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Wolf

After Hawaii Nuclear Button Scare, North & South Korea to Talk; U.S. Diplomats Summoned After Trump's Derogatory Comment; Interview with Rep. Francis Rooney; New Concerns Among GOP that Democrats Will Take Back House; Trump Says He's Not Racist in Wake of Vulgar Remarks: DACA Deal Now Dead; A Look Inside War-Torn Syria. Aired 1:30-2p ET

Aired January 15, 2018 - 13:30   ET

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

[13:30:00] CLARISSA WARD, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It's normal, of course, to have some kind of military contingency plan. But between the debacle in Hawaii and the rhetoric we heard from President Trump and this "Wall Street Journal" article, I think there is some concern in some international quarters that maybe the U.S. is speaking out of both sides of its mouth at the same time -- Wolf?

WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: Lots of confusion on that front as well.

Speaking of what happened in Hawaii, Bob, does that false alarm, and panic of a lot of people, understandably so, the ballistic missile warning that it was coming towards Hawaii, does this underscore some national security threat potential, a vulnerability?

BOB BAER, CNN INTELLIGENCE & SECURITY ANALYST: I think it does, Wolf. I remember in 1988, we shot down a civilian airliner. The radar was bad. The guys working the radar didn't know it. And the chances of a conflict with North Korea are not far off. And without some sort of hot line to Pyongyang, we'll always have that danger. It's not perfect, the radar.

BLITZER: It took more than half an hour for them to finally correct that false warning. That was a serious, serious problem. They have to make sure it doesn't happen again.

Thank you very much, Bob Baer and Clarissa Ward.

Up next, the growing number of Republican retirements in the U.S. Congress may turn the Democrats' dream of taking back the House of Representatives into a reality and create a new nightmare for the GOP. We'll go inside the numbers when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:35:46] BLITZER: President Trump's disparaging remarks about African nations and Haiti are causing a diplomatic firestorm. South Africa and Ghana are the latest to summon U.S. officials about the controversy.

Our CNN international correspondent, David McKenzie, is joining us from Johannesburg in South Africa right now. David, how much damage has been done specifically to the relationship

between South Africa and the United States?

DAVID MCKINZIE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, it's extremely unusual for the South African goth to bring the head of the embassy here and give him essentially a dressing down to protest the relations from President Trump. The South Africans didn't buy what Donald Trump said in that controversial meeting. There has been outrage throughout Africa and elsewhere with citizens on line and diplomats in the U.N. calling these statements racist and saying it harms the relationship between the U.S. and the countries of Africa.

Now, that meeting just wrapped up. The South Africans just put out a statement saying the Americans said there are no changes towards the United States and the relationship with Africa, and they still want to move forward with forging those relationships.

But, Wolf, it's very difficult for State Department officials on the continent to conduct their work, many say, when the president is undercutting that work in many ways by making these disparaging remarks -- Wolf?

BLITZER: Very disturbing developments, indeed.

David, thank you very much.

The firestorm along President Trump's tumultuous first year is bringing uncertainty to the balance of power here in Washington as well. Right now, Republicans control the House of Representatives, the U.S. Senate and the White House. That includes a 46-seat majority in the House. But there are fears among Republicans that their lead could not only shrink but potentially completely disappear.

Let's bring in our senior political analyst, Mark Preston, to break it down for us.

Take us through, Mark, the margins right now. Because this year a lot is at stake.

MARK PRESTON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: A lot is at stake, Wolf. And I think the first year we need to look at is 2018 right now. That gives you control of the Congress. Democrats only need to pick up 24, a net win of 24 seats in order to take back the House of Representatives. But history is going against Republicans when we look at this.

Let's look at the historical perspective right here, Wolf, and we can pull that up. It shows that 32 seats are the average loss for a president in a midterm. Just to put that in perspective. Back when Bill Clinton was president in his midterm back in 1994 the Republican wave, 52 seats were lost. Barack Obama in 2010 during his first midterm, he lost 63 seats. So certainly going against Republicans when you're going into November.

But let's continue on. Let's see what the seats are up for grabs as we talk right now. And 45 seats right now. These are people who are retiring because they want to or they're retiring to run for another office. This number, by the way, does not include the competitive seats where Democrats might be able to knock off an incumbent.

And we talk a lot about the "Me Too" movement and how it affects politics. Look at this number, 394 women are either running for office, have filed for office or are likely to do so. We're getting this number right now from the Center for American Women in Politics at Rutgers University.

Wolf, to put this all in perspective, we talk about Democrats taking back the House of Representatives and how legislating. It is. But if Democrats take back the House, they will control the power to launch impeachment proceedings if they feel like they want to do so in 2019. So there is a lot on the line.

BLITZER: The Democrats are trying to put together more viable candidates to run against some of the Republicans who may be vulnerable.

PRESTON: They are. And this is an interesting fact. When you're looking around the country right now, you only want to include Democrats who played well in the House. Democrats are trying to find perfect places in the House.

[13:39:57] BLITZER: It's going to be a tumultuous year, I should say that.

Thanks very much, Mark Preston.

Coming up, President Trump says he's not a racist amid the growing backlash from his vulgar remarks. I'll ask a Republican lawmaker if he thinks the comments were racist. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: President Trump heads back to Washington later this afternoon after a long weekend at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida. Waiting for him here in Washington is more fallout over his derogatory comments he made about immigrants, and a looming deadline to avoid a federal government shutdown.

Joining us now from Naples, Florida, Republican Congressman, Francis Rooney.

Congressman, thank you so much for joining us.

REP. FRANCIS ROONEY, (R), FLORIDA: Thank you for having me on, Wolf.

[13:45:03] BLITZER: Let me get your reaction. What did you think about the president's reported comments about African nations and Haiti, were those comments racist, as the allegations against the president were put forward?

ROONEY: Those comments are disappointing and distractive from getting problems solved like DACA and like border security and a lot of other things being talked about last week that might be put together in a comprehensive solution.

BLITZER: What would you like the president to do? Would you like him to apologize for saying those words?

ROONEY: I don't know that I can call on the president to do any particular thing or not, but I certainly feel that they were disappointing comments. And I just -- I think it just shouldn't be. It distracts us from getting things done. We have a lot of things on our plate the next two or three weeks, including funding the government and figuring out a solution for DACA and border security.

BLITZER: There was sort of a thunder of silence from some of your Republican colleagues. The majority leader, Mitch McConnell, I don't think he's said anything yet about those words, which are causing major disruptions between U.S. relations and African countries, other countries around the world. Lots of disappointment, lots of anger. What do you recommend the Republican leadership should say to the president?

ROONEY: Well, I think several people have said they were disappointed in comments like this, and it's important we show the world that we still have the fundamental American values that have made us the excellent nation that we are and that we haven't abandoned those principles of humanity.

BLITZER: The president has said over the weekend that the DACA deal, the so-called compromise that was put together by Democrats and Republicans, including Lindsey Graham and Dick Durbin, on the Senate side, he said now it's basically dead. Are you OK with that?

ROONEY: No. The deal I'm familiar with is the one Kevin McCarthy explained to us Thursday, which would be a DACA extension in exchange for some border security enhancements and ending chain migration and ending the diversity lottery. I thought all that made pretty good sense to me.

BLITZER: You think there could still be an agreement by Friday? Would it be part of whatever extension of the federal budget? Because the federal government runs out of money Friday night at midnight. They've got to pass a spending bill. Would the DREAMers, the 700,000, 800,000, would that be included in that deal?

ROONEY: We certainly need to come up with a solution to that. I haven't heard anyone that wants to kick these poor children out of this country. But most people on our side of the fence want to also couple it with some of the needed reforms to our visa and immigration system. The Democrats voted in 2013 in the Senate to end the diversity lottery and end that chain migration as part of the previous migration package, so I don't know why they can't do it again.

BLITZER: That was the comprehensive immigration reform package that passed in the Senate but was not even brought up for a vote in the House of Representatives.

I want you to listen, Congressman Rooney, to what the president said last night about the Democrats. Listen to this. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We are ready, willing and able to make a deal, but they don't want to. They don't want security at the border. We have people pouring in. They don't want security at the border. They don't want to stop drugs. And they want to take money away from our military, which we cannot do.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Do you agree with the president? Do you think he's telling the truth that Democrats don't want border security, they want drugs coming into the United States, they don't want to support the U.S. military? Do you believe that?

ROONEY: No, I don't. And they have voted for these security enhancements in the past. I just want to see them do it again as part of a comprehensive DACA solution.

BLITZER: Yes, they say they will vote for border security, the Democrats, as part of an arrangement to allow these DREAMers to stay in the United States. What they don't want to vote for is $15 billion or $18 billion to build a wall all across the U.S.-Mexico border. You don't want to do that, either, do you?

ROONEY: The thing about that wall, I've had a lot of business down in the valley, so I spent some time there. There's 350 miles of pedestrian-preventive wall, mostly around the cities. Then there's another 350 miles of vehicular preventive wall that could be hardened up and some of that could be expanded to make it harder for people to cross in and around the urban areas. But there's also some issues pertaining to the part of the border that goes through Big Ben National Park and the park that's along the Rio Grande. I don't know how you wall that. But I don't know how you do it.

BLITZER: Eighteen billion dollars, that's what they are asking for. Do you support that? Do you want to spend $18 billion to at least build some of that wall?

ROONEY: Well, again, in the 2013 law, there was proposed $1.3 billion for some additional fencing. I heard the number $1.5 billion the other day --

(CROSSTALK)

BLITZER: That's a lot less than $18 billion. That's a lot less than $18 billion.

[13:50:10] ROONEY: It is. It's probably a lot less wall. But we need to fortify the border, both with physical and technological barrier where most of the crossings are taking place.

BLITZER: Bottom line, Congressman, what's going to happen this week? Will the government stay open or will it have to shut down Friday night? And will there be an agreement on the DREAMers? ROONEY: I'm hopeful and optimistic. I'm an optimistic person. You

don't go into the construction business if you're not. We are caught between some rocks and hard places. I talked to a guy the other day, we have on the one hand DACA, on the other hand, border security. On the one hand, need to increase defense, on the other hand, the issue of shutting down the government.

BLITZER: We'll see what happens. I suspect they won't shut the government down this time. Maybe have another continuing resolution to keep it going, at least for a few more weeks and kick the can down the road a little bit, see what they can come up with. The clock is ticking. Lots at stake now.

Congressman Rooney, as usual, thanks for joining us.

ROONEY: Thank you for having me on, Wolf.

BLITZER: Just ahead, families fleeing bombs and bloodshed in one city, now facing new violence miles from home. A CNN special report from inside war-torn Syria. Arwa Damon is standing by live. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:55:37] BLITZER: When President Trump came into office, he promised to do things differently when it came to the Syrian civil war. In April, he ordered a missile strike on Syria forces after a chemical weapons attack. He's also taking credit for driving ISIS from Raqqa. But the bloodshed in Syria is certainly far from over. Now the town of Idlib is being hit by Russian and regime, Syria regime airstrikes.

Let's go to our senior international correspondent, Arwa Damon. She joins us from Irbil in Iraq.

Arwa, why is Idlib being hit so hard now?

ARWA DAMON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It is Idlib, Wolf. It's also the Idlib country side, the Hama (ph) countryside, basically, the last remaining rebel stronghold. There was a lot of optimism after that strike on the Syrian air base you mentioned that perhaps this administration would somehow save the Syrian people. The sad reality has been that it's not the case.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAMON (voice-over): It feels like one is peering into a macabre dollhouse of broken lives.

(EXPLOSION)

DAMON: Bits of concrete tumble down as people try to clean up or salvage what they can amid the horrors they can't escape.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

DAMON (on camera): Five of his relatives were killed in that building.

(CROSSTALK)

DAMON: There were three children among them.

(voice-over): Images like this are familiar a year ago from the siege of Aleppo but this is Idlib city. This is where families were supposed to be safe. This was meant to be a refuge -- one of the last remaining ones -- part of a so-called de-escalation zone that, lately, has become anything but.

The four strikes here happened five days before we arrived. Many of those we met had fled from Aleppo.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

DAMON (on camera): So lucky they were in the back room.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

DAMON (voice-over): Muhammed is haunted by all he's lost. His wife was killed in Aleppo six years ago. He's raising his two sons on his own.

We asked where the boys are now. His eyes filled with tears.

"We fled from Aleppo to get here," he tells us, whispering, choking on his words. "There is no solution. There is just no solution."

The boys were both studying for exams when the bombs shook the building, sucked the air out of the room and everything went pitch black.

"They were screaming, daddy, daddy," Muhammed remembers. He couldn't find them right away.

(on camera): When the kids were younger, back during happier times.

"What childhood," he laments, "what childhood? Children have lost everything in life."

(END VIDEOTAPE)

DAMON: And, Wolf, as the bombing intensifies in these so-called safe areas, hundreds of thousands of people are again on the move. Really being crushed, suffocated into this shrinking space up against the border with Turkey. When you talk to them, it is not a matter of if the areas will be bombed. It is a matter of when. Then, Wolf, where will they actually go?

BLITZER: Seems to never end. So what's next for those residents, Arwa? Do they have a place to go?

DAMON: No. They don't. In fact, they have no guarantees. All they crave is the most basic of things at this stage, to be able to tuck their children safely into bed at night rather than try to stave off the cold with these measly blankets they have. They are in makeshift camps, in pre-existing and ever-expanding camps. They struggle when it comes to food. They struggle when it comes to medical aid. One again, you have such a massive amount of people on the move and not enough assistance reaching them -- Wolf?

BLITZER: It's been an awful, awful situation. It doesn't seem there is any end in sight.

Arwa Damon, doing excellent reporting for us as always, joining us from Irbil, not far away in Iraq.

Thanks very much for that report.

That's it for me. I will be back at 5:00 p.m. in "THE SITUATION ROOM."

For our international viewers, "AMANPOUR" is next.

For our viewers in the U.S., "NEWSROOM" with Brooke Baldwin starts right now.