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About 22,000 Migrants In Mexico Awaiting Entry Into U.S.; Travel Expert On What To Do If Your Flight Is Canceled; WAPO: Biden Responding More Sharply To Comments By Trump, Allies. Aired 7:30-8a ET

Aired December 27, 2022 - 07:30   ET

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

[07:30:00]

POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: And the death toll rising in Buffalo, New York as it struggles to dig out of a record-breaking storm. We will be speaking with the city's deputy mayor just ahead.

KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: We start, though, with officials in El Paso, Texas as they are attempting to fortify the border with Mexico, putting up new fencing before Christmas. And more is on the way now, we are told, as CNN has learned approximately 22,000 migrants are sleeping in shelters, on the streets, in makeshift camps across and through parts of northern Mexico.

CNN's Rosa Flores is live in El Paso on the ground. Rosa, what are you seeing and hearing from officials who have been struggling to deal with this surge in recent weeks?

ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know, Kaitlan, their biggest concern is that a migrant could die outside in the streets, and this is a concern on both sides of the border.

I want to show you around because I'm in El Paso just outside a church that serves as -- that serves as a shelter, but they only take about 120 people. Look around me. On both sides of this street, there are individuals who are sleeping on the bare concrete -- a lot of them with their children. I talked to some yesterday who say that what they do at night is they wrap themselves with their children in their blankets to try to keep their children safe.

All this, as you mentioned, that we're hearing that there are about 22,000 migrants that are waiting on the Mexican side of the border for Title 42 to lift. We learned this from advocates and city officials in a few cities -- the cities of Matamoros and (INAUDIBLE). There's about 13,000 migrants there. Scenes like the ones you see here are what you see in the cities -- in those cities.

Now, those cities are just across the border from the Rio Grande Valley. And also in Tijuana, Mexico, we're learning from an official there that there's about 9,000 migrants who are also waiting for Title 42 to lift.

And, Kaitlan, I've got to say there's a mix of individuals here in El Paso -- some individuals who turned themselves in to authorities -- border authorities, and others who are deciding, because they're so desperate, to cross the border illegally. That's why some of them end up out on the street because the city says that for them to be allowed into shelters that are run by the city they have to follow the law. Those are -- those have to be individuals who are actually documented.

And so, what you see here is what a lot of city officials here fear is that the temperatures drop -- it's very cold in El Paso -- and a migrant could die. There could be -- this humanitarian crisis could turn tragic if that happens -- Kaitlan.

COLLINS: Rosa, I see you're pretty bundled up there. How cold is it in El Paso right now?

FLORES: You know, it's 36 degrees. And you can see that a lot of the individuals who are sleeping out here on the street, all they have are American Red Cross blankets. That's all they have for the night.

I talked to a family yesterday who says that they feared that their daughter was going to die after they crossed the Rio Grande because they crossed overnight. It was very cold. Their daughter was completely wet. The daughter was only one -- is only one year old.

And she says that this couple was so desperate because their child wouldn't stop crying. They knew that they needed to warm her up and they had absolutely nothing.

So what they did was they walked around this neighborhood and desperately knocked on doors asking for help. And they said that someone from El Paso helped them out. They gave them something to wrap that child in. And she said that she used her body heat to try to keep the child warm -- Kaitlan.

COLLINS: No parent should have to do.

Rosa, thank you for that report.

HARLOW: Wow. Let's talk about all of what we just saw from Rosa's reporting with El Paso County Commissioner David Stout.

David, as Kaitlan said, no parent should have to do that and this is happening in your city right now. What is going to be done? How do you help them?

DAVID STOUT, COUNTY COMMISSIONER, EL PASO, TEXAS: Well, you know, the images are terrible. The stories are just gut-wrenching. And I know that El Paso County is committed to the humane treatment of migrants.

We are working as hard as we can with the city and with local NGOs to try to get people sheltered, but we need continued support from the federal government. We need support from the state government. Not militarization of the border but true, meaningful support in the way of helping with sheltering, feeding, and getting these folks taken care of.

HARLOW: So let's talk about, specifically, what that aid looks like and what you'd like from the Biden administration. You are a Democrat, I should note.

And according to numbers from the U.S. Customs and Border Protection, just look at them. I mean, we can pull them up on the screen. There has been a huge increase in the number of migrant border crossings at the southern border.

[07:35:02]

This past fiscal year -- look at that number. Almost 2.4 million crossed.

And I wonder what you need and what your message is to the Biden administration because those numbers are indisputable.

STOUT: Well, we need -- we need continued resources. I think the Biden administration has been helpful in reimbursing the county and the city for expenditures that we've been making for sheltering and for transportation of these folks. But obviously, we need -- we need as much help as we can get.

This is -- this is a crisis that really is a mismatch between the reality of the people who are coming to contribute to America and the lack of a system that's prepared for that.

HARLOW: Yes.

STOUT: And it doesn't help when you have demagogues like the governor of the state of Texas preventing a solution by hyping the border as an existential threat to the United States for political purposes.

And so, we are continuing to try to collaborate with all those authorities on the -- on the federal level and with the NGOs. I cannot thank enough the NGOs who have been really doing the Lord's work in this -- in this situation. And we are going to continue to do as much as we can to take care of these folks as they're coming through here.

HARLOW: And I hear you pointing to Gov. Abbott. It is -- the Biden administration -- Democrats controlling the White House in both chambers of Congress right now.

I want your take on what Democratic Congressman Henry Cuellar, who represents Texas' 28th district, told Kaitlan just about a week ago -- listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: Do you think the Biden administration understands that sense of urgency?

REP. HENRY CUELLAR (D-TX): You know, I don't think they do, or if they do, they just have a very different perspective.

Look, it's OK to listen to immigration activists. It's OK to do that. That's one perspective. But who is listening to the men and women in green and blue? And more importantly, who is listening to our border communities? I don't know they keep avoiding the border and saying there's other

things more important than visiting the border. If there's a crisis, show up. Just show up.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: As the commissioner of a border community in Texas, do you agree with him?

STOUT: You know, I do agree with the fact that the Biden administration needs to listen to us locally here on the border and come through with the request that we are making. That's -- there's no doubt about that.

Whether a visit to the border is going to make things better or worse, I'm not sure about that. But I do think that the Biden administration has been in contact with at least county officials --

HARLOW: Yes.

STOUT: -- here locally on a pretty regular basis. We do need to make sure that those requests that we are making both to the federal government and to the state government are coming through.

HARLOW: And to that point, David, look what Rosa just showed us -- that reporting of those migrants lined up, wrapped in Red Cross blankets with their children in them, in 36-degree temperatures, on both sides of the road.

Should the president come? He has not come at all as president to the southern border. Should he come see it for himself?

STOUT: Sure. I think -- I think that it would be great if he would come.

But what's more important, in my opinion, is that we have ample resources to be able to make sure that those people are not out in the cold. And that the NGOs have support they need. That the city and the county of El Paso have the support that they need when it comes to sheltering them, feeding them, and transporting them to wherever their final destination may be.

HARLOW: On your point about resources, though, the Supreme Court is about to make a decision one way or another on Title 42. And the Biden administration's position is that at this point, Title 42 should end. That's going to mean a bigger number of migrants crossing the southern border and into El Paso.

Is resources really the answer at this point? I mean, it has been so many decades since we've had comprehensive immigrant reform from Congress.

STOUT: Sure. I mean, obviously, comprehensive immigration reform would be -- would be the greatest thing that could happen to help curb some of these issues. But I think that it's difficult to do that and I think there's some low-hanging fruit when it comes to certain types of legislation that has been proposed to help with the situation, whether it's allowing more low-skilled workers to come in, dealing with Dreamers -- those types of things.

[07:40:13]

But I think there's some low-hanging fruit as well when it comes to when Title 42 goes away and that is making sure that there's an orderly and timely process that's taking place when you have these folks coming and asking for asylum.

Right now, you have CBP agents at the middle of the bridges downtown keeping people from cross -- from crossing -- stepping foot into the United States for asylum at the bridge, which is pushing them to the outskirts or to scale the wall, to go across the river, to run across busy highways, which are all very dangerous.

And I think there is something that could be done there to make sure that these people's lives are not put in danger as they're trying to --

HARLOW: Yes.

STOUT: -- come to this country legally. Because asylum is a legal way to migrants to the United States.

HARLOW: Yes. That's a very important point that you make. Asylum is, and there's a record backlog of processing these asylum petitions right now as well.

David Stout, we wish you luck and thank you for your time.

STOUT: Thank you so much.

COLLINS: All right. In the U.S., you can see -- look at the world's busiest airport in Atlanta. That's a long line of people just waiting for answers this morning about when they can home, if they can get home -- what that's going to look like.

We're going to talk to a travel expert on how to deal with all of the disruptions -- not just the ones there at the Atlanta airport, which had a water main break yesterday.

If you're worried about cancellations affecting your New Year's plans, stick around and we'll tell you what you could potentially do.

HARLOW: Wow.

(COMMERCIAL)

[07:46:35]

COLLINS: It has been an incredibly frustrating few days for those who are flying home for the holidays -- trying to fly home and are now trying to get back home. Already today, more than 2,800 flights have been canceled into or out of the United States. That's after 4,000 flights were canceled yesterday alone. So what can you do if you're one of the thousands who has been

stranded ahead of New Year's as you are trying to get back? We have travel expert and the spokeswoman for Scott's Cheap Flights, Katy Nastro here with us. Scott's Cheap Flights does, obviously exactly what is in the name.

And Katy, we've been talking all morning about what these delays look like. We are trying to bring people some good news --

HARLOW: Yes.

COLLINS: -- this morning and maybe some ideas of what they can do differently.

And so, if you're at an airport -- if you're watching this and your flight has just been canceled, it's been delayed, what are the options that people have of how to rebook -- how to get a new flight? What's the quickest way for people to do something like that?

KATY NASTRO, SPOKESWOMAN, SCOTT'S CHEAP FLIGHTS (via Webex by Cisco): Sure. I mean, the last few days have just not been so holly and merry for a lot, and my heart goes out to anyone that is having to deal with long customer service lines and just basically not any options at their -- at their fingertips.

One thing that I would recommend that people do -- obviously, yes, speak to a customer service agent as soon as possible. But a lot of people are flooding the domestic lines.

One thing you can do is call the international customer service line. A lot of these airlines -- even Southwest -- have a foreign customer service line, which those agents will be able to help you just the same. They'll be able to get you rebooked. And those wait times for those lines, drastically less than the domestic line at the moment. So that's one thing that you can do to help yourself in the -- in the immediate.

Number two, get out your credit cards. Some credit cards issue travel protections in scenarios such as canceled or significantly delayed flights. So that hotel room that you might have to book if you're stranded in maybe a connecting city.

Get your credit card out and see what they cover, and hotel reimbursement might be part of that. And that just takes not only -- not even a minute to just type in your card issuer into Google and see what travel protections might come up.

HARLOW: Those are very good tips. Thank you for those.

I think the question regarding Southwest Airlines -- because their flight issues -- more than half their flights canceled today -- is no longer because of weather. It's because of their I.T. system -- their antiquated 1990s-style system -- they've admitted that -- in terms of getting pilots and flight attendants where they need to be.

Is there any reason for people to believe that this won't happen again with Southwest Airlines until that is overhauled?

NASTRO: Look, I mean, going into a peak holiday season like the winter holidays, the systems already are stressed due to the fact that a lot of airlines -- not just Southwest -- are operating 15 percent less flights. And couple that with technology issues. Yes, this is a serious issue that we hope in the future Southwest will rectify.

And they've even put out communications stating that they know that they are failing people --

HARLOW: Yes.

NASTRO: -- and they know they're failing their staff as well. And so, they want to rectify this and make it right in the future.

So, fingers crossed. We hope that this won't be an issue moving forward, but something needs to be done.

[07:50:00]

And even the DOT is looking into this scenario because these cancellations and delays are significant without, really, the weather being a factor, as you stated.

So, it's something to watch, for sure.

HARLOW: Yes. The Department of Transportation with that.

Thank you for the helpful tips, Katy. We appreciate it very much.

COLLINS: Thanks, Katy.

HARLOW: Since Democrats outperformed expectations in the midterms, the Biden White House has been quick to call out Republicans. Does this mean President Biden is gearing up for a 2024 reelection? We'll talk about that and a lot more ahead.

(COMMERCIAL)

[07:55:16]

HARLOW: Welcome back.

As President Biden decides whether he will run again in 2024, the Biden White House has certainly been hitting back harder, responding quickly and more forcefully to Republican controversies and actions.

A new Washington Post report highlights several examples of the administration hitting back, including immediately calling out President Trump after he hosted a Holocaust denier for dinner and an antisemite. Strongly condemning Trump's call to terminate the Constitution over the 2020 election.

The Washington Post also reports, quote, "The rapid responses come as some Democratic strategists see a political advantage in pointedly and frequently drawing a contrast with Trump, the Republican Party, and the Republican lawmakers poised to take over the House."

So let's talk about this and a lot more with CNN senior political analyst and senior editor at The Atlanta, Ron Brownstein. Good to have you, Ron.

Let's -- we're going to get to your piece and your sort of unknowns --

RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST, SENIOR EDITOR, THE ATLANTIC (via Webex by Cisco): Yes.

HARLOW: -- for 2024 in a moment.

BROWNSTEIN: Thank you.

HARLOW: This was interesting reporting by Toluse Olorunnipa from The Washington Post.

BROWNSTEIN: Yes.

HARLOW: And he laid out all these sort of ways that the White House is hitting back now without reporters, like Kaitlan, who used to always have to press him for these answers. Without reporters even saying --

BROWNSTEIN: Yes.

HARLOW: -- well, what do you make of this.

So what does it tell you?

BROWNSTEIN: Yes, right. Good morning and happy holidays.

Well look, in 2022, Biden executed a subtle but significant shift in the way the Democrats -- that he had been talking about former President Trump.

In 2020, Biden dealt with Trump pretty much the way Hillary Clinton did in 2016. He treated him as this anomaly -- this unique threat who was not representative of the Republican Party as a whole. And when he came into office, as you alluded to, their usual reaction was not to mention Trump by name. To argue about looking forward.

But what became clear over '21 and '22 was how much influence Trump had -- still had within the Republican Party. How many were kind of following the path that he laid out on election denial, and the way that they dealt with cultural issues.

And so, in 2022, there was a very different tone from the White House where they basically talked about the breadth of the MAGA strain in the Republican Party. And that proved a very effective line of argument in swing states. And I think what you're seeing in that piece is the White House recognizing that and continuing to push in that direction. And I think we're going to see that an awful lot heading into 2024.

The question will be whether other Republican presidential candidates if they are introduced to the public by running against Trump, can be portrayed as effectively under that same umbrella the same way as effectively as it did to Tudor Dixon, or Kari Lake, or Herschel Walker.

COLLINS: Well -- and that's the struggle. They can use this and that's kind of what they've been laying the groundwork for is would this slim Republican majority that we know is going to be investigating them.

But there has been concern, and we've heard this from Democrats outside the White House and some people inside the White House, of what this looks like when there are other Republicans in the 2024 field who are dealing with Trump. But also, how Biden himself is preparing, if he does -- and the expectation is he will announce he's running for reelection in short order.

How do they deal with that when there is a Ron DeSantis or is there -- there is someone who is that alternative to Trump?

BROWNSTEIN: Well, Kaitlan, I think the core question is whether what we saw in the swing states and the blue states was a recoil against Trump personally or a recoil among voters against Trumpism. Because Ron DeSantis is not Trump but he was certainly running on a lot of Trump-like themes.

And we are going to see over the next two years in the House with Kevin McCarthy because they have such a narrow majority, turned out to be much more dependent on the right than perhaps many in the leadership of the Republican Party had hoped. And you are going to see figures elevated, like Marjorie Taylor Greene and Jim Jordan, who are going to re-air Trump grievances or kind of pursue Trump-like themes over the next two years.

I don't think it's going to be hard for the White House to portray this House majority as essentially following in a Trump-like path. Their internal dynamics have virtually guaranteed that will happen.

The bigger issue, as I said, is if you have people who are introduced in '24 as running against Trump, will voters see them as an extension of Trumpism even if that's the agenda that they are offering?

HARLOW: Ron, before you go, you've got this great piece and you take us back to the Donald Rumsfeld days and the Iraq war.

BROWNSTEIN: Yes.

HARLOW: And you talk about what he sort of coined and made so famous -- the known unknowns.

What are the big ones for you --

BROWNSTEIN: Right.

HARLOW: -- heading into '24?

BROWNSTEIN: Right. There are a lot of questions we can't know the answer to that are going to influence '24. But I think we know which questions are the key ones to know about for 2024. They are the known unknowns.

I think the biggest is what happens in the Republican Party. Do they nominate Trump again or do they tear themselves apart in not nominating him?

I think second is what happens to the economy. We know voters are dissatisfied with an economy of high growth and low unemployment, but high inflation. All the predictions are that we're going to have the opposite in a year.

[08:00:00]