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GOP Vows Tooth-and-Nail Fight on Immigration; Secret Service Investigation on White House Fence Jumping; New ISIS Audio Claimed to be ISIS Leader; Obama Ready to Go Alone on Immigration; Oil Prices Lowest Level Since 2010

Aired November 14, 2014 - 09:00   ET

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

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: NEWSROOM starts now.

Happening now in the NEWSROOM, breaking overnight. Immigration battle, President Obama promising to take executive action. Will the move spark a government shutdown.

Plus spying into your cell phone. A startling new report out this morning, the government collecting all kinds of information from you, secret surveillance planes, fake phone towers, how is this legal?

And thunder snow. A polar plunge sweeping into the south, (INAUDIBLE) and snow being recorded in the Midwest.

Let's talk, live in CNN NEWSROOM.

And good morning, I'm Carol Costello. Thank you so much for joining me.

It may be setting up as a steel caged death match of Washington politics. President Obama may be just days away from announcing a major overhaul of the immigration law and he plans to bypass Congress and use executive authority to sign it into law.

Republicans in Congress just weeks away from their most dominant majority in decades ready to rumble. Their take-no-prisoner options up to and including another government shutdown.

In the middle, millions of undocumented immigrants and an American public that's fed up with the paralysis of brinksmanship and gridlock.

CNN's Jim Acosta is in Myanmar traveling with the president.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JIM ACOSTA, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): His escape from Washington almost over, President Obama's news conference with Myanmar opposition leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, quickly turned to the battle brewing over immigration reform.

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It's way overdue. And we've been talking about it for 10 years now. ACOSTA: The president could be just days away from an executive order

granting relief to millions of undocumented immigrants. He's already acted to defer deportations for children who are brought to the U.S. illegally. Now sources tell CNN the president is expected to extend that policy to the undocumented parents of the so-called DREAMer children. Plus the undocumented parents of children who are born in the U.S. And focus on deporting criminal illegal immigrants. Insisting Republicans in Congress have failed to act, the president said he will.

OBAMA: And that's going to happen. That's going to happen before the end of the year.

ACOSTA: Leaders in the soon-to-be GOP-controlled Congress are warning Mr. Obama to back down.

REP. JOHN BOEHNER (R), HOUSE SPEAKER: We're going to fight the president tooth and nail if he continues down this path.

SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL (R), INCOMING MAJORITY LEADER: We'd like for the president to recognize the reality that he has the government that he has, not the one that he wishes he had.

ACOSTA: Other Republicans are backing up that threat with talk of impeachment.

REP. JOE BARTON (R), TEXAS: Impeachment would be a consideration.

ACOSTA: White House officials say the president will gladly rip up his executive order if Congress passes a bill.

OBAMA: The minute they pass a bill that I can sign, that fixes our immigration system, then any executive actions I take are replaced.

ACOSTA: Other fights are looming over the Keystone oil pipeline and the president's climate deal with China.

Standing next to the president, Myanmar's democratic icon, Aung San Suu Kyi, quipped Mr. Obama may want to stay on the road.

AUNG SAN SUU KYI, MYANMAR OPPOSITION LEADER: I'm sorry the president can't get away from all this.

OBAMA: I know.

ACOSTA (on camera): A senior White House official cautions the president has not reviewed his administration's final recommendations on immigration and that they could change. That gives the president plenty to chew on, on his long flight from this side of the world back to the reality of Washington.

Jim Acosta, CNN, Yangon, Myanmar.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: OK. Now to the egregious fence jumping incident at the White House in September that led to the resignation of the head of the Secret Service. A scathing report on how the armed intruder made it all the way into the East Room of the White House, would read like a comedy of errors if the possible consequences to the president and the first family were not so dire.

Among the highlights of the Homeland Security investigation, a K-9 officer in the driveway did not respond for 11 seconds because he was talking on his cell phone and not listening to his radio. Other key posts had their radios muted and did not hear the alarm. Two officers did not shoot the intruder because they thought he was unarmed and when the intruder dashed into the bushes, officers mistakenly thought he would not be able to get through the bushes.

And when an officer confronted the intruder on the portico he mistakenly assumed the doors were locked.

Michelle Kosinski is at the White House this morning with more shocking details in this report.

So has anyone been suspended for this?

MICHELLE KOSINSKI, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Carol, right. It was lapse after lapse after lapse. All kind of coming together for a perfect storm of problems, all in one night. It just doesn't seem possible. But to answer your question, no. I mean, this is just one report, one investigation that has come out so far. There are other investigations going on, too.

I mean, that kind of sounds like how government works, right? All these investigations, but they do want to do a thorough job and really look at everything before they hold anyone's feet to the fire. I mean you mentioned, too, that the director of the Secret Service did lose her job over this, but it's unclear whether other people will be disciplined because when you look at the problems that were there, a lot of them are more institutional problems.

I mean, the fact that these officers did not know the layout of the interior of the White House, well, they weren't trained on that. So is it really their fault? I mean, the guy who was on his cell phone, maybe that's a different case, but then again, you know, if you're working an eight or 10-hour shift you're probably at some point going to make a personal call. His problem, too, was the radio system.

There were these deeper problems that went beyond people just kind of goofing off on the job and that's clear even from this summary of just one of the investigations -- Carol.

COSTELLO: All right, Michelle Kosinski reporting live from the White House this morning, thanks so much.

The speaker on a newly posted audio message claims to be ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. The audio's release comes just days after reports al-Baghdadi was injured in a U.S. airstrike.

CNN has not been able to confirm the authenticity of the message or when it was recorded. CNN's Arwa Damon is following the story from southern Turkey.

Hi, Arwa.

ARWA DAMON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol, and in releasing this statement, ISIS most certainly is trying to make a point that its leader is alive and well and that the organization is not really feeling the impact of those coalition airstrikes.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAMON (voice-over): Is the leader of ISIS out of hiding? Days after he was reportedly wounded, perhaps even killed in an airstrike, an audio message purportedly of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi released by the group on social media.

In the message he calls the U.S.-led coalition, "terrified, weak and powerless," and calls upon his followers to "erupt volcanoes of jihad everywhere."

U.S. airstrikes in Syria have killed dozens of ISIS militants and are taking aim at the al Qaeda-linked Khorasan Group. The latest round on Thursday targeting at least one top operative. But al-Baghdadi deemed the coalition air power a failure, saying that they will be forced to send ground forces to their deaths.

The terrorist leader pointed to President Obama's plan to send more troops, under the claim they are advisers, urging fighters to battle the tyrant and their soldiers.

And this, U.S. officials believe ISIS and the al Qaeda-linked group al-Nusra are now cooperating on an ad hoc limited basis on the battlefield in Syria. So far, they see no indication the two groups have any formal partnership, but it could be a dangerous sign of alliances to come.

JEN PSAKI, STATE DEPARTMENT SPOKESPERSON: Only for the last several months have they not been working together. We certainly are focused mostly on ISIL at this point in time. But we'll certainly be tracking this closely.

DAMON: As the United States prepares to send 1500 additional military personnel to Iraq, the nation's top defense officials reiterated.

CHUCK HAGEL, DEFENSE SECRETARY: U.S. military personnel will not be engaged in a ground combat.

DAMON: But officials say Iraq will need 80,000 of its own troops to recapture territory it has lost to ISIS, leaving the door open for greater U.S. involvement.

GEN. MARTIN DEMPSEY, CHAIRMAN, JOINT CHIEFS OF STAFF: I'm not predicting at this point that I would recommend that those forces in Mosul and along the border would need to be accompanied by U.S. forces, but we're certainly considering it. (END VIDEOTAPE)

DAMON: Not surprising that Martin Dempsey at this stage does want to leave that option on the table. He and others know only too well just how volatile this situation is and how quickly realities can change, but when it comes to a strategy for defeating ISIS as much as Washington may wish, it could have one solution for Iraq and not have to necessarily find a solution for Syria. Those two conflicts are inextricably intertwined -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Arwa Damon reporting live from Turkey this morning.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM, Republicans are preparing for a showdown after the president vows to take action on immigration reform without them.

Up next, what it means for millions of undocumented immigrants and what it might mean for you. We'll talk about that next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Right now a ferocious battle is brewing between the president and Republican lawmakers over immigration reform. In just a matter of days, President Obama could sign an executive order that would grant legal status to millions of undocumented immigrants here in the United States.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: And I indicated to Speaker Boehner several months ago that if, in fact, Congress failed to act I would use all the lawful authority that I possess to try to make the system work better. And that's going to happen.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Senior administration official tells CNN the executive order would, one, grant legal status to undocumented parents of U.S. citizens, allow illegal immigrants who came to the United States as children to stay, but it also makes clear illegal immigrants with criminal backgrounds would be deported.

Needless to say the president's plan to bypass a newly elected Republican-led Congress has the GOP fuming.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MCCONNELL: We'd like the president to recognize the reality that he has the government he has, not the one that he wishes he had, and work with us.

BOEHNER: We're going to fight the president tooth and nail if he continues down this path. This is the wrong way to govern. This is exactly what the American people said on Election Day they didn't want. And so all the options are on the table.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Those options do include another government shutdown. Keep in mind Democrats are not so happy with the president either. They want them to wait until a federal budget is approved.

So, let's talk about this. Joining me now, CNN.com contributor and syndicated columnist Ruben Navarrette. We're also joined by CNN political commentator and Republican strategist Ana Navarro.

Welcome to both of you.

ANA NAVARRO, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Good morning.

RUBEN NAVARRETTE, CNN.COM CONTRIBUTOR: Good to be with you.

COSTELLO: Ana, why is the president doing this now?

NAVARRO: He's run out of hope. He's been making promises to the Latino community and the immigrant leadership community now for over seven years since he was candidate Barack Obama in 2007 when he promised to do immigration reform in his first year and for one reason or another he's been delaying it for many years. I heard him say he didn't have the constitutional authority to do executive action on immigration, that this wasn't a monarchy, he wasn't king and he couldn't do it.

And so, now, he's done an about-face. He was supposed -- he promised them he would do it before the summer. Then because of the elections and so many red state senators being on the line, he delayed it until after the election.

So, there's a frustrated community, Democratic base and immigration leadership base that is demanding action.

COSTELLO: Well, it's funny you should mention that, President Obama mentioned an executive order involving all aspect of immigration reform might be illegal. He actually said that on Telemundo last year. He was talking specifically about deferring the deportation of immigrants brought to the United States illegally by their parents.

Listen to what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: What we can do is then carve out the DREAM Act folks saying young people who have basically grown up here are Americans that we should welcome. We're not going to have them operate under a cloud, under a shadow. But if we start broadening, then essentially I would be ignoring the law, in a way that I think would be difficult to defend legally. So, that's not an option.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: So, Ruben, why is it an option now?

NAVARRETTE: Yes, Carol, that's a great question. It's great to be pack with you with my friend Ana Navarro.

I'll tell you, this whole policy the president had toward immigration is a mess because he contradicts himself from year-to-year, week-to- week, in terms of whether he has the authority to do this.

Ana's right. He did promise that he would take on immigration his first 100 days, and that he would like of like a Bush-like reform where he works with Congress to pass a permanent solution.

So, instead we've gotten what might be considered legal status light where they get temporary work permits that can be revoked at any time. It becomes an issue 2016 because the next president can either maintain this program or do away with it.

So, it's really a watered down version of what the president originally proposed and Ana is right, there's been a contradiction all along. He went to great pains to argue he didn't have the power to do this when it was inconvenient for him to do so. And now, he's coming around and suddenly, I guess, he was cleaning out the coins in the White House couch and he found executive authority just popped out.

So, now, he has the power to do something about it.

COSTELLO: So, Ana, this may have consequences. I mean, a lot of Republicans and Democrats say he's poisoning the well. We want gridlock to stop. That's what the voters wanted with the sweep of Republicans into Congress, right?

Yet, now we have the House Speaker John Boehner threatening a government shutdown over the president's executive order about immigration, why go there?

NAVARRO: Well, I've heard Republican leadership, I've heard Mitch McConnell say very specifically he does not want a shutdown and fiscal cliff drama coming up and interestingly enough, it's been Harry Reid asking the White House publicly now to delay any executive action until they get a continuing resolution, until they get the budget issue addressed because he is concerned about a poisoned well during the lame duck while he's still majority leader.

Why do it? I guess, because number one, he's got promises he finally has got to fulfill to the immigration advocates to the Latino leadership, to the Latino community. Maybe he's trying to force the Republican hand.

Now, I think that if the two leaders, the speaker of the house and the Senate majority leader went in there and asked him for an opportunity, asked him for time, you know, my hope was that they would come to some sort of middle ground where they could skin the cat, he could somehow by myself time but at the same time put pressure on Republicans and give them a deadline to act.

I think one of the things he could do is write this executive action down, because right now, none of us know for sure what's on it. So that we all know what's at stake, put it in a box and say it's not going to be implemented and I'm not going to sign it until July, August, so Republicans go get it done if you want that time.

COSTELLO: I think the president did say he would rescind it if he got a bill on his desk, Ruben, right, outlining immigration reform from Republicans.

NAVARRETTE: Right. Yes, I give the credit to the president on this. He basically said listen, guys, you can pass whatever you want. I'm not stopping you from doing that. Nobody has, you know, in fact Republicans are cowardly and mediocre and ineffective on immigration, having nothing at all to do with the president. They're that way naturally.

So, even if he didn't do this, this notion somehow that McConnell and Boehner are advancing that leave us alone so we can work, it's nonsense. They don't want to work on immigration. They've slacked off on immigration to begin with. It divides their base. They don't have appetite to referee a public fight between the business interests that want immigration and nativist interests that don't.

And so, even Barack Obama if you take him out of the equation, the Republicans screwed up this issue just as badly as the president has and neither party has risen to the occasion of providing leadership in this, and this is really not an issue they can blame on each other. They're both responsible.

COSTELLO: Ruben Navarrette and Ana Navarro, thanks to both of you. I appreciate it.

NAVARRO: Thank you.

NAVARRETTE: Thank you.

COSTELLO: Ahead in THE NEWSROOM: you're seeing it already at the pump and the good news keeps on pumping out, oil prices dipping to their lowest point in four years.

Christine Romans is here with the good news.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: And, Carol, it amounts to about a $400 raise for you over the next year, if these oil prices and gas prices stay low. I'll tell you how long it can last and why they're falling.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: They said Christmas is six weeks away, an early Christmas present. The price of oil has dropped below $75 for the first time in four years. That's down 31 percent since June and you know what that means.

Let's bring in Christine Romans, wow.

ROMANS: I know, and AAA actually just told us they think this will be the cheapest gas for Thanksgiving since 2009 so it's going to continue. Let's talk about why first of all. I mean, you've got U.S. production

of fossil fuels of oil is just going gangbusters. In fact, we're producing 9 million barrels of oil a day, that's the most since 1986. You have to go back to the Reagan administration the last time we were producing that much oil and the rest of the world is consuming a little bit less than usual so the U.S. is producing a lot and that means prices are going down.

Saudi Arabia actually giving some discounts on its oil because American crude is so -- was producing so much of it. It's an interesting shift.

COSTELLO: We're Saudi-America now.

ROMANS: We're Saudi-America. It's a real shift.

You know, if you look at gas prices how they plummeted I have this chart down to $2.90, it's crazy and the American government has been saying next year, you can expect gas prices to stay below three bucks all year.

COSTELLO: And that's doing a lot of good things for the economy, people have more money to spend especially on cars.

ROMANS: I know and so we're seeing SUVs and big truck sales are starting to spike up. We have a short memory. When gas is cheaper.

Looks like this is going to be $400 extra in your pocket over the next year if these prices last, 400 bucks, that's real money. The retailers are very excited for Christmas, the holiday season you'll be spending that extra money on gifts and in their stores. But think if you have a delivery service, if you are a trucker, if you are doing anything, any of your business requires gasoline, this is good for you, less to heat your home.

You know, will it last? The assumption is it's going to last into next year, quite frankly.

It's going to hurt some people. It's going to hurt maybe the oil producers, for example, one of the rare moments what's good for consumers is bad for the oil companies. Maybe you're going to see some more consolidation. They'll probably start to buy each other so they can make more money on the oil they're extracting. But at least for now, it's just an amazing shift.

COSTELLO: Awesome, thanks, Christine.

ROMANS: You're welcome.

COSTELLO: We appreciate it.

Still to come in THE NEWSROOM: is this the face of homegrown terror? We'll tell you why prosecutors say this man killed a cop in the hopes of triggering much greater bloodshed and a change to our government.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)