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Two Cases Of New Omicron Covid-19 Variant Detected In U.K.; U.K. Prime Minister Holds Briefing On New Omicron COVID Variant; Fauci: New Highly Contagious COVID Variant May Already Be In U.S.; Afghan Refugees Celebrate Their First Thanksgiving In U.S.; Blue Origin To Send Michael Strahan To The Edge Of Space. Aired 12-1p ET

Aired November 27, 2021 - 12:00   ET

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

[12:00:00]

KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Hello, and thanks for joining me. I'm Kaitlan Collins in Washington, in this weekend for Fredricka Whitfield.

We have "BREAKING NEWS" today as we are expecting British Prime Minister Boris Johnson to speak any moment now after U.K. health officials have confirmed that two cases of this concerning new variant Omicron are present in the U.K.

The U.S. does not have any confirmed cases as of now. And officials are warning though that it could be weeks before they have a clearer picture of what this highly mutated variant means. Dr. Anthony Fauci is warning though, it could already be here.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, CHIEF MEDICAL ADVISOR TO PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN: So, you would predict from looking at the mutations that have been identified, that it likely will be more transmissible? We don't know that yet. But you have to be careful and assume that that's the case.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you believe that Omicron is already here in the U.S. likely?

FAUCI: You know, I would not be surprised if it is.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: We've also heard from officials who say if it's not here yet, it could be on the way soon. CNN is covering this from every angle of the world. We have Nada Bashir in London, Nick Valencia in Atlanta, David McKenzie in Johannesburg, and Arlette Saenz, traveling with the president on his vacation in Nantucket.

Nada, let's start with you because we are going to hear from British Prime Minister Boris Johnson yet, for the first time since they've confirmed that, yes, they do have, at least, two cases of this variant in the U.K.

NADA BASHIR, CNN PRODUCER: Absolutely, Kaitlan. We are waiting to hear from Prime Minister Boris Johnson. He'll be chairing that emergency COVID briefing from Downing Street alongside his chief scientific adviser, and England's chief medical officer.

We are hoping to get updates on this latest discovery of two confirmed cases.

(CROSSTALK)

COLLINS: And there he is, Nada. We see British Prime Minister Boris Johnson just arrived to the podium. Let's listen to see what he has to say.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BORIS JOHNSON, PRIME MINISTER, UNITED KINGDOM: We've had the fastest vaccine rollout in Europe, and now, the fastest booster campaign in Europe. With almost 16.8 million boosters in people's arms. And though case numbers have remained relatively high, while we're seeing falling hospitalizations, and falling numbers of deaths.

But on Wednesday, we receive news of a new variant, the so-called Omicron variant. And I want to express my deep gratitude to scientists in South Africa, who identified this new variant and shared the information widely and immediately.

This variant is spreading around the world with two cases so far identified here in the U.K. As always, my stresses will -- as always with a new variant. There are many things that we just cannot know at this early stage. But our scientists are learning more hour by hour.

And it does appear that Omicron spreads very rapidly, and can be spread between people who are double vaccinated. There is also a very extensive mutation, which means it diverges quite significantly from previous configurations of the virus.

And as a result, it might at least in part, reduce the protection of our vaccines over time.

So, we need to take targeted and proportionate measures now as a precaution, while we find out more. And first, we need to slow down the seeding of this variant in our country. We need to buy time for our scientists to understand exactly what we're dealing with. And for us to get more people vaccinated, and above all, to get more people boosted. As well as to help our NHS prepare in what is already a challenging winter.

So, yesterday, we took steps to protect the U.K. against the variant coming here from Southern African countries. And earlier today, added four more countries to the red list.

But we now need to go further and implement a proportionate testing regime for arrivals from across the whole world.

So, we're not going to stop people traveling. I want to stress that we're not going to stop people traveling, but we will require anyone who enters the U.K. to take a PCR test by the end of the second day after their arrival, and to self-isolate until they have a negative result.

Second, we need to slow down the spread of this variant here in the U.K., because measures at the border can only ever minimize and delay the arrival of a new variant, rather than stop it altogether.

So, in addition to the measures we are already taking to locate those who have been in countries of concern over the last ten days, we will require all contacts of those who test positive -- with a suspected case of Omicron -- to self-isolate for 10 days, regardless of your vaccination status.

[12:05:11]

JOHNSON: We will also go further in asking all of you to help contain the spread of this variant, by tightening up the rules on face coverings in shops and on public transport.

And third, and most importantly, we need to bolster our protections against this new variant.

We don't yet exactly know how effective our vaccines will be against Omicron, but we have good reasons for believing they will provide at least some measure of protection.

And if you are boosted - your response is likely to be stronger.

So it's more vital than ever that people get their jabs, and we get those boosters into arms as fast as possible.

So, from today, we're going to boost the booster campaign. We're already planning to do 6 million jabs in England alone over the next three weeks. And now, we are looking to go further.

So, the health secretary has asked the JCVI, Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation to consider giving boosters to as wide a group as possible, as well as reducing the gap between your second dose and your booster.

And, of course, we are speaking to our counterparts in the devolved administrations and will continue to coordinate with them.

The measures that we are taking today, including on our borders, and on face masks are temporary and precautionary, and we will review them in three weeks. At that point we should have much greater information about the continuing effectiveness of our vaccines.

I very much hope that we will find that we continue to be in a strong position, and we can lift these measures again.

But right now this is the responsible course of action, to slow down the seeding and the spread of this new variant, and to maximize our defenses, so that we protect the gains we have worked for so hard, and so, that we can continue to save lives.

Thank you. I'm going to ask Chris to do the slides. PROFESSOR CHRIS WHITTY, CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER, ENGLAND: Thank you much, Prime Minister. First slide please. We thought it was sensible to start off --

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: Joining me now to discuss this, what you just heard from the British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, they are talking about this new variant that is causing a kind of global fears, a lot of new travel restrictions. We've got Nada Bashir in London, Nick Valencia and Atlanta, David McKenzie in Johannesburg, and Arlette Saenz, traveling with President Biden.

We also have Dr. Esther Choo with us as well. She's a professor of Emergency Medicine at the Oregon Health and Science University.

Nada, I want to start with you about what we just heard from the British prime minister there, saying that there are still a lot of unknowns about this variant. But he said that is something that they learned about on Wednesday, and he thanked those scientists in South Africa for notifying other nations of it so quickly.

BASHIR: That's right. He did thanks South African. And there has been some pushback there with regards to the travel restrictions, the WHO has, so that it may have been a hasty decision.

But clearly, the U.K. Government is taking this very seriously imposing these restrictions and taking action quite urgently. But we have just heard some pretty stark warnings, although there is still some unknowns around this new variant.

The warnings we've heard from Boris Johnson are concerning to say the least. And he said that there is evidence to suggest that this variant does spread rapidly and can spread among those who are double vaccinated. And that is, of course, going to be a key point of concern. And it might reduce the effectiveness of these vaccines over time.

But we have just heard that there will be these national measures now coming into force in addition to the travel restrictions, because the travel restrictions are coming just as the U.K. was beginning to open up its borders, you know, allowing people to travel with a bit more relaxed rules as opposed to what we've seen in previous months.

But now the U.K. will be taking more stringent measures at its borders, requiring people to take a PCR test on arrival and to isolate until they receive that negative test result.

So, that is coming into force to stem the spread of this new variant, of course, hearing now that it may be more transmissible, but there will also be those national measures. And they have been called -- I mean, we've seen other European countries taking on the stricter national measures as we've seen in the past countries, including Austria and Slovakia taking on that full lockdown -- the Netherlands, a partial lockdown. Now, Boris Johnson has just said that these measures will be temporary. They will be reviewed at three weeks and we're not going so far as a lockdown in the U.K. just yet. But what he has said is that they will be tougher measures, they will be asking people to wear face masks in shops and on public transport. Many people still do that in the U.K.

And they will be requiring all contacts of those who test positive to isolate for at least 10 days.

[12:10:01]

BASHIR: So, there is going to be a revision of the measures that are in place at the moment, but of course, Boris Johnson has just stressed these, will be temporary measures as part of efforts to really stem the spread of this new variant.

They will be reviewed at three weeks. But as we move into the winter month, the focus will really be on the impact this variant will have on hospitalizations in the U.K., and of course, across Europe.

We saw with previous variants, particularly, the Alpha variant last winter, which had a huge impact on these hospitalization rates.

(CROSSTALK)

COLLINS: Yes.

BASHIR: So, of course, that will be a major focus in the next few weeks. Kaitlan?

COLLINS: And Dr. Choo, I want to get your take on what we heard from Prime Minister Johnson there, because there are a lot of things that we do not know about this. And that is what U.S. health officials have been stressing that it's not clear if the concerns over this new variant are justified yet.

And he said that literally, scientists are learning about this hour by hour, but he did say that they believe it spreads rapidly, that it can be spread by people who were double vaccinated.

And also, of course, what we had heard from Dr. Fauci, which is that there is extensive mutation when it comes to this variant.

DR. ESTHER CHOO, EMERGENCY PHYSICIAN AND PROFESSOR, OREGON HEALTH AND SCIENCE UNIVERSITY: We need to do some watchful waiting, it's too early to panic. It looks like there's early information about transmissibility. But the other thing that makes variants of concern is if they cause more disease and more severe disease.

And if they -- if they are immune protections from vaccines, and to what extent? And of course, from the hospital perspective, we're really concerned about that disease severity potential because we actually haven't recovered fully from the last surge in the fall.

And so, hospitals are really struggling to keep up. If this ends up causing more disease, more severe disease causing hospitalizations, that could be really devastating around the rural world, really emphasizes the vulnerability we have in under vaccinating much of the world.

COLLINS: Yes, and those are the two big questions, does it cause more severe disease? And do the vaccines still work effectively against it? He seemed to be saying that it did, of course, talking about the booster shots there.

But David, on these new restrictions that you were seeing being implemented on a widespread basis, now. Several nations are banning travel from these South African nations.

And we've seen a lot of anger from the nations. They are saying that you are -- people are moving too quickly. They think that this is a rash decision that they're making. But you heard the argument there.

And I also think you noticed that Prime Minister Johnson went out of his way to thank the scientists in South Africa for alerting other nations to this so quickly.

DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, I think there'll be a pinch of salt with that very early thank you to South African scientists. It's like thanking someone and then closing the door before they enter your house.

Because at least the view from here is, that while the prime minister talked about targeted and proportionate measures, here, at least, in this part of the world, they're neither seen as targeted necessarily, nor proportionate, because the feeling from scientists here, and public health experts across the world is that travel bans aren't exactly that effective in stopping new variants, particularly for a very spiritual virus like COVID-19.

You know, time and again over the last few days talking to this people, and this is the perspective of scientists I'm talking to, they say these are political measures, chiefly, to be seem to be doing something not necessarily going to have a large impact on the spread of this variant.

The other measures that the prime minister talked about, like increased testing and contact tracing, those are widely accepted by public health officials and the WHO as being smart choices, not necessarily political choices.

I do think some reporting is worthwhile. In the last few hours, I've been speaking to doctors who've worked in public and private sector here in the province, most badly affected by this variant. At least at this stage, they're not seeing a rash onto the hospitals, and they're not seeing evidence yet of more severe disease.

But it's early days yet, and that's part of the criticism is that the door was shut straightaway without potentially understanding whether this is something to be worried about, or really, it's a false alarm. Kaitlan. COLLINS: And Arlette, we know that these nations in South Africa are very upset about being cut off from travel from several of the nations -- several of the wealthiest nations in the world. But the White House argument seems to be that we are buying ourselves more time. The U.S. is buying themselves more time by putting these restrictions in place starting on Monday.

ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Exactly. And President Biden yesterday, when he was speaking to reporters here in Nantucket, he acknowledged that there is still so much unknown about this new Omicron variants.

But the president said he wants to take a cautious approach and that is why they've decided to implement these travel restrictions on South Africa and seven other nations in that region.

But right now, officials are trying to use this time to learn as much as they possibly can about the variant. How -- whether it's going to cause severe illness? And whether it could also potentially evade the vaccines that so many Americans have gotten here in the United States.

[12:15:10]

SAENZ: And Dr. Anthony Fauci, earlier, acknowledged the possibility that it could already be here. Now, it's going to take some time. Officials saying it could be several days, several weeks before they fully know the impact of this new variant.

But for the time being, we heard President Biden yesterday urging people to get their vaccine shots that there are currently unvaccinated, and also for people to get their boosters.

Ultimately, the administration feels that those vaccines are what need to be taken into account at this moment in order for people to protect themselves against the coronavirus and possibly any other variants.

But this is all a very tough and tricky position for the Biden administration. And there will be questions about whether there might be more targeted measures in the way that you heard Boris Johnson from the U.K. talking about there.

Questions about what more the administration might be able to do to try to curb the spread of this virus -- of this variance if it, in fact, does, and is here in the United States.

COLLINS: And, Nick, you've heard Boris Johnson say there that if he believes if you are boosted based on what they know now, that your response is likely stronger, that this could be more effective against this new variant that everyone is so worried about. So, what level of caution are you seeing the CDC approach this with?

NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We're seeing a lot of caution not just from the CDC, but also from U.S. health officials who really particularly because there's just not, as you noted, Kaitlan, enough epidemiological data about this variant. The data that we do have, though, it's scary. We heard from Dr.

Anthony Fauci on Friday saying, not yet, there's no indication anyway that this virus strain is here in the United States.

But on Saturday morning, he struck a much more cautionary tone, saying that he thinks that's all probability. And he wouldn't be surprised, he said, if that strain of Omicron is here.

He did temper those comments, however, by saying it's not yet time for Americans to start panicking.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FAUCI: We have not detected it yet. But when you have a virus that is showing this degree of transmissibility, and you're already having travel related cases that they've noted in Israel and Belgium and other places -- when you have a virus like this, it almost invariably is ultimately going to go essentially all over.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VALENCIA: The CDC added that they do have the ability, and they have a good ability to be able to track these strains when they are, you know, make their way into the United States. But as David McKenzie noted, health experts and people in the public health community that I've spoken to, are very skeptical to accept these travel restrictions that were announced by the White House that go into effect on Monday, affecting eight African countries.

That skepticism saying that they just don't think it's going to be enough from stopping or to stop that strain from showing up here in the United States, particularly because you have two major U.S. airlines that say that they're not going to change a thing. They will continue to fly to South Africa, and that's raising a lot of eyebrows and concern among the public health community that not enough will be done to stop this strain from making its way here to the States. Kaitlan.

COLLINS: And I do think when you look at these new restrictions, it raises questions, David, about the global response here, because that has been something you have heard from health officials time and time again, saying that they need to make sure that this vaccination effort is not just happening in wealthy nations, but making sure it's widespread.

And I think you noticed yesterday as the White House was confirming that, yes, they are going to put these new travel restrictions in place. They were also pointing out how many vaccines the U.S. has sent to other nations around the world, saying that for Africa alone, they've sent 93 million doses of vaccine, of course, it's a -- they've got over a billion people in Africa.

So, what are you hearing from officials? Is there a level of frustration when it comes to vaccine access there as they are now dealing with this new variant? MCKENZIE: Oh, Kaitlan, absolutely, there's a great deal of frustration. It must be said, to be fair, the U.S. has been a leading nation in terms of donating excess doses and trying to get access to vaccines from across the continent.

Other nations have been less generous, and overall, it's not necessarily a drop in the bucket. But it's not nearly enough in terms of vaccine availability, and vaccine access.

I do want to touch on one brief thing that was mentioned in terms of the flights continuing to go to the U.S. You know, this travel ban to the U.S. is a very leaky ban. These two -- just from a personal experience, if you have any kind of connection to the U.S., either a citizen or permanent resident or spouse of a citizen, or child of a citizen, you can fly back to the U.S. in the middle of the some of the worst pandemic stages.

I took a plane from here in South Africa to the U.S., and though people have to test before they leave, it's inevitable, as Dr. Fauci said that these kind of variants will spread everywhere eventually, and that's the criticism of a draconian bans in the view of some, because you can maybe delaying slightly the inevitable. But the economic impact and the trade impact will be severe, according to those experts. Kaitlan?

[12:20:17]

COLLINS: Yes, we've seen how markets are responding to this already. They're not happy with the uncertainty. Dr. Choo, for people who are watching at home, and they saw what Prime Minister Johnson just said about what they know so far. But if you want to have a measured response to this, but are still concerned about this new variant, whether or not those fears are going to be justified in the end, what's your advice?

CHOO: Well, I think the advice is to fully use the protections that we have in place that we know that work against any COVID variant. So, masking is more important than ever, getting vaccinated is more important than ever.

I think there are big implications for our holiday gatherings and travel, I think we need to be really cautious. I think we need to use testing very generously before travel, after travel. You know, and be particularly careful when we're gathering with family members who are not vaccinated and those who are immunocompromized, I am hoping that if people weren't inspired to get vaccinated by alpha or by delta, that maybe the specter of Omicron and of additional variants will finally inspire people to do what they needed to do and get the primary vaccine series if they have not, get boosters, particularly for those who are more vulnerable to not having a full response.

COLLINS: Yes, we saw Boris Johnson said they were going to boost the booster campaign. Dr. Esther Choo, Nada Bashir, Nick Valencia, David McKenzie, and Arlette, thank you so much for joining me.

Coming up, the President of Ukraine is alleging that Russia is plotting a coup against him. We have details on those allegations next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[12:25:54]

COLLINS: Ukrainian President Zelensky says a group of Russians and Ukrainians were planning to overthrow him in the coming days, citing intelligence that his government has seen.

The Kremlin and others accused of plotting the coup or denying the claims. But as CNN's Matthew Chance reports, the allegations and Russia's military buildup on the border has the region on edge for good reason.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): These are disturbing allegations from the Ukrainian president, the serious and new threat posed by Russia against his government.

We have information there will soon be a coup in our country. He announced at a roundtable discussion with journalists. It's in just a few days, he said, on the first or second of December. The Kremlin denies any such plot.

But it's a dramatic escalation in the war of words, as Russia is accused of massing forces near Ukraine's borders poised to invade, which the Kremlin also denies.

Now, President Zelensky says he has intelligence, including an audio recording of Russians and Ukrainians discussing the plot against them. But no evidence has yet been made public. He also suggested Ukraine's richest man, this powerful oligarch called Rinat Akhmetov, when several critical media outlets may have been involved. Something strenuously denied to CNN by Akhmetov himself.

"The information made public by Volodymyr Zelensky about attempts to draw me into some kind of coup is an absolute lie," Akhmetov said in this written statement.

"As a Ukrainian citizen, the country's biggest investor, taxpayer, and employer," Akhmetov continues, "I will defend a free Ukraine and do everything I can to prevent authoritarianism and censorship."

For years now, Ukraine has been facing enormous pressure from its powerful Russian neighbor. Fighting a trench war with Russian-backed rebels in the country's east.

It was the threat of holding back U.S. military aid that led to former President Trump's first impeachment.

Now, U.S. officials say Russia is engaged in destabilizing activities inside Ukraine as well against the Zelensky government.

It's one of the reasons, the Ukrainian leader seems on edge, conscious he has enemies outside the country and within. But there are also fears he's using real concerns about Russia to crack down on his opponents too. Matthew Chance, CNN, London.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: And thank you to Matthew Chance for that report.

Still ahead, CNN joins an Afghan refugee family as they take part in their first Thanksgiving in America. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[12:30:00]

COLLINS: This week, many African refugees in the United States experienced their first Thanksgiving. Volunteers from a nonprofit organization in California open their doors to some of the families for the holiday tradition. And CNN's Natasha Chen joins us now from Los Angeles. And Natasha, I know you actually went to one of these, what was it like?

NATASHA CHEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Kaitlan, it was so wonderful to witness especially seeing the children taste cranberry sauce and stuffing for the first time. And I was especially impressed with them having arrived in the United States during the pandemic, not knowing English, learning that while school was then still all virtual. And what was interesting is many of the people at this gathering, including some of the hosts friends were at one point or another new to this country, experiencing the same adjustments and having to learn new American traditions.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WAHIDULLAH ASGHARY, AFGHAN REFUGEE: Hello. Hi Kiki, how are you?

KIKI NAGY, VOLUNTEER, MIRY'S LIST: Hi, nice to meet you.

CHEN (voice-over): Kiki Nagy was already cooking a Thanksgiving meal for a large group of friends.

NAGY: Why is everything so much harder after the pandemic? I forgotten how to do this.

CHEN (voice-over): But she also wanted to open her Los Angeles home to some of the country's newest residents. She volunteers for an organization called Miry's list that helps refugees settle in the United States.

NAGY: I just threw it out to Miry like do you know any Afghani families who need to have a first Thanksgiving with an American family? And so she said, yes, why don't you invite Wahid.

ASGHARY: Hi, everybody. How are you?

CHEN (voice-over): Wahidullah Asghary tells us he was a translator and interpreter for the U.S. military in Afghanistan. He arrived in late 2020 with his four children under a Special Immigrant Visa. His wife joined them five months later. This was the family's first invitation to a traditional Thanksgiving meal.

ASGHARY: Sometimes when they asked me that what Turkey is? I said Turkey is like big chicken.

CHEN (voice-over): Nagy made sure there would be at least something familiar on the table.

[12:35:04]

ASGHARY: OK. So this is a lamb, it's halal.

CHEN (voice-over): This experience wasn't just about new foods.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is purple.

CHEN (voice-over): It was also about learning the tradition of sharing gratitude.

ASGHARY: We may have more opportunities in our life in our hands. So, of course, the foremost example is this that we are together and a family.

CHEN (voice-over): With his wife's visa delayed, he says they're lucky she arrived before the chaotic exit of U.S. troops in August. The scene of people trying to escape particularly resonated with fellow Thanksgiving guests, Tam Van Tran.

TAM VAN TRAN, CAME TO THE U.S. AS A REFUGEE FROM VIETNAM IN 1975: Well, when I saw the photo of the Afghans in the cargo plane, it reminded me very much of just what -- I was in the same, but it was a gigantic cargo ship.

CHEN (voice-over): Tran came to the U.S. as a refugee from Vietnam in 1975 when he was around the same age as Asghary's oldest children. He says he can offer a warm welcome.

TRAN: Brotherhood, a camaraderie.

CHEN (voice-over): And can imagine what they might be experiencing.

ASGHARY: When did you arrive here, almost a year ago.

CHEN (voice-over): Like in many holiday gatherings, not everyone here practices the same religion or holds the same political beliefs. Despite that --

NAGY: There is something essential to the American experience that is rooted in gratitude, that is rooted in the volunteerism that you leave your country, you leave a situation and you come here sometimes with very little, sometimes with nothing and you start over.

CHEN (voice-over): Asghary tells his kids to work hard to seize this opportunity.

ASGHARY: We are here for you. And the United States is here for you. And everything you have got in your hand, what are you going to do is you have to study, that's it.

CHEN (voice-over): Starting with what Nagy hopes is a lesson from their first Thanksgiving.

NAGY: I would want them to see that that kind of tolerance is really possible in the United States, that Americans are at heart really generous people.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHEN: Asghary told me he had to explain to his kids what Turkey is. He told them it's like a big chicken. Miry's list is hosting all of their refugee families that they've helped for a Friendsgiving in about a week. They say they're expecting to help another three to 500 refugee families next year. Kaitlan?

COLLINS: It is kind of like a big chicken. The kids have any favorite sides that they tried or were they so confused by things like dressing?

CHEN: Yes, you know, I asked the little girl like, you know, what do you think of that red stuff? It's cranberry sauce. She seemed to like it.

COLLINS: What a lovely story, Natasha. Thank you so much for joining us, what a cool thing to go to.

CHEN: Yes.

COLLINS: During the 1920s, the Osage people of Oklahoma were some of the richest people in the world but as Lisa Ling uncovers that wealth, made them a target. Discover the horrific plot carried out to steal the Osage land and money in this all new This is Life with Lisa Ling tomorrow night at CNN -- on CNN at 10 o'clock.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[12:42:39]

COLLINS: For some of the millions of people who are heading home from their Thanksgiving holiday this week. It couldn't get messy on the roads and maybe in the air. CNN meteorologist Gene Norman is tracking the developments. And Gene, if you're someone who has a flight tomorrow or you've got a long day of driving, what should you be expecting?

GENE NORMAN, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Kaitlan, the big problem is going to be in the Northeast quick clipper system moving out of the Great Lakes already spreading some snow, no delays right now. But Detroit and in Michigan, you're seeing about one to three inches. In fact winter weather advisories are in effects. If you're driving in this area watch out because the roads will be a little bit slick. Don't expect any big problems as far as the big cities as far as accumulating snow. But watch this clipper system. It'll come out of the Midwest today and into tomorrow. That could be some big lake effect snows as well. Perhaps places like Erie could pick up six inches. But watch as the flakes fly right through the northeast and that could be some problems, even perhaps into Boston for tomorrow. The accumulations gently one to three but that kind of makes a coating on the ground. Drivers, you have to watch out kick it a little bit slick there. And as far as elsewhere around the country, right now 45 minute delay due to volume down in Miami, some rain between Dallas and Houston. But Kaitlan the biggest thing that a flyer needs to keep with them tomorrow is one of those portable chargers in case they get to the gate and all the plugs are taken up and smile. You'll get to where you're going. You bet you do.

COLLINS: I almost always forget my portable charger at the airport. I'm always that sucker, buy one.

NORMAN: You got to have it.

COLLINS: It's overpriced at the airport. Gene, thank you so much and good luck to everyone traveling home tomorrow.

[12:44:15]

Up next, it sounds like the plot of a movie, "Armageddon" or "Deep Impact" to be specific. NASA just launched a spacecraft to crash into an asteroid. A test run in case a giant space rock ever heads our way one day. Spoiler alert, Bruce Willis not involved.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Another first for Blue Origin, its next spaceflight will launch at max capacity. The aerospace company announcing that the T.V. host Michael Strahan will be an honorary guest aboard its third flight on December 9th. Strahan and five other passengers will ride to the edge of space on the new Shepard Rocket, which is named after Alan Shepard, the first American astronaut. I'm joined now by retired NASA astronaut Leroy Chiao. Leroy, these passengers are going to have a little less wiggle room and given that Michael Strahan is about six, five I believe, what is this going to look like, you think?

LEROY CHIAO, RETIRED NASA ASTRONAUT: Right. So he's definitely taller than the NASA requirement. So he wouldn't he wouldn't have made it onto the shuttle or especially the Russian vehicle's much more strict requirements. But yes, it should be a fun ride for him and everyone else that gets to go. Getting into space is a unique experience that only, you know, several hundred people have had to, you know, experienced it.

COLLINS: Yes. And this is going to be a suborbital flight though. It's not the same as an orbital flight. So can you just explain and remind us of what the difference is in the two of those?

[12:50:08]

CHIAO: You bet. So for a suborbital flight, the entire flight is only going to be about 11 minutes from launch until landing underneath parachutes. So they're going to touch the edge of space, go up like a cannonball, and have a parabolic arc to come back down. They'll experience G forces, but they'll only get up to about three times the speed of sound to get out of the Earth's atmosphere, as opposed to an orbital flight where you have to accelerate your spacecraft to an orbital speed of about 17,500 miles an hour to stay in low Earth orbit. So it takes a lot more energy, a lot more power to get up there, about the same amount of time, you know, only takes about eight and a half minutes or nine minutes to get from the launch pad into orbit or into space. But in their case, they're not going to reach the speed needed to stay up there. So for them, they'll get a glimpse, but they won't get that long duration or longer duration view.

COLLINS: Yes, but a glimpse is a lot. A lot of people haven't seen that even gotten that as much, that much. Do you think that this new idea of what we're seeing with these space tourist is going to be the new norm for the new normal, where we're seeing, you know, these celebrities, these honorary guests, go and make these flights and get a glimpse of space?

CHIAO: I think I hope so. I mean, I think the more people we can get up there to have that experience, the better. We'll all be, it's more generates a lot of buzz in the interest in spaceflight and space exploration. So I think that's good for the business. The fact that we're having these celebrities go up there, they come back and talk about their experiences and describe what they saw and what they felt and, you know, all their followers can kind of vicariously live through them.

As far as the, you know, it's still out of reach price wise for most of us. I mean, I'm not sure exactly what Blue Origin is charging if you're a paying customer. But the first ones that signed up with Virgin Galactic get, I don't know what they're charging now. But the first ones that signed up, I believe paid around a quarter of a million dollars, so much more enriched than the tens of millions or close to $100 million for a week-long stay aboard the ISS, but still out of reach for most of the -- most of us.

COLLINS: I think another really cool thing about this trip is that Michael Strahan is going to be joined by Laura Shepard Churchley. She's the daughter of the rockets namesake, Alan Shepard, of course, who famously hit a golf ball on the moon during that Apollo 14 mission. And just what is that like to see someone like that now get this experience of their own a little different, but still to get to get that glimpse.

CHIAO: I think it's really cool because I have met her a few times. And I got to meet her father, Alan Shepard, who was a boyhood hero of mine. He was one of the first astronauts I met after I got to NASA. We had a reunion just a couple of weeks after I arrived in NASA all those years ago. And it was really cool to be able to meet Alan Shepard and some of the other original seven astronauts. And so then to see that his daughter is going to get a chance to go up on a suborbital flight, just like Alan Shepard did the first time and get that glimpse and that feel of what her father felt, I think that's really wonderful.

COLLINS: And you often see how emotional people are when they come down from these experiences. You can only imagine, first will be double that. Leroy Chiao, thank you so much for joining us on this Saturday.

CHIAO: My pleasure. Thank you.

COLLINS: The top 10 CNN Heroes of 2021 have been announced one of whom will be named the CNN Hero of the Year by you. As you vote for only two more weeks we will be reintroducing each of our top 10 to refresh your memories, and one in northern Nigeria, a place where militants have killed tens of thousands and displaced more than 2 million people. Thousands of child victims from both sides of the insurgency have found hope for a brighter futures, thanks to this top 10 CNN Hero.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: These are children who do not even know what's their second name, what's their tribe, their religion, children who are not even having this war. They are confused and in a helpless state. You need to give them courage. You have to give them hope.

Morning, morning, morning.

We are in a community where every segment of the society is being ravaged.

Good morning.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE/MALE: Good morning.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What keeps me going is, the resilience of these children. Whenever I see their faces, it gives me hope. It keeps my dream alive.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: Mustafa and his staff educate more than 2,000 students every year from both sides of the conflict. Go to CNNHeroes.com right now to vote for him for CNN Hero of the Year or any of the rest of your top 10 favorite heroes.

[12:54:53]

Thank you so much for joining me this Saturday afternoon. I'm Kaitlan Collins. CNN Newsroom continues right now with Paula Reid in just moment.

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[13:00:02]

PAULA REID, CNN HOST: Hello thanks for joining me I'm Paul Reid in Washington in this weekend for Fredricka Whitfield.