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Biden Admin Waves 26 Federal Laws to Allow Border Wall Construction; McCarthy's Ouster Jeopardizes U.S. Aid For Ukraine. Aired 8-8:30a ET

Aired October 05, 2023 - 08:00   ET

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

POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: now has twice as many golds at worlds, 20, than any other woman gymnast in the world.

PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN ANCHOR: She's good.

HARLOW: GOAT. CNN This Morning starts now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON, (D) CHICAGO: The failure of -- of federal policies is now impacting the people of Chicago in a very dramatic way. We still have public safety that we have to address. We still have the house that we have to address. I still have a budget that I have to address. And I'm doing all of that with a black wife raising three black children on the west side of Chicago. I am going to the border as soon as possible.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: That was Chicago's Mayor sounding the alarm about the migrant crisis overwhelming that city. He says the Governor of Texas is now sending some 22 busloads of migrants every day, up from the southern border as Southern border struggles with a continuing huge surge. And this is a result, thousands of migrants including families with small children have been living and sleeping on the street in Chicago. Chicago is not alone in this, a number of buses of migrants arriving in New York City has tripled up to 600 migrants arriving here every day according to city officials.

MATTINGLY: New York City's mayor is on the ground in Mexico, he says to see the problem firsthand. New video shows migrants defying security, rushing the border near El Paso. And now for the first time, the Biden administration is given the green light to build a new border wall to deal with the crisis. The Department of Homeland Security's secretary says there's a, "an acute and immediate need." Priscilla Alvarez is live for us at the White House. Priscilla, this move by the Biden administration, it runs counter to what they said they wanted to do during the campaign. Why are they doing it here?

PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Well, they're saying they're doing it here because they have 2019 funds that were appropriated for this exact purpose, which was building additional border barriers and that they're going to focus those funds on an area that has received a lot of traffic of migrants.

Now, according to the numbers and federal data, this area, the Rio Grande Valley sector, which covers South Texas has seen nearly 300,000 encounters between last October and this August. So clearly an area of concern for administration officials as they look to set up this border barrier.

Now, in last month, Customs and Border Protection had announced and sought public input from the community as they were looking at doing this. And this would be up to 20 miles of border barrier and would include a number of fixtures for example, lights, cameras and gates, as well as access roads. But to do it and to do it in an expedited manner, there are waiving certain laws that includes the Clean Air Act, the Safe Drinking Water Act as well as the Endangered Species Act.

Now, they are sure to come under criticism by Democrats for making this move. In fact, Texas Representative Henry Cuellar said that they shouldn't be taking a 14th Century solution to a 21st Century problem. And the officials when you talk to them say, when they see border security and they talk about border barriers, they would want to focus instead on border technology. The funds have been appropriated for these physical barriers. But look, the White House is acutely aware that this is an area of concern for them.

There has been an uptick in border crossings. They are facing criticism from cities across the country, including from Democratic allies. And so this is an area that are going to focus on for this wall. We should also know that Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and Attorney General Garland are all in Mexico this week for annual security talks. And you know that migration is going to come up in those talks.

MATTINGLY: Yeah, it's a certainty. Priscilla Alvarez, great reporting as always. Thank you.

HARLOW: So this morning, New York City Mayor Eric Adams, also in Mexico for what he calls a fact-finding mission and an effort to address the migrant crisis at the source. This is New York officials say the number of migrants arriving in the city has surged to 600 a day. This comes after Texas Governor Greg Abbott ramped up his controversial migrant busing program sending more and more migrants to cities like Chicago and New York.

Our Polo Sandoval live again this morning outside of the Roosevelt Hotel in New York City. This is a been a huge area focus where a lot of migrants have been. I would ask, is this the breaking point for the city but the mayor of New York said weeks ago that it already was then?

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We've heard it before, right, Poppy. And here's a figure that's quite telling. Just think about it, York City has been grappling with this migrant crisis for about a year and a half now. Yet it was just last week according to what I heard from the city yesterday that the city saw one of its highest number of asylum seekers arrived here in the Big Apple, some 3700 who arrived here just last week alone. All of them now added to the nearly 63,000 asylum seekers that are still in the city's care, as you mentioned. Just a while ago, many of them having to make their first stop here at the Roosevelt Hotel in Manhattan where they basically assess their situation before they're placed in the shelter system.

[08:05:09]

The daily arrivals has grown significantly from about 400 to 600, according to the last update. And the bus is chartered by Texas Governor Greg Abbott seem to be a larger factor here with the number of those buses arriving here to the busy and loved streets of New York City. Basically, tripling over the last several weeks. The city did begin to see a little bit of relief. That is when they began to enforce this controversial 60-day notice to some of the adults asylum seekers who have been in the system for quite some time.

But Poppy when you have a large number of migrants coming into the city, then it's very difficult to see any fruits of their labor. And obviously this coming is Mayor Eric Adams wakes up in Mexico City this morning. The first stop in is multi stop what he's describing as a fact-finding trip to Mexico as part of it, also plans to make a stop in South America potentially approaching that treacherous Darien Gap, which of course, we've heard so much about with many migrants and experienced before they eventually make up -- make their way to Chicago, as we heard. Washington D.C. of course here. Everyone's going to hotel in New York City. Poppy?

HARLOW: Polo Sandoval, thank you for the reporting.

MATTINGLY: Let's bring in CNN Political Director David Chalian. Jessica Washington, Senior Reporter at The Root. Guys, thanks for being here.

Jessica, David pointed this out last hour and I think it's a critical point to recognize here. This has always been such a hot button political issue. You have Democratic mayors, Democratic Governors, State and Local Democrats reaching out to the Biden administration saying we -- we need help here. What do you think the administration will end up having to do here from a policy perspective?

JESSICA WASHINGTON, SENIOR REPORTER, THE ROOT: Yeah, it does seem like the administration is willing to take efforts to slow the flow of immigration of the country, to slow the flow of migrants into the country. So I do think from a policy perspective, they're going to have to do that. They also have to contend with the fact that there are elements of the party that really want a compassionate response to this crisis, and might have a different response and say, Mayor Eric Adams, who has said things that many people find insensitive about the, you know, migrants and asylum seekers who are coming to this country. So they're going to have to if they, you know, don't want to alienate Democrats on either side of this issue. They're going to have to find a compassionate way to deal with this issue.

HARLOW: David, is this good for the Biden administration politically, or bad for them, or kind of both, because doesn't it undercut the critics, Republicans would say they're doing nothing on the border, but at the same time, as Jessica just laid out, is going to anger some Democrats?

DAVID CHALIAN, CNN POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Yeah, I mean, it's -- it's complex for them. And -- and so there is some opportunity here for them politically to start looking a little tougher on the border. But they -- as Jessica was saying, this is going to have to be a both, and proposition for them. This is not either/or. This is not, we're just going to do border security and not focus on what we do with the migrants who are already here in this country and how we are treating them. It has to be from the administration's perspective, for their political purposes, a comprehensive kind of solution that we were saying last hour, of course, there is no comprehensive legislative solution. That's not available here to actually resolve this in this way. But as the Biden ministration is trying to piece together, the acute moment that they are experiencing on the border, as well as this overrun of what is a humanitarian crisis in the cities that are on their friendly or political turf, they are going to have to thread this needle.

HARLOW: Comprehensive immigration reform is available, should there be the will to pursue --

CHALIAN: I think, it's not politically available, right?

HARLOW: I'm not correcting you, David. I'm just like reminding like, lawmakers that like they could do it. That's all.

MATTINGLY: No, you're both right. I think the reality is those -- I think that's the only thing that people can point to as an actual solution here. And so instead to David's point, it's a bunch of one offs trying to piece things together and dealing with political coalition's as well.

David, I want to shift over because I -- we were talking to Fred Pleitgen earlier who was on the ground in Ukraine. And I think that there's a very real -- and I'm not sure everybody fully grasped the inflection point for the Western coalition that is currently underway. And it's not just because of what's happening on Capitol Hill. But Capitol Hill has a big part of that. Take a listen to Jim Jordan, now a leading candidate to be the next speaker, had to say to our colleague Manu Raju.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. JIM JORDAN, (R) OHIO: At some point, we're going to have to deal with this appropriation process in the right way. And we're going to try to do that in the next, what are we down to 41 days. The most pressing issue on Americans mind is not Ukraine. It is the border situation, and it is crime on the streets.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MATTINGLY: Now the question that Manu had asked for was about additional funding for Ukraine, which Jordan seem to kind of dismiss to some degree. David, is there a pathway right now on Capitol Hill given how paralyzed the House is?

[08:10:01]

CHALIAN: Well, I wouldn't rule out that there is some pathway for additional funding given that you do have bipartisan majorities in both the House and the Senate that are in favor of it. So that's a -- that's a place to start where you see a path. But you just noted the problem. The Republicans are now in this chaotic moment of looking for a new speaker. And Ukraine aid is one of those litmus tests where the base is not at all interested.

And by the way, we've seen in our polling overall, over time, the American people broadly are getting less interested in supporting this war financially. You heard President Biden yesterday, Phil, preview, that he's going to be giving a big speech on this. You saw him gather on the phone with the Western leaders this week. This is a clear moment and the leadership vacuum on the Republican side in the House definitely further complicates this moment, which is why I think you're going to see the President step up. His appeal to the nation to stay in this and try to lay out for the country while it's diminishing in its thinking about supporting this, why they need to stay the course here.

HARLOW: There are all these urgent issues converging at once with such limited time. So Ukraine funding, keeping the government open, what are we, 41 days away from a shutdown? Those -- the crisis of the border, the Biden administration is now taking really interesting sort of sweeping action on all these things happening at once. That's the big picture we're looking at here.

WASHINGTON: Yeah.

HARLOW: And no speaker.

WASHINGTON: Yeah, I mean it's -- I mean, it's always an unprecedented time in this country, in the last -- I guess, 10 years.

HARLOW: Phil and I decided we need to -- I decided we needed --

MATTINGLY: I liked it.

HARLOW: -- a segment called unprecedented.

MATTINGLY: Just unprecedented.

WASHINGTON: I like it.

MATTINGLY: Every single day and there's something that happens. It's unprecedented.

WASHINGTON: It always feels that way. It always feels it is.

MATTINGLY: Yeah.

WASHINGTON: Unfortunately. Yeah, I mean, you're seeing all these different issues come together. I think certainly, you know -- and Jim Jordan is saying Americans don't care about Ukraine. Is he right, that it's not the most pressing issue? Probably -- HARLOW: It's not a majority anymore.

WASHINGTON: Yeah, it's not a majority. And I agree, it's probably not the most pressing issue, you know, if it was between a government shutdown and supporting aid in Ukraine, I think most Americans would prefer not to shut down the government. It doesn't have to be that way. But we have a political system that has pitted all these different issues against each other. So it does feel like this really chaotic time, where particularly, you know, as in the news, we're trying to figure out what we can focus on.

MATTINGLY: You know, David, to that point. And for the final point, you have often pointed out the sense of people feel this, right? And they've been feeling it since they came out of the pandemic. I know, it's been an issue, the Biden ministration has tried to figure out how to address for their two plus years in office politically in polling, what is it and how do you address it. Can you explain -- like, does that something is definitely going to carry into 2024. How do you see this playing out?

CHALIAN: This feeling you're talking about in the country of everything being off course just kind of? Yeah, there's no doubt.

HARLOW: Specifically.

CHALIAN: This is -- this -- remember, the 2020 election was an election in the midst of the pandemic. This is going to be the first national presidential election, post pandemic. And as we know, post pandemic is -- is a very different meaning for very different folks. But it has created this sense of concern and angst and not settled into a new normal fully yet for the American people. And that no doubt is going to have reverberations from now through next November.

MATTINGLY: That's something definitely we have to keep watching. No question about. Jessica, David, thank you guys very much.

CHALIAN: Sure.

MATTINGLY: Well, happening today, a memorial service will take place to honor the late Senator Dianne Feinstein at San Francisco City Hall with a private burial to follow.

Now, the service is no longer open to the public after the city reverse course. Officials say, it was due to, "increased security," but no specifics were given. The 90-year-old Feinstein was the oldest member of the U.S. Senate and a fixture in California politics for decades. She passed away last Thursday after multiple health issues. Speakers at a memorial will include Vice President Kamala Harris, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Feinstein's longtime friend and colleague, Nancy Pelosi. The service will also have taped remarks from President Biden.

HARLOW: New revelations this morning about the wife of Senator Bob Menendez, who's facing federal bribery charges. Prosecutors now is zeroing in on a 2018 incident where she killed a pedestrian with her car. The newly released surveillance video ahead. MATTINGLY: And new this morning, for the first time, FIFA announcing plans to have the 2030 Men's World Cup spanned six countries over three continents, Morocco, Portugal and Spain to play host of games, also taking place in Uruguay, Argentina and Paraguay. This decision follows a trend set when people are awarded the 2026 Men's World Cup to a joint bid from the U.S., Canada and Mexico. A final decision on the 2030 bid will be made by FIFA Congress next year.

[08:15:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MATTINGLY: Morning new video obtained by CNN is raising questions about a 2018 fatal car accident involving New Jersey Senator Bob Menendez's wife. We want to warn you, that this video may be disturbing. It shows Nadine Menendez, Menendez's wife, hitting and killing a pedestrian, backing up, and then driving down the road. Now, she did stop and talk to police near the scene. The New York Times reports she was never tested for drugs or alcohol

and allowed to leave.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NADINE MENENDEZ, WIFE OF SEN. BOB MENENDEZ: Did I do anything wrong?

POLICE OFFICER: I understand if we can clear you from any wrongdoing. I want to get your homeland comfortable and not here anymore. Do you get what I'm saying? Nothing against you. Before you go, I just want to confirm that you do not want to give me your phone, correct?

MENENDEZ: Yes.

POLICE OFFICER: Okay, and that's your statement that you were driving this way, the guy came from this way and he ran into your vehicle?

MENENDEZ: He jumped on my windshield.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MATTINGLY: The incident has come into focus, the spotlight after being referenced in the recent indictment of Senator Menendez, his wife, and three others. The indictment alleges that two of the codefendants offered to buy Nadine Menendez a new Mercedes after the crash in exchange for the senator interfering in the prosecution of one of the codefendant's business associates.

Prosecutors say that after Nadine Menendez got the new car, she texted the senator, quote, "Congratulations, Monamore de Levi. We are the proud owners of a 2019 Mercedes", along with a heart emoji. Joining us now, is CNN's Chief Law Enforcement and Intelligence Analyst, John Miller.

I want to start with what actually happened and then kind of build out into the indictment itself. There was, I think, an off-duty or retired police officer who showed up on the scene here and said he was a friend of Senator Menendez. I'm not naive to people using friends to help out with things, but in this particular case, is that problematic? Is that rare?

[08:20:00]

JOHN MILLER, CNN CHIEF LAW ENFORCEMENT AND INTELLIGENCE ANALYST: You know he shows up and says, "My wife knows the driver of this car, and she asked me to take her friend up so that she would have someone there." There's nothing on the tape that indicates he asks for anything else, like, "Any special consideration. Can you give her a break?" What he does ask is, and this is a very well-tailored cop-to- cop question.

He asked if the prosecutor's office is going to be involved in New Jersey and in that county, the prosecutor's office handles fatal accidents. So, what he's basically saying is, "Did that guy make it? Is that guy

dead? Is the prosecutor's office going to be involved? Is it a possibility something had happened tonight?" And the officer answers, he says no.

I mean, he says the prosecutor's office is going to be involved, but, I mean, I think she's going to be free to go.

HARLOW: She didn't want to give her phone number, I guess, which is her right. They would have had the plates from her car to identify. Go ahead.

MILLER: They wanted her to give her phone over. Now, the reason they want to do that is they want to look at the activity on the phone to see at the time and the moment of the accident, what was she doing. Was she texting back and forth while she was driving? Was she on some call? Was she in an email? And that's a standard procedure.

She gives them the phone and then thinks about it and takes it back. So, there's a supplemental report. In the police report. It says the prosecutor's office will subpoena her telephone records to learn what was, if anything, going on that phone. The supplemental report with the answers to that question was not included in the records that were turned over yesterday.

HARLOW: So, we don't know if they did subpoena it.

MILLER: No, well, we assume they subpoenaed it. We don't know what the records say. And that's something Poppy we're going to be following up on today because our calls to the prosecutor's office in Bergen County were unanswered yesterday.

MATTINGLY: The appearance of this, or at least the through line from this to the new car that was purchased for Nadine Menendez in what appeared to be an exchange, or what's alleged to be an exchange for the senator trying to help out one of these individuals. How do these all connect together? Or do they?

MILLER: So, they don't, but they do in the unintended consequences. The car, the new car. She gets to replace her car, which has the bastion windshield from striking and killing this gentleman. That is paid for by an individual who's seeking favors from the Senator of the Egyptian government. That's why the accident is mentioned in the indictment.

And reporters for the Bergen Record and later the New York Times dug into this to figure out, well, what was the accident about? Not knowing it was a fatal accident where she was the driver and hit a person. So, the indictment has actually put the spotlight on the accident rather than the other way around.

HARLOW: You guys have a lot of questions for the prosecutor's office?

MILLER: We have a few, and those are number one, was there phone activity at the time of the accident or wasn't there? When she stops after hitting him, she sits there in the car for a full minute, stock still. The question is, is she the person who called 911? Did she not call 911?

Is it possible she called someone else and said, what do I do? Then the car moves up about 100ft and then she stays there until police arrive. What's really unusual to me is she doesn't get out of the car, run over to the victim, and say, like, "Are you okay, can you talk?

HARLOW: John to that point? His name is Richard Coop. Has his family spoken out about it? Do they feel like they've got injustice in terms of an investigation of his death?

MILLER: The family understands that he was out at a couple of bars, he was coming home and he was jaywalking. They get that part. What they said to us was, that we reiterate what we told the New York Times, which is we just felt there was no impetus to really investigate this. And they wonder why.

HARLOW: Everyone wonders why. John, thank you for the reporting. Bring us more as you get it. Well, so the president's dog, Commander Biden, could be in more trouble. A source tells CNN he was involved in more biting incidents at the White House than was originally reported.

MATTINGLY: And funding for the war in Ukraine is front and center in the speakership battle on Capitol Hill. We're going to break down just how critical that aid is for the war efforts ahead. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:25:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MATTINGLY: At this moment, the future of Ukraine aid, or at least additional aid, seems in limbo after Kevin McCarthy was ousted as House Speaker.

HARLOW: Yeah, and it comes at a critical point in the nation's war, as Pentagon officials warn, Russia is preparing for a winter offensive.

At this point, it's not clear who the next speaker of the House will be, but it is likely they will have a significant impact on what additional support if there even is any, looks like a top contender for the speaker role, Jim Jordan. And here's what he said yesterday. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. JIM JORDAN (R-OH): I'm against that. What I understand is at some point, we're going to have to deal with this appropriation process in the right way, and we're going to try to do that in the next what are we down to, 41 days? The most pressing issue on Americans' minds is not Ukraine. It is the border situation, and it is crime on the streets.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MATTINGLY: So, it's important to take a step back for a second, given the fact this debate has been ongoing and it seems to be heading in a different direction. Analysts estimate Ukraine's current burn rate of equipment, munitions, and maintenance in the war is about $2.5 billion a month. Much of that funding comes from Washington, from the US. The senior administration officials believe that money could run out in just weeks.

Now, according to the Defense Department, the Pentagon has about $5.4 billion worth of weapons that the President could remove and distribute to other nations. Of the roughly $26 billion that Congress previously authorized to replenish that US. Sock, only $1.6 billion remains. And an aid package known as the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative has already run dry.

HARLOW: Last week, the Pentagon's chief financial officer sent a letter to Congress warning them, quote, without additional funds, funding now, we would have to delay or curtail assistance to meet Ukraine's requirements. That is something that Max Bergman, the director of Europe and Russia at the center.

[08:30:00]