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COVID Surging Again, Omicron To Take Over Winter; Sen. Manchin Will Not Support President Biden's Bill; Fifth Wave Of The Pandemic Has Begun In Israel; Federal Reserve Fighting Inflation; Bouncy Castle Disaster In Australia; Dr. Sanjay Gupta Premieres Weed: Marijuana And Autism; World Record For Christmas Tree Display. Aired 5-6p ET

Aired December 19, 2021 - 17:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:00:00]

JIM ACOSTA, CNN HOST: You are live in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Jim Acosta in Washington. The case for COVID-19 boosters has never been stronger. Unvaccinated people are 20 times more likely to die from COVID-19 than people who have been boosted. That's according to brand new CDC data.

Yet, only 60 million people in the U.S. or less than 20 percent have those odds in their favor as we head into what will likely be a brutal winter surge between the delta variant fueling hospitalizations and cases of omicron, doubling every two to three days. COVID threatens to derail any sense of normalcy during the holidays. Long lines for COVID tests are now stretching across New York City.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP))

ANTHONY FAUCI, CHIEF MEDICAL ADVISER TO THE PRESIDENT & NIAID DIRECTOER: We really need to flood the system with testing. We need to have tests available for anyone who wants them, particularly when we're in a situation right now where people are going to be gathering even though they are vaccinated and boosted. It is going to be a tough few weeks to months as we get deeper into the winter.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: Already the impact is hard to ignore. Just moments ago Senator Elizabeth Warren announced she has tested positive for COVID and is experiencing mild symptoms. Today, the NBA postponed five games due to COVID issues within several teams triggering flashbacks to March of 2020 when the NBA decided to cancel a season. And that acted as a wake-up call to a shocked public.

Last night, viewers tuned into "Saturday Night Live" to find pre-taped sketches and no live audience. And the dominoes keep falling with businesses delaying their return-to-work and universities including Stanford keeping their students out of the classroom.

We have a team of reporters spread out all across the country, all around the world right now, but right now all across the country. CNN's Nadia Romero in Atlanta, CNN's Natasha Chen is in Los Angeles, but let's begin with CNN's Polo Sandoval who is in New York for us. Polo, this feels very reminiscent of the early days of the pandemic. Cases in New York skyrocketing. Let's just hope it doesn't get that bad again. What are you seeing and hearing there?

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Jim. In terms of New York State, already for three straight days we have seen a record number of total new COVID cases, about 21,000 a day here and that's certainly concerning. We did hear from Mayor Bill de Blasio today saying that the increase of these numbers, the return of many mitigation efforts that we have perhaps scaled back that is the new but temporary reality for so many people here.

But the question is, is it going to get worse before it actually gets better? And that's why a lot of New Yorkers are certainly adhering that advice from officials to go out and get tested. The line of people here, some of the last few folks who are actually going to be able to get a test at least today as so many New Yorkers have been turning to these kinds of mobile testing sites.

But as we heard from city officials say just last week, they are implementing and bringing back a multipoint system that will call for an increase in vaccination sites, also an increase in testing sites so that people don't have to wait hours and hours to get their tests as we've been seeing at the last couple of days.

And also providing some of these take-home tests as well for some of those who may not be able to make it out here especially as we get closer to Christmas. That's one of the big concerns and effort from people here. Many people here have come out to get tested. Some of them have to for travel purposes, but all of them want to just to make sure when the time comes to see their family for Christmas.

ACOSTA: All right, Polo, thanks for that. Now to CNN's Natasha Chen in Los Angeles. Natasha, official there's say they are seeing hospitalizations starting to go up. What else are you hearing?

NATASHA CHEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Jim, hospitalizations are going up and the L.A. County health department is also reporting an increase this week in daily confirmed cases on Tuesday, just about 1,100 positive cases. And today we just got new numbers a couple of hours ago showing 3,500 new positive cases.

And that number is even potentially low because of the weekend lag in reporting. But just within those few days, you can see that the numbers have basically tripled. And we really haven't seen daily case numbers over 3,000 since late August, early September. So this is reverting back to perhaps an earlier surge status here.

We're also seeing that the statewide health department is taking matters very seriously. While statewide positivity rate is still under 3 percent, relatively low, they did see that case numbers started to rise in those days after Thanksgiving into early December. So right now starting December 15th going on for a full month, statewide universal indoor masking is required.

[17:05:00] There is a proof of vaccination required or negative test required to get into mega events both indoors and outdoors. And there is a recommendation for any traveler coming into California to get a test three to five days after arriving. So there is an attempt here to tamp this down, Jim.

ACOSTA: All right, Natasha, thank you very much for that. And now let's go to CNN's Nadia Romero in Atlanta. Nadia, we have some news in the world of hockey. They're grappling with this, too. What can you tell us?

NADIA ROMERO, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, this just in from the NHL, Jim. They are postponing 30 games between this weekend and December 23rd. That is a big number. Thirty games being postponed. And among them, cross-border travel. So remember, the NHL has teams in Canada and in the U.S., and the NHL is citing the concerns over federal travel restrictions, concerns over border crossings due to the risings in COVID-19.

So this is not a federal change, but this is strictly what the NHL is doing within its league, limiting and postponing 30 games now and stopping that cross-border travel for those games. This is big out of the NHL, but we're also seeing it in the NBA.

The NBA announcing this weekend, postponing five games, three that were supposed to happen today, two more over the next couple of days. Because big-name NBA super stars like Kyrie Irving, Kevin Durant from the New Jersey -- from the Brooklyn Nets, excuse me, are out. And so many of these teams across the NBA are struggling with trying to keep a roster healthy and keeping those players off of their COVID-19 restricted lists.

We're also seeing the impact in the NFL. We were supposed to have a double-header on Saturday, and it ended up just being one game between two teams because we had so many players with the Cleveland Browns, the Washington football team, and the Rams, those teams seeing more than 20 players on the COVID-19 reserve list. So, those games were postponed again as well. So we're seeing this impact of rising cases all across our different sport leagues. Jim?

ACOSTA: All right, Nadia, thank you for that. And thanks to all of our reporters keeping an eye on this. I hope we don't have you out there over and over and over again talking about this as this COVID surge just gets really, really bad. But I'm afraid we might have to buckle in for that, guys. Thanks so much. We appreciate it.

Let's bring in Dr. William Schaffner, infectious diseases professor at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. Dr. Schaffner, wow! It's just -- the way that this is changing so quickly, I want to get your reaction to something out going NIH director Francis Collins, Dr. Francis Collins said about this coming COVID surge. Here's what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FRANCIS COLLINS, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUES OF HEALTH: Even if it has a somewhat lower risk of severity, we could be having a million cases a day if we're not really attentive to all of those mitigation strategies. And, you know, a small fraction of a big number is still a really big number and this is not the moment --

SCOTT DETROW, HOST, NPR WEEKEND EDITION SUNDAY: I just want to underscore that, a million cases a day? I mean, that is so much higher than even -- even last winter.

COLLINS: Yes. And I don't know that we'll hit that, but there are certainly projections that say that could happen with the virus that seems to be doubling most places where it's been every two to four days.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: Dr. Schaffner, is it possible we're about to relive or surpass the worst days of the pandemic? And what does that mean for our daily lives?

WILLIAM SCHAFFNER, PROFESSOR, DIRECTOR OF INFECTIOUS DISEASES, VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTER: Well, Jim, it wasn't so long ago that you and I were kind of cautiously optimistic because cases were down, but then they flattened out and now they're going up, and they're going up rather steeply around the country.

I must say I haven't heard estimates, projections as large as Dr. Collins' is, but we're all anticipating with delta, with all the travel that we're doing and all these holiday get-togethers, the beginnings of omicron and its spread as well as, we've talked about this, influenza, also making its appearance. We could be in for an ominous winter season and a kind of grim beginning of the New Year.

ACOSTA: No question. And it is grim. There's just no other way to describe it. And as we mentioned at the top of this newscast, this disturbing CDC data showing that the risk of dying from COVID according to the CDC, 20 times higher for unvaccinated people compared to those who have been vaccinated and boosted. It doesn't get clearer than that. Why is it -- why is that not breaking through? Why is that message not breaking through to the vaccine holdouts who are scattered across this country?

SCHAFFNER: Jim, I wish I had the answer to that because we've been singing that song or variations of it for months now. But there are many adults still not vaccinated, many parents are still not taking their children age 5 and older to be vaccinated. And there are still so many now vaccinated but still not boosted folks out there.

[17:10:05]

I wish everybody would go and get vaccined tomorrow. We've got plenty of vaccine available. It's in the refrigerators just waiting to get into arms.

ACOSTA: And do you think that those folks who are just being stubborn about this and not taking this seriously enough, are they about to get hit with a tidal wave and that they just don't see what's coming and that this is going to be a rude awakening for a lot of people out there. Is that what's shaping up for a lot of folks, do you think?

SCHAFFNER: Jim, this virus is in every community, large and small, in this country. I can't imagine that there is anyone in the country that doesn't know someone who's been affected and perhaps affected very, very seriously by this virus.

I can only urge and try to persuade and reassure people that getting vaccinated is clearly the best thing to do because we can have a stressed healthcare system throughout the country as we start our new year.

ACOSTA: And this month the press secretary over the White House, Jen Psaki, was asked about ramping up free COVID tests for Americans. And here's how she responded to that. Let's watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNKNOWN: Why not just make them free and give them out and have them available everywhere?

JEN PSAKI, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: Should we just send one to every American?

UNKNOWN: Maybe.

PSAKI: Then what happens if every American has one test? How much does that cost and then what happens after that?

UNKNOWN: All I know is that other countries seem to be making them available in greater quantities for less money.

PSAKI: Well, I think we share the same objective, which is to make them less expensive and more accessible, right? Every country's going to do that differently.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: What do you think, Dr. Schaffner? Do you think that the White House is going to have to come to grips with the new reality that maybe testing is going to have to be expanded on a wide scale and maybe we might have to think about sending one to everybody's house or something along those lines? What do you think?

SCHAFFNER: Well, something along those lines. My sentiments are much more toward the questioners because especially in Europe they are much more widely available. You know, some of the municipal testing sites had closed down or had been reduced. Now we're trying to open them up. We're trying to make home testing available.

But, you know, two tests for over $20, that's what it costs in my neighborhood. That -- that inches up very, very quickly, right? And will be out of the reach of many people. I think we need to have testing be a much more prominent part of the interventions that we're doing. And, yes, they need to be much more freely available and/or at very low cost. ACOSTA: Yes. And that's going to be a big adjustment if we're going to

go into that kind of world, but it will help us understand how big of a problem that we have. Last week, the CDC officially recommended the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines over the Johnson & Johnson shot.

In terms of boosters, it's a tricky subject. If you got the J&J vaccine, and let's say the Pfizer booster, for example, should you be thinking about getting a third dose at this point? Kind of a second booster?

SCHAFFNER: At the moment --

ACOSTA: Yes.

SCHAFFNER: -- hear you. At the moment, if you've had J&J and it's been followed with either a Pfizer or Moderna booster, you are set at this time. So you're in good shape. Folks who got either Pfizer or Moderna at the beginning, they need to get one of the mRNA. You can mix and match. That's fine. And as you get your booster, roll up your other sleeve and get that flu vaccine also.

ACOSTA: Absolutely. If you haven't done that, my goodness, you are doing it wrong. All right. Dr. Schaffner, we could talk about this all evening. Thanks so much for your expertise. As always, we appreciate it. And your sunny optimism. There's a little sunny optimism there, which is always helpful. So, thanks for that as well.

SCHAFFNER: Thank you.

ACOSTA: Appreciate it. Amid this surge in uncertainty around omicron and -- yet another major university is going back to online classes. Stanford University announced that it will be shifting to online instruction for the first two weeks of its upcoming winter quarter. Campus housing will be open, but Stanford is asking students to take a COVID test before coming back. Students are also strongly encouraged to get a booster when eligible.

Coming up, new reporting about the moments before Senator Joe Manchin went on national television to declare he would not support the signature piece of President Biden's domestic agenda. Plus, how the White House is hitting back at Joe Manchin.

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[17:15:00]

ACOSTA: President Biden's large social safety net bill which includes money for everything just about, from Universal Pre-K to paid family leave, climate change and home healthcare, is now in peril after Democratic Senator Joe Manchin said today he is a no on that legislation.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOE MANCHIN (D-WV): I cannot vote to continue with this piece of legislation. I just can't. I've tried everything humanly possible. I can't get there.

BRET BAIER, FOX NEWS HOST: You're done, this is a no?

MANCHIN: This is a no on this legislation. I have tried everything I know to do.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: CNN senior Washington correspondent Joe Johns is at the White House and CNN's Suzanne Malveaux is up on Capitol Hill for us. Suzanne, wow, this is such a, you know, bombshell that was dropped by Joe Manchin today with the senate evenly split and Republicans united against the bill. President Biden could not afford to lose any votes. So where do they go from here up on Capitol Hill, and what's the reaction been so far? I assume there are progressives who were saying I told you so?

[17:58]

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Jim, a lot of progressives were saying this was really a gas-lighting situation for Senator Joe Manchin. We did hear from Barbara Lee, congresswoman from California said she's not surprised, but she's infuriated and disappointed.

We heard from Senator Bernie Sanders who essentially said, you know, call him before and get a senate here to hold them accountable perhaps to embarrass him a bit. And then you have others who are just, you know, holding up their hands, throwing up their hands and saying he is not a credible partner to negotiate with. That he has not been negotiating in good faith.

We have heard from progressive leader Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in a tweet and she is really giving kind of a rallying cry here saying not to give up necessarily on Manchin. She goes on to say, "We as always are here to fight for this agenda. What matters most to us is that it gets done, but we cannot just shrug our shoulders and accept this as some Charlie Brown moment. Our entire democracy is on the line. So we need to get back in there and get this s done, period."

And of course, she is referring to that famous moment when Lucy pulls the football from Charlie. And what she does mention, however, too, when she talks about the fate of democracy. She's not just talking about the Build Back Better legislation, she's talking about voting rights and the fact that there are negotiations that have been going on with Senator Manchin and others about adjusting the threshold for supporting voting rights legislation.

That is something that is still on the table. They still have to work with him in some ways. And that is a reality that she is acknowledging as well. Jim?

ACOSTA: All right, Suzanne. Thanks for that. I suppose now I'm going to get the Charlie Brown perspective over there at the White House. Joe Johns is at the White House. How are they responding to this? I guess they missed the football. JOE JOHNS, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Yes, absolutely. And

they put out a scathing statement, and there was a lot of surprise in it though. The fact of the matter is, it was no surprise that these negotiations were in trouble. Perhaps the only surprise was the timing because the White House said in this statement that Manchin had actually brought his own proposal directly to the president and they were expecting to work their way through that when he abruptly pulled the plug on national television.

And our reporting is that about 30 to 40 minutes before he went on TV, he actually sent one of his aides to deliver the message to the White House that he was going to make this announcement. The White House, in turn, tries to reach out to him, and Manchin, they say, wouldn't take the call. So, there were clearly feelings that there was something else to negotiate.

Now, a little bit of that statement just to give you a flavor of it. Senator Manchin's comments this morning on Fox are at odds with his discussions this week with the president, with White House staff, and with his own public utterances. Weeks ago, Senator Manchin committed to the president at his home in Wilmington to support the Build Back Better framework that the president then subsequently announced.

Senator Manchin pledged repeatedly to negotiate on the finalizing that framework in good faith. So, you know, a lot of people upset over here at the White House, and the big question is what do you do now going into the midterm election year, Jim?

ACOSTA: No question about it. Those questions are going to persist on both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue. All right, Suzanne Malveaux, Joe Johns, thank you so much.

Let's bring in CNN senior political analyst John Avlon and CNN political commentator and host of PBS "Firing Line" Margaret Hoover. Thanks to both of you. Happy Holidays. John, you know, there are a lot of popular things in this bill. That was always consistently reflected in the polling on this, things that people felt the wealthiest in the country in the world should have right now, things like paid family leave, things like Universal Pre-K, access to expanded healthcare, that the richest in this country should pay more taxes and so on.

And, in fact, a recent Monmouth University poll found 61 percent had some level of support for this bill. Why couldn't they get Senator Joe Manchin to a yes? He saw those numbers too, I suppose.

JOHN AVLON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Yes. And traditionally, you know, one of the things centrists tend to do is they look at what's actually popular as opposed to ideological wish list items that maybe have a minority of support in America, and they try to bring folks together.

And I think the White House has been negotiating in good faith with Manchin. And I think Manchin you want to take at his word that he had been working with the president. But to pull the plug this way, the week before Christmas when so many of these items are not only popular but things that Manchin has supported in the past, things that would benefit his own constituents in West Virginia.

Things that would help the Democratic Party reach out to working-class voters who feel like they've have suffered from the growing economic divide. When the child tax credits are going to move more kids into poverty if it's not enacted.

[17:24:57]

When seniors with hearing and vision -- all these items which are not only powerful but affect people's lives in a positive way are jettisoned rather than simply continuing to work after this week, he apparently gave a framework to the White House and there was good faith action. That is what is so difficult to digest today. Why the folks are not only disappointed but deeply, deeply frustrated.

Now, I think the keywords to parse Manchin's language are "this bill." But because not a single Republican's going to support this, maybe Lisa Murkowski will throw a Hail Mary. You can't, you know -- they're going to rail on about deficits and debt. They only give a damn about when the Democrat is president.

MARGARET HOOVER, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Okay.

AVLON: And there's an absence of good faith. And that's a damn shame at this late of the date as we head into Christmas season. My wife disagrees with me, as you can tell.

HOOVER: I mean, I'd just like to get a word in edgewise because we understand the Democratic talking points on this position.

AVLON: Whoa! That's not true.

HOOVER: Listen, Joe Manchin is representing not the United States of America. He is not President Manchin. He is Joe Manchin the senator from West Virginia who represents a state that three-quarters of the population voted for Donald Trump. So, Joe, I think the suggestion that he is not doing the centrist thing is actually not fair.

Here's what Joe Manchin is doing. Joe Manchin has said from the beginning, and he has been very clear and transparent how much he's willing to go. He's willing to go $1.5 trillion extra on top of the infrastructure bill and on top of $5 trillion that has already been sent this year. And then he went up to $1.75 trillion.

AVLON: And now he's saying nothing.

HOOVER: And here's -- here's what's true, Jim. You said that they're up to 60 percent of America supports aspects of the bill. That's true. But they don't all support all of the bill.

AVLON: Sure.

HOOVER: And so you got to pick something. And what you have to do when you don't have a super majority or even a strong majority in the United States Senate, you have almost 50. You have 50, right? You don't -- you have half -- is not to have an FDR-style restructuring of the social contract when you enter -- and looking down the barrel of inflation and an incoming COVID surge, you need to pick one, okay.

Work with the guy who's going to make it possible instead of trying to persuade him to come to your side. He's been very clear.

AVLON: But hold on. I mean, excuse me, Jim. You know, I think the counter to all this is that -- and this is, yes, we do talk this way at home -- the counter to this is not just where --

ACOSTA: I just want -- I just want to point out I have not started any of this. I just -- I showed some poll numbers, and this is what happened.

AVLON: No.

HOOVER: That's why Jim, do you want to get in pretty edgewise.

ACOSTA: Just so the viewer understands what happened here. Let me just jump in because Kamala Harris, the vice president, had a very tense exchange on the subject of Joe Manchin this week before we even knew about this no vote.

AVLON: Yes.

ACOSTA: Let's take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHARLAMAGNE THA GOD, HOST, THE GOD'S HONEST TRUTH WITH LENARD CHARLAMAGNE: So who's the real president of this country, is it Joe Manchin or Joe Biden, Madam Vice President?

KAMALA HARRIS, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: Come on, Charlamagne --

CHARLAMAGNE: I really --

HARRIS: Come on. It's Joe Biden.

CHARLAMAGNE: I can't tell sometimes.

HARRIS: 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.

CHARLAMAGNE: Do you think Joe Manchin is a problem?

HARRIS: And it's Joe Bi -- and it's Joe Bi-- and it's Joe Biden, and I'm vice president, and my name is Kamala Harris.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: Wow, Margaret. I mean, you know, maybe we'll call him Charlamagne Tha Prophet because, I mean, he sort of called this thing earlier this week, I mean, you know.

AVLON: Well. ACOSTA: Kind of.

HOOVER: What she's pointing -- what he was pointing out, though, and what he was, you know, understandably defensive about is the fact that in the public eye Joe Biden has been missing from the negotiations. And I am anticipating pushback from my left.

But as somebody who, you know, worked in George w. Bush's White House when he was trying to pass prescription drug reform, for example, or the Medicare Part D prescription drug benefit, you know, when George W. Bush wanted something, when you're a president who wants something legislatively, you hit the road and you rally the American people to your cause.

And Joe Biden hasn't done that. And so people are wondering where he is. And that's why I think, look, if you have a legislative signature, legislative achievement, you ought to be out in front of it. You have your, you know, you have to be able to do things and demonstrate that you're invested in. The public doesn't see that. And I think that's what Charlamagne --

ACOSTA: To some extent, and I do want to move on to a different subject and wrap it up nicely for the holidays, you know, with a nice holiday subject here, I do think that Joe Manchin did, I think, mislead a lot of people in his party for many, many months to think that they were going to get somewhere on all of this.

And, yes, he may represent a MAGA state now and so on, but you know, not everybody in West Virginia has a house boat. Anyway, moving on, let's talk about something else. Before we go, I have to get your take on this made-up war on Christmas and these comments from Donald Trump and Mike Huckabee. Let's watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[17:29:53]

MIKE HUCKABEE, FORMER GOVERNOR OF ARKANSAS: When you came into office, America had gone through a long period where people quit saying "Merry Christmas" or "Happy Holidays." You deliberately changed that.

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: 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 VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: I don't know. What's happening here, John? Santa Clause --

AVLON: I think there's a mistletoe right outside of the camera frame. I mean, what a "fawning ridiculous interview." I mean, it's a phony war on Christmas. He's a fake field general taking credit. Fox has been, you know, hammering home this nonsense for almost two decades. I just did a reality check. This goes back to the John Birch Society, Henry Ford pushing anti-Semitic propaganda and even to the period of Christians in the 1600's. They don't bother you about that. But this is just nonsense.

ACOSTA: Margaret?

HOOVER: I mean, I resemble that remark as somebody who used to be on Fox News with Bill O'Reilly and about being forced to talk about the war on Christmas or not at all. Look, it is, it's a recurring trope. The thing that's historically fascinating about it is that it truly does date back to the puritans and has taken on full new steam in the middle of the 20th century as an anti-Semitic trope. So --

ACOSTA: Well, I'm --

HOOVER: -- where we will hear on Fox News and other places from Donald Trump.

AVLON: And may we wish you a Merry Christmas.

HOOVER: Merry Christmas.

ACOSTA: Well, I want to say if he had done a better job on COVID, maybe we'd have a merrier Christmas this coming week. But, anyway, we'll leave it there. John Avlon, Margaret Hoover, thanks so much to both of you. Happy holidays. Hope you sort things after this segment's over.

AVLON: We will. We're doing fine.

HOOER: We're fine.

ACOSTA: I know, I know. Take care, guys.

All right, coming up, after bombshell revelations this week and the January 6th investigation including texts from lawmakers and conservative TV hosts to Trump during the capitol riot, what is the strategy for the January 6th committee? That's next. You're live in the "CNN Newsroom."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:35:00]

ACOSTA: The January 6th committee is moving ahead against those choosing not to comply with their subpoenas. This week the House voted to recommend the Department of Justice pursue criminal contempt charges against former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows. Meadows refused to appear before the panel and stopped cooperating on the same day of his book release.

CNN senior legal analyst and former federal and state prosecutor Elie Honig joins me now to answer your legal questions. Eli, one viewer wants to know how likely is it that the Justice Department decides to file criminal contempt charges against Meadows, given his defense of executive privilege, or as we've discussed so many times, it's been sort of selective privilege because he's released some things here and not so much there. ELIE HONIG, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Exactly, Jim. Look, I think Mark

Meadows should be charged criminally. It's not my decision. It's Merrick Garland's decision. He and I don't always see things the same way it turns out. Now, look, Steve Bannon had a -- has a weaker executive privilege claim than Mark Meadows. Mark Meadows has a better executive privilege claim, but that doesn't mean he has good one.

I see three primary faults with Mark Meadows' position. First of all, he has waived the privilege. Like you said, Jim, he's written a book about it. He's produced thousands of documents to the committee. You can't then take it back. Second of all we're talking about a privilege being invoked by a former president. And now we're starting to hear from the federal courts including the Court of Appeals that that does not fly.

And, finally, even if the privilege might apply here, I don't think a court would give the benefit of it to Mark Meadows relating to January 6th conversations because the privilege does not apply to cover wrongdoing or potential criminality.

Now, what will Merrick Garland do? Look, I think Merrick Garland has been weak so far in the way he has investigated and prosecuted January 6th. He does not seem to be interested in potentially political decisions. I think this one's going to be a coin toss as to what he does. I think it's going to be a 50/50 call.

ACOSTA: Wow, interesting. And a federal appeals court ruled against president -- former President Trump as he has tried to keep his White House records from the committee. Trump is now vowing to take this legal battle to the highest court. One of our viewers wants to know, how likely is it that the Supreme Court will decide to hear the executive privilege case involving Trump and the National Archives? What do you think?

HONIG: Yes. So I actually think the Supreme Court is not going to hear this case. Now, you need to have four out of the nine justices to vote to take a case. This case has already been ruled on by the Court of Appeals. They ruled against Trump. So, why might the court take it or not take it? The main reason they might take this case it because it raises an important and novel constitutional issue.

We don't know exactly for sure whether a former president can invoke the privilege. We've not heard that from the Supreme Court. On the other side of things though, there's not what we call a circuit split. You don't have different courts around the country ruling in different ways. And I think if you look at the Court of Appeals' opinion against Donald Trump, it's really pretty air tight. It's really well reasoned.

They say, look, the current president has said no privilege. Congress has said no privilege. Who is the former president to come in and override that? So, we should find out an answer to this at some point within the next several weeks. But I think the Supreme Court's going to say no thanks and let the decision stand.

ACOSTA: Right. And moving onto another subject, notorious Trump ally Roger Stone appeared before the January 6th committee this week but he pleaded the fifth on every question they asked. A viewer asked, if a witness takes the fifth can he still be charged with any crime at all? Or is the Fifth Amendment a get out of jail free card? You know, that's a good question, I suppose.

HONIG: Yes. Well, it's not a get out of jail free card. It is a get out of contempt card, however. So the Fifth Amendment applies very broadly. Any person whose testimony might tend to incriminate him does have the right to take the Fifth Amendment. I think it's fair to say, wow, a lot of people have taken the fifth here, Stone, Jeffrey Clark, John Eastman. I think there's a pattern there.

[17:39:55]

The other -- but the thing to know is you cannot prosecute somebody for contempt if they've legitimately taken the fifth. But, however, it does not protect someone like Roger Stone from any other type of criminal charge. He could be charged with anything else that he's done.

ACOSTA: All right. We'll see if that happens. Elie Honig, thanks so much. Happy holidays, my friend. Appreciate it.

HONIG: Thanks, Jim. You, too. Thanks.

ACOSTA: Still to come -- all right. Thank you. Israel adding countries to its no-fly list as the prime minister warns a huge wave of coronavirus is already upon them.

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ACOSTA: New very powerful images coming in now from Brussels, Belgium. It's a peaceful protest with thousands of people angry at the Belgian government over the nationwide restrictions put in place to try to curb the COVID infections there. Some of those signs you see reading "Enough is Enough" and "We Are Free."

People marched this weekend in several European capitals like London and Paris where health officials are putting new rules into place aimed at stemming the coronavirus spread.

Meanwhile, Israel's prime minister says a fifth wave of coronavirus infection is already underway there with cases expected to rise quickly in the coming weeks. For more on the steps Israel is taking to try and bring case numbers down, we turn to Elliott Gotkine in Tel Aviv. Elliott, what more are we learning? It sounds like some pretty dramatic steps are being taken.

ELLIOTT GOTKINE, JOURNALIST: Jim, there are a number of steps that the government has been taking today and certainly Neftali Bennett, the prime minister before his cabinet meeting on Sunday morning and then in a nationwide press -- news conference on Sunday evening, really trying to get the message across to Israelis that the situation right now is very serious. ACOSTA: And we're seeing growing protests and frustration around the

world as anti-COVID measures are implemented again to curb omicron's spread. What's the public outcry been like in Israel? Are people -- are they getting frustrated with all of this?

GOTKINE: I should say that here in Israel, everything is still open. There are some restrictions. You need a green pass to prove recovery from COVID or to prove you've been vaccinated to get into certain indoor restaurants for example or into certain events and they're thinking of tightening those restrictions.

There have been some protests against what's been going on in terms of the green pass. But, as I say, most things are open for now. What the prime minister's been trying to get everyone to do with his public statements today is to encourage them to not take their eye off the ball, to keep wearing masks, to get vaccinated, to work from home is one of the new things he said today if you're able to do so.

And one of the main things they're trying to do right now is to ramp up the vaccination campaign among children. It's been a very disappointing take-up, just 10 percent of kids since that was launched a few weeks ago, about 140,000 children. They're trying to ramp up that campaign. They're increasing tenfold the number of schools where you can get vaccinated. And they feel that that is one way they can reduce the future caseload of COVID infections here.

ACOSTA: All right, Elliott Gotkine, thank you very much for that, from Tel Aviv. We appreciate it.

Coming up, Dr. Sanjay Gupta on what some parents are calling a miracle using marijuana despite the risks to help their children with autism. But first, here's Christine Romans with your 'Before the Bell" report.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Jim. You know you're paying more for just about everything, and now the Federal Reserve is pivoting to fight inflation more aggressively. The Central Bank plans to wrap up its COVID stimulus faster than expected and it could potentially raise interest rates three times next year.

That means higher borrowing costs are coming for a car, a home, or to refinance. Mortgage rates are still historically low, but they're likely to rise next year. And that could slow the red-hot housing market. In October, home sales rose for a second straight month. Now that's despite a big jump in prices.

Prices are up, home prices up more than 13 percent from a year ago. This week we get reports on November home sales. It's a short week on Wall Street. Financial markets are closed Friday ahead of Christmas Day. In New York, I'm Christine Romans.

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ACOSTA: In Australia, CNN has learned that an 11-year-old is now the sixth child to die after a strong wind lifted a bouncy castle 30 feet off the ground. Police in Tasmania say the children were on an end-of- school activity day when the tragedy occurred. Nine kids were in the bounce house when it happened. Six of them were killed, two of them are still in critical condition.

A growing number of parents are turning to marijuana to help their children with autism, some calling the changes they're seeing miraculous. In a new CNN special report, Dr. Sanjay Gupta meets with some of the families, including one that secretly gave their daughter the drug even though it was illegal.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SANJAY GUPTA, CNN MEDICAL ANALYST (voice-over): When Cara turned 17, the Zertlers decide they don't want to keep their secret anymore. They believe the only way to create change is to share her story.

(On camera): Did anybody say don't do this?

UNKNOWN: Yes. Everyone.

GUPTA: Family members?

UNKNOWN: Yes. They all did. Friends.

GUPTA: Because they were worried about the reaction?

UNKNOWN: Consequences. It was all about, well, you're going to end up in jail over this.

GUPTA (voice-over): That's when they decide to have Christie film Cara having a violent fit and Mark giving her cannabis. Mark post the video on Facebook and it goes viral. The story makes local and national news.

UNKNOWN: On the front page on the Sunday paper.

GUPTA (voice-over): People take notice.

UNKNOWN: Somebody in our Richardson town saw it on the local news and called 911.

GUPTA (voice-over): And so does Child Protective Services.

UNKNOWN: Well, it didn't take long. CPS, knock, knock, knock, knock, and she says I need to talk to my supervisor. We've established a CPS case with you and you'll be hearing from us again.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[17:55:07]

ACOSTA: Don't miss the CNN Special Report, "Weed 6: Marijuana and Autism." It airs tonight at 8:00 right here on CNN.

After months of preparations, more than 400 trees and 10,000 ornaments, a couple in Germany has broken the world record for the most decorated Christmas trees in one place. Take a look at this place. Wow, all the lights you see, there are more than 300 strings of them, but I have to say, still does not top my mom's house, though. My mom's got the best decorations.

All right. Thanks -- thanks so much for watching. That's the news. Reporting from Washington, I'm Jim Acosta. Hope you have a happy holiday. Pamela Brown takes over the "CNN Newsroom" live after a quick break. Happy Holidays everybody.

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