Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Omicron Variant Detected In More Countries As Scientists Race To Find Answers; WTA Suspends Tournaments In China Over Peng Shuai Concerns. Aired 1-2a ET

Aired December 02, 2021 - 01:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[01:00:24]

JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: Coming up on CNN Newsroom, free beer lottery tickets, feeding actors and sports stars just weren't enough. Vaccine passports and health cards fell short as well. So vaccine mandates could be coming for the stubborn few who choose to keep the pandemic alive.

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

In Iran, gas station stopped pumping fuel and LGBTQ dating app was hacked and members details made public in Israel, the tit for tat cyber war hacking low security civilian targets.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Live from CNN Center. This is CNN Newsroom with John Vause.

VAUSE: Thank you for being here for another hour. We begin with the accelerating spread of the Omicron variant. The United States, Norway and South Korea now reporting the presence of this new variant of concern. There are among 28 countries and territories have confirmed cases of Omicron, notably though the Delta variant remains far more dominant worldwide.

And in Europe, the epicenter of the pandemic right now, focus is turning to the unvaccinated about 150 million people. European Commission president says it's time to seriously consider vaccine mandates.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

URSULA VON DER LEYEN, EUROPEAN COMMISSION PRESIDENT: We are now in a race against time. Why that because we know not all about this variant, but it is a variant of concern.

(END VIDEO CLIP) VAUSE: And in South Africa where overcrowding was first identified, doctors say most of those infected with the new variant have mild symptoms, and the unvaccinated account for most hospital admissions. Almost immediately after warning the world about this potentially new dangerous variant, South Africa was hit with travel bans, 70 countries now imposing restrictions. And now there's growing criticism of those banks has been both punitive and useless. CNN's Salma Abdelaziz reports.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

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.

DR. TEDROS ADHANOM GHEBREYESUS, WHO 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 taking just one day before departure. And we'll share names of passengers entering the U.S. on flights from Southern Africa with state and local health departments.

It comes as FDA advisors 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 Nations 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 AFRICA 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 VIDEO TAPE)

[01:05:05]

VAUSE: Well, South Korea confirms the Omicron variant is also setting new records for daily confirmed COVID cases, more than 5,200 infections on Wednesday, the second day in a row to see a new record. Federal (ph) cases approaching half a million. CNN's Paula Hancocks live this hour in Seoul, South Korea. I guess the Omicron variant is a drop in the bucket when you look at what's happening each day now in South Korea.

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, John. It's not just the number of new cases that sort of record. What's more worrying to health officials here is the critical cases is that a record and also the number of deaths has been hovering around record levels as well.

Now, I spoke to the head of the NIH, the health system here just last week, and he was saying that even though South Korea was moving towards a living with COVID policy, he was very concerned at the very high level that it seemed to be leveling out at and of course, that is putting pressure before you even think about this new variant on the health system itself.

Doctors have said to me that they do have to make uncomfortable choices about using the resources that they have, and deciding who and which patient should have those resources. One doctor I spoke to at the beginning of the pandemic, I also spoke to recently said that the health system is close to breaking point, pointing out there were no ICU beds available for COVID patients in his hospital. And there were no other beds available for COVID patients either.

Now even though officials have been saying they are going to find more COVID patient beds the fact is they may not have enough qualified doctors and nurses to man them. So that is one of the concerns as well the doctor saying that everyone he knows is physically and mentally exhausted, especially now you add this new variant, and you really don't know how much longer it's going to go on.

So, South Korea is pulled back these easing of restrictions is living with COVID that it brought in about a month ago. They've introduced once again now, quarantine for all incoming passengers from outside of Korea, whether you're a Korean national or not, all exemptions are being cancelled as they're trying to put some kind of barrier in place. They have admitted that they have already got five confirmed cases of the Omicron variants but they're hoping to be able to keep an influx from coming in.

VAUSE: Paula, thank you. Paula Hancocks live for us in Seoul. The UN Secretary General says the sudden rise of travel bans amounts to quote travel apartheid. On Wednesday, he said it's acceptable to condemn one part of the world, especially for being responsible and reporting the new variant which has been found in other parts of the world.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) ANTONIO GUTERRES, UN SECRETARY GENERAL: This is a very strong appeal that I lost, 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: And for the scientists in South Africa, who identified Omicron, it was a crucial breakthrough made against the odds. Long standing travel restrictions are just one of the obstacles which have been hampering efforts to study the Coronavirus. CNN's David McKenzie takes us inside lab working to find answers.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): After tracking COVID for many months at this lab, Jeanine du Plessis is bracing herself. Have you seen a lot more positive cases in the last few weeks?

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

MCKENZIE: First a trickle than a flood at the Wits Vida Lab. They're studying a disturbing variant of an old phone (ph).

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

MCKENZIE (on camera): This lab is really at the coalface of the COVID response. You know, they're expanding so fast, they putting the samples in freezers right here in the hallway. They come in, in shifts and as this wave develops, there'll be operating 24 hours a day.

(voice-over): We've covered COVID here since the very beginning, and know how bad it can get. In July, we rode with Eban's (ph) teams --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hello, good morning.

MCKENZIE: -- going into people's homes. They were too sick to walk. In hospitals, Delta's impact was awful. Patients stacked in hallways struggling to breathe in exclusive footage obtained by CNN. That's why Omicron is scary. You fear we could slide backwards back to the chaos, back to lockdown streets and fear. The fear we all felt in the very earliest months, but this time seems different. We have more tools to fight.

(on camera): Baragwanath is one of the biggest hospitals in Africa. But right now the pressure on the COVID wards is not that intense.

[01:10:00]

Doctors, I'm speaking to you who work here say they're expecting those numbers to rise in the coming weeks. And it's not just the lab tests that are important. It's the clinical evidence that this variant is possibly more transmissible, whether they are breakthrough infections. And crucially, the question everyone wants to know is whether people who are vaccinated get severely ill.

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 -- 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, 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 (voice-over): 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 here by scientists and pathologists that Lancet Laboratories and their PCR machines named after Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

(on camera): What happened in early November is that the team noticed an anomaly in the positive tests that harken back to the alpha variant. And because that started expanding, possibly displacing the Delta variant, they thought this needed to be something that they took to other authorities to try and figure out just what was going on.

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

GLASS: Well, it was just disturbing because we made us worry that we were dealing with something new. And because it coincided with an increase in positivity rates, it made us worried that we could be dealing with a new variant.

MCKENZIE (voice-over): 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. Scientists here say they are now struggling to fly and critical reagent for their work. Many say travel restrictions are punitive, and don't do much good.

(on camera): 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. So in 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.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

VAUSE: David McKenzie there with that report. Anne Rimoin, professor at the Department of Epidemiology at UCLA, Fielding School of Public Health. She is with us again from Los Angeles. Good to see you, Anne.

ANNE RIMOIN, PROFESSOR, UCLA FIELDING SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH: Nice to be here.

VAUSE: OK, so one of the many back and forth right now over Omicron, whether we're overreacting to all this, we should just wait for more data, or should we be doing more on that? Here's the EU Commission President issues.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VON DER LEYEN: At this point, we do not know all about this variant. But we know enough to be concerned. You have read about the multiple mutations, and what that might be. And we know from our experience with a Delta variant, that it is a race against time.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Kind of seems like a no brainer. Every time we've waited during this pandemic, for more data or something, the end result has been, you know, close to a disaster. But at the moment, are we doing the right preparation?

RIMOIN: Well, you know, I agree with you, John, I think that we are always chasing behind this. We've talked about this multiple times. And it's time to do everything we can not only to get in front of it now, but for anything that we have in the future.

So what do we need to do? We need to be ramping up testing globally so that we have situational awareness. We also have to be increasing genomic surveillance.

Now, South Africa has a fantastic system in place, they're doing a lot of genomic surveillance. You know, we here in the United States have lagged in terms of genomic surveillance. And it's really varied all over the world. So we have to do better, more testing, better sequencing, so we know where this particular variant is. And in the future, we know how to identify new variants.

You know, we also have to also make sure that there is adequate contact tracing and adequate information out there so that people know if they have symptoms, what they need to do in place.

VAUSE: I noticed you didn't mention more travel bans. On that, I want you to listen to Mike Ryan from the WHO.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MIKE RYAN, WHO HEALTH EMERGENCIES PROGRAM DIRCTOR: Epidemiologically I find it hard to understand the principle there is that that some passport holders will have the virus and some won't. Does the virus read your passport? Does the virus know your nationality or where you're legally resident? So therefore there are contradictions in this.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Yes, it's a good point. You know, public health policy there's always a cost benefit analysis. What is the cost of a certain action is the benefit from that action worth it? If there is any benefit from it travel Ban, yes this is debatable, but if there is anything good that comes from it is it worth the cost?

[01:15:08] RIMOIN: Well, you're right. I didn't mention travel bans is one of the things on my list of what we could do to prepare. I think that this travel ban is a little bit too little, a little bit too late and totally inefficient at the end of the day. We know that this virus is everywhere. We've just seen it now here identified in California, it's in multiple countries. So travel bans are just punitive. And they actually reduce the probability of countries coming forward when they see something new.

What I think that we should be doing is we should be making sure that people are testing right before they're supposed to travel. United States right now is thinking about moving up testing instead of 72 hours to 24 hours before travelling, and then have good quarantines in place, with people being able to test out of quarantine afterwards.

You know, a 70 -- a test 72 hours before travel isn't extremely helpful when you have a virus with an incubation period between two and 14 days. So, I think that these travel bans are unnecessarily punitive. You know, they might make some small difference on the margins of being able to slow things down. But there's a cost to everything. And I'm not sure that the cost of that kind of slowdown is really worth the -- really worth it for what you gain.

VAUSE: One thing you did mention was getting vaccines adapted for this variant in case that they are needed at some point. Right now there are fears that the global economy could be in for another big hit because of the Omicron variant. According to Bloomberg, governments have already spent $16 trillion responding to this pandemic. It's 16 with 12 zeros after it. Keep that in mind. As you listen to this economist from the OECD, here we go.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LAURENCE BOONE, OECD ECONOMIST: It would only take $50 billion to ensure vaccination worldwide. I'm just saying. And if we don't vaccinate everyone, everywhere, the supply tensions, bottlenecks, all the imbalances I've just been talking about will also continue to persist.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: I'm just saying $50 billion everywhere. It's mind boggling. This pandemic couldn't be brought into control by now if everyone had been vaccinated globally?

RIMOIN: Well, I'm not sure that it would have been totally under control at this point. But it would be -- we will be in a much better place than we are right now. The -- As we've discussed on previous occasions, and infection anywhere is potentially an infection everywhere.

And so we are tempting fate, and tempting the virus to continue to spread by leaving large swaths of the population unvaccinated. And so we should be doing everything we can living in a world that is interconnected to make sure that the world has access to vaccines. So not only do they have access to those vaccines, that those vaccines are available in those countries, but they have the means to be able to get them out into arms throughout all of these countries. And also to be able to combat all the misinformation in the vaccine hesitancy.

There isn't just one thing we need to do to be able to get in front of this. There is a there are multiple things we need to do. And that really starts with right now getting vaccines into places where they are needed.

VAUSE: $16 trillion, $50 billion. It's it kind of sums it up. But Anne, thank you so much. We really appreciate you being with us. Very good points and insights. Thank you.

RIMOIN: My pleasure.

VAUSE: We'll take a short break. When we come back, the Women's Tennis Association, suspending all tournaments in China, the financial toll the organization is willing to take for principal, that's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[01:20:53]

VAUSE: Three unpopular laws aimed at reforming the farming sector in India has been repealed after provoking a year of angry protests by farmers nationwide. On Wednesday came the formal government announcement the laws were off the books.

Less than two weeks ago, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the controversial laws would be repealed.

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 that prompted weeks of international concern over her welfare. The WTA chairman told CNN, the Federation is willing to take the financial losses, saying the decision comes down to upholding principles.

(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 of requires is okay because it's difficult to do. It'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 live again for us in Hong Kong on the story. They're walking in kind of a fine line here at the moment for the reason behind this suspension of business, basically, because you had the IOC come out and essentially give a proof of life. But this time, you know, the WTA saying, you know, we're suspending business because the sexual assault allegations have been investigated.

WILL RIPLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, there's -- what you're seeing play out is are very, very starkly different responses by these two sporting organizations. The Women's Tennis Association, Steve Simon, that their CEO, he got that e-mail supposedly from Peng saying, you know, after this very emotional post detailing alleged sexual assault, you know, a couple of weeks later, this e-mail says all of the things that are being said are incorrect. I'm totally fine. I'm just resting at home thanks, leave me alone. And he didn't accept it. He didn't buy it. He sensed that that e-mail which actually had a cursor visible even on the screen was written either by someone else or it was written by Peng with we under duress, with other people telling her basically what to write and what to say.

And then when they released the, you know, what are widely seen as stage propaganda videos, Chinese state media, putting them out on Twitter, a platform that's blocked inside their country publishing updates in English, while ignoring the story for the Chinese audience and just trying to basically salvage China's reputation ahead of the Olympics.

The WTA has consistently said we want direct communication with Peng which hasn't happened. And they said we want a full fair and transparent investigation of call echoed by the EU and others. There is no transparent investigation. We don't know what's happening behind the scenes. We don't know if Zhang Gaoli, the former Vice Premier of China, now retired, is being investigated, is being punished. None of that is ever seen the public light. So a transparent investigation that the WTA is asking for certainly is not happening openly. And some question whether it's even happening behind the scenes, basically going ahead to the Olympics, China wants to put on the best face, the best show possible.

The IOC on the other hand, using what they called quiet diplomacy, was able to set up this video call this proof of life, as you said, and people who watched it, well, first of all, the only people who got to watch it were Thomas Bach and a couple of other officials and one of them a Chinese official, you know, who said they walked away from it feeling confident that Peng Shaui is fine, that she's you know, totally everything is OK that she was relaxed, that they didn't have any hint or clue that she was speaking under duress or had you know, officials, you know, standing around her monitoring her what she says.

But people who've been detained in China, John, people who have had to make these force confessions on Chinese state media say that there's a whole lot of coaching that goes on and that these confessions are often scripted from start to finish and that's what they suspect is happening with Peng Shuai.

But because the IOC put its considerable influence behind the Chinese government narrative, it's really difficult for sponsors and other sporting organizations a position for them to be in because do they go with the IOC's approach and salvage the multibillion dollar Chinese market or do they do with the WTA did pull out of a 10-year lucrative, you know, hundreds of millions of dollars deal for the sake of standing up for one of these players, who's now been publicly even retracting what she said.

VAUSE: Just seems that they don't believe the IOC, that the tennis association that is. Will Ripley in Hong Kong. Thank you. Christine Brennan is a CNN sports analyst and columnist for USA Today. Good to see you again.

CHRISTINE BRENNAN, CNN SPORTS ANALYST: You too, John.

VAUSE: OK, so let's start with the financial aspects here. Because in 2019, they held the finals in China, the WTA made, you know, a big chunk of change out of this about $30 million in revenue. So that's the sort of the profit side of things. That's the numbers here. So what are they looking at here in terms of, you know, a hit to revenue, future costs, marketing, all that kind of stuff, if the suspend becomes permanent?

BRENNAN: John, the estimate is up to a billion dollars could be lost by the Women's Tennis Association by taking its business completely out of China. So it's significant. It's very significant. We're talking millions and millions and millions of dollars up to a billion. That's what they're talking about.

And also, of course, there's the potential of China, it's 1.2, what 1.4, 1.5 billion people name a sponsor that doesn't want to have a foothold in a country like that with the potential which is why the Olympics are going to be there, which is why the NBA cares so much about China and of course, the Women's Tennis Association as well. And that makes what they did even more remarkable for standing up for what's right. Because the business, the opportunities in China are extraordinary.

VAUSE: It's important to note, it's an immediate suspension, which obviously leaves the door open to reverse that suspension should things turn around. I guess that's important have an off ramp here for China?

BRENNAN: Yes, I think so. Although it's getting more serious. And I think we can say the WTA CEO Steve Simon has been as strong as I have seen a leader in sports in a long time and it's so admirable and it's a masterclass frankly and leadership, about one singular athlete Peng Shuai. Obviously, that's important enough, this one athlete and her very serious allegation of sexual assault against a former Chinese top official.

And but yes, if the Chinese were to say, wait a minute, wait a minute, we're going to let you talk to her. We're going to start to deal with the sexual assault allegation, which I'm not going to hold my breath on that to have the Chinese saying that, but if they do, certainly, there would seem to be a chance for them to come back into the good graces of the WTA. And that's the important point here.

VAUSE: The IOC says it's working several times to Peng Shuai saying that she's fine. I want you to listen to the longtime IOC committee member Dick Pound talking to CNN. Here he is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) DICK POUND, MEMBER, INTERNATIONAL OLYMPIC COMMITTEE: The consensus of all of those people on the call was that she's fine. And she's not under any kind of coercion or, you know, confinement.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Why isn't that good enough? I know why it's not good enough. But why is that good enough for the WTA?

BRENNAN: Yes, the IOC thinks it's good enough. But it's not for several reasons. One is it was a still picture that everyone saw. There was no video. We couldn't hear. No one could hear Peng Shuai's speaking or moving, see or moving. There was -- the WTA was not involved in the call. And of course, the WTA has been leading the charge on this very important issue.

And I think is as important as any topic was the fact that in its statement, after that call of almost, what was it, a week or so ago, week and a half ago. In its statement, John, there was no mention of the sexual assault allegation. How can you have this call and not talk about the world's most important me to story right now.

VAUSE: We've heard from several members of tennis, some very high profile tennis players, including, you know, the icon Billie Jean King who tweeted this. 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.

So I'm just wondering, you know, she raises the point here. Is this, you know, maybe the pendulum is starting to swing back the other way. You mentioned this. You know, China needs the sporting events, as much as, you know, the sporting organizations need the revenue. So is this the beginning of something?

BRENNAN: I hope so. I hope so. The International Olympic Committee missed a huge opportunity before the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics, to really put pressure on China and its human rights abuses, failed miserably to do that. This great gift, the Olympic Games was given to China seven years before the '08 Olympics and they could have even threatened to move the Olympics, did not do it.

The IOC is now being given a masterclass frankly by the WTA on how to basically punch a bully in the nose.

VAUSE: We would still like to hear from her publicly like everyone else would. Christine, thank you. Christine Brennan, CNN sports analyst and column to the USA Today, thank you.

BRENNAN: Thank you, John.

[01:29:38]

VAUSE: Well, coming up here, America's and Russia's chief diplomats will hold an urgent meeting as tensions soar over a Russian military buildup on Ukraine's border, and talked about high-impact sanctions from Washington. And that cyber war between Israel and Iran, CNN takes inside Israel's cyber security agency as it wards off a barrage of attacks.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How do you get even with them?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In our special measures.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: A few hours from now, the U.S. Secretary of State is scheduled to meet with his Russian counterpart in Stockholm. Tensions between Moscow and Washington has soared as Russians troops have built up on the border with Ukraine.

Secretary Blinken is warning Russia is prepared to invade Ukraine despite what President Putin may say publicly.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANTONY BLINKEN, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: Now, we don't whether President Putin has made the decision to invade, we do know that he is putting in place the capacity to do so, on short order, should he so decide.

So despite uncertainty about intentions and timing, we must prepare for all contingencies, while working to see to it that Russia reverses course.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Russia, for its part, says that Ukraine is the aggressor in this instance.

We have more details now with CNN's Alex Marquardt.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALEX MARQUARDT, CNN SENIOR U.S. SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: The U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken warned Russia on Wednesday that they would face severe consequences if Russia decides to invade Ukraine.

Those consequences, Blinken said, would include what he called high impact economic measures that have never before been used against Russia.

He did not detail those measures though the Secretary General of NATO went a little farther, telling CNN that the alliance has a wide range of economic, financial, and political tools that could be used against Russia.

The alliance, including Secretary Blinken, clearly hoping that this threat of severe consequences will get Russia to de-escalate, after massing tens of thousands of troops along he border with Ukraine. Blinken also announced on Wednesday, that he would be meeting with his Russian counter part Sergei Lavrov right here in Stockholm on Thursday morning.

I asked Blinken whether he would detail that threat of economic sanctions to Lavrov in their meeting. Here's what he had to say.

[01:34:41]

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

MARQUARDT: Blinken said it is not yet clear whether Russia has made the decision to invade Ukraine or not, only saying that they have put in place the capacity to do so in short at order.

What the U.S. and the rest of NATO is seeing right now, Blinken said, is very similar to what they saw right before the Russian invasion of Ukraine back in 2014, when they annexed Crimea. That is not just tens of thousands of troops along Ukraine's border, it's also a disinformation campaign.

In fact, Blinken said, that over the last 24 hours there has been a tenfold spike in social media anti-Ukrainian propaganda, that paints Ukraine as the aggressors.

Blinken making clear today that despite the threat of severe consequences there is still, what he called, a diplomatic off ramp for Russia to take in order to de-escalate the situation.

Alex Marquardt, CNN -- in Stockholm.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: Blinken also said the U.S. Is preparing new sanctions on Belarus for, quote, "using migrants as political weapons". This comes as, Meta, the social media company, formerly known as Facebook, claims to have evidence that the Belarusian KGB used fake accounts to stoke tensions during the migrant crisis on the Poland-Belarus border.

Here's part of Meta's statement.

"The fake personas claim to be sharing their own negative experiences of trying to get from Belarus to Poland and posted about migrants' difficult lives in Europe. They also posted about Poland's strict anti migrant policies, anti migrant Neo-Nazi activity in Poland.

Meta says the network behind the fake accounts originated in Poland, included pictures and videos about Polish border guards allegedly violating migrants' rights.

(INAUDIBLE) powers resume nuclear talks with Iran in Vienna this week. The shadow war between Iran and Israel continues. A recent "New York Times" report suggests it's now hitting the civilian populations 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 CORRESPONDENT: In a nondescript office park in the desert town of Ber-Sheba, 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 cyber attacks.

YIGAL UNNA, ISRAELI NATIONAL CYBER DIRECTORATE: It's not just a 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 Security Services to fend off cyber attacks from state sponsored 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 cyber attack that crippled Iranian gas station for days.

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

GOLD (voice over): 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 not just in cyber but in all other aspects that we can use when we wanted to use it. When it's really needed.

GOLD: 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 find if there's a criminal prospect in that.

Did the vast majority of presenters come from there, there's no doubt because there's good money in that unfortunately.

GOLD (voice over): 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 info sharing mail to our colleagues -- in Japan in the U.S..

GOLD: The 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: Everyday, a constant race to stay one step ahead. But for now, a quiet sense of confidence.

[01:39:50]

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

GOLD: Hadas Gold, CNN, Ber-Sheba, Israel.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: Coming up here after the break, a much loved tradition that has been put on hold, now making a comeback and pandemic be damned, The New Yorkers, they're gathering at the Rockefeller Center for the annual tree lighting ceremony.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VAUSE: It's just not the holidays in New York without the Christmas Tree. And as the tree was lit late Wednesday at the annual televised tradition going back 70 years. But unlike last year, which was scaled down because of the pandemic. This year, the tree lighting went on without a mask or vaccine requirement insight.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnston lift the Christmas tree outside Number 10, he was with some children at the time. And despite a very big buildup, didn't go exactly as planned.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BORIS JOHNSON, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: OK.Is everybody ready?

CHILDREN: Yes.

JOHNSON: Are you ready?

CHILDREN: Yes JOHNSON: Are you very excited about Christmas?

CHILDREN: Yes.

JOHNSON: Do you think this Christmas is going to be better than the last Christmas?

Ok. Are you ready to countdown from 5.

CHILDREN: 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Not exactly clear why the lights flickered off and on, maybe it's sort of symbolic of the government's pandemic response.

Everyone seem to enjoy it regardless. And hopefully the prime minister's wish for a considerably better Christmas will come true.

Thank you for watching CNN newsroom. I'm John Vause.

Please stay with us. "AFRICAN VOICES CHANGEMAKERS" is up next.

[01:43:29]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

("AFRICAN VOICES CHANGEMAKERS")