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Appeals Court Rejects Bid to Keep Trump Documents From Committee; Actor Jussie Smollett Found Guilty of Five Felonies; Biden, Zelensky Discuss Threat of Russian Invasion; Biden Kicks Off Global Meeting on Protecting Democracy; CDC Approves Boosters for 16- and 17- Year-Olds; Cases Up in South Africa as Omicron Spreads. Aired 4-4:30a ET

Aired December 10, 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]

ISA SOARES, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and a very warm welcome to our viewers joining us in the United States and right around the world. I'm Isa Soares in London, and just ahead here on CNN NEWSROOM.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is another blow for Trump's argument about the protection of executive privilege.

EVAN PEREZ, CNN SENIOR JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: One of the things he was doing was impugning the current president and the House without really making any arguments. He had plenty of arguments to make. He just chose not to make them.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The committee now one step closer to getting their hands on what's hundreds of pages of documents.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SOARES: The January 6 committee now a giant step closer to getting the documents former President Trump is fighting to keep a secret.

Plus, actor Jussie Smollett found guilty after claiming an attack on him was the result of a hate crime.

And another group of Americans are eligible to get a booster shot. Ahead, who is rolling up their sleeves.

ANNOUNCER: Live from London, this is CNN NEWSROOM with Isa Soares.

SOARES: Hello, it is Friday, December 10th. And we begin this hour in Washington, D.C. where a U.S. federal appeals court on Thursday rejected former President Donald Trump's request to shield records from the House Select Committee on the January the 6th attack. But it is not the final word. The U.S. Supreme Court is likely to get involved. Here's CNN's senior legal affairs correspondent Paula Reid with the story for you.

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PAULA REID, CNN SENIOR LEGAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT (voice over): A big victory for the House select committee investigating January 6th as a federal appeals court ruled former President Trump cannot stop lawmakers from obtaining his White House records. Committee members welcomed the decision.

REP. ELAINE LURIA (D-VA): All the judicial rulings leading up to this point has substantiated that these documents are necessary, and that President Trump -- he's the former president. He doesn't have a right over executive privilege over these documents.

REID (voice-over): The opinion capped off a big day for the committee. Earlier, a parade of key witnesses arrived on Capitol Hill to answer questions about the insurrection.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did you cooperate today?

REID (voice-over): Including Kash Patel, a former Trump Department of Defense official, and one of the first witnesses subpoenaed by the committee. And Stop the Steal rally organizer Ali Alexander.

ALI ALEXANDER, STOP THE STEAL RALLY ORGANIZER: We've got tons of evidence for them, like I said, thousands of records, hundreds of pages.

REID (voice-over): Chris Krebbs, a former top cybersecurity official in the Trump administration, and John Eastman, the attorney who helped former President Trump contest the 2020 election.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We know there was fraud.

REID (voice-over): All four men were expected to answer questions from lawmakers, though Eastman has said he intends to assert his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination.

As the witnesses arrived on the Hill, Committee Vice Chairwoman Liz Cheney tweeted, the committee is firing on all cylinders and has already spoken with 300 people.

The show of force comes as the committee is hitting roadblocks with other key witnesses. Some Trump loyalists plan to plead the Fifth and former Trump Chief of Staff Mark Meadows sued the committee Wednesday to block enforcement of his subpoena and one for his phone records.

MARK MEADOWS, FORMER WHITE HOUSE CHIEF OF STAFF: They are doing a fishing expedition.

REID (voice-over): The suit filed after the committee signaled, they would pursue a criminal contempt referral against Meadows because of his refusal to sit for a deposition.

REP. ADAM SCHIFF (D-CA): It's a very superficial filing meant to try to obstruct and stall, but it won't be successful. We intend to move forward and hold him in criminal contempt. REID (voice-over): An abrupt reversal for Meadows, who had been cooperating, turning over thousands of documents. CNN has learned those included personal text messages and emails with a wide range of individuals while the attack was underway.

A source with knowledge of the communications tells CNN the messages related to what Donald Trump was doing and not doing during the riot, offering a window into what people were texting to Meadows on January 6th, and what he was saying about Trump in real-time. And the committee noting Meadows handed them over without any claim of privilege.

SCHIFF: I think he's really in a compromised legal position because he's provided information to the committee, which acknowledges is not privileged, and yet he has refused to appear to answer questions about those very documents.

REID: The full House will vote Tuesday on holding Meadows in criminal contempt. And former President Trump's spokeswoman has signaled he will appeal this decision about his presidential records to the Supreme Court.

[04:05:03]

He has two weeks to make that appeal.

Paula Reid, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SOARES: Thank you, Paula.

Well, federal prosecutor Shan Wu discussed the appeals court decision with CNN earlier and explained what it means for Trump's executive privilege claims. Have a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHAN WU, FORMER FEDERAL PROSECUTOR: I think that they are setting out as Evan pointed out kind of like a road map for other courts to look at obviously, including the Supreme Court. I mean, they're really saying to Donald Trump here, you know, it's not that you didn't get a chance to be heard on executive privilege. You just had nothing of value to say to us. And it's rather ironic because Trump likes to fashion himself as almost like a fourth branch of government. And the court quite clearly points out, that here the executive branch and the legislative branch are allied against his position and now the third branch, the only three real branches we have, judiciary, has weighed in against him, too.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SOARES: Former federal prosecutor Shan Wu speaking with CNN earlier.

Now, a jury has found actor Jussie Smollett guilty of lying to police about being the victim of a hate crime. Smollett told authorities in January of 2019 that he was the victim of a racist and homophobic attack near his Chicago apartment. Police investigated the case as a possible hate crime, but soon said he paid two brothers he knew from the TV show "Empire" to stage the incident for publicity. Lawyers on both sides spoke out after the verdict.

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DAN WEBB, SPECIAL PROSECUTOR: That verdict was a resounding message by the jury that, in fact, Mr. Smollett did exactly what we said he did.

NENYE UCHE, SMOLLETT DEFENSE ATTORNEY: We obviously respectfully disagree with the jury's verdict. The verdict is inconsistent. You cannot say Jussie is lying and Jussie is not lying for the same exact incidents. So, we feel 100 percent confident that this case will be won on appeal.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SOARES: Well, let's put this all into context for you. CNN's Omar Jimenez has more from Chicago.

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OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The jury deliberated for a little more than nine hours and convicted Jussie Smollett on five counts of disorderly conduct for making false police reports that he was the victim of a hate crime and the victim of a battery.

Now, the prosecution wanted jurors to believe the Osundairo brothers who testified that Jussie Smollett recruited them to stage a fake hate crime. And special prosecutor Dan Webb said this verdict sent a resounding message that he did what we said he did. They also said he lied under oath when he testified and that that's something they are going to consider at sentencing.

The defense for Jussie Smollett said or they wanted jurors, I should say, to believe Jussie Smollett who said the Osundairo brothers were lying, and that he had nothing to do with what he says was a real hate crime attack. He's maintained his innocence for nearly three years now since January 2019, and he still maintains his innocence even after this particular verdict, but the jury in this case disagreed.

Next steps, there will be a hearing in January to begin the process or begin the road towards sentencing. I should say, Jussie Smollett's defense team says they were 100 percent appeal this ruling. And on the civil side, the city of Chicago says they will continue to pursue their lawsuit against Jussie Smollett to recoup the damages or the costs, I should say, incurred from the investigation of the Chicago Police Department did. Back to you.

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SOARES: Thank you very much, Omar. Well, CNN legal analyst Paul Callan has been following the Jussie Smollett case since the beginning. He said the city of Chicago wasted resources on this hate crime and the judge will likely sentence Smollett to jail time. Have a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PAUL CALLAN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: You have an actor here who took the stand and testified, and the jury expected him to tell a compelling believable story. In fact, the story he told was totally unbelievable, that he was attacked by two people that he knew, his exercise instructor and nutritionist and another -- one of them actually somebody he's been sexually intimate with. But that he could not identify at the time of the initial attack. And the story was just totally implausible from the beginning, and the jury saw right through it.

On the issue of, you know, where it's going to wind up sentence wise, I think this perjury question that you raised a couple minutes ago is going to be very, very important. I think the judge is going to look at this and say, number one, what an enormous waste of resources for the city of Chicago, a city that is haunted by really violent crime. And to have those resources used on a nonsense claim like this is such a waste of public resources.

And of course, to stage a hate crime is one of the worst things you can do because, in fact, you're destroying the credibility of other people who may suffer from true hate crimes. And then to perjure yourself on the witness stand tops it all off. So, I think it will be hard for the judge not to give jail time in this case. And it's the kind of case that probably would have wound up with probation had he just pled guilty at the beginning.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[04:10:00]

SOARES: CNN legal analyst Paul Callan there.

Now, day two of U.S. President Joe Biden's Summit for Democracy will begin in the coming hours. When kicking off the meeting, he said that protecting democracy is a defining challenge of our time, warning of a rise in authoritarianism. It comes as President Biden is trying to diffuse the situation between Ukraine and Russia. He spoke with the Ukrainian president on Thursday over the growing threat of possible Russian invasion as Russia continues to build up forces along Ukraine's eastern border. CNN's Phil Mattingly has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEN PSAKI, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: What we know is that the aggression here is on the Russian side.

PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice over): President Biden moved to reassure U.S. allies as the threat of a Russian invasion of Ukraine still looms.

PSAKI: Our objective is to make clear the significant and severe economic consequences if Russia were to invade Ukraine, not just from us, but from the global community. MATTINGLY (voice-over): Biden seen here in the Oval Office in the middle of his hour and 16-minute call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, as more than hundred thousand of Russian troops threaten Zelensky's border on three sides.

PSAKI: The president's intention going to this call was to provide an update for President Zelensky on his call with President Putin and underscore our support for Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity.

MATTINGLY (voice-over): Then a call with leaders of nine eastern-flank NATO allies, direct recognition of the reality, even though Ukraine isn't a NATO ally, those in the region that are, have grown increasingly unsettled by Russia's actions.

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We have a moral obligation and a legal obligation to our NATO allies if they were to attack under Article 5. It's a sacred obligation.

MATTINGLY (voice-over): The calls parts of a series of efforts this week around Biden's virtual call with Russian President Vladimir Putin, an attempt to rally allies around potential consequences for Russian action and reassure those who would bear the brunt of it.

BIDEN: Democracy doesn't happen by accident.

MATTINGLY (voice-over): A tenuous geopolitical moment coming at the same time Biden was making the direct case for global democracy.

BIDEN: I wanted to host this summit, because here in the United States we know, as well as anyone, that renewing our democracy and strengthening our democratic institution requires constant effort.

MATTINGLY (voice-over): Biden convening world leaders for a two-day democracy summit, all at a moment he noted the idea itself is backsliding across the globe.

BIDEN: This is an urgent matter on all of our parts, in my view, because the data we're seeing is largely pointing in the wrong direction.

MATTINGLY (voice-over): Including at home, where an attack on the U.S. Capitol, an attempt to overturn an election by former President Trump, have underscored clear chance, a reality seized on by those countries not invited, including China, Russia, Turkey, Egypt and Hungary, even as Biden remained undeterred.

BIDEN: In the face of sustained and alarming challenges to democracy, universal human rights, and all around the world, democracy needs champions.

MATTINGLY: While President Biden's week has been focused on tensions with Russia and China due to the U.S. diplomatic boycott of the Beijing Winter Games, Iran is also center stage for this White House. Obviously, months of attempts to bring Iran back into compliance with the Iran nuclear deal to this point, have failed and the White House is starting to lose its patience.

The president according to White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki, directing his team to start to prepare for the failure of diplomacy. That will only certainly mean new sanctions on the country. The real concern right now is Iran's continued advancements with its nuclear program. Negotiation still ongoing, however, it is very clear the U.S. does not have much of an idea that something will come together any time soon. The president now telling his team to be prepared.

Phil Mattingly, CNN, the White House.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SOARES: Now, we are getting strong reaction from China condemning the Democracy Summit. CNN's Kristie Lu Stout joins me live from Hong Kong with more. And Kristie, China, of course, wasn't invited to the summit. How has Beijing taken the snub here?

KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, China continues to dismiss and denounce Biden's democracy forum. We heard from China's Taiwan affairs office. They called it, quote, a political maneuver. State-run "Global Times," the tabloid in China, called it, quote, a joke.

We know the United States invited representatives from over a hundred countries to take part in this virtual two-day conference on democracy and China was not invited. Taiwan was invited. In fact, its Digital Minister Audrey Tang is one of the featured speakers. And she is scheduled to be on a panel to discuss ways to confront digital authoritarianism. And within the last hour or so, Taiwan's ministry of foreign affairs has released an advance clip of what she is expected to say. Let's run this clip for you.

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[04:15:00]

AUDREY TANG, TAIWAN'S DIGITAL MINISTER: Taiwan (INAUDIBLE) on democracy. It stands in front -- on the front lines of the global struggle with authoritarianism. It also plays a leading role in advancing freedom, democracy and rights worldwide.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STOUT: Now in addition to Audrey Tang, we were just then, the judicial minister of Taiwan, another speaker set to appear on this Biden Democracy Forum is Nathan Law. And he of course, is the exiled Hong Kong pro-democracy activist.

In the run up to this event, China has condemned it, and China has also been casting itself as a democracy that is better than the United States. In fact, last weekend, it hosted its own virtual democracy forum. It invited representatives from over 120 governments from around the world. At the same time, its state counsel released a lengthy 13,000-word white paper about how China is a better democracy. Back to you. SOARES: Accounts of the virtual summit, and like you said, Taiwan was

invited to the summit. And Taiwan has in the last 24 hours or so, lost Nicaragua as a diplomatic ally. I saw the government of Daniel Ortega saying there is only one-China in the world. I mean, a major boost for China, no doubt, Kristie. But what does this mean here for Taiwan?

STOUT: Yes, it means for Taiwan it has one less formal diplomatic ally. It was on Thursday when Nicaragua made this announcement it will no longer formally recognize Taiwan. It has switched allegiance to China. And that means right now Taiwan only has about 14 formal diplomatic allies including 13 countries and the Vatican.

Now, the United States has responded, especially during this time when it's hosting a forum on democracy. I should add the United States does not formally recognize Taiwan, but through the State Department it issued the following statement. Let's bring it up.

Quote, we encourage all countries that value Democratic institutions, transparency, the rule of law, and promoting economic prosperity for their citizens to expand engagement with Taiwan, unquote.

And, Isa, I've been talking to Chinese observers this day. They say that this move by Nicaragua is a manifestation of China's economic clout and China's power. Back to you.

SOARES: And it's growing indeed in Latin America. Kristie Lu Stout in Hong Kong. Thanks very much, Kristie. Good to see you.

STOUT: You got it.

SOARES: Now the late U.S. Senator Bob Dole is being honored at the U.S. Capitol where he served for more than three decades, with his casket lying in state in the Rotunda. Joel was lauded on Thursday by President Biden, who recalled the many years he and Dole were Senate colleagues. A relationship the president said was collegial, even when they disagreed. Mr. Biden eulogized Dole, once a Republican presidential nominee, as a war hero and statesman who put the country ahead of his party.

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BIDEN: I like many of us here, we disagreed on a number of things. But not on any of the fundamental things. We still found a way to work together. We genuinely -- we genuinely respected one another as colleagues. And I quote Bob Dole.

I cannot pretend that I have not been a loyal champion of my party, but I've always served my country best when I did it so first and foremost as an American. Where we prioritized principles over party, humanity over personal legacy. When we do that, we accomplish far more as a nation.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SOARES: Well, as you just saw there, Mr. Biden was joined by political leaders of both parties as they paid their final respects. The Kansas conservative who twice served as Senate majority leader. Dole's widow Elizabeth tenderly touched his casket in farewell. Like her husband, she also served as U.S. Senator and held numerous cabinet and government positions in multiple administration. Bob Dole's funeral will be held today at Washington National Cathedral. CNN's special coverage begins at 11:00 a.m. Eastern time right here, of course, on CNN.

And just ahead on CNN NEWSROOM, access to COVID boosters expands to more age groups in the United States. The latest on who can now get another dose.

Plus, the latest on the escalating COVID cases right across Europe. Just ahead of the holidays. We'll go live to Paris for you next.

[04:20:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SOARES: As 16- and 17-year-olds are now being encouraged to receive coronavirus boosters in the United States after the CDC gave the final go ahead on Thursday. This comes as preliminary data reveals how effective boosters are against the virus and the new Omicron variant. Now, according to the CDC more than 200 million Americans have been fully vaccinated in the U.S. -- as you can see there on your screen. But only about 49 million have gotten a booster shot. CNN's chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta has more for you.

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DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Both the FDA and the CDC have now weighed in on the issue of boosters for 16- to 17- year-olds and have both said, look, we recommend it and it is now under emergency use authorization. So, 16- and 17-year-olds now qualify for these boosters.

It's not a significant percentage of the population, only 2.5 percent. But at a time when the weather is getting cooler and dryer, the virus is transmitting more quickly, and there is the threat of Omicron which seems more transmissible as well, becoming a bigger threat. There are many people asking about these boosters.

Now, the evidence around boosters mostly in adults, but I do want to show you some of the evidence out of Israel. And you can take a look there. It's worth pointing out that Israel was doing a good job in terms of controlling cases and hospitalizations and deaths, but they were going up. You can see there they implemented boosters around the end of August, and cases started to come down. Same thing with deaths, a little bit of a lagging indicator, but it started to come down as well.

Now, there is not a lot of enthusiasm for boosters among kids yet. You know, we're still going to see what those numbers are. But for adults it's slowly increasing. Overall, you have about a quarter of the people eligible for boosters, having been -- already received it. Now, 37 percent said they definitely will, that's an additional 37 percent, 19 percent probably will. And there's 10 to 20 percent, around 18 percent here that say probably not or definitely not.

[04:25:00]

Those numbers are kind of the same as we've seen throughout the pandemic in terms of reluctance even for vaccines initially. We'll see what this means for 16- to 17-year-old, but now it has been authorized by the FDA, recommended by the CDC. We'll keep you posted on what this means for boosters for younger children in the days and weeks to come.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SOARES: Dr. Sanjay Gupta there.

Well, countries around the world are seeing there COVID cases tick up. This coming just before the holiday season for many. In response to escalating infections, Austria is mandating vaccines for everyone over the age of 14. However, it won't be enforced until February of next year.

On Thursday, France reported more than 56,000 new cases. Currently the country's intensive care units are 50 percent full of COVID patients.

And the World Health Organization says the African continent accounts for 46 percent of the nearly 1,000 Omicron cases reported, although cases are increasing, they still appear to be mild. That's some good news there.

I'm joined now by David McKenzie in Johannesburg and Jim Bittermann for us in Paris. And David, let me start with you. We are seeing -- as I just said -- soaring number of cases -- of Omicron cases in Africa. Help us put this into perspective for our viewers. What are doctors saying about the scale of the surge and the symptoms here?

DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, when you look at the numbers, Isa, certainly cases are soaring here in South Africa, particularly in this province, and positivity rates increasing. As you'd expect, as you move through a peak of a wave, it has happened quickly, quicker than in other waves. And certainly, that speaks to the possible transmissibility of this variant, which is assumed to be dominating now in South Africa.

But there are some positive signs. Clinicians, ambulance workers, hospital administrators I've been talking to over the last few days say there isn't a sense yet that there is a big rush onto the hospitals for severe cases. It's still early days, but that is an important indicator, a real-world indicator of how worried to be about this variant.

They do say that a lot of the cases right now in hospitals with COVID are incidental. They came there for have other reasons. But the head of the World Health Organization says that this variant could have a major impact on the pandemic and says even milder cases need to be worried about.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) TEDROS ADHANOM GHEBREYESUS, W.H.O. DIRECTOR GENERAL: Any complacency now will cost lives. Many of those who don't die could be left battling long COVID or post-COVID condition. This is with debilitating lingering symptoms that we are only beginning to understand.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MCKENZIE: Of course, the whole world is watching what happens here to see and assess the impact of this variant. We may expect news later today about the specifics about its transmissibility. At this stage, though, there is some optimism at this stage about the level of its severity -- Isa.

SOARES: Do keep us posted, David, on the transmissibility as soon as you hear from them. Do stay with us. Want to go to Jim in Paris. Jim, as we were reporting, infections on the rise in France. I.C.U. beds are nearly 50 percent full. What measures are being put in place to try and control these numbers here?

JIM BITTERMANN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, in fact, the I.C.U. beds, that's probably the most worrisome for health authorities there who have installed, inaugurated that the plan block, it's called, white plan that basically allows hospitals to put off surgeries and that kind of thing to relieve some of the pressure on the I.C.U. beds.

The French are also relying, as Sanjay was just saying, on this strategy of booster shots. Basically, they hope to get by Christmas 20 million booster shots administered here. And already 90 percent of the people over 65 who are eligible for boosters have, in fact, gotten them. The health minister was out and about this morning at a pharmacy and basically saying another thing he's going to do, he's authorized pharmacies to stay open 24/7 and all the way through on Sundays. In fact, to help people get their shots when they can -- Isa.

SOARES: Trying to increase the number of people getting that booster as, of course, we hit the winter months. Jim Bittermann for us in Paris. David McKenzie, my thanks to you both.

Later in the show we head to 10 Downing Street where we'll get the latest on the scandals knocking on Prime Minister Boris Johnson's door. Do stay with us for that.

Now, there's no sign of a slowdown when it comes to job creation in the U.S. Up next, a key unemployment indicator drops to the lowest level in more than half a century. We'll explain.

Plus, tearful testimony in the trial of a former officer accused of killing a black man. In court his girlfriend described the horrific scene after the shooting.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ALAYNA ALBRECHT-PAYTON, DAUNTE WRIGHT'S GIRLFRIEND: To see what happened. I know I was delirious, but I was just screaming. Like they just shot him. They just shot him. (END VIDEO CLIP)