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Jan 6 Committee Releases New Batch Of Transcripts, Messages; Jeremy Renner "Critical But Stable" After Snowplow Accident; Experimental Alzheimer's Drug Could Be Approved This Week; Thousands Pay Respects To Former Pope Benedict XVI; Thousands Pay Tribute To Soccer Icon Pele During Wake. Aired 1:30-2p ET

Aired January 02, 2023 - 13:30   ET

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

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[13:31:19]

ABBY PHILLIP, CNN HOST: Elon Musk just hit a new milestone. The controversial CEO of Tesla and Twitter the first to lose a $200 billion, billion with a "B", According to the Bloomberg's billionaire index, Musk is now worth a paltry $137 billion.

Good enough to make him second richest man in the world, but also means that his net worth has fallen by $203 billion since peaking at $340 billion in November of 2021.

Tesla's sinking stock prices largely responsible for that drop. And his $44 billion purchase of Twitter hasn't done much to help either. Sure there are a lot of people willing to take some of his cash.

Today is the final day of business and final day of existence for the January 6th House Select Committee. Moments ago, the panel released more stunning text messages and put out a new statement summing up their work.

They wrote, "We overcame many hurdles including efforts to conceal, obstruct our work. And more than a dozen lawsuits, many witnesses hid behind claims of privilege, including Donald Trump himself who initially blustered he would be willing to testify then sued so he could actually avoid facing our questions."

Let's break it all down with Tom Foreman at the wall for us.

Tom, walk us through some of these new text messages just released. Pretty interesting.

TOM FOREMAN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Certainly are. If you have any doubt the people in the White House knew what was happening and how accountable they be.

Just look at the text messages from one of the president's longest most trusted advisers, Hope Hicks, to another on that day writing, "In one day he ended every future opportunity that doesn't include speaking engagements at the local Proud Boys chapter, extremist far right group and so will be perpetually unemployed. I'm so mad and upset. We all now look like domestic terrorists now."

Abby, down to theoretically dribs and drabs what's coming out of this big investigation of January 6, the committee has done, still getting new information from my former chief of staff, Mark Meadows -- Abby?

PHILLIP: Very interesting she's worried about jobs on January 6th.

You mentioned Mark Meadows. And providing text messages emails, Mark Meadows. What more are we learning from thousands of documents?

FOREMAN: We're learning details the committee wanted to ask him about and never got the chance to.

For example, December 23rd, 2020, an email said Rudy was put in charge. That was the president's decision. Exactly in charge of what, for how long what that every compassed we don't know but we know Rudy Giuliani was very much involved in this plot to bring in fake electors trying to turn things over.

We also know that Meadows had an email from January 5th in which he indicated that the National Guard would be present at the capitol on January 6th to protect pro-Trump people.

Again, this is all without the context that we would like to have, that the committee would have had and would have had if Meadows came forward to testify but he didn't.

And then Ronna McDaniel said to the committee I do have recollection of his, Trump, asking what my relationship was with the vice president.

[13:35:00]

She said, I said, I didn't know him very well. In reference to the idea was there a way to get Mike Pence to do what Trump wanted to do.

She went on, "I believe privately or one way or the other the vice president had the authority, I don't know the correct legal term, he had authority to not accept the electors."

Now, she has said she didn't know there was an active plan to swap these electors illegally, more standby electors.

But it all speaks to the idea a lot of people, a lot of people, Abby, knew workings of these various plots to overturn a legal election and a lot concerned about consequences if exposed.

PHILLIP: Fascinating and interesting that the president was asking Ronna McDaniel about her relationship to his own vice president.

FOREMAN: Exactly. Right.

PHILLIP: Tom, anything else that caught your eye in this latest batch of transcripts?

FOREMAN: A couple things came out. This is the tail end of it sort of. Remarkable things coming out, considering this is bottom of the barrel of all the stuff released.

One was, remember Cassidy Hutchinson riveting talking how Trump lunged at front of the presidential limo trying to turn the wheel because he wanted to join the capitol, be with his people. Trying to start a fight in the car trying to make his car go to the capitol.

Another aide, Trump told he couldn't go to the capitol sort of shrugged it off. Same moment? A different moment? Somebody's testimony not entirely true? We still don't know.

Still many, many questions what happened that day. Again, incredibly clear going through the last dribs of the committee's report, potentially criminal and a lot of thought at the very least very bad consequences attached to it.

PHILLIP: Yes. And said so to each other privately, but not so much publicly.

FOREMAN: Yes. And that worry, that worry about being employable is a real thing. When people -- you know, Abby -- people in this town line up with a candidate, a party, building careers based on that record.

These were people saying what he has done has destroyed all of our careers because nobody will want to be associated with us.

PHILLIP: Yes. Tom, I would think there would also be a concern about safety of folks on the capitol.

FOREMAN: Of course, of course.

PHILLIP: About our democracy, but that didn't seem to show up in the text messages either.

Tom Foreman, thank you so much for all of that.

Coming up next, Jeremy Renner in the hospital with critical injuries after a snowplowing incident. The latest on the actor's condition will be next.

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[13:42:27]

PHILLIP: New today, Actor Jeremy Renner listed in critical but stable condition after he was injured while plowing snow. Authorities in Reno, Nevada, say the actor was airlifted to a hospital on Sunday and was the only person involved in this accident.

CNN's reporter, Chloe Melas, joins us live.

Chloe, what are we learning about this accident and about Renner's condition today?

CHLOE MELAS, CNN ENTERTAINMENT REPORTER: Abby, so this accident, which authorities are telling CNN was traumatic, took place yesterday morning near his home in Lake Tahoe in the Reno, Nevada, area on a highway. And officers responding to the scene.

We don't know extent of injuries but did speak to a representative for Jeremy today who said in a statement that like you said, he's in critical but stable condition. And he is with his family and that he is receiving "excellent care" at the hospital. But there are a lot of questions.

Jeremy is known to own and utilize these snowplows. He posts videos of himself frequently on Instagram of him clearing the snow and in his long driveway and nearby streets of others.

So he is used to being around this heavy machinery. So unclear exactly what happened. Did he fall off of a snowplow? Did it roll back on him? A lot of speculation on social media what could have happened.

We are expecting to potentially hear some more details later today from his team. But, again, this is a very tough situation for him, for everyone involved.

And, again, he is in critical condition. This was a very traumatic incident that took place yesterday morning near his home.

You know what a way to kick off the new year on new year's eve for him. Thoughts and prayers go out to Jeremy and his family right now.

PHILLIP: We are all hoping for the best in this terrible situation.

Chloe Melas, thank you so much.

MELAS: Thank you.

PHILLIP: To Australia and the scene of a deadly helicopter accident. Authorities say four people were killed when two helicopters collided in-flight and crashed on a sandbar.

Happened near the SeaWorld resort. According to a local ambulance service, 300 were seriously injured in that crash. In a same time, SeaWorld offered its deepest condolences to those affected by this tragedy.

And the Food and Drug Administration is set to decide this week whether to grant accelerated approval to an experimental Alzheimer's drug. It showed promise in slowing progression of the disease for people in the earliest stages, but there are some safety concerns.

[13:45:05]

CNN's health reporter, Jacqueline Howard, joins us now.

So, Jackie, what are the risks and the benefits that these officials will be weighing when it comes to this drug?

JACQUELINE HOWARD, CNN HEALTH REPORTER: This week, Abby, expect officials to weigh benefit how this drug appears to slow cognitive decline, and the weight against potential side effects. Looking at serious adverse side effects including brain swelling and

brain blooding seen in a small group of participants in clinical trials.

What we know about the drug and how it works. It's similar to other Alzheimer's drugs seen in development where it uses antibodies to clear amyloid plaque, a hallmark of the disease.

You see on the screen here, in a clinical trial the drug appeared to reduce cognitive and functional decline by 27 percent when researchers looked at potential risks, we saw in a group of participants given Lecaneman, serious adverse effects compared with 3 percent of those given a placebo. FDA officials will discuss that this week.

What we know about the drug, clearing amyloid plaque, hallmarks of the disease include plaque, tangles, chronic inflammation. Loss of neural connections.

All of that part of these discussions, and we are keeping an eye on the FDA and what it may decide by this Friday -- Abby?

PHILLIP: Yes. So few treatments available to folks dealing with think terrible disease. Definitely something we'll all be looking at.

Jacqueline Howard, thank you.

Coming up next, thousands of people are paying their final respects to Pope Emeritus Benedict as his body lies in state at St. Peter's Basilica. We take you live to Vatican City, next.

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[13:51:43]

PHILLIP: Today thousands are paying their last respects to Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI. His body is lying in state in St. Peter's basilica today. He died on Saturday at the age of 95.

Benedict stunned the world in 2013 when he announced his plans to step down. He was the first pope to do so in 600 years.

CNN's Fred Pleitgen joins us now from St. Peter's Square.

Fred, in recent years, the former pope has been criticized over his handling of the church abuse scandals, but how are people characterizing benedict's legacy now?

FRED PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. First of all, he certainly has, Abby, and I think that's certainly something that in certain ways might taint his legacy.

But I think for many people that some of the things that happened with abuse in the Catholic Church are a bigger problem than Pope Benedict and certainly span a lot longer than Pope Benedict was actually the pope. It's certainly something that he took note of and apologized for as well. One of the things he did in the last months of his life is he

acknowledged there were mistakes made not just when he was pope. But also, for instance, when he was the archbishop in Munich as well, so it's definitely something that will influence the way people view Pope Benedict.

There's two different ways to look at this. On the one hand, you have the Catholic Church as a whole around the world and Benedict might have been seen as an interim pope after John Paul II and before Pope Francis. He was certainly a lot more quiet than that.

But I do think inside the Vatican, inside the power center of the church there's pretty much no one that had more influence than Pope Benedict XVI and before that when he was Cardinal Ratzinger.

Inside the walls behind me, people are saying this is the end of a massive era in the Catholic Church -- Abby?

PHILLIP: That's right. What an historic moment for the world to see a pope lying in state, not, you know, the end of -- not the beginning of a new papacy because there's another pope right now.

Fred Pleitgen, thank you very much.

PLEITGEN: Yes.

PHILLIP: And in Brazil, they are coming by the thousands to say good- bye to a hero and a sports legend, Pele. He died last week at the age of 82.

And as a steady stream of mourners continues to file past his casket on the grounds of the Santos Football Club, the wake for the former soccer icon will extend through tomorrow morning.

After the wake, a funeral procession will pass through the streets of Santos.

Journalist Stefano Pozzebon is covering this all for us.

Set the scene for us at the stadium where you're at.

STEFANO POZZEBON, JOURNALIST: Abby, we have the privilege of witnessing two lying in state actually because while Fred was talking from St. Peter's Basilica up in Rome, here in Santos Pele is definitely considered a pontiff of the beautiful game, a pontiff of the beautiful game of soccer.

[13:55:03]

Right now, quite a striking image seeing his wake take place in the middle of a soccer stadium, a place normally so full of chants and joy and of screaming fans.

It's now very somber, very solemn. There's a low samba playing in the background that you can see behind my back, thousands of fans that have already been walking and are now walking to pay their respects. Some of them have been waiting for hours. They came from all over

Brazil for this moment really, historic for everybody involved in the world of soccer -- Abby?

PHILLIP: It is.

Thank you Stefano Pozzebon.

And that does it for me today. Thanks for joining me.

The news will continue right after this quick break.

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