Return to Transcripts main page

CNN This Morning

Ukraine Says, Russia Launches 120-Plus Missiles in Fresh Wave of Attacks; Southwest Executive Offers New Apology Amid Meltdown, Airport Chaos; Trump's Tax Returns Set to be Released Tomorrow After Four-Year Battle. Aired 7-7:30a ET

Aired December 29, 2022 - 07:00   ET

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

COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: I hit a running back so hard, Kaitlan, it destroyed his shoulder, he never played again.

[07:00:06]

I played for more downs after that, almost blocked a punt, sacked the quarterback. And I didn't remember it until I watched film the next day. So, McDaniel says that's when coaches noticed, in this case for Tua, they realized something wasn't right during film session, told him to see the doctors. He was diagnosed with a concussion. Here's what he had to say about the uncertainty of Tua returning to play this weekend or this season.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MIKE MCDONALD, MIAMI DOLPHINS HEAD COACH: I'll do what the medical experts advise me to do. And I'm quite certain they're not going to advise me in the wrong direction when it has to do with his health.

His health is the first, foremost and only priority.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHOLES: This was his second diagnosed concussion this season for Tua Tagovailoa, Kaitlan. There's an overwhelming amount of former players on social media urging Tua to take care of his body and mind, let them heal, because his long-term health is far more important than any game he might play.

KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Yes. RG-3 saying he shouldn't play again this season. We'll see what he and the team decide. Coy Wire, thanks for that update.

POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: All right. CNN This Morning continues right now.

COLLINS: Good morning, everyone. It is Thursday, December 29th. Don is off this morning. And we have a lot of news under way, especially coming out of Ukraine, where Russia has launched a massive attack overnight, missile strikes hitting critical infrastructure, injuring civilians. We're live at the scene of one of those strikes in just a few moments.

Also this --

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REPORTER: Are you doing all right? You have got some tears in your eyes. What's going on?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I didn't get to see my best friend in Florida.

REPORTER: Did they tell that you would be able to fly and then last- minute they said you couldn't fly, is that what happened?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: We're seeing the human toll of the Southwest meltdown. A top executive this morning from Southwest Airlines apologizing again after more than 2,300 flights have already been canceled today.

And the death toll still rising in Buffalo days after a devastating storm, as we learn more about some of the victims of that blizzard.

COLLINS: But, first, we begin this morning in Ukraine where explosions have hit cities around the country, the power has gone out actually in several regions, as Russia is conducting what appears to be one of the largest attacks to-date. Air raid sirens started going off around 5:30 A.M. throughout most of Ukraine. Kharkiv City in the Kharkiv region were hit by four rockets, according to a military official there, who added that critical infrastructure was the target.

In Lviv, the mayor says that 90 percent of the city is without power this morning and officials are worried they may lose access to water as well. In Kyiv at least three people were injured, including a 14- year-old. The mayor says that houses and industrial facility and even a playground were damaged.

This is all something that President Zelenskyy had been warning about, these forthcoming attacks in the New Year and the Ukrainian military's southern command said two Russian ships in the Black Sea had shown signs suggesting they were preparing to conduct an attack, just like what we're seeing.

CNN's Senior International Correspondent Ben Wedeman is live for CNN in Kyiv this morning. Ben, what are you seeing on the ground there? I know you're at the sites of one of these strikes. What are you witnessing?

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, what we're seeing here is the aftermath of what appears to be debris from an intercepted missile. According to the mayor of Kyiv, 16 missiles were fired in the direction of the capital. All of them intercepted but, of course, they're intercepted and then the debris falls to the ground.

I'm just going to step out of the way so you get a better view. This is the location where three people were injured. These strikes happened at 9:20 in the morning local time. As you said, a 14-year-old girl was injured, her mother as well. Her mother, we're told, is currently in surgery. The 14-year-old girl, her condition, we're told, is medium, but obviously the woman more serious. And a man also nearby was injured.

We were at another location, similar circumstances, debris fell to the ground, a house basically destroyed, two men living in that house, they emerged safe just with minor scratches. But this seems to be, as you said, the largest such missile strikes on Ukraine in quite some time.

Now, according to the Ukrainian commander-in-chief of the armed forces, 69 missiles were fired at Ukraine in addition to drones, and 54 of them were successfully intercepted, as well as 11 of these Shahed Iranian-made drones that have been supplied to the Russians.

[07:05:15]

In the capital, Kyiv, itself, at the moment, 40 percent of this city is without electricity as a result of the strikes, which Ukrainian officials say were probably aimed at crippling the country's energy infrastructure. The result, of course, the desired result from the Russians to leave this country in the cold and in the dark as New Year's approaches. Kaitlan?

COLLINS: Yes. It's exactly the campaign that Zelenskyy had been warning about. Ben Wedeman, thank you for that update, we'll check back in with you.

HARLOW: Well, just in this morning, another top executive at Southwest Airlines is apologizing for the meltdown there that has left thousands and thousands of people stranded all week at airports across the country. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RYAN GREEN, CHIEF COMMERCIAL OFFICER, SOUTHWEST AIRLINES: First, my personal apology on behalf of myself and everyone at Southwest Airlines for all of this. Second, a pledge to do everything we can and to work day and night to repair our relationship with you. And third, offer some specific new resources that we have to get you the fastest information and fastest service possible.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: That was Ryan green, the chief commercial officer at Southwest. It follows the apology yesterday by the CEO of Southwest. And this comes as a new memo reveals Southwest was experiencing a staffing emergency prior to this meltdown. Officials at Denver International Airport are launching an investigation into several airlines flight delays.

I should be clear, that memo coming this fall Southwest is saying is not related to why they're experiencing this right now.

Adrienne Broaddus is with us again this morning from Chicago Midway International. Good morning. Any better there today? ADRIENNE BROADDUS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It is better. We have been here all week, Poppy, and bags once sitting where I'm now standing were removed. The majority of those bags that flooded this area, a baggage claim, as you can see right now, are gone. The majority of them removed by crews working here at the airport and if passengers were lucky, they left with their baggage.

But as we know, thousands of people have been impacted, forcing them to rent cars, spend extra money on food, find hotels, and that all costs money. Southwest is promising to reimburse those travelers for reasonable expenses. Listen in. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GREEN: You can submit a full refund request for any canceled flights. And if you have any travel expenses due to the disruption, you can submit those receipts directly on our website.

My personal apology is the first step to making things right after many plans changed and experiences fell short of your expectations of us. We're continuing to work to make this up to you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROADDUS: Top brass apologizing as Southwest scrambles to get its planes back in the air and clean up what has been described as a meltdown.

Also, I want to point out in Denver, Southwest operations there facing scrutiny after it was revealed operational emergency staffing procedures were enacted last week during the storm. That procedure is a plan that makes or requires employees show a note from a doctor if they call out sick.

Nevertheless, some passengers we spoke with say it's too late for the apologies, they wish Southwest had been upfront from the very beginning. Poppy?

HARLOW: Yes. And the question is now how much will all of these folks be compensated, right? What does reasonable mean to Southwest? And what's going to change so this doesn't happen again? Adrienne, thank you for the reporting.

COLLINS: The cancelations are preventing our next guest from meeting her future husband at the altar. Katie Demko and her fiance, Michael, were supposed to be getting married in Belize tomorrow, but her Southwest flight out of St. Louis was canceled and there is no other way for her to get there right now. She joins us this morning.

And, Katie, I can't even imagine how devastating it is to plan a wedding and then not be able to make it because of a canceled flight.

KATIE DEMKO, WILL MISS HER WEDDING IN BELIZE BECAUSE OF SOUTHWEST CANCELATIONS: Yes, it is very devastating. And I do want to say first, while this is very devastating for me and Michael, this is nothing compared to -- we do understand this is nothing compared to what a lot of people are dealing with and tragedies, especially what's happening in Buffalo. So, I do want to say that. But we are in our own personal devastation right now.

COLLINS: Yes, I'm glad you said that. It's good perspective but it still doesn't take away from the fact that you had planned something, you had counted on Southwest to be able to get you to your destination.

[07:10:00]

And so tell me what happened. Because I imagine you tried to rebook but were unable. Were there no other flights you could get on before the scheduled wedding date or what happened there?

DEMKO: So, we went to the airport like we were -- you know, that our flight was on time. We went, we were getting ready to board. And as we were getting ready to board, they came out, the captain came out, gave a speech, and basically told us the flight was canceled.

At that point, I was -- I had a lot of my family with me. We were -- I was in shock. We tried to rebook. And there was nothing. Southwest actually booked me on a flight for January 2nd. My wedding is tomorrow, December 30th. So, that was past the date of the wedding.

There were no flights. There are no flights until January 1st. We've looked at everything we possibly could and there are no flights. I did have eight of my friends and we did go up to the Southwest counter, they had flights for the next day, they wanted to give me, myself and my kids, and Southwest was unable to do that, was unable to transfer those tickets over to me so that we could make it to Belize.

COLLINS: Did they explain why they couldn't exchange those tickets or trade out your friend's seat for your seat?

DEMKO: Yes. They did tell us that once it would go in the system that it would not actually come to me, we wouldn't be able to book those because they had overbooked and that those people who were already booked that were overbooked would automatically get the tickets.

COLLINS: And so Michael, your fiance, is already in Belize. He is there. He made it there but you were the one is not able to get on flight. Is that right?

DEMKO: That's correct, yes. Michael flew a different airline and was able to make it there with his kids and his mother there with his brother. And those are the only people who did make it to Belize.

COLLINS: And I imagine when you plan a wedding, you have to reserve the venue, there's catering, there's a photographer, there's flowers. Are you able to get any refunds for that or is that pretty much booked solid as it is now?

DEMKO: So, it's booked solid and we were able to talk about -- at this point because I cannot get there, Michael is there without a bride. It's hard to get married without your bride there. We have been able to postpone some things. We were able to stop and talk about postponing some things. As far as food and catering, our resort, all of my family and friends that booked at the resort, Victoria House, they're unable to give us any kind of refund for our stay. So, yes, there's definitely a cost associated. But more importantly, you know, we have so many -- so much of my family, so many of my friends that put so much time and, you know, not only money but time, emotion, excitement for this day.

It was very important for Michael and I to have our kids with us, as well as our family to be there to -- to be there for this time. And we are just devastated. I mean, not just only Michael and I, obviously, but my kids, family, friends, that we just emotionally are just -- the word I keep saying is devastated, because I don't know what else -- I don't know how else to explain how we are all feeling right now.

COLLINS: Yes, I can imagine. To put so much planning into something that's such a special moment for you and your children and for Michael. And I'll just say that we're very sorry that you're in this situation. And we're glad you shared this with us because it's important to talk about the real impacts of these cancelations. So, Katie, we're sorry that you're missing your planned wedding date but we hope you can reschedule and we thank you for sharing this with us.

DEMKO: Thank you very much.

HARLOW: What an amazing attitude.

COLLINS: I know. And to put it in perspective of Buffalo, but it still it -- it sucks to plan something like that not be able to actually --

HARLOW: Sucks, that is exactly right. She can't have a wedding without a bride.

COLLINS: Yes.

HARLOW: Okay, wishing the best for her.

Also this morning in Washington, the Democrat-controlled House Ways and Means Committee preparing to release six years of former President Trump's tax returns. They will do that tomorrow. This comes after Trump fought for years to keep them secret. The committee has already revealed that Trump paid little to no federal income tax for most of the time he was president.

Our Lauren Fox is on Capitol Hill with more. When are we going to get them tomorrow and can you explain sort of specifically what is going to be the focus here?

[07:15:01]

LAUREN FOX, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Tomorrow a very significant day on the House floor, Poppy. We expect that around 9:00 A.M. tomorrow when the House holds a pro forma session, this typically happens when lawmakers are out of town. It's a quick gavel in and gavel out, that that is when this information is going to be entered into the congressional record. And here's what we are expecting to see. We're going to get entered into the record, those tax returns between the years of 2015 and 2020. And not just Trump's personal federal income taxes but also for those eight business entities that were requested from the House Ways and Means Committee.

We also expect to see audit files, any notes that the IRS took on Donald Trump's tax processing as they were going through things. And that is going to be really where we might see treasure trove of information because it will suggest to us any questions that the IRS might have had as they were processing Trump's taxes. And if there really aren't significant audit notes or work files, that also could suggest that the IRS wasn't really looking that closely at former President Trump's tax returns. So, that's significant as well.

We know a little bit of information about what is in the tax returns, and that is because the joint committee on taxation put out a report last week where they raised some questions. They didn't cast any judgments but they raised questions about some of the findings. And a couple of numbers stood out.

Between the years of 2016 and 2017, we know that former President Trump paid just $750 in each of those years in federal income taxes. We also know that in 2020, he paid nothing. Now, in 2018 and 2019, he paid a little over a million dollars, but one of the questions that the joint committee on taxation was asking is what kind of losses was he projecting forward and were there any questions that the IRS might have had about that. So, those are some of the questions that we're going to be looking into tomorrow when this information is finally released, Poppy.

HARLOW: Okay. Lauren Fox, 9:00 A.M. tomorrow. Thank you.

COLLINS: All right. This morning, we are learning more about the death toll in Buffalo, as at least 37 people have been confirmed dead in Erie County, New York. That is after the winter storm paralyzed the western part of the state over the weekend.

We want to talk about their stories, though. These are people who were just doing everyday things as the storm was going on. 22-year-old Anndel Taylor was just driving home at a senior citizen center when her car got stuck just minutes away from her house. She called 911, but because of the storm, help never came. This is a video that she had sent to her sisters who were in North Carolina.

HARLOW: Well, 52-year-old Monique Alexander also died in the storm. According to her daughter, Casey, she left her home the afternoon of Christmas Eve with a promise she'd be right back. She never made it back. Here's what Casey told us.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CASEY MACCARONE, BUFFALO VICTIM'S DAUGHTER: It's hard. Her grandkids were waiting for her to come home. We were waiting for her to come home. I knew something was wrong right away, though. So, I kind of accepted it instantly. But it's hard knowing that she was outside for so long, too.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: Also 46-year-old mother of two Melissa Morrison. Her mom, Linda, says that she reached out to the police on Friday when her grandson saw a social media post about a body that was found near the Tim Hortons that Morrison went by. On Tuesday, the coroner's office positively identified her.

HARLOW: And we want to show you 26-year-old Abdul Sharifu. He was a refugee from Congo who resettled here in the United States just five years ago, in 2017. His cousin told CNN that he stepped out on Saturday to get supplies for family that had asked him for help. He never made it back to his home or his pregnant wife, who is days away from giving birth.

COLLINS: Also 55-year-old Henry Talledo (ph) died on Christmas Eve. His partner says that he had asthma and collapsed after he was shoveling snow. She called 911, but at that point, the emergency crews were unavailable to get to him.

HARLOW: And in Niagara County, 27-year-old Timothy Murphy died from carbon monoxide poisoning, according to officials. Snow covered the external furnace and that caused that toxic gas enter his home. Terrible.

COLLINS: It's awful. But it's important to talk about their stories because often you hear people who say, well, there were warnings. People said not to go out, but there were circumstances where people that need supplies, that they're driving home from work and --

HARLOW: Also the travel ban came really late and the executive of the county has even admitted that. It came late. And so a lot of people were already out or going out before that was issued.

[07:20:00]

So, we'll talk to the mayor of Buffalo ahead, next hour, about all of this.

COLLINS: Yes, a lot of questions for him about this. We'll get an update on the emergency response and a reaction to the criticism that Poppy was just referencing there that he's facing.

Also today, we're going to checking in, because in Ukraine, it is under attack, maybe one of the worst airstrike attacks to-date, Russia hitting critical infrastructure overnight. The former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, Bill Taylor, is going to join us next.

HARLOW: Plus, a resurgence of measles in the United States. Experts say anti-vaccine sentiment is causing an outbreak to spread.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARLOW: Welcome back to CNN This Morning. More now on Russia's overnight strikes on Ukraine. Explosions have hit cities around the country and the power has gone out in several regions as Russia is conducting what appears to be one of its largest attacks yet.

In Kyiv, at least three people were injured, including a teenager. The mayor said 16 missiles were intercepted by their air defense system.

[07:25:03]

This morning, 40 percent of Kyiv is without power and 90 percent of Lviv is without power.

The former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, Bill Taylor, joins us now. Thank you very much for being with us, Mr. Ambassador.

And when you look at those numbers, this is -- as we've been saying all morning, this is exactly what the Ukrainian president was warning about, so fearful about, that there would be these attacks on the key energy infrastructure, and you've got 90 percent of Lviv this morning in the dark.

WILLIAM TAYLOR, FORMER U.S. AMBASSADOR TO UKRAINE: You're right, Poppy. This is what President Zelenskyy forecast. He saw that the Russians were going to continue their brutal, barbaric, cynical attacks on Ukraine in an attempt to just bludgeon them into submission. I mean, the Russians want the Ukrainians to surrender and agree to be part of Russia.

And Ukrainians, Poppy, won't do it. Ukrainians are more determined than ever to resist and to push the Russians out of their country.

HARLOW: But then where does this go? Because we heard a key leader, I believe it's the foreign minister this week of Ukraine, calling for a peace summit in February, but also laying out the conditions that Russia needs to meet to even begin those conversations and those are conditions that Russia will never agree to, including being tried, essentially, for war crimes, not to mention Crimea. And so where does this go?

TAYLOR: In the end, Poppy, in the end, the Ukrainians will prevail. It may take a long time. And those conditions that the foreign minister, the Ukrainian foreign minister, laid out are not unreasonable. They are --

HARLOW: Right.

TAYLOR: -- to get the Russians out of their country, to pay reparations, to go in front of a tribunal, to hold people accountable for these war crimes, for these atrocities, and that's what needs to happen.

COLLINS: But, Bill, Ambassador, you're one of the foremost experts on this issue. I understand that Putin's intent here is terrorizing civilians, that's why he's going after things like a playground and whatnot, but what does this actually do for him militarily to carry out an attack like this? What does it actually get his military in the sense of a battlefield strategy?

TAYLOR: You are right. You've put your finger on it. Battlefield strategy, he's losing. Battlefield strategy, he doesn't have one. The Ukrainian military have pushed him out of Kyiv, out of Kharkiv, out of Kherson. He's lost everywhere on the battlefield. So, the only thing he can do, this gets to your question, but what's his strategy? The only thing he can do is attack unarmed civilian targets, is make it miserable for Ukrainians, is to make them freeze.

Americans have seen how Buffalo is going through a storm. This is the same kind of storm that's going to go in Ukraine that's going to go on for months. And it's man-made. It's made by the Russians. It's intentionally causing Ukrainians to freeze, to be cold, to not have water. So, this is what their intent is, to try to bludgeon the Ukrainians into surrendering and, again, the Ukrainians will not surrender.

COLLINS: And as we talked last week about the U.S. sending the Patriot missile defense system to Ukraine, Russia called it escalation. I mean, doesn't it totally fly in the face of what they're doing today? This is an escalation.

TAYLOR: You're right. The escalation came on February 24th when they invaded -- Russians invaded Ukraine. So, the escalation is entirely on the Russian side and what the Ukrainians are doing is, in response, trying to hit back, trying to push them out, trying to defend themselves against these attacks. And so we should be providing those weapons to enable them to do that.

HARLOW: Ambassador Bill Taylor, thank you so much for being with us this morning on all of those developments overnight.

TAYLOR: Thanks for having me.

HARLOW: Federal prosecutors are now following the money as they look into Congressman-elect George Santos from New York and his confessed lies. Plus, where did all the money come from to finance his campaign? It's a big question this morning.

We're going to be joined next by a former congressman who represented now to be Santos' district.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:30:00]