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CNN This Morning

State Of The 2024 Race With Just Weeks To Go Until Iowa; Congress Heads Home For Holidays With Mounting Problems; House Committee Launches Investigation Into Harvard President; U.S. Consumer Confidence Jumps, Home Sale Inch Higher; AAA Predicts Record-Setting Air Travel Through New Years; CNN Flies Over Erupting Volcano In Iceland. Aired 8:30-9a ET

Aired December 21, 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]

DAVID CHALIAN, CNN POLITICAL DIRECTOR: And then they need to build out some Super Tuesday campaigns because if indeed DeSantis somehow does survive and has this surprise to stay in the race longer, it becomes a delegate race. And they really got to build out where the delegate math is, which is in these big Super Tuesday states.

PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN ANCHOR: There are a lot of Democrats who have a lot of ideas for what President Biden's campaign should be doing right now. The Biden team, I think, is fairly steadfast in their direction that they're headed, but they're also close knit and don't talk an awful lot. What do you think that should be? What are you hearing right now?

CHALIAN: Well, the one thing you hear on the regular is they want this election to be a referendum on Donald Trump. They think that contrast between what Biden would be doing in 2025, and what Trump would be doing in 2025, serves them well. And you heard the President weigh in, not on the actual court ruling and what the court should do, but weigh in on the notion that Trump has an insurrectionist yesterday. So, make everyday a referendum on Trump.

If indeed House Republicans move forward with impeachment on Biden make that a political advantage, not unlike Donald Trump did with his first impeachment or Bill Clinton did turn that into a rallying cry for the base because Joe Biden's mission is to start bringing the base back to him, those pieces of his coalition that have drifted away. And another way to do that they believe is keeping abortion rights front and center. It is the one most animating issue for Democrats right now.

MATTINGLY: Do they feel like they can turn the economic views in the country around? I know, they think they have a message that hasn't connected?

CHALIAN: Right. They will continue to sell Bidenomics. There's no doubt about it. He was doing it yesterday. I don't believe they see that as the silver bullet to his problems as much as some of these other pieces could be. MATTINGLY: I'm going to schedule some meetings for you tomorrow in the cities --

CHALIAN: Yes.

MATTINGLY: -- that you can't go back (INAUDIBLE) to keep you out here. David Chalian, thank you.

CHALIAN: Appreciate it.

ERICA HILL, CNN ANCHOR: Well, Congress is headed home for the holidays today. Many lawmakers though fear January will be chaotic. You think? Well, one reason maybe they should look in the mirror. They have left a long to do list behind them that will need to be tackled as soon as they get back. On that list, aid for Ukraine and Israel, border security and oh, that pesky little thing called government funding. Deadlines looming in mid-January and early February.

CNN's Lauren Fox is live in Washington D.C. with more for us this morning. So, a lot to get done here. And still, plenty of internal divisions within each party. Is there a sense that this is actually going to come together after a little break?

LAUREN FOX: Well, in some ways, they don't really have a choice on the question of government funding, Erica. Lawmakers are going to return that week in January 8th. And the expectation is they're going to have about 10 days to find a path forward on government funding. Specifically, there are deep divisions between Republicans in the House and Republicans in the Senate at what the best path forward is right now. And despite the fact that negotiators have been trying to find agreement on simply how much funding the government should be spending next year, so far, they haven't been able to find any agreement on that question.

You know, Senator Susan Collins, the top Republican appropriator put it to me this way, January is not going to be that enjoyable of a month. And the other reality here is that despite the fact that negotiators were working around the clock to find some kind of border agreement, they're going to continue meeting virtually over the next couple of weeks, they still have not been able to clinch an agreement on what border policy changes that they can agree to. That, of course, is keeping aid for Ukraine, aid for Israel from passing in the House and the Senate. And even if Senate negotiators can find a path forward, there's no guarantee that the new speaker Mike Johnson is going to put it on the floor of the House.

So, you have this entanglement of issues coming up in January, that's going to make this a very difficult few weeks for lawmakers when they return. And they've just punted everything. They are now home for the holiday. And there's just no clear guidance right now on how they're going to get this all done in a matter of about three weeks.

MATTINGLY: I mean, if there's a can, lawmakers will find a way to kick it. Lauren, the biggest question I've had in following your reporting and teams reporting over the course of the last couple of weeks is you and I've stood outside of closed-door meetings about immigration for hundreds of hours over the course of the last decade. Never do they resolve themselves with legislation. Is this different?

FOX: Well, I think that they are trying to make this a very different moment. And the fact that there haven't been all that many details that have leaked out of each of these meetings, to me that is a sign that the negotiators are working in good faith. You know Mayorkas has been up on Capitol Hill repeatedly every time they've had an in-person meeting. Senators Kyrsten Sinema, James Lankford and Chris Murphy have been working very closely together. And you know, this group of lawmakers does have you know, a pass together. Sinema and Murphy they worked on gun reform legislation together and were able to get a deal when no one thought they could.

Still immigration is different and any of those lawmakers will tell you that is the case. Kyrsten Sinema has said repeatedly, this is the most complicated bipartisan negotiation she has ever been a part of. And she's been part of several.

[08:35:00]

So, that does give you an indication, Phil, that this is a really tricky and thorny political issue that so far these lawmakers haven't been able to find a path forward. And they do tell you when they agree on something, then they realize there's four other questions that they still have to answer.

HILL: Yes, it is something. Lauren, appreciate it. Good to see you this morning. Thanks.

MATTINGLY: And also, this morning, the city of Chicago says it's working to find space for asylum seekers staying at O'Hare Airport after they were flown there from Texas. On Tuesday night, Texas Governor Greg Abbott chartered a flight from El Paso to Chicago with more than 120 asylum seekers on board. Abbott did this after Chicago began impounding buses dropping off migrants last week. Chicago says it has received more than 25,000 migrants from Texas over the last year.

HILL: New overnight, a House committee is now looking into allegations of plagiarism at Harvard President Claudine Gay over the span of some 24 years

MATTINGLY: And today, people are starting to head home for the holidays. How busy this year's travel season could get? That's ahead.

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[08:40:00]

MATTINGLY: New overnight, embattled Harvard University President Claudine Gay is now under fire for alleged plagiarism in her academic work. According to a letter from the House Education Committee Chairwoman Virginia Foxx to the university on Wednesday, lawmakers are looking into quote credible allegations of plagiarism over a period of 24 years. But remember this comes after they barely survived the fallout surrounding her congressional testimony about campus anti- Semitism. Joining us now CNN's Matt Egan. Matt, what -- what more we know at this -- it's wild. It's gotten this far. There's like an investigation underway here.

MATT EGAN, CNN REPORTER: Yes, Phil, it is wild. And clearly, Claudine Gay is very much in the hot seat still. First, it was overheard testimony before Congress, and now it's her writings that are under intense scrutiny here. And so, here's the latest, Harvard is confirming that Gay is issuing corrections to her 1997 PhD dissertation, because of what they described as, quote, inadequate citations. Now note, this is on top of the corrections that were issued just last week to her scholarly work in the 2000s. And those corrections came after an independent review by Harvard's top board.

Now Harvard says that its top governing board has concluded that these issues are quote regrettable, but that they don't constitute research misconduct, which is something that would be punishable -- a punishable offense.

Now meanwhile, as you mentioned, the House Committee on Education is also reviewing these plagiarism allegations. They're alleging that there's a double standard here. They're requesting a written response from the university from eight days from now. Let me read you what Chair Virginia Foxx wrote in this latest letter. I'm quoting, if a university is willing to look the other way and not hold faculty accountable for engaging in academically dishonest behavior, it cheapens its mission and the value of its education.

You got to wonder whether the way that this news has come out in this drip, drip, drip fashion is only hurting matters here. And whether Harvard officials wish that they looked at all of Claudine Gay's work, instead of just sort of a portion of it, because that's not helping matters.

HILL: It is fascinating. So now we wait I guess these eight days to see what their written responses. And then we go from there?

EGAN: Yes, well, one of the interesting questions here is why Harvard has decided to this point, not to punish Claudine Gay over these plagiarism issues. Now Harvard says that what they've uncovered again, it doesn't constitute research misconduct, and they point to their policy, which states that for it to be research misconduct, it must be a significant departure from accepted practice. It must be, quote, intentionally, knowingly or recklessly. And it must be proven by preponderance of evidence. And the school is indicating basically, it hasn't met all three of those criteria, most notably, that second one around intentionally and knowingly or recklessly misconduct.

So that's why the school hasn't taken action against her to this point. We should also know what Claudine Gay has said. She said that she stands by the scholarship of the integrity of her scholarship. Throughout my career, I have worked to ensure my scholarship adheres to the highest academic standards. But clearly the scrutiny here is only intensifying.

MATTINGLY: No question about it. Matt Egan, thank you. EGAN: Thank you.

HILL: New data out, shows that Americans fears of a recession are actually beginning to fade. A Conference Board report shows U.S. consumer confidence jumping from a mere 101 in November up to 110.7 in December. That is actually the highest level since July. We should also note home sales are starting to inch higher. That's despite rising prices and record high mortgage rates.

CNN's Vanessa Yurkevich joining us now. So, we look at this growth in consumer confidence, which sounds really nice to hear. How does that translate into the economy?

VANESSA YURKEVICH, CNN BUSINESS & POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: Well, for so long, we've been looking at data around prices, what prices are doing. Now we're getting data around how Americans are feeling. And for so long, Americans have not been feeling great about the economy. But this is one of the first reports that indicates that Americans are starting to feel much better about the economy. You see the rise over the past couple of months to 110.7. That is significant. But also significant is how consumers are feeling about expectations of the future, where the economy is going to be in six months.

And that's important because over the past couple of months, that number has been below 80. And when you have a number below 80 is essentially signals that a recession could be coming. Historically, that's what those numbers have pointed to in this latest report in December that numbers above 80. So that's good news. More Americans feeling like a recession could be avoided. More Americans believing that interest rates will fall, stock market prices will rise. And that is actually what we've seen in a lot of the data.

And also, a lot of Americans now saying they have confidence that they can make big purchases on things like homes. So many Americans were sitting on the sidelines for so long because of high home prices. And because of high mortgage rates. We expect both to start to moderate in the next couple of months.

But there is a writing portion of this survey where they say what's the biggest pain point for you? People still saying high prices. And when asked how they feel like their household is doing right now financially, they say more people are saying bad than good. And important to note that consumer confidence number while increasing is not where it was pre-pandemic.

[08:45:09]

MATTINGLY: Yes. I bet 2021 -- highest is 2021. I think.

HILL: Yes.

MATTINGLY: So, to your point, the vibes may be shifting. We're not totally sure yet. Good caveats there. I have to ask the acquisition of U.S. steel, was acquisition to U.S. steel, I think is the most fascinating story. Right now, economic business, but also political. There has been some sharp political, political pushback. YURKEVICH: U.S. steel has been around for almost 125 years. This is like a Ford Motor Company, a Coca Cola. That's what it means to American culture, opposition, bipartisan opposition. A lot of senators from Pennsylvania and Ohio, both coming out and saying, we don't like this at all. And we also are concerned about national security interests.

But this deal is likely to go through, it's going to go through a regulatory oversight process, but Japan is an ally, and unless another company comes in and makes a bigger offer, this deal is really likely to close,

MATTINGLY: Really fascinating to watch. Always good vibes with Vanessa (INAUDIBLE).

HILL: Good to see you.

MATTINGLY: Thanks (INAUDIBLE).

HILL: This morning, CNN is getting an aerial view of this erupting volcano in Iceland. Fred Pleitgen just returning from a helicopter flyover.

Fred, give us a sense of what you saw.

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: All right, Erica, that was an incredible flight over the volcanic eruption zone. We saw the sheer size of it, we were able to smell the magma and feel the heat as we were flying above. That's coming up.

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[08:50:41]

HILL: A live look for you there at LaGuardia Airport to New York City. Oh, calm right now could it be the calm before the storm. Just might be. It is expected to be a little busy this holiday season. AAA predicting record setting air travel over Christmas and the New Year. And if you add to that the road travel, we're talking about according to AAA more than 115 million people who will be traveling 50 miles or more. Between Friday and the first day of the new year, we're talking about two and a half million more people than were traveling last year.

MATTINGLY: CNN's Pete Muntean joins us live from Reagan National Airport. Put this into perspective. Two and a half million sounds like a lot. Is it a lot or should people be stressed out right now?

PETE MUNTEAN, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT: Should they be stressed out? Yes, maybe a little. You know, the TSA just updated the forecasts. They thought that 2.5 million people were going to be screened at airports across the country today. And now they're saying it's closer to 2.65 million people today, 2.69 million people tomorrow. It just keeps getting bigger. In fact, that's the precheck line. That is the clear line behind me. I just wanted to take a look at the video here from the 7:00 a.m. rush here at Reagan National Airport. You can see the really long line earlier today. United Airlines says it expects about 9 million people in total, 4,000 flights a day a 12 percent increase compared to this time last year. The good news here is that airlines performed pretty admirably over the Thanksgiving rush. There were only about 20,000 delays but 250 cancellations. And we took a little behind the scenes look at United Airlines big operation in New York. It's one of its big hubs worldwide. And it says that it is prepared for whatever challenge Mother Nature throws its way.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LINDA JOJO, CHIEF CUSTOMER OFFICER, UNITED AIRLINES: We did have overall really good weather during Thanksgiving although on Sunday, which was the biggest travel day of that weekend. We did have some ice and some snow into some of our hubs. And so as long as the weather holds the way we're seeing that it will, it will, we really think that we're prepared and we're ready to respond if the weather does change.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MUNTEAN: Here are the big tips, arrived two hours early the TSA is underscoring and tried to factor in some time for parking. So many airport garages are full, you may want to book those parking spots ahead of time before you show up to the airport. The other big tip from the TSA, make sure your gifts that you are bringing are unwrapped to make it easier if they have to be inspected. Probably going to do some wrapping when you get your -- to your destination. The big Pete Muntean tip, try not to check a bag. We saw so many issues over the Southwest rush last year when people put really significant things they needed into their bags and they weren't able to get them. So, try to carry on if you can.

HILL: You are speaking my language, Pete. My children are not allowed to check guys. Only under certain circumstances. Appreciate it my friend. Thank you.

MATTINGLY: This morning, CNN is getting a look at Iceland's volcanic eruption from above. Our Frederik Pleitgen just took a helicopter ride over the two-and-a-half-mile (INAUDIBLE) and says he could feel the volcanoes incredible power.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PLEITGEN (on-camera): This is an amazing thing to be witnessed like from up here. You can see the smell (INAUDIBLE). The volcanic (INAUDIBLE). You can see the lava, you smell the (INAUDIBLE), you can feel the power that our planet is unleashing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HILL: So, the eruption does appear to be dying down a bit after two days of shooting that molten lava several feet into the air. Frederik Pleitgen back on the ground now with us.

So, this is quite an aerial view. And as you pointed out, Fred it really was hitting all the senses up there. What more did you see?

PLEITGEN: Yes, it certainly was it and I can tell you it really blew me away the fact that you could literally smell the magma, you could smell the sulfur as we were flying over. That volcanic eruption, of course in the early stages we saw those massive fountains, that wall of magma that was about two miles, two and a half miles long spewing out of the earth. And as we just saw there in that video, it certainly has subsided a great deal, but the lava there is still extremely hot. We could see fires, we could see magma, and we were flying very low with the Icelandic Coast Guard who by the way, because it's dark so much of the day time right now in the Arctic winter, they have to practice evacuations out of that zone at nighttime because of course there are people who are around here who are working here.

[08:55:10]

I want to show you something, though here. We're in the town of Grindavik. And the reason why the, the threat still isn't over yet. Because the magma tunnel that led to that eruption that we've been seeing, it went right through this town. You can see the damage that was caused by earthquakes from that magma tunnel. And that's why the local residents so far, they can't go back into this town just yet. They can come for an hour and two every day, but they can't stay here overnight.

I want to show you guys one thing that really blows my mind in here. Look at over here. This is the crack. I'm actually standing right on top of that magma tunnel. It's right under our feet. Look how much higher the ground is on the right side of your screen than on the left side of the screen. That depression was caused by earthquakes caused by that magma tunnel. And of course, they were looking to see where that magma (INAUDIBLE) was going to burst out of the earth. It happened there and that big eruption that we saw, that's what we flew over today. Certainly, an incredible sight and once again, the authorities who are saying the danger is not over guys.

HILL: It is really remarkable. Fred, really good to have you there on the ground. Thank you.

MATTINGLY: Ahead on CNN more, on the new delay tactic from former President Trump that could add to the legal chaos surrounding the 2024 election. "CNN NEWS CENTRAL" starts after a quick break.

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