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Body Cam Footage Of Deadly Shooting; Denver Shooting Spree; CDC Cuts Isolation Time After COVID From 10 Days To 15. Aired 2-3a ET

Aired December 28, 2021 - 02:00:00   ET

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

[02:00:23]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PAULA NEWTON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hello and a warm welcome to our viewers here in the United States and all around the world. I'm Paula Newton. Ahead right here on CNN NEWSROOM. As the Omicron variant surges right across the United States, the CDC decided now is the time to cut COVID isolation and quarantine time in half.

A 14-year-old girl out shopping for a birthday dress shot and killed by police. We'll show you the hard to watch body cam footage released by the LAPD.

Plus, the latest victims of America's epidemic of gun violence. Multiple people killed in Denver, Colorado. We'll tell you how police say it unfold.

So the U.S. is now averaging nearly 200,000 new COVID infections each and every day. But that's not stopping the Centers for Disease Control from cutting the isolation time for people who test positive. Here's what's happening. The CDC now recommends isolating for five days rather than 10 as long as a person has no symptoms. And here's the thing, you have to wear a mask for the next five days out of isolation. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANTHONY FAUCI, CHIEF MEDICAL ADVISOR TO THE PRESIDENT OF UNITED STATES: But just makes sense. If you keep them out for five days, keep them isolated for five days then get them back doing their job, doing their work. Keeping a mask on to protecting themselves from infecting other individuals.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

Now Meantime, testing in the United States just hasn't kept pace with the spread of the virus wait times in some cities are two hours or more due to increased demand and of course shortage of testing resources. The virus appears to be infecting more children than ever before. Pediatric hospital admissions are up 35 percent in the past week alone, we shouldn't say those numbers though remain low.

In general, New York City has though seen a five-fold increase this month alone. And sickos have forced airlines right around the world to cancel or delay thousands of flights during some of the busiest travel days of the year. More now from CNN's Alexander Field reporting for us from New York.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALEXANDER FIELD, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): New guidance from the CDC people infected with COVID were asymptomatic can shorten their isolation from 10 days to five and then wear a mask around others for five more. Those who are exposed and are vaccinated should quarantine for five days while those who are boosted may not need to quarantine at all after an exposure. All this is the country feels the strain of an Omicron surge.

FAUCI: We're certainly going to continue to see a surge for a while. I hope we peak and come down quickly.

FIELD: As infections spread rapidly health officials still believe those who are vaccinated and boosted should remain well protected from severe disease. But there are consequences affecting everyone.

DIANA RICHARDSON, CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER, TUFTS MEDICAL CENTER: We have as of this morning. 115 staff members out ill with COVID who have tested positive.

FIELD: Federal emergency response teams are already working to ease the burden on healthcare workers in Colorado, Michigan, Minnesota, Vermont, New Hampshire and New Mexico. As COVID-related staffing shortages, cripple even more industries. New York City now running fewer subway trains with too many workers out sick. And airlines are at their busiest time of year, leaving even more passengers stranded just about everywhere. Domestically a thousand more flights canceled today, more than 2500 globally.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The reason that our flight was canceled was because of lack of flight attendants. So yes, on Delta, so I guess it's sad. It's really sad.

FIELD: Four cruise ships with reported cases of COVID were turned away from their ports of call in all too familiar reminder of when it all started. Sports are not immune either. The Military Bowl and the Fenway Bowl among the latest games canceled as more holiday plans get scrapped this year, the struggle to get COVID tests just to reel. At a busy site in Miami the wait is more than two hours. Alexander Field, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NEWTON: Joining me now is Dr. Scott Miscovich. He is a U.S. Consultant for COVID-19 and the president and CEO of Premier Medical Group USA. And thanks so much for joining us. I want to get right to those new CDC guidelines.

[02:05:01]

NEWTON: I mean, do you think it's the right call and do you think there should be this distinction not being made in these regulations by the way between those who are vaccinated and those who are not?

DR. SCOTT MISCOVICH, PRESIDENT AND CEO, PREMIER MEDICAL GROUP USA: Wow, Paula. I think this surprised all of us when this came out. Look at when it's coming out. When we have a surge of the most infectious variant of COVID that the world has seen. And it's confusing to everyone. We're getting called all over by employers, and by different patients, and different even departments of health are trying to interpret this.

It's very convincing. Now, here's the biggest thing that concerns me. What do all of them state? Wear a mask at the end of that five days. Well, what about something we've been complaining about, which is what is the proper guidance for what mask is effective and how do you wear it? Everyone has seen it in public that people are wearing all varieties of mask. And we know that those are not effective.

So, very wrong time and very confusing messages to the American people right now. So not very happy about it.

NEWTON: Yes, I have to say you make a good point about the masks, right? I know, in some countries in Europe and in Canada, the top doctors are saying, look, the public health authorities are saying look, ditch those cloth masks, we've not had anything like that directly, you know, that succinctly from the CDC yet. You know, this surge here in the United States is now very real.

And it follows of course, South Africa and Europe. Doctor, can we test our way out of this? Can we vaccinate our way out of this? Because I can tell you right now, there is no one that seems to have any appetite, despite perhaps maybe in China to lock our way out of this.

MISCOVICH: Well, the answer is a combination of both and to mitigate our way out of that. So testing, we've heard the President apologize numerous times to say, you know, we haven't had enough tests. And we are not producing enough tests. In a perfect world, I would love to have every American have a home test that they could test Monday, Wednesday and Friday. And that way we could test out of it.

But as the piece before, just stated, there's hours to get tests, and there's not enough availability, even the public forums. So that's going to be difficult. Now, can we vaccinate our way out of this? Ultimately, yes, we need to get those third shots in the arms. We need to get the vaccine hesitant to get vaccinated right now. But the problem is, none of those are going to help us where we are right now.

Where we're at 200,010 cases a day, we're probably going to be hitting 500,000 within the next two weeks. We're projecting if you look at different projections, that the U.S. could be topping a million cases a day by the end of January. This is very serious.

NEWTON: Yes. A million case as well. I have to ask you as well about this troubling data and this increase in pediatric admissions due to COVID. Now, I really want to say the numbers are still quite small, but of course, chilling, especially to parents. What should be the takeaway from this increase right now? MISCOVICH: Well, I think the takeaway, one of the areas we're really looking at is the New York City 500 percent increase. And if you do a deeper dive in that data, half of those are children under five. And the other half are over five. And what we're seeing in the field is entire families are getting infected. Now fortunately, we're not seeing a lot of pediatric very sick children on ventilators or things like that.

But the message is, you know, be careful over the holidays, don't be going out in large public gatherings where you don't know who's there, or were there people that may be unvaccinated, and for your younger children find masks that fit. And so the message is be careful with children before we let our guard down.

NEWTON: Yes. They have been mostly spared. And we certainly want to keep it that way. You know, we've seen a sharp rise in cases I was saying, we saw it in South Africa first, that led to a moderate increase in hospitalizations there. And then a steep decline really in new cases. Some -- there is some evidence that that is happening in Europe as well, but it's early yet. Is it too hopeful to think that this is the normal of this surge? A sharp spike by a rapid decrease and milder disease?

MISCOVICH: Yes, too early. That rumor is a rumor that is causing some of the spike we're seeing. Right now we're really focusing on what's going on in the U.K. and London. We're also looking at France, we're looking at some of the countries that have parallel vaccination rates, very civilized health care and good data collection. And right now if you look at the London hospitalizations, they are rising the same rate as they did with Delta.

Now granted, not as many people in ICU are on ventilators, but we still also in the United states having mix of Delta too. So we have to be careful.

[02:10:04]

MISCOVICH: We can't let our guard down and we will have more data within the next two to three weeks that will tell us is Omicron slightly less lethal and less than -- less serious, but not yet.

NEWTON: Yes. And while we hope of course, that's the case. As you pointed out in two or three weeks, the cases could have significantly spiked even from the point we're at now. Dr. Scott Miscovich, thanks so much for this. Really appreciate it.

MISCOVICH: Thank you, Paula.

NEWTON: Now, as we mentioned earlier, Omicron's rapid spread is disrupting holiday travel right around the globe. Thousands of flights have been cancelled with U.S. and Chinese destinations particularly hard hit. In China, it comes as authorities are trying to contain and growing outbreak in the city of Xi'an. Officials there reported 175 new cases Monday while small of course, compared to other countries. That is, in fact the highest daily count in a Chinese city since March of 2020. And in Europe, meantime, Italy is battling its highest case of numbers, the pandemic reporting nearly 55,000 new infections on Christmas Day alone. CNN's Steven Jiang is live for us in Beijing with the latest on China's COVID fight. But we want to begin with Barbie Nadeau, who is in Rome for us. You know, Barbie, Italy, like so many European countries is dealing with this surge, we talked earlier about how the CDC was changing isolation and quarantine guidelines.

Is there a sense that this might influence Italy and other European countries as well?

BARBIE NADEAU, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Yes, I think very much that they're looking at shortening these quarantine times because it's easy to test here in Europe, you know, it's very, very convenient to get tested. And some of the things we're talking about in Italy is that you can -- if your test positive, you can court -- you can test out of it after even before your 10-day quarantine is up.

You know, you're looking at all sorts of new restrictions, regulations, and things like that as well. But they're also tossing around the idea now that if you're exposed to someone who's tested positive that you only have to wait three days and take a test that you only have to self-isolate three days, that's of course to keep people working. And, you know, you talk about these travel disruptions and things like that.

That's affecting every country in Europe that the people are out sick, that should be at work helping people, you know, in the travel industry or in the healthcare industry and things like that. It's a complicated mix of issues here, Paula.

NEWTON: The local authorities, health authorities are really being very strict about those isolation and quarantine times and it is affecting people there. You know, Italy is just one example of a European country with a fairly high vaccination rate. What's the reaction to this latest surge, especially as hospitalizations rise? I mean, it's moderate, but they are still rising.

NADEAU: That's right. These people are disappointed because there is a high vaccination rate here. People did the right thing. They got vaccinated, they're getting boosted. The children are getting vaccinated now. And the fact that people are still getting infected is very disappointing, but like you said, or they said earlier, you know, these cases don't seem to be like they were you know, in March of 2020, when everybody was on a ventilator, and they were choosing who got care and who didn't.

The people who are the hospitals right now just artistic as they were in the last waves. And people are looking at that as an optimistic way out of this pandemic, but it's still very serious here. There's still a lot of cases, a lot of sick people, a lot of people and a lot of concern.

NEWTON: Yes. And I'm sure very scary for people who arrive at the hospital knowing of course that, you know, there are those staffing shortages that we just discussed for so many reasons. We want to go to Asia now and China. You know yet another city is, Steven, in the strictest of lockdowns and success for China is in the eye of the beholder here, right? There are only -- we were saying 175 cases. And yet it's not zero, which tends to worry officials in China.

Is there any indication what's at work here and if this has anything to do with the new variant Omicron?

STEVEN JIANG, CNN INTERNATIONAL BEIJING BUREAU CHIEF: Well, Paula so far, there is little indication of community spread of the Omicron variant in China. The few Omicron cases they have detected seem to be limited to international arrivals. But officials and state media had pointed to the fast spread of the Omicron variant outside of Chinese borders to further justify their continued zero COVID policy, which is why authorities in Xi'An are doing what their counterparts in other parts of China have done in previous instances of local outbreaks.

Mass testing, mass quarantine and extensive contact tracing. At least publicly they're putting in a very brave face -- save the situation in Xi'An is very much under control. Despite the alarming numbers you mentioned. They say these numbers are only to be expected as they continue to conduct a more city wide testing for 13 million residents and experts say a lot of those new infections are indeed close contacts of previously confirmed patients.

So, this -- these numbers will stabilize soon and will start to decreasing and with some experts predicting this outbreak will be over in about a month's time especially since the whole city as you know is still under a very strict lockdown.

Most residents confined to their homes. Cities -- the city's top officials actually say what the city needs to do right now is to come to a complete standstill as the government focuses on fighting this outbreak. Something probably only possible in a top down power structure like China, Paula.

NEWTON: Yes. The lockdowns in China, certainly something to behold, something you've been reporting on for almost two years now. And that has been the timeline that we have seen the travel difficulties to China, still no sign that the situation is easing. What are some of the travel issues we're seeing now?

JIANG: Well, you know, travel restrictions, including sudden and massive fly cancellations have really become part of a new normal for travelers in this country, even though all of sudden it's now under a global spotlight. For people here whenever new locally transmitted cases emerge in a city local authorities tend to halt flights in and out of that place almost immediately to stop the spread of the virus to the rest of the country.

And that does -- it doesn't matter how big or how busy the airport is. In the case of Xi'An for example, that city's airport actually handled more than 31 million passengers last year even amid a pandemic but now since last week that airport's terminals have been almost completely abandoned with all domestic flights canceled. Paula?

NEWTON: Yes, incredible there. And a reminder, folks, just over five weeks to the Olympics, right? A lot going on there. Steven Jiang for us. Appreciate it and Barbie Nadeau in Rome. Appreciate it.

Now California authorities are investigating after a police officer stray bullet killed a teenage girl ahead. Body cam footage of the moments leading up to that tragedy.

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[02:20:42]

NEWTON: At least five people are dead including a suspect after a killing spree across Denver, Colorado. Now police say the suspected shooter opened fire at four different locations Monday evening. Three people were killed before police identified the suspect's vehicle and pursued him. Now the suspect opened fire on police and then tried to run away on foot after shooting an officer. The suspect was killed at the scene by other officers. So far, the motive for the shootings is unclear.

Now a warning our next story contains images that may be hard to watch. They show the moments leading up to the deadly shooting of a teenage girl by Los Angeles police. The 14-year-old was in a store dressing room with her mother when she was hit by a stray bullet. Police were aiming at an assault suspect -- at an assault suspect who had been attacking women at the store. CNN's Kyung Lah picks up the story from there.

KYUNG LAH, CNN SENIOR U.S. NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT : This video is from the perspective of the Los Angeles Police Department. It was released so that people in the community I understand what responding officers were arriving to. There were reports of multiple reports of a possible shooting happening inside a store. So the LAPD released 911 call. Store surveillance video and body cam footage video. We want to warn you the video you're about to see may be upsetting.

In the store surveillance video, you see a man acting erratically carrying a solid bike lock and then attacking three random women. One of the women he strikes her multiple times pulling her by her hair and then strikes her until she is bloody. Officers enter the store. They see the injured woman as well as the attacker and then they fired.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Victim down. Victim down.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey, hold on.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey, slow down, slow down, let me take a point with the rifle. Hey, back up. Get out. Get out, out.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's got -- he's got a tube.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey, get her out, get her out.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You got it? You got it?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK. On you. He's hitting her now on the right-hand side.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Slow down, slow down, slow down. Slow it down, slow it down.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey, she's bleeding. She's bleeding.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hold up, hold up Jones. Hold up, hold up.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Shots fired, shots fired, shots fired.

LAH: One of the bullets fired by one of the officers skipped off the floor and went through the dry wall into a dressing room. Well, 14- year-old Valentina Orellana-Peralta was there. She was hiding with her mother, hugging her mother and praying according to her family. The LAPD did not recover a gun from this attacker. Kyung Lah, CNN, Los Angeles.

NEWTON: Cheryl Dorsey is a retired LAPD sergeant and is the author of the new book, The Confidence Chronicles: The Greatest Crime Story Never Told. And she joins me now from Los Angeles. Sergeant Dorsey, can you walk us through what you see in this video? And specifically, what does your training tell you about what happened here?

SGT. CHERYL DORSEY (RET.), LOS ANGELES POLICE DEPARTMENT: Well, we have to first acknowledge that the officers were responding to a code three radio call, which is the highest priority. All that we respond to that means red lights and siren. And in route to this call, they're being told now that there are shots fired somewhere within this department store. Once we see the officers get on scene, we see them do a great job tactically of communicating.

Getting organized as they prepare to enter the location and are communicating, planning what they're going to do if and when they encounter this suspect. Now, we now know that the suspect had in his hand a chain with a rock -- a lock on the end of it and I would imagine that as he was viciously beating this female victim with this chain and lock, it probably sounded to the witnesses, like shots were being fired.

And so that's what was in the mindset of these officers. They're going to encounter an armed individual. We also saw them trying to find out as quickly as they could, whether or not there were patrons within proximity to this suspect.

[02:25:03]

DORSEY: And then as they enter the second level where he was alleged to be, we hear the officers communicate. LAPD, we're coming up, make yourself identifiable, if you can hear our voices. And at some point, thereafter, they encounter the suspect. Now, we can see on the video that there's some distance between the suspect and now the victim who's on the floor. And there's a large rack of clothes, which won't really provide the officers with any concealment.

Which means if the suspect is armed with a handgun as they believe, and if he were to take a shot at the officers, they could be struck because the only thing between the officers and the suspect is really distance and clothing. And so when the suspect sees the officers, we see him duck, out of the line sight, out of the eyesight of the officers. And I'm assuming that they believe he's armed and he could fire the weapon at us. And so the officer who had the ability to take a shot did so.

NEWTON: I'm interested that you say that this was likely given your experience what police officers would be doing. Was there an alternative posture here? Could they have tried to approach him without using deadly force? Or would that be unreasonable given everything you just went through?

DORSEY: Given what I'm assuming was in their mind, what was their perception. They're going to encounter someone who's armed with a handgun. That was the information that they were working off of. Suspect has a gun shots have been fired. And so when they encounter this suspect, and he ducks out of view, it's not inconceivable or unreasonable for the officers to think this suspect may very well start shooting at us.

And so, when they had an opportunity to take a shot, the first officer did so and fatally wounded the suspect. I don't see how the officers could have done anything different in this instance, given the information that had been provided to them. We now know hindsight being 2020 as we -- Monday night quarterback, the situation that the suspect was unarmed. But listen, the officers were reacting and responding to the suspect.

He had every opportunity, should he have decided to do so to surrender to throw his hands up in the air and show to the officers that he wasn't armed. To drop down onto his knees and show that he was not a threat to the officer. And he did not have that.

NEWTON: We've had so many controversies with policing in recent months in recent years. Do you think that there's something that has to fundamentally change about tactics and training here? Or do you think this is just the reality of the violence that police and unfortunately everyday people confront every day in their lives right now in the United States?

DORSEY: Well, certainly what we saw in this video is inherent to police work, and there are people out there who don't comply. There are people out there who wants to do harm to police officers. And just as we have seen officers take a life unnecessarily we have seen citizens take the life of police officers who have ambushed police officers just very recently, a young black female officer was ambushed shot in the head and was recently taken off life support.

And so, no officer wants to use deadly force is what I would like to believe. But there are instances when this is what we take an oath to do in the immediate defensive life. And in this instance, the officers were defending the life of this young woman who was being savagely beaten by this suspect with this chain, which had a lock on the end of it. And -- but for her being able to withstand that beating, she too could have lost her life. NEWTON: The video was just so incredibly disturbing. And I know there will be many more investigations to come on exactly what transpired. Sergeant Dorsey, really appreciate your perspective. Thank you.

Now jury deliberations will resume Tuesday in the sex trafficking trial of Ghislaine Maxwell. The longtime companion of Jeffrey Epstein. Now notes to the judge could include insight into the jury thought process. Jurors have asked for more transcripts of witness testimonies and the legal definition of the word enticement, which is part of two of the six charges. The jury had earlier asked for transcripts of the testimony from all for a woman whose claims formed the core of the case against Maxwell.

Exhausted and traumatized. Healthcare workers are under stress as the U.S. sees yet another surge in COVID cases. I'll speak with an ICU nurse experiencing it firsthand. You don't want to miss that interview.

Plus, surging cases creating a mess for airlines as staff call it sick and passengers lose their cool. We'll tell you how to keep it as painless as possible if your flight is among the many to be canceled.

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[02:30:00]

The coronavirus pandemic seems to be finding a new target across the United States, children. Pediatric hospital admissions are up 35 percent in the past week alone. New York City has seen a five-fold increase this month. And admissions in Washington have doubled. Now, the numbers in absolute terms are still low, thankfully.

Meantime, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is revising guidelines its guidelines for people recovering from COVID. It now says five days of isolation is enough as long as a person has no symptoms and continues to wear a mask for the next five days after that. Now, the top infectious disease expert in the United States, Dr. Anthony Fauci says he expects COVID cases will continue to surge but he's dismissing the need for vaccination mandate for air travel, at least for now.

With Omicron surging, hospitals right across the United States are being stretched to their breaking point, and taking a severe toll, of course, on those frontline healers we all depend on. One of them is Beth Coker. She is an ICU charge nurse at Arrowhead Regional Medical Center.

And I really want to thank you for joining us. And I think it would be helpful, at this point in time, to remind people, even though we've been saying it for so many months now, in fact, years, what is the brutal reality right now with COVID patients when you walk into your ICU?

BETH KOELLKER, ICU CHARGE NURSE, ARROWHEAD REGIONAL MEDICAL CENTER: To be honest, the brutal reality is these patients are going through a lot of suffering. Their families are going through a lot of suffering. We still have a lot of restrictions where family members cannot visit, and there is still a lot of death, to be frank. Patients are still dying.

[02:35:00]

NEWTON: Patients are still dying. You know, we have been talking so much about this for nearly two years now. Is there action that you still think needs to take place, because I know you guys are fighting this every day, and yet, the exhaustion among you must be so acute?

KOELLKER: Absolutely. You know, in the beginning we all thought this is was like -- all of us thought this was going to be over, and it just continues to punch us right in the gut. Exhaustion takes over every single day. I mean, I just finished a 12-hour shift and I have to come back tomorrow and then on the weekend and we're short-staffed. And every day I could literally work seven days a week, 24 hours a day if I wanted to because we are that short-staffed. But there's just no staff because we're exhausted. You can't deal with this for so long and not be exhausted. Exhaustion is a huge deal right now.

NEWTON: And we can definitely hear it in your voice. And, Beth, your job's not like other people's jobs, right? When you're exhausted, it means that people suffer, that you are not doing the best that you feel you can do for your patients, right?

KOELLKER: Absolutely. I mean, exhaustion can take over every part of your brain and, you know, especially here in the ICU, but nursing in general, decisions can affect lives in a very real manner, in a very quick manner. So, you have to be on the top of your game, and that's something that we struggle with when we're tired and exhausted and you know, mentally, emotionally, physically drained and sad with everything that these patients and families are going through. It's every single day.

NEWTON: Yes. I can really hear the empathy in your voice, Beth. I mean, it really affects you each and every day having to see that suffering.

KOELLKER: Yes, it affects all of us. It's not just me. You know, in the ICU, we have patients that pass away. That's just the name of the game, you know. But with COVID, they pass away in numbers that none of us have dealt with or know how to deal with, and that trauma, repeated trauma over and over again is very hard to deal with consistently, especially for two years now. So, that's something that a lot of us are struggling with is learning how to continue to cope with this.

NEWTON: I'm so glad that you brought that up, the fact that you have been dealing with this for such a long time. You know, we're used to making these very trite analogies with war. But if you think about it, you guys have been at this for almost two years with hardly any respite whatsoever. When you think about the toll it's taking, you said trauma, you're clear, that's what it feels like.

KOELLKER: Absolutely. It's hard to describe, but, you know, everyone kind of deals with it differently. But we are definitely all traumatized in our own ways. It's definitely impacted my life completely. I feel different than I was before this. You know, we've all gone through and seen some hard, horrible things and definitely trauma is a word that I fall back on. It's the only thing I can think of to explain the last two years.

NEWTON: And it's been a year since we've had the vaccines. And now, you guys are dealing with breakthrough infections. The CDC has come up with these new recommendations, right? You know, people like you no longer have to isolate for 10 days if you don't have symptoms, you can come back to work after five days. Does this help, or are you also stress beside that?

KOELLKER: I worry about them because you know, you know, for two years, we've been holding these guidelines, and we've been doing really, really good overall as a hospital, you know, not having a lot of breakthrough infections. And now, we've had lot of breakthrough infections and we're just not really sure what's the cause of it, and it certainly feels scary to lessen the timeframe that we need to isolate.

NEWTON: Right. And that could possibly be putting more of you at risk. I know this is a desperate act really, and even if the CDC didn't say it, it certainly feels that way, I'm sure to you and your colleagues.

KOELLKER: Yes.

NEWTON: Beth, we will continue to touch base with you. Again, I'm sure so many people in your community are depending on you and I can feel the empathy in your voice. And I just want to thank you for letting in our audience into just a little bit of what your life is like right now. Appreciate it.

KOELLKER: Thank you. Thank you very much. And I appreciate it. This is an important story, and it needs to be told. So, thank you.

NEWTON: So many frontline healthcare workers going through that right now all over the world.

[02:40:00]

Now, the Omicron variant is causing big problems for the airline industry as well. Thousands of flights were cancelled at the last- minute due to staffing shortages, leaving passengers stranded after Christmas just wanting to get home, right? CNN Shimon Prokupecz has more now from New York.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHIMON PROKUPECZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: More than 1300 flights cancelled on Monday, and hundreds more expected on Tuesday as airlines try to keep up with crew members and pilots, calling out sick because of the coronavirus. They're moving crews around, trying to get passengers home after the holiday weekend, which saw thousands more cancellations.

Of course, all of this coming as the Omicron virus continues to spread through the country. The big question that was asked of Dr. Fauci, if passengers should be vaccinated? Should there be a mandate for passengers to be vaccinated? Here is what he said.

DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, U.S. NATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR ALLERGY & INFECTIOUS DISEASES: Everything that comes up as a possibility, we put it on the table, and we consider it. That does not mean that it is going to be likely to happen. Right now, I don't think people should expect that we're going to have a requirement in domestic flights for people to be vaccinated. When I was asked that question, I gave an honest answer. It's on the table.

PROKUPECZ: With the new CDC guidelines, shortening the amount of time people need to quarantine or isolation because of the coronavirus, that could potentially help airlines ease some of the staffing shortages they now have.

Shimon Prokupecz, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NEWTON: So, traveling during the pandemic, you know, means plans can be disrupted at any point in time. CNN has gathered some expert travel tips to put you at ease if you do hit those un unexpected delays.

Now, first, avoid getting trapped at the airport. That's key. Check your flight status from your home or hotel so you don't have to wait at the airport, especially as these cases are surging right now. If you're already at the airport, speak with an airline agent as soon as you find out your flight has been rescheduled. Representatives often operate on a first come, first serve basis.

Next, ask for hotel ac accommodations. If your flight is delayed overnight and you're out of town. However, airlines have many different policies on this, so it might matter. And finally, be open to rescheduling your trip. You may be eligible for free flight changes without penalty, and you can find more of these tips on our website at cnn.com.

OK. Still to come for us, Western concerns remain even as Russia says its troops have end ended training at the Ukraine boarder. Details ahead.

And preserving Soviet history. How one group's efforts to document repression are at risk.

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NEWTON: The White House is monitoring reports that some Russian troops are back at their permanent bases after training near the border with Ukraine. Now, Russia's Defense Ministry said thorough more than 10,000 military personnel have completed their combat training. The troop's presence has raised Western concerns. Moscow is preparing to invade Ukraine. U.S. and Russian officials are set to hold security talks on January 10th. Meantime, the Supreme Court hearing in Moscow is set to resume on whether to liquidate Russia's prominent human rights group, Memorial International. The government accuses the group of failing to identify as a foreign agent. Memorial was founded by Soviet-Era dissidents and documents repression during that period of time period.

Melissa Bell reports on what's at stake if the group is shut down.

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MELISSA BELL, CNN JOURNALIST (voiceover): For Alexey Yeks, this is history. The little things that survive the Gulags and that will have been treasured all the more by those who had lost everything.

ALEXEY YEKS, SCREENWRITER: We want to live. We want to remind, to remember the house. Remember the normal life.

BELL (voiceover): People like Gregory Ivanov (ph), Alexey's great great-grandfather who never made it back from the Gulag he was sent to during the Stalinist purges of the 1930s. Here in the basement of Memorial in Central Moscow, he explains that was thanks to the organization which specializes in investigating Soviet-Era crimes that he was able to learn the truth about his family and why that matters. History, he says, is cyclical.

YEKS: Because our situation today was in the past a few times, and such things can come back, and this is awful, I think. So, we should remember it and keep it in our minds, I think.

BELL (voiceover): But Memorial is under threat. Protesters may have turned out last time the case against it went to court, but the government wants it shut down. It accuses it of breaking the foreign agent's law, which has increasingly been used to close down organizations that are not in line with the government's thinking.

VLADIMIR PUTIN, RUSSIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): Unfortunately, Memorial has repeatedly committed violations. And as the document given to me reads, it did so defiantly.

BELL (voiceover): At risk, the 100,000 boxes of archives the organization has gathered since it was created as the Soviet Union began to crumble.

ALENA KOZLOVA, HEAD OF ARCHIVES AT MEMORIAL (through translator): In each of these boxes is someone's story. So many letters were destroyed, but thanks to the ones we have here, we can learn more about life in the Gulag was like from those who were there.

VASILY STAROSTIN, HISTORIAN AND MEMORIAL TOUR GUIDE: Its main function was the garage.

BELL (voiceover): But it isn't just documents. Memorial also takes people on tours from the Lubyanka building that once housed the KGB to this courtyard behind another secret police building where 15,000 executions are believed to have taken place.

STAROSTIN: The stories, the histories are huge, like social trauma, and you can get past that, but that trauma, if you talk about it.

BELL (voiceover): The author and journalist, Andrei Kolesnikov, says the problem is that Memorial has become an obstacle to the current government's determination to glorify Russia's past.

ANDREI KOLESNIKOV, SENIOR FELLOW AT CARNEGIE MOSCOW CENTER: In (INAUDIBLE) memories which are struggling with official memory because there are a lot of families which suffered from Stalinism and they are keeping that memory. They are grateful to Memorial.

BELL (voiceover): Families like Alexey's, where there had been shameful silence, he says, now there is truth.

YEKS: I think history is not just the history of the state and politics. History is the history of families, of people, and this is the real history without final cuts.

BELL (voiceover): Melissa Bell, CNN, Moscow.

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NEWTON: And antiapartheid icon, Nobel Peace Laureate and, of course, inspiration to millions. How South Africa will honor the late Archbishop Desmond Tutu.

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NEWTON: Cape Town City Hall, you see it there, bathed in purple light in honor of the late Archbishop Desmond Tutu. Now, purple, of course, was the color of his clerical robes. A week of mourning is now under way right across South Africa. Bells will ring all week in his former parish. Tutu, who won the Nobel Peace Prize for his resistance to apartheid will be laid to rest on New Year's Day.

CNN's Larry Madowo tells us about plans for Tutu's funeral and why it won't be a large and elaborate affair.

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LARRY MADOWO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The latest Archbishop Desmond Tutu will not get a big stadium funeral service like that of Nelson Mandela, his contemporary in the antiapartheid struggle. That is because of current restrictions, because of the pandemic in South Africa. Only 100 people will be allowed for the funeral service and St. George's Cathedral in Cape Town.

After that, Anglican requiem mass, his ashes will be entered behind the high altar in the church that was once called the People's Cathedral during the apartheid struggle. This is in respect of his wishes and in consultation with his widow, Leah Tutu.

President Cyril Ramaphosa visited with his family in Cape Town. And after afterwards this is what he had to say. CYRIL RAMAPHOSA, SOUTH AFRICAN PRESIDENT: And if there ever was one person who really promoted social cohesion, it was Archbishop Desmond Tutu. A lot of great things can be said about him. His global status, the love that he was and is being showered with from across the various countries in the world, just speaks volumes of what he stood for.

MADOWO: Because of that love that the President Ramaphosa talks about, South Africans have been encouraged not to travel to Cape Town for the funeral service. Instead, memorial services are being held this week all across the nation in parishes and cathedrals.

The body of Archbishop Desmond Tutu will lie in state at St. George's Cathedral in Cape Town on Friday, 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. to allow people to pay their respects. Beyond the tributes from kings and queens and royalty and leaders from around the world, ordinary people are also remembering him on social media.

And one of his quotes that's really coming through is, if you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor. That is why this South African national treasure, African hero and global icon has touched so many lives and will be remembered by so many.

Larry Madowo, CNN, Nairobi.

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NEWTON: OK. Now, it's time to take this heart-warming moment as a baby bald eagle hatched Monday in Florida. Mom Harriet laid the egg on November 20th. Since then, she and dad, M15, have traded turns guarding and incubating it. Now, you see it there, a small crack, known as a pip, was seen on the egg Sunday morning.

The chick then chipped itself out of its shell without any help at all. Another egg should also be hatching soon. Love that stuff. Mesmerizing, isn't it?

OK. I'm Paula Newton. Thanks for your company. I will be right back with more CNN Newsroom in just a moment.

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