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Erin Burnett Outfront
Biden: Putin Has "Already Lost Ukraine", Promises Open-Ended Aid; Trump's 2024 Campaign Facing Early Money Problems; Santos Defiant After Romney Tells Him "You Don't Belong Here"; Earthquake Deaths Now Top 12,000, Survivors Still Being Found; Kim Jong Un Puts Daughter Front And Center At Lavish Military Event. Aired 7-8p ET
Aired February 08, 2023 - 19:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[19:00:35]
ERIN BURNETT, CNN HOST: OUTFRONT next, breaking news. President Biden says aid to Ukraine is open-ended. He says Putin has already, quote, already lost Ukraine. As new video into OUTFRONT shows one of America's most powerful munitions now in action on the front line, as a desperate Putin is now reportedly threatening prisoners who won't fight in his invasion.
Plus, red flags for Trump. The former president struggling to raise money for his re-election campaign. Former supporters with deep pockets are now looking to back somebody else. We're going to break down the money game. This is a report that you will see first here OUTFRONT tonight.
Plus, Santos response to Romney telling him he doesn't belong in Congress. He makes it all about Romney's religion.
Let's go OUTFRONT.
Good evening. I'm Erin Burnett.
OUTFRONT tonight, the breaking news. President Biden in one of his most definitive statements to date, moments ago making it clear the United States aid will continue to pour into Ukraine.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
INTERVIEWER: So, is it open-ended for now?
JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Yeah, it is. Look, there's no way that Putin is going to be able to -- he's already lost Ukraine.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Made it clear, is it open-ended? Yeah, it is. Not a pause, no hesitation. It's clear where he stands.
This comes as we're getting new video into OUTFRONT showing a top of the line U.S. artillery shell called the Excalibur in action in Ukraine. And it is incredibly precise. Take a look at this video that we have obtained. You see what is
described as Russia's missile defense system. It's hidden inside that building. And in a split second the building and the air defense system blowing up. Flames engulfing what is left of that structure.
Now, CNN is reporting that the Ukrainians have been using these Excaliburs, which the United States began supplying just a few months ago with great success. Now it's open-ended, more and more. Just look at these videos. These show the Excalibur blowing up Russian tanks.
These lethal strikes are not just taking a massive toll on Putin's tanks, though, but, of course, on Russian soldiers, too. The daily death toll in the hundreds. And the new weapons are hurting Putin's already deeply challenged efforts to recruit more manpower.
Just hear this new report. According to the Russian independent media site Adjenstu (phy), Putin's government is now threatening prisoner who's refuse to fight in the war with new charges and longer sentences. In fact, they're saying even threatening to charge them with offenses that may be 20 years in the past, allegations.
The reason is that many prisoners now are saying no, they don't want to go fight on the front lines, even if that means getting out of their penal colonies and jail cells, reportedly because they now have heard of the number of Russians dying on the battlefield. Putin needs these bodies fast because we understand that the largest number of prisoners facing these threats are in the region's bordering Ukraine in those very regions so that they can make the threat and get them to the front line fast. Forget all those training stops or anything even resembling that.
All of this reporting comes in the context of what Putin seems to be doing, which is pushing right now a new offensive near Kharkiv where Ukraine where able to drive the Russians out a few months ago.
And just when you thought the Russian government wouldn't or couldn't stoop any lower, CNN's Tim Lister and team are now reporting that this man, a former Chechen commander wanted for alleged war crimes in Ukraine, is now leading Russia's earthquake relief effort in turkey. It's not a joke.
According to Ukraine's security service, Daniil Martynov was behind the occupation of a Ukrainian psychiatric hospital in March. It said that on his orders, almost 500 people were taken hostage including more than a hundred bed-ridden patients. The hospital was then turned into a firing position for Russians. Now that's the guy leading Russia's relief efforts in Turkey.
And it comes as the Kremlin is upping threats against the entire world tonight, warning of military and political ramifications, their exact words, if the United Kingdom sends British jets to Ukraine. The threat coming on the same day Zelenskyy visited London in only his second time outside Ukraine since Putin invaded.
You can see with Zelenskyy there receiving a hero's welcome. What he asked for was the fighter jets. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT: I appeal to you and the world with simple and the utmost important words: combat aircrafts for Ukraine, wings for freedom.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Wings for freedom, he calls them.
[19:05:00]
And the British prime minister's office says the UK is actively considering this request.
Fred Pleitgen begins our coverage OUTFRONT live in Kyiv tonight.
And, Fred, what is the latest you're seeing on the front lines?
FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, there certainly is a big uptick in shelling especially in the northeast of the country. You're talking about Kharkiv just a couple of moments ago and that really is where a lot of that is taking place.
Now, of course, it's really unclear whether or not that new Russian offensive is already in full swing. But, in general in the east of the country, the Russians certainly have been amassing a lot of forces and using a lot more fire power. And that's laid to waste in entire towns in eastern Ukraine. Here's what we're seeing.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PLEITGEN (voice-over): Ukrainian towns getting decimated by Russian fire power every day. This is Marinka, in the east of the country, almost completely reduced to rubble. Around Bakhmut, combat at close quarters as Ukrainian troops try to prevent Russian fighters of the Wagner private military company from encircling the city.
Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin so confident in his own private air force, he took to the skies and challenged Ukraine's president to a dog fight. Tomorrow, I'm boarding a MiG-29, he said. If you desire, we'll meet in the sky.
But Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is in Europe, visiting the UK's parliament, pleading for western combat jets.
ZELENSKYY: Britain, the king is an air force pilot. And in Ukraine today, every air force pilot is a king.
PLEITGEN: Despite being much smaller and older than Moscow's air force, the Ukrainians are still very much in the fight in the skies. But they're losing planes and having trouble maintaining their Soviet fleet.
Even a small number Western fighters would make a big difference, says Ukraine's air force spokesman. We can start with a few squadrons, he says, each with 12 jets. If we have one to two or more squadrons, it would be the first step for our pilots to transition. They can be in formation and perform combat missions on different directions.
The U.S. has given the Ukrainians some air-launched anti-radiation missiles called HARM. But Kyiv says those, too, would work much better, he says, if launched from Western jets.
The HARM missiles aren't as efficient as if they were from American or other allied aircraft. Their functionality is restrictive, their range is shorter, making the efficiency lower.
Ukrainian officials say they want U.S.-made F-16s. So far, President Biden has ruled out giving Kyiv combat aircraft. But the UK says it will soon start training Ukrainian pilots. And Ukrainian officials tell CNN they're confident they'll get jets, just eventually they got the main battle tanks they requested.
OLEKSIY DANILOV, UKRAINIAN NATIONAL SECURITY AND DEFENSE COUNCIL SECURITY (through translator): We want help as soon as possible. And our partners say it will come tomorrow. And the space between yesterday and tomorrow is very important to us.
PLEITGEN: And Ukraine's civilians remain in the crosshairs of Russia's cannons, missiles and jets, while Kyiv hopes for more Western support to start beating them back.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PLEITGEN (on camera): And, of course, Erin, the Ukrainians are well aware of the fact that if these jets come, if the U.S. and its allies give jets to Ukraine, that's something that's going to happen in the longer term. That could take months, it could take a couple of years.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy today in the United Kingdom also said Ukraine needs more immediate help -- longer-range missiles, very important right now with that offensive looming. But also more armor. The Ukrainians say that'll help them withstand that offensive and then possibly go on a counteroffensive as well, Erin.
BURNETT: All right. Fred, thank you very much, live in Kyiv tonight.
And also new tonight, Russia has just published a new list of Americans who are now banned from the country and subject to new sanctions. OUTFRONT now, one of the people who's just been banned and sanctioned by the Russian government, the retired Army Major General "Spider" Marks.
Also with me, retired Air Force Lieutenant General Charlie Moore, Tuna Moore.
General Marks, let me just ask you this. I know you sort of just found this out moments ago here that you're on this list. Why do you think the Russians have banned you now?
JAMES "SPIDER" MARKS, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Erin, I really have no clue. But, frankly, I think I'm a tad honored that they would put me in that category. I think exclusively I have a platform with CNN --
BURNETT: Looks like there was just a freeze of his video there.
General Moore, while we're trying to fix this, let me ask you here -- I'll get him back to talk about that. But we did just play a moment the breaking news a moment ago of Biden tonight saying that, yes, of course, the aid to Ukraine is open-ended. There would be no limit to it.
[19:10:01]
And it comes on the same day that we learned the U.K. is actively considering sending those British fighter jets to Ukraine.
Now, Russian response warned that doing that would mean military ramifications for the whole world. What is your biggest concern about this, when you hear, you know, possible British fighter jets and now open-ended aid from the U.S.?
LT. GEN. CHARLIE "TUNA" MOORE, FORMER DEPUTY COMMANDER, U.S. CYBER COMMAND: Well, there are a couple things to consider when you take a look at these advanced weapons systems that President Zelenskyy is asking for. Whether it's the fourth generation fighters like the typhoon to the F-16s, or the armor that he's asking for from U.K. and from Germany. The first is it is going to take time to train their operators to use these pieces of advanced equipment.
In the case of the fighters, I can tell you even if we send them very experienced capable pilots that have a couple years of experience or even combat experience since the Ukraine war started, to come and train on those aircraft, it's going to still take a while for them to get up to snuff in terms of being able to employ that aircraft effectively.
BURNETT: General Marks, I wanted to ask you about the time being of the essence. But, first, a chance for you to finish your thought about you being on this list.
MARKS: Well, I think the only reason I'm on the list is because I have an opportunity to have conversations with folks like you, Erin. I think that's it. And I'm as honest as I can be in terms of my assessment.
BURNETT: So, now, to the point that General Moore was just making, which is about the time it's going to take to get some of these new weapons systems, if they're going to be ready to go, right? You've got Fred Pleitgen's reporting. Putin pushing this offensive now, right?
And then you couple that with the reporting that we're now seeing that the Russian government is threatening more charges, longer penal colony sentences to prisoners who refuse to go to the front. And they're doing it most urgently the highest numbers, we understand, are in the regions bordering Ukraine, right? So the whole point is get them fast, get them on the front line. No pretense here of training.
So, if time is of such the essence here for Putin, what do you read into that?
MARKS: It tells me that clearly if I'm a prisoner in Russia, I'd prefer cold borscht than I would a bullet in the head by the Ukrainians. Russia is in a bad spot right now and they know it. And time is not on their side other than the strategic length of this engagement. I mean, I don't think Russia's going anywhere. But they're getting routinely smashed when they engage with the Ukrainians. So he's throwing, frankly, he's throwing good money after bad. These soldiers are not going to be trained, as you indicated. They are going to be rushed into the fight, and I think the Ukrainians are going to have a tremendous opportunity to kill as many Russians as they can.
What is lacking, however, as described by General Moore, which is the ability to conduct operational warfare. This three-dimensional fight with aircraft synchronized on the ground, not separate engagements. Fighting aircraft in concert with the ground, that's what the Ukrainians seem to have and that's a longer time frame.
BURNETT: Right. The prisoners that we understand that are being rushed to the front lines are reportedly going to join Wagner Group forces, the . The understanding is that the government is the one saying longer sentence or we're going to put these other charges. This is the Russian government full force behind getting more mercenaries on the ground for the Wagner Group. What does that say to you?
MOORE: Well, this has been Putin's turn-to around the globe and in many difficult situations, from Syria to countries throughout Africa. When Putin wants an organization to do his dirty work and to have some level of deniability, he's reached out to Prigozhin and his Wagner troops who've committed countless war crimes and atrocities around the globe.
When things did not start going well in Ukraine, he reached out again to Prigozhin and Wagner and brought those troops in. And they started showing a lot of success compared to the Russian regulars. And, so, that has elevated Prigozhin's view with Putin. It's also elevated his power and prestige back in Moscow.
BURNETT: All right. Thank you both very much. I appreciate your time tonight.
And next, a new report on the trouble Trump is having with big spenders. The former president, we are now learning, is struggling to get some of the GOP's biggest donors to back his bid for re-election. It's a crucial statement on a critical time. So who are they trying to reach instead? We got this special report.
Plus, Congressman George Santos responding to Senator Mitt Romney's comments about Biden's state of the union, saying that the embattled New York Republican doesn't belong in Congress.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. GEORGE SANTOS (R-NY): It wasn't very Mormon of him. That's what I can tell you.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: And a miracle among the rubble. A young child pulled alive 60 hours after the devastating earthquake that has now taken tens of thousands of lives. We're live on the ground.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:18:29]
BURNETT: Tonight, President Biden vowing to make a, quote, nightmare out of any Republican attempt to eliminate Medicare and Social Security. The president making the threat in Wisconsin, a day after his state of the union speech in which he and Republicans sparred in real time over spending cuts.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: They seem shocked when I raise the plans of some of the members and their caucus to cut Social Security, and Marjorie Taylor Greene and others stood up and said "liar, liar." A lot of Republicans, their dream is to cut Social Security, Medicare. Well, let me just say this. It's your dream, but my veto pen will make it a nightmare.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: It comes as Donald Trump, the only declared candidate in the 2024 presidential election, is struggling to raise money, as some big- name Republican donors are already saying, it's not just that they're just putting their money elsewhere, they're actually saying that they won't support him.
Here is an exclusive report from Kristen Holmes OUTFRONT.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DONALD TRUMP, FORMER PRESIDENT: America's comeback starts right now.
(CHEERS)
KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Donald Trump's 2024 presidential campaign facing some early financial red flags. Two major Republican groups backing away from the former president this week. First, the network affiliated with billionaire Charles Koch, indicating it would wade into the Republican primary to support a candidate other than Donald Trump.
Then, the Club for Growth, one of the biggest outside spenders in Republican politics, inviting six potential 2024 GOP hopefuls, including Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and former Vice President Mike Pence to a donor retreat.
[19:20:09]
But not inviting the former president. These groups have spent tens of millions of dollars in previous election cycles, boosting Republican candidates up and down the ballot.
This as some mega donors, who once supported Trump, like Stephen Schwarzman, have said they won't back him this time around. And others such as Miriam Adelson have indicated they plan to stay on the sidelines for now.
The early warning signs extending beyond big spenders, with the former president's campaign bringing in $9.5 million in the six weeks after he announced his latest White House bid. Less than the $11.8 million his political operation raised in the six weeks before his launch.
TRUMP: They said he's not doing rallies. I'm more angry now and I'm more committed now than I ever was.
HOLMES: Sources close to the former president brushed off his need to rely on big donors, pointing to his success in 2016 when many of them were lined up behind his rivals.
Trump's fundraising strength has come in large part from an energized base of small dollar donors, a group his team hopes to tap even more, when the former president is reinstated on Facebook in the coming weeks.
TRUMP: This campaign will be about the future.
HOLMES: Despite the struggles, Trump's operation still boasts a mountain of cash with a stockpile of more than $81 million across his various committees.
But Trump isn't the only Republican with a substantial war chest.
TRUMP: Thank you very much!
HOLMES: DeSantis' operation had more than $75 million left after the 2022 midterms. Funds his team has explored how to shift to potentially support a presidential campaign. While other possible contenders such as Pence and former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley have more modest sources of funds to tap for potential campaigns.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES (on camera): And, Erin, I just spoke to a source who said that Trump's super PAC MAGA Inc. is trying to ramp up its fundraiser efforts that are going to hold a fundraiser at Mar-a-Lago at the end of the month. And they have also hired a veteran fundraiser to help with those efforts and they're hiring regional fundraisers as well.
Now, I reached out to MAGA Inc. about those big donor groups backing away from Trump. And they said that the globalists were against Trump in 2016, and they lost, and they will lose again in 2024 if they cross him. But, of course, it's not a matter of if since they have already said that they are backing other candidates, Erin.
BURNETT: All right. Thank you so much, Kristen, for that reporting.
And now, Scott Jennings joins me, the former senior adviser to Mitch McConnell, and, of course, our political commentator, along with Ashley Allison, former national coalitions director for Biden/Harris 2020.
So, Scott, let me start with you and the reporting here that Kristen is laying out. They're not just doing it, they're saying it.
SCOTT JENNINGS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yeah.
BURNETT: And actually, you know, in the real world we tend to say that it goes the other way around. But in this world, it actually is very important, it's not what you do, it's what you say. And they're saying it publicly.
JENNINGS: These people didn't get rich by throwing good money after bad. They see a bad investment here. He lost the popular vote in two elections. He backed into the presidency once. He's being followed around now by the stink of losing.
And these guys don't want to lose. They don't like what Joe Biden's doing to the country and they think that Trump is likely to lose to him or another Democrat again. So, I think what you're seeing is some of the major donors and these groups -- by the way, these are not establishment groups.
Club for Growth, the Koch network, these are -- these are more conservative-edge groups. They're sort of in alignment, and they're not always in alignment, but you're starting to see that now across the donor spectrum.
BURNETT: They're in the ABT camp, the "anybody but Trump". They got their pick.
And, Ashley, here's the point, though, and I say this. Charles Koch, Ken Griffin, Steven Schwarzman, right, not always on the same team, but they are now -- the concern has to be tens of millions of -- this is going to be a lot of money. And they're looking to give it to somebody that they think can win.
Doesn't that worry you?
ASHLEY ALLISON, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, we always say, follow the money, because in politics, financial investment goes a long way when breaking through to really try and get traction.
And, so, if you are not supporting Donald Trump, potentially you could be looking at someone who's not the frontrunner in the Republican Party. And that type of dumping of funds onto DeSantis, who already has a great slush fund because of his former campaign. Or Pence or Nikki Haley, it really does give them an opportunity to catapult ahead of Donald Trump in spending in those earlier primary states.
The question is, is it enough to get ahead of him to beat in the primary? And then it becomes a bigger question of Democrat and Republican. But right now, I'm looking at where this money is going to see if it can push somebody else ahead of Trump. JENNINGS: And these other candidates, they need it because Trump, in
his defense on this, is the king of small-dollar donations. When that kicks in, when they do a mail program, when they get their fundraising --
[19:25:02]
BURNETT: You think that'll close some of the gap?
JENNINGS: Absolutely.
He will -- he will against them. Now he may lose some small-dollar donors to a DeSantis or other candidates, but he's the king of it and there will be money there even if the big donors are going away.
BURNETT: All right. And the context here and the broader political spectrum here as you've got Biden going to Florida tomorrow, but he's making this big argument about Social Security and Medicare, and the conversation that some Republicans have wanted to get rid of those things.
So it came up last night in the State of the Union, and it was raucous. Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BIDEN: That means Congress doesn't -- vote. Well, I'm glad to see -- now, I tell you, I enjoy conversion.
As we all apparently agree, Social Security and Medicare is off the books now, right?
(CHEERS)
All right. We got unanimity.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: All right. As we were sort of joking there, there was a time when yelling "you lie" was this horrible crossing of a line. And now just, liar, liar, and it's just back and forth. And he played into it to say, okay, I've accomplished this.
How important of a moment was that?
ALLISON: That was fascinating, to me, to watch. It almost felt like negotiating on the floor for a consensus vote on two issues where I do believe both parties have fallen on different sides of the spectrum.
I mean, I think we're in a new era of politics where "you lie" is no longer a clutch or pearls moment. If we can flashback to six weeks ago when we had Republicans lurching after each other over a party speaker vote, I think it's important, though, because I think Americans deserve to see how the people they elected to represent them behave, not just behind closed doors back in the days when people, you know, older white men smoked cigars and made deals. I want to see it up close and personal because I want to know the
character you are, who you are, and what kind of deals you're making. And last night, it seemed like Joe Biden was able to close the deal.
BURNETT: I mean, punching on the floor. Things haven't changed. There is no clutching your pearls moment.
But when Biden said, Republicans want to eliminate the entitlements, he was met with boos and jeering. I just played some of them. But here's how the whole thing started, Scott.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BIDEN: Some Republicans want Medicare and Social Security to sunset. I'm not saying it's a majority.
(BOOS)
Let me give you -- anybody who doubts it, contact my office, I'll give you a copy, I'll give you a copy of the proposal.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Now, Speaker McCarthy said Republicans need to be smart and not take the bait from Biden. Do you agree? Just let this go, move on?
JENNINGS: Well, Republicans are frequently attacked by Democrats on this issue. There must be an election coming because the Democrats talking about Republicans and entitlements. But what's egregious here is that Biden, in the Republican mind, is being very dishonest, saying we're not going to do the debt ceiling deal if we don't do the Rick Scott plan, which nobody in Congress really wants, except for Rick Scott.
BURNETT: Rick Scott plan is every federal program sunset after five years. He didn't list exceptions which is why they're saying --
JENNINGS: And Mitch McConnell's against it, Kevin McCarthy's against it. Everybody on the floor of the Congress is against it. I mean, it's a gad fly position.
Biden hates it when Republicans describe gad fly positions to him, such as, I don't know, defund the police. But now he's doing it to Republicans. It's blatantly dishonest and that's why you saw people reacting the way they did.
BURNETT: All right. Thank you both very much. A conversation to be continued.
OK. Next, Congressman George Santos just responding to Senator Mitt Romney's slam that the New York Republican doesn't belong in Congress.
As a top expert on pathological lying tells OUTFRONT that this appears to be a clear-cut case when it comes to pathological liars, right? So, you know, you throw the term around. Well, guess what, there's no throwing around anymore. He's next. Plus, we're at the scene of what was a 14-story residential building is now just a pile of concrete. Pile of concrete. Families were crushed inside as they slept.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:32:31]
BURNETT: Tonight, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy telling reporters he is okay with embattled Republican George Santos attending classified briefings. The full house is set to be briefed on China tomorrow morning.
And this comes with Santos defending himself against attacks from Senator Mitt Romney who hold him that he didn't belong in Congress during this tense exchange just before last night's State of the Union.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. GEORGE SANTOS (R-NY): It's not the first time in history that I've been told to shut up and go to the back of the room, especially by people who come from a privileged background. And it's not going to be the last. And I'm never going to shut up and go to the back of the room.
And I think it's reprehensible that the senator would say such a thing to me in the demeaning way he said. It wasn't very Mormon of him. That's what I can tell you.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Making it about privilege. Well, Santos facing growing calls to resign not because of privilege but because of his many lies, with one of his fellow Republicans calling him a, quote, sociopath today.
Eva McKend is OUTFRONT.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PROTESTERS: New York 3, Santos free.
EVA MCKEND, CNN NATIONAL POLITICAL REPORTER (voice-over): The spate of lies from freshman Congressman George Santos have done more than anger his constituents. It's also raising serious questions about why Santos constantly lies.
CHRISTIAN HART, PSYCHOLOGIST, PROFESSOR, TEXAS WOMAN'S UNIVERSITY: When we're talking about pathological lying, we have a clear-cut example in the headlines every day.
MCKEND: Christian Hart is a psychologist who directs the human deception laboratory at Texas Woman's University.
What is a pathological liar? HART: Someone who has a maladaptive pattern of lying. They lie
excessively, telling the lies, and they typically cause a lot of problems in their life, problems with relationships, problems in the workplace, sometimes legal problems.
MCKEND: Among Santos' lies that have been exposed in the months following his election include --
SANTOS: I actually went to school on a volleyball scholarship.
My mom was a 9/11 survivor.
I'm a Latino Jew.
My grandparents survived the Holocaust.
I also founded my own nonprofit organization.
MCKEND: While it's still unclear what is motivating Santos' lies, psychologists like Hart say there is always a reason.
HART: People don't lie at random. They believe there won't be repercussions for their lying. And then also they can somehow morally justify they're lying or prove to themselves that they're still an okay person.
SANTOS: I've lived an honest life. I've never been accused of any bad doing.
[19:35:01]
MCKEND: Without meeting Santos, he can't diagnose him, but says his pervasive lying does say something about him.
HART: When we see people telling egregious lies like that, and there appears to be a lifelong pattern associated with it, I would say certainly he seems to be the type of person who's engaging in pathological lying.
MCKEND: There was this moment at the State of the Union Address where Senator Romney approached him, and he didn't seem apologetic at all.
HART: We see this pattern a lot, and people with psychopathic tendencies, or people with antisocial personality disorders -- and in those cases what we find is that those people are extremely comfortable manipulating and using and exploiting people, and they do so with very little guilt or shame, and tend not to have remorse.
MCKEND: And Hart says that for those that are pathological liars, it's not so easy to detect.
HART: They seem to be making a completely truthful and compelling case. It's only when we look for the evidence that we see that that was a lie.
(END VIDEOTAPE) MCKEND (on camera): And new tonight, Erin, our colleague Kit Maher has learned Democratic Congressman Robert Garcia of California is introducing a resolution to expel Congressman Santos tomorrow.
Now, this is significant because this marks the first official expulsion resolution that has been introduced against the Long Island Republican. But don't expect this to go far. That resolution not anticipated to be brought up for a floor vote in the Republican-led House, and will instead be referred to the ethics committee -- Erin.
BURNETT: All right. Eva, thank you very much for your reporting.
And now, let's bring in Republican Congressman Anthony D'Esposito of New York, who was the first House Republican to call on Santos to step down.
And, Congressman, I really appreciate your time.
So, the House speaker tells CNN tonight he's okay with Santos attending tomorrow's briefing on China. It's a classified briefing. Do you agree with that?
REP. ANTHONY D'ESPOSITO (R-NY): Well, I definitely do have some concerns. I think the fact that George Santos, we didn't feel, should have the ability to serve on committees. I don't think that he should be serving or hearing any briefings either. I told my staff that any letters that are being sent out, group letters about certain policies with George Santos' name on, I don't want to be involved, I'd rather send one on my own.
He's taken this institution and really made it a laughingstock. I mean, people from throughout this country are now focused, and George Santos has become somewhat of a household name. And it's not for anything good.
When you are constantly on "Saturday Night Live" and the nightly shows being mocked because you literally lied your way to the halls of the United States Congress, I agree with my colleagues from New York and Long Island, and I agree with what Senator Romney said last night. There was just no reason for Santos to even be there, and definitely not sitting on the aisle. Because he knew that he was going to catch the eyes of cameras and journalists, and that's exactly what he wants, and that's exactly what he likes.
BURNETT: Yeah, it was clear, he wanted that.
Now, the House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, of course, has refused to join you, Congressman, in calling on Santos to resign. His most recent quote is, if ethics finds something, we'll take action. And he's referring to the ethics committee. I'm sure, broadly speaking, he understands where we are ethically on this issue. He's talking about the committee itself.
Is that enough, in your view?
D'ESPOSITO: Listen, I think that the speaker has taken this role as our leader, and he's looking at this issue from a broad view. And I think that he's making the best decisions for all of us and for this institution.
And I know that we've had conversations many of the New York delegation that have called for his resignation. We've had conversations with all of the leadership. They've been super open and supportive. They understand where we're coming from. And I believe that, you know, speaker McCarthy has the best interest of all of us at hand. And I know that when ethics reviews this, I think we're all pretty clear where that's going to end up.
BURNETT: Right. And I think it's important, as you emphasize, you all are from where he's from, New York. And speaking from -- this isn't someone coming from far away.
Last night, I know was your first State of the Union Address as a member of Congress. But it was unlike any that we've ever seen or certainly that you would have seen as a viewer. But you were in the room.
Some of your fellow Republicans heckled President Biden. Here's just one example.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BIDEN: Fentanyl is killing more than 70,000 Americans a year.
(BOOS)
BIDEN: You got it.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: China!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's your fault!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Now, of course, Congressman, that wasn't the majority of your party, and the president made that clear. But there were plenty of them. And it was constant, it was heckling.
[19:40:02]
Do you think it was appropriate?
D'ESPOSITO: I think people are frustrated. Some of the things that the president said, although I think he meant well and he did explain and try to put forth a bipartisan future for all of us and for America.
I think there were certain issues that he focused on that perhaps he wasn't lying, but he definitely wasn't giving the whole truth. And I don't want to speak for any of my colleagues, but I know that there was some frustration there. Many issues that, I guess, they have been dealing with for longer than I've been in Congress. And it seemed that the president didn't really want to focus on the specific truths. And like I said, I think there was some frustration that probably got
the best of some people.
BURNETT: Congressman, thank you very much. I appreciate your time tonight.
D'ESPOSITO: Thank you very much.
BURNETT: And, next, a remarkable story of survival. A 5-year-old pulled from the rubble in Turkey nearly 60 hours after that devastating earthquake. We're live on the ground.
Plus, Kim Jong-un drops a huge event about his successor. Take a look at that young girl with him.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BURNETT: Tonight, miracle rescue. Six people including that young child that you see there in the rescuer's arms were pulled from the rubble today alive. It's an incredible miracle. It's 60 hours after that 7.8 massive earthquake devastated Turkey and Syria.
Rescue efforts now have just incredible urgency because the death toll has now topped 12,000.
[19:45:08]
And an untold number of people are still buried, and every minute now matters.
Jomana Karadsheh is OUTFRONT.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOMANA KARADSHEH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The 5-year-old emerges from underneath the rubble in Turkey's hard hit, one of the youngest of thousands of lives saved. But for too many, it was too late.
In the town of Kherkan (ph), they mourned many who have not made it out alive. Nearly 72 hours after the deadly quake, the search for survivors grows more desperate. How many are buried under the wreckage of this massive quake zone, no one really knows. Estimates in the tens of thousands.
Here in Adana, search and rescue crews worked tirelessly around the clock digging through that used to be a 14-story residential building where families lay asleep when the monstrous earthquake hit. Survivors have gathered at the site of the rescue mission as shelter and hot meals. And in the bitter cold, they huddle around these fires, everyone with a story of the horror they've survived -- the shock, the trauma, the pain visible on every face.
Parents doing what they can to try and make their little ones forget. Many here are anxiously awaiting news of their loved ones and friends buried under what's left of their homes. They're asking us to get down, and we believe this is because they're
scanning the building, the wreckage. This is a very, very careful and delicate operation that's going on to try and see if they can locate any survivors because so far they haven't been able to. No survivors yet.
No survivors yet, only lifeless bodies pulled. It's been three days. Why can't they get my son out, this father wails.
As night falls, the rest of the family wait desperately for any news of the 25-year-old. They've been out here for three long nights.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's so, so, so bad. Because all these nights, we are thinking my family, my relatives, my cousin's dad, he is crying so much. He is wondering where is his son.
KARADSHEH: Your cousin's dad, we saw him earlier, he was crying.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, we all cry. That's why -- I don't know how to say, we should pray to God.
KARADSHEH: And that is all they and countless others can do right now.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KARADSHEH (on camera): And, Erin, it's nearly 4:00 in the morning here. It is freezing cold, and the search and rescue crews here haven't stopped. It's been a consecutive three days and nights that they have been working nonstop to try and find survivors. But so far they haven't found any. They believe there were hundred people in this building. They have retrieved at least 13 bodies and just in the last few minutes, we witnessed them pulling another body out of that building, Erin.
BURNETT: Jomana, thank you very much.
And, next, the young girl standing next to Kim Jong Un. That is his daughter. And her standing here is very significant. There is now speculation swirling that she could be the next chosen one affecting world history.
Plus, we're hearing from a doctor tonight on the future of Buffalo Bills' star Damar Hamlin who went into cardiac arrest, collapsing on the field.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:52:42]
BURNETT: Tonight, incredible new satellite images out of North Korea. Thousands gathering in Pyongyang for a military parade, marking the 75th anniversary of the North Korean army. More than a dozen ballistic missile launchers driving past throngs of supporters.
It comes as Kim Jong-un puts this little girl, reportedly his 9-year- old daughter, front and center at a splashy and crucial military banquet. Some experts believe he is doing it for a very specific reason.
Will Ripley is OUTFRONT.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WILL RIPLEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): At this lavish banquet for the North Korean Army's 75th anniversary, supreme leader Kim Jong-un with his wife and a girl around 9 years old, a girl some say could be the chosen one, the one being groomed as the next North Korean leader.
By showing quality time with his daughter, it looked like he wanted to showcase his family as a good and stable one, he says, and to show himself as a leader for normal people.
Her life is anything but normal. Her name is Kim Ju-ae, at elementary school age, she already outranks a room full of senior military officers.
North Korean state media describing her as Kim's respected daughter, getting a standing ovation.
DENNIS RODMAN, FORMER NBA PLAYER: I call him my friend. He's my friend.
RIPLEY: We first learned her name from Dennis Rodman, the one time buddy of the basketball loving Kim, claimed he even got to hold the pint-sized princess in 2013, when she was a baby. A few months ago, Kim's daughter made her state media reveal, for an ICBM test at Pyongyang's airport, inspecting her father's prized arsenal, an arsenal she could someday command.
A source with knowledge of the North Korean leadership threw cold water on the notion it was a successor reveal, telling CNN it's too early to make assumptions or speak about any possible successor. For sure, it's a clear signal Chairman Kim is sending to the world, a firm commitment to protecting his family and future generations with the nuclear program.
If chosen, she'd be the first female and fourth generation of Kim family leadership, like her father, grandfather and great grandfather. The family formula -- fear, control and a carefully crafted PR campaign, propaganda praising the future leader's power and prowess.
[19:55:04]
His successor can be boy or girl, youngest or oldest, it doesn't matter. The only mission, carry on the Kim family's fortune and power.
For while, Kim's younger sister, Kim Yo-jong, was viewed as Kim's possible eventual successor. She's known for her fiery speeches. She once directed the country's armed forces to blow up a joint liaison office near the border. Now the eyes of the world are on Kim's daughter. Experts analyzing
every picture, every article for clues about the possible next North Korean leader, all of it likely before her 10th birthday.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
RIPLEY (on camera): Why do they start so young? Because they have to craft this narrative. Her whole life story is essentially planned for her. She's not even 10 yet. They will have all of these heroic exploits, things she will achieve and it's going to be splashed all over the papers and television in a nation that the government controls the message.
So, by the time she were to rise to power, if indeed she is the successor, there's no question that she's qualified. It's interesting. One analyst told me perhaps the biggest reason why she was chosen, her age, because Kim is also young. She looks like her dad. And that's important in this nation where the image is so important in projecting credibility. It's fascinating.
BURNETT: It's really fascinating. A lot of people would be surprised that it would be the girl, a girl that's picked. It could be either. There's that. And she does -- spitting image of her father from the images you showed.
All right. Will Ripley, thank you very much.
And next, the comeback of Damar Hamlin after his near death experience. Hear his message.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BURNETT: The incredible recovery of Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin. It has been nearly a month since he went into cardiac arrest. Today, the league is getting ready for the Super Bowl and Hamlin accepted an award for his charity work.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAMAR HAMLIN, BUFFALO BILLS SAFETY: One of my favorite quotes, it's 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. Thank you.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: It's amazing to watch. He didn't say anything about his future. But on a radio show today, the medical director of the NFL Players Union predicted, in fact, even said it's a guarantee that Hamlin will play pro football again.
Thanks for joining us.
"AC360" begins now.
