and before we go, some parting words from rock pioneer david crosby, who has died at the age of 81. crosby was an avid tweeter. 81 years old and an avid tweeter. he was tweeting about his plans for the future just weeks ago. he tweeted "so i played with some friends the day before yesterday and spent today singing with two really good friends, and hmm, dare i say it? i can i'm starting yet another band and going back out to play live." so many here would have loved to hear crosby one more time. but maybe his words are more prescient than we know. maybe he is doing just like he said. thanks for joining us. "ac 360" starts now. good evening, but a sad one. david crosby has died. he was a founding member of the

birds, crosby, stills and nash, and crosby, still, nash & young. a legendary songwriter that managed all at once to be of his era and for the ages. ♪ ♪ helplessly hoping heart again hovers nearby, awaiting a word ♪ ♪ gasping at glimpses of gentle truth's spirit, he runs, wishing he could fly ♪ >> that is david crosby with steven stills and graham nash at woodstock. only their second concert as a trio, still famously telling the crowd there how scared they were. for most of his 81 years, his music career seemed fearless in a life that was at times as turbulent as his music was at

times soothing and brilliant. our randi kaye has more. >> reporter: he helped shape the sound of 1960s folk recognize as a founding member of the birds. but david crosby will always be best known as a founding member of crosby, stills and nash. the wildly popular group was made up of crosby, steven stills and graham nash. their sound distinctive for its melody and harm days. ♪ i am yours, you are mine, you are what you are ♪ >> reporter: in the midst of the late '60s laurel canyon scene in california, their debut album went multiplatinum. >> it's an absolute joy. it's what i was born to do. i love it more than anything except my family. it's the most fun you can have. and yes, i'm including sex. it's really, really a joy. you're communicating to people. you're making them feel something. ♪ >> reporter: in 1969, neal young

joined the group, and together they emerged as a powerful culture influence. ♪ a clash of egos between young and crosby got in the way, though. >> i was not easy. big ego, no brains. >> reporter: the original trio disbanded during the '70s, but some members would regroup, including coming back together to release the classic "southern cross." ♪ i have been around the world, looking for that woman girl ♪ >> reporter: in 1989, they played the berlin wall. ♪ ♪ and the wall came tumbling down ♪ >> we had this song called "chipping away" that just fit it. and we said hey, we're going to go there and sing that song. we wanted to do it and we did it. >> reporter: over the years crosby struggled with addiction. in 1982 after his arrest in texas on drug and weapons

charges, he would spend five months in prison. >> i had to, you know, finish up being a completely wasted addict and then spend a year in prison to get straight. and then once i did that, i jumped back in wholeheartedly. >> reporter: cocaine and alcohol abuse took its toll, causing crosby to have liver transplant surgery in 1994. he wrote about his addictions in an autobiography called "long time gone." still, crosby continued to tour after that. in june 2021, crosby spoke with howard stern and offered his philosophy on life. >> i am at the end of my life, howard, and it's a very strange thing. and here's what i've come to about it. it's not how much time you've got, because we really don't know. i could have two weeks. i could have ten years. it's what you do with the time that you do have. and so i'm trying to really spend it well. whatever -- each day that i get, i'm very grateful for, and try

to do it making music, because i think the world needs music. >> reporter: david crosby was 81. >> just a short time ago, graham nash posted a statement on his facebook page. i'm going to read some of it to you. "with a deep and profound sadness that i learned my friend david crosby has passed. i know people tend to focus on how volatile our relationship has been at times, but what has always mattered to david and me more than anything was the pure joy the music we created together, the sound, and the deep friendship we shared over these many long years." he added "david was fearless in life and in music. he leaves behind a tremendous void as far as sheer personality and talent in this world. he spoke his mind, his heart and his passion through his beautiful music and leaves an incredible legacy. these are the things that matter most. my heart is truly with his wife jan, his son django, and all the people he has touched in this world." joining us is author of "rock me

on the water: 1974, the year los angeles transformed music, television, politics and music." and stephanie elam. stephanie, what is the crosby family say, and how are others in the music industry reacting tonight? >> it doesn't really matter how long someone has lived, how long their career has been. it's still always devastating when someone -- people have listened to their music and grown up with passes away. and you can see this with the outpouring of emotion coming out. and the family putting out a statement as well, anderson. let me just read to you what they said in their statement here. "it is with great sadness after a listening illness that our beloved beloved david cros crosby has passed away. he was lovingly surrounded by his wife and soul mate jan and son django. although he is no longer with us, his soul will continue to inspire and inspire us. he will live on through his incredible music.

peace, love and harmony to all who knew david. peace and love to all he touched. they're asking for privacy while they're dealing with this profound loss, which you can only imagine. it's not just the immediate family. it's also massive iconic musicians like melissa etheridge. you may remember that david crosby was the biological father to her two children, one of whom has predeceased crosby, but still, i want to read her tweet as well that she put out today. "i am grieving the loss of my friend and bailey's biological father david. he gave me the gift of family. i will forever be grateful to him, django and jan. his music and legacy will inspire many generations to come, a true treasure." anderson? >> ron, can you talk about david crosby's legacy and his career? there is a lot i didn't know. and reading from your book, it is extraordinary his contributions to music, to folk

rock in l.a. which really kind of kicked off rock 'n roll in that time period. >> yeah. look, he was a founding father of folk rock in general and of the l.a. sound in particular. one of the original members of the birds, which were in many ways the fountainhead from which so much developed over the next decade, their recording of "mr. tambourine man," bob dylan's mr. tam pour rinaman set the template for what came later. and then when you move forward a few years to crosby, stills, and nash and crosby, still, nash & young, they were very conscious of being a voice of their generation, and very determined to be relevant. in his memoir many years later, david crosby wrote about writing songs that reacted when the world slapped us in the face. and the most famous example, "it's ohio" their song about kent state. neil young and david crosby are together in northern california.

neil young sees the famous photo of the girl kneeling in the road and crying. he goes off into the woods. half an hour later emerges with the song ohio. david crosby emerges for the whole band to get together that night in l.a. and it's out on the street in a few days. the code of the post strip of the story, after the band broke up, when they finally got back together for this giant kind of chaotic reunion tour in 1974 that crosby labeled the doom tour because of all the drugs and craziness, "ohio" was their last encore many nights as richard nixon was marched towards resignation in the watergate scandal engulfed him. in many ways, they got the last word. >> and ron, you said crosby was the figure who really introduced joni mitchell to the world, bringing to l.a., showcasing her in people's living rooms in laurel canyon. >> can you imagine that? joni mitchell was getting started as a folk singer. they met i believe i recall in florida.

he brought her out to l.a. and would kind of showcase her in people's living rooms. 1968 or so los angeles, he would introduce joni mitchell and she would sit on the floor and play the guitar and sing her songs. he actually produced her first album. she was so beautiful, so talented, so incredible. someone said to me after seeing one of these mini concerts in somebody's living room, the next day i woke up and i was like did i hallucinate that? crosby really was -- look, he was an incredibly smooth voice in an incredibly rough personality. he was ultimately driven out of the birds. the crosby, still, nash & young were four unstable elements that constantly combusted into flames, but the music had a real impact over time. and particularly, in being relevant to that moment. csn really is the sound of time and shaped what followed in l.a. when it really blossomed as the

dominant force in a.m. radio in the early 1970s. >> stephanie, i want to play a clip from a cnn special a few years ago on woodstock where crosby talked about death with our colleague bill weir. >> this burst of creativity you've had, you're singing about death. do you think about how you want to be remembered? >> not so much. this songs will do that. they're the best i can do. that's the weird thing. everybody is scared to talk about it. the question is what are you going to do with it? how do you spend that two weeks or that ten years? and i got that figured out. family, music. ♪ we got to get ourselves back ♪ >> because it's the only thing i can do. >> i mean, after this extraordinary arc of life, that is what in the end it boiled down to for him, family and music.

>> you know, there is people in the world who search their entire lives trying to figure out what they're supposed to do. david crosby was not one of those people. he was doing what he was born to do. and he felt like this was the best thing that he could be doing is making music. he was all about his relationships. and when you listen to the words of the songs that he's known for from the birds or from crosby, still, nash & young, you can listen to those words and see it's about the connections that we make. all of that matters while you're here on earth is basically what it seemed like david crosby was saying. that is something that he is very true about. people do not want to talk about death, but he was much more practical about the way he saw it. >> ron, you mention ohio. i want to play some of that. we got it cued up. because i think what you said about it is so interesting. let's just listen. ♪ ten soldiers, we're finally on our own, this summer i hear the

drumming, in ohio ♪ ♪ got to get down to it, soldiers are cutting us down ♪ ♪ should have been dying long ago ♪ >> it's so interesting. it's so interesting the story you told after that, the incident after they saw the photograph. who was it who actually wrote it? >> neil young. >> neil young. >> went off into the woods for half an hour, wrote the song, came back, and then and crosby arranged for the whole band to get together later that same day in l.a. and record it. to me, like kind of like i said, the postscript on the story is that the band blew up in '70, '71. and in 1974, david geffen, the great music entrepreneur, who really, he was the one who liberated all of them from their various contracts and allowed them to come together in the first place as csn, arranging this complex deal with clive

davis at cbs to allow the band to form in the first place. he convinced them to get back together for a reunion tour. so in 1974, their old antagonist nixon had won this 49-state reelection in 1972, utterly dispiriting the entire band, he was heading down in flames in disgrace over watergate, and they are back on tour together, playing "ohio" every night. and they were on -- they were on stage in new jersey on the night in august 1974 when nixon resigned. and i believe it was graham nash who went to the microphone and said "guess what? he's gone." kind of got the last word. and then somewhere along that night, they played "ohio" again as kind of their last word on richard nixon." >> ron, you said he was cantankerous. there was him on stage and his voice, and then the personal relationships. what was so volatile? was it related to drugs and alcohol? or was it just personality?

>> well, you know, these were years of big personality. and, you know, bands are hard. as everybody explains to me. cameron crowe and others could explain more than. crosby was kind of -- i wouldn't say a solitary soul, but somebody who really knew what he wanted and didn't always get along well with others. >> he himself said he was all ego back then. >> yeah, right. the birds literally fired him. roger and gene clark and the other members pushed him out of the band. he had already taken one step out of the band because in 1967, at the monterey pop festival, he had performed with buffalo springfield, which was going through its own kind of breakup spasm. and that's where he and steven stills got together. and the two of them got together. and then graham nash was dating joni mitchell, and he shows up at her house one days and stills and crosby are there. they start singing together, and he said he realized at that

moment he had to leave everything, his whole life in england and move to l.a. to be with joni mitchell, but also to hold on to that sound that he heard that day in her house in laurel canyon when the three of them sang together for the first time. >> wow, amazing. ron brownstein, thank you. stephanie elam, thank you so much. appreciate it. coming up next, breaking news on the republican candidate in new mexico accused in the shootings of four prominent democrats. :00 investigators looking at his campaign was funded in part by drug sales. the charges alec baldwin is facing from the shooting on the set of "rust." and what ukraine is saying russia could be planning on the battlefield. you ok, man? the internet is telling me a million different ways i should be trading. look! what's up my trade dogs? you should be listening to m you want to be rich like me? you want to trust me on this one.

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introducing the new sleep number climate360 smart bed. the only smart bed in the world that actively cools, warms and effortlessly responds to both of you. our smart sleepers get 28 minutes more restful sleep per night. proven quality sleep. only from sleep number. more breaking news tonight. investigators who say failed new mexico republican state house candidate solomon pena hired a team of alleged accomplices to shoot up the homes of democratic political rivals are now investigating whether his campaign was funded in part by cash from fentanyl sales that may have been laundered into campaign contributions. cnn chief law enforcement intelligence analyst john miller, former deputy of intelligence at the nypd joins us now. he shares the byline on this story. so what have you learned about this investigation and how pena's campaign may have been funded partially? >> well, yesterday cnn's paul murphy was digging into the

campaign finance records of the pena campaign and found suspects -- found one of the suspect's names, names of a suspect's family member. we started digging a little more. >> one of the suspects in the shootings? >> exactly. >> so what you have is at 1:38 p.m., a car stop is done in albuquerque. inside they find jose trujillo. he is an individual who is known to police, who has claimed to be homeless. he's got $3,000 in cash, almost 900 fentanyl pills worth an estimated $15,000 on the street. a smoking gun in the trunk of the car that is ballistically matched to the last shooting of a democratic official, and it turns out, based on our research, that he is also the single largest campaign contributor to solomon pena's campaign for his job to attempt to be a state lawmaker.

>> and was he driving pena's car at the time? >> yes. he's driving the would-be representative's nissan maxima, which is interesting, because in one of the other shootings, the vehicle that was described as a getaway car was described as a black audi which happens to be the same color and make and model of a car that is pena's other car. >> so do police -- the drugs, the fentanyl connection is because fentanyl was found with trujillo in pena's car, and that might explain how he is able to make these large contributions to his campaign. >> it appears that trujillo and possibly others who is working, one of whom is his father, who we believe knew pena from prison when pena was serving time for being part of a smash and grab robbery team before he was a candidate. >> wait a minute. sorry. pena was part of a smash and grab robbery team, meaning they would steal cars, smash them

into what, electronic stores? >> they would drive the car through the window of a big box store and steal flat screen tvs, high end electronics. he ends up going to prison for that where we believe he makes the initial contacts that allows him to put together this crew during and after the campaign to intimidate these political rivals. but the key here, as you were zeroing in on is none of these people seemed to have any source of income. and you have trujillo and another family member who donates $5,000. comes right up to the legal limit for contributions. then his relative who is also apparently without any resources donates $4,000. not politically active, no sign that they've ever donated to a campaign before. and the main source of income for trujillo in that car seems to be cash and fentanyl. >> and just to be clear, this guy is running as a republican for the congress, a big supporter of the former

president allegedly a law and order candidate. >> right. he is a law and order candidate. a trump supporter. he is an election denier. and of course he carries that through in his own election. anderson, it wasn't close. he lost by 47 points. and he is saying they stole the election. >> in an overwhelmingly democratic district. john miller, thank you. 15 months after tragedy struck the set of the alec baldwin movie "rust," prosecutors say they will charge baldwin and hannah gutierrez-reed with two counts of involuntary manslaughter. cnn's josh campbell has details. >> reporter: set in the old west, "rust" was filming outside of santa fe. baldwin and crewmembers were rehearsing a scene inside a church when a prop gun in the actor's hand discharged. >> we have two injuries from the movie, gunshot. >> reporter: killing cinematographer halyna hutchins and wounding director joel souza. >> this was a really fast and loose set that nobody was doing their job.

there were three people, that if they had done their job that day, this wouldn't have happened. that is david halls, hannah reed and alec baldwin. >> halls has already pleaded guilty to negligence of a weapon. baldwin has repeatedly claimed he pulled back the gun's hammer as far as he could without cocking the gun and released the hammer, telling cnn and others -- >> the trigger wasn't pulled. i didn't pull the trigger. >> you never pulled the trigger? >> no, no, no, i would never point the gun at anyone and pull the trigger. that was the training i had. you don't point the gun and pull the trigger. >> the district attorney disagrees. >> every person that handles a gun has a duty to make sure if they're going the handle that gun, point it at someone and pull the trigger, that it is not going to fire a projectile and kill someone. an actor doesn't get a free pass just because they're an actor. >> reporter: safety expert steve wolf has a theory as to why baldwin says he didn't pull the trigger. >> if your finger is on the trigger and you're not aware

that you're pressing it and you pull the hammer back and release it, the gun will also fire. and i believe that that's why he is saying he didn't press the trigger. >> reporter: baldwin's attorney says he will fight the charges, calling the decision a miscarriage of justice, and mr. baldwin had no reason to believe there was a live bullet in the gun or anywhere on the movie set. he relied on the professionals with whom he worked who assured him the gun did not have live rounds. an attorney for gutierrez-reed calls the charges wrong and believes the armorer will be found not guilty by a jury, and she did not commit manslaughter. she has been emotional about the tragedy, but has committed no crime. >> it's not clear to me there is criminal liability here. given all the circumstances, i'm not seeing that i'm really looking forward to what they are going to prove, because this is an aggressive charge, and i'm not sure they have. >> and josh campbell joins us now. has the family of halyna hutchins responded to the announcement? >> yeah, her surviving family members issued quite a strong statement after these charging decisions were announced today.

i'll read the statement. we want the thank the santa fe sheriff and the district attorney for concluding their thorough investigation and determining that charges for involuntary manslaughter are warranted for the killing of halyna hutchins, with conscious disregard for human life. our independent investigation also supports the charges are warranted. it is a comfort to the family that in new mexico, no one is above the law. we support the charges. we'll fully cooperate with the prosecution, and fervently hope the justice system works to protect the public and hold accountable those who break the law. as far as what happens next, i spoke with the district attorney today. she said that those charges will be filed by the end of the month. alec baldwin will then receive a summons to come here either in person or to appear by videoconference, and then the wheels of justice will start. we'll see what additional evidence prosecutors lay out in those charges documents. of course, anderson, we expect baldwin's legal team to put up an aggressive defense. >> josh campbell, we appreciate it. joining us now entertainment reporter chloe millos. and mark o'meara and veteran

hollywood prop who turned down a job on the set of "rust." chloe, was mr. baldwin aware that these charges were going to be announced today? >> according to his attorney, anderson, no. they felt blindsided. they learned about it in the press today, specifically just about 15 minutes before they were contacted by the district attorney. they are planning to see this through to trial. he's not going to take a plea deal, not that one was even offered or on the table. when i sat down with alec baldwin back in august, he has said this is a tragic accident, and he has said, anderson, that there was breakdown in the chain of command on the set. hannah gutierrez-reed, the armorer on the set should have known that there was a live bullet. and his big question is how did live bullets get to the set. but what was interesting today is that the d.a. basically saying it doesn't really matter, and we may never know how live bullets got to the set in the

first place. but he believes that that is where this all should start, and also dave halls, the assistant director, who took the plea deal telling him that this was a cold gun. so alec baldwin's attitude being, well, you know, if the gun goes off, there never should have been a live round in the first place. also, anderson, maintaining with me in august and still mai maintaining that he never pulled the trig, although the d.a. does not believe that. >> mark, just from a legal standpoint, can you explain? alec baldwin was a produce other tonight film as well as an actor in it. if he wasn't a producer, does being the producer, does that add a level of legal responsibility potentially here? >> yeah, i think actually it might. remember that involuntary manslaughter, which is what they're charged with is not an intent crime. it is a crime of negligence. a couple of ways you can do it in new mexico law. one is to commit an unlawful act like a misdemeanor, not a

felony. fireworks that cause a death. that could be invol manslaughter. the other way is to do a lawful act. let's just say using that gun in that scene was lawful, but doing it without proper contemplation and caution. and that's where the strength of the state's case is going to go. even though they're aggressive charges, they're going say, look, a gun is a dangerous instrumentality. we know that, and you have to presume that it's loaded. and if you didn't do everything you should have done, that's not enough caution, and he could find himself with a conviction of involuntary manslaughter. >> but mark, even if you have people who are supposedly experts, the armorer on the set handed you the gun, and the assistant director saying it's -- it's safe to use. >> and that's his defense. the defense is, look, movies are artificial to begin with. we make-believe there is war. we make-believe there is gun gunfights. we make-believe i'm hitting you

with a knife. and we're supposed to do this, and i rely on professionals. that's going to be the cornerstone of their defense. but under the law, like she said, even an actor, you have to have that caution, that circumspection to make sure if you're going to have a gun in your hand, an undeniable weapon that could cause injury, you have the personal responsibility to be cautious with it, not to rely on somebody else. >> neil, you have worked in the industry for a long time. does it make sense that gutierrez-reed was acting as the production's both armorer and prop assistant? i guess it was kind of a lower budget film. was she spread too thin? >> she should have never accepted the responsibility. and the production should have provided the salaries for appropriate number of personnel in the department. that's what i would respond to that. >> ultimately, where do you think the blame in this tragedy lies? >> i would say anyone who

participated in the management of the weapon. so a lot of that has to do with the culture that was established by the producers. and their failure, they had the option and opportunity to hire well seasoned, trained professionals to do this work, and they opted to make other situations. and that was really the beginning of the end for things on "rust." >> i appreciate it. thank you. just ahead, we're going to discuss why the white house sent one of the nation's top intelligence officials to ukraine as fears of a major russian spring offensive mount.

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there is breaking news in the war in ukraine with ukraine and western allies bracing for a possible brutal spring offensive from rush. cia director bill burns travelled to kyiv last week. he met with ukraine's president to discuss expectations for spring. according to "the washington post," which first broke the story, both sides discussed strategy, concerns for how long the u.s. electorate would support the war. the meeting comes at a critical moment obviously for the alliance in addition to a possible spring offensive, ukraine's western allies are at standoff whether to send german tanks. germany has demanded it send its abrams tanks as well. officials say the abrams tanks cost more to maintain, specifically the use of jet fuel use of diesel in the german tanks. plus, they say the german tanks can cover more ground before

needing to refuel. lloyd austin arrived in germany today for face-to-face negotiations. joined by national security analyst and former cia chief of russia operations and john hudson, national security reporter for "the washington post" which first broke the story about the cia director's visit. john, what have you learned first of all about the cia director's trip? >> yeah, well, ukrainian officials came away very pleased after hearing from the director, i'm told, by people familiar with the meeting. they had concerns of their own. one of the things that they mentioned in this discussion was how long can we rely on u.s. support. there has been billions and billions of dollars. we're coming up on a year. how strong is it? and obviously, first and foremost on their mind was the gop takeover of the house. the director reiterated the biden administration's iron-clad support for ukraine in this discussion. however, it's not all up to the biden administration. congress has an important role. the gop has some far right

members who are very much opposed to aid to ukraine. and so that's going to be a big thing to deal with. also in this briefing, these director shared the latest u.s. intelligence on russian military planning. obviously, it's a critical juncture right now. there is a huge war of attrition between the russians and the ukrainians. ukrainians forced to make very difficult decisions right now. are they going to expend a lot of resources on the war of attrition in the east, or are they going to save up a lot of those resources for the coming offensive in early spring. >> and steve, how big deal is it for a cia director to go himself to ukraine? what does that say to you? >> well, in this particular case, there's no doubt that burns is the guy to send he's got the gravitas. he is a russian hand. he served multiple times in russia as a state department officer, once served as the ambassador. he has seen the diplomacy side of it. now that he is on the intel side, he sees the politics. as the article points out

correctly, burns was the guy who was trying to convince zelenskyy and the ukrainians at the very beginning based on intelligence that look, the russians are indeed going to attack. but what you're alluding to a second ago s the important part. the ukrainians are in a really difficult position. they need know how best to use their limited resources. and that's when strategic intelligence is at its strongest. i'm sure that played a key role in getting him over there to talk to the president. >> it's such an important point. given the limited resources that ukraine has, despite all the money and weaponry that has been given from the u.s. and the west, these are life-or-death decisions they have to make about do you focus on what's going on in the east? do you pull back and allow others take a hit and aye aye lou towns to be taken back into russian control and marshall resources for perhaps a coming offensive. it's critical that they know what russia's plans are. >> the best example of that, anderson, i think is what's going on in belarus. because we've seen some saber

rattling. we've seen some training. the russian troops have been on russian territory multiple time. the russians going to open up front from there? that's something that strategic intelligence can really help with. if there is good intelligence that says no, that's just a fa feint to tie down reece rest sources, the resources can be used in other locations. that's the value of strategic intelligence, which is why not just the united states, but other nato intelligence services can help the ukrainians leverage whatever power, whatever forces, whatever assistance they're being given by the west to maximum effect against the russians. >> john, i assume you don't know exactly what burns, what message he delivered about russia's plans are. but do you have any indication of how how -- what the track record of the u.s. explanation of russia's plans have been to ukraine and how accurate they have been? is there a reason to believe that the u.s. would know what russia's plans are coming up?

>> well, from people that know about this meeting, i was told this is one of the reasons why they take very seriously what the director has to say. in terms of your question on track record, burns himself traveled personally to ukraine a month before the war started. and he told them where specifically the russians wanted to stage their capture of the capital of kyiv. it was at an airport outside of the country. that information has been credited by some people as helping the ukrainians get a heads up of are they needed to put troops and how they needed to defend themselveses. and it's why kyiv remains a free city right now, according to some. they do have a strong track record. obviously, there has been some frustration over the last year. u.s. officials want to know more about ukraine's planning. sometimes they feel like it's a black box. sometimes they feel they don't know that much about what's going on. these trips help to really

lubricate that relationship, keeping all sides closer together, building trust. that's what i've told was an extra benefit of this trip. >> that's really interesting. john hudson, i really appreciate it. steve hall as well. thank you. up head, a claim central to the myth of george santos and the death of his mom, ahead. of up to $26,000 per employee, evenen if it received ppp, and all it takes is eight minutes to get started. then we'll work with you to fill out your forms and submit the application; that easy. and if your business doesn't get paid, we don't get paid. getrefunds.com has helped businesses like yours claim over $2 billion but it's only available for a limited time. go to getrefunds.com, powered by innovation refunds.

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it's difficult to imagine how any politician not named george santos would have survived the last 24 hours with his job. in that time we learned the following. like so many of the congressman's claims that his mom was at the world trade center and survived 9/11 and the incident played a role in her death from cancer was false. he made it up. this is what he said more than a year ago. >> my mom was a 9/11 survivor. she was in the south tower, and she made it out. she got caught up in the ash cloud. >> that did not happen. we know that because immigration records for santos' mother, newly obtained by cnn indicate she was in brazil between 1999 and 2003. during 9/11, meaning she was not at the world trade center, nor could she have inhaled the ash cloud produced that day. what's more on this record, she lists both of her parents being born in brazil, which would undercut another santos claim, that his maternal grandparents fled the holocaust. now that is awful enough. it gets worse. there is also new allegation that he took off with money

raised to save the dog of a veteran who was homeless at the time. and santos isn't exactly denying the charge either. in a tweet today he said the reports of this allegation are both shocking and insane, but he doesn't specifically deny them. the veteran, rich osthoff and his mentor say they knew santos by the name anthony devoldar, and he set up a gofundme site for his pit bull who developed a tumor. he raised $3,000. he never saw it. santos blew up and refused to give me the money and wouldn't answer the calls anymore. the dog died months later. santos told cnn in a statement, quote, i have no clue what he is talking about. so i want to spend some time on santos' 9/11 claims, the feel good foundation assists emergency personnel who have faced energy and illness. also, nikia morgan, whose mom died on 9/11 and whose remains

were not identified until 20 years later. john, let me start with you, what is your reaction to santos lying about 9/11? >> i mean we got a lot to unpack here, right? he is the forrest gump of common. i mean, the holocaust, pulse nightclub, veteran's dogs, 9/11, there is nothing sacred to this man. and for every organization, every group, every background that he's hurt, he did it maliciously for self-gain. it's repugnant. it's repulsive. it's vile. this doesn't end well for him. >> it wasn't just lying to be a fabulist. it's lying to help your political career or lying to make money allegedly from a gofundme page. >> to capitalize on other people's pain, whether it's for political gain or financial gain, to continue to throughout

his adult life, i don't have -- listen, i know this is a cable show, and i can get colorful, but i do not want to start using four-letter words about this man. i'm disgusted. and, you know, i probably had about 300, 400 text messages and emails today. most of them were from widows. one thing i learned about 18 years ago in the 9/11 community, you don't tick off a 9/11 widow. and these women, these women who are generally peaceful, they want blood. and we want to be left alone. we're a finite number in the 9/11 community. we're getting smaller. we lose somebody on average every day. we're disrespected. and i pray that leadership, that kevin mccarthy finds that last ounce of dignity and does the right thing. and i don't think that will happen. i just been going to d.c. for the last 18, 19 years. and this is the republican

party. and i don't care if you're a republican or a democrat. this is about an evil man who maliciously lied, cheated, conned and didn't care the trail that he left behind. and to me that's un-american. it's unpatriotic. and for him to be so smug and so arrogant and say he has not once exonerated himself. all he says is this isn't true, this isn't -- let me tell you something. he is not built for prison, and that's where he is going, and his nickname will be pudding. >> nikia, the last time i spoke, your mom had just been found. >> yes. >> after 20 years, which is extraordinary. >> yeah. >> first of all, how you doing? >> i'm doing okay. a lot better as days go by .

it's hurtful. and to use that is just disgusting. >> does it surprise you that he's still in congress? >> oh, yes, definitely. definitely. he should be gone. there's no reason why he is there. on everything, all the lies, it is just absolutely ridiculous. and then to use something like that impacted the world. and to say, your mom, that just -- >> am i right, he's actually your congressman. >> yes. >> did you know, like, when he was running? did anything about it stand out to you? >> it did not, unfortunately. unfortunately, it really didn't. and i have to hold myself responsible for that, for not looking into it myself. >> we're all -- i didn't know about it. >> right, right. but just to use that, it's just

repulsive. it's -- >> you guys vetted me harder today to come on your show with a pre-interview to do the interview than george santos was vetted. come on. >> no, i mean, it's a failure on so many levels. it's unbelievable. >> she's one of over 3,000 who lost a loved one that day, that that wound is opened over and over again. and every time you think that scab is going to heal, this man, his face, his words, his actions, cause this woman more pain. it's unacceptable. >> and this is a congressman. it's ridiculous. there's no other way to describe that, just being disgusting. >> john, did you ever think we would be in a place where in this day and age that a sitting member of congress can lie about a personal connection to 9/11 and it not be an instant, just, torrent of people saying, okay,

enough? >> let me age myself here, because when i first started going to d.c., there were blue dog democrats, moderate republicans, conversation. now they're just bat-blank-crazy. >> the sides are so polarized. >> and we are at bat-blank-crazy right now. and he is an example what's wrong with congress. and it's an example what's working its way out to main stream america. we've got to stop it. stop the bleeding now. kevin mccarthy can easily fix this. he can fix this. and if kevin, if you're watching and if you're listening, be a man, man up, show the leadership that you were voted in for and do the right thing. this man is leaving a trail of pain behind him, and nobody's doing anything about it. >> john feal, thank you so much. really appreciate it. so good to see you. >> thank you. >> thank you. a new front in the governor of florida's culture war, but a

familiar subject. ron desantis targeting studies again that deal with race. now his administration is failing to explain why. we'll talk about this when we return. turn. but thanks to the right plan promise from unitedhealtlthcare she got a medicare plan experert to help guide heher to the right plan with the right care team behind her. ♪ wow, uh-huh.♪ and for her, it's a medicare plan with the aarp name. i hope i can keep up! the right plan promise, only from unitedhealthcare. get help finding your plan at uhc.com/medicare.

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republican governor of florida making news today. ron desantis' administration is blocking advanced placement or ap course on african american studies in high schools. the administration wrote to a letter to the college board, which administers the aboards, quote, the content is contrary to florida law and significantly lacks educational value. no mention of what law would be violated by the courts or what in the curriculum was objectionable. a spokesman told cnn the course, quote, leaves large ambiguous gaps, which could be filled with material which we will not allow.

joining me now, bakari sellers, also former trump campaign adviser and supporter of ron desantis, david urban. what does it say to you that the administration -- excuse me, i'm coughing -- doesn't reject the course. we're talking about an ap american studies course. >> i think they said all they needed to say. and they said this african american studies court doesn't have any value. i've been speaking with my friends about this via text, et cetera, and one of them just recently text me that they're trying to erase our history. and that's exactly what they're trying to do. this is anti-intellectualism. this is anti-black racism. when we talk about systemic racism, this is what we're talking about. it's the way we go about ensuring people do not learn about the burdens african americans went through. i haven't seen the curriculum,

but i'm an african american studies major. i'm actually the son of someone who's a director after an african american studies at south carolina, and who happened to be shot in the civil rights movement. i think it's a shame what ron desantis is doing, but nobody will stop him. >> there was a lot of talk about critical race theory. that was a focus in awe lot of states by republicans. this is african american studies, which is different. a democratic state florida senator tweeted that florida has japanese language and culture, italian language and culture, as well as spanish language and culture, adding, quote, it's crazy how ap african american studies made the chopping block in florida. to that, what do you say? >> so, anderson and to bakari as well, i did believe it or not read that 82-page syllabus