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Homeland Security Sec. Kirstjen Nielsen Forced To Resign; Former Top ICE Office On Trump's Anti-Immigrant Push; American Airlines Cancels 737 MAX 8 Flights Into June; CNN Reality Check: The Ugly History Of Going Nuclear; Beyond The Call Of Duty: Chicago SWAT Officer Takes Down Hospital Mass Shooter. Aired 7:30-8a ET

Aired April 08, 2019 - 07:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:31:14] ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: President Trump's Homeland Security Sec. Kirstjen Nielsen forced to resign. This comes as the Trump administration is making a stronger push to close ports of entry and to stop accepting asylum seekers.

CNN's Ed Lavandera is live at the border with Mexico in McAllen, Texas for us. What are you seeing there, Ed?

ED LAVANDERA, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Alisyn.

Well, the president's rhetoric has become more extreme on issues of immigration, talking about how the asylum system and the asylum seekers here are perpetrating a hoax on the United States and that all of this is a scam. The president, on Friday, was pushing to end the whole asylum system.

All of that really comes as shocking news to many immigrant rights activists down here along the U.S. southern border that has been dealing from it. And here in the Rio Grande Valley, this has been essentially the epicenter of the family separation issue that dates back to early last summer. So many of the people down here have been following and dealing with these issues very closely for the better part of the last year.

And what I am hearing this morning Alisyn from activists down here in the Rio Grande Valley is many people are very concerned about what comes next now that there -- many people down here not fans of the former DHS secretary and they're very worried about what the Trump administration is going to do next.

So, really, you also have down here Customs and Border Protection -- border patrol officials sounding the alarm that this is a national emergency -- what is going on down here at the U.S. southern border. They're pointing to the large numbers of migrants that have been arriving here.

By all accounts, it looks like the month of March might be the largest number of apprehensions that has been seen down here on the U.S. southern border in the last decade. So you really have these two polar opposite issues and debates going

on back and forth down here -- John.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right, Ed Lavandera for us at the border. Ed, really appreciate it.

Joining me now is John Sandweg. He is the former acting director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Thanks so much for being with us.

JOHN SANDWEG, FORMER ACTING DIRECTOR, U.S. IMMIGRATION AND CUSTOMS ENFORCEMENT: Yes, thanks for having me.

BERMAN: We understand from reporting by Jake Tapper that Sec. Kirstjen Nielsen, who was pushed out, feels that the president was becoming unhinged but also asking for impossible things in border enforcement -- impossible things. And by that, I imagine -- we think that it means just closing the border and not allowing people to seek asylum anymore.

There are laws in place that do govern what you can and can't do, correct?

SANDWEG: Correct, absolutely.

BERMAN: And --

SANDWEG: I think that -- go ahead.

BERMAN: Go ahead.

SANDWEG: Well, I think the secretary faced an unwinnable situation. I mean, the president wants to see the numbers stopped. In many ways, that's out of her control.

More importantly is the administration's policies really have been ineffective and I think the ICE folks, like myself, or other folks that have been involved in border security for a while -- we knew they were going to be ineffective. You can't try to do a tough deterrence- based approach to a mass migration like this where people are fleeing incredible poverty and violence.

So, Nielsen is sitting there held accountable for the daily numbers, but also forced to implement the policies of the Trump administration. And frankly, it's just an unwinnable situation for her.

BERMAN: And ultimately, she was not able to satisfy the president and was pushed out.

I do want to ask you about one of the solutions that the president has proposed over the last few days and that's to just get rid of immigration judges. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: They have to get rid of the whole asylum system because it doesn't work. And frankly, we should get rid of judges. You can't have a court case every time somebody steps their foot on our ground.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: Get rid of judges because most Democrats and Republicans I hear from would like to add immigration judges.

SANDWEG: John, that is the single -- you know, I hate to say it, the single dumbest idea I've ever heard in terms of dealing with this kind of crisis.

Look, the reality is our asylum laws guarantee that if you set your feet on American soil and you say you're fearful of persecution in your home country, you get a hearing before an immigration judge to prove that or not prove that before you're deported.

[07:35:05] Now, the reality is that the majority of the people coming across, roughly only about 20 percent of them are actually getting asylum, and that number fluctuates quite a bit. But very few of them are actually getting asylum.

The problem we are facing is we don't have enough immigration judges to process the cases quickly. So when you have these kind of numbers -- let's say it's 100,000 this month as was predicted earlier in the month.

What that means is those people arrive today are dealing with only 300 judges. It's going to be years before they have their hearing. Now, the American public is frustrated.

And I think what the president is trying to do is use this crisis as an opportunity to force Congress to get rid of the asylum laws. But the practical reality is the Democratic Congress is never going to get rid of these asylum laws.

So what we need to do is the exact opposite of what the president is saying. Flood the zone with rule of law, surge the number of immigration judges, and process these cases quickly.

And unless and until we start sending people back home -- you know, unless and until we fix this situation where when they come up here they can stay for five years waiting for their asylum hearing, this crisis is likely to continue. So it's the exact opposite approach.

BERMAN: Is the president right insofar as he is saying that the system, though, is broken or the system as it is cannot address the challenge that the country is facing?

SANDWEG: You know, John, the system -- the system right now is overwhelmed and that's because of the changing circumstances at the border.

You have to understand if you look back at the history of the border, we've handled far more people with far fewer resources. In the mid- 2000s, we'd have somewhere in the neighborhood of 1.5 million apprehensions by only 5,000 border patrol agents. Today, we're going to be far below a million and we have more than 20,000 border patrol agents.

So it's not the number of individuals. We're more than capable of handling it. What's changed is instead of people from Mexico who don't claim asylum coming across and people from Mexico can be returned very quickly because we obviously are neighbors with Mexico.

It's Central Americans. Over 60 percent of them are parents with children and they're all claiming asylum because they're fearful of persecution in their country.

So you would think the logical response would be let's surge the resources that process the asylum claims -- they're different resources -- and deal with folks who are trying to sneak into the country and evade capture.

This administration has doubled down on all the resources that deal with the kind old crisis and they haven't adjusted to face the realities of the new crisis. And that's why Nielsen and someone like Kevin McAleenan, and who I have a lot of respect for, really are putting themselves in an unwinnable position because they have to double down on these ineffective policies but deliver results for this president.

BERMAN: You brought up Kevin McAleenan who will be the acting secretary of Homeland Security. Tell us about the man that you know.

SANDWEG: Well listen, I think that the way in which Nielsen was removed in the middle of this crisis with this kind of chaotic approach unexpectedly does nothing but further destabilize the department. Great confusion, great fear, and uncertainty throughout the department.

But, the good news here is that Kevin McAleenan is coming in and Kevin is as competent of an individual as I worked with at the Department of Homeland Security. He was a -- he was a political appointee, I believe in the Bush administration, who converted to a career official, but someone that we always had a lot of respect for. I know Sec. Napolitano and Sec. Johnson had a tremendous amount of respect for.

Incredibly bright, understands these issues. And frankly, has a good sense, too, of some of the other missionaries of DHS, which I think are getting lost -- counterterrorism and even cybersecurity.

So an incredibly competent manager, a very smart guy, and I think we're lucky that the president appointed him. It's just the manner in which the president did it only creates further chaos.

BERMAN: If the president is looking for someone who will be more hardlined, will he find that person in Kevin McAleenan?

SANDWEG: You know, Kevin's definitely an enforcement guy and definitely believes in border security. I think Kevin is more -- is, you know, understands.

Having dealt with Kevin in the beginning of this crisis when I was at ICE, understands the challenges and the need to surge resources to process these cases quickly and get these people out of the country quickly. That's the crux of the problem. It's the exact opposite of what the president is saying.

You know, I have never known Kevin to be the kind of guy who likes to talk tough like the president likes to talk tough and I mean -- but I think -- you know, I'm not even sure what tough means to be quite honest with you.

I mean, the president implemented one the cruelest and, you could argue, toughest policies there is in the family separation -- what's going to be Nielsen's legacy, quite frankly. And what happened? The numbers only increased further.

But, Kevin is not the kind of -- you know, he's much more, in my experience, someone who is substantive -- more about substance than he is the rhetoric.

BERMAN: John Sandweg, great to have you with us this morning --

SANDWEG: Yes, thank you.

BERMAN: -- to help us understand what's happening. Appreciate it -- Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: OK, John.

Why is American Airlines canceling 90 flights a day? Christine Romans has our answer, next.

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[07:43:46] CAMEROTA: OK, it's time for "CNN Business Now." American Airlines canceling dozens of flights every day now through early June.

CNN chief business correspondent Christine Romans joins us with the reason why. What's this about?

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT, ANCHOR, "EARLY START": Because they've got some planes that are sitting in a hangar.

More trouble for Boeing here.

American Airlines announcing it's canceling flights all the way into early June due to the grounding of that 737 MAX. American had already canceled flights through late-April. It says that by proactively canceling more flights it can provide better rebooking options. The airline has 24 737 MAX jets in its fleet.

Now, Boeing now says it's cutting back production on all 737s from 52 a month to 42. The CEO, Dennis Muilenburg, adding it was creating a committee. They're going to review how it designs and develops jets in order to ensure the highest level of safety.

Southwest Airlines also is canceling flights, keeping its MAX jets out of service until authorized by the FAA. Southwest revised its schedule through April and May to reduce those last-minute trip disruptions and same-day cancelations.

Delta reports its earnings Wednesday. You know, Delta has held up better than other U.S. airlines you guys, because it does not have any Boeing 737 MAX jets in its fleet, John.

BERMAN: All right, Christine Romans. Thank you very much.

[07:45:01] So this may be the most important story most Americans missed last week. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell changed a rule that could mean more presidential appointees getting through Congress much faster.

John Avlon here with a reality check -- John.

JOHN AVLON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Good morning, guys.

Look, life is a struggle between the urgent and the important. We live in a time when reckless rhetoric and outright lies can sometimes obscure really important decisions that will shape your future.

And we saw that a few days ago when Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell went nuclear and it barely registered on the Richter scale. McConnell invoked the so-called nuclear option to push through Trump nominees along narrow partisan lines at a faster clip than ever before.

In the words of columnist Dana Milbank, McConnell, quote, "undid 213 years of history in 33 minutes."

Now, the self-proclaimed Senate institutionalist cut debate on lower court and executive nominees from 30 hours to only two, and it's not as if they needed the speed. Republicans have pushed through a record 36 Trump circuit court judges in Trump's first two years, and that's compared to 19 for Clinton, 17 for Bush, and 17 for Obama.

Trump judges are overwhelmingly white, male, and young. And for what it's worth, a high number of them have been rated not qualified by the American Bar Association.

But, McConnell and company argued they needed to make such a move and pushed out these stats showing the outside number of cloture votes required on Trump nominees. But here's a critical bit of missing context. Even more cloture votes -- 150 -- were required on Obama's nominees from 2013 through '14 -- a period of unprecedented obstruction against Obama by the GOP.

And it was then that Harry Reid implemented the so-called nuclear option to go simple majority on judicial nominees, excluding the Supreme Court. Now, furious McConnell warned that there'd be hell to pay.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL (R-KY), SENATE MAJORITY LEADER: I say to my friends on the other side of the aisle, you'll regret this and you may regret it a lot sooner than you think.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

AVLON: Of course, McConnell got his revenge on Reid by blocking Obama's Supreme Court nominee Merrick Garland and pushing through two Trump Supreme Court nominees by simple majorities.

Now, McConnell's expanding his strategy to lower-level appointments, angrily accusing Chuck Schumer of this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MCCONNELL: He started this whole thing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

AVLON: He started this whole thing. Talk about sandbox politics, people.

And now, the same scorched earth strategy is going to be applied to everything from assistant secretary positions to lower court judges and Federal Reserve position to which Trump just nominated this guy.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HERMAN CAIN, NOMINEE, FEDERAL RESERVE BOARD: My 999 plan -- 999.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

AVLON: But there's a deeper cost.

As a wise man once wrote, quote, "The key thing about the U.S. Senate is that more than any other institution in any democracy, its rules are designed to safeguard the rights of the minority party.

Invoking the nuclear option created a precedent that allows a simple majority that gets impatient to change the rules at any time to achieve a totally partisan agenda." And that, he wrote, "would undermine the Senate's unique role as a moderating influence and put a permanent end to bipartisanship."

That would be Mitch McConnell circa 2016 in his memoir, "The Long Game."

And that's your reality check.

CAMEROTA: John, it is so helpful to see how we got here and to hear the hypocrisy built in there.

BERMAN: Yes. Mitch McConnell's long game is a different game here, I think it's safe to say at this point. Very different.

Thanks, John.

CAMEROTA: Thanks, John.

The Pentagon is pulling a contingent of U.S. troops out of Libya after a surge in violence in the capital city of Tripoli. The American forces were there to provide support for diplomatic missions and counterterrorism activities.

On Sunday, the Libyan National Army announced it had launched air strikes against United Nations-backed forces in Southern Tripoli. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is calling for an immediate stop to this offensive.

BERMAN: Motel 6 will pay $12 million to settle a lawsuit after several locations in Washington State gave personal guest information to U.S. immigration officials. The state attorney general's office says seven Motel 6 locations voluntarily shared their guest lists with ICE agents which resulted in targeted investigations of guests with Latino-sounding names.

CAMEROTA: Wait until you see this. A circus lion attacked a trainer -- oh, I hate to watch this -- yikes -- during a live performance in the Ukraine. The terrifying moment was captured on video --

BERMAN: Oh.

CAMEROTA: Oh, no -- captured on video and posted on social media.

You can see the lion bite and claw the trainer. The trainer did manage to fight off the lion, we're happy to report. The man suffered deep cuts and bruises but is OK.

Maybe the lion was just playing.

BERMAN: That doesn't look like playing to me.

CAMEROTA: I can't tell.

BERMAN: No. You can't tell? The last time you played with a lion they pawed you nicely.

CAMEROTA: I'm not that familiar with lion -- playful lion behavior. I'm not sure.

BERMAN: All right.

The one guarantee from last week was that "SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE" was going to take on the new issues surrounding Joe Biden, and they did.

Here are your "Late-Night Laughs."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JASON SUDEIKIS, FORMER CAST MEMBER, NBC "SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE": Really great to meet you, Gwen. It really is. I appreciate you coming here. Thank you for helping us out. CECILY STRONG, CAST MEMBER, NBC "SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE": Mr. Vice President?

SUDEIKIS: One second, I'm just connecting -- one second. Sorry for the interruption. Really, truly, thank you. And what were you saying?

KATE MCKINNON, CAST MEMBER, NBC "SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE": So, this is exactly the kind of thing that I'm here to prevent. Let's discuss how to properly greet a woman.

[07:50:03] SUDEIKIS: OK, all right. What about a handshake? Is that all right?

MCKINNON: A handshake is great.

SUDEIKIS: Good -- OK, and what about during that handshake I go ahead and I tickle her palm a little bit. You know, something like that.

MCKINNON: That's not great.

SUDEIKIS: OK.

MCKINNON: I would say no tickling at all.

SUDEIKIS: Really? Even on her birthday? OK, all right.

MICHAEL CHE, CAST MEMBER, NBC "SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE": It was reported that if President Trump closes the border with Mexico, the U.S. would run out of avocados in three weeks. Man, this guy must really hate white women. Why else would he wage a war on brunch?

I can't wait until there's a Million Meghan March (ph) because he made it illegal to pour orange juice in Prosecco.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: Good stuff. Very good stuff.

All right, now to this. Police going beyond the call of duty, running towards a mass shooter. We'll tell you about one officer's longshot that saved lives, next.

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[07:55:03] CAMEROTA: One Chicago police SWAT team officer ran towards danger to stop a mass shooter's carnage at a hospital. CNN's Ryan Young tells us how he went beyond the call of duty.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ELVIS TURCINOVIC, POLICE OFFICER, CHICAGO POLICE DEPARTMENT: In a perfect world -- I mean, there would be no names on these walls, but we don't live in a perfect world.

RYAN YOUNG, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Walking the memorial for fallen officers, Elvis Turcinovic knows the pain of losing a brother in the line of duty. Turcinovic was one of the three Chicago police officers honored for their bravery in stopping a shooting at Mercy Hospital.

EDDIE JOHNSON, SUPERINTENDENT, CHICAGO POLICE DEPARTMENT: When they pulled up they heard the gunshots and they did what the heroic officers always do. They ran towards that gunfire.

DISPATCHER: They still got shots fired. Four more shots heard. One more shot. They're still shooting.

YOUNG: Police radio calls sent officers rushing into a gun battle.

POLICE OFFICER: I've got five units responding that way from downtown.

YOUNG: The trouble started outside the emergency room of Chicago's Mercy Hospital. Within minutes, dozens of officers, including Officer Turcinovic, descended on the hospital while the gunman was armed with multiple magazines.

Police say he was involved in a domestic dispute with his former fiance, an emergency room doctor. When he started shooting, Dr. Tamara O'Neal was shot and killed in the parking lot. The gunman then ran inside the hospital where he also killed pharmaceutical resident Dayna Less as she got off an elevator.

TURCINOVIC: What we saw was chaos. We made our way into the hospital. I came upon a lieutenant from the First District and Officer Samuel Jimenez. They had the site of the shooter -- where he's at -- and they pointed him out to me.

YOUNG: After Turcinovic heard the bullets flying past him, another officer's gun absorbed one of the shots, possibly saving his life.

TURCINOVIC: I know that we had to close distance to him. It was kind of far. It was about 80 yards down the hallway.

Immediately after seeing us, the shooter opened fire and he struck Officer Jimenez.

YOUNG: Dropping to his stomach from over 70 yards away, Turcinovic fired the shot that struck the shooter, ending the shooting.

TURCINOVIC: As a police officer, you don't get -- you don't get to see action every day and you don't want to see action. You just want to come work, do your job, help the people.

YOUNG: Officer Samuel Jimenez was a father of three who had only been on the force for 18 months.

TURCINOVIC: He paid the ultimate sacrifice. He didn't return home that day.

YOUNG: Ryan Young, CNN, Chicago.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CAMEROTA: All right. Another cabinet secretary shown the door. NEW DAY continues right now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Kirstjen Nielsen is leaving Trump, who is not pleased with her performance.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The demands from the White House are unrealistic. She saw the writing on the wall.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She has separated families. She'll be remembered as one of the worst public servants we've seen.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The president has acting staff in so many positions at this point, we don't know what this path will be towards Senate confirmation.

BILL HEMMER, HOST, "FOX NEWS SUNDAY": You believe Democrats will never see the president's tax returns?

MICK MULVANEY, ACTING WHITE HOUSE CHIEF OF STAFF: Oh, no, never.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is Trump administration bluster. I would say to them, read the law.

SEN. MITT ROMNEY (R), UTAH: Going after his tax returns through a legislative action is moronic. He's going to win this victory.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There is no legal ground for them here.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

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

CAMEROTA: Good morning, everyone. Welcome to your NEW DAY. It is Monday, April eighth, 8:00 now in the East.

A revolving door in the Trump White House. The latest person to be given the boot is Homeland Security Sec. Kirstjen Nielsen, the face of the president's anti-immigration push.

A senior administration official tells our Jake Tapper that Nielsen believed the situation was becoming untenable and the president was becoming increasingly unhinged about the border crisis, making unreasonable and even impossible requests of her.

The president has named the head of Customs and Border Protection to temporarily replace her. Nielsen's sudden departure leaves Homeland Security, the Pentagon, and the White House chief of staff position without permanent heads.

BERMAN: Also new this morning, Mick Mulvaney, the acting chief of staff, has put a new time frame on when the president will let Congress see his tax returns. How do you feel about never? He says Congress will never see the president's tax returns.

So, two big questions about that this morning. How will the courts handle this standoff and why is the president fighting so hard to keep them a secret? What, if anything, is he hiding?

Joining us now, Rachael Bade, congressional reporter for "The Washington Post"; Laura Barron-Lopez, political reporter for "Politico"; and, Joe Lockhart. He was White House press secretary for President Clinton.

Rachael, let me start with you here because this looks like something of a housecleaning.

END