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Liberal NYC Mayor De Blasio Sworn In; Obamacare Kicks in Starting Today; Barbara Bush Hospitalized; Kim Jung-Un New Year's Speech Warns U.S.

Aired January 01, 2014 - 13:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

DANA BASH, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back. We just witnessed the ceremonial swearing in of the 109th mayor of New York City, Bill de Blasio. It was quite a moment, not just because Bill Clinton, the former president and somebody who's a close friend and confidante of the de Blasio family, swore him in, but because of the comment that he made in his address. Very much standing by what he campaigned on determined to change the way New York is run and determined to make it a progressive place, and talked about liberal ideas in a very forward- leaning way that we haven't heard in really in a long time.

I want to bring in Susan Candiotti from New York; our political analyst, John Avlon also in New York; and Larry Sabato, who is the director of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia.

John Avlon, I want to start with you because you worked for the former mayor of New York, Rudy Giuliani, and you are somebody who writes about Independents. What is your take on comments like, for example, talking about the fact that he said, when I said I would take dead aim at 'The Tale of Two Cities,' I mean it. We will do it"?

JOHN AVLON, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: This was an unapologetically liberal speech with Mayor de Blasio really setting forth a strong ideological agenda for the city of New York. And, Dana, as you know, New York City has had 20 years of Republican and Independent mayors that has coincided with the city's resurgence. De Blasio's vision skips over that 20 years and tries to draw a direct connection to the policies of FDR, the Great Society policies, and put himself squarely in that direction. This was a strikingly ideological vision for the city of New York and an attempt to reignite the liberal tradition in urban America.

BASH: It really was. Just him talking about one of his big campaign promises that he says he's going to keep which is to try to raise taxes and put that money into pre-K education saying that it's $973 a year. That's less than three bucks a day, the cost of a small soy latte at your local Starbucks.

Susan Candiotti, you've been covering him. You live in New York. Talk about the man that is Bill de Blasio, because for people outside New York, they might be looking in and saying, oh, great, it's New York City. That's other. But it's not other. What happens there does tend to ripple out into the country.

SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Sure, everyone is going to be watching whether he is successful at trying to establish these very progressive policies that he's talking about. He's talking about raising the taxes. He's talking about evening the economic playing field, as well. And he's made his family -- the first time we have seen an interracial family certainly in the mayor's office here, blowing kisses to the crowd. This is a family that he was very much involved in his campaign from the very start. President Clinton even drew attention to them, calling them a real day modern family. So how will he help incorporate that? I think he tried to give everyone a feeling of family, of inclusiveness as he tries to establish himself as mayor of New York City. And I think that in part is what everyone is also going to be watching.

BASH: And throwing in the Spanish there was also interesting. Just as I was hearing that, I was thinking of "Saturday Night Live" doing that bit on Bloomberg trying to speak Spanish, which I don't think went, as well.

But, Larry Sabato, let me turn to you, sort of the national politics here and Bill Clinton. It was fascinating me that Bill Clinton, the guy who brought back Democrats to the national stage by ushering in sort of the conservative Democrats, stood there and said very directly that he strongly endorses the progressive ideals of Bill de Blasio. Now, that certainly could be true, but there's also something else to it which might it be Hillary 2016, right?

LARRY SABATO, DIRECTOR, CENTER FOR POLITICS, UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA: Absolutely. Look, it's a rare mayor that gets sworn in by a former president, and particularly a former president who's spouse is the leading candidate for the Democratic nomination for president in 2016. And I don't want to be overly cynical or analytical about it, but as you listened to Clinton's comments, it seemed to me that, first of all, he was redefining his own presidency as being quite a bit more liberal than it actually was.

And second, of course, he's doing it for Hillary. It's obvious he's doing it for Hillary, because if she has a fear, a challenge that could actually dethrone her in 2016, it may well come from the left progressive populist wing of the party, almost all of whom opposed her in 2008 against Obama. She still fears that because of her vote for the Iraq War and some other things. So as you listen to Clinton, in essence speaking for Hillary, he was trying to reposition her, to put as little distance as possible between the left wing of the Democratic Party and her candidacy. So we'll see whether it works, but it's an interesting strategy.

BASH: It really is.

John Avlon, it really was fascinating.

You're exactly right, Larry Sabato.

Come on, Bill Clinton brought in welfare reform and you know, he was the DLC Democrat, the Democratic Leadership Council. He was the conservative Democrat, the southern Democrat, and much to the chagrin of some liberals. Let's face it.

But, John Avlon, do you think that that is enough to sort of assuage some of the concerns of some liberals out there who are going to be looking to Bill de Blasio as sort of the beacon of liberalism, someone who's going to bring it back and make it in vogue again?

AVLON: There's no question that's how he sees himself and his supporters see him. There is this rising Elizabeth Warren left wing of the Democratic Party that is increasingly insurgent and critical of centrist Democrats. Bill Clinton re-centered the Democratic Party very effectively to return it to power nationally after three consecutive elections in which they lost 40 states. So is there politics involved? Sure. Keep in mind, this is all in the family, folks. Andrew Cuomo was HUD secretary under Clinton. Bill de Blasio ran Hillary Clinton's campaign in 2000. These folks are all tight. And in many ways, there's this ascendency of the Clinton kids now to positions of power that has a fascinating aspect to this whole dynamic.

BASH: Susan, I'll give you the last word. Again, as a New Yorker, he talked about a lot of things that he wants to change in New York, some of them very progressive, like raising taxes for the wealthy and giving that to the underserved. But he also wants to do some things that are sort of iconic, like we talked about this morning, getting rid of those horse-and-buggy rides around Central Park. What is the general feeling about the massive change that he's trying to make there, and do you think that it's really going to come or is he going to get a lot of pushback with the city council and so forth.

CANDIOTTI: I mean, as always, I guess time will tell. We'll have to see how this all plays out but getting rid of horse carriages? It seems like a minor thing but a big thing if you're visiting New York and to a lot of people who live here, too. A lot of people feel very strongly about that on so many different levels.

Will he succeed? Will he get the support of the majority of New Yorkers? Well, he certainly won with a huge majority here. He seems to have the mandate. Let's see. I think everyone wants to see whether he will be able to put this into action, whether he will, in fact, be successful.

BASH: Absolutely.

Well, thank you all for joining us.

It really is interesting to sort of take a step back and realize that there hasn't been a Democratic mayor in New York City, which everybody thinks of as a bastion of liberalism, in two decades. So we'll see what happens in the coming --

AVLON: Very important.

BASH: -- in the coming years with Bill de Blasio.

Thank you very much. Happy New Year to all of you.

SABATO: Happy New Year.

BASH: Now we're going to turn nationally to the website rollout that was a mess. Now Obamacare faces another major test. New health insurance coverage kicks in today. We'll take a look what's at stake and why some groups get a delay in providing birth control coverage.

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BASH: The Obama administration calls it a new era in health insurance, but it's also a major test of President Obama's signature accomplishment. New coverage and reforms under the Affordable Care Act kick in starting today. More than two million people have signed up for insurance through federal and state exchanges. Supporters are focusing on the positive.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I started my business four and a half years ago and I purchased health insurance on my own, and I was covered for a little more than emergency or basic checkups.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: In 2006, I was diagnosed with breast cancer. Shortly thereafter, I lost my health care coverage. I've been waiting a long time for January 1st, 2014.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: And this is a video called "Obamacare Day One" from the political group Organizing for Action, which, of course, was the political group that spurred President Obama's campaign to begin with.

Our senior White House correspondent, Jim Acosta, joins us.

Jim, OK, the botched website roll out, we got that. What is the administration bracing for now? What are your sources telling you?

JIM ACOSTA, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: This is a whole new rollout. It's a rollout of coverage under Obamacare and it starts today for a lot of Americans. As you heard from a lot of people in the video from OFA, a lot of people are excited about the fact that they won't be penalized for having existing conditions. The administration is touting that. They're talking about that. They also had that muscle flex yesterday with respect to the new enrollment numbers, 2.1 million Americans.

BASH: Which, we don't know exactly who they are.

ACOSTA: We don't know who they are. Those are the big questions. The questions are, who is paying for this coverage, have they made the payments? We might have speed bumps in the next several weeks in terms of people who go to the pharmacy and go to the doctor and find out, I don't have insurance, I thought I signed up but I don't have it. Also, who is signing up? Are they the younger, healthier people that the president needs to pay for the rest of the program or the older, sicker American who's might weigh the program down? BASH: There was a legal setback, maybe just a blip late last night. Explain what happened with the Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor, and what her ruling was.

ACOSTA: Justice Sonia Sotomayor, one of Obama's picks for the Supreme Court. She was in New York in Time Square for the ball dropping. She threw a curve ball at the White House because she came out with a temporary order that basically grants a two-day say to these religious organizations who take exception to this rule in Obamacare that says you have to pay for contraception coverage for employees. At the same time, the White House is saying we still stand behind this.

Let's put this statement on screen. We got this from a White House official earlier this morning. It says, "We defer to the Department of Justice on litigation matters but remain confident our final rules strike the balance of providing women with free contraceptive coverage while preventing non-profit religious organizations with religious objections to contraceptive coverage from having to contract, arrange, pay or refer for such coverage."

You take all of that legal gobbledy-gook and put it into the meat grinder, it basically means they're standing behind this mandate.

But there's some key question. Will the Supreme Court allow this to continue? Social conservatives, conservatives have been looking for a victory against Obamacare. This could be it.

BASH: This was one of the final issues that the Obama administration -- one of the major issues they had trouble trying to find the sweet spot on, right?

ACOSTA: Right. They tried to come up with an administrative approach to work around this mandate. These groups are basically saying you can come up with all the administrative work-arounds you want, this violates our religious beliefs and we don't want this. There are some 2014 implications for this. A lot of red-state Democrats, as you know, Dana, up for re-election in these Senate seats. Catholics may not like what they're hearing when this goes to the Supreme Court. It could have big political implications for the rest of the year.

BASH: Jim Acosta, thank you.

ACOSTA: You're welcome.

BASH: See you on --

(CROSSTALK)

ACOSTA: Absolutely.

BASH: And former First Lady Barbara Bush is in the hospital. She was admitted on Monday with a respiratory related illness at Houston Methodist Hospital, the same place where her husband, former President George H.W. Bush, spent weeks battling bronchitis-related illness in 2012.

For more, let's go to Alina Machado.

Alina, the family has issued a statement, right?

ALINA MACHADO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: They have. A spokesperson for the family saying that the 88-year-old is being treated at Methodist Hospital in Houston, Texas, for a respiratory related issue. She was admitted on Monday and the spokesperson says, quote, "She is in great spirits, has already received visits from her husband and family and is receiving fantastic care."

We want to show you a fairly recent White House photo of the former first lady taken in July when her husband was honored for his work with the Point of Lights Foundation. President Bush, by the way, has a form of Parkinson's and often uses a wheelchair or scooter to get around.

News of her hospitalization is spreading and reaction is starting to come in. Listen to what a long-time family friend and CNN affiliate KTRK's political consultant is saying about the news.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PETER ROUSSEL, LONG-TIME BUSH FAMILY FRIEND & KTRK POLITICAL CONSULTANT: I have known Barbara Bush since 1969. That is 44 years. Having known her as I have, I have total confidence in her, period, exclamation mark.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MACHADO: Also weighing in is number 42, former President Bill Clinton, who tweeted this morning, "I'll be rooting for her full recovery while she's rooting for Baylor today. All of my best to her and George H.W. Bush."

Of course, that's a reference to the Fiesta Bowl, which will be taking place tonight.

BASH: Still all about football, especially in Texas. But former First Lady Barbara Bush has had some other health issues, hasn't she?

MACHADO: She has. In the late 80s, she was diagnosed with Graves Disease, an autoimmune disorder that affects the thyroid. She was hospitalized for a recurrence of that disease in 2010. In 2009, she underwent heart surgery. This is at least the fourth time the former first lady has been hospitalized in recent years.

BASH: She's very tough. And we're all wishing her well on this New Year's Day.

Thank you very much, Alina, for that report.

MACHADO: Thank you.

BASH: And North Korean leader, Kim Jong-Un, rang in the New Year with a fiery speech that had included a blunt warning to the U.S. We'll tell you what he said next. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BASH: North Korean leader, Kim Jong-Un, delivered a New Year's speech, but it definitely wasn't full of good cheer. He praised the execution of his uncle and warned the U.S. and South Korea that tensions with Pyongyang could possibly lead to a nuclear confrontation.

Our Brian Todd is covering that story.

Brian, let's talk about what Kim Jong-Un said about the possibility of nuclear war.

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: A lot of eyes on this, Dana, because of the political upheaval in recent weeks, all the palace intrigue there. On the front of threatening the United States, he calls the U.S. and Korea, quote, "War maniacs." That was his quote. He said the U.S. and North Korea are deploying forces and are buzzing toward nuclear war with North Korea. His quote was, "If another war should break out on this land, it would result in a deadly nuclear catastrophe and the U.S. will never be safe.

Now analysts are looking at that. I asked Bruce Clinger, who was a North Korea guy at the CIA for 10 years, he said, number one, he's blaming the U.S. for the recent tension in the peninsula, and he's also warning the United States they can hit the United States with a ballistic missile, possibly a nuclear-tipped ballistic missile. He believes that's what he's saying in those remarks. So, of course, there's cause for concern at this point.

BASH: And we obviously never know what the reasoning is.

TODD: Right.

BASH: It could be for domestic consumption within North Korea.

TODD: Right.

BASH: And he did talk about his uncle. Explain that.

TODD: And he never mentioned him by name. Not unusual for that, either. The quote was -- it's kind of a meandering quote -- but he says, "In the seething period of the effort for building a thriving country last year, we took the resolute measure of removing the factionalists lurking in the party." That's really the only way he refers to his uncle, as a factionalist. Basically, the uncle was tossed out and executed for plotting against Kim Jong-Un. Kim Jong-Un also said that purge unified North Korea. But any analyst will tell you this is not the end of this. There will be more purges coming. He's moving to some of his uncle's allies, and then he'll go to other people. This is not over. This is a very volatile and unpredictable leader.

BASH: He sure is.

We know you'll be watching it closely. TODD: Absolutely.

BASH: Thanks very much.

TODD: Thanks, Dana.

BASH: Happy New Year. Good to see you.

Happy New Year. Thank you.

BASH: Imagine hundreds of thousands of people watching your wedding video. How one couple made history today in California.

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BASH: Minimum wage workers in more than a dozen states will see their paychecks increase starting today. The debate over raising the minimum wage has led to protests against fast-food chains and calls for federal legislation. Higher wages take effect in 13 states today. For most workers, the increases amount to less than 15 cents per hour, but workers in Connecticut, New Jersey, New York, and Rhode Island will see bigger increases. The minimum wage in those states goes to $8 or higher. The federal minimum wage is $7.25.

As of today, the Boy Scouts of America will accept openly gay members. The organization made the decision last May. More than 60 percent of the group's national counsel voted for the change. The council resolution says, "No youth may be denied membership based on sexual orientation or preference alone." The group will keep its ban on gay adult Scout leaders, though.

It's a first in history for the Rose Parade. A same-sex couple exchanged vows on a rolling float with hundreds of thousands of people watching live. Grooms Danny Letler (ph) and Audrey Voots (ph) said their "I dos," but the move sparked controversy, as you could imagine. The organization, SaveCalifornia.com, called for a boycott of the parade. The Tournament of Roses Facebook page had hundreds of comments supporting and opposing the wedding.

That's it for me. I'll be back at 5:00 p.m. eastern on "The Situation Room," and I'll speak with Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, one of the Democrats to watch in 2014. Make sure to tune in for that.

And NEWSROOM continues right now with Martin Savidge.