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Zelensky Delivers Powerful Address to U.S. Congress; Zelensky and Biden Vow Victory Over Russia; Arctic Front to Cripple Holiday Travel in Much of U.S.; Transcripts Include Key Witnesses Refused to Answer Questions; Long Lines at U.S./Mexico Border with Title 42 in Limbo. Aired 4-4:30a ET

Aired December 22, 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 off for the week. Just ahead on CNN NEWSROOM.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT: Your money is not charity. The Ukrainian people will win too, absolutely.

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: He's willing to give his life for his country. President Zelenskyy and I are united, two countries together, to make sure he cannot succeed.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We could experience 60 degrees below zero in terms of wind chill.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: As long as I don't miss my flight. I've been waiting a long time to go home.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm used to it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

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

FOSTER: Well, it's Thursday, December 22nd. 9 a.m. here in London, 4 a.m. in Washington where a determined Volodymyr Zelenskyy declared his country alive and kicking as the Ukrainian president delivered a powerful and impassioned address to a joint meeting at the U.S. Congress. The Ukrainian leader was greeted by cheers and a standing ovation from lawmakers and a remarkable moment coming 300 days after Russia launched its unprovoked invasion of his country. Mr. Zelenskyy's visit to Washington lasted just hours but marked his first trip outside Ukraine since the war began. He went before Congress to express his gratitude for the critical U.S. support but to ask for more assistance.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT: Our two nations are allies in this battle, and next year will be a turning point, I know it, the point when Ukrainian courage and American resolve must guarantee the future of our common freedom, the freedom of people who stand for their values. Your support is crucial, not just to stand in such fight, but to get to the turning point to win on the battlefield. We have artillery, yes. Thank you. We have it. Is it enough? Honestly, not really.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: Zelenskyy also telling Congress, he believes next year will be a turning point as the U.S. and Ukraine remain allies in the battle. That solidarity on display as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi gave Mr. Zelenskyy an American flag and he presented Congress with a Ukrainian flag signed by soldiers on the front lines.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ZELENSKYY: This flag is a symbol of our victory in this war, We stand, we fight and we will win because we are united, Ukraine, America and the entire free world

To the last thing, thank you so much, may God protect our brave troops and citizens. May God forever bless the United States of America. Merry Christmas and a happy victorious new year. Slava Ukraini.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: CNN correspondents tracking developments across the globe. Clare Sebastian Here in London, Will Ripley Is in Kyiv. Oren Liebermann is at the Pentagon. But we begin at the White House this hour with Phil Mattingly.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: For a leader that has become a beacon of to some degree freedom, hope, democracy for the Western world over the course of the last 300 plus days, it was no more dramatic and potentially consequential. Seven to eight hours -- and the seven to eight hours President Volodymyr Zelenskyy spent going from the White House meeting with President Biden. Up to Capitol Hill speaking to a joint session of Congress. All through the lens of the kind of pictures, no signs of ending anytime soon.

And that was one of the primary take aways from his sprint through Washington, D.C. his first trip out of Ukraine since Russia invaded at the end of February. The reality that as long as Vladimir Putin, as long as Russia continues to mount the invasion that they've had ongoing now for nearly ten months, there are no compromises to make in the words of Zelenskyy. There is no change no, shift. And this is not just a battle between two countries.

[04:05:00]

An invader in the Ukrainian people, this is a battle really to some degree -- at least in the framing of Zelenskyy -- for democracy, for many of the Western values that President Biden has made clear are essential in this moment in time.

And that is why this visit when you talk to White House officials was so critically important. Given the scale of the U.S. assistance over the course of the last nine or ten months, given the fact that while Zelenskyy was here Biden announced another $1.8 billion in security assistance, including the most substantial addition of weapons capability in the Patriot missile defense system that has ever been put on the table. Something that Zelenskyy made clear, he wants more of. They need lawmakers to continue to support that. They need the American public to continue to support that and Zelenskyy made clear that was in part why he was here and had a very, very clear message. Take a listen.

ZELENSKYY: Your money is not charity. It's an investment in the global security and democracy that we handle in the most responsible way.

Russia, Russia could stop its aggression, really, if it wanted to, but you can speed up our victory. I know it.

MATTINGLY: Now officials familiar with Biden's closed-door meeting with Zelenskyy lasted a little more than two hours. Both a one-on-one meeting and a bilateral meeting between the two national security teams. So, there were no clear moves towards some type of peace pathway. That is simply not on the table so long as Vladimir Putin and the Russian military continue the pathway they've pursued. But they all seem to agree that next year, starting in just a couple of days, is a turning point, a critical year and a moment where the Ukrainian forces plan to make some type of breakthrough.

How they're going to do that though remains somewhat unclear. You talk to U.S. officials, they see this now more as a stalemate when it comes to the battle space than any type of progression forward on one side or the other. And that underscores another critical component, Zelenskyy making clear they would be asking for more assistance pretty much daily from here on out. Underscoring that while the U.S. by far have given the most money, weapons, economic support up to this point, much more will be needed in the months and perhaps longer ahead.

Phil Mattingly, CNN, the White House.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: Our Clare Sebastian here with Vladimir Putin's reaction to all of this. We haven't heard any officially. But we didn't get the reaction that some had feared that some sort of escalation in the war whilst Zelenskyy was in D.C.

CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Not yet but we certainly got a sort of confirmation from the Russian side that what Phil Mattingly was talking about, that this is not going to end any time soon. And Zelenskyy is not in the mood to compromise, Russia certainly isn't either.

What we saw yesterday was a very stark, strident speech from President Putin in front of his defense chiefs, a room full of men in military uniform. Talking about two things really. One of the original justifications for the war, which is that Russia believes that it's sort of under siege by NATO, an expansionist NATO that it believes is fighting not just Ukraine but the West as well.

And secondly, some big announcements on the expansion of the Russian military. He basically said money is no object. They're going to increase the size from a million to a million and a half. It's going to be a new military district in the northwest of the country on the border with Finland -- which is of course one of the areas where NATO is set to expand. Accelerating a hypersonic missile and there was some talk of the nuclear units. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VLADIMIR PUTIN, RUSSIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): We need to continue to support and to improve the readiness on nuclear units. This is the main guarantee of our sovereignty and territorial integrity. A strategic priority is the overall balance of power in the world.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SEBASTIAN: Well, we don't expect to hear some reaction potentially from the Kremlin later today. By way of reaction so far from Russia, we have heard from the Russian ambassador to the U.S. who said that Zelensky's visit showed that neither the U.S. administration nor Zelenskyy are ready for peace.

FOSTER: Clare, thank you.

It's meant to be a most wonderful time of the year but a dangerous bomb cyclone is threatening to take away the cheer of much of the holiday season for the U.S. at least. The National Weather Service says the once in a generation winter storm will bring record low temperatures as the arctic front moves to the east. A meteorologist with the National Weather Services office in Montana shot this video of snowfall earlier on Wednesday as more than 100 million Americans shiver under winter weather and cold chill alerts.

Now low visibility is becoming a common issue in many states as blizzard conditions move across the country and the states of Georgia and Kentucky have already declared a state of emergency ahead of the storm.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANDY BESHEAR (D) KENTUCKY GOVERNOR: This is going to be really dangerous. This is really, really cold. You need to stay inside and hunker down.

[04:10:00]

We have time to position assets across the state to be ready to respond.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: Meteorologist Britley Ritz joins us from the CNN Weather Center in Atlanta. I mean, it's sensible advice. But it's really difficult for people who want to travel for the holidays.

BRITLEY RITZ, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Absolutely, you want to get to grandma and grandpas, mom and dad's. And I'm sure many of you still have travel plans but you need to check your flight status and you need to just be very careful as you're getting from point A to point B. In fact, travel not advised for many of these states as this arctic blast starts to push further south.

You see that arctic air coming in through the northern plains all the way down into Texas. This front stretching through the Ohio Valley today and into tomorrow. Then right on up into the mid-Atlantic and the Northeast.

We've already had record temperature drops. Cheyenne, Wyoming went from 43 degrees to 10 degrees within just a 10 minute period of time. That's a 43 degree drop folks in roughly 10 minutes.

Also, wind chills, you factor in the wind while the cold temperature is already there, you factor in winds of 35 to 45 miles per hour, you get wind chills, look at this, near Essex, Montana, of 70 below. That's enough to cause frostbite within minutes. So again, if you don't have to go outside, don't. Jackson, Mississippi, 84 hours expected with temperatures below freezing.

When that's the case, we're also dealing with your pipes starting to freeze. So, now we're talking about having your house set at a specific temperature, roughly around 65. And make sure you have the faucets dripping. That water needs to continually move so that it doesn't freeze. Wind chills, we talked about this with the exposure to it and frostbite, 5 to 10 minutes with wind chills of 35 to 45 below. And that's the case over the next two days' time. Minneapolis, Chicago, roughly about 30 to 35 below. That's what it's going to feel like.

I mean, we've had wind gusts reaching 74 miles per hour in parts of the northern plains. That's hurricane force, category 1 force. And this is going to be a continuous thing. So, hence why we have wind chills warnings in place from the Pacific Northwest, down through the plains, on into the South and up through the Ohio Valley in watches that now go into effect across the South all the way into the Southeast. These are hard freeze warnings and watches where our temperatures are expected to be right at 28 degrees for several periods of time.

Blizzard warnings also in effect across the plains and into the Great Lakes now. It doesn't take a lot of snow, folks, to get all of this blizzard activity. It's 35 mile per hour winds for three hours' time dropping visibility down to 1/4 of a mile. So, you don't notice a lot of snow here. That's going to pick up through the day and right up into the Great Lakes and the Ohio Valley where we could pick up almost two feet of snow when it's all said and done. FOSTER: Britley, thank you. We'll have to keep across it. The arctic

front will cripple travel on some of the busiest travel days of the year of course. More than 1,000 flights have already been canceled for today and Chicago O'Hare airport could see the worst of it. CNN's Omar Jimenez is there.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: They're trying to plan around it. I mean, most of the passengers -- not most, I should say some, a good portion of the passengers we talked to today were folks who showed up days earlier than they initially were going to, to try and get home or to visit family for the holidays this weekend. Including one we spoke to who she was just trying to get her entire family together last minute because she didn't want to take any chances with what is forecast to come. Take a listen.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We were planning to travel on Saturday when we saw the storm growing. We decided it would be better to leave before the storm hits because we didn't know what we would be faced with on Saturday. So, we got online to see if we could actually make it work on Monday and we did.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The native Chicagoan knows you have three terrible months a year and we're coming into them now.

JIMENEZ: People in Chicago and the Midwest they're used to snow and ice, things like this. But the National Weather Service here in Chicago said we're going to see that's not as common, it's not just the falling snow, it's going to be the rapid drop of temperature to negative 30 and below. The blowing snow that will come from wind gusts that get over 50 miles an hour at points, create low visibility. And of course, all of that combination with the demand of trying to get home for Christmas creates a potentially dangerous situation that'll affect not just travel by air but of course the many people who will be driving, at least attempting to drive home for Christmas.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: Omar Jimenez there.

Denver, Colorado, is warning of life threatening cold as today is expected to be the coldest day in more than 30 years. Numerous road closures were also being reported between Colorado and Wyoming due to high winds and low visibility. CNN's Lucy Kafanov is in Denver.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

[04:15:00]

LUCY KAFANOV, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Denver is bracing for its coldest day in 32 years. When we began doing live shots about the weather on Wednesday afternoon, it was 50 degrees Fahrenheit. The sun was out. That arctic frost, the severe storm moving in overnight. It's being described by the National Weather Service as a life threatening cold front. Temperatures expected to plummet to as low as negative 10 to negative 15 degrees Fahrenheit by day break.

But it's going to feel a lot colder because of the snow in the wind gusts. The wind chill expected to be as low as minus 25 degrees Fahrenheit or lower. In some parts of the plains the wind chill could be as low as 60 degrees below zero. These are dangerous conditions, prolonged exposure on naked skin could lead to frostbite. Folks are being asked to stay at home.

Colorado's governor activating the National Guard. The Denver Coliseum converted into a 24 hour warming center. In these are conditions that are spreading across the country. Already nearly 1,000 flights, probably more than that canceled across the nation. Chicago's O'Hare airport leading the way. Denver's airport following after that. And Denver actually saw a very rapid temperature drop -- 37 degree temperature drop in just an hour. Now there is some good news on the horizon. The temperatures are expected to start increasing by Friday and by Christmas Denver could see highs of 50 degrees Fahrenheit. Back to you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: With the cold weather comes a strong flu season. Which is prompting the Biden administration to release reserved stockpiles of the prescription antiviral drug Tamiflu. Many of those falling sick our children and now some stores across the U.S. are limiting how much medicine can be bought at one time. An industry group says there is no widespread shortages but there is increased demand. The pharmacies CVS, Walgreens and Rite Aid are limiting purchases of certain children's pain medications. Depending on the store, purchase amounts may be limited online or both online and in the store.

The U.S. House committee investigating the January 6th insurrection is expected to publish its final port today. On Wednesday it released transcripts of interviews with more than two dozen witnesses including some major players in Donald Trump's orbit. CNN's Sara Murray has the details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SARA MURRAY, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: The January 6th committee failing to meet the deadline they set for themselves to release their full report on Wednesday instead saying their full report is going to be available to the public on Thursday. We're expecting that to be eight chapters, hundreds of pages. Everyone is still waiting. In the meantime, though, on Wednesday evening the committee did release 34 transcripts. These are largely transcripts of people who didn't answer investigator's questions. In most cases they invoked their Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination.

But they include a big name, Trump's former national security adviser, Michael Flynn, the former trump lawyer, John Eastman, who we know is under DOJ scrutiny. And one of Donald Trump's long-time allies, Roger Stone. And they give you a look into how these folks kind of tried to stymie Congressional investigators.

You know, in a two-part interview Jeffrey Clark, that former DOJ official, was sort of combative. I mean, at one point his attorneys presented a 12-page list of objections to why they didn't think he shouldn't be there. In his second deposition he invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination more than 120 times.

The other thing that sticks out though is in the questioning. The investigators made clear in their questions for a number of these folks, they've been able to obtain emails or text messages. But even these witnesses who did not want to provide anything with the committee are listed. So, it gives you some insight into just how much Congressional investigators were able to obtain. They got emails, they got text messages even from witnesses who did not believe that they wanted to hand anything over to the committee because of their Fifth Amendment rights.

We are of course for the big report still to come.

Sara Murray, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: We're learning new details about Donald Trump's taxes thanks to a pair of reports from Congress. One shows the former president paid no federal income tax in 2020, his last year in the White House. It also shows he had a pattern of losing money carrying forward tens of millions of dollars in losses that helped reduce his tax bill. The House Ways and Means Committee is expected to make public six years of Trump's tax returns within the next two days.

Still ahead at this hour, the U.S. is sending its most advanced defensive weapons yet to Ukraine. We'll see what kind of impact will have on the battlefield.

Also ahead, employees let go by Twitter are fighting back claiming the mass layoffs unfairly targeted certain groups of people.

Plus, migrants on the U.S./Mexico border are using ropes and rafts to cross the Rio Grande -- in a Trump era immigration policy -- well, as that policy remains in limbo. More on the uncertain future facing asylum seekers there.

[04:20:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ZELENSKYY: We'll celebrate Christmas. Celebrate Christmas and even if there is no electricity, the light of our faith, in ourselves will not be put out.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: The Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy there emphasizing the resiliency and spirit of the Ukrainian people. And Russia's invasion continuing with Christmas just days away. His remarks of an historic and impassioned speech he delivered to a joint meeting of the U.S. Congress. President Zelenskyy expressed, not just his gratitude, but the gratitude of the Ukrainian troops for America's support.

Unfortunately, millions of people were not able to watch President Zelenskyy's address to Congress because they don't have electricity. CNN's Will Ripley reports from Kyiv.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WILL RIPLEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It has been an extraordinary, surreal 48 hours for Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. The fact that he was just yesterday on the front lines in Bakhmut. Where you could hear the explosions from artillery as he was presenting metals to troops.

[04:25:00]

Then he gets on a train and a plane and he's in Washington. Meeting with President Biden, giving him a war hero's medal. Meeting with members of Congress. Getting a more than 2 minute standing ovation and then delivering in English this primetime speech that is being compared to Winston Churchill's address at the beginning of World War II after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. It is undoubtedly a huge moment for Ukraine's president and people here will be proud.

But the reality is, most people were not able to see that moment on television. One, because the speech happened in the middle of the night here but largely because there are millions of people right now who don't have electricity, who don't have heat, many of them don't have water. And they are simply trying to survive day to day despite the constant Russian bombardment.

Essentially President Putin has tried to take this developed society where most people had a standard of living comparable to the average American and trying to bomb them back into the stone ages. Keeping people having to line up outside for a hot meal, having to go to a tent so they can have wi-fi or charge their cell phone. Even people here in the capital Kyiv are telling us that they have electricity for as little as 40 minutes a day. Less than one hour of electricity a day.

In the capital city of a nation that despite this adversity, despite intense fighting and huge loss of life on the front lines continues to get up, to go to work, to put one foot in front of the other. And President Zelenskyy certainly, you know, as inspiring as his words were, that inspiration, I feel every day when I meet Ukrainian people who are living in the midst of extraordinary circumstances. Doing the best they can and doing it with a sense of pride and a sense of determination that they will win be this war, with or without these weapons. With or without this money. But of course, they rely very heavily on the assistance from the international community.

But they're fighting this war. They're dying in this war. It's their blood they're paying for, for the freedom of this democracy and it's a war they say will spread to the rest of the world if Ukraine does not win.

(END VIDEOTAPE) FOSTER: The lines of migrants are growing longer by the day at the U.S. U.S./Mexican border with the Trump era immigration policy known as Title 42 still in limbo. In the border city of El Paso, the Texas National Guard has put up barbed wire fencing and vehicles to deter migrants from crossing illegally. Now a major arctic frost sweeps across the U.S. officials are worried that asylum seekers now will be left unprotected on the streets in the bitter cold. El Paso set out hundreds of cots inside a convention center to help shelter migrants and the Red Cross has sent personnel and resources to El Paso including cots, blankets, hygiene items, first aid kits and towels.

Border cities and the Biden administration are also preparing for more asylum seekers as they are expecting a massive surge in migrants when Title 42 is ultimately lifted. CNN's Rosa Flores has more from Brownsville in Texas.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The anticipation building on the Mexican side of the border on the day Title 42 was set to be lifted. These videos, shot by a migrant and provided to CNN, show migrants in Matamoros using rafts to cross the Rio Grande. Some in the crowd provide commentary, saying they're tired of the long wait. And that U.S. immigration authorities are watching it all happen.

FLORES: I'm in Brownsville, Texas. The river is right behind me are drone cameras capturing a similar scene. A large group of migrants on the Mexican side, a large law enforcement presence on the U.S. side. And our cameras were rolling as a group of migrants, including a child, crossed into the United States and turned themselves into authorities. All this contributing to what one law enforcement source says is up to 1,200 migrants turning themselves into border authorities every day in this part of South Texas.

FLORES (voice-over): Border Patrol is dropping off hundreds of them in respite centers, say advocates. Most of them travel out the same day. But local shelters are starting to see an uptick of migrants who can afford to.

FLORES: So, migrants from all over the world,

VICTOR MALDONADO, DIRECTOR, OZANAM CENTER: Yes, they're coming in from all over the world.

FLORES (voice-over): Like this family from Venezuela who say they sold everything they owned and borrowed money to migrate to the U.S. as a situation in their country became unbearable.

FLORES: They say that about four months ago, words spread in Venezuela that the U.S. border was open. That's why you decided to come here.

FLORES (voice-over): Omar (ph) and Glennie (ph) want to go by their first names only because of fear it could impact their case. For 29 days, they braved the elements with their eight-year-old daughter Camilla in an encampment in Matamoros.

FLORES: Once you got to the border, you realized that the border was closed.

FLORES (voice-over): They turned themselves into immigration at the port of entry this week.

FLORES: What would you to tell migrants?

He says that it's not worth selling everything you own to come to the United States because the border is closed.

FLORES (voice-over): As evidenced by these videos showing migrants risking their lives, and the lives of their children to end their wait in Mexico.

[04:30:00]