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CNN This Morning

Hope Dims for Survivors as Death Toll Nears 22,000 in Quake; Pence Subpoenaed by Special Counsel Probing Trump's Role in January 6; Biden Zeroes in on Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL) over Social Security, Medicare. Aired 7-7:30a ET

Aired February 10, 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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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But we must be realistic.

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DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Boy, oh, boy. Good morning, everyone. Thanks for joining us. That man you just saw, who you just heard from, lost his brother, eight nephews in that catastrophic earthquake that devastated Turkey and Syria. Hope is fading to find any more survivors as the death toll nears 22,000 victims. We have correspondents live on the ground across the disaster zone. We're going to speak to Turkish basketball star Enes Kanter and Chef Jose Andres who's helping feed people as a massive humanitarian crisis unfolds.

Plus this --

KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: The special counsel who is investigating Donald Trump and January 6th now wants to talk to mike pence. CNN is learning what he is seeking from the former vice president.

POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: Also, the district attorney in Memphis says that he is doing a deep dive into past incidents involving the five police officers charged with murdering Tyre Nichols.

LEMON: But we begin with the humanitarian catastrophe in Turkey and Syria. The scope of the destruction, staggering, the pictures, devastating, and the death toll, just growing, 21,000 so far, 719 people now confirmed dead after the devastating earthquake. Thousands more are still missing, possibly dead or dying beneath the rubble. Hope is running out to find any more survivors.

But this morning, four days after the quake, search teams rescued a ten-year-old boy who was still alive in a collapsed building. That was in Turkey. But grim reality is setting in. In the Syrian village, one Syrian village, entire families are believed to be dead under piles of concrete. Heartbroken villagers have been helping search teams dig through the debris by hand.

Our Jomana Karadsheh is live on the ground in the disaster zone for us. Jomana, devastating.

JOMANA KARADSHEH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely devastating, Don. We're out here in the city of Iskenderun. This is a port city that's part of Hatay Province, one of the most affected provinces in the country.

And here, this is a makeshift camp that has been set up by the authorities for people who are now homeless. And what you've got here is about 150 or so tents that have been set up by the country's emergency and disaster management agency. You've got people who are registering.

And speaking to the authorities here, they say that they're now working around the clock. As you can see right now, you've got -- they're digging the ground, they are preparing for more and more tents. They say that this entire area is going to turn into a tent city.

The needs are enormous. This is a massive earthquake zone, as you know. There are millions of people who have been impacted by this. The Turkish government has been trying to meet the needs of the people. You have got the Turkish military here also involved in the relief effort. They have been distributing food, blankets, water, diapers to people who lost everything and now are homeless. And it's just not enough. We've heard this from Turkish authorities saying that they need all the help they can get.

And, Don, we met a lot of young people who have come in from different parts of the country saying they're here. They want to help. They don't know what they're going to be doing. They just jumped on buses, came down here just because they want to help.

And speaking to a lot of the families here, they say they don't know what's going to happen to them. They don't know what they're going to do next. Right now, they're glad that they're alive. And they say at least now they have shelter. They were sleeping out in the open in the freezing cold for the past few days.

And, you know, we're talking about people here, Don, speaking to them, they've not only lost their homes, so many people here have lost family members. So you can imagine the kind of trauma that they are now also dealing with while living out here with nothing.

LEMON: Material thing is one thing but when you lose family members, that is everything. Jomana Karadsheh, thank you very much. I appreciate that.

HARLOW: Joining us now is Chef Jose Andres, founder of World Central Kitchen. His team is on the ground right now helping in Turkey.

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CHEF JOSE ANDRES, FOUNDER, WORLD CENTRAL KITCHEN: Here, you see random faces for people put tents. You can see in different parts they're building more tents. But, again, this is only -- barely day three of this earthquake. (END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: His organization traces roots back to the 2010 earthquake in Haiti. Chef Andres, thank you so much not only for being here but for what you do all around the world in these disasters.

I know you have chefs from all across Turkey that are also helping you. What are you facing?

ANDRES: Well, we are facing a very, very big task.

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I remember in 2010 given arrived a few weeks after in Port au Prince, in Haiti, it was one city, one city where the American community came to help Port au Prince and the nations (ph). Now, we need to think that this is like 10, 12 Haitis or more at the same time across 300- plus kilometers. The disaster is big. This is going to need everybody hands on as the search and rescue is already ending. It's going to be the important phase of providing relief to people.

Take a look where I am. I'm on my way up north to (INAUDIBLE). I came here from Kahramanmaras. I was at the other day in Istanbul, where you are. And it's cold alone, makes the meal not only what feeds your body but in a way it's also what warms you up in the very cold nights. There are hundreds of thousands of Turkish people are experiencing this.

COLLINS: I guess, a big question, with he see you time and time again in places like this. We saw you in Ukraine. Now you're dealing with this. When you are facing so much destruction that we've been covering all morning, how do you do it? Where do you start even?

ANDRES: Well, in this one, it's been a big challenge. Where do we start? Where do we go because everybody is (INAUDIBLE)? What is amazing is this, that in the worst moments of humanity, I say it all the time, the best of humanity shows up.

So, an organization like ours, we try always to start our own kitchen but at the same time look for people, restaurants, individuals, that on their own sometimes we've not experienced before. They decide to step up and start doing something.

So, right now, we're partnering with those people, those Turkish people that are starting the feeding. And that's what we have experienced. We felt then we wouldn't be able to move so quickly. And together we cannot only move quicker, I think World Central Kitchen today we're going to do 70,000 meals. But this feels like you're only putting your finger in a hole and there you have hundreds of other holes to accomplish.

So, what do we do is to have one base, then to have two, then to three. We're going to be moving to Gaziantep to build our new kitchen there. We're going to be flying, God willing, from Adana by helicopter to get to (INAUDIBLE) because it's a very difficult place to reach. It's a very long drive, and every day doesn't make sense. We already know we have a kitchen in (INAUDIBLE). I'm one hour away.

And we are already bringing five trucks to make sure that we provide to that kitchen that they're already functioning. All the food they need, gas, cots, tents, obviously utensils for people to eat and the bowls to serve the meals. This is what we do. We start taking one step at a time, one project at a time, one kitchen at a time. We have teams all across seeing what we can be providing help so we can increase the numbers every day, hopefully doubling the output of food we can cook.

LEMON: So, Jose, let's just be honest about this. I mean, I think this is overwhelming for a lot of reasons. You have tragedy on top of tragedy on top of tragedy. You have a natural disaster, right, with the earthquake. Then you have a civil war that's going on in Syria. And then you have this brutally cold weather among other things. So, just the sheer nature of this is tough even for you and for rescuers. Can you just talk to us about the challenges that folks are facing there?

ANDRES: Well, I was here in Kahramanmaras yesterday night until 2:00 A.M. in the morning just serving food. And, obviously, we were one organization of hundreds and hundreds of people doing that. People are going to (INAUDIBLE) providing meals in front of every home you saw totally destroyed. It becomes like a mini city where you have the family members (INAUDIBLE). And they're there because they lost somebody. And they're still hopeful that they will find that person alive.

At the same time, you have next to them, the rescue workers, working 24 hours a day, without sleep, with the dogs. Next to them is where sometimes they sleep or use things for one hour of eating something so they can keep going back to working because they know every minute counts.

At the same time here, people are crying because they already found the body of their loved one and their hope finding them alive is gone.

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And people that have nothing, people that have sometimes poor or sometimes they don't have (INAUDIBLE) everything even more and more complicated. We are seeing people sleeping on their cars. We have thousands of people sleeping in their cars. Because if even some buildings you may see that they seem okay, we need to understand that people are very afraid to go into a building to sleep when the building next to them collapsed completely.

So, the situation obviously is huge. I think the Turkish government and emergency services, I think, they've been doing a good job. But we need to understand that this is so massive that we will not be able to comprehend (INAUDIBLE) probably a few weeks from now. This is one of the biggest earthquakes in the number of big buildings collapsed. So, yes, Turkey needs all the help that America, Europe and the rest of the world can provide to them.

LEMON: We're glad that you're always there, always there, I mean, no matter where in the world. Jose Andres, thank you, and we appreciate it. You be safe. And check back in with us. We would like to hear from you.

And we have to remember, everyone, we're talking about people if you put this number up. I mean, every time I see this number, it is just startling. We're talking about people, right? 21,000, almost 22,000 people, and the number still climbing.

COLLINS: And that's the deaths. The injured is 75,000-plus that we know of so far. It's staggering.

HARLOW: Right? And when people see the numbers, they want to help. Here's where you can go to find ways that you can help. Go to cnn.com/impact. We have a whole list of organizations you can help there.

In just minutes, we will be joined by former NBA player, human rights activist Enes Kanter Freedom, why he hasn't been able to reach his family members in Turkey.

COLLINS: We have a lot of questions for him.

Also this morning, we're tracking a development out of Washington as former Vice President Mike Pence has now been subpoenaed by the special counsel who is investigating former President Trump's failed attempt to overturn the 2020 election, the actions he took surrounding January 6th.

A source tells me that the special counsel, Jack Smith, is now seeking documents and testimony. He wants to hear from Pence about the interactions that he had with Trump leading up to the deadly Capitol insurrection.

CNN's Paula Reid is also covering the story and she joins us now. Paula, I guess the big question is how do we think Pence is going to respond to the subpoena? Are they going to fight it?

PAULA REID, CNN SENIOR LEGAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: I think we might see some fights, Kaitlan, over questions of executive privilege. But we know the subpoena comes after months of negotiations between the Pence team and the Justice Department. And Pence's team had signaled that he was, in fact, willing to at least provide some information. And the fact that we're seeing a subpoena right now, that doesn't necessarily mean that there has been some sort of impasse, as we've seen in other investigations. There are some witnesses who would prefer to be subpoenaed so as not be appear to be just voluntarily cooperating against the former president.

Now, in terms of executive privilege, he has made it a little more difficult for himself because he wrote a lot about January 6th in his memoir. And you cannot write about something in a book and then say, well, I can't discuss that same thing before a grand jury. But I would expect that there will be some limits on what he is willing to share. And so far, former President Trump's team indicates that do not intend to, at this point, challenge the subpoena but they could, of course, always change their mind.

COLLINS: Yes. It will be interesting to see what they do decide. And, Paula, you and our colleague, Zach Cohen, are also reporting on another person who worked for Trump who has now been subpoenaed by the special counsel, Jack Smith. What is this with Robert O'Brien being subpoenaed?

REID: Well, we have the national security adviser, former National Security Adviser Robert O'Brien being subpoenaed in both investigations, both the investigation into the 2020 election and efforts to subvert the outcome and also the investigation into the retention of classified documents that were found down at Mar-a-Lago.

O'Brien could potentially be a really valuable witness. He was a top official in the administration. He considered resigning after January 6th but didn't. He stayed on. So, he could talk about what was going on in the administration after January 6th. And the National Security Council should have been involved in the handling of classified materials. He might be able to provide some insight into how those documents wound up down at Mar-a-Lago.

We've also learned that investigators have talked to former Acting Department of Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf. And all this goes to say, Kaitlan, that this is a very active and ongoing investigation. I talked to sources in Trump world. You talk to sources in Trump world. They would all very much like us to believe that this is all done, it's wrapping up, but, in fact, they're very actively pursuing new witnesses, some very high profile ones.

COLLINS: Yes, and bringing them into speak to them directly. Paula Reid, we'll see who is next. Thank you.

LEMON: And now to the new developments in the investigation to the beating death of Tyre Nichols. A police document revealing that a sixth Memphis officer who was fired last week lied in statements about the incident leading to Nichols death. Meantime, prosecutors say that they will review all previous cases handled by the five ex-Memphis police officers who are now facing murder charges.

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CNN's Shimon Prokupecz joins us now this morning. Good morning to you.

SHIMON PROKUPECZ, CNN SENIOR CRIME AND JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Good morning.

LEMON: The ripple effect, and it just keeps getting bigger and bigger.

PROKUPECZ: And it will keep getting bigger. And this is significant certainly by the district attorney to review every case that these five officers were ever involved in, arrested, someone they may have arrested, something they have witnessed. So, it's significant because what could happen is dozens and dozens of cases could potentially get dismissed as a result of this, and likely will get dismissed, because you can't use these officers as witnesses any longer.

So, they're in the process of doing that. We don't exactly know how many cases the D.A. is going to review. But also calls into question whether or not they're going to review other cases involving the SCORPION unit. Because any time you are going to go before a jury, let's say, and you're going to say well, officer, where did you work? Well, I worked in the SCORPION unit. It's going to create problems for them now for quite some time.

LEMON: Credibility issues.

PROKUPECZ: The credibility issues. I mean, these officers have no credibility. And we are yet to hear about more officers who potentially face termination as well.

LEMON: All right.

COLLINS: It could be a lot of cases there.

PROKUPECZ: Yes, certainly could be a lot of cases.

COLLINS: All right. Shimon, keep us updated. Thank you.

Also this morning, a group of governors are throwing their support behind President Biden's re-election run even though he hasn't announced it yet, even though there are polls favoring another nominee. One of those governors, Governor Jared Polis of Colorado, is going to join us next to weigh in.

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JOE BIDEN, U.S. PRESIDENT: When I called Republicans out on this on the state of the union, they sounded and they started yelling, liar, liar. And I said that means you all are for keeping social security? They all stood up and said, yes. Well, we have got a deal.

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COLLINS: That was President Biden in Florida yesterday taking aim at Florida Governor DeSantis and Senator Rick Scott in their own state. He talked about DeSantis and Scott, at times wanting to deny access or maybe eliminate Medicare and social security.

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BIDEN: Over 1.1 million people in Florida would be eligible for Medicaid if Governor DeSantis just said, I agree to expand it. This isn't calculus.

The very idea the senator from Florida wants to put social security and Medicare on the chopping block every five years, I find to be somewhat outrageous, so outrageous that you might not even believe it.

(END VIDEO CLIP) COLLINS: Biden criticizing DeSantis who could be a GOP presidential contender. The president himself edging toward a 2024 re-election announcement.

So, here to talk about all of this is Colorado's Democratic Governor Jared Polis. He and the other governors from across the country are going to be meeting with President Biden actually at the White House later this morning. Good morning, Governor, and thank you for joining us this morning.

You're going to the White House today. I guess, the first question is, are you going to be supporting President Biden when he runs in 2024?

GOV. JARED POLIS (D-CO): Good morning, Kaitlan. You're getting a little ahead of yourself there. Think we all think the president is planning to rollout a very exciting reelection campaign. He certainly did great. He reminded of us of the master that he is when he took it to the Republicans and really went off-script to say, well, we've got a deal here. You're agreeing not to do something namely cut social security and Medicare that Republicans have been talking about for decades. So, that really put them on the spot, very effective. This man is a pro and we look forward to his plan.

COLLINS: But if he does run in 2024, which I'm told is when, not if, you will be supporting that?

POLIS: He'll have widespread support. I'll certainly do the best that I can to make sure that we deliver the state of Colorado as we did four years ago for the president. What a historic three years so far, of course. I mean, the Inflation Reduction Act, the American Rescue Act, a lot of the work that we're able to get done at the state level, these record investments in public health, investments in reducing homelessness and public safety. These are transformational investments that we're able to do because of the American Rescue Act.

So, the president doesn't always get all the credit but know that the work that the governors are doing on the ground, even Republican governors, a lot of those resources are thanks to President Biden.

COLLINS: And I want to talk about your second term in a moment. But if Biden does run, likely it's going to be potentially a matchup of Biden and Trump again. What do you make of the idea that we may see them running against each other again, this third presidential run that we're seeing from former President Trump?

POLIS: Well, President Biden has shown one time that he can defeat President Trump and I know he's going to show it again. I think that President Trump is really a threat to the democracy beyond the issues that we face. He has shown such little regard for the truth, for the integrity of elections above and beyond the issues people quable over. I think that's an additional reason. It's particularly important to make sure that he never returns to the Oval Office.

COLLINS: He may not. We don't know actually that he's actually even going to be the Republican nominee. He's certainly the frontrunner. But you heard President Biden there invoking Governor Ron DeSantis of Florida. You're a governor as well. One of the things that DeSantis has been in the headlines more recently was saying that this advanced placement course on African-American studies, he believed, imposed a political agenda. You're a governor. Is that how you would spend your time?

POLIS: Yes. First of all, how bizarre that he's governor of a state even than bigger than Colorado and, apparently, he' reading the A.P. curricula. I mean, I took A.P. courses in high school 30 years ago and I barely read the curricula then. I certainly don't as governor. So, I don't know exactly what he's doing.

Secondly, these are just optional courses that's advanced students can take. And, you know, if people want to take them, they will. But, certainly, it's not the role of the governor to be dictating curricula of advanced A.P. courses, a private organization. I mean, I just thought that whole thing was extremely bizarre when I saw it.

COLLINS: You referenced the president's address Tuesday night in Washington, his state of the union address. There was one line there. And we've talked about the Republicans and the back and forth there, but there is one line that he made about energy. I know you've talked and focused on energy prices a lot in your state. I want to play that moment of what President Biden said.

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BIDEN: And when I talk a couple and they say, we're afraid you're going to shut down the oil wells and all the oil refineries anyways, so why should we invest in them.

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I said we're going to need oil for at least another decade and not going to exceed -- and beyond that. We're going to need it.

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COLLINS: Governor, I don't think it was supposed to be a laugh line. What did you make of the president and his comments about at least another decade?

POLIS: It's a good way to talk about it. I mean, the truth is we're rapidly weaning ourselves off of fossil fuels. Is there going to be demand for oil in ten years? There will be. There'll probably be some demand in 20 years. In Colorado, our goal is 100 percent renewable energy by 2040. I think we'll reach it. We'll be at 80% by 2030. Already in Colorado, about 12 percent of cars sold are electric vehicles.

But, yes, oil and gas are international commodities. There's likely to continue to be a market forward in ten years, probably in 20 years. If you're asking me 30 or 40, I think we'll largely be off if those fossil fuels with lower costs, more reliable renewable energy. COLLINS: What do you make of the White House's climate plan but also their energy plan? Some have said there is a disconnect between what they're seeking for those two to look like between reality and what their ambitions are.

POLIS: Well, I think they've been very attentive to the need to keep gas prices low for Americans, releases from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. They're working on where and how we can drill safely in Colorado. We've been upping the bar on reducing emissions around the oil extraction process even more. So, I think it's very important because, you know, people pay for gas, for heating, for electricity, really hits their bottom line.

Colorado consumers, just like across the country, have had a spike in natural gas prices the last few months. They're finally coming down now. What we want to do is make ourselves immune to that in the future by weaning ourselves off of natural gas, which can always double, triple, quadruple in price when there is external events like a war in Europe.

COLLINS: Yes. Those price hikes can be really impactful for families.

You recently laid out your vision for a second term. You put affordable housing right at the top. This is something that so many people, not just in your state, are struggling with but all across the United States. And you said, finding an affordable place to live -- or not being able to find one leads to more traffic, air pollution, economic challenges. How do you fix that?

POLIS: Yes, it's a big deal. And Colorado is a great place to live. That's the good news. The bad news is the secret is out. And so demand has skyrocketed in not just Colorado, many other states as well. The people are moving to because they are great places to live. That's pushed the average home price up.

So, what do we need to do? We need to make sure we have more quantity of housing, but not just anywhere, right? We can't just have this exorbitant sprawl, more traffic on the roads, worst air quality, not sustainable from a water perspective. We need housing near transit or in a development and near where the jobs are, so people can get to work without having to have a lot of traffic.

So, we're really looking at a thoughtful approach to land use that is sustainable, that saves water and provides affordable units for rent and for purchase for new Coloradans as well as Coloradans who have been here for generations.

COLLINS: Yes. I know that is extremely important. You have got a meeting at the White House today that you have to get to, Governor. Thank you for sharing a few moments with us this morning. We really appreciate it.

POLIS: Thank you. Take care.

LEMON: 21,000 lives lost after earthquakes rocked Turkey and Syria. Many people are still unaccounted for. Up next, we're going to be joined by the former NBA star, Enes Kanter Freedom, how his family in Turkey is doing and why he can't physically be there to comfort them right now.

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