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Trump Accuses Biden Of Waging War On Democracy; Ron DeSantis Wraps "Full Grassley" 99-County Iowa Tour; Israel Recalls Hostage Negotiators From Qatar; No Presidential Immunity For Trump In January 6th Cases; Santos Threatens Retaliation Over Expulsion Vote; Western Officials Warn Ukrainians Face Tough Winter. Aired 7-8p ET

Aired December 02, 2023 - 19:00   ET

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

[19:00:21]

JIM ACOSTA, CNN HOST: You are live in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Jim Acosta in Washington. Good evening.

Dueling campaign events in Iowa today as Donald Trump and Ron DeSantis battle for each and every vote in the Hawkeye State with just six weeks until the Iowa caucuses. The Florida governor has wrapped his tour of all 99 counties in Iowa. While there are candidates trading barbs right now, the former president is dredging up his lies about the 2020 election, handing out these signs. You can see it on screen right there. Accusing his chief political rival, President Joe Biden, of subverting democracy.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We have opponents. We have a lot of opponents. But we've been waging an all-out war in American democracy. You look at what they've been doing and becoming more and more extreme and repressive. They have just waged an all-out war with each passing day.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: Those accusations come after Trump told supporters today he wants to prosecute the results of the 2020 election and encouraged them, encourage his supporters to go into ballot counting facilities in 2024 to, quote, "guard the votes."

CNN national correspondent Kristen Holmes is in Cedar Rapids with the Trump campaign.

And Kristen, we have to keep pointing out, while they're handing out these signs that say "Biden Attacks Democracy," it was Trump who tried to overturn the 2020 election results. There is no erasing that fact.

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Jim. But this is really a response to President Biden. One of Biden's main arguments against a Trump second term is to say that Donald Trump would be a threat to democracy. And tonight, Trump even referenced the speech that Biden gave in which he said that MAGA Republicans and Trump were a threat to American institutions, and again, to democracy. And essentially, his argument was no, you are. Donald Trump saying

that it was actually Biden who was a threat to democracy. Listen to some of what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: But Joe Biden is not the defender of American democracy. Joe Biden is the destroyer of American democracy. So if Joe Biden wants to make this race a question of which candidate will defend our democracy and protect our freedoms, and I say to Crooked Joe, and he's crooked, the most corrupt president we've ever had. We will win that fight and we're going to win it very big. Very big.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: And Jim, another thing that he said was that his campaign was the, quote, "righteous crusade to liberate our republic from Joe Biden." So of course this begs the question as to why is it that Joe Biden is anti-democratic? Well, his reasoning was that the Biden administration is forcing people to drive specific cars. Talking about electric vehicles. He also said that they were rigging elections, going back to 2020.

But the main crux of his argument was what we have heard before. These investigations, these cases against Donald Trump are, quote-unquote, "election interference," essentially saying that the Biden administration is making a political argument that they have stepped in that he's facing these 91 criminal charges because they don't want Trump running for president. This has been his argument both legally and politically.

But, Jim, I do want to point one thing out here when we get to the politics. We are just about six weeks out from those Iowa caucuses. We are here tonight before Donald Trump took the stage. Another speaker asked the crowd how many people here had never caucused before. And about half the people in the room raised their hand. And I bring this up to show that despite his ongoing legal problems, Donald Trump has not only -- has an enormous, he has been leading in the polls here in Iowa, but he has new support as well.

And that's important to point out when we're talking about this. That there is a chance that right now he is leading and could win those Iowa caucuses in just about six weeks.

ACOSTA: All right. Kristen Holmes, thank you very much.

Ron DeSantis completed the so-called full Grassley, as it's called, the Hawkeye State tour of each of Iowa's 99 counties. But he'll need more than high-powered endorsements from Iowa's Republican governor and one of its most influential faith leaders as polls show Trump's lead in the state has only grown.

Steve Contorno is in Iowa with the latest from the DeSantis campaign.

STEVE CONTORNO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Jim, Governor DeSantis just finished his campaign event hear moments ago. It was marking the 99th county he has visited in the state. That's every county he has checked off the list. It's a feat known as the full Grassley and it's something that presidential contenders have been attempting in Iowa going back decades. Some of them have gone on to win the Iowa caucuses, others have not. Governor DeSantis is hoping it can be a spring board to helping him convince Iowa Republicans that he deserves to be their nominee. Now when he first set out to complete the full Grassley, he was around 20 percent in the polls.

[19:05:04]

Now he is about in the same spot since then. In fact, he's now facing additional competition from former Governor Nikki Haley of South Carolina who is making it more difficult and more complicated for him to challenge former President Donald Trump in the state. DeSantis spoke earlier today about what it means for him to have completed the full Grassley and why he thinks it's so important to Iowa Republicans.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. RON DESANTIS (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I don't think doing the 99 counties is just about the caucus. Like, yes, obviously, we're going to use that to win the caucus. But I think it has significance beyond that. One, by the fact that I'm willing to do this, that should show you that I consider myself a servant. Not a ruler. And that's how people that get elected should consider themselves.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CONTORNO: Now DeSantis has not just completed the full Grassley, he also has the support of the state's Republican governor, Kim Reynolds, and many of its faith leaders, and he is hoping that that support will help convince Iowa Republicans that it's time to turn the page from Donald Trump and choose him on January 15th -- Jim.

ACOSTA: All right, Steve Contorno. Thank you so much.

Let's discuss more now with CNN senior political analyst and senior editor at "The Atlantic," Ron Brownstein.

Ron, great to see you as always.

RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Hey, Jim.

Ac Let's talk about what Trump has been up to out on the campaign trail today, accusing Biden of waging a war on democracy. There are these signs that they were handing out at one of these Trump campaign rallies. They're saying "Biden Attacks Democracy." I mean, all of this is very Orwellian. And I suppose kind of the I'm rubber, you're glue strategy, I suppose, if you can boil it down in childish terms.

But what do you make of remarks like this from the person who told countless lies about the 2020 election, continues to tell these lies, and encourage his supporters to march to the Capitol on January 6th?

BROWNSTEIN: Yes, well, I mean, look, I think that's an argument he's saying mostly at his supporters. You know, two-thirds, the three quarters of Republicans still say that, you know, he was cheated out of the election and he's talking to them by making these kind of accusations that were not a threat to democracy. The Democrats are.

I thought the speech, I didn't see the first one in Ankeny. I watched the second one in Cedar Rapids. I thought it was -- once again as so often when he gets up on the stage, it encapsulates both his opportunity and the obstacles that he faces. I mean, you know, in that speech is a critique of where things are in the country under Biden that has resonance for a lot of voters. Talking about high interest rates, talking about the border, talking about crime. The difficulty of buying a house.

But then you get, with Donald Trump, as always, you get all of the other obsessions that he really won the election. That it was stolen from him. The kind of the threats against his political opponents. You know, you kind of get the feeling that there are Republican strategists everywhere who are saying, well, if you can just stop with the critique, that would be fine. Except Trump, inevitably, no matter what he says, is a bigger part of this occasion, if he's the nominee and a challenger typically is.

And you get a reminder, every time he gets on stage why there are potentially millions of voters who are uneasy about Biden who may still not vote for Trump.

ACOSTA: And he is a candidate who was also facing multiple trials, Ron, in part for his actions on January 6th and what the government alleges to be his actions leading up to January 6th. Is part of what Trump is up to out there, is he just trying to turn reality on its head? When he gets his supporters into these auditoriums and arenas, and so on, just pull the wool over their eyes, accuse Joe Biden of doing what Trump himself tried to do, and see if he can get away with it?

BROWNSTEIN: Yes. Look. I think the real challenge we face as a country is he doesn't have to pull very hard. Right? I mean, there is a substantial share of the electorate that -- he's pushing on an open door. He doesn't have to be enormously convincing. They want to believe that all of these institutions are conspiring against them. That are marginalizing them and disparaging them in American society.

And he has been, as we saw again today, just enormously consistent in identifying any time he is held to account for what he did after 2020, or in other cases like the classified documents. That it's really an attack on them. I am your sword and your shield. I am your retribution. All of that kind of language.

To me it is a remainder. Maybe no one else can push these buttons as effectively as Trump, but it is a reminder that there is a depth of alienation in a significant cohort of the electorate that isn't likely to go away whatever happens to him in 2024. But certainly he has been effective in the context of Republican primary of basically saying they're going after me because they really want to silence you.

[19:10:01] Polling tells us it is potentially different in a general election. And there are still potentially a meaningful slice of voters who would be very reluctant to vote for someone convicted of a crime and reinstall them in the Oval Office.

ACOSTA: Let's talk about some of those bread-and-butter issues that you were alluding to earlier where there might be some resonance with voters in places like Iowa and so on. Trump is also reviving his push to repeal Obamacare if he wins the 2024 presidential race. I'm old enough to remember. I covered the Trump White House when Trump tried to do that. He never came up with a plan to repeal -- excuse me, replace Obamacare. We never got that.

And he seems to be repeating himself in what he said back when he was president. The problem though, Ron, this time around, and please correct me if I'm wrong, is that Obamacare has become increasingly popular, more popular over the years. And there aren't a whole lot of Republicans stampeding to get behind the former president when it comes to repealing Obamacare this time around.

BROWNSTEIN: No. Obamacare is more popular. And it became more popular in the 2017 fight than it was in the '29 and 2010 by (INAUDIBLE), which I'm old enough to have covered.

ACOSTA: Right.

BROWNSTEIN: Because it shifted in the 2017 fight from originally it was seen primarily as something that benefitted the relatively smaller number of Americans without insurance. In 2017, Americans came to see it as something that benefitted even the vast majority, 85 percent or so, with insurance because it protected people with pre-existing conditions and other provisions. And Trump going back at this really is indicative of what I was talking about on our first answer.

There's a lot of dissatisfaction with Joe Biden's record. Abd we see it, you know, over and over again in various angles from polls. But Trump is running on an agenda that is more aggressive and militant than he ran on in 2016 and certainly than he ran on in 2020. He's talking about repealing Obamacare, he's talking about mass deportation, he's talking about internment camps, military action against Mexico, sending the National Guard into blues cities.

Vast trade wars with China and other countries. Maybe he can sell those policies. But in many ways, you kind of look at this, and the ACA repeal is another example of this, every day he throws Joe Biden a life line. Right? I mean, rather than talking -- when he's talking about high interest rates now and how hard it is to buy a home, that is difficult terrain for Democrats.

When he's talking about repealing the ACA and setting up internment camps and what a second Trump term might mean, that really is the most plausible pathway for Biden to get beyond the circle of voters who are satisfied with him into a winning coalition in 2024.

ACOSTA: And Ron, let's talk a little bit about going George Santos getting expelled from Congress and what lies ahead. I mean, he's in a district that Biden won in 2020. Do Democrats have an uphill battle to win back that seat? Could they flip a seat here?

BROWNSTEIN: Yes, well, look. That is really interesting. I mean, that was a Biden seat. But Nassau County and Suffolk County, Long Island, his district the center of the Nassau County, really are one of the few suburbs anywhere in the country that have been moving toward Republicans in the Trump era. I mean, Biden won that county by 10 points. Nassau County, which is the heart of district in 2020.

But the Republican gubernatorial candidate Lee Zeldin won it by 10 in 2022. I mean, you look at recent polling by Siena College in the state Trump leads Biden there. Biden's approval is only 41 percent. There's a lot of concern about immigration and crime which dominate the news in the New York media market. You have the New York Mayor Eric Adams out there making arguments that in many ways echo the Republican criticism of Biden.

And so this terrain is more difficult than it might appear from, you know, the fact that I said Biden plus eight district. The advantage Democrats have is their likely candidate is the former -- the person who formerly held that seat, Tom Suozzi, the former Nassau County executive. He's much better known than any of the other Republicans. He could win the seat in an off, off, off-year election in February.

But the erosion for Biden in this district, in this area, I think is indicative of the kind of issues they're going to have to figure out a better answer for between now and next November because it is the kind of thing that Republicans who saw the DeSantis debate against Newsom are really going to want to stress.

ACOSTA: All right. Great stuff as always, Ron Brownstein. Thanks so much for your time. Really appreciate it.

BROWNSTEIN: Thanks for having me.

ACOSTA: All right. Coming up, back-to-back legal setbacks for Donald Trump. We'll discuss that next. Also, what was it like working for ex- Congressman George Santos? His former communications director will join us live to talk about that. Plus, a mystery illness has sickened more than 200 dogs in the U.S. What can you do to help your dog stay safe? I'll be taking a particular interest in that segment. My little dog Duke at home, I want to keep him safe as well. We'll talk about that coming up here in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:19:16]

ACOSTA: Now to the latest in the war between Israel and Hamas, hostage negotiations appear to have fallen apart. Israel says talks to at least the remaining 136 hostages in Gaza hit a dead end today. This comes as intense fighting continues inside Gaza.

CNN's Matthew Chance has more details from Tel Aviv.

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CHIEF GLOBAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Well, Jim, Israel is still pounding the Gaza Strip, hitting as many as 400 Hamas targets, according to the Israeli military. But it's also taking a heavy human toll, with the Hamas-controlled Palestinian Health Ministry in Gaza saying nearly 200 people have been killed since the Israeli strikes resumed.

This as U.S. Defense secretary warns that Israel risks a strategic defeat unless it protects civilians in Gaza, a possible sign of growing U.S. concern about the mounting casualties.

[19:20:10]

Back in Israel, thousands of people have turned out to support the 130 or more hostages who are still being held in Gaza and to demand that the government prioritize their release. Calls to free the hostages and unite the Israelis. But there are differences over how that may be achieved.

The Israeli government which has recalled hostage negotiators from talks in Qatar says military pressure on Hamas will force the group to release more. But many hostage family members and their supporters say negotiations should be resumed so that their loved ones can be brought home if necessary at any cost.

Back to you, Jim.

ACOSTA: Matthew Chance, thank you very much for that.

Would a Trump presidential win keep him from facing trial in Georgia? What his lawyers are arguing in court? John Dean, former White House counsel for President Nixon, there he is right there, he joins me next. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:25:17]

ACOSTA: Two court rulings yesterday really underlying the tough legal road ahead for former President Donald Trump as he tries to avoid prosecution related to the events of January 6th. In both cases, judges pushed back on Trump's claim that presidential immunity prevents him from facing civil and criminal trials. In the federal election subversion case, the judge's response was especially harsh.

CNN's Marshall Cohen has been following all this for us -- Marshall.

MARSHALL COHEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Jim, good evening. A very consequential ruling last night in the federal election subversion case right here in Washington, D.C. that was brought by Special Counsel Jack Smith.

Now Trump and his team are fighting against this case because it is currently scheduled to go to trial in March. They are trying to get the charges dismissed. And the most recent attempt by Trump and his team was to claim that he had absolute immunity, protection, because everything in the indictment happened while he was the sitting president, and in their eyes, that means he cannot be charged with any crimes. The only problem with that theory is that the judge completely

disagreed. District Judge Tanya Chutkan who's overseeing this case resoundingly rejected those arguments. She said it did not fit with the text of the Constitution. That there was no Supreme Court precedent backing that up. She even quoted some of our founding fathers, folks like Alexander Hamilton and George Washington from his farewell address where they made clear that the founding principles of this nation were that the president is not a king. The president is not above the law.

Let me read for you, Jim, one of the quotes from this ruling. It was a 50-page ruling. There was a lot in there. Judge Chutkan said, quote, "Whatever immunities a sitting president may enjoy, the United States has only one chief executive at a time and that position does not confer a lifelong get-out-of-jail-free pass." Those are some strong words from the judge.

But it won't be the final word. Trump and his lawyers are definitely going to appeal this. They might even take it all the way to the Supreme Court, which probably will want to weigh in on this critical question of presidential immunity -- Jim.

ACOSTA: All right. Marshall Cohen, thank you so much.

Let's dig deeper on this with CNN contributor John Dean, former White House counsel to Richard Nixon.

John, what do you think of all this? Nixon tried and failed to shield himself from being held accountable. Trump is trying to do something similar. What is your sense of how this might play out?

RICHARD DEAN, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Well, we never got that far with Nixon, of course, because he was never indicted, although they drafted one. It never appeared publicly. It was in the prosecutor's office. But here we have a public indictment and it's very clear, he faces criminal liability. His effort to have absolute immunity was baseless. It was arguments. It was he relied on a clause in the Constitution that relates to impeachment that he tried to put a spin on that nobody has ever done before.

No president has ever been indicted before. So that was one of his problems. The judge, Judge Chutkan, wrote really a magisterial type opinion. She knew this is going to be reviewed probably by the Court of Appeals first, and then by Supreme Court ultimately. So this is an historic writing she engaged in. And it's well done. I don't think it's reversible.

ACOSTA: And I was going to say, how do you see this playing out, if this goes all the way to the Supreme Court? Do you think it will go to the Supreme Court?

DEAN: The question on the court is, of course, Trump's tactic is to try to delay. I don't think she's given him much room to delay. To delay, they have to get a stay from the Court of Appeals in the district of Columbia that says, hey, you've got to halt the criminal trial. I think the opinion is strong enough that they might deny his effort to get a stay and discovery will go on in the case. The proceedings will go on.

And so it will not tie -- it won't stop it. It won't tie the case up as it goes forward on the appellate process. You know, a president is -- any defendant is entitled on a fundamental issue like immunity to actually go to appeal and see if indeed that is the case. I think it will be expedited in this case as well.

[19:29:57]

ACOSTA: Yes. I mean, what about this concept of presidential immunity? I mean, it sounds the way Trump is throwing it around, it's almost echoing Nixon and that old expression when the president does it, it is not illegal. What is your sense of it, John?

JOHN DEAN, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Well, you know, there is no basis in law for criminal immunity. There is a case called Nixon versus Fitzgerald that they try to draw on, whether it is civil immunity when a president is carrying out his functions in office, and he is indeed engaging in decision making relating to the presidency, there is a civil immunity.

Trump tried to spin that out to make it apply in a criminal context. It doesn't.

It doesn't also apply in a civil context for Trump, because they said his behavior at the Court of Appeals, at least based on the information that was before them, at this time shows he wasn't engaged in presidential conduct, he engaged in political conduct in trying to hang on to an office when he had lost the election.

ACOSTA: And from Georgia to DC to New York, Trump's legal team, they're trying to push this, as you were alluding to this earlier, this tactic of delay, delay, delay. One would have to think all of the judges, I mean, Judge Tanya Chutkan seems to be aware of this, all the judges seem to be aware that this is going on.

But do you think Trump might be able to pull this off? His lawyers might be able to pull those off simply because of the way our legal process works? Because you have the right to appeal things, to take things to a higher court and there are some weighty issues at play here. Could Trump pull it off?

DEAN: It's possible. It's not -- I can't say that it would be impossible, but the fact that Judge Chutkan has written such a really strong opinion, gives the court every reason to let the criminal trial proceed in its sort of mechanical discovery and other phases, you know, deciding what can be admitted into evidence and motions and what have you.

While all of that is sorted out while they're looking at this appellate issue, which I think they're going to just affirm her judgment. And the question is, will conservatives on the Supreme Court play this politically and tie it up and drag it out? That's where the worry should be.

ACOSTA: All right, very good. John Dean, thanks a lot, as always, great to talk to you.

DEAN: Thanks, Jim.

ACOSTA: Thank you.

All right, what's next for expelled Congressman George Santos? His former communications director joins us next. We'll see if we have any ideas on that front, coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:36:58]

ACOSTA: Newly ousted Republican Congressman George Santos is vowing revenge against several of his former congressional colleagues saying that he plans to file ethics complaints against them.

Santos was expelled from the House of Representatives in a bipartisan vote yesterday after the House Ethics Committee found evidence he stole money from his campaign.

And here with us now to discuss is George Santos' former communications director, Naysa Woomer.

Naysa, I sort of don't know where to begin. So --

NAYSA WOOMER, GEORGE SANTOS' FORMER COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR: None of us do.

ACOSTA: None of us do. And there is not enough time. But what was it like working for George Santos? There are all of these crazy allegations against him. Did you ever witness things that were going on that made you concern that he was, you know, getting involved in stuff he shouldn't be doing and so on?

WOOMER: I wouldn't say there was anything that was concerning that he shouldn't be doing? Well, anything that I would say would be a communications risk, I say no, I don't think you should be doing that. But I wrote an opinion piece back in September and one of the things that I had said it was a baptism by atomic bomb.

And of course, that's with, you know, with respect to the late Robert Oppenheimer.

ACOSTA: Yes.

WOOMER: But no, it was just what was originally supposed to be just a simple communications plan for a freshman member of Congress who actually wanted to become a national profile and this is what he had said in my interview, just when I was interviewing for the job and that plan went to the backburner and I had to create what I like to call -- I called it Operation Second Chance, where I just put it in a notebook and figured out how can we navigate out of this unprecedented crisis?

And that's basically what my day-to-day was. It was answering media inquiries. That could be anything from his personal background to the stolen Burberry scarf.

ACOSTA: Right, and what was it like being the communications director for, I guess, one of the biggest liars in the history of Congress? I mean, when you were dealing with him, did you feel like, okay, he's just full of BS. I mean, did you think in the back of your mind, what is it with this guy?

WOOMER: Of course. I have 100 percent thought that, but I'm also very much a professional, and so, there's just a part of me that had to divorce myself and just think, okay, think about his constituents, how can I -- what can I do to show that he is actually doing his job and trying to keep his personal life on the backburner.

And one of the -- I guess, the biggest issues that I had was just the conversation about his -- the death of his mother, and you know she was in the South Tower.

ACOSTA: Yes, he had said that she died on 9/11.

WOOMER: Yes.

ACOSTA: In one of the towers of the World Trade Center.

WOOMER: Yes. But these are conversations --

ACOSTA: Not true.

WOOMER: Yes, but these are conversations that you shouldn't have to have with your new boss. It should be how do you plan to vote today? What are your top priorities that you'd like to set for going into this -- into office? And what can we start planning out in terms of a communications plan for when you're in the district, what you'd like to do in DC et cetera.

ACOSTA: And what would he say to you if you would say to him, Congressman, what you just said is not true. What you're saying is not true and you can't do that. Did he just sort of blow that off?

[19:40:11]

WOOMER: I wouldn't say he blew it off. I just -- in the beginning, I would say no, he did not blow it off. Later on, it just -- it just got to a point where I thought I can't control the messaging anymore. And then, whenever the -- you know, when he was being arraigned in New York back in May, you know, it was just 13 counts, and I had sought advice from different communications professionals asking, what should I do? I don't think I can do this anymore.

And they just said, either stay in until the end or get out now. And I chose get out now, so it wouldn't hurt me.

ACOSTA: Yes. At what point did you think this whole thing was going to go up in flames?

WOOMER: The other day.

ACOSTA: Was there a moment?

WOOMER: Yesterday.

ACOSTA: Number one, you were working for him, did you think this is not going in a good direction?

WOOMER: At one point, I thought whenever the Ethics Committee had announced that they were going to put in the investigation or put forth the investigation, I actually thought this is now a great time to really keep your head down, and just not do any kind of media while they're starting to conduct this investigation.

And I had already had him do the sit-down with Piers Morgan in February, and I think about a week later, Ethics Committee said, we're announcing this. And so this was a good time just to lay low and just focus on actual constituent work. Let's go to the district and start doing real things like, you know, having town halls or meeting with small businesses, and just really identifying real problems that New York 3 is actually facing. And those are things like, you know, state and local taxes, water contamination -- you know, just some things.

ACOSTA: Did he take that job seriously? Did he take his job seriously?

WOOMER: Yes, he did. But some days not so much. And that's where just having the media in front of the office, no offense, but it was -- I was watching a congressman go from congressman to celebrity is what I was witnessing quite a bit.

ACOSTA: And what about all of these suspicious purchases? Were you with him when any of this was going on? Were there --

WOOMER: No.

ACOSTA: We were talking about some of this before the commercial break and you said there was something along the lines of a -- you asked him at one point he needed receipts or?

WOOMER: Yes, so the one thing that -- it was around the time when I think it was an ex-roommate that had said that he had a Burberry scarf stolen. And, again, this is all when just some of the oddest things that were coming out and I thought, okay, so we have 15 minutes of fame coming on.

But he had said something along the lines of having a receipt for this purchase. And I said, well, go get it. I would love to have something to prove to reporters that you did, in fact, make this purchase, that it is your personal Burberry scarf.

ACOSTA: You felt like you needed receipts.

WOOMER: I needed receipts.

ACOSTA: Because this was George Santos you were dealing with?

WOOMER: Yes.

ACOSTA: What was your -- were you surprised when he got expelled yesterday?

WOOMER: Yes and no. I kind of thought it was actually going to happen, but for, I would say the last 48 hours, I wasn't sure just because there were over 140 members that were leaning towards expelling him. But then I think Congressman Nick LaLota had said something that it was closer to 77, so it was just very difficult to predict it and once it happened, well, this is it.

ACOSTA: And what does George Santos do now with his life, do you think?

WOOMER: Well, I would at least recommend a sit-down with Dr. Phil, it would just be for a first start, but also --

ACOSTA: Or some kind of a licensed professional.

WOOMER: Yes, absolutely. But then also, I mean, I don't know if Andy Cohen is going to give him a call or RuPaul for drag race or anything, but who knows?

ACOSTA: The possibilities are endless.

WOOMER: Endless.

ACOSTA: Especially now that he is out of Congress.

WOOMER: Yes.

ACOSTA: Naysa Woomer, thanks very much for sharing your story with us.

WOOMER: Thank you.

ACOSTA: I'm sure we could go all night about this, but we can't do it. But thanks.

WOOMER: Another time.

ACOSTA: Another time. Thanks for your time. Appreciate it.

WOOMER: Thank you.

ACOSTA: We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:48:46]

ACOSTA: In Russia's war in Ukraine, Western intelligence assessments do not expect significant movement on the frontlines in the coming months, meaning a tough winter and a difficult year ahead for Ukrainian forces.

This comes as Vladimir Putin ordered Russia to boost the size of its army by 15 percent.

Here is CNN's Anna Coren with more. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(UNIDENTIFIED MALE speaking in foreign language.)

ANNA COREN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): As a harsh winter begins to set in, Ukraine's war is becoming more difficult, painful and exhausting, as this conflict grinds towards the end of its second year.

A stalemate is how General Zaluzhnyi, Commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces labeled the war making international headlines while upsetting President Zelenskyy who projects a far more upbeat assessment.

But in a rare interview, Zaluzhnyi's senior adviser, General Nazarov tells me his boss stands by those controversial comments.

COREN (on camera): General Zaluzhnyi was just giving an honest assessment of the war which was a wake-up call, I think to the west.

MAJ. GEN. VIKTOR NAZAROV, SENIOR ADVISER TO COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF OF UKRAINIAN ARMED FORCES: Yes, I agree with you. It is some kind of message and some kind of alarm signal for the Western politician and for Western society, but we are ready to fight this -- our enemy, but we need help, we need support.

[19:50:11]

COREN (voice over): Equipment is what Ukraine desperately needs -- artillery pieces, ammunition, long-range missile systems specifically ATACMS, drones, electronic warfare, and air defense systems.

Last weekend, Kyiv experienced how vital those air defense systems are at protecting the population when Russia launched what local officials called an unprecedented number of attack drones on the capital.

The general fears if Ukraine doesn't receive advanced weaponry, his country faces a very difficult 2024.

General, is there one specific weapon that would be a game changer in this war?

NAZAROV: I don't think so, but importance of F-16s is, I believe, that help us to change situation concerning the Russian air superiority on the frontline.

COREN (voice over): The problem, however, is that Ukraine needs those F-16s now, not in spring of next year when they're due to arrive.

But as Russia steps up its military production on an industrial scale, General Nazarov's biggest fear is whether the West has the patience for what is turning out to be a much longer war.

COREN (on camera): There are concerns that the West is losing interest in this war and the support is waning, especially in the US amongst Republicans. What is your message to those Republicans? NAZAROV: American support is vital for Ukrainians. It is really what

is very important for us.

What I want to say to Republicans, we need to understand that now we have a problem to conduct this war, but if we don't manage to win this war, in the future we'll have more problems, not only for our country, for my country, for our populations, but only for Europe as a whole. It's a big problem for the United States also.

COREN (voice over): Anna Coren, CNN, Kyiv.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ACOSTA: A mystery illness has sickened more than 200 dogs in the US. Next, we will talk live with a veterinarian about what you can do to help your dog stay safe.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:56:59]

ACOSTA: You may have heard about a mysterious respiratory illness affecting dogs. Vets say symptoms including coughing, sneezing, and exhaustion, and it could lead to pneumonia, or worse. It's been detected in at least a dozen states so far.

And for more on what you should know on how to keep your dog safe, let's bring in veterinarian Dr. Jamie Lovejoy.

Dr. Lovejoy, you know, I've got a little rescue Beagle at home, so I'm very concerned about this, and for all the other dog owners out there. Help us out. What's going on here?

DR. JAMIE LOVEJOY, VETERINARIAN: Yes, so I think the hardest part about this is that we don't really know what's going on. There are quite a few different possibilities here.

There is certainly the possibility that we have a novel pathogen or a new bacteria or virus. It is out there. It is a possibility.

The University of New Hampshire has a veterinary lab that has found a pathogen that may or may not be linked, but really we haven't found concrete evidence that this is a new thing.

So I think people have to recognize that this is possible, that this is just -- we have more dogs, we have dogs leaving their homes more than they used to. This could just be that we're seeing an uptick in respiratory disease. We are seeing an uptick in respiratory disease though, so that is at least a fact.

ACOSTA: And what should we be looking for? What kind of symptoms, that sort of thing, and how do we prevent this if it's possible?

LOVEJOY: Yes, so I think the important thing right now for pet owners is to not panic. I want you guys to be aware. I want you guys to be cautious, but this panic is not necessary until we get more information and it may never be necessary.

What we need to do is we need to -- you know this is a contagious disease, so this is affecting dogs that are coming in contact with other dogs.

And so the main thing that you can do is to keep these dogs away from other dogs. Now, that's not always possible. We have doggy daycares. We have boarding. We have, you know, dog shows.

ACOSTA: Right.

LOVEJOY: We have things that are really important to people. So, you know, in those cases, you want to vaccinate for the things that we can vaccinate for. As I said, this is -- there is evidence that this is not a new pathogen. So your kennel cough vaccine, your Bordetella vaccine, parent influenza, which is in your distemper vaccine, which most dogs should have.

ACOSTA: Check. Check. I got those Duke.

LOVEJOY: Influenza.

ACOSTA: So that's good.

LOVEJOY: Yes, right. Good. Influenza is going to be a local thing. So influenza hit some cities pretty hard. There are still some areas we're not seeing a lot of influenza, so I would talk to your vet about whether or not influenza is a vaccine that's really indicated in your area.

If you see signs of cough --

ACOSTA: Are the dogs -- yes, I was going to say what are they doing? Are they coughing? Are they sneezing? Are they -- what is going on?

LOVEJOY: Yes, so the hard part is, is this looks like any normal kennel cough which is something we diagnose and treat all the time and something that is never really necessarily used to need treatment. So we have coughing, we have sneezing.

I think with the novel cases, we're seeing a lot more nasal discharge, so big snotty noses, you know, being really lethargic and tired.

I think that if you just have a little bit of cough or a little bit of sneezing, maybe a slightly runny nose, you can stay home, you can monitor.

ACOSTA: Yes.

LOVEJOY: If you're seeing really tired, not wanting to eat well, lots of productive mucus then you should probably call your vet and try to get them in.

If they're really not wanting to get up or something, that's going to be your emergency situation.

ACOSTA: All right, very good.

LOVEJOY: But mainly, try if your dog is sick, keep your dog away from other dogs.

ACOSTA: All right, yes. Great advice and have some doggy chicken noodle soup on standby. I'll have some for Duke. There is Duke right there. I don't even know if that'll show up on camera.

But yes --

LOVEJOY: So cute.

ACOSTA: He's a good boy. He's pretty well behaved, for the most part. It takes after his dad.

LOVEJOY: Yes.

ACOSTA: Dr. Lovejoy, thanks very much for your time. We appreciate it.

Good to see you.

LOVEJOY: No problem. Thank you so much.

ACOSTA: All right. Take care of those doggies out there.

And thank you for joining me this evening. I'm Jim Acosta. See you again tomorrow night starting at 5:00 Eastern.

Stay with us for "McMillions" right here on CNN, that's next. Goodnight.

[20:00:44]