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DHS: Apprehensions Down 40 Percent Since Biden's Asylum Restrictions; Fallout After Protesters Storm Parliament, July 4 Parade Shooting Suspect Backs Out Of Plea Deal. Set Fires; Aired 11:30a-12p ET

Aired June 26, 2024 - 11:30   ET

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

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JIM ACOSTA, CNN ANCHOR: This morning, startling new numbers in the Department of Homeland Security reveal the impact of Biden's border policy. The agency says in the three weeks after the president's asylum crackdown announcement, migrant apprehensions have dropped by more than 40 percent.

Joining me now. CNN's Kevin Liptak. But I want to start with CNN's Rosa Flores in Houston for us. Rosa, those -- that's a big drop. Can you break down the numbers for us?

ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, I've been talking to sources on both sides on the border all along the U.S. southern border. And I can tell you that what I'm hearing is that this executive order by the Biden administration that bars asylum is deterring illegal immigration. Now, like everything else regarding the border, it's nuanced. It depends on what state and what border community you talk to. And the answers are a little different.

But overall, for example, in the Rio Grande Valley, what I'm hearing across the border in Mexico is that some of the people that are being deported under this policy are heading home. If I talk to somebody in Arizona that works with migrants there, they -- they're saying that they're still seeing about a hundred migrants crossing illegally in an area near Sasabe, Arizona. That could most likely be the cartels using misinformation to misinform migrants.

In San Diego, for example, across the border in Tijuana, they're seeing a lot of migrants simply waiting there to use some of the legal pathways established by the Biden administration to cross over. But overall, the numbers are drastically low right now. I talked to a source who said that on Sunday migrant apprehensions on the U.S. southern border were about 1900. And on Monday, they dropped to about 1600.

I mean, I remember reporting live from the border where -- those were the numbers just for one particular sector on one particular day. So, these numbers are astronomically low right now. And one of the big questions, of course, is why. And why are they still crossing even though this executive order is in place? I can tell you from talking to a lot of people on the border that they always tell me you got to think about it like this, Rosa. These migrants that are making this journey, they do not have CNN access for all of the analysis and all of the information regarding executive orders. A lot of them simply don't know. And cartels use misinformation to misguide them.

I should add that the ACLU has to the Biden administration over this executive order, claiming that the administration did not use the administrative procedure act properly. We have a statement from the lead attorney from the ACLU leading this case saying "We already know that under the ban, migrants with credible claims of danger are being denied an asylum screening. In the end, the ban is unlikely to have much impact on the numbers, but if it does deter people in danger from seeking safety hears -- into safety here that's deeply troubling."

And, Jim, I want to end with this. Because -- one of the things that I hear from border patrol agents in the field all the time is that because the numbers are so high sometimes. They don't get the chance to actually do their job, which is border security to catch the bad guys. According to DHS, more of the field agents are now actually in the field right now because the numbers are so low, and they're tackling the border security, which is their number one job.

That's what field agents want to do. And according to DHS, because the numbers are so low, they're actually able to do their jobs now on the border. Back to you.

ACOSTA: That is very interesting. All right. Rosa Flores, thank you very much.

I want to go to Kevin Liptak because there's also a political dimension to all of this.

KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Yes.

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ACOSTA: The president was looking to see those numbers come down because obviously, that's going to be advantageous to him in a campaign cycle.

LIPTAK: Yes.

ACOSTA: But how is the White House responding right now?

LIPTAK: Well, they're welcoming it.

ACOSTA: Yes.

LIPTAK: And the numbers that Rosa was setting, these are the lowest numbers of the entire Biden administration. The last time the illegal border crossings were that low was in January 2021. So, this is being welcomed at the White House, which is for someone who tried to neutralize this issue of immigration, it has been a political challenge for President Biden. Those massive waves of migrants that we saw earlier in the administration really allowed Republicans to seize on it and to claim that President Biden didn't have a way of controlling this border. And this is I think, their way of doing that.

It has not been universally popular. You know, as Rosa said, the ACLU is suing. But a lot of progressives and immigration advocates really raised alarm because the authorities that he was using were the very same authorities that President Trump used when he was in office to try and get the numbers down.

What you're seeing the administration do is really try and flip the script. To go after Republicans for failing to pass any legislation in Congress. And that was what we heard this morning from Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. Listen to what he said.

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ALEJANDRO MAYORKAS, HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY: I wouldn't look at this in isolation. It's part of a larger effort. I must say, though at the very outset, that this is no substitute for congressional action. It is only Congress that can fix our broken immigration system and deliver to the American people an enduring solution.

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LIPTAK: Now, this is an issue that Biden folks are very much prepared to come up on the debate stage. One of the things that they'll argue is that President Trump actually torpedoed a bipartisan immigration bill that was coming through Congress because he thought it would be a better political issue for him. So, I think you're going to hear President Biden reference that and try -- and sort of game the initiative on this issue in the debate.

ACOSTA: Yes. It'll be interesting to hear what Donald Trump has to say in response to that.

LIPTAK: Yes.

ACOSTA: Kevin Liptak, and Rosa Flores, thanks to both of you very much. Some very important numbers coming in from the Biden administration on the border.

All right, just ahead. Following deadly protests and the storming of parliament in Kenya. That country's president says the people have spoken. His major decision coming up but will talk about this in just a few moments. We're live from Nairobi with the latest. We're live in the CNN Newsroom.

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ACOSTA: A day after protests in Kenya turn deadly, the president there says he will not sign a controversial finance bill that sparked the violence. Protesters stormed the parliament building in Nairobi yesterday. President William Ruto of Kenya says six people are dead, but other reports have it much higher than that. CNN Correspondent Larry Madowo joins us now. Larry, you were on top of this yesterday doing those walking live shots, past all the -- everything that took place there yesterday. What do you make of what the president, President Ruto was saying about the number of deaths? It doesn't sound like that's in line with what others are saying. What's going on?

LARRY MADOWO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's not right.

ACOSTA: Yes.

MADOWO: The government's own human rights body, the Kenyan National Commission of Human Rights says at least 22 people were killed in protests that turned violent against the finance bill and generally over taxation in the country. Now, President William Ruto forced to pull this bill just hours after he called the protesters criminals.

He called them treasonous criminals and said they had been infiltrated by legitimate protesters. And many young people who organized on TikTok and social media were upset at the president for doing that. And now, the president is saying they were right. Listen.

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WILLIAM RUTO, PRESIDENT OF KENYA: Having reflected on the continuing conversation around the content of the Finance Bill 2024 and listening keenly to the people of Kenya, who have said loudly that they want nothing to do with this Finance Bill 2024, I concede.

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MADOWO: It's a big concession from President Ruto to pull a bill that his own government submitted and was hoping to raise an extra $2.6 billion to pull Kenya away from debt distress. And now the next step is what happens next. Some people on social media already calling for a one million march on Thursday. That's when they had promised to try and occupy the Statehouse where President Ruto lives and works from.

And even if he was admitting that the young people of Kenya will rise to complain about over-taxation, the people sitting behind him, those are the same members of his ruling party who went ahead and passed this finance bill while Kenyans were outside parliament protesting and police were shooting them using live ammunition. And they were completely silent to this plight of those young Kenyans outside Parliament, Jim.

ACOSTA: All right. Larry Madowo, thank you very much. Thanks for all your reporting yesterday. We appreciate it.

Coming up. Calling out inconsistencies. Michael Phelps testifies about who he says is getting a pass when it comes to doping in sports. That's next.

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[11:49:06] ACOSTA: This just in. The man accused of killing seven people at a Fourth of July parade in Illinois two years ago backed out of a plea deal in a dramatic court hearing just now. CNN's Lucy Kafanov joins us now. Lucy, do we know what happened?

LUCY KAFANOV, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. That's right, Jim. This was a completely unexpected courtroom scene. Unexpected to even his lawyers as the man accused of killing seven people, injuring dozens more at that Fourth of July parade here in a Chicago suburb of Highland Park uh two years ago, backed out of this proposed deal -- plea deal.

Now, the court had convened this morning because the accused shooter Robert Crimo III was expected to change his initial plea of not guilty. And in court this morning, the prosecutor said that they and Crimo had agreed to a deal in which he would plead guilty to seven murder counts and 48 counts of aggravated battery. This is one for each of the victims named in the indictment.

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Now in exchange for this, he would have been sentenced to his natural life in prison. And the rest of the charges would have been dismissed. The judge this morning then addressed Crimo who had been rolled into the courtroom in a wheelchair asking him whether he accepted this plea deal.

But Crimo didn't respond, Jim. He just sat there silent. His lawyers then asked the court for a recess to try to discuss this with him.

They all left the courtroom. When they returned, the judge asked Crimo if he wanted to move forward with a plea deal. He said no. The judge then tentatively set a trial for February 25 of next year.

Now my colleague, Virginia, was actually in the courtroom. She described a scene of chaos. A lot of anger with Crimo inside that courtroom.

One family member even told her "I feel bad for the prosecutors and his public defenders. Definitely, it doesn't seem like the public defenders expected this today to go this way either."

Now this, Jim, was the most dramatic legal chapter in the drawn-out legal saga. The criminal case moving slowly for months. At one point, Crimo had insisted that he wanted to fire his public defenders and represent himself. He then suddenly reversed that decision weeks later.

This morning's hearing was announced last week, although he wasn't scheduled to be back in court until August. For the victims, of course, justice continues to be on hold as this process remains drawn out. Jim?

ACOSTA: Absolutely. All right. I know they're looking for closure there in that case. Lucy Kafanov, thank you very much.

And just one month before the Paris Olympics, swimming sensation Michael Phelps is slamming the World Anti-Doping Agency saying it is incapable or unwilling to enforce its policies to catch cheaters. CNN's Coy Wire joins me now to discuss. Coy, this was a -- some pretty tough words for Michael Phelps.

COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: Yes. I mean, we're talking about arguably the face of the Summer Games for the U.S. for more than a decade, right, Jim? And turning up the heat on World Anti-Doping Agency or WADA. He says there's been an inconsistency in the application of the anti-doping rules and that the agency's attempts to address them have fallen short.

A 23-time gold medalist there testifying at a congressional hearing on Tuesday. Focusing on revelations that 23 Chinese swimmers tested positive for a banned heart medication ahead of the last summer games in Tokyo. But WADA still allowed them to compete.

Now, 11 of those 23 swimmers will still be competing in these next Olympics in Paris next month. Phelps told lawmakers that someone needs to hold WADA responsible. Listen.

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MICHAEL PHELPS, 23-TIME OLYMPIC CHAMPION: It can't reasonably be a coincidence that you saw it as yet again succumb to the pressures of international sport. Close friends were potentially impacted by USADA's failure to follow its own rules in investigating the nearly two dozen positive tests on Chinese swimmers. Many of them will live with the WADAs for the rest of their lives.

As athletes, our faith can no longer be blindly placed in the world of anti-doping agency, an organization that continues to prove that it is either incapable or unwilling to enforce its policies consistently around the world.

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WIRE: Now, Phelps said at one year, he was tested 150 times for performance-enhancing drugs while other entire Olympic delegations were tested 30 or 40 times across all of their athletes. WADA has launched an independent review into its handling of the Chinese swimmers' tests. China's anti-doping agency said the 23 swimmers weren't responsible for the positive result because they were inadvertently exposed to the drug.

So far, WADA says they found no evidence to disprove the Chinese explanation. This is a bit confusing for us because here in the U.S., of course, Jim, if you're in the NFL and you get tested positive for something that's even in a cold medication, you're always told you are responsible for what goes into your body. Seems like that's one of those obscure kind of rules that the WADA -- that WADA has, for which Michael Phelps says has some issues.

ACOSTA: Yes, absolutely. And for good reason. And, Coy, apparently, we have some breaking news on the women's national soccer team. What can you tell us? WIRE: Yes. Alex Morgan, another face of the Summer Olympics, right?

ACOSTA: Yes.

WIRE: She has not making that trip to Paris with the 18 -- 22 player roster. There's 18 players, and then some all alternates.

Coach Emma Hayes. It's her first time coaching this group. and she's undefeated so far in her appearances. She's a legendary coach. It seems like she's going with a new younger guard for these upcoming games for team U.S.A.

ACOSTA: All right, we'll be cheering them on. Coy Wire, thanks very much. A very important news from the sports world. Thanks for bringing it to us. We appreciate it.

And thank you for joining me in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Jim Acosta. Stay with CNN. "INSIDE POLITICS" with Manu Raju starts after a short break. Have a great day everybody.

Before we go, here's today's installment of "CHASING LIFE" with Dr. Sanjay Gupta.

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DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Hey there, I'm Dr. Sanjay Gupta, host of CNN's "CHASING LIFE" podcast.

Stress is an inevitable part of life. But here's the thing. Not all stress is the same.

[11:55:03]

The stress that comes from things that we perceive as challenges. Instead, they can actually be healthy according to recent studies. The good type of temporary stress, it's called eustress. And it can be physical or psychological.

It may feel like excitement or eagerness. Think of a first day at the new job or maybe running a race. It energizes and activates our bodies and our brains to stay motivated.

Any kind of stress even Eustress can be harmful if it doesn't go away. So, here are some strategies to manage your stress. First, use positive self-talk.

Approach a stressor as a temporary obstacle you can overcome. For example, telling yourself you've prepared enough for an upcoming exam. That can shift your mindset and reframe the challenge.

Second of all, rest and downtime. They are essential. Recharge in a way that suits you like reading or a creative hobby. And finally, stress is still stress. Seek a professional if you're having trouble managing how you're feeling.

And you can hear more about how to optimize your health and chase life wherever you get your podcasts.

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