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Growing Number Of Countries Confirm Omicron Cases; South Korea Breaks Record For Daily COVID Cases; E.U. May Discuss Mandatory Vaccinations Amid Omicron Fears; CNN Visits Lab Studying Omicron Variant; Women's Tennis Association Suspends Tournaments In China; Antony Blinken Warns Russia Against Aggression Towards Ukraine. Aired 12-1a ET

Aired December 02, 2021 - 00:00   ET

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

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[00:00:15]

JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: Ahead this hour on CNN NEWSROOM, free beer, lottery tickets, pleading actors and sports stars just not enough. Vaccine passports and health cards seem to fall short as well.

So now, many countries considering vaccine mandates for the stubborn few who choose to keep this pandemic alive.

The Women's Tennis Association shows the world how to deal with a bully, suspending all tournaments in China immediately over there still missing doubles champ, Peng Shuai.

And Iran, the fuel stop flowing it almost every gas station.

In Israel, an LGBT dating app was hacked. Details of members made public. It's a tit for tat cyber war hacking low security civilian targets.

ANNOUNCER: Live from CNN Center, this is CNN NEWSROOM with John Vause.

VAUSE: Thank you for joining us and we begin with the spread of the Omicron variant. The United States, Norway, South Korea all among a growing list of countries reporting their first cases of the variant of concern.

Now, at least 28 countries and territories have confirmed cases. Notably though, the Delta variant remains the far more dominant strain everywhere according to the WHO.

And as more countries to check the Omicron variant, there's increasing criticism of blanket travel bans as being ineffective at preventing the spread of the virus and punitive to countries which report the variant.

Scientists in South Africa were Omicron was first found say most cases are mild, and those admitted to hospital are unvaccinated.

And soon, more should be known about the variant's severity and transmissibility.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARIA VAN KERKHOVE, COVID-19 TECHNICAL LEAD, WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION: We don't have all the information yet on transmission. In terms of if there is a fitness advantage if it's more transmissible; there is some suggestion of that. But again, its early days, we expect to have more information on transmission within days.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: And the Omicron variant continues to have countries scrambling to tighten travel restrictions, also trying to figure out ways to stop the spread.

CNN's Salma Abdelaziz reports now from London.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Another day and more confirmed Omicron cases globally. Norway, Saudi Arabia and Nigeria all now say they too have detected cases of the mutation.

TEDROS ADHANOM GHEBREYESUS, W.H.O. DIRECTOR-GENERAL: It should not surprise us. This is what viruses do. And it's what this virus will continue to do as long as we allow it to continue spreading.

ABDELAZIZ: While scientists await data, South African doctors still say that most cases they see are mild and among younger patients and the unvaccinated.

The CDC says it will tighten testing requirements for international arrivals in the U.S. from Southern Africa. They may soon have to provide proof of a negative test taken just one day before departure and will have to share names of passengers entering the U.S. on flights from Southern Africa with state and local health departments.

It comes as FDA advisers voted to recommend authorizing use of a pill made by Merck to treat people who already have COVID-19.

India had been due to restart international flights in two weeks. The government has called that off because of Omicron.

Due to host a major United Nation's peacekeeping summit next week, with visitors from 155 countries, South Korea now says it will now be held entirely online as the country detects its first cases of Omicron variant. Cases are surging in the country, regardless of the variant. And a top European Union official said today that they're preparing for a 100 days sprint to tweak the vaccines even as they hope it's not needed.

The World Health Organization is again scolding countries for blanket travel bans.

GHEBREYESUS: Blanket travel bans will not prevent the international spread of Omicron, and they place a heavy burden on lives and livelihoods.

ABDELAZIZ: South Africa's president agrees.

CYRIL RAMAPHOSA, SOUTH AFRICAN PRESIDENT: This is a global pandemic and overcoming it requires that we collaborate and work together as a collective.

ABDELAZIZ: Research suggests that quarantines are more effective than blanket bans, which only had an impact when implemented at the very beginning of the pandemic.

Salma Abdelaziz, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: Well, South Korea confirms its first case of the Omicron variant is also setting new records for daily confirmed cases. More than 5,200 infections on Wednesday, the second day in a row to see a new record with total cases approaching half a million.

[00:05:11]

VAUSE: CNN's Paula Hancocks live this hour for us in Seoul, South Korea.

And this is a situation which is now seeing hospitals once again being pushed to capacity, ICU units filling up very, very quickly.

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): That's right, John. Yes, health officials are very concerned by these numbers. It was just a month ago that South Korea started their policy of living with COVID.

They did ease some of those restrictions on businesses. They lifted curfews. More people were allowed to gather, but they have seen these numbers soaring.

Now, I spoke to a doctor who I've spoken to almost two years ago when he was looking after the very first Korean COVID patient here. And he was talking about how exhausted the entire health system is here in South Korea, not just the medical staff. He says it's very difficult, they don't know how much longer it will go on for.

But in this hospital itself, they had no ICU beds available for COVID patients, and they couldn't take any more patients in. This is what we are seeing across the board in many hospitals in the greatest Seoul area.

He said it's one thing to try and find more beds. But if they don't have the qualified doctors and nurses to man those beds, then it's simply not possible.

So, the system is being squeezed here.

Now, I spoke to the director of the National Institutes of Health and he was saying the majority of the hospitalizations we're seeing, these record numbers of critical cases are over the age of 16.

They were vaccinated early on in the process, and that efficacy is now waning. Many of them are having booster shots. The system is trying to speed up so they can increase the number of booster shots.

And now, of course, you have five confirmed cases of the new Omicron variant. So, there is a high level of concern. All extra easing of restrictions has been put on hold, the president has called the situation severe, there have been bans on certain flights coming in from certain African countries.

And also, now anybody coming into South Korea, Korean or foreign, we'll have to have 10 days of quarantine as they're trying to make sure that there's no extra cases of the new variant coming in, John.

VAUSE: Paula, thank you. Paul Hancocks live for us in Seoul.

In Europe, with a surging COVID-19 cases and a growing number of infections from the Omicron variant, the focus is now turning to the unvaccinated, about 150 million people, the European Commission president says it's time to consider vaccine mandates.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

URSULA VON DER LEYEN, EUROPEAN COMMISSION PRESIDENT: I think it is understandable and appropriate to lead this discussion now. How we can encourage and potentially think about mandatory vaccination within the European Union, this needs discussion. This needs a common approach. But it is a discussion that I think has to be led.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Dr. Eric Topol is a cardiologist and Professor of Molecular Medicine at Scripps Research. He joins us now from La Jolla in California. Welcome back.

DR. ERIC TOPOL, PROFESSOR OF MOLECULAR MEDICINE, SCRIPPS RESEARCH: Thanks, John. Great to be with you.

VAUSE: OK, so appealing to this sense of purpose and doing the right thing in the name of public health, clearly, hasn't worked for a very significant minority around the world. There are millions in Europe which are refusing to get vaccinated against COVID-19.

So, it looks -- at least there, there's Plan B coming into effect, which is basically to force people to get the immunization. Here's more now from the European Commission President.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VON DER LEYEN: One-third of the European population is not vaccinated. These are 150 million people. This is a lot. And not each and every one can be vaccinated. So, they're very small children, for example, or people with special medical conditions, but the vast majority could. (END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: So, there are a small number of European nations which are taking the first steps to making vaccines mandatory, but it seems we've tried pretty much everything from free beer to lottery tickets.

Governments have introduced vaccine passports and health cards, health officials, actors, singers, they pleaded and begged. So, you know, are mandatory vaccinations now the last arrow in the quiver?

TOPOL: Well, it's really amazing that it's come to this, John, that who would have thought you'd have to mandate this.

But we do also know that the mandates are working. They've had a big impact in the United States, although we're still well behind almost all of Western Europe, but it's only a last resort maneuver.

And it's essential because otherwise, we're not going to get to the endemic state. We're not going to feel like we exited this long pandemic marathon.

So, there's not any other strategies left to get the vaccination rates over 85 to 90 percent, which unfortunately have proved to be necessary with the Delta variant.

[00:10:03]

VAUSE: And one of the other questions when it comes to the mandates and boosters is whether to vaccinate the entire population or take a more targeted approach. The World Health Organization weighed in on that on Wednesday, listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAEL RYAN, WHO HEALTH EMERGENCIES PROGRAM: There is no evidence that I'm aware of that would suggest that boosting the entire population is going to necessarily provide any greater protection for otherwise healthy individuals against hospitalization or death.

The real risk of severe hospital -- of severe disease, hospitalization and death lies in particularly at risk and vulnerable individuals who do require protection against all variants of COVID.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: So, what would you say is the better strategy here? Requiring the entire population to step up, get vaccinated like in Austria, or Greece's decision this week to force everyone over 60 to actually go out and get a vaccine.

TOPOL: Right, well, the data for the third shots, of course, goes all the way down to age 40 for protecting against hospitalizations or deaths. So, it's not just 60. That's a very reasonable place to start, because the grading of risk increases with age.

But as far as the first vaccination, making people who are the highest risk group, partitioning by age is very reasonable. And we have to get -- some countries have had 99 percent success without having to use a mandate in the people over age 60.

So, we need to get there wherever we are on the globe to keep these people safe, even though they don't realize that they're vulnerable, highly vulnerable.

VAUSE: It just seems remarkable that there is, you know, enough vaccine in some countries in the wealthy nations to vaccinate their population, many times over. And that's been the case for a while.

And yet, there is this hesitation or a reluctance to go out and get it, despite it being proved safe and effective.

Whilst, you know, in the rest of the world, they're crawling over broken glass in many places to get to the vaccine supplies, it just seems incredulous.

TOPOL: It really is, you know, we've given just about eight billion doses of vaccines. The safety is just stupendous.

And, you know, the efficacy of these vaccines, particularly, if need be with a third dose, which essentially all the vaccines really need to maintain, hopefully, you know, long term efficacy.

So, we've never seen vaccines of this potency and safety. And it's just extraordinary that there's so much resistance, and we haven't scaled up to get the continent of Africa and other low middle-income countries up to complete speed. That is the maldistribution problem is really holding us back as well.

VAUSE: And when it comes to the Omicron variant, it seems the major strategy for the countries that do have vaccines is in boosters we trust. And there's also this return to mask mandates in some countries as well.

What we've also seen are these blanket travel restrictions, you know, despite the -- you know, the whole continued debate over just how effective they are., I want you listen to the U.N. Secretary General, here he is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANTONIO GUTERRES, U.N. SECRETARY-GENERAL: These is a very strong appeal that I launched, appeal to common sense. We have the instruments to have safe travel, let's use those instruments to avoid this kind of -- allow me to say, travel apartheid.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Travel apartheid, it's not a bad point. I mean, how effective are these travel bans when it's an airborne virus, and one that can be, you know, asymptomatic for weeks ahead of time? And especially when, you know, this variant has been found in countries in, you know, outside of South Africa before they actually made their announcement. TOPOL: The travel bans make absolutely no sense, John. It's just so primitive. We have ways, very precise ways with testing, with sequencing, where we can approach people on either side of international travel.

We don't need to do any bans. We already have community Trent transmission of Omicron in many countries that have been documented. The travel bans need to be abandoned.

VAUSE: Yes, I agree. It doesn't make any sense. There's a complete kind of lack of logic (INAUDIBLE), from whatever it's worth.

Dr. Eric Topol, thank you so much for being with us, Sir.

TOPOL: Thank you, John.

VAUSE: Just over a week ago, scientists in South Africa warned the world about this potentially new deadly variant.

CNN's David McKenzie reports despite all the obstacles and under resourced scientifical (PH) and medical community made this announcement, they found this variant almost against the odds.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): After tracking COVID for many months at this lab, Jeanine du Plessis is bracing herself.

MCKENZIE: Have you seen a lot more positive cases in the last few weeks?

JEANINE DU PLESSIS, MEDICAL SCIENTIST, WITS VIDA RESEARCH UNIT: Yes, we have.

MCKENZIE: First a trickle, then a flood. At the Wits VIDA lab, they're studying a disturbing variant of an old foe.

[00:15:06]

DU PLESSIS: It's still too early to actually to tell. There is so much that is so unknown about the variant. Everyone feels a little bit of hopelessness in a moment like that.

MCKENZIE: This lab is really at the cold phase of the COVID response. You know, they are expanding so fast. They're putting their samples in freezers right here in the hall way. They come in, in shifts. And as this wave develops, they will be operating 24 hours a day.

They know how bad it gets. This was Delta's awful impact in Johannesburg.

In July, patients stacked in hallways struggling to breathe in exclusive footage obtained by CNN.

At the Wits VIDA lab and all across the globe, they are trying to understand whether Omicron is more transmissible, deadlier, whether it breaks through existing COVID-19 vaccines.

What does it feel like that the entire world is hanging on this discovery that was figured out here initially?

ALLISON GLASS, PATHOLOGIST, LANCET LABORATORIES: Yes. So, I mean, it can -- it does feel a bit sort of surreal when you watch the news and you see the impact it's having globally. And you're thinking, wow, you know, it's sort of affecting stock markets and airlines and people's travel plans. You know, you kind of don't plan on having that sort of ripple effect.

MCKENZIE: A spike in cases first happened in Pretoria with a cluster infection at this technical university. But hints of a new variant were first detected by scientists and pathologists at Lancet Laboratories.

In early November, they spotted a strange anomaly in their positive PCR tests. Then it happened over and over again. It reminded them of tests for the Alpha variant first detected more than a year ago in the U.K.

What was it like to see this anomaly cropping up again?

GLASS: Well, it was a bit disturbing because we -- it made us worry that we were dealing with something new and because it coincided with an increase in positivity rate. It made us worry that we could be dealing with a new variant.

MCKENZIE: Lancet urgently notified South Africa's genomics team. Within days, they described and made public disturbing details of the highly mutated virus. Much of the world shut off travel from Southern Africa.

And scientists here say they are now struggling to fly in critical reagent for their lab work to understand Omicron.

Why was it so important to alert everybody about this?

GLASS: Especially with the reaction of the world to Southern Africa on the announcement of the variants. And a lot of people say, well, why didn't you just keep quiet about what you find?

But what's important is we know that a new variant is likely to cause an increase in cases, whether they'd be more severe or not.

MCKENZIE: David McKenzie, CNN, Johannesburg.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Well, the Women's Tennis Association staying true to its word, suspending all tournaments in China, with ongoing concerns over tennis star Peng Shuai. Why the WTA says China left it no other choice.

Also, a stark warning from America's top diplomat on Russia's intensifying aggression towards Ukraine. That's coming up, after the break. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[00:20:27]

VAUSE: True to their word, the Women's Tennis Association says all tournaments in China and Hong Kong will be suspended immediately because Chinese officials have failed to address sexual assault allegations made by Peng Shuai last month against a retired senior Communist Party leader.

After making those accusations, she vanished from the public eye for weeks, prompting international concern over her welfare.

The WTA chairman told CNN they're willing to take the financial loss, saying their decision comes down to upholding principle.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEVE SIMON, CHAIRMAN AND CEO, WOMEN'S TENNIS ASSOCIATION: This is something we can't walk away from. If we walk away from this, we're basically telling the world that not addressing sexual assault with the respect and seriousness that requires is OK because it's difficult to do. That's something that we simply cannot happen. And it's not what we stand for as an organization.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: CNN's Will Ripley joins us now live from Hong Kong. We should note this as a suspension, temporary suspension I guess but looks like it will be permanent if China does not back down, which is unlikely.

So, the cost here for walking away from China some say close to a billion dollars for the WTA. What's the cost if they stayed?

WILL RIPLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): What would the cost of they stay is that they have essentially chosen hundreds of millions of dollars, a lucrative 10-year deal over the well-being of one of their star players. A player who made a very emotional and heartfelt social media posts detailing alleged sexual assault at the hands of a much older, much more powerful man. Detailing her heartbreak and in walking around feeling like a corpse.

And then, within 30 minutes, that post was scrubbed, she disappears and reemerge is all smiles, sending e-mails purportedly from her retracting the allegations, showing up in these videos that most activists and many others outside observers look at and say were really carefully and clearly staged.

Even people who were detained in China say it reminds them of propaganda videos that they were forced to make or these false confessions that appear on Chinese state media.

Of course, there was the -- what was tantamount some feel to a false confession in that video call with the International Olympic Committee, the sporting organization that probably has the most clout with the authorities in China, they could have stood up, they could have put their foot down but they didn't, they have the video call, they said that Peng Shuai look relaxed, and she's fine. And everybody, don't worry about this, hoping that this controversy will come down less than two months to go until the Beijing Winter Games.

The Women's Tennis Association taking a strikingly different stance, saying that if there is not a full fair and transparent investigation that they will walk away and pull their business out of China at significant financial costs. We're talking about potentially one-third of their revenue.

Predictably, there is criticism from some of the highest profile state propagandists who are tweeting about this on a platform that's actually blocked inside China.

Of course, inside China's state media completing -- staying completely silent about this story, but outside, they're furiously trying to tweet updates about Peng to salvage the reputation of China ahead of the Winter Games.

Listen to this one particular tweet we have prepared for you. The WTA is coercing Peng Shuai to support the West's attack on the Chinese system. They're depriving Peng Shuai freedom of expression, demanding that her description of her current situation must meet their expectation.

So, the Chinese system that they're talking about has censored Peng Shuai. If you search for this story on Chinese internet, you don't find it. Her social media profile with half a million followers on Weibo still blocked, you can't access it.

And so, even though this criticism is coming from the Chinese state media, which is clearly following instructions from higher up, not to talk about this story at all inside the country. Outside there is praise from across the sporting world, certainly.

Billie Jean King tweeting, I applaud Steve Simon and the WTA leadership for taking a strong stand on defending human rights in China and around the world. The WTA is on the right side of history in supporting our players.

Of course, silent in all of this, pretty much all the elicited -- the listed Olympic sponsors and most other major sporting events and organizations. That's why you have other world athletes tweeting that they hope there's a more united response here. That global sporting organizations will unite and stand up to China.

But given the hundreds of billions of dollars at stake and the fact that China is on track to become the world's biggest sporting market, John, we may have to wait a while and I wouldn't hold our breath for a united response to this. A lot of people just staying silent, staying neutral if you will. And Peng Shuai call for help continues to go unanswered largely.

VAUSE: All it takes is a couple of cracks and then the dam breaks. I guess we'll see. Maybe we disagree on that. But let's see what happens. Thanks, Will. Will Ripley live for us in Hong Kong. [00:25:05]

VAUSE: Russia showing no signs of ending the aggression towards Ukraine. Moscow announced Wednesday that 10,000 of troops have begin -- had begun with a military drills in the southern region, which partly borders Ukraine comes on the same day U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken warned of severe consequences for any Russian military action against its Western neighbor.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANTONY BLINKEN, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATTE: Should Russia follow the path of confrontation when it comes to Ukraine? We made clear we will respond resolutely, including with a range of high impact economic measures that we have refrained from pursuing in the past.

We will at the appropriate time share that with Moscow, so that they again understand fully what's at risk, what the consequences would be if they commit further aggression against Ukraine.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Secretary Blinken is scheduled to meet his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov in Stockholm in the coming hours. More details we hear now from CNN's Matthew Chance.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (on camera): While the United States is again warning about Russia's aggression towards Ukraine, the Secretary of State Antony Blinken expressing deep concern, but what he says are plans that include efforts to destabilize Ukraine from within, as well as large scale military operations.

For weeks now, the U.S. has been warning of a dangerous buildup of Russian forces near the borders of Ukraine, threatening another invasion of the country, something Moscow denies.

And last week, the Ukrainian president said that a coup plot involving Russians and Ukrainians had been uncovered in the country. Although, no intelligence proving that as yet been made public.

Ukraine has also been pushing back on Russian allegations that it is itself intending to stage a major military operation to retake (INAUDIBLE) territory in the country's east.

Moscow says it's got reports that 125,000 Ukrainian troops, that's half of the Ukrainian army has already been deployed to the conflict zone.

Ukraine's Foreign Minister rejecting that, saying the country is committed to a diplomatic settlement of the (INAUDIBLE).

The U.S. Secretary of State is now due to meet Ukrainian and Russian foreign ministers in the Swedish capital Stockholm on Thursday.

Meanwhile, Moscow, which says it wants agreements of the U.S. and its allies to end NATO expansion, says it has started what it calls a regular winter military drills involving more than 10,000 troops in areas some of which are close to the Ukrainian border.

Matthew Chance, CNN, Kyiv.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Well, still ahead here, the Iran-Israel cyber war now spilling over into the real civilian world. Hacking -- with dating sites being hacked, hospitals and gas stations, more on that in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VAUSE: Welcome back, everyone. I'm John Vause. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM.

[00:30:24]

As world powers resume nuclear talk with Iran in Vienna this week, the shadow war this between Iran and Israel continues. A recent "New York Times" report suggests it's now hitting the civilian population of both countries, with cyber-attacks on soft targets.

CNN's Hadas Gold sat down with the head of Israel's national cyber directorate to learn more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HADAS GOLD, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In a nondescript office park in the desert town of Be'er Sheva, a 24/7 war room monitors the constant attempts to hack Israel's critical civilian infrastructure.

Though they sit in a bomb-proof room, these maps aren't showing missiles. Instead, they're tracking real-time cyberattacks.

YIGAL UNNA, DIRECTOR GENERAL, ISRAELI NATIONAL CYBER DIRECTORATE: It's not just the day-to-day. It's on an hourly or minute basis.

GOLD: Yigal Unna leads the Israeli National Cyber Directorate, working hand in hand with Israel's circuit services, to fend off cyberattacks from space sponsors and criminal entities.

UNNA: We witness attacks everywhere. The last year and a half, and even before that, it's like the world went crazy.

GOLD: Some attacks, though, more consequential than others. In 2020, the team spotted an attack on Israel's water system, which a senior Israeli security official says was the work of Iran.

Iranian-linked criminal hacking group Black Shadow, also reportedly behind recent attacks on an Israeli hospital, and an Israeli LGBTQ dating site. "The New York Times" reporting Israel has been striking back, with a

cyberattack that crippled Iranian gas stations for days.

UNNA: Today's threats are really less important, who's the flags, or who's behind it. Of course, we are -- in the end, we know everyone, who's behind it, and we remember, and we can get even.

GOLD (on camera): How do you get even with them?

UNNA: In our special measures and means.

GOLD: Like attacks on gas stations?

UNNA: Well, Israel has all the tools and all the advantages in -- not just in cyber, but in all other aspects that we can use, when we want to use it, when it's needed.

GOLD (voice-over): Criminal hackers, whether state-backed or not, make up the majority of the cyber-attacks on Israeli civilian life, including the one on the hospital, causing them to cancel non-urgent procedures for at least two weeks.

UNNA: Most of it comes from criminal elements and from individuals trying to -- to find if there's a criminal prospect in that. And did the vast majority of percentage come from that, because there is good money in that, unfortunately.

GOLD: Attackers often mask their locations, launching their assaults from around the world.

UNNA: This case is probably more victims from the same threat actors of the same attack also detected in the U.S. We translate that to alerts to infrastructure, to mails, to our colleagues in Japan in the U.S.

GOLD: They need for international cooperation, Unna says, is necessary for survival.

(on camera): Will there be, at some point, you think, be a cyber-NATO?

UNNA: I think it's inevitable, and it will take less -- much shorter than you would imagine.

GOLD (voice-over): Every day, a constant race to stay one step ahead, but for now, a quiet sense of confidence.

UNNA: The stakes are getting higher and higher. The bets are getting crazy. But we don't feel for one second that we don't have the upper hand. We still -- we don't have any other choice in Israel.

GOLD: Hadas Gold, CNN, Be'er Sheva, Israel.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: CNN intelligence and security analyst and former CIA operative Bob Baer joins us now from Telluride in Colorado. Welcome back, Bob. Good to see you.

BOB BAER, CNN INTELLIGENCE AND SECURITY ANALYST: Hi, John.

VAUSE: So Iran and Israel have been going at it for years. It's a shadow war. There have been open hostilities at times. But for the most part, it's always been proportional, with government or military- related targets.

But this cyber war, we're seeing softer civilian targets being hacked. So why the change of strategy here? And what are the consequences? What are the outcomes?

BAER: Well, first of all, I don't agree that the Israelis have the upper hand. The Iranians are enormously confident when it comes to cyberattacks.

They can close down hospitals. They can turn off stoplights. They -- they can do damage, industrial damage all across Israel. They're vulnerable, just as the United States is.

And what we're seeing is the Iranians are retaliating for strikes on Iran. You know, blowing up nuclear sites; killing scientists; killing Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps officers; strikes against their nuclear facilities. And the Iranians are getting better and better.

And what they're telling everybody is, including the United States, we will hit back, and we will hit back hard. And this is a war of escalation. You escalate, so will we.

VAUSE: And with that in mind, "The New York Times" is reporting that in Iran, after presumably, Israeli hackers cut the flow of fuel at service stations nationwide, "officials were alarmed that hackers had also gained control of the ministry's fuel shortage tanks and may have had access to data on international oil sales, which is a state secret. It could expose how Iran evades international sanctions."

Then, what might have been the Iranian response a few days later, "The Times" reporting this. "Hackers gained access to the databank of the Israeli dating site Atraf, and medical files at the Machon Mor Medical Institute." That's "a network of private clinics in Israel."

So, you know, we're in this sort of -- thing keeps going back and forth, back and forth. Is it private hackers in both countries sort of carrying out these low-grade cyberattacks? And in the big picture, you seem to believe that the Iranians have the upper hand in all this?

BAER: Well, they're at least on the same plane. But what they use is proxies. Everybody at this point understands, you know, you don't want this tied directly to Iranian intelligence, MOIS.

So you use proxies. Whether it's in Eastern Europe, South America, it doesn't matter. You can hide these attacks, sort of ad infinitum, so that the Israelis thing -- Israelis know the Iranians are doing it, but they don't have the actual proof. As well as the Israelis use proxies, as well. And it kind of becomes more and more difficult to track down who's

really behind this. But I think, at the end of the day, everybody knows it's Tehran who is attacking Tel Aviv.

VAUSE: And of course, nothing happens in a vacuum, because right now, we have the Iran nuclear talks, which have just restarted going through their seventh round, I think. The Israeli prime minister on Monday made a plea to other world leaders. Here he is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NAFTALI BENNETT, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER: Iran deserves no rewards, no bargain deals and no sanctions relief, in return for their brutality. I call upon our allies around the world: do not give in to Iran's nuclear blackmail.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: So clearly, the Israelis are opposed to these nuclear talks, but they're sort of taking a different stand this time, compared to Netanyahu.

But what is interesting is that, after that statement on Monday, on Tuesday, the prime minister went on about cyber technology and Israel's advantages of being a democracy, having international support, which could be used against Iran.

So link all this together. How directly can you put these hacking attacks to Israel's opposition to the Iranian nuclear program?

BAER: Well, it's all part of -- it's all part of the same campaign. I mean, the Israelis. I mean, we have to look at the basics he hears. The Israelis are in trouble. We have around control spell event. Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, it can hit Israel anytime.

And Iran has these new centrifuges, which can bring their enrichment up to 90 percent for a nuclear weapon. So things are getting worse.

I mean, Trump was absolutely disaster, you know, getting rid of the 2015 nuclear agreement. And so, the Iranians are out for revenge. And they have a lot of ways to go there, and the Israelis know it. And they're worried about the United States.

What are we going to do to prevent a nuclear strike? I mean, this is the worst-case of course, John, on Israel. Things are not getting better, and what we're all worried about is some sort of accident or overreaction, and it turns into a -- into a real war.

VAUSE: Yes, it's always that law of unintended consequences.

Bob, thank you. Bob Baer for us there. We appreciate it.

BAER: Thank you.

VAUSE: As the Omicron variant gains a foothold around the world, older strains of the virus are causing a new outbreak in China, and, as they often do, officials going all-out to contain it. More on that in a moment.

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VAUSE (voice-over): China is now facing one of its worst COVID outbreaks since the virus was first detected in Wuhan.

Three asymmetric, asymptomatic cases were found over the weekend in a region near the Russian border. But, now the number of cases has grown substantially, and hundreds of thousands are under lockdown.

CNN's Will Ripley has our report.

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WILL RIPLEY, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: In northern China, COVID-19 is flaring up again. Hundreds of thousands on lockdown, confirmed cases rising. More than 130 since Sunday, most in Manzhouli, Inner Mongolia, a crucial gateway to Russia.

CUI GANG, CHINESE NATIONAL HEALTH COMMISSION (through translator): The risk of community transmission is relatively high in there, and the training and screening work that's now putting personal at risk is in progress.

RIPLEY: This normally border city, paralyzed, 300,000 people, banned from leaving. Mass testing underway. Public transport, suspended. Schools and businesses, closed.

Authorities racing to reign in the outbreak, banning imports of non- container goods, believed to be the source of the first local infection.

This is what it's like living under China's zero COVID strategy. The Beijing Winter Olympics, right around the corner. Officials say the games will go on, despite the risk from a new coronavirus variant.

ZHAO LIJIAN, CHINESE FOREIGN MINISTRY SPOKESMAN (through translator): I believe it will definitely pose some challenge to our efforts to prevent and control the virus. But as China has experience in preventing and controlling the coronavirus, I fully believe that China will be able to host the Winter Olympics as scheduled, smoothly and successfully.

RIPLEY: China has yet to report a single case of the Omicron variant, with cases are rising in the north. The nation, boosting its defenses.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): China has already made the technological preparations to adapt our vaccines.

RIPLEY: Just weeks after containing China's biggest Delta outbreak, Inner Mongolia now on the frontlines, as China fights to keep Omicron out.

Will Ripley, CNN, Hong Kong. (END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: Thank you for watching CNN NEWSROOM. I'm John Vause. I'll be back at the top of the hour. In the meantime, please stay with us. WORLD SPORT starts after the break.

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