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Trump Surprises U.S. Troops in Iraq with Visit; Shutdown of U.S. Government Continues Into Day 6, Resolution Uncertain. Aired 7- 7:30a ET

Aired December 27, 2018 - 07:00   ET

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


UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If we want to do something right, we should say so.

[07:00:04] UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When presidents visit war zones, we shouldn't get political.

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I don't know if you folks are aware of what's happening. The Democrats don't want to let us have strong borders.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This wall is not going to fix our immigration problem.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (via phone): If they believe that this president is going to yield, they're misreading him. His resolve is very firm.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, everyone. Welcome to your NEW DAY. Alisyn is off. Erica Hill with me this morning.

ERICA HILL, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning.

BERMAN: Nice to see you.

HILL: Welcome back.

BERMAN: Just a few days left in 2018.

HILL: What could happen?

BERMAN: What could -- what could happen, yes.

HILL: It's kind of quiet this time of year.

BERMAN: These are not the times to suggest that.

President Trump and the first lady back at the White House. They arrived just a short time ago after the whirlwind surprise holiday visit to U.S. troops in Iraq.

The trip marks the president's first visit to a combat zone while in office. And it comes less than a week after he rejected military commanders who opposed his decision to completely withdraw from U.S. troops in Syria. In fact, the defense secretary resigned over the president's order to withdraw those troops. The president defended that decision, saying the U.S. is no longer, quote, "the suckers of the world."

The visit also turned political. The president went after Democrats in front of U.S. troops, blaming them for the shutdown, the very shutdown that he promised to own. The president gave no timeframe to end that shutdown, saying he would do whatever it takes to get his border wall.

HILL: The president comes home to day six of the government shutdown, and while lawmakers are also back in Washington today, there is no sign of a deal to come.

We are also keeping a close eye on the markets this morning, the Dow posting its biggest daily point gain yesterday after a very rough December. The question, of course, this morning: could that rally continue for a second day? Or is it more turbulence in the forecast?

We've got it all covered for you this morning. Let's begin with CNN's Boris Sanchez, who is live at the White House.

Boris, good morning.

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, there. Good morning, Erica.

If you thought President Trump was headed off to bed after his whirlwind trip, some 29 hours to Iraq and Germany, he is not. He is on Twitter this morning, just a few moments ago tweeting that those troops stationed abroad are incredible people.

The president received an enthusiastic welcome from those troops, though he did make some comments that raised eyebrows. And those he is in a joking mood, there is a lot of uncertainty here at home. The Department of Defense and the stock market. And of course, with the ongoing shutdown.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SANCHEZ (voice-over): President Trump returning to Washington after visiting U.S. troops in Iraq. The unannounced trip coming days after Mr. Trump's controversial decision to withdraw forces from Afghanistan and Syria.

TRUMP: The United States cannot continue to be the policeman of the world. We're in countries that most people have never even heard about, and frankly, it's ridiculous.

SANCHEZ: The president defending the drawdown.

TRUMP: We're no longer the suckers, folks.

SANCHEZ: And boasting about defeating ISIS after declaring victory against the terror group last week. TRUMP: We've knocked them out; we've knocked them silly.

SANCHEZ: But the president's military commanders say ISIS is still a threat. And lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are raising concerns about the abrupt withdrawal, which came without consultation with some key U.S. allies.

SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R), SOUTH CAROLINA: This is a stain on the honor of the United States.

SANCHEZ: Defense Secretary James Mattis resigned in protest of the president's decision to pull out of Syria last week, President Trump telling reporters he's in no hurry to find a permanent replacement.

TRUMP: I'm in no rush. Everybody wants that position, everybody. Everybody. So many people want to be -- who wouldn't want to be secretary of defense?

SANCHEZ: The president telling the press he does not intend to withdraw troops from Iraq.

TRUMP: No plans at all, no.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. President --

TRUMP: In fact, we could use this as a base if we wanted to do something in Syria.

SANCHEZ: Mr. Trump facing criticism after falsely claiming that he had given the troops a 10 percent pay raise.

TRUMP: We haven't gotten one in more than ten years. More than ten years, and we got you a big one. I got you a big one.

SANCHEZ: In reality, military pay has increased annually for over three decades and is slated to go up 2.6 percent in 2019.

LT. GEN. MARK HERTLING (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: He's not fooling any of these military members who get that leave and earnings statement every month.

SANCHEZ: The president's trip coming as the partial government shutdown enters a sixth day, and while lawmakers typically avoid getting political when talking to the troops, Mr. Trump's speech sounded a lot like one of his campaign rallies.

TRUMP: I don't know if you folks are aware of what's happening. We want to have strong borders in the United States. The Democrats don't want to let us have strong borders. Only for one reason. You know why? Because I want it.

SANCHEZ: The president blaming the next likely House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, for the shutdown after she mocked his plan for the wall, telling "USA Today" it had been reduced from cement to "a beaded curtain." President Trump insisting that he will not back down when he was asked how long the shutdown could drag on. [07:05:08] TRUMP: Whatever it takes. I mean, we're going to have a wall.

(END VIDEOTAPE) SANCHEZ: Lawmakers are due back on Capitol Hill today. Both sides still very far apart. President Trump, while he was abroad, was asked specifically if he would accept $2 billion in border security funding, a steep drop-off from that $5 billion that the White House was initially demanding for border wall funding, he didn't answer the question -- John and Erica.

BERMAN: All right. Boris Sanchez for us at the White House.

Boris, thank you very much for following all the events there. The president tweeting moments ago. So he's still awake. Hasn't yet taken his post-trip nap yet. We're waiting to see if he has more events over the course of the day.

Joining us now, retired Air Force Colonel Cedric Leighton; Margaret Talev; also Bakari Sellers.

And Colonel, I want to start with you. Look, this trip not without controversy. The president lied about military pay raises, saying it's the first time they've gone up in more than ten years. That's not true. He also talked politics in front of U.S. troops there, which is something generally frowned on.

But all that aside, it is important for a president to go to war zones. It is important for a president to visit troops who are in combat. He had been criticized for not doing so. Now he has. That's a positive thing.

COL. CEDRIC LEIGHTON (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Well, absolutely, John. It's, I think, one of the most positive things that he's done in regards to the troops.

And it's really important for him to not only show his face. I actually wish he had gone on to Afghanistan, just because it's important for those soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines out there to know that he cares about them, as well.

But nonetheless, the fact that he went to Iraq is a significant piece, and it's really good for the morale of the troops.

HILL: Margaret, the timing here is interesting, not because it came out of nowhere. We know that these trips have to be planned weeks in advance. This is not a spur or a whim decision for the president.

But the fact that he announced this with withdrawal from Syria just days ago and then ends up in Iraq, is the White House talking at all about that timing? Was that part of the plan, because of course, it led to General Mattis leaving?

MARGARET TALEV, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: From everything we know, Erica, the actual decision on Syria came as a surprise to many of the top officials both in his administration and in the military, as well. So you know, it sounds like from all the reporting that we've done, that while the president had wanted to get out of Syria, you know, basically since taking office, that even leading up to the planning of that call with Mr. Erdogan, the plan was not for the president to do what he did at the pace that he did it.

But I think what's fairly interesting to me is that there's one place consistently since becoming a candidate for president, that President Trump talked about wanting to get out of, and that was Iraq.

And still, instead here he is in Iraq, justifying the decision to get out of Syria by saying, "We're not getting out of Iraq." There's more than 5,000 U.S. forces there as a presence, and that, in fact, he's planning on staying in Iraq so long that, if ISIS has a resurgence in Syria, they can do the operations out of Iraq.

So Iraq is this place that basically bedeviled President Obama for two terms and is now bedeviling President Trump. And the only sort of way to put together the pieces to get out of the other places is to stay in Iraq and bolster it.

So I think that's an interesting sort of twist as his -- as the president's plans for the second half of this term comes together.

BERMAN: It was an interesting twist, saying, "Yes, we're not going out of Iraq. In fact, Iraq is more useful to us than ever."

And it's true: he has spoken about Iraq more than perhaps any other foreign country over the last ten years or so.

Bakari, it was interesting to hear the president of the United States bring his political agenda to the combat zone and, in front of U.S. troops, talk about this government shutdown, the shutdown that he at one point promised to own.

BAKARI SELLERS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I don't know if "interesting" is the correct word. I think that we have the self- bigotry of low expectations here.

The commander in chief went abroad into a war zone. That is what a commander in chief is supposed to do. I think that it is disappointing that he inserted politics into this, just standing in front of our troops, being that commander-in-chief, showing that honor. And he just -- he just soiled the moment, as he tends to do.

What we saw yesterday is what Donald Trump has done throughout his entire presidency, which is shatter the norms. And so when he makes a trip to overseas to a combat zone, people want to scream and cheer and praise him for doing something he is supposed to do. I simply refuse to do that.

He's coming back home. The government is shut down. We have an acting secretary of defense. We have an acting attorney general. We have an acting chief of staff, and we really don't have anyone acting like president of the United States at this moment.

And so with the government shut down, he owns it. This is not a Nancy Pelosi government yet. This is a Republican House, a Republican Senate and a Republican president. And the fact of the matter is, we have 40,000 Coast Guards who are not getting paid. Coast Guard members who are not getting paid.

We have hundreds of thousands of individuals who are doing their due diligence and doing their jobs during this season who are not getting paid, and that rests on the lap of the president of the United States.

[07:10:04] So no, I'm not excited, and I don't give him kudos for doing his job. I wish he would do his job when he came home.

HILL: Colonel, you said that withdrawing troops from Syria sends the wrong signal to our Kurdish allies. What is the signal that this -- that the president's visit sends?

LEIGHTON: Well, I think it's mixed, Erica. The -- the huge issue here is that, you know, he's in Iraq. He's, in essence, supporting the U.S. troops there, but he failed to meet with the Iraqi prime minister. I understand there has been a phone call. There was a phone call with the Iraqi prime minister, and that's good.

But there was no connection with the Kurds and -- as far as we know, at least. And that fact is, I think, extremely important, because the Kurds have been our most steadfast allies for years since, really, since 2003, since the U.S. invasion of Iraq. And that very fact that we have not really given the Kurds their due in terms of support, in terms of the kinds of things that they need from this administration, I think that's very telling and very sad, frankly.

BERMAN: Margaret, in terms of the president's honesty there, Boris in his piece leading up to this played a sound bite where the president said to the troops -- to the troops -- "You haven't received a pay raise in more than ten years."

Let's just put this up on the screen here so we can show military pay raises back to 2018. They've had a pay raise. Troops have had a pay raise pretty much for the last 30 years, every year.

You can argue whether it's enough. There's no way we can ever pay troops enough in my mind. However, they had a pay raise every year. So when he's telling them they gave them their first pay raise in ten years, that's just not true.

And typically, again, when presidents speak overseas, particularly in combat zones, they like to, you know, hew closely to the truth and stay away from politics. That didn't happen.

TALEV: Yes, I don't know whether the president does know what he actually did, or whether it isn't really about that. Obviously, members of the military know how much money they make and how much they made three years ago and how much money they made five years ago. And a lot of them have been there through the duration of this.

But it is certainly messaging to the American public, which may also be part of what the president's looking at as he heads towards reelection. And I think we're going to see a lot of messaging about things that he's done and things the Democrats haven't done, and we'll have to fact check all of them.

As we head now back into Washington and into this shutdown season, there will be an effort for the president to paint Democrats as the reason behind the shutdown and to try to drive a wedge between Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer. We're seeing the early contours of that right now.

HILL: We already saw Nancy Pelosi come up. The president brought Nancy Pelosi up yesterday, actually, talking about the shutdown, of course, and saying that Chuck Schumer was willing to negotiate, but Nancy really didn't want to, in his view.

Bakari, I find it interesting that he singles out Nancy Pelosi. Is it simply because she is a great foil, especially for Republicans?

SELLERS: Yes, I mean, that's -- Nancy Pelosi has been a foil for the Republican Party for the last decade. The only person that they like attacking more than Nancy Pelosi is Hillary Clinton. And so you see that consistency in their attacks.

But what I do know is that House Democrats are going to put $1.6 billion, thereabout, on the line to reopen the government on January 3. It actually passed the Senate, that same amount before. We're trying to get government back working and actually move the ball down the field.

The president of the United States wants $5 billion for some steal slats or beaded curtains, to quote Nancy Pelosi, something that's a red herring that will not fix our immigration problem.

And the fact that Republicans don't want to stand up to it -- to him when they had the opportunity to is the largest problem, but elections have consequences. And now the United States House of Representatives is led by the Democratic Party. They have an agenda, and they have no reason to give in to this wall, which is nothing more than a red herring in trying to fix our immigration problem.

BERMAN: You know, Cedric, Colonel, what are the regulations or what are, I should say, the norms for political visits to troops in combat zones? Because I called it interesting, Bakari called it disappointing, for the president to attack the Democrats for the shutdown in front of U.S. troops there.

It was glaring for the president to talk about Nancy Pelosi, albeit in a question and answer. It was interesting, as well. And then it was interesting U.S. troops there bring their "Make America Great Again" hats to be signed by the president, as well.

LEIGHTON: Yes, John, that's -- that's, I think, one of the biggest issues here. You know, when you look at the "Make America Great Again" hats, of course, all military members want to make America great again. And they think, you know, in some cases, they think America is great. That's why they're serving.

But it's an overt political slogan. So the rules are, basically, you cannot show your political partisanship while you're in uniform. It's particularly strict for officers, but also NCOs have -- noncommissioned officers have specific rules that they have to follow. And in essence, what it is, is you have to maintain your political neutrality.

[07:15:11] And commanders on the scene should be very careful about overt displays by their troops of political affiliations. So this was probably something where the president caught got by some folks who were very enthusiastic at seeing him and, you know, he signed their hats. And that's all good.

But the problem with it is, is that it shows a particular degree of partisanship that shouldn't have happened. And the president really needs to be careful when he goes out to places like this, because it's really a unifying element for the nation to bring everybody together. It is not a partisan political time. And that's, I think, where the mistake was made here.

HILL: And to your other point, too, we talked about what the president had to say out there. General Hertling telling us earlier that there were times, you know, he had been there for presidential visits abroad. And even with senators, they would pull them aside ahead of time and say, "Sir, ma'am, just a reminder, please keep the politics out of this visit," and that was never an issue.

Do you think that conversation was had with the president, Colonel?

LEIGHTON: You know, I think that I -- I think it may have been had, but I think that, you know, it may have also been ignored, and -- on his part. And if that's the case, you know, then you get into a situation where you try your best to make it as seamless a visit as possible, but things always happen during these visits.

You know, it's one thing to see the constituents. It's another thing to visit the troops; and the troops are a special category.

BERMAN: So Margaret, we have politicians back in Washington today. The president is there. Some of the congressional leaders are there. Are we going to get this deal to keep the government open, I ask you?

TALEV: No, no. Today? No.

HILL: You know, by noon or so.

TALEV: But if I'm wrong, I'll take everybody on this panel out to lunch for an early New Year's celebration.

No, I think, you know, we're -- by all accounts, we're looking at -- after the Democrats take the House at this point, I mean, unless something miraculous changes.

The president is not willing to say publicly that he's looking to make a deal, although he was having the vice president go up to the Hill and try to figure out what could be done. But it feels like Democrats think they have the upper hand in -- in waiting until -- until they're installed, in charge of the House, you know, because they don't want to give any way on the wall thing. So you know, I -- both -- talking to both the White House and folks on

the Hill from both parties, I think everybody thinks that we're in this for at least a few more days and maybe longer.

BERMAN: Bakari, she was talking about you behind your back. She said Democrats there. Are Democrats going to give anything here?

SELLERS: I think Democrats have a vision for the future. I mean, if Donald Trump is going to campaign in the combat zone, I might as well campaign on NEW DAY this morning.

No, I think that -- I think that, you know, you'll have a minimal amount, 1.3, $2 billion, for this wall or whatever it is. And this shutdown will hopefully come to an end.

One thing I want people to remember who are watching this is that this shutdown actually affects real people. Not only are we talking about the Department of Homeland Security and our Border Patrol agents and our Coast Guard members, et cetera, who are not getting paid, but there are many other people who have a level of uncertainty.

Imagine just spending your last dime on Christmas day, getting ready for a new year and not knowing when your next paycheck is going to come. And so, hopefully, Democrats and Republicans alike can come together and put this shutdown to bed so we can move forward.

BERMAN: Bakari Sellers, Margaret Talev, Colonel Cedric Leighton, thank you so much for being with us this morning. A late merry Christmas to you, a n early happy new year.

TALEV: You, too.

LEIGHTON: Thank you.

SELLERS: Thank you.

BERMAN: All right. With Congress back in Washington today, at least some of them, will the White House and Democrats strike a deal to end the shutdown? Margaret didn't sound too enthusiastic. However, we're going to speak to a Republican member next to see what he thinks about it.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:27:48] BERMAN: President Trump is back from his surprise visit to U.S. troops in Iraq, his first visit to a combat zone as president. The president defended his sudden decision to withdraw troops from Syria, a move that has been criticized on both sides of the aisle.

Joining us now is Republican congressman, Jim Banks. He's an Afghanistan war veteran and a member of the Armed Services Committee.

Congressman, thank you for being with us. An early happy new year to you. You have served overseas. What does a trip mean like this to the troops there? REP. JIM BANKS (R), INDIANA: Well, this -- John, this is a morale

booster. We have 200,000 men and women in uniform serving abroad over this holiday season; and to welcome a president, any president, over the holidays, it's a morale booster.

I applaud the president for visiting Iraq. I've been calling on him over the past several months to visit a combat zone and am very glad he did that. It's hard to find much to criticize here.

BERMAN: You were saying you've been calling on him. Do you think the visit is overdue?

BANKS: Perhaps. But -- but at this point, it doesn't matter. I mean, I've wanted him to visit Afghanistan. The news over the past couple of weeks about a drawdown in Afghanistan is concerning to me, and the fact that he visited somewhere was good enough at this point.

I know that he visited with a number of general officers as he visited both Iraq and Ramstein Air Base in Germany, as well. So hopefully, he had a chance to hear from our leaders on the ground about the conditions there, about what we're accomplishing, what our troops are up to. And overall, that's a good and healthy thing for this president to do.

BERMAN: "Hopefully, he heard from the officers," you just said, because you oppose the move to withdraw half the troops from Afghanistan, an order that apparently is in the works right now. And the clear decision to withdraw all U.S. troops from Syria.

The president said when he was in Iraq that the United States were not going to be "the suckers of the world," he said. Do you believe that is what the Syrian mission is, being the suckers of the world?

BANKS: Well, of course not. But Iraq, where he did visit, he has had some major success in Iraq, and largely defeating ISIS there. That doesn't mean that ISIS is overall defeated. That's why our efforts in Syria are strategically important.

[07:25:08] And it's why I'm most concerned about the conditions in Afghanistan today. I was just there again. I served there three years -- three or four years ago. I went back with a bipartisan delegation last month. And -- and the concern about Afghanistan today is the resurgence of ISIS-K in Afghanistan, combined with the Taliban and a number of other dangerous groups.

If the president went to Afghanistan, he would hear that from the leaders on the ground there, and it could change his mind about some of the strategic decisions that I disagree with that he's made over the past couple of weeks.

BERMAN: I know you're concerned about that. You told me last time we spoke, which I think was only last week, that you're concerned that the environment in Afghanistan could lead to another environment where you could have an al Qaeda-like group rise and commit another atrocity like some 9/11. That environment could exist, you feel, if the U.S. does withdrawal. Just one point. Again, you are on the Armed Services Committee. You

are a veteran. The president said that he could -- the United States could continue operations in Syria from Iraq, even after troops are gone from Syria. From an operational standpoint, do you think that's the optimal way to go?

BANKS: Well, I don't know. I mean, I'm a congressman. I'm not -- I'm not a general officer. But that is -- that is a possibility, as long as we maintain air strikes in Syria, and maintain some type of presence there.

I believe that that's important, as that region is strategically important as a foothold for our efforts, probably well into the future.

So that could be an example of why the president's trip to Iraq is so important. Maybe he gained some intelligence by -- through that visit that would convince him of maintaining that presence.

And once again, I largely applaud this president for going and doing what he said he would do over the past several months: visit a combat zone. He did that in Iraq, and I know the troops appreciated it greatly to see his face and the first lady yesterday.

BERMAN: When we last spoke, you said you were waiting somewhat impatiently -- somewhat impatiently -- for the president to nominate the next secretary of defense. However, yesterday he told us he is in no rush to replace the acting secretary, Patrick Shanahan. Is that good enough?

BANKS: Well, we'll see. I have my concerns. I hope the president will pick someone of the same mold as Secretary Mattis.

By the way, as his service winds down shorter than we knew it would last week, the last time that we talked, I want to publicly thank Secretary Mattis for his over 40 years of service to our country, most of that time in uniform. He's been a tremendous leader that served us so well at the Pentagon. And if the president can pick -- find somebody and pick someone of the same caliber as Secretary Mattis, we'll all be better off because of it.

BERMAN: So the shutdown, the partial shutdown still very much on. The president was asked repeatedly overseas when it would end, what he would give for it to end. He said he would do whatever it takes to get his border wall. Will you support him in getting whatever it takes, even if it means not reopening this part of government that's shut down?

BANKS: Well, John, the House is largely in a holding pattern. While there's a lot of criticism being directed toward the president, how about the United States Senate? The Senate has yet to pass a bill. If they have -- if they have strong opinions about where to go with this shutdown, what type of deal to pass, pass something. Send something back to the House. And the House is prepared to get back to work. Or send something to the president --

BERMAN: Well --

BANKS: -- and force him to make a decision of whether or not to veto a bill. The Senate has yet to act, and much of my criticism today is toward the United States Senate, not the president.

BERMAN: Wasn't the Senate the first to act on this? The Senate was the first to pass nearly unanimously the $1.6 billion continuing resolution to February. It was the House that came back and said, "No, no, no, no. We're not going to do that. We're passing the full $5 billion the president wants."

BANKS: And John, that's how the legislative process works. The House immediately acted when the Senate passed the first version of the bill back to the House. We added the amendment to restore the $5 billion the president was asking for for border security, sent it back to the Senate, and it's now been weeks since the Senate has moved or acted on this agreement.

So the Senate needs to act before the House can do something again, before the president is faced with making a decision whether or not to veto a deal. And much of my blame, once again, John, lies at the feet of the United States Senate for not acting and doing their job to get something done to re-open the government and move on to other issues.

BERMAN: Congressman Jim Banks, thanks once again for joining us this morning. Really do appreciate it. Hope you had a wonderful holiday and a happy new year.

BANKS: Likewise. Have a good day.

BERMAN: Thanks, sir.

Erica.

HILL: The secretary of homeland security says every child in U.S. custody has now received medical screenings after the deaths of two migrant children in just weeks. Is enough being done to protect children? We'll ask an incoming congressman who will represent a border state. That's next.

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