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The First Lady talks about Running in 2024; Best Films at Box Office; New Trend of Bare Minimum Monday. Aired 8:30-9a ET

Aired February 27, 2023 - 08:30   ET

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

[08:30:00]

JILL BIDEN, FIRST LADY: Was this recently?

ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: It was recent.

BIDEN: Oh. I must have missed it.

SAENZ: So we're going to the source.

Where do things stand? When's an announcement coming?

BIDEN: Well, he said he intends to run. So, nothing's been planned yet. I think, you know, he's been so busy with being in Ukraine, handling some of the crises at home. So, I - I think, you know, he's not -- he's putting that first. He's putting America's business before he's putting his own.

SAENZ: But has the decision been made amongst the family that he's going to run?

BIDEN: Well, it's Joe's -- really it's Joe's decision. And we support whatever he wants to do. If he's in, we're there. If he wants to do something else, we're there, too.

SAENZ: Is there any chance at this point that he's not going to run?

BIDEN: Not in my book.

SAENZ: You're all for it?

BIDEN: I'm all for it, of course.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SAENZ: So, as we're reading all of these tea leaves, this is just another indication that the president is moving closer to launching a possible re-election bid. Of course, his advisers have pointed to the coming months as a possible launch date for that.

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: And you spent time with the first lady, as I said in the introduction to you, as she traveled through Africa. Tell us more about that. That's interesting.

SAENZ: Yes, we spent the last five days traveling through Africa, stops in Namibia and Kenya, where the first lady really talked about a host of issues, including women's empowerment, the importance of young people in democracy, and also talking about some of the government programs that have aided Africa, including PEPFAR, which is celebrating its 20th anniversary.

But perhaps the most poignant moment came yesterday when she traveled down to rural -- a rural village in Kenya to see firsthand the impact of drought in the region. There were hundreds gathered there to receive health and nutritional services. And the first lady got to hear firsthand what these people were experiencing. And we were there every step of the way and we'll bring -- be bringing that to you a little bit later this week.

LEMON: Wow, interesting. Thank you so much. I don't know if you guys have gotten - Arlette, we're going to - we'll be watching your special.

POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: Can't wait to see that.

LEMON: But if you've ever gone to Africa and gotten to see what PEPFAR does, it is astounding. It was astounding what the power of a United States president, what it - what it can do.

HARLOW: Yes, that's a great point.

LEMON: By the way, you can watch the rest of Arlette's wide-ranging interview with First Lady Jill Biden. CNN primetime, "Jill Biden: Abroad" airs on Thursday, 9:00 p.m., of course, right here on CNN.

KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Can't wait to watch that.

And for more on what Jill Biden told Arlette there, let's bring CNN's chief political correspondent and the co-anchor of "STATE OF THE UNION," Dana Bash.

Dana, anyone who has ever covered Biden knows that the probably biggest influence on his decisions is the first lady. So, what she says there carries a lot of weight about what we could see happen with his 2024 run.

LEMON: So, he's definitely running.

DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Definitely, unless he's not.

First of all, good morning, guys. Nice to see you.

LEMON: Good morning.

HARLOW: Good morning.

BASH: Not only does she carry like the ultimate weight, but the other thing that you all know from covering Joe Biden for a long time is that he's not generally in a rush to make decisions, especially big, consequential decisions, which is part of the reason why it's taking as long in the view of some Democrats as it is. I'll tell you what I'm hearing from sources in Biden world. And that

is the following. Just like you just heard from the first lady, he's been very focused on all of the international trips and policy that he's needed to focus on as the year anniversary of Ukraine approached. And just on the raw politics of it, they (INAUDIBLE) is not likely to have a significant primary challenger. There's no rush to jump in. They look at the calendar and the history, the most recent history of a two-term president, and that is his former boss, Barack Obama, that he didn't announce until around now.

The thing that is missing, as far as we know, though, is the kind of behind-the-scenes movement that generally happens, or the sort of checking out of the White House and checking into a political world from people who are close to him. We haven't seen that happen yet. And that is a bit surprising.

LEMON: Is it because - though I feel like he's taking sort of the diplomatic road rather than the traditional, I'm going to run for president road (ph) because he's using it as - you know, traveling to Ukraine and what have you. And maybe that's his best bet right now is that, hey, look, I'm in charge and I'm leading already.

BASH: Yes. Yes, that's exactly right. That's exactly right.

LEMON: Yes.

BASH: And, look, there is frustration among (INAUDIBLE) especially those who are reluctant to see him run because, really for one reason only, and that is because of his age. And the thinking, well, it -- maybe he won't announce. And if he isn't, you're leaving the Democrats who are going to start to need to build campaigns a little bit on -- in a lurch.

[08:35:09]

But there's no real indication, particularly what we heard -- given what we heard from the first lady to our Arlette Saenz, that plans have changed.

HARLOW: You had a really enlightening, I thought, eye-opening interview with the RNC chair, Ronna McDaniel, after her fourth, you know, win to lead that yesterday. And this exchange was striking about whether they will, again, call for a loyalty pledge for the eventual nominee.

Listen -- I want our viewers to hear this and get your thoughts on the other side.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RONNA MCDANIEL, RNC CHAIR: We haven't put the criteria out, but I expect a pledge will be part of it. It was part of 2016. I think it's kind of a no-brainer, right? If you're going to be on the Republican National Committee debate stage, asking voters to support you, you should say, I'm going to support the voters and who they choose as the nominee. BASH: I want you to listen to what former President Donald Trump said

a couple of weeks ago in an interview with conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt on this very topic.

HUGH HEWITT: If you're not the nominee, will you support whoever the GOP nominee is?

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: It would depend. I would - I would give you the same answer I gave in 2016 during the debate, it would have to depend on who the nominee was.

BASH: So are you prepared to block the former president if he doesn't sign it?

MCDANIEL: Well, he signed it in 2016. He did.

BASH: I know.

MCDANIEL: Everybody signed it in 2016.

BASH: But this is about the here and the now. He didn't commit to it.

MCDANIEL: Yes, I think they're - I think they're all going to sign it. I really do.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: She really -- remember when she said to you at the beginning of the interview, I ran on a unity platform. She really sounds like she believes it, unity, it's going to be recall good, everyone on the same page. What do you think?

BASH: I think that is definitely her goal. I've heard from at least one potential candidate after that, concerned that in her - in her effort to create unity among the candidates, by asking them, forcing them to sign a pledge in order to get on the debate stage -

HARLOW: Right.

BASH: It will inherently cause fracture. Because of the other thing that I talked to her about, which is the elephant, no pun intended, in the room, which is the fact that we're talking about the former president here. And we're talking about a former president who has been disqualified from being president again in the eyes of several potential candidates for president. And the feeling is, among some of them, how can I sign a pledge promising to support him as the nominee if he is the nominee if I don't think he should be president.

And it's going to be a very tough thing for some of these candidates who are going to have to decide, from their perspective, if they are going to put country first or party first. And that is kind of the calculus that is going on. Not among all of the Republican candidates who are not Donald Trump, but among some of them. Never mind the question that I've put in the clip that you played about Trump himself, whether he will actually stick to any kind of pledge. They signed pledges in 2016. It's not really clear that they actually

lived up to it. I mean John Kasich signed that pledge to get on the debate stage and he never supported Donald Trump. Just one example.

COLLINS: Yes, it's a great point that it's not just about Trump and what he does, it's also what Asa Hutchinson and others.

One fascinating part of this interview, I think, was where she brought up the fact that she's Mitt Romney's niece. Something that we saw her downplay at times. And she said, I'm Mitt Romney's niece. I was appointed to the RNC by Trump. She goes, I would support both of them if they were the nominee, but I don't know if they would support each other. Talk about how damaging all of this is for Republicans, generally, that they're not -- that they don't know for sure that they'd support who the nominee is.

BASH: Yes, I really thought that was interesting, as well, because she was trying to make the point that she is a unifier and she is somebody who can kind of see broadly on the entire Republican spectrum.

But look, again, it is damaging because we're talking about the influence of one man, and that is Donald Trump. If Donald Trump were not part of this equation and you're talking about Ron DeSantis, Asa Hutchinson, Chris Sununu, you know, Chris Christie, name your candidate, they would all be fine with signing a loyalty pledge. This is about Donald Trump, events of January 6th, full stop.

COLLINS: The Trump campaign said they (INAUDIBLE) don't have to worry about this because they think he's going to be the nominee.

HARLOW: He will be.

BASH: Of course.

COLLINS: Dana Bash, fascinating interviews, as always. Thank you.

BASH: Thanks, guys. Good to see you.

LEMON: Love the sweater look, Dana. It looks great.

BASH: Thank you.

HARLOW: She always does. Did you see her glowing in white yesterday? Just come here for your compliments.

All right, one -- Harry thought that was funny. Thanks, Harry.

One film swept last night's SAG Awards, but did anyone actually go to the theater to see it? I can't wait to see it. Kaitlan saw it. Harry Enten is here to break it down.

COLLINS: And I saw it in theater.

HARLOW: Not a lot of people -

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [08:43:53]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And the actor goes to "Everything, Everywhere, All at Once."

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: OK, so "Everything, Everywhere, All at Once" seemed to win, well, everything at the SAG Awards, but did you pay to see it in theaters? It begs the question, are award shows really out of touch? The question is, too, Harry, where can you even watch the award shows?

HARLOW: Right, you were saying that.

LEMON: I was saying like I was trying to watch the Image Awards, didn't know where I could watch it. Watch the SAG Awards, didn't know where I could watch them. So, if you can't watch the awards and watch the movie -- I don't know.

HARRY ENTEN, CNN SENIOR DATA REPORTER: You need - you need a - you need a TV Guide, Don.

But, look --

LEMON: It's not on TV!

HARLOW: No, (INAUDIBLE) streaming!

ENTEN: Or it's streaming. Well, it's SAG streaming. Just go online and type it in. That's what Google is for.

OK, this morning's number is 26. "Everything, Everywhere, All at Once," the Oscar best picture favorite, 26th in domestic box office for 2022 releases. So, there were 25 films that ranked above "Everything, Everywhere, All at Once" in terms of the domestic box office.

Now, you might be wondering to yourself, is that a high number, is that a low number, are the films out of touch that are being nominated?

[08:45:03]

ENTEN: So, where do Oscar best picture films rank at domestic box office in a given year? Since 2009, look at these nominations. 62nd! That has been the median rank. 62nd! Compare that to 1980 to 2008, where they ranked 11th. So it seems to me that the Oscars have this almost ballooning problem whereby it used to be - look, it wasn't that they'd win the best picture - the best picture - best picture film would be in the top of the box office, but at least be near the top. That's not the case anymore.

LEMON: OK, so, do people even go to the movies anymore?

ENTEN: Yes. SO, here's the thing, though, do people actually go to the movies anymore.

Saw a movie in the theater last week. Look, in 1950, 33 percent of Americans saw a movie in the last week.

LEMON: Look at that. Wow.

ENTEN: But look at this trend, 10 percent in '68, 8 percent in '95, 3 percent in 2013. In 2022, just 2 percent of Americans saw a movie in the last week. And compare that to streaming or being on TV - or -- yes, look at this. Watch a movie at least once in the last week via paid streaming, look at that, 58 percent of Americans watched at least one movie per week via paid streaming. Look at paid TV, 52 percent. So a majority of Americans are still watching movies, but they're watching it, in fact, on their television. They're not going to the movies and watching it in person.

Of course, I do have to ask the question, what is video entertainment anymore anyway? Because we have YouTube, about 65 percent of adults and 90 percent of teens use it more than once weekly. And we have TikTok, which is even shorter, right? About 25 percent of adults and 65 percent of teens use it more than weekly. So, I'm not sure box office really tells us much anymore anyway, guys.

LEMON: Yes. I'm YouTube -- I watch a lot of YouTube TV.

HARLOW: You do?

LEMON: Yes. And very rarely do I -

ENTEN: It's good stuff.

COLLINS: You went to the movies on Friday, though?

HARLOW: I -- 4:50 p.m. screening of "Mummies" with my kids, and my husband goes -

LEMON: But that counts.

HARLOW: My husband goes, I wish we could be watching something else. We don't get time to go to adult movies. But, yes, it sort of counts.

COLLINS: It's not easy with kids.

HARLOW: It sort of counts. Yes, right.

LEMON: Harry Enten.

HARLOW: Thanks, Harry.

LEMON: Thank you, sir. Thanks, Harry.

HARLOW: Do you suffer from the Sunday scaries? Well, a new TikTok trend aims to put an end to the suffering. We'll tell you about bare minimum Monday, coming up.

LEMON: Oh, boy. HARLOW: Oh, boy.

COLLINS: Here for it.

HARLOW: Oh, boy.

COLLINS: Yes, like -

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:51:38]

COLLINS: All right, Damian Lillard has developed a reputation during his 11-year NBA career in Portland. It's called Dame time. And last night the Houston Rockets felt the full force of it as the seven-time all-star scoring 71 points last night. Yes, 71 points in that game. He was scoring at will from inside, outside, way outside, from the logo at half court at one point. Lillard became just the eighth player in the NBA's history with at least 70 points in a game. He is the oldest to ever do it at the very young age of 32. Here's Dame after the game.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAMIAN LILLARD, PORTLAND TRAIL BLAZERS GUARD: We got I think 23, 22 games left after this. And we need to win as many as possible. And you know, obviously, being shorthanded, I know that it's going to be a team effort, but I feel like I've got to, you know, do my best to be aggressive and just try to do what I can to make sure that we get some wins in. you know, that's all the case was, was tonight. I wanted to be in attack mode. I got it going and I just stayed aggressive.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: He was definitely in attack mode. He was definitely aggressive. Lillard led the Blazers to their 29th win as they are trying to break into the playoffs, as he noted there. Down to the final stretch of the season. Awesome game.

HARLOW: Loved that!

COLLINS: Dame time.

HARLOW: Love this next one. Can you relate to this? Watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I got to get out of here. I think I'm going to lose it.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Uh-oh! Sounds like somebody's got a case of the Mondays!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: Well, according to a new TikTok trend, Mondays should actually be about doing almost nothing, as little as possible, and not feeling bad about it. This is something called bare minimum Monday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You knew it was time for something new. So one Monday last year, you woke up and gave yourself permissioned to do the absolute bare minimum for work that day. And everything felt different. The pressure was gone, your work was easier, and you felt better.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: Our chief business correspondent Christine Romans is with us, who knows - you know nothing about bare minimum Monday.

COLLINS: Yes, the irony of the four of us talking about this at 8:53 on a Monday.

HARLOW: I know. Right.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: It's a thing. It's a real thing on TikTok. And there are a lot of young workers who are saying, look, the Sunday scares turn into this unproductive, anxiety- ridden Monday. Monday is the least favorite workday of the week. And so they're focusing on a little bit of self-care. They're easing out of the weekend and into the week and saying they're going to do the very bare minimum.

It's the latest in, remember, quiet quitting. There's also something called rage applying, which is where you are ostensibly at work but you're actually applying to millions of different job offers and they're - or job openings. And there's cyber loafing, where you look like you're busy at work, but really you're using the company time and material for, you know, doing your own personal stuff, which I have actually signed my kids up for camps before at work, but that's because I was working like a 15-hour day.

HARLOW: I mean, come on, you also like work in the middle of the night and -

ROMANS: I know. I know. But, listen, I asked a workplace culture expert, you know, is this just slacking? What are bosses supposed to think about this? This is actually going out there saying, I'm going to work less, and this is what she told me.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JESSICA KRIEGEL, CHIEF SCIENTIST OF WORKPLACE CULTURE, CULTURE PARTNERS: I would say that those CEOs and those bosses who are rolling their eyes, that sometimes we have to set aside what is urgent in order to focus on what's important. And that is what bare minimum Mondays is trying to accomplish.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: I think what it tells you, that there are a lot of people who want a different relationship with their job, right, and they want a little bit more self-care and more time. That's what's been behind this four-day workweek.

But I keep hearing about how these young workers are so, you know, they have -- they're enlightened.

[08:55:04]

They know more about how they want to balance their work and their life. And I keep thinking, well, actually, I think gen-x actually invented slackering, right?

LEMON: Yes.

ROMANS: I mean, remember Garfield?

HARLOW: Are we - are we gen-x?

ROMANS: I hate Monday. I'm gen-x. You're -

HARLOW: What am I?

ROMANS: Are you - you're gen-x. You're gen-x.

LEMON: Gen-x.

ROMANS: So I'm just saying that, every generation has their like reevaluation - I hate -- Garfield said it best, he's way before TikTok, and he already hated Mondays.

LEMON: I worked weekends for a long time and I had Mondays off. It was the best thing ever. And I know -

ROMANS: Really?

HARLOW: Yes.

ROMANS: You had to work during the weekend.

LEMON: Yes. And then the late schedule, I never had the Sunday scares, because I didn't have to be at work until 10:00 on a Monday night. And so it was fine. Now, you know, I'm like, ah! Monday's coming!

COLLINS: The Sunday scares are real.

ROMANS: Yes.

COLLINS: I love that phrase because it really is like this collective anxiety that people feel on Sundays.

ROMANS: Yes. It is. It is. But I wonder -- I think it also all reflects how we don't know who has the upper hand in the economy right now. Last hour I was telling you how confusing everything is. Are the bosses in charge? Are the workers in charge? I mean, it's really fascinating where we are right now.

LEMON: Yes.

HARLOW: I get excited all day Sunday to see you guys. So, you know, that's just me.

LEMON: Poppy.

HARLOW: It's -- I'm not lying. Happy bare minimum -

LEMON: Have a Bible, I'm going to put your hand on that Bible because I don't -

HARLOW: Happy bare minimum Monday. Where's a Bible.

LEMON: I do not believe that.

HARLOW: Thank you, Christine Romans.

ROMANS: You're welcome.

HARLOW: See you guys tomorrow.

LEMON: Have a great day.

HARLOW: What's Tuesday called?

LEMON: CNN "NEWSROOM" starts after -

ROMANS: What is Tuesday?

COLLINS: You've got to go full force on Tuesday.

ROMANS: I know.

LEMON: Tuesday, I don't know.

HARLOW: I don't know.

ROMANS: Tuesday is the worst day of the week.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:00:00]