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Border Wall Fight; Dow Futures Point to Decline; White Man Berates Black Neighbor. Aired 8:30-9a ET
Aired December 27, 2018 - 08:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[08:30:00] ERICA HILL, CNN ANCHOR: And that number actually increases if you ask how they feel about the wall if the U.S. pays, Steve.
STEVE CORTES, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, Erica, as you know with polls, it depends very much how you word it, who you ask. But, to me, the poll that is much more important is the 2016 election where the wall was Donald Trump's signature issue. It was the foundational promise of his presidency, of his candidacy then, presidency now, and the people spoke overwhelmingly and gave the president a mandate to build the wall. So that's the poll I care most about is the one from November of 2016. He could not have been clearer about that topic and people spoke resoundingly.
HILL: Right. That's what -- that's what he wanted. He was also very clear that he said Mexico would pay for the wall. We know from Mexicans current and past, they will not pay for that wall.
CORTES: Right. And, by the way --
HILL: You can't do funny math and move money around in the government to get Mexico to pay for the wall.
CORTES: Well, no, but hold on there --
HILL: And the most recent polling --
CORTES: I'm not --
HILL: Whether you like it or not says, we actually don't want the wall.
CORTES: I'm not surprised -- I'm not surprised that Mexico isn't offering to pay for the wall. Of course not. But Mexico -- this is a president who delivers on his promises, whether it's tax cuts or moving Israel to Jerusalem or the wall and Mexico paying for it. He is going to figure out how Mexico pays for it. We are effectively fronting the cash. She's a developer. Look at it as a construction loan.
SYMONE SANDERS, CNN COMMENTATOR: I'm sorry.
CORTES: Mexico -- there are a lot of ways to do this. For example, tax remittances is, to me, the easiest and simplest way to pay for a wall and Mexico will. SANDERS: This is -- this is intellectually dishonest, Erica.
If I may, if I may, this is intellectually dishonest. When -- what the president campaigned on --
CORTES: Tell me what's dishonest.
SANDERS: What the president campaigned on, among other things, was, in fact, that Mexico would build the wall. It was such a popular phrase that folks would shout it back at his rallies. The president did not campaign on we would front the money for the wall then Mexico would pay for it.
That being said -- that being said, not only does some of CNN's most recent polling says Americans overwhelmingly do not support the wall, there was a "PBS News Hour"/NPR poll that came out just a couple of weeks ago that said America -- over 57 percent of Americans did not support shutting down the government for a border wall. They wanted the president to compromise to avoid gridlock.
And so what has happened here is we are now in a day six of a partial government shutdown. That means the Department of Homeland Security, the State Department, the Justice Department, the Agriculture Department, among other departments, are now shut down because the president threw a temper tantrum and would not compromise. This is not what the American people want.
The poll that Steve referenced, I'd like to remind him that there was an election in 2018 where an overwhelming number of Democrat -- of Republicans on the House side ran on immigration. It was their closing argument. It was the president's closing argument. And they resoundingly were rejected. The American people rebut that message.
And so I'm really not sure how this is a sound strategy. This is how they lost the House. This is how they lost the record number of governor seats, gubernatorial seats, state legislatures. And come January 3rd, Democrats are going to put a bill on the floor to re-open the government. And I would just hope that the president compromises and does what's best for all of Americans, not just his very small base.
HILL: Steve, do --
CORTES: You know, Symone, if we want to talk polls, I think perhaps the most important poll of all is of the Customs and Border Protection officers. The actual front line cops for America who are guarding our border. Their union officially wants a wall, has endorsed it. Their head has argued for it on this network and others vociferously. And in a poll of their members, 89 percent of them, of the officers, again, who are on the front lines doing this hard job of guarding our border, 89 percent say they want a wall and that it will help them do their job more effectively.
SANDERS: Well, what do you say --
HILL: Well, let me -- let me point out, too, something else. No, I was going to say, let me point out something else that they say they need, and this is coming directly from the commissioner of Customs and Border Protection saying just yesterday, I have explained to Congress they are not set up for these groups of people who are crossing into the U.S.
CORTES: Right.
HILL: The facilities were built 30 to 40 years ago for single, adult males. We need a different approach. We need help from Congress. And here's what he's asking for. We need to budget for medical care and mental health care for the children in our facilities.
Steve, how much is that a topic for President Trump, because that's needed too, and that's coming from the head of the CBP?
CORTES: Right. Oh, listen, I think clearly we have an antiquated system in many ways in terms of facilities. But I would say, even more so in terms of laws. Unfortunately, we have asylum laws which are being ridiculously abused and gamed because people come to our country, and we know this factually, the vast majority of them are not legitimate asylum candidates. They are economic migrants. If they wanted asylum, they would take it in Mexico where it was offered to them and work status.
SANDERS: This is not (INAUDIBLE).
CORTES: Very generous offers in Mexico. The fact that they cross that massive country of Mexico to come to our border instead and then claim asylum and only 10 percent of them from those Central American countries -- historically, only 10 percent of them, are viewed legitimate asylum seekers. The fact that they do that but they do it knowing that our asylum laws guarantee that once they reach our soil, even though they crossed illegally, they can stay. That need to change.
SANDER: So, Erica, this is not good.
CORTES: If we change that wall, and build a wall, we will solve almost all of that problem at the border and we won't be housing -- look, it's awful that we're housing thousands of children from central America. I'm saying, let's solve that problem. When we get rid of a porous border, we get rid of the incentives for people to come here for economic reasons. And then they can immigrate the right way, like my father did, like millions of Americans did and become legal immigrants in this country, which we love.
HILL: Symone.
SANDERS: So, Eric, if I may.
HILL: Go ahead, Symone. Yes.
[08:35:15] SANDERS: I just -- I just want to be clear and say that the crisis that is currently happening at the border is in fact a crisis that has been manufactured by the Trump administration because folks are legally -- the legal way to seek asylum is to present yourself at a port of entry into the United States of America. What has been happens over the last couple of months is the Trump administration has been declining to process these folks. We are now housing folks in warehousing, immigrants, migrants, who are seeing asylum. And those claims are, in fact, not being processed. People are being deported. It's just a mess is what you can see on the border currently right now.
And so what we have is a breakdown, yes, in our immigration policy, but the Trump administration isn't even doing their part. And so it's not as though we have open borders in this country. If anybody's ever been to the border, there's a lot happening down there. There is an increased -- not military, there's an increased law enforcement presence on the border. A wall is not going to solve our issues. What will solve our issues is fixing our broken immigration policy, which needs to happen. But what's happening on the border is, in fact, a crisis manufactured by the Trump administration.
Let's not forget, not a couple weeks ago --
CORTES: But (INAUDIBLE) I think the laws -- the laws --
SANDERS: Not a couple weeks ago, the Trump administration shut down one of the most busiest ports of entry from between Mexico and the United States. They shut the border down because folks were coming to the port of entry to claim asylum. Like, what is happening here? Let's be honest.
HILL: All right, we have one minute left, so you each get --
CORTES: But you've got -- Symone, let's be honest, they're not legitimate asylum candidates.
HILL: No, no, no, you each get 20 seconds. Steve -- Steve -- Steve --
SANDERS: You don't know because they're not being processed, Steve. That is -- that is ludicrous for you to suggest that you know these are not legitimate asylum claims.
CORTES: It's not ludicrous. They would take asylum in Mexico.
SANDERS: That is not how you claim asylum. Oh, my goodness.
CORTES: If they were running for their lives, when they reached the stability of Mexico, they would take asylum there.
HILL: We're going to stop right here because I'm going to give you both the chance -- just give me your best guess. When does the shutdown end? How does this get resolved? You each have 20 seconds. Symone, ladies first.
SANDERS: The shutdown ends when Democrats are in charge of the United States House of Representatives. They put a bill on the floor and then the ball is then again in the president's court. And if he decides to veto it, I am very pretty sure -- I am pretty sure that Congress will override that veto because we need to get the government back home. This is a temper tantrum manufactured by the president, come on. HILL: All right, Steve?
CORTES: I think a legitimate compromise is $5 billion for the wall for permanent DACA protection. Both sides give. Neither side loves that trade, but that's the essence -- that's the definition of a compromise and it makes sense.
HILL: Steve, Symone, appreciate you both compromising of the timing that we have left there. Thank you both.
CORTES: Thank you.
JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: That might be the only compromise you get, Erica Hill.
HILL: Yes, indeed.
BERMAN: All right, trading resumes on Wall Street in less than an hour, but it looks like any -- it looks like any wild day ahead after -- it looks like it will be a wild day ahead after yesterday's historic rebound.
Christine Romans tells us why, next.
HILL: But first, the new CNN film "Love, Gilda" takes a look at the incredible life of the comedy legend Gilda Radner. It airs New Year's Day at 9:00 p.m. right here on CNN. But this morning you get 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)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[08:42:54] BERMAN: It is time for "CNN Business." This could be quite a day ahead on Wall Street. U.S. stock futures pointing to a decline, a rather sharp decline at the open after yesterday's historic little boom. So what's going on?
Our chief business correspondent Christine Romans with the very latest.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Well, they're going to -- it looks like they're going to give, at least on the open, investors are going to give back some of those gains from yesterday. A few hundred points. I think it's really important to look at the percentages there. If you look at those futures again, the percentages are important because you had a 5 percent run-up yesterday. You're going to take back, at the open at least, maybe a percent and a half of that. It's the end of the year. Illiquid (ph) markets. A lot of automated trading. A lot of uncertainty with the headlines.
So this is the way it's going to be folks. It's going to be volatile. We had basically ten years of straight up with a few exceptions. That's not going to happen anymore. It's not. This is a mature bull market that may be a bear market. We're very, very close here. The Nasdaq actually did fall into a bear market, but then popped out of it yesterday.
Look at what happened yesterday. These numbers on the Dow. The Dow up 1,000 points. You have never seen that before. We've never seen the Dow add 1,000 points in a single day. That's about 5 percent. We have seen that before lots and lots of times. Still, when you look at those percentage numbers, it was the biggest one day percentage gain since March 2009. Recall, if you were, what we were doing in March 2009. The economy was falling apart and that was the beginning of kind of a violent bounce back.
What you're seeing here are oversold sell offs where they just sell way too hard, too long and they're basically too pessimistic about what's going to happen in the economy next year and then these false rebounds. That's what it looks like, the volatility at the end of a bull market. Now, yesterday we heard from Kevin Hassett, who is the president's
chief -- the Council of Economic Advisers, the chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers, and he really struck, I think, just the right tone. This is what he said about the Fed Chief.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
QUESTION: You made it very clear that Secretary Mnuchin's job is safe. Is the Fed chairman's job safe?
KEVIN HASSETT, CHAIRMAN OF THE COUNCIL OF ECONOMIC ADVISERS: Yes, of course, 100 percent, yes.
QUESTION: One hundred percent, the Fed chairman's job is not in jeopardy by this president?
HASSETT: Absolutely. That's correct.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[08:45:00] ROMANS: And that was a -- just a critical little snippet that really helped. And then he said this about the economy.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HASSETT: All the anecdotal information we're getting is that the fundamentals remain extremely sound. That Christmas sales are through the roof. GDP in the fourth quarter is looking like it's going to be very close to if not above three again. And so I think that the momentum that we saw this year is carrying forward to next year.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: How long into next year? That's the big question. But at least that was just the right tone from a White House messaging team that's had a tough time sending out the right tone.
I don't know if it's a coincidence, the president was on a plane to Iraq and couldn't say anything or tweet anything negative about the Fed chief or stock market or who's to blame. But at least for yesterday things seem solid.
We'll watch to see if there's any reversals again here today.
BERMAN: One hundred percent safe is exactly what investors wanted to hear when it came to the Fed chief.
ROMANS: Yes.
BERMAN: Christine Romans, thanks so much. Appreciate it.
ROMANS: Nice to see you guys.
HILL: Berated in his own apartment building. Just ahead, a man opens up about the ugly confrontation with his neighbor. Was it racially motivated? His thoughts, next. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HILL: An African-American man berated in the lobby of his New York City apartment building last week by his white neighbor, who accused him of not living in the building. Their heated exchange was captured on video by a friend. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What are you doing in my building?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So, he lives --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You don't live here.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE).
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He lives right upstairs.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You don't live here. I've never seen you before. I've lived here 27 years.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE). That's great. (INAUDIBLE).
[08:50:00] UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I've lived here 27 years.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why you -- why are you doing this?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Don't embarrass yourself.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why are you doing this?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, (INAUDIBLE).
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Don't embarrass yourself.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, you're smooth. You're smooth.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why you doing this?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We live here.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You're the smooth king.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE).
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You're the smooth king.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Appreciate it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just, don't worry about it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We live here.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, now you live here?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We live here.
He lives here.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So, what apartment do you live in?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Don't worry about it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let's -- let's -- no, let's talk about neighbors.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's none of your business.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It is my business.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HILL: Joining me now, Chika Okafor, good to have you with us this morning.
That video has gone viral, as you know very well. I know you wrote a post about it. It had a lot of people just scratching their heads. Had you ever seen this man in your building before?
CHIKA OKAFOR, BERATED BY WHITE NEIGHBOR: No, that was the first time that I saw him. I've lived in the building since mid-December 2017.
HILL: And how did it --
OKAFOR: And that was my first encounter.
HILL: How did it start, because you were waiting for, I think, an Uber or a Lyft with a friend of yours. And how did it start?
OKAFOR: Yes, yes, so --
HILL: And he just came up to you?
OKAFOR: So, yes. So my friend and I were hanging out in the first floor of the apartment -- of the apartment building. I was waiting for a Lyft -- that was -- for a Lyft ride that was going to take me to my company's holiday party. And this white man goes through the first door to get into the building and as he's opening -- as he's opening up the first door, he says, who the f-word are these guys? And then I turned to my friend and I'm like, is this -- is this really what this guy just said? And then as he's opening up the second door, he says something to the effect of, what are you guys doing there? And from there you see the video of him interrogating my friend and I.
HILL: And you're pretty calm throughout all of it. We hear your friend talking a little bit too throughout it because I know he's asking you for which apartment you live in. You didn't tell him. It was interesting, though, when you asked him for his name, he seemed to clam up a little bit. He didn't want to tell you.
OKAFOR: Yes, that was interesting. He was really bold about asking me for my personal information. But when we asked him for his personal information, he decided not to say anything. Maybe at that point he realized that this video was going to go viral and he didn't want to put his name out there.
HILL: As all of this is happening, what's going through your mind?
OKAFOR: What's going through my mind at that point is, wow, that I'm about to be a part of -- that I'm a part of this incident -- this (INAUDIBLE) incident where a black person is being racially profiled by a white person. We -- we've seen many instances like this over the last few years with like with Cornerstone Caroline (ph) or Barbeque Becky (ph), but never in a million years would you think that you would be a part of one of these.
But regardless, like, I gave him ample opportunities to stop. Like, if you listen closely to the video, I told him several times, stop embarrassing yourself, stop embarrassing yourself, because I knew that my friend was recording this and I knew that once this became public that this is going to go viral.
HILL: Right. Well, and you even say at one point in the video, or I think it's your friend who says, listen, we're going to post it and he says go ahead.
OKAFOR: Exactly.
HILL: I know you've reached out to the police, you've reached out to the property manager. You've also spoken to some other neighbors. Do you know of anybody else having a similar encounter with this man ever? I mean he says he's lived in this building for 27 years.
OKAFOR: So in terms of our neighbors, no. But I do -- but I was made aware of an incident that happened two hours after mine where he harassed a white couple as they were trying to get into the building. Apparently they were staying there through Airbnb and he refused to let them in.
HILL: What do you want to happen here?
OKAFOR: I mean, for me, I think, at minimum, he owes us -- me and my friend an apology for his disrespectful behavior. But, ultimately, I think that it is in the best interest of everyone who lives in the building that he gets evicted because his mindset is dangerous and could lead to future altercations. And when I say his mindset is dangerous, I'm referring to the fact that he believes that simply because he's lived in the apartment complex for 27 years that he has the power and the authority to question or interrogate or confront anyone. And if he believes -- if that's his mindset, then I'm sure like this is not going to be the last that we're going to see of him.
HILL: Chika Okafor, appreciate you joining us this morning and please keep us posted on what happens. Thank you.
OKAFOR: Thank you.
HILL: John.
BERMAN: All right, Erica.
"The Good Stuff" is next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[08:58:15] BERMAN: A double dose of "The Good Stuff" today.
HILL: Yes.
BERMAN: As millions were flying home to spend Christmas with family, one father and daughter celebrated the holiday in the sky. So this sweet story is making the rounds after an Ohio passenger's FaceBook post went viral. He says he sat next to a man named Hal on Christmas Eve who booked six flights. Why did he do it? In order to spend Christmas with his daughter, Pierce (ph), who is a flight attendant. He booked six flights so he could share the day with her. Pierce later shared the post to let her mom know that dad made all the flights, and she called this adventure a success.
I love that story.
HILL: That's so sweet.
BERMAN: A father who will do anything so he can spend the day with his daughter.
HILL: I feel like my dad would have done that.
And more "Good Stuff" for you.
A complete stranger gives a struggling Utah couple a much needed Christmas surprise during their grocery run. Mom Antasia Case (ph) said she went to the store over the weekend. She was there to pick up food and baby supplies for her eight month old daughter Echo (ph). Well, when she got home, and opened a snack canister, a note fell out of the lid, along with $30 in cash.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have certainly been here and know how challenges and wonderful this time of life can be.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HILL: What the Secret Santa did not know is that Kay (ph) doesn't have a paycheck right now because of the government shutdown. Her husband has been laid off and they have four other kids. They say the money is going to go toward a car seat for Echo.
BERMAN: Did it just to make someone smile. Didn't even know where it was going.
HILL: How about that?
BERMAN: That is a lovely thing.
Should I show people my Christmas socks?
HILL: Yes, you should.
BERMAN: These are my Christmas socks. Do you see them? It says "dad."
HILL: Like a super dad.
BERMAN: It says "super dad." That's me.
HILL: Like the super hero that John Berman is.
BERMAN: Yes.
HILL: Yes.
BERMAN: That's what I said. Clearly. Clearly my kids know which end is up.
All right, thanks so much for being with us this morning. "NEWSROOM" with Jim Sciutto this morning starts right now.
[09:00:05] JIM SCIUTTO, CNN ANCHOR: A very good morning to you. I'm Jim Sciutto. Poppy has the day off.
