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Rai Strengthens to Super Typhoon as it Nears Philippines; Omicron expected to be dominant in Europe by Mid-January; UK PM Johnson Reeling from Scandals, Tory Revolt; German Police Foil Alleged Plot to Kill Saxony Governor; Germany Accuses Russia of State- Sponsored Killing. Aired 12-1a ET

Aired December 16, 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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JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: Ahead here on CNN Newsroom, fleeing the storm, with wind gusts more than 300 kilometers an hour, Super Typhoon Rai now just hours away from a direct hit on the Philippines, tens of thousands of people now heading to safer ground.

The one, two COVID punch with the Delta variant already driving record high infections in Europe, the now bracing for even more contagious Omicron.

And the radical anti-vaccine extremists in Germany taking an already violent heat field campaign to the next level allegedly plotting to assassinate a state governor.

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

VAUSE: Thank you for joining us. At this hour, the Philippines bracing for a powerful super typhoon, wind gusts up to 315 kilometers an hour. It's about to make landfall. Rai grew quickly in strength over the past 24 hours. Now the equivalent of a category five hurricane. Officials are warning of dangerous storm surges, some coastal areas have already been evacuated. Tens of thousands of people heading for safer ground with flooding reported in some low-lying areas. And there is much worse to come.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ALFRED ROMUALDEZ, TACLOBAN CITY MAYOR (through translation): Let's be prepared. No need to panic. We are used to this. But do not want to compare this with Yolanda. Let's not be overconfident. Just make sure that everything in your house is prepared.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Be prepared because the Philippines that gets about 20 tropical storms every year. The deadliest was Typhoon Haiyan back in 2013, killing 6300 people.

Let's go to the meteorologist, Pedram Javaheri for the very latest on the forecast. So, what, we're just a few hours away. Exactly where will this typhoon make landfall?

PEDRAM JAVAHERI, CNN METEOROLOGIST: You know, it looks like it's going to make landfall across northern Mindanao across portions of the central Visayas, Eastern Visayas. This is an area, of course, the archipelago that is made up of over 7000 islands. So, there's going to be far more than just one landfall over the next few hours. But you'll notice this essentially pinwheel, sort of a center of the storm system extremely organized. The all quadrants of this storm as impressive as it gets, John, with sustained winds at 260 kilometers per hour.

As you noted, this is a healthy Category Five equivalent system and the impressive natures to which the storm system strengthened in the past 24 hours as remarkable as it gets.

Of course, we saw conditions were conducive for the storm system to intensify storms local name, by the way, Odette across the Philippines. But as Rai worked its way across this region, winds were about 120 kilometers per hour. And that was this time yesterday. Within a matter of 24 hours, the storm went underneath intense, rapid intensification they're going into 140 kilometer per hour of strengthening and getting to one or 260 now at this hour prior to making landfall.

And anytime you have a storm system undergo this sort of intensification, especially reaching that max intensity on approach to land, that is the biggest concern. You noted the amount of fatalities that have happened across the Philippines with just tropical storms, especially here in the month of December. And then you'll notice the storm system comes in in the alerts as widespread as it gets.

Just the coverage area of the storm system essentially covering half of the Philippine archipelago. The southern half of it, as it pushes the shore here in the next couple of hours. And that's the main area of concern. Climatologically, the area is about eight to nine landfalls, every single year. We've had about six, this would be storm number seven, and it looks potentially to be the most impressive of all of them here for 2021.

And again, as it pushes ashore here, of course, this region of the Philippines from the Visayas into the central region back westward towards Palawan, all of these areas here, of course , going to expose the storm system to an incredible amount of population. Some of these islands are uninhabited, some of them have as many as a million residents. So as this storm system comes ashore, that's the biggest concern, significant storm surge, just looking at the maximum wave heights offshore, John, almost 50 feet with a storm system -- storm surge could exceed three meters in a few spots. So, it could be devastating for a lot of these areas once it makes landfall.

VAUSE: Yeah, and that one grew quite quickly, quite powerful very quickly. Pedram, thank you. Pedram Javaheri there for the very latest. Karen Janes Ungar is the country representative for Catholic Relief Services in the Philippines. She is with us this hour from Manila. Karen, thank you for taking the time to be with us.

KAREN JANES UNGAR, CATHOLIC RELIEF SERVICES PHILIPPINES: Thank you.

VAUSE: As I say pray for the best but prepare for the worst, with that in mind, what are you expecting from this mega storm?

UNGAR: We are concerned -- this storm is taking the same path as Typhoon Washi did in 2011 and Typhoon Haiyan everyone well -- as well- known about that in 2013. However local government units have learned a lot from both of those previous disasters and have done a lot of disaster preparedness and preparations for this emergency.

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Families were evacuated as early as yesterday in schools, gymnasiums, and hospitals. And we have search and rescue vehicles are on standby and a lot of relief goods are in place, including Catholic Relief Services. We have emergency shelter kits, hygiene kits and wash kits, ready for immediate distribution. Starting tomorrow, we would start with our local partners, our courageous partners and diocese action centers on the ground for revenues assessment.

VAUSE: This storm went from your tropical storm to a super typhoon extremely quickly, have you had enough time to prepare it? Obviously, there's always more you could do. But do you feel comfortable right now with where you're at?

UNGAR: Yeah. Well, we're always prepared. We have kit preposition in different areas of the country along with a lot of other NGOs and the government. The government is very well prepared and does anticipatory preparations a few days before this as well. So, I think we'll be prepared to meet immediate need, it's going to be the recovery that we'll see what the damage is done afterwards.

VAUSE: Yes, the long term is always, I guess, a lot harder than the immediate short-term relief. But right now, I guess it's just a matter of waiting, sitting out these hours for the worse to pass. As you sit there and you wait, what's your biggest concern?

UNGAR: My biggest concern now is the flooding and the storm surges. Many of these small towns are on the coasts, their houses are literally maybe on a beach front, because they're fishermen, fisherfolk. So LGUs had really, they've been radio announcements, making sure that families do evacuate to higher ground, to safer areas.

But a lot of these people 10 percent are going to be very poor and might not have access to radio. So, we're concerned all the people who didn't evacuate or for health reasons if they have a disability or something, sometimes it's harder for them to be evacuated as well. So, we're concerned about the most vulnerable who weren't able to evacuate. VAUSE: Karen, thank you. Karen Janes Ungar there with Catholic Relief Services, we wish you all the very best or very best for the people of the Philippines. Thank you.

UNGAR: Thank you.

VAUSE: And now comes Omicron. Officials in Europe say they're facing a double challenge with both the Delta and Omicron variants sweeping across parts of Europe.

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URSULA VON DER LEYEN, EUROPEAN COMMISSION PRESIDENT (through translation): It's very important to be aware, but this large increase in the number of infections is due almost exclusively to the Delta variant. And what I'm concerned about is that we're now seeing a new variant Omicron on the horizon, which is apparently even more infectious.

If you look at the time it takes for new cases to double the number, it seems to be doubling every two or three days. And that's massive. We're told that by mid-January, we should expect Omicron to be the new dominant variant in Europe.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Britain also now seeing the biggest one day increase of infections since the beginning of the pandemic, just how contagious Omicron is.

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CHRIS WHITTY, ENGLAND'S CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER: This is a really serious threat at the moment. The how big a threat, there are several things we don't know. But all the things that we do know are bad. And the principal one being the speed of which this is moving, it is moving at an absolutely phenomenal pace. And therefore, between the time that it first starts to really take off in a way people will be able to see. And the point when we get to very, very, very large numbers will be quite a short run and that I think is part of the CSU (ph).

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VAUSE: To help contain the spread of Omicron, European countries are turning to new restrictions and new ways to boost vaccinations. Details from CNN's Ben Wedeman.

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BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The Omicron variant could become dominant in Europe by mid-January, according to European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen, at a time when Europe is already grappling with another wave of the Delta variant. European countries are scrambling to implement measures to slow the spread of all variants of COVID-19 as the holiday season approaches, with Italy slapping new restrictions on unvaccinated travelers, Germany banning the unvaccinated from many public venues and Norway banning the serving of alcohol in bars and restaurants.

Italy for its part has extended the state of emergency that went into effect at the start of the pandemic early last year the state of emergency will now last until the end of March 2022.

This latest wave and the Omicron variant have given added impetus to campaigns to vaccinate younger age groups.

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This week, Italy, Spain, Greece and Hungary, among others launched campaigns to vaccinate children five years and older. I'm Ben Wedeman, CNN reporting from Rome.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: Join me now is Robert Wachter, Chair of the Department of Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco and author of "The Digital Doctor." Dr. Rob, thanks for being with us.

ROBERT WACHTER, CHAIR, UCSF DEPARTMENT OF MEDICINE: It's my pleasure. Thanks for having me.

VAUSE: So, the evidence, it seems to be shifting away from the anecdotal to now some more scientific data that Omicron is less severe compared to Delta, but at the same time, is spreading at the stunning speeds. I want you to listen to England's Chief Medical Officer, Chris Whitty.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WHITTY: This is a record number of cases. I'm afraid we have to be realistic that records will be broken a lot over the next few weeks as the rates continue to go up.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: So, will the potential drop in the number of severe cases of COVID which are coming, but make up for the expected huge increase in the number of infections overall? Because right now, it's a numbers game, right?

WACHTER: Yes, it's better that it is less severe than Delta. And it is increasingly looking like that. But because it was as severe as Delta, or more severe, we would be even worse -- in worse trouble. But one of the things I fear is that people will hear it's a little bit less severe, and let their guard down if we are getting the kinds of case increases that they're seeing in Europe, and there's no reason to think we won't go -- get that the United States as well, within a month or two, even if it's let's say 30 percent less severe which is what it might be looking at like right now, that's still a crushing blow, and still a lot of people who get very sick and a lot of people who will die, so we have to take it very, very seriously.

VAUSE: As for why Omicron may not be as severe as Delta, here's the White House Chief Medical Advisor, Dr. Anthony Fauci, listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, CHIEF MEDICAL ADVISOR TO PRESIDENT BIDEN: Whatever it is, the disease seems to be less severe, whether it's inherently less pathogenic as a virus, or whether there's more protection in the community. We're just going to have to see when it comes in the United States. And for sure, Jim, it is going to be dominant in the United States given its doubling time.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Well, we've seen this a little bit before that, though, because Britain, it seems, is about to become real-time lab tests about the severity of Omicron?

WACHTER: Yes, I think we're learning from South Africa, we're learning from Europe. And we'll -- so we'll know the answer to this before it hits the United States. There is still uncertainty as Dr. Fauci said about why it appears to be less severe, whether it is that so many people have some measure of immunity from vaccination, or from prior infection, or there's something about the virus that itself is not attacking cells quite as avidly, it could be a little bit of both, so we should know the answer to that.

But I think the bottom line is now fairly clear, it is not as severe as Delta, but it is capable of harming and killing a lot of people, given the number of people that are going to get infected with this virus.

VAUSE: And there's this new research from Hong Kong, which may explain why Omicron spreads so quickly. Here's part of it. Omicron infects and multiplies 70 times faster than the Delta variant and the original SARS-CoV-2 in human bronchus, which are the two large tubes carrying air to the lungs, which may explain why Omicron may transmit faster between humans than previous variants.

You know, in the viral world contagion is king and that seems to be quite the mutation in a very short period of time.

WACHTER: Yes, it really -- it's kind of the greatest hits of all mutations, it seemed to figure out a whole bunch of new tricks that do two things that are nasty, one is to evade immunity to a large extent, although if you're fully vaccinated, I call fully vaccinated not to shots anymore. It really is three shots. If you're fully vaccinated, you're still quite well protected against Omicron. So, it does that and not only evades the immune system but also replicates faster. So inherently it looks like it's more infectious and contagious than the prior viruses.

VAUSE: Just over a month ago, in a story by New York Times it said is that time we returned to life is normal. We have the ability, we had the tools to treat COVID, treat it like a manageable virus like the flu. Here's part of that report. Wachter has decided to resume mores of his old activities and accept the additional risk that comes with them, much as we accept the risk of crashes when riding in vehicles. So, does Omicron change that risk benefit calculation for you in any way?

WACHTER: Yes, I think it does. That was before there was Omicron and if you remember the first reports of Omicron was less than a month ago so it's remarkable how quickly this has come upon us. I think until we know more, I am being more careful. I've stopped indoor dining, and I wear N95 or equivalent mask in all indoor settings unless I'm sure everybody in the setting is fully vaccinated, again, by fully vaccinated I mean they've gotten their booster as well.

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I still am travelling, I travelled last weekend to visit family and friends. So, I'm still willing to do certain things. And my comment on the Times was mainly about the fact that I think COVID is going to be with us for the duration, years and years and so we have to try to figure out a way of living our lives and visiting family and friends over the holidays.

But I think in the short term over the next few months, this is a potentially a crushing problem. And I do think we need to be more careful, and I have up my guard yet again.

VAUSE: Yes, just in time for Christmas the last thing we need but it is here, and we should deal with it. Dr. Robert Wachter, thank you so much. We really appreciate your time, sir.

WACHTER: Thank you.

VAUSE: With that, we'll take a short break, when we come back, Boris Johnson on the defensive against a Tory revolt and an embarrassing new development in the partygate scandal.

Also, an alleged plot by anti-vaxxers to kill German official leads to multiple arrests in the city of Dresden. The very latest in a moment.

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VAUSE: Partygate just keeps getting worse for Britain's Prime Minister and his conservative government. A new photo shows two dozen maskless people partying at conservative headquarters in London last December. That was when indoor gatherings, you know, very bad crossing limit, they're they are. Prime Minister Boris Johnson fighting of criticism for his own holiday parties last year, as well as backlash from conservative MP opposed to his new COVID restrictions. CNN's Salma Abdelaziz has more now reporting in from London.

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SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN REPORTER (on camera): Prime Minister Boris Johnson was back in parliament on Wednesday to defend himself during Prime Minister's questions. This comes a day after he suffered the biggest rebellion from the Conservative Party since Johnson took office in 2019.

On Tuesday, the prime minister had several new measures, COVID measures that he wanted to put into place but nearly 100 conservative lawmakers voted against them. They still passed largely because the labor, the opposition party did vote in favor these MPs, these Conservative MPs who voted against these measures take particular issue with the requirement for COVID passes, which is essentially a health pass that shows you're either fully vaccinated or have had a recent negative test before you enter any large public venues like nightclubs. It's yet another blow to the prime minister who's right now embroiled in a scandal allegation that multiple Christmas parties took place in Downing Street during lockdown last year. In Parliament, he defended his record again from the head of the opposition Labor Party Keir Starmer who asked him to look in the mirror.

KEIR STARMER, BRITISH LABOR PARTY LEADER: We can't go well with a Prime Minister who's too weak to lead. So, will the Prime Minister take time this Christmas to look in the mirror and ask himself whether he has the trust and authority to lead this country?

[00:20:05]

BORIS JOHNSON, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: No, Mr. Speaker, I'm going to get on with protecting the republic of this country and making sure that we get through this pandemic together as one United Kingdom.

ABDELAZIZ: Now separate of the allegations swirling around Downing Street, yet another photograph has emerged this one, an allegation that at Conservative Party headquarters during lockdown last year, there was allegedly a Christmas party. The photograph obtained and published by the mayor shows then conservative London mayoral candidate Shaun Bailey and more than 20 others apparently holding a Christmas party.

Now, CNN cannot independently verify these claims. Downing Street has distanced themselves from this alleged incident and Bailey, that candidate, that mayoral candidate has resigned, but it shows yet more pressure being turned up on the conservative party at a time when the focus should be on the Omicron variant. Salma Abdelaziz, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: German police and Special Forces have carried out multiple raids across the state of Saxony, arresting six anti-vaccine extremists allegedly plotting to assassinate the pro-vaccine state governor. Details now from CNN's Frederik Pleitgen.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (on camera): The State Police in Saxony says that it is investigating some six suspects now who they accused of possibly wanting to murder the governor of the state of Saxony. The state police saying in a statement that these -- the people were all members of a Telegram chat group and that within that chat group and also in conversations that were offline, that some of the members of that group talked about wanting to not only murder the governor of the state of Saxony, but possibly also other members of the government of the State of Saxony. Another thing that the police said as well is that apparently in some of these chat group postings that some of the people talked about being armed.

Now, the raids took place early on Wednesday morning and the police said that six objects were searched by police officers and that some weapons were found as well as crossbows as well. Those are now being analyzed to see whether or not they would have been able to fire in the first place.

All this comes as there is a debate here in Germany about whether or not both anti-vaxxers and other conspiracy groups are becoming more militant and more dangerous. Here's what the German Chancellor had to say about that.

OLAF SCHOLZ, GERMAN CHANCELLOR (through translation): What exists today in Germany is denial, absurd conspiracy theories, deliberate misinformation and violent extremism. Let's be clear, a small extremist minority in our country has turned away from our society, our democracy, our community in our state, and not only from science, rationality and reason.

PLEITGEN: All this comes as Germany is dealing with an uptick in violence both against police officers but also in parts against journalists as well at demonstrations against the coronavirus pandemic measures but also against vaccinations in general. And also, another issue this country is dealing with, the police in Berlin tell CNN that across the country, both news organizations as well as politicians received parcels containing meat and threatening letters. And in those letters, it was apparently stated that similar parcels would keep arriving if there was a vaccine mandate here in Germany. Fred Pleitgen, CNN, Berlin.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

VAUSE: Two Russian diplomats have been expelled from Germany over a day like murder, which a German court says was ordered by Moscow. On Wednesday the court sentenced a Russian citizen to life in prison for going down a Manna Church in background in Berlin more than two years ago. The victim fought alongside Chechen rebels against Russia years ago. Germany's Foreign Minister says the order for the hit came directly from the Russian government.

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ANNALENA BAERBOCK, GERMAN FOREIGN MINISTER (through translation): This murder carried out on state orders as was ruled by the court today, is a serious violation of German law and of Germany sovereignty. We've summoned the Russian ambassador to Germany. We told him that two members of the embassy staff would be declared persona non grata.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: The victim was shot point blank in this park in the German Capitol. Russia calls Berlin's actions unfriendly and is pledging to respond to the expulsion of the two diplomats.

The criminal has been accused of killing or trying to kill at least two Russian dissidents in Britain and others at home. Moscow denies that.

This building gives Russian diplomats the boot it's hoping talks with Moscow can stop the Kremlin from invading Ukraine.

New German Chancellor, Olaf Scholz, was in Brussels Wednesday meeting with the President of France and Ukraine. It was on the sidelines of the EU's Eastern Partnership Summit. All this as a Russian military buildup so its fears another attack could be imminent. France's foreign ministers warning Russia will face massive strategic consequences if it launches an offensive against its neighbor. The same sentiment was echoed by the European Commission president.

[00:25:09]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VON DER LEYEN: Our very first call is on Russia to deescalate, but we are also prepared for any increasing aggression from Russia side. As I said sanctions are in place, that those sanctions could be tightened. And the message is very clear, should Russia take further aggressive actions against Ukraine. The costs will be severe, and the consequence is serious.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Russia continues to demand guarantees from NATO that it will not expand to the east. Ukraine President is very clear he wants to join the European Union.

After the break, U.S. central bank ready to act, but the Fed is planning to help fight rising inflation the highest in almost 40 years.

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

Well, the Punchbowl of easy money may soon be taken away with the U.S. Fed ending the pandemic-era stimulus program. At the same time, the Fed says three interest rate hikes are on the cards next year, all to try and ease inflation. U.S. financial markets froze on the news. Here's a look now at what's happening in the Asia Pacific region. We can see Nikkei is up almost 2%. Shanghai up by about a third, Hong Kong data touch about half a percent. And the Seoul Kospi up by touch with a quarter of a percent there.

Now, Fed Chairman Jerome Powell says any rate increases will be gradual. Analysts expect three next year. The first one likely in May.

Consumer price inflation in the U.S. is in the highest it's been in for decades. Americans are paying more for everything from gasoline to ground beef. Jerome Powell says it may not get better anytime soon.

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JEROME POWELL, U.S. FEDERAL RESERVE CHAIRMAN: These problems have been larger and longer lasting than anticipated, exacerbated by waves of the virus. As a result, overall inflation is running well above our 2% longer run goal and will likely continue to do so well into next year.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: To Los Angeles now, and Ryan Patel, Senior Fellow at the Drucker School of Management at Claremont Graduate University. It's been a while, welcome back.

RYAN PATEL, DRUCKER SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT, CLAREMONT GRADUATE UNIVERSITY: Always great to be with you, John.

VAUSE: OK, so when Doves cry, up until now, the Federal Reserve has maintained kind of dovish on inflation, but not now. Three interest rate increases next year phasing out the bond purchases faster. This economic stimulus program which kept long-term interest rates low that's coming to an end in March, now that's earlier than before. So, is this too much? Will they kill the economy or is it not enough and will inflation ultimately skyrocket?

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RYAN PATEL, DRUCKER SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT, CLAREMONT GRADUATE UNIVERSITY: Well, let's just call all the interpretation what Jerome Powell said, let me just break it down, what he said.

Inflation is real. I mean, that's -- they were -- six months ago was kind of saying, Well, transitory. It's going to get past, well, no, the data.

And the Fed typically doesn't want to be the first mover, and it also doesn't want to be the last, too-late mover. And I think the data over the last couple months was even more so than ever you mentioned.

Inflation data 6 percent surge in November, the fastest since 1982. And, you know, people and consumers starting to feel it in the pocket. Businesses starting to talk about different strategies.

And I want to be really clear here. Just because he made the statement doesn't mean that we solve the problem just yet. Just the motion and the plan has just started to unwind from one interest rate hike next year to three. But still, you know, 1.8, 1.5 to 2 percent by the end of year, possibly. So it's not like it's going to be a fast rise.

VAUSE: Yes, I want you to listen to a little more now from the Fed chairman, Jerome Powell, what he says is driving the surge in prices. Here he is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEROME POWELL, FEDERAL RESERVE CHAIR: Supply and demand imbalances related to the pandemic and the reopening of the economy have continued to contribute to elevated levels of inflation.

In particular, bottlenecks and supply constraints are limiting how quickly production can respond to higher demand in the near term. These problems have been larger and longer lasting than anticipated, exacerbated by waves of the virus.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: And there's a whole lot more going on than just that. But how much of this inflationary pressure is the result of just printing money for 20 years? Almost.

PATEL: Well, you -- yes, well -- let me just say what you just said. If it was confined -- inflation was supposed to be confined just in a couple of sectors. Right? Air freight, automobiles, and a few other items.

Well, things that -- you failed to mention also, the surge in employment costs and consumer spending. You know, and those things on the supply chain aspect, that all kind of plays into this factor. And obviously, continue to buying bonds, you know, the original plan was to wait stop buying bonds, and then increase the interest rates. But they chose, obviously, not to do that, and really try to do that fast. And printing money.

And this is kind of one of those things where, the Fed chairman is -- this talk needed to come, John. The markets, over the last week, not great news. And this was something that you kind of felt. You know, he had to come out and say. He communicated accordingly, I think, what the market wanted to hear.

VAUSE: If nothing else, it does show that he is flexible and that he can change policy direction on a dime, if you like. But, you know, we no longer have transitory inflation.

But what seems to be -- and you mentioned this -- one of the big factors here in this change of direction, is a surge in the employment cost index. This is -- a lot of attention isn't paid to this. But "The New York Times" reports, "The surprisingly high number suggested that employer spending on wages and benefits was rising faster in the summer months than economists had thought. It put Powell on alert that inflationary pressures had the potential to be broader and longer lasting than the Fed had been expecting."

You know, it does raise the question, have they waited too long?

PATEL: Yes. You know, I guess time will tell. Obviously, I think they are really waiting -- I mean, if you would argue, though, at least, they could probably make the move during the summer.

But I think this surge -- and, you know, I'm not going to be the defense -- really caught him off-guard. I don't think they were expecting these types of numbers in the last two to three months behind that.

And also, the other thing of you know, why they needed to jump in now, is this spiral effect that they didn't say anything now and they wanted to wait, would have been a bad move. Because you don't know how much it would have gotten out of hand.

And you know, why -- why you could have gotten out of hand is that cost, like you just mentioned, to wages and things getting more expensive. Guess who pays for it? The consumer. Companies are just going to pass it down to the consumer, and they're going to have to end up spending more.

And that would even put the Fed into a really poor situation. This gives them some flexibility to raise the rates, as they said. Move it sooner and keep the prices in check, as much as they can.

VAUSE: There's an entire generation out there that knew nothing about high inflation. And boy, are they about to have fun -- fun here.

Ryan, thank you. Ryan Patel, good to see you.

PATEL: Thanks, John.

VAUSE: Still to come here, the U.S. reacting after the UAE suspends talks over a major deal about F-35 fighter jets. We'll hear from the secretary of state in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[00:36:43]

VAUSE: A plane crash in the Dominican Republic has left nine people dead, including a high-profile music producer.

Jose Hernandez from Puerto Rico, also known as Flow La Movie, died, as well as his wife and child. The private jet was heading to Miami when the pilot tried to make an emergency landing 15 minutes after takeoff. The cause is still under investigation.

The U.S. says it's prepared to move forward with a multibillion dollar fighter jet deal with the United Arab Emirates, if the UAE still wants to pursue it.

These comments came from Secretary of State Antony Blinken after the UAE says it was suspending talks with the U.S. to acquire the F-35s. Sam Kiley has more now from Abu Dhabi.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SAM KILEY, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Stealth fighters have been creating a lot of noise between America and its allies in the United Arab Emirates.

The Emiratis have suspended talks over buying $23 billion worth of planes because of U.S.-imposed sovereign operational restrictions, and other technical details.

These seem to include the U.S. trying to make sure that the F-35s that they've already agreed to sell to Israel, still have an edge over those they may sell elsewhere.

ANTONY BLINKEN, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: We wanted to make sure, for example, that our commitment to Israel's qualitative military edge is assured. So we wanted to make sure that we could do a full review of any technologies that are -- that are sold or transferred to other partners in the region, including the UAE.

KILEY: The Emiratis have reset their foreign policy, away from much- criticized military interventions in places like Yemen and Libya, so they may no longer need stealth fighters.

After the allied evacuation of Kabul, and years of chaos in Iraq, they see the U.S. as their most important, but a newly unreliable ally.

They're also peeved over American attempts to stop Chinese tech giant Huawei supplying their 5G network. And U.S. demands that the Emiratis shutter a Chinese marine operation here.

ANWAR GARGASH, DIPLOMATIC ADVISOR TO UAE PRESIDENT: I think the important thing, also, is to try and -- and this is only really for the great powers to do. To try and manage their conflict, and to manage their competition, in a way that it doesn't really slip into a second cold war, which I think would be disastrous. Both for capitals, as well for -- for all of us.

KILEY: Trade with China was up almost 40 percent for the emirates this year. And now that the Emiratis have stepped away from joining U.S.- led military adventures in the region, they're in a better place to horse trade in the arms bazaar.

They recently announced a $19 billion defense deal with France, and that included 80 Rafale fighters.

And while the U.S. exhibited a mockup of an F-35, at Dubai's latest airshow, this one stole the show. And it's made in Russia.

Sam Kiley, CNN, Abu Dhabi.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[00:40:02]

VAUSE: It's been a Christmas time for conspiracy theorists and tinfoil crowd lot. They're having a joyous time looking through thousands of previously classified government documents about JFK's assassination, now made public. They were meant to be released four years ago, all adding to the mystique.

CNN's Tom Foreman explains.

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JOHN F. KENNEDY, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Ask not what your country can do for you --

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The nearly 1,500 documents are filled with intriguing details.

A Polish driver in Australia saying he listened in on Russian passengers talking about 5 Soviet submarines carrying 400 to 500 Soviet soldiers, on their way to Cuba. There was a plot to pay $100,000 to kill President Kennedy.

A Nicaraguan claiming he saw the president's killer, Lee Harvey Oswald, being paid $6,500 by Russians.

Oswald meeting with a KGB agent just months before the killing.

And endless reports like this: "Oswald entered Mexico, claiming he was a photographer, phoning the Soviet embassy to ask for a visa so he could go to Odessa, USSR."

Little of the information is entirely new to the public. Many of the leads were long ago dispensed with or disproven.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: To the White House and Washington comes the final verdict on the fateful tragedy which engulfed the nation 10 months ago.

FOREMAN: But ever since the Warren Report, every tiny bit of information pulled from the shroud of government secrecy has fed conspiracy theorists who believe Oswald did not act alone, and may have been backed by Cuba, Russia, the Mafia --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And in front of my eyes, I saw a flash of light in the bushes, and then shots rang out.

FOREMAN: And these latest papers are fascinating serious historians, too, even when they aren't all about Oswald.

TIM NAFTALI, CNN PRESIDENTIAL HISTORIAN: I learned some things today, more details about how the Mafia were used in an attempt to kill Castro. Now I sort of understand much better that technique that would have been involved and why it was a serious effort, which did not actually succeed, as we know.

FOREMAN (on camera): That sort of information is precisely what intelligence agents are cagey about. They don't want their methods or their contacts known, even decades later after this far-ranging investigation. And that's why about 10,000 documents remain ever heavily redacted, or entirely off limits.

Tom Foreman, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: Thank you for watching CNN NEWSROOM. I'm John Vause. Back at the top of the hour with the very latest on Super Typhoon Rai. In the meantime, WORLD SPORT starts after a very short break.

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