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New York Federal Prosecutors Investigating Finances of Rep.- Elect George Santos (R-NY); Jan. 6 Committee Releases Transcripts from 19 Additional Witnesses; Sacred Heart Church Opens Doors to Migrants in El Paso. Aired 10:30-11a ET

Aired December 29, 2022 - 10:30   ET

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

[10:30:00]

ATHENA JONES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: They're still trying to get people to not come onto the roads unless they really need to.

Just last hour, I don't know if you remember this, last hour, behind us, there was a huge pile of snow being removed. That is now gone. City hall, which is behind me, is opening today as are Erie County offices. And we mentioned the flooding. The goal with removing as much snow as possible is so that they can make sure that the drainage system is clear before temperatures reach nearly 50 tomorrow because they are preparing for expecting rapid snow melt as the temperatures rise. We've already seen a lot of snow melt as it is.

And one more thing. We're expecting to get an update at the press conference at noon about what more there is to be done to clear the snow in the city and also the death toll. We know from the police commissioner that police did finish going through all of those checks, those 1,100 unanswered 911 calls. They did discover a substantial number of bodies. So, we could see that 37 number rise in a couple of hours here. Jessica?

JESSICA DEAN, CNN ANCHOR: It is -- yes. It is so sad to continue to hear those death toll numbers. But it is amazing to see the ground there behind you, Athena. Things are melting. All right, thanks so much.

And among the victims of the winter storm in Buffalo is 52-year-old Monique Alexander. She tragically died just 200 feet from her house.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CASEY MACCARONE, DAUGHTER OF BUFFALO BLIZZARD VICTIM: It is hard. Her grandkids were waiting for her to come home. We were waiting for her to come home. I knew something was wrong right away, though. So, I kind of accepted it instantly. But it is hard knowing that she was outside for so long, too, because there were no emergency responders allowed to come outside.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: Another victim, Abdul Sharifu, a 26-year-old refugee from Congo, left his home to get milk and other supplies to help another family but never made it back. His wife is just days away from giving birth and his family has set up a GoFundMe campaign to help pay for his funeral.

And the family of Melissa Morrison tells CNN the 46-year-old was found dead in the snow near at Tim Hortons. She was a Buffalo native and leaves behind two sons.

It may be warming up on the East Coast, but winter storms are still hammering the west. A large stretch of I-70 in Colorado finally reopening after severe snow storm weather forced a nine-hour closure that left drivers stranded overnight.

Let's go now to Meteorologist Chad Myers who is live in the CNN Weather Center. Chad, what will you be watching today and how are things developing out in the west?

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Finally watching Denver thaw out a little bit. It is still going to be cold but it was the I-25 and the I-70 corridors that really almost shut down and for a while there, I- 70 eastbound to the west of Denver, trying to get back into Denver, nine hours, the road was shut because of semis that had crashed.

There is the weather now moving away from Denver, moving into parts of Kansas and Nebraska. We're watching the west, though. This is the next storm system that will affect California, Oregon, Washington and even into Nevada. It will be next storm that makes winter storm weather, winter weather advisories and even flash flood watches in effect because there will be so much rainfall in a place that has been such drought-filled.

There is the rain and snow for the west. There is even a little bit of a chance of some severe weather across the Deep South into tomorrow and into even Saturday. And eventually as we work our way into New Year's Eve night, yes, there could be some showers in the northeast and also the next storm system kind of rolling toward Las Vegas.

An awful lot of rain and awful lot of snow still to come down in the west in places that desperately need it. But they could be ten inches of liquid equivalent, which is if you melt it all down, that's ten inches of liquid. That's going to be ten feet of snow on top of those mountains. Now, that is the snow that will melt later on this year, Jessica, and that will be helpful for all of those reservoirs that are so desperately low out there, anyway.

DEAN: Right, that is the silver lining here. All right, Chad Myers for us, thanks so much.

Up next this morning, CNN uncovering more lies from Republican Congressman-elect George Santos and now two separate teams of investigators are looking into his past.

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[10:35:00]

DEAN: Right now, federal prosecutors are investigating the finances of GOP Congressman-elect George Santos. They want to know where he got the money to make more than $700,000 loan to his own campaign. CNN's KFile has also uncovered even more false claims from Santos, including that he was forced to leave a New York City private school when his family's real estate assets took a downturn. It turns out the school has no record of him attending.

Let's discuss now Boston Globe Washington Bureau Chief Jackie Kucinich. Jackie, it is great to see you. Good morning.

We are still hearing nothing from GOP leadership about these lies, these fabrications. Does Kevin McCarthy need to address this if the conversation continues into next week when they come back in-person, which is also when he will be running for speaker and that floor vote will happen on January 3rd?

JACKIE KUCINICH, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: I mean, it is hard to believe that this conversation will not continue into next week given the shoes that are continually dropping about Congressman-elect Santos. But at the end of the day, this is a numbers game for Kevin McCarthy. And he does not have the numbers to tell someone, who even with all of these falsehoods, even the ones he's admitted to and the ones he hasn't yet, this is -- Kevin McCarthy is looking at the numbers and he cannot lose a vote at this point to become speaker of the House.

[10:40:15]

And let's just be honest here. He has had a long history of not holding his membership into account, which is why he has an ally in Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene right now, which is why he has an ally in Congressman Gosar from Arizona, because he stood up with them at a time when they were under fire from Democrats and pretty everybody else.

So, he really is trying to make sure that he has the votes to become speaker, and if it means allowing someone who potentially -- who lied to voters and was elected, so be it.

DEAN: And it is just simple math here in terms of what Kevin McCarthy is looking at in the next few days. He has to get to 218. He has a four-vote margin and there are five people who say they will not vote for him and they're going to vote in a bloc. So, they will all either vote for him or against him. Do you have any indications from your reporting that there has been any change in those five people or that we can expect -- what we can expect to see from them in a few days?

KUCINICH: I think I am just in the refreshing and emailing and just like everybody else, I think everyone I have spoken to about this speaker vote seems to think that we're going to be in a situation that, at least for the first vote, there is going to be more than one vote, which personally I've never seen. I guess it hasn't happened since the civil war.

So, it really -- we're setting ourselves up for something unprecedented if, in fact, this does hold -- or unprecedented in recent times if, in fact, the members do stay together and force other votes or more votes on the floor. But I've seen and I've heard no indication that this is going to be an easy trip for Kevin McCarthy.

DEAN: Right. And so the fact that we're even having this discussion right now, what does that do to his ability to lead if he does become speaker?

KUCINICH: Well, right. I mean, I think -- so this stretches back before even this vote, because of the permission structure he's created for these members when they do step out of line, when they do things that does cause public condemnation, he really hasn't been someone who stands up to his membership. So, you have to wonder how this is going to look when he does have this very fragile majority of keeping people in line.

He's shown them that he basically will do whatever he needs to do to get where he needs to be, but at the end of day, when you need members to take tough votes, you do need some leadership, and we haven't really seen that. This is going to be a very interesting -- should it happen -- very interesting speakership to watch because of that, Jessica.

DEAN: There is no doubt about it. It is going to be an interesting few days. Jackie Kucinich, thanks so much for joining us this morning. We appreciate it.

KUCINICH: Thank you.

DEAN: And just into CNN, a new batch of transcripts from the January 6 committee. We're going to be combing through them now and we'll have details for you, next.

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[10:45:00]

DEAN: This just in to CNN, the House January 6th select committee releasing a brand-new batch of transcripts including interviews with Donald Trump Jr. and Stephen Miller.

CNN's Paula Reid is joining us now with more on this. Let's just caveat this. These just came down and these are not a quick read. But what are you looking for in all of this and what might be in here?

PAULA REID, CNN SENIOR LEGAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: You're right, this is not a quick read, which is why we have a whole team. It takes a village to try to mine the news out of these transcripts. This is just the latest in a series of batches of transcripts the committee has released. They interviewed approximately a thousand people and they've said that their plan is to release hundreds of these transcripts but they will keep back some that has sensitive information. So, they just released these after not releasing any yesterday.

In this list, we're seeing Donald Trump Jr., we're seeing Stephen Miller, Kimberly Guilfoyle, Alyssa Farah Griffin, we know she's been very outspoken after she left the White House, also former White House Spokeswoman Stephanie Grisham. These are the people that I think I would go to first.

And what we're looking for is any new information, and we've really gotten a lot of new information, I will say, in a lot of these transcript dumps, any mew information about what has happening inside the White House, even slightly before the 2020 election all the way up to inauguration day, specifically when it comes to Donald Trump Jr., for example. Did he have any conversations with his father about the election, about efforts to block the certification of electoral results? When it comes to Stephen Miller, the same thing, what was going on inside the White House, what kind of meetings were taking place, what conversations were there with the Justice Department, with the state level officials?

This is going to be a really interesting batch, and I'm curious to see how much news. We know over the past several days, really the past couple of weeks since they released report, we've gotten a lot of new information. For example, efforts to offer blanket pardons to people who were on the Hill on January 6th, the number of officials who told the former president that, in fact, he had lost the election. And that's really significant because one of his core defense is that he was just relying on the advice of his lawyers.

So, these transcripts, in many ways, these have provided more news than the final report itself. So, our whole team, we're going to be digging into these and see what new information we can learn and we'll be joining you with that going ahead.

DEAN: All right, yes, more to come on this throughout the day. Paula Reid, thanks so much for jumping in there.

And thousands of migrants have been left in limbo at the southern border.

[10:50:00]

Now, one El Paso church is stepping up with those who have nowhere to go. Up next, we're going to speak with the pastor in charge for about the overwhelming need for resources there.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

DEAN: One church in El Paso, Texas, has stepped up to help hundreds of migrants who have nowhere to else to go once they cross the southern border. Father Rafael Garcia, the pastor at Sacred Heart Church, started offering a place for people to sleep about two weeks ago and it started with 50 migrants the first night. Now, the church is full and you see there are hundreds more people waiting outside.

Father Garcia joining me now. Good morning to you.

[10:55:00]

Thanks for about with us. Walk us through what you're seeing at your church and what you're trying to do.

REV. RAPHAEL GARCIA, PASTOR, SACRED HEART CHURCH: Well, we're seeing a increasing number of people, families, sometimes single men and single women but mainly families and they're here. It is hard to know what their movement is going to be or where they're going to go. I don't know if they even have options. But we're trying to respond as best we can by opening up our parish gym as a shelter, a night shelter, and we're prioritizing families with children depending on the number of people outside. We prioritize mothers and children and then fathers. We cannot take everyone. Our gym has limited space. So, we're doing best we can.

DEAN: And you mentioned you've been prioritizing women and children and families. What are you hearing from the people who are coming to your door?

GARCIA: Well, there are all kinds of things that people have questions about what is going to happen. I think with the Title 42 ruling, they'll have new questions. Many don't know where they're going to go. They're just looking at options. Of course, there are other needs. People have also medical needs. It is not only providing a place to stay but they have other needs. We're seeing people who are sick and trying to respond as best we can.

DEAN: And what about your volunteers and the cost of all of this? How is that logistically working?

GARCIA: Presently, there is a lot of volunteers. There are people from other churches bringing food. But, basically, we're taking up the cost of everything. Of course, our utility bills are going to go up but that is what it is. And we've had to hire new staff. So, yes, we have new expenses. But right now, we're carrying those. And we're happy to do it. I think we're responding to a real crisis, a real human need. And we just take it one day at a time, helping people and then figuring out what is going to happen later with some of the expenses.

DEAN: And I hear you using the word, crisis, humanitarian need. We heard one city council member call the situation there unprecedented for El Paso, that they really haven't seen this many people there before. Give us some context for that. Have you seen anything like this before? Our correspondent there, Rosa Flores, says this is different than other border surges that she's covered because a lot of these people don't have a place to go. What are you seeing that makes this different to you?

GARCIA: Well, I've been working with migrants and shelters since 2016, and there used to be real large numbers of people being processed each day by ICE, about a thousand or so released today, but there were a network of shelters that could take them in and they would move on. This particular situation is unique because this group of people on the streets have never seen this before and they're in a very awkward situation. Most of them are from Venezuela. And so it is unique. There has been a great flow of people here through history but this is very unique, this particular reality now.

DEAN: And you mentioned that most of the people you're seeing are from Venezuela. What are they saying to you about why they've come here, what their journey has been like? GARCIA: Yes, it is very important because people may not know why and the risks that people take. People from Venezuela have to come through the Panama, what is called the Darien Pass. It is very dangerous. They see corpses of people that have died, families that have died. And then they go through Central America, through Mexico, they're often kidnapped, harassed, extorted. So, the people know, I think they know the risk that they're taking, so it must be a desperate situation for them to do this. I've talked to people who are professionals and they've led the situation in Venezuela seems to be unbearable. The salaries are amazingly low. So, people are seeing this, their option to flee because they have to survive.

DEAN: What do you hope happens next?

GARCIA: Well, I think the authorities, whether it is local, federal, they have to do something with these groups of families. People who are here, they just cannot be idle. I'm not sure what the action is going to be. Again, we're taking it one day at a time. We've learned that that is all we can do because sometimes public regulations and the city and different things happen day-by-day. So, we're hoping for best. We're doing what we can and we leave the rest to God.

DEAN: Father Rafael Garcia in El Paso, Texas, our thanks to you.

And thank you for joining us today. I'm Jessica Dean.

At This Hour starts right now.

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