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Airlines Cancel Hundreds Of Flights Due To Staffing Shortages; CDC Shortens Isolation Time For Health Care Workers With COVID; New Jan. 6 Video Shows Violent Three-Hour Battle In Capitol Tunnel; NASA Launches Most Powerful Space Telescope Ever; Global COVID Cases, Hospitalizations Rise As Omicron Variant Spreads; Pope Marks Christmas With "Urbi Et Orbi" Blessing; Winter Weather Across Northern U.S. May Cause Hazardous Travel. Aired 9-10a ET
Aired December 25, 2021 - 09:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[09:00:00]
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SHIRLEY RAINES, CNN HERO OF THE YEAR WINNER: I'm a mom, we have to be practical. As much as I'd love to be frivolous, we want to make sure that these people get warm meals every day as much as we can get out there. So that money is going to go toward food, nurturing them. And just making sure that they survive another year.
KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Shirley Raines, congratulations.
RAINES: Thank you.
COLLINS: This is amazing and thank you for your work.
RAINES: Thank you, queen, I appreciate you.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
JESSICA DEAN, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. Merry Christmas and thank you so much for joining me. I'm Jessica Dean in Washington.
There is more than holiday cheer spreading this Christmas morning.
Coronavirus cases are rising at a frenzied pace as the Omicron variant sweeps across the U.S. and the world. New infections in the U.S. now averaging a shocking 182,000 a day.
New York is breaking new records, 44,000 cases reported on Friday alone.
In Los Angeles, new cases, they are tripled in the last week.
The surging infections making a real mess of holiday travel for so many people. Several major airlines canceling hundreds of flights this morning citing staffing shortages. CNN's Nadia Romero and Alison Kosik are monitoring all the developments.
Nadia, you are at one of the busiest airports in the world in Atlanta. What is the situation for travelers there right now?
NADIA ROMERO, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Jessica. It is eerily quiet here at Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson Airport. Just simply because Delta for one canceled about 250 flights on Wednesday. So, some people were able to get those cancellations earlier this week and try to make the changes as best they could. But really, we're seeing cancellations happening all across the country with major airlines. Delta canceling some 238 - 283 - excuse me - flights, United Airlines 238, and JetBlue, 120. Just for Christmas Day so far.
But over this entire weekend, we're looking at more than 1,000 flights being canceled here in the U.S. and you could imagine that impact on travelers. I listened to some of them, their frustrations over knowing that they are not going to be able to see their loved ones for the holiday.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We were really concerned last night when I saw on the news that they had canceled 100 flights. And I'm like, oh my God. We won't be able to get home.
STACEY SUNDAY, COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR, RENO-TAHOE INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT: And make sure that your cellphone is charged so that you are getting those airline alerts in case anything changes. I'd recommend you bring snacks just in case lines are long and you're getting hungry.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMERO: So, Jessica, a big part of this is of course the Omicron variant that is spreading rapidly across the U.S. Those coronavirus cases don't skip the flight crews, right? So, they are being impacted as well. That is what the airlines are telling us is the biggest reason why they have to do these cancellations. They just don't have the staffing to keep up with all the flights that they were anticipated to do over this holiday weekend.
We also know that the weather played a big factor. That was the reason why we saw more than 200 flights canceled by Delta in Minneapolis because they were expecting snow to fall. And in the Pacific Northwest, we're expecting colder than normal temperatures there as well.
Here in Atlanta though, these are the folks that are coming into the airport, they likely were alerted if their flight was canceled or delayed. It's the folks inside, on the other side of security who were here for a layover. They may have to sleep in the airport tonight if they can't find their way to a local hotel. Jessica?
DEAN: Hopefully they can. All right, Nadia.
Let's check in with Alison. She's in New York. And you are following the rise in outbreaks nationwide, Alison. What are you learning this morning?
ALISON KOSIK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah. There has been. Jessica, good morning.
This race to get COVID tests. You know I think in the last-minute Christmas rush, I think it was less about getting a last-minute gift than getting that COVID-19 test as you saw millions of people traveling and hoping to spend time at home - you know in these home gatherings.
In New York City, we've seen the lines, people waiting in the cold for these COVID-19 tests.
Also, in Raleigh, North Carolina, people waiting in a line that's at least a mile long on New Year's Eve - on Christmas Eve rather. With some waiting up to two hours in traffic just to get to the testing site.
And in Oahu, Hawaii, one testing site saw lines wrapped around for blocks just to get to that testing site with people waiting 2 1/2 hours.
COVID-19 also causing other disruption in the NHL, the National Hockey League, announcing that it won't resume its regular schedule until Tuesday and that is after there has already been a pause in play.
Cruise ships also encountering issues as well. Carnival Cruises says that several people tested positive on a ship that left from Fort Lauderdale on December 18th and it couldn't dock at two ports. Finally, was able to dock in a Dominican Republic. It is expected to return back to port in Florida tomorrow.
Royal Caribbean, the Odyssey of the Seas, finding that 55 people on board, a mix of crew and passengers, testing positive for COVID-19.
[09:05:01]
A statement from Royal Caribbean International telling CNN that 95 percent of the people who boarded the ship when it first left Fort Lauderdale were fully vaccinated. But still they wound up with at least 55 people testing positive for COVID-19.
Here in New York as you mentioned at the top, Jessica, 44,000 new cases of COVID-19 reported on Friday. That is a 14 percent jump from the previous day's 38,000. This coming as the governor of New York, Kathy Hochul, says she's going to go ahead and shorten the quarantine time for those who live in New York - who live in New York from 10 days to 5 days saying it is causing unnecessary staff shortages and frontline workers.
This -- this shortened quarantine period is for what she calls critical -- those in the critical workforce, that includes - you know that includes nurses, cooks, clerks, store clerks, servers and bartenders. And that is after the CDC cut quarantines after a positive test from 10 days to 7 days. So, Jessica, her quarantine period a little more aggressive than the CDC's.
DEAN: All right. Alison Kosik and Nadia Romero, thank you so much to both of you. We sure do appreciate it. In Georgia, COVID cases have been skyrocketing over the past week.
And here with me now, Dr. Jayne Morgan. She's the executive director of the COVID Task Force at Piedmont Healthcare.
Dr. Morgan, good morning. Merry Christmas to you. Thanks for making time to be with us today.
DR. JAYNE MORGAN, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, PIEDMONT HEALTHCARE COVID TASK FORCE: Good morning. Merry Christmas, Jessica.
DEAN: I want to get your take first on these new CDC guidelines. Health care workers with COVID-19 who are asymptomatic are going to be allowed to return to work after seven days with a negative test. And the isolation time can be cut further if there are staffing shortages. Do you believe that was the right call?
MORGAN: So, I think we'll need to look at the infectivity of this particular virus. We really see the greatest amount of infectivity really at the onset of symptoms. But that infectious time can begin one to three days before the onset of symptoms and then taper over the next seven days. So, you really have an infectious period of about 10 days.
However, narrowing it down to seven days since we know that the peak is at the onset of symptoms certainly makes sense and certainly makes sense for health care workers who will be donned in the most absolute PPE possible while they are at work unlike others. So absolutely, I think, this was the right call.
DEAN: And I want to talk to you too about specifically what has been going on in -- in Georgia and what you are seeing. Over the past week, there has been an increase of COVID cases and hospitalizations there like we're seeing in so much of the country. I'm curious what you are seeing inside hospitals and how you would gauge things right now on the ground in Georgia.
MORGAN: What we see in the state of Georgia is in this past week in comparison to last week, we see a four-fold increase in cases in that 18 to 29-year-old demographic and a three-fold increase in cases in that 30 to 39-year-old demographic. We see a parallel with regard to hospitalizations, although somewhat decreased.
And so, what we have to remember is that our youth while fairly protected because of their age are not invincible. And we have to begin to consider taking that seriously as we look at not only this variant but other variants that continue to challenge our health care systems, challenge our vaccines, and challenge all of our medical therapeutics.
DEAN: Right, right. And it is of course Christmas Day as we noted at the beginning of our interview. And despite the surge that we're seeing right now, so many families are still getting together. Of course, they have maybe missed their family for two plus years now. A lot of people trying to get tested, we saw the lines though, it can be impossible to get your hands on one of those at-home tests. What should people be thinking about as they get ready to see their families today even if everyone has tested negative or is vaccinated?
MORGAN: So that is such a great question, Jessica. And obviously people get together -- yesterday, Christmas Eve and today. And we would like to see everyone, not only doubly vaccinated but boosted. And so, we want to see that with both the Moderna and the Pfizer, as well as the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.
Further if you are able, have a negative COVID test. Also, try to curtail your activities two or three days before you are going to attend an event. Hopefully that event will be a small contained intimate event and not a large gathering where there may be mixed people whose vaccination statuses are unknown. So, have situational awareness. Understand who is around you. And then mitigate your actions accordingly.
DEAN: Right. And so many people out there going, oh, I can't believe we're still thinking about this, but you make such a good point. You just have to kind of continue to calculate as we - as we navigate our way through this -- this new variant as well.
[09:10:03]
MORGAN: Yes.
DEAN: I also want to ask you about -- we're seeing Omicron cases in South Africa that were falling as quickly as they rose. So, kind of the sharp up and down. Do you suspect that's going to be the case here with Omicron?
MORGAN: And so, that is very interesting. And obviously we're a global society. But our society doesn't exactly here in the U.S. parallel that of South Africa. We do have a higher vaccination rate than they had at the time that Omicron hit. But they also had a higher native immunity rate meaning more people have been infected with regard to the percentage of their population.
Now, what that means in comparison, it may mean that we can't compare apples to apples, that this is really apples to oranges as we look at our demographics with regard to those demographics in South Africa with regard to Delta and Omicron and how many people had already exposed and how many people were already vaccinated. So, we'll wait to see.
DEAN: Yeah. And is there any way to know at this point how long this wave could last? I mean we saw Delta that sustained wave that we're still dealing with. Some hospitals still overrun with Delta patients. How long do you see this playing out or is it impossible to know at this point?
MORGAN: So, I think our focus should absolutely be not only on this variant but on the unvaccinated where we continue to see these variants emerge. And so, the push through maybe is less how long will this surge last as opposed to what is our next surge that will certainly come if we cannot get people vaccinated for whatever reasons around the world that we have large populations of people who are unvaccinated, and we continue to have these variants develop. If you remember, the Delta variant, when it came along, was different from Alpha and Beta in that that viral load was so high, that we once again had to replace our masks because even the vaccinated had the ability to transmit this virus. And now we have Omicron.
And Omicron not only is more contagious but has the ability to partially evade our vaccines. And our monoclonal antibody therapies. We now have only one monoclonal antibody therapy that have shown to be effective against this particular variant.
And so, we must continue to encourage the unvaccinated to get vaccinated or we certainly not only will deal with Omicron, but we will have other surges and we continue on this merry-go-round on and on and on.
DEAN: Yeah, no question about it. All right, get vaccinated, get boosted.
Dr. Jayne Morgan, thanks so much.
MORGAN: Thank you. Merry Christmas.
DEAN: Merry Christmas.
Still ahead. Brand new video of the January 6th insurrection revealing some of the most violent confrontations yet from that day. What else it shows and what it could mean for the investigation. That's next.
Plus, a Christmas gift more than 20 years in the making. NASA successfully launched the most powerful space telescope and we'll be able to look deeper into the solar system than ever before. Details just ahead.
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[09:16:20]
DEAN: We are following new developments in the January 6 investigation. The Justice Department just released the longest footage yet of the insurrection. Several hours of graphic video that took place at a Capitol entrance. The surveillance video which you see there showing some of the most violent confrontations with rioters as police desperately tried to hold the line.
CNN justice correspondent Jessica schneider has more on the video and the new Trump ally who is cooperating with the January 6th Committee.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
JESSICA SCHNEIDER, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A three- hour video just released by the Justice Department after CNN and other outlets sued for access shows one of the most violent and prolonged battles between Capitol police and the pro-Trump mob. The video taken from a Capitol security camera on the lower west terrace does not have sound, but it shows how dozens of rioters moved in on Capitol Police spraying the cops who stood guard with pepper spray, pointing strobing flashlights at them, striking them with batons and flagpoles. More than an hour in when police push back, you can see a helmet knocked off of one officer's head.
The video release comes as the House committee investigating January 6 prepares to ramp up its probe in the New Year. Chairman Bennie Thompson tells "The Washington Post," he's focusing on then President Trump's actions zeroing in on this video he released 187 minutes after the riot began.
DONALD TRUMP, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: You have to go home now.
SCHNEIDER: Thompson telling "The Post," "It appears that he tried to do a taping several times, but he wouldn't say the right thing."
Thompson now saying Trump's delayed response could be a factor in deciding whether to make a criminal referral possibly for obstructing the Electoral College proceedings and that other Trump officials could also face referrals for pressuring local and state election officials to overturn the results.
BERNARD KERIK, FORMER NEW YORK COMMISIONER: The men and women are the New York City Police Department --
SCHNEIDER: Former New York City Police Commissioner and Trump ally, Bernard Kerik, is saying any cooperation he provides to the committee must be made public. Kerik now says he'll post subpoena documents online and that he wants to testify at a public hearing. Kerik worked alongside Trump's former attorney Rudy Giuliani after the election to discredit the results and attended a meeting at the Willard Hotel with other Trump allies on January 5th to discuss how to keep Trump in office.
Meanwhile, committee member, Pete Aguilar, says they hope the Supreme Court acts fast to rule on releasing documents from Trump's White House.
REP. PETE AGUILAR (D-CA): So, the courts have already ruled in our favor. Our anticipation is that the Supreme Court will uphold that ruling in an expedited manner.
SCHNEIDER (voice-over): No word on how quickly the Supreme Court will decide.
Jessica Schneider, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
DEAN: Jessica, thank you.
And with me now to talk more about his and more is Michael Zeldin, he's a former federal prosecutor and host of the podcast, "That Said with Michael Zeldin."
Michael, great to see you. Thanks for making time with us this morning. MICHAEL ZELDIN, FORMER FEDERAL PROSECUTOR: Good morning.
DEAN: As we just saw, the DOJ just released three more hours of video from the insurrection. How important is this lengthy new video as investigators start to piece together exactly what happened?
ZELDIN: What is clear from this video is that this was not a spontaneous uprising. This was a planned event. People came armed for battle. And that is quite apparent in this video.
And so, that informs the committee about whether there was pre- planning, who involved - who was involved in the pre-planning, how was it executed, how was it called off.
And so, I think it's relevant to all of the questions that the committee has to answer.
DEAN: Right. And do you think at this point there is any chance that the January 6th Committee will pursue a criminal referral for former President Trump? We heard in Jessica's story that they are thinking about that, that chairman Bennie Thompson has indicated that it could be on the table due to Trump's delayed response. What are your thoughts?
[09:20:05]
Well, I think that there are charges that are in the atmosphere, if you will, obstruction, conspiracy to obstruct, incitement, conspiracy to incite, even sedition and conspiracy to commit sedition.
I'm not sure how easy it is to get to a criminal charge by mere inaction if all he did was watch the TV gleefully. I'm not sure that gets you a criminal case. I think he needs some more affirmative involving which is not just a - he didn't involve himself affirmatively.
But I just think that they're going to need more than his watching the TV and failing to act. That's a -
DEAN: Yeah. It sounds like - yeah, like he needs action.
ZELDIN: You need some sort of affirmative steps it seems to me. Now, it could be though that the agreement was, look, you guys go there, I will not call out the National Guard. I will not call you off. I will have your flank, if you will.
Those inactions really amount to action and therefore possible basis for criminal referral. But I don't think yet we have that evidence. At least in the public domain.
DEAN: And we also heard in Jessica's story that former New York City police commissioner Bernard Kerik says that he is planning to publicly release some documents that were requested by that House committee. Should the committee be allowing Kerik to kind of dictate these terms of his cooperation? Do you think they are? ZELDIN: Well, unless the subpoenas say please do not disclose and there is some sort of gag order that prohibits him from doing that, he is free to release whatever he wants. He could release his social security number and his bank accounts for all you know the committee cares. But he doesn't have the right to not cooperate with the committee and not produce to the committee what the committee is asking for. He can't publicly release it instead of giving it to the committee. He could do both, but the committee determines the procedures by under which they want to act, not the police commissioner.
DEAN: And former President Trump is now asking the Supreme Court to help him keep his White House documents out of the hands of the committee. And the House panel is asking the court to expedite its consideration of that request. We have seen former President Trump use this tactic going to court to kind of slow things down in the past. So far, the courts have not allowed that to happen and have ruled against him. How do you think it will play out with the Supreme Court?
ZELDIN: My hope is that the Supreme Court denies it. Meaning, they refuse to take the case, let the court of appeals decision to be the law of this case which would thereby mean that there is no executive privilege claim for Mark Meadows and Steve Bannon and all the others who are relying on that to refuse to cooperate.
That I think is what the Supreme Court should do. If, however, they take cert, they agree to have oral arguments. Then that is a win for president and his allies because what their end game here is delay in the hopes that this thing peters out if the new Congress is controlled by the Republicans.
DEAN: Right. Because that committee is up against - it's up against time, that they are going to run out in 2022 or after the midterms in 2022.
All right. Michael Zeldin, thanks so much for your insight. We sure do appreciate it.
ZELDIN: My pleasure. Thank you.
DEAN: Coming up. Some of the universe's greatest mysteries may soon be solved. The most powerful space telescope built to date just successfully blasted into space. What scientists are hoping to uncover, that is next.
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[09:27:25]
DEAN: NASA got a huge Christmas gift this morning when it successfully launched its most powerful space telescope ever.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you have engine start?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And lift off.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (speaking in foreign language)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) And lift off from a tropical rainforest to the edge of time Itself, James Webb begins a voyage back to the birth of the universe.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DEAN: The launch of the James Webb Telescope was more than 20 years in the making involving thousands of scientists, multiple countries, and it will likely change the way we see the universe.
CNN's space correspondent Kristin Fisher is covering the launch for us this morning.
Kristin, this rocket still has a pretty perilous journey ahead though.
KRISTIN FISHER, CNN SPACE AND DEFENSE CORRESPONDENT: It does, Jessica. Good morning.
And they actually, NASA has a name for it. It's called the 29 days on edge. You know anytime there is a Mars rover or rover that tries to land on Mars, they have that seven minutes of terror where they lose communication with the rover.
Well, for the Webb Space Telescope, it's going to take 29 days for it to fully get into its final configuration. There is more than 300 single points of failure as this massive tennis court-sized telescope literally unfolds like an origami in space and it's going to be doing it as it travels a million miles away from earth.
So, Jessica, if anything goes wrong, this is not like the Hubble Space Telescope where astronauts can go out and do a spacewalk and fix it. This is going out to a point in space called L2. It's the second Lagrange point. It's orbiting the sun and it is so far away that you know no astronaut is going to be able to repair it.
So, everything has to go perfectly right. But let's just take a moment and marvel at what happened this morning. This is a moment literally three decades in the making. There have been so many delays. There have been so many moments where the Webb Telescope might not have happened. Today for it to successfully launch from a French Guiana, what an incredible moment for NASA and all of those scientists and engineers who made it possible.
DEAN: I know. It gives me chills listening to you describe all of it. You talked about the delays though. And it has been decades in the making. Walk us through a little bit of what it took to get to this point.
FISHER: Well, there have been financial issues. I mean, it is $9 billion overbudget. It was supposed to launch initially 10 years ago, so this is 10 years delayed. $9 billion over budget. There have been political constraints. There have been issues about the telescope's names. [09:30:03]
And one of the other things was simply getting this telescope to the launch pad in French Guiana.
Jessica, think about this, I mean, it's massively expensive, right? You have to put this telescope on a ship, sail it to French Guiana because it's so big. And one of the things that they were so worried about are that they had to at least consider was the possibility of pirates potentially trying to, you know, steal this very expensive telescope.
Of course, that did not happen but that was part of the reason there was a little bit of secrecy involved in terms of letting the public know exactly when and where this telescope was. So, it avoided any pirates. The telescope avoided any, you know, issues during launch. Now, we just have to keep our fingers crossed and hope that everything goes OK over the next 29 days.
But as of now, Jessica, everything looks great. The solar arrays have unfurled. It is getting its own power from the sun right now. And there's a press conference happening right now and everybody on the ground says everything looks great. So let's hope it stays that way.
DEAN: Absolutely. Twenty-nine days you said on edge. We'll wait and see what happens. And, Kristin, it's so good to see you -- my old friend. We go way back to our beginning days in television in Little Rock --
FISHER: We do.
DEAN: -- together. Merry Christmas to you, my friend. Good to see you.
FISHER: Merry Christmas. Happy Holidays. Good to see you too.
DEAN: Let's get more on this historic launch now. Adam Frank is an astrophysicist at the University of Rochester and the author of the book "Light of the Stars: Alien Worlds and the Fate of the Earth." It's so great to see you. Listening to Kristin describe all of this is it overstating things to say that this could change the way we see the universe?
ADAM FRANK, ASTROPHYSICIST, UNIVERSITY OF ROCHESTER: I don't think so that at all. Well, first of all, merry Christmas. And it seems like Santa was riding a rocket today for all of us.
It is not an understatement. I mean, you think about Hubble space telescope which was the most successful scientific instrument in the history of humanity, how much that changed. It saw alien planets that we've never seen before. It showed us the environments of black holes.
It really -- you know, Hubble it just -- literally every Marvel movie you see that you see when they have a scene in space they are using the Hubble space telescope image. So James Webb will do the exact same thing but it's 100 times more powerful. So, yes, it's going to -- it's going to rewire our understanding of the universe. DEAN: It is like mind-blowing. So -- OK. So you say it's 100 times more powerful than the Hubble telescope and it sees in infrared. So, what does that mean for astronomers and people who are going to be using these images?
FRANK: Well, there are two things. So, you know, infrared light is light that's, you know, longer than the wave lengths of light that our eyes are sensitive to. And for astronomers, that's important for two reasons because, one, it allows us to see very far back to literally when the universe was just a little teeny tiny baby.
And there's so much about how we went from the chaos of the big bang to now the structured orderly universe that's got things like galaxies and stars and planets in it. And infrared light is really the only way to really see those baby galaxies. So that's one thing we're going to see. We're going to see literally the dawn of time.
And then the other thing that's super important is exoplanet. We now know, thanks to Hubble and other telescopes, that every star you see in the sky hosts a family of worlds, of alien worlds. And with the James Webb telescope, we're going to be able to see the atmospheres. We're going to be able to peer into the atmospheres of those planets and see what they're made of, carbon dioxide, oxygen, sulfur. Perhaps even be able to see whether there's life on those worlds. By seeing whether or not there are chemicals in the atmosphere that would indicate a biosphere. So, you know, that's pretty amazing.
DEAN: I'd say so. Yes. And you're talking about seeing the dawn of time and earlier galaxies because this telescope has been described as kind of a -- as a time machine that's going to allow us to see some of these earliest galaxies. For someone like -- a layman like me and all of this, how does that work? How -- help us understand how we can see back in time.
FRANK: Yes, you know, it's really one of the most freaky-deaky things about science. So the speed of light is finite. Like it takes a certain amount of time for light to travel from, you know, like this computer screen to my eye. If you're looking at someone who's a foot away you're not really seeing them as they are. You're seeing them as they were as a nanosecond ago. Like -- think about that.
So, everything in the room that you're looking at is actually a few instances old when you're seeing it. Now, when you look at distant astronomical objects it gets even more extreme. If I'm looking at something that's one light year away I'm seeing it when the light was emitted one year ago. A thousand light years away, a thousand years ago.
When you're looking at these early galaxies, we're literally looking 13.5 billion years into the past. So they are 13.5 billion light years away, that is not entirely correct, but that is about it.
[09:35:01]
And so we're seeing it 13.8 -- or 13.5 billion years in the future -- sorry, in the past. DEAN: In the past. Right, right, right. That is incredible. Absolutely incredible. I'm like sitting here absorbing this information. I'm learning so much.
So getting this -- Kristin talked a little bit about what it took to get this telescope into space. It was delayed multiple times. It went over budget. There were concerns about pirates as they were -- you know, had to put it on a ship and get it -- get it to its launch site. It has about a million miles to go. And it's going to take a while to get there, about a month.
When you think about all the things that could go wrong, you know, are you concerned that this maybe won't quite make it or, you know, are you nervous or on edge? It sounds like you're pretty excited about it. I'm pretty excited about it now too. You know, what are the biggest dangers ahead?
FRANK: Well, I'm super pumped about it and have been for a long time. I'm also totally freaked out because this thing -- if you want to understand what this thing is you got to think transformer in space, right? It's like a soup can which now has to unfold into a 20-foot wide space telescope. And so there are so many moving parts.
This was -- this was an audacious plan by NASA. But it's what you have to do if you need a large telescope, which you have to have to observe the kind of things we want, you can't have it fully assembled in the rocket. You got to have it assemble itself in space.
So there are many, many ways that this thing could fail. And but, you know, that's why it took so long. It was --- it was a really -- a bold and audacious plan. And I'm going to be on edge until we do it.
But, you know, the beautiful thing here is, this is a gift that like we give ourselves, right? The last two years have been pretty hard on all of us and what this is is thousands of human beings all working together to produce something amazing. And I think it's going to work. And when it does work we're all going to be able to sort of have a little bit of confidence in ourselves that as human beings as, you know, hairless monkeys we can do amazing things when we work together.
DEAN: What a nice message on this Christmas morning. Adam Frank, your enthusiasm is contagious there and you helped us learn so much. Thank you to you.
FRANK: It was a real pleasure. Have a great Christmas.
DEAN: All right. You too.
And coming up, COVID cases are spiking to record levels across the globe leading to more restrictions and lockdowns. We're going to bring you the latest headlines from around the world. That's next.
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[09:41:11] DEAN: Health officials around the world are watching a staggering rise in COVID-19 infections and hospitalizations. South Korea reported a record number of COVID-19 patients for the fourth consecutive day. More than 1,100 in ICUs, that accounts for 77 percent of all ICU beds in that country. In Europe, France, Italy, and the United Kingdom all announced record breaking numbers of daily new COVID-19 cases.
CNN's Nada Bashir is joining me now live from London. Nada, tell us what you're seeing there.
NADA BASHIR, CNN JOURNALIST: Well, Jessica, the numbers really do speak for themselves. Record-breaking figures here in the U.K. More than 120,000 new cases recorded on Friday. And according to official estimates around one in 20 households in London have coronavirus. So real concerns there.
And we heard from the prime minister in his Christmas message really urging people to go out and get their booster vaccines. And that is the message we've been hearing across Europe as well. Now in the U.K. the prime minister said that there wouldn't be any further restrictions ahead of Christmas. But he did caution that further and tougher measures could come into force ahead of the New Year to really stem the spread of the Omicron variant. And we've seen restrictions being brought into force across the European continent.
In Greece for example, public celebrations for Christmas and New Year's Eve have been canceled. And much like Spain and Italy, a mask mandate has now been enforced. And in Portugal, as of Sunday, schools, night clubs and bars will be shut down and people will be urged to work from home.
In France and Belgium, there will be strict limitations on social gatherings. As well as in Germany where there hasn't -- where the chancellor hasn't ruled out the potential for a full lockdown. And that's exactly what we've seen in the Netherlands, a strict lockdown until mid January.
The leaders are really doubling down on their vaccination efforts and their vaccination campaigns urging people to go out and get their vaccines, to get the booster jab. And even in Germany now a potential for a fourth jab to really boost immunity from coronavirus.
We've heard from the World Health Organization warning of a storm coming with the Omicron variant set to become the dominant variant in Europe in just a matter of weeks. So there are real concerns as we see these numbers rise. But at this stage, those figures haven't translated to a rise in hospitalization rates as we saw with the Delta variant. But there still remains a lot to be learned about the Omicron variant, Jessica.
DEAN: All right. Nada Bashir in London. Thanks so much.
Pope Francis delivering his annual Christmas blessing from the Vatican this morning. His message was for a world still suffering through this pandemic.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
POPE FRANCIS, LEADER OF THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH (through translator): Open hearts to ensure that necessary medical care and vaccines in particular are provided to those people who need them most. Repay those who generously devote themselves to caring for family members, the sick and the most vulnerable in our midst.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DEAN: CNN senior Vatican analyst John Allen is in Rome with more for us. And, John, there were some restrictions on crowd size for his services today.
JOHN ALLEN, CNN SENIOR VATICAN ANALYST: Yes. Hi there, Jessica. Very merry Christmas to you. Hope you're with your loved ones. Here in Rome, my wife and I are celebrating with some of our closest friends and it is just a glorious thing.
Yes, so the crowd size was less than anticipated -- well, less than would be normal in the pre-COVID era in St. Peter's Square. The Vatican has had to make accommodations to try to make sure that these big papal events don't become superspreader sites.
Last night, for the vigil mass, there were only about 2,000 people. Whereas, the ordinary capacity of St. Peter's Basilica would be 20,000. That said the Pope certainly took stock today in his "Urbi et Orbi" message, to the city and the world, that we are facing fairly dire circumstances.
[09:45:06]
He talked not merely about the health impact of the pandemic but also its social costs. He talked about women who were more exposed to violence and abuse because they are trapped at home, children who are being bullied, elderly people who feel isolated, abandoned and alone. And in response to that Pope Francis called for what he called a culture of dialogue and encounter that is reaching out to people and then talking with them, listening to what is on their hearts and minds and trying to be present. The Pope's message I suppose, Jessica, was that if you do that, even in the era of Omicron, Christmas is the festival of hope and there still is hope.
DEAN: A nice message there. Merry Christmas to you. John Allen in Rome, thanks so much.
And a quick programming note for you. The boys are back. Join Anderson Cooper and Andy Cohen for CNN's "NEW YEAR'S EVE LIVE." The party starts at 8:00 right here on CNN.
Still to come this morning, millions of people across the U.S. are under winter weather alerts right now while some in the south are experiencing record-breaking warmth. We've got the latest forecast for you. That's next.
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DEAN: Heavy snowfall and winter weather may bring a white Christmas for parts of the U.S.
[09:50:00]
And in the south spring-like temperatures will likely break records. CNN's Tyler Mauldin is live from our weather center. Tyler, it sounds like a mixed bag depending on where you are, for what you can expect this holiday.
TYLER MAULDIN, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, Jessica. Yes, pretty much. Depending on where you live, you may get some record-like heat or you may get feet of snowfall. So let me work you through the forecast for Christmas day.
Not feeling like Christmas down here across the southern tier of the U.S. where records are in jeopardy not only today but all the way through midweek next week, from the southern plains to the mid- Atlantic. Temperatures should be in the 50s this time of year, but we're going to see temperatures today get up to the 70s and the 80s. And portions of Oklahoma and Texas -- we're only roughly 10 degrees off of our July 4th high.
So that's the kind of heat that we're dealing with at the moment. That's going to continue on into next week. Sure we'll see a little cool down, but it's still going to be well above average and spring like going into next week.
Different story up here across the northeast. The northeast is where we have a winter weather advisory in effect at this time. We could see up to a quarter inch of ice in portions of upstate New York all the way down into portions of Massachusetts. That's why we have the winter weather advisory in effect.
So treacherous travel up here across the northeast as the system pushes over given a mixed bag of weather there. On its heels another system moving over. The northern plains, the Great Lakes, they're going to see some snowfall over the next 24 hours. In fact, there are portions of North Dakota and Minnesota that could see up to a foot of snowfall.
We're measuring the snow in feet across all of the mountains out west, especially the Sierra Nevada, where we could see north of six feet of snow. Some areas -- some isolated areas, could get up to about 10 feet. And we're also going to see rainfall across lower elevations.
All of this is very much needed and it's the reason why we have basically 30 million people until winter weather alerts at this time. You can see even Portland and Seattle -- they're going to see some snowfall this weekend as well.
It's going to continue on into Sunday. And then on its heels yet another system. We're pretty much locked in this really crazy weather pattern right now, both for the west coast and the east coast. That's what happens when the jet stream starts going crazy.
It's kind of like a seesaw across the west coast. The temperatures are plunging. And that's where we're getting the winter weather. And then downstream here across the south that's where that record heat is building. And this heat, Jessica, is about 30 degrees above average. And believe it or not, it's actually cooler in Puerto Rico.
DEAN: Wow. Some very warm Christmases down south. All right. Tyler Mauldin, thanks so much for the update.
Now, to a community that was able to come together this holiday despite tragedy. In Mayfield, Kentucky, two congregations became one last night for a joint Christmas Eve service. And you can see there, dozens of people gathered in an empty lot between their destroyed churches. With light from their cell phones members of First Presbyterian and First Christian churches sang "Silent Night." Right now thousands are still recovering after their homes and businesses were ruined by that tornado outbreak earlier this month.
Coming up, going beyond the call of duty to bring holiday cheer to those in need one EMT is taking feeding the hungry into his own hands. We'll bring you his story next.
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[09:56:51]
DEAN: He is an EMT by trade but in his spare time this first responder feeds the hungry, handing out his own home-cooked meals to the homeless in New York City. CNN's Brynn Gingras tells us how he's going beyond the call of duty.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHRIS BUDER, EMT, NYC FIRE DEPARTMENT: Hi, my name is Chris. I'm an EMT with the fire department.
BRYNN GINGRAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): When Chris Buder greets someone he's hoping for a smile. That's really it.
BUDER: They could be in the worst time, the worst element, but putting a smile on somebody's face could change the world around.
GINGRAS: So twice a year, around the holidays, Buder makes home-cooked meals --
BUDER: There's bread, some mashed potatoes.
GINGRAS: -- packs them up along with a wrapped gift and drives around looking for people who could use a little something extra.
BUDER: Here is a hat and gloves and there's a fork and knife.
I've always had a heart for people, I did, but I think the pandemic made me really realize how thankful we should be.
GINGRAS: In the early days of the pandemic, the veteran New York City EMT spent months away from his family because of COVID-19. He worked long shifts providing medical care in Queens, one of the hardest-hit areas of the city.
BUDER: Fifty to 75 percent of the people in my station were out COVID and we were depleted by so much. And the fact that I was healthy the whole entire time made me realize that there must be a reason why I'm still healthy to this day and not sick, so I could stand up and help do more than what I possibly can do.
GINGRAS: He says buying a cup of coffee for a stranger turned into buying a meal which turned into making many meals for those in need. It's now his own little tradition.
BUDER: Hopefully this can like teach people to learn to be more careful with one another.
Hello, lieutenant.
GINGRAS: Buder's colleagues aren't surprised by his acts of warmth and generosity. They say it's thanks to Chris many of them made it through the toughest of days of the pandemic.
LIEUTENANT ERIN DOYLE, NYC FIRE DEPARTMENT: People like Chris come along and they took you off the ledge. They show you what it's all about. They remind you why you're here. And without people like Chris well a lot of us would have retired or quit. He keeps us going.
GINGRAS: For Buder why he puts in this extra effort on his own time at his own risk all by himself?
BUDER: Here you go. Merry Christmas.
GINGRAS: Again, it's simple.
BUDER: I just like making people happy, you know, I just -- that's more important. Once I see other people happen then I'm happy. If I don't see them happy then I'm not happy.
GINGRAS (on camera): And when you see a smile?
BUDER: I cry.
GINGRAS (voice-over): Brynn Gingras, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
DEAN: Good morning to you. Merry Christmas. Thanks so much for joining me. I'm Jessica Dean in Washington.
Season's greetings are being met with a seasonal surge of the coronavirus, the Omicron variant causing a spike in new cases. While infections are rising hospitalizations seem to be holding steady. The U.S. now averaging 182,000 cases a day. New York is breaking new records, 44,000 cases reported on Friday alone.
[10:00:05]
And Los Angeles, new cases tripled in the last week.
