Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

U.S. Puts New Travel Requirements in Place to Curb Omicron Spread; Sources: U.S. Expected to Announce Diplomatic Boycott; 'Remain in Mexico' Rules for Migrants Back in Effect; Bob Dole, Former U.S. Senator, Dies at 98; White House: Biden 'Looking Forward' to Talks with Putin; At Least 14 Killed, 1,300 Displaced after Eruption; Omicron Uncertainty Affecting Economic Outlook; Oxford School District Asks for Independent Investigation. Aired 12-1a ET

Aired December 06, 2021 - 00:00   ET

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

PAULA NEWTON, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: And hello, everyone. I'm Paula Newton here at CNN Center.

[00:00:29]

Ahead right here at NEWSROOM, coming to America. Brand-new COVID testing requirements will now meet you at the gate before takeoff, an effort to curb the Omicron variant.

A Trump-era policy critics say is inhumane making a comeback under the Biden administration. The impact a court order is having on the so- called "remain in Mexico" immigration rule.

Plus, ash as high as rooftops. Fourteen dead, 1,300 displaced after a volcano erupts in Indonesia.

New COVID testing requirements are now in effect for all travelers coming into the United States and as part of an effort to curb the spread of the Omicron variant, which has already been found in at least 16 U.S. states. E

Now, anyone boarding a flight to the United States, including citizens, must have proof of a negative COVID test one day before takeoff, or 24 hours. Plus, foreign nationals must be vaccinated to enter the country. Now, that requirement not yet in place for U.S. citizens.

CNN's Nadia Rivera has more on the details of these new requirements.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NADIA RIVERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Holiday travel plus the Omicron variant continues to cause concern about the spread of COVID-19. In late November, scientists in South Africa were the first to identify the Omicron variant, When and where it first emerged is still unclear, but cases are now reported in dozens of countries, including in Europe and right here in the U.S.

Now, Omicron's cases in South African nearly quadrupled over four days in the past week. But South Africa's president said this weekend that the Omicron variant is more transmissible, hospitalizations are not increasing at an alarming rate.

So the Monday after Thanksgiving, the Biden administration barred travelers from South Africa and other countries in Southern Africa from entering the U.S. That decision, and global travel restrictions, have sparked international criticism, with one U.N. official calling the ban a travel Apartheid.

Here's Dr. Anthony Fauci's response when asked about the U.S. ban.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: That ban was done at a time when we were really in the dark and we had no idea of what was going on, except that this seemed to have been an explosion of cases of Omicron in South Africa. So when the ban was put on, it was put to give us time to figure out just what is going on.

Now as you mentioned, as we're getting more and more information about cases in our own country and worldwide, we're looking at that very carefully on a daily basis. Hopefully, we'll be able to lift that ban within a quite reasonable period of time.

I mean, we all feel very badly about the hardship that that might have put upon not only South Africa but the other African countries, and for that reason, in real time, literally on a daily basis, we're re- evaluation of that -- we're reevaluating that policy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NEWTON: Now, the newest Biden administration travel policy starts Monday. All international travelers in the U.S. need to have a negative COVID-19 test the day before they fly. Since last month, international travelers to the U.S. must also be vaccinated. Right now, there are no such requirements for domestic travelers.

Nadia Romero, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NEWTON: Now, police in Brussels, meantime, resorted to water cannons and tear gas to disperse protesters who are angered by new mandatory COVID measures. Twenty people were arrested in those scuffles.

So far, fewer than a dozen cases of Omicron have been confirmed in Belgium, but officials are taking no chances. On Friday, the government announced new restrictions, including a mask mandate for children over the age of six.

Now, although the new Omicron variant has caused alarm worldwide, here's what Dr. Anthony Fauci told CNN about it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FAUCI: Thus far, it does not look like there's a great degree of severity to it, but we've really got to be careful before we make any determinations that it is less severe or it really doesn't cause any severe illness comparable to Delta. But thus far, the signals are a bit encouraging regarding the severity.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NEWTON: So as more cases are reported, though, COVID vaccine makers are planning to tweak their shots to target that new variant. Take a listen now, Moderna is proposing to do to improve vaccine efficiency and efficacy.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[00:05:06]

NOUBAR AFEYAN, CO-FOUNDER & CHAIRMAN, MODERNA: I think we're going to learn this more definitively over the next seven to ten days. We're doing the experiments needed to assert -- to establish whether the reduction in binding that could be there, nevertheless, allows us to be protective against this variant virus.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NEWTON: Dr. Scott Miscovich is national consultant for COVID-19 testing, and he joins me now from Hawaii.

And good to see you, Doctor. As we are here on the cusp of new extended travel bans, testing here in the United States, that testing regime for all incoming travelers now, this tightening, negative test requirements, how much do you think these measures will actually help in stopping the spread of the variant?

DR. SCOTT MISCOVICH, NATIONAL CONSULTANT FOR COVID-19 TESTING: Not all that much, Paula. I -- I would say I would compare this to the U.K. measures that they're putting in, which I think are exemplary, you know, where basically, they're requiring the same test the day before that then they're requiring you to stay in your hotel or your home where you're going until you have a test on day three, and then possibly even on day five, depending on your vaccination status.

If you're unvaccinated, you may have to stay in quarantine for an entire ten days.

So for the United States only to request one day, what happens if you caught the disease two before or three days before? You may not be positive yet; and yet another day or two later, you may be just fully shedding and spreading it. So many studies have shown that one-day testing is not enough to stop a traveler from -- you know, catching them with their COVID.

NEWTON: So you think things just have to be more strict. You have a test upon arrival and then, until that comes back negative, you think people should be isolating, at least?

MISCOVICH: Absolutely. I think the U.K. policy is very solid. I think a test at day three, minimum, is what the United States should be asking for. And depending on where people are coming from or depending on a few vaccination statuses, even another test on day five. Once you hit day five, you're going to get into the mid- to high 90 percents that no one has COVID that will then materialize after that test. And that's what we're looking for.

A test at day one, that's not going to tell you much. You're going to be maybe 30 percent.

NEWTON: Yes, and that's interesting, because I know how closely you've been following the data on this for the better part of two years.

Now, there's a lot of hopeful -- hopeful speculation about this new variant and the fact that, possibly, it could lead to milder illness. Now, what evidence is there of that so far, and is it possible, in some way, shape or form, that it is starting to share some characteristics with the common cold, which, as we all know, is usually mild?

MISCOVICH: Excellent, Paula. That's exactly what some of the early data is showing us out of South Africa. What we're seeing in the data that maybe Dr. Fauci was referring to is, if we took hospitalizations up through the fourth of the two main hospitals in South Africa, we found that 70 percent of those admitted were not on oxygen, which is very unusual, and that means only 30 percent were. And none were in the intensive care unit.

But if you look at the age, those were mostly under 50. So I do believe we all will caveat this. It's a little early to tell, but with the data we have out of South Africa, it's OK so far.

The other thing we look at with those 50 mutations that we're finding, there's a snippet that is almost identical to a common cold coronavirus. And we're thinking it's possible that there could have been what's called a co-infection, where someone had this cold, and they had COVID, and they basically were breeding in the same cell, creating a variant.

With that being said, it could make it more closely related to a bad cold, versus the full Delta. Way too early, though. I want to qualify any of that. But that's the early information.

NEWTON: And for those of us who just can't do a deep dive on the science, what you're seeing, though, is that if it does end up having this in common with the cold, we call it the common cold for a reason, right? A lot of us get it, but it is incredibly mild. Is this the way that, perhaps, you know, COVID might -- might develop, in this way?

MISCOVICH: Yes, I mean, I do believe that, if you look at all of us who have been spent our lives studying this, and look at virology, we do believe that, as COVID goes, it will start migrating more to something that our immune system can deal with.

And I don't want to call it the common cold, but I would say more in -- in a flu or a bad flu range. But let's not confuse it. This is not the flu. People are dying of it. You need vaccinated. But, yes, we think that, you know, when we hit about two years from now, we may be dealing with this and you know, you go, so what?

[00:10:03]

NEWTON: You made my year already. Just with that observation right there. Before -- before I let you go, I want to get to something Noubar Afeyan, he just spoke to CNN. We just heard from him. He's, of course, co-founder of Moderna.

You know, what I thought was so interesting, what he said was two things. One is that he's saying, even if this is milder illness, reinfection will still be a big problem with this variant.

The other thing he said is that all of us should maybe start acting differently in the next few weeks. Whether you're in Europe or the United States, cases are going up. And that we do need to mask up again and watch what we're doing at large events.

MISCOVICH: Boy, Paula, I've been saying this in all my lectures, in all my talks, let's bring up another point that's so important. If you look right now at the United States, what are we? Twelve percent fully vaccinated, because you need three shots before you are fully vaccinated.

Across the world, we're finding that, when you only have two shots or one of J&J, you're not fully vaccinated. So that is one of the big issues. And as you see across Europe, we are definitely having issues. So we need to basically continue with our masking.

NEWTON: Yes. It's not something people want to hear this close to the holidays, but we do hear you, Doctor, and we appreciate you weighing in. A lot of good information there. Dr. Scott Miscovich there for us. Thank you.

MISCOVICH: Thank you, Paula.

NEWTON: Now tensions between China and the United States are flaring up again. Just ahead, what Beijing is saying about a possible U.S. diplomatic boycott of the upcoming Winter Olympics.

Plus, why Donald Trump's "remain in Mexico" immigration policy is back in effect and what the Biden administration hopes to do about it.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NEWTON: Sources close to the Biden administration say a diplomatic boycott to the Beijing Olympics expected to be announced sometime this week. Now, that means no U.S. government officials would attend the games, silently protesting China's human rights abuses without impacting, of course, the U.S. athletes who are hoping to compete in those upcoming games.

Now, President Joe Biden first mentioned he was considering a boycott was last month.

CNN's Kristie Lu Stout joins me now from Hong Kong with the latest. I know you've been closely following the reaction, and there has already been reaction from China.

KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, on Chinese social media, we've noticed that the censors are already at work. In fact, on the popular social media platform, Sina Weibo, the words "U.S. Olympic boycott" are being actively censored.

This after several sources have told CNN that the Biden administration plans to make an announcement this week that it will do a diplomatic boycott of the upcoming Beijing Olympic games.

This is not a full boycott. A diplomatic boycott, meaning that U.S. officials would not participate in the opening ceremony of the upcoming games, due to kick off in about two months' time. And this was widely expected, for months now.

In the run-up to the Beijing Olympic Games, you have U.S. lawmakers on both sides of the aisle demanding a diplomatic boycott over human rights abuses in China, including the charge that China is committing genocide against the Uyghurs and other ethnic Muslim minorities in the Western region of Xinjiang, an allegation that China denies.

We also know that last month, the U.S. secretary of state, Antony Blinken, said that he was discussing the issue of Olympic participation with other nations, that other world leaders, including the British prime minister, Boris Johnson, is considering and has been weighing a diplomatic boycott.

China has repeatedly condemned these calls for a diplomatic boycott of the Beijing Winter Olympic Games, calling them, quote, "malicious hype."

Last week, we heard this from a spokesman of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Let's bring up the statement for you, in which Wang Wenbin said this: "The U.S. and a handful of countries make an issue out of the Beijing Winter Olympic Games and link their officials' attendance with so-called human rights issues. This is in essence a smearing campaign in the name of defending human rights. Such an act of politicizing sports obviously violates the Olympic charter," unquote.

Paula, a lot is at stake here for the Olympic host. You have national pride. You also have this exercise of soft power on the world stage. And when the Beijing Winter Olympics do kick off, it will effectively make Beijing the first city to host both the summer and the winter games, which is a major point of pride inside China, Paula.

NEWTON: Yes. And they do not want anything to spoil that. It will be an interesting week to come in U.S./China relations, for sure. Kristie Lu Stout, thanks so much for that.

Now, a Trump-era immigration policy that candidate Joe Biden vowed to undo is actually back in effect today. Now, the administration says it still wants to end that rule. For now, it claims its hands are tied.

CNN's Matt Rivers explains.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) MATT RIVERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): "Remain in Mexico" is

back for now. The signature Trump-era immigration policy, which forced tens of thousands of people seeking asylum in the U.S. to wait out their claims across the border in Mexico, is set to be reinstated on Monday.

Trump held it up as an effective way to reduce illegal immigration, something then-presidential candidate Joe Biden hammered him for.

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: This is the first president in the history of the United States of America that anybody seeking asylum has to do it in another country. That's never happened before in America. They're sitting in squalor on the other side of the river.

RIVERS: Well, Biden is now the second president on that list. Despite terminating the program after he became president, a federal judge ruled over the summer the administration broke federal law in doing so. The Supreme Court declined to reverse the decision, and after a new agreement was reached this week with Mexico, the program kicks off once again Monday.

JEN PSAKI, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: We also believe in following the law, and that's exactly what we're doing, as there was -- there was a ruling that required us moving forward with an implementation.

RIVERS: Several changes have been made to the program, according to U.S. officials. Migrants will be proactively asked if they fear going to Mexico. Claims will be processed within six months. And categories of vulnerable people exempt will be expanded.

But for critics, the changes do nothing to alleviate their concerns.

KENNJI KIZUKA, HUMAN RIGHTS FIRST: We see people today even who are already living in these terrible circumstances, and yet more people will be returned to these dangers.

[00:20:07]

RIVERS: During the Trump administration, tent cities along the border sprang up, migrants waiting for their asylum hearings living in squalid conditions, easy prey for the myriad criminal organizations operating at the border.

New Jersey Senator Bob Menendez says his concern is, now the program is actually expanding, pointing to several examples in a statement, saying in part, quote, "By adding new nationalities to this policy, applying 'remain in Mexico' border-wide, and limiting access to counsel, the administration is going far beyond a good-faith implementation of the court's order."

For some migrants already living in Mexico, they say the conditions they're forced to wait in on the way north are terrible.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): We sleep badly, and there are children here. I think the immigration authority should find another way. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Joe Biden once described the "remain in Mexico"

policy as dangerous, inhumane and goes against everything we stand for as a nation of immigrants. So why is he keeping it?

PSAKI: He continues to stand by exactly those comments and statements. And the secretary of homeland security put out a memorandum conveying we want to end this program.

RIVERS: In an October 29 memo, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas says the administration is still formally preparing to end the program, saying it, quote, "fails to provide the fair process and humanitarian protections that individuals deserve under the law."

But Mayorkas says he can't cancel the program until the courts let him. It's unclear when that will happen. And in the meantime, as we've seen in our reporting throughout the year, be it in Honduras or southern Mexico or the northern border, migrants are going to keep coming. Only now, getting to the U.S. just got that much harder.

Matt Rivers, CNN, Mexico City.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NEWTON: And ahead here on CNN, remembering the life and legacy of former U.S. Senator Bob Dole. Why President Joe Biden says he will miss his friend.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[00:25:26]

NEWTON: The U.S. is paying tribute to long-time Senator Bob Dole, who died on Sunday at the age of 98.

Dole was, of course, a decorated World War II veteran who served 27 years as a U.S. senator from Kansas and was once a Republican nominee for president.

Now, Dole's family says he dedicated his life to serving the American public. They say he will be remembered for his integrity, humor, compassion and an unbounded work ethic.

Tributes have come in from both Republicans and Democrats. President Joe Biden has ordered flags flown at half-staff, honoring Dole as, quote, "an American statesman like few in our history. A war hero and among the greatest of the Greatest Generation. And to me, he was also a friend whom I could look to for trusted guidance, or a humorous line at just the right moment to settle frayed nerves. I will miss my friend."

CNN's Wolf Blitzer has more now on the life and legacy of Bob Dole.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Bob Dole was the kind of politician you'll have a hard time finding in Washington these days. Much of the country only saw the cartoon image, hatchet man.

WALTER MONDALE, FORMER VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Senator Dole has richly earned his reputation as a hatchet man tonight.

BLITZER: Sharp-tongued partisan.

BOB DOLE, FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE/SENATOR: Would you buy a used election promise from my opponent?

BLITZER: Pundits who didn't know better labeled him mean-spirited, but the man wasn't defined by grouchiness or gridlock.

In the Senate, where he spent the bulk of his political life, Dole became a master at forging compromise, working with Democrats to cobble together bills that left the country better off. A Food Stamp bill with George McGovern. The Americans with Disabilities Act with Tom Harkin. Social Security reform with Daniel Patrick Moynihan.

DOLE: Some might find it surprising, given the view that Congress has been my life, but that is not so. With all due respect to Congress, America has been my life.

BLITZER: He also was a driving force behind Washington's magnificent World War II Memorial.

DOLE: I've sort of become the unofficial greeter. I try to greet every group. I can't explain the emotion and what it means to one of these 85-, 90-, 95-year-old veterans, who get a chance to touch and feel the World War II memorial. It's probably the best thing that's happened to them in years, and they're going to remember it the rest of their lives.

BLITZER: Dole was one of those young Americans who went off to the war. On a hillside in Italy, an explosion severely damaged his shoulder and spinal cord. Dole spent 39 months in hospitals, hovering near death more than once.

DOLE: At first, I didn't think it was fair. Then I looked around in the next bed, and they were taking somebody away who had passed away, or somebody had lost both legs or done something else. I didn't feel so sorry for myself.

BLITZER; His right hand remained virtually useless for the rest of his life. His mind, however, was fine.

Voters in his home state of Kansas sent Dole to Washington for five terms, where he thrived, becoming a Republican leader in the Senate. He was President Gerald Ford's running mate in 1976, and ran for president in 1980 and 1988, finally winning the Republican nomination in 1996.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: William Jefferson Clinton has a job for four more years.

BLITZER: It didn't work out. DOLE: It's a lot more fun winning. It hurts to lose an election, but

stay involved and keep fighting the good fight.

BLITZER: A 45-year political career was over. Dole moved on with grace.

MELANIA TRUMP, FORMER FIRST LADY OF THE UNITED STATES: Great Senator Bob Dole.

BLITZER: After the bitter 2016 primaries, Dole was the only former presidential nominee to attend the convention that nominated Donald Trump.

He poignantly saluted the casket of fellow Republican but frequent rival, George Bush. And to the end, Dole kept the trademark humor so familiar to those who knew him and so surprising to those who did not.

DOLE: I always try to have a little fun. My view is, if it's not any fun, it's not worth doing.

You look at your life, and on reflection, I think success and failure are not opposites. It's just part of your life.

GRAPHIC: Bob Dole, 1923-2021.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[00:33:08]

NEWTON: The White House says President Joe Biden is looking forward to talking with his Russian counterpart when the two leaders hold a video call Tuesday.

Now, they're expected to discuss a wide range of topics. Obviously, that includes Ukraine and other regional issues.

The White House says Mr. Biden will underscore to Vladimir Putin U.S. concerns over Russia's military activities on the border with Ukraine.

David Sanger is a CNN political and national security analyst, and he joins me now from Vermont.

Again, never a dull moment in foreign affairs here. At this point, I would argue that Russia has actually played its hand very well. They've got at least tens of thousands of troops amassed on the border, and Vladimir Putin got what he wanted, right? He has a meeting front and center, virtual, with the president this week.

DAVID SANGER, CNN POLITICAL AND NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Well, he does. How they played their hand or whether they overplayed it is going to take a little while to know.

You know, what's missing right now, Paula, from all of this is understanding Putin's intentions. And I think that's what the president wants to try and get at in the Tuesday meeting.

Right now, we know that Putin has, you know, just roughly 100,000 troops on the border. The unclassified U.S. intelligences that could go up to 175,000 in January is open to some people who think even that number may be low.

But whether that is because he's intending to do an invasion, or that he wants us to think he's going to do an invasion. That's still unclear.

And it's very possible that he may, through a combination of information operations, cyberattacks like the ones they've done before on the Ukraine electric grid, simply seek to destabilize President Zelensky.

[00:35:03]

NEWTON: At this point, though, in terms of the president confronting Putin on this this week, do you think he is coming to the table with good intelligence that tells him what Putin's true intentions might be?

SANGER: I don't think so. I mean, I -- I think understanding intention is very difficult, and what we've learned about Putin is that he's -- he plays pretty much for the short term and occasionally makes long- term decisions that work out.

His move into Syria, which President Obama thought would fall apart on him pretty quickly, has remained. Obviously, seizing Crimea is something that they managed to keep, but at a pretty high price, which is the western sanctions that were imposed seven years ago.

What I think at this point you're going to see happen in the conversation is that President Biden is going to trying to sus out Putin's full intentions, and President Putin is going to be trying to sus out what it is the United States means when it says that it is fully committed to the independence and sovereignty of Ukraine.

Does that mean we send American forces? I doubt it. That we could really crank up sanctions? Probably. That we would arm the Ukrainians? Almost certainly. But who knows if that would be enough to hold off the Russians?

NEWTON: And you laid out, actually the options perfectly there, and quite succinctly. I have to ask, though, what about actually negotiating something here?

I mean, at the end of the day, Putin has declared his red line. It is he does not want to see Ukraine even think about becoming a NATO member.

SANGER: Well, in an odd way, keeping Ukraine from joining NATO is sort of the easiest one for President Biden. Look, if the United States and the other NATO countries were going to invite Ukraine into NATO, they would have done it in the seven years since Crimea fell back into Russian hands and was annexed by Putin. They haven't done so, and there's no indication that I see that NATO

believes that Ukraine is ready for that yet. Or that NATO is ready to make that commitment to them yet.

I think what's going to be more complex is that Putin is watching the Ukraine gradually move more and more into the sphere of the West, and he's that what he's trying to stop.

NEWTON: David Sanger for us. Really appreciate it.

SANGER: Great to be with you.

NEWTON: Now a situation in Indonesia's East Java Province remains quite dangerous after Saturday's deadly volcano eruption. At least 14 people were killed, and about 1,300 are displaced after the sudden eruption destroyed hundreds of homes, damaged many schools, and left villages covered in ash. The pictures are extraordinary.

At least 13 people right now are still missing.

Now, the hot ash, volcanic gases and smoldering debris are still a threat to those living nearby.

For more on this, I'm joined by Will Ripley. He is in Hong Kong. And yes, Will, I mean, as if rescuers weren't contending with enough, the volcano is still active, right? And yet, it seems like the weather now could be hampering rescue efforts. What more do we know?

WILL RIPLEY, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Paula, there are just a number of factors right now they're making things difficult. You mentioned the weather. The heavy wind and rain, that has forced rescuers to stop in some areas. Although we just received word that, within the last hour, three more bodies have been now pulled from cold lava that they were buried underneath, the bodies of a man, a woman and a child.

So even though there's no official update to the death toll, we can now presume it's at least 17 people who are dead. Another 13 still missing.

And you have dozens of people who have been wounded. A lot of the wounded are suffering from really bad burns, because these pyroclastic flows, it's this mix of ash and rock and volcanic ash that, from a distance, can actually be mistaken as floodwaters. They move that quickly.

But of course, when people are hit by them, they are, in some cases, fatally hot. Or people are severely burned. So hospitals in the area have been dealing with an influx of burn patients.

If there's some good news to glimmer out of this, it's that Mount Semeru in East Java -- it is located in Java, which is where Jakarta is also located. So it's Indonesia's largest population center. That means that there are hospitals that are available, even though it's a relatively remote area and they are able to treat the people who are coming in. They're not inundated to the point of being over stretched at this point.

They're also able to call in military resources that are relatively close by because of the fact that they are in the most populous area.

But you have a massive humanitarian situation on your hands when you're talking about 1,300 people from these villages, at least 11 villages who are displaced.

[00:40:06]

These are houses. These are vehicles that are buried under volcanic ash that falls down. In some cases, the ash is as high as a house. And then, of course, add the rain. The ash hardens, and then it's almost like mixing concrete. You have these vehicles just kind of stuck underneath. You have hundreds of homes that have been destroyed. Thirty-three schools damaged.

And these people who are being relocated are basically going to be in limbo for the next six months getting government assistance until they can find a new place to live, because in some cases these villages just are not salvageable any more. Not to mention the fact that, if there are more eruptions, it could be dangerous.

There were two more incidents just in the early morning hours. And then later in the morning, these pyroclastic flows that are very dangerous for rescuers and for residents themselves, Paula.

So certainly an evolving situation we need to watch closely in Indonesia. This is a nation that is used to dealing with this, because they sit right there on the Ring of Fire. So volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, tsunamis, they really get it all there.

NEWTON: Yes, and I know what you're saying, that they deal with it, but just as you were speaking, we were looking at the pictures. And it really does give you give even a glimpse at the challenge ahead.

RIPLEY: Stunning.

NEWTON: Will, we really appreciate you --

RIPLEY: Absolutely.

NEWTON: That is really. Will, I really appreciate you keeping us updated on this story.

Now for our international viewers, WORLD SPORT is next. For those watching here in the United States, I'll be right back with more CNN NEWSROOM after a quick break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[00:45:20]

NEWTON: Now, as the Omicron variant spreads further across the U.S., it's already affecting the economic picture for next year. Goldman Sachs cut its outlook for U.S. economic growth to 3.8 percent, and that's down from 4.2 percent on the year.

Now, economists at the firm say that's largely driven by the uncertainty surrounding the new variant. And they worry it could worsen supply chain issues and force countries to implement even tighter restrictions.

Rana Foroohar is a CNN global economic analyst and author of "Don't Be Evil: Makers And Takers, The Rise of Finance and The Fall of American Business," and she joins me now from New York.

Good to see you. Rana, we've got this new variant, right? Yet another curveball no economy needed. The jobs report last week in the United States was kind of weak and kind of puzzling, as well. Goldman Sachs joining others in saying, Look, they're lowering their targets for U.S. growth next year.

What is the potential here for this really to destabilize things as we were just starting to get used to the idea of recovery, right?

RANA FOROOHAR, CNN GLOBAL ECONOMIC ANALYST: Yes, yes. Well, you know, you mentioned the word "complex" earlier. You know, this jobs report was -- it was confusing. It was complex. And there was bad news, but there was also good news. Let me break it down for a minute.

On the one hand, things came in weaker than expected. On the other hand, it depends on what stats you're looking at.

You know, traditional companies are not doing as much hiring, but when you look at the household survey, it's a more robust survey. People are feeling more optimistic.

I think that that may represent the gig economy. I think it may represent people kind of piecing together work in new ways.

You do see, though, folks talking about worries about the variant and also worries about child care. I mean, these are still the two things -- and they're interconnected, of course -- that are making people worried about labor markets.

In terms of destabilizing, I'm not there yet. And I'll tell you why. You know, if you -- if you look at the downgrading of the forecast in the U.S., you've still got a growth rate at 3.8 percent, maybe. I mean, that's the downgraded figure. That's still, you know, a good percentage point above what we saw, you know, trend over the last decade or two.

So you know, yes, we're coming off of a low base. Yes, we had a pandemic and we're fighting our way back. But I don't feel like the bottom is falling out yet.

I think one of the things that's going to be very interesting to see is how the Fed maneuvers. You know, you know, I know that the Fed has said look, we've had some pretty good reports lately. We're going to start pulling back on our bond buying program. We're going to hike rates. That's always going to be a risky maneuver. That's probably coming in the first quarter, and that's where the rubber's going to meet the road.

NEWTON: Yes, and I want to talk to you about that in terms of globally, right, whether you're a central banker and you're talking about monetary policy or whether you're a politician and you're talking about fiscal policy.

Do you think they still have the tools here to deal with this, if this new variant ends up really giving us much more adversity than anyone needed?

FOROOHAR: Well, honestly, they're in a tight spot now. I think it's right for the Fed to raise rates. I've been calling for that for some time, because of this very thing. You don't want to have no ammo when you go into another crisis. I wish they would have raised them last quarter, frankly, before we knew about the Delta variant. And then you'd have a little bit of room to maneuver.

My concern is that they raise rates, the Delta -- or sorry, the Omicron variant is worse than we -- than we thought. And then the Fed is stuck, because you get a rate hike into a slowing economy. That's kind of a disaster scenario. Markets collapse, you know, maybe China slows. Maybe you get more spreading in Europe.

On the upside, people have a lot of money saved. You know, I mean, it's really quite interesting. We are seeing behavior in the U.S. savings rates amongst the U.S. population that we haven't seen in decades. I mean, Americans are not really good at saving, but they've been putting a lot of money under the mattress. So folks are not in a bad spot in terms of that, I would say.

NEWTON And more broadly, in terms of the variant itself, in terms of some of the industries that have been so impacted. We all know that travel and hospitality just starting to recover. Obviously, airlines, anything that deals with tourism.

But also that tourism piece, Rana, it's not just whole companies. Sometimes it's whole countries. You know, places like Cuba that were just going to start to allow international visitors, now having to deal with this. How much do you worry that the drag from this pandemic will be much longer than anyone ever predicted?

FOROOHAR: Well, you know, you hit the nail on the head. You're talking about countries with their economy tied to tourism. Those tend to be emerging market countries, many of them. Those are the countries that have lower vaccine rates. In some cases, they've haven't been able to get the vaccine. In some cases, the populations haven't taken it as readily.

[00:50:13]

Either way, this isn't good for travel, and you're probably going to be -- if we're in the sort of situation that we were at the spread of the Delta variant with Omicron, that you're going to be seeing some cancellations.

Travel is also a huge instrument. It affects -- it affects retail. It affects restaurants. It affects construction. You know, so that could have a really big knock-on effect for sure.

On the upside, I will say that the latest U.S. jobs report did have stronger logistics jobs. It had stronger manufacturing. So you're starting to see some of that regionalization that we thought would happen amidst COVID, some jobs coming back to different regions, not just to the U.S.

But you know, countries saying, maybe we don't want such far-flung supply chains. Maybe we want to do things a little closer to home. That has a job upside for some countries.

NEWTON: And I will say now, Rana, all of our faith in science. Right? That the economy will go the way of science. We'll know more, thankfully, in about a week to ten days. In the meantime, we'll leave it there.

Rana, thanks so much. Appreciate it.

FOROOHAR: Thank you.

NEWTON: We're now learning more about the building where the parents of the school shooter in Michigan were arrested, specifically, the man whose workspace the couple was found in.

Now, the 65-year-old contacted police, saying he had no idea James and Jennifer Crumbley had active warrants for their arrest. So far, he hasn't been charged with any crimes.

CNN's Athena Jones has the latest now on the investigation from Michigan.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ATHENA JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, the Oxford School District is now requesting an independent third-party investigation into the events leading up to Tuesday's deadly shooting.

In a letter from the superintendent to the school's community, they're revealing more about the school's version of the events leading up to that day.

So we know now that on Monday, when Ethan Crumbley was discovered looking at images of ammunition on his cell phone, he told a school counselor and a school staff member that he and his mother had recently gone to a shooting range and that shooting sports were probably -- were a family hobby.

We know that on Tuesday morning, after a teacher alerted the school counselor about Ethan Crumbley's concerning drawings, Ethan told the school counselor that the drawings, which depicted a semiautomatic handgun, a bullet, a body with bullet holes in it that appeared to be bleeding, and words like "blood everywhere" and "the thoughts don't stop, help me," Crumbley said that that drawing was part of a video game he was designing.

And so the letter says that at no time did counselors believe that Ethan Crumbley exhibited behavior that showed he was going to be a harm to himself or to others. They say his demeanor was calm.

One key point from this letter, is that the superintendent writes that Ethan Crumbley's parents did not inform the school district about their son's access to a firearm or that they had recently purchased him a firearm.

What is not clear from this letter is whether the school asked the Crumbleys about Ethan's access to a firearm.

We've also learned more about the man who helped James and Jennifer Crumbley into that building, that warehouse in Detroit where they were discovered in the early hours of Saturday morning. That man is cooperating with authorities. We know he's a local artist there in Detroit who uses the location as a workspace.

And through his lawyer, he says he did not know -- he wasn't aware that the Crumbleys were facing an arrest warrant. This man has, as I said, retained a lawyer, and he could still face charges for having helped the Crumbleys.

Athena Jones, CNN, Pontiac, Michigan.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NEWTON: Now, meantime, as you can imagine, support across the state of Michigan is pouring out for those affected in the shooting, including from the Detroit Lions.

The state's American pro football team scored their first win of the season on Sunday against the Minnesota Vikings. Both teams played in helmets featuring an Oxford-themed decal, and staff and players from the Lions dedicated the game to the Oxford community.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAN CAMPBELL, HEAD COACH, DETROIT LIONS: First thing I'm going to start with, this game ball goes to the whole Oxford community, all those who were affected.

JARED GOFF, QUARTERBACK, DETROIT LIONS: We hope to be a light for those people and a positive -- a positive thing that they could have fun watching today. I hope they were all watching today and were able to enjoy that win and we could take their minds off for whatever it may be, three hours.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NEWTON: Now, some fans came with signs that read, "Oxford Strong." As you can see there, players did their best to show support by signing items for kids wearing their own Oxford Wildcats jerseys. And as you can see there, many of the players obviously emotionally affected by this, as well.

OK. We're taking a turn here. A powerful winter storm is moving through the northern United States. Heavy snow and high winds are expected from North Dakota to northern Michigan. Storm warnings and advisories are already in effect across the region.

Meantime public schools in Hawaii's Maui County are closed Monday because of the potential for catastrophic flooding on the island. We want to bring in meteorologist Pedram Javaheri now.

I mean, look, some of this weather is to be expected, given the time of year. And yet when you hear about Hawaii, you have to wonder what's going on.

[00:55:12]

PEDRAM JAVAHERI, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Absolutely. You know, when you say catastrophic flooding in Hawaii, we know portions of the islands across Hawaii here among the wettest on our planet. But we're talking 15 to 25 inches of rainfall, Paula, within just a few days across this region.

Widespread coverage of flood warnings, flood watches across this region from Maui points all away across the big island. And again, significant rainfall in place. The forecast continues to bring in a very potent and slow-moving system that's going to produce another round of very heavy rainfall.

And again, near the top of the charts when you see in excess of about 10 to 15 inches and in some areas pushing 20 inches in just a matter of a few days. Now that's across the Hawaiian islands.

Across portions of the northern United States, Minnesota in particular, significant snowfall, about 1 1/2 to almost 2 feet in a few spots. But notice the coverage here across portions of Minnesota and North Dakota. Twelve, 14, 16 inches of rainfall -- snowfall accumulating there in the last couple of days.

And you notice blizzard warnings still in place for blizzard conditions, including places such as Fargo. So that northern tier of the U.S., a couple of million people underneath these alerts. About a million people across the U.S. scattered from that region to points across the south.

And even into New England with high wind warnings, as high as tropical storm-force winds. And it is plenty cold, as we talked about the snow accumulating, to have windchills now across this region as cold as 30 below. An incredible amount of cold air in place, given that winter is still just a couple of weeks away.

And here, the windchills in the morning hours, we expect around Duluth, around Minneapolis, 5, maybe 10 below. Certainly, a dangerous setup here across that region of the U.S.

NEWTON: Yes, Pedram. A note to travelers. Some of this might affect flights. Appreciate that weather update.

And I want to thank everyone here for watching CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Paula Newton. I'll be back with another hour of news from around the world after a short break. You're watching CNN. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)