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CNN This Morning
NYC Subway Fare Price Hike; Will Sharpe is Interviewed about "The White Lotus"; Nelly Cheboi is Interviewed about Becoming CNN Hero of the Year. Aired 8:30-9a ET
Aired December 12, 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]
SEN. ANGUS KING (I-MAINE): Can you guess who the one was?
POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: Kaitlan knows everything on - I don't know.
KING: Ted Cruz.
DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Ted Cruz. But here's the thing, that's what I don't - didn't the midterms show us that the American people want things done in Washington rather than just --
KING: Of course. Of course.
LEMON: So then why aren't -
KING: And I think we will get it done. I think we're going to get it done by the end of the year.
HARLOW: You do?
LEMON: You do?
KING: Oh, absolutely. I think it's going to - it will either be part of the budget. I think they're going to find a way to do it.
Mitch McConnell wants it done. Chuck Schumer wants it done. Nancy Pelosi wants it done. I think we're going to - I think we're going to get there.
I've been working on it for over a year. And - and this is -- it's one of the highest priorities.
This were - this is a -- a time bomb underneath the democracy. This Electoral Count Act is such a mess and so subject to abuse.
HARLOW: Wow.
LEMON: Now, that's a sound bite, a time bomb underneath the American democracy. Yes.
KING: It is.
HARLOW: We appreciate you.
KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: We know you've got a train to Washington.
KING: I do.
HARLOW: Very much. We're going to get you out the door.
COLLINS: Thanks for coming in.
LEMON: By the way, real quick.
HARLOW: What?
LEMON: You didn't get the memo?
HARLOW: What?
KING: Oh, the tie?
LEMON: Because he's wearing a tie. But we -- I'll let you pass because usually people don't wear a tie, but that is the Constitution. So, it's fine.
KING: It's the Constitution. We the people. And you can get one at the store at the Library of Congress.
HARLOW: Like that.
COLLINS: Senator Angus King, thank you so much.
LEMON: Thank you, Senator. Thank you. Really appreciate it.
HARLOW: Thank you, Senator.
KING: Thank you.
LEMON: Safe travels back to D.C.
HARLOW: All right, this morning's number is three. I'll tell you why. Harry Enten is at the wall with how this affects your commute.
LEMON: And who didn't make it out of "The White Lotus"? No spoiler for now. At least while - we're going to have Will Sharpe, the actor who plays Ethan, he's going to join us live straight ahead here.
COLLINS: Thank you.
HARLOW: Thank you. I wanted to -
COLLINS: You're going to support the -
LEMON: So we don't have to worry -
HARLOW: Yes, good news. Kaitlan - Kaitlan is getting you to make news over here.
Hey, Senator, I'll let you go, but -
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[08:35:43]
LEMON: Welcome back everyone to CNN THIS MORNING.
We have a new clip. It's from the Harry and Meghan documentary. What we can expect from part two of their series release.
Russian President Putin cancels his annual end-of-the-year news conference. Why he is shying away from the public for the first time in a decade.
And CNN's Hero of the Year has been named, and she is going to join us now live.
And it is Poppy.
HARLOW: Because we're going to talk about something I know well.
LEMON: No, I was going to say, you're the hero of the year, but -
HARLOW: If only. We're going to talk about the subway.
LEMON: All right.
HARLOW: Hi, Harry.
OK, I'm reading this camera.
Riding the subway in New York City could soon cost you even more. And it is thanks to, no surprise here, Covid.
CNN's senior data reporter Harry Enten joins us with the morning this month - with the number this morning because a bunch of people didn't ride the subway during Covid and the MTA is consistently like underfunded. How much is it going to cost?
HARRY ENTEN, CNN SENIOR DATA REPORTER: Yes, so, look, this is just one idea of how to close a potential $3 billion budget gap come 2025.
HARLOW: Oh, my gosh.
ENTEN: It could be up to 302. That's up from $2.75 now. That might not seem like a lot, but when you're taking the subway every day and you're not using a weekly or a monthly pass, this is the type of number that could add up, we could go over $3.
Now, why - why is it that we could have this large gap, this large budget gap? Because take a look at the current New York City subway ridership level as a percentage of the pre-pandemic period. We're only at about 65 percent, only at about 65 percent. And, of course, we're already well past the time of which we've gotten these vaccines that we could get into our arms and yet folks are not returning to the subway in New York City to the levels they were, at least before the pandemic.
HARLOW: Yes, because a bunch of people are working at home. Not us, but -
ENTEN: Yes. There are a lot of people.
And this is something that we have seen throughout the country, right? This is not just a New York City thing, right? If it was New York City, it would be fun because we could have that conversation, but most of the folks in the audience will be like, why are we talking about this.
HARLOW: Right.
ENTEN: But take a look here at the current rapid transit ridership level as a percentage of the pre-pandemic period. San Francisco, it's only at about 40 percent. In Washington, D.C., it's only about 45 percent. Boston, only about 50 percent. In Chicago, only about 55 percent.
And these are pretty huge, mass transit systems and yet we're not seeing the folks coming back. Why, you say, why is it, right?
So, why are fewer people using mass transit? Well, there's more remote work. Upwards of 50 percent of folks, depending on which city you're in, are still working from home. It's a fear of crime. Some of that is real. Some of that is just what's being portrayed in the media. But it is a real thing. And, as you mentioned, a fear of Covid that's still going on.
And when you combine all of these things into one giant sort of envelope, it gets you to the ridership levels where we're only at about 50 percent depending on which mass transit system you're actually using, Poppy.
HARLOW: Your brain makes up for your lack of arrow drawing ability, Harry Enten.
ENTEN: I have no - I have no - look, I prefer to type. It's easy enough to type out the slides. But drawing on the slides, I'm iffy on that, but I'll go to school for it.
HARLOW: Thank you, friend.
ENTEN: Thank you.
HARLOW: I take the subway. I'm a fan. Thank you.
ENTEN: I do, too.
HARLOW: OK, "White Lotus" fans, were your theories correct? Spoiler alert. I'm serious. Like, I don't know, turn down the volume or something. Don't turn off the TV. But we're going to break down the surprising finale with Will Sharpe, who played Ethan. He is here for CNN TIS MORNING live.
COLLINS: He's alive.
LEMON: Will, I was wrong.
HARLOW: He's still alive.
LEMON: I was wrong, Will.
COLLINS: That means he wasn't killed. He's still alive.
LEMON: I know.
HARLOW: That music (INAUDIBLE) eerie.
LEMON: I actually -
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[08:43:12]
LEMON: I know. So -
COLLINS: It's like in my brain now forever.
LEMON: The music like takes you right there, right?
COLLINS: It's like Pavlov's dog. It's like, "White Lotus."
LEMON: Yes. Yes.
OK, so, listen, obviously Kaitlan and I are super fans. The second season of HBO's hit show "The White Lotus" - sorry, we're making her into a fan.
HARLOW: I mean I'm just - it's - you're just speaking the truth.
LEMON: Yes. It was a close (ph) last night. And we have to warn you because it - we're going to -- this is a spoiler alert. So, if you don't want to know what happened, I would say turn the volume down, OK? We don't want you to change the channel, just turn the volume down.
So, fans have spent the entire season theorizing and trying to figure out one question, who was that floating body. They finally got their answer. It was last night.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We've had very bad luck.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The best thing about luck is, it can always change.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Italy is just so romantic. You're going to die.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: OK. HARLOW: Who's going to die?
LEMON: So - ah. Will Sharpe's here. He plays Ethan on "The White Lotus."
WILL SHARPE, PLAYS ETHAN IN HBO "THE WHITE LOTUS": Hi.
HARLOW: Hi.
LEMON: And we should note that HBO is the unit - it's a parent company to CNN. OK, so -- Warner Brothers Discovery. Wait a minute.
COLLINS: We have the same parents.
LEMON: Warner Brothers Discovery, we're in the same company. Let's get that straight.
COLLINS: We're distant cousins.
LEMON: Yes.
So, thank you for joining us. So, you said, I know that you thought that - you predicted -- you've been telling everybody that things are going to get messy. You said fans should expect fireworks. And there were fireworks.
I have to say, I was wrong. This is a spoiler alert. I'm going to - close your ears. I thought that you were the killer. I did.
SHARPE: OK. I think that's fair. I think that's fair. And, I mean, I don't know what kind of conversations Mike has with the rest of the cast, but I remember, you know, him being very up front with me towards the beginning about how he did want Ethan to be a kind of enigma, you know, especially towards the beginning of the series and for it to be like an available theory that maybe he is going to be the killer.
[08:45:14]
So, I guess I was mindful of that in the playing of it while still sort of having an eye on, you know, the long game of how it really plays out.
COLLINS: So you started the show and the cast does not know who the killer is and who dies?
SHARPE: No, we did. We did. We had all seven scripts. And so, yes, we've been carrying those secrets for a while I guess. And so, in a way it's a relief to be able to talk about it more freely now. But, yes, wow, what a - what a bold move on Mike's part.
HARLOW: Am I missing something? I still don't know who the killer is.
LEMON: So, when - but I don't know if we should -
COLLINS: I don't think we should say.
LEMON: I don't think we should say who the killer is.
HARLOW: OK, so we're not spoiling -- turn the volume back on.
LEMON: It's - it's kind of a spoiler alert, but it's not.
But the twist is, is that the -- it's a double thing because the killer ends up being something else as well, which I won't say.
SHARPE: Yes.
LEMON: Right?
SHARPE: Yes.
LEMON: So, this - there's a - there's a sort of, you know, double twist here.
SHARPE: Yes.
LEMON: Yes.
SHARPE: Yes. And I think, you know, that's part of the beauty of it is that it plays out in a kind of complicated, tragic comic way and it's kind of playful and bombastic, but also, you know, sad and poignant as well. And I think, yes, as I say, I just think it's a very courageous move on Mike's part to go there.
LEMON: Yes.
SHARPE: And it's one of the things I really admire about him.
Sorry, yes.
COLLINS: If you haven't watched this show, what's so fascinating is, it's kind of this idea, like, they're in these amazing settings and it's like people go to paradise, but they still take their problems with them. Like it - it talks about privilege, about class, about sex and all of that. I wonder if you thought of just like the themes for this season because I know Mike White said it wasn't what he initially thought it was going to be, and he changed it based on the setting.
SHARPE: OK. Yes, so, I mean, I definitely think this season explores, you know, sexual politics and gender politics, too, I think, the different ways in which men and women historically can behave, for better or worse.
And as you say, I think it's the Sicilian setting that informs a lot of that. And I remember him saying to me that one of the first inspirations for the story of this season was when he asked a local about the Testa di Moro, you know, there are sculptures of heads that you see often in the show and Ethan and Harper have one in their bedroom. And the story there is relayed in the show is the actual back story for those Testa di Moro. So, yes, I think - I think it's a - it's a dark series. I think in a
funny way it's also romantic. I think Mike does throw some pieces of light in there, and he explores the nature of relationships, but, you know, without shying away from all the gnarliest, messiest, most sort of complex places that a relationship can take you.
LEMON: Well, you're right, there's a lot of sex in this. A lot of naked - nudity.
SHARPE: Yes.
LEMON: It's just - it is. I mean, I've got to be honest, it's - I've -- even for me it's shocking.
COLLINS: It's HBO, how it got its start.
LEMON: It's HBO. It's really great. Congratulations.
HARLOW: Thanks. Congrats.
COLLINS: We love -- we're big fans of the show, Will.
SHARPE: Thank you.
COLLINS: We love - we love the casting. We loved your character especially also.
HARLOW: Yes.
COLLINS: You'll be Ethan to us forever I hope you know, but -
SHARPE: Oh, thank you. OK.
LEMON: You know, and also you and Theo James don't have accents on the show. They're American accents and in person you both have -
HARLOW: Oh, my gosh, they're actors. They're acting.
LEMON: I know, but it's still - it's just - it's just kind of -- I get it, but, you know, I'm used to seeing them on the show in their characters.
HARLOW: Congrats, Ethan, thank you.
COLLINS: Will Sharpe, thank you.
LEMON: Thank you.
HARLOW: I know. Ethan. It's the same thing.
SHARPE: Thank you so much.
HARLOW: Oh, my gosh.
COLLINS: Will Sharpe, Ethan, same thing.
LEMON: See you.
COLLINS: Thank you.
All right, ahead, we have a very special treat. In addition to "White Lotus," fan girling over here, fan boying, CNN Hero of the Year is going to join us live. That's next.
HARLOW: Awe.
LEMON: Hi Nelly.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[08:53:26]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON COOPER, CO-HOST, "CNN HEROES: AN ALL-STAR TRIBUTE": And now the 2022 CNN Hero of the Year is Nelly Cheboi.
KELLY RIPA, CO-HOST, "CNN HEROES: AN ALL-STAR TRIBUTE": Nelly Cheboi.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARLOW: It was the best moment.
COLLINS: It was truly amazing to be there. CNN's Hero of the Year named last night. Nelly Cheboi's non-profit, TechLit Africa has provided thousands of students across rural Kenya with access to computers. And in a very special moment, she brought her mom up on stage and sang with her.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NELLY CHEBOI: And now, in front of the whole world, I want to sing you this song one more time.
(Singing)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: Nelly and her mother join us now.
That moment, I'm so glad it was captured. It -- you told us last night what the song meant. Can you tell - tell -- share with our audience why that song is so special to the two of you.
NELLY CHEBOI, 2022 CNN HERO OF THE YEAR: Because I saw how hard she was working. I really -- I saw like she was working really hard. And so I could not do anything. I could not do anything about it. I was only four. Maybe I was only five. And so -- but then she'll come home sometimes even at midnight like just -- and so I would sing her this song (singing in foreign language) and then - and she will light up. She will light up. She's exhausted, she's stressed, but she will just light up.
[08:55:00]
In that moment I realized that -- that became a tradition. She comes home, we go to bed hungry sometimes, I sing her this song, she lights up, we live for another day.
LEMON: Can I just ask you -- I'm a total mama's boy, so I'm -- this is for me, and I share everything with my mom. Why are you crying?
CHEBOI: Why am I crying?
LEMON: Had you not seen that moment?
CHEBOI: No, I am crying because she did not believe me. I kept singing it to her and she don't believe me. And so -- and to be able to sing to her on such a global stage and right now even here at CNN this morning it's -- I told her that I'm going to show her the world and she did not believe me. And she did not understand. She does not understand what was going on at the event. She was just like, oh that's - you know, that's - she didn't understand. So when I sang to her, she was like, what, what, what? Like she like of like -- it dawned to her. It's like she got to experience the whole moment.
LEMON: Yes.
CHEBOI: And so -- yes.
LEMON: She - she doesn't speak English, right? That's what we have her here.
CHEBOI: Yes, she speaks Swahili, yes.
LEMON: Yes.
Can you just ask her what that moment meant to her?
CHEBOI: (Speaking in Foreign Language).
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (Speaking in Foreign Language).
CHEBOI: Yes. Yes, she says that she just felt so warm. She feels so warm. And she believes me now that -- when I said like I was going to show her the world, she believes me now.
LEMON: Now.
HARLOW: For a mother to see their child grow into what you are is beyond any mother's wildest dreams. I hope you know that, right? All we want for our children, I think, is just to be kind and happy. And not only are you those things, you have used your power to change this world.
CHEBOI: And then also I - I think for her to be here with me, to be here with me, I think like so many people have lost their mothers and - and when they make it, their parents are not there. So, I feel so lucky that she's here and she's able to share the moment with me. COLLINS: And we're so glad that you won and you have this $100,000 now
to expand your work even - even further than you already have and the imprint that you've had.
CHEBOI: Oh, yes. Thank you so much. It's great.
COLLINS: Oh, Don.
LEMON: Thank you. I -
HARLOW: Well, your mom is -
LEMON: You are amazing. I just - I -- just I can't really -- that's amazing. Congratulations.
HARLOW: You know amazing mothers, don't you?
LEMON: I do. This is -- and this is for -- you did it for her and this is her moment as well as yours.
CHEBOI: Yes. Yes.
LEMON: Yes.
CHEBOI: Yes. She's my hero.
LEMON: Thank you, Nelly.
HARLOW: Yes, thank you.
LEMON: Thanks, mom. Christina (ph), thank you so much.
Thank you.
We'll be right back.
HARLOW: Oh, that was so great.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[09:00:06]
HARLOW: I was wondering who that was.
COLLINS: Sorry. I'm showing Poppy and Don my pictures because it was an historic moment in the classic Army/Navy football rivalry. Not just because it was my first time going, but for the first time in the 123 years that they've been playing each other, they went into overtime. Not just overtime, double overtime.
LEMON: Double. Double OT.
COLLINS: Both sides then - you know, it had been a pretty quiet game. Then it was back to back touchdowns. Navy had a chance to win but they fumbled just shy of the goal line, if you see there.
LEMON: Wow. Wow. Oh, no.
COLLINS: Everyone - I mean it went nuts. Army then got the ball back. They kicked a field goal for the victory.
It was truly the game. The camaraderie there is amazing. It's the best experience ever. I think everyone should go.
HARLOW: Can I bring the kids next year or is it to insane for them?
COLLINS: Your kids would love it.
HARLOW: All right, we're going.
COLLINS: They would love it.
HARLOW: We're going.
OK, see you tomorrow morning. "NEWSROOM" is now.
LEMON: We're on -- we're still on TV, by the way.
