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The Lead with Jake Tapper
Rep. Michael McCaul, (R-TX), Is Interviewed About Ukraine, Withdrawal From Afghanistan, CHIPS Act, George Santos; Rep. George Santos Tapped To Serve On Small Business & Science CMTEs; McCarthy: FBI Briefing Convinced Me Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell Doesn't Belong On Intel Cmte; Murder Warrant Issued For Brian Walshe In Death Of His Wife, Ana; Six Dead, Including Infant, In Cartel Or Gang-Related Shooting; Indiana Man Arrested After Child Seen On TV Playing With Gun; Dallas Cowboys' Kicker Misses Four Straight Extra Points. Aired 5-6p ET
Aired January 17, 2023 - 17:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[17:00:00]
JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: We're going to start with CNN's Fred Pleitgen who is in Dnipro, Ukraine, where the community is feeling grief, exhaustion, and anger following this horrific attack.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice- over): Sirens mark the end of a search and rescue marathon. For three days responders works day and night trying to save lives. Now authorities say there is no more hope of finding survivors.
(on camera): There's an eerie quiet here now and you can really see how people were just ripped out of their lives as the building crumbled around them. You can also see the full scale of the destruction. And the Ukrainian say they cleared around 8,500 tons of debris from this area in about 72 hours.
(voice-over): And still, more bodies were found including children, while others remain missing. This man searching for his grandson, venting his anger at Russia. There is no mercy for them, he says. I will curse them until the last days of my life maybe die.
Kyiv says they are certain Russia struck the building with a cruise missile designed to destroy aircraft carriers.
Yelenora Riyabikina (ph) tells me she was in her apartment in the complex when it was hit. She filmed the chaos when she first left the building and saw the destruction.
We thought it was an earthquake or something, she says, unclear what happened. When we opened the apartment we saw smoke and dust and heard screams.
The Kremlin continues to deny its forces were behind the attack. But Moscow does say Russian fighters are now making games on the battlefields.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian forces are still shelling Russian troops around Soledar, which the Russian say is firmly under their control, thanks to fighters from the private military company Wagner. A Wagner unit posting this video after advancing even further and taking a railway station.
Wagner acknowledges using convicts recruited directly from Russian prisons to fight. Leader Yevgeny Prigozhin recently praising a group that survived.
YEVGENY PRIGOZHIN, RUSSIAN MERCENARY (through translator): I told you I needed your criminal talents in order to defeat the enemy in Ukraine. Now those criminal talents are no longer needed.
PLEITGEN (voice-over): Ukraine says the Wagner assault and the missile strike show they need more advanced weapons from the U.S. and its allies to keep momentum on the battlefield and protect citizens at home.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
PLEITGEN: And, Jake, the numbers in this incident really are staggering. The death toll currently stands at 45 and it actually did continue to jump today. Fifteen of those dead continue to be unidentified, 19 people still unaccounted for. Needless to say a lot of anger here among the Ukrainians and of course Volodymyr Zelensky, the Ukrainian president, once again coming out tonight saying there will be a full investigation and vowing to bring those behind those strikes to justice and in front of an international criminal court, Jake.
TAPPER: Fred Pleitgen in Dnipro, Ukraine, in central Ukraine, thank you so much.
Today, the top U.S. General met his Ukrainian counterpart in person for the very first time one day after visiting the site where the U.S. is overseeing the training of Ukrainian soldiers on new weapons and tank. CNN's Oren Liebermann is live for us at the Pentagon.
And Oren, this meeting comes as the U.S. and its allies are pledging even more military support for Ukraine.
OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: That's right. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Mark Milley met his Ukrainian counterpart, General Valerii Zaluzhnyi, at an undisclosed location in Poland. Significant because though these two have talked many times before, update each other on the progress of U.S. support on progress of the war in Ukraine, this is the first time the two have met in person. So, significant there.
According to a readout provided by the Americans, topics of conversation included where the situation stands now and ongoing U.S. support. This comes one day after General Mark Milley visited Grafenwoehr, the Base in Germany, where the U.S. will carry out what's called combined arms training, essentially maneuvers of larger groups of Ukrainian troops, 500 a month or so according to the Pentagon, to better improve their ability to retake their own territory in Ukraine.
Key to this, of course, is what's coming at the end of the week, Ukraine contact group where the U.S. and some 50 other countries will get together to see what else is out there for Ukraine. And we've already seen some big announcements here. Poland and Finland have said they're ready to provide tanks. The U.K. has said they will provide tanks. And Netherlands just announcing they're ready to send their own Patriot battery. Wolf -- Jake.
TAPPER: Oren, about 100 Ukrainians arrived in Oklahoma today for training on how to use the Patriot missile defense system. What do we know about this training?
LIEBERMANN: This is a training process that will take several months depending on announcing today. That training has officially started after those Ukrainian troops came in, a group of about 90 to 100 of them over this past weekend. The question of course is, how long will this take? And that's an even more critical question not only because of the U.S. Patriot system, Germany also announcing they'll send a battery, and again the Netherlands today saying they're also ready to provide a battery, that U.S. training is critical to make sure Ukrainians know how to operate it very capable, but very complex system.
[17:05:15]
The U.S. hasn't said how long it'll take. They're trying to accelerate it as much as possible, Jake.
TAPPER: All right. Oren Liebermann at the Pentagon for us, thank you so much.
Joining us now in studio is Republican Congressman Mike McCaul of Texas. He's the Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee.
Mr. Chairman, good to see you. Thanks so much.
REP. MICHAEL MCCAUL (R-TX), CHAIRMAN, FOREIGN AFFAIRS COMMITTEE: Thanks, Jake.
TAPPER: Congratulations on the new post.
MCCAUL: Thank you.
TAPPER: So Ukraine has received generous support from the U.S. under the Democratic controlled Congress. Now, of course, Congress has now under Republican control. Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, who seems to have Kevin McCarthy's ear, she suggested there -- that the US shouldn't be funding Ukraine at all. She has a group of like-minded Republicans who feel that way. Can Ukrainians count on the Republican Congress to keep funding the Ukrainian military so they can defeat Russia?
MCCAUL: No, the answer is yes. I think what she wants and others is oversight, accountability, where's the money going to? They'd like to see audits. You know, right now, we have Deloitte and three inspector general's looking at the funding going into Ukraine. But the fact is, we cannot give up this fight.
You see what's at stake here. The war crimes that are taking place, as we speak, are horrific. And I intend to call the inspector -- prosecutor general, to testify before my committee about these war crimes. Because when the American people see this, it moves the dial on public opinion.
TAPPER: And maybe you heard or maybe you didn't, but the Danish prime minister was on the show a few minutes ago. And he said, you know, Putin is not going to stop in Kyiv. Like if Russia is not defeated in Ukraine, he will go into other European countries, including potentially even NATO member countries. Do you agree with that?
MCCAUL: I do. And I just met with the prime minister of the Netherlands as well. I'm pleased to see that they're going to send a Patriot battery to Ukraine, but they need more. You know, Jake, every time we give them what they need, they win, the counter offensive. What do they need right now? They need the longer range artillery, they can hit the Iranian drones in Crimea. They're causing all this havoc, all this damage.
They cannot reach those Iranian drones and Crimea. And with Putin changing generals out now, right, not to wait out the winter but to go on the offensive in the winter. We know they're going to come the supply line to the south through Crimea north. Those attack hymns are so important. I've stressed this to Secretary Austin, General Milley, Secretary Blinken, I think agrees with me in this assessment, and it's time that we get that done.
TAPPER: Let's change topics because last week, you requested documents from the State Department for your committee's investigation into the withdrawal from Afghanistan under President Biden. I'm just wondering, just in terms of your investigation, is the deal that Pompeo and Trump that they cut with the Taliban, which the Biden administration points to as part of the reason why they withdrew as they did. Is that going to be part of the investigation?
MCCAUL: I mean, sure, we're going to look at all ties between the Taliban, the United States government. But you know, I set this 10 page letter, very comprehensive asking for documents that I asked State Department prior to this Congress when we did an investigation, State Department did not comply with that. I want to know about the dissenting cable from the U.S. Embassy. Why did 23 employees dissent from the policy the United States? I want to know why they turned over the evacuation in HKI (ph) Airport to the Taliban that led to the suicide bomber killing 13 servicemen and women.
I wonder why they gave up Bagram Air Base. Why did they defy the intelligence community and the generals out there saying it was going to fall really fast? And also, maybe we should have kept a residual force. There's so many unanswered questions, Jake. And who deserves this is the veterans and the Gold Star Mothers. That's why we're doing this for them.
TAPPER: You were in the meeting, as you noted, with the Dutch president, I'm sorry, the Dutch Prime Minister, Mark Rutte, and President Biden today. Biden was urging the Netherlands to support new U.S. restrictions on Chinese chip making technology. This is obviously a big issue. The CHIP Act was a big bipartisan push in the last Congress. Did the Prime Minister seem receptive to that act?
MCCAUL: Very.
TAPPER: Yes?
MCCAUL: This is great news. I know that the Japanese mirror in semiconductor, the tools to make the semiconductor advanced, we have them. Taiwan has them, Japan and the Netherlands, right? So if we curtail our sale of these machines or tools, we have to make sure that Japan does the same and the Netherlands. I introduced the CHIPS for America act, proud to say got passed, but it won't do any good if we can still send this stuff into China.
Now, the good news is the prime minister of Netherlands is very receptive right on board with Japanese that I talked to. And I think this is actually going to go forward. And to your point, if you want to look for some bipartisanship in this partisan town, I think you're going to find it on these issues related to China.
[17:10:11]
TAPPER: Last question for you, just because so many of your Republican House colleagues have called for George Santos, the congressman who, I'm not sure if he's told the truth about anything at all, in his entire resume. People have been calling for him to resign whether newly elected Congressman Max Miller from Ohio, to so many members of the New York Republican delegation.
Former Speaker Paul Ryan was here a few days ago and said that Santos was a fraudulent candidacy. It wasn't just embellished, it was fraudulent. What do you think? Should he resign?
MCCAUL: Yes, we have an Ethics Committee. I served on that for three terms. He will not be assigned to that committee, I can assure you. But we have a process, right? He'll go through Ethics.
I worked at Public Integrity Department of Justice. It looks like there are things now that may get referred to DOJ, I don't know for sure. But he's going to undergo this review and investigation through Ethics and the Department of Justice, and they will do their job.
I don't personally like a candidate. I don't know how to get through the process. Being such an imposter. I don't know why his opponent didn't bring this out in the election or quite frankly, why he wasn't screened as a candidate better than he was.
He never should be in Congress with that kind of reputation. But I know our Ethics Committee and Department of Justice will deal with us.
TAPPER: The new chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Congressman Mike McCaul from the great state of Texas, thanks for being here. Good to see you --
MCCAUL: Thank you.
TAPPER: -- as always.
Grounds for impeachment, Republicans are not quite united on efforts to remove DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas from office. Also, ahead a major development in the case of missing Massachusetts mom and a Walsh, an arrest warrant was just issued for her husband charging him with her murder. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[17:15:44]
TAPPER: In our politics lead, some House Republicans are moving quickly to try to oust Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. Articles of Impeachment have already been drafted. Three committee hearings on concerns at the border are in the works. But as soon as Priscilla Alvarez reports for us now, not every Republican is on board.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER (voice-over): Migrants lining up along the U.S. Mexico border, cities overwhelmed. It's a crisis Republicans say of the administration's own making. And they argue Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas is to blame, even teasing potential impeachment.
REP. KEVIN MCCARTHY (R-CA), HOUSE SPEAKER: Should that person stay in their job? Well, I raise the issue that shouldn't. So the thing that we can do is we can investigate and then that investigation could lead to an impeachment inquiry.
ALVAREZ (voice-over): Republicans allege that Mayorkas failed to enforce the nation's immigration laws. And they argue he lied to Congress when he said this to a House committee.
REP. CHIP ROY (R-TX), JUDICIAY COMMITTEE: Will you testify under oath right now? Do we have operational control? Yes or no?
ALEJANDRO MAYORKAS, HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY: Yes, we do. And we are --
ROY: We have operational control of the borders?
MAYORKAS: Yes, we do.
ALVAREZ (voice-over): Just days into the start of the new Congress, Republican Representative Pat Fallon of Texas introduced articles of impeachment against Mayorkas. The exceedingly rare move has picked up steam in the conference, with key committee chairs already laying the groundwork and preparing to hold a series of hearings on border security. But GOP leadership has yet to commit to moving ahead on impeachment. Mayorkas meanwhile, remains undeterred officials say and intends to stay at the helm of the department. MAYORKAS: I've got a lot of work to do. I'm proud to do it alongside 250,000 incredibly dedicated and talented individuals in the Department of Homeland Security, and I'm going to continue to do my work.
ALVAREZ (voice-over): The Constitution gives the house authority to impeach on treason, bribery or other high crimes and misdemeanors. Experts say, it is ultimately up to lawmakers whether something is impeachable, but political disagreements are likely not enough.
STEVE VLADECK, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: There's really no precedent for impeaching an officer simply because Congress is of the view that the officer has carried out their duties in a way they find distasteful or disagreeable.
ALVAREZ (voice-over): The Biden administration has been wrestling with a growing number of migrants for months amid mass migration in the western hemisphere. The protocols officials have relied on are the same ones used under former President Donald Trump. Republicans, though, take issue with how the administration has enforced the law at the border. But not all are on board with impeaching Mayorkas, including GOP Representative Tony Gonzales.
REP. TONY GONZLES (R-TX): Impeachment is in case of emergency break glass and it seems as if we have taken that to a common thing. It shouldn't be a common thing. Not -- look, DHS Secretary Mayorkas says made a lot of mistakes, and there's clearly a lot of people upset.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
ALVAREZ Now, while Republicans are divided about how to move forward with impeachment, there is consensus within the party about the mishandling of the U.S. Mexico border and we're going to see those criticisms come to life and congressional hearings as early as this month. My colleagues Manu Raju and Melanie Zanona say that there -- the first Judiciary Committee hearing maybe later this month or early February.
Jake, Maryokas for his part has no plans to resign. The Department says that they should focus instead on immigration reform. And just to underscore just how rare this would be, the only cabinet official to be impeached was the U.S. Secretary of War William Belknap, that was an 1876 and that was over a kickback scheme.
TAPPER: I didn't know. I was not alive at the time, Priscilla. Thank you for asking. Priscilla Alvarez, thank you so much.
Just in, we know of at least one House committee that George Santos will sit on. What? Details next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[17:23:53]
TAPPER: In our politics lead, we now know of at least two House committees that embattled Republican Congressman George Santos will serve on in the next Congress even as calls grow among Democrats and Republicans for his resignation because of the many lies and fraudulent claims he made during his campaign. CNN's Manu Raju is live for us on Capitol Hill.
Manu, what are you learning? What committees is he going to be on?
MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, we just learned the two committees that he will now sit on. That is one to Small Business Committee, another the House Science Committee. This has been a question, a concern in the aftermath of all those lies, many of which he admitted about his past, questions about everything in the run up to his campaign, calls for him to resign including from some Republican members of Congress. But Kevin McCarthy, the House Speaker indicated that he was not going to take any action on George Santos, indicating instead this would go to the House Ethics process, and then they will decide what to do moving forward.
So, he decided to make it -- he and other McCarthy allies made a decision, they gave him two committees, not the committee's that Santos want, he wanted higher profile committees dealing with financial services as well as with foreign affairs. But he did get two committees.
[17:25:03]
And one of the Committee Chairman Roger Willman (ph) -- Williams explained to me that he had no dis -- no role in the process. He said that Santos is a member of Congress, and that's why he's on his committee. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RAJU: Do you have any concerns about naming someone and all these questions about his past to your committee?
REP. ROGER WILLIAMS (R-TX), SMALL BUSINESS COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN: Well, I don't condone what he said, what he's done. I don't think anybody does. But that's not my role. He was elected, he represents a million people.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
RAJU: So, Kevin McCarthy, the Speaker, still not joined calls from other New York members from some of the members of the New York delegation, including freshmen calling on Santos to resign, instead saying it's up to the voters and this will go through the process, but it making clear here that he will serve on the committees. And, Jake, the only way the Republicans say that he will get kicked off those committees if an indictment were to come down, given that he's under facing some serious investigations. If an indictment happens at that point, he would lose those committee assignments he won today.
TAPPER: There's high standards there. Democratic Congressman Ritchie Torres of New York has asked the Federal Election Commission to launch an investigation into allegations that Santos broke campaign finance laws to get elected. Tell us about that. RAJU: Yes, there are some questions about a number of the sources, how he was able to $700,000 in funds that he gave to his campaign. Where did the money come from? And calls for the FEC to investigate towards today launching this call urging the body to get involved in this issue and joining campaign watchdogs, also alarmed at what they see.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. RITCHIE TORRES (D-NY): Either Mr. Santos resigns under the weight of scrutiny or he resigns as part of a plea bargain with the U.S. Attorney. Again, I'm entering the realm of speculation here, but we know that he's facing multiple investigations. But my argument to him is stop perpetuating the suffering and humiliation of your constituents.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
RAJU: Now, Santos was asked about the source of the funds. Last week when he was asked by a fellow Republican Congressman Matt Gaetz about that $700,000 in funds to his campaign account, he did not divulge the source of that money, which is a big part of why there are these calls, Jake, for an investigation into that money.
TAPPER: All right, Manu Raju on Capitol Hill, thanks.
Let's discuss with my panel. So, Dana, George Santos where he raised money for a company that the SEC called the Ponzi scheme and the Republicans put that small businessman on the Small Business Committee?
DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: I mean, you really can't make it up. It's so true. The Small Business Committee and the Science Committee, so those are not considered top tier committees. I guess you can look at the bright side is that he's not on Intelligence, he's not on Ethics, he's not on Ways and Means. But in all seriousness, you're right, it really does not make any sense.
When you have his home state Republican Party saying this, we didn't properly vet him, this is a disaster, he should resign, we're not even going to treat him as a member of Congress, we're going to work around him, to have him on committees, they're clearly banking and the leadership, Jake, on the investigations going forward very quickly, and so that they'll have a more sort of hard excuse to take him off. But that's going to be a while.
TAPPER: And Abby, I want to get your reaction to something that Santos' former roommate told CNN this morning.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GREGORY MOREY-PARKER, FORMER ROOMMATE OF GEORGE SANTOS: I've always known him as Anthony Devolder, I've never known him as George Santos. I kind of assumed that he had made up, you know, about going to Baruch and NYU. Obviously, the, you know, the truth has finally come out. And I just -- I don't understand. Did he go like one by one to everybody in his district and just literally pull the wool over their eyes? (END VIDEO CLIP)
TAPPER: I mean, literally a week ago, I said George Santos, if that is his real name, I was joking.
ABBY PHILLIP, CNN ANCHOR, INSIDE POLITICS SUNDAY: Right, right.
TAPPER: But like, I mean, apparently.
PHILLIP: Yes, I mean, I -- just -- it's really just screams pathological lies at this point. There's some things that he didn't really need to lie about that he seems to have lied about or at least tried to kind of deceive people by creating kind of an alternative identity. And it's interesting to hear him say, I assume that he lied about his education. It kind of makes me wonder why he assumed that, perhaps because George Santos claimed some really extravagant things that he, you know, manage like billions of dollars in finances. This is a guy who we don't even think went to college at all.
All of that just really -- you know, I don't think it would be that hard to figure out that he's kind of lying about a lot of his -- especially the financial services background. There's really -- it doesn't seem like there's a whole lot behind that.
TAPPER: And Ryan, Speaker McCarthy has now admitted that he, quote, "always had a few questions about Santos." Democratic Congressman Dan Goldman released a statement today saying that that admission makes McCarthy complicit in concealing Santos' lie. What do you think?
[17:30:01]
RYAN STREETER, DIRECTOR, DOMESTIC POLICY AEI: Man, this is one of those stories that is just going to get worse before it gets worse, I think. And one of the reasons for that is that we're finding out that a lot more people had doubts and questions that knew more about his lies and fabulous, I mean, all of those kinds of things.
And so, I think it's going to be embarrassing for people as that story continues to roll out. But the ones thing I would say, if there's any silver lining in any of this, it's that his clownishness, his fabulism, comes out of a period of time when that was sort of encouraged in the party.
And I think from the midterms and the performance of the Republicans in the midterms to the clownishness at the speaker vote -- and I'm not accusing everyone of being a clownishness. There are serious people like Chip Roy doing some real work there. To this experience with Santos, which is finally raising questions about the role of the party in recruiting, vetting and developing candidates and helping that institution be stronger again, it's too early to say how that's going to go.
But maybe when we take the long view and we look past this committee assignments and whatever these investigations are going to find out, this might be a moment where the Republican Party starts to get serious again about the kind of people that it's actually putting in up for office.
TAPPER: And while we're finding this out, we're also finding out that Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene will be on the Oversight Committee. And meanwhile, Speaker McCarthy making a big deal out of kicking a number of people, including Eric Swallow, Congressman Eric Swalwell, Democrat of California, off the Intelligence Committee.
Take a listen to McCarthy just a few days ago.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. KEVIN MCCARTHY (R), HOUSE SPEAKER: If you got the briefing I got from the FBI, you wouldn't have Swalwell on any committee. And you're going to tell me other Democrats couldn't fill that slot? He cannot get a security clearance in the private sector. So would you like to give him a government clearance? You asked me questions about Santos. You asked the questions about Swalwell. Not only was he getting a clearance, he was inside an intel committee.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TAPPER: Now, I have -- when a number of us have reached out and said, what are you talking about, give us more information, and we haven't been able to get anything, what do you make of it all?
ASHLEY ALLISON, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, ever since the Democrats decided they were going to move Marjorie Taylor Greene from the committees, it was pretty clear that if Republicans got control of the House, they were going to play tit for tat. When you look at what happened during that speaker vote, the question kept coming up, well, why is a Lauren Boebert and Matt Gaetz not supporting McCarthy, but Marjorie Taylor Green as well?
Because she probably made a deal early on with Kevin McCarthy to put her on a committee that she has no business being on. You also look at someone like a Gosar who is on a committee where we know, you know, when you kind of remember him walking up slowly casting his vote for McCarthy that night and then kind of going and apologizing to Matt Gaetz. It's probably also because some deal was negotiated with Kevin McCarthy to get those votes.
I think what he's doing now on the Democratic side show us the proof of what you're talking about about Swalwell. But you won't see anything because he's playing tit for tat and this is some red meat he's throwing to his base.
TAPPER: What do you make of it? I, I mean, understand, like, criticizing somebody, but saying, I got classified briefing from the FBI about so and so, and if you knew what I knew, you would agree with what I'm doing. I'm not saying if that's not true, maybe it is. I have no idea, but I've just not seen such a thing before.
DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: And the shield that he has is the word classified.
TAPPER: Right. BASH: He can say, I can't tell you what I know, but trust me, it's bad. The question is whether there are other Republicans or, frankly, Democrats who might have access to that same classified information, who could corroborate not the information because we don't know the facts and the content, but just the notion that something really, really bad, so bad.
TAPPER: But I think Pelosi was given the same briefing and she was fine with Swalwell being on the committee.
BASH: Look, Eric Swalwell has been, to your point, one of the most rapidly partisan, proudly so Democrats, and he also has been somebody on the Intelligence Committee. And this is no question, payback from Republicans. And remember, this is all part of McCarthy.
You mentioned that Marjorie Taylor Greene is on a key committee and others as well. It's also part of him trying to assuage that wing to say, look, I'm getting them back for what they did to you because they took you off these committees.
ABBY PHILLIP, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: And not just getting them back. I mean, Swalwell has become an actual focus of a lot of right-wing attention. So the act of punishing him is the objective here for McCarthy because that's one of the agenda items that the far right has.
I mean, I don't know that there are many other people that get fundraising emails sent out about him. He's definitely one of them on the Republican side. But I do want to make a point about Marjorie Taylor Greene and Paul Gosar, in particular. You know, when former President Trump had Nick Fuentes at his beach club at Mar-a-Lago, that was a huge firestorm.
[17:35:03]
But we should remember, Marjorie Taylor Greene was on a stage with Nick Fuentes, hugged him on that stage. Paul Gosar spoke in front Fuentes' white nationalist convention. None of those things have gotten any mention. And not only that, Marjorie Taylor Greene is basically considers herself not only just a member in good standing, but a member of McCarthy's leadership team.
And that's not being discussed amid all the things that's happening here. But he's turning a blind eye to that. He's turning a blind eye to Santos. He doesn't -- and it's only because he has no room for error here.
TAPPER: Thanks, one and all. Appreciate it.
Doorbell camera video revealing a shocking scene. A young child waving a handgun, pulling the trigger. What we learned today when the child's father went to court. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
TAPPER: Our national lead now, a murder warrant has been issued for Brian Walshe in the death of his wife Ana, who was last seen on New Year's Day. Brian Walshe was initially arrested for misleading police over his actions around the time she disappeared.
[17:40:11]
Sources say investigators have found a bloody knife in the couple's home and a hacksaw and apparent bloodstains at a local trash facility. CNN's Jason Carroll is in Cohasset, Massachusetts, covering this for us. Cohasset is where Ana was last seen. Jason, do we know if any of the evidence that's been found during the search for Ana played a role in this murder warrant being issued today?
JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Without question, Jake. And we're expecting to hear more about what investigators found once Walshe attends his arraignment hearing and that's scheduled for tomorrow. And at that point, again, prosecutors are sure to lay out what they have.
They have a great deal of circumstantial evidence, some of that you mentioned that hacksaw that was found at that trash facility. In addition to that, the bloody blanket, the blood in the basement of the home. But in addition to that, in all likelihood, finally, we may hear some information about the forensic evidence that they have in this case as well.
In addition to that, they're going to talk about the pattern of behavior that Walshe exhibited following his wife's disappearance, including searching for over the Internet on how to dispose of a body, and again, buying more than $400 worth of cleaning supplies at this -- at a Walmart. So all of that is going to play a role in terms of what we hear tomorrow when Walshe is arraigned on those murder charges. Jake?
TAPPER: Do we know if the prosecution is planning on revealing a possible motive at the arraignment tomorrow?
CARROLL: Yes, very good question. I mean, that is one thing that we've been hearing since being on the ground over and over again. Why allegedly did this man do this to his wife? Here in the state of Massachusetts and Commonwealth, prosecutors don't necessarily have to show motive.
They have to show intent for why a murder was committed, but they don't necessarily have to show motive. Then they don't have to say that there is even a body, but certainly that does help with jurors. So tomorrow, once again, during this arraignment, hopefully we'll hear something about a motive, because that is certainly the question on the minds of a number of people here. Jake?
TAPPER: All right, Jason Carroll in Cohasset, Massachusetts. Thanks so much.
Also in our national lead, investigators in California are looking for suspects in what police frighteningly described as either a cartel or gang-related mass killing that left six people dead, including a teenaged mother and her 10-month-old infant. This happened early Monday in Goshen, that's a town southeast of Fresno in a rural part of central California.
CNN's Stephanie Elam is following this story. The authorities just held the news conference, Stephanie, what did they have to say?
STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, and it's as horrific for law enforcement as it is for everyone else hearing this, Jake. And the way the sheriff described this, he said it was a deliberate, intentional and horrific attack. He called it a massacre of these six family members.
He said it was a 16-year-old girl and her infant son who were killed, also a grandmother shot to death in the bed. They said two people were found outside of the residence, one in the doorway. All of this just horrific details and they're saying that by the time law enforcement got there in seven minutes, the people who perpetrated this murder -- these murders, were already gone.
In fact, take a listen to what the sheriff had to say about this.
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SHERIFF MIKE BOUDREAUX, TULARE COUNTY, CALIFORNIA: We believe that the 16-year-old teenage mother and her small infant actually was fleeing and running from the scene. What we have since learned through forensics that it was clear that the shooters stood over the top of the 16-year-old mother and fired rounds into her head. The 10-month- old infant also suffered from the same attack.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ELAM: And the sheriff calling all of this egregious. In his 36 years in law enforcement, he's said he's never seen a teenage mother and an infant killed in such a way. Jake?
TAPPER: Just terrific. Do they have any leads?
ELAM: They do, but the sheriff was keeping some of his cards very close to his chest, making it very clear that whatever is put out there in the media is also what these perpetrators will know as well. So while he has some information, he's not going to share all of it. But did say that they were looking for two suspects, possibly a third person as well, who may have helped them get away.
But they are working with other surrounding counties. Obviously, there's federal law enforcement, they are helping them as well, because obviously this is unnerved and unsettled in entire community. But they want people to know that they do think that this was a targeted attack.
And because they want people who have any information to help them out, they have now offered up a $10,000 reward to try to see if people have anything on maybe a home camera that may have seen anything, any information to find out what happened. Just around 3:30 in the morning local time on Monday.
TAPPER: That's awful. CNN's Stephanie Elam, thanks so much. Also in our national lead, a child in Indiana, possibly between the ages of three and four was seen on live TV over the weekend alone outside an apartment, waving a handgun and pulling the trigger.
[17:45:06]
Police say they have arrested the father and charged him with child neglect. According to an affidavit, the man says he didn't own a gun. CNN's Jean Casarez is following this disturbing story. Jean, how did police find the gun?
JEAN CASAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, the toddler in diapers pointed at a desk that had a roll top cover, and they opened it up and there it was. You know, the way this started was that the neighbors called 911 saying that there is someone in the hallway that has a gun. And then they got there and the neighbor said it's a toddler in diapers that is waving the gun.
And the police said, you know, are you sure this is not a toy gun? No, the lady says. The neighbor actually said, I sell guns, and I know this was a real gun, and I think it's a 9-millimeter gun. So they go to the apartment, they do a cursory search of that apartment.
They find nothing in plain view, but Shane Osborn comes out, and by the way, the little toddler is the one that let them in. He comes out and he says, just as you said, I've never brought a gun into this apartment. Now my cousin has brought a gun and sort of keeps it here sometimes when he is mentally not feeling as strong as he should. But to my knowledge, there's no gun in here at all.
So they didn't find anything. They left. And they're about to go out of the apartment complex and the neighbor comes and she shows security video on an iPhone, and it shows the little toddler waving the gun and pulling the trigger. So they march back into that apartment very quickly and they tell the alleged father, we know there's a gun because we just saw video.
And so, they -- he consented, he helped with the search. And the little boy actually is the one that found that gun loaded 15 bullets in a magazine, but not one bullet was in the chamber. And that's why if you pulled the trigger, it didn't go off, Jake.
TAPPER: So where's the boy now? Where's the toddler?
CASAREZ: Well, what we have learned from the probable cause affidavit is that the grandmother, Osborn's mother, took it to the birth mother and she now has it. And he had said that the mother that has custody is really sick. I'm really sick, too. And he was woken up when the police came in. So, he is holding firm, though, that he did not know that gun was in there.
TAPPER: What is the father being charged with specifically? And what's the law?
CASAREZ: Well, first of all, these are arresting charges, and it's neglect of a dependent child neglect. And I looked up the law because I think it's interesting. In Indiana, you have to knowingly or intentionally place the child in a situation that endangers the child's life. So knowingly or intentionally.
So did he know that gun was in there? He knew at points a gun was in there, but at that specific moment. Now, his court hearing is going to be Thursday at 1:00. We are able to watch it on live streaming. I called the clerk's office. He doesn't have an attorney yet because I really wanted to ask him some questions. But it will be interesting to see if these arresting charges result in prosecutorial charges, or if the prosecution adds more charges, or if they don't charge at all.
TAPPER: Yes. You know, this happens all the time all over the country. It's just this time we saw it happen.
CASAREZ: Yes.
TAPPER: But parents irresponsibly, well, who knows what happened in this case, but too often, little kids get access to guns.
CASAREZ: Absolutely.
TAPPER: Jean Casarez, thank you so much.
You had one job. Just ahead, the NFL kicker who's likely second guessing his foot-eye coordination today.
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[17:52:55]
TAPPER: Let's close out our show with some sports leads. Today, the reigning NBA champions graced the White House with their presence. The Golden State Warriors were in the building. Team members got to meet with President Biden and celebrate their 2022 championship win. And NBA superstar Steph Curry made this connection between his job and the President.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
STEPH CURRY, GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS: -- for us to be here to find the common synergies within, you know, what we do on the core and what we represent. And when it comes to providing hope, inspiration, belief to everybody that watches us play, that's what you do in your roles, leading our country and to continue to do exactly what you said, do things together. Continue to preach that message. That's what we're all about.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TAPPER: Also in our sports lead, if you thought you were having a bad day, just know you didn't break an embarrassing sports record on national television. Here's CNN's Jeanne Moos on the Dallas Cowboys' kicker who missed four straight extra points in last night's wild card game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's called an extra point, but what made these points extra is that over and over, off to the right, off to the left, they missed.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The most extra points missed by one player in one game, four.
MOOS (voice-over): It was like the worst Groundhog Day ever for Dallas kicker Brett Maher. His own quarterback threw his helmet in frustration after the third miss.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, my God. Got to be kidding me. I've never seen anything like that.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why are we kicking it?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What's going on.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why are we kicking it?
MOOS (voice-over): Fans yelled at the TV --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What? Broke it. Nobody believed this.
MOOS (voice-over): They added sound effects. Wee. Oh, my God. Wee, wee.
MOOS (voice-over): They compared his kicking to the Three Stooges. A fake joke tweet that was not posted by Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, nevertheless had fans in stitches. "If you can kick and are currently in the stadium right now, come on down to the field, we got a jersey for you."
[17:55:05]
Commentators like Peyton Manning wondered.
PEYTON MANNING, COMMENTATOR: Can you cut a guy at halftime in a playoff game?
MOOS (voice-over): Others speculated about the kicker's next career move. Maybe the only way it could have been worse is if they pulled a Charlie Brown and Lucy on him.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's time I'm going to kick that football clear to the moon.
MOOS (voice-over): The funny thing is that Maher's long field goalkicking has been great, but the piddly extra points flummoxed him until finally the fifth times the charm.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And it is good.
MOOS (voice-over): He got a standing ovation. Lucky for Maher, Dallas beat Tampa Bay 31 to 14. Many blamed his performance on the yips.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yips, yips, yips.
MOOS (voice-over): A state of nervous tension affecting an athlete. Never has a kicker been kicked so much when he's down, and never has an extra point felt so pointless.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He may have this rigor for a long time.
MOOS (voice-over): Jeanne Moos, CNN --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's no good.
MOOS ((voice-over): New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TAPPER: But the Cowboys won. So anyway, our thanks to CNN's Jeanne Moos.
Up next, White House official John Kirby is in "THE SITUATION ROOM" with Wolf Blitzer as we see a new urgency in Ukraine nearly one year into its war with Russia. Stay with us.
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