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Tornado Leaves A Path Of Destruction In Kentucky; House Speaker Nancy Pelosi To Lead Democrats In The Midterm Elections; Jordan Keppler And The Anti-Vaxxers In California; Gavin Newsom To Use Texas Abortion Laws To Restrict Assault Rifles; Inflation Putting Pressure On Federal Reserve; 15th Annual CNN Heroes All-Star Tribute. Aired 5- 6p ET

Aired December 12, 2021 - 17:00   ET

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

[17:00:00]

GOV. ANDY BESHEAR (D-KY): We are checking on new information coming in from the company and hope to have a clear picture on that. I mean, there have been -- there have been, I think, multiple bodies. But just the wreckage is extensive as we continue to try to get through it.

UNKNOWN: Governor, do you think (inaudible)?

BESHEAR: We have the National Weather Service here that could answer any question.

CHRISTINE WEILGOS, WARNING COORDINATION METEOROLOGIST, NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE: Good afternoon. My name is Christine Weilgos, the warning coordination meteorologist at the National Weather Service in Paducah, Kentucky and we have Mr. Steve Eddy who is our meteorologist in charge at the National Weather Service in Paducah. And for the last two days we have had several teams out surveying the damage.

Of course, as you all know, it spans a good number of miles. So, it's a lot of ground to cover, but I did do an aerial survey yesterday and I could tell you that the track is continuous from south of Casey in Fulton County all the way to at least Beaver Dam when we finally turned around.

So the damage that we have surveyed so far indicates that the rating is at least an EF3. However, we have world renowned experts who are on the surveys right now, and also experts within the National Weather Service that are looking at the data and will be looking at possibly upgrading that rating as well.

On behalf of the National Weather Service, our hearts go out to each and every person that has been affected by this tornado. And not only affects us here locally at our offices, but across the entire weather service where we've had numerous people come to us and say how deeply sorry they are for everything that's happened here.

But as we get more information, we will definitely release that to you. We have lots of surveys to continue to do over the next couple of days and a lot of work to do still.

UNKNOWN: Is that an EF3 for Mayfield or which part of like, county that you (inaudible) --

WEILGOS: That's the highest rating that we found along the entire track in our area. Our area serves parts -- EF3, rated through (ph). And there are locations along the path, Casey, Dawson Springs, Arlington, Bremen that are definitely harder-hit areas.

UNKNOWN: How long is that path model (inaudible)?

WEILGOS: We have not figured out that because the survey's not been completed. As you go south into Tennessee, that's another weather service office that is covering that. And then you go east of Muhlenberg County and the National Weather Service in (inaudible) covers everywhere east of Muhlenberg County. So, again, there are surveys ongoing for the last couple of days and we still have to figure out exactly how long the path is.

BESHEAR: Right. We'll just take one more and we'd say that I think it's at least a 3. And look around, it's -- this is -- I'm not a meteorologist, but I expect we'll find it's much more severe so yes.

UNKNOWN: Little bit of question. Now obviously, this is historic for Kentucky, but are you concerned that this kind of extreme weather could be the new normal and that this is a (inaudible)?

BESHEAR: Right now I can't process whether this is a new normal or not. We're just trying to identify the dead, locate the living, reunite families, try to give people a place to stay and something to eat, get them their medicine, meet their needs. All the rest of it over time we can talk about.

And what I'd say is please just focus on our people and the help that they need and they deserve. As we get more information, as we get concrete numbers, we will be transparent about them. We will get them to you as soon as we can. Please understand we're 40 hours in, in the midst of rubble.

But we're tough people. We got a ton of help. Thank you to the federal government. We could not ask for a stronger response. Thank you to our federal delegation. We're going to get through it and we're going to get through it together. All right.

UNKNOWN: What was the --

PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN HOST: You've been listening to a briefing by the governor of Kentucky, Andy Beshear, along with the Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and FEMA administrator Deanne Criswell as well as other local officials. The federal government is now surging resources to help Kentucky as officials still desperately search for survivors in the rubble.

I want to take you through a couple of the top lines here that we heard from the governor, saying at one point there is no lens big enough to show you the extent of the damage. You've seen it on your screen for the last 36, 38 hours. You can't quantify what's actually happening on the ground has been the word that we've heard. The governor making clear they are fully engaged in search and rescue

efforts, both on the federal and state teams searching door to door or in the governor's words, rubble to rubble in some cases. More than 300 National Guard members are involved in those efforts. They are still hoping to find some survivors, in the words of the governor, some miracles.

[17:05:03]

There hasn't been any survivors coming out of that candle factory that we've been so focused on over the course of the last day and a half since 3:00 a.m. yesterday morning. Housing, electricity, water, these are all critical issues that the state is trying to address right now both on the federal and state level.

The governor saying seven state parks are now open trying to guarantee at least two weeks of temporary housing for those who need it, and there are thousands according to the governor that will. More than a thousand homes most certainly destroyed, the governor said. But making clear that the federal government and the state are doing everything in their power to help at this point in time.

I want to bring in my colleague Boris Sanchez. He's on the ground in Mayfield, Kentucky. And, Boris, it was what the governor said, and we talked about this before we went on air, you and I were talking back and forth about what you were seeing about there's no way -- there's no lens that can show the sheer extent of what you are seeing on the ground there and what the governor has seen over the course of the last couple of days.

The governor saying, you know, when it came to the damage, this tornado did, it didn't just "take a roof off," it exploded entire homes. What was your takeaway from listening to what was a very raw, emotional, I think at times candid press conference by the governor?

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: Yes. The governor becoming emotional at different points talking about everything that Kentucky has been through in the last 19 months with natural disasters and the pandemic and now this, apparently unprecedented tornado. He believes it is the longest in recorded history, more than 200 miles in the United States.

The portion of the press conference that really touched me was hearing from Kathy O'Nan, the mayor here in Mayfield, which has been described as ground zero for this set of storms. You noted, Phil, what the governor said, damage in all directions as far as the eye can see. And Kathy O'Nan, she is from Mayfield. She's been living here since 1976. She's a teacher -- was a teacher. So many of her students have been affected by this storm.

She actually shared with me earlier this morning that she knows of several former students that passed away not only in that candle factory but also across town. And she stood up and described emerging from this storm finding an American flag in the debris and delicately picking it up and handing it to emergency worker who then folded it. She took it home, and she said we may disagree, we may squabble, but we build together as Americans. She said, this is what we do. A message of resilience from local and federal leaders, and also one

of compassion because they don't have exact numbers for how many people still are unaccounted for. And that rings true in Dawson Springs, Kentucky. This is what's left of that town in western Kentucky, population about 2,700.

Governor Andy Beshear telling CNN this morning that the list of people still missing is roughly eight pages long, single-spaced. We want to take you now to Dawson Springs. That's where we find CNN's Ed Lavandera. Ed, describe to us what you're seeing and what you're experiencing there.

ED LAVANDERA, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Boris. Well, the search and rescue operations have continued throughout the day. The sun is close to setting once again on this small community of nearly 3,000 people. And the buzz is starting to taper off. But throughout the day we have seen search and rescue K-9 teams going through and they have made more depressing discoveries here.

The death toll in this county in Hopkins County where Dawson Springs is was 10. We are told now by the medical examiner the death toll is now 12. And this is the devastation that so many people are seeing. You might see down there at the bottom of the hill that there's a gentleman walking around. That's Gray Morgan. And Boris, this is his home. He has lived here for 62 years. It kind of sits on a hilltop overlooking the city with a very expansive view.

But that view is of all the destruction now. He told us that he is not going to rebuild, that he's simply too old for that. And throughout this neighborhood, the stories of survival are simply stunning, talking to a number of people throughout the day who described the horrific experience of getting into their basements if they had one to survive this storm. Listen to one account from a gentleman we met earlier today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEVE HICKS, SURVIVED DEADLY TORNADO: We were right down in here. So, I couldn't necessarily see the house move, but you could feel the wind coming in on top of you.

LAVANDERA: Wow. And when you walked out of there it was the --

HICKS: We didn't walk out. We had to climb out.

LAVANDERA: You had to climb this.

HICKS: It was totally -- think about it, it's totally dark, there's no power. I couldn't see anything in there. And the whole basement is trashed.

LAVANDERA: So it's like the storm lifted up your entire foundation and moved it over five to six feet.

HICKS: Pushed it over there, yes. And I was in there thinking why is the wind blowing so hard down here? (END VIDEO CLIP)

[17:10:00]

LAVANDERA: And, Boris, we spoke with the emergency management director earlier today. He told us that at some point there were 200 people here in this community who had to be treated for different injuries. You saw there that gentleman, he had a broken shoulder, debris that had collapsed on top of him.

And seeing people with their arms in slings today very common as they walked through here. Volunteers helping each other out. One woman we met who was trying to find medication that her son desperately needed. There was a team of volunteers going through the wreckage that you see here. But right now it's really people just processing the loss.

In fact, if you look across the street here from Mr. Morgan's home, this home right here that is no longer there, two elderly sisters that lived together, those were two of the victims in this storm. They lived there. That is where they perished. Boris, back to you.

SANCHEZ: Ed, it is just staggering, as you show us around where you are in Dawson Springs, as we look at the background and realize, I could not see a single structure that was unaffected by this storm. It is just a field of debris and not much else. Ed Lavandera, thank you for that report from Dawson Springs, Kentucky.

I now want to bring in a person who's captured so much of the stunning footage that we've been showing of the destruction here in Mayfield, Kentucky. Its storm chaser Michael Gordon. Michael's actually in Missouri right now. And Michael, I spoke to you yesterday morning.

You arrived at that candle factory here in Mayfield soon after it collapsed and you watched as rescue workers were pulling survivors out and often finding that a lot of people didn't make it out of that candle factory alive. I'm wondering what you're seeing now where you are and how you've processed everything that you've seen over the last 36, 37 hours.

MICHAEL GORDON, STORM CHASER: Yes. We've actually been doing -- we're doing another full survey all the way back starting in Arkansas. We've been going through, and we are starting to see devastating damage. I'm here right off of I-155 where tornado crossed I-55 and then went through I-155 near (inaudible).

The damage I'm seeing is devastating. We're -- it's sad to see these communities are just -- I feel -- it's heartbreaking. The power crews are out there working their tails off. And I'm seeing multiple power companies putting in new lines. They're working day and night to get power back up to these four states.

Like I say every time, this instance is very -- it's unexplainable. It's been some -- an experience, a very hard learning experience for me as well to see what everybody is going through. But I see in these four states that I've been into the support from the community, volunteers, and now everything's coming together and I think these communities will pull through.

SANCHEZ: It will take time, Michael, no question. But the foundation of rebuilding is hope and seeing so many people come out at every level, whether it's neighbor helping neighbor or organizations from local to the federal government, seeing folks lend a helping hand where it's needed, provides that glimmer to keep going to take it day by day and to rebuild stronger than before. Michael Gordon from Missouri, thank you so much.

We're going to continue covering the latest headlines from across a devastated region. Stay with CNN. We're going to be right back after a quick break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:15:00]

MATTINGLY: We're back now with a CNN exclusive on the most powerful woman in politics, and that's unquestioned that title. Sources telling CNN, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has made a decision to stay in her leadership post until after at least the midterm elections, and perhaps beyond.

Now, Pelosi who turns 82 next year, had previously set the year 2022 as a more or less target date for retirement. But sources familiar with her thinking say she hasn't ruled out extending her 20-year run as the House's top Democrat. So, how do people on Capitol Hill feel about that idea? Well, for that I want to bring in one of my excellent and still new-ish colleagues reporters behind the story, Isaac Dovere.

And Isaac, look, we're talking about before we came on, this is something everyone's talking about in the Democratic caucus on Capitol Hill, just not publicly, which I think is one of the more interesting dynamics about it. And so the details that you have in this piece, at least from my end, is something (inaudible) for a long time were fascinating.

What was kind of your takeaway in talking to the caucus about the mood right now amongst Democrats when it comes to the speaker and what she may do?

EDWARD-ISAAC DOVERE, CNN SENIOR REPORTER: Well, look, they have this weird mix of emotions. They are ready for the new chapter in Democratic leadership, but they are also really worried about what things will look like when Pelosi is gone. She is an iconic leader, but she's also a strong leader of the caucus.

And even though they say they see reasons especially in the infrastructure negotiations where it seems like her control has slipped somewhat.

[17:20:00]

To not have that control at all when the new leadership comes in, they're terrified of that and given the factionalization that's overtaken a lot of the parts of the democratic caucus. MATTINGLY: And one of the things, look, the top three leaders in the

House Democratic Caucus are all in their 80s, I believe.

DOVERE: Yes.

MATTINGLY: They've been there for years, as the Republican leadership has changed pretty much every 24 hours to some degree. What about what's coming next? I think everybody has ideas about who the next one or two or three people maybe? Where's the caucus on that? Are they settled on who would follow the speaker?

DOVERE: One of the things I have on the story is that Jim Clyburn, the House Whip, there have been some speculation that he might want to come in as an interim choice and he told me as I was reporting the story, he is not planning to be speaker. He does not -- he is not interested in that. He is not weighing Pelosi out either.

So, where this likely goes to is Hakeem Jeffries, congressman from New York who is the fifth ranking leader in the Democratic caucus at the moment or Katherine Clark who is the fourth ranking assistant speaker. She is from Massachusetts. There are also some calls that I report in here that Pramila Jayapal, the head of the Progressive Caucus, she's from Washington State, has been making, sounding people out that sound like she's interested in pursuing the leadership spot as well.

MATTINGLY: That's a risky play in the speaker's caucus. What are the interesting dynamics of the last 11 months that I don't think is fully flushed out when people talk about it kind of top-line, maybe on a cable news show, is this idea that speaker may be losing her grip on the caucus, right?

She's set a number of deadlines on the infrastructure largely because of the CPC under Congresswoman Jayapal. They missed those deadlines. Now the difference between now and 2009 is she can lose three votes now in 2009. I think she had a 56 or 57-seat majority. That's a different dynamic. But what's your sense of things in talking to the caucus about her grip on the caucus which she's so famous for?

DOVERE: Well, one of the things that we've seen come up over and over during the infrastructure negotiations is that she did not have the ability to say to people the president wants this, that's why you should do it. They were not responding to that. And that's not a problem that's just for Nancy Pelosi. That's going to probably get worse for the next speaker or the next Democratic leader.

This lack of allegiance that people had to Joe Biden and to helping his presidency even among the House Democrats in the way that she thought that they should is a really major factor. She kept saying toward the end, don't embarrass the president. And that was not enough.

She also -- some members said to me that they felt like she wasn't fully prepared for people to not even recognize her own authority as the speaker. Look, she's the Speaker of the House. She is pretty important. She is the one that they have elected as their leader. And still for some of them, it didn't really matter what was going on. The day of that first infrastructure vote, she left the vote open, you

remember for that, hours and hours. And there were member who's said they would not go to the floor to vote that's why the vote was left open. They refused to go. When the Speaker of the House says go vote, they said no.

MATTINGLY: Yes, which we've never -- it's unfathomable in past years. However, the Democratic Party has also changed. Those members weren't there whenever they had a democratic president before. It's a very new moment in time. It's a fascinating story, it's up on cnn.com. Also great book, by the way. I read it over the Thanksgiving break. It's excellent. Isaac Dovere, great reporting as always. Thank you so much.

All right, coming up the "Daily Show's" Jordan Klepper leaves the MAGAverse to expose the anti-vaxxers in, get this, blue state California.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JORDAN KLEPPER, DAILY SHOW CORRESPONDENT: Is this an anti-vaccination?

UNKNOWN: It is not an anti-vax so don't go there.

KLEPPER: Don't got there.

UNKNOWN: Please don't.

KLEPPER: Are you vaccinated?

UNKNOWN: I am not.

KLEPPER: So you're anti-vax?

UNKNOWN: I do not want to get the vaccination for COVID.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:25:00]

MATTINGLY: Now, the anti-vax movement is primarily portrayed as a red state phenomenon. But as the "Daily Show's" Jordan Klepper found, vaccine hesitancy, COVID misinformation, it's actually alive and well in one of the bluest regions of the country, southern California. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KLEPPER: Don't you benefit from a society that supports that by getting vaccinated?

UNKNOWN: You shouldn't be able to force that stuff on people. It's a step one. Then there'll be step two.

KLEPPER: What's step two?

UNKNOWN: Who knows? I'm not a conspiracy theorist so I don't want -- KLEPPER: But do you think we have step one with polio?

UNKNOWN: They didn't really mandate that. People were docile back in the industrious age. They were more than willing to take these shots.

KLEPPER: Polio's mandated for students going to school.

UNKNOWN: Polio has to be because we know what it's done.

KLEPPER: Don't we know what COVID's done? I mean, there are 750,000 people who have a pretty good idea.

UNKNOWN: Dig it.

KLEPPER: So what do you recommend for basic public health?

UNKNOWN: Eating healthy. Boosting your immunity system. And don't watch the news because it's just brainwashing you with fear. And the fear is lowering your frequency. I only eat fish and only certain kind of fish. Like for example, I don't eat tuna and I actually found that out when I was trying to feed tuna to my cat and she shook her head and walked off.

KLEPPER: Do you often take medical advice from cat?

UNKNOWN: General from nature.

KLEPPER: From nature. What do you think of the COVID vaccine?

UNKNOWN: I don't think it's a vaccine. I think it's snapping the DNA in half.

KLEPPER: Where did you hear this, a Siamese cat?

Do you recommend for public health people meditating?

UNKNOWN: Of course.

KLEPPER: People working out in groups?

UNKNOWN: Definitely.

KLEPPER: Eating healthy?

UNKNOWN: Definitely.

KLEPPER: COVID vaccine?

UNKNOWN: No.

KLEPPER: No. Coffee enema?

UNKNOWN: Possibly.

KLEPPER: Good. Maybe on the coffee enema, definite hard no on the COVID vaccine. UNKNOWN: No.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MATTINGLY: And joining me now is the one and only Jordan Klepper, contributor for "The Daily Show," which airs weeknights at 11:00 p.m. on "Comedy Central." Also humbly ranks himself a DC (ph) 12. Jordan, people are so used to seeing you in the middle of the MAGA world. I'm interested, what was an experience like for you going to try and expose the anti-vax movement kind of on the left in southern California?

[17:29:56]

KLEPPER: Well, I mean, it's always good to figure out a reason to get out to Los Angeles and look for new work. So, I appreciate that challenge. But we had actually, myself and a producer, we've been out to Los Angeles a few weeks prior, and sort of the unwritten or the unsaid comments wherever we went were about this anti-vaccine movement within the wellness community.

And so for us, really, this is a story we don't hear much about. So often you hear this reticent to indulge in a vaccine is only on the right. And so we said it's about time for us to get in a plane, go to sunny, sunny California, pack the SPF 700 and talk to folks and see if the wellness community has anything in common with the MAGA crowd.

MATTINGLY: And I think that was like the first thing I want to ask you about, right, because you spoke to a journalist who's been studying the anti-vaccine movement in California and how it's been driven by these people in the wellness and I had put under quotes there, "wellness industry." And here's what he told you.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNKNOWN: You have meditations that are sold that are supposed to ward off COVID. You also have different breathing techniques. Some practitioners including here in Los Angeles teach breathing workshops because COVID is a respiratory illness. And so their belief is, well, if you're breathing properly it won't actually affect you.

KLEPPER: You can breathe you way out of COVID?

UNKNOWN: Absolutely.

KLEPPER: That's a class you can pay for here?

UNKNOWN: Yes, that is absolutely a class you can pay for.

KLEPPER: So like, how many smoothies does one have to ingest to get to the point where they can completely disregard the health of the community they live in?

UNKNOWN: In Los Angeles, one because they're usually $25.

(END VIDEO CLIP) MATTINGLY: So basically, was that the theme here, like, do a bunch of

yoga and your straight when it comes to the pandemic that's killed 750,000 people?

KLEPPER: I think yoga and bone broth smoothie enemas and you've got yourself a package that's going to keep you pretty healthy for a while. What I started to see is, you know, this wellness community, and to be fair, there's a lot folks within the wellness community who are focused on health and helping one another.

But just like any kind of community or industry, there are people who are looking to take advantage of it and make money off of people who need help and want to change their lives. And so, much like what I've seen on the other side, you have folks who have ego and they think they know more than scientists. They have cultish figures who want to make money off of them and they have a social media bubble that keeps them all hearing the news that they've already clicked on.

MATTINGLY: Yes. It seems like a very similar situation to some degree. And that extends to something we've covered a lot here, which is, you know, Republican members of Congress. You're thinking Marjorie Taylor Greene or Lauren Boebert who've compared COVID mandates to Nazi Germany. You also ran into that on your trip. Take a listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNKNOWN: I think what's interesting especially coming from Germany, I think history's repeating itself right now.

KLEPPER: What are you saying? That's what --

UNKNOWN: About the vaccine mandates and everything. It's like its turning into a police state.

KLEPPER: And you're equating it to World War II-era Germany?

UNKNOWN: Yes. Where is your papers? Where are your papers? It's very similar to the Hitler times.

KLEPPER: But like Jewish people are fleeing Poland because they can't get into gyms?

UNKNOWN: It's not funny.

KLEPPER: But is that comparison though --

UNKNOWN: You just didn't get the point. Sorry. I'm good. Bye.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MATTINGLY: It was really tragic that interview ended right there. But can you -- what are you thinking in that moment when you're getting that on camera?

KLEPPER: Well, I'm thinking that Americans lack creativity. It seems as if we can only go to one giant event for any reference point. I think we also lack any kind of historical context. And, sadly, I'm not that surprised. She's not the only person who referenced World War II. Again, I've been to anti-vax mandates in New York City, there in Los Angeles.

Multiple people brought that up because again, I think we often see our lives as this one giant tragedy. I mean, with the lack of imagination to compare it to anything more applicable, we go to the largest thing we can grab a hold of. And in most people's case, that is World War II. And they lack an understanding of what those people went through.

And they see themselves as going through the greatest tragedy imaginable. And for that woman, that tragedy involved getting a shot to try to help her community. So, although you'll hear sometimes at wellness community heal the world or you'll hear even in the far right community, we the people, you often see in order to take care of all of those people you might have to make some sort of self-sacrifice for the betterment of all, but that often seems like a step too much. So they stick with World War II comparisons.

MATTINGLY: Yes. The easy and completely nonlinear comparisons. Jordan Klepper, I always laugh like hell, but it's also a really astute lens into our current political system. Everything that you do, I appreciate it. Thanks so much for coming on.

KLEPPER: Thanks for having me.

MATTINGLY: All right, coming up, how California Governor Gavin Newsom is trying to use the same tactics Texas used against abortion to get stricter gun control. We'll explain, coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:35:00]

MATTINGLY: California Governor Gavin Newsom is calling for gun legislation modelled after a controversial abortion law in Texas. Yes, you heard that correctly. Newsom says he was outraged by a Supreme Court ruling Friday that continues to allow private citizens to sue Texas abortion providers. So he got an idea.

Why not create a law based on a similar principle? Only this time it would give resident's legal standing to file lawsuits against those who manufacture or distribute restricted firearms.

[17:39:53]

He tweeted, "SCOTUS is letting private citizens in Texas sue to stop abortion. If that's the precedent then we'll let Californians sue those who put ghost guns and assault weapons on the streets. If Texas can ban abortion and endanger lives, California can ban deadly weapons of war and save lives."

Now, the governor, to be specific, is calling for damages of at least $10,000 per violation. Joining me now to talk about this is CNN senior political analyst John Avlon, CNN political commentator and host of the very great PBS "Firing Line" Margaret Hoover. All right, Margaret, I want to start with you. I think there were two Supreme Court justices who predicted something like this would likely happen in the wake of the Texas law. What's your read on what Governor Newsom is doing here?

MARGARET HOOVER, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yes. And let's just to be clear, their last names were not Alito or Thomas. Look, it seems a little too cute by half. I mean, understand what he's doing and he's trying to make a point. But that law in Texas -- by the way, the one in Texas and Mississippi, these are laws that have passed through the legislature's lane by the governor. So I don't know that Gavin Newsom can do this unilaterally.

And, you know, but he's trying to make a point. And, you know, he's using these preposterous vigilante laws, enforcement, you know, mechanisms to make a point that, you know, there's a double standard here. So I understand what he's doing, but it seems a little cute.

JOHN AVLON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, at the very least it may force some justices to think about the underlying principle and precedent rather than just the ideological desire they may have to see the law in one state passed and not the other. We'll see.

MATTINGLY: Yes, which I think is probably more the point than sort of the policy, but we'll see, as you noted.

AVLON: Yes.

MATTINGLY: A lot to come on this one, I have no doubt. And Margaret, I have to ask you about what I thought was a very buzzy interview you did with former New Jersey governor, one time Trump ally, Chris Christie. He now believes, and I want to state now, believes there is no doubt he got COVID from Trump. And he has a lot of feelings about the way the former White House chief of staff, Mark Meadows, handled the situation. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHRIS CHRISTIE, FORMER GOVERNOR OF NEW JERSEY: If Mark Meadows knew that somebody that I was sitting across from for four days had a positive test, he, as the White House chief of staff, put aside the president for a second. Obviously, the president is my friend, should have looked at me and told me that. That's obvious. But I think what's less obvious is that Mark Meadows saved this for his book.

HOOVER: Yes.

CHRISTIE: He saved it for a book. He didn't tell us. I got -- I went into the hospital in the intensive care unit. He didn't call and tell me. So I think that's inexcusable.

HOOVER: You had always suspected that you got it from the president. Is that right?

CHRISTIE: Well, the only reason I had suspected it was because he was the only person who I didn't know his testing regimen that I was in close contact with. All the other people we spoke about the fact we get tested every day.

HOOVER: So, did this confirm for you that you did, in fact, get it from the president?

CHRISTIE: Oh, I think it's undeniable.

HOOVER: Yes.

(EDN VIDEO CLIP)

MATTINGLY: And that's new. In the past, as you noted, had suspected but hadn't really confirmed it. Now he has. Can I ask you, Margaret, do you have a sense of what the relationship between the former governor and the former president actually is right now?

HOOVER: Well, it depends. You know, Chris Christie has a very loose definition of what a friend is. He still says that Donald Trump is his friend after 20 years, but they haven't spoken for a year. They're not talking now. And Trump is really mad at him for writing Chris Christie's book, which by the way is premised on the fact that Trump is lying about having lost the election.

So, he doesn't like Chris Christie at all right now because Chris Christie is out telling the truth and trying to debunk the conspiracy theory that Donald Trump won the election. So, I don't know, for Chris Christie, maybe that means they're friends.

But, Chris Christie, to be fair, in our discussion, he said when I call him a friend it's more of a historical reference so, but they're not talking and they're not close right now.

MATTINGLY: Yes, although give it time, it always seems to come back around in the Trump world to some degree. John, I want to bounce this one off you. We got news today that longtime Fox anchor Chris Wallace is leaving the network.

He's coming to CNN Plus. But I think more interesting -- more broadly is its part of a string of departures of kind of more serious journalist or reporters who were tied to the network, a network where many of the personalities are either kind of P.R. voices for the former president or any number of conspiracies. I guess, what's your sense of what's happening right now with Fox News with that network and the direction that it's headed?

AVLON: Well, I think it's obvious. I mean, they're purging anyone who actually acts like a journalist and tries to have fact-based arguments. It's a parallel of what's been going on in the Republican Party in terms of the rhino hunting, the hunting for heretics, the kicking out of the center and the elevation only of ideological absolutists who are people who are just flunkies and (inaudible) for Donald Trump.

But it's playing out in what is ostensibly a news organization but is increasingly, I think, just a right-wing talk T.V. where the opinion side is unhinged from facts, uses that as an excuse, and anyone who has got a scintilla of character or courage or conscience eventually either gets kicked out or heads for the exits themselves before they're pushed.

[17:45:02]

MATTINGLY: What's your read on things, Margaret?

HOOVER: I mean, I think -- I don't disagree with what my husband said. But its worth noting that within the last couple of weeks Rupert Murdoch made a speech really slamming Trump and pointing out that Trump needed to stop with the conspiracy theories and stop saying that he won the election.

So, there is -- well, it's just an interesting observation in the context of what I think John characterizes correctly, is there isn't a lot of space at Fox News still for anybody like Chris Wallace or Chris Stirewalt or, you know, it's getting tougher, you know, there was no place for Shep Smith. There was less and less place for people like Bret Baier. The serious journalists, they're feeling squeezed.

And so, I don't know what effort or what good Rupert Murdoch's speech does saying that Trump is lying if the direction of the network underneath him isn't going to respond to that and take that as a direction.

AVLON: Yes. Is he responsible or not? I mean, if your flagship hosts are parroting false flag conspiracy theories about January 6th and you can't bring yourself to condemn comparisons of Dr. Fauci to Joseph Mengele, either the inmates are running the asylum or you're part of the problem or have no power in your own network.

MATTINGLY: Yes. Well, I don't understand the inner workings there, sometimes I don't really think that I want to. But John, I'll congratulate you on Margaret mostly agreeing with one of your statements you. This is a big victory for you on a Sunday.

AVLON: It's made for the Christmas season so I appreciate that.

MATTINGLY: Exactly. Exactly John Avlon, Margaret Hoover, thanks so much, guys.

HOOVER: Thanks. Bye, Phil.

MATTINGLY: All right. And now, here's Christine Romans with your "Before the Bell" report.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: You're paying more for just about everything. And that's putting pressure on the Federal Reserve to act. November consumer prices surged 6.8 percent from a year ago, the biggest jump since 1982. Prices for gas, shelter, food, cars, trucks, those were some of the sharpest monthly gains.

It is the Fed's job to fight inflation. And this week that job could get tougher. The Central Bank has started reducing its emergency COVID support, cutting bond purchases by $15 billion a month. This week Fed Chief Jerome Powell is widely expected to accelerate that pace.

Powell could also hint at more aggressive interest rate hikes next year. Now stocks have bounced back strongly as fears about the omicron variant fade, but investors will be listening carefully to the Fed's tone this week. In New York, I'm Christine Romans.

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[17:50:00]

MATTINGLY: Celebrities and musicians will converge on the Museum of Natural History in New York City tonight to honor a list of everyday people who are making the world a better place. Anderson Cooper and Kelly Ripa co-host the 15th Annual CNN Heroes All-Star Tribute starting at 8:00 eastern tonight. And CNNs' Vanessa Yurkevich joins me now from the red carpet. And Vanessa, I always love this show because it's a night that just honors really extraordinary people.

VANESSA YURKEVICH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Extraordinary people, everyday people doing amazing things in their community. This is the 15th year we're doing this, but it's extra special this year because we now have the red carpet again. It's a live show again after last year during the height of COVID. We didn't have the heroes walking this red carpet.

They just came through. And actually, two of these heroes started their organizations during COVID. I have one of them here with me right now, Dr. Ala Stanford. She started the Black Doctors -- come over here with me on the red carpet -- the Black Doctors COVID-19 Consortium. Tell me about the problem you say in your community and the way in which you're hoping to help.

ALA STANFORD, TOP 10 CNN HERO: Thank you, Vanessa. We recognized early that African-Americans were contracting the disease at higher rates, being hospitalized and dying quicker. We had no cure. You needed a test, you needed contact tracing. There were none in their communities and I took my pediatric surgery practice to them so we could test, contact trace them and get -- save lives.

YURKEVICH: And now you are vaccinating members in your community, boosters are a big thing right now. How are you making sure everyone comes back to you to get vaccinated, get boosted and keep everyone safe?

STANFORD: Well, one, the community gave us the privilege to take care of them. We earned their trust early on with testing, so when we came back with vaccination, they followed our lead. Philadelphia, as you know, is the number one city in the United States with the highest rate of African-Americans that have been vaccinated, and that is largely because of the consortium. I'm proud of that. We've got more work to do, and we have to keep going to the people.

YURKEVICH: Congratulations to you already and good luck this evening.

STANFORD: Thank you. This is wonderful. Thank you, CNN.

YURKEVICH: Thank you. And Phil, we have celebrities coming through who are going to be introducing these heroes tonight. Each hero will walk away with $10,000 for their organization and the Hero of the Year will walk away with $100,000 to do more good work in the community. But, Phil, honestly, everyone's a winner tonight. Phil?

MATTINGLY: And Vanessa, just real quick, we got like 10 seconds left. What's the vibe like actually having these people walk down the red carpet again?

[17:54:58]

YURKEVICH: It's exciting because a lot people haven't been out at a big event. Everyone is excited to meet one another, talk to one another. They all just came through. They were smiling. They were supporting each other. And now they're making their way into the ballroom for this really extraordinary event. Phil?

MATTINGLY: Yes. The attention, the spotlight, they very much deserve. Vanessa Yurkevich, on the red carpet for us. Thank you so much. And you can join Anderson Cooper and Kelly Ripa live as they name the 2021 Hero of the Year, the 15th Annual CNN Heroes All-Star Tribute tonight at 8:00 p.m. eastern on CNN.

Thanks so much for joining me. I'm Phil Mattingly. Jim Acosta is back next weekend. Pamela Brown takes over the CNN NEWSROOM live from Mayfield, Kentucky right after a quick break.

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[17:59:59]