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Frigid Temps Blanket Half The U.S. As Snow Slam Great Lakes; Dangerous Weather Threatens Travel On Thanksgiving Weekend; Trump Picks Loyalist Kash Patel As FBI Director And In-Laws As Ambassadors; Russia Launched Airstrikes; Football Helmet Guardian Cap; Shiffrin's Bid For World Cup; Famous Banana. Aired 4-5p ET

Aired December 01, 2024 - 16:00   ET

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

[16:00:00]

CAROLYN MANNO, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Number three Texas all but securing their postseason berth with their win last night and making it even sweeter they did it by dominating their longtime rival Texas A&M, 17-7 on the road in front of well over 100,000 fans in the first game between the two schools in over a decade. Next up, trying to avenge their home loss to Georgia earlier in the season in the SEC championship game next weekend.

After one of the wildest regular seasons in recent memory, the 13- person playoff committee is going to have a heck of a time trying to pick who's in and who's out in this new 12-team field, but we'll have our answer after the conference championships play out next Sunday. A lot to discuss.

Back to you.

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN HOST: All right. Look forward to that.

Carolyn Manno, thanks so much.

All right. Hello, again, everyone. Thank you so much for joining me this Sunday. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.

All right. We're following the latest in our breaking story as holiday travelers are up against the worst of winter this weekend. The Great Lakes region feeling the worst of the lake-effect snow right now as biting cold sweeps across most of the country. Nearly four feet of snow is already covering western New York from the past few days of accumulation and now more than two million people in the region have snow warnings in effect.

Northeast Ohio and Northwest Pennsylvania just extended their alerts until Tuesday morning. Officials across Pennsylvania spoke earlier today driving home the message for people to stay safe by staying off the roads.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEC. MIKE CARROLL, PENNDOT: My message to the public is simple. Don't travel unless you absolutely have to. Give us today and tomorrow to restore order to the transportation network that we have made great progress over the last 36 hours. And I have every expectation with the work of state officials, county officials and local officials will meet the needs of folks here in Erie County.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: All right. For more now on the conditions, I'm joined by Caleb Yeager with Erie News Now.

Caleb, what's happening? What are you seeing and feeling?

CALEB YAUGER, ERIE NEWS NOW REPORTER: Greetings from a snowy Erie, Pennsylvania. The lake-effect snow is pounding the region. Here we are. I'm up to my knees and possibly up to my chest in lake-effect snow. I'm trying to navigate my way through. But check this out. Ready? I got two clumps of snow next to me. What are they? These are our news vehicles here in Erie.

This is how much snow is coming into the region. At the Erie airport, we're seeing reports of nearly two feet of snow. Other parts of the region up to four feet. This is how bad it's getting. The Pennsylvania National Guard is here in the region as well, trying to help people get from place to place. Cars are getting stuck. We've got spinouts, lots more plows are getting deployed into the area.

Check this out, too. We've got some icicles forming, causing some big concern for some citizens around here. And between now and Tuesday morning we have a lake-effect snow warning. We're expecting another 10 to 20 inches to possibly fall. And oh, by the way, next week, mid to late next week, we might be seeing even more lake-effect snow with even colder temperatures. We're keeping an eye on the region as it is getting pounded with more and more lake-effect snow.

Reporting in Erie, Pennsylvania, I'm Caleb Yauger. Back to you.

WHITFIELD: OK, thank you, Caleb. All right. With more snow on the way, something tells me you should have a sleeping bag because you will be sleeping right there in the newsroom for a few more days.

Did you hear that? A storm chaser footage capturing the rare sound of thunder snow over Copenhagen, New York, yesterday.

Meteorologist Elisa Raffa joining me right now.

So it's rare. That's why I've never heard it before. But it is a thing.

ELISA RAFFA, AMS METEOROLOGIST: That is how dynamic this lake-effect snow can be. Basically, the cold air is picking up the moisture. The air is rising so much so fast it acts like a thunderstorm, creates static, and you get thunder and lightning. Wild.

WHITFIELD: (INAUDIBLE) today. Yes, we've been geeking out in the weather center for sure,

RAFFA: Yes, we've been geeking out in the Weather Center for sure, but, I mean, look, the lake-effect snow bands have not really moved since Thursday. They continue over the Great Lakes. I-90 has just been a mess from Cleveland up through Erie just south of Buffalo where you have whiteout conditions because, again, this is a wind driven snow.

So you have visibility that drops to a quarter mile or less, causing the whiteout conditions, making things very treacherous. I-81 near Watertown, another spot where they would be dangerous travel on the roads because these totals are already over three feet, approaching four feet, and we actually did just get one total over four feet.

But, I mean, look, Erie, south of Buffalo, Watertown, all of these totals, again, well over three feet. So far Saybrook, Ohio, is the winner, 49 inches. That is over four feet of snow.

[16:05:04]

The rest is still over three feet. Getting closer to that four-feet mark, but still 41 inches, 38 inches. Just incredible to see the amount of snow.

Now the lake-effect snow warnings continue through Tuesday because you still get that cold air coming over the lakes that will continue to pump some of these lake-effect snow bands, where we could still get another foot or so.

What's happening is, is the lakes are actually near record warm. You have water temperatures in the upper 40s and lower 50s, which is relatively much warmer than that Arctic cold air that's coming in over the lakes. So what happens is that cold air comes over the warmer water. It's able to pick up that moisture. Then when all of that cold, moist air hits the terrain, it's forced to go up, which is what creates the snowstorms. It creates the thundersnow.

And that's why the snow just doesn't stop, because it won't stop until that wind changes. And with the wind not changing over the last couple of days, that's how you just get snow and snow feet on end.

Here's that Arctic air 18 degrees right now in Minneapolis, 28 degrees in Chicago. Wind chills in the single digits and the teens. More than 70 percent of the lower 48 has temperatures at or below freezing. Even as far south as the Gulf Coast. I mean, we're waking up to temperatures at 28 degrees on Tuesday morning here in Atlanta. It's better than the 15 degrees in Chicago.

WHITFIELD: Yes, I have to agree with you on that one. That's for sure.

All right, Elisa, thank you.

All right, CNN's Rafael Romo is joining me right now from inside the world's busiest airport in Atlanta.

How's it going there?

RAFAEL ROMO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, it's going good, Fred. Not too bad considering and among the things that we have heard from several passengers who have successfully navigated the crowds here at Atlanta's Hartfield Jackson International Airport, there's a common denominator. Give yourself two and a half to three hours before your scheduled departure time in case you get stuck in the security line.

This is the busiest airport in the world during the busiest travel period of the year, but so far things seem to be going smoothly.

At the national level, Fred, the Transportation Security Administration processed 2.4 million passengers Wednesday and 2.7 million Friday, the day after Thanksgiving. They were expecting more than three million passengers today. So once again, both passengers and officials are saying give yourself plenty of time and take a deep breath before going through the security line.

This is what they told us.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROSE WILLIS, RETURNING FROM WASHINGTON, D.C. TO ATLANTA: You have to show up now two and a half, three hours early in order for you to make it through the security gate on time, otherwise you may miss your flight.

TIMOTHY READ, RETURNING TO MILWAUKEE: Get started early. Yes, I give myself enough time because I know Atlanta is a very busy airport.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMO: And we know that traditionally the busiest days to fly are the Wednesday before Thanksgiving and Sunday after the holidays. Officials here at the airport were expecting 440,000 passengers over the entire Thanksgiving holiday, 200,000 of those just this weekend -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: Yes, that's pretty incredible. All right, folks, like you said, just hold your breath or take a deep breath. Actually, don't hold your breath because you do need to breathe. Just take a deep breath and relax, and fly.

(LAUGHTER)

ROMO: That's right.

WHITFIELD: Rafael, thank you.

All right, coming up -- can I go on now? All right, so I'm going to laugh through this but this is no laughing matter because President- elect Donald Trump plans to pick loyalist Kash Patel to be the next FBI director. That's not funny, it's just holding your breath is. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:13:22]

WHITFIELD: Lawmakers are giving mixed reaction to President-elect Trump's pick to lead the nation's top law enforcement agency. Trump is planning to name longtime loyalist and partisan firebrand Kash Patel to be his new FBI director. Patel's selection means Christopher Wray, the current FBI head, would need to be fired or step down. Trump appointed him Wray, as his FBI director back in 2017.

Patel is a divisive figure who worked as a National Security official in Trump's first administration and has accused the so-called deep state of targeting Trump. It's a controversial pick that almost certainly sets up another potentially explosive confirmation battle in the U.S. Senate.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. CHRIS MURPHY (D-CT): Kash Patel's only qualification is because he agrees with Donald Trump that the Department of Justice should serve to punish, lock up and intimidate Donald Trump's political opponents. And so the cost to the American public is pretty simple. The Department of Justice and the FBI is supposed to be there to go after drug traffickers, gun smugglers, to go after corrupt Wall Street financiers. Instead, the Department of Justice is going to serve Donald Trump's political interests.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: CNN's Alayna Treene is joining us now from Florida near Trump's Mar-a-Lago home.

So, Alayna, what more can you tell us about this pick?

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's very clear from my conversations with those on working on Donald Trump's transition team, those familiar with why he came to the decision of selecting Kash Patel, they said it was clear that Donald Trump wanted a bulldog in the FBI and someone who would reform it, disrupt it, and root out what he sees as bias among many of the agents, particularly, you know, involving some of the distrust that Donald Trump has regarding the FBI and the Department of Justice overall.

[16:15:14]

Remember, he really became very distrustful of the FBI back in 2016 when they began investigating his then campaign for his alleged ties to Russia. He only grew more distrustful of the agency when they ended up raiding his Mar-a-Lago home in August of 2022, and then later, of course, indicting him in the case regarding whether he mishandled classified documents.

And so the selection of Kash Patel is really trying to choose someone who he believes is like minded with the way that he views the intelligence community and what he wants to do with the FBI. And that does include potentially wanting to go after some of Donald Trump's political opponents and those that they view as having misused the FBI and Justice Department over the past several years.

Now, I will say you mentioned some of the controversy. We just heard some of that that you played. There's a lot of people who have skepticism about whether or not Patel is the right person for this role, and many in Donald Trump's orbit also recognize that he's likely to have a contentious Senate confirmation battle.

However, we've also seen a number of people today really try and come to Patel's defense, and they pointed out the same thing that I was just laying out, which is that they believe that they need someone to reform the FBI and that Kash is the -- Kash Patel is the person to do that. We saw people tweet like Stephen Miller, Donald Trump's incoming deputy chief of staff for policy. Senator Mike Lee, someone that Donald Trump had considered for a potential cabinet role.

Mike Walsh is expected his pick to be his new National Security adviser. So a lot of people with close ties to Trump really coming out and trying to defend him. But then we also heard senators as well, Republican senators, go on television today to defend him. I want you to take a listen to what Senator Bill Hagerty said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. BILL HAGERTY (R-TN): I've encouraged President Trump to bring Kash Patel to the table for precisely this reason. This entire agency needs to be cleaned out. It's not doing its job. There are serious problems that the FBI, the American public knows it. They expect to see sweeping change and Kash Patel is just the type of person to do it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TREENE: Now, Fred, Patel, like many of the other controversial picks that Donald Trump has announced since winning the November 5th election, is likely to go to the hill and meet with senators I'm told before his confirmation battle. Unclear when that will happen, but a move that Donald Trump has really been trying to make with some of these picks to make sure they can kind of smooth the pathway before seeing those confirmation battles play out in public.

WHITFIELD: And Alayna, Trump has also announced a couple of other noteworthy picks with family ties for his new administration?

TREENE: That's right. The latest coming today when he announced that his daughter, Tiffany Trump, Tiffany Trump's father-in-law Massad Boulos will be his new envoy to the Middle East and Arab Affairs. A really big role particularly as we know what's happening in the Middle East right now with the war between Israel and Gaza, and fighting Hamas. And so, you know, this move comes just 24 hours or so after Donald Trump had already announced that Charles Kushner, Ivanka Trump, his other daughter, his other daughter's father-in-law would be his pick to be the ambassador to France.

So really, just showing that Donald Trump is kind of keeping with his trend over the past several years now of really leaning on family members for these roles. And I'll note as well that some of this is drawing some questions of whether, you know, there are conflicts of interest. It was the same thing we saw when he's announced that Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump were going to be senior White House advisers in his first term -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right. Alayna Treene, thanks so much. All right. Joining me right now to talk more about these developments,

Ron Brownstein. He is a CNN senior political analyst and a senior editor for "The Atlantic."

Ron, great to see you.

RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Hey, Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right. So just in the last 24 hours, Trump has made four more selections to his administration. They are all very loyal to Trump and to, as Alayna was just underscoring there, two of them are president-elect's in-laws. So, through these picks and others, what tenor or tone is Trump setting?

BROWNSTEIN: Yes. Look, I think it's two sides of the same coin. I mean, the Patel selection continues a pattern of Trump selecting loyalists who most push the boundaries of what previously would have been considered acceptable nominees in the positions that would position them to most effectively advance what he talked about openly in the campaign was an agenda of retribution and revenge.

Whether it's Pete Hegseth or the Defense Department, obviously Matt Gaetz originally now Pam Bondi as attorney general, Tulsi Gabbard at DNI, all people who are unlikely to raise many red flags and in fact are more likely to participate if Trump tries to follow through on his pledge or threat, depending on how you look at it, to use the federal government against people he views as his opponents.

[16:20:12]

The other side of the coin are the appointments of these family members to key positions, extending what he did in his first term. They both I think reflect the same underlying dynamic. Donald Trump sees the entirety of the federal government as a vehicle to advance his own interests, as an extension of his own personal will, and the extent to which this departs from the dominant view going back to the 1883 Civil Service Act that there should be limits on the arbitrary exercise of executive power, presidential power.

I think we're only getting the first, you know, the first glimmers of how seriously he is going to challenge all of those norms and traditions and limits.

WHITFIELD: Yes, I mean, this isn't the first time Trump, you know, has long turned to his family members to serve in political roles. His daughter Ivanka and her husband, Jared Kushner, served as senior advisers in his first term. So, I wonder, and just as there were, you know, questions of conflicts of interest, nepotism, all that was being challenged with them, how do you see that being, I guess, elevated those concerns this go round with these in-laws who have been brought into the fold?

BROWNSTEIN: Yes. I mean, look, I think there are obviously conflict of interest, you know, issues for either of them. I think the larger issue is what this tells us about Donald Trump's mindset as he enters the government. You know, Jared Kushner's father was a convicted felon that Trump pardoned. He's now naming him as ambassador to France.

Kash Patel was someone that Bill Barr essentially, you know, laid down in front of the tracks as attorney general to avoid his appointment to the FBI in Trump's first term. And now, you know, Trump is basically daring the Republican Senate to say no.

I think all of these reflect the same, you know, really twin beliefs. One, as I said, is that he views the entirety of the federal government as a means to advance his personal interests. And he also believes that there will, you know, that there is not going to be the resistance he faced. You know intermittent as it was in his first term among elements of the Republican coalition. And so we will see, you know, what boundaries if any, the Senate is willing to put, you know, Matt Gaetz was too far.

Will Tulsi Gabbard be too far? Will Robert F. Kennedy Jr. be too far? Would Patel be too far? I'm dubious that enough Republicans are going to say no to Patel, but perhaps on Gabbard or some of the others there may be, you know, some restraint. But the overall, the overall message Trump is sending is that he feels very unbound as he heads into a second term.

WHITFIELD: You know, even more specifically, and you mentioned the former, you know, attorney general, Bill Barr. This is, you know, he tried to block the move of Patel. He, in fact, wrote in his memoir about that moment, saying, "I categorically opposed making Patel deputy FBI director. I told Mark Meadows it would happen." I'm quoting again, "Over my dead body," he says. "The very idea of moving Patel into a role like this showed a shocking detachment from reality."

So that kind of material, you know, or precedent in thinking and action, how do you see that being folded into the confirmation hearings if it gets that far with Kash Patel?

BROWNSTEIN: Yes. Well, first of all, it's hard to imagine Pam Bondi making that speech. Right? And the fact that it's not going to be Bill Barr in the cabinet in a second Trump term basically underlines the point I made before. I mean, when he was first elected, he felt he had to make concessions to other power centers in the Republican Party. You could see that in his appointments and in the agenda that he pursued or didn't pursue.

All of that, I think, is gone. I mean, he believes with, you know, with considerable justification that he has broken the Republican Party to his will. And in effect, he is daring Republican senators to say no to him on multiple fronts. You know, as we talked about before, I doubt that any of them before a few weeks ago, possibly ever imagined they would be asked to name -- to vote on Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as secretary of HHS, particularly now you have the Trump's own former FDA official commissioner saying that RFK Jr. is a risk to Americans' health.

Here, again, I mean, the issue on all of these nominees is not so much how do they comport with or fit within the traditional parameters of what we thought acceptable for that job. The only issue is, are there four Republican senators who are willing to say no? And, you know, there are only so many times any Republican senator I think is going to be willing to say no. So there's kind of a priority list here.

I kind of suspect that the nominees are going to be attacked from the right. May be easier for Republicans to unify against someone like Gabbard, but Patel, by historic standards, by the standards Bill Barr laid out, would be unacceptable to traditional Republicans. I'm not so sure he's going to be unacceptable to this Republican Party at this moment.

[16:25:06]

WHITFIELD: Yes, well, possibly there will be a lot of deal-making among Republicans during the confirmation hearing to see, you know, what kind of objections can be made without major repercussions.

BROWNSTEIN: Yes.

WHITFIELD: All right. Ron Brownstein, thanks so much.

BROWNSTEIN: Thanks for having me.

WHITFIELD: All right. Coming up, a serious government carries out more airstrikes on rebel positions as opposition forces strengthen their hold on the country's second largest city. How the violence could affect the entire region.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: New today, multiple people were killed when Syrian government forces backed by Russia launched airstrikes against the country's rebel coalition.

[16:30:07]

The attacks are in retaliation after opposition forces took control of most of Aleppo which is Syria's second largest city. It was a surprise offensive that's renewing a civil war that had largely been dormant for the last few years.

CNN International Diplomatic Editor Nic Robertson is joining us right now. Nic, do we expect this to turn into an all-out battle for Aleppo?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: It really could. I mean, if we look back just a few years ago when the Syrian government, under Bashar Al Assad, took control of Aleppo. That was a really long, brutal battle with a massive number of casualties. A grinding fight.

And although the government really appears to have been caught completely off guard here, and even its forces sort of appearing to pull out of Aleppo without putting up a big fight, the indications are that they will fight back for it. This is what President Bashar Al Assad has been saying today, that they will -- that they will launch an offensive.

He's been meeting with the Iranian foreign minister inside of Syria. The Iranian foreign minister saying that he's there to give support. And you -- Syria's other big ally here would be Russia. And they've been having joint bombing strikes today in and around Aleppo, in other areas in the north of the country, trying to beat back the rebels.

So, I think all the indications are there. One of the big questions you have to ask, and, obviously, the United States is asking itself this question, because the U.S. has forces inside of Syria, are those forces in danger? And is what the rebels are doing on the ground going to be good for U.S. policy towards Syria or not?

Well, Jake Sullivan had this to say on that question.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JACOB SULLIVAN, U.S. NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISOR: It's a complicated question, because the group at the vanguard of this rebel advance, HTS, is actually a terrorist organization designated by the United States. So, we have real concerns about the designs and objectives of that organization.

At the same time, of course, we don't cry over the fact that the Assad government, backed by Russia, Iran and Hezbollah, you know, are facing certain kinds of pressure. So, it's a complicated situation. It's one we are monitoring closely, and we are staying in close touch with regional partners about it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTSON: So, it really appears here as if the rebels have been planning this for some time. Russia distracted with its war in Ukraine. Iran distracted because of Hezbollah and Israel. So, -- in Lebanon.

So, this is something that, really, the rebels see as an opportunity. And they're going to -- and they are appearing to want to push much further south. So, the government is going to have to move fast, if it's going to contain this.

WHITFIELD: All right. Nic Robertson, thanks so much.

All right. Coming up, the most successful alpine skier of all time, Mikaela Shiffrin, crashes out of her bid to win her 100th world cup race in Vermont. CNN's Don Riddell will be with us in a moment.

[16:33:06]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: New today, a scary moment in the NFL. Jacksonville Jaguar's quarterback, Trevor Lawrence, was attempting a slide to end a play when he was hit late by a Houston Texas -- Texan defender. Lawrence was carted off the field and ruled out for the rest of the game with a concussion. It's the latest example of a problem the sport has tried to tackle, head injuries.

Miami Dolphins quarterback, Tua Tagovailoa, returned to the field earlier this year, after suffering three career concussions.

And at the collegiate level, two quarterbacks walked away from their playing careers this season citing safety concerns. Michael Yoshida has more on how leagues and teams are trying to make the game safer.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MICHAEL YOSHIDA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Football practice at Lanier High School in Georgia looks a little different this year.

TYLER MALOOF, HEAD FOOTBALL COACH, LANIER HIGH SCHOOL: You've seen it in colleges and in the pros. And I think, nowadays, we're always looking for different ways to help protect our kids.

YOSHIDA: Enter padded covers, like the Guardian Cap, which slips over a player's helmet with the goal of adding an extra layer of protection.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So, apparently, I'm blowing up in the news right now.

YOSHIDA: The NFL has embraced the technology, amid calls to improve safety. This season, for the first time, players are allowed to wear the caps during regular season games. The league began requiring them in 2022 for most players during certain practices.

JEFF MILLER, EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT, NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE: We saw a decrease in concussions of about 50 percent from the affected position groups.

YOSHIDA: The NFL has not released the data behind its claims. Guardian Sports, which makes the Guardian Cap, points to its own testing, as well as years of use by college and professional players as proof. The padded coverings reduce injuries but with one caveat.

JAKE HANSON, CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER, GUARDIAN SPORTS: We don't like to use concussion as a metric of what the Guardian Cap does or doesn't do. What we know that the Guardian Cap does is it reduces those non- concussive blows.

YOSHIDA: Several groups of independent researchers recently tested Guardian Caps in the lab and on the field and the results have been mixed. Some studies found small benefits in reducing impacts to the head and brain, but others showed no positive difference between players wearing caps and those who don't.

NICHOLAS CECCHI, AUTHOR, STANFORD STUDY ON GUARDIAN CAPS: There's no helmet right now. There's no helmet add on that can eliminate concussion risk. And more work needs to be done on those repeated sub- concussive blows or the lower velocity impacts that our younger athletes are exposed to.

[16:40:03]

YOSHIDA: And that's important because mounting scientific evidence shows repeated hits to the head, even if they don't cause concussions, can have lasting impacts on the brain like chronic traumatic encephalopathy or CTE, a progressive degenerative brain disease.

CHRIS NOWINSKI, CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, CONCUSSION LEGACY FOUNDATION: The mystery of CTE is starting to disappear in football. We're figuring out why people are getting it. And it's, essentially, a math problem. It's the number of hits and the strength of the hits that someone takes over their lifetime. So, the best analogy is probably smoking and lung cancer. The more cigarettes, the longer you do it, the greater your risk.

YOSHIDA: Concerns that are having an impact on the sport, as leagues and teams change rules and try new technologies in attempts to make the game safer.

TOJUAN PEYTON JR., FOOTBALL PLAYER, LANIER HIGH SCHOOL: My mom, she loves it. She's even saying -- she's been talking about extra protection and safety since I was little.

MALOOF: Football has changed a lot in the last 10, 15 years, and how you practice and what happens because of all the safety concerns.

YOSHIDA: I'm Michael Yoshida reporting.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: And then, it was supposed to be a milestone weekend on the slopes for the most successful alpine skier of all time. But a crash has taken Mikaela Shiffrin out of the world cup event happening in Vermont.

CNN's Don Riddell is here with me now. And oh, my gosh, it was a really frightening moment.

DON RIDDELL, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT: Yes.

WHITFIELD: How is she doing?

RIDDELL: Good and not so good. I mean, the good news is that she's out of the hospital. The bad news is that she missed the opportunity to, you know, secure a landmark 100th world cup victory which would have been extraordinary. She was -- I mean, she was almost within sight of the finish line.

You know, so, she doesn't know when she can ski again. It's -- she thinks she's probably going to be out for at least a couple of weeks. But the good news is, she's lucky. These are her words. It could have been so much worse.

She was actually interviewed by the broadcaster, NBC, earlier. And she was watching back the footage of the crash, as she was talking. And she was kind of joking about how it looks as though she had 12 sets of legs, as she was hurtling through the air towards the fence. But it could have been so much worse.

WHITFIELD: And there it is.

RIDDELL: She's such a good sport, though.

WHITFIELD: Or at least that's the run before -- RIDDELL: She's such a good sport. Once she got to the hospital, where she was being examined, she thought, I know, let's whip out the phone and make a video for my fans.

WHITFIELD: Incredible.

RIDDELL: So, this was her assessment of --

WHITFIELD: Oh, my gosh.

RIDDELL: -- how the injury was playing out.

WHITFIELD: She's amazing.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MIKAELA SHIFFRIN, ALPINE SKIIER, WORLD CUP: Not really too much cause for concern, at this point. I just can't move. I have a pretty good abrasion. And something stabbed me under her fingers. And so, I just can't move. I am so sorry to scare everybody. And it looks like all the scans, so far, are clear. So, thank you for the support and concern.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RIDDELL: Mikaela Shiffrin is one of the best athletes, in my opinion, --

WHITFIELD: Yes.

RIDDELL: -- in any sport. And she is so popular because of things like this. She's just so cool and she's absolutely hard as nails.

WHITFIELD: Bringing (?) it in. Yes.

RIDDELL: She is so tough. But she was describing the injury there. She was saying that she has, basically, a stab wound. She doesn't quite know how she got it. Maybe from hitting the gate or the fence.

WHITFIELD: Well, look at the pole. Yes, and all the poles and the markers.

RIDDELL: But it's -- but it's --

WHITFIELD: I mean, it could be a variety of things.

RIDDELL: -- punctured her oblique. She doesn't even -- doesn't even know how deep it went. But she does have this severe muscle contusion. So, that's all going to have to heal, before she can get back out on the slopes again.

But, of course, Mikaela and her fans will be hoping that she can get that 100th win soon.

WHITFIELD: Yes, of course. RIDDELL: But, you know, I spoke to her earlier this year, after another major crash. And she admitted that she has thought about quitting the sport, because she knows how dangerous it is. But she still just loves it --

WHITFIELD: She loves it.

RIDDELL: -- too much.

WHITFIELD: And she's been in it for a very long time.

RIDDELL: Yes.

WHITFIELD: I mean, she really has. But it's extraordinary that she would have the wherewithal, you know, and the stamina to, like, bring you into the hospital room like that and talk, you know, so casually. I mean, she knows the injuries. She knows about the risks she's been living in all this time.

RIDDELL: Yes.

WHITFIELD: But I don't know. I was -- I was feeling a little optimism in her there, after the healing.

RIDDELL: Well, yes, but --

WHITFIELD: Even still not knowing what caused -- what caused the stab (?).

RIDDELL: I'm sure she would rather -- I'm sure she would rather have got to the finish line yesterday and won the race. And skied again in the slalom today and maybe won another race.

WHITFIELD: Amazing. Wow.

RIDDELL: But, yes, she's out for a little bit.

WHITFIELD: We wish her well. We really do. Don Riddell, thank you so much. Glad to see you.

All right. Coming up, a man accused of breaking into a church is confronted by a pastor who happens to be trained in martial arts. You'll hear about the surprise encounter from the pastor, himself, next.

[16:44:25]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right. What would you do if someone broke into your house? You might call 911, right? Well, a pastor in Antioch, California, went a step further and took matters into his own hands when someone broke into his church. He put his martial art skills to use and held an intruder down until police got there.

Joining us right now is that Pastor Nick Neves of First Family Church. Good to see you, Pastor. We understand that you were in the church. You saw broken glass. And then, what did your instincts tell you to do?

NICK NEVES, PASTOR, FIRST FAMILY CHURCH: well, happy Lord's day to you. The Lord's day is the best day. It's good to talk to you on this Sunday. We weren't expecting anything like this to happen. Sometimes I'll get an ADT call, and I'll have to come down to the church to check on what's happening.

This particular time, I just happened to come and see smashed glass. And so, I knew I needed to investigate closer. And I went around to the backside of the building, where I found a door that was propped open.

As I was entering the door, or trying to enter the door, the gentleman came at me with a handful of our -- of our goods. And so, I ordered him to stop. I, essentially, told him that I was making a citizen's arrest.

[16:50:00]

NEVES: And he needed to stop and wait for the police to get there. And he didn't -- he didn't want to stop and wait for the police.

So, when he tried to escape, I grabbed ahold of him. We ended up in the parking lot of the church just wrestling around a bit, until the police could come and apprehend.

WHITFIELD: Oh, my gosh. So, you grabbed a hold of him. You wrestled a little bit. I mean, you're really kind of downplaying your skills here, because you've been practicing Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, since high school, I understand. And even though you never thought you'd have to use it on a human, you did. So, what were those moves?

NEVES: Now, so, basically, I just focused on trying to keep myself from harm. I assessed the situation. I know there were some reports that he was an ax-wielding thief. But that wasn't the case. We found the ax after the fact. He broke out a window with that ax, but he didn't have a weapon.

And so, I thought that I would be -- I would be competent enough to be able to hang on to this guy until the police arrived. So, it was mostly -- I just wanted to make him kind of carry my weight and keep his hands from doing me any harm. He did the best he could to try to hurt me and get away.

But, thankfully, God was very gracious to me, and I didn't sustain any major injuries or anything. And I tried not to hurt him as well. I didn't -- I didn't have any hatred toward the man. I didn't want to do any harm.

But, at the same time, you know, the gospel ministry that we do is very important. And when somebody's smashing the windows and destroying our property and taking things from here, it makes it harder for us to care for people (?). WHITFIELD: Oh, my gosh. So, you -- so, you, essentially, carried out a

nice fight, you're saying. But I'm wondering, you know, you were putting you're, you know, life on the line. You were taking a lot of risks here, because you never know how it's going to go. So, what was it that he was trying to take?

NEVES: Well, in the moment, I didn't have a chance to assess everything that he had. But the fact that he had loaded up a cart with some tools from the church, gone through all the desks of the pastors and tried to find anything of value that he could get his hands on. And so, some food, some cleaning supplies, some chemicals from our closet.

I didn't really know what was going on at the time. I just knew the man was robbing us. And, you know, I know that, as a biblical (INAUDIBLE) be able to protect the people that I care about. And one of the ways you protect them is by making sure that they're (INAUDIBLE.)

So, I set out to stop the man if I could. I know some people probably would disagree with my decision. I don't know if my wife was super happy about me doing it. But, you know, having a background in wrestling, I was -- I was pretty confident that, as long as he didn't have a weapon, I was going to be able to handle things. And, thankfully, it turned out for the -- for the best.

You know, this this man needed to be accountable for his crimes. And I don't think it's a cruel thing. You know, when we break the law, we're doing ourselves harm as we're doing other people harm.

And I hope that this causes him to reflect on his actions. And, hopefully, he turns to the Lord and recognizes that there's forgiveness for him in Christ Jesus, if he's willing to face what he did and confess it before God.

WHITFIELD: Oh, well, Pastor Nick Neves, I'm so glad we had a chance to talk with you, especially before our signal seems to really be on the outs. But I do want to let our viewers know that our -- CNN did get a chance to talk to you earlier, and you said, I'm going to quote now, "If he came to church on Sunday, I'd be glad to share the gospel with him still."

So, we really appreciate you taking the time and being with us.

NEVES: Absolutely.

WHITFIELD: Even though he, you know, broke into your house of God. And you still being very forgiving with him. All right, Pastor Nick Neves, thank you so much. And there goes the signal. We'll be right back.

[16:53:36]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Chinese billionaire and entrepreneur, Justin Sun, took a bite out of his latest art collection, a banana he spent a ripe $6.2 million on. CNN Style Editor Stephy Chung explains why this banana has such a massive appeal.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE.)

STEPHY CHUNG, CNN STYLE ASIA EDITOR: This is the moment Justin Sun devours a $6 million banana.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE.)

JUSTIN SUN, ENTREPRENEUR (translated): It tastes better than other bananas.

CHUNG: He's the owner of Comedian, a conceptual work by Maurizio Cattelan, an artist behind other famous satirical creations, such as a working 18-karat gold toilet. The 34-year-old Hong Kong based billionaire and crypto entrepreneur bought the artwork at auction last week.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The katsudon (?) is yours. Congratulations. Thank you very much, indeed.

CHUNG: One of three editions. The work first appeared at an Art Basel Miami fair in 2019. It's been sold, eaten, exhibited, eaten again, generating headlines along the way, balking at its cost and viral appeal.

SUN: I think this banana probably become an iconic artwork for everybody who understand, like, what's art, right? What's the value of art? For the conceptual art.

Actually, the value of art not only come from the physical art piece, but also come from the history of the artwork, interaction with the artwork, and also, like, the owner's history. I want to eat it to become a part of the history.

CHUNG: For his money, he gets a roll of duct tape, a fresh banana, a certificate of authenticity and instructions on how to install it.

SUN: We will continue to collaborate with all the exhibition and the museum around the world to display the banana. I also want to talk to Elon Musk to take this banana onto one of his spacecraft.

[17:00:04]

Probably sends the banana to Mars or the Moon.