CBS News
Transcript: CBS News contributor Sam Vinograd on “Face the Nation,” June 16, 2024
The following is a transcript of an interview with CBS News contributor Sam Vinograd, a former Homeland Security official, on “Face the Nation” that aired on June 16, 2024.
MARGARET BRENNAN: We’re joined now by Samantha Vinograd, a former top counterterrorism official at the Department of Homeland Security under President Biden and she is now a national security contributor here at CBS. Good to have you back, I’d like to have you help us digest some of what we talked about with this arrest of these eight individuals who made it all the way from Central Asia through the southern border, and were arrested this past week by the FBI and ICE. There was no derogatory information found on them when they were scooped up initially. How thorough is the vetting done by federal border agents?
SAMANTHA VINOGRAD: Well Margaret, let me put vetting in context, I was responsible for screening and vetting policy at DHS, every individual encountered at our borders is vetted. What that means is individuals’ identities are run against certain data sets or watch lists of terrorism related and other derogatory information. However, the vetting is only as good as the underlying content in those watch lists. And I do believe that we have under-resourced foreign terrorism related intelligence collection, analysis, and distribution in a way that is adversely impacting the quality of those watch lists themselves. We do have gaps when it comes, for example, to information on bad actors in Central Asia. So today, I am less concerned about an individual on our watch list somehow sneaking through our southern border than I am about a bad actor who is unknown to us. And that’s why we need to urgently prioritize deepening intelligence partnerships, with, for example, countries in Central Asia, and ensuring that we are fully exploiting all of the intelligence that had been collected to date on bad actors, their travel patterns and more.
MARGARET BRENNAN: And when you say under-resourced, Congress controls the purse strings and the allocation of that, including Chair Turner’s committee would have a voice in that, correct?
VINOGRAD: Yes, that is true. At the same time, the federal government has made decisions about other intelligence priorities, for example, great power competition with China and Russia has taken resources away from foreign terrorism priorities like ISIS and Al-Qaeda, and I do believe has led to somewhat of a mis-assessment of the objectives of what had previously been viewed as regional affiliates of ISIS, like ISIS-K, ISIS-Khorasan, which we now assess, does have really global ambitions rather than staying focused on Afghanistan, Pakistan and Central Asia.
MARGARET BRENNAN: And- and you raise an important point there that we have just to connect for people, we no longer have a presence in Afghanistan and the intelligence capabilities we once did when there was a military presence on the ground. So those surrounding countries that we’re talking about whether it’s Tajikistan or Uzbekistan, those are the places you’re talking about ISIS-K emanating out of, right?
VINOGRAD: Well, we did lose what we call battlefield intelligence when we withdrew from Afghanistan and Iraq. We also know that ISIS has really leveraged a global franchise model, if you will, where they have built up regional affiliates. For example, in parts of Central Asia, ISIS-K is a regional affiliate in that part of the world. But what we are now seeing is these regional affiliates conducting attacks in an ever expanding geographic scope. What that means is we need more and better intelligence on individuals in these areas, because they do seek to do harm. In Europe, we had a worldwide threat advisory a few months ago issued by the State Department, as well as potentially here in the homeland.
MARGARET BRENNAN: You had the State Department and explained that the US and Turkey were sanctioning three individuals who had ties to ISIS-K and a network of human smugglers trying to bring people here to the US. That brings us back to the southern border. You know, how much of a vulnerability is it?
VINOGRAD: Well, Turkey has been a relatively uneven counterterrorism partner but has recently stepped up and taken some very important action to number one sanction individuals who may pose a terrorism related threat, and try to address some known facilitation routes for human smugglers. Our southern border does present a security risk when it comes to bad actors trying to gain access to this country. To address the risks at our southern border, we need to ensure that federal agents are appropriately resourced. We need to ensure again that we have the right intelligence feeding our watch lists. So we know what to watch out for and we need to disincentivize individuals from trying to come here in the first place.
MARGARET BRENNAN: So does- given that the President just had this executive order that may be challenged in court, but trying to shut down asylum and crossing the border. Does he also have the authority to shut down travel from these areas of concern and specific countries?
Could he–
VINOGRAD: Well–
MARGARET BRENNAN: –do that?
VINOGRAD: Well, just to clarify, the President isn’t trying to shut down asylum at the border, he is trying to restrict asylum between individuals’ ability to claim assignment- asylum between ports of entry- entry, which is slightly different. The President under Section 212(f) of the Immigration Nationality Act does have the authority to restrict entry of certain non-citizens under specific circumstances. Mr. Trump did previously use that authority during COVID. That is the authority that President Biden is relying on in his latest executive order.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Could he direct it more narrowly towards these areas of concern? I mean, why is it that the information you’re saying that feeds those watch lists is so poor when it comes to a country like Tajikistan?
VINOGRAD: Well, President Biden again, could try to use this authority to restrict the travel of certain non-citizens under various circumstances. He could choose to take that route, I do think it would be challenged in court like this current executive order is, but by the same token, I think it’s critical that he works, and I know the administration is doing this, to deepen intelligence cooperation with these countries. So for example, last summer, we did have this threat stream that you mentioned emanating from Uzbekistan, and that led to a deepened intelligence and law enforcement partnership between the United States and Uzbekistan. There have been for example, removal flights of Uzbek nationals back to Uzbekistan, I do believe the same approach is being taken with Tajikistan but that will take time. And simultaneously, we do have Customs and Border Protection and ICE who have broad discretion to make operational changes at the border to, for example, detain all individuals from these countries rather than, for example, releasing them into the homeland.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Sam, always good to have you here.
VINOGRAD: Thanks.
MARGARET BRENNAN: We’ll be right back.
Half of the eight battleground states in this year’s U.S. presidential election use the federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour, a rate that hasn’t changed since 2009 despite a 47% surge in the cost of living since then. In essence, that means minimum-wage workers in those states have seen much of their purchasing power vaporized by inflation over the past 15 years.
Donald Trump’s October 20 visit to a McDonald’s location in Feasterville, Pennsylvania, where the former president served food to pre-selected supporters, has renewed public attention on how much low-income workers earn. Asked by CBS News reporter Olivia Rinaldi if he thought the minimum wage should be raised after spending time behind the counter at the fast-food restaurant, Trump sidestepped the question.
“Well, I think this. I think these people work hard. They’re great,” he said. “And I just saw something a process. It’s beautiful. It’s a beautiful thing to see. These are great franchises and produce a lot of jobs, and it’s good and great people working here too.”
Trump’s campaign didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment about the former president’s views on the minimum wage.
Vice President Kamala Harris has stated that she wants to raise the nation’s minimum wage, as well as the sub-minimum wage that is earned by tipped workers. Both Trump and Harris have proposed eliminating income taxes on tips as a way to boost earnings for people in the hospitality industry.
While the federal minimum wage has been frozen since 2009, 30 states have stepped in to boost wages for their lowest-earning workers, according to the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute. That’s left 20 states still paying the federal baseline wage, representing annual earnings of $15,000. Those states are mostly in the South and Midwest, including the four battleground states that use the $7.25 an hour minimum: Georgia, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
Experts note tha workers in these locations are at risk of falling behind people who reside in states providing a higher pay floor.
“It’s ridiculous that Pennsylvania has a lower minimum wage than its neighbors as well as states like Arkansas, Florida and Nebraska, where voters had a chance to pass raises through ballot initiatives,” Holly Sklar, CEO of Business for a Fair Minimum Wage, a group that advocates for higher pay, told CBS MoneyWatch.
Earning $7.25 an hour “is a poverty wage, and it’s bad for business as well as workers,” Sklar added.
The minimum wage versus inflation
The renewed focus on worker pay comes amid polling that shows many people continuing to struggle financially even as inflation fades and the job market continues to click.
A majority of Americans say they feel worse off than four years ago, according to Gallup, a pessimism that could sway their decisions in the November 5 election. And 6 in 10 voters describe the U.S. economy as either “fairly bad” or “very bad,” according to CBS News polling.
That is likely tied to elevated prices caused by the hottest inflation in 40 years, which outpaced wage growth during the pandemic. Yet since May 2023, the typical worker’s pay has outpaced inflation, boosting their purchasing power.
That isn’t the case for workers who earn the federal minimum wage because it isn’t indexed to inflation, a step that some states are now taking to ensure that people can keep up with the rising cost of living. If the federal minimum wage had been indexed for inflation, it would now stand at $10.61 per hour.
The four other battleground states have lifted their hourly minimum wage to about that level, or even higher:
- Arizona: $14.35 an hour
- Michigan: $10.33 an hour
- Nebraska: $12 an hour
- Nevada: $12 an hour
“In our region, the minimum wage has gone up in surrounding states but not in Pennsylvania,” noted Keystone Research Center, a think tank for Pennsylvania-related issues, in a blog post. “Minimum-wage workers in Pennsylvania have also lost ground relative to workers in the middle of the wage distribution, that is, relative to the median wage.”
Tom Zawierucha, 58, a building services worker in New Jersey, wishes candidates would talk more about protecting older Americans from big medical bills.
Teresa Morton, 43, a freight dispatcher in Memphis, Tennessee, with two teenagers, wants to hear more about how elected officials would help working Americans saddled with unaffordable deductibles.
Yessica Gray, 28, a customer support representative in Wisconsin, craves relief from high drug prices and medical bills that have driven her and her husband deep into debt. “How much are we going to pay?” she said. “It’s just something that’s always on my mind.”
Health care hasn’t figured prominently in this increasingly acrimonious presidential campaign. And the economy has generally topped the list of voters’ concerns.
But Americans remain intensely worried about paying for medical care, national surveys show.
Two in 3 U.S. adults in a recent nationwide poll by West Health and Gallup said they’re concerned a major health event would land them in debt. A similar share said health care isn’t getting enough attention in the campaign.
To better understand voters’ health care concerns as the 2024 campaign nears an end, KFF Health News worked with research firm PerryUndem to convene a pair of focus groups last week with 16 people from across the country. PerryUndem is a nonpartisan firm based in Washington, D.C., that studies public views on health care and other issues.
The focus group participants represented a broad swath of the electorate, with some favoring Republican candidates, and others Democrats. But nearly all shared a common complaint: Neither presidential candidate has talked enough about how they’d help people struggling to pay for medical care.
“You don’t really hear anything much about health care costs,” said Bob Groegler, 46, who works in residential financing in eastern Pennsylvania. Groegler said he’s worried he may never be able to retire because he won’t have enough money to pay his medical bills.
Former President Donald Trump, the Republican nominee, hasn’t offered a detailed health care agenda, though he criticizes current laws and said he has “concepts of a plan” to improve the 2010 Affordable Care Act, often called Obamacare.
Vice President Kamala Harris, a Democrat, has laid out more detailed health care proposals, including building on legislation signed by President Joe Biden to lower patients’ bills.
In 2022, Biden signed the Inflation Reduction Act, which limits how much Medicare enrollees must pay out-of-pocket for prescription drugs, including a $35 monthly cap on insulin. The legislation also provides additional federal aid to help Americans buy health insurance through the Affordable Care Act, though this aid will expire unless Congress and the president renew it next year.
Harris has said she will expand the aid and push for new assistance to Medicare enrollees who need home care. She also has pledged to continue federal efforts to relieve medical debt, a nationwide problem that burdens about 100 million people.
But most of the focus group participants said they knew little about these proposals, complaining that hot-button issues like abortion have dominated the campaign.
Many also expressed deep skepticism that either Harris or Trump would do much to lighten the burden of medical bills.
“I believe they’re out of touch with our reality,” said Renata Bobakova, 46, a teacher and mother outside Cleveland. “We never know when we’ll get sick. We never know when we’ll fall down or sprain an ankle. And prices really can be astronomical. … I’m constantly worried about that.”
Bobakova, who is from Slovakia, said she went back to Europe to give birth to her daughter 10 years ago to avoid crippling medical debt she knew she’d incur in this country. Parents with private health coverage face on average more than $3,000 in medical bills related to a pregnancy and childbirth that aren’t covered by insurance.
Other focus group participants said they or people they knew had left the country to get cheaper prescription drugs. The U.S. has the highest medical prices in the world, research shows.
Several focus group participants, such as Kevin Gaudette, 64, a retired semiconductor engineer in North Carolina, blamed large hospitals, drug companies, and insurers for blocking efforts to lower patients’ costs to protect their profits. “I think everybody has their finger in the pie,” Gaudette said.
Martha Chapman, 64, who is also retired and lives in Philadelphia, pointed to what she called “corporate greed.” “I just don’t think it’s going to change,” she said.
In the closing days of the campaign, that cynicism represents a particular problem for Harris, said PerryUndem co-founder Michael Perry, who led the two focus groups.
Harris has tried to distinguish herself as the candidate who is more serious about policy and more sympathetic to voters’ economic struggles, Perry said. And in recent weeks, she’s begun airing new ads highlighting health care issues.
But even focus group participants who said they lean Democratic seemed to blame both candidates for not addressing Americans’ health care concerns. “They’re not feeling listened to,” Perry said.
Many of the participants nevertheless continued to express hope that an issue as important as health care would someday get the attention of elected officials, regardless of political party.
“We’re all human beings here. We’re all people just trying to make it,” said Zawierucha, the building services worker in New Jersey. “If we get sick or have to go in and get something done, we should have that peace of mind that we can go in there and not have to worry about paying it off for the next 20 years.”
“Just give us some peace of mind,” he said.
KFF Health News is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF — the independent source for health policy research, polling and journalism.
Cardi B says she’s been hospitalized with a medical emergency and will have to miss a Saturday night headlining performance at an Atlanta music festival.
“I am so sad to share this news, but I’ve been in the hospital recovering from a medical emergency the last couple of days and I won’t be able to perform at ONE MusicFest,” the Grammy-winning rapper wrote on Instagram. “It breaks my heart that I wont get to see my fans this weekend.”
She added, “I’ll be back better and stronger soon. Don’t Worry.”
Johanna Geron / REUTERS
The 32-year-old New York native gave no details on her condition.
Cardi gave birth to her third child with rapper Offset less than two months ago. The two are going through a divorce.
She was to have performed along with Earth, Wind & Fire, Nelly, Gunna and GloRilla at the two-day ONE Musicfest.