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New Day

New Year Brings Shift in Washington; Senate Control Hangs in Balance; Inauguration Different Due to the Pandemic; Possible Economic Recovery in 2021; Biden's Plan for Climate Crisis. Aired 6:30-7a ET

Aired January 01, 2021 - 06:30   ET

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

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[06:30:39]

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back to this special New Year's edition of NEW DAY.

We have a lot to get to this half hour, including will the U.S. economy recover in this new year?

Christine Romans tells us what to watch for as the pandemic continues to grip the United States.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: And President-elect Joe Biden preparing to confront several massive crises when he takes office in just 19 days.

But first, let's get a check of your headlines at the news desk.

ALISON KOSIK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning and Happy New Year. I'm Alison Kosik in New York.

The world looking forward to a brighter 2021 and bidding a not so fond farewell to 2020. In Times Square, the traditional ball drop came with a big difference. Police strongly urged people to stay away. So instead of wall-to-wall revelers, crowds were thin and socially distanced.

The crowds in Wuhan, China, had special reason to celebrate the arrival of 2021. The central Chinese city was ground zero for the start of the coronavirus pandemic that killed thousands and forced the city into a tight three-months lockdown.

Now let's head back to John Berman and Alisyn Camerota.

So in just 19 days, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris will be sworn in as president and vice president of the United States. How will they change things when they take office? Which party will control the U.S. Senate? Just some of the questions that they will face.

Joining us now, CNN chief political correspondent Dana Bash and CNN's senior political reporter Nia-Malika Henderson. Dana, let's start with you. What really is just like the biggest

question that we barely have had a chance to focus on over the last several weeks. What changes January 20th? It's always such a big deal when there's a shift of power, a shift of party in the White House. What do you think is the first biggest difference that we'll see?

DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: You know, it's funny. Generally, we're talking about issues and policy precipitations and things that matter a lot to the American people. And those will be big. From economic precipitations that the Biden administration will push forward, to try to help the economy, to, obviously, trying to keep pushing the vaccine and doing away with this pandemic.

But I actually think the biggest thing is going to be tone because you cannot -- and we saw this for the past, you know, year or so, maybe a little bit less during the campaign between Joe Biden and Donald Trump, you can't think of two different human beings. And that's a big part of why Joe Biden won because people don't want to pay attention to their president as much as they felt like they had to with Donald Trump and they're likely going to get that with the silence of Joe Biden's Twitter feed, with the likely mundane, you know, situation going on in the White House. And that will likely be very welcome for people in 2021.

CAMEROTA: Mundane has never sounded so good. I know exactly what you're talking about, Dana.

So, Nia-Malika, if the Democrats don't win these Georgia Senate runoffs, then will Biden's agenda just be sort of blocked at every turn?

NIA-MALIKA HENDERSON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL REPORTER: That's the big question, will this be essentially another Obama term with Mitch McConnell being the master of doom and the master of "no." That -- it was his posture during most of those eight years when it came to President Obama.

Joe Biden, he campaigned on saying that he had that good relationship with Republicans, that he could work across the aisle. Some Democrats didn't like that he campaigned in that way. But, obviously, the vast majority of Americans who voted in that election, 7 million, thought that was a good idea. So we're going to see, we're going to put that to the test whether or not Joe Biden's friendship with Mitch McConnell makes a difference, if, in fact, he goes into the White House without a Senate majority.

Either way, even if Democrats do win those two Senate seats in Georgia, and that's a race that's coming up in the next couple of days, we'll know, even if they win, it's still going to be a slim majority. You would have Vice President Harris breaking a tie.

[06:35:00]

So either way, if you're progressive and you think there's going to be some big ticket items that come out of this administration, this is going to be a centrist approach to policy and policy making with compromise at the heart of whatever Joe Biden does.

BASH: You know, with the Trump era, I said I was out of the predictions business, but I'm going to make an exception and say that we've understandably been focused on the Senate because there is a runoff -- two runoffs. We don't know who's going to be in charge. And the Senate always, when it's razor-thin, is a big deal.

But I actually think the story is going to be much more in the House than anybody anticipated going into Election Day because, as Nia said, the Democrats' majority has gotten so much smaller, and, therefore, Nancy Pelosi and other Democratic leaders have very, very little wiggle room in how they can, you know, usually, you know, you both -- you all know this, you -- in general, the rules are such in the House that you can pass a ham sandwich if you want to, if you're in the majority.

I'm not so sure that's going to be the case because not just of the fact that it's a slim majority, but because of the nature of the new Democratic caucus. So many more progressive who beat longtime Democratic incumbents and those who are not going to take compromise for an answer.

BERMAN: That's a great point. We just don't know what it's going to look like. Nancy Pelosi, in theory, you know, these are her last two years in House leadership as speaker.

HENDERSON: In theory.

BERMAN: In theory. You know, she once promised that she would -- she would get out after this term, but we'll see what happens there. We'll see how she handles it.

So, look, we already know that this inauguration, 19 days from now, will be vastly different. Yes, Joe Biden will be sworn in at the Capitol outdoors, but no balls, no, you know, none of the inaugural balls, none of the really big outdoor parades, none of the events that we've come to expect over the years.

And I wonder, Nia, what impact you think that will have in terms of Democrats' ability to celebrate the moment. Do you think that it will feel less than?

HENDERSON: Well, what's interesting is I think much of the celebration you're going to see from Democrats came when Wolf Blitzer said that President-elect Biden was the result of this election. And you saw people all over the country pour out into the street, banging pots and pans, dancing and all sorts of things because of the sense of relief, the sense of joy that many Americans had with that news from Wolf Blitzer about the outcome of this election. So that will be that.

And, listen, whatever the inauguration looks like, it will -- it will look different. And our lives have looked different all this past year of 2020. So in some ways I think Americans are used to that -- used to that. They're thinking about their safety. They're thinking about their parents and grandparents' safety, their kids' safety. So that means that the kind of crowds that we're used to in celebrations just won't happen.

We'll see what they do. I mean we saw what happened with the DNC. It was virtual. It was kind of creative. It looked more like, you know, kind of things we see on social media and TikTok and those sorts of things. So, listen, this is a new era and Democrats in the country are, I think, getting used to it.

CAMEROTA: Dana, I don't know if there's any way to sum up all of the political stories from 2020, to recap the year that has just been, that many refer to as sort of their worst year ever for a host of different reasons. So what stood out to you politically?

BASH: You know, I'm going to go against the grain here and say that as -- as tumultuous as it was on the science front, on the, you know, economic front, which is the basics of society, kids not in school, people losing their jobs, all of those horrible, horrible things that defined and will always define 2020. On the politics front, what stands out to me is how stable it was because from -- from the -- pretty much from the beginning of what was effectively the general election campaign, Joe Biden was up. And it didn't change. And, you know, that was related to the pandemic in a big way, but there were other reasons for it. And we didn't have the surprise that many expected because it's 2020 and it's Donald Trump and you always have surprises. So, politically speaking, 2020 and, frankly, the whole 2020 campaign ended the way we expected it, which in itself is unexpected.

BERMAN: I have to say, people forget, Joe Biden was in fifth place in the Democratic race, fourth or fifth place. And then, three days later, he was the nominee. And I still don't know that the history has been written in a fulfilling way about that, about exactly how it happened. I'm waiting. I'm waiting. The pandemic kind of swallowed it all up.

[06:40:00]

But there's so much interesting that happened over the last year, reported on by the both of you so well.

Dana and Nia, thanks so much for being with us --

BASH: Thanks, guys.

BERMAN: All 2020 --

HENDERSON: Thank you.

BERMAN: And we look forward to seeing you much more in 2021.

BASH: Happy New Year.

CAMEROTA: You too.

HENDERSON: Take care, guys.

BERMAN: So, millions of jobs gone, thousands of small businesses, shuttered. Will the U.S. economy recover from the pandemic in the new year?

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CAMEROTA: So it's a new year, but millions of Americans are heading into it without a job and hurting financially. The pandemic wiped out a decade of job gains. So will the U.S. economy recover this year?

CNN chief business correspondent Christine Romans has a crystal ball.

What does it look like?

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: It says, yes, that 2021 (ph) will be better, you guys, by almost any measure. But it's going to be a dark winter before we get there.

You know, normally I sit with you guys and we start a new year with new resolutions, but really this year we're just trying to get back to where we started, right? The economy down 9.8 million jobs from February. And this chart really, really tells this story. Every month we talk about the jobs added and hiring has pretty much flattened here as the virus slows the economy again.

And you've heard me talk about this so-called k-shaped recovery. People with a job, people with stock market investments, they're doing great right now. They're thriving. But low-wage workers and minorities, they're the ones bearing the brunt of the jobs and the income loss. You know, you can just -- you can't forget these images from 2020 across the country. This is San Antonio. But we saw this played out again and again, food banks with the unprecedented demand.

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The big question for me is, will the lopsided nature of the pandemic reverse this year? And we just don't know. A lot depends on the precipitations from the Biden administration and Congress.

But even people worried, you guys, about inequality, like Bill Gates, he's worried about inequality and that k-shaped recovery, but even he sees brighter days ahead.

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BILL GATES, CO-FOUNDER, BILL AND MELINDA GATES FOUNDATION: I do think that by summer the job numbers and the economic numbers will be quite strong because most things will be back to normal. You know, in the fall, you know, I expect we'll be able to open all schools even with face-to-face.

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ROMANS: That's why some of the -- face-to-face, that's important. That's why some of the biggest banks are forecasting the economy will grow anywhere from 4 percent to almost 6 percent this year. Guys, that would be a huge improvement from this year. You can see, the economy, it collapsed in the second and the third quarter this year. That's those big red lines. Bounced back again after that. But annual jobs growth, if it were to hit 6 percent, look, that would be the best since 1984. Also a year, John and Alisyn, that we were bouncing back after a terrible recession. 2021 will be the year of the bounce back.

BERMAN: So -- which I'm sure Joe Biden would like to see. What's he going to do to help it? What's the Biden agenda on the economy?

ROMANS: You know, I'm really struck, you guys, by the parallels here for Joe Biden because when he became vice president eight years ago, the economy was in tatters, millions were out of work and we didn't trust the banking system. We had lost faith in our institutions.

This time it's different. It's a health and jobs crisis. Of course, his first order of business then would be to get the virus under control. That's what they say they're going to do.

President Trump has said the economy and your 401(k) would tank under a Biden presidency. But even with Biden's promises to raise taxes on investors and wealthy people, corporate America expects a more stable relationship with the White House.

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AUSTAN GOOLSBEE, FORMER CHAIRMAN OF THE COUNCIL OF ECONOMIC ADVISERS: I think Joe Biden is a steady hand. There's not a -- if you are one of the people who was afraid that there was going to be rampant dysfunction, civil war, radicals on any side were going to take over, Joe Biden is kind of not the type.

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ROMANS: Someone who worked with him in the last financial crisis.

So Biden wants to raise taxes on rich people. He wants to roll back some of those 2017 corporate tax cuts. He wants to reward companies for bringing jobs and production back to the U.S. That would be a corporate tax rate of 28 percent. Still better than where it was, you know, before tax reform in the Trump administration. He wants tax breaks to return factories to the U.S. He wants the top personal tax rate to go back to 39.6 percent. He wants to expand the child tax credit, restore the first-time home buyers' credit and he vows not to raise taxes on anyone making less than $400,000, guys.

CAMEROTA: And, Christine, what about the wild card of China? Joe Biden's relationship with China and Washington's relationship with China.

ROMANS: Yes. So much of the Trump administration was just consumed by these trade wars with China and with our allies in some cases. The president-elect, he told "The New York Times" he would not immediately remove those 25 percent tariffs that Trump imposed on about half of China's exports to the U.S., but don't expect him to try to change China's behavior alone. You know, he's expected to work with American allies to pressure China instead of threatening America's allies at the same time and waging these multiple distracting trade wars, guys.

BERMAN: Christine Romans, thank you so much. Happy New Year to you and your family.

ROMANS: Happy New Year to you.

CAMEROTA: OK, so the climate crisis will be one of the most pressing issues Joe Biden plans to tackle when he takes office. What are his plans for this massive challenge? That's next.

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BERMAN: A new administration with a new vision on the climate crisis is about to take over in Washington. It's a key issue that President- elect Joe Biden ran on during the campaign.

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JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT-ELECT FOR THE UNITED STATES: Nothing gives me more hope for the future than seeing my five grandchildren challenge expectations. They see breakthroughs in technology we can't even yet imagine. But the only way they're going to get a chance to fill all that potential is if we take drastic action right now to address the climate disaster facing the nation and our world.

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BERMAN: So, how does he plan to do it?

Joining us now, CNN chief climate change correspondent Bill Weir.

Bill, Happy New Year to you. So great to see you this morning.

BILL WEIR, CNN CHIEF CLIMATE CORRESPONDENT: Thanks.

BERMAN: It's sort of like an obvious question, but just how different will the Biden White House look from the Trump White House in terms of climate change?

WEIR: It's as different as two different planets, John. And Happy New Year to you.

Yes, for the last four years, we've been living on planet Trump where windmills cause cancer and kill all the birds and fossil fuels are a necessity for economic growth and global warming is not a problem. Anybody acknowledging the opposite of those things would be a stark departure.

But Joe Biden seems to be going all-in, much more than any candidates in American history.

CAMEROTA: So, Bill, one of the pledges that he's made is he -- Biden pledges to achieve 100 percent clean energy power sector by the year 2035. And, also, reach net zero emissions no later than 2050. So he's already appointed, as you know, John Kerry as climate envoy, Gina McCarthy as climate czar.

So how realistic are those goals?

WEIR: They are hugely, hugely ambitious. I mean it took us over a century in this -- in this country to lay out the modern transportation system. We have to -- these goals mean we have to rebuild that within a decade. And you don't see a lot of people running out the door today to get it done. It's a huge, ambitious goal, but it -- it just speaks to at least nibbling at the problem, the enormity of the problem.

The difficulty is that in order to get elected, you had to make a lot of promises about fracking for natural gas, as not to scare off frackers in Pennsylvania the way Hillary Clinton did with coal miners. And that's a big one because if you think about carbon dioxide as a blanket of average thickness around the earth, methane, which comes from fracking, is a blanket that's as thick as LeBron James is tall.

[06:55:02]

It's cleaner than coal in the near term, but it's much more damaging in the short-term. So he's got to put a cap on that. Whether he can convince oil field workers to go into a career of capping zombie wells and maybe switching their drilling expertise into geothermal, which is -- which is a cleaner, renewable way of harvesting the energy from inside the earth, those are ways to go.

But so much of this, Alisyn and John, depends on what happens in Georgia. As we've seen, the congressional resistance to getting people just to wear masks in a pandemic is a heavy political lift. Imagine when we have to shift away from internal combustion engines and come up with new forms of cement and airplanes and housing and food chains. It's the biggest challenge humanity will ever tackle.

CAMEROTA: So, Bill, one of the only silver linings of the pandemic has been that because of the shutdowns, there has been less traffic, less airplane travel. We've see all these images of clear water in the canals of Venice, Italy, for the first time in decades. And then I'm sure you know this famous image now, the side-by-side of the pollution in New Delhi. You know, one just sort of drenched in fog where you can't -- well, smog, where you can't see anything, and then clear skies on the right.

And so, you know, does this continue? I mean do we get some benefit out of this or is it a blip?

WEIR: It was such an insignificant blip, Alisyn, you can't even really put it into terms. The analogy I like to use is, if you imagine a dog on a -- in a car on a hot, sunny day and life on earth, planet earth, is the dog, it equated to about five minutes of shade. In the long- term, it does nothing for the health of this planet that is getting hotter by the minute. It did hopefully reconnect us with the natural world in ways that we haven't seen in a while. City dwellers could see the stars for the first time. You saw some wildlife come out of the shadows.

But there's really two big problems that this new administration has to deal with. One is the -- is the close-to-ground smog, smoke pollution that we get into our lungs and feel it in our eyes and you can taste it. That's a problem. But it's not automatically tied to climate change, which is all this heat trapping pollution, which is carbon dioxide, methane that goes into the air and it's just turning up the temperature, creating a much more unpredictable world. And if the pandemic has taught us anything, we don't want to live in an unpredictable world. We want to live in a world where flight schedules and Broadway schedules and Yankee games are guaranteed the way they used to be. But all of that goes away if a livable planet that we're on is thrown out of balance.

So the more people can connect the dots between every little decision in our lives and the ones that happen at the big corporate level leading up to these big, big, huge problems, and the severity of the pain really comes down to what we all do collectively right now.

BERMAN: A hundred percent on all of it except for the Yankees. As far as I'm concerned, they can just disappear forever. They can live in smog forever!

WEIR: The Sox need somebody to play against, John.

BERMAN: That's fine. No, it's always sunny over Fenway.

Bill Weir, thank you so much for being with us. 2020, I know, for you, brought many blessings, so we wish you many more in the coming year as well.

WEIR: Thank you, brother.

BERMAN: All right, the United States obviously dealing with racial reckoning over the last year. Where does it all go from here?

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