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Omicron Fuels COVID Spike As Americans Gather For Holidays; Archbishop Desmond Tutu Has Died At Age 90; January 6 Probe As We Near Anniversary Of Capitol Riot. Aired 3-4p ET
Aired December 26, 2021 - 15:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JESSICA DEAN, CNN HOST: Hi, everyone and thank you so much for joining me this afternoon. I'm Jessica Dean in Washington, in this weekend for Fredricka Whitfield.
[15:00:01]
Well, anxiety is nothing new during the Holidays, but now with the rapid spread of the coronavirus, health officials are worried about where we may be heading.
The omicron variant fueling a new spike in cases and the U.S. is now seeing levels not seen since January's devastating totals. With the virus spreading, the demand for testing is overwhelming. In Miami, like so many other parts of the country, people are spending this day after Christmas waiting in long lines to get tested for COVID, and this morning, two cruise ships returned to Florida after several passengers and crew members all fully vaccinated tested positive for COVID.
Some passengers say they were encouraged by how well the cruises were handled, but some say they were not aware there was a problem until they were set to disembark.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
QUESTION: You guys were on the Freedom?
LEAH MURRAY, PASSENGER ON CARNIVAL FREEDOM: Yes.
QUESTION: Did you guys -- were you impacted -- did you get to stop at your ports of call, all of them?
MURRAY: No, he missed two. Bonaire and --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And Aruba.
MURRAY: And Aruba.
QUESTION: What were they doing on board the cruise ship? I heard there were some positive cases.
MURRAY: We've heard varying stories. We've heard five, we've heard 12, we heard 25.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They quarantined them. I mean, it was safe. We had a good time. We will do it again.
QUESTION: Where did you guys get to stop?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We stopped in Curacao. Then Bonaire and Aruba because of COVID -- I don't blame them. They wouldn't let us --
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DEAN: Well, CNN's Lucy Kafanov has more on where the pandemic is today and where we might be headed.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LUCY KAFANOV, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): As Americans celebrated another Christmas during a pandemic, many saw Holiday joy turn to frustration with omicron cases on the rise across the nation.
Airlines canceling more than a thousand flights this Holiday weekend, citing COVID staffing shortages and bad weather leaving passengers in limbo.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh my god, we won't be able to get home.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We've been constantly checking all kinds of different websites, you know, the airport sites, the line airline sites.
KAFANOV (voice over): From coast to coast on Christmas morning, those who did plan to see loved ones taking no chances.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My girlfriend tested positive earlier this week, and you know it's Christmas morning just trying to go see my family. And you know, they are real COVID conscious, I'm vaccine boosted. But, you know, we're trying to be safe.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Like, I tested because I'm seeing my family today.
KAFANOV (voice over): That is those lucky enough to get a test.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The line goes all the way back there. But we've been here for about two hours.
KAFANOV (voice over): Others saw their Christmas plans wiped out by a COVID diagnosis.
BRIAN GODDARD, TESTED POSITIVE FOR COVID: I tested positive for COVID, so it's currently just hanging out at the apartment by myself.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I was devastated that I was going to have to miss the Holidays.
KAFANOV (voice over): The surge in cases leaving many medical workers and personnel stretched thin with little to celebrate.
DR. DAVID CUSTODIO, President, SUMMA HEALTH SYSTEMS, AKRON: It's literally devastating and heartbreaking that we are in this condition that we are now.
DR. ANDREA ROWLAND-FISHER, HENNEPIN HEALTHCARE: Hostels in the Twin Cities are overwhelmed and unable to take new patients because we're bursting at our seams already.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If you have time for prayer for frontline workers, I would -- I would do that.
KAFANOV (voice over): To boost the depleted workforce, the C.D.C. issued new guidance for vaccinated asymptomatic healthcare workers to slash their quarantine from 10 down to seven days. Doctors hopeful that the omicron wave will soon pass.
DR. STEVEN MCDONALD, EMERGENCY MEDICAL PHYSICIAN, COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY IRVING MEDICAL CENTER: I am hopeful in that the data coming out of the U.K. and out of South Africa showing that these patients infected with omicron are much less likely to be hospitalized and much less likely to be severely ill.
And so, that alone is giving me a little bit of faith that 2022 will be a meaningfully different year.
KAFANOV (voice over): A hope likely shared by all on this Christmas weekend.
Lucy Kafanov, CNN, Los Angeles.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
DEAN: And today, major U.S. airlines are continuing to cancel hundreds more flights as they deal with staffing shortages brought on by COVID. CNN's Nadia Romero is now live at Atlanta's airport.
And Nadia, the day after Christmas, always a busy time for travel, especially because it's on a Sunday this year. What does it look like in Atlanta today?
NADIA ROMERO, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Jessica and add to the fact that so many people have to get back to work on Monday, many employers gave their workers Friday off so people are frantically trying to get back. A much different theme than what it was like here yesterday.
People were very cheerful, they were in that Christmas spirit. Today, people are stressed. They're happy that their flights did not get canceled for those who are still going to make it, but people are definitely stressed out about getting back in time to get back to that nine to five grind tomorrow.
I did speak with one woman who was supposed to take a flight from Atlanta to Wyoming and she said it was canceled due to weather. So, she had to figure out another alternative. She is trying to catch another flight tomorrow. She was so frustrated. She didn't want to go on camera to talk about it.
But I did speak with one man who said, listen, hearing about stories like hers and other people, checking my phone, seeing all those cancellations. Almost 900 flights canceled today, you add that up, it is about 6,000 or so throughout this whole Holiday weekend. He says he was relieved to get on his flight. Take a listen.
[15:05:00]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CALVIN WARREN, FLYING HOME TO BUFFALO: I guess, I'm one of the lucky few. Maybe not few, but one of the lucky ones. Yes, I guess it makes you a little nervous because you see so many get canceled kind of thing.
Well, I might be one of them, what do I do now? But it all worked out for me at least, but I feel bad for those who didn't it work out for.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMERO: So you heard from him saying that he's happy, he's able to get back home again, telling me that he was fully vaccinated and boosted. So, he wasn't as worried about COVID or the omicron variant, but he was more worried about the cancellations.
T.S.A. telling us today that they are screening 800 fewer -- 800,000 fewer people than they did the same time period last during the pandemic in 2019, probably likely because of the variant, and you can also attribute some of that Jessica, to all of these cancellations.
But again, the people who are flying, happy to do so, but they are so stressed out today about flying again -- Jessica.
DEAN: Now, we're certainly thinking about them. All right, Nadia Romero for us. Thanks for that update. And for more on all of this, I'd like to bring in Dr. Elizabeth Clayborne, she's an emergency physician at the University of Maryland's Capital Region Medical Center.
Dr. Clayborne, great to have you with us. Thanks for making time today. We just heard from Nadia there at the airport as people are traveling, it's the holidays. Of course, a lot of people moving around right now. Talk to us first about how concerned you are about where the cases and the hospitalizations may be in the next week or two as we get into January?
DR. ELIZABETH CLAYBORNE, EMERGENCY PHYSICIAN, UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND'S CAPITAL REGION MEDICAL CENTER: Well, Jessica, as you heard, you know, there is a significant amount of travel that is taking on and it's kind of coinciding right with the peak from the Thanksgiving travel, which is why we're seeing so many COVID cases, in addition to the fact that omicron has been shown to be significantly more contagious than the previous variants.
So all that goes together to kind of make this perfect storm and I am very concerned that you know, going into January, and possibly even February that we are going to continue to see a spike in cases. And that's because, you know, we basically already expected there to be a spike in the winter time, but what we didn't expect for there to be is a huge, you know, influx of COVID positive patients, coinciding with this much travel taking place.
So I do think that given the fact that so many of our hospitals are stretched thin and already really worn out, it is disconcerting for someone like me who is working in Emergency Department already very worried about my ability to take care of the number of people who are showing up to our doors on a daily basis.
DEAN: Yes, not to mention that you guys have been at this now for nearly two years, you know, really just pushed to the extreme.
An analysis by the United Kingdom's Health Security Agency found that the risk of being admitted to the hospital for COVID-19, due to this omicron variant does appear to be lower than delta. Does that give you any hope? And at the same time, if it's more contagious, does that mean we're just going to have -- you know, you're still going to have more cases? Kind of work all that out for us.
CLAYBORNE: Yes, you know, I do think that some of the data that is showing us that this omicron variant is a little less severe, meaning we're not seeing people get as sick and require hospitalizations is encouraging.
But I will remind people that the unvaccinated population still are the ones who are doing the most poor with this variant, as well as all the others. And so the sheer number of people getting sick is what is concerning about this particular wave.
So even if it is less severe, it still has the potential to overrun our hospitals, and basically exceed the resources we have. But what I'll remind people of is that that means that not just COVID is a concern, but any illness or any emergency you have might put you in a position where you do not get the care you need, so you might have a car accident or have a stroke or have a child that becomes ill.
And because the hospitals are overrun or the healthcare workers themselves are sick and out, they may not get the care they need. And so we might see deaths for other reasons than just COVID itself. It might be because we're overwhelming our healthcare systems nationally.
DEAN: Right. And we have seen so much of that, unfortunately, it's been awful to see and I know awful for you all to have to live through and work through. And speaking of those healthcare workers, you guys have been working day in and day out now. And certainly I can't imagine the fatigue you must feel and just the overwhelming feeling, you also must be feeling.
But you now also have this risk of getting sick. You know, even if you're double vaxxed and boosted, we know that some people are still getting this omicron variant. Thankfully, it is much more likely to be a more, you know, mild case. But how much pressure is all of that putting on these hospitals in addition to what you just outlined, which is they're getting pushed to the max and may not be able to treat things like a heart attack or if there is an emergency.
Where are we seeing this? How are we seeing this play out which is the people, the nurses? The doctors? The support staff?
CLAYBORNE: Yes, great question. Jessica. I really would like to take this opportunity to remind everyone that if you have a healthcare worker in your family, you know one or whenever you're interacting with them, please you know, encourage them be patient with them. Because many of us are really physically, emotionally, and mentally on edge and have been for some time.
[15:10:03]
CLAYBORNE: I actually gave birth at the beginning of this pandemic. I was pregnant on the frontlines when we didn't even have a vaccine and my baby girl is now 18 months old, which is just crazy for me to think about.
DEAN: Wow.
CLAYBORNE: But what concerns me is, I have to continue to go to work. And now that I have actual colleagues who are getting sick, who have been, you know, double vaccinated and boosted, I'm once again worried about putting her life in danger and my other child in danger because they're too young to be vaccinated.
And there are quite a few people who are in that situation where they continue to risk themselves and their families to be out there and to serve others. So, it is definitely, definitely something that is tiring.
You know, this current wave has been devastating to take place over the Holidays, and I would remind everyone that they need to do what they should to stay diligent and stay well so that they don't add additional pressure for healthcare workers and physicians like myself, and so that we can, you know, hopefully keep our health and our -- you know, sanity, our mental wellbeing in check as much as possible as we get through these next few weeks.
DEAN: Right. I mean, you guys are only human and a debt of gratitude doesn't begin to cover what we all owe all of you.
I also want to talk about these two cruise ships that returned to Florida ports today. We were talking about them earlier just a few minutes ago, both of them dealing with COVID outbreaks. Every adult on board was vaccinated.
That being said, is now the time you think to be limiting travel and vacations again due to the contagiousness of this new variant? Or is this something that we should kind of just be working through and learning to deal with? Where do you land on that?
CLAYBORNE: Yes, you know, so I think that the new norm is that we've all really accepted that you know, COVID is here to stay. The coronavirus is going to be endemic, meaning it's always going to be around.
That said, this particular time where we're dealing with such a contagious variant, you know, I do think that people should reconsider what they're doing, especially if they have not safeguarded themselves by being vaccinated or doing other behaviors that can help keep them as healthy as possible.
You know, the risks that you take by getting infected does not just, you know, necessarily impact you, it impacts everyone around you, right, it impacts my children, which I just talked or someone who is immune compromised.
And so, when you make decisions to travel, and you do get sick, and you're like, well, you know, that's okay, I'll be fine. You have to remember that that still might have an impact on somebody else outside of you. And as a community, we really need to kind of take into consideration when we are traveling, what are we doing to keep ourselves and our family and our community well?
So I do think that this particular time for the next couple of weeks, I would think about revising some of those plans, especially if they're going to be in a situation like a cruise ship or a very close quarter with many people. And just remember that, you know, I think we are eventually getting there.
I do see light at the end of the tunnel. The fact that this is a more mild variant and that we kind of have our systems up and running as far as you know, vaccinating people quickly trying to get those vaccines to people who need them globally, paying attention to distributions of vaccines, we are making progress, but we are not quite there yet. So we need to stay diligent and stay safe.
DEAN: That's right, and we're all connected as you said Dr. Elizabeth Clayborne, thanks so much.
We really appreciate it. Take care of yourself.
CLAYBORNE: Thank you.
DEAN: Coming up, Desmond Tutu, the Nobel Peace Prize winning anti- apartheid leader has died at the age of 90. We're going to take a look at his life and legacy.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[15:16:06]
DEAN: Archbishop Desmond Tutu, a champion of the anti-apartheid movement in South Africa has died. The Nobel Prize winning Anglican cleric was 90 years old.
Tutu fight alongside Nelson Mandela against the apartheid regime and the policies of racial segregation. Today, the Mandela Foundation said this quote, "His contributions to struggles against injustice locally and globally are matched only by the depth of his thinking about the making of liberatory futures for human societies."
CNN's David McKenzie joins me now from South Africa, and David, give us a sense of just what Archbishop Tutu meant to that country. DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Jessica,
Archbishop Tutu was a true struggle icon, perhaps one of the last icons left of that era, and time and time again, you hear people saying today that he was a moral compass for this country, and for the rest of the world.
The President Joe Biden, and the First Lady saying they are heartbroken. They met him several times saying that he was an icon of South Africa's struggle against apartheid and he certainly kept that moral voice going well, after the end of apartheid.
You must remember Nelson Mandela and many of the ANC leadership was in prison at the time during the 80s. When this short Anglican bishop, Archbishop, hugely brave was leading protests and using his moral voice as a man of God and as a man of politics to try and stop the regime to have Nelson Mandela released and he had a very instrumental role in that.
There will be flags flown at half-staff here in South Africa and diplomatic missions around the world, a time of national mourning.
Just a short time ago, the President, Cyril Ramaphosa gave a nationwide address. Have a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CYRIL RAMAPHOSA, PRESIDENT OF SOUTH AFRICA: Archbishop Desmond Tutu was one of our nation's finest patriots. He was a man of unwavering courage, of principle, conviction, and whose life was spent in the service of others.
He, in many ways embodied the essence of our humanity.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MCKENZIE: And you can see by all the people who are rushing in to pay tribute to the man just how personally he touched so many around the world -- Jessica.
DEAN: Yes. And David, you said, too, that he you know that he's kind of one of the last of this group of people. It's almost like the end of an era with him, it seems like. Is that the sense you have as well?
MCKENZIE: I think so. I think there's a great deal of sadness today that the likes of Nelson Mandela and other struggle icons. Desmond Tutu was one of the last and he is one of the last to pass.
But he was, in many ways, a unique character because he was deeply into politics, but he was never a politician. He was single-minded in ending apartheid, but then when democracy came here in South Africa, he was equally ready to criticize the leadership of the ruling ANC, and also to take unpopular stances on issues both here and around the world.
And that was his unwavering goal to do what he thought was morally correct and morally right. And he had such a personal impact. I mean, I can also remember meeting him for the first time as a young reporter being absolutely overawed by the man.
But he had this infectious laugh and this cackle as the church called it today that disarmed people. He would always tell a joke or have a chuckle or make a personal anecdote with someone and then get down to business and his voice was fierce and his voice was that of humanity, and certainly, his moral authority was very great -- Jessica.
[15:20:13]
DEAN: What a life. What a gift he gave to the world. David Mackenzie, for us in South Africa. Thanks so much.
And tributes to Tutu are pouring in from world leaders. The Secretary General of the United Nations said, quote, "Archbishop Tutu was a towering global figure for peace and an inspiration to generations across the world."
Former President Jimmy Carter, who worked with Desmond Tutu on the elders group released a statement saying, quote, "His warmth and compassion offered us a spiritual message that is eternal."
We've also heard from the Vatican today it said that Pope Francis quote, "Offers his heartfelt condolences to his family and loved ones, mindful of his service to the Gospel through the promotion of racial equality and reconciliation in his native South Africa."
And finally, Queen Elizabeth who recalled quote, "I am joined by the whole Royal Family in being deeply saddened by the news of the death of Archbishop Desmond Tutu. I remember with fondness, my meetings with him, and his great warmth and humor."
Desmond Tutu was 90 years old.
Up ahead, we're going to take a look at what's next for the January 6 insurrection investigation as we near the one year anniversary of the Capitol riot.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
DEAN: As we approach the one-year anniversary of the Capitol riot, we are following a number of new developments in the investigation into the insurrection.
[15:25:01]
DEAN: In recent days, the Department of Justice released the longest footage yet of the Capitol insurrection, several hours of graphic video that you see there in the Capitol tunnel. We are also learning Trump spokesperson Taylor Budowich disclosed in a lawsuit that the House panel investigating the insurrection has demanded his financial records, prompting him to sue in an effort to prevent the committee from obtaining those records.
Renato Mariotti is a former Federal prosecutor. He also hosts the podcast "On Topic."
Renato, thanks for being with us on this Sunday.
Let's start first with how important this new video is. It is long, several hours long as investigators are seeking to piece together exactly how things unfolded on January 6th.
RENATO MARIOTTI, FORMER FEDERAL PROSECUTOR: Yes, well, I think one thing of course, you can see here is, I think it gives us a look at the coordination that was involved.
I do you think that investigators are going to be looking at video like this to determine how the different people who are involved related to each other. In order to prove something like conspiracy or to prove coordination between individuals, a video is worth the more than a thousand words. They always say a picture is worth a thousand words.
Well, as a prosecutor, you know, when I was prosecuting folks, it was always difficult for defendants to argue with video footage.
DEAN: Yes, I mean, it's just right there in front of you. Right? It also appears that the Committee is following the money in a sense, because we know it is now, demanding these financial records from Trump's spokesperson. What does that development tell you about the direction of their investigation?
MARIOTTI: I think they're trying to go beyond the people who we see storming the Capitol, right? Obviously, these people that we are capturing on video are committing a crime. What the Committee wants to look at now is who coordinated this? Who planned it? Who aided them?
So you are guilty of a crime if you knew that a crime was going to be committed and aided it in some way. If you took some -- you know, some step to move it forward and people who for -- you know, for example, funded, the folks who are going to the Capitol may have some criminal culpability, depending on what they knew was going to happen.
DEAN: It is -- it is very interesting to see this kind of unfold, and we also know the Chairman of the January 6 committee, Bennie Thompson told "The Washington Post" that he is considering possible criminal charges against the former President or at least that could potentially be on the table for Trump's delayed response to the insurrection.
And you wrote about this in POLITICO this week, is an action enough to bring criminal charges? I've talked to other experts like yourself, it's a very fine line when you're talking about inaction versus action, right?
MARIOTTI: That's exactly right. It is a challenging thing.
Typically, our criminal laws are punishing people who are actively engaging in criminal activity. It's a rare instance when somebody, you know, is criminally punished, as opposed to being sued or something, but actually criminally punished. You know, how, you know, found guilty of a felony for not doing something. You can imagine maybe a bank security guard, who just decided to, you
know, was working with the bad guys and ignored them as they let him into the bank, but you have to come up with a pretty specific set of circumstances.
And so I think, for the former President to be guilty of a crime merely for inaction, and I'm not saying that's all he did, we clearly don't have all the evidence in front of us. But if that was the case, you'd really need to make sure that you had evidence that that was part of a plan of some kind.
DEAN: Right, right. And former President Trump also asking the Supreme Court to help him keep his White House documents out of the hands of the Select Committee.
The House panel has asked the Supreme Court to really speed up their consideration of this request, because we know we've seen former President Trump use this delay tactic through the courts before and that Committee, of course, is up against a time deadline, the 2022 midterms, they're going to turn over. So, they are up against a timeline.
Do you think that -- how do you think the Supreme Court will handle this? And do you think they will give Trump a case for presidential privilege when the lower courts have rejected it?
MARIOTTI: Yes, I'd be very surprised if this case goes anywhere. I think there is a very good chance it won't even be taken up by the Supreme Court. I would just be very surprised on its face it seems like it's very unlikely to succeed, and I think more likely, is being initiated by former President Trump in order to just delay the process.
DEAN: And so when the Supreme Court is making a decision about whether to take up a case like this or not, what are they factoring into that? Well, you know, how will they be kind of looking at this? Through what lens? Because, you know, it is inherently political in a way?
MARIOTTI: Yes, that's interesting. You know, I will say the Supreme Court does not take most of the cases that are brought before them. So in other words, there are thousands and thousands of cases for which people want the Supreme Courts take a look at them, in which they could say yes, but they take a small fraction of those.
And you know, some of the cases that they are focused on are things what is called a circuit split where there is actually a split amongst the courts of the country and they need to resolve that split on a particular issue.
In other words, if you're in Alabama, the Federal Courts are saying one thing, whereas if you're in Tennessee, they say something else. Like that would be a problem.
[15:30:25]
MARIOTTI: So they will -- they resolve those questions, you know, more -- they are more likely to resolve those and then usually, matters of very significant concern, like, for example, if a Court has held that a Federal statute is invalid, this is the sort of thing that would be a matter of public concern.
But I have to say, there isn't much to Trump's argument here. I'd be very surprised if a court actually gave him the relief that he is seeking here.
And so for that reason, I think a court like this -- the Supreme Court might sidestep an issue that would be potentially divisive.
DEAN: All right, and at that point, those documents are going to go to the Committee, right, if that's what happens?
MARIOTTI: Exactly. It is a way for them to essentially go along with what the Lower Court has decided without saying anything about it.
DEAN: Got it. Renato Mariotti, as always, helping us sift through all of this. We sure do appreciate it.
MARIOTTI: Thank you.
DEAN: As the debate over how America's history is taught in schools continues across the country, a group of librarians in Texas is pushing back on parents and lawmakers trying to control children's access to certain books and topics.
Evan McMorris-Santoro has this story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
EVAN MCMORRIS-SANTORO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): This is a school librarian in Texas.
Why are you afraid to show your face?
TEXAS LIBRARIAN: Because there was a day not too long ago when I had to stop and think when they come in with handcuffs, and they come in with a warrant for my arrest for alleging that I've provided obscene material to minors. Who am I going to call first?
MCMORRIS-SANTORO (voice over): Across Texas. Protesters at School Board meetings are accusing educators of forcing pornography or obscene content on children.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is not a political thing. This is not a witch hunt. This is genuine sentiments for our children. It's abuse. It is grooming behavior. It's predatory.
MCMORRIS-SANTORO (voice over): The anger is largely aimed at school libraries, and many Texas politicians are on board. In October, Republican state legislator Matt Kraus requested every School District in the state scour their libraries for a list of 850 books.
TEXAS LIBRARIAN: The infamous Texas list that the pattern seems to be books that are representative of LGBTQIA subjects and characters and topics. Books that may contain depictions or narratives of sexual violence, survivor stories, some books that are about racism.
MCMORRIS-SANTORO (voice over): The list includes "New Kid," a graphic novel about a black student struggles fitting in in a majority white school.
"The Letter Q: Queer Writers Notes to their Younger Selves," and "The Cider House Rules" a coming of age story that features a character who performs abortions.
Republican Governor Greg Abbott took things a step further, ordering officials to investigate any criminal activity in public schools after complaints about two LGBTQ themed books, he said were pornographic.
MARY WOODARD, PRESIDENT-ELECT, TEXAS LIBRARY ASSOCIATION: I have never experienced anything like that before where a government agency or any kind of government entity was interested in specifically what kinds of books were in the library.
MCMORRIS-SANTORO (voice over): The Texas Library Association is traditionally a pretty sleepy advocacy group, but the heated rhetoric is forcing that to change.
Last week, the group set up an anonymous hotline for librarians afraid of job consequences.
WOODARD: School librarians don't go into this business to harm kids. They are working really, really hard to select books that represent everyone on their campus.
MCMORRIS-SANTORO (voice over): This is happening all over the country. LGBTQ and racial themed books written for children and young adults are facing powerful resistance.
Educators are being put on notice.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is pornography, plain and simple, and it does not belong in our schools.
MCMORRIS-SANTORO (voice over): Just since the start of the school year, the American Library Association has tracked more than 230 book challenges nationwide.
The ALA says there has been a dramatic uptick in challenges to books featuring LGBTQ and racial themes.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: LGBTQIA-plus students like me who are being harassed for not conforming to antiquated notions of gender roles and how they should express themselves.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Here we go. Yay.
MCMORRIS-SANTORO (on camera): There you go.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There it is.
MCMORRIS-SANTORO (voice over): Librarians are starting to fight back in a very librarian way.
[15:35:00]
CAROLYN FOOTE, CO-FOUNDER, #FREADOM FIGHTERS: This week we're sharing books that were gifts in people's lives and so I'm going to kick this off by sending the first -- my first tweet from our #FReadom Fighter's account.
MCMORRIS-SANTORO (voice over): Carolyn Foot is a retired librarian and one of the founders of the group, Freedom Fighters. In just a month, it has become the grassroots way librarians under threat find and help each other.
FOOTE: It's amazing how widespread these book challenges are. People are contacting us like privately from all over the country saying, "Can you help me?"
BECKY CALZADA, CO-FOUNDER #FREADOM FIGHTERS: Scared, nervous, unsure --
FOOTE: Worried they might lose their jobs.
CALZADA: I am worried. I've heard that, too. Or I'm hearing this from my district, or they don't know this. What do I do?
FOOTE: They're facing pressure, external pressure. Like what if I'm called out at a Board meeting, or someone's in front of my house. So really, it's a time when people need a lot of support.
MCMORRIS-SANTORO (voice over): Librarians helping librarians, so librarians can get back to helping kids.
CALZADA: I grew up reading "Trumpet of the Swan? and "Little House on the Prairie" and I mean, there were no you know, Hispanic girls. That's a disservice to kids. And so, we work really hard as librarians to make sure that kids have books that they can see themselves in, but we also want to offer books where kids can learn about other kids' lives.
FOOTE: And who knows that that's something that would get you demonized.
MCMORRIS-SANTORO (voice over): Governor Greg Abbott's office didn't respond when we asked for comment on what librarians in Texas are telling us. We also reached out to Matt Krause. We stopped by his office.
MCMORRIS-SANTORO (on camera): Hello?
Do you think you're going to win this? Do you think you're going to lose this?
TEXAS LIBRARIAN: It's not about whether I will win or lose this. I think it's point in our culture and our society when we have to ask ourselves what do we stand to lose if we don't correct action and course now? We can't afford as a democracy to believe anything else that will correct this.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DEAN: Evan McMorris-Santoro for us. Thanks so much.
Still had this afternoon, as the omicron variant continues to spread across the world, countries are imposing new restrictions ahead of New Year celebrations. We will have the latest headlines from around the globe, that's next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[15:40:21]
DEAN: The last week of the year brings a new push to contain the rapidly spreading omicron variant. It is now forcing government leaders to quickly scramble to stop the spread and potentially impact New Year's Eve plans.
CNN's international correspondents take a look at how omicron is prompting new restrictions.
SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I'm Scott McLean in London. While many countries in Mainland Europe are piling on new COVID restrictions in response to the surging omicron variant, the U.K. is reacting to record high case counts with a relative shrug.
Some new restrictions on large events come into effect in Scotland and Wales today, but not in England where the latest estimates show that last weekend, one in 35 people had the virus with one in 20 estimated to be infected in London. The U.K. has not seen a spike in hospitalizations or deaths likely thanks to omicron causing less severe illness and a lightning fast rollout of the booster shot with well over half the eligible population having now had it.
WILL RIPLEY, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I am Will Ripley in Hong Kong. There are growing questions right now about the viability of China's zero COVID strategy as the nation takes increasingly extreme measures to stomp out relatively small clusters of COVID-19 infection.
In the Central Chinese City of Xi'an, 13 million people, the city's entire population are under a level two lockdown. The whole city considered a controlled area, which means that schools and public transportation are closed, all but essential services are stopped.
That means that in every household, just one designated person can go out to get groceries once every two days. And otherwise, unless there is a medical emergency, you have to stay inside. All of this affecting 13 million people for just over 200 confirmed cases. State media saying 30,000 of their close contacts are in government quarantine right now.
China is just weeks away from the opening ceremonies of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics and they are trying to keep COVID from spreading inside the country just before the Lunar New Year travel rush.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
DEAN: Our thanks to our correspondents.
After the break, from Tom Brady winning a seventh Super Bowl to athletes campaigning for mental health awareness, it has been a busy year in the world of sports. We're going to take a look at the top sports stories of 2021, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[15:45:03]
DEAN: A backcountry skier in Colorado's Rocky Mountains has died after being fully buried in avalanche under Cameron Pass on Christmas Eve. Officials say the victim's partner was able to find him and extricate him from the snow, but he did not survive.
That avalanche was about 150 feet wide and occurred on the south east end of South Diamond Peak.
The pandemic brought some sports to a grinding halt in 2020, but 2021 saw athletes back on the fields and courts and fans back into the stadiums and arenas and, as always, 2021 was a year in which sports stars made some headlines on and off the field.
CNN's Andy Scholes shares his top 10 sports stories of 2021.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: Number 10, in 2021, age proved to be just a number.
Fifty years old, Phil Mickelson become the oldest golfer ever to win a Major, earning his second PGA Championships 16 years after his first. This was Phil's sixth major title first since 2013.
PHIL MICKELSON, GOLFER: It is very possible that this is the last tournament I ever win, but there is no reason why I or anybody else can't do it at a later age. It just takes a little bit more work.
SCHOLES: Number nine: Tom Brady, meanwhile, looks like he may never age.
COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT: Forty-three-year-old Tom Brady wins an historic seventh title in his first season with a new team.
SCHOLES: Brady leading the Buccaneers to a convincing 31 to nine win over the Chiefs, the Bucs, the first team ever to win a Super Bowl in their home stadium. Brady and the team celebrating with a boat parade that saw him completing yet another pack out on the water.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, wow.
SCHOLES: 2021 was the year of the Bucks. Milwaukee also claiming their first NBA title since 1971. Giannis Antetokounmpo capping off an incredible playoff run becoming the Finals MVP.
VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: Major League Baseball is moving it's all-star game out of Georgia because of the State's new law that critics say suppresses voting.
SCHOLES: In April, Major League Baseball pulled the all-star game from Atlanta. In October, Atlanta hosted the World Series and pulled off one of the most unexpected runs in baseball history, beating the Astros to win their first World Series title in 26 years.
The team's unlikely championship coming in the same year that the world lost Braves legend, Hank Aaron, who passed away at 86 years old.
Number seven --
SEDONA PRINCE, AMERICAN BASKETBALL PLAYER: NCAA March Madness, the biggest tournament in college basketball for women. This is our weight room. Let me show you all the men's weight room.
SCHOLES: The NCAA admitting failing the women in providing facilities for the NCAA tournament last March and vowed to do better.
After being canceled in 2020, March Madness was back in 2021, but it wasn't the same with limited fans and men's tournament taking place solely in Indiana, the women's in Texas.
JON DRUDEN, FORMER HEAD COACH, LAS VEGAS RAIDERS: I'm not a racist. I don't -- I can't tell you how sick I am --
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR Breaking overnight, Jon Gruden stepping down as head coach of the NFL's Las Vegas Raiders, hours after "The New York Times" reported on homophobic, misogynistic, and racist remarks that he made in e-mails over a seven-year period.
JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: The e-mails discovered during a probe into workplace misconduct within the Washington football organization after resigning her and filing a lawsuit against the NFL accusing the League of selectively leaking his e-mails to ruin his reputation.
SCHOLES: Number five: Vaccinations in sports were a polarizing topic.
AARON RODGERS, GREEN BAY PACKERS QUARTERBACK: Yes, I'm immunized.
ERIN BURNETT, CNN HOST: Superstar quarterback, Aaron Rodgers defending his controversial comments where he raised doubts about the COVID vaccine after he tested positive for COVID. He also addressed when he lied and claimed he was immunized.
RODGERS: I misled some people about my status which I take full responsibility of.
[15:50:09]
SCHOLES: Rodgers missed one game for the Packers while battling COVID.
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Golf legend, Tiger Woods hospitalized right now, after a very serious rollover car crash.
JAKE TAPPER, CNN ANCHOR: Golf legend, Tiger Woods is in the hospital right now after having to be cut out of his vehicle.
TIGER WOODS, GOLF PLAYER: I'm lucky to be alive, but also still have the limb that -- those are two crucial things.
SCHOLES: Nearly 10 months after the crash, Tiger hosted his golf tournament in the Bahamas and said he continues to make progress in his recovery, and in December, he surprised many by competing in a tournament with his 12-year-old son, Charlie.
Number three, despite the pandemic and calls to cancel the game, the Tokyo 2020 Olympics taking place without spectators in most venues. It was another historic games for Team U.S.A.
KATE BOLDUAN, CNN HOST: The most decorated us track and field Olympian ever, Allyson Felix secured that title at the Tokyo Summer Games.
ANA CABRERA, CNN HOST: It's a historic moment for Team U.S.A., Suni Lee wins gold.
BERMAN: Team U.S.A. swimmer Katie Ledecky is basking in the glory of having made Olympic history like again and again and again.
SCHOLES: Number two, a big theme in 2021 was athletes continuing to campaign for mental health awareness.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Sorry.
NAOMI OSAKA, TENNIS PLAYER: No, you're super good.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Okay, I think we're just going to take a quick break -- just we'll be back in one moment.
SCHOLES: Naomi Osaka revealing that press conferences give her anxiety and she had dealt with depression since winning her first U.S. Open title in 2018. The four-time Grand Slam winner pulling out of both Wimbledon and the U.S. Open to work on her mental health.
And number one --
BERMAN: Major breaking news out of the Olympic. We just learned that Simone Biles has pulled out of the team competition.
SIMON BILES, GYMNAST: At the end of the day, we are not just entertainment, we're humans and there are things going on behind the scenes that we're also trying to juggle with as well.
WIRE: The way Biles put a spotlight on mental health showing the world that no matter who you are even, if you're Superwoman it's okay to not feel okay. She is going to go down as one of the greatest Olympians ever for the impact she is having.
SCHOLES: Biles would return to competitions to take the bronze medal on the balance beam. (END VIDEO CLIP)
DEAN: Still to come, the incredibly heartwarming story of a Texas teenager that created an app to help his nonverbal sister communicate and how it is now helping people all across the world.
And on Saturday night, New Year's Eve. Be sure to join Anderson Cooper and Andy Cohen for CNN New Year's Eve Live. The show starts right here on CNN at 8:00 PM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[15:56:24]
DEAN: People often take the ability to speak for granted, but for some, that is not a given.
Now, one teenager in Texas is determined to give everyone a voice through an innovative app he created for someone close to his heart.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ARCHER CALDER, CREATOR OF FREESPEECH You were telling me how you wanted a scooter from Santa. How you wanted a scooter for Christmas? Is that true?
DIGITAL VOICE: Scooter.
A. CALDER: Yes, you want scooters?
BLITZER (voice over): This is Della, the 14-year-old was born with a rare genetic condition that impacts your ability to speak.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We didn't really realize that there was an issue until she was about one and she wasn't meeting her milestones. So difficulty sitting up, crawling. We also noticed no -- there was no speech. She is completely nonverbal.
DIGITAL VOICE: Train.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You want to go ride the train?
BLITZER: Della's brother Archer has been developing a web application to help his sister communicate.
A. CALDER: She wants to communicate like everybody else, and just imagine how hard it would be if you can't communicate by talking to people.
BLITZER (voice over): The website lets user's program buttons with images of their choice that represent words.
DIGITAL VOICE: I like you.
Nuggets.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Nuggets, okay.
DIGITAL VOICE: Train.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think we're going to go to the train.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, we still get to go to the train.
CHAD CALDER, DELLA AND ARCHER'S FATHER: In the past, when we had to run errands, and he just took her. She was never really consulted. And I mean, now today, outings start with us just asking, hey, you want to go do this? You want to go do that? Yes, I want to go do that.
DIGITAL VOICE: Choo, choo.
A. CALDER: You want to go fast?
DIGITAL VOICE: I want to go faster.
A. CALDER: You want to go faster.
Whenever I first made the application, I spent like an hour to coding the tile pad for her and making sure that's all of her favorite buttons and stuff. I remember like I gave it to her, I put it on her iPad and she opened it up and so like, you know one or two things and closed it out and watched what she was watching, like all of this had amounted to this small interaction.
But it was a big deal for me seeing her communicate with my application. I want everyone to have a moment like that with their nonverbal sibling or friend.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So I have a nonverbal sibling. Now, that being said, a lot of apps on the App Store are made for people who can't talk are extremely, extremely expensive.
BLITZER (voice over): That's why Archer made his app free for anyone to use.
A. ARCHER: When I had first made my first video, I only expected it to receive a few tests and 100 views, when it received a million views, I got a lot of comments, a lot of comments congratulating me. And originally, because I was such a junior developer and I knew it, I kind of felt this sense of like imposter syndrome.
The good part about it, you know, I got a lot of eyeballs on the project. And you know, I got a lot of contributors who wanted to contribute their code.
BLITZER (voice over): Archer made a software open source, which means other coders can add new features to the app.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Today, I'm going to show us how we can control Freespeech with just our eyes on the iPad, using an awesome application called Hawkeye Access. I will then look at the word hello.
DIGITAL VOICE: Hello. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Blink.
BLITZER (voice over): While the app is still a work in progress, and is still only accessible through a website, it's already helping people across America and the world find their own voices.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: To the fact that he's motivated to help other people, he takes in the comments that they have, he takes in the suggestions. That's what any parent wants for their son. They want their child to grow up to be empathetic and now here he is in a very tangible way, helping other people.
DIGITAL VOICE: Wolf Blitzer, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
[16:00:01]
