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Biden's Run in 2020; Pedestrian Deaths Surge; New 2020 Democratic Power Rankings Revealed; Aired 8:30-9a ET

Aired March 07, 2019 - 08:30   ET

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

[08:30:00] ABBY PHILLIP, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Longer than most people who still even want to bother running for president, which is his problem. I think for the Democratic primary right now, a couple of big issues are on the table. There's criminal justice reform. I would say also for Joe Biden in particular, the Me Too movement is going to be something he's going to have to grapple with. The Anita Hill hearings are things that he's already had to apologize for. And even his economic policies, his economic modernism is a bit of a problem in the Democratic primary in which what we're talking about here is Medicare for all, we're talking about going after the big banks, we're talking about a kind of progressive politics that's actually progressive populism in a lot of ways.

And so president -- or Vice President Joe Biden is going to have to answer for all of those things. But I do think that the fact that he's had -- he's not coming from 20 years ago out of the blue. He spent eight years in the Obama administration. And the Democratic Party still loves President Obama. They still think fondly of him. Many of them are critical of certain things. But I think Joe Biden will get a little bit of a pass because he's not just coming out of obscurity back into the political sphere.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: Josh, for what it's worth, we had one of our signature NEW DAY voter panels this week and we had six Democrats, some from Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey. Four of them said that they were hoping for a progressive, two of them said they were hoping for a moderate. Here's how many of them were hoping for Joe Biden to get into the race. Watch this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: How many of you would like to see Joe Biden get in? Show of hands.

What's happening with you all?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: His time is done.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'll be honest, I used to think like, you know, because I was -- I was riding like kind of an Obama wave and I thought he was the -- I thought he was the person that would unite the party. But, to be honest, you know, Senator Biden really comes from kind of the good old boys politics of the past.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: Just a little slice there.

JOSHUA GREEN, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Pretty brutal panel. And I mean I think that illustrates a lot of what Abby talked about and the fact that, you know, there are more choices this time around.

But I would say, you know, having been out on the ground talking to voters in Iowa, in New Hampshire, the one commonality among the voters I've talked to is, we want somebody who can beat President Trump. And polls have consistently showed that Biden matches up very well against Trump. So he could --

CAMEROTA: So you're seeing more enthusiasm? When you've been out with voters, you've seen more enthusiasm than those folks?

GREEN: I do see enthusiasm. And I also see a willingness to perhaps overlook things that might have been troublesome in the past, whether it's Biden's gaffes or some of his own positions. What Democratic voters out in the country want is somebody that can beat Trump. And I do think that that's Biden's greatest advantage if he can actually bring himself to get into the race.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Well, that's what I was going to say because, you know, Jonathan Martin there has Steve Ricchetti calling Democratic, you know, strategists and panels saying -- saying that Biden's 95 percent sure that he's going to run. You say, pay attention to the 5 percent.

GREEN: Yes, I think so. Look, Biden had originally said, we're going to have a decision by the end of 2018. Then it was by the end of January. I mean Ricchetti is doing the job that a political consultant has to do of keeping that lane open, keeping Biden's options open. But until he himself declares and says, I'm a presidential candidate, he's not a presidential candidate.

JONATHAN MARTIN, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Yes, there's no question, John, the -- in Democratic politics there is a school of thought that they're not going to believe Biden's in the race until they literally, to borrow a Joe Biden ism, see his signature on the filing papers. And then -- then they'll believe that he's in.

And, by the way, that's not just skeptics of Biden. That's Biden's admirers who say that.

So, yes, he had blown past these self-imposed deadlines. The current line of thinking is that we have remained solid in the polls, even after two months of other candidates getting in. There's no rush for us to move. And certainly not before the end of the first financial deadline, which is the end of March. So why not give ourselves a few more weeks and then if he does go it will be with a fresh, full quarter to raise money in, i.e., starting in April.

But that said, guys, that's also a way just to give Biden more time to figure this thing out. So don't be surprised if he pushes that deadline back as well.

CAMEROTA: Abby, in 2019, aren't we kind of past gaffes? I mean that -- those used to be --

BERMAN: We're in a post-gaffe world?

MARTIN: Good question.

CAMEROTA: Are we not in a post-gaffe world right now because so many different conventions have been broken over the past two years. Are gaffes one of them?

PHILLIP: Yes, you know, I think you're right. I mean it's hard to argue that a candidate is gaffe-prone when the man in the Oval Office almost every day says something that leaves people aghast.

GREEN: Exactly.

PHILLIP: Whether it is Republicans or Democrats. I mean I think that's pretty universal. So, in some ways, I think that we are past that. But, that being said, I think Democratic voters kind of want something -- you know, they're not trying to replicate Donald Trump in the person that they put in the Oval Office next.

[08:35:05] And so I do think the bar is a bit higher for Democratic candidate. And I think that this is going to be a tough race. It's going to be very difficult no matter who the nominee is. And the question for Biden is less about the gaffes and more about the discipline. Does he -- is he focused enough to kind of get through this race against a candidate who is scrappy, who operates through his gut and is going to be extremely difficult to defeat. I think if you're being honest about it, a lot of Democrats agree on that point. And it's not about whether or not he says the right thing all the time, it's just about whether or not he can really be laser-focused on what he needs to be laser-focused on to get all the way through to the end.

BERMAN: Josh, very quickly, speaking about the man who would be Joe Biden's opponent in the general election, President Trump, how's this for a 2020 platform -- immigration -- illegal immigration has spiked on the southern border, the trade deficit has exploded, and the -- and the deal with North Korea has fallen apart.

GREEN: You know, that's a pretty good set of circumstances for Democrats to run on. What Biden's got to do is convince himself to get into the race. And if you look at his strengths as a candidate, his popularity in the upper Midwest where Democrats think they have the best chance of winning back the electoral votes they need, Biden matches up pretty well. So all he's got to do is surmount that 5 percent and make it 100 percent, get himself in the race, and those are the things he'll hopefully be able to talk about.

BERMAN: Josh Green, Jonathan Martin, Abby Phillip, thank you very much.

MARTIN: Thank you. BERMAN: All right, so crossing the street has not been this dangerous in decades. This really is alarming.

CAMEROTA: Oh, my gosh.

BERMAN: What is behind the increase in pedestrian deaths? That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:40:36] BERMAN: An alarming new study shows that pedestrian deaths have surged, the highest level in decades. The report blames distracted driving and also bigger vehicles.

CNN's Elizabeth Cohen joins us now with the details.

These numbers really are troubling, Elizabeth.

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: They really are troubling, especially, John, consider -- and this is a good thing -- motor vehicle deaths in general are going down. But pedestrian deaths are going way up.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

COHEN (voice over): Kaitlin Hunt and her baby, Riley (ph), their lives taken in an instant here at this intersection in Woodstock, Georgia, a year and a half ago. Kaitlin's husband lost his wife and baby that day. Kaitlin's parents, Kathy and Greg Vandiver, set up this roadside memorial.

COHEN (on camera): You were with Kaitlin that day?

KATHY VANDIVER: Yes.

GREG VANDIVER: We were.

K. VANDIVER: Kaitlin was holding Riley. So they were a few steps behind us. We just heard -- like an explosion. And we didn't know what that was until we turned around and still couldn't really figure out what it was. And then I looked down and Riley was right on the ground.

COHEN (voice over): An SUV had struck Kaitlin, baby Riley, and Kathy Demming (ph), a family friend.

COHEN (on camera): So you gave CPR to your granddaughter?

K. VANDIVER: Uh-huh.

COHEN (voice over): But it was too late. All three died. The driver is facing multiple charges, including distracted driving. Police say she was putting her cell phone away at the time of the crash. She has pled not guilty.

Walking is getting riskier. Fortunately, none of these pedestrians died. But according to this new report from the Governor's Highway Safety Association, 2018 is projected to have the highest numbers of pedestrian deaths since 1990.

Why? The number of Americans out walking has increased. Also, distracted driving.

This Ohio driver was convicted in 2017 of killing two teens who were walking on the side of the road. She was convicted of involuntary manslaughter and deleting texts from her phone sent immediately before the crash.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The death of my daughter is a nightmare I will never wake up from.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I know you guys can't forgive me now. I can't forgive myself.

COHEN: And there are more SUVs on the road. Pedestrians struck by a large SUV are twice as likely to die as those struck by a car.

In Philadelphia, a little girl was pinned under this SUV. She survived.

Kaitlin's parents are left to mourn their daughter.

K. VANDIVER: She wanted to make a difference. She had finished college. She was in the Coast Guard.

COHEN: And their grand baby.

K. VANDIVER: Riley was just learning to really make eye contact and smile. And I really think she was -- she recognized me. Who knows what she could have been?

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COHEN: In their grief, the family has a message, when you have driving, there is nothing important except driving. That second that you take your eyes off the road is the second when someone could walk in your path.

John. Alisyn.

BERMAN: It's that simple.

CAMEROTA: This is a warning for all of. I mean when we're walking and when we're driving.

Elizabeth, thank you very much.

COHEN: Thanks.

CAMEROTA: All right, now, here's what else to watch today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ON SCREEN TEXT: 1:45 p.m. ET, President Trump meets Czech prime minister. 3:30 p.m. ET, Paul Manafort sentenced in Virginia.

7:30 p.m. ET, Senator Bernie Sanders rally in Iowa.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: Really is some of the best music ever. I have a play list that loops it.

CAMEROTA: You're getting more and more fond of it. Good, that's what you need.

BERMAN: All right, a big name Democrat surging, another slipping. Brand new power rankings for 2020, that's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:48:33] BERMAN: Joe Biden is 95 percent certain to run for president. That's according to new reporting in "The New York Times." Where does he fit into the Democratic field today?

CNN's Chris Cillizza and Harry Enten just released their latest power rankings. One-half of that dynamic duo -- the good-looking half -- joins us now.

HARRY ENTEN, CNN SENIOR POLITICS WRITER AND ANALYST: Yes.

BERMAN: CNN's senior politics writer and analyst Harry "Flash" Enten is here with the power rankings.

CAMEROTA: The unhinged half.

ENTEN: You know, I was going to model for Calvin Klein, but I decided to be with you two instead. Isn't that nice?

CAMEROTA: Oh, thank you. Wow.

ENTEN: Yes.

So let's -- we'll start with six through ten. Joe Biden's not on that. I think the biggest movers here, and we'll get to Elizabeth Warren coming down three spot, she is one of the bigger movers. Sherrod Brown also one of the bigger movers. I would really say that there's kind of like a line here whereby I would group six and eight -- six through eight together and then nine through ten. I don't think that these two are really in the same class at this particular point, or tier at this point as these three are.

BERMAN: And that's based on the polling that you've seen, based on the endorsements, based on the activist support?

ENTEN: Right. That's exactly right. We're looking at a slew of different factors. And while it's not necessarily a statistical model, all of these different factors are being taken into account in our rankings. I mean like Kirsten Gillibrand is really nowhere in the polls. Julian Castro is really nowhere in the polls. A lot of people aren't really searching their names on Google and they haven't really pulled in a lot of endorsements.

CAMEROTA: OK. So show us the top five.

ENTEN: So let's look at the top five, one through five, and this is where we see some big movement going on here. And this one in particular, which we'll be talking about.

[08:50:01] Bernie Sanders has seen a lot of movement going up. Amy Klobuchar is also a little bit up. We've seen her poll numbers actually rise a little bit despite some of those negative reports on how she treats her staff.

But really the top two right here are pretty stable with Kamala Harris and Joe Biden. If I were making groupings here, I would really probably group one through four together and then probably five would be in -- a little bit lower down.

BERMAN: And, of course, I imagine this would change substantially if Biden or Beto O'Rourke got in?

ENTEN: Correct. I mean we would probably see Beto and/or Biden go up. Of course, 95 percent, things, while they tend to happen most frequently, I don't know what the margin of error is around that. Talking about statistical models. I don't really know if there's a statistical model that's Joe Biden specific. Joe Biden is his own man. We'll see what happens. But until he gets in, I'm not saying he's in.

CAMEROTA: And what is it about Kamala Harris. She gets a lot of attention. She gets a lot of buzz. And so why is she your number one in the power rankings?

ENTEN: She's moved up in the polls. She's had very good Google trends, which we'll see in a moment. Activist support. Seth Masket (ph), who's a political scientist, has asked people in the early states, these activists, who they might consider supporting, and she's very high up on those lists.

BERMAN: All right, funds. There's been some impressive fundraising hauls for some of these candidates who jumped in.

ENTEN: Yes, so this -- let's look at the story of why is Bernie Sanders up and Elizabeth Warren down. And, look, Bernie Sanders has just raised a ton of money. My goodness gracious, how much Popeye's could I eat if I was able to raise as much money as he did?

CAMEROTA: Almost as much as you do now.

ENTEN: Perhaps so. Maybe I could bring in a little Bo Jangles. He raised $5.9 million in his first 24 hours and $10 million in his first six days. He was the only candidate so far to report raising more than $1.5 million in his first 24.

Now, these are self-reports. We'll see what the FEC actually reports when it happens.

But, look, money is certainly correlated with future success. You need money to run a successful campaign, especially in a field that is going to have more than a dozen people running in it, to be able to outlast those other candidates.

First is Elizabeth Warren, who wants to run sort of a people power campaign. A lot of small donations. She hasn't reported. And if you look at sort of the -- you know, the reports that are coming in, they say, you know, you should really keep your expectations down. She might not raise a lot of money and has --

BERMAN: When they start telling you to keep your expectations down, it's for a reason.

Let me ask you about Google, because Google search trends actually -- it's been really interesting this campaign.

ENTEN: Yes, it's been really interesting. You know, one of the first signs that Kamala Harris was going to go up in the polls was her Google search trends on the day that she announced, the day that she launched her campaign. And if you look at the different Google searches on the day that they announced her campaign and compared all of them, she is number one. Bernie Sanders, who has run before -- so people aren't looking him up to learn more about him, they're just really interesting in this campaign. He has been really high up at number two. Cory Booker, who, you know, we have up in the rankings, although not number one, is also pretty popular. But Elizabeth Warren, all the way down at number five. And, again, if you're running a people-powered campaign, you want people searching your name so they can give you money. And she's right now in the middle of the pack.

CAMEROTA: All right, so tell us about New Hampshire, how people are doing there.

ENTEN: Yes. So, look, if there's one state that I think is very pivotal to the Elizabeth Warren campaign, as well as Bernie Sanders' campaign, where he won last time around, it is the state of New Hampshire. They're both from right next door, right? Bernie Sanders being from Vermont. Elizabeth Warren being from Massachusetts.

And we saw last year that Elizabeth Warren was generally running in third place, an average of 14 percent in the polls last year. Look at that green marker, it drops off right there. And then Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders were one and two. But look what happened now. In an average of polls in February of 2019, Biden and Sanders are still one and two, basically keeping their support. But Elizabeth Warren has dropped -- her support has dropped by nearly in half. And this is something we've seen over and over again. The people who know Elizabeth Warren best, whether it be in New Hampshire or Massachusetts, her poll numbers have not been impressive. She's been generally running third or fourth to Biden and Sanders.

BERMAN: All right, I know this is a number you care deeply about, which is the "care" number, which is, do these candidates care about people like you?

ENTEN: Yes. So this is something we wanted to hit on yesterday but unfortunately we ran a little bit out of time. This is more in the general election. And this, to me, is a key number about why I think I'm more pessimistic than most about Donald Trump's re-election bid. If you asked people, do you care or understand the problems of the average American, only 41 percent average this have said that they care -- that Donald Trump cares about the problems or cares about the average American. And if you look back over time, this number has tended to be pretty predictive of the final result. George H.W. Bush, remember, he had all those problems even though it was really a made up kind of story with the, you know --

BERMAN: A supermarket --

ENTEN: Paying (ph) a supermarket, the whole thing. He was only running at 40 percent. And look at the rest of these three who have been re- elected since 1992. They were running at 50 percent or better and the re-election margin, which was the smallest was Bush, second largest was Obama, third largest was Clinton. Bill Clinton could feel your pain. And this was something that helped him during the Monica Lewinsky scandal, as well as helping him to be re-elected in 1996.

CAMEROTA: Those are really interesting. Do you want to just -- do you have five seconds for Daylight Saving Time?

ENTEN: Yes.

CAMEROTA: Just, quickly, five seconds.

ENTEN: Five -- I can't speak in five seconds.

CAMEROTA: I know.

ENTEN: Daylight Saving Time is coming up this weekend. And we're springing forward. And I hate it because, you know, we wake up at an early hour, right, you two especially. But most people surprisingly don't say that it's a big deal to them. It doesn't really cause a disruption in their schedule. Maybe they like that extra daylight at the end of the day. I personally think they're all crazy.

[08:55:14] But here to me is a more interesting thing. John Berman, who once did a segment on this on the air, is it Daylight Saving Time or Daylight Savings Time? I honestly thought it was this.

BERMAN: Yes.

ENTEN: But it turns out it's actually this.

BERMAN: Yes.

CAMEROTA: It's a shocker.

BERMAN: It is.

CAMEROTA: That's a shocker.

BERMAN: The real issue there is that there are people out there, these crazy word fascists who insist on saying it like this when if you're going to use the s, it really doesn't matter. We're out of time, Harry.

CAMEROTA: Wow. But I do feel you -- your position has come through loud and clear.

BERMAN: Thank you. Yes.

CAMEROTA: Thank you, Harry.

ENTEN: Well, I'm staying away from you.

BERMAN: "The Good Stuff" is next.

CAMEROTA: "The Good Stuff," next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CAMEROTA: OK, time now for "The Good Stuff."

These teenagers in Boonton, New Jersey, used their snow day this week to wake up early and shovel Natalie Blair's driveway so she could make it to her dialysis appointment. Natalie says she is beyond grateful.

BERMAN: Good for them. That is the best thing ever. And something, you know what, kids everywhere can do that when it snows.

CAMEROTA: Kids everywhere should learn from New Jersey teenagers. Never has that been said on national television.

[09:00:04] BERMAN: Never -- my kids ran across the street and they did shovel out a walkway for our neighbors.

CAMEROTA: That's so nice.

BERMAN: They got paid for it, though.

END