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Government Shutdown Enters Day 10 With No Deal In Sight; Democrats Have 2020 Decision To Make In New Year; Escaped Lion Kills Intern At North Carolina Wildlife Preserve; Most Notable Quotes of 2018. Aired 7:30-8a ET
Aired December 31, 2018 - 07:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[07:30:00] REP. CARLOS CURBELO (R-FL), MEMBER, WAYS AND MEANS COMMITTEE: -- 116th Congress in breaking this stalemate. It's going to be by compromising, not by digging in.
And obviously, leadership starts at the top and the president has to be the first one to come out and say we have to compromise -- let's meet somewhere in the middle. That's the only way that our system of government where we have separation of powers --
ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: Yes.
CURBELO: -- two houses of Congress, three branches. That's the only way it's going to work.
CAMEROTA: That's a nice concept. It's a utopian concept right now because that is not something that President Trump specializes in.
Who do you think, today, owns the shutdown? Who's at fault?
CURBELO: Well, the answer to that question is very simple because the president declared a few weeks ago that he would be the one to shut down the government and that he would take pride in doing it. So now, he has the opportunity to say OK, I made that threat -- I delivered on it. Now let me try to help here and find a way out of this.
And I think he really needs to look to leaders like Mitch McConnell. Senator McConnell has a lot of experience in negotiating and getting the government out of difficult situations. We certainly saw that in 2011 and again in 2012.
The president should really empower congressional leaders to resolve this. He should empower them to come up with compromises. Members of Congress should be allowed to legislate something that we've seen little of in recent years because everything is dominated by the White House, whether it was Obama or now, Trump, and a small handful of congressional leaders.
That's not the way our system should work. That's why it's to the point where there's complete gridlock -- no one's even talking -- and that's why Americans lose more and more trust and confidence in their government every day.
These are things that I'm not going to miss about Congress but that I know need to be fixed about Congress and our federal government if, especially, younger Americans --
CAMEROTA: Yes.
CURBELO: -- are going to start believing in our government again.
CAMEROTA: Wednesday is your last day. What's the first thing you're going to do outside of Congress?
CURBELO: Well, I'm going to take a little time to be with my family. I have two daughters, Alisyn, nine and six. Those two and my wife have spent a lot of time alone over the last four years while I've been in Washington, D.C., so I'm going to be home a lot more.
And certainly, the first couple of weeks of the year, I'm going to take them to school every day, try to pick them up, and just try to be a regular husband and dad for the first time in a while. So that will be fun.
CAMEROTA: Yes.
CURBELO: But I will be thinking about our country. I will be thinking about the colleagues that are remaining in Congress and the new members of Congress who are coming in. I really hope the best for them.
Our country needs them to succeed. Our country needs them to sit at the table --
CAMEROTA: Yes.
CURBELO: -- dialogue, compromise, and make progress on some of these important issues like immigration, the environment --
CAMEROTA: Of course.
CURBELO: -- and the national debt that are really dividing our country and threatening our future.
CAMEROTA: Congressman Carlos Curbelo, best of luck to you in the new year. Thanks so much for being with us.
CURBELO: Thank you. Happy New Year, Alisyn. Be well.
CAMEROTA: You, too -- Erica.
ERICA HILL, CNN ANCHOR: The new year expected to bring a flurry or presidential candidates to the 2020 race. So just who will challenge President Trump? We discuss, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[07:37:14] HILL: We are now just 673 days away from the 2020 election -- November third, 2020. Speculation about who will challenge President Trump is well underway in what is expected to be a crowded Democratic field. So who are the frontrunners and who has the best chance against President Trump? Let's discuss with CNN political commentator and the former head of President Trump's Hispanic Advisory Council, Steve Cortes. And, CNN political commentator and former campaign manager for Hillary Clinton, Patti Solis Doyle. Good to have both of you with us.
Patti, as we look at this, I know you've said you're excited by this wide-ranging field of Democrats. The real question, though, is will Democrats go to that broader bench that they have or do you think the party will force them to go to the old guard? Where do you see it ending up?
PATTI SOLIS DOYLE, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR, FORMER CAMPAIGN MANAGER FOR HILLARY CLINTON: Well look, I don't -- I don't really have a favorite right now. I think me -- I am like most Democrats, really excited to sort of kick the tires of all of these potential candidates. We've got former mayors, senators, former governments, businessmen -- you know, Angelina Jolie may run -- so I think there's a lot to choose from.
But, what I -- what I -- what I would like to see -- I would like to see a woman get the nomination or if not the nomination, be on the ticket. Women were absolutely pivotal in the midterms last year, not only as candidates but as voters. They are leading a movement politically, culturally, socially, so I think it would be smart on behalf of Democrats to put a woman on the ticket.
HILL: As you look at this field Steve, there are a number of options. Someone joked a Democrat -- I should point out a joke the other day on this program. Every senator -- every Democratic senator may be running.
But when you look at it, who do you think presents the most realistic challenge to President Trump? Who would have you --
STEVE CORTES, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR, FORMER HEAD OF TRUMP HISPANIC ADVISORY COUNCIL: Right.
HILL: -- most concerned on that ticket?
CORTES: Right. Well, also just -- first, let me say for those of us who are political geeks this is exciting stuff, right? Twenty nineteen is going to be crazy and fun, and most of the fun, I think, will be on the Democratic side, obviously, in the primary.
But to answer your question, who I'd be most afraid of is Joe Biden. He has experience, he has likeability -- something that the candidate didn't have in 2016 -- and I think he has an ability to connect with blue-collar voters.
Look, let's be honest. This is an electoral election and we all know it -- an electoral college election, not about the popular vote.
So, coastal elites who have a hard time connecting with Midwestern blue-collar people are likely not going to be a threat to President Trump for reelection. Joe Biden has proven an ability to connect with those very kind of Midwestern blue-collar voters. So from my perspective as a Trump partisan, he would be the most formidable adversary.
HILL: Patti, as we look at this, too -- this CNN-Des Moines Register poll among likely caucusgoers, Joe Biden, right there at the top, at the number one choice with 32 percent of respondents.
That being said, putting, yes, a well-established, well-known politician, but an older white man at the top of the Democratic ticket -- is that a smart move?
[07:40:03] DOYLE: Well look, I think the person who is going to beat Trump is going to have to be -- win that -- win that coalition that Obama put together in 2008 and 2012 -- African-Americans, Hispanics, women, young people. But for 2020, specifically, they need to bring back those Obama voters that voted for Trump.
You know, people were disillusioned in 2016. They were angry -- they were angry at D.C., they were angry at institutions, and Donald Trump, very smartly, took advantage of that anger and ran as the disruptor. Well -- and people were willing to roll the dice on him.
And now, though, we have two years of Donald Trump. We have two years of chaos, we have two years of uncertainty, we have to years of incompetence. And in 2016, when experience and resume were sort of dirty words, they're going to be quite a positive this time around. So, Joe Biden fills that bill.
CORTES: You know --
DOYLE: Bernie Sanders fills that bill. Basically, everyone running has the experience -- much more experience than Donald Trump and that's going to be a huge asset.
CORTES: I do think, Erica -- you know, to your point, I think that the biggest problem Joe Biden has is that he's an older white male.
And I think, though, I will tell you this. As a Republican and again, as somebody who wants to reelect the president, it's sort of music to my ears to hear Democrats fixate so much on identity politics.
I mean, is it possible for a straight white male to win the Democratic nomination? I'm not so sure that it is because they're so focused on the matrix of intersectionality and that may well be their doom. And my guess is Biden can't win the nomination for that reason, even though he would be their best candidate.
Instead, I think they're going to focus on the divisive identity politics that have plagued their party and been so corrosive to this country. And if they do that again in 2020, I think we have an easy path to reelection.
HILL: So, two questions for you.
Number one, wouldn't this hurt the Republican Party to kind of put out a broader message, right, which is what we're seeing from the Democratic Party because the country is not made up of white men?
CORTES: Right.
HILL: As a woman, I can tell you that.
But number two, when you talk about the divisiveness within and the fracturing, there's sort of fracturing in the Republican Party, itself.
DOYLE: That's right.
HILL: You still have hardcore NeverTrumpership, hardcore we support the president. There are a lot of people --
CORTES: Yes, but not on the electorate.
HILL: -- in between.
CORTES: But, Erica -- no, listen. I'll concede to you, absolutely.
We have the opposite problem, right? We've been too comfortable as a party of rural America, of country club America, and that's a problem for the Republican Party and we need to continue to broaden it. That's happening though, too. It is happening.
Trump won a share of the Hispanic vote that nobody thought he could. It held in 2018 in the midterms. I think it will grow in 2020. But you're right.
But I would also say this. We're not a fractured party when we look at voters. We are among the intelligentsia, yes. Among the Washington -- sort of corridor elites of media in Washington, D.C.
But, Republican voters are solidly behind this president. I mean, 90 percent-plus in most polls.
So, Republican voters, we sort of had our civil war between the establishment and the up-starts and the populists. The populists won. The Democrats haven't had that battle yet and my guess is it's going to come to the floor in 2020.
HILL: It will be interesting to see what we hear from some of the resistance -- the Bob Corkers and the Jeff Flakes of the world. How vocal they are moving into 2020.
CORTES: On their way out.
HILL: Patti, you get the last word.
DOYLE: Look, I think it's going to be a really exciting time -- I'm with Steve. For political hacks like us, it's going to be really, really thrilling, it's going to be robust.
The DNC has promised lots of debates. They're going to select the debates by random -- the candidates. No favorites this time.
We're going to kick the tires. It's going to be a fun, fun two years. HILL: Well, buckle up. Your -- we start at midnight tonight even though really, I think it probably started November sixth, but we'll start at midnight tonight.
Great to have you both with us. Happy New Year, thank you -- Alisyn.
DOYLE: Happy New Year.
CAMEROTA: OK, Erica. There's this deadly lion attack in North Carolina. How did this lion get out of its enclosure to kill a young intern? We have a live report for you, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[07:47:35] CAMEROTA: We have some breaking news for you.
An unexpected shakeup in the Catholic Church. The Vatican releasing a statement saying that Pope Francis has accepted the resignation of Vatican spokesman Greg Burke and his deputy. No reason has been given yet.
Burke tweeted, "It's best the Holy Father is completely free to assemble a new team," end quote. He expressed his thanks to the Pontiff.
The news comes as the church is facing growing scandals in America involving priests sexually abusing children.
HILL: The federal judge who declared the Affordable Care Act unconstitutional now says the law can remain in effect pending appeal. District Judge Reed O'Connor determined the law was unconstitutional because Congress eliminated the individual mandate penalty. And since the law was upheld as a tax -- no tax, he says, no law.
The decision threw the future of health coverage for millions of Americans on the Obamacare exchanges and in Medicaid expansion into doubt and also threatened to wipe away popular protections, including those who are -- including for those with preexisting conditions.
CAMEROTA: A 22-year-old intern at a North Carolina zoological park was killed after a lion somehow escaped its locked enclosure. An investigation is now underway.
And, CNN's Kaylee Hartung is live in Burlington, North Carolina for us with more. What is the latest, Kaylee?
KAYLEE HARTUNG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey.
Well, Alisyn, yesterday morning it was time for a routine cleaning of the lions' habitat here. The Conservators Center says at those times, the staff follows safety protocol. Before entering that enclosure, they move the big cats into an area that they believe to be safe and secure before the humans enter the habitat that the lions usually are in.
But yesterday, something went terribly wrong. Somehow -- it is unclear how one of those lions escaped, got into the area where the humans were, and quickly attacked and killed 22-year-old Alexandra Black. The lion was then euthanized by necessity, the Conservators Center says, and they were then able to retrieve Black's body.
The staff here is in shock. They are heartbroken, as is Alex's family.
Her family released a statement saying, in part, "She loved animals. She was a beautiful young woman who had just started her career. There was a terrible accident and we are mourning. But she died following her passion."
Alisyn and Erica, the Conservators Center here will stay closed until further notice.
CAMEROTA: So sad, Kaylee. Thank you very much for that.
[07:50:00] All right, so what were the most notable quotes of 2018? There's a lot to choose from. Here's just one.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BRETT KAVANAUGH, THEN-NOMINEE FOR SUPREME COURT JUSTICE: I liked beer, I still like beer.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CAMEROTA: What's number one on the list of quotes? We'll tell you, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CAMEROTA: Twenty eighteen was the year that dragon energy became a thing, thanks to Kanye West, and this tweet.
He said, "You don't have to agree with Trump, but the mob can't make me not love him. We are both dragon energy. He is my brother. I love everyone."
That turns out to be the seventh-most notable quote of 2018, according to the "Yale Book of Quotations," compiled by our next guest.
Joining us now is Yale Law School librarian and the editor of the "Yale Book of Quotations," Fred Shapiro. Mr. Shapiro, thank you very much for being here.
How did you narrow it down? There were so many notable quotations from 2018.
FRED SHAPIRO, EDITOR, THE YALE BOOK OF QUOTATIONS, ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR, COLLECTIONS AND ACCESS, YALE UNIVERSITY, LECTURER, YALE LAW SCHOOL: Well, every year I compile this list of the 10 most notable quotes and it's an update to my book, "The Yale Book of Quotations" to bring -- to encompass contemporary politics and culture.
And the quotes I pick are not necessarily eloquent quotes or admirable quotes. I pick them based on their famousness, their importance, and whether they reflect the spirit of the times. So I'm looking for some combination of those three attributes.
[07:55:00] Usually, nowadays, it's political quotes, often --
CAMEROTA: Yes.
SHAPIRO: -- whacky political quotes.
CAMEROTA: Well, here's one. I don't know if it's whacky but it is a political quote from the president. This was when he said on January sixth in a tweet, "I am not smart, but genius, and a very stable genius at that!"
Honestly, how did you sift -- how many quotes did you sift through? I mean, between the president's quotes -- even Kanye West's this year -- how many did you sift through?
SHAPIRO: Well, I look all throughout the year for striking or revealing important quotes, and I look at hundreds of quotes.
And the president, really, is the contributor nowadays to a list of notable quotes. He comes out with a remarkable amount of fantastic quotes. I may not agree with them but they are extremely notable.
CAMEROTA: On a very serious note, one of your most notable quotes came during one of our interviews. In the hours after the Parkland massacre, we interviewed David Hogg and he was so striking. He was one of the students, he had survived, and he was so striking because he seemed to have a clarity of purpose and a clarity of mind, even then.
So here is number five on the notable quotations. Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAVID HOGG, SURVIVOR, MARJORY STONEMAN DOUGLAS HIGH SCHOOL MASSACRE, PARKLAND, FLORIDA: We're children. You guys, like, are the adults. You need to take some action and play a role. Work together, come over your politics, and get something done.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CAMEROTA: Why did you choose that one?
SHAPIRO: Well, you know, it's interesting that the quotes often are by presidents or very well-known political figures.
But sometimes, some of the most remarkable comments come out of the mouths of babes -- people that aren't famous or, in this case, someone who's not even an adult. But he really was chastising his elders and asking them to live up to their responsibilities and that reflects a big issue of the year -- the tragedy of mass shootings.
CAMEROTA: It makes perfect sense.
Number two comes to us by way of Brett Kavanaugh during his hearing for confirmation. So let's listen to this moment.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RACHEL MITCHELL, DEPUTY COUNTY ATTORNEY, CHIEF, SPECIAL VICTIMS DIVISION, MARICOPA COUNTY ATTORNEY'S OFFICE, PHOENIX, ARIZONA: Did you consume alcohol during your high school years?
KAVANAUGH: Yes, we drank beer, my friends and I -- the boys and girls. Yes, we drank beer. I liked beer. I still like beer.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CAMEROTA: There was so much to choose from, frankly, from his confirmation hearings. Why did you settle in on the "I like beer" one?
SHAPIRO: Well, some of the quotes I pick are incongruous, amazing quotes.
I mean, here, we have the spectacle of a Supreme Court --a pivotal Supreme Court nomination revolving around the drinking -- essentially, around the drinking history of the nominee, and that's not something you see typically in the -- amidst the dignity of Supreme Court nomination hearings.
So that one kind of became a meme and it really became part of our culture.
CAMEROTA: Yes, yes, particularly because of Matt Damon, also.
OK, here's number one. So the number one quote from 2018 that you chose is this moment of Rudy Giuliani. Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RUDY GIULIANI, ATTORNEY TO PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: When you tell me that, you know, he should testify because he's going to tell the truth and he shouldn't worry, well, that's so silly because it's somebody's version of the truth -- not the truth.
He didn't have a conversation about --
CHUCK TODD, MODERATOR, NBC "MEET THE PRESS": Truth is truth. I don't mean to go like --
GIULIANI: No, it isn't truth. Truth isn't truth.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CAMEROTA: How did you settle on that one, "Truth isn't truth?"
SHAPIRO: Well, I try in this -- these lists to reflect the spirit of the times -- the big themes of the year in the news and the culture. And I think the biggest theme this past year was probably a kind of assault on truth, which is coming out Washington, D.C.
And this quote -- I mean, Rudy Giuliani later explained --
CAMEROTA: Yes.
SHAPIRO: -- that he was talking about the difficulty of comparing --
CAMEROTA: Yes.
SHAPIRO: -- witnesses' recollections. But it's so apt as a summation of the kind of assault on truth that's going on in our political life.
CAMEROTA: Yes. Truth isn't truth does seem to encapsulate it.
Fred Shapiro, thank you very much for sharing all of your notable quotables with us.
SHAPIRO: Thanks for having me.
CAMEROTA: All right, we're following a lot of news so let's get right to it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R), SOUTH CAROLINA: President Trump is not going to walk away from this fight without border security funding.
REP. HAKEEM JEFFRIES (D), NEW YORK: We are not wasting taxpayer dollars on a ransom note.
KELLYANNE CONWAY, COUNSELOR TO THE PRESIDENT: It is a silly semantic argument. You keep saying wall, wall, wall. He wants all types of border security.
