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President Trump Says He Wants A "Very Comprehensive" Investigation Into Brett Kavanaugh; CNN Reality Check: What Happened To Calls For A Bump Stock Ban?; NYT: Hundreds Of Migrant Children Moved To Texas Tent City; High School Football Player Dies After Suffering Head Injury. Aired 7:30-8a ET

Aired October 02, 2018 - 07:30   ET

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

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[07:33:45] (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I want it to be comprehensive. I actually think it's a good thing for Judge Kavanaugh. I think it's actually a good thing, not a bad thing. I think it's a good thing.

Now, with that being said, I'd like it to go quickly. And the reason I'd like it to go quickly, very simple. It's so simple -- because it's unfair to him, at this point.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: President Trump is calling for the FBI to do a, quote, "comprehensive investigation" into Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, but that's the very same FBI the president has attacked for almost two years.

Joining us now is former director of National Intelligence, James Clapper. He is a CNN national security analyst. Dr. Clapper, great to see you.

You have talked about this and worried about this for more than a year. You've said what happens on the day that Americans really need to believe the FBI and need to believe what they're telling us?

Does that day come on Friday?

JAMES CLAPPER, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST, FORMER DIRECTOR OF NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE, FORMER DIRECTOR, DEFENSE INTELLIGENCE AGENCY: Oh, I think -- I think it does, Alisyn. And by the way, g'day, mate, as they say down here.

And once --

CAMEROTA: You're enjoying your time in Australia, as we can tell.

CLAPPER: Absolutely, and I might add -- I might add, by the way, that the atmospherics here are a lot less stressful than they are in the United States. It's kind of been a nice sojourn.

[07:35:00] Anyway, I do think -- I actually agree with what the president said and I just wish he would commit that to a written directive from him to the FBI. And that's who the FBI works for. It's in the Executive Branch and works for the president.

So it would be great if he would convert what he said verbally into a written directive to the FBI, which could be published.

And, of course, if it were up to me, which it isn't, I would allow the FBI to conduct a full investigation as expeditiously as they can but with no limits on time or interviewees.

I've been the subject of an FBI investigation a couple of times as a political appointee and I know them to be thorough, professional, and methodical. And if anybody can come to ground truth to the extent that that can be learned, it's the Bureau.

So now, having said that, no matter how this turns out it's going to be bad. If, in the end, the judge is confirmed as a justice on the Supreme Court, there are going to be a lot of people unhappy about that. And if he isn't, there's going to be a lot of people unhappy about it, as well.

And the FBI, unfortunately, will be caught in the middle, but they know how to handle that, I believe.

CAMEROTA: All right. Well, I want to dive into a couple of things you said there.

The written directive from the president to the FBI -- is that customary? Because we are trying to figure out exactly what the parameters are for their -- the scope of their investigation.

Dianne Feinstein has asked to understand exactly what the parameters are.

Is it customary that they would be given some sort of piece of paper that tells them what the guidelines are?

CLAPPER: Well, it isn't the typical thing where a directive is issued for every background investigation because there's kind of a standard procedure that they use.

I do think this circumstance is unique and special and merits a written directive, particularly in light of what the president himself has said, in the same way that Rod Rosenstein gave a written directive to special counsel Mueller.

And at least now you have a written, documented point of departure rather than speculating about what the parameter or limits are or are not.

CAMEROTA: Yes.

As you well know, this is not the first time the FBI has been thrust into the middle of a political battle. Everyone remembers the 2016 presidential election.

James Comey, of course, was the director of the FBI at that time and he has weighed in with his thoughts on all of this. He wrote an op-ed for "The New York Times" on Sunday. Here's a portion of it.

"When the week is up, one team (and maybe both) will be angry at the FBI. The president will condemn the Bureau for being a corrupt nest of Clinton-lovers if they turn up bad facts. Maybe Democrats will similarly condemn agents as Trumpists if they don't. As strange as it sounds, there is freedom in being totally screwed."

Yes, I mean, I hear him. I guess there's political freedom in that. But where does that leave the American public in knowing what the truth is about Brett Kavanaugh?

CLAPPER: Well, I think will be in a better place, if not completely enlightened. I'm not sure that a lot of this is knowable or discernible now given the lapse of time. But at least the American people can be assured -- can then be assured that the professional investigatory body has looked at this and has -- and has, on behalf of both the president and the Senate, done its due diligence.

And in the end, the senators are going to have to make a judgment -- each one of them -- regardless of what the FBI turns out.

So I think the process, belatedly, is working. I just wish there weren't the restraints that appear to have been imposed on the FBI, and it would really be helpful to have a written directive to them.

CAMEROTA: Well, in terms of making a judgment, James Comey has weighed in on that as well. Just read this. I think it's interesting.

"Agents will summarize every witness encounter in a detailed report called a 302, and then synthesize all the interviews into an executive summary for the White House. Although the FBI will not reach conclusions, their granular factual presentation will spotlight the areas of conflict and allow decision makers to reach their own conclusions."

That's the part where it may become unsatisfying for Americans or partisans or anyone who feels really invested in this --

CLAPPER: Right.

CAMEROTA: -- because the FBI -- people are looking for the FBI to tell them the truth. But that's not what's going to happen. They're going to present their findings and then senators who are very partisan, and the White House, that obviously has a very vested interest, is going to draw their own conclusions.

[07:40:00] CLAPPER: I believe, Alisyn, that there will be even more heartburn and discontent and discord if the FBI isn't afforded the opportunity to conduct this investigation. It'll be worse if it isn't. CAMEROTA: All right. Director James Clapper, we really appreciate you taking time out of your schedule there in Australia. Great to talk to you on NEW DAY.

CLAPPER: Thanks, Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: John --

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: I've never seen him so happy.

CAMEROTA: I know.

BERMAN: I'm afraid -- I'm afraid he's not coming back.

CAMEROTA: He said -- he talks about what a nice respite it is to be out of the political maelstrom.

BERMAN: He could not go further away from the United States.

All right. One year after the deadliest shooting in modern U.S. history and a lot of promises, there's no -- there's still no ban on bump stocks. So how did that happen?

We get a "Reality Check," next.

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CAMEROTA: In the days right after the worst mass shooting in modern U.S. history -- the one in Las Vegas -- we heard unanimous calls for bump stocks to be banned. But one year later there is still no law on the books.

Senior political analyst John Avlon joins us now with a CNN "Reality Check."

There was a moment of unanimity, John, and what's happened since then?

JOHN AVLON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Very little, Alisyn.

Last night, the lights went down on the Las Vegas Strip in honor of the 58 lives that were stolen from us one year ago. That's when a deranged gunman smashed out the windows of his hotel room and shot into a crowd of concertgoers. Within seconds, the worst mass shooting in modern U.S. history.

[07:45:08] Now, the tool the gunman used to do it was the bump stock. This inexpensive plastic add-on uses the rifle's own recoil to bump the gun back and forth against the shooter's trigger finger, allowing it to approach the rate of automatic fire -- something that's been severely restricted since the 1930s.

It allowed the Vegas shooter to spray his victims at a rate of 90 bullets every 10 seconds, according to some estimates.

Now, afterwards, there was a rare moment of consensus. According to one poll, 82 percent of Americans supported a ban on bump stocks. Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle agreed. President Trump said he

was open to it. And even the NRA said bump stocks should be regulated -- the NRA.

Now after all that you'd expect that one year later bump stocks would be illegal, but you would be wrong. A dizzying combination of red tape, White House foot-dragging, and Washington gridlock is to blame, and here's how it happened.

First, Donald Trump gave the ATF the lead in getting rid of bump stocks. But back in 2010, the agency declared that bump stocks were a gun accessory with no automatic parts of their own, therefore perfectly legal under existing federal law. It's a stance they reiterated after the Vegas shooting.

TEXT: "Accordingly, we find that the bump stock is a firearm part and is not regulated as a firearm under Gun Control Act or the National Firearms Act."

AVLON: Now, that's when the public backlash began.

And internal e-mails newly-obtained by "USA Today" show the agency wasn't remotely ready.

Quote, "We, ATF, are getting hammered with the narrative we approved the bump stock," wrote one staffer. "It's extremely political now with the NRA and some GOP congressmen jumping on us. We are in crisis mode."

Well, if the ATM seemed like a mess that's because it was. As a favorite political target of the NRA it had seen its staff cut, its budget stagnate, and its director seat left vacant for years at a time.

And with Congress calling for immediate legislation, Trump decided to go the regulation route instead. He ordered his Justice Department to enact a ban while throwing Obama under the bus.

Quote, "Obama administration legalized bump stocks. Bad idea." That tweet, by the way, is not true.

Obama's ATF came to the same conclusion that Trump's did -- that a rifle equipped with a bump stock is not a machine gun under federal law.

Now, the comment period on the Justice Department's regulation expired in June. And yesterday, nearly four months later, President Trump insisted we're still in the final stages. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: We're knocking out bump stocks -- we're in the final two or three weeks -- and I'll be able to write out bump stocks.

(END VIDEO CLIP) AVLON: Now, those final two or three weeks should have come a year ago when lawmakers on both sides of the aisle wanted to enact a ban. Trump said he didn't oppose it. And then, even the NRA wasn't going to stop it.

It is a reminder that even when there are rare moments of consensus on cultural issues like guns, a toxic combination of bureaucracy and lobbyists can conspire to kill common sense.

And that's your "Reality Check."

CAMEROTA: John, it's just so remarkable. I mean, I -- we were here that morning.

I just remember the next morning and I remember everybody just -- that the feeling immediately after the massacre was that there was that there was a quick, easy fix, and it made sense across the aisle.

I mean, we talked to Republicans, the president said it, we talked to Democrats, and it all made sense. And then somehow, the commonsensical nature was eroded over the past year.

BERMAN: Well look, one of the things we know about the NRA -- and you can support them or not -- but one of the things and one of the ways they respond to mass shootings is they remain quiet at first and then they wait because they know time is on their side because one year later the passions don't run quite as high. And that's been proven true again.

AVLON: That's exactly right. Common sense is, you know -- Washington is almost designed to kill it.

BERMAN: All right, John. Thanks very much.

Thousands of undocumented children taken to a tent city in west Texas. Why the conditions there are getting immigration advocates so upset. That's next.

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[07:52:50] BERMAN: "The New York Times" reports hundreds of migrant children living in shelters in Kansas and New York have been taken under cover of night to a tent city in the west Texas desert. They're among 13,000 undocumented children living in detention centers across the country.

CNN's Dianne Gallagher live in El Paso, Texas with the very latest on this. Dianne, what have you learned?

DIANNE GALLAGHER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, John, they have at least 1,600 children who are in Tornillo. You probably remember that tent city from this summer. They just sort of built it up right next to a point of entry.

When I was touring that facility back in June, there was a quarter of that number of kids. That number of children has quadrupled in just a matter of three months. And, in part, it is because this is an overflow facility. They are bringing these children here -- all ages -- 13 to 17 -- because they're running out of room in permanent shelters.

Now, Tornillo is different from those permanent shelters.

There's no official schooling program. The rest of them sort of have a curriculum they go through. They have class during the day.

It's more of a self-led program with just workbooks. When we were touring this summer they had kids walking around with workbooks that said "Kindergarten" on them because each kid, we're told, is at a different level.

But they are air-conditioned tents they live in, about 20 kids per tent.

This, though, is illustrative of an issue that appears to be getting out of control according to those who are working at this facility. They initially were only supposed to be open for 30 days. They now have a contract that goes until the end of the year.

And they have room for up to 3,800 kids at that facility. Now, they're not sure whether or not they're actually going to fill up to capacity.

But part of the reason why is because they are taking longer to reunite these kids with sponsors. Part of that is due to a more rigorous background check -- they're doing fingerprinting -- but some of it also is fear because there are instances of people who come forward to be sponsors being arrested due to immigration status.

So most of the kids who come to Tornillo, we're told by workers there, are already matched up with a sponsor. It's just taking an extraordinary amount of time to reunite them with them.

[07:55:00] Now, back in June, the incident commander at Tornillo called the Trump administration's zero tolerance policy a stupid, dumb decision that was harmful to children because of the separations.

Well, "The Washington Post" obtained an inspector general's report that says that this was a flawed process from the start. That the policy gave poor conditions, that it had poor communication.

And that in some cases, at least 860 children stayed at the border processing centers -- the ones where you did see the kids in cages sleeping on the ground with the blankets -- for much longer than the 72 days they were allowed by law. One, John, in one case, 25 days inside one of those border processing facilities.

CAMEROTA: That is so important, Dianne. We're so glad that you're staying on this story because more than 800 children still staying there longer than they say there have -- we have not been able to trust the federal government's accounting of what has happened with these children, and there' so much else going on.

But we're really glad that you have stayed on this story and given us these status reports. Thank you.

Well, the video of a high school football game in Georgia being reviewed after a 16-year-old died. Dylan Thomas collapsed on the field and was later pronounced dead at the hospital after suffering a head injury.

CNN's Nick Valencia joins us live in Georgia with more. What have you learned, Nick?

NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Alisyn.

It's one of the scariest things for any parent to see -- an ambulance on the field of their child's game. But that's exactly what happened here on Friday night.

Sometime during the third quarter, 16-year-old junior Dylan Thomas complained of numbness in his leg. He was briefly sidelined and just before he was expected to go back in he collapsed on the sideline. He was rushed to the hospital -- airlifted to Atlanta, about an hour away, where he underwent surgery to reduce swelling in his brain.

It's still not clear exactly what happened and there was a lot of confusion among the local officials here at a press conference yesterday. His head football coach saying it's one of the hardest things that this community has ever had to deal with.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BRAD WEBBER, FOOTBALL COACH, PIKE COUNTY HIGH SCHOOL, ZEBULON, GEORGIA: He was one of the finest young men that I've ever had in my life. I mean, he's one of my son's best friends who's on the football team. One of the most caring individuals.

We're family here and we'll be family from the beginning of time. When the family hurts, we all hurt together.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VALENCIA: The coaching staff has reviewed video from the game but they say the only thing they can rule out is that Thomas was not injured during a tackle. They're still trying to figure out how he was injured.

In 2018, there are still no official statistics as to how many football players, high school and college, have died as a result of the game. But between 2015 and 2017, there were 42 football-related deaths in college and in high school. Thirty of them were high school football players.

And just last year alone, 11 high school football players died as a result of direct contact during a game or indirect things like cardiac arrest or heat stroke.

It's still not clear, as I mentioned, what happened to Dylan Thomas. We're hoping to get more information as the medical examiner puts out their autopsy report hopefully sometime later today -- John, Alisyn. CAMEROTA: Nick, thank you.

It's so tragic.

You know, I was reminded listening to all of this of what happened in my high school. This happened when I was a junior in high school to one of my classmates.

He died during the football game with the rival high school. It was Thanksgiving -- it was Halloween weekend. And he had a head injury and we all went to the hospital to sort of sit vigil and he died that night.

BERMAN: This is why parents across the country, including many people who play football, are thinking seriously about whether their children and to what extent their children should be involved in it.

CAMEROTA: They should be. Sometimes it has all of these deadly consequences.

BERMAN: All right. We have a lot of new developments, including a new development in the Stormy Daniels case and the president's involvement with it. So, a lot of news. Let's get on it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: I want them to do a very comprehensive investigation, whatever that means.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They want to tell the FBI who should be believed and who should not be believed.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If there's not anything new, I imagine we'll press on.

CHAD LUDINGTON, FORMER KAVANAUGH CLASSMATE, YALE UNIVERSITY: I have seen Brett drunk to the point that he could easily be passed out.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If he's willing to lie about something so small, would he also be willing to lie about some of these larger allegations?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You can't keep moving the goalpost. This is not supposed to be a fishing expedition.

SEN. JEFF FLAKE (R-AZ), MEMBER, SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE: It does no good to have an investigation that just gives us more cover. We actually need to find out what we can find out.

SEN. JOHN KENNEDY (R-LA), MEMBER, SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE: Just win, baby, at any cost. That's what this thing has turned into.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANNOUNCER: This is NEW DAY with Alisyn Camerota and John Berman.

CAMEROTA: All right, good morning, everyone. Welcome to your NEW DAY. It is Tuesday, October second, 8:00 in the east.

So what is the scope of the FBI's investigation of Brett Kavanaugh? An official tells CNN it has been made clear to agents there are no limits on their background search -- no limits, except a time limit.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell says a vote on Kavanaugh's Supreme Court nomination will take place this week no matter what the FBI found, as Sen. Jeff Flake, one of the key Republicans who holds Kavanaugh's fate in the balance, demands a real investigation and not one that he says would just give his party cover.

BERMAN: All right. New information raises questions about Kavanaugh's drinking in college and whether he has been honest about it, both to Congress and the American people.