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i'm don lemon. we have breaking news. this country hits a record number of covid-19 hospitalizations for the third day in a row. more than 125,000 people. that as the cdc now projects there could be 424,000 americans dead from the coronavirus by january 23rd. imagine that. i want you to think about that just for a minute. it's not just a number. we're talking about 425,000 americans who did not have to die. think of it this way. that's more than 142 times the number of people who died on 9/11. more than 142 times the number of people who died on 9/11. hi i had to check my math more than once because it seemed impossible, but it's true. the equivalent of 142 9/11s. this virus is killing us by the thousands and thousands, asked hard truth is we aren't

vaccinating nearly enough people to stop this tragedy. more than 2.7 million americans have gotten shots in the arm so far. that works out to a daily rate of 53 shots per 100,000 people. but we're getting outvaccinated by countries like israel, with 608 per 100,000. bahrain with 263. the uk with 60. our vaccine effort is just not good enough, and americans are paying the price right now. look at the line at this food bank in austin, texas, this morning. all those people waiting and waiting to get two boxes of food just to feed their families. and those $2,000 stimulus checks, that could help them. they're a casualty of the standoff on capitol hill. senate majority leader mitch mcconnell making it clear his priority is to placate the president while doing everything he can to ensure the measure

doesn't actually come up for a vote. >> the senate is not going to split apart the three issues that president trump linked together. >> hmm. so never mind those desperately needed checks. we'll just tack on the president's grudge match with twitter and his false claims of voter fraud. false claims of voter fraud. and we'll just let the bill die. and what is the president doing? what is he doing while americans are suffering? there you go. right there. exactly what you knew he'd be doing, and that is golfing, spending his 313th day at one of his golf clubs since he took office. trump supporters, how do you justify that? republican lawmakers, how do you justify that? come on. but while he is playing, his

allies are hard at work. senator josh hawley announcing he is going to object to the electoral college results next week, signing on to the president's doomed, last-ditch attempt at a coup really. it's nothing but a big, dumb show. that's all it is, a big reality tv show for all of them. they think it's a game. no game. big reality tv show for an audience of one at the white house or on the golf course i should say. the proof, we're learning tonight the current president is returning to washington. he's going to do it early, which means he'll be in town for that big, dumb show. trump now expected to leave palm beach before his annual new year's eve party even though guests had already gathered at mar-a-lago and were told trump would be partying with them. partying. that's according to three sources. looks like he can't resist passing up a ritzy part filled with sycophants for his even

bigger show. conservative lawyer george conway, former white house counselor kellyanne conway's husband outraged tonight by the game-playing on capitol hill and warning it is very dangerous to our democracy. >> what we're seeing here is a never-ending downward spiral into delusion and un-reality and into just lies about the integrity of our democracy. and that is profoundly dangerous. these individuals are seeking to advance their own political careers and do so at the expense of trust in our democracy. they're fomenting these lies, fomenting these fears of an illegitimate election, and they're doing so for their own political benefit, and it's destructive of democracy. it's horrible, and nobody's ever done this before. >> all right. so it's obvious, right? senator hawley's motives are pretty transparent. he's perfectly willing to ride

the president's crazy train all the way to the end of the line if it means he can appeal to loyal trump fans, positioning himself for a white house run. good luck with that. but the fact is all these people think that they can go on fox news and all of a sudden that they're like famous. come on, people. let's -- really? the fact is for all this president's rantings and ravings about voter fraud, he and his team of clowns have turned up absolutely nothing, nada, zilch, nothing, nothing, nothing, again and again and again. it's maddening. members of the president's own party, white house insiders, the courts -- they've all said it is over. there was no fraud. that joe biden won. so let's remember this, okay? this president's handpicked now former attorney general said that there was no evidence of fraud that would have changed the election results.

refused the president's sore loser demands for a special counsel. >> if i thought a special counsel at this stage was the right tool and it was appropriate, i would do -- i would name one, but i haven't, and i'm not going to. >> so mitch mcconnell waited six weeks but finally acknowledged biden's win. >> the electoral college has spoken. so today i want to congratulate president-elect joe biden. >> the supreme court threw out election cases twice, twice in one week. the agencies charged with protecting our election called it the most secure in american history. judges all across this country have thrown out cases, case after case after case. a trump-appointed federal appeals court judge throwing out a case in pennsylvania, writing this. charges require specific allegations and then proof. we have neither here.

calling an election unfair does not make it so. wow, logic. it's crazy. well, this is a president who piled crazy on top of crazy on top of crazy on top of crazy. you thought the first three years of his term were bad? this year really took the cake, reached new lows. a defeated, impeached, one-term president still refusing to admit that he's a loser, that he lost. still pretending that he can just tweet away his loss to joe biden, and with 2020 just about in the rearview mirror, let's look back at some of the best of the worst moments of the insane reality show of the final year of this president's disastrous term. i should say and all of the people who were part of the

insane clown posse, because there were so many of them. we actually need reminding. this is a president whose dereliction of duty left americans unprotected from a deadly pandemic. >> when you have 15 people and the 15 within a couple of days is going to be down to close to zero, that's a pretty good job we've done. >> every one of these doctors said, how do you know so much about this? maybe i have a natural ability. maybe i should have done that instead of running for president. >> i said supposing you brought the light inside the body, which you can do either through the skin or in some other way. and i think you said you're going to test that too. sounds interesting. and then i see the disinfectant where it knocks it out in a minute, one minute. and is there a way we can do something like that by injection inside or -- or almost a cleaning because you see it gets in the lungs. >> so i said to my people, slow

the testing down, please. >> they are dying. that's true. and it is what it is. >> that's all you hear. turn on television. covid, covid, covid, covid, covid. a plane goes down, 500 people dead, they don't talk about it. covid, covid, covid, covid. by the way, on november 4th, you won't hear about it anymore. >> hindsight is 20/20, right? all that you just heard, that was the rearview mirror, and look what it turned out. nothing -- not one thing he said there was accurate. not one thing. not one thing. trump supporters, whether you're watching now or you're going to see this spread on social media or online, just look at the tape. not one thing. you've got 15 people. soon it's going to be over. they're not going to talk about it after november 4th. you can inject it.

they'll say, that's not what he said. that's what he said. play the sound bite. none of it was accurate. none of it was intelligent. just dumb making up stuff so he can pull a grift, con you. did you fall for it? this is a president who had peaceful protesters gassed so he could hold up -- hold a photo shoot op and shoot, whatever, on the steps of a church. hmm, there it is. bible. maybe upside down. who knows? brand-new. a president who on the debate stage refused to condemn the far right-wing proud boys. >> what do you want to call them? give me a name. >> white supremacists. >> what would you like me to condemn? >> proud boys. >> proud boys, stand back and stand by. >> a president who refused to

commit to a peaceful transfer of power. >> will you commit to making sure that there is a peaceful transferral of power after the election? >> well, we're going to have to see what happens. get rid of the ballots and you'll have a very -- we'll have a very peaceful -- there won't be a transfer frankly. there will be a continuation. >> get rid of the ballots. now that sounds like election fraud because that's what it is. projection. who's committing the fraud or trying to? hmm. a president who on election night wanted ballots to go uncounted and insisted against all the facts and evidence that he'd won. >> we want all voting to stop. we don't want them to find any ballots at 4:00 in the morning and add them to the list, okay? [ applause ] it's a very sad -- it's a very

sad moment. to me, this is a very sad moment, and we will win this. as far as i'm concerned, we already have won it. >> oh, yeah, you won. you keep believing that. yep. see the moving trucks outside the house, then what are you going to do? got to go. the president, who defended his mental fitness to hold office by praising his own ability to recall five words -- >> so it's person, woman, man, camera, tv. okay. that's very good. if you get it in order, you get extra points. if you -- okay. now he's asking you other questions, other questions, and then 10 minutes, 15 minutes, 20 minutes later, they say, remember the first question -- not the first, but the tenth

question? give us that again. and you go person, woman, man, camera, tv. if you get it in order, you get extra points. they said, nobody gets it in order. but then when you go back about 20, 25 minutes later, and they say go back to that question. they don't tell you this. go back to that question and repeat them. can you do it? and you go person, woman, man, camera, tv. they say, that's amazing. how did you do that? i do it because i have like a good memory, because i'm cognitively there. [ laughter ] >> so cringy. now, netflix, there you go. that's a great comedy. imagine all the programming you could have with just that. he's cognitively there.

what a year. this is my last show of this year for what i'm doing now. we'll see you on new year's eve, but seriously there's a lot of terrible things happening. but what a year. think about what this -- this man has done in the last year since we've been in this pandemic. what a presidency the last four years. what a presidency, one that ends in just 21 days. we'll talk about all the rest after the break. okay, give it. between wisdom and curiosity, there's a bridge. between ideas and inspiration, trauma and treatment. gained a couple of more pounds. that's good for the babies. between the moments that make us who we are, and keeping them safe, private and secure, there's webex. ♪ ♪ beautiful.

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from the fluffiest down duvet you'll ever feel. crisp and light percale sheets, to cool, supportive mattresses and plush pillow for your best nights sleep. treat yourself to a new year of comfort and shop the new year sale with up to 15% off at casper.com so the coronavirus pandemic is spiraling out of control in this country. tonight more than 125,000 americans are hospitalized with the virus. that's unfortunately a new record. the cdc is now predicting another 82,000 covid deaths in just the next few weeks. so i want you to keep in mind we have already lost more than 342,000 people since the

pandemic began, and we are learning that the new highly contagious covid variant has been identified in california and in colorado. so let's go to colorado right now and talk with colorado's democratic governor jared polis. good evening, sir. good to see you. how are you and your husband doing since this because you both came down with it, right? >> thanks, don. yeah, we're fully recovered. i had an easier time of it. marlon spent two nights in the hospital, but we're all fully recovered. we have the blessing of health, and like everybody i think we're all ready to move on to the next year. but 2020 still wants to leave us with a new potentially more contagious variant. >> that's what i want to talk to you about. i know now you're looking to protect the people so that they don't end up getting the virus if it can be prevented. so this new coronavirus variant in your state is even more contagious. how are you going to handle a potential surge because hospitals are already packed, haven't even seen the christmas

spike yet, governor. >> well, look, this variant likely exists in many states, particularly states that have a lot of travel with england like in mid-atlantic, new england region. colorado scientists were the first to find the variant in somebody in colorado. we know it's not widespread yet here because we looked through a number of different rna sets, and this is the only case we found. but what happened in england, don, is because this variant appears to be contagious, it essentially overtook the other variants of the virus and became the predominant strain in southwest england. so that's what we're -- you know, it's all contagious, don. any version of this virus is contagious, so it's really the same precautions. avoid socializing with people outside your home. wear a mask. keep six feet from others. >> so, governor, colorado isn't getting ought the vaccine doses that you were promised. what's your reaction to president trump blaming you, your fellow governors, for the

lagging distribution? >> well, look, if you give us more, we're happy to distribute more. we set a rule in colorado every provider, hospital, community, health clinic we work with has to use and deploy within to f k folks' arms within 72 hours. please send it. we're ready to go. >> the most important thing you need from the incoming biden administration to help you handle this worsening crisis. >> i would say the proper use of the soapbox rather than a president that disregards public health advice, a president who encourages our fellow americans to save lives by wearing a mask and avoiding socializing with others outside your household, and of course we'd love assistance with continued work around vaccine delivery and assistance for the states to successfully continue our testing programs and our vaccination programs. >> the people in your state, as

i understand, infected with this covid strain are national guard member who's were helping at a nursing home. governor, should service members assisting with the covid crisis be a priority for vaccines? >> absolutely. i think i speak for all the governors when i express intense appreciation for the work of our guardsmen and guardswomen. they've done an amazing job, standing up testing centers, logistical support. in colorado, we had our three largest wildfires in the history of our state this summer. the guardsmen helped with evacuations and other work supporting the firemen and first responders. so we're very grateful for the work that they do every day, and, yes, it was a member of the national guard that had that first case of that variant. to be clear, the variant is not more dangerous to one's health. that is everything we know about it from the uk. same hospitalization rates and fatality rates. it is more contagious. if it spreads to more people, it could mean more hospitalizations and deaths.

>> i've got to get your take on this stimulus drama right now. leader mcconnell has basically closed the door for increasing checks to $2,000. what does this mean for all the people who are struggling all over the country, but in your state. you're the governor of colorado. what does this mean for folks? >> it's a great shame. i hope they find a way. if they want to narrow the group a little, do it for anybody who lost employment in the last year, compromise. that's what we do, come up with something so we can get out that $2,000 to the people who need it the most, the people who cut their hours, lost their jobs. the $600, which is arriving soon, is appreciated. of course it helps. our state did $375 on top of that. but there's a lot of folks across the entire country that could really use that help right now, and i really call upon mitch mcconnell to seek compromise with his republican and democratic colleagues. >> we know it's a very busy time and you're dealing with the folks in your state and trying to handle the business of the people in your state. we appreciate you taking the time to join us. thank you so much.

happy new year to you. >> always a pleasure, don. happy new year. the president has lost every argument so far. he's provided no proof for anything, but he just won't stop shouting fraud, and it is dividing his own party. >> look, the one thing you learn now is loyalty is one way with president trump. you know, you have these leaders that have done a lot for donald trump, and they don't follow through on this, then he'll throw them under the bus.

so president trump getting some help with his latest bogus attempt to overturn the election

that he lost fair and square. senator josh hawley says he'll challenge the results next week in congress. but contrary to what the president may tweet, this stunt won't prevent joe biden from becoming the next president on january 20th. joining me, mr. john harwood and mark mckinnon. thank you, gentleman. you' tip of the hat. such a gentleman. >> i got no hat. >> i know. i looked in the monitor. you don't have it. let's get to it. we're hearing that president trump, john, is changing his travel plans because of this last-ditch effort to overturn the election results. what do you know about it? >> look, president trump is pretty badly wounded right now. he's lost the election. that was a huge blow to him

psychologically. he is having difficulty accepting that, so he's holding on to this delusion that he can somehow with the complicit of republican politicians overturn the results of the election. can't feel good for him to be -- having been embarrassed by joe biden in the election to host that new year's eve party, so he's not going to his new year's eve party. he's not even happy about the renovations that melania trump has overseen to mar-a-lago. so he's getting out of town. the white house hasn't officially announced it. he could change his mind. but we believe -- our reporting tells us that he's going to come back tomorrow and try to see what he can get going heading into january 6th when the electoral college results are going to be certified. that's not in doubt. but the only question is how much of a ruckus and a circus can be kicked up before that happens. >> i got to ask you because i'm just getting -- i just got some

stuff regarding another appeal, a possible appeal to the supreme court here. what are you hearing about another appeal to the supreme court, this time about wisconsin's election results, contesting -- trying to get them to overturn wisconsin's results. >> this is crazy stuff. it's not going anywhere. the supreme court said what they're going to say about this election. they can keep throwing out pieces of paper and challenge different states, but you can tell the way some of the crazier trump advocates, lin wood, the attorney in georgia is wildly attacking john roberts, the chief justice of the supreme court. you can tell that they understand what the odds are against them with the supreme court. this thing is now going to the congress on january 6th. trump is going to lose again. mike pence is either going to perform the administerial duty of certifying those results, or

somebody else will. and donald trump's going to leave in three weeks. but he's going to be -- do a lot of yelling and kicking and screaming between now and then. >> mark, what is -- what is trump's obsession, his supporters' obsession, and not just the lawmakers, what is their obsession with using the courts to -- and to be so aggrieved? what is this? i've never seen anything like it. >> well, don, one of the things is first of all he can't accept losing. it's just not in his psychology. so he thinks he was robbed. and he's thought all along that the courts, all of them and including and especially the supreme court are supposed to bend to his political will. he thought that the reason that he got to appoint all these people is that they would do what he wanted to under any circumstances, and they didn't have to actually look at the law. they just had to look at donald trump and see what he wanted to do, see which way the wind would blow, and that they would respond and genuflect, and they didn't. to their credit, as i've said

before, you know, a lot of democrats don't like the idea of the federalist society, but at least they appointed experienced judges. if they hadn't been there getting donald trump a list, we'd have mayor agiuliani and others only the supreme court who would do donald trump's bidding on these court actions to overturn an election. so really, don, it's just a reflection of the notion that he thinks the courts should bend to his will. >> it's really projection, mark, when they talk about snowflakes. who are the real snowflakes in all of this? they are the real snowflakes because there's so aggrieved. they're so put upon. oh, my gosh, i'm so hurt. it's really a weird, weird thing that is happening in this country right now. mark, after senator hawley announced he's going to object during the electoral college certification, republican congressman adam kinzinger tweeted this. he said, internal monologue. i wanted to be president so i

decided to get potus tweet saying i'm great even though i know this isn't going anywhere. but, hey, i'll blame someone else when it fails. clearly this spectacle, mark, is all about 2024. but do you expect other republicans to follow in senator hawley's footsteps? >> i do, don. i think that it's clear, and i projected well before the election that if donald trump lost, he would run immediately or say he was running for president in 2024 because we know from reporting that donald trump never thought he was going to be president. he ran because if you want media attention, that's the hottest spotlight in the world. run for president. now, if he's not going to be president and joe biden becomes president, which is going to happen, the next best thing is to run for president and maintain his stranglehold on the republican party and maintain a spotlight when he's attacking joe biden every day, which he will. and so he's going to maintain that political control of the republican party. now, he may ultimately not run

in 2024, so anybody else who's interested in it, like josh hawley, should go make sure and genuflect before king donald to make sure they understand they pass the loyalty test so if and when don pulls down the flag and hands the baton to somebody else, that josh hawley is first in line. >> listen, there are not enough people in this big international zoom call that we're having. so we're going to bring someone else in, former clinton white house press secretary joe lockhart. joe, welcome to the party. >> thank you. >> vice president pence will preside over the joint session of congress next week. do you think he'll actually do his job, or will he do the president's bidding? >> well, i think he'll do his ceremonial job, which is only ceremonial, which is he'll open the envelope and like at the oscars say, the oscar goes to joe biden. that's his only role. now, he may duck out of it because it's politically

difficult for him and have someone from the senate do it. but i think this whole thing is an effort by donald trump to delegitimize of the presidency of joe biden. he's doing everything he can to try to make joe biden's job harder, everything from covid to this stuff about voter fraud. and, you know, he just doesn't seem to care what the consequences of these, you know -- of his vindictiveness. >> don't you think, though, it's so transparent? it makes him look small and petty, joe. i mean he's going out on a bad note, and it's like -- i'm embarrassed. i think most people are embarrassed for him even if he has no shame. >> well, i think he has a different inner monologue going on than a lot of the rest of us. >> people are laughing at him, openly laughing at him and mocking him, joe, for this.

>> yeah, and there are a lot of people out there who are worshipping him, and that's who he's listening to. you know, he got 74 million votes. you know, he's a classic con man. he doesn't need to con everyone. he just needs to con enough people to get to the next con. and he's done it for the entire administration. every promise he's made. he didn't build a wall. mexico hasn't paid for it. he didn't replace obamacare. and he didn't deal with covid, and now we know the vaccine is not getting out. and he's just trying to stay one con ahead. >> john, trump clearly views january 6th as a loyalty test for all republicans. but as we have seen with georgia's governor, brian kemp, recently and countless others over the years, it's a one-way street for trump. these people have carried so much water for him, and as soon as you say one critical word or you try to stand by the law or do what you're supposed to do rather than listen to his wackiness, his delusions, he

turns right on you. >> donald trump is an emotional, psychological black hole. he pulls everything in to him. he demands people to do things that ultimately are going to embarrass them, but he's only thinking about what's in it for him. and so the idea of him sacrificing something to help another person who's been loyal to him, that's not part of his psychological makeup. so, yes, donald trump goes moment to moment looking for gratification for himself and is looking for people who will give it to him. and if you stop giving it to him, he's got no more use for them. as a result of that, look at what's happening with mitch mcconnell. mitch mcconnell -- donald trump has taken a series of actions

from attacking mcconnell on twitter to this nonsensical 11th hour attempt to get these $2,000 checks. he is doing everything he can to make mitch mcconnell and the republicans in the senate look bad. don't know if that's going to tilt the results of these very, very close runoff elections in georgia, but because they're very, very close, just a little bit will help. but he's now teed up the framing of the contest so the democrats can credibly say the only reason why you're not getting $2,000 is mitch mcconnell. mitch mcconnell having struck a deal with nancy pelosi and the administration for a $900 billion covid relief package thought he had done what he needed to do to both respond to some degree to the pandemic and take care of the georgia senate races. donald trump has decided because he's angry at mitch mcconnell to make mitch mcconnell look bad, and he's doing it. >> look at bill barr, what bill barr did for him. i mean he completely spun what

was in the mueller report to help this president and got him out of that hot water, and look what happened. mark, i want to play this for you. i'm going to get to the critical race that's happening in georgia. democratic candidate jon ossoff used an impromptu live interview with fox news today to make his case. i think they tried to -- they thought they were ambushing him in some way. he pulled a jedi mind trick and turned it right on them. watch this. >> since we're live on fox, let me take this opportunity to address directly the fox audience. we have two united states senators in georgia who have blatantly used their offices to enrich themselves. this is beyond partisanship. we've lost nine rural hospitals in georgia in ten years. we can reopen them. we can invest in infrastructure to build jobs, revitalize our communities, create opportunity, raise the minimum wage so that

people doing an honest week's work cannot just survive but can thrive. i humbly and respectfully request the support of everyone who is tuned in on fox right now. >> then he went on to talk about, according to him, that kelly loeffler was campaigning with a former member of the ku klux klan live on fox news. they tried again to say what about your experience, and then it's like, ooh, that hurt. what did you think of that move, mark? >> man, big kudos to ossoff for going into the lion's den and backing the lions down. that's kind of out of the playbook of mayor pete. there's a lot of -- you may not get a lot of votes going into fox for a democratic candidate for the u.s. senate. but, man, you get points across the board from people watching all over just for having the courage to go in and speak the truth and a very tough audience. i think that says a lot about

ossoff, and i think it's going to help him in the final days here. >> all right. gentlemen. it's good to have you on. i really do mean it this time. john, i've told you happy new year 25 times because i keep thinking i'm not going to see you again. happy new year. be safe out there, okay? let's hope 2021 is a lot better. a black teen accused of stealing a woman's phone. but the thing is he didn't, and now the d.a. is investigating.

i just want you to sit and watch this next story. it's a disturbing video. it shows a confrontation between a woman and a black family inside an upscale new york city hotel. it happened on saturday. the woman falsely accused a 14-year-old back teen of stealing her iphone. but the teen's family and the hotel, well, they called the end result an assault. in a moment, i'm going to speak live with the teen's parents and their lawyer. but first i want to bring in brynn gingras tonight, and she's going to walk us through the video, the accusations, and the investigation. she spoke with the woman at the center of the controversy. brynn. >> reporter: hey, don. yeah, harrold senior using his

music to xishow his outrage. the teen's mother says this is a racial injustice issue, and how much more terrifying she says this could have been if her son had been alone. the family says the hotel and its manager could have acted faster to stop what they call an assault. >> he empowered that woman to assault my son and is equally to blame for this injustice. >> that's right. >> he chose to try and prove that he was innocent instead of using his hospitality tool and asking our 14-year-old son his side of the story. >> reporter: the hotel said in a statement to cnn, quote, we're deeply disheartened about the assault about an innocent guest of arlo hotel. >> my is my phone. >> you don't have to explain nothing to her.

>> are you kidding me? you feel like there's only one iphone made in the world? >> okay. then show me -- >> no. you get a life. you better go use find my iphone. >> find my iphone is -- >> no, no. you can't. no. >> he will right now. >> this is my son. >> didn't you see me come downstairs out of the [ bleep ] elevator. >> i'm trying to help. >> but you're not helping. >> reporter: cnn was the first to speak to this woman seen on the new viral cell phone video accusing the teenager of stealing her cell phone. in a 20-minute phone interview, she denies attacking anyone and made claims that she was assaulted herself, an accusation the family denies. the 22-year-old woman also told me before the incident with the harrolds, she confronted someone else and insisted they, quote, empty their pockets. she claims she also demanded the hotel show her the security video, the harrolds, their attorney, and reverend al sharpton plan to meet with the

manhattan district attorney, who is investigating the case, and the family demands charges be filed. the nypd says as of now, the case is not being looked at as a bias incident and detectives are working to speak with the woman. top nypd brass says they are considering this crime as a possible assault or a grand larceny or attempted robbery. when i asked the woman the possibility of facing charges, how she feels about that, she said, quote, that's not who i am. i actually try very hard to make sure i am always doing the right thing. now, it is important to note, don, that when i spoke to her, she did speak at times erratically, but she did say she was willing to talk to the family about what happened. don. >> we'll see. thank you, brynn. i appreciate that. with me now is keyon harrold senior. i'm so sorry this happened to your son, 14 years old. how are you doing? how is he doing?

>> we -- we're very hurt. we are disappointed. he is -- he's traumatized and confused about why this happened to him and speechless sometimes. >> we're trying to make sense of it because it should never happen. >> mm-hmm. >> i tried to -- i literally tried every form of communication to get to them, you know. i let them know that this is not your phone. this is not your property, you know. i tried to literally walk away. i tried everything, but it was, you know, just relentless unfortunately. >> what was going through your head because, you know, this happens to -- not the exact same thing, but similar situations to people of color all the time and

home don't understand, why didn't you just show them your phone? why do i have to show you my phone because you have an issue. i don't have an issue. the entitlement of it all, what were you thinking as this was happening, keyon? >> what i was thinking was it's the same thing that's been going on for centuries, just the idea of, show me your papers. show me your papers, boy. and that's just not okay. i wanted to stay in a nice place with my son. i wanted to go down and enjoy some lunch. but the idea that someone felt that they had authority over me, over my son, that they can tell him what to do even though they didn't pay for his property. i look at it like you can't just walk up to someone and say, give me your bank account because i lost mine. it's just ridiculous. >> but the nypd says they're looking at this as a bias incident. >> well, i mean perspective -- i

mean ultimately perspective. like i said, the idea of somebody believing somebody else just because is not okay, and the idea of the manager believing first of all this person wasn't even a guest. we were guests, and my son was literally just -- just trying to assaulted and tackled and just the whole nine. >> she is saying that she was assaulted and yelling, you know. what do you say to that? >> that is, unfortunately -- >> attacking your son. saying that she was assaulted. >> that's not true. and i don't have the full video. the hotel has the full video. and i'll just say that my version of the video is probably the very, very, very g, g, g, pg

version of what happened. >> wow. ben, i can see you want to get in. what did you want to say? >> this is racial profiling 101, don. these karens falsely accuse young, black people of heinous things that are not true. by the way, don, her phone was returned by the uber driver, to the hotel. so, it was a complete, false accusation. and the fact that the hotel manager did not condemn the racial profiling and, many ways, became part of it when he said, well, give me your phone, as if we're guilty until proven innocent. and that is not acceptable. and the manhattan district attorney told us, today, that the video is way worse on the hotel security. that she attacked this kid. she tackled him. she scratched and clawed and fought with his father, and said you all are not going to leave this hotel until you give me that phone. >> keyon, she said she did it to

other people, too. did you see that, keyon? >> i -- did i -- she -- she did it to other -- when i walked downstairs -- >> yelled and screamed at other people. >> well, no. well -- sorry. >> the woman said that she -- wasn't just your son. that she was -- you know, she did it to other people as well. so, i don't know if you happened to see that. >> if that's -- if that's the case, i'm not sure why the hotel didn't escort or deescalate the situation, then. >> and that's the problem. you know, we walk downstairs. there was a guy. i'm not going to say what he looked like. but there was a guy, who was basically had been told to, basically, empty his bags, empty his pockets. we walked down -- but when my son and i came out of the elevator, literally, it was like she saw blood. and she, you know, sank right

into him and told him, give me that phone. that's -- you know, that's my phone. you know, take off the case. we'll see that it's mine. it's like, just ridiculous. >> so, kat, obviously, you thought that they should have handled this differently. >> if she said she was doing it to other guests and in -- in -- in this kind of establishment, something's severely wrong with the management, with the security. and, you know, i mean, it -- it -- it just wasn't okay. >> well, let me just tell people a bit about you because i think they should know, keyon, about you and your family. and not, you know, not that this should but about the -- the people who are on your screen right now. keyon is a prominent, jazz musician. worked with some of the biggest names out there. common. jay-z. beyonce. mary j. blige. his wife is just as successful. and i don't have to read your resume. successful, black folks. were you -- how -- obviously, were you surprised by this but was it shocking to you,

thinking, considering what happened? i mean, i don't really know how to -- the question to ask you right now. >> don, i'm -- i'm still in shock. i mean, with these last couple of days have been like. you know, i'm -- i'm still in shock because it's not supposed to happen. you know, as -- as black people, as black men, we -- we see it happen all the time. and it's -- and the easy -- the easy question that people ask is why didn't you just show her the cell phone? but the issue is that if i were a white guy, nobody would be asking me to show my cell phone. people would just believe that, oh, i must have the wrong guy. but with me, with my son, oh, that -- that might be mine. show me -- show me your papers. and the fact that it -- it -- it just really -- it hits at the core of dignity. >> you want your son what? i'm sorry. >> i want my son to be a whole man.

i want him to have his dignity. i don't want people to just, anytime they get ready, be able to just, you know, shut him down and -- and make him do things. he -- he's -- he -- he deserves respect as well. and he got none from the management or the young lady who, basically, should've been dealt with by the -- by the management. if -- if she was a problem, they should've been able to take care of that. >> yeah. many times, the people who say that they're victims aren't the victims and we know that. >> right. >> listen, i got to go. i know you want to weigh in but i have to run. obviously, we have a time limit. >> okay. >> look. if somebody walks up to you and says those are my glasses and they're really yours. do you really have to give it to them? or walks to your car and says you're driving my car. do you really have to show them proof? come on. happy new year. i hope that's possible. all right. and -- and my regards to your son. you guys, be well. thanks. we'll be right back. >> thank you, don. keeping your oysters business growing

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so, here we are, at the end of the year, right? it's almost over. thank you for watching, everyone. make sure you tune in tomorrow night. anderson cooper, andy cohen, live, in times square, starting at 8:00. brooke ball and i will make an appearance during those hours. but we have some surprises for you. we are going to ring in the new year, as well, after these guys. and wait till you see what we're wearing, wait till you see where we are. you won't believe it. all right. so, make sure you tune into cnn film "jimmy carter rock-and-roll president," premieres at 9:00, right here, on cnn. good night, everybody. on a new cozy bedroom and wake up on the right side of the bed this year. from the fluffiest down duvet you'll ever feel. crisp and light percale sheets, to cool, supportive mattresses and plush pillow for your best nights sleep. treat yourself to a new year of comfort

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