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Sixteen Americans, One Canadian Reported As Kidnapped In Haiti; Former Bill Clinton Released From Hospital; FDA Panel Unanimously Recommends J&J Booster Shots. Aired 3-4p ET

Aired October 17, 2021 - 15:00   ET

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

[15:00:01]

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN HOST: Hello again. Thank you so much for joining me this Sunday. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.

We're learning more now about that mass kidnapping in Haiti. An Ohio based Christian aid group has just confirmed that 16 Americans and one Canadian have been taken hostage. The group is made up of 12 adults and five children.

The group was taken hostage while traveling to a small village after visiting an orphanage just north of Haiti's capital city.

"The Washington Post" is reporting that one of the victims posted a call for help on WhatsApp, an international messaging service as the group was being taken by armed gang members. CNN cannot independently verify the authenticity of this message or the report at this time.

Kidnappings have surged throughout this year in Haiti, and the numbers have spiked nearly 300 percent since July. At least 628 kidnappings have taken place since January according to a human rights group based in Port-au-Prince.

A Haitian transportation union has now called for an indefinite strike tomorrow in protest of the spike in kidnappings in Haiti.

CNN's Kylie Atwood joining me now from the State Department. So, what steps are U.S. officials able to take?

KYLIE ATWOOD, CNN U.S. SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well, the State Department says they are aware of these reports, but that's all that the spokesperson here at the Department is saying right now. We haven't heard anything from the White House with regard to these reports.

But of course, it is significant that now this Christian aid organization based in Ohio is confirming the details saying that there were 16 Americans, one Canadian who are kidnapped in Haiti, while they're going to an orphanage. They were there, of course, for missionary work.

Some of these folks that were kidnapped were children, five of them according to what this Christian aid organization is now putting out. So all eyes on the State Department, on the Biden administration for what they are going to say next.

We should note, Fred, that the travel advisory for Americans with regard to Haiti, when you look up if you should travel to a country or not, has said do not travel for more than a year now. And they specifically have cited kidnappings happening in the country.

Of course, we have seen those kidnappings on the rise, as you noted, particularly in the last few months, but this has been a problem in the country for more than a year now.

WHITFIELD: Yes. It's extraordinary. Kylie Atwood, thank you so much for that.

Let's talk more about this and the circumstances there in Port-au- Prince or in Haiti as a whole.

Father Enzo Del Brocco, a Catholic priest, who spent six years working as a missionary in Haiti is joining us right now. Father Enzo, so good to see you.

FATHER ENZO DEL BROCCO, CATHOLIC PRIEST: Hello, how are you?

WHITFIELD: I'm doing okay. So how do you see this latest kidnapping?

DEL BROCCO: Well, let me put it this way. As it was just said, you know, this has been going on now, for a while it has been going on. And obviously, it gives a lot of concern. But if the President is assassinated, and like just a few days ago, also, the former Archbishop of Cap-Haitien also was assaulted.

I mean, who is not vulnerable at this point in the country? Everything is so unpredictable with the lack of security and it gives a lot of concern, because those who pay the consequences are obviously the poor and honest people and that really is a big concern.

But it was mentioned, for example, that the strike is going to happen indefinitely and you can imagine the impact, for example that this will have on hospitals and clinics, especially with the pandemic for example.

WHITFIELD: Hey, last hour, I spoke with a human rights advocate in Haiti and he painted just a horribly dire situation that police -- you can't call police, because the gangs are the ones who have the upper hand in this kidnapping situations and family members are left to negotiate directly with the gang members, and not even engage police, nor can they count on the Haitian government.

So I mean, how can this possibly be resolved when the picture has been painted as such? I mean, what's the way out here?

DEL BROCCO: Well, I think that the only way out is through international collaboration that I think is really necessary, because Haiti, obviously cannot do it on its own. Sometimes, it says you know, that a country has to step up to its own problems, but we have to go a little bit go back into history, and if Haiti is in this situation, it's not just for their fault. I mean, these are these are consequences that they are still paying of decisions that have been made in history.

And with the lack of security again, you know, there has to be some kind of international collaboration to help them out of the situation because at the end of the day, like I said before, those who pay the consequences are the poor people.

[15:05:08]

DEL BROCCO: I mean, the kidnappings are not just affecting Americans or have any kind of religious damnation, people of ordinary life and day, they are kidnapped. And I mean, we're talking about of this last group, but just last week, you know, women and men who just travel on public transportation are being consistently kidnapped, and so many times raped, and the police, unfortunately, are not able to face this whole situation because the gangs are more powerful.

It is a matter of fact, they control a lot of situations and a lot of places in the country. You pass in front of certain police stations, I mean, they look like Swiss cheese for how many bullets have been shot against these places and the police are out there.

So the people are really left on their own. And with such a situation, can you imagine even how they are able to live an ordinary and normal life going -- you know, even if you, for example have fields and you have your crops and you want to go to the market to sell them, you don't feel safe to go.

How do you feel safe to send your children to school? How do you feel safe, just even if you have to bring someone to the hospital? Or even if the hospital has to go to, you know, to get someone? I mean, the ambulances even are attacked.

WHITFIELD: Oh my goodness. I mean, where are the rays of hope? I'm not -- I'm not hearing any potential rays of hope in what you are describing either.

DEL BROCCO: Well, the rays of hope, I think, comes from the people. I've been for six years in Haiti, and I can say that I passed the most beautiful years of my life there.

What I learned by the ordinary people, I think that we have to make a distinction between the gangs, those who probably can give solutions, and though in this case, the leadership and the ordinary people and this is where I think the international community has to step in to help the ordinary people.

WHITFIELD: How do you see them being able to do that? I mean, yes, I mean, the Haitian people are beautiful people, and they are in great need, especially when you have just a cacophony of hardships from earthquakes, you know, to the destruction of land and vegetation, and the infrastructure lacking and the infrastructure of government, and then now you have gang activity.

But then how can the international community intervene and assist all these beautiful Haitian people who want to have some quality of life in their country? DEL BROCCO: Well, I think that there are ways that the international

community, I think, if they want, they can step in and help. And it's not about taking over a country. That's not about it. That's not the solution.

And sometimes probably like, dialogue, and we sitting at the same table, and accompanying and not just, for example, sending aid with regards to the earthquake and the hurricane, for example. And yes, a lot of help has been sent down, but what is lacking, you just rightly said is like infrastructure. So probably one of the ways to help this country is through infrastructures and giving security because without security, who will start any kind of business? Without security, how can you have school going on?

Without security, how can you just survive? And so the country needs help in building up its own system security. But let's face it, like a President has been assassinated. We still don't know who was behind that.

WHITFIELD: Yes. What happened? How did that happen?

DEL BROCCO: We still don't know. So can the international community intervene and help us to find a solution how and why a President was assassinated?

WHITFIELD: Yes. It's a dire situation. Father Enzo Del Brocco, we will remain hopeful as you remain hopeful. Thank you so much. Appreciate it.

DEL BROCCO: Thank you so much. Thank you.

WHITFIELD: All right, former President Bill Clinton now headed home after being released from hospital in California today. He has spent five nights there being treated for a urinary tract infection that spread to his bloodstream.

CNN's Natasha Chen joining me now from Orange, California and Natasha, what more are you learning about his departure and his journey back east?

NATASHA CHEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Fred, he is on his way home to New York and this morning, just after about eight o'clock local time, we saw him walk through the sliding doors behind us there. This is the UC Irvine Medical Center where he had stayed for five nights and that's because of that urinary tract infection you mentioned.

It required IV antibiotics that's why he stayed here for so long. And he was arm in arm with his wife, Secretary Hillary Clinton. She first gave us a wave across the street and we saw them pose with medical staff thanking the doctors. And then when a reporter on this side shouted, "How do you feel?" He gave a thumbs up. He walked slowly, rather gingerly to his vehicle, but he did walk out of that hospital.

[15:10:15] CHEN: The Chair of the Medicine Department and Executive Director of

this hospital released a statement which Clinton spokesperson shared on Twitter. It says: "His fever and white blood cell count are normalized and he will return home to New York to finish his course of antibiotics. On behalf of everyone at UC Irvine Medical Center, we were honored to have treated him and will continue to monitor his progress."

And keep in mind, this UC Irvine Medical Center is the designated hospital that is able to provide the level and type of service that the Secret Service would require the person they are protecting for this region. It is the level one trauma center here. So, that is why he came here when he started to feel unwell last Tuesday, as he and Secretary Clinton were here for a private event for their foundation -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right, double thumbs up. Natasha Chen, thank you so much.

All right, on the COVID front, the number of Americans getting their COVID-19 vaccines continues to steadily increase. The Food and Drug Administration has authorized a second dose of the Johnson & Johnson COVID vaccine, but the Director of the National Institutes of Health says don't rush out the door for your booster just yet.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. FRANCIS COLLINS, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH: You know, if the mRNA vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna had not been so utterly amazingly effective, 95 percent, then Johnson & Johnson would look like a hero with their one dose. But I guess our standards are being set awfully high here by the other vaccines.

There was data that suggested if you are going to get a booster for J&J, maybe getting a Moderna or a Pfizer booster would actually have some advantages in terms of giving you an even stronger immune response. So, don't run out anybody who got J&J. I would wait another week right now and see what C.D.C.'s Advisory Committee does with this next week and maybe a week from today, I'll tell my grandkids what I think they ought to do.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: All right, we'll be waiting. Meantime, doctors and medical groups are still making a full court press to try and convince those who are hesitant to get vaccinated. CNN's Nadia Romero has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Unanimous vote --

NADIA ROMERO, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Vaccine advisers of the F.D.A. voting to recommend a booster dose of a Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine, but health experts argue --

DR. ZEKE EMANUEL, FORMER OBAMA WHITE HOUSE HEALTH ADVISER: The big issue is not the boosters for people who are already vaccinated in terms of controlling the entire pandemic, it is really the unvaccinated people, the 70 million Americans who don't -- haven't gotten vaccinated need to get vaccinated.

ROMERO (voice over): In Chicago, Friday marked the deadline for all city workers to get vaccinated or be put on unpaid leave. The Police Union says the city is overstepping and likely up to half of the police force is unvaccinated.

JOHN CATANZARA, PRESIDENT, CHICAGO FRATERNAL ORDER OF POLICE: They have an obligation to worry about public safety, not about someone's health status.

ROMERO (voice over): Combating fears of a police shortage, Mayor Lori Lightfoot says all officers were to report to work this weekend.

MAYOR LORI LIGHTFOOT (D), CHICAGO, ILLINOIS: Lots of times when you place deadlines, whether it's sworn, whether it's civilian, or in any other context, people do it at the last minute, and we're seeing increases. We'll release the information as soon as we have it likely sometime on Monday.

ROMERO (voice over): Coleen Kelley and her family live in Decatur, Georgia, part of the Atlanta area that is home to numerous healthcare professionals who work at nearby Emory University and the Centers for Disease Control. It is the only school district in the State of Georgia to mandate vaccines for all district employees.

DR. COLEEN KELLEY, ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR, EMORY UNIVERSITY DEPARTMENT OF MEDICINE: I think we're very lucky we have a lot of scientists. We have a lot of people that believe in science here, believe in vaccines and understand that this is how we protect our community here in Decatur, and so we're fortunate to be here because if I was elsewhere in the state, I would be very, very worried about my kids being back in school.

ROMERO (voice over): Dr. Kelley is an epidemiologist at Emory who worked on the COVID-19 vaccine. She is pushing back against anyone who challenges the vaccine's efficacy.

KELLEY: I think it's absolutely the right move. We have known historically that vaccine mandates work to increase uptake of vaccination. Many vaccines are already mandated to enter schools. There is no reason why this one should be any different.

We know more about this vaccine, its safety profile, its efficacy profile than we have known about any other vaccine in history,

ROMERO (voice over): Nadia Romero, CNN Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: All right, still to come, you may recall the case of 25- year-old Ahmaud Arbery, the young black man was killed while jogging in a small South Georgia town last year. Well, tomorrow, the three men charged in his death will go on trial. An update, next. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:18:58]

WHITFIELD: Jury selection is set to begin in the trial of the three men accused of killing Ahmaud Arbery. Arbery who is a young black man unarmed and jogging was chased down and killed in February of last year. It happened in Brunswick, Georgia when two white men in a pickup truck chased him down and shot him.

Gregory McMichael and his son, Travis, face nine counts each including felony murder charges and aggravated assault. A third man who recorded the incident on video is also charged with murder. They have all pleaded not guilty.

And now turning to Alabama where authorities have confirmed the identity of a body found inside a police van. CNN affiliate WAFF reporting 29-year-old Christina Nance was seen on surveillance video getting into the unlocked van, which was parked in a Huntsville, Alabama Police Department lot on September 25th.

It was a prisoner transport van that does not allow a person to get out once they are in. Well, she wasn't found until 12 days later when an officer noticed her shoes outside the van.

[15:20:12]

WHITFIELD: All right, a benefit concert for the Gabby Petito Foundation is being held today not far from her family's Long Island, New York home. She was killed while on a cross-country trip with her boyfriend Brian Laundrie.

The coroner ruled her cause of death to be strangulation. Laundrie himself has been missing after returning home last month.

CNN's Jean Casarez is following the latest for us right now. So Jean, what was this concert all about?

JEAN CASAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's going on right now, and this is actually the first benefit for the Gabby Petito Foundation, and this is Gabby Petito's community. This is Long Island, New York. This is where she is from. And there are many people in there and they are supporting her. They are supporting justice. They want to see justice in this case.

There are many people that knew Gabby and I spoke with someone that said, let me tell you about Gabby. She is warm. She is real. She is kind to everyone. And she always wants to look for the best in people.

Now, I've spoken to a lot of people that are here today also that did not know Gabby, but they can relate to her. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CASAREZ: Why did you want to be here today? REGINA ANNUNZIATA, ATTENDED BENEFIT CONCERT: I wanted to come

obviously support Gabby's family, the Long Island community. I personally was in an abusive relationship, so, it hit home for me.

I didn't know Gabby personally, but she was a young, beautiful girl. She had her whole life ahead of her. And I just wanted to come and support her family and the foundation and you know, hope that something positive can come from this.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CASAREZ: Now Gabby's parents have actually been in Wyoming all week, and her father tweeted something while they have been there. We want to show everyone he writes: "I now know why you came here. #GabbyPetito. It has a beautiful view from now on. Love you and miss you." And that is Jenny Lake in Wyoming.

Now, when we look at this, the investigation is continuing. They have been focused on that nature reserve in Florida. And ironically today, the first day of a benefit for the Gabby Petito Foundation is also one month, exactly one month that Brian Laundrie's family went to the authorities saying, "We can't find our son" -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right, Jean Casarez, thank you so much.

All right, tomorrow is a big day for the former President Donald Trump. He is scheduled to have a videotaped deposition in a lawsuit filed by anti-Trump activist. Our Kara Scannell will join us with all of the details.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:27:24]

WHITFIELD: All right now to the subpoena showdown on Capitol Hill. The committee investigating the January 6th insurrection is planning to vote this week on criminal contempt charges against Trump loyalist, Steve Bannon.

Bannon is refusing to comply with a subpoena from the committee. He claims he can't testify or provide documents because former President Trump is covered by executive privilege. But legal experts dispute that claim.

And now some Committee members are not ruling out the possibility of also subpoenaing Trump to testify.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. ADAM KINZINGER (R-IL): If we subpoena all of a sudden, the former President, we know that's going to become kind of a circus. So, that's not necessarily something we want to do up front. But if he has pieces of information we need, we certainly will.

REP. ADAM SCHIFF (D-CA): One thing that we are very uniform on that Democrats and Republicans on the Select Committee is that no one is off the table. We will go where we need to go to get the evidence that we need to present to the American people and write a definitive report of the terror of that day, and what we need to do to protect the country going forward. And one of the biggest of black boxes in terms of the unknowns is Donald Trump's role.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: And that is not the only possible testimony Trump is facing. The former President is scheduled to give a video deposition tomorrow in New York. It centers on a case involving an alleged assault during a 2015 demonstration outside of Trump Tower.

The lawsuit alleges that Trump's then head of security, Keith Schiller hit one of the protesters who was demonstrating against Trump's immigration rhetoric. For more on this, let's bring in Kara Scannell. Kara, good to see again. What more can you tell us?

KARA SCANNELL, CNN REPORTER: Well, Fred, this is the first time the former President is going to be forced to answer questions under oath since he has left office. And then like you said, this all relates to a lawsuit from 2015 when a group of men were demonstrating outside of Trump Tower against some of the then candidate Trump's anti- immigration rhetoric.

Now, the accuser say that Trump's head of security had assaulted them because they were carrying these signs that he was pushing away from the Trump Tower building.

So tomorrow morning, around 10:00 a.m., the former President will sit for this deposition, and he will be -- it will be fair game to ask him questions about what kind of role and responsibility he had and his security official's response that day.

Now, the former President has previously denied any knowledge of the incident, and he said that he had deferred and delegated all security responsibility to his Chief Operating Officer, Matthew Calamari. So this means that the plaintiff's lawyer in this case might be able to ask the former President questions about Calamari and even some of his compensation and that is also the subject of an ongoing criminal investigation.

[15:30:08]

SCANNELL: Now it's also possible because the plaintiffs' lawyers are suing for punitive damages that they can question former President Trump about his net worth and his finances. All questions that the public has really wanted to know and wanted some information on since Trump ran for office and was the President.

You know, as I said, he has previously denied wrongdoing. He will face these questions tomorrow in a video deposition -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right. Kara Scannell, thanks so much.

All right, the man behind the controversial Trump-Russia dossier is speaking out for the first time since the document was released back in 2017. Former British Intelligence officer, Christopher Steele breaking his silence about the dossier in a new ABC News documentary.

The infamous document included 35 pages of Intelligence memos that painted a picture of collusion between the Trump campaign and the Russian government. The ex-spy is standing by one of the most salacious claims in the unverified dossier that Russia has a compromising video of Trump in a hotel room with prostitutes, which was reported by BuzzFeed News.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS, ABC NEWS ANCHOR: Today, do you still believe that that tape exists?

CHRISTOPHER STEELE, FORMER BRITISH INTELLIGENCE OFFICER: I think it probably does, but I wouldn't put a hundred percent certainty on it.

STEPHANOPOULOS: So how do you explain if that tape does indeed exist and it hasn't been released?

STEELE: Or hasn't made it to be released.

STEPHANOPOULOS: Why not?

STEELE: Because I think the Russians felt they've got pretty good value out of Donald Trump when he was President of the U.S.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: In January 2017, CNN reported top Intelligence officials presented then President Trump with claims from the dossier. There is no evidence the tape exists and Trump has denied the alleged incident.

All right, we'll go to London next where British Police continue to question a 25-year-old man they believe fatally stabbed a popular British lawmaker and church activist, Sir David Amess. New details straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:36:39]

WHITFIELD: To the U.K. now where fears are growing over the safety of British lawmakers after the fatal stabbing of David Amess. A suspect has been arrested and police are treating this as a terrorist incident. The fatal attack, the second in five years against a Member of Parliament has heightened security concerns for all lawmakers.

CNN's Nada Bashir is covering these developments for us. Nada, what do we know about the suspect and the motivation here?

NADA BASHIR, CNN PRODUCER: Fredricka, the investigation into this incident is still ongoing. Police, as you mentioned, have confirmed this as being treated as a terrorist incident. A 25-year-old British national believed to be of Somali heritage and identified by a Whitehall source as Ali Harbi Ali has been arrested on suspicion of murder. And according to the police early evidence, as part of this

investigation suggests that the motivation for this attack may have been linked to extremist Islamist ideology. Now, we know that that individual has been arrested and police say that there is -- they don't think that another individual is connected to this incident. But there have been some real concerns as to how something like this could have happened.

Now, Sir David Amess was killed, stabbed multiple times while carrying out a constituency surgery, that is a sort of open forum or open office hours, if you like with his local constituents, and he was stabbed multiple times at this very public setting. So, there are some serious concerns here.

And we were at Leigh-on-Sea, just outside the church where he was attacked, and we spoke to local residents yesterday, and they told us that they were seriously shocked by the incident. Sir David Amess was a cornerstone of the community and many were coming to leave flowers and messages of condolences at the police cordon line.

But in the last few hours, we have now heard from Sir David's family and I can read you a little bit of their emotional statement release today. "This is not the end of Sir David Amess, MP, it is the next chapter. And as a family we ask everyone to support the many charities he worked with.

Strong and courageous is an appropriate way to describe David. He was a patriot and the man of peace. So we ask people to set aside their differences and show kindness and love to all. This is the only way forward, set aside hatred and work towards togetherness."

That's the statement from Sir David's family released just a few short hours ago. But as we mentioned, there are real concerns now over the safety of lawmakers. We saw Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Home Secretary Priti Patel go to the scene yesterday, leaving a wreath of flowers at the scene, and they too have expressed the fact that a review needs to be done into the security of lawmakers.

This incident comes just five years after the murder of Jo Cox, a Labour Member of Parliament who was stabbed just as she was about to prepare to host that open office hours for her constituents and she was killed by a far-right extremist.

So there are real concerns here and real questions for the government as to what is being done to ensure the safety and protection of British lawmakers -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right, Nada Bashir, thank you so much.

All right now to Spain where a lava tsunami is captured on camera. Breathtaking video showing lava pouring from the Cumbrae Vieja Volcano on La Palma Island. The eruption started last month with molten lava flowing ever since.

[15:40:16] WHITFIELD: More than 6,000 people have been evacuated, and the fiery

lava has devastated thousands of acres of agricultural land. And Spain's Prime Minister says the volcano eruption is showing no signs of slowing down. Extraordinary.

All right, activists and funny man, Jon Stewart sat down with our Jake Tapper for an eye-opening conversation earlier today. No surprise, the two talked the state of American politics. Still to come, hear why Stewart insists focusing too much on Trump is a mistake.

And this programming note, an all-new "This is Life" with Lisa Ling premieres tonight, taking a closer look at conspiracy theories and the impact of social media. Here's a preview.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LISA LING, CNN HOST, "THIS IS LIFE WITH LISA LING" (voice over): Whether we're old or young, we can probably remember a time in our lives when something we thought was true, was exposed as a lie.

LYNDON B. JOHNSON, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Peace will be necessary for our final success. We will do this because our own security is at stake.

RICHARD NIXON, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Let me just say this, I have never obstructed justice.

RONALD REAGAN, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We did not -- repeat -- did not train weapons or anything else for hostages.

LING (voice over): The erosion of trust took its toll. By the end of the 20th Century, study showed that over 50 percent of Americans believed in at least one conspiracy theory.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Catch the new episode tonight at 10:00 p.m. right here on CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:46:16]

WHITFIELD: All right, late night icon and former host of "The Daily Show," Jon Stewart is back with a new show on Apple TV Plus called "The Problem with Jon Stewart." The comedian stepped out of the spotlight in 2015 after a 17-year run hosting the satirical news show on Comedy Central.

Well, this morning, Stewart appeared on CNN's "State of the Union" and he discussed his concerns over the future of American democracy. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JON STEWART, COMEDIAN: I think we make a mistake focusing this all on Donald Trump as though he is -- I don't know Magneto and some incredible supervillain that has changed the very nature and temperature of the United States, like he's just been an effective vessel.

But again, like he's not singing new songs. This is something -- he is maybe singing them a little better than, you know, Goldwater. But I think it's a mistake to focus at all on this one individual, and not to focus it more on, you know, the idea that power is its own reward, whether it be in the financial industry or in government, like power doesn't cede itself.

And unless we can figure out a better way to balance that power for, you know for workers and voters and different groups will be vulnerable. You know, I don't -- I don't know that autocracy is purely the domain of Donald Trump, I think that we all have a bit of a tendency to be like to grant amnesty to people that are doing things that we would prefer, even if that means that they're slightly undemocratic.

There are many times where I think to myself, like, just do an executive order, for God's sake, just get it done. You know, so I think our focus unhealthily on this one individual comes at the price of systems and dynamics that have been in place long before this cat ever learned how to surf those waves.

JAKE TAPPER, CNN ANCHOR: I think that what's going on, as it turns out, and we've learned a lot of this in recent decades, but especially maybe the last four or five years, because Donald Trump was so disruptive and so willing to challenge norms, we have learned that a lot of the American system is built on the honor system.

And that only works, of course, if you care about or even have a sense of honor. And I know that the -- that you're not so much concerned about an autocracy taking root as you are in the minority party, figuring out how to rule despite the fact that they do not enjoy majority support.

STEWART: I think there's always been the danger that a minority of voices would have a majority of power. I mean, in a lot of ways that's baked into the way that the system was created and enacted.

And I don't -- I just think, in general, coming up with remedies to that have proven to be really difficult because the larger issue is, you know, we've elevated money and corporate power to this one level. We've diminished sort of pure democratic power to another level, and we're wildly out of balance.

That's an awfully Oprah-esque way of putting a threat to the Republic, but I just -- Jake, we are irregular. I think we're irregular right now. We need we need Democratic fiber, you know, for ourselves.

[15:50:13]

TAPPER: So -- but that's not to say that you are not worried about what's going to happen in 2024?

STEWART: Jake, we are worried about everything.

TAPPER: Right.

STEWART: I'm constant -- of course, I'm a human being. I try to maintain a certain level of optimism, which I do, I think, but yes, when you can see a train coming out here this far away. Yes, you keep thinking, is anybody going to -- are we going to put -- so is anybody -- are we putting the thing up or we're just going to let it -- just going to hit that's going to be the end of it.

But boy, power doesn't ever ceded itself and it's a difficult -- it's a difficult thing to balance.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: All right, that was Jon Stewart with our Jake Tapper.

All right, in this week's Mission Ahead, it's an electric aircraft that takes off like a helicopter, but flies like a plane. Here is a look at how the company behind it envisions the future of air transportation.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL SCIARRA, EXECUTIVE CHAIRMAN, JOBY AVIATION: So I think what travel is going to look like in the future is one that's increasingly multimodal, it's really about putting people in the right vehicle for the trip that they want to take.

RACHEL CRANE, CNN BUSINESS INNOVATIONS AND SPACE CORRESPONDENT (voice over): It may not look like your typical helicopter or plane, but out here in the middle of the desert, Joby Aviation, a California based eVTOL company says it's on the brink of making electric aircraft for commercial passengers a reality.

eVTOL stands for Electric Vertical Takeoff and Landing, meaning the aircraft can take off and land like a helicopter, but also fly like a plane.

SCIARRA: So the Joby aircraft does everything that a helicopter does with none of the downsides. So it's significantly safer, significantly faster, and significantly quieter than the helicopters that are out there today. Something that can be a brand new mode of transportation that's usable by folks every day.

CRANE (voice over): Joby says its aircraft can travel up to 150 miles on a single charge at a max speed of 200 miles per hour. While other electric vehicles today aim to be autonomous, Jovy's aircraft will allow space for four passengers and one pilot.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: New York's famous skyline rolls beneath its rotors after which it --

CRANE (voice over): Flying to get places faster and skip the traffic isn't a new concept, but Joby thinks its vehicles will improve upon traditional helicopters. The company says a streamlined design means there is less maintenance and electric batteries not only lower carbon emissions, they reduce energy costs and noise pollution.

SCIARRA: I think this service really allows people to rethink the way that we've thought about transportation, which has generally been thought about two dimensions and really bring that to three dimensions.

CRANE (voice over): In 2020, Joby received the first ever airworthiness certification for an eVTOL aircraft from the U.S. Air Force, and says it plans to offer commercial flights in 2024.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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[15:58:00]

WHITFIELD: La Nina is back for the second winter in a row and it's very concerning for many Western states. CNN meteorologist, Gene Norman joining us now. So, Gene, good to see you. What does this mean for weather here in the U.S.?

GENE NORMAN, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Fred, good to join you as well. It's not good news for the folks out in the West. Just a quick reminder that we've been tracking the temperatures in the equator, in the Pacific for decades. We noticed that sometimes, they get warmer than normal, that's El Nino; and then they get cooler than normal, that's La Nina.

Think of it like a pendulum going back and forth. So while we've been able to observe it, recently, scientists have been able to give us a sense of when it's going to kick in, and this past week, NOAA announced that the La Nina that has begun will likely last through the winter, like we had last winter. And of course, that meant dry conditions in the Western United States.

One of the things that happens even though the temperatures are warming the Pacific is there is a shift in our jet stream. We see a dip in the eastern part of the United States and rise out west, and that's where we see perhaps rain in the Pacific Northwest, rain in the Great Lakes.

But notice a lot of the country including the Southwest remains dry and warm, and that's the last thing that the drought stricken states that you see highlighted in red here need to hear. Ninety-two percent of the West is under a drought, 58 percent of that exceptional or extreme drought conditions and reservoirs in California, let's say are only about 10 to 20 percent capacity. So they definitely need some rain.

In the short term, from let's say October through December, we are expecting warm conditions to continue for a good part of the country. And as far as that rainfall, again, Fred confined mainly to the Pacific Northwest and areas like the Great Lakes.

WHITFIELD: Bring some of that rain and spread it around. All right, Gene Norman, thank you so much. And thank you for joining me this Sunday. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. The

CNN NEWSROOM continues with Jim Acosta right now.

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