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Omicron Variant of Coronavirus Rapidly Spreading Across U.S.; Data Suggests Severity of Illness Due to Omicron Variant Less than Delta Variant; Flights Canceled During Holidays Due to Staffing Shortages at Airports; Studies Indicate Some Masks Less Effective at Containing Respiratory Droplets than other; Spokesman for Former President Trump, Taylor Budowich, Sues to Prevent January 6th Investigatory Committee from Obtaining His Financial Records; New Video Released on January Capitol Hill Insurrection. Aired 10-11a ET

Aired December 25, 2021 - 10:00   ET

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

[10:00:00]

JESSICA DEAN, CNN ANCHOR: In Los Angeles, new cases tripled in the last week. The surge making a real mess of holiday travel for so many people across the country. Several major airlines cancelling hundreds of flights this morning, citing staffing shortages.

CNN's Nadia Romero and Alison Kosik are monitoring all the developments for us. Nadia, let's start with you. You're at one of the busiest airports in the world, Atlanta. What is the situation for travelers there right now?

NADIA ROMERO, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Jessica, many of them are trying to figure out if their flight is still on, if they can make their way to their final destination or not. Now, luckily for some travelers, I guess at least luckily in this situation, they were told on Wednesday that Delta was cancelling some 250 flights. So, it gave them a little bit of time to try to pick an alternative flight, to get on a different flight, maybe a different airline, or figure out how they would get home or get back home so they could see their loved ones.

For other people, though, they found out today, more than 1,000 flights canceled for this entire weekend, today and tomorrow. And when you look at the numbers, it's staggering. Delta announcing cancelations for more than 280 flights, United more than 230, JetBlue more than 100. And all those people were excited about traveling again. I just spoke with a man who is on his way to Paris. He says his hasn't seen his family since 2019 because the borders closed. And despite the Omicron variant or Delta, or anything else, he's going to make his way back to his family.

But many other frustrated travelers are not so lucky. Listen to their fears of not being able to make it home in time. And so, a lot of those travelers are talking about what it means for them, not being able to see their family, being stuck in the airport. You can see people are starting to make their way behind me here in Atlanta to get inside. Some of those flights were canceled earlier in the day. More flights were scheduled for the afternoon and for the evening hours. But this time around, people have been checking their phone. I spoke with one woman who said he was glued to her phone all night making sure that her flight didn't get canceled. But she's on the other side of security by now, because the lines inside are just so short people are able to make their way.

All of this is because of COVID-19, the Omicron variant. The flight crews are just calling in sick, having to quarantine. Either they have COVID-19, or they've been exposed. That's what we're hearing from the airlines.

Also, weather. It is rather nice here in Atlanta, but not so much in the Midwest and the pacific northwest where they're experiencing frigid temperatures, icy snowing conditions that have canceled plenty of their flights. But we're going to keep talking to travelers as they try to make their way on Christmas Day. Jessica.

DEAN: All right, Nadia. Let's check in with Alison now who is in New York. Alison, you're following the rise in outbreaks nationwide. What are you learning this morning?

ALISON KOSIK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Jessica. So, across the U.S., it seems that the race was on, not just for finding a last- minute Christmas gift, but trying to find a COVID test, with millions of people traveling, as you see, or hoping to join family gatherings.

From New York, where we saw those long lines persist all week with people waiting in the cold, to Raleigh, North Carolina, where lines were a mile long on Christmas Eve, with some waiting up to two hours in traffic just to get to the testing site. Even in Oahu, Hawaii, at one testing cite, the line wrapped around several blocks with some waiting two-and-a-half hours to get COVID tested.

COVID-19 also disrupting sports and vacations. NHL, the National Hockey League, announcing that its regular season schedule won't resume until Tuesday. Previously the league planned to resume games on Monday following a pause in please.

On board a Carnival Cruise ships, several people tested positive for COVID. The ship was denied entry to two ports, but it was able to dock at a port in the Dominican Republic. The ship had departed from Miami on December 18th. It's expected to return tomorrow. Royal Caribbean's Odyssey of the Seas, there 55 people, a mix of crew and passengers, have tested positive for COVID-19. In a statement Royal Caribbean International tells CNN that 95 percent of the people on board the ship were fully vaccinated when it left port last week from Fort Lauderdale.

All of this happening as case numbers spike here in New York. The state reporting that just yesterday there were 44,000 new cases. That's a jump of 14 percent, breaking the previous day's record of 38,000 thousand cases. We are seeing hospitalizations in New York rising, but they are at a lower rate. Data still show people going into the hospital because of COVID-19, that rose 4.6 percent from Thursday to Friday. Still, we've got New York Governor Kathy Hochul announcing that New

York will shorten the quarantine time from 10 days to five days for those in what she called the critical workforce. This includes nurses, doctors, police officers, grocery store clerks, bartenders, and cooks. The move means that after a positive test, fully vaccinated people in New York who work in critical positions, in frontline positions, can return to work just five days after that positive COVID result if they are asymptomatic and if they wear a mask.

[10:05:06]

The governor had argued, Jessica, that the 10-day rule caused unnecessary staff shortages in frontline jobs. Jessica?

DEAN: Alison Kosik and Nadia Romero, thanks so much to both of you.

As experts get a better understanding of COVID-19 and how it spreads, many say it is past time to reconsider your facemask options, especially if you're still wearing a cloth mask. CNN's Randi Kaye takes a look at which type of masks offer the most protection.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Heavy cough, three, two, one.

RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Inside this lab at Florida Atlantic University, two engineering professors are measuring how coronavirus virus can spread through the power of a coach. They fill a mannequin's mouth with a mix of glycerin and water, next use a pump to force it to cough, then wait and see how far the droplets travel. The droplets fill the air, made visible with a green laser light. Holiday travelers take note, the droplets expelled advanced a distance of three feet almost immediately. Within five seconds, the droplets had traveled six feet, then nine feet in just about 10 seconds. Remember, nine feet is three feet beyond the recommended social distancing guidelines.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's already reaching roughly nine feet now. It's still moving farther slowly.

KAYE: The fog of droplets lingered in the air, and can do so, the professor says, for several minutes. It took by 30 to 40 seconds to float another three feet.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's getting closer to 12 feet now.

KAYE: Yes, he said 12 feet. Over and over again the simulated droplets blew past the six-foot mark, often doubling that distance. In fact, while the CDC says it is less likely, infections have been transmitted to people who were more than six feet away, even in people who passed through the area after the infectious person had already left. It's all part of why the CDC still insists on keeping your distance from others while traveling and wear a high-quality mask.

Our professors tested masks, too, and it's easy to say why some experts say cloth masks and anything that's just a single layer offers so little protection. First, we tested a single layer gaiter. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This gaiter is a bit surprising because it tends to let everything through without any stoppage.

KAYE: Next up, a single-layer bandana, made of 100 percent cotton.

MANHAR DHANAK, ENGINEERING PROFESSOR: What you see there is this quilting cotton one-layer masks performs a little better than the gaiter. You still get some leakage coming through its filters, some of the droplets, but some escape through with a single layer. They don't go very far, but probably about six inches from the face when you're talking.

KAYE: This double-layer mask made of quilting cotton also spread respiratory droplets when the mannequin talked and coughed, but not as badly as the gaiter and the bandana.

DHANAK: It doesn't go very far, probably about two to three inches from the face, so significantly better than the other mask.

KAYE: And what about those blue surgical masks so many people are wearing on airplanes and in airports? They did well, but there's room for improvement. When the mannequin coughed, not much went through the mask, but quite a bit leaked out the top. Bottom line, experts suggest grabbing a KN95 or N95 mask if available before hitting the road. And keep your distance from your fellow passengers, and maybe even your family.

Randi Kaye, CNN, Palm Beach County, Florida.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

DEAN: And here with me now is Dr. Robert Wachter, the chair of the University of California San Francisco Department of Medicine. Doctor, great to see you here this morning. Thanks for making time to be with us.

DR. ROBERT WACHTER, AUTHOR, THE DIGITAL DOCTOR": Great to be with you.

DEAN: I want to start with that report we just saw from Randi. We know the Omicron variant is highly transmissible, but many are debating the severity of the strain compared to Delta. What differences are you seeing between Omicron and Delta with the data that we have? And I understand we're still learning as we go.

WACHTER: We are, but the picture is much clearer now that it was even three days ago. I would say three days ago we knew this thing was much more infectious, you're much more apt to catch it for the exactly the same encounter that you might have had a month appearing. We know that it does evade the immune system, whether it came from a prior infection or your immunity came from vaccination, and so you want to be at the highest level of immunity you could be, which is vaccinated and boosted.

[10:10:00]

We really didn't know about severity. We were hearing reports that maybe it's milder, but there's a lot of things that go into that, so the data were unclear. Just in the past few days' reports from South Africa, from U.K., from Australia now beginning to get reports, including what I'm seeing in San Francisco, I think makes clear that this is less severe than Delta, probably about 50 percent less likely to land you in the hospital, which is a big deal. But if there are twice as many cases and it's half as likely to land you in the hospital, it's still pretty serious. But that is the first piece of good news we've had. It does appear to be less severe for the average case.

DEAN: And certainly, we will take good news, that's for sure. And despite this surge in cases that we're seeing, and how contagious Omicron is, Americans don't seem to be rushing to get booster shots. The data is showing less that 20 percent of Americans have gotten that third dose. What is the difference between being even double vaxxed versus having the booster when it comes to protection against Omicron?

WACHTER: Yes, if you remember, after you got your booster your protection against Delta, and this is for symptomatic infections, was about 95 percent, compared to an unvaccinated person. So, you're really super protected. With the booster, that number with Omicron is about 75 percent. So, you've lost a little bit, but you're still quite well protected. If you've just gotten two shots, it was more than four or five months ago, you're about 30 percent protected. If your immunity came from a prior infection, particularly if it was a long time ago, your level of protection is very small, probably less than that, less than 30 percent.

So, if you want to be protected against this virus, and I don't see any reason why you wouldn't, the vaccines are incredibly effective and incredibly safe, then you really should get the booster.

DEAN: Right. And I also want to get your take on the CDC's new guidelines that are shortening this isolation period, recommending that health workers specifically who are asymptomatic but positive return to work after seven days and a negative COVID test. To you, does that follow the science, or is this more about trying to avoid a shortage of workers in hospitals, maybe it's both?

WACHTER: It's both. It does follow the science. We still don't have great data on the length of infectivity, how long a person with Omicron is infectious for, so we're doing a little extrapolation from what we know from Delta and what we know from vaccines. But it's very clear that if you're vaccinated and you've gotten COVID, and you're asymptomatic, and you have a negative rapid test, you are fine by day six or seven. And particularly, to be a little extra careful, continue to wear a mask beyond that.

The question, I think, for us, I'm about to go into my hospital, UCSF, if we have hundreds of people -- we don't yet, but it's possible we could, if we have hundreds of doctors and nurses who have COVID, and all of them have to be out for a full week, it's possible we're not going to be able to staff the emergency room and the intensive care unit. And so, moving that back, as New York has done, and we are think about to five days, if it's five days, you feel fine, you have negative rapid tests on days four and five, and you continue to wear a mask afterwards, I think the evidence would say that is very, very safe and will allow us to be able to continue to staff our hospitals and clinics. And that's really important to keep people healthy.

DEAN: And I know you're in San Francisco, but in southern California, L.A. County is seeing this major surge in cases, nearly 10,000 positive infections reported Friday alone. In your opinion, what more could health officials do at this stage? What can be done besides encouraging people to get vaccinated, get the booster? Is there anything they can do to move these numbers?

WACHTER: I think people know the mantra by now. You want to be as vaccinated as you possibly can. So, making clear that even if you had two shots, if it was more than five or six months ago, you really do need the extra shot, make that as easy as possible.

We need to get rapid tests more available. I was at my pharmacy in San Francisco the other day. They had none. There is a really important tool that we didn't have a year ago but is now an important part of our tools. And convincing people this is going to be tough. There is good news, it's not as severe as Delta, but I'm just worried that I'm just worried that people will hear that and say, OK, good, I don't have to worry about it. This still can be quite serious, particularly in people who are older who have other medical illnesses. And it's probably only going to last for six or eight weeks if South Africa is any judge. So convincing people this is not a forever thing, but for the next six or eight weeks, if you can up your game, wear a better mask, as the story just showed, if you can wear a N95 or KN95 or 94, and be careful, for the next six or eight weeks, we may be in pretty good shape when we get to the other side of this.

DEAN: Such good advice, and I think it helps people, too, everyone is so tired of all of this, especially the healthcare workers like you.

[10:15:03]

But to see it's not going to be forever in this particular moment in time, it's just try to do this for the next six to eight weeks and see if you can protect yourself.

I do want to ask about the frontline healthcare workers who are now dealing with things like threats from patients, from their families over how their being treated for the virus. We have reports of families asking for unproven treatments like ivermectin. Tell us about the real dangers you're seeing from misinformation, if you've encountered any of that, what you're seeing in your community, and what can be done to combat that?

WACHTER: Yes. I have not, because I'm in San Francisco, and the Bay Area has been really great. The people in the Bay Area from the very beginning have believed this is real, have looked to the science. We're the most vaccinated major city in the country. More than 80 percent of the entire population has gotten at least two shots. Mask wearing is very common. And so by and large, we're not seeing. People are absolutely exhausted, and when we see an unvaccinated person come in the hospital, it is immensely frustrating, because we know that that was probably preventable. When I talked to my colleagues in other parts of the country, they're seeing this a lot. They're seeing people who are angry when you talk to them about vaccines, angry because you're not giving them a medication that's been proven not to work when they're not on medications that are proven to work. It's immensely frustrating. And when you have a population that's not 80 percent vaccinated like San Francisco like 40 and your hospital begins to fill up with people who just made a very bad choice, it's now doubly tragic. And it's quite sad, and people are getting exhausted and getting frustrated taking care of patients who could have prevented their own illness.

DEAN: I'm sure they are. And we thank all of your health care workers, doctors, nurses, everyone for all that you've done over the last, gosh, it's almost been two years now. Dr. Wachter, thanks so much you for being with us this morning.

WACHTER: Thank you. Happy holidays.

DEAN: Happy holidays.

Coming up, a spokesman for Donald Trump sues the House Select Committee investigating the January 6th riot to block access to his financial records.

And later, millions of people are under severe winter weather alerts across the U.S. this holiday weekend. We'll have the latest on your forecast.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:20:04]

DEAN: Another ally of Former President Trump is suing to challenge the January 6th committee. Trump spokesman Taylor Budowich's suit aims to prevent the panel from obtaining his financial documents form J.P. Morgan, which is also named in the lawsuit. CNN's Marshall Cohen joins us now. And Marshall, what more do we know about this lawsuit?

MARSHALL COHEN, CNN REPORTER: Good morning, Jessica. It's a pretty big deal. This Christmas Eve filing came in overnight in the courts, and for the very first time it revealed to us that the committee, the January 6th Select Committee in the House, in fact has issued a subpoena for financial records.

They have said for months that they want to follow the money. And CNN reported earlier this year that they had an entire team that they called the green team to do just that. They want to figure out where was the money flowing to fund those rallies, those events, that stop the steal movement that led to so much destruction on January.

So this court filing from the Trump spokesman revealed that his bank at J.P. Morgan got a subpoena. He's trying to fight it. He's making the case that he has already cooperated with the committee and given them tons of other documents, but that this particular subpoena goes too far. And Jessica, he's probably not the only person that's gotten this kind of subpoena for bank records, but it's the first one that we have learned about.

DEAN: Very interesting. This is also coming as the Justice Department has released more powerful video from the insurrection. What can you tell us about this new video.

COHEN: Jessica, this video we got because CNN and other news outlets sued for access. The Justice Department finally released it this week. It is graphic, but it is worth watching because it tells you the truth about January 6th. There's so much in here. It's three hours long. It's the most pronounced and prolonged battle from that day. It was on the tunnel that was leading into the Capitol. To get into this part of the Capitol, you had to breach the inauguration platform. So that's just how deep these rioters penetrated.

You can see here on your screen the beginning of the battle, the first Trump supporters that made their way over to the police line. But police there were quickly overwhelmed. It became a massive mob of people. Folks there used whatever they could get their hands on to attack the police. We're talking flagpoles, batons that they stole from other officers, other metal poles, a wooden leg of a table that had protruding nails. In this particular clip, you see a man hanging from the top of there, kicking officers in the head with his feet. It's brazen criminal activity, Jessica.

It goes on. Others used strobe lights to try to distract the officers. You can see it there. Pepper spray galore on both sides of the line. Jessica, this is one of the unique situations on the Capitol, which you know very well. That was deeply penetrated on January 6th. But in this area, the police actually held the line. They fought for three hours, and did not let the rioters in in this area. But it came at a heavy cost. This is where Officer Michael Fanone was pulled into the crowd and tased in the neck. This is where Officer Daniel Hodges was crushed in a doorway, two of many officers that were injured that day in this particular battle. So it shows you the bravely on one side of the line and the brazenry on the other side of that line. And finally, we're getting to see this battle almost a year after the attack. Jessica?

DEAN: It is tough to watch. All right, Marshall Cohen for us, thanks so much. We appreciate it.

And still ahead, millions of families have lost the enhanced child tax credit for next year as it expires. The impact that could have on child poverty.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:27:19]

DEAN: Here's a number for you -- 35 million. That's how many families have lost their enhanced child tax credit for next year. It is one of the central issues holding up negotiations on Capitol Hill over the Build Back Better plan. But for the families impacted, they say Washington has no idea what their reality is every day. CNN's Vanessa Yurkevich has that story.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

VANESSA YURKEVICH, CNN BUSINESS AND POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: A window into the Viruet-Lopez family reveals Christmas cheer.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I feel like the chocolate is gone. I wonder where it went. Hmm.

YURKEVICH: But come New Year's, they'll face a tough financial reality, along with 35 million other families.

JANETTE VIRUET, RECEIVES CHILD TAX CREDIT: We were at a tight budget already. And with this being removed, it's going to be even a tighter budget.

YURKEVICH: Mom, Janette Viruet, referring to the enhanced child tax credit. Congress failed to pass Build Back Better in time to extend these critical benefits into next year, up to $3,600 per child. The Lopez-Viruet family was receiving $800 a month for their three children under nine.

What does $800 a month mean to you?

VIRUET: It's enough to get us by, just because the price of food went up, gas went up. So I feel that that has helped us a lot. And we look forward to that. And we try to stretch it as much as we can.

YURKEVICH: How far did is it get you?

VIRUET: Just a couple days before the next one.

YURKEVICH: Checks were coming monthly, giving families income they could count on. Last month's checks kept 3.8 million children out of poverty.

What is the plan?

VIRUET: At this point, I don't know.

YURKEVICH: Single mom Katherine Kern will likely have to take a second job to support her teenage son and daughter, something she did when they were younger.

KATHERINE KERN, RECEIVES CHILD TAX CREDIT: Even before when I had the two jobs, to not be able to watch his games, because on the weekends I was working, so to not be there for him, that was sometimes a little difficult.

YURKEVICH: She's also getting a master's in psychology, just months away from graduating this spring, hoping it will further her career and increase her salary.

KERN: It's going to be really difficult to do that, and then also possibly take on a second job.

YURKEVICH: The $500 a month they get in child tax credits help with rising costs, making it easier to drive her daughter Isabella to routine doctor visits for her complex heart condition.

KERN: We had to spend some time just getting there and getting back, just all the little extras of taking time off of work and everything, it sort of adds up.

YURKEVICH: The child tax credit is popular across party lines, 75 percent of Democrats support it, and so do 41 percent of Republicans, which makes its failure in Congress even more puzzling for these families.

[10:30:09]

VIRUET: I feel that if they were put in our shoes for a couple days, their decisions would be different just because we don't have the freedom to spend our money the way we want to. We have to spend our month planned paycheck by paycheck.

YURKEVICH: Vanessa Yurkevich, CNN, Red Bank, New Jersey.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

DEAN: And with us now is Michelle Singletary. She's the author of "What to Do with Your Money When Crisis Hits, A Survival Guide." She's also a syndicated personal finance columnist for "The Washington Post." Great to have you here, Michelle. Let's talk first about the impact of this child tax credit ending. We just saw some family stories there with Vanessa. And it's important, I think, for people to understand, this enhanced benefit meant families were receiving monthly checks as opposed to when they did their taxes. And they were also getting more money. So what is the impact of this ending?

MICHELLE SINGLETARY, SYNDICATED COLUMNIST, "WASHINGTON POST": We know that it lifted millions of children out of poverty, which meant they were eating regularly. They had a roof over their head that was stabilized for several months. And it was so important, as you heard that mother talk about. It's not a matter of her trying not to work or sit home. She was working, and at times taking a second job to make it for her family.

And it's unfortunate that it's not going to continue, at least for another year, while we're still dealing with the pandemic. And studies who that -- the Census Bureau looked at what families were using the money for, and they were buying food, they were buying clothes for their children, they were using the money for what it was intended, to lift them from poverty and give them some sense of stability in their family.

DEAN: And one of the women we saw in that piece talked about how rising prices were making her finances more complicated. We hear a lot about inflation. We're seeing the inflation numbers go up. What is the real impact of a working family in America?

SINGLETARY: It was already tough before the pandemic for them to make a living wage and to pay for the things. You know in many cities, the housing can take up to 40 to 50 to sometimes 60 percent of someone's take-home pay. That doesn't leave a lot for them to do the things that they need for the kids, including even just saving for them for an emergency.

And so these payments help bridge that gap. And we are still right in the middle of an economy for these folks that is still very shaky, very unsure. And these payments really help them. And the key was that they were getting them on a monthly basis as opposed to having to wait for that one lump sum. And what happens is, if you're waiting for that, while you're doing that during that time, you may be accumulating debt, you may be getting behind on your rent payments. This allowed them to stay current so they don't fall behind.

DEAN: And so for people who are watching, if they're receiving -- if they had been receiving that child tax credit, what should they be doing to prepare for that loss of income? And also, it's probably going to come as news to some people who maybe don't know that that has now ended?

SINGLETARY: That's exactly right. So one thing that you can do is -- you hate to say this to folks who are already struggling, but to try to figure out a way to budget better. But how can they do that? That's just the point, right?

And so, but the most important thing is to know they can get the second half of that payment. So they must, must file their tax return in 2022 as soon as the tax season opens up, file so they can get that money. And if you know someone, if you're listening and you are low income or no income, and you didn't think you qualified for this payment, please file a tax return in 2020 because you can then get the expanded payments next year when you filed your return. And that, for some families could be up to $3,000 or up to $3,600. So just please, please make sure that you file your tax return next year. If you know anybody, to encourage them to file the return, because there are still millions of families who are eligible for this money who didn't get it because they didn't know that they could get this child tax credit payments.

DEAN: Right. And I cover Capitol Hill, and I did a lot of reporting on the tax credit and a lot of the negotiations to try to get it into the Build Back Better plan. I talked to Senator Cory Booker who was adamant that the child tax credit helped people get back to work, that it allowed them to pay for childcare, especially single mothers.

But some other senators would say they were concerned this was a disincentive for people to get back to work, or that perhaps they wouldn't work because they were getting this money. What is your opinion there? In your experience, does this enhanced benefit create a disincentive for people to go back to work or to work in the first place?

[10:35:05]

SINGLETARY: Jessica, it's Christmas, and my mom told me not to swear, but I tell you, I want to cuss them out. I'm just being completely honest with you. Anybody who has ever worked with someone who is low income, who is struggling, will know that they aren't going to just sit on the couch and for the government to send their payments. And I know this because I was raised by my grandmother who didn't earn very much. She didn't want anything from the government.

But these families, to sit there and say that they just want to suck on the teat of the government is incorrect. These some folks are trying and struggling. And did some of them make mistakes? Sure, they did. People in Congress make mistakes. But we are so willing to give tax breaks to the rich and rich companies.

But when it comes to working class people who are just trying to get by to reach that middle income level, all of a sudden, we act as if they're totally irresponsible. Families are doing the best they can with what they have. And these payments are a lift up. And I do not believe that it's an incentive for people not to work. People want to work. It gives them a sense of pride to work. They just need a bridge.

And if we want to have this, we don't want to give them cash payments, so how about helping them pay for college? How about childcare subsidies that so they can go to work. We want to penalize them forever and wag our fingers at them while children are going to bed hungry, while their parents are being evicted. And this is not the America that I want to belong to. I want America who realizes that let's give people a hand up, and when we do that, they will fend for themselves. They will work hard to get what they want with their hard labor.

DEAN: And I hear you, and I hear the passion in your voice. Michelle Singletary, merry Christmas, thanks so much for being with us this morning. I appreciate it.

SINGLETARY: Thank you so much. Merry Christmas to you as well.

DEAN: Thank you.

Still ahead, a Los Angeles police chief is promising a complete and transparent investigation after an innocent 14-year-old girl was killed during a police pursuit at a clothing store. We'll have details on that coming up next.

But first, a quick programming note. Friends, collaborators legends. Carole King and James Taylor in an unforgettable concert film. "Just Call Out My Name" airs this Sunday, January 2nd, at 9:00 p.m. here on CNN.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Friends, collaborators, legends. Their music shaped a generation. They came together for the tour of a lifetime.

(MUSIC)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: James Taylor.

(MUSIC)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: His songs were amazing. His voice is amazing, and his demeanor.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And Carole King.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Carole King, one of the greatest songwriters of all time. I asked to be a part of my band.

(MUSIC)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Forty years have passed since the first time we played.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I love every experience we have had together.

(MUSIC)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: "Just Call Out My Name" Sunday, January 2nd, at 9:00 on CNN.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:41:45]

DEAN: Los Angeles police say they will release body camera video in the death of a 14-year-old girl before Monday. Investigators say the teenager died in a department store on Thursday when a shot fired by police went through a dressing room wall. The officer was pursuing a suspect at the time.

CNN's Lucy Kafanov is joining us now. Lucy, what are police saying about this?

LUCY KAFANOV, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Jessica. Tragic and Devastating is how the LAPD police chief is describing this officer- involved shooting which claimed the life of this 14-year-old girl on Thursday. Police say they received multiple calls of a possible active shooter at the North Hollywood Burlington Coat Factory around noon on Thursday. They were told a number of people were sheltering in place. They responded, finding the suspect, who was apparently assaulting another woman. She was taken to the hospital with injuries. They encountered the suspect near the store's dressing room. They opened fire, killing him. But when they searched the premises, they made a gruesome discovery. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ASSISTANT CHIEF DOMINIC CHOI, LOS ANGELES POLICE DEPARTMENT: A subsequent search of the upper floor, we found a hole in the wall. And behind the drywall, solid wall that you can't see behind, we went behind it. It turned out to be the dressing room up there. And what we did is we were able to locate a 14-year-old female who was found deceased in that dressing room.

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KAFANOV: Now, this young girl was shopping with her mother, according to "Los Angeles Times." She was reportedly purchasing a quinceanera dress. The violence just two days before Christmas at a bustling shopping center has stunned people and raised questions about why police opened fire. No weapon was located on the suspect or on the scene. And authorities said a preliminary assessment did determine that this bullet, this stray bullet came from the officer's gun.

We also know that the state attorney general immediately opened an investigation. The Los Angeles police chief, Michael Moore, is promising full transparency. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHIEF MICHAEL MOORE, LOS ANGELES POLICE DEPARTMENT: We're doing everything we can to gather as much, to be as transparent as possible. But in the midst of all that, we also recognize there's nothing that can be done for this poor family, except for us to express my sorrow, my apologies this tragic outcome occurred.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAFANOV: LAPD policy is usually to release bodycam footage within 45 days of the incident. But the police chief in this instance is, as you mention, promising to release all of the materials by Monday. Jessica?

DEAN: Absolutely heartbreaking. Lucy Kavanof for us, thanks so much.

Still ahead, millions of people are under severe winter weather alerts across the U.S. this holiday weekend. We're going to tell you which cities, and major cities could have a white Christmas. That's next.

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[10:48:05]

DEAN: Millions of people are under weather alerts across the U.S. this holiday weekend, which may impact anyone who is traveling. In Seattle, the mayor has now signed an emergency proclamation as that city prepares for bitter winter weather, including heavy snowfall. But in the south, spring like temperatures will likely be breaking records. CNN's Tyler Mauldin is live from the CNN Weather Center. Tyler, it sounds like quite a mixed bag out there.

TYLER MAULDIN, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, absolutely. Good morning, Jessica.

Across the southern tier of the U.S., it maybe by Christmas Day, but it's going to feel more like May. Records are in jeopardy from the mid-Atlantic all the way down to the southern plains. What we should be seeing this time of year down here are temperatures in the mid-50s. However, this afternoon we're going to see temperatures in the 70s and 80s. Some parts of Oklahoma and Texas could actually approach 90 degrees.

But notice what's lurking up here to the north. We do have some cooler air up here. And this is where we have winter weather alerts in effect. We have a winter weather advisory in effect across portions of the northeast and New England. Be careful if you're hitting the roadways today and driving, because

you could encounter some ice, up to a quarter inch of ice, actually. And that's enough to take down some trees and maybe cause some power outages, too. It's because of a system that is encroaching right now, it's going to bring a cold rain and then that mixed bag of weather.

On its heels, yet another system, and this system is going to impact the northern plains and the Great Lakes as we get into tomorrow. Could we see a quick shot of snow here? Yes, absolutely. In fact, across North Dakota on into Minnesota, we could see roughly a foot of snow within the next 24 to 36 hours.

And then we're looking at feet of snow across the central and northern Rockies as well as the intermountain west. Sierra Nevada, we could so multiple feet of snow, more than six feet of snow in some areas, especially across northern portions of the Sierra Nevada. Across the lower elevations, we're looking at rainfall.

[10:50:04]

And all of this is much needed, because we are in a terrible drought out here across the west coast. So we have 30 million people under winter weather alerts at this time across the entire country, the majority of which are out here across the west coast. Notice that right there, the windstorm warning in pink across northern California, that is for portions of the Sierra Nevada that could see snowfall totals, again, up to six feet, but some areas as high as about eight to 10 feet.

So Jessica, all of this snowfall is going to continue over the next several days. It's really going to pile up, much needed, but really going to encounter some rough driving conditions in that area.

DEAN: Tyler Mauldin in his excellent Christmas blazer, thanks so much.

(LAUGHTER)

DEAN: This year brought so many extreme weather events that shocked the world, from flash floods to freezing temperatures to tornadoes, record warmth. The impact of climate change became a theme this year just could not escape. CNN's Bill Weir has as a look back at the top weather events of 2021.

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BILL WEIR, CNN CHIEF CLIMATE CORRESPONDENT: The signs were everywhere in 21, starting at the top of the world, where Greenland's highest peak was so freakishly warm that it rained for several hours.

They believe that this is the birthplace of the iceberg that sank the Titanic. But now scientists are really worried this place could help sink Miami and Boston and Bangkok and Shanghai, because just this part of Greenland has enough ice that if it all melts, will raise sea levels by two feet.

A new study predicts that the Arctic will see more rain than snow as soon as 2060, and in the meantime, the ice sheet so vital to a planet in balance is melting at a staggering rate.

At number nine, that icy surprise in Texas, which illustrated how the climate crisis can run hot and cold. With windchills below zero on the Rio Grande, nearly 10 million lost power. The February blast became America's costliest winter storm event ever.

At number eight, flash floods on three continents. In Germany and Belgium, modern day warning systems failed as a month of rain fell in one day. In China, commuters clung to the ceiling of a subway as a 1,000-year flood hit Henan Province. And back in the U.S., the deadliest flood in Tennessee history came like a tidal wave.

At number seven, the U.S. rejoins the Paris Climate Accord hours after Joe Biden became president. But pledging to slash planet cooking pollution by half this decade is one thing, convincing Congress to take bold action is another.

At number six, a code red for humanity, as scientists around the world issue their most dire warning to date. The U.N.'s intergovernmental panel on climate change says it is unequivocal that human activity has cranked up the global thermostat by over two degrees Fahrenheit, and that we are careening dangerously close to point of no return.

JOE BIDEN, (D) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We meet with the eyes of history upon us.

WEIR: And those warnings made number five all the more urgent, COP26 in Glasgow, Scotland.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Of the four main themes laid out by COP26 host Boris Johnson, Coal, cars, cash, and trees, it's probably going to be cash that provides the biggest challenge.

WEIR: For the first time in 26 meetings, the world's delegates agreed that fossil fuels are driving the climate crisis, but not a single country committed to stopping oil or coal production any time soon.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A monster named Ida, the hurricane is intensifying quickly and drawing chilling comparisons to Katrina.

WEIR: Hurricane Ida comes in at number four. As 150-mile-per-hour winds screamed ashore in Louisiana in early September, but that was just the beginning. Ida's aftermath dropped a rain bomb on New York sudden enough to drown families in their basement apartments. All told, the single storm cost over $60 billion.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are following breaking news this morning. A dangerous and deadly night across the central United States, a powerful line of storms unleashing at least 24 tornadoes across five states.

[10:55:00]

WEIR: At number three, tornadoes in winter. December usually brings the fewest twisters of any month, but record warmth in the heartland spun up funnel clouds from Arkansas to Ohio. And weeks later, the damage is still being tallied.

At number two, the pacific northwest heat dome which pushed the mercury in famous mild Portland well over 100 degrees for days, creating a mass casualty event of creatures great and small. Over a billion shellfish baked to death on the shores of British Columbia. And the little town of Lytton broke the Canadian heat record three times in a week, before most of it burned to the ground.

And at number one, America's mega-drought. Water can come from rivers, reservoirs, or from wells, all of which have been impacted by a 20- year megadrought fueled by the climate crisis. With 90 percent of the west starving for rain, the feds declared the first-ever shortage of the Colorado River, which is a sort of life for over 40 million Americans. Meantime, smoke from western wildfires reached the east coast this year.

From one to 10, it is all connected. And without dramatic changes on a global scale, scientists warn us the worst is yet to come.

Bill Weir, CNN, New York.

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DEAN: I want to thank you for joining me and wish you a very merry Christmas. I'm Jessica Dean. CNN Newsroom continues with Boris Sanchez right after this break.

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