Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Newsroom
Uncontained Wildfire Shuts Down Freeways in Southern California; Super PAC Influence Examined; Madonna Battling to have Son Return to New York from London; Man Accused of Planned Parenthood Shooting Asking to Represent Himself in Court Trial; Discussion of Refugee Crisis. Aired 10-11a ET
Aired December 26, 2015 - 10:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[10:00:00] ERROL BARNETT, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Errol Barnett in for Victor Blackwell this weekend. It is 10:00 on the east side, 7:00 on the west. Good to be by your side.
CHRISTI PAUL, CNN ANCHOR: So good to have you here. Thanks for getting up on a holiday weekend.
BARNETT: Any time.
PAUL: All right, let's talk about this breaking news specifically out of California first of all. Look at the pictures we are getting in of this wildfire out of control still at this hour. Mandatory evacuations and highway closures are part of what's happening there at this moment.
BARNETT: And those are major thoroughfares. The fire has burned an estimated 1,000 acres just overnight. Firefighters have been forced to close part of two major highways. We're talking the Pacific Coast Highway and the 101 freeway near Ventura.
PAUL: Look at the video coming in from overnight. More than 500 firefighters are responding right now, and helicopters are being used to dump water on those plains. Sara Sidner is following the story for us from New York. I know that you are usually in Los Angeles, Sara, so I'm wondering, because of your great perspective there, how significant is it that the 101 and the PCH are shut down?
SARA SIDNER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's huge. Any time you mess with traffic in that part of California, you are going to have trouble, and it has caused backups already. But it's also threatening about 35 structures at this point in time.
And this is a problem that we are probably going to unfortunately see this year in a very big way. One of the reasons for that is it is an El Nino year. Yes, it will bring rain, but it also brings winds. And there has been such a terrible drought that hasn't been this bad in more than 100 years, that as soon as something sparks, it just goes nuts. That's what you are seeing here.
This is now about 1,100 acres according to firefighters who were out there. There is more than 500 firefighters trying to get this blaze under control. When you say the word brushfire, Christie, you kind of think like, OK, something just kind of a small little fire. This is pushing a lot of smoke. It is making it hard to see, hard to breath. There are evacuations going on. And because it is stopping traffic along the 101 and along Pacific Coast Highway, this is a big event. And unfortunately, we may see much more of this as the year goes on. It is going into 2016.
PAUL: Sara, can you speak to what one of the officials told us a couple of hours ago, that there were wind gusts up to 50 miles an hour and oil wells in that area. People hear oil wells and they think, wait a minute. What are we really dealing with here?
SIDNER: Yes, I mean, that's the danger, that if this continues to go as it has been. It has been fast. That's what happens there because of the drought, when something sparks, it just goes very, very quickly, hard to control. It is nowhere near contained. Usually, you start hearing numbers about containment. It is completely wild. It's just going on its own and the firefighters are batting this blaze.
And yes, there are oil rigs in the area across California. And so there is always going to be that concern, because if that happens, you are going to see explosions and more destruction. Although this is a way, generally, from homes, there are a few homes in the area, but this is generally away from homes, so that's the only good, if you can say, part of all this.
And I want to give you some idea of exactly where this is because people may not know Ventura County that well. This is between Santa Barbara to its north and Malibu to its south. You are looking at a map there. Pacific Coast Highway is one of the most beautiful drives in all the world. It is absolutely wonderful. You can go all the way from southern California all the way up to the San Francisco Bay Area and see the water and the beauty. A lot of people like to do that on the holiday. That's what we are in right now. So it is really, really difficult and hard to see this happen right now, because California is probably going to be dealing with quite a lot of this including mudslides if it starts to really pour down rain. But boy, the state needs it so, so bad.
PAUL: All right, thank you so much, Sara, for that perspective. We really appreciate it.
I want to bring in Heather Sumagaysay. She is a public information officer with the fire department and she has been watching this as well. Heather, can you give us an update on what's happening there this hour right now? What is the biggest obstacle in fighting this thing?
HEATHER SUMAGAYSAY, VENTURA COUNTY, CALIFORNIA FIRE DEPARTMENT: The biggest obstacle that we're fighting right now with this fire is the thing we have been fighting for the last couple of hours, which is the weather conditions and the winds that are occurring right now. We are at over 1,000 acres. We are saying 1,100 acres right now. We don't have any containment. And we do have additional resources en route so we can start to contain a line around the fire.
[10:05:05] So we have more are than 500 firefighters from various agencies, Ventura County, Ventura City, Santa Paula, the sheriff offices out here, Red Cross is setting up shelter, L.A. County, Cal Fire. And all of these people are here today to aggressively take handle of what happened out there right now.
PAUL: So we were just talking about Sara Sidner about the fact that it is pretty significant that the 101 freeway and the Pacific Coast Highway are shut down. What can you tell us about traffic, and are people staying away from that area?
SUMAGAYSAY: We're encouraging people to avoid the 101 right now. And we're trying as best as we can to put a strategy in place so that weekend, open the freeway as soon as it is safe and whether that be we open it sporadically to let traffic through. We are encouraging the people in the meantime if you can avoid the freeway or use alternative routes, because we do recognize that the holiday weekend will greatly impact traffic.
PAUL: Have you been getting any calls from anybody who lives in that area, anybody injured or any structures that have burned?
SUMAGAYSAY: No structures burned, no injuries reported. All firefighters and citizens are safe right now, which we are happy to report. But right now, we are aggressively attacking this fire.
PAUL: Heather Sumagaysay, PIO with the fire department there, Heather, we so appreciate it. Thank you for keeping us apprised of what's happening there. We'll be checking in obviously throughout the day. But thank you and best of luck to all of you there and the crews.
BARNETT: Thankfully, no buildings being threatened right now. But if the west is on fire, the south, here in the south, we are under water. And really you can have crazy weather outside of your door no matter where you are in the country, but blizzards in the west as well. A powerful rainstorm hit the east, 14 million people are now facing weather threats today. Tomorrow that number could be up to 22 million.
In just the past 24 hours, the south has been getting drenched with double digit rain totals causing this terrible flooding. And the same region still reeling from that tornado outbreak earlier this week. The death toll continues to rise. At least 15 people are confirmed dead, dozens more injured across Mississippi, Arkansas, and Tennessee. CNN's Nick Valencia is following all the latest developments and joins us now. The fear is that more damage is to be done, Nick.
NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Certainly, and just devastating portions of the United States. You remember how bad it was for Christmas Eve in Atlanta, just torrential downpours that continued over Christmas and didn't get much better for some of the surrounding states. Alabama took the brunt end of the damage yesterday with a Christmas Day tornado. The bad news is, as Errol, was saying, more could be yet to come.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) VALENCIA: Severe weather battered several southern states. Heavy rain hammered parts of Alabama. At least 20 inches fell in less than 24 hour at the airport. The water made some roads impassable. Rescue crews helping residents trapped in their homes. The National Weather Service said a potential tornado touched down in Birmingham, causing damage to several blocks.
CHIEF CHARLES GORDON, BIRMINGHAM FIRE DEPARTMENT: The damage that was done was confined to one square mile. We had three structures, three houses that collapsed. We transported one person from the scene. There were two others that were removed from the structure, but we were reporting no injuries.
VALENCIA: Alabama's governor declared a state of emergency because of widespread flooding. At least 117 homes overcome by water. In Georgia, the rain damage rose and made driving treacherous.
And in Mississippi, flood warnings and relentless rain add more misery to areas already devastated by tornadoes they killed at least eight people in the state. Many roads are flooded and some people are dealing with rising water in their homes. In Wren, Mississippi, Victor and Tamika Hale watched as their home of ten years was overtaken by water.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The trailer, it just floated away, garbage can, everything gone.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It happened so fast we had to get up and get out of there. The rain was coming way too fast.
VALENCIA: The couple and their nine-year-old son now homeless, staying with relatives.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It is discouraging. We lost everything. My child didn't get none of his Christmas items.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VALENCIA: A memorable Christmas for all the wrong reasons for that family and many others affected by the storms. Already 15 people have had their lives claimed as a result of this storm. It could go up, guys. Two more people still unaccounted for in the state of Mississippi. Christi, Errol?
BARNETT: Our hearts go out to all those affected families. Thanks, Nick.
VALENCIA: You bet.
PAUL: The thing is, I think it's so frustrating, there is more to come. We want to go to CNN meteorologist Allison Chinchar who is going to map it out for us. Hi, Allison.
ALLISON CHINCHAR, AMS METEOROLOGIST: And hello, Christi.
[10:00:00] Let's take a look, because we have multiple different types of things that we are going to be dealing with this system. Again, more rain to the eastern half of the country where they don't need to see it. Severe weather in the middle section, and then we have lost of winter weather around the backside of it.
First, let's take a look at the severe weather threat. We now have an enhanced threat for tornadoes in and around the Dallas area. So if you have travel plans today in, out of, or around Dallas, be patient, be careful, and again, check with your airline carriers for any delays.
But the severe threat as a whole stretches from San Antonio all the way up towards Cincinnati today. Tomorrow that system begins to push a little farther east. So now we have cities like, Little Rock, Memphis, also New Orleans under the gun for the same threat.
Look at the forecast rainfall amounts, incredible. Eight to 10 inches of rain expected in parts of Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Missouri, now looking at Mississippi, Alabama, and Georgia, an additional four to six inches of rain in these areas, again on top of what they have already had for the last few days, which for parts of Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, and Tennessee. Some of those areas have already had eight to 10 inches. So again, we're talking about an incredible amount of rain coming in. No wonder we have the flood watches in effect for about a dozen states. Christi?
PAUL: Allison, thank you so much.
BARNETT: We are about a month away from the Iowa caucuses, and political jabs are underway. Coming up next, a new Ted Cruz super PAC ad takes a swipe at rival Marco Rubio.
PAUL: Also ahead, the childhood home of former president Bill Clinton damaged by fire. What investigators expect is behind it.
BARNETT: And later this hour, the man accused of the shooting rampage of the Planned Parenthood clinic last month says he wants to help himself in court. We will talk to a criminal defense attorney about the consequences of such a decision.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BARNETT: So the Iowa caucuses are now just about a month away, and big money donors are busy writing checks to political action committees or PACs. They pay for those ads that surely you are seeing on TV by now. Who are the people behind those checks? Why are they writing them? Chris Frates joins us now with an inside like. Chris?
CHRIS FRATES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, good morning, Errol. So big money donors are increasingly giving to so-called super PACs, which can take unlimited amounts of money. It is rare for super PACs and donors to speak about their relationships and what that money brings them.
[10:15:00] But we recently talked a top GOP moneyman who has given millions to politicians and to the presidential candidate who has benefited. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
FOSTER FRIESS, REPUBLICAN DONOR: Hi, I'm Foster Friess.
FRATES: GOP moneyman Foster Friess has written his biggest checks to support his good friend, Rick Santorum. In 2012, the retired billionaire money manager threw Santorum a lifeline when he gave the super PAC supporting him more than $2 million.
FRIESS: I think he is a champion of the little guy. He's very presidential.
FRATES: In his heyday, Friess was making $10 million a month. Friess won't say how much he'll give this campaign season, but explains why he donates.
FRIESS: I get a sense of satisfaction that I am continuing the process that created my success.
FRATES: Friess prefers to give to super PACs, which can take as much as he is willing to give, instead of giving directly to campaign where the limit is $5,400.
FRIESS: When the super PAC came along, I realized I could just write a check. It's a lot more effortless, and that seems to work.
FRATES: Santorum doesn't believe that Friess is trying to buy influence.
RICK SANTORUM, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: If he was in it for access, he wouldn't be supporting some guy four years ago who was at one percent in the polls. If he's in it for access he wouldn't be supporting a guy four years later who is at one percent in the polls.
FRATES: Veteran GOP fundraiser Henry Barber says passionate donors by Friess are outgunned by those seeking influence.
HENRY BARBOUR, REPUBLICAN FUNDRAISER: There are a lot more that are giving because they believe in something, they far outnumber the people that give for access. Yet the people that give for access give much larger dollars.
FRATES: According to a nonpartisan watchdog, so far this election cycle, super PACs have raised $315 million and spent almost $100 million, much of it, on ads. But those ads still leave Republican candidates far behind the frontrunner who hasn't spent a dime on television ad advertising.
DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Super PACs are a disaster. They're a scam. They cause dishonesty, and you better get rid of them because they are causing a lot of bad decisions to be made by some very good people. And I am not blaming these folks, but I guess I could.
FRATES: Some experts say big check writers are driven by a mix of business and ego. LAWRENCE NOBLE, CAMPAIGN LEGAL CENTER GENERAL COUNSEL: They are
giving to people they think will support what they want, and they're giving to people that they know will answer their phone calls if they win and they know will give them access and listen have he carefully to what they want on a public agenda.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FRATES: So Those GOP presidential political ads you see on TV, more than 80 percent of them so far have been paid for by super PACs, and that's according to a recent report from a nonpartisan watchdog group. But how successful those ads are still is an open question, with many candidates supported by super PACs doing poorly in the polls, though with the first contest just over a month away, now is the time that money could be a game-changer for many of the candidates. Errol?
BARNETT: And for those candidates, surely there is a couple of strings attached to all of the cash. But we'll see that unfold. Chris Frates, thanks a lot.
FRATES: Thank you.
PAUL: Let's talk to CNN presidential historian Douglas Brinkley about all of this, because, Douglas, you are a long time political watcher. You have seen this whole process. How has PAC money changed the way presidential races are run in your opinion?
DOUGLAS BRINKLEY, CNN PRESIDENTIAL HISTORIAN: Well, I have to agree with Donald Trump in this regard. I don't think it has been very helpful. I think it has led to a kind of dirtier politics and it gives the perception of buying influence.
But in the end there are other ways, as Donald Trump is showing, to get free media. There are other ways to get your message across, by writing a book that becomes a best seller or finding ways to travel, knock on more doors. But I don't think that we see an advancement of American political culture due to this amount of money that gets pumped into these campaigns and these PACs.
PAUL: Ben Ferguson earlier said -- I asked him if a super PAC can elect a president. He said he didn't think they could elect one but they could eliminate a candidate. Do you agree?
BRINKLEY: Absolutely. That's very well-said. I just recall the damage they can also due to somebody's character. Look at the swift boat attack ads on John Kerry, all that money to tell us John Kerry was not a Vietnam hero. Well, John Kerry has three purple hearts and a silver star and a bronze star. He was a Vietnam hero.
But it's an attempt to smear somebody without having your fingerprints on it. So it is low-ball politics, it's low-rent, and it's not our American democratic process at its finest.
PAUL: Let's talk about Hillary Clinton. Her biggest rival, obviously, Bernie Sanders, comes out and he shuns super PAC money. Is that a smart move? BRINKLEY: I think he is trying to show that he is not in it and owned
by Wall Street or owned by America's financial interest. But it's a move of desperation. It's when you don't have any other cards in your deck to play, really.
[10:20:00] I think it is authentic with Bernie Sanders. But in the Democratic race here, it is Hillary Clinton all the way. It has almost not been a race between Hillary Clinton and Sanders, simply a sideshow. 2015 was the year of Donald Trump, or at least the year of the conservative movement. But 2016 is going to become perhaps the first woman president of the United States. It is going to be a big year for Hillary Clinton.
PAUL: I want to walk real quickly with you here. An ad put out by Ted Cruz's super PAC.
BRINKLEY: OK.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He really represents the people. He represents me.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He actually went to Washington, D.C. and did what he told the voters he was going to do.
SEN. TED CRUZ, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Who actually has stood up to not just Democrats but to leaders in our own party.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He is not afraid to say the honest truth even from the Senate floor and even if it is unpopular.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PAUL: You talk about how they can eliminate candidates. The thing about this ad is it actually focuses on something that's polarizing about him. Standing up to leaders also led to a government shutdown last year. So how much at risk do people put themselves, do candidates put themselves when they are involved with these super PACs?
BRINKLEY: Well, look, Ted Cruz is working with super PACs. He needs to. He is running against now head to head against a billionaire like Donald Trump who has unlimited money. So he has to use the super PACs.
I think what's interesting about the Cruz campaign is that it has been very shrewd of trying to not go after Donald Trump and stay in the number two spot with an aim at Iowa and the evangelical vote. And he comes to his father and says I'm in a stir and Ted Cruz has been courting the evangelical votes from day one.
And if he wins Iowa, Ted Cruz, and these kinds of ads are going to help him do that, he suddenly becomes the talk of the country. And then you have a scenario where Donald Trump may very well win New Hampshire. And I think the media needs to focus on South Carolina. It could become a huge showdown between Trump and Cruz there. This may be the cycle where the conservative movement is demanding they have a candidate because the establishment gave them McCain, followed by Romney, and they didn't get victory out of those.
PAUL: Good point. Douglas Brinkley, we always appreciate your insight. Thanks for taking the time.
BRINKLEY: Thanks.
PAUL: Take care.
BARNETT: We are still following breaking news out of southern California. You are seeing raging wildfires burning there at this moment. It is forcing mandatory evacuations and closing of major roads. We will bring you an update on this next.
Plus, Madonna's international custody battle for her son. Mom wants him home in New York. Dad wants him to stay in London. We'll tell you what the 15-year-old wants after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[10:25:36] PAUL: It seems like a tough holiday start to Madonna's holiday, or new year. The pop star's teenage son Rocco refusing to come back to New York with her. He wants to stay in London with his dad, movie director Guy Ritchie. This is according to the "New York Daily News." Madonna went to court in Manhattan Wednesday, won a court order to force Rocco to return. Here is the thing. According to the paper, Ricci's lawyer in London says Rocco has expressed very clearly he did not want to return to New York.
So we want to talk more about this with criminal defense attorney Ashleigh Merchant. OK, Ashleigh, here's the thing. One judge in London has ruled that Rocco can stay there. New York judge says he has to come here. You're dealing with two different countries. Who has the authority to make something happen?
ASHLEIGH MERCHANT, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: That's the difficult question. Who has jurisdiction? Because Rocco is not in American, he is in Britain, they would have jurisdiction at this point. But the problem is there was a previous action in New York. And so that carries some weight because there was a previous action, that judge can be in jurisdiction.
The issue now is whether or not he has a passport to come back. I understand his lawyer is actually holding his passport. And so his lawyer has his passport for safe keeping, which means he can't come back. So the lawyer could be implicated for actually interfering with custody at this point. And I think that's probably what would have the more powerful say because that's actually a crime. But what Rocco is doing by staying there, all he is doing is violating a court order, which is still serious, but it's only punishable but contempt, which is a fine.
PAUL: This is a 15-year-old kid. We are not talking about a toddler here. So I'm wondering, how much does his 15-year-old voice matter in the decision that's going to be made.
MERCHANT: Very much. In America at 14 the child has a say. They have the right to say which side they want to stay with. Obviously if there's some type of abuse or something like that, that can override that. But generally speaking, absent some extra circumstance, some type of abuse or something like that, anybody who is 14 or above, has the ability to say which parent they want to stay with. So even if he came back, he most likely would be able to say when he comes back to America, most likely he will be able to say, I want to go with dad, and the journaling would have to abide by that.
PAUL: I would think that anybody who has teenagers would look at this, and regardless of whatever you feel about any of these people, you would feel for Madonna because you love your son, you want him to be with you, and your son is very publicly saying I don't want to be with you. So what do you think is maybe her best bet to heal whatever is going on here?
BARNETT: This is one of those tough situations where sometimes I tell clients, you know, just because legally you can get him back doesn't mean that's the best court of action. Going into a court of law right before Christmas and saying I'm going to get a judge to forcefully bring my home who doesn't want to come home at this point, is that really the best course of action, or is it better to try and work it out?
It sounds like the judge was trying to get them to work it out outside of court, and in family law situations that is always going to be better if you can work it out without a judge ordering somebody, especially a 15-year-old, a judge ordering a 15-year-old, never a good idea.
PAUL: Ashleigh Merchant, thank you so much. We appreciate your expertise, as always. Errol?
BARNETT: Christi, we are still following breaking news this morning. Wildfires in Southern California shutting down major roadways and forcing mandatory evacuation. Also our other developing story in the southeast, severe rain storms affecting millions of people. Millions more will be impacted tomorrow. Updates on those stories, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[10:30:40] BARNETT: And 14 million people facing new severe weather threats, and more than 22 million will face this tomorrow. Parts of the south have been getting drenched, causing terrible flooding in some areas. There's more rain on the way. We'll keep you posted throughout the day here on CNN.
PAUL: We want to get you back to some of the other breaking news that we have been watching all morning. Look at these pictures coming in from southern California of a wildfire out of control. It has already burned an estimated 1,000 to 1,100 acres. So far, the more than 500 firefighters who are responding just have not been able to get this thing under control. Erin Myers of CNN affiliate KTLA is in Ventura, California. What is the situation there, Erin? ERIN MYERS, KTLA REPORTER: We are actually about an hour north of Los
Angeles. And the fire is really difficult for firefighters right now to deal with because of winds and dry conditions because we are in a drought out here in this area.
If you want to take a look, we are at the 101 freeway. This fire has actually jumped the freeway, and this is right along the coast here. And if you follow me over this way, I'll show you this is on the other side of the 101 freeway, the hillside right there. It is now starting to die down. But that was completely engulfed just a short time ago.
We know the fire started around 10:40 last night and crews tell us when they got on scene it had already burned about 100 acres in this area just north of Ventura County. The fire is moving very quickly due to these dry conditions and winds. And there is a wind advisory in place, so they are saying they could see gusts up to about 50 miles an hour which could really move that fire along. Another issue in this area are the oil fields in the hills here. So firefighters are having to deal with that as well.
Now, as you said, about 500 firefighters are on scene. And currently, the 101 is closed in both directions from Ventura to right before Carpinteria. There are mandatory evacuations in place here for residents. And all the camp ground along the coast are closed as well. There are voluntary evacuations in place for nearby beach residents.
Now, fire officials, they say they are asking evacuees to head north of this area to Carpinteria to a Red Cross shelter. The good news is so far there are no structures that have been lost and no injuries. But the fire is going to be very difficult for firefighters to battle.
Once again, about 1,100 acres. They tell us once the day starts, the sun starts to come up, they will have a better idea and be able to assess this fire a little more and be able to put a better plan of action, because right now, it is moving very, very quickly.
In Ventura County, I'm Erin Myers. I'll send it back to you.
PAUL: All right, Erin, thank you so much. Again, she is with CNN affiliate KTLA.
BARNETT: We want to bring in our CNN meteorologist Allison Chinchar. Allison, what are the weather conditions in southern California? Might they help firefighters? They've been telling us how difficult the wind is making things right now.
CHINCHAR: The weather may start to improve as early as 24 hours from now, which would be very good news for the firefighters. But right now not so much. Right now we have almost like a Santa Ana type wind coming in. You have it coming down from the northeast. And again, that's making it very difficult for the firefighters to get a very good handle on the blaze that's out there.
Right now winds up around 25 to 30 miles an hour sustained. That means constant. But we have gusts up to around 60 miles an hour. So again, it is no wonder we have these wind warnings out there right now that are going up to much of the area. And again, you can see that we have high wind warnings, wind watches, and advisories out for much of this area, stretching from Las Vegas all the way down towards Los Angeles.
As we mentioned, again, the big issue with this is that northeastern wind coming down. And it is moving very, very quickly, which again that can cause the fire to spread pretty quickly and make at the have difficult for firefighters to battle that blaze.
But as I mentioned earlier, we do have maybe some positive weather on its way. This next front should be pushing in by Sunday. And when it does, it will be bringing in some moisture with it. How much with actually make it to that area is a question. Likely not very much, but at this point I think they will take whatever they can end up getting. The winds will also begin to shift as that front comes back through, so no longer going to be out of the northeast, a more favorable wind to help out the firefighters.
[10:35:04] BARNETT: All right, so much to keep your eyes on. Thanks very much.
PAUL: A new report says the U.S. is planning raids that would force undocumented immigrants out of the country. Would it be legal? We have an immigration lawyer weighing in.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PAUL: It's 38 minutes past the hours, and Donald Trump taking credit for plans of a mass deportation of some Central American immigrants. News of the proposed raids were first reported by "The Wall Street Journal." And the frontrunner has been quick to take credit, tweeting, quote, "Did everyone see that the Democrats and President Obama are now, because of me, starting to deport people who are here illegally. Politics."
The politics aside, this is a very real situation for those who are in this country illegally. Let's talk about this with Matthew Green. He is an immigration attorney. Mr. Green, we appreciate you being with us. First of all, wondering, who are the primary targets of these impending raids?
MATTHEW GREEN, IMMIGRATION ATTORNEY: Good morning. I have read the news as well. It appears the primary target of these impending raids are some of the asylum seekers who showed up at the southern border in 2014 and who, for whatever reason, have final orders of deportation from immigration judges and they are still here and they are not in detention.
PAUL: So is their only hope, would it be a stay of deportation?
GREEN: Yes, that's true. There is a variety of reasons why some of these people might have orders of deportation. And really it comes down to two primary categories. The first category would be people who actually have gone to court and their cases have been finished by immigration judges. Now, I don't think that that's very likely that that's going to be the majority of these people, because if they have gone to immigration courts, they have been released from detention, it is unlikely that their cases would have been finished by now because the courts are so backed up.
[10:40:05] It is more likely that the vast majority of these people were released from detention either once they saw an immigration judge, or more likely before they even saw an immigration judge, and for whatever reason, they didn't show up to their court dates and they received what are called in absentia orders of removal, which is orders of deportation issued by judges in the absence of these immigrants.
PAUL: OK, so I'm wondering if people's circumstances can change enough while they are here in this country to afford them perhaps a different kind of visa or some aspect in that regard to stay?
GREEN: Well, they absolutely can. In fact, there was a case from the ninth circuit court of appeals published earlier this week, a case called Sisnaro (ph) Rodriguez that explained that a woman who was absolutely subject to deportation was also eligible for what is called a UV. So we see this fairly frequently. The immigrant community unfortunately is victimized by crime as well. And the deportation officer in that case was essentially reprimanded by the court of appeals for just trying to process her through and not taking a look to see whether or not her circumstances had changed and whether our laws could help her stay here.
PAUL: OK, so there is nothing about this new proposal and what's going to happen possibly at the beginning of the year, we understand, that is out of the ordinary to you.
GREEN: Well, it's not out of the ordinary, but I do think it represents a very sensitive situation, and also an opportunity for the Obama administration to show that it is intelligently and sensitively enforcing our immigration laws.
The trust of the matter is, I do expect the vast majority of people that have orders of deportation that are still here did not show up to court. But the case law is very replete with examples over the years, and the Immigration Nationality Act has specific provisions to address this. Lots of times people are traumatized. They're released from detention. They are told to show up in court, or they are told, more importantly, that they are going to get a not show up in court and they never do. Or if they do, they don't understand it because these are, by and large, uneducated, undereducated, unsophisticated people. A lot of times it just doesn't go to the right place.
And they can file motions to reopen their case and get automatic stays of removal. I think that the deportation officers that are doing the rates and doing the apprehensions really have a responsibility to inquire into this to make sure it wasn't a mistake. And they ultimately have total discretion to decide whether or not these people should be thrown out of the country or maybe we should take a closer look at them.
PAUL: Matthew Green, I really learned something from you today. Appreciate it very much. Thanks for being with us.
GREEN: Thank you.
BARNETT: The suspect in the Planned Parenthood clinic massacre plans to represent himself in court. We'll bring you legal analysis on the consequences of that decision.
Also, a secret gift sends a woman into, let's call it a happy frenzy. This video is going viral right now, and for good reason. You are going to see it all next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[14:46:31] BARNETT: Welcome back. The case against the man accused of killing three people at a Planned Parenthood clinic could all hinge on whether he is found to be mentally competent. Robert Dear appeared in court earlier this week, in fact he interrupted his public defender and told the judge he wants to represent himself. The judge ordered Dear to undergo a mentally evaluation. However, in a previous court appearance earlier this month, deer indicated he would not cooperate with a mental evaluation. Watch.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERT DEAR, ACCUSED PLANNED PARENTHOOD CLINIC SHOOTER: And I'm not going to agree to their mental health evaluation where they want to take me and put me under psychotropic drugs so I can't talk like the batman guy.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BARNETT: Dear faces 179 felony counts, including murder and attempted murder.
Let's talk about all of this with criminal defense attorney and former prosecutor, Nicole DeBorde. Nicole, what happens if Robert Dear won't go ahead and do this mentally valuation? How does that complicate the next few steps?
NICOLE DEBORDE, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Well, it just makes it a little more difficult for the court to make the same types of determinations that it is going to make anyway. They will be able to get his jail records. They will be able to subpoena records from his previous health care providers and probably learn whether or not he has had any other mental health issues or commitments or treatment. And they are going to evaluate him anyway. And they will use what they find with or without his assistance to make the determination about whether he is competent.
BARNETT: What do you make of the fact that he wants to represent himself here? He has been interrupting his public defender almost making the situation more difficult for him in addition to the things he has said. I mean, do you think he is increasing his chances of what? What is he doing here?
DEBORDE: There is a saying amongst lawyers that even a lawyer who represents himself has a fool for a client. And that is even more true for somebody who has no legal training whatsoever. It is a disaster for someone to try to represent themselves in court even if they have legal training. This individual has none. And it is absolutely not going to be a positive thing for his case. He will increase the likelihood that the damage to him will be great.
BARNETT: Now, this question on if he is mentally competent, what happens if he takes that test and he is found to be mentally competent. And how does that factor into the possibility of the death penalty here? People died in this shooting.
DEBORDE: Absolutely. It is a tragic case. And the reality is if he is found competent, the district attorney's office can proceed just as they would in any other case. And if the D.A. decides they want to seek the death penalty, they will be able to do that. And he will be tried and at risk for death if he is ultimately found guilty if they choose to proceed in that way.
BARNETT: Have you ever seen a case like this where there has been a horrific crime and the defendant wants to represent himself? The fear there may be some grandstanding as he makes more political statements.
DEBORDE: Unfortunately, a lot of folks that end up in the criminal justice system are there because of some sort of mental health problem. Whether or not the mental health problem makes them incompetent is a completely different question. But people in that circumstance make some incredibly poor decisions, even once they are in court. So it is not that common as you would think.
[10:50:00] BARNETT: All right, criminal defense attorney and former prosecutor, Nicole Deborde, thanks for your insight and for joining us this weekend on CNN. Appreciate it.
DEBORDE: Thanks for having me.
PAUL: Keeping our eye on the breaking news this morning in southern California, that raging wildfire shutting down major roadways forcing mandatory evacuations this morning. We'll bring you the latest. Also, more on that in just a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PAUL: President Obama took a break from his family vacation in Hawaii making his annual visit to thank the troops at the Marine Corps base there. The president called the event one of his, quote, favorite things to do and promised the men and women in uniform their service is never taken to are granted.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, (D) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: As we know, when you are deployed overseas, it is tough. And even though we have been able to reduce the number of folks who are deployed in places like Iraq and Afghanistan, there are still folks over there every single day, and it is still dangerous as we saw this past week. We had some outstanding brave men and women who were killed. And so we never take for granted what all of you do for the American people. You help keep us free. You help keep us strong. And whatever service and branch you are in, whatever branch, we are extraordinarily grateful for everything that you do every single day.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PAUL: You heard the president there mention the six Americans killed in a suicide bomb attack in Bagram, Afghanistan, earlier this week. The president calling them outstanding and braver. And certainly no matter what side of the fence you sit on politically, we do certainly appreciate our troops and all the things that they do and sacrifices they make.
BARNETT: Without a doubt.
PAUL: So this is the time of year when we look back at 2015. And we wanted to focus this time on a story that really was controversial here in the United States and Europe, which was the refugee crisis. The number of migrants that have entered by land and sea, I don't know if you know this, but it has passed the 1 million mark now.
[10:55:02] BARNETT: And the treatment of refugees continues to be a controversial topic.
PAUL: CNN's Arwa Damon, Nima Elbagir, and Nick Paton Walsh, Clarissa Ward, and our Ivan Watson, they all covered the crisis. In this reporter roundtable they discussed their experiences.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
IVAN WATSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Did you ever think you would see just these masses of people marching into Europe like that? I don't think I ever would have imagined a scene like that.
ARWA DAMON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: And the scene when you get to Greece and the boats that keep on coming and coming.
DAMON: There is this logic out there, well, why don't they stay in Lebanon or Turkey? They're safe.
NIMA ELBAGIR, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: But the question is, would you?
DAMON: No, because you need a life. You need to be able to build a life. You need to be able to build a future for yourself, and you are not going to have a future sitting in a refugee camp or a country where you can't get a job, you can't pursue your education or pursue your life. Sadly, the reality is they are not going to go home. The war in Syria isn't going to end any time soon. And even if it were to end tomorrow, the country --
NICK PATON WALSH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: This is an awful consequence for the decades to many could, the dentists, the architects, the boring people that do those jobs are not going to be there. And they're not going to want to go home, and they are going to be doing that job in Germany. DAMON: This isn't the poorest of the poor that are making this
journey. They can afford it.
WATSON: A lot of these folks are middle class who are coming from the safe parts of Syria.
DAMON: The poorest of the poor that are either still in Syria because they can't afford to leave and get involved just about every single day, or they are the ones who are stuck in the refugee camps. It is not a cheap journey.
WALSH: But it is so universal, the sheer volume of people doing it for perfectly understandable human reasons.
WATSON: There is no way the refugee trail unfolded that it was good for any of the refugees and migrants or for any of the European states. It weakens European institutions. It weakens boundaries and border.
DAMON: And that idea of Europe or even America, it is meant to be a democracy. It is meant to uphold all this ideals and values. And to be treated like trash, that's how they felt. They felt like they were being treated like trash.
CLARISSA WARD, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's the heartbreaking part.
WATSON: I think it depended on the country or the border. That's not entirely fair because there were people who welcomed these migrants.
ELBAGIR: And people that made very difficult political decisions.
WATSON: It created more of a pull factor. And was that better?
ELBAGIR: We had that conversation in the U.K. where the conservatives said, if you stop saving them, they will stop coming. And then you have to debate what that does to your humanity. Can you really watch thousands upon thousands of people washing up on shores?
DAMON: Why does it have to get that bad for people to react? Why do we have to take that image for people to begin to react?
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PAUL: And obviously we'll learn so much more from them. But they were there.
BARNETT: They can talk about all the different views
PAUL: We want to make your smile today. We think this is going to do it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(LAUGHTER)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PAUL: Indiana woman learning she us a grandmother. That's her reaction there.
(LAUGHTER)
BARNETT: She had no idea her son and daughter-in-law were visiting for the holidays. And that bundle of joy make it even more special. They surprised her with their newly adopted baby girl.
We woke her up, basically, this weekend and spoke on the phone with Eva a short time ago about her priceless reaction.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
EVA GOEB, SURPRISED GRANDMOTHER: We knew that Sonny and Miranda had longed to adopt for quite some time. We knew they had begun the process. But they wanted to spare us from any heartache because adoptions, things can go wrong. So they wanted to spare us from any possible heartbreak or heartache.
And so I came around the corner. I saw my son. I knew my husband had told me that the kids were there. So I came around the corner expecting to see my son. I looked at my son. I looked at my daughter-in-law and saw her holding this beautiful child in her arms. And my heart just burst. I was so excited.
PAUL: One of the things that stands out to me when I watch this is when you say, I had a dream it was a girl. What did she say? How did she react to that?
GOEB: Oh, she just smiled. And we were all crying tears of joy. My mom instincts were pretty strong, so they didn't question them.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
[10:55:02] PAUL: Congratulations to that whole family again. And thank you so much for sharing your morning with us. Make some good memories today.
