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New Day

Suicide Puts Spotlight on Survivor's Guilt; Janet Napolitano Talks About Border Protection; Center U.S. Braces for More Rain. Aired 6:30-7a ET

Aired March 26, 2019 - 06:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:31:37] ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: Two communities struck by unimaginable grief are now dealing with more loss. A father whose six- year-old daughter was killed in the Sandy Hook massacre becoming the latest to die in an apparent suicide. And two Parkland High School survivors also died in apparent suicides.

CNN's Dianne Gallagher is live in Parkland, Florida, with more.

This is just -- it's beyond heartbreaking. We have to do something today about this, Dianne.

DIANNE GALLAGHER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We do, Alisyn. And I'll tell you, here in Parkland, one of the first things, when they called this emergency meeting, that the experts noticed was maybe that people here weren't sure exactly how to get the resources that they needed, how to get matched with that. So they consolidated everything to one phone number here in Broward County, 211. And officials with 211 say that within just 24 hours, they had an increase in people who were calling them and looking for help.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GALLAGHER (voice over): In a community still trying to cope, one year after the massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, two suicides, one week apart, are forcing Parkland to confront just how slow and difficult the process of healing can be.

RYAN PETTY, DAUGHTER WAS KILLED IN PARKLAND MASSACRE: Unfortunately, sometimes it takes a tragedy or multiple tragedies to get the word out. I think we knew that some of our students were suffering, but sometimes we don't know which ones are suffering because they -- they pretend things are OK.

GALLAGHER: On Saturday, a current student at Stoneman Douglas died of an apparent suicide. His death came six days after Sydney Aiello, a 2018 MSD graduate killed herself. Sydney's mother told CNN affiliate WFOR that after the shooting her daughter suffered from survivor's guilt and had been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder.

Kai Koerber, a senior at Marjory Stoneman Douglas says he's sad but not surprised.

KAI KOERBER, SENIOR, MARJORY STONEMAN DOUGLAS HIGH SCHOOL: Over the past year my -- I've had friends threaten to kill themselves. And they're -- and I've talked them down over the phone.

GALLAGHER: The National Center for PTSD estimates that 28 percent of people who have witnessed a mass shooting develop PTSD. And about one- third develop acute stress disorder. And in response to the two suicides, community leaders in the area called an emergency meeting Sunday.

CINDY ARENBERG SELTZER, PRESIDENT AND CEO, CHILDREN SERVICES COUNCIL OF BROWARD COUNTY: Although there's been a lot of work done in the community around suicide prevention, it was time to put it on steroids.

And I think it's important to know that this is not just a -- an MSD related tragedy. Suicide, sadly, happens everywhere across the country.

GALLAGHER: And on Monday in Connecticut, a third apparent suicide. Jeremy Richman, whose six-year-old daughter Avielle was killed in the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting. He spent the past six years running a foundation in her name, focused on violence prevention through research and community engagement.

SEN. CHRIS MURPHY (D), CONNECTICUT: The idea that Jeremy took his own life, wasn't able to get the help that he was trying to get for so many other people is just really impossible for all of us to figure out.

GALLAGHER: In Parkland, the mayor says the additional resources being offered right now need to be here for the long haul.

CHRISTINE HUNSCHOFSKY, MAYOR OF PARKLAND, FLORIDA: Everybody grieves differently. Everybody's affected by trauma in different ways. Some people it comes out earlier, some people it comes out later. So it's very -- the challenge is always matching the resources, the right resources at the right time with the right people.

Kai Koerber agrees.

[06:35:00] KOERBER: I think the surrounding sentiment of, you know, going out and being politically active is that it was a very healing experience for us. We felt that, you know, making a difference in our community was its own form of therapy because people were listening to us.

We found strength in that.

GALLAGHER (on camera): And now --

KOERBER: You know, obviously, we're -- we need -- we need therapy. We need resources to be able to, you know, feel like we're comfortable in our own environment and people are listening to us in the way that we need to be listened to. (END VIDEOTAPE)

GALLAGHER: And, John, Alisyn, that political activism is still there, though most of the survivors of the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School are actively in therapy trying to work through how they feel about what happened that day.

Today, in Washington, actually, the March for Our Lives students and graduates are going to be marking the one year anniversary of that march last year in Washington with an installation of art representing the unknown victims of gun violence, the unrecognized victims of gun violence. They're going to be delivering letters to members of Congress to try and encourage them to pass that universal background -- that universal background checks bill.

CAMEROTA: Dianne, thank you very much for this report.

I mean I think that there's a feeling of after a school shooting, when the bullets stop flying, then it's over. And if you've survived, you survived, thank God. No, it's never over (INAUDIBLE).

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: You see what happened to Sandy Hook. I mean it's never over.

CAMEROTA: It's never over.

BERMAN: It goes on for years. But as tragic as it is, I do think it is so important to tell people that there are paths through.

CAMEROTA: Yes. So we're going to do that. We are going to do that later on in the program.

First, if you are thinking about suicide or anyone you know is in crisis or if you're worried about a friend or loved one, there is help. Please call the National Suicide Prevention line. The number again is 800-273-TALK, which is 8255. It's free. It's confidential. It's available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

So coming up in our 8:00 hour, we will speak to the director of that lifeline to discuss what families who are in crisis can do today.

BERMAN: And that's got to be what people take from this.

CAMEROTA: Because you can get past it. There are tools to get past it. But you have to know how to access those.

BERMAN: And we have to recognize, though, that the despair and the pain is very real and is still there.

All right, President Trump has repeatedly touted the need for a border wall on the southern border. Up next, the former Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano tells us why she thinks that's not exactly a strategy to fighting illegal immigration.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [06:41:29] CAMEROTA: CNN has learned that the Pentagon notified Congress last night that it authorized the transfer of $1 billion to build 57 miles of fencing on the border with Mexico. The nation's top military officials will be on Capitol Hill today to face questions about this and other things.

Joining us now is former Homeland Security secretary under President Obama, Janet Napolitano. She is now the president of the University of California and the author of the new book just out today "How Safe Are We: Homeland Security Since 9/11."

Secretary, great to have you here.

JANET NAPOLITANO, FORMER HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY: Good morning.

CAMEROTA: So, this news, let's talk about it, that the Pentagon just announced last night that it has transferred this $1 billion from military -- its military personnel budget to build these 57 miles of fence, fencing, along the border.

Is that a good use of its money?

NAPOLITANO: Look, as I -- as I say in my book, a wall is a symbol, it's not a strategy. And really for the southwest border, you need a combination of manpower and technology, air cover, and you need to focus on the actual ports of entry and the kind of technology deployed at the points of entry. So to effectively re-appropriate money from other essential uses to build more structure along the border to me is security theater, it's not really security.

CAMEROTA: But, look, you know that there is a spike in families who have been showing up seeking asylum. So they're presenting at the ports of entry. But you can't just accommodate them. So there is -- I mean I don't know if you want to call it a crisis or how you would characterize it, but there's a problem that DHS says they can't handle.

What's the answer to that?

NAPOLITANO: Well, I think one answer is to -- I think of it as flood the zone with the rule of law. Move immigration judges, immigration courts, down to the border. Increase the hiring of immigration judges so that families with children can present their claims, they can be heard, they can be adjudicated. That's the rule of law. That's the way our immigration law works. That's what should be happening.

CAMEROTA: And because we don't have that, what the process has been is to release them and hope that they come back for a court date. Is that right?

NAPOLITANO: Right. Well, that's true. And the vast majority of them do appear for their court dates. But there's alternatives there too.

So, for example, some are released and they have ankle bracelets on. Some are released and they have multiple requirements to report back so that if they were to somehow leave or disappear, authorities would know it immediately.

So -- but the point of fact is, is that the vast majority return. They return voluntarily. They participate in the process.

CAMEROTA: And so that's where you'd like to see money spent?

NAPOLITANO: I think that would be a more appropriate use of money.

CAMEROTA: So your book, "How Safe Are We," what's the answer to that? Under President Trump, has the country gotten safer, less safe? How do you assess this?

NAPOLITANO: You know, I think under President Trump the can country has gotten distracted. You know, Homeland Security is all about reducing risk. And by focusing so much attention on the southwest border, I think the administration has lost sight of the essential risk to the safety of the American people.

What are those risks? Those risks are the security aspects of climate and global warming and what that does to extreme weather events. It's cyber. And we've seen a cyberattack direct at the heart of our democracy. And the risks of mass gun violence, whatever the motivation. So those are the things that I think the Homeland Security Department ought to be focused on.

[06:45:10] CAMEROTA: I know you were at an event with Vice President Biden last night and he asked you about the wall and you said, we actually need a seawall.

NAPOLITANO: Yes, I did. I did. And I -- and I -- and I say -- and I say in the book, you know, on the border, show me a ten foot wall, I'll show you an 11 foot ladder. So, again, a wall on the border is -- it's a symbol, it's not a real strategy.

CAMEROTA: Did Joe Biden tell you when he's getting into the presidential race?

NAPOLITANO: No, he didn't.

CAMEROTA: OK.

So I want to ask you about the findings, the Robert Mueller findings. They caught some by surprise. What was your take on it?

NAPOLITANO: You know, one take I had was that it was so clear, even from the Barr letter, reporting on the Mueller findings, that there had been incredible Russian intrusion into our 2016 election. They were all over it. They were hacking e-mails, they were planting false stories on social media.

And my question is, what have we done and are we doing to prevent that from happening again. It's not like it's stopped. And, you know, when you have a foreign country intervening directly in our democracy, that is -- that is really serious stuff. And that's why I put cybersecurity so high on the risks facing the United States.

CAMEROTA: We do need to know the answers to what's going to happen before 2020 of how to -- how to stop that.

But I also want to ask you about this college admissions scam. You're, of course, the president of a major college there. I think at least two students who are embroiled in the scam at your school. So, first of all, were you -- can you believe the level that this was at, that parents were willing to go and that coaches were apparently in on.

NAPOLITANO: You know, I was so angered when this case was revealed. You know, at the University of California, we're a public university. And -- you know, we don't do legacy admissions, for example. We don't do donor-related admissions. But to have a soccer coach bribed, you know, that is just shocking and angering. And, you know, we're going back through and looking at our entire admissions process to see where there were any, you know, any breaks in -- you know, any breaks in how we do it and what, if anything, we need to fix or whether this was kind of an outlier.

CAMEROTA: And what do you think should happen to students who got in, who may not have known that they were embroiled in this?

NAPOLITANO: You know, I think that's going to be on a case by case basis. You know, I think where the facts show that a student knew or should have known that they were getting in under false pretenses, then we ought to revisit their admissions and their status at the university.

CAMEROTA: Secretary Janet Napolitano, thank you very much for being on NEW DAY. Best of luck. The book, again, "How Safe Are We." Thanks for being here.

NAPOLITANO: Thank you.

CAMEROTA: John.

BERMAN: All right, thanks, Alisyn.

Millions in the nation's heartland already hit so hard by floods, facing a new storm. That's next.

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[06:52:25] BERMAN: Millions already hit hard by flooding in the central United States, now facing the prospect of still more rain.

CNN meteorologist Chad Myers with the forecast.

Chad, this doesn't sound good.

CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: It doesn't. You know, this is what happens in spring. You get a lot of rainfall. That's how farmers get their May flowers and their May crops. But, for the most part, we've already had enough rain for the entire spring. Two hundred million people at risk for flooding this spring alone. And if you are in this purple area right through here, you're going to get major or historic flooding. And that's exactly where the rain is coming again.

This weather is brought to you by Zantac, eat your way, treat your way.

So, here we go. The warm air is already in place across the desert southwest, but it's going to drag up Gulf of Mexico moisture. Anytime you warm up the plains in the spring, you bring humidity with it. And all of a sudden that humidity interacts and it comes down as rainfall. Right in the pickle barrel where we don't want it, right in the places that have seen so much flooding already.

There will be snow in Nebraska, and that will stick to the ground and not run off. But look at the places here through the Missouri River, the Kansas City area, here, the Ohio River and into the Missouri, already at flood level, getting more rainfall.

Now, one foot in front of the other, we begin to warm up here in the northeast. Today, 48. By Friday, for you, Alisyn, 62 degrees.

CAMEROTA: Just for me.

BERMAN: Why for her?

CAMEROTA: Thank you.

BERMAN: Why does she --

CAMEROTA: Because I appreciate it the most.

MYERS: Just for you. Not for John.

BERMAN: She was off last week. What does she -- why is she always getting stuff?

CAMEROTA: Chad, I really appreciate that. Thank you for gift wrapping that for me.

All right, the Mueller investigation has been part of late night monologues for nearly two years. So, what did the comics say now that it is over? "Late Night Laughs" are next.

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[06:58:13] CAMEROTA: The comics take on the Mueller report. Here are your "Late Night Laughs."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TREVOR NOAH, HOST, "THE DAILY SHOW WITH TREVOR NOAH": Robert Mueller spends two years investigating obstruction of justice and his conclusion is, I don't know, what do you guys think? That's not an answer, Robert Mueller. That is the question we gave you. If I wanted my questions answered with questions, I wouldn't get a special counsel, I would get a therapist.

JIMMY KIMMEL, HOST, "JIMMY KIMMEL LIVE": Deep down didn't we know Trump probably didn't collude with Russia because he could never pull that off? And even if he did collude, it probably would have been by accident. Putin wanted him in there and did what he had to do. Basically Trump got in the White House the same way Lori Loughlin got her kid into USC.

STEPHEN COLBERT, HOST, "THE LATE SHOW WITH STEPHEN COLBERT": This is, shall we say, anti-climactic. It's like saying, guess what, kids, Santa came. And he brought mostly nothing. In fact, Santa took his sack of presents and handed them over to some guy named Bill. And Bill's like, I'll give you a summary of the gifts. Oh, and, by the way, this Bill guy got his job by writing a 19 page memo about how Christmas is illegal.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: How long? How long?

CAMEROTA: (INAUDIBLE) material.

BERMAN: I mean how many days? My bet -- my bet is --

CAMEROTA: Will they milk this for it?

BERMAN: Yes. I think it's infinite. I don't think they will stop on this.

CAMEROTA: I think just all week. I think they get one week and then they've got to move on.

BERMAN: All right. I'm going forever.

CAMEROTA: We'll make a bet.

BERMAN: All right.

Thanks to our international viewers for watching. For you CNN "TALK" is next. For our U.S. viewers, a big reversal from the Trump administration involving your health care. NEW DAY continues right now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R), SOUTH CAROLINA: Mr. Mueller thoroughly investigated the Trump campaign. You cannot say that about the other side.

SEN. RICHARD BLUMENTHAL (D), CONNECTICUT: The effort to discredit critics is certainly not new. I won't be silent.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We can never let this happen to another president again.

[07:00:02] CAMEROTA: The Pentagon authorizing $1 billion to begin new border fence construction.

END