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Speaker Johnson: Topline Agreement With Senate Dems Remains In Place; Every U.S. State Under A Weather Alert Right Now; FAA Announces Audit Of Boeing's Production Lines, Suppliers After Alaska Airlines Incident. Aired 11:30a-12p ET

Aired January 12, 2024 - 11:30   ET

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

[11:30:00]

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KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Speaker Johnson is announcing he is holding firm to a deal that he made with Democratic Majority Leader of the Senate, Chuck Schumer. All of this having to do with keeping the government funded and avoiding a government shutdown that could be starting next week. Despite the mounting pressure that Johnson has been getting from House conservatives for him to ditch that deal.

CNN's Manu Raju. He just spoke with one of the Rep -- with -- he's getting more reporting -- speaking to more House Republicans about all of this. Manu, what are you hearing now?

MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. I just spoke to the House Freedom Caucus Chairman Bob Good. That is the far-right block that has been a persistent thorn in the side of leadership team after leadership team, now being one with Speaker Johnson because they intended to try to scuttle this deal that -- by -- Johnson cut with Chuck Schumer.

They believed it spent too much money. They also are demanded for restrictions -- severe restrictions on the southern border with Mexico. Things that simply the Democrats would not accept.

Johnson trying to cut a bipartisan deal, try to tout some what he believes are some conservative victories he had -- or was open to discussing the concerns of the far-right members. But just moments go, as you indicated, saying that he would not side with those concerns and would stick to the agreement he cut with Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer. So, when I asked Bob Good about this -- Bob Good, one of the eight members who voted out Kevin McCarthy as speaker last year, he made clear he was opposed to what Johnson was doing, but also indicated he was not going to try to push Johnson out of the speakership.

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RAJU: How disappointed are you in his leadership right now?

REP. BOB GOOD (R-VA): Well, I don't agree with the announced deal between the Senate and the House that would come from the weekend. I'm vehemently opposed to it, publicly and privately. Will continue to do so.

RAJU: Have you lost confidence in him as a speaker?

GOOD: That's a silly question.

RAJU: Why? I mean, you voted him to oust the last speaker over a similar agreement. Would you vote to oust him now?

GOOD: If you ask -- it's a ridiculous supposition that you would -- that someone who's been a speaker for two and a half months or been the leadership of -- the leader of our party for two and a half months would be treated the same as someone who was in that position for years and is the reason why we needed new leadership.

RAJU: But he --

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU: But, Kate, the deal that was cut -- that Johnson cut is essentially the same with some differences than with Kevin McCarthy. And that's what caused a lot of concerns on the far-right. But as you heard Bob Good right there, not moving to push out speaker Johnson, Kate.

BOLDUAN: Yes. Good questions, though, Manu. Thank you so much. Sara?

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Right now, Homeland Security officials tell CNN they were taken by surprise after the Texas military department blocked Border Patrol agents from accessing miles of the U.S. and Mexico border. You can see the pictures just here. This is from a court filing this morning asking the Supreme Court to intervene.

In a statement to CNN, the Texas military department says it's preparing for future surges and is restricting access to anyone helping people cross illegally. This comes as the number of migrant encounters in Eagle Pass, for example, has dropped to about 500 per day, a far cry from the thousands seen in mid-December. But Texas is taking a very hardline stance.

Joining us now from CNN's Rosa Flores. She is live for us in Texas. Rosa, what is the latest update? This is a real conundrum between these two huge powers. One, a state power, and the other the federal government.

ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You're absolutely right, Sara. And you've got to process this with me because this is an extraordinary step taken by the state of Texas to block Border Patrol agents from miles of the Rio Grande from a public park that the federal government uses to launch their boats so that they can patrol the Rio Grande to a staging area that the federal government uses during migrant surges. And also, they also use that area to manage transportation assets so that they can move migrants from that area to other areas for immigration processing. From talking to law enforcement on the ground, this person tells me that this puts border patrol in a bind.

[11:35:05]

They have to apprehend migrants in areas that are not as safe for either migrants or for federal agents, either. And the Texas military department doubling down on their efforts to block Border Patrol. Sending a statement to CNN saying, "The current posture is to prepare for future illegal immigrant surges and to restrict access to organizations that perpetuate illegal immigrant crossings in a city park at the Rio Grande and greater Eagle Pass area."

The keywords there -- and I want to repeat them because these are important. This is the Texas military department saying that they're keeping organizations out i.e. Border Patrol, organizations that "perpetuate illegal immigrant crossings in a city." Now, Governor Greg Abbott's office has not responded to CNN's requests for comment regarding these efforts to keep Border Patrol out of this area.

But Governor Abbott did take to Twitter yesterday to say, "We are making clear that Texas will be a tough place to cross." Now, the White House has condemned to these efforts. And the backdrop of how this is happening and where this is happening is important because the number of migrant apprehensions at the U.S. southern border has plummeted in recent weeks.

Yes, there were about 10,000 migrant apprehensions on the US southern border back in mid-December. That dropped to about 3000 in January. And the scene is very similar in Eagle Pass Texas, which was the epicenter of the migrant crisis in mid-December when thousands of migrants were crossing into the area. But as of this week, about 500 migrants are crossing into the Eagle Pass area.

Now, the Biden administration has also taken the extraordinary step to go to the Supreme Court asking the highest court to intervene so that border patrol can have access to its jurisdiction so that they can patrol the Rio Grande. Now, this is one of many disputes between Texas and the United States. You've got the controversial border buoys, you got the razor wire, and now Border Patrol not been able to have access to this.

But, Sara, I want to leave you with this because this is an important context. In my experience on the U.S. southern border, it is common to see state authorities and federal authorities working together. They do that all the time.

I've talked to law enforcement sources who say that that's what's happening in other parts of Texas. So, this is very unique to this area of Eagle Pass, and it is not normal. Normally, law enforcement for both state and federal agencies work together in partnership to keep the border safe, Sara.

SIDNER: Yes, but this is also extremely political. So, we will all be watching what happens because there is a huge legal component here. Rosa Flores, thank you so much, joining us live there from Houston. John?

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Joining us now is Congressman Vicente Gonzalez, a Democrat from Texas. Congressman, thank you so much for being with us. How do you feel about these Texas officers keeping federal officials away from certain border regions?

REP. VICENTE GONZALEZ (D-TX): Well, I can begin by saying we have a problem on our border that needs to be addressed much more aggressively by the president and this administration. But having said that, this is just a continuation of the political theater that Governor Abbott has done for a long time. One time, he had inspections of trucks coming across the border that lasted for a few weeks, then he was you know, building a wall, and he put razor wire out in the middle of the river that killed children and women and he's put a capitalist -- State National Guard troops - aligned with this (ph). So, you know, it has zero impact in curbing migration to our southern border.

But having said that, the president needs to do a whole lot more. We need to raise credible standards. We need to do more on the southern border.

BERMAN: The president and the administration needs to do a lot more. What do you mean?

GONZALEZ: Well, I think we need to figure out how to raise credible fear standards on the border, put more immigration judges on the border to have expedited hearings, and we need to start removing folks who come into the -- into the country illegally. We need to enforce immigration laws like we've never done before. We've had a problem that I think, complaining about for years.

And I think now it's impacting places around the country. And I -- and I hope that the White House -- this has brought attention to the White House. But we need to do a lot more on our southern border.

We need to stop this massive migration that at the end of the day over 70 percent have never ever qualified for asylum. And we need to come to terms with that.

BERMAN: Are you saying the administration is not getting the job done?

GONZALEZ: I don't think this administration or the past administration have done enough on our southern border. I think we need to enforce the laws that we have in the books now. And we need to send a message to the world that if you show up at our southern border, you don't just get to come in.

BERMAN: It sounds like you're saying the administration needs to do more though than just enforce the laws through the southern border right now. It sounds like what you're saying is raise the credible fear standard, just so people understand what that means. It sounds like what you're saying is you would like to change asylum laws, correct?

[11:40:00]

GONZALEZ: Change asylum laws and change the way the law is interpreted. Now, at the end of the day, we have asylum officers on our border. And we have a massive migration, which the vast majority is economic migration showing up. And they give agents a laundry list of things that will allow them in under the asylum law that we've agreed to.

I think we need to certainly raise the standard. And we need to raise the scrutiny level that our agents are using on our southern border. These laws have been on the books for decades.

And never have I ever seen the mass migration to our southern border the way we have recently. And this is not a Democratic or Republican problem. This is an American problem that needs to be addressed in a bipartisan way.

BERMAN: It is though, changing asylum laws, which would make it harder for people to get asylum as they cross the border. Raising the standards, by definition, making it harder is something that a lot of Democrats are against. So, what pushback are you getting when you bring that either to Democratic leadership in the House or the White House?

GONZALEZ: We need to have common sense solutions. And -- yes, I have a lot of pushback within my party. And I think they're wrong on this issue.

I've proposed safe zones. I have a safe zone map that I propose that creates safe zones in Guatemala and Panama, in Costa Rica, maybe Colombia, where asylum claims could be -- at that -- at that juncture, you know, 1500 -- 2000 miles away from our southern border, and we dealt with it at that juncture.

BERMAN: Do you --

GONZALEZ: And if we're going to turn to you away, we do more.

BERMAN: Do you think that impeaching Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas as some Republicans want to do would fix this?

GONZALEZ: No, that's ridiculous. We need to continue working with Secretary Mayorkas to find solutions that will be impactful on our southern border. He's done -- I mean, he's an engaged secretary. He's doing everything he can. But he's under a lot of pressure as well, from some of these, you know, migrant groups and some of the more progressives within my party.

But we need to come to terms with the fact that we have a problem that needs a resolution. And it shouldn't be a political issue. We've always enforced immigration laws on our southern border.

My entire life, I've lived around the southern border, and I've always seen our laws enforced. And what we're seeing now is no different than what we saw during the Trump administration. We're not going to put it the same way as he did. We're not going to rip children out of women's -- mother's arms, and we're not going to separate families and we're not going to cage children.

But we do need to enforce laws on our southern border. We need to have expedited hearings and expedited removals. And send a message to the world that hey, we want you to come but we need to find an orderly way, we need to order on our southern border. BERMAN: Congressman Vicente Gonzalez, from Texas, thank you so much. Kate?

BOLDUAN: Coming up still for us, a triple weather threat. Severe storms in the south, blizzard conditions in the Midwest, and big rain across the Northeast. Essentially, everyone needs to prepare for another hit of weather this weekend. That is next.

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[11:47:24]

SIDNER: Every state in the United States is under some type of weather alert today. Blizzard warnings, two tornado warnings are in effect, and a huge storm is working its way across the eastern half of the country at the moment. Heavy wet snow hitting Chicago, you see it there, causing major travel delays as O'Hare International Airport ordered a full ground stop early this morning because of those absolutely frigid temps.

CNN's Whitney Wild is in Chicago, out in those frigid temps. Look at what we do to you, girl. I'm so sorry.

Whitney -- I don't know. Can you feel your face? Like, what is -- what is it like out there?

WHITNEY WILD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know, and it's actually not that bad, Sara. It's above freezing. That has been the story of Chicago because we have not seen a high of below freezing since November 28.

And so, what that means is the water here at Lake Michigan is very warm as is the ground. So, the snow that's falling here isn't accumulating that much on the streets in Chicago. It's turning to water very quickly.

It's also pushing down that total snow accumulation. We're thinking between four and eight inches from the start of the storm which was around 3:00 a.m. this morning through when these advisory lights up which is around 1:00 Eastern tomorrow.

But let me just give you a sense of what it looks like out here. You look to the skyline here, that's probably the most visible place we're seeing the storm, Sara. That box, that's the Willis Tower. People outside Chicago might know that as the Sears Tower.

Normally, that is one of the most striking buildings in the Chicago skyline because you'd have those two iconic spires at the top. But you can't see any of that. It's not nearly as striking as it normally is.

Across Illinois, this is a bigger problem. Up to a foot in some places. Illinois Department of Transportation sending out at least 1800 vehicles and pieces of equipment. Back here in Chicago, challenge after challenge after challenge because there are migrants still pouring into the city. Another bus is expected today.

Let me take you on a walk here and I'll show you what the city is trying to do to try to help these migrants. They have warming buses here at the landing zone where 141 migrants are staying, Sara.

SIDNER: Whitney Wild, thank you to your crew for staying out there for us. We really appreciate you. John?

BERMAN: All right, a waking nightmare. Alaska Airlines passengers now suing Boeing after a plane's door plug blew out, forcing an emergency landing.

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[11:54:06]

BERMAN: All right. Today, the FAA announced it will audit Boeing's productions lines and suppliers for its 737 Max Nine planes. It stems from an incident last week where a door plug blew out of an Alaska Airlines Flight. Now, passengers are suing Boeing for injuries both physical and emotional.

Let's go to CNN's Pete Muntean for the very latest on this. First, talk to us about this review from the FAA, Pete.

PETE MUNTEAN, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT: Two rare announcements from the FAA, John. And each of them pretty significant. Put together, they mean the probe of Friday's in-flight blowout now getting bigger, now going way beyond just the incident itself and asking what a lot of people really want to know is there a bigger problem at Boeing.

The FAA just announced it will audit the 737 Max Nine production line. That was the plane involved in last Friday's incident. All 171 of those planes remain grounded in the U.S.

The audit will focus on Boeing and its suppliers. And that's pretty key because a contractor, Spirit AeroSystems, is the one that builds the fuselage. This is in addition to the investigation into Boeing's quality control that the FAA announced yesterday.

[11:55:12]

And here's what the FAA said in a statement about announcing that investigation. This incident should have never happened, and it cannot happen again. Boeing's manufacturing practices need to comply with the high safety standards they're legally accountable to meet.

Remember, this investigation focuses on the Max Nine door plug that's the part of Alaska 1282 that blew out a week ago today. And since then, both Alaska and United Airlines have found issues with their door plugs. The United said it found possible loose bolts related to installation issues.

Those bolts are really key. They keep the door plugs snug against a dozen fittings. And without them, it would blow out with incredible force, John.

BERMAN: Yes, those bolts seem very important, Pete. All right, Pete Muntean, thanks so much for that. BOLDUAN: And thank you all so much for joining us today. This is CNN NEWS CENTRAL. "INSIDE POLITICS" is up next.

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