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Parents Of School Shooter Suspect In Michigan Charged With Involuntary Manslaughter After Evidence Their Son Intended Shooting; COVID-19 Cases Rising in U.S. Amid Fears of Spread of New Omicron Variant; Democrat Stacey Abrams Announces Candidacy For Georgia Governor; Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) Gives Interview Discussing Possible Senate Social Spending Legislation; Countries Around World Brace For Possible Spread Of Omicron Variant. Aired 2-3p ET

Aired December 04, 2021 - 14:00   ET

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

[14:00:00]

ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: A winter weather alert stretches all the way from Washington state over towards the U.P. of Michigan. A lot of this heavy snow begins tonight and then the focus takes over once we get into Sunday. So again, a lot of these areas could be looking at several inches. Some spots, Fred, could pick up more than a foot of snow.

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN HOST: So unbelievable. Hawaii getting more snow than the lower 48, that is just some crazy stuff. All right, Allison Chinchar, thank you so much.

Hello, again, everyone. Thank you so much for joining me this Saturday. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.

Let's begin with this breaking news. The parents of the accused Michigan school shooter appearing in court for the first time after being arrested late last night after a statewide manhunt. James and Jennifer Crumbley were arraigned in court today and you can see them right there in the top left corner of the screen. They are now facing four charges each of involuntary manslaughter.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you understand that you're charged with count four for the death of Justin Shilling with involuntary manslaughter, which is punishable by up to 15 years in prison, and/or up to $7,500 fine along with mandatory DNA testing?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I understand.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: They each pleaded not guilty to all the charges against them. CNN was there as the couple was taken into custody following an hours-long manhunt that ended when police got a tip and tracked them down in a Detroit warehouse.

Their 15-year-old son Ethan was arrested Tuesday and faces multiple charges, including four first-degree murder counts. Four students were killed in the Oxford High School shooting and seven others were injured. CNN's Athena Jones is in Pontiac, Michigan, outside the Oakland County Sheriff's Office. Athena, bring us up to date.

ATHENA JONES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Fred. As you mentioned, James and Jennifer Crumbley were found overnight and were arraigned this morning on those four counts of involuntary manslaughter. Why were these charges brought?

The prosecutor says that Ethan Crumbley's parents had some responsibility for the fact that they allowed their son to have this gun. This 15-year-old was not legally allowed to have this gun. And so listen to some of the warnings that she says that the Crumbleys ignored. This is the most important one, and that is from the morning of the shooting. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAREN MCDONALD, OAKLAND COUNTY, MICHIGAN, PROSECUTOR: On November 30th, 21, the morning of the shooting, the next day, Ethan Crumbley's teacher came upon a note on Ethan's desk which alarmed her to the point that she took a picture of it on her cell phone. The note contained the following -- a drawing of a semiautomatic handgun pointing at the words, quote, "the thoughts won't stop, help me," end quote.

In another section of the note was a drawing of a bullet with the following words above that bullet, quote, "blood everywhere," end quote. Between the drawing of the gun and the bullet is a drawing of a person who appears to have been shot twice and bleeding. Below that figure is a drawing of a laughing emoji. Further down the drawing are the words, quote, "my life is useless," end quote, and to the right of that are the words, quote, "the world is dead," end quote.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JONES: And so you heard the prosecutor describing a drawing depicting a violent act, and she points out that Crumbley's parents knew they had purchased a gun the Friday before the shooting. We've already seen there's evidence on social media of Ethan Crumbley himself bragging about his new baby, calling the gun his new baby.

His mother posting on social media about taking her son to a shooting range. And so not only did they see this drawing that day, the day before they were alerted by a teacher who saw Ethan Crumbley searching for ammunition on his phone. Neither parent responded to that.

So add all that up, plus other details that we're not spelling out right now, and the prosecutor says that these parents were criminally negligent in this case. She said by no means would all parents be charged in a high school shooting case.

We know this is a very, very rare occasion to see charges like this brought, but in this case prosecutor Karen McDonald saying the details are so egregious that it's necessary to hold these parents accountable for the deaths of these four teenagers, who she says if they had acted, they could have prevented these deaths.

So a lot going on here, Fred, but we know that these two parents are now being held in the same jail where their son, Ethan Crumbley, is being held, and they're facing very, very serious charges. Fred?

WHITFIELD: Wow, sad situation. Athena Jones, thank you so much.

Let's talk more about all of this with CNN legal analyst Areva Martin. Areva, this is just heartbreaking on just so many levels, and so absolutely unnecessary. The families of these four kids who were killed, seven others injured, this is devastating for so many.

[14:05:00]

So how do we get to this point? We're talking about this fugitive apprehension team was deployed to try to bring the parents of this alleged gunman, this child, into custody. And the judge today set bail at $500,000, even though they seem to have been on the run for a few days. So does that even seem right under these circumstances? Bail, no bail, or is it an issue of how much?

AREVA MARTIN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: I think the judge did the right thing today, Fred. You're right, though. Having those parents spend all day yesterday eluding place was retraumatizing for that entire community, and particularly for the four families whose kids lost their lives as a result of this horrific shooting.

We heard all these contradictory statements yesterday from the attorneys representing the parents, that they were on their way, that they were planning to turn themselves in. But yet they were found. They didn't turn themselves in, they didn't go to a police station, they didn't go to a courtroom.

They were found hiding in a building after they had taken out $4,000 from their bank account. And they were 40 miles away from the court where that arraignment was supposed to take place yesterday afternoon. So clearly it doesn't appear to be the conduct of two individuals who were trying to participate and make themselves available to the police.

So I think the decision was right to set the bond at the $500,000 for each. These are serious charges, carrying up to 15 years in prison if they are convicted. But, again, just so retraumatizing for this community.

WHITFIELD: Perhaps you heard the argument being made by the defense attorneys at that arraignment about what this couple's intentions really were. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHANNON SMITH, DEFENSE ATTORNEY FOR JENNIFER CRUMBLEY: I had no idea there was a 4:00 arraignment. Ms. Layman (ph) didn't know either. The media had so many reports of random times that, quite frankly, we didn't believe --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Counsel, we're not going to get into --

SMITH: I just want to apologize to the court, because we weren't aware.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: That just seemed like a very strange technique there at this moment. What was going on there? Eventually she apologized to the court. But did it start out that way? How could this have been helpful for the couple?

MARTIN: It wasn't helpful at all, and I hope these lawyers weren't in some way suggesting to their clients yesterday that they set the parameters in terms of how they turn themselves and the timing. This notion that, somehow, they were trying to turn themselves in. The reality is just turn yourself in. It's not that difficult.

There are police stations, there are sheriff stations throughout that community where they could have presented themselves, but they didn't. And now to learn that they took money out of a bank, that they were 40 miles away, that they were hiding in a building doesn't look like they were trying to turn themselves in at all.

So I'm not sure what the lawyers were arguing. They didn't make themselves look good. They didn't make their clients look good. And they caused the judge to take the kind of serious action that this judge took and determine that these individuals are a flight risk. If you evade police, if you don't show up at your arraignment time after there's been an agreement between your lawyer and the prosecutors, you are that. You are a flight risk.

So I hope that this -- now that they're in custody, we can move forward in terms of justice for these families and stay focused on what happened at that school, which is this horrific tragedy that has taken the lives of four students.

WHITFIELD: So the couple is now facing four counts each of involuntary manslaughter. How extraordinary are these charges in a case like this where prosecutors are saying there's a direct correlation between the parents' actions and the teen, the alleged shooter's actions?

MARTIN: It is extraordinary, Fred. We haven't seen parents charged in these school shooting cases. There are only about four reported cases where we've seen parents who have been charged criminally for having guns accessible to their kids and then those kids using guns to shoot someone else. But I think this was the case, if there was ever going to be a case, it was this case.

The evidence is so compelling. We have the posts from the mom says that this is the Christmas present for our son. We have the father buying the gun a week earlier for a kid who is legally not even old enough to be in possession of a gun. We have the mother saying to the son don't get caught when trying to search for ammunition.

And we have this cry of help from this teenage boy, obviously in crisis, and the parents not doing anything. The parents sitting in the office with the school administrators and not telling the school administrators that they had a gun, that they had just purchased a gun and their son may have access. Not checking the backpack themselves.

I cannot imagine a parent being in that meeting and saying, look, we bought a gun last week. Let's have our son open that backpack, let's check his pants pockets, let's search him to make sure that gun is not on this school campus. So there was enough evidence there to support these charges of involuntary manslaughter, and I applaud this prosecutor to have courage to move forward with the charges.

WHITFIELD: Terribly tragic. Areva Martin, really appreciate your point of view. Thank you so much.

[14:10:00]

MARTIN: Thanks, Fred.

WHITFIELD: Still ahead, Democrat Stacey Abrams announcing that she is running for governor of Georgia, just one of several high-profile 2022 races in the peach state.

And later, as the number of countries reports cases of a new COVID variant Omicron climbs, concerns are also growing over the issue of vaccine inequity.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: In 2020, Georgia became a crucial swing state, delivering Democrats two new senators and helping to secure Joe Biden's presidency. And as both sides gear up to 2022, Georgia will likely be a political epicenter yet again. This week Democrat Stacey Abrams announced she is running for governor again. Abrams narrowly lost to Republican Brian Kemp in 2018 and will again attempt to become the nation's first African American female governor.

[14:15:00]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STACEY ABRAMS, FOUNDER AND CHAIR, FAIR FIGHT ACTION: I'm looking forward to campaigning with the president, with our senators, proof that we have the opportunity in Georgia to elect strong Democrats up and down the ticket.

In 2020 and 2021 we showed America what Georgia is capable of, and we know that together we are seeing real action happening at the federal level, coming to Georgia. But the problem is, at the state level, we are still number 50 in terms of health care coverage. We live in a state that has a high COVID rate, but we do not have the leadership in the governor's office to actually address the challenges that we face, and that's why I'm running.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Abrams' entry in the race just is one of several high pro- file races in the state. Incumbent Democratic Senator Raphael Warnock is running for his seat, too, a crucial part of the Democrats efforts to hold their Senate majority.

Let's talk more about all of this, the landscape in Georgia. Let's bring in Lisa Rayam. She is NPR's "Morning Edition" host at Atlanta's WABE radio station. Lisa, so good to see you. I listen to you every morning as I'm getting my kids off to school.

LISA RAYAM, HOST, NPR'S MORNING EDITION, ATLANTA: Thank you so much.

WHITFIELD: Glad to see you. So in your view, how significant is Abrams' announcement that she is running for governor again?

RAYAM: How significant? I'll tell you, everybody has been on pins and needles these past few months waiting for this announcement. And the Democratic Party especially, because what is the plan b if she doesn't announce? Well, December 1st she made it clear. And what did that announcement do? Once again, it launched Georgia into the national spotlight.

When she launched her campaign, she once again tapped into -- she was talking about health care, but she tapped into that base of voters that will pay attention because Stacey Abrams says pay attention, particularly when it comes to fair voting rights, which, again, are a major, major concern among a lot of the candidates, specifically Stacey Abrams.

And she intends to cross the state again, talking about health care, talking about COVID, all of those important issues. But she also plans to let every voter know across party lines that their vote counts in wake of the new voting restrictions law here in Georgia. So her announcement was very significant on many levels.

WHITFIELD: She worked really hard, and she has been a huge advocate of voter equity and access, whether she was running for governor before or during this last presidential race, and here we go again.

So let's reflect on what happened in 2018. Abrams came very close to beating Brian Kemp, losing by just 1.5 percent of the vote. But this time it's not even guaranteed that it will be a rematch, as the incumbent, Kemp, may face a competitive primary race himself. He angered former President Trump when he wouldn't overturn his loss in this state of Georgia, and then Trump is trying to get former U.S. senator David Perdue how to challenge Kemp.

So this is Trump in Georgia. Take a listen to this. This was September. And then let's talk.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: Stacey Abrams, who still has not conceded, and that's OK. Stacey, would you like to take his place? It's OK with me?

Are you going to run for governor, David Perdue? Are you going to run for governor? Where is David Perdue? Stand up, David. David Perdue.

(APPLAUSE) (END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: So if Trump decides to campaign against Kemp in favor of Perdue, or anyone other than Kemp, what kind of problem might this create, or perhaps it's going to be in the win category for the Republican running in Georgia?

RAYAM: There's a lot to hash out here. And former President Trump has not stopped campaigning. He has had it in for Governor Kemp ever since he did not buy into his fraudulent, the election was stolen from me. Governor Kemp, as you said, who won over Abrams by a mere, I think, 55,000 votes, pundits are saying that if it were the two of them in the race today, it would certainly be a toss-up because of that.

Then, as we just heard, there's a possibility of former Senator David Perdue entering the race, competing for the GOP nomination, with the backing of President Trump. Have we heard anything from David Perdue lately? Not really, but there have been discussions, and a lot of behind-the-scenes activity. So this is truly a possibility.

Then you have Democrat-turned Republican, former Georgia legislator Vernon Jones in the race that could make the waters murky for Perdue and Kemp. He could possibly force that into a runoff. So there are a lot of factors being talked about and considered now that Stacey Abrams has announced.

WHITFIELD: Right, and it's early now, but there is, like you said, there's so much to hash out. I know we're going to be talking about it again. So Lisa Rayam, good to see you for now. See you soon.

[14:20:00]

RAYAM: Thank you so much for having me, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: Appreciate it.

Still to come, more countries reporting the new Omicron variant. And as the COVID fight continues, strict restrictions return where a vaccine mandate could be on the way for early next year.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: President Biden needs her vote to get his sweeping social safety net bill passed, but Arizona Democratic Senator Kyrsten Sinema remains a holdout. In a rare sit-down interview with CNN, we get some insight on where Sinema stands on the Biden agenda and where she still won't commit to it.

[14:25:03]

Here's CNN congressional correspondent, Lauren Fox.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

LAUREN FOX, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: With President Joe Biden's social safety net bill in jeopardy, Democratic Senator Kyrsten Sinema won't commit to vote for the nearly $2 trillion bill.

Schumer has said he wants to vote on Build Back Better, that broader social safety net bill, before Christmas break. Are you prepared to vote yes when that comes to the floor?

SEN. KYRSTEN SINEMA (D-AZ): I personally believe that the best way to create legislation is to be thoughtful and careful so that we're crafting legislation that truly represents the interests that we want to achieve, and that creates a benefit and helps people all across Arizona and the country. So that's what I'm working on right now.

FOX: It doesn't sound like you're quite a yes yet on the version that passed the House of Representatives. What changes do you want to make?

SINEMA: Folks know I don't negotiate in the press. I'm not going to do that with you. And the reason is pretty simple. I think that we've seen from the work that I did on the bipartisan infrastructure bill, which is now law, that when you negotiate directly in good faith with your colleagues and don't negotiate publicly, you are actually much more likely to find that agreement.

FOX: Sinema's hedging comes as Senator Joe Manchin also tells his Democratic colleagues he's skeptical the bill will pass by the end of the year. Manchin does not want paid family leave included in the bill, something Sinema indicates she supports.

SINEMA: I have long said that I support paid family leave because it allows both moms and dads throughout Arizona and the country to have the opportunity to take care of a new baby or to take care of a loved one who is sick, and not lose their jobs.

FOX: The Arizona senator shares Manchin's concerns about inflation.

SINEMA: When I'm home in Arizona, I hear, number one, about the price of gas, and number two, about the price of food. People are very concerned about the amount they're spending just to survive every day. And inflation is real. So I want to make sure that if we are crafting legislation, we're doing it in a lean and efficient way that's fiscally responsible and doesn't impact things like inflation or make our businesses less competitive.

FOX: Sinema, who negotiated with Biden and Republicans extensively to pass the bipartisan infrastructure bill, suggests Democratic leaders aren't being realistic as to what's achievable.

Why do you think it is that your leadership sometimes overpromises? Do you think that's a problem for voters and for the Democratic Party?

SINEMA: I would never promise something to the American people that I can't deliver. But I also believe that when elected leaders, on either side of the political aisle, promise things that cannot be delivered, it actually exacerbates the political problems we face in our country. And people become more angry or even apathetic and want to turn away from the political process.

FOX: Sinema has been a wildcard in an evenly split Senate that has no room for any Democrats to break from the party line. That leverage has left many senators on her side of the aisle questioning her negotiating style.

Some of your colleagues, some of them progressives, think that you're kind of an enigma, that they're not sure where you stand on any one issue while you're in the middle of a negotiation. Do you think that that's a fair criticism of you?

SINEMA: I think I'm very direct. And I'm very up front when I talk to folks about what I believe in, what I can support and what I can't support. So I think there are some people who just don't like what they're hearing, and maybe they use other terms to describe it. But folks in Arizona know that I've always been a straight shooter and always will be.

FOX: When you first got into politics, you were more progressive. What changed?

SINEMA: Well, one of the things that changed was I learned a lot. I was serving over the years in the state legislature and now in the United States Congress, and I had an opportunity to learn from so many people across my district, and then later, now the whole state of Arizona.

Reporter: In October, Sinema was teaching a class at Arizona State University when she was confronted by a group of immigration activists in a public restroom about her criticisms of the Build Back Better plan.

SINEMA: When individuals choose to engage in illegal activity, and most importantly in this instance violate the privacy rights of the students that I'm working with at Arizona State University, that's not appropriate. My students are working hard to earn their degrees so they can serve their community in Arizona. They did not sign up to be harassed in a restroom or have their privacy violated on the Internet. And that's what I think is inappropriate. So I voiced that concern, and appropriate authorities are taking action.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

WHITFIELD: Lauren Fox, thanks so much for that reporting.

Coming up, two months from today, the winter Olympics kicks off in Beijing. How geopolitical issues and COVID could steal the spotlight.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:34:36]

WHITFIELD: American health officials are rushing to study what could be a significant emerging threat, the COVID variant Omicron. Much the same is happening on every other continent as the world is once again reminded how global this pandemic is. Our international correspondents have the view from Paris, Hong Kong, and Beijing.

CYRIL VANIER, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I'm Cyril Vanier in Paris. European countries are battling COVID on two front -- the delta and Omicron variants, trying to slow down the spread of Omicron, new cases are confirmed daily.

[14:35:08]

The European CDC warning that it could account for more than half of the infections in Europe within a few months. Simultaneously, Europe is trying to contain the current surge of Delta-driven cases. Germany is taking aggressive new steps, banning the vaccinated from all but essential businesses, and the vaccine mandate there could also be on the way for early next year. France is betting on boosters, while Austria, Slovakia, and the Netherlands are still in partial lockdowns.

IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I'm Ivan Watson in Hong Kong. Authorities in the Australian state of New South Wales have ordered an urgent investigation into a cluster of confirmed COVID-19 infections centering on a school in the city of Sydney. Thirteen infections there confirmed, but what's got the authorities particularly concerned is that three of those cases are of the new Omicron variant.

And the authorities say that they're nervous because that cluster is not tied to any international travel. Most of the new cases of Omicron that are popping up in one country after another are linked to international travel, linked to travel from the African continent. That suggests that this new cluster in Australia is local transmission. So authorities there are taking it very seriously.

DAVID CULVER, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I'm David Culver in Beijing, where we are about two months from the start of the Winter Olympic Games, and officials here are hoping strict COVID defenses will keep Omicron away. China already has some of the world's toughest containment measures in place.

As for those taking part in the Winter Games, they're going to be completely sealed off from the rest of us in China. They're going to be kept to COVID-controlled zones. On top of the health concerns, you've got growing calls for Olympic boycotts as Beijing continues to deny widespread allegations of human rights abuses.

They're also struggling with the fallout in a #MeToo case involving star tennis player Peng Shuai. But much like 2008, China is expected to put on a spectacular show. The question is, will folks watching from the outside be wowed or see it all as a fancy facade?

WHITFIELD: Thanks to all of our correspondents.

With me now, Michael Sheldrick, chief of policy at Global Citizen. Michael, so good to see you. So here you work for an organization that promotes vaccine equity. How does the Omicron variant underline why it's so important?

MICHAEL SHELDRICK, CHIEF OF POLICY, GLOBAL CITIZEN: Thanks for having me today. And we've been saying for the greater part of two years with experts around the world, that unless the world comes up with a plan to fully vaccinate the entire world, all countries, we're going to continue to see the pandemic roar, and we're going to see variants rise up and mutate in different parts of the word. This was foreseen. It was predictable.

And yet what have we seen? We saw governments of the wealthiest countries and the pharmaceutical companies hold the vaccines and the vaccines know-how, we've ended up in a situation of vaccine nationalism. I've got colleagues in South Africa who are now calling it vaccine apartheid. And it's easy to see why.

Only seven percent of the entire continent of Africa is vaccinated. And I heard from a public citizen the other day that here in America more booster shots have been administered than the entire number of first doses across all of southern Africa. So it's time for the world to wake up. We need to plan to vaccinate everyone.

WHITFIELD: And now here you are hearing from one of those wealthy nations. This week, the White House, the Biden administration saying it's shipping 11 million vaccine doses abroad with 9 million going to Africa and another 2 million to other countries around the world.

The Friday shipment brings the total number of U.S.-provided doses sent to Africa to 100 million. Is that enough in your view? Certainly, there are lots of complaints that it should have come much sooner, but then how about now? What kind of response -- how do you calculate what kind of response this is?

SHELDRICK: So the Biden administration, to its credit, America has donated more doses than any other nation in the world by far. But unfortunately, when you look at across to our allies around the world, the G7 taken as a collective, we've only delivered two-thirds of the doses that was promised by the end of this year. That is not good enough.

We can and we should be doing so much more. Air Affinity, the research analysis group, estimates by march there could be as many as 18 billion doses that could have been produced since the start of the pandemic. That is enough to vaccinate 70 percent of the world's population, and even with booster shots, if they were distributed equitably and fairly.

[14:40:01]

So, yes, the Biden administration has been lifting its game, it's been delivering on what it said it set out to do on dose sharing. But we need the rest of the world to step up, and we need to be doing so much more to vaccinate the entire planet.

WHITFIELD: Because so many scientists say so much about the science of COVID changes all the time, and if it is the case that vaccines have to be updated, particularly to combat this Omicron variant, how do you see this might impact the efforts for equitably sharing doses?

SHELDRICK: So, again, the rise of variants is nothing new, and it looks like COVID is going to be with us for a long time. And this is why developing countries around the world, as well as India and South Africa, have long been saying we need to increase our ability to produce vaccines, share with us the technology and the know-how. And at the moment we've got a situation where the ability to produce vaccines is consolidated in the hands of a few.

And the Biden administration can supercharge efforts around the world to ensure countries and regions can produce vaccines for themselves. And one of the proposals is a waiver on intellectual property rights. And the Biden administration earlier this year signaled its support. It can do so much more. It can put a tangible, concrete proposal on the table, supercharge those negotiations, and invest in countries' abilities to produce the vaccines themselves.

And the pharmaceutical companies, they too can do so much more to cooperate and share their technology. We've got scientists in South Africa at the moment reverse-engineering how to figure out the MRNA vaccine for themselves. They shouldn't be doing that. They should be supported. There's enough need on the planet right now to put people before profits.

WHITFIELD: The World Health Organization had targeted a vaccination rate of 40 percent in every country by the end of the year. Clearly that's not going to happen. But in your view, what would be a realistic timeline?

SHELDRICK: So President Biden earlier this year, he outlined a target to have 70 percent of the world's population vaccinated by September. In our view, as I said, potentially that could be met even further. There could be enough doses in the world by March to achieve that target if they were equitably distributed.

But ultimately what needs to happen is three things. We need countries to deliver on the promises that they've already promised to provide on the doses. Only two-thirds of G7 have provided so far the doses that they promised to do. And we've got the fact that we need countries delivering these vaccines, they need to be supported, too. It's not just enough to dump the doses. We need to make sure countries are equipped to make sure they get those doses into arms.

And finally, we need to make sure countries have the ability to produce vaccines themselves. We need to scale up manufacturing. We need the pharmaceutical companies to play a much more cooperative role. Ultimately when we say no one is safe until everyone is safe, it's not just a complain slogan. It's the reality. And we're only going to put an end to the pandemic and these variants once we achieve the plan to vaccinate everyone.

WHITFIELD: You help underscore still lots of work to do. Michael Sheldrick, thank you so much. Appreciate it.

SHELDRICK: Thanks for having me.

WHITFIELD: After the break, ongoing drama surrounding the January 6th investigation shows just how fragile our democracy really is. So where do we go from here? I'll speak with a Yale history professor next.

But first, a woman in Reno, Nevada, who survived aggressive breast cancer found her confidence after competing on stage in a fitness contest. And now she's helping other women in today's "The Human Factor."

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

HEATHER REIMER, BREAST CANCER 2 BIKINI: I was diagnosed with triple negative breast cancer, so treatment took me to my lowest place, and I was in a deep, deep depression. And about six months later I realized I needed to do something. My goal was to do something really difficult, really challenging, to mentally and physically regain my life back.

And it just came into my head that I was going to train for a fitness competition in the bikini division. A 41-year-old woman who had had two children, has no breasts, had been through cancer, was bald, it seems like getting on stage in a bikini was going to be maybe the hardest thing I had ever done outside of cancer treatment.

Workouts were grueling, but it shifted something inside me. I started a nonprofit organization. I created two separate things, but they come together really nicely, so Each One, Tell One provides awareness related to dense breast tissue, and Breast Cancer 2 Bikini provides a healing place for women in survivorship. They mostly are doing weightlifting, but they'll also do cardio.

[14:45:03]

So we just completed year six. We have had almost 100 women cross the stage in a teeny, tiny bikini. I've never had one woman gone through the program that hasn't said it's changed their life.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Now to new developments in the House Select Committee investigation into the January 6th insurrection. The committee has postponed today's scheduled deposition of Jeffrey Clark, a senior Justice Department official under former President Donald Trump.

[14:50:03]

Clark, who played a role in Donald Trump's efforts to overturn the 2020 election, says he has a medical condition that prevents him from complying today. So this comes just one day after conservative lawyer John Eastman informed the committee that he plans to defy a subpoena from the panel. The ongoing drama surrounding the House investigation is just the latest example highlighting the threats to democracy in America.

Joining me right now for context, Timothy Snyder, a professor of history at Yale University. He's also the author of the book, "On Tyranny." Professor Snyder, so good to see you. So the January 6th committee is acting on multiple fronts to try to get to the bottom of what happened in the leadup to the insurrection, but former Trump officials are throwing roadblocks at them at every opportunity. So how does this undermine the process that could ultimately affect our democracy? TIMOTHY SNYDER, PROFESSOR OF HISTORY, YALE UNIVERSITY: That's a

wonderful question because it gets to the heart of the matter. Democracy is based upon facts. We need facts to cooperate together as citizens, we need facts to be able to evaluate our candidates, we need facts to be able to think about laws.

And if there is an attack on our democracy, if there's a moment where our entire system is put at threat, what could we possibly need the facts about more than that?

So this is a moment where the basis of how we go forward as a democracy is at stake. And of course, facts also require a little bit of courage. If we're going to be in a democracy, people have to be reflective. They have to be able to say, well, perhaps I made a mistake, or perhaps the people I voted for made a mistake. We're not seeing that right now.

WHITFIELD: Wow. So January 6th, obviously, an attack on democracy. This defiance, is this an attack on democracy?

SNYDER: Of course. No, this is the authoritarian spirit on full display. Democracy thrives on lots of unpredictable facts. It thrives on argument and evidence and investigation. Authoritarianism thrives on hedging, on stories, on blocking things, and it thrives on lies. So yes, it is as simple as you say. The attempt to block this investigation is a shift towards an authoritarian regime in the United States.

WHITFIELD: So this attack on democracy overall, as you describe there, it's not just the United States. Just this morning, Pope Francis warned in a speech the world is witnessing a retreat from democracy, and he is speaking in global terms. He criticized the rise of authoritarianism and populism in some countries around the world. So just how serious is this retreat? And do you see it globally picking up steam?

SNYDER: Yes. There are three very important things to see here. Number one, the fact that the Pope is making this statement reminds us that democracy is about values. It's not something that's given to us. It's something that we have to seize, we have to care about, and we can't imagine it's going to automatically proceed, because it doesn't.

The second very important thing here is that, indeed, this crisis is ongoing internationally and has been for a long time. Democracy has been in retreat around the world for at least the last 15 years. But the third thing, that's most important perhaps, is that we're all in this together. Democracy in Slovakia or Belarus or Russia or anywhere around the world, is connected to the democracy in the United States. If it goes up in one place, it goes up in others. If it goes down in one place, goes down in others.

WHITFIELD: Wow. So then the world is at a very critical juncture right now. How will you be measuring where this wave is going, if it's picking up speed and steam, or whether anything is cutting into its intensity? SNYDER: Well, this is an international phenomenon where China and

Russia are the most important international players on one side, and the United States is the most important on the other side. If in the United States, in the next couple of years, we continue to lie about our president and become unable to come to terms with the most important things that have happened, if United States state governments continue to suppress voting, make it harder for people to vote, and flirt with the idea of overturning election results, then what happens in the United States will become a massive negative consequence, not just for us, but around the world.

So the world is not only looking for us for an example in a positive way, the world is also looking for examples in a negative way, I'm afraid. So a lot depends on us.

WHITFIELD: Sobering messaging. Professor Timothy Snyder, really appreciate your knowledge. Appreciate it.

SNYDER: My pleasure.

WHITFIELD: And thank you, everybody, for joining me today. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. The CNN NEWSROOM continues right after this break with Jim Acosta.

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JIM ACOSTA, CNN ANCHOR AND CHIEF DOMESTIC CORRESPONDENT: You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Jim Acosta in Washington.

After an hours-long manhunt, the parents of an alleged teenage gunman are in custody, being held at the same jail as their son following Tuesday's deadly rampage at his Michigan high school. This is CNN exclusive video of James and Jennifer Crumbley being arrested at a commercial building in Detroit overnight. They are now charged with four counts of involuntary manslaughter.