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Erin Burnett Outfront
CDC Lowers Isolation Recommendation To 5 Days Amid Omicron Surge; U.S. Surpasses 200k New Cases Per Day; Dem Senator Says Focus Is On Reviving Biden's Spending Bill As Progressive Rep. Jayapal Urges Biden To Use Exec. Action; Rep. Adriano Espaillat (D-NY) Discusses About The Option On Reviving President Biden Build Back Better Bill; Judge Sets Date To Reconsider Trucker's 110-Year Sentence; Driver Was Going 85 MPH, Says Brakes Failed Before Crash; Judge Sets Date To Reconsider Trucker's 110-Year Sentence; LAPD Releases Body Cam Video In Officer-Involved Shooting Of 14-Year-Old Girl At Department Store; Trump & January 6 Panel Locked In Confrontation, Awaiting Decision On Whether SCOTUS Will Take Up Trump's Case. Aired 7-8p ET
Aired December 27, 2021 - 19:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LARRY MADOWO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: ... of President Jimmy Carter, former President Bill Clinton, among those sending tributes. So really an extraordinary life and he believed that he said his father told him, don't raise your voice, improve your argument.
JIM ACOSTA, CNN HOST: All right. CNN's Larry Madowo. Thanks very much for that. I'm Jim Acosta. Thanks very much for watching.
Erin Burnett OUTFRONT starts right now.
POPPY HARLOW, CNN HOST: OUTFRONT next breaking news, the CDC says quarantine times for COVID should be reduced from 10 days to five. This as President Biden owns up for the failure of COVID testing in the United States.
Plus, a teenager killed in a store dressing room. The fatal shot believed to have come from a police officer's gun. Police are releasing body camera video at any moment. What will it show?
And a truck driver who killed four people in a tragic crash sentenced to prison for 110 years. The District Attorney says that's too much time behind bars, but what do the survivors think? Let's go OUTFRONT.
Good evening. So glad you're with me. I'm Poppy Harlow in for Erin Burnett.
OUTFRONT tonight breaking news, the CDC shortening its recommended quarantine time for all Americans who test positive for COVID now saying that people should isolate for five days instead of 10 as long as they don't have symptoms and also wear a mask around others for an additional five days.
That is also the quarantine guidance for those exposed to the virus who are not boosted. The CDC saying boosted individuals do not need to quarantine but should wear a mask for 10 days after exposure and get tested on the fifth day. Now this comes just hours after President Biden told the nation's
governors on a conference call today 'we have to do better when it comes to testing'.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Seeing how tough it was for some folks to get a test this weekend shows that we have more work to do. It's not enough. It's clearly not enough. If we've known we would have gotten harder, quicker if we could have, but we have to do more. We have to do better and we will.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARLOW: Well, Biden's remarks come as Americans across the country still find themselves waiting in line for hours just to get a COVID test or frantically searching for at-home rapid tests that are increasingly hard to find. Biden's comments also coming just days after he denied to ABC News that the lines and the test shortages were a failure of his administration.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BIDEN: No, I don't think it's a failure. I think it's - you could argue that we should have known a year ago, six months ago, two months ago, a month ago ...
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARLOW: But to be clear candidate, President-elect and then President Joe Biden has been lamenting the testing shortage for more than a year.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BIDEN: Every school, every worker, every American should have easy access to regular reliable free testing. After 10 months of the pandemic. We still don't have enough testing.
We're going to put the full force of the federal government behind expanding testing by launching a COVID 19 pandemic testing board. We continue to work on making at-home testing available.
From the start, America has failed to do enough COVID-19 testing.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARLOW: As for those who are getting tested here in the United States, what we're now seeing is an average of more than 200,000 new COVID cases a day. The highest since January of this year. States including Florida, Maryland and right here in New York are reporting record high numbers of new cases every day.
And other troubling signs, in New York City, pediatric hospitalizations for COVID have increased fivefold over a three week period. Illinois' Governor announcing surge staffing will be implemented for vaccination clinics in that state. And in Maryland, at least two hospitals issuing disaster declarations as cases soar there. The White House also preparing to send 1,000 military health personnel to overburdened hospitals across the nation.
Let's begin tonight with Alexandra Field. She's OUTFRONT in New York. And let's start also with Jeremy Diamond who is OUTFRONT with President Biden in Delaware.
Jeremy, what led to this big change? I mean cutting in half the quarantine guidance from the CDC.
JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes. It's a big decision. It will certainly be a controversial one as well with some medical experts split over this decision. But the CDC says that it's citing new evidence that the most of the transmission occurs within the early part of the illness meaning one to two days before symptoms occur and two to three days after the onset of symptoms.
That is why they are saying five days as long as you are asymptomatic. But one thing is also clear, we have seen the impact that this surge of cases, this huge number of cases has had on the economy. Just look at airlines, for example. And we heard Dr. Anthony Fauci just moments ago on CNN, acknowledging that part of this decision is also about ensuring that people can get back to work and that society runs smoothly talking about the sheer number of cases.
Now, President Biden for his part he said earlier today just hours before this announcement that he would follow the guidance of his medical experts.
[19:05:06]
It was just on Friday, though, that the President said that his medical experts were not yet advising a shortening of that isolation period, which shows you just how quickly things have changed in just a matter of days. Now, the President's comments today came as he was meeting with the nation's governors.
The President making very clear that the U.S. just isn't where it needs to be on testing. An acknowledgement of what we saw over the weekend, which was essentially these long lines, empty shells and clearly a failure to meet the demand of coronavirus testing around the holiday season and with the spread of Omicron.
Now, while President Biden hasn't called this a 'failure', he made very clear today that there is more work to be done and that clearly his administration and the government have fallen short of the mark as it relates to testing. But that is why going forward, the President has talked about this plan to send 500 million rapid at-home tests beginning next month to Americans who request them and also today.
The President signing a memorandum authorizing emergency FEMA funds to be used by the Department of Health and Human Services to stand up testing sites around the country. Poppy?
HARLOW: Jeremy Diamond, thank you so much for those updates. Now, let's go to Alexandra Field right here in New York. And Alex, Apple just making a major move there because of how fast Omicron is spreading.
ALEXANDRA FIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Poppy. They have decided to close their stores across New York City for browsing. You can still go in if you have an online order that you need to pick up. But they say they made the decision as a function of their monitoring of health conditions.
And really, Poppy, this just comes as the latest in a string of cancellations, delays and shortages that we have seen Omicron caused across the country.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: We're certainly going to continue to see a surge for a while. I hope we peak and come down quickly.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FIELD (voice over): The strain of Omicron's surge already being felt by many.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. ROCHELLE WALENSKY, CDC DIRECTOR: Because of how many people are catching Omicron, we are really facing a dire situation with our hospitals that have already suffered substantial burnout in staff, worker shortages.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FIELD (voice over): As infections spread rapidly, health officials still believe those who are vaccinated and boosted should remain well protected from severe disease. But there are consequences affecting everyone.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DIANA RICHARDSON, CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER, TUFTS MEDICAL CENTER: We have, as of this morning, 115 staff members out ill with COVID who have tested positive.
HARLOW: Federal emergency response teams are already working to ease the burden on healthcare workers in Colorado, Michigan, Minnesota, Vermont, New Hampshire and New Mexico as COVID related staffing shortages cripple even more industries.
New York City now running fewer subway trains with too many workers out sick and airlines are at their busiest time of year, leaving even more passengers stranded just about everywhere. Domestically, a thousand more flights canceled today, more than 2,500 globally.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The reason that our flight was canceled because of lack of flight attendants, so - yes, on Delta. So I guess it's sad. It's really sad.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FIELD (voice over): Four cruise ships with reported cases of COVID were turned away from their ports of call in all too familiar reminder of when it all started. Sports are not immune either. The Military Bowl and the Fenway bowl among the latest games canceled as more holiday plans get scrapped this year, the struggle to get COVID tests just too real. At a busy site in Miami the wait is more than two hours.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FIELD (on camera): And Poppy professional sports teams really continue to get pummeled in this pandemic, the NHL announcing they are postponing three more games. That's a total of 70 games delayed this season. The NFL announcing that 96 players tested positive today. Poppy?
HARLOW: Wow. Alexandra Field, thank you for the reporting tonight. OUTFRONT now, Dr. William Schaffner, Professor of the Division of Infectious Diseases at Vanderbilt University Medical Center and also a member, I should note, of the CDC Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices. Also with us, Bob Atlas, the CEO of the Maryland Hospital Association. Gentlemen, good evening. Thank you, I wish that we're on better news, but this is where we are as we approach the end of the year.
And Dr. Schaffner, what is your reaction to the CDC cutting in half the time people need to stay quarantined?
DR. WILLIAM SCHAFFNER, PROFESSOR, INFECTIOUS DISEASE DIVISION, VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTER: Well, Poppy, all your intros are a vivid demonstration of the seriousness of the current problem, the extent to which Omicron is affecting our entire society. And the CDC's new recommendations will permit us to cope with all of this disturbance and to trim it down, to allow people to come back to work earlier and safely at very low risk. I would like to emphasize the latter.
And that will help us in the New Year begin to get our gears back into operation and to function better.
HARLOW: Bob, two hospitals in your State have issued disaster declarations. Can you explain to us what that actually means on the ground and how bad it's gotten to make that necessary?
[19:10:05]
BOB ATLAS, CEO, MARYLAND HOSPITAL ASSOCIATION: Well, thanks for highlighting the issues. And actually, we had a third Hospital in Maryland this afternoon, went to what's called crisis standards of care. There are really three levels, there's conventional, contingency and then crisis level.
Many of our hospitals have already been operating on contingency standards of care, which essentially means spreading the workforce a little more thinly. Maybe reducing some of the standard procedures of documentation and things like that, so people can focus on caring for patients at the bedside.
Crisis standards is somewhat more extreme level where essentially hospitals are saying we cannot handle the load that we are facing entirely and they're reducing surgeries, anything that's scheduled that can be pushed off and really counting on others to, to help out.
HARLOW: Dr. Schaffner, when you look at how quickly Omicron is spreading and when you look at how many Americans traveled for Christmas, gathered and probably going to gather for New Year's, do you think the peak of this variant is maybe a few weeks away mid January?
SCHAFFNER: Well, probably I wouldn't be surprised if we do have a port-holidays surge once again. Fortunately, many of those cases will be in people who are vaccinated and boosted therefore mild. But nonetheless, as Mr. Atlas says, in his State and many others, there will be a big impact on hospital admissions, because there are so many people still unvaccinated. That's still true in my State, for example. And even pediatric hospitals are now seeing an increase in cases in children.
HARLOW: Yes. I wanted to ask you more about that, coming from me as a journalist and a mother of little kids, because when I saw this headline overnight, I was stunned that here in New York City there's been a fivefold increase in children hospitalized with COVID, Dr. Schaffner. And when you look at close to half the COVID-19 tests being performed at Children's National Hospital in Washington, D.C., half of them are coming back positive. Are kids getting sicker from Omicron or just more kids getting this variant because it's so much more contagious?
SCHAFFNER: I think it's the latter, Poppy. This is such an extraordinarily contagious virus. It's getting not only adults, but it's getting down into children, spreading among them and even if the proportion of children who gets serious illness is small, if you infect a very large number of children, there will be an increase in the number of cases of children who need hospitalization.
Some have underlying illnesses, but many do not. Parents, let's get all those children age five and over vaccinated as quickly as possible.
HARLOW: Yes. And let's get the vaccine approved for those under five years old. That's what we're praying for in our household.
Bob, when you have what I would assume is more hospitals to come that will issue that disaster declaration, you just had a third one today in your State, how do people know if they should go to the hospital for COVID? ATLAS: Well, first of all, we need people to, I'll just say something
- echo something Dr. Schaffner said which is we need people to get vaccinated. About three quarters of the patients we have in our hospitals with COVID are still unvaccinated. Obviously, we need people to get vaccinated and get boosted. We do have people with breakthrough infections in our hospitals, but they're a small fraction of those.
What we need people to do is not use a hospital for anything that doesn't really require a hospital. We've had people coming to hospital emergency rooms just to get a test, even though they're asymptomatic simply because the lines are long in other locations. Hospital ERs are not a place to do that. Now, we need people to use the hospital ER for life or limb-threatening conditions and to use urgent care, see their doctor or even use a telehealth type visit for screening for minor instances of illness or injury.
HARLOW: Well, Bob, thank you to all of those frontline workers at your hospitals for what they're doing under these conditions and Dr. William Schaffner to you, of course, for all your work and for your expertise.
SCHAFFNER: Thank you.
ATLAS: Thank you.
HARLOW: OUTFRONT next, we'll do what it takes. That is what a Democratic senator are saying tonight about salvaging President Biden's Build Back Better bill.
Plus, a teenager tragically killed in a dressing room by a bullet believed to have come from a police officer's gun.
[19:15:04]
Police are releasing the body camera footage at any moment. What will it show?
And 110-year sentence for truck driver who killed four people in a fiery crash. That sentence is now being challenged. I'll speak with a survivor of the crash.
[19:17:53]
HARLOW: Tonight, Democrats still scrambling to find a way forward on President Biden's roughly $2 trillion dollar Build Back Better bill. Democratic Senator Ben Cardin saying today that Democrats will do what it takes to get 50 votes in the Senate, listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. BEN CARDIN (D-MD): I think our best strategy is to find a common spot where all of Democrats can agree and move that legislation. We are working towards getting Build Back Better agenda accomplished by 50 Democratic votes.
(END VIDEO CLIP) HARLOW: This comes one day after Sen. Cardin said he's 'open to
breaking up legislation into smaller pieces'. Melanie Zanona is OUTFRONT on Capitol Hill tonight. And Melanie, are Democrats seriously thinking of breaking up Biden's signature spending plan into smaller pieces and will this actually mean maybe some of it does get passed?
MELANIE ZANONA, CNN CAPITOL HILL REPORTER: Well, Democrats are certainly thinking about it. But whether or not it actually works, that very much remains to be seen. I mean, there are serious discussions underway about how to keep this bill alive. And one idea under consideration, as you mentioned, Poppy, is to break up the package into smaller pieces.
For example, doing a standalone bill on a child tax care credit with the idea being that perhaps these smaller scale bills could win over Joe Manchin, who was really uncomfortable with the idea of a large scale social safety net package. Now, this would represent a major shift in strategy for Democrats, but it is something they're warming up to. Take a listen to what Sen. Ben Cardin had to say when he was asked about this idea over the weekend.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CARDIN: Well, that's a strategy decision that's being negotiated. We are open to a way of - to reach the finish line.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ZANONA: The problem with that strategy, however, is that Democrats only have one chance to use the fast track process known as reconciliation, which would enable them to pass bills with only 51 votes in the Senate. And so that essentially means they need Republican buy-in to pass these standalone bills.
And it's just not clear that there's much, if at all, any appetite in the GOP to help advance Biden's agenda. And that is why increasingly we are seeing progressives starting to call on President Joe Biden to use executive action to address priorities like climate change and prescription drug prices.
[19:20:02]
But again, there are drawbacks and limits to that as well. Biden can only do so much with his pen and anything he does accomplish with executive action could always be overturned by a future Republican president. So not a lot of good options here for Democrats, but they are holding out hope that they can notch some victories at least on a smaller scale in the New Year, Poppy.
HARLOW: All right. Let's talk to one of them about that. Melanie Zanona, thank you very much for us tonight on Capitol Hill.
OUTFRONT now, Democratic Congressman Adriano Espaillat of New York. He is the Deputy Whip of the Congressional Progressive Caucus. Good evening. Thank you for being here. And look, you have warned against allowing the Senate to gut Build Back Better to appease one or two senators. Are you open to breaking up this legislation into pieces?
REP. ADRIANO ESPAILLAT (D-NY): Not at this point, Poppy. I think that this is a signature build. It presents the vision of our president during a very troubled time. We're still in the middle of this pandemic. Omicron is really sweeping the nation as we speak.
And to sort of like hold back and put the foot on the brake right now and parcel out who gets in and who gets left out, I think is not good for the American people. We still have a shot and I'm confident that the Senate leadership could bring the bill to the floor. Let the senators vote their conscience.
HARLOW: But you know Manchin's vote so then you get nothing. Let me just get your response to fellow Democrat in the House, Jason Crow of Colorado. Here's what he just told my colleague, Jake Tapper.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. JASON CROW (D-CO): If we can't get the bill and its entirety passed, then yes, we have to look at options for how we can get separate pieces of that passed.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARLOW: Is he wrong?
ESPAILLAT: Well, that's his vision. My vision is that I think we still have time to get everything in. Although Manchin has been back and forth on this issue. You remember that he provided a counterproposal to our President before he went on Fox News and said that he wouldn't vote for it.
Ultimately, you will have to respond to his constituencies in West Virginia, 94,000 children that will have access to childcare, people that are now paying 22 percent of their income for childcare would only have to pay 7 percent of their income or less. He'll have to answer to 105,000 low wage workers that will see a significant increase in their wages and 22,000 preschoolers that will have access to pre-K.
So this has a substantial impact in West Virginians' life. And speaking about it and casting a vote on the floor of the Senate that will hurt his constituencies are two separate things.
HARLOW: You think it sounds like and correct me if I'm hearing you wrong, but it sounds like you're saying you think that Joe Manchin's hand will be forced to a yes if he has to actually vote on this thing, even though he has said repeatedly no publicly?
ESPAILLAT: Well, he said yes and he said no. And he said that he's had a counter proposal, so he's been back and forth on it. And I think there's still a window of opportunity for all of us to make the case to him, that this is good for West Virginia and the rest of the country and for Schumer and Senate leadership to bring the bill to the floor. HARLOW: The head of the Progressive Caucus, Congressman Jayapal wrote
in that op-ed in The Washington Post yesterday urging the President to take executive action and to move forward with parts of this bill, through executive action. But Melanie just laid out and we all know the problems with that is that it's often short lived because a Republican administration can undo it.
And the spending in Build Back Better is apportioned out over a decade. So if it were to get reversed, you wouldn't even get it all done. It wouldn't even have a chance to play out. So is executive action the right route here?
ESPAILLAT: Perhaps for some pieces of it executive action is prudent and the President will be able to sign an executive order to get some of these proposals forward, but not all of it. This is really a comprehensive bill that proposes to bring long overdue leap to the American people. It will help us emerge out of the pandemic and I think parceling it out may not necessarily be the right step.
We still have a window of opportunity. We shouldn't rush yet and go ahead and feel as though everything has failed. I don't think that it has. We still have a chance to pull this through. And I'm optimistic of the Senate leadership that they're doing everything they can to convince Sen. Manchin.
Ultimately, one senator cannot derail the aspirations of an entire country. I think that there's much more to be said about this.
HARLOW: Or they can, no?
ESPAILLAT: Well, they can, that one vote makes a difference in the Senate. It is a very tight margin. But again, so many people at his State will benefit by it.
[19:25:02]
And I think at some point, he may be able to reconsider.
HARLOW: Congressman Espaillat, thank you for coming on tonight. It's good to have you.
ESPAILLAT: Thank you so much, Poppy. Thank you for having me.
HARLOW: OUTFRONT next, a truck driver sentenced to more than a hundred years in prison for killing four people and hospitalizing six others in a fiery crash even the district attorney brought the charges now wants that time behind bars reduced. But what do the crash victims want and the families? I'll speak to one survivor coming up.
And police just releasing new body camera video of a shooting that killed a teenage girl in a dressing room? What the video shows ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:29:35] HARLOW: Tonight, the Colorado judge setting the date for a new
hearing to reconsider a 100-year sentence for a truck driver who was convicted in an interstate crash that killed four people and injured several others, hospitalizing six.
Rogel Aguilera-Mederos was driving a semi-truck at 85 miles an hour when he says his brakes failed, causing this fiery 28 car pileup. I will speak to a survivor of that in just a moment.
[19:30:01]
First, let me go to my colleague, Lucy Kafanov, who's been covering all of this for us. She joins us live in Denver tonight. And Lucy, the judge today ruling the re-sentencing hearing would be January 13th. It will be in person.
What else do we know?
LUCY KAFANOV, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Poppy. One of the issues that they were grappling with at today's hearing was this unprecedented nature of the case, in which it's the prosecution which is initiating this request for a lower sentence, rather than the defense.
Now, the district attorney, Alexis King, has asked the court to reconsider that very lengthy 110-year prison sentence for Rogel Aguilera-Mederos, potentially reducing it to down to 20 or 30 years. They will probably determine that next month.
Now, she said this was based on the facts of the case, as well as conversations with the victims and their families. She told reporters today that this was quote an exceptional case that requires an exceptional process. Now, just a remind our viewers, Mederos was driving 85 miles an hour in a tractor trailer back in 2019 when he says his brakes failed. He caused that crash which killed not only four people but as you mentioned, injured numerous other people.
He was not found to be under the influence of drugs or alcohol. The prosecution argued that he should have used a runaway ramp to prevent that crash. He was found guilty on 27 different charges, which include several counts of vehicular homicide as well as vehicular assault, but because of Colorado's mandatory minimum sentencing laws, which require sentences for each count to be served consecutively, rather than concurrently, he ended up facing more than a century in prison.
This has gotten nationwide attention. Nearly 5 million people signing a petition asking Colorado Governor Jared Polis to reduce the driver's sentence or to grant him clemency. The governor's office is telling CNN that it is reviewing that clemency request but legal experts tell us he is not likely to weigh in before this legal process plays out -- Poppy.
HARLOW: Lucy, thank you very much. Lucy Kafanov for us tonight live in Denver.
Valerie Robertson Young was in one of the vehicles that was struck by Rogel Aguilera-Mederos that terrible day and she joins me now.
Valerie, thank you. Thank you for taking the time.
VALERIE ROBERTSON YOUNG, SURVIVED CRASH CAUSED BY TRUCKER WHO WAS SENTENCED TO 110 YEARS: Thank you for having me. I appreciate it.
HARLOW: It's really important to hear your voice in all of this. And I -- I would like you to begin with just sharing with the viewers, your own experience and what you saw that day.
ROBERTSON YOUNG: The -- the day the -- well, I don't call it an accident -- it's an incident. The day that the incident happened, I had just gotten off work and I had entered, um, eastbound I-70 from Colfax and I made it as far as the Denver West Parkway Bridge and I had just gotten over into the left lane, and I looked up and I saw a truck coming at us really -- he was coming just way too fast.
He didn't have his lights on. He didn't have his flashers on. He wasn't honking. He was doing nothing to notify or even let anybody know he was coming.
And then, all the sudden, there was an explosion and a crash and there was a big fireball that went everywhere. And it was like a war zone. As soon as the fire receded enough, I jumped out of my car, grabbed my cell phone, and I ran, and we were helping victims. We were all helping each other, as many as we could, either get out of cars and we all got across. We crossed I-70 to the shoulder and once over there, I was trying to call 9-1-1 but it kept saying circuits were busy.
And while I kept -- was trying to dial, I was also taking pictures when a young man approached me and said, hey, lady, can I -- I need to use your phone? I need to call my friend, I am going to go to jail. And in that conversation, I realized hey, this is -- are you the young man that hit us?
And he said, yes, but he blamed the accident on the drivers being in the road. And the fact that he said his brakes failed. Well, all he wanted to do was leave and I told him, where are you going to go? There is nowhere you can go, because there had been another accident further up the road.
And at that point, I told him I was taking pictures of him and he ran up the embankment which is pretty steep, and was knocking on cars trying to get away and I was taking his picture, following him. And I was screaming at people because people came out of the buildings around us to stop him, do not let him leave. He had caused the accident.
HARLOW: Do -- I wonder what your -- your reaction is, because as we saw in the testimony in the trial, he has apologized for what happened and none of us can put ourselves in your shoes or the shoes of the family members who lost their loved ones. I wonder what you make of this new sentencing hearing set for just a few weeks from now? And maybe, his 110-year sentence being reduced to potentially as few as 20?
[19:35:02]
ROBERTSON YOUNG: I can tell you that I have been the strongest advocate for the amount of time he -- he does. I have been fighting all along and wanted him to do 50 years and the reason for that is, innocent people don't try to run away. And innocent people, don't aim for people in traffic. He -- he had a million -- or he had a million options. He could have got off the road. He could have taken -- and there wasn't one runoff he passed.
There was several. He did nothing. He chose to hit traffic. He could have even hit the brakes. But he, in his own words in his own testimony, said his best chance at survival was to hit all the cars.
HARLOW: Will you -- will you choose to make a statement, Valerie, in the courtroom on -- on that day in January? The judge said today that you will be -- victims will be allowed to.
ROBERTSON YOUNG: Yes. And I have written -- I wrote a letter to the judge, previously, asking him, to be hard and to be harsh because, again, I don't think this was an accident, in any way, shape, or form. I have always said that something wasn't right about this accident because it -- like I said, it's not an accident, it's an incident. He could have avoided it and didn't.
There are two victims that haven't been able to (INAUDIBLE) we haven't heard from their families and those victims are both -- that I knew them or their families and so I am fighting for them. And I think that we all deserve justice.
I understand that he is young, but he had a choice in this, and he didn't do it. Just like those terrorists had a choice when -- in 9/11. He could have done anything and he didn't. He didn't even try to stop.
HARLOW: He is not on the air with us, obviously. But people can turn to his testimony and what his attorney has said that he didn't have other options, that is their position. And of course, they are welcome to --
ROBERTSON YOUNG: He had many options.
HARLOW: And, Valerie, thank you very much for being with us tonight. And we're glad that you -- that you survived. Thank you.
ROBERTSON YOUNG: Thank you very much.
HARLOW: OUTFRONT next: breaking news. Los Angeles police just releasing body camera footage from a shooting in which a teenager was killed in a store dressing room. What does that show us?
And former President Trump locked in a battle with the January 6th committee. They now want financial records, as well. How long can the president and his allies stall?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:40:50] HARLOW: Breaking news. Moments ago, the LAPD releasing video of the shooting of a 14-year-old girl. She was killed in a dressing room after an officer fired on an assault suspect nearby. It's believed that one of the officers' bullets went through a wall, killing the teenaged girl on the other side.
Josh Campbell is OUTFRONT.
Josh, the LAPD body-camera footage has just, moments ago, been released. As we work to bring everyone that video, you just watched it. What does it show?
JOSH CAMPBELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, Poppy, this video just released as part of the chief's declaration that the body camera footage, the CCTV footage from inside that department store, as well as 9-1-1 calls would be released by today following this fatal shooting of this 14-year-old girl at this department store last week.
Now, what you are about to see in this video -- this is very fast moving. It's a very dynamic situation. This is from the vantage point of that police body camera and just to set this up for our viewers, this is showing the moments that officers are arriving at that department store.
Now, just before the moment you are about to see, cameras inside that store show the suspect, who was also fatally shot, walking through this department store swinging what appears to be a bike chain, striking individuals. At one point, he walks up and really forcefully starts assaulting a woman with that bike chain, pulling her chair down one of the aisles.
Now, the officers received 9-1-1 reports that there were possible shots fired. So, what you are about to see are the officers coming in. They think this is an active-shooter situation. They are trying to locate the suspect.
I want to warn our viewers that what you are about to watch is graphic. We have blurred certain images. But this is the moment that police make contact with that suspect and open fire. Watch.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
POLICE OFFICER: Victim down, victim down!
POLICE OFFICER: Hey, hold on.
POLICE OFFICER: Hey, slow down, slow down, let me take a point with the rifle. Hey, back up.
POLICE OFFICER: Get out. Out, out, out.
POLICE OFFICER: He's got -- he's got a tube.
POLICE OFFICER: Hey, get her out, get her out.
POLICE OFFICER: You got it? You got it? POLICE OFFICER: Yeah.
POLICE OFFICER: Okay, on you.
POLICE OFFICER: He's hitting her now on the right hand side.
POLICE OFFICER: Slow down, slow down, slow down.
POLICE OFFICER: Slow it down, slow it down.
POLICE OFFICER: Hey, she's bleeding. She's bleeding!
POLICE OFFICER: Hold up, hold up Jones. Hold up, hold up.
POLICE OFFICER: I got you.
(SHOTS FIRED)
POLICE OFFICER: Shots fired, shots fired, shots fired!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CAMPBELL: Now, at the top of that image, that was the suspect. That officer firing down that aisle at the officer's feet was one of those victims. Again, we blurred a lot of the graphic. She was bleeding. She was obviously in distress after that assault.
But, of course, one thing that we know makes this so heartbreaking is, beyond that suspect was that dressing room where this 14-year-old was inside. Police say that one of the rounds from that police officer penetrated the wall, striking and killing her. This obviously, a community in mourning now, a makeshift memorial has been set up at the department store.
We also know, finally, that the state attorney general's office is now also investigating this incident to determine whether there will be any charges brought. This is per policy. But again, we are getting that new video that just very dynamic situation you see, officers trying to take down the suspect, and obviously, that fatal and fateful moment that that officer also fired a round killing this 14-year-old girl -- Poppy.
HARLOW: Josh Campbell, we appreciate the reporting very much.
OUTFRONT now, Sergeant Cheryl Dorsey. She is a retired LAPD sergeant and author of a new book called "The Confidence Chronicles", and Paula Martin, a criminal defense attorney and former prosecutor.
Thank you, both, for being here this evening.
Sergeant Dorsey, what's your reaction to the video that we just saw? Do you think police had reason to shoot or not?
SGT. CHERYL DORSEY, LOS ANGELS POLICE (RET.): I do. As I'm looking at it and this is very preliminary but I am just putting myself in the -- the mindset of those officers. They responded to a -- a code three call, shots being fired. And I would imagine that having that man strike that young woman repeatedly and at times have that lock hit the floor might sound like, to the citizens that were in there, shots being fired.
And so, that was what the officers were working off of when they encountered him up on the second floor.
[19:45:02]
And then, we see the suspect duck out of view and behind the end of the -- the roll there so now he is no longer in view of the officers. He kind of dictated what was going to happen. He could have certainly surrendered, threw his hands up. And at that point, it would have been over.
So, for me, I -- it's tragic. My condolences to the family but how would you know that there would be a young child behind that wall that separated them from the dressing room?
HARLOW: Paul, you have defended a police officer before charged with firing a weapon and missing their target. As you watch this video, what stands out most to you? What questions does it leave you with?
PAUL MARTIN, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY & FORMER PROSECUTOR: Well, I think the officer is correct in her evaluation of the situation. I think, you know, it's easy for us to be armchair quarterbacks after the fact. And point fingers. You have to put yourself in the position of the officer at the time of the incident.
In this situation, the officer -- what information did he have? He had the information that this person may be armed. He sees the victim. He sees the blood. And so, an officer is allowed and is justified in using deadly-physical force when they believe that this deadly- physical force is necessary to save the lives of others.
And so, looking at it and we just taken a preliminary view of these -- these -- these body-cam videos. It looks like that the officer was justified and it was just a terrible, terrible, terrible tragic mistake that another individual's life had to be taken.
HARLOW: So, Sergeant Dorsey, our Josh Campbell also reports that just last year there was a law signed by the governor of California and it requires the state's attorney general's office to investigate any police shootings that result in the death of an unarmed person. Now, the question is what constitutes unarmed and armed in this scenario?
But given that and given what you just saw, then do you believe this officer should face charges or not?
DORSEY: Personally, I don't. And listen, he was armed. He had a chain with a lock on the end of it and we saw repeatedly at other instances where he was hitting this woman. He could have killed her hitting her in the head with a lock on the end of a chain.
And so, he was armed. He had a weapon. And officers did an amazing job of communicating tactically as they were going in there. They tried to find out very quickly are there any patrons upstairs? You know, anybody else up there, any employees, any customers?
And so, they did their level best to try two sure that they were only going to encounter the suspect and maybe the victim which is what happened. And so, I don't find fault with anything that the officers did. I believe that there will probably be some recompense for the family because this young girl lost her life but how would you know she is there?
HARLOW: Paul, this shooting happened just days after the verdict in the Kim Potter trial. Potter, of course, is that former Minnesota police officer convicted of both counts of manslaughter in the killing of 20-year-old Daunte Wright in April. Then, Officer Potter claimed she mistook her gun for a Taser.
What do you make of that verdict? And, you know, the element of should have known, right, and this situation that we are seeing here?
DORSEY: Well, there is no way the officer would have known that the young -- there was a young lady in the dressing room. So -- so I don't see the similarities in that respect.
But I do say this. This is a situation where the bodycam video is going to be very helpful to possibly exonerate the -- the officers from any wrongdoing. And so, this is another example of how bodycam video also supports law enforcement officials.
It also provides some accountability. Listen. People were concerned, they were worried how could this young lady be killed? And the police department were quick -- they were quick about getting this video out to the public, showing some transparency. So, whatever questions that were lingering can be decided by the individuals right now.
HARLOW: Sergeant Dorsey, thank you very much. Paul Martin, thank you. Good to have you both. Tragedy. Our hearts with her family tonight.
OUTFRONT next: Testimony apparently not enough for the January 6th committee. They're asking for financial records. We will tell you from whom ahead.
And the world tonight is mourning the death of Archbishop Desmond Tutu. A critical and crucial voice that helped end apartheid in South Africa.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:52:25]
HARLOW: Welcome back.
Tonight, Trump's battle to delay the January 6th Select Committee, now preparing to file a request with the Supreme Court asking for a quick decision on whether the high court will take up former President Trump's attempts to block the committee from obtaining his White House records. This, as the latest in a flurry of court challenges to the committee from Trump and his allies revealing the first confirmed subpoena for financial records from a Trump ally. Whitney Wild is OUTFRONT with me.
Whitney, good evening.
The first subpoena of financial records. This is interesting because they are even asking the bank JPMorgan for these records. Where does all this stand tonight?
WHITNEY WILD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Poppy, this newest filing shows again as you mentioned the committee is going right to the banks to get these financial records. This sort of trust but verify, getting some records directly from the witnesses but going straight to the record holders, themselves.
Specifically, we learned about the strategy in a challenge to a House Select Committee's subpoena, again, to JPMorgan Chase for banking records for someone named Taylor Budowich. He is former senior adviser for the Trump 2020 campaign. He is now former-president Donald Trump's spokesman.
Budowich is challenging this effort, arguing that he has already handed over relevant information and that this subpoena from the House Select Committee to the bank risks releasing private financial information that is not relevant to the investigation. A previously released subpoena highlights why the committee is so interested in him. For example, this -- the subpoena says that Budowich reportedly solicited a 501c4 organization to conduct a social media and radio advertising campaign, encouraging attendance at the January 6th ellipse rally, and advancing unsupported claims about the result of the election.
The committee claims that Budowich directed around $200,000 from a source or several sources to that 501c4 that was not disclosed to the organization to pay for the advertising campaign.
So, Poppy, what they have identified here is that he was handling a lot of money and they want to know where it all came from and where it went.
So, this is just one more example, I think, of the depth of in investigation, because we know as I mentioned they are getting information directly from these witnesses but they are also going directly to telecommunications providers, social media companies to try to get to the bottom of what happened.
HARLOW: Before you go, Whitney, the Justice Department also released this three-hour surveillance video from inside that tunnel during the Capitol insurrection on January 6th. CNN sued to obtain it because prosecutors have been using it in court. I want to warn our viewers if you haven't seen this yet, it is incredibly disturbing to watch but shows one of the most violent confrontation between Capitol police and rioters -- rioters, brandishing weapons, viciously kicking police in the face and head attacking them.
[19:55:03]
What more can you tell us? Again, the longest video DOJ has released.
WILD: So, Poppy, just to -- just to remind our viewers, this is the West Side of the Capitol and as mentioned, this was one of the most vicious battles. I actually spoke with an officer who was there. I mean, it was just hours-long hand to hand combat and we haven't seen any video that really showed continuous moments but this does.
So what it shows is at the very outset, these officers streamed into the tunnel -- really, to seek refuge from the rioters that were descending upon the Capitol. And then, within a couple minutes, I mean, the crowd just poured in on top of them and that's where they were thrust into this hand-to-hand combat. At one point, Poppy, a person can be seen throwing a firework at the line of officers.
The point here, as horrible as it is to watch, if you have the stomach for it, you must because that is what happened. It was every bit as vicious and horrible as we have been telling people for a year now, and this is more and more evidence of just how horrific that day really was.
WILD: It was. Whitney Wild, appreciate the reporting. Thank you so much.
OUTFRONT next, Cape Town city hall bathed in purple light tonight to honor the life of Archbishop Desmond Tutu who died over the weekend.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARLOW: Bells rang out today at St. George's Cathedral in Cape Town for Archbishop Desmond Tutu who died on Sunday.
Tutu was a towering figure, who helped end apartheid in South Africa. Man revered around the world for his fight against injustice, suppression, and intolerance. The country's moral compass, as many called him.
He was a champion for LGBTQ rights, and in the fight to confront climate change, admired for his sense of humor, his deft touch and unwavering conviction when dealing with issues that drove most people apart. He won the Nobel Peace prize in 1984. The Nelson Mandela Foundation called his loss immeasurable.
Among his many legacies, these words, an important reminder he left all of us: We grow in kindness when our kindness is tested. The world mourns his loss.
Thanks so much for joining us tonight.
"AC360" starts now.
