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Warren Forms 2020 Committee; Revelers Face Rainy Eve; Ball Drop Celebrates Journalist. Aired 8:30-9a ET

Aired December 31, 2018 - 08:30   ET

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


(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:30:02] ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: OK, we do have some breaking political news.

Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren is taking a big step towards challenging President Trump in 2020.

CNN's MJ Lee is live in Boston with all of the breaking details.

What's happening this morning?

MJ LEE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Alisyn, I did not think I would be saying this on the very last day of 2018, but welcome to 2020. Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren is announcing this morning that she is going to form a presidential exploratory committee. This all but confirms what has been widely speculated for a while now, that Senator Warren is going to run for president in 2020 and she is now the first major Democratic candidate to take official action and taking a step closer to a presidential campaign.

She made the announcement just a minute ago in an e-mail, in a video message, that went out to supporters. Here's a little snippet from that video message.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. ELIZABETH WARREN (D), MASSACHUSETTS: No matter where you live in America and no matter where your family came from in the world, you deserve a path to opportunity because no matter what our differences, most of us want the same thing, to be able to work hard, play by the same set of rules and take care of the people we love. That's the America I'm fighting for. And that's why today I'm launching an exploratory committee for president.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEE: Now, this video message was four and a half minutes long and the themes that we see in this video are some of the very themes that led to Senator Warren's rise in national politics and her rise to national prominence, issues like fighting economic inequality, taking on big banks and big corporations, and holding government accountable. Now we know that these themes that she has been talking about for so many years are going to be at the very foundation of her presidential campaign.

And, Alisyn, why am I standing outside in the Boston area this morning? That is because this is where her staffers have already been on the lookout for campaign office space. This is where we expect her headquarters to be located.

We are also told that Warren has already spent some hundreds of hours talking on the phone with political leaders and activists in the early states and she does expect to get traveling soon. And that all actually depends on what happens with the ongoing government shutdown that you have been talking about all morning.

Now, obviously, you all know that the Democratic field in 2020 is expected to be very, very crowded with Democrats starting to make similar announcements in the coming weeks and months. But you know that in politics, optics are so very important. And with the decision to make this announcement on December 31st of 2018, Senator Warren is going to reap whatever benefits may come by being the first Democrat out of the gate.

Back to you, Erica.

ERICA HILL, CNN ANCHOR: All right, we'll take it.

MJ, thank you.

As you said, welcome to 2020 before we even hit 2019.

Joining us now, former Republican Congressman Charlie Dent, former White House press secretary for President Clinton, Joe Lockhart, and CNN's senior political reporter Nia-Malika Henderson.

And, Charlie Dent, I want to start with you.

As we look at this, it is not perhaps a shock that Elizabeth Warren is making this announcement today. The big question is, in terms of timing, is this a smart move for her?

CHARLIE DENT, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, I can't really tell you whether it's a smart move for her or not, but I think this is a total gift to President Trump. This is the candidate he clearly wants. I -- my own view is I think Democrats want a new generation of leadership. That's always been my view. They're looking at somebody like a Kamala Harris, or Beto O'Rourke or Cory Booker. I think that's where they want to go.

But Elizabeth Warren also brings other baggage to the table as well. I've been critical of my own party at times for some of these nativist, isolationist, protectionist inclinations, their social intolerance. But Elizabeth Warren brings to the table all the things that I think much of red state America dislikes, this war with industrial and agricultural America that too many Democrats are engaged in. I mean she's very clear, she doesn't like the financial services industry, she doesn't like the pharmaceutical industry, she doesn't like the insurance industry, she doesn't like any of these industries where a lot of, frankly, my former constituents worked. And I think this is going to be a very big problem for Democrats if they nominate someone like her. There are going to be a lot of Trump leery Republicans and independents, you know, who are looking for an alternative. They'll just say, but I can't do that. And so I think this is a gift to Donald Trump.

HILL: Joe Lockhart, is that her biggest baggage, or is it -- it's something bigger? Not only the DNA video, which I don't -- I think we can say did not land the way she wanted it to, but also the way she can get kind of scrappy with Donald Trump. It doesn't always work for her.

JOE LOCKHART, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yes, listen, I think I -- I agree with Charlie in the idea that I think Democrats are looking for a fresh face. When you're out of office, I think people are less interested in ideological purity and more interested in is, who can beat the guy in there? That's exponentially more important now with Donald Trump. You can't overstatement how much Democrats despise Donald Trump, what he stands for, who he is and what he has done.

[08:35:14] So I think, if you look at the initial skirmishing -- and, again, we're not starting earlier than anyone else started. This is right on time. There's other -- there's candidates already in. There's a whole line of them getting ready to get in. But in the initial skirmishing, my biggest fear was, this was going to somehow become an ideological purity test. And I think, you know, with Elizabeth Warren and with Bernie Sanders, there hasn't been the enthusiasm that you might expect. And you look at, you know, someone like Beto O'Rourke, who hasn't even decided if he's getting in, look at the viral ad he put out there, there's real excitement around that.

So I think the biggest thing is, you look at the midterms, people want fresh faces. They want women. They want people of color. The second thing is, the big unknown in this race is Joe Biden. If he gets in, it changes the dynamic of the race. Other --

HILL: He's none of those things, by the way, that you just ticked off.

LOCKHART: Yes, no, exactly, he's none of those things, but there is a reservoir of goodwill for Joe Biden in the party that no one else has and a sense that he could do the job from day one. If he gets out of the race, it is a free for all. But I do think it favors -- it doesn't favor the people who we've been talking about for a long time.

HILL: As we look at -- you bring up Joe Biden. So CNN's Iowa polling of likely caucus goers, you look at where Joe Biden sits. He is at the top of the heap there with 32 percent of respondents -- likely caucus goers saying, yes, he's our first choice.

Nia, as we look at this, and, you know, everything that we've gamed out so far, again, not a shock that Elizabeth Warren is making this announcement.

NIA-MALIKA HENDERSON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL REPORTER: Right. HILL: But there is some surprise to the timing. And how much of that, Nia, is her trying to get out ahead of the rest of the folks to try to make a little noise?

HENDERSON: I think that's everything. I think Joe is also right that if you look back at past announcements, they're about where we are now. If you look back at Bill Richardson, for instance, I think he was like in January of 2007. Obama was like in February of 2007. So it's not that anything is happening super early this time.

But if you're Elizabeth Warren, you're clearly looking at a lot of these polls, which haven't been good news for her. We saw Biden leading in Iowa, for instance. That should be Elizabeth Warren country, in many ways, because she's the populist. She's the fire brand. She's certainly well known. She's probably got really high name ID. Certainly had more name ID than Beto O'Rourke did if you look back a year ago, but he has really shot to the top of the heap there and you see in those early polls. You also see in a lot of early polls that, as Joe said, people want someone new. There was a poll out that showed six in ten Democrats, independent sort of leaning Democrats want someone new. That poll also showed that Elizabeth Warren didn't do too well in terms of whether or not people thought she should run or thought she shouldn't run. It was essentially split down the middle.

What's interesting about this ad that she's put out, this video, the way she's doing it with the Twitter and on, you know, a video, sort of a social media push. Also if you look at the people in that ad, right, she is -- she knows that the Democratic Party is essentially a rainbow coalition. She's there apparently marching in what looks like an LGBT parade or something like that. Lots of black and brown faces, particularly black women in that ad. That is the path to the Democratic nomination that we've seen Obama, obviously, chart in 2008, Clinton did it also in 2016. It didn't end up netting her the nomination -- or the presidency, obviously.

But, also, if you just look more broadly at the successful Democratic presidents, the last three have been either black or southern, right? I mean if you think about Jimmy Carter, obviously from Georgia, a state with a lot of African-Americans. You think about President Clinton, also he's a southerner in a state with a fair amount of African-Americans there as well. And then, of course, Obama, himself black, from a state with a lot of African-Americans.

So I think if you're a Democrat, you've got to figure out, how do you get a multiracial coalition that's really likely going to be powered by African-Americans, particularly African-American women in those big southern states like Georgia, South Carolina, Texas and Mississippi, but also how you can somehow get white voters as well. Maybe not working class white voters, those seem to be voters that Trump has a lock on, but if you can get some of those suburban white women who did vote for Democrats, at least in 2018, then you've got something of a winning coalition both in the primary and then, if you're a Democrat, perhaps in the final match-up against Trump as well.

HILL: Congressman, Joe pointed out, we see it -- we see it in the polling, Joe Biden still gets really strong numbers. He has that name recognition. He -- a lot of people can identify with him. Earlier on the program (INAUDIBLE) Cortez (ph) said, Joe Biden is the biggest threat in terms of a challenger for Donald Trump. Would you agree?

[08:40:13] DENT: I would agree. He's probably the most formidable candidate against Donald Trump. But, at the same time, he's probably the least likely to be nominated of any of those candidates. And I think really the big risk that Democrats run right now is if they nominate somebody very far left like an Elizabeth Warren. And if the Republican Party stays as pro-Trump as it is, I see the likelihood of a very serious independent or third party movement that's going to be center based because I think the -- I think that much of the political center in this country feels very much left out of the conversation. That the bases of the political parties, the hard bases of the political parties seem to be driving the narratives, at least as to who will get nominated. And I think there's a big vacuum there in the center of this country that is looking for something different. And if Elizabeth Warren is the Democratic nominee, you know, Katie bar the door, it's going to be an interesting -- it's going to be an interesting ride.

HILL: Oh, buckle in, we're going to have to leave it there. But the good news is, only 673 days left until Election Day 2020, so that gives us lots of time to pick up the conversation.

Joe, Nia, Charlie, thanks to all of you. Happy New Year.

HENDERSON: Thanks, Erica. You too.

CAMEROTA: Do you have that number in your head at all times? Wow.

HILL: Yes.

CAMEROTA: Wow.

HILL: It's just a running clock. It's almost like Harry Enten, but not quite that advanced.

HILL: That's right. That's impressive.

All right, so the ball drop in Times Square tonight will celebrate more than just the New Year. And there's a possibility that I could screw the whole thing up. Details ahead.

HILL: My money is on you not screwing it up.

CAMEROTA: Well --

HILL: First, though, before we -- before we game that out a little bit more, the new CNN film "Love, Gilda" takes a look at the incredible live of the comedy legend Gilda Radner. It airs tomorrow, New Year's Day, at 9:00 p.m. right here on CNN. But here's a sneak peek.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GILDA RADNER, COMEDIAN: Hi, I'm Gilda Radner, and -- OK, now. People want to know, what made you funny? From the time I was a kid, I

loved to pretend.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She was the very first performer chosen for the cast of "Saturday Night Live."

RADNER: (INAUDIBLE).

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They just loved her.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I basically stole all of my characters from Gilda.

RADNER: I can do almost anything if people are laughing.

Boom, ba, ba, boom.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Gilda was just not quite herself.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: One morning she just said, I don't know what's wrong with me.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The comedian gets the most unfunny thing in the world.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She felt that she could be of help, and that's exactly what she did.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How often do we get to know exactly how brave we are?

RADNER: I always felt that my comedy was just to make things be all right.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: "Love, Gilda," tomorrow at 9:00 p.m.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:46:24] CAMEROTA: It's going to be a rainy end to 2018, especially if you're in Times Square.

CNN meteorologist Chad Myers has our New Year's Eve forecast.

How is it looking, Chad?

CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: The fabric of the day is GORE-TEX. It will be wet from Ohio through Pennsylvania, all the way down to Georgia and even into Mississippi. Some of the areas may even see some strong weather, potential for a tornado or two across the deep south.

We're going to move you ahead, though, hour by hour to 4:00, the rain starting in New York, people starting to file in there. No umbrellas in Times Square, so get rid of that. There's your rain into Columbus, all the way down to Nashville. And

the weather does move to the east. By about 11:00, storm through Atlanta, Georgia, and the rain doesn't stop for New York. This isn't going to be an on and off thing. This is on all day. But it's going to be warm, at least 50 degrees warmer than last year in Times Square. I think you'll take that.

Erica.

HILL: Oh, definitely. Especially --

CAMEROTA: I don't know if I look good in GORE-TEX.

HILL: Especially this one over here who will be -- you will love your GORE-TEX because it will keep the water off you.

CAMEROTA: All right.

HILL: That's the key, right?

CAMEROTA: As long as it's fuchsia colored, something festive.

HILL: We've got time to make that happen.

The Times Square New Year's celebration will honor journalists at tonight's ball drop. And you already likely know one of them. One you know very well because, you know, she's sitting right here to my left.

CAMEROTA: Yes.

HILL: You'll meet another with us next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:51:20] CAMEROTA: Less than 16 hours until the world famous Times Square ball drop rings in the new year. And in a show of support for freedom of the press, a group of journalists will press the crystal button to lower the crystal ball. I have the honor of being one of the invited journalists and joining us now to talk about it we have Tim Thompkins, he's president of the Times Square Alliance, and Maria Ressa, another journalist being honored tonight. She's the CEO of the Philippines based online news website Rappler.

Great to have both of you here. I've been so looking forward to talking to you guys.

You also were also on "Time" magazine. You were on the cover of "Time" magazine because "Time" magazine was also honoring people who -- well, journalists, and what -- after this sort of intense year that we've had.

MARIA RESSA, CEO, RAPPLER: We survived. I think that's the best part of the year and we're looking forward to 2019.

CAMEROTA: Yes, it's -- I mean, you know, look, here in this country we're often under verbal assault from people. There's a feeling of being under siege. But around the world, as you live every day, it can be a life and death decision going into journalism.

RESSA: It has become that way, right? I mean this year we really went out and looked at impunity, fighting it on two fronts. Our government, we have a drug war now that has killed -- the police admit to killing more than 5,000 people in -- from July 2016 until today. And there are 30,000 other deaths under investigation. So that's a huge number.

And then the second level of impunity is against an American social media technology company, right? FaceBook. We're a FaceBook country and we've started to really demand accountability on two fronts and that comes with risks.

HILL: It certainly does.

So what was it that made you decide -- I mean, obviously, we all love this choice, but what was it that made you decide that this was the year to honor journalists and to honor freedom of the press?

TIM TOMPKINS, PRESIDENT, TIMES SQUARE ALLIANCE: Well, New Year's Eve is in part about looking back over where we've been during the last year, either personally or as a society, celebrating the things we love, the people we love and the things we value, and then looking forward with a sense of hope for some better things in the future.

So every year around the fall we say, what are the big themes that have emerged? A couple of years ago we worked with the International Rescue Committee because refugees were in the news a lot. And then this year we said, just like "Time" magazine did, we looked back and we said, the issue of freedom of the press is huge, not just in the United States, but throughout the world. And, in fact, getting more and more serious. And we said, this is a time to celebrate the things that we love and we value and freedom of the press, I mean it's as American as apple pie and it's really, really important for not just this country but the world.

CAMEROTA: Here's a list of some of the esteemed people that will be there to press the button. We have people -- I mean every news network is represented, major news network is represented, as well as all sorts of newspapers. And, I mean, I'm just, again, so excited to have all of these colleagues. You know, we're competitors somewhat by day, but we stand together, you know, arms locked together during this time of crisis, really, for truth, as you point out, and the facts.

RESSA: I think it's existential. And I think we do have to stand together. We have to collaborate. We have to move away from competition because what we're fighting, and this is an attack on the information ecosystem is this kind of -- the deeky (ph) word, computational propaganda, right? A real geopolitical push to break truth down and that is -- we can't do it alone.

TOMPKINS: And, you know, that's one of the things that was important for us is to have representatives, both CNN and Fox, "The Wall Street Journal" and "The New York Times," to have the breadth of institutions and say that we all believe that this is critically important, not just for freedom of the press, but for democracy, because those things are so closely intertwined. [08:55:14] CAMEROTA: Yes, I was so glad that you pointed that out, that if anybody who thinks that this might have been a partisan choice somehow, you're in the long game, as you say.

THOMPKINS: Yes.

CAMEROTA: You're in the long game. And freedom of the press is the underpinning of democracy. And that's what this is about.

THOMPKINS: And that's why the Committee to Protect Journalists is our charity honoree because they work -- they've been doing this, you know, for many, many years all across the globe. And this is a global celebration.

CAMEROTA: Yes, they do such excellent work too.

HILL: Across the globe. That's great.

CAMEROTA: Well, you guys, OK, one last question, is there any way for me to screw this up? Because I'm -- I'm routinely late, as the crew can tell you. If I'm like five seconds late, does 2019 not happen on time?

THOMPKINS: Well, just between us, that's why we have ten backups.

HILL: They're really counting on Maria. But, no, I mean you shouldn't take that the wrong way.

CAMEROTA: I am too. That's really great.

Tim, Maria, I can't wait to see you guys tonight. Thank you so much for being here with us on NEW DAY.

THOMPKINS: Thanks.

HILL: Happy New Year.

RESSA: Happy New Year.

HILL: Be sure to watch tonight, "New Year's Eve Live" with Anderson Cooper and Andy Cohen. It was AC squared. We're making it AC cubed.

CAMEROTA: Thank you.

HILL: And Alisyn Camerota starts tonight at 8:00 p.m. Eastern.

CAMEROTA: All right, we'll see you all there. "NEWSROOM" picks up after this very quick break.

Happy New Year, everyone.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:00:04] PAMELA BROWN, CNN ANCHOR: Well, good morning. I'm Pamela Brown, in for Jim and Poppy.

And the government shutdown enters.