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Headlines from Around the World; Winter Storm Watches in Seven States; Sarah Lerner is Interviewed about School Shootings; Black Couple Whitewashed Home for Sale; Woods Announces Return to Competitive Golf. Aired 6:30-7a ET

Aired December 09, 2021 - 06:30   ET

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

[06:30:00]

SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Boris Johnson's then press secretary resigned yesterday after a video showing her joking about the alleged party was leaked to the press. Johnson says he was infuriated by the video and apologized but continues to insist that there was no party and that rules were followed. Johnson did announce an investigation into whether or not a party was held at his own home address. But the main opposition leader says he's been caught red-handed and could save everyone the headache by simply admitting that rules were broken.

ELENI GIOKOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Eleni Giokos in Athens, Greece.

The Finish prime minister, Sanna Marin has apologized for dancing maskless in a crowded nightclub over the weekend after coming into contact with the foreign minister who had tested positive for Covid- 19. And she said that she should have used her own judgment and self- isolated, even though she had initially been told it wasn't necessary for her to do so.

She had received a message on her mobile phone, which she says was a government phone and had left behind on the evening before she went out. And this message had recommended that she self-isolate.

And Finland vaccinated people don't necessarily have to go into isolation but are recommended to stay within their close circle. A media -- social media post has gone viral of her dancing in a nightclub and she has gotten a lot of criticism for her actions.

JOHN ALLEN, CNN SENIOR VATICAN ANALYST: This is John Allen in Rome.

Pope Francis has weighed in on the case of a French archbishop forced to resign after a media expose suggested he had carried on an affair with an adult woman. The now former archbishop of Paris, Michel Aupetit, has denied there was anything sexual but conceded the relationship was inappropriate.

Speaking Monday, Pope Francis said that the bishop had been the target of malicious gossip in the press and added that the sins of the flesh are not the most serious. Now, speaking privately, Vatican officials have insisted this was not Pope Francis signing off on extramarital sex but rather denouncing what he considers the more serious sin of character assassination.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BERMAN: Can we talk about Finland for a second, the prime minister.

KEILAR: I have so many things to talk about with all of those stories.

BERMAN: But with Finland, and I don't want to diminish -- I mean the important part of the story is that you have a leader not practicing what she preaches there.

KEILAR: Yes.

BERMAN: And, obviously, she should be taking Covid very seriously. The less serious part, which I can't get over because it's just how I am, you have -- you have a head of government out clubbing. I mean it's just -- you don't think of that. Can you imagine President Biden, President Trump, you know, out clubbing? It's just --

KEILAR: At the rave.

BERMAN: I know.

KEILAR: You know. No, I can't.

BERMAN: Like, holding a glow stick? Like, you know?

KEILAR: I know what focus -- I know that's not what we're supposed to be focused on, but I, too, was wondering about that. Clubbing.

BERMAN: All right, how about this question, did the CIA spy on James Brown? Details of a brand-new CNN investigation.

KEILAR: And, next, we're going to speak to a teacher who survived the Parkland school massacre who is asking the question, will my students ever know a world without school shootings?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:37:42]

BERMAN: This morning, 17 states under winter storm watches ahead of a cross country system that forecasters expect to unleash all kinds of bad weather into the weekend. Sounds like a job for meteorologist Chad Myers.

Chad.

CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: John, all the way from Michigan to California we will see snow. And it's hard to describe how much the west needs precipitation. How these ski resorts, many of them, aren't open. Or, if they are, 5 percent of the terrain is open. They'll take this snow out there. Difficult travel, but we get that.

This weather brought to you by Servpro, the number one choice in cleanup and restoration. So this is only the first of two storms that will affect us this week.

There's the storm right now in the west making snow, into Salt Lake City, seeing some snowy pictures this morning here. Also, even to the west of Denver, some very heavy snow. Could see two feet of snow in some of these ski resorts there and then spreading on up into the Great Lakes. Eventually you could even see some severe weather on the tail end of this storm. And, really, it is going to be a significant rain and snow maker for many.

Here's the rain to the east. The snow to the west. There will be some rain in the lower elevations of the west, but we'll take the snow because that stays around longer.

Here's the potential for severe weather for tomorrow and tomorrow night. If you live in that region, be ready for it. Tornados are even possible.

John.

BERMAN: All right, watching it closely. Thanks so much, Chad.

KEILAR: A teacher who survived the 2018 Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in Parkland, Florida, is now speaking out about the shooting in Michigan's Oxford High School. Sarah Lerner writes in "The New York Times," it's hard to believe that after what happened at my school, others haven't learned or taken actions to keep their campuses safer from gun violence. How do warning signs still fall through the cracks? How do these pleas for help go unanswered? How can school officials put the onus on the parents? And how can parents not take responsibility for what led to their son's actions? There is only so much that teachers can do in acting as a line of defense for their students.

Sarah Lerner is an English teacher. She is the author and editor of "Parkland Speaks: Survivors from Marjory Stoneman Douglas Share Their Stories."

Sarah, thank you so much for being with us.

And I think, you know, judging by what you wrote and talking to so many parents and also survivors of these shootings, the hope is always that you can improve the future because you can't change the past.

And, so, tell us what it was like watching this happen all over again in Michigan despite what we saw in Parkland.

[06:40:04]

SARAH LERNER, TEACHER, MARJORY STONEMAN DOUGLAS HIGH SCHOOL: Well, thank you for having me on. I appreciate the opportunity to use my voice to continue this conversation.

When I heard what was happening in Michigan, I was surprised. But, at the same time, I wasn't surprised at all because clearly things have continued down this path over the last almost four years since the shooting at my school. And one would think that we, as a country, that lawmakers, school boards and districts would have acted to make changes so that things like this didn't continue to happen.

KEILAR: We saw the teachers raise warning flags. How do you think they handled this situation?

LERNER: I mean it's hard for me to say completely because I don't teach in that district. But we are taught, as I said in the piece, if you see something, you need to say something. But when you do, and it seemingly falls on deaf ears, you, as the classroom teacher, have done your due diligence, and it's on those above you to act upon what you feel is suspicious behavior or disturbing writing or pictures.

You know, we have this intimate contact with the students day in and day out, so it's easy for us to see these warning signs in their writing. And, you know, as an English teacher, I get to read things that a lot of times they don't share because, you know, they don't feel safe doing so. But in their writing, they do. And, you know, it's important that these warnings signs are taken seriously when teachers report them or something like this will continue to happen.

KEILAR: Sarah, you say that it's clear to you that school officials at Oxford High didn't take this threat seriously enough. What was the action that was the failure, in your opinion?

LERNER: As an outsider, you know, looking at everything kind of in hindsight, it seems like there were failures at several levels. You know, the teachers brought the concerns, but because nothing violent had occurred and he, you know, quote, hadn't done anything wrong, he was sent back to class. He was looking up ammunition online. That should have been enough. He had drawings and wrote blood everywhere and illuded to a school shooting. That should have been enough.

You know, like the parents were called in and they didn't want to take their student out of school, that should have been enough. And it was, you know, all of these things that to us as outsiders, you know, you look at this and you're like, are you kidding me? But it wasn't enough to remove him and check his bag and make sure he wasn't going to do something destructive to his school.

KEILAR: Yes. And, look, we've learned it was enough to check his bag. That's the -- that's what is so horrific about all of this.

Sarah, thank you so much. We are, of course, always thinking of your school community, especially as you're coming up here on a terrible anniversary.

Thank you so much.

LERNER: Thank you.

KEILAR: Emotional testimony in the trial of the traffic stop shooting death of Daunte Wright. The officer heard on body camera footage, quote, I'm going to go to prison.

BERMAN: And a black couple looking to sell their home tested out what would happen if they pretended to be white. Let's just say half a million dollars comes into play. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:48:00]

BERMAN: In just a few hours, testimony resumes in the trial of former Minneapolis area police officer Kimberly Potter. The defense claims Potter mistook her gun for a Taser when she killed Daunte Wright during a traffic stop.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KIMBERLY POTTER: I'll tase you!

(INAUDIBLE)

POTTER: I'll tase you!

Taser, taser, taser!

Holy (EXPLETIVE), I just shot him!

I shot him! Oh my God! Oh my God!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: The court heard emotional testimony from the prosecution's first witness, Daunte Wright's mother.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KATIE WRIGHT, MOTHER OF DAUNTE WRIGHT: I heard the officer telling Daunte no. And I heard Daunte say, no, I'm not. Don't -- it sounded like he said don't run. Daunte said, no, I'm not. A female (ph) answered the phone because it was Facetime and she was screaming. And I was like, what's wrong? And she said, they shot him.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: The jury in the Jussie Smollett trial begins day two of deliberations this morning. They're considering six felony counts against the former "Empire" actor, alleging he staged a fake hate crime against himself and gave a false report to Chicago police for publicity.

And the defense rested its case in the trial of Elizabeth Holmes after the founder and former CEO of Theranos wrapped up her seventh (ph) day on the witness stand. Holmes testified that she never tried to mislead people who invested in the company or patients about the accuracy and reliability of its tests. She faces up to 20 years in prison on nine counts of wire fraud and two counts of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Closing arguments scheduled for next week.

KEILAR: It's a part of American real estate that is immoral and racist. It's called whitewashing. It's a process where African- Americans may get a higher value on their property when they remove themselves entirely from the selling process. CNN's Joe Johns with more on what happened to one couple in San

Francisco.

[06:50:05]

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOE JOHNS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Tenisha and Paul Austin bought their home in the Marin City area of northern California in 2016. It came with a coveted view of the bay but a long to-do list.

PAUL AUSTIN, HOMEOWNER: It just needed a lot of work, but we was up to the task.

JOHNS: And their work paid off, or so they thought. According to court documents, the Austin's added a deck, a gas fireplace, and additional living space. In January of 2020, with the buildout almost finished, they decided to refinance and take some cash out of the property. They got an appraisal.

TENISHA AUSTIN, HOMEOWNER: It was right before Covid hit. So, the rates were extremely low. So, we were trying to refinance to take advantage of the low rates.

JOHNS: And to their surprise, the appraiser wrote in her report that the house was only worth $995,000.

P. AUSTIN: We were sick, sick to our stomachs. We was upset. We was angered.

T. AUSTIN: I was disappointed because, one, I knew that the house was worth more than that. And, secondly, because we needed the house to appraise for a certain amount in order for us to be able to pull out the capital in it. And when it didn't come in at that, it was devastating.

JOHNS: They suspected that the seeming low-ball valuation from an appraiser who happened to be a white woman may have had something to do with their race or their location, or both. Marin City has a sizable African-American population, unlike Marin County, which is mostly white.

T. AUSTIN: She considered us living more in the city and devalued our home based off of that.

P. AUSTIN: Yes. And saw a black face.

JOHNS: So they decided to put their suspicions to a test. They requested yet another appraisal and got a female friend, who was white, to come to the house to meet the appraiser to make it look like this was her house.

T. AUSTIN: I contacted her and I said, we have another -- our appraisal came in low. We have another appraiser coming. Can you come and be me? JOHNS: But that's not all they did. They also removed any evidence

that black people even lived there, a process that's been called whitewashing.

P. AUSTIN: We took down everything that resembled that this home belonged to us.

T. AUSTIN: Yes, or to an African-American family.

P. AUSTIN: Art. Pictures.

T. AUSTIN: Even -- I would say even my hair products, I put them away so that someone wouldn't be tipped off by them.

JOHN: A different appraiser, also a white woman according to the Austins, who visited the house in February of 2020, came back with a valuation of more than $1,482,500, an appraisal 49 percent higher than the previous one. In dollars, that's a $487,500 difference between two appraisals that came about three weeks apart.

In federal court, the Austins have sued the appraiser, Janette Miller, who gave them the lower estimate, alleging housing discrimination. Miller did not respond to several requests to either make a statement, grant an interview or put us in contact with her lawyer.

Devaluation of the property values and rights of African-Americans and Hispanics is a deeply rooted American tradition that's starting to attract more attention in Washington. And it's not always about million dollar homes.

Andre Perry, senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, writes about it.

ANDRE PERRY, SENIOR FELLOW, BROOKINGS INSTITUTE: We found that homes in black neighborhoods are underpriced by 23 percent, about 48,000 cumulatively. There's about $156 billion in lost equity in black neighborhoods. $156 billion.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

JOHNS: At the end of the day, the issue raised by stories like this is about loss of wealth in black and brown communities. If you own property and you want to take cash out to remodel, send a kid to college, pay bills or even invest in the stock market, a low appraisal of your property can be a life-changing event. But this may be an issue whose time has almost come. The past June, the Biden administration announced a task force to start looking into the problem.

John and Brianna.

KEILAR: Joe Johns, thank you so much.

This is happening across the country.

BERMAN: That is such a vivid example. It's such a -- we're talking about half a million dollars. And Joe's right, it's a life-changing experience. First of all, you're talking about morally life changing because you just think that the system is stacked against you, but also financially. It's your life savings. It makes a difference that lasts forever.

KEILAR: There's more of a focus now I think on generational wealth and how that is really lost for so many African-American families. And you see in practice why it is happening. It's awful.

BERMAN: That was a really good report from Joe.

KEILAR: Yes.

So, he is back. Tiger Woods teeing it up in a tournament 10 months after a near-fatal car crash. And he'll have his closest pal with him.

BERMAN: And parents say they have had enough as school districts return to remote learning for reasons other than Covid.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:59:12]

BERMAN: Tiger Woods set to make his return to golf, and he's going to do it with his son at his side.

Coy Wire has this morning's "Bleacher Report."

Hey, Coy.

COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Hey, John.

This is 10 months after nearly losing his leg in a car crash, Tiger Woods will tee it up next weekend in Orlando in a two-round tournament for former Major winners and a family member. Tiger said in a statement, quote, although it's been a long and challenging year, I'm very excited to close it out by competing in the PNC Championship with my son Charlie. I'm playing as a dad and couldn't be more excited and proud, unquote.

Now, Tiger and 12-year-old Charlie played in the event last year and Tiger looked as happy as he'd ever been on a golf course.

But don't get your hopes up yet for Tiger playing on the PGA tour again. The 15-time Major champ said earlier this month that he's a long way away from being fit enough for that and that he'll never be a full-time golfer again.

You have to see this. A guy disrupted play, walked out onto the pitch during a women's champions league match in England.

[07:00:04]

Security nowhere to be seen. He's shouting at players, taking a selfie. He's really feeling himself