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Trump Border Czar Defiantly Threatens Aggressive Immigration Crackdown; House Ethics CMTE Expected to Release Gaetz Report Tomorrow; Gaetz Says he Might Run For Rubio's Senate Seat; Five Injured After Driver Fleeing Police Plows Into Texas Mall; Joe Manchin Calls Democratic Party "Toxic," Blames Progressives. Aired 4-5p ET

Aired December 22, 2024 - 16:00   ET

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

[16:00:00]

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN HOST: For the College Football Playoff Committee to rethink things or the formula or re-examine some of the choices they made this year that might impact the next season or seasons ahead?

MORGAN MORIARTY, COLLEGE FOOTBALL WRITER, BLEACHER REPORT: I mean, yeah -- I mean we'll see it. I think the criteria that they used it was -- did work well. Like I said, SMU nearly coming back and winning the ACC title game against Clemson that would have earned them an outright bid regardless.

But, I mean, I just don't know how you can keep a team like SMU or Indiana Eleven win teams out. Especially when the broader context of the 12 team playoff is to have these programs that haven't really been on these national stages give them a shot to go out and prove what they can do. Obviously they fell flat on those stages. I don't think SMU and Indiana are necessarily going away.

I don't know if it'll drastically change the way that the committee selects these teams because on championship Saturday they are human. They saw SMU play a really good game. I don't think you can keep an 11 win Indiana team out, but it's certainly going to be interesting to see if it drastically changes the way that they select the teams.

It's not supposed to. Their job is to just look at a given season and put the 12 best teams in. But it's certainly a topic of conversation, at least early on in these first round games. I do think in the next round these games are going to be really, really good and we may forget about these lackluster first round matchups.

WHITFIELD: Well, nonetheless it's so exciting for all of these athletes and the in these teams to have the opportunity and to seize the opportunity as they are. And it's exciting for the fan base too. Morgan Moriarty, thank you so much.

MORIARTY: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: All right, hello again everyone. Thank you so much for joining me this Sunday. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. Today, President Elect Donald Trump stood before a packed house of conservatives in Phoenix, Arizona and laid out some of his plans for his now second term. His address at the Turning Point USA gathering touched on a multitude of issues from planning a meeting with Vladimir Putin to taking back the Panama Canal, building a U.S. version of an Iron Dome air defense system that is seen in Israel and so much more.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT ELECT: I will direct our military to begin construction of the great Iron Dome missile defense shield which will be made all in the USA, much of it right here in Arizona.

One of the things I want to do and quickly and President Putin said that he wants to meet with me as soon as possible. So we have to wait for this but we have to end that war.

On my first day back in the Oval Office, I will sign a historic slate of executive orders to close our border to illegal aliens and stop the invasion of our country.

Under the Trump administration, it will be the official policy of the United States government that there are only two genders, male and female.

We did go on TikTok and we had a great response with billions of views, billions and billions of views. They brought me a -- they brought me a chart and it was a record and it was so beautiful to see. And as I looked at it, I said, maybe we got to keep this sucker around a little while. You know --

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Steve Contorno is with us now. Steve, how do you think these ideas are going to go over in Washington? Because certainly the audience there in Arizona, they're excited about it. They're cheering him on. What about members of Congress and everybody else?

STEVE CONTORNO, CNN REPORTER: Well, look, this was built as a rally style speech, and it's certainly what Donald Trump delivered with his remarks. And look, everything he said in those remarks that you just played is something he said over and over again on the campaign trail. So I don't think it would catch anyone in Washington off guard.

But there were two areas that I found interesting. One is that there was almost no mention, in fact, there was no mention of what transpired this past week with the debt ceiling fight and the funding fight to get the government funded. Nor did he echo what many of his allies were saying in Arizona, which is that they were going to primary challenge people in Washington who wouldn't go along with Donald Trump. He didn't -- he didn't echo those kinds of remarks which had been said all throughout it.

I also think the fact that he stood by two of his more contentious picks for the Cabinet, Pete Hegseth for Defense Secretary and Tulsi Gabbard for Director of National Intelligence, it's a strong signal to the Hill that he intends not to back away from these nominees. Take a listen to what he said.

[16:05:08]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: But to get wokeness out of our military, restore the unquestioned strength and fighting spirit of the American armed forces, I have appointed Pete Hegseth to be our next Secretary of Defense. He's going to be great.

To make our intelligence community respected even more. I don't even think the word even is right because we had some bad years with these people. But I've nominated Tulsi Gabbard as our Director of National Intelligence.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CONTORNO: Now, it will be interesting to see if these picks continue to get support from Congress. So far, Republicans in the Senate have remained open minded to Hegseth and Gabbard. But we still have a long way to go before January 20th.

WHITFIELD: And Steve, Trump's pick for border czar also spoke at this gathering. What did he have to say?

CONTORNO: Yeah. Tom Homan making very clear to cities that consider themselves, quote, "Sanctuary cities" and if they try to fight the Trump administration on their deportation efforts, they may actually create more heartache for migrants in their cities. Take a listen to what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TOM HOMAN, DONALD TRUMP'S PICK FOR BORDER CZAR: So I'll send a whole bunch of agents into your community and we'll find the bad guy. And when we find a bad guy, he's probably going to be with others, others that aren't a priority apprehension. But guess what, they're getting arrested too. So you'll get exactly what you don't want. More arrest in your communities.

I don't want to do that. I much rather be safe with the agents. Arrest the guy in the county jail. But they don't let us in. Fine. You're not going to stop us. We'll go to community and we will find him. You're not going to stop us. Put all the roadblocks you want. It's not going to work. We're going to do this.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CONTORNO: Now, this event was held in Arizona. So that's a border states. Lots of Republicans there. So that message was clearly well received and we'll have to see if it's equally well received in Washington. Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right. Steve Contorno, thank you so much.

All right. Tomorrow, is expected to be the day that we see what's in the House Ethics report on former U.S. Congressman Matt Gaetz. The years long probe dove into several allegations against the Florida Republican, including whether he engaged in sexual misconduct and used illicit drugs. Gaetz denies all the allegations.

CNN's Brian Abel is covering this story for us. So sources are telling us that tomorrow's the day for the report's release what -- what else is expected?

BRIAN ABEL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I think we can expect, Fred, more details, details on the allegations and if there was any other allegations uncovered. As well as details about the investigation itself. Who did the investigators talk to? What did they say about Matt Gaetz and what conclusions, if any, were revealed?

Now, earlier this week we did learn that the House Ethics Committee had a secret vote to release this report into the conduct of former Rep. Matt Gaetz. And now as you mentioned, we know when multiple sources telling CNN the report will be released tomorrow.

Now, this release really is a stark reversal by the Ethics Committee which just last month voted to shelve the report while Gaetz was President Elect to Trump's Attorney General pick after he resigned from Congress for that AG position. Gaetz withdrew himself from consideration of that role after Trump called him to say Gaetz didn't have the votes in the Senate to get confirmed.

The report concludes a years long probe by the Ethics Committee into numerous allegations, you mentioned some of them, against Gaetz, including whether he engaged in sexual misconducts with a minor, paid for sex, used illicit drugs, shared inappropriate images or videos on the House floor, and more.

Gaetz has strongly denied all of the allegations and has said the Committee's investigation is a witch hunt, saying this on X after reports of the Committee's decision to release it. The Biden-Garland DOJ spent years reviewing allegations that I committed various crimes. I was charged with nothing fully exonerated. Now, the post went on to say it's embarrassing, though not criminal, that I probably partied, womanized, drank and smoked more than I should have earlier in life. I live a different life now.

We should note that it is rare for an ethics report to be released after a member has left Congress, though it has happened a few times on a couple of occasions in the past. Fred.

WHITFIELD: And then Brian, you know, Gaetz is in Arizona today. He was speaking at that Turning Point USA American Fest and he spoke about his political future, to what degree?

[16:10:08]

ABEL: Yeah, this is really interesting because Gaetz has said he has no plans of returning to Congress next year. And as a result, House Speaker Mike Johnson called the report a moot point and advocated for it to not be released. But here's what Gaetz said this morning at that conservative conference. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FORMER CONGRESSMAN MATT GAETZ, (D) FLORIDA: And some of you throughout this conference have even given me a few suggestions. My fellow Floridians have asked me to eye the Governor's Mansion in Tallahassee, maybe special counsel to go after the insider trading from my former colleagues in Congress. It seems I may not have had enough support in the United States Senate. Maybe I'll just run for Marco Rubio's vacant seat in the United States Senate and join some of those folks.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ABEL: A couple of ideas floated there. Rubio seat is vacant after being picked to be Trump's Secretary of State. As of now, Gaetz does have a job lined up. He was recently announced as an anchor of an OAN show that's set to begin in January. The exact timing of when this ethics report will be released tomorrow is still unknown. Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right, Brian Abel, thank you so much.

All right, I want to bring in now CNN Senior Political Analyst Ron Brownstein. Ron, great to see you. Happy holidays.

RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: (Inaudible)

WHITFIELD: President Elect Trump, you know, vowing to shake up a whole lot of things in his first -- beginning with his first day in office. This was quite the wish list for 2025. What stands out to you?

BROWNSTEIN: Well, by the way, first, I think, you know, the release of this Matt Gaetz report tomorrow will remind us something about Trump. You know, the fact that Trump could, on a -- on a whim, really nominate him as Attorney General. Knowing all of this was looming out there is a reminder that there isn't really a new Trump coming back into the White House. He is as impulsive and unpredictable as he was the first time.

It's hard to imagine that any process at all, even the most rudimentary, could have led you to nominate someone with these kinds of accusations hanging out over them. And I think that's an important consideration, you know, as we think about what will happen in the Trump presidency. I mean, he did lay out some key priorities, I think, that kind of loom above all else. Mass deportation, big tariffs, extending his tax cuts, rolling back the Biden regulatory agenda, particularly on the environment and climate.

But as we saw again last week during the battle over the debt ceiling, he moves in unpredictable ways without a lot of notice to allies. And so while those are kind of main thoroughfares we can expect him to proceed down, you can bet there are going to be a lot of secondary, unexpected firefights along the way.

WHITFIELD: I mean, he was talking about a lot of things of bringing, you know, I guess, taking ownership again of the Panama Canal to, you know, erecting some sort of iron dome similar to Israel. And then he said something else that was, I guess, a little quirky and weird, too, maybe in response to Elon Musk's, you know, popularity and his power over Congress and that whole, you know, debacle over the spending bill.

And so Trump said, you know, he's not worried about Elon Musk becoming president, saying, because he wasn't born in the U.S. --

BROWNSTEIN: Yeah.

WHITFIELD: And I wonder -- I mean, yeah, why would he say that? What does that mean?

BROWNSTEIN: Well, you know, I mean --

WHITFIELD: What does that reveal about his psyche to you?

BROWNSTEIN: Yeah, I mean, their relationship is, you know, the role that Musk is trying to play, I think, is pretty much unprecedented. I mean, Republicans accused Sidney Hillman, the head of the CIO, of being a shadow president for Roosevelt during World War II. But I'm not sure we had anything. And his power didn't approach what Musk is wielding now.

So, I mean, this is a pretty unusual circumstance. And when, you know, when you look at all of the things you mentioned that Trump wants to do or is musing about doing, I mean, think back to his first-term. In his first term, he had to appoint a lot of senior officials from really outside of the MAGA universe who were kind of concessions to other power centers in the GOP.

And those officials, whether it was Mark Esper or Bill Barr or John Kelly, said no to some of the most extreme things he wanted to do the first time around. Using the National Guard to shoot racial justice protesters, unilateral military action against Mexico, maybe quitting NATO. And of course, repealing the Affordable Care Act, which is stopped by fellow Republicans in the Senate.

Those kinds of constraints are not going to be nearly as formidable in a second term. For better or worse, Trump is going to be more unbound. I mean, all of those conservatives and MAGA acolytes who, you know, rally to the cry of let Trump be Trump, they're going to get a lot more of Trump being Trump. And that may be in some ways a benefit for him. He should be able to pursue the key elements of his agenda, but it is not an unmitigated blessing for Republicans if all of his impulse are given free reign.

[16:15:06]

WHITFIELD: Yeah, except that didn't 38 Republicans kind of demonstrate --

BROWNSTEIN: Yeah.

WHITFIELD: -- that maybe he's not going to get free reign? Maybe that did offer some sort of forecast that while some lawmakers say, hey, I really like Donald Trump, but I'm not necessarily, you know, going to rubber stamp everything. Was that a wakeup call for Trump -- BROWNSTEIN: Yeah. Really revealing that pressure came from the right.

I mean, I think that's really important. You know, what we saw through the -- even during the Trump presidency is that there are a number of House Republicans who will not vote for spending bills and certainly will not vote for raising the debt ceiling under any circumstance.

So when Trump tried to try to do something last week, that is usually a goal of Democrats, which is taking the debt ceiling off the table without it being a point of leverage to try to affect other changes in the government, you had House Republicans that said no. I don't think that means they say no to some of the more extreme things that he might want to do along the lines of, for example, the way they implement mass deportation.

What it does mean, though, what that backlash last week does mean, though, is that Democrats will have a point of leverage, some point this spring, because it's pretty clear that Republicans alone will not be able to raise the debt ceiling, and Trump will be faced to change choice of making a deal with Democrats or allowing a potentially catastrophic default from the U.S --

WHITFIELD: So I wonder quickly -- quickly what your point of view is. What did Trump get out of interfering with the process with that funding bill? He didn't get the debt ceiling issue that he wanted. He didn't get a government shutdown under the Biden administration, which he expressed he wanted. So what did he get?

BROWNSTEIN: Short answer is not much. I mean, and this is what we often saw, as I said in the first term, where there were painstakingly crafted legislative agreements that him and his team blew up at the last minute. I mean, Senate Democrats were willing to fund his border wall in return for extending protections for the DACA recipients, which is something that Trump said he wanted to do at the last minute. They blew it up out of the White House because they also wanted cuts in legal immigration.

And this was, as I said, like the Gaetz nomination, you know, just kind of a reminder that that kind of impulsiveness is intrinsic to Trump. And I think, you know, what this showed is that if you add that kind of impulsiveness from Trump to the internecine warfare we saw in 23 -- in this last congressional session with a narrow House Republican margin to the new wild card of Elon Musk meddling, you have a recipe for a lot of things blowing up on a regular basis.

Doesn't mean they aren't going to pass the biggest things they care about, particularly funding for mass deportation and extending the Trump tax cuts. I would suspect they will be able to do both of that. But there is going to be a lot of uncertainty and volatility in Trump two, just as there was in Trump one. I think that's mostly what we got out of the past week.

WHITFIELD: All right, Ron Brownstein, thank you so much. Happy holidays. Thanks for being with us --

BROWNSTEIN: Happy holidays to you.

WHITFIELD: -- throughout 2024. We look forward to more of you in 2025. Thank you so much.

BROWNSTEIN: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: All right. Still to come. The U.S. military says one of its warships shot down a plane, a U.S. Fighter jet, over the Red Sea. But it turns out it wasn't just any plane. It was a Navy fighter jet. What we know about the apparent friendly fire incident.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:28:14]

WHITFIELD: And we begin with this breaking news. A manhunt is underway right now for a suspect in a horrifying attack on a New York City subway train. Police say this morning a man approached a sleeping female passenger on a stationary Brooklyn train and set her on fire, killing her. The NYPD is expected to give a press conference at any minute now. Let's go straight to CNN's Gloria Pazmino who is in New York with any new information on this. This is horrible.

GLORIA PAZMINO, CNN CPRRESPONDENT: Yeah, Fred. Extremely disturbing. You know, it is a very -- very cold day here in New York City. It was extremely cold last night. And it is during temperatures like this that we know, many of the city's homeless people take shelter inside the city's subway system.

And that appears to be the case here. We are told by police that this woman was sleeping on the F train at the Stilwell Avenue train station that is in Coney Island, Brooklyn. And that's actually the end of the line. The train was not in motion when this happened. They say that a man approached her and lit her on fire. And as she was burning, he walked away and left the station.

Now, the man is unknown, but we do have some images of him. The police are currently looking for this man. They say that he's about 5'6 tall, about 150 pounds, was approximately 25 to 30 years old, and was last seen wearing a gray hooded sweatshirt, jeans, and a dark hat.

Now, the woman was pronounced dead at the scene. She was found by police officers that were patrolling the train station as this was happening. They found her. They tried to extinguish out the flames, but by the time that EMS arrived, she was already dead.

[16:25:03]

She was pronounced dead at the scene.

Now, Fred, we are expecting to hear an update from police in the next 30 minutes or so. They will be giving us additional details from police headquarters here in Manhattan. But this is happening at a time, Fred, when there has been a lot of attention here in New York City, but really across the country about the state of the subway system and the safety of the subway system.

The governor last week announced that she was deploying 250 more National Guard members into the subway system. This is as the holidays are happening, tourists are in the city noting that crime had actually slightly decreased and saying that the presence of the National Guard was helping to drive down those numbers. There are some people who disagree whether or not it's actually a good tactic. But it was something that she was talking about last week.

So this is certainly something that is in the mind of many New Yorkers. And of course now a really tragic and completely senseless crime here for this -- this woman who was just trying to likely shelter from the very cold temperatures. Fred.

WHITFIELD: Yeah, really -- really horrible and unthinkable. Gloria Pazmino, keep us posted. Thank you so much.

All right. Two U.S. navy pilots are lucky to be alive right now. They were shot down over the Red Sea in the Middle East by an American warship in an apparent case of friendly fire. U.S. Central Command says both of the pilots flying an F/A-18 jet like this one safely ejected from their fighter jet after being mistakenly fired upon by the guided missile cruiser USS Gettysburg. An investigation is underway.

Joining me right now is CNN Correspondent Julia Benbrook at the White House. Julia, what more do we know?

JULIA BENBROOK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Fredricka, as you mentioned, a full investigation is underway, but U.S. Central Command is calling this an apparent friendly fire incident. They said that the two U.S. navy pilots were safely ejected after their fighter jet was shot down over the Red Sea on Saturday.

Now, initial assessments show that at least one crew member -- that one crew member, excuse me, did have minor injuries. According to CENTCOM, the aircraft, an F/A-18, was operating from the USS Harry S. Truman when it was mistakenly fired upon by the USS Gettysburg. The USS Gettysburg, a Ticonderoga class guided missile cruiser, is part of the Truman Carrier strike group which entered the waters of the Middle East one week ago.

Now, as I mentioned, this investigation is still ongoing, but CNN Military Analyst and retired Air Force Colonel Cedric Leighton detailed some of the questions that will be asked in an investigation like this, including what the sailors on the USS Gettysburg thought they saw and why they fired.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

COL. CEDRIC LEIGHTON (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: When you are in a zone like this, where there is combat happening at one end of the Red Sea, and then there are other flight patterns that the folks on the USS Gettysburg -- the sailors of the USS Gettysburg have to deal with, it can be pretty easy to mistake targets from one to the other. In other words, is one a friendly target or is one an adversarial or a potential adversarial target?

(END VIDEO CLIP) BENBROOK: Now, the U.S. has maintained a near constant presence of major Navy warships in the region since the start of the war in Gaza. And on the same day of this apparent friendly fire incident, the U.S. had carried out airstrikes against Houthi targets in Yemen, including hitting a missile storage facility and a command and control facility in the capital city.

Now, those strikes did involve the use of Navy F/A-18 fighter jets, but according to military sources who spoke with our team, that downed jet that we've been discussing was not involved. Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right, Julia Benbrook at the White House. Thanks so much.

All right, coming up, a terrifying incident at a Texas mall. New details about a police chase that ended with the suspect crashing into a department store.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:33:36]

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN HOST: All right. New details today about a deadly police chase that ended inside a mall. New dashcam video obtained by CNN shows police trying to stop the driver of a pickup truck in Killeen, Texas on Saturday. The chase went on for 19 miles before that truck smashed into a mall, injuring five people.

Police ended up shooting and killing the driver. CNN's Camila Bernal is monitoring the developments. Camila police just released this new information about the driver. What are they saying?

CAMILA BERNAL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Fred, they just identified him as 53-year-old John Darrel Schultz. And they say this all started when they about a driver who was possibly intoxicated. So this was in Belton, Texas. And authorities tried to stop his pickup truck but instead it became this 19-mile pursuit to the mall in Killeen, Texas. Authorities saying they were on the highway. At some point this truck gets off the highway into the parking lot of the mall and he does not stop. Instead he drives through the entrance of the JCPenney store. It's the main entrance to that store.

And you see some of the images there. He went through the glass doors and kept driving as he hits several people. Authorities saying four people were injured and taken to the hospital. One other person went to the hospital on their own. And the victims ranging in ages 6 to 75. It's unclear how severe those injuries were.

[16:35:00]

But we do know that it was people at the mall who then went to help them and help the injured there. So just incredible as this community came together, but it was chaotic. And I want you to listen to how the DPS sergeant described the chaos and how this all ended. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SGT. BRYAN WASHKO, TEXAS DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFET: Trooper and Killeen police officer continued on foot after this vehicle which was driving through the store, actively running people over. He traveled several hundred yards. And there's officers from DPS, the Killeen Police Department and three other agencies that engaged in gunfire to eliminate this threat.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERNAL: And after the suspect was killed, authorities had asked people to stay away from the mall. The mall has since reopened. It's working at normal hours, so people are allowed to essentially go back and do their holiday shopping. And the sergeant that you heard there even saying that, yes, it was hard to see this during a time when people are out at the mall shopping with family, with children.

But as I mentioned, it was the people that were there who also went to help those that were injured. So a little bit of positivity in this very chaotic scene here. And that sergeant's just asking for prayers for the people who are at that mall front.

WHITFIELD: Wow. All right, Camila Bernal, keep us posted as you learn new details.

BERNAL: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: All right. U.S. Senator Joe Manchin sits down with CNN as he prepares to leave Congress. What he says about his political future and why he thinks the Democratic brand is, quote, toxic.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:41:15]

WHITFIELD: All right. With just days before retiring independent senator Joe Manchin is slamming the Democrats, calling the party's brand toxic. CNN chief congressional correspondent Manu Raju caught up with the West Virginia senator to discuss why he left the Democratic Party and registered as an independent.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: You said, you're not a Democrat. What caused Joe Manchin to divorce himself?

SEN. JOE MANCHIN (I-WV): Here's what I told them. I said, you ought to figure out how you lost somebody like me. I was born as a Democrat because my grandfather's love of FDR. I was a very strong Democrat because of my family's love of John Fitzgerald Kennedy. I came through the whole iteration, and I was a Democrat in West Virginia. And it's always been a 75, 80 percent plurality of Democrat, registered Democrats. But there was a split. I was never in the liberal side of it. I was never in the establishment side. So I always had to fight my way through.

RAJU: But what is the -- is the shift on social issues?

MANCHIN: Yes. The brand got so bad. The D-brand has been so maligned from the standpoint of it just -- it's toxic. And the D-brand is basically this. You know, I've told him, I said, first of all, as an American and as a -- as someone in Senate, and I'm going to take the Constitution, oath of Constitution that I take very, very seriously. I'm going to help every human being pursue the happiest life in their life pursuit of happiness.

I don't care who they are. I don't care what color. I don't care any of the things, who they love, do it. And that's you. I'm going to make sure you have that opportunity, right, to live your life.

Just don't make your life if it might be on the extremes or in the minority, a few, make me believe that's the norm or make me and my family believe or my children believe or this or that. No, I will protect you. Just don't try to mainstream it. And the Democratic Party, the Washington Democrats have tried to mainstream the extreme.

RAJU: How would you describe what the Democratic brand is right now? In a couple of words. What is the Democratic brand?

MANCHIN: You know, it's basically infringement on me making decisions and let me tell you why. The Democrat I grew up being, they wanted to make sure the people had an opportunity for a good job, a good pay. They would make sure you got a decent pay where you have some benefits and you can enjoy your family and make sure you had a safe working condition. That was one of those things. OK.

That's all. They never got infringed over and oh, you can't live your life that way. You can't say this, you can't do this. I mean there's a fairness in it.

RAJU: You think so? You think it's changed?

MANCHIN: It has changed tremendously. They have basically, yes, expanded upon thinking, well, we wanted to protect you there, but we're going to tell you how you should live your life from that far on. It's the mindset of the left, the progressive left, which was always a minority in West Virginia. The Democratic Party is perceived to pour more attention and more resources to people that are capable and able bodied that won't work or don't work than those that do.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: When Senator Manchin was asked if it's time for a third party, he said yes, but he would not be that party's leader. The outgoing Senator added, the new political formation would be called, quote, the American party and consist of moderate Democrats and Republicans.

All right. Tis the season of jolly and stress.

[16:45:00]

It can be pretty challenging getting into the Christmas spirit. How you can find joy and bring in the new year feeling renewed.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right. Christmas is Wednesday, whether you're ready or not. And so what should this holiday season be about for families across the country, around the world, in fact.

[16:50:00]

Our next guest is here to help us out because we have lost our way sometimes. Bishop Robert Barron of the Diocese of Winona Rochester in Minnesota is joining me right now. Bishop, great to see you. So glad you could be with us this holiday season. So what do you --

BISHOP ROBERT BARRON, FOUNDER, WORD ON FIRE: Yes. Good being with you.

WHITFIELD: Yes, thank you. So what do you want the biggest present to be for families around the world?

BARRON: Here's my message. Go to church. What we've been witnessing in our country, but especially in the west, is this disaffiliation from religion, people staying away from church, from the worship of God. And that's not a minor problem. That's a problem that has major social implications.

And I'll tell you a little bit from the Christmas -- the famous Christmas story of the angels who say, you know, glory to God in the highest and peace to his people on earth. That's a kind of formula. See, when God is given glory in the highest. So beyond anything else, wealth, pleasure, power, family, country, anything, you give God the highest glory. The biblical intuition is peace then tends to break out among us because then together we're all oriented toward the transcendent good of God.

And the way you make that real is by going to church, is by engaging in worship. So I would say to my, you know, my fellow Catholics, go to Mass. I say to everybody, go to church. So don't give in to the secularization of Christmas. Don't turn Christmas into some little, you know, kind of just humanistic feast. Go to church and give glory to God in the highest. That'd be my message.

WHITFIELD: Oh, that's a beautiful message and a beautiful reminder. But of course, we know in many corners of this country and the world, it's become, you know, the commercial message of Christmas, which is, you know, go out shopping and everyone's kind of losing their minds. Shopping, right. Losing your minds and losing your wallets, too, trying to make everybody, you know, in the family happy.

So what's your message to people, you know, to kind of reel it all in? Going to church, yes, that is a very important message, but perhaps that's not resonating still with a lot of folks who, you know, are getting. Getting stressed out, quite frankly, from the holiday.

BARRON: Yes, well, resist the commercialization. I mean, just stand thwarted. I know it's been inculcated in people now for decades and decades, but just resist it maybe by one president for one person if it's expressive of real love and real affection, which is born of your love for God. See, if our generosity flows from our love of God, well, then, good, then we're honoring, you know, Christmas.

So I would just -- I would resist it. I stand athwart it. Worship God first and let your generosity flow from that. And don't let the culture dictate to you. You know, so many ways, Fredricka, the Christmas message is revolutionary. It's very countercultural. Because the Baby King is seen in contradict -- the contradistinction to Caesar Augustus, he represents the kind of, you know, lordly power of the world, or you might say the power of the culture.

Well, the Baby King stands over and against that. So I would say Christians, especially on Christmas resist the culture which has become too dominant, this materialistic, individualistic, secularist culture. Resist it by going to church.

WHITFIELD: Every year, you know, with midnight mass, with pontiff's message. It is a message of peace globally.

BARRON: Yes.

WHITFIELD: What are you hoping to hear from the Pope on his Christmas Mass, that is a global message?

BARRON: Well, he'll speak of the incarnation, of the word becoming flesh, of God becoming one of us, because that's the source of peace. So Christ is called the Prince of Peace for that reason. In his cross we find reconciliation. So St. Paul will say that Jew and gentile, which in his mind meant, like all the different warring factions of the world come together around him.

Think of in the Christmas stories, the shepherds coming from near, but the wise men coming from afar. That's the idea of how attractive, how magnetic the child Jesus is. So that's what the Pope will talk about is incarnation. From that follows indeed this message of peace.

And again, see that Christianity stands over and against the violent secularist culture. We follow the prince of peace, not any of the, you know, avatars of worldly power.

WHITFIELD: Bishop Robert Barron, thank you so much. Hope you're having a beautiful Merry Christmas, a peaceful season. And thank you so much for your many messages with us today.

BARRON: Yes, well, God bless you. Thanks for having me today.

[16:55:00]

WHITFIELD: Thank you. All right. Perhaps you're also looking for peace and fun this New Year's Eve. Well, we've got you covered. The boys are back for the biggest party of the year. Join Anderson Cooper and Andy Cohen for New Year's Eve Live that starts at 8:00 p.m. right here on CNN.

All right, thank you so much for joining me today. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. Have a very merry Christmas. Happy Holidays. The CNN Newsroom continues with Jessica Dean right up to this.

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