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Kellyanne Conway Talks Media And Politics; Trump's Stance With Russia; Trump's Son's Meeting With Russia; Senate GOP Health Care Bill Faces Uncertain Fate; WAPO: Jan. 6th Committee Chair Focusing On Trump's Actions On Day Of Riot; Giuliani Associate Bernard Kerik Plans To Publicly Release Some Documents Requested By Jan. 6th Committee; Latest Lawsuit Confirms Jan. 6th Committee Is Going After Bank Records; NASA's $10 Billion Telescope Successfully Launched; Disturbing New Details Revealed In Michigan School Shooting Investigation; Top-10 Political Stories Of 2021. Aired 3-4p ET

Aired December 25, 2021 - 15:00   ET

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

[15:00:00]

AMARA WALKER, CNN HOST: Hello everyone, you are live in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Amara Walker in Atlanta and Merry Christmas to you. We begin this Christmas with COVID cases racing toward a record high here in the U.S. and that the fast-spreading Omicron variant. The U.S. is now averaging more than 182,000 new cases a day. That is a 48 percent jump from last week.

COVID deaths are up 30 percent from a week ago but still nowhere near peak levels and right now there are more than about 69,000 people currently hospitalized with COVID, about half the record high from January.

All of this isn't stopping people from wanting to travel. It is now preventing them from actually being able to. Several major U.S. airlines have canceled more than a thousand flights this weekend; over staffing shortages of course, caused by the Omicron variant.

And yesterday, Christmas Eve air travel saw more than 800,000 fewer passengers compared to pre-pandemic levels. I'm going to get right to CNN's Nadia Romero and Alison Kosik, who are keeping a close eye on all the COVID developments for us this weekend. Nadia, let's begin with you. You are in Atlanta, one of the busiest airports in the world. What's happening there?

NADIA ROMERO, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Amara, it's definitely picking up now that we're in the afternoon hours compared to this morning where we had a lot of flight cancellations and people who were unaware potentially of their cancellations. But now we're seeing more people arriving, going in, there was a flight heading to New York.

I spoke to some of those passengers who were excited to get back out there but worried about New York, where Alison is, where there is this COVID hot spot that they're fearing about going there and being surrounded by people who have this new Omicron variant and what the impact of what it will mean for them and their family. But's it's all about pent up demand; people wanting to get back out and enjoy the holiday season. Unfortunately, some people didn't have a choice. Delta Airlines canceling almost 300 flights, you had the same with United, more than a hundred flights cancelled with Jet Blue, people who just cannot get out and see their family and friends, but we did talk to some folks who were lucky enough to catch their flights today and they are doing it cautiously; take a listen.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So we've been vaccinated and I've been boosted, he's been fully vaccinated and so has my entire family. And the only person in our family that's not vaccinated has decided to stay home because we've got some immunocompromised people at home that we don't want to risk exposing them to anything.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We came this summer. We didn't come last Christmas because COVID was bad. So with the variant, once everyone got vaccinated we thought we took the proper precautions and we knew that our airline does a good job with their precautions so we're just trusting in the best for that.

ROMERO: So Amara you talked about seeing more, or fewer people travel this year compared to pre-pandemic levels, but we're up about 800,000 compared to last year, Christmas of 2020 and a big reason what I'm seeing just from reporting that Christmas 2020 to now is all the kids who are out.

People were so fearful of flying with their kids and now that you have the vaccine available to children and adults and a booster, most of the people that we spoke to who are hopping on these planes tell us that they are fully vaccinated, they've been boosted and the kids are so eager to tell me, too, that they had their shot, because they want to get out there and see their grandparents and not put anyone at risk. Still seeing people traveling even though we've had more than a thousand flights canceled this weekend alone. Amara.

WALKER: I have to say I don't feel festive enough; I'm not wearing my Christmas sweater like that dog (LAUGHS) in your first interview with the little Chihuahua with the Christmas sweater. Everyone noticed it here. Thank you so much, Nadia. Alison okay so you're in New York where new cases are shattering records and look it sucks, right, we're back at this again this Christmas. What are you learning about the rise in outbreaks just across the country?

ALISON KOSIK: Listen, we're not out of the pandemic so yeah it does suck, but it is (LAUGHS) important to remember that researchers you know have found so far that the Omicron variant is a more mild variant; the concern still is though the possibility of overwhelming hospitals. More than 69,000 Americans were in the hospital with COVID- 19 on Christmas Eve, that's according to data from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

It's an increase of around two percent just from last week but the figure remains below peak hospitalizations during the Delta surge and it's half of the record high that we had during January. Now this data show that 12 states have seen at least a 10 percent uptick in COVID-19 hospitalizations over the past week compared to the previous week and that's happening against the backdrop of a 48 percent increase in COVID-19 cases from last week.

I know, watching all of these case numbers surpassing the summer surge, it really is a stunning indication of just how quickly Omicron is spreading and has you know quickly become the most prevalent variant in the U.S. this week.

Now as these COVID-19 testing shortages lead to long lines in many metro areas before Christmas, some pockets of the country are reporting surges. Take Los Angeles County; cases have nearly tripled in the last week there. Hospitalizations though have remained steady. New York State broke its own daily record of COVID-19 cases Friday when it reported more than 44,000 new cases, that's a 14 percent increase from Thursday and also in New York we are seeing hospitalizations rise but it is at a lower rate.

So I guess to put sort of a pin on this, (LAUGHS) this year Christmas you know it really isn't like last year when everything was shut down. We've got vaccines. Vaccines have a lot to do with the differences and though it's still not enough, 61 percent of Americans, Amara, are fully vaccinated amid hospitalization rates that are lower than last Christmas, so that is something to keep in mind you know because we've got those vaccines.

WALKER: That is the majority of Americans, right, although we do need to get much higher than that.

ROMERO: Right.

WALKER: Alison Kosik, thank you so much for your reporting.

KOSIK: Sure.

WALKER: Nadia Romero, good to see you as well, thank you. Joining me now is Dr. Peter Hotez. He is a Professor and Dean of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine. Dr. Hotez, Merry Christmas, thanks for joining us. You heard our reporters, at least Nadia Romero there at the Atlanta International Airport.

When you look at the sheer number of people traveling, at times this week as many as in 2019 before the pandemic; are you worried about what the next two weeks might look like here in the U.S.?

DR. PETER HOTEZ: Yeah actually, Amara, I'm worried more than the next two weeks; I'm worried about the next two months and here's why. First of all the hospitalizations are going up and the worst-affected cities, New York City, Washington, D.C., the hospitalizations are going up more than 50 percent and even though there's some evidence that the Omicron variant produces less severe illness than previous lineages, that's going to be offset by the fact that so many hospital workers, healthcare providers are calling out sick because they have breakthrough of COVID and even though they're not getting very sick they're home and unable to take care of the sickest.

So that's going to be the weak link right now; that one-two punch, the hospitalizations are rising, there are a lot of unvaccinated people getting very sick in the hospital and not enough people to take care of them. And we've seen over the last two years that once that situation happens where patients over the surge overwhelms the ability of ICU staff or hospital staff to take care of them, then mortality really skyrockets. So that's the part that I'm most concerned about.

Two other things. One is we only, two of our three monoclonal antibodies do not work against this variant so we've lost of our key tools to fight this, impacts SLOVID, the antiviral [jolt/shot?] from Pfizer's not going to be here in time for this pandemic and the first testing is a debacle.

So you combine all that into the mix, we've got a very serious situation facing us.

WALKER: Yeah, another reason you want to talk about the antivirals, another reason to get vaccinated if you haven't gotten that first shot, I'm curious though what your thoughts are about flying because you know we know that a lot of flights have been canceled, some people are stranded out at various airports, maybe some people are reconsidering even you know flying to their destination.

What is your advice to people who you know are still pondering, should I fly?

HOTEZ: Well, it really depends on what kind of personal situation you're in and your risk of getting severe breakthrough of COVID. So for instance if your immunocompromised, first of all if you've only gotten two doses of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine, even though that officially counts as fully-vaccinated, we know that its impact on breakthrough symptomatic illness is close to zero, not much better. Better for serious illness, but you still need to get boosted I think if you want to travel safely.

And even if you're boosted you have to face the possibility that you could get symptomatic breakthrough illness going through airports and going on Ubers and so if you're immunocompromised or if you're over the age of 75, 80, I would think twice about traveling at this point, with the hope that this peak may not last as long as previous ones because they are going down now in the U.K. and South Africa, so potentially if you could hold off for a few weeks that might be the more prudent thing to do.

WALKER: Alright, fair enough. I want to read you Dr. Hotez has an excerpt from the L.A. Times describing hospital conditions there. Nine patients awaited their fate in an intensive care unit at the Arrowhead Regional Medical Center. The youngest was 26, the oldest 66. Four of them had already been intubated, a last-ditch effort to save their lives.

The number of hospitalizations was undeniably not as bleak as they were last winter but there was a simmering frustration; all the ICU COVID patients, every single one was unvaccinated. So my question to you is when it comes to vaccine efficacy against Omicron, how do you explain that?

HOTEZ: Well what's going on is this. Once you do get, with those two doses of vaccine, as they say you're getting a lot of symptomatic illness and even breakthrough hospitalizations, so if you get that third dose you get a big boost in virus neutralizing antibodies and at that point it's about 70 to 75 percent protection against the Omicron variant in terms of symptomatic illness, even higher against severe illness.

But the problem is this; it starts to decline so the durability of protection after that booster is not as great as we would like, so it is going down in terms of breakthrough symptomatic illness and again that's what happening to our healthcare providers and why they're being knocked out of workforce.

So how to manage this is going to be really precarious and again, we just have too many unvaccinated individuals. Now you could say well great, 61 percent of the population is vaccinated; I would look at it the other way around, 39 percent of the population is not. That's way too many unvaccinated individuals. We are going to have a really difficult time with them over the next few weeks in terms of taking care of them.

WALKER: Listen, so does this mean that the virus is just going to continue to mutate and we're going to see more and more variants and possibly getting stronger or able to continually evade a vaccine?

HOTEZ: Well that's not a fait accompli, Amara. If we don't have to live this way if we do one thing; and that is vaccine the southern hemisphere. Right now the African continent is entirely unvaccinated, not much better in Southeast Asia and the Latin American and Mother Nature has told us what she has in store for us.

She gave us Delta out of an unvaccinated population in India earlier this year and Omicron out of an unvaccinated population Southern Africa later in this year and this is what will continue to happen and this is where we really need the Biden administration to step up and take a greater leadership role in vaccinating the world, because right now there's no plan.

There is no plan to vaccine the southern hemisphere or nothing that I've seen that's very meaningful and we have to fix that. Of course, it's not only the United States, it's the other G7 countries. But it's really important I think for the U.S. to lead because if we want to do important things globally that's always the case, the U.S. has to lead.

WALKER: Yeah, we're in a pandemic, right, which means that it's impacting the entire world and so that's a fair point. Dr. Hotez, appreciate you joining us. Thank you so much.

HOTEZ: Thank you. Merry Christmas.

WALKER: Merry Christmas. As COVID cases surge and some are forced to wait in hours' long lines to get tested, a new report alleges the Biden administration was presented with a proposal for three rapid tests for the holiday. But why didn't that happen? The journalist behind the story will join us live next. You're live in the CNN Newsroom.

MUSIC/COMMERCIAL BREAK

WALKER: It's not the lines many Americans thought they'd be stuck in this Christmas, but across the U.S. people have been waiting hours to take COVID tests this week. That wait time is infuriating but it's also potentially inexcusable when you consider COVID has become our reality for nearly two years now.

This week President Biden defended his administration's response to the pandemic but also admitted that he wishes he had ordered more tests sooner.

(BEGIN VIDEO)

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: No, I don't think it's a failure. I think it's a, you could argue that we should have known a year ago, six months ago, two months ago, a month ago; I've ordered half a billion of the pills, 500 million pills. Excuse me, 500 million test kits that are going to be available to be sent to every home in America if anybody wants them.

But the answer is yeah, I wish I had thought about ordering half a billion pills two months ago before COVID hit here.

(END VIDEO)

WALKER: Hmm. Well, according to Vanity Fair, two months ago President Biden was presented with a proposal to do just that. It was an idea for free rapid tests for the holidays and to prevent a holiday COVID surge. What is happening right now? Joining me is the journalist behind this Vanity Fair reporting, Katherine Eban. Katherine, Merry Christmas. Thank you so much for joining us on this day.

Can you explain to us this meeting and what transpired after?

KATHERINE EBAN, VANITY FAIR CONTRIBUTOR: Yes. Well first of all, thank you for having me and Happy Holidays to you and all the viewers. The meeting that I reported on took place on October 22nd and a group of COVID-19 testing experts who had been strongly advocating for a surge in rapid tests, which are the over-the-counter tests that some Americans have been lucky enough to become familiar with and basically had a proposal for a big, bold action which was to ensure that all Americans were sent free tests, the point being to protect against a holiday COVID surge, so that Christmas and New Year's all Americans would be given free tests.

That is exactly what many Americans are spending their holidays doing, looking for free, looking for rapid tests that they can get over-the- counter at pharmacies so they can go into a holiday event, a Christmas family party with some assurance that they're not going to spread COVID to their relatives.

But at the time the Biden administration assessed the plan, had decided they did not have the manufacturing capacity to do it and passed on it, instead of doubling down on ramping up the testing. So I interviewed seven people who'd been at that meeting and as one of them put it to me, the Biden administration in baseball terms was playing small ball --

WALKER: Hmm.

EBAN: -- just bunting the players along.

WALKER: I do want to point out that CNN has not independently confirmed the Biden administration outright rejected the proposal for increased home testing. I do want to play White House Press Secretary Jenn Psaki addressing testing issues and manufacturing capacity.

(BEGIN VIDEO)

JEN PSAKI, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: The president wouldn't have taken the steps in September and October he had taken if we weren't aware that we needed to have increased supply. But also there wasn't a demand back in June for it, right, and Delta changed the mentality in the public for understandable reasons and the fact that there were only a couple of approved tests just before October there were only about three on the market, right, that we could have tapped into.

The president using the Defense Production Act and investing three billion dollars allowed for there to be an increase in production so we could order the huge number of supplies that we're ordering now.

(END VIDEO)

WALKER: So you report that the plan presented to the Biden administration called for I think 700 million tests to be made available a month and you're saying look you know the administration --

(CROSS TALK)

-- pushed back and said we just don't have the capacity to manufacture on this scale. So could these long lines or the surge from your reporting, do you believe that could have been avoidable, especially when you talk to health experts?

EBAN: Well a number of people who were at the meeting and people who had been advocating for a massive surge in rapid testing do feel that these long lines could have been avoided and that also if you surge rapid testing you can go further and actually break these chains of transmission, because what rapid tests do is they give you a snapshot in time. Am I contagious right now as I'm about to walk into my grandmother's home, am I going to turn this family party into a super- spreader event?

So people could use those tests to make critical decisions for their families was the argument. You know experts and advocates have felt that the Biden administration has not prioritized rapid testing; they have prioritized vaccines and vaccinations for Americans, but they did not choose to do something like an Operation Warp Speed for testing, which was the kind of dramatic program that was done for vaccines.

WALKER: You also report about the strong pushback from the medical community even having people you know testing themselves. Why? EBAN: That's right. I mean these rapid testing interestingly enough have been controversial, that doctors who are sort of guarding their fiefdom feel that you know they're in charge of telling patients if they have a diagnosis. So that if you make rapid tests available to all, what are patients going to do with that positive diagnosis?

Are they going to take the appropriate steps? So that was a concern in the beginning. Most doctors that I know at this point though say you know what? It is a critical piece of the just in our pandemic toolbox to help people make important decisions to do you know big scale screening, you want to get 30,000 people safer (LAUGHS) in the stadium? Let's find out what their status is.

WALKER: Yeah.

EBAN: So you know while vaccinations are still critical, obviously they're not enough and Omicron has shown us that; the rise in breakthrough cases for full-vaccinated people has shown us vaccines are not sufficient unto themselves.

WALKER: Yeah, testing also a critical tool that we --

(CROSS TALK)

-- need quickly. Appreciate your reporting Katherine Eban, thank you so much for joining us.

EBAN: Thank you very much for having me.

WALKER: It is the longest insurrection footage released by the government yet. But the brand new three-hour-long video reveals next. You're live at the CNN Newsroom.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WALKER: And this just in to CNN; more than 30 people including woman and children we are learning have been massacred in Myanmar. This is according to the Human Rights Group Save the Children. According to the group government troops arrested villagers and travelers before killing some of them and then setting both their bodies and their belongings on fire.

Pictures from the scene show burned out cars and rubble. Save the Children says two of their staff members who were traveling home for the holidays are now missing and they have received confirmation their car was among the burning remains. We'll continue to track this story and bring you any developments as it is warranted.

Meanwhile we are following major new developments in the January 6th probe this weekend. The Justice Department just released some of the most disturbing footage yet of the insurrection. Three hours of graphic video showing the pitched battle at a Capitol entrance tunnel, sight of some of the most violent confrontations with rioters as police desperately tried to hold the line. CNN Justice Correspondent Jessica Schneider has more details now on that footage and a Trump ally who's cooperating with the January 6th Committee. JESSICA SCHNEIDER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The hour-video just released by the Justice Department after CNN and other outlets sued for access shows one of the most violent and prolonged battles between Capitol Police and the Pro-Trump mob. The video taken from a Capitol security camera on the lower west terrace does not have sound but it shows how dozens of rioters moved in on Capitol Police, spraying the cops who stood guard with pepper spray, pointing strobing flashlights at them, striking them with batons and flagpoles, more than an hour in when police pushed back, you can see a helmet knocked off of one officer's head.

The video release comes as the House Committee investigating January 6th prepares to ramp up its probe in the new year. Chairman Bennie Thompson tells the Washington Post, He's focusing on then President Trump's actions zeroing in on this video he released 187 minutes after the riot began.

(BEGIN VIDEO)

PRESIDENT TRUMP: You have to go home now.

(END VIDEO)

SCHNEIDER: Thompson telling the Post, It appears that he tried to do a taping several times but he wouldn't say the right thing, Thompson now saying Trump's delayed response could be a factor in deciding whether to make a criminal referral possibly for obstructing the Electoral College proceedings and that other Trump officials could also face referrals for pressuring local and state election officials to overturn the results.

(BEGIN VIDEO)

BERNIE KERIK: The men and women of the New York City Police Department --

SCHNEIDER: Former New York City Police Commissioner and Trump ally Bernie Kerik is saying any cooperation he provides to the committee must be made public. Kerik now says he'll post subpoenaed documents online and that he wants to testify at a public hearing. Kerik worked alongside Trump's former attorney Rudy Guiliani after the election to discredit the results.

[15:30:00]

And attended a meeting at the Willard Hotel with other Trump allies on January 5th to discuss how to keep Trump in office.

Meanwhile, committee member, Pete Aguilar, says they hope the Supreme Court acts fast to really on releasing documents from Trump's White House.

REP. PETE AGUILAR (D-CA): The courts have already ruled in our favor. Our anticipation is that the Supreme Court will uphold that ruling in an expedited manner.

SCHNEIDER: No word on how quickly the Supreme Court will decide.

Jessica Schneider, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WALKER: For more on this, let's bring in former assistant special Watergate prosecutor, Nick Akerman.

Nick, Merry Christmas to you. And thank you very much for your time today.

NICK AKERMAN, FORMER ASSISTANT SPECIAL WATERGATE PROSECUTOR: Merry Christmas to you.

WALKER: Thank you.

As you know, we're learning about which Trump allies have cooperated and what the committee is zeroing in on.

Public hearings were such a crew that will part of Watergate. Why do you think this committee has only held that one hearing?

AKERMAN: I think they held the one hearing to make a strong statement in the beginning that this was a serious matter, that the capitol police were abused and disabused and some of them died as a result of it, and that this investigation is important.

If they had brought in hearings as they went along, it would have been extremely boring. Investigation takes time. You are putting together pieces to a bigger, bigger jig saw puzzle.

And what they are planning do, I'm sure, is put out in the public riveting testimony that will go over on the television and people will be able to see what they actually found in the end.

What you have to look for now is who is going to be the cooperating witness, like John Dean was in the Senate Watergate Committee, who laid out what it was that Trump knew and when he knew it.

And you are also going to see whether or not the committee actually grants immunity to certain people, like Roger Stone, who has already taken the Fifth Amendment and refused to testify.

He will be put in a box, he could be, to either have to testify, not testify and then be held in contempt, or testify and then later be prosecuted for perjury.

I think that you are also going to see testimony by former investigators, or FBI investigators, who will be kind of summary witnesses of all of these bank records and phone records that have been subpoenaed by the committee.

What I would expect is a very coherent riveting exposition of what they have found. And that will be the most effective thing this committee can do. WALKER: There has been several lawsuits against the committee, as I'm

sure you are aware. The latest one is from a Trump ally, which confirms that the panel is now going after bank records.

How important is to you that the committee follows the money?

AKERMAN: I think that it is extremely important.

This is the classic example of finding out who financed this and why they financed it, who asked them to finance it, what they were told at the time, who they spoke to.

Did Donald Trump have anything to do with this? Did the White House have anything to do with this?

It is just a matter of following that money and finding out what these people say. So that is the whole point of subpoenaing those bank records.

WALKER: I want to ask you about, you know, the committee focusing on those 187 minutes of Trump inaction as the capitol was under attack.

What do they need to show in order to make a criminal referral there?

ACKERMAN: Well, the 180 minutes of inaction by Trump by itself doesn't really tell us anything. But in context of all of the evidence, it could be extremely damning.

The real issue here is, did Donald Trump act with corrupt intent? That is the whole issue in this criminal obstruction case.

Right now, there's lots of smoke out there. There's lots of circumstantial evidence.

We know that there's a conspiracy to basically obstruct Congress through perpetrating violence at the capitol on January 6th with the goal of giving more time for the states to come back with competing electors to try and undermine Joe Biden's win.

We know that Trump told people to go to the Capitol Hill and fight.

We know that he sent an email during the insurrection with respect to Vice President Pence, that if he had done the right thing, there would be more time for the states to respond and correct the so-called error.

We know that Trump was behind the Big Lie.

The problem is that all of the same defenses he raised in his impeachment, that is, he was exercising his First Amendment right, that this was supposed to be a peaceful protest, not a violent insurrection.

All of those things would be undermined if you could have proof. If you came up with proof showing that Trump knew before the whole event violence would be used, if he knew during the event that violence was being used, and he encouraged it.

All of those things relate to a corrupt intent on the part of Donald Trump. And I think that is what the committee is looking to prove. If they can prove that, Donald Trump is in the soup for a 20-year felony.

[15:35:14]

WALKER: Wow.

AKERMAN: That is what we're all waiting to see what happens. What does the committee have? What will that evidence be?

WALKER: Yes. And I wonder if there's any evidence in those some 700 pages of documents that former President Trump has been trying to keep from the committee and now appealing, hoping that the Supreme Court will take up the case.

We'll have to leave it there. Nick Akerman, really interesting conversation. Thank you so much.

AKERMAN: Thank you.

WALKER: All right, still to come, NASA's most powerful telescope finally in space and starting a fantastic voyage that could answer one of humanity's greatest questions: Are we alone? Much more on the latest NASA mission.

Plus, it is an unprecedented move. An accused school shooter's parents being charged alongside him.

Today, new court documents reveal disturbing new details as to why prosecutors thought it had to be done, including allegations of animal abuse, an extramarital affair, and clear cries for help. Up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WALKER: The James Webb Telescope, 100 times more powerful than the Hubble Space Telescope, successfully launched this morning on a mission that we're told will change our understanding of space.

CNN space and defense correspondent, Kristin Fisher, has more details on a technical marvel that has been decades in the making.

KRISTIN FISHER, CNN SPACE & DEFENSE CORRESPONDENT: Amara, after decades of work, $10 billion, it all boiled down to one moment on Christmas morning.

And the Webb Space Telescope did successfully launch atop of an Ariane Five rocket from French Guiana, a European space port with the European Space Agency.

[15:39:58]

A reminder that this is not just a NASA mission. This is a global international partnership with Europe and the Canadian Space Agency as well. But despite this tremendously successful launch, this is really only

the beginning of the Webb Space Telescope's journey to go into an orbit with the sun about a million miles away from the earth.

The next 29 days, that is what NASA calls the 29 days on edge. You've heard about this, the seven minutes of terror with the Mars Rover. Webb gets 29 days on edge as this telescope unfolds like origami.

And during that time, there are more than 300 single points of failure. There are so many places where little things can go wrong.

But NASA very confident that they are going to be able to pull this off, that this telescope is going to work. And this Christmas morning launch, what an excellent start -- Amara?

WALKER: Spectacular.

Kristin Fisher, thank you so much.

Meanwhile, newly released court documents revealing never-before- heard-and-seen information in the deadly school shooting in Michigan last month.

And 15-year-old Ethan Crumbley has been charged as an adult in the crime. And in an unprecedented move, his parents have been charged alongside him.

Brynn Gingras is covering these developments for us.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WALKER: And, Brynn, these are incredibly disturbing new details, right?

BRYNN GINGRAS, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, disturbing images, disturbing details coming in these court documents, which essentially is the state's response to the defendant's request to lower their bond, which currently is at $500,000.

And we do, we see those drawings that we did know about. Again, those drawings are ones that the teacher spotted the morning of the shooting on Ethan Crumbley's desk.

This is the first time that we're getting a look at them though.

And if you see what the prosecutors show in this court document is the first drawing, which shows very disturbing images like a gun and a bullet and the words "blood everywhere, my life is useless."

And then they say that drawing was altered to not appear to look so bad. You can see it there. It says, "I love my life so much, we're all friends here." And those disturbing images are all scribbled out.

Again. this is just part of the evidence that the prosecutors are laying out in this case. Other parts of it include details about how the parents, they allege,

knew about the troubles their son was going through and yet ignored all those signs, prosecutors saying, up to like six months before the shooting happened in late November.

Let me read you an excerpt of this court document.

It said, quote, "Defendants had information long before November 30th, within the six months prior to the shooting, that their son's only friend moved at the end of October 2021, that the family dog died, that their son was sadder than usual."

"And that he was sending his other disturbing texts about his state of mind."

"Meanwhile, during that same period, defendants spent their time at the barn caring for their horses three or four nights a week for up to three hours at a time, and seeking other relationships, including defendant mother's extramarital affairs.

"Instead of paying attention to their son and getting him help, they bought him a gun."

Prosecutors saying that these parents were the ones who knew and could have recognized those signs and possibly even prevented this shooting that happened in that Michigan high school, killing four and injuring many others.

Now, the prosecutors also making an argument in this document as to why that bond should not be lowered.

Stating that the parents were $11,000 or more behind in their house payments, that they actually tried to work and list their home the day of the attack, and that they are a flight risk.

Of course, we remember those parents were not to be seen for several days until authorities found them in a warehouse in Detroit.

And prosecutors say in this document that they had several phones on them, two of them burner phones, after they even withdrew a lot of cash.

So again, all of these details are becoming new as we're learning more evidence about prosecutors' case against not everyone just the parents of Ethan Crumbley, but Ethan Crumbley himself.

And of course, it will be up to a judge to decide if their bond should be lowered.

I'm Brynn Gingras, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WALKER: Brynn Gingras, thank you.

Coming up, a look back at the top-10 political stories of the year from our own Jim Acosta. If you watch this show, you likely have an idea of what story is number one.

[15:44:30]

You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

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WALKER: So 2021 has been a political roller coaster. Just days into the year, then-President Donald Trump's Big Lie sparked a deadly insurrection on Capitol Hill. Shortly after, Joe Biden was sworn in as the 46th president.

Here is our very own Jim Acosta with a look back now at the top political stories of the year.

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JIM ACOSTA, CNN ANCHOR & CNN CHIEF DOMESTIC CORRESPONDENT: The top-10 political stories of 2021 make this past year feel more like a decade.

Starting at number 10.

(voice-over): Pandemic paralysis. As medical experts stress vaccines and boost boosters as the best way of preventing COVID, disinformation and lies about the lifesaving shots continue to spread as well, misleading millions of Americans.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm sure you've seen the pictures all over the Internet that are now magnetized.

They put a key on their forehead, it sticks. They put spoons and forks all over them and they can stick.

ACOSTA (on camera): Of course, that is utter nonsense. So get vaccinated.

(voice-over): At number nine --

(SHOUTING)

ACOSTA: -- the Republican Party at war with itself over its leader. The disgraced ex-President Donald Trump and his Big Lie that he won the 2020 election.

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We're not for getting 2020.

(SHOUTING)

TRUMP: The most corrupt election.

REP. ADAM KINZINGER (R-IL): The truth is the president cost us, the president is unfit, and the president is unwell.

NEIL CAVUTO, FOX HOST, "CAVUTO": If Donald Trump were the 2024 nominee, would you support him in. REP. LIZ CHENEY (R-WY): I would not.

REP. MATT GAETZ (R-FL): You would send Liz Cheney home, back home to Washington, D.C.

ACOSTA: At number eight, Democrats have issues of their own.

ANDREW CUOMO, (D), FORMER NEW YORK GOVERNOR: Given the circumstances, the best way I can help now is if I step aside.

ACOSTA: Facing multiple allegations of sexual harassment, which he denied, Governor Andrew Cuomo of New York resigns.

[15:50:04]

GOV.-ELECT GLENN YOUNGKIN (R-VA): Virginia, we won this thing.

(CHEERING)

ACOSTA: Glenn Youngkin, the Republican, wins the governor's race in Virginia.

DON LEMON, CNN HOST: A very big night for Republicans. And a major, I think a major wake-up call for Democrats.

(APPLAUSE)

ACOSTA: And Gavin Newsom, Democratic governor, and California successfully fights off a recall there.

GOV. GAVIN NEWSOM (D-CA): To 40 million Americans, 40 million Californians, I thank you for rejecting this recall.

ACOSTA: Number seven --

(SHOUTING)

ACOSTA: -- a messy withdrawal from Afghanistan.

The Biden administration scrambles to evacuate American citizens and tens of thousands of Afghans from the country ahead of an August 31st deadline.

Thirteen U.S. servicemembers and more than 170 Afghans are killed in terrorist attacks outside of Kabul's airport in the chaotic end to America's longest war.

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It is time to end the forever war.

Thank you all for listening. May God protect our troops.

ACOSTA: At number six, the Big Lie gives birth to an amateur audit of the 2020 election results in Arizona, which confirms what Americans already knew, Joe Biden won Arizona. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The ballots that were provided to us to count in

the coliseum very accurately correlate with the official campus numbers.

ACOSTA: As new GOP-driven restriction voting laws pop up in state houses across the country.

GOV. RON DESANTIS (R-FL): I'm going to sign it right here. It is going to take effect.

(CHEERING)

DESANTIS: Florida, your vote counts.

ACOSTA: Number five, President Biden and his team try to show Democrats can deliver, with big legislative victories first on COVID relief and then infrastructure.

But the question remains, can his Build Back Better social spending plan pass through the Senate?

At number four, double trouble for the GOP in Georgia as Republicans lose two Senate runoff races in January.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Jon Ossoff, the Democratic candidate in Georgia, he is defeating David Perdue, the Republican candidate.

ACOSTA: GOP insiders blame Trump, grumbling that his election lies backfired.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He is hereby acquitted of the charge.

ACOSTA: Trump becomes the first president in American history to be impeached for a second time. This time, for inciting the insurrection at the capitol.

Once again, Republicans stand in the way of a conviction.

BLITZER: Democrats falling short of the 67 votes need to convict Trump. This is the second time Donald Trump has been acquitted in an impeachment trial in the U.S. Senate.

(CHEERING)

ACOSTA: At number two, an event that would normally land at the top of any list of big political stories, the inauguration of a new president.

BIDEN: Preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.

JOHN ROBERTS, CHIEF JUSTICE, U.S. SUPREME COURT: The Constitution of the United States.

BIDEN: The Constitution of the United States. ACOSTA: But it was far from a typical transfer of power, as Trump

tried to scheme his way into staying in office, pressuring state officials like Georgia's secretary of state.

TRUMP (voice-over): So, look, all I want to do is this. I just want to find 11,780 votes, which is one more than we have, because we won the state!

ACOSTA: Number one story of 2021 --

(SHOUTING)

ACOSTA: -- American democracy under attack. January 6th, the insurrection.

TRUMP: We fight like hell. And if you don't fight like hell, you're not going to have a country anymore.

(SHOUTING)

ACOSTA: In one last-ditch attempt to halt a Biden presidency, a violent mob of Trump supporters and members of far-right groups storm the capitol, some chanting they want to kill the vice president.

(CHANTING)

ACOSTA: Rioters clash with police. Eventually, they smash their way inside, sending lawmakers running for cover.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Everybody stay down.

ACOSTA: A Trump supporter is shot dead by a police officer as she and others attempt to breach the speaker's lobby inside the capitol.

First responders are beaten with the American flag and sprayed with chemicals.

As night falls on a shameful scene, a symbol of American democracy is left battered.

In the melee, Capitol Police officer, Brian Sicknick, was assaulted by chemical spray. He suffered strokes and died the next day.

Haunted by January 6th, a handful of other officers later die by suicide.

And the trials of insurrectionists begin.

(on camera): True to form, Trump went on to lie about what happened at the capitol, and never showed remorse, never apologized for what he did.

Trump has, so far, escaped any accountability. Instead, he has been emboldened by Republicans who have largely adopted his lies as their own.

His lapdogs in conversative media and his disciples in Congress now echo his toxic rhetoric.

The political violence Trump and his allies unleashed is now the subject under of an investigation by the January 6th House Select Committee.

That probe and it's findings may well alter the political landscape for 2022 and beyond.

[15:55:02]

Jim Acosta, CNN, Washington.

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WALKER: What a year.

As we approach the new year, don't forget the boys are back. Join Anderson Cooper and Andy Cohen for a "CNN NEW YEAR'S EVE LIVE." The party starts at 8:00 right here on CNN.

And finally, this holiday weekend, Pope Francis delivered his annual Christmas message at Vatican City today.

Here's CNN senior Vatican analyst, John Allen.

Merry Christmas, John.

JOHN ALLEN, CNN SENIOR VATICAN ANALYST: Hi, there, Amara. A very Merry Christmas to you.

It was a subdued and yet still hopeful Pope Francis when celebrated Christmas today in the Vatican under a gray, rainy, roman sky.

The pope delivered his annual message to the city and to the world and clearly against the backdrop of a new surge in the coronavirus pandemic.

The pope not only repeated his frequent calls for global justice and access to vaccines but also expressed concern for the social costs of the pandemic.

Women who are more exposed to violence and abuse because they're trapped at home. Children being bullied, elderly people who feel isolated, abandoned and afraid.

Now in response to all of that, the pope called for a culture of dialogue and encounter that is reaching out to people, listening to what's on their hearts and minds and trying to be present to them.

And the pope's bottom-line message was, if you do that, even in the era of Omicron, there's still hope.

That was Christmas today in the Vatican -- Amara?

WALKER: There's always hope.

John, thank you.

And that does it for me. I'm Amara Walker in Atlanta.

If you're celebrating Christmas, I hope you have a very Merry Christmas and a healthy day and a safe one with those you love.

And thanks for spending some of your holiday with me. Take care.

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