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The Lead with Jake Tapper

Trump Rushing to Build More Border Wall; Trump Pardon of Blackwater Massacre Participants Stirs Outrage; Biden's Plans to Stop Construction on Border Wall May Be Costly and Difficult; President- Elect Biden Nominates Miguel Cardona As Education Secretary. Aired 4:30-5p ET

Aired December 23, 2020 - 16:30   ET

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

[16:33:50]

PAMELA BROWN, CNN HOST: Well, President Trump's decision to pardon four American security guards involved in the infamous Blackwater massacre has horrified survivors of this 2007 incident.

The guards were private military contractors with Blackwater, convicted of killing 14 of the 17 people when they opened fire in Baghdad. Two of the youngest victims were just 9 and 11 years old. One man lost his mother and his son in the killings.

As CNN's Barbara Starr reports, survivors call Trump's pardons shocking and disappointing.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It is one of the darkest episodes of the U.S. war in Iraq; 17 unarmed Iraqi civilians were shot to death in 2007 in a Baghdad traffic circle, including 9- and 11-year-old boys, a team of Blackwater private security contractors later convicted in the killing of 14 of them.

The group had been notified of a nearby car bomb as their convoy moved into a traffic circle. Witnesses said they then opened fire on men, women and children.

President Trump last night turning the page by pardoning four of the contractors.

[16:35:03]

COL. CEDRIC LEIGHTON (RET.), U.S. AIR FORCE: I was absolutely disgusted to hear about the pardons, because the work that we had done in Iraq was so important, especially when it came to dealing with the local population.

STARR: The full pardons went to Nicholas Slatten, who was serving a life sentence for murder. Paul Slough, Evan Liberty, and Dustin Heard were serving sentences between 12 and 15 years for manslaughter.

REP. ADAM SMITH (D-WA): This is a reprehensible decision that basically throws the rule of law out the window on a presidential whim.

STARR: The Iraqi Foreign Ministry quickly reacting, saying the president's pardons "ignored the dignity of the victims and the feelings and rights of their families."

Many Iraqis have long felt the incident showed Americans did not value Iraqi lives. Among those killed were a doctor, a used car salesman, a truck driver, a businessman, an Iraqi soldier, a gardener, a taxi driver, and an aspiring doctor taking his mother to an appointment, according to prosecutors.

Getting the convictions took years. In 2009, the federal judge dismissed the case due to misuse of statement. But then Vice President Joe Biden renewed the commitment to prosecute.

JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENT-ELECT: A dismissal, I want to make clear, is not an acquittal. And, today, I'm announcing that the United States government will appeal this decision.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

STARR (on camera): Now, the testimony from Iraqi witnesses at the eventual trial was truly harrowing, one saying: "They killed everyone" -- Pamela.

BROWN: All right, Barbara Starr, thank you for that.

Now let's bring in CNN's Arwa Damon, who covered the massacre for CNN.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ARWA DAMON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): At least 14 civilians lost their lives that day, the youngest 9-year-old Ali, shot in the head in the backseat of the car, as his father helplessly watched him die.

"My son was the heart of our family," Mohammed Abdulrazzaq says.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: And Arwa joins us now.

Arwa, explain for our viewers just how devastating this massacre was.

DAMON: It was absolutely gutting, Pamela.

You have to remember, we're talking Baghdad 2007. So it was already a city that was wrought with violence. But on the particular day in September that this happened, the sun was out, and it seemed as if people could sort of disillusion themselves for just a little bit that their lives weren't as wretched as they actually were.

And then seemingly almost out of the blue, these bullets start flying at Al Nisour Square. One person described it as if, in an instant, the streets just turned into streets of blood. Eyewitnesses have said that they tried to turn their vehicles around, they tried to get away, but the bullets just kept on coming.

It was an incident that devastated those who lost loved ones, those who managed to survive, but also the country as a whole. The levels of anger that existed in the aftermath of this between the Iraqi population and the American one were quite significant.

There was so much tension that emerged between the Iraqi and the U.S. governments in the wake of all of this. And Iraqis really had to wait a long time to actually get a semblance of justice.

And it's worth noting, too, that these security companies, the vast majority of them, they acted with impunity, because remember, back then, they had immunity, and they would just barrel through the streets, guns blazing, forcing vehicles off the road.

This was hardly the first time that something like this happened. Many of them were very trigger-happy, with the company Blackwater being among the worst defenders. But this really brought a lot of anger and pain to the forefront for a lot of Iraqis.

BROWN: And you have been talking to survivors of the massacre. What else are you hearing from them about these pardons?

DAMON: Well, Pamela, a number of the survivors that we have actually been talking to were ones who traveled to the U.S. to testify.

And for many of them, that whole experience, especially coming seven years after the massacre took place, helped to a certain degree renew their faith in American ideals.

But here's what one lawyer who was shot himself three times whose name is Hassan Jaber Salman had to say. He said: "The American justice system is known to be a fair system. But it turns out that the system -- that the American justice system is not fair." He said it is not fair because of these pardons that took place, because President Trump pardoned murderers.

[16:40:01]

Another person who we spoke to was pleading with President Trump to not release these men, to not allow them to go free, because he said they were the ones who were terrorists.

There's a lot of shock today in Iraq and, in fact, beyond because of what has just taken place, a lot of, as you heard in Barbara's package there, people being reminded of something that they have felt for a very, very long time. And that is that Americans, they really just don't value Iraqi life.

BROWN: All right, Arwa Damon, thank you for your reporting.

Well, it was one of President Trump's biggest campaign promises -- up next, a look at the mad dash to build more border wall and why president-elect Biden may not be able to stop it.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [16:45:16]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Who is going to pay for the wall?

AUDIENCE: Mexico!

TRUMP: Who?

AUDIENCE: Mexico!

TRUMP: By the way, 100 percent.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: So, Mexico did not end up paying for the border all but hundreds of miles of border wall are on track to be finished before President Trump leaves office. And despite President-elect Joe Biden's ambitions to stop construction on that, it may be costly, complex and controversial to reverse course now.

CNN's Ed Lavandera shows us why from the U.S. southern border.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ED LAVANDERA, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): If you want a taste of life on the Arizona-Mexico border, ride shotgun in Kelly Kimbro's 1992 desert beaten Ford pick up truck.

KELLY KIMBRO, ARIZONA RANCHER: We're not big time ranchers. We have a couple of cattle ranches. We make a living. We love the lifestyle.

LAVANDERA: It's hard to tell where the United States ends and Mexico begins on Kimbro's 800 acres in southeast Arizona.

This year, that changed. The Trump administration is carving a 19-mile wall right through this wide open value.

What's it like to see this massive construction project on your property?

KIMBRO: We did not think it was necessary.

LAVANDERA: Construction crews moved in about a year ago. This is what the wall looked like across the San Bernardino Valley in February. This is what it looks like today. Some see it as a long scar.

KIMBRO: And the American taxpayer doesn't see. They hear build that wall. It's going to secure this country. I promise you it's never going to secure the country not any better than it's already secure.

LAVANDERA: In the final weeks of the Trump presidency, the rush is on to finish building at least 450 miles of the border walls. Customs and Border Protection officials say at least 438 miles of that are now complete.

As the coronavirus pandemic raged this year, border wall construction never stopped.

For months, anti-wall activists have documented what they describe as an environmental catastrophe unfolding along the southern border. Crews blasting and bulldozing through rugged mountainous terrain.

Border Patrol officials say the new walls are vital to patrolling these remote regions.

DANIEL HERNANDEZ, BORDER PATROL AGENT: Good infrastructure buys us more time and gives us the critical seconds and minutes we need to get to an area. But as of now, a lot has been erected and we're hoping in the future it pays off dividends.

LAVANDERA: The Army Corps of Engineers say eight border wall projects have been finished with crews actively working around the clock on 47 other projects.

JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENT-ELECT: Good evening, my fellow Americans.

LAVANDERA: The question is what happens when President-elect Joe Biden takes office? Biden has pledged he would not build another foot of border wall.

BRANDON JUDD, NATIONAL BORDER PATROL COUNCIL: There's construction that's taking place. It's going to go up this mountain.

LAVANDERA: Brandon Judd leads the National Border Patrol Council. The union has been a vocal ally of President Trump. Judge says it would be foolish for Biden to stop the construction now.

JUDD: You can see the trench. Those are the footers. What? You're just going to throw that away. That doesn't make any sense because now you're just throwing money in the toilet.

LAVANDERA: Halting construction isn't enough for some anti-wall activists.

KATE SCOTT, ENVIRONMENTAL ACTIVIST: Take the wall down in the areas it needs to be taken down right away.

LAVANDERA: We hiked to this border wall stretching the San Pedro River bed in Arizona with environmentalist Kate Scott. She says this construction is a deadly threat to wildlife that migrates through this area.

SCOTT: I can tell you, we wake up, we cry, we steady ourselves and we get to work because it's been so painful for me to witness this monstrosity.

LAVANDERA: But the wall also isn't being built fast enough for Jim Chilton.

JIM CHILTON, ARIZONA RANCHER: The international boundary. LAVANDERA: This isn't the kind of wall you want?

CHILTON: No.

LAVANDERA: His ranch spans across 50,000 acres in Arizona. Chilton is lobbying for a wall on this spot. He says it's a low priority area because it's so remote but he does have the ear of the border wall's biggest cheerleader.

President Trump put Chilton in the spotlight during a rally last year.

CHILTON: Mr. President, we need a wall.

I offered the federal government ten acres of land over here of my private property to have a forward operation base. I offered it for $1 a year. And I even told you I'll give you the dollar if you can't find one.

LAVANDERA: You've made the border patrol and federal government an offer you thought they couldn't refuse.

CHILTON: They said they would study it. That was four years ago.

[16:50:00]

LAVANDERA: Chilton's ranch sits between a 25-mile gap and existing border wall and he says it's prime terrain for drug smugglers. He's deployed hidden cameras to capture what he says are more than a thousand images of camouflaged smugglers marching across his ranch.

CHILTON: My ranch is a no man's land. It's actually controlled by the cartel.

LAVANDERA: Laiken Jordahl has spent a year sounding the alarm about border wall construction in Arizona.

LAIKEN JORDAHL, CENTER FOR BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY: This wall is purely political theater. It does nothing to actually stop people or drugs from crossing the border.

LAVANDERA: Jordahl drove us around Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, a breathtaking national park in the heart of the Sonoran Desert. The tranquility of the landscape is broken by the sounds of crews building more than 60 miles of wall, part of it through this national park. He calls himself a disaster tour guide.

JORDAHL: They're pulling out all the stops to rush this project through. This is all trash.

LAVANDERA: Jordahl used to work as a U.S. National Park ranger at the Organ Pipe National Monument in Arizona. He says he resigned after President Trump took office.

JORDAHL: It's really an insult to those of us who live down here. We're seeing our communities ripped apart. We're seeing these ecosystems being destroyed. We don't care what you call it, this thing is a disaster.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LAVANDERA: If the Biden administration wants to stop building border wall, there are issues. Funding is allocated for another 300 miles or so, and there are construction contracts already in place. So, it gets complicated.

But here at the end of the Trump presidency, it's clear: Mexico did not pay for that border wall. But you cannot dispute that the Trump administration has fundamentally changed the landscape of hundred of miles of the southern border -- Pamela.

BROWN: That is correct.

All right, Ed, thanks so much.

And up next, President-elect Joe Biden today introducing another one of his cabinet picks. When we might know the remaining names, up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:56:04]

BROWN: Well, minutes ago, President Trump boarded Air Force One. He is on his way to Mar-a-Lago for the holidays.

The president notably did not take any questions, even though minutes before departing he vetoed the defense bill, which was passed with wide bipartisan support on Capitol Hill, and the veto setting up yet another scramble for Congress.

President Trump is also upending the stimulus deal his own administration negotiated. Plus, we are expecting more pardons in these chaotic final days of President Trump's presidency.

And just last night, Trump issued more than a dozen pardons, many with personal links to Trump, two former Republican congressman who were early supporters of Trump's presidential campaign and two people convicted in the Russia investigation.

And today, President-elect Joe Biden announced his pick for education secretary, Connecticut education commissioner and former public schoolteacher Miguel Cardona who vowed to purge opportunity for students out of this pandemic. And even though Biden's cabinet is filling out, he still has five cabinet positions left to fill, including attorney general.

CNN's Jessica Dean joins me now.

So, when are we going to hear more, Jessica, about those nominations?

JESSICA DEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Pam, President-elect Joe Biden had said he'd hoped to fill it all out by Christmas. But, obviously, here we are. It is December 23rd and we now know that those last five are going to come after the Christmas holiday. So, he's got five slots left to fill. Notably CIA and also attorney

general. Of course, who's going to be leading his Department of Justice? He talked a little bit about that yesterday, making clear yet again he wants it to be very independent, that he does not intend to talk to any potential nominees about the investigation into his son Hunter Biden and he wants politics out of the Department of Justice.

We know the leading contenders right now are Judge Merrick Garland and Alabama Senator Doug Jones.

So, again, we're anticipating hearing announcements about the remainder of the cabinet after the Christmas holiday. In the meantime, Pam, you mentioned Miguel Cardona announced today as Biden's nominee to be the secretary of education. Something important for a lot of families to note, he's a big proponent of getting kids back in school amidst this pandemic and doing so safely. That's a big priority for Joe Biden and Kamala Harris as well. They want as many schools back open in their first 100 days as possible.

So, they're hoping to work together to make that happen and make that a reality for so many students out there, Pam.

BROWN: And what about this back and forth between the Biden team and Department of Defense officials over the last 24 hours. Tell us about that.

DEAN: Yeah, it's been a lot of back and forth. So, let's start with yesterday. We'll take you to the beginning when the president-elect said that the Department of Defense had not briefed his team, he was talking about the cyberattacks and said they had not briefed his team. Well, a defense -- a senior defense official pushed back on that today, saying it was patently untrue, saying that they have undergone over 100 interviews and requests for information, this official saying more than they had originally been asked for by the Biden-Harris team.

Then we heard from the Biden-Harris transition team in response to that, and they said that's just not true. They're not getting briefed on what they need to know and that there could be serious consequences come January 20th when Biden takes office if they don't continue to get that flow of information.

And interesting here, there's a little bit of history as well. A few weeks ago, the Biden transition team said that they had not agreed to a stop date. The Department of Defense, Pam, had said it was a mutually agreed upon holiday break.

So, a lot of back and forth here. We'll see what happens moving forward -- Pam.

BROWN: Yeah, back and forth, confusing communication. I know you'll keep tracking that.

DEAN: Yeah.

BROWN: Thank you so much, Jessica Dean. We appreciate it.

DEAN: Yes.

BROWN: And be sure to follow me on Twitter @PamelaBrownCNN, or, of course, you can tweet the show @TheLeadCNN.

I'm back here tomorrow at 4:00 p.m. Eastern and our coverage on CNN continues right now.

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