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U.K. Parliament Suspended; Gillibrand Drops out of Race; Georgia Senate Seats up for Grabs; St. Louis Residents Demand Action; Fried Chicken Frenzy at Popeyes. Aired 6:30-7a ET
Aired August 29, 2019 - 06:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[06:30:00] MAX FOSTER, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT: Parliament by reducing the amount of time they have to block this. So he's reducing the amount of time parliament is open next month. That's seen by many as undemocratic, particularly amongst the opposition parties.
Just listen to Nicola Sturgeon, who is first minister of Scotland.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NICOLA STURGEON, SCOTLAND'S FIRST MINISTER: Shutting down parliament in order to force through a no deal Brexit, which will do untold and lasting damage to the country, against the wishes of MPs, is not democracy. It's dictatorship. And if MPs don't come together next week to stop Boris Johnson in his tracks, then I think today will go down in history as the U.K. democracy died.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FOSTER: Now, Boris Johnson's side, I spoke to a few of them yesterday, they very much argue that that isn't the case. That if he really wanted to undermine democracy, then he would have suspended parliament until after Brexit to November, for example.
JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Limit those who want to block Brexit. Limit their options, Max. What options do they have left?
FOSTER: Well, they were absolutely called out yesterday and they are scrambling today. So Gina Miller, who's a prominent anti-Brexit campaigner, she's launched a legal action hoping that she can get an injunction against the government in the courts. Separately, the opposition parties are organizing an emergency debate for next week. Effectively it means they have a week to organize some sort of alternative plan which they're really up against. And Boris Johnson knows that. He's definitely put them on the front for (INAUDIBLE).
ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: Max, the royal family has made a point of attempting to stay out of politics. Why did the queen get involved in this yesterday?
FOSTER: Well, she has to respond to the prime minister. She's currently on holiday up in Scotland. And the prime minister very quietly sent up a few of his team up to Scotland, privy council members, and they basically got agreement from the queen to suspend parliament. She has to react on that. But he kept it very, very quiet and we didn't know anything about it until it was announced. So opposition party members said they wanted to appeal to the queen, but it was all too late. She doesn't like being dragged into these situations. It's getting increasingly difficult for her to avoid the politics. So she is in a difficult position. And that's a big problem, actually, here in London, which many people saying the prime minister has put the queen in a difficult position, which you really don't want to do.
CAMEROTA: All right, Max, thank you very much for explaining all of this to us.
I see your knowing glare over at me. I see what you're saying.
BERMAN: Well, look, I mean -- and, again, I'm contractually obligating never to criticize the royal family. But I will say, she's obligated to do what the prime minister asks, right?
CAMEROTA: And is doing so.
BERMAN: Right. But people are looking at her and saying she's in a tough position. Well, what's the alternative? If she were to say no to the prime minister, then she would be ruling, which would call the bluff in this whole idea of the royal family. Then, in fact, she would be a dictator or a monarch.
CAMEROTA: Yes, it's a pickle.
BERMAN: Yes.
CAMEROTA: It's a real political pickle.
All right, meanwhile, another Democratic candidate drops out of the presidential race. So now it's down to a measly 20 candidates. What happens next? We discuss.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[06:37:04] CAMEROTA: Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, the latest Democrat to leave the presidential race after failing to make the debate stage next month. So what does this mean for the other candidates and the future of the race? By that I mean the presidential race not --
BERMAN: Not the human race?
CAMEROTA: Not the human race.
JOHN AVLON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Thank you for clarifying that.
CAMEROTA: Back with us is Frank Bruni, Sarah Isgur, and John Avlon.
John, is this a harbinger of something? I mean the fact that Kirsten Gillibrand was one of the first to go of this crowded field, what do you make of it?
AVLON: Gillibrand-mentum never happened, but its spirit lives on.
Now, I -- I think that, look, this was a candidacy that never really took off. It was on her, I think, YOLO to do list. It didn't --
CAMEROTA: But just on that note for one second --
AVLON: And lots of people run for president simply because it's something they want to cross off a list apparently.
CAMEROTA: OK. But, I mean, her -- I think that her issue or the market that she wanted to corner was women's issues --
AVLON: Yes.
CAMEROTA: And the Me Too moment. And I guess those just didn't catch fire.
AVLON: I wouldn't -- I wouldn't blame it on the moment or the -- as much as perhaps the messenger. I do think there was a bit of blowback she faced within the party for the decisive role she played in forcing Al Franken out. I think that looks a little bit different in retrospect than it did at the -- at the heat of the moment. But I don't think that can account for her candidacy.
Look, she definitely tried to frame everything through not only women's issues but mom's issues. And that's an issue that should be relatable, but just didn't quite connect.
But this is a very broad field. She didn't have a totally distinct lane. There are a lot of senators running, a lot of very -- you know, Kamala Harris and Amy Klobuchar and other folks who are going to be on the debate stage. I don't think she will be particularly missed because she never particularly caught fire.
BERMAN: I will note two things. One -- sorry, Frank, I didn't mean to interrupt, but I think she thought she could win. I mean Gillibrand --
FRANK BRUNI, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Sure.
BERMAN: And John Hickenlooper are two candidates who got in the race thinking they had a chance to win.
BRUNI: Sure.
BERMAN: Unlike some others there. So I think their departure is significant.
I have another thought, but I didn't mean to cut you off.
BRUNI: No, it's just -- I think there is a larger lesson in her exit from the race, which is, when you put one issue -- you mentioned Me Too in that. When you put one issue very far in the foreground, you risk coming across as a one-issue candidate. And look at somebody else who dropped out, Jay Inslee. He said my entire candidacy is about climate change. She didn't always say this, but she gave the impression, my candidacy is founded on, grounded in, you know, Me Too women's issues. And those are important things that matter to voters. But I think voters understand, they want in their politician, in their presidential candidates a much kind of more diverse and broader pallet of issues.
BERMAN: Sarah, there are 20 candidates left at this point, I think. It could be 21. I forget every once in a while.
CAMEROTA: Math is not his strength.
SARAH ISGUR, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Are you running?
BERMAN: But the point -- but the point is -- but the point is, with Gillibrand out, are we going to be down to ten effectively? Is it just going to be the candidates on the debate stage? Is there every reason to think we're going to get more announcements in the next several days?
ISGUR: Yes. And whether we get more announcements or not, we're down to ten. There may be one or two more candidates that actually can qualify for the October debate, as we've seen. The October debate rules will be the same as the September debate but just give you another month to qualify.
But, even so, I think this will look like the debate stage. And it would be smart for other candidates to drop out at this point.
[06:40:05] What I think we saw with Senator Gillibrand is the downside of running for president. It doesn't always help you. And I think she came off poorly in this race. I agree with Frank entirely that a one- issue campaign usually doesn't work very well.
But I think in particular with this, it came off as a caricature. There are other women running for president who were able to talk about all of the issues. But for Senator Gillibrand, it sounded like a caricature of a female candidate, like she was pandering. Democrats are up with women by 30 points and none of them were that interested in Senator Gillibrand. So I think that should speak to the moment. They're ready for a female candidate, they want a female nominee, but they want a female nominee who's just running for president, not a female nominee.
CAMEROTA: John, I'm just curious, for the other 10 candidates who are not going to make the stage, the debate stage --
AVLON: Yes.
CAMEROTA: Are they running for vice president? Are they running for cabinet positions? I mean what is their play now?
AVLON: Look, I don't -- I don't think you stay in a race simply to run for vice president. You need to show some momentum. But I think there's also another question about whether they -- they're staying in the race adds something that the Democrats don't currently have. We've talked about this before, but the fact that there are currently -- there's only one governor left running for president is a big deal. You want folks who can run in red states and win swing states and so that's why I think Bullock should stay in despite the fact he hasn't -- because he's got his own lane.
CAMEROTA: Yes, I hear you, but to what end?
AVLON: Because I -- because he still has his own lane and I think he could make that -- the debate stage. Tom Steyer is going to stay in because he's got all the money in the world, apparently.
BERMAN: He can buy his own lane.
AVLON: Yes, he can buy his own lane.
BRUNI: Bullock is staying in for another reason, I think. Bullock is staying in for the same reason that Bennet is staying in, that Tim Ryan is staying in, which is, while you've got two progressives, Bernie and Elizabeth, doing very well, Joe Biden, there's a sense --
AVLON: Yes.
BRUNI: Will he go the distance? Will he falter? And there are people who want to be the moderate alternative should Biden falter.
AVLON: Yes.
BRUNI: The question is, can they stay in long enough that if that falter happens, they're still around?
BERMAN: So with all due respect to Senator Gillibrand, an even bigger development yesterday may have been the announced retirement of Georgia Senator Johnny Isakson, stepping down at the end of the year for health reasons. And this means there will be two open Senate seats in Georgia, which is getting swingier in 2020, Sarah. So as a Republican looking at this, and we know that one or two Senate seats could tip the balance of power depending on how the numbers shake out, how concerned should Republicans be that control of the Senate is in jeopardy?
ISGUR: This is a big test for both parties. And we also have a race in Texas as well. There are two open seats. You can't really blame this on candidates at this point because you're going to have two options. Can the parties, you know, work this out in Georgia? And I think that there will be a ton of money spent in Georgia. A lot of that -- this will, in a lot of ways, be its own presidential race in Georgia now.
I think it's a huge deal for Texas and Georgia to show whether they are, in fact, turning purple. I think all indications are that they haven't been up until now. Texas in particular, tons of money. Every two years someone says it's turning purple and the Republican wins by sometimes double digits. But with Trump on the ticket, and two open seats in Georgia, ooof (ph), I think that that's going to cost both parties a lot.
AVLON: Yes, but let's just -- reality check Georgia for a second. Obviously it's in the deep south. There hasn't been -- folks haven't been able to flip it. But Donald Trump's approval rating in Georgia is 40 percent, 56 percent disapprove. That's stunning for a state in the south. The question will be, does Stacey Abrams, who said again yesterday
she's not getting in, can she be persuaded? Because that, I think, changes the dynamic on the ground for the presidential, as well as those critical Senate seats. And if Democrats don't win the Senate, but they win the presidency, it could be pyric (ph) victory for them in terms of the changes they want to make.
BERMAN: But if they can't win either open seat in Georgia --
AVLON: It's a problem.
BERMAN: It shows that maybe -- maybe, you know, the purple notion of Georgia isn't as true as people think it might be. But we don't know yet.
Frank, Sarah, John, thank you.
All right, so it had people waiting in line for hours and then it sold out. So is Popeyes chicken sandwich craze, is it a true phenomenon or savvy marketing or option "c," something we haven't even thought about? All right, NEW DAY's senior chicken expert Harry Enten joins us to break down the numbers.
CAMEROTA: I hope he's bringing some research.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[06:48:25] CAMEROTA: There was a heated town hall meeting in St. Louis with community members demanding action on the epidemic of gun violence. At least 12 children have been shot and killed in that city this summer.
CNN's Ryan Young is live in St. Louis with more.
So what happened last night, Ryan?
RYAN YOUNG, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: As you'd imagine, people were very upset. You're talking about 12 kids killed since April. And you can understand why people are very upset. We talked to several families that are asking for answers.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We need to be talking about what's going on. Let's take our city back!
YOUNG (voice over): During a community town hall in downtown St. Louis, passion and outrage against the gun violence epidemic.
(CROSS TALK)
REP. WILLIAM LACY CLAY (D-MO): Our nation and this community have reached a tipping point. Gun violence is a public health emergency. It's an emergency.
YOUNG: Losses beyond reason when children are running from bullets. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He would always make me feel safe.
YOUNG: Two sisters and a friend, too young to be saying this.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I miss his laugh. I miss his voice.
YOUNG: They were all playing with seven-year-old Xavier Usanga in their backyard when gunfire broke out down the block. A bullet hit Xavier in the throat.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I've been mad and sad sometimes.
YOUNG: Dawn Usanga could only watch as violence in the neighborhood took another child, hers.
DAWN USANGA, XAVIER'S MOTHER: Everybody says it's time for a change. You know what, it's really time for a change. We're killing more kids than we can keep count of.
YOUNG: That message repeated by at least a dozen families in St. Louis. That's how many kids have been killed here just since April. The youngest, only two. The pain, hard to watch.
[06:50:08] UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The happy memories that we had ain't even enough. It's just --
YOUNG: These families told us they want the nation to feel their pain. If the photos aren't enough, listen to this man, a bystander. He tried to save eight-year-old Jurnee Thompson.
MARK VASQUEZ, WITNESS: She was unresponsive. I tried to find the bullet wound. Found it in her abdomen. You could see the life leaving her.
YOUNG: Jurnee was hit when shots rang out outside a high school football game.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Jurnee was a lover, a protector, a fighter.
YOUNG: Her father says Jurnee wanted to be a police officer. She was always the protector.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Things will not just be the same anymore. My house is dry (ph).
(END VIDEOTAPE)
YOUNG: John, I don't know if you can imagine this, but we were talking to several of these families. They have other kids in the household and now they are personally touched by all that is going on. And a lot of these murderers haven't been caught yet. You had community leaders saying, look, there's an urban decay that's going on in the city that has to stop somehow. But so far there are no short solutions to this long-term problem.
John. BERMAN: Ryan, thank you so much for telling us the names and showing us the faces, because these aren't just numbers, these are lives. They're husbands and wives and sisters and brothers and children.
YOUNG: Sure (ph).
BERMAN: Children being killed there. And it's important to know about them. Thank you so much.
CAMEROTA: That was so effective and so affecting, Ryan's piece there. And including the sort of collateral damage of even people who try to save their lives and people who witnessed it and how they themselves will be traumatized for so long. And one last thing, you know, if cities can sue opioid manufacturers for an epidemic, why can't they sue gun manufacturers for the epidemic of gun violence?
BERMAN: All right, we're keeping a close eye on Hurricane Dorian. We're getting some new information and new data. This forecast has it straight to Florida. What you need to be doing if you live there this morning. That's straight ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[06:56:20] BERMAN: So this is big. Popeyes is saying if you were too chicken to wait an hour to get its popular sandwich, its chicken sandwich, you're too late. It's sold out. Some fans very upset after the company released this highly produced video about their fried chicken sandwich shortage.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When you get like 5 million people, 5 million people on social media talking about this sandwich is good --
ON SCREEN TEXT: So thankful!
But --
We're sold out.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What? No.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're sold out of chicken sandwiches. We sold out in four hours.
ON SCREEN TEXT: You ate 'em all.
They'll be back soon.
For. Good.
Pinky swear.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BERMAN: To be clear, the chicken place is sold out of chicken sandwiches.
CAMEROTA: I got that. I got that. Chicken too little.
BERMAN: Which is sketchy, all right?
Joining us now are chicken expert, senior chicken correspondent Harry Enten.
HARRY ENTEN, CNN SENIOR POLITICS WRITER AND ANALYST: Love that chicken at Popeyes. Oh, yes.
So let's just set the stage here. You know, I want to venture -- I just want to prove my Popeyes bonafides. Here's me and the spicy chicken. Here's me and, of course, CNN's Josh Campbell. Laura Vigalante (ph), sorry, I couldn't get you in the photo, but you're a beautiful person inside and out.
Look, I had the Popeyes chicken sandwich one time. Gave it A-plus. It's for real, folks, for real.
CAMEROTA: Now you're really proving that you like chicken sandwiches here.
ENTEN: I love chicken. I tried to get it again. Visited four locations. All were sold out. Four.
BERMAN: Four locations?
ENTEN: Four locations. All --
CAMEROTA: And were they all sold out?
ENTEN: They were all sold out. Put that emphasis on there. You know, and my question, of course, is, that video had over 4 million views, was it all a marketing ploy? I don't know.
You know, the one thing I'll point out is, maybe Popeyes is trying to get up into that KFC territory. Number of restaurants worldwide. Popeyes does lead Chick-fil-A but KFC is the worldwide leader.
CAMEROTA: OK, so you're suggesting this could all be a scam. They're not really sold out of chicken sandwiches. It's a marketing ploy to make people more hungry --
ENTEN: I am not suggesting it. I'm suggesting my stomach, which loved that Popeyes chicken.
BERMAN: What does the data tell you?
ENTEN: I mean, look, I would just point this out. Here's another little nugget for you.
CAMEROTA: (INAUDIBLE).
ENTEN: Popularity -- popularity ratings, Popeyes was down at the bottom there, 57 percent. These are all grouped up. Maybe Popeyes is trying to get up there a little bit more.
CAMEROTA: Uh-huh.
BERMAN: All right. And this is serious stuff.
ENTEN: Serious.
BERMAN: And I don't want to divert you from this.
ENTEN: I know.
CAMEROTA: But we do have a kicker.
BERMAN: But there's a -- yes. Something actually unusual happened in the world of polling yesterday, which is a pollster basically said, not we screwed up but explained why one thing was different from the other.
ENTEN: Yes, essentially Monmouth University's Patrick Murray, and we talked about him, I give him A-plus all the way around, FiveThirtyEight's pollster rating, basically said, look, we released an outlier poll and, in the end, we must put our numbers that we have out there.
And I agree with him. I -- you know, just to give you a little bit of context here. Of course, this was the big number. Biden was down at 19 percent in a horse race versus all the other polls that were done recently that basically had Biden up here near 30 percent. And, to me, it's an important thing to put those outliers out there because, you know what, good pollsters have outliers because the margin of error just covers 19 of 20 cases and it turns out that sometimes the outliers are actually the correct numbers. And more than that, they make the averages better.
CAMEROTA: That's interesting, Harry. So you agree with him that even when there's a really weird number that they come up with, they should still publicize it?
ENTEN: Absolutely, 100 percent, that shows that they're running an honest shop.
BERMAN: And people just need to understand what the margin of error means and what the sample size is and all those things. And people like you, Harry, tell us.
ENTEN: That's my job.
CAMEROTA: Senior chicken correspondent, Harry Enten --
ENTEN: And polling.
CAMEROTA: Thank you very much.
ENTEN: Thank you.
BERMAN: Something's going to happen. CAMEROTA: No, it's not. You're going to read this.
BERMAN: All right, Hurricane Dorian is posing a major threat to the entire state of Florida. NEW DAY continues right now.
CAMEROTA: Well done.
ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.
[07:00:00] BERMAN: Welcome to our viewers in the United States and all around the world. This is NEW DAY.
And we begin with breaking news on Hurricane Dorian. This storm is getting stronger.
END
