they both, together, the chemistry, both of them -- >> that moment was -- >> we tried here on "cnn this mor morning." i didn't want her microphone to fall off. >> kaitlan was very concerned for me, right? looking out for me. >> 7:00 in the morning. >> the 6:00 a.m. hour. no one puts baby in the corner. >> no one puts poppy in the corner. >> that's what i'm saying. we'll get the lift next time, right? >> yes. >> and "cnn this morning" continues right now. so glad you could join us on this tuesday morning, november 29th. welcome, everyone, to "cnn this morning." good morning to you. a lot to get to. geopolitical tensions rising ahead of today's big world cup

showdown between the u.s. and iran. new details about the threats hanging over the iranian players straight ahead. >> and two tech giants on a collision course. elon musk claiming he received a threat from apple that could crush twitter. we'll explain. and a rural county is delaying cerdelay ing certifying the midterm results. we'll talk about whether or not election denialism is still alive and well in arizona. we begin this morning with soccer. a geopolitical showdown that could be hours away with the u.s. and iran set to play a do or die world cup match. cnn has learned that iran's players have been warned by their government to, quote, behave, if they don't want their families tortured and potentially imprisoned. that warning coming after the iranian team refused to sing the national anthem before a match against england last week as you'll recall. an aggressive iranian media asking the u.s. men's team captain what it was like to represent a country and i'm quoting the reporter now, that

has discrimination within its own borders. listen to his response. >> you say you support the iranian people, but you're pronouncing our country's name wrong. our country is named iran, not iran. please once and for all, let's get this clear. >> my apologies on the mispronunciation of your country. yeah, that being said, you know, there is discrimination everywhere you go. you know, one thing that i've learned especially from living abroad in the past year and having to fit in, in different cultures and assimilate into different cultures is that in the u.s. we're continuing to make progress every single day. obviously takes longer to understand and through education i think it is super important, like you just educated me now on the pronunciation of your country. so, yeah, it is a process. i think as long as you see progress, that's the most important thing. >> for perspective on that answer, bob lay was an on air

broadcaster for seven world cups for espn including the last time the u.s. and iran faced each other in a tournament in france in 1998. he's also the executive founder of seton hall university's center for media. i want to get to that answer from tyler adams. that was a powerful response, i thought. >> remember, this young professional is 23 years of age. and i got to tell you, as an american sports fan, i was very proud of the way he handled that. but it also just shows you the atmosphere in that room in doha, the animus, the aggressiveness in the questioning, because gregg berhalter was asked about the position of us .s. warships and that's the tone and tenor of what is going on. what tyler adams did was

composed and of the moment and it shows you why his teammates elected him captain for the world cup. >> you called the game, right, in '98, the iran/u.s. game, they won 2-1. but it was so different then. the players embraced at the end of it. i believe the iranian players brought white roses as a sign of peace. can you compare and contrast what is going on then and now? >> i'll tell you, there was that mixed team picture taken in 1998, normally if you're familiar with soccer, after the introductions and the lineups, each team lines up, they'll take separate pictures. the united states trying to diffuse this situation between the two nations and the meeting the day before in 1998 proposed this mixed picture, which everyone then went along with. i will tell you that the security around that game was intense. you can -- could not get within a half mile of the stadium without your credential and your ticket. before the match, a french military helicopter came down

over the field and hovered just in a show of strength and support. you saw both flags, we heard so much about the flags in the last couple of days. the pre-revolutionary flag being waved by the gold card expats, iranians who left the nation before the revolution and those waving the revolutionary flag, but all rooting for the same team. it was very much charged. but that was only 19 years or so after the hostage situation. but yet, you know, how many people have a contemporaneous memory now, i dare say some of you may not, of what happened in 1979. i'm old enough to recall that, and still colors what is happening right now today in doha. >> yeah. i do remember that. i'm old enough to remember that. bob, thank you for joining us this morning. good morning to you. i see the soccer ball over the shoulder there. >> that's from south africa. >> very nice. we talked about the american team, right? but you believe that the iranian

team is under tremendous pressure and in an awkward and unique position. talk to us about that. >> we heard -- we saw what happened during the anthem playing in game one. no one sang. and then by your own reporting, which is remarkable, the threats that were levied on the players from the revolutionary. if you go back on your dvr and watch the playing of the anthem during -- before game two for the iranians, this is a horrible use of the word, but it is almost applicable, they look like hostages. some of them are barely moving their lips, and mouthing it. they are bearing so much pressure here. on top of the spectators as well. reporting from the athletic, saying there are iranian spotters, tracking the iranian women who are in doha because women cannot legally attend soccer matches in iran. i don't know that any group of players in recent memory have carried more pressure on their shoulders for off field than the iranian -- and to me, the question is if iran do today eliminate the united states, who owns that victory for iran? will it be the regime?

will they weaponize it politically or the protesters, so many of the players identify, of course, with the protesters on the streets of iran, yet several of the players had a photo-op with the president of iran before they left. there is not a monolithic political belief among the players, but they have intense, intense -- it is tough enough to play in the world cup with the whole world watching, but the whole world is watching and watching on two different levels. >> and so much of this, you know, we're talking about the geopolitical aspect of this, people are also watching these games. the reason the games are happening is putting all the issues at the forefront, maybe educating a lot of people and teaching people about things they weren't paying close attention to before. when it comes to 2:00 p.m. here today on the east coast, what do you think is going to happen with the u.s. and iran? >> wow, it is a binary situation for the u.s. it is kind of -- the players talked about it yesterday. they need three points. they must beat iran. a draw won't do it. no other circumstances in the

group will do it. their fate is in their hands. they put themselves there because they have one goal in 200 minutes of soccer. this is a generational problem for u.s. soccer, having reliable scoring on demand at the international level. so it is today. there are questions about the lineup. questions about maybe some friction between reyna, the young striker, the son of claudio reyna, one of the greatest american players, who has seen ten minutes of action, talk that maybe he and the coach gregg berhalter aren't seeing eye to eye. to see if he's inserted in the game, who is the election of forwards. the united states have to come out, come out aggressively. it is easy to say, needing three points and the iranian coast is a master of defense. and if you want to park the bus and make it tough, you know, put all your defensive players back and prevent it, we have seen the ability of teams just to play for a draw and the draw is not

good enough for the united states today. it is going to be a tough match. >> we'll be looking to see if they park the bus. >> bob, thank you. by the way, you should get a couple more emmys in -- >> you don't have enough. >> yeah. >> thank you. you know, thank you, i appreciate it. good to speak with you. >> thank you, bob. >> good to see you. we got breaking news this morning. the january 6th committee is now set to interview former white house deputy chief of staff tony ornato, the person at the center of that testimony from cassidy hutchinson over the summer. that's according to two sources familiar with the panel's work, what they're telling cnn. his testimony could shed new light on former president trump's movements leading up to and around on january 6th, 2021. cnn's paula reed is joining us live this morning from washington. tell us what you're learning about tony ornato's appearance and we saw kellyanne conway there yesterday. >> good morning, kaitlan. tony ornato is potentially a key witness for the committee as it wraps up the investigation over

the next few weeks. as you said, his testimony could shed light on what the former president was doing on and leading up to the insurrection. you may remember the former presidential aide cassidy hutchinson testified in june that ornato told her that trump lashed out in anger and actually lunged at members of his protective detail as he demanded to be taken to the capitol on january 6th. let's listen to what she said. >> the president reached up toward the front of the vehicle to grab at the steering wheel. mr. engle grabbed his arm. said, sir, you need to take your hand off the steering wheel. we're going back to the west wing. we're not going to the capitol. mr. trump then used his free hand to lunge toward bob engle. >> her testimony has become a key event in the timeline of trump's movements on january 6th. and ornato has not denied that

account on the record. but a secret service official who would only speak on the condition of remaining anonymous told cnn that ornato denies telling hutchinson that the former president grabbed the wheel or his agent on his detail. now, ornato previously has spoken with the committee twice, before hutchinson testified. member of the investigative committee have long said they want to call him back and ask him more questions. during this virtual interview today, they will have a chance to revisit hutchinson's testimony and nail down the details of this incident and the committee is expected to wrap up its work over the next few weeks and then issue a final report detailing all the things that they have uncovered during this nearly two-year long investigation. >> talk about having some serious follow-up questions, thank you. it has been a chaotic 24 hours for elon musk. we don't know what's going on here. very erratic. it started with musk posting a pepe the frog image, a meme used

by white supremacists and designated as a hate symbol by the antidefamation league. then musk sharing a bizarre photo of a gun and what he says was his bedside table along with diet cokes and a picture of george washington crossing the delaware. okay. and then he turned his focus to apple, claiming the company was going to withhold twitter from its apple store and asking if apple hated free speech in america. and tweeting at apple ceo tim cook asking what is going on here. later in the day, musk teased he will publish what he calls the twitter files, claiming the public deserves to know what twitter has done in the past regarding free speech suppression. and then finally, i'm sure there is going to be more, though, he posted and penned a tweet saying this is the battle for the future of civilization. if free speech is lost, even in america, tyranny is all that

lies ahead. >> so glad we have our colleague and friend donie o'sullivan here with us to talk about all -- i -- like where do you begin? and -- it is, like, you have to laugh because, it is, like, no other ceo operates like this. it is scary, is it not, to see some of this stuff, the gun with -- what is going on? >> yeah. a lot going on. let's start with apple. because that's what's really important here. the apple app store has a kind of quality control. so you can't just get any app on your phone. apple vets the apps, one, to make sure there is not viruss in it that could be spying on us, but to make sure they don't have apps on the app store that promote hate speech or dangerous misinformation. we saw parlor, a right wing social media network kicked off the app store last year until they cleaned up their hate

speech rules. m musk is concerned because he's taking down all the guardrails that apple might turn around and say, hey, we don't want you on our app store anymore and if that happens and twitter was essentially unavailable as an app within iphones, that could be devastating for twitter. one other important point when it comes to apple, we learned yesterday that apple has basically stopped advertising on twitter. and "the washington post" reported that apple won in the first quarter of this year was actually twitter's biggest advertiser, spending $48 million in the first quarter alone. so you can also see another reason why musk is taking issue at apple. >> that's the thing here. whether he's doing it -- out of some desperation. if he's doing it for attention to try to get more eyes on twitter, but the real issue, donie, is that apple is not the only one. major advertisers are no longer advertising on twitter and that poses a huge problem beyond just

elon musk for the company, the stability and the longevity of the company itself. >> absolutely. and, look, speaking of kind of tearing apart the whole rule book that twitter had these few years, we just learned overnight and i want to show you the screen shoot from twitter's website, and they are no longer enforcing their covid-19 misinformation policy. since 2020, twitter has been working, they were definitely not always perfect. there was a lot of misinformation about covid, about the vaccines on the platform. but there was rules in place and policies in place, we learned that that is no more. that is no longer happening at twitter. and that, again, might be another reason why apple might say, we don't want you to have us -- we don't want to have you on our app store. finally, under that policy, according to twitter's own numbers, since 2020, twitter

suspended 11,000 accounts for sharing covid misinformation. it is very possible that a lot of those accounts are going to see coming back on to the platform. and one final thing, guys, the reason why i'm here in florida, other than working on my tan is that we're about to hear today from a twitter employee who was in charge of writing a lot of these rules. he left the company a few weeks ago. he basically couldn't work under elon musk anymore and he's about to speak out at a conference here in florida a little later today. >> remarkable. a clash between the world's richest man and the most valuable public company. >> that's a great way to put it. it is amazing. >> donie o'sullivan, we know you'll stay on it. we'll check back with you for updates. >> and your tan. >> and the tan. election denialism is on full display in arizona this morning. >> i'm the chief election denier.

i'm the person he talks about as far as conspiracy theories. >> this is vote trafficking at its finest. i've seen the criminal element. you are vote traffickers. you are vote traffickers. criminal! >> did the efforts of the people you hear from there stop the certification of the state's election work? we'll talk about that. and coming up, we'll talk to the former homeland security secretary jeh johnson about that and the state of america. that's next. i'd like to thank our sponsor liberty mutual. they customize your car insurance, so you only pay for what you need. contestants ready? go! only pay for what you need. jingle: liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty.

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in arizona, democrat and governor-elect katie hobbs is now suing one of the county's after officials voted to delay the certification of the november midterm election results citing concerns about voting machines and effectively denying -- defying a deadline set by the state. this comes as prominent election deniers in arizona like hobbs' former opponent ckari lake have yet to concede their races. the maricopa county board of supervisors voted unanimously to certify the results. constituents confronted the board like this. >> i came here today to get an up close and personal look at the seven traitors to the united states constitution. >> again, please -- >> for sitting at that desk.

>> this is vote trafficking at its finest. i've seen the criminal element. you are vote traffickers. you are vote traffickers. criminal. >> if this election is certified, the only parties that will benefit from this are the cartels. >> all your dealings are crooked. you give justice in exchange for bribes. these men are born sinners. lying from their earliest words, they are poison ous deadly snakes. >> dominion machine, you know they're dangerous, you know they're corrupt. >> i'm the chief election denier. i'm the person he talks about as far as conspiracy theories. >> all of those claims are baseless, many of them are false, but it is important to show you that because as cnn's sunlen serfaty is following this story this is delaying the process. what do you know this morning about what is playing out in arizona? >> typically a very routine procedural process, election

results usually are secertifiedn states without any issue. what is happening in arizona now shows how election denialism is fueling chaos in some places. you had that video in maricopa, where you have kari lake refusing to concede, she pointed to problems withers at voting centers, but those unfounded claims, they drove out the voters you saw in those clips yesterday, hour after hour they were sounding off, heckling the election board there, calling them traitors, as they tried to move forward and did there with the certification. and then in cochise county, county supervisors there yesterday, they voted to outright delay certification. they missed the legal deadline there. that threw an immediate lawsuit, the same day yesterday, from arizona secretary of state katie hobbs, who, of course, is projected to win her race for governor there. this pushes back certification there until at least friday.

of course, all of this underscoring the continued grist that election conspiracy theorists have on some voters. >> no place is that better seen in arizona where they did reject an election denier in many places on the ticket. sunlen serfaty, thank you for that report. all of this now with the former homeland security secretary jeh johnson, also previously the defense department general counsel and now a partner at paul weiss. thank you for joining us this morning. appreciate it. >> glad to be here. >> you saw the report from sunlen what is happening in arizona. all of this election denialism. what do you think? i'm sure it bothers you. >> well, first, i have to tell you about an amazing coincidence. tyler adams, the captain of the u.s. soccer team in doha right now, is from whoppinger falls, new york. i'm from whoppinger falls, new york. so biggest shoutout.

just before i left office, as secretary of dhs, don, in january 2017, i declared election infrastructure to be critical infrastructure in this country. every the objections of a lot of people, i'm glad i did it, the trump administration reaffirmed it, since then a lot of good work has been put into the security around our election systems. in washington, you have to repeat yourself 100 times before anybody listens to you, before anybody gets the message. the reality is that we have rising voter participation in this country, which is good. in the face of the challenges of covid, in the 2020 election, the incidents of ballot fraud, theft, misidentity, the nearest round number percentage is zero. our elections today are as secure as they ever have been in

part because of a lot of the good work that has been done just over the last several years to secure our elections, to secure our democracy. in arizona, i believe kari lake is playing with fire. i believe that those who foment grievance, discontent, anger, in the face of a lot of contrary evidence do make violence inevitable in this country. >> but kari lake is not alone. this is not -- arizona is not in a vacuum. you said it is the most secure election and we know that to be the truth, we know that to be facts. look at what is happening with social media, with twitter, with the former president with kari lake, and yet those lies and that misinformation spreads and you have people like the people in arizona and all over this country believing it. so now what? >> arizona is the focal point right now. and people really do listen to

their leaders. people really do listen to those with the microphone, those with the public voice. and those who tap into suspicion, conspiracy theories, grievance, are playing with fire. and do among the deranged within us who live within us make violence inevitable in my view. >> i want to talk to you about what the former fbi director christopher wray says and the election lies antigovernment extremism because the current dhs secretary is saying that domestic violent extremism is the most lethal terrorism threat in this country right now. when you bring light to that, people don't like to hear it. when i talk -- i talked about this for years now. and for bringing it up, people will say, why are you doing this, you're being racist about the threat of terror. it is foreign terrorism, not domestic terrorism.

>> there is nothing racist about a fact-based conclusion. we have tracked terrorism now in this country for decades, going back to 9/11, when i was general counsel of the department of defense, our principle terrorist threat to the homeland was foreign-based. isis, al qaeda. then we evolved to what we were refer to as foreign inspired terrorists, where someone here in the u.s. is inspired by an overseas terrorist organization. now, as tracked by the antidefamation league and others, the principle terrorist threat is domestic-based violent extremism. it is a fact. it is reality. if you just look at the incidents of what we refer to as terrorism, over the last five, six years, that is the case. >> i want to -- can we talk about what happened with the former president, former president trump meeting with an

antisemite, a holocaust denier, nick fuentes, at the white house last week at his home -- not at the white house, at mar-a-lago, his home. kanye west as well, he made his own anti-semitic statements. why do you think this is so significant to all of our politics to have a former president meeting and having dinner with a known antisemite and making excuses? >> i feel like i've seen this playbook before from donald trump. outrage. calling for a ban on muslims, immigrating to the united states, for example, in 2015. while many of us are offended, outraged, he is playing to his base in a certain -- to a certain extent. i feel like i've seen this before. he's ramping up his presidential campaign. he wants attention. it seems that donald trump's strategy is any level of attention is good attention from

his standpoint. he gets us talking about controversy again. of course it is outrageous. of course. >> the excuse for him, though, i did not know who nick fuentes was. i don't know who is coming into my own home. by the way, which is under investigation now for classified documents. what -- >> just like he didn't know who david duke was, never heard of the klan, never heard of this group or that group, didn't know anything about the proud boys, supposedly. but -- >> but with the investigation going on, not knowing and classified documents, what is the danger in that as former head of homeland security? >> the danger is that we fall into this trap of a certain large segment of the american population actually believing this because they want to believe it. donald trump's excuse is, well, i didn't know all about what this individual was up to. you know, donald trump is still protected by the united states secret service as a former president. i know because i used to be a

secret service protectee. the secret service will not let anybody within your proximity, unless they have vetted that individual, and so to claim i didn't know who i was meeting with is simply implausible. >> thank you, sir. we appreciate you coming on. always a pleasure seeing you. thank you so much. >> fascinating conversation. okay, ahead, students at the university of idaho are speaking to cnn about how safe or unsafe, scared they feel on campus after the unsolved string of murders of four fellow students. also this morning, will smith is now talking about what was going through his mind when he went on stage at the oscars and slapped chris rock. we'll show you what he's saying. i brought in ensure max protein with 30 grams of protein. those who tried me felt more energy in just two weeks. uhhhh... here, i'll take that. [woo hoo!] ensure max protein, with 30 grams of protein, one gram of sugar and nutrients for imimmune health.

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good morning, everyone. ahead on "cnn this morning," actor swill smith speaking out about slapping chris rock at the oscars. why he did it. also a special report on popular skin creams and beauty products

that contain toxic chemicals. a woman says her eyesight was damaged because of them. and 40 million americans from texas to illinois threatened by severe weather including tornadoes, hail, and damaging wind. but, first, students at the university of idaho speak to cnn as they return from thanksgiving break. while police are on a manhunt now for a killer of four students stabbed to death in their rental home off campus. watch this. >> i just know that if i stay home, i wouldn't get any work done. plus i feel safe in my dorm. i know a lot of people don't. >> you personally feel safe right now being on campus? >> i would say moderately. at night, not so much. i've been getting the walks offered by the campus. that makes me feel more safe. during the day, i feel pretty safe. >> a different vibe. seems kind of sad, kind of quiet. most people are friendly, but now it is just kind of, i don't

know, people are kind of sketched out, not really aware of the situation. >> it just -- does the campus feel emptier? >> yes, definitely. >> do you feel safe coming back? >> well, with all the campus security and upping that and the safe walks and i have a lot of friends here. i never go anywhere by myself. so i do, i do feel safe. >> so right now they're asking for tips and surveillance video as they continue to investigate. in the wake of tragedies like that one, psychologists are exploring the long-term effects that trauma has on entire communities, especially for people of color. take a listen to the new episode of the cnn podcast the assignment on this. >> erasure is political. so to say i want to treat you as a human being, so i have to pretend your race doesn't exist, it is what we're saying if -- if i can't ask you about your --

how your identity has affected your life, then basically we're saying to value you as a human, i have to pretend we're all versus an identical experience. >> joining us now is cnn anchor and correspondent and host of the assignment with audi corn ir, this is a really interesting conversation. what stood out to you? >> it may feel like it is not related to then news, but it wa to me. is there an unprecedented era of loss, mass shootings, also how covid has affected families around the country. and in many cases affected marginalized communities. so i was trying to find out, hey, what are psychologists doing differently, especially as more and more people are seeking help. and that's how i actually learned about dr. bryant who is going to be the incoming president of the american psychological association. >> don loved this so much, by

the way. listening to it all morning. >> this one resonated to me the most. it hit home when you talked about -- when she talked about -- we're all not having identical experiences. we're not. >> right. >> and that's okay. but the thing where you talked about -- to me it reminded me of talking about the emotional pain body of that -- that people of color may have or women may have or jewish people may have, that you carry for generations. that really -- i took that to heart. and i understood exactly what you were saying. what is the lesson in that for all of us? >> the lesson for all of us is as the doctor said, our background, it isn't necessarily we're locked into a destiny or we're locked into a kind of trauma. it is that to acknowledge everything in that story is to help with the healing process. so just to give you some context, there is genetic research which looks at gene

suppression in groups that have dealt with trauma, they looked at the descendants of holocaust survivors, they looked at the descendants of pregnant women after 9/11. the idea that you can kind of pass down certain traumas and that that can affect the next generation is real, is being researched. the psychology part of it is saying, okay, let's actually ask these key questions when someone comes in. have you experienced discrimination, is there something in your background that i'm pretending i can't see, right? but i need to acknowledge. and this is a shift for psychologists and i think her being placed in a position of power for them could make the difference because she's going to introduce these ideas in a more widespread way. >> and how significant that they came out with this statement, saying the apa that they were, quote, complicit in contributing to systemic inequalities, many through racism, racial discrimination, and denigration

of people of color. to acknowledge it, it put it out to the public. >> there were people who said this is woke politics taking over our science, this is not appropriate, this is identity politics coming into play and dr. bryant's take is as you heard erasure is political, if you don't have these conversations, and if you aren't having a wholistic view of your patients, then you're doing them a disservice. >> this is not to say that our destinies are predetermined because of the experiences our -- >> that's the part i flinched at. >> it explains behavior and greater understanding of each other. >> there are post traumatic stress responses when it comes to stress, et cetera, it is part of our broader acceptance of mental health in culture to understand what these things are and where they come from. >> it can be such an explanation for so many people. we have more that we want to talk to you about, so don't go anywhere yet. you can listen to audie's new

podcast, available wherever you get your podcasts. will smith, opening up about his infamous slap of chris rock at the academy awards. >> there is many nuances and complexities to it, you know. but at the end of the day, i just -- i lost it. >> will will smith's fans s punh him by passing on his new film? that's next.

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so, this morning, will smith is directly addressing concerns that moviegoers may reject him and his new film "emancipation." it is a civil rights drama that is inspired by the real life story of how a slave named peter escaped captivity in the deep south to join the union army. the film is smith's first major role since winning best actor at the academy awards in march.

of course, his win was completely overshadowed by his slapping comedian chris rock after he told a joke at the expense of smith's wife, jada pinkett smith. he's opening up saying he's well aware some people may not be ready to embrace his new work. watch this. >> i completely understand that if, you know, someone is not ready, i would absolutely respect that. and allow them their space to not be ready. my deepest hope is that my actions don't penalize my team. >> so last night smith appeared on "the daily show with trevor noah" to discuss what was going through his mind that night and what unfolded later. here it is. >> that was a horrific night as you can imagine. you know, there is many nuances and complexities to it, you

know. but at the end of the day, i just -- i lost it. i was going through something that night, you know. and not that that, you know, justifies my behavior at all, i would say -- you're asking what did i learn. and it is that -- we just got to be nice to each other, man. you know, it is, like, it is hard. and i guess the thing that was most painful for me is i took my heart and made it hard for other people. they say hurt people hurt people. i understand how shocking that was for people, man. >> right. were you shocked? you seemed a little dazed afterwards. >> yeah, yeah. i was gone, dude. i was gone. i was gone. i was, you know, that was a -- a rage that had been bottled for a really long time. my nephew, dom, is 9, and he's

the sweetest little boy, he's, like, you know, we came home, and it is like he had stayed up late to see his uncle will, you know, and we're sitting in my kitchen, and he's on my lap and he's holding the oscar, and he's just, like, why did you hit that man, uncle will? you know, why are you trying to oprah me? >> so, in the wake of the incident, the academy voted to ban smith from the oscars for ten years after he resigned. i wonder what you thought about that and then i'll share a little personal story. what did you think? >> i want to hear the story first, but i want to give a little context to this, that just because of the segment we were last talking about, he's currently promoting a film. the film does take place in sort of a slavery era. and there is actually a kind of

wider critical movement of black trauma on screen. which makes this film just a tiny bit more of a heavy lift to promote. the audience you want to draw to it may be a little bit upset with will smith right now. the black audience you may want to bring to it may feel fatigued by even the concept of the film. so the fact that he's out here doing this emotional labor publicly really does talk about the stakes of kind of this genre of work and the black artists who are still doing it, and are finding it to be literally a sell. >> you know i know will smith, and have been in communication with him over -- since it happened. i mean, been communicating with him before, but since it had happened, we've been talking and i met with him and smoke with h -- spoke with him an hour me and him talking. not to betray confidence but

what he said on "the daily show" is pretty close to what we talked about, and it has been a journey for him over the last months and i feel like he is somewhat of a different person, and i'm sure he will share that when he's ready to share that, he will share it. i agree with you, it's going to be a heavy lift and i know that he's -- >> i'm not saying that to be so focused on the business part of it. i think he has been apologizing in the era of crummy apologies, this is what apologizing does look like. the question is now, what does it mean to re-embrace someone of this stature culturally? we've seen it in other context, metoo, et cetera, where it gets kind of complicated how people feel about the person's art. this is not that, but it is on that same kind of spectrum of the apology, what happens after the apology, what does it mean to be forgiven in the cultural sense of it. >> can he be re-embraced?

that's the question? can he be re-embraced. >> tbda. >> it will not be from a lack of trying. >> thank you for your wisdom. >> thank you. >> thank you, thank you. up next you want to see this, new warnings about the risks posed by toxic ingredients found in beauty products, face cream, what it can do to your vision. that's had ahead. rtant kitchen tool? my brain. so i choose neuriva plus. unlike some others, neuriva plus is a multitasker supportingng 6 key indicators of brain health. to help keep me sharp. neuriviva: think bigger. if your business kept on employees through the pandemic, innovation refunds could qualify it for a payroll tax refund of up to $26,000 per employee. all it takes is eight minutes toind out. then work wi highly qualified professionals to fill out your forms and submit the applition. go to innovationrefunds.com to learn more. your shipping manager left to “find themself.” leaving you lost. you need to hire. i need indeed. indeed you do. indeed instant match instantly delivers quality candidates matching your job description.

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. all right. now to a cnn exclusive, experts are warning about the risks posed by extremely toxic ingredients found in some skin whitening and other beauty products. officials say a minnesota woman suffered vision loss and developed other symptoms after unknowingly using beauty creams that contained high levels of mercury. elizabeth cohen has more and this case was shared exclusively

with cnn with you by a doctor at the minnesota poison control system. i think everyone who uses cream on their face is wondering what is it and how do i avoid it? >> right. so these are whitening creams, poppy. my colleagues who wrote this story talked to the minnesota department of health and that department they found it in people's urine, in homes, they found it in products. now these products basically weren't -- my colleagues say they weren't sold in major retails, it was more neighborhood stores but they found it. let's take a look at where they found it in people's home when the folks at the minnesota department of health went to go measure it, it was found in the air, it was found in washing machines, which means it's in clothing. it was found in bedding and towels. it can be very dangerous. if you read their story on cnn.com you will see some advice about what products to avoid. poppy, kaitlan, don. >> thank you very much for the head's up. read more on cnn.com.

in the season of giving we want to show you how you can help our 2022 top ten cnn heros continue their very important work and have your donations also match dollar for dollar. here's what anderson cooper said. >> i'm anderson cooper. each of this year's top ten cnn heros proves one person can make a difference. we're making it easy for you to support their great work. just go to cnnheros.com and click donate beneath any 2022 top ten cnn hero to make a direct contribution to that hero's fundraiser. receive an e-mail confirming your donation which is tax deductible in the united states. no matter the amount you can make a big difference in helping our heros continue their life-changing work. through january 3rd your donations will be matched dollar for dollar up to ae total of $50,000. cnn is proud to offer you a simple way to support each cause and celebrate these everyday people changing the world.

donate from your laptop, tablet or phone, go to cnnheros.com. your donation in any amount will help them help others. thanks. >> of course all of our top ten cnn heros will be honored at cnn hero the all-star tribute hosted by anderson cooper and kelly rippa sunday, december 11th. make sure you tune in. overnight clarence gilyard jr. passed away. >> hey, man, we could have had him. hey, we could have had him, man. >> i will fire when i am good and ready. you got that? >> so, this is how you would know gilyard. he was known for his role as a naval flight officer in "top gun" and as a computer hacker in "die hard." he appeared in tv series "walker texas ranger" alongside chuck norris. his death announced on monday in statement from the university of nevada las vegas where he had

been working as an associate professor at the college of fine arts. gilyard was 66 years old. he will be missed. >> what a life. >> thinking of his family. >> "walker texas ranger" was a popular role with the hat. >> so many of them. thanks for joining us this morning. "cnn newsroom" starts right now. . good morning, everyone. i'm bianna. >> i'm jim sciutto. >> avoiding a crippling rail shutdown. president biden has called on congress to act immediately following a months long impasse between unions and rail operators. experts say a strike could cost the u.s. economy a billion dollars in the first week alone. what are the sticking points? >> plus, protests crackdown. police in china swinging into action t