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Democrats Set to Elect National Leadership; Top Ten Sports Stories of 2024; Supreme Court Hears Cases on TikTok and Vapes. Aired 6:30-7a ET
Aired December 27, 2024 - 06:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[06:33:09]
DANNY FREEMAN, CNN ANCHOR: The Democratic Party is looking for new leadership and self-help author Marianne Williamson is throwing her name and hat into the ring for DNC chair. She ran two longshot and unsuccessful campaigns for president, earlier this year and back in 2020, when she failed to meet the polling qualifications for several debates.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARIANNE WILLIAMSON, DNC CHAIR CANDIDATE: We need to transform. In a way we need to reinvent the Democratic Party in order to counter what MAGA is bringing to the table. There's a collective adrenaline rush in all of that, and we have to create our own massive psychological and emotional appeal for the American people.
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FREEMAN: Now, listen, in fairness, even before the election, we heard other Democrats talking about the need for new blood.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. ELISSA SLOTKIN (D-MI): We need a new generation. We need new blood, period, across the Democratic Party.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Put some new ideas and some new blood.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: New leaders, new blood, a new generation.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FREEMAN: Now, Williamson joins a growing field to replace outgoing chair Jaime Harrison that includes former Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley, Minnesota Democratic former Labor Party Chair Ken Martin, Wisconsin Democratic Party Chair Ben Wikler, and New York State Senator James Skoufis and former U.S. Senate candidate from Maryland, Robert Houton.
To discuss all of this we have the panel back.
Let's start with Houton. He was on CNN last night. Here's a clip from that interview.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERT HOUTON, DNC CHAIR CANDIDATE: We were held hostage by the radical left. We weren't in the toilet. We have the opportunity to move policies that work for the people, and we will have credibility, Kate, when we work with the president, so that when we fight when - when he's wrong, we're going to have more credibility and we're going to win on all those issues.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FREEMAN: All right, so no doubt whoever gets this top job is going to have their work cut out for them in helping rebuild, or regrouping at the very least, and rebranding the party.
[06:35:00]
Jamal, I'll toss it to you first. What's your thoughts on who's leading this race so far?
Oh, Jamal, I think we lost your audio, so I'll work to fix that there.
Stephen, let's go to you then. What's your thoughts?
Or do we have Jamal? Do we hear him? We got him. Maybe.
JAMAL SIMMONS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yes, I'm here. Can you hear me?
FREEMAN: OK. Oh, yes, I got you now, Jamal. OK.
SIMMONS: So, the two - the two -
FREEMAN: Go for it.
SIMMONS: Are fighting between Wisconsin and Minnesota. And I think that the chairs - the chairs of those two parties are the ones that we are really seeing have this contest.
But here's the question for the Democrats. The question for the Democrats is, are they going to be on the side of the people who feel like they're being left out of the system and they're going to fight against trying to reform the system, or are they the people who are going to try to defend the status quo.
And for too often over the last few years, Democrats have been sort of defending the status quo of the American society when people really feel like the status quo is not working for them. So, the Democratic chairman can do a little bit on that, but really they've also got to focus on the fundamentals of the party building. Are they making sure that all of those fundamentals are taken care of? They've got organizing places. They've got people on the ground. They're going to build a national organization that can help win up and down the candidate level, and not just be focused on what happens in a presidential campaign every four years.
FREEMAN: And again, thank you, everyone. We're back with audio. Appreciate that, Jamal.
I want to talk about Marianne Williamson, because I think this was perhaps a surprising late entry into this race. Let's listen to some impassioned pleas she's made during some of her earlier campaigns.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARIANNE WILLIAMSON, DNC CHAIR CANDIDATE (March 4, 2023): President Trump did not win the last election. That means we didn't go over the cliff. But I'll tell you something, we're still six inches away from it.
WILLIAMSON (June 27, 2019): Mr. President, if you're listening, I want you to hear me, please. You have harnessed fear for political purposes, and only love can cast that out.
I'm going to harness love for political purposes.
I have had a career harnessing the inspiration and the motivation and the excitement of people.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you, Ms. Williamson.
WILLIAMSON: Masses of people.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FREEMAN: Lance, I'll give it to you. Would you fear a Williamson DNC chair?
LANCE TROVER, FORMER SPOKESPERSON, DOUG BURGUM 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN: I love that the Republican gets asked for - to tell the Democrats what they should do for the next election.
Look, I hope Jamal's party continues down the road they've been on. They ignore the Joe Manchins of the world. They ignore the John Fettermans of the world and continue leaning in on this left woke ideology, because that's where I see them going. I mean, somebody said a while ago, in one of the earlier clips, that, like, we've been held hostage by the left. Look who they nominated. Kamala Harris was the most liberal senator when she served in the United States Senate. That's where the Democratic Party has been and where they seemingly continue to want to go.
Joe Manchin's out there late - earlier this week and talking to Manu Raju, saying, hey, look, we need to moderate on issues, but I'm not seeing that.
So, look, I hope they continue to ignore people like Joe Manchin, because that's going to make my life a lot easier, and my Republican operative friends a lot easier for the next election. FREEMAN: Jamal, your quick response there?
SIMMONS: Yes. For my Democratic friends, I just want to say, don't listen to Lance. He doesn't know what he's talking about.
This isn't about left versus right. He's a Republican trying to dance in the Democratic primary. You know, listen, he's not right. This isn't about left versus right. This is about outsiders versus insiders. And you - and some of these policies are going to make sense because they're going to make sense from the - they're going to be from the cultural left, right, about economic policy, getting people more money for, you know, wages and that (INAUDIBLE) sort of, which means we're not going to talk about some of the issues that have been hot buttons, like, I think DEI is really important. But the reason why DEI is important is because it's going to make America more competitive, and we're going to be able to go out into the world and win and keep our companies as competitive as possible. That's not really a progressive argument, but it is an argument that includes every American, which is what Democrats stand for.
FREEMAN: Leah, I want to take a step back here. Do you think that whoever is the next leader of the DNC is really going to be the next leader of the Democratic Party?
LEAH WRIGHT RIGUEUR, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST AND HISTORIAN: I don't necessarily know that they need to be the next leader of the Democratic Party. What they need to do is lead essentially what is a coming to terms with the infrastructure and the institution of the Democratic Party. And from that we'll begin to see real leadership emerge. So, it's not necessarily about being hail to the chief or saying that this is the person that is in charge, but instead, can you lay the groundwork for a new generation of leadership that is actually in touch with the American people, with Democratic voters, and then with the kind of larger orbit of Democratic voters or independent voters, progressive voters, left wing voters, conservative Democrats that have made up the Democratic Party and the Democratic Party has really shied away from in the last couple of cycles.
I think the other thing here to keep in mind is that, as you hear somebody like Marianne Williamson, who kind of emerges every four years to say these things, we have to remember that Marianne Williamson's biggest endorsers have been billionaires.
[06:40:01]
And that's not actually very much in touch with where the Democratic base wants to be right now, as they said resoundingly in this last election cycle. The person - the people actually that they should be listening to, Bernie Sanders and Stacey Abrams. Those are the two people who have been very consistent and very in touch with the American public that have been related to the Democratic Party. Those are the people that are going to help pick the leadership of the Democratic Party, or at the very least should be helping to pick the leadership of the Democratic Party as we move forward into this next election cycle.
FREEMAN: All right, thank you all for the smart conversation on this topic.
Stephen, I'm coming to you first in the next one, but we got to move on right now.
Coming up straight ahead on CNN THIS MORNING, grab your tickets. Tonight you could become a billionaire, literally. The Mega Millions jackpot now the fifth largest prize ever.
Plus, with just days until it is banned potentially, TikTok's final hope is in Donald Trump's conservative leaning Supreme Court.
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DONALD TRUMP (R), FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT AND 2024 PRESIDENT-ELECT: We did go on TikTok and we had a great response. We had billions of views.
Maybe we got to keep this sucker around a little while.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
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[06:45:22]
FREEMAN: This year in sports did not fall short of stars and just truly remarkable stories, from LeBron making history again, to the Kansas City Chiefs' Super Bowl win again. Our sports anchor Andy Scholes takes us back to the top ten sports stories of 2024.
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ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: Well, 2024 was the year where the superstars certainly shined bright. Lebron, Simone, Mahomes. Scheffler, Ohtani and Clark all dominating their sports. But there were some controversies along the way. Here are the top moments in sports from this year.
SCHOLES (voice over): We start our countdown with the Boston Celtics returning to the top of the NBA, winning their record 18th title. Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown and company beating the Mavericks in five games.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just at the top of the mountain. But we did it. We won a championship.
SCHOLES (voice over): And we almost saw history in the NHL. The Florida Panthers were up 3-0 in the Stanley Cup final before the Edmonton Oilers stormed back to force a game seven, but the Panthers would hold on to win their first ever championship.
At number nine in college basketball, Don Stanley's South Carolina Gamecocks became the 10th women's division one team in history to go undefeated. They were a perfect 38-0, and then capped it off by winning the third title in school history.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So excited to share this moment with our team.
SCHOLES (voice over): The UConn Huskies, meanwhile, becoming the first men's team since Florida in 2007 to win back-to-back titles.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Unbelievable. Feels like last year.
SCHOLES: At number eight, we had history in the NBA.
SCHOLES (voice over): LeBron James and his son Bronny taking the floor together, making it the first time ever a father and son played together in the league.
LEBRON JAMES, LAKERS PLAYER: And no matter how old I get, no matter how my memory may fade as I get older or whatever, I will never forget that moment.
BRONNY JAMES, LAKERS PLAYER: I appreciate the Laker nation for, you know, showing their support for me and my dad.
SCHOLES (voice over): And at number seven, LeBron with quite the 2024 as he alongside Steph Curry led Team USA to an Olympic gold medal in Paris, beating France in the championship game. It was their fifth straight gold. The women, meanwhile, winning their eighth straight gold medal behind a dominant performance from Aja Wilson.
And on the pitch, under new head coach Emma Hayes, the U.S. women's soccer team getting back to their winning ways, beating Brazil one nil to capture the gold medal for the first time since 2012.
SCHOLES: At number six, we also saw amazing solo performances at the Paris games.
KASIE HUNT, CNN ANCHOR: American Noah Lyles stakes his claim as the fastest man in the world with a thrilling photo finish in the 100- meter dash.
SCHOLES (voice over): Lyles became the first American in 20 years to grab the title of the fastest man on the planet.
Swimming sensation Katie Ledecky becoming the most decorated U.S. female Olympian of all time with 14 medals.
STEPHEN NEDOROSCIK, AMERICAN ARTISTIC GYMNAST: I kind of just wanted to be that guy who might be a little bit nerdy, but also really good at sports. That's kind of all I wanted to be.
SCHOLES (voice over): And Stephen Nedoroscik, known as Clark Kent, was a true hero, dominating the pommel horse to get the U.S. men's gymnastics team their first medal since 2008. Nedoroscik leaving the games with two bronze medals.
Many world records were set, but none more impressive than Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, who crushed the field in the 400 meter hurdles.
SYDNEY MCLAUGHLIN-LEVRONE, AMERICAN HURDLER AND SPRINTER: Unreal, honestly. A full circle moment. First I feel like full Olympic moment with friends and family there.
SCHOLES (voice over): At number five, Simone Biles triumphantly returning to the Olympics, proving once again she is the GOAT. The 27- year-old winning three gold medals and a silver and in the process became the most decorated U.S. gymnast of all time.
SIMONE BILES, AMERICAN GYMNAST: I solely did it for myself. And I'm in a really good spot mentally and physically. So, doing this for just me, it meant the world.
SCHOLES (voice over): Biles and the women's team reclaiming the gold, but the Paris games did end in controversy for a member of the team.
VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: Surprising turn of events in Paris. American gymnast Jordan Chiles has been stripped of her bronze medal.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The situation is getting more complicated by the day. USA Gymnastics says its appeal for Olympic gymnast Jordan Chiles to keep her bronze medal was denied.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's definitely been a really hard year.
SCHOLES (voice over): At number four, Shohei Ohtani had a season in baseball that will never be duplicated again, both on and off the field.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just one week before opening day, a stunning scandal has erupted in Major League Baseball. The interpreter for L.A. Dodgers player Shohei Ohtani fired amid allegations that he stole millions of dollars from the Japanese superstar to cover a gambling debt.
[06:50:02]
SCHOLES (voice over): The whole controversy, though, did not affect Ohtani one bit on the field. He went on to have the first ever 50/50 season in baseball history. He ended up with 54 home runs and 59 stolen bases. The Japanese star then went on to win his first World Series, as the Dodgers beat the Yankees in five games.
At number three, the PGA championship getting off to a rocky start.
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: We're following major drama at the PGA championship in Louisville, Kentucky, where top ranked golfer Scottie Scheffler was arrested and detained just outside the course where he would tee off only a few hours later.
SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER, PROFESSIONAL GOLFER: I feel like my head's still spinning. I can't really explain what happened this morning. I did spend some time stretching in a jail cell. That was a first for me.
SCHOLES (voice over): Despite being arrested before round two, Scheffler still finished tied for eighth at the PGA championship. And he went on to have one of the best years in golf history. Scheffler won nine times, including his second Masters in three years, and gold at the Paris games. SCHEFFLER: I'm just a kid from Texas who loves playing golf and I'm
just trying to get the most out of myself. And, you know, this year's been really fun.
SCHOLES (voice over): And number two on our countdown is Caitlin Clark mania just taking over the country.
LAURA COATES, CNN ANCHOR: History truly in the making, and so far out, by the way, Iowa Hawkeyes superstar Caitlin Clark breaking the NCAA women's basketball all-time scoring record.
CAITLIN CLARK, IOWA HAWKEYES: I don't know if you can really script it any better.
SCHOLES (voice over): And Clark wasn't just setting scoring records. Attendance and viewership were at all-time highs whenever Clark stepped on the floor. Her rematch against Angel Reese and LSU was watched by 12.3 million people, making it the most watched women's college basketball game ever.
JIM ACOSTA, CNN ANCHOR: Caitlin Clark is headed to the WNBA as the number one overall draft pick.
CLARK: Just getting to enjoy it and soak it in I think is the biggest thing because, like, this is once in a lifetime.
SCHOLES (voice over): Clark's remarkable year ended with her winning the WNBA Rookie of the Year and leading the Fever to the playoffs in 2024. Certainly an extraordinary year for the WNBA. The league setting records for attendance and viewership. And in the end, it was the Liberty winning their first ever title, beating the Lynx.
And finally our number one sports moment of the year belonged to Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs.
With Taylor Swift in attendance to cheer on boyfriend Travis Kelce, the Chiefs beating the 49ers in an overtime thriller in the first ever Las Vegas Super Bowl. Mahomes, Kelce and company winning back to back titles in their third in five years.
PATRICK MAHOMES, KANSAS CITY CHIEFS: I'm so proud of the team, so proud of the guys. And to battle to the very end, I mean that's a - that was a microcosm of our season.
It really is special just to be able to say we're back-to-back champs.
SCHOLES: And as we head into 2025, the Chiefs are looking to become the first team ever to win three straight Super Bowls.
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FREEMAN: All right, it is 52 minutes past the hour. Here's your morning roundup.
This morning, the man accused of burning a woman to death on a New York City subway is expected in court today. Earlier this week he was arraigned on charges of first and second degree murder and arson. Officials say this was a random attack.
And the CDC is now reporting a serious bird flu virus case found in a person in Louisiana is showing signs of a mutation. A sample of the virus from the hospitalized patient found a change, which potentially makes it easier to spread among humans. But the agency says the risk to the general public still remains low.
And 20 big cats are now dead after a bird flu outbreak among the animals at a wildlife sanctuary in Washington state. That's more than half the center's population. The facility says the deaths started around Thanksgiving, and it's still unclear how the cats contracted the disease.
And who wants to be a billionaire? Today, the Mega Millions jackpot is worth $1.15 billion. So, go and get your tickets, because if a winner is declared, this will be the fifth largest jackpot in the game's history.
We turn now to the Supreme Court, where the justices are preparing for a series of blockbuster cases in the new year that could significantly transform the lives of the nation's young people and teenagers. The court set to hear oral arguments about the controversial law that says TikTok must be banned unless the company is sold by its Chinese parent company, just days before the ban is supposed to take effect on January 19th.
Justices will also decide in the coming months whether the FDA can regulate e-cigarettes, a product that, like TikTok, immensely popular amongst young people. The courts so-called teenage term is coming at a time when its approval among Americans aged 18 to 29 stands at just 44 percent, lower than any other age group. And some people wondering what things might like - what things might look like for them if the decisions do not go their way.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: TikTok is getting banned, and I'm not going to have a job next month. That's facts. So, how do I become a farmer?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If I go to the bank, how do you think that's going to go? Like, hi, I would like to take out a small loan.
[06:55:01]
What for? To stock up on vapes because they're going out of business. Do you think they would laugh at me?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FREEMAN: My panel is back with me to talk about all this.
Stephen, we're going to start with you, as promised.
Looking at the big picture here, break down, what are the broader political and cultural implications for young people when it comes to these cases before the court? STEPHEN COLLINSON, CNN POLITICS SENIOR REPORTER: Well, apart from the
individual cases, which are all interesting, this shows the fault lines, in many ways, of society and our politics right now because you're going to head into a period where the court, as you say, is already under water in opinion among younger people. You are going to have, and you do have, a Supreme Court majority, which is older, more religious, very conservative, and that is going to have a great deal of sway over the lives of young people who potentially are more progressive or moderate, more secular for decades.
What does that do to the aspirations of younger people? Does that create a political backlash? Is it something that the Democrats can exploit? Does that lead to more organization - political organization among young people? So, this could have far-reaching effects, notwithstanding the fact that there was some evidence that some younger people gravitated towards the right in the last election towards Donald Trump, especially younger males.
FREEMAN: Leah, the Supreme Court also heard arguments this month about gender affirming care for minors. Another issue of particular interest for gen z. And at the core of that case, the vaping case, these are - there are these questions about lawmakers and whether agencies overstepped when enacting policies to say - that were designed to, in their words, protect young people. From a historical perspective, who usually wins when it comes to these sorts of debates?
RIGUEUR: Well, it depends on what you mean by win, because oftentimes what we see is that the culture is at direct odds with the court. And oftentimes the court will rule in a way that is directly at odds, again, with young people or young passions or young positions.
But ultimately, what we also see is that young people often invest themselves in political movements, in social movements and cultural movements that end up changing the zeitgeist or the cultural components. And then the courts, the federal governments, these various agencies, are forced to catch up. That oftentimes things that we see that we have defined, say, as the radical left or left-wing progressivism actually are coming directly out of young people and young people's movements. Think free speech, for example, during the 1970s. Think anti-war movies. Anti-war movement during the 1960s and into the 1970s. You can think about the cultural moments and the cultural lifts of the 1990s. All of those things are born out of differences, political and legal differences, that come from young people.
So, what I wouldn't be surprised, particularly around - now that - particularly now that much of the Supreme Court rulings that we're going to see are - the cases that we're seeing coming in front of the Supreme Court around young people actually have to do not only with young people and content creation and cultural creation, but actually have a monetary factor to it. I wouldn't be surprised if we see a political movement on the ground around youth culture, irrespective of what decision the Supreme Court makes on many of these issues.
FREEMAN: I want to play a little bit of sound, Lance, for you to get some reaction to about President-elect Trump and how he has spoken about TikTok in the past.
Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP (R), FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT AND 2024 PRESIDENT-ELECT (December 16, 2024): We'll take a look at TikTok. You know, I have a warm spot in my heart for TikTok because I won youth by 34 points. And there are those that say that TikTok had something to do with that.
TRUMP: I'm going to have to start thinking about TikTok. I think we're going to have to - we're going to have to start thinking. Because, you know, we did go on TikTok and we had a great response. We had billions of views. Billions and billions of views.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FREEMAN: Just quickly, Lance, what do you think, is President-elect Trump going to help save TikTok?
TROVER: Well, he certainly got a lot of younger voters that moved in his direction during the last election.
My guess is, knowing Donald Trump and being kind of a student of his these last several years, he probably believes there's a deal to be had with TikTok and figures he can probably help solve that issue. I certainly wouldn't underestimate him on this.
Let's remember, though, what really - if Bytedance would sell TikTok, TikTok does not have to go away. It's that simple. I know I'm putting - making it simplistic, but that's really what needs to happen here.
FREEMAN: Right.
TROVER: And TikTok doesn't need to go anywhere.
FREEMAN: All right, Jamal, your last thought, are we going to see TikTok sold in the new year?
SIMMONS: If they want to stay in business, I think they're going to have to sell. I think the national security environment that they will be pretty clear about selling TikTok.
[07:00:01]
First of all, Donald Trump also did not win youth by 34 percent. That's just -
FREEMAN: Right. Right.
SIMMONS: Quantifiably (ph) not true. So, we should all remember that.
Lastly, for the Democrats, the Democrats are looking for a place to be reformers.
FREEMAN: Right. SIMMONS: It's not about left versus right all the time. It's about insiders versus outsiders. Reforming the Supreme Court is one of these issues that's very hot with young people.
FREEMAN: Right.
SIMMONS: And if Democrats pick up that mantle, it's a way to get on sides with the voters they need in the future.
FREEMAN: All right, thank you to our entire panel. Thank you for joining us this morning. Appreciate the conversation. I'm Danny Freeman. "CNN NEWS CENTRAL" going to start right now.
