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COVID-19 Cases Rise More than 50 Percent; Harry Reid Dies at 82; Omicron variant Overwhelm Hospitals in Europe; Sports Icon John Madden Died at the Age of 85. Aired 3-4a ET

Aired December 29, 2021 - 03:00   ET

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

[03:00:00]

PAULA NEWTON, CNN ANCHOR (on camera): Mourning the loss of an American political icon. We take a look at the legacy of former Democratic Senator Harry Reid.

And Hong Kong police arrest six people linked to a pro-democracy news outlet. We'll bring you the details of this latest crackdown.

So, it's been nearly two years since the first COVID case was confirmed in the United States. More than 200 million Americans are now fully vaccinated, and still the country is breaking records for new infections, averaging more than 265,000 cases a day over the past week.

Now, that's according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. The Centers for Disease Control and prevention, meantime, is now reporting close to 450,000 cases on Monday alone in a 24-hour period. Now, that tops their previous one-day high of almost 300,000 back in January.

We should point out, of course, that these latest figures are most likely the result of a lag in reporting over Christmas weekend. Now, the number of children meantime admitted to hospitals with COVID is nearing a new record. The CDC reports almost a 50 percent jump in just the past week.

Access to testing, of course, remains a problem right around the country. We've seen the lines. Home test kits are hard to find online and in stores. And as people line up for hours just to try and get a test, many of them at drive-through testing sites.

We get more now from CNN's Tom Foreman reporting for us from Washington.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): Nationwide, hospitalizations of children with COVID are up, on average nearly 50 percent in just one week. New York City has seen pediatric admissions jump to five times what they were. In Washington, D.C., half the kids coming to Children's National Hospital are testing positive.

All told, an average of more than 300 children are being hospitalized each day. That's not because current variants are uniquely targeting them but because --

PAUL OFFIT, DIRECTOR, VACCINE EDUCATION CENTER, CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL OF PHILADELPHIA: We see children who are hospitalized because of COVID or in the ICU because of COVID. They were all unvaccinated. They're unvaccinated. The parents are unvaccinated. The siblings are unvaccinated.

FOREMAN: Other fears the return to school next week could be even worse.

ALLISON MESSINA, CHIEF, INFECTIOUS DISEASES DIVISION, JOHNS HOPKINS ALL CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL: I think that what we're going to see is once children go back to school, within a week or two of schools opening is when we're going to see our highest numbers.

FOREMAN: Amid the winter weather, the pandemic is roaring across the country with over a quarter million new cases now diagnosed daily. That's a record.

PETER HOTEZ, INFECTIOUS EXPERT, BAYLOR UNIVERSITY: This Omicron variant is such a game-changer in terms of its high, high transmissibility. It's like this big virus blizzard.

FOREMAN: Hospitalizations are only about half of what they were last winter, but some states are seeing peaks there too, and more vaccinated medical workers are experiencing breakthrough cases and being sent home just when demand for their expertise is soaring.

MEGAN RANNEY, ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR OF EMERGENCY MEDICINE, BROWN UNIVERSITY: That's still an impossible strain on an already strained health care system. So, I understand the pressure to get workers back earlier.

FOREMAN: The virus is spreading so fast. The impact is now going far beyond the widely reported holiday travel problems. In New York City, Apple has closed all its stores to browsing shoppers. In Maryland, courts are cutting back their winter schedules. And everywhere health officials are fretting over the long lines for testing.

UNKNOWN: So, I think that that's going to be a significant challenge, and we can overcome that supply challenge and also the cost challenge, I think that will help us tremendously.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOREMAN (on camera): Some health officials think the CDC's new recommendation of a five-day isolation period for some people who are infected might help with all these challenges just by getting more people back on the job. But others fear this is so daunting, there's little we can do except watch the numbers climb for a while.

Tom Foreman, CNN, Washington.

NEWTON: Dr. Peter Drobac is an infectious disease and global health expert at the University of Oxford in England. And I want to thank you for joining us. Doesn't it feel like we've been here before? Yes, right. We have.

So here we are with Omicron. It is proving formidable and stressing many for good reason. And I want to point out especially health care workers, who will be responsible for that surge of patients coming in.

I want to ask you something. Is it possible that Omicron could displace other more serious variants now? Some new research out of South Africa suggests that possibility, and that basically having Omicron take over, that it could mitigate the more severe consequences of this virus.

[03:05:06]

PETER DROBAC, GLOBAL HEALTH EXPERT, OXFORD SAID BUSINESS SCHOOL: Well, thanks for having me, Paula. I think there's very clear evidence that Omicron is becoming the dominant strain, has already done so in many parts of the world. So, in that sense, yes, it is displacing other variants like the Delta that we've been struggling with in the past.

But I would caution against the idea that this is somehow less severe. Yes, in individual cases there is evidence that the likelihood to progress towards more severe disease is a bit less. In that sense, it's a bit milder. It's so much more infectious that at a population level as we're seeing in the U.S., as case numbers start to rise, we may also see higher levels of hospitalizations and perhaps death than we have in the past.

So that's a real risk. The other thing that I would say is that, you know, we sometimes are hearing now some relief, and I think that's good that the Omicron variant may be slightly milder in terms of its progression to severe disease.

There's no reason to think that this is necessarily the end game or the last variant that we might see. We have such high levels of transmission right now, the virus is continuing to mutate, and there's always the risk of future variants.

NEWTON: Yes, and there's unfortunately been some really convincing research done on that in the past few weeks as well. We're all still trying to digest what is honestly confusing information from the CDC here about shortening isolation and quarantine. But do you think because of the sheer disruption of all these infections, that globally other jurisdictions may also look to follow that lead?

DROBAC: Yes, I think so. Policymakers are facing a really difficult decision right now between trying to slow the spread of this variant but also deal with the massive disruptions that we're seeing, starting with the travel industry, but this is rippling through to really every industry. It's going to affect retail. It's going to affect supply chains, obviously health care and education systems.

And so, the new guidance I want to stress is only for asymptomatic people, and that's five days of isolation followed by five days of masking. It's not for people who are symptomatic. And so that may help a little bit to ease the strain on some of this disruption that we've seen. At the same time, there is some risk that we will have people who are infectious getting back out there.

I also worry about the signal that it sends in terms of people being pushed to get back into the workplace before they're well. So, I do want to stress this is only for people without symptoms.

NEWTON: Yes, and you're quite clear about that. And I guess, as you said, the worry is also that some people who perhaps have some lingering symptoms still won't be staying home and they'll be leaving isolation.

How concerned should we be at this point about the increase in pediatric hospitalizations? And I do want to point out it's troubling for parents. Quite frankly, it's troubling for everyone, and yet some are suggesting that it is because of the high incidence of the Omicron variant in the community at large.

So, some doctors have said that, look, the numbers look scarier than they actually are because some kids may be coming in for a broken leg. They get tested and it means they have COVID, but they're not in the hospital for COVID.

DROBAC: We're seeing that across the board, that the numbers of hospitalizations as they go up, some of them are incidental. However, you know, I think COVID has a way of making most conditions worse.

I think this is a really important signal that we're seeing in children right now because the levels of vaccination in children are much lower, and overall, the level of immunity in that part of our population is lower.

So, when we talk about Omicron having -- or being milder, having a less likely progression towards severe disease, that's probably in part because of high levels of existing population immunity.

And I think what we're seeing in children right now is a signal for what's going to happen also amongst the unvaccinated, that in fact the risk of hospitalization and more severe disease remains significant, probably more so than with the original wild-type COVID strain that we saw two years ago.

And the risk, of course, is that will get worse as schools reopen and the case numbers continue to rise. Even if the risk for one individual patient ending up in hospital is less, we're seeing so much more COVID right now, that as a population level, we still could see a real significant strain on our systems.

NEWTON: Yes, I don't have a lot of time left, but you just mentioned it, right. On so many continents right now, kids will be headed back to school after the New Year. Would you tell them to hold off for a week or two?

DROBAC: You know, I think that ideally, we keep schools open, right? I think everyone wants schools to be the last things to close and the first things to open. We need to be doing this and working really hard to do everything we can to make schools safer. That means improving ventilation, that means aggressively trying to get as many children vaccinated as possible, and to make testing possible as well.

[03:10:03]

I think one of the things that we risk is teachers and school staff absences, making it really different to deliver education. So, at this point I would not advocate for schools closing, but we've got a lot of work to do to make schools safer.

NEWTON: Yes, and not a lot of days ahead in order to do it. Dr. Peter Drobac, I really appreciate your perspective there. Thank you.

DROBAC: Thank you.

NEWTON: Now, longtime Nevada Senator Harry Reid has passed away at the age of 82. He served as the Democratic minority and majority leader during his decades in the U.S. Senate. Reid succumbed to pancreatic cancer on Tuesday.

Now, famous for his bluntness, he told The New York Times as soon as you discover you have something on your pancreas, you're dead. but he went into remission and lived another two years thankfully.

President Joe Biden called Reid one of the all-time great Senate majority leaders. And for Harry, it wasn't about power for power's sake. It was about the power to do right for the people. Reid also helped propel Barack Obama to the White House.

On Tuesday, Obama shared a recent letter he sent to Reid. In it, he said, quote, "I wouldn't have been president had it not been for your encouragement and support. And I wouldn't have got most of what I got done without your skill and determination."

CNN's Dana Bash now on the legacy of Harry Reid.

DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): He led Democrats in the Senate for a decade, but Harry Reid called one of his proudest accomplishments the impact he had on presidential history, encouraging Barack Obama to run.

FMR. SEN. HARRY REID (D-NV): I did call him into my office and tell him he should take a look at it. He was stunned because I was the first one who had suggested that to him. When he was re-elected, that was one of the most moving phone calls I've ever received because he said, you're the reason I'm here.

BASH: He spearheaded epic legislative battles like Obamacare with a scrappy style he learned during his impoverish childhood. Reid was born, shaped, and scarred in Searchlight, Nevada, essentially a truck stop outside Las Vegas. He grew up in a shack with no running water where this trailer now sits. He took us there in 2006.

His mother did laundry for the local brothels, his dad always looking for work as a miner. Both drank heavily. During that 2006 visit to Searchlight, he casually pointed out where his father took his own life at 58 years old.

REID: This house right here, that last room is a bedroom. That's where he killed himself.

BASH: He fought his way out of poverty as a boxer. As a politician, he was never afraid to punch below the belt. He even took on the mob as a young politician in Las Vegas.

A wide variety of adjectives have been written about you.

(CROSSTALK)

REID: Some good, some bad.

BASH: They describe you -- some good, some bad. Let me just read a few. Scrappy, tough, blunt, canny behind the scenes, mastermind, ruthless. Are all those fair?

REID: Well, if that's what people think, that's what they think. They're entitled to their opinion.

BASH: As Senate Democratic leader, Reid was a polarizing figure. Republicans argued a lot of congressional gridlocks stem from his hard ball tactics.

REID: Seeing the turning of the tide --

BASH: But he reveled in playing the political bad guy calling then President George W. Bush a loser and a liar well before politicians used those l words.

REID: I don't really care. I don't want to be somebody I'm not.

BASH: During the Trump presidency, however, Reid changed his tune about Bush.

REID: In hindsight, I wish every day for a George Bush again. I think that he and I had our differences but no one ever questioned his patriotism. There's no question in my mind that George Bush would be Babe Ruth in this league that he's in with Donald Trump. Donald Trump wouldn't make the team.

BASH: In 2012, he used the Senate floor to accuse Mitt Romney of not paying his taxes, even though he had no evidence.

REID: He's refused to release his tax returns as we know. Let him prove that he has paid taxes because he hasn't.

No, I don't regret that at all.

BASH: Some people have even called it McCarthyite.

REID: Well, they can call it whatever they want. Romney didn't win, did he?

BASH: Years later, Reid did ask to meet with Romney to make amends.

REID: Shook hands, and put it behind us.

BASH: Why was it so important for you to tie up that loose end?

REID: I tried to do that with everybody.

BASH: Reid also inspired fierce loyalty from many of his long-time aides, as well as fellow senators. Not all out of fear but affection. He often told colleagues he loves them, even in public.

REID: I love you, John Kerry.

BASH: He had a story book romance with wife Landra, his high school sweetheart. The two converted to Mormonism together when they married.

[03:15:01]

REID: She had a pair of Levi's and I said, man, it just look so good.

BASH: That's amazing.

REID: That is true.

BASH: In January 2015, Reid, a workout addict who ran numerous marathons, had a brutal exercise accident that left him severely bruised and blind in one eye. It cemented his decision to retire. A few years later, he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. The effects of chemo made it hard for him to walk. We went to see him in Las Vegas.

REID: That's one of my keepsakes from Donald Trump.

BASH: Never any complaints.

REID: I'm doing fine. I'm busy. I work quite hard.

BASH: Reid was an unlikely political leader in today's media age, softspoken and gaffe prone but he played the inside game like no one could.

REID: I didn't make it in life because pf my ethnic prowess, I didn't make it because of my good looks. I didn't make it because I'm a genius. I made it because I worked hard. One of the things that I hope that people look back at me and say, if Harry Reid could make it, I can.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NEWTON (on camera): Analysts are offering a critical look at Reid's legacy, his relationships with presidents, and why one of his big decisions may still haunt Democrats.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TIMOTHY NAFTALI, CNN PRESIDENTIAL HISTORIAN: Harry Reid will be remembered, and he'll be debated about because Harry Reid was extremely successful and effective at a period of high partisanship in Congress, a period that continues. And there are many who will argue that he went too far in using the nuclear option to eliminate the filibuster for judicial appointments other than the Supreme Court.

What is absolutely clear and I think is beyond debate is that it was essential for Barack Obama to have Harry Reid as a partner during the debate over the Affordable Care Act. Obamacare would not have happened without the legislative wizardry of Harry Reid, and Barack Obama is not the only president to have benefited from Harry Reid.

George W. Bush -- and there's no love lost between those men. George W. Bush and Harry Reid worked together to deal with the Great Recession. It was a Democratic Congress that passed the Bush administration's approach to the Great Recession, and Harry Reid was there doing what he felt was necessary for the nation at a very difficult time.

DAVID GERGEN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Obama was new to the presidency, and he needed someone like Reid in effect to mentor him, to help him along, to help him navigate the very -- you know, the complexities of the Senate and the House. He did very, very well with that, and I think Harry Reid will always be remembered as the father of Obamacare.

At the same time, one can't ignore the other side, and that is did he show wisdom? Was he helpful or not with regard to the filibuster, which is part of today's controversy? He used the nuclear option as it was called at that time to blow up the filibuster, and especially for people who were appointees of the president or appointees to the courts.

And what that has done and one of the reasons it's so controversial for Joe Biden now is it violates a lot of views of what the founders believed, and that is, the power -- if you weren't careful, power could accumulate in all three branches of government. All three controlled by the same -- in effect, same party, and Adams said that that would be the very definition of tyranny, to have all power in three branches of government.

The filibuster prevented that, but it's coming back now, and it may help Biden. I think he's going to try to lift it for some things. It may help Biden on big ways on some things. But just as the (Inaudible) told, Harry Reid way when we covered the filibuster, they are going to come to regret it. We have three conservative justices who might not be on the court had it not been for the demolition of the filibuster.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NEWTON: So, ahead here on Newsroom, 2022 may just be days away, but in parts of Europe, it feels more like 2020 as many countries fight an Omicron-fueled COVID surge.

And the sports world is paying its respects to a larger-than-life NFL coach and broadcaster. Tributes pouring in for the late John Madden. That's next.

[03:20:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) NEWTON (on camera): The Omicron variant is fueling staggering wave of

COVID infections in parts of Europe. Take a look at this map now. The countries in dark red you see them there have seen case -- cases rise by more than 50 percent or more in the past week, and that's compared to the week before.

Now, at the least five countries reported record-high new infections on Tuesday. Spain was among them with nearly 100,000 new cases. Not only is that their highest one-day total since the pandemic began, it's almost double the previous record set just last week.

For more now, we're joined by CNN's Melissa Bell live for us in Paris. And, Melissa, I mean you just take one look at that map, right, and the numbers say it all. You're in Paris right now. How is France coping with its record-breaking surge right now?

MELISSA BELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, one of the measures that was announced by the government on Monday as it deals with these record figures, as you mentioned here in France, the figure is quite staggering, 179,000 new cases over a 24-hour period. That's the latest record-shattering figure we've had from French authorities, smashing the Saturday record of 100,000 new cases on Christmas Day.

One of the measures they announced on Monday to try and deal with that massive surge in new cases is to shorten the length of time, Paula, between the second vaccine and the booster.

So, we're here at a vaccination center in Paris. It's early in Paris. It's a weekday. But what they're expecting here at the center is a rise in the number of people who are likely to come as a result of those fresh measures that have been announced.

[03:25:04]

Really authorities trying to make sure that they can lessen the time, increase the number of people that are boosted, and able therefore to protect themselves against these massive rises.

The big problem here in Europe -- and it isn't just in France that we're seeing these extraordinary figures. As you mentioned a moment ago, Paula, all over Europe, records being set in countries like Spain, Portugal, Italy, Greece over the course of the last 24 hours. Omicron, of course, pushing that.

Now, although what we know from the beginnings of that here in Europe is that it tends to be milder, there are more people vaccinated, the pressure on ICUs not as great as it had been in previous waves. And yet, the World Health Organization is warning that just given the size of the surge, given those extraordinary daily rises, Paula, we are likely to see health care systems here in Europe once again overburdened, once again pushed towards the breaking point.

And Germany is a good example where that latest wave has been extraordinarily long and powerful. We have seen -- we are seeing that ICU beds are down to just a sixth of the ICU beds now being available in the country. That tells you how far-gone things are and how much danger now faces health care systems across Europe, albeit from a form -- a form of the virus that is less virulent than it had been in the past. The sheer number of people getting sick is once again leading to dangerous situations across Europe in terms of hospital capacity, Paula.

NEWTON: Yes, certainly a troubling scenario that you're laying out for us there. Melissa Bell, live for us in Paris, I appreciate it.

And now to the world of American football and the sad news that legendary coach and iconic broadcaster John Madden has died. Madden was beloved for his gregarious style. For many, his voice and personality redefined sports commentary.

And he lent his name to video games as well, becoming the namesake of the hugely successful Madden series. The National Football League announced his death on Tuesday at the age of 85.

The league's commissioner, Roger Goodell, paid tribute to Madden, saying, quote, "nobody loved football more than coach. He was football. He was an incredible sounding board to me and so many others. There will never be another John Madden, and we will forever be indebted to him for all he did to make football and the NFL what it is today."

Andy Scholes now on the life of John Madden.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN MADDEN, FORMER NFL COACH: I have never worked a day in my life. I went from player to coach to a broadcaster and I am the luckiest guy in the world.

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR (voice over): Super Bowl winning coach, pioneering broadcaster, video game icon, a larger-than-life personality, John Madden was by any definition, a true original. During his 30-year broadcasting career, Madden was widely considered the voice of the National Football League.

MADDEN: You have to attack them with the passion, you have to attack them deep with the past.

SCHOLES: His passionate way of calling games with unique catch phrases --

MADDEN: The Packers came out, it was boom, and they got 10 points.

SCHOLES: -- and a love for using a telestrator helped explain the game to hard core and casual fans across America. He called NFL games for all four major networks announcing 11 Super Bowls and earning 16 sports Emmys during his time in the broadcast booth.

Madden's playing career was short lived, he was drafted in 1958 by the Philadelphia Eagles but a knee injury cut it all short. That's when he decided to tried his hand at coaching, eventually becoming the youngest head coach in professional football history at the age of 33. In 1977, he led the Oakland Raiders to a Super Bowl victory and still, the franchise's all-time wins leader.

Madden was inducted into the pro-football Hall of Fame for his coaching career in 2006.

MADDEN: Boom! Go fight with Tinactin.

SCHOLES: Madden was a television advertiser's dream becoming the pitch man for numerous brands.

MADDEN: Let me tell you, Ace is the place for me.

SCHOLES: In 1988, Madden entered the video game world lending his voice and name to what's now called Madden NFL.

MADDEN: Anything that goes that far that fast ought to have dinner and an inflight movie.

SCHOLES: His video game is still the most popular video football game ever, selling more than 100 million copies worldwide. Whether it was his videogame, his broadcasting career, or his Hall of Fame coach, his passion for the game is what will always be remembered.

MADDEN: Some of us think maybe we will be immortal, that we'll live forever. But when you really think about it, we're not going to be. But I say this through this bust with these guys in that hall, we will be forever.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NEWTON (on camera): A meeting date is now set, but the U.S. and Russia have some distance to cover on security issues to find common ground. We'll have a live report from Moscow next.

Plus, six people linked to a pro-democracy news outlet arrested in Hong Kong. We'll have the latest on the region's crackdown on media freedoms.

[03:30:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PAULA NEWTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): The Biden administration has pushed back on document requests from the House Committee investigating the January 6th attack on the U.S. Capitol. Now, as a result, the panel will be standing down on requests for some documents from the Trump White House.

Now, specifically hundreds of pages of National Security Council records. The Biden White House said these documents appear to have no content that might be material to the investigation. And it wants to keep the records secret to preserve the confidentiality of discussions around the presidency.

Now, U.S. and Russian officials have agreed to hold security talks on January 10th. They'll come to the table with relations strained over Russian troops massing on Ukraine's border. And a White House official says the U.S. plans to consult with Ukraine during the talks. For more on all of this, we're joined by Nic Robertson, who joins us now live from Moscow.

So these are significant talks, of course. They're on schedule now, and the U.S. continues to say that this is a two-track approach -- deterrence and diplomacy. And yet, I think, Nic, we should all just settle in and get comfortable, right? I mean a substantial troop presence, Russian troop presence on the Ukraine border, probably something that will be sustained for some time.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (on camera): It certainly seems to be. I mean, look, it appears in essence, if you boil this down, that that troop presence and the concern that it's brought to Ukraine and to NATO allies is what's brought them to the table with Russia. President Putin, his Foreign Minister -- Deputy Foreign Minister, his spokesman have all been pressing over recent weeks to get talks going fast.

President Putin wants to end the ambiguity he sees in NATO's position about Ukraine. He feels that NATO is expanding eastward. That's a threat to Russian security in his view.

[03:35:11]

So there's been this huge push from the Russian perspective to get these talks going, and that really seems to have been as a function of having those troops, close to 100,000 troops, Russia says, performing these military drills, standard military drills, on Russian territory, albeit relatively close to Ukraine's border.

So if that's what helped initiate the talks, it does seem reasonable to expect despite the fact Russia withdrew -- says it withdrew 10,000 of them over the weekend back to their formal bases now that they've completed their training, that that level of pressure, if you will, will be kept in place.

Now, the U.S. says it's going to put its concerns on the table when it talks with Russian officials, that NATO has said it will put its concerns on the table. The United States says it's not going to have discussions about its allies and partners, meaning NATO and Ukraine, without them being in the room.

This is not something that seems to be headed to a quick resolution by any stretch of the imagination. From the Russian perspective, we're hearing from the Deputy Foreign Minister here that the Russian delegation will include interdepartmental -- it will be interdepartmental, and they've said -- he said, the Deputy Foreign Minister has said, that will include a strong component from Russia's defense ministry.

That, I think, gives you clues to the nature of the talks. It relates to the troops. It relates to that possible -- that real point of tension and concern and the U.S. Defense Ministry will be at the table at the talks. Yes, to your question. Will there be troops be there for a longtime? It looks likely doesn't it? NEWTON: It certainly does. Especially if they do want to try and keep

any kind of diplomacy on track there. Russia saying, you know, sanctions will make no difference to us, and that's what the U.S. has on the table right now. Nic Robertson, thanks for covering a lot of territory for us there. I appreciate it.

Now, Hong Kong police have arrested at least six staff and associates of the pro-democracy outlet "Stand News." Officials say they're suspected in conspiracy to publish seditious material, a blanket charge which has been used to restrict media freedoms in the city.

Police also visited the home of a seventh employee who was led away by officers but the stand says he wasn't arrested. The company's offices have been raided by police, who say they've collected now at least 30 boxes of evidence.

We want to go straight to Hong Kong now. Our Ivan Watson has been following the latest developments. I mean, look, they're talking about sedition here. It seems this is Hong Kong's posture, right, towards independent media these days?

IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (on camera): Certainly the government and the security force's posture now. They've revised up -- I've just come out of a police briefing here at the headquarters here in Wan Chai, and they've revised up, saying that seven current and former staffers at "Stand News" have been arrested, that the charges are sedition under Hong Kong's controversial National Security Law.

The police went on to say that they had frozen some 61 million Hong Kong dollars' worth of assets and seized computers, electronics and documents, and a half million in cash. We don't know what currency that would be. The -- this has certainly sent a chill through, one would argue, the increasingly beleaguered journalist community here in Hong Kong.

A statement that came out from the Hong Kong Journalists Association said, quote, "The Hong Kong Journalists Association is deeply concerned that the police have repeatedly arrested senior members of the media and searched the offices of news organizations containing large quantities of journalistic materials within a year, and it urges the government to protect press freedoms."

Now, we also just have news announced on a Facebook account run by "Stand News" that the outlet is shutting down now less than 12 hours after the raid on its newsroom and the arrest of current and former editors there. It would be shutting down all its social media accounts and dismissing all of its staff.

I just asked a superintendent here, a top officer in the National Security Department, does he view this as a success, that hours after raiding a news organization, it's closed? And he said, no, no, no. A success is kind of protecting national security.

The head of the Hong Kong Journalists Association also happens to be an editor at "Stand News," or now defunct "Stand News," and he was detained for a period and then released by police this morning.

Now, just last night, his association had an annual dinner, and he was kind of warning about the difficult climate here. Take a listen to what he had to say.

[03:40:06]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RONSON CHAN, STAND NEWS DEPUTY ASSIGNMENT EDITOR (through translator): Hong Kong will always need the truth as well as journalists. No matter how difficult the road ahead will be, the association will strive to never fail, facing an uncertain path before us. We have nothing else to ask but for our friends and partners of the association to continue to support us. This is our tiniest hope for you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WATSON: Again, Paula, "Stand News," just the second major news organization to close down here. "Apple Daily," the biggest circulation newspaper, shut down after it was raided and its publishers and editors arrested, facing multiple charges. Paula.

NEWTON: Yeah. All very chilling. Ivan, thanks for the update. I appreciate it. And we will be right back here on "CNN Newsroom" after a short break.

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NEWTON: The Palestinian Authority President had a meeting with a senior Israeli official Tuesday. Israeli public broadcaster says Mahmoud Abbas met with Defense Minister Benny Gantz in Israel territory. It was the first such trip for Abbas in more than a decade and followed a visit to the region last week by U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan.

For more on this now, we want to bring in journalist, Elliott Gotkine. He's live for us in Jerusalem. You know, it's been a decade for Abbas. Obviously this is interesting. What can you tell us about the timing, and what significance does it hold possibly?

ELLIOTT GOTKINE, JOURNALIST (on camera): Paula, I guess before we discuss the significance of this meeting, we should clarify what this doesn't signify. And what it doesn't signify is a return to peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians. They remain moribund with no expectation or hope that there is going to be any progress on that front, nor at least because of the right-wing members of the Israeli governing coalition including the part of Prime Minister Naftali Bennet. So that's what this meeting wasn't.

What it was for a few reasons in terms of significance. One is to bolster the position of Palestinian Authority President, Mahmoud Abbas and also to the detriment of Hamas, which of course controls the Gaza strip and to show that he is really the only person that the Israelis and the U.S. can do business with, with regards to the Palestinians even though he's - what, some like 15 years into a four-year term. [03:45:21]

The other reasons and why it's happening right now, as you say, we had Jake Sullivan, the National Security Adviser from the U.S., here in Israel just a week ago meeting both with Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and Mahmoud Abbas as well, showing that the U.S. is reengaging with the Israeli/Palestinian situation in contrast to the way that it wasn't really engaged under the Trump administration.

On top of that, of course, we've seen an uptick in violence in the West Bank both by Palestinians against Israeli settlers and Israeli settlers against Palestinians as well. So this was also an opportunity to talk, to try to de-escalate the situation, and to try to, in the words of Defense Minister Benny Gantz, continue with advancing confidence, building measures so that the situation and the tensions can be de-escalated somewhat and hopefully by the Israelis perspective, by improving the economic and security situation.

This will be in the words of Defense Minister Gantz, better for the well-being of both Israelis and Palestinians. Paula.

NEWTON: Yeah, certainly a significant meeting even if it's not leading to any kind of full-blown peace talks. Elliot, thank you for that update.

Now the Taliban are further restricting Afghan women as they impose a new rule, this time targeting travel. A Taliban official says women are banned from taking long-distance road trips on their own and will now have to be accompanied by a male relative if they travel further than 45 miles. This is just the latest restriction imposed by the Taliban since seizing power in August.

CNN's Arwa Damon is following developments and joins us now. How have women's lives changed, Arwa, in Afghanistan in these few short months, right? And is there anything that the U.S. or Europe can do to really persuade the Taliban at this point to hold up to what they had originally said, that they would protect women's rights?

ARWA DAMON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (on camera): Well, to answer the second part of your question first, what the international community has largely been focusing on trying to do when it comes to persuading the Taliban is freezing Afghanistan's accounts overseas, and international aid organizations have really been struggling because right now you basically have a government in power that includes members that have been sanctioned by the United States and others.

And so what this really ends up creating is huge impediments when it comes to cash flow. What does that mean? That means that people aren't being paid their salaries and perhaps at this point, even more crucially, it means that humanitarian organizations cannot get aid to where it needs to go.

Now, is this the best way to handle the situation? Many would argue that, in fact, no because this has been the status quo for months right now. And when it comes to trying to get money flowing into the country, even if it's money for humanitarian aid, well, that hasn't been happening.

Winter is upon us. It is freezing cold in many parts of Afghanistan. People need anything from blankets to food to medicine. And when it comes specifically to the situation for women and girls, their lives have been completely and utterly upended. Their happiness has been stolen from them. Their joy, their right to an education in the vast majority of cases. Their right to be equal members of society.

And, yes, of course, Afghanistan was still very much a democracy project, a work in progress. It was fraught with a plethora of problems. But those problems did still give Afghan women a much better life than the one that faces them right now.

And I can barely begin to imagine how it is that parents are trying to describe this to their young girls, who don't know what it was like to grow up underneath the Taliban regime. How are they going to explain that mommy can't go out on her own anymore or that their daughters can't go to school, can't have an education, also won't be able to leave the house?

And so, right now there actually is, many would argue, a big burden of responsibility on key players -- the United States, European nations, the United Nations, international community to try to look for a different way to pressure the Taliban to, at the very least, ease up on some of these regulations that they're putting into place, Paula.

NEWTON: Yeah, and that's difficult to try and find that leverage, right, especially with the Taliban. Arwa, thank you for giving us some insight into the problems there.

Now, South Africa is celebrating the life of the late Desmond Tutu. Details on the latest tributes and why his funeral will be a very simple affair.

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NEWTON: In the coming hours, the late South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu will be honored (inaudible) the Archbishop of Johannesburg will lead a prayer. And in Cape Town, his family members will be attending a tribute at city hall.

CNN's Larry Madowo is tracking (inaudible) and has new details on his funeral. And Larry, you know, South Africans, of course, would like to convey their deep gratitude and their loss, but these memorials will be shaped not just by the pandemic, right, but by Desmond Tutu's wishes.

LARRY MADOWO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): That's correct, Paula. Part of the reason why there's so many memorials around South Africa is to encourage people to attend them in their own local parishes and communities and not to travel to Cape Town for the big funeral on Saturday even though that is not really accurate. It's not a big funeral. The actual attendance at St. Georgia's Cathedral on New Year's Day

will be just 100 people, close friends and family and clergy because South Africa currently has restrictions on who can attend a funeral. It's a maximum of 100. But also we've heard from the two foundations that Desmond Tutu was a part of, and they say according to his wishes, he did not attend, he did not want any kind of lavish spending.

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He didn't want an ostentatious funeral. He asked for the cheapest coffin available and that no flowers be given at that funeral beyond some carnations from his family. So, it's a really small (inaudible) affair. That's according to his wishes.

That people are remembering the extraordinary man that this guy was, the anti-apartheid hero and Anglican priest who became one of the leading voices in the struggle against racial segregation in South Africa. And especially one moment, in 1985, a year after he won the Nobel Prize and a police informer was on the verge of being lynched by an angry mob, and he and another priest come into this angry mob and make their way in and rescue this man, who would most likely have been killed.

And then he went back to lecture these people and tell them this was not a proportional response, and this was some of the aftereffects of apartheid. And his daughter, Nontombi has been talking about what this moment meant to her.

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NONTOMBI NAOMI TUTU, DESMOND TUTU'S DAUGHTER: There were so many things striking about it. One was that he had the courage to go into the crowd and say, no, this is not how we do it. But the other is that those young people listened, right? That there was a dignity in our struggle, that these young people, they could have said, who are you to tell us about these people who are selling us out? But there was still that respect for Ute and the other clergy.

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MADOWO: And Paula, that's one of the many reasons why Desmond Tutu was (inaudible) national treasure, an Afghan hero and a global icon. He will be cremated at a private ceremony and his ashes will be interred at St. Georgia's Cathedral where he preach for decades.

NEWTON: Larry, thanks. Just from that scene there, you can tell what a commanding presence he has been in South Africa for so many decades. I really appreciate it.

I am Paula Newton. I want to thank you for your company. Max Foster picks it up from here. We will have more "CNN Newsroom" in just a moment.

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