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Obama Heads to Vegas to Talk Immigration; Republicans Weigh Next Immigration Move; GOP Critics Say Obama Immigration Plan Illegal; China's Ability to Attack U.S. Power Grid; Wilson Talks Resignation; China Could Cripple Power Grid

Aired November 21, 2014 - 13:00   ET

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


WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, I'm Wolf Blitzer. It's 1:00 p.m. here in Washington, 7:00 p.m. in Paris, 9:00 p.m. in Baghdad, 3:00 a.m. Saturday in Tokyo. Wherever you're watching from around the world, thanks very much for joining us.

Up first, House Republicans make good on their promise to sue the president of the United States over health care reform. The House speaker, John Boehner, says the suit challenges the president's so- called unilateral actions on health care and accuses the president of abusing his executive authority.

And in a statement, the speaker of the House of Representatives, John Boehner, said this, and I'm quoting, "Time after time, the president has chosen to ignore the will of the American people and rewrite federal law on his own without a vote of Congress. That's not the way our system of government was designed to work. Boehner continues, "The House has an obligation to stand up for the constitution and that is exactly why we are pursuing this course of action."

We're going to have much more on this new law suit throughout the hour. Stand by for that.

Well, let's get to the other battle that's brewing now between President Obama and House and Senate Republicans when it comes to comprehensive immigration reform. President Obama is on his way to Las Vegas to push a sweeping new executive action on immigration. And Republicans are looking for ways to block what they call an unlawful scheme by the president.

During a primetime speech, the president unveiled a plan that will affect up to 5 million undocumented immigrants in the United States. It will allow the -- it will allow the parents of U.S. citizens a chance to stay in the country, at least temporarily, if they have been here for at least five years. They have to pass a background check, they have to agree to pay back taxes at the same time. The order will also expand the so-called dreamers program. That applies to those kids, those young children who were brought to the United States illegally, once again, as children. The president had this message for his critics.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: To those members of Congress who question my authority to make our immigration system work better or question the wisdom of me acting where Congress has failed, I have one answer, pass a bill.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Again, the House speaker, John Boehner, says the president has overstepped his authority, first on health care reform and now immigration. He says that undermines the chance for cooperation.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. JOHN BOEHNER (R), SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: The president has taken actions that he himself has said are those of a king or an emperor not an American president. And he created an environment where the members would not trust him. And trying to find a way to work together was virtually impossible. And I warned the president over and over that his actions were making it impossible for me to do what he wanted me to do.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: So, what are Republicans planning to do in response to the president's new executive action? Suggestions range from cutting off money for immigration reforms to lawsuits, even some voices out there suggesting impeachment.

Republican Senator Jeff Sessions of Alabama is the ranking member of the Senate Budget Committee, also the senior member of the Judiciary Committee. He's joining us now live. Senator, thanks very much for joining us.

SEN. JEFF SESSIONS (R), ALABAMA: Thank you, Wolf. Good to be with you.

BLITZER: The new Senate, very quickly, you're going to be the chairman of which committee?

SESSIONS: Well, you don't know. The (INAUDIBLE) members select that so that's uncertain at this time.

BLITZER: Your preference is judiciary, budget, what's your preference?

SESSIONS: Well, I have an opportunity to do budget but that's not certain so I'm -- we'll just see how it plays out.

BLITZER: All right. So, both critically important committees. We'll see what happens in the new Senate in January. You say the Republicans should now react to what the president announced last night with the so-called power of the purse. What are you proposing?

SESSIONS: That is the responsible approach, I think, where the Congress would fund the government of the United States and simply use its power not to fund programs that we don't think are worthy of funding. We don't believe the president is acting lawfully. We believe he's executing policies that are unsound and -- or rejected by the American people, particularly in this election. And so, I think that the right thing to do is simply borrow the expenditures of funds for that purpose which we certainly can do and would be the kind of response that Congress should carry on. Not -- impeachment and those kind of things are not necessary. We have other powers that we can utilize.

BLITZER: You have votes in the current Senate or would you have the votes in the new Senate?

SESSIONS: Well, you know, no. But I think a number -- at least four Democrats voted with my amendment that would have moved us toward -- procedurally toward blocking this executive amnesty. And so, I think that, clearly, a number of Democrats would vote to constrict the president's power. Many said, during the campaign, they opposed it. They thought it was an overreach. He should not do it. So, it will be a -- well, whether there would be enough votes, I'm not sure. But next Congress, it should be a stronger vote to curtail this overreach.

BLITZER: Because in the new Congress, you might have 53 or maybe even 54 Republicans. Right now, you only have 45. To get this budgetary expenditure ban, if you will, through, you need 51 or do you need 60?

SESSIONS: Probably 60. And -- but I think that's achievable. You only need six Democrats. And, as I said, four voted with me the last time.

I just want to say this, this action violated the explicit decision of the United States Congress not to approve President Obama's request. And he's made up his mind to go forward. Five million people will be given photo I.D.s, Social Security Numbers, the ability to compete in the job market for any job in America. They're not going to be farm workers, 90 percent are not farm workers. They'll be competing against our workers, immigrant and nonimmigrant alike, that are here. It's going to have an impact on working people's wages. Their ability to get a job. Somebody needs to speak up and ask, what's the impact on the American people from this? And I don't think that's been discussed sufficiently.

BLITZER: What's your reaction to when you heard the president say last night, the Senate overwhelmingly bipartisan vote, 14 Republicans included, the Democrats as well? They passed comprehensive immigration reform. And now, for more than 500 days, it's languished in the House of Representatives. The speaker won't even let it come up for a vote. And the president said, if you want to change what he's doing last night, simply pass a new bill.

SESSIONS: Well, the bill that came out of the Senate was sinking every day and support, the talking points that they laid out for it sounded good. But the legislation itself did not meet the promises that they made. That by the time it got to the House, that had become clear. And they said it was dead on arrival. So, that's the situation we are in. They pushed for things that won't work.

My observation, Wolf, over the years on immigration is that many people claim they want to do good things and produce talking points that sound good but they won't pass anything that will actually improve the situation. And that's the status we're in today. We need the legislation that will actually create a lawful system of immigration, one that we can be proud of and that serves the interests of America, the people of America, not some corporate business, not some politician, not some activist group, but the interest of America as a whole. That's what a good policy should be and we need to work on that next year. I think the Republican leadership needs to move in that direction.

BLITZER: Well, if you do, the Republican leadership, the new leadership in the House and the Senate, the president says he'd be happy to sign legislation if you guys can come up, in the House and the Senate, with a bill that he will accept. He'll be happy to forget about what he announced last night and to move on. We'll see if that process moves forward. Senator, thanks very much for joining us.

SESSIONS: Thank you. Good to be with you.

BLITZER: Let's get a different perspective. Right, joining us from Hartford, Connecticut, Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal. He's also a member of the Judiciary Committee. He's on a subcommittee on immigration. He's also a former attorney general of the state of Connecticut. Senator, thanks very much for joining us.

SEN. RICHARD BLUMENTHAL, D-CONNECTICUT: Thank you, Wolf. Good to be with you.

BLITZER: All Right. So, go ahead and react to what we just heard from Senator Sessions. The Republicans, as you can see, they are deeply, deeply angered by the president's unilateral action. They are suggesting this really poisons the atmosphere, especially in the aftermath of the dramatic Republican gains in the midterm elections, looking forward to the next House and Senate.

BLUMENTHAL: And I hope we can cut through and ease some of the anger, partisan controversy and come together in a really bipartisan approach which the Senate bill really reflects. I worked really hard on that bill as a member of the Judiciary Committee where Senator Session also serves. I have great respect for him and for my Republican colleagues who came together. And I hope we can, again, because this problem really has a human dimension. I came, just a few minutes ago, from a meeting with some of the folks who are going to be affected by their ability to stay with their children, parents who are in jobs, working hard, paying taxes. All they want to do is stay with their children. And there were tears in their eyes about this program.

But it also has a law enforcement dimension. It enables more effective enforcement of the law against truly dangerous individuals in communities and also promotes cooperation by residents of those communities to help police and other law enforcement. As a former prosecutor, I can say it's important to focus resources in a way that targets folks who are really dangerous.

BLITZER: And to the point that Republicans make, and a lot of others make as well, that the president himself, multiple times over the past six years, said he didn't have the authority to take these actions unilaterally. He's the president of the United States. He said he's not the emperor of the United States. To that argument, you say --

BLUMENTHAL: I say, and it's a good question, Wolf, that he is well within his authority. He's deferring action. He is not granting rights to anyone. And that's why we need comprehensive immigration reform. This step, as bold as it may seem, is simply a good step in the right direction but not the last step. And his action is in the tradition of President Bush. In fact, every president since Dwight Eisenhower, who has used exactly the same authority in exactly the same way, President Bush deferred action with respect to 1.5 million spouses and children, almost exactly the same percentage of people as President Obama did. So, he's well within his authority.

BLITZER: There's the argument that Republicans make on what the president -- President Bush did, what President Reagan did, where they took steps after the House and Senate passed comprehensive immigration reform, a legislation that those presidents signed into law. In implementing the law, they made those revisions, if you will. There's been no legislation, as you know, over the past six years, passed by the House and Senate. That's why they say what the president has done now is vastly different than what those earlier presidents did. You're a former attorney general. You'll hear that legal argument presumably if they -- Republicans decide to take this to court.

BLUMENTHAL: I feel confident that the courts will uphold the president's action, because he is really not in any way changing the law. He is not legislating. He is not unilaterally granting any additional rights. What he's doing is to defer, in effect, a prosecution, a deportation, a removal so that resources can be focused on the folks who really should be deported and removed as a first priority. Of those 11 million people in the shadows, some will be enabled to come out and join the legal economy, easing the threats to workers. They'll be paying taxes. We will know where the dangerous people are and be able to apprehend them and deport them.

So, it's a wide use of discretion, prosecutor discretion which every U.S. attorney knows is necessary, every state and local prosecutor knows it's absolutely vital because resources are short and need to be targeted at the most dangerous. So, I think it serves to grow the economy and protect our security.

BLITZER: Senator Blumenthal, thanks very much for joining us.

BLUMENTHAL: Thank you.

BLITZER: We're going to have more on this development, that's coming up later this hour. Also coming up, as we await the grand jury decision in Ferguson, Missouri, there's now new information on Darren Wilson, the police officer who fatally shot the teenager, Michael Brown.

An alarming revelation about China's ability to attack the U.S. power grid. What the NSA says Beijing could do to critical infrastructure in the United States. That's coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) BLITZER: In Missouri today, fear over a pending grand jury decision that questions whether a resignation would ease the tensions. Darren Wilson, the police officer who fatally shot Michael Brown, reportedly is offering to step away from the Ferguson police force to reduce pressure and safety risks on his fellow officers. But that may only happen if he's cleared in the August shooting of the unarmed teenager on a Ferguson, Missouri, street. Stephanie Elam is joining us now from the scene.

So what do we know this hour because this is a rapidly, shall we say, escalating story.

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, escalating, it's moving, it's changing, all of that, Wolf, is true. What we understand as far as Officer Darren Wilson and his future with the Ferguson Police Department is that it's fluid. It could change. He could end up staying as part of the department, although some are wondering - the people I've talked to in the community - of how effective he could be returning to this department. But one thing we understand he's concerned about is that he does not want to be time (ph) to seem that he is guilty and resigning perhaps ahead of what the grand jury decision, Wolf.

BLITZER: We know that the police and the FBI, they're now on a higher state of alert ahead of this grand jury decision. There have been numerous calls for calm, including from Michael Brown's family. Are they having an effect?

ELAM: Right. I mean, and these PSAs that have been put together, they have been put together, they're out there, you can see them, they're from people who are members of the community. They are also from people who are not even in this community, like Attorney General Eric Holder. And also you do hear from Mike Brown Sr. Let's just take a listen to what they've had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ERIC HOLDER, ATTORNEY GENERAL: Peaceful protests has been a hallmark, a legacy of past movements for change from patriotic women who demanded access to the franchise, to the civil rights pioneers who marched for equal rights and equal justice. Americans exercising their First Amendment right to free assembly should look to those examples as they work to bring about real and lasting change for themselves and for future generations.

MICHAEL BROWN SR., FATHER OF SLAIN TEEN: I thank you for lifting your voices to end racial profiling and police intimidation. But hurting others or destroying properties is not the answer. No matter what the grand jury decides, I do not want my son's death to be in vain. I want it to lead to incredible change, positive change, change that makes the St. Louis region better for everyone.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ELAM: And these PSAs also really just making it clear that they are asking for no violence, no clashes, no unrests whenever the grand jury decision comes out, without mentioning the grand jury, that's what they ask for. But there's also PSAs by the St. Louis Rams players, coach, Jackie Joyner-Kersee, the legendary Olympian, as well as religious leaders here in the community and the mayor of St. Louis as well, Captain Ron Johnson as well. So they really try to reach out through the community, find different people who are respected in the community, Wolf, and get them to be a part of these PSAs.

BLITZER: Let's hope it remains calm. Demonstrations are one thing, but peaceful demonstrations, critically important irrespective of the grand jury decision. Stephanie, thanks very much.

The United States power grid vulnerable to a potentially crippling cyber-attack. And the federal government here in Washington says it's certain one country is capable of carrying out that kind of cyber warfare. The alarming report, that's coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Shutting down the entire U.S. power grid with a single cyber- attack. The U.S. National Security Agency says China, China is capable of carrying that out. Our chief national security correspondent Jim Sciutto has more on the alarming revelation and it comes directly from the NSA chief, Admiral Michael Rogers.

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, Admiral Michael Rogers was not only very public with this warning, he was very specific in listing all the systems that he believes are vulnerable to cyber-attack, water utilities, power utilities, the nation's aviation system, as well as financial service companies. And he says that it's not a question of if an attack like this would happen, but when. And he says it would be of dramatic proportions. As you said, he identifies China, but he also said one or two other countries capable of carrying out such an attack and he did not identify them saying it is classified, and he said these countries, as well as non-state actors acting on their behalf, have carried out recon missions to test systems vulnerability.

He says, "we see them attempting to steal information on how our systems are configured, the very schematics of most of our control systems, down to the engineering level of detail so they can look where there are vulnerabilities, how they are constructed and how I could get in and defeat them."

Now, today, there was already an official reaction from China. China's foreign ministry spokesperson saying that China actually forbids such attacks and cracks down on such attacks, but from China -- between China and the U.S., this has been an ongoing issue not with just attacks on government systems but also the systems of private companies it attempts. Often successful to steal proprietary business information. It's a very serious issue with every legal of government, Wolf. And you can tell now from Admiral Rogers' comments that it is only becoming more acute.

Wolf.

BLITZER: (INAUDIBLE) information. All right, Jim Sciutto, thanks very much.

Up next, we're going to get reaction to President Obama's dramatic unilateral immigration action. We're going to hear from influential members of Congress from both sides of the aisle.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)