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Zelenskyy Delivers Plea To Congress For More Help In Russia Fight; Cities Nationwide Brace For "Once In A generation" Artic Blast; El Paso Prepares Shelter For Migrants Ahead Of Freezing Temps; Records Contradicts Santos' Claim Grandparents Fled Holocaust; Aired 7:00- 7:30a ET

Aired December 22, 2022 - 7:00   ET

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

[7:00:57]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, PRESIDENT OF UKRAINE: We'll celebrate Christmas, celebrate Christmas and even if there is no electricity, delight, or our faith in ourselves, will not be put out.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DON LEMON, CNN HOST: Good morning, everyone, and welcome. Poppy is off. It's so surreal to see him in Congress, right, to see him outside of Ukraine.

KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN HOST: I couldn't get over. I truly could not -- seeing him inside the White House, seeing him standing there in front of Congress getting that moment of applause. And just David Sanger, I think put it best very bluntly, which is that, you know, 10 minutes ago, people didn't think Zelenskyy would still potentially be alive today. Much less running Ukraine.

LEMON: Right.

COLLINS: Just amazing.

LEMON: If the war would be going away, there was -- war still going right now, right? Vladimir Putin certainly didn't think so. He thought he would have wanted and quickly.

President Zelenskyy, as you saw, delivering an impassioned plea to the world, and Russia was watching every minute of it. What the Kremlin thinks about Zelenskyy visit.

COLLINS: Plus, this morning, we have new images out of El Paso, Texas, so -- showing hundreds of cots inside a convention center to help shelter migrants. We're live at the border where temperatures have been dropping.

LEMON: And more twists and turns when it comes to FTX. The former chief executive Sam Bankman-Fried now back in the U.S. What to expect from his court appearance today in New York. COLLINS: Ukraine is alive and kicking, those were the words from Ukrainian President Zelenskyy in a historic specific speech before Congress last night, where he thanked the United States for its continued support for his country in its fight against Russia, but he also asked for more. Explaining that his armed forces are outnumbered and outgunned.

CNN's Lauren Fox is live on Capitol Hill. Lauren, what were you hearing from lawmakers who were in the room for that speech?

LAUREN FOX, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, I think right before the holidays, this is such a stark reminder for members that democracy should not be taken for granted. Here, they have the president of Ukraine standing in the House chamber, telling the story of his people back home and imploring them to do more, not just to save his country. And I thought the line that he said about your giving to us is not charity, but it is about global security was such a strong reminder for people in the chamber, that this is about more than just Ukraine. And you cannot take for granted what kind of democracy we have here.

And that was really the resounding takeaway for members, including Mitch McConnell, who said that he was inspiring as always, as well as John Cornyn, who said that he really hit it out of the park last night in terms of getting his message across really imploring members to do more to help his country.

COLLINS: What about the Republicans, though, who don't want to support Ukraine and think the United States has done too much? I know that's been a real concern given the realities of what's happening a few days. McCarthy is trying to become House Speaker. He has a very small vote margin. And I think there have been -- there's been concerned that whatever could happen behind the scenes, it -- to get the votes of those members who do not want to continue supporting Ukraine in the way the United States has.

FOX: Yes. I mean, the timing of this speech was so important, the House Speaker, of course, asking and inviting Zelenskyy to come at a moment when she's going to be handing that gavel to Republicans in just a few short weeks.

And like you said, Kevin McCarthy, next year, at the end of the fiscal year after September 30th when money runs out in the omnibus spending bill for Ukraine, there's going to be a decision to be made, are they going to give more money? Are they going to appropriate more money? And maybe the votes would be there in the House to do that.

But if you have a speaker, who is so afraid of a few members in his conference who are opposed to that money going to Ukraine, and they have some kind of leverage or power over him, that is going to be a huge dynamic next year.

And I think Zelenskyy really understood that and was making that appeal very publicly in an effort to try to think for the future. He knows that the dynamics are changing here in Washington, and he was certainly making that case to them. COLLINS: Yes. Lauren Fox, thank you.

LEMON: All right. Let's bring in now CNN military analyst and the head of geopolitical strategy at Academy Securities, a retired U.S. Army General Spider Marks. General, thank you. It's good to see you this morning.

[7:05:04]

JAMES MARKS, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Thank you, Don.

LEMON: There was a moment there towards the end of Zelenskyy's address where he gifted a Ukrainian flag to Congress that had been signed by soldiers fighting and Bakhmut, or Zelensky had visited soldiers a day before coming to Washington. What is the significance of this town in the war?

MARKS: Well, this act of giving the flag that's been signed by soldiers that are in direct combat right now against Russian forces, is incredibly significant. Look, on a wall behind my desk at home after multiple deployments, I've got flags, and they are signed by young men and women. So this is incredibly emotional and incredible -- a deep description and a deep acts of faith and thanks.

So the United States to Zelenskyy, right now, is incredibly important. It's not serendipitous that he arrived right before the holidays. He chose to come now. There's going to be a changeover in our Congress. That's all important because he knows if he loses the United States support or if at least a trips in some way, he puts his efforts against Russia and the globe's efforts against Russia.

You know, bear in mind this war of proxy at risk. So this is an incredibly significant, emotional, inspirational visit, wasn't it?

LEMON: Yes, it was. And, listen, you're standing there at the magic wall. So let's get to why Zelenskyy visited the United States. Obviously, he needs support, right? He needs money.

MARKS: Right.

LEMON: And he needs to be able to continue to fight this war. His pitch to Congress was a way to thank America for its support, but that's already given to the war effort, but also to ask for additional aid $1.85 billion aid package in the works. What do you know about it?

MARKS: Right. Yes. So 1.85 billion, that's a -- it's a big chunk added on to what's already been provided. And I think the total now is up to about 21 billion, I'm guessing. And I think that's appropriate.

Here's the Patriot defense system. This is critical. This is -- this is a plus up in terms of air defense capabilities, but this is one battery. One battery will provide point defense in the vicinity of Kyiv. I'm assuming that's where that will be placed. It will provide the appropriate coverage over Kyiv, but Ukraine is a very large country. There are more Patriot systems that would provide that additional coverage where it needs to be where their infrastructure is, where their population centers are, where their key military facilities are, that's essential.

What is not listed here is the F-16. United States has chosen not to provide the F-16 to the Ukrainians. Now bear in mind, the Ukrainian Air Force is using Soviet and Russian made equipment. They -- the Ukrainians are going to transition at some point to Western aircraft. They're going to transition to aircraft like this. Now is the time to begin that transition.

And the Ukrainians have a history of having trained with the California Air National Guard. So they not only know how to fly these things, they know how to employ them. Two distinct possibilities that needs to be addressed and two functions that need to be addressed. You just don't fly a fighter, you have to fight the fighter.

Also, what we're looking at is high mobility. Really what we're talking about is Abrams tanks. That would provide the Ukrainians' ability to conduct offensive operations and to sustain those offensive operations against the Russians. Right now what we see is approximating a stalemate. I hate to use that term, but Ukraine does not have, right now, the ability to push the Russians back across the border. These capabilities would provide that.

LEMON: I've got to ask you. Listen, in his address to Congress, he said that the investment, the money being sent was an investment and that it wasn't charity. And I say that because we had Mike Lyons on, who you know, very well earlier. And my client said that this is -- of course, they need all of this everything that they're sending, but it's really a band aid, they're going to need much more on the ground there. They're going to need more help, more equipment, more money. You agree with that assessment?

MARKS: I do. What we see right now is a defensive operation by the Ukrainian. So let's not -- you know, let's not mix this up here. Ukrainians have been incredibly creative, immense amount of innovation. I mean, this is -- this is a 21st century fight. And the Russians are still hidebound in the last century. This is quite incredible and we're -- we shouldn't be surprised by that. And the United States military is learning lessons for how the Ukrainians are fighting.

But in order to push the Russians across, and that's what Zelenskyy wants to do. There is more that needs to be done. And right now, there's an ins and a means mismatch. Zelenskyy has these maximalist means, Russia out of Ukraine totally.

And what NATO and the United States is providing, is providing them a defensive capability to hold what they have and to make tactical advances. They need more in order to achieve that greater objective.

LEMON: Always learn a lot from you. Thank you, Spider Marks. Appreciate it.

[7:10:01]

MARKS: Thank you, Don. And Happy Holidays.

LEMON: You as well.

COLLINS: For more on President Zelenskyy's speech last night -- last night, let's bring in Republican Congresswoman, Victoria Spartz of Indiana. She immigrated to the United States in 2000, and is actually the first Ukrainian-born member of Congress.

So, good morning, and thank you for joining us. I saw you there last night. You were one of the members of Congress escorting Zelenskyy into the chamber. I wonder what you thought of his speech, and also what he said to you, because I know you two had a moment to speak briefly.

REP. VICTORIA SPARTZ (R-IN): Well, it was my honor to be in the chamber last night and to welcome the President of Ukraine. But I think what was really important it was to show the Ukrainian people which are fighting the brutal battle of the sanctuaries for freedoms that Congress is united to stand with them. I think that was a strong message. And it was a strong message to our allies and adversaries around the world that the American people will stand with freedom loving people fighting for freedom. So I think it is very important, because what's happening right now the battle that they're fighting is brutal and terrible.

COLLINS: Do you think he made the case for continued American support to Ukraine?

SPARTZ: Well, I think it's important to hear from the president, it was important to hear from the American people. But I think American people have been supporting Ukraine. And I think it's, you know, it's all about ideas and ideals about our strategic interests.

And I think, you know, right now, it is going to be very, very decisive times. And if we are much more decisive and proactive, not reactive in our support, we can drag Russia to the table and stop this insanity, because people are dying, a lot of young people, women, children are dying, and what's really the destruction of lives of millions of people is unacceptable, it should never be acceptable in the 21st century.

COLLINS: Well, given that you say it's such a decisive time for Ukraine and what they're about to face, as we kept hearing this phrase -- this phase, new phase of the war yesterday, are you concerned that your party -- the Republican Party is not going to remain committed to funding Ukraine once Republicans retake the majority?

SPARTZ: I think, actually, Republicans much more decisive and providing security assistance. We're doing a little bit better now where, you know, about 20 percent of all of the assistance goes to help with weapons, you know, it used to be less than 10 percent.

And, you know, the worst, one was weapons, you know. And I think it's very important for us to provide proper system, be more proactive. So a lot of Republicans were very concerned about it and still base -- you know, raising some concerns right now.

I think it's unfortunate, I'll be honest with you, that this package is, again, included in the real large spending wasteful package that most Republicans are not able to vote for. Because, you know, we have people on the fringes of the party, the same like Democrats do.

But by -- you know, this is most united issue. Majority of my colleagues are supportive. We want to make sure that the weapons do get to the right people, and make sure that the Ukrainian people and brave Ukrainian soldiers are going to get them. Make sure we have proper oversight. But they're very supportive and have been pushing in a lot of ways, including Leader McCarthy, he raised a lot of issues, and Leader McConnell to help -- to help secure the system and Mike McCaul. So I think our party is also very united and supportive.

But unfortunately, some of the political games will latch Russians and other adversaries to do propaganda to show that Republicans are not voting because Ukraine is a very small part of very big wasteful packages that doesn't address a lot of issues that Republicans and American people are concerned about.

COLLINS: Yes. That part of the Ukraine funding that's in the big omnibus spending bill is what you're referencing there. But when it comes to, you mentioned the fringes of the party, there are very few -- a few members who have been incredibly vocal in your party about not wanting to support Ukraine, certainly not at the level that has been happening so far from the United States.

Do you have concerns about Kevin McCarthy given he is trying to get every vote he can get to become House Speaker when it comes to what he could say to those members about Ukrainian funding?

SPARTZ: I'll tell you one thing, then, when I called Kevin McCarthy last spring, and told him what's happening in Ukraine, and deaths and atrocity that are happening and unbelievable, and we need to do something about it.

Kevin McCarthy, he was the person who actually brought me to the conference -- press conference, which allowed me to share the story of the American people, it put pressure on the Biden administration. Kevin McCarthy, who helped, you know, with other Republicans to increase security assistance that we provide proper weapons and be more proactive.

So I think Republicans actually pushed a lot, you know, to provide with military aid to Ukraine. And I have no concerns that Republicans Party will stand with the Ukrainian people and will stay with the people fighting for freedom.

[7:15:03]

But we also need to make sure that we have proper oversight of executive branch and our president because as you saw, we don't want to have Afghanistan 2.0. And it is our constitutional duty to make sure that our branch is doing the right job, and actually deliver what we would give money for. And I think that is the very right thing to do. And unfortunately, it hasn't been happening.

It doesn't matter who is in charge, Republicans or Democrats, we're independent and co-equal branch. And we need to make sure that we represent the people. And the other branch actually informs us better. Because if America -- if our Congress is informed, American people are informed and when American people are informed, it will serve well for long-term support of the Ukrainian people in this war.

COLLINS: It's important for you to say that you do think Republicans will continue to support Ukraine. I also want to ask you, because you've been critical of the Biden administration's handling of Ukraine, you were several months ago. Are you satisfied with how they're handling it now?

SPARTZ: I think we've made some improvements, we have more presence. But I'll be honest with you, we're still very reactive, not proactive, and cost of lives, not just cost of money, but it's also cost of lives is much more significant when we are reacting.

And it's important for us to show strands because when you deal with dictators, when you deal with brute people like Putin, they only understand strengths. They only understand decisiveness. In our end, unfortunately, we haven't been proactive to preventing the war, we haven't been proactive dealing with what kind of weapons we supply, what kind of sanctions we're doing. And we really -- how timely we provide in that, how fast we're providing, that speed and agility is extremely important.

And again, we waited until we have a huge crisis right now and winter came to provide some better, you know, air defense than, you know, instead of actually doing it much earlier that Ukrainians have time to prepare some of the cities that really go through miserable winter and a lot of people are going to die.

COLLINS: Congressman Victoria Spartz, very important perspective from you. So thank you for joining us this morning.

SPARTZ: Thank you.

LEMON: As people get ready to travel for the holidays, you have been hearing the term bomb cyclone a whole lot. So what exactly is it? Well, meteorologists back in 1980 defined it as a rapidly strengthening storm like a hurricane with one important criteria. That pressure must fall 24 millibars within 24 hours, which is an extreme drop. That's a lot of terms there, right, technical terms. They added that the term bomb because of the explosive power that these storms can carry.

COLLINS: And this week's potential bomb cyclone is part of a system that is impacting more than 100 million Americans. Zero visibility in Wyoming as troopers rushed to help stranded drivers, as you can see there. That's what they're dealing with this morning.

And in Washington State, snow and freezing temperatures have officials urging people to stay home so they don't have scenes like that. Our meteorologist Allison Chinchar is live in the Weather Center.

Allison, what is it looking like right now? How long do people have before this is fully in effect? And how long do you expect it to last? ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: All right. Today really is going to be the big day for the vast majority of people. Now that doesn't mean that by tomorrow, this is all sunshine and roses and warm again. But today really is kind of the bottoming out for a lot of areas. Here's a look at what we expect today. That main system is expected to make its way through the Midwest, sliding across even areas of the Mid-South bringing snow while we are looking at rain, snow, and an ice mix for areas of the Northeast and the Mid-Atlantic.

That's why you've got so many of these red and orange airplanes here, indicating where we anticipate. There are likely going to be significant weather delays in the air today. Now, here's the look as we take this forward. I haven't really pushed this forward. One thing to note is that behind the system, there's a lot of cold air in place. Look at all of these areas of purple and blue where you've got those wind chill alerts.

Again, here's the look, minus 70 for across areas of Montana, South Dakota. Also looking at those minus 50 degree ranges. Keep in mind, when these temperatures get that low, frostbite can set in, in just five minutes.

One thing to notice, the temperatures aren't really expected to improve all that much going forward in the next couple of days. We will see some improvements in a few areas, but other areas will likely bottom out tomorrow.

The other thing, the blizzard warnings. All of these areas looking at snow showers, and even potential blizzard conditions where we anticipate that visibility to be below one quarter mile and also those wind gusts up around 30 to 35 miles per hour.

COLLINS: I'm still stuck on negative 70, Allison Chinchar. I hope the people stay inside. Thank you so much.

CHINCHAR: Thanks.

Officials in El Paso, Texas this morning are working to prepare shelter for hundreds of migrants, as dangerously cold temperatures, and you just heard from Allison, are moving into the area there. What they're planning for those who are undocumented and where they could stay.

LEMON: Plus, founder of the collapsed crypto exchange, FTX's Sam Bankman-Fried set to appear in court in New York today after being extradited from the Bahamas. What's next for him? That's straight ahead.

[7:20:09]

LEMON: Welcome back to CNN THIS MORNING, everyone. New this morning, authorities in El Paso, Texas are setting up Red Cross cots at a convention center to provide shelter to hundreds of asylum seekers who are sleeping in the streets.

Temperatures there are along the border will start to drop soon as Trump era policy known as Title 42 remains in limbo. Let's get there now to live to CNN's Ed Lavandera. He's in El Paso for us this morning.

Ed, the question is, are they prepared that El Paso says that they are prepared in some way, but can they sustain the surge?

ED LAVANDERA, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I don't think there's many people here in the city who believe that what all of the efforts that are being done to prepare for the possible end of Title 42 is sustainable. We've heard that repeatedly from city officials last night.

The city opened up the convention center which is near the bus stations where so many migrants had been sleeping on the streets over the past week and a half. There are hundreds of cots inside that convention center. The city is also using two unused school buildings to help in this effort. They have been saying for days that the number one priority here is opening up shelter space, because the shelters and the migrant centers that are already in the city are overcapacity. And they're expecting this massive influx once Title 42 is lifted. City officials say they anticipate four to 6,000 people per day possibly. Don.

[7:25:37]

LEMON: So, Ed, you have been seeing the Title 42 ordeal play out in real time, what are you seeing on the ground now that it is held up in court?

LAVANDERA: Well, you know, in this surge that came here to the El Paso area of migrants, the week before Title 42 was supposed to end yesterday, it was about 2,500 people per day. Well, that number has dropped to about 1,500 to 1,700 on average, over the -- over the last week. So there has been a dip.

But we were out along, if you see in the distance behind me, that is the border wall and there are still migrants lining up, literally single file at the one of the gates of the border wall and they're being processed about 15 to 20 migrants at a time by border patrol agents.

So all of that continues here in this area. And they believe that there are still thousands more on the other side of the border who are waiting to see what's going to happen with Title 42.

LEMON: All right. Ed Lavandera in El Paso, Texas. Thank you, Ed.

COLLINS: Also this morning, there are more questions about an incoming Republican Congressman George Santos' life story. Genealogy records show that his claim that his grandparents fled the Holocaust are not true. It comes amid mounting questions that he fabricated large parts of his resume like where he went to school, where he worked about a nonprofit he said he had dedicated to pets.

CNN's Jason Carroll has taken a closer look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE SANTOS, NEW YORK CONGRESSMAN-ELECT: Look, as I always joke, I'm Jew-ish.

JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Throughout his campaign, Republican Congressman-elect, George Santos, would refer to himself as half Jewish or a Latino Jew, often telling his grandparents story, how he says they survived the Holocaust as Ukrainian Jewish refugees and converted to Catholicism, changing their surname to survive.

Here's how Santos explained it just last month in an interview with the Jewish news syndicate.

SANTOS: I'm very proud of my grandparents' story. My grandfather fleeing Ukraine, seeing Stalin's persecution, going to Belgium finding refuge there, marry my grandmother's and fleeing Hitler, going to to Brazil. That's a story of perseverance.

CARROLL: It's a story that may not be true. His misrepresentations of his family history, first reported by the Jewish Publication, the Forward, and his story contradicted by numerous sources reviewed by CNN KFile.

Records from a Holocaust Museum and the International Center on Nazi Persecution, which keeps records on Jewish refugees show no mention of Santos' grandparents. One genealogist who helped research Santos' family tree at CNN's request, said, there's no sign of Jewish and/or Ukrainian heritage, and no indication of name changes along the way.

SANTOS: I'm so proud to be able to keep our family going forward and showing that not only did we survive, but now I'm able to go advocate and fight for other Jewish people.

CARROLL: Santos has not responded to CNN request about his family history, and discrepancies with his resume and biography.

JOSHUA LAFAZAN, NASSAU COUNTY LEGISLATOR: People are perplexed. They're asking me how could somebody possibly tell this scale of lies and get elected.

CARROLL: Among the seeming misrepresentations first detailed by the New York Times and confirmed by CNN, Santos' biography has at times claimed he earned degrees in finance and economics from Baruch College and New York University.

CNN found he also said, in at least two separate interviews, he received an MBA from NYU.

SANTOS: Today, I've been very proud with the bachelor's and master's degree, all New York educated Baruch College and NYU for my MBA.

CARROLL: A spokesman for NYU telling CNN something different. The university records do not reflect anyone with that name having attended NYU, while a spokesperson for Baruch College could not find anyone with his name or birthday ever attending the school. The record of his work history, also murky. His campaign bio mentioned stints at Citigroup and Goldman Sachs. Neither Citigroup nor Goldman Sachs have any records of his employment.

Santos listed on his 2022 financial disclosure a salary of $750,000 and claimed he made the same amount last year, income --

END