Return to Transcripts main page
CNN This Morning
Survivor Found Beneath Rubble in Turkey; Desperate Search for Survivors in Turkey; Santos Constituents Call for Resignation; Rogan Accused of Anti-Semitism. Aired 6:30-7a ET
Aired February 08, 2023 - 06:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[06:33:11]
KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: This morning the death toll in the devastating earthquake that struck Turkey and Syria has risen to more than 11,000 people. CNN is now at the scene where a survivor has been reached beneath the rubble.
Becky Anderson, I know that they have been trying to find this person for about 55 hours. What just happened? Can you give us the latest?
BECKY ANDERSON, CNN ANCHOR: Well, What just happened was that we heard a cheer from the search and rescue team on the rubble behind me here. These are locals. They are local search and rescue. And they are volunteers. People from this city who have just come to help. They've been at this for 55 hours since the earthquake struck on Monday morning, 4:00 a.m. Local Time. It's now afternoon time on Wednesday. And the sense of relief here among those who are gathered and certainly for those search and rescue members must be absolutely extraordinary.
That was an eight-story building. What they've done is they've been able to, over the last 55 hours, get through the rubble. It collapsed down to where you've seen they've got through to that floor. And just in the last ten minutes or so, a huge cheer from those staff up there as they actually get to eyeball (ph).
What I understand is a family, it's a father with his two sons. I have to say, unfortunately, I know that the wife is there as well. We are hearing that they believe that three people are alive. And we'd heard that we think perhaps that the wife has perished. We don't know that for sure. But we certainly know there has been sign of life from three.
And, in fact, this is the most remarkable thing. Under that rubble, for as long as they've been, they actually were able to contact the search and rescue team by cell phone at one point.
[06:35:03]
That was about 12 hours ago. And they promised to recontact. They never did. And so there's been a real sense of sort of pessimism here. And it's so heartbreaking. You need a heart-warming story for everybody across this region. You just - you just hope for these stories. And they had thought maybe they weren't going to get it. But at this stage, we're here, we're waiting to see whether we actually see them retrieving those - those three men from here, the father and the two sons. And, look, we just hope it's going to happen at some point soon.
Back to you guys.
COLLINS: Yes, Becky, absolutely. I mean as the death toll has climbed, any stories like that, obviously, we are hoping that they are able to pull them safely out of that.
Becky, we'll stay with you on the ground as that search is ongoing.
CNN's Nick Paton Walsh is also live in Turkey.
Nick, what are you seeing as we are now learning about just how massive this death toll really is?
NICK PATON WALSH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, here in Kahramanmaras we are seeing, shocking, a mixed scene here behind me. Locals digging with their bare hands have just uncovered the body of what looks like a man from what I can see here. And also though up on the heights of other rubble, they're digging furiously down in to recover what they think might be two living people inside there.
But these hours slipping away in which they have a chance to pull off something joyful. A moment of relief, frankly. Bodies now lining along the side of the road. A scene that Turkish President Erdogan came through in the last hours or so to visit a makeshift tent city. People here simply having nowhere to live. Burning the remnants of their homes last night to keep themselves warm. A tragic scene.
Here's what we've seen over the last 24 hours.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WALSH (voice over): You can still almost feel the enormity of the tremors here. This is Kahramanmaras, closest to the epicenter. One older neighborhood, shredded. Its family warmth huddling on the street. Dolcheck's (ph) father is trapped under the rubble here. Only his feet protrude. They can't get him out, but can cover his toes.
It would be really nice, he says, if the government has come by.
Turan (ph) retrieve his eight-year-old daughter, wife, and daughter- in-law, pray you never stand over so much of your life. Their final dignity from a carpet.
Push down, and there are glimmers of hope. These rescuers have spotted a 12-year-old, Mustafa (ph), in the rubble and have to dig down to him. Further along, Ali (ph) helped them find his 65-year-old mother. She's in her bed down there, he says. We'll get her out soon.
There is not much sign of government here. Perhaps as the scale of this is all too massive.
Dusk makes the dust and the immense bulk of the mess harder still. The cold, just an insult in the days of emptiness that lie ahead. And the news from the rubble is as often as bad as it is good. A body found here, carried out, and laid next to this man's nine-year-old daughter, Barena (ph).
The black here hiding the intimate agonies buried it in. The stories with the wrong ending.
But suddenly, there is a call for quiet. Hush. They think they hear a voice. A pause. And then the best noise, joy. Rescuers think they might have found six people alive, but there are hours more ahead of checking.
But nothing really goes to plan here. Even the joy seems random. Where Ali's (ph) mother is being rescued, two young people are unexpectedly found and pulled out. A 16-year-old girl, apparently still alive.
WALSH (on camera): Extraordinary. Moment of joy. The kind of thing that really all of Turkey is desperately hoping and waiting for. But as the temperatures drop and time goes by, they've all becomes harder to come by. But extraordinary to see somebody pulled so healthy (ph), straight out from this building.
[06:40:00]
WALSH (voice over): Abdula (ph) seems unscathed, almost untouched by the tremors that altered everything else he merges into.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WALSH: Now since you saw that report, the body we were talking about has been removed. A Syrian refugee man, we're told by locals here, carried away in a blanket.
But the pace of work of the excavators here so much faster. It does feels like they're looking for the dead here and the possibility they might come across somebody miraculously surviving, hope for that miracle is still up there on high on the rubble here. But I've got to tell you, across this city, the devastation as we've driven around, it's utterly staggering. So many buildings absolutely leveled. The body count, startling.
Kaitlan. Poppy. Don.
COLLINS: It's just devastating.
Nick Paton Walsh, thank you so much.
POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: Yes.
Well, ahead, the demands from George Santos' constituents as they protest here in Washington, D.C.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [06:45:13]
DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: So, we showed you that tense exchange between Senator Mitt Romney and Congressman George Santos. There it is right there. Constituents in his congress - in the congressman's district, meantime, they took a bus here to D.C. to protest.
Our very own Eva McKend has a report now.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CROWD: New York Three, Santos Free.
EVA MCKEND, CNN NATIONAL POLITICS REPORTER (voice over): Long Island residents, represented by Congressman George Santos.
CROWD: Hey, hey, go home, George Santos has got to go.
MCKEND: Bringing their frustrations to Washington.
PATRICIA CAIOZZO, CONSTITUENT OF REP. GEORGE SANTOS: You are unfit for office. You fictionalized an entire resume.
TAIBA AHMAD, CONSTITUENT OF REP. GEORGE SANTOS: Your constituents are asking you to resign and please stop embarrassing us.
MCKEND: Traveling by bus to call on Republican leadership to expel Santos from Congress over his many lies and distortions.
JODY KASS-FINKEL, CONCERNED CITIZENS OF NY-03: We have only one goal, and that is to have George Santos removed from squatting in our seat in the House of Representatives.
MCKEND: Speaker Kevin McCarthy has so far resisted these calls.
SEN. KEVIN MCCARTHY (R-CA): If Ethics finds something, we'll take action. Right now we're not allowing him to be on committees from the standpoint of the questions that have risen.
MCKEND: Santos says despite his constituents' pleas, he won't resign, even as he faces multiple investigations into his finances and falsehoods.
REP. GEORGE SANTOS (R-NY): That's their freedom of speech, right, and I'll entertain a discussion with them every single day. I represent them all equally.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: While we're stuck with having to beg Congress to act responsibly.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Where's George?
MCKEND: Constituents delivered a petition to Santos' staff.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And where is he? He won't even speak with us.
MCKEND: And tried to visit his office for a conversation.
MCKEND (on camera): How do you all feel that Congressman Santos didn't come out and speak with you?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's insulting.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Outrage.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It is absolutely insulting.
MCKEND (voice over): Santos, later seen leaving his office.
SANTOS: I welcome the petition and I'll be corresponding with them in writing.
MCKEND: And showing up at the State of the Union Tuesday night with a 9/11 first responder who suffering from a debilitating disease, bringing attention to an important issue.
SANTOS: I ask my colleagues that we work together and find a solution and have conditions such as neuropathy be covered under the World Trade Center Program Act.
MCKEND: But also highlighting scrutiny of one of Santos' claims, that his mother was at the World Trade Center on 9/11 and that she became ill as a result.
SANTOS: She was in the south tower. And she made it out. She got caught up in the ash cloud. My mom fought cancer till her death.
MCKEND: Immigration records contradicting that claim, indicating she was in Brazil at the time of the attacks. That claim hitting close to home to constituents who were there.
BEN MARZOUK, CONSTITUENT OF REP. GEORGE SANTOS: To see the deaths, to see the devastation down there, to see how many families were impacted and for him to say my mother was there, it was important to me to voice my opinion to the Republicans who are standing by him to say, you're not doing the right thing. This is not - this is not difficult. It's a fraudster.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MCKEND: You know, as we continue to cover the Santos saga, it's really important to remember the constituents, right? Something that undoubtedly takes a hit when your member is embroiled in so many scandals is constituent services. A woman I met yesterday, she works with Afghan refugees. She says, listen, I work with federal lawmakers all the time. I don't feel comfortable working with my congressman because I don't trust his office with sensitive information. So, this is something that we will continue to monitor.
LEMON: Yes. Not often that you see the members, right?
HARLOW: Yes.
LEMON: Of the community, the people who voted for you, come out and say, no more.
MCKEND: Yes, it's not a common sight.
LEMON: Yes.
Thank you, Eva. Appreciate that:
HARLOW: Ahead, a new round of controversy for Joe Rogan. We'll discuss, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[06:53:13]
COLLINS: The podcast host, Joe Rogan, is now facing criticism after he pushed the anti-Semitic trope that Jewish people are, quote, into money.
Here's what he said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE ROGAN, PODCAST HOST, "THE JOE ROGAN EXPERIENCE": Ilhan Omar, where she's - she's apologizing for talking about it's all about the benjamins.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
ROGAN: Which is just about money. She's talking about money.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She -- she shouldn't have apologized. I mean I'll go ahead and say it.
ROGAN: That was not - that's not an anti-Semitic statement. I don't think that is. It's about -- benjamins are money. You know, the idea that Jewish people are not into money is ridiculous.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Listen -
ROGAN: That's like saying Italians aren't into pizza. It's (EXPLETIVE DELETED) stupid.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: CNN media analyst and "Axios" media reporter, Sara Fischer, is joining us now.
Sara, I mean, what are people saying about that moment?
SARA FISCHER, CNN MEDIA ANALYST: People are outraged. But at this point people are kind of getting used to this being a pattern with Joe Rogan. This isn't the first time that he's defended people who've made anti-Semitic remarks. Obviously, he's now coming out and making them. And I think people are frustrated that Spotify hasn't said anything yet but historically they take their time to respond to these things.
HARLOW: But you talked to Daniel Ek, who's the CEO of Spotify, about this. What did he say?
FISCHER: Not about this specifically but about these bigger issues.
HARLOW: But about this bigger issue.
FISCHER: Sure.
This is something that Spotify is been talking about for a long time, how do they think about content moderation, because they're not the same as Google and Facebook, they're a different kind of platform. Ultimately, obviously, they'll say that they care a lot about safety. But, remember, they're a Swedish company. So they think about these things and how they play out in the U.S. a little bit differently. The one thing that distinguishes Spotify and Daniel from other tech CEOs is they take their time. You're not going to see some sort of rushed policy implemented today. They'll probably come out and condemn these remarks. Maybe they'll throw a misinformation label. And then presumably everything will just move on. I'm not saying that that's what it should be, but that's what's happened in the past with Joe Rogan.
LEMON: Yes, can - let's talk a little bit just quickly about that because you said they'll just throw up a label on it. That's what happens, like, these streaming sites now of where you, you know, have to pay for the site.
[06:55:03]
They're sort of the wild, wild west, where you can say what you want. There are no standards and practices. And, really, you don't have to answer to anyone. So, basically, I - this probably will not hurt Joe Rogan and everyone will just sort of move on from this.
FISCHER: It's definitely not going to hurt Joe Rogan. It's not going to hurt Spotify. They do have some policies. But you're right, streaming is the wild, wild west of content moderation.
LEMON: Thank you, Sara.
FISCHER: Thank you.
LEMON: Appreciate it.
Our coverage of President Biden's State of the Union Address continues. Next, I'm going to speak with the senior White House adviser, Mitch Landrieu, about how the president is feeling this morning, right after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
