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NYPD On High Alert for Potential Threats To NYE Celebrations Amid Irael-Hamas War; Rogue Waves Hit California Coast, Sweeping People Off Their Feet; Mushroom Hunting Brings Spike In Poison Control Calls; The Smerconish Book Club. Aired 1:30-2p ET
Aired December 29, 2023 - 13:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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[13:33:44]
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: New York authorities are on high alert as the city is preparing to ring in 2024. Officials say that there are no specific credible threats.
But a new joint intel report says Times Square remains an attractive target for terrorists and extremists. Security concerns are also high because of possible protest surrounding the Israel-Hamas war.
Joining us now, we have Tom Harris. He is the president of the Times Square Alliance.
Sir, thank you so much for being with us.
I want to talk to you about what we should be expecting here. And tell us what are the security concerns this year when you compare it to past years?
TOM HARRIS, PRESIDENT, TIMES SQUARE ALLIANCE: First, thank you very much for having me.
We are looking forward to welcoming almost one million people to Times Square to safely celebrate New Year's Eve. The New York City Police Department is hyper focused on making sure that the revelers have a safe experience in Times Square.
And they have been working tirelessly 24 hours a day, seven days a week, along with the FBI and other federal agencies just to make sure that they are up to speed on anything that is out there, anyone who might try to disrupt the event.
KEILAR: Are there any threats that are related to Israel Hamas, to the Israel-Hamas war? Any worries that are related to that?
[13:35:02]
HARRIS: So, I wouldn't say worries, because we are focused on it. But there certainly has been a planned protest for some place on New Year's Eve. So we have been working with the NYPD to make sure that they have a
plan in place, that people can peacefully exercise their First Amendment rights to protest, but not at the expense of the people who come to watch the event in Times Square.
KEILAR: So, if people are visiting this year, what should they be expecting, in terms of security?
HARRIS: So it'll pretty much be the same as it has been in years past. The revelers will come, we have six access points for 49th Street, 52nd Street, Sixth and Eighth Avenue.
They'll come in, there will be screened by the NYPD, and then they will be walked into viewing areas where they'll await midnight, when the clock strikes midnight, the ball descends, and we welcome in 2024.
KEILAR: Any specific message to revelers who are getting ready for this?
HARRIS: Just bring a sense of humor. Don't bring umbrellas. The weather is looking good. Come early. But just heed the advice of the NYPD. No umbrellas, chairs, backpacks, large bags.
And just come ready to have that New York resolve and spirit that the revelers have year in and year out.
KEILAR: Very good message.
All right, Tom, thanks for being with us. We do appreciate it. And certainly, we are looking forward to seeing the ball drop there in Times Square.
HARRIS: Thanks. Happy New Year.
KEILAR: Happy New Year to you as well.
Still ahead on CNN NEWS CENTRAL, a powerful storm in California sending rogue waves crashing over sea walls, injuring several people who were there watching the surf. And the weekend could bring even more severe weather.
And movie theater controversy. We are now hearing from a civil rights leader who was kicked out of a screening of "The Color Purple."
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[13:40:54]
BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: An update now on some of the other headlines we're watching this hour.
A police officer in Ohio is now on administrative leave and under investigation. Watch this. He was seen punching a Miami University football player during an arrest.
We want to warn you, this video is disturbing. It shows a 20-year-old student, Devin Johnson, on the ground. Staff
and bystanders from a nearby brawl where there. They were trying to apprehend Johnson after he allegedly assaulted a bar manager.
But the video shows an Oxford police officer arriving on the scene while the student is pinned on the ground. The officer is then seen hitting the student in the head at least three times, as he is being restrained, held down by several people.
Also, the chancellor at the University of Wisconsin lacrosse has been fired after he and his wife posted pornographic videos online. The school has not publicly detailed the reason they removed 63-year-old Joe Gow from his leadership role.
But he told several news outlets he's being punished for the explicit videos the couple made together and that it should be protected speech.
KEILAR: That is a wild story.
And take a look at this terrifying scene along the California coast. This is a rogue wave here.
It just burst over a barrier in Ventura, sweeping about 20 people who were there watching the surf, as well as their cars about 50 yards away, as the water raced down the street. At least eight people here went to the hospital.
The National Weather Service has issued coastal flooding and high-surf warnings for much of the California coast, with waves up to 40 feet possible for San Francisco.
Let's go live now to CNN correspondent, Lucy Kafanov. She is there on Manhattan Beach in California.
Usually beautiful, Lucy. It's been a little dangerous here.
LUCY KAFANOV, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, it's so beautiful. But you can see the waves behind me. In fact, I'll step out of the shot and let our cameramen capture some of nature's power here.
The waves around here, roughly 12 to 14 feet. Not as bad as other parts of the California coast. But still, just as a precaution, authorities -- there we go. It's actually moving closer to where I'm standing. And I will move a little bit away.
Authorities actually closed this pier as a precaution. But you can still see there are folks out here grabbing photos, taking pictures, despite the closest signs. Obviously, they're not enforcing that.
But the unpredictability of just how close it keeps coming to you is part of the concern.
Now, in terms of the rest of the coast, Ventura and Santa Cruz counties very much impacted the most as of yesterday, where we saw dramatic flooding of the areas. There was powerful footage of a restaurant that was completely
engulfed by flames. A lot of businesses and homes were hurt.
You played that dramatic footage of people getting swept away. Nothing that dangerous here in the Manhattan Beach area for now.
But onlookers who experienced the worst of it in the other areas describe those harrowing moments.
Take a listen.
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JILL VERNOR, UNIVERSITY OF SANTA CRUZ COUNTY: It's a pure state of panic. Let's be honest, as far as the community goes. Because you know there's plenty out there that are not prepared.
JOHN FIZZELL, WITNESSED ROGUE WAVE: This wave just came, simply out of nowhere. It was on the side. It was six to eight feet deep.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAFANOV: And we just had an L.A. County lifeguard car behind us. In certain parts of the beach, not Manhattan Beach, but a little bit further to that area, we have seen diggers trying to build up the berms and keep the water from creating more damage.
Because it's not just yesterday or today. We are expecting high waves throughout the weekend, potentially as high as 30 feet in some parts of California. Parts of Santa Cruz have been evacuated. That evacuation order now lifted.
A lot of the residents and construction cleanup crews are forced to deal with the aftermath, the debris, the flooding, as they also prepare for potentially unpredictable weather continuing this weekend -- Brianna?
[13:45:00]
KEILAR: Yes, we see it as it snuck up on you there, as the wave doubling up as they come into the shore.
All right, Lucy, stay safe. One eye on the camera, one eye on the surf. Have a wonderful new year.
KAFANOV: Thank you. You, too.
KEILAR: Still ahead on CNN NEWS CENTRAL, dangerous foraging. Poison Control Centers seeing a spike in calls after people eat toxic mushrooms. We are going to have a look at this trend.
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SANCHEZ: A civil rights leader is speaking out after being kicked out of a movie theater in North Carolina. On Tuesday, staff members of an AMC theater called police on Bishop
William Barber after he tried to use his own chair in the disabled section. He says he takes the chair everywhere because of a painful health condition.
Today, during a press conference, he called the whole incident shameful and unnecessary.
Watch this.
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REV. WILLIAM BARBER, CIVIL RIGHTS LEADER KICKED OUT OF AMC THEATER: It should have never been a police escalation situation. Never been threatened to be charged with trespassing.
What's the big deal? Well, civil rights and disability rights. I am not ashamed. I'm not ashamed of this chair.
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[13:50:06]
SANCHEZ: AMC has since apologized. The company CEO is set to meet with Bishop Barber next week.
KEILAR: This year, Poison Control Centers say they are getting spiking calls because of people eating dangerous wild mushrooms.
SANCHEZ: It comes as an interest in forging grows as a way to connect with nature and also to live a more sustainable life.
CNN's Meg Tirrell has that report.
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BILL HICKMAN, ATE POISONOUS MUSHROOM: I saw the mushrooms over here.
MEG TIRRELL, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Last September, Bill Hickman found what he thought were edible mushrooms growing near his house in Windham, Ohio.
HICKMAN: I looked down and I put my phone on it and it says, boom, it's a giant puff ball. I'm like, oh, cool. So, I put my stuff down over there and gathered a few up.
TIRRELL: But the app on his phone was wrong. Eight hours after eating the mushrooms, Bill got violently sick.
HICKMAN: You know, I just didn't think I was going to live.
TIRRELL: It turns out Bill had eaten four of what are known as Destroying Angel Mushrooms, a highly toxic species.
HICKMAN: The first doctor pretty much told us he can't help him. You know, that he's -- he's not going to survive. TIRRELL: Warmer fall weather, due to climate change, is extending
mushroom season. Nationally, reports of potentially toxic mushroom exposures are up more than 11 percent so far this year compared to last.
To see just how diverse and potentially dangerous mushrooms can be, we went foraging with mycology instructor, Rick Van De Poll, in New Hampshire.
RICK VAN DE POLL, MYCOLOGY INSTRUCTOR: This one has what they call a classic farinaceous odor. So, it's an odor of meal or farina.
TIRRELL: He uses smells, colors and structural features to help determine which mushrooms are safe to eat.
VAN DE POLL: So, these are puff balls. Open it up and show you that -- what the middle looks like.
TIRRELL (on camera): Wow. Looks like a marshmallow.
VAN DE POLL: All right. Yes, exactly. They often call these the marshmallow mushrooms.
And, interestingly, they, in a soup, will soak up the fluid and the taste so you can actually use this as little miniature sort of mushroom sponges.
TIRRELL (voice-over): And which ones are not?
(on camera): Where would you look for the - some of the ones that are poisonous.
VAN DE POLL: Let's go take a look.
TIRRELL: OK.
Oh, wow, those are orange.
VAN DE POLL: See what you got. And you can touch it, smell it. So that has the farinaceous odor. So if you got that.
TIRRELL: It's subtle. So, what will that do if you eat it?
VAN DE POLL: That will make you sick. Yes, gastric upset. Won't kill you.
TIRRELL (voice-over): But some can be deadly.
(on camera): So, that's it?
VAN DE POLL: OK. So this is it. It doesn't look like much. It's this little brown mushroom. And, you know, you pick it off the log. So, this is our deadly galerina, galerina marginata.
TIRRELL: What would happen if you eat one of those?
VAN DE POLL: So, this has amatoxins in it.
TIRRELL (voice-over): That's a poison that destroys liver cells and can cause liver failure.
Amatoxin was also in the mushrooms Bill Hickman ate.
With his liver and kidneys at risk of failing, Bill was transferred to University Hospital in Cleveland, where doctors raced to get him an experimental antidote, an extract from the Milk Thistle plant called Silibinin.
The antidote worked. Bill slowly regained his strength, but says it took months to fully recover, both physically and mentally.
HICKMAN: There are a lot of people involved to make it happen, to save me.
TIRRELL: Meg Tirrell, CNN, Windham, Ohio.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SANCHEZ: He is lucky to be OK. It is such a risk that. I would just go to the grocery store.
KEILAR: I agree. But they only have a few varieties, Boris.
SANCHEZ: You can order them online! It's fine. Nothing wrong with ordering mushrooms on the Internet. What could go wrong?
(LAUGHTER)
KEILAR: Stop.
SANCHEZ: So maybe your 2024 resolution includes reading more books.
KEILAR: Mine actually does.
So our own Michael Smerconish has some ideas. Speaking to five authors who influenced him in 2023.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SMERCONISH: Back in 2006, after I had been appearing regularly on CNN, usually as a legal guest, the network told me they liked my work but they didn't know what to do with me.
I think the network brass were surprised when then I pitched my idea, hosting a weekly book club.
We filmed it beginning with me back at home on Market Street in Philadelphia. Well, that show never made it to air.
But today, 17 years later, a holiday gift, at least for me, I decided I would speak with five authors of books that made an impact on me this year. David Brooks has been an opinion columnist for "The New York Times" for 20 years. His latest book explores the most important skill for people to possess and lead happy, health lives.
Free speech advocate, Greg Lukianoff, co-wrote the bestseller "The Coddling of the American Mind." And with cancel culture wars tearing apart university campuses all across the country, he's now back with a well-timed follow up. It's "The Canceling of American Mind."
[13:55:03]
Sheila Johnson was the nation's first female black billionaire. In her memoire, she recounts hardships she faced along the way, including institutional racism, losing a child, emotional abuse and depression.
And Robert Rubin was the former secretary of the treasury, co-chair of Goldman Sachs. His latest is about what he has learned on how to make the best decisions in an uncertain world.
And perhaps in complete contrast, Robert Sapolsky is a TED Talk phenom. He's a professor of biology and neurology at Stanford University. He argues in his latest book that we really don't have any power to decide anything, that there's no such thing as free will.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SANCHEZ: Some really interesting topics.
You can watch "SMERCONISH" Saturday mornings at 9:00 a.m. Eastern right here on CNN.
And still to come this afternoon, damaged but not defeated. Ukraine hit with a barrage of missile attacks as President Zelenskyy visits the frontlines himself in a show of defiance. The latest on the deadly strikes when we come back.
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