Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Newsroom
Chaos Erupts On House Floor Amid Failed Speaker Votes; Police Identify Suspect In Shooting Of Police Officer; Bills, NFL To Pay Tribute To Bills Safety Hamlin During Weekend Games. Aired 12-1p ET
Aired January 07, 2023 - 12:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[11:59:44]
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Hawaii's Kilauea Volcano is erupting again. Scientists say the volcano is showing activity after a brief pause last month for the first time since September 2021. The ongoing eruption remains confined to a crater within the Hawaii Volcanoes National Park and officials say there is no threat to communities nearby. The eruption comes weeks after neighboring volcano, Mauna Loa erupted for the first time in decades.
Hello again, everyone. Thank you so much for joining me. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.
It was painstaking it was complicated. But after four days of exhaustive negotiations, the House finally has a new Speaker.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. HAKEEM JEFFRIES (D-NY): The gentleman from the great State of California, and the next Speaker of the 118th Congress, Kevin McCarthy.
WHITFIELD (voice over): Kevin McCarthy grabbing the gavel after 15 rounds of voting. It was the longest Speaker contest in 164 years, despite the sometimes contentious days of negotiations with a narrow faction of his conference, Republicans in the end rallied around McCarthy and his vision for America.
REP. KEVIN MCCARTHY (R-CA): I make this promise. I will never give up for you, the American people. And I will never give up on keeping our commitment to America. Our nation is worth fighting for. Our rights are worth fighting for. Our dreams are worth fighting for. Our --
WHITFIELD: CNN's Eva McKend is live for us on Capitol Hill. Eva, so what finally pushed McCarthy over the edge for these Republican holdouts?
EVA MCKEND, CNN NATIONAL POLITICS REPORTER (on camera): Well, he was able to convince those never-Kevin lawmakers ultimately vote present. And that is how he secured this victory on the 15th try, Fred. But also by making some key concessions. So, for instance, those hardline Republicans, they are going to have the opportunity to serve on the House Rules Committee. That is a powerful committee.
MCKEND (voice over): As well as also a lot of votes on issues that are important to conservatives. And then, also key having 72 hours to read a bill. And that actually is something that rank-and-file members on both sides of the aisle, lament that there is not enough time to actually read legislation of consequence before they vote on them.
MCKEND (on camera): You know, a thorn on his side throughout this process was Florida Congressman Matt Gaetz. A little bit of drama in the -- in the -- during the 14th vote when he voted president and it was just a vote shine of allowing McCarthy to secure a victory. But he of course, there was enough other lawmakers that also voted present in the 15th vote. And that is how McCarthy ultimately won the speakership.
But a very, very messy week, and a messy process.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MCCARTHY: Now, what happened was, it became a tie. And I really think, Matt had talked to me before. Matt really wanted to get everybody there.
And so, they're -- look, to all of this people's motions go up and down. And at the end of the -- at the end of the night, Matt got everybody there from the point that none, nobody voted against the other way. So, it actually helped unite people.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MCKEND: Now, the next key task for House Republicans is to vote on House rules. That vote set to take place on Monday. But already a bad sign for Kevin McCarthy, a moderate Republican indicating he is not going to support the package as it stands.
And, of course, we know that McCarthy can't afford to have that many defections. Fred.
WHITFIELD: OK. And then, let's zero in on another like form of tumult, if you will, or maybe a tumult averted. I mean, there was another, you know, kind of moment of intensity taking place there. And it too involve Gaetz.
However, he was kind of the subject of what seemed like it was about to happen. So what happened?
MCKEND: Yes, things really got hot on the House floor, Fred. This happened during the 14th vote, when Mike Rogers, a longtime congressman, here of Alabama, appear to lunge at Matt Gaetz, just in frustration.
When it appeared that McCarthy, just a short time ago, was going to secure the victory, but Matt Gaetz was standing in the way. You had a member from North Carolina, trying to restrain Mike Rogers, just soon after that.
So, yes. So, a really dramatic moment, Kevin McCarthy sort of walking away in disgust. And I think that, that just really illustrates what this week looked like on Capitol Hill.
You know, the vast majority of Republicans supported McCarthy for the speakership. So, just a frustrating process as there was a vote after vote.
But ultimately, you know, these Republicans are claiming victory. They are saying that this was all worth it, because ultimately, they were able to extract quite a lot from leadership through this exercise.
WHITFIELD: Yes. And if not for the fact that those cameras were able to show the world what was happening, it will be hard to believe, if anyone had to just describe it.
[12:05:03]
All right. Eva McKend, thank you so much.
All right. The hardliners who forced McCarthy to sit through four days of voting before getting the gavel are members of the House Freedom Caucus.
CNN's Sunlen Serfaty has more on this conservative group of Republicans who have caused numerous disruptions on Capitol Hill over the years, and may cause more headaches for McCarthy now that he is the Speaker.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
REP. SCOTT PERRY (R-PA): I won't take orders from anyone in this town.
SERFATY (voice over): They have become some of the most obstructionist.
MARK MEADOWS, FORMER WHITE HOUSE CHIEF OF STAFF: It gives us the power of negation, which the power of no.
SERFATY: And antagonistic Republican members on Capitol Hill.
REP. MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE (R-GA): Fed up with the ways of the swamp and fed up with leadership that fails us, telling us to vote along with a Democrat agenda that is completely failing America.
SERFATY: The House Freedom Caucus, a small but feisty group of Republican rebels, that has become a thorn stuck firmly in the side of Republican leadership for nearly a decade.
REP. CHIP ROY (R-TX): What I do not support is blindly supporting legislation that is critically flawed at its core, because of, oh, we're in the minority.
SERFATY: Building a brand on challenging GOP leaders, earning the various nicknames from their own party, like "Legislative Terrorists" and "The Taliban-19".
REP. BOB GOOD (R-VA): Being told by our own Republican leadership. Well, it's 90 percent good, it's 90 percent tasty, it's 90 percent pure, there's only 10 percent poison and toxins in it, but drink it anyway.
SERFATY: The group has been at the center of some of the biggest fights on Capitol Hill.
MEADOWS: At this point, it looks like we could be in for a very long term shutdown.
SERFATY: But, consistently, making the task of governing more challenging.
PAUL RYAN, FORMER HOUSE SPEAKER: I don't want us to become a factionalized majority. I want us to become a unified majority.
SERFATY: To the frustration of past House Republican Speakers.
RYAN: I share a frustration. About 90 percent of our conference is for this bill to repeal and replace Obamacare, and about 10 percent are not.
SERFATY: The Freedom Caucus was involved in former House Speaker John Boehner's ouster in 2015.
JOHN BOEHNER, FORMER SPEAKER, UNITED STATES HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES: On my case, on any given day, there were two or three dozen, what I call, knuckleheads who just wanted -- they wanted chaos.
They wanted that all their way or no way.
SERFATY: Who stepped down amid difficulty managing the faction.
BOEHNER: The people on the fringes have a bigger platform to make their points. And frankly, create chaos.
SERFATY: Later that year, they blocked Kevin McCarthy's first bid for Speaker.
TIM HUELSKAMP, FORMER UNITED STATES REPRESENTATIVE: We're looking for a Speaker who works with conservatives rather than against us.
SERFATY: Having a hit in his withdrawal then, from the race.
MCCARTHY: I think I shock some of you.
SERFATY: The caucus was first founded in 2015.
AMERICAN CROWD: You were (INAUDIBLE)! You were (INAUDIBLE)!
SERFATY: Born out of the Tea Party movement.
REP. JIM JORDAN (R-OH): Do what we told the voters we were going to do. SERFATY: With founding members like Congressman Jim Jordan.
GOV. RON DESANTIS (R-FL): We all swore an oath of office.
SERFATY: Ron DeSantis, and Mark Meadows among others, under the original founding principles of open, accountable, and limited government, the Constitution, and the rule of law.
The group attempts to operate with a bit of mystique.
MEADOWS: We would have to kill you if we told you.
SERFATY: They don't publish their member list, which is around 35 members. And as now, a small number of them are again threatening to derail the next Speaker.
REP. MATT GAETZ (R-FL): If you want to drain the swamp, you cannot put the biggest alligator in charge of the exercise.
SERFATY: Their fight has become personal, embolden in the culmination of this moment.
REP. LAUREN BOEBERT (R-CO): The president needs to tell Kevin McCarthy that, sir, you do not have the votes, and it's time to withdraw.
SERFATY: Sunlen Serfaty, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: All right. Joining me right now to talk more about all of this. The Speaker battles and beyond is Andrew Desiderio. He is a senior congressional correspondent for Punchbowl News.
So good to see you. So, is that conservative Freedom Caucus stronger or weaker after this Speaker standoff?
ANDREW DESIDERIO, SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL REPORTER, PUNCHBOWL NEWS: They are absolutely stronger, Fredricka. And the reason is because they were able to extract key concessions from Kevin McCarthy and other Republican leaders throughout this process.
I think what Republican moderates can hang their hat on is the fact that a democratic-led Senate as well as President Joe Biden would thwart anything that comes out of the House along those lines, right?
One of the things that they were able to extract was a vote on term limits, major border security measures, you know, making sure that there are spending cuts tied with increasing the debt ceiling. Some of them have openly threatened a government shutdown once the funding fight comes up later this year.
So, again, it will force Kevin McCarthy to not only deal with that faction more often, and they will be empowered as a result. But it will also force him to have to, you know, put out an olive branch to Democrats and to President Biden, for this must-pass legislation.
[12:10:03]
WHITFIELD: So, they got what they want, right? I mean -- I mean, did they come around because McCarthy seemed malleable? You know? He agreed to just about everything, right?
And so, one has to wonder, what is that going to be for him when he is trying to caucus, when he is trying to get everyone on board. Is he going to be able to do that?
DESIDERIO: Yes. You know, that's one of the criticisms from the Republican moderates here that, you know, not many of them voiced publicly, but is a concern of theirs, which is that Kevin McCarthy basically gave away all or most of his power to the Freedom Caucus, to these hardliners whose goal is to throw sand in the gears of the federal government, and to, you know, basically use any and all of their leverage possible to enact conservative policies and conservative principles.
Now, it's, you know, obviously most Republicans agree policy wise on what they want to do. But where they disagree is on the tactics. The what -- the best way to get it done.
And, you know, some of the more moderate Republicans see ways to reach out to Democrats to get some of that stuff done, simply because, you know, Democrats are in control of the Senate, and Joe Biden is the President of the United States, right?
It's not -- it's not like Republicans control every lever of power here in Washington. They control one half of one branch of government.
And I think that's what we're going to hear a lot of the Republican moderates, say, in the coming weeks and months and over these two years, as Kevin McCarthy is going to have to deal with a very strong, intransigent group of Republicans.
WHITFIELD: So, this was just the first test from McCarthy for the party. I mean, for everyone on Capitol Hill. And I wonder, Andrew, did McCarthy just demonstrate that he can be a leader?
DESIDERIO: Look, I mean, you know, it was ironic in the end, that the people that were critical to him securing the speakership were the people who were in the never-Kevin crowd. Right?
So, a lot of the Republicans who had been voting with him constantly gave him credit for having swayed them not to vote for him, but to vote present so that you lower the threshold required to become a Speaker of the House.
So, you know, in that sense, it was a big victory for Kevin McCarthy. But at the same time, as we've been discussing here, he really did give away a lot of his power. A lot of the power that is inherent in the speakership.
WHITFIELD: Yes, I said more about the strategy in order to get there. Well, Andrew Desiderio, something tells me this is just the beginning. Right? DESIDERIO: We've got two years of this. It will be fun.
WHITFIELD: It's going to be an interesting ride. All right. Thank you so much. Good to see you and Happy New Year.
DESIDERIO: Happy New Year.
WHITFIELD: What a way to get it started.
All right. Still ahead.
WHITFIELD (voice over): Chilling new details about the suspect in the Idaho college murders and his alleged actions the days leading up to the slayings.
What unsealed court documents reveal about the horrific incident. Plus, a possible major breakthrough in the fight against Alzheimer's. We'll tell you about the new drug that appears to slow cognitive decline.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[12:17:15]
WHITFIELD (on camera): All right. Welcome back.
Authorities have identified the suspect wanted for the shooting of a Scottsdale, Arizona police officer.
WHITFIELD (voice over): 37-year-old, Kenneth Hearne, allegedly shot the detective when police were attempting to execute a search warrant at a Phoenix apartment last night.
Police describe Hearne as violent who should be considered armed and dangerous. They say the wounded officer is expected to survive his injuries.
WHITFIELD (on camera): And compelling information from police and a crucial witness revealing new details about the savage murders of four university students.
WHITFIELD (voice over): Yesterday, we saw furniture from the crime scene in Moscow, Idaho being loaded into trucks and taken away.
CNN's Gary Tuchman is on the scene for us as investigators try to work out exactly what happened inside that building.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GARY TUCHMAN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): In the probable cause affidavit, a Moscow Idaho police corporal says after finding the victims who were killed, "I noticed what appeared to be a tan leather knife sheath laying on the bed."
The Idaho State lab later located a single source of male DNA left on the button snap of the knife sheath. Police say the DNA is suspect Bryan Kohberger's.
TUCHMAN (on camera): This is the House where the college students were killed. According to the affidavit, when police arrived, they went through that door with a Christmas wreath is. On the second floor to the right of the door is the bedroom where Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin were killed.
Also on the second floor to the left in the back of the house, according to the affidavit. That's where the witness, D.M. was.
And finally, on the third floor, you see that window right there. According to the affidavit, that's where Kaylee Goncalves and Madison Mogen where, and that's where the knife sheath was found.
TUCHMAN (voice over): Based on the affidavit, it appears Bryan Kohberger has been near this house many times before.
The affidavit indicating, Kohberger's cell phone signal was detected 12 times near the house over a period of five months prior to the murders.
All of these occasions except for one occurred in the late evening and early morning hours of their respective days.
TUCHMAN (on camera): It wouldn't necessarily be suspicious if Bryan Kohberger drove past this house 12 times over five months if these were busy or prominent streets or streets on the way to another neighborhood.
But to come here, you have to be looking for it. These roads are windy, they're narrow -- they're curvy.
TUCHMAN (voice over): In short, it seems difficult to accidentally end up here. The affidavit states that one of the students who survived with the initials, D.M., heard crying and opened her door three times.
She "saw a figure clad in black clothing and a mask that covered the person's mouth and nose walking towards her. D.M. described the figure as 5'10" or taller, male, not very muscular, but athletically built with bushy eyebrows.
[12:20:00]
The male walked past D.M. as she stood in a frozen shock phase. The male walked towards the back sliding glass door. D.M. locked herself in her room after seeing the male. D.M. did not state that she recognized the male."
This turned out to be critical information, because in November 25th, shortly after the murders, Moscow police asked law enforcement agencies to be on the lookout for a white Hyundai Elantra that had been seen near the murder site.
Four days later, police discovered a white Elantra in this parking lot just across the state line in Pullman, Washington.
TUCHMAN (on camera): According to the affidavit, it was registered to Kohberger, who lived up the stairs in this townhouse complex.
Police acquired his driver's license information. And they say, according to the affidavit, that it was consistent with D.M.'s description of the man she saw who was wearing black clothing and a mask.
TUCHMAN (voice over): The affidavit does not contain information about motive or if the alleged killer knew any of the victims. But authorities could very well at leads about those topics that are not being publicly released yet.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TUCHMAN (on camera): Next Thursday, in this courthouse behind me, Bryan Kohberger will have another hearing. This will be a status hearing to discuss scheduling in the case. Within the next couple of weeks, he will be arraigned, where he will likely issue a plea.
Gary Tuchman, CNN, in Moscow, Idaho.
WHITFIELD: And now, on the road to an unbelievable recovery.
WHITFIELD (voice over): Four days after suffering cardiac arrest, Buffalo Bills player Damar Hamlin's breathing tube is out and he spoke to his team. The latest on his condition next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[12:25:42]
WHITFIELD (on camera): All right. Finally, something to smile about. The Buffalo Bills and the NFL will feature tributes for Damar Hamlin during the weekend games, which kickoff in just a few hours from now.
WHITFIELD (voice over): And this comes as the Bill's safety continues to make a remarkable recovery after suffering a cardiac arrest on the field during Monday's game.
Hamlin is now breathing on his own after having a breathing tube removed late Thursday. The 24-year-old also surprised his teammates in Buffalo yesterday, FaceTiming them on a phone from his hospital bed in Cincinnati.
And we've got a team of reporters covering these developments for us.
Coy Wire is in Buffalo, where, of course, it's snowy. But let's begin with Adrienne Broaddus, who is standing by, live for us outside the hospital in Cincinnati, where Hamlin is recovering.
So, Adrienne, give us some more good news if you could.
ADRIENNE BROADDUS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): Well, the sun is shining here after days of rain in Cincinnati. And folks are still stopping by, what I like to call, the Get Well Soon corner here in front of the hospital, dropping off balloons that have the number three on them. And number three is certainly number one in the hearts of so many. What a remarkable testimony, Damar Hamlin will have this after doctors were able to remove his breathing tube and he was able to speak and communicate with his friends and family.
Now, this milestone based on what happened on the field Monday night, according to the team caring for him here at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center.
Doctors here saying that quick response by the team's medical response or -- yes, medical staff, played a critical role. And some of those moments before Damar was transported via ambulance were captured on audio. Listen-in.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Go ahead and go over to the cot, I don't like how he went down.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're going to need everybody, all call, all call.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We need everybody.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Come, bring everybody. We need everyone out, everybody.
Bring the cot with the medics, all of you and get wheeled out here.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Field medic.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Go ahead for field medic.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Breath (INAUDIBLE).
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Go ahead.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I need another medic in the back, please.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You need a medic in the back of the bus?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Affirmative, we are right outside the gate.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm on my way.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BROADDUS: This is what those doctors trained for, and that training certainly paid off. They were so calm during the midst of that chaos. And the physicians here saying it is incredibly rare to have something that serious, recognize so quickly.
Meanwhile, Damar is still in the intensive care unit. And the road to recovery doctors say will be a long journey.
They say it's too early to tell if Damar will ever be able to return to the game of football. Fredricka. WHITFIELD: Yes, every moment, you know, as it comes, right?
Thank you so much, Adrienne.
Well, Coy, you're at Buffalo Bills stadium, your home -- your forever home. Right?
So, tell us more about this FaceTime call with Hamlin. What he said to his teammates? How it made them feel and, you know, how they are looking toward the future?
COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: Yes. With high hopes after yesterday, Fred. In that building yesterday, one person who's in the room during that video call said that Damar looked like himself. Sometimes you see someone who's been injured or ill, and they just don't look right.
Well, he said it was him. So, the spirits were lifted. Look at the love emanating from star lineman Dion Dawkins, when talking about Coach Sean McDermott surprise video call for them from Damar Hamlin.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DION DAWKINS, OFFENSIVE LINEMAN, BUFFALO BILLS: And we got our boy, you know what I'm saying? Saw that matters.
We got our boy, the excitement was beautiful. It was amazing. It has given us so much energy, so much, you know, bright -- high spirits. Whatever you want to call it, it has given it to us to see that boy's face, to see him smile, see him go like this in the camera. It was -- it was -- it was everything.
So, and then, to hear him talk to us. It was -- it was literally everything and that's what we needed.
[12:30:03]
Literally, that's all we needed.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WIRE: Awesome surprise from Coach Sean McDermott, who he has been such a pillar of strength, Fred, helping this team and this city persevered through so many adversities here in Buffalo. Here he is reflecting on the impact of seeing Damar and the rest of his players have to go through all this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEAN MCDERMOTT, BUFFALO BILLS HEAD COACH: What have I learned? I think more reminded how real and this is probably a message for fans out there, how real these guys are. They're not robots. They're real people with real families. These young men, in this case, football players, come from a mom and a dad that care for him very much.
(END VIDEO CLIP) WIRE: Fred, the show of support for Damar Hamlin, for his family has been unreal. Check this tweet out. Steelers players delivering toys, books, and teacher supplies to Kelly & Nina's Daycare, where the Pittsburgh native Hamlin has hosted his annual toy drive. We, of course, have talked about the GoFundMe page where it was for Damar's Chasing M's Foundation. He had a modest goal of $2,500. It is now over $8 million. Sport, as it so often does, Fred, bringing people of all walks together, especially in times of need. It's a pretty special story happening here in Buffalo.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN HOST: Oh, it really is. I mean, in Pittsburgh, because he went to the University of Pittsburgh, and so that, too, is his family, that community. And I got to say, Coy, you know, you have been a Buffalo Bills player. And even just watching you this week immediately following what took place, I mean, you helped really send a very strong message about what this family of the Bills is all about and your personal reflections of what it felt like for you watching it and being a Bills player and how it, you know, provoked memories and thoughts about some real close calls that you saw in your teammates on the field.
I mean, it really has been quite the roller coaster ride. But I wondered just for you as well, what it has felt like this week and then with such an uplift, you know, as Dion described. I mean, this is light that everyone has been hoping for, needing, and now experiencing.
WIRE: Yes, Fred, thank you for asking. Thank you for your kind words. It was on that field in 2007 where I was playing for the Bills and my teammate Kevin Everett was paralyzed. I saw his body convulsing on the field, the ambulance, players huddled around him in prayer. And it's really tough.
So I can get a sense for what these players are going through, what this city has gone through going back to seven months ago, a deadly mass shooting, the deadly snowstorm just over about two weeks ago that taking the lives of dozens of people. And now something like this, to see one of their beloved Bills, who they look to for as a source of strength through difficult times going down in the field like that. But if any city can rally and bring something better out of this, it's Buffalo. It's been a privilege and an honor to be a conduit for this story, to bring this city and these people the attention they deserve. So thank you for it.
[12:33:35]
WHITFIELD: Well, your emotions and all of your expressions really so succinctly help describe that big family of Buffalo and all that they're have been going through and all that they continue to pull for. All right, thank you so much, Coy Wire, Adrienne Broaddus, thanks to both of you. I appreciate it. And we'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: A new drug is bringing hope to those struggling with Alzheimer's disease. The FDA has granted accelerated approval for Lecanemab. It's one of the first experimental dementia drugs that appear to slow the progression of cognitive decline. CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta has more on this incredible discovery.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): At first the signs can be subtle, missing your exit on the freeway, forgetting what you need at the grocery store, misplacing your keys.
JACK DRISCOLL, ALZHEIMER'S PATIENT: I'll look at my phone and read the names and a lot of them don't mean anything to me.
GUPTA (voice-over): Your life marches on, independently, but the markers of memory slowly, surely begin to fade. That's what early Alzheimer's feels like.
When 80-year-old Jack Driscoll got his own Alzheimer's diagnosis in 2019, he was doing OK, but he worried what his future would eventually have in store.
DRISCOLL: I talked to my wife and I talked to my kids and let them know that maybe down the road I wasn't going to be the same as I was then.
GUPTA (voice-over): So, in 2021, Jack enrolled in a clinical trial for an experimental drug called Lecanemab, just approved by the FDA, this drug could help postpone the fate of those with early Alzheimer's. In part, by removing amyloid plaques from the brain.
DR. RICHARD ISAACSON, NEUROLOGIST, NEW YORK-PRESBYTERIAN: We're finding that this specific type of amyloid, when removed, actually associates or correlates with slowing of cognitive decline.
GUPTA (voice-over): Most importantly, clinical trials of the drug found that it slowed cognitive decline in people with early Alzheimer's by 27 percent. What does that mean? According to models by the drug maker, someone who is 80, like Jack, could experience a two to three- year delay in progression to worsening of his Alzheimer's disease.
[12:40:03]
ISAACSON: We've been targeting Alzheimer's disease at the end stage when people have dementia where they can no longer take care of themselves and the pathology and the plaques and the tangles have built up and by that time there's not as much that we can do.
GUPTA (voice-over): But nothing comes without risks. And the ones that come with this type of drug have raised red flags.
DR. SHARON COHEN, BEHAVIORAL NEUROLOGIST, TORONTO MEMORY PROGRAM: We have known for many years that with almost all of the drugs in this class there can be a side effect of ARIA.
GUPTA (voice-over): Dr. Sharon Cohen has been studying Alzheimer's drugs for 30 years and was part of the clinical trial for Lecanemab. What she is talking about, ARIA, is Amyloid Related Imaging Abnormality. It can look like this or this. It's brain swelling or brain bleeding. Though Cohen says these types of side effects were mostly mild in the trial.
COHEN: We do know that Lecanemab has a low rate of causing macro hemorrhage, not necessarily fatal, but a low rate, less than 1 percent.
GUPTA (voice-over): In the phase three clinical trial, there were seven deaths in the placebo group and six deaths in the Lecanemab group. According to the investigators, though, none of the deaths were considered to be due to Lecanemab or ARIA. "The New England Journal of Medicine" recently published details of an additional death of a patient on the drug who had been given blood thinners, raising additional concerns.
COHEN: It's pretty hard to say Lecanemab caused that when you're giving a drug that itself can cause significant bleeding. However, the combination gives us pause.
GUPTA (voice-over): Neurologist Dr. Richard Isaacson agrees that while this drug shows promise, it must come with caution, for example, avoiding blood thinners while taking the medication.
ISAACSON: I will prescribe this drug in the right person at the right dose and in a very carefully monitored way, but this drug is not for everyone.
GUPTA (voice-over): For Jack, the possibility of continuing to live a full life, spending quality time with all four children and all nine grandchildren, even for just a while longer, well, that is worth the risk.
DRISCOLL: As far as I'm concerned, we're having a great life right now and things are good and my wife is a wonderful caretaker. So, we get it with each other and we know what we're living with.
GUPTA (voice-over): Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN reporting.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: And still ahead, reports of shelling overnight in Kyiv despite Russia's calls for a ceasefire, we'll go there alive next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[12:47:03]
WHITFIELD: Ukraine says it's still under attack by Russian forces, even though Vladimir Putin declared a ceasefire that was supposed to start at noon Friday as the Orthodox Christmas begins. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy rejected the ceasefire, calling it a, quote, manipulation. Our Scott McLean is in the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv for us. So good to see you. Are you seeing any evidence of a ceasefire there? SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Fredricka, this ceasefire declaration, which was made unilaterally by the Russians, really never had much of a chance, and that's because, of course, the Ukrainians never agreed to it. The Russians also made clear that they would return fire if fired on, and they did. The Russians say that the Ukrainians continued to shell Russian held areas across the front line. They also say that they shot down a Ukrainian drone over Crimea overnight. The Ukrainians also say that there was plenty of fire coming in their direction along the front line as well, especially in Bakhmut, which is one of the most fiercely contested parts of the frontline, where local officials say that they are dead and wounded after Russian mortar attacks on residential areas.
Of course, Fredricka, today is a Christmas Day in the Orthodox faith, and so people across this country were celebrating Christmas mass and in Kyiv for the first time in a very long time, the Orthodox Church of Ukraine held a Christmas service inside one of the most famous cathedrals in this country. We were there to witness this ourselves. The Assumption Cathedral was previously used by the branch of the Orthodox faith that formerly had links to the Russian Orthodox Church.
But, of course, since the full scale invasion began, there's been plenty of scrutiny on the leadership of that branch of the church, amid accusations that they are still somehow under the influence of Russia, something that they vehemently deny. But, look, I spoke to people who attended that branch of the church and also the Orthodox church of Ukraine. And regardless of which church you're attending, everyone that we met said that this Christmas, given the war, given the uncertainty, their Christmas prayers have never seemed so important, Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: All right, Scott McLean in Kyiv, thanks so much.
All right, now that Kevin McCarthy is the speaker for the 118th Congress and the Republicans are in control of the House, Democrats and the President are bracing for an onslaught of investigations focusing on the Biden administration and his family. CNN's Randi Kaye has details.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
REP. JAMES COMER (R-KY): We would love to talk to people in the Biden families.
RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Republican Congressman James Comer of Kentucky. As the incoming chair of the House Oversight and Reform Committee, he's determined to investigate whether Joe Biden and his son Hunter are, as he puts it, compromised.
COMER: This evidence raises troubling questions about whether President Biden is a national security risk and about whether he is compromised by foreign government.
[12:50:05]
KAYE (voice-over): This all dates back to 2014, when Hunter Biden joined the Board of Burisma, a private Ukrainian gas company. He was paid $50,000 a month. At the time, his father was vice president and handling some foreign policy in Ukraine for the Obama administration. At the heart of the planned investigation are dozens of suspicious activity reports that Republicans claim Banks filed related to Hunter Biden's financial activities.
COMER: All the countries were the Biden --
KAYE (voice-over): As the incoming majority in the House, Republicans can use subpoena power to get those reports, as well as subpoena foreign entities and others who did business with Hunter Biden. There is no evidence Joe Biden did anything wrong, and Hunter Biden has denied any wrongdoing.
JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We went to Afghanistan because of a horrific attack that happened 20 years ago. That cannot explain why we should remain there in 2021.
KAYE (voice-over): Republicans have also signaled they'll investigate America's withdrawal from Afghanistan.
REP. MICHAEL MCCAUL (R-TX), RANKING MEMBER, FOREIGN AFFAIRS COMMITTEE: This is going to be a stain on this President and his presidency, and I think he's going to have blood on his hands for what they did.
KAYE (voice-over): Nearly 20 years after the U.S. established a presence in Afghanistan, Biden pulled the last American troops out of there in 2021. The withdrawal was brokered between the Trump administration and the Taliban in February of 2020 and left thousands of Afghan citizens who had helped the U.S. in limbo. Some made a frantic attempt to leave the country by clinging to airplane wings. In the days following Biden's withdrawal announcement, 13 U.S. troops were killed, along with more than 170 Afghans in a bombing at the airport in Kabul.
MCCAUL: They totally blew this one. They completely underestimated the strength of the Taliban. They didn't listen to the intelligence community.
KAYE (voice-over): House Republicans are threatening to subpoena State Department officials over the flawed withdrawal. And there's this.
REP. KEVIN MCCARTHY (R-CA): We want to find where the origins of COVID began so it never starts again. How did that happen?
KAYE (voice-over): House Republicans are also planning to investigate how the pandemic started, despite the fact two studies released in July both concluded that a seafood market in Wuhan was most likely the epicenter for the virus.
COMER: We want to bring in and interview all the scientists who early on told Dr. Fauci that this is obviously a lab leak, this is obviously man made. But then they changed their story.
KAYE (voice-over): They are also vowing to investigate Dr. Anthony Fauci, the newly retired director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.
DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, FORMER CHIEF MEDICAL ADVISOR TO THE PRESIDENT OF UNITED STATES: All I have ever done was to recommend common sense, good CDC recommended public health policies that have saved millions of lives. If you want to investigate for me for that, go ahead.
KAYE (voice-over): Randi Kaye, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
[12:53:00]
WHITFIELD: All right, coming up, when's the last time you bought eggs at the grocery store? Have you noticed the prices, they're skyrocketing. Well, you're not alone. We'll explain next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: All right, you may have noticed a scramble of items at the grocery store are more expensive, but it's the price of eggs that's breaking some shoppers budgets. Let's bring in CNN business reporter Nathaniel Meyersohn. So good to see you, Nathaniel. So you take a crack at it. What's going on?
NATHANIEL MEYERSOHN, CNN BUSINESS REPORTER: Right, so this -- the jump in egg prices is putting a major strain on families of 49 percent in November from a year ago, according to the latest statistics from the Bureau of Labor. And there are a few factors that are driving these prices higher. We have a deadly avian flu last year which killed millions of hens and turkeys, and it was the worst avian flu since 2015. So that tightens supply. You have fewer birds, and it's also been exacerbated by higher feed and energy costs that producers and farmers are facing. And then, of course, higher demand from customers.
We're all using eggs to bake over the holidays. So tight supply, high demand, that's pushed egg prices up. And there, you know, this year, they may -- the prices may not rise as fast, but they're still going to stay at this high level so come Easter, you're going to be paying more for eggs than you were last year.
WHITFIELD: Oh, boy. All right, something else that's kind of flying the coop. It's a little different. Lunch orders, you know, groceries, other orders that people, you know, are supposed to have picked up, but then there is a big problem when they get there, stuff is gone. Why?
MEYERSOHN: Right, Fredricka so, it's the case of the missing Chipotle order. You get to the store, and your order isn't there. We've all gotten used to ordering for pickup from Chipotle, Starbucks, Panera, these types of restaurants during the pandemic. Last year, actually, 58 percent of all pickup orders of all orders at these restaurants were for pickups, so more than half. But unfortunately, it's coming with some unintended consequences for restaurants.
Customers get to the store, their pickup orders aren't there, or people accidentally take the wrong ones. And so it's a huge hassle for stores. It's frustrating customers. And so stores are starting to make some changes. They're putting the pickup orders behind the counter where a worker has to get it, or they even may start to introduce pickup lockers, where you have your own code, and you have to type in a code to pick it up.
[13:00:04]
WHITFIELD: Wow. So much for the convenience but at the same time, you want what you paid for. You want your order. All right, Nathaniel Meyersohn, thank you so much. And Happy New Year.
