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CNN This Morning

Tornado Hits Tennessee; DR. Kwane Stewart Awarded CNN Hero of the Year; Nominations for Golden Globe Awards. Aired 8:30-9a ET

Aired December 11, 2023 - 08:30   ET

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

[08:30:00]

STEPHEN GRUBER-MILLER, POLITICS AND STATEHOUSE REPORTER, "THE DES MOINES REGISTER": Yes, well, I talked to two - two Iowa voters yesterday at a Nikki Haley event who said they wished that the candidates would stop attacking each other so much, right? They want to know what the candidates are for, not to see them put down other people.

But I will say, the dynamic between Haley and DeSantis, I mean DeSantis has gone all in on Iowa, right? He needs to do a strong showing in Iowa to prove that he's viable beyond as a Trump challenger.

Haley has sort of taken a slightly different approach. She has, you know, better performances in New Hampshire and South Carolina hopefully to look forward to in her perspective. So, you know, does she need to get second place in Iowa? I don't know. She wants to do well, certainly, but it's sort of that battle of second place where Haley feels like if she can take that mantle, there's no case for DeSantis and DeSantis really needs that second-place spot.

PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN ANCHOR: And they're both only 30 points back.

Stephen Gruber-Miller, I don't think you get to sleep for the next five weeks.

POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: Yes.

MATTINGLY: We appreciate having you on. Thanks.

GRUBER-MILLER: Thank you.

HARLOW: All right, here are "5 Things" to know for this Monday, the 11th of December.

An 11th hour surprise reversal from Donald Trump, who will not testify at his civil fraud trial in New York after all. The court resumes tomorrow, 10:00 a.m.

MATTINGLY: And this hour, jury selection begins in the civil case against Rudy Giuliani to determine what he'll pay two Georgia election workers he was found guilty of lying about after the 2020 presidential election. HARLOW: A pivotal moment in Ukraine's battle against Russia. President

Zelenskyy heads to Washington tomorrow to plead for more aid. He will hold a joint news conference with President Biden.

MATTINGLY: And people in Tennessee are picking up the pieces this morning after a series of tornadoes tore through states killing at least six people.

HARLOW: Also, nearly 600 Harvard faculty members signed a petition in support of school president Claudine Gay, urging officials to resist growing pressure to remove her after her controversial testimony on anti-Semitism.

MATTINGLY: And those are the "5 Things" you need to know to start your week. Don't forget to download the "5 Things" podcast every morning.

Well, the U.N. warning the situation in Gaza is at a breaking point and a humanitarian catastrophe looms. Clarissa Ward is on the ground for us at the Gaza border.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:36:12]

MATTINGLY: A Los Angeles man was arrested and charged with a hate crime for an alleged attack against an elderly Jewish man who was walking to service yesterday. The victim was treated on the scene but didn't need any more medical attention. The man's son tweeted out this picture you're looking at right now of a bloody shirt his father was wearing when the suspect allegedly beat him with a belt and hurled anti-Semitic comments at the victim and his wife.

CNN's Camela Bernal spoke to this couple about this - this morning about the attack.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RAPHY NISSEL, VICTIM: He told my wife something around --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Give me your earrings.

NISSEL: Give me your earring, Jew. How did he know at the time. Then when they realized it was an anti-Semitic approach, I was really upset. And I decided to intimidate him. I wanted to tackle him somehow. So, I didn't want the guy to get away because I - I was bleeding at that time already. And so something wrong -- really bad happened. And I was afraid if after midnight (ph) somebody else.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: The suspect is 44 years old and is charged with assault with a deadly weapon, attempted robbery, and a hate crime, and elder abuse. He is being held on $100,000 bail. He's scheduled to appear in court tomorrow. The Anti-Defamation League says there have been more than 2,000 anti-Semitic incidents in the United States since Hamas attacked Israel on October 7th. That is a 337 percent increase over that same period just a year ago.

MATTINGLY: Well, this morning, people in middle Tennessee are recovering from a deadly tornado outbreak over the weekend. At least six people, including two children, were killed, dozens more were injured. Hundreds of homes were damaged.

Here you see on your screen right now the tornado moving through the Nashville suburb of Madison. It hit a power substation and that's where that fireball you just saw was ignited. Several thousand customers are still in the dark this morning.

CNN's Rafael Romo is joining us live from Nashville.

The cleanup, the recovery I starting. What do we know about how the community is right now, Rafael?

RAFAEL ROMO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Phil, good morning to you.

Well, let me tell you, the office of emergency management here in Nashville says that as many as 13 tornadoes hit the ground over the weekend. And the impact of those tornadoes, the devastation caused by those tornadoes, you can see it all over around me here. We are in the Madison neighborhood, in the north side of Nashville. One of the hardest hit areas in the state where many homes are a total loss. There are downed trees and power lines everywhere. And it is a bitterly cold morning here. Many of the residents simply decided to go find shelter elsewhere. The Red Cross has opened the shelter.

But it's been a very sad weekend for people here in Tennessee. As you mentioned before, six people died. Three of them died here in this community, including a two-year-old boy. There were another three people who died in Clarksville. That's about 70 miles northwest of here, Phil.

And the reality is that the cleanup process, the cleanup effort is barely beginning because there are still, as you can see around me, many downed power lines. And that poses a danger to the people who live here. There are also many trees that fell on top of houses and officials are telling us that many of these structures are not safe. They're not structurally sound. So they're telling people that for the time being they need to go elsewhere.

Authorities are doing everything they can to help the community, but the reality is that their recovery effort is going to take not days, but weeks. And the local power utility was talking about the fact that the infrastructure was so badly damaged that it's also going to take days for them to be able to get the power back on for tens of thousands of people who were affected here in this area.

[08:40:10]

Phil, back to you.

MATTINGLY: A long road ahead.

Rafael Romo, great reporting. Thank you. Well, ten worthy candidates took to the stage with a chance to be CNN

Hero of the Year, but there can be only one, and that's -- all ten were very worthy. Dr. Kwane Stewart is your 2023 CNN Hero of the Year, and he's going to join us next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LAURA COATES: The 2023 CNN hero of the year is -- Dr. Kwane Stewart.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: There you have it. The people have spoken. And CNN's Hero of the Year has been named. Dr. Kwane Stewart is a veterinarian whose non-profit Project Street Vet provides much needed medical care to the beloved pets of people experiencing homelessness.

[08:45:07]

Dr. Stewart talked about the impact all of this has had on him.

Watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. KWANE STEWART, 2023 CNN HERO OF THE YEAR: An unhoused man and his pet, after I delivered care, we got the talking and he said sort of nonchalant, he hadn't eaten in almost two days. And I was due for lunch myself. I returned with a sandwich for myself and for him. He tore off -- it was a sub sandwich. He tore off a corner of it, really just a piece of bread, he ate it and he gave the rest to his dog. And they've taught me a lot too.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: We are so happy to be joined by Dr. Stewart in studio.

So many congratulations.

DR. KWANE STEWART, 2023 CNN HERO OF THE YEAR: Thank you.

HARLOW: Phil and I were there in the audience watching all of this when you were -- your video was shown to everyone, and it was so moving. Congratulations.

That -- what you just said sort of speaks to the fact that I think what you're doing rescuing these pets is, in many ways, rescuing these people. For many of them this is all they have.

STEWART: Yes, I mean, it's been a discovery process for me, but they really are a lifeline to these people in many ways that I didn't even understand. And I've been a practicing vet for 25 years now. But it is a different relationship. And these pets provide hope and love, and people need purpose. And for a lot of these people it's purpose.

MATTINGLY: You know, look, I was not crying, but everyone around were crying.

HARLOW: He was crying.

MATTINGLY: Was crying during -

HARLOW: No, he wasn't.

MATTINGLY: I think what stuck with me -- so much of it stuck with me. But the motto of the organization. Tell people about the motto, and then also how you got to this point. The story, the origin story, is fascinating to me.

STEWART: Yes, no judgment, just help. It - it was born from maybe some of my own judgments or prejudgments of people back in the day. You know, as a veterinarian, you sometimes ask yourself, should - legitimately, should a person in this position own a pet? And I've just learned over time that they're very deserving of these pets. And they are some of the most remarkable pet parents I've - I've ever met. And that all happened, to answer your question, one day outside a 7- Eleven. I was walking for coffee and saw this unhoused gentleman and his dog. His dog had a terrible skin issue. I introduced myself and said, I'll be back tomorrow with something that should treat it. I did. I saw the dog ten days later and the dog was transformed. She was wagging her tail and him sitting in the same place with tears in his eyes, he just looked up and said, thank you for not ignoring me. And, yes, that was -- that was the moment.

HARLOW: The many people we walk past on the street every day, and we do ignore them. And you didn't. And you changed their lives.

Last night you get this award and that comes with $100,000 for your organization. But you decided, spur of the moment, to split it evenly among all ten of you. Where did that -- I don't think I've ever seen that from a CNN Heroes.

STEWART: I - I don't know. I - I was joking afterwards maybe I black -- did I do that? Maybe I blacked out for a second. But I - I -- no, I - I -- in that moment - and you have to understand that I've spent the last two days with the other nine honorees and they're - they're just remarkable in their own right. And everybody is doing their little piece just to make our little blue home a better place. And education and children and - and I was just moved by - I was inspired by them. And I just, in that moment, I wanted to - I wanted to recognize and honor them as well.

MATTINGLY: And you can learn - we've been talking a lot about all of them. You can learn about them when you go to CNN Heroes on the website. But for people who want to help your organization, you were talking about expanding -- the ability to expand into major urban areas around the country, if not all of them. What should they -- where should they go?

STEWART: They can go to projectstreetvet.org and -- that's our website. We're at 501(c)(3). And we post stories and pictures and there's ways to donate and volunteer. We are trying to move into more cities. It's really been an army of people behind me. I know I'm the one getting recognized, but there are so many wonderful people behind me. Mu veterinarians volunteer their time, the technicians, the assistants. They have a wonderful sponsor in Fetch Pet Insurance. And together we're just growing city to city to city. And that's something, obviously, I never dreamed of. It all started at the 7- Eleven.

HARLOW: How much does this mean to you to be a CNN Hero? The CNN Hero of the Year?

STEWART: I know. Like I said, I - you know, I was getting some - some funny texts from -- reactions from people watching me that said, did you - because, honestly, the -- when your - when your name is announced and you're not expecting it, you don't really know how to feel right away. But, yes, I've had a little time to soak it up. And I'm - I'm just honored. I think this is just a wonderful award.

[08:50:02]

And the way in which you recognize these people and try and promote some good around the world, it's been -- it's been very special for all of us.

MATTINGLY: How many missed texts did you have?

STEWART: I think I have like 160 I still have to go through. So, I don't - I don't know. After my nap maybe.

MATTINGLY: It will keep you busy on the flight home.

HARLOW: He'll get back to you, folks, just give him a minute.

MATTINGLY: It's truly one of the best nights of the year and your story was absolutely fantastic.

STEWART: Thank you.

HARLOW: Yes, thank you, Dr. Stewart.

MATTINGLY: Congratulations.

STEWART: Thank you.

MATTINGLY: Well, nominations are coming in for the 2024 Golden Globes. Slightly different than CNN Heroes. But did your movie make the cut? We're going to break down the nominees, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MATTINGLY: Well, the Golden Globes are back after several years of scandal and missteps with nominations just coming in this morning for the 81st awards set to air on January 7th. The 2024 show will have the usual categories, plus two new ones, cinematic and box office achievement and best standup comedian on television.

[08:55:04] But before they can give out any awards, they need a host. Top talent who declined hosting duties already include Chris Rock, Ali Wong, Will Arnett, Sean Hayes and Jason Bateman.

CNN's Elizabeth Wagmeister joins us live from Los Angeles.

Elizabeth, let's start with the nominations. What do we know this morning?

ELIZABETH WAGMEISTER, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: This is a big morning for "Barbie," for "Oppenheimer" and "Killers of the Flower Moon." On the TV side this is a huge morning for "Succession," no surprise there, in its farewell season. Also "Only Murders in the Building" got some big nominations there.

The big headline, I have to tell you, is this is the most a-list Golden Globes nominations that I could remember in quite some time. When you look at the nominees you have Selena Gomez, Leonardo DiCaprio, Robert De Niro. I mean the list goes on and on.

And when you look at that new category of cinematic achievement, which honors big box office hits, you have Taylor Swift nominated for "Eras." So, anytime you have Taylor Swift at an awards show, you know that people are going to be watching.

HARLOW: But they need a host. Why can't they find a host?

WAGMEISTER: They do.

HARLOW: What's going on?

WAGMEISTER: They - they do need a host. So, this was some news that I broke exclusively yesterday. The host search is still underway with less than a month to go.

Now, I have to tell you, this is not completely atypical for awards shows. This is known as a thankless job in Hollywood, even though it's one of the biggest nights of the year in the entertainment business. It's a lot of work, a lot of preparation and you mostly get a lot of negative feedback immediately on social media.

Now, I do hear they are having serious conversations with three potential hosts right now, but as you said, some big names have turned it down already. Chris Rock, Ali Wong, Will Arnett, Sean Hayes and Jason Baseman.

Now, if you look at the category -- one of the new categories this morning with the nominations of standup comics, that's probably an area that they would love to get a host from there. But, Chris Rock, nominated. He already turned it down.

HARLOW: Mattingly's available.

MATTINGLY: Yes, no - nobody wants that.

HARLOW: I mean a quick turn to be on the next morning. MATTINGLY: Nobody - nobody wants that.

The -

WAGMEISTER: I want that. I want that.

MATTINGLY: You said - I'm in. Fine. I'm in. Let's do it.

HARLOW: Yes.

MATTINGLY: We can talk about health care policy.

The -- you said that they're talking to three people. Do we have any sense of who those three people are? What's the juice right now?

WAGMEISTER: We do not have any sense of who those three people are right now, but I'm just going to put this out there so I can say that I called it first.

MATTINGLY: I love that.

WAGMEISTER: This is airing on CBS. It's a new broadcast home. Last year it was at NBC. Historically has been at NBC.

You know, oftentimes organizers of awards show, they will go to talent within their stable, within their network. So, since it's on CBS maybe we will see a name from CBS. Obviously, Stephen Colbert is the big one there. But another one, this is what I'm going to throw it out, Taylor Tomlinson. She is a comedian. She's getting that post-Colbert slot. So, I think that that would be a really smart decision if the organizers go to her.

HARLOW: How about Gayle King? Get a little CNN and CBS in there for you. She'd be great.

WAGMEISTER: I love that. I want Gayle King and Phil.

MATTINGLY: You - you putting a marker down too, huh? You want to be able to say that that's what --

HARLOW: Yes. Gayle and Phil would be great!

MATTINGLY: Well, that would be great.

HARLOW: OK.

MATTINGLY: Can I ask - there's been a lot of changes in the wake of some very serious controversy. Is it going to make a difference? You talk about the big, bold names. That will certainly draw viewers if those people actually show up.

Are people going to show up?

WAGMEISTER: You know, I am hearing from all of my sources that people are very excited and they will s ow up this year. As you said, there was a huge scandal that involved the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, which was the voting body for the Golden Globe Awards. But now they have been disbanded. There is new ownership. Dick Clark Productions is producing this year. As I said, new broadcast home at CBS.

The sources that I've been talking to all say that celebrities are very excited to attend. They do feel that they have seen reform. The voting body has gotten more diverse. And also we have to remember, this is coming after an era of Hollywood being shut down. Both strikes are now over. Stars are out. They are ready to hit the red carpet. And the Golden Globes are going to serve as the kickoff to awards season.

HARLOW: Thank you, Elizabeth. It's great to have you. Welcome to CNN. We're thrilled to have you with us.

WAGMEISTER: Thank you. I'm thrilled to be here.

MATTINGLY: Well, Bronny James making his highly anticipated collegiate debut for USC last night, just five months after suffering cardiac arrest during practice. LeBron in the stands, as he promised, to see Bronny channeling his old man, soaring for a huge chase down blocks (ph). It was eerie how close it was. He came off the bench playing 16 minutes, scoring four points, getting three rebounds and two steals. SC lost the game but it's a huge win for Bronny and his family.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BRONNY JAMES, UNIV. OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA GUARD: I just want to say I'm thankful for everything. Mayo Clinic, everything they helped me with, my parents, siblings for supporting me through this -- this hard time in my life.

[09:00:08]

Also my coach, my teammates, all my other coaches. They've been with me since the - since the start. And, yes, I just want to be -- I just want to say I'm thanks -- thankful for them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MATTINGLY: Obviously a proud moment for any parent. Best of luck to Bronny, the Trojans the rest of the season, unless you're a UCLA grad, you probably don't agree with that.

HARLOW: That's great to see him back on the court.

Thank you for starting -- fight on is what they tell me in my ear -- your week with us.

"CNN NEWS CENTRAL" is now.

See you tomorrow.