Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

New Highly Contagious COVID Variant May Already Be In The U.S.; U.S. Banning Travel From Southern Africa Starting Monday; Mall Shootings And Smash-And-Grabs Terrify Shoppers On Black Friday; Holiday Shoppers Facing Inflation, Supply Chain Issues; Republican Leaders Silent Over GOP Rep's Anti-Muslim Comments. Aired 11a-12p ET

Aired November 27, 2021 - 11:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:00:25]

KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. And thank you for joining me on this busy Saturday. I'm Kaitlan Collins in Washington, in for Fredricka Whitfield today.

And we start with breaking news on the concerning new COVID variant omicron that's fueling fears across the globe. U.K. officials say that they have confirmed two positive cases in the country and both people have a connection to travel from southern Africa where the heavily- mutated variant was first detected.

There are no confirmed cases in the U.S. as of now, but Dr. Anthony Fauci says that doesn't necessarily mean it hasn't already arrived.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASE: So you would predict from looking at the mutations that have been identified that it likely will be more transmissible.

We don't know that yet but you have to be careful and assume that that's the case.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE MSNBC HOST: Do you believe that omicron is already here in the U.S. likely?

FAUCI: You know, I would not be surprised if it is.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: Still, a lot of unknowns about this variant.

Let's get to CNN's Elizabeth Cohen who has more on what we do know about this new variant.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DR. TULO DE OLIVEIRA, SOUTH AFRICA CENTER FOR EPIDEMIC RESPONSE AND INNOVATION: Unfortunately we have detected a new variant which it is a reason for concern in South Africa. So what we have done is to act very quick.

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): A new COVID-19 variant spreading quickly in South Africa. U.S. health authorities in contact with officials there.

DR. FAUCI: We want to find out scientist to scientist exactly what is going on. It does seem that it's a bit more widespread in South Africa than was originally felt.

COHEN: Researchers in South Africa say there's likely reason to be worried. They say this new variant has more than 30 mutations in the spike protein. That's the part of the virus that gains entry to human cells to cause infection.

The COVID-19 vaccine target the spike protein. If the spike changes too much and in the wrong way, it could make the vaccines less effective.

Learning exactly where the mutations are and how they change the spike protein will be key.

DR. FAUCI: First of all, you want to find out if in fact it does evade the vaccines that we're doing. Right now we're getting the material together with our South African colleagues to get a situation where you could actually directly test it.

COHEN: Scientists at BioNTech have already started investigating the impact of the variant on its vaccine developed with Pfizer with data expected within the next couple of weeks.

This isn't the first variant to initially be detected in South Africa. Last year, the beta variant was identified there, and there were fears it could quickly spread around the world and become the dominant variant worldwide.

That didn't happen and now authorities are working to see whether the new variant will slowly smolder or quickly spread around the planet.

Elizabeth Cohen, CNN, reporting.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: And thank you to Elizabeth Cohen for bringing us up to speed.

But now let's go to London where CNN's Nada Bashir is standing by. And Nada, I know that two confirmed cases have been found in the country. Is contact tracing under way because I know we do expect to hear from officials any minute now?

NADA BASHIR, CNN PRODUCER: Absolutely. In the next hour we will be hearing from Prime Minister Boris Johnson joined with the chief medical officer and his chief scientific adviser to give us an update on this latest information.

But what we do know now from the health secretary is that those two individuals are being asked to quarantine, to self-isolate for ten days. They are believed to have traveled from the southern African region. And the case is believed to be linked to this new variant.

And their households, the people that they've been in contact with are also being asked to self isolate and contact tracing is under way. Government officials will be monitoring the situation very, very closely. There are serious concerns that the spread of this variant could really throw the health care sector under immense pressure. So there are serious concerns there.

Of course, we have seen other countries in Europe now beginning to tighten travel restrictions, Belgium reporting its one case now there, too.

So there are some serious concerns and the health secretary has said that the country needs to really be on alert right now about this new variant. We don't know an awful lot about it.

As Elizabeth just mentioned, investigations are under way into the transmissibility of the variant and its impact on vaccine efficacy. So there will be monitoring of this case and of the two cases that have now been reported in the U.K. But we will hear from Boris Johnson, the prime minister, in the next hour to get those further updates.

[11:04:56]

BASHIR: But what we have also been told now is that that red list -- the U.K. travel restrictions on Southern Africa is being extended to include four additional countries (INAUDIBLE) -- Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia and Angola.

So what that red list means is anybody traveling into the U.K. from those countries on that list will be required to quarantine for ten days in a government-approved hotel at their own expense.

The government is taking quite tough and tight measures there. The government's chief medical officer Chris Witty has issued some early guidance saying that people need to be wearing their masks now, making sure they are keeping themselves in ventilated rooms when indoors, avoiding crowded areas and encouraging people to go out and get the vaccine if they haven't already. And those who have received two doses to go out and get the booster jab. That is being encouraged now.

But we do expect to hear more guidance from the prime minister and the chief scientific adviser and the chief medical officer in just under an hour, Kaitlan.

COLLINS: Thank you, Nada Bashir. And we will take Prime Minister Johnson live when he does start that press conference.

Starting on Monday, the Biden administration is going to ban travelers from South Africa and seven other African countries from entering the United States. This, of course, does not apply to American citizens and legal permanent residents but it does speak to the level of caution with which the White House is approaching this.

CNN's Jasmine Wright is at the White House.

Jasmine, this is a decision that President Biden made yesterday. What do you know that was behind this?

JASMINE WRIGHT, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Well look, they're acting quickly, Kaitlan. They're taking precautions in hopes of trying to keep Americans safe. That is the bottom line for this White House because in their eyes, there's just simply too much unknown about the variant not to take swift action.

So as you said, yesterday after news of the fast spreading variant broke. President Biden met with his chief medical advisers, including Dr. Fauci, and he told reporters later on that that discussion is when he made the decision to institute the ban. Take a listen here.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I've decided that we're going to be cautious. We don't know a lot about the variant except that it is of great concern, seems to spread rapidly. I spent about a half hour this morning with my COVID team led by Dr. Fauci. So that was the decision that we made.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WRIGHT: So there we heard the president talking about the process. But one big question that folks have is why Monday. If this is so urgent, why not start it immediately. Well, White House officials have told CNN that it takes time to implement this ban.

Remember, it is South Africa plus seven other countries in the region, so that Monday start date reflects the time that the administration needed to get buy-ins from the airlines and of course, to put this plan in place without starting chaos.

And one other thing that this ban does, officials say, is that it allows time for U.S. federal government workers really to kind of investigate these new variants, investigate it before it could potentially have bad consequences for the U.S. here in the states.

It's something that Dr. Fauci alluded to when he said that he did it -- it was possible that there were cases here, although the CDC has not detected it.

Before the president's part in announcing this travel ban, he really called on the global -- country global (INAUDIBLE) to do more in terms of giving vaccines out to folks, really trying to tamp down on the coronavirus in general.

But he also called on Americans to do their part, to get their shots in their arms if they haven't had their initial vaccines and to get boosted if they haven't had those booster if it's been six months since they got their vaccine, really calling it a patriotic responsibility, trying to make sure that this country is able to get over the pandemic for once and all, Kaitlan.

COLLINS: And of course this is going to complicate that path potentially for them as the White House we know is monitoring this closely. Jasmine Wright, thank you so much.

Joining me now, Dr. Mike Saag, the associate dean of global health at the University of Alabama in Birmingham. Dr. Saag, we know that scientists don't yet know how dangerous this new variant is but it is already sending a lot of people scrambling. I mean you've seen what we have been talking about, you know, how long it takes to put this ban -- these travel restrictions into place.

But my question for you is what do we know about how severe this variant is so far? And of course, a big question of whether or not vaccines are going to be effective against it.

DR. MIKE SAAG, ASSOCIATE DEAN OF GLOBAL HEALTH, UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA, BIRMINGHAM: You know, we don't know much yet. And that's kind of frustrating for everyone, especially the public health officials.

I think for the general public, maybe the best way to think about this is like we think about the National Weather Center when there's a tropical depression off the coast of Africa that's coming towards us. We don't know if it's going to be a hurricane. We don't know if it's going to be just a tropical storm, or whether it's going to miss us completely.

In this case, we know the virus won't miss us completely, it's going to come here. So it's a warning, it's basically saying ok, take cover a little bit. Let's not be so quick to discard our masks or go back to total normal.

[11:09:49]

DR. SAAG: It is also a heads up that for those of us who have been vaccinated, time to get the booster if you haven't had it yet. And for those of us who are unvaccinated, it's time to roll up your sleeve. That's the best way that we can protect ourselves and our neighbors.

COLLINS: So Dr. Fauci and other health officials have said that there are no detected cases of this new variant in the United States yet, but based on what we know about how these other variants spread, how quickly this one appears to be spreading, do you think it is probably already here?

DR. SAAG: I don't know, to be blunt. But I do know that we're aggressively monitoring for it. And this is the stuff that goes on every day behind the scenes in public health laboratories around the country. Every time there's a positive test, a sample -- a sample of those go for sequencing. And that's where you pick up variants.

I think that will be increased in terms of the surveillance over the coming weeks because of this variant that we know is here and we know is going to be coming towards us in some kind of way.

Whether it hits us hard or whether it just kind of glances over us we don't know yet. And I think the biggest question for me is do the current vaccines actually protect against this particular variant? The science suggests to me at least that it should. And that we know that when people get these vaccines, it is more than just what's in the vaccine, there's a wide variety of variants that are protected, even more than what we see after a natural infection.

So for those people who've had COVID before and said I'm not going to bother with a vaccine, you still need to get the vaccine for that broadest protection.

And the other good news here, Kaitlan, is that the companies are already working on getting a variant specific to this -- specific to this new omicron variant into vectors for the vaccine that just in case the current vaccines don't cover, they'll be going into manufacturing quickly with that. I don't think that will be needed but we have to wait and see.

COLLINS: And you talk about sequencing and how important that is to determining what exactly we know about the presence of this here in the United States.

But that was often something that was a complaint I often heard from other health officials who said they did not feel that the CDC's sequencing was often up to par.

Do you think it is in the situation now where they can effectively monitor this variant in the United States?

DR. SAAG: I really do. I mean, it did take awhile for things to ramp up but I think we're getting there, if not being there already. I know in my state of Alabama, our hospital here at UAB is sequencing regularly and other hospitals around the state and the public health laboratories are sequencing.

All of those data from those sequences are transmitted to the CDC daily and they follow which variants are popping up in different parts. That's how we detected delta back in the day.

And if this thing does get here, and I think it will, we'll be able to see where it is and we'll be able to see to what degree it is impacting us. And so I think we should celebrate the science here. We don't know exactly where it is going to go. But just like we kind of depend on the National Weather Service, we should depend on our public health officials here to keep us alert, keep us aware as the data emerge.

COLLINS: You said your home state of Alabama -- also my home state of Alabama and that we have a big game this afternoon kicking off. And of course, you know who I am rooting for.

Dr. Mike Saag, thank you so much for joining us on this and we will be sure to keep talking to you as we learn more about this new variant.

DR. SAAG: Thank you, Kaitlan. Roll tide.

COLLINS: Roll tide. I love that.

We've got much more to come on CNN NEWSROOM.

It was a terrifying Black Friday for some shoppers after shootings in multiple malls and a recent uptick in these smash-and-grab robberies.

Also ahead, Broadway is mourning the loss of Stephen Sondheim, the man behind the music of "West Side Story", "Into the Woods" and "Sweeney Todd".

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(FROM "WEST SIDE STORY")

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[11:14:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Black Friday taking a violent turn at two shopping centers. Police say a shooter at a mall in Durham, North Carolina injured three people, including a ten-year-old, and at least three other shoppers were hurt in the chaos that it caused. Police also say one person is being detained there.

And in Tacoma, Washington officials say that a person has been hospitalized with serious injuries after a shooting there. Police are still searching for the suspect and motive is unclear at this time.

Luckily, there have been no fatalities in either incident. But this comes as police in California say a group of thieves targeted a Home Depot outside of Los Angeles on Friday stealing hammers, crow bars, other tools. And of course, this theft comes as similar tools have been used in a number of these smash and grab robberies that we have seen playing out across the United States at several high end stores in major U.S. cities, of course, this month.

And CNN's Polo Sandoval joins me now. Polo, of course, this is something that's deeply frustrating to these retailers. What are you hearing?

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. And the big question is that having maybe an impact on sales, Kaitlan. I could tell you really all across the country that it is not, especially when you consider some of the numbers that have been released by industry experts showing that roughly 158 million Americans will actually do some of their holiday shopping from Thanksgiving up to this Monday.

And about 60 percent of a lot of those sales will actually be done in person. Why you may ask. Well, there's that lingering concern about supply chain disruptions, about that big worry that I keep hearing from shoppers that they may not actually be able to get that gift in time to where it's supposed to get in time. And so that's why you see shoppers all across the country including here on fifth avenue, a lot of shoppers really trying to make sure that they get those gifts.

[11:19:47] SANDOVAL: But what we heard from the head of the National Retail Federation just yesterday, he does seem to be confident that a lot of the bigger chains have basically been ballooning their inventory ahead of the holidays, knowing that a lot of people for the last 20 months or so during the pandemic have actually been saving, so they have a lot to spend right now. And they also want to be able to go out and actually enjoy the holiday season by spending.

But the places that are really hurting however are more of the independent retailers, the so-called mom and pop stores that, according to experts, usually have lower priority when it comes to manufacturers and then distribution. Hence Small Business Saturday, where Americans are certainly encouraged to try to turn to some of those neighborhood stores to try to get that shopping done.

But look, whether you head to that small mom and pop shop on the corner or head here to Saks' iconic and flagship store, the reality is you're looking at about $843 billion that will be spent this holiday season according to industry experts.

And that is still not pre-pandemic levels but still a significant increase over the last, Kaitlan.

COLLINS: It is a significant increase. But of course, the issue is that you're starting to see people want to go back to stores, wanting to do things they haven't been able to do the last year and a half. And now all these stores and retailers are dealing with this which of course, we know means new security measures as well.

Polo Sandoval, thank you so much.

SANDOVAL: Absolutely.

COLLINS: Smash and grabs aren't the only issue that retailers are facing this holiday season because they're also dealing with supply chain problems and rising inflation across the United States.

We'll speak live to the president of E-commerce for DHL next.

[11:21:25]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: This year, Black Friday looked a little more like it did before the pandemic.

In stores, looking for deals, and as Cyber Monday approaches, many retailers are expecting blockbuster sales. But there are still some clouds hanging over the holiday season because shoppers can expect to pay more as inflation has hit a 30 year high and if you're driving to the mall, the average price for a gallon of gas will now cost $3.40.

Biggest question of all may be if you're ordering those gifts online now, will they arrive in time for the holidays?

Let's bring in Kraig Foreman. He's the president of E-commerce at DHL supply chain. Kraig, what is your company predicting when it comes to the sales growth this season?

KRAIG FOREMAN, PRESIDENT, E-COMMERCE AT DHL SUPPLY CHAIN: We're actually seeing sales coming in right where we expected across most of our customers which is quite a positive sign. I am estimating that we're going to see about 5 to 10 percent growth in sales across the e- commerce market versus last year, which was as phenomenal growth we saw last year due to the pandemic.

So the growth in our industry in the shopping forum continues to be strong.

COLLINS: And so when it comes to this big question of if I'm ordering my Christmas gifts online, are they actually going to make it there in time. What's your prediction for people?

FOREMAN: Right now, I think everybody is in great shape. I think there's been a great deal of planning. I know our organization plans for cyber weekend starting all the way back in January. So, you know, we are well prepared.

I think people across the industry are well prepared and there's quite a bit of confidence at this point in time to deliver.

Parcel carriers is going to be the next challenge. And right now, they have done a great deal of work to be prepared to handle the expected volumes and a great deal of the planning that's been going on there as well.

There is going to be an earlier cutoff as to when the parcel carriers will accept packages to ensure that it gets to the customer. So all that is going into the planning and I think there's a high deal of confidence.

COLLINS: We know a big part of that, of course, are the issues that we have seen with the supply chain. Where it is not just shipping containers that are hanging out over the coast of the ports of Los Angeles waiting to be off loaded. It is also actually getting them off loaded, dealing with a truckers shortage that is also actually getting these packages to where they're supposed to be going.

So far, we know that there's been an effort to work on that, but it has not been completely smoothed over or uncomplicated yet.

So how is that effecting what you're expecting for the weeks ahead?

FOREMAN: Well, I think one of the things that we've incurred in our (INAUDIBLE) operations is that inbound has come in later than expected. However, the inventory levels are still high.

The retailers have done a great job in overcoming those congestion issues and the supply chain challenges to get inventory in place for the holiday season. They may not have all of the inventory that they ultimately wanted or the exact units or items that they wanted to sell but they do have a lot of inventory to make this holiday season successful.

And so that I think overall, you know, a lot of great work has been done by the retailers to overcome.

COLLINS: Yes. They're kind of in overdrive right now, trying to deal with those issues. But this also comes as, you know, there's a labor shortage here in the United States and it is a real issue where people are leaving their jobs and employers say that they're having trouble filling a lot of these positions that they have.

Are you all seeing something like that? Or how is that effecting you, you know, now that we're in this period of trying to come out of the pandemic but of course still concerns about the variant, still concerns about what's going on.

FOREMAN: There's been a challenge in the e-commerce market for many, many years because of the nature of the shift of work (AUDIO GAP) of our building. So this is not a new challenge for us. It has been heightened this year due to some of the labor shortages that have been reported but it really comes down to winning that war on talent and getting the people into your business to be successful. There really isn't enough labor to meet the demand.

So I'm happy to report we have been very successful in getting the labor that we need to service our customers. That's being done through having the right tools in place, technology in place that people want to come and work there, in addition to compensation strategies.

[11:30:01]

COLLINS: Yes. We know that's something you're seeing so many businesses deal with.

Kraig Foreman, thank you so much for joining us on this Saturday.

FOREMAN: Thanks, Kaitlan.

COLLINS: The White House has tapped into the U.S. strategic oil reserves to try to blunt the rising prices and ease the pain of those people who are on the road paying more for gas.

But now pancake lovers can rejoice in their own relief. Canada is dipping into its reserves of maple syrup. According to Bloomberg, a so-called maple cartel of 11,000 Canadian producers is dealing with a spike in demand in a warm spring that effected the harvest. It's draining about half of its emergency stock which is some 50 million pounds that will now flow into the market.

Meanwhile, Republican Congresswoman Lauren Boebert is apologizing after her anti-Muslim comment about her colleague Ilhan Omar. Congresswoman Omar says it is not enough, and House leadership needs to act. We have more on that ahead.

And a quick programming note. Join Fareed Zakaria for an in depth look at China's leader Xi Jinping. "CHINA'S IRON FIST: XI JINPING AND THE STAKES FOR AMERICA" begins tomorrow night here on CNN at 9:00.

[11:31:10]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: There's still been no condemnation from Republican leaders after Lauren Boebert made an Islamophobic comment about one of her Democratic colleagues in a new video. Boebert implying that Ilhan Omar, one of the first Muslim women elected to Congress, might be a suicide bomber. Boebert is now apologizing but Omar says it is not enough.

CNN's Sunlen Serfaty has the latest.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SUNLEN SERFATY, CNN WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT, (voice over): Congresswoman Lauren Boebert, making an Islamophobic suicide bomber joke about being in an elevator with Congresswoman Ilhan Omar.

REP. LAUREN BOEBERT (R-CO): I looked to my left, and there she is, Ilhan Omar. I said well, she doesn't have a backpack, we should be fine.

SERFATY: Suggesting she was concerned that Omar would blow up the elevator.

BOEBERT: So I only had one floor to go. And (INAUDIBLE). It's over. I say oh, look we do so I have decided to show up for work today.

SERFATY: The now viral video was posted by Patriot Takes, affiliated with left leaning groups, claimed to have been shot over Thanksgiving break.

Omar responding saying the whole story is made up and calling Boebert a buffoon. Sad she things bigotry gets her clout, anti-Muslim bigotry isn't funny and shouldn't be normalized. Congress can't be a place where hateful an dangerous Muslim tropes get no condemnation.

Today Boebert tweeting an apology, saying she's reached out to Omar's office to speak with her directly. "I apologize to anyone in the Muslim community offended with my comment about Representative Omar." Adding, "there are plenty of policy differences to focus on without this unnecessary distraction."

But Boebert did not apologize for other incendiary remarks made during the same event, including a homophobic remark about Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg taking paternity leave.

BOEBERT: He wasn't even put in charge of the supply chain crisis. You know, someone else was tapped for that because Mayor Pete is still at home trying to figure out how to chest feed. Somebody ought to tell him so he can get back to work.

SERFATY: GOP leadership has been silent in response so far to this series of derogatory comments. But Republican Congressman Kinzinger calling Boebert "trash".

BOEBERT: Cancel culture isn't just to keep us quiet, it is to stop the very plan and movement of God Almighty. SERFATY: This isn't the first time that Boebert, who entered Congress

with this provocative video, has made inflammatory remarks.

BOEBERT: I will carry my firearms in D.C. and in Congress.

SERFATY: Most recently Boebert defended Congressman Paul Gosar before he was censured by the House for tweeting an anime video depicting him of killing Congresswoman Ocasio-Cortez.

BOEBERT: The left have nothing else to do but troll the internet looking for ways to get offended.

SERFATY: turning her floor speech into a tirade singling out Democrats like Omar.

BOEBERT: The jihad squad member from Minnesota has paid her husband -- and not her brother husband -- the other one, over a million dollars in campaign funds. This member is allowed on the Foreign Affairs Committee while praising terrorists.

SERFATY (on camera): and Congresswoman Omar has called for House leadership to take action against Congresswoman Boebert. She says normalizing this bigotry endangers her life and the lives of other Muslims across the world. She did not specifically mention Boebert's apology or if her office has heard from the congresswoman.

Sunlen Serfaty, CNN on Capitol Hill.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: And thank you so much for that report.

With me now is Ron Brownstein a CNN senior political analyst and senior editor for "The Atlantic". Ron, what's your prediction. What do you think that Kevin McCarthy is going to do when lawmakers are back in Washington this week?

RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Nothing. I mean look, the pattern has been very clear, whether it is Marjorie Taylor Greene, Paul Gosar, others along the way.

As I wrote last winter on CNN.com, the extremist wing in the GOP has become too big to confront. The party leadership is unwilling to discipline any of these members in large part because Donald Trump has so successfully and relentlessly kind of torn down the walls between the mainstream GOP and the more extreme voices in American society.

[11:40:02[

BROWNSTEIN: And so there is a very clear pattern as Sunlen used the word of normalizing this kind of rhetoric, this kind of threat and it is now I think too big to fail inside the GOP coalition.

COLLINS: And you mentioned Marjorie Taylor Greene. She's also weighing in on this. She tweeted, "Never apologize to Islamic terrorist sympathizer, Communists, or those who fund murder with our tax dollars. She says Ilhan and the jihad squad are all three undeserving of an apology.

So when you say, you know, that this fringe faction of the Republican Party is too big to confront, is it just now the main, into the normalized main base of the Republican Party?

BROWNSTEIN: Absolutely. You know, you look at the polling and it's been very clear over the last couple of years, particularly in the Trump era, that the Republicans are drawing their support predominantly from the voters who are the most uneasy about the way the country is changing demographically, culturally, and economically.

There have been multiple polls over the last few years in which a majority of Republican voters have agreed that the American way of life, the traditional American way of life is changing so fast that we may have to use force to save it.

In the Public Religion Research Institute's annual value survey that they came out a few weeks ago, three-quarters of Republicans said they agree that the values of Islam are incompatible with American values. 90 percent say Christianity is under attack. Two-thirds of the three- quarters say discrimination against white is as big a problem as discrimination against minorities. And three-fourths say the growing number of immigrants are threatening traditional American values.

This is the dominant faction inside the GOP. And I still believe the critical question is what does the remaining roughly one quarter of Republicans who don't ascribe to these views, who don't believe the election was stolen, what do they do? Do they continue to give their votes to officials who will empower these kind of voices.

COLLINS: Well, you saw in that video, I think the concern is not just that it is Lauren Boebert making this comment, I don't really think that that would surprising to those reporters who follow her and cover her on Capitol Hill. But you saw people laughing in the video when she made these comments. And so does it normalize it also to a degree -- Islamophobia?

BROWNSTEIN: Yes, absolutely. Look, there's an audience for this in the Republican Party and in the country as Trump demonstrated. I mean you know, Trump drew a line in the electorate, I think very clearly it was already heading in this direction but he sharpened it as I said between those who are comfortable with the way the country is changing and those who fear or oppose the way the country is changing and growing more culturally and demographically diverse.

And each time Republican leaders fail to discipline or really express anything more than the mildest sort of tut-tutting over these kinds of remarks, they allow that beachhead in the party to grow stronger.

And you know, it is now in a position I think where they simply do not believe, where they believe that the faction in the party that accepts and welcomes and as you say laughs at and celebrates this kind of rhetoric is simply too big to confront, which really makes the critical question what do the Republican voters who don't share these views, who don't think that the election was stolen, are they willing to keep giving their votes to those officials. In Virginia, the answer was yes, by and large. So Republicans at the

moment feel like they're getting -- maybe feel as though they're getting the best of both worlds. But it is still an open question, particularly when you get to the larger issue of 2024.

COLLINS: Yes. And Boebert has apologized, but I don't think that that is going to stop Kevin McCarthy from getting a lot of questions about this and how he plans to navigate this, of course, as potentially Republicans regain control of the House next year and he may be House Speaker McCarthy.

Ron Brownstein -- thank you so much for joining us. Yes.

BROWNSTEIN: Kaitlan, happy holidays. Thank you.

COLLINS: Thank you so much.

Broadway is mourning one of its own today.

Stephen Sondheim passed away. Broadway stars are remembering the musical legend. We have more on that next.

[11:43:59]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Tributes to renowned composer Stephen Sondheim are pouring in after news of his death on Friday, ranging from the artists he inspired to the fans.

Sondheim mentored Lin Manuel-Miranda before his musical "Hamilton" became a household name. Miranda shared an email that he received from Sondheim last week, saying that he wrote to him to say his ears must be burning from the countless Sondheim kindnesses being shared from the generations of writers that he had mentored.

Sondheim responded with "It is an aspect of my life I am proud of. I feel as if I repaid partially, at least, what I owe Oscar." Quite a tribute to his mentor and friend.

And CNN's Stephanie Elam looks back on his huge amazing body of work.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Stephen Sondheim was one of musical theater's most prolific and successful writers, winning eight Tony awards, eight Grammy awards, an Academy award, a Pulitzer prize for drama, and in 2015, the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Sondheim was born on March 22nd, 1930 in New York City. His parents divorced in 1942 and he moved to Pennsylvania with his mother. In Pennsylvania, he became friends with James Hammerstein, the son of lyricist Oscar Hammerstein.

Throughout his teen years, his relationship with his mother deteriorated, and eventually the two became estranged. [11:49:56]

ELAM: But Oscar Hammerstein was a constant figure, encouraging Sondheim's musical talents throughout high school and college.

STEPHEN SONDHEIM, COMPOSER: If it hadn't been for the Hammersteins, I really don't know where I would be, if I would even be alive.

ELAM: Sondheim's big break came when he wrote the lyrics for the Broadway show "West Side Story" in 1957. Then in 1962 he expanded his repertoire and for the first time he wrote the lyrics and composed the music for "A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum".

In 1970 Sondheim began a collaboration with theater producer Hal Prince that lasted more than a decade. Their 1973 play "A Little Night Music" was composed mostly in waltz time and became one of their biggest commercial success. It featured the hit "Send In The Clowns", one of Sondheim's best known songs.

In 1979 Sondheim wrote what was probably Broadway's first musical thriller "Sweeney Todd", the story of an English barber and serial killer.

SONDHEIM: What's great about the theater is it's a living organism. Where as movies and television are as if an ember, it's not dead, but they're only alive in one shape, form and tone. Every time you see a movie, they're giving the same performance as they did the last time you saw them. Not true of a show.

ELAM: Inspiration was everywhere for Sondheim. And in 1984 moved by a famous painting by George (INAUDIBLE) he penned the lyrics for "Sunday In The Park With George".

For that inventive stage craft, he won the Pulitzer Prize for drama. In 1987 he wrote the Broadway hit "Into The Woods" based on the fables of the Brothers Grimm.

Late in Sondheim's career Lin-Manuel Miranda approached him with something he was working on, a musical then called "The Hamilton Mixed Tape" Sondheim mentored Miranda just as Hammerstein had done for him.

From waltzes to rap, inspired by everything from serial killers to fairytales, Sondheim's impact on American musical theater spanned decades and created some of the world's most popular musicals.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[11:52:45]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Atomo Coffee, a start-up based in Seattle is looking to make a greener coffee by taking the coffee bean out of the equation. But, of course, the big question we all ask about that is, is it good enough to stand the taste test?

CNN's Rachel Crane has more on this week's "Mission Ahead".

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANDY KLEITSCH, CEO ATOMO COFFEE: About two years ago I was looking for something to do that was better for the planet. And that's when I stumbled across my co-founder Jerry Stopworth (ph) who said that he wanted to make coffee without the bean.

RACHEL CRANE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Andy Kleitsch is the co- founder and CEO of Atomo Coffee, a start-up based in Seattle, Washington that is looking to make coffee without the coffee bean.

They company starts off with up cycled date pits, sourced from California date farms.

KLEITSCH: So what we've done here is created a process where we take these pits. We react them and we actually kind of load them with new compounds and take them through a roasting process. And when they come out of that process, they actually look and smell like coffee.

CRANE: Atomo says this process requires 94 percent less water and emits 93 percent less carbon emissions thana conventional (INAUDIBLE) coffee.

And since the date pits would otherwise be discarded, there's no deforestation involved. Alternative coffee like acorn and mushroom coffee are not a new concept. But Atomo wants consumers to view its molecular brew as real coffee not an alternative.

It's a bold claim to make so we called up a professional barista to put this beanless coffee to the test.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let's start with a classic.

CRANE: Tom is the coffee director for Black Box Coffee and is also a certified Q grader which is an industry certification to say well, Tom is really good at grading and scoring coffee.

TOM: Actually not as bad as I thought it would be. It tastes like cold-brewed coffee, just a bad cold-brewed coffee perhaps.

KLEITSCH: When we first launched, we thought that the real coffee connoisseurs would hate us, honestly. And it's actually been the opposite.

It turns out that people that love coffee are also -- they also love the environment and they want to make better choices.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[11:59:59]

COLLINS: Hello and thanks for joining me. I'm Kaitlan Collins in Washington in this weekend for Fredricka Whitfield.

We have breaking news today as we are expecting British Prime Minister Boris Johnson to speak any moment --