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Ten Americans Killed in Plane Crash in Costa Rica; Deputy Shot and Killed in Colorado; Analysts Consider Possible Legislative Agenda for Trump Administration in 2018. Aired 8-8:30a ET

Aired January 01, 2018 - 08:00   ET

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

[08:00:00] NISCHELLE TURNER, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Quickly, there are going to be a couple things that happen. At the Golden Globes you will see all the women wearing black dresses as a nod to the Me Too movement. At the SAG awards there will be all female presenters as a nod paying homage to the Me Too movement. So this will continue throughout award season.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: That's interesting. Definitely things to watch. Nischelle Turner, Brian Stelter, thank you so much.

We're covering a lot of news this morning, so let's get right to it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: This American carnage stops right now.

KELLYANNE CONWAY, COUNSELOR TO PRESIDENT TRUMP: Sean Spicer, our press secretary, gave alternative facts.

TRUMP: Regardless of recommendation, I was going to fire Comey.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What he wanted to do was drop any investigation connected to Flynn.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The nomination is confirmed.

MITCH MCCONNELL, (R-KY) SENATE MINORITY LEADER: I regret that our efforts were simply not enough.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: -- paranoid schizophrenic, paranoiac.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have come so far and the people of Alabama have spoken.

TRUMP: Rocket man is on a suicide mission for himself.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ISIS collapsing.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We are experiencing a new trend in the threat we face.

TRUMP: We are disrespecting our flag and our country.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't think we should be judged as un-American because we believe in equality.

CAMEROTA: Powerful men falling like dominos after stories of sexual misconduct.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No more. Name it. Shame it. Call it out.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's a watershed moment.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is NEW DAY with Chris Cuomo and Alisyn Camerota.

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: Happy New Year to you and yours. Welcome to this special New Year's Day edition of NEW DAY, Chris Cuomo along with Alisyn Camerota. We have a big show for you this morning as we look ahead to 2018. It's going to be a big year in politics, that's for sure. Let's give you an inside look at what's coming up on Capitol Hill, what Congress may look like after these midterm elections, and of course you got to look at the big issues that are going to have a major impact on the Trump administration as it enters its second year.

CAMEROTA: Plus of course 2017 was marked by a tense relationship between President Trump and the press. So Chris Cillizza is going to take a look at how that might play out this year.

CUOMO: And how about resolutions? Well, one place you should start is your wallet, Christine Romans tells us that, and she is here to help you get your finances in shape heading into the New York.

CAMEROTA: And late night TV shook up 2017. Will the political jokes keep us laughing in 2018 or are they getting old for some? That and much more ahead on this special edition of NEW DAY.

But first let's get a check of your headlines at the news desk.

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Happy New Year, I'm Boris Sanchez. We start today with a family of five from New York among 10 Americans killed in a plane crash in Costa Rica. Two Costa Ricans pilots were also killed, their charter plane crashing moments after takeoff on Sunday from Punta Islita airport.

According to the "New York Times" Bruce and Irene Steinberg of Scarsdale, New York, died in the crash along with their sons, William, Zachary, and Matthew.

Meantime, outside Denver, a 29-year-old sheriff's deputy was shot and killed by a barricaded gunman. CNN's Scott McLean is in Highlands Ranch, Colorado, and he has more.

SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Boris, this was part ambush, part standoff. And when it was all over, five law enforcement officers were shot, one of them was killed. According to the local sheriff here shortly after 5:00 in the morning local time, four deputies were called out to a quiet apartment building in suburban Denver about a disturbance. Four deputies were also allowed inside of that apartment where they spoke to the suspect and his roommate. Shortly after that, though, the suspect barricaded himself inside of one of the bedrooms, and then fired on all four deputies, hitting them. Three of them were able to crawl to safety. One of them, 29-year-old Zachary Parrish, was not. Here's how the sheriff described the situation.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHERIFF TONY SPURLOCK, DOUGLAS COUNTY, COLORADO: When he was shot and went down, the other officers went down right around him, and they tried to pull him out, but they were unable to due to their injuries. And so they were able to crawl to safety. He was not conscious, and so they weren't able to talk to him or to get him out, and the suspect continued shooting at the officers over Zach.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MCLEAN: It wasn't until 7:30 in the morning, about an hour and 45 minutes after the first shots were fired, that a SWAT team actually went in and killed the suspect. In that process, one of those officers was shot in the leg. He's been released from the hospital. There were also two civilians who were not inside that apartment, who were also hit by gunfire. They have also been released from the hospital. The local sheriff says at this point his focus is on supporting Deputy Parrish's family. He leaves behind a wife and two small children. Boris?

SANCHEZ: Scott, thank you for that.

[08:05:00] We certainly hope you're bundled up, as many. As many as 27 record low temperatures expected to be set this New Year's Day with some 150 million Americans under wind chill alerts. Temperatures in New York plunging to nine degrees at midnight, minus four with the wind chill, making this the second coldest Time Square ball drop on record.

We hope you're enjoying the first day of 2018. Now let's return to a special edition of NEW DAY.

CAMEROTA: Happy New Year, everyone, and welcome back to this special New Year's day edition of NEW DAY. So what can we expect to see this year from the president and coming out of the White House? Let's talk about it with CNN political analysts David Gregory and John Avlon. Get your crystal balls out, gentlemen. So let's talk about at least what we know the president has on his wish list for the year. He talked about things like infrastructure he wants to get done in 2018, entitlement reform of some kind. What do you think we're going to see?

DAVID GREGORY, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: I think the biggest issues are going to be what we're not talking about in terms of a list, an agenda. I think that the Mueller investigation will loom large in 2018. We know as the year ended that people close to the president thought oh, well, it was going to be done by Thanksgiving. Well, actually no, Christmas. Now shortly after the first of the year.

So whatever that final stage is, whether that's a matter of months or something shorter I think is going to occupy a lot of his time and attention, will probably get in the way. If, you know, if he does have some bandwidth, I think he wants to focus on infrastructure. I think that would be a -- at least the basis for perhaps reaching out to Democrats and trying to do a bigger deal which he was not able to do on anything else.

CUOMO: Be a second straight deficit swallow, though, for conservatives in his party.

GREGORY: Yes, that's right.

CUOMO: And it would be dismissed as make work by people. But look, there's no question that it's needed. But that's a good start to this.

Let me ask you something. Let's play with it a little bit. Do you think the president gets in any way exonerated, pardoned by letter, by implication? Do you think in the beginning of 2018 that happens for the president? It was speculated on in December. Do you think it happens?

JOHN AVLON, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: It's clearly at the top of your wish list for 2018, but look, I preface it by saying if you live by the crystal ball, you usually end up eating glass. So I don't want to get too prescriptive. But if the Trump team believes they're getting a letter exoneration, that's not how this works. You don't get told you're going to be exonerated before the investigation is complete.

I think what you see if folks trying to keep the president's powder dry and keep him believing there's a light at end of the tunnel, otherwise it will cloud out other issues and may lead him to act impulsively. One of the open questions is despite his recent denials does he fire Mueller, does that set off a constitutional crisis, a Saturday night massacre.

Mueller plays it straight despite what all the folks are saying, trying to say that he's leading the FBI or the KGB are one organization in the same. But this is going to be done when it's done. It's not going to be done on the president's timetable, it's not going to be done on the Congress' timetable. And right now there are a lot of folks around the president who have serious, serious issues. The question is whether the president has exposed himself. We know he basically copped to obstruction of justice in some form in a televised interview, but that may be Trump being Trump and there's no actual collusion. People need to keep an open mind and let the investigation go forward, but if the Trump team believes they're going to get a letter of exoneration, I think that's just fantasy.

GREGORY: Also look at the end of the year how tough the administration was in its foreign policy statement of principles against Russia and talking about interference in western democracy. So in an election year, which 2018 is, are we going to see any effort on the part of Congress or the administration to prevent Russia from doing this kind of thing again, from doing it worse, from being even more disruptive? I think that's going to be something to look out for.

CAMEROTA: Do you agree in terms of legislatively what we'll see at the top of the list starting around now will be infrastructure? Is that what they'll be focused on if they get away from whatever the Russia threads are?

AVLON: That's what the president should be focused on. This was a time consensus between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump that this was a priority, and Donald Trump has a unique credibility as a builder to try to move it forward. You can pull together the art of the deal grand coalition, and if you do it with the public/private infrastructure bank it doesn't need to be a deficit and debt buster. It doesn't need to be. You can do it in other ways. But I think the congressional energy we've seen is around entitlement reform because they're trying to basically make amends for a tax bill that potentially increases the deficit.

GREGORY: Let's also not forget, this is 2018. If you're the Republican Party, you're the head of the Republican Party, all you want people thinking about is the economy is going pretty well. That's it, that's the whole thing. And try not to get impeached. And the economy is going pretty well. That's the whole deal. And right now he is presiding over a strong economy which people think, certainly the markets will move forward well into 2018.

[08:10:10] CAMEROTA: Very quickly let's talk about the president's team. There were quite a few departures in 2017. Let's see, let's just remind people of all of the people. It's hard to look at this roster here from Tom Price to Mike Flynn to Steve Bannon to Reince Priebus to Sean Spicer, James Comey, Sally Yates, Dina Powell, Sebastian Gorka, Anthony Scaramucci.

GREGORY: And we're out of time.

CAMEROTA: K.T. McFarland, Omarosa, Angela Reid, the chief White House usher, OK. Who do you think might change or move in 2018?

GREGORY: I think a big question is about the chief of staff John Kelly and what his temperature like and what his patience level is like. The dynamic between Ivanka and Jared, where there's potentially legal jeopardy for Jared Kushner. That's a huge question. But it's also how long the dysfunction is going to last in the West Wing. I think the bigger issue, though, is about the administration's posture in its foreign policy team. Who has the influence, who is the personnel, that's always a question when you think about defense secretary, secretary of state, national security adviser, who is running the CIA, how those people come together and advise the president in a big foreign policy crisis. So I think that's the most important thing to keep an eye on.

AVLON: Even in the most sane and sober administrations, two years is a typical tenure because there's a high degree of burnout just because of the weight of the responsibilities people are dealing with. And for a lot of folks it will be look, I made it through the first year, but am I going to consistently try to defend the indefensible? There's a strong case to be made the White House press secretary is the worst job in America. And I think Sarah Huckabee Sanders is trying to walk that line well, defending her boss in front of the press.

You're going to see a lot of folks say I've put in a year, and unless they feel their job is mission critical you're going to see increased turnover. And then will the White House staff be restocked with people who are trying to focus on responsible policy and containing the president or people who bet on that saying this is a fool's errand, I'm out.

CAMEROTA: That's is the question. John Avlon, David Gregory, thank you very much for all the predictions, et cetera.

CUOMO: It's a good start, a little peek ahead.

So President Trump and most of the media weren't on the best of terms this past year, so what's the relationship going to look like in the year ahead? Chris Cillizza with his take, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:15:41]

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: If there were one reliable thing about 2017, it was that Donald Trump was going to go after the media, right? So, what will the president and the press relationship look like this year?

Returning once again reporter and editor-at-large for CNN Politics, Chris "The Point" Cilizza. Let's be honest, most of your reporting you do for yourself.

CHRIS CILIZZA, CNN POLITICS REPORTER AND EDITOR-AT-LARGE: I do. I play this game for me, Chris.

CUOMO: The president comes after us because he likes it, it works for him, and that's who he is. Do any of those things change in 2018?

CILIZZA: Gosh, no.

CUOMO: OK, good to have you. Welcome back. Thank you.

CILIZZA: And they say I talk too much. No, the thing that I think is always important to remember with Donald Trump that I try to tell people who ask me stuff on the street or anybody who ask me, I said look, if you think that Donald Trump really hates the press, you're misunderstanding.

Donald Trump is more media obsessed and media focused. He watches more cable television. He reads more than any past president. There's no question. His consumption of media is higher than any past president. Why does he attack us? Because it works.

Because we are a willing scapegoat at times, sometimes an unwilling scapegoat, but a scapegoat nonetheless that works for the Republican base. Donald Trump cares desperately about what the media thinks of him. Why would he have a fake "Time" magazine cover in five of his country clubs?

Why would he tout good news in a CNN poll? Why would he tout a "New York Times" story? Because he cares deeply? It's not about what he -- it is about a political strategy, not a sort of deep down -- there are politicians who hate the media. He is not one of them.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: Let's talk about what the relationship will look like in 2018 because so far the press briefings in 2017 had been a lot of heat, not as much (inaudible), and so it's been quite contentious in there. Sarah Huckabee Sanders hasn't always answered questions, hasn't always answered questions with full facts.

CILIZZA: Yes.

CAMEROTA: So, does anything change in the press briefings?

CILIZZA: Well, remember the arc of the press briefings, too, in 2017, Alisyn. We went through Sean Spicer, combative central --

CAMEROTA: Hiding behind the bush.

CILIZZA: -- to no televised press briefings. To his credits, Scaramucci, ten days' worth but there's no debate over whether they'll televised or not the daily press briefing.

CAMEROTA: Hold on. Is there no debate or could they just as easily go back and say that's over?

CILIZZA: Of course, they could.

CUOMO: It didn't work for him.

CILIZZA: No, it didn't. That was an experiment that failed. The truth is Trump had lost confidence in Sean Spicer. They were trying to figure out what to do. They didn't want him there because it was making things worse. You need to have a daily press briefing on tv. I don't say that as a reporter even if you're a politician it serves your interests every day to have someone out there advocating.

CUOMO: So, do you think the president of the United States warms up more to the media in 2018? Do you think he does more interviews? Do you think you see him on NEW DAY? Do you think you see him in places he hasn't gone?

CILIZZA: It's an interesting point I think that we overlook. He doesn't do a lot of interviews. Neither did Obama, but Trump during the campaign it seemed like he was on NEW DAY a lot. He was on lots of things a lot.

CAMEROTA: Until he wasn't. There came a time -- he stopped because there were a couple of interviews we had done with him that he didn't like. He didn't like how he came off and they were quite frankly, I mean, we asked him tough questions, but they weren't gotcha questions. They were questions that any candidate should answer and he didn't like that. So, it's hard to see how he turns --

CILIZZA: That gets to the point the question you asked, Chris, which is to do relationships warm up. Donald Trump is not a complex guy to figure out as it relates to the media. If you are nice to him and write things that he likes, he will be nice to you. It's as simple as that.

If you ask him tough but fair questions, he will not. He will view that as gotcha media, which it isn't. You can say whatever you like. It's not, but I don't think it will be warmer for the people who go out of their way to make it easy for him, to answer questions, to be interviewed for. The rest of us in the free press I think it will be I wouldn't say worse, I would say more of the same.

[08:20:05] CUOMO: I would say in the interest of hope in 2018, I believe that I will have an interview with the president this year.

CILIZZA: I think it is possible, because remember, he will have this year some different calculations. He will be under a massive amount of pressure from congressional Republicans to try to bump up his approval ratings, to try to burnish the Republican brand, and like it or not, television and the media is the way in which most people get their perceptions from the president of the United States.

CUOMO: Right.

CILIZZA: So, he will need us more in 2018 than he did in 2017.

CUOMO: I think that's true.

CAMEROTA: Well, but you know that he has found a work-around, which is called Twitter, and so he thinks that he can get his message unfiltered directly to the people who want to hear from the president without having to be asked questions.

CUOMO: He's also at 35 percent.

CILIZZA: He can. The problem with that is yes, it's a loyal 30-ish percent of people who agree with him on everything and who eat up every Twitter message. It's not enough for him in 2020, but it certainly not enough in swing states in 2018 in the House and Senate race. He has to win in the middle somewhere.

CUOMO: There's a key fact that I am surprised hasn't brought him back to us sooner. No one is as good as he is at selling his positions. Kellyanne is strong.

CILIZZA: Agree.

CUOMO: He has a couple of surrogates who are OK, no one is as good as he is, even when, you know, you go toe to toe, he'd be yelling at me saying bad things. At the end of it, he felt good about himself and how he had done, and people would say to him, you were strong. He doesn't get that when anybody else speaks for him.

CILIZZA: He is a good television performer. I always remind people of that. You can hate him. You can love him, but he is a good television performer.

CUOMO: He's played against his advantage perhaps his greatest advantage.

CILIZZA: Which is interesting because I think he likes doing television. He likes the combativeness. He likes the back-and-forth and he doesn't often listen to his staff to not do things he likes. It's a little anti-type.

More interviews I hope, more transparency with the president of the United States is a good thing. Getting him to at least be able to ask questions directly of him whether or not you get the answer that we want, a full answer --

CUOMO: It's always part of the challenge.

CAMEROTA: He's invited on any day of the year.

CUOMO: Every day.

CAMEROTA: So, you're welcome here, President Trump.

CILIZZA: Today and every day.

CAMEROTA: OK. So, who is coming to D.C. and who is out of the beltway in 2018? We'll discuss the revolving door on Capitol Hill and whether there's a power shift on the horizon, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:26:39]

CUOMO: Happy New Year 2018. Welcome back to this special New Year's Day edition of NEW DAY. It's only the first day of 2018, and it's already busy about 2020. Who's going to run, who won't run? What's going on the big deal? The presidential race is already on us. Democrats, do they have a chance to do anything in the presidency? Who knows, but it will start with the midterms. Let's see if they can build on the momentum they got at the end of 2017.

CAMEROTA: So, also this morning, we'll look at the state of the U.S. economy. Will it keep booming or will that change in 2018? But first, let's get a check of your head lines at the news desk.

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: Happy New Year, Alisyn and Chris, and happy New Year to you as well. I'm Boris Sanchez. We start with an update on the situation in Iran. Twelve people have died during five days of anti-government protests there, according to state media. President Trump tweeting less than an hour ago that it is time for change in Iran. He called that country a failing state, saying the people are hungry for freedom.

Officials meantime are denying that the government is permanently filtering social media sites. State media reported earlier that the app's Instagram and Telegram were being temporarily restricted. North Korean Leader Kim Jong-Un sending mixed messages last night. He now claims that he can hit the U.S. mainland with a nuclear strike, and that he keeps the button right on his desk. Though also in his New Year's address, Kim reached out to South Korea. He proposed immediate peace talks and asked for participation by North Korean athletes in the upcoming Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang.

Recreational marijuana sales are now legal in California as of this morning. Anyone over 21 can now buy pot. Medical marijuana card no longer required. The business is expected to grow with sales of $7 billion in California alone by the year 2020.

College football playoffs begin tonight. Number two seed Oklahoma takes on number three seed Georgia in the Rose Bowl and the Sugar Bowl between Clemson and Alabama, a rubber match. Those teams meeting in the last two title games. The winner of today's games then meet next Monday for the national title. We hope you're enjoying your first day of 2018. I'm Boris Sanchez. Happy New Year.

CUOMO: Welcome to this special New Year's Day edition of NEW DAY, 2018, can you believe it? Well, it's an election year that's for sure. The midterms will take place in November. Republicans, will they retain control of Congress? Are the Democrats going to ride a blue wave into power?

I don't know, but I got guys who will have opinions about it. Let's bring in CNN political analysts, David Gregory and John Avlon. I mean, look, I guess the central question, we always have the same one, right, when the president wins, he is vulnerable in the midterms, if certain conditions are in effect. Do you see conditions going into this cycle where the president has concern?