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Trump Pardons 4 Military Contractors Involved in 2007 Iraq Massacre; Trump Threatens to Veto Massive Defense Authorization Bill; Trump Faces Deadline Today to Sign or Veto Massive Defense Bill; Gen. Tony Thomas Responds to Gen. Flynn's Call for Military Law to Re-do Election; Nevada Nurse: "We're Fast Approaching Our Breaking Point"; Millions of Americans Traveling for Holidays Despite Warnings. Aired 1:30-2p ET

Aired December 23, 2020 - 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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[13:33:10]

BIANNA GOLODRYGA, CNN HOST: Four military contractors involved in a deadly shooting of Iraqi civilians have been granted clemency by President Trump.

In 2007, guards from the Blackwater private security firm unleashed sniper fire, machine guns, and grenades on innocent men, women, and children. And 17 Iraqi civilians were killed, including two young boys who were just 9 and 11 years old.

These four men, former Blackwater contractors, were found guilty over the killings and sentenced to lengthy jail terms. One of the men, Nicholas Slatten, was sentenced to life in prison. President Trump pardoned all four.

I'm joined now by CNN military analyst, retired U.S. Air Force Colonel Cedric Leighton.

Thank you so much, Colonel, for joining us. I wish this was a better topic to discuss, but I'm so glad you're here with us.

This attack is considered one of the darkest stains of the Iraq war. What was your reaction when you heard about these pardons?

COL. CEDRIC LEIGHTON, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Well, I was absolutely beside myself, Bianna.

And it's good to be with you.

This is such an important topic, because this kind of an event is just such a despicable misuse of the military justice system that, you know, it should not go unquestioned at this point.

It is a very bad stain on our justice system now, in addition to being a bad stain on the U.S. military and the U.S. occupation of Iraq.

GOLODRYGA: And obviously, from a humanitarian standpoint, taking the lives of 17 innocent civilians, including women and children.

But what do these pardons signal to the world in a bigger-picture type of mentality.

Do they put us and put U.S. servicemembers and diplomats in harm's way, both physically and politically?

LEIGHTON: Bianna, they absolutely do.

And here's the problem. Once you have a series of pardons that goes out for war crimes, then the rest of the world begins not to trust us. They believe that we act with immunity in a place like Iraq or Afghanistan or any of the other places that we're involved in.

[13:35:15]

And those kind of actions with little respect, little regard for the civilians in these territories makes it really hard for us to win the confidence of the people that we're really there to support.

We're there to get these people from a bad place to a much better place. And if we do things like that, we can't do that.

And it makes our jobs as military people and diplomats much more dangerous than it needs to be. It's already very dangerous, but this kind of a pardon makes it very hard for us to accomplish the righteous mission of the United States.

And it makes it very hard for us to actually do the job and create the kind of world we want to see for the United States and its allies.

GOLODRYGA: We also know that President Trump faces a midnight deadline to sign a massive defense authorization bill. He has vetoed and threatened to veto it, which Congress could try and likely override.

But this used to be known as must-pass legislation. What would this mean if the president did veto the bill?

LEIGHTON: Well, it would throw the Department of Defense into chaos, quite frankly. And it would put at risk a lot of our military operations around the world.

That's something that we really don't want to do, when things like the Russian hack of the U.S. government and private-sector enterprises has made it very clear that we are continually at risk.

This is the wrong time. Especially a time of transition. This is the wrong time to play political games with the Department of Defense authorization bill.

GOLODRYGA: It also sends a message to our adversaries around the world, as well. Finally, I do want you to comment on the Michael Flynn scandal. You

worked for Michael Flynn when he was director of intelligence for the Joint Staff and the Pentagon.

I would like to get your reaction to a tweet from General Tony Thomas in his response to his recent suggestion that martial law may be necessary to force another election.

Here's what he wrote:

Quote, "Mike, stop, just stop. You are a former soldier. You know that leveraging the military to rerun elections is a totally inappropriate role for the profession. You are also undercutting the extraordinary trust and confidence that America has in its military. Stop."

The fact that it has come to this, with a former colleague of yours, what is your reaction?

LEIGHTON: Well, General Thomas is right in this case. General Flynn needs to stop. This kind of commentary about martial law, the possibility of martial law calls into question the very Constitution that both he and I have sworn to uphold.

And it is time for us to understand that the Constitution reigns supreme. Under the Constitution, we have made it -- at election, we have made our choices, the American people. And we all have to accept that choice and move on. And it's time for that to happen.

I'm very disappointed in General Flynn. I'm very proud of General Thomas.

And it is really time for us all to unite at this point and look forward to the future and not back in the past.

GOLODRYGA: A reminder that General Flynn also swore an oath to QAnon as well this past year. That gives you a sense of where his mind is right now.

Colonel Leighton, thank you so much for joining us. We appreciate having you on. Happy holidays to you and your family.

LEIGHTON: Thank you, Bianna. Same to you. Thank you so much for having me.

[13:38:40]

GOLODRYGA: Up next, I'll be joined by a Nevada ICU nurse who says he and his coworkers are close to their breaking point after nine months of grueling shifts. Hear what he wants you to know about the COVID crisis.

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[13:43:30]

GOLODRYGA: Front line workers are sounding the alarm about conditions they're seeing in America's hospitals as millions of people remain hospitalized with coronavirus.

Warnings like, quote, "It's not sustainable at all. And we're fast approaching our breaking point."

Those two messages, in particular, coming from Zachary Pritchett, a critical care nurse of nine years who currently works at an ICU in Nevada. And he is joining me now.

Zachary, thank you for taking the time to come on and giving our audience a sense of what you see as reality every day.

Right now, in Nevada, there are nearly 2,000 people hospitalized with COVID and more than 400 in the ICU.

Can you just compare that to what a typical holiday week would look like in previous years?

ZACHARY PRITCHETT, ICU NURSE, SIENA CAMPUS, ST. ROSE DOMINICAN HOSPITAL: Sure, Bianna. Thanks for the opportunity.

So hospitals are always busy in the winter. It's flu season and other things of that nature.

However, right now, what we're seeing is a spike in our COVID numbers to the point that other patients that are having other issues such as heart attacks, strokes, things of that nature, aren't being able to be seen as well.

Our numbers are staggering. Our ICUs are full. There are patients in the emergency department waiting for ICU beds. Patients out on the floor that need to come to the ICU.

So right now -- and with the coronavirus patients, they're so sick and for so long, their length of stay in the ICU is much longer than what we've seen in the past, so they tie up our beds for a longer period of time.

[13:45:05]

GOLODRYGA: And that's happening in cities and hospitals across the country.

As we're approaching one year into this pandemic, hospitals really have adapted to making new ICU beds and finding space for patients.

But health care workers like you have been working tirelessly on the front lines. How are you and your colleagues holding up? This isn't your first surge.

PRITCHETT: No, no, it's not, Bianna. And one thing I would like to emphasize is a hospital bed or an ICU bed does not equate to an ICU nurse or an ICU respiratory therapist.

Nurses are tired. The moral injury is real. We want to provide the best care that we can to our patients, but it's difficult to do that when staffing is as bad as it is. GOLODRYGA: How has it evolved over the year? We're hearing this surge

is worse than the first one. And obviously, the second one was worse than first.

What are you experiencing personally?

PRITCHETT: Personally, I feel like this is the worst we've seen, where we're at right now. We -- most of us are working day in and day out, a lot of overtime.

There are very sick patients everywhere. The highest acuity I've seen in nine years.

I worked EMS before I was a nurse. I've been a nurse for nine years with a background in trauma and burn intensive care. The patients I'm seeing now are the sickest patients I've ever seen.

GOLODRYGA: Those patients, I don't have to tell you, need you and rely on you so desperately, especially with a virus like this one where their loved ones can't be there with them.

So God bless you for everything that you're doing.

If there's anything to be optimistic about, I know you received your first dose of the coronavirus vaccine last week. What was that experience like? How are you feeling? Any side effects?

PRITCHETT: I did not have side effects. Just some localized tenderness, soreness in my arm, no more than any other, let's say, a tetanus shot or something of that nature.

I didn't have any fever, headache, or anything after the first injection.

GOLODRYGA: That's good to know.

Well, Zachary Pritchett, thank you for taking the time.

If you could send all of your colleagues a message from us that we are thanking them for the hard work that they do day in and day out. And I'm sorry you're having to experience this again.

PRITCHETT: Thank you, Bianna. If I could just leave with one thought.

GOLODRYGA: Sure.

PRITCHETT: At this time, this country, we're so politically charged, but I just want everyone that's listening to remember and to know that when nurses get up every day and put their scrubs on and go into work, we don't represent Democrats and we don't represent Republicans. We represent all of humanity.

And we need everyone's help right now to slow this down and to stay safe. We need people to continue social distancing, wearing a mask, washing your hands.

All of that in conjunction with the vaccine gives us a little hope at the end of the tunnel.

But remember, this vaccine is not a silver bullet. We've got to continue on the road doing everything that we can.

GOLODRYGA: So well said, Zachary.

Thanks you so much. And thank you for everything that you're doing.

PRITCHETT: Thank you.

Try to have a happy holiday. We appreciate it.

Up next, we're live at one of the busiest airports in the world, as millions of Americans ignore the warnings to avoid travel this holiday season.

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GOLODRYGA: Health experts have warned about the dangers of traveling right now due to COVID-19, yet millions of Americans are ignoring the advice.

Just yesterday, TSA screened nearly one million passengers, making it the fifth straight day of record-high pandemic travel.

CNN's Amara Walker joins me from Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport.

Amara, this seems to be a repeat of what we saw before Thanksgiving. What does it look like?

AMARA WALKER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We are seeing a steady but light stream of passengers here at Atlanta International Airport, Bianna. Airport officials say they do expect the busiest day of travel to be on Sunday after Christmas, with about 156,000 passengers to pass through.

It's definitely not nearly as crowded as it normally would be just days before Christmas here at this airport. And airport officials say overall they're seeing about a 47 percent decrease in travel compared to the same time last year.

But, look, there's reason to be concerned, and that's because the TSA is reporting record-breaking numbers of travelers during this pandemic. Just in the last five days, the TSA screened over five million passengers.

The TSA also saying they've been seeing record numbers of weekend travel. Just Friday/Saturday/Sunday, the weekend before Christmas, 3.2 million passengers screened, compared to the last record, which is three million passengers screened the weekend before Thanksgiving.

So we're definitely seeing an uptick in the number of people traveling. We spoke to some travelers. They told us they had to make very

difficult decisions, including one man who says he's not traveled all year until now.

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[13:55:00]

ADAM ALEWEIDAT, AIRLINE PASSENGER: You know, I was really torn on the decision. In fact, I cut my Chicago leg of the trip. I was going to visit my dad. I cut that part of the trip out, just to be safe.

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WALKER: And that man telling me he chose not to visit his dad, stopover in Chicago, because he has an elderly father there, who is obviously at higher risk -- Bianna?

GOLODRYGA: Amara, it's all something we can relate to but it's a relief to see there are not huge lines out there behind you. It looks like people and travelers are heeding the warnings at least for today.

Happy holidays, Amara. Appreciate it.

Still ahead, much-needed economic relief for millions of Americans is now in doubt after President Trump signals he may veto the stimulus bill that took months to negotiate.

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