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CDC Director Defends Easing Of Isolation Guidelines; COVID Rule-Breakers In Face Public Shaming In China; Washington, D.C. Schools To Require Negative COVID Test; COVID-19 Rulebreakers Face Public Shaming in China; Trump Fights to Keep January 6 Records Private. Aired 2-3a ET

Aired December 30, 2021 - 02:00   ET

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

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[02:00:12]

PAULA NEWTON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: 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. The CDC is now defending its decision to reduce isolation times amid record high case counts in the United States.

Ghislaine Maxwell is found guilty on five counts -- o five of six counts pardon me, including sex trafficking a minor for her longtime associate Jeffrey Epstein.

And drastic measures in China to curb the spread of COVID-19. Why these rule breakers were paraded through the streets?

So, medical experts called 2021 the year of the vaccine a chance for people worldwide to try and protect themselves against the coronavirus pandemic. But according to Johns Hopkins University at this hour, the year is coming to a close with an average of more than a million new infections a day right around the globe. That is an all time high. The U.S. is also breaking records for the first time averaging more than 300,000 new cases a day.

Johns Hopkins reports close to 490,000 cases on Wednesday alone. Now of course, we want to point out that that number could be the result of a lag in reporting over the Christmas holidays, but a staggering number. Nonetheless. Meantime, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is forecasting 44,000 new COVID deaths over the next month alone. The CDC projects, fatalities will rise most quickly in early January before tapering off later in the month.

Now top health officials in the United States are trying to clear up their latest guidance for people who are recovering from COVID. But somehow, things just seem to get more confusing than ever. CNN's Alexandra Field has our report.

ALEXANDRA FIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): This was the moment that we needed to make that decision facing the biggest COVID surge we've ever seen the CDC Director defending the decision to cut isolation time in half for infected people who are asymptomatic or whose symptoms are getting better.

DR. ROCHELLE WALENSKY, CDC DIRECTOR: It really had a lot to do with what we thought people would be able to tolerate. If we can get them to isolate. We do want to make sure that they're isolating in those first five days when they're maximally infectious.

FIELD: The CDC arguing 85 to 90 percent of transmission occurs in the first five days of symptom onset. Still, the new guidance is drawing fierce debate among health experts.

ERIN BROMAGE, ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR, UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS DARTMOUTH: There is absolutely no data that I'm aware about with the Omicron -- puts people coming out of isolation five days after they were first diagnosed with the -- with the virus.

ANTHONY FAUCI, CHIEF MEDICAL ADVISOR TO THE PRESIDENT OF UNITED STATES: You either shut down the society which no one wants to do, but you try and get a situation where you can safely get people back particularly to critical jobs without having them be out for a full 10 days.

FIERLD: Long testing lines are still sneaking across the country. New cases are skyrocketing to numbers never seen before. Deaths and hospitalizations, key indicators at this moment are also climbing but not as quickly.

DR. PERNELL, FELLOW, THE AMERICAN COLLEGE OF PREVENTIVE MEDICINE: Are we seeing lower hospitalization rates because Omicron is less virulent or are we seeing lower hospitalization rates because we do have a considerable amount of the population that is vaccinated?

FIELD: Booster shots for younger teens may now be just weeks away, says the CDC. While younger children remain the least vaccinated age group in the country.

DR. LARRY KOCIOLEK, INFECTIOUS DISEASE SPECIALIST, LURIE CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL OF CHICAGO: The vast majority of children that are infected with COVID have mild infection. But you do have to be aware that that does put your child at risk for hospitalization. It puts your child at risk for transmitting other people in their classroom.

FIELD: Washington, D.C. schools now requiring a negative test for teachers and students to come back to class with the peak of this surge likely still ahead of us. Dr. Fauci again, warning people to take precautions ahead of another new year.

FAUCI: If your plans are to go to a 40 to 50-person New Year's Eve party with all the bells and whistles and everybody hugging and kissing and wishing each other a Happy New Year, I would strongly recommend that this year we do not do that.

FIELD: Alexandra Field, CNN New York.

NEWTON: Scott Mickiewicz is a national consultant for COVID-19 testing and President and CEO of Premier Medical Group USA and Hawaii. And thanks so much for being here.

[02:0503]

NEWTON: And what has been an incredibly confusing 24-hour period on the testing front. Definitely the crisis and testing is acute in the United States and elsewhere. Dr. Walensky from the head of the CDC defended the fact that in shortening the isolation in the quarantine that they are not asking people to test out because in her words, rapid tests are not effective enough at diagnosing infectiousness in people.

I want you to listen to Dr. Fauci's take on that. Take a listen.

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FAUCI: What the CDC Director said was, if you look at the predictive value of an antigen test, as to whether or not someone will transmit or not, there's no evidence that it has any predictive value. And for that reason she said, they're not going to be requiring a test, just focus on wearing the mask. And that's the scientific basis of what she said and what the CDC recommendation is.

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NEWTON: OK. I'm confused. Can you please clear this up? Do these tests work or not?

SCOTT MISCOVICH, PRESIDENT AND CEO PREMIER MEDICAL GROUP USA: Wow. Boy, you want to talk about a controversy that is arisen in the medical community. I can tell you, dedicating my life and career to this across the world, a large part of the medical community disagrees with this. So, the first thing I must highlight is the whole concept that this whole thing is predicated on wearing the mask.

Well, how about educating the public on what an appropriate mask is to start with? If you're going to send someone free into the public that still may be shedding, how about really letting them know they should have an N95 Or a surgical mask? So we're very concerned that that is the number one premise that is not explained and is most concerning. Second, what they're saying is just not true.

On one hand, we're being told that, you know, the President and the country is procuring all these rapid tests that they're going to help us but on the other hand, we're now being told well, but they're not going to. The fact is, is that most of us believe if we're going to go to this five day, you should have a rapid antigen that is a quality rapid antigen test. And I must highlight that, to then be able to show that you are not shedding the virus.

That's what those antigen tests do. They show when you're in that curve, where if you walk out the door, you're spreading that virus to others, which is what we're trying to prevent.

NEWTON: Yes. And it is a predicament that not just the United States is, it's so many jurisdictions are looking at what the CDC did now and are wondering, should they be shortening the quarantine and the isolation time as well. When it comes to the test, though, given all the work you've done on this, are you clear that this is the way now that we are going to get to a more normal accommodation in living with this virus?

MISCOVICH: Well, when we talk about where we have failed as a country, in the CDC, and our national policy, I mean, if you look across to Europe, they're mailing rapid antigen tests and have been for what six, seven, eight months to everyone in the United Kingdom, so that they could be testing at home to try to make some intelligent decisions. But we're now just talking about, we might start getting a half a billion tests available, which will last us a couple of weeks in our country, and we've never met that supply demand issue.

In a perfect world, every American would have quality antigen tests that probably is a buck or a buck 50 each, and test Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and then everyone would know when you do that serial testing, whether you are kids going to school, or going to see your grandpa have COVID. So we have really missed the boat on this.

NEWTON: You know, the WHO took a global view of this pandemic, you know, their perspective, their warning about this tsunami of cases. But they also point out that while there were 1.8 million recorded deaths from COVID in 2020, there were 3.5 million people that died in 2021. It's just a staggering statistic.

MISCOVICH: You know, it comes back to -- I think, a little bit of COVID fatigue by the population, which we all know is out there, we all experience. But it also comes back in like in our country, and in different countries they have the same thing is the lack of a common cogent policy that people understand. And they always feel there's some type of spin on the policy just like we started this discussion with.

So, I think it's all about communication. There's not an honest communication that's going on to let people know, just like right now, there's so much false information saying oh, Omicron is not serious, it's just a flu. We don't know that yet. But yet you have governments that are perpetuating that. And that's where we have to go. We need a good common voice that people trust and understand.

[02:10:04]

NEWTON: Yes. And a global strategy finally and let's hope that 2022 ushers that in. Dr. Miscovich, thanks so much for this. Appreciate it.

MISCOVICH: Thank you, Paula.

NEWTON: Now, meantime, several European countries are seeing unprecedented numbers of COVID infections as the Omicron variant continues its rapid spread. Now France reported 208,000 cases in just 24 hours. That's the highest number of daily infections for any country in Europe since the pandemic began. Now, the U.K. meantime set a record of its own Wednesday, you see it there with more than 183,000 new daily cases.

Now according to public health officials, the Omicron variant now accounts for more than 90 percent of all infections in England. And for the first time, Spain surpassed 100,000 COVID-19 cases in a single day. Despite that surge, the Spanish government has decided now to reduce the quarantine period for those who test positive from 10 to seven days. CNN's Melissa Bell is following all of it again for us from Paris.

And Melissa, France has broken a new European record, as we were just saying. You know, it seemed to really even leave the health minister there in a state of shock. The key metric though here, how are hospitals faring so far in France?

MELISSA BELL, CNN PARIS CORRESPONDENT: Well, for the time being, they are beginning to feel the pressure. But what don't give you the whole the French Health Minister had to say to a Parliamentary committee yesterday that was investigating all this was that what had been a fifth wave has become a tidal wave, Paula. And that that pressure on the hospitals is only to grow.

Now what he explained is that for the time being the Delta variant was still causing a great deal of trouble here in France. And as you say, those figures very alarming. In France, as another country, we've just seen record smashed day after day. That's how fast and virulent the latest strains are. For the time being, though Delta is still causing a great deal of trouble here in France.

The health minister told a Parliamentary committee that every second, more than two French people will keep becoming contaminated. It gives you an idea of how quickly it's spreading. And he said, look across the channels, since what he explained is that the United Kingdom is eight to 10 days ahead of France in terms of Omicron. And what he said, when you look there was that hospitalizations have -- had risen just in a week by 49 percent as a result of Omicron making, it's very far spread.

That he said is going to happen in France. And even if the hospitals for the time being are just about getting by although you're already seeing some important operations being cancelled, people being delayed in terms of the operations that they'd expected they could have, the real effect, he said, is going to come make no mistake. And really harsh words there, a real sense of panic, really, from the Health Minister at these figures.

Astonishing 208,000 cases, these nearly two years, this is -- this pandemic is in Europe, it would have been unimaginable just a year ago to have thought of any kind of rise along those levels. That's how quickly it's spreading. And that impact will be felt, according to the already encouraging people to stay at home, encouraging people to take care, encouraging people to get vaccinated where they haven't been yet.

Where you said is that for the time being there are a million people at the moment in France, who are infected. And that, of course, is going to rise, Paula.

NEWTON: Yes. And Melissa, you know, you accused the media actually being breathless about this. But the health minister was quite clear. And as I said, quite alarmed and blunt about what he saw happening. I don't have a lot of time left. But you were just mentioning that this is really starting to turn into panic here. Is there a sign of a cohesive European strategy as these cases start to pile up here?

BELL: Oh, for the time, what we've seen in the beginning of this pandemic was really European countries making their own rules in terms of who could get in, who gave out. The European Commission tried to get a handle on this and try to install something that would be more coordinated, more European wide. But what we've seen every time a new wave has hit and in particular, this latest one which is seeing as I say, a record smashed in so many European countries day off today.

Really every country going back to what it can do locally to try and stop that spread. So no, for the time being, no real sense of a cohesive policy. And everywhere in Europe, a similar story pulled in terms of those figures.

NEWTON: Yes. Unfortunately so, nearly quarter after a T.M. in France and we will see what the day brings there. Melissa Bell, thank you again for that update.

Meantime, South Africa is saying goodbye to the man known as the country's moral conscience. These are live pictures you're looking at now from St. George's Cathedral in Cape Town or the body of the late Archbishop Desmond Tutu is now lying in state. Tutu's coffin was brought inside a short while ago. Now his foundation said he asked for the simplest coffin available and of course for donations to be made to charities in lieu of flowers.

[02:15:04]

NEWTON: So the public meantime has been viewing -- well, the public viewing part of me will be held today and on Friday. And mourners in the meantime have been paying their respects to Tutu. A Nobel Laureate and anti-apartheid icon. This will be going on all week. He will be laid to rest on New Year's Day.

Now, with Russian forces keeping up military pressure on Ukraine, President Putin and President Biden are just hours away from their second high stakes phone call in less than a month. Those details are just ahead.

And the verdict on Ghislaine Maxwell is in after five days of deliberations in her sex trafficking trial. Her next legal step. We'll have that for you ahead.

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NEWTON: U.S. President Biden and Russian President Putin will hold urgent talks in the coming hours. This time apparently at the Russian leaders request and it will be in fact the second call in just a few weeks and is expected to take place sometime this afternoon. That's Washington time. Now relations between the two global powers are abysmally low and recently grew worse with Russia's military bill.

Live along Ukraine's eastern border raising fears of a possible invasion. Now whatever the two leaders discuss in their phone call we'll set the stage for next month's senior level talks in Geneva.

[02:20:12]

NEWTON: Aimed, of course, at defusing the Ukraine crisis. CNN's Nic Robertson has more now from Moscow.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: With a close clock is ticking down to that phone call between President Biden and President Putin. President Putin has requested it. The White House says that President Biden believes in the diplomacy of leadership to leadership conversations, and that's why he's taking the call. But at the same time, U.S. officials are saying they're not seeing Russia do anything to reduce tensions along the border with Ukraine.

They say there's still a heavy Russian troop presence close to the border with Ukraine. And the message that's coming from the White House at the moment is that if Russia wants to achieve its aims and get clarity from NATO about its intent over Ukraine, then it's better done in an atmosphere of deescalating tensions, that there needs to be a really high level of engagement for Russia to sort of go towards its aims the January 10 talks when Russian and U.S. officials sit down to talk together.

We understand that those talks, there will be Pentagon officials, State Department officials, National Security Council officials as well, from the Russian side, we know that there will be a strong presence they say from their ministry of defense. So the context is being laid out here. It seems a head of the -- ahead of those talks on January the 10th, that Russia still has a long way to go, you know, if it wants to achieve its aims which already seem a big stretch for NATO to concede to.

And another point from the White House as well that if Russia does choose to invade Ukraine, then NATO will search for surge troops and put additional troops along the eastern flank of Europe. And that also is something that's not going to sit well with Russia. One U.S. official describing this situation these current tensions still at a crisis point. Nic Robertson, CNN, Moscow.

NEWTON: It has been a long fall from grace for British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell after deliberating for five full days a jury in New York convicted her of recruiting and grooming teenage girls. So the late financier Jeffrey Epstein could sexually abuse them. Her family left the courthouse without comment, but later said they firmly believe in her innocence. Maxwell faces up to 65 years in prison.

Sonia Moghe (INAUDIBLE) was at the courthouse and now has the reaction to the verdicts.

SONIA MOGHE, CNN REPORTER: It was a momentous day for survivors of abuse by Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell after she was found guilty of five of the six counts that she faced including the most serious count, sex trafficking minor. Now many of these survivors felt a devastating blow after Epstein died by suicide in 2019 shortly after he was arrested on those Federal sex trafficking charges. And this trial was a second chance for them to try to seek some sort of justice. And one woman who testified at the trial against Maxwell named Annie Farmer said that she was relieved and grateful to the jurors for finding her guilty of five of these counts, saying in a statement "She has caused hurt to many more women than the few of us who had the chance to testify in the courtroom. I hope that this verdict brings solace to all who need it and demonstrates that no one is above the law.

Even those with great power and privilege will be held accountable when they sexually abused and exploited the young."

Meanwhile, Maxwell's family released a statement of their own saying that they are already working on an appeal and believe that she will ultimately be vindicated. Maxwell's attorney spoke to journalists outside of court shortly after the verdict.

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BOBBI STERNHEIM, GHISLAINE MAXWELL'S LAWYER: We firmly believe in Ghislaines' innocence. Obviously, we are very disappointed with the verdict. We have already started working on the appeal, and we are confident that you will be vindicated.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MOGHE: Maxwell faces up to 65 years in prison for these counts, and she'll be sentenced at a later date. She also faces two separate perjury charges in a separate case.

NEWTON: Elie Honig is a CNN Senior Legal Analyst and former Assistant US Attorney for the Southern District of New York. And he joins me now from New Jersey. And you worked in the office that prosecuted this case. Why is this verdict significant do you think?

ELIE HONIG, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: I did work there and I'm proud of the work that the Southern District of New York has done here because justice is far too long coming in this case. It took over a decade. Let's remember over a decade ago, other federal prosecutors down in Florida they had a case against Jeffrey Epstein. They had a very strong case against Jeffrey Epstein.

But they decided to basically give him a free pass that came back to light when the prosecutor there Alex Acosta became one of Donald Trump's cabinet members and resigned over this. So, these victims, dozens of victims have waited well over a decade.

[02:25:07]

HONIG: Today is really the first moment where they've got to feel some true sense of justice.

NEWTON: And I'm glad that you mentioned the victims, because you have to think about how difficult it was for them to come forward. You know, this case will surely be appealed. I've already indicated that it would be. In terms of the time that the jury took with this verdict and the fact that she was not convicted on all charges. How might that impact the appeal do you think?

HONIG: As a prosecutor, you love that for appeal, because one thing you want to be able to say to your appellate panel, your three judges who are hear the appeal is this jury was not overly inflamed. They didn't just sort of rule in the heat of passion. They were careful. They were meticulous, they spent dozens of hours, days upon days deliberating and they were careful the way they gave this verdict.

They parsed it out. They didn't just say guilty across the board, not guilty across the board. They said guilty of five of the six counts, but not the six. You know, juries can be really unpredictable. I've had juries come back with verdicts in one hour. I've had juries out for two weeks here, we fell somewhere in the middle. But I like that if I'm a prosecutor because I think it helps me on appeal.

NEWTON: You know, some have suggested that perhaps Ghislaine Maxwell was a scapegoat for Jeffrey Epstein, who was the real person who should have been prosecuted here.

HONIG: Yes, I think that's really hard to swallow, really hard to believe. I mean, look, a person can be a coconspirator, can be a subordinate, can be the number two. That doesn't mean they're a scapegoat. And I think the jury firmly rejected that. I mean, in order to buy that scapegoat argument, you'd A, have to disbelieve, basically all the evidence that the prosecution put on, including testimony from four different victims.

And you'd have to just disbelieve your own common sense. I mean, jurors are allowed to use common sense here in our system. Every judge tells every jury, you can use your common sense. And I don't know how would be plausible or believable that a person in Ghislaine Maxwell's position A, had nothing to do with this sex trafficking network. And B, had no idea what Jeffrey Epstein was doing right in front of her face.

NEWTON: And like you said, very deliberative jury decided that she was guilty on most of the charges. You know, Elie, many are disappointed here that there were many rich and powerful people who perhaps enabled Epstein, right? They will face no consequences. How difficult would it be for prosecutors to try and continue to pursue this case in any scope? Given that perhaps what some of these people did may have been despicable, immoral, but the prosecutors have to prove that it was illegal.

HONIG: Exactly. So I understand the frustration that a lot of people feel. I understand why a lot of the victims feel like this was an important victory today, but only a partial victory. Because this was more than a two-person operation. This was more than Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell. Now, in order to bring other people to justice, you would need a couple things. First of all, you would need a law that you could charge under federal law here in the United States generally doesn't cover simply sexual assault.

You need some sort of interstate transportation or interstate enticement aspect of it. Now that was present as for Maxwell, but it might not be present as to men who had sex with underage women. So you'd need to start looking at state laws, you'd also need to make sure that those state laws have not expired. We have statutes of limitations here, which say, prosecutors only have a certain amount of time to charge these cases.

So if something happened way back in the 90s, it could be out of time. And the third thing and really the most important thing you would need is prosecutors who are committed and willing to do this, you know, you would need a commitment from state prosecutors, federal prosecutors that we are going to go after these people and try to hold them accountable. Now, could Maxwell flip?

Maybe, she could try. I mean, it's hard now that she's been convicted by a jury, but I worked at the Southern District of New York, I have cooperated people after jury verdicts, but it has to go both ways. She has to be willing to come fully clean. And the Southern District of New York has to be willing to let her do that to believe that she's come fully clean and to cut her a deal.

NEWTON: Yes. So interesting, especially given the fact that she is facing a lot of years in prison right now. Elie Honig, thanks so much for your perspective on this. Appreciate it.

HONIG: Thanks for having me.

NEWTON: Coming up here on CNN NEWSROOM. Rule breakers could face embarrassing punishment in China than humiliating if they're caught thumbing their noses at strict COVID protocols. The latest from Beijing after the break.

Plus, doctors fear India could be in for another massive COVID surge. But Omicron is only a part of the reason for that. We'll explain.

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[02:30:00]

PAULA NEWTON, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT: The Chinese city of Xi'an is now in its eighth day of lockdown. But cases there continue to rise. China reported 156 new locally transmitted infections Wednesday. And despite everyone being ordered to stay home, all but one of those infections was from Xi'an.

China is taking drastic measures to stop the spread. Steven Jiang has been following all of this from Beijing.

And disturbing video that we have seen, of what the consequences are if you try and break any of those quarantine rules. Steven, try and explain some of this to us because these people were actually taken out in public and shamed.

STEVEN JIANG, CNN SENIOR PRODUCER, BEIJING BUREAU: That's right, Paula. The disturbing video, as you mentioned, depict an incident on Tuesday, with four men in full hazmat suits, with photographs on placards around their neck.

Their alleged crime was helping people illegally cross the border from Vietnam, considered a serious offense by local police, due to China's continued border closure and COVID rules.

There were some recent outbreaks blamed on illegal immigrants entering China. Officials in those places are facing mounting pressure from Beijing ahead of the Olympics.

But those disturbing images have stirred some strong public reactions because they have reminded people here of one of the most repressive periods in Chinese history, the Cultural Revolution in the 1960s and the 1970s, in the Mao era, when political fanatics were treating their enemies in this humiliating manner.

Some voices online say that this acts as a deterrent. But a growing number of voices of opposition, however, even on state media, saying this is a serious violation of the spirit of the rule of law and should never happen again.

[02:35:00]

JIANG: But so far, local authorities in Jiangxi say that this was meant to send out a strong warning and that they see nothing inappropriate about this.

But the Beijing leadership has been touting the effectiveness of their zero COVID policy, saying how it shows that they always put people first. But incidents like this obviously expose a dark side of their policy. And for local officials, many just have little regard for human rights or human dignity in the name of COVID prevention -- Paula.

NEWTON: That video is disturbing. We will continue to follow the case counts there. Thank you, Steven, appreciate it.

For the second day in a row, India has seen enormous increases in COVID cases, 13,000 infections Thursday, over a 40 percent jump over the day before. But Indian political parties are, let's remind you, in full campaign mode, holding big rallies ahead of legislative elections in five states early next year.

As Ivan Watson reports, there is a concern that those rallies could make the COVID situation a whole lot worse.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NARENDRA MODI, INDIAN PRIME MINISTER: (Speaking foreign language).

IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): India's prime minister on the campaign trail, addressing packed crowds in Uttar Pradesh, a key political battleground.

With elections due to start here early next year, Narendra Modi has made seven trips to India's most populous state in December alone. At these rallies, most, including the nation's leader, are not wearing masks. And little mention from Modi's ruling BJP of the COVID-19 pandemic.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) GILLES VERNIERS, POLITICAL ANALYST: And it seems unlikely that the BJP would want to take the risk to conduct the election in the aftermath of another wave. On the other hand, they are reckless enough to push for holding an election during a COVID wave.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WATSON (voice-over): But there are fears of a repeat of recent tragic history. This was the scene in New Delhi in spring 2021, crematoriums working overtime, death tolls from COVID skyrocketing, hospital beds and oxygen in short supply.

With the health care system overwhelmed, critics accused Modi of putting politics before public health, after encouraging election rallies and large religion gatherings, which would later be declared superspreader events by some experts.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WATSON (voice-over): Fast forward to today.

MODI (through translator): Omicron is a concern. Please don't panic but be careful and stay alert. Use masks as much as possible.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WATSON (voice-over): Some Indian states have imposed measures to curb the spread of the new Omicron variant. But despite urging caution, the national government has yet to announce any restrictions on large public gatherings.

As cases rise, only 41 percent of India's population is fully vaccinated against COVID-19. As the nation's political parties come out to campaign, public health officials are sounding the alarm.

V.K. PAUL, INDIAN COVID-19 TASK FORCE HEAD (through translator): If India observes the same pattern as the U.K. and if you compare the same population of both countries, 80,000 daily cases in the U.K. would mean around 1.4 million daily COVID cases in India.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WATSON (voice-over): They worry the election cycle could fuel a fresh wave of new infections.

DR. DHIREN GUPTA, SIR GANGA RAM HOSPITAL (through translator): People might not get tested if the symptoms of this variant are not visible. So there are more chances of the election rallies becoming superspreader events.

But there is no doubt that we should postpone these rallies for the at least two months. Prevention is the best cure for India.

WATSON (voice-over): In the spring of 2021, India's health care system buckled under the pressure of its second coronavirus wave, which peaked at some 400,000 recorded daily cases.

Since then, the government has increased the number of ICU beds and bolstered oxygen supplies. But it's still an open question how hospitals will cope if there's a new wave of Omicron infections.

MODI: (Speaking foreign language).

WATSON (voice-over): For now, prime minister Modi's message is clear: when it comes to casting ballots, the show must go on -- Ivan Watson, CNN, Hong Kong.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NEWTON: Still to come, Lebanon has endured crisis after crisis over the years. But in 2021, things definitely got worse. We will take a look at the country on the brink of collapse. We will have that after a short break.

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[02:40:00]

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NEWTON: Nearly 70 years after the Korean War ended with a cease-fire, the U.S. and South Korea appear close to declaring a formal end to the conflict.

South Korea's foreign minister say that Washington and South Korea have agreed on a draft declaration. North Korea, meantime, dismissed such a declaration as premature because of hostile U.S. policy.

But the U.S. State Department counters and says that the U.S. has no hostile intentions toward North Korea.

Lebanon's people have had a difficult time in 2021, from a crumbling economy to shortages of basic necessities, to still unanswered questions on the 2020 deadly port explosion. Ben Wedeman was witness to much of it and he now breaks down the country's struggles this year.

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BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This is what a collapsing state looks like: perennial disorder, sporadic violence, basic services barely functioning, basic goods in short supply, a national currency and economy in freefall and a squabbling political class, incapable or unwilling or uninterested in putting aside their differences to save this country, once described as the Switzerland of the Middle East.

When 2021 began, it seemed things couldn't get worse. Beirut was still reeling from the August 2020 port blast. COVID was ravaging a population already battered by a deep economic crisis. The politicians couldn't agree on the formation of a new government and, as 2021 ends, events have proven things could get even worse.

The cabinet of prime minister Najib Makati hasn't met since October, divided between those who want Tarek Bitar, the judge investigating the Beirut port blast, to resign and those who want him to stay.

[02:45:00]

WEDEMAN (voice-over): The Lebanese currency, already a fraction of its pre-crisis value, has plummeted from a historic low to a historic low.

The economy continues to shrink. 2021 ended up being the year that never was the year when the families of the victims of the port blast demanded justice which never happened, the year when once again Lebanon's leaders failed to serve the people almost 80 percent now live below the poverty line, the United Nations reports.

Monday, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres visited the ruins of Beirut's port; tweeting afterwards, "The Lebanese people deserve the truth."

He's the latest in a long list of world leaders to call on Lebanon's politicians to do their duty and save the country from falling into the abyss, those calls still falling on deaf ears -- Ben Wedeman, CNN.

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NEWTON: Jordanian lawmakers took trading political blows to a whole new level, getting into a fistfight on the parliament floor. Take a look.

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NEWTON: The brawl broke out over debate unconstitutional reforms Tuesday that would give more rights to women, with one conservative lawmaker calling the proposed changes as, quote, "going against morality and motherhood."

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NEWTON: The U.S. is now seeing another surge in COVID cases, fueled by a fast-moving variant.

What could that mean for plans to return to the office in 2022?

We will have that next.

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NEWTON: The World Health Organization is reacting to the CDC's decision to shorten isolation time for people infected with COVID-19. It is a move that has drawn criticism from some in the United States, where cases are surging. WHO leaders say that shortened isolation periods show the need to take transmission seriously while also balancing the needs of the society and workforce.

Juliette Kayyem is a CNN national security analyst and former assistant secretary of the Department of Homeland Security. She joins me now from Cambridge, Massachusetts.

We are going to go way back, 2020.

Do you even remember, in May, the headline was, "Never go back to the office." And you posed the question. You said, you might be thinking you need to go back but you posed the question, when should you go back to the office?

You shouldn't. So we are here, the end of 2021; we have this terrible variant of this virus just rampaging through the world, essentially.

What is your take now for 2022 and what does it look like, that return to work?

JULIETTE KAYYEM, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: I feel like in 2020, I was like 17 years old, right?

It feels like a lifetime ago.

The way I think about 2022, in particular for countries having success with vaccination rates, which may not be perfect but are able to manage the worst consequences of COVID -- because, remember, that success, we don't need to get to COVID-19 zero.

We just need to get to a place where if I get it or you get, it may be like a little flu or something. So what you want -- so we are in a much better place than we are right now with treatments and everything else.

So if you view it that way, then 2022 is what I call sort of our adaptive recovery here. And that should be good. In other words, we have the tools to recover. But it is going to be different every day. That's why I call it a adaptive recovery. It's going to depend on what is out there in the world.

Does your entire workforce get sick?

And so what you are seeing happening is, first, the delays in the return that were anticipated in 2020, they are getting extended out a bit. Then you are likely to see openings and closings, depending on what is happening with the workforce.

We have to be adaptive in 2022. But remember that is toward a good finish line. In other words, it's going to be really dark days ahead. But part of that is because, you know, basically we are learning to live with a virus -- hard to imagine -- and not simply die by, which was the only option we had in 2020.

NEWTON: Yes, and I understand, I hear in your voice there is a lot of optimism. I think there is a lot of yo-yo -- we are going back to the office, we are not going back to the office, we are but not yet.

We have to talk about not only a loss to the corporate culture but learning loss. You are a mother and also an instructor.

At what point do we have to make that critical shift -- and I know the way you analyze these things to say, look, it's now worth the risk; we need to get back to a more normal life.

KAYYEM: Exactly, exactly right. The idea that people still talk about risk elimination is ridiculous because it assumes there are no consequences for deciding to have the most aggressive public health policy.

And in some countries what you are seeing now is a recognition that they are making a risk calculation because getting COVID does not necessarily mean death anymore. It was a lot worse in 2020. And so you are making those trade-offs. I call it risk minimization, trying to minimize the risks.

And the trade-offs in schools or closing schools are too great. We need to treat schools and education like critical infrastructure. You don't turn off the water or the electricity. You do not close down the schools as a first measure. Maybe as a last measure if things are particularly bad in the school itself.

But the sweeping school district closures are not necessary.

NEWTON: A good way to put it, that schools are critical infrastructure, like heat or electricity.

The CDC is shortening the time for isolation and quarantine. There is going to be some hefty disruption in many, many different spheres of work and life.

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NEWTON: Do you fear that there could be risks to critical infrastructure if so many essential employees are kept home for too long?

KAYYEM: I do. And I actually applaud the CDC decision, however it came out or whether they need to communicate it better. I think it's important we do not view the tools we had in 2020-21 relevant for the future.

We know that vaccinated, boosted people who get infected are only having flu-like symptoms. So we need to begin to push the envelope a bit, to not focus on what is the best public health advice but what is the best public health advice in a society that needs to start moving forward.

I recognize things are dark now but it is going to be much better next year.

NEWTON: And on that optimistic note, we will leave it there. Thanks so much, appreciate it.

KAYYEM: Thank you so much.

NEWTON: Now a new report says Elton John was nearly barred from performing a reworked version of his song, "Candle in the Wind" at Princess Diana's funeral in 1997. The press association media says that there were concerns that the lyrics were too sentimental. And a saxophone player was on standby just in case.

The dean of Westminster appealed to Buckingham Palace to resolve the dispute. The song was originally written in memory of Marilyn Monroe.

The British Royal Mint has unveiled two new coins to commemorate Queen Elizabeth's platinum jubilee, the five-pound coin and the 50-pence coin, marking 70 years of the monarch's reign.

Other special coins honoring inventor Alexander Graham Bell, singer Vera Lynn (ph) and the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham will also be available.

I am Paula Newton, that's it for us right now. I want to thank you for joining us. I'll be right back with more CNN NEWSROOM in just a moment.