carley: kentucky congressman james comer joins us now. congressman, this is your district and 95% of it you say has been destroyed. give us the latest on what people are going through right now. >> well, it's just the initial shock and now you wake up the second day of to the reality that it's gone and the thoughts start going through your mind, how do we rebuild, you know, and in rural america people have pride, they're proud of their rural communities and they want to rebuild, they want to live in rural america. they make that decision and there's no better place in the world and speaking of rural america, when you have a tragedy like this, you see what's so great about rural america. people were out all through the night, through the next day, and now the second day. we tried to help people, searching through rubble. they don't wait for the government. they do it themselves. ashley: a congressman, i was born in the area, i was born in hawkins county, my family still lives there. they're dealing with this as we speak. i want to know whe

thanks, james comer from kentucky.tion announced a $1 million donation to the american red cross to support those relief efforts. something that we're proud of. we hope you do your part to whoever extent you can. go to redcross.org. you can do this as a christmas present for somebody that is somebody that doesn't need anything. you can give this as a donation. a nice way to show you care and your family cares as well. hope you do that. all right. president biden is facing a really increasing test from the chinese after the communist government now backs russia's demands over ukraine. so what kind of alliance is going on between those two countries? general jack keane joins me next. >> china and russia want to take, that's fine. these are two countries that don't have a lot of friends. [uplifting music playing] ♪ i had a dream that someday ♪ ♪ i would just fly, fly away ♪ helen knew exercise could help her diabetes. but she didn't know what was right for her. no. nope. no way. but then helen went from no to know. with f

joining me now is congressman james comer of kentucky. the district that includes mayfield. congressman, thanks so much for being here. i mean, it's hard to even ask, where do you begin. there are people who have family and friends they can stay with but others don't have anywhere to stay. what are you doing about shelter? >> well, the churches have stepped up big time. all the churches in the neighboring communities that were unharmed by the tornado have opened their doors. many schools are the primary sources of shelter in an emergency. the friends and neighbors have opened up their homes. the governor opened up the state parks. there are about four state parks within the area, pretty close to mayfield and dawson spring. i think that everyone that needs a place to stay in the very short term has found a place. but we've got a long process to go to bring in temporary shelters before these homes are rebuilt. >> that is my question, long term, what are you going to need from the federal government to make sure people have what they need fo

congressman james comer.out the fact that this storm has hit several states and hit tennessee as well. i want to go to reporter ryan breslin who's standing by in tennessee. we have not talked a lot about this, ryan. what's the situation where you are? >> reporter: hey, good morning to you, ali. we are about 30 minutes west of tennessee in a town called kingston springs. this area got hit pretty bad, about 200 to 300 estimated homes have damage. and this is the typical scene that you're seeing in kingston springs, power lines along the road, luckily, work crews worked all day yesterday working on those trees, cutting them out and getting them out of the area. take a look at this home behind me here. you can see the roof or the front of that roof down there. that's what a lot of the homes down this road, it's sneed road, look like this morning and yesterday morning. we can't actually get down the road because of the power lines that are across from us, but that's an electrical worker tat is assessing some of th

joining me now is kentucky congressman james comer, ranking member of the committee on pretty familiar with, house oversight and reform committee. congressman, thank you so much for joining us. you know, it's pretty nervy for the democrats to ask for a trillion plus more dollars when they wasted, squandered, and allowed more than $100 billion to be stolen according to the united states secret service. >> yeah, and that's a conservative figure. that's not counting the people that got loans and didn't need them. this is $100 billion to fraudulent, fake companies, and get the democrats on the house oversight committee haven't tried to have one investigation. they haven't tried to probe it. we've requested hearings on it. we've requested a briefing from a biden department of justice to tell us where they are in terms of their investigation so we can know where we can point our investigation, but right now, they won't communicate with us. the democrats don't want to provide any type of oversight if they think that it's going to make joe biden look bad. >> jason: that's right. hear no evil,

i want to bring in the congressman who represents this part of kentucky, james comer.oining us again. i'm sure you've been getting the very latest updates. first off, what can you tell us about where things stand? >> we still have hope there are people scattered in these homes that we just haven't been able to get the cadaver dogs over. we're still hoping people can be rescued, but obviously we're still having to recover a lot, too. >> reporter: can you give us any updates about the candle factory and what is going on there? >> i was there yesterday with secretary mayorkas and we toured it. there are still crews going 24/7 trying to recover. there are people unaccounted for that were accounted for. they wanted to go home and check on their families and they go to homes that are no longer standing. it took 24 hours to locate all the people, but there are still a few unaccounted for there. >> reporter: is it still a search and rescue operation or is it a search and recovery? >> it is still a search and rescue. there is hope there may be one or two in there. we all know t

congressman james comer from kentucky. with us now a woman that survived that candle factory disaster that claims at least eight lives. i think there's disputed reports that it's up to nine right now. autumn kirks joins us. how are you holding up, autumn? >> as best as i can after losing somebody. >> yeah, you lost your boyfriend in this. can you explain? >> well, he's about ten feet from me when we started. i don't know where he sended up. i don't know where they found him. nobody has given us that information. we were right there in the same hallway at the same time taking cover with everybody else from the plant. >> neil: my goodness. a wall fell could you you. explain what happened. >> i don't know how the wall fell on him other than a tornado. we had a guy play superman. i don't know who he was. i wish i did so i could thank him. he lifted the concrete wall. lifted it often of me and three of my girls to help us get out. we got to safety because of him. i feel like i would probably still be understood that wall. >> ne

carley: earlier we spoke with james comer whose district was hard-hit. listen. >> there's a lot of tragedy. there's a lot of infrastructure that has been destroyed and it's going to take many, many days, weeks and months to get it all prepared. we don't have power in the majority of these communities that were hit. when you have a tragedy like this, you see what's so great about rural america. people were out, all through the night, through the next day and now the second day. we've changed -- we're trying to help people, searching for rubble. they don't wait for the government. they do it themselves. ashley: to put it in perspective, these are very small towns. i'm from hawkins county, which is 16 miles from where this happened. and my family experienced this firsthand. but mayfield is a town of 10,000 people. you dawsons springs which was also hit hard is a town of 2600 people and two thirds of that town which mostly got hit is residential and it is completely gone. it's flattened. so the biggest question, and i know we asked comer this, where are thes

republicans on capitol hill, particularly in the house, kevin brady, james comer have been sounding theng on this with oversight in the house a committee they control and they still choose to turn another cheek. when you talk about it in the senate, democrats yes, some people go, we'll get to the bottom of this but don't have a plan to do this. emac is absolutely right, not just the federal government losing this money. it is also state government. >> you know, i think americans out there are tired of hearing we'll get to the bottom of it. it is that same rhetoric mistakes activity, rhetoric for achievement and it is not. democrat senators, dick durbin and benjamin cardin said, yeah we'll take action. historically we've seen fraud of jobless benefits of 10% of state payouts for the last 14 years. now double that in california and texas n vermont, 90%. in rhode island, 23%. these fraudsters and thieves know which states to target. the state has not put in place oversight to track the money going out the door. >> that is exactly right. criminals flock where the money is. this is absolutel

. >> congressman james comer keep it up at the fireworks are. we will cover it.gressman at a big spread with the senate judiciary committee actually follow through on a threat potentially to hold a justice department in contempt of congress? including the targeting of parents prettier watching "the evening edit" stay right there we would back in two minutes. ♪ ♪ ♪ hey google. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ today, your customers want it all. you have to deal with higher expectations and you have to lower wait times. with ibm, you can do both. your business can unify apps and data across your clouds. so you can address supply chain issues in real time, before they impact your bottom line. predicting and managing operational issues that's why so many businesses work with ibm. elizabeth: training if not from house judiciary and the big spread congressman it is great to see you. okay, what are you that the senate judiciary are threatening were talking about holding the justice department in contempt of congress for stonewalling a probe including targeting of schoolboard parents, treatin

i want to bring in the congressman who represents mayfield, kentucky, james comer joins me now. the devastation. it is just heartbreaking. but yet first responders are out there. they are working as night falls, as temperatures drop, and they are still trying to finding survivors. >> they're not going to give up. this is a small town. everyone knows everyone. most of these first responders are volunteers. they worked their normal jobs all day yesterday and this happened last night. they have been on the scene all night and all day so they have gone 48 hours and they're not going to stop until everybody has been accounted for. >> as you walk around and see this town, this wonderful, special town of mayfield just decimated, what do you feel? >> it's just terrible. this community has such a great sense of pride. the local people have really invested a lot in revitalizing the downtown area. a lot of rural towns in america have been let go but this community has always really invested a lot in making it look nice. they had the prettiest christmas decorations up last night. it's just

joining us now over the phone is republican congressman james comer of kentucky. district. congressman, we're grateful to have you this morning. i understand you just got an update from first responders and officials in the area. what are you hearing from them? what have they haired shared w? >> oh, it's really bad. i talked to first responders and other officials in graves county, muhlenberg county, it's really bad, a lot of fatalities thus far. and remember, the sun hasn't been up long in that part of kentucky. and the primary focus last night throughout the night and early this morning were in the towns, in the cities. now, we're going out and seeing the damage in the rural areas and homes that were completely destroyed. and just trying to account for all of the missing people right now. the first responders have been at it all night. done a tremendous job. it's just something you can't imagine happening. >> yeah. those first responders do incredible work. in fact, congressman, in the last hour, we heard from a storm chaser who is there at the candle factory on

we also heard from congressman james comer. the national guard, talking about the 300 soldiers and airmen on the ground assisting throughout the state of kentucky. we also heard from the mayor of mayfield. it's her community that was the hardest hit walking around the community knowing the folks, the lives that have been lost. many of the reporters there trying to drill down on the number of fatalities that we're seeing throughout the state of kentucky. seems as if the governor doesn't have an exact number especially at that candle facility in which it seems like there were a lot of lives lost. still trying to account for some people that are missing. so we're going to try to get those numbers up for you. but best case scenario, the governor telling us in the state of kentucky, 50 lives lost but he believes it's going to be a heck of a lot more. i believe we have sound from the governor back now. let's take a listen in. >> -- staging grounds. it's a special place that is just as important in the midst of this. i know in these c

joining me republican james comer of kentucky and he represents western kentucky which include henderson, hopkins, paducah. good morning. i'm sorry about the circumstances under which we have to speak, but your areas that are hit places like paducah where the emergency response is coming from and the hospital rooms are being used because of what happened overnight. >> yeah. it's bad in western kentucky. mayfield, kentucky is probably the worst, but there are plenty ever areas that were defer stated and we are getting reports of loss of life from at least three different counties thus far and it is just amazing to see the work that the first responders have been doing all night from the middle of the night until this present time as we speak. they're continuing to pull bodies out and we're having success stories of people that have been trapped all night that are being pulled out safely is just a terrible thing to witness, but it's really amazing to see these rural communities come together and that's what's happening rate now. >> we will hear from the governor at 11:00 a.m. eastern and w

and that is congressman james comer. >> i want to thank governor beshear for his quick response, hisesponse with emergency management, with the national guard, with the state police. i want to thank secretary mayorkas and the fema director for coming here immediately. this is going to be an effort that's going to take local state and federal cooperation. and we're going to have it. we've pledged that we had a meeting prior to this press conference with the local elected officials and the county's most adversely affected in west kentucky. we've already spoken about the immediate needs of power, of water restoration, getting utilities back, communications back. i think everyone's going to be working together. this isn't going to happen overnight. this is going to be a very long process. but in speaking with every local resident in this community and the other communities adversely affected, they all will quickly say we're going to rebuild, we're going to come back. and that's what you have here in this part of kentucky in west kentucky, people that have a sense of community pride. they

republican congressman james comer is one of the officials who's actually traveling with the president on air force one here to kentucky. and when he's on the ground, he'll also be joined by local officials, the governor, andy beshear, as well. it's a moment for the president to really emphasize one of the core messages of his campaign, which is unity. and also, jose, i have to say, having seen your coverage here, you know, ellison and gabe, our crews doing such an incredible work try to translate this devastation to everybody watching at home. i, myself, seeing it for the first time, it really does take your breath away. and that's an experience that the president will have himself. white house officials have often talked about how he is a very tactile politician. that as much as the briefings he's been getting from his team in washington will help him understand the needs of these communities, nothing compares to actually being on the ground and seeing it in person. and jose, we're also going to hear the president talk about, when he delivers remarks here in dawson springs, the role

they say that senate minority leader mitch mcconnell and representative james comer were sitting nearach other at cardinals stadium last month watching kentucky and louisville's football rivalry turn into a one-sided affair, and one topic came up. kevin mccarthy. the two bluegrass state lawmakers spoke at lengthuct the gop leader from california who has broken with mccannal on a range of issues over the last several months but who will be forced to work in tandem with him to governor if republicans take back congress next year. quote, we talked a lot about mccarthy there, comer said. he said mcconnell speaks highly of mccarthy. the cnn piece says with control of both chambers at stake in next year's midterms, the two top republican leaders have increasingly taken sharp divergent stands on different issues reflecting both the different institutions they lead but also how they view the gop's posture, heading into a hugely consequential election season. next up is suzy on a republican line in greensboro, georgia. go ahead. >> caller: thank you for taking my call. i just want to make a co

james comer of kentucky, ranking member on the oversight and reform committee, said the democrats wereying to punish the previous administration by that legislation. >> the democrats' playbook is as predictable as a hallmark christmas special. we have all seen this movie. the bill before us today is based on political fiction and it is the latest attempt to resurrect democrats' sham investigations of the past. this bill unconstitutionally disrupts separation of powers among the branches of government by diminishing the executive branch and ignoring the judicial branch. for example, the legislation interfered with the president's pardon power, a power vested with the president. but this bill gives congress access to sensitive white house deliberations and communications about pardons. what legislative purpose does that serve? congress has no authority to evaluate the president's pardon power. this bill overrides the judicial branch by attaching partisan definitions to constitutional language that the supreme court has already spoken to. it would change the definition of "emoluments" to

they say that mitch mcconnell and james comer were sitting near each other at cardinal stadium late lastonth watching kentucky and louisville's home state football rivalry turn into a one-sided affair. one topic came up, kevin mccarthy. the two lawmakers spoke at length about the house gop leader from california who has broken with mcconnell on a range of major issues over the last several months but who will be forced to work in tandem with him to govern if republicans take back congress next year. we talked a lot about mccarthy, comer said. mcconnell speaks highly of mccarthy. he says the control of both chambers at stake and next year's midterms, the two top republican leaders have increasingly taken sharp divergent positions on major issues dominated congress, reflecting the different institutions that they lead but also how they view the gop's posture heading into a hugely consequential election season. next is susie on our republican line in greensboro, georgia. caller: thank you for taking my call. i just want to make a comment about the heatedness between the two parties. back so

[end video clip] host: republican congressman james comer yesterday.hat legislation passed, however, it would take 60 votes in the senate which means republicans blocked it. pamela, democratic caller. cap new story of the week. -- top news story of the week. caller: i am concerned about the fact that the people who attacked the capitol and are absolutely traders to the country and committing treason are enjoying the benefits of being citizens of the country they are trying to destroy. they are not treated as regular citizens would be, who refused to show up for subpoenas. they just need to be put in jail like regular citizens would be. also, to take it a step further, they should be treated like the terrorists and traitors that they are. the definition of treason is failing to honor the country that you are sworn to protect which certainly applies to the president of the united states, the former president. we all saw this live on tv, the president said, let's stop democratic process. if these people were foreigners, they would be thrown in jail, no qu

i want to bring in congressman, this is congressman james comer.y, making it the deadliest tornado ever to hit the state of kentucky. tell me how you feel you guys are doing in this area? >> i think we're doing as well as can be expected. i told several people this morning, i think it looks worse today than it did yesterday. yesterday you just were had hit with the shock. today, the reality is setting in. we're still in a rescue mode here. there's still a few people that are unaccounted for. i fear the number is going to rise a little more. then we're going to begin the process of rebuilding and there are enough people in these little communities that have so much community pride, we will rebuild there. >> so search and rescue process he's, in a fight where the temperatures got into the mid to upper 20s for a lot of hours, tell me about that process. who is out there still doing this work and did they work overnight? >> they did. that's the amazing thing. when the storm hit, most of the first responders in these small towns are volunteers. they had

let's bring in now kentucky congressman james comer.seen these storms destroy or bring destruction to, i don't know, at least five different states but kentucky seems to be one of the hardest hit. the governor there saying at least 50 people have lost their lives. the numbers could go up towards 100. what are you hearing? what can you tell us about the state of kentucky. >> well, those storms were in my congressional district. the one you spoke of earlier make co, kentucky, western kentucky, great community. we have been on the phone all night with first responders there at that candle factory. they have been pulling people out from that collapsed roof all night and still currently doing that. there are still many unaccounted for. just devastation all throughout west kentucky. so, of course our thoughts and prayers are with all those people and especially the first responders and those that have losted loved ones. will: absolutely, congressman. forgive my ignorance but i hope you will indulge my curiosity, how big is mayfield? how big i

recently going to try to run for governor again tun for attorney general, leticia james is dropping out mou cuomo a comer try. that was excellent dagen when people asked why governor top aides cover-up nursing home death numbers we know to secure five-million-dollar book deal cuomo was negotiating in the middle 56 pandemic 70% approval rating, highest of career life right time to write a book wrong time bad news nursing homes coming out this is to dagen's word justice love gov needs to hand money back over disgraced more disgraced in the form of andrew cuomo. maria: i don't understand why he do not use comfort ship why do not he put seniors on the comfort ship president trump organized to have ship right there? dagen: he didn't care at the end of the day he doesn't like i said callous he do notcare that elderly people have died in nursing homes he only cared about his own reputation. and that is why he lied about it, even blamed fox news and "new york post," for the problems and deaths that he created. maria: unbelievable dagen joe stay right there next hour of "mornings with maria" begins right now. . m