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Don Lemon Tonight

January 6th Committee Wants To Hear From Ivanka Trump; Georgia D.A. Wants A Grand Jury To Investigate Trump; President Biden Hints A Possible Rigged Midterm Election; The Show Must Go On; Another Unruly Passenger Jeopardizes Flight. Aired 10-11p ET

Aired January 20, 2022 - 22:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[22:00:00]

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST (on camera): Thanks for joining us for this special two-edition of 360 from Washington. The news continues. Let's turn things over to Don and DON LEMON TONIGHT. Don?

DON LEMON, CNN HOST: This is DON LEMON TONIGHT. Thank you so much for joining us.

A web of legal trouble entangled all up in it tonight of the disgraced former president, Rudy Giuliani and Ivanka Trump. And what we're learning tonight reveals more than we ever knew before about the coordinated big lie strategy, the coup attempt and how deep it all went.

First the former president and a huge development in Georgia. A special grand jury to investigate how the then-president tried to pressure officials. Fulton County D.A. Fani Willis saying that her office has information that the election in her state was, and I quote here, "subject to possible criminal disruptions." Criminal disruptions.

This is big. And it's not just the former president. The D.A. wants to look at Rudy Giuliani, Lindsey Graham and others. And remember the then president himself on tape telling Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger exactly how many votes he wants him to in his words, find 11,780.

(BEGIN VOICE CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: So, look, all I want to do is this. I just want to find 11,780 votes, which is one more than we have because we won the state.

(END VOICE CLIP)

LEMON (on camera): Not like putting it right out there, just saying it out loud. Who knows what would have happened if it hadn't been for election officials like Raffensperger standing their ground?

(BEGIN VOICE CLIP)

TRUMP: The people of Georgia are angry. The people of the country are angry, and there's nothing wrong with saying that, you know, that you've recalculated because the 2,236 in absentee ballots, I mean, they're all exact numbers that were done by accounting firms, law firms, et cetera. And even if you cut them in half, cut them in half, cut them in half again it's more votes than we do need.

BRAD RAFFENSPERGER, GEORGIA SECRETARY OF STATE: Well, Mr. President, the challenge that you have is that the data you have is wrong.

(END VOICE CLIP)

LEMON (on camera): Can you believe we lived through that? That was during the quarantine, remember. That as we're learning tonight that Trump campaign officials led by, you guessed it, Rudy Giuliani plotted to put forward fake electors in seven states the former president lost fair and square, Pennsylvania, Georgia, Michigan, Arizona, Wisconsin, Nevada and New Mexico.

And sources are telling CNN that Giuliani and his allies coordinated the nuts and bolts of the scheme on a state-by-state level with multiple calls between Trump campaign officials and GOP state operatives.

Giuliani and on at least one of those calls, I should say. One source says that the campaign lined up Trump supporters to fill the elector slot, secured meeting rooms and statehouses for them to meet and circulated drafts of the fake certificates that were ultimately sent to the National Archives.

One of the fake electors Marshawn Maddock, co-chair of the Michigan Republican Party. You see her signature on the fake election certificate actually boasting at a recent local Republican event the Trump campaign directed the entire operation.

(BEGIN VOICE CLIP)

MARSHAWN MADDOCK, CO-CHAIR, MICHIGAN REPUBLICAN PARTY: We fought for investigations into every part of the election we could. He fought for a team of people to come and testify in front of the committee. We fought to see the electors, the Trump campaign asked us to do that, under a lot of scrutiny for that today.

(END VOICE CLIP)

LEMON (on camera): Again, no shame. They just say it right out in the open. And whatever happens under a lot of scrutiny, well that's for sure. A former Trump campaign staffer saying, quote, "it was Rudy and these misfit characters who started calling the shots. The campaign was throwing enough s-h-i-t at the wall to see what would stick."

And then there's the January 6th committee for the first time asking a member of the former president's family to talk to them voluntarily. They believe that Ivanka Trump is a first-hand witness to her father's efforts to pressure Mike Pence to refuse to certify the election.

And they have testimony from Keith Kellogg, Pence's national security advisor, that the White House staff thought Ivanka could be the only one to convince her father to act as the riot -- at the riot -- as the riot at the capitol raged.

[22:04:59]

Quote, "did you think that she could help get him to a place where he would make a statement to try to stop this? Yes. So, you thought that Ivanka could get her father to do something about it, to take a course of action? He didn't say yes to Mark Meadows or Kayleigh McEnany or Keith Kellogg but might say yes to his daughter." Exactly right.

Now the committee also wants to ask Ivanka Trump about the video statement that the then president filmed in the Rose Garden and why it repeatedly took multiple takes to get him to tell the rioters to leave the capitol.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Go home. We love you, you're very special. You've seen what happens. You see the way others are treated that are so bad and so evil. I know how you feel.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON (on camera): They knew it was all a lie. They knew how dangerous it was. They saw what happened at the capitol. But they publicly pretended to believe the big lie.

And listen to this text exchange between an outside individual and a White House aide as the riot was raging and millions of Americans were watching it on TV live. Quote, "is someone getting to POTUS? He has to tell the prospective to dissipate. Someone is going to get killed." The aide replying, "I've been trying for the last 30 minutes, literally stormed in outer Oval to get him to put outlet the first one. It's completely insane."

Ivanka's spokesperson telling CNN tonight, quote, "as the committee already knows Ivanka did not speak to the January 6th rally as she publicly stated that day at 3.15 p.m. any security breach or disrespect our law enforce -- to our law enforcement is unacceptable. The violence must stop immediately. Please be peaceful."

She didn't speak at the rally, but we know who did. Her father. So did her brothers Don, Jr. and Eric. Interesting distinction for a lawyer, for a Trump, right, to make. As for the rest of that statement, remember the tweet, the one she quickly deleted? They left out the beginning of that, the part where she called them American patriots.

Like I said, a web of legal trouble, and it tells us more than ever before about the big lie strategy and the coup attempt and how close they came to succeeding. And more will come. Trust me.

I want to bring in now CNN political correspondent Sara Murray with more on this grand jury investigation in Georgia. Sara, good evening to you. Thank you so much for joining.

Let's focus now on this major development out of Georgia where a district attorney is requesting a special grand jury to investigate Trump's election interference. That is a big deal. What do you know about that?

SARA MURRAY, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: It is a big deal. And you know, it's a big deal because we know she's already been looking into Donald Trump and his allies for roughly a year. So, this signal, you know, pretty clearly, she is not giving this up.

She's clearly moving towards looking at whether there are real criminal charges she could bring against either Donald Trump or those who were in his inner circle who helped push this campaign in Georgia to try to overturn the election results.

Here's what she writes in her letter and what she's requesting the special grand jury. She says, we have made efforts to interview multiple witnesses and gather evidence, and a significant number of witnesses and perspective witnesses have refused to cooperate with the investigation absent a subpoena requiring their testimony. By way of example, Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, an essential witness to this investigation, has indicated that he will not participate in an interview or otherwise offer evidence until he's presented with a subpoena by my office.

And Don, we know the Georgia secretary of state's office has already given her documents, we know they've given recordings like the one you've played earlier of the call with Raffensperger. We know that that office has already spoken to lower-level staffers. So, this means what she really wants is to hear from the witnesses, the key people directly in front of a grand jury.

LEMON: So, who else could end up getting subpoenaed beyond Georgia election officials, Sara?

MURRAY: Well, you know, we know obviously there's people like Brad Raffensperger, maybe Brian Kemp, the governor of Georgia she's wanted to hear from. But it also means people like Rudy Giuliani, it also means people like Mark Meadows. These were key players in Donald Trump's inner circle who were also working any in they could in Georgia to try to undercut the election results there, try to find Donald Trump the votes he needed.

Of course, the question is going to be does anything rise to being an actual criminal offense? But this is the kind of thing that could be uncomfortable not just for the president but for people who are working with him.

LEMON: Indeed. Sara Murray, thank you. Reporting from Washington this evening.

The January 6th committee reaching deeper into Trump's inner the former president's inner circle than ever, asking his number one daughter to talk to them. They say they have firsthand testimony about what Ivanka trump did on January 6th.

[22:10:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) LEMON (on camera): The January 6th committee wants Ivanka Trump to

testify, sending a letter to the former president's daughter who was a senior White House advisor asking her to voluntarily cooperate with the committee's investigation. Tonight, a spokesperson for Ivanka Trump not saying if she'll agree to testify.

I want to discuss now with CNN's law enforcement analyst, Andrew McCabe, former FBI deputy director, and John Dean, former Nixon White House counsel.

Gentlemen, good evening. John, I'm going to start with you. The January 6th committee wants to speak to Ivanka Trump. The committee says that they have first-hand testimony that she went in at least twice to ask her father to stop the violence.

And the letter also says this and I quote, "apparently certain White House staff believe that a live unscripted press appearance by the president in the midst of the Capitol Hill violence could have made the situation worse."

Now, the idea that having the president speak could make things worse, how much of that is this figuring out his state of mind on that day?

JOHN DEAN, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Well, clearly this is an effort to get to his state of mind. And nobody knows that better than his daughter who apparently was sent in on multiple missions to try to persuade him to do what was right, when everything was falling apart around the city.

So, they're going right at the heart of the issue here. And that is what was his intention shown by both his action and reactions to what his daughter was saying. So, this is important testimony if they can get it.

[22:15:02]

LEMON: They also say, John, that Trump's attacks on Pence riled up that mob. They want to know what was going on inside the White House when he tweeted that Mike Pence didn't have the courage to do what should have been done to overturn the election. What doubts are they looking to connect here, do you think?

DEAN: Well, I think they're looking to connect how hard the president pressed Trump or pressed his vice president. We know we have from other sources that it was a pretty hard press. And we'd like -- they'd like to hear from Ivanka what she thought of all that. It was very unseemly. How -- how unconstitutional did she know it was?

I think that was implicit in the letter also that they have a lot of information about what up -- what was discussed in the office, the issue of whether the White House counsel had told the president this was unconstitutional activity and he better cease and desist. So she's -- as I say if she would talk she is a very important witness. But I am not holding my breath.

LEMON: Andrew, they have testimony from General Keith Kellogg that Ivanka was in the room when her father was pressuring Pence. What's clear about this letter that they have -- they already have key information from Trump's inner circle and others at the White House, no?

ANDREW MCCABE, CNN SENIOR LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Absolutely they do, Don. It's very clear. So, Keith Kellogg, Kayleigh McEnany, of course you have your media luminaries weighing in the form of Sean Hannity. But there are other references in this letter I find totally fascinating where they say they drop little bread crumbs as it were saying things like, you know, it's been reported or the committee has information that.

So, they are -- they are drawing on the information that's been provided to them from multiple sources. That's perfectly clear from this letter.

LEMON: And John, what did you think when you saw in this letter that there are multiple outtakes of that Rose Garden video where Trump initially failed to ask the rioters to even leave the capitol. The committee wants those outtakes from the National Archives. Will they have any problem getting them now that the Supreme Court says the National Archives can hand things over?

DEAN: Unless they've been destroyed, they shouldn't, and there's no indication from the archival responses in the litigation that there's anything amiss with this material than it is available. They haven't reported it's not in the inventory as requested. So, I think this will be forthcoming. I think these will be very telling to see what he had to say that he couldn't sell to even his staff.

LEMON: I find it interesting, Andrew, because wouldn't you think that it would be something that, you know, the folks around you, the handlers, the press people would write for you and the first thing you would say is leave the capitol. But apparently, I guess, he was ad- libbing and, you know --

MCCABE: I mean, Don, how often have we ever seen this president take advice, right, from lawyers, from staff members, from anyone else. So, it doesn't surprise me they were just like, gosh, hit record and let's see what happens. You know, I'm sure there were a number of stumbling outtakes there.

But I think it's -- it's really important to point out that the committee knows that their chances of getting Ivanka to actually come and then testify voluntarily are very, you know, slim to none. But what they're doing with this letter is laying out an absolute ironclad case for why she should come in.

So, if she doesn't come in, you can bet this will be a point in their final report indicating that she say a direct fact witness, she had access to all this information and she refused to come in and provide it.

LEMON: That was my next question to you, do you think it will actually happen. But since you answered that I will ask you another one. There's a Trump campaign officials led by Rudy Giuliani they oversaw efforts in December 2020 to put forward fake electors from seven states that Trump lost.

January 6th committee chairman Benny Thompson told reporters that he is looking into whether there was a broader conspiracy or involvement from the Trump White House. What do you think it's -- what do you think it will mean if this led -- leads back to top officials or even to Trump?

MCCABE: Well, I think it's been clear for a while that the committee is taking a very broad look at this thing. You know, originally it was like they're going to look at January 6th. And then it was like, well, they're going to look at, you know, the ellipse and speeches on the ellipse and leading up to it.

They are way bigger than that. They are looking at the entire conspiracy to overthrow the results of a lawful election. And to the extent that ropes in Rudy Giuliani, and Sidney Powell or any of these other so-called advisers or high-level people from within the administration, I think the committee probably see that -- sees all of that as fair game for the work that they're doing right now. So, it will be interesting to see where it lands.

LEMON: John Dean, the Trump campaign even lined up supporters to fill elector spots, secured meeting rooms for the fake electors to meet and they culminate it with fake certificates being sent to the National Archives. Is it possible that laws were broken here?

[22:20:05]

DEAN: That's not only possible, it's very likely. A number of the states have already declared that it appears their state laws have been violated. And there's no question that that happens that the federal laws have been violated. So, I think this is a massive conspiracy. It probably multiple conspiracies --

(CROSSTALK)

LEMON: What are the consequences for that? What are the consequences?

DEAN: Well, it could be very -- it could be very serious. We're talking serious felonies here. There-- I've heard as many as six or seven different statutes involved in this activity. So, it could be very serious felony crime that we're looking at, and I think it's going to grow.

This reminds me of Watergate where it really started getting serious. We're in the very serious stage now, Don.

LEMON: All right. Thank you, John. Thank you, Andrew. I appreciate it.

Did President Biden really mean to imply the midterm elections might not be, quote, legit? I'm going to ask a top advisor. That's next.

[22:25:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) LEMON (on camera): The Biden White House trying to chart a way

forward on voting rights and build back better, key components of the president's agenda.

So, let's find out what comes next from senior adviser to the president, Cedric Richmond. Cedric, good to see you. Thank you for appearing on the program.

CEDRIC RICHMOND, WHITE HOUSE SENIOR ADVISER: Thanks for having me, Don.

LEMON: Listen, you know about yesterday the concern about what the president said about the upcoming elections may not be legit. Why does he have a concern or question about the upcoming election?

RICHMOND: Well, what he was doing was highlighting the fact that 2020 was something we should celebrate. More people voted than in the history of this country, and it was a safe, it was a fair and accurate election.

However, if Republicans are able to pass these laws that they're doing in states and Donald Trump was able to call and say find me 11,000 votes, that there's a threat there. And we need to highlight the fact that there's a threat to our democracy.

So, I think that's what the president was doing, was saying that if Donald Trump is able to do those things, then we wouldn't have a legitimate election. But do we believe in America's ability to have fair elections? Absolutely.

LEMON: You understand that there is would be a comparison considering what the former president -- how he questioned elections and placed doubt on people going to the polls and voting?

RICHMOND: And we were not doing that, Don.

LEMON: I want to play something that President Biden said in his news conference about Black voters specifically. Watch this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: Well, I think, if in fact, no matter how hard they make it for minorities to vote I think you're going to see them willing to stand in line and defy the attempt to keep them from being able to vote. I think you're going to see the people they're trying to keep from being able to show up, showing up and making the sacrifice they need in order to change the law back to what it should be.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON (on camera): Is the president asking Black voters to carry the burden of leaders in Washington not passing laws to protect their right to vote?

RICHMOND: Absolutely not, Don. We're going to continue to fight for the right to vote. You saw us double the size of the civil rights division at the Department of Justice. They've sued Texas. They've sued Georgia over their unconstitutional laws. And we're going -- we're going to continue to push in terms of pushing for legislation in Congress. We'll continue to fight in the courts. And we're going to continue to fight on the street corner.

I think what the president was saying is that African-Americans will not look kindly on people who try to take their right to vote. And I think that that's what he was highlighting. And I think that to some extent that's exactly right. We're not going to let you take the right to vote from us. And people have never looked kindly on those who try to do that.

LEMON: I think he said, you know, people waited in line for hours or, you know, in African-American precincts, that did happen. But African- Americans shouldn't have to stand in line for hours. There should not be differences between how African-Americans vote in this country or people of color and the larger population as well.

So, do you understand what I'm saying here? That burden should not be on African Americans, that African Americans should not have a heavier burden than other Americans to vote.

RICHMOND: You're absolutely right. And that's exactly why the Department of Justice sued the state of Georgia, they sued the state of Texas because they believe that the laws as enacted would place a higher burden on African-Americans to vote than other people. Minorities -- make it harder for minorities to vote than their white counterparts.

So that's why we're in the courts, and that's why we're fighting. And that's why we're pushing for the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act because we know how important it is and we need to stop those laws before they're enacted. Preclearance is very important, and we'll continue to fight for it.

[22:30:04]

LEMON: You know, the president seems to be taking on a new tone. Republicans are frequently asking, you know, why they -- what they are for -- that's what he's saying about Republicans. He's also said that they were not as obstruction -- or obstructive I should say back in the Obama era. Mitch McConnell responding tonight that. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL (R-KY), SENATE MINORITY LEADER: The reason we've not been speaking recently this year is because he adopted the Bernie Sanders prescription for America. If the president wants to reinvent himself and come back to the middle, we have things to talk about that we can work on together.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON (on camera): What do you think of that? RICHMOND: I think that's Mitch McConnell doing what Mitch McConnell

does. He obstructed during the Obama administration, and he's trying to obstruct during this administration. Look, the president has offered many times to meet them in the middle and do the things that are necessary for the American people.

We had to pass the American rescue plan so that we could get vaccines into arms so that we could help businesses that are shutdown, so we can open up schools again. When we took office 50 percent of the schools in this country were closed. Now 96 percent of them are open. Businesses are open instead of shutdown.

We added 6.4 million jobs. We are working, but the Republican talking points will always be, one, fiction or flat out false. But we are -- we're really working to meet the needs of the people. And if the Republicans want to join us, that's great and we look forward to it. They just had a chance to join us in terms of protecting our democracy and the right to vote and not one of them did.

LEMON: There was -- the president said a number of times in his press conference yesterday that he was surprised by how obstructionist the Republicans are and the push back that he is getting, but it is of no surprise to most people especially to people who were around for the Obama era when they said that they happened to make him a one-term president.

And then allies of the former President Trump said in the beginning that they wanted to kill the Biden presidency in the crib. How -- what was he so surprise -- what took him so long to figure that out?

RICHMOND: Well, Don, I'll tell you, one, we were able to do a big bipartisan thing and that was the infrastructure bill. But I think that what the president was alluding to was the fact that in private so many Republicans will say we agree with you, we want to help, we want to do this, but if we do this Donald Trump will primary us and we may lose our job.

And so, the lack of displayed courage to stand up and follow convictions is something that is very surprising.

LEMON: Let's talk about the Electoral Count Act, an effort to reform the Electoral Count Act is picking up steam on Capitol Hill. Lawmakers want to clarify the process of counting votes after Trump tried to undermine the election.

It looks like there is some support from Republicans. The president is supportive of this as well. Will that decrease the chances of an attempted coup like we saw on January 6th from happening again, Cedric?

RICHMOND: We think we need the Freedom to Vote Act, the John Lewis voting recognizes bill and the Electoral Account Act. We think we need all three of them. We don't think that the Electoral Count Act independent will protect by itself will adequately protect the right to vote and stop these partisan bills from affecting minorities right to vote, so we -- we want all three of them. LEMON: The vice president -- Vice President Harris has said that

executive actions might be the way forward on voting rights. Is there anything being drafted in the White House right now as far as an executive action?

RICHMOND: I think it's something that we're looking at, and we continue to look at executive action where Congress will not act. We're working on an executive order right now on policing because Congress could not come together and pass the George Floyd Justice and Policing Act.

So, when Republican obstruction stops us from advancing and meeting the needs of the people, we will go at it alone. So, we will always look for ways that are constitutional but within the president's power to advance voting rights or police reform.

And remember, we already did one executive order on voting early in the administration. That was to encourage all agencies to -- well, mandate that all agencies assist in making it easier to register to vote and easy to vote. So, we'll continue to do that.

[22:34:58]

LEMON: I want to talk about other elements of the president's agenda. He proposed breaking up the hallmark build back better bill into smaller chunks that are more likely to pass.

There's a lot in that bill, Cedric, as you know like early childhood education, housing, clean energy. What does the president want to see happen first?

RICHMOND: The president wants his bill in the framework that he laid out around the $1.75 trillion number. Remember that bill started off well over $3 trillion, so it's been broken up into a smaller piece of legislation.

And I think what's very clear is whatever we don't get now we're going to continue to fight for it through the remainder of the presidency. But if you start talking about the clean energy stuff, the child tax credit, three and four-year-olds going to school, the things in there for equity, community violence intervention, HBU funding, all those things are important, those are things that the president put in the bill in the first place. And so, we're going to continue to fight for them.

LEMON: I've got to ask you, the president said, listen, yesterday that he's been in Washington. This came up when he was talking about voting rights. And he said I've been in D.C. I've been out with the pressing the flash with the people in a long time and I had to do that.

In this environment with COVID obviously, you know, there are some obstacles when it comes to that. When does he start doing that, and how does that happen? What does that look like, Cedric?

RICHMOND: Well, I think it's exactly what he said. It's him out in -- outside of the White House, outside of D.C. interacting with people. We all know one thing that President Biden and Vice President Harris are our best messengers. And to the extent that we've done phenomenal things in the first year, they're the best ones to amplify the things we did.

And I think that getting outside of D.C. will help us do that, so we can explain to people that we've cut child poverty in half by 50 percent in this country. We've reduced Black poverty by 30 percent, Latino poverty by 39 percent, AAPI poverty by 22 percent.

And so those are the things that getting outside of the D.C. circle will help us, one, show people that government can work for them, showing people that when we took office two million people were vaccinated, now over 200 million people are vaccinated and that 20 million people almost were unemployed.

And now it's less than two million people. We created 6.4 million jobs. All of those things are great things, great significant accomplishments. But people need to hear it. People need to see it, and our two principals, the president and vice president, are the best people to articulate that and hit the road to do it.

LEMON: We like hearing directly from the administration. So, Cedric, we appreciate you coming on. Come back often, please. Thank you so much.

RICHMOND: Thanks for having me.

LEMON: One hundred twenty-eight passengers on a flight had their travel plans ruined, family events, business, meetings, much needed breaks all because one person wouldn't follow the rules and wear a mask. Stay with us.

[22:40:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON (on camera): So, have you been on a plane during the pandemic not to wear your mask on a plane, didn't you? Right? How angry would you be if your entire flight was turned around because of one person's stubborn refusal to wear theirs?

Well, this animation from FlightAware shows what happened last night. Here it is. We're going to put it up. So, this plane is going, right, American Airlines flight leaving Miami bound for London, turns around over the Atlantic Ocean. It'll do it in a second. There you go. When a disruptive passenger would not wear a mask, which is a federal requirement.

So back in Miami the flight was canceled. So, all those other passengers, 128 of them, 128 people may have missed family reunions, they may have missed vacations, business meetings or connecting flights, who knows what.

Let's discuss now with CNN political commentator Ana Navarro. Your favorite subject, Ana. How are you? Good to see you. I can't believe this story. Actually, I can believe this story in this environment, but you know, because doesn't this just epitomize how some people during this pandemic -- pandemic feel so entitled that the rules just don't apply to them? They -- you know, I don't have to wear a mask, I can do my own research, I don't have to get vaccinated? They do all this at the expense of everyone else.

ANA NAVARRO, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: First of all, today, I'm thinking how many more crazy stories are going to come out of Florida? We've got election police, we're banning the teaching of history to not make people feel uncomfortable, and now we've got crazy people on a plane.

I don't know and I go through MIA, Miami International Airport, at least twice a week. I don't know if people are having too much Cuban coffee. I don't know if people have forgotten how to interact with other humans during the pandemic. I don't know if these folks were raised by wolves, but something is happening.

I see people having major meltdowns that would embarrass any kindergartner at MIA. And I just -- I think to myself, Don, every time you check in to go into a plane you check in on the computer and it makes you check off this thing that says that you will comply with wearing a mask, which is a federal law. And if you don't, it could result in penalties.

[22:44:52]

So, you know what you're going to have to do when you go on a plane. You know you have to wear the mask at the airport because it's a federal facility. What is wrong with you? If you don't want to do that, then stay home and instead of going to London watch Netflix, watch the Crown, watch Downtown Abbey, but don't screw everybody else's life.

LEMON: Watch DON LEMON TONIGHT. I mean, that's what I do. That's what you do.

NAVARRO: Nah, you do -- I'm sorry, I love you, but maybe you're a little bit closer to Bridgerton, but you're not -- you don't check off the -- you don't fill the British --

LEMON: Intrigue.

NAVARRO: No. No.

LEMON: OK. So, listen, you know, you said you've got to -- you've got to check off the box when you check in, right?

NAVARRO: yes.

LEMON: Either on the computer or if you do it at the kiosk. And also, Ana, for 21 years now we've all been removing our shoes while going through security, airport security, you know, due to Richard Reid, remember, known as the Shoe Bomber. People follow the rules for everyone's safety. What's happening now with, you know, about masks that people think that they can just refuse to do that? NAVARRO: It's become political. People want to make a political

statement. Whether it's, you know, -- whether it's in Congress or whether in the Supreme Court or whether it's on a plane. Twenty-one years we've been taking off our shoes. We have abided by not smoking in laboratories because it's against federal law.

And so listen, what the federal -- what the FAA needs to do and the airlines need to do is put these people on a no-fly list so that if they want to go to England, they have to swim there. And they have to enforce those federal penalties. And frankly, they should arrest them if they're being unruly and if they are assaulting flight attendants.

The things I see on a weekly basis that the poor flight attendants have to deal with -- first of all, they're all overworked right now because there's so many missing due to COVID. They are, they should all be canonized, beatified, and declared saints of the sky because people are behaving like rabid animals on airplanes.

LEMON: Yes. Let me just give you some of the stats here. You touched on this just a little bit, but there have already been 151 unruly passenger reports logged this year alone. And remember, we're just -- we're just 20 days into the New Year, Ana. Ninety-two were related -- mask-related incidents.

Flying is already challenging enough. You know, the airline flight employees as you've said have taken a huge hit from COVID. People are lashing out on planes. Why -- and lashing out at flight attendants and each other. Do you think it's being cooped up so long or did you think that it's just, you know, I don't know, bad behavior coming out? I have no idea what it is, I don't, I really don't.

NAVARRO: You know, I think people think it's OK to be angry and to be angry in public and to take it out on other people who have -- who have no faults. This is -- you know, the flight attendants aren't the ones that are making these laws and these regulations. The flight attendant's job is to enforce them.

And imagine you've got to, you know, deal with passengers who are trying to stuff carry-on bags the size of an elephant into an overhead compartment. You have to deal with passengers who want to drink more than they should drink. You have to deal with passengers fighting with each other.

And now you've got to deal with passengers who don't want to put on the mask or wear the mask on an eight-hour flight from Miami to London. You have every right in the world not to have to put on the mask. You just don't have the right to do it on a plane.

LEMON: Yes.

NAVARRO: So, if you don't want to comply, don't fly. It made me, you know, it made me think, Don, you remember that scene from "Airplane," the movie where the woman was having --

(CROSSTALK)

LEMON: They're slapping everybody.

NAVARRO: Right. The entire plane lined up. I mean, it's like, would you want to do that if you were one of the 130 people whose life got ruined and whose plans got ruined --

LEMON: Yes.

NAVARRO: -- and canceled because of one selfish human being who can't act like a responsible adult and comply with what they said they would comply?

LEMON: Yes. The biggest disappointment for me and others used to be that someone had a peanut allergy and they were like I'm not going to get my peanuts but this is a whole other thing. Thank you, Ana Navarro. I appreciate it.

NAVARRO: Thank you.

LEMON: So, you got to see this. This is a CNN affiliate WSAZ reporter Tori Yorgey. All right. Yorgey. She is reporting live when this happens. Look at this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNKNOWN: And now we're starting to experience, unfortunately, in freeze, we see this water main breaks.

TORI YORGEY, REPORTER, WSAZ: My gosh. My God. I'm just got hit by a car but I'm OK. I just got hit by a car.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[22:49:59]

LEMON (on camera): OK. And take this. She keeps on reporting. We're going to show you the full thing after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON (on camera): Imagine you are just doing your job when a car slams right into you. And imagine getting right back up and not missing a bit. Because that's what happened last night to journalist Tori Yorgey while reporting in West Virginia for CNN affiliate WSAZ. Watch this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNKNOWN: Now we are starting to experience unfortunately in freeze. We see this water main breaks.

YORGEY: My gosh. My God. I just got hit by a car but I'm OK. I just got hit by a car but I'm OK, Tim.

UNKNOWN: That's first for you on TV, Tori.

[22:55:03] YORGEY: I'm OK. We're all good.

UNKNOWN: Are you OK?

YORGEY: I'm OK. Yes. You know, that's live TV for you. It's all good. I actually got hit by a car in (Inaudible) just like that.

UNKNOWN: Wow.

YORGEY: I am so glad I'm OK.

UNKNOWN: Yes.

YORGEY: You are OK. You are OK. We are all good. This is a -- you know what, it's one --

UNKNOWN: Are you sure you are OK, Tori?

YORGEY: We are good, Tim.

UNKNOWN: You're sure, you're OK?

YORGEY: Ma'am, you are so sweet. And you're OK. It is all good. You know -- Lord.

UNKNOWN: So, you --

YORGEY: You know it's my last week on the job and I think this is what happened.

UNKNOWN: So, were you bump in -- were you bump low, Tori, or hit up high? I couldn't really tell from looking at you.

YORGEY: I don't even --

(CROSSTALK)

UNKNOWN: I think --

YORGEY: Do you know if I was bumped low or up high.

UNKNOWN: I just saw you disappear out of the screen.

YORGEY: I don't even know. I don't even know, Tim. My whole life just flashed before my eyes.

UNKNOWN: That's --

YORGEY: But this is live TV and everything is OK. I thought I was in a safe spot but clearly, we might need to move the camera over a bit.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON (on camera): Gosh. Wow. It sounded to me like she was in shock there. Who wouldn't be? And probably a little bit embarrassed. No reason to be embarrassed, but you know, that's -- and adrenaline. Of course, it is going viral today. Yorgey tweeting tonight that she is fine and just feeling a little sore and grateful for all the warm wishes pouring in.

But this -- this is a reminder of how tough it can be for journalists around in the country. She was out alone in increment weather reporting on a water main break caused by that same bad weather that she was standing out in. And the fact is, there are hundreds, if not thousands of reporters all across the country working solo like she is, like she did, doing multiple jobs to bring information to their community, writing and reporting, shooting, and editing stories all on their own sometimes in dangerous conditions with no one watching their back.

Now Yorgey says that it is live tv and it's all good. Luckily tonight it is, and we send our very best to Tori Yorgey.

Next, Ivanka Trump, the committee investigating January 6th wants to talk to the former president's daughter. And that's not the only investigation Trump has got to worry about.

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