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U.S. Rings In The New Year As Omicron Cases Spike; Comedy Legend And "Golden Girl" Betty White Dies At 99; Wildfires Engulf Colorado Towns, Burn Nearly 1,000 Homes; Child COVID Hospitalizations Soar To New Pandemic High; House January 6 Probe Heating Up As One Year Anniversary Approaches; Rep. Thompson: Willard Hotel "War Room" Communications Are "Key Part" Of January 6 Probe; Funeral Held For South African Archbishop Who Fought Apartheid. Aired 9-10a ET

Aired January 01, 2022 - 09:00   ET

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

[09:00:35]

PAULA REID, CNN ANCHOR: Happy New Year. I'm Paula Reid in Washington. And you are live in the "CNN NEWSROOM."

Well, it's a new year, but same virus. People flooded the streets of New York for celebrations in Times Square, making it seem like any other year, but, of course, it's not. Health officials warning holiday celebrations like this one could mean a sobering start to 2022, as the Omicron variant tears through the country at an astonishing pace.

COVID tests for those who can find one keep bringing bad tidings. The U.S. has already smashed another daily count record. Experts worry it will bring a tidal wave of hospital admissions. Right now, child COVID hospitalizations are at an all-time high, and schools across the country are once again torn on how to move forward safely. Massachusetts has denied a teachers union request to close schools on Monday for COVID testing. But in Washington, D.C., students must produce a negative test to be able to return to school.

And returning home from the holidays is also proving to be an issue. People learning that air travel is no cation right now. Airlines have cancelled more than 11,000 flights since Christmas Eve. Now, the FAA warns it may be forced to delay flights as COVID sends crew members home to isolation.

And taking to the seas could also be more complicated now. The CDC has increased the risk level for cruise ships to its highest level. The federal agency says you should avoid cruises regardless of your vaccination status.

Now, CNN's Polo Sandoval joins me now from New York City.

Polo, Happy New Year. And thanks for being with us this morning.

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Happy New Year, Paula.

You know, this part of the country, there were many New Yorkers that closed off their year standing in lines to get COVID tested. That's because New York state continues - at least it has continued yesterday, closed off the year, following that trend of shattering its own record when it comes to daily numbers of new COVID cases. About 76,000 New Yorkers tested positive again yesterday. 7,900 New Yorkers in the hospital right now. That's certainly deeply concerning as these kinds of numbers are the ones that really add strain to these health care facilities that have already been through the wringer when it comes to previous surges.

And that's one of the reasons why FEMA is sending in reinforcements, sending in medical resources to hospitals throughout the state. Because of these kinds of numbers that are certainly not expected to drop, at least not immediately. There is hope, obviously that this wave could potentially be short-lived. But ultimately, we will have to see.

And you know I was out here at Times Square yesterday and seeing these massive crowds. It was interesting as New Yorkers that attended, they were greatly reduced in numbers, from about 58,000 that we usually see pre-pandemic, to only 15,000, according to authorities.

And I saw how NYPD was actually trying to limit the number of people in some of these fenced in areas and gave people plenty of elbow room. But there was obviously so much excitement because of the new year that many of those folks who are in attendance were basically cramming themselves up against one corner to be closer to that iconic ball drop.

And that's really what worried officials. And it's impossible to enforce social distancing when you have 15,000 people coming together in Times Square. So ultimately all that New York authorities could do after deciding to move forward with this, following the advice of multiple health officials, was to give people the ability to remain socially distant. But I can tell you, I saw it first-hand there were many people did not.

Now, the good news is that most people there were supposed to be fully vaccinated, were supposed to be wearing masks. And authorities certainly hoping that that will decrease the chance of this becoming -- having become a superspreader, Paula.

REID: Let's hope so. And hopefully, outside ventilation, perhaps something helping Omicron not spread too quickly through that pretty significant crowd.

Polo, thank you for your reporting.

SANDOVAL: Thanks, Paula.

REID: Joining us now is Dr. Jonathan Reiner. He's a CNN medical analyst and a professor of Medicine and Surgery at George Washington University.

Dr. Reiner, Happy New Year. Thank you so much for being with us.

Right now, we see millions of Americans ringing in the new year last night there. While cases are at a record high. What are you worried about now in the weeks ahead? DR. JONATHAN REINER, CNN MEDICAL ANALYST: Well, I'm worried about our hospitals. We're going to continue to see millions and millions of cases in the United States. And even with the lower virulence, apparently for this variant, still about 2 percent of folks who contract the virus need to be hospitalized.

[09:05:05]

And it's going to be a race. It's going to be a race between waiting for this surge to crest. And hoping that we don't run out of hospital capacity.

And again, it's not just the bed capacity in the hospital. What we're really worried about is hospital staff getting ill and having to isolate. And it's going to be close in many parts of the country. We're seeing hospitalizations in places like New York, rise significantly.

You know where I live and work in D.C., also we're seeing hospitalizations rise. We still have some capacity, but it's all going to depend on when this surge crests. And for parts of the United States that are less well vaccinated than New York and D.C. and the northeast, they're in for more trouble and this is coming to their communities very soon.

REID: Well, a new study has found that immunity does wane against the Omicron variant with both Moderna and Pfizer vaccines, but it wanes even more after a natural infection. So, what does this mean for people who have listened to someone like Florida Governor Ron DeSantis who has argued that a natural infection is a substitute for vaccination. I'm sure you've seen all the comments online about Omicron being nature's vaccine. What do you say to people?

REINER: Well, I say look at what's happened in Florida. Florida has had 1,000 percent increase in cases over the last two weeks. That's ten-fold increase in cases and about 150 percent increase in hospitalizations. Natural immunity doesn't work for this variant now.

So, if you're just relying on a prior COVID infection as your shield of armor, it's not going to cut it. You're going to get infected and you're going to get sick. Two shots of mRNA vaccine will protect you from serious illness, very likely, but you're still likely to get ill. A booster increases the efficacy against symptomatic infection, to about 75 percent. Which is pretty good. With even higher rates of protection against severe illness and death.

Unfortunately, only about a third of the folks in this country who have been vaccinated have been boosted. And it's time for the CDC to tell the public that you are not fully vaccinated if you are not - if you don't have a third shot or if you've had the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, a second shot.

Let's just you know stop this fallacy that full vaccination is two shots. Two shots don't cut it anymore.

REID: Well, why do you think the CDC hasn't done that at this point? You're certainly not the first person to call for that.

REINER: Well, there's a lot of politics involved. And you know, they're walking this tight rope between trying to do what's right for public health. And perhaps, they're worried about undermining folks' confidence in the vaccines. I think when you tell people that what we now know is that this is a three-shot vaccine.

And if you haven't had your third shot, you're not fully vaccinated, people will understand that. But when -- you still perpetuate this myth that two shots constitute full vaccination. It portrays this notion that the third shot is optional, you know, it's extra protection -- it's not extra protection. It just takes you up to an acceptable level. And only about a third of the people in this country who have been vaccinated have opted to do that.

If you look at the country as a whole, only about 20 percent of the population has had a third dose, factoring in the folks who have not been vaccinated. So, we are unprepared for Omicron. And this is why our hospitals are going to be stretched to capacity. So, everyone needs a third dose.

And in Florida, if you're relying on your summer infection as your protection against Omicron, you're sadly mistaken. And I'd like to hear from the Florida governor -- I'd like to hear Governor DeSantis tell his population in that state which is being hammered now to get vaccinated and get boosted. Stop the nonsense. Protect the people that have voted for you.

REID: A lot of folks vacationing right now in Florida. Earlier this week, you said you wouldn't eat inside a restaurant right now without a mask.

REINER: No.

REID: What other activities would you not engage in right now?

REINER: Yeah. I wouldn't -- I wouldn't walk into a bar. I certainly wouldn't have a drink in a bar. I wouldn't go on a cruise ship. I wouldn't sit tightly packed in a theater. There's just too much virus around to do this.

Now, if you're wearing a medical grade N95 which I do wear in a crowd, yeah, you can probably tolerate that for a period of time safely. But now is the time to hunker down. This is as dense a viral environment as we've had since the beginning of the pandemic.

[09:10:04]

And at the beginning of the pandemic, when there was much less virus around everyone was basically locked down. But there isn't the political will or maybe the public will to do that now. But in places where hospital capacity is at a breaking point, where they're cancelling elected procedures like in places like Rhode Island and in Michigan, maybe we should have a lockdown and tell people to stay home for a week until, you know, we get better control of this. But the notion that you can sort of live your life now because we're tired of this and we have to move on, isn't going to cut it for the next few weeks. You need to be smart. Spend time in your house, binge a series that you've always wanted to do. But now is not the time to spend amongst many of your friends unmasked.

REID: Dr. Jonathan Reiner, thank you so much for that sobering reminder and endorsement for a --

REINER: Yeah.

REID: -- for binging some Netflix over the next couple of weeks.

REINER: My pleasure. Happy New Year, Paula.

REID: And up next, we remember American icon Betty White. The tributes pouring in for the beloved "Golden Girl" next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(VIDEO PLAYS SCENE FROM "THE GOLDEN GIRLS")

REID: Fans are mourning the death of a "Golden Girl" actress and comedy icon, Betty White, died Friday, just weeks shy of her 100th birthday. Among her most famous roles the man-hungry Sue Ann Nivens on the "Mary Tyler Moore Show." And of course, the lovable and hilariously naive Rose Nylund of the "The Golden Girls."

Over the years, White earned 21 primetime Emmy nominations, winning five in 2010.

[09:15:00]

She enjoyed a career renaissance when she starred in a Snickers Super Bowl commercial. The popularity of that spot sparked a viral Facebook campaign that led her to becoming the oldest person to host "Saturday Night Live" when she was 88.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BETTY WHITE, ACTRESS: When I heard about the campaign to get me to host "Saturday Night Live," I didn't know what Facebook was. And now that I do know what it is, I have to say, it sounds like a huge waste of time.

(LAUGHTER)

(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)

I would never say that people on it are losers.

(LAUGHTER)

But that's only because I'm polite.

(END VIDEO CLIP) REID: Late night host and former "SNL" cast member, Seth Meyers, tweeting, "Rest in peace, Betty White, the only "SNL" host I ever saw get a standing ovation at the after party. A party at which she ordered a vodka and a hotdog and stayed til the bitter end."

From Sandra Bullock, her co-star in "The Proposal." "I don't think vodka... but I will tonight, on ice, with a slice of lemon with a hot dog on the other side and just be OK being sad. I'll have to buy some rose colored glasses because Betty was that for all of us."

And from Ryan Reynolds, "The world looks different now. She was great at defying expectation. She managed to grow very old and somehow, not old enough. We'll miss you, Betty. Now you know the secret."

CNN media analyst Bill Carter joins me now.

Bill, I think you'd be hard-pressed to find someone as universally beloved as Betty White. So, how did she manage to stay so relevant for seven decades?

BILL CARTER, CNN MEDIA ANALYST: I'm tempted to say talent. I mean I think she was just a great natural talent. This is not a trained actress. I mean she grew up in the very early days of television just doing everything. She did sitcoms. She did game shows. She did variety shows. She sang. She was just a very natural talent.

And she was -- considering who she was, it wasn't like a put-on at all. And as she grew into the you know a comic persona, you start these tremendous comedy jobs that not many people have where she could deliver a line - a devastating line so effectively, like the one you just showed on "Saturday Night Live" just so beautifully.

There aren't that many hosts on "Saturday Night Live" who are that good at just jumping into that cast. And she was brilliant at it. I mean they had a campaign to get her to do it. And then she gets on it. And she gets the biggest rating of the year and she kills it.

And I went back and watched some of the sketches they did. She was great. She was just plain great. So, I really think she was a unique one-of-a-kind talent.

REID: So, here you have on the one hand, right, this very sweet- natured woman regarded as America's grandmother. On the other hand, you have this razor - razor sharp comedian who could be a little - a little salty. I want to play one of her sketches on "Saturday Night Live." Let's take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TINA FEY, ACTRESS: How would you describe your race or ethnic origin?

WHITE: Well, superior to Asians, but not as intelligent as blacks.

FEY: Let me clarify, which of the following describes you, white, Asian, Hispanic, Pacific Islander.

WHITE: Oh, Pacific Islander, let's try that. And don't skimp on the rum.

(LAUGHTER)

FEY: What is your last name, ma'am?

WHITE: Blarfengar (ph)

FEY: Can you spell that for me?

WHITE: S-M-I-T-H.

(LAUGHTER)

FEY: And that's pronounced?

WHITE: Blarfengar (ph)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

REID: So, it seems like it's that combination of sweet and salty that made her such a comedy genius.

CARTER: Well, this is the interesting thing about it because she was like kind of this very sweet conformer in her early career, especially on game shows where you know you're supposed to be this kind of appealing, pleasant person, and she was all of that, but then she got the Sue Ann Nivens part on "Mary Tyler Moore" who was a very bloody and kind man-hungry character and she played that so effectively and so well. That that became part of her persona.

And she could tell a very really risque joke so well, because she was able to just be that kind of sweet, grandmotherly person. And there are many clips of her, especially on her later series where you saw her adlibbing or going back with the director or the people on the cast and she's very body and extremely funny. And she just kills them. She just kills them because she just had that ability to play with that image of herself and make everyone laugh. I mean, it was a unique talent and really, really special.

REID: Incredibly special. And it seems like authenticity really key here as well.

[09:20:00]

But, Bill, we'd be remiss if we didn't mention that Betty White, of course, was an animal lover. In fact, she called television her hobby, and animals her work. So, tell us a little bit about that part of her life.

CARTER: Well, she was.

And this you know I think has become sort of au courant in Hollywood to support animals. But she was doing this a long, long, long ago. And you know she didn't have children around. She really was an animal lover and was committed to that. And gave a lot of her money. I mean this is a person who perform on television for I don't know how many years, but she was well off. She did very well especially when she started to be in sitcoms and a star like that. But she basically threw that all into her charity work for animals. And was a real dedicated person. It wasn't just, oh, this is my charity. I'm going to take animals up. That's what she believed in.

REID: And now, one of the things that's really bittersweet here is that she passed away right before her 100th birthday which is commemorated on this week's cover of "People" magazine. And one that was often asked if there were any other Hollywood projects she would like to do. And here's how she would joke.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WHITE: I usually answer that question with Robert Redford.

No, I think I've been lucky enough to do just about so much that I -- if I start complaining about anything under the sun, throw me out of the business.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

REID: We should note, Robert Redford actually gave our show a statement saying, quote, "Betty lived life devoted to her craft and her love of animals. She made us all laugh, including me. I had a crush on her too!"

So, how else is Hollywood remembering her today?

CARTER: Well, I think people are all over Hollywood are basically saying they're recognizing that this was a person in your life for all of these years. I mean, television started with her. This is amazing to think about this. She was on television when it started. So, we all saw her.

And most people in Hollywood grew up watching her in some form or another and felt like they identified with her. And then when they worked with her, they were struck by this unique kind of personality. So, you're getting all these people offering tributes that are not just off hand because they're personal. They really felt like, even if they didn't act with her, they knew her because she's been in their lives for basically 50, 60, 70 years. That's an extraordinary experience to have.

REID: Bill Carter, thank you so much for joining us.

We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:26:15]

REID: This morning, hundreds of Colorado residents are without homes after wildfires moved across the Boulder, Colorado area. Wind gusts of more than 100 miles per hour Thursday turned those fires into a blow torch. And as the flames moved in, it resembled an apocalyptic scene in Superior, Colorado.

The shoppers ran out of a store into the parking lot. Today, a welcome sight for residents and emergency workers, snow, and there's more on the way.

Now, CNN's Natasha Chen joins me now from Louisville, Colorado.

Natasha, the governor said it would be a New Year's miracle if no one died in this disaster. So, at this point, have there been any reports of casualties?

NATASHA CHEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Paula, there have not been official confirmation of any casualties at this point. We will continue to follow-up on that today.

Standing with me here is the Delaware family, they have lived in Louisville for more than 20 years. And unfortunately, lost their home in this disaster. I'm with Judy Delaware now.

So, Judy, can you tell me a little bit about what happened the day that you were asked to evacuate?

JUDY DELAWARE, LOST HOME IN COLORADO WILDFIRES: Absolutely, it just started out as a beautiful morning. And we were getting ready. And our son came running into the bathroom when I was talking with a friend on the phone. And our daughter was with me. And he said there's huge smoke behind our house. And we were able to get up there, take a peek at it.

And we realized the smoke was attached to the fire. And the fire was moving very quickly. The flames were very close to the house. It was very, very windy. And we realized we were in harm's way very quickly. We had almost no time to get out from where we were to get to our car to get back to the house.

CHEN: Just a few minutes would you say?

DELAWARE: Yes, we have less than five minutes.

CHEN: And what did you take with you in those five minutes?

DELAWARE: Everybody you see here. And our dogs, and our cell phones and our chargers, and computers, medicine, and the clothes on our backs.

CHEN: Oh my gosh. So, you went back to your neighborhood yesterday.

DELAWARE: We did.

CHEN: Tell me what that was like when you first saw what was left.

DELAWARE: Well, we had known. We had heard from some people that had come through the neighborhood. We already knew that the house was gone. And many, many of our neighbors' houses were gone.

It was hard to even visualize and conceptualize that our whole neighborhood was destroyed. We've lived there for so long, and it is such a community of friends. It's family. Louisville is an amazing community. And the support here has just been overwhelming. But seeing it, it's hard to believe when you look at your house, that that's everything. And it just was a pile of rubble, the bricks, everything had exploded. Bricks were in the street. It just -- it was unimaginable.

CHEN: And you have so many family memories there. Your kids grew up there. And you had a celebration just the night before.

DELAWARE: We did. We did. And just happy memories. And we're just so glad that we're here. Our dogs are in the car. Having three dogs has been - has been a little difficult to be able to manage you know not having a fenced in backyard. But we are doing OK. And I have all my people, and that's all that matters.

CHEN: What a way to start the new year, right, with the people you love, and as Judy says, that's all that matters. There's so much recovery work to be done. And we wish you all very good luck with that this year.

Paula, back to you.

REID: Natasha Chen, thank you for that report and thank you to the Delaware family for sharing their story with us. We're glad you're all safe.

[09:30:00]

Now, storm chaser Aaron Rigsby joins me now from Louisville. Aaron, what are you seeing out there?

AARON RIGSBY, STORM CHASER: Yes. So, the main highway that actually goes from Denver to Boulder was just recently opened back up for the public to use again. Pretty much the only thing that I've seen today is people attempting to get back to their homes and beginning the cleanup process.

REID: So, how do these wildfires compare to others that you've seen in the region? Based on our reporting from my colleagues in the field it just seems these were very -- very quickly moving.

RIGSBY: That's exactly correct. The interesting thing is that a lot of our wildfires out here in Colorado typically start up in the mountains, whether that'd be from a lightning strike or a rogue camp fire, and those dry conditions, and they feed off of all those trees up there. This one was very unique because it started with downed power lines or at least that's what is presumed to be at the moment. And it was mostly wind-driven. It didn't have as much fuel to kind of go off of as it does in the mountains.

The wind was blowing. I think the highest wind gust reported was 106 miles an hour and it just drove those flames unfortunately right into the communities of Superior and Louisville.

REID: And you've described this as the closest thing you'll see to the apocalypse. Those are pretty strong words. What makes you say that based on your previous storm chasing experience?

RIGSBY: That's correct. I've been doing this for 11 years now. And I've seen anywhere from category 5 hurricanes to violent tornado damage.

Everything just happened so quickly while I was there. Everything around me went from, you know, everyone evacuating to just everything on fire. Everything around me burning.

You heard a constant popping sound and explosions going off from either vehicles catching on fire, gas meters or homes being caught on fire. And there was just a constant rain of embers coming down.

And to be in a situation where literally everything around you is burning and then to come out of that and get an overlook view of how many fires were in the city it was just something that words can't really accurately put into a description of what it was really like. You see and hear about these things on movies but you never think that you're going to be in that kind of situation in person.

REID: What's interesting is, obviously, you run towards the storm as a storm chaser when people are fleeing from these fires. It seems like a lot of people even though these are enormous were caught off guard. They were surprised.

Why is that do you think? What was unique about these fires?

RIGSBY: Well, unfortunately, it was a ticking time bomb that we all just didn't really see happening. When you have this dry winter like we've had -- I mean, normally, you know, the snow is something that we start to see in October, November. And by December, the mountains are usually covered in snow. We have significant accumulation. We haven't seen that this winter.

And unfortunately, it's been bone-dry and we haven't seen much precipitation. It's been one of the driest years on record so far in the state of Colorado. And when you mix those ingredients together with the high winds just before the snow storm came through it was a recipe for disaster. And unfortunately the worst case scenario did come true.

And when you have 100-mile-an-hour winds driving a fire you can't forecast that. Storms you can forecast. You can forecast in days ahead of time. And hurricanes you can sometimes forecast a week ahead of time.

A wildfire, it's just a freak accident that happens. And unfortunately with as fast as it was moving, these residents only had a few minutes to prepare and grab a few things if any at all, before fleeing their houses.

REID: Terrifying. Aaron, thank you so much for sharing your expertise with us. Please be safe out there in your important work.

REID: Absolutely. Thank you very much for having me. REID: And coming up, parents on alert. Doctors see a wave of children in the hospital with COVID while the debate over back to school rages on. We'll talk to a pediatrician about it next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:37:31]

REID: And right now, an alarming surge in hospitalizations among children. The CDC says an average of 378 pediatric patients are being admitted on a given day. A pandemic-era record, that's also a 66 percent jump from the previous week.

CNN's Nadia Romero joins me now from Atlanta where the children's health care system is overwhelmed and pleading with the public to do their part. So, Nadia, based on your reporting, what are the hospitals in Georgia telling people?

NADIA ROMERO, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Paula, just this week, we saw about six hospital systems come together, to release a joint statement, begging people, really, to stop gathering in big numbers, to start wearing masks, to get vaccinated and get boosted. And we're seeing a big impact on kids here in Georgia, just like we're seeing in other parts of the country.

Let's dive deeper into those Georgia pediatric numbers. Cases and hospitalizations on the rise. So if we look at cases we saw a peak at more than 2,200 on a seven-day average back in August. What was happening in August? Well, kids were heading back to school around that time.

And then we saw those numbers really drop around November 28th, and now they're growing again. Those numbers are rising and approaching their peak.

The concern now is that we are now after the holiday season. And many of those kids in Georgia are supposed to go back to school on Monday. But there's a concern, with these rising numbers, getting kids back together again, will that mean remote learning?

Well, here in Georgia we already know the Fulton County school district, one of the school districts that covers the city of Atlanta, one of the largest districts in the state, will be back to remote learning starting on Monday for at least the first week of January. It is the wrong direction. It's not what the secretary of education wants to see happen for school districts around the nation. He is asking those kids and staff members to mask-up.

Listen to his plea for keeping kids in person learning. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MIGUEL CARDONA, SECRETARY OF EDUCATION: I think parents have had enough of school closures due to poor policy. So, let's protect our students. Let's protect our staff. Let's keep our communities thriving. It's unfortunate that the numbers are going up but we know how to continue during the pandemic. We shouldn't have shutdowns. We shouldn't have our schools closed for a long period of time.

If we know what works we should employ it, we have the resources there. And we need to come together for our students. They deserve that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[09:40:00]

ROMERO: And, Paula, what we're seeing here in Georgia and across the country is lower vaccination rates for kids. We are expecting, though, boosters to be allowed for a more broadened age group which could help slow down the spread of COVID-19. Paula.

REID: Nadia Romero, thank you so much for your reporting.

With me now is Dr. Glenn Budnick, the chair of the pediatrics for Reliance Medical Group. All right. Doctor, across the U.S. pediatric COVID admissions have reached an all-time high. So, do we know, is the Omicron variant causing more severe illness in children or is this just parents bringing their children to the hospitals out of an abundance of caution? What exactly are driving these numbers?

DR. GLENN BUDNICK, CHAIRMAN OF PEDIATRICS, RELIANCE MEDICAL GROUP: Good morning, Paula. Happy New Year.

Well, Omicron in children is milder than Delta, and it's a relatively mild illness in children. Usually just cold symptoms, running nose, cough, congestion and sometimes fever. But it is extremely contagious.

And what you're seeing is that the population of children zero to five has no immunizations at all. And between five and 16, the immunizations have really just come out. So there's a very low antibody level. And this group is very susceptible to catching COVID.

So, it's mild but it's affecting a lot of people. And when it affects a lot of children even a small percentage are going to end up in the hospital. You're also seeing the numbers skewed somewhat because the hospitals are reporting all people who -- all children who test positive with COVID. And some of these children have other conditions, let's say, like gastroenteritis, but they're also testing positive for COVID and that's -- and they're putting that number for hospitalization also.

So the good news for parents is that Omicron is milder in children. And the bad news is it's very contagious. And we're going to see a lot of children sick over the next three to four weeks.

REID: You say it's milder in children. But if you suspect your child has COVID at what point should you possibly take your child to a doctor -- to the hospital?

BUDNICK: Well, it's important for us to identify if your child is COVID positive. So, if your child's sick, has a cold, I would not send them to school. The first thing I would definitely do is keep the child home. The second thing I would do is get the child tested.

Testing and surveillance is a very important part of this part of the pandemic. So, either take them to your pediatrician, to your pharmacy, have a home kit at home, and get your child tested so you can -- so you then can do the proper quarantining for your child and your family.

So, the first thing I'd do, if your child is sick, get them tested. You can determine whether you want to do that in your pediatrician's office, at home testing or at one of the many testing sites.

REID: Here in Washington, D.C., they will require all students and staff to show a negative COVID test before returning to school on Wednesday. Now, we all know it's hard to get these tests. But the city is providing tests to families at pickup sites. And the tests must be taken on Tuesday. Is this, though, an effective model, to try to combat Omicron?

BUDNICK: Well, they're trying different models. I think surveillance and testing is important. And I think it may be difficult to get every child tested but that may be something we may have to strive for in the future.

I do think surveillance is extremely important. If there is a high absentee rate and -- of staff, or students, then you have to consider closures. But that would be the last thing. We want to get children back to school. They need to be back in school.

Masking in school is important. Testing is important.

REID: Thank you so much, doctor. We really appreciate your insight on this critical issue. I know it's on the minds of so many parents right now. Thank you.

BUDNICK: Thanks, Paula.

REID: And coming up, the January 6th committee kicks off the New Year with a date at the Supreme Court. The fight to get Donald Trump's secret White House documents, next.

Plus, an unforgettable concert film featuring two friends and legends, Carole King and James Taylor, "Just Call Out My Name" airs tomorrow night at 9:00 p.m., right here on CNN.

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[09:48:28]

REID: It's hard to believe, but we're quickly approaching the first anniversary of the attack on our capital. And the January 6th commission is gearing up for a busy 2022 with plans for public hearings and an initial report release as soon as this summer.

But before then, the committee is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to deny former President Trump's request to shield his records from House investigators. Some of the documents in dispute are from the day of the insurrection, White House visitor logs, call logs as well as handwritten notes from former chief of staff Mark Meadows.

Join me now is former assistant special Watergate prosecutor Nick Akerman. Nick, all right, thank you so much for joining me. A lot to get to here. The Supreme Court famously --

NICK AKERMAN, FORMER ASSISTANT SPECIAL WATERGATE PROSECUTOR: Right.

REID: -- ruled against Richard Nixon during Watergate and ordered him to hand over tape recordings and other subpoenaed materials. We know in the ongoing litigation between former President Trump and the committee Trump has lost twice now in federal court. And there's been a big debate, will the Supreme Court even take up this case, if they do, what will they rule? How do you see this playing out over the next couple of weeks and months?

AKERMAN: Well, you're right. There are two courts already. Lower court, district court, and circuit court of appeals in New York that basically issued very extensive opinions turning Trump down on the issues that he has raised. But ultimately, there are really two issues at play here.

One is executive privilege. Trump is claiming that he has the right to assert executive privilege over the documents on January 6th. The problem with that argument is that the Supreme Court has already spoken to executive privilege back in 1974 when they ordered Nixon to produce his tapes to our office.

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And basically executive privilege is a privilege that belongs to the government, to the republic. It doesn't belong to the individual. It's not like the privilege to not incriminate yourself under the Fifth Amendment, which is an individual privilege.

And Joe Biden, the president -- current president, has already determined in a very extensive writing that these documents do not come with an executive privilege, which the Supreme Court has basically been limited to diplomatic, military, and national security matters. It certainly doesn't cover a plot against the government to overthrow its normal processes. So it's very unlikely that Trump is going to succeed on that.

Both opinions, the lower court opinions basically pointed out that in the face of Joe Biden's very detailed analysis as to why executive privilege does not apply Trump has provided absolutely zero facts to explain why it does apply. So it's very unlikely that that issue is really going to go anywhere.

The other issue has to do with the legislative purpose of the committee's investigation. Trump is claiming that there is no valid legislative purpose. And both of the lower courts have pointed out that the committee has the right to investigate an activity that has probably been the worst attack on our government since is civil war. So, certainly there's a legislative purpose there to prevent this kind

of activity from happening again and also securing the Capitol. You also have Trump making a last-minute submission to the Supreme Court pointing out that the chairman of the committee referenced possibly referring Donald Trump for prosecution in the Department of Justice.

Now, that doesn't detract from the overriding legislative purpose here, and it's not unusual. It's pretty much standard practice if a congressional committee finds that they believe a crime has been committed to refer that to the Department of Justice, which is the agency that has the ultimate authority to determine whether or not a prosecution is going to take place.

REID: Yes.

AKERMAN: So when you take those two issues together, the executive privilege and the legislative purpose, and the fact that both courts have really extensively ruled on that, by all rights the Supreme Court should just deny the appeal and leave it at that. Now, there's no guarantee that will happen but in the normal course that is what should happen in this circumstance.

REID: Well, we know -- not always seeing that things play out normally here but a lot riding in that litigation certainly. But earlier this week the chairman of the House select committee Bennie Thompson told our own Jim Acosta that a key part of this investigation has to do with phone calls made to a -- quote -- "war room" at the Willard Hotel where allies to the former president like Steve Bannon were gathered and -- lead up to January 6th. So based on your experience as an investigator, what kind of questions should the committee be asking about those phone calls?

AKERMAN: Well, they want to know the content of the calls. They're clearly going to get phone records that are going to show what calls were made, how long they were, you know, took place. But the real key is learning what the content was and whether or not they can get a witness in there that can actually explain what was said.

Now, with respect to Donald Trump the big issue is did he know and did he encourage the violence in order to stop the vote-counting in Congress in order to get the states to come back with alternate electorates so that he could pull off this coup? And the question is, did he know of the violence?

Did he encourage the violence? And that all plays in again to the committee chairman's notion that they may refer this to the Department of Justice for prosecution because the only way you can prosecute Donald Trump is if you can show that he obstructed Congress and had a corrupt intent. And corrupt intent certainly would encompass encouraging violence to stop that vote.

So that is why that is so crucial. And it's also crucial to get some witnesses that can tell you what happened or documents that can show Donald Trump's state of mind during that period of time.

REID: We know they've spoken with approximately 300 people behind closed doors. There could potentially be some public hearings, though none have been scheduled. Well, we know with Watergate hearings obviously they had that very famous John Dean moment that captivated a nation. Let's take a look at it real quick.

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JOHN DEAN, FORMER NIXON WHITE HOUSE COUNSEL: I began by telling the president that there was a cancer growing on the presidency. And if the cancer was not removed, the president himself would be killed by it.

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REID: So really quickly, do you see any potential John Deans in Trump's orbit?

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AKERMAN: Oh, I think there's lots of possibilities. I mean, Donald Trump had contact with a number of people prior to January 6th and during the insurrection. And the question is, when you got 300 or 400 witnesses, somebody had to have overheard something. Somebody had to see something. There's going to be documents that were created during that period of time.

So we don't know if there's going to be that John Dean moment, but it could very well happen. And certainly, the committee's investigation has put across a very wide net. And so the question is, is somebody going to really, you know, come forward? And that could be in Vice President Pence's camp, somebody who is knowledgeable about what Donald Trump was telling Vice President Pence.

REID: Nick, thank you so much for joining us.

AKERMAN: Thank you. Happy New Year.

REID: And Archbishop Desmond Tutu was laid to rest in South Africa today. The funeral service wraps up a week of events honoring the Nobel Prize winning activist who fought apartheid. It was a simple service with a trimmed guest list to meet COVID regulations and a plain wooden coffin at Tutu's request. The president of South Africa delivered the main eulogy and held Tutu as the country's national conscience.

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CYRIL RAMAPHOSA, PRESIDENT OF SOUTH AFRICA: If Archbishop Desmond Tutu were here, he would have said, hey, hey, why are you looking so glum, so unhappy? He would have wanted to elicit a smile, a laughter from amongst all of us. That was the type of person that he was.

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REID: Archbishop Tutu was 90 years old.

Coming up, the COVID surge. Hospitals are slammed and schools aren't sure how to reopen safely. Is the New Year looking too much like the last one?

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