Return to Transcripts main page

New Day

Conservatives Debate Shipping of Migrants; Fight Over Free Speech; Federal Reserve's Historic Rate Hike Impact. Aired 8:30-9a ET

Aired September 22, 2022 - 08:30   ET

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

[08:30:00]

ABRAHAM ENRIQUEZ, PRESIDENT, BIENVENIDO: Good morning, John, and good morning to everyone.

Listen, I want to first start off by saying that as a first generation Mexican American, I'm very sympathetic to what's going on at the border and the lives of the migrants.

As Ana mentioned, just coming to our U.S. border is a miracle within itself and they survived to make it to our U.S. border. However, this talk of a lawsuit really to me sounds like election year political theater. Look, what the governor did was offer transportation for migrants who were homeless and needed refuge. And it was a voluntary basis, right? We -- the governor's office has released the wavers, both in English and it Spanish.

But the frustration that we're hearing from, you know, people in Texas, specifically south Texas, is how the media is making this a big deal just because it comes from a wealthy city, like Martha's Vineyard, when hardly no conversation is being had of Tucson, Arizona, El Paso, Brownsville, Harlingen (ph), Eagle Pass, which, by the way, we don't get 50 migrants a day, we get thousands.

So, what we're talking about and what we're saying is, it's easy to - to have empathetic values or insights to open border and weak border policies if you live in the upper east side of Manhattan or Malibu, but these are our communities and these -- our resources are being strained. And all we're asking for is for other states, which, by the way, have sanctuary city laws, to start picking up their weight in this crisis that we have caused by the lack of attention from our president.

ANA NAVARRO, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Frankly, Abraham, I don't know how you, as a Mexican American, and I don't know how you can, with a straight face, say that what the governor was simply offering was transportation. Please don't be so cynical. It's a little early in the morning.

You know damn well that it was much more than that. Yes, he's trying to bring attention to the crisis on the border and he's trying to do it through a political stunt by sending these two blue states, blue cities. Let's call it what it is. It is a political stunt. And please don't use your Hispanic last name to come on here and try to, you know, justify this as just offering transportation. If they had been offering transportation, it didn't need to go to a Republican donor, he didn't need to pay more than three, four times the amount that it would have cost. He could have simply called the Office of Refugee Resettlement. There are actual organizations in the United States that do this and are funded to do this without this type of thing. The one who wants the media attention is Ron DeSantis.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Abraham.

ENRIQUEZ: So, um, I actually spend a lot of time in our southern border. Ana, I invite you to come down and celebrate National Hispanic Heritage Month down there.

NAVARRO: I've been there.

ENRIQUEZ: You'll probably see all of the Hispanic heritage celebrated there. And so that's why I'm saying that what we're seeing in our - in our southern border is lack of attention. Our border patrol agents are overworked. There is no federal resources that are even trickling down to our border.

So, in order for us to say that flying migrants who were homeless, Ana, who had no food, who had no shelter to a city, in a sanctuary state, that has more than enough resource is bad, to me that - that is - is complicit to what's going on.

NAVARRO: They were tricked. They were tricked by a woman named -

ENRIQUEZ: And, quite honestly, Ana, you can be a Republican by conviction, or you can be a Republican by convenience. And I chose to - to act on the conviction.

BERMAN: Let me let SE get in here.

SE.

SE CUPP, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Listen, I think - I think two things can be true. One is that this is an entirely political and cruel stunt, and for a lot of reasons the cruelty is the point. There's another story yesterday in "The Miami Herald" of a woman allegedly tied to Ron DeSantis rounding up some migrants in Texas, promising them a flight to Delaware, where they would have a job and a house, and that flight didn't exist. It was meant to punk journalists into thinking that a flight was going to Joe Biden's summer house. That is appalling.

But another thing can be true, which is that sanctuary city policies are unsustainable. Sanctuary city policies are not a long-term immigration solution. And neither party has decided to solve our broken immigration system. It has remained politically profitable to leave it broken because on both sides, if it's broken, you can run on it, you can fund raise off of it and you can fear monger off of it. There's a reason we haven't solved it. It's not that we can't. We haven't had meaningful immigration policy since Ronald Reagan. The reason is political and I'm glad we're all finally having these conversations. I hate the reason that we're having them and the stunt that was pulled for us to have them, but these are important conversations for both parties to finally start engaging in.

BERMAN: Ana.

NAVARRO: Look, what these migrants are saying, what has been documented, is that they were tricked by a woman so called Perla (ph) who offered them all sorts of things that were not true. And so these migrants, you know, they're coming from places like Venezuela, like Nicaragua. They're signing papers they don't know what they are signing. That is called duping, OK? That is not legal. And transporting them across state lines without a full consent and understanding of what is happening, it is absolutely unconscionable and indefensible.

[08:35:04]

BERMAN: SE, can I just ask you -

CUPP: Yes.

BERMAN: Because you brought up the broader discussion.

CUPP: Yes.

BERMAN: You brought up Reagan. I mean, during the George W. Bush administration, there were serious negotiations.

CUPP: Yes.

BERMAN: They broke down. They fell apart because at that point it was the Republican House where it all died.

CUPP: Yes.

BERMAN: But what - what is the discussion?

CUPP: Yes.

BERMAN: In the SE Cupp world of let's get really about this, what would you be talking about?

CUPP: If you look at polling - this is how I know it's broken intentionally - because if you look at polling, undocumented immigrants and migrants have a priority which is legal status. It's not citizenship. They want to stay, live out of the shadows, work and maybe return home one day. What do we keep fighting about? Citizenship. Why? Because it's the wedge. It's the reason we can keep fighting instead of solving a problem. If both parties could come together on the lesser issue, the legal status issue, we might actually solve a problem for undocumented immigrants instead of just kicking this can continually down the road.

And, look, both parties have tried. Obama -- the Obama administration had DACA. That was a temporary band-aid solution that - some said, that expired and now is left for someone else to kind of figure out. And the people on the receiving end of this, the people who get the brunt of this are migrants, asylum seekers, undocumented immigrant and legal immigrants. They are the ones put in the crosshairs of this and they are the disadvantaged ones from this broken system that we refuse to face.

NAVARRO: The big problem, John, is that, right now, if you get to the border, you are allowed to seek asylum. And so it -- the border then becomes a magnet. And I think we need to figure out a way so that people can ask for asylum, can petition for asylum, can try to cross as asylum, not on the border, but in other countries along the way so that at the same time they don't have to make this treacherous trek, they don't have to be paying coyotes, they don't have to subject themselves to the threat of sexual assault and sexual - you know, and rape on the part of the women. There's so many other things. Through dying of heat.

And so we need to figure -- but for that to happen, the law needs to change. The current law allows them to get to the border and apply for asylum.

BERMAN: And, of course, the complication is Nicaragua, Cuba, Venezuela, really no diplomatic relations, yes, to make rules (ph).

NAVARRO: The complication is - listen, Ricardo, Maduro, Daniel Ortega and the remnants of the Castro regime that people are fleeing in desperate, desperate manners.

BERMAN: Abraham, what do you think of this type of discussion about possible solutions?

ENRIQUEZ: Well, you know, John, where my heart goes out truly is, I think of my grandparents who are pastors in Mexico and occasionally they get families of migrants that are going through Mexico and stop by the church and share their stories. And looking at all the minors, unaccompanied minors who are crossing our border as well, and I can't -- I can't just fathom to think of the migrants that didn't make it to our border. My heart goes out for them.

My heart also goes out to Alejandro Fernando (ph), who suffocated in a trailer being smuggled across our border in hopes of finding a better life out here. My heart also goes out to the six L.A. students that overdosed of fentanyl in L.A. just the other day, as well as a 15- year-old girl that overdosed with fentanyl just yesterday, a drug that's being trafficked across our border because of our failed week border policies.

Look, John, if we were to take 30 seconds to acknowledge and to recognize all the lives that have been negatively impacted because of our weak border policies that we have today, a year wouldn't be enough.

BERMAN: All right, SE Cupp, Ana Navarro, Abraham Enriquez, thank you all for the discussion.

ENRIQUEZ: Thank you.

BERMAN: Hundreds upon hundreds of books banned in school last year. So what is happening to free speech across America, next? BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: At least two people have died after an

earthquake struck the southwestern coast of Mexico this morning. We'll have more details ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:42:54]

KEILAR: More than 1,600 books were banned in schools across America last year according to a new report from PEN America. So, have both the right and the left taken cancel culture to far?

John Avlon unpacks this in this week's "Upon Further Review."

JOHN AVLON, CNN SENOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Free speech is under attack in America. It's a narrative that's persisted for years on the right. And conservatives have a point when it comes to college campus controversies. But they're missing one major component, and that's the subject of this week's "Upon Further Review."

Now, on the surface, free speech is something that should unite liberals and conservatives. After all, it's a constitutional right and it protects all Americans. The problem, of course, is that we've seen the politicization of its application and a ton of situational ethics, leading to what might be called free speech for me but not for thee.

On the right there have long been complaints about conservatives getting disinvited or pulling out from speeches on college campuses after pressure from student protests. And I'm not just talking about professional partisan provocateurs like Ann Coulter and Ben Shapiro. I'm talking about top tier office holders, like then Vice President Mike Pence, Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, academics like Christina Hoff Sommers and Charles Murray, and even journalists like Jason Riley, to name just a few.

Now, these campus controversies get covered mostly in conservative media. But as it turns out, they are solely a problem for speakers on the right, as Georgetown's Free Speech Tracker details. For example, historian John Meacham was cancelled from speaking at Alabama's Sanford College. Former Obama era DHS Head Jeh Johnson was disinvited from a speech at Vassar for his role in deporting undocumented immigrants. There were even attempts to ban President Biden from speaking at Notre Dame on the basis of his political beliefs.

And that's not all. A 2018 Gallup poll found that 61 percent of college students say that the climate on campus prevents some people from expressing their views because others might find them offensive.

Now, on the other side of the free speech equation, though, is an illiberal impulse to ban books have been creeping across our country. And that's the conclusion of this week's report from PAN America. It details 1,648 individual books being banned in American schools in 32 states during the '21, '22 school year alone.

[08:45:07]

The target is disproportionately books from progressive perspectives, with 81 percent involving LGBT and racial identity.

Now, pressure for these bans take many forms, like the armed Idaho effort to pressure a local school board to ban some books, some books, some ow which they didn't even carry. But more quite efforts have been conducted to make school boards more partisan. And according to PEN America, what they call educational gag orders, proposed state restrictions on classroom teachings about race, gender and sexuality have increased more than 250 percent over the last year, while the vast majority of these efforts are coming from conservatives, there's also been at least one case where a liberal librarian engaged in a literal burning of books by Trump and Ann Coulter, which I can only say, your hypocrisy is showing.

Now, the point, of course, is not whether you personally agree with all these banned speakers or banned books. The point is, that's irrelevant for the First Amendment. Instead, it's a test of the old classically liberal idea. I disagree with what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it. That's the real standard we need to reassert because education and informed civic debate depends upon exposure to different ideas. And one of the best recent defenses of this actually came from the chairman of the Joint Chiefs, General Mark Milley when he was peppered by questions about critical race theory from Republican members of Congress.

Listen to what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEN. MARK MILLEY, CHAIRMAN OF THE JOINT CHIEFS OF STAFF: I want to understand white rage. And I'm white. And I want to understand it. I've read Miles Smeeton (ph). I've read - I've read Karl Marx. I've read Lennon (ph). That doesn't make me a communist. And I personally find it offensive that we are accusing the United States military, our general officers, our commissioned and non-commissioned officers of being, quote, woke or something else because we're studying some theories that are out there.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

AVLON: He's right. We cannot be strong and afraid of ideas. Disagree all you want. And by all means, let's have a vigorous, fact-based debate. That's essential to democracy. And, yes, there are always the basic caveats, civility is a virtue, shouting fire in a crowded theater is not protected speech, and neither are repeated lies that rise to the level of libel.

But we cannot elevate feelings over facts. And there is no right not to be offended by a speaker on campus or a library book. To break out of this feedback loop of finger pointing, we all need to do a better job of consistently defending free speech and the First Amendment, especially when the mob of the moment comes from someone on the other side of the aisle.

And that's "Upon Further Review."

KEILAR: John Avlon, thank you for that. The Fed raising interest rates 0.75 percentage point for the third

consecutive time. Christine Romans breaking down how this hike will impact your wallet.

BERMAN: A truck crash leaving this Florida highway looking like a parking lot after a football tailgate.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:52:18]

KEILAR: Time now for "5 Things to Know for Your New Day."

A CNN exclusive report says a new book by Maggie Haberman reveals former President Trump's eyebrow raising business practices. It describes how the former president was once paid with gold bars and that his businesses would sometimes interact with the mob.

BERMAN: A hurricane warning issued for Bermuda this morning as Fiona moves north after wreaking havoc in Puerto Rico. Much of that island still without power or water.

KEILAR: Two Americans captured by Russian forces while fighting for Ukraine back in June are free and one step closer to home. They are undergoing medical checks at the U.S. embassy in Saudi Arabia and will soon be heading back to Alabama. They were part of a ten-person prisoner swap between Russia and Ukraine that was brokered by Saudi Arabia.

BERMAN: The death toll now stands at two in a 6.9 magnitude quake that hit the southern coast of Mexico this morning. This after a 7.6 magnitude quake hit Mexico on Monday, which also happened to be the anniversary of two other major earthquakes in Mexico.

KEILAR: Beer lovers in the Tampa, Florida, area are bracing for empty shelves after a collision between tractor trailers Wednesday triggered an avalanche of Coors Light cans across I-75. No one was hurt, thank goodness. The roadway reopened after several hours of can collection.

That's "5 Things to Know for Your New Day." More on these stories all day on CNN and cnn.com. And don't forget to download the "5 Things" podcast every morning.

BERMAN: So, higher interest rates, they are coming in an effort to help tame inflation, but what does it mean for you exactly?

Here to explain, CNN chief business correspondents Christine Romans.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: This is not pocket change. This is real money that any borrower is going to have to pay higher bills. You've seen this by now, right, these are these big rate hikes we've been talking about. But it's going to be math for every family that is borrowing money.

Let's do the math, John, on a mortgage. In the first quarter, a typical home price, $440,300 in the U.S. Last year, that mortgage rate on a 30 year fixed, if you had decent credit, right, and 20 percent down was 2.87 percent. That's an $1,800 a month mortgage bill. Last night I ran the numbers. It was 6.24 percent. That makes that same mortgage $2,500. Grand total, $700 extra a month on a mortgage. That is real, real money here.

Let's talk a little bit here about credit card debt. Typical credit card debt, according to Experion, John, is more than $5,000. You know I hate credit card debt.

BERMAN: Yes.

ROMANS: This is -- this is expensive money to carry. So, assume you're paying $200 a month. At 16 percent APR, you pay $1,200 in interest. It would take 33 months to clear that balance. Now, at 24 percent, $2,200 in interest, 38 months. Grand total, $1,000 extra and five extra months to pay it off.

[08:55:02]

We could do this math again for a new car. I can go up and down the line here. But a new car, grand total, $3,100 extra interest in monthly payments.

So, tough.

BERMAN: If you have dealt, it makes it more expensive.

Christine Romans.

ROMANS: That's what the Fed is trying to do.

BERMAN: Exactly.

Thank you very much.

So, four bystanders jumped into action to help a police officer struggling to detain a man during a traffic stop. We have the video, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BERMAN: This video captures the moment an Ohio man pulled over for speeding abruptly made a move against the police officer.

Watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Have a seat.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm not sitting. I'm not sitting!

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Back off. Back off.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm not sitting mother (EXPLETIVE DELETED).

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[09:00:02]

BERMAN: So, as the officer tried to make the arrest, the man attacked her and the two scuffled for some time. Then a man dashed across the street to help. And then three more people came to aid. Finally, another police car arrived at the scene. The suspect faces multiple charges, including assaults a police officer. He did plead guilty to all the charges.

KEILAR: CNN's coverage continues right now.