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CNN This Morning

17,000-Plus Dead as Toll Rises, Time Runs Out to Find Survivors; Southwest Pilots to Rip Airline Over Meltdown, It's a Mess; Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL) Responds to Biden's State of Union Attacks. Aired 7-7:30a ET

Aired February 09, 2023 - 07:00   ET

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

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DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: I mean, the situation there is -- there aren't words.

KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: It's devastating.

LEMON: Yes. I mean, there are words but I don't know if it would describe it. When you think about how many people died, 17,000 people, think about that.

Good morning, everyone. We're so glad you could join us. We hate to start your day with terrible news. But what you were just witnessing there, what you just saw, I should say, miraculous rescues, children pulled from the rubble days after a catastrophic earthquake. But time is running out to find survivors. We're going to take you live to this disaster zone as the staggering death toll just keeps soaring in Turkey and Syria.

POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: Also this overnight, Senator John Fetterman is back in the hospital. Doctors are making sure he didn't suffer another stroke. We'll bring you the latest on his condition.

COLLINS: Also today, President Biden is going on a cross country blitz after his state of the union address. The next stop is Florida. And we're going to speak to the state's Republican senator, Rick Scott. He is the GOP leader who President Biden accused of wanting to cut Medicare and social security.

LEMON: But we're going to begin in Turkey and Syria, where we're seeing dramatic rescues and time is running out for people still trapped beneath the rubble. It has been more than three days now since the catastrophic earthquake.

Here you can see this is a rescue team listening for any voices. Look how quiet they are, right? They're on a pile and they are limiting the sounds and their movement on this pile of concrete so that they can listen to see if there is anyone beneath it. The staggering death toll now has topped 17,000 victims. Imagine that. You're looking at drone video now of a mass burial in Syria. This is a region that had already suffered unimaginable horrors after more than a decade of brutal civil war.

The Syrian man that you see right here says that 18 of his family members were killed in the quake. He is holding a white -- holding white body bags and waiting outside their collapsed home as rescue teams dig through the debris.

Now, imagine this is here in the United States and 17,000 people are dead. I know it's around the world for half way around the world for many people but this is just awful.

I want to get to our correspondent who's on the ground there, Jomana Karadsheh live on the ground in Turkey. There's a lot going on. They're trying to rescue people. They're delivering aid to people. And I see there is a fire behind you. What are you seeing, Jomana?

JOMANA KARADSHEH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Don, we are right outside Iskenderun Port. This is part of Hatay Province, one of the hardest hit provinces by this earthquake. And this fire broke out right after the earthquake and it's engulfed hundreds of shipping containers.

Now, a couple days ago, the ministry of defense here announced that the fire had been put out. But as we were driving in, we just stopped here because you can see that this fire still going, you can see this thick black plume of smoke, this ongoing massive firefighting effort. We have seen fire trucks coming in from different cities, from Istanbul, the capital, Ankara, and other cities are trying to support the firefighters here.

You've also got firefighting jets that have been taking part in this effort. They have been circling the area, scooping water from the Mediterranean and dumping it on the fires here. We're still seeing these flames popping up behind us. And this is really having impact here, of course. It's shut down operations at this point. We've heard from major shipping companies that they've had to reroute a lot of their traffic, suspending operations here for a while. It's a major shipping hub for them.

But you can imagine, Don, this impact this is having on the emergency services here who already have so much to deal with. The city of Iskenderun, and we're headed there right now, we are being told by residence, people who are driving to the city carrying aid from different parts of the country, that the damage there is extensive and that there are so many people under the rubble and they say not enough rescue crews are on site. And you have got hundreds of people camped outside these buildings trying to find out what happened to their loved ones and they're telling us hope is fading right now that they're going to be rescued alive, Don.

[07:05:02]

LEMON: All right. Jomana, thank you very much. I appreciate your reporting.

COLLINS: Also this morning, we have Salma Abdelaziz in Istanbul, where there is a massive effort underway to get aid to earthquake survivors. And, Salma, this is going to be such a big part of this. You talk about the devastation and the recovery, but the fact that these people have lost everything. You're at this aid center in Istanbul. What does it look like?

SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This is an absolutely buzzing and bustling, it's a hangar but they just turned it into this huge center. I'm going to start walking you through because I really want you to get a sense of this space. There are hundreds of volunteers here. They're filling these boxes with things that are coming as donations. Every single thing that you see here has been given by families, by businesses, by residents, people who just want to help.

We're just going to keep walking you through here. I know it seems like chaos but it's actually organized chaos. If you can see those loud speakers over there, that's how they're shouting down orders. There are clothes being packed into these boxes. Everything that's going in here is nonmedical supplies.

Sorry, excuse me, we're going to go around here. And what they're doing is they're putting these nonmedical supplies, so think sanitation kits, think clothes for children, think blankets, they're packing it up in the boxes as fast as they can. And then they're taking it right to the end of this hangar here where they have trucks ready to go to those frontlines.

And everyone of these volunteers we've spoken to, they say the same thing. They've told us, we couldn't have just sat at home and done nothing. We had to come here and help, a true sense of solidarity.

COLLINS: Yes. You've seen so many have mobilized to help those people who were so desperately in need. Salma, thank you for being there, we will stay with you and keep checking on those aid efforts.

HARLOW: Well, this morning, Pennsylvania Senator John Fetterman is waking up in a hospital. He was kept overnight for observation after feeling lightheaded yesterday. Remember, he suffered a stroke just days before winning that primary race last May. He was off the campaign trail until August and went on to flip a key Senate seat in the face of real questions about his health.

Our Dana Bash actually stopped him just briefly before the president's state of the union address just two days ago. Listen.

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DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Senator Fetterman, are you -- what do you think about the first state of the union?

SEN. JOHN FETTERMAN (D-PA): I'm just looking forward to this.

BASH: Yes.

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HARLOW: He said he was looking forward to it.

Our Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta is with us. Sanjay, good morning. So, now, they are looking, they're observing, they're trying to make he didn't have another stroke. Can you explain to us what doctors are looking for?

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. I mean, this is obviously one of those things because of his past medical history. If someone complains of lightheadedness, you have to be pretty diligent. There's lots of things that can cause lightheadedness. But as you put up there, I want to just reiterate sort of his past medical history. It's pretty significant.

It was back in 2017 that he was first diagnosed with atrial fibrillation. And then it was May of 2022, May 13th of 2022 when he suffered Atrial fibrillation, cardiomyopathy, and doctors used a thrombectomy to remove a blood clot. And he had a defibrillator and a pacemaker placed at that time. That was a long hospitalization. He was in the hospital for nine days at that point.

What we know is that he's had this significant past medical history, but in October of last year, the doctors released this note, this was just a few weeks now before the election, basically saying he has auditory processing issues. But other than that, he's pretty much ready to go in terms of return to work, do the sorts of things that would be required of him as a senator.

And now you fast forward to this point, where he has this episode of lightheadedness, two things. One is that it could just be lightheadedness, which does occur in people. It can be for all sorts of different reasons. But also given his past medical history, they have to be very diligent about this. If they're saying there is no evidence of stroke, one thing to sort of point out from that standpoint is that it does take some time sometimes to figure out if someone has, in fact, had a stroke. What they're saying is he doesn't have symptoms of stroke right now, but I'm sure they're doing scans, they're looking at his heart to see if there's any other problems that are manifesting.

HARLOW: Sanjay, just to remind our viewers, it was his primary doctors who came out and said after that surgery that he was going to be back to being able to do full work. We've never, right, heard from the actual surgeons who put that defibrillator in, right? So, there are still questions, no?

GUPTA: Yes. No, absolutely. I mean, this was not a full medical record release by any means that were received at any point, including in October, right before the election. It was from his primary care doctor. But they talked about his overall condition but not specifics about the medications or any other things that he may have had done.

[07:10:00]

HARLOW: Okay. Sanjay, stick around, we have a lot more to talk to you about in just a minute.

LEMON: And this morning, lawmakers are set to hear from pilots for Southwest Airlines after the unprecedented holiday meltdown that left nearly 17,000 flights canceled and 2 million passengers stranded. The pilots are expected to testify that technology failures were predictable and avoidable and to describe the operation as being held together by duct tape.

Gabe Cohen is our correspondent, joins us now. Gabe, good morning to you. What evidence of the pilots expected to share with Congress?

GABE COHEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: So, Don, we have obtained the testimony expected from the pilots union at that 10:00 A.M. hearing, and it includes these stunning messages that were sent by Southwest dispatchers to specific pilots on their cockpit computer, actually onboard flights. And they paint this alarming picture of the chaos that was happening behind the scenes. You can see those messages on your screen.

In one of them, a dispatcher asked the pilots to identify themselves, because it appears the airline didn't actually know who was onboard amid all that crew scheduling problems. And the message then ends with a, quote, it's a mess down here. Then in another message, dispatchers told the pilots, quote, no updates here. Scheduling is so far behind. We were told we aren't allowed to walk over and talk to them.

So, Don, it just gives a sense of the confusion that Southwest crews were dealing with and the pilots union says they've been warning about problems with Southwest's system for years and those warning signs, they say, have been ignored.

Now, the airline's chief operating officer also set to testify is likely going to dispute some of that, even though the airline is apologizing. We've obtained that testimony and they're expected to tell senators three keywords, we messed up. They've been handing out those refunds, hundreds of millions of dollars. And, Don, they say they have dramatically improved their systems to prevent this in the future, but you can expect the senators on the transportation committee are going to want some more on that and they're going to have some pretty pointed questions.

LEMON: Yes, they are. Gabe Cohen reporting from Washington, D.C., thank you, Gabe. Poppy?

HARLOW: The Walt Disney Company announcing plans to cut 7,000 jobs. That's a huge cut. This is part of a multibillion dollar cost cutting effort. And it's despite the company reporting better than expected quarterly earnings.

Our Chief Business Correspondent Christine Romans is here. Good morning.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Good morning.

HARLOW: We heard the president tout the economy in the state of the union, and then people open the paper every morning and they see all of these headlines. Is there a disconnect?

ROMANS: Well, in tech and media, you're seeing a lot of layoffs. Disney is a kind of a singular situation, because Disney under Bob Iger, who has come back as CEO, wants what he's calling another transformation for the company.

This is not just cost cutting to weather an economic storm. This is a real transformation of the company into three different parts here. You have got Disney entertainment, which is movies, T.V. shows, all that. ESPN, he wants to emphasize more sports content. And then parks, experiences and products. And he's giving are more creative control to the creatives to follow through all the way to the financial results as well.

HARLOW: Which is what they felt they lost under the last leadership.

ROMANS: Exactly.

HARLOW: What is interesting is shares popped yesterday after the earnings call. Wall Street is cheering this, just like they did in a big way with Meta, Facebook's earnings, because of cuts.

ROMANS: Job cuts is something that Wall Street likes to see now in part, because during the pandemic years and months, a lot of companies like Disney were adding people, right? They were doing very well during the pandemic, especially tech companies more so than media companies. And now they're kind of unwinding that a little bit.

This will be 7,000 job cuts. It's about 3 percent of the global workforce. And you can see where Bob Iger is going to be squeezing costs out of, say, marketing expenditures, which is something that could be felt throughout the media atmosphere.

But Wall Street likes this. The stock is up something like 19 percent this year. So, there is optimism that Iger, Iger Part Two is going to turn this company around.

HARLOW: Can we talk about what Iger Part Two looks like? Because there is a lot to look forward to, right, for them as well that they sort of highlighted yesterday.

ROMANS: So, look, they're going to focus on their core products and they're going to have maybe fewer T.V. and movie content but better, right, really focus on that, so, focusing on Star Wars, Marvel. There will be more Frozen. Your family will be happy about that. My family, we have -- there's more Toy Story. So, there could be more sequels and really focus on the things that got them there and cost cutting, really focusing on the costs.

It costs more to make all the streaming content. They're losing less money in streaming, which I think is notable, even though they do have -- they're adding fewer subscribers, but losing less money, they want to be profitable by the end of the year and hope to reinstate their dividends, so investors like that too.

HARLOW: Okay. Thank you, Romans, very much. ROMANS: You're welcome.

HARLOW: Kaitlan?

COLLINS: All right. Also this morning, Damar Hamlin says he is counting blessings.

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DAMAR HAMLIN, BUFFALO BILLS PLAYER: One of my favorite quotes is a blessing to be a blessing. With that being said, I plan to never take this position for granted and always have an urgent approach in making a difference in the community where I come from and also communities across the world.

[07:15:04]

Thank you.

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COLLINS: Amazing to hear from him. Damar Hamlin accepted this year's Alan Page Community Award for the millions of dollars that were raised by his toy drive. Of course, after he went into cardiac arrest during that football game that everyone remembers, donations poured into his foundation's GoFundMe. They did totally more than $9 million.

While no official diagnosis has been made yet for what caused his cardiac arrest, Dr. Thom Mayer, who is the medical director for the NFL Players Association, says he's optimistic about his future.

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DR. THOM MAYER, MEDICAL DIRECTOR, NFL PLAYERS ASSOCIATION (voice over): I guarantee you, I guarantee you, Veronica, that Damar Hamlin will play professional football again.

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COLLINS: Dr. Sanjay Gupta is back with us this morning. Sanjay, he says, I guarantee you he will play again, can play again. Does that mean he should though I think is a big question a lot of people will have.

GUPTA: Yes. Well, I mean, first of all, that was a very definitive statement by Dr. Mayer. You're not used hearing doctors being that definitive about it but he also wouldn't say that lightly given his position and given his knowledge of Damar Hamlin's situation.

I mean, first of all, as you know, Kaitlan, we still haven't heard an official diagnosis of what happened with Damar Hamlin. But when Dr. Mayer says this, it portends a few things. First of all, there is all sorts of different tests which he likely had done in order to figure out the status of his heart. And based on those tests, tests such as EKG, echocardiogram, heart C.T. scan, stress test, all these sorts of tests, you get the idea that there is no persistent problem with his heart, number one, but also the idea, was there a pre-existing problem with his heart. And what those -- given what the tests are presumably negative because of Dr. Mayer's comments, it doesn't sound like there was a pre-existing condition with his heart either. So, that is really it.

We did dig into this a bit yesterday when I heard the comments. And the American Heart Association, as rare as this condition is, Kaitlan, it is a really rare condition, they also say that if someone has no pre-existing conditions and all the heart tests come back normal, then even with the diagnosis commotio cordis, they can return to play. So, yes, I mean, it's a strong statement. The American Heart Association says you can return to play. But that is, I think, what is driving Dr. Mayer's comments.

COLLINS: I think, I guess, one of the questions is if it was because of commotio cordis, and we're still waiting to figure that out, does it mean it could happen again?

GUPTA: Yes. Again, a great question. And one thing I just want to stress is that we're dealing with something that is really rare here. When I say rare, maybe a couple of dozen cases a year. And the reason that's relevant is because there's just not a lot of data than to speculate on things. What I will say is there have been situations where players have returned to play even at the professional level after having a diagnosis of commotio cordis. So, yes, they can.

And I think the second part of your question is, really, what is the likelihood that it would happen again? And, again, based on limited data, it is very unlikely. We haven't had a documented case where someone had commotio cordis and then it happened again. So, I think that is what they're taking into account as well.

COLLINS: Yes. A lot of big questions about this remain. Sanjay, though, thank you for breaking it down for us.

LEMON: The one thing that we do know is he is an amazing young man and we hope that he does continue whatever he decides to do if he wants to play. Play and be safe. And if he doesn't, then we go with that. But he's a great guy and we wish him the very best.

President Biden is pointing the finger at Senator Rick Scott as he accuses some Republicans of wanting to cut social security and Medicare. In a moment, the senator will join us to respond. There he is up on your screen.

HARLOW: Also, New York City's mayor blasting Texas for bussing migrants to this city. Why is New York City buying them bus tickets to go to Canada then? He'll join us live.

LEMON: So, the mayor and Rick Scott?

COLLINS: Busy.

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[07:20:00] COLLINS: In his state of the union address, President Biden accused some but not all Republicans of wanting to cut social security and Medicare.

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JOE BIDEN, U.S. PRESIDENT: Some Republicans want Medicare and social security to sunset. I'm not saying it's a majority.

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COLLINS: You can see Kevin McCarthy there shaking his head. That led Republicans in the chamber to boo President Biden, calling him a liar. The president did not name names on Tuesday, but yesterday, he was in Wisconsin and he identified the Republican lawmakers that he was referencing, reading directly from their proposals.

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BIDEN: I got his brochure right here. It has a plan. Here's what he says in his plan. Let me open it up here, sorry. It says, all federal legislation sunsets every five years. If a law is worth keeping, Congress can pass it again, social security, Medicare and Medicaid.

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COLLINS: The president there was referring to Senator Rick Scott. And today, he is going to Senator Scott's home state of Florida where he set to give a speech on social security and Medicare in Tampa.

So, joining us now for his perspective is that senator, Senator Rick Scott of Florida. Thank you so much for joining us this morning.

I think my first question has to be given the fact that the president is now using this as an attack line, was it a mistake to propose this?

SEN. RICK SCOTT (R-FL): No. First off, nobody believes that I want to cut Medicare or social security. I've never said it. I've never said it. In that same plan, I said, Congress needs to, once a year, tell the American public how they're going to make sure the programs don't go bankrupt, in the verge of bankruptcy.

[07:25:01]

And here's the difference between Joe Biden and me. I have never proposed it. In 1975, he passed a bill, a sunset bill. And it says, requires every program to be looked at firstly at least every four years, not just cost but worthiness. And, Kaitlan, he said when I argue that we should freeze federal spending, I meant social security as well, I meant Medicare and Medicaid, veterans' benefits, I meant every single solitary thing in government.

So, here's the difference, I have never proposed it. He proposed it in the bill and he fought for it year after year after year.

COLLINS: You're talking about what he proposed back in 1975, it was almost 50 years ago. But you have said he's twisting your words, but isn't that the same thing that what you're proposing now, what you rolled out last summer?

SCOTT: Mine says mine's is clearer. Mine's is clearer. If it's worth keeping, we're going to keep it. In his case, okay, he proposed a bill that just sunset everything. I've never done that. I've been very clear. I am not for cutting social security and Medicare. That quote says he's clearly -- he proposed it year after year after year to reduce Medicare and social security, year after year. I have never done. I don't believe in that. I think we have got to preserve those benefits.

COLLINS: You say he is twisting your words, but he said, quote, some Republicans want social security and Medicare to sunset. You wrote, I suggest the following, all federal legislation sunsets in five years. If a law is worth keeping, Congress can pass it again.

You are a Republican. Medicare and social security are federal legislation. And you said if it's worth keeping, Congress can pass it again. But no one, I don't think, has confidence that if something comes up for a vote every five years that Congress is going to be able to make sure it stays, especially something that's vitally important to so many.

SCOTT: Kaitlan, I've been clear, I'm not going to do it. In contrast, let's remember, just what, a few months ago, all Democrats voted and Joe Biden signed a bill to cut $280 billion out of Medicare, $280 billion cut out of Medicare.

COLLINS: That's not true, Senator. We talked about this the other day when you were on the program, that that -- passed the Inflation Reduction Act, reducing drug spending is not cutting benefits to Medicare.

SCOTT: Okay. Kaitlan, let me just read you something Jake Tapper said. This is back when Republicans proposing reducing the cost of Medicaid. He said -- Jake Tapper said, I know that Trump administration is excited that Medicaid will go back to the states where they have more control and can experiment and be more efficient. But without question, $880 billion is a cut. So, is it a cut when Republicans do it but not a cut when Democrats propose savings?

COLLINS: Well, what you're referencing, Senator, I looked into this, because we talked about it the other day. And even the senior V.P. AARP's government affairs said this has been fact-checked repeatedly and shown to be a lie. In fact, this bill saves Medicare nearly $300 billion by lowering the price of drugs. Only drug companies would say that saving people money is a bad thing.

SCOTT: But what about what Jake Tapper said? I mean, what Jake Tapper said that if you reduce --

COLLINS: Was Jake Tapper referring to the Inflation Reduction Act? I don't think he was.

SCOTT: He was referring to a reduction in costs in Medicaid. So, that's a cut.

COLLINS: But how does that have to do with what Democrats passed last fall? This is about lowering -- allowing them to negotiate the prices of drugs. Basically, if you've budgeted and you've got $15,000 and you go and buy a car and it now costs $12,000, that doesn't mean you only have $12,000, it means you just didn't spend all $15,000, right?

SCOTT: Kaitlan, two things. First off, what they did last fall is going to reduce life-saving drugs. What the Republicans proposed was not a reduction in Medicaid benefits. It was a cut. And Jake Tapper said that is a cut. So, CNN says it's not a cut if Democrats do it. It is a cut if Republicans do it. I mean, what else can you say? I mean, that's exactly -- you know, I see what you're saying. Have you talked to Jake Tapper? Why did he say it was a cut if Republicans do it?

COLLINS: Senator, I'm not sure what Jake Tapper said is relevant to what this particular point is on what you're claiming about the cost of drugs costing less and, therefore, being a cut. Everyone else has said that is not true. It's been fact-checked multiple times and they say that is simply not true.

SCOTT: Okay. So, if they -- did the same fact-checkers go back and look at what Jake Tapper said? I mean, I don't get why if one party proposes efficiencies, that's a cut, but if the other party does, it's not a cut. I mean -- and let's remember --

COLLINS: Because reducing spending is not the same as cutting benefits, correct?

SCOTT: Okay. Well, it actually is -- what they did last fall is going to reduce life-saving drugs.

COLLINS: I understand you're saying it has an impact -- I understand you're saying it has an impact on drugs. That is different, though, than saying that they cut Medicare when they're saving money on the cost of what those drugs cost to Americans.

[07:30:04]

SCOTT: Okay.