A prosecutor. Ultimately a fighter. When asked what is it about her that puts her uniquely in the position where she could take on trump, heres what she said. We are a diverse country. Yes. And some people would suggest that in diversity, when theres a diverse population, one cannot achieve unity. I reject that because this is my belief. Yes, we are diverse. And we have so much more in common than what separates us and when we emphasize that commonality, when we recognize that commonality, we will achieve greater unity. Big themes, broad themes on this Martin Luther king jr. Holiday as she launches her president ial race. Something we should point out is that when it comes to specifics, theres not a lot of daylight between her and the other candidates that are putting themselves out there as progressive candidates. She says shes looking forward to getting into those and a full debate in the future. You mentioned of course shes announcing here on r dr. Kings day, but shes also honoring another civil rights icon by announcing now. It was 47 years ago this week that Shirley Chism declared her candidacy. The first policewoman woman to seek the president ial office. To declare her candidacy. So in a nod to shirley, she is also declaring her candidacy on this week on this very special day, but also if you look at her campaign video, her announcement video today, shes also borrowing some of the themes and colors in a nod to that history. So some powerful messaging as she pushes forward on this. Were anticipating to see many of these continue as she pushes further into her president ial campaign. Thank you so much. Meanwhile, other contenders are stumping across the country here. Michael bloomberg and joe biden are in washington. Cory booker and bersy saany sanr rs in columbia, South Carolina. Were follow iing those democra frs any big announcements there. Rebecca . Thats right. Well, no big announcements here in columbia, South Carolina today. But Bernie Sanders and cory booker sending a very clear message by being here today at the naacp dls mlk event that t are taking South Carolina seriously. This is the home of the first in the south primary, a key democratic contest in the primary process so these two candidates showing that they are seriously giving a look at running for president in 2020. Cory booker telling us today hes close to making a decision, but did not go after President Trump directly in his remarks today. He said he wants to focus on what democrats are for, not what hes against. Sanders though taking a very different approach. Listen to what he had to say. Today, we talk about justice and today we talk about racist. And i must tell you it gets me no pleasure to tell you that we now have a president of the United States who is a racist. Now the key constituency here in South Carolina is the africanamerican vote. They made up 60 of the electorate in the 2016 election. Bernie sanders struggled with those voters last time around. His appearance here today trying to make enroads with this Key Community and cory booker, an africanamerican candidate himself, also trying to rally those voters ahead of his president ial decision. Brooke. This morning, joe biden and Michael Bloomberg both spoke at an mlk breakfast. They talked about carrying on kings legacy, but also each acknowledged political mistakes theyve made in the past. Heres former Vice President joe biden. Ive been in the fight for a long time. It goes not just to voting rights, to the criminal justice system. I havent always been right. I know we havent always gotten things right. But ive always tried. In a similar light, Michael Bloomberg said he cant say any decision he made as mayor of new york was perfect. These come as the two men are considering white house bids in 2020. Neither offered any clue into their current think, but bloomberg said no matter what the next year bliripg, theyll both be focused on bringing a democrat to the white house. Thank you. Also massachusetts senator Elizabeth Warren rallied with boston airport workers today to highlight the Government Shutdown on this mlk holiday. Heres part of her message today. The path to Economic Security is steep and rocky for millions of working people in america. And it is steeper and rockier for black and brown americans. When we ignore that fact, when we turn a blind eye, then we dont move this nation toward greater equality and it isnt just black and brown people who suffer, all of us suffer. All of us lose when we allow the powerful to use race as a tool to divide us. We will not stand silently by and be a party to perpetuating discrimination for another generation. And new york senator Kirsten Gillibrand is in new york. Athena jones is there. Hi, brooke, you can see the speeches are still going on in a jam packed room with an enthusiastic crowd. Not surprising we heard her talk about he own faith, quoting from the bible. Even as she made the case for her candidacy. She said dr. Kings legacy called what am i doing with my time here on earth to serve others. She said shes going to run for president of the United States because as a person of faith, as mother, i cannot csit idly by ad not fight for your children like i do my open. She slammed President Trump what she calls his divisive rhetoric, tearing at the moral fabric of the coup tri. Listen to what she said about fighting racism as a community u. Fighting against this would take all of us. It cannot be left to people of color alone. White women like me must bear part of this burden and commit to amplifying your voices. She went on to talk about the many biases of minorities. Talked about black and brown men being ten times more likely to be arrested for marijuana possession. Black women in new york being 12 times more likely to die in childbirth. It was a direct appeal to the black community. Something weve heard her do over the weekend at the womens march in des moines over the weekend, she gave a shoutout to the black women who helped alabama senator doug jones. Democrat. Beat roy moore. Saying that they made sure that a credibly accused pedophile did not win alabama. So we heard her make her case to the crowd, quoting the bible and working together. Brooke. Got you. Lively room there in new york. Thank you very much. Lets discuss all of the above, all these contenders. Tiffany cross is the managing editor of the beat d. C. And patell. Thank you guys for joining me here. Such important conversations. I want to start with you and senator harris and her announcement today. I was reading of course i read your piece. Hearn denys piece in the time, i was struck by how he referred to her as a bridge. Shes a bit of a bridge. Like the bidens and Bernie Sanders and cory booker in a party thats going through some shall we say identity challenges. So what did you make of his assessment of a bridge and might that be what the democrats need right now . Well, the country is is certainly changing demographically. The party represents that. Its becoming young. More nonwhite. More socially liberal and yes, harris at 54 represents something of that being a daughter of a jamaican father and indian immigrant mother, so she represents this socalled rising american electorate and i think africanamerican voters in particular are going b to be her ace in the hole. Shes not necessarily going to win them, but if she can and shes very formidable then this community could power her path to the democratic nomination. She were instrumental in nominating barack obama in 2008. In making sure Hillary Clinton was the nominee in 2016. They are formidable presence within the party and shes speaking directly to this community by announcing on mlk day, by speaking to reporters at howard, her alma mater, a historically black university. This is a message, a a shes trying follow to the nomination. Makes sense shell be in South Carolina this friday. Shes capitalizing on her prosecutorial skills and her past in law enforcement, but shes getting criticism about her record as ag this california. There was a dramatic increase in the states prison population and some are arguing she wasnt tough enough on big banks. Do you see this as the beginning of attack lines from competitors against he . I dont know if a pushback is going to come from her competitors. I think its going to come from the rank and file Progressive Movement itself. She has a criminal justice background in california shes going to have to reconcile with. Shes going to have a compelling story to get over that hump. I dont think that will be enough of a very important voting demographic and thats black women. Black women, i dont think thats going to be enough to break them from some of her most loyal people. I think it says something that kamala, senator harris likes to say. Went to Howard University for her alma mater. It says something that shes not going the off to iowa or new hampshire, but going to South Carolina, the First Southern primary state. Sizable africanamerican population there. We also have to consider though that the way the primaries are set up, california has moved up u. Texas has moved u. Its repositioned california. So you have somebody like eric gar sety getting in, its going to be a battle and its a very expensive primary, so youre talking baseline 5 million to be competitive there. Ive got say, i think senator harris, her sister st maya. Very recognizable in political circles. Shes married to tony west. Executive at uber. God father reggie hudland, talent executive and director. Oscar nominated in hollywood. I think he can shore up some hollywood money. So i think shes going to be quite the force to be reckoned with. Thats senator kamala harris. What about Bernie Sanders . Because we just heard, we played the clip where senator b sanders calls President Trump racist. At this event in South Carolina. We certainly, we know why senator sanders would want to be in South Carolina, but my question to you is if he wereto do this again, what would be different for Bernie Sanders this go around . The single big thing that he would try to do differently if he runs this time is appeal more directly and do better with africanamerican voters. As i was saying before, this Community Overwhelmingly supported Hillary Clinton in 2016 and that was probably the singular reason that he did not win the 2016 president ial nomination. Which i think is why you hear him speaking so directly on issues like racism in you know, the country. I think in terms of Bernie Sanders and i would say senator warren, this is going to be one of the bigger challenges for someone like harris because they have captured the economic populous wing of the Democratic Party because theyve been crewing on the safety net for decades now and senator harris has a thinner paper trail on this. Not as much of ard record. So this is a significant challenge that i think senator harris and many others are going to have. The Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren are very strong. Thank you so much. I am sure well be talking about more and more people tloiing their hat in the ring on the democratic side and to you, a programming note. Cnn will be hosting a town hall with kamala harris. Its jake tapper moderating this one. Next monday, 10 00 p. M. Eastern from des moines, iowa here on cnn. Coming up next, tomorrow marks one month in this Government Shutdown and the last food stamp payments just went out. President trump and the democrats both seem to have a lot to say about it, but not to one another. Where do the negotiations stand as people face more and more hardships . Those hardships certainly include air travel. Tsa Officials Say they are in unchartered territory with more and more employees calling out sick and another new piece of video showing what happened between this native american elder and a group of lick school studecatholic School Students f kentucky. Now were getting new insight into how this whole situation turned ugly and what, if any punishment there should be. Youre watching cnn. Im brooke baldwin. Hi im joan lunden. Todays Senior Living communities have never been better, with amazing amenities like movie theaters, exercise rooms and swimming pools, public cafes, bars and bistros even pet care services. And theres never been an easier way to get great advice. A place for mom is a free service that pairs you with a local advisor to help you sort through your options and find a perfect place. A place for mom. You know your family we know Senior Living. Together well make the right choice. Since youre heading off to dad. I just got a zerowater. But weve always used brita. Its two stagefilter. Doesnt compare to zerowaters 5stage. This meter shows how much stuff, or dissolved solids, gets left behind. Our tap water is 220. Brita . 110. Seriously . But zerowater let me guess. Zero . Yup, thats how i know it is the puresttasting water. I need to find the receipt for that. Oh yeah, you do. More than a month has passed since the government partially shut down and the needle doesnt seem to be moving much many washington, d. C. Where President Trumps pitch is hitting a blue wall of resistance. He says he will offer temporary protections to Daca Recipients and immigrants, something he got rid of about a year after ago. Democrats say they werent consulted on the plan and wont vote for it. Their message to the white house, open the government first. So josh is with me. Wrote about this, the deal maker who cant seem to make a deal. So josh, you write about the, this shutdown has brought out several straitraits of the trum presidency. One month in and two years into the presidency, has plooufed elusive for the president. Were right where he started. He came out saturday and pitched a temporary reprieve. Democrats saying youre holding the government hostage over a wall. Were not coming to a deal with you. 30 days in, were nowhere close to having anything done. I think both sides are digging in for this. What about the democrats . This is something your paper points out. Hes offering these protections for dreamers lasting three years. An a lot of people are saying thats not good enough, but where are the democrats . They rejected a plan before he announced it on saturday. Theyre not negotiating with him at all. Nancy pelosi, more liberal members of the caucus and members who dont want to give a dollar for the wall who say its immoral who would put her in political peril if he compromised with him. Right now, the democrats are say ing the public is blaming the president for the shutdown and theyre just not feeling a lot of pressure to negotiate with him. Now whether that can continue, its unclear. Were going into another paycheck whats going to be missed for 800 or so thousand people. Some of the real world effects are going to keep pulling more and more. Whether that stance is palatable, i dont know. For now, democrats say theyre not interesteded in negotiating with him at all. Sounds like you ran through the polls and the president isnt winning the pr game, that hes fully aware of the numbers and you talk to trumps 2016 pollster and he told you that theres something that the white house should be dangling every day. This is what he said. We need to remind the voters every day that the president is willing to compromise and gif legal status to Daca Recipients, but the democrats are too intense about trying to defeat trump right now. Is this see dangle something. Well the president and his team are looking for a way out of the shutdown. According to our sources and reporting, they would be willing to take you know some sort of compromise to basically end this. Its gone on and on for them and its not been good for the polling and their data. Theyre looking to dangle things out there to make democrats come to the table. Whether or not that will move the number, it seems unclear to me. But what theyre trying to do is change the perception from the president. Remember when he was in the oval office with schumer saying im proud to shut down the government. Im very happy to do that. Theyre trying to change that perception from where the president is owning the shutdown to look, were being reasonable, giving proposals, compromises n and the democrats arent there. Polling shows that hasnt been successful. I think youre goung to see more of that as they try to change how people view their shutdown. I was talking to phil on capitol hill last hour and i cant remember how many days its been, but neither side is literal ly talking to one another. Theres this issue of a lack of urgency and you end your piece with this quote from john tn te who told you what. This the president s life of privilege meant he didnt understand the life of government workers and lived paycheck to paycheck. I dont know if thats true. I think the president certainly has been briefed on the number of folks who are are out of work, but what hes telling his advisers is a lot of these folks are democrats. He doesnt understand why theyre all necessary. I think theyre trying to mitt dp gait some of the effects on the shutdown. He hasnt really shown that much. Hes posted a couple of tweeting, but really most of his Public Comments have had a lack of bringing up and concern for those who are out of work. Josh, washington