Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Newsroom
Typhoon Rai Is Rapidly Intensifying As It Nears Landfall In The Philippines; Omicron Could Become Dominant In Europe By Mid-January; Conservative Revolt Over COVID Curbs Deals Stinging Blow To UK PM Johnson; German Police Foil "Anti-Vaxxer Murder Plot" Against State Premier. Aired 1-2a ET
Aired December 16, 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: Ahead here on CNN Newsroom, fleeing the storm, super typhoon Rai now just hours away from a direct hit on the Philippines. Tens of thousands of people heading to safer ground.
The one-two COVID punch with the double variant already driving record high infections in Europe. Now they're bracing for the even more contagious Omicron.
And the radical anti-vaccine extremist in Germany, taking an already hateful violent 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 is bracing for powerful super typhoon wind gusts up to 315 kilometers per hour. Rai grew quickly in strength over the past 24 hours, now the equivalent of a category five hurricane and just hours away from landfall.
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 already reported in some low lying areas. But officials right now urging car every day.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ALFRED ROMUALDEZ, TACLOBAN CITY MAYOR (through translator): 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: About 20 tropical storm a year sweep across the Philippines. The deadliest was in 2013. Typhoon Haiyan left more than 6,000 people dead and caused widespread destruction.
Let's go to the CNN Weather Center, meteorologist Pedram Javaheri is following all the details. So sorry (INAUDIBLE) away now from, you know, the first landfall we should say?
PEDRAM JAVAHERIM CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, absolutely. You know, John, even less than that. We're beginning to see some of the initial stages here of landfall potentially near Siargao Island across this region, home to about 200,000 people. This is as menacing as a storm gets on our planet in any given year and top of the food chain storm. We're talking about almost 300 kilometer per hour sustained winds. Look at the symmetry, look at the organization, look at the pinwheel eye. That's where we think landfall is going to be taking place here very shortly near Siargao Island.
Again, you kind of think about this place. This is a incredible tourist destination from their points to the west, Bohol. These regions home to a couple 100,000 people and according to Conde Nast just a couple of years ago voted as the single best island in the world speaks to the incredible nature of this landscape, the white sandy beaches across this region. So you would imagine the weather at this hour, as oppressive as it gets.
And in fact, anytime you have wind speeds of this magnitude with an landfalling storm system, we know the area becomes uninhabitable for a period of weeks and power outages certainly could last beyond that as well as it makes landfall.
Now as far as the intensification, we often talk about the incredible nature of rapid intensifying storms in a 24-hour span as we've seen it with climate change and certainly look at the storm system. This triples the threshold of what it takes to rapidly intensify, which is about 50 or so kilometers per hour. This storm system intensified 140 kilometers per hour in a 24-hour span, making it the single strongest storm we've had across 2021, right up there again, the top of the charts.
And then you take a look at this the alerts, yes signal for is among the highest level of alert across this region of the Visayas, the central Philippines eventually into Palawan. The storm system is going to interact with a lot of these islands, some of them very low population, some of them as much as a million people.
Again, anytime you're talking about a storm of this magnitude, we know the damage will be extensive. Unfortunately, we've had a history of storms across this region and myself and my weather producer, Robert Shackelford. We're looking at the data set going back to the 1800s, John, and only three other storms of this magnitude have ever made landfall in cross the southern region of the Philippines, just about every one of them has left behind hundreds of fatalities at minimum. So, this is going to be a very much concerning situation over the next few hours.
VAUSE: Well, let's hope they prepared. Let's find out how prepared they are. Pedram Javaheri with the very latest. Thank you. 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 and taking the same path as typhoon Washi did in 2011 and typhoon Haiyan, everyone is well known about that in 2013.
[01:05:05]
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. 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: Yes. 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: Well, Europe is facing a one-two COVID hit after record numbers of new infections caused by the highly contagious Delta variant. And now comes the even more contagious Omicron, expected to be the dominant strain about a month from now.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
URSULA VON DER LEYEN, EUROPEAN COMMISSION PRESIDENT (through translator): 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: And with Omicron now spreading rapidly across the UK, health officials have reported almost 80,000 new infections on Wednesday, the highest number of daily cases since the pandemic began.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
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 SEU (ph).
(EDN VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Europe is now shoring up its COVID defenses, children are being vaccinated in Germany, Hungary, Greece, Spain amid warnings that will Omicron may appear to be less severe. A higher rate of infection will mean many will still be in need of hospital care, and many will also die soon. CNN's Ben Wedeman reports.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
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 travellers, 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.
[01:10:12]
This latest wave and the Omicron variant have given added impetus to campaigns to vaccinate younger age groups. 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 VIDEO TAPE)
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: Will we see this a little bit before that, though, because Britain, it seems, is about to become a 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 again, so 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 she 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.
[01:15:09]
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.
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: Still to come, partygate just keeps getting worse for the Tories, leaving the British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on the defensive once again, after once again an embarrassing photo emerges.
Plus, alleged plot by anti-vaxxers to kill German officials leading to multiple arrests as he addressed. The latest after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VAUSE: Partygate just goes from bad to worse with Britain's Prime Minister and his Conservative government. A new photo shows two dozen maskless people partying at the Conservative headquarters in London. This was last December when indoor gatherings are banned in England.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson party of criticism for his own holiday parties last year, as well as a backlash from within his own party from Conservative MPs opposed to new COVID restrictions. CNN's Salma Abdelaziz reports out from London.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
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 labour, 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 allegations 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 Labour Party Keir Starmer who asked him to look in the mirror.
KEIR STARMER, BRITISH LABOUR PARTY LEADER: we can't go well with a prime minister who's too weak to leave. 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?
BORIS JOHNSON, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: Mr. Speaker, I'm going to get on with protecting the country and making sure that we get through this pandemic together as one United Kingdom.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
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 Sean 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 VIDEO TAPE)
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. CNN's Frederik Pleitgen has details.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
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 translator): 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: Matthew Karnitschnig is chief correspondent for -- European correspondent, I should say, for Politico. He is with us at this early hour on a Thursday morning in Berlin. Thank you for getting up early being with us. We appreciate it.
MATTHEW KARNITSCHNIG, CHIEF EUROPE CORRESPONDENT, POLITICO: Good to be with you.
VAUSE: OK, so after these raids, the German Chancellor used what was his first major address to Parliament, the Bundestag to condemn what he called her Corona rebels saying we will counter this tiny minority of people filled with hate that attacks are all of us with torchbearer marches, violence and murder threats with all the tools of our democratic state based on rule of law. Our democracy is a combative democracy.
So just how widespread is this opposition to COVID vaccines and pandemic restrictions? And why Saxony is such a hotspot of opposition?
KARNITSCHNIG: Well, I think it's more widespread than people would like to admit. And if you look at the number of people in Germany who haven't been vaccinated, it's about 30 percent, a little bit less than 30 percent. Now, not all of those people obviously are willing to take to arms to try and avoid getting vaccinated but there's a large pool of potential candidates there. And I think this is what is really made it hard for the authorities here.
The only reason that they even found these people was because there was an investigative report last week on German television that got into one of these Telegram groups and recorded what these people were up to, what they were planning.
[01:25:10]
And I think you could sort of hear the frustration and all the political announcements yesterday, responses to what had happened here. And, you know, it's just, I think it's something that is very difficult for the government to get its arms around because there's also a discussion right now about with Omicron increasing, obviously, in Europe in terms of the infection rate. There's discussion in Germany about vaccine mandates. And I think that is what has kind of driven this latest round of radicalization. And the police and authorities here are openly talking about radicalization.
Why Saxony, Saxony has a long history of revolt, if you will. This was the state where the demonstrations back in 1989 against the communist dictatorship began leading to the wall coming down, that was obviously a more positive impulse. But it was also the state where we saw these large demonstrations back in 2015, against Angela Merkel's refugee policies, and some really nasty scenes from that period.
So there's a lot of sort of far right activity in that part of Germany. And the people allegedly involved in this plot are also part of that scene, it seems.
VAUSE: They don't tread on me crowd of Germany, I guess. The Chancellor also promised to continue to try and win over these anti- vaxxers. Again, here he is speaking in Parliament.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SCHOLZ (through translator): On behalf of the whole government, I want to say that we respect serious objections, we listen, we seek debate, we are open to criticism and contradiction. We do not give up trying to convince those who have so far been reluctant to be vaccinated by the force of facts, the force of reason, or the force of a best argument.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Yes, what was not said here, you touched on this is the impact of not so much public mandates, because they're not really there yet. But what they're doing is making life incredibly difficult for the unvaccinated by placing severe restrictions on what they can, and they cannot do in public.
So, that is causing a lot of resentment by this sort of heavy handed approach, I guess. But is there any other way right now with such a low vaccination rate?
KARNITSCHNIG: Well, I think that, you know, the politicians have determined that there really isn't another way. And, you know, the backlash that they're facing now, I think is going to give a lot of people pause. And just because it's being directed directly at them directly at politicians.
There was another incident a couple of weeks ago where a group of protesters marched on the home of the health minister in the state of Saxony with torches, to basically pressure her and it was, I think for her and her family a very frightening scene.
So, I think that the political class in Germany really finds itself in a hard spot at the moment. And, you know, I don't -- I'm not really sure that they know what to do, either. But there's probably, you know, it's probably going to continue, especially as these debates around the mandates continue, because, as you say, they haven't imposed mandates yet, but just talking about them has unleashed this very toxic response.
VAUSE: What do we know about this particular group of anti-vaxxers? The five men, the one woman who were arrested? I mean, they had crossbows with them. How serious is this alleged plot?
KARNITSCHNIG: Well, if you listen to the recording of this Telegram chat that was published on German television, they sounded pretty serious. They said they wanted to go in and find the governor and hang him. And they were boasting about the various types of weapons they had and how they could put the weapons, you know, find the parts for weapons and so forth and make guns themselves. And a couple other people seem to have the technical expertise to do that.
So, I think it's something, you know, that you definitely should be taking seriously. And they also met a couple of times. This wasn't just confined to an online chat group. They actually got together and met in a wooded area outside of the city to plot this attack.
VAUSE: Serious enough to be arrested. I guess. So, Matthew, thank you. Matthew Karnitschnig there with Politico. Early work, 7:00, 7:30 in the morning there in Berlin.
KARNITSCHNIG: Yes, it's not too early.
VAUSE: Early enough. Thanks.
KARNITSCHNIG: Thank you.
VAUSE: Russian diplomats have been expelled from Germany over a day like murder in Germany, which happened two years ago. On Wednesday, a German court sentenced the Russian national to life in prison for the murder of a former Chechen militant. Germany's foreign minister says the order for the hit came from the Russian government and said it was an active state terrorism.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANNALENA BAERBOCK, GERMAN FOREIGN MINISTER (through translator): This murder carried out on state orders as was removed by the court today is a serious violation of German law and of Germany sovereignty.
[01:29:39]
ANNALENA BAERBOCK, GERMAN FOREIGN MINISTER (through translator): This murder carried out on state orders as was ruled by the court today is a serious violation of German law and of Germany's sovereignty.
We have summoned the Russian ambassador to Germany. We told them that two members of the embassy staff would be declared persona non grata.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: The murder happened More at this park in Berlin, the victims shot at point blank range. Russia calls the expulsion of the diplomats unfriendly, and says there will be a response.
France and Germany pushing to revive talks with Russia over its military buildup on Ukraine's border. The new German Chancellor Olof Scholz met with the presidents of France and Ukraine on the sidelines of the E.U.'s Eastern partnership summit.
At the same time, both France and the E.U. are warning Russia of massive strategic consequences for any military escalation on Ukraine's border.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
URSULA VON DER LEYEN, PRESIDENT, EUROPEAN COMMISSION Our very first call is on Russia to de-escalate, but we are also prepared for any increasing aggression from Russia's side.
As I said, sanctions are in place, but 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 consequences serious.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Russian military forces remain en masse on Ukraine's border but also continues to demand legal guarantees from the United States and the E.U. that Ukraine will be prevented from joining NATO.
With that we'll take a short break. Back in a moment. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VAUSE: Welcome back everyone. I'm John Vause, you're watching CNN NEWSROOM. Daily COVID infections have hit a new record high in the Australian state of New South Wales. At the same time new data reveals the widely distributed Chinese-made Sinovac vaccine does not provide adequate protection against the omicron variant.
For more on all this we head to Shanghai. CNN's David Culver live this hour.
Let's just start with Sidney -- or New South Wales rather. What -- about 1,700 new cases in one day, almost half of them in one city, Newcastle.
DAVID CULVER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And I think what's most disturbing about this, John, is that that word "record". It hits a record since the start of the pandemic. So the numbers in and of themselves while they may seem concerning for those on the outside, for the health officials there, it seems that they're really focused though not on the total daily case count, so much as hospitalizations. That's really what they're looking at.
And as of now, they are suggesting that it's manageable. Now, they are also putting out warnings because this, of course, is the holiday season.
[01:34:54]
CULVER: As Christmas gatherings are inevitable, they're saying folks should try to keep a social distance but they have in recent weeks, Australia as a whole, eased many of the heavy restrictions that have been placed on folks there.
Meantime, South Korea is putting on restrictions. In fact, they're toughening them as of today. There are announcing this and it will take effect likely this weekend. And continue through the Christmas holiday and the New Year.
And they're saying for example in Seoul, that gatherings of six people need to be reduced to four. And they are, of course, urging social distancing and masks to be worn.
And the numbers there, likewise reaching daily records especially when you go back to the start of the pandemic, likewise concerning. But the bigger issue, the critical care patients. In fact they're seeing roughly 989 ICU units currently full beds, they're full. And that's the real issue because they're saying that if it hits 1,000, health officials worry that's going to have a trickle down effect. That's essentially going to impact others who need treatment in those hospitals.
Now, let me bring you here to China, the mainland experiencing double digit cases, which again, may seem laughable for those on the outside, saying 69 new cases reported today referring to yesterday's count.
That may not be all that alarming, but again, this is a country that has zero COVID policy. They're looking to keep that, especially as they're looking ahead to the Beijing Olympics. A concern is coming out though with regards to the efficacy of the Sinovac vaccine. You mentioned there, John that researchers at the University of Hong Kong suggested that Sinovac, really doesn't do much against the omicron variant.
Researchers are suggesting in preliminary results that it doesn't have the antibodies that are needed to neutralize omicron. Nonetheless, officials here are standing by it for now. They of course, have more than 80 percent of this population of 1.4 billion people plus having been fully vaccinated. And they're keeping those strict contact tracing, the targeted lockdowns really in place for the foreseeable future, John.
VAUSE: Yes. It looks like it's 2020 all over again. We're heading into 2022.
David Culver, thank you --
CULVER: Yes.
VAUSE: David, live there in Shanghai.
Omicron cases are now doubling in parts of the U.K. in less than two days, according to some officials. And that's leading (ph) the country's chief medical officer to urge people specific (ph) to stay well apart. Not easy during this festive season.
CNN's Nina Dos Santos has our report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NINA DOS SANTOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: On Wednesday, the U.K. hit another COVID-19 milestone. Notching up the highest daily infection number since the pandemic began.
This at a time as authorities warned that the country was facing essentially a twin epidemic, with the delta variant of COVID-19 still circulating but the omicron variant which is much more infectious getting a foothold much, much more quickly. And as a result, they said people absolutely must get their booster as soon as possible.
BORIS JOHNSON, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: The wave of omicron continues to roam in across the whole of our United Kingdom with over 780,000 COVID cases today, the highest ever daily number reported. And the doubling rate of omicron in some regions is now down to less than two days.
DOS SANTOS: Well, this week, public health measures came in to effect to try and limit the spread of omicron, as authorities warn that more records might well be struck from here in terms of the numbers of infections over the weeks to come.
Everybody in the U.K. who is over the age of 18 now is eligible for a third shot of a coronavirus vaccine, a booster, if you like. But to actually make sure that all of the people will get them by the months, as promised by the government, will be a herculean task. It may mean having to vaccinate more than one million people every single day.
The country is particularly worried about the spread of omicron across the British capital, which is where it has now become dominant. In the next few days to come as people head off on their Christmas holidays, the desks across offices like these won't just be empty because people are working from home. It'll also be because they're on holiday and that raises the specter of omicron spreading even further from the British capital.
Nina Dos Santos, CNN -- London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: This just in, Super Typhoon Rai has now made landfall in the Philippines. We'll have all the details on where and when and where it's heading with Pedram Javaheri after a very short break.
[01:39:18]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VAUSE: Welcome back, everyone.
We have this just this. Super Typhoon Rai has now made the first landfall in the Philippines.
CNN meteorologist Pedram Javaheri checking all of this right now.
We talked about this at the top of the hour saying it was imminent. You were right. Where is it right now?
PEDRAM JAVAHERI, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes. John, around the Siargao Island there making landfall just in the past few minutes here at a 260 kilometer-per-hour storm.
Remarkable when you look at the data set, of the rarity of getting a storm of this magnitude to make landfall across this region, especially coming ashore here with these winds and gust pushing over 300 kilometers per hour.
You know, the population there of Siargao Island sits at around 200,000 people. It's very much a tourist destination. Conde Nast just a couple of years ago voted it one of the most beautiful islands in the world, has pristine white sandy beaches.
Right now, it is one of the roughest places in the world to be out here with these winds. And the system already pushing closer to the making a second landfall near the Dinagat Islands just to the west of this region. The population on that island about 125,000 people.
And again, anytime we are talking about winds of this magnitude, healthy category 5 equivalent of a system. These areas become uninhabitable for a period of weeks, sometimes months. The devastation just from the sheer wind speeds on the edges of the storm are going to be furious, certainly. But the storm surge potential as much as 3 meters high in a few spots is also going to be life-threatening. And that's the biggest concern now moving forward as this system pushes across this region of the Philippines archipelago.
And again, looking at the data here of storms of this magnitude. Category 5 equivalent within about 100,000 kilometer area of Mindanao going back to the 1800s. Haiyan the most recent back in 2013.
And again, I don't have to tell you how fatal, how destructive some of these storms have been. And that's the concern now over the next few hours as the storm system pushes through, John.
VAUSE: Pedram, we appreciate the update. That's quite a powerful storm coming in. Thank you.
Well a plane crash in the Dominican Republic has left nine people dead, including a high-profile music producer. The pilot attempted an emergency landing just minutes after takeoff.
We have details now from CNN's Jessica Hasbun.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JESSICA HASBUN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The plane was headed to Miami and was in flight for approximately 16 minutes when it declared an emergency and tried to land in Las Americas International Airport in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic's capital.
The nine people on board died on impact -- two crew members and seven passengers. Of the seven passengers killed in that private jet crash, three have been identified. Among them, famous Puerto Rican American music producer Jose A Hernandez, better known as "Flow La Movie".
His wife and child were also among the passengers who died in the crash, a publicist of Hernandez told CNN. Hernandez was mainly known for his hit song "Te Bote".
Latin music superstar J Balvin paid his condolences to Hernandez saying in an Instagram post, "Thank you for your amazing vibe always. Rest in peace."
Famed Argentinian-Venezuelan pop singer Ricardo Montaner in a tweet said, "The Dominican and the world mourn the loss of a great producer."
Also, popular Puerto Rican singer Don Omar, on his official Instagram page said, "Thank you for the opportunity to collaborate. Fly high, see you later."
Authorities are still investigating the cause of the plane crash. And we will have more information in the coming hours.
In Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic's capital, Jessica Hasbun, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE) [01:44:56]
VAUSE: 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 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 at Asia- Pacific markets right now. The Nikkei up by more than 2 percent. Hong Kong down by about a third of 1 percent. The Kospi up by half a percent and Shanghai up by about one-fifth or one-sixth rather of a percent.
The Fed chairman Jerome Powell says any rate increases will be gradual. Analysts believe the first one will come in May.
The last time prices were rising this quickly in the United States, Ronald Reagan was president and "Let's Get Physical" was number one on what they call a radio.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JEROME POWELL, CHAIRMAN, U.S. FEDERAL RESERVE: Problems have been larger and longer lasting than anticipated. Exacerbating by waves of the virus. As a result, overall inflation is running well above our 2 percent 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, SENIOR FELLOW, 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 is being seen as 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 already (ph) skyrocket?
PATEL: Well, let's just call all the interpretation what Jerome Powell, let me just break it down what he said. Inflation is real. Right. I mean that's -- they were -- well, six months ago kind of saying well, it's just 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 to late mover. And I think the data over the last couple of months was even more so than ever. You mentioned that inflation data, 6 point percent surge in November, the fastest is 1982. And you know, people and consumers starting to feel that in their pocket.
Businesses started to talk about different strategies. And I want to be really clear here. Just because he made the statement doesn't mean -- doesn't mean that we solve the problem just yet.
Just the motion and the plan has just started to unwind and from one interest rate hike to next year to three but still, you know, 1.5 to 2 percent by the end of the 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 on what he says is driving the surge in prices. Here he is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
POWELL: 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 in 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 is a whole lot more going on than just that. But how much of this inflationary pressure is a result of just printing money for 20 years?
PATEL: Well, yes. Let me just say what you just said. If it was confined -- inflation was supposedly confined just in a couple of sectors like air fair, automobiles and a few other items.
Well, things that you know, you failed to mention also is the surge in unemployment costs, consumer spending. And those things on a supply chain aspect. That all kind of plays into this factor and obviously, continuing to buy bonds.
You know, their original plan was to wait to stop buying bonds and then increase 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 -- this talk needed to come, John.
You know the markets over the last week not great news. And this was something that you kind of felt that that was, you know, he had to come out and say he communicated accordingly I think what the market wanted to hear.
VAUSE: It's (INAUDIBLE) that he is flexible and he can't change policy direction on a dime, if you like. But, you know, we don't -- 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 isn't really -- a lot of attention isn't paid to this. But the "New York Times reports" "The surprisingly high number suggested that employee spending on wages and benefits was rising faster in the seven months than economist 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 a question, have they waited too long?
PATEL: Yes. You know, I guess time will tell. I mean obviously, I think they were really waiting -- I mean if you would argue the earliest they could probably make the move was during the summer. But I think this surge -- and you know, I'm not going to be their defense, really caught them off-guard.
[01:49:54]
PATEL: I don't think they were expecting these types of number in the last two or three months behind that. And also, you know, the other thing of, you know, why they needed to jump in now is this spiral effect that if they didn't say anything now and they wanted to wait, it would have been a bad move because you don't know how much it would get out of hand.
And you know, why it could've got out of hand is that that cost, like you just mentioned, to wages and things getting more expensive, guess who pays for it, the consumer.
Companies are 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 position. This gives them some flexibility to raise the rates as they say a little bit sooner and keep the prices in check as much as they can.
VAUSE: There's an entire generation out there that know nothing about high inflation. And boy are they about to have fun finding out.
Ryan, thank you. Ryan Patel, good to see you.
PATEL: Thanks John.
VAUSE: New charges and a new court appearance from the former police officer who murdered George Floyd, an African American who died while being arrested for passing a counterfeit $20 bill. Derek Chauvin now facing federal civil rights charges related to Floyd's death last year.
CNN's Josh Campbell has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOSH CAMPBELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): For the first time since the murder of George Floyd last year, former Minneapolis police officer, Derek Chauvin, is admitting responsibility, pleading guilty on Wednesday to federal several rights charges that he violated Floyd's constitutional rights.
It's all part of a plea deal for the man convicted of killing Floyd last year by kneeling on his neck for more than nine minutes. In addition to the more than 2 decades Chauvin was sentenced to by the state, prosecutors have asked for a concurrent sentence of 25 years on federal charges adding fewer than 3 years to his overall prison time. Far less than the life sentence he could've received.
In court, prosecutors asked Chauvin, "As Mr. Floyd lay on the floor, handcuffed and unresisting, you kept your knees on Mr. Floyd's neck and body even after Mr. Floyd became unresponsive, correct? "Correct" Chauvin said.
When asked if he agreed the offense resulted in Floyd's death, he gave this same one word response.
Afterwards, Floyd's brothers had mixed reactions.
RODNEY FLOYD, GEORGE FLOYD'S BROTHER: I wish it would've happened on the first we had the state trial. I want to hear that at the very beginning. So right now, it just -- it all mean nothing. They don't hold weight.
PHILONISE FLOYD, GEORGE FLOYD'S BROTHER: To me, this is big because the blue wall fell and it never falls. Cops usually are solid, but they're opening up, and they all say that that was wrong.
CAMPBELL: Josh Campbell, CNN -- Minneapolis.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: When we come back, if you thought everything that could be known about the assassination of JFK is already known, you'd be wrong.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VAUSE: The driver with the most wins in F1 history is now no longer plain old Lewis Hamilton. He's Sir Lewis Hamilton. The British racing sensation was knighted on Wednesday by Prince Charles. The distinction may ease Hamilton's bitter second place loss at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix on Sunday.
Hamilton is the furth F1 driver to be knighted. He's also the first to receive the honor while still racing. All that and he brought his mom along for the ceremony. That was nice.
Well, conspiracy theorists in the tin foil (INAUDIBLE) crowd are likely diving into hundreds of new government documents just released on the assassination of U.S. president, John F. Kennedy.
[01:54:51]
VAUSE: They were due to be made public four years ago, but there is new information in there as CNN's Tom Foreman explains, there maybe not be any great revelations.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
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 have 1,500 documents are filled with intriguing details. A Polish driver in Australia saying he listened in on Russian passengers talking about five 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 the KGB agent, just months before the killing, and endless reports like this. Oswald entered Mexico, claiming he was a photographer phoning the soviet embassy draft for a visa so he could go to Odessa, U.S.S.R.
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: I saw flashlight and bushes, and then shots ringing 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 we're used in an attempt to kill Castro.
And now I sort of understand much better the technique that would have been involved, and why it was a serious effort, which did not actually succeed as we know.
FOREMAN: That sort of information is precisely what intelligence agents are cagey about. They don't want their methods or their context 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. The news continues after a very short break with Kim Brunhuber. I'll see you tomorrow.
[01:57:20]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
