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Super Typhoon Rai Makes Landfall In Philippines; Italy Starts Vaccinating Children Ages 5-11; U.K. Official: Omicron "Most Significant Threat" Of Pandemic; Russia, China Forge Closer Ties In Face Of Western Pressure. Aired 2-3a ET

Aired December 16, 2021 - 02:00   ET

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

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[02:00:23]

MALE: Live from CNN world headquarters in Atlanta, welcome to all you watching us around the world. I'm Kim Brunhuber. Ahead on CNN Newsroom, a super typhoon is battering the Philippines right now. We'll look at which areas will take the brunt of the storm and how many people are impacted.

Europe faces a tough month ahead as the Omicron variant of the coronavirus continues to spread quickly. And the show of solidarity, the Russian and Chinese presence put on a united front in the face Western pressure.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Live from CNN Center, this is CNN Newsroom with Kim Brunhuber.

BRUNHUBER: A powerful super typhoon has now made landfall in the Philippines. Rai is the equivalent of a Category 5 hurricane with wind gusts topping 300 kilometers per hour. Flooding has been reported in some low lying areas and officials are warning of life-threatening storm surges. Tens of thousands of people have already been evacuated from coastal areas.

Let's go straight to Meteorologist Pedram Javaheri in the CNN Weather Center. Let's get right to it. What's the latest?

PEDRAM JAVAHERI, CNN METEOROLOGIST: You know Kim, this is a pretty much a worst case scenario when it comes to the magnitude of this storm system approaching landfall and of course and making landfall in the last hour at its strongest point, 260 kilometres per hour. The storm system goes in the books as among the strongest storms you'll ever see make landfall across this region of the Philippines. And still producing wind gusts north of 300 kilometers per hour.

Siargao Islands, that's the area made landfall here in the last hour. Population there is about 200,000 people. But the concern is, as you will go a little bit towards the west where a second landfall is expected here near the Dinagat Islands, population there stays around 100,000 people. Beyond that, Cebu City to the west, population there almost 1 million people. And storm system, essentially, in a beeline now, of course, you're going towards the west, across some of these very densely populated islands in the initial phases.

And it's essentially the strongest points that is left of this storm system. And that's the biggest concern here. Storm surge threat as much as 3 meters. Rainfall amounts as much as a half a meter possible. And the incredible nature as to where this storm system really intensified in the past 24 hours is one for the books here.

About 120 kilometers per hour sustained winds. About this time yesterday, it has increased 140 kilometers per hour to go under -- undergo extreme rapid intensification to where it sits now as a Category 5 equivalent. Again, an incredible turn of events.

And we know based on just the damage multiplier of storms, because that Category 3, 4, 5 equivalent is not just a one scale increase in damage because of that logarithmic approach of these categories. That's about a 400-time increase in damage potential in some of these communities versus where the initial forecasts were maybe this time yesterday where we thought this could just be a Category 3.

And of course, with these very, very conducive conditions, the storm system still has plenty of fuel to work with. Some weakening is expected within the next 24 hours. But you'll notice, stay near that super typhoon strength of about 240 kph in the next 12 hours.

And then finally see some weakening here as we go in towards the latter portion of this week. But this is really going to be a dangerous situation in the next couple days, Kim.

BRUNHUBER: All right, we'll stay on the story and we'll have more in the newscast coming up. Thanks so much, Pedram. Really appreciate it.

JAVAHERI: Yes.

BRUNHUBER: Europe is on edge as the Omicron variant is spreading quickly. British health officials are sounding the alarm after the country saw its highest single day increases in cases since the start of the pandemic.

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CHRIS WHITTY, ENDLAND'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 U.S. (ph).

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BRUNHUBER: E.U. officials are warning of a double challenge as both the Delta and Omicron variant sweep across parts of the continent. The European Commission president says Omicron is expected to be dominant by mid-January, and many countries are now adopting new initiatives to try to stop the spread like rolling out vaccines for younger children.

Italy is among the countries now vaccinating children ages five and up. And CNN's Ben Wedeman joins me now. And Ben, well vaccinating young children, that's exactly what's going on where you are, is that right?

[02:05:00]

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well not quite yet. In fact, yesterday, there were limited areas where vaccines were being given to children aged between five and 11.

Today, the nationwide rollout begins now. We're in Rome's Museo dei Bambini. The museum of children where at 3:00 in the afternoon, that's seven hours from now, this building behind me will open its doors and be providing vaccines. Not the full adult dose, but a about a third of the dose that adults will be received to children between the ages of five and 11.

Now this is something that is happening in several European countries, Hungary, Spain and Greece as well. This week, their wave will be rolled out in other countries, later Belgium not until January, for instance. But certainly, this is one of the steps that governments in Europe are taking to try to slow the spread, not just of Omicron. Let's not forget Delta is the predominant variant in Europe aid (ph) with the exception perhaps of the U.K.

Now, there is some hesitancy. There was a recent opinion poll conducted here in Italy that found that even though a majority of people approve of the vaccines, obviously, but with parents with children between the ages of five and 12, they found that 40 percent had -- were hesitant to get their children vaccinated. So there's still some worries that need to be cleared up at this point. Kim?

BRUNHUBER: All right. Thanks so much. Ben Wedeman reporting for us.

And joining us from Oxford, England is Dr. Sian Griffiths, she's an Emeritus Professor at the Chinese University of Hong Kong and led Hong Kong's investigation into the 2003 SARS epidemic. Thanks so much for joining us, Doctor, really appreciate it.

So the head of the U.K. Health Security Agency called the Omicron variant, "probably the most significant threat since the start of the pandemic." Do you agree?

DR. SIAN GRIFFITHS, EMERITUS PROF., CHINESE UNIV. OF HONG KONG: Good morning. Yes, Jenny Harris, the head of UKHSA was very clear that Omicron is the biggest threat. And that's because it spreads so quickly. It has -- it spreads, doubling every two days. So even though we've got very large, we've got record case numbers recorded, that's probably a total underestimate.

This is a mild disease, but that shouldn't allow people into feeling a sense of security. Because if you just get large numbers of people with the disease, a large number will still need medical care, will still need to go to hospital and will still need ITU. So the big threat is to the NHS, to our National Health Service, as it is across Europe, that rates are going up in almost all countries.

And as your report was saying it's not just Omicron, it's also on top of high levels of Delta. So we have two variants of two -- two variants at a high level with Omicron taking over in the U.K. And so yesterday's press conference where you played the clip from Chris Whitty, the chief medical officer, was a pretty somber affair. It was a very much, you know, please, please take this seriously, please revise your plans for Christmas. Think very hard about whether you're going to go to parties if you don't really need to. Get boosted.

And there's -- so there's a massive boosting campaign going on. And a call for volunteers to come forward to really reach out to communities, as well as everybody being advised to take the measures they need to take to protect themselves.

BRUNHUBER: Yes. Let me follow-up on the U.K. sort of warning people to cut back over Christmas, as you mentioned. But do you think people actually listen, considering all of the scandals swirling around the Boris Johnson administration over their behavior, over the, you know, the -- in Christmas's past?

GRIFFITHS: Well, I think that the difficulty here is to just associate what happened last year to the very real threat of this year. And I think that's why people like Jenny Harris and Chris Whitty are pushing the message that you really have to think now and you have to think about, do you want to see your relatives, you know, your elderly, your more vulnerable relatives this year?

If you do, it was 10 days to Christmas yesterday. You need to take steps to make sure that you don't end up in isolation and miss Christmas again, because of the spread of the virus. And also there's -- I know that in my demographic, which is slightly older, it's really being listened to and with my kids. My kids are listening and we're all talking as families and saying, well, what should we do to make sure that we can meet together this year?

So I think that will probably counter the political noise about what happened last year. I hope that's the case. And I think that's very much the message from the health professionals in the U.K. Think about this rising wave. Think about the threat to your cells (ph), to vulnerable populations, to your families and really get boosted as quickly as you can.

[02:10:06]

BRUNHUBER: And speaking of kids, we've already seen some schools closed there in the U.K. Some students I know in Canada were told to take home all of their books in belongings over the Christmas holidays, because they might not come back in person classes in the New Year. How worried are you that kids will be forced out of classrooms yet again this year? GRIFFITHS: Well, we're actually at the end of term. Some of my grandkids finished yesterday, so more will finish tomorrow. So I don't think schools are closing. They're trying very hard not to close, and not to impact on education. So all the other moves that have been taken are to allow kids to stay in patient as much as possible, because we know that if the harm of disrupting education to the children, not only their learning, their educational achievement, but their mental and social development.

And so I think the thrust here is very much about getting the COVID passes, and using COVID passes in places where there are big crowds. It's about wearing masks, much more mandated mask wearing. And it's about the messages about ventilation and hygiene. It's about those messages rather than that trying to close schools. I think everything that can be done will be done to keep schools open as long and as far as possible.

So I think that as we come to the Christmas break, the message is very much think about what you do, you know, decrease the risk as much as possible through your own behaviors where you go, how you gather. And that's been quite a lot of thrust, as well as obviously, if you're eligible, get your booster.

So 12 to 15-year olds can -- are being encouraged to take up their boosters, and the 16 to 18-year olds to get their second jab, and then all over 18 to get the third booster jab. So I think that that's the focus at the moment. And we all, obviously, hope that Omicron wave start to turn.

But I think the signs are and the messages from the people who have looked at all the data is worrying (ph) at the beginning of the problem and the problem is going to grow. So that's -- it was a somber message yesterday.

BRUNHUBER: Yes, absolutely. Let's hope some of those preventative messages resonate. Thank you so much, Doctor, really appreciate you joining us.

GRIFFITHS: Nice to talk to you. Thank you.

BRUNHUBER: All right, I want to return now to the super typhoon that has just made landfall in the Philippines. Richard Gordon is the Chairman and CEO of the Philippine Red Cross and joins me now from Manila. Thanks for joining me. It must be a very hectic time for you, really appreciate it. So just take me through what conditions are like right now.

RICHARD GORDON, CHAIRMAN AND CEO, THE PHILIPPINE RED CROSS: Well, there's heavy winds right now in Mindanao and the embrace of the typhoon could go all the way up to the wasteland of the Philippines, I mean, waistline at Asia (ph), including the Bicol region, which is facing the Pacific Ocean. All the eastern border provinces are going to be affected.

Right now, it's going to be hitting Surigao where they have a tourist place there called Siargao. Good surfing but goes out to Dinagat Island. And onwards, it will go later on to Cebu which is a very populated area and Bohol. And then it will affect some parts of lower Luzon and going out to Palawan and to the Western Pacific.

BRUNHUBER: Yes, a huge footprint. There are some 30 million people potentially in harm's way. What's your biggest concern right now?

GORDON: Well the biggest concern is people should already be properly secured. They should be in evacuation areas already. There has been pre-emptive evacuation undertaken. And certainly when you go there, you will be worried about, you know, COVID being spread. So we have to make sure that they have mask.

And we have to make sure that they have plenty of water, that there is medical support that does have to be given to them. Hot meals are being distributed as I speak. And in some port areas, they're already held there because there is no -- and they're island shipping. In fact, even the land connections from Luzon going to Mindanao has stopped during the duration.

We will stop the vaccination for a couple of days until the typhoon passes.

BRUNHUBER: Yes. But for you is the concern more sort of the the lesser populated outlying areas that could face this huge storm surges or are the bigger population centers where more people might be affected?

GORDON: Yes, that's always a concern. Just as the tsunami and Typhoon Haiyan. That was a big surprise. And it went inland and destroyed so many homes in several islands. We've learned our lesson there and that's why there's pre-emptive evacuation, but certainly we're making sure that we can react right away.

So we have Water Search and Rescue Teams from the Red Cross and from the government.

[02:15:01]

And certainly, after that happens, we probably have loss of power so we're preparing our generators, we're preparing our water tankers and we have quite a few. And already, there are some areas where there's no electricity in certain areas of the affected areas.

BRUNHUBER: Do you have any -- I mean, it's hard to tell right now, but certainly Pedram Javaheri, our weather specialist was telling us that it may be weeks, maybe even months, that some areas might be uninhabitable, there might be some long-term consequences for people. What kind of accommodations are being made for them?

GORDON: Well, normally, they would have evacuation centers in the municipalities and the provinces. They've been very good. The local governments have been building up their capacity to, you know, catch evacuation centers so that people can go there.

And of course, normally, we would use the school rooms, and that is what has happened in the past. And certainly water becomes a problem there. Sanitation becomes a problem. And certainly, when they lose their homes, that's going to be a very big problem. If they lose their homes, like during Haiyan, the Red Cross alone had to build 80,000 homes. That is what we completed in several islands.

Now, this is not as strong as Haiyan, and hopefully, it will not be stronger. And even then, you'll still have a lot of damage for homes or schools and for other facilities that people will use. And there'll be probably water shortages, because there'll be no power and therefore we really have to make sure that food supplies are brought in and certainly water supplies. That is why the Red Cross and the government has been ratcheting up their capability to supply water because that's the first casualty normally.

BRUNHUBER: Yes. Well, a huge challenge ahead. We certainly wish you and the rest of the Red Cross workers there. The best of luck as you respond to this crisis. Do stay safe.

Thanks so much for joining us, really appreciate it.

GORDON: Thank you very much, and thank you.

BRUNHUBER: All right, still ahead this hour, Boris Johnson on the defensive against a Tory revolt and embarrassing new development in the party gate scandal. But first, a very positive conversation between the leaders of Russia and China. We'll take a closer look at their virtual meeting next. Stay with us.

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BRUNHUBER: Russia and China are bonding over their shared adversaries as the West puts pressure on them. Presidents Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping held a virtual summit Wednesday. We'll hear from Melissa Bell in Moscow in a moment. But first, here's Selina Wang, she's reporting from Tokyo.

SELINA WANG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: During the virtual meeting between Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin, the Chinese leader praise the country's relationship as a model of cooperation for the 21st century.

[02:20:08]

This meeting was a show of solidarity, especially towards Washington. At a time when both countries are facing increasing diplomatic pressure from the West, China under pressure over trade, technology, human rights. Russia under pressure over a buildup of troops near the border with Ukraine.

Xi Jinping in this meeting refer to Putin as a, quote, old friend, adding that they've met 37 times since 2013. Ties between Russia and China are deepening across sectors. They're working together to build a lunar Space Station, striking energy deals. They're also strengthening military cooperation.

In October, Russian and Chinese warships teamed up to circle around Japan. Putin will also be attending the Beijing Winter Olympics at a time when the United States and several other Western countries have announced diplomatic boycotts of the games. Xi Jinping told Putin at this meeting that he was looking forward to meeting Putin face to face at the games, and quote, would like to join hands with you together for the future.

And as Melissa is going to unpack the Kremlin has called this meeting, quote, very positive.

MELISSA BELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This was a meeting, as Selina was just saying, very much about furthering the cooperation that's already so been strengthened these last few years between Beijing and Moscow. But given the timing of the call, given its context, it was also very much about the two leaders presenting a united front against the Western pressure that's been brought to bear not only against Russia, but also against China.

Each leader speaking to the others grievances, with Xi Jinping very much backing Vladimir Putin's idea that what Russia now needs are guarantees as to its security. Now, that call for guarantees was also at the heart of discussions here in Moscow today, between the U.S. Envoy for Europe Karen Donfried and officials from the Kremlin and the Foreign Affairs Ministry.

They handed to her their proposals for those security guarantees. What Moscow is looking for is legal guarantees and essentially a guarantee that NATO will not be seeking an eastward expansion. That very much at the heart of those proposals. Karen Donfried will now be leaving Moscow and heading to Brussels to discuss them with America's allies in Europe.

BRUNHUBER: And as Melissa mentioned, E.U. officials are meeting in Brussels this week amid fears of a Russian military invasion in Ukraine. French and German leaders met with Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky on Wednesday on the sidelines of the Eastern Partnership Summit.

France's foreign minister warned Russia of massive strategic consequences of invades its neighbor. Same sentiment was echoed by the European Commission President. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

URSULA VON DER LEYEN, EUROPEAN COMMISSION PRESIDENT: Our very first call is on Russia to deescalate. But we also prepared for any increasing aggression from Russia's side. As I said, sanctions are in place, those sanctions could be tightened. But of course, they are also sanctions prepared that are additional and coming on top on all the different fields you might think of.

And the message is very clear. Should Russia take further aggressive actions against Ukraine? The costs will be severe, and the consequences serious and this is the clear messaging at this time.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: The European Council is meeting in the hours ahead. And it's also expected to talk about Russia's military buildup near Ukraine. All right, to talk about all of this, joining me now from Moscow is Alexander Baunov, Senior Fellow at the Carnegie Moscow Center and editor-in-chief of carnegie.ru. Thanks so much for being with us again.

So I want to start with the Putin-Xi meeting. What do you make of the growing convergence of China and Russia? Does it just boil down to the enemy of my enemy is my friend, is that too reductive?

ALEXANDER BAUNOV, SENIOR FELLOW, CARNEGIE MOSCOW CENTER: First of all, hi to everybody. Putin and Xi meetings became a routine. As was said, they are -- there were five or more per year before the pandemic. Now, when we are talking about Russia and China Alliance, it's not a real military alliance. They're -- the call is strategic partnership. And it's not about being a brother in arms in case of a conflict, but it's about being a reliable, rare and flank for each other if a partner has a problem or a sort of military conflict with the West.

BRUNHUBER: So here in the U.S., the Biden administration has said that China is its number one priority. Russian has -- Russia has sort of fallen down the pecking order to number two. So is Putin using this rapprochement to sort of strengthen his hand when dealing with the West? I guess the theory is that that the more there -- the two countries are linked, the more the U.S. will have to keep both of them in mind when dealing with any country with a major issue?

[02:25:04]

BAUNOV: The size of China's economy makes it a bigger, major partner in this strategic alliance. But in the Kremlin, in general, in Russian public opinion, people are very much aware of this disparity. So Kremlin is very cautious to be swallowed, to be a minor partner in this alliance. That's why it's not a formal alliance, it's a partnership.

And they go on to have their arms free, not to have any obligations towards each other. But what they are thinking about, it's how to confront economic pressure, devastating sanctions promised to both countries in case they have a conflict with the West.

BRUNHUBER: So as you say, it sort of goes beyond the military then, you know, Russia selling weapons to try and conducting joint military drills. So how else will this rapprochement help? You mentioned economically, but maybe, you know, technology, it could be an example, joining forces, to a certain extent might allow them to innovate faster together than say the U.S. could, by itself?

BAUNOV: It can all just very important because for 10 or 15 years, there was -- the only source of high tech in this world, the West. The situation changed very quickly in the recent 10 to 15 years. So Russia has an alternative supply, so high tech (ph) of technologies -- of electronics, and is China. Look at 5G technologies that are the choice between the Western ones and the China sponsor. Russia has, of course, choosing the Chinese, the Chinese technology.

Then the finance sector, both countries, even the neutral trade are very dependent on the western currency. Their huge mutual trade is still made in U.S. dollars and partly in euros and other hard (ph) currencies. So they were talking in this particular summit yesterday and in every meeting they have about how to replace as video shares possible of the metal trade with the -- with national currencies, so RMB, Chinese Yuan, and with Russian ruble.

BRUNHUBER: So last time you and I spoke, we spoke before the latest talks between the U.S. and Russia. So now, do you feel as though any progress has been made on the military buildup on the Ukraine border?

BAUNOV: Look, there's nothing sensational about this meeting, first of all. But for sure, Putin has informed Xi, President Xi about his contacts with President Biden, with the West, in general, about his plans around Ukraine, because this is the first contact -- in direct contact between Xi and Putin after this escalation has taken place.

Since then, nothing has changed in the ground, I mean, around Ukraine, but some diplomatic, foreign diplomatic steps have been undertaken. And we expect -- here in the Kremlin, they expect the next meeting and the next contact with President Biden, maybe some meeting in different formats between Russia, several NATO members or major NATO members and the United States. There are some diplomatic development, but not military developments on the ground.

BRUNHUBER: All right, so much at stake in this important issue. Thanks so much for your analysis. Alexander Baunov, senior fellow at the Carnegie Moscow Center. Really appreciate it.

France's President hasn't moved on from a collapse submarine deals, slamming Australia in a pre-taped interview. Emmanuel Macron says the Australian government and Prime Minister Scott Morrison, quote, behaved badly and were disloyal. Australia abandon the $65 billion deal in September after striking a different submarine agreement with the U.S. and Britain.

All right, just ahead, police break up, an alleged plot to kill German officials over proposed vaccine mandate. We'll have the latest from Berlin just ahead. Stay with us.

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[02:30:00]

BRUNHUBER: Welcome back. I'm Kim Brunhuber and you're watching CNN Newsroom.

Another day, another Christmas party scandal for Britain's conservatives. Only this time, it doesn't directly involve Prime Minister Boris Johnson. He's busy fighting criticism for his own holiday parties, as well as backlashes to his new COVID restrictions. CNN Salma Abdelaziz reports.

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SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Prime Minister Boris Johnson was back in parliament on Wednesday to defend himself during prime ministers' 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 of COVID passes, which is essentially a health pass that shows you're fully vaccinated or have had a recent negative passed before you enter any large public venues, like nightclubs.

It's yet another blow to the prime minister who is 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.

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KEIR STARMER, BRITISH LABOUR PARTY LEADER: We can't go on with a prime minister who is 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?

BORIS JOHNSON, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: No, Mr. Speaker, I'm going to get on with protecting the public 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 VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: America's top infectious disease specialist, Dr. Anthony Fauci, says breakthrough COVID-19 infections due to Omicron are to be expected. But as of now, there is no need for a booster specifically designed for the variant. Here is.

DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, U.S. NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: Our booster vaccine regimen's work against Omicron. At this point, there is no need for a variant-specific booster. And so, the message remains clear, if you are unvaccinated, get vaccinated and particularly in the air area of Omicron. If you are fully vaccinated get your booster shot.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[02:35:00]

BRUNHUBER: The spread of the Omicron variant has many people concerned about the gathering with friends and family that holiday season. Dr. Fauci says the fully vaccinated can safely celebrate with others, if those people are also fully vaccinated.

German police say a group of suspected anti-vaxxers were arrested in Dresden for allegedly plotting to assassinate the governor of Saxony who is pro-vaccine. The suspects were said to be angry that officials are opposing vaccine mandates for all of Germans. CNN's Fred Pleitgen is in Berlin with the details.

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FRED PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, state police in Saxony says that it is investigating some six suspects now whom they accused of possibly wanting to murder the governor of the State of Saxony. The state police saying that in a statement that these 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's when weapons were found as well as crossbows as well. Those are now being analyzed to see whether they would've been able to fire in the first place.

All this comes as there is a debate here in Germany about whether or not more 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, delivered 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 and 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 tells CNN that across the country, both news organizations as well as politicians released 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 CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: The death toll from a fuel truck explosion in Haiti has grown to at least 71 people. The vehicle turned into a fireball in this nation's second largest city on Tuesday, leaving dozens of people injured. The blast happened as people tried to collect gasoline that had spilled from the truck. It had broken down and started leaking.

A plane crash in the Dominican Republic has left nine people dead, including a high-profile music producer. The private jet went down when the pilot tried to make an emergency landing just minutes after takeoff. CNN's' Jessica Hasbun has the latest.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

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 the 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 for 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 will have more information in the coming hours. In Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic's capital, Jessica Hasbun, CNN.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: And will be right back, stay with us.

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[02:40:00]

BRUNHUBER: The world's most advanced telescope will launch on Christmas Eve from the European Space Agency Spaceport in French, Guiana. Will take one month to reach an orbit, some one and a 1 1/2 million kilometers away from the earth. The James Webb Space Telescopes higher sensitivity means that for the first time we'll be able to observe the atmosphere of planets outside our solar system. The hope of finding one's that might sustain life.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KNICOLE COLON, NASA ASTROPHYSICIST: We know that planets of all sizes are out there and we want to find ones that have similar temperatures and sizes as earth to see if they could possibly be anything like earth.

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BRUNHUBER: The James Webb Telescope is named after NASA's second administrator who over saw the mercury and Gemini programs.

Influential feminist author, poet and professor Bell Hooks has died. Maria College, where she taught, says she passed away at home after an extended illness. Hooks was known for extensive writings on race and gender and published more than 30 books in her lifetime. Works widely influence contemporary writers who have now taken to social media to remember her. Hooks was 69 years old.

All right. Thanks so much for joining us. I'm Kim Brunhuber. World Sports is up next.

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