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January 6 Committee to Release Report and Transcript of Interviews Tomorrow; Twitter Users Vote to Remove Elon Musk as Head of Platform; Wind Chills Could Drop to 50 Degrees Below Zero in Upper Midwest, Rockies; Airline Encourage Travelers to Rebook Ahead of Christmas. Aired 3:30-4p ET

Aired December 20, 2022 - 15:30   ET

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

[15:30:00]

MARK LEVINE, MANHATTAN BOROUGH PRESIDENT: We have over 5,000 in our schools and so we have to provide all sorts of social work and guidance counselors. There is intensive sources needed. I do want to emphasize very quickly, Victor, that I'm confident these arrivals will be a huge net contributor to New York City. They will be an addition to our workforce, they will pay taxes, they want to provide for their families. We just need more support, work permits and more from the federal government to make that happen.

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN HOST: All right, Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine. Thank you, Mark.

So, what is the DOJ's next move? The January 6th Committee has now referred former President Trump on criminal charges, four of them. So, we'll talk about that.

Also, a polar plunge and a bomb cyclone. Not one, just two of them. It will likely take a toll on holiday travel. We'll talk about what the airlines are doing.

[15:35:00]

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BLACKWELL: The January 6th committee made the unprecedented decision to refer former president Trump to the Department of Justice on four criminal charges and now tomorrow the DOJ along with everyone else will get access to the committee's full report and transcripts of the committee's interviews. CNN's Evan Perez joins us now. Evan, what's the prep look like at DOJ for all of that information?

EVAN PEREZ, CNN SENIOR JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Well, they've been asking for this information for months, Victor, and you know, the Justice Department has been doing -- has been having negotiations with the committee asking for access to interviews, access to some of the evidence that they say they have.

Remember, they have text messages from some of the important figures in this investigation. We know that they -- according to the executive summary we saw yesterday -- say that there's been some witness tampering. So, there's people who are allegedly were trying to coordinate some testimony to be less harmful to the former president. So, those are things that the Justice Department is very keen to get its hands on and so that is finally beginning to happen.

Now, with the close of the committee's investigation, as far as the referrals go, Victor, you know, I think most of the stuff that the committee referred is an area that the Justice Department is already investigating. So, the important part, I think, is where they might diverge and on that one it's probably the insurrection charge that the committee recommended. That's a very difficult law for the Justice Department which has looked at that law, and they haven't actually charged anyone with it in all of the hundreds of people that they've charged in the January 6th cases.

BLACKWELL: All right, we'll see if an indictment comes in any of these. Evan Perez, thank you.

So, what will Elon Musk do after Twitter users voted to oust him? We'll discuss next.

[15:40:00]

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BLACKWELL: Twitter users have voted for Elon Musk to step down as head of the company. Now in a poll, Musk asked users if he should step down. More than 17 million users voted. 57 percent said, yes, kick rocks, 43 percent said, no, you should stay. Musk said he would abide by the results but a day later he seemed to agree with one user who suggested that only paying subscribers should get to vote on twitter's policy. In a response Musk tweeted: Good point. Twitter will make that change.

CNN media analyst and Axios media reporter Sara Fischer joins me now. What is going on here? First, he says, yes, I want to know what you think and I will abide by it and now he's switching it and does this by poll. This popular approach. What do you see happening here?

SARA FISCHER, CNN MEDIA ANALYST: It's a great question, Victor, I think he always planned to step down as CEO. It's something he communicated to investors when he was raising money. It's something that he communicated in court when Tesla investors were complaining that he wasn't paying enough attention to that company. But what he did was he staged this poll, sort of as a little bit of a gimmick to see what people think, if they think he's doing a good job. I think the search was already happening for a new CEO. The only reason we haven't heard from Elon Musk yet is because he's just waiting to figure out the right person, the right successor before he officially steps down.

BLACKWELL: Is there an obvious short list?

FISCHER: You know, it's funny, there isn't. That's because when Elon Musk came in in the early November to sort of take over the company doing all those layoffs, he brought with him a pack of people that he knows and trusts from Silicon Valley, people that he's worked with at SpaceX, former Twitter folks et cetera. Sources have told us that some of them are no longer involved. And so, that list is getting even smaller of the people who would potentially be named CEO.

In addition to that some of the Elon Musk insiders, you think about David Sax has communicated they don't want to work for Twitter full time. They already have full time jobs at other companies. So, it's unclear who he is going to pick. What we do know, Victor, is that Elon Musk will remain the majority shareholders of this company. He remains in charge even if he's not CEO. And so, it's unclear how much power that new CEO will really have.

BLACKWELL: So, tesla has been downgraded on Wall Street exclusively because of what's going on over at Twitter. We've talked about when you were here in studio last about the financial element and people who were saying, you're spending too much time there. You should be taking care of this baby here. What's the significance of this downgrade?

FISCHER: Well, it's been a rocky year for Tesla in part because of all the uncertainty around Elon Musk's ownership is making investors nervous, and in addition to that, Elon Musk keeps pulling billions of dollars of shares out of Tesla which is never a good sign if you're an investor about the CEO's commitment to that company.

I think ultimately Tesla's results will speak for themselves especially once Elon Musk gets a new CEO in.

[15:45:00]

But what it does do, it creates uncertainty about the long-term leadership future of Tesla. If Elon Musk continues to get himself in these tangles, you know, on Twitter with dealing with, you know, constant moderation and hassling people, could he eventually, you know, get himself into a regulatory situation that could threaten his leadership on Tesla? That's the long-term risk for this company. And I don't see it getting that far, Victor. Elon Musk has pulled so many different things over the past few months. He's gotten just, you know, a slap on the wrist fine from the FCC. He's never really been held to account. But that's the thing that will make Tesla investors nervous is, how long can Elon Musk govern this company even when he does give it his full time attention given all the drama around him?

BLACKWELL: All right, Sara Fischer, thank you.

It's a pretty bad scenario. A bomb cyclone, extremely cold temperatures, slamming into holiday travel.

[15:50:00]

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BLACKWELL: A 6.4 magnitude earthquake shook parts of Northern California early this morning. This was centered about five hours north of San Francisco near the town of Eureka, that's in Humboldt County. This quake cracked roads, damaged some homes. Officials are checking gas and water lines for any leaks. Geological officials say there were more than 3 dozen strong aftershocks after the initial quake. At least two people were hurt but there are no reports of fatalities. Most of the county has no power.

A fast-approaching arctic blast has put the eastern two-thirds of the country under a winter holiday weather alert. Bone-chilling temperatures, potential blizzard conditions are expected, the windchill in some areas could plummet to 50 degrees below zero. CNN's meteorologist Derek Van Dam is here now. Forecasters are talking about a life threatening bomb cyclone as well. Walk us through it.

DEREK VAN DAM, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, right, it means mother nature meaning business with this storm. And it is going to be a literal actual shock to the system, quite literally. And in fact, Denver may have the coldest day in 32 years dropping -- get this -- 50 degrees Fahrenheit in a matter of 24 hours from Wednesday into Thursday. The bomb cyclone that's just a term that meteorologists use to give kind of a recognition to these rapidly intensifying storm systems, and this one will reach that particular criteria.

We have over 60 million Americans for both impacted by the winter weather alerts stretching from the Pacific Northwest through the Great Lakes and then 60 million Americans with the windchill advisories and warnings and alerts. And by the way, that includes Atlanta.

Now the first parts of the energy from the storm system is just starting to enter the equation across the Pacific Northwest. But I want to pass this important informational along. Because the National Weather Service is using terminology like life-threatening windchills behind the system, and that is what I mean when I say mother nature means business for this. Because if you have exposed skin stepping outside, you have a potential to get frostbite in the matter of five minutes. That's really incredible.

There will be an incredible amount of wind, and that means that the real-feel temperature -- that's what it's like on your exposed skin -- will be extremely dangerous for these locations. Snow fall, that's a given. And of course, Victor, with this coinciding with the holidays means nightmare travel conditions for the airports and the roads -- Victor.

BLACKWELL: Derek Van Dam, let's talk about this arctic blast meaning travel disruptions in some -- several U.S. airlines are already asking the passengers to change their flight plans. Pete Muntean, what is going on?

PETE MUNTEAN, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT: Well, Victor, it is about to be a tough week for holiday travelers. In fact, several experts say you should change your flights now if you can based on this widespread winter weather that could cause travel to, melting down. In fact, some airlines are even encouraging passengers to change your flights already. You may have gotten an email if you have a trip planned. United Airlines has a travel waiver issued for some 140 different airports across the U.S. If your flight is to, from or through one of those airport, and you can change your flight free of charge. That means no change fee, no increase in fares. American Airlines and Southwest Airlines have also made similar announcements. The big issue here though is that the storm is coming for some of the major airline hubs in the U.S., like O'Hare and Chicago. It's a big hub for American and United airlines. Scott Keys of Scott's Cheap Flights says airlines may try and reroute some connections away from hubs like Chicago. But nowadays there just aren't as many seats as there were before the pandemic leaving not all that much slack in the system -- Victor.

BLACKWELL: Thank you, Pete.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is ordering Wells Fargo to pay $3.7 billion for illegal activity, including unjust foreclosures and vehicle repossessions. What led the Bureau to impose its largest penalty ever -- ahead.

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BLACKWELL: Jubilation on the streets of Buenos Aires today as soccer fans gave Argentina's national team a hero's welcome. Thousands of people lined the streets for the team's victory parade today. It got so crowded that officials say the team's bus got stuck. Superstar Lionel Messi and the team's coach flew over the parade in a helicopter. Just fans looking to scoop up Messi's official Argentina jersey, you're out of luck. Adidas has sold out worldwide.

Director James Cameron wants to put an end to the debate that's been brewing since the film "Titanic," hit theaters 25 years ago. Could Jack have survived if Rose had just scooted over on the damn door and let him out of the water. You know, this has stirred up intense feelings among fans, including actress Keke Palmer.

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KEKE PALMER, ACTRESS: And he was like, I will stay here, Rose. I'll stay here. And home boy died holding on to it. She had to pull his hands off it was so frozen. I'm like, girl, you ain't think to take turns? She let my brother freeze. She let him freeze to death before her very eye. She watched him.

[16:00:00]

You all ever get that it's just the cold part about it. She watched my man.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I love how you launched a campaign against Rose. Have you run into Kate Winslet?

PALMER: I haven't, and when I do, it'll be a day.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I can't wait. I hope I am there.

PALMER: Why didn't you ask James Cameron for a better ending?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: I love this. Well, Cameron did a forensic study with a hypothermia expert who reproduced the raft and used two stunt people with the same body masses as Winslet and DiCaprio and Cameron says only one could have survived. So, there you have it, and the results are part of the upcoming National Geographic special about the film.

"THE LEAD WITH JAKE TAPPER" starts now.