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Zelenskyy Delivers Plea To Congress For More Help In Russia Fight; Sam Bankman-Fried Extradited To The U.S. From Bahamas; Biden Administration Delays Announcing Final Rules For EV Tax Credit. Aired 7:30-8a ET

Aired December 22, 2022 - 07:30   ET

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

[07:30:00]

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Santos listed on this 2022 financial disclosure a salary of $750,000 and claimed he made the same amount last year -- income he says he earned from the Devolder Organization, which he says is his family's firm. A search showed the firm was registered in Florida last year. The state temporarily deemed it inactive for failure to file required annual reports. CNN found Santos filed the required report Tuesday.

Santos' attorney said, "Santos represents the kind of progress that the left is so threatened by -- a gay, Latino immigrant and Republican who won a Biden district in overwhelming fashion."

The Nassau County Republican Committee chair called the issues being raised serious, adding, "Every person deserves an opportunity to clear his or her name in the face of accusations, and I look forward to the Congressman-elect's responses to the news report."

GEORGE SANTOS, (R) NEW YORK CONGRESSMAN-ELECT: My parents came to this country in search of the American dream. Today, I live that American dream.

CARROLL (voice-over): Jason Carroll, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: And it's just so much there I don't even know where to begin. But he definitely needs to answer for this and show proof that what he says is true. So far, that ain't happened.

KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: And it shows how those two reporters from The New York Times just pulled on the string a little bit, and look what all has been --

LEMON: Unraveled.

COLLINS: -- unreal. Yes, unveiled from that. We'll have more on that coming up.

We'll also have more on President Zelenskyy's long and storied relationship with Washington. The significance of his visit inside the White House yesterday. Presidential historian Doris Kearns Goodwin is going to join us live to discuss, next.

LEMON: And legal troubles are mounting for more executives tied to the failed crypto exchange FTX. The new charges straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL)

[07:35:06]

LEMON: Welcome back, everyone, to CNN THIS MORNING.

And coming up, the former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried is back in the U.S. What we're expecting from his court appearance today.

And the January 6 Committee has released the first of its hundreds of interview transcripts providing a new view into their investigation.

Plus, if you waited too long to holiday shop there's still some hope. That's me. I'm talking about myself. Some helpful tips straight ahead.

COLLINS: All right. The red carpet was rolled out for Ukrainian President Zelenskyy as he arrived at the White House yesterday after leaving his country for the first time since Russia invaded. Zelenskyy and Biden warmly greeted one another later in the Oval Office. The Ukrainian leader in his olive green military shirt and boots as Biden was in his signature blue suit.

The hero's welcome that Zelenskyy got stood in stark contrast to his relationship with the last U.S. president. Donald Trump, as you know, was impeached in 2020 for withholding military aid, in a White House meeting, from Zelenskyy, in an attempt to pressure Ukraine into investigating Hunter Biden.

It all started in April 2019. That was the day Zelenskyy was elected president of Ukraine. Trump called Zelenskyy to congratulate him on his win. And with Ukraine's ongoing conflict with Russia, Zelenskyy very much wanted the United States' support.

In that first call, Zelenskyy invited Trump to his inauguration. Trump, instead, sent a delegation. It was supposed to be led by Vice President Mike Pence until, according to Rudy Giuliani's associate Lev Parnas, Trump told Pence to cancel the trip when Zelenskyy refused to announce that investigation he wanted into the Bidens.

A few months later, on July 25, that's when Zelenskyy and Trump had their second call -- the infamous one -- when Zelenskyy was hoping for a White House invitation. He got one -- kind of -- but only after Trump urged Ukraine's new leader to work with his attorney, Rudy Giuliani, and the U.S. attorney general to investigate his political rival, Joe Biden.

Trump raised unsubstantiated allegations that Biden sought to interfere with the Ukrainian prosecutors' investigation of his son, Hunter. And according to the transcripts, Trump said, quote, "There's a lot of talk about Biden's son -- that Biden stopped the prosecution, and a lot of people want to find out about that. So whatever you can do with the attorney general would be great."

Behind the scenes, Trump and his allies continued to pressure Zelenskyy to announce an investigation and Trump ordered a hold on military aid to Ukraine.

On September 25, 2019, that's when Speaker Pelosi made a formal impeachment inquiry of Trump.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA): The president has admitted to asking the president of Ukraine to take actions, which would benefit him politically. The actions of the Trump presidency revealed a dishonorable fact of the president's betrayal of his oath of office, betrayal of our national security, and betrayal of the integrity of our elections.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: The day after that statement, Trump and Zelenskyy met for the first time while in New York for the United Nations General Assembly.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, PRESIDENT OF UKRAINE: ...back our territories -- Crimea, Donetsk, Luhansk. Thank you for your support in this case. Thank you very much.

DONALD TRUMP, THEN-PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Thank you very much, Mr. President. And if you'll remember, you lost Crimea during a different administration -- not during the Trump administration.

ZELENSKYY: Yes. So you have a chance to help us.

TRUMP: That's right, I do.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: The contrast in those two relationships was on full display Wednesday night as Zelenskyy delivered a historic address before a joint meeting -- a joint session of Congress, standing in the same chamber that impeached Trump for his call with Zelenskyy almost three years ago to the day.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PELOSI: Article 1 is adopted.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Hmm.

COLLINS: Just remarkable to see --

LEMON: Yes. COLLINS: -- how different those two relationships have been.

LEMON: Yes, and just reading the whole timeline of how this all played out, it's interesting. You can get some perspective now --

COLLINS: Yes.

LEMON: -- right?

COLLINS: Yes. I mean, who better? Doris Kearns Goodwin, who is a presidential historian, bestselling author, winner of the Pulitzer Prize in history, and also the author of The New York Times bestselling book "Leadership in Turbulent Times." What an appropriate title for right now.

Doris, I wonder what you made of President Zelenskyy's address last night?

DORIS KEARNS GOODWIN, PRESIDENTIAL HISTORIAN, PULITZER PRIZE WINNER IN HISTORY, AUTHOR, "LEADERSHIP IN TURBULENT TIMES": (Audio difficulty).

LEMON: We can't hear Doris.

GOODWIN: -- in the beginning when he said --

LEMON: There we go.

GOODWIN: -- off to that sustained applause, this is too much --

LEMON: Hey, Doris?

GOODWIN: -- for me. This is too much for me.

LEMON: Not to cut you off but we missed the first part.

GOODWIN: Hello?

LEMON: Hi. How are you? We missed the first part of what you were saying. Good morning. Do you mind starting over for us?

GOODWIN: I will start again.

LEMON: What did you think of his speech last night?

GOODWIN: I can start right over.

I thought it just showed the gift for rhetoric. In a certain sense, he started right away by putting his hand on his chest with all that sustained applause, and he said this is too much for me. It's for the Ukrainian people.

[07:40:00]

And then, there was a passion and emotion in that speech, especially when he talked about we are allies. We have a joint task. He was already assuming what he was hoping for -- that this would be a continuing alliance, and he made you feel an emotional connection to him.

And then, there was an iron will, not only when he said we don't want charity. This is an investment. But he also said we will fight this war with dignity.

Those three qualities came together in an extraordinary fashion I think to create a historic moment. You really felt you were living in history at that moment when you listened to him.

LEMON: Listen, it is obvious it's history in making. Surprising that he would show up in the United States and actually leave Ukraine considering all the security concerns, and that Ukraine is in the middle of a war right now. He knew that he needed to come here because he knows he needs the support going forward. That it's not only important for history but it's important for democracy around the world, correct?

GOODWIN: Absolutely. I mean, I think the recognition -- that face-to- face connection has much greater chemistry than the Zoom connection that he had made before. I really hope that he thought it would be a turning point. He knew that the new Congress was coming into session.

The timing was extraordinary, though, and I don't think he could have realized that, because it was occurring during Christmas. Because Churchill had also come to the White House and come to the joint session of Congress at Christmastime, it brought out --

And I'm so glad to hear in so many television discussions the reminder that in World War II, we faced a similar situation where England had come needing America's help. They had needed it even before Pearl Harbor and America had given them the tools that they said would finish the job, much as Zelenskyy has talked about us. Then Pearl Harbor happened.

Churchill came, and an extraordinary address to the joint session of Congress, similarly standing ovation -- great. And it cemented the fact because Churchill was worried at that time -- Pearl Harbor had happened -- maybe America would focus on Japan. He needed them to focus on Hitler. And that really solidified that alliance between the two.

They talked to each other the way you would imagine Zelenskyy and Biden, who had that chemistry when you saw it in the joint session of Congress. I mean, Roosevelt says it's fun to be in the same decade with you, and Churchill says it's a great hour to live. That's an extraordinary sense of a bonding.

We're lucky that those two men, President Biden and Zelenskyy, are together on the world scene right now, as your earlier part of this discussion showed.

COLLINS: I've never seen so much laughter in a press conference between a U.S. president and another world leader as happened yesterday with Zelenskyy and Biden in the room.

And, Doris, your immediate reaction -- I love everything you say about what's happening in the world today, looking at it through the historical lens that you do. But I want to show the audience how you initially reacted right after Zelenskyy finished speaking last night.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOODWIN: And I feel like we're living in history. And we've got to remember how important this democracy is for us. And when we think about all the minor things we worry about in our country right now, preserving democracy here at home and preserving it abroad is what we should all be thinking.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: I mean, we really are living in a moment of history.

GOODWIN: Yes, and sometimes you don't realize that. You know, go through decades where not so much happens. But especially think about it this week.

Not only were we talking about preserving democracy abroad with Ukraine, but we were talking about the January 6 hearings and the report that's come out, and the preserving of democracy at home. I mean, that report is such a powerful indication that something really bad happened in this last period of time. A story has been told now by that committee.

And one of the things about history -- the way history is told is an event happens and then another event happens, and that influences the next event. By telling the story chronologically, as the January 6 Committee has done, it starts with an election that the president was not willing, at that time, to accept as a loss. Then comes the stolen lie about the election.

And then comes the mobilization of a mob to come to Washington. And then comes that mob going to the Capitol. And then comes a president, at that time, who was unwilling to tell them to stand down. And then comes the terror that we saw there. And there has to be some responsibility and there has to be some justice for what happened there.

And I think we're living in that historical moment of protecting our democracy at home. The peaceful transition of power -- something no president has ever denied before -- at the same time as we have Ukraine fighting for democracy abroad.

And if we remember that we're living in a moment of history, maybe we'll think about what do we want our children and our grandchildren to remember about how we conducted ourselves today. That's what people say during a time of war. That's what people said during the civil rights revolution.

I was just in my mind going through the 1964 Civil Rights Act, and when they finally wanted the Republicans and Democrats to vote together for that act. The real message -- they said do you want your children and your grandchildren to be proud of what you did today? I think we have to figure that out now. Do we want to be proud of how

we respond to that January 6 report? Do we want to be proud of what we did to protect Ukraine's democracy and thereby, our democracy and the democracy of the world?

[07:45:02]

These are real moments with these big decisions and it's an extraordinary time to live in those moments. I just hope we can live up to the responsibilities we have for them.

LEMON: Doris, I'm glad you put it in such great perspective. You have to have a personal self-awareness but also, a self-awareness about where you are in history. And all of those things you mentioned -- January 6, the overturning of election -- I think the people who are on that side don't realize where they are in history. They don't realize how history will see them and will record them. And so, I think that's so important that you point that out.

Doris, it's always a pleasure to have you. Happy holidays to you, OK? The best of the best. And stay warm.

GOODWIN: And same to you both. Take care.

LEMON: Thank you.

Straight ahead here on CNN THIS MORNING, we're going to speak to a congresswoman -- Congresswoman Elissa Slotkin -- about Zelenskyy's speech. She just returned from Norway and Finland after meeting with defense leaders.

COLLINS: And why President Biden is delaying the announcement about a tax incentive for electric vehicles. We have more.

(COMMERCIAL)

COLLINS: Sam Bankman-Fried, the former CEO of the failed crypto exchange FTX, is now back in the United States after being extradited overnight from the Bahamas. Bankman-Fried is expected to appear before a judge in Manhattan today.

[07:50:00]

So, CNN's Kara Scannell joins us now. This also comes at a critical time for him as two of his former employees are basically turning on him.

KARA SCANNELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. I mean, that was a real significant development in this case and it puts significant pressure on Bankman-Fried because these were the two insiders -- the people that were closest to him in the company -- Gary Wang, who is the co- founder of FTX, and Caroline Ellison, who is the CEO of Alameda -- that hedge fund. These are integrated units. This is part of the alleged fraud.

And so, real big significant developments. So, Bankman-Fried, finally, after several false starts in the Bahamas, was on a plane last night after the Ministry of Foreign Affairs had signed off on his extradition. He will -- he landed last night. He will appear in court in the U.S. today.

And at this court appearance before a federal judge, he will face those eight criminal counts of fraud and conspiracy in what the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York has called one of the biggest financial frauds in American history. At this hearing, the judge may arraign him on these charges, so then he'll enter a plea of guilty or not guilty.

And they are also talking about bail. That will be one of the issues on the table today. His attorneys and prosecutor sources tell me have been negotiating a bail package that would allow him to avoid any kind of detention.

COLLINS: OK. Well, we'll keep updated on that. Thank you, Kara.

LEMON: All right. The Biden administration has been delayed announcing final requirements for the electric vehicles to qualify for a $7,500 tax credit in the U.S. after Asian and European companies called it discriminatory. The rule requires EVs to go through their final assembly in North America, and have at least 40 percent of the batteries sourced in the U.S. All of this to boost domestic production and to accelerate the transition to cleaner vehicles.

Joining me now with the story, CNN chief business correspondent, Christine Romans, shaking her head in agreement --

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT, ANCHOR, "EARLY START": Hi.

LEMON: -- to everything that I'm saying. Hi to you.

So tell us what is the final details. It's a tax incentive, probably.

ROMANS: So this is -- this is a little Treasury Department wonkiness because of some complaints from foreign competitors about what is the headline here -- a huge investment in the United States into the green transition. That Inflation Reduction Act was the biggest climate initiative ever, and part of that is a $7,500 tax credit that January first, could go into effect.

I spoke recently with the CEO of Rivian who makes electric trucks. I went to Normal, Illinois to his plant and we talked about this shift -- this important shift in strategy from the United States -- listen.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RJ SCARINGE, CEO, RIVIAN AUTOMOTIVE: It's awesome to see the U.S. leaning into legislation that drives both a commitment to transition towards carbon neutral mobility and transportation energy, but also to see legislation that drives us to create supply chains that are domestic. That policy is shifting a lot of people's mindsets in the right way. ROMANS: Right.

SCARINGE: It's driving us to say how do we more rapidly build a localized supply chain for batteries. And not just us -- every car company that operates in the United States is thinking the same things.

So, I think that's outstanding. I think the reality, as well, is this has, for a long time, been something that's politicized. Electrification or a path to carbon neutrality has been politicized. We're beginning to see that fade, which is really encouraging. So it's not a right issue or a left issue.

ROMANS: There's been some pushback that not all EVs are going to get these great incentives at the outset and that --

SCARINGE: Yes.

ROMANS: -- that's unfortunate. But what do you say to that?

SCARINGE: I mean, it's true. I think it's just --

ROMANS: I mean, that's the way -- that's the way it was written.

SCARING: -- it's a fact. I mean, it's going to prioritize domestic supply chains for sure. But I think everybody who is serious about being in the U.S. market is going to figure out their -- how to localize their supply chains. Certainly, we are.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROMANS: So let me tell you what's in this tax credit. It's -- oh, that's the -- that's the -- that's one of the vehicles.

LEMON: I love the red.

ROMANS: Did you -- have you been in one? Have you driven one?

LEMON: Yes. I drove one.

ROMANS: So I drove a Mustang Mach E on the way down to this interview in Normal, Illinois. Yes, it is called Normal, Illinois. And so, when driving some of these vehicles it's pretty interesting. I mean, these companies are working fast and the government --

So, there's a $7,500 EV tax credit this year for people who make less than $150,000 or couples $300,000 or less. The car has to be $55,000 or under for cars, and for vans and trucks, $80,000. And then there's this other tax credit, which is $40,000 for delivery vehicles.

And there, at that Rivian plant, they're making Amazon delivery trucks. There were acres of these all-electric Amazon trucks.

So you're seeing a real shift in the U.S. Unclear yet -- automakers are waiting for some clarity from the Treasury Department about whether that full tax credit goes into effect January first while they're still working out these rules for how the batteries should be sourced.

COLLINS: So, basically, they had like a year -- the Treasury did -- to iron this out and they did not give them enough time. And now, some of these electric vehicles that ultimately will not comply, you can get a tax credit for.

ROMANS: We think that could be happening. And here -- this is -- the White House is responding to concerns, I think, from our foreign allies who are like hey, wait a minute. I know you're focused on domestic production but we want to make sure that it's fair for the foreign automakers, too.

[07:55:02]

But the bottom line for consumers is that there will be more money available -- tax relief available this year for purchasing electric vehicles.

The Chevy Bolt, for example, $27,000. If you got the full $7,500 tax credit, that would make it the cost of a used car. If you got half the tax credit, which is what GM was planning for, that's $3,700 off the price of a --

LEMON: It's so good.

ROMANS: -- $27,000 car for the transition to electric.

LEMON: It's so good, so good.

ROMANS: So --

LEMON: I've got to tell you --

ROMANS: -- that Rivian truck is way more expensive. It's like $70- some thousand.

LEMON: -- that Rivian is amazing. And it's -- you know, what's get -- we have to get used to, it's weird. Like opening up the hood or the -- and not seeing a motor. You've got to get used to that.

ROMANS: I know.

LEMON: Yes, or hearing vroom.

ROMANS: I know.

LEMON: Yes.

Thank you, Christine.

ROMANS: You're welcome.

LEMON: Appreciate it.

And this morning, severe weather has already canceled more than 1,100 flights nationwide. We're live at Chicago's O'Hare. (COMMERCIAL)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ZELENSKYY: And your support is crucial not just to stand in such fight but to get to the turning point to win on the battlefield. We have artillery. Yes -- thank you. We have it. Is it enough? Honestly, not really.

(Laughter)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Good morning, everyone.

He got a really good reception there at Congress and also at the White House, and just in Washington, D.C. in general yesterday.

COLLINS: Very candid there, too. He said yes, you gave us artillery but it's not enough.

LEMON: It's not enough. We're going to need more.

[08:00:00]