Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

President Biden Briefed as U.S. braces for Arrival of New COVID Variant; African Officials Frustrated with Flurry of Travel Bans; Dr. Anthony Fauci Hits Back at Senator Ted Cruz; Stowaway Survives Flight; Peng Shuai Rape Cover-Up In China; Fashion Designer Virgil Abloh Dies; The Rock Gifts Truck To Oscar Rodriguez; CNN Hero Neff Hernandez. Aired 4-5p ET

Aired November 28, 2021 - 16:00   ET

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

[16:00:00]

JIM ACOSTA, CNN HOST: President Biden is now back at the White House. He's being briefed by members of his COVID-19 Response Team along with his chief medical adviser Dr. Anthony Fauci. But as the Omicron variant sparks fears of a pandemic setback, a top U.S. health official cautions against panic, telling CNN there's no evidence yet to suggest it would cause more serious illness than previous variants.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. FRANCIS COLLINS, DIRECTOR OF THE NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH: How severe would it be? We have no data so far to suggest that it would be. There's even a bit of a report from South Africa that maybe people with this are milder than the usual case, but they're mostly young people who have mild illness anyway so I would say we just don't know. We do think it's more contagious when you look at how rapidly it spread through multiple districts in South Africa. It has the earmarks therefore of being particularly likely to spread from one person to another.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: Today U.S. and South African health officials are meeting to talk about the severity of COVID-19 caused by the Omicron variant. One question looming, though, is how well these vaccines are going to hold up. Moderna saying just now they know -- they will expect to know the variant's impact on their vaccine in a couple of weeks. Meantime, fear of the unknown is sparking drastic new global travel measures.

And in just hour the U.S. will join multiple nations in restricting travel from South Africa where this new variant was first identified and its neighbors. But the World Health Organization today is standing with African nations who say travel bans are not justified, calling for borders to remain open as we wait for the facts to come in.

This morning Dr. Anthony Fauci was asked if travel restrictions could be just the beginning of new COVID mandates. Here's what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, CHIEF MEDICAL ADVISER TO PRESIDENT BIDEN: It's really too early to say. We just really need to, as I've said so often, prepare for the worst.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: And CNN's Joe Johns is at the White House.

Joe, Dr. Fauci is part of this briefing for President Biden today, but it sounds like we have a lot of questions, not a lot of answers at this point.

JOE JOHNS, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: That's for sure. And it's sort of been that way all weekend, Jim. And look, the president returning from that long holiday weekend with his family in Nantucket, stopped at Joint Base Andrews, was greeted by reporters, one of whom asked if there were going to be any more travel restrictions in addition to those restrictions the president put in place on several South African nations, including South Africa, as well as Botswana.

The president responded that he was going to meet with his medical team today, and after that he'd have more to say. The question is whether he's going to have more to say today. What we know about that meeting you've already reported Dr. Anthony Fauci, among others in the COVID response team, expected to tell the president what they know at this stage. But, as you say, there is a lot we don't know.

We also don't know whether we're going to see the president today himself or whether there's just going to be a readout or whether there's going to be, frankly, anything at all, given the fact that some of the scientists we've seen on CNN and in other places have indicated that it may be several days or even a couple of weeks before they know sufficiently enough about this variant in order to give people some substantial guidance.

Jim, back to you.

ACOSTA: All right, Joe Johns, thanks so much.

As more countries are moving to block flights from South Africa and its neighbors to try to stop the Omicron variant from spreading, travelers are having to figure out how to get back home. One American who just arrived in the U.S. from South Africa this morning says the mood there changed quickly once countries started announcing travel restrictions.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KYLE BOGERT, ARRIVED IN NEW JERSEY TODAY FROM SOUTH AFRICA: The workers there especially a lot of those in the tourism industry are going to be hit hard by this. And they're all, I think, confused and, you know, a little taken aback because they had these things had just started to get back to normal thing. They are starting to bring back wages, starting to bring back, you know, money to their family. And now all of a sudden, our driver today said he had five cancelations today. (END OF VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: CNN's McKenzie joins us now from Johannesburg.

David, South Africa's president today criticized these travel bans. What is he saying?

DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Jim, Cyril Ramaphosa, South Africa's president, is a pretty diplomatic leader normally, doesn't come out too forcefully and name countries that he's displeased with. Very much a different story tonight. He named each country and region, including the U.S. that has banned travel from Southern Africa because of fears of this COVID-19 variant. Have a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CYRIL RAMAPHOSA, PRESIDENT OF SOUTH AFRICA: These restrictions are completely unjustified and unfairly discriminate against our country and our Southern African sister countries. The prohibition of travel is not informed by science, nor will it be effective in preventing the spread of this variant. The only the prohibition on travel will do is to further damage the economies of the affected countries and undermine the ability to respond to, and also to recover from the pandemic.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

[16:05:11]

MCKENZIE: Jim, if you look where the pandemic is in South Africa compared to the U.S., U.K., and other regions, you kind of sympathize with Cyril Ramaphosa given the state of the pandemic but it's all about trajectory and the president did admit that cases were rising faster in South Africa, but he hasn't put in any new restrictions but is considering vaccine mandates in this country -- Jim.

ACOSTA: And are countries listening to the South African president and the World Health Organization? What's the response to what the president of South Africa is saying so far?

MCKENZIE: No, they're not listening. And, in fact, despite the talk of solidarity amongst African nations, Rwanda, Angola, Morocco, just some of three countries recently adding Southern Africa to their list of the countries that are banning flights, and people from this region to visit there. So, you know, talk is cheap, and people are saying they are happy with the scientists here, they are grateful for the scientists here for announcing this variant quickly and describing what they can.

But, overall, nations are being hyper careful because of the lack of clarity on what this variant means. One just interesting note. I have been speaking to doctors over the last few days. There is some incidental evidence that at least the early stages of the spike compared to other ones that there's mild disease associated with this variant. Now it's way too early to tell whether that will play out over the days and weeks ahead, but possibly a bit of good news on the horizon.

We'll have to just wait and see, and it could be agonizing weeks of waiting and seeing -- Jim.

ACOSTA: Yes, we're trying to get some clarity on this variant, and that information is not coming quickly enough for everybody involved.

David McKenzie, thanks so much.

Joining me now professor of medicine and surgery at George Washington University, CNN medical analyst Dr. Jonathan Reiner.

Dr. Reiner, always great to have you with us. Always shoot straight from the hip. U.S. and South African officials spoke today about this variant and President Joe Biden was briefed about it. It's early. But what are you hoping to hear from the administration as they get this information and take these next steps?

DR. JONATHAN REINER, CNN MEDICAL ANALYST: Well, I'd like to hear the administration sort of rachet down the temperature a little bit. What we know about this variant is that it has dozens of mutations, each with sort of theoretical changes to the properties of the virus. But when you mix all that into, you know, a real and biological system, sometimes they're unpredictable.

So we won't know really what the effects are in terms of transmissibility, in terms of immune escape, and in terms of virulence until scientists have a chance to really examine how our antibodies interact with this virus, and also to see how it behaves, you know, out in the wild. And we'll have that data over the next couple of weeks.

I think it's also important for the American public to just sort of expect that this variant is already in the United States. So at some point over the next several days, there is going to be some sort of breathless announcement that Omicron is in the United States. It's already here, if it's in Europe, if it's Australia, if it's China, it's already in the United States, it's probably been circulating for many weeks.

ACOSTA: So does it make any sense to apply these travel restrictions to one part of the world if it's all over the place?

REINER: No, look, I think if this was a brand-new virus that we were having trouble detecting and we were struggling to put together tests that could help us identify the presence of the virus, yes, that might make some sense. But we know that our PCR tests actually identify this variant. We also know that since the end of October since President Biden signed this executive order, all non-U.S. travelers coming to the United States have to be fully vaccinated and have to be tested.

So I'm not sure what time this is buying us. What it does do is it gives sort of a negative incentive, a disincentive to our partners around the world. I mean, the South Africans have done the yeoman's work here, identifying this variant.

ACOSTA: They did the right thing.

REINER: They did the right thing, they reported it promptly. We don't want to disincentivize countries to do this. We want to incentivize countries to do this. And putting in place a travel ban that could negatively impact them economically seems to send the wrong message.

ACOSTA: And we don't want to jump too far ahead of ourselves, but Dr. Frances Collins of the NIH was saying earlier today, and other experts have been saying that maybe this is not as serious of a variant in terms of causing illness but that it may be more transmissible. So it's possible that's the way things shape up. But this is kind of a nuisance variant that can spread very rapidly but not cause severe illness.

[16:10:07]

What do you think that says about this particular variant, what we should do about it?

REINER: Right. It's absolutely possible that this sort of massively mutated variant might actually be less functional in a way. It might produce less illness. Right now all we have is anecdotes. We have anecdotes from South Africa suggesting that the initial cohort of patients seem to be, you know, pretty mildly ill. There were three folks identified as positive in Australia today, all of whom are asymptomatic.

But it's just way too early to understand what the virulence of this is. The good news is, and the good signal is, there does not seem to be a spike in hospitalizations in South Africa, which would certainly be a concern, if that was sort of the first sign we were seeing. But, again, the message, I think, to the American people is that we really don't know much about this variant now. So everyone just sort of needs to take their own pulse for a few minutes and just chill.

ACOSTA: Chill a little bit.

REINER: Chill a little bit.

ACOSTA: Chill, as young folks would say.

REINER: Right.

ACOSTA: And if you're fully vaccinated, double vaccinated, boosted, is there anything more you can do right now? I mean, you've basically done your job as a citizen.

REINER: So I think we should step back and say the greatest threat to the American people right now is Delta. Right now we are still experiencing about 100,000 cases a day of Delta in the United States. And Delta is killing 1200 Americans a day in the United States because we've only fully vaccinated 60 percent of the country. So what we need to do in this country is double down on vaccinating the unvaccinated.

We've only boosted about 20 percent of eligible people in this country. And if there is a more potentially potent variant coming, the first thing you want to do is get boosted. So I would encourage folks now if you're eligible to get boosted, yes, now is a good time to do it. And if you needed any kind of incentive to get vaccinated, wow, now is the time to get vaccinated.

ACOSTA: Now is the time to do it. And Omicron is a good reminder of that.

REINER: Right.

ACOSTA: You know, we're still dealing with disinformation. I mean, that's probably the biggest threat out there right now. Yesterday here's another example of this, and it's one of many. Yesterday Republican Congressman Ronny Jackson tweeted, I mean, "Here comes the MEV," he says. "The midterm election variant. They need a reason to push unsolicited nationwide mail-in ballots. Democrats will do anything to cheat during an election but we're not going to let them."

This is not only a Republican member of Congress, this is a doctor who was the White House physician. I worked at the White House as a reporter when he was at the White House. This is just unbelievable. He seems to have become the doctor of disinformation for the far right.

REINER: Right. And this is what's happening in this country. So if you look -- if you're searching for an explanation for why 50 million American adults have not gotten vaccinated, it comes from people like Ronny Jackson, people who doubt the severity of this pandemic, people who have doubted the consequences of not getting vaccinated, people who have doubted the efficacy of masks.

So now as a new potentially dangerous variant is identified, you see this anti-science coming from a former doctor. I call him former doctor because that's how he behaves. He behaves as a former doctor. I'll tell you that, you know, Ronny Jackson is --

ACOSTA: And doctors don't say that lightly, by the way.

REINER: I don't say that -- Ronny Jackson called President Obama a deep state traitor. President Obama was, first of all, was his commander in chief, was his patient, and was also the man who promoted Mr. Jackson to flag rank. And he called that person a deep state traitor. And, to me, that tells me all I need to know about Mr. Jackson.

ACOSTA: Yes. I mean, he's betrayed so much. He's become an embarrassment.

All right, Dr. Jonathan Reiner, thank you very much. We appreciate it.

Coming up, Dr. Anthony Fauci taking the medical gloves off. Listen to what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARGARET BRENNAN, CBS' "FACE THE NATION": Senator Cruz told the attorney general you should be prosecuted.

FAUCI: Yes.

(LAUGHTER)

FAUCI: I have to laugh at that. I should be prosecuted? What happened on January 6th, Senator?

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: And later we'll talk to the Navy veteran who received an epic surprise from Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson.

[16:14:57]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ACOSTA: Dr. Anthony Fauci is laughing off attacks from Senator Ted Cruz and other Republicans who say he's been lying about the pandemic. Let's take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BRENNAN: Senator Cruz told the attorney general you should be prosecuted.

FAUCI: Yes.

(LAUGHTER)

FAUCI: I have to laugh at that. I should be prosecuted? What happened on January 6th, Senator?

BRENNAN: Do you think that this is about making you a scapegoat to deflect from President Trump?

FAUCI: Of course. Of course. You have to be asleep not to figure that one out.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: I want to bring in our CNN senior political analyst, former adviser to four presidents, David Gergen, and senior editor for "The Atlantic," Ron Brownstein.

Ron, it sounds like Dr. Fauci has had about enough of all of this, you know, criticism, and I mean, unfair criticism that's been coming his way. But I imagine the attacks from the Republicans are only going to get worse at this point. What do you make of what he had to say about Ted Cruz there?

[16:20:03]

RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: You know, he has been incredibly restrained, Dr. Fauci, I mean, all the way through. I mean, we are in a situation where fundamentally the biggest single reason we can't get past this pandemic or get it more under control is that so much of red America are responding to the signals of people like Cruz and former President Trump, and refuse to take it seriously.

I mean, we're, you know, we're at a point where the share of Republicans who are unvaccinated is four times the share of Democrats who are unvaccinated, where the death rates in the most heavily Trump counties is triple the rate in the most heavily Biden counties. And the messages continue. I mean, as you played Ronny Jackson before, you hear other candidates around the country basically saying that the concern about the new variant is a Democratic plot.

This is a fundamental -- we are in an almost unimaginable situation where a political kind of dome has kind of descended around a significant portion of the country, preventing it from fully grappling with the reality that we are confronting.

ACOSTA: There's no question about that. And so much of it is coming from FOX, David Gergen. Former Trump adviser Stephen Miller, he was on FOX News and made this, I mean, just cuckoo bizarre claim that Trump would've been way ahead of this variant. Let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEPHEN MILLER, FORMER TRUMP WHITE HOUSE ADVISER: If President Trump was still in office, by the way, we'd already have modified vaccines to deal with the new variants, which is a great point. President Trump brought us vaccines in record times, which he made voluntarily, not mandatory, and he'd have updates, too. But just as importantly, President Trump emphasized therapeutics and treatments.

JANINE PIRRO, FOX NEWS HOST: Right. Right.

MILLER: That's completely off the table now.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: David, that's obviously nonsense.

DAVID GERGEN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: It's all nonsense, and it's grossly wrong and immoral for the Republicans to be now pushing once again a false lie that is going to persuade, as Ron Brownstein just said, will persuade many, many other Americans not to be vaccinated, not to get the booster. It's just grossly irresponsible to persuade people of something that's wrong and that is going to lead them to their deaths. You know, many, many deaths.

We have to remember Donald Trump was not the answer to this. If Donald Trump had been president, we'd be in far worse shape right now. He did do move early on China. But the rest of his time, you know, he really lagged and basically scientists have concluded if the administration had just gone and paid attention to the science, many, many more Americans would be alive today. It's just that simple.

ACOSTA: Yes. I mean, you could -- I mean, we could put out a list of these things that he did during the administration when he was in charge, you know, telling people that it would go away and telling people they can inject disinfectants, I mean, just, you know, to rebel against social distancing. I mean, the list goes on and on, and it's just -- they're just trying to rewrite history.

But, Ron Brownstein, let's talk about some of the other issues that we've been focusing on in the last couple of days. One would be just the dire situation that the House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy finds himself in right now. Republican Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene absolutely dragged the House speaker in an interview earlier this week but she also has been essentially saying that McCarthy does not have what it takes to become the next speaker of the House. Let's listen to what Marjorie Taylor Greene had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE (R-GA): Kevin McCarthy has a problem in our conference. He doesn't have the full support to be speaker. He doesn't have the votes that are there because there's many of us that are very unhappy about the failure to hold Republicans accountable while conservatives like me, Paul Gosar, and many other just constantly take the abuse by the Democrats.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: Yes, she later tweeted that she had a good call with Kevin McCarthy and they spent time talking about solving the problems of this country and so on. But, I mean, she sounds almost like she's in charge and not Kevin McCarthy.

BROWNSTEIN: Well, functionally, look, McCarthy has made the decision, you know, no enemies to the right, to reverse the saying from the 1930s, where he simply will not impose any discipline on the most extreme voices in the caucus. And the message that this has sent over and over, whether it's Marjorie Taylor Greene or Gosar or Boebert is that they are, in effect, operating under, you know, kind of immunity to continue to break down the walls between the Republican Party and the most extreme voices in American society.

And in many ways this is all a reflection of Trump's own campaign to break down those walls. And I think McCarthy is very much under the view that if he acted in any way against Marjorie Taylor Greene or Boebert or Gosar that he could expect a thunder bolt from Trump. And he has decided that his path to the leadership, to the speakership is to kind of mollify Trump as much as possible.

And that leaves, you know, look, as I said before, roughly three- quarters of Republican voters are OK with this course for the party.

[16:25:02]

But there is another quarter that doesn't think the election was stolen, that don't think that Muslims are a threat intrinsically to American society, who are uneasy with the overt nativism and racism that so many in the party have kind of moved toward in the Trump era, and the question is, what do they do? Do they give their votes to officials like McCarthy who are going to enable all of those tendencies?

ACOSTA: Yes, David, I mean, we were talking about this yesterday, and it's almost like there is a freak show caucus over there on the Republican side, and McCarthy has this policy of appeasement that he's seeking. And I just don't understand -- I mean, appeasement just doesn't work.

GERGEN: It does not work. And it's just really hard to believe that somebody can out-Trump Trump, but that's what these radicals are doing. The radical right is behind this. Now, let me just go one more point if I could, to return to the earlier conversation about the -- because it goes to how far right the Republican Party.

You know, to claim this is a conspiracy theory invented by the Democrats, this new variant, the (INAUDIBLE) is already so far -- the points that so far are wrong. Listen, this didn't start with Democrats. The banning of travel started in Europe, and major countries in Europe, across Europe all decided we cannot afford to let these people come in from the southern part of Africa.

What happened just in the last 24, 48 hours, planes coming into Amsterdam from the southern part of Africa, 60 different people were found sick on those planes. They have every reason to stop this. And what do we find in the marketplace? The market is pretty smart about things like this. The markets basically collapsed on what they heard about what this new variant could be like.

Only 48 hours ago the signals were pretty dark about what was coming. And we still don't know what's coming. But the markets collapsed, had the worst day in a whole year because they sensed there was something serious about this and we ought to button up.

ACOSTA: You're absolutely right about that. And you have to wonder, I mean, are these countries that are detecting the virus, are they in on the conspiracy? I mean, it just -- all of it just makes no sense.

GERGEN: Yes.

ACOSTA: It's like, as Ron Brownstein was saying, they're under a dome of disinformation right now, and it's just -- it's got to stop or we're never going to get out of this.

Anyway, we have to move on but, Ron Brownstein, David Gergen, thanks so much. Great to see both of you.

BROWNSTEIN: Thanks, guys.

GERGEN: Thank you.

ACOSTA: Thanks so much.

Coming up, a story that speaks to the desperation some have to leave their countries. How did a stowaway from Guatemala survive a more than two-hour flight to Florida hiding in the wheel well of a plane? Incredible video coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:30:00] ACOSTA: A jaw-dropping story out of Miami. Police say a stowaway survived on a more than two-hour flight from Guatemala, clinging inside the plane's landing gear. Video showed the 26-year-old man appeared dazed, after he emerged from the wheel well area. Airport employees gave him water and waited with him until paramedics and Customs and Border Protection officers arrived.

This is the area of the plane where the man told people he managed to hide. He has taken the -- he was taken to the hospital to be evaluated. It remains unclear, though, how he got onto the plane undetected.

And it's not the first time someone has risked their life by hiding in an aircraft undetected. You may be wondering how they actually do it. CNN's Gary Tuchman showed us back in 2014 after a 15-year-old boy flew from California to Hawaii in a plane's wheel well and survived.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GARY TUCHMAN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: This is southern California Aviation Airport in Victorville, California, in the desert where airlines all over the world bring all their planes they're not using anymore. We're going to demonstrate to you how someone would get in a wheel well of an aircraft.

This is a Boeing 767 that used to be used. This is the door that is closed. But there is a way to sneak in a hull to get into the wheel well, and we'll show you how the process would start, according to experts here. Someone who wanted to get in the wheel well would get on the tire, one of the two tires. You'd step on the bars right here. Climb all the way to the top right here. And this, right here, is where an opening would be to climb into the landing gear wheel well.

Once someone would climb through that hull, they would end up here. And I'm going to show you what happens after they climb through the hull. They get in this area. This is the wheel well area. And we're told there is only really one place to sit, where you could possibly survive. Because when the wheels move in, the two huge wheels, they come right here, there's no room except for right here in this spot.

And this is where the (INAUDIBLE) would have to sit with your knees close to you. The wheel well would close, the two tires right here. And this is the only place where you could possibly survive. There's nothing stupider in the world to do, but this is where you can do it.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ACOSTA: Do not try that at home.

All right. And from scrubbing social media to silencing CNN, the incredible lengths China is going to, to cover up the rape allegations made by a Chinese tennis star against a top communist leader.

[16:04:33]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) ACOSTA: This just into CNN. Influential fashion designer Virgil Abloh has died after a long and private battle with cancer. Abloh was the founder of the luxury streetwear brand Off-White, as well as the artistic director of men's wear, Louis Vuitton.

Abloh's hiring in 2018 made him the fashion houses first African American artistic director. And for those of you not familiar with French fashion houses, you may also recognize Abloh is the designer of Serena Williams' French Open look in 2019. Apparently, he was also the designer behind model Hailey Bieber's wedding dress.

Abloh was just 41 years old. A major loss in the fashion industry.

The Women's Tennis Association, meanwhile, saying, today, it remains deeply concerned about the fate of Chinese tennis star Peng Shuai. The 35-year-old disappeared from public view weeks ago, after accusing a former communist leader of rape.

But, inside China, the story is being blocked out altogether. Here's CNN's Will Ripley.

[16:35:01]

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WILL RIPLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: When China's communist rulers don't like the message.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This broadcast is not being aired in China, it's being censored.

RIPLEY: They silence the messenger.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They have an army of censors waiting to push that button.

RIPLEY: CNN coverage of tennis star Peng Shuai blocked inside China.

JENNIFER HSU, RESEARCH FELLOW, LOWY INSTITUTE: It really tries to control the story, control the narrative.

RIPLEY: Controlling the narrative means scrubbing social media. Peng's explosive post on November 2nd, accusing a retired Chinese leader of sexual assault erased within 30 minutes. Look for the story on China's leading search engine. You get this message: sorry, no relevant results found. This scandal so politically sensitive a high-profile state propagandist referred to it on Twitter as the thing people talked about.

Inside China, state media staying silent. No mention in the mainland's T.V. or digital media. Outside, those news outlets eagerly tweeting updates and images of Peng, in English on a platform blocked in their own country. An irony not lost on millions following the story outside China. Some even mocking the state media tweets. Peng is seen smiling, but not talking, at a tennis tournament, having dinner with friends and a Chinese sports official, who just so happens to mention the exact date several times.

CNN has no way to independently verify these videos or this email, supposedly from Peng, to the head of the Women's Tennis Association last week, claiming everything is fine. A computer cursor visible in this apparent screenshot. The head of the WTA telling "OUTFRONT" he's not convinced.

STEVE SIMON, CHAIRMAN AND CEO, WOMEN'S TENNIS ASSOCIATION: I'm just struggling to agree to that and don't believe that's the truth at all.

RIPLEY: The WTA demanding direct, uncensored communication with Peng. The organization's repeated calls and messages to the tennis star unanswered.

HSU: China is well known for coercing statements to show that everything is fine.

RIPLEY: China's narrative bolstered by the International Olympic Committee. The IOC handed out this single image of a video call Sunday, along with a statement summarizing the call. Claiming Peng is safe and well, totally ignoring her painfully detailed allegation of sexual assault.

With billions of dollars in ad revenue on the line, critics call the IOC complicit in China's apparent silencing of a three-time Olympian, who many fear is being held under duress. Censored by China's authoritarian government, which blames hostile forces for politicizing the issue.

When CNN goes to the next story, our signal returns. As China waits for the news cycle to move on, the pressure keeps growing. The world keeps demanding answers. Will Ripley, CNN, Hong Kong.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ACOSTA: And a programming note. Join Fareed Zakaria for an in-depth look at China's leader, Xi Jinping. "China's Iron Fist: Xi Jinping and the Stakes for America" begins tonight at 9:00 on CNN.

Coming up, he has a heart as big as his biceps. How The Rock surprised one very deserving fan just in time for the holidays.

[16:43:36]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ACOSTA: It'll be a holiday season to remember for one Navy veteran who got the surprise of a lifetime from Dwayne The Rock Johnson.

DWAYNE JOHNSON, ACTOR: Ladies and gentlemen. How're you guys doing?

There's a dude here. I read his story. And I was really impressed with his story, too. I want to highlight him. His name is Oscar Rodriguez. Where are you, Oscar?

OSCAR RODRIGUEZ: Get out of here, bro. JOHNSON: Oscar, come on down. Good to see you, brother.

RODRIGUEZ: Nice to meet you, bro. Wow. Dude. Wow.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ACOSTA: That is so great. Oscar Rodriguez was attending a special screening of The Rock's new movie, "Red Notice," when he learned he'd be getting a one-of-a-kind gift, The Rock's own custom Ford truck.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHNSON: I want to show you something real quick.

RODRIGUEZ: Yes.

JOHNSON: I wrote this card for you. It's a little thing.

RODRIGUEZ: What the heck? Thank you for your service, brother. Enjoy your new truck. What the heck is happening. Get out of here, bro. Oh, my god.

JOHNSON: You do a lot of good for people, man.

RODRIGUEZ: I thought this was your truck, bro.

JOHNSON: It is my truck.

RODRIGUEZ: What do you mean?

JOHNSON: Now, it's your truck. This is my personal truck. It's yours now.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[16:50:00]

ACOSTA: Wow. It is a cool truck, too. The Rock said he was very moved by Oscar's story, including how he supports and provides meals for women who are victims of domestic violence.

And joining me now is that very well-deserving Navy veteran, Oscar Rodriguez. Hey, Oscar, how're you doing?

RODRIGUEZ: What's up, Jim? How are you?

ACOSTA: I'm doing great.

RODRIGUEZ: I'm doing well.

ACOSTA: You know, with all of the bad stuff going on in the world, I'm just so glad we can do something positive like this. This is cool. Take us back to that moment in the theater when The Rock called out your name. That had to be surreal.

RODRIGUEZ: It was so -- it was -- it was so surreal. My heart sank. I did not even expect anything like this to happen. And so, when he said my name, for that moment, I -- like, my dream, my hopes, all, like, came to fruition, because I've been wanting to meet The Rock for so long. And for him to acknowledge me, there at the theater, was one of the greatest moments of my life, honestly.

ACOSTA: Now, were you in any physical pain when he hugged you? That was one of the things I had a question about.

RODRIGUEZ: No, man. I was hugging him (INAUDIBLE.) You know, I didn't want to let him go. I got so many hugs from him. Good to hug him, you know? He's a -- he's a bear. I love it.

ACOSTA: It's incredible. And take us to that moment when, you know, he takes you to the card. You read the card and you realize, you know, he's --

RODRIGUEZ: Yes.

ACOSTA: -- giving me his truck. What was that like?

RODRIGUEZ: First off, that was not anywhere near my expectations at all. I mean, I was just so happy to be in the same room with The Rock, you know, Dwayne Johnson. And then, all the way leading up to the truck, I -- it was like living the dream. I was living this surreal moment in my life. And when I read the card, I have it right here, you know, it says, you know, Oscar, thank you for your service. Enjoy your new truck.

ACOSTA: That's cool.

RODRIGUEZ: I collapsed because I just -- it was just so hard for me to comprehend. My mind couldn't comprehend the idea of me receiving a truck. And then, in the moment, I didn't realize that it was actually his truck that he was giving to me. I thought it was a brand-new truck. And he's, like, no, it's my personal truck. And that makes it even more special for me. You know? Now. I'm, like, driving in the truck that The Rock drives.

ACOSTA: Oh, yes. Because you know he's got all the extras. You know, he didn't -- he didn't skimp on any of the extras.

RODRIGUEZ: And it's super high. So, every time I drive around other trucks, I'm, like, no. I'm, like, two inches higher. This is insane. It's like running around the chrome (ph).

ACOSTA: It's The Rock's truck. It has to be up high. It has to be big. And what was --

RODRIGUEZ: Dude.

ACOSTA: What's that?

RODRIGUEZ: It's lifted, huge tires. It's an amazing truck. I'm just -- wow, I can't believe it. My mom has a hard time getting up there. You know what I'm saying? You've got to do a big leg raise and I've got to help her up, you know? ACOSTA: You're going to need the ladder for that. You're going to need

a ladder for that. And when you watch the video -- when you watch the video of you and the response that you had, I mean, you were -- you got really emotional there.

RODRIGUEZ: Yes. Yes, I -- watching video just now, I did debt emotional. It's just reliving that moment. you know? It's so -- like I said in the video, it's encouraging, uplifting just to meet The Rock. But then, for him just to give me his truck, I just -- for that moment -- I didn't want that moment to ever end, you know? So now, I have that moment in me, and I will never forget it.

And every time I watch that video, it's going to tear jerk -- you know, it's going to be a tearjerker for me, personally. And I just -- I still can't believe it, you know? It's such a wonderful gift. And I'm grateful to The Rock. I'm grateful to God. I'm grateful for this moment, you know? And, man, there's, like, a lot of -- there's a lot of moments in my life that I'm grateful for. But this is, like, number one, you know, and number two, up there.

ACOSTA: Absolutely.

RODRIGUEZ: And, Oscar, we're grateful to you for the work that you do, the charity work that you do. And that is exactly why The Rock singled you out for this great gift. Thanks for sharing that story with us. We appreciate it.

RODRIGUEZ: Yes, thank you, Jim. I appreciate being your show. This is amazing.

ACOSTA: All right, you got it. Take care. Good luck with that truck. Thanks a lot.

RODRIGUEZ: Thank you.

ACOSTA: All right. In the meantime, the world has lost more than five million people due to COVID-19. And knowing just how difficult and isolating it is to lose a spouse, this top 10 CNN hero created a community of widows that could heal together. Meet Michelle Neff Hernandez.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I would tell the nurse, tell him I love him or put the phone by him, because they would not let me in. Sometimes, I'd just go sit in the parking lot just to be close to him. You know, on April 13th, they told me he was gone. I needed someone to understand what it was like to be widowed.

[16:55:01]

MICHELLE NEFF HERNANDEZ: Initially, you imagine that when someone dies, the worst day is the day they die. And the truth is that living without them is the hard part. But you have to make your way through.

Thank you for being here and showing up for each other. (voice-over): And we hope people live and live through something that, many times, they did not think that they would survive.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: And go to CNNheroes.com right now to vote for Michelle for CNN Hero of the Year or any of your favorite top 10 heroes.

[16:55:39]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)