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Winter Storm Causes Crashes Ahead Of Holiday Weekend; Elderly, Young Kids At Highest Risk For Cold-Related Illnesses; FBI, Tech Executives Deny Claims Made In "Twitter Files". Aired 3:30-4p ET

Aired December 23, 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]

KRISTIN FISCHER, CNN HOST: As this monster storm moves across the country, blizzard and icy conditions are leading to widespread accidents, road closures and travel bans in some states. And we're now learning that emergency services are currently responding to crashes along the Ohio turnpike near Sandusky, involving multiple, heavily damaged semi-trucks and other vehicles.

And take a look at the icy conditions that motorists in Memphis, Tennessee are having to deal with today. The roads just turned into sheets of ice, and the road situation is so bad that Memphis police are not responding to car accidents due to the dangerous weather.

So, Aixa Diaz is the spokesperson for AAA. Aixa, your organization is predicting about 100 million people will drive more than 50 miles from home for the holidays. Now many of them are going to have to drive in weather conditions that they should not be driving in. How worried are you that this will get even worse than it already is?

AIXA DIAZ, SPOKESPERSON, AAA: Kristin, very worried because AAA always encourages you to stay off the roads if there's going to be bad weather. And what we know is that with this 102 million people production of drivers on the road this holiday season, we are seeing crashes.

We're seeing them already and we expect to see more. And AAA of course is ready to help with roadside technicians and tow provider. But the reality is, if law enforcement is having a hard time getting to people, so are we. So, we're encouraging people to stay off the roads completely.

If you are in an area where the weather is not supposed to be that bad, still prepare for winter storm conditions anyway. We saw here in DC earlier this year. This last winter we had that I-95 mess where people were stuck in their cars for literally hours, in some cases, 24 hours. So, have an emergency kit within you vehicle with extra blankets, water, food and they will keep you comfortable if you do get stuck.

FISCHER: That's right, I almost forgot about that. That was absolute gridlock on I-95 in D.C. about a year ago. So important to have that, like emergency bag packed in the back of your car which I do not have but will at some point. But, you know, because this storm is so bad, and it's the holidays,

you know, there's a good chance now that tow truck drivers like you were saying, police, fire crews, rescue crews, that they just won't be able to get to the cars.

We're seeing in Memphis that police saying they simply get to accidents that are happening because of the icy conditions. So, what advice do you have? What do motorists need to know if they are in an accident and need help, but perhaps these emergency vehicles can't get to them?

DIAZ: Well, and that's part of the emergency kit too is make sure you have your cell phone charger in the vehicle so that you have your, you know, phone fully charged in case you do have to call for help, in case you do have to call AAA. We also suggest having an ice scraper in your vehicle, also some reflectors in case you have to wait for a long time.

But AAA is projecting -- and this was before the winter storm -- projecting 900,000 roadside emergency calls into AAA for the holiday season, which for us kicks off today and goes until Monday, January 2nd. So, that's not even considering the extra calls that we're going to get because of this winter weather.

So, the best advice though, is just to avoid it altogether. It's not what you want to hear. This is terrible timing for holiday travelers.

[15:35:00]

But the reality is this is a very dangerous storm, and this is not just a little bit of snow, white Christmas. This is something serious.

FISCHER: Yes, the timing could not be worse for folks trying to get home and spend the holidays with their families. Aixa Diaz, thank you so much.

So, this storm is bringing life-threatening cold to pretty much the entire country. Those most at risk are of course, you know, the elderly, very young children. CNN's senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen joins me now with more on how you can make sure that you and your loved ones stay safe and stay warm. Elizabeth, what are some health concerns that we should be watching out for in these extremely cold conditions?

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Kristin, there are so many things that we need to watch out for. Let's start with the most vulnerable. As you mentioned, the elderly and infants, they are the most vulnerable to cold. They just don't regulate their body temperatures the way that other folks do. Also, cold puts a stress on the heart. That's been studied extensively, and so folks with heart disease, they should really beware and be careful.

Also, cold can aggravate asthma and other lung issues. So, even if your asthma is under control, be aware of the cold that could make it worse. You should have your medications at the ready. So, here are some tips for dealing with the cold and for staying

healthy. Dress infants warmly, more warmly than you would dress yourself. Check in on the elderly if you know an elderly couple. Make sure they have heat. Check in on them. Make sure they're doing OK. Also, avoid alcohol and caffeine.

I know it sort of makes sense, you know, you're cold. Have some hot mold wine for the holiday. Have a whole lot of coffee. That can be problematic. Caffeine and alcohol do not help your body deal with the cold. In fact, they hurt. So, drink other kinds of warm liquids -- Kristin.

FISCHER: That's advice that I'm sure a lot of people celebrating the holidays don't want to hear, but it's the right advice. There's also this recent study that helps explain why the cold weather gives us colds. I mean, we've always kind of assumed that that happens, but help us understand the why here and what this study says.

COHEN: Right, it's just intuitive. But researchers at Harvard did something really interesting, Kristin. They looked at the cells that line people's noses at different temperatures. Those cells in your nose. They're the first line of defense when germs start to attack.

They have very specific roles to play, and they found they don't work great in the cold. Their effectiveness really wanes once the temperature goes down. So, if you find you're getting a cold in the cold, you're not crazy. There really is some science behind it.

FISCHER: Good to know. Elizabeth Cohen, thank you.

Elon Musk claiming that the Twitter files revealed the government told him to suppress stories about Hunter Biden, but CNN spoke just to multiple federal and tech officials who are denying that claim. What they're saying just ahead.

But first, Dionne Warwick is a music icon that brings her exclusive story to CNN in the new film "DON'T MAKE ME OVER." It premieres New Year's Day at 9:00 p.m. Here's a preview.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Dionne Warwick, one of the great female singers of all-time.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Dionne was the first African American woman to win a Grammy in the pop category.

DIONNE WARWICK, SINGER: The music I was singing there's nothing like anything that any of them were singing. The legacy in my family, music. Pure and simple. Music.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: "DIONNE WARWICK: DON'T MAKE ME OVER." Premieres New Year's Day at 9:00 on CNN.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[15:40:00]

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FISCHER: This week, Elon Musk and reporters that he chose dropped an eighth installment of what they called the Twitter files. Musk and conservative critics claim that these documents in the Twitter files show that the government ordered Twitter to suppress a "New York Post" story about Hunter Biden's laptop in the weeks leading up to the 2020 election.

But FBI agents and tech executives say, that's not true. CNN's Evan Perez joins us now to break down what we're learning. Evan, first of all, just tell me a bit more on what these Twitter files show.

EVAN PEREZ, CNN SENIOR JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kristin, the files really portray a lot of angst behind the scenes at Twitter as they were trying to decide what to do about the story, which they thought seemed like disinformation. Russian disinformation of the kind that we had seen back in 2016 when the Russians did interfere in the U.S. election.

And so, what we don't see in the Twitter files and from our interviews with people who are working at Twitter at the time, and people on the other side at the FBI, is any evidence that the FBI directly told Twitter to suppress this story.

What the allegation that is emerging though from Elon Musk and others is that it was the atmosphere that the FBI had created that prompted Twitter to overreact. And everyone now acknowledges that they should not have suppressed this story.

But, you know, Matt Taibbi, who was one of the journalists who Elon Musk has entrusted with some of this information, he tweeted that there has been no evidence that I've seen of any government involvement in the laptop story. And we also have a statement from the FBI which says that a lot of these files are showing its interactions with the type that it does with a lot of companies, including Twitter.

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And they say: It is unfortunate that conspiracy theorists and others are feeding the American public misinformation.

FISCHER: So, Evan, some critics are really honing in on James Baker. He's a former FBI official who later became deputy general counsel. What was his role in all of this?

PEREZ: Well, according to the files we've seen so far, he is one of the people who is pushing to suppress this story or at least is cautioning that it might have been some kind of disinformation effort. And his role -- the fact that he was at the FBI is drawing a lot of criticism especially because from Republicans who want him to come and testify. They want testimony also from some former intelligence officials.

You remember, Kristin, that there were officials who signed a letter who said that the laptop story in the "New York Post" were the hallmarks of a disinformation effort from a foreign government. Of course, we now know that was not true, but that's the sort of -- the backdrop of what Republicans say definitely bears more investigation -- Kristin.

FISCHER: Yes, and so Evan, walk us through some of these allegations that are being made now by the reporters that as we have been saying, Elon Musk chose to share these documents with.

PEREZ: Right. So, there's a couple of key ones that we've -- that have made the rounds and that have gotten a lot of currency. One of them is, you know, the day before the "New York Post" article comes out, there is a set of documents that are sent by an FBI agent, ten documents that are sent to a top Twitter official. These ten documents are sent over. You'll see a tweet from one of the reporters talking about these documents to Yoel Roth, and it says, you know, essentially received, right.

And we went to the FBI and the FBI has a team that has looked at these documents and they came away and they found these ten documents. What they say is that eight of them had to do with some kind of disinformation that was being sent by -- used by a foreign government operation essentially and they were flagging this to Twitter. Nothing to do with Hunter Biden's laptop. Two of them had to do with an investigation related to potential voter suppression. Again, nothing to do with the Hunter Biden laptop according to the FBI.

The second piece of -- the second allegation has to do with payments that apparently Twitter received from the FBI -- $3.4 million. That is being sort of painted as some kind of effort to pay off the -- Twitter for suppressing conservatives.

We talked to the FBI. They say that, you know, this is routine. Companies under federal law, under U.S. law are allowed to get reimbursed for the costs that they incur for having to do things that the Justice Department and the FBI are asking them to do.

For instance, respond to subpoenas, produce documents, produce all kinds of information that is part of court orders that they're required to do. So, under federal law, every company that gets these types of subpoenas, including phone companies are allowed to recoup some of that cost, and that's what that payment is about -- Kristin.

FISCHER: Interesting. Evan Perez, thank you for breaking down this very complicated story for us. Appreciate it.

Well, nothing says Christmas more than the magic of Santa, right. And up next, we're going to introduce you to the Santas who are bringing a little bit of diversity to this holiday season.

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(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FISCHER: As families across the country get in line to snap a picture with Santa, many children are meeting a Santa who looks more like them. It's all thanks to a growing demand for diverse Santas and CNN's Ryan Young went out to meet some of them.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (black Santa): What did you want Santa to bring you?

CHILD: I want Santa to bring me a monster truck.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And tell him just a couple of the things.

CHILD: I want some (INAUDIBLE) with a SmileMaker.

RYAN YOUNG, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Santa, one of the most joyful and instantly recognizable characters across the world. At malls across the country, some kids have noticed a different diverse set of Santas popping up.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (black Santa): Mommy, it's a Black Santa. Ho! Ho! Ho!

Children always ask me how can you be a Santa of this color and then be a Santa of another color somewhere else? And I always tell them Santa travels all over the world, so Santa relates to all communities and cultures.

YOUNG: And this Santa looks different than a lot of Santas across the country.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes. It's important for us to see ones that look like us. So that's why it was important for her to get those pictures.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (black Santa): And we've got diverse Santas and everything. We can get a Mexican Santa, a Chinese. We have every kind of Santa you want. They make you feel good about Christmas.

YOUNG: Is that not how you think?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (black Santa): Sometimes for the kids, yes. Sometimes for the kids to see someone that looks like them that they're supposed to be getting presents from.

Merry Christmas.

YOUNG (voice-over): One of the nation's largest Santa hiring services tell us the demand to hire diverse Santas is on the rise across the country.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The demand for diversity among Santa Claus entertainers has really gone through the roof. And we can't keep up. We're able to let Santa look and sound like the children that he's speaking to.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Representation means so much to a lot of people.

YOUNG: Had you ever when you were a kid met a Santa like yourself?

SANTA CHARLES (deaf Santa): It wasn't a good experience for me. I had three sisters and one brother. All of them are hearing. They're all very excited to see Santa. They're chatting and they're excited. And then, come time for my turn and Santa just gives me this look. You know, it's flat, expressionless. He hands me a gift. And for me, I felt deflated inside.

YOUNG (voice-over): Santa Charles is one of the few Santas who was deaf, uses his tremendous personality to connect with kids who are too often left out.

SANTA CHARLES (deaf Santa signing): Have you been a good boy?

BOY (signing): Yes.

SANTA CHARLES (deaf Santa): Honestly?

BOY (signing): Yes, I said.

SANTA CHARLES (deaf Santa): You know, Santa is a magical experience for children. It's about bringing joy to their lives. It really means a lot to me.

YOUNG (voice-over): These moments will last a lifetime for these families --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (black Santa): Say cheese.

YOUNG (voice-over): -- that will cherish these pictures, which helps enhance the magic of the season.

SANTA CHARLES (deaf Santa): Do you sign Merry Christmas?

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FISCHER: Ryan young, thank you so much for that report. And that does it for me on this Christmas Eve, Eve. Happy holidays, everyone. "THE LEAD WITH JAKE TAPPER" starts after a short break.

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