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January 6 House Committee Hopes to Publish First Findings by Summer; Gunman Kills 5 People, Wounds Several Others in Denver; Top 10 Media Stories of 2021. Aired 3:30-4p ET
Aired December 29, 2021 - 15:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[15:30:00]
SARA MURRAY, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Despite Meadows work to go in favor with Trump, a source tells CNN their relationship has been strained. Both from embarrassing revelations in Meadows' book and the fallout from some documents he gave the select committee before he stopped cooperating.
STEVE BANNON, FORMER TRUMP ADVISER: If you think they're going to give your country back without a fight your sadly mistaken.
MURRAY (voice over): Right wing firebrand and Trump ally Steve Bannon was charged with criminal contempt of Congress after defying a committee subpoena. He pleaded not guilty and appears to be wearing his resistance as a badge of honor.
BANNON: A have a previous engagement that I can't get out of.
BANNON: Peter, you're --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The master of the understatement.
BANNON: You hear me talking --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They let you lose and running form the cops today?
MURRAY (voice over): While Bannon's relationship with Trump often runs hot and cold, Bannon is still clear about his loyalty.
BANNON: We're going to hit the beach, you know, you have the landing teams, and the beachhead teams, that nomenclature that they used when President Trump wins again in 2024, or before.
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MURRAY (on camera): Now roughly a dozen folks have filed lawsuits challenging the committee's legitimacy. Which gives you an idea the extent of the pushback the committee is getting. But I talked to a committee spokesperson who said, look, they are trying to investigate a violent attack on American democracy. They have hundreds of folks who are cooperating. Alisyn, obviously they still feel confident they will be able to do their work and put this report out.
CAMEROTA: OK, Sara Murray, thank you for all of that.
Well still ahead, it's been a whirlwind year for the media. So, we're going to take a look back at the top media stories from 2021.
Also, we have a quick programming note for you. This Sunday, Carole King and James Taylor are together for an unforgettable concert film "Just Call Out My Name" airs Sunday at 9:00 p.m. on CNN. And here's a preview.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Friends, collaborators, legends. Their music shaped a generation. They came together for the tour of a lifetime.
CAROL KING AND JAMES TAYLOR: And it's too late baby now it's too late
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: James Taylor and his songs were amazing. His voice is amazing and his demeanor.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And Carole King. Carole King, one of the greatest songwriters of all time asked to be part of my band.
TAYLOR: 40 years have passed since the first time we played.
KING: I love every experience we have had together.
KING AND TAYLOR, SINGING: You just call out my name and you know wherever I am I'll come running
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: "Just Call Out My Name" Sunday at 9:00 on CNN.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
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[15:35:00]
CAMEROTA: Authorities say the gunman who went on a shooting spree in Denver may have targeted some of the victims. And public records show that they previously owned a business at the same location as one of the shootings. Five people were killed and several others injured including a police officer. Lucy Kafanov joins me now from Denver. She's been covering this. So, Lucy, the gunman and all of the victims have now been identified. So, what are you learning?
LUCY KAFANOV, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Alisyn. Communities here in Denver and Lakewood now mourning the loss of loved ones as the names of these victims come to light. The deadly shooting spree began just after 5:00 p.m. on Monday evening when two women were killed and a man was injured in Denver's busy South Broadway neighborhood.
Now we now know the names of those first two victims. They are Alicia Cardenas, 44 years old, a mother. She is an artist, the owner of Sol Tribe Custom Tattoo & Body Piercing. I spoke to several people who knew her, who described her as a pillar of the community. Also killed alongside her was Alyssa Gunn Maldonado, an assistant
manager at that same tattoo shop. And the wife of James or Jimmy Maldonado. He was shot. He's currently in the hospital in critical condition. He worked as a piercer at the same tattoo shop.
We understand that the gunman then fatally shot a man named Michael Swinyard in his residence near Cheeseman Park in Denver. He then fled to a Lakewood -- to Lakewood a suburb west of Denver where police say he entered the Lucky 13 Tattoo Parlor and there fatally shot 38-year- old Danny Scofield before going to the Hyatt House Hotel in the Belmar shopping center in Lakewood. Fatally shooting there 28-year-old hotel worker Sarah Steck.
Afterwards, he was confronted by police. He exchanged fire with police, injuring a Lakewood police agent. A police officer who also shot and killed him. She is expected to recover from her injuries.
Now, police did identify the shooter as 47-year-old Lyndon James McLeod. The motive still unknown. But as you point out, police say he appears to have targeted all of these victims. Take a listen.
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MATT CLARK, MAJOR CRIMES DIVISION COMMANDER, DENVER POLICE DEPARTMENT: Based on what we know, it does appear that the offender was targeting specific people, in this case. The victims were known to the offender.
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KAFANOV: Now, friends of some of the victims have launched a GoFundMe campaign to help the Gunn Maldonado family. Again, Alyssa was killed. Her husband Jimmy is currently in critical condition. They leave behind a son.
[15:40:00]
That campaign has raised more than $137,000 so far. I should add that the records indicate that the gunman own his own tattoo parlor called, Flat Black Ink. The address matches that as one of the locations where gunshots were fired on Monday but no one was killed there. This is obviously in the early stages of the investigation. Alisyn, we are awaiting more details from the authorities -- Alisyn.
OK. Lucy. Thank you.
Well, still ahead, as the U.S. faces a surge in COVID cases, the CDC issues new guidance and how the NFL is now responding.
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CAMEROTA: The NFL will follow the updated guidance from the CDC and relax its quarantine rules for players who test positive for COVID. The league has been forced to postpone several games as it reels from the COVID surge. According to this league memo distributed to the teams and obtained by CNN, players who are asymptomatic will now have to isolate for five days, rather than ten. The new quarantine rule only applies to unvaccinated players. Those who are vaccinated can test-out before the five-day period is up.
Well, 2021 was packed with huge media stories from rampant social media misinformation. To major TV news turnover. CNN media correspondent Brian Stelter breaks down the top-ten media stories of the year.
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BRIAN STELTER, CNN CHIEF MEDIA CORRESPONDENT: 2021, the year the media and the world tried to get back to normal.
The pandemic is now a subject of scripted dramas and movies helping us process it. But it's not over yet and some things have changed forever. So here are our top ten media stories of the year.
Number 10: De-platforming Donald Trump. Twitter permanently banning the president just days after the Capitol insurrection, while Facebook gave him a time-out.
ANA CABRERA, CNN ANCHOR: Our breaking news this hour, Facebook says former president Donald Trump will not be allowed back on its platforms until at least January 7th, 2023.
STELTER: While Trump cries censorship, social media CEOs are just trying to figure out where to draw the line.
Number 9: TV news turnover. Chris Cuomo out at CNN after text messages showed how he helped his governor brother fight sexual harassment allegations. Now both Cuomos are out of jobs.
Soon the 9:00 p.m. timeslot at MSNBC is in for a change to with Rachel Maddow renewing her contract but expanding into documentaries and preparing to leave her daily hour.
MSNBC also needs to replace Brian Williams who signed off in December with a warning.
BRIAN WILLIAMS, MSNBC HOST: For the first time in my 62 years, my biggest worry is for my country.
STELTER: And over at Fox, a very different departure. Lou Dobbs ousted without explanation but it happened 24 hours after he was named in a defamation lawsuit.
At the end of the year Chris Wallace announced he was leaving Fox on his own terms. He is joining CNN and its forthcoming streaming system.
Number 8: Oprah's bombshell interview with Prince Harry and Meghan Markle. The revelations shook the royal family with the Duchess of Sussex citing the family's, quote, "concerns" about Baby Archie's skin color. She said she felt so alone, she contemplated suicide.
MEGHAN MARKLE, DUCHESS OF SUSSEX: I just didn't want to be alive anymore.
STELTER: Fallout from the interview rippled across the media. And when a co-anchor called out Piers Morgan for his anti-Meghan rants, he stormed off the set of his British morning show.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You continue to trash her.
PIERS MORGAN, TV HOST: OK. I'm done this.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, no, no.
MORGAN: Sorry, no.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you what, that's pretty --Didn't know what that --
MORGAN: You can track a moment, but not mine, sir.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, no, no, no. I'm being --
MORGAN: See you later. Sorry, can't do this.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is absolutely diabolical behavior.
STELTER: He then left the network.
As for Harry and Meghan, they are now making podcasts and TV shows which leads me to --
Number 7: The streaming wars. Hollywood giants are trying to get even bigger, investing more and more in streaming series to keep you subscribed.
Streaming is the focus of AT&T's deal to spin off Warner Media including CNN and combine it with Discovery. If OK'd by regulators, the new stand-alone company will take shape in mid-2022 going head-to- head with Netflix and Disney.
In 2021, shows like "Squid Game" and "Ted Lasso" won attention and awards. And studios kept experimenting by putting movies like "Black Widow" both on streaming and in theaters at the same time. When Disney did that, Scarlett Johansson shocked Hollywood by suing for breach of contract, showing that the rules are being rewritten every day.
Number 6: Daring reporting from Afghanistan, as the Taliban encroached on Kabul and the U.S. withdrawal turned chaotic, reporters became the eyes and ears of the world.
CLARISSA WARD, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: They just told me to stand to the side because I'm a woman.
STELTER: CNN's Clarissa Ward documented the Taliban's takeover despite all the uncertainty and earned praise from fellow journalists.
Behind the scenes Ward and hundreds of others worked to evacuate endangered reporters, assistants, drivers and other Afghans who worked with Western media. The local reporters who remain there face a hostile climate.
Which brings me to -- Number 5: the continuing crackdown on global press freedom.
In Hong Kong, police raided a pro-democracy newspaper in June, arresting top editors. A month before that, this incident shocked the world.
[15:50:00]
A dissident Belarusian journalist arrested after his commercial flight was forced down in essentially a state-sponsored hijacking.
DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Have we seen anything like this before?
RICHARD QUEST, CNN INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: No, is the short answer.
STELTER: Countries around the world are rolling back the rights of reporters in sometimes brazen ways. The Committee to Protect Journalists says a record high number of reporters are behind bars now with China being the worst jailer.
Number 4: the woke wars. It's an awakening over racial and social injustice to some but an overreaction to others. Is it cancel culture or consequence culture? And whatever it's called, has it gone too far?
These debates raged across media all year.
JOE ROGAN, RADIO HOST: Either we'll eventually get to straight white men are not allowed to talk.
BILL MAHER, TV HOST: This is called a purge. It's a mentality that belongs in Stalin's Russia.
TUCKER CARLSON, FOX NEWS HOST: Cancelling Dr. Seuss isn't stupid. It's intentional.
STELTER: Of course, Dr. Seuss wasn't canceled. His legacy company simply decided to stop publishing a few titles that had racist imagery.
But free speech issues are real. And alternatives are emerging for people who want to bypass traditional book publishers, newspapers and other gatekeepers. Writers are flocking to Substack and launching newsletters -- a new model that brings fresh debates over free speech.
Number 3: January 6th denialism. The big lie about Trump winning the election led to the big deny. Desperate attempts to erase the violent reality of the riot.
CARLSON: You see people walking around and taking pictures. They don't look like terrorists. They look like tourists.
STELTER: That's Fox's highest rated star trying to rewrite history. While commentators stoked conspiracy theories, right-wing media barely covers the real news about the insurrections aftermath. Or the new efforts to subvert democracy at the state level.
What we are losing in America is a sense of shared reality. But the big lie may cost its crusaders.
JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Breaking just a short time ago, Fox facing a $1.6 billion lawsuit, accused of spreading election lies.
STELTER: And that was just the beginning. Two voting tech companies have filed multiple defamation suits against Fox News and other networks. And a series of blockbuster books continue to reveal what really happened during Trump's final days in the White House.
Number 2: The Facebook reckoning. A whistleblower was heard around the world, first with the Facebook Files, a series of "Wall Street Journal" stories based on leaks from inside Facebook. Then the source Frances Haugen stepped forward.
FRANCES HAUGEN, FACEBOOK WHISTLE BLOWER: I believe Facebook's products harm children, stoke division, and weaken our democracy. The company's leadership knows how to make Facebook and Instagram safer but won't make the necessary changes because they have put their astronomical profits before people.
STELTER: Haugen alleged that the company's own research showed its platforms can be toxic for children and society writ large but the company failed to take action.
CEO Mark Zuckerberg pushed back. Saying many of her claims didn't make sense. But Haugen gave new momentum to governments that want to rein in social media. Anti-social media was a through line for the entire year.
Bringing us to the number 1 media story of 2021: the vaccine disinformation divide. Reliable info about COVID-19 vaccines helped people get vaxed and protected, but anti-vax lies and distortions went viral, from Facebook to Fox in ways that worsened the pandemic's terrible toll.
The right-wing media machine took conspiracy theories from the fringes and moved them to the mainstream.
PEARSON SHARP, OAN HOST: The radical, left-wing fanatics who are bent on forcing each and every American to get themselves injected with an experimental, unproven drug.
STELTER: Fox News demonized Dr. Anthony Fauci.
LARA LOGAN, FOX NEWS HOST: This is what people say to me. That he doesn't represent science to them. He represents Joseph Mengele.
STELTER: And the anti-science rhetoric cost lives. Several right-wing radio hosts who resisted vaccines died of COVID. TV stars who claim to respect their audience actually put them at risk.
Big tech platforms said they tried to clean up the garbage, but the vaccine divide is a sad reflection of a choose your own news culture. It's incumbent on everyone to choose carefully.
Brian Stelter, CNN, New York.
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CAMEROTA: Our thanks to Brian for that.
And we have some new COVID numbers just in to CNN. The state of New York is reporting a record high of 67,000 new COVID-19 cases. And hospitalizations are up close to 10 percent just in one day. So, the Governor, Kathy Hochul, says hospitalizations are down from this time, same time last year, but this spike is still concerning.
All right, still ahead, we do have some of the good stuff this holiday season. A FedEx driver was able to see his family over Christmas thanks to the people whose packages he delivers. We have that story next for you.
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CAMEROTA: Well, the temperature may be in the 30s in Buxton, Maine, but there are plenty of warm hearts thanks to an act of kindness. It started when Brick Murphy's young children gave Rodger Ingram -- their FedEx driver -- a bottle of water. And that kicked off a friendship that resulted in a special Christmas gift this year. The Murphys rallied their neighbors to help buy Roger a plane ticket home to Jamaica to see his family.
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ROGER INGRAM, FEDEX DRIVER: He was kind of emotional because I didn't expect it. It's an act of kindness. It can go a long way.
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CAMEROTA: This will be his first visit home in years.
Thanks for joining me. "THE LEAD" with Jake Tapper starts right now.
