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Inside Kamala Harris' Frustrating Start As Vice President; New Details On Trump's Attempts To Overturn 2020 Elections; Former Trump Official; Another Commercial Airliner; Protesters In Cuba; Queen Elizabeth; CNN Heroes. Aired 4-5p ET

Aired November 14, 2021 - 16:00   ET

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

[16:00:48]

JIM ACOSTA, CNN HOST: You are live in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Jim Acosta in Washington. And we begin this hour with a CNN exclusive.

Insiders reveal for the first time tension and frustration behind the scenes between Vice President Kamala Harris and the White House. The accounts come from nearly three dozen current and former Harris aides, administration officials, Democratic operatives, donors and outside advisers who spoke to CNN about the complex reality inside the White House.

On one side, members of Harris' inner circles who believe she's being sidelined and set up to fail, instead of being positioned to be a future president. One former high-level Harris aide put it this way. We can put this up on screen. "They're consistently sending her out there on losing issues in the wrong situations for her skillset."

CNN has also learned Harris has told confidants she feels constrained in what she's able to do. The mood apparently summed up by this satirical headline from "The Onion," goes like, that Harris defender sometimes pass around when they're feeling annoyed, "White House Urges Kamala Harris to Sit at Computer All Day in Case E-mails Come Through.'

Of course, it's not that bad inside the White House. But on the other side of things, you have West Wing staffers who say they are completely exasperated, throwing up their hands at what they perceive as some of Harris' awkward mistakes, including some cringy answers on Israel and the border crisis. Sources tell CNN there is also the belief that Harris' staff has repeatedly failed her and left her exposed.

I am joined now by the journalist behind all of this reporting, CNN senior reporter Isaac Dovere.

Isaac, great stuff as always from you. Let's begin with what's going on with Harris' office. What's with all the finger-pointing behind the scenes? You know, as I was describing it to somebody, you know, this is what political reporting was like when we were on Earth 1.

EDWARD-ISAAC DOVERE, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT: Right. ACOSTA: Before Donald Trump came along. Sometimes this goes on behind

the scenes of an administration so it's not too surprising that it's happening now. But very interesting.

DOVERE: It does, but of course the particular situation here is that Kamala Harris is perceived as someone who is likely to be running for president in the future. Why is she perceived that way? She's run in the past, she's the incumbent vice president.

Also, Joe Biden will be 82 years old in 2024. He says he's running for president for re-election. There's no reason to take him -- not to take him at his word but if that doesn't turn out to be the way that things go, she could be running for president in a year.

ACOSTA: Right.

DOVERE: This could -- and she could be on the ballot herself, if not as the presidential nominee, as Biden's running mate, again, needing to validate someone who'll be saying to the country keep me empowered until I'm 86 years old. There's a lot of political weight on her for that. And then of course there's the historical way.

People who look to her as the first black -- first woman in power, in this position, the first woman of color in this position. And all of that, what goes into that, and people wanting to see her really succeed and get out.

ACOSTA: Yes. And this piece which we should, again, mention, sourced by dozens by dozens of people.

DOVERE: Yes.

ACOSTA: You also referenced this Aaron Sorkin like rumors that Biden could replace her. That -- I mean, that sounds very far-fetched. But when the poll numbers get where they are like they are right now inside the White House, I know this from covering the Obama administration and the Trump administration, people start talking about all sorts of things.

DOVERE: Yes. And, look, as I said, this is -- it says in the piece, this is an Aaron Sorkin-style rumor that Biden could appoint her to the Supreme Court and then put her on the court and then pick someone else to be his running mate going into reelection in 2024. Is that likely to happen? No. But it's the kind of thing that's going around in circles now because there's such a sense of frantic panic.

What's going on with her political prospects. You see a poll that came out last week that had Biden at his lowest numbers yet but had Kamala Harris 10 points below that.

ACOSTA: Wow.

DOVERE: She's at 28 percent. That means that there is a real problem that she has. And you see, when you get to those sorts of numbers, that means that the base of voters is draining away from her. And that's a problem that she's going to have to deal with, that's a problem that the Biden administration is going to have to deal with if they want things to be better.

ACOSTA: And we know Biden wanted to model his relationship with Kamala Harris on his own vice presidency under Barack Obama. Why is Harris or people around Harris, why do they feel like she's being sidelined in some way?

DOVERE: Well, like, one of the best examples of the way that this has come through is that Joe Biden was given the assignment to deal with the northern triangle diplomacy by Barack Obama.

[16:05:01]

He then gave that to Kamala Harris thinking, OK, this was the job I had as vice president. It's a serious thing, will get you involved in this diplomacy. But one of the differences here is that given how toxic politically the border situation has become and anything related to it, it's a losing issue politically. It seems like to almost everybody who's looking at it. And for Harris it's --

ACOSTA: Right. They've given her the least popular issues in some cases.

DOVERE: Right. And look, there's a big difference between how the Barack Obama West Wing saw Joe Biden as probably never going to run for president versus how Kamala Harris is probably going to run for president again.

ACOSTA: And there's also frustration on the Harris team that the West Wing will leap to the defense of other members of the administration but not her. We can put this up on screen. One former Kamala Harris aide told you, "It's hard to miss the specific energy that the White House brings to defend a white man knowing that Kamala Harris has spent almost a year taking a lot of the hits that the West Wing didn't want to take themselves."

What is that about? Is that about Pete Buttigieg?

DOVERE: It is about Pete Buttigieg. Specifically if you remember in September when it became public Buttigieg had taken paternity leave, he was attacked by FOX News, by a lot of right-wing Twitter trolls. And the White House leapt to his defense.

Now why did they leap to his defense? Number one, there's nothing wrong with taking paternity leave. Number two, they are trying to get paternity leave through Congress. So politically it was very helpful for them to have a moment to do that. But it speaks to the sense of this frantic panic that is among the Harris loyalists where they look at this and they say, oh, so you'll back up Pete Buttigieg, what about when we need cover?

And look, there are times where Harris has created a problem for herself and there are times where she's just been attacked in completely ridiculous ways. You know, last week when she was in France and she said "the plan," like "the plan," and suddenly it was that she was making a fake French accent, which I don't know.

ACOSTA: I personally did not understand that, and I thought it was one of the goofiest things, controversies that we've spoken about.

DOVERE: I took a lot of French classes in my life. That doesn't sound like any French accent. Even the bad ones that we had.

DOVERE: No. Yes. But it does go to what she is enduring right now in this, you know, in this position where all of the spotlight is on her should she decide to run for president. I mean, this is to be expected.

Isaac, great reporting as always.

DOVERE: Thank you.

ACOSTA: Thanks so much. Good talking to you.

Joining me now to talk about this, Washington bureau chief and White House correspondent for "TheGrio," and CNN political analyst April Ryan, along with "USA Today" columnist and senior political analyst for CNN, Kirsten Powers. She's also the author of the new book "Saving Grace: Speak Your Truth, Stay Centered and Learn to Co-Exist with People who Drive You Nuts."

(LAUGHTER)

ACOSTA: Did you write this about the White House, Kirsten? I'm sorry I had say that. Can I just say, you know -- there's a part of me that wants to say welcome to the NFL and it's not just because my Washington football team just won and beat the Bucs, but what is with -- are they just a little too sensitive?

And I know I'm going to get, you know, in trouble for saying this, a little too sensitive inside Kamala Harris' team to be concerned about all of this, or is this to be expected, April, when the poll numbers are where they are and there's a lot of finger-pointing that happens? This has happened before. We've seen this before.

APRIL RYAN, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: This has happened before. But the sensitivity is warranted because, look, you have the Biden-Harris administration that came into this White House with the idea of being transformational. And 10 months in where is the transformation? You have the Asian Hate Bill that's passed. You also have Juneteenth Bill that's passed. Now 10 months later you have infrastructure.

But President Biden, when he was running as president, talked about transformation, talked about race. And part of the issue Kamala Harris like Barack Obama can never divorce herself from politics and race. That's one thing. Some of this is racial. Let's go there, I said it, that's it. Now let's move on.

The optics of it. She does not look as effective as a vice president standing behind him. Joe Biden, when he was vice president of Barack Obama, was standing arm in arm. There is a different relational aspect there.

ACOSTA: Different vibe. RYAN: Different. Very different vibe. Is there a connection? Are there

two separate, I guess, wings of the White House, if you will, beyond the East Wing and the West Wing? Is there the vice presidential wing versus the president's wing? Yes, there is. We understand that, you know, when Haiti, the issue of Haiti came out, she made a ruckus about it. It wasn't taken seriously. She's also talked to people --

ACOSTA: So some of this is real?

RYAN: Some of this is real. She's also talked to activists who are out there about voting rights. The president doesn't want to deal with the issue of the filibuster right now. And every time I ask the question, you can see the consternation in the room from the press office.

ACOSTA: And Kirsten, a former high-level Harris aide told CNN about the White House, let me put this up on screen. "They're consistently sending her out there on losing issues in the wrong situations for her skillset."

[16:10:05]

You know, the White House does this. They famously, you know, joked about this on "Veep." Putting the vice president in charge of things that the president doesn't want to deal with because they're unpopular. And so let's have the vice president do it.

Have they done that a little bit here with Kamala Harris? I mean, putting her in charge of the border stuff is not going to enamor her to a whole lot of people in this country especially a lot of independents and so on.

KIRSTEN POWERS, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, I mean, Joe Biden has no interest in seeing her fail. Right? I mean, that doesn't really make sense. I have felt that the media has played a disproportionate amount of attention to the mistakes that she makes than they have to vice presidents in the past.

ACOSTA: The silliness about what she was saying in France?

POWERS: Yes. Because the truth is I can't remember ever talking about vice presidents as much as we talk about her.

RYAN: Dan Quayle.

POWERS: And it's like -- and I think that, yes. But I mean, it really is --

ACOSTA: No, that's true.

POWERS: There is an overfocus on her that I do think is a result of gender and race. And I think that that's what that's about. And so I think she's getting, in that sense, an unfair shake. One of the things, what you were just talking about I think about where she's sort of standing behind him instead of next to him, I wonder if that's not because he feels like there is this story line about him that he's this doddering old fool that can't do anything and she's just there to, you know, help him figure out what to do. Right? That's really a story line that the right has pushed. And so he wants --

ACOSTA: Which is baloney, by the way.

POWERS: It's baloney, obviously. But it's this idea that he's too old for it, that he doesn't know what's going on. And so he has to always look like he's completely in charge, and so that makes it difficult for him to, you know, to do maybe the equal partner thing. Right?

RYAN: But it makes it difficult for her to look like she's operating from a stance of strength. There are so many major women in the Democratic Party who have expressed concern about that. And I'm told that they have told the White House about that. The optics are not on the side of Kamala Harris to stand in a stance of strength. Also with --

ACOSTA: I also feel like they hide her quite a bit.

RYAN: They do.

ACOSTA: Why isn't she out doing interviews? I don't see her doing a whole lot of interviews. She's just not -- I mean, for as much as Kirsten said she's out there, and the spotlight is on her quite a bit. I feel like --

POWERS: Actually -- no, no. I actually don't think she's out that much. That's what I'm saying she is --

(CROSSTALK)

RYAN: She should be crisscrossing America right now helping the president educate people on the infrastructure bill. But what doesn't help is the president himself when he was talking about the passage of the infrastructure bill at the time that he was getting ready to sign, he says, this lady right here. She is the vice president of the United States. She's not just the lady. She is the second in command.

Like Al Gore used to say when he was vice president, he is your -- she is your co-worker. So it's time for her to step up because the time is winding down.

ACOSTA: Yes.

POWERS: Well, I think -- look, I think, I hope that the White House is watching and that they're listening to what April is saying because it's something that they need to be concerned about. You know, whether they think it's real or not if there is a perception.

RYAN: Yes.

POWERS: By people that she's being treated disrespectfully, they need to pay attention to that because that's --

ACOSTA: And --

POWERS: You know --

RYAN: It is not the winning picture right now.

POWERS: That's an important thing. Look, we can say there's always been this kind of infighting between presidents and vice president staff, no question. But it is a different situation when you add in the fact of the historical nature of her vice presidency. It does change the dynamics a little bit.

RYAN: He brought her in because he was expected to be that transformational person, especially when it came to race. People were looking at George Floyd. Remember that?

ACOSTA: Yes.

RYAN: And right after that, all of the frenzy about George Floyd. She was named vice president.

ACOSTA: Yes.

RYAN: And won the ticket. And now look what's happening.

ACOSTA: Well, let's talk about the polls because winning cures everything, and the poll numbers, I mean, and poll numbers are poll numbers, they go up, they go down. And, you know, this is --

RYAN: But they pay attention to them.

ACOSTA: But they pay attention to them.

RYAN: Yes.

ACOSTA: And, you know, the CNN Poll of Polls right now, 45 percent approve, 52 percent disapprove. It was not that high in the "Washington Post" poll that came out this morning, which is I'm sure pretty depressing over at the White House. Does some of this seem like an effort to prevent Harris from becoming, you know, what, a breakout star?

What do you think, April? Or do you think this is just the finger pointing that comes when this polling is just as bad as it is?

RYAN: They are trying to figure out what to do next because you never want to be that administration that doesn't have a chance at a second term. So they are trying to fix this not only for a second term but for the party. This administration came in because they wanted to fix what was happening with Donald Trump.

Now they've got to fix their internal mechanisms. And, trust me, they are watching everything that's being written, watching everything that's being said. They are taking the pulse of America with these polls. They are trying to fix it. The question is, when will it be fixed?

[16:15:02]

ACOSTA: And, Kirsten, I do want to point this out because according to this new "Washington Post"-ABC News poll, and feel free to make the point here about the (INAUDIBLE).

POWERS: Yes.

ACOSTA: But I do want to highlight this. The majority of Americans support, the main points of Biden's legislative agenda, it's pretty striking from the infrastructure bill to spending about his -- the $2 trillion social economic climate package. But a majority of Americans disapprove of how he's handling his job as president. What's going on?

POWERS: I think it's --

ACOSTA: That's a problem.

POWERS: Well, I think it goes to a lot of confusion around the process because it's been so dragged out. And so, yes, we support it but do we even know what's in the bill and Build Back Better still needs to be passed. And so there's a lot of things that we have to, you know, they have to sort of sort through with this.

But, you know, I do want to say that, just to kind of bring this back down to, you know, earth, it's been one year that --

RYAN: It's not even a year yet.

POWERS: That Biden's been president. Right? And Democrats are already freaking out. And it is accurate the Democrats are freaking out, and freaking out about the stuff, whether it's about, you know, Kamala Harris or Joe Biden. And there is time, this is not -- it's not that, like, everything has to be sorted out in this moment.

RYAN: Virginia.

POWERS: And it's like -- no, I'm not saying there's nothing to be concerned about.

ACOSTA: Yes.

POWERS: I'm just saying this kind of idea that we already know what's going to happen in 2024 is I think --

ACOSTA: Or even 2022.

POWERS: Yes. You know, but in terms of, you know, who's going to be the candidate, are they setting her up to fail, is she -- are they afraid she's going to be a breakout star? I mean, look, the fact of the matter is --

ACOSTA: Honestly, if Donald Trump becomes the nominee for the Republican Party in 2024, which people might that's never going to happen. It could actually happen.

POWERS: I would say it would never happen. Yes.

ACOSTA: I don't know if there's anybody out there besides Joe Biden who could beat Donald Trump. And that is just something -- I mean Isaac's reporting is all well and good, it's great reporting, but this notion that, oh, Joe Biden is not going to be here in 2024, I don't know if that's necessarily going to be --

POWERS: Yes. I mean, I actually, I don't think that is a given at all. So the idea that -- that's what I'm saying all this sort of gaming out and panicking. I think it's more important, though, in the near term to listen to what April is saying about the concerns about how people feel that she's being treated.

ACOSTA: The concern seen.

RYAN: But not only that. It's the optics, the concerns, but there's also a messaging issue with this administration. They were talking about infrastructure, the president was just in Baltimore, at the Port of Baltimore Wednesday. The Port of Baltimore does not have congestion. They have rail, they have the port, and they have trucks. That port could help -- what is it? Unhinge the chink in the chain.

ACOSTA: Yes.

RYAN: For causing the supply chain to deal with inflation. The president did not even talk about that. He was there as the sun was setting, no lights, and didn't even talk about that. The messaging is off. They are missing some of the crucial pieces that could help them.

ACOSTA: Any chance you miss to praise the city of Baltimore is an opportunity missed. I agree with that.

All right, April and Kirsten, the great city of Baltimore.

RYAN: The great city of Baltimore.

ACOSTA: Baltimore is on April and Kirsten Powers, thanks so much.

RYAN: Thanks.

ACOSTA: Coming up, all the president's memos. That's right. Another memo from another Trump attorney outlining how vice president Mike Pence, former vice president Mike Pence, then Vice President Mike Pence, could've overturn the election results. That as we're getting brand new audio of Trump's reaction to Pence certifying the election.

It's next. You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:22:29]

ACOSTA: Another batch of shocking but not surprising new Trump audio shows just how heavily he was leaning on then Vice President Mike Pence to override the Constitution and overturn the 2020 election. Jonathan Karl with ABC News spoke to Trump in March. Here's part of their conversation about Pence and January 6th.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JONATHAN KARL, ABC NEWS CHIEF WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: There was a report, and excuse my language. DONALD TRUMP, FORMER PRESIDENT: Go ahead.

KARL: Not mine, it was in the report.

TRUMP: Yes.

KARL: That you talked to him that morning and you said, you could be a patriot or you can be a (EXPLETIVE DELETED). Did you really say that or is that an incorrect?

TRUMP: I wouldn't dispute it.

KARL: Really?

TRUMP: I wouldn't dispute it. He did the wrong thing. He's a very nice man. I like him a lot.

KARL: Yes.

TRUMP: I like his family so much. But he did -- it was a terrible, it was a tragic mistake.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: But the pressure campaign went far beyond Trump personally bullying his vice president. Karl also obtained a memo written by Trump campaign lawyer Jenna Ellis detailing a plan to nullify the votes from six states and hand Trump a stolen win. Then White House chief of staff Mark Meadows sent that memo, according to Jon's reporting, to Mike Pence's top aide on New Year's Eve.

Here to discuss this is CNN political analyst and Watergate journalist, famed Watergate journalist, Carl Bernstein.

Carl, great to have you on. Great to have you back. We appreciate it. What do you think of all these Trump comments? I mean, again, you know, not too surprising.

CARL BERNSTEIN, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Not surprising. I think there's a lot more involved than Trump's comments. I think what we are seeing in these memos particularly are blueprints for a coup. The actual blueprints in document form in which the president of the United States, through his chief of staff, is sending to Mike Pence, the vice president's staff a blueprint to overturn an election.

A blueprint for a conspiracy led by a president of the United States to result in an authoritarian coup in which the election is stolen. We've never had anything in our history like this. These are the actual documents that show what was going on. But we need a lot more.

We need a complete and thorough narrative of everything that Donald Trump did and said, especially on January 5th and 6th, to undermine the Constitution of the United States and to go ahead with the coup that would have resulted in the most grievous undermining of our Constitution in the history of the United States.

[16:25:03]

And already the fact that he did what he did shows that he engaged in the most grievous conduct by a president of the United States in our history.

ACOSTA: No question, not only was it unpresidential, it was un- American. But let's talk about this Jenna Ellis scheme. She's one of these low-level, you know, Trump attorneys who is floating around, you know, putting all these bad ideas in Trump's ears during the election and January 6th. And this memo I guess laid out a plan to overturn the election.

It sounds a little bit like the John Eastman memo, slightly different than that one, but that they were -- it sounds like they were weighing multiple coup options, Carl. I mean, you know, do we have to draw people a picture? I mean, this is -- it's more evidence, it almost sounds like there was a conspiracy.

BERNSTEIN: Of course there was a conspiracy.

ACOSTA: Yes.

BERNSTEIN: It was a conspiracy led by the president of the United States to overturn the duly elected president, incoming president of the United States, Joe Biden, by thwarting the electoral college process, by making it --

ACOSTA: How is that not --

(CROSSTALK)

BERNSTEIN: Let me just finish it.

ACOSTA: How is that not a crime, Carl? Yes. Yes.

BERNSTEIN: Let's not jump too fast.

ACOSTA: Yes.

BERNSTEIN: It's a constitutional crime. It may also be a criminal act in which an ordinary citizen would be tried and convicted and jailed. But I think we need to keep our eye on the bigger picture here. We know that Trump tried to overturn the election through lies and through actual acts to inhibit the count of the vote, to keep the electoral college from casting its votes. That's what these memos are about.

They show multiple attempts and blueprints how to manipulate the process in such a way that there would not be a free election in this country for the president of the United States.

ACOSTA: Yes.

BERNSTEIN: But now we have two things going on. We have this committee in the House of Representatives to investigate what happened in the so-called insurrection on January 6th. And that is what these documents are related to. And we have one year until, in all likelihood, that the Republicans take over the House of Representatives and try to shut down this investigation. We have one year to find out what happened in this most grievous act by a president of the United States since the civil war.

ACOSTA: Yes.

BERNSTEIN: And it's up to the press particularly. We know that these acts occurred and we know that Donald Trump is engaged in a massive cover-up through executive privilege and other instruments to keep us from finding out what he did to do this illegal, unconstitutional, authoritarian act such as we've never seen.

ACOSTA: Yes. It almost -- yes.

BERNSTEIN: So, you know, we in the media need to use this year and make our basic task to find out what he did, how he did it, everything that happened. And there are people around Vice President Pence, as we're seeing in these memos, who are really angry at how Trump tried to use Pence to facilitate this coup.

And, so, we have a year, it's a long time for both the Congress and the press to show the American people actually whatever the facts are, where they lay, what happened here because this is an undermining of our democracy such as we've never seen. That's our job next year.

ACOSTA: I couldn't agree more. Could not agree more. Before we let you go, though, I have to get your take on some recent comments from former Trump national security adviser Michael Flynn, who is also facing a January 6th subpoena. It was alleged at one point that he was talking about Martial Law, of all things, with Donald Trump, to try to overturn this election. But these are some other comments that Flynn was making about religion over the weekend. Let's take a look and talk about it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAEL FLYNN, FORMER TRUMP NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: We are going to have one nation under God, which we must, we have to have one religion, one nation under God and one religion under God.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: Carl, and to think this is Donald Trump's first national security adviser, it's just shameful.

BERNSTEIN: It's not a question of shameful. It's a question of let's look at the kind of people who came into Donald Trump's orbit and became the most influential around him. Let's look at Rudy Giuliani. Let's look at Mike Flynn. Let's look at these people who are saying out loud things that have never been said by an aide or close associates of the president of the United States.

[16:29:58]

It's so stupefying to think that we had a president of the United States that would entertain these names, fools, and dangerous authoritarian figures. That's what we need to look at the big picture.

These are -- Donald Trump looked for people to facilitate his authoritarian impulse, both as the president and as the unelected next President, to use a coup to stay in office. That's what he did.

That's what the instruments are, these people. Whether it's Flynn. Whether it's Giuliani. Whether it's Ellis. Whether it's all of these lawyers that he gathered around. He engaged in a conspiracy in which he said to these people, find me a way to stay in office. I will do anything to stay in office.

We now need to find all of these blueprints. We're starting to get them. It should be a surprise to no one that Michael Flynn is saying the kind of things that he is saying.

But what's mostly significant here is that much of the Republican Party, both the officials in the Republican Party and voters. The 48, 50 percent of the voters who believe in Donald Trump and Trumpism. Many of them, something like 35 percent in exit polls, have said that they stay for Trump and Trumpism, because Christianity is being taken away from them.

So, Michael Flynn is not that far away from huge numbers of people in this country. You know, you've heard me say many times, we're in civil war in this country. And, right now, the secessionists, these Republicans, are winning the civil war.

So, it's a little much to think, oh, yes, mike Flynn is off the wall. These people have prevailed, in many regards.

ACOSTA: We can't let it happen. Carl Bernstein, thank you so much for those comments, as always. We'll be right back.

BERNSTEIN: Thank you.

[16:32:07]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ACOSTA: We have news of yet another violent incident on a commercial airliner. A Southwest Airlines' employee was hospitalized yesterday, after a female passenger, verbally and physically, assaulted an operations agent in Dallas. The incident happened shortly after the passenger boarded a flight to New York.

Local law enforcement took the passenger off the plane and into custody. Southwest says the employee was released from the hospital last night and is resting at home. Now to what's happening in California, where drivers are paying more than $4.67 a gallon, a new state record.

CNN's Natasha Chen joins us now from Los Angeles. Natasha, I can see some of those gas prices behind you. Californians cannot be too happy about this. Tell us what the latest is out there.

NATASHA CHEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Jim, Californians have not paid this much for gas since 2012. And if you look at the sign behind me, no matter what type of gas you're trying to buy here, it's more than $5 a gallon. And the $5.09 that you're seeing, that's actually if you pay cash. So, with a credit card, it's even more.

And this is not just at one location. This is what we're seeing across the region, across the state. Now, California does have an issue with some refineries. And northern California not being up to full capacity because of some severe weather recently.

But the thing that the drivers in this state share with everyone else in the U.S. is just really high crude oil prices, a seven-year high. And if you look at this tweet and graph from Gas Buddy, a site, an app that tracks gas prices reported by drivers, you'll see that we have never had a year-over-year increase like this before. In April, 66 percent increase. And we really haven't seen anything like that kind of spike since 2010.

And, right now, you know, in talking to a AAA spokesperson, we're also hearing about the mentality of people who've really been cooped up throughout the pandemic and are really wanting to get out there and travel. Here's what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DOUG SHUPE: The demand for travel really is huge right now and not just for this holiday season. But, according to AAA travel advisers, all 2022 is expected to be a very busy time for travel. Our best advice is if you are planning to travel soon, go ahead and book right away. Because there are steal some deals and lower prices, as well as availability, that's out there now that's going to go very fast.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHEN: And it's not just high demand. The oil production in the U.S. is 14 percent lower than at the end of 2019. Oil companies aren't drilling the same way they used to. Our CNN business colleagues report that's because shareholders are demanding these companies cut back on costs and there's been quite a reckoning of environmental impacts of fossil fuels -- Jim.

ACOSTA: All right. Natasha Chen, thanks so much for staying on top of that. We appreciate it.

Up next, protesters in Cuba are gearing up for peaceful demonstrations tomorrow, as U.S. officials threaten further sanctions if the protesters are arrested. A live report from Cuba. Live pictures now in Havana, Cuba. We'll take you there live, next.

[16:39:40]

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ACOSTA: Secretary of state, Antony Blinken, is voicing support today for opposition protesters in Cuba who were planning to hold peaceful pro-democracy demonstrations tomorrow. CNN's Patrick Oppmann joins us now in Havana. Patrick, tell us more about what's happening, in terms of how the Cuban government is handling these expected demonstrations. It sounds like tensions are already ramping up.

PATRICK OPPMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely, Jim. Tensions are as high as I can really ever remember in the 10 years that I've lived here. After those unprecedented widespread protests we saw in July, people taking the streets calling for freedom, calling for better economic conditions, a group of opposition activists tried something that had never been done here before. They requested, which is allowed under the Cuban Constitution, the right to protest in cities across this island.

[16:45:01]

OPPMANN: They were denied in every one of those petitions, by the Cuban government, the right to protest.

Still, people say that they will go out tomorrow, on the 15th of November, and exercise what they say is their right to peacefully protest. It does not appear the government is going to let that happen. They, as they always do, call people who think differently than the communist government, wanting to see changes here. They say those people are mercenaries and traitors.

And we've already seen one opposition activist, a man I just interviewed, who was actually against the U.S. embargo (INAUDIBLE) who used to be celebrated by the Cuban government. His house in Havana is now surrounded by police. His supporters say he has had his communications cut off. There are a crowd of pro-government supporters who are not allowing him to leave his house. You see, he is, essentially, under siege right now.

There are other accounts that we're hearing across the island of people who had planned to go out and protest, facing similar type situations. Others say they will go ahead and put themselves at risk and try to make their voices heard. It is unclear how the government will react, if people do go out and take to the streets tomorrow.

ACOSTA: And we remember those clashes that we saw over the summer, Patrick. I mean, these were some of the most violent clashes I've ever seen on video in Cuba, I mean, in years. And so, obviously, this is something that the United States is going to be closely watching. The secretary of state, Tony Blinken, making it clear the U.S. will be watching. The Biden administration will be on top of this.

All right. Patrick Oppmann, thanks so much for that report. We appreciate it. Coming up next, the Queen pulling out of yet another event. We'll go live to London, next.

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ACOSTA: It was supposed to be her first public appearance in weeks, but a sprained back forced Queen Elizabeth to pull out of a remembrance service today, paying tribute to Britain's war dead. Joining us now to talk about it is CNN Royal Commentator Kate Williams. Kate, thanks so much for being with us, again. This is perplexing. The Queen has been out of the public eye since mid- October. What more do we know?

KATE WILLIAMS, CNN ROYAL COMMENTATOR (via Webex): Yes, it's very significant, Jim. She really did want to be here for the veterans' commemoration, both because she's head of the armed forces in Britain, but also because she, herself, served in World War II. She likes to be there -- to be there for the veterans. So, it is very meaningful that she wasn't able to attend at last minute.

We understand it was a back strain. That was the reason we've been given by the palace. Unconnected to the previous reasons why she'd had to cancel engagements. As you say, we haven't seen her, publicly, since mid-October. But you -- after she went to hospital for the first time in eight years.

She's been doing Zoom calls and we'll be seeing her driving around. But, in terms of public engagements, this was to be the first. So, I think, really, she would have only cancelled if she really had to. So, clearly, she is in back -- she does have back pain. She does have some strain. And let's hope that, you know, she manages to get the rest over the next few weeks, so we can see her out and about doing engagements once more in early December.

ACOSTA: And the season finale of the CNN original series, "Diana," airs tonight, which looks at how Princess Diana's death impacted billions of people around the world. Let's take a look at this preview.

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The news came through to BULMoreau directly from Paris from our ambassador out there, Sir Michael Jay. I think Charles was in absolute shock that this had happened. He felt immediately for his sons, obviously. And there was personal grief as well. This is a woman he had loved. But there was also this feeling, oh, my God, I am going to get blamed for this.

UNIDENTIFIEDE MALE: The marriage was over, but he still felt a huge obligation towards her, mainly in the shape of his sons, who were sleeping just a few yards away.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The Queen and Prince Charles got up and talked together, discussed whether they should tell the boys. And, I think quite rightly, Charles decided that what was the point of waking up the boys right now? We don't know -- we don't know the truth of it. We'll wait until the morning.

He chose, I believe, to talk to William first, his eldest, which is understandable. And, together, they then went and told Prince Harry, who was just 12.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ACOSTA: Looks very interesting, Kate. We'll all be tuning in. Kate Williams, thanks so much for being with us, again. We appreciate it.

WILLIAMS: Thank you. ACOSTA: Great to see you.

And be sure to tune in. The final episode of the CNN original series, "Diana," airs tonight at 9:00. And the top 10 CNN Heroes of 2021 have been announced. As you vote during the next few weeks, we'll be reintroducing our top 10. Meet Hector Guadalupe.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HECTOR GUADALUPE: After surviving prison, you come home thinking you're able to start over. You want to be part of society, but there's just so many layers of discrimination. Boxes you have to get through just to get an opportunity. Society thinks, oh, you should just go get a job and it's not that easy. Once you have a record, nothing is set up for them to win.

And up, one, good, right back under.

At A Second U Foundation, we give formerly incarcerated men and women national certifications and job placements in boutique gyms and corporate health clubs throughout New York City.

You've got to be thinking outside the box. You can't give someone a mop and say, this is your future. Take minimum wage and deal with it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There you go. You got it.

GUADALUPE: When you provide people with livable wages, they're able to be productive members of society.

Look at that belly.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, almost there.

GUADALUPE: And that's why we are a second you. We want to give you your second chance at life.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ACOSTA: And go to CNNHeroes.com right now to vote for Hector or for any of the CNN Heroes of the Year.

[16:55:04]

ACOSTA: And we'll be right back.

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