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Immigration Important to Americans; DOJ Reviewing Boeing; Wayne Newton is Interviewed about Las Vegas. Aired 9:30-10a ET

Aired February 29, 2024 - 09:30   ET

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

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[09:30:23]

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right, all eyes on the southern border today. Both President Biden and Donald Trump will be there to highlight their own records and proposals on illegal immigration.

A new Gallup survey shows American say immigration is now the most important issue facing the country. That number you're looking at right there is a CNN poll that finds that 79 percent of people say the situation at the border is a crisis.

With us now is press adviser to former Speaker of the House John Boehner, and most recently Adam Kinzinger, Maura Gillespie, and CNN political commentator and former Obama administration official Van Jones.

Van, can we start with you.

President Biden is going to the border. Obviously, a ton of focus on this today because Donald Trump is there as well. How much room is there for Democrats, including President Biden, to fight on this issue?

VAN JONES, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, I think there's a lot of room now because the Republican strategy on immigration is three parts, scream "fire," spread the fire, and then block the fire trucks. In other words, they made this an issue, they shipped human beings to blue cities and blue states to politicize the issue, then, when there was a chance to put the fire out, to pass legislation, bipartisan legislation, they blocked it. So, they say there's a fire, they're spreading the fire, but they've blocked the fire trucks.

So now Biden can go as the person who had the solution, who wants a solution, who's been willing to compromise, but Donald Trump stepped on that solution, so Donald Trump is now - it's now Donald Trump's open border. It's Republicans' open border. If there's an open border, its Republicans and Donald Trump. And I hope he says that today.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: So, Maura, same question said maybe a little bit differently. What I mean -

BERMAN: Better. By that you mean better. Thank you. BOLDUAN: I was going to get there. Democratic governor of New York,

Kathy Hochul, was on and she was definitely trying to make the case that this is all on Republicans. She said, "Joe Biden has taken the lead. Republicans had it in their hands, the ability to get this done, and proved that, no, Washington's not dysfunctional, but then Donald Trump went on Social, 24 hours later and it all collapsed."

Do you -- is it clear politically who has the upper hand when it comes to the border crisis right now?

MAURA GILLESPIE, FOUNDER AND PRINCIPAL, BLUESTACK STRATEGIES: Unfortunately, for Republicans, I'd say that most Americans aren't looking back to 2021 and looking at the measures that were in place on immigration and on our border that were revoked by then president - you know, President Biden. And, you know, Mayorkas was out there touting it, that they took and wheeled back a lot of those immigration policies. And also that - you know, put Vice President Harris in charge of the border.

So, I mean, Republicans have missed opportunities to harken back to that because of their complete failure on messaging right here and now. And that's where - where we're really losing is because what they're doing is they've let somebody who doesn't really understand and respect the Constitution impede on their very constitutional duty and responsibility to pass legislation.

BERMAN: But you guys are both making - you - you guys are both making the case right now that this is a better issue in a way for President Biden than Donald Trump. And that's - that's a stretch, isn't it, because the polls are pretty clear that voters say that they trust Trump more than Biden on issues of immigration.

BOLDUAN: That's what I'm saying. It's like -

BERMAN: So, Van, I understand what you're saying, but it's part of this wish casting.

JONES: Yes, maybe its wish casting, but also it's early days. Everybody has a number that's too many people coming across the border. For some people, one person, build a wall, we don't want. For somebody else it might be at thousand, 20,000, a billion. At some point everybody says it's too much.

Democrats now are agreeing it's too much. And Democrats have been willing to give up a lot of our own principles and demands to get something done about it and been shocked to find Republicans will not take yes for an answer. And I think the country, it's going to take, it's going to take a while to process the idea that Republicans literally refused to do anything about this.

Democrats are going to have to make that case. You are correct, right now Republican are trusted more on this issue than Democrats because they've made it an issue, but they also refuse to solve the issue. And so - and we proved in New York second district, congressional district, that Democrats can run on immigration, can be tough and smart on immigration and actually win. And so, in the most recent election, Democrats ran on the issue of

immigration, won on immigration. And I think that's a possible pathway for Joe Biden.

BOLDUAN: Do you think, Maura, that policy doesn't matter on this at this point? Is it all just how harsh the language can be, that's what's going to get you a boost in the polls and who can better handle it, or do you -- do hear Van saying that it maybe is just going to take a little time for it to set in, that in your view, and his, that Republicans have so screwed this up?

[09:35:03]

GILLESPIE: Well, Republicans would normally be wishing -- winning this issue if they hadn't moved the goalpost, as Van was talking about. And as somebody who worked for Speaker John Boehner, I watched the Freedom Caucus move the goalpost time and time again. And I think right now -

BOLDUAN: But Boehner clamped down on them and controlled them a little bit better.

GILLESPIE: A little bit better, but you have somebody who was a Freedom Caucus member who's now speaker. So, it's a little bit different.

But I think that it does come down to messaging and pointing things out to people. Again, it's -- 79 percent thing that this is a real problem and it's going to be a problem coming up to Election Day. And it's going be a matter of who can message it better to their constituents, to their - to the American people. And if the Republican Party doesn't see the opportunity to capitalize on this by giving funding to address the issue, I do think that they are going to be hurting for it.

BERMAN: Van Jones, big Mitch Mitchell fan, I imagine. How do you feel -- how do you feel today, now that you've had a chance to process the big announcement that he's stepping down as Senate Republican leader?

JONES: You know, I guess he couldn't find any more damage to do to the country and now he's going to go away, no offense to my - to my colleague here. But, you know, this is -- people call it the Trump Supreme Court. This is the McConnell Supreme Court. It's not the Robert Supreme Courts. It's not to Trump Supreme Court. It's the McConnell Supreme Court. And he focused like a laser beam on packing the court with as many right-wing judges as he possibly could. In other words, you can't win the game, so you just basically buy the refs.

Now that Supreme Court is ramping down policies that Americans do not agree with. That Supreme Court struck down the Voting Rights Act, even though Congress had passed - had passed it on a bipartisan basis to reauthorize it. That's the Supreme Court that, you know, attacked women's rights to control their own bodies. And now the whole county's on a banana peel around IVF. This is all because really unpopular ideas that Republicans couldn't get done on a popular basis have been rammed through by a judiciary that he packed and stacked. I am not sad to see him go.

BOLDUAN: You - a final word on this. Are you concerned at all, or do you think people should be, who's going to walk in to fill that role given the direction of the Republican Party right now?

GILLESPIE: Absolutely. It's a huge problem. Looking ahead to what already some members like Hawley and others are trying to get as who the next leader will be for the GOP. I'll disagree with Van in the fact that I think elections have consequences, and that's what happened when it comes to the Supreme Court. And Mitch McConnell, like him, hate him, whatever you feel about it, he believes the integrity of the Senate, as an institution, as a body, and it's important we find somebody who can be a Republican leader to do that same job.

BERMAN: Maura Gillespie, Van Jones, thank you to both of you.

BOLDUAN: Thanks, guys.

A remarkable rescue to tell you about and caught on camera. How authorities tracked down -- were able to locate a five-year-old girl in the middle of a swamp.

And a death row inmate's final words. What he said moments before he was put to death for a double murder that he fought against and insisted he did not do.

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[09:42:14]

BOLDUAN: Also on our radar this hour, Ivan Cantu, the Texas death row inmate who claimed that he was innocent, he has been executed by lethal injection. He was charged in the murders of his cousin and his cousin's fiance. But he filed multiple appeals at both the state and federal levels claiming that key witnesses lied. His appeals were rejected and an official - and in an official release says that he maintained his innocence in his final words.

Now, people across the west are preparing for what is being described by forecasters as an extremely potent winter storm. It's expected to bring several feet of snow and big rain across the Pacific Northwest over the next three days. Flood watches are in effect for lower elevations. A blizzard warning is in effect for California's Sierra Nevada Mountains. And as John said, feet, feet of snow people could see.

And the moment deputies in Florida find a missing five-year-old girl wandering around the Tampa wetlands, all caught on video.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. (INAUDIBLE). Come on sweetheart. Come on. Hi. Hi, baby girl.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let's get you out of the water, OK?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: Now, the little girl, who has autism, she wondered away from her home on Monday, and the sheriff's office says that she was found without injury, thank goodness, and is now back safe with her family.

John.

BERMAN: That is wonderful news.

BOLDUAN: It is.

BERMAN: So, this morning, the Justice Department has launched an investigation into the midflight blowout of a door plug on board that Alaska Airlines flight last month. The DOJ is reviewing if Boeing can be held criminally liable now because of a settlement the company made in 2021.

CNN's Pete Muntean is here with the details.

Pete, what are you learning?

PETE MUNTEAN, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT: This is not good for Boeing, John, facing a mountain of investigations into the door plug incident itself and into quality control at the Boeing factory in Renton, Washington. Now the Justice Department is piling on.

What does it all mean? Well, this could expose Boeing to criminal liability if the Justice Department finds that Boeing violated their agreement after the 737 Max 8 crashes of 2018 and 2019.

The deferred prosecution agreement was reached in 2021. It avoided a charge of conspiracy to defraud the United States. Boeing admitted to the fraud. Its controversial because crash victims' families were not consulted in all of this. That was set to expire January 7th, two days after the door plug incident on January 5th. That agreement cost Boeing $2.5 billion back in 2021. It included a $243 million criminal fine.

[09:45:01]

No comment from Boeing on this latest development. Also, no comment from the Justice Department.

This is happening as these multiple investigations are appearing to come to a head this week. Just yesterday the FAA came down hard on Boeing, saying it has 90 days to produce a plan to fix its quality control. The FAA's audit into Boeing's quality control continues. That report expected sometime in the next week.

This is also as NTSB investigators are still probing the quality control issue at the center of all this. Why did the 737 Max 9, used for Alaska Flight 1282, leave the Boeing factory in October without four critical bolts in place that keep the door plug on the plane. That's what the NTSB found in its preliminary report. And just Monday, this is the real kicker, and expert panel found

Boeing's factory workers lived in fear of retaliation for reporting safety issues to their managers.

John.

BERMAN: All right, Pete Muntean, a lot new there. Thank you very much for that.

So, just moments from now, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin will face questions on Capitol Hill about how communications were mishandled around his initial hospitalization.

And CNN has a new special documentary on Las Vegas. And Wayne Newton talks about underpants.

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WAYNE NEWTON, ENTERTAINER: I enjoy what I do. I love to see the peoples faces. And I love to see the smiles on their faces and maybe the fact that we can bring them a little bit of happiness and forget all the nonsense that's going on in the world.

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[09:50:57]

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: The city of Las Vegas has been a powerful force in the zeitgeist recently, hosting Super Bowl 58 and wowing audiences in its new futuristic venue, The Sphere. Now the new CNN original series "Vegas: The Story of Sin City," takes us on an incredible journey from the city's origins as a dusty desert town, to the entertainment mecca that it is today.

Here's a look.

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WAYNE NEWTON, ENTERTAINER: The gentleman who was auditioning us listened to two songs. And he got up to leave, and I thought, well, back to school. And he said, if we get you a work permit, I'll hire you for two weeks.

The two-week engagements turned into a five-year contract.

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SIDNER: All right, now I want to welcome the man, the myth, the legend, known as Mr. Las Vegas, Wayne Newton.

I'm so excited. You are a part of this. You're in -- if you were not in this series, I would be - I would have to call somebody. I would be upset.

WAYNE NEWTON, ENTERTAINER: Actually, I would -

SIDNER: Forty plus million have seen your show. Have seen you perform over these many years. How do you keep it fresh?

NEWTON: Right. I - I pray a lot and I recover (ph) a lot. And I make sure that every show that we do is like the first one we're going to. And so, we never do the same show twice. And so, therefore, we get a lot of return audiences that way also.

SIDNER: You've been performing in Vegas since you were 15 years old. When you think back to 15-year-old you, was this the life you ever imagined and the career, the length of your career? It's longer than anyone I know.

NEWTON: Well, actually, we will be celebrating our 65th year of performing in Las Vegas this coming, I think, May. And I don't think about it. I - I think that it's the fact that I enjoy what I do. I love to see the people's faces. And I love to see the smiles on their faces and maybe the fact that we can bring them a little bit of happiness and forget all the nonsense that's going on in the world.

SIDNER: You knew the Rat Pack by name. You performed with - with them. With Elvis. These are also icons, right?

NEWTON: Yes.

SIDNER: So, who partied harder in Vegas? I know you have secrets. Who of them partied the hardest in Vegas?

NEWTON: Actually, the whole group partied for - it was pretty - it was pretty interesting to watch because Frank's wife told me later on -- because I really didn't understand why Frank became my friend because there was a major age difference, obviously. And then if he was coming to town to do a charity show and raise money for a charity or the university or that kind of thing, he would always make sure that there was time on that show for me to perform. And I never understood it. And his wife told me, she said, that was Frank's way of looking out for you.

SIDNER: You are one of only two people, two people in the world, to be awarded the Medal of Honor from the city of Las Vegas. There is Wayne Newton Boulevard, a Key Road at the local airport. You also have the very first star on the Las Vegas Walk of Fame.

What does this city mean to you?

NEWTON: The thing that it means to me is that I really have to behave myself because there's a lot of - there's a lot that goes with that.

SIDNER: Oh, Wayne, it's Vegas. Nothing -- whatever happens in Vegas, Mr. Newton, stays in Vegas, right?

NEWTON: If - if that were -- if that were true, Sara -- let me tell you. I was just in Hawaii during a show. And about halfway through the show this lady decided to take off her underwear and toss it to the stage. [09:55:09]

SIDNER: That still happens? Wow.

NEWTON: And I said, well, what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas, it has now moved to Honolulu.

SIDNER: Where can people check out your - your new show?

NEWTON: I am appearing three nights a week at the Flamingo - at The Flamingo in Las Vegas and - and signed there for another two or three years. And then we're also touring this year some. I'll be in Chester, Pennsylvania, and Rehoboth Beach, Delaware. And also Munhall, Pennsylvania. So, we're going to be traveling some. So, if you see my name out there, it's real.

SIDNER: Well, I would like to quote your bird by saying, pretty amazing, Wayne Newton.

NEWTON: Thank you.

SIDNER: I am so happy that we got this time together. Appreciate it. Thank you.

BOLDUAN: And our thank you to Sara for teleporting in for a brief moment.

BERMAN: That's amazing. The magic of television. Sara Sidner.

BOLDUAN: It's really remarkable. Oh, here we go, the CNN original series "Vegas: The Story of Sin City" continue with a new episode this Sunday not -- Sunday night at 10:00 p.m. on CNN.

BERMAN: And bring extra underpants.

BOLDUAN: Stop.

BERMAN: Thank you all for joining us.

BOLDUAN: Wow.

BERMAN: This has been CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

"NEWSROOM" with Jim Acosta up next.

BOLDUAN: So many jokes.

BERMAN: It was part of the interview.

BOLDUAN: So many jokes. Not going to say.

BERMAN: It was part of the interview.

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