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Meadows Refused to Show Up for Deposition; Pfizer: Protection Against Omicron Improves with 3 Shots; England Imposes New COVID Restrictions to Contain Omicron; Biden to Speak with Ukraine's President Today; Daunte Wright's Mother Delivers Emotional Testimony; Defense Says Potter Made a Mistake During Incident. Aired 4-4:30a ET

Aired December 09, 2021 - 04:00   ET

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

[04:00:00]

KIM BRUNHUBER, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to all of you watching us here in the United States, Canada and all around the world. I'm Kim Brunhuber live at the CNN Center in Atlanta. Just ahead on CNN NEWSROOM.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: His lawyers insisting that he's in an impossible position. He's trying to choose between his privilege rights and being held in contempt.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They feel as though this is just another stall and delay tactic on the part of Mark Meadows.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What he's basically doing is just taking a firecracker, lighting it, tossing it into the January 6 committee room and saying, deal with this.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: It could be a major setback to the January 6 investigation. Former Trump official Mark Meadows is suing lawmakers to block their subpoenas. We'll tell you the committee's response.

The Omicron variant of the coronavirus now in at least 22 states. Health experts are predicting a winter surge and urging Americans to get their booster shot.

And two more countries join the diplomatic boycott of the Beijing Olympics. We're live in Hong Kong with China's reaction.

ANNOUNCER: Live from CNN Center, this is CNN NEWSROOM with Kim Brunhuber.

BRUNHUBER: It's Thursday, December 9th, and we begin with the latest challenge to the January 6 committee's ability to investigate the Capitol insurrection. It's an about face by former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows on testifying. Instead, he's suing the House Speaker and the committee to block enforcement of his subpoena to appear. Donald Trump's former top aide is claiming effective privilege, but he's already turned over thousands of pages of documents and has written about conversations with Trump in his memoir. The committee plans to hold him in criminal contempt. Ryan Nobles has details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RYAN NOBLES, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): The January 6th select committee is done negotiating with former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows.

REP. BENNIE THOMPSON (D-MS): Obviously, we had hoped Mr. Meadows would continue to work with the committee, but, obviously, based on his lawyer's letter today and his plan to not show up for the deposition that creates a different dynamic.

NOBLES (voice-over): Chairman Bennie Thompson now saying the committee has no choice but to move ahead with criminal contempt of Congress against Meadows. This after Meadows was a no show for his deposition. His attorney claiming Meadows can't answer questions because he is bound by Donald Trump and his claims of executive privilege.

MARK MEADOWS, FORMER WHITE HOUSE CHIEF OF STAFF: The president has claimed the executive privilege. I'm going to honor that. I'm not be the first chief of staff to actually waive that. It's not mine to waive.

NOBLES (voice-over): It's a claim that committee members are not buying, especially because Meadows wrote extensively about his private interactions with Trump in his memoir out Tuesday.

REP. ADAM SCHIFF (D-CA): It's very difficult to make the argument that I can write about the events of January 6th. I can I talk about it in my book, things that happened on January 6th and people I talked to, including the president, but I can't testify about those things.

NOBLES (voice-over): The committee is very interesting to learn more from Meadows based on the more than 6,000 documents he did turn over before deciding to no longer cooperate. Among that a text message with a member of Congress in which Meadows response, quote, I love it to a plan for appointing an alternate slate of electors. A text exchange with January 6th rally organizers. Text messages about the need for Trump to issue a public statement to stop the January 6th attack. And an e-mail that included a 38-page PowerPoint briefing entitled, "Election Fraud, Foreign Interference and Options for 6 Jan."

Meadows isn't the only potential witness stonewalling the committee. Trump ally Roger Stone now plans to plead the Fifth, joining several other high-profile targets who have told the committee they do not plan to answer questions, because they could incriminate themselves. The committee also skeptical of this resistance.

SCHIFF: If they're asserting the Fifth merely to cater to the president's whims or cover up for the president, that is not a proper use of the privilege.

NOBLES (voice-over): Still the committee remains confident that they will still get to the bottom of what happened on January 6th and who is to blame, pointing to the more than 275 witness who have talked.

REP. STEPHANIE MURPHY (D-FL): These people are well within their right to not cooperate but it's not as if we're not going to get to the information we need.

NOBLES: And the committee chairman Bennie Thompson telling CNN on Wednesday that the committee does plan to move ahead with the criminal contempt referral against Meadows as soon as next week. This despite the fact that Meadows filed a lawsuit against the committee seeking injunctive relief from the court to prevent him from having to turnover this information that the committee is looking for.

[04:05:02]

The committee flatly rejected that court filing. They said that they plan to fight it to its full extent, and they described it as nothing more as an attempt by Mark Meadows to delay this process. Congressman Adam Schiff responding by saying it certainly strikes me as another fruitless effort to impede the work of the committee.

Ryan Nobles, CNN, on Capitol Hill.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRUNHUBER: And other members of the January 6 select committee are weighing in on the latest action by Mark Meadows and his refusal to testify. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. ZOE LOFGREN (D-CA): He sent this information over obviously. He did not believe it was privileged or he wouldn't have sent it. And so, to refuse to answer questions about it, it's really -- it's not the way things work. You assert privilege on a question-by-question basis and he is just trying to escape telling the truth to the committee.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: Republican lawmaker Liz Cheney who serves as the committee's vice chair reacted to Meadows lawsuit saying, quote, we look forward to litigating that. She went on to saying, quote, the committee has received a number of extremely interesting unprivileged documents from Mr. Meadows. He included text messages and emails from his private cell phone and private email account. He's produced these documents. They are not privileged.

And stay with CNN. We'll have much more on this story throughout the day.

The U.S. Senate has voted to overturn President Joe Biden's vaccine and testing mandate on large businesses. It's a largely symbolic move that's not expected to become law and the measures are already being blocked while litigation moves through the courts.

Meanwhile, infections are on the rise across the U.S. with the leading expert warning cases will, quote, light up even more in the coming weeks. A strain on health systems is get being worse in some parts of the Northeast. New York, Maine and New Hampshire are deploying the National Guard to help support hospitals. The Delta variant is still driving the pandemic while the emerging Omicron variant has now been detected in at least 22 states.

Now this as Pfizer says data shows a third dose of its vaccine dramatically improves protection against the Omicron variant. The company says it's yet another reason to get boosters now.

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MIKAEL DOLSTEN, PFIZER CHIEF SCIENTIFIC OFFICER: If you get your third boost, it rise 25-fold, very dramatic. So, yes, in a way you could say to be protected of Omicron, you really need a three-dose series of vaccination. That's how we should look at it right now.

ALBERT BOURLA, PFIZER CEO: Three doses against Omicron are almost equivalent to the two-dose effectiveness we had against the original variant. We are waiting to see, so you may need to go to get the third booster faster.

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BRUNHUBER: America's top infectious disease expert, Dr. Anthony Fauci, is also stressing the need for boosters. Here he is.

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DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, U.S. NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: I don't think anybody would argue that optimal protection is going to be with a third shot. Whether or not it officially gets changed in the definition, I think that's going to be considered literally on a daily basis. That's always on the table. It's going to be a matter of when, not if.

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BRUNHUBER: British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is putting in place new COVID restrictions in England to curb the spread of the Omicron variant. The so-called plan B comes into force as Omicron looks set to overtake the Delta variant in the U.K. Here's what the new rules look like.

Masks will be required in the most public indoor venues including theaters from Friday. People will have to work from home if possible, starting Monday. And the NHS COVID Pass will be mandatory for nightclubs and large venues starting next week.

Here's more from the Prime Minister.

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BORIS JOHNSON, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: I think we're going to need to have a national conversation about the way forward, and the other things that we can do to protect those who are hard to reach. Who haven't got vaccinated for one reason or another, who may have medical reasons why they can't get vaccinated, other ways of protecting them.

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BRUNHUBER: The new rules come as the Prime Minister faces growing accusations that his own staffers have ignored the restrictions imposed on everyone else. Former Downing Street adviser Allegra Stratton resigned on Wednesday after an internal video from one year ago became public. Now in the video she and other staffers joked about how to respond, if reporters asked about an alleged Christmas party at Number 10 in defiance of the country's lockdown. The UK Health Secretary said many people are understandably upset by the video.

CNN's Scott McLean joins us now from London. Scott, so one resignation so far. The big question now, will there be other political casualties here? So, take us through the latest reaction to this controversy.

SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Kim, Yes, let me just put this in plain English. This is a British Prime Minister calling for an investigation into whether or not a party, a social gathering took place at his own home address.

[04:10:00]

That is the seemingly ridiculous scenario that is playing out in British politics right now.

Why is this so controversial? Well, it's because the date of that alleged party, December 18, 2020, was at a time when indoor gatherings were out lawed in London. And the very next day British Prime Minister announced that all of England would be under the same restrictions banning indoor gatherings effectively cancelling Christmas. On December 18th, well, that was the day that more than 500 people died across the U.K.

We're talking about this now because of the emergence of that video that you mentioned, this mock press conference involving the Boris Johnson's then Press Secretary Allegra Stratton where she seems to joke about the existence of a -- what she calls a business meeting that was not social distanced, that may or may not have had wine and cheese involved in it.

Now she gave a tearful resignation yesterday. British Prime Minister was grilled by his colleagues in the House of Commons. Here's part of how he responded.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHNSON: I understand and share the anger up and down the country at seeing Number 10 staff seeming to make light of lockdown measures. And I can understand how infuriating it must be to think that the people who have been setting the rules have not been following the rules.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MCLEAN: Now the Prime Minister continues to insist that rules were followed and that there was no party, but there will be an investigation and discipline if rules were found to have been broken. Now, there is a tiny sliver of gray area here, Kim, in that you were allowed to go to work if there was no way to work from home. When does work become a social gathering? Probably for most people when there is wine involved.

In fact, a brand-new poll shows that the majority of Brits actually believe that Johnson should resign over this, including one-third of conservative voters. And this is especially damaging at a time when Johnson is trying to convince people to follow brand-new COVID rules, the ones you outline, and also damaging for his personal brand. This is a Prime Minister who sort of styles himself as a common man. How well can that reputation hold up if people believe there's one rule for them and one rule for the Prime Minister and his staff -- Kim.

BRUNHUBER: Yes, the story promises to keep going for a while. Scott McLean outside 10 Downing Street. Thanks so much.

Three U.S. officials tell CNN the Biden administration is drafting options for multiple rounds of harsh sanctions against Russia if it invades Ukraine. But the U.S. will likely hold off on energy sanctions because of the impact they could have on the global economy and gas prices. So, during their call on Tuesday, President Biden warned Russian President Vladimir Putin of the consequence for any military escalation.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I was very straightforward. There was no minced words. It was polite, but I made it very clear. If, in fact, he invades Ukraine, there will be severe consequence. Severe consequence. Economic consequence like none he's ever seen or ever had been seen.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: His comments come as Ukrainian defense officials say the number of Russian troops massed on its border has grown to 120,000 and includes army, air force and navy personnel. U.S. intelligence findings say that number could reach 175,000. The Russian leader is defending their actions.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VLADIMIR PUTIN, RUSSIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): Now we are seeing MK-14 missile defense systems in Poland and Romania. We have every reason to believe that the same will happen if Ukraine is admitted to NATO. Only this time on the Ukrainian territory. How can we not think about this? Looking helplessly at what is happening there would be simply criminal negligence on our part.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: Biden is set to speak with Ukraine's president in the coming hours about the Russian military buildup. CNN's Kaitlan Collins has more now from Washington.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: President Biden is set to call Ukrainian President Zelensky on Thursday. This is going to be their first conversation since President Biden spoke with Russian President Putin for two hours and one minute earlier this week. Of course, the main topic of that conversation, being Ukraine and the recent Russian buildup of their military on the border amid these widespread concerns, not just in the United States, but also all throughout Europe that Russia could invade Ukraine. Even though administration officials have said they do not believe the Russian leader has made that decision yet.

This call is also going to come a day after President Biden said, you know look, Ukraine is not part of NATO. There is no obligation there to go in and defend them if Russia does invade Ukraine. But the president said if that happened, you would likely see an increased U.S. presence in other NATO countries. They've talked about sending aid to Ukraine.

Those are all things that are up for discussion as well as his economic sanctions which President Biden has said would be harsh on Russia if they do make that decision. So, we're going to see President Biden speak to President Zelensky. We'll see what the outcome of that call is.

[04:15:00]

What reassurances he offers. And then he's also going to speak with the nine leaders of those countries that are on the eastern side of NATO. To talk to them about the situation that is ongoing as well.

But really for the White House, it is a wait and see scenario. Waiting to see if Putin does heed those warnings from Biden about invading Ukraine.

Kaitlan Collins, CNN in Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRUNHUBER: The body of the late Senator Bob Dole will lie in state at the U.S. Capitol Rotunda in the next few hours. The plainspoken conservative Republican died Sunday at the age of 98. Dole had announced in February, he was being treated for advanced lung cancer. On Wednesday President Biden paid tribute to his longtime friend while visiting Kansas. The State Dole Represented for more than 35 years.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BIDEN: For those like me who had the honor of calling him a friend, Bob Dole is an American giant, a man of extraordinary courage, both physical and moral courage. A war hero.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: A three-time presidential hopeful, Dole was sometimes considered a sharp tongue, but he also forged compromise. He wrote an op-ed before his death urging Americans to unify. He is survived by his wife and daughter. Stay with CNN as we cover the ceremony in the coming hours.

All right, still to come, calls for a disciplinary action against Republican Congresswoman Lauren Boebert for her anti-Muslim rhetoric targeting a fellow member of Congress.

Plus, an emotional day in court as the trial of the former police officer charged with in the killing of Daunte Wright gets underway. Stay with us.

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[04:20:00]

BRUNHUBER: Americans never thought they'd hear Hillary Clinton's victory speech in November 2016 after she lost the presidential election to Donald Trump. And until now she said she's never shared those words with anyone. So, for the first time in an upcoming episode of Master Class, Clinton read aloud the speech she'd hoped to deliver five years ago. Here's an excerpt.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HILLARY CLINTON, FORMER U.S. DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I've met women who were born before women had the right to vote. They've been waiting 100 years for tonight. I've met little boys and girls who didn't understand why a woman has never been president before. Now they know, and the world knows, that in America every boy and every girl can grow up to be whatever they dream, even president of the United States.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: Former U.S. President Barack Obama is lashing out at Republican efforts to redraw Congressional districts that could tip the 2022 midterm elections in favor of Republican candidates. Here's what he had to say earlier at a virtual fundraiser for the National Democratic Redistricting Committee.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Now their plan is to control state legislatures and congressional delegations before a single vote is cast. That's not how democracy is supposed to work. And our democracy is essential to who we are. It is what makes America exceptional, and it shouldn't be a partisan issue. It did not used to be.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: The U.S. Justice Department is suing Texas over its new legislative maps alleging they discriminate against black voters and fail to take account of the state's growing Latino population.

A progressive Democrat is introducing legislation to strip Colorado Republican Lauren Boebert of her committee assignments. But whether it will get a vote is largely up to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. U.S. Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley says action is needed for Boebert's anti-Muslim comments toward fellow Congresswoman Ilhan Omar.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. AYANNA PRESSLEY (D-MA): It is shameful that we have had to wait this long for meaningful action, for meaningful accountability, but here we are. For a member of Congress to repeatedly and unapologetically use hateful racist and Islamophobic tropes towards a Muslim colleague is dangerous.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: The House is planning to advance Omar's legislation to create a special envoy to combat islamophobia today. It's the first step members are taking since Boebert's comments implying Omar is a terrorist.

Day two in the trial of a former Minnesota police officer who fatally shot Daunte Wright during a traffic stop. That's expected to begin in the coming hours. Emotions were running high as Wright's mother was the first to testify on Wednesday. CNN's Josh Campbell has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOSH CAMPBELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This was a moment Officer Kim Potter says she made a fatal mistake, which cost 20-year- old Daunte Wright his life

KIM POTTER, FORMER MINNESOTA POLICE OFFICER: Holy s***, I just shot him.

CAMPBELL (voice-over): Wright was pulled over by police in Brooklyn Center Minnesota last April for a traffic violation. During that stop officers discovered an outstanding warrant for failure to appear on a gross misdemeanor weapons violation. Wright was being handcuffed when he struggled and jumped back into his car. That's when Officer Potter pulled out her gun.

POTTER: I'll tase you! I'll tase you! Taser, taser, taser. Holy s***, I just shot him! I shot him! Oh my god! Oh my god!

CAMPBELL (voice-over): Daunte Wright was pronounced dead at the scene from a gunshot wound to his chest.

ERIN ELDRIDGE, ASSISTANT MINNESOTA ATTORNEY GENERAL: There's no do over when you take a young man's life.

CAMPBELL (voice-over): Kim Potter is now on trial for first- and second-degree manslaughter. She has pleaded not guilty and said she meant to use her taser which is holstered on her left side but mistakenly withdrew her firearm from her right side. In opening arguments prosecutor showed the jury body camera footage of the shooting and focused on the firearms training Potter received, which they say was extensive. ELDRIDGE: She was trained not to shoot an unarmed driver. She was trained not to fire into a vehicle and she was also trained not to use her taser on a fleeing suspect. We trust them to know wrong from right and left from right.

[04:25:02]

CAMPBELL (voice-over): The defense's his opening statement laid out Potter's history as a 26-year veteran of the Brooklyn Center Police Department and 49-year-old mother of two children. Until Daunte Wrights death, she had never fired her gun or her taser according to the defense.

PAUL ENGH, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: She realizes what has happened much to her everlasting and unending regret.

POTTER: I'll tase you!

CAMPBELL (voice-over): Her attorney said Potter was afraid her partner was in danger. And she pulled the trigger of her weapon thinking it was her taser.

ENGH: Or why else would she say, she made a mistake. This was an accident. She's a human being. But she had to do what you have to do to prevent death to a fellow officer too.

CAMPBELL (voice-over): Daunte Wright's mother was the first witness to take the stand. She was distraught as she told jurors about the day her son was killed.

KATIE BRYANT, DAUNTE WRIGHT'S MOTHER: It the worst day of my life.

CAMPBELL (voice-over): Prosecutors showed body camera footage to the jury of the moment Wright's mother arrived at the scene.

BRYANT: I can't (INAUDIBLE) --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't know -- I don't know anything. (INAUDIBLE).

BRYANT: I am Katie Bryant, his mom. And if now, please -- he's only 20.

CAMPBELL: Now, significant witness testimony on Wednesday, but it was also the video itself that was so compelling, that police body camera footage that the jury saw the moment where Daunte Wright is shot and, in the aftermath, where you see officer Kimberly Potter screaming, I shot him. At one point she goes into the grass clasping her head into her hands saying, I'm going to prison. Of course, that decision will ultimately be left up to this jury.

We're also learning in a statement issued late Wednesday from the governor of Minnesota. He is preparing the state's National Guard to assist local law enforcement if needed -- in his words -- to allow for peaceful demonstrations, keeping the peace and ensuring public safety.

Josh Campbell, CNN.

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BRUNHUBER: It's now up to a jury to decide whether or not actor Jussie Smollett's staged a fake hate crime against himself and then lied about it to police. The second day of deliberations will begin in a few hours. Smollett faces six felony counts punishable by up to three years in prison. The "Empire" star insists it was no hoax and that he really was the victim of an anti-gay and racist attack back in 2019.

French authorities have released a Saudi man they initially suspected of taking part in the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. He was detained at Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris on Tuesday after his name appeared to match a man wanted in the killing. But French prosecutors say further identity checks showed they were holding the wrong man.

A hit squad murdered and dismembered Khashoggi inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in 2018. A U.S. intelligence report concluded that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman had approved the operation. The Saudi government has denied that report.

Well, countries are joining the diplomatic boycott of the Beijing Winter Games. But Chinese officials say it's political manipulation and a violation of the Olympic charter.

Plus, U.S. lawmakers pressed the head of Instagram on the potentially harmful effects of social media on the mental health of young users. We'll bring you their calls for accountability ahead.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. RICHARD BLUMENTHAL (D-CT): I believe that the time for self- policing and self-regulation is over. Self-policing depends on trust. The trust is gone.

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