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CNN International: Homeland Security Secretary Expected to Visit U.S.-Mexico Border; House Republicans Planning to Impeach Alejandro Mayorkas; 3 Officials Suspended in Maldives for Mocking India's Modi; Japan Earthquake: At Least 168 Confirmed Dead, more than 300 Missing; Fire at Refugee Camp in Bangladesh Displaces Thousands. Aired 4:30-5a ET

Aired January 08, 2024 - 04:30   ET

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

[04:30:00]

BIANCA NOBILO, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back to CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Bianca Nobilo.

MAX FOSTER, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Max Foster. If you're just joining us, let me bring you up to date with our top stories this hour.

U.S. officials have announced that the Alaska Airlines door plug that blew off in mid-flight has been found. The airline has cancelled 138 flights on Monday as the investigation into how the door plug failed on the 737 MAX 9 continues.

We are exactly one week away from the Iowa caucuses. And Republican candidates have been out in full force through the state.

Ron DeSantis and Nikki Haley have been ramping up attacks on front- runner Donald Trump. As they try to win over voters.

NOBILO: The U.S. Homeland Security Secretary is expected to visit the U.S.-Mexico border in the coming hours. Alejandro Mayorkas' trip to Eagle Pass, Texas is being called a, quote, operational visit on border enforcement efforts. CNN's Rafael Romo has the details on the migrant crisis.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RAFAEL ROMO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It was a year ago Monday that President Joe Biden went to the southern border with his Homeland Security Secretary, Alejandro Mayorkas, by his side.

At the time, the administration was talking about $600 million in funding for border infrastructure and an increase of 100 border patrol agents after a migrant surge.

What will Monday's trip to the border by Mayorkas entail? Well, the Department of Homeland Security calls this trip an operational visit regarding ongoing southwest border enforcement efforts.

They also say Mayorkas will meet with Customs and Border Enforcement Protection personnel. Including Border Patrol leadership as well as local officials.

As divided as Democrats and Republicans are when it comes to immigration, something most agree on is that urgent measures are needed to address the situation at the border.

That's what a local sheriff, a Democrat, told me just before Christmas in Eagle Pass, Texas. And that's also what Denver Mayor Michael Johnston, also a Democrat, said Sunday.

MIKE JOHNSTON, DENVER, COLORADO MAYOR: We have folks that arrive in Denver and their court dates are 2029. It's five years out because the courts are so backlogged. If you could put capacity at the border to administer these asylum claims in 30 or 60 days. Decide who has a valid claim and then send them to the interior cities with work authorization. Even while they're waiting to hear that claim, we could put them to work. We could solve this.

ROMO: Meanwhile, Mexican and U.S. officials are planning to meet in Washington later this month to discuss curbing the influx of migrants into the U.S. A high-level U.S. delegation visited Mexico City just last month, including Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Mayorkas.

Both Democrats and Republicans seem to realize that the border crisis is a problem that needs to be addressed immediately. And some members of Congress are taking steps to come up with an agreement with that goal.

There's no agreement yet, but this issue is tied with a larger supplemental package that would include funding for Ukraine and Israel. A package the president would very much like to deliver to those countries.

In an interview with Fox News on Sunday, Texas Governor Greg Abbott said he's confident his state will prevail against the lawsuit filed by the Biden administration, which is trying to stop a new law that makes it a state crime in Texas to enter the state illegally. Abbott essentially says that because, in his view, the federal government is not enforcing immigration law, the state of Texas is obligated to do so. This is how Abbott explained it.

GREG ABBOTT, (R) TEXAS GOVERNOR: The law already prohibits the mass allowance of people getting out and wandering the country for years before they ever have to go to court. The Biden administration simply is not enforcing that. They must hold the Biden administration responsible and deny them the ability to have catch and release.

ROMO: Last month, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters the law, quote, will not and does not make the communities in Texas safer. Civil rights organizations fear it will lead to racial profiling in a state where Latinos are about 40 percent of the population.

Rafael Romo, CNN Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: Meanwhile, a group of U.S. House Republicans are planning to advance an effort to impeach the Homeland Security Secretary.

NOBILO: A claim that Alejandro Mayorkas has failed in his duty to secure the southern border.

[04:35:00]

CNN's Manu Raju has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Behind the scenes, House Republicans are planning an aggressive push to potentially impeach Alejandro Mayorkas sometime in the next several weeks, potentially in the first quarter of this year. This is according to new reporting from my colleagues Melanie Zanona, Annie Grayer and myself. We are hearing that House Republicans are growing increasingly confident that they can have the votes to actually impeach Mayorkas.

This is a shift from some time ago when there were a lot of Republicans who simply did not know if they what they believe were essentially a policy dispute with the Biden administration rises up to that very high bar in the Constitution of high crimes or misdemeanors. And a charge that has not been leveled against a cabinet secretary since 1876. Only one other time in history.

That was the Secretary of War William Belknap back then. Alejandro Mayorkas could be the second because of how House Republicans are going after what's considered a crisis at the southern border. This uptick in migrants crossing across the southern border. And what Republicans believe is Mayorkas' failure to deal with it.

Now, what is shifted here is a view among some of the swing district Republicans. We talked to several of them saying that they are open to the idea of impeaching Mayorkas. Some of them said they are fully on board. Like Congressman Anthony D. Esposito of New York, a freshman Republican who told me that he absolutely should be impeached. But there is still a very narrow margin for Speaker Johnson to get this through.

Johnson will have to contend with a very narrow majority that is getting even slimmer with a resignation upcoming. As well as with his top deputy, Steve Scalise, is going to be out for health reasons for the next month. So, he'll have to limit his defections, but actually to only one vote if it comes down to it.

And one Republican we are told, Ken Buck of Colorado, told us that he believes that going down this path could be a dangerous precedent. He's not opposed to impeaching Mayorkas but vote counting will be central here.

Now the Homeland Security Department is pushing back on this, saying the House majority is wasting, quote, valuable time in going after Mayorkas. They point to what he has done at the border and they say that impeaching him, charging him with a high crime is simply out of bounds. It simply does not line up with what is actually happening on the border. But the House GOP controls the majority and immigration has become a

defining issue in 2024. One issue that is unifying Republicans, which is why many of them believe it is more likely now that Mayorkas would get impeached than Joe Biden. Where a lot of Republicans simply say they have not seen the evidence yet to suggest that Joe Biden committed a crime while in office. And so that issue is continuing to play out the investigation into Biden.

But Mark Green, the chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, tells us that he expects a handful of hearings not to go on and on and on about the Mayorkas impeachment. And that potentially an impeachment vote in his committee bypassing the House Judiciary Committee. That is the plan at the moment, taking it straight to the floor.

But will they have the votes to get there? That is the main question. This remains a big focus for House Republicans as they return to Washington.

Manu Raju, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: The Spanish Coast Guard rescued more than 130 migrants off the Canary Islands over the weekend, according to local reports. At least 50 others made it to shore on their own.

NOBILO: The Coast Guard said one of the men they rescued was floating in a truck tire. He reportedly started his journey with a friend who died along the way. Spain's Interior Ministry says almost 57,000 migrants entered the country illegally last year, the most since 2018.

Three officials have reportedly been suspended in the Maldives for mocking Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. In online posts, they called him a clown, terrorist and a puppet of Israel.

CNN's Vedika Sud joins us now live from New Delhi. Vedika, I was under the sort of broad impression that the Maldives and India had quite a close relationship.

They share a maritime border. There's quite a lot of economic and military cooperation between the two. What happened here?

VEDIKA SUD, CNN REPORTER: And also, that India is the closest nation to the Maldives, even when you look at it on a map.

Also, that most of the tourists that visited Maldives last year were from India. And that's the highest number of tourists they've seen in 2023. India was right on top of that list and then Russia and Chinese nationals after that.

But coming back to your question, yes, they are strategic allies. And the predecessor to the incumbent Maldivian president was very close to the Modi government, to the Indian government. And his policy was India first.

But that changed in October when the incumbent Maldivian president took over. For him, a part of his campaign was to move away from the India first policy that Maldives had. In fact, he's in China right now, and he's on a five-day state visit to China, which is being watched very closely as well.

[04:40:00]

But all of this started last week when the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi posted pictures and videos of his trip to the Indian Islands of Lakshadweep, just off the southwestern coast of India. And many saw it as his way of promoting local tourism.

This perhaps didn't go down well with some of those people you mentioned right at the top of this discussion, who then took to social media and made very severe and extreme comments against the Indian Prime Minister.

Now, what we know from an official at India's foreign ministry is that they have taken this up with Maldives, and they have condemned the comments made against the Indian Prime Minister.

What we need to understand here, Bianca, is also that this place that we're talking about, Maldives, has a population of just about half a million people. But the strategic location of it is the reason for competition and rivalry between India and China over the years. It's a very intrinsic part, an important, strategically important part of the Indian Ocean. And that's what Michael Kugelman, an analyst we spoke to this morning, had to say. Listen in.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAEL KUGELMAN, YOUR, SOUTH ASIA INSTITUTE AT THE WILSON CENTER: I would argue that South Asia has really become one of the biggest battlegrounds for India-China competition. And Maldives is right in the middle of that.

For many years, India had by far been the most influential external player in the Maldives. But things have changed in recent years.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SUD: And there's been a statement from the Maldives government as well, where they have said that they're aware of the derogatory remarks, and they've distanced themselves from those three suspended officials, though there are a lot of people from India and beyond who are asking for them to be sacked. But for now, there's only a suspension that has been shared with the public. Back to you.

NOBILO: Vedika Sud in New Delhi for us. Thank you so much.

It's fascinating, clearly a self-defeating move, as Vedika said, with so many tourists coming from India. But interesting also in the context of that competition between China and India that's increasing.

Now, still to come, snow and sleet are making the search for survivors more difficult after a deadly earthquake in Japan. We'll have the very latest on rescue efforts in a live report. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[04:45:05]

NOBILO: Welcome back. Japanese officials report at least 168 deaths are now confirmed from the New Year's Day earthquake. More than 300 people remain missing. And weather conditions and difficult terrain are complicating rescue operations.

NOBILO: Wajima, one of the cities hardest hit by the quake is having trouble finding housing for survivors. Crowded shelters have become a breeding ground for flu and COVID-19. In recent days, firefighters have been able to rescue at least two elderly women trapped in their homes.

CNN's Marc Stewart joins us with more from Seoul. A desperate situation, but some really hopeful stories too -- Marc.

MARC STEWART, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely, Max. I think everyone in Japan is clinging on to these rescues, including that of a 90-year-old woman who was found over the weekend. She had been in her home for five days, trapped under furniture in between levels of her two-story home.

We are told that they were able to get her out. They put her in an ambulance. And according to one doctor who talked to NHK, which is Japan's public broadcaster, the woman is able to speak, but she does have some physical injuries. We also heard from one rescuer who just talked about all of the elation that occurred when she was found.

But conditions are very difficult. First of all, we have weather. It has been miserable for the last few days. Looking at the days ahead, it may be improved. Not as much rain, not as much snow, but it's certainly been an issue.

But the broader challenge in all of this, and we talked about this from the very start, is infrastructure. First of all, we have roads that are cracked, so it's just not possible for vehicles to get in and out of that hurricane zone and to bring supplies, and supplies are needed.

One local grocery store in this area opened over the weekend. There, of course, was a line, but there was a limit on how much rice individuals could buy, which, of course, is a big staple in the Japanese diet. But it shows that it is difficult to get these necessary rations into these areas. Power has still been an issue, as well as electricity.

So right now, rescue workers are trying to come up with a plan of attack because thus far, these infrastructures have just become very challenging.

And then another issue that is emerging is people who are out of their homes. As we saw, many of these homes were simply flattened because they were older constructions. And so now we are hearing from people who are having to make plans about where to stay. We heard from someone in their 80s. They have plans to stay at a particular apartment for three months, but then after that will likely have to go.

So that is going to be a very big problem, a very big challenge, Max and Bianca, facing the Japanese government in the days, if not weeks and months ahead.

FOSTER: Marc in Seoul, thank you so much for that.

NOBILO: A fire at a refugee camp in southern Bangladesh early Sunday has displaced thousands of people.

FOSTER: Yet another harsh reality for the Rohingya Muslim community, many of whom have fled their native Myanmar to these cramped makeshift camps, driven out by a brutal military campaign back home. CNN's Michael Holmes has more on that.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Fire sweeps through a refugee camp in Bangladesh incinerating one shelter after another. The flames quickly engulfing the tightly packed quarters made primarily of bamboo and tarpaulins. The United Nations Refugee Agency says nearly 7,000 people are now homeless in a blaze that started while many residents were sleeping.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): In a deep night, suddenly we heard screaming. We don't know how it happened.

HOLMES (voice-over): It's another loss in a lifetime of losses for the people taking shelter here. Nearly a million Rohingya Muslims live in refugee camps in Bangladesh after fleeing their homes in nearby Myanmar to avoid persecution.

Human rights groups say thousands of Rohingya were killed, raped, and their village was set on fire in a brutal and ongoing military campaign against the ethnic minority. Although Myanmar claims it is fighting Rohingya militants and denies targeting civilians.

Aid workers say fires are common in Bangladesh refugee camps since the conditions are so overcrowded. And violence between rival Rohingya groups is on the rise, adding to the misery of those just struggling to get by.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): We only managed to escape with a few clothes, took the children and rushed out. Everything else is ruined.

[04:50:00]

HOLMES (voice-over): Officials say they are investigating the fire. And in yet another blow to the refugees, Bangladesh's refugee commissioner says arson is suspected as a possible cause of the fire.

Michael Holmes, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: We'll be back in just a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NOBILO: The NFL's regular season has come to an end and it finished with a thriller between two division rivals on Sunday night football. The Buffalo Bills taking on the Dolphins in Miami. Bills quarterback Josh Allen threw the go-ahead touchdown to tight end Dawson Knox midway through the fourth quarter and the Bills would go on to win 21- 14.

[04:55:00]

That earned Buffalo their fourth straight AFC East title and the second seed in the conference of the upcoming playoffs.

FOSTER: It was a big night on Sunday for the New Orleans Pelicans as they took on the Sacramento Kings in the start of a five-game road trip. The Pelicans dominated the Kings, winning 133-100. New Orleans started the game with a lead of 12 points in the first quarter, which grew to 50 points by the fourth. The Pelicans were missing power forward, Zion Williamson, currently out for a quad injury.

NOBILO: And some stories in the spotlight this hour.

The U.S. launched its first lunar lander in decades from Florida's Cape Canaveral. Peregrine is now on its way to the moon and is planning to touchdown on February 23. It's loaded with equipment that will gather data for future moon missions.

FOSTER: It's also carrying mementos from other countries, including photographs, novels and a piece of Mount Everest. This is expected to become the first commercial mission to land on the moon as part of NASA's collaboration with private space companies.

The Golden Globes kicked off the Hollywood Awards season on Sunday night, honoring the best in film and television.

Ali Wong and Steven Yeun made history for winning for Best Actress and Best Actor in the limited series for their roles in the Netflix series "Beef."

NOBILO: The first actors of Asian descent to win in their respective categories. Oppenheimer dominated the film side of the awards, winning five trophies for Best Male Actor, Male Supporting Actor, Director, Original Score and Motion Picture Drama as well.

FOSTER: Did you like it?

NOBILO: I haven't seen Oppenheimer yet.

FOSTER: Nor have I. I thought I'd put it onto you as terrible.

NOBILO: I know, I felt that's what you were doing. I thank you for it, but hopefully our viewers had --

FOSTER: Well, I thought it was interesting, you know, obviously the rivalry with "Barbie" and apparently that made both films more popular.

I'm wondering if that sort of thing --

NOBILO: Exactly. I watched a very interesting interview, actors on actors, with the two of them the other day. There's such a juxtaposition, but I think it did boost both.

FOSTER: I think after watching one, you probably wanted the other because they were so --

NOBILO: Palate cleansed.

FOSTER: Thanks for joining us here on CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Max Foster.

NOBILO: And I'm Bianca Nobile. "EARLY START" is up next right here on CNN.

END