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Trump Pushes for Wall; TSA Official Warns of Compromised Security; Shutdown Could Be Deadly; Evictions for HUD Families; Aired 6:30-7a ET

Aired January 9, 2019 - 06:30   ET

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


[06:30:00] MARC SHORT, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: The administration should have made this case earlier on that this is what border security has been asking for. And it's been branded too much as Trump's wall, which I think politically makes it very difficult for any Democrat to support it. That's where we are today and I think it's very difficult to break that impasse.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: But he won't -- he won't accept anything without a wall. Because that -- the shut -- the shutdown was over the wall. That's what the shutdown is over, period, full stop, we all agree on that.

SHORT: I think that that is accurate. But I think, again, I do believe that it's actually broader than the wall. It is -- it is centered on the wall, but there's been additional requests for funding that are broader for border security that Democrats have refuse. Maybe there's a pathway forward on those elements, John, but so far they've been unwilling to give more detention beds or more funding for ICE agents or more of the funding for immigration (INAUDIBLE).

BERMAN: But, again, he's been unwilling to do anything without a wall, correct? I just want to make sure I'm not mistaken here.

SHORT: Well -- well, no, last year -- no --

BERMAN: The president has been unwilling to end -- no, no, I'm talking about in the last two weeks.

SHORT: OK.

BERMAN: He has made clear that no wall, no deal.

SHORT: Yes.

BERMAN: He won't budge on the wall as far as you know this morning.

SHORT: As far -- that's what I believe the case is, yes.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: John.

JOHN AVLON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, and, Marc, just, you know, you were talking about how you were in the room and Democrats pushed back on refused requests for additional judges and beds. But, you know, it seems that only nine or so months ago the Democrats were willing to offer significantly more money for border security, roughly $5 billion it was reported, in exchange for deals on the dreamers, the broader vision of immigration reform. Is that true? Have they -- did they offer that extra amount? And, is there still that possibility for a broader deal that could give us a win for the nation and a way out of the shutdown?

SORT: John, I think that would be terrific if we could reach that part of deal. I don't know that that's there on the table right now. As to whether or not all Democrats will support that, I don't know. But I think that some of the reporting has been a little misplaced here and that it wasn't simply the 25 billion larger border security for the DACA population. What happened is that quickly the Democrat legislation included those who were parents of DACA participants, those who maybe were eligible who didn't apply. And so the population mushroomed.

But it's a fair argument to say that that's something the administration put on the table. And in all candor, one of the things I wish the president said last night as well is, I've heard him talk about the need to have a guest worker program because he says we're at 3.6 percent unemployment. And the reality is, we need more labor in our country. And that would help alleviate some of the crisis at the border. That is something I think the president should be more forth coming in saying he supports because I do think there's a possibility for partnership with Democrats on that.

CAMEROTA: Joe, honestly, it's so interesting when we listen to Marc because it sounds like everybody's closer than it -- the intractable situation that we find ourself with the government shutdown. Here are the people that have expressed parting from the president's insistence on this shutdown. Lisa Murkowski -- so these are the GOP senators, Lisa Murkowski, Shelley Moore Capito, Cory Gardner, Susan Collins. Manu Raju also spoke with Marco Rubio, Steve Daines, John Boozman, Pat Roberts, who all expressed that they could be on board with allowing the federal agencies to open.

So, today, when he meets with senate Republicans, do you think that there will be a break in the impasse?

JOE LOCKHART, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I don't know that it will happen today, but I think this is where -- that's the end game here, that Senate Republicans will eventually abandon him because the pressure will be too strong.

I mean, you know, the only thing that I'd object to that Marc was saying was somehow that others have branded this about the wall. Trump has branded about this wall. And, let's remember, the government is shut down today for tomorrow I think will be the longest because Roger Stone in 2015 said build a wall as a way to remind Trump to bring up immigration. This is not a long-held philosophy. This isn't something that he was burning to do as president of the United States. This wasn't --

CAMEROTA: It was a memory place (ph). LOCKHART: This was a little pneumonic device, not policy, to get him

to remember to do a lot of anti-immigrant stuff.

BERMAN: Joe Lockhart, Marc Short, John Avlon, thanks for being with us this morning. I appreciate it.

SHORT: Thanks, guys.

CAMEROTA: A daring helicopter rescue caught on video in the French Alps. You have to see this, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:38:01] CAMEROTA: We do have some breaking news this morning.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo making an unannounced visit to Baghdad, meeting with the foreign minister and other officials. America's top diplomat trying to ease concerns over President Trump's abrupt announcement that U.S. troops will leave Syria.

Investigators in Australia are trying to figure out who sent suspicious packages to at least a dozen consulates and seven foreign embassies in Melbourne and Canberra. A lawsuit official tells CNN the package did not appear to pose an actual threat.

CAMEROTA: A second suspect facing capital murder charges in connection with the drive-by shooting of a seven-year-old girl in Houston. Larry Woodruff will be in court tomorrow for a preliminary hearing in that murder case. The news came as Jazmine Barnes' family and thousands of other people packed a church for her funeral. Eric Black Junior has also been charged in the case. Authorities say the shooting was most likely a case of mistaken identity.

BERMAN: House Democrats have unveiled a bill to expand background checks for private gun sales. Former member of Congress Gabby Giffords was on hand for the event, eight years to the day since she was shot in the head and nearly killed in Tucson. The legislative move was punctuated by an emotional moment, a really wonderful moment, honestly, between Giffords and Congressman Steve Scalise, who also survived a shooting. Look at that, the two hugged there on the House floor. We're so glad that they're both doing so well.

CAMEROTA: They are part of a club that they never wanted to be in.

BERMAN: I know.

CAMEROTA: They can relate to each other.

All right, now to this daring helicopter rescue that's caught on video. This helicopter was dispatched to help an injured skier on the French Alps. Look how close it gets. Oh my gosh. The aircraft's nose wedges into the snow as it flies within inches of the mountainside. Is it supposed to be doing that, John?

BERMAN: I don't -- you know, that's not how I fly my helicopter when I -- when I'm rescuing people from the mountain. CAMEROTA: OK. That is interesting. The crew was able to land, rescue

the skier, hoisting him up to safety. We're happy to report that he is OK. OK, that -- again, that is an unusual position for a helicopter that I've not seen before.

[06:40:04] BERMAN: Those blades were so close to the people there. I don't think you want to be in that situation. But I suppose, if you need to be rescued.

CAMEROTA: That is very brave and daring.

All right, excellent.

Meanwhile, the government shutdown is starting to impact more than just paychecks. How everything from airport security to the food we all eat could be affected.

BERMAN: Do you like flying in helicopters?

CAMEROTA: I don't.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BERMAN: This morning, the government shutdown is having a real impact on thousands of people and thousands of systems across the country. We begin with a CNN exclusive. An e-mail from a high-ranking TSA official warning that airport security operations may already be compromised. We have a series of reports starting with Rene Marsh at Reagan National Airport in Arlington, Virginia.

Rene, you've done terrific reporting on this. What have you learned?

RENE MARSH, CNN GOVERNMENT REGULATION AND TRANSPORTATION CORRESPONDENT: Well, John, good morning.

It's excessive callouts by TSA officers have hurt security operations at a southern California airport. That is the assessment of this high- ranking TSA official. It is all laid out in an internal e-mail dated on Monday.

[06:45:01] This TSA official is in charge of security at Palm Springs International Airport. And he wrote in this e-mail to TSA employees, and I'm quoting now, due to excessive unscheduled absences recently experienced at Palm Springs International that has adversely impacted security operations, if you have an unscheduled absence, you will not be placed in an intermittent furlough status.

Plainly speaking, the concerns about callouts at this particular airport reached the point that TSA management there felt it was necessary to send out this internal e-mail warning TSA employees if they call out sick they will face disciplinary action.

This is significant because it exposes for the very first time an acknowledgement from someone, high-ranking individual at TSA, that this partial government shutdown is having some impact on aviation security at at least this airport here. We did reach out to TSA and they told us in a statement that Palm

Springs International Airport is a small airport that requires full team effort. They also went on to say that this e-mail was simply expressing that all screening employees must report to work during the current lapse in appropriations as is required by the federal rules.

TSA is saying that they're not seeing a major impact on lines and wait times at this airport.

Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: All right, Rene, that's really valuable for passengers to know. Thank you very much.

Now from airports to the FDA. The FDA has been forced to furlough more than 40 percent of its workers because of the shutdown. And that, of course, is raising concerns about the safety of our food and our prescription drugs.

Vanessa Yurkevich continues our coverage.

What have you learned, Vanessa?

VANESSA YURKEVICH, CNN DIGITAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, those FDA employees that I spoke to are very concerned, saying that a shutdown means the difference between life and death.

A lot of the employees that I spoke to work in labs, so they're doing testing on drugs and food. So when we go to the grocery store, we're picking up items off the shelf, we're picking up our prescriptions thinking that they're safe. But because there are so few people working in those labs, employees told me that they're really concerned that there could be a cause of death.

Now, I spoke to one of those employees. Her name is Geneve Parks. She works in an FDA lab in Chicago. And I want to read you her quote of what she said. She says, what if there's an outbreak? What would the agency do if something happened and they don't have the staff to handle it? When you don't have enough funding, then it becomes a life or death situation. It's scary.

And a lot of the employees I spoke to said their biggest fear is an outbreak, a food outbreak. Alisyn, I don't know if you remember, but back last year there was a big E.Coli outbreak with romaine lettuce. The FDA was then responding with full staff. Now employees are afraid if something like that happens again, they won't be able to handle it.

We did reach out to the FDA commissioner. Commissioner Gottlieb says that he doesn't dismiss these employees' concerns. He understands that the agency is responding at a lower level. It's not business as usual. But he did say if there is an outbreak, that they would be able to bring people back to the FDA to work. But, as you know, they would not be paid.

John, back to you.

BERMAN: Let's hope that's the case. I mean this hits people right where it counts, in their kitchen and on their meal tables.

Thanks so much, Vanessa.

Some of America's most vulnerable families, they stand to lose their homes if the shutdown drags on. That's because hundreds of HUD contracts with landlords who provide subsidized housing are expiring.

Athena Jones joins us with that.

Athena.

ATHENA JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi.

That's right, this is already affecting tenants and landlords and organizations that help people in need. You're talking about these HUD contracts, 1,150 HUD contracts with landlords to provide subsidized housing for low income people have expired already. More are expiring with each passing week, with each month. There will be a thousand by the end of February.

Now, HUD officials have told me that in -- during no previous shutdown have any tenants been evicted because of a lapse in funding like this. Remember, a lot of these tenants are elderly, many are disabled. HUD has asked effected landlords to dip into their reserves for now to cover the shortfall. But what's not clear is whether these landlords and how many of these landlords have sufficient reserve funds.

There are also other examples. A housing advocate in Hartford, Connecticut, told us about a man who has been homeless since an apartment fire, a fire at his apartment in June. Had he been paying for that apartment with the help of HUD funds. Since then, he's been essentially couch surfing. He was at the point of getting into a new, permanent home just before the shutdown. Things had not been finalized. Now that the government is shutdown, his HUD -- his HUD caseworker in Boston is furloughed, unable to help. And so because he has been delayed in finding permanent housing, this housing advocate says he hasn't been able to get full custody or joint custody, I should say, of his daughters.

There's also people who are waiting on repairs. We talked to -- we heard of two women who are dealing with uninhabitable apartments, water leaks, pieces of ceiling falling down. There's a homeless shelter for youth that got a HUD grant but can't access it, so they had to take out a bank loan to keep operating. So these are some of the examples.

[06:50:12] CAMEROTA: It's so important to keep reminding everyone that this isn't just government shutdown, partial shutdown, that it affects real people in these ways.

Thank you very much.

All right, so what did comedians think of the president's primetime speech. Late night laughs, next.

BERMAN: That is not the comedian, by the way, right there. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CAMEROTA: All right, comics had some fun with the president's primetime speech. Here are your late night laughs.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAMES CORDEN, HOST, "THE LATE LATE SHOW WITH JAMES CORDEN": Trump laid out an argument for his wall saying that the country is at a crossroads. Take a look.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: This is a humanitarian crisis, a crisis of the heart and a crisis of the soul.

CORDEN: And we have a president whose completely ill equipped to hand this crisis because he has neither.

STEPHEN COLBERT, HOST, "THE LATE SHOW WITH STEPHEN COLBERT": I think Trump gave that speech because he misses being on primetime television. Next it's going to be, hello, "Shark Tank," I'm asking for $5.7 billion for my border wall, OK? So far I have sold zero units. Also, I am very afraid of sharks.

[06:55:09] UNIDENTIFIED MALE: For that reason, I'm out.

COLBERT: OK.

JIMMY KIMMEL, HOST, "JIMMY KIMMEL LIVE": After the president's speech, Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi gave the rebuttal for the Democrats. And these two -- I don't know how many years Ryan and Kelly have left on their contract, but if Nancy and Chuck ever decide to team up and do a show, someone needs to get Gelman on the phone because they are terrific.

REP. NANCY PELOSI (D), HOUSE SPEAKER: I appreciate the opportunity to speak directly to the American people tonight about how we can end this shutdown and meet the needs of the American people.

KIMMEL: They stuck them out in the hall. It's either a hall or the White House morgue, I don't know.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: And they say we have chemistry. Now I know we have a lot of work do to reach that level.

CAMEROTA: Yes. No. That's our goal.

BERMAN: There you go.

CAMEROTA: No, or as they would say, that's our goal.

BERMAN: Breaking news, the man overseeing the Russia investigation plans to leave the Justice Department soon. What does this mean? Rod Rosenstein on the way out. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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