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CNN This Morning

Dems and GOP face Leadership Battles in wake of Midterms; Clyburn on what Trump's Third White House run means for Biden; Clyburn on Leadership Battles: "Keep Powder Dry" until House Decided; Taylor Swift Fans Irate over Ticketmaster Crash during Pre-Sales; Lawmakers: Break up Ticketmaster Monopoly Amid Taylor Swift Saga. Aired 8:30-9a ET

Aired November 16, 2022 - 08:30   ET

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

[08:30:00]

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DON LEMON, CNN HOST: He has stated that his qualifications for Office include being a stable genius in "Trump also served as the 45th President", post staff report, that's it.

KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN HOST: No Name.

DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: That's a little much, but we get the point.

LEMON: I mean.

BASH: What is it? Suppose that we get the point --

LEMON: Exactly.

BASH: The point is, it's Rupert Murdoch, in a newspaper that the former -- he loves it. And he's, even though he is a Florida man, he is a New Yorker and relied on not just that publication, but other Murdoch, media outlets -- is right.

LEMON: Where does this person, between the --

BASH: They are trying to ice him out. And I am still not convinced, that's going to happen. It's possible, I mean, how many hours did you spend covering the Trump White House? Do you think?

POPPY HARLOW, CNN HOST: I don't think it's healthy to count.

BASH: I mean, I just I think it is possible. It is definitely a new time. There are so many factors that are unknown right now that will determine whether or not Donald Trump will be iced out of not just the Republican Party, but more importantly, in the short term of the Republican nomination for President.

LEMON: And a conservative Republican ecosystem media, Right? The Rupert Murdoch sort of lead establishment media, I should say. BASH: Right, well they're trying, I mean, they're making an effort like we have not seen before, even I should say, after there was an Insurrection. And even after he tried to effectively stage a coup to keep control of the country, the Presidency even after he lost, they didn't go this far. But now that Republicans lost more than they expected to lose.

Now this is their answer, it's very interesting. What kind of gets them going and doesn't.

LEMON: You make me smile.

BASH: That's it?

LEMON: Yeah, I love energy level the knowledge that you bring, thank you very much for that. It's good to always --

BASH: Not to mention in sharpen the velvet. I'm coming back here. Thanks, guys.

LEMON: See you.

BASH: You too. All right, speaking of Trump's run for this morning's number, let's bring in our buddy Harry Enten. This is historic, only been done once before in very different circumstances.

HARRY ENTEN, CNN SENIOR DATA REPORTER: Yeah, it is historic. You know, today's number is one, it is one President who serve non-consecutive terms. Grover Cleveland is the only one. He did it all the way back in the 19th century. And keep in mind when he lost the first time around, he actually won the popular vote very different than Trump who never actually won the popular vote.

There have of course been a number of Presidents who failed in bids for non-consecutive terms. Martin Van Buren, Millard Fillmore, Ulysses S. Grant, Theodore Roosevelt, who ran as a third party built Bull Moose candidate back in the early 20th century so they're far more of the failures than succeeds in terms of running again. And just to give you some perspective of where Donald Trump stands in the overall electorate this point, favorable view, or approve of Donald Trump, you'll notice that the 39 percent in our 2022 exit poll is significantly lower than in 2020 was when he was at 46 or in 2018, when he was at 45.

Of course, there's the big question about the Republican primary. And I think this number perhaps gives you a little insight in the Republican mindset. So this is among Florida Republicans. Keep in mind, Trump now does in fact live in Florida.

Do you want to see this person run for President 2024, 76 percent of Florida Republicans? Say yes to Ron DeSantis compared to 61 for Donald Trump. So Trump is still popular among Republicans, but I'm going to be very interested once Republicans nationwide get to know Ron DeSantis a little bit better, perhaps still prefer his brand of republicanism to Donald Trump's.

HARLOW: What did he say, DeSantis scoreboard?

ENTEN: Scoreboard.

HARLOW: The scoreboard? Check the scoreboard from Tuesday night. There is that Harry Thank you.

ENTEN: Thank you.

HARLOW: Be sure to tune in tonight Former Vice President Mike Pence will join our very own Jake Tapper for a "CNN Town Hall". It is 9 pm Eastern right here.

There is bad blood brewing between Taylor Swift Fans. And Ticketmaster after the website crash on the day, the first ticket for Swift's tour went on sale why lawmakers are getting involved, that's next.

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[08:35:00]

HARLOW: Welcome back to "CNN This Morning", as Former President Trump announces his third run for the White House. There are questions of whether President Biden should be the one to take him on in 2024. Let's talk about that and a whole lot more with House Majority Whip James Clyburn of South Carolina, he's a third ranking Democrat in the House of Representatives. Thank you, sir, very much for your time and good morning. Thanks for waking up early.

REP. JAMES CLYBURN (D-SC): Thank you for having me.

HARLOW: Well, it's great to have you look, we all know, and you remind us that everyone said you were wrong in 2020. When you put everything behind Biden, and you were sure he was the one who could beat Trump and you were right. And I wonder what your reaction is to Trump's announcement last night that he's running again. And if that makes you even more confident that it should be Biden who takes him on?

Well, I got very seriously that we're going to have that as a contest of you let the Republicans go at each other and make a decision. But Biden, in my opinion, is best for us Democrats, irrespective of who may be put up on the other side. You have never seen in the midterm, the kind of success that we have just had.

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CLYBURN: And that's doing a large mission to the agenda and the approach of Joe Biden. Joe Biden was exactly the personality that was needed for us to come back from this pandemic. And he put forth an agenda that was perfect for us to run on.

And those of us who ran on that agenda, they were very, very successful. And I do believe that we can build upon that, because so much that's in that agenda really kicks in from January. If you look at the cap on insulin, that was just a promise, during this campaign, it's going to be a reality come January. Same thing with the negotiating for the price of medicine, for people on Medicare and there's a lot in the infrastructure bill, that is going to be blooming in next year, this time. And so I just think that people will see the real effects the Biden agenda and it's going to be great for --.

LEMON: Let me see if I can just ask you this question in a different way. And I promise I'll get off of this. Okay. Just because I want to clear, concise answer, if there was one person who you believe would increase the chances of Joe Biden winning in 2024. Would that person be Donald Trump?

CLYBURN: Well, you know a history guy. And I do believe that history is instructive. And so when I look at the history of Biden versus Trump, that is instructive to me. If he's done it before, he can do it again.

LEMON: Thank you.

COLLINS: I've got a question that a lot of Hill reporters want to know, which is, it's been quite a week for politics and leadership on Capitol Hill, and we've talked about the Republican side. There are big questions, though, what's going to happen on the Democratic side. And you're the number three in the Democratic caucus right now. And so a question has been if Pelosi does not run to be the House Minority Leader, are you going to support Hakeem Jeffries or Steny Hoyer for that role?

CLYBURN: Well, I don't know if there'll be a contest between the two of them. And that's a bridge, our cross, when I get to it, I've talked to both of them to Hoyer and to Jeffries, in fact, the three of us were together last night at an event that hosted for the new members. And we had a good time together.

So I'm not going to get involved in making my choice in this public way. But I have said to both of them, that I will not pursue the position of Leader of our party or Speaker, it won't be a Speaker for us, it looks like. So whoever may be the candidate for Leader, I will make a choice at the proper time. But I won't be a candidate for --.

COLLINS: When would you like to see Pelosi make her decision? Obviously, she makes her own decisions. But when do you think is an appropriate time for that decision to be made?

CLYBURN: I don't think there's any real appropriate time to make a decision like that. I know that these reasons have not been declared, I think you'll have given that as the most optimistic chapter. And I think you said 217, but you need to agents control.

And if you have not gotten beyond 270 and yet, I think that everybody should keep their powder dry until such time as it's official that we will not be in the majority. Those of us who have been watching these things for years, we do believe it would be very, very, very difficult for us to maintain the majority, that is the Democrats. And so maybe once it's official, then people ought to make their changes now.

LEMON: But you did just say it won't be a Speaker for us. It looks like you just said that we had the map up and look --.

CLYBURN: Yes --

LEMON: Okay, but you look you did do better than you thought. But you it looks like you're going to lose the speakership. So if you have sort of a post mortem for the Democrats, because the Republicans were competitive in congressional races in many places across the country, even here in New York that like no one thought that they would be. So what is your message there? What are Democrats saying now? Like, what should we do? How are we going to change strategy and move forward?

CLYBURN: Well, we got to modify our approach in a lot of places. Look, we lost seats up in New York, as he said that we had no idea we would lose. We got to take a look at that and see why did he lose and better the next time? There are seats out in California that looks like we're not going to be successful in that I thought he would be successful in.

[08:45:00]

CLYBURN: Now, having said that, we were successful in a lot of places that we did not think. It would be successful now this book came out pretty much the way. I thought it would I said to another network this Sunday before the election, that you all are going to be in for a big surprise come Tuesday night, because I've been out there.

I went into 24 congressional districts, and we won 22 of those seats, and the two of them that we lost, I really just, I don't know what to think about those two, they were toughness. And we knew that we'd have a big problem in Virginia. But we didn't intend to lose about that margin, and send the accident in hour I thought she would win, and she lost so I've taken a look at both those as well, not just where we won, but where we lost, so that we can do it better the next time around.

HARLOW: You said this week, if we're not able to set the agenda, meaning if we're not in the majority. We need to at least significantly affect the agenda. What does that agenda look like for you even if it is in the minority?

CLYBURN: Well, I think that we have got to keep this march toward a more perfect union. I think you will recall that a year ago, I started saying that what this country need, especially after January 6, was a very definitive election. And in order to get to that point, we needed for people to step outside of their comfort zones.

And that's what happened on Tuesday; we got a very definitive election. It allows both sides to come together and come up with an agenda for the American people and stop some of the acrimony. People are sick and tired of that.

You see, all these election deniers have lost now there may be some down in law positions in legislatures, that one, but all the biggest, the Nationals they lost, that have to tell them something. So let's sit down around the table and figure out how to move an agenda forward, there will be a benefit to the American people. We will try to leave a country better than we found it.

Our pre action and forebears left us a good country. It is a great country. But we must do what's necessary to make that greatness accessible and affordable for all Americans. That's the kind of agenda I want. I'm not saying that it has to be my way. Let's just make it a way that everybody can feel a part of this great country. And we can't maintain our greatness. If we can have some goodness exists in among us tremendous body.

COLLINS: We're going to end on that answer. I don't think there's much more to say than that, Congressman Clyburn, as always, we were so grateful for your time this morning.

LEMON: Good to see you, sir. You'd be well.

CLYBURN: Thank you, same to you guys. Good luck to you.

COLLINS: Thank you.

He's got a busy day on Capitol Hill of him. Justin here though retail sales in the U.S. are surging in October will tell you what it means for the economy. Plus, it is one of the most anticipated concert tours in recent memory. Now Taylor Swift Fans, including my sister are turning their anger for Ticketmaster home yourself --.

LEMON: Come on, you're a total --

COLLINS: I've been looking for that we have a record player I like them.

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[08:50:00]

COLLINS: Taylor Swift Fans unable to shake it off Ticketmaster's website if you're to crash and freeze on Tuesday during the ticket pre sales for a handful of dates for her highly anticipated eras tour. Irate fans took to Twitter they were calling out Ticketmaster saying it wasn't loading. It wasn't allowing them to get tickets, even if they have that code for the verified fans the presale code.

So to join us now to talk about what actually happened on the business aspect of this is our Business Correspondent Rahel Solomon. I mean, they should have known that this was going to crash the system.

LEMON: She knows that she was one of those fans.

RAHEL SOLOMON, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Everyone waiting. Yeah, a lot of critics a lot of Swifties feel that way. So this is essentially what happened. This was a pre-sale event meant for fans, not bots, not resellers to be able to buy tickets before general sales on Friday. What ended up happening is there was so much demand that some people were stuck in queues for hours, other people say that they waited in queues waited in line.

And then by the time they got to actually be able to check out and pay. They were kicked off the site. Or suddenly the tickets just disappeared so lots of frustration. Ticketmaster says, look, there was a historically unprecedented demand with millions showing up to buy tickets. I think the reason why some say they should have known is because you have to get a code in order to even participate in this pre-sale event.

And so some are wondering, well, if I got a code clearly, you know what the demand was Ticketmaster saying, look, you have the opportunity to buy a ticket. But just because you had the code doesn't mean that you were necessarily guaranteed a ticket.

LEMON: Especially Kaitlan.

COLLINS: Can anyone get me the tickets.

SOLOMON: I think Don was going to get tickets.

HARLOW: And my second point is like, why is Ticketmaster seem like the only place we can buy these tickets from is Washington looking at this?

SOLOMON: Well, certainly a lot of critics would like to know that too. So Ticketmaster does have dominant share, right? 70 to 80 percent, depending on which estimate you look at when Ticketmaster and Live Nation merge. There were concerns back then I think that was 2010. There were concerns back then about whether this would create a monopoly and anti-competitive behavior.

What you have with that merger essentially is you have the ticket sellers Ticketmaster; you have the venues, the promoters the art. And by the way, the artists all represented under the umbrella.

[08:55:00]

SOLOMON: I think where it starts to get anti-competitive, at least from a legal sense is, are they using that data dominant market share to also perform or participate in an anti-competitive way to then charge higher fees. And I think that legally is maybe why the bar is so high especially here.

LEMON: There are some lawmakers actually would like to look at Ilhan Omar, Congressman Alexandria Ocasio Cortez. And then New Jersey Congressman Bill Purcell has also been watching Ticketmaster, this is since 2020. This is a dynamic pricing scheme following the sales of Bruce Springsteen's 2023 tour. So it may get something may happen from this.

SOLOMON: I mean certain lawmakers would certainly like it. I mean, that's the important thing. I think with that pricing scheme, is that something that we all experience probably on a daily basis when you buy an airline ticket, that's a dynamic pricing scheme, essentially, it just means that the price is set based on the demand. So we're at concerts, there's a part there are a few tickets, there's a percentage where that is based on demand and we know demand is high.

LEMON: Thank you. SOLOMON: Yeah, thanks for America.

LEMON: Little some other stuff --

HARLOW: -- get my tickets from Don and Kaitlan.

LEMON: It's bad because the scalpers you know make all the money and people want their tickets they want this Swifties right here want to see her.

in our control room wants their break, so he'll give it to them CNN's "Newsroom" starts after this.

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