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Surging Omicron Variant in the U.S. Threatening the Holidays; European Countries Intensify Lockdowns and Restrictions; Israel Adds 10 Countries to No-Fly List; Senator Manchin Rejects Build Back Better Plan; Gabriel Boric Wins Runoff Election in Chile. Aired 2-3a ET

Aired December 20, 2021 - 02:00   ET

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

[02:00:00]

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ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN HOST: Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us here in the United States and all around the world. You are watching "CNN Newsroom" and I'm rosemary church.

Just ahead, COVID surges threatening holiday festivities across the world. Tightened restrictions putting many on edge and renewing urgent calls for vaccinations.

Plus, it's a no from U.S. Senator Joe Manchin. Why he says he can't support the president's Build Back Better plan and how the White House is responding.

And a shocking turn of events in China. Tennis star Peng Shuai now denies ever accusing a former communist party leader of sexual assault.

Good to have you with us. And we begin with the threat of the omicron variant in the United States and urgent pleas from top health experts for Americans to get vaccinated and boosted. And new numbers show why that's so important.

According to data from the CDC, unvaccinated people are 20 times more likely to die from COVID than people who have been fully vaccinated and boosted. And yet, only around 30 percent of fully vaccinated Americans, about 60 million people, have gotten a booster dose.

It comes as the U.S. is heading into what will likely be a brutal winter surge as the new variant spreads across the country. The delta variant is already driving a surge in COVID cases and hospitalizations and omicron will only add fuel to that fire.

And we're already seeing the impact in some areas, long lines for COVID tests have been forming across New York City as Americans try to balance their holiday plans with COVID safety.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, U.S. NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY & INFECTIOUS DISEASES: We really need to flood the system with testing. We need to have tests available for anyone who wants them, particularly when we're in a situation right now where people are going to be gathering, even though they are vaccinated and boosted. It is going to be a tough few weeks to months as we get deeper into the winter.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: And we're also seeing the impact of the latest surge in other ways. On Sunday, U.S. Senators Elizabeth Warren and Cory Booker both announced they have tested positive for the virus. Both say they are experiencing only mild symptoms.

And we have reporters across the U.S. covering the COVID crisis. CNN's Natasha Chen is in Los Angeles where officials say they are seeing cases rise again, but first to New York where CNN's Polo Sandoval reports on another record case count for the state.

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: For three days now, New York State has seen a significant increase in the number of new COVID cases. Now, in fact, record number of COVID cases confirmed throughout the state here. We have heard some optimism coming from New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio on Sunday saying that the bringing back of some of these mitigation efforts, also this increase in numbers that, yes, it is happening right now. It's a new reality, but it is a temporary one.

But when you speak to New Yorkers, there is a concern and a fear that things are possibly going to get worse before they get better. And so we have seen just massive crowds at COVID testing sites throughout New York City. People who are trying to at least secure an appointment to actually get those tests.

Some, it is a requirement if they're going to be traveling soon, but for many, almost everybody, they want to be tested. They want that extra peace of mind, even though a majority of them are vaccinated.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP))

UNKNOWN: I feel like a couple of friends that have been vaccinated did also like catch COVID or have scare, so just kind of like trying to play it safe for the family.

UNKNOWN: To be safe. You never know. Even if you vaccinated, you can still get it. So it's better to make sure than be sorry later.

SANDOVAL: As recent as last week, New York City actually announced a multi-point approach that is meant to try to slow the spread. That includes increasing the number of locations where people can get vaccinated and also where people can get tested and even making those home kits available for those who are not able to actually stand in line for hours at a time.

But the big, big advice obviously coming from officials not just here in New York City, but throughout the country is for the 7 million (ph) population that's not vaccinated to get the shot. If they already did, to get boosted. And if you got boosted, get tested. Polo Sandoval, CNN, New York. [02:0457]

NATASHA CHEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Los Angeles County public health reported quite a rise in number of daily confirmed cases just in the past week. For example, on Tuesday, there were about 1,100 positive test cases, but by the weekend, on Saturday and Sunday, both seeing more than 3,500 positive COVID cases.

And on Sunday that number may even be a bit low because of the lag in weekend reporting. So within just a week's time frame, we're seeing the tripling of numbers. In California, overall, the positivity rate is still under 3 percent, which is relatively low compared to some other states.

But California health officials did notice a rise in COVID positive cases in the days following the Thanksgiving holiday into early December. And that's why the state implemented new policies beginning December 15th to last for about a month before those policies are revisited.

There are three important things there. One is that everyone is required to wear masks indoors across the state. Two is that people are required to show proof of vaccination or a negative test to enter a mega event. Mega events are defined as either 1,000 people indoors or 10,000 people outdoors.

Finally, people traveling into California are recommended to get a COVID test three to five days after they arrive in the state. Already there are some events being canceled, just like there are across the country due to positive cases.

For example, a UCLA basketball game, even a production of the Christmas carol downtown in Los Angeles because of positive cases within those groups. Schools including Stanford are also transitioning to virtual classes after the winter break is over.

Here in southern California, UCLA, the UC System, the Cal State System are saying they will monitor the situation for students after they come back from the winter break. Back to you.

CHURCH: Thanks for that. Well, the spread of the omicron and delta variants across Europe is forcing governments to take decisive action with omicron now dominant in parts of the U.K. as well as Ireland. And for more on that, I'm joined by CNN's Cyril Vanier in Paris. Great to see you, Cyril. So, how are various European countries responding to surging COVID cases of both major variants?

CYRIL VANIER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, thank you, Rosemary. First thing is European countries are really scratching their heads and so they've -- most of them have implemented some really short-term measures to deal with the peak of the delta variant wave right now, and the impending surge in omicron-fueled cases coming over -- coming to them in the next few weeks. That's the short term.

More longer term, they're thinking, well, how do we get everybody vaccinated? And countries are having different approaches to that. So short term, well, you have some countries closing their borders, right? We have like France, Germany, they've essentially closed their borders to travelers coming from the U.K. because they think that will help them slow down the importing of omicron variants.

You have some countries that have imposed curfews. That's the case in Ireland. An 8:00 p.m. curfew on the hospitality sector. You have a country like Denmark that has essentially shut down its cultural scene, right? So that's not just theaters and museums and art galleries. It's also entertainment venues. Its parks, zoos.

And so you have all these countries -- here in France, this is a notable example, Rosemary. France is banning New Year's Eve celebrations. So you will not see this year, the fireworks that you typically see at the Eiffel Tower and there won't be any street celebrations on the Champs-Elysees.

Now longer term, these countries are asking themselves, how do we get more people vaccinated? Some have mandated it. That is the case for Austria beginning in February. Germany might follow suit. Others are almost mandating it. There's the super green pass in Italy and something similar to follow suit in France, probably in January, which will all but compel the unvaccinated to stay home.

CHURCH: Yes, and of course, the frustration in the midst of all of this. We have the tools to deal with this. Some are not using it. Very frustrating. Cyril Vanier joining us live from Paris. Many thanks.

Well, the Netherlands now has one of the strictest lockdowns in Europe. And many of its neighbors may be forced to tighten their own measures even further. CNN's Barbie Nadeau takes a look.

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BARBIE NADEAU, CNN CONTRIBUTOR (voice-over): A collective sigh in the Netherlands as some of the strictest new COVID-19 measures went into effect on Sunday to try to contain the highly contagious omicron variant. Acknowledging it's not the Christmas many people wanted, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte urged people to stay at home as much as possible. And said nonessential shops will be closed until January 14th and schools shut until at least January 9th.

For many, it was a frustrating announcement that dashed many holiday plans just days away from Christmas.

[02:09:56]

This man says we've done everything we could. We're fully vaccinated. And in the end, it all goes in the wrong direction. Before the lockdown went into effect, long lines of shoppers rushed to the stores for some last-minute Christmas shopping.

The government also cracking down on how many people can attend holiday gatherings. Only two guests will be allowed in a private home with the exception of Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, the day after Christmas, New Year's Eve and New Year's Day when four are permitted. Previous coronavirus measures have been unpopular in the country with

violent protests erupting in November. This weekend, police clashed with small groups of protesters as thousands of people demonstrated in Brussels and there were also protests in London, Paris and in cities in Germany.

But despite the public pressure, many European countries are considering re-imposing new COVID-19 restrictions. The threat of omicron much greater than the pockets of discontent. Italian media reporting that the government could soon make masks mandatory outdoors and require negative tests for vaccinated people to enter crowded public venues.

Denmark is set to close cinemas, theaters and museums and will limit the amount of people in stores and shops. One resident said it's a bleak way to end the year.

UNKNOWN: Seeing all the countries, Denmark among them slowly starting to shut down, some of them are even completely shut down, it's, yes, a little bit depressing.

NADEAU (voice-over): No country wanting a lockdown before Christmas but omicron may make further restrictions unavoidable. Barbie Latza Nadeau, CNN, Rome.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: And Israel is taking strong measures to slow the spread of the omicron variant as officials warn a fifth wave of COVID-19 has arrived. The U.S., Canada and eight other countries are being added to Israel's red no-fly list. And journalist Elliott Gotkine joins us now live from Jerusalem. Good to see you, Elliott.

So why has Israel chosen to stop travel from these countries rather than just ensure all travelers are fully vaccinated and have a negative COVID test as other nations are doing?

ELLIOTT GOKINE, JOURNALIST: Rosemary, the short answer is omicron. You've seen the measures being taken in the Netherlands. We've seen omicron running rampant in the U.K. for example. And what Israel is trying to do is to buy time to extend the amount of time that it has before this wave really hits Israel with its full force.

And so it's adding these countries to its red no-fly list because it sees that most of the omicron cases that it has in the country have come from people returning to Israel from overseas. It's got 175 confirmed cases so far of omicron, 380 which are deemed highly suspicious of being omicron. And it wants to reduce the number coming in from overseas. So effectively, it's just dealing with the omicron spread from person to person inside of Israel.

Prime Minister Naftali Bennett even taking to the air waves on Sunday evening in a news conference to try to get the message across to Israelis that time is running out.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) NAFTALI BENNETT, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER (through translation): Omicron is already here from the Knesset to kindergarten and it's spreading quickly. The numbers are not yet high, but it is a very infectious variant and with the rate of infection doubling every two to three days as we are seeing around the world. We can say that the fifth wave has begun.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GOTKINE: And this tsunami that, as Naftali Bennett describes it, he reckons that cases will start spiking in about three to four weeks. One of the new things that came up in his news conference last night, advising people working in the private sector to work from home if they can. The public sector likely to follow suit in about a week's time.

CHURCH: All right. Elliott Gotkine joining us live from Jerusalem, many thanks.

And still to come, what's next for U.S. President Joe Biden's Build Back Better plan now that Senator Joe Manchin says he won't vote for it. We'll discuss, next.

And at 35 years old, Gabriel Boric will become the youngest president of Chile in modern history. Ahead, reaction to his big win over far right candidate, Jose Kast.

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[02:15:00]

CHURCH: In a major blow to U.S. President Joe Biden's Build Back Better plan, Senator Joe Manchin says he will not vote for the legislation that would expand the nation's social safety net. Manchin has long been a key holdout on the plan despite months of talks. Here is what he said on Sunday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOE MANCHIN (D-WV): I cannot vote to continue with this piece of legislation. I just can't. I've tried everything humanly possible. I can't get there.

BRET BAIER, FOX NEWS HOST: You're done? This is -- this is a no?

MANCHIN: This is a no on this legislation. I have tried everything I know to do.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: The White House issued this sharp rebuke after Manchin's remarks. "If his comments on Fox and written statement indicate an end to that effort, they represent a sudden and inexplicable reversal in his position and a breach of his commitments to the president and the senator's colleagues in the House and Senate."

Manchin's support for the plan is necessary for Democrats to pass the legislation and progressives are outraged by what he's done.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (I-VT): Mr. Manchin says he's representing the people of West Virginia. Okay. Why don't you do a poll? Let CNN do a poll and you ask the people of West Virginia whether or not they want to lower the cost of prescription drugs. You ask them whether they want to expand Medicare to cover dental, hearing, and eye glasses. You ask then whether they want to continue the $300 payment to help working parents in these very difficult times bring up their kids with dignity. Ask them if they want to deal with climate change.

On all of those issues, I suspect people of West Virginia, like every other state in this country, will say yes. Do the right thing for working families. And I challenge, you know, I told Manchin, by the way, I'll pay for the damn poll in West Virginia on those issues. See how the people of West Virginia feel.

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[02:20:03]

CHURCH: Joining me now from Los Angeles is CNN's senior political analyst Ron Brownstein. Always great to have you with us.

RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Hi, Rosemary.

CHURCH: So, after holding out for months, Senator Joe Manchin now says he will not be supporting President Biden's nearly $2 trillion Build Back Better bill, essentially killing it off. The White House shot back saying Manchin's comments are at odds with his recent conversations with the president when he pledged to keep negotiations going. So what suddenly changed and what happens now?

BROWNSTEIN: Yes. It's a complex situation. I mean, first of all, it's almost unprecedented in two different respects what we saw today from Senator Manchin. First, I mean, presidents in their first year often have a lot of turbulence in getting their core economic agenda through, but in the end, Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Barack Obama, Donald Trump, they all passed the cornerstone of their economic plan in their first year.

And this would be, you know, a break in that pattern. And the other remarkable thing is, I mean, I think if you could fake take a census of every elected democrat from mayor up, mayor, governor, house member, senator, maybe even all of the state legislators, I think virtually, if not absolutely all of them except Joe Manchin want to pass some version of the Build Back Better Act like what went through the House.

It contains priorities for the Democratic Party for a decade. You know, ideas that have been accumulating since the Obama presidency. Universal Pre-K, paid family leave, filling in the gaps in the Affordable Care Act, and he is saying that his opinion alone should outweigh the entire breadth of the party. It's breathtaking. And it really is just a measure, I think, of his calculation of how important it is to his survival in West Virginia, a state, by the way, that would benefit enormously from the provisions in the bill to be seen as saying no to a Democratic Party that many in the state view as having veered too far to the left.

CHURCH: Yes. I mean, it has shocked so many, hasn't it? What might this signal about Senator Manchin's likely next move politically? How can he stay in the Democratic Party? Surely that's not sustainable.

BROWNSTEIN: You know, it's -- it's -- first of all, I don't think it is completely inconceivable that there is an agreement ahead of a much different nature of the bill. I mean, Senator Manchin has left some bread crumbs if he does, in fact, want to get a bill. I mean, you know, he has basically said that he would support something at the level of $1.75 trillion, which is an enormous amount of new spending, far more than Clinton or Obama got in their first year.

But he wants it to be for full 10-year programs, which would obviously reduce the number of programs you could fit in under that budget level. So potentially, you could imagine a world where something like the Child Tax Credit and Affordable Care Act and some climate, you know, meet his standard, but it's not clear that he really wants to reach a deal in the end, and it may be that the climate, above all, is the sticking point.

You know, that maybe all of this is just kind of a smoke screen for what is the core objection as someone who has been very close to the coal industry and fossil fuel industry, does not want the provisions in the bill that would move the U.S. away from reliance on those fuels.

CHURCH: And I do want to follow up on a comment you made, pick up on that because Senator Manchin does have considerable financial interest in the coal industry and Biden's Build Back Better plan would work against those interests with the $555 billion allocated to fight climate change. Is that what's going on here?

BROWNSTEIN: It could be. I mean, you know, if you look at it, you know, Joe Manchin you think of as kind of a new deal Democrat. A Hubert Humphrey Democrat who opposes the cultural liberalism of the party, but historically has been basically okay with the idea of government spending money to try to expand opportunity in what is a very poor state. West Virginia ranks 44th in child poverty. It ranks near the bottom in the share of kids who are born premature or low birth weight.

It has enormous needs and poverty and it would benefit very directly from this bill. The projections are that the level of childhood poverty in the state would be cut in half if Build Back Better was passed. So, it's kind of hard to square his objections to the kind of core domestic programs in this bill with both the need in his state and his previous record, which makes you wonder, is there something else going on and could the something else be the climate provisions, which have already been scaled back, as you know, tremendously to try to get his ascent. [02:24:57]

But those, you know, today in his statement, he really leaned on the argument that the bill would transition the U.S. away from fossil fuels too fast, which I don't think there are a lot of climate scientists out there, you know, looking at the weather and what's happening with extreme weather who are worried that we're moving too fast to get away from fossil fuels. But that is a flag that he raised today in his statement.

CHURCH: Yes. And we'll look for more reaction on all of this in the hours ahead. Ron Brownstein, always a pleasure. Thank you so much.

BROWNSTEIN: Thank you, Rosemary.

CHURCH: Leftist Gabriel Boric will become Chile's next leader after winning Sunday's presidential run-off election. He defeated the conservative Jose Kast and he will replace outgoing President Sebastian Pinera who is set to leave office in March. CNN's Raphael Romo reports from Santiago.

RAPHAEL ROMO, CNN CORESPONDENT: He's 35 years old, the former student leader and has the support of the country's communist party. Gabriel Boric will be Chile's next president. The former congressman and leftist leader garnered more than 55 percent of the votes on Sunday's runoff elections.

His rival, a conservative attorney Jose Antonio Kast quickly conceded defeat saying he had called Boric less than two hours after polls closed. Boric's victory was also swiftly recognized by current president, Sebastian Pinera who had a video conference call with the winner moments later.

(BEGN VIDEO CLIP)

SEBASTIAN PINERA, CHILEAN PRESIDENT (through translation): You are going to be one of the youngest presidents of recent times. And people should know how to combine strength, idealism and the spirit of youth with prudence and the experience of gray hair. So I want to invite you tomorrow to have a work meeting so we can talk about very important subjects for Chile.

ROMO: After a tooth and nail campaign in a very polarized country, Boric was ready to turn the page when he addressed Chileans after winning the election. He thanked his supporters and said he'll be a president for all Chileans.

GABRIEL BORIC, CHILEAN PRESIDENT-ELECT (through translation): Compatriots, I will be the president of all Chileans. Of those who voted for this movement, of those who today feel the squares of all of Chile, of those who chose another alternative and of those who did not vote, we will be there for you.

ROMO: Boric made a lot of promises during his campaign, promises that could prove hard to keep. ROBERT FUNK, PROFESSOR, UNIVERSITY OF CHILE: He's going to have a

very hard time. You know, he's confronting a deadlocked congress. He's got a constitutional convention. He's got a very fractious coalition. It's not clear what role the communist party is going to play in his coalition. Whether the socialist party will join or not. And he's got a difficult economic situation.

We're coming out of the pandemic and the economic effects of that. And he's, as you say, he's made a lot of promises that cost a lot of money. Many of the things coming out of the constitutional convention are, you know, social and political rights are likely to, you know, have an effect on the fiscal spending, and so he's going to have a hard time meeting all of that.

ROMO: Leaders from across Latin America and the Caribbean, including President Miguel Diaz-Canel of Cuba and Colombia's Ivan Duque congratulated the new president-elect. Boric will take office March 11th for a four-year term. Raphael Romo, CNN, Santiago, Chile.

CHURCH: Still ahead on "CNN Newsroom," South Africa is coping with record numbers of new COVID-19 cases. But not as many patients are ending up in the hospital. The reasons why, ahead.

[02:30:00]

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ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN HOST: Welcome back, everyone. Well, the Omicron variant was detected last month in Southern Africa. Now South Africa's Health Minister says hospitalizations are up but still lower than previous waves. And our David McKenzie is in Johannesburg. He joins us now live. So David, despite a wave of Omicron infections in South Africa, hospitalization rates are still lower than previous waves. And there's a lack of any new restrictions. What is going on here? How do they explain this?

DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Rosemary, first to tell the situation, currently there are very high number of cases in South Africa. In fact, the positivity rate overnight was more than 50 percent. That would be considered extremely high during previous waves. But they haven't seen the rush on hospitals and severe cases and deaths like they saw in the delta wave, the beta wave and even the first wave of COVID-19 here in the country.

Now the reasons for this are complex, but it is believed that it has something to do with the amount of prior infection. And even if you get a breakthrough infection of Omicron, the prior COVID infection does have an impact in terms of less severe disease. There's also some 40 percent of people here with at least one dose of the vaccines that could also have some impact.

But even speaking to clinicians this morning, here in South Africa, there is a sense and the numbers are just not nearly as high in the hospitals and far fewer people are on ventilators at the stage, Rosemary.

CHURCH: So what might that reveal about the Omicron variant?

MCKENZIE: So I mentioned already the mitigating factors in terms of the trajectory of this pandemic. Vaccines, prior infection but there is a question mark whether the variant itself is less severe. And that has not been answered at this point. Most of the people still in hospital are unvaccinated. And while you said there has been a rise in cases, in hospital, it's coming of a very, very low base.

So the proportion of people who are getting the Omicron variant, who are ending up in hospital is substantially lower than in the delta wave. So you know, more tests need to be done both in the lab and in a clinical setting. But it is a case that here in South Africa, at least this wave is far less severe in terms of serious cases, Rosemary.

CHURCH: Still a lot to learn but very interesting there. David McKenzie joining us live from Johannesburg. Many thanks.

The Chinese tennis star Peng Shuai says there's been a misunderstanding about recent sexual assault allegations made against a former senior government official. Details and a live report from Tokyo straight ahead.

[02:35:00]

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CHURCH: Chinese tennis star Peng Shuai says she never accused anyone of sexual assault in an interview to a Singapore newspaper. In a video of the interview she says she has always been free and that there may have been a misunderstanding about her social media post about a former senior Chinese official. There's been concern for Peng's wellbeing and if she's being silenced by Chinese authorities. Selina Wang joins me now live from Tokyo with more on this so good to see you, Selena.

So why are we hearing this denial now so long after Peng Shuai's initial accusation was posted? And is this raising more questions than answers?

SELINA WANG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Rosemary, this does leave a lot of questions unanswered. It does not extinguish global concerns about Peng Shuai and the Women's Tennis Association is still calling for an investigation. But what we do know is that this is the first time Peng Shuai has spoken to international media publicly about the sexual assault allegations.

And in the interview, she denies the claims. She was speaking on the sidelines of a cross country skiing event in Shanghai. She was speaking to (inaudible) a Singaporean Chinese language news outlet. Take a listen to what she said in that video.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PENG SHUAI, TENNIS PLAYER (through translator): I want to emphasize one thing that is very important that I have never spoken or written about anyone sexually assaulting me. This point is very important to emphasized clearly. In terms of the Weibo post, first of all, it's my personal privacy. There possibly has been a lot of misunderstanding.

(END VIDEO CLIP) WANG: In the interview, she also said that she's been living at home in Beijing and that she denied she was under any kind of surveillance. There were also photos and videos posted by Chinese state media reporters of her at the event including this video of her talking and smiling with former Chinese NBA star Yao Ming, but concerns about Peng Shuai do still persist.

The controversy all started when Peng alleged in a 1600 word post on Chinese social media site Weibo that was dated November 2, that she had experienced sexual assault from a former Chinese Vice Premier in the past. That post was swiftly removed and the discussion of the topic is blocked in China's heavily censored intranet.

She then disappeared from public view for nearly three weeks. She later appeared in photos and videos posted by Chinese state media, the IOC said that it helped do video calls with her although it has not made those calls publicly available.

[02:40:00]

But the Women's Tennis Association is saying that these appearances are not enough. This is a statement that the WTA had. It said, "as we have consistently stated these appearances do not alleviate or address the WTA's significant concerns about her wellbeing and ability to communicate without censorship, or coercion. We remain steadfast in our call for a full fair and transparent investigation without censorship into our allegation of sexual assault, which is the issue that gave rise to our initial concern.

The WTA had said earlier this month that it would suspend tournament's in China over concern about the treatment of Peng, the head of the WTA has asked for further evidence of Peng Shuai's safety. He wrote in a letter to China's ambassador in the U.S., asking for Peng to either be able to leave China or asking for a live teleconference with Peng without anybody else present. Now, with the Olympics less than two months away, China's foreign ministry has said that it hopes that any malicious speculation about Peng's whereabouts will stop and it has said that China 'opposes the politicization of sport.' Rosemary?

CHURCH: All right, Selina Wang bringing us the very latest on that live from Tokyo. Appreciate it. And thank you so much for joining us here in CNN Newsroom. For our international viewers, World Sport is next and for those here in the U.S. I'll be right back with more news. Don't go anywhere.

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[02:45:00]

CHURCH: Well, back to our top story. Health experts warn that the Omicron Variant is preparing to rip through the U.S. like wildfire. The country is already seeing a surge in COVID cases and hospitalizations fueled by the Delta variant. The U.S. is now averaging more than 130,000 new infections a day. Compare that to just more than 92,000 a month ago, but experts warn Omicron's arrival could send those numbers soaring to record highs as the variant races across the country.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. FRANCIS COLLINS, DIRECTOR, U.S. NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH: All of the other previous variants pale by comparison in terms of the rate at which this one is spreading, doubling every two to three days, first in South Africa and now in parts of Europe and the U.S. is on that exponential curve right now. So we are in for a world of trouble, I'm afraid in the next month or two.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: COVID is also putting sports leagues across the U.S. in a bind with professional and college teams being forced to postpone or cancel games. CNN's Nadia Romero has more.

NADIA ROMERO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, normally this time of year would be a great time for sports fans. You've got a college hoops, college football, NFL, NHL, NBA so many things to watch and enjoy. But instead it feels a lot like the very beginning of COVID-19 pandemic with so many of those games being postponed or canceled. So let's start with basketball.

The NBA today on Sunday canceling some of its games Sunday and Monday postponing those games for a later date because of COVID-19 and we're talking about big name superstars in the Brooklyn Nets like Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant out. And we're even seeing that when it comes to college basketball that is. 20 men's basketball games, and 36 women's basketball games canceled or postponed so far this year.

From the basketball court to the grid iron now. An NFL Saturday doubleheader, it turned into a single showdown between the New England Patriots and the Minneapolis Colts, three games postponed week 15 of the NFL, because so many players are out on the COVID-19 reserve list.

More than 20 players for the Cleveland Browns, for the Rams and the Washington football team. And the NFL even saying this past weekend, that they're having new protocols for asymptomatic, fully vaccinated players. They're not going to test them on a regular basis but instead of moving to a more targeted approach, a big change coming from the NFL.

Now the NHL making a big announcement on Sunday saying that it will postpone 30 games between December 18 and December 23. And that includes cross border games. So remember, the NHL has teams in Canada and the U.S. and they're citing their concerns over federal restrictions and travel concerns over the border. And that's the news coming out of the NHL this weekend. Nadia Romero, CNN Atlanta.

CHURCH: Well, the U.S. is seeing a jump in air travel despite increasing COVID cases. The TSA screened more than 2 million passengers at U.S. airports on Saturday for the third day in a row. The number of travelers over the past few days is nearly the same as pre-pandemic levels, suggesting Americans are not canceling holiday travel plans despite the threat of Omicron.

And while air travel seems to be making a comeback, the experience for passengers may never be the same. Dr. Anthony Fauci said Sunday that mask requirements on airplanes are here to stay while COVID rages. CNNs Pamela Brown put the same question to Dr. Richina Bicette-McCain, Medical Director at Baylor College of Medicine. And here's her response.

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DR. RICHINA BICETTE-MCCAIN, MEDICAL DIRECTOR AT BAYLOR COLLEGE OF MEDICINE: I definitely agree that that's not going to be happening anytime soon. When the pandemic first started, we thought that this would be something quick that we could tackle and it's proven that that is not the case. The pandemic is unlikely to be over in 2022, we're likely still going to be talking about COVID in 2023. So masks are still going to be in use.

PAMELA BROWN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: So right now we know testing is hard to come by for a lot of people. We're seeing those long lines and so forth. What should someone do if they are exposed to COVID? If they were in a group, someone in their group had COVID, what should they do especially with holiday travel on the horizon for so many?

BICETTE-MCCAIN: If you've been exposed to COVID You definitely need to get tested. The CDC has changed their recommendation so that if you're vaccinated, you can wait about three to five days to get tested. If you are not experiencing symptoms. If you're unvaccinated, you should try to get tested right away.

If you've been exposed and have not tested negative, please do not go travel and potentially expose other people.

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BROWN: All right, I'm going to get to our viewer questions. We have some great ones. Our first viewer asks, how are the kids handling Omicron based on data from South Africa, and Europe? Will the kids who have only received two doses have enough antibody response to protect them from severe disease?

BICETTE-MCCAIN: So we aren't sure exactly how children are responding to Omicron from the South Africa and UK data. We do know, however, that for the 18th week in a row, we have seen over 100,000 pediatric cases of COVID in the United States, and that number is increasing. As cases spike, cases in children will spike.

BROWN: That's really troubling as mom of two little ones. Our second viewer asks, any - is there any real current information on which booster is most effective?

BICETTE-MCCAIN: The Pfizer and the Moderna boosters are the boosters that you should be getting. If you got the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, it's OK to mix and match. But please go get one of the mRNA vaccines as your booster. BROWN: And so for everyone watching this right now maybe feeling anxious, what should they think what else do you want to tell people who are just on edge given the current state of the pandemic right now?

BICETTE-MCCAIN: I understand the anxiety. I mean, you know, we're almost two years into this. And it seems as if every time we start to get things under control, there's another blow and another hit. But what I do want people to realize is that we are now at a point in the pandemic where we have tools at our disposal that can help us combat this virus and this disease.

Please go get vaccinated if you're not vaccinated. If you've been vaccinated and you're eligible for a booster, now is the time, do not wait.

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CHURCH: All right, and to talk more about the weather for travel of the holidays, I do want to bring in meteorologist Tyler Maudin. He has been looking at this very closely. Good to see you, Tyler. So how is it looking? Holiday travel in the days ahead. Millions of people will be traveling.

TYLER MAULDIN, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, hi, Rosemary. So we are just what five or six days away from Christmas. And the week of Christmas from a weather standpoint is going to be pretty busy. Take a look at the map behind me. There are a couple of things I want to point out to you. Number one is this area of low pressure moving to the Gulf of Mexico.

Number two is a clipper system moving across the northern tier of the country. And then all of these areas of low pressure across the West Coast. Those are all going to be problematic in the days to come as everyone begins to start traveling for the holidays. Look at this area of low pressure moving across the Gulf. It is going to spread rainfall over the next 48 to 72 hours across the deep South.

And you'll - you'll notice that this looks kind of tropical, but since we're in December, it's not a tropical system. If this were to occur back in like June or July, yes, I'm sure the National Hurricane Center will be tracking it but regardless, it's going to spread a lot of rainfall across portions of the South. You see a swath of about I would say four to five inches of rainfall from the panhandle of Florida all the way up into the Carolinas here.

And then shifting gears, going from the rainfall to snowfall across the Pacific Northwest where we have winter weather alerts. In effect for the pack Northwest and going on into the Northern Rockies some areas will see more than a foot of snowfall in the days to come. We also have flood alerts in effect here too because of these areas of low pressure pushing down and expanding. This is going to cause an atmospheric river to form, yet another atmospheric river which is really just a large - a very long swath of moisture from the Pacific pushing on shore and it means a lot of rainfall, a lot of snowfall in short order. You can see some of us across the mountainous portions of the West will be seeing more than - more than a foot of snow for sure. And it's not going to feel like Christmas once we get to Christmas Eve and Christmas day. We've got above average temperatures moving to the east. Take a look at Atlanta, you're going to be seeing a temperature of nearly 70 degrees come Christmas day, your average high is 55.

So I can tell you with absolute certainty here in Atlanta, we're not going to see any - any snowfall, not a white Christmas for us. If you want to see any snowfall in Christmas Rosemary, you mainly got to go to the west coast and up here to New England.

CHURCH: OK, I think I want to go somewhere warm. Tyler Mauldin, thank you so much. Appreciate it. Well, Tiger Woods returned to competitive golf, went pretty well. He teamed up with his 12 year old son, Charlie for the PNC championship in Florida, where they took second place.

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TIGER WOODS, PROFESSIONAL GOLFER: The fact that I'm able to have this opportunity this year that even a couple weeks ago, we didn't really know whether I'd be doing this. But here we are. And we had this the best time ever. He and I out there. I just wish that like I told you guys yesterday, I wish I could have walked down the fairways with him, you know side by side with him the entire time like we were where we were last year.

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CHURCH: The two-day tournament mark the first time Tiger has competed since a car crash crushed his leg in February.

WOODS: The competitive juices aren't - they're never going to go away. This is my environment. This is what I've done my entire life. I'm just so thankful to be able to have this opportunity to do it again. Early this year was not a very good start to the year and it didn't look very good. But the last few weeks, the push as hard as we have the last seven months with taking no days off and just working our butts off each and every day and to have this opportunity to be able to play with my son and to have these memories you know for us, both of us for a lifetime. It's worth all the pain.

CHURCH: The father-son duo shot 15 underpass Sunday and at one point birdied 11 Straight holes, but they finished the tournament two strokes behind John Daly and his son.

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CHURCH: Well, Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa is back on Earth after spending 11 days on the International Space Station. The fashion magnate is the first space tourists to reach the station in more than a decade. He returned inside a Russian Soyuz spacecraft and landed in Kazakhstan, a short time ago. He traveled with his production assistant who documented the journey and a Russian cosmonauts who piloted the round trip flight. The cost of the trip was not disclosed but some reports have put the price tag as high as $50 million. And thank you so much for joining us. I'm Rosemary Church. I'll be back in just a moment with more news. Don't go anywhere.

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