tv CNN Newsroom CNN January 23, 2023 6:00am-7:00am PST
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monterey park, california. a gunman opened fire inside a dance studio near lunar new year celebrations saturday night. >> that suspect is a 72-year-old man who targeted another local after his initial rampage. police say he then took his own life, after an hours-long standoff in a parking lot the following day. >> he was disarmed by two community members they consider to be heroes. pause they saved lives. this could have been much worse. the weapon that we recovered at that second scene, i'm describing as a magazine-fed semi-automatic assault pistol. not an assault rifle, but an assault pistol that had an extended large-capacity magazine. >> and just ahead, you're going to hear from one of the men who confronted and fought off the gunman, one of those heroes, fighting him off before he could open fire at that second dance
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studio. let's begin this hour with cnn's senior national correspondent, kyung lah who's on the scene there in monterey park, california. so kyung, what more can you tell us this morning? >> well, erica and jim, what investigators are focusing on is that motive that you were talking about. really trying to answer the why. why would a 72-year-old man who once lived in this community, who did have a connection to this particular dance studio and the other one, the second location, alhambra, because he had met his ex-wife through these dance halls, why would he return here. an ex-wife, who they had divorced many years ago. he had moved away to a senior community some distance away, but decided to return on this day, and according to witnesses, he came into this monterey park hall with an intent -- with certainly an intent to harm. you hear that from the person who saw him and came face-to-face with him in alhambra. the other focus of the investigation will be this gun.
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how was it obtained? you heard the sheriff there describing how it is an assault pistol. it is illegal in california. was it altered? how was it obtained? that is going to be another focus of the investigation, and then lastly, it's really trying to help these victims and this community. the victims, you come to these dance halls in asian american communities like this, because it's a place where older people can gather. people in their 50s, 60s, and 70s. it's a place where you drop off your parents if our asian american. it's in these dance halls that people feel safe. and they feel older and happy and connected often with language and culture. and so they are going to try to help these victims and help their families, as well, here as a community. jim, erika? >> kyung lah, thanks so much. well, police, as you just heard, say that it was quick thinking and bravery by an employee at a second dance hall in alhambra, just 20 minutes after that mass shooting, which
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managed to save countless additional lives. we do have some surveillance images that show him struggling with the gunman. he said he wrestled with that man for about a minute and a half before eventually getting the gun away from him. here's more. take a listen. >> when he was looking around the room, it seemed like he was looking for targets. people to harm. i needed to get the weapon away from him. i needed to take this weapon, disarm him, or else everybody would have died. when i got the courage, i lunged at him with both of my hands, grabbed the weapon, and we had a struggle. we struggled into the lobby, trying to get this gun away from each other. he was hitting me across the face, bashing the back of my head. i was trying to use my elbows to celebrate the gun away from him, creating some distance. finally, at one point, i was
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able to pull the gun away from him, shove him aside, create some distance, point the gun at him, intimidate him, challenge him and say, get the hell out of here! i'll shoot! get away! go! and at this point, i thought he would run away, but he was standing there contemplating whether to fight or run away, i thought i would have to shoot him, but he came at me. this is when he turned around and walked out the door, and jogged back to his den. >> brandon tsay said he thought he was going to die, but knew he had to fight back. >> with me now is dr. andrew chow, the mayor of diamond bar, california, a city just east of monterey park. thank you so much for taking the time this morning. >> good morning, jim. thanks for having me. >> first, i want to ask you, your community's gone through a
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horrible, horrible tragedy. you're part of that community. how are you all doing this morning and what are you able to do to help? >> thank you, jim. we're doing okay. first of all, our hearts go out to the families of the victims in monterey park. my city, similar to monterey park, it's about 60% asian american, so much -- a lot of our residents do have family or friends from monterey park and our hearts just go out to the victims today. >> well, ours do as well. it's early, i think it's always natural to ask what a motive is. i wonder, are you learning anything or are investigators sharing anything about a motive, a possible spark for an act of violence as horrible as this one? >> not with us directly, i did have a chance to speak with mayor henry lo of monterey park last night, not just to offer
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our condolences, but also extend our support to his city any way that we can. i want to thank mayor lo for his steadfast leadership during this unthinkable tragedy. he said that he has been receiving a lot of calls and support from other elected officials, commercial judy chu was on the ground, and i believe governor newsom was also on the ground just yesterday. so there's a lot of support and the communities are coming together during this difficult time. >> there's a natural focus on the weapon, what we know about it now, semi-automatic pistol, though with an extended magazine, and so often in mass shootings like this one, we see extended magazines play a role, because they allow the gunman to fire many more shots, kill more people without changing the magazine. have you or the mayor of monterey park learned anything more about how the gunman obtained this weapon? >> at this point, all we know is what has been shared by sheriff illumina of l.a. sheriff's
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department. i believe he did indicate with the extended magazine, a semi-automatic pistol, but other than that, we don't have any other information at this point. >> if you're like me, as an american, we're hearing about mass shootings all the time. and somewhere deep down, you wonder if you yourself will ever face one or someone you know and love will face one like this. and i wonder, did you ever think an fact of violence like this, of gun violence like this would come to your area, to your comm community? >> absolutely not, jim. and that's what this tragedy was so devastating to all of us. we do have a friend who attends the dance studio every monday night to dance. and we're hearing stories of another friend whose father was at the dance studio that night, but fortunately, he left about 10 to 15 minutes before the shooting took place. so, yes, unfortunately, these events are happening way too frequently, and they're coming
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closer and closer to where we are and it's very concerning to all of us. >> what do you -- and i know it's early, but i'm sure, as mayor of this community, so close to where the shooting took place, you're thinking now about what you can do. what your community can do to make acts of violence like this less likely. what comes to mind? >> yeah, so as a city, we're always prepared for tragedies such as this. we do have our emergency preparedness plan in place. and we'll continue to work with our staff and our city to ensure if something like this does happen, we have the resources and personnel available to handle this type of event. unfort fortunately, we haven't needed to use our emergency preparedness plan, but we stand ready in case something like this does happen closer to our city. >> california has strict gun laws. some of the most strict in the country. are the changes you would like to see there or nationally to make events like this less
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likely? >> yes, i do think common sense gun reform is needed and necessary and we're hearing too many of these gun violence in our country and now it's coming a little too close to home. so we would like to see thing done on a federal level to ensure that this type of gun violence incidents are happening less and less frequently going forward. >> well, listen, our hearts go out to you and your community there, mayor andrew chou. we know it's very close to you and wish you the best. >> thank you so much, jim. >> these events continue to hit far too close to home for so many american communities. in fact, the monterey park shooting joins a staggering 32 other mass shootings in just the first three weeks of 2023. this according to the gun violence archive. squ and sadly, it was not the only shooting over the weekend. there were two mass shootings in
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louisiana on sunday. one in baton rouge, where 12 people were injured in a nightclub. >> and in shreveport, a drive-by shooting left eight people wounded, threw of them were children. in atlanta, a 13-year-old boy was shot and killed. that's the latest in a string of deadly shootings involving children under 16 in that city. cnn's ryan young has more on the weekend of violence in atlanta. >> in downtown atlanta, six people were arrested saturday night after protesters erupted in response to the fatal police shooting of 26-year-old activist manuel esteban palles taban. he was shot near a proposed 95-acre law enforcement training center dubbed cop city. police were implementing a clearing operation to identify trespassers when they say tehran opened fire on them. the fellow demonstrators and his mother say that he was a known
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pacifist. the georgia bureau of t tehran was in possession of the very firearm used to shoot a state trooper and that the bullet recovered from the trooper's wound matched the same weapon. police say that protesters marched peacefully until the group began breaking business windows and set fire to a police cruiser. >> they were pulling up in u-hauls and had the type of glass breaker that taps the window and the glass just automatically shatters. i was dumbfounded. i couldn't believe that this was happening here in america. >> these individuals meant harm to people and to property. and so to the people of atlanta, have said from the beginning of my administration that keeping our city's streets safe is my top priority. and we will continue to leverage all of the city's resources to make that happen. >> it clearly needs to be stopped relatively quickly by the police, which happened, and i think it is telling that most
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of these people are not from atlanta. not even from georgia. >> reporter: and on the west side of atlanta, a 13-year-old boy was found dead with multiple gunshot wounds, according to atlanta police. investigators have not released information on a motive or suspect. >> my message is simple to those who seek to continue this type of criminal behavior. we will find you and we will arrest you and you will be held accountable. >> reporter: meanwhile, a tragic scene unfolds in baton rouge. 12 people were shot at the dior bar and lounge and left three people in critical condition early sunday morning. >> at this point, we can say that it is believed to be a targeted attack and that no -- this was not just a random act. >> there's someone who knows something. do the right thing. >> reporter: yeah, jim and erika, you think think about all the open investigations that are involved in these cases.
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back here in atlanta, that destruction that was left behind by those protesters can still be seen. if you look here, you can see glass on the inside of this wells fargo. and all of these boards here represent windows that have been busted out. and you can see the damage left behind to the atm. and of course, those protesters, even setting fire to a police car. so many questions, but obviously, a violent weekend that have so many people wondering, what's going on and what can be done now. guys? >> so many people wondering, you're right, ryan. appreciate it. thank you. idea here, an additional fbi search of president biden's home uncovers new classified materials. how the white house is responding to critics from inside the democratic party. plus, new scrutiny on one of the top-ranking republicans in the house because of her support for embattled congressman george santos. what we're learning now about just how critical elise stefanick was to getting him elected. and right now, jury selection is underway in the double murder trial of alex
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murtaugh and there's new details about a snapchat video that his son, paul, senent to friend jus before he was killed. let's get started. bill, where's your mask? i really tried sleeping with it, everybody. but i'm done struggling. now i sleep with inspire. inspire? inire is a sleep apnea treatment that works inside my body with just the click of this button. a butt? no mask? no hose? just sleep. yeah but you need the hose, you need the air, you need the whoooooosh... inspire. sleep apnea innovation.
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this morning, president biden is under growing scrutiny from leaders of his open party after fbi investigators on friday found additional classified materials while conducting a voluntary search of his home in wilmington, delaware. illinois democratic senator dick durbin weighing in on cnn's state of the union said biden has lost the high ground here when it comes to criticism over classified documents. >> let's be honest about it. when the information is found, it diminishes the stature of any person who is in possession of it. because it's not supposed to happen. the elected official bears ultimate responsibility. >> some democrats growing more critical of biden's handling of classified documents and house republicans pledge yet more probes to come.
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the white house is making a major staffing change. cnn white house correspondent arlette saenz is in rehoboth, delaware, with the president preparing to return to washington this hour. i wonder how is biden's circle explaining this personnel move? the chief of staff, ron klain, had an enormous role in the administration. why now and what will zions do differently? >> well, it comes, of course, as the administration is grabbing with this issue of the classified documents. but the decision to appoint jeffrey zients as the white house chief of staff comes as they're really entering a new phase in the presidency. one part of this is that they're going to focus a lot on the implementation of the laws that president biden got signed into law over the course of the past two years. and if you talk to sources at the white house as well as those who know zients well, he is kind of known as what one person described as a master implementer.
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they're pointing to his time as the coronavirus response coordinator, also pointing to his efforts to fix that healthcare.gov website, when it had a disastrous launch back during the obama administration. but this really comes as a challenging time for the president. it's a critical juncture in the president's time at the white house, as they are not only grappling with the special counsel investigation, was also preparing for battles ahead with republicans, who are in control of the house up on capitol hill. now, this is all playing out against the backdrop of that special counsel investigation. and over the weekend, there were new revelations about how many classified documents were in president biden's possession. the president's personal attorneys revealed that there was an unprecedented fbi search of the president's home, just on friday. it lasted about 13 hours. and one things that the white house and the president's personal attorneys have been quick to point out is that this search was done in cooperation with the lawyers and the justice
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department. there was no a search warrant to search through the president's home. but still, they opened up the home, the working, the living, and all the storage spaces so the fbi could go in and take a look at how many documents or if they could find more classified documents at the home. the personal attorney revealing that they did identify six items that included materials with classified markings. it's unclear exactly what that entails. but this is all prompting a lot of criticism, new criticism, from some democrats who have -- are longtime allies of president biden, as you heard right there, from senator dick durbin. there's some frustration about the way that this situation has played out. but certainly, so many more questions regarding this classified document saga, including whether there could be possible fbi searches of other locations tied to president biden. this is certainly an issue that does not seem to be going away. >> that is for sure. arlette saenz, appreciate it. thank you. joining us now to discuss, heidi
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przybyla, national correspondent for politico and margaret talev. as we look at the changes that are coming to the biden white house here, jeff zions moving over to be chief of staff, how, if at all, do you see this changing the white house response to this ongoing documents issue? >> well, i think that they have been -- they were preparing to be investigated anyhow, including this sort of special internal white house lawyer structure. that's going to continue apace. i don't think they knew that this was going to be the investigation. but look, jeff zioents. there's all kinds of different chiefs of staffs over the years, some are very political and heavy-handed. jeff zients is in a different category. he's a management consultant, very successful, self-made one at that. and he's known for being well organized and handling complex operations. so i think one of his first big tests will be his handling of this investigation. but there's something else to
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focus on with jeff zients. and that is his experience with the economy and with budgeting. all the way back to the obama administration, giving economic advice, performance management, all these different roles and of course handling the vaccines. if there is a recession, a soft recession, economic recovery issues, jeff zients is going to be well poised as chief of staff to implement that sort of policy approach and response. and you know, even beyond the r-word, i just think the economy is going to be such a big issue. and he is just well positioned to deal with those issues, deficit reduction, we've talked about, the republicans are trying to force biden to make a deal in order to increase the debt limit. this is the sort of thing that jeff zients has actually a lot of practical experience with and understands the issues. so we may see that play out there as well. >> heidi, the administration is trying, it seems, to handle this differently than, for instance,
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trump. they're not attack the fbi. they are cooperating. they said it was a voluntary search of the home there. but, of course, you have democrats acknowledging, as durbin did, they've certainly lost the high ground. the president has certainly lost the high ground here. does the white house have a vision of how it ends and when it ends. a whole host of decisions hang in the balance, including the possibility that biden might announce for 2024. >> it seems that they're balancing their desire to cooperate with this investigation with the politics of it. and the optics of it, which are not going in a great direction here. the latest poll from abc is both showing 64% of the american people believe -- do believe that he handled it inappropriately. but then again, a plurality thinks that the situation with donald trump is far worse. so that's where we are, not going in a good direction. but at the same time, it's important to ask these questions like chairman mccall is asking,
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which is, what are these documents? and i can say as a reporter who covered the hillary clinton classified documents email issue, that is an important distinction. and the problem is that given that we don't have the answer to that, the politics are kind of going in a direction here where a lot of the republicans, unlike mccall, are taking this to an extreme, right? saying, oh, this must have had to do with his profiteering off of his family business. so that's the risk that they're taking here, is that they are cooperating, so they're not saying anything, but, for instance, just to remind everyone how that document scandal ended with hillary clinton's e-mails, which was, a number of the classified markings were simply e-mails that had been retromarked as classified, or issues like newspaper articles, things that her aides had forgotten to take the "c" off of. so in the end, he stayed quiet, but paid the price politically.
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and that is the situation that the president finds himself in right now, which is that even though those of us, you know, who are in the media can point out these big differences right now when it comes to intent. 12 boxes taken intentionally, refused to render them, and biden, who appears to not even have known that some of these were in his possession, the political machine is kind of already been kicked in here. >> yeah, i mean, to your point, heidi, most people see the headlines, right? and in the headlines, it feels like it is very much the same situation. the reality, we know, is that it isn't. part of that challenge that we've seen from this white house in terms of their messaging. you know, margaret, i would also love to get your take on. we did hear from ruben gallegos. i'm told we're out of time, i'm sorry. that's the first time cue i got, i'm sorry. we'll have lots of time to discuss that on another day. >> we will. this won't be the last time we speak to heidi przybyla and margaret talev, thanks so much for joining us. still ahead this hour, you may remember this chilling 911
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call. >> my wife and child -- >> what is your name? >> my name is alex murdaugh. >> now, jury selection has begun for the double murder trial of alex murdaugh, accused of killing his wife and his son in south carolina. we have the latest details in that case, coming up. i got into debt in college and, no matter how much i paid, it followed me everywhere. so i consolidated it into a low-rate personal loan from sofi. get a a personal loan with no fees, low fixed rates, and borrrrow up to $100k. sofi. get your money right. and mine's unlisted. try boost® high protein with 20 grams of protein for muscle health versus 16 grams in ensure high protein. boost® hh protein. now available in cinnabon® bakery-inspired flavor. learn more at boost.com/tv
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and son. there he is. the disgraced south carolina attorney is now charged with two counts of murder, as well as possession of a deadly weapon. >> that is all related to, according to prosecutors, their death. they say he killed maggie and paul murdoch at the family's hunting property in 2021. he has pleaded not guilty to those charges. an affidavit, though, reveals some new details of the prosecution's case. cnn's diane gallagher joining us from walterboro, south carolina. some of that new evidence is this snapchat that paul murdaugh sent just a short time before his death. the prosecution says it is critical to the case. why? >> yeah, in fact the exact words there from the prosecution was that the video was important to proving the state's case in chief. they say that it was critical video that was sent out to friends by paul at approximately 7:56 p.m. on the night of the murders. now, what is key here is that is
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roughly a little less than an hour before the beginning of that window of time that the state says that both paul and maggie were shot and killed. now, this comes out of a subpoena of a snapchat representative. the judge did sign, commanding them to essentially appear here for this trial. they did not indicate what was on those snapchat videos, that snapchat video that was sent to those friends, but that's something we'll likely find out once the trial gets underway. it was part of a flurry of motions that have really been filed in the days leading up to today, the beginning of jury selection. we're learning things and waiting to find out whether or not the judge is going to allow specific evidence as well, including all of the financial crimes that alex murdaugh is accused of committing against others. that is part of the state's motive theory that they're going to present, saying that he killed his wife and his son, because he was afraid that he was going to be found out for
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these financial crimes. we're also waiting to see if the judge will allow evidence of this white t-shirt that alex murdaugh was wearing the night of the murders. that they say had blood spatter evidence that connects him to the crime. however, the defense has said, that shirt simply had blood on it, because he found the bodies of his wife and son. that shirt was actually destroyed during evidence testing. and so that's something to see whether or not we're going to get that in there. again, right now, what we have is simply the jury selection that is set to begin shortly. we're running a little bit behind schedule here. i'm not sure how much you can see behind me, but there's a queue of media that's waiting to still get in. we were supposed to allow media in around 9:15 this morning. jury selection supposed to be beginning right now. but, look, we are on for roughly two to three days, the defense believes, that's what's set aside for this, on how many people can become on this jury. how they do that, they issued a
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statement saying, the defense is done talking, but also noting that alex looks forward to an opportunity to clear his name of these heinous charges so the attorney can officially begin looking for the actual name or killers of alex's beloved wife and son. of course, jim, this is something that people are wondering how they're going to find a jury this quickly. he is well known, his family has been a legal entity here for a century. how are they going to find people who don't know about what they're calling the case of the century here in walterboro. >> yeah, it is certainly a big question. diane gallagher, appreciate it. thank you. former new mexico republican candidate solomon pena now accused of masterminding a series of shootings targeting the homes of elected democrats, heading back to court in just a few short hours. >> listen, it's an alarming story. prosecutors say that pena hired a team of accomplices to attack the homes of his political rivals. cnn's lucy kafanov joins us now. i wonder what we expect to hear from prosecutors at this hearing
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today? >> well, a judge is set to decide if solomon pena will stay behind bars until the trial or if he will be released with conditions. something that prosecutors are very strongly urging against, saying that pena's actions show the lengths that he is willing to go when he's dissatisfied with reality. >> mr. pena, you will be afforded a hearing on the state's motion for pretrial detention. >> that next hearing for solomon pena will happen later this morning, where prosecutors are expected to begin unraveling his journey from republican state candidate and election denier to accused mastermind behind four politically motivated drive-by shootings, targeting the homes of democrats, like debbie o'malley. this happened when my husband and i were asleep and my grandkids could have been spending the night. >> albuquerque police say pena was fueled by election lies and drew from his criminal past.
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pena spent years in prison for charges, including burglary and lancer, telling reporters last summer that jail time had changed him. >> i had nothing more than a desire to improve my lot in life. >> reporter: that path would lead to republican politics as a follower of donald trump. video shows pena at multiple trump rallies, from washington, d.c. to phoenix, arizona. and like trump, when pena lost his 2022 run for state office by a massive landslide, he invoked the former president, saying he never conceded. >> hi, my name is solomon pena. can i speak with debbie o'malley. >> reporter: ring video shows him tracking the homes of the democrats that he wrongfully blamed for his election loss. police say that pena then texted the addresses of four suspects to carry out the shootings, writing, they just certified it. they sold us out to the highest bidder. they were literally laughing at us while they were doing it. prosecutors allege that pena then paid this man, jose trujillo, to help carry out the shootings. things fell apart when officers
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caught trujillo driving this car, containing fentanyl and guns. one of the guns traced back to the shootings. the car registered to solomon pena, according to a law enforcement source. so that alleged gunman for hire also happened to be pena's top campaign donor. new mexico's attorney general has launched an investigation into pena's campaign finances. police also now investigating whether drug money was laundered into pena's race for office. his attorney, though, telling cnn this accusation is still under investigation. erica, jim, back to you. >> wow. lucy kafanov, appreciate the update. thank you. still to come here, new cnn reporting on how republican congressman george santos' lies are putting key members of gop leadership in a very sticky situation, including one of his biggest campaign cheerleaders. the growing pressure is next. wow, we're crunching tons of polygons here! what's going on? where's regina?? hi, i'm ladonna.
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the problems surrounding republican congressman george santos and the lies that he has told about his background are putting increasing pressure on key members of house gop leadership. >> cnn chief investigative correspondent pamela brown joins us now with more. so, elise stefanick, gop conference chair number four in the gop leadership showed particular interest in this race. >> she absolutely did, jim. she was one of santos' biggest cheerleaders throughout the campaign. she's the number four republican, as you point out, in the house of representatives. the most influential republican in her home state of new york. a senior republican strategist involved in the campaigns told me, quote, stefanick's team was laser-focused on electing santos to congress, more than just about any other race in the country. now, stefanick insists she
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didn't know about santos' pattern of deception until "the new york times" revealed that he made up stories about his past, including lies about his school, jobs, and family history. but throughout the santos campaign, stefanick was a significant supporter, and we spoke to several people who donated to santos's campaign, including one man who gave tens of thousands of dollars, who said stefanick's support influenced them to donate. they wouldn't have without stefanick. stefanick endorsed santos early in his campaign, more than a year before the election, and her tweet included a link to a fund-raising page that would benefit both her and santos. and she later tweet that a lunch event raised over 100,000 to help george flip new york district three, as you see. one donor who was at that lunch told cnn that the only reason they donated was because of stefanick, and santos himself understood the power of stefanick's endorsement, as
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well. he used a photo of the two of them as the banner image for his twitter page, up until last week. republican consultants said they first heard of santos's issues in the summer of 2022, but it's unclear how many so many pros in the political arena let santos slip through the cracks. of course, though, jim, there was an incentive for republicans. they wanted that seat. kevin mccarthy, for his part, they needed his vote, right? kevin mccarthy, who said he always knew there were concerns with his resume, hosted a fund-raising breakfast for him. >> as you say, they knew or at least got signals about this months before the election. >> yeah. >> and i guess, you know, pamela, the concern too here is, she's a very powerful new york republican, as we know. elise stefanick has endorsed a number of candidates. this one, though, understandably different because of what appeared to be so many red flags that were missed. >> exactly. so many red flags and i think, also, i mean, she was involved in a lot of different races, but in this case, she didn't just endorse and help fund-raiser for santos, according to the sources that we've been speaking with. one of her top aids was actually advising his campaign. we should note, there's no
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record, it was in an official capacity, but we're told he even helped santos hire people. so when we asked stefanick for comment, her spokesperson said, no one from her team worked or advised santos, and he sent him this statement that reads in part, congresswoman stefanick supported all gop nominees and targeted new york seats just like every other republican new york official, and the entire house republican leadership team. >> pamela brown, fascinating stuff. thanks so much. >> thank. new this morning, poland says that it will send leopard battle tanks to ukraine if, quote, a small coalition of countries agrees to do the same. >> the transfer still needs to be approved by germany which manufacturers the tanks. cnn's frederick pleitgen is live in kyiv this morning. so, fred, ukraine doesn't just want the leopard tanks, they are saying they really need them right now. >> they certainly do really need them. they say, erica, we found out some fascinating details over the weekend.
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we were speaking to some top ukraine officials. they said that part of this is simply staying in the fight, in all of this. they say they're having a lot of trouble getting spare parts and ammo for their soviet-era tanks, even internationally, they say, that stuff is becoming very difficult to source, especially because of the attrition on the battlefield here. now, a senior ukrainian source that we spoke to said they need between 300 to 400 modern western main battle tanks. and they believe with that number of main battle tanks, they could possibly beat up to 2,000 to 3,000 soviet era and russian battle tanks. so certainly, they say they need a lot of this, but it would also have a huge effect, especially if they want to get their territory back, which obviously a lot of which is still occupied by russian forces. it's still shaping up to be quite difficult. i was in touch with some senior german sources throughout the course of the day, and they're still saying they want a broader coalition in all of this. they especially want the u.s. onboard, which means that they would love the u.s. to give those abrams main battle tanks. of course, we've heard from the pentagon and from washington that right now, they're not
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willing to do that. they believe that the abrams is not suited for the battlefields in eastern ukraine. obviously, it takes a lot of gas, it has that very complicated turbine engine. however, the germans seem pretty adamant about that point. they do seem to be work out a compromise and there is the feeling that it could happen, but right now, it seems as though there are still some things that need to be sorted out. nevertheless, the ukrainians say the most-suited tank for the terrain here is really that german-made leopard ii battle tank, guys. >> and it always raises the question with these more advanced systems, what about the training? you can't just sort of parachute it in there and get started. fred pleitgen, thanks so much. still ahead, in sports, the buffalo bills' season ends, but not before batman, damar hamlin made an emotion al, triumphant return. he's making a little heart sign there as he watched the game in the snow. live the buffalo, coming up. celebrate every kiss.. with 20-40% off engagement,
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>> well the bills couldn't get them a win. that is too bad. but, boy, to see him there watching. coy wire, former bill himself, joins us now. what a moment for that team. and i have to say, when i saw him doing that little heart sign. that was moving. >> incredible stuff. no doubt about it. full range of emotions for buffalo yesterday. first excitement and anticipation of this gorgeous snowy night. and then disbelief on what played out on the field. one young fan was crying his eyes out and said i just love this team so much. the buffalo bills had become america's team through all of this. persevering through adversity. and the team and damar hamlin uniting so many people along the way. damar hamlin's first public appearance since suffering cardiac arrest on the field when the two teams played each other 20 days prior. hamlin in a suite with his family during the game, pumping the crowd on the jumbo-tron and
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holding up his heart hands which became a symbol for spreading love. >> i thought it was a cool moment. we wanted to play for him and continue our mission and again we just ran into a team that played better than us today. >> reporter: the psychological roller coaster leaving the bills emotionally exhausted as the bengals and quarterback joe burrow plowed through the snow, jumping out to an early 14-0 lead. bills star quarterback josh allen trying to throw their way into a comeback, just wasn't happening. cincinnati winning 27-10. >> who day, who day. >> so it is bengals and chiefs in kansas city and the afc championship next week. not the bills and chiefs in the first ever neutral site title game in atlanta. >> better send those refunds. >> we don't care who is favorite or who is not. we're built for this and we're excited to go on the road to kansas city. >> as for the buffalo bills and fans, they have so much of which
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they could be proud. >> we could have made a lot of excuses throughout the year, but guys continued to fight. >> reporter: this team continued to fight for the people of buffalo time and time again this season, erica and jim. they were out in the community after a racist mass shooting and gave back after a tragic snowstorm at christmastime and then through the damar hamlin, it is unbelievable they were one of the best teams in the nfl despite all of that. >> no question. >> absolutely. >> coy, really appreciate it. thank you, my friend. >> still to come here, what we're learning about the man who opened fire at a dance club killing 10 people at a lunar new year celebration. we're live with the monterey park mayor next. you coululd earn your master's degree in less than a year for under $11k1k. leararn more at phoenix.edu.
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