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Storm Could Snarl Thanksgiving Travel; Numbers for Holiday Travel; Trump Vows Tariffs. Aired 9-9:30a ET

Aired November 26, 2024 - 09:00   ET

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

[09:00:00]

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Friends and family's homes. We've got an update. We're tracking it all for you.

And Donald Trump vowing to make good on one of his most consistent campaign promises, pledging to impose tariffs on some of America's closest allies and trade partners. The potential fallout it could have on the economy and your wallet.

And nearly 30 years ago, the murder of JonBenet Ramsey became a national obsession. Now, a new documentary is reexamining her case, and her father joins us this morning.

I'm Kate Bolduan, with John Berman. Sara Sidner is out today. This is CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right, we have a live look at Thanksgiving travel. The latest numbers from FlightAware show about 8,700 delays and 355 cancellations so far. There are storms in the forecast. The weather promises to be quite dicey for a lot of people. The FAA says that they may have to slow down air traffic because they're dealing with a shortage of air traffic controllers.

Of course, there are a lot of people trying to get where they want to go on the ground as well. Ryan Young looking at the cars in Atlanta. Derek Van Dam tracking the storm systems.

Ryan, let's start with you.

RYAN YOUNG, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hey, John, you know how this goes. When we're doing Thanksgiving travel it goes one of two ways. Either it's all green and everybody's happy, or you're doing the delays at the airport or somewhere where things are backed up.

Right now, here in Atlanta, 75/85 behind me, near the connector, with so much traffic. Today, it's been actually pretty light. People are getting on to where they have to go.

We know the peak times, anytime before 10:00 a.m. is a good time to travel. But AAA is expecting more than 70 million people to hit the roads this year. That's more than a million more than last year. Some of that has to do with gas prices. Look, the average right now is $3.07. Last year this time it was $3.25. But you can't talk about travel at all without thinking about the

airport. And we know the TSA is going to get crushed today. There are going to be millions of more people at the airport. We talked to some travelers at the airport who are getting ready for all the expectations and those long security lines.

Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Make sure to leave early. Account for traffic, especially in the middle of the day.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Make sure you have your boarding pass and your ID on you. And make sure you come on time. Rarely, really, not late.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We just try and plan ahead and pack super early so we can get out in time.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We've had more success going to the airport than driving on Thanksgiving. That's for sure.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

YOUNG: Yes, some people really do feel that way. But you got to think about all the folks who are going to get in the car. So many more millions of people. Got to have all those devices charged as well.

When we talked to AAA, one of the big things they told people is to make sure you know the rules of the road as you're driving. Some states are hands free, so you don't want to have your device in your hand. And to make sure you look at the map ahead of time because you don't want to be looking down at the GPS and have some sort of crash as you're looking at a screen.

John, so far it has been smooth sailing. A lot of the weather has moved out of the way. We were talking to Derek Van Dam earlier as we were getting wet. So, obviously, that will be an impact that's going to be felt all across the country when it comes to the changing weather conditions. And I know you'll be talking to him in a second. But so far so good here in Atlanta.

BERMAN: You know, you keep saying people have to charge their devices for travel. What ever happened to showtunes? Showtunes are what people should do when they go on long trips.

YOUNG: Sometimes, John. Sometimes.

BERMAN: No, showtunes are not a -

YOUNG: Some people are tone deaf. You don't want to have them singing the whole ride.

BERMAN: Showtunes are not a sometimes treat, they're an always treat.

DEREK VAN DAM, AMS METEOROLOGIST: What about good old conversation, John?

BERMAN: A meaningful conversation. I - I - I said meaningful conversation.

VAN DAM: There you go.

BERMAN: You guys both came out against meaningful conversation during our 7:00 hour.

VAN DAM: OK.

BERMAN: Now you're trying to redeem yourself.

All right, Derek, here's the thing.

YOUNG: Well, I like the license - I like the alphabet game.

VAN DAM: (INAUDIBLE) children's games.

BERMAN: Yes, the alphabet game is good, except when they only get to 'j' and they can't get to the next letter, which happens in my family.

YOUNG: Exactly.

BERMAN: All right, Derek, the weather is going to be awful on Thanksgiving for millions of people, right?

VAN DAM: Oh, it depends on where you're located. But this morning is a tricky travel scenario for the East Coast. This is the busiest airport day of the year, and there could be some delays because of the weather.

But Thursday, you hit it right on, that is going to be the worst travel day out of this week. And I'll show you why in just one moment. Let's talk about what's happening right now.

A cold front moving through the eastern seaboard. That could bring some weather delays to, let's say, LaGuardia, into JFK, stretching into D.C., but across the nation's midsection.

This area right now is clear. So, we're not anticipating any problems. But we do have a big storm system brewing over the western parts of the U.S. that's bringing snow to the mountains and coastal rain to California.

Let's talk about this cold front moving through across the northeast. This is bringing a mixture of rain and snow, even some light freezing rain reported right here where you see that shading of purple. So, Interstate 89, 93, moving through Vermont and New Hampshire.

[09:05:03]

These areas could get a bit dicey this morning. The further south you travel towards the coast, that's all rain and that's good news because that, of course, doesn't complicate things. When you have freezing precipitation on the roadways. But this I-95 corridor, regardless, will be wet this morning.

But you're seeing the tail end of this rainfall as the cold front exits the East Coast. Ryan was wet this morning from rain in his earlier live shots. That's now progressed eastward and away from Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport. That 75/85 interchange that he's standing ahead above actually right now.

But look at what's happening over the west. This is a significant snowstorm for places like Salt Lake City, just west of Denver, good for the ski resorts, bad for travel. But watch how this system evolves going forward. For the day tomorrow, this is the prime time to travel. Wednesday, one of the busiest days of the travel year. Along the East Coast, no problems.

But look what happens 12 hours later. This storm blows up in intensity and brings snowfall to northern New England. It stays rain to the coastal areas, just in time for that Macy's Day Parade. We all know we're keeping an eye on that. Especially John.

And then it's going to kick in the lake effect snow machine. Crank it into high gear. Behind it, coldest air of the season settles in and our temperatures take a nosedive. We could talk about below freezing temperatures all the way to the gulf coast by the first parts of next week.

Here's a look at your temperatures on the East Coast. Right through the holiday weekend. It's going to be chilly. It's going to be damp. And it's going to be wet for John Berman standing out in the rain on Thursday morning.

BERMAN: Yes, sounds like a very unpleasant -

VAN DAM: Keep in mind, I'm going to be watching you.

BERMAN: Yes, that unpleasant parade.

All right, Derek Van Dam, Ryan Young, thank you both.

Kate.

VAN DAM: OK.

BOLDUAN: So, that's the forecast. Let's talk about - let's run some numbers on records and what's expected to be records this week in the - in the coming week. Harry Enten is here.

You could run numbers on absolutely anything.

HARRY ENTEN, CNN SENIOR DATA REPORTER: On anything. There's a poll on everything, Kate Bolduan.

BOLDUAN: It is now my new - that will be my New Year's resolution, to find something you can't run the numbers on.

ENTEN: Ooh, tough challenge.

BOLDUAN: Challenge accepted.

ENTEN: There you go.

BOLDUAN: Talk to me first about all - about how many people are expected to fly.

ENTEN: Yes, how many people are expected to fly? I mean, hello, look at this number. Thanksgiving week, airline trips. Look at this, 18.3 million. That is a modern day record. That's up a million from last year, 17.3, up from 15.6 back in 2022.

I was running the numbers. If you would go back to the Covid pandemic right, you go all the way back since - to 2020, what was the number then? It was something along the lines of 6.6 million. So, we are way up. We are three times - nearly three times as much this year than we were four years ago at this point.

So, the bottom line is, if you're going to the airport, don't expect to be alone. Expect to have many friends. And perhaps you'll make a friend, Kate.

BOLDUAN: That's what I said, it's all the friends that you've never met.

ENTEN: Yes.

BOLDUAN: When you're - when you're experiencing maybe potentially a lot of delays, which we could be looking at.

But how are you measuring this?

ENTEN: Yes, so, if you were essentially to look at - so far this year and what - what would you find is that it's the fewest on-time flights in ten years. In ten years. Right now, 25 percent of flights this year have either been canceled or delayed, which, of course, gives you plenty of time to make a friend in the airport, Kate Bolduan. Perhaps you might want to pack your patience. Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha.

The bottom line is this, if you're going to the airport, expect to be there with many people. And don't be surprised if you go to EWR, where I was stuck in, I think, a two-and-a-half hour delay the other week and then landed and then had to take a bus to the terminal, which was truly pleasant, Kate.

BOLDUAN: If you had any question that Harry Enten is from the northeast and from New York City, you just were reminded of it right there.

Why is there an asterisk with - with patience will be a virtue?

ENTEN: Oh, I think it's -

BOLDUAN: Shouldn't that be the headline?

ENTEN: Maybe it should be the headline. But, you know, when we make the slides, I tend to make them with my producer, Sydney. But perhaps we should bring you in on the process, and then we could figure out that perhaps the note should be the headline and the headline should be the note.

BOLDUAN: Let us continue though.

But not everyone's flying, Harry.

ENTEN: Yes, that's exactly right. "Planes, Trains and Automobiles," Kate Bolduan. You might remember that movie. I'm a big fan of Steve Martin and John Candy. Most people --

BOLDUAN: Very good.

ENTEN: fantastic movie.

BOLDUAN: Very good movie.

ENTEN: Very, very good movie.

Most people for 50 plus mile trips will actually be traveling by car, 90 percent. That's why we had Ryan out there looking at the traffic. The traffic out on 11th Avenue in New York City this morning wasn't quite so bad, but I'm worried that perhaps for the girlfriend, who's going out to New Jersey, the car travel later today might be a little bit rough.

But, of course, I love this other category, 3 percent other. Train maybe as an example. And maybe there are some people who are going by boat or something. I don't know exactly what's all -

BOLDUAN: Yes, maybe.

ENTEN: Maybe. I mean, you know what, I don't discriminate.

BOLDUAN: Maybe they're riding a bike.

ENTEN: Maybe they're riding a bike to grandmother's house we go.

BOLDUAN: Or maybe they're - they are walking or taking a sleigh.

ENTEN: I could imagine being on the New Jersey Turnpike taking a walk.

Seven percent travel by plane. So, yes, a lot of folks where a lot of people were looking at the flights, the potential delays. But the bottom line is, most people are taking a car, so they'll actually be looking at their Waze. They won't be looking to the FAA to know if they get to grandmother's house on time.

[09:10:04]

BOLDUAN: Here's the deal. I know Harry Enten's girlfriend. And I know you are often - you are out there wondering the same thing I wonder all the time, how she puts up with him. But we do love him so much.

ENTEN: Honestly, it's one of the true great signs of God in this universe that she puts up with me. BOLDUAN: I still love ya.

Thank you, Harry.

ENTEN: Thank you.

BOLDUAN: An important reminder, you can join CNN for the ultimate Thanksgiving morning watch party featuring celebrity appearances and live coverage of parades across the country. And the reason you have to watch is because it will be hosted by the one and only John Berman and Erica Hill. "Thanksgiving in America" starts Thanksgiving Day at 8:00 on CNN, and also streaming on Max.

Coming up for us, new tariffs, day one. Donald Trump says he's going to impose new tariffs on Mexico, Canada and China as soon as he gets into office. Why U.S. companies are so concerned, and what it will mean for U.S. consumers.

The cost of very popular weight loss drugs, like Wegovy, the cost of it makes them really out of reach for many Americans. But a new move just announced this morning by the Biden administration could be making them available to millions more people. We'll explain.

And nearly three decades after her death, a new documentary is aiming to finally answer the question, who killed JonBenet Ramsey? Her father and the docuseries director join us live.

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[09:15:59]

BERMAN: All right, new this morning, President-elect Trump is promising to impose 25 percent tariffs on two key U.S. allies, Canada and Mexico, the day he takes office if they do not take action on the border. He also is threatening to impose a new 10 percent tariffs on China. The Chinese embassy has already responded, telling CNN, quote, "no one will win a trade war or a tariff war."

Let's get right to CNN's Matt Egan for the latest on this.

Matt.

MATT EGAN, CNN REPORTER: Well, John, clearly tariff man is back. And if anything, the president-elect is an even bigger believer in tariffs than he was when he first gave himself that nickname. I mean he has repeatedly held up tariffs as kind of a magical negotiating tool that can be used against friends and foes alike to get better deals.

And look, we don't know how this is going to actually play out. Will he impose these tariffs that he's threatened? Will he be able to bring Canada, Mexico, China to the negotiating table and get a better deal? Maybe.

But we do know that tariffs have at least the potential to create confusion and chaos for businesses and to increase costs for all of us as consumers because, remember, tariffs are taxes on imports. And we buy a lot of stuff from a lot of these countries.

Look at Canada. We've imported hundreds and billions of dollars of stuff from Canada. Just last year alone, everything from oil and minerals, to cement. And it's hard to see how slapping a 25 percent tariff on Canadian oil will make it cheaper to fill up your tank at the gas station, or a 25 percent tariff on wood and cement, how is that going to make it any cheaper to build homes? It probably won't. It could actually make it more expensive.

And likewise, I mean, a lot of people are frustrated with how expensive it is at the supermarket. But we buy significant amount of certain crops, certain food from Mexico. For example, 89 percent of the imports of avocado from Mexico, 91 percent of the tomatoes that get shipped into the United States also come from Mexico. We rely on Mexico for autos and auto parts as well. And then, of course, there's China, where the U.S. imports a lot of different goods, everything from furniture and electronics to toys.

And again, the risk, of course, is that the costs end up going up for all of those materials. You see sporting equipment and paint and lamps as well.

And look, I think at the end of the day, all of this is another reminder that Trump really means business when he talks about tariffs, right? These were not just empty campaign threats. As one analyst put it this morning, Trump 2.0 is all gas, no brakes.

And, John, look, despite all the focus on Trump's cabinet picks, including his relatively moderate Treasury pick in Scott Bessent. At the end of the day, it's Trump alone that is calling the shots, especially on tariffs.

BERMAN: All right, Matt Egan, thank you very much.

With us now, former Trump White House communications director Mike Dubke, and also CNN's senior political commentator Ana Navarro.

And, Mike, I get that this might be a negotiating ploy. Say you're going to impose 25 percent tariffs to try to get action. But -

MIKE DUBKE, FORMER TRUMP WHITE HOUSE COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR: Yes.

BERMAN: But how prepared do you think the American people need to be for the possibility that prices on some goods are going to go up on January 20th and beyond?

DUBKE: Well, first of all, John, isn't it refreshing that we've got a candidate that says one thing and then gets into office and actually is going to follow through on the - on the promises they made on the campaign trail.

I think a lot of these tariffs in the mentioning of Canada and Mexico and China last night by President-elect Trump, you know, the focus of these, when I look at it, is mostly on China. What China's done to get around a lot of the tariffs that were kept by the Biden administration, even though they promised to eliminate these tariffs, are focused on products that China will ship to Mexico, either relabel or not relabel, and then ship into the United States to avoid the tariffs that have been imposed on them.

[09:20:18]

I think this is a warning shot. I love that - that all gas, no brakes. I think the American people voted for that. And that's what they're going to get right out of the gates with Donald Trump.

BERMAN: Ana.

ANA NAVARRO, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Look, right now, this is a lot of bluster without detail, right? And the devil is in the detail. He has said there will be these tariffs unless Mexico and Canada and China do this.

BERMAN: Stuff.

NAVARRO: Do stuff. We don't know what the stuff actually means in detail.

What I do know is most conservatives are not pro-tariffs. We have free trade agreements, particularly with Mexico and Canada. And the leaders of these countries, right, the newly elected president of Mexico, Justin Trudeau, China's Xi Jinping, they're not going to play dead. They're not rolling over. They're not - and when - when Donald Trump says, and he said this a lot during the campaign, I'm going to impose it on China, tariffs are actually imposed on consumers, right, because it's not the government of Mexico or Canada or China that are going to be paying this. It is consumers when we go to the grocery store. It is consumers when we buy a new house.

And the things that people complain the most about, the price of eggs, the price of groceries, the price of housing, the price of cars, those things are precisely what will be the most affected if we, in fact, go into a trade war.

BERMAN: The question will be, that Donald Trump supporters are so supportive of him, you know, will higher prices be great again. If that's the result of these tariffs, is that something, do you think, that maybe they won't care about as much anymore?

NAVARRO: Listen, they haven't cared about a lot of things, right? They haven't cared about his felonies. They haven't cared about - but I'm not sure how you're going to feel about $80 tequila or a $10 tomato. I mean, we're - you know, we're talking about daily - daily things that Americans are very used to and rely on.

BERMAN: And, Mike, I get that this is something that he ran on and promised. There's no question about that.

DUBKE: Right.

BERMAN: But given that every time this comes up, people say, you know what, it's just a negotiating ploy, doesn't China know that too? Doesn't Mexico and Canada, don't they know that basically Donald Trump is threatening this, but may be unlikely to slap a 25 percent tariff on January 20th, the day he takes office?

DUBKE: Well, he's maybe unlikely to slap a 25 percent tariff on avocados and tomatoes, but tariffs can be targeted. So, if we look at auto parts, which, again, is one of those items that China is transshipping to Mexico. And if he puts the tariff on that, then - then we've got targeted tariffs on imports that should - that are trying to avoid the tariffs originally from China.

I also looked at the list that Egan had on the - on the - just prior to where we were from Canada. I mean, we sell - lumber is a perfect example. Canada floods our market with lumber, but we also have lumber coming from the southern United States that could fill that void. So, some of this also is a pro-American pro-job creation stance by the president as well.

BERMAN: Well, look, for cars, one thing that's clear, I mean, the parts go back and forth over the border, sometimes several times. And there'd be a tariff every time they come back into the United States.

DUBKE: Yes.

BERMAN: And that's with Mexico and Canada. Leave China - on that issue, China's not necessarily part of that.

Ana, you were trying to jump in.

NAVARRO: Yes. I mean, and combined, tariffs on Mexico with mass deportations, and you may have to take a picture of a tomato so that you can show it to your grandchildren because that's all they may know about a tomato because we - you know, between the produce that we make in - that we have in America, that a lot of it is picked by undocumented immigrants, that's the reality, and the produce that comes from places like Mexico, you put those two things together that he's promised and delivering on, apparently, you've got really expensive vegetables.

BERMAN: Mike, I want to get your take on something. I've already talked to Ana about this. This is Boris Epshteyn, the adviser to Donald Trump, longtime adviser, who has been investigated by Trump insiders for basically pay to play allegations that he was charging people to promote them to Donald Trump as possible cabinet picks. I don't want to put words in Ana's mouth, but she didn't think it was a thing.

Do you think it's necessarily a thing here that - that - that Donald Trump should be concerned about, that one of his chief advisers is maybe taking money to say nice things about cabinet picks?

DUBKE: Oh, I'm surprised that Ana doesn't think it's a thing. We'll disagree on this one. I do think it's a thing. It should not - it - in one of the articles someone said, well, this is just normal Washington. It is not normal Washington. Not for Republicans. Not for Democrats. Pay to play should have no role here.

[09:25:01]

I know these are allegations that have been made. But if they're substantiated, you know, this is serious - this is serious business. There are multiple people that are looking to do well for the American people in the Trump administration given how, all gas, no brake, this administration is going to be. So, we need to make sure we get the best and the brightest and those that are going to serve the president of the United States, not - not - not because somebody else took money to - to promote them.

BERMAN: Ana, I -

DUBKE: So, I'm - Ana, I - we don't always agree. We're going to disagree on this one again, I guess.

NAVARRO: Well, listen, I mean, I think charging a million dollars - and I've lost my earpiece - charging a million dollars entry fee, membership fee to Mar-a-Lago is also pay to play. And I just think that that's the way the game is, right? A lot of people are paying a lot of money to be at Mar-a-Lago so that they can have contact with Trump and give him an idea.

I think, you know, I think this is called lobbying. And I think that if the campaign or the transition team does not want that to go on, they have to tell their consultants who are not full-time employees, they are consultants, this is exclusive and you cannot take money from anybody else to promote anything to Donald Trump. But most people who work in a campaign either end up in an administration where it definitely is illegal to pay to play -

BERMAN: Right.

NAVARRO: Or they work - end up on the outside making money for the access that they gained while working on a campaign. I mean it's called lobbying, and it's - I - I don't - I don't see it as a - as a big deal. And let me say, I find Boris Epshteyn incredibly unsavory. So, for me to say that it's not a big deal is, just, I don't see it.

BERMAN: All right, Ana Navarro, Mike Dubke, great to see both of you. Happy Thanksgiving.

DUBKE: All right. Thank you. Happy Thanksgiving.

BERMAN: All right, this morning, the father of murdered six-year-old JonBenet Ramsey is speaking out in a new docuseries. After decades, her killer remains at large and the case remains unsolved.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN RAMSEY, FATHER OF JONBENET RAMSEY: I was told by someone inside the system to get this message to you. They believe you killed your daughter. And you need to get the best defense attorney you can get your hands on. And I was just shocked.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

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