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Case Surge, Omicron Fears Lead To Long Test Lines Across The U.S.; President Biden To Give Omicron-Focused Speech On Tuesday; Interview With Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-HI) About The Build Better Plan; How The Insurrection Played Out In Inboxes; Capitol Rioter Gets Five- Plus Years In Prison, Longest Sentence So Far; Retired Generals: Military Must Prepare Now For 2024 Insurrection; "SNL: Cancels Live Studio Audience For Tonight's Taping. Aired 4-5p ET
Aired December 18, 2021 - 16:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[16:00:35]
JIM ACOSTA, CNN HOST: You are live in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Jim Acosta in Atlanta.
The coronavirus is once again taking center stage as it literally shuts down other stages. The latest surge in COVID-19 cases is upending Broadway shows, the Rockettes Christmas Spectacular in New York City, multiple games across the NFL, NBA, NHL, and this just in, "Saturday Night Live" will not have a live audience tonight. The show just tweeting that a few minutes ago.
In fact the Delta variant is the driving factor behind surging cases and long COVID testing lines across the U.S. right now but the Omicron variant is sparking more and more concern. President Biden plans to give an Omicron-focused speed on Tuesday as a new study warns there is no evidence that Omicron is less severe than Delta. It could even make COVID reinfection five times more likely. So as millions of people get ready to travel and ring in the New York, they may find that 2022 feels a little bit too much like 2020.
CNN's Kyung Lah has the latest.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KYUNG LAH, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): America's COVID time warp, long testing and vaccination lines from Miami to Massachusetts. In New York City, the positivity rate has doubled in just four days. The city health adviser tweeted, "We have never seen this before in NYC."
Radio City Music Hall cancelled Friday's shows of its Christmas Spectacular citing breakthrough cases. In pharmacies store shelves for rapid tests sit empty, all echoes of the past. People here waiting more than an hour to be tested as Omicron reveals its rapid spread.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And this is after coming yesterday twice and then not being able to get tested here.
MAYOR BILL DE BLASIO (D), NEW YORK: This is a whole new animal. And we got to be honest about the fact that it's moving very fast and we have to move faster.
LAH: The past is prologue, as New York's mayor redoubles restrictions and considers scaling back the Times Square New Year's Eve celebration.
A visible return of sports restrictions. Hockey in Montreal played to empty stance, and the NFL and NBA increasing COVID protocols.
This is all in response to deaths increasing in nearly half of U.S. states, up sharply in seven. That's an increase of 8 percent from just last week.
In New Orleans, the mayor responded to the alarming numbers expanding requirements to children.
LATOYA CANTRELL (D), MAYOR OF NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA: We will require proof of vaccination or a negative test at bars and restaurants and other locations for everyone ages 5 and older. Children ages 5 to 11 will be required to show proof of at least one vaccine dose.
JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We are looking at a winner of severe illness and death for unvaccinated, for themselves, their families and the hospitals they will soon overwhelm.
LAH: As with previous surges, the unvaccinated are filling hospitals, as weary doctors warn they are exhausted and losing staff.
DR. MICHAEL OSTERHOLM, INFECTIOUS DISEASES DOCTOR: I think we're really just about to experience a viral blizzard. If you look at what's happened in Europe, I think in the next three to eight weeks we're going to see millions of Americans who are going to be infected with this virus.
JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We are looking at a winter of severe illness and death if unvaccinated.
LAH: As with previous surges, the unvaccinated are filling hospitals, as weary doctors warn they are exhausted and losing staff.
DR. SHELLEY STANKO, SAINT JOSEPH HOSPITAL: The reality is, you can't -- you can't just create humans in order to provide that care. And, you know, staffing is a challenge everywhere.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ACOSTA: And joining us now is CNN senior Washington correspondent Joe Johns.
Joe, we just learned President Biden is going to give an Omicron- focused speech next week. That means that they're very concerned about this over at the White House, no question about it, right?
JOE JOHNS, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: That's for sure, Jim, and Jen Psaki, the White House press secretary, on a series of tweets this afternoon indicating that the president is going to give a speech on Tuesday, talking about his winter plan for COVID, that the president is going to issue a stark warning for Americans who are not vaccinated. And she's also saying the country is ready for rising case levels.
Now these tweets come out on the same day that a wide-ranging interview was published with the vice president, in which she admitted on the record that the United States did not anticipate the problems it was going to have with these new variants. I'll read a key quote, "We didn't see Delta coming, I think most scientists did not, upon whose evidence and direction we relied. Didn't see Delta coming. We didn't see Omicron coming. And that's the nature of what this awful virus has been, which as it turns out has mutations and variants."
So the developments of the day put all together. One thing does seem clear. The White House message is going to be very forward-looking starting with the president's speech as opposed to the vice president's remarks which were in hindsight -- Jim.
[16:05:03]
ACOSTA: And Joe, I want to turn now to a question that Vice President Harris was asked about on Comedy Central. She was asked whether Joe Biden or Senator Joe Manchin was president. And I have to say watching this video, she did not take that question lightly, and seemed to be personally offended by it. How did that go? Tell us about it.
JOHNS: Right. You definitely saw at least a flash of intensity there when she was asked about the relationship, and so on, with West Virginia senator who has been holding up a lot of the Biden agenda up on Capitol Hill. So let's just listen to it and talk more about it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LENARD "CHARLAMAGNE THA GOD" MCKELVEY, HOST, COMEDY CENTRAL: So who is the real president of this country? Is it Joe Manchin or Joe Biden, Madame Vice President?
KAMALA HARRIS, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Come on, Charlamagne. Come on. It's Joe Biden.
MCKELVEY: I can't tell sometimes.
HARRIS: No, no, no. No, no, no, no. It's Joe Biden. It's Joe Biden, and don't start talking like a Republican about asking whether or not he's president. It's Joe Biden.
MCKELVEY: Do you think Joe Manchin is a problem?
HARRIS: And it's Joe -- and it's Joe Biden, and I'm vice president, and my name is Kamala Harris.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
JOHNS: There you go. Charlamagne tha God, and what's really interesting I think is that there's history here between these two people. He's interviewed the vice president before, and we haven't seen that level of intensity. There's a lot of frustration, as you know, Jim, going around in
Washington, D.C. among progressives on the left about what the senator from West Virginia Joe Manchin has been doing, especially in regards to the president's Build Back Better agenda. And that's just one reflection of it. But the bottom line up on Capitol Hill with Joe Manchin, the Democrats in the White House is this is how they roll in a 50-50 Senate.
ACOSTA: Yes. Well, and Kamala Harris was very candid about her feelings there. I thought that was very interesting. All right, Joe Johns, thank you very much for that.
And more headaches for the Biden administration, as the president extends the timeline for his Build Back Better plan once again, which also means more time for Democrats to fight it out in public. This week heated negotiations at an intense lunch among Democratic senators left some with a serious case of heartburn.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: What's the general feeling about where things stand? Are you frustrated?
SEN. DICK DURBIN (D-IL): Frustrated and disappointed.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: At this point is it time to start thinking about maybe breaking up BBB in a more digestible pieces? Is this --
DURBIN: I don't know. I don't know if that's the answer or not. Apparently Manchin's approach to this has changed a lot. I don't know where he is today or where he'll be tomorrow.
SEN. MAZIE HIRONO (D-HI): You can have one person, or two people, just stop everything. And that is why people in our country should know that a 50-50 Senate sucks, and we can't get things done.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
ACOSTA: I'm joined now by that last senator you heard from there, Mazie Hirono of Hawaii.
Well, you told it like it is. Being in the Senate can suck, especially when there are only 50 senators on your side. I guess, what is your sense of things right now with Senator Joe Manchin? I almost feel like we should take a timeout when it comes to mentioning his name on national television because we say it so much. But -- and I say that in jest to some extent. But is it all essentially riding on whether or not he can come to any kind of agreement when it comes to the Build Back Better plan? Is that where we are right now?
HIRONO: The last I heard from Joe is that he has an open mind about Build Back Better, so he's not slamming the doors shut. So obviously discussions are continuing. But at the same time --
ACOSTA: Doesn't he always say that? I'm sorry, don't mean to cut you off but. Doesn't he always say that? HIRONO: And that is what -- we keep working on him.
(LAUGHTER)
HIRONO: So, clearly with 50-50, you know, with the Republicans not lifting a single pinkie to help the people of our country, it all rests on the Democrats, and you only have one party that's governing. That's doing anything to help people and you have the other party just sitting on their hands doing absolutely nothing. That would be the Republican Party. So at the same time, as I said, Joe has said he's keeping an open mind.
That is good enough for me to continue the dialogue and discussions. At the same time, I am very concerned about all of the dozens of voter suppression bills that are being enacted all across the country even as we speak, Jim, and so we need to pass voter protection legislation ASAP.
ACOSTA: And I do want to talk about that, but let me just mention the senator who hails from West Virginia one more time here. CNN's Manu Raju, my colleague, asked the senator about one of the sticking points in the bill, the child tax credit. Let's watch.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MANU RAJU, CNN SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: They're pressuring you to change the position on the child tax credit?
[16:10:02]
SEN. JOE MANCHIN (D-WV): No one pressures me. I come from West Virginia.
RAJU: Are you going to change your position on that?
MANCHIN: I've always been for the child tax credit.
RAJU: Yes. But the way it's in the bill, the one-year extension?
MANCHIN: I've always been for child tax credit, always will be.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
ACOSTA: I guess what's interesting about that question and his response, it does go to I think the other reporter question that we heard earlier when we're playing some of that sound is, is it time to start thinking about breaking up Build Back Better into the bricks of Build Back Better, and perhaps trying to shepherd those through one or two or a few at a time?
HIRONO: All of the provisions of Build Back Better will reduce cost for families. For example, childcare. Why is it that so many women can't even get back to work because they can't afford or the child care is not available, so that's a huge issue for families, childcare costs, and then prescription drug costs, lowering those. Those are really, really important to seniors in particular, and so all of the provisions are important.
And I'm not going to stand here and start talking about breaking up Build Back Better, but clearly, you know, Joe has said he'll keep an open mind. And that's what I'm going with. And I think last I also heard was discussions with the president where Joe apparently told the president that he is supportive of the kind of money to do Build Back Better which is close to $2 trillion.
ACOSTA: And I wanted to ask you about something that Senator Mitch McConnell said. He was saying earlier this week that he's lobbied for years for Senator Manchin to switch parties. But I want to ask you about something else. Speaking of the Senate minority leader. He has said in this past week something very interesting about the January 6th Committee. He made it sound as though he is somewhat supportive of that endeavoring, that he thinks it needs to get to the bottom of what they're looking into. Let's listen to that and talk about that.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL (R-KY): Fact-finding is interesting. We're all going to be watching it. It was a horrendous event and I think that what they're seeking to find out is something the public needs to know.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
ACOSTA: Something the public needs to know. He says there. And I know Democrats are suspicious of Mitch McConnell's motives on, you know, almost you know constant basis. But what did you think of that when you heard him make those racks?
HIRONO: He can say that, but please note that he did not support the creation of an independent commission to get to the bottom of what happened on January 6th, which is just a horrible part of the big lie of Trump in contesting the result of a free and fair election. So Trump was contesting or raising those issues both before, during and after the election, and January 6th was one part, a horrible part of that effort to deny the results of that election.
And it's still going on, by the way, with Republican legislatures all across the country, making it that much harder for people to vote in the most obvious kinds of voter suppression ways.
Jim, there was a time when they tried to do that, they at least tried to sort of hide their reasons but now it's like, hey, we're going to make it tougher for all of you to vote and tough luck. Do something about it. That seems to be their attitude.
ACOSTA: And so that begs the question. What is going to get done about voting rights? And these bills that are stuck in the Senate? The president is vowing to make a new push on it. This week you said you're relying on the courts to protect voting, but, you know, is it time -- do you think that there is any hope that the filibuster could have a carved out for these voting bills? What are the discussions like in that area? Do you think there's any hope for that? Or is this really just going to be a matter for the courts, do you think? HIRONO: I said that if we don't do filibuster reform that we are going
to have to rely on the courts to protect people's constitutional right to vote. Now I talked to Joe Manchin just a few nights ago, and I asked him, do you support a talking filibuster? He said, yes. So I support a talking filibuster to get us to enact voter protection legislations, so that discussion continues.
ACOSTA: And do you think we could see that? Is that realistic, do you think?
HIRONO: I hope that we can agree on a path toward making the kind of changes to our rules that would enable us to support voter protection legislation. And a key part of that to me is if you're not going to get rid of the filibuster, which I completely support, then let's have a talking filibuster so the people who do not want voter protection legislation will have to go on the floor and hold the floor for however long they can.
[16:15:04]
Tell the American people why they are not going to vote to protect American people's right to vote. Gee, I'd love to see the Republicans do that. At least they'll come out of their black curtains to show their faces to the American public that they have absolutely no intention of protecting our right to vote.
ACOSTA: All right. I suppose we'll be hearing some renditions of "Green Eggs and Ham" or something like, I suppose, if that happens. But, all right.
HIRONO: We could.
(LAUGHTER)
HIRONO: And then the American people will know that the Republicans have no interest in protecting our right to vote. They're just going to go and read Dr. Seuss. That's their answer. Pathetic, I say.
ACOSTA: All right, Senator Mazie Hirono, thanks so much. Happy holidays. We appreciate it.
HIRONO: Thank you, Jim. Take care.
ACOSTA: And before you settle your brains for a long winter's nap, we'll talk about how over at FOX News, there arose such a clatter. No, not about Santa, but on that January 6th matter. Hold on, the holiday edition is next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[16:20:09]
ACOSTA: It was the week before Christmas, and all through House, some Republican lawmakers were stirring, as if they had seen a mouse.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) REP. ADAM SCHIFF (D-CA): On January 6th, 2021, Vice President Mike Pence as president of the Senate should call out all electoral votes that he believes are unconstitutional, as no electoral votes at all.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
ACOSTA: Over on FOX in primetime, there was such a scare as some of the texts were coming from there.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LAURA INGRAHAM, FOX NEWS HOST: Well, what I am going to address a little later on in my show is, what this really is all about. I mean, what, what, what's really going on with Liz Cheney and the media, the diminutive media?
SEAN HANNITY, FOX NEWS HOST: I want hard text messages. Liz, release yours.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
ACOSTA: But the next time, the anchors behaved as if they felt no dread.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
INGRAHAM: I don't think Liz Cheney likes us.
(LAUGHTER)
HANNITY: I don't think she likes us either.
INGRAHAM: I don't think she likes us, Hannity.
HANNITY: You know.
INGRAHAM: I don't know why. I don't know why.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
ACOSTA: As they hoped their own viewers would not remember what their texts said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. LIZ CHENEY (R-WY): Mark, the president needs to tell people in the Capitol to go home. This is hurting all of us. He is destroying his legacy, Laura Ingraham wrote. Please, get him on TV. Destroying everything you have accomplished, Brian Kilmeade texted. Quote, "Can he make a statement? Ask people to leave the Capitol?," Sean Hannity urged.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
ACOSTA: Now don't worry, I'm not doing an entire rendition of that holiday classics, but the move by the January 6th Committee to release text messages from some GOP members of Congress and some FOX News personalities that were sent to former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows around and during the January 6th insurrection has exposed what may have been a broad effort to overturn the 2020 election, and then deceive the public about that.
And we need to talk about that as a country in every home, yes, even during the holidays. We still don't know everything about what some of these GOP lawmakers were doing in the run-up to January 6th. The plotting appeared to begin the day after the election. CNN has learned lawmakers believed then Energy secretary Rick Perry texted Meadows, "Here's an aggressive strategy." Here it is on screen.
"Why can't the states of Georgia, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and other R-controlled statehouses declare this is BS, where conflicts and election not called that night? And just send their own electors to vote and have it go to the Supreme Court?"
There were other ideas. We reported during that same month that Trump was having discussions about whether electors could go rogue at the state level. And even before she was a member of Congress, Marjorie Taylor Greene said last December that she was at a planning session at the White House.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE (R-GA): Just finished with our meetings here at the White House this afternoon. We had a great planning session for our January 6th objection. We aren't going to let this election be stolen by Joe Biden and the Democrats. President Trump won by a landslide.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
ACOSTA: A meeting at the White House. What was that all about? And of course Ohio Republican Congressman Jim Jordan has already admitted he forwarded a text message to Mark Meadows on January 5th suggesting that the vice president could set aside electors he deemed illegitimate. You may recall Jordan has tap-danced around the question of whether he spoke to Trump on January 6th. Watch.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: On January 6th, did you speak with him before, during or after the Capitol was attacked?
REP. JIM JORDAN (R-OH): I would have to go -- I -- I spoke with him that day after? I think after. I don't know if I spoke with him in the morning or not. I just don't know. I would have to go back -- I mean, I don't, I don't, I don't know when those conversations happened, but, what I know is I spoke with him all the time.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
ACOSTA: He seems nervous. But what's even more disgusting is that FOX News host Laura Ingraham, Sean Hannity, they've been caught red-handed acting like North Korean state television, lying to their viewers about what happened that day, covering up the misdeeds of a wannabe dictator. Blaming Antifa sympathizers for January 6th and downplaying the violence in the days that followed.
Guys, you've been busted on your bullshit. On your betrayal.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
INGRAHAM: An overwhelming majority of them, 99 -- more than 99 percent had to be -- were peaceful, but because of a small contingent of loons, these patriots had been unfairly maligned.
BRIAN KILMEADE, FOX NEWS HOST: Donald Trump was not saying go take the Capitol. He was going, go protest at the Capitol. He wasn't saying take the bike racks and throw them.
[16:25:00]
HANNITY: Trump supporters everywhere are now getting blamed for what happened at the Capitol. Vast majority of people that protested did so peacefully.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
ACOSTA: All lies. And that's not to mention Tucker Carlson's false flag documentary. Don't get me started on that one. But in a rare peek behind the Murdoch curtain, FOX's Geraldo Rivera pleaded with Sean Hannity this past week to come back to the real word.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GERALDO RIVERA, FOX NEWS HOST: I beg you, Sean, to remember the frame of mind you were in when you wrote that text on January 6th, and when Laura did, and when Brian did, and when Don Junior did. Remember the concern you had, remember the frustration you had at our beloved 45th president.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
ACOSTA: Beloved? I don't know about that one, but Geraldo sounds like he's speaking in code, using the cult-like language often heard in Trump world. It's the language Hannity understands. Makes a lot of sense considering what we're seeing around the holidays with all the Trump wrapping paper, and talk of how the disgraced ex-president saved Christmas?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When you came into office, America had gone through a long period where people quit saying "Merry Christmas." All happy holidays. You deliberately changed that.
DONALD TRUMP, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: This was in 2015 when I started campaigning, I said, you're going to say Merry Christmas again. And now people are saying it.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP) ACOSTA: Ah, yes, it's Santa Trump now, sort of how the old story goes. His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry, his droll little mouth was drawn up like a bow. And we started saying Merry Christmas again because Donald Trump said so. Come on, it was either this or Rudy the Red Nosed Reindeer. But I digress.
All of this talk of the holidays has given me an idea, though. How we can break through all of the noise on the fa right. Perhaps you know somebody, somebody in your family, somebody in your neighborhood who needs a little more than Christmas cheer. They need the truth, gift wrapped just for them.
Consider putting together a little folder of articles. Here's mine. I've got an Associated Press story in here reporting that they found fewer than 475 cases of voter fraud in the battleground states that helped decide the 2020 election. Plenty of other great CNN articles in here as well. If you have them, you can -- if you have kids, you can have them decorate the folder.
On the cover of mine, I have the FOX News Christmas tree, there it is along with some photos of Sean, Laura and Brian. And don't forget Tiny Tucker. He's right there. And God bless us, everyone, including Vladimir Putin.
So when your relatives start going on about how the election was stolen, just calmly hand them this yuletide folder. Feel free to personalize it with how you celebrate this time of year. And in the meantime, send me some of your photos of your folders. So if you make one like this, tweet a picture at me and we'll feature them on the show.
Now why go through all of that effort, you ask? I mean, I think the handmade gifts are always the best this time of year. That's what I tell my kids, but think about this. It's the holidays. Perhaps you've heard something about peace on earth, goodwill to all. It's worth a shot. And with that, a Merry Christmas to all, and to all, a good night. And we'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[16:32:55]
ACOSTA: A judge just handed out the harshest sentence yet for a capitol rioter.
On Friday, Robert Scott Palmer was sentenced to more than five years in prison for attacking police on January 6th with a fire extinguisher, a wooden plank and a pole, all while sporting a stars and stripes jacket, as you can see in these Justice Department images.
Palmer is the first capitol riots to be sentenced for assaulting an office with a dangerous weapon, but probably won't be the last. More than 140 other January 6th defendants are facing that felony charge. With us is Harry Dunn. He's speaking in his personal capacity only.
Here to discuss is someone who bravely defended the capitol on that day, U.S. Capitol Police Officer Dunn. He is speaking in his personal capacity only.
And Officer Dunn, great to have you on. We appreciate it as always.
Let me ask you about this sentence that was handed down, 63 months behind bars. We haven't seen a lot of sentences of that magnitude. What's your reaction to that sentence? Do you think we're finally sending a message here?
OFC. HARRY DUNN, WASHINGTON, D.C., METROPOLITAN POLICE DEPARTMENT: Hey, Jim. Thanks for having my on again. I appreciate it.
I'll be honest. I don't know what the standard is for assaulting an officer with a fire extinguisher. I don't know. I've never seen that before.
But if that is the standard, then you, know, I want the absolute max. But, you know, the justice system, the people who set the standards and the guidelines for sentencing, and, I guess, if five years is what they think he deserves, oh, well.
I wouldn't be matt if it was more than that. I don't know what the standard is.
ACOSTA: totally understand.
This week, let's talk about these text messages we are talking about, and we've been talking about all week long, these text messages that they were setting at Trump's chief of staff at the time on January 6th. They show just how much real-time information the White House was getting. And yet, it would be more than three hours before Trump made a public address.
[16:35:01]
You were face-to-face with these attackers. If Trump had spoken up sooner, what are your thoughts? Do you think they would have listened? Do you think they would have backed down?
DUNN: You know, while we were going through that day, I really wasn't thinking about, where is the backup. My concern was survive, make it home to my family.
It never occurred to me that it would be an sure with getting help to officers that needed it.
You know, seeing those text messages -- I wish I could say I was surprised, but I'm not. All it did is confirm what I thought I knew.
Everybody knows how bad it was. And by them downplaying it publicly, and behind closed doors, saying how bad it was, everybody knew how bad it was, including them.
I wish I could say I'm surprised, but I'm not.
ACOSTA: Does it -- you're a professional. You're going to do your job. Your fellow officers are professionals and they're going to do their job.
I'm trying to ask it the right way. Does it make it more different to be there standing there, protecting them at the capitol, knowing the truth, that, you know, while they were saying things like they were tourists, so on, privately they were egging on a lot of the stuff?
DUNN: You know, as a professional, people who do their jobs for the right reason, what's important to me as it's as a police officer is protecting the seat that they represent.
Whether it's Republican, Democrat or Independent. It doesn't matter. That seat is important.
If it is a Republican now, it could be a Democrat later. The seats are constantly changing. That's what's important to keep in mind when you work and protect people in a protection type of capacity.
So doing your job for the right reason, it doesn't make it hard. As an individual, sure, you have feelings and a bit of a sense of betrayal comes out. I haven't had those issues, professionally.
And I -- I'll cross that bridge if it ever comes about. But therapy has been huge for me for that. I thank my therapist to help me get through a lot of that trauma.
ACOSTA: One of these jaw-dropping texts came from a lawmaker, presumably a Republican, sent to Mark Meadows the day after the insurrection.
It says, quote, "Yesterday was a terrible day. We tried everything we could in our objection to the six states. I'm sorry nothing worked."
I mean, your reaction to that? And do you want to see the names of these lawmakers on these texts? We need to see those names, don't we?
DUNN: Yes, absolutely. I'm sitting back and letting the commit decree do their work. Our police, they'll do the investigations, but all of America wants to see who it was.
I think that the committee should just do what they're doing and just reveal all the facts of that day, and let the American people decide for themselves what really happened.
Just release the facts, not your opinions. I think it will be pretty easy to see what happened and what the attempt was that day.
ACOSTA: We learned some of these big FOX personalities were frantically texting Meadows in the heat of the moment on January 6th, trying to get through to Trump to convey how bad it was.
You've been very outspoken about how FOX has whitewashed the capitol attacks. I take it you were not surprised by the hypocrisy that these texts uncovered. The lawmakers saying one thing in public, saying another in private?
DUNN: Definitely not surprised. They're smart people. That's why they have the following what they do. They exploit people and they've been doing it.
Literally, you could show them their texts and say, well, that's not what I really meant, and their followers, their viewers, their audience would say that's not what he meant. There was a defense in court that said that.
No, I'm not surprised, but they capitalize on people that are easily persuadable.
ACOSTA: What is your message to FOX?
DUNN: Nothing.
You know, I was -- I was taught that -- well, I've read somewhere that, when you -- if somebody that disagrees with something you say, and you all see different ways, say to them, how can I change your mind about this certain issue, whatever issue it is.
[16:40:05]
And if they say, nothing, nothing you can say, nothing you can do, then the conversation is over.
I'm not going to continuing to bang my head against a wall trying to get people to see something that they have no desire to see.
Yes. I've got no message.
ACOSTA: Officer Dunn, I have to ask you about something published in the "The Washington Post."
This was an opinion piece written by three retired generals. They write in this opinion piece, essentially a warning that action has to be taken to prevent another insurrection attempt in 2024.
Do you think there's been enough accountability, enough reform, enough justice served to deter this from happening again?
When you have retired generals worried about yet another insurrection, it makes me wonder if that's what you worry about, too?
DUNN: That's definitely one of my concerns. It's not just 2024, but 2028, 2032. Anytime that somebody disagrees with the outcome of an election, democracy will be in jeopardy.
And it's not just the next election cycle. It's anytime that there's a chance to cast doubt on the free and fair elections that we have in this county.
And, sure, I absolutely worry about it. Going forward, that's why I believe we can't move on, because nothing has been done to deter it from happening again. Nothing has been done.
I think we're on our way there, but we need to sit back and see how the investigation plays out and what comes out of it.
ACOSTA: How are you doing? How are some of the officers that are your close friends doing? How are they holding up --
(CROSSTALK)
DUNN: As for myself, I'm doing all right. You know, seeing this -- I guess one of the -- not cool things -- but one of the things that makes me able to get through a lot of this, and these jaw-dropping bombshell revelations is, I'm not surprised by it, you know?
I'm tempering my expectations about -- that's helping me out, you know, not getting disappointed or frustrated. All it's doing is confirming things I already knew.
I'm doing all right. Just ready for the holidays.
By the way, I never stopped saying merry Christmas. I celebrate Christmas. So merry Christmas to those who celebrate it. If you don't, I wish you the happy holidays or whatever it is you celebrate.
Everybody copes differently. Some people cope in silence. Some people are vocal. Some people talk like I'm doing. It is -- the talking has been therapeutic for me. I'm just going to keep going.
ACOSTA: Well, Officer Dunn, we appreciate you so much. We wish you a merry Christmas and happy holidays to you and your fellow officers.
In my opinion, you are the people of the year, not the electric car guy. We appreciate everything you've done for this country.
Harry Dunn, thank you for being with us.
DUNN: Thank you.
That goes to my co-workers in the Metropolitan Police department. They're amazing. Again, I'm just talking for myself. There's so many other stories out there. I work with a bunch of amazing guys, men and women.
So thank you. Merry Christmas to you.
ACOSTA: All right, Officer Dunn, thanks for your time.
DUNN: Thank you.
ACOSTA: Take care.
DUNN: You, too.
[16:43:43]
ACOSTA: And we have some breaking news. COVID concerns are hitting "Saturday Night Live." And it affects their live show. We'll talk about that, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[16:48:18] ACOSTA: Breaking news just into CNN. "Saturday Night Live" announced there will not be a live studio audience for tonight's taping of the show in New York.
CNN's chief media correspondent and "RELIABLE SOURCES" anchor, Brian Stelter. joins us now.
Brian, what more are we learning about this? This is one of these cultural moments I suppose that let us know, OK, things are happening. This is not good.
BRIAN STELTER, CNN CHIEF MEDIA CORRESPONDENT & CNN HOST, "RELIABLE SOURCES": Right. And the companies are taking this very seriously.
This was going to be the final episode of this year. It was going to be a winter finale. But here's what NBC announced on Twitter, saying, "Due to the recent spike in the Omicron variant, and out of an abundance of caution, there will be no live audience for tonight's taping."
The tweet says the show will have a limited cast and crew.
That's significant because it seems clear some of the crew members or some of the cast -- we don't know -- have tested positive.
People all across New York City are testing positive right now. Not necessarily because of Omicron. We know this is primarily a Delta surge that's happening.
What we do know is, from a portion of these testing siting and from the many positives reported, that these are variants are ripping through the city and affecting shows like "SNL."
Here's one more post from NBC, saying, "The show continues to follow all government safety guidelines in addition to a rigorous testing protocol."
Again, a reference to a vigorous testing protocol. Another hint that there were positive cases identified, and thus, the show cannot go on its normal way.
It sounds like we'll see some version of "SNL." Of course, there are other taped pieces they work on during the week. But the show will not be as live as it usually is.
You know, Jim, as we mentioned, we'll continue to see these kind of ripple effects throughout different parts of the economy, as companies take action.
[16:50:01]
But let's make no mistake, this is nothing like March 2020 or April 2020. The streets of New York City are packed. I almost missed my live shot, Jim, because I could barely get home.
The stores are packed. The streets are packed. Tourists are out in force.
But at the same time, Jim, these companies are trying to be very careful, because we don't know everything about the new variant.
ACOSTA: Absolutely. I understand that caution. We've been practices it as well. You might as well since we're kind of flying blind. We don't know anything about Omicron at this point.
You live in New York, as you were saying, Brian. We're not heading back to the days, I don't think, from the spring of 2020 when New York was the epicenter of all of this.
As you were saying, I mean, talk about putting the toothpaste back in the tube, there's no putting the Big Apple back in the tube after it's gone back to business.
(LAUGHTER)
(CROSSTALK)
STELTER: So if you test positive, what does that mean? Since we know, if you're vaccinated and boosted, testing positive means something very different than 18 months ago.
Now these big companies have to figure out, so what do you do? How much do you postpone? Or how much do you just keep going?
ACOSTA: We're going to do this together, I guess.
Brian Stelter, I'm looking at all of those emojis behind you, trying to find out which one I am right now. I think it's this one.
(LAUGHTER)
STELTER: My kids are going to learn to speak emoji before English. What do you think of that?
ACOSTA: I think it's great. I think it's very modern of you, Brian.
(LAUGHTER)
ACOSTA: I see there's some emojis excluded, which is a good thing.
All right, Brian, thank you so much. Appreciate it.
And we'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ACOSTA: In this week's "IMPACT YOUR WORLD," we visit a Dallas nonprofit that is helping refugee women stitch together a new future in the U.S.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
STEPHANIE GIDDENS, FOUNDER, VICKERY TRADING COMPANY: When we take the time to invest in refugee women, we are really investing in the future thriving of our community.
When refugees arrive, they have been through the trauma in their homeplace. They need extra resources, and you have to go about that help in a different way.
The Victory Trading Company is a nonprofit social enterprise. We hire refugee women and train them to sew at a professional level, using industrial machines to equip them with skills that prepare them for the workplace.
[16:55:09]
And during that training, they are making a line of women's and children's clothes. We sell that clothing in the marketplace to help generate revenue to support the organization.
We're also providing them with wraparound services, the other skills they will need to really be self-sufficient here in America.
(CROSSTALK)
GIDDENS: The English class, computer literacy classes, mental health services, and financial literacy classes.
FRISHDA HUSSAINI, AFGHAN REFUGEE: After coming here, I learned that I can be treated with (INAUDIBLE). The Vickery Trading Company has given me motivation and courage to show my talent and help find friends. It's a good feeling.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
