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Busiest Thanksgiving on Record; Weather Conditions for Thanksgiving Travel; Polls on Thanksgiving Foods; Trump's Proposed Tariffs Rattle Auto Industry; Democrats fight over Harris Strategy. Aired 9-9:30a ET

Aired November 27, 2024 - 09:00   ET

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

[09:00:00]

BILL WEIR, CNN CHIEF CLIMATE CORRESPONDENT: There. Between nine and 15 times higher than the industry has admitted. The question now is, what are these companies going to do about it?

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Well, first of all, methane, man in the U.K. they talk funny.

Two, what is the Trump administration's view on all this?

WEIR: Well, if you take the early statements and the whole Project 2025 thing, they have just sort of a sneering disdain for any regulation in this space. Feeling emboldened. A lot of fracking companies are saying, you can ignore this, but the physics you can't ignore. This is happening. This is heating up the planet in real time.

BERMAN: Bill Weir, great to see you.

WEIR: Good to see you, John.

BERMAN: Happy Thanksgiving.

WEIR: Likewise.

BERMAN: Brand new hour of CNN NEWS CENTRAL starts right now.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: It is one for the record books, friends. Millions of Americans on the move. We're going to show you right here. This is Chicago O'Hare. Look at those shining faces. Everyone is jazzed to be there. Eighteen million will fly. So many more than that are going to be hitting the road today. We're tracking the travel and the weather for you this morning.

More and more young people are getting their news and information from social media influencers. A new study is just out, though, suggesting that a startling amount of that information may not be reliable.

And they have been missing for 44 years. Investigators now may be close to revealing what happened to this husband and wife. A disappearance that has puzzled their family for decades.

I'm Kate Bolduan, with John Berman. Sara is out today. This is CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

BERMAN: It is Thanksgiving eve. So, do your stretching exercises. It is set up to be a record-breaking day at U.S. airports. Eighteen million people expected to fly for the holiday this year. Most today, Sunday, and then Monday.

The weather today is looking good. Great, in fact. Tomorrow, whoo, that's another story. It's going to stink for tens of millions of people.

CNN's Whitney Wild is at Chicago O'Hare this morning. Derek Van Dam is tracking the forecast.

Let's go first to Whitney, who sort of like the - the queen, the czarina of Chicago O'Hare this morning. I think you've spoken to every person, Whitney, that's gone through.

WHITNEY WILD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We're trying to get, you know, a sense of the feeling here at O'Hare, John.

And if I can put that into a word, the feeling here is great. And that is because the numbers that matter are low. Look at these security numbers, John, ten minutes through TSA pre, five minutes if you're flying first class, ten minutes if you're going through economy. When you consider that this is the busiest holiday travel on record, that is the holy grail of holiday travel.

Here at O'Hare alone and at Midway, those are the two Chicago area airports, there are going to be at least a million and a half people pouring through these two airports over this holiday weekend. Today is going to be busy. Sunday is going to be the busiest day. They're thinking 254,000 people coming through O'Hare alone.

So, when you take all of that into context and you consider the weather pattern today is good, the cancellations are pretty minimal, this is an absolutely perfect, perfect holiday travel weekend.

We talked to a couple of the folks out here, John, just to get a sense of how they're thinking, how they're feeling about everything and their tips for getting through this very busy holiday weekend.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JESSICA MENSAH, THANKSGIVING TRAVELER: Definitely pick your outfit the night before. That's what I think. Hang up your outfit. Know what you want to wear. Make sure it's comfortable. Buy some new shoes, so that it's like, you're excited about it

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

WILD: Oh, that's good (ph).

MENSAH: So that you wake up feeling like, oh, I get to wear my new shoes, a new outfit.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, yes. You've got a green shirt (ph). MENSAH: So, when things go wrong, it's like, well, I - you know, I got a new outfit on.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I feel like you should bring, like, a lot of books. Because, like, out - like if you first traveling and you feel like, oh, it's going to be great, I'm not staying that long, I don't need, like, things to entertain me. Well, most likely you're going to need something to entertain yourself.

WILD: What are your travel tips to get through security smoothly? You've got kids. What are the tips for other families?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Follow my wife.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WILD: I think that is a piece of advice you could carry through past the airport, John. Through the whole weekend, perhaps. And maybe just the rest of your life because happy wife, happy life. That is the message that will take you through the holiday weekend.

This is again very, very smooth. I do want to remind people, you got to check the TSA because it's easy to forget what the rules are. It's easy to think, OK, is it four ounces, five ounces. The rule of thumb when you're talking about liquids, gels, aerosols is 3.4 oz. It's got to be in a quart size, clear Ziploc bag, one bag per person. Again, just take a cruise through the TSA rules. You don't want to be that person who's holding up the line because you forgot or you've got something in your bag that's not supposed to be there, guys.

[09:05:02]

BERMAN: I'm smiling because every time you explain that, Whitney, I can tell you have scars from going through the line over the last few years with your family.

WILD: Yes.

BERMAN: You really do learn over time how to do it correctly as soon as you've done it incorrectly.

Derek, let's talk about -

WILD: Oh, 100 percent.

BERMAN: The weather, my friend, because tomorrow it's going to stink.

DEREK VAN DAM, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, if you're traveling today, this is the jackpot. Whitney was talking about it, how perfect the conditions are to travel.

Here's a picture in point. This is - this is a perfect example of the skies right now over the busiest airport hub in America, Atlanta Hartsfield Jackson Airport. This is downtown and midtown Atlanta. I snapped this picture actually just about 20 minutes ago. But you can see all the contrails of the various jets flying overhead. It's busy out there. People are traveling. Very active.

And we've got green across the board. That means - green means go, right? West Coast to East Coast. The only roadblock is this storm system that's developing and deepening across the nation's midsection, particularly into Colorado. It's brought some hefty snowfall totals that have brought snow to the foothills and into the mountains, and even Denver International Airport reporting some snowfall. But it's quickly winding down there. But where it goes from here is what is so incredibly important.

So, a snapshot of what's happening now. The eastern seaboard, no problems in terms of the weather. But let's fast forward another 12 to 24 hours when things change drastically. What a difference a day makes. Hope you're ready to settle in with a gravy and your relatives because we've got rain in the forecast for this Thanksgiving along the coastal cities. But snowfall for the inland communities of northern New England. So, plan accordingly.

This will usher in the coldest air of the season. And these lakes, they're still warm for this time of year. So, cold air over warm water means lake effect snow machine kicks into high gear later this week.

Check this out. The tail end of the storm system has the potential for some stronger storms. Heads up Birmingham today. Atlanta tomorrow. As you're settling down for that Thanksgiving feast, you could see some stronger thunderstorms roll through.

And in terms of how much snow we can expect across the Hudson Valley into the higher elevations of New England, anywhere from four to eight inches of snow in this forecast. Winter storm watches already posted for this area.

Hey, John, I hope you're prepared. Rain on Thursday for your Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade special. But I know you can handle it. But have they really cut out the umbrellas - the budget for umbrellas this year? Is that a thing?

BERMAN: Yes, no umbrellas. No tarp.

VAN DAM: (INAUDIBLE).

BERMAN: It's going to be like hurricane coverage, except there will be a parade.

VAN DAM: Enjoy. Celebrating you, my friend.

BERMAN: Yes. All right. Derek Van Dam, thank you. And Whitney Wild, our thanks to you as well. Whitney spoke to a person who said the key to Thanksgiving is to pick your outfit out the night before. That's about to take on a whole new meaning with Kate.

BOLDUAN: Thank you for that segway, because there are so many things to be thankful for and grateful for. John Berman, you are one. I will say that publicly because I'm on a live mic. You're walking away. You're running because another thing to be thankful for is, would you like to walk in now? HARRY ENTEN, CNN SENIOR DATA CORRESPONDENT: Oh, sure.

BOLDUAN: Harry Enten's love of costumes. It is just something that is - you are - you are so cute and that is the scariest looking turkey I've ever seen.

ENTEN: I think I look delicious. That's what I think.

BOLDUAN: Is it - is it warm?

ENTEN: It's very warm.

BOLDUAN: OK.

ENTEN: It's toasty in here. Be good for tomorrow.

BOLDUAN: Yes, exactly. The reason Harry is doing this, there is absolutely no reason, but Harry is here to run some numbers for us, as he is trained to do, this time about the great Thanksgiving dinner.

What are we going to do with this?

ENTEN: Yes, what are we going to do? You know, in this turkey costume, I can't argue that you should eat me, but turkey is the main course on Thanksgiving.

I couldn't believe this. Seventy-three percent of Americans favor it as the main course. That is disgusting.

BOLDUAN: What is wrong with you?

ENTEN: I'm with this 25 percent who say opposed. I'm going to have fried chicken tomorrow at the girlfriend's parent's place. That's going to be far better, far tastier.

BOLDUAN: You eat fried chicken all the time.

ENTEN: That is true. But this is going to be a special supermarket fried chicken. It's not going to be Popeyes. I like to switch it up on Thanksgiving. I just move from one fried chicken to the next.

BOLDUAN: And that's the beginning and end where that conversation should be.

What - what about - why are we talking about how its cooked? Isn't there only one way to cook a turkey?

ENTEN: No, there's not one way to -

BOLDUAN: There is only one way, to fry it.

ENTEN: Yes, I like that. Twenty-one percent. How do you prefer your turkey on Thanksgiving? Twenty-one percent say fried. I had a fried turkey on air last year. It was delicious. Delicious. Unfortunately, 63 percent, the clear majority of Americans, say roasted. I just think it gets dried out so easily. That's the problem with turkey. It gets dried out so easily. Smoked is interesting at 22 percent. I haven't had a smoked turkey for Thanksgiving. But the bottom line is, most Americans say they prefer their turkey roasted. But I'm with Kate Bolduan, the 21 percent who say that your turkey should be fried. If you're going to eat me, at least cook me, prepare me the proper way.

BOLDUAN: I think this is an entire HR violation if I weigh into that debate.

[09:10:02]

I love you, Harry. Thank you so much. You may now go into your next costume for your next act.

ENTEN: Oh, I will.

BOLDUAN: Thank you so much, sir.

ENTEN: Thank you.

BOLDUAN: OK.

Thank you so much.

Coming up for us, that is Harry Enten unplugged. Would you like to see what Democratic strategist James Carville is like unplugged? Here you go.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAMES CARVILLE, VETERAN DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: I'm really not interested in your uninformed stupid (EXPLETIVE DELETED) opinion as to whether you go on Joe Rogan or not.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: There you go. Much more to come on that.

President-elect Donald Trump vowing to protect American made cars with steep tariffs on imports. The problem, there's no such thing as an all-American made car.

And hello from space. Take a looky-loo here.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Greetings from the International Space Station. Our crew up here just wanted to say Happy Thanksgiving to all our friends and family who are down on earth and everyone who is supporting us.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:15:34] BERMAN: All right, new this morning, Ikea is the latest retailer to express concern over President-elect Trump's promise of 25 percent tariffs on goods from Mexico and Canada. Ikea CEO told CNN, quote, "tariffs make it more difficult for us to maintain the low prices and be affordable for many people, which, in the end, is our goal."

And it's not just furniture. Also, cars. The auto industry could feel the effects of the tariffs.

CNN's Vanessa Yurkevich here with that.

Good morning.

VANESSA YURKEVICH, CNN BUSINESS AND POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: Good morning.

Well, we know that we have the big three U.S. automakers, but there are no all-American cars anymore. These companies, Ford, Stellantis, General Motors, all import car parts and cars fully assembled from Mexico, Canada and China. And that is why a 25 percent tariff on imports from Canada and Mexico and a 10 percent tax on imports from China would have a significant effect on car prices.

So, for viewers at home, if you own a Tesla Model 3, a Ford F-150, which is America's most popular car, parts of your car are made in Mexico. Also, fully assembled cars from Mexico are coming across. The Chevy Blazer, Chevy Silverado. So, all of these cars are really, really reliant on trade from Canada and Mexico. And why is that? Is because it's simply cheaper to make these cars and parts in those countries. Wages are much lower and currently there are no tariffs in place. We have free trade with Canada and Mexico. That's something that President Trump actually negotiated under USMCA.

So, folks at home might be saying, well, why don't we just move production to the U.S. if it's ultimately going to be more expensive to make these cars in Canada and Mexico? Well, we simply don't have the capacity for that. Also, remember, labor here in the U.S. is much more expensive. Right now the U.S. is trying to stand up 16 semiconductor facilities. The only problem with that is it takes three to five years to get those going.

And, ultimately the U.S. - the big three automakers have not commented on these tariffs. I imagine they're watching them very closely. But, John, the markets have responded to these tariffs. All of the auto stocks were down yesterday, including General Motors, down about 9 percent, because investors are nervous. What is this going to mean for these companies. Ultimately, this could push more pressure onto the used car market if new cars end up costing more. We saw used cars very, very expensive over the pandemic. That could soon happen again if these tariffs take effect. Obviously, that's inflation. Something that Americans don't want to deal with. And the markets there, they don't want to see that at all, John.

BERMAN: No, they don't like uncertainty. And this very much is about uncertainty.

Vanessa Yurkevich, thank you very much.

Kate.

BOLDUAN: So, with a grand postmortem, if you will, and soul searching also if you will session among Democrats after their election loss underway and far from over. A popular progressive social media influencer is weighing in on just that, what went wrong and what he thinks the party needs to do now to win again, especially when it comes to young men.

Hasan Piker is a social media superstar, really, with almost 3 million followers on the video streaming platform Twitch. He's a progressive fan of Bernie Sanders. So popular, the Democratic Party invited him to the DNC in August. And he sat down with CNN's Donie O'Sullivan. Here's a little bit.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONIE O'SULLIVAN, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT: There's a general sense that when it comes to the world of podcasts, alternative media, I don't even know what you want to call it, that Trump did a much better job with that than Democrats and Harris.

HASAN PIKER, PROGRESSIVE TWITCH STREAMER: Absolutely. I think that's true.

O'SULLIVAN: Harris did consider going on Joe Rogan.

PIKER: Yes.

O'SULLIVAN: But she didn't. What is it that the Democrat Party has to do differently?

PIKER: Well, I think that they need to change their policies. That's -

O'SULLIVAN: It's a policy thing.

PIKER: Yes. It's 100 percent a policy thing, which is the boring -

O'SULLIVAN: Because I'll say -

PIKER: Which is the boring answer. Although it would be very self- serving for me to say, I'm the left's Joe Rogan. The Democratic Party should give me millions of dollars. That's not going to solve this problem. What will solve this problem is if the Democratic Party actually adopts real left wing economic populist messaging instead of purposefully avoiding that stuff because they're terrified of upsetting their corporate donors.

I think Trump speaks to male insecurities better. And I think Trump speaks to the anger that people have.

[09:20:02]

Whereas, the other side of the political spectrum does not speak to that anger at all. (END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: Joining us right now, CNN senior political commentator Bakari Sellers and Lance Trover, the former spokesperson for Doug Burgum when he was running in the Republican presidential primary.

It's good to see you, guys. Thank you.

Bakari, what do you think of all that, what Hasan Piker was telling Donie?

BAKARI SELLERS, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I wish he was paying attention. I mean it's patently absurd to say that he wishes that Kamala Harris would - would adopt some populist economic policies. Was he talking about the fact that she wanted to build three million new homes with housing tax credits, or was he talking about the child tax credit or the earned income tax credit? I mean I - the economic policies that she laid out were - were numerous. And she was the one who actually put forth policy plans. She put forth policy plans for African American males. She put forth policy plans for Hispanic voters.

So, I mean, I find it really troubling when people want to have a policy discussion. The fact is, more people know what was in Drake's lawsuit against UMG, and they've actually studied that more than they studied Kamala Harris' policy proposals on social media. So, I don't really want to hear a conversation about she should have put forth more economic policy proposals when that was not the issue in this race at all.

BOLDUAN: Bakari, don't start tipping your hand on what you know you were reading up on just before we started this segment. Do not start tipping your hand on that.

Lance, from your perspective, what do you think? Do you think the gains, the support that Donald Trump saw among young men just kind of to this conversation, do you think it was Democrats lost them, lost young men, didn't speak to something, or Donald Trump and Republicans did speak to something?

LANCE TROVER, FORMER SPOKESPERSON, DOUG BURGUM 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN: I think it's pretty simple. I think that - let's be honest, I don't think Kamala Harris was that great of a candidate. I think - I don't think she had an ability to connect with people the way Donald Trump has an ability. Love him or hate him, he speaks normally. He's not a robotic politician. Whether you like or dislike what he says, he speaks normally.

And, yes, but it wasn't just men who went to his side. It was African Americans. It was Latinos. He spoke to a broad swath of this country because he speaks normally, and he articulated a vision for this country and moving forward. And I just don't think we saw that out of Kamala Harris.

BOLDUAN: You know, and, Bakari, Kamala Harris did lay out a vision. She laid out policy proposals. You and I spoke about them a lot. Given the outcome of the election, you now have this soul searching that is happening. And James Carville is weighing in. And as Berman told me off camera, it was like this was James Carville unplugged on the soul searching that Democrats are doing. What seemed to tee him off in what I'm about to play you is this campaign conversation around whether or not Kamala Harris should have done an interview, gone on Joe Rogan's podcast, and what impact that would have had.

Let me play what Carville's take on all this is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAMES CARVILLE, VETERAN DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: The vice president was thinking about going on Joe Rogan's show. And a lot of the younger progressive staffers pitched a hissy fit.

If I were running a 2028 campaign and I had some little snot-nosed 23- year-old saying I'm going to resign if you don't do this, not only would I fire that (EXPLETIVE DELETED) on the spot, I would find out who hired them and fire that person on the spot.

I'm really not interested in your uninformed, stupid (EXPLETIVE DELETED) opinion as to whether you go on Joe Rogan or not.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: Bakari.

SELLERS: I mean, look, the Democratic Party is far beyond James Carville. I mean I'm not sure that he's in the mainstream. I'm not sure the last time that he actually talked to voters who were in a barbershop or in a - in a college dorm room or the last time that he had a town hall meeting or visited a town hall meeting, or pressed the flesh or kissed the baby. I love the fact that people go to James Carville so that they can have outbursts like that. He's the Dan Hurley of Democratic politics where you just have these kind of manic outbursts day in and day out.

The Joe Rogan debate is old. If she would have gone on Joe Rogan, she still would have lost this race. Trump didn't win this race because he went on Joe Rogan. It's hard to win a race when 75 percent of voters say they were better off four years ago than they are today.

And, you know, we had this podcast yesterday on Pod Save America where, you know, all of the campaign staffers decided to call up and go to Pod Save America. It was disappointing at best, hearing their lack of self-awareness, their lack of self-reflection. The inability to figure out a way in which you could win this race simple - simply providing messaging and saying that we're up whereby you don't believe that in your heart of hearts to be true.

[09:25:12]

I just think what's disappointing - and Pod Save America themselves have been relatively disappointing because they were supposed to be our ecosystem to compete with the right wing Ben Shapiros. We were supposed to have this information chamber that was Pod Save, but instead they've kind of become this cocoon themselves where challenging them becomes a hissy fit back and forth and their messaging has not been one that's been able to prove successful with those same voters that we're talking about Donald Trump did well with. And so, I think everybody needs to take a moment of self-reflection, including myself, to figure out how we can get better for 2025.

People are talking about 2028. If we get smacked in 2025 in New Jersey and Virginia, then you blow it up. But until then, people just need to stop wanting to hear themselves talk.

BOLDUAN: What? What are we going to do on cable TV then, Bakari? I mean, come on, my friend, help me out.

SELLERS: No, no, I said - I - that - that doesn't - that doesn't - that doesn't - that's not me. That's other people. Like, this - this is what we do, OK. This is important for the ecosystem. Other people need to stop.

BOLDUAN: I'm messing with you. I'm - we're going to end on a high note because, gosh darn it, we're just going to do it. I would like - I'm going to ask both of you, Lance, you get to go first, politically, what are you thankful for?

TROVER: I'm going to be totally cliche. We live in the greatest country in the world. I'm thankful to be here. I can spar with someone like Bakari, and we can go out and have a beer afterwards. That's the great thing about our country.

BOLDUAN: As long as it - Bakari likes something a little stronger than beer.

Bakari, what are you politically thankful for?

SELLERS: Politically thankful for, ah, that's a tough question to ask a Democrat right now. But I am thankful that we live in the greatest democracy in the world, whereby peoples voices are heard, votes are counted, and that in January we will have a smooth transition of power and, you know, I'm thankful for the hope that Donald Trump can be successful. I mean, I think every American needs to hope for that. Whether or not he can, I don't know. But that's the hope. And that's the thankful prayer that we make.

BOLDUAN: I'm thankful for both of you. And I actually mean it this time. Thanks, guys. Happy Thanksgiving.

SELLERS: Sure. Sure.

BOLDUAN: That means a lot when it comes to Bakari. So, Lance, thanks for really over indexing that on that one for us.

Thank you, guys, so much. I really appreciate it.

All right, so, coming up for us, a wealthy New York couple vanished in 1980, never to be seen again. Now, decades later, police think that they may have figured out what happened. And we're going to talk to someone from the team that made - or at least were part of this remarkable discovery.

We'll be right back.

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