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CNN This Morning

Power out in Kyiv after Russian Missile Strikes; 2,300+ Southwest Airlines Flights Canceled Today Amid Travel Disaster; Driving Ban Lifted, Buffalo Reopens after Deadly Winter Snow; Tent Processing Center Going up in El Paso Amid Migrant Surge; U.S. Will Require Travelers from China to Provide Negative COVID Test; Federal Prosecutors Investigating George Santos's Finances. Aired 6-6:30a ET

Aired December 29, 2022 - 06:00   ET

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

COY WIRE, CNN WORLD: Only three ball games in history have more combined points than this one when you never give up. And it came so close to coming all the way back.

[06:00:13]

I've got to know how you feel about your Michigan Wolverines in the play-off.

WHITNEY WILD, CNN CORRESPONDENT/ANCHOR: Feeling very good. Obviously.

WIRE: You should.

WILD: We're takin it home, OK. Taking it all the way. Coy Wire, thank you.

And thank you for joining us. I'm Whitney Wild. CNN THIS MORNING starts right now.

KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Morning, everyone. We're glad you're with us. It's Thursday, December the 29th. Don is off this week. And Ukraine is our lead story.

Under attack. More than 120 Russian missiles launched at Ukraine overnight. Ninety percent of Lviv this morning is without power. We will take you live on the ground to Ukraine.

Also this morning, here in the United States, thousands of air travelers are still stranded and struggling to find their way home. One major airport is now launching an investigation into the meltdown at Southwest Airlines.

POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: Also, the death toll this morning is rising once again in Buffalo after a devastating blizzard. The city's mayor now coming under fire for handling of that recovery and the storm.

COLLINS: And a new migrant processing center is going up in El Paso, despite a Supreme Court decision to keep that pandemic-era border restriction known as Title 42 in place.

HARLOW: First, we do begin this hour with Ukraine. President Zelenskyy's adviser says Russia has launched more than 120 missiles at the country. This happened overnight.

A top official in Odessa is calling it a, quote, "massive missile attack" in Lviv. The mayor tells us 90 percent of the city is without power. Four rockets hit Kharkiv City and the Kharkiv region.

This is according to a military official there, who says the critical infrastructure was, again, Russia's target. And over in Kyiv, this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(AIRPLANE FLYING)

(BOMBS DROPPING)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: At least three people were injured in that attack, including a teenager. Kyiv's mayor says Houses, an industrial facility, and a playground were also targeted. Two people had to be rescued from their damaged home. Forty percent of Kyiv is without power.

That is where we find our CNN senior international correspondent Ben Wedeman.

Ben, thank you to your team for being on the ground reporting. What can you tell us?

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, we understand, according to the mayor of Kyiv, they said 16 missiles were fired at the capital, all of them intercepted.

However, in this case, where we are in a House Southeast of the capital -- just going to step aside so you can get a better view -- this House, a piece of debris from one of those falling missiles hit right next to it.

Inside, there were two men, elderly father and his adult son. They were sleeping on the other side of this House, which was hit at about 8:30 in the morning. They emerged, miraculously, with just scratches.

But the adult son, I spoke with him, he told me they heard a massive explosion. The windows shattered and the walls, as you can see, just crumbled.

He managed to get out, barefoot, and it's very cold at the moment. Neighbors gave him some boots. But as I said, strangely enough, despite the damage you see and the exploded car right next to the House, to the left of the House, they emerged unscathed.

So the air defenses seemed to work fairly well. But as you mentioned, in for instance, the city of Kharkiv in the Eastern part of the country, the second largest city in Ukraine, four missiles did get through, hitting what we're told was critical infrastructure.

Here in Kyiv, 40 percent of the capital is without electricity. The authorities are trying to restore that at the moment, but by and large, it appears that the goal of this massive strike using missiles and drones was to hit energy infrastructure.

And, of course, the goal, it appears, is to leave the country in the dark and cold as New Year's approaches.

Now the commander in chief of the Ukrainian armed forces said that, apart from the drones, 69 missiles were fired at Ukraine, but the air defenses managed to take down 54 of them -- Poppy.

HARLOW: Wow. Ben Wedeman, this is what they were so concerned about. Thank you very, very much for that reporting.

Kaitlan.

COLLINS: Here in the United States, Southwest travelers are facing another wave of disappointing cancellations this morning as the airline has scrubbed another 2,300 flights today alone.

Pressure is now growing on the airline as the Denver Airport and other federal officials say that they are going to be investigating the latest meltdown that has caused so many disruptions for so many.

[06:05:03]

After two of his flights were cancelled, one traveler in Denver celebrated finally being reunited with his baggage.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PATRICK KEANE, SOUTHWEST PASSENGER: Woo! Sorry it's been a (EXPLETIVE DELETED) week.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: Officials at Denver International Airport have launched an investigation, they say, as a new memo reveals that Southwest knew they were going to be experiencing a staffing emergency prior to the epic meltdown that is still under way.

Adrienne Broaddus is live for CNN this morning at Chicago Midway International Airport. Adrienne, we've been checking in with you every single day. What are you seeing as of this Thursday morning?

ADRIENNE BROADDUS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Kaitlan, good morning to you.

More than another day here we are, more than 2,000 flight cancellations.

But officials here at Chicago's Midway, officials with the Department of Aviation say Southwest has increased their overall operations by at least 20 percent.

And if you are able to see, it's easy to notice where I'm standing right now is a different scene compared to yesterday. Bags were here, but now, this area has cleared and returned to normal.

But does that does not change the human toll that was brutal on passengers.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BROADDUS (voice-over): Hundreds of thousands of travelers caught in the Southwest Airlines meltdown, desperate for answers and help.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm hungry; I'm exhausted. I just want to go home.

ASHLEY MAYS, STRANDED SOUTHWEST CUSTOMER: This has been a complete nightmare.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Fix it. Fix it.

BROADDUS (voice-over): Different airports, same problems for Southwest across the United States. The airline cancelling more than 2,500 flights Wednesday.

MAYS: I trusted Southwest with my worldly belongings and to get me from Point A to Point B and I feel like I was robbed at this point.

BROADDUS (voice-over): Stranded in Baltimore, Ashley Mays couldn't make it to see her sick grandmother, who died on Tuesday.

MAYS: I will never get that time back to at least hold her hand or, you know, spend that time with her. And, you know, she spent her last few days just waiting on me.

BROADDUS (voice-over): Stranded in Atlanta, Milan Till's dad was told his unaccompanied minor couldn't fly to Florida.

MILAN TILL, SOUTHWEST PASSENGER: I didn't get to see my best friend in Florida.

BROADDUS (voice-over): Passenger after passenger, experiencing canceled flights and missing luggage. Chaos, with no clear end in sight.

KEANE: I had two canceled flights, and probably six hours of delays until they told us, like, they're canceling our flight. It was -- it was chaos in Denver.

BROADDUS (voice-over): And Las Vegas was no different.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't know what to do. I don't know what to do.

BROADDUS (voice-over): LaWauna Grimes says she was stuck on a plane for an hour after waiting hours to depart Las Vegas, where she spent Christmas with her sisters.

But then, her flight was cancelled. Living with a chronic lung disease, the oxygen machine Grimes is renting malfunctioned, and the batteries wouldn't hold a charge.

GRIMES: People like me are left here trying to gasp for air. Praying I don't end up in a hospital here. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Take your breath.

BROADDUS (voice-over): Despite struggling to breathe, Grimes wanted to talk with us before she headed to her final destination, Fort Wayne, Indiana, by car. With her luggage missing, Grimes had no medication to help manage her high blood pressure and other health issues.

GRIMES: I can't do anything but pray. But if it gets to the point where it's real bad, I'll stop at a fire station or something and ask them, May I please have some oxygen?

BROADDUS (voice-over): With thousands of passengers still stranded and struggling, the pressure is on for Southwest Airlines. But amid the chaos, some are lucky to be reunited with their suitcases.

KEANE: This bag when I go back to Denver is not getting checked. It's staying right here with me. Because I'm not losing it again.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROADDUS (on camera): Some tough lessons learned for passengers, no fault of their own.

Meanwhile, Southwest is saying it will reimburse those who were impacted for those expenses, but there is a caveat to that. Reasonable expenses. So they're talking about food and possibly travel expenses -- Kaitlan and Poppy.

COLLINS: Yes. I notice they didn't exactly lay out what reasonable is. But obviously, we'll stay on that. Adrienne Broaddus, thank you.

HARLOW: Well, this morning, surreal images out of Crystal Beach, Ontario, show a row of homes along the shoreline completely covered in thick ice after last week's storm.

Across the border in Buffalo, the death toll rising to 37 this morning. The deep freeze is now set to ease into milder weather, but that means maybe flooding. Big concern there.

CNN's Athena Jones joins us live in Buffalo, New York, with more. Is that the biggest concern this morning is now, what, with flooding?

[06:10:07]

ATHENA JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Poppy.

Well, that's exactly right. Unseasonably warm temperatures. It's already almost 40 degrees today, which is a big difference from the last couple of days. But tomorrow, the high is supposed to reach near 50.

And Governor Kathy Hochul has directed state agencies to prepare, sending resources and equipment and personnel. Resources like sandbags, 800,000 sandbags; and more than 300 pumps and generators to prepare as this snow melt, which you can see behind me. There's still some big piles of snow in various parts around town as that rapidly melts.

And as this city begins to get back to normal, there is -- Buffalo's mayor, Byron Brown, is under intense scrutiny for his lack of engagement with the county, Erie County, and other municipalities.

This criticism coming from Erie County executive, Mark Poloncarz. Take a listen to the county executive, followed by Mayor Brown.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARK POLONCARZ, ERIE COUNTY EXECUTIVE: We have an elected officials call every morning. We had one this morning again, with leadership from all of the municipalities. The city of Buffalo was not on it today. They generally have not been on it. Serious. I'm telling you the truth.

Mayor is not going to be happy to hear about it, but storm after storm after storm after storm, the city, unfortunately, is the last one to be opened, and that shouldn't be the case. It's embarrassing, to tell you the truth.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm curious if you have had any communication at all with the Erie County executive, Mark Poloncarz?

MAYOR BYRON BROWN (D), BUFFALO, NEW YORK: My full focus today, as it has been during the duration of the storm, has been to serve the needs of the residents of the city of Buffalo and get our city back open.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

JONES: So we'll see what comes out of that back and forth. But meanwhile, Buffalo city hall and Erie County offices are open today, and the driving ban as of midnight has ended. There's still a travel advisory in effect, but there's just one more sign the city of Buffalo is trying to get back to normal -- Poppy.

HARLOW: We wish them all the best, especially with what may come from flooding. Athena, thanks for the reporting.

COLLINS: Now to the crisis along the U.S. Southern border where a temporary processing center that can take care of about 1,000 migrants a day is being set up in El Paso, Texas, as the city is struggling with the influx of asylum seekers.

The Trump-era Title 42 restriction, that has remained in place since President Biden took office and allows for the U.S. to quickly expel migrants, is still in place after a Supreme Court ruling in recent days, as they are waiting to have a judgment in the coming months.

CNN's Rosa Flores is live on the ground in El Paso, has been covering for [SIC] this each and every day. Rosa, as you are seeing this unfold, and they're setting up the temporary center, how are they planning to deal with this, because everything is so temporary. But they still know that this also seems pretty inevitable?

ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know, you're absolutely right. And this is part of DHS's plan for the lifting of Title 42. They issued a plan back in April. They updated that plan this month.

And part of that is to shore up resources, beef up infrastructure along the border to increase capacity, because they're expecting thousands of migrants and a surge once Title 42 is lifted.

So this is part of that. DHS announcing that they would be building ten of these facilities along the U.S. Southern border. This is one of them.

And Kaitlan, as you mentioned, this will increase capacity by 1,000 here in El Paso and is expected to be operational sometime next month -- Kaitlan.

COLLINS: And Rosa, what about the local government response? Because I know the city declared a state of emergency, but what are they focusing on right now after hearing from the Supreme Court earlier this week?

FLORES: You know, I talked to the deputy city manager here in El Paso about this. And what he told me was that what he's most worried about right now are the increasing number of migrants who grew desperate in Mexico, because Title 42 didn't lift. And they're starting to cross the border illegally.

Now let me explain why that's a concern, because the city can't use federal dollars, federal resources to serve these individuals. They have to refer them to nonprofit organizations or to churches like the church that you see behind me.

And you look at my left shoulder, you'll see that people are still sleeping on the street here in El Paso. And so there are more and more of these individuals that are ending up on the street, because they're stuck in El Paso, Kaitlan. They don't have money. They don't have food. They don't have a way to get out of El Paso.

And what city officials are worried about is these people are getting more and more desperate, because they continue to be on the streets.

COLLINS: Yes. You're seeing the human toll of these decisions. Rosa Flores, thank you.

HARLOW: The United States responding to China's latest huge COVID surge. Health officials say starting next week, all passengers traveling from China to the United States must provide a negative COVID test 48 hours before they get on a plane here, following the country's lack of transparency about the increase in cases since those restrictions were eased.

[06:15:08]

Our Arlette Saenz is traveling with the president and the first lady there on vacation in St. Croix. And you have the details. I mean, I was reading this morning about half of passengers traveling from China into Italy on a certain flight tested positive for COVID. That's what the U.S. is really concerned about. ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. You have the U.S. and other

countries implementing these new measures. Here in the United States, just one week from today, those travelers coming from China to the U.S. will have to show that proof of the negative test.

And it's not just those people flying on direct flight. It will also include those who would be stopping in third-country getaways, in places like Seoul, Vancouver, and Toronto, as well.

So much of this is focused on that rise in cases that has been seen in China since the elimination of its zero-COVID policy. But officials are also warning about what they see as a lack of transparency in the data. It includes things like the number of cases, hospitalizations and deaths.

But most importantly, officials say, is lack of information about genomic sequencing, which is critical to identifying new variants in this country. And that is what officials are really concerned about.

They are hoping that these measures they are putting into place would help not to spread the -- spread coronavirus but also would help prevent new variants from coming into the country.

They acknowledge they're not going to be able to stop everything, but they are hoping these steps will help. But so much of this boils down to some of the mistrust between the U.S. and China, specifically on that information that China has been providing regarding coronavirus.

HARLOW: And let me ask you something else. Because the Biden administration has just approved what looks like a $180 million arms sale to Taiwan. I know that this was sort of known and included in the bigger billion-dollar defense deal.

But this is obviously not going to be welcome news from China. Can you tell us about that agreement?

SAENZ: Yes. No. No. There is this fresh potential sale of arms sales heading towards Taiwan, as you continue to see growing tensions between China and that self-governing island.

Now, this proposed sale could include anti-tank munition-laying systems and other equipment related to that.

But it comes on the heels of President Biden signing that massive defense spending bill, which included a very specific defense modernization program for Taiwan to try to counter some of that aggression that they've been seeing from Beijing.

Of course, the U.S. has long provided these types of arm sales to Taiwan. But it's just another step in this -- this tension that we've seen between China and the country that is likely to provoke some response and anger from China about the U.S. going forward with a possible arms sale.

HARLOW: Hey, Arlette. Thanks for the reporting from St. Croix this morning. COLLINS: Also this morning, a notable update. The House Committee

Investigating the January 6th Attack has now withdrawn the subpoena that it issued back in October to former President Trump as the committee is wrapping up its investigation with Republicans set to take control of the House next week.

The chairman of the committee, Bennie Thompson, said there's basically just not enough time. He said the Select Committee can no longer pursue the specific information that was covered by that subpoena.

And in a letter to the former president's lawyer, they wrote that Trump is no longer obligated to comply or produce records. Obviously, not a lot of legal experts did not think he actually would.

Trump filed a lawsuit back in November to block the subpoena after the committee had waited after months of investigation until October to actually issue that subpoena.

We have another development this morning. We are learning every day it seems like there's more about George Santos. And you really want to listen to this. Because what our team has uncovered as also federal prosecutors are now looking into the incoming congressman's finances.

HARLOW: We will take you live this hour to the Vatican for the latest on retired Pope Benedict's health.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:21:54]

COLLINS: More false claims are emerging this morning about George Santos's work, education, his family as the congressman-elect who says he expects to be seated next week is now being investigated by New York federal prosecutors over his finances.

The probe is focused on how he came so quickly into wealth after Santos went from reporting almost no assets in 2020 to millions of dollars in assets and an expensive Brazil apartment in 2022.

CNN's Sunlen Serfaty joins us now. Sunlen, what exactly are these investigators going to be looking into?

SUNLEN SERFATY, CNN WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kaitlan, this is currently very quickly intensifying around him. Not only are those federal prosecutors in New York now investigating his finances, but the Nassau County district attorney's office, they say they're also going to look into the fabrications.

Now, this comes as new falsehoods, on top of the ones, of course, he has already admitted to are being uncovered by CNN's KFile. Just look at this list here. Three new claims.

Santos claimed he was forced to leave a New York City private school when his family's real estate assets took a downturn, but that claim is false, according to the school. They have no evidence that he ever attended. Also, Santos claimed he respected Goldman Sachs at a financial

conference where he says he berated the company then for investigating renewables, but that is also false. There is not only no record of him appearing on a panel but no record of him even attending that conference.

Santos also claimed that his mother immigrated from Europe to Brazil, but CNN's review found that she was actually born in Brazil.

And notably, Kaitlan, Santos has not responded to this new batch of fabrications.

COLLINS: And all of this is crashing into Kevin McCarthy's effort to still get enough votes to become House speaker next Tuesday. Has he still said nothing about George Santos?

SERFATY: That's right. Absolute silence from Republican leaders and, most notably, of course, from Kevin McCarthy. There has been condemnations from three incoming House Republicans, but those fall short of calling for him to outright resign.

Congress, as you noted, is back next week when Santos is set to take office. So most certainly, this will be the focal point, especially as you noted, as Kevin McCarthy is scrambling to secure his own speakership.

COLLINS: Yes. Sunlen, thank you for that.

HARLOW: So let's bring in CNN political commentators Scott Jennings and Errol Louis. Errol is also political anchor for Spectrum News.

Scott, let me just begin with you, because the silence is deafening, as they say. A cliche but very true, from Republican leadership. Where are they?

I know McCarthy needs the vote, but other than these two Republicans in Congress, in the House, who have spoken out, almost no one else. Why?

SCOTT JENNINGS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yes. I suspect what they're trying to do is, A, get their arms around the situation here. There seems to be new details every day, and I suspect there could be other things.

B, what they can do when they come in next week, I think, is support a referral to the Ethics Committee, which they ought to do, and then let these investigations run their course.

I don't think they can prevent him from taking office. It's not in the Constitution that they can do that. But certainly, you can support all the investigations that, I think, are clearly warranted.

[06:25:08]

I mean, it's one thing to lie about your background. That happens all the time. A lot of -- lot of politicians do that. The financial piece, to me, though, is the most serious piece, and

that's why I think the Republican leadership should say any investigation into this is -- is warranted.

HARLOW: Scott, do you really think a lot of politicians lie this way? The way he has? Even just the way he's admitted to lying about all of these things.

Where he worked. He didn't work at Goldman or Citigroup. He didn't go to NYU or Baruch. I mean, do you think that's like what a lot of other politicians do?

I just wonder. I get the Ethics Committee and supporting that. But literally nothing from Republican leadership about who they want representing folks in the party?

JENNINGS: I think the average Republican out here in middle America would probably say the president of the United States has fabricated out of whole cloth massive portions of his own biography. And they don't like that either.

I mean, I'm a Republican. Santos embarrasses me. I don't want to carry this guy's bags.

But I also think the people who seem to be angriest about Santos seem to have no care in the world about Joe Biden's fabrications either.

To me, where you would focus is on actual malfeasance, criminal malfeasance. The financial piece. You can't fund your campaign out of a corporation like what is potentially being alleged. You can't lie on these forms. That to me, if I were a part of Republican leadership, that's where I would be focused. And I think that's where they should be focused next week when they come in.

COLLINS: Errol, Scott is right: the politicians do fabricate all the time and embellish. But I mean, this is a totally different ball game, I think it's safe to say.

It's like -- it seems like every single thing. I mean, the latest KFile investigation into this is just remarkable when it comes to the alias he was using.

But Republican leadership is in a tough spot here, because Kevin McCarthy already has a few members who are saying, I'm not going to vote for you no matter what. He cannot afford to lose votes, and so I think it's pretty clear why he's been silent on this.

ERROL LOUIS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Absolutely. But we have to also keep in mind, even if he wanted George Santos to go away, neither Kevin McCarthy nor any other member of Congress has the power to exclude him.

We've actually been down this road before. Back when I was a kid, Adam Clayton Powell tried to get sworn into the 90th Congress, and they simply refused to do it. It went all the way up to the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court said there are only three criteria that Congress can

consider. Are they a -- have they been a citizen for seven years? Are they 25 years old? And do they -- are they an inhabitant of the state that they want to represent? Period.

Nothing else. And so, you know, legal processes may catch up. And clearly, if you're convicted or something else happens, and two-thirds of Congress votes to throw you out, that's another thing.

But they don't really have the ability to stop him.

COLLINS: So he gets seated. Can they make his life difficult on Capitol Hill, though?

LOUIS: Sure.

COLLINS: I mean, does he not get committee assignments? Is he just facing questions from the reporters who -- they basically have unfettered access to lawmakers on Capitol Hill.

LOUIS: That's right. No -- possibly no committee assignments. Nobody wants to have dinner with him. You know, the fundraising that's done to support members of the conference as they try to run for re- election and do other things politically may not be available to George Santos. There -- there are some penalties. Some are more severe than others.

But actual exclusion, not possible, not constitutional. Expulsion requires a two-thirds vote. That's -- that's not an easy thing to do. And you know, you're going to have to ask the question, if the conduct happened before he was sworn in, on what basis would they throw him out? So I think we should all start getting used to the idea --

HARLOW: He needs to lie while he was there.

LOUIS: Well, that's -- it would be fundamentally different if you are engaged in misconduct as a member of Congress. That's a different kind of a story. It starts to fall into the accepted realm of what Congress can punish.

But punish him for something that you think maybe happened before he ever showed up in Washington without an investigation, not only is it unlikely, it wouldn't really be quite fair.

HARLOW: Scott, what do you think happens to him? To Kaitlan's good point, he's going to be seated. OK, so then what?

JENNINGS: Yes. By the way, everything Errol said is 100 percent correct. I really support all of his statements, because the Constitution just doesn't permit things like this to be dealt with during this time frame that we're talking about here.

But what you can do is exclude him from committees. You can basically say you're in time out; you're on probation. Essentially, that's what you'd be doing, until all these investigations into your background are cleared up. That's why I think, to me, sending him to the Ethics Committee and

saying, We fully support the criminal justice system working its way through here, is about what the House Republican leadership can do. My suspicion is there aren't too many people on Capitol Hill who are going to want to be seen palling around with this guy.

And also, the voters of that district are obviously getting, finally, some news about this person. So even if nothing happens, next time around in two years, the beauty of America is there's always another election. And I suspect it will be real hard for him to get re- elected, given what we know about him today and what we may find out in the coming weeks.

COLLINS: Yes.

[06:30:00]