[Avlon:] All right. It's back to the future on the campaign trail with Senator Kamala Harris talking about busing in Iowa. Now, her position sounds a little different than what she said at last week's debate.
[Harris:] I think of busing as being in the toolbox of what is available and what can be used for the goal of desegregating America's schools. I believe that any tool that is in the toolbox should be considered by a school district.
[Avlon:] Harris and Biden, two of the many, many Democratic candidates criss-crossing Iowa this holiday weekend. Joining us now from Iowa, CNN Political Reporter, Arlette Saenz and Brianne Pfannenstiel, Chief Politics Reporter for The Des Moines Register. Good to have you both. All right. Brianne, you are at the Des Moines Register. I'm wondering what your the Iowans are making of this fight over busing between two of the leading candidates?
[Brianne Pfannenstiel, Chief Politics Reporter, Des Moines Register:] Well, I think a lot of Iowans who are tuned into the debate are really looking at this through the lens of who can take on Donald Trump. And so on a national stage, they saw Kamala Harris land a punch against Joe Biden against the frontrunner right now in the polls. And so I think they're seeing Senator Harris as a really strong competitor right now and her poll numbers are surging. And so this kind of aftermath that's playing out right now is still playing out and I think voters will see what they think about whether she's waffling, whether she's walking this back. But we're still waiting to see how this is playing in Iowa.
[Camerota:] And yet, Arlette, this whole busing thing has become so strange basically for the irony of all that. Kamala Harris had that breakout moment during the debate where she turned and confronted the former vice president on his stance on bussing and then yesterday is revealed, she has the same position that he does on busing which is doesn't believe in a federal mandate. Thought it should be up to I think in what she's saying from what I'm interpreting her words, thinks this should be up to the local jurisdiction which is what happened in Berkeley, which is how she was bused, which is what she brought up her personal story. So it's the Biden campaign head exploding?
[Arlette Saenz, Cnn Political Reporter:] Yes. I mean that's what the Biden is taking issue with...
[Camerota:] Oh, I'm sorry.
[Saenz:] ... I mean, the Biden campaign was taking issue with her answer yesterday. The deputy campaign manager essentially saying that she distorted the former vice president's view and now she is tying herself up in knots, trying to respond. But one big question is this issue about busing really going to resonate with voters? I think for Joe Biden the bigger concern is that Kamala Harris chipped away a little bit at his the aura of inevitability that has been around him that she was able to take him on and kind of put him on shaky footing in that debate exchange. But going forward, our voters really going to care about Biden's positions in the past on busing or where Kamala Harris stands on busing. That's something that currently remains to be seen. Now, we'll see if the candidates themselves decide to further engage on this issue today here in Iowa. Biden and Kamala Harris are going to be about 150 miles apart as they start their days. Biden will be at a parade in independence and Kamala Harris down in Indianola. So we'll see if there's any kind of exchange between the two of them over this very issue that their campaigns seem to be taking aim at each other about.
[Avlon:] And Brianne, that's what I want to hammer home is what folks in Iowa are talking about because busing doesn't seem to be at the top of the list. We've got a new Suffolk University USA Today poll that does delineate the top issues for Iowans and they say it's health care at the top with 29 percent climate change, immigration, income inequality, the economy, National Security and trade policy all the way at the bottom. Brianne, what I'm fascinated by is that given the pain that a lot of Iowa farmers have felt from the trade war with China that trade is such a low issue, does that track with what you've been hearing from folks on the ground?
[Pfannenstiel:] It does track. And remember these are a lot of Democrats right now who are who are talking about these issues. And they're talking about health care, they're talking about access for their families and expanding access to Medicare. They're talking about climate change. So this really does track with what we're hearing on the ground. I would also point out that this poll also shows that 60 percent of Iowa Democrats say that defeating Donald Trump is their first priority and so this is really topping every other issue that we're seeing right now. And I think that's why we're seeing, back to Kamala Harris, why she is doing so well in the polls because she had that moment where she's perceived as someone who can take on the President.
[Camerota:] In the latest poll among caucus goers, we'll just take a snapshot of where Iowans are right now, Arlette. Biden is at 24 percent. Harris is at 16 percent. Warren is at 13. Sanders is at 9 percent and there's so much talk about women and if the female candidate is seen as electable, but maybe the media is really driving that conversation, because when you ask caucus goers and regular voters, they are happy to say that one of the women is their top choice. And so, I mean, you tell us since you're on the ground in Iowa, the voters that you talk to, do they think that that gender affects electability?
[Saenz:] No, I think that voters are very open right...
[Avlon:] Arlette.
[Saenz:] ... apologies, I think that voters are very open to having a female president and you're seeing that in the polls. You've seen both Kamala Harris and Elizabeth Warren rising. But a lot of the voters that I've talked to over the past week, especially I've been at a lot of Joe Biden events and they are putting electability as their number one concern when it comes to who their nominee is going to be. There were several attendee I spoke to you last night who said that they are still considering a lot of the candidates; Biden, Warren, Kamala Harris, Pete Buttigieg among them and they are all concerned about electing someone who can take on Donald Trump. Health care was also another issue that was at the top of their minds. So we'll see going forward whether that electability argument is one that candidates, both the men and women on this race are going to be able to meet and effectively meet their voters.
[Camerota:] Yes. I mean, Brianne, the problem is that that's just a nebulous term, electability. Now, some people think that that's code for some sort of sexism that women aren't as electable as a man. But again you have your finger on the pulse there, what are you hearing?
[Pfannenstiel:] I mean you do hear occasionally from people who will say, "I don't think a woman can be elected," or, "I don't know that a gay man right now could be elected." But that's really the minority. I think most people are kind of projecting and trying to figure out what the electorate at-large will support. They're kind of playing pundit a little bit, trying to get a sense of who can be electable. And so a lot of people say, "I support a woman. I support a person of color, but I'm worried that the rest of America might not."
[Avlon:] Well, Iowa certainly changed the game in 2008 by propelling Barack Obama to victory. Thank you both very much. Much more to come from the great state of Iowa in the coming weeks and months we know. All right. A quick programming note, a CNN exclusive tomorrow as Chris Cuomo interviews former Vice President Joe Biden. So how does the 2020 Democratic frontrunner plan to stay ahead of the pack? The interview airs tomorrow morning right here on NEW DAY at 6:00 am and 8:00 am Eastern.
[Camerota:] That will be so interesting.
[Avlon:] It'd be great.
[Camerota:] I think he's only done three interviews, I think, since declaring his candidacy, so it'd be really interesting.
[Avlon:] It'd be fascinating. A must watch.
[Camerota:] A judge in New Jersey said that a teenager accused of rape deserves leniency because he, quote, comes from a good family. We discuss this next.