- [announcer] do you have an invention idea but don't know what to do next? call invent help today. they can help you get started with your idea. call now 800-710-0020. the january 6th committee releasing more than 100 interview transcripts trying to get out as many as possible before tuesday when republicans take over the house. every day brings new revelations. what will the department of justice do with it all? let's talk about what we've learned with former congressman charlie dent, also cnn's senior political analyst ron brownstein, also "vanity fair"'s special correspondent and a former federal prosecutor. great to see you all. let's just look at a couple of the things that had been

revealed today by the committee. one particularly interesting one is don jr. and the texts that he was sending to mark meadows. i want to juxtatoes what he sent the day after the election, the day after his father lost the election, and then what he sent on january 6th. i think there is an arc between the two. the first one that he sent that he claims is not his writing and doesn't sound like his voice frankly and he also claims he doesn't remember who sent it to him, it says we have operational control, total leverage, moral high ground. potus must start second term now. state assemblies can step in and vote to put forward the electoral state. republicans control 28 states, democrats 22 states. once again trump wins. that is the road map the day after the election, ron, for how to keep donald trump

un-constitutionally in office. okay? now, fast forward to january 6th when they've tried some of these things. and suddenly donald trump jr. is texting a different tune. here it is. we need an oval address. he has to lead now. it's gone too far. it's gotten out of hand. i mean, what did they think their shenanigans was going to lead to? it led to chaos and violence. >> yeah. there is a dangling thread in that first series of texts or e-mails that i can't imagine the special counsel won't be interested in investigating. as you know, donald trump jr. is really the first one to suggest and this is in the full report, to suggest the strategy of trying to get state legislators to overturn the result in their state and simply substitute donald trump electors for joe biden electors based on the actual verified results in their state. in this deposition, he is asked about that because as you point out, this is very specific and

in language that doesn't seem to flow naturally from donald trump jr. and he says in the deposition that it is, quote, a cut and paste job. he acknowledges that. that it came from somewhere else. then he insists he can't remember where it came from. if you take out the words i don't remember, i don't recall, i can't recall, this 105-page transcript might be down to five pages from donald trump jr. i can't imagine the special counsel is going to allow this to simply drift away, this idea that he can't remember where the idea came from that ultimately led to the fake elector scheme that they are investigating because he is very clearly suggesting it came from somewhere else. he is just not saying where. >> molly, maybe we can jog his memory because the language in that first one we have operational control, total leverage, it's the grandiose language that we heard pretty

soon after the election from people like rudy guiliani and/or steve bannon. >> right >> i mean, it is not a stretch to think that some of those folks were texting don jr. these suggestions. >> yeah. i mean, it is a little heady for don jr. to know how many states there are. but i do think that there are a number of people who were advising him and he was talking to congressmen. he was talking to, you know, he has a bunch of lawyers and, you know, many members of trump world some of whom have received pardons who were advising this. i mean, you know, he -- reading that deposition you really do see he was very involved in all of this. i think that ultimately he got very over his head. that's what we saw with this. >> charlie, then it goes wrong, horribly, horribly wrong, and

that is when don jr. starts texting mark meadows, somebody's got to stop this. get him out there. get him to make a statement. this is out of control. >> these guys like donald trump jr. and others were instigating this whole post election scenario that his father, you know, shouldn't leave office, that he won, and all this nonsense. then on january 6th they're shocked. shocked that their followers are at the capitol, you know, ransacking the place, assaulting officers, and attempting to harm members of congress. you know, these guys are trying to, you know, wash their hands of what they had done. with respect to these fake electors i have to think that the grand jury and the doj are looking closely at that scheme. in fact, one of the fake electors, the chair of the pennsylvania fake electors kicked me out of his gun club in 2017 because i wasn't a trump synchophant. i know that guy was close to donald trump jr. i'm just saying, donald trump jr. has some, i think he has

some dirt on his hands here and it is probably a good thing he can't recall anything because i think he's got some explaining to do. >> shan, that leads us to you. with all of this evidence now what? what accountability will there be? don jr., mark meadows, donald trump? who is most -- not most in trouble -- who will be in trouble? >> i would say meadows leads that pack. trump sr. next with don probably a little lower down there. to ron's point absolutely, special counsel will be very interested in that but there are tools to compel further disclosures are limited and it is really interesting because you're seeing some of the advantages of the congressional investigation where they have these sort of free wheeling depositions with the witness's lawyer being present. it is not as intense or curated

an experience as a grand jury. if it was a grand jury to begin with most likely he would have said nothing just constantly taken the fifth. here they were able to tease some of this type of information out of him. he calls it a cut and paste job suggesting where did you get it from then he says he can't remember. he is giving people some leads to look at probably inadvertently there. that is one of the big differences between the congressional investigation and a grand jury one. double edged sword for doj. they have all of this testimony now and they have to reconcile it, look for inconsistencies, possibly some things are ex-cull pa tri and some things just a little bit ambiguous. so it is a really big job ahead but certainly i'd say the theme in all the transcripts coming out is that all roads flow toward mark meadows. i think he is number one on the hit list. >> that is interesting, shan. what does that mean? what does his trouble look like? >> well, it looks like they would be treating him quite seriously in terms of the potential charges there.

again, at this point when it moves to the criminal aspect, i don't think their powers of compulsion grow any greater. really people are going to circle the wagons. he is going to take the fifth. if they have a conversation with his lawyers and say look, we have enough to indict your client, do you want to cut a deal and cooperate, that is very different than any posturing you might make before a congressional committee. so i think that's what it looks like is what kind of charges they may bring and what, most importantly, practically as a prosecutor and defense attorney, what kind of conversation are they going to have with his lawyers? >> ron, i keep reading this one that is an exchange between christina bobb one of the lawyers and lindsey graham just because i think it is so telling, theater of the absurd. they were even, i think, the way i interpret what senator graham was saying to christina bobb here is that he was basically calling her bluff. so he says, christina bobb, the

part of the transcript she testifies to, senator graham was saying get me your information. just give me five dead voters. give me, you know, an example of illegal voting. give me a very small snapshot i can take and champion. i think senator graham is savvy enough to know she would never be able to produce five dead voters. so he was saying, i'm happy to be your champion knowing that wasn't going to happen. >> that is a reasonable interpretation. it could also be him just saying just give me anything and i would be willing to go out and defend donald trump. it really goes to your point from a minute ago about accountability. obviously, criminal liability is one form of accountability but as the committee, itself noted in the report, it is not the only form of accountability. and they talk about disbarment or sanctions against lawyers who are involved in the effort to overturn the election where they are conspicuously silent is what if any sanctions should there be

against the members of congress who participated in this? i think charlie was part of an open letter, bipartisan group of former members who said, look. people have been sanctioned for a lot less than participating in an effort to overthrow the election. the committee chose to really stay away from the issue of what other members of congress did. they didn't reprint a lot of those, any i believe of the texts from meadows to members of congress in which they were exhorting him to even declare martial law to prevent the transfer of power. but this issue of whether other members of congress, and there were dozens, as well as dozens in the states who participated in the fake electors, is the only question there whether or not they committed a crime or is there a question about whether there should be accountability in other forms? the committee is very firm on that point about lawyers. it is much more vague about members of congress. i think that is an open question that needs to be addressed. >> molly, i want your thoughts

on that. shan, what is the answer to that? what is the accountability for members of congress? >> well, i think purely a political aspect. there could be referrals to the house ethics committee which has been somewhat toothless in the past. you know, to ron's point, i think you're seeing some of the advantages of congressional investigations and you're seeing some institutional biasses there. from an outsider looking at this they definitely went light on fellow members of congress. >> quickly, molly, go ahead >> i mean, we've heard that representative was giving tours. there were members of congress who spoke at the stop the steal rally. i mean, there are certainly a lot of members of congress implicated so it is a bit strange there is not more on that. >> charlie, i just want to quickly get to you because you were on the ethics committee. is it toothless in this case? >> well, the committee is basically constructed of five republicans and five democrats

and so if one side chooses not to play ball, there is not going to be any type of a sanction. i sense that on this issue if it were these members referred to the committee i doubt there are going to be any sanctions on this one. i just don't know how they're going to come to an agreement unless they have really damning information on the role of a particular member in terms of inciting this insurrection. i don't see them coming to an agreement. >> okay. friends, thank you very much for all of your insight into this. meanwhile, president biden is in the virgin islands tonight where sources say he and his family are mulling the pros and cons of his re-election bid. but with the decision all but made, what has he accomplished in these two years? what kinds of challenges will he face in the next two years? we'll look at all of that ahead. # subaru retailers have supported over seventeen hundred hometown charities. (phil) have i witnessed and s seen the impact of what we do?

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virgin islands tonight but did some work today. he signed the $1.7 trillion federal spending bill avoiding a government shutdown. in a tweet he points to what he calls, quote, a year of historic progress and adds looking forward to more in 2023. so will more include a run for re-election? journalist and film maker chris whipple is the author of the upcoming book "the fight of his life, inside joe biden's white house" and he joins us tonight. great to have you here. is there any doubt in your mind tonight that joe biden is running for a second term? >> you know, there is almost no doubt that he is going to run unless there is something very strange in the water down in st. croix where he is talking this over presumably with dr. jill biden. she is the only one by the way who could change his mind but i don't think she will. >> she is on board. that is some of the reporting. i guess since the midterms they've felt some momentum about this. >> well, no question that joe

biden feels the wind at his back without a doubt. look at the midterms and the way they defied all the odds. i think that joe biden and the white house are also celebrating and hoping to exploit what has become a political fact of life. that is that joe biden's opponents have under estimated him at every step of the way throughout his career. you know, they are learning a hard lesson right now. they may well pay a heavy political price. >> you have just spent a lot of time reporting on the inner workings inside the biden white house. you say the biden presidency is the most consequential of your lifetime. you liken his legislative record to that of lbj. how so? make the case. >> well, you know, it is without a doubt been a tale of two

presidencies. i write about this in great detail in my upcoming book "the fight of his life inside joe biden's white house." unfortunately my editor would kill me if i told you too much about it. >> why can't you come on and just spill the tea with us? >> it is not out until january 17 and viewers can preorder it. >> okay. i see you're getting in the plug. your publisher will be very happy. go on and tell us. >> but having said that, there's just no question about it that the second year of biden's presidency has been as consequential as any year of any president in modern history from rallying nato to defend ukraine against vladimir putin to passing a legislative agenda that does rival lbj. so i think that is why they have the wind at their back. there are plenty of challenges ahead, god knows. just to name a few, first biden has to try to avoid a recession, try to tame inflation, he has to

implement all that legislation because it doesn't mean anything until the rubber meets the road. he's got to keep nato unified against vladimir putin, no easy task. he also has to continue to be aware of the threat to democracy in the form of trumpism. it hasn't gone away. one real challenge will be trying to unify the country in the event that trump is prosecuted in state or federal court, which i think is almost inevitable. that is going to be a high wire act for this president. and, finally, if i can add one more thing, there is a really big personnel challenge coming up. biden's white house chief of staff ron klain who had a lot to do with the president's success may well be approaching a point where he wants to move on. there's a reason why white house chiefs of staff last an average of 18 months. klain has been there two years.

if he leaves, those are going to be awfully big shoes to fill. >> what changes if he leaves? >> well, everything. you know, the white house chief of staff is the second most powerful job in government. i think one of the reasons that biden has been successful is that klain again has known the president for 30 years. he knows capitol hill. he knows how to run the white house. he was the most qualified person really ever to step into that job, having worked for nine previous white house chiefs if you can believe that. and the results show. the first year was not without a lot of real problems and challenges from afghanistan to the delta variant to everything else but at the two-year mark, you really have to put ron klain in elite company with some of the best white house chiefs i think in history. >> one of the things we know is in your upcoming book that i think is really eyebrow raising

is that president biden doesn't trust some of his secret service detail. that sounds like a problem. so what is that about? >> if that's true, it is a real problem. it's just almost hard to imagine. the secret service is there first and foremost to protect the president's life, but they're also there to, also expected to keep his secrets. that is about all i can tell you without getting into the details of the book which i promised my editor i wouldn't do. >> that is a good tease. we'll be buying the book on january 17th called "the fight of his life, inside joe biden's white house." thanks so much for talking about all of this. >> you can preorder it. thanks so much. >> okay. really interesting. all right. meanwhile, southwest airlines claims it will operate a normal schedule tomorrow. as it faces a sharp warning tonight from the federal government. up next, one passenger's personal story of going through

the southwest travel chaos and it's not over yet.

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southwest airlines says it will resume normal service tomorrow after eight days of travel chaos that stranded hundreds of thousands of passengers. more than 2300 flights were canceled today. now the transportation department is warning southwest it may level steep fines if the airline fails to follow through on promises to reimburse passengers and return their bags. more tonight from cnn's lucy kavanaugh. >> reporter: eight days in and

finally southwest is planning to return to normal operations friday. issuing a statement saying, with another holiday weekend full of important connections for our valued customers and employees we are eager to return to a state of normalcy. but today it is still chaos for southwest passengers. >> the anxiety level has become crazy. >> reporter: one of the country's biggest carriers canceling nearly 2400 flights thursday, capping a week of travel misery that stranded thousands more. >> that is very devastating. southwest actually booked me on a flight for january 2nd. my wedding is tomorrow. december 30th. >> reporter: soon to be married, katy was scheduled to fly out of st. louis with family for her own wedding but southwest's cancellations meant she had to miss meeting her fiance at the altar in belize. when southwest told her she may be able to rebook -- >> they did tell us that once it would go in the system it would not actually come to me. we wouldn't be able to book

those because they had over booked. >> reporter: for some customers -- the most emotional reunion seen at airports have been between people and their bags. >> i just haven't had this bag in a week. i've been wearing other people's clothes. >> reporter: southwest first placed all the blame for stranded flyers, lost bags, and its ability to get people flights in bad weather. the ceo admitted the company systems were too out dated to deal with the big disruption. >> they serve us well 99% of the time but clearly we need to double down on our already existing plans to upgrade the systems for these extreme circumstances so we never again face what is happening right now. >> reporter: southwest's pilot and flight attendant union say they've been ringing the alarm about the outdated system for years. >> we've been harping on them since 2015ish. every year we've seen some sort of meltdown happen. >> the executives should have committed to ensuring our i.t. infrastructure would be able to

grow and change the way we operate our flights. >> reporter: southwest promised to reimburse customers but good luck reaching an agent on the phone let alone in person. >> we are still in line and nobody is giving us any direction. >> reporter: those unable to fly home are finding creative solutions >> i went up to the attendant and i said is there anybody going to denver? >> reporter: andy brunner and her wife megan were stranded in minnesota unable to find a way home until a complete stranger offered to drive them back to denver. >> in our case it couldn't have worked out any better. >> reporter: southwest is busing some passengers from airport to airport in order to bring some relief amid a total meltdown. >> i'm still stranded. i need to drive nine more hours. i'm upset, stressed, tired. i hate this. >> reporter: the transportation department formally warning southwest airlines it will take action if the airline does not

follow through on promises to reimburse passengers for alternative transportation, hotels, meals, not to mention baggage reunification. take a look behind me. this mountain of suitcases is a symbol of the cascading effect of all of these travel nightmares. a lot of folks still trying to get reunited with their bags. southwest did hire extra staff to sort through all of these pieces of luggage but of course despite the promises of getting back to normal on friday, it is going to take days for everyone to get reunited with their bag. >> lucy kafanov, thank you very much for showing us that. joining me now is one of the southwest passengers who can relate to the very trying story. deb, oh, my gosh your story is so frustrating. let's just share it with everybody. on friday you were supposed to be flying from denver to seattle and your flight was canceled. two days before christmas your flight was canceled.

it was rebooked. >> yes. >> for monday. after christmas. >> yes. >> so how did that sit with you? >> it was just very sad. my daughter is a travel nurse out in seattle and my neighbor's kids are in seattle as well. we were just trying to get the families together for christmas. we had an airbnb booked in leavenworth, washington. it was going to be a magical weekend so it was a huge let down. >> right. because you showed up. you went. it gets worse. you went back to the airport on monday for the rescheduled flight. and. >> yes. >> your flight kept getting delayed. how long did you wait on monday? >> we were in the airport a total of 12 hours. we waited about six hours at the gate before they finally canceled our flight. then went to try to figure out the baggage and were told to wait in a three-hour line to put a claim in.

but that our bags were going to go to seattle regardless. >> how is it possible that your bags flew to seattle but you were not able to? >> i'm guessing they didn't fly. i've heard multiple things like maybe they were trucked or different things. regardless, we don't know where the bags are. we have a claim in on them. hopefully we'll see them soon. >> okay. so tonight as we speak, you have no idea where your luggage is. >> oh, no idea. >> what has southwest told you about where your luggage is? >> they have told us they are trying very hard to reunite us with our bags. >> i mean, deb, that is so frustrating. did you have valuables in those bags, things you'd like to see again? >> well i would certainly like to see them. all of our christmas presents are in the bags. we have the tree up. we'll wait it out and hopefully have christmas eventually. >> oh, my gosh, deb, you are so good spirited. you are clearly you have the

patience of job more than i would. but this is ridiculous. i mean, it is ridiculous that you never got on your flight and, yet, you were still separated from your bag and they have no idea where it. are they going to offer you any kind of compensation? what are they telling you? >> not yet. i mean, i am hoping if they cannot find it they will. but not yet. it's very hard to get in touch with anyone from the airline right now. >> so what happens when you call them? >> let's see. last thursday night i was on hold for four hours and kept getting disconnected every hour. and then today we finally did get in touch with them after an hour and 15 minutes which i thought was pretty good. >> that's when they said what? >> well that's when they said put in the claim. if you've done that online that is all we can do right now. we got an e-mail back saying they are trying to find our

bags. >> you missed being -- spending christmas with your daughter and family and this whole trip you had planned. you have been parted from your christmas gifts and belongings for all of these days. they can't offer you any idea of where your bag and your luggage is. you've spent hours at the airport and on the phone with them. is there anything -- how could they compensate you for this? what would you want out of southwest at this point? >> i guess reimbursement for our fillets to get our bags back and i guess that's all. >> i mean, that is the least they could do, the least they can do. of course you need reimbursement for your flights. of course you need your bags back. >> yes. >> i'm looking as you are speaking. we have pictures i guess of your kids who were celebrating christmas without you guys? >> yes. they were in seattle. >> what did they do?

>> our neighbors kids and my daughter were in seattle and my son was here with us. >> well, they look like they're having a great time. >> we tried to make the best of it. so -- >> yeah. and so, deb, will you ever fly southwest again? >> yeah, i've been thinking about that and i just think it is too soon to tell. >> wow. you are a patient woman. deb, we'll check back with you. i really, really hope they can find your bag and your christmas gifts and i hope they come up with something. >> thank you. >> you are just one, as we said, of hundreds of thousands of passengers who had a lousy christmas because of all of this. >> yes. >> so, deb, best of luck. let us know what happens. >> thank you. thank you so much. >> all right. take care. >> okay. you, too. >> all right. so was it will smith slapping chris rock at the oscars or was it the students who complained

about their university being too hard? up next our panel is back with closing arguments on some of the hottest debates, not political ones, of 2022. some information. birth certificate. wow. and d then you add it to the tree. it's like you discover a new fafamily member. it's the greatesest gift. now on sale at ancestry. a dental tool is round for a reason. so is an oral-b. round cleans better by surrounding each tooth.

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as 2022 comes to a close we take a look back at a few of the biggest debates of the year. not political debates, culture debates. this comes courtesy of the "new york times" opinion piece the 2022 debates that made us roll our eyes and change our minds in 2022. from the will smith slap to hybrid work to how hard school should be for students. let's put a few of these back on the table for a few minutes. back with me now charlie dent, ron brownstein, and molly. charlie, the will smith slap went on for so long. about what that meant and what should happen to will smith. i'm not sure we ever resolved that. it was such a shock to the system when we all saw that at the oscars. >> yeah.

will smith had a sterling reputation up to that point. and everybody including me, i'm a guy from the philadelphia region more or less. and to see that i was really shocked. will smith, we are all sympathetic to him but that was inexcusable. it looked like simple assault from where i'm sitting. you can't go up and smack a speaker like that at an event. an appropriate response would have been if he didn't like the jokes, you know, mocking his wife, that condition caused her to lose her hair he and his wife could have simply left the event and put out a statement. no. he did that and i thought it set a terrible signal for a lot of folks that this is an appropriate way to respond to some speech you found distasteful. i thought it was awful. >> yeah. molly, it was a shock and i'm not sure we've resolved it. will smith has apologized. he has been banned from the oscars but i'm not sure it has been resolved at the end of this

year. >> well, a lot of these things were actually culture down stream of politics right? a lot of them were about culture but they were also, you know, a lot of things that got folded into the culture wars, too. >> how is this one about politics? >> because people sort of took, you know, there was the sort of the people who supported the guy who got slapped and the people who supported, you know, a lot of sort of team -- people got on different teams and was the punishment enough. i do think there was a sort of posturing that had vaguely political implications. >> i think everything right now is through the lens of politics. when you say the teams that our country is so team centric right now in terms of divisions i agree with that. we see everything. are you on harry and meghan's team, or on the british royals? everything is like that.

i want to move on to the school stuff unless you have anything to say. >> i'm not sure there is a debate to echo charlie, if chris rock was in the comedy club and the guy got up on the table and walked on stage and slapped him he would be on trial, and in jail. the only question is why didn't will smith face those consequences? other than that i'm not sure there is much to debate >> i think people were so stunned but that is my theory. i hear you. >> here is another thing we debated. obviously there were so many cultural debates about schools this year and who controls what our kids are learning and if something is too woke. in this one that got the "new york times" attention it was whether school is too hard and at nyu there was a crop of kids, molly, that did think that their professor, this was a professor in an organic chemistry class and they thought he was

impossibly hard. they signed a petition. we urge you to realize that a class with such a high percentage of withdrawals and low grades has failed to make students' learning and well being a priority and reflects poorly on the chemistry department as well as the institution as a whole. i believe they got him fired and his quote, the professor's quote was, they weren't coming to class. that is for sure. because i can count the house, said in an interview, they weren't watching the videos and weren't able to answer the questions. this is the, un, debate about whether or not kids are being too mollycoddled and not tough enough. your thoughts? >> well, look. we have a problem which is a lot of this higher ed has become like a business right? it is very expensive and the students and parents are sort of like customers. so you ultimately find yourself in a situation where the goal here is learning but these people are paying thousands of dollars with sometimes very mixed results.

it is not like a college degree guarantees you'll have a great career. i do think you find yourself in a situation where you have these consumers who are not happy with the product and because they paid so much money you're in an impossible situation. i still feel like i don't quite know enough about this general situation to know exactly what happened. there was other reporting around this, said maybe other stuff. but yeah. it is never good to get teachers fired. you know, almost never good. but i mean there are probably some exceptions. but i just think in this situation you have these schools that are so expensive and these students who are very emboldened. >> charlie? >> look, welcome to organic chemistry. that is a course that is used to weed out students who are going to medical school. i started in engineering. i wasn't very good at it. i'm glad i got out of it. i would have been weeded out. at a place like lehigh university where most of my family went. you wanted to be an yej jeer you

know what the dean told you the first day? look to the left. look to the right. one of you is not going to be an engineer when this is all over. that is how they dealt with it. they were trying to train and educate engineers and good ones. not everybody is cut out for this stuff. i don't think we should coddle people. i was not a terrific student. i'll be very honest about that. we have standards for a reason. maybe there are some difficult professors but i don't think we should be firing an organic chemistry professor because some students didn't show up to class and he was rough. okay. welcome to higher education >> i love when we get to the charlie confessional part of the evening. that is one of my favorite parts of this program. >> go ahead, ron. >> i was hoping molly was going to respond to mollycoddling. what she thinks of that of being labeled. i don't know enough of the specifics on here but i do think the underlying point of this as

the "new york times" is suggesting as often suggested is that generation z is mollycoddled and kind of handle with kid gloves and a bunch of snowflakes which i think is a fundamental, you know, sure there are individual cases but it is a fundamental misdiagnosis of the situation that they are in. you know, facing much higher as she noted tuition bills not only at fancy private schools like nyu but tuition is now double the share of the funding for state universities that it was when the baby boomers went to college. we've shifted so much of the burden from the community to these individuals and families many more of whom are graduating with debt, struggling to pool enough assets to buy houses, much less likely to own houses. the underlying implication of this from the "new york times" is basically these kids have it so easy, boy, we should be tougher on them. it really, the baby boomers benefited from an awful lot more of public investment in their success and now it is the baby

boomers basically saying the next generation are getting off too easy. it is simply a total misdiagnosis of the conditions they face. >> really interesting. you're not done. i have another culture question. stick around. up next, we used to really envy the super rich and now we really hate them. but we like poking fun at them. why americans seem to be enjoying their love to hate the super rich moment. we'll show you examples. what? all i had d to do was answer a couple questions and got a real offer inin seconds. then, they just picked up the cacar and paid me right on t the spo. sell your car at carvana dot com today.

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some more heroes and your call will make a difference. thank you for being our hero. i've been telling everyone... the secret to great teeth is having healthy gums. crest advanced gum restore. detoxifies below the gumline... and restores by helping heal gums in as little as 7 days. crest. the #1 toothpaste brand in america. wer remember back if the '80s and '90s when we loved to watch the exploits of rich people, shows of the rich and famous, later gossip girl and crazy rich asians? now many of us love hate watching rich people. that is why white lotus or knives onion and knives out mystery are all the rage.

>> welcome to cicely. >> you sold their company, got rich, and now your best friend? >> are these the kind of people we're going to hang out with now? >> ladies and gentlemen. >> this is it. >> you expected a mystery. >> this is not a game. >> i'm back with charlie dent, ron brownstein, molly, raise your hand how many of you are "white lotus" fans? okay. all of us. >> yes. >> and so, ron, what is so delicious about it? i find it delicious, too. it is also cringy to see the behavior of white privilege basically and rich yeah, it is kind of a sign of the times. i described, it i was talking to my son about it. i described it as occupy wall street made into a mini series. you, know the 99% against the 1%. and he corrected me, you know,

given who watches hbo. the white lotus really inviting the rest of the top 10% to score in the 1%, which in some ways is revealing of where we are as a society. i, you know, i think zuckerberg and the whole drama around facebook in 16 and 20 followed by mark has been in kind of a cultural turning point. i mean, you go to the 90s, we thought that clear her, in particular, of course more than knives out sequel, we talk dak burns we're gonna save us. i mean, steve jobs was the future. now i think they look much more like a threat to our future then the salvation. and you are seeing that, i think, above all more than anything else it's going to the shift in attitude towards the kind of top one tenth of 4%. >> that is really interesting, i thought what was the tipping point where it shift to hate watching being congenial? we would've your thoughts? >> i mean, i think there is a history. i think there is a long history of americans loving satire and

skewering the rich from evelyn roy down. so i do think there is a literate tradition and a television tradition there. but i do think what ron said is really important. that there was a sort of moment when we thought all of these tech oligarchs would be, you know, doing, giving older money away and solving the world's problems. and instead they have largely caused many problems. i was impressed with glass union, because when i watched it, i couldn't believe how close it was to the elon musk story. >> yeah, charlie? >> well, my reaction was, look, i enjoyed the shows. i think they're interesting. there is a concern, though, that there are a lot of wealthy people who maybe flaunt their wealth too much. and i think that is a bit of a change for a guy like me who comes from pennsylvania, a german country. you have a lot of very understated people who have accumulated a lot of wealth and you never knew until they died. that is kind of what i'm used to. people like that who are very modest, at least they appear to

be quite modest. so get away their money and it didn't talk about. it just wasn't something they would do. they would never flaunt it. and sometimes with these shows, you always hear about the other gulley american who goes abroad and behaves like a jerk because they have money and defend everybody. i think there is a little bit too much of that in our society, and that is kind of the sirius -- let me say real quick. the white lotus net is cross pretty broad. it is not just, you know, anti the rich rich. i mean, it is hard to find a fully sympathetic character neither season. i, mean it is a pretty bleak view of human nature overall. but certainly it gives you that kind of joy of seeing that the very very rich are just as miserable if not more miserable than you are. that's what we like. that sort of the christmas present. -- spoiler alert, sorry.

>> [laughter] well i hope everyone has finished the season because charlie just told you what happened. that is, i just thought it was delicious. i think the acting is so green i think it is just so delicious. yes, cringiest two familiar. i, mean rings true. some of the really obnoxious behavior. but just so well done. all, right friends, thank you so much. great to spend tonight with you. and thank you so much, everyone, for watching. before we go tonight. here is a look at the new cnn film, dion warwick, don't make me over. be sure to tune in, new year's day at 9 pm. right here on cnn for the premier. our victor blackwell has a closer look. >> dion warwick is a global

music superstar. but her impact extends far beyond music. warwick's singing career started at her grandfather's church in new jersey. her talent and drive propelled her from the church choir to the most famous stages around the world. but when she started touring in the south, warwick encountered a level of bigotry that she had not seen growing up in the north. her response was clear. >> blocks run on the, side whites run on this side. the stage was straight ahead, and i remember saying, dion, do not turn your back on the white folk. first thing i did when i went out there, i walked straight to the back and turned my back and played to the ones that looked

like me. >> when the hiv aids crisis stuck in the, 80s warwick was quick to act. >> i became very vocal in very public with the aids issue based on the fact that we are losing so many people. something out to be done. >> dion was definitely a hero of mine. and a hero to a lot of people. she was really the first person in the music business to actually speak up about it. >> my role as ambassador. >> her efforts prompted them president ronald reagan to name her his u.s. ambassador of health to advocate for aids awareness and research around the world. >> today, warwick continues to make an impact through her colorful twitter commentary. collaboration's with young artists.

>> i will break the, leg break, bank break hearts. >> pop culture presents. >> dion, why are you perfect? >> darling, i am not perfect. i am just very very good. >> and ongoing charity work. and at 82, she continues to share her legendary music with audiences around the world. >> victor blackwell, cnn. just sleep. leararn more, and view important safety information at inspiresleep.com

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days before republicans assume the majority in the house and likely dissolve the january 6th committee, members asked a new batch of testimony involving efforts of those closest to the former president, and their attempts to overturn the election. i'm pamela brown in for anderson tonight. and included in the ne