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President Carter's Hometown Preparing to Say Goodbye; Puerto Rico Struggling with Massive Power Outage; What to Expect for Politics Ahead in the New Year; Keeping Faith and Hope Alive in the New Year. Aired 6-6:30a ET

Aired January 01, 2025 - 06:00   ET

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

DANNY FREEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT/ANCHOR: Good morning. I'm Danny Freeman in New York. It is officially 2025. Happy New Year.

[06:00:48]

It's Wednesday, January 1st, and you're watching a special edition of CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

And we begin with fireworks lighting up the skies last night as cities across the globe rang in 2025. Take a look at these festivities right here in Sacramento, California.

And of course, we can't forget the classic crystal adorned ball that marks the countdown to midnight in New York City. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(CHEERING)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FREEMAN: Yes. So good. Confetti filled the air as Times Square celebrated the new year.

And in London, more fireworks over the iconic Ferris Wheel, the London Eye. Look at how cool that looks.

Plus, a different kind of light show appeared in the skies over Alaska there. The Northern lights were on display. So, so beautiful.

Moving right along, Congress is ringing in the new year with a speaker fight. Mike Johnson facing a difficult challenge to retain the gavel even after an endorsement from President-elect Trump.

Now, Johnson can only afford to lose a single Republican defection when the House picks a new speaker Friday. If, that is, every member votes.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT-ELECT OF THE UNITED STATES: I think they'll support Speaker Johnson. I think we're going to have a great time in Washington, and I think we're going to get great support. He's the one that can win right now. People like him. Almost everybody

likes him. Others are very good, too, but they have 30 or 40 people that don't like them, so that's pretty tough.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FREEMAN: Now, several House Republicans have already stated their opposition to Johnson.

And Donald Trump confirmed he'll attend the funeral of former President Jimmy Carter with other presidents and their wives. The official state funeral will take place at the Washington National Cathedral in D.C. on January 9th, capping off more than a week of remembrances.

President Biden will deliver the eulogy at that funeral in D.C.

Meanwhile, in Georgia, a motorcade will take Carter through his hometown of Plains on Saturday to his presidential center in Atlanta, where he will lie in repose.

CNN's Eva McKend has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

EVA MCKEND, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Barricades going up as preparations --

MCKEND (voice-over): -- are underway for the many celebrations of life to come in the days ahead for former President Jimmy Carter.

MCKEND: And those that knew him best say that they hope that these tributes are defined by the small-town values that Carter held so dear.

PHIL WISE, CARTER FAMILY FRIEND: I think the simplistic values that he had, that he tried to follow were the most important parts of his legacy. Again, whether it was in a small town or a larger city, or at a state level or national level, or internationally, recognizing that everyone is an individual and that there is a reason to have respect and dignity for every, every -- every life and every person, and to keep that in mind whenever you're making policies or decisions.

MCKEND: On Saturday morning, there will be a funeral service in nearby Americus, Georgia. Then the motorcade will proceed here through Plains, Carter's hometown, where people will have the opportunity to line the streets to pay their respects.

Eva McKend, CNN, Plains, Georgia.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FREEMAN: Thank you for that, Eva.

Other headlines now. Authorities in South Korea have identified all 179 people killed in Sunday's plane crash, but they still don't know what caused the crash. Families of the victims camping out at the Muan Airport, waiting for

answers. Investigators have located both black boxes, but the flight data recorder was damaged in the crash. Both are being sent to the U.S. for analysis.

And Puerto Rico starting the new year in the dark. More than 50 percent of the island's population was without power as of 9 p.m. last night. By 3 a.m., power was restored for about 70 percent of customers, but the cause of that outage is still under investigation.

CNN's Carlos Suarez has the latest on the blackout.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CARLOS SUAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The sweeping blackout hit Tuesday morning. Luma Energy, which supplies power to Puerto Rico, said that crews would try to get the power grid back on in phases, and that could take anywhere between 24 to 48 hours.

SUAREZ (voice-over): As of 1 o'clock on Tuesday, about 3 percent of customers out of the 1.3 million users impacted had their power restored.

[06:05:00]

The international airport in San Juan and hospitals around the island are running on power generators.

Now, power outages have long been a running source of frustration on the island since the collapse of the power grid in 2017 after Hurricane Maria.

Luma and a second private company have long come under criticism for failing to improve the electric system there.

Now, in a statement, Puerto Rico's governor, Pedro Pierluisi, said, quote, "We are demanding answers and solutions from both Luma and Genera, who must expedite the restart of the generating units outside the fault area and keep the people duly informed about the measures they are taking to restore service throughout the island."

Luma said that an issue with a faulty underground line was to blame.

SUAREZ: Carlos Suarez, CNN, Miami.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FREEMAN: Thanks for that, Carlos. All right. Those are this morning's headlines. Let's toss it over now to Kate Bolduan -- Kate.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Out with the old, in with the new administration. 2025 is here. And in just a few weeks, Republicans will take control of basically all of Washington, swearing in a new president and holding the majority in both chambers of Congress.

They all have an agenda that they will set forth. But the reality of governing is often a harsh reality check for anyone coming into power.

So, in the spirit of a new year offers new possibility and a chance once again for everyone to try and be better. Let's apply that to our federal government.

Joining me right now is former Trump White House associate counsel, May Mailman; and Democratic strategist and former Clinton White House official Matt Bennett.

Guys, thank you for being here. And yes, I know that we do need to remove our rose-colored glasses at some point. But in the spirit of.

Matt, let me jump in with you. What should, do you think, the New Year's resolutions for Democrats, now being relegated to the minorities in Congress, what should their New Year's resolution be? Work together with Republicans or work to be the line of defense against Donald Trump?

MATT BENNETT, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: I think they have to do both, actually. I mean, look, every new president gets a honeymoon. This president will, too. The American people always feel fairly satisfied with their choice for a while. I mean, Joe Biden was in the high 50s, I think, for the first six months or so.

And so, there will be a moment where Trump has the wind at his back and, you know, he's the fresh new face, amazingly enough. And he'll have the opportunity to do some things. And there are some things that he could do that I think Democrats like me and others would find constructive.

There's plenty of problems with our government, and if he can identify the right ones and fix them, then more power to him.

But I also think Democrats need to be prepared to fight back when he does things that we find either illegal or unconstitutional, on the one hand, or just bad policy on the other. And making a distinction between those things is really important, as well.

BOLDUAN: Yes. I mean, one thing we know is Donald Trump loves a win. Donald Trump loves to claim a win. So, there is opportunity there for Democrats, if they can find some common ground.

But May, what then, on the flip of this? What, them, should the New Year's resolution be for the new Republican majorities in -- in the House and Senate be?

MAY MAILMAN, FORMER TRUMP WHITE HOUSE ASSOCIATE COUNSEL: Yes. So, I think that you need to show the American people that you are here to make their lives better. You ran on big promises of "Joe Biden, broke it, and I'm going to fix it. Or, you know, Kamala broke it, I'm going to fix it." And so, now it's your opportunity to fix it.

And I think one of the big opportunities -- and you see this with Elon Musk and DOGE -- is that there is an overregulation problem in our country, where people are burdened by -- you look at the cost of a car. Who can afford a car right now? There -- there are car commercials every two seconds. It's like, good, good luck to you.

And a lot of the cost of the car is built in with a lot of the regulations that that are just super-burdensome.

So, I think that if you could get a deregulatory win; I think, that if you could give people a tax cut win; a MAHA win; trying to get corporatism out of data; give people -- empower people to know what will make them healthy in this new year.

So, there are a lot of areas that I think are broadly appealing and can show seriousness moving forward.

BOLDUAN: When it comes to if -- and I'll ask both of you this one: if you could advise a singular focus in terms of what to do in the new year first, for the incoming Trump White House, Matt, what would you say it should be for them to be successful?

It might not be a policy that you agree with, but for them to be successful.

BENNETT: Well, I mean, Trump himself has made clear that he believes, I think correctly, that he won because immigration -- sorry, not -- immigration and inflation were both things that Americans were really worried about.

I think on inflation, the thing he should do is have the guts to set aside the core of his economic message during the campaign and not impose tariffs. Tariffs are inflationary.

[06:10:09]

And if he really wants to deliver for Americans and make their lives easier, he isn't going to make stuff more expensive. But tariffs are something he believes deeply in. So, I don't have great hope that he will do that.

Sometimes, you know, he threatens things and then claims victory and sets it aside. Let's hope he does that.

BOLDUAN: We will see. We will see if -- if it's a threat or something more than that.

May, what do you think on this topic?

MAILMAN: Yes. So on -- on trade, I guess, I think that there is a huge opportunity. And if I were to say that there's one thing that the president actually cares about, that no matter how popular it was, it would be trade.

I think that there is a rightful understanding that American workers are the best in the world. They are the hardest workers. They are the most skilled. And give them an opportunity. Give them a chance to compete. And, so however that's using tariffs, however that's using reshoring,

building up our defense industrial base, making sure that we're safe, that if there was another pandemic, that we have the capacity to build for ourselves.

And so, tariffs are part of that solution. But it' s a broader solution, too.

So, I think focusing on empowering the American worker to compete and be the best in the world, that that's a positive message for all of us.

BOLDUAN: It is interesting, because on that topic, it does seem like trade and tariffs and that -- that that issue and that policy area poses a huge amount of potential opportunity. And also, as you're getting at a huge amount of risk, as well, that is definitely one to be keeping an eye on.

So, Matt, outgoing Biden White House, outgoing Biden administration, what should their New Year's resolution be as they are heading out the door?

BENNETT: I think any administration that's leaving kind of in good faith, as I believe the Biden team is, has to wish their successor well. No matter how forcefully they disagree with virtually everything that Trump is promising to do, they've got to hope that he succeeds.

You cannot root against America and be in public life, in good faith in this country.

So, I think every Democrat, from the president on down, has got to hope that Trump succeeds, that America does well. I think we're deeply skeptical about that for a lot of reasons.

But I would guess that President Biden will leave a note on the desk, as -- as all of his predecessors have done, basically wishing Trump success. And I think he will believe it.

BOLDUAN: Given that it's impossible to guess what's happening tomorrow in the world we live in, let alone next week, let's do the real impossible, May, and jump ahead.

Give me a prediction. If you had to predict what we are going to be talking about in terms of the political headline, come New Year's day 2026, what is your guess?

MAILMAN: So, I have two guesses, I think. One is immigration. I think there's going to be a lot of immediate focus on border security, but border security is not immigration.

I think that one of the reasons we have such a problem on our border is because there are so many people who want to come into this country and who would do so legally, but that we have a very outdated immigration system.

So, I think that after the border is secured, which the border must be secured, that is step one. Then you can start thinking about step two.

So, I think we'll start talking about real immigration reform and -- and potentially having some solutions there.

I think we're not going to be talking as much about cultural issues. This is my prediction. But I do think that the Democratic Party will ultimately, like Seth Moulton from Massachusetts wants to, come to sort of agree with the American public on some of these big hot, hot- button cultural issues, and it will become less of a topic.

BOLDUAN: Matt, last word to you.

BENNETT: I basically agree on the cultural side, although I do think there could be some real damage done that Democrats are responding to, especially around reproductive freedom.

On immigration, though, I think, if the president keeps his word and does a huge mass deportation push in the first year, I think the stories that were going to be dealing with this time next year are going to be really heartbreaking tales of people who've been in this country a really long time, have been paying their taxes and raising their kids here, who are sent back to countries that -- that they don't even know.

So, I worry that the deportation effort is going to sweep up people that it shouldn't. I hope that it does not.

BOLDUAN: Guys, thank you so much for, I guess I'll say, playing along with me on this one or indulging me. May, Matt, thank you both.

BENNETT: Thank you.

BOLDUAN: Coming up, the top moments that gripped the nation in 2024. We are counting them down.

Plus, how to keep your faith in an increasingly divided world. Hear from Christian, Muslim and Jewish religious leaders about how they are approaching the new year.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: As we welcome in a new year, many Americans are hoping to build on their spiritual strength. For many, 2024 was a pretty difficult year.

We had divisive politics, international wars, rising prices, and polarizing cultural views. This morning, we'd like to discuss how to keep hope and faith alive in your heart in the year ahead.

Joining us now are: chairman of the Cordoba Initiative, Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf; religion commentator and Manhattan University campus minister and chaplain, Father Edward Beck; and Rabbi Joshua Stanton. Thank you all for being here.

This is going to be a question for all of you. I am going to start first with Father Beck, and then you can all answer this one. You know, this has been a bit of a tumultuous year. If you're watching

the news, anyway. You know, there's polarization in this country. There's infighting even when it comes to politics within families. There's the Israel-Hamas war, the Ukraine war, and economic hardships that -- that people, you know, have been feeling.

So, I'm curious what you do to soothe your souls and those of others.

FATHER EDWARD BECK, RELIGION COMMENTATOR: You know, Sara, a long time ago, a priest, who was actually one of the co-founders of A.A., had this great quote, and he said that heaven is a new pair of glasses.

[06:20:04]

And it always kind of stuck with me, because it strikes me that perspective is so much. I mean, you can see all of the devastation you just spoke about, or you can see all of the hope around us and all the potential and possibility and the goodness and the love. And so, what we focus on really matters.

I mean, you mentioned that I'm working at Manhattan University now. Well, before I got there, everyone was so down talking to me about young people. You know, they're so individualistic and they're so disconnected. And, you know, that's not been my experience.

I've seen young people volunteering to feed hungry people, to visit migrants in shelters. We have a whole group going for a whole week during their winter break coming up to tutor disadvantaged youth and to feed hungry people in Homestead, Florida. I mean, they're giving up their time just because they think it's something good to do.

So, I mean, that kind of stuff gives me hope. I think it's your perspective and where you're choosing to look a lot of times.

SIDNER: I love the change your glasses idea.

Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf.

IMAM FEISAL ABDUL RAUF, CHAIRMAN, CORDOBA INITIATIVE: Yes, well, as religious leaders, our role is to give our congregations faith, despite the challenges that life presents us on a daily basis.

And we do this by noting that God tests us in our lives. In fact, God informs us in the Quran that he created us to test us, and we are tested, in both times of difficulty and times of ease, for our gratitude to him.

And knowing this serves as a guide and a reminder to us that, having been created as God's stewards on Earth and in his image, and to be spoke -- I'm sorry. And -- and in his image, our role is to serve as God's ambassadors on Earth and to be spokespeople and champions of the values that he has taught us through his prophets and messengers.

Therefore, we are to be agents of good, promoting the good, prohibiting the bad, and keeping our faith in God. Our ultimate destiny -- destiny is in the hereafter, where God will

reward us for our actions on Earth, or for our good actions on Earth, or exact justice for our bad actions on Earth.

In my community, the result of the -- the bombing on -- on Gaza created a lot of -- of pain in our community. And I had to remind my -- my community that God tells us in the Quran that whoever dies as an innocent soul will be rewarded with the -- with the reward of the martyrs in paradise.

Because our souls, being created in God's image, are indestructible. So, whereas our bodies may be destroyed, our souls are immortal.

So, how we respond to the tests that -- that life throws at us on a daily basis is -- is the key to our ultimate destiny.

SIDNER: Rabbi, I'm curious to get your thoughts on -- on what advice you'd give people to - to be able to -- to be resilient, to -- to have hope.

RABBI JOSHUA STANTON, SENIOR FELLOW, THE NATIONAL JEWISH CENTER FOR LEARNING AND LEADERSHIP: Thank you so much. Our work at Jewish Federations of North America is built around looking inwards and then reaching outwards.

And at a season such as this, we need to look inwards and reflect and take stock and hopefully find a modicum of peace. And then we need to reach outwards.

Yes, Jewish Federations of North America has worked tirelessly to physically protect Jewish communities across the continent. We've done so with grants for security.

But in addition, we've made very clear that the Jewish community is not going to thrive in isolation. And so, we need to reach out and build friendships. Even though, in the last year and a half, antisemitic hate crimes, according to the FBI, have increased seven- fold, we still have countless allies.

And so, we are reaching out, building deep and authentic friendships.

And New Year's day this year is actually the last day of Hanukkah, and there's something really beautiful about the way that we light the menorah. We light one additional candle every night, bringing more light into the world.

One wonders what it would be like if every Jewish person on the continent made one new friend this year, in honor of each night of Hanukkah from a different community: reached out, learned, understood how other people see themselves, and related how Jews see themselves, and made very clear that we are, in fact, stronger together, and we are safer together in communities that are diverse, in communities that have a deep wellspring of love and friendship.

SIDNER: Thank you to you, Rabbi Joshua Stanton, Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, and Father Edward Beck. Happy New Year to you guys. [06:25:02]

RAUF: My pleasure.

BECK: Happy New Year to you, too.

STANTON: Thank you so much.

SIDNER: Still ahead, President-elect Trump will have a host of foreign policy challenges to deal with on day one. We'll discuss the path forward on some of the major issues he will face in the new year.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FREEMAN: We begin with breaking news out of New Orleans. CNN has learned that a mass casualty incident has been reported overnight in the French Quarter. We have video coming in just now.

You can see the scene right there in the French Quarter in New Orleans.

And emergency official says that early Wednesday. This incident happened on Canal and Bourbon Street. You can see ambulances right there from just overnight in the early morning hours.

CNN's working to get further details. And as soon as we get that, we'll bring you updates on that story.

2025 gave us a warmer welcome than what we're used to this time of year, certainly in New York, but it's going to get chilly in the coming days.

For more on this, we have meteorologist Allison Chinchar. You've been tracking it all. Happy New Year, Allison. Good to see you.

ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: And Happy New Year to you, too. Yes, it is certainly going to get colder, especially as we make our way into the weekend.

In the short term, however, we're --