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New Day

GOP Senators in Disbelief; Washington Braces for Shutdown; Powerful Storm Hits U.S.; Withdrawal of Half the Troops in Afghanistan. Aired 6:30-7a ET

Aired December 21, 2018 - 06:30   ET

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


[06:30:00] MARC SHORT, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Having said that, I do think when we say that, you know, the president just flipped on this, he's been an advocate for border security for quite some time. I think --

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: But he has -- but, hold on a second, he -- but his tweet yesterday morning sounded like, I'll get it one way or another. I know the process is proceeding. Obviously we're going to get the CR. I mean it seemed to suggest that he was going along with what had happened, with what Mitch McConnell had put together.

SHORT: So -- so let me suggest, Alison, something else I think would be helpful to the administration, and that is that there's another option you could pass, in essence, the funding for the other bills and leave the CR for the homeland security. And I think the administration needs to take more time to put the men and women in uniform at Customs and Border Patrol out advocating for this policy because it has become a political football.

So when Joe says it's just a PR stunt, the reality is that the men and women who are career officials at Customs and Border Patrol has said this is what they want and here's where they want it. It's not a wall from sea to shining sea. There are lots of places they say it's not necessary. But here's where we're asking Congress to fund it. But the administration allowed this to become something that's a talking point in the president's rallies without having Customs and Border Patrol, the ones out front, saying, here's why we need it for national security. There's a lot of good reasons as for why this is really critical to protect our border and stop where the greatest amount of human trafficking and drug trafficking is coming across. But it's become just a political football as opposed to having Customs and Border Patrol out front saying, here's why we need it. That's what the administration needs to advocate.

ABBY PHILLIP, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: I should also -- I just want to add, because I think this is really part of the problem is that earlier this week the president was actually saying that the border was under control. He was making the argument that the problem had been solved, that the caravan had been stopped and that there was no -- there was no more crisis on the border.

So the president is having a really hard time keeping the talking points straight about whether or not this is a real problem and why does he actually need these resources. That's adding to the confusion. It's not helping things. And if, in fact, as Mark is saying, there is this great need that the -- that DHS can articulate they would be able to do it but for the fact that President Trump says one thing one day and something else another day.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right, Abby, Mark, Joe, thank you all very much.

And I have one question that we'll get to over the course of the show, what's the president going to do when he wakes up this morning? I'm sure he's already up right now.

CAMEROTA: Tweet.

BERMAN: How is he going to like how all of this is being perceived? What happens next? After everything that has happened already, what happens next?

CAMEROTA: Well, I can tell you that we have got 12 hours, basically, to figure that out, and something will happen. That I can predict with certainty.

BERMAN: You're good at this (INAUDIBLE).

CAMEROTA: I really am. I'm getting better at this.

Here's another prediction. A storm is likely to cause headaches for millions of holiday travelers this weekend.

BERMAN: You can take that to the bank.

CAMEROTA: What you need to know, ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:36:44] BERMAN: Gatwick Airport in the United Kingdom will resume flights after drones forced it to shut down for more than 32 hours. The airport says the runway is open but departures and arrivals remain limited. Police are still unable to locate whoever was operating the drones and warned there's no guarantee the devices won't return. The chaos stranded more than 100,000 people and grounded hundreds of flights amid the busiest travel season of the year.

CAMEROTA: Issues at Gatwick Airport are not the only travel headache this weekend. Heavy rain, flooding, high winds are slamming the eastern U.S., which, of course, is expected to have a big impact on travelers.

So let's get to CNN meteorologist Chad Myers.

How's this looking, Chad.

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: It's right behind me. You can't deny this. It's rain all the way from Boston, now all the way down to Atlanta and airports are very slow already. One hundred and thirty flights in the U.S. are already cancelled this morning. This weather is brought to you by Jared. Dare to be devoted.

So here it is. The airports across the northeast, across the Midwest, are all going to be impacted by the wind and the rain already in the northeast. So these cancelations are the short flights, like from Newark to Rochester and from Newark to D.C. Those are the short flights that are canceling at this hour. So if you are making connections today, don't just look at your first flight, check your second flight to make sure it's going to be going as well.

Mostly rain, although in the spine of West Virginia, and even in North Carolina, there will be some snow. But, look, New York City gets to 60 today. So if we didn't have the rain, it would be an amazing day. Well, that's just not going to happen. The rain is going to be with us almost all day long. It doesn't get cold enough to snow until possibly Christmas Eve in some of these areas. We'll see 60 today. But by Tuesday morning down to 30 for New York City. That's cold enough to maybe freeze up some of that. We'll see, John.

BERMAN: So, 60 degrees. You can wear your t-shirt while you're floating down the street in the floodwaters.

MYERS: Right.

BERMAN: All right, Chad. Chad Myers, thanks very much. Appreciate it.

Defense Secretary James Mattis resigned. He quit over President Trump's -- his troop withdrawals from Syria. And now we're learning the president wants to pull troops out of Afghanistan as well. What do these decisions mean for U.S. allies around the world? Reaction -- new reaction coming in. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:42:59] BERMAN: The resignation of Defense Secretary James Mattis is sending shock waves across Washington. His resignation letter is a stinging rebuke of President Trump's world view after the president ordered U.S. troops out of Syria. The president is also planning to cut troops -- U.S. troops in Afghanistan by half.

Now, we said it's sending shock waves throughout Washington. It's having as much, if not a bigger impact all among the world amongst U.S. allies in Europe, Asia, the Middle East.

Joining us now, CNN's Nick Paton Walsh and Clarissa Ward, who have both reported extensively from all over the world.

And I can't say this enough, Clarissa, I have heard from leaders in countries all around the world that James Mattis, they looked to him as the crucial figure in this administration. They depended on him to keep the various alliances safe. I have to believe his departure is devastating for some of these countries.

CLARISSA WARD, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: : It absolutely because, as you're just saying, John, Mattis, for many U.S. allies and many fighting forces fighting with the U.S. on the ground in Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, he represented the kind of fundamental American values, the commitment to relationships, the commitment to allies, the contempt even for authoritarian regimes, a commitment to helping countries establish democracy, encouraging prosperity, a commitment to the security situations on the ground particularly in the Middle East with regards to ISIS and the fight against terrorism. And with the departure of Mattis, there is a very clear message being sent to the world that this is no longer the way America does business, that the White House has other priorities. This is a real concern for allies on the ground.

It's also a real opportunity for some countries like Russia. And today, John, we heard from a Russian senator on his FaceBook page saying that Russia views this as rather positive for the reasons that I just mentioned, John.

CAMEROTA: Nick, the president's surprise decision and command, as commander in chief, to bring troops home from Syria and Afghanistan, which did not get as much attention because he didn't tweet about it, obviously took lots of people by surprise, and it was completely different than something that President Trump had said a year ago. So I want to play for you how he felt about Afghanistan then.

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes.

[06:45:21] (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Our troops will fight to win. We will fight to win. From now on, victory will have a clear definition, attacking our enemies, obliterating ISIS, crushing al Qaeda, preventing the Taliban from taking over Afghanistan and stopping mass terror attacks against America before they emerge.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: OK, so that's when he was aligned with Secretary Mattis' approach.

WALSH: Yes.

CAMEROTA: And then what changed yesterday?

WALSH: I have absolutely no idea. And I think the big (ph) about the last 72 hours that is perhaps the most scary is that we don't really know what the motivations were inside Donald Trump's head that made him reverse these two key decisions, that he appeared to have gone along with sort of consensus of wisdom about. Syria, yes, but Afghanistan to me was the most shocking.

His officials are right now having their first face-to-face talks with Taliban officials, trying to come up with some kind of political accommodation. And this is utterly bizarre. It's like in that poker game Donald Trump walked behind his own team and shouts out, they're bluffing. He takes away the one card that they seem to have there, which is the U.S. troop strengths and presence and their ability to assist the Afghan forces. It's utterly staggering, frankly. And, now, I'm not an advocate of the

U.S. staying in Syria and Afghanistan indefinitely. They had roles to perform there and eventually certain regional factors would kick in. You can't be everywhere forever. They've already been in Afghanistan for 17 years. But what troubled me most about yesterday was a sort of whimsical nature of how he suddenly halved the number of troops there, right at the most important part of the political process. And I've got to point out too, John, Alisyn, I mean guess which country has been recently trying to get more involved in Russia, talking for Taliban, even accused of arming the Taliban. It doesn't take a huge amount (ph). We've already mentioned him once.

CAMEROTA: So Russia is trying to get more involved in Afghanistan is your point?

WALSH: Absolutely, yes. It's startling to see how these two key withdrawals from the active battlefields that the U.S. is in really going to benefit Moscow most. Strangely. It's utterly bizarre to see.

BERMAN: And you can see, the reaction from Moscow. They are the ones that are pleased. If you're looking for people who are pleased with these actions, you could really only find them, for the most part, in Russia.

CAMEROTA: And Erdogan.

BERMAN: And Rand Paul. I will say -- I will say Rand Paul also. But, I mean, again, I don't think there's any arguing that the departure of James Mattis, you know, leaves the U.S. commitment to NATO less strong, the commitment to promoting democracy less strong, the commitment to collective security less strong.

And, Clarissa, we've seen what happens when there's political chaos in Afghanistan and political chaos in Syria, not to men mention Iraq. We know what this looks like. There can be consequences.

WARD: And this is what is so ironic about this decision. President Trump repeatedly has lambasted President Obama for pulling out of Iraq before the situation there was fully contained, before the threat of terror had been fully dealt with. And you are looking at a very similar situation in Syria right now.

Has ISIS been crippled? Absolutely. Have they been all-out defeated? No, they certainly have not. The fight against ISIS continues as we speak in the town of Hajin (ph), alongside that border. It is spreading and mutating and adapting. That is what ISIS does. It doesn't simply disappear. It goes underground. It adapts. It rehabilitates itself to deal with the new situation. And if there is a sense that the U.S. Military is not also keeping up with that, keeping abreast of how it is mutating and adapting, and if there's a sense as well that the U.S. military is not committed to its fighting forces on the ground, its partners in the form of the Kurds, who told me today they feel like they've been stabbed in the back. The only positive thing that they can take away from Mattis' resignation is that perhaps it will put pressure on the Trump administration to honor its commitments to fighting ISIS and also its commitments to those who have fought against ISIS alongside it. But as you have said before, no sense that that is going to happen.

CAMEROTA: Clarissa Ward, Nick Paton Walsh, thank you very much for all of your reporting from the region and with of that insight.

Well, while Washington reels this morning, the late night comics are somehow finding humor in all of the chaos.

BERMAN: You know what --

CAMEROTA: We need some.

BERMAN: Yes, we need that.

CAMEROTA: Let's do this, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:53:32] BERMAN: After everything that happened in Washington yesterday, James Mattis quitting, resigning at the end of February, over the president's policies, after an imminent shutdown looks ever more likely, what did you need to do more than anything?

CAMEROTA: Laugh hysterically.

BERMAN: Yes. Thank goodness we have late night laughs.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JIMMY KIMMEL, HOST, "JIMMY KIMMEL LIVE": Trump's secretary of defense, General Jim Mattis, surprised everyone and resigned today. I guess the rumors he disagreed with Trump's decision to withdrawal troops from Syria, and, as a result of that, he's now the thirteenth member of Trump's cabinet to depart in 20 months. There are only 24 people in the cabinet, by the way. That includes the vice president, who can't leave. Eventually Ben Carson is going to be the only one left eventually if they can find him. Has anyone seen him this year?

STEPHEN COLBERT, HOST, "THE LATE SHOW WITH STEPHEN COLBERT": Everybody in Washington is headed home from the holidays when Donald Trump just decides to drop a steaming yule log into the nog, all for the wall.

The news didn't seem to faze outgoing Tennessee senator and mom's new E-Harmony boyfriend Bob Corker. A reporter asked Corker, what's the path forward for the continuing resolution? Corker answered, I don't know, you'll have fun, I'm getting ready to drive to Chattanooga. Adding, suck it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: Mom's new E-Harmony boyfriend.

CAMEROTA: Because that picture is very sort of E-Harmony.

[06:55:01] BERMAN: Thank you, Bob Corker.

CAMEROTA: Thank you, late night comics. All right, there's chaos in Washington this morning, from the resignation of Defense Secretary James Mattis, to the approaching government shutdown. We will break down the dizzying developments.

BERMAN: But, first, the new CNN film "Love, Gilda," looks at the incredible life of the comedy legend Gilda Radner. It airs New Year's Day at 9:00 p.m. on CNN. Here's a sneak peek.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GILDA RADNER, COMEDIAN: Hi, I'm Gilda Radner, and -- OK, now.

People want to know, what made you funny? From the time I was a kid, I loved to pretend.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She was the very first performer chosen for the cast of "Saturday Night Live."

RADNER: (INAUDIBLE).

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They just loved her.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I basically stole all of my characters from Gilda.

RADNER: I can do almost anything if people are laughing.

Boom, ba, ba, boom.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Gilda was just not quite herself.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: One morning she just said, I don't know what's wrong with me.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The comedian gets the most unfunny thing in the world.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She felt that she could be of help, and that's exactly what she did.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How often do we get to know exactly how brave we are?

RADNER: I always felt that my comedy was just to make things be all right.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: "Love, Gilda," New Year's Day, at 9:00 p.m.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

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