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Undocumented Immigrants in Limbo; GOP Suing Obama; FTC Suing Amazon Over Surprise bills; Waiting on King James' Decision

Aired July 11, 2014 - 09:30   ET

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

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: And still to come, the fate of the illegal immigrants crossing the border in thousands. It's very much in limbo right now.

Alina Machado is along the U.S./Mexico border -- Alina.

ALINA MACHADO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Brianna, locals describe it as a constant battle between Mexican smugglers and U.S. authorities. I'll take you for a ride on the river to show you just how many of these immigrants are making it to the U.S.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KEILAR: Good morning. I'm Brianna Keilar, in today for Carol Costello. Thank you for joining me.

And I want to get you caught up now on our top story this morning, the growing crisis along the U.S./Mexico border. Later today, Homeland Security Chief Jeh Johnson will tour a facility that houses immigrants in New Mexico and he's expected to speak following his walk through there. We will cover his comments for you live here on CNN.

Arizona Senator John McCain is also speaking out about the crisis along the border this afternoon. He'll be making the case for deporting undocumented immigrants faster, as well as increasing the number of visas given to refugees. Meanwhile, President Obama was heckled during a speech in Austin yesterday while talking about his frustration with Congress's lack of action.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: And then they're mad at me for trying to do some things to make the immigration system work better. They -- so it doesn't - it doesn't make sense. So -- I'm sorry, what are - what are you yelling about now? Sit down, guys. I'm almost done. Come on. Sit down. I'll talk to you afterwards, I promise.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: He actually told authorities not to escort them out, that he would talk to them afterwards. You know, but even in towns like Murrieta, where earlier this month massive protests forced a busload of undocumented immigrants to turn away, residents are split on the issue. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I feel like it's important to learn from history, not to repeat it, if that's at all possible.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): We know that there are a lot of children currently in detention along the border and in other places. So it takes the work of all of us to come together to support these type of causes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Everybody wants to say this is all for the children, OK? We know that it's not all for the children. That is theater, OK? This is not a race issue. It's a color of law issue.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Murrieta can't help them. We don't have any anti- poverty programs here. There's no homeless shelters. There's no food lines. There's nothing we can do for them here.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: While we've been focusing on the tens of thousands of undocumented immigrants coming into border facilities, it's far from the only way that people try to enter the U.S. Let's bring in CNN's Alina Machado. She got a firsthand look along the Rio Grande.

And you're joining us now, Alina, from the border between the U.S. and Mexico. You've been there for a few days now. Tell us what you've been seeing.

ALINA MACHADO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know, Brianna, we've been talking for a few days about the tremendous law enforcement presence in this area, especially as you get close to the river. But as you're about to see, keeping up with what's happening here isn't easy.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MACHADO (voice-over): This is the Rio Grande, nearly 1,900 miles long and now the battleground of an immigration crisis hitting the U.S. It's where a flood of undocumented immigrants are crossing in Texas every single day. We wanted to get a firsthand look so we headed out on a boat with Johnny Hart, who has lived on the river for more than three decades.

JOHNNY HART, (INAUDIBLE), TEXAS RESIDENT: It's just a routine deal when we're out here touring the river that we see the crossings.

MACHADO: It didn't take long for us to find a path used by undocumented immigrants to cross the river. A man in the heavy brush even appears to hide from us.

HART: It's mainly adults that we see. Lately, in the last several months, it's been women and children.

MACHADO (on camera): You've seen them on this river?

HART: Yes. MACHADO: On rafts?

HART: Yes.

MACHADO (voice-over): U.S. law enforcement boats, whether state or federal, are never too far away. But when they are, we see this, people on rafts hurrying to cross the river. In this case, they seem to be headed back to Mexico after a drop-off on the U.S. side. While we can't say for certain what they're up to, it's clear the men on the rafts are not happy to see us.

MACHADO (on camera): We wanted to see where those rafts were coming from. And just a few feet away, look at what we saw on the U.S. side, several border patrol agents, two vehicles, and four people who appeared to be detained.

MACHADO (voice-over): Not long after, a bus shows up, perhaps suggesting more than just four were now in the hands of U.S. border patrol.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MACHADO: Now, people who live in this area tell us that this seems to be a constant battle of wit between U.S. authorities and Mexican smugglers. They tell us that what we saw on the river yesterday, they see pretty much every day.

Brianna.

KEILAR: Great firsthand look. Alina Machado, thank you.

Still to come, John Boehner and the House GOP leadership will soon vote for a resolution to sue the president of the United States. The reason, they say, he's violating the Constitution, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KEILAR: House Speaker John Boehner is vowing to follow through on his threat to sue President Obama. Boehner claims Obama violated the Constitution when he delayed a hotly contested part of Obamacare requiring businesses to provide coverage for their employees without congressional approval.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. JOHN BOEHNER (R), HOUSE SPEAKER: The president is basically rewriting law to make it fit his own needs. And you'll know more about in - in next week and the following week as we continue to move this issue forward.

OBAMA: Think about that. You're going to use taxpayer money to sue me for doing my job, while you don't do your job.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: Ironically, the same lawmakers pressing for this suit also voted on legislation to delay the employer mandate over a year ago with no luck. The White House says this is nothing more than a, quote, "political stunt." The House GOP will vote on the resolution later this month. And let's talk a little bit more about this. Joining me now in New York, CNN political commentator and columnist for "The Blaze," Will Cain, and in Washington, Democratic strategist and CNN political commentator Donna Brazile.

To you first, Will. Republicans, at one point, wanted to delay the employer mandate and now they're complaining that it's delayed. People look at that and they go, come on. Explain this to us.

WILL CAIN, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Can you see this -- can you see this big smile on my face, Brianna?

KEILAR: Yes.

CAIN: I'm holding back. It's not ironic. It's not ironic. And here's --

KEILAR: Explain.

CAIN: And here's why. I will, because it's not just about getting things done that you want to get done. The United States -- I don't mean this to be pedantic. I really don't. You know this. We all know this. It's not a monarchy form of government. It's not even a parliamentary form of government where we have a simple majority rule. We have checks and balances and separations of power.

John Boehner is actually very, very correct in that clip you played. The legislative branch's job is to write and change the law. So if the House Republicans voted to delay the employer mandate a year ago, that's exactly how it should be done, not rewritten by the executive branch, by the president. Thus the lawsuit, Brianna.

And I suspect about an hour from now your show, or whatever show that follows, will be leading with (INAUDIBLE) versus Burwell (ph). A decision -- a court decision in D.C. that addresses this exact thing, can the executive branch rewrite Obamacare.

KEILAR: OK. Well, let me - so what do you think about that, Donna? Will is saying it's OK for lawmakers to do it. It wasn't the role of President Obama. Did he overstep?

DONNA BRAZILE, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: You know, look, I think Will needs to go back and see what, of course, President Bush and other presidents have done in 2006 in delaying the implementation of Medicare D when it was about to expire for low income individuals who had not signed up and met the deadline. Look, presidents get to deal with the implementation of these laws through the administrative process. This is what the president tried to do in delaying the mandate back in 2003.

But look, put aside the legal arguments that we're going to hear next week from one side of the political aisle. If the Republicans allow Democrats to bring their legal experts to the rules committee next week, we might have a full opening of the legal arguments in this case.

But this is not a legal case. This is a political stunt. This is a way to distract, to give John Boehner time to get his caucus together. This is their strategy for the midterm election. It has nothing to do with whether or not this president has so-called overreached, because this president has used his pen, and very cautiously, and trying to go about getting things done, because the Republicans in the House, and in the Senate, they clearly don't want anything to get done.

KEILAR: And clearly -- there is something to -- I mean it's pretty clear that when I get a fund-raising e-mail right after, you know, papers are filed, that there's a political element to this. You can't escape that. But I want to ask you, Donna --

CAIN: Absolutely.

KEILAR: One of the big issues that I think a lot of us see coming up in this midterm election, in the 2016 presidential election is, do you think government works for you? So I want to get at that. When you see the administration delaying certainly parts of this bill, we saw healthcare.gov didn't work. Obviously it's in a much better place now. There's still parts, though, of Obamacare, we're learning, that aren't working as they're supposed to. Doesn't this create a problem for Democrats when they've got a big program and they're not hitting targets?

BRAZILE: Look, Brianna, we can have a longer conversation about the role and function of our federal government, our state and local governments. I think government has a purpose and a function, and we can have that philosophical ideological conversation that will probably make the far right go into a frenzy on this Friday. But here's the point. The president of the United States, no matter who he is, or what political party he or hopefully one day she will come from, they have great administrative tools in implementing these laws and I think the president was well within the law when he not just -- he extended and delayed this particular provision. But again, that conversation -- I'm not a lawyer. I don't want to even get into legalese.

KEILAR: Doesn't this create a problem for Democrats when they've got a big program and they're not hitting targets?

BRAZILE: Look, Brianna, we can have a longer conversation about the role and function of our federal government, our state and local governments. I think government has a purpose, and a function, and we can have that philosophical, ideological conversation that will probably make the far right go into a frenzy on this Friday, but here's the point. The president of the United States, no matter who he is, or what political party he or hopefully one day she will come from, they have great administrative tools in implementing these laws and I think the president was well within the law when he extended and delayed this particular provision, but again, that conversation. I'm not a lawyer. I don't want to get into legalese. This is a political conversation and the political football that we have to deal with, and Will I think you'll agree, some Republicans just simply want to impeach the president. They wanted to impeach him the day before he went into the White House. This is their opportunity to sue him because that's less toxic.

KEILAR: And Democrats have fund raised off of that. We're just seeing this go back and forth.

BRAZILE: Absolutely.

KEILAR: Okay, you guys, it's Friday so I want to leave you on a light note. This would be the "Funny or Die" sketch with President Obama and Zach Galifianakis. It is actually nominated for an enemy, not an enemy, an Emmy. It's Friday, my brain isn't working. OK let's take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ZACH GALIFIANAKIS, ACTOR: You said if you had a son you would not let him play football. What makes you think that he would want to play football? What if he was a nerd like you?

OBAMA: Do you think a woman like Michelle would marry a nerd? Why don't you ask her whether she thinks I'm a nerd.

GALIFIANAKIS: Could I?

OBAMA: No, I'm not going to let her near you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(LAUGHING)

KEILAR: An Emmy, you guys. Nominated. Do you think it's going to win? What do you think?

CAIN: I know this is -- here's Will, this is so predictable, he's gonna come down on the president. Listen.

KEILAR: You liked it, Will.

CAIN: I liked it, Brianna, but I will say this. It's a little propaganda-ish., It's not my favorite. "Funny or Die" and "Between Two Ferns"are great. If you want to see great "Between Two Ferns", go see Zach Galifianakis and Bradley Cooper or Zach Galifianakis and John Hamm.

KEILAR: OK, Donna, I know you feel differently.

BRAZILE: Well, I think the president has a great sense of humor. I hope he gets an Emmy, along with the Nobel and any other thing. Maybe an Oscar too, why not? I'll give the president all of the above.

CAIN: He already got that.

KEILAR: He'll be wondering why the heck he has an Emmy, I'm telling you because I just think that would be hilarious if he had that.

CAIN: I totally agree.

BRAZILE: Republicans can fund raise off of that one.

KEILAR: They have to go for their Emmy, Will Cain.

CAIN: The president. He gets a Nobel and an EGOT. let's just give him everything.

KEILAR: Donna Brazile, Will Cain, thanks so much, guys.

CAIN: Thanks.

KEILAR: Now, still to come, Amazon billing parents for gaming purchases made by their children. The FTC says that's wrong and the agency is suing. Christine Romans following this interesting story.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: It is interesting. Those Kindle Fire games, buying coins and stars, inner app purchases, wracking up lots of dollars on the family bill. The government suing Amazon. Amazon fighting back, ahead after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KEILAR: Well, this could be a game changer for many parents. The FTC is suing Amazon over millions of dollars that wound up on the family Kindle Fire bill. It's money that the kids racked up playing video games and the parents had no idea until they got the bill. Regulators call that practice illegal. Chief business correspondent, Christine Romans, joining us now from New York. Are we going to see all these parents get refunds, Christine?

ROMANS: Well, you know what? Parents have been complaining about this for some time and Amazon says it has been, it has been refunding people. But the government says, they're suing saying that Amazon didn't do enough. You know, they say they allowed kids to purchase these items without requiring a password for too long. They're looking for -- they're looking for money for refunds for all the parents who were affected.

No word on how much that could be, but it could be in the millions of dollars because Apple -- Apple settled with the FTC over a similar issue. That refund was $32.5 million. Amazon says it has already refunded some of these charges. Amazon says that just even recently, now they're requiring passwords for all -- all purchases inside those Kindle Fire games. But in fact, the government still going after Amazon.

KEILAR: You would expect Amazon to settle, what do you think?

ROMANS: Well, you know, Amazon is not settling like Apple did. Amazon is fighting it. This is what they say, they say their case is different than Apple's. And they go out and say, this is what the General Counsel says, he says "It is an understatement to say that this response is deeply disappointing. The commission's unwillingness to depart from the precedent it set with Apple, despite our very different facts, leaves us no choice but to defend our approach in court." The stock by the way is up a little bit -- it was up a little bit earlier so we'll watch that one to see if this has any effect on the stock.

KEILAR: All right, Christine Romans, thank you. And NEWSROOM is back in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KEILAR: NBA fans are at a fever pitch this morning. They are waiting on the King. But, we don't know when, or even how, LeBron James will announce whether he's staying in Miami or returning to Cleveland. We do know that LeBron and Heat teammate Dwyane Wade flew back to Miami from Las Vegas where LeBron was holding his annual basketball camp. But the two had reportedly planned to travel together, and we know that LeBron will be flying to Brazil for Sunday's World Cup final. Yahoo! sports reports the Heat and Cavaliers expect his decision before he leaves. But will they get it?

CNN's Martin Savage is in Cleveland where a city is hoping that it doesn't get burned twice. CNN's Sports Andy Scholes also joining me. Martin, you're talking to fans there. How confident are they that LeBron is coming home?

MARTIN SAVAGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I am one of those fans, Brianna. This is my hometown, so I grew up on Cleveland sports teams. Let me just point out something interesting. Not on the front page, actually they're celebrating the fact that they got the Republican convention. Even on the sports page, they're celebrating the big win of the Indians over the Yankees.

KEILAR: Yes.

SAVAGE: So, what I should tell you is that really people here are extremely kind of nervous. They don't want to talk about it too much, because oh we might jinx it. So it's one of those understated, but you can't overstate the tension that is in this city right now.

KEILAR: Yes.

SAVAGE: It's one of those love/hate kind of things.

KEILAR: Yes, don't jinx it, right?

SAVAGE: Yes. I mean, that's the whole feeling. Everybody has got a take out of that. The guy that rented me the car last night was like "oh no, no I'm not thinking about it." The guy at breakfast today, he's like, "well, you know what? the fact that he hasn't said anything that's actually great". I said, "how is him not saying anything great?" But it just shows you the logic that's going through people's minds. The smallest detail is somehow boosting their sense that it's Cleveland. We'll have to see.You're right. This city doesn't want to be heartbroken again. They don't want disappointment deja vu.

KEILAR: Sure, and we're reading into his every move. And I think so are so many people, Andy Scholes. People on social media are just having a field day with this. ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: I'm one of them. I have been

on Twitter nonstop. I check it probably every 90 seconds because everyone is waiting. When is he going to make the decision now? There were rumors yesterday that it was going to come down at 3:00 p.m. Eastern and when people started seeing that, people in Akron, Ohio actually started going to LeBron's house there. Waiting to either, I guess, celebrate or riot. They lined up and down the streets. People were taking pictures and putting them on Twitter. We see them right here. It actually started getting a little funny on Twitter if you started following it. Because LeBron's front lawn somehow got a Twitter, @lebron's lawn. And it started tweeting, it said, "You all need to get off me."

KEILAR: That's amazing.

SCHOLES: It tweeted a little later, "I have sprinklers for a reason #getoffme." There were all kinds of parody accounts coming out from the people gathering around LeBron's house. There was LeBron's car, LeBron's maid, @lebron's cat, @lebron's bike, and even @lebron's neighbor. Even big corporations were joining in on the fun on Twitter. Tide tweeted a picture that said, "Wash away the last four years." The tweet under it said, "We can clean the dust off any uniform #just in case."

KEILAR: That's great.

SCHOLES: I'm sure Martin in there in Cleveland would love for him to have to clean off the jersey.

KEILAR: That's amazing advertising. Martin, try to put your bias as a Clevelander aside. But make the case, why should LeBron come back?

SAVAGE: Oh, well, let's see. I was trying to think of one of the five top reasons. No. 1, we've got Lake Erie, which is just gorgeous amounts of water and not a single shark. Forget your iPod, we have the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Talking about the Heat. Heck, we have a river that caught on fire. Although, we fixed that.

Then on top of that, if you're a big fan of "The Christmas Story" movie, Ralphie's house. You can move in. It's already waiting for you. So I mean, then the last thing, this is really the biggest pitch of all. Hey, buddy, it's home. I mean, this is where he's from. It's Northeast Ohio. He knows this place. He knows this place, he knows how much people love him. Hey, if he doesn't come back, no hard feelings. But this, buddy, is home.

KEILAR: I don't know. I think there are going to be hard feelings though, Andy. Don't you think? If he leaves Cleveland kind of high and dry, twice in a row, that's kind of brutal.

SCHOLES: Yes. And this morning, ESPN is reporting that the letter that Dan Gilbert wrote four years ago just bashing LeBron is the thing holding him up from going back to Cleveland. Some people think that LeBron's camp leaked that information this morning to kind of give them an excuse of why he's not going back to Cleveland. Basically, blaming Dan Gilbert so all the blame comes off of LeBron and goes to the Cavs' owner Dan Gilbert.

(CROSSTALK)

KEILAR: Of course, right? But that's part of it. You have to make up. They need to kiss and make up, I think. We will be watching. Every tea leaf we are reading. Andy Scholes, Martin Savage, thank you so much.

And the next hour of CNN NEWROOM with Poppy Harlow begins right now