Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Germany To Impose Stricter COVID-19 Measures; Archbishop Desmond Tutu Dies At Age 90; Global COVID-19 Cases Surging, Holiday Travel Disrupted; U.K. Record Set Friday With 122,000-Plus Cases; World's Most Powerful Telescope Rockets Into Space; Unseasonable Temperatures Across The U.S. Aired 5-6a ET

Aired December 26, 2021 - 05:00   ET

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

[05:00:00]

(MUSIC PLAYING)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): This is CNN breaking news.

RICHARD QUEST, CNN INTERNATIONAL HOST: Hello and a very good day to you and a warm welcome to viewers in the United States and joining us from around the world. I'm Richard Quest at CNN in London.

Sad breaking news this morning. Archbishop Desmond Tutu has passed away at the age of 90. He was not a politician, he was a man of the cloth. But his actions helped lead to one of the biggest transformations in modern political history, the end of South Africa's apartheid system.

Desmond Tutu, known as the Arch, rose to prominence during a period of political violence in South Africa, when racial segregation was enforced by the minority white government.

In 1984, he received the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts. The Nobel committee pointed to, in their words, his role as a unifying leader, a figure in the campaign to resolve the problem of apartheid. CNN's David McKenzie reflects on Tutu's role in modern South Africa.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JUDA NGWENYA, PHOTOGRAPHER: You find your cousin had been killed --

DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: When we spoke to late photographer Juda Ngwenya in 2016, he remembered a different time.

NGWENYA: We've got funeral each week. People getting killed. And then you don't find one person; at five, six, seven, eight people, mass funeral happen.

MCKENZIE (voice-over): During the 1980s, the apartheid regime was at war with the Black majority. One of its goals: to turn the liberation movement against itself.

Neighbors betrayed neighbors, friends became informants. In this maelstrom, a diminutive Anglican bishop was ever present. Desmond Tutu was never afraid to step up to the racist regime, using his bully pulpit of peace.

MCKENZIE: During apartheid, Archbishop Tutu's position in the church gave him a semblance of protection and his deep faith gave him an unwavering moral compass, even when it was deeply unpopular.

BISHOP DESMOND TUTU, ANGLICAN CHURCH: I am not a politician, even if there are those who say so. I speak from the Bible.

NGWENYA: The car was standing down there.

MCKENZIE (voice-over): For Ngwenya, Tutu's defining moment came at a funeral.

NGWENYA: This is not what we wanted. We wanted to kill him.

MCKENZIE (voice-over): Mourners wanted to throw a suspected informer into his burning car. But Tutu saved the man from the mob, saying he should be forgiven, that the struggle should rise above the violence of the state.

NGWENYA: Tutu is a man of God that talked the truth. And I think that's why the truth.

MCKENZIE: But people listened.

ENGUENIA: People listened to Tutu, no matter what.

MCKENZIE (voice-over): And during those dark days, with ANC leadership in jail or exiled, Tutu was the voice of the struggle. But after liberation, Tutu's embrace of the ruling ANC was awkward.

D. TUTU: You and your government don't represent (INAUDIBLE).

MCKENZIE (voice-over): When the rainbow nation faltered he spoke up on corruption, AIDS policy, diplomacy.

D. TUTU: One day we will stop praying for the defeat of the ANC government. You are disgraceful.

MPHO TUTU, DESMOND AND LEAH TUTU LEGACY FOUNDATION: He's an equal opportunity irritant.

(LAUGHTER)

MCKENZIE (voice-over): But Tutu's daughter says, now that he's gone, South Africa will lose its conscience.

M. TUTU: South Africa will lose a champion and a coach.

MCKENZIE (voice-over): She says Tutu always cheered South Africa when it did the right thing and consistently called the country to task when it did not.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

QUEST: David is with me now and joins me from South Africa. What is your best memory of Desmond Tutu?

MCKENZIE: I think he was such an infectious personality and his legend grew. When you met him -- the first time I met him, in 2008 in Kenya -- you were overawed. Especially as a reporter, I was overawed and I remember speaking to a colleague, who knew him much better.

And I said, what should I do?

This man is a Nobel Laureate.

[05:05:00]

MCKENZIE: Single-handedly, in some ways, the leader -- showed leadership while much of the ANC was in exile or in prison.

My colleague said, chat about football, make a joke about the sports game you just watched.

That's what we did. He put me at ease. And so many people in so many different circumstances over the years, that personal connection he made, that empathy, that infectious laugh, as this was a man who was truly great but at his best completely down to Earth, one-on-one able to actually sway people's moral compass just by his presence.

QUEST: David, his role for the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which was a leap of faith for all concerned and rightly regarded as a great success in terms of putting South Africa's past to rest, but he did this because he knew that.

MCKENZIE: Well, he knew that it had to be done. There needed to be a bridge built between those who had caused apartheid or being fellow travelers of the brutal system and those who were under the thumb of apartheid.

And he was, sometimes controversially, always ready to forgive. It was part of his Christian faith and the teachings of his church but also just the universal human spirit and need that he pushed throughout his active time in public life and in politics.

QUEST: Later on, this break with the ANC, the problem here was, now he was criticizing those who were leading the Black majority. So in a sense, he came up against his own.

MCKENZIE: He came up against the leaders of the nation that he had once championed, that he then was -- if not quite comfortable, certainly listened to his own moral voice and would be happy to criticize them.

He famously said that he wouldn't vote for the ANC, that it had lost its way. Of course, that meant he was a thorn in the side of many ANC leaders but still deeply respected, I think, because of his role in the anti-apartheid struggle. He was really the voice of South Africans as well as the voice of the downtrodden around the world.

It wasn't just South Africa; he was willing to praise the Dalai Lama and anger China. He was a consistent voice in LGBTQ rights over the decade, even when it wasn't something that really favored him to the powerful in certain nations.

He spoke truth to power. And this man, who has just an infectious personality, a superb speaker and a rouser of people, even late into his 80s, was just a moral voice of the world and will certainly be hugely missed here in South Africa, as this country faces its many myriad of challenges.

QUEST: We were just looking there at days, when Tutu was doing some exercises and receiving the Presidential Medal of Honor from Barack Obama. David McKenzie, thank you.

Omicron is casting a cloud this holiday season in the United States, where cases are soaring and in many places reaching record levels. The U.S. is now averaging more than 182,000 cases a day. That's a 48 percent jump from last week, according to Johns Hopkins University.

The average number of deaths from COVID are up from 30 percent a week ago, still nowhere near the peak levels we've seen in the past. And as of Christmas Eve, more than 69,000 people are in hospital with COVID, half the record high from January, according to numbers from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

However, disrupting holiday plans seems to be universal. Across the country, airlines are canceled, a staggering number, dealing a major blow because so many of the people and the staff are affected by COVID. They either got it or they're self-isolating because of a close contact.

The Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson airport was like a ghost town. CNN's Nadia Romero has more on the cancellations.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NADIA ROMERO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: More than 1,000 flights canceled Christmas weekend Saturday and Sunday. And some airlines like Delta, with almost 300 cancellations on Christmas Day, that's had an impact on travelers across the country.

We're seeing those impacts, too, internationally, with some of those flights canceled as well. Here at Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, we saw a much slower Christmas morning --

[05:10:00]

ROMERO: -- because of those cancellations and because of the Omicron variant. The airlines are telling us the cancellations are because of the Omicron variant. And we know some of those cancellations are due to weather.

Behind me, you can see some people are here at the airport but nothing like we saw during Thanksgiving. We were breaking pre-pandemic levels in 2019. Now we have more people traveling, according to the TSA, on Christmas Eve, this Christmas Eve compared to Christmas Eve of 2020, but not as many as 2019. That may be due to some of the cancellations and the rise of the

Omicron variant, as there is rising coronavirus cases all across the country. We spoke with some travelers about why they said it was just so necessary for them to hit the road and fly out to see their family and friends this Christmas weekend. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I got gloves and everything, sanitizer. You see I got the special mask. Yes, but you just got to see your family. You got to walk with God. That's the only thing you can do. Only God can pull you through.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm seeing family so I'm going back to New York to see family from Atlanta. And COVID has impacted travel quite a bit. But just traveling safe.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMERO: We spoke with some travelers still going on those international destinations. One man told me he has not seen his family in Paris since December 2019 and he was going to do whatever it took to get out to Paris this Christmas.

Another woman said she was traveling from Atlanta to Baltimore. For the first time, she will see her grandson. She said she expects that to be an emotional moment -- Nadia Romero, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

QUEST: Rome, Paris and London, those international destinations we'll have details on in a moment, as many European countries are grappling with record numbers of infections for the new year.

And we'll talk to a virus expert in Germany, as the country is preparing to post tighter COVID restrictions.

(MUSIC PLAYING)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:15:00]

(MUSIC PLAYING)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

D. TUTU: This is the only world we have. If this world disappears, whether you're rich or poor, whether you're free or oppressed, the fate is the same for all of us. We either survive together or we are going to be damned together.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

QUEST: Desmond Tutu, the former archbishop of Cape Town, discussing his philosophies, the philosophies that made him a model (ph) giant. New cases of COVID-19 are surging around the world this holiday

season. It's in part being driven by Omicron.

A short time ago, the Palestinian health ministry said it identified its first case in Gaza. France, for the first time, reported more than 100,000 new cases on Saturday, double that which was recorded only three weeks ago.

Italy on Saturday marked its third day in a row of record new cases and a mask mandate is in effect. Night clubs in Italy will be closed from Thursday until the end of January. Barbie Nadeau joins us from Rome.

The measures being taken, it's this incremental thing, it's anything but a lockdown.

How would you say they reached the level in Italy, as they accused the U.K. of lockdown by stealth?

BARBIE NADEAU, CNN CORRESPONDENT: A lot of people are self-locking down. You didn't see a lot of movement over the Christmas period, over this weekend. There were not a lot of gatherings. Restaurants were not packed like they may have been in years past.

They don't want to lock everybody down. The economy suffered so greatly here in Italy and across Europe. So by just, you know, closing certain sectors, certainly night clubs are closed, those people are not happy.

But anything they can do to avoid the overall restrictions that we saw, that were so strong here at the beginning of the pandemic, you have a lot of people, especially in southern Europe, really taking it into their own hands. They don't want to return to that. They were hurt the most, so they're doing a lot.

They're acting responsibly. They're getting vaccinated. They're getting boosted, they're getting their children vaccinated. The government here certainly doesn't want to close the schools. They want kids to go back to class when the holiday break is over. All these sorts of baby steps in order to avoid that big, giant, crushing blow that we saw earlier.

What's the mood?

We are seeing demonstrations elsewhere in Europe, of people sort of saying, no masks on my parade type of thing.

In Italy?

Well, we have had some demonstrations here. Those are mostly people who don't want to be vaccinated, because we have a vaccine mandate, for all intents and purposes here. You can't go to a restaurant without a vaccine.

It's not enough just to have a negative COVID test. You can't go to the theater, you can't go to a cultural event or a museum. So people have protested against those. The mood is grim. Nobody wants this again.

Everybody thought last year was unique, a once in a lifetime Christmas. This year is similar to last year, even though it's not as restricted. The mood is grim. People are sick of this, tired of it, hoping maybe next year things will be back to normal.

But nobody wants to wait a whole year to have a nice Christmas period. That's what it looks like we'll have to do.

QUEST: Barbie Nadeau, I wish you seasons greetings, thank you.

Professor Hendrik Streeck is a professor of virology at the Germany's Bonn University Hospital and director of the Institute of Virology and Institute of HIV Research.

Professor, listening to what Barbie Nadeau said, people are grim, people are tired, people have had enough of it.

At the end of the day, do people like you say, get over it, this is what pandemics look like?

[05:20:00]

DR. HENDRIK STREECK, DIRECTOR, INSTITUTE OF VIROLOGY AND HIV RESEARCH, UNIVERSITY BONN: Well, this was a very tough call because many just don't understand what a long run -- like what kind of marathon pandemic is.

And I think some countries just have not prepared the population enough for this. They say one lockdown and then we're over, then the pandemic is over.

But now people just realize that we have to live with this virus and have to find some sort of new normality in how to deal with it.

But what we are hoping for -- and now bracing for the impact of Omicron variant -- what we are hoping for is that they're catching the virus early enough that we don't get such a surge like we are seeing in other countries.

QUEST: So since you are at the Institute of HIV Research, this link between new variants and HIV that has been studied in Southern Africa, what is it, in a sense?

Could we expect more variants to come from those who have got HIV, where the virus might be more able to breed?

STREECK: Whether -- the Omicron variant is coming from an HIV infected individual is speculative. We don't know if this actually happens. Generally, we also cannot say whether new variants emerge, whether Omicron is now the finally -- one of the final mutated viruses.

It's very hard to predict how the virus is going to behave in general. What we know is that, in individuals that don't have a good immune system, and the virus can linger for a very long time and can sort of evolve in the body, we can expect more mutations. That can also happen, for example, in cancer patients being treated or

other kinds of immune suppression. It doesn't need to be HIV.

QUEST: More mutations, more vaccinations, more boosters, we are -- I'm not being depressing here, trying not to be. But essentially we are looking at a situation, for the next year or two or three, where we are chasing the tail of this thing until eventually it peters out.

STREECK: Well, we are actually in a much better situation than last year. We have a vaccine that works very effectively. And if more people get vaccinated, you might still get infected. But overall you can deal with this virus. You're not getting seriously sick.

So what is going to end up happening is that every one of us will make contact with the virus in the next years. But if you are vaccinated, you won't get seriously sick. But if you're not vaccinated, I can only advise to get vaccinated.

But because it's very likely that you will make contact with the virus. But we have to get into the situation that is becoming one of the flulike illnesses that we have in the fall and winter every year.

QUEST: So I am holding a good old-fashioned standard mask. And in some parts of the U.S., they are having mask mandates indoors. Places like Rome and places like Italy and some places in Germany, might even be mask mandates outdoors.

For once and for all, do masks help?

STREECK: Masks help. Actually we do have mask mandates in Germany as well indoors. But in particular, if two people wear masks, you can reduce infection. There have been a really great study just recently published that, again, showed that wearing masks can significantly reduce the transmission of SARS-CoV-2.

So if you do wear a mask, you can reduce the rates of transmission.

QUEST: Professor, have a good seasons greetings. I'm grateful. You cleared up numerous issues there.

Coming up, breaking news coverage following the death of the human rights and leader Desmond Tutu. We'll hear about the man that inspired so many.

(MUSIC PLAYING)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:25:00]

(MUSIC PLAYING)

QUEST: Around the world and in the United States, this is the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Richard Quest.

Our sad news to bring to you this morning, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, who helped lead South Africa's anti-apartheid movement has passed away. He was 90.

The death was confirmed by South Africa's president, Cyril Ramaphosa. As the first Black Anglican archbishop of Cape Town, he preached non violent opposition to the apartheid system.

In 1984, he won the Nobel Peace Prize and it would be a further decade before he saw the end of white minority rule in South Africa.

Then he went on to serve a key role in the post-apartheid era, chairing the Truth and Reconciliation Commission under president Nelson Mandela. Larry Madowo is with us from Nairobi.

The diminutive man was a giant. The point is, this little archbishop would come up, laughing, a ball and bundle of energy in all directions, and then these great words of wisdom would follow.

LARRY MADOWO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: He was, indeed, a giant, Richard. He was short in stature but he had a towering image around the world. This man who spoke out against apartheid was one of the leading figures against white minority rule in South Africa.

He was critical of the apartheid regime and then critical of his own partners in the struggle when they took over power, the African National Congress. So he was even critical sometimes of Nelson Mandela at the time.

He did not shy and did not mince his words. Imagine the kind of stature this man had in South Africa. I remember a couple years ago, flying to Cape Town, when everybody had boarded.

[05:30:00]

MADOWO: Archbishop Desmond Tutu came onto the plane, he was one of the last to board. A big round of applause came up. Some people were clapping and standing because he had this larger than life image in the minds of South Africans but not just in South Africa, all around the world.

He was involved in the mediation process after a disputed election here in Kenya. He spoke out about many global issues. He was not just the moral conscience of South Africa; in many ways he was the moral conscience of the world.

QUEST: What we're hearing this morning in terms of those who remember him, who has been saying what?

MADOWO: We've been hearing from a lot of leaders, not just from South Africa, from around the world. We heard from presidents and prime ministers, from India to the U.K., to all across the African continent, remembering him for his contributions to a more just world, because he added his voice to causes like LGBTQ rights, against the Iraq War, against many other issues that many clerics would shy away from.

He said, despite giving political sermons, he was not a politician, he was a priest. But he was a priest that crossed beyond the pulpit into the real world and had a huge impact on the lives of many in South Africa and around the world, maybe one of the most consequential Africans to have ever lived, almost in the same mold as Nelson Mandela, not quite as towering but close.

QUEST: Larry, thank you.

I'm joined now by William Gumede. He's the author of "Thabo Mbeki and the Battle for the Soul of the ANC," executive chair person for the Democracy Works Foundation, from Johannesburg.

The interesting thing, William Gumede, is that Desmond Tutu, in the end, criticized roundly the ANC, the very government that he helped, in a sense for -- push forward through the destruction of apartheid.

WILLIAM GUMEDE, DEMOCRACY WORKS FOUNDATION: Yes, thank you for having me.

I think Desmond Tutu was one of South Africa's and Africa's great moral leaders. People tend to forget, even in the 1970s and 1980s, he criticized the apartheid government but also abuses by the ANC and Black leaders. He did that consistently.

although he was popular, sometimes the Black leaders were very annoyed with him because he criticized them when they messed up.

He did exactly the same after the end of apartheid. On the second day of the first week of the Mandela government, after 1994, he loudly criticized both Nelson Mandela and the ANC for setting the same apartheid state benefits of the apartheid leaders.

Because he said, look, the majority of Black South Africans are very poor. And for a new government, (INAUDIBLE) government, also to set the same benefits, it just sent a wrong moral message.

And when the corruption happened in the ANC government, he was consistently very critical of the ANC government.

QUEST: If we look at the most recent government, Zuma and state capture and the ANC, and all of these things, did he continue to be that moral compass, do you think?

GUMEDE: You know, he remained consistent until his deathbed to be as a moral critic and to provide moral leadership. He was very critical, particularly -- he also was critical of former governments and then of former president Jacob Zuma and even the current president, Cyril Ramaphosa.

And he actually said very clearly that, you know, Black South Africans, they should not vote for the ANC if the ANC is corrupt, uncaring and they should not vote on the basis of Black solidarity if the Black leaders or Black government is incompetent or corrupt or uncaring.

QUEST: Professor, was anybody listening in those later years, do you think?

They listened during apartheid. The Black majority followed, listened and worshipped with him.

In later years, were people listening?

GUMEDE: You know, he was roundly criticized by the ANC when he criticized them for wrongdoing. Even Mandela expressed his annoyance publicly. Jacob Zuma, when he was president, he slammed Archbishop Tutu when Archbishop Tutu said people should not vote for the ANC if the ANC is corrupt.

[05:35:00]

GUMEDE: For many, many years, people did not listen to Tutu in the post-apartheid era.

But I think if you look back, we have our local elections in November this year. And for the first time since the end of apartheid, the ANC actually lost the local government elections. They got 45 percent.

Clearly, perhaps, people in the end did listen to Desmond Tutu, that you should not vote for the ANC, the party that they may have supported during the apartheid era, if the party is corrupt.

QUEST: Professor, I'm grateful you joined us. Thank you.

Allow me to update you with the reaction from those around the world.

Sello Hatang is the chief executive of the Nelson Mandela foundation, this morning he says, "The Arch meant everything to me. I first met him during the work of the Truth and Reconciliation Committee, was privileged to work with him on a number of projects over the year.

"He was a friend to Madiba and to the foundation."

The Desmond and Leah Tutu Legacy Foundation has also put out a statement, saying, "Tutu was a living embodiment of faith in action, speaking boldly against racism, injustice, corruption and oppression, not just in apartheid South Africa but wherever in the world he saw wrongdoing, especially when it impacted the most vulnerable and voiceless in society."

The prime minister of India, Narendra Modi, said, "Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu was a guiding light for countless people globally. His emphasis on human dignity and equality will forever be remembered. I'm deeply saddened by his demise and extend my heartfelt condolences to all his admirers. May his soul rest in peace."

The Johannesburg mayor put it succinctly, "We have lost a giant. Rest in peace, Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Mpilo Tutu. You will be remembered and honored for decades to come. Thank you for your service to South Africa and her people."

The Anglican Church of Southern Africa said it will plan the funeral and memorial services for the archbishop. The current holder has remembered Desmond Tutu as a deeply connected person to the people of South Africa.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

THABO MAKGOBA, ARCHBISHOP OF CAPE TOWN: Desmond Tutu's legacy is moral strength, moral courage and clarity. He felt with the people in public and alone. He cried because he felt people's pain. And he laughed, not just laughed; he cackled with delight when he shared their joy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

QUEST: The current archbishop of Cape Town.

Desmond Tutu is survived by his wife of more than 60 years, with whom he had four children. We'll continue reviewing, looking and reflecting on the life and legacy of Desmond Tutu.

It's now two years into the global pandemic -- or it will be in a matter of weeks. The U.K. is facing more new cases of COVID than ever before.

Why and what's being done?

We'll have a live report.

And also an armed intruder is arrested at Windsor Castle, where the queen and her family have been spending the holidays. We'll have those details for you.

(MUSIC PLAYING)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:40:00]

(MUSIC PLAYING)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ARCHBISHOP DESMOND TUTU, ANGLICAN CHURCH: I am glad that I was around when he was around. He's been an extraordinary -- I mean he's phenomenal. And you can see what one person is able to accomplish.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

QUEST (voice-over): Desmond Tutu talking about his fellow icon, Nelson Mandela, and their struggle against apartheid. More on Tutu and what he did to change not only South Africa but also the world.

In the United Kingdom, a security scare kicked off Christmas morning for the queen and members of the royal family. CNN's Nada Bashir is in London with the details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NADA BASHIR, CNN PRODUCER: Well, Christmas was, in many ways, far from traditional for the queen this year. Police were called to Windsor Castle, where the queen is currently staying for Christmas, after being alerted to an intruder on the castle grounds in the early hours of Christmas morning.

According to a statement from local police, a 19-year-old man was arrested on the grounds of the castle, found in possession of an offensive weapon. Police say the royal family were informed of the incident.

But that didn't stop the queen's son, Prince Charles, and his wife, Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall, from attending a Christmas service at St. George's Chapel in Windsor. The queen herself didn't make any public appearances on Christmas Day.

But she did deliver her annual message to the nation, this year taking a more personal approach, commemorating the life of her late husband, Prince Philip, who died in April.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ELIZABETH II, QUEEN OF ENGLAND: Christmas can be hard for those who have lost loved ones. This year especially I understand why. But for me, in the months since the death of my beloved Philip, I have drawn great comfort from the warmth and affection of the many tributes to his life and work from around the country, the commonwealth and the world.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASHIR: Now during that message, the queen wore the same dress seen in a photo during their honeymoon, while a photo taken during their diamond anniversary featured front and center on the queen's desk.

The moments of reflection on the past year touching on the impact the pandemic has had on this year's festivities but it also offered a hopeful look ahead to 2022, which will see the queen mark her platinum jubilee -- Nada Bashir, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

QUEST: In the U.K., the transition from Christmas to New Year's is growing alarm over the dramatic rise of new cases. On Friday, the government reported more than 122,000 new cases, the highest number since the start of the pandemic two years ago.

Health officials have confirmed nearly 24,000 of those cases were Omicron. No new restrictions have been imposed over Christmas but that could change if cases continue to climb. Scott McLean is here in London.

We know Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are tightening; England is not -- and I use the word yet.

SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, I mean, you said they could go up if cases continue to climb, Richard. I think the political -- the politicians in this country, at least the ones controlling what the rules and regulations are in England, would probably tell you there would only be restrictions if we start to see a dramatic rise in hospitalizations. [05:45:00]

MCLEAN: That's the key metric they're keeping an eye on now. They're more content to let cases rise. And they are rising at a pretty incredible and frightening pace.

You mentioned a record on Christmas Eve. The latest government estimates are that one in 35 people in England have the virus. That's one in 20 in London, the Omicron epicenter.

Across the country, while hospitalizations are ticking up slightly, they are not matching -- not even close to matching the huge spike in cases. So keep an eye on the hospitalizations, keep an eye on the deaths as well.

I think the government, from this standpoint or at this point, feels confident given that Omicron is significantly less severe than Delta -- Richard.

QUEST: So what happens next?

The numbers are up, hospitalizations or those hospitalized higher but not dramatically so. And we see other European countries taking more dramatic measures.

MCLEAN: I think a lot of people in this country are looking at Europe and wondering what the heck is going on there. The restrictions are as if there was no vaccine at all. In this country, the strategy from the outset has been very much, get as many boosters into arms as you possibly can.

The government has done a pretty remarkable job of doing that quickly. Right now, about 56 percent -- I just checked -- of the eligible population in this country has gotten their booster shot. That obviously helps hugely with the immunity.

So, Richard, there doesn't seem to be any huge rush to put in new restrictions. Where you might start to see a little bit more pressure in that direction is if we have problems with, for instance, staff calling in sick in hospitals right now.

In London, I checked the data, if you go back to the end of November, in a single day, about 1,000 health care workers called in sick because of the coronavirus. If you go back just a week ago, that number had almost quadrupled.

That's where leaders in the National Health Service are saying, we may have problems, even if this is not causing a hugely severe virus, if you have so many health care workers out, you can't treat people for other things, either.

QUEST: Scott McLean, thank you.

Now in other news, the military junta in Myanmar is being accused of a Christmas massacre. A local human rights group says more than 30 people were killed in an area between the capital and the Thai border. The group says the victims' charred remains were found on Saturday.

Aid groups say the children says two of its staff are missing after their car was attacked and set on fire. Military controlled media reported an attack on what they called terrorists. Fighting has flared in the past few days between the junta and armed groups opposing military rule.

This is CNN, more in the NEWSROOM after the break.

(MUSIC PLAYING)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:50:00]

(MUSIC PLAYING)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Place telescope as it moves gently away from its launch vehicle.

QUEST (voice-over): It's official. Earth's most powerful telescope is out of this world. The James Webb telescope launched on Christmas from the ESA spaceport in French Guiana. It could change the way we see the cosmos. Kristin Fisher reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KRISTIN FISHER, CNN SPACE & DEFENSE CORRESPONDENT: After nearly two decades' worth of work and about $10 billion, it all boiled down to one moment on Christmas morning. And it worked.

The Webb space telescope successfully launched from French Guiana and is now heading to a point about 1 million miles away from Earth. But this is really only the beginning of the journey for the Webb space telescope.

Yes, an incredible achievement for NASA, the European Space Agency and the Canadian Space Agency, the three partners involved with the Webb space telescope. But it is now embarking on what is called the 29 days on edge.

You've heard with Mars rovers they have the seven minutes of terror, when the ground loses communication with the rover. Well, this is the 29 days on edge, the time in which it's going to take to really know if all of those more than 300 single points of failure of the telescope, if they're going to work.

So over the next few days and weeks, the telescope is going to be unfolding like an origami to finally put together that massive mirror, which is really the centerpiece of this telescope. And it is designed to answer some of the most existential questions to humankind.

You know, are we alone in the universe?

And where did that very first light in the cosmos come from?

This telescope, it's an infrared telescope. It's 100 times more powerful than Hubble, which is an incredible thing and a gift that, you know, so many astronomers all over the world have been waiting years for.

But because it is so powerful and technically advanced and so far away, if something does go wrong during these 29 days on edge, it means that no astronauts are actually going to be able to ever fix it. So a great Christmas morning launch for the Webb space telescope.

But it is not over yet for the scientists and engineers, who are going to be waiting and watching carefully to make sure all of these bits and pieces actually work -- Kristin Fisher, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

QUEST: All right. If you're in the western United States, take a coat or maybe better still this Christmastime stay inside by the fire. Nearly 6 million people across the western U.S. are under a winter storm warning.

(WEATHER REPORT)

[05:55:00]

QUEST: And I'm Richard Quest in London. I thank you for spending part of your day with me. For viewers in North America, it's "NEW DAY." For the rest of the world, "Generation Next."

Wherever you're watching around the world, around the clock, this is CNN, as we remember Archbishop Desmond Tutu.