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Republicans Threatening To Tear Deal Between U.S. and China; Taylor Swift vs. Spotify; Michael Bloomberg's Advice For Some High School Seniors; Antarctic Blast Steadily Trekking Across The Country

Aired November 12, 2014 - 15:30   ET

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

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: The two most powerful men in the world agreed today to an historic deal between the U.S. and China to tackle climate change. Here is the deal that President Obama and China's president Xi Jinping agreed on. The U.S. will cut carbon emissions by more 25 percent by 2025. China is aiming to get 20 percent of its energy from renewable sources by 2030.

Republicans are already threatening to tear the deal apart. Lawmakers return to Capitol Hill today still riding high from their midterm election victories, Republicans at least.

And let's bring in chief congressional correspondent Dana Bash and chief political analyst Gloria Borger to talk about this.

So Gloria, I remember, just five years ago when a Democratic House and Democratic Senate failed to get climate change legislation through both chambers. So, I don't know, what do you think? What are chances of this happening?

GLORIA BORGER, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, I think this White House believes that it can get it through on its own because it can do an awful lot through executive action. And I think what we-- if we take a step back, what we have seen is this is just one week after the election, Brianna. We've seen a president who made it clear that he's going to do an executive action on immigration. You have seen this climate change deal. You have seen his Iran nuclear deal and this question of regulating the Internet. He says he's going to regulate it.

And what he is doing is he is saying to Republicans in Congress, you know what? I've got 26 months left. I'm still president of the United States. And I'm going to try to do it my way because my agenda is unfinished. And so you already have kind of a partisan meltdown in Washington a week after the election.

KEILAR: It is just one week. And Dana, a week ago, I was in Kentucky and one of the campaign stickers from Mitch McConnell's campaign said guns, coal, freedom, emphasis on coal -- I mean, he really looks toward the part of Kentucky for having given him personally a big victory and energy was really kind of a big issue in this election. He feels certainly at least locally it is.

So, you look at that. You look at what Republicans are feeling from this election and they're not onboard. There has been so much criticism of this.

DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely.

Look, broadly, when you look at what divides the parties in this newly divided government, the whole concept of climate change, greenhouse gas emissions, energy policy, environmental policy, that is one of the deepest divides. And as you say, Brianna, for Mitch McConnell it's personal and it is local because he won reelection by waging what he called a war against the war on coal to try to push back against the very regulations that Gloria is talking about, the one that the president has done in the past on his own and will continue to do.

Listen to what Mitch McConnell said today when meeting with the newly elected Republican senators.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL (R), KENTUCKY: The problem is the president continues to send signals that he has no intention of moving toward the middle. I was particularly distressed about a deal apparently he has reached with the Chinese on his current trip which as I read the agreement requires the Chinese to do nothing at all for 16 years while these carbon emission regulations are creating havoc in my state and other states around the country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: I mean, Gloria, you look at that, the president doesn't have a friend in Mitch McConnell when it comes to this issue for sure. What can he do on his own?

BORGER: The president can continue to do what he says he's going to do which is issue executive orders. That he understands that the Republican Congress is not going to agree with him on much of anything. I mean, I talked to one Senate Republican leadership aide who said, you know, we still can maybe figure out how to do some trade deals or corporate tax reform but he said that the leadership considered this, he used the word provocative. And he said that we're going to respond that way.

The interesting things is, though, that there's a new poll that came out today that said 66 percent of people who are Republican or lean Republican say stand up to the president even if it means you don't get anything done. So politically, there's nothing to lose for them in that.

KEILAR: The thing, I wonder, Dana, because they say that, you know, even if they don't get anything done. But at the same time, you are talking to Republicans and that they still feel like they need to get something done, though.

BASH: Absolutely. They have to prove they can govern and they are likely in early days and months of formally taking office in the new Congress in January. They will do sort of pick some low hanging fruit and pass some things that they know they can pass. But with regard to issues like we're talking about, the big divide,

that's one of the major differences, again, we are going to see in the next conference from the Senate. Right now, the lame duck Congress is starting. One of their chief priorities is to make sure that the government is running. So there's no shutdown again because the government funding runs out in December.

But come next year when Republicans are in charge of the Senate, Mitch McConnell has already said he's going to use the appropriations process, the spending arm of Congress' responsibilities which is the main responsibility, to try to peel back those regulations especially the EPA regulations that the president has done. So what that means is you are going to have, again, another war between Capitol Hill and administration on spending, which could bring us right back to the brink of a government shutdown even though he says there won't be any more government shutdowns if he's going to keep going on using the power of the purse that Congress has to push back on the president and his executive authority. It could head that way.

BORGER: You know, and he says no government shutdown, Dana. But you know, there was no hell to pay for the government shutdown last time. The way I count, Republicans gained, you know, more than a dozen new seats after the government shut down last time, right? So there may be some Republicans clamoring for it.

KEILAR: There may not be a lesson from that. We'll see.

All right, Gloria Borger, Dana Bash, two of my very favorite ladies, great to have you on together.

BORGER: We miss you. Come back to Washington.

KEILAR: I miss you too. Thanks, guys. Have a good one.

Well, singer Taylor Swift says that streaming music services Spotify doesn't pay up, none to her or other artists. Now, Spotify is hitting back. What they're saying next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(VIDEO CLIP PLAYING)

KEILAR: I admit it. I'm a Taylor Swift fan. I don't know about you. But you know, she has likened Spotify now to a bit like a grand experiment that doesn't fairly compensate its artists.

Well, that really bothers Spotify CEO big time. Daniel Ek is responding to Swift in a new blog post arguing that the music streaming service is getting fans to pay for music again and in fact paying out $2 billion in overall royalties.

He writes, quote, "We're working day and night to recover money for artists and the music business that piracy was stealing away."

Here with us now to talk about this is CNN Money correspondent Cristina Alesci. And you actually interviewed Jonathan Prince. He is the global head

of comms (ph) and public policy of Spotify. How did he defend the company?

CRISTINA ALESCI, CNN MONEY CORRESPONDENT: Well, it is really interesting. What he was saying is that she could have made more money had her music been on Spotify to the tune of $6 million, a year by the way, which if you kind of put it against the grand scheme of things she's making $12 million a week. So it's not enough for her.

And when it comes down to, this is a negotiation over compensation, right? This is back and forth between Spotify and Taylor Swift over how much she's going to get paid. She asked for special treatment. She didn't get it so she's using her platform to point out that Spotify pays artist less than a penny per stream. Spotify has its response. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JONATHAN PRINCE, SPOTIFY: The whole point is that she's on free services anyway. She is on You Tube. She is on (INAUDIBLE).

ALESCI: She didn't see it that way, though.

PRINCE: It's the fact. She was number one on (INAUDIBLE) last week. So if people don't want to pay for her music, there are tons of outlets for it. And what we want to do is we want to take those people who would listen to her music through You Tube or through piracy, the pirate bay, whatever, and bring them into our system so ultimately they convert to paid users and we bring money back into the system.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ALESCI: So, his point is people would ordinarily go and steal music and maybe they would Spotify being out there and being such a great service, they would come to Spotify instead and eventually Spotify would convert them into a premium customer and get them to pay, you know, that $120 a year. So that's their argument. But it's very hard to see those numbers. It is very hard to see evidence that they are actually converting people who would steal music into Spotify users, right? There is no hard data on that.

KEILAR: Yes. But what they have is disappointed users. For instance on my Spotify, I had "shake it off," I admit it, OK, and now I don't. I wish I did. I wish I did have it. But I don't have it, right? So, there's a lot of people like me and Spotify knows that and they want people who want that song on there. Who has more to lose? A big artist like Taylor Swift or Spotify?

ALESCI: I think you get it. I think its Taylor Swift just because she's the established entity here, right? She's known throughout the world already. Spotify is a startup, Right? It's still not generating a profit. It needs to have the biggest catalog out there especially because it has competitors. Beets was acquired by Apple, Right? They are going to make a huge push into this space. And they have muscle that Apple brings both in the terms of, you know, shear marketing and dollars. So you have that. And then you have Google that also may be launching a service. So you are picking a fight with a pretty big artist at a time when new competitors are getting aggressive.

KEILAR: Yes. So Spotify is a big player but things are really changing. They could change not in their favor.

Cristina, thanks so much.

ALESCI: Of course.

KEILAR: Well, is college worth the cost anymore? Former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg hints maybe it's not. Why he's telling some high school seniors skip it. We have that story next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KEILAR: Billionaire and former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg has some advice for high school seniors. Think about skipping college and becoming a plumber, instead. He made the comments during a speech to a Wall Street trade group and his point is college worth the cost if you can be a successful business person without a degree.

CNN digital correspondent Kelly Wallace is joining me now on this.

I mean, this is -- we sort of heard this before from other people.

KELLY WALLACE, CNN DIGITAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes.

KEILAR: But it's the way he said it and it just really gets people talking about this. Should you spend all of this money on college? Maybe it will not do you much good.

WALLACE: He even breaks it down with the math in the speech. He said you could spend $50,000 or $60,000 going to an elite school like Harvard University or you can become an apprentice and eventually make that same money as a plumber.

So I think he is touching on something that a lot of people are talking about, the escalating cost of college, kids coming out with enormous debt and also a lack of focus for some kids on the trades. When I was in high school a Cajillion (ph) years ago, now, a lot of people did focus on trades and we don't really see that today.

KEILAR: Because you can make a considerable amount of money as a plumber or as a carpenter.

WALLACE: Exactly. And you also bring up the point not likely to be automated, right? Your job is not likely to go away by the use of computers. So, and as we were talking before we went on here, there are some people who that may be a better fit. They might not be a good student. It may not be the right thing for them to spend four years in college if they like to tinker with things, they want to work with cars, they want to build, it might be better to have those opportunities promoted to them in high school and beyond. KEILAR: On the flipside, have you heard any backlash or just sort of

discussion about whether it's really a good idea to dissuade people from going to college?

WALLACE: I think that is.

That was my initial response to it. I think we want to keep encouraging our kids to reach the greatest heights we can. And so we probably want to sort of say, hey, college is a great opportunity. You could ultimately -- it could be an investment that you can end up making more money than if you were probably a plumber potentially.

So I think that's the thing. We want to encourage our kids to do what they want to do. Maybe what we need to do is increase the level of attention trades at the same time encouraging kids to go to college.

KEILAR: Because overall, when you look at level of education and you look at, I guess, economic mobility or how much people are making, there's an indicator there if you go to college you'll be making more money overall.

WALLACE: It is for the most part, overall, right? That's where you sort of look at the investment side. Overall, if you go to a four- year college, maybe you don't have to be $50,000 or $60 so you're saddled with debt and overall you're likely to make more money with the college education. So, it's a big investment and it is something we don't want to lose sight of.

KEILAR: How much are we seeing, and this is an issue that President Obama sort of highlighted. It wasn't too long ago that he paid off his own student loans. That was something that reminded people. Hey, you're paying these things for years. How big of an issue is that for people especially if they have gone to more expensive colleges?

WALLACE: This is a huge issue. And what we've got to do is bring the cost of college down, Brianna. I think we are going to see more online courses, more ways for kids who can't afford the tens of thousands of dollars to go to a school to have online education. We have to do something to bring the cost down and make it more affordable. It can't be a place for only the elite to go to.

KEILAR: Yes. It is so expensive and it is so difficult for families to figure out ways. And they have to get really scrappy and creative to figure out how to make it happen.

Kelly, thanks so much. Really appreciate it.

WALLACE: Sure thing,

KEILAR: And in November, on November 20th, I should say, at 9:00 p.m. eastern, CNN will debut 'Ivory Tower." This is a great film about the troubles of higher education and something that touches of lives of so many people. We'll be tuning in for that. Thanks, Kelly.

We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KEILAR: An Antarctic blast is steadily trekking across the country and it's already leaving a cold winter chill in its path. The problem is it's not quite winter yet, is it?

CNN meteorologist Chad Myers is in the CNN weather center. How bad do we think this will get, Chad?

CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes. Tell me people in Denver don't think its winter already.

KEILAR: Yes.

MYERS: Right now the airport is four degrees. It is snowing. There's more snow in the mountains and there's more to come for sure tonight. Five will be the high today. So we're four and we have one more to go.

But now, look at the northeast, 59, New York, 60 in D.C., 64 in Atlanta, but it all goes away rather quickly. Here are your low temperatures to come. New York City down to the freezing mark, but back out to the west, this is where the bulk of the cold air is. We go to Denver. Tonight, nine below zero.

We sent Mr. Tuchman to Montana yesterday and it will be about 20 degrees below zero where he is tonight, rapid city you get down to 11 below zero. Here's what Denver looks like. A lot of snow in the forecast there and I think that is going to continue and not go away because the temperatures aren't going to warm up. We are going to see highs tomorrow right around 15 and when that happens, you can't even melt some of that snow.

After a while, Brianna, even when you put down salt, if it gets so cold that salt won't melt the road, so if it was nice and a little bit sunny and roads were wet as you're driving up in the Midwest today, as soon as that sun sets, all of those roads are going to refreeze and turn into ice.

So there you go. Not New York at 32. You can handle it. But this is the first cold front of another one to come by the weekend and that will affect the northeast much more, Brianna.

KEILAR: That is one big, blue blob that you're looking at there. But, you know, the nice spots I will say appear to be Florida, appear to be California and I guess we are realizing why some people pick those areas to live, right, Chad Myers?

MYERS: That's exactly why they call them snow birds because they go to Florida and they like it. My parents were down there for quite some time. I was in Detroit and they would laugh at me all the time.

KEILAR: I would too.

All right, Chad. Thanks so much.

MYERS: You are welcome. KEILAR: And thank you so much for watching with us. I'm Brianna

Keilar in New York. "THE LEAD" with Jake Tapper starts right now.