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Rep. Katherine Clark (D-MA) is Interviewed about a Shutdown; Apple Urged to Drop AI Feature; Arctic Chill Heads to East Coast; Boston School Helps Homeless Children. Aired 8:30-9a ET

Aired December 20, 2024 - 08:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:34:22]

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: Right now, Congress is on a collision course with time. If they cannot agree on a spending bill, the government will shut down at 12:01 overnight. Now, a critical meeting is happening with members of the House reform caucus. Some - or, sorry, House Freedom Caucus, some of whom tanked the bill President Trump approved. House Speaker Mike Johnson, Vice President-elect J.D. Vance and Trump's pick to head the Office of Management and Budget are trying to hash things out.

The critical question, can they come up with a plan to get all their own party members to back a funding bill?

Last night, 38 Republicans joined most Democrats to reject a Trump- backed plan to avert a shutdown.

[08:35:02]

Speaker Johnson said this just moments ago as he headed to that meeting.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. MIKE JOHNSON (R-LA): We have a plan. We have a plan.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Is there going to be a different bill on the floor today?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Sir, are you going to vote today?

JOHNSON: Yes, that - we're - we're expecting the votes this morning. So, y'all stay tuned. We - we got a plan.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You have - you've reached a new agreement?

JOHNSON: We'll see.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SIDNER: Joining us now is Massachusetts Congresswoman and Democratic Whip Katherine Clark.

Thank you so much, Congresswoman. I want to start with this. You just heard Johnson saying there's a plan, they're going to vote on it this morning. Have Democrats been consulted on this plan?

REP. KATHERINE CLARK (D-MA) MINORITY WHIP: Well, good morning, Sara, and I apologize for my voice. There's been a lot of heated conversations going on, but we have no idea. The Republicans have failed to put a budget together over two years.

We have -- they have taken us to the verge of a shutdown for the sixth time. And every time Democrats have come together to be the voice for the American people to prevent that. We had a negotiated deal. It was signed off and posted by the Republicans.

And then Elon Musk sent out 150 tweets, told them they shouldn't do it. Donald Trump weighed in afterwards and joined the chorus, and they pulled back on the deal they had negotiated.

They are now not talking with us. They are continuing the chaos and infighting, and we will see what they do this morning. But we stand here ready to fight for the working people of this country who expect Congress to fulfill this fundamental responsibility of making government work for them.

SIDNER: I'm curious what it might take for Democrats and what the demands are from Democrats to try and get a bill passed before the deadline.

CLARK: We already negotiated a bill. They know full well how to get to yes. They had the votes on Tuesday on both sides of the aisle to end this in a very productive way and to get, even though it wasn't a full budget because they failed to produce one, it would have done critical investments in childcare and reducing the costs of that for families, in community health centers, desperately needed disaster aid for our farmers, small businesses, people trying to rebuild their lives.

So we have had the negotiations. We have compromised and met them halfway. Now they are saying that they are only negotiating with unelected Elon Musk and doing what he wants to do to set the stage for their tax bill that will once again explode our deficit and reward the very wealthiest Americans.

SIDNER: Mike Johnson has said that this is Washington. This is how lawmaking is done. He's talking about this as if it's just sort of totally a normal way of doing business. Do you see it that way?

CLARK: Absolutely not. This is a total fiasco. This isn't how government's supposed to run. We're supposed to come from across the country, from different places, different ideologies, different life experiences, and come together and make a better product and put the voices of hardworking Americans into the corridors of power here in Congress. That's how it's supposed to work.

And when you fail, as Mike Johnson and the GOP and the House have, to put a budget together, when you come to Democrats and negotiate to get you out of that position that you've put yourselves and the country in, you should honor the agreement that you made. There is nothing business as usual or status quo about having an unelected, richest man in the world blowing up negotiations.

Why? So that he can earn even more money and take it out of the pockets of families that are counting on Social Security, food assistance, cancer research that impacts their children's lives. These are the fundamental things the American people are counting us to do. And there's nothing that is business as usual about this process with the House GOP.

SIDNER: You've spoken about Elon Musk a couple of times, and he has -- he has gone out again and said that the Congress should have passed the Plan B bill that both Democrats and 38 Republicans said no to.

[08:40:02]

And now we're hearing from Donald Trump, who is putting full blame, if there is a shutdown, on Democrats. What do you make of that?

CLARK: Well, Donald Trump has already been out there saying that he wants to shut down government if he doesn't get what he wants. Donald Trump has not even taken the oath of office, and he is already causing chaos for the American people.

It took him just a few weeks to turn his back on the promises. And what we are saying is let's get to work. Honor the deal you made because it honors hardworking Americans.

Let's invest in them. Let's protect their Social Security and Medicare. Let's make sure we continue to cut the price of prescription drugs, that we reduce the cost of living, like the cost of child care and groceries and housing.

These are the issues the American people want us to focus on. But Elon Musk and Donald Trump are so busy planning their tax breaks for themselves, not for you, not for the American people, for themselves, that they are willing to shut down our government in order to do it. This is ending the 118th Congress as we started, with self-serving chaos by Donald Trump and Elon Musk and the House GOP.

SIDNER: Do you think that there is any chance of a bill being passed before the deadline at this point?

CLARK: Of course there's a chance. Let's come together. Let's work. If you don't want to honor the deal that you already made, make a proposal to us. Work with us. But since they blew up their own deal that they had agreed to, it has been crickets from them.

So we'll see. They're saying they may have something to put on the floor today. I certainly hope so. We will do everything in our power to prevent a shutdown, but we are also not going to let them manipulate and use this situation to harm the American people who are counting on us.

SIDNER: There's a call by a couple of Republicans that Donald Trump should come down and start in on these negotiations. Do you think Biden should be weighing in as well as the president, the current president?

CLARK: I think that we have heard from the White House, and of course it will be President Biden who will sign whatever we can pass. But let's just back up a little bit and review again. We are in this situation because the House GOP failed to meet the fundamental responsibility of passing a budget. We did it when we were in the majority. They have not.

And so their only choice here on the verge of another shutdown is to come together and work with us. We did it with them. We made compromises. The bill we agreed to was not everything we wanted, but it was a good start. It was -- it is a positive bill that keeps government functioning until March and makes some key investments the American people need.

What do we have now? They have blown that up because of an unelected billionaire decides that that bill doesn't work for him. That's what this is about. So Democrats will continue to stand with the American people and do everything we can to prevent a shutdown today. But the responsibility is absolutely with the House GOP. And we will see what they do this morning, the actions they take. We are here, ready to vote, prepared to move forward.

SIDNER: The Republicans do have control of the House. Congresswoman Katherine Clark, I hope that your voice gets better, but I have a feeling it might get worse before it gets better as this day goes forward and time keeps ticking. Really appreciate you coming on this morning.

Kate.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: The congresswoman's voice, emblematic of the situation, very strained and very exhausted.

Also this for us, Apple feeling the heat after its new A.I. feature backfired and incorrectly summarized news reports last week, presenting users with literal fake news. A push notification created by Apple Intelligence falsely told users that CEO murder suspect Luigi Mangione had shot himself. Now, the press freedom group Reporters Without Borders wants the tech giant, in their words, to "act responsibly" by scrapping the whole tool.

CNN's Hadas Gold has much more on this wild - wild, wild, wild.

HADAS GOLD, CNN MEDIA CORRESPONDENT: Yes, I mean -

BOLDUAN: What does this say about the limitations or present and show us about the limitations of A.I. right now?

[08:45:00]

GOLD: Look, A.I. is really cool. It can be really useful. But it is still new. And this shows us that it still can be very unreliable. Now, what's worrisome, most worrisome about this situation is that

when it was presented to users on their phones as a push alert, it made it seem it was coming directly from news outlets. That one about Luigi Mangione made it seem as though it was coming directly from the BBC, one of the most trusted, well-known brands of journalism and news around the world.

BOLDUAN: Wow.

GOLD: Now, as you noted, this is part of Apple's new Apple Intelligence, its A.I. feature. This is only something that's shown on the newer versions of their phones and computers and iPads and the new operating system. But it is expected to be rolled out across all of our iPhones sometime soon.

Now, what happened? This is part of a larger A.I. summary of news that got pushed onto people's phones. And the BBC complained because - we can put up what some of these said. It said, literally coming from the BBC News, part of a summary of other stories as well. Luigi Mangione shoots himself. Makes it seem like it's coming directly from the BBC.

There was actually another one last month that a ProPublica reporter pointed out from "The New York Times." And that said that Netanyahu was arrested. It seemed to be taking other news reports, confusing them in a way.

BOLDUAN: Yes.

GOLD: Because what had actually happened with the Netanyahu situation is the International Criminal Court had put out an arrest warrant.

BOLDUAN: Arrest warrant.

GOLD: He had not actually been arrested. But the A.I. somehow got confused.

But again, the issue is that it made it seem as coming directly from "The New York Times." But the publishers have no control over these summaries. They don't get to put in what the summaries should be. It just showed up from Apple, from the Apple Intelligence itself.

Now, the BBC has complained. Went to Apple. They're saying, we want Apple to fix this because it's dangerous for their brand. And it's dangerous for other journalism brands as well.

Now, Apple has not commented, but the issue here is not just that people could be getting fake news and getting confused, but what if one of those summaries had said, there's an active shooter in New York City, and then people get freaked out and people start to panic and people start taking action based off of summaries.

BOLDUAN: Yes. Right. Responding to that.

GOLD: And so that's why you have groups like Reporters Without Borders who are saying that these need to be pulled back. They say, "it's a blow to the outlet's credibility and a danger to the public's right to reliable information on current affairs." So, very cool, but still very unreliable.

BOLDUAN: So, Hadas, what is the advice then until this gets worked out, or until whatever, that people can ensure they're getting the - the news they're getting is correct. Like, how do you arm yourself correctly?

GOLD: So, yes, this particular incident is actually one that actually really worries me when it comes to A.I., because we always tell people with A.I., verify.

BOLDUAN: Go to the source.

GOLD: Go to the source.

BOLDUAN: Exactly.

GOLD: But when you're looking at your phone like this, it seems like it's coming from the source itself. It says BBC. It says "The New York Times." These are some of the most trusted names in news. How can you not trust them?

So, I guess the answer is, if you do have one of these A.I. things on your phone, make sure you know what it looks like when it's the A.I. recommending something to you, kind of like right now when you Google something and there's that summary right at the top.

BOLDUAN: Yes.

GOLD: It used to be telling people to, you know, do weird things with their pizza, weird advice. Know when it's coming from the A.I. and you still have to really verify and go to the original source. Not just the summary. Go to thenewyorktimes.com, go to cnn.com, go to bbc.com.

BOLDUAN: And that you - that presents the problem, right? You want - you might see it but then it's now - there - your responsibility still to click through, go to it, read it, Google it, Google it from the original source. It's these steps that is exactly why you're so worried.

GOLD: And hopeful - hopefully Apple will fix this problem.

BOLDUAN: All right, we'll see what Apple says because they haven't responded yet.

It's good to see you, Hadas. Thank you so much for bringing that to our attention.

Sara.

SIDNER: Hadas and Kate, don't we have enough to do? Like, having to double and triple check when your phone's telling you - I mean, just saying.

BOLDUAN: We can never have too much to do, Sara. We all - we have endless amounts of time, correct?

SIDNER: The sarcasm is dripping from your face, Kate.

All right, today, speaking of things that aren't great, today is a huge holiday weekend for travelers. That sounds good. But the weather might not be friendly. A ground stop was briefly issued at Chicago O'Hare this morning because of icy conditions. And AAA estimates a record 119 million people will be traveling starting tomorrow for the year-end holidays. Almost 90 percent are expected to get out there on the roads.

Let's turn to CNN meteorologist Derek Van Dam to help us navigate the busy holiday travel weekend.

Derek, I'm looking at all those planes. You make it look so pretty. But we know it might get a bit ugly.

DEREK VAN DAM, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Everything's going to be fine, Sara. Everything's going to be fine. You can cut the sarcasm with a knife here in the studio this morning.

You're right, O'Hare Airport had a ground stop as of 7:30 local time. It has been lifted. It is now a ground delay. That is, of course, going to have ramifications. Kind of that snowball effect through the course of the afternoon as planes depart O'Hare.

And then I want to point your attention to what's happening on the East Coast because the same storm system bringing the snowfall to Chicago is now moving towards the major airports that could see some flakes fly in the air from D.C. to New York, and more specifically across the local regional radars - or I should say airports, from Syracuse to Albany.

[08:50:05]

So, double check your flights. That could impact you.

Now, this same storm system brought over, get this, 400 crashes that state troopers in Minnesota responded to yesterday. This is the scene coming out of Minneapolis. And you can see just how snow covered the roads were from this quick moving and impactful clipper system that is now starting to exit Chicago O'Hare. The visibility is getting better. So, not only are we impacted in the skies, but also on the roadways. You can see the visibility starting to fall into Pittsburgh and eventually they'll reach the East Coast as well, where we expect a few snowflakes.

But in terms of snow totals, we think the highest will likely be here near Boston, where we could get a couple of quick inches of snowfall right along and inland from the I-95 corridor.

Sara.

SIDNER: I don't want to be crass, but it is December and, you know, we should expect some snow, hopefully.

VAN DAM: And I hope it sticks around for -

SIDNER: I hope we get it here in New York for Christmas. Yes.

VAN DAM: Maybe.

SIDNER: All right, thank you so much, Derek Van Dam.

Everybody just be safe out there. Drive slow.

All right, Starbucks workers are on strike in three major cities today. And the union warns more strikes could happen across the country before Christmas.

All right, the number of families experiencing homelessness in the United States is rising at alarming rates. How one group's working to provide much needed support this holiday season.

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[08:55:47]

SIDNER: This morning, Russia launched a deadly missile strike on Ukraine's capital, Kyiv. The attack ignited fires across the capital. At least one person was killed, a dozen others injured, and several embassies damaged.

This comes just a day after Vladimir Putin bragged about Russia's new nuclear capable ballistic missiles, prompting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to call him, and I'm quoting here, "a dumb ass."

All right, new details emerging about the Madison school shooting. We've now learned the identity of a California man who police say was communicating with the teenage shooter, and possible planning other attacks. A neighbor of 20-year-old Alexander Paffendorf says he saw police carrying out a search at the man's home, and he said they carried out a big, black bag that he thought looked like potentially a gun case.

Earlier this week, Rupnow gunned down two people and injured six more at her school in Madison, Wisconsin. Funeral services will be held for 14-year-old Rubi Vergara and, on Monday, for teacher Erin West.

This morning, Starbucks workers on strike in Seattle, Chicago and Los Angeles. The union says that strike could expand to hundreds more stores by Christmas Eve, unless a deal is reached over pay, benefits and working conditions. Starbucks blames the union for ending talks. A spokesperson saying they, quote, "need the union to return to the table."

Kate.

BOLDUAN: A lot going on, including this.

After years of seeing progress, family homelessness is now seeing a troubling trend of rising once again. It increased 15 percent between 2022 and 2023. CNN's Jake Tapper traveled to Boston, where one group is stepping up and trying to help.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: All right, can you say good morning.

KIDS: Good morning. Hi.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE), don't forget your green leaf.

JAKE TAPPER, CNN ANCHOR (voice over): You'd never know it by looking at them, but the children in this school have, at one point or another, experienced homelessness.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Can you tell me how you feel so far since you've gotten here? Show me with your thumbs.

TAPPER (voice over): Five days a week at Horizons for Homeless Children in Boston, more than 200 kids are given free access to education, playtime and meals.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What have we been doing every day in community meeting (ph)? We've been doing what? We've been -

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Breathing.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, we've been breathing. And what kind of breathing have we been doing? We've been doing what?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Triangle.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A shape.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Triangle breathing.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Triangle.

TAPPER (voice over): The program has been a lifesaver for moms like Karian, who struggled with postpartum depression and anxiety after the birth of her second daughter.

KARIAN, MOTHER OF CHILD ENROLLED AT HORIZONS SCHOOL: I was really bad. I was all over the place. I couldn't concentrate.

TAPPER (voice over): Karian and her daughters moved in with a family member. But when that got too crowded, they moved into a shelter where they live doubled up with another family.

KARIAN: It wasn't really ideal. You know, it was too crowded. We were all in one room, so we were all cramped up.

TAPPER (voice over): Karian worked overnights at a fast food chain to make money for her family, while caring for them during the day. But her youngest daughter started to struggle.

KARIAN: She was very, like, in her shell. She wasn't really growing. You know, like her developmental growth wasn't doing good. She has speech delays and everything. TAPPER (voice over): Developmental delays are a common problem for children experiencing homelessness. It's an issue that the CEO and president of Horizons, Kate Barrand, has been trying to address for years, not just as a housing crisis, but as a public health crisis.

KATE BARRAND, PRESIDENT AND CEO, HORIZONS FOR HOMELESS CHILDREN: At the age zero to six, your entire brain is being formed. If you're homeless during that period, it can cause significant challenges to your brain development.

So, children who have experienced a period of homelessness are four times more likely to have developmental delays. And if those developmental delays aren't remediated, that will follow them.

TAPPER (voice over): Last year, families with children made up about 30 percent of the homeless population across the United States. And more than half of all families experiencing homelessness live in the nation's largest cities.

BARRAND: Cities like Boston are a perfect storm for family homelessness. We have high housing costs. We have a huge gap between the minimum wage and a living wage in the city of Boston.

[09:00:03]

We have significant child poverty. So, when you put all those together with the high cost of childcare on top of .