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Democrats Search for the Next Obama; Virginia's Governor Won't Resign; Storms Bring Icy Mix. Aired 6:30-7a ET

Aired February 05, 2019 - 06:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:32:48] POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: The list of Democrats running or considering a run in 2020 is growing by the day. One name not yet on that list is Beto O'Rourke. That could change today when the former Texas congressman joins Oprah Winfrey for a live interview for her podcast in none other than Times Square. Could he be the next Obama the Democrats are looking for?

Jeff Zeleny live in Washington with more.

Nothing like an Oprah announcement if you goes that way.

JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: No question, Poppy. Good morning.

But every ambitious Democrat we know wants to be the next Barack Obama, or at least to follow his rise from junior senator to the White House. They're studying his campaign and seeking his advice.

But his candidacy also offers and important lesson. Just 12 years ago, when he jumped into the race, his victory was hardly guaranteed. But the highs and the lows of his campaign are a road map for this field of candidates.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. Speaker, the president of the United States.

ZELENY (voice over): Before any Democratic presidential candidate can hear those words and bask in the echo of that applause, they must start here as Barack Obama did 12 years ago this week.

BARACK OBAMA, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: And I recognize that there is a certain presumptuousness in this, a certain audacity to this announcement.

ZELENY: The 45-year-old junior senator from Illinois was a rising star, but a long shot presidential candidate.

OBAMA: I know that I haven't spent a lot of time learning the ways of Washington. But I've been here long enough to know that the ways of Washington must change. ZELENY: Most every Democrat eyeing the White House this time around

has already met privately with Obama and strains of his message and name are showing up in the early stages of the race.

Senator Kamala Harris striking a unifying tone and drawing an Obama- sized crowd during her announcement.

SEN. KAMALA HARRIS (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Our United States of America is not about us versus them, it's about we the people.

ZELENY: Senator Cory Booker invoking the Obamas.

SEN. CORY BOOKER (D), PRESIDENTIAL: I miss Obama, and I miss her husband, too.

I'm really grateful for the kind of leadership he provided this country.

ZELENY: And Senator Sherrod Brown telling voters this --

SEN. SHERROD BROWN (D), OHIO: Even Obama knew if he didn't win Iowa the race was over.

[06:35:01] ZELENY: But back then, even after Obama won the Iowa caucuses, his primary fight with Hillary Clinton was just beginning.

OBAMA: They said this day would never come.

ZELENY: David Axelrod, an architect of the Obama campaign, said rebounding from moments of crisis was the most important test for Obama and any candidate.

DAVID AXELROD, FORMER SENIOR ADVISER TO PRESIDENT OBAMA: Presidential races are gauntlets. And in a -- in a rough way, they're supposed to be, where you simulate the kind of pressures that people will face if they become president and people get a chance to judge you in those moments.

ZELENY: A at the dawn of one of the most wide open campaigns in memory, predicting the next Obama is fool-hardy.

AXELROD: I did not know how he would handle all of the pressures of the race. We don't know that now about any of these candidates.

ZELENY: The former president plans to stay out of the primary, telling Democrats he knows the torch should be passed, but that promise could become complicated if Joe Biden jumps in.

JOE BIDEN, FORMER U.S. VICE PRESIDENT: As vice president I saw first- hand the courage of Barack -- excuse me, the president -- he's my buddy.

ZELENY: And heads turned when Obama called Beto O'Rourke an impressive young man who ran a terrific race in Texas.

OBAMA: It felt as if he based his statements and his positions on what he believed.

ZELENY: Today, all eyes are on O'Rourke as he appears in New York with Oprah Winfrey, who, back then, gave Obama her first political endorsement.

OPRAH WINFREY: I'm here to tell you, Iowa, he is the one.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ZELENY: Some vintage video there. But we do not expect Oprah Winfrey to endorse Beto O'Rourke today. Of course not. But we do want to hear more from what he is thinking. He has not really spoken much this year out loud about if he's going to run.

Now, for all the questions hanging over the race, that certainly is one. Joe Biden is another as well. I am told that he and President Obama have not yet spoken directly about the possibility of him running. But, John, I am told that the president, Obama, has talked to other Democrats who are not yet in the race. So look for some other new names to come in this month of February.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: It is fascinating.

Jeff, I'm not supposed to ask you a question, but if Beta O'Rourke is considering running at all, doesn't he need to seem more open to it today than he has seemed to this point?

ZELENY: No question at all. You have to show that you want to run, not that you're just musing about the possibility. So if he wants to run, I think he'll put a little more give into that when he meets with Oprah today.

BERMAN: Thank you for taking this renegade question.

Jeff Zeleny, always great to see you.

ZELENY: Thank you.

BERMAN: All right, the pressure is mounting. Embattled Virginia Governor Ralph Northam still refusing to resign over the racist yearbook photo on his med school yearbook page. The man who would replace him facing allegations of his own. We're going to discuss, next.

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[06:41:45] BERMAN: Embattled Virginia Governor Ralph Northam is still refusing to resign. A source says that Northam fears being labelled as, quote, racist for life. He is asking his cabinet members to give him a chance to prove he is not the person pictured in a racist yearbook photo.

We're joined now by John Avlon and Wes Lowery, national reporter for "The Washington Post" and star, I should note, of his very own Super Bowl ad.

Great to have you here with us.

Wes was in "The Washington Post" Super Bowl ad, which got so many rave reviews.

Wes, I don't quite understand where things are headed in Richmond this morning. I can't believe to an extent that it's Tuesday morning and this is still going on and getting more complicated. CNN's reporting at this point is the Northam folks are saying this is hour-by-hour. We don't know where it's going. But the CNN reporting that he doesn't want to be labelled a racist for life, that's a stark decision he's facing.

WESLEY LOWERY, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Certainly. I mean this has been an absolutely baffling few days, I mean, and removing it from the real life implications. One of the -- one of the most grandiose kind of political spectacles we've seen in years. You know, here you have a governor who, you know, after a contentious race is elected and then to have these yearbook photos -- who even knew medical schools had yearbook -- and come out, essentially apologize and then taking the apology back.

If we go back -- I think the last time I was air on this -- on air on this we were talking about how -- look, just step out of the way. Let Justin Fairfax step into this, the lieutenant governor, a popular, young, dynamic rising star in the Democratic Party. And then, over the weekend, here you have these new, potential allegations against him. And so this is just, like I said, a remarkable political spectacle. I mean you can't imagine what it must be like to be a voter in Virginia, much less a black voter who might be personally offended or in fear by this. And this is just -- I mean it really is remarkable.

HARLOW: We had, of course, a former Democratic congressman, John, from Virginia on yesterday defending -- defending Northam here. And then Joe Lieberman, Democrat, former vice presidential candidate, he also was defending him. And I just wonder if you think that that grows among Democrats or is that all he's going to get?

JOHN AVLON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: There is nothing defensible about that yearbook page. This is not a jump ball. This is not a, I was young and mistakes were made. This is a 24-year-old person in blackface and KKK on their yearbook page.

What's complicated is that it does seem contrary to everything people know about Ralph Northam in his adult life. It's understandable that he would not want to walk away from power under this label and maybe it's his intention to pull a Bulworth and go on a redemption tour for the next three years to try to make it good. But that doesn't necessarily strengthen his hand in governing and it probably can't bridge the divide with the African-American population.

Now you see this brushback pitch against his lieutenant governor. An allegation, unfounded, of sexual assault. And is it simply designed to muddy the waters? He's certainly crying foul. So it just is designed almost to throw things in chaos as opposed to what would have been a clean resolution comparatively over the weekend.

BERMAN: And it's an uncorroborated, at this point, allegation.

AVLON: Yes.

BERMAN: And, Wes, it's interesting because "The Washington Post," which does so much great reporting, is in the middle of this to an extent. It week it came out, the allegation against Justin Fairfax, who is the lieutenant governor, that there was a non-consensual sexual encounter in 2004 at the Democratic Convention in Boston at that time. Apparently "The Washington Post" was given this information by the woman involved some time ago, but "The Washington Post" could not corroborate it. Only had her story and the story of Justin Fairfax.

[06:45:22] Fairfax now is pushing back against this. Let me just read the statement. As a father, husband in public service, he knows that sexual assault is a very serious matter and survivors of assault deserve to be heard. In this particular case, however, no amount of investigation will change the reality. He is not engaged in any such untoward actions.

Where is this headed?

LOWERY: It -- like I said, even just a few days ago -- and you alluded to it as well -- just a few days ago this seemed like a slam-dunk. It seemed obvious what needed to happen here was that Governor Northam was going to step down and Justin Fairfax would ascend to the governor's mansion.

Now, in the environment we exist in, in this moment, even though these are, you know, allegations that are unsubstantiated, that places like "The Washington Post" and perhaps others passed on writing about this initially because they could not corroborate this woman's account. It was something where there were no other witnesses, people had not been informed by this woman at the time and therefore it was difficult for, you know, people to get it to a level that is reportable.

And it's worth noting that a lot of these media outlets out here, "The Post," CNN and others, when they receive allegations do put them through real vetting, talk to people, get secondary witnesses. Sometimes people think we just throw stuff up on air or in the newspaper. There's a lot of really deliberate work that goes into it.

You know, I just think that now -- but even with that said, now having these allegations having come out first on a conservative website and now later because Justin Fairfax responded in the rest of the media, it does seems perhaps untenable for him to become the governor. And I think that might mean that Ralph Northam is able, as insane as this might be, to hang on and remain the governor.

HARLOW: That's, John Avlon, exactly what I was wondering. Do you think that these allegations against Fairfax make it that much more possible that Northam stays in this position?

AVLON: Possible, which is why I think Fairfax raised the question, is this political dirty tricks? Is this -- is this dirty pool? I don't know that it makes it untenable. I think it's significant that the information was, you know, not corroborated, not published originally by "The Washington Post." What you've got here is sort of a campaign to sort of destroyed the legitimacy of this particular administration and some of it's clearly self-inflicted. Some -- it's still stunning to me that Ed Gillespie, his Republican opponent, didn't find this yearbook photo during the previous campaign bead use odds are it would have made a pretty big impact in the result, the outcome of the election.

But, again, it's all against the backdrop, as Wes has been saying, about the fraught history -- the -- you know, of Virginia and race. Just a week or two ago, Fairfax made headlines nationally by sitting out a commemoration of Robert E. Lee. And it's a reminder that when Virginia first passed and recognized MLK Day, it did it in conjunction with Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson. So you're talking about really fraught, intertwined histories here that hang over all of these debates we're having politically.

BERMAN: All right, John Avlon, Super Bowl winner Wes Lowery, thank you for being with us this morning. Appreciate it.

HARLOW: All right, we'll stay on that.

Also, the late night comics take on the Northam controversy and the State of the Union tonight. You'll see that, next.

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[06:52:28] HARLOW: All right, the next two storms are expected to bring an icy mix to the Northeast, while rain will drench the southern United States.

Let's go to Chad Myers, our meteorologist, with the forecast.

Ick. What are we in store for?

CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Ice storm warning for Chicago right now. It comes in later on today, but it starts in the Midwest and it ends up in New England. So it is going to be an icy mess by this evening's commute.

This weather is brought to you by Zantac, eat your way, treat your way.

So here it starts, really starting in Kansas City this morning and then into Chicago. This pink area, that's all ice. Either sleet or freezing rain attaching itself to power lines and trees and your car. By tomorrow morning, it's in Detroit and even into Cleveland, some ice into Buffalo as well. Notice the continuation of all the way across the Northeast. Upstate New York and into New England by tomorrow night.

The timeline here does make things difficult for travel in and out of Chicago this afternoon, in and out of Detroit tomorrow morning and certainly through the Northeast or into really New England for the rest of the week.

There's the ice. There could be a half inch of ice all the way from Kansas City, right on through the northern parts of Missouri and into Chicago and Detroit and then the rain that you said, very heavy rainfall, five inches of rain somewhere around Louisville with the south side, the warm side of this storm.

John.

BERMAN: All right, that stinks. All right, Chad Myers, thank you very much for that.

MYERS: You're welcome.

BERMAN: Back by popular demand, your late night laughs.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TREVOR NOAH, HOST, "THE DAILY SHOW": Virginia's Democratic governor, Ralph Northam, admitted to being one of the people in this old yearbook photo, right, but he didn't say which person he was. And I don't blame him because neither option is good. Yes. It's like you're taking a trip and your only choices are the Titanic and Spirit Airlines, you know?

STEPHEN COLBERT, HOST, "THE LATE SHOW WITH STEPHEN COLBERT": Now when it comes to the State of the Union, just like prom, there's an official theme. This year's theme is, choosing greatness. Yes, we get a choice. The other options are selecting mediocrity, settling for racists or fish.

But according to the president, there's another underlying theme.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I really think it's going to be a speech that's going to cover a lot of territory, but part of it's going to be unity.

COLBERT: Yes, unity is so important. I want to unify everyone, from the heroes who want to keep our borders safe, to Nancy Pelosi, who wants to see the caravan murder you with a knife made of drugs. Group hug, everybody. Kumbaya my Lord.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[06:55:02] HARLOW: What's your over under on it being a Kumbaya evening?

BERMAN: I -- you know, look, he will try to do something that reaches across the aisle. Whether or not it lands or succeeds, that's a totally different story.

HARLOW: Or lasts -- or lasts.

BERMAN: That's the biggest question of all.

HARLOW: All right.

BERMAN: President Trump does deliver the State of the Union address tonight for the first time before a divided Congress. What will he say? We've got some new information about what's in the speech, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He has an opportunity to reset. The question is, will he instead throw down the gauntlet once again.

KELLYANNE CONWAY, WHITE HOUSE COUNSELOR TO THE PRESIDENT: He has the absolute right to declare a national emergency.

SEN. SUSAN COLLINS (R), MAINE: I am concerned. It's a dubious constitutionality.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Things are heating up. They want everything that this inauguration committee has.

GLORIA BORGER, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL ANALYST: What we don't know is where a lot of this money came from.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is another massive, serious headache for a president that has corrosion going on all around him.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We've called for the resignation. We have -- that's what the governor does.

[07:00:02] UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So many people, they've not seen a racist bone in his body. I can attest to that.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: To stay in office and to continue this pain

END