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Haley Questions Trump's Mental Fitness After He Confuses Her With Pelosi; Buffalo Bills Unveil Taylor Swift-inspired Menu Items Ahead Of Game Against Chiefs; Lions Aim To Win 2 Playoff Games For 1st Time Since 1957; Lions Aim To Win 2 Playoff Games For 1st Time Since 1957; Health Issues Force Senior Royals Out Of Public Eye; What Broke The American Dream For Millennials; Rat Hole Is Chicago's Newest Must- See Sight. Aired 9-10p ET

Aired January 20, 2024 - 21:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[21:00:47]

JIM ACOSTA, CNN HOST: You're live in the CNN Newsroom. I'm Jim Acosta in Washington. Tonight, just three days away from the New Hampshire primary, and exactly one year from Inauguration Day. That's right. That's one year from now. It's getting personal.

Nikki Haley who wants hesitated to directly criticize her chief rival is now questioning for President Donald Trump's mental fitness after this moment in New Hampshire.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, U.S. REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: By the way, they never report the crowd on January 6, you know, Nikki Haley, Nikki Haley, Nikki Haley. You know, they -- did you know they destroyed all of the information, all of the evidence, everything deleted and destroyed all of it. All of it.

Because of lots of things like Nikki Haley is in charge of security. We offered her 10,000 people, soldiers, National Guards, whatever they want, they turned it down.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: Of course, Haley was not even in office on January 6. Trump apparently confused her with Nancy Pelosi, who was also never in charge of Capitol security that day. The former president was, of course, glossing over his actions on January 6, when he act on his supporters to fight like hell and then watch the attack unfold on TV. Despite his bizarre blunder, Trump is touting his intellectual prowess, bragging that he aced a cognitive assessment. Haley, though was quick to pounce on his mental misstep.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NIKKI HALEY, U.S. REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'm not saying anything derogatory. But when you're dealing with the pressures of a presidency, we can't have someone else that we question whether they're mentally fit to do this.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: Haley is also sharpening her criticism of Trump's blatant lies and preposterous claims, including this one this week from Trump that presidents must have total immunity from prosecution, even at events that quote crossed the line.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HALEY: Do you get just total freedom to do whatever you want? No, that's never the way it was intended to be. There needs to be accountability. No one is above the law.

And I've seen the commercials you've seen. And let me tell you everything Donald Trump's put up there as a lie. And if you have to lie to win, you don't deserve to win.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: Though Haley is within striking distance reason polls favorite Trump, a big Trump win in New Hampshire could be a knockout punch for the rest of the GOP field. That's despite January 6, despite his lies and incendiary rhetoric, despite the racist dog whistles, and despite his mental missteps, all of which his party is brushing aside as they increasingly fall in line behind the former president.

CNN's Alayna Treene is live in New Hampshire where Trump just finished making some closing arguments there. And Alayna, you know, one of the things that we noticed is that during this rally, you were just covering Trump a couple of times, tried to clean up this moment where he was confusing. And mixing up Nikki Haley and Nancy Pelosi. Tell us more.

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN REPORTER: Yes, he was he tried to defend his cognitive abilities, actually, especially after Nikki Haley had called him out and arguing that he may not be mentally fit for office. Trump told the crowd here that he actually thinks he's more mentally fit than ever, that he's a strong mind.

And he also tried to correct Haley on who argued that, you know, there's these men whom are fighting to be in office who are 80 years old, Trump said, well, I'm not at yet. I'm actually 77 and got a little defensive there. But I wanted you to take a listen to what he said tonight.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: If I sarcastic or like, a lot of times, I'll say, and President Obama is doing a lousy job, meaning that Obama is running the show. They'll say, Donald Trump doesn't know who our president is. No. No.

Now, a few months ago, I took a cognitive test my doctor gave me I said, give me a cognitive test, just so we can, you know, because you know what the standards were, and I aced it. I let you know when I go bad. I really think I'll be able to tell you. (END VIDEO CLIP)

TREENE: Now, Jim, I will say that this is a bit of a touchy subject for Donald Trump. We know that he has repeatedly tried to tout that he is mentally fit. He has argued that he's taken tests that shows that he's mentally fit.

[21:05:07]

But also he likes to use that same attack on Joe Biden. And just tonight in the same speech, he repeatedly mocked President Biden mouthed his mental and physical fitness as well as mocked his struggle with a longtime stutter all things that he tries to use to turn his supporters against President Joe Biden but also to energize them for him.

And so having someone like Nikki Haley questioning his mental fitness is something that very much bothers Donald Trump. And also just real quickly, Jim, I want to point out a reaction that we heard from a Trump senior campaign adviser Chris LaCivita. Tonight, he wrote on X. Nancy, Nikki it's a distinction without a difference trying to, you know, dismiss the idea that Donald Trump was really making a big misstep. He came and spoke to reporters tonight as well, Chris LaCivita, made the same statement and Donald Trump.

Speaking about this on stage, it's just another sign as well they've trying to save face. It's kind of been a full court effort trying to convince reporters that it wasn't really a gaffe. This is, you know, comparing Nikki Haley to Nancy Pelosi.

ACOSTA: All right, well, it was a gaffe, whether they think it is or not. Alayna Treene. Thank you very much.

Let's discuss that. And more now with Larry Sabato, the director of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia and CNN senior political analyst, Mark Preston.

Mark, thanks for being here in the studio with us. Let me start with you first, you know, more so that I've seen with any other issue, or problem, gaff, whatever we've seen from Donald Trump during this campaign, a controversial statement, he spent a lot of time trying to clean this one up tonight. It's on the eve of the New Hampshire primary.

And, you know, primaries past and campaign seasons past something like this might have been a real problem for Haley (ph), maybe not for Donald Trump. The fact that they're trying to clean it up suggests that they know this is a problem.

MARK PRESTON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: He knows it's a problem, I mean, sure, no question about it. He knows he's vulnerable. He's vulnerable on the issue. He's 77 years old. I mean, the fact of the matter is Nikki Haley, earlier today, noted that her parents are getting old. And she's seeing that with their parents. And that's just the reality. I mean, if you look at somebody who's 25 years old, Jim, now, no

disrespect, but I'm fairly certain that a 25 year old is going to be a little bit sharper than you and I will watch 25, maybe 26, 27.

But this is certainly an issue right now that the Trump campaign doesn't want to have to address all these other policy issues, these internal Republican battles, Trump is going to be fine with but when it comes out about a vulnerability to a 77-year-old man who has been making the same argument against his opponent, yeah, they are concerned.

ACOSTA: Yes. And Larry, I mean, you know, when he says, I'll let you know when I go bad. I don't know. I mean, it sounds like an old country music song. I don't know what you think about that, Larry. But maybe I'll let you know when I go bad.

But, I mean, when Donald Trump has to go out there and try to clean this up out on the campaign trail, it seems to me, they know they have a problem.

LARRY SABATO, DIRECTOR, CENTER FOR POLITICS, UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA: Yes, this is the end of the campaign for New Hampshire. And it's arguably Trump's weakest state, because they're just one simple statistical show that only 25 percent of the Republicans in New Hampshire are evangelical. Two-thirds of the Republicans in Iowa, and two-thirds of the Republicans in South Carolina where this campaign goes, at the end of February are evangelical and the evangelicals are overwhelmingly for Donald Trump and they have consistently been so.

I just don't think this attack like most of the others will make all that much of a difference, maybe a little more in New Hampshire than you'll find elsewhere. But it is ironic, though, you go on social media for 10 minutes, you're going to come across hundreds of postings about how Joe Biden supposedly has dementia. Well, first of all, he doesn't. And second, it seems to me that what's trending right now on Twitter, or X is dementia Don. So you know, the shoe fits, wear it.

PRESTON: You know, if you even look back to just to jump in, if you go back to Hillary Clinton, remember Hillary Clinton. She had to stumble out of the car and Donald Trump in his campaign, rightfully so really seized upon that, and that did hurt Hillary Clinton at that time.

I think, though, that Larry's correct. I mean, the reality is that Trump has such a strong grip over the Republican Party right now, which could potentially even just be change its name to the maggot party. And at some point, we might actually see that.

But as we get into the general election, and they can try to continue to use this against him, assuming he's the nominee. It might help Democrats a bit.

ACOSTA: Yes. And I mean, Larry, he didn't talk about it just once. He talked about the second time. Let's listen to that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) TRUMP: I feel my mind is stronger now than it was 25 years ago. Is that possible? I really do. Now, Biden can't say that. Look, you know, he can't say that. You know, he can't say that. You know, there's something going on.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[21:10:00]

ACOSTA: You know, Larry, though, I mean one of the things that we should point out is that, you know, Nikki Haley waited until the 11th hour to start really needling Donald Trump and she said I don't want to say it in a derogatory way, whenever somebody, a politician says that they usually mean it in a derogatory way, or that they're going to poke you with a stick a little bit.

And it really did get to him. And it raises the question whether this is too little too late, should she have been doing this a long time ago.

SABATO: It is definitely too little too late. Chris Christie is the only Republican candidate running for president no longer running now. But in the campaign, he was the only one who really took out after Trump.

Of course, he's no longer in the campaign, which tells you the very difficult situation that all of these candidates, including Nikki Haley, found themselves in. As Mark was just saying, this is the MAGA party. This is the Donald Trump party.

And so to get the nomination against Donald Trump, you have to somehow convince people that Trump is no longer up to the job or can't win in November, but not offend them so much that they won't vote for you. And it's a near impossibility.

We know New Hampshire is very different. It's the one place where somebody like Haley might be able to pull an upset, might, but it is looking like it yet but you know, New Hampshire, Mark knows this from decades past. There are times when they will shock everybody.

ACOSTA: Yes.

SABATO: You just -- you never know for sure until you see the votes coming in there.

ACOSTA: Yes. And Mark, I do want to ask you about the other big developments. And Ron DeSantis, canceling his major Sunday show appearances tomorrow, one on CNN, one on NBC. You know, a lot of folks might say, oh, wait, this is just scheduling. And I think that the DeSantis campaign is saying, oh, it's a scheduling issue.

But right before the New Hampshire primary, you're canceling Sunday talk show appearances. That's usually not a good sign.

PRESTON: Not usually a good sign. And look, let me say it this way. Yes, they are canceling the shows, but they are still going to New Hampshire. So I do, you know, as far as are we looking at him dropping out anytime soon, not soon as within the next 72 hours unnecessarily.

But certainly, he's decided that he's better off going and trying to meet with whomever his supporters are in New Hampshire to try to scratch any kind of vote out of it. And perhaps he's going to start meeting with as Larry was noted, there's very few image evangelicals in New Hampshire, but the reality is there tend to be his voters.

So, I'm sure that's what he's going to try to do. I don't think we'd look into it of him dropping out. But I do know that they are trying to play this delegate game. I mean, that's their new strategy to stay in the race.

ACOSTA: Yes. That's going to be tough. And, Larry, I mean, you mentioned how New Hampshire can change the trajectory of a campaign. Let's play a little flashback from 1992 when New Hampshire saved the campaign of a certain governor from Arkansas.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BILL CLINTON, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: We don't know yet. What the final tally will be. I think we know enough to say with some certainty, that New Hampshire tonight has made Bill Clinton the comeback kid.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: And Larry, I correct me if I'm wrong, Bill Clinton did not actually win the New Hampshire primary but he finished better than expected, which resurrected his campaign. Are we just dealing with a different era now? We're not going to see a comeback kid on Tuesday night. What's your sense of it?

SABATO: Well, I'm going to be interested to see for whoever finishes second, let's say it's Haley, whether she can come out and say the same thing in a little different way. She doesn't want to be compared to Bill Clinton running as a Republican.

But what Clinton did was brilliant. He turned a loss into a win. And at a very critical moment for him when he could have been forced out of the race. That's what you call incredible political skill. And it's why Bill Clinton was a two-term president. Does Nikki Haley have that inside her? Well, we'll find out.

ACOSTA: All right, Larry and Mark, great conversation, guys. Thanks so much. Appreciate it.

All right. Still ahead. Donald Trump claims a president has absolute immunity. Even when the President crosses the line, we'll discuss that and plus why millennials may be feeling the pinch of inflated prices and high interest rates more than other generations. We'll talk about that.

And a shot at history in the Motor City as the Detroit Lions hope to maintain momentum in the playoffs. We'll see if that Motor City magic is still going to hang in there. You're live in the CNN Newsroom.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [01:18:38]

ACOSTA: Donald Trump is making some wild claims tonight about the extent of presidential immunity. And he took it one step further at a rally in New Hampshire just a few moments ago. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: But you have to give a president immunity otherwise, take a look at Harry Truman. He wouldn't have done if you think Hiroshima. Not exactly a nice act but it did enter Second World II probably. Right. Nagasaki, he wouldn't be doing that. He says I don't want to do that because my opponents will indict me. You have to give a president full and total immunity.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: Joining me now in the studio to talk about this defense attorney and former federal prosecutor Shan Wu. Shan, you heard Donald Trump there a few moments ago, saying that, you know, if, you know, Harry Truman had to deal with this, he might not have dropped the bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Does that make any sense?

SHAN WU, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: No. That doesn't make any sense. So the problem is one of the things that a lot of us are missing in this rather esoteric discussion of immunity is, of course never had the face up before presidents is there's no immunity that is boundless if you're outside the scope of the immunity, and that's what this is really about.

I mean, Trump's defense is just doing my job. Truman is just doing his job.

ACOSTA: Yes.

[21:20:00]

WU: If that turns out to be the case, he's going to have a great defense. And really, the immunity is going to kick in, because after all, he's just doing his job. You can't prosecute him just because you disagree with him.

ACOSTA: Yes.

WU: The problem is he can't ahead of time really make a cogent argument to say, you can't even look at what I've done, no matter how extreme is the circumstance, the D.C. Circuit question about, you know, could you assassinate an opponent, you can't really preclude that. And that's why the circuit is going to rule against them. And that's why if the Supreme Court takes it, they're going to rule against it because nothing can be boundless that way.

ACOSTA: I guess I'm trying to follow Trump's logic to is he trying to say that Dwight Eisenhower would have had Harry Truman indicted or something for ending World War II. I mean, a lot of it just -- doesn't make any sense. But I do want to ask you about his Truth Social posts, from a few days

ago, when he said a president needs to have a total immunity even when the President crosses the line. I don't know if we have that on screen, we can show it to our viewers one more time.

But, you know, you brought this up at the rally tonight, he tried to defend it, and so on. If you can parse through the language for us as best as you can, and we were talking about a Donald Trump Truth Social posts.

But you know, when he says, you know, even when I crossed, even when a president crosses the line, even when events across the line, it sounds like he's not only talking about events that might have happened in the past, it sounds like almost an implicit warning there, that he might try to cross the line in the future.

WU: Absolutely. That's why he wants the full presidential immunity. This is a guy who has been impeached twice for arguably crossing the line.

ACOSTA: Yes.

WU: He wants to make sure that anything he does is protected from even scrutiny. That's what he's really trying to get to. And so the logic of the argument is, oh, you don't want a president whose policy decisions are unpopular, prosecuted for criminal issues, which is what Trump wants to do with all his opponents, he is trying to clear the landscape. So there's nothing I can do that can ever be looked at. And that's just impossible. That can't happen legally.

ACOSTA: And I did want to ask you about the federal elections version case against Trump and these comments that Attorney General Merrick Garland made. He said, it's in the public interest for there to be a, quote, speedy trial. Did that jump out to you when he said that?

WU: It did.

ACOSTA: Yes.

WU: It seems like he's, you know, trying to send a signal to the courts that you should move. I have to say, though, all due respect the Attorney General, I mean, if there is a slow pace, this is really his fault for having started things late. I mean, if they had gotten an earlier start on this, they wouldn't be up against the wall in terms of the timetable right now.

ACOSTA: Yes. I mean, we're talking about we're in -- we're in the heat of the campaign season as we speak. We're in year 2024, January 6 happened on in January of 2021. What could have been done differently?

WU: Garland could have moved simultaneously on this investigation, rather than first doing the low hanging fruit. There was a lot of it. I mean, hundreds of prosecutions for the violent protesters. Reading between the lines, I think there was a lot of hesitation to really announce a full blown criminal investigation into Trump and the January 6, interference, and arguably, it wasn't until the January 6 committee hearing findings were so overwhelming and so damaging that DOJ had been forced to finally move at that point.

ACOSTA: Yes. All right. Shan Wu. Thank you very much. We'll be watching all of this very closely in the days to come. Appreciate it.

The last time the Detroit Lions made it this deep into the NFL postseason. George H.W. Bush was in the White House, not the last George W. Bush, the one before that. Michael Jackson's dangerous was the number one album in the country. How the Detroit Lions playoff run is galvanizing the Motor City in a major way. That's next. You're live in the CNN Newsroom.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[021:27:55]

ACOSTA: In Buffalo anticipation is building as the Bills gear up to face the Kansas City Chiefs this Sunday one of the burning questions will Taylor Swift braved the snow and say welcome to New York to watch Travis Kelce in action, but NFL fans and Swifties alike will be able to dine on Taylor Swift inspired menu items at Highmark stadium. Are you ready for the bad blood waffle fries? A two foot spread featuring a buffalo chicken and blue cheese on one side and barbecue pork coleslaw and pickles on the other or the karma quesadilla featuring chicken tenders, bacon and cilantro ranch topped with a pork belly chaser. If the cheese lose, Swift may have to shake it off.

I did not write any of these puns. My staff did. So it's all on them. She goes back on tour January -- February 7.

They're praying for some more Motor City magic in Detroit this weekend. The Lions will play against the Tampa Bay Bucs after last weekend's win against the LA Rams that was Detroit first win in the postseason since 1992. The longest playoff wins route in the NFL, but now long suffering Detroit fans get to finally see their team make a playoff push.

With us now is author and sports writer Mitch Albom. Mitch, you're a Detroit legend. You live in Detroit. You've had a column with the Detroit Free Press for years. I was, I mean, I'm a Washington football fan. So Redskins, Commanders. I've, you know, I've never really had any kind of personal affinity or affection for Detroit over years.

And it's not because I don't like Detroit or like the Lions. It's just they've been sort of a nonfactor for so long. And here they are, Mitch. They are just having such an incredible run this year. What does this moment mean for the city of Detroit?

MITCH ALBOM, BESTSELLING AUTHOR AND SPORTS COLUMNIST, DETROIT FREE PRESS: Well, it's a huge deal here. I've always said that Detroit is a football town that's been asleep for three decades. And it's been -- it was 30 years or more since we had a playoff win until last week and the city went and say now we don't know what to do with ourselves.

[21:30:00]

We have a good football team. We're so used to not having a good football team so it's very joyous around here.

ACOSTA: Yes and you don't have Taylor Swift in the stands. You have Eminem, which arguably and some folks whose books that's actually cooler. I know I'm probably risking a lot of negative emails flooding my inbox or social media.

ALBOM: You said that? I do not.

ACOSTA: Good point. Good point. I just stepped in a big time. But how would you describe, I mean, how would you describe this turnaround that we've seen in Detroit with these Lions? It's remarkable.

ALBOM: Well, yes, I mean, you know, the Lions there's an expression in Detroit, SOL, Same Old Lions, the Lions were just snake bit even when they did finally make playoff runs. They always lost in tragic ways. And they had years where they coaches and GMs, players will come and go, and they never seem to be able to find a formula.

And this was a working class town. We like football and all of a sudden with Dan Campbell who endear himself to the Detroit fans and new coach when he came in in his opening press conference and said we'd like to bite other players kneecaps off, that pretty much settled him here in Detroit as a -- he's our kind of guy.

And they basically become that kind of team. They play extraordinarily hard. And they're -- they don't have big superstars, you know, they have guys who are just here to do the work. And that fits the temperament of the city perfectly. And so, especially when it's two degrees outside, this is a very, very hot thing in Detroit.

ACOSTA: Absolutely. And Mitch, let's talk about Jared Goff because, I mean, I think that is one of the better storylines in pro sports right now. He gets traded from the Rams, to the Lions. You know, obviously the Rams go on to win a Super Bowl. And you know, Jared Goff is sort of struggling last season, not having a great year this year, has a sensational year, and was just terrific in the last playoff game where they won. What about that turnaround?

ALBOM: It was almost like a Shakespearean story. I mean, the guy that he got traded for comes back with his old team, to face them in the new town and --

ACOSTA: Right.

ALBOM: -- he wins. And it's true. Jared Goff was kind of when they made that trade for Matthew Stafford was mostly about draft picks. And it's like, well, and also quarterback, and there were a lot of people were thinking, he'll just be here for a year. He's just a guy that they can put behind center until they go and draft somebody with these high draft picks.

And instead, he's turned out to be an excellent quarterback and a really good temperament for Detroit. And when he won that game, last week over Matthew Stafford, even though Stafford played extremely well, I mean, they both played great. It was one of those things that were no losers, but somebody had had to win. And Goff's team won by one point.

I think it took a lot of pressure off of him. And he I think he's only going to continue to get better from this point forward.

ACOSTA: Yes. And Mitch, you were at the playoff game, if I'm not mistaken. You have a photo that you took when you were at the game if you can talk about the atmosphere there. I mean, I don't know you maybe get -- didn't get to see the TV coverage because you were there.

But one of the things that stood out to me when I watched the game was they were showing fans in the stands, who have been around for a decade, right?

ALBOM: Crying.

ACOSTA: And crying.

ALBOM: Yes.

ACOSTA: And I think they should want elderly gentleman who might have been around 90 years old and had been to the last time the Lions won a championship game. And he's been become kind of a local legend.

It's just incredible.

ALBOM: We almost have -- you almost have to be --

ACOSTA: Go ahead.

ALBOM: You almost have to be 90 years old in order to last time they won a championship 1957.

ACOSTA: Right.

ALBOM: I was at the -- I would not always that game. I was at the last time they won a playoff game in 1991. So I was and that was in this old Silverdome, which doesn't exist anymore. And so the atmosphere was insane. And it's true. You know, there's not much that can make grown men cry in Detroit, but the Lions winning playoff game can actually do it.

And we weren't -- we're not ashamed to cry over something like that. And I saw the images that they put on it. And, you know, that's what it means to this town. Look, we're not New York. We don't have Broadway and celebrities and we're not Los Angeles. We don't have movie stars. We're Detroit. And we love our sports.

And when our sports do well, especially a team that's kind of been asleep for three decades in terms of postseason success, it really rouses the town and it pulls everybody together and it's going to be incredibly noisy there tomorrow.

I feel a little sorry for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. They're going to have noise ringing in their head one way or the other when that game is over. ACOSTA: Yes, I mean, they're literally going into the lion's den. And

Mitch, don't worry, tears of sadness, tears of joy however it goes tomorrow. You know, we appreciate your insights into all of this. And I'm personally rooting for the Lions. I would love to see them go all the way. I mean, Baltimore look really good today. The Ravens look really good. But I think there's a lot of folks around the country we'd love to see the lions do this. Mitch Albom. Thank you so much for your time.

ALBOM: I'm not sure -- you're welcome. See you soon.

[21:35:00]

ACOSTA: All right. Thanks a lot. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ACOSTA: Health issues forced two senior members of the British Royal Family to step out of the public eye this week the Princess of Wales remains in the hospital after abdominal surgery while King Charles is preparing for prostate treatment next week. CNN's Max Foster looks at how the monarchy will cope with their absences.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MAX FOSTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Adored by the British public Catherine, the Princess of Wales is quote, doing well following her abdominal surgery on Wednesday.

For the next two weeks she is expected to recover in this private hospital in London. Concerned members of the public were offered no further details of the princesses private medical information though a royal source did say the procedure was not cancer related.

[21:40:05]

Meanwhile, King Charles also sidelined whilst receiving treatment for an enlarged prostate.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How's Majesty?

QUEEN CAMILLA, QUEEN CONSORT OF THE UNITED KINGDOM: He's fine. Thank you very much.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you.

CAMILLA: Looking forward to getting back to work.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, absolutely.

FOSTER (voice-over): Kate has never had any known health problems as a royal apart from acute sickness during her pregnancies. Now, she's forced to stay out of the public eye for up to three months until doctors give her the all clear to go back to work. The number of public facing working Royals has dwindled in recent

years, as the firm seeks to slim down and rebrand in step with the times. Only working Royals carry out engagements on behalf of the king.

That was intended to be this group until the Sussexes, Prince Harry and Meghan chose to step down and Prince Andrew was forced to in light of his relationship with the late pedophile Jeffrey Epstein.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We have a much smaller war family going into 2024 much fewer Royals to do the engagements. Because we have an aging King, it is really all falling on William and Kate and Edward and Sophie and Anne, and when one or more of them is out of action that is quite a significant impact on the royal family.

FOSTER (voice-over): Under pressure to reduce costs, so reflect a nation currently undergoing a cost of living crisis. The new king has ushered in a new era, which means fewer people doing more work.

This week, the number of working Royals was reduced even further when the King, Kate and William all cleared their official diaries until we see them again. Queen Camilla will be the most senior public face of the British monarchy.

An institution but also a family susceptible to everyday human frailties. Last seen over Christmas at Sandringham, the Princess of Wales is perceived as a hard working public servant with a regular royal schedule (ph) of engagements more than 120 last year

Now those appearances are on hold as Catherine recovers. The tension turns to Queen Camilla and other lesser known members of the royal family to step up as the public faces of the royal household. Max Foster, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ACOSTA: All right, straight ahead on the CNN Newsroom.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is the American dream but at what costs.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: Why millennials still have an especially downbeat view on their financial future with the nation's economy, always a major issue in the coming elections. That's coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[21:47:11]

ACOSTA: This week, the S&P 500 hitting record highs joining a long list of strong economic data points like falling inflation, low gas prices and a powerful job market. My colleague Alisyn Camerota spoke with families who say the real economy feels different, though. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Great. We have $435 to last until the end of month. OK.

RACHAEL GAMBINO, MILLENIAL HOMEOWNER: What?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Actually till February 4th.

GAMBINO: That's even worse.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I know.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: When we report on how great the economy's doing. What do you do you feel that?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't feel it. I don't doubt that it's gotten better. But nothing necessarily feels like it really got easier on us. I don't feel like I'm getting a break anywhere.

CAMEROTA (voice-over): The American economy looks strong, a robust job market stocks near record highs, inflation cooling, but many people are not feeling the positive vibes.

DANNY NAVARRO, TIKTOK CREATOR: I see $400 going towards my student loans, and I see 545 going for HOA and I see groceries, averaging about 150 a week. Sure, maybe for my wife's you know retirement portfolio might be looking great, but we need to get there first, right.

On Saturday, we heard how MetLife Stadium is preparing for the World Cup final.

CAMEROTA (voice-over): Danny Navarro did not plan to be a TikTok creator.

NAVARRO: If FIFA decided to sell tickets for the 2026.

CAMEROTA (voice-over): That was not his goal when he graduated with a history degree on a scholarship from the University of Virginia and started working at a nonprofit.

NAVARRO: I was at the $60,000 mark of my salary. And the only way that I was going to crack 80, 90 potentially, was to get a grad school degree.

CAMEROTA (voice-over): So Danny went back to school for a master's degree in public administration. This time, he had to take out student loans.

NAVARRO: I had to take out $70,000 in loans, which is more than what I was making, and then right off the bat having to pay that debt down. And so it's almost like we just were basically thrown into the hole in writing right away. We have to start coming out of it.

CAMEROTA (voice-over): That was eight years ago. And the promise that his college degrees would lead to a steady paycheck has not paid off.

CAMEROTA: So you're first generation and what was the dream for you? What was the dream if you went to college?

NAVARRO: We would escape poverty. And you know, for immigrants that are coming to this country that's always the thing that they tell you.

CAMEROTA (voice-over): Danny now juggles three jobs, soccer coach, tutor and TikTok video creator.

NAVARRO: I don't have a full time salary job since November of 2022. And is not without trying. I've tried to -- I've actually have applied to about 100 jobs.

CAMEROTA: A 100 jobs.

NAVARRO: I would say about in the past year and change and a couple of them have gone into the final round but you some unfortunate not been selected.

[21:50:00]

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Look outside. Come here. Look outside.

My life is very different than what I envisioned it would be.

CAMEROTA (voice-over): Rachael Gambino and Garrett Mazzeo followed the roadmap that previous generations said would spell success. Go to college, get married, work hard, buy a house, start a family.

GAMBINO: This is the American dream, but at what costs. So we have all of those things. And we appreciate every single one of those things. But we think about how we can lose those things very quickly. If one of us does our job, we're in an awkward place.

CAMEROTA (voice-over): Between their college debt and monthly mortgage payment, they feel they've slipped into a lower economic class than the one they grew up in.

CAMEROTA: Do you describe yourself as middle class?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I like to think we are.

GAMBINO: I would say lower middle class.

CAMEROTA: Why?

GAMBINO: Because when I think of middle class, I think about people who are able to just get up and go and do things within their means and like not extravagant things, but be able to get up and go to dinner whenever they want. Or maybe take that trip that long weekend trip. We don't have that luxury.

CAMEROTA (voice-over): Rachael works at a nonprofit. Garrett as an insurance underwriter, but their paychecks barely keep pace with their $3,400 monthly mortgage payment. Rachael's 26-year-old sister Kristen moved in to help offset costs for all of them.

CAMEROTA: So all of this is affecting your family planning?

GAMBINO: You know, once we started getting daycare costs, it was like, we cannot afford to have another child until he's in a public school system. I'd love for him to have like a partner in crime, but we can't afford to give him that for at least four years.

CAMEROTA: And is that sad?

GAMBINO: Yes, I'm sad. Like our family is dictated by our financials. And yes, I just never thought it would be that that way. Buddy.

CAMEROTA (voice-over): What would they do differently if they could do it all over again? Avoid student debt, even if that means rethinking college.

NAVARRO: Go to college, get out of poverty, you know, the money will come. It's not that simple. Right? What I've been in a better economic position not taking into suit the graduate student loan debt. Yes, probably.

GAMBINO: I think this idea of going to college is something that I don't know if Miles will do. And we have decided we're not going to push him there either. I think a lot of millennials were forced into saying like, you need a four-year degree in order to be successful. And like, I have a communications degree, and I definitely did not need that to be successful.

And so I think like it starts with when you turn 18, you're already put into a disadvantage. And I think we need to, like change that mindset for the next generation.

NAVARRO: Did I go to college to go to TikTok videos? No. But is that the one place right now where I can make, you know, money, potentially. So let me go make my TikTok videos while I'm at it, and hopefully find a new way to live the American dream.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ACOSTA: And our thanks to Alisyn Camerota for that report, very important issue a lot of folks can relate to what she just reported on there, our thanks to Alisyn for that.

Coming up. Who tried to fill in Chicago so called rat hole. If you haven't seen this, you're going to have to take a look at the story we have coming up in just a few moments. It's a brand new Chicago tourist attraction. Stay tuned for that.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[21:57:45]

ACOSTA: All right, listen up a dog with six legs found abandoned in Wales in a car parking lot is walking normally tonight after a local charity, excuse me, mobilized to help the pop out. Ariel was reportedly named because her two extra legs looked like the little mermaid tail. You can see some of this in these photos right here.

The charity says they were stunned by how many people reached out to help with support coming from as far away as Australia. Ariel should get out of the hospital this weekend. What a beautiful little dog there so glad that she was rescued.

Also, tonight Chicago has a hot new tourist attraction but this this week, the so called Rat Hole was vandalized when someone tried to fill it with concrete. Luckily fans and residents dug it out and saved the viral landmarks of what started this pop culture attraction. Here's CNN's Jeanne Moos.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEANNE MOOS, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Move over New York with your bagel lover your ads are long gone Chicago rat is making a deep impression. Thanks to artist Winslow Dumaine.

WINSLOW DUMAINE, ARTIST: They're starting to call me Rat Hole guy, so.

MOOS (voice-over): In early January a friend told Winslow about the rat imprint on Chicago's north side, his reaction.

DUMAINE: Immediate laughter.

MOOS (voice-over): He ratted out the rat hole by posting this photo and now people are making pilgrimages to the imprint, posing leaving money and flowers even a fake mouse. Residents say the rat hole has been around for more than 20 years, inspiring the occasional tombstone.

But now it's being immortalized by a fake priest with a rat head leaving a slice of cheese and fans filling it up.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No it won't freeze.

MOOS (voice-over): With a legendary Chicago liquor, something made this impression in fresh concrete.

MOOS: But is it a rat?

DUMAINE: OK, it's probably a squirrel. It has like the wide hips and the long claws of a squirrel.

MOOS (voice-over): Whatever it was, one state representative is touting it as the jewel of the 11th district.

UNIDENIFIED FEMALE: The Chicago rapper.

[22:00:00]

MOOS (voice-over): But everyone is wondering did he get out. Optimus say you can see paw prints.