I mean, you know, the future is inherently uncertain. And what Ana's speaking to is the fact the middle class has had a wage squeeze for over two decades right now. That's a real problem. When Democrats talk about it, they talk about inequality. When Republicans talk about it, they don't have any really good answers, so they end up defaulting to sort of tax cut catechism.
Now, Speaker Paul Ryan takes poverty seriously. AT the Kemp (ph) Forum this past weekend, there were some really interesting conversations on the Republican side of the isle. But Democrats need to figure out how to both say that the economy has gotten better under President Obama, it has, while saying, guess what, we haven't reached a fundamentally strong place for the middle class and that's where a lot of the anxiety comes from. So I don't say it's gloom. It's about being able to say, we've improved but we haven't gotten there yet. People can do that. The American people can comprehend those two messages.
COSTELLO: I don't know if people are in to nuance this time around, John, I really don't. I would like to think so, but I don't --
AVLON: Really? What would make you think that, Carol?
COSTELLO: Because -- well, let me give you an example. So Donald Trump is suggesting mass deportations and big tariffs to fix the economy. Bernie Sanders is offering things like free college tuition and huge tax increases. These things are extreme, yet, Ana, they're being accepted by many voters. Why do you think that is?
NAVARRO: And you know what's -- what's a fascinating phenomenon that's been coming out in the last few days is that there are people who attend Donald Trump rallies or Bernie Sanders rallies and say when they are interviewed by reporters that their second choice is either Donald Trump or Bernie Sanders. So people who are supporting Bernie Sanders tell you my second choice is Donald Trump. People who are supporting Donald Trump say my second choice is Bernie Sanders. Because I think this outsider voice that is banging the bars and saying, we have a problem, you know, what is Donald Trump's logo? What is Donald Trump saying? Let's make America great again. What does that means? That America is not great now. And whether we like it or not, whether we accept it or not, whether we agree with it or not, and I don't, I certainly don't, I think there is a large swath of the American people who feel that way today and it is important to recognize that.
COSTELLO: Well, it's not only that, John, but there's no if -- AVLON: But, Carol --
COSTELLO: There's no nuance in their messages. It's black and white. Look, we're going to do this and it's going to have this effect.
AVLON: Yes, well -- yes, look, that's the -- the essence of populism. And what Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders both share is that with the polarization of the two parties you've got an increase in populism. Conservative populism and liberal populism of an old school kind. Those folks do feel that they may be getting left behind in America. They do feel anxious about America. So it makes sense that the extremes end up echoing each other. But because it's happening at a time when the parties are more polarized than the American people. You can over index that. You can take that too much into account. It's happening. It's serious. It's an existential problem for the party. It is not an existential problem for America yet.
[09:40:15] COSTELLO: All right, I have to leave it there. John Avlon, Ana Navarro, thanks so much.
AVLON: All right.
COSTELLO: Still to come in the NEWSROOM, CNN sits down with the sister of the man believed to be the masked killer in the latest ISIS propaganda videos. That's next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: The hunt continues for an ISIS killer dubbed the "new Jihadi John." The masked murder's identity remains unknown, but security agencies are reportedly focusing on a Londoner who calls himself Abu Rumaysah. In response to questions in parliament recently, the U.K. home secretary would not comment citing an ongoing investigation. But CNN's Clarissa Ward talked with his sister.
Good morning.
CLARISSA WARD, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol.
Well, to the outside world, he is known as Abu Rumaysah, a British convert from Hinduism who became an outspoken radical Islamist and just about a year and a half ago traveled to Syria with his wife and small children to join ISIS. But to 29-year-old law student Konika Dhar, he is simply known as Siddhartha Dhar, or Sid, her big brother.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WARD: What was he like as the brother?
KONIKA DHAR, SISTER OF ABU RUMAYSAH: Typical brother I think. Yes, just into sort of -- he liked playing his basketball. A lot which he was quite good at. Video games and films. And he liked to collect comic books as well.
WARD (voice-over): But after converting to Islam as a young man, things began to change. He fell in with radical preacher Anjem Choudary.
[09:45:00] And in an interview with CBS's "60 Minutes" shortly before he fled to Syria in 2014, he told me he was not able to love his mother or anyone in his family anymore.
ABU RUMAYSAH, SUSPECTED ISIS TERRORIST: I don't love them as non- Muslims, but I desire them for to become Muslim and embrace Islam.
WARD (on camera): But you love her as your mother.
RUMAYSAH: She's my mother and she has rights over me so I have to take care of her.
WARD: But do you feel love over her?
RUMAYSAH: It's not allowed for me to love non-Muslims, so that's something that is a matter of faith.
WARD: What's your reaction to that?
DHAR: I was upset and sad more than anything, because I don't understand it. I'll be honest you, I mean, one thing that I sort of noticed is that he has stripped his identity completely and this is what's sad, because he had the most colorful, creative personality, and I don't know where it's gone and where we've gone wrong. But it's been lost.
WARD: You say where we've gone wrong. Do you blame yourself?
DHAR: I think yes, definitely there's an element of guilt. I feel why could I not stop it? Why -- you know, are we that bad that you have to leave? That you have to go and live another life?
WARD (voice-over): Dhar desperately wants to believe that her brother is not the man in the new ISIS video, though she has conceded that the voices are similar.
RUMAYSAH: -- as arrogant and foolish.
WARD: She says she is unable to reconcile that killer with the boy she grew up with.
(on camera): Most would say that anyone who joins ISIS on some level is evil, a psychopath. Do you believe that to be true about your brother?
DHAR: But I can only speak in regards to my brother, and I can definitely say that I don't agree with that. I see him as a compassionate sort of family person, caring individual, somebody sort of who doesn't really engage in activities like --
WARD: Even after he's joined ISIS?
DHAR: Maybe I don't want to believe it. I don't know.
WARD: Do you believe that he's a killer? DHAR: Oh. God no. No, absolutely not. No.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WARD: Konika Dhar told us that she has spoken to and been in touch with her brother several times since he went to Syria, but she said that he hasn't shown any remorse for his actions and he has told her that he is quite happy, Carol, where he is.
COSTELLO: Clarissa Ward, reporting live for us this morning. Thank you.
Checking some other top stories for you at 47 minutes past.
(HEADLINES)
COSTELLO: I'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[09:51:58] COSTELLO: It's all in the family now. Chelsea Clinton hitting the campaign trail this morning, attending a roundtable with voters in New Hampshire where her mom could use a boost, to be frank. Polls show Hillary Clinton trailing rival Bernie Sanders in that state. Clinton, who's expecting her second child this summer, is now following in her father's footsteps, stepping out on her own to campaign for Hillary Clinton. This is Chelsea's first of three stops today in New Hampshire.
Three games, that's how long the NFL is suspending Cincinnati Bengals linebacker Vontaze Burfict for. This after a helmet-to-helmet hit in Saturday's playoff game against the Steelers. The hit left the Steelers' player with a concussion. That penalty late in the game helped knock the Bengals out of the playoffs. Burfict will sit out the first three games of next year's season.
The Alabama Crimson Tide rolls again, bringing home their fourth college football national title trophy in only seven years. This time winning in a shootout against the Clemson Tigers.
Coy Wire is live from Glendale, Arizona, to tell us more. Good morning. .
COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol. What a game. Certainly an instant classic in this one. Undefeated No. 1 Clemson Tigers versus perennial powerhouse, No. 2 ranked Bama. Oh my.
In the fourth quarter, Bama coach Nick Saban shocks the world by making the play call of the game, an onside kick out of nowhere and it worked to perfection. Alabama recovers, shifting momentum to the side of The tide. That sets up, two plays later, Jake Coker, finding O.J. Howard down the middle to give Bama the lead, 31-24. Howard had two touchdowns in the game.
Now the icing on the cake for Bama in this one, it was senior Kenyon Drake making that hotline bling. Look at him roll. High school track star showing that speed, 95 yards on the kickoff return for the score. Bama wins a wild one, 41-40 (sic).
Now, Coach Saban wins his fifth national title. O.J. Howard, he was named the offensive MVP in the game, and he put his team's history- making moment in perspective.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
O.J. HOWARD, OFFENSIVE MOST VALUABLE PLAYER: This is something we can remember for the rest of our lives. My name will go down on a plate in (INAUDIBLE) in the stadium, and I wouldn't want to win it with a bunch of guys like we won it tonight.
NICK SABAN, ALABAMA HEAD COACH: I really wanted to do the best that I could do for this team probably as much as any team that I've ever coached because I really did want them to have the opportunity to win this game.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WIRE: Nick Saban now one title win away from tying Alabama legend Bear Bryant with the most championships ever.
We'd be remiss if we didn't credit Clemson in this game. An incredible run they had this season, just one win away from perfection. But last night it belonged to the Crimson Tide. They are living it up in Tuscaloosa, Carol, celebrating their 2016 college football playoff, national champs.
COSTELLO: It is interesting. Nick Saban is where he should have been all along, right? He shouldn't take that break to pro football. He's a born college coach.
[09:55:02] WIRE: He may have had that record by now, Carol, you're right. And I think he's loving life in college. He's collegiate football's highest paid coach, $6.9 million a year. I wouldn't be going anywhere if I were him.
CAROL: Me either. Thanks, Coy Wire. Always fun.
The next hour of CNN NEWSROOM after a break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO (voice-over): Happening now in the NEWSROOM -- a deadly attack in Turkey. An explosion rocking a popular tourist spot in the heart of Istanbul. Why Germany is warning its citizens to stay away.
Also, Bernie Sanders says, this ain't over yet.
SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (I-VT), DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The inevitable candidate for the Democratic nomination may not be so inevitable.
COSTELLO: And did the veep just give the underdog a helping hand? JOE BIDEN, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Look, Bernie is doing
a heck of a job. Bernie is speaking to a yearning that is deep and real.
COSTELLO: Plus, one last address. President Obama hours from delivering his final State of the Union. And this one is different.
Let's talk, live in the CNN NEWSROOM.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO (on camera0: Good morning. I'm Carol Costello. Thank you so much for joining me. Security forces swarming one of Istanbul's busiest tourist sites after a suicide bomber killed himself and nine others in a bloody terror attack. Turkish officials say the unidentified bomber, who was born in 1998, is Syrian. So far, no terror group immediately claimed responsibility for this attack.
CNN's Arwa Damon is live in Istanbul, Turkey, with more on this. Hi, Arwa.
