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Mysterious Drone Sightings Unnerve Local Citizens And Officials; 5 Injured As Rare California Tornado Flips Cars, Downs Power Lines; Trump Announces New Slew Of Administration Picks; Big Donors Secure Big Roles In The Incoming Trump Administration; Romney: Give Trump A Chance To Do What He Says He's Going To Do; Mystics Owner: League Success Goes Beyond Caitlin Clark; Prioritize Self Care During The Holiday Season. Aired 4-5p ET

Aired December 15, 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]

BRIAN STELTER, CNN CHIEF MEDIA ANALYST: He filed a defamation suit. We've talked a lot in recent years about people using the courts trying to seek justice. Remember the Sandy Hook case against Alex Jones. Well, those defamation kinds of cases can also be filed by someone like the president-elect. So Trump filed a defamation suit. It was working its way through the courts. ABC was unable to get it thrown out initially.

And actually in the next few days, Trump was set to be deposed in the case. But ABC is avoiding going any further by settling. They're paying out $15 million plus a million in attorney's fees. They say this is going to go to a nonprofit, basically to Trump's future library. That's the idea. But maybe most importantly, ABC is also apologizing, issuing a statement of regret. But ABC is going to say -- basically attach an editor's note to the Web site saying it regrets and George regrets the statements.

Meanwhile, an ABC spokesperson tells me they are pleased to have reached this settlement. But it is very notable they are both paying out money to the president-elect and apologizing for the misstatements on the air.

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN HOST: Hello, again, everyone. Thank you so much for joining me this Sunday. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.

All right. We start with dramatic new details about those mysterious drones seen hovering across the Eastern Seaboard. Boston Police now say they have arrested two people for flying aircraft dangerously close to Logan International Airport. And it comes as state and local officials become increasingly frustrated by the lack of transparency about where these drones are coming from and how dangerous they could be.

There are reports of sightings in at least six states, including incidents of drones flying near military facilities and one even causing a New York airport to temporarily suspend flights. The sightings are putting intense pressure on federal agencies to provide more information to the public, and the lack of answers among many is drawing bipartisan criticism.

CNN's Julia Benbrook and Gloria Pazmino are tracking all of these developments.

Julia, you first at the White House. What more is the Biden administration saying about all of this?

JULIA BENBROOK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, following this recent uptick in drone sightings in the northeast, there are still a lot of questions, which you just detailed, and a lot of pushback from the public and from officials at the local, state and federal level.

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas is looking to assure the public that there is no known public safety threat, and that his team is closely monitoring developments. He says that they are working in close coordination with state and local authorities. Now, in his most recent public statements about these drone sightings, during an interview earlier today with ABC News, he said that the government has deployed additional resources, personnel and technology to assist New Jersey State Police in addressing these drone sightings.

He also says that there's no doubt that people are seeing drones, but he also says that some of their technology has confirmed that at least some of the sightings are actually of small manned aircraft. Now, Mayorkas is calling for some changes to address future situations, asking Congress to extend and expand their authorities when it comes to drones.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ALEJANDRO MAYORKAS, HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY: We are working in close coordination with state and local authorities, and it is critical, as we all have said for a number of years, that we need from Congress additional authorities to address the drone situation.

We want state and local authorities to also have the ability to counter drone activity under federal supervision. That is one important element that we have requested, and we've heard it echoed by the state and local officials themselves.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BENBROOK: Mayorkas was asked about President-elect Donald Trump's tweets suggesting that they could just shoot down the drones. In response to that, Mayorkas said that there are some agencies within the Department of Homeland Security that could do that, and outside of the department, but he said that they need those authorities expanded as well.

Now, he has continued to say throughout this process that there is no known national security threat here and that they do not know of any foreign involvement. But he has pledged that he will update the public if there is any cause for concern.

WHITFIELD: All right, Julia, thank you so much from the White House. All right. Gloria, in New York, officials there announced new action

today in response to these drone sightings. What more are they doing and requesting?

GLORIA PAZMINO, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Fred, over the weekend here, we've seen a lot of activity, particularly after an airfield here in New York in Orange County had to be shut down for a brief period of time on Saturday due to reported drone activity. That led the governor here, Kathy Hochul, to issue a statement and call for more resources from the federal government. And today, we got a response from them. The governor put out a statement this morning saying that the federal government is sending additional resources.

[16:05:02]

She said, "Our federal partners are deploying a state-of-the-art drone detection system to New York state. This system will support state and federal law enforcement in their investigations."

Now, I tried to get a little more information about exactly what kind of technology this is, what it looks like, how it operates. But I was told that this is a matter of national security. And because of that, they could not share those details. However, my sources did tell me that the governor spoke to Secretary Mayorkas twice throughout the weekend, trying to make sure that the state is getting these resources.

Now, on the other hand, we have Senator Chuck Schumer here in New York also calling for not just a passage of legislation which would enable these local governments to do more to respond to the sightings, but also saying that the federal government should deploy additional resources, specifically radar technology that would help in the detection of these drones.

Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER (D-NY): If the technology exists for a drone to make it up into the sky, there certainly is the technology that can track the craft with precision and determine what the heck is going on. And that's what the Robin does. Today we're asking the DHS, the Department of Homeland Security, to deploy special detection systems like the Robin, which use not a linear line of sight, but 360 degree technology that has a much better chance of detecting these drones.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PAZMINO: So the question here is whether or not New York is actually getting some of this Robin type of radar technology as the senator described it. They are from the federal agencies that the governor was referencing in her statement. It still remains unclear.

But one thing that's interesting about this whole story, Fred, is just how much technology is actually out there that could help with the detection of these drones. WHITFIELD: And then, Gloria, there were arrests made in Boston near

Logan Airport. What more do we know about that?

PAZMINO: Well, Fred, that's actually what's so interesting about the technology, right? Because we learned from the Boston Police Department that they were able to deploy drone detection technology in order to assist them in finding these drones that were flying dangerously close to Logan Airport. They were flying them in this essentially an uninhabited location near Boston, on an island.

And once the police were able to pinpoint where the drones were being operated from, they moved into that location and they were able to make the arrest of these two people. One person, we are told, is believed to have gotten away on a small vessel, but that just shows you what role technology plays here and just how wide-ranging the available technology is to help law enforcement to combat some of these reported sightings and figure out what is actually behind them.

WHITFIELD: OK, Gloria Pazmino, thank you so much.

All right. For more now on all of this, we're joined by Missy Cummings. She's a professor and director of the Mason Autonomy and Robotics Center at George Mason University, and was one of the first female U.S. Navy fighter pilots.

Great to see you. Should I call you captain?

MISSY CUMMINGS, PROFESSOR AND DIRECTOR, MASON AUTONOMY AND ROBOTICS, CENTER AT GEORGE MASON UNIVERSITY: Thanks for having me.

WHITFIELD: I should be calling you captain. Right?

CUMMINGS: I mean --

WHITFIELD: Fighter pilot?

CUMMINGS: Grand ruler would be better, but OK.

WHITFIELD: OK. Grand Ruler, fighter pilot, Missy. OK. Very good. We've settled that now. OK, so we've seen all these videos. Most of them, you know, they're dark. They're difficult to tell in some cases what we're actually seeing. What do you examine when you see these videos that have been posted and people are curious about them? Is it easy to tell manned aircraft versus drone?

CUMMINGS: Well, first of all, if you're seeing lights, you know, it tells you that you're working with either a sophisticated person who wants to be seen or maybe some unsophisticated users that are messing around. But if you're seeing lights, it means that it's very likely not a foreign threat. They would be dark, meaning you would not be able to see them.

WHITFIELD: OK.

CUMMINGS: Correct. WHITFIELD: OK. So all right, so then in some of these reports from

people, whether they're, you know, recording this stuff on their phone or otherwise, sometimes they're describing that they're seeing things that are as big as a car or bus, you know, in the air. Commercial drones versus military drones, are they ever that kind of size, or are those likely manned aircraft?

[16:10:00]

CUMMINGS: Well, it's possible. I personally have worked on military drones the size of regular helicopters. So it's possible. But I think one of the things that you've seen a lot are people who talk about the rotating lights. That is another dead giveaway. If it's a rotating light, it is a manned aircraft because you don't find those lights on drones. And it's also human perception is very -- we're all blind at night.

And so lights can give you the appearance that something is much bigger, even mostly because it may be further away. So I don't think that while it's possible, and certainly Picatinny is near there, I think that like -- you know, it's not going to be, people don't want to hear this, but probably a significant number are manned aircraft, although I do think that they are legitimately seeing drones.

WHITFIELD: OK. And then there are different kinds of drones, right? Commercial versus private and military, as you mentioned. And is it the case that most drones are flying within the operator's visual line of sight and within a range of, say, maybe one to two miles?

CUMMINGS: Yes, for the most part, I mean, this goes back to those unsophisticated actors that we were talking about. I've done a ton of work on drones being used to drop contraband into prisons, and typically these unsophisticated actors, they need the lights to be able to figure out what they're doing. And they're almost always about a mile away from the aircraft. And it's also possible, I think people forget, look, Donald Trump loves robots.

He had those spot robots down in Florida. And it's very possible that his security people are also trying to use drones that maybe coordinate with Spot the robot dog or trying to figure out a perimeter access. It's very possible that these unsophisticated actors are also trying to figure out what stress test, what's happening at the golf course there.

So, you know, I -- there could be military operations. There could be people trying to use this at the golf course there. There could be people trying to stress test. But I -- from all of my experience working with the prisons in America, I'm pretty darn sure that if it's somebody doing something bad, these are very unsophisticated actors.

WHITFIELD: And do you have the confidence in the FAA or even Homeland Security that if this were a danger, you know, posing a national threat, that they would be able to detect that in any and all of these objects that are in the air and convey that to the American public?

CUMMINGS: I think if this were a legitimate threat, we would be seeing different kinds of action. It's actually not difficult to track these. You do have to have some equipment to do radio frequency tracking, but because of the requirement for the operator to be so close, once you get one of these devices out there that can detect the strength of the signal, and it shows you the direction of the signal, it's actually pretty easy to run these people down.

I think that one of the things that we're seeing now that you're starting to see kind of reports explode everywhere, you remember, I work a lot with unsophisticated actors. They are feeding off of these newscasts. I have been not wanting to do these interviews because I don't want to keep making the problem worse. But most of the sophisticated actors I know are out there. Every time they see a news report, then they go out.

They go to Boston, they go to North Carolina and Washington, D.C. because now they're just feeding into the dystopia that's being created out of this.

WHITFIELD: Yes. And one way of looking at it is maybe, perhaps you're helping to set the record straight.

CUMMINGS: Yes. That's why. And I also want to tell people, if you're really worried that a drone is nearby at night doing something that it shouldn't shine a bright light right at it, because if you'll shine a bright light right at it, it cannot see anything.

WHITFIELD: OK, a great tip from a fighter pilot captain, George Mason University professor and -- what did we agree on? Grand ruler of all things, Missy Cummings?

CUMMINGS: Wouldn't that be nice?

WHITFIELD: OK, well, thank you so much for being with us. Appreciate it.

CUMMINGS: Thank you so much.

WHITFIELD: OK.

CUMMINGS: Bye-bye.

WHITFIELD: Bye-bye.

Still to come, flipped cars, broken windows.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, my god.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: And now snapped trees as well. How a rare tornado ripped through parts of California.

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[16:19:32]

WHITFIELD: All right. Cleanup efforts are underway in the aftermath of a rare tornado in California.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Let's go home. Let's go home. Holy (EXPLETIVE DELETED). Oh, my god. OK. Oh, my god. Oh, my god! No!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: The twister ripping through Scotts Valley on Saturday, about an hour south of San Francisco, a city that experienced its first ever tornado warning from that same storm system.

[16:20:02]

The EF-1 in Scotts Valley flipped cars, snapped trees in half and injured five people.

CNN's Camila Bernal is in California. Elisa Raffa is in the CNN Weather Center.

Camila, to you first. I mean, what are you hearing about the extent of damage?

CAMILA BERNAL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Fred, so you mentioned some of the damage. It is the downed trees, the power lines, the power outages. And then, of course, those flipped trees. It is -- or excuse me, those flipped cars. It's crazy to think about that when these people are just not used to that in this area. That EF-1 tornado with recorded winds of up to 90 miles per hour at their peak.

And so that's what caused a lot of this damage. And that's why today you have a lot of those cleanup efforts and people just sort of returning back to normal after the shock of it, because people are just not used to this kind of weather in the Bay Area. Tornadoes are not common. And so officials telling people to stay away from the area where the tornado hit so that they can continue those cleanup efforts.

And unfortunately, we do know that several people were taken to the hospital with injuries. A lot of it because of those flipped cars and people just running to try to help whoever was in those cars or nearby. It was sort of a community coming together, but a community that was definitely scared of what was going on. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We saw that that white car over there get --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Started going into the air.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Into the air about 15 feet.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: About 15 feet in the air.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And then --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The community jumped in to help pretty immediately, which is great, but it looks like everyone is walking away.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Everybody is OK.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A couple of injuries but --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. Two people are injured, but they're both OK and they're both able to just walk away.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: To be honest with you, I thought this could be the end of my life. It was that strong.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERNAL: And those are some strong words right there from someone who experienced it firsthand. Now what was also interesting about this storm was that it put the downtown San Francisco area under a tornado warning as well, and that was also the first time ever that that happened in the downtown area.

Now, the National Weather Service said that there was no evidence of a tornado in the downtown area after the fact when they did that evaluation. But they do believe that the wind gusts there reached up to 80 miles an hour. So you also had some damage in the San Francisco area when it came to downed trees and power lines and power outages. So a little bit of cleanup still going on there as well.

And this comes about a week after the San Francisco Bay Area experienced that tsunami warning after that 7.0 earthquake off of the shore there in California. And so just severe and scary situations for the Bay Area over the last week -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right. Camila, thank you so much.

Elisa Raffa is with us now, our meteorologist, in the CNN Weather Center.

I mean, this is so unusual and frightening. What is happening?

ELISA RAFFA, AMS METEOROLOGIST: California only averages nine tornadoes a year. If this had happened someplace in like Oklahoma or Missouri, you can get nine tornadoes in one event. So just incredible for this part of the country. EF-1, 90-mile-per-hour winds. It was only on the ground for five minutes and it did all of that damage, overturning all those cars that Camila was telling you about.

Wind gusts have been upwards of 65 miles per hour. You had a 78-mile- per-hour gust in Monterrey, 83 miles-per-hour clocked in at that San Francisco airport, again from what was triggered by a tornado warning. No evidence of a tornado there. But you had those 80-plus-mile per- hour gusts at the airport. Some of the top wind speeds in the airport's recorded history. Here's a look at that storm that's coming on shore. The one that

wreaked all that havoc yesterday has kind of exited. Now we have another one coming on shore as an atmospheric river really starts to take hold over the next seven days. As we go through the next seven days, we have a level four out of five when it comes to that atmospheric river. All of that moisture will dump a lot of rain and snow.

That could be hazardous. Some of it would be beneficial, but it could also be hazardous especially in those higher elevations. If you get too much rain, that could cause some landslides. Overall, we're looking at really healthy rain chances as we go through the workweek for a lot of the Pacific northwest as this moisture just continues.

For the most part, we're looking at some two to four inches of rain, but we could find some totals up to six inches possible. A lot of this starts as we go into tomorrow morning. We'll start to find round one of the rain and snow, and then it continues through Tuesday and Wednesday as we just keep this pattern pretty active with that moisture flowing on the West Coast.

Here's a look again. Some of the rain totals for the most part two to four inches, plus some snow in the higher elevations. We could tack on another one to two feet of snow. All of this coming with some gusty winds as well.

WHITFIELD: Winter is here.

RAFFA: Yes.

WHITFIELD: Even though the calendar still gives it a few more days before it's official, right? All right, Elisa Raffa, thank you so much.

All right. Still to come, it's becoming a common trend for President- elect Donald Trump's staff picks. Big donors offered big roles in his incoming administration.

[16:25:05]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: President-elect Trump continues to add new picks to join his administration. The latest announcements came as Trump attended the Army-Navy football game in Maryland on Saturday. He used the high- profile event as a show of force, bringing along some of his biggest allies, and made a public show of support for Pete Hegseth, his embattled Defense secretary pick.

CNN's Steve Contorno joins us now from West Palm Beach, near Trump's Florida home.

Steve, some of these new picks continue to highlight the benefits of being a big donor.

STEVE CONTORNO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely, Fred. Let's take a look at just two of those that were announced yesterday. Troy Edgar, he's an IBM executive. He's going to be deputy secretary of Homeland Security, if he's confirmed, for Donald Trump.

[16:30:12]

And he is an individual who has donated to committees and to Trump's campaign in the last year, as well as Bill White, the incoming ambassador to Belgium that Trump announced yesterday. In fact, he gave more than $100,000 across several campaign committees, all tied to the effort to get Donald Trump elected.

And as you said, this is a trend. We took a look at 90 of Trump's appointments that he has made over the past few weeks, and 30 of them have donated in the past to Trump's 2024 election efforts or committees who are aligned with him. And that includes more than $37 million coming from his eight Cabinet members and their spouses.

And then two other Cabinet members, Representative Elise Stefanik and Representative Mike Waltz, they also transferred money from their campaign committees to Trump's campaign committees.

And on top of that, there is Elon Musk, the world's wealthiest man who Donald Trump has put in charge of finding government efficiencies in this new administration. He -- when it's all counted, he donated more than $262 million to help get Donald Trump elected.

When we asked the Trump campaign about all this money coming in from donors who are now finding themselves with jobs, this is what they told us. Quote, "Millions of Americans fed up with failure in the White House and federal government joined President Trump in the movement to restore our nation's greatness. Some who will work with President Trump are among those millions of people who supported the campaign and helped the President win a decisive electoral victory".

Now, we will continue to monitor how many of Trump's picks have donated to his campaign, but also the conflicts of interest that we are seeing coming out of them. Another one, yesterday, Devin Nunes, he was the former House Committee on Intelligence chairman. He also is in charge of Trump's Truth Social website. He is the CEO of that company.

Well, now, yesterday, Trump nominated him to a National Security Advisory board, just another person in Trump's administration who continues to have business ties to him and potential conflicts of interest coming into this new administration, Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right, Steve Contorno, keep us posted. Thank you so much.

All right, MAGA is the Republican Party, as Senator Mitt Romney sees it, and that's partly why he is not seeking re-election. And now in his final days in public office, he spoke exclusively with CNN's Jake Tapper.

Romney has been a frequent critic of President-elect Donald Trump. But in this conversation, he offers a more conciliatory tone. Have a listen. (BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)

JAKE TAPPER, CNN ANCHOR: What lessons are you taking away from the election results?

SEN. MITT ROMNEY (R), UTAH: Donald Trump won. He won overwhelmingly. He said what he was going to do, and that's what he's doing. I mean, people are saying, oh, I don't like this appointment or this policy that he's talking about. But those are the things he said he was going to do when he ran.

So, you can't complain about someone who does what he said he was going to do. And I agree with him on a lot of policy fronts. I disagree with him on some things. But it's like, OK, give him a chance to do what he says he's going to do and see how it works out.

TAPPER: This is not a traditional Cabinet, the nominees. I'm sure you have some feelings. I know you're not going to be voting on them, and I know you're loath to talk about individual ones. But I'm wondering if there's a perception you have of the people he is putting into his administration, which are certainly very different than his first administration.

ROMNEY: Well, a very famous book talked about Abraham Lincoln choosing a team of rivals. This is a team of people who are very, very different, extraordinarily different backgrounds, different perspectives on issues, in some cases, I think, even than the president.

So, an unusual collection of individuals, not the people I would have chosen, but I lost. He won, all right? I'd like to revisit that and win, but I didn't get that chance. And so these are the kind of people he wants to run and he's entitled to that.

Now, the Senate has a responsibility to make sure that these people are legitimate, that there's no skeleton that could be an embarrassment to them or the country. And to also determine if they're qualified for the position that that they've been nominated to. And I expect them to carry out that responsibility with conscience and diligence.

Policy, bad policy we can live with. The country's overcome bad policy in the past and it will in the future. Bad character is something we haven't had to live with. And so, it's important in our leaders of all kinds that we have people who are honest and virtuous and direct in a way that is not based upon personal interest, but is based instead on the national interest.

[16:35:05]

So that's what I hope we find in the next administration. I'm, as you know, not a supporter of President Trump's. I didn't support him in this election. Didn't last time he ran either. Largely for matters of character. And I hope we see better in the coming years.

TAPPER: Do you still think there's going to be a post-Trump Republican Party or is MAGA now the Republican Party?

ROMNEY: Oh, MAGA is the Republican Party and Donald Trump is the Republican Party today. And if you were to ask me who the nominee will be in 2028, I think it'll be J.D. Vance, all right? He's smart, well- spoken, part of the MAGA movement.

TAPPER: You said something pretty harsh about him a few months ago, though. You could not have less respect for somebody than J.D.

ROMNEY: Long ago. I'm not going to rehash history. And we've worked together in the Senate since then. But I -- you know, that is what the Republican Party is. And will the party need to change? Look, the Republican Party has become the party of the working class, middle class voter. And you've got to give Donald Trump credit for having done that, taken that away from the Democrats.

(END VIDEOCLIP)

WHITFIELD: Romney also added that some Trump loyalists are trying to paper over what happened on January 6th. But Americans will remember it as a very dark day.

All right, straight ahead. After a first stellar and record-breaking year in the WNBA, Caitlin Clark was named Times Athlete of the Year. But a WNBA team owner tells CNN, the magazine missed an easy layup. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:41:14]

WHITFIELD: President-elect Trump wasn't the only prominent figure honored by Time magazine in the past several days. WNBA superstar Caitlin Clark, who as a rookie helped the league soar to new heights in attendance, viewership and popularity. This past season is now Times Athlete of the Year.

But high-profile Washington Mystics owner Sheila Johnson told my colleague Amanda Davies the magazine should have had a more expansive view.

(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)

SHEILA JOHNSON, WASHINGTON MYSTICS OWNER: It has taken the WNBA almost 28 years to get to the point where we are now. And this year, something clicked with the WNBA. And it's because of the draft of the players that came in. It's just not Caitlin Clark, it's Reese.

We have so many -- so much talent out there that has been unrecognized. And I don't think we can just pin it on one player.

AMANDA DAVIES, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: There has been, you know, this phrase has been couched, hasn't it? The Caitlin Clark effect. Why do you think that has been the case?

JOHNSON: Well, I want to be very diplomatic about this. It's just the structure of the way media plays out race. I'm going to be very honest. I feel really bad because I've seen so many players of color that are equally as talented.

And they never got the recognition that they should have. And I think right now, it is time for that to happen. So last night we read Time magazine where Caitlin Clark was named Athlete of the Year. Why couldn't they have put the whole WNBA on that cover and said the WNBA is the League of the Year because of all the talent that we have?

Because when you just keep singling out one player, it creates hard feelings. And so now you're starting to hear stories of racism within the WNBA. And I don't want to hear that. We have got to operate and become stronger as a league and respect everybody that's playing and their talents.

DAVIES: You mentioned Time magazine --

JOHNSON: Yes.

DAVIES: -- and Caitlin Clark has made a point of using that moment to say we need to celebrate the black players in the WNBA, and what they have done. And credits them for being so much the foundation of the success of the league. How important is that? It shouldn't have to be the case.

JOHNSON: Yes, she shouldn't have had to say that. But I applaud her for saying it. We cannot continue to operate because this division of racism is going to tear us apart.

DAVIES: Cathy Engelbert was criticized, wasn't she, for not being --

JOHNSON: Yes.

DAVIES: -- firmer in her condemnation of the racist abuse online suffered by the players.

JOHNSON: Yes.

DAVIES: What was your reaction to how she dealt with that?

JOHNSON: Well, I didn't want to think about it too much, but I think the players were right. She admitted that she made a mistake in the way she phrased it. And I just think she could have been a little bit more diplomatic and understanding of what the landscape of what's happening out there.

Because the WNBA is at an inflection point where we're starting to really go up. And I don't want us to lose that momentum. And what is happening now is perfect. But as I've also told many, many of our players, I said, this is just the canary in the coal mine.

We have got to be careful because we're now entering into a new political climate. We do not want to draw attention to ourselves in a negative way. Because we're now entering into a new political climate.

[16:45:05] We do not want to draw attention to ourselves in a negative way to have anybody use it as ammunition against us as athletes.

DAVIES: How do you do that? What are your players saying to you about what they want to see happen?

JOHNSON: We all need to sit down. And I think our leadership with our commissioner, she needs to sit down and even bring a psychologist in. I don't know. But talk to the players and how we resolve the issues that we're going through.

Because not only what's going through with the WNBA, it's happening in society as well. We're seeing it more and more. From the Karens (ph) that you see on social media, this has got to stop. We need to have a healthier America. And more than anything, I want to have a very healthy league.

(END VIDEOCLIP)

WHITFIELD: All right, Amanda Davies on that Sheila Johnson interview.

All right, coming up, the holiday season is in full swing and with it comes joy and happiness. But for many, it also brings stress and anxiety.

Next, we'll talk to a therapist about how to take care of yourself this season.

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[16:50:54]

WHITFIELD: All right, the holiday season during an election year may be a stressful time for many people to see their families under one roof. But preparing a list of strategies and coping mechanisms may help you navigate these situations a bit smoother.

Joining me right now is Dr. Miranda Boe, a psychologist and founder of The Breathing Room, a wellness sanctuary and meditation center based in Los Angeles. Dr. Bowe, so good to see you. We can all relax now.

All right, so let's go over some of your five recommended tips to manage stress, kind of avert it as well. How do you set up a realistic goal? Let's begin with that.

DR. MIRANDA BOE, FOUNDER, THE BREATHING ROOM: Yes. Well, we want to start with setting a goal or an intention for yourself. So if your goal is to just get through dinner conflict free, then when you find yourself triggered, you're going to be more likely to thoughtfully respond in ways that align with your goal versus reacting emotionally.

And we want to be prepared for those triggers, too. So if we know there is a certain somebody or certain situation that consistently is stressful or triggering, preparing for coping responses can be helpful. And those can be simple things like just taking a moment for yourself, a bit of fresh air or a few deep breaths can do wonders for helping you maintain your composure and more likely to achieve your goal.

WHITFIELD: So essentially have kind of an escape route. You know there's going to be a certain someone in the family or something that might trigger you or say something. And you're saying, OK, start looking for that balcony, you know, door or, you know, a little patio, some kind of space where you can kind of, you know, recollect, you know, yourself and your emotions.

So then, does it also coincide with perhaps setting up boundaries --

BOE: Yes.

WHITFIELD: -- kind of creating a safe space for yourself?

BOE: Right. Well, and especially now where, you know, a lot of families are finding themselves divided and a time where there may be conflict going on within families. So finding ways to set personal boundaries politely can be a really good approach and also be thinking ahead or planning ahead on how you might diffuse difficult conversations.

So, for instance, you might want to just think about changing the conversation using humor or thinking about memories or stories that tend to unite people and finding a way to bring those into the conversation. For a lot of us, it can be really difficult to set boundaries. It can feel challenging.

And so it's kind of boundary settings like working a muscle. It's something that sometimes we want to practice for. So doing something like preparing scripts can really be helpful. If you go, for instance, like somebody might bring up a heavy political subject or conversation to be prepared and maybe say things like, gosh, I would love to not have a heavy political discussion tonight.

I am really looking forward to laughs or let's save that conversation for another time. And let's focus on spending time together.

WHITFIELD: Yes. OK, so just politely tell it like it is. I don't want to talk about it right now.

BOE: Yes, yes.

WHITFIELD: But I like your style so much better. I might be a little bit more blunt. Well, that sounds so good.

BOE: And that's (INAUDIBLE). Yes, if you're a pro, it is fine to just simply say, you know what, let's not talk about politics or bring up any unresolved issues. Let's just enjoy each other. And that's certainly OK, too.

WHITFIELD: OK, and among your five tips, you say, you know, finally, it is important to get better at practicing gratitude. What's your best recommendation on how you do that? How one does that?

BOE: Yes, it's -- you know, we want to kind of let go of perfection and how -- because very rarely do family gatherings go perfectly. [16:55:00]

So if we can accept imperfection and we can instead focus on the things that bring us joy or focus on things in the moment that we're grateful for, it can be very small things, but gratitude can be very powerful in shifting your perspective and allowing you to enjoy the moment.

WHITFIELD: That's really nice. And that helps remind people that, you know, relieve yourself of some of the stresses that come with just the whole shopping thing.

BOE: Yes.

WHITFIELD: But instead, be grateful of being with each other and having that time.

Dr. Miranda Boe, this has been so calming and so great. I feel so much better now. Thank you so much.

BOE: Thank you. Thank you.

WHITFIELD: Thank you.

BOE: Yes.

WHITFIELD: And thank you, everybody, for joining me today. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. CNN Newsroom continues with Jessica Dean right after this.