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Police Say, Front Tire May Have Caused Crash That Killed Two; 8,600-Plus Migrants Cross Border in 24 Hours as Surge Grows; Congress Leaves for Long Weekend as Shutdown Looms. Aired 7-7:30a ET

Aired September 22, 2023 - 07:00   ET

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

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Complete chaos at the Capitol as even more Republicans are revolting against House Speaker Kevin McCarthy.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A government shutdown is a misery march. Nobody wins.

REP. KEVIN MCCARTHY (R-CA): This is a whole new concept of individuals that just want to burn the whole place down.

REP. MIKE LAWLER (R-NY): Any final bill is going to be bipartisan.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The large group of migrants in Eagle Pass, Texas, the new epicenter of the border crisis.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They say that they've been robbed, attacked by Mexican authorities.

MAYOR ROLANDO SALINAS, EAGLE PASS, TEXAS: He does bear some responsibility for this crisis. This is our plan of action, nothing.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Dozens of students are injured after their boss rolled over on an interstate in Orange County, New York. Two adults were killed in the crash.

OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: They believe it was an issue with the front tire of the bus that may have been a contributing factor.

GOV. KATHY HOCHUL (D-NY): The day of terror for 44 passengers. Certainly, there are families grieving today.

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PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning everyone. It is Friday. We made it. Sara Sidner is here with us. We have a lot to get to throughout the course of this hour. We are going to speak to a Republican lawmaker from the House, try and figure out what on Earth House Republicans will coalesce behind in just a little bit. But we do want to start with what we are learning about what may have played a factor in that horrific bus crash in New York on Thursday. A crash killed two adults and injured at least 40 high school students on their way to band camp in Pennsylvania. New York State Police now say front tire failure could be to blame.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: CNN's Omar Jimenez is live in Middletown, New York, for us. Omar, what do you know now about the investigation this morning?

JIMENEZ: Yes. Well, Sara and Phil, preliminarily, state police believe, as you mentioned, that an issue with a front tire may have been a factor in this crash, but it's part of why the NSTB is expected to arrive this morning, to help with that investigation. Our team went by the crash site and all lanes of that highway are now reopened.

But this bus was one of six that was heading from Long Island outside New York City on its way to Greeley, Pennsylvania, for a band camp. 40 students on board, four adults, two people were killed, both of them adults as we understand, five in critical condition, dozens others injured but nothing more than bumps and bruises, as we understand.

Take a listen to one student who described what he saw.

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ANTHONY EUGENIO, SURVIVED BUS CRASH: I landed on the side, I had to jump out the window. As soon as I picked my head up, the kid next to me was covered blood. I saw blood everywhere.

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JIMENEZ: Now, I mentioned they were heading to a band camp and two people were killed. One of the people killed was Gina Pelletieri from Massapequa, New York. She was 43 years old, and she was the band director at this school, of course, leading this group to the band camp. And Beatrice Ferrari from Farmingdale, New York, she was 77 years old.

The letter was sent out to students for people who might need counseling or someone to talk to as they try to process what happened in just a matter of moments moving forward. Where the crash site is, they were just about 35 miles or so from their destination, from the city where this band camp was supposed to happen. It was supposed to be just a fun trip to band camp. And then, of course, that all changed in a matter of moments.

SIDNER: Our hearts go out to the Pelletieri and the Ferrari family. They have lost two members of their family. And the students are having to deal with what they saw on this, although you said that many of them just got scrapes and bruises. So, that is good news this morning for the 40 students on that bus.

Thank you so much, Omar. I appreciate your reporting.

MATTINGLY: Well, also this morning, we're following the growing crisis at the southern border. It has been escalating now for a series of weeks now. Nearly 9,000 migrants crossing the border in just 24 hours as that surge continues to grow.

They're overwhelming border towns, like Eagle Pass, Texas, and the White House is sending hundreds of additional troops to help.

We're seeing desperate scenes like this, families pulling toddlers and small children under razor wire.

The mayor of Eagle Pass has declared a state of emergency. He tells CNN he feels abandoned by the federal government.

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SALINAS: We've never seen this before. This is not normal. You have all these thousands of people just walking in without any consequence, whatsoever. So, the word is getting out.

Nobody has bothered to call me, anyone in the city staff, saying, hey, this is the federal government. We know what you're going through. We're worried about you. This is our plan of action, nothing. We're here abandoned. We're on the border. We're asking for help.

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MATTINGLY: This is drone video of all the migrants detained at the border in Eagle Pass just yesterday.

Ed Lavandera is live on the ground. Ed, you were live on air during some of that video, the dramatic video we were just watching of families, children trying to get under or around that razor wire.

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Where do things stand this morning?

ED LAVANDERA, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, it was a difficult scene to watch all of that unfold yesterday. This morning, very quiet here. We're standing in the same area where so many migrants, thousands of migrants, have arrived in recent days to turn themselves in.

The mayor of Eagle Pass in that interview also told us last night that he was told by federal border authorities that another 50,000 to 60,000 people, migrants, are believed to be in southern Mexico. And the question is, where are all of those people going to end up in the days and weeks ahead.

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LAVANDERA (voice over): Dozens of migrants stand in the Rio Grande moments after forming a human chain to cross the river and through layers of razor wire trying to reach Eagle Pass, Texas.

They tell me they're from Venezuela, among them a woman and her toddler. The danger for them is real. Two people, including a three- year-old boy, have drowned this week after being swept away in the river current.

But after a nearly 3,000-mile journey, they accept the risk.

How long are you going to wait here?

They say they're going to wait here until they let them in.

The migrants tell us they've been robbed and attacked on the Mexican side of the river. After hours of waiting, the migrants figure out a way to crawl under the razor wire. In a surreal scene, one man instantly apologized.

They wanted to apologize for crossing illegally into the U.S. and that they're begging and asking for mercy. But to understand that they're coming from a country where they're persecuted and they feel like if they were to be returned home, they would be killed.

The mass influx of migrants is causing tension between federal and state authorities. Texas Governor Greg Abbott posted this video accusing border agents of cutting razor wire at an undisclosed location in Eagle Pass, allowing trapped migrants to turn themselves in. DHS official refused to comment on the governor's allegation.

On Wednesday, about 3,000 migrants crossed in Eagle Pass alone.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's something very strange. I never thought I was going to see something like that in Eagle Pass, Texas.

LAVANDERA: The local sheriff tells us smugglers are preying on the hopes of these migrants, offering to move them to other cities if they can get into the U.S.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I know this because we have smugglers coming from Houston, Florida, Austin, everywhere to pick up these immigrants. There's a connection there.

Reasons for this surge vary, but migrants we spoke to say they've grown frustrated with the CBP One app that processes formal applications, many waiting months on the Mexican side for an appointment.

These two men from Venezuela say they crossed illegally because they're desperate and have been waiting three months for the appointment to request asylum. It's a risk we had to take, he tells me. We know there's a chance we get deported, but it's in God's hands.

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LAVANDERA (on camera): Phil, now, many of the migrants who have arrived here at the southern border have traveled through Mexico by train, jumping onto freight trains that come north. The operator of that train system has suspended those northbound trains, so that might influence the number of migrants arriving here at the southern border in the days and weeks to come.

But many people down here, especially along border communities from Texas to California, simply trying to figure out how long this surge is going to last. Is it a temporary thing or is it something that's going to last for days, weeks, if not months? Phil?

MATTINGLY: Yes, it's a critical question. Ed Lavandera, great reporting yesterday, today, please keep us posted. Thank you.

SIDNER: This morning, we are watching two of those big strikes that are bringing two big American industries to a standstill today. There could soon be more strikes against Detroit's big three automakers. Union heads say more workers will walk off the job at noon unless serious progress is made in those negotiations.

And on the West Coast, striking writers and heads of four big Hollywood studios have finished what they call a marathon session of negotiations without being able to reach a deal. But a source tells us that progress was actually made and that they're going to meet again today.

CNN's Camila Bernal is standing by in Los Angeles with the latest on the rider strike. But, first, we are in day eight, I think, of the auto workers strike. Vanessa Yurkevich is here.

Vanessa, overnight, you had General Motors saying that they put a fifth big record offer on the table. Where does that stand now, because a deal has not yet been made?

VANESSA YURKEVICH, CNN BUSINESS AND POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: Yes. No deals yet. The clock is ticking yet again to this additional targeted strike deadline. We expect to hear from UAW President Shawn Fain at 10:00 A.M., where he will announce more targeted strikes with a walkout of those striking members starting at noon.

We know that the big three have been negotiating with the union over the past week, but we're not hearing about substantial progress, which is what Shawn Fain is looking for.

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We know that Stellantis and General Motors put new deals on the table. But General Motors saying that they don't feel like anything they put on the table is good enough to meet those demands and that the UAW was going to go on strike regardless.

We also have seen that because there are 13,000 workers now on the picket lines, that has had a ripple effect on these companies. The companies have announced, General Motors, 2,000 idle workers, Ford, 600 workers laid off, Stellantis, almost 70 workers laid off with 300 more to come.

So, as these targeted strikes increase, which we expect them to, you're going to see the residual effects of these layoffs.

But the only person who knows the plan is Shaw Fain. He knows exactly what he's doing. These strikes are targeted. And we expect to hear about more in the coming hours when he makes this announcement. SIDNER: We've just got a few hours left before this next targeted strike may occur. We don't know where, neither do the companies, which is part of this plan. But you've been on the ground. You've been talking to these workers. We're now more than a week that this strike has gone on. You're talking about layoffs. What is the mood among the workers who are out there on the picket line and those who may be joining them?

YURKEVICH: Yes. There's one camp of people that I've been speaking with that believes that the union should not concede on any of their demands, that they should hold steady. They see that these companies are making billions of dollars in profits. They look at the CEO's pay, which are tens of millions of dollars. And they believe, hold steady do not come down from those initial demands.

There's another camp of people that believe that negotiations are about compromise. They have seen these companies come up from their initial wage increases of 10 percent all the way up to 20 percent and possibly more at this point. And they believe in order to get a deal, to get them off the picket lines and back to work, that the union will have to negotiate.

I've heard that they believe they need to come down into the 30 percent wage increase, but that's still a large gap. 20 and 30, 35, still a long ways to go. The only person who knows that magic number is Shawn Fain. And he will not reveal that to anyone at this point. That's part of the negotiating tactic.

SIDNER: That is part of the tactic. We are looking at some of the workers striking there.

Vanessa Yurkevich, thank you for all your reporting. Phil.

MATTINGLY: Sara, you go from one labor dispute that's a little more than a week old to another one that's in day 144. That's the writers' strike. And today, Hollywood studios will meet with striking writers for a third straight day after marathon talks ended without a deal overnight. But a source tells us progress was made.

CNN's Camila Bernal joins us live from Los Angeles. And, Camila, you take some optimism from the fact that they aren't attacking one another, but we don't really know how to define progress. Where do things stand today?

CAMILA BERNAL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I would say that a lot of the writers are hopeful for that progress and are thankful for that progress. They're telling me, look, we know that it's going to take a long time. They're very confident in the WGA negotiators. But they're still skeptical. They say they won't believe it until they see it. They want to see a deal.

And so that's why you're also going to be paying attention to the leaders of these four major studios. We're talking Warner Brothers/Discovery, our parent company, Netflix, Disney, NBC Universal. They are now going to be at the table for a third straight day trying to hash this out. And one of the writers I talked to told me, I understand that it's going to take a long time, because these issues are complicated. They're fighting for their wages. They're fighting for residuals, especially when it comes to streaming. And they're very focused on artificial intelligence. They want to be the ones writing and not machines.

So, as you mentioned, Phil, more than 140 days and they're still willing to continue this as long as they get what they've been fighting for over the last couple of months. They've been out in the picket lines and the union asking them to come out today again, as many people as possible, as they continue these negotiations.

I want you to listen to what one of the writers said on the picket lines.

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AARON GINSBURG, WGA: We all want the strike to be over. Of course, we all do, but we are also determined to be out here as long as it takes to get the deal that we need to keep this industry going.

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BERNAL: And people want to go back to work, not just to save the shows this year or the movies next summer. This is people's livelihood, people who are struggling to pay the rent or to put food on the table. This is sort of a domino effect because it's not just Hollywood, it's many industries that have been impacted by this economically.

MATTINGLY: Yes, it's a critical point as we enter day three of intensive closed-door negotiations. We'll see if there's a breakthrough.

Camila Bernal, thank you. Sara?

BERNAL: Thank you.

SIDNER: All right. A brand new scene in poll shows President Biden beating Donald Trump in a potential rematch in a key battleground state.

MATTINGLY: And a government shutdown is looking a lot more likely as Congress left for the weekend with just eight days left until funding runs out. We're going to talk to Republican Congressman Ryan Zinke about what comes next.

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Stay with us.

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SIDNER: Look at that beautiful picture. Buenos dias from Miami and to Miami. Look at that gorgeous sunrise over the water there. All right, this morning, new CNN polling shows President Biden holding a commanding lead with voters in New Hampshire. In a hypothetical head-to-head matchup, Biden now stands at 52 percent against former President Trump. They're at 40 percent.

When asked how they would feel about Biden or Trump being elected, Biden leads again with 42 percent feeling positive, but 56 percent feeling negative. And for Donald Trump, it's 37 felt positive and 62 said they had negative feelings.

As for their opinion of these two candidates, 35 percent have a favorable opinion of Biden, but 53 percent have an unfavorable opinion. But, again, it's worse for Donald Trump. It's only 30 percent favor him, 62 percent do not.

Now, this is where things get a bit tricky for President Biden in New Hampshire.

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Only 46 percent say they approve of how he's handling his job as president, but he's still the undeniable frontrunner for the Democratic nomination with 78 percent compared to Robert F. Kennedy Jr., for example, who is at 9 percent and Marianne Williamson at just 6 percent.

Meanwhile, New Hampshire voters don't seem as impressed with Biden's running mate. Only 21 percent say they feel enthusiastic about Vice President Kamala Harris. 42 percent say they are satisfied. Phil?

MATTINGLY: Well, down in Washington, a government shutdown feels a lot more likely right now after Republican hardliners tanked a military spending bill. Yesterday, Speaker Kevin McCarthy sent members home for the weekend. There has been no move on a stopgap funding bill. So what is the plan? Republicans will work on individual, annual, long-term spending bills rather than one big, comprehensive one.

The trouble is, it's extremely unlikely to get those bills done by the deadline, which is next Saturday. Even if they did, those conservative measures are dead on arrival in a Democratic-held Senate. Other than that, everything is going great.

Joining us now is Republican Congressman from Montana Ryan Zinke. He's a member of that Appropriations Committee. He's been at the center of this process, and that's kind of where I want to start. Because as an appropriator, you understand, A, the work that goes into spending bills, and, B, I think the time it takes to reconcile them with the other side to get them to the White House when it's controlled by the opposite party.

My sense is the plan now is to pass 11 spending bills. You have eight days. I'm not sure how this doesn't lead to a shutdown. Am I wrong?

REP. RYAN ZINKE (R-MT): Well, and you look at where we're at. As a former Navy SEAL, I can tell you, never go against the troops. And we failed, and I would say, Republicans, remember, we had zero Democrat help as well, but we failed protecting our country with the defense bill. And the defense bill, I can tell you, is important. And right behind it is the Homeland Security bill, which is our, of course, our border.

So, I think our focus right now is right now is to make sure we get the three most important bills across, that's our defense, secondly, our border, and, third, make sure we protect our veterans. We get those three across. And I think it's as long as the Senate picks them up, I think we'll avert a shutdown.

And let me tell you, as a former secretary, a shutdown is not a good thing. The troops aren't going to get paid. And a secretary has a lot of latitude what he deems or he or she deems, you know, critical and essential.

So, an administration that wants to do a lot of harm has a lot of latitude and administration, in my case, I didn't shut down the parks. I kept permits going. So, a secretary has a lot of latitude and shut down. And we do not want a shutdown.

MATTINGLY: You know, you make a great point. You have a perspective because you've been in the executive branch during these moments before. These are arguments that have been made to a number of your members who, to some degree, sound like they want a shutdown. They're almost urging a shutdown at this point. Why do you think that's the case?

ZINKE: Well, you have a few, a handful. Sometimes it's a media hit, et cetera. But I was sent here to do two things, curb the spending and remove the woke. And we did that. And the defense bill that needs to pass, look, I don't think the defense should be paying for sex change operations and hormone therapy. That's not their job. So -- nor do I understand, we can't allow the military to atrophy.

The bill is the lowest percentage of a defense bill in GDP in our history. The Ukraine war is segregated aside, because that needs a discussion, a separate discussion. And I think we should have objectives and a plan for Ukraine clearly identified. And the Biden administration needs to deliver that before we spend more money. But the core of the defense needed to pass, and it did not.

MATTINGLY: So, I want to get to Ukraine funding in a second, because it is kind of a set -- particularly in your conference, it is a separate debate at this point that needs to be reconciled at some point. When the last major deal, raise the debt limit, set the spending levels, which you guys have moved away from, passed, you voted against it, but you commended Speaker McCarthy's efforts, his ability to get a bipartisan agreement, to get the White House to negotiate. What would you do if he ends up having to go to Democrats and say, look, I don't have the votes, I need your help to get out of this jam?

ZINKE: Well, clearly shutting the government down, there's a few Republicans, but every Democrat as well. And at the end of the day, what we need to do, I think, focus on the three. Focus on defending our country, focus on securing our border, and you see what the crisis is, and focusing on keeping our word to our veterans. I think we focus on those, get them to the Senate, and then make sure we do our job here, is pass the rest of the appropriation bills.

Now, I'm on Appropriations. We're going to get those done next week. But if we get them done and they go and they go to the floor and a few decide they're not going to put up any appropriations, then I guess they're going to live with sex change operations and make sure our troops don't get paid.

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MATTINGLY: To the initial point you made that Democrats aren't voting for this either, I mean, I think that deal that I was pointing to was a deal that McCarthy agreed to that set a spending level that Republicans walked away from. This was the House Democratic whip yesterday when I was asking her about this. Take a listen.

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REP. KATHERINE CLARK (D-MA): All of this is complete nonsense, but it's a dangerous game. Back in June, he made a deal with the president of the United States after taking the economy hostage, catering to these extremists and their agenda of burning government down. And what he did then was totally roll it back.

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MATTINGLY: I mean, I think that's a difficulty right now. There was a deal. Put the partisan fireworks aside, there was an agreement, a bipartisan agreement. And, again, you voted against it, but you commended McCarthy for reaching that agreement. How is this -- it doesn't seem to be on anybody but the Republican conference?

ZINKE: Well, here's the irony of it. The deal that was struck with McCarthy, the appropriation bills, which we all said we'd do, we'd go to the 12 appropriation bills, we'd have open amendments, we'd work on them, we'd curb the spending, those appropriation bills are actually lower than what was agreed upon, in some cases, significantly lower. So, you're right. The goal line changes and you have a few people that won't vote for anything.

But I think at the end of the day, we're going to get together because I think people understand the consequence. And it's right to do your job. Congress needs to do the job.

And the last point is, look, we're talking about 25 percent of the budget with half of the defense. And we're not even talking about the big problem is on the 75 percent of the budget. And on both sides of the aisle, there's a grant that we need to get back to appropriating all sides of the budget to make sure that we prioritize the spending where it should be going and make the hard decisions.

But Congress has long punted and we need to get back in the game and say, we're going to look at the entire budget and not just argue about 11 percent or 12 percent. I do want to ask you before I let you go. President Zelenskyy was on Capitol Hill yesterday. He was in the United States for the course of the last week. You mentioned Ukraine funding. You think it should be a separate issue, a separate debate. Is there a pathway forward for the $24 billion of emergency funding that the administration has requested?

ZINKE: There is. And I was a former SEAL commander, and I've been in a lot of battles in my life, and I have. But I've never been on a mission where I didn't have objectives and a plan. And, look, at the highest levels, we don't have a plan. And I don't believe in blank checks.

So, the President of the United States has to come to Congress and tell us what are the objectives in Ukraine and what's the plan. And I think the American people should deserve that too. I mean, we're tiptoeing into a possible nuclear engagement because we don't have at least a plan and what I've asked.

So, what are the objectives? What are the plans? And the Congress will step up and make sure that we agree with that and fund in the interest of the United States and global security. We will.

MATTINGLY: All right. Congressman Ryan Zinke, a House of appropriator, got to find a pathway forward. I know you were trying. We'll see how that all turns out.

ZINKE: Well, I'm an optimist. Yes, you are. I'm an optimist.

MATTINGLY: I appreciate that, as somebody who's covered appropriations for a long time. Sir, I appreciate it. Thank you.

ZINKE: Have a good weekend.

SIDNER: It was a good interview, Phil.

All right, Rupert Murdoch stepping down as the chairman of Fox and Fox -- sorry -- and News Corp. A look at where his media empire will go from here. We've got some new reporting for you coming up next.

MATTINGLY: Also, a CNN an exclusive, more evidence, the Coast Guard failing to act on allegations of sexual misconduct this time involving a captain turned college president.

Stay with us.

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