Sanders Urged Not to Run as Gillibrand Makes Women's Issues Center of Campaign; Group Launches Video Asking Beto O'Rourke to Run in 2020
KEILAR: Well, it's clear which women are going to have a historic effect on the 2020 race. New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand is jumping into the race saying she feels she's being called to serve.</s>SEN. KIRSTEN GILLIBRAND, (D), NEW YORK: I believe the urgency of this moment now is we have to take on President Trump and what he is doing. I believe he's literally ripping apart the fabric of this country, the moral fabric. And you've got to restore that decency and our leadership in the world. And so that's why I feel so-called right now to take on that battle.</s>KEILAR: CNN political director, David Chalian, here with us now. So Gillibrand actually made her decision public last night on late night. That was her venue. And I wonder, as she makes this pitch, it is very clear she's running as a mom. She's running as a woman. She has picked the role from which she is running in. Is this the moment for that role?</s>DAVID CHALIAN, CNN POLITICS DIRECTOR: You are 100 percent correct in your analysis of it, Brianna. I think what Kirsten Gillibrand is pitching to Democratic voters is, I'm the logical extension of 2018. What we went through as a party, Democrat, it was a female-powered election for the House of Representatives and we won 40 seats, and I am the bridge to 2020 for that. I saw a stat today, 60 percent of grassroots Democratic donors were female in the last cycle. Kirsten Gillibrand is looking to tap into the female power.</s>KEILAR: Let's talk about Bernie Sanders. There's a newspaper in his home state that says, please don't run. Don't run for president again. You'll fracture the Democratic Party. I want to point out, this is the "Burlington Free Press." But it's a paper that endorsed him for the Senate. They wanted him to be Vermont Senator. They say don't run for president.</s>CHALIAN: And they endorsed Hillary Clinton for president. So they haven't always been for Bernie Sanders.</s>KEILAR: That's right. So they haven't. But at least they want him to be a guy for the state, for the state level, right? Is there growing pressure on him to stay out of the race or is that a one off?</s>CHALIAN: You've seen some quotes here and there and stories of past supporters of Bernie Sanders who are questioning now, is this really going to be the same sort of lightning in a bottle? Is he going to capture the magic in a Bernie 2.0? That question lingers over him. He's obviously facing these questions about the 2016 staff who have complained about sexual harassment and pay inequity. He's dealing with that. And he's meeting behind the scenes with folks. And he knows he doesn't have an easy path. But, Brianna, the context is totally different. He doesn't have the one-on-one battle with the establishment behemoth that was Hillary Clinton. He has a very crowded primary field that has a lot of folks joining him on the progressive wing.</s>KEILAR: It's going to be insane. It's going to be wild and so huge. OK, so there's a group right now trying to draft Beto O'Rourke into the race. And he lost the Senate race to Ted Cruz. They're meeting in Iowa tonight. And they've released a video in an effort to get Beto onboard. In an interview -- or let's listen to that.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We need someone who can lift us up.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My support is growing behind Beto to run.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You have our support.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Beto, your country needs you.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Run, Beto, run.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Run, Beto, run.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Beto 2020!</s>KEILAR: So in an interview with the "Washington Post" -- I like the homemade nature of that video.</s>KEILAR: That's right. It's pretty cheap, right? Or in the dentist chair, as he did.</s>CHALIAN: Exactly.</s>KEILAR: He was interviewed by the "Washington Post," and he was asked how he would handle immigrants who overstay their visas, and he said, I don't know. On withdrawing troops, he said there may be a good reason, but he doesn't necessarily understand. He seemed to be passing on a lot of stuff. The Constitution, he quested whether a 300-year-old document can be used as a guide for today's issues, especially international issues. Is he ready? You have to be able to have something of substance and have formed opinions on these things.</s>CHALIAN: Yes. That's a question I think Democratic primary voters, should he get into this race, will have to answer, is he ready. Is he ready for prime time? Remember, we've seen that question asked before. Barack Obama in 2007 was getting criticized for many in the Democratic Party for not issuing white papers. He made clear, he wasn't a candidate on white papers. So what you see O'Rourke doing here is trying to preserve as much flexibility as possible, be a blank canvas. But you're right. When you do that and you answer questions that way in a two-hour interview, inevitably that will raise questions in Democratic circles of, does he have what it takes. And only Beto O'Rourke will answer that in future interviews with how he conducts himself.</s>KEILAR: It's a fine line to walk between being a blank canvas and empty vessel. Not you, collectively, just to be clear. You are a very full vessel, full of very important knowledge.</s>CHALIAN: Thanks, Brianna.</s>KEILAR: David Chalian, thank you. The president has called climate change a hoax, but his A.G. nominee saying the crisis is an eight or nine on a scale of 10. We'll have details on that interesting tidbit ahead. Plus, as Speaker Nancy Pelosi asked the president to move his State of the Union over the shutdown, I'll speak with a Democrat who was invited to the White House. And any moment now, British lawmakers will vote on the fate of Theresa May as Brexit hangs in the balance.