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Zelenskyy En Route to Washington, First Trip Since War Began; House Committee to Release Six Years of Trump's Taxes; 70 Million in U.S. Under Winter Weather Alerts; Major Airlines Issue Travel Waivers Ahead of Winter Storm; January 6 Panel: Efforts Made to Obstruct Its Probe. Aired 4-4:30a ET

Aired December 21, 2022 - 04:00   ET

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

[04:00:00]

MAX FOSTER, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and a warm welcome to our viewers joining us in the United States and all around the world. I'm Max Foster in London. Bianca is off for the day. Just ahead on CNN NEWSROOM.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Consultations between the presidents and their top two teams. President Biden will also make a significant announcement of his own.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're expecting the U.S. to announce two crucial systems that fill two different roles.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Donald Trump had operated as if he was exempt from law for a long time. Finally, he's being held to account.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Democrats in the Ways and Means Committee have unleashed a dangerous new political weapon that overturns decades of privacy protections.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A bomb cyclone set to bring blizzard conditions and arctic blasts and the potential for a flash freeze across a wide sloth of the central U.S.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Folks though are determined and yet they're now facing this barbed wire. And if folks think that's going to stop them, well, they seemed determined to go around that in some way.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANNOUNCER: Live from London, this is CNN NEWSROOM with Max Foster and Bianca Nobilo.

FOSTER: It is Wednesday, December 21st, 9 a.m. here in London, 4 a.m. in Washington where in the hours ahead President Joe Biden will welcome Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to the White House in his first trip outside Ukraine since the war began 10 months ago. In a tweet Mr. Zelenskyy confirmed that he's heading to the U.S. to, quote, strengthen resilience and defense capabilities. He's also set to visit Capitol Hill. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi formally invited the Ukrainian leader to address a joint member of Congress.

Saying in a letter: During this dark moment you're courageous, patriotic, indefatigable leadership has rallied not only your people, but the world, to join the front lines of the fight for freedom.

And with Mr. Zelenskyy in Washington the U.S. president is expected to announce another huge military aid package for Ukraine worth almost $2 billion. CNN correspondents are covering all of the developments. Clare Sebastian is here in London. But first let's begin with Phil Mattingly at the White House.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: For more than 300 days President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has not left the country of Ukraine. Over the course of that period of time, obviously, Russia's invasion of Ukraine and a grinding war that continues to this moment. However, on Wednesday he will depart. Depart and has already departed for Washington, D.C., in what will be an historic and quite symbolic moment. A meeting face to face with President Biden.

The U.S. serving as the number one ally and certainly number one when it comes to scale of defense assistance up to this point, during the war. And in that meeting which will be extensive, those that are behind the scenes, consultations between the presidents and their top two teams, President Biden will also make a significant announcement of his own, $1.8 billion in new security assistance that's on top of more than 20 billion the U.S. has already directed towards Ukraine since the start of the war.

And inside that $1.8 billion, the most significant weapons system the U.S. has been willing to provide Ukraine up to this point. Patriot missile defense systems which President Zelenskyy has repeatedly over the course of the last several months, asked for, talked about, personally pleaded with President Biden in phone calls, I'm told, for those weapon systems. Particularly in the wake of the last several weeks of Russia ramping up its attacks on civilian infrastructure. Now President Biden is willing to say yes and will start the process of sending those towards Ukraine.

The expansion of the security systems, the face-to-face meeting, first visit for President Zelenskyy out of his country since the invasion began. All underscoring a relationship that President Biden has said, explicitly and unequivocally over and over again will continue, quote, as long as it takes.

That relationship will also carry over on to Capitol Hill where Zelenskyy is expected to deliver a primetime address to a joint session of Congress. At the very moment lawmakers are considering another $45 billion in emergency aid to Ukraine. Critical bipartisanship behind those votes. Up to that point despite some Republicans raising concerns. Something President Zelenskyy will certainly be trying to ensure continuous at a moment where the U.S. has made clear its support is not changing or going anywhere any time soon.

Phil Mattingly, CNN, the White House.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[04:05:00]

FOSTER: Ahead of this trip Mr. Zelenskyy traveled to the front lines of the war in eastern Ukraine visiting the city of Bakhmut which is been the scene of fierce fighting four months. It was there a soldier handed him a flag signed by Ukrainian troops as a gift for President Biden and Congress to thank them for the weapons they had been sent.

Meanwhile, in Russia President Vladimir Putin handed out awards to leaders of four Russian occupied regions even as he acknowledged the situation in those areas was complicated. Today he is expected to hold an expanded meeting of the defense ministry board.

Clare Sebastian joins me now with more. And you would have thought this meeting in Washington would have come up at the meeting in Moscow.

CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It will be very closely watched in Moscow and in particular the news around the Patriot missiles, with is something that Moscow has expressed great concern about just last week when CNN reported that the U.S. was willing to send those to Ukraine. The Kremlin spokesman said that they would be seen as a legitimate target. They said that pretty much about all U.S. weapons provided. The Foreign Ministry spokesman went even further saying that this would be seen as an escalation and would risk bringing U.S. forces into the conflict.

Russia has spent so many months really been painting this conflict as a war between itself and not Ukraine but the West and NATO as a whole. So that will further that argument.

But significant as well, Max, that alongside this meeting Putin is holding with his defense ministry today, we're seen Dmitry Medvedev, the head of his security council, the former deputy head, the former president himself, in China meeting with Xi Jinping at the same time that Russia and China are holding joint naval exercises. Clearly this sets up this counterpoint. Russia is shifting its alliances, while Ukraine strengthens its Western alliance particularly with the U.S.

FOSTER: More people talking about the security implications of Zelenskyy leaving Ukraine. What are those concerns based on?

SEBASTIAN: Well, I mean, look, I think this has been a concern for Zelenskyy since the beginning of the war. You remember that famous comment when the U.S. offered to evacuate him. He said, I don't need a ride, I need ammunition.

I think, look, it's been policy that that he wants to stay with his troops to put on this united front. But also, it is risky because he's doing this in conjunction with this massive weapons package from the U.S. alone with the Patriots. With him out of the country I think this escalation as Russia will see it. They will certainly see this as an escalation comes with even more risk. That's why, Max, we didn't see Zelenskyy confirming the trip until he was already on his way just a few hours ago.

FOSTER: OK, Clare Sebastian thank you. We'll be watching the trip very closely.

Our other top story this hour. Democrats in Congress have been trying to get their hands on Donald Trump's tax returns for years and now the American public will finally get a look. The House Ways and Means Committee has voted to release Trump's 2015 through 2020 returns and an accompanying report shows the former president claimed huge operating losses to reduce his tax liabilities to zero. And it raises questions about millions of dollars and charitable contributions. The committee says the Internal Revenue Service never properly scrutinized Trump's returns as is required by the mandatory presidential audit program.

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REP. RICHARD NEAL (D-MA): The tax forms were really never audited and only my signing a letter at one point prompted sort of a rear-view mirror response.

REP. JUDY CHU (D-CA): The start of this examination wasn't even begun until after Trump left office. So, there is something clearly wrong here. The American people have a right to know about this alarming state of noncompliance with the mandatory presidential audit. But you know what, they can't take our word for it. They need to see the returns themselves.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: Personal information like bank accounts and social security numbers are being redacted from the tax returns right now. And they could be available to the public within just a few days. CNN's chief Congressional correspondent Manu Raju has the details.

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MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It's been years since House Democrats after they come to power in 2019 demanded Donald Trump's tax returns, went through a court fight that Donald Trump took all the way to the Supreme Court to try to shield those tax returns from becoming public. He lost that fight. Ultimately those returns turned over to Democrats just a matter of weeks ago, but in a party line vote, the House Democrats in their final days in power, the Ways and Means Committee voted to release those tax returns from six years -- six recent years as well as not just his individual returns but his business returns as well. That vote 24-16 along party lines to release both a report from the committee investigating this as well as all of those returns.

Now first on the report those two that were released late on Tuesday night. One of which is the committee's investigation that found that the mandatory presidential audit system. [04:10:00]

Of that the IRS employs for all sitting presidents, they said that it was dormant during the Trump years. They say that is an essential program because they need to ensure that a president is not compromised in any way in signing legislation into law. But they said it was not essentially in use until April of 2019. That is when the Richard Neal, the chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, a Democrat, started to inquire about Donald Trump's tax returns. They say at that point that's when the IRS audit program kicked into gear and they said it never was completed over the six years of returns that they ultimately obtained.

Then in a separate report by the joint committee on taxation analyzing those returns. It raises some questions about some of the deductions that Donald Trump took. Suggested that perhaps more investigation might be warranted. It did not make a judgment one way or the other but got into the numbers of his deductions, his losses and the income that he reported.

But we expect a lot more, including all details of those tax returns in the days ahead. Right now, the committee is trying to redact some of the sensitive security information, some of the confidential information like social security numbers and the like. Once that is done, they will be released. It will come out before Democrats are no longer in power in the House. January 3rd is when Republicans take over.

Republicans attacking Democrats for misusing their power in releasing Donald Trump's returns. Donald Trump's spokesperson also attacking committee Democrats. But nevertheless, they are moving forward and also moving forward on legislation to mandate how presidents are audited by the IRS. That is something Nancy Pelosi in her final days of Speaker plans to bring to the floor.

Manu Raju, CNN, Capitol Hill.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: We haven't heard directly from Donald Trump yet but a spokesperson released this statement.

This unprecedented leak by lame duck Democrats is proving they're playing a political game that they're losing. If this injustice can happen to President Trump, it can happen to all-Americans without cause.

And later this hour a member of the House committee explains why they chose to release the tax returns right now.

A powerful storm known as a bomb cyclone is developing right now over the U.S. and about 17 million people are under winter weather alerts. And that number is expected to grow over the coming days as well. The brutal cold temperatures have state officials preparing for icy conditions and wind chills below zero degrees Fahrenheit. All of this of course just days before Christmas. Airlines are warning the extreme weather could make holiday travel a

nightmare telling Americans plan for flight delays and cancellations. CNN's Pete Muntean is in Washington following the impact on air travel. But first, we go to our meteorologist Derek Van Dam tracking the latest forecast.

DEREK VAN DAM, CNN METEOROLOGIST: That's right. All of the ingredients coming together for a blockbuster winter storm. This is a multi- faceted winter storm with the potential for blizzard conditions, flash freezes and an arctic outbreak like I've never seen before. This storm means business. We have 70 million Americans under some sort of winter weather alert stretching from the Pacific Northwest to the Great Lakes. Note the blizzard warnings through south central Minnesota. Likely to see them expand in coverage as we go forward in time.

We have wind chill alerts stretching from the border of Canada all the way to the Gulf of Mexico. 75 million Americans under wind chill alerts as we speak.

Here's a look at a term known as a bomb cyclone. And we will certainly meet this criteria with the strengthening and deepening low pressure system associated with our storm. Here it is in its infancy. Yet it's still impacting the Pacific Northwest. It's going to gather some steam throughout the course of the day today. And by the time it reaches the northern sections of Colorado, Denver, you'll see your temperature drop roughly 50 degrees Fahrenheit in a matter of a few hours from Thursday into Friday. Incredible.

Cool front moves east. We'll see our first flakes of snow fly in Chicago by Thursday midday and then we start to see when this storm means business. It wraps up, intensifies, goes through this bomb psychogenesis that were talking about. And it's really the wind that is concerning here and the cold Arctic air behind it. Because both of those are going to factor together, reduce our visibility's to near zero in many instances. We'll likely see more flight cancellations, if not complete closures of airports.

This is where we anticipate the happiest snow, downwind from Lake Michigan, Lake Superior, Ontario and Huron. But still considerable amount of snow for places like Minneapolis, St. Louis, as well as Chicago.

Now check out these forecast wind gusts. You can spot the cold front right there as it races eastward. We're going to see the wind pick up Thursday afternoon for Chicago O'Hare but then really start to howl overnight into Friday morning. And that is when we anticipate the worst of the storm as it sets up shop across the Great Lakes.

Temperatures are going to be very, very cold and this storm means business.

[04:15:00]

In fact, the National Weather Service using terminology like life threatening wind chills where you could be outside on any exposed skin and receive frostbite in less than five minutes. 80 percent of the country, every single state in the lower 48 will feel the arctic air and temperatures below freezing. About 50 million Americans will actually feel temperatures below zero degrees. That's not a typo. Negative 50, that is the windchill factor Thursday morning for Billings, Montana. More of the same from Minneapolis, Des Moines, Chicago, look at that, -29 what it will feel like on your exposed skin Friday morning.

Do take care if you're traveling. Maybe you want to cancel your plans and rearrange the travel dates if at all possible. Back to you.

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PETE MUNTEAN, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT: It is about to be a tough week for holiday travel. In fact, travel experts tell us that some of you may want to consider changing your flights already depending where you're going. Some airlines are even encouraging you to change your flights. You may have received the email from one of those airlines.

United airlines says 140 airports are now included on the latest travel waiver. That means you can change your flight completely free of charge if your flight is to, from, or through one of those airports. That means no change fee. No increase in fare. American and Southwest airlines have also issued similar travel wavers.

The issue here is this weather is so widespread but the bulk of the storm is coming for some major hubs like Chicago O'Hare. That's a big hub for American and United Airlines.

Scott Keys of Scott's Cheap Flights says airlines may try and reroute connections around some of the most impacted airports but there's just not as much slack in the system nowadays as there was back before the pandemic. There are fewer seats available that will make this a lot tougher for folks traveling towards the end of this week.

Pete Muntean, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: Experts say shortage of children's pain and fever medication in the U.S. could last through the spring. Most products are flying off the shelves right now because of the high rates of respiratory infections across the country and supply challenges as well. Pharmacies across the U.S. are limiting sales of the drug and directing customers to stores their supplies of children's medication.

Now Twitter's world. Elon Musk is calling it quits as Twitter's CEO. He says he'll step down and abide by the Twitter poll that he created. Where 57 percent of users voted for him to resign. First though Musk says he needs to identify a successor or as he put it, someone foolish enough to take on the job. He also says he'll continue to run Twitter's software and server team. Meaning he'll still have plenty of influence.

Since acquiring Twitter less than 2 months ago, Musk has faced backlash over mass layoffs, the silencing of journalists and a variety of unpopular policy changes as well.

Still to come, a CNN exclusive. Sources tell us a Donald Trump-backed attorney urged a witness to mislead the January 6th Committee.

Plus, the Supreme Court could soon decide the fate of Trump era border policy Title 42. The Biden administration wanted to end but it's asking for an exception. We'll explain why.

International condemnation as the Taliban issues another edict cracking down on women's rights in Afghanistan. We'll have a live report.

[04:20:00]

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FOSTER: A rather significant development in the January 6th investigation. Sources say the House committee investigating the U.S. Capitol riots and Donald Trump's efforts to overturn the 2020 election have started handing over evidence from its probe to the Justice Department. The panel is recommending criminal charges against the former president and others. Here's CNN's Sara Murray.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SARA MURRAY, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: They started handing over materials related to Mark Meadows, who is the former White House chief of staff, including the Mark Meadows text messages that the House Select Committee obtained. They've also started handing over information related to John Eastman. He's an attorney who worked on these various election schemes with the former president and they have begun handing over information on the fake slate of electors. Again, this is important that the committee is sort of handing the ball over to DOJ. DOJ has had a robust investigation but has wanted to make sure it can get as much evidence as possible from the House committee.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: Sara Murray there. Meanwhile, a federal appeals court is asking the Justice Department to weigh in on whether Trump should be protected by absolute immunity in civil lawsuits brought against him for his alleged role in the Capitol attack. When the DOJ responds next month, it will be the first time the department takes an official position on how far presidential immunity extends around the riot.

Meanwhile, the January 6 Committee made a startling allegation on Monday. They have evidence a Trump backed attorney urged a key witness to mislead the panel. The committee declined to identify who was involved but our sources are weighing in with details. Katelyn Polantz has our exclusive reporting.

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KATELYN POLANTZ, CNN SENIOR CRIME AND JUSTICE REPORTER: The House Select Committee said in a public report yesterday that they received a range of evidence suggesting specific efforts to obstruct their investigation. They gave an example with some anonymized people, a lawyer and a witness, the client of that lawyer. But now CNN is able to confirm through reporting from Pamela Brown, Jamie Gangel, Jeremy Herb and I, that this is about a lawyer named Stefan Passantino and it's about his work for Cassidy Hutchinson, that former White House aide and star witness against Donald Trump.

Passantino, he was an ethics lawyer in Donald Trump's White House and then he started a political law firm. This firm has been paid hundreds of thousands of dollars this year by Trump's fundraising groups. That included payment for Passantino to represent Cassidy Hutchinson in the House probe. At least that was until she was preparing to testify publicly in the House investigation this summer. She got a new lawyer at that time, became the House's star witness. Now the House is publicly raising concerns about her setup with this former lawyer of hers, Stefan Passantino.

They have other concerns too with this lawyer and it's a long list.

[04:25:00]

This lawyer was telling her not to recall facts she did recall, not to clarify testimony that she believed was inaccurate. And on something that would cast a bad light on Donald Trump, he told her, we don't want to go there. We don't want to talk about that. Now that's according to the committee which spoke to Cassidy Hutchinson many times. They didn't reach out to Passantino and he's not been charged with any crime. But he provide us a statement today pushing back. He represented Cassidy Hutchinson ethically is what he says. And that she was truthful with the committee when he was shepherding her through her testimony. He also has said he's taking a leave of absence from a corporate defense law firm where he is a partner. All of this matters now because the committee is flagging this among other things for the Justice Department as their investigation continues.

We do know and can confirm that Cassidy Hutchinson spoke to criminal investigators about this episode and it could become something that is part of the Justice Department investigation if it is not already.

Katelyn Polantz, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: We're about five hours away from the opening bell on Wall Street. Things going up on futures. As you can see investors hoping to see the markets rally after stocks snapped a four-day losing streak on Tuesday.

Now Sam Bankman-Fried's days in the Bahamas literally numbered. The former CEO of crypto currency exchange FTX is expected to be back in a Nassau courtroom in just a few hours. It's expected to be his final extradition hearing before being sent to the U.S. He faces an eight- count criminal indictment in New York on charges that that include fraud and conspiracy. Bankman-Fried can be sent to the U.S. as soon as today.

Wells Fargo is now set to pay a record fine for illegal activity that affected millions of consumers over multiple years. The U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau ordered the bank to pay a $1.7 billion civil penalty and more than $2 billion to compensate consumers. Federal regulators cited violations that included wrongfully foreclosing on homes, misapplying loan payments and illegally repossessing vehicles as well. The bureau's director said the fine is just an initial step towards holding the bank accountable.

3M, the company behind Post-it notes and scotch tape says it'll stop making a controversial group of chemicals by the end of 2025. The chemicals known commonly known as "forever chemicals" are found be in hundreds of household items. Recent studies suggest the chemicals are much more hazardous to human health than previously thought. The U.S. Food & Drug Administration phased out the use of certain "forever chemicals" in 2016 and reached an agreement in 2022 to remove the chemicals from food packaging.

Now just ahead on CNN NEWSROOM, a member of the House Ways and Means Committee explains why they voted to release six years of Donald Trump's tax returns to the public.

Exhausted and weary. Thousands of migrants are enduring extreme hardships as they trek to the U.S./Mexican border. CNN spoke to one of the asylum seekers about his ordeal.

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ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: He was helping his mother cross, she that she grabbed a branch and then she fell down a cliff.

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