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Donald Trump Unveils Plan for Immigration Reform; Will VP Joe Biden Enter 2016 Race?; Debris Found from Missing Indonesian Airplane; Death Toll Rises in Chinese Port City Explosion. Aired 4:30-5a ET
Aired August 17, 2015 - 04:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[04:30:00] CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Donald Trump this morning finally filling in details on his plans for immigration reform. After weeks of talking about immigration, lots to say but avoiding specifics. Now we have them. We have at least a six-page blueprint for how a President Trump would fix illegal immigration. Garnish illegal wages from low-wage workers, raise visa fees, reform the h1b program, raise wages for h1b workers. And make sure that U.S. tech workers get jobs first not workers from abroad.
CNN's Sunlen Serfaty has the latest from Washington.
SUNLEN SERFATY, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Christine, Donald Trump is off the campaign trail today doing something all of us can relate to all too well. He's been called in for jury duty. He will report for his civic duty at a state court in Manhattan today. Trump says he thinks it will be fun and he is looking forward to it.
Now this comes as Trump is trying to put forward a little more substance as a candidate. The campaign releasing its first policy document on his plan for immigration. The issue that really ignited that initial burst of support that he saw. For the first time, revealing how Trump proposes to get Mexico to pay for building a wall along the U.S. border. That wall he's been pushing for since he got into the race, saying until they do, he would impound all remittance payments from illegal wages, increase fees on visas issued to Mexican CEOs and seized on border crossing cards.
He also more broadly proposes to end the U.S. law of birthright citizenship, saying it is the biggest magnet for illegal immigration. He calls for the number of ICE officers to be tripled along the border and for funding to be cut off for sanctuary cities.
Now there are parts of his immigration policy that are still not clear. Trump in this policy document only calls for criminal undocumented immigrants to be deported. He doesn't say anything about all illegal immigrants being deported, which he has called for in the past and repeated again on Sunday.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We have to make a whole new set of standards and when people come in they have to come in --
CHUCK TODD, HOST, "MEET THE PRESS": You're going to split up families. You're going to deport children?
TRUMP: Chuck. Chuck, no, no. We're going to keep the families together. We have to keep the families together.
TODD: But you're going to kick them out?
TRUMP: They have to go.
TODD: What if they have no place to go?
TRUMP: We will work with them. They have to go.
Chuck, either have a country or we don't have a country.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SERFATY: And the DNC wasting no time in responding, saying that Trump has reignited, in their words, that GOP's longstanding obsession with mass deportation -- Christine.
ROMANS: All right. Sunlen Serfaty, thank you for that.
Vice President Joe Biden expected to stay at home in Delaware this morning. High on his agenda, no doubt, more time to consider whether he should jump into the race for the White House White House. The vice president hearing from advisers on whether there's room for him in a Democratic contest where a lot of the money and campaign talent is already spoken for.
Senior White House correspondent Jim Acosta has the latest.
JIM ACOSTA, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Christine, while President Obama is enjoying his vacation here on Martha's Vineyard, Vice President Joe Biden was spending some of his time off last week determining whether he should make a run for the White House.
Now sources close to the vice president say he is nowhere near a decision which is expected to come at the end of the summer. But Biden is putting out fillers, talking to loyalists who are gaming out the challenges the vice president would face should he choose to take on Hillary Clinton.
The former secretary of state, by the way, she's already seen by top Democrats both inside and outside the White House as someone who will protect and expand on President Obama's legacy. Biden would also have to take on a tough battle against Vermont senator, Bernie Sanders, who is now hot on Clinton's heels in the polls in some key battleground states. And here's what Bernie Sanders had to say about the possibility of a Biden candidacy.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I have known Joe for many, many years and everybody who knows Joe likes him and respects him. The decision as to whether or not he runs is his. If he does run, I promise him an issue-oriented campaign. We'll debate major issues facing the American people.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ACOSTA: But sources close to Biden are staying very tightlipped on which way the vice president is leaning. He did spend his vacation in South Carolina, an early primary state and home to one of his biggest loyalist, the former chairman of that state's Democratic Party. All of which will fuel speculation that Biden is taking a hard look at this -- Christine.
ROMANS: All right, Jim Acosta, thanks for that.
Republicans pouncing on the Hillary Clinton e-mail controversy again this morning after the Democratic frontrunner made a joke about Snapchat. You know Snapchat is a message service that the message disappears. She made this joke about Snapchat, I love it, she said, about Snapchat to laughter at a Democratic fundraiser in Iowa.
Republican campaigns saw an opportunity to blast Clinton but she dismissed suggestions she was taking the controversy too lightly.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Most importantly, I never sent classified material on my e-mail and I never received any that was marked classified. So I'm going to let whatever this inquiry is go forward and will, you know, await the outcome of it. The State Department has confirmed what I just said to you.
[04:35:05] TRUMP: It's a criminal problem. I mean, it's going to be a very serious problem for her, Jeff. It's going to be about as serious as it gets. You look at General Petraeus and he was destroyed over a much lesser event so I think she's got a very good --
JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: But his e-mails were marked classified. Hers were not.
TRUMP: Well, I think some of hers were. And it seemed like they took a lot of markings off. I mean, somebody has got a big problem and it looks like it's Hillary.
ZELENY: Any worry Republicans could overplay their hand on this e- mail controversy?
TRUMP: Look. It is what it is. It was a terrible thing she did. It was actually a very foolish thing. There was no reason to do it. And she's got a big problem.
CARLY FIORINA (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: You know in the debate last week, I made the statement that Hillary Clinton has lied. She's lied about Benghazi. She's lied about her server and she's lied about her e-mails. And there were some in the media that found that language harsh, although the majority of Americans agree with me. And the more this story goes on, the more it becomes clear that she has lied.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: All right. Dr. Ben Carson, the number two candidate in FOX News' latest nationwide poll, he's trying again to clarify his views on abortion. The retired neurosurgeon was asked last week to square his research on fetal tissue in the early 1990s with his current criticism of Planned Parenthood. On Sunday he was asked both at the Iowa State Fair Soapbox -- you see him there on that -- and on ABC News to explain when he thinks life begins.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. BEN CARSON (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: What I believe is life starts at conception. I said there are a lot of people who think that it is at the heartbeat. And I think most people can come to the conclusion that once you have a heartbeat that you clearly have a living organism.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: The Iowa State Fair and its famed soapbox offering a platform to three more GOP candidates today. Set for today on that stage, Governor Scott Walker, Senator Lindsey Graham and former Hewlett- Packard CEO Carly Fiorina.
Now the "Des Moines Register" soapbox is a beloved tradition of the state fair and a rite of passage for presidential candidates. You want to be president, there's two things to do, you grill and you go on the soapbox. But Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton both choosing to skip the soapbox over the weekend.
Happening today, the super PAC allied with the Jeb Bush campaign will start spending some of the money in its deep pockets. Right to Rise USA is set to make an eight-figure ad buy in the early primary states of New Hampshire, Iowa, and South Carolina. The ads start running in mid-September and air through December. Bush is set to campaign across South Carolina today where he'll meet with veterans and conduct a military town hall.
Mike Huckabee is heading to Israel to meet with officials and discuss the Iran nuclear deal. Just last month, the Republican presidential candidate said the Iran deal will take Israel, quote, "to the door of the oven." Huckabee telling CNN's "STATE OF THE UNION" Sunday it's important to talk about the deal with Israelis.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MIKE HUCKABEE (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: So I think it is the most dangerous situation that we face not just for the Middle East, but for the rest of the world in a long time, this is essentially arming and equipping a terrorist state. The Iranian government is not to be trusted and for 36 years they kidnapped Americans, they've killed Americans, they hold Americans hostage right now. And we're being pushed again into a deal that gives us nothing, but gives the Iranians the capacity to ultimately end up with a nuclear weapon.
(END VIDEO CLIP) ROMANS: Huckabee also had praise for Republican rival Donald Trump calling him a master at branding. He says it's helped Trump get 10 times the press coverage of any other candidates. Huckabee said hey, if he got that kind of attention from the press, he would be leading in the polls.
All right. The Pentagon says it plans to expand the number of U.S. drone flights overseas. Under the proposal, the Defense Department says 50 percent more flights would broaden surveillance and intelligence collection in Ukraine, Iraq, Syria, the South China Sea, and North Africa. The plan would grow the military's capacity for lethal airstrikes. If put into action, it would be the first significant boost to the U.S. drone program since 2011.
The Obama administration has reportedly told China its law enforcement personnel don't have permission to secretly work in the U.S. According to the "New York Times" the White House has warned Beijing about its operation named "Fox Hunt." The "Times" reports Chinese law enforcement agents are covertly working throughout America to hunt down fugitives and return them to China.
The State Department has not addressed Operation: Fox Hunt directly but Sunday a spokesperson did make it clear that Chinese law enforcement personnel cannot work in the U.S. without the Pentagon's permission.
Time for an EARLY START on your money. Stocks mostly higher around the world. European and Asian shares are up. Japan's economy contracted last quarter, but it wasn't as bad as expected and it's fueling new hope of more government stimulus.
Worries about Japan's economy adding to the drag on oil price. Look at this. Crude oil prices. U.S. crude oil prices down 2 percent this morning. Now below $42 a barrel. Concerns about slowing growth in Asia and elsewhere pushing prices down so is the continued supply boom that is devastating for energy companies. Great for drivers.
[04:40:03] Folks, look at this. The national average $2.67, much lower than this time last year. Experts predict $2 gas is just weeks away.
Breaking this morning -- breaking news this morning. An Indonesian plane crashes with 54 people on board. Search and rescue teams struggling in their effort to reach that wreckage. We're live with new developments next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROMANS: Breaking news this morning from Indonesia. Two aerial search planes have now spotted debris from what officials believe may be an airliner which went missing with 54 people on board. A search official tells CNN the plans to send out two ground teams to the location in the province of Papua now suspended due to the weather.
Want turn to CNN's Kathy Novak now for the very latest -- Kathy. KATHY NOVAK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's so incredibly frustrating an
just heartbreaking for the families, of the 54 people including five children who were on board this plan. Two days in a row now, bad weather has forced the search and rescue mission to be suspended. We're being told that it is still a search and rescue mission. Hopes, though, faint hopes of finding survivors.
Now these ground teams are basically stuck on a mountain that is about 11,000 feet high. Heavy fog rolled in. They couldn't see well enough to keep going on. They had been hiking for about an hour already and they are less than five miles away from the area that they are trying to reach. This area where debris was spotted by two different planes. Authorities say they are about 95 percent sure that that is the plane they are looking for, but the terrain is just so difficult, the weather has just been so bad, they cannot access it.
[04:45:10] They need to build a helipad. So that a helicopter can land to access this area that they are looking for, but two days in a row now, these teams are stuck both the ground and air search have been called off for now and may have to wait until the morning again to resume -- Christine.
ROMANS: All right. Kathy Novak for us, following that story. Thanks. Keep us -- keep us posted on new developments.
And Army sky diver has died from injuries he suffered when a stunt at this weekend's Chicago Air and Water Show went horribly wrong. 32- year-old Specialist Corey Hood collided in mid air with another performer. Video showed him falling from the sky. Witnesses describe the scene.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It looked like he was unconscious as he came down and eventually ended up hitting the building here.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: Hood died Sunday at a Chicago hospital. The other parachutist, Timmy Holland, the member of the Navy's precision diving team suffered a broken leg in that collision.
Federal investigators are trying to determine what caused two small planes to collide in mid-air on approach to an airport in San Diego. Four people on board those two planes were killed. Officials say both planes broke into pieces. It happened Sunday morning about two miles from the Brownfield municipal airport at Otay Mesa, California, near the Mexico border.
The FAA says a technical glitch in an air traffic control center in Virginia was responsible for hundreds of flight delays and cancellations at East Coast airports over the weekend. Officials say the problem was actually fixed after several hours on Saturday, but airports at connecting hubs were still experienced delays on Sunday. The FAA says investigators are, quote, "continuing to diagnose the cause of that problem." Wildfires still scorching the west. Burning out of control in four
states. The fires are being fueled by drought conditions along with heat and high winds. More than 50 homes have been lost in Washington state alone. In California, hundreds of firefighters are battling a blaze in the Angeles National Forest. A lightning caused fire in Oregon has burned more than 34,000 acres. And in Idaho, the Soda Fire has covered nearly 300,000 acres.
So will the weather in the west help turn things around in this battle against those wildfires? Meteorologist Pedram Javaheri has the latest.
PEDRAM JAVAHERI, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Hey, good morning, Christine. Incredible fires seen across the western United States. In fact, this photograph was taken back on the 1st of August. You take a look. This is the Wolverine Fire across Chelan County in Washington state. That's yours truly right there in the corner taken a couple of weeks ago when I was visiting family in this area.
But the temperatures have been tremendously hot. The amount of land burned across the western U.S. remarkable. Over 6.5 million acres of land burned to date so far in 2015. That would be roughly the size of the state of New Hampshire. And by the way, that is two million acres above what is considered normal as far as the fire season is concerned. But look at the western U.S. The heat confined now to the west. The cooler air finally returning towards much of the east, especially out towards the northeast.
We've got a severe weather possibility on a scale of 1-5 it would be a level two. As for the eastern portion of Colorado, some thunderstorms get to form large hail and some damaging winds but the hear also locked in place now for the northeast at least for today. Mid and upper 90s around Washington. Should be 94 to 92 from Philly to New York.
Christine, it does look like much cooler weather toward the northeast in the low 80s at least by mid week.
ROMANS: Yes, but we've got to get there. 96 today in New York City. Wow.
All right. Thanks, Pedram, for that.
Death toll rises in a chemical blast in China. More than 100 dead, dozens still missing. Family members are furious, they're demanding answers next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[04:52:22] ROMANS: The death toll from the huge explosions in northern China now keeps rising. It now stands at 114. The investigation now focusing on what was being stored in that port complex so that any dangerous chemicals spread by the explosions can be contained and removed.
CNN's Will Ripley has been there from the beginning for us. He is in Tianjin for us this morning.
WILL RIPLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Christine, for the first time, we're being allowed inside the blast zone. We are on an overpass. And I'll show you this is one of the main roads in Tianjin. And you can see as we scan over here all of those structures. Many of them residential buildings that were some under construction, some occupied at the time of the explosion which has created utter devastation to this area.
Look at this parking lot. Full of thousands of cars. Most of them incinerated. Many of them hot to the touch even days after the explosion. And you can see what's left of the chemical warehouse that was holding all of those shipping containers that you see piled off in the distance like toys.
There are questions being asked here. Serious questions. This site here is now at the center of a criminal investigation where days later smoke continues to rise. You can see it off in the distance. And crews are continuing to search for the dozens of people still missing. And at this point it is presumed that they did not survive.
China has had its share of industrial accidents over the years. This is certainly not the first, but Chinese authorities are saying that they're going to try to take new steps to prevent this from happening again. They're promising a criminal investigation and charges against those who are responsibility for placing these volatile chemicals so close to people's homes, causing an explosion so powerful that it was able to burn and push those large trucks underneath the highway and result in the lives of so many lost -- Christine.
ROMANS: All right. Will Ripley, thank you for that. 54 minutes past the hour.
Your next vacation could be in a galaxy far, far away. Guy, I got big news for "Star Wars" fans. That's next.
[04:54:32]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROMANS: All right. Welcome back. I'm Christine Romans. Let's get an EARLY STOCK on your money this morning. Stocks mostly up around the world right now. European and Asian shares are higher. Japan's economy contracted last quarter, but it wasn't as bad as expected. Still worries about Japan's economy added to the drag on oil prices. Look at this, U.S. crude oil down 2 percent. Trading now below $42 a barrel. That's six-year low. Disappointing growth in Asia and a supply boom driving oil lower.
Donald Trump finally putting some meat on the bones of his immigration plan. And it could mean huge changes for millions of low-wage workers who send money home and the companies who employ them -- now Trump says Mexico must pay for a wall on the border. The cost an estimate of $23 billion. He would make Mexico pay. How? Well, he would seized all the wages of workers living illegally in the United States.
Their wages that they sent home via remittance He would make all companies in this country sign up for e-verify, a computer system to check workers' legal status. And Trump as usual taking some swipes along the way. He criticized Republican opponent Marco Rubio and Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg. Zuckerberg by name in this plan because they want to triple H1BV says for high skilled workers. He would like to raise -- he would like to raise salaries for U.S. born workers in the tech arena.
All right. The happiest place on earth headed to a galaxy far, far away. Disney announced the creation of two "Star Wars" expansions at both its California pack. "Star Wars" theme parks. Cool. That'll be Disney's biggest expansions ever, covering 14 acres each. Featuring new rides and restaurants.
