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Putin Agrees with Trump; Trump Fending off Challenges; Trump's Achilles Heel. Aired 6:30-7:00a ET

Aired December 20, 2018 - 06:30   ET

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


[06:30:00] JOHN AVLON, CNN ANCHOR: Thank you, panel.

Coming up, a new Popeye's promotion is ruffling some feathers. We'll tell you who's slamming the plan to get fliers to bring emotional support chicken on a plane. It's what we've all been waiting for.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: All right, this is happening right now. During his end of the year news conference Russian President Vladimir Putin says he agrees with President Trump's decision to pull U.S. troops out of Syria, and he adds that Trump is right about ISIS being defeated. Leaders of other countries disagree.

CNN's Nathan Hodge is live in Moscow with more.

Give us the headlines, Nathan.

NATHAN HODGE, CNN MOSCOW BUREAU CHIEF: Yes, Alisyn, this is -- President Trump's decision has -- may have caused -- left consternation in Washington and other capitals, but it's been an early Christmas president for Russian President Vladimir Putin, who's undergoing his annual ritual of his marathon question and answer sessions with the Russian and international press. It's a chance for him to review his year on the world stage and play presidential.

[06:35:07] And today he had big news to respond to with Trump's decision to pull troops from Syria. That's something that the Russian government has wanted to see happen for a long time and the Russian officials have been talking about how they believe that the U.S. has no sound, legal basis to be in Syria. So this is welcome news for the Kremlin and Putin has already said that he agrees with what President Trump has done and thinks that it was a good decision. Skeptical, though, about when it will happen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VLADIMIR PUTIN, RUSSIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): As far as ISIS is concerned, I agree more or less with the president of the U.S. As far as the withdrawal of U.S. troops is concerned, I really don't understand what that's about because the U.S. has been present for some 17 years in Afghanistan and they're still talking about withdrawing them, but they haven't done it yet.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HODGE: So there we have it, Putin saying that he agrees with Trump about this decision, expressing skepticism, taking a little dig at the U.S. for how long it's been in Afghanistan for 17 years now.

John.

AVLON: But this really does really fulfil part of Putin's playbook wish list. I mean now Russia seems to be in the poll possession in Syria, correct?

HODGE: That's right. I mean Putin intervened in Syria to prop up the regime of Syrian President Bashar al Assad back in 2015 and essentially turned the tide of the conflict in his favor. Russia, with the assistance, of course, of Iran. And so what Russia really wants to do and what it's been doing over the past months is shaping outcomes in Syria, shaping what the peace will look like. And they are now the ones who are going to be the dominating factor here.

John.

AVLON: All right, thank you, Nathan.

North Korea says it will not denuclearize unless the U.S. removes its own nuclear threat first. That's from commentary published by state media. And it comes in the deadlock negotiations between the two countries. At a summit in June in Singapore, President Trump and Dictator Kim Jong-un appeared to agree on, quote, complete denuclearization of the Korean peninsula. The talks stalled with the North demanded U.S. international sanctions be dropped before any progress with denuclearization.

CAMEROTA: New this morning, the Trump administration wants to force hundreds of thousands of struggling Americans to work in order to get food stamps. The agriculture department unveiling a proposal that would expand work requirements in the food stamp program known as SNAP. It already requires non-disabled, working age adults without dependents to have jobs, but states can waive that requirement in areas where unemployment is at least 10 percent. The proposed new rule would make it harder for states to get those wavers. Congressional Democrats are slamming this plan and they question whether the president can even legally do it.

AVLON: And Popeye's is facing fierce criticism from the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, or PETA, over a new promotion it's running at the Philadelphia Airport. Now, the fast food chain is selling a to-go box shaped like a chicken with the words "emotional support chicken" on the side. In response, PETA drew up a different version with words that, quote, "this chicken needs emotional support." The group says Popeye's is mocking mental illness and they gruesome deaths of animals. Popeye's has not publically responded.

Emotional support chicken.

CAMEROTA: Well, I mean, food is my emotional support.

AVLON: Clearly.

CAMEROTA: What does PETA say about that?

AVLON: For all of us.

CAMEROTA: Right.

AVLON: I -- yes, I just -- you know --

CAMEROTA: It's complicated.

AVLON: It's -- but it's also -- I applaud people for trying to find humor even when folks want to rain on it.

CAMEROTA: OK, there you go.

AVLON: Emotional support chicken.

CAMEROTA: There you go.

It's been a rough month for stocks. So what impact will the economic turbulence have on support for the president. That's next with Harry Enten.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:42:45] CAMEROTA: South Carolina's Republican Party says it may forego their 2020 presidential primary in order to help President Trump's chances.

So how are President Trump's chances of re-election looking? Well, there's something about Harry. So let's get "The Forecast" from CNN's senior politics writer and analyst Harry Enten, who just gave me a beautiful Christmas present. He gave me a Twizzler.

Thank you, Harry.

AVLON: And you will be getting an emotional support chicken, by the way.

CAMEROTA: This tastes like chicken.

HARRY ENTEN, CNN POLITICS SENIOR WRITER AND ANALYST: It does taste like chicken. I gave John one too. I don't want to give the impression I'm creating favorites here. John just threw his in the back. Maybe he's just not a big fan of Twizzlers.

AVLON: I just --

CAMEROTA: All right.

AVLON: You know, chicken first, then Twizzler.

All right, Harry --

ENTEN: Meal then desert. AVLON: Exactly.

ENTEN: You've got to stay healthy, fried chicken and then your Twizzler. Umm.

AVLON: Later in the coronary outfit (ph).

Anyway, let's start with Trump's approval rating, because you've got a fascinating comp involving past presidents and the economy. Let's take a look.

ENTEN: Sure. So let's take a look where President Trump's approval rating is right now among Republicans. He is very, very popular. An 89 percent approval rating in the latest monthly aggregate from Gallup. And, to me, you know, we're talking about, a, maybe there won't be a South Carolina primary. I just ask the question, why?

AVLON: It's weird (ph).

ENTEN: Why are -- why are you doing this? Because, look at this, these are all the presidents plus LBJ in '64 who had approval ratings of 80 percent or greater before their party's primaries. All of these guys had it. None of them faced major primary challenges. When you have an approval rating that's as high as 89 percent, you're not going to be challenged. You're just very, very popular. Who's going to go in and challenge him?

AVLON: Particularly in South Carolina, by the way, my old home state.

ENTEN: Right.

AVLON: I mean this guy's approval rating is probably 95 percent.

CAMEROTA: But, wait a second. Hold on. Time out. You're saying that you don't think that any Republican, people who are sometimes talked about, the John Kasichs of the world, are going to challenge President Trump?

ENTEN: They may, but even if they went in to challenge him, it really wouldn't be a challenge that went anywhere. I mean I could go in and challenge Trump right now in a Republican primary. I probably wouldn't do very well.

AVLON: Particularly in South Carolina.

CAMEROTA: Impossible to believe that you wouldn't do well.

ENTEN: Particularly --

AVLON: You don't think so? Yes.

ENTEN: I know, right? I don't know if my New York accent would play so well in South Carolina. They may -- although, granted, Donald Trump has a New York accent. He won there in 2016.

AVLON: There you go. ENTEN: So, you know, let's talk about people who might -- you know, where examples of people who fell in problems in primaries. And if you look, all of these guys had problems in their re-election campaigns. Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, George H.W. Bush in 1992, all faced credible challengers. But look at where their approval ratings were among their parties. They were all below 75 percent.

[06:45:06] AVLON: It's fascinating. And, of course, all three were one-term presidents. They not only had a tough contest for nomination, but that weakened them going into the general.

I think it's fascinating. You know, we think so highly in retrospect of George W. Bush -- H.W. Bush, but didn't hit 75. And Ford and Carter in the 70s, I mean those numbers are striking. So Trump is not courting those same forces.

ENTEN: He is not. I mean if you look at Ford and Carter, those campaigns actually went to the convention, they only had approval ratings for about two-thirds of their own party members.

Remember, just go back to Trump again, just to point this out. He's at 89 percent. He's about, you know, 20, 25 points above that. He's just not anywhere close to where any of these challenges were.

CAMEROTA: Then what is South Carolina doing? I mean is this just currying favor with President Trump.

ENTEN: I think that they're just currying favor with President Trump. He probably made a phone call or something like that and said, don't worry, we got your back. You know, there are not going to be any rats in our primary.

AVLON: And to your point, I mean, Reagan and Teddy Kennedy contesting deep divisions --

ENTEN: Deep divisions.

AVLON: And really Trump has really solidified control of the Republican Party for now.

ENTEN: Exactly.

AVLON: Let's take a look at how the economy impacts all of this.

ENTEN: Yes, right. So, you know, if -- right now, you know, we're sort of talking about the economy. The stock market has sort of been in some -- in a little bit of a free fall. My 401(k) has certainly taken a little bit of a hit. I plan, you know --

AVLON: You've got time, though, you got time.

ENTEN: Hopefully so, although I'm eating all that Popeye's. Who really knows how much time I truly have.

AVLON: In the long run.

CAMEROTA: Bingo.

ENTEN: In the long run.

So if we look at Trump's overall approval rating, and this is in the latest CNN poll, we see him at only 39 percent. But --

CAMEROTA: Do you need a pointer?

ENTEN: You know what, perfect.

AVLON: Oh, let's see if this works.

ENTEN: He's only at 39 percent. But if you were to look at the economy, his disapproval rating is significantly higher. It's at 49 percent. His disapproval rating, it's upside down, the approval/disapproval rating and overall. But in the economy, it's right side up. The economy has been a point of strength for this president.

But what happens -- what happens, as I get rid of this, if the economy goes south? Well, let's see if this chart actually -- yes, it kind of looks well.

AVLON: Yes.

ENTEN: Look, this is job growth and the president re-election margins going all the way back since 1948. And what we see is a pretty clear relationship going on, right? The higher job growth, the better chance of going for re-election.

AVLON: This is fascinating because, again, those negative job growth numbers in the last two years are the one-term presidents. And if you go up there in the upper right, '72 and '84 are the years that Republicans incumbents won 49 states.

ENTEN: Right. Yes.

CAMEROTA: So, I mean, doesn't this just tell us all we need to know? That if the economy is going well two years from now, President Trump is re-elected?

ENTEN: I think that's probably the case. But, again, if we go back to here, we see sort of this weirdo relationship, right, where Trump's very much trailing his overall economic numbers, so --

CAMEROTA: Right, but people are more focused on the economy than they are in how they feel about him favorably, right?

AVLON: This is the, it's the economy, stupid (INAUDIBLE).

ENTEN: Right. Historically, that is certainly the case. So if Trump's job growth is good, he's right now rounding the three, which would pretty much put him in 2012. A small re-election margin. But if it were to drop off say around two, he could be in some big trouble.

CAMEROTA: OK, so let's talk about gifts, like you gave me the Twizzler.

ENTEN: Right. So, you know, it's the holiday season. I figure, you know, maybe we should talk a little about holiday spending. You know, I'm going to get both of you guys something great. Well, actually, I already have with the Twizzlers.

CAMEROTA: You did.

ENTEN: So if we see here, Democrats seem really depressed a little bit, right? They're spending much less on gifts than Republicans are spending. Thirty-eight percent of Democrats say they're spending less on holiday gifts than they did last year, compared to 15 percent of Republicans. And, you know, this kind of just lines up with something that we're seeing generally. 2018 has been a good year. Well, actually, it's -- it's flipped here, but --

CAMEROTA: OK. So this is wrong?

ENTEN: This is --

AVLON: Well --

ENTEN: We can go back to this -- to this slide, 38 percent Democrats, 15 percent Republicans, good year, bad year. And you know what's interesting?

CAMEROTA: What?

ENTEN: For the gifts. Is, if we go back to 2014 --

AVLON: See.

ENTEN: We see a reverse of this when Republicans spent less on gifts when Barack Obama was president.

AVLON: It's not even -- it's not even objective numbers in the economy, it's all psychological.

ENTEN: It's all psychological. You know, if I give you a Twizzler and you weren't expecting anything, it's a good gift.

CAMEROTA: We're excited.

ENTEN: But if you were expecting a brand new car, this isn't the "Price is Right," you don't get one. But if you were expecting one, you'd have been very disappointed.

CAMEROTA: I understand it all now perfectly.

AVLON: Good.

ENTEN: Perfect.

CAMEROTA: Thank you.

AVLON: You're our emotional support chicken, Harry, I want you to know that.

ENTEN: I'm going to go get some Popeye's. You should join me.

CAMEROTA: All right, moving on.

AVLON: Late night comics take on the government shutdown. That's next.

CAMEROTA: I'm getting this Twizzler.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:53:12] AVLON: Late night hosts took jabs at avoiding the government shutdown, Trump's crumbling border wall and dissolving the Trump Foundation. Here are your late night laughs.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEPHEN COLBERT, HOST, "THE LATE SHOW WITH STEPHEN COLBERT": Here's something I did not think I'd be saying today, the government still exists, because this afternoon Mitch McConnell and Nancy Pelosi agreed to a bill that would fund the government through February 8th, just in time for Valentine's Day. They already have a plan to furlough government employees with candy hearts, you're the one who's out of a job.

JIMMY FALLON, HOST, "THE TONIGHT SHOW STARRING JIMMY FALLON": Trump was threatening to shut down the government if Congress didn't give him $5 billion for a border wall, but now he says that he'll get the money somewhere else. Or as one guy in Moscow put it, oh, I'll get my checkbook. But this counts for your birthday and Christmas.

JIMMY KIMMEL, HOST, "JIMMY KIMMEL LIVE": The Trump Foundation has agreed to dissolve and sell off its remaining assets, including this, a six foot tall portrait Trump paid for with money from his foundation. And you can see it's beautiful. Why doesn't he just use this for the border wall? He could put this up. No one will ever even to try to come here anymore.

SETH MEYERS, HOST, "LATE NIGHT WITH SETH MEYERS": So Trump used his charity to pay for lawsuits, which then prompted a lawsuit that ended the charity. At this point, he's going to have to start a new charity to pay for the lawsuit over the old charity. They can call, I don't know, march of crimes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: Ouch.

AVLON: Well played.

CAMEROTA: That portrait is frightening. That could scare people away from the border.

AVLON: That could be a deterrent.

CAMEROTA: Right, the president doesn't have fangs, but in that portrait it appears that he does. I'm sure it's bad photography.

AVLON: Well, if we're going for artistic slats that you could sneak it in there, a $20,000 artistic slat.

CAMEROTA: Yes, like that other artist.

More on that later when my brain connects.

[06:54:53] Some of President Trump's closest allies are slamming his decision to withdrawal U.S. troops from Syria. Could the criticism they convince the president to reverse course?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R), SOUTH CAROLINA: If this is a withdrawal of all of our forces in Syria, we're dramatically less safe.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It makes us look weak. It disables our allies. Twitter is not the way to conduct this kind of policy.

SEN. RAND PAUL (R), KENTUCKY: For the first time in my lifetime we have a president with the courage to declare victory and bring the troops home.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There is no way you can justify this on policy grounds. This is a Christmas gift to America's enemies.

SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL (R), MAJORITY LEADER: We will turn to a clean continuing resolution so we can make sure we don't end this year the way we began it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't see how he doesn't sign this, but this may be a thing where he suddenly decides to (INAUDIBLE).

ANA NAVARRO, CNN COMMENTATOR: At some point you've got to be less political and you've got to do what is right.

SARAH SANDERS, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: We have other ways that we can get to that 5 billion.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANNOUNCER: This is NEW DAY with Alisyn Camerota and John Berman.

CAMEROTA: Good morning, everyone. Welcome to your NEW DAY. John Berman is off. John Avlon joins me.

[07:00:02] We've already had a great hour.

AVLON: And more fun to come.

CAMEROTA: And come up with our punk rock band name.

AVLON: I thought we decided emotional support chicken? CAMEROTA: That's it.

AVLON: We got it.

CAMEROTA: OK, meanwhile,