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Major Immigration Policy Changes Coming; Voters In Greece Face Crucial Decision; Romney Bus Tour Rolls This Hour; U.S. To Stop Deporting Young Illegal Immigrants; Sandusky Accuser: I Screamed For Help; Disturbing Testimony In Sandusky Trial; Major Immigration Policy Changes Coming
Aired June 15, 2012 - 10:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. I'm Kate Bolduan, in for Carol Costello today.
We want to begin this hour with some breaking news. The Obama administration is set to announce changes to the federal government's immigration policy. Still working on some of the details here, of course. But Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano will unveil these changes during a conference call that will be happening in just about a half an hour. 30 minutes from now. We will be monitoring that call and bring you the latest developments as soon as we have them.
It will be interesting to hear that as we enter a very contentious election season. More on that to come.
More than a year after an historic uprising that forced Hosni Mubarak out of office. Egyptian voters will choose his successor. They will choose between two men, Mohammed Morsi, a member of the Muslim Brotherhood and one of Mubarak's former ministers, Ahmed Shafik.
The voting comes just days after a surprise decision by Egypt's Supreme Court to dissolve the nation's parliament throwing a lot of turmoil into that country.
And also against a backdrop of ongoing outrage over budget caps, Greece will hold a repeat election as the country struggles to fight consensus on its financial future this weekend. The outcome will be felt far beyond Greece as it could determine the country's future in the euro zone.
Business correspondent, Christine Romans, is joining me now. There's a lot going on here, Christine. Walk us through this. What will happen -- I hate doing the ifs and whens of reading the tea leaves, but you kind of have to. What would happen if Greece would leave the euro?
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: It's incredibly important because if the pro-bail out conservatives and the leftist groups who want to get rid of all of their bailout agreements. If that ends up into something where Greece basically loses its emergency funding and goes broke and has to leave the euro, it would be catastrophic for Greece.
Look at what it would mean for Greece. There would be a run on the bank. Most estimates say there would be 30 percent inflation inside of Greece. Greece wouldn't be able to pay its debts.
That's how it would spill over into Europe where people are really concerned about a potential credit freeze in euro, quite frankly. If you have a credit freeze in Europe, which is the biggest trading partner with the U.S., you'd have a market reaction that could be quite severe.
You could have stocks plunging. You could have the euro sink against the dollar. You could have oil prices plunging. You'd have a great deal of uncertainty. And then now there's this lexicon of the whole Greek story right now.
It's a relatively small economy, but it holds so much power in what's going to happen in Europe and really rest of the world in the global recovery. I mean, you're hearing words like drokmageddon.
You know, a lot of people are talking about this if you go back to the drokma. They are calling it Europe's Lehman moment. Remember, Lehman Brothers, relatively small player in the financial system, having all these problems.
Could Greece be like the Lehman moment for the rest of Europe? And then the other things they talk about, they call it the Greece exit from the euro zone.
All three of these are scary, scary kinds of scenarios that serious people are seriously considering now as they watch what happens with Greece.
BOLDUAN: Pretty amazing. Really this is one of those stories, Christine, that people here in the U.S. will say that's Greece. That's happening over there. But you just lay out the ripple down effect, the domino effect is significant for us here in the United States. And what really happens in Greece is really important for all of us to pay attention to.
ROMANS: Absolutely. You know, a lot of the banks are saying that they are insulated from the Greece crisis, but the Lehman story told us is that -- the system is so complicated and so interconnected that these are these unintended consequences.
When you have the eurozone -- somebody leaving the eurozone, something that was really good for everybody when it was prosperous and now prosperity is on the wane has been very, very dangerous for some of these countries.
The things that we don't know is what people are very concerned about. That's something you have seen in the stock market this year. It has some trouble because they still have an eye to what's going on in Greece and Europe in general.
BOLDUAN: Absolutely. All right, Christine Romans watching that for us and so much more that's going on right now. All right, Christine, thank you so much.
Just minutes from now, Republican Mitt Romney kicks off his big bus tour. Over the next five days, his campaign will roll across six battleground states, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Iowa, Wisconsin, and Michigan.
Each state he will visit several small towns. And Jim Acosta, our national political correspondent is along for the ride. He is joining me now on the phone.
They kick off in Stratum, New Hampshire. Hi, there, Jim. So what's the strategy with this bus tour? A bit of a new tact for the Romney campaign.
JIM ACOSTA, CNN NATIONAL POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT (via telephone): Yes. You know, Kate, they gave a briefing before they got this bus tour started this morning. I should tell you we're rolling up to New Hampshire as we speak.
We've actually crossed into New Hampshire and will be arriving at the site of Mitt Romney's first event here in just a few moments. And he's picked the spot where he launched his presidential bid roughly a year ago.
As you mentioned, he is going to be heading through several different battleground states or at least what they call battleground states. They held a briefing earlier this morning, Kate.
And a Romney advisor acknowledged that all of these states that the GOP contender is visiting were won by President Obama in 2008. But nevertheless, the Republicans would like to pick one of these states and put it up on their board come November.
So in addition -- this is important for them. These are the areas that Mitt Romney will arguably be doing stronger come this fall. This is a way for the Romney campaign to shore up their support in these areas.
He's also going to be getting some support when he's out on the campaign trail on this bus tour. He's going to have Tim Pawlenty, the former governor of Minnesota by his side and New Hampshire Senator Kelly Ayotte with him at a couple events in New Hampshire.
Those names obviously will get a lot of people talking in Washington because they are both, according to a lot of Republicans out there, being highly considered by the Romney campaign for a vice presidential pick. There's a little bit of veepstakes, you know, underlying story here in all this as well -- Kate.
BOLDUAN: A couple things going on there. Jim Acosta keep watching them for us, thank you so much. I want to get back real quick to the breaking news story that we brought you at the top of the hour, this announcement coming from the Obama administration regarding a change to immigration policy.
Let's get straight to White House correspondent Brianna Keilar. Brianna is at the White House. Brianna, what more are you learning?
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: This is a really big deal, Kate. This according to a press release that we've just received from the Department of Homeland Security from Secretary Napolitano announcing that there will be a process so that it's really younger illegal immigrants who will either not be deported under circumstances or will be considered for relief from deportation proceedings.
They would have to meet the following criteria. They would have had to come to the U.S. before they turned 16. They would have to have been in the U.S. continuously for at least five years before the date of this announcement.
Then currently would have to be in school or graduated from high school or obtained their GED or had been honoraly discharged veterans of the Coast Guard or Armed Forces of the U.S. They would not be able to have any criminal record.
They would not have been convicted of a felony offense, a significant misdemeanor offense, et cetera and they would not be above the age of 30. We've just learned as well that President Obama is going to be in the Rose Garden at 1:15 p.m. Eastern obviously to talk about this.
And this is really a big deal, Kate. Certainly, this is something that's looked through the prism of politics. This is an election year. One of the president's very important constituencies are Hispanic voters, a growing voter bloc in the U.S.
And there's been a lot of frustration lately coming from this voter bloc. The administration has done some things. There was a hardship waiver they put in place in January that a lot of people didn't take notice of.
But certainly if you're in the U.S. illegally or perhaps you were related to someone and concerned about someone's immigration status, you paid attention to it.
Nonetheless, there's a lot of frustration from this constituency and this is something that Congress has been trying to do for a long time. The president, the administration is now taking action on this. This is something that will go a long way with this constituency -- Kate.
BOLDUAN: Yes, as you well noted, Brianna, this is not only as real policy implications, but talk about the timing here, absolute political message and motivations here as well. This sounds to me, and I can't recall exactly all of the details of the so-called Dream Act that was long debated with Congress, but this sounds to me as if it's the administration implementing the Dream Act without Congress.
KEILAR: That's definitely it, Kate. The Dream Act is something we that have seen a lot of -- a lot of attention for the past years in Congress for.
And one of the ways you could see attention brought to that would be young people in the U.S. who sort of really fit the bill who are essentially the poster children for the Dream Act.
Young people who might be the valedictorian of their high school are going to a very good college and yet are facing deportation. So that's something that certainly Democrats have tried to bring a lot of awareness to for some years.
I think the question is how does the president do this? Something that Congress has been trying to do for some time. How is he able to do that because if this is something that has been stuck up in Congress for years, it sort of begs the question of exactly how he'll execute this? We're obviously waiting to learn those details.
BOLDUAN: Brianna, thank you so much. Great detail coming out from the White House. Brianna, stick with me.
I'm going to go now to Candy Crowley. I believe I have Candy with me. Candy, this is -- as Brianna said it, this is a big deal. This is a big deal in any time of an administration to be making such a significant announcement as Brianna was laying out.
But especially now talk about the policy implications, but these are real political implications as well.
CANDY CROWLEY, HOST, CNN'S "STATE OF THE NATION": Sure. We already know that somewhere around 60 percent of the Hispanic voters' state of preference for President Obama. But this community has been upset on a number of levels first because the president promised immigration reform in his first year in office. That obviously didn't happen.
Second because he had a pretty tough deportation effects that had gone into effect. And he had, in fact, deported his -- the department has deported a lot of paperless folks. So there was a huge push from the Latino community saying, wait a second, you're enforcing this as presidents before you have not.
It's certainly helped him with conservatives and then came, I guess, the next policy we had was this sort of prosecutorial discretion that the president said, OK, if people -- if it comes across your desk and there's no felonies involved or crimes involved, that can be one you put away.
So the idea was only those with criminal records would be deported. But the Hispanic community says that's not how it's working. So I think this is now the next attempt to say basically these are innocent people.
They were brought here as children when they had had no choice. They have now grown up here. Know nothing except the United States. I think this goes a bit further than the Dream Act in that it seems to give these folks, I think you have to be 30 and under, give them working papers so they will be legal to go and get a job.
So I think it goes a step further than the Dream Act. I'd have to go and look it up, but I think the Dream Act required some college or military service. What the president is talking about now is high school degree or GED.
So there are some differences with the Dream Act, but nonetheless, politically this is a huge outreach to a community, not that shows signs they are going to abandon him.
But that might not be as enthusiastic as they were say four years ago when they went for President Obama. So I think this will be taken very well within one of the bases of the Democratic Party.
BOLDUAN: That's what I was going to ask you. It's not that they were going to abandon him, but it's that voter enthusiasm, similar with the African-American voters.
They are not abandoning the president, but would there be that enthusiasm to show up and vote in the numbers that they did back in 2008? This clearly, as you probably would agree, is a way to shore up that support.
CROWLEY: It is and it's also -- let's remember that while there's been a huge growth in the Latino community, it is not a community that actually shows up in great numbers. Their participation is less than other demographic groups.
So there's been a huge drive to register eligible voters, eligible Latinos and the next step is get them to the polls. The more you can get that enthusiasm going, he did this and this, the more likely they are to get in the bus or vans and go vote at the voting booth.
BOLDUAN: Absolutely. Well, let's continue this conversation, Candy. I want to get in a quick break.
Again to remind our viewers, we got breaking news, a change to immigration policy as Brianna Keilar is laying out coming from the White House. That conference call will be held in about 15 minutes.
We'll have live coverage to bring you the developments as they come, but let's get into quick break. We'll talk more about this on the other side.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BOLDUAN: We continue to follow breaking news this morning. Just minutes ago, the White House announced major reforms to immigration policy. The headline, the U.S. will stop deporting young people who came to the U.S. illegally as young children.
That is if they meet certain requirements. It's an election year, policy change sure to show passions in the immigration debate. President Obama will discuss the changes in the White House Rose Garden at 1:15 Eastern. We are told, of course, we will have much more on that to come.
Moving on though, after some of the most disturbing testimony yet, the Jerry Sandusky trial has reached the half way point, if you will. The prosecution is expected to wrap up its case on Monday. Court isn't in session today.
So far, eight alleged victims have testified against the former Penn State football coach. The last witness provided really the most violent and brutal, troubling descriptions of abuse.
The man said during one assault in the basement of Sandusky's home, he screamed for help. He said he hoped that Sandusky's wife would hear him and come to his rescue.
So joining me now is Pilar Prinz, a defense attorney specializing in family law. I want to get your take on all of this, Pilar. This truly troubling, sometimes graphic testimony coming from these victims, one after another, especially yesterday with victim number nine, how can the defense overcome what the jury has heard?
PILAR PRINZ, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: It's going to be extremely difficult, Kate, when you have a case like this. They are going to want to show, first of all, inconsistencies. That's a classic defense.
For example, some of these alleged victims say that they were around the home at a similar time, yet they testify that they were in the basement alone.
They also going to want to show consistencies and the defense's argument is that the stories are so similar, but the facts are too similar that they were perhaps coached.
And we have also heard hints they are going to say, because the victims are pursuing civil claims after this case that there might be motive of financial gain.
But I'll tell you the defense needs to be very careful not to attack the victims. It could turn around and really bite them if they do.
BOLDUAN: So it seems almost like, I don't know if this is the appropriate term, but the defense has to look for an escape hatch. Because the testimony from these victims, when our correspondents on the ground have been telling us what they have been saying, I mean, it's very graphic, very personal, very emotional stuff for any juror to hear.
PRINZ: It's true. It's horrific. You hear about crying in the courtroom, it's not going well for them so far. But remember they have a defense. It's the state's burden.
I think what they need to do is focus on Sandusky. We're hearing from the victims now. So it creates a compassionate story, but remember, this is a man who was almost revered and treated not like an assistant coach, but much like a head coach himself. So he was loved for a long time.
BOLDUAN: So the prosecution, well, didn't technically rest. It's understood that the defense will kind of move come Monday. So do you think -- this is always the question when you talk about one of these big high profile trials.
Do you think Sandusky must take the stand? Is there an advantage to that? I ask because is it also maybe too risky for him to take the stand when you look at the TV appearance that he did with Bob Costas and how well that went.
PRINZ: Absolutely he should not take the stand. It's his choice. It's not the defense attorney. He can do it. He may have been liked. He may be a charitable man, but one thing we've seen so far as he was not a convincing witness.
I mean, I watched that interview with Bob Costa as he came off as strange, vague, the way he answered the questions. He didn't come right out. He was not in my emphatic about no. I think it's very risky.
BOLDUAN: What do you think about the timing of all of this? The prosecution they kind of wrapped this week. It's getting everybody in, which also leaves the jury -- I always think about the jury.
It's a jury of your peers. These people are sitting there listening to this. They have three days to think of all this testimony before they hear from the defense. Is that part of a strategy?
PRINZ: Absolutely, great strategy by the prosecution. It worked out perfectly because the judge said we're going to take the day and have a long holiday weekend. Now the jurors have three days to sit and remember. These jurors were not sequestered, which I think is amazing.
BOLDUAN: I thought that was surprising as well.
PRINZ: Small town, rural Pennsylvania, to think you can escape. They are under these you can't Twitter. You can't Facebook. You can't watch the news, but the reality is, they are going home and it's all around them. You can't escape a 24-hour media.
BOLDUAN: Yes, absolutely. All right, we'll be right back up with it on Monday. Pilar Prinz, thank you so much for your help today. Have a great weekend.
PRINZ: You too.
BOLDUAN: We're continuing to follow, as I said, the breaking news this hour. The White House is detailing major reforms to immigration policies. We're live in Washington with details after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BOLDUAN: We're continuing to follow the breaking news out of Washington that the Obama administration will be making an announcement in just minutes from now regarding a change to immigration policy.
I want to get to Brianna Keilar at the White House, but first, I want to just yesterday President Obama made comments about immigration while he was in Cleveland. Let's listen first to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: If we truly want to make this country a destination for talent and ingenuity, we won't deport hard-working individuals who have grown up here. We'll let them earn the chance to become American citizens so they can grow our economy and start new businesses right here instead of someplace else.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BOLDUAN: Let's go straight to Brianna Keilar at the White House. Brianna, when we listen to that sound, it's almost like the president was giving us a little tease there yesterday.
KEILAR: Yes and little that we know. Of course, that was no mistake, Kate. Looking back on that and realizing that he said that yesterday. He said that knowing full well, obviously, that this was coming down today.
But this is very sweeping, this change that has been announced by the Department of Homeland Security. We're expecting to hear more about this in a conference call happening in about five minutes. President Obama will be in the Rose Garden at 1:15 p.m. Eastern Time to talk about this as well.
But just to recap exactly what this means. This specifically targets young people brought to the U.S. illegally who may face deportation. And if they came to the U.S. as a child, 16 years or younger, that's what this new plan says.
And they it don't have a criminal record or pose a safety risk, if it they are in school or have their GED or military service and they are not over 30, they would be provided sort of a buffer for being deported.
They would be able to defer that for two years, a time period of which would be renewable, so it could go on beyond that. And certainly, this is something that's looked at through a political prism. The Hispanic votes very important to President Obama in many battleground states have growing Hispanic populations. BOLDUAN: Much more to come on this. Brianna, stay on it. We'll come right back to you. Thank you so much. Brianna Keilar at the White House.
So how could a change in immigration policy and reform impact voters and impact this election? We'll ask our "Political Buzz" panel, coming up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BOLDUAN: We're continuing to follow the breaking news this hour.
Right now, the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano, she is going to be beginning any second now a conference call to make this announcement regarding a change to immigration policy from the Obama administration.
We're just learning this really in the last few minutes. I want to go to Candy Crowley in Washington. Because obviously Candy we talk about the policy. We have -- that announcement has been made. And the secretary will be discussing it more on this conference call.
But right away on this election season you have to look at the political implications. As you say every announcement is looked at through the political lens in an election season. So what do you think are the immediate political implications here?
CANDY CROWLEY, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, I think it immediately pleases a very important constituency. It revs them up. This is the time in the election cycle when what you want to do is make sure your base is with you.
And certainly the Latino vote has been largely a Democratic vote. And the Latino community has been upset with President Obama for not doing some of things he said he would do and for having a fairly tough deportation policy in effect.
Now last -- late last year, there was a Pew poll out that showed that almost 60 percent of Latinos disapproved of the President's deportation policy. So that shows you that he was in a bit of a bind here.
They have also -- I think you've seen recently there have been a number of young Latinos on TV and in magazines saying, "Hey, I was brought here before I was 16. I've only known this country. And I haven't been deported."
So people have been out and talking about this. And so it just -- it is through the political prism probably a smart thing for the President to do. Because this will energize the Latino base. Where does it help? Colorado, New Mexico, Florida, places that are really key for the President to win. So this is an important constituency that can be important in important states.
BOLDUAN: Also an important announcement to say the least. Candy Crowley, thank you. Stand by for me. I want to now take this to our "Political Buzz" panel to kind of chew through this a little bit more. Jason Johnson is a professor of political science at Hiram College in Ohio and chief political correspondent for Politics 365. We're also joined by Republican strategist Ron Bonjean, hey there Ron. President Obama --
RON BONJEAN, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: Hi there.
BOLDUAN: And oh I want to bring in -- I'm sorry Rafael -- last but not the least Rafael Romo, our senior Latin American Affairs editor, he's also going to be joining our panel today.
So I guess let's -- you know what Rafael let's just start with you. What do you think is the impact of this announcement? Let's talk -- we're talking politics here. As you were telling me just as you walked up, the Latino community has been calling for this for years.
RAFAEL ROMO, CNN SENIOR LATIN AMERICAN AFFAIRS EDITOR: That's right and when you think about the whole universe of immigration. This is probably the least controversial category you can think of. It has had bipartisan support as early as 2005. John McCain from Arizona was behind it. Dick Durbin a Democrat from Illinois was behind it. At one time, they co-sponsored a bill to give status to -- to these students. So it has been talked about for many, many years.
Now we're talking about kids who came to this country, it was not their decision. They were brought in by their parents. And what they say and what we have heard in all these protests through the years is that it was not my decision. I have been a good student. I have served in the military. I have done many thing, I haven't committed any crimes. So they are asking for an opportunity to stay in this country.
Now again, election year, a hot potato issue. It's going to create a lot of controversy again.
BOLDUAN: A lot of talk. Ron, what's your take on this? I mean, obviously, this is something that's been -- it's -- it's always an election year topic -- immigration policy.
BONJEAN: Sure.
BOLDUAN: Rarely is there any major announcement or movement on immigration policy. It's one of those big things that really there isn't a lot of big thinkers or big ideas that are going to push anything through Congress. What do you think about this announcement?
BONJEAN: Well clearly, the election is still going to be about the economy, but this move is designed clearly to shore up his Hispanic base. You have 50,000 registered -- Hispanic-Americans who are registered to vote each month. They turn 18 and they're ready to vote. So this is a shrewd move. This is a move to try to make an end run and get those -- get those Hispanics behind him. However, it is also a very divisive move. And it's clearly going to cause a huge eruption in Congress. There's going to be a strong reaction to this by those who -- who don't necessarily -- who aren't necessarily supportive.
I do think it will be interesting to see how Independents view this beyond the Hispanic-Americans. How do Independents view this in battleground states? Because most Independents were supportive of Arizona's very tough immigration law and they see this move is shoring up the Hispanic vote, but how will Independents react to it is a big question.
BOLDUAN: And Jason, what's your take on this? I mean, as Ron was saying it's -- it's -- it's a shrewd move, but could be divisive. It's obviously maybe a risk of any (inaudible) inside it's obviously worth taking at this moment. What do you think?
JASON JOHNSON, POLITICAL SCIENCE PROFESSOR, HIRAM COLLEGE: Well, it clearly is. You can't ever go wrong, you know, petting puppies and doing nice things for kids. And this is basically a policy for kids. You know the image of some young person who was brought over here by their illegal immigrant parents there is no wrong answer on this.
Barack Obama did a shrewd and very brilliant political move. Not only is this going to galvanize the Latino vote but Independents who really in many respects -- and I have to disagree with Ron here -- they actually disagree with some of the harsher elements of some of the deportation policy. The idea of breaking up families, nobody likes the idea of breaking up families.
And so the idea that a 16 or 17-year-old who's been here, who's been working hard, who wants to go to college and through no fault of their own happens to be in the greatest country on the face of the planet, I think Barack Obama did a brilliant move here and it's going to resonate throughout the fall.
BOLDUAN: So Ron how does, how does Mitt Romney respond to this?
BONJEAN: Well that's a great question. And we're going to hear from Mitt Romney later today. Clearly, there is a political calculation here. You do not want to be on the other side of quote, unquote "breaking up families".
At the same time, you want to make sure that there is a legitimate process for becoming a United States citizen. This is not necessarily the fault, this is not the fault of kids, who are -- who are -- who are here. So we'll just have to see the reaction from their campaign.
BOLDUAN: All right, stick with me. Rafael stick with me, I want to -- we are now join -- we're also joined by Gaby Pacheco who -- on the phone. she is an immigration rights leader from Miami, Florida. And was also featured on this week's cover of "Time" magazine -- a fitting cover for "Time" magazine this week.
Gaby is the founder of the Florida-based youth-led group Students Working for Equal Rights. And she began organizing the un- documented students in her community. Again, she is joining me by phone.
Gaby, I guess first off, what is your reaction to today's announcement?
GABY PACHECO, (via telephone): Kate, I wish you could see my smile. I wish that all of you could see how happy I am. And as a person that has been living in this country for two decades, I have three educational degrees, I'm a special education teacher. I've been just waiting and dying to be able to go into the classroom and work with my children, work with autistic children which is my dream.
BOLDUAN: What do you -- you know, you probably were hearing the discussion we're having just before I came to you. You know thinking about it, obviously, there's a lot of talk we talked about policy. We also about politics. Do you think, do you see this -- some see this obviously as the President trying to shore up support among Latino voters? Is that obviously maybe a smart move? But what's your take kind of on the politics of it all?
PACHECO: Well, I want to echo what some people have been saying. It's that -- it's a really brilliant political move from the President to have finally done this.
And you know I want to say that it wasn't really calculated. This is something that we've been putting pressure on the President. We walked from Miami to Washington, D.C. in 2010 asking the President for the same -- to stop the deportation, to stop separating us from our families.
And what we're seeing is that in the communities, one million plus of folks being deported from our country that really has been hurting the President. And the President really needed to do something to stop the waste of talented individuals being detained and put in jails and being deported from this country. That was just not the right move to do for him.
And him doing this and finally today on the 30th anniversary of the historic Supreme Court decision, I think you know and the "Time" magazine coming out on the stands was just the right time to do it.
BOLDUAN: And tell me you know a lot of this about -- we talk politics, we talk policy, but this is about people when it comes down to it. What does this mean -- and of course we're waiting for more details as the announcement is -- there's a conference call going on right now.
But what does this mean for you? What does this mean immediately for you and your family?
PACHECO: Well, you know, today is, I think, the happiest day of my life. To finally know that my dream to contribute back to this country, my country, I'm an American, regardless of the paper that tells me that I'm not. For me, you know it's a realization of that dream. It's the realization of being able to feel whole and being recognized you know for -- for all the times that I was in school standing up and pledging allegiance to the United States of America.
BOLDUAN: Gaby Pacheco, thank you so much for jumping on the phone with us this morning. I'm sure we'll be checking back in with you and hearing similar stories to yours.
Let's continue our breaking news coverage of this announcement coming from the Obama administration. We are awaiting more developments and -- and more details about the announcement.
Let's get in a quick break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BOLDUAN: Going to bring back in our political panel. Just to update our viewers and kind of get everybody back up to speed. The conference call with reporters is going on right now. This is with the secretary of the Department of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano making the announcement regarding this change in immigration policy. A very big announcement out of Washington
We'll also be hearing from the President a little later today. He'll be speaking in the Rose Garden at 1:15 Eastern. Of course, CNN will be covering that live.
Let's bring back in our political panel: Jason Johnson, Ron Bonjean as well as our own Rafael Romo. Rafael, I wanted to speak with you first because we were talking a little bit -- not talk about the politics but about the policy implications of what this would mean -- this change that we're getting details now about these changes to immigration policy. What it would mean for the country? What are you learning.
RAFAEL ROMO, CNN SENIOR LATIN AMERICAN AFFAIRS EDITOR: Well, I was taking a look at testimony given by Secretary of Education Arne Duncan almost exactly a year ago, June 28, 2011. And one of the points that he was making is that according to statistics from the Congressional Budget Office, The Dream Act, which essentially this is what it is --
BOLDUAN: Very similar to that.
ROMO: -- very similar to that would generate $1.4 billion more in revenue than it would cost the country. Again, this is the Secretary of Education talking about this issue, testifying before Congress a year ago. And one of the points that he was also making is that 13 states already provide in-state tuition to undocumented students, which means that they are not only allowed to go to college, but they are treated as if they had been born in those states. So that's a very powerful point that they are making.
On the other hand, I have to tell you that many people in the Hispanic community primarily have been alienated by the Obama administration because of the deportation policy that he has carried out over this first term for President Obama. An average of 400,000 people deported every year.
And as you can imagine, most of them have been Hispanics. So I was talking to leaders in the Hispanic community and they were telling me, we don't really know which way to go in November because on the one hand, Romney as a candidate has been unfriendly to our community. And on the other hand, President Obama has been deporting hundreds of thousands of people every year.
So I'm sure this announcement today is probably going to change the equation in November.
BOLDUAN: I think that's probably what the Obama administration is looking for as well. Rafael, stick with me.
Let's bring in Jason as well as Ron. I mean Candy Crowley even talked about it, you guys. She said that a majority of Latinos disapproved of the Obama administration's policy on immigration. I think a Rafael said, this really changes the calculus.
Jason, what's your take, though. I mean, voters are smart. They understand that we're in an election season. Do you think this could -- is there a risk that this could backfire on the Obama administration making this calculated timing of this announcement coming right now in the middle of the -- really getting into the general election fight?
JASON JOHNSON, POLITICAL SCIENCE PROFESSOR, HIRAM COLLEGE: No. This is just like gay marriage. It's the kind of thing that people have been waiting for Obama to do for three and a half, almost four years now. And he's rolling them all out around the same time, sort of like a boxer who is building up towards the end of the fight where he wants to make a knockout blow in November.
This is a smart move by the President of the United States and it basically leaves Romney in a trap position. What's Mitt Romney going to say? I want to keep sending kids home. I want them to self- deport. I'm running for office, for Pete's sake. He can't say anything at this particular point.
So Barack Obama, a lot of the Hispanic voters, just like African-American voters, just like white liberals who are concerned about Obama -- they are not happy with everything he's done, but they are certainly not going to vote for Mitt Romney. When the President does symbolic moves like this that he's been promising for years, it just makes people more excited about voting for him in the fall.
BOLDUAN: And it almost seems like this is more than a symbolic move. This is just throwing support behind this. This is a major thing.
One more time. I'm sorry, guys.
Ok. Senator Menendez -- we have Senator Robert Menendez on the phone with me right now -- senator from New Jersey. Senator, you have been a long time advocate, of course, of the Dream Act, the change to immigration policy like this. Did you get any hint that this was coming?
SEN. ROBERT MENENDEZ (D), NEW JERSEY (via telephone): Well, Kate we have been working for a long time with the White House trying to get them to this position. And establishing a legal precedence we think they have to do it. So I think today is a great day for all the young people who call this country their home, who have been unable to fulfill their dreams.
We're certainly grateful to the president for allowing these young men and women who want to become doctors and teachers and police officers and serve in the Armed Forces of the United States. This is an announcement that will change their lives forever.
BOLDUAN: Also changing kind of the -- maybe changing the political equation as well. You said that you've been working -- obviously, you've been working with the White House on many issues, but specifically in establishing the legal precedent to allow them to do it.
I mean you're a smart man and you've been in congress a long time. This is probably going to become quite a bit of a fight on Capitol Hill. I'm sure you guys have accounted for that.
MENENDEZ: Well, I think there is legal precedent here. For example, before Cubans had the Cuban Adjustment Act, a previous president years ago gave status to all of those coming from Cuba without legislative action. And there's a whole host of those actions at different times by different presidents, Democratic and Republican, that have been able to give some form of a status to a group of immigrants in this country.
And so I think there is more than legal precedent for it. You know, it is the Congress that has failed to pass comprehensive immigration reform. I don't think that students who are valedictorians or salutatorians should have to suffer while the Congress, you know, fails to act.
BOLDUAN: And Senator, what does this mean -- what do you think the impact of this announcement will be or hope the impact of this announcement will be on the election? You know, many will say that still the economy is what people care about most when they are voting, but obviously, the Latino vote is a very important constituency for both parties.
MENENDEZ: Well, I think that certainly for immigrant communities, Latino community being a big part of that, the reality is they have overwhelmingly and all said they support the President. But I think this is an affirmation of the difference between respective views.
Governor Romney has consistently said he would not do the Dream Act. He talks in broad terms about self-deportation. And then the rhetoric of the Republican Party, as it relates to the immigrant community in this country, is alarming to many of those. So this is another solid response by the administration and a continuing process. This has been taking some time to get this to point but nevertheless an important one in which the administration is showing that they have a different view of both how you respond to the needs of the immigrant community? How do you balance that with the rule of law? How do you ensure that, in fact, only people who, you know, are law-abiding, have no criminal records, but are great students or could serve in Armed Forces of the United States have an opportunity to realize their dream as well.
These kids only pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States. The only national anthem they know is the "Star-Spangled Banner". America is their country and this is an opportunity for us to be able use their human intellect and be able to help the country as well as help them.
BOLDUAN: Senator Bob Menendez, thank you so much for jumping on the phone so quickly -- the Democratic senator from New Jersey. I'm anxiously awaiting -- have not seen it yet -- pop into my e-mail of any reaction from your Republican colleagues in Congress. We'll wait to see what they have to say about that.
Let's get in another break and continue to follow this breaking news and this developing story regarding a change in immigration policy coming from the Obama administration.
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BOLDUAN: Welcome back. We're continuing to follow the developing story as we are listening closely to a conference call that has been going on with the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, Janet Napolitano as the Obama administration announces changes to immigration policy.
You see in the full screen we have up here right now. Some of the changes that they are making that the immigration policy is changing. They are kind loosening it up. Maybe that's the safest way to say it. It seems similar.
I want to bring in Rafael Romo here. This is very similar to the Dream Act. Our viewers may understand -- may recall that because this has been debated for years. Democrats obviously very supportive of the Dream Act and very supportive as we have seen on our coverage right now, supportive of this move coming from the President.
But Republicans, there's a real kind of divide -- an intellectual divide on how they think immigration policy should be put into place. Republicans are absolutely opposed to this. We're waiting to hear kind of how they are reacting. Where's the Republican argument on this? Where's their issue on this?
ROMO: That's right. It's a very polarizing issue.
BOLDUAN: It is.
Romo: We've been talking about what Democrats say about it and those who favor it. But on the other side, you have Republicans and conservatives who say their main point is illegal is illegal. It doesn't matter if you came to this country by your own decision or whether you were brought to this country by your parents. The other aspect of this Kate that they worry about is the kind of message that this would send. Some of the criticism that I have heard on the Republican side is that, ok, if we give what is essentially they call it amnesty to these students, are we sending a message to the rest of the world that then it is ok to come to the United States illegally with your children and once here, your children at least are going to have legal status in this country. Those arguments --
BOLDUAN: And opening the flood gates if you will.
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ROMO: Exactly. Those two arguments have been the main points of criticism on the Republican and the Conservative side.
BOLDUAN: And of course, Republicans, of course, say that, you know, people who are -- their view is they would like to tighten border security kind of measures before they work towards changing immigration law.
I mean, also there's a fight going on not only on the federal level, but between the federal government and the states. Right now, the Supreme Court is considering the constitutionality of a very big part of the Arizona Immigration Law -- illegal immigration law -- a very controversial measure as well.
ROMO: That's right. And that's the reason why you have states not only like Arizona. You also have Georgia and others implementing their own immigration laws. And now you have this fight between the states and between the federal government that is going all the way up to the Supreme Court because for many, many years, the federal government didn't act on it.
The states felt like they had to do something on their own. They had to enforce their borders on their own. Now everybody agrees, at least on this, that immigration in this country is failed and something must be done immediately.
BOLDUAN: Absolutely. We'll continue to follow this. Rafael, thank you so much for being with me.
And thank you all for joining us.
Again, just a quick recap. The Obama administration is making a very significant announcement this hour that they are going to stop deporting and begin granting permits, if you will, to young people brought into the U.S. illegally -- a major shift. There are some of the details right there so you can see.
We'll have much more of our continuing coverage on this. I'm Kate BOLDUAN, in today. Thank you for joining me. "CNN NEWSROOM" continues after a quick break.
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