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New Day
Surviving Financial Uncertainty; Coronavirus Hits Minnesota Family; Prep School Students Get Lesson. Aired 8:30-9a ET
Aired November 27, 2020 - 08:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[08:30:00]
JEAN CHATZKY, CEO, HERMONEY.COM: Find out about rent and eviction provisions in your area.
ERICA HILL, CNN ANCHOR: Which is going to be really important, as you point out, with some of these protections expiring.
You also suggest pulling money from your 4019(k). This is not, though, cashing out of your 401(k), correct? This is taking a loan?
CHATZKY: No, in fact, it is actually withdrawing. Provisions in the CARES Act have made it better at this point to pull money out than to borrow in many cases, which I know you never expected to hear me say ever, but you can repay the money inside of three years and then you won't be charged penalties or interest. So it's something to look at if you're at the end of your -- of your financial rope. If you've lost your job, it may be a little bit more complicated. You may have to roll the money into an IRA first. But call your plan administrator to try to figure that out.
HILL: I know you say you can also look at income-based repayment for student loans. Make a few phone calls to do that.
There are a lot of people, though, who want to help. We have been talking so much over the last several weeks as we continue to watch lines, for example, grow at food distribution sites across the country. Food insecurity, as we know, is growing. Some 50 million households are estimated to be food insecure. That's not only one in six Americans, it's one in four children. And those numbers are not expected to get any better.
In addition to taking the stigma away from needing help to put food on the table, how can we reach out and help our neighbors? What's the -- what's the most effective way to do that?
CHATZKY: I think giving money to these organizations that are spreading money out for food insecurity is a really good way to start. I'm talking about organizations like feedingamerica.org, Meals On Wheels America is aimed at seniors. No Kid Hungry is aimed specifically at kids. There's also your local food bank.
And if you know that you've got friends, family, who is - who are having trouble, now is the time to reach out and offer help, not to wait to be asked for help.
HILL: Jean Chatzky, great to see you, as always. Thank you for the advice.
CHATZKY: You too. Thank you.
HILL: And here is what else to watch today.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ON SCREEN TEXT: Today, acting defense secretary visits Africa.
3:00 p.m. ET, President Trump travels to Camp David.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HILL: Up next, a family inspired by their own coronavirus battle.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KIRSTIN JOHNSON-NIXON, RECOVERED FROM CORONAVIRUS: I thought, how could this happen, you know, to us? We are doing all the right things.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HILL: Well, now they're on a mission to get the word out to communities of color about staying safe. Their story, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[08:37:03]
HILL: A Minnesota family has plenty of reasons for giving thanks today. Seven members of one family infected at one point with coronavirus. Well, now they're hoping that their story can resonate with other African-Americans who are twice as likely to die from the virus.
CNN's Adrienne Broaddus joining us now with their story.
Adrienne, good morning.
ADRIENNE BROADDUS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Erica.
The coronavirus ripped through the Johnson-Nixon family, but the hurt caused by COVID is leading them to help others.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BROADDUS (voice over): When Charles and Kirstin Johnson-Nixon pledged for better or worse, the Minneapolis couple didn't know where life would lead.
CHARLES JOHNSON-NIXON, RECOVERED FROM CORONAVIRUS: COVID.
BROADDUS: And they had no idea the coronavirus. KIRSTIN JOHNSON-NIXON, RECOVERED FROM CORONAVIRUS: I've had pneumonia
before. I didn't feel what I felt with COVID.
BROADDUS: Would right life's most painful chapter.
CHARLES JOHNSON-NIXON: My father-in-law tested positive and was hospitalized. My mother-in-law tested positive and was hospitalized. My wife and I tested positive.
K. JOHNSON-NIXON: I'm a black woman. I am -- I'm overweight. I have some underlying issues. But I thought, how could this happen, you know, to us? We are doing all the right things.
BROADDUS: The virus attacked everyone in their family, including the couple's three boys. And while recovering, this family received a call they hoped would never happen.
K. JOHNSON-NIXON: I felt hopeless.
BROADDUS: At this hospital, Kirstin's father William was placed on a ventilator.
CALEB JOHNSON-NIXON, RECOVERED FROM CORONAVIRUS: My grandpa was in the hospital for 50 days and the doctor just kept saying that when a person over the age of 80 years old went on a ventilator, they usually didn't come off.
BROADDUS: According to the COVID Tracking Project, black people in the U.S. are dying at more than double the rate of white people. Native Americans and Latinos are also dying at significantly higher rates than whites and Asian-Americans.
Charles feared he wouldn't be around to watch his kids grow up or see them play another lacrosse game.
CHARLES JOHNSON-NIXON: That, for me, was my biggest fear. You know, I'm a -- I lost my father when I was young and one of my goals when I became a father was to make sure that I was going to be here for my kids. And -- and the idea that this thing could turn on me and take me away from them was the hardest thing to deal with.
God kept me here for my boys and got me through this.
BROADDUS: So in this season of Thanksgiving, the Johnson-Nixon family overflows with gratitude.
CHARLES JOHNSON-NIXON: We're alive.
K. JOHNSON-NIXON: I'm also thankful that my parents are alive.
BROADDUS: Six months have passed since Kirstin wrapped her arms --
K. JOHNSON-NIXON: It's hard not to hug him.
BROADDUS: Around her father.
K. JOHNSON-NIXON: Or to kiss him.
BROADDUS: He still needs oxygen.
[08:40:00]
K. JOHNSON-NIXON: I'm glad I still get to, you know, hug and kiss these guys, so.
BROADDUS: Charles and Kirstin say for better or worse their work isn't done.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The cough, loss of appetite.
BROADDUS: They're speaking on panels and vowed to educate the hardest hit communities about a virus that changed their lives.
K. JOHNSON-NIXON: It's important to wear your mask, to wash your hands.
CHARLES JOHNSON-NIXON: It makes you want to yell out and be on a mission to bring awareness to people and say, hey, we have to take this serious because we're already dealing with all the other problems that we have to deal with, with being black in this country. 2020 will be gone soon, thank God. 2021 hopefully will give everyone an opportunity to rethink how they do things, change how they do things if they need to.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BROADDUS: And the family told me they're still a little fearful as to what will happen in the coming weeks after seeing millions of people travel this holiday season.
Meanwhile, they are all negative for COVID-19, but a trip to the doctor earlier this month revealed Kirstin is still dealing with some lingering side effects. Her doctor says she may have microscopic blood clots in her lungs, which are causing congestion and some other breathing issues. Yet the family says when they add up their blessings, there are more than they can count.
Back to you.
BERMAN: It is a long struggle, as you said, Adrienne, but there are so many families that have a lot to be thankful for still.
Thanks so much for being with us. A lovely report.
This year "CNN Heroes: An All-Star Tribute" will be a special celebration of the women, men and children who stood up to help others when faced with the two simultaneous crises of COVID-19 and racial injustice. Here is one of this year's most inspiring moments.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Sometimes a photograph can capture the mood and attention of the world. In June, one image did just that. During protests on the streets of London, events turned violent. A
Black Lives Matter group was there to condemn statues of people with racist ties and many white protesters were there to protect the statues. Things got heated. One man, Bryn Male, a white former police officer, wandered into the crowd and he started to get beat up. One of the Black Lives Matter protesters, Patrick Hutchinson, saw that he was in peril. Patrick moved in, picked up the injured Bryn, carried him through the crowd to safety.
PATRICK HUTCHINSON: The biggest thing for me was making sure that no harm came to him because I knew if harm had come to him, the narrative would just be changed and then the blame would be full on the young Black Lives Matter protesters. We made sure we got him out of there safely.
COOPER: Patrick, a father and grandfather, hopes that everyone who sees the image understands that the possibility to do the right thing resides in all of us.
HUTCHINSON: We just want equality for all races, for all people, that right now we're the ones who seem to be the oppressed ones and it's about time things would change, you know, the world over.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BERMAN: Go to cnnheroes.com right now to vote for one of our most inspiring moments and be sure to watch "CNN Heroes: An All-Star Tribute" on Sunday, December 13th, at 8:00 p.m. Eastern.
So a CNN original series challenging your ideas of young men in America. Lisa Ling joins us with a preview, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[08:47:26]
BERMAN: So two worlds, one of promise, one of punishment come together for an unlikely experiment on this Sunday's season premiere of "This is Life" with Lisa Ling. Lisa brings us a unique look at a prison and a prep school that have formed an unlikely bond over literature.
Here's a preview.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LISA LING, CNN HOST, "THIS IS LIFE": How you guys feeling?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A little nervous now that we're inside.
LING (voice over): Guiding Hudson (ph) and the other students through security gates is the boys English and theology teacher Jim Micheletti (ph).
LING (on camera): Do you talk much about what the boys are about to embark on before they go in? JIM MICHELETTI, ENGLISH AND THEOLOGY TEACHER: Well, it's tricky
because we don't want to give away too much. We want it to be a surprise. We want it to be a healthy shock. Geography matters. Getting kids out in the community matters. I'm always telling student, don't let school get in the way of your education. A lot of good stuff to see out there.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BERMAN: We want it to be a healthy shock. That's so interesting.
Joining us now is the host of "This Is Life," Lisa Ling.
And, Lisa, you were kicking off the season with back to back episodes. The first we just saw focuses on prep school students and prisoners. The second focuses on an intense retreat for boys in crisis.
Why did you want to start this season focusing on boys and young men?
LISA LING, CNN HOST, "THIS IS LIVE": Well, good morning, John.
Yes, our intention was not to have these episodes run together back to back, but in many ways they do go together. I mean let's think about our culture right now. We haven't exactly had the best models for manhood out there, at least when you think about government and business. There's been a lot of name calling, a lot of bullying. There's been a lot of greed.
And so during the course of both of these episodes, while we explore entirely different worlds, we have men from unlikely places who are stepping up to be the models that many young men need right now. And in the case of the camp that we explore in our second episode, "Lost Boys," they -- these men who volunteer, they break these young boys down, boys that may be struggling right now, and then they encourage them to share their hearts and to feel.
You know, I think that girls, they are more predisposed to talking and communicating about their feelings, but boys not so much. And we know that boys are often told to man up, don't feel, don't cry. And in these two episodes that you'll watch on Sunday night, almost the opposite happens. But, again, we go to very unlikely places to experience that kind of encouragement.
[08:50:00]
HILL: It is such -- it is so wonderful to see, though. And this -- and this other episode, as you were talking about, is bringing together prep school students and prisoners at a state correctional facility, incarcerated people there.
So I'm curious, what is the goal of bringing these two different groups together? What is the goal there and what did you see come out of it?
LING: Well, you're right, Erica, I mean these are two worlds that would otherwise probably never interact with one another. And you would think that the benefit would be among the incarcerated men. But what I experienced was quite transformational among the young prep school boys.
Because the inmates were so candid about their past, they were so remorseful about the crimes they had committed, but also had become very in touch with their feelings, their emotions, the trauma that they experienced as young people that led them on this course, that encouraged the prep school boys to share things that they may have never shared with their family members or even their student -- their friends. And I overheard some of the boys after some of the sessions say, you know, I knew Aiden (ph) all of my life and I never knew this about him. But because this environment was just so open, it really gave them permission to be able to feel.
BERMAN: And then the prisoners feel so connected with the students that they even went as far as to set up a scholarship fund for one of them. We have a little clip of that, so watch.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LING: With minimum wage at 8 cents an hour, it can take a full day of hard labor to make a buck on the inside. So every dollar donated is worth a lot more in here than in the free world.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How much are you going to be donating?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: $100.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: $100. Appreciate that.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My check.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Your paycheck.
LING: What kind of work do you do here?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I clean the medical facilities around here. That's my monthly pay.
LING: So you make $100 a month and you're donating your whole check to this?
LING: Yes. I get paid to do what I do, so why not pay it forward and give it to someone else for a change?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BERMAN: Just, wow. I mean, really, wow.
Lisa, explain just more about how that happened.
LING: So, John, during the course of one of the sessions, it's an eight-week -- essentially a book club, some of the incarcerated men were reading the book "Through the River of the Kwai" and they were so moved by the story they decided to start a scholarship for young men outside of prison to be able to attend that Palma School, which is that prep school.
And so over the course of two years, they raised over $30,000.
And again, as you just heard, some inmates make 8 cents an hour. And so this past year, a young man graduated from the Palma School having had almost his entire education paid for by incarcerated men at the CTF Prison in Soledad.
HILL: It is such a great story. I love it. Really quickly, and you touched on this other episode really helping to break these boys down who are struggling with a host of issues. It's remarkable to me, though, too, you were the first woman who was ever allowed to attend.
How did you convince them?
LING: Well, they take this very seriously. And I think that you'd have to be hiding under a rock to not recognize that a lot of young men are struggling right now. And there's so much going on. You know, boys drop out at a far higher rate than girls. The suicide rate among young men between 18 and 24 has been soaring and it is about four times that of girls the same age. And so there really is a crisis going on. And so I commend these men who take time out of their lives to volunteer to be the mentors and the men that these young men really need in their lives right now.
HILL: The examples, I think, we could all use right now.
BERMAN: Looks amazing. Look, the new season of "This Is Life" with Lisa Ling premieres with back to back episodes on Sunday night, 9:00 p.m. Eastern., on CNN.
Our thanks to Lisa for this.
HILL: We want to leave you this morning with a Thanksgiving message from the late "Jeopardy!" host Alex Trebek.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ALEX TREBEK, HOST, "JEOPARDY!": Happy thanksgiving, ladies and gentlemen.
You know, in spite of what America and the rest of the world is experiencing right now, there are many reasons to be thankful. There are more and more people extending helpful hands to do a kindness to their neighbors, and that's a good thing. Keep the faith. We're going to get through all of this and we will be a better society because of it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HILL: New episodes of the hit gameshow will be in taping next week. The first guest host will be 74-time champion Ken Jennings.
BERMAN: That's really amazing that he did tape that. Obviously, you know, this was, I think, probably for him the most special season, obviously the most trying, you know, to be doing it as he was going through what he was going through, but he really made it count.
HILL: And he -- I mean, I just think it's beautiful the way he brought so many people together. You sort of had a sense when we found out he was sick. But then when you see the reaction after he had passed, what he meant to so many people, pretty remarkable.
[08:55:00]
BERMAN: Lovely having you here this morning. Nice to see you.
HILL: Always a pleasure, JB.
BERMAN: CNN's coverage continues right after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BIANNA GOLODRYGA, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, everyone. I'm Bianna Golodryga. Jim and Poppy have the day off. I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving.
This is a special holiday edition of CNN NEWSROOM.
Black Friday with or without the massive crowds.
[09:00:03]
Stores urging customers to shop online as the holiday shopping season officially kicks off.
And for good reason.
