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Border Patrol Orders Medical Checks After Second Child Dies; Dow Soars To Biggest Single-Day Point Gain Ever; CNN Reality Check: President Trump's Year By The Numbers. Aired 7:30-8a ET

Aired December 27, 2018 - 07:30   ET

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


[07:30:00] ERICA HILL, CNN ANCHOR: Is enough, though, being done to protect children? We'll ask an incoming congresswoman who will represent a border state. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HILL: The head of Customs and Border Protection is reiterating his call for Congress to help after the death of a second Guatemalan child in U.S. custody in just the last month.

The secretary of Homeland Security, Sec. Nielsen, saying all children in the agency's custody have now received medical screenings.

Joining me now, Democratic Congresswoman-elect Xochitl Torres Small, who will represent the New Mexico district where that little boy died. Congresswoman-elect, it's good to have you with us today.

I know after you learned of his death you tweeted, quote, "Political posturing has real consequences."

What did you mean by that?

REPRESENTATIVE-ELECT XOCHITL TORRES SMALL (D), NEW MEXICO: We all have to work together to address this incredibly sad issue. Two children have died in the district I will soon be representing and it's important for all of us to take ownership of this issue and fix it so that it doesn't happen again.

HILL: And so, in terms of -- in terms of taking ownership, in terms of fixing it, we have heard from the commissioner for Customs and Border Protection, who has said simply, we are not built to deal with this.

[07:35:07] In fact, here's what he had to say just yesterday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KEVIN MCALEENAN, COMMISSIONER, U.S. CUSTOMS AND BORDER PROTECTION: What we're seeing with these flows of huge numbers of families with lots of children -- young children -- as well as unaccompanied minors coming into border patrol custody after crossing the border unlawfully, that they're not -- our stations are not built for that group that's crossing today. They were built 30-40 years ago for single adult males and we need a different approach. We need help from Congress. We need to budget for medical care and

mental health care for children in our facilities.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HILL: In terms of that budget, we know Sec. Nielsen issued these extraordinary protective measures -- we can put some of them up on the screen -- which do include medical screenings. Again, she said they have been done for all the children in custody, yesterday.

But when you hear that stark assessment from the commissioner, as you make your way to Washington, we know this is a major issue. What do you plan to tackle first here?

SMALL: It's an incredibly important issue and I appreciate that the CBP commissioner has recognized that right now, the agency is not responding appropriately. We need an agency -- all of our -- all of our safety depends upon having an agency that's able to quickly adapt to changing circumstances and that's exactly what we have here.

So we have to prioritize, of course, medical equipment as well as personnel. Appropriate facilities for these families who are being detained because that's important to save children's lives -- to make sure that detainees are safe and healthy and it also affects the working conditions of our agents. So all of our safety depends on having these appropriate facilities.

HILL: There are a lot of factors at play and, again, with the shutdown that is underway at this moment, with the talk about funding for the border wall, with the talk about border security, you have called for a more secure border. We know that this is important to you, especially in your district.

From what you're seeing in Washington right now and knowing that this is what you are walking into, what do you think is missing from the conversation?

SMALL: The district that I'll be representing includes almost 178 miles of border. It's incredibly rural and so we have to make sure that we have the resources there along our rural and most remote areas to make sure that we have border security. That we have an agency that is enforcing our laws and is also reflecting our values.

And that's why it's important to have someone who has grown up on the border. Someone who understands that border security and a humane way of treating people who are presenting themselves at the border must be done together.

HILL: So you think that's what's missing from the conversation -- a broader perspective?

SMALL: Absolutely. We have people who are using the border for political talking points instead of to solve real problems. And that's why I'm willing to work with anyone to make sure that we have real border security and that we are relying on this border that keeps all of our communities vibrant. HILL: When we look at what is happening along the border -- and there's been so much attention placed on it -- Sec. Nielsen said, quote, "As a result of bad judicial rulings from activist judges and inaction by Congress, we are seeing a flood of family units and unaccompanied alien children."

Number one, is that what you are seeing in your district? And number two, would you agree that -- with the reasoning behind it -- what she points out there? She says it's because of bad judicial rulings and inaction by Congress.

SMALL: You know, I'm a lot more interested in finding solutions than I am about pointing fingers, and I think we all have a responsibility to work together to address this.

I would like to invite Sec. Nielsen to come to my district to evaluate the medical conditions of these holding cells so that we can work together to fix what we can control, and that's what I think we all have a responsibility to do.

HILL: If you could have a conversation with the president right now what would you say to him?

SMALL: I'd say that we have to work together to address this issue. If we want to talk about border security let's talk about making sure that we have an agency that's ready to adapt to changing circumstances, that's ready to enforce our laws and reflect our values. And we can work together to do that.

HILL: And from what we've heard from the president, he said listen, we are going to get this wall no matter what it takes. We heard him say that yesterday in Iraq.

You have said -- I know you've talked about in the past that maybe it's best to not focus on the wall or maybe to talk to other people who are directly affected by the wall, speaking specifically about CBP agents and folks there along the border adding their voices to the conversation.

What do you think that would change for both Republicans and Democrats?

SMALL: That we have to have real conversations about border policy, border security, and what that means on the ground.

We already have wall sections across many parts of our border -- places where it makes sense. But there are other places in remote areas and rural parts of the border, like the areas that I represent, where a wall and the limited amount of effect that that would have isn't as important as having the right personnel, as having the right technology to make sure that we're keeping all of us safe.

[07:40:16] Representative Xochitl Torres Small, appreciate you joining us this morning. Thank you.

SMALL: Thank you, Erica. HILL: John --

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Up next, a potentially big development in the sexual assault case against Kevin Spacey. A new report says the 18-year-old alleged victim filmed the alleged attack. Details, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BERMAN: We've got some breaking news on "CNN Business."

U.S. stock futures pointing to a bumpy day when the markets open. This comes after the record-breaking day yesterday. Dow futures -- you can see it for yourself -- down about 350 points.

What's going on?

Chief business correspondent Christine Romans.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT, ANCHOR, "EARLY START": You know -- I mean, was yesterday a false rebound -- 1,000 points? Let's look at -- here's how the rest of the world is responding here to what we saw yesterday -- that big, big rally.

You can see the U.S. futures are lower -- going to take back maybe half of the gain from yesterday. And then around the world, Tokyo bounced, Shanghai and Hong Kong closed lower.

And look at London, Paris, and Frankfurt. The European stock markets not taking the ball and running with it and that's a really important thing to watch.

Now, what happened Wednesday? A respite from a rough month for investors.

[07:45:02] Even after that 1,000-point rally, though, the S&P 500 close to entering a bear market which would end the longest bull market in history.

This month still on pace for the worst December since the Great Depression.

Now, the White House tried a new approach to reassure investors, sending the chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers, Kevin Hassett, to speak with reporters.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REPORTER: You've made it very clear that Sec. Mnuchin's job is safe. Is the Fed chairman's job safe?

KEVIN HASSETT, CHAIRMAN, COUNCIL OF ECONOMIC ADVISERS: Yes, of course, 100 percent -- yes.

REPORTER: One hundred percent, the Fed chairman's job is not in jeopardy by this president? HASSETT: Absolutely, that's correct.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: The president had bashed, of course, the Fed chief again and again and said the Fed is raising interest rates too fast. So those words -- "100 percent safe" -- were incredibly important for investors.

And, Hassett also said the U.S. economy is strong.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HASSETT: All the anecdotal information we're getting is that the fundamentals remain extremely sound. That Christmas sales are through the roof. G.P. in the fourth quarter is looking like it's going to be very close to, if not above three, again.

And so I think that the momentum that we saw this year is carrying forward to next year.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: Hassett, instead, blamed market volatility on fundamentals, noting growth in Europe has slowed, which is true. Growth in Asia has slowed, which is true.

There's a lot of talk in the markets right now about how 85 percent of all the stock trading is done by computers. Now, nobody complained about that when the market was going straight up for nine years.

HILL: (INAUDIBLE).

ROMANS: But now, they're worrying that that's maybe exacerbating some of these moves.

What I say, guys, is this is what the end of 10 years of easy money bull market looks like. The Fed isn't raising interest rates, as it should, and now you're getting to more of a normal situation that's freaking out investors.

Also, Kevin Hassett's right that the economy is so strong right now. But a lot of people are looking out 10, 12, 18 months and wondering if this is the peak we're seeing today.

So I think you're going to see big rebounds, false sell-offs, oversold conditions on both sides. I think investors should get ready for this. Stocks don't just go straight up like we've seen.

HILL: So it's just a lot of whiplash coming down the pike?

ROMANS: I think so. And I think people should really take the long- term. If you are close to retirement you should not have everything in the stock market, right? And I know that's been tempting because people have been making so much money --

HILL: Right.

ROMANS: -- for so long. But this has been kind of a wake-up call these past few months.

The fundamentals of the U.S. economy are strong, the unemployment rate is still very low. But the bottom line is stocks have gone up and up and up and now I think you're going to see a more normal approach.

Also, watch the trade headlines. I mean, we know that the United States is sending a trade delegation to China at the beginning of the year.

We know that they've been talking, even through the holidays. That's all really a good sign, I think. That could be one of those surprises for investors if you get some resolution on the trade war, and that could put some oomph back into things.

But at least for today, it looks like you're going to lose some of those -- some of those gains from yesterday.

HILL: I'm not going to look at my 401(k) today.

ROMANS: Don't. I mean, you'll rebalance -- you're young. You're going to work until you're 110 anyway, right?

HILL: It's going to be great.

BERMAN: Which is 76 years from now.

HILL: Yes, yes. Thanks, Christine.

ROMANS: You're welcome.

HILL: New this morning, Russian President Vladimir Putin says nuclear missiles he claims are practically invulnerable to U.S. defense systems will be put into service next year. Putin making the announcement following a missile test.

No immediate comment from the Pentagon. A U.S. official did express doubt, however, to CNN that the Russians were that close to operational.

Analysts also cautioning Russia boasts of new military capabilities but they do not often back those boasts up in reality.

BERMAN: A pretty dramatic development in the upcoming sexual assault case against actor Kevin Spacey. The Web site MassLive reports that state police have a Snapchat video from an 18-year-old man who says Spacey allegedly assaulted him.

Spacey is facing one count of indecent assault for the alleged 2016 groping incident at a Nantucket bar. Spacey had no immediate comment. He will be arraigned next month.

HILL: A school district in New Jersey holding an emergency meeting after the video -- this is obviously video of the meeting. But you have likely seen video -- here you go -- of the referee who

forced a wrestler to cut his dreadlocks. His dreadlocks being cut off before a match. That went viral last week.

Well now, the Buena Regional School District decided it will not send its sports teams to any events where that referee, Alan Maloney, is officiating.

The state's Athletic Association is now investigating. The Civil Rights Division of the New Jersey Attorney General's Office has already announced a probe.

BERMAN: A man from San Diego was celebrating the holidays with family in Mississippi when he opened the home security app on his phone and spotted a burglar inside his home on Christmas Eve.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TYLER LUNA, WITNESS TO BURGLARY: Uh-oh. I'm like what's going on. Look at this guy.

You heart sinks. It's like what's happening?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: So, Tyler Luna immediately booked the next flight back home to file a police report. The thief made off with his watches and other valuables.

HILL: Oh, that's a rough one.

All right, you may want to grab a second cup of Joe this morning. Researchers at the University of California Irvine say drinking moderate amounts of coffee -- way to bury the lead here -- and alcohol, so maybe add a little something to your coffee this morning, people -- could be the key to living to at least age 90.

[07:50:06] Those conclusions are based on tracking a group of 14,000 people over a 15-year period. That is the kind of study I can get behind.

BERMAN: Every new -- every reporter just got like a new lease on life.

HILL: You really could.

BERMAN: Coffee and alcohol?

HILL: We're in.

BERMAN: Cheers.

HILL: Yes. Well, it's only two right now but I'm going to work on that.

Twenty eighteen marked President Trump's second year in office. Up next, a CNN reality check. How he is doing by the numbers.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:55:05] HILL: We know President Trump is actually a numbers guy. He likes to put numbers out there. He likes to talk about numbers. He likes to talk about how they may or may not show his success.

So in that vein, as the second year -- his second year in office comes to a close we wanted to take a look at how much of a success it was. I think the president would say huge --

BERMAN: Huge.

HILL: -- very big.

John Avlon has a reality check using the numbers.

JOHN AVLON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Big league, I think, is one of the things he'd say -- that's right.

So here we are, end of Donald Trump's second year as president, and let's look beyond the chaos and the daily headlines and see how he's doing on basic benchmarks compared to his predecessors -- apples to apples.

So first, let's take a look at approval ratings. According to Gallup, the average presidential approval rating at the end of their second year in office is 56 percent. Trump is at 39 percent.

Now, compare that to 46 percent for Barack Obama, 63 percent for George W. Bush, 41 for Bill Clinton, 61 for Bush 41, and 41 percent for Reagan. Now, here's a little crazy thing. Both JFK and Eisenhower had approval ratings over 70 percent at the end of their second year -- levels unheard of in our hyper-partisan era.

Now, note that Obama, and Reagan, and Clinton were near blows in their entire terms after the bruising midterms, but all went on to easily win reelection. So, Trump can get some comfort from that. But none had average approval ratings as low as Trump in their first two years.

However, Trump is at the top of the pack when it comes to the economy with a 3.7 percent unemployment rate. That is well below any of his modern predecessors.

Unemployment under Obama was 9.3 percent at this point in his term. George W. Bush, six percent. Clinton, 5.5; Bush 41, 6.3; and, Reagan at 10.8. Both Carter and Nixon, right around six percent.

Now, of course, Trump inherited an economy that was growing and he kicked it into higher gear while many of his predecessors inherited an economy in recession. But that combination of a record low approval rating and record low unemployment is honest because it suggests that if the economy takes a downturn going forward, Trump's job approval rating could fall even further.

And then, there's the government shutdown. This one, the third this year, now in its sixth day with no end in sight. It's already lasted longer than all but eight of the 21 government shutdowns we've seen.

But we're still a long way from the 16 days Obama endured in 2013 or the record 21-day face-off between Bill Clinton and Newt Gingrich.

Now, trust in Trump is rattled by many factors, not least instincts that often range from hyperbolic to falsehoods to outright lies.

"The Washington Post" tireless fact-checkers, led by Glenn Kessler, had found 7,546 false or misleading claims in his first 700 days in office. That's an average of more than 10 a day with the rate increasing in the run-up to this year's midterms. And while lying politicians are a cliche, there's really no comparison to past presidents.

The most recent of his whoppers being President Trump telling our troops in Iraq that he'd given them a 10 percent pay raise. In fact, our military gets annualized pay increases and last year they received around 2.3 percent.

But it was great to see President Trump finally visit our troops in a war zone and it brought to mind another stat we should always track -- the sacrifices of our military men and women.

This year, 29 active duty U.S. service members have been killed in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Syria. And, of course, we honor their lives and pray for their families.

Here at home, 53 police officers have been shot and killed in the line of duty, according to the FBI.

And this year witnessed 68 victims of mass shootings in America from Stoneman Douglas High School to the "Capitol Gazette" newsroom, the Tree of Life synagogue to the Borderline bar in Thousand Oaks.

That means there have been more than twice as many killed in mass shootings in the United States than active duty military killed in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Syria this year.

And that's your reality check.

BERMAN: That is sobering.

HILL: Yes.

BERMAN: That is sobering when you say that and put that up there. I hadn't thought of it in those terms and that really does put it in perspective.

AVLON: It really does.

BERMAN: I will note one other thing you brought up there about the shutdown -- the length of this government shutdown being a week long and the fact that Obama had a 21-day shutdown. You know, the president likes to always have the biggest thing. Now I'm concerned that he could keep this going.

HILL: Twenty-two days.

BERMAN: The biggest shutdown --

AVLON: No one's got shutdowns like me, that's right. That is a distinct possibility. And, of course, the way things are going it's very hard to imagine anything's going to kick in before January third, but we'll see.

HILL: Here we go, buckle up.

AVLON: Buckle up.

HILL: John, thank you.

AVLON: Thanks, guys.

HILL: We are following a lot of news this morning so let's get to it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We're no longer the suckers, folks. Our presence in Syria was never intended to be permanent.

REP. DENNY HECK (D), WASHINGTON: He used it as an occasion to advance his specific policy objective. It's highly inappropriate.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's wonderful the president visited. Let's be thankful that he's there.

SAM VINOGRAD, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: The president seems to have confused this trip with a campaign rally.

TRUMP: Whatever it takes, we're going to have a wall.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The military has no money to build a wall and they won't get it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He has the mandate from the people to go forward right now.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The Democrats have no incentive to negotiate. This shutdown is owned by the president.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANNOUNCER: This is NEW DAY with Alisyn Camerota and John Berman.

BERMAN: All right, good morning and welcome to your NEW DAY. It is Thursday, December 27th, 8:00 in New York.

Alisyn is off.