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CNN This Morning

Tent Processing Center Going Up In El Paso, TX Amid Migrant Surge; Feds, Nassau County Launch Separate Probes Of George Santos. Aired 8-8:30a ET

Aired December 29, 2022 - 08:00   ET

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

[08:00:00]

DR. MYSHEIKA ROBERTS, HEALTH COMMISSIONER, COLUMBUS PUBLIC HEALTH: -- practices, they've been around for years. And this is why our country has been so successful in eradicating so many of these infectious diseases. Please, please get your children vaccinated. The illnesses are not always mild. They can be severe, and they can cause death.

POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: They can be deadly, that's exactly right. Dr. Mysheika Roberts, I apologize, I mispronounced your first name before, we really appreciate you and what you do. Thank you.

ROBERTS: Thank you.

HARLOW: CNN THIS MORNING continues right now.

(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 new resources that we have to get you the fastest information and fastest service possible.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: It is the top of the hour, 8:00 a.m. eastern. We're glad you're with us. It is December 29th. Welcome to CNN THIS MORNING. We have a lot going on.

KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: I think everyone wants an apology. Clearly the passengers we've heard from want one from Southwest. I am a little confused by parts of that, because he says at one point, maybe someone got your bag, you can get it at no cost to you, which I think is already given --

HARLOW: You can get back what you own.

COLLINS: Right.

HARLOW: It's not funny. It's just like we can't believe we're here this morning. So we're talking about this apology this morning from Southwest

Airlines. This time from a different executive, the airlines chief commercial officer Ryan Green. This comes as 2,300 more Southwest flights today have been canceled. Green also announced new ways they are planning to help stranded customers. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RYAN GREEN, CHIEF COMMERCIAL OFFICER, SOUTHWEST AIRLINES: You could submit a full refund request for any canceled flights, and if you have any travel expenses due to the disruption, you could submit those receipts directly on our website.

My personal apology is the first step of 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)

COLLINS: Meanwhile, officials at Denver's International Airport are asking Southwest and to other major airlines there to conduct a review of the disruptions and delays and what led up to that. Meanwhile, the Department of Transportation and Congress are vowing to look into the meltdown. Southwest had previously warned that cancellations could continue into the new year. There are some hopeful signs, though, maybe the chaos could end and slow down, at least, as early as tomorrow. The frustration was kind of summed up perfectly by one traveler who experienced two canceled Southwest flight this is week in Denver.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(SHOUTING)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I just haven't had this bag in a week. I've been wearing other people's clothes. I want to wear my wardrobe. It's New Year's Eve week. Now I'm going to go out and I'm going to party.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(LAUGHTER)

COLLINS: Safe to say a lot of people are not laughing who have not been reunited with her bags or are still stuck. So CNN's Nick Valencia is live at Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport. Nick, I want to know if you've heard anyone also cheering when they're been reunited with their bag, but also when it comes to this new apology of the Southwest CCO, Ryan Green, saying if you're still waiting on a bag you could submit information on how to receive a bag at no cost to you. That doesn't seem like that is going to be something that is sufficient for a lot of these frustrated travelers.

NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: No, and say what they will, Kaitlan, but these mea culpas are really falling flat on the passengers, and it is kind of Groundhog's Day, isn't it. Another day, another avalanche of cancellations by Southwest Airlines. The embattled airline canceling more than 2,000 flights today, continuing this nightmare for travelers. And the picture behind me really tells this story. The line here at the ticket counter at Southwest Airlines virtually nonexistent because there are virtually no flights to get on.

But officials at the airline are telling passengers to just bear with them just a little bit longer, saying that that this is almost all over, and that normal operations, they predict, could return to normal by next week. But as I mentioned, Kaitlan, these mea culpas falling flat on passengers who just want this nightmare to be over. Kaitlan?

COLLINS: And if one thing that has emerged is learning about a warning that Southwest had recently, in recent weeks when they said they knew they were going to have staffing challenges over the holidays, was that related to potentially what we are seeing now with the fallout?

VALENCIA: That's right. According to an internal memo issued by Southwest Airlines, they were going through an operational emergency in the lead up to this mess. As the winter storm was bearing down on Denver, an internal memo dated December 21st, obtained by "The Washington Post" says that they were experiencing an unusual high number of sick-outs at the Denver airport. You remember earlier this week, the CEO of Southwest Airlines saying that this problem, which is unique to Southwest Airlines, was caused by a myriad of issues, including staffing shortages, that winter storm, as well as their antiquated system that the airline functions, making them susceptible to this kind of problem.

[08:05:12]

Passengers don't care, though. At this point, they just want their luggage. They just want to wear their clothes. They just want to get to their final destination, but they're going to have to wait a little bit longer. Kaitlan?

COLLINS: And it doesn't seem like a quick fix on the infrastructure either. Nick Valencia, thank you. We'll check back in with you.

HARLOW: So the Southwest Airlines pilot and flight attendant unions have said now that they have warned the company for years about their technology that left the airline so vulnerable to a meltdown just like this. Southwest Pilots Association writing in a statement, quote, "For more than a decade, leadership shortcomings in adapting innovating and safeguarding our operations have led to repeated system disruptions, countless disappointed passengers, and millions in lost profits." The airline has not been clear yet about what they have done in recent years to update that technology. We welcome, of course, any representative from Southwest to join us on the program.

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg recently spoke to Southwest unions reps. Here is what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PETE BUTTIGIEG, TRANSPORTATION SECRETARY: I also talked with union leadership from the pilots and from the flight attendants, and they've made clear that they have been raising the alarm about these issues in their systems for some time, and that this really has to do with decisions and choices and in terms of the investments that this airline has made or has failed to make over the years that seem to be catching up to them now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: So let's bring in the president of the flight attendant union for Southwest, Lyn Montgomery. Lyn, thanks very much for your time this morning.

LYN MONTGOMERY, PRESIDENT, SOUTHWEST AIRLINES FLIGHT ATTENDANT UNION: Thank you for having plea.

HARLOW: We can't fix right now what has happened and what your team is going through, the pilots, all the passengers. But we can talk about solutions. So, I'm interested in, you said that this was avoidable. Can you specify how it could have been avoided?

MONTGOMERY: Well, there is many ways it could have been avoided. The first thing that should have happened is as the company began to grow and expand, Southwest Airlines executives should have committed to ensuring that our I.T. infrastructure would be able to be match that growth and change in our way that we operate our flights.

HARLOW: You have said that you guys warned Southwest executives for years. Who do you warn, about what, and when?

MONTGOMERY: We've had conversations with the executive leadership, with the previous CEO, Gary Kelly, Mike Van de Ven. We explained that as hot as we were running the operation, that the systems were continuing to be an issue. We've raised it at negotiations. We've been in negotiations since 2018. In fact, we picketed on September 27th, and one of our picket signs said "Picket sign loading, Southwest Airlines technology failure." We have brought forth solutions and technology provisions at the table, and it has pretty much been ignored.

HARLOW: Can you help me understand what the response was from those folks? You named everyone from the previous CEO on down. And also have you in the last 10 months since Bob Jordan has been CEO, have you said this to him?

MONTGOMERY: Yes, I have. And we have had discussions at the table. My grievance team leaders have had discussions when it comes to grievances. The pilots have also taken a strong focus on the fact that we seem to only plan for sunny days. And then when we have inclement weather, our systems and our methodologies just don't work.

HARLOW: Let me read this to you. This is in a "Washington Post" piece from Claire Taitte, a former Southwest manager who works on things like scheduling crews and now works as an aviation consultant. She writes, quote, "The technology that would solve all of this very quickly simply does not exist to my knowledge." Do you agree with that and if that is true, now what? MONTGOMERY: Well, I do know Claire Taitte. I respect her very much

and I've worked with her many times. If that's the case, then you're going to have to completely relook at the airline and how it operates, because we know that weather is going to affect travel. That is obvious. That's a given. But as you can, you cannot be hit for this many days afterwards once the weather has dissipated. This is just unacceptable.

HARLOW: The Southwest Pilots union said overnight that they expect a, quote, mostly full schedule by Friday. So that's tomorrow. Do you also expect that? That would be really welcome news to everyone.

[08:10:00]

MONTGOMERY: Well, it seems things have calmed down somewhat as far as the operational concerns go because we've been operating a reduced schedule. I spoke to some flight attendants in the lounge at Dallas yesterday, and they were actually able to reach scheduling within a 10 or 20-minute hold period, which is a far cry from the hours and complete days that it took to get in touch with them before. It will be important to see how the operation does get back up to full speed again, and hopefully we'll be able to do that.

HARLOW: That would be great news, and good to hear it is taking 10 to 20 minutes to get through, not hours for your teams. Lyn, thanks very much, and good luck to everyone.

MONTGOMERY: Thank you.

COLLINS: Now to Ukraine where explosions have hit cities across country. The power has gone out in several regions as Russia is conducting what appears to be one of its largest attacks to date. The Ukrainian military says so far Russian has launched 69 missiles on its territory and that the Ukrainian military has shot down 54 of them.

Look at this in Kyiv.

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(EXPLOSIONS)

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COLLINS: At least three people were injured there, including a 14- year-old. Kyiv's mayor says that the attacks have left homes, an industrial facility, and a playground damaged. Two people had to be rescued from their home. And 40 percent of Kyiv is without power this morning.

CNN's senior international correspondent Ben Wedeman is on the ground. Ben, I know President Zelenskyy had said that another barrage had been expected during the holidays, and this appears to be what he had been warning about.

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, it certainly does. And this was a nationwide barrage with missiles fired not only from Russia, but also from Russian warships in the Black Sea. Now we're at one of the locations, I'm going to step out of the way, where debris fell from the 16 missiles fired in the direction of Kyiv according to the mayor of Kyiv. All of those missiles were intercepted, but what happened was that debris fell to the ground.

At this particular location where you see they're already trying to clear up, a 14-year-old girl was caught stuck under the rubble as a result of the falling debris. We spoke to her grandmother who wasn't on location, but the girl was still in the rubble, called her grandmother on her cellphone hysterical, desperate for help. Nearby inside of the house her mother was also injured, and she is currently in surgery, we understand, in a difficult state. A man nearby was also injured.

Also not far from here in another location, another house was hit by falling debris. Inside that house there were two men, an elderly father and his adult son. Miraculously, they escaped just with scratches. But as a result of falling debris, their car exploded, all of the windows in the house in the area were shattered, walls had crumbled to the ground.

Now, 40 percent, as you mentioned, the electricity here in Kyiv has been knocked out as a result, and in Lviv in the western part of the country, 90 percent of the electricity is out as a result of the strikes. In Kharkiv in the east, Ukraine's second largest city, four Russian missiles did manage to hit their targets, described as critical energy infrastructure.

And this seems to be the pattern of this current wave of Russian attacks that they're focusing yesterday again on the infrastructure. After having failed on the battlefield to defeat the Ukrainian and losing more ground as time goes by, it appears they're shifting this their firepower just to destroy this country's ability to function. Kaitlan?

COLLINS: And Ben, it's remarkable to see the scene behind you, to see so many people out there cleaning up the debris, working on this in the hours just after this massive attack was carried out. How do you calculate, when they go out to rescue people like that 14-year-old girl who was stuck in the debris, without risking their own lives?

WEDEMAN: Well, this is a very big city, more than 4 million people. And in the grand scale of things, actually the day has ended, we understand with no fatalities, some casualties. And therefore, I think at the end of the day people are going to say, well, we emerged luckily from this Russia barrage relatively unharmed. So these are people obviously, this war is 10 months old. They're well practiced in this sort of rescue and clean-up operation, and they're going about it in a very short of deliberate and practical manner.

[08:15:00]

So, in a sense, after 10 months, they know exactly what they're doing. Kaitlan?

COLLINS: It's like -- it's become business as usual. Ben Wedeman, thank you for that reporting.

HARLOW: Now to the Southern Border on the ongoing migrant crisis. Border Patrol is building a temporary processing center in El Paso, Texas that can handle about 1000 migrants a day. That is less though than what we have seen in terms of crossings. As the city struggles with a huge influx of asylum seekers. The Trump-era Title 42 restriction allowing us to quickly expel migrants. It remains in place for now.

Our Rosa Flores joins us live again this morning from El Paso. Good morning, Rosa. You have been witnessing this firsthand speaking to those migrants day and night. As I understand it, that even that number, 1000 migrants a day that it can hold, it's fewer than the influx that El Paso is dealing with.

ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): You know, you're absolutely right. And we've seen the federal government do this before during prior surges. For example, in 2014-2019 when there are migrant surge is at that point in time, the epicenter of that surge was in the Rio Grande Valley in South Texas. After that, the federal government beefed up the infrastructure there. There's a tent facility very similar to the one that we're seeing here in El Paso built there.

Now, we're seeing this again. And during this surge, the entry and the flow of migrants is in essence moved to areas like Del Rio and here like El Paso. And so, this is -- this is what the federal government usually does. They react to where the big flow of migrants are and they build up tech facilities. These are processing facilities that are air-conditioned inside when it's hot, or they have a heating system. But they look like giant tents.

And you're absolutely right, Poppy. This one, in particular, have a capacity of about 1000. It's expected to be operational next month. Now will that be enough? We'll see. What the federal government is also doing is what they call decompression flights and buses. And what that means is that whenever there is a large group of migrants that are in one area, for example, here in El Paso, they will fly them or bus them to other areas along the border that have capacity so that they can be processed in those areas.

HARLOW: OK. Rosa Flores, thank you for the update from El Paso.

COLLINS: All right, Federal prosecutors and the Nassau County D.A. in New York are now investigating Congressman-elect George Santos. What kind of legal trouble could he be facing? That's next.

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COLLINS: Congressman-elect George Santos is now facing scrutiny over his finances. CNN has learned that federal prosecutors in New York are looking into his claims about his money, including loans totaling more than $700,000 that he made to his own campaign. And as it comes under federal and local investigations, new findings from CNN's KFile also show that George Santos claimed he was forced to leave a New York City private school though the school has no record of him attending.

He claimed he was criticized -- that he criticized Goldman Sachs at a private equity conference as an employee, even though there is no record of him working there or attending that conference. He also claimed that his mother's family's historical Jewish name, and he also later appeared to operate a fundraiser using that alias. He also said his mom immigrated from Belgium even though she was born in Brazil.

So, for perspective on this in the legal front, let's bring in our CNN Legal Analyst and Criminal Defense Attorney Joey Jackson. I mean, beyond the political fallout --

JOEY JACKSON, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Wow.

COLLINS: Yes, just -- can we say wow at what KFile has also uncovered about this?

JACKSON: Yes, it's absolutely amazing, right? What's amazing to me, though, Kaitlan, Poppy, is that we're at this, right? This is being discussed now. There's a vetting process when you run. You mentioned the political implications, there's a vetting process, and you would imagine that at that time it would have come out, and that certainly he would have been fully vetted. And this would have been something the voters would have really been taken into consideration.

I think now at this stage, though, they are right. They, being the federal government, the U.S. Attorney's Office in the Eastern District. I'm hearing rumblings about the Nassau County District Attorney more locally, and we'll see what the State Attorney General does if anything to conduct these investigations.

You know, the reality is though people are asking questions about will he be seated. The Constitution answered that question some 50 years ago. He has to be seated, right? There's another case involving Adam Clayton Powell where they tried not to seat him. Pretty much you have to be seated. That's the reality. Can you be expelled with two-thirds of Congress? Yes.

But I think if this leads to something more with respect to his financial disclosures, Kaitlan, and what if anything he did in terms of lying on any applications for loans, how taxes were filed, he'll have a lot bigger problems than being seated to Congress.

HARLOW: So, what we also -- KFile confirmed the reporting that he did break the law in Brazil when it comes to writing phony checks. Now, the Nassau County which is Long Island da there is looking at this. What would you be looking at if you are that D.A.?

JACKSON: So, I think, you know, when you always -- when you follow the money, Poppy, that's when you get the intel that you really need, right? What if anything, did you do that may have been a miss? When you actually file information on public disclosures -- remember, he ran in 2020 -- what specifically did you list?

HARLOW: None of his clients were listed. He says he connected investors with big banks. And there was a law that if you do that, if anything over $5,000 has to be disclosed. None of it was disclosed.

JACKSON: Yes. Well, that's problematic, right? So, that would be called a fabrication, another word for a lie. So, to the extent that you lied on any public records or documents, right, normally -- excuse me -- there's an indication that you're swearing to the truth of any affirmations that you're making in a document. I think they're going to look for that. I think they're going to subpoena financial records and other information.

Did he apply for loans? If so, any misrepresentations made there? Are there any inflated assets? Did he indicate things that may have been falsehood on -- falsehoods on his taxes? So, I think all of these financial records will be scrutinized. And to the extent that there's anything that's false on them, then he's going to have to really answer for that. That's -- that becomes the problem.

COLLINS: And you're right that he will be seated. It seems very unlikely that two-thirds are going to expel him or that Kevin McCarthy, who has been quiet on this, is going to push back in a significant way. But he is going to face a lot of questions, we should note, when he goes to Capitol Hill. And there are a lot of reporters everywhere.

JACKSON: Look, I think this certainly should be questions, right? I mean, when you hoodwink the voters, it becomes problematic, right? The reality is that in the public square, you have a right to defend your record. You have a right to give the indication to the members of your district as to why you should be the elected representative. But when all of that is based upon a foundation, a lie, down to the school that you went to, the boarding school, you couldn't afford it. My parents couldn't get the $2,500 payment so we had to leave just before graduation. I represented Goldman Sachs at a conference. Citigroup, I was a big part of. It goes on and on and on. What else are you lying about?

So, look, you can lie about things whatever you want in the public square, it's another matter bringing it back, right, Poppy, to the --

HARLOW: You can't lie to the government.

JACKSON: Exactly. To the actual investigation. You can -- you know, if you're lying to the FBI or other things or you're lying on forms. And so, I think we'll end where I started, which is he may have much larger problems of being seated in Congress, to the extent that any misrepresentations are unearthed that would indicate that it's a crime.

HARLOW: Also, I should note, CNN's. KFile asked him for responses on all of these questions, his campaign, and they didn't -- he didn't respond at all. Thanks.

[08:25:04]

COLLINS: Joey Jackson, as always, thank you for your analysis.

JACKSON: Thank you, Kaitlan. Thanks, Poppy. HARLOW: Sure.

Southwest holiday meltdown is prompting investigations into whether the airline violated its own legally required customer service plan. The former Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao will be with CNN THIS MORNING next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Another Southwest Airlines executive is apologizing this morning is the mass cancellations stretch into its eighth day. Southwest has canceled at least 2300 flights today as the fallout is continuing. After the airline canceled thousands of flights over the holiday season at the last minute, as they are facing congressional scrutiny, Southwest executives are now vowing to make amends with travelers.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RYAN GREEN, CHIEF COMMERCIAL OFFICER, SOUTHWEST AIRLINES: My personal apology is the first step of 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. And you'll hear more about that soon.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: For our perspective on all of this is -- joining us now is Elaine Chao, the former Transportation Secretary during the Trump Administration, and also the Labor Secretary under George W. Bush. Good morning, Mrs. Secretary, and thank you for joining us on this. I wonder in your view how southwest can make this right?

ELAINE CHAO, FORMER U.S. TRANSPORTATION SECRETARY: It's going to take them a very long time. What a nightmare. What a complete mess. They obviously would wish that this would never have happened as everyone would. I mean, we've got passengers now who had their holidays ruined.

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