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Southwest CEO: We'll Double Down On Upgrades To Avoid Future Meltdowns; Supreme Court Says Border Restrictions Stay In Place For Now; Shelter Accepting Migrants From El Paso Speaks About Border Crisis; January 6 Committee Releases Additional Witness Transcripts; House Panel To Release Full Trump Tax Returns Friday. Aired 10-10:30a ET

Aired December 28, 2022 - 10:00   ET

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

[10:00:07]

JESSICA DEAN, CNN ANCHOR: It is the top of the hour. I'm Jessica Dean in Washington. Jim Sciutto is off today. Thanks so much for joining us.

Relief still days away from many Southwest customers. The airline trying to fix what Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg called a, quote, complete meltdown. Already today, the company has canceled 62 percent of its flights, more than 15,000 since all of this started last Thursday. And that means travelers from coast to coast are stranded, some of them forced to drive thousands of miles.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KELLEY MAHER, FAMILY FORCED TO DRIVE AFTER SOUTHWEST FLIGHT CANCELED: We were at the airport at noontime on Sunday and finally made the call at 10:30 p.m. that we needed to come. We could not afford to lose any more time if we were going to drive, and that's what we face.

TIM MAHER, FAMILY FORCED TO DRIVE AFTER SOUTHWEST FLIGHT CANCELED: I hate to say, but I can't rely on Southwest to get us home, so we might have to leave a little early to drive ourselves back.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: Overnight, Southwest CEO apologizing and blaming the travel disaster on winter weather, aggressive flight scheduling, and outdated infrastructure. Also ahead this morning, the Supreme Court ruling that keeps pandemic era migrant restrictions in place as legal challenges play out. Tens of thousands of migrants now wait in limbo as calls grow for some sort of solution from Congress. We're going to take you live to El Paso, Texas, in just a moment.

But let's begin this hour with an absolute nightmare for Southwest Airlines passengers trying to get to their destinations. 90 percent of today's 2,700 flight cancelations are from Southwest. The company's CEO Bob Jordan saying system upgrades are necessary to avoid a repeat of this meltdown.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) BOB JORDAN, CEO, SOUTHWEST AIRLINES: The tools we use to recover from disruption serve us well 99 percent of the time. But clearly, we need to double down on our already existing plans to upgrade systems for these extreme circumstances so that we never again face what's happening right now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: CNN's Adrienne Broaddus is live at Chicago's Midway International Airport. That's where a lot of those Southwest flights connect or originate. It is one of several airports impacted by these cancelations. I see a lot of bags behind you. I see people trying to find those bags. What else are you seeing there?

ADRIENNE BROADDUS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, we see some progress. What you're seeing behind us right now are crews working to remove the bags, not necessarily passengers right now. There's a bit of organization to the chaos here.

You'll notice there are white tags. For example, to the right of me, there's a tag over here, photographer Jake, that says Reno. They're grouping all of the bags by their original destination. So luggage or bags that was passing through Midway will be scanned into the system and put back into the baggage handling system.

When those bags will actually arrive where they were supposed to be, it's unclear. And as you can imagine, this has been frustrating for passengers. Around this time yesterday, there were people here waiting in line to get their bags. We haven't seen that today. Listen in.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MEGAN GOULDING, FLIGHT CANCELED, DROVE TO CHICAGO TO GET LUGGAGE: We started out. This started out as, like, oh, it's our Christmas present. This is what we're getting instead of presents. And we flew out here. We're supposed to fly out here, but we ended up driving 14 hours.

I'm tired. I drove through the night with my parents. We drove through all night. There's three of us who can drive, so we were like, let's just do it all night. But it's been so tiring. I'm hungry, I'm exhausted. I just want to go home. But I'm glad I'm in Chicago.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROADDUS: One traveler handling it with a little bit of grace, but extremely transparent. She's tired. They were supposed to come to Chicago for a Christmas. That was their gift instead of presents. Their bags made it here, but their flight was canceled, so they drove all the way here from Dallas, Texas.

What you see now behind us is a path, people can actually walk through. The goal is to clear this area and get this baggage claim area of Midway back to normal. Officers have been here throughout the night working in shifts to watch and look over the luggage. Back to you. DEAN: Yes, and there is a lot of it there. Adrienne Broaddus, thanks so much from Chicago. Right now, thousands of migrants hoping to seek asylum in the U.S. are wondering what happens now after the Supreme Court ordered Title 42 remain in place as legal challenges play out.

CNN Correspondent Leyla Santiago is live in El Paso, Texas this morning. And Leyla, I know you've been talking to some of the migrants there. What are they telling you?

LEYLA SANTIAGO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Jessica, a lot of folks waking up after having spent the night out on the sidewalk. Kind of cold temperatures. Let's take you over here so you can get a little closer and kind of see what it's like here. This is a shelter.

[10:05:02]

And here in the morning, you can see that there are folks that are coming in to help out and give them breakfast, give them a bit of a meal. Still on the sidewalks, you will see children, toddlers, single men, older and younger. And many of them are now dealing with not only uncertainty, but also fear, because they don't really know what to do next, given that now Title 42 will remain in place.

So again, this is one shelter run by the church here. A lot of these individuals do have places to go if they have been processed, but many of these have not been processed. So they don't want to get on a bus out of fear, worried that they may end up somewhere else that they don't want to go. That's just sort of the mood of where things are.

I want to share with you a conversation that I had with one mother from Venezuela. It took her months to get up here with her two children, one a toddler. Here's what she said when I gave her the news of the decision from the Supreme Court yesterday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROSANI RODRIGUEZ, FLED VENEZUELA: (Speaking Foreign Language)

SANTIAGO: She said she wanted to come in legally, but because of Title 42, she feels that she can't.

RODRIGUEZ: (Speaking Foreign Language)

SANTIAGO: She says it feels bad. They were hoping for something else, a different decision.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANTIAGO: That was Rosani Rodriguez, and she echoes many of the sentiments that I have heard from many of the mothers who are desperate, who want what many moms want the best for their children, but now feel kind of stuck given Title 42 and where it stands for now, anyway.

So let's talk about the city of El Paso. The mayor yesterday saying that they are preparing for a potential surge. They have more than 20,000 migrants on the other side of the border between Matamoros, Ciudad Juarez as well as Carinosa in Mexico.

So, you know, despite the fact that this announcement keeps what was happening already in place of Title 42, they're still preparing for thousands of migrants to make their way into El Paso. In fact, they're working on preparing two vacant schools to become potential shelters, preparing for migrants that could be coming over the next few days, weeks, months.

They really don't know yet how this will play out. For the migrants themselves, when you talk to them, you will hear anxieties in their voice. You will hear a bit of desperation as well as uncertainty for what's to come.

DEAN: So much uncertainty. Leyla Santiago in El Paso, Texas. Thanks so much for that reporting, Leyla.

And joining me now to talk about all of this is Kari Lenander. She's the Executive Director of the Border Servant Corps, a facility in New Mexico that's been accepting migrants from the El Paso area. Kari, good morning to you. Thanks for coming on with us. I know that you're very involved with helping these migrants. How are they receiving this ruling and what is kind of their general, you know, state right now?

KARI LENANDER, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, BORDER SERVANT CORPS: You know, I think our migrants have been waiting for a very long time. There's a lot of uncertainty. This ruling has almost been lifted several times, and it can be really disheartening. And so, we're really grateful that we get to be part of when people have been processed, when they're able to move on. And we also recognize that there are quite a few people that are just still in limbo at this point.

DEAN: And we are seeing this video while we're talking to you with Rosa Flores and Leyla Santiago in El Paso, we're seeing these families. Tell us a little bit about who these people are. Why are they trying to come to the United States, and what are they coming from?

LENANDER: Yes, people are coming from countries all over the world. They're fleeing violence. They're fleeing insecurity of all sorts in different parts of the world, and they're seeking safety. So, most of the people that we receive, most of the people that are making their way to the United States and to other countries around the world are seeking safety wherever they can find it for themselves and for their families.

DEAN: And a lot of the talk around this has been, well, what's the plan to fix an immigration system that is clearly broken? You're working with people and in this space every day. What would you like to see happen?

LENANDER: Oh, goodness, that's a great question. I'm not sure I have the answer to that. I feel like it's a multifaceted question that, you know, the U.S. certainly needs to take a look at, and so does the world. You know, each of this -- each country and the U.S., I think, need to start looking at how do we comprehensively make a plan to help keep people safe so that people can make choices instead of having -- not really having a choice to flee for their safety.

[10:10:12]

DEAN: And I know that your facility receives migrants directly from DHS with documents to travel to their U.S.-based sponsor, right? So --

LENANDER: Correct.

DEAN: -- walk us through what happens with that situation, and then what happens with somebody who's undocumented or hasn't gone through that process.

LENANDER: Yes. So we're part of a collaborative network in this region, in El Paso and New Mexico, of faith-based shelters. We're part of the Enunciation House Hospitality Network. We have partnerships with the county and the city and the state. We receive people every single day who are being released by the Department of Homeland Security.

They have their documents. They're traveling to their final destination. We provide them with all their basic needs, their food and clothing, shelter. We help them with transportation arrangements to go to meet their sponsors in their final destination. And people are with us for 24 to 48 hours, and then they move on. For people who do not have documents, we're very fortunate in this region to have other locations that will receive and serve people in that capacity.

DEAN: Right. And what are the biggest needs for the people that are coming through your facility at this moment?

LENANDER: We will never say no to undergarments, to clean clothes. We have great partnerships with American Red Cross that will provide toiletries, and that's amazing. You know, we can always use winter gear at this point. Blankets are very helpful.

DEAN: Yes, blankets are very helpful. And these record cold temperatures at this moment, too. All right. Kari Lenander, thanks so much. We appreciate you making time.

LENANDER: Thank you.

DEAN: And still to come, another batch of transcripts from the January 6 Committee giving new insight into former President Donald Trump's right-hand man. What Cassidy Hutchinson said about her former boss and the Oval Office.

Plus, with the fate of Kevin McCarthy's House speakership bid still in limbo. We'll hear from one Republican congressman who's all in on McCarthy. And the snow has stopped falling. The crews are clearing the roads in Buffalo as emergency services begin to resume in that area. We'll have a look at the aftermath of this brutal, historic winter storm. That's later this hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:16:57] DEAN: The January 6 Committee has dropped a new batch of witness transcripts, and they give us new details from two additional interviews with former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson, as well as other Trump White House officials. Hutchinson revealing what led to her ultimately switching lawyers and provide damning testimony about what she saw and heard at the White House after the 2020 election.

Let's bring in CNN Senior Legal Affairs Correspondent Paula Reid. Paula, it's great to see you.

PAULA REID, CNN SENIOR LEGAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Likewise.

DEAN: What new details are we learning from Hutchinson in this?

REID: Well, we thought we had heard everything after her blockbuster testimony, but what's so interesting is in these transcripts, she really lays out this pattern of alleged behavior by the former president's associates where they appear to be trying to conceal their actions between the election and inauguration day.

And she lays out this pattern, everything from trying to keep certain meetings off the books, burning documents --

DEAN: Right.

REID: -- and then also pressuring high profile witnesses. Let's take a deeper dive here. First of all, she says that former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows told people in meetings to keep some of the meetings off the books. Now that means, of course, keeping them off the official entries in the White House diary. That's a public record.

Now, she can't recall specifically what kind of information that he might have been trying to conceal, but that is notable that he was making an effort to keep some of these meetings, again, off the books. Also, these allegations that he was allegedly burning documents. She testifies. She told the committee that she saw Meadows burn documents in his office fireplace around a dozen times about once or twice a week between December 2020 and mid-January 2021.

I can tell you, I've been in Mark -- been in that office. I've seen the fireplace, never seen it actually burning. But she testified, quote, "So throughout the day, he would put more logs on the fireplace to keep it burning throughout the day. And I recall roughly a dozen times where he would throw a few more pieces of paper in it when he would put more logs in the fireplace."

She says at least twice. Those burnings came after meetings with GOP Representative Scott Perry, who's, of course, linked to efforts to use the Justice Department to try to overturn the election.

And lastly, what I thought was interesting here were the interactions between her and her first attorney. This is someone who was Trump funded, funded by a group linked to the former president, Stefan Passantino. Very unusual interactions during her testimony where he sort of corrects her, interjects. There was some discrepancy about her recollection, about the former president's reaction to chance of hang Mike Pence. She eventually got another lawyer, Jody Hunt, a former top Trump Justice Department official. And when he came in, they had to correct some things that she said. So that's really notable because, again, this is someone who is funded by Trump, and it appears to be this pattern of trying to conceal what exactly was happening between the election and inauguration day.

DEAN: Absolutely. And just the visual of them burning the documents in the fireplace and keeping things off the books. You think you know it all, and then we learn more.

REID: We never do.

DEAN: We never do. All right, Paula Reid, thanks so much.

And joining me now to discuss is former U.S. Attorney Michael Moore. Michael, good morning. Thanks so much for being here. You --

MICHAEL MOORE, FORMER U.S. ATTORNEY: Glad to be with you.

DEAN: -- suggest these transcripts are, quote, a lot of smoke and not much fire to pin directly on Trump, but it does appear, as we were just talking with Paula, that the Chief of Staff, Mark Meadows, could be in jeopardy. What do you think about where this puts him?

[10:20:14]

MOORE: Well, I think it certainly turns the heat up on him. I mean, the idea of somebody burning documents is never a good thing that you want prosecutors to look at because it looks like you have a guilty conscious and you're trying to cover something up. And remember, most of the time people involved in criminal activity, especially at this type of activity, conspiracies and those types of things, get caught because of their efforts to cover things up.

And so it certainly is a visual that could paint a picture to a jury of a desperate chief of staff throwing documents in a White House fireplace. Again, I don't know that it gets to Trump. I don't know that the -- you know, again, well, he may have smoke around him. I'm not sure that the flames reach him, certainly from the Meadows fireplace.

DEAN: Yes. And you say this will come down ultimately to the courts, which is right. As you point out, they will have to decide if a politician can go to jail because others take criminal action after a speech.

MOORE: Correct.

DEAN: How would that change the landscape of free and protected speech and how do you see that playing out?

MOORE: I do think ultimately it goes to the courts. And the question is going to be, is there some First Amendment right or is there some protection with political speech that may be in play here? There's no question that what he said on the lips was distasteful and that's being generous. I can think of a lot of other words for it.

But the question will be for the court whether or not the fact that a politician makes a speech and then some -- other group goes and wants to do some type of outrageous criminal conduct from it, ties it back, and whether or not the speech giver is actually the one responsible or is there some protection there?

So, I worry that we may, because of the craziness that went on during the last administration, that we may overreact in what we do as far as criminal charges and that type of thing. That's why I think we need to be looking, and I hope the DOJ is looking for a very clean, very narrow case if they are in fact going to decide to charge Trump, and not something that says, well, he must have been the mastermind here, he must have known about it, he must have done this, he must have done that.

That's the kind of thing that just leaves reasonable doubt in jurors' minds. And to forward the case without a conviction in a case of this magnitude, if you're charging a former president, to me, it would be a fatal error.

DEAN: And you're saying, make it clean, make it very specific. I want to also ask you about the release of his tax returns. The House Ways and Means Committee expected to release those on Friday. You told us it will prove to be one of the greatest backfires for Democrats aside from ultimately charging him if they do. Walk us through what makes you think that?

MOORE: Well, anytime that you have sort of activities done on the way out the door, they become suspects in and of themselves, and especially when you're talking about something of this type of political activity. So here you've got a congressional committee that said, well, we need Trump's tax returns to decide if the IRS, who we have oversight authority of, is doing their job.

So now, three or four days before the committee's disbanded or the committee's change, the leadership of the committee has changed, and the makeup of the committee has changed, they're now wanting to release six years or so of tax returns for Trump, saying that, you know, well, this shows that the IRS wasn't doing their job. That's a pretty weak bridge to stand on there.

Doesn't mean that we shouldn't have seen Trump's tax returns. It just means that the timing of it and the reasoning for it at this point becomes suspect and gives the Republicans, I think, a fairly decent argument that the move is political. Again, he should have given his tax returns. We should have gotten them early on. That I agree with totally.

But I think to see --

DEAN: And he had to go through the courts, right, to get them?

MOORE: That's right. DEAN: Yes.

MOORE: But we should have started earlier. We should have started immediately and not try at the end of the day just to throw stuff in the congressional record in the hopes that we can maybe sully up who's now an announced presidential candidate. It begins to look like there's a political motive as to a legitimate legislative motive.

And that concerns me again, too, because of the future. I don't want to see this down the road when we have a normal president. I don't want to see a crazy Congress move something against the normal president. So that's what I'm worried about.

DEAN: All right, Michael Moore, thanks so much for joining us. We appreciate it.

MOORE: Great to be with you. Thank you so much.

DEAN: And the new year will be -- bring big changes to Capitol Hill. Up next, we're going to speak with Republican Congressman David Valadao about his party's plans when they take over the majority in the House in just a few days. And whether Kevin McCarthy will be the next speaker.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:29:26]

DEAN: Next week, Republican Congressman Kevin McCarthy will face a vote on whether he will be the next House Speaker. And a handful of House Republicans have already signaled they will not vote for him. The so-called Never Kevin Faction, even though he's already made a number of promises to these hardliner -- hardline members of his party. It looks like the speaker vote could go to a second ballot for the first time in a very, very long time.

My next guess is among more than 50 House Republicans in the only Kevin camp, meaning he's their choice no matter how many ballots there are. Congressman David Valadao joining us now live from Hanford, California. Congressman, good morning. You are one of only two House Republicans who voted to impeach former President Trump and still won re-election.