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South Africa's President Calls for Lifting of Omicron Travel Bans; Israel Bans All Foreign Travelers; Omicron Variant Spreads Across Europe; Why Global Low Vaccination Rates Will Always Risk New Variants; Lawsuit: Pentagon Wants Esper to Remove Trump Parts from Book; McCarthy Doesn't Condemn Boebert's Anti-Muslim Remarks; Smollett Faces Trial for Alleged False Reports to Police; Parkland Families Receive $130M Over FBI's Failure to Stop Gunman. Aired 6-6:30a ET

Aired November 29, 2021 - 06:00   ET

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

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning to our viewers here in the United States and all around the world. It is Monday, November 29. I'm John Berman with Brianna Keilar.

[06:00:00]

Major developments around the world as country after country takes action against the new highly-mutated Omicron COVID variant. But it's hard to tell what's spreading faster: the variant or fear. Fear based for now on speculation, because there's so much we don't know. Is it more contagious? Is it more lethal? Does it evade vaccines?

This morning, we genuinely don't know. And it could take weeks for an answer.

Overnight, the United States banned entry for non-citizen travelers from South Africa and seven neighboring countries. At least 44 other countries are also imposing travel restrictions. Japan, Israel and Morocco suspended all arrivals of foreign nationals. They've essentially shut down their borders.

A growing number of countries now reporting confirmed cases of Omicron variant, including Canada.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: So this variant has not yet been detected in the U.S. Yet, we say. Because health officials say that it may already be here. Right now, it is a waiting game to determine the severity and the transmissibility of the variant and whether it evades vaccines.

This is what Dr. Francis Collins of the NIH said on CNN's "STATE OF THE UNION."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. FRANCIS COLLINS, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH: How severe would it be? We have no data so far to suggest that it would be. There's even a bit of a report from South Africa that maybe people with this are milder than the usual case. But they're mostly young people who have mild illness anyway. So I would say we just don't know.

We do think it's more contagious when you look at how rapidly it's spread through multiple districts in South Africa.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: On Sunday, President Biden mat with Dr. Anthony Fauci and other members of the White House COVID team, releasing this photo and a statement saying this: "Dr. Fauci informed the president that, while it will take approximately two more weeks to have more definitive information on the transmissibility, severity and other characteristics of the variant, he continues to believe that existing vaccines are likely to provide a degree of protection against severe cases of COVID."

President Biden will provide an update on the variant later this morning. But it does feel very much like the planet is hitting the pause button this morning. We're tapping into the global resources of CNN to bring you reaction to the Omicron variant from around the globe.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ELENI GIOKOS, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT: I'm Eleni Giokos in Johannesburg. South African president Cyril Ramaphosa has voiced his disappointment at the travel bans that have been implemented against South Africa and neighboring nations, saying that it's discriminatory as well as unjustified.

Now, one of the reasons that South Africa was able to identify the Omicron variant, scientists say, is because of its excellent genomic sequencing that was acquired during the HIV/AIDS epidemic.

Now South Africa has a target point, many people say, despite the fact that Omicron has already been identified in various part of the world.

HADAS GOLD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Hadas Gold in Jerusalem. With two confirmed cases of the new Omicron variant, Israel is completely shutting its borders to foreign nationals for two weeks.

And any Israeli returning to the country, no matter where they're coming from, will be required to quarantine and get two negative PCR tests before being released.

Those returning from what the government considers red countries, which is now most of Africa, apart from the continent's northern countries, will be sent directly to designated quarantine hotels.

And anyone with a suspected case of Omicron will have their locations tracked via their cell phones.

But so far, Israel authorities have not put any new restrictions on gatherings, even as Hanukah celebrations began last night.

LARRY MADOWO, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I'm Larry Madowo in Paris, where the French health ministry says that there are eight possible cases of the Omicron variant. That it's only a matter of time until there's a confirmation.

We're likely to hear today about new cases either here in France or across the European Union. That is why the region is restricting flights from Southern Africa, forcing some people into quarantine in what it calls an emergency break.

Already there are fears from health experts and others that it may be already widespread within the wider community.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BERMAN: Our thanks to our reporters from around the world.

And this truly is a worldwide concern now. Here in the United States, Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson, whose state is one of the lowest in the country in terms of vaccination rates, says an emphasis needs to be put on global vaccinations in order to fight these new variants. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. ASA HUTCHINSON (R-AR): Globally, whenever we have a high vaccination rate compared to South Africa, with about a 6 percent vaccination rate, we have to increase vaccination rates globally. Otherwise, it's going to be a groundswell of mutations that come along, and we continually fight that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: All right. Joining us now, CNN senior data reporter, Harry Enten. What about that? Where does the U.S. fit into the global vaccination puzzle right now?

HARRY ENTEN, CNN SENIOR DATA CORRESPONDENT: Look, the darker greens mean more vaccinated, lighter greens less vaccinated.

You could see in Africa, right -- look at that. A lot of light green going on. Not a lot of vaxed people in this -- in the African continent.

But the fact is, when you look across the globe, right, there are not many of these very dark greens. Canada's one of them. Most of them are these lighter shades.

[06:05:05]

So throughout the globe, what we're really seeing is the vaccination rate's not where we want it to be. And I think that also tells the story of the U.S., as well. Right?

You know, you mentioned Arkansas with its 49 percent total vaccination rate. But even up into New England, right, where we tend to have these higher vaccination rates, we're really only talking about the low 70s.

So through -- basically, throughout the globe and the United States, we're really not where we want to be in terms of vaccinations, even if there are some places, like the Southeastern United States, where it's worse than it is nationally.

BERMAN: Even in the more highly vaccinated states, you have millions --

ENTEN: Yes.

BERMAN: -- and millions of unvaccinated people. Politics playing some role in this, right?

ENTEN: Yes, politics is definitely playing some role. So basically, if you look at the fully vaccinated average across the different states, we see politics is definitely playing some role. You see in the Biden vaccinated states -- look at that -- 63 percent fully vaccinated. Trump won states, just 51 percent.

But it's not just politics, right? It's urban versus rural. So in the most urban states, look at that: 61 percent are vaccinated, versus in the least urban states, it's just 53 percent

Education also playing a role. Right? So in the top college-educated states, 63 percent fully vaccinated, versus the bottom 25 college- educated states, just 52 percent fully vaccinated.

BERMAN: The single greatest indicator of whether you're vaccinated, though --

ENTEN: Yes. It's age. It's actually age. I mean, look, the 5-11, they just got the go ahead to do vaccinations, so not much of a surprise, fully vaccinated, just 1 percent there.

But even the 12 to 17, 51 percent. You just go up from there: 18-24, 57; 25 to 39, 61; 40-49, 69; 50-64, 76; and then 65 plus, 86 percent. Which of course, makes some sense, right, because basically we know is that this virus hurts older people the most.

But still, the younger you are, the less likely you are to get vaccinated. So I would say to those younger folks, especially perhaps those, the 18 to 24, 25 to 39, go out there, get vaccinated. Because you can save yourself and save your community, as well.

BERMAN: Total vaccination status in the U.S. right now, where are we?

ENTEN: Yes, look, not where we want to be. So at least one dose, 70 percent. Fully vaccinated, 59 percent. Now fully vaccinated plus a booster, right, that was just authorized for a lot of folks. So we'll see where this goes, but at this point, it's just 11 percent.

BERMAN: That's really low.

ENTEN: That is really low.

BERMAN: And that's what the White House is going to lean into, we think, this week, to get people the booster shot to fight whatever concerns there are about this variant. That shows how much room -- how much room we have to grow in terms of the booster right now. And there is some resistance to boosters. Yes? ENTEN: There is some resistance to boosters. So this is among adults.

Right? And those are folks who are eligible.

Have gotten or definitely will, just 34 percent. Just 34 percent. Probably will get it gets you an additional 15. But that's still south of 50. Definitely or probably won't get or not eligible, look at that, 48 percent. So there's a lot of room for improvement on the boosters, and hopefully, we'll see some improvement as we go forward.

BERMAN: Efficacy, we know the vaccines work, Harry. You've got some new numbers that illustrates that. Yes?

ENTEN: Yes. Look, this is straight from the CDC. The unvaccinated versus the vaccinated in selected states in September.

If you're unvaccinated, look at that. Your risk of dying, 14 times higher. Your risk of hospitalization, 14 times higher. Risk of testing positive, six times higher.

You know, I've said this over and over and over again, and I'm going to keep saying it over and over and over again. You rarely get numbers that are this clear that the vaccinations work. Now we'll have to see about these variants. We'll see exactly on there.

But so far, it is so clear that the vaccines work. Go get one if you haven't gotten one.

BERMAN: There's a lot we don't know about the Omicron variant right now. What we do know is that the best weapon we have?

ENTEN: Vaccines, vaccines, vaccines, vaccines.

BERMAN: Harry Enten, thank you --

ENTEN: Thank you.

BERMAN: -- very much for that.

We should note that later in the broadcast we're going to speak to Professor Salim Abdool Karim. He's known as the Dr. Fauci of South Africa. He'll be with us in just minutes.

KEILAR: Former Trump administration defense secretary, Mark Esper, is now suing the Defense Department for what he says is censorship of his First Amendment rights, because the Pentagon has redacted parts of his upcoming book.

Laura Jarrett is on this story this morning. So Lauren, what's this agreement all -- disagreement all about?

LAURA JARRETT, CNN ANCHOR, "EARLY START": Brianna, Trump may have fired him via tweet, but the former defense secretary is not going away quietly.

Overnight, Mark Esper sued the agency he once led, accusing the Defense Department of trying to make him take out certain portions of his upcoming memoir, where he apparently lays out conversations that he had with Trump, including quotes.

Now, Esper has been in something of a back and forth with DOD staff for months now as part of what's known as pre-publication review. It's a regular process. But his lawyers say that certain stories about Esper's time working for Trump have started to leak out in the press, prompting Esper to believe that those leaks were meant to undermine the impact of his book.

Esper also claims that none of the information in the book is actually classified. And his lawyers are now asking a federal court to intervene. They say that deleting portions of the forthcoming book would be a "serious injustice to important moments in history that the American people need to know and understand."

[06:10:07]

In a statement to CNN, the Pentagon says, quote, it's "aware of Mr. Esper's concerns" and that "the department takes seriously its obligation to balance national security with an author's narrative desire. Given that this matter is now under litigation, we will refrain from commenting further."

Now, Esper isn't the first official under Trump to accuse the government of trying to silence him. You'll remember the Justice Department unsuccessfully tried to stop former national security advisor John Bolton from publishing his book that had portions that were critical of Trump.

But unlike Bolton, lawyers for Esper say he will not go to print without final sign-off from the Defense Department. The book, "A Sacred Oath," is set to come out in May of next year, Brianna.

KEILAR: All right. I mean, I certainly would like to hear what he has to say.

JARRETT: Wouldn't we all?

KEILAR: Right? Lauren, thanks so much.

Coming up, crickets from House Republican leadership after Congresswoman Lauren Boebert insinuates that a fellow lawmaker is a suicide bomber.

BERMAN: And two high-profile trials set to begin today. Actor Jussie Smollett accused of staging his own hate crime.

And Jeffrey Epstein companion Ghislaine Maxwell facing 70 years in prison for sex trafficking charges. We have new developments as both trials set to begin.

Plus, Broadway says good-bye to an icon.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BERMAN: This morning, no public condemnation from Republican leadership in response to anti-Muslim comments made by Congresswoman Lauren Boebert. The congresswoman suggested that fellow congresswoman, Ilhan Omar, would have blown up an elevator the two were sharing.

Boebert later tweeted, "I apologize to anyone in the Muslim community I offended with my comment about Rep. Omar. I have reached out to her office to speak with her directly. There are plenty of policy differences to focus on without this unnecessary distraction."

Joining me to discuss, CNN political commentator Scott Jennings.

Scott, as I said, McCarthy hasn't made a public statement yet or public condemnation yet of Lauren Boebert. He did say that he spoke with her. And the comment he gave to CNN was, "She has apologized for what she said and has reached out to Congresswoman Omar to meet next week. I spoke with Leader Hoyer today to help facilitate that meeting so Congress can get back to talking to each other and working on the challenges facing the American people."

Is that enough? Shouldn't McCarthy just come out publicly and say it was really awful what she said?

SCOTT JENNINGS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, you know, certainly, he would be well within bounds to do so. Because what she said -- I mean, let's be honest -- is garbage rhetoric from, you know, someone who's just not distinguished themselves so far and continues to drive their own personal brand lower and lower.

But I think after talking to people and the leaders in the orbit, John, what they're hoping to do here is embark on a strategy of behavior modification. A low-percentage strategy, perhaps.

But what they think, perhaps, is that talking to her behind the scenes, not going out and making a huge spectacle here. The hope is, is that, you know, they got her to do an apology. They're hoping that she does this meeting.

And they're hoping that over time, that prevents these kinds of things from happening again in the future. I'm dubious, you know, that she's going to change. Because I think when people, you know, clearly show you what -- what kind of politician they're going to be, you know, it's hard to modify that kind of behavior.

But that's what McCarthy is thinking here, in my opinion. And I hope he -- I hope it works. Because this is not good for the country. It's not good for Congress. It's not good for the party. It's not good for our civil discourse.

And so that's where we are, unfortunately. And I guess we'll see what -- how she -- how how she handles it this week.

BERMAN: Yes. I mean, it's bigoted. She made a -- she made a terribly bigoted comment in public, and she thought it was funny. I mean, it tells you where her mind is. Which is a problem. It also tells you --

JENNINGS: Not only -- not only did she -- did she make the comment, John, but she made up the story. I mean, apparently, this didn't even happen. So she goes to a meeting, makes up a story that she thinks is funny. You know, it's this whole sort of performative B.S. And then she winds up apologizing, which in her world, is the ultimate

sin. Right? The people she's performing for would say, Well, you shouldn't apologize, you know, for your commentary like that.

So -- so she's clearly someone who is thoughtless. I mean, this is a thoughtless politician who makes terribly bigoted statements that come from a story, you know, that, according to people who were involved, didn't even happen. So you can see the level of talent we're dealing with here.

It's very low. It reflects on everybody who's in the party and everybody who's in the Congress. And that's why, hopefully, McCarthy's behavior modification strategy here works.

Again, I'm dubious of this. But -- but you know, when you're the leader, you have to try to get an outcome. And I think that's what he's trying to do.

BERMAN: I'm not so sure about the top-secret mitigation strategy when there are clearly members who feel there is permission structure to say this type of thing.

Look at Marjorie Taylor Greene. Marjorie Taylor Greene is a whole separate issue. She's apparently putting demands on Kevin McCarthy, if he wants her vote to be speaker, should Republicans take over. I mean, how much is the risk that he looks like he's catering to this extreme wing of the party?

JENNINGS: Oh, there's definite risk. And I'm sure there are members of -- well, I know there are. I mean, I've spoken to members of Congress who get so frustrated with these constant distractions and this constant -- you know, they don't want to be branded with these kinds of comments. They don't want to be branded by these jokers.

They want to focus on the policy stuff, where they think we're better than the Democrats. Where they think they've got ideas that are going to defeat the Democrats and, you know, lead to a Republican resurgence in the midterms elections. That's what they want to do. And yet, all the oxygen is taken up by these conversations about these handful of members.

The permission structure, though, comes from their supporters. I mean, let's be honest. I mean, Boebert, Greene, some of these people raise copious amounts of money from people who enjoy this kind of performative display.

[06:20:00]

And -- and let's be also further honest, so did Donald Trump. He raised a lot of money from people who love this kind of stuff, too.

So there's unfortunately, a market for it. And Kevin McCarthy can't stop that. What he has to try to do, I think, is get them to knock it off to the best of his ability so that the Republicans can actually put up a unified, as much as possible, message as they go against what they think are overreaches from the Democrats. That's his challenge. I'm guessing on many days it seems like an

absolutely impossible task, given what some of these people say, which is abhorrent.

BERMAN: Scott Jennings, I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving. Nice to see you this morning.

JENNINGS: Yes. Thank you, John. I did. And I hope you did, as well.

BERMAN: The longtime Jeffrey Epstein confidant, Ghislaine Maxwell, about to face prosecutors as her sex trafficking trial begins today. What we can expect to hear from several of the alleged victims.

KEILAR: And a huge settlement reached for the families of the Parkland High School shooting victims. What the FBI missed ahead of the massacre.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:25:14]

KEILAR: Jury selection getting under way later this morning in the trial of former "Empire" star Jussie Smollett. The actor is charged with making false reports to police, claiming that he was the victim of a hate crime.

Chicago Police say Smollett paid two men to stage the attack for publicity. He is charged with six counts of disorderly conduct. All of those are low-level felony charges. And he's facing a maximum sentence of three years.

BERMAN: The sex trafficking trial of Ghislaine Maxwell begins a few hours from now here in New York. Maxwell is accused of grooming girls for sex with her former partner, the late Jeffrey Epstein, who died in jail two weeks ago. She has pleaded not guilty to all charges.

Kara Scannell here with the very latest. Kara, a lot of people watching this trial, hoping for some kind of revelation.

KARA SCANNELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, that's right, John. And first thing that will happen today is jury selection will get under way. A panel of 60 pre-screened jurors will return. Lawyers for the government and for Maxwell will strike them, will get down to a pool of 12 and alternates, and then opening statements will get under way.

Prosecutors have charged Maxwell with helping Epstein recruit, groom, and sexually abuse girls, some as young as 14 years old. According to prosecutors, this conduct took place between 1994 and 2004 in New York, Florida, New Mexico and London.

Now, the big thing here is prosecutors say that we are going to hear from at least four of the accused victims of Epstein and Maxwell. They will testify using pseudonyms.

The big question here is what will we learn about the famous friends of Maxwell and Epstein? He famously was associated with former presidents Bill Clinton and Donald Trump, with Bill Gates, and with Prince Andrew.

Now, prosecutors had wanted to use in this case emails that they say Maxwell exchanged with what they described were powerful men, where Maxwell was helping arrange girls for them.

But the judge said that could not come into evidence in this case, because the women were all of legal age of consent. But as this trial gets under way, the big thing is what will Maxwell's defense be?

Her lawyers have signaled that she will call several experts, including one who specializes in memory and trauma. Because remember, some of these alleged crimes took place more than 20 years ago.

But the big thing here is that this is a day that has been a long time in the making for many of Epstein and Maxwell's victims. They never thought that there would be anyone held accountable. That is something that Maxwell's lawyers might try to capitalize on, saying that the only reason why she is here is because he isn't -- John.

BERMAN: It all begins today. Kara Scannell, thank you so much.

KEILAR: A record settlement in the 2018 Parkland school shooting. More than a dozen victims' families have reached this settlement with the Justice Department in connection to a suit that they filed back in 2018.

The lawsuit alleged that the FBI failed to act on multiple tips warning about the gunman, which is something that the FBI has admitted.

Sources say the settlement tops $127 million.

And joining me to discuss this is Fred Guttenberg, whose 14-year-old daughter, Jaime, was killed in the shooting. He is also the author of "Find the Helpers: What 9/11 and Parkland Taught Me About Recovery, Purpose, and Hope."

Fred, thank you so much for being with us again this morning. And, look, I know that you cannot talk about specifics here. I know that this is nothing that brings Jaime or these other children or staffers back. But it certainly sends a message.

FRED GUTTENBERG, DAUGHTER KILLED IN PARKLAND SHOOTING: Hey, good morning, Brianna. And thank you. And, yes, it does.

You know, this weekend we again spent another Thanksgiving holiday with an empty chair. And this weekend across this country, we again learned gun violence isn't taking any time off.

And so I do hope that this settlement, combined with the settlement just about a month ago in South Carolina, also combined with the settlement out of Las Vegas with the big hotel that was over $800 million, sends the message that, if you are a business or you're a public agency, if you have a responsibility to customers, employees, students, worshippers, anybody, you have a responsibility to keep us free from gun violence. The facts are in this country, in spite of what those would say that

we are trying to restrict rights to gun ownership, which isn't true, we have 400 million weapons on the streets. And they are -- we have a potential for gun violence now all of the time. It is foreseeable.

And so now those who we spend our time and dollars on, have an obligation to keep us free from it.

KEILAR: It was --

GUTTENBERG: Do not make mistakes.

KEILAR: It was pretty clear pretty quickly that the FBI had made mistakes. They called you, right?