Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

U.S. to Impose Travel Ban from South Africa and Neighboring Countries; President Biden Meets with COVID Team Amid Omicron Variant; WHO Says Travel Ban Targeting Africa Threatens Global Solidarity; Waukesha Struggles to Recover After Deadly Christmas Parade; Biden Briefed as Omicron Variant Spreads Around the World; Israel Announces Sweeping New Travel Restrictions; Ghislaine Maxwell to Stand Trial Tomorrow. Aired 8-9p ET

Aired November 28, 2021 - 20:00   ET

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

[20:00:11]

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, CHIEF MEDICAL ADVISER TO PRESIDENT BIDEN: Even with the variant that we don't know yet the full impact, get boosted. Get vaccinated.

KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN HOST (voice-over): Tonight scientists racing to decode the new coronavirus variant as more countries detect first cases of Omicron.

DR. PAUL BURTON, CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER, MODERNA: How transmissible is this? We don't know yet. How severe is this? We don't know the answer to that question right now.

COLLINS: Concern and condemnation as more countries ban travel from South Africa and neighboring nations.

URSULA VON DER LEYEN, PRESIDENT, EUROPEAN COMMISSION: We are now in a race against time.

PRES. CYRIL RAMAPHOSA, SOUTH AFRICA: These restrictions are completely unjustified.

SCOTT GOTTLIEB, FORMER FDA COMMISSIONER: We didn't need to close off travel and unfortunately we're punishing South Africa for doing the right thing.

COLLINS: The U.S. set to enforce its own travel restrictions tomorrow.

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We're going to be cautious to make sure there is no travel to and from South Africa and six other countries.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're concerned if we're going to be able to come back home.

COLLINS: But with lessons learned from past variants, immediate measures are being taken as scientists rush to evaluate the threat. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You can take a COVID test on site and they give

you this little at-home test kit. That definitely feels different when you come home and you see all that going on.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: I'm Kaitlan Collins in Washington. You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

Tonight countries around the world are scrambling to respond to a concerning new variant known as Omicron. Top scientists are evaluating whether it causes more severe disease or could evade vaccines. At least a dozen countries have now detected cases of Omicron in their nations including those showing red on this map. Canada just now confirming its first two cases. Multiple countries including the United States are shutting their doors to South Africa and its neighbors in an attempt to contain the variant but preventing it from spreading entirely will likely be impossible.

Those restrictions have sparked anger especially from South Africa where scientists first reported the variant and alerted the global community several days ago. Medical experts say if Omicron is not already in the United States, it probably will be soon. And as they struggle to understand its many mutations and what it means for vaccines, there also do appear to be some encouraging signs.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARGARET BRENNAN, CBS' "FACE THE NATION": Do you have any indication that it's more lethal or that it makes people more ill?

GOTTLIEB: Yes, not right now. The three critical questions right now is, first, is this more virulent, so to your question, is this making people more ill? There's no indication it is. And in fact there's some anecdotal information off of physicians in South Africa that this could be causing mild illness.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: Former FDA commissioner Scott Gottleib there. We have complete coverage tonight from Johannesburg to the White House. We're going to start with Nick Valencia at the Atlanta Airport.

Nick, of course, Delta Airlines is headquartered there. Right now they are still flying to South Africa but of course the clock is ticking on those flights.

NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. And it appears so far at least this historically busy travel day, Kaitlan, hasn't been impacted at all by news of this new strain here of COVID-19. We've been talking to passengers all day and we're joined now by a family who's on their way back to New York. Is that right?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

VALENCIA: And so you guys have heard about this variant. Did it impact your decision at all? Or how did it go into, you know, your thoughts about coming to the airport here today?

GLORIOUS DUNKERLEY, TRAVELER: Well, first of all, we're all fully vaccinated. And we have been for almost a year now. And we feel quite comfortable just taking all the necessary precautions that we need to make, hand washing, wearing masks., and just being very careful.

VALENCIA: And Maya, is there any reluctance for you going back to New York knowing that there's flights continuing to go to South Africa and the variant, I mean, people that I have talked to, and even health experts say it's very likely that it could already be here in the United States?

MAYA TABB, TRAVELER: Yes, I'm good with that. Yes.

VALENCIA: Are you taking any added precautions? Do you think that you're going to do anything different moving forward or what do you think?

M. TABB: Yes, I think I'm just going to wear a mask a lot.

VALENCIA: Yes.

M. TABB: And wash my hands, yes.

VALENCIA: Many of the passengers I think of the many passengers we've spoken to today, there was only one that was really kind of hesitant in thinking like what does this is going to mean going forward. Does this change anything for you? I mean, you guys are still going to get on your flight to New York today.

JOSHUA TABB, TRAVELER: Yes. I mean, honestly, COVID is always going to be there as we know. And like it's just, you know, we have --

(CROSSTALK)

VALENCIA: Part of life now, it seems.

J. TABB: Yes. It really is a part of life. So it's going to be a big change now moving forward.

VALENCIA: So for you guys it really is business as usual as well, you know, for you just like Delta Airlines here?

DUNKERLEY: Yes. I mean, we love to travel. We've never really stopped traveling. We're going to continue to travel. I think, you know, it's just a new way of life. It's a new normal for all of us.

VALENCIA: Well, thank you guys so much for taking the time with CNN. We really appreciate it.

They were so excited to be on. We had to get them on. Thank you, guys, very much.

So you see, Kaitlan, you know, the general attitude here among passengers is that they're ready to get back home.

[20:05:04]

They have to travel. They know and they're aware of this news and even this really sort of frightening initial data that we're seeing. But for a lot of people it's the pandemic is over -- Kaitlan.

COLLINS: Yes. Of course, scientists are still waiting to learn more about this new variant. And we should note, these new restrictions don't apply to American citizens or permanent legal residents. They do still have to get a negative test to get back into the United States.

I want to go to the White House where Joe Johns is, and President Biden returning there today from his Thanksgiving vacation. He got a briefing almost immediately upon landing about the latest on these developments. So what did President Biden hear from his team, Joe?

JOE JOHNS, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kaitlan, they put out a status report or what we here at the White House call a readout. And it was essentially very short and sort of giving a summary.

Now for the president flew back to the Washington area from Nantucket, where he spent Thanksgiving with his family, went straight into a briefing with his COVID response team including Dr. Anthony Fauci who is seen front and center in a picture they released wearing a mask there. He also was heavily attributed in the statement they put out. That statement says, "Dr. Fauci informed the president while it will take approximately two more weeks to definitive information on the transmissibility, severity and other characteristics of the variant, he continues to believe that existing vaccines are likely to provide a degree of protection against severe cases of COVID."

Dr. Fauci also reiterated that boosters for fully vaccinated individuals provide the strongest protection from COVID. Now the president is expected to give an update on Monday. Monday, by the way, Kaitlan, as you've already noted, is the day when those travel restrictions from several Southern African countries including South Africa and Botswana will go into effect. The president was asked today whether there will be any more travel restrictions and he didn't answer that -- Kaitlan.

COLLINS: Yes. You can imagine you're going to hear a lot more from this administration about boosters while we wait for the next two weeks to learn more about this.

Joe Johns at the White House, Nick Valencia in Atlanta, thank you both for joining us.

Scientists in South African first alerted the global community about the severity of the new Omicron variant just about four days ago, and has quickly become a major concern around the world.

David McKenzie is in Johannesburg. And David, of course, these South African officials have said, look, we did the right thing here, we detected this early on, we alerted the global community about this, and now they feel like they're being punished to a degree with these new travel restrictions, not just from the United States but from several nations.

DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, several nations, Kaitlan. In fact, it's an increasing number of nations that seems to be spanning across the globe that is cutting off South Africa and its neighboring countries. And if you just look at some of the most recent news, kind of pokes holes in the logic of this travel ban outside of the fact that the WHO already says that these shouldn't be instituted.

You have that case, two cases in Canada which weren't coming from Southern Africa at all, they were travelers from Nigeria. And previously there was a traveler from Egypt that tested positive in Belgium. Neither of those countries anywhere near Southern Africa. And the expectation from scientists is that, although South African scientists worked very quickly to alert the world to the possible dangers of this variant, the cat is already out of the bag.

And frankly this variant is probably all over the place. And more it's based on where it has been picked up by good surveillance than where it actually is. The South African president coming on television here in South Africa for an address to the nation. He was saying he was deeply disappointed in countries that have instituted these bans.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RAMAPHOSA: 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.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

MCKENZIE: There will be several weeks before we know exactly or get early indications of what this variant might be able to achieve. And in that time you would expect this travel restrictions will be in place and could have a lot of damage on this region's economy -- Kaitlan.

COLLINS: David McKenzie, thanks so much for joining us tonight.

Obviously there are far more questions than answers right now about the new Omicron variant. So I do want to bring in Dr. Peter Hotez from the Baylor College of Medicine.

Dr. Hotez, you've been paying attention to these developments today, learning essentially what we know at the moment right now, though it's still not a lot. And so what is your take on what you've heard so far?

[20:10:02]

DR. PETER HOTEZ, PROFESSOR AND DEAN OF TROPICAL MEDICINE, BAYLOR COLLEGE OF MEDICINE: Yes. I think, first of all, Kaitlan, this variant is likely already globalized. Then that's been pretty much the story in almost every variant that we've identified. By the time we identified a new one, it's already spread to continent except Antarctica. So the fact that we've identified this variant now in Europe, and multiple European countries, now in Canada, almost certainly it's in the United States and Australia.

That's actually not surprising. That's pretty much the same playbook that every variant exercises. I think there's a lot we don't know. We want to look at the severity of illness of this variant. We're hearing conflicting stories. Some saying it's causing mild illness, others saying that there are some severe cases in hospitals in South Africa. My guess is like most of the variants they don't seem to vary that much in terms of their clinical presentation. So I think that's probably a likely scenario.

In terms of vaccine escape, this variant like, if you remember the b.1351, the Beta out of South Africa last year or the Lambda variant out of South America last year? It has some similar mutations. And what we find is if you get a high level of virus neutralizing antibody, there still seems to be some cross protections. So the hope is that individuals who've gotten third immunizations of the MRNA vaccine, or those who've been infected and also get vaccinated they should be -- have some level of protection.

We don't know that for certain. Our scientists over the weekend and this week at our Texas Children's Center for Vaccine Development as well as almost certainly Moderna, Pfizer, and J&J are now looking at the antibody responses to each of our vaccines and seeing how they -- if they effectively neutralize either the Omicron variant or what we call a Sino virus variant of the Omicron virus.

And I think we can know that pretty soon. It may not be a couple of weeks. I think by the end of this week we'll actually have some vaccine neutralizing antibody data to know whether the vaccines are still at least partially effective. So that's -- I'm hoping for some good news on that front. And then of course the ultimate question is, how transmissible is this? Is this more transmissible to the point where it can outcompete the Delta variant because that's what has to happen.

If you remember the Alpha variant was outcompeted by the Delta variant this summer across North America and that caused a severe wave. Can Omicron do this? It's a pretty high bar. Delta variant is the highest we've seen so far and there's not enough data there to really say for certain what's going on. We know we've seen this big rise in Omicron in one province in South Africa, where Pretoria and Johannesburg is located. We don't know if that's going to translate to doing the same globally.

So a lot -- clearly more questions than answers at this point. The good news is the scientific community is prepared. And I think over the next week or two we're going to have answers to these questions.

COLLINS: Do you think we're doing enough testing in the United States, though, to really find out if this variant is here, and if so, how widespread it is?

HOTEZ: Well, unfortunately, Kaitlan, we've under performed in terms of genomic testing all along. We're doing a little better now than we were before but we're not quite at that level yet. So, no, I think it's quite possible that the Omicron variant is here, and we haven't picked it up yet. But I think if we can pick up the pace of genomic sequencing, hopefully we'll identify it soon.

COLLINS: Yes. The CDC says no confirmed cases yet but of course they are still trying to figure that out and examining more test samples.

Dr. Peter Hotez, thank you so much for joining us tonight.

HOTEZ: Thank you.

COLLINS: Coming up in the CNN NEWSROOM, a moving moment to remember the victims of the Waukesha Christmas Parade tragedy victims. How the community is rallying to help the people who are injured and of course those who lost loved ones.

Also ahead, a blockbuster trial. What the case against Ghislaine Maxwell could reveal about Jeffrey Epstein's powerful inner circle.

And then this man is lucky to be alive after he flew from Guatemala to Miami while in the plane's landing gear.

We'll be right back with more.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[20:18:19]

COLLINS: It's been one week since the Annual Christmas Parade in Waukesha, Wisconsin, became the scene of tragedy. When Darrell Brooks is accused of plowing his SUV through the celebration, killing six and injuring dozens leaving the city in shock. Today one injured child was well enough to leave the hospital and go home. But several others are still being treated and remain hospitalized.

CNN's Natasha Chen has more on the aftermath.

NATASHA CHEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Kaitlan, the city of Waukesha held a moment of silence this afternoon at 4:39 p.m. Central Time to mark the moment one week ago when an SUV crashed into the crowd of Christmas parade. Six people died and more than 60 others were injured. People also went blue lights at that time to remember the victims and show support for the families with injured loved ones.

Children's Wisconsin says this evening they have seven remaining patients, three of whom are in serious condition. One of their patients is Jesselyn Torres, 11 years old, who is on a ventilator with a broken pelvis, fractured skull, lacerations to her lungs. That's according to her mother who's been posting heartbreaking updates on social media, saying that her daughter had the vehicle's grill marks on her chest and was flung about 20 to 30 feet.

Wisconsin senators, Democrat Tammy Baldwin and Republican Ron Johnson, issued a rare joint statement Saturday saying, "Outside individuals or groups may attempt to exploit the tragedy for their own political purposes." They didn't provide more details about why they made the statement other than to say they have, quote, "full confidence in the local officials and that they should be afforded the respect and support they deserve to undertake their responsibilities without outside interference."

Police said suspect Darrell E. Brooks was involved in a domestic disturbance earlier on the day of the parade and left the scene just before driving his SUV through this crowd.

[20:20:05]

Brooks was a registered sex offender in Nevada and had an active arrest warrant in that state. He was released on bond earlier this month after allegedly running over a woman who said she's the mother of his child. He's been charged with five counts of intentional first- degree homicide with a possible additional charge to be added for the sixth victim. A judge set his bail at $5 million saying he believes Brooks is a flight risk -- Kaitlan.

COLLINS: We'll be waiting to see if another charge is added to that.

Natasha Chen, thanks so much.

Governor Matthew McConaughey? Some may say it has a nice ring to it but tonight the actor says that won't be his next role. I'll talk to Alice Stewart and Paul Begala about his decision not to run for governor of Texas, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[20:25:15]

COLLINS: President Biden just wrapped up a briefing with his COVID team on the new Omicron variant. His top advisers say they're still gathering more information but taking moves to contain the variant as much as possible out of an abundance of caution. Still there are new COVID concerns that could spell big problems for a president who wanted to put the virus in the rear-view mirror.

Joining me now to discuss are two CNN political commentators, Republican strategist Alice Stewart and Democratic strategist Paul Begala.

So, Paul, I want to start with you tonight on these new restrictions that you're going to see go into place tomorrow. This is something that some have pointed out that there were people in the Biden administration who were critical when the last administration put travel restrictions in place. But do you think the calculus on this has changed now that they're in charge?

PAUL BEGALA, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I think so and because this new variant could be so devastating. We don't know yet. But, you know, I think it's really smart for the White House to move quickly. To impose this travel ban, the president has already met with his team of medical and science advisers. He sent a bunch of them out on television this morning.

We saw Dr. Francis Collins out on "STATE OF THE UNION." We saw Dr. Fauci all over the place. He's going to -- Biden is going to speak to the country tomorrow. You know, you fight fear with facts. And right now we don't have very many facts. So the next best thing is taking action right away to show he's on top of it. And I will say his poll numbers on COVID have actually always been much stronger than on, say, immigration or even the economy. So, politically I think this is in his wheelhouse.

COLLINS: Yes, and of course those are poll numbers that the White House had said were really even tied to the success of his presidency, which is actually getting this under control, returning the country to normal and making people feel better.

But, Alice, you've seen some of those poll numbers actually drop to a degree when it comes what you've seen back in June. See, it was at 64 percent of his confidence in his handling -- of how he handled coronavirus. Now it's closer to 48 percent. So how does that factor into the moves that the White House is making now on this?

ALICE STEWART, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: It means they need to be very calculated in what they do and they also need to communicate it. And look, those numbers are bad but you also have to go back even further, Kaitlan, when he was elected president. He had 70 percent approval in terms of how he was going to put COVID in the rear-view mirror and has not followed through with it. Now he's at less than 50 percent.

The key here is to do what they've been doing, follow the science. Make sure that they stay ahead of this and communicate to the American people what they're going to do. And the big concern here is this new variant seems to be much more serious, much more significant than the others, and it's really important to have these meetings with the scientists and make sure we take preventive steps and get ahead of this as opposed to make -- letting this get ahead of the American people.

But more than anything, the most important thing we can do is to continue to encourage people to get the vaccine. Booster if needed. But get the vaccine. And when and where appropriate, wear a mask and socially distanced. Those are the most important things we can continue to tell the American people.

COLLINS: And Paul, you just noted that tomorrow President Biden is going to be addressing the country, talking about what he heard from his team of advisers today. But of course the facts are still in short supply. Dr. Fauci says it could be about two weeks before we know more definitively, is this causing more severe disease? Can it evade vaccines? Big questions of course that we all want to know the answer to.

So if you're advising the president, what is his tone that he should take tomorrow when he is talking to the nation given we still don't know a lot of the facts about this variant?

BEGALA: Right. I think he has to level with the country and say that first. Look, we don't have all the facts and things will change. Right? But here's what we need to be doing. Alice is right, I saw all those experts on TV this morning. And sometimes scientists are not the best messengers. And this day I think his science team, his medical team did a terrific job of saying, get the booster. That we know. Get the booster.

And I'm quite sure you're going to hear the president say that. You know, we have -- we're still giving over 1.3 million doses of vaccine per day under President Biden which is good but not great. We're only about 59 percent of Americans vaccinated. We've got to get higher. So any opportunity he has to take the stage and remind the American people that the best way to protect yourself and your neighbors and those you love is to go get a booster.

COLLINS: Yes. I think that's going to be a message that you'll hear repeatedly from Biden and other top officials over the next two weeks until we do know more about this.

And Alice, I want to completely switch subjects here and move on to a development that we just heard from Matthew McConaughey who of course has been rumored to be considering a run for governor of Texas, something that he had been considering. He had not said officially yet what his position was, what he was going to do, though he did just announce it a few moments ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MATTHEW MCCONAUGHEY, ACTOR: As a simple kid born in the little town of Uvalde, Texas, it never occurred to me that I would one day be considered for political leadership.

[20:30:01]

It's a humbling and inspiring path to ponder. It is also a path that I am choosing not to take at this moment.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: What do you think about that?

STEWART: All right, all right, all right.

COLLINS: I was hoping there was going to be a good McConaughey joke in there.

STEWART: Yes. Two things. I was actually quite interested in seeing this through and watching how he would run for office. We have seen television stars win elected office. And I was also encouraged to see what possibly Paul Begala would do with regard to helping Matthew McConaughey.

Look, I think he raised some important issues in the message that McConaughey put out, that he did talk about the political discourse in this country and lowering the temperature, and the need for making sure that we have elected officials that serve people for all the right reasons. And I'm encouraged to see that he's not completely ruling it out in the future because he realizes there is a need for this. But he's also going to stay involved and stay involved with people that want to make Texas better and the nation better with regard to public service. So that's encouraging. COLLINS: Yes. It will still be an interesting race to watch, of

course. Governor Greg Abbott is running for re-election. We know that Beto O'Rourke says he wants to also run for that.

Paul, I do want to get your take on something that we just heard a few moments ago from Republican Congresswoman Nancy Mace who joined us from South Carolina. She of course is weighing in on what happened this week while lawmakers were gone from Washington. Those were those comments from Republican Lauren Boebert talking about Ilhan Omar, one of the first Muslim women elected to Congress.

And Nancy Mace said she does condemn those comments, essentially implying that she could potentially be a suicide bomber. But are you surprised that that's not something we're seeing more widespread in the Republican Party right now?

BEGALA: I am. I mean. I think, and perhaps getting back to Alice's point, perhaps this is why Matthew doesn't want to get into politics. And in that sense I can't blame him. He's a creative genius and a great guy and Brother Longhorn, and I love the guy. But that's a good example of how broken politics is. If people can't stand up and say, this is wrong, especially when it's in your own party.

You have to police your own team first. And when people are unwilling to do that. And let me be specific, Kevin McCarthy. I'm glad Congresswoman Mace did, and good for her, and I salute that. The leader of that party, and I use that word in very judiciously, alleged leader is Kevin McCarthy who has done nothing on this. He has refused to stand up to the extremists. And it's like to call him Republican leader, by the way, is like an oxymoron.

It's like jumbo shrimp or adult male or something, you know. It's just like two words that don't really go well together. The guy has got to step up and police this or more and more people are going to say, look, I don't want to have anything to do with politics generally or maybe just with Republicans specifically if they can't get control of their own fringe elements.

STEWART: Also I do think it's important, Congresswoman Mace also made the point that across the aisle, Republicans and Democrats across the board, need to be more condemning of inciteful inflammatory language and social media posts in Congress.

COLLINS: And you can bet Kevin McCarthy is going to get a lot of questions from this from reporters on Capitol Hill when they're back this week about what the response is going to be from Republican leadership, of course.

Alice Stewart, Paul Begala, thank you both for joining us tonight.

STEWART: Thank you, Kaitlan.

BEGALA: Welcome.

COLLINS: Roll Tide. Just as Hanukkah starts, Israel is putting into place sweeping new

travel restrictions given this new variant that of course there are major concerns about worldwide. We have breaking news up on that and what's going on across the globe next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[20:38:12]

COLLINS: We have this news in just from Asia. Taiwan says China dispatched 27 warplanes into the skies around it. That included five nuclear capable bombers. And the move comes a few days after five lawmakers visited Taiwan to meet with government officials there.

Now of course China has been ratchetting up its military action. Back in October, 77 Chinese warplanes entered Taiwan's Air Defense Identification Zone over two days. This comes as dozens of nations are limiting travel from parts of Southern Africa where the new Omicron variant was first discovered and reported but Israel is taking a bigger step than that, banning all foreigners from entering the country for two weeks.

CNN's Hadas Gold has more details from Jerusalem.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HADAS GOLD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: There are now at least seven suspected and one confirmed case of the new variant in Israel. Four of the suspected cases are for people who recently traveled abroad, health authorities say, making it possible that the other three suspected cases may have been local transmissions.

In response to fears over the new variant's possible dangers, the Israeli government is taking drastic new measures which are some of the strictest in the world. The country is shutting its borders to foreigners for two weeks, and this is not even a month after opening up to vaccinated tourists.

Additionally, all Israelis returning from abroad no matter where they're coming from will be required to quarantine for at least three days and produce two negative PCR tests before they can be released. And that's for vaccinated or recovered people. If they're unvaccinated Israelis will need to quarantine for at least seven days with two negative tests before they can be released. And Israelis who are returning from what the government considers red countries, which is essentially most of Africa, apart from the continent's northern countries, will be sent directly to designated quarantine hotels.

And anyone with a suspected or confirmed case of the new variant will be tracked via their cell phones by Israel's security service, the Shin Bet.

[20:40:08]

But Israeli authorities say that they are not imposing new restrictions on gatherings as the country begins to celebrate Hanukkah which is set to begin Sunday night. And then there's the Miss Universe Pageant, which is supposed to take place in two weeks in the southern city of Eilat. Authorities and organizers say that as of now they expect the competition to go on as planned.

Hadas Gold, CNN, Jerusalem.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: And Israeli prime minister says caution is going to be key here. And as Hadas also mentioned, today starts the celebration of Hanukkah. And here in the United States the second gentleman Doug Emhoff lit the first candle of the National Menorah in Washington this afternoon, signifying the start of the holiday. The husband of Vice President Kamala Harris is the first Jewish spouse of a president or vice president.

A British socialite is accused of conspiring with Jeffrey Epstein to entice young women to engage in illegal sex acts. She stands trial tomorrow. Joey Jackson joins us to break down what the trial could reveal right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[20:45:31]

COLLINS: Tomorrow morning opening statements begin in what could be a blockbuster trial of Ghislaine Maxwell, the alleged accomplice of the convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein. Maxwell is accused of sex trafficking and grooming minors as part of a sex ring that allegedly catered to Epstein and a network of powerful men worldwide. Epstein died by suicide in prison in 2019 before he could go on trial. Maxwell has pleaded not guilty.

Joining us now is CNN legal analyst Joey Jackson to talk about the specific charges here which we should remind everyone is given how long that she has been in jail waiting for this trial, enticing a minor to travel to engage in criminal sexual activity, transporting a minor with the intent to engage in criminal sexual activity, conspiracy to commit both of those offenses, perjury and of course, Joey, we do know the defense is expected to argue she is being tried for someone else's crime. So what do you expect to see from prosecutors starting tomorrow?

JOEY JACKSON, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Yes, Kaitlan. Good to be with you. So, you know, any trial is the battle of the narratives. And I think prosecutors really will focus on the issues and things that she allegedly did in really enabling Mr. Epstein with regard to his activities as it relates to minors. How will they do that? I think they'll use the victims that were allegedly violated when they were under the age of 18, one as young as 14, in demonstrating that she was complicit and she was really an enabler with respect to transporting these minors, in one instance to New York City, in another instance to London, and another instance to Santa Fe, New Mexico, and another instance to Florida.

And so prosecutors will really say that by virtue of her approaching them, offering them things like shopping, like paying for school and other enticements, she was able to bring them into the orbit of Jeffrey Epstein and really participate in some instances with respect to the abuses that they were engaged in.

I think for her part, Kaitlan, she will argue that she was very much manipulated by Epstein herself and she had no knowledge or idea with regard to exactly what was occurring, what his intentions are, et cetera. And I think those narratives will be competing. An open question for me will of course be whether she will testify. I think in a case like this, she will.

COLLINS: Yes. And we know at least four of the women who say they were under age and preyed upon by Maxwell will also be testifying. So what do you expect that to look like? Because it could be of course pretty powerful.

JACKSON: Yes, that's a great point. And I think it will be powerful. And, you know, I think as it relates to their testimony, I think it will be very strong and compelling. I think they will recall specifically what occurred when they met with her, right, Miss Maxwell. Under what circumstances they met with her. What if any promises she made. How she induced them to travel. What activity she participated in or otherwise organized in structure.

I think the defense for their part in really cross examining these victims will point out that it was so long ago. Right? Well, over 20 years ago. I think memories will be tested. I think reliability will be at issue. But I think credibility certainly will be a major piece of this trial. But to your point, I think when the victims testify and really recall the abuses of the past and how she really allowed this, and not only allowed it but really it was an active participant, prosecutors will say I think jurors will have a lot to think about with regard to her guilt.

And let's not forget that there will be an expert witness, too, that will testify as to grooming, as to psychology, and as to a number of other things to educate the jury on how this could have occurred.

COLLINS: Yes. It's a long-awaited trial. And I think a lot of people are going to be paying very close attention.

Joey Jackson, thanks so much for joining us.

JACKSON: Always. Thanks, Kaitlan.

COLLINS: Up next, a jaw-dropping story out of Miami where police say a stowaway survived a more than two-hour flight from Guatemala clinging inside the plane's landing gear. Video shows the 26-year-old man looking kind of dazed after he emerged from the wheel well. And airport employees gave him water, waited with him until the paramedics and Customs and Border Protection officers had arrived on the scene.

This is where the man told people that he had managed to hide. He has been taken to the hospital to be evaluated. It remains unclear how he got on the plane and remained undetected until they landed. Back in the 1920s there was a horrific plot to steal land and money

from the Osage of Oklahoma. It's the subject of tonight's "THIS IS LIFE" with Lisa Ling. She joins us next with a preview.

[20:49:58]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Tonight Lisa Ling is back with two all-new episodes of "THIS IS LIFE." In the first episode, Lisa investigates the murders of wealthy Native Americans during the 1920s oil boom and witnesses how their descendants are fighting to revive what was nearly lost forever.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: People were being killed left and right. It was terrible. They never knew who was going to be next.

[20:55:03]

LISA LING, CNN HOST, "THIS IS LIFE": Meg and Sean tell me their grandparents feared for their lives. They even hired bodyguards.

(On-camera): Your family really felt that threat.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Absolutely.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, my grandmother used to have flash backs in their late '80s.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She would have nightmares.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That income some say it was a blessing, some say it's a curse.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: Lisa Ling joins me now. Lisa, it's stunning to hear them talk about how their parents, their family members, had these traumatic flashbacks of living in fear simply because they were wealthy and being targeted because of that.

LING: It's true, Kaitlan. And it's a fascinating story. You know, the Osage are a Native tribe that once controlled much of the Midwest, Missouri, Arkansas, Kansas, Oklahoma, of course before it became the Midwest. And they controlled this land for over a millennia. But eventually by the 1800s, they were driven off most of that land and they ended up settling in a small corner of Oklahoma and they negotiated a treaty with the United States and they were smart because they negotiated for the surface and the subsurface of that land.

So by the 1900s, they discovered that they were sitting on top of some of the richest oil resources on earth, in fact more lucrative than all of the gold mines -- gold rushes combined. But that ultimately led them to become targets for exploitation and even murder. It's estimated that there were hundreds of Osage murdered during that period. That became known as the "Reign of Terror" and hardly any of those murders were brought to justice. But the very few that did eventually led to the birth of the Federal Bureau of Investigation or FBI.

COLLINS: And how do their descendants struggled with that, the fact that there wasn't justice for these murders?

LING: Well, Kaitlan, it's pretty surreal when you go and talk to people there because these murders happened about a century ago but some are discovering that what they thought their relatives died of was not the case. They may have been murdered for the rights to their -- their head rights. So it's really -- it's incredible that something that happened so long ago is just still so raw for so many Osage people.

COLLINS: And has it affected their ability to carry on with what's important to so many of them, language, traditions, the legacy of their ancestors?

LING: Absolutely. Well, in the 1900s, so many of their ancestors were forced to go to boarding schools. They couldn't wear their traditional dress, they were forced to learn English and were forbidden for speaking their language. And so for the most part most Osage have grown up not knowing how to speak their language. But there is an amazing effort underway now to teach the kids how to speak the Osage language and quite honestly there are only less than a handful of people who can still peek that language. So it's so important that they're doing this now.

COLLINS: Just a handful. It's really amazing when we think back on that. But this isn't only the episode that's airing tonight of your show. You also have a second episode that is just as important, looking into the sexual assault in the military. What did you learn and what should people expect from this episode tonight?

LING: Well, this is our final night of season eight of "THIS IS LIFE," and all season we've been looking into moments in American history that didn't make it into the history books but continue to impact us today. And that second episode that's airing is about the Tailhook scandal in 1991 that really rocked the United States Navy. And we looked into how things have progressed since then because there have been so many promises of zero tolerance. And sadly we really haven't come too far with regard to sexual assaults in the military.

COLLINS: Yes. Too many women in the military fully aware of that.

Lisa Ling, these both sound like amazing episodes. Thank you for joining us to preview them.

LING: Thanks, Kaitlan.

COLLINS: And don't miss the double episode, season finale of "THIS IS LIFE" with Lisa Ling tonight at 10:00 Eastern and Pacific only on CNN.

Meanwhile influential fashion designer Virgil Abloh has died after a long and private battle with cancer. Abloh was the founder of the luxury street wear brand Off White as well as the artistic director of men's wear at Louis Vuitton. Abloh's hiring in 2018 made him the fashion house's first African-American artistic director. And for those of you not familiar with French fashion houses, you may recognize Abloh as the designer of Serena Williams' French Open look in 2019. He was also the designer behind the model Hailey Bieber's wedding dress as well. He was only 41 years old. And our hearts go out to his family and friends.

Thank you for joining me this evening. I'm Kaitlan Collins in Washington. The CNN's Special Report "CHINA'S IRON FIST: XI JINPING AND THE STAKES FOR AMERICA," hosted by Fareed Zakaria starts right now.

(END)