greater than the power. we ve seen demagoguery, we ve seen hate before. how did we beat bill connor? by being bigger fire hoses and bigger dogs? or by doing the kind of demand that expanded the moral imagination and got people off their couch and to join marches. we re in a moment where poverty is the biggest threat to our country is not the material poverty which is a sin in society. but the poverty of compassion and empathy. we need leadership that doesn t just condem the minority of our country that might be doing bad things. but awakens our country when good people come together. is that your theory of why kory booker should be president? we cannot be in a moment when we re looking for one savior to get rid of one guy from office. this has to be about a larger campaign. we get rid of donald trump and put a really great person in and then go back to what we were doing. the problems of my inner city neighborhood are still going to be. there i m running not just for an office and
but awakens our country when good people come together. is that your theory of why kory booker should be president? we cannot be in a moment when we re looking for one savior to get rid of one guy from office. this has to be about a larger campaign. we get rid of donald trump and put a really great person in and then go back to what we were doing. the problems of my inner city neighborhood are still going to be. there i m running not just for an office and one election. i want to waken a moral movement. we again to see the suffering and the inadequacies. turning people in farm town and factory towns and inner cities. we can be the nation we say we are. what would be your first priority as president of the united states? say you re elect and say the democrats were to take the house and the senate. so you have a teed up domestic
dlir differentiator. we have more mayors than governors in the race. he has lowered unemployment, lowered crime, but there was the criticism from his successor. did you see the more on meet the press than in the streets toward the end of his term. that s one of the things, he s been a media figurehead for so long, can he keep that freshness and energy? but is he a raw talent that really stands out in any political field. i think he backed off a lot of the media ever aught last four over the last four or five years in anticipation of getting in this race. van, i ve heard you say no one should assume that any one voter or voting block is going to follow any one candidate for any run reason. cory booker, complicated, interesting, as you said. he also, if he s been criticized for something it s for being too close to wall street, right? he is a senator from new jersey. this is an interesting year to running with elizabeth warren and other very critical of wall street. cory booker is some
carolina, and new hampshire in the weeks to come. rebecca buck for us in new jersey. cory booker announces he s running for president. certainly one of the more anticipated announcements in this 2020 race. let s bring in cnn senior political reporter nia-malika henderson, van jones, host of the van jones show, jackie kucinich, and john avlon here as well. van, i want to start with you here. where does cory booker fit in this new crowded field, and i don t think it s any coincidence at all that senator booker is announcing on february 1st, the beginning of black history month and some of his first radio interviews will be with the likes of tom joiner and extremely maybe the most popular african-american radio host. well, time joiner certainly that. first of all, i have to say i ve known cory booker for almost 25 years. i graduated from yale law school in spring of 93. he showed up in the fall of 93 and took the entire law school
breaking news. all right. good morning, everyone. welcome to your new day. alisyn is off, erica hill joins me and we do begin with breaking news in the race for president. the democratic field in the hunt for 2020 getting bigger. a big new entry as of this second, new jersey senator kory booker is making it official. he is running for president. we want to go straight to cnn s rebecca who is live near booker s home in newark, new jersey, with more on these breaking details. rebecca. reporter: that s right. we re here in newark, the city that launched cory booker s career as mayor some years ago. today he s takes that next big step to run for president. and he picked a symbolic day to do it. this is the first day of black history month. booker is the second african-american candidate to jump into this democratic primary after senator kamala harris and is he putting that