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1.5 Million without Power in Odessa Region after Strikes; Freed Arms Dealer Viktor Bout Speaks with Maria Butina; Libyan Man Accused in 1988 Lockerbie Attack in U.S. Custody; Orion Splashes Down after 26-Day Journey to Moon and Back; Ex-Migrant Workers Recount Awful Conditions in Qatar; Chinese Infection Count Falls Amid Rising Omicron Fears; CNN Honors Top 10 Everyday Heroes in Annual Ceremony. Aired 12- 1a ET

Aired December 12, 2022 - 00:00   ET

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

MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Hello and welcome. Coming to live from Studio Seven at the CNN Center in Atlanta, I'm Michael Holmes. Appreciate your company.

[00:00:35]

Coming up here on CNN NEWSROOM, Ukraine's race to restore energy. How residents in Odessa are living in darkness amid massive blackouts.

In China, fears that Omicron is spreading fast, despite what official numbers say. We'll have a live report.

And NASA says the successful Artemis I mission marks the new beginning to explore the heavens.

ANNOUNCER: Live from CNN Center, this is CNN NEWSROOM with Michael Holmes.

HOLMES: And we begin in Ukraine, where Kyiv is slowing its ground counter offense against Russia, but not for long, it promises.

The country's defense minister says wet weather is making movement of vehicles and equipment difficult. But with temperatures dropping, once the ground freezes, he says Ukrainian forces will ramp up efforts to liberate Russian-occupied territory.

Meanwhile, Ukrainians in several regions continue to struggle in the cold and dark amid massive power cuts. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says Odessa has been impacted the most. After Russia's latest attack on Ukraine's energy infrastructure.

CNN's Will Ripley is in Odessa and takes a look at the challenging situation in that port city.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WILL RIPLEY, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A race to restore electricity to parts of Southern Ukraine this weekend. More than one and a half million people in the Odessa region alone plunged into darkness at the peak of the outages. Ukraine's president Volodymyr Zelenskyy blames the blackouts on Russian self-detonating drones made in Iran.

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): After the night strike, the strike by Iranian drones, Odessa and other cities and villages of the region are in the dark.

RIPLEY (voice-over): Ukraine's military says it shot down ten out of 15 explosive drones Russia fired Friday night. The region's energy authority warns stabilizing the power grid could take weeks, even months.

RIPLEY: Before the blackouts, the Black Sea, and vibrant nightlife, made this Southern port city a tourist hot spot. With the war, came a flood of internally-displaced Ukrainians, increasing the population of one of Ukraine's largest cities. Now, this city of refuge is facing regular Russian attacks.

RIPLEY (voice-over): Odessa's power station also took a direct hit last week, when Russia fired dozens of missiles at targets nationwide, an ongoing assault on Ukraine's energy infrastructure that left many Odessans in the dark for days.

RIPLEY: So what was that like? No power for three days.

KOSTIANTYN VORONYN, ODESSA RESIDENT: No electricity. We have no chance to cook, because we have electric cooker. We have no heating, because our house has no generator for this.

RIPLEY (voice-over): These parents of three young children look for creative ways to keep the kids occupied.

OLENA VORONYNA, ODESSA RESIDENT: We try to make some activities for them. For example, musical school.

RIPLEY (voice-over): Just hours after Friday's drone strikes plunged much of the region to darkness, the Odessa Philharmonic Orchestra gave a candlelight performance. Even a war won't stop the music.

Will Ripley, CNN, Odessa, Ukraine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: In a telephone call on Sunday, Mr. Zelenskyy told U.S. President Joe Biden the Russian strikes had destroyed about half of Ukraine's energy system. He thanked Mr. Biden for allocating aid to help rebuild the energy grid and another aid defense package.

Mr. Zelenskyy also spoke with the French president, Emmanuel Macron, ahead of two Paris aid conferences in support of Ukraine this week. The leaders discussed Ukraine's defense strategy, energy, and economy.

A top U.S. official, meanwhile, is defending that controversial deal to exchange basketball star Brittney Griner for Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout. National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby says it was not possible to reach a deal with Russia that would have included the release of the detained American Paul Whelan.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN KIRBY, SPOKESMAN, NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL: They hold Mr. Whelan differently because of the espionage charges. And so we're working through that now.

[00:05:04]

We're now more informed, clearly, having gone through this process over the last few months. We're more informed; we have a better sense of the context here of where the Russians' expectations are, and we're just going to keep working at it.

In a negotiation, you do what you can. You do as much as you can. You push, and you push, and you push. And we did.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Whelan, a former Marine, has been in a Russian prison for nearly four years now on espionage charges. The Biden administration has been facing criticism for not securing his release along with Griner.

Meanwhile, that freed arms dealer, Viktor Bout, says he quote, "wholeheartedly" supports Moscow's war on Ukraine. Speaking to Kremlin-controlled network RT, he said he would certainly go as a volunteer, his words, if he had the opportunity and the necessary skills.

Bout was interviewed by Maria Butina, a Russian gun's rights enthusiast turned TV personality, who herself was previously jailed by the U.S. on charges she was working as a foreign agent.

I want to bring in Jill Dougherty now. She is an adjunct professor at Georgetown University, a CNN contributor, and actually, former CNN Moscow bureau chief. She joins me from Washington D.C.

Always good to see you. Jill.

This was quite a sight, to see Viktor Bout being interviewed by Maria Butina, herself once a U.S. prisoner before going back to Russia. What did you make of the scene and the content of the interview?

JILL DOUGHERTY, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Well, I mean, even the fact that it happened. You know, it happened so quickly. After he was out, after he got back from Moscow, you know, Britney Griner is still going through kind of reception at a military medical center, et cetera.

So the fact he -- that they put him on-air very quickly, and then just, you know, the setting. It looked very homey. They had curtains. Kind of a snowy Russian scene.

He -- and then what he said, you know, that he's, of course, said that he had a portrait of Vladimir Putin in his jail cell, because he's proud to be a Russian, that he -- was one of the main things that he said. But he also was very critical of the prison; said it was Nazi-

inspired. And he criticized the food. Basically, he said he had hamburgers and overdone potatoes and chicken for the entire time that he was in the United States. But seriously, there were some bizarre things. And I think the

comments that life in the United States, about he was really irate about LGBT+. And he said that American school children are taught that there are 72 different genders, which I'm sure a lot of Americans would either laugh or be kind of surprised by that.

So -- but substantively, he had the message down-pat. He said, about the war -- well, maybe you wanted to talk about that.

HOLMES: Yes. No, no, no. I was going to ask you about that. The messaging. And how controlled do you think the messaging was, for both the domestic and international audience?

DOUGHERTY: Well, I think that's a good question. Because it was balanced. I think this was really kind of more domestic than international.

I mean, he's a supporter of Putin. He's back home. He is what they would argue an innocent businessman who was nabbed by the Americans because he's Russian. So these are all messages for people at home.

I think he immediately said, I do support the war. I am questioning why it didn't happen earlier, was what he said. And then, he would be a volunteer if you could, if the opportunity were there.

HOLMES: I wanted to ask you this, too. What do you think his role will be going forward? Purely propaganda or some tangible role. Of course, he was, you know, the Merchant of Death, arms dealer. But you know, he spent more than a decade in prison and probably doesn't have the same context of power that he once had. What do you see his role going forward?

DOUGHERTY: Well, we really don't know, and I think that's one of the key questions. But he does have knowledge. Now, maybe the knowledge is a decade out of -- out-of-date. But he does have knowledge.

And he has -- he was very effective at busting sanctions when he was involved in arms trading, which again, he denies. But there is proof of that. So that could be useful in terms of the war in Ukraine right now. Sanctions are a big issue, so his knowledge could be useful.

HOLMES: And there -- of course, there's been political criticism in the U.S. that this was far from a fair trade: Merchant of Death for a basketballer. It was interesting listening to Maria Butina. She was frankly gleeful in discussing that with Viktor Bout. How is the deal itself being portrayed in Russia?

[00:10:04]

DOUGHERTY: As a big win for Vladimir Putin, No. 1. And then also, there's this kind of an odd approach to it, which is -- and this would all be in quotes -- "that the United States is such a depraved country."

That it would allow a trade for a basketball player and, you know, for an important person such as Viktor Bout.

Now that is what the Russians want to say. But when you look at, you know, Bout himself, he has to be important to Russia. So I think there was -- you know, they got somebody who's valuable, but in the United States, she was perceived as being valuable because, precisely because she is a very well-known sports person, and America wanted her back.

HOLMES: Yes, indeed. Well, we'll see what the next deal brings him and what he does next.

Jill Dougherty, always a pleasure. Thank you, Jill.

DOUGHERTY: Sure.

HOLMES: The U.S. is taking custody of a Libyan man accused in the 1988 bombing of an airliner over Lockerbie, Scotland. Two hundred and seventy people died in what is still the U.K.'s deadliest terror attack. Authorities say the man had been held in Libya for at least a decade.

CNN international diplomatic editor Nic Robertson with more on the suspect and the investigation through the years.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR (voice-over): Almost 34 years since the deadliest terror attack in British history, and the man accused of building the bomb that killed 270 people, mostly Americans, is finally going to face justice in a U.S. court.

Libyan Abu Agila Mohammad Mas'ud Kheir al-Marimi was arrested for his alleged role in blowing up Pan Am Flight 103 over Scotland 38 minutes after it took off for the U.S. from London, killing everyone on board and 11 people on the ground.

The U.S. first charged al-Marimi for his involvement in the attack two years ago, while he was already in custody in Libya for unrelated crimes.

MICHAEL SHERWIN, THEN-ACTING U.S. ATTORNEY: It is alleged in the criminal complaint and the indictment that at that time, all coconspirators worked together to arm the explosive device in the suitcase.

ROBERTSON (voice-over): The Justice Department expects al-Marimi to make his first appearance in district court in Washington in the coming days.

For years, the only person convicted in the Lockerbie bombing case was Abdulbaset Ali Mohmed al-Megrahi. Al-Megrahi, a former Libyan intelligence official, was accused, along with another Libyan man, who was acquitted, for planting the explosive inside a portable cassette player in a suitcase on the plane. Al-Megrahi was sentenced to life in prison. But eight years after his

conviction in 2008, he was released from a Scottish prison with terminal prostate cancer.

Arriving home in Libya, he received a hero's welcome. In 2011, following the revolution that toppled Libya's dictator Moammar Khadafy, I visited al-Megrahi at his home in Tripoli. He was near death. His family, as they always had, protesting his innocence.

ROBERTSON: Has he been able to see a doctor?

KHALED AL-MEGRAHI, SON OF CONVICTED LOCKERBIE BOMBER: No. There is no doctor, and there is nobody to ask. And we don't have any phone line to call anybody.

ROBERTSON: What's his situation right now?

AL-MEGRAHI: He stopped eating, and he sometimes is come in coma.

ROBERTSON: Coma. He goes unconscious.

AL-MEGRAHI: Yes.

ROBERTSON (voice-over): He died the following year, without ever proving his innocence.

Al-Marimi's trial will likely revisit part of Megrahi's defense, particularly, alleged inconsistencies about how the bomb came to be in the plane.

Nic Robertson, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: Still ahead on the program, after 26 days and 1.3 million miles traveled, Orion is safely back on Earth. We'll discuss the end of this historic Artemis I mission and what it means for the future of space exploration.

Also, the human toll of the World Cup. Migrant workers, who endured awful conditions in Qatar, speak out against their abuse. Hear their sobering tales and their demands for more rights.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[00:16:53]

BILL NELSON, NASA ADMINISTRATOR: It is the beginning of the new beginning. And that is to explore the heavens.

The plan is to get ready to go with humans to Mars late in the decade of the 2030s, and then even further beyond.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: That is the head of NASA there, speaking about the historic Artemis I mission to the Moon and how it's paving the way for future astronaut journeys into space.

Now, this first phase, a 26-day unmanned test flight, came to an end on Sunday, when the Orion spacecraft made a successful splashdown in the Pacific Ocean.

CNN's Kristin Fisher has more on the mission and what lies ahead.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KRISTIN FISHER, CNN SPACE AND DEFENSE CORRESPONDENT: A textbook splashdown of the Orion capsule in the Pacific Ocean this afternoon, ending a successful --

FISHER (voice-over): -- Artemis 1 mission, the beginning of NASA's new Artemis program.

And it happened on such a historic day, the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 17 mission, those astronauts -- Gene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt -- landing on the Moon.

Now NASA trying to do it again. But it all starts with this first uncrewed test flight.

FISHER: And so what we saw today was this Orion spacecraft barreling --

FISHER (voice-over): -- through the Earth's atmosphere at about 25,000 miles per hour, hitting temperatures of about 5,000 degrees Fahrenheit.

Such a critical test for this spacecraft, because they can't replicate conditions like that here on Earth. By all accounts, it performed beautifully.

But now, they are going to have to conduct some -- some final checks once they get this spacecraft out of the ocean and back to the Kennedy Space Center.

But for a program, a rocket, a spacecraft, a mission that has encountered so many delays, so many setbacks, including --

FISHER: -- getting hit by a hurricane just five days before lift-off. Today, the moment NASA has been hoping for and really --

FISHER (voice-over): -- paving the way for Artemis II and Artemis III, when Americans, and perhaps astronauts from other countries in the world, return to the surface of the Moon for the first time in about half a century.

FISHER: Kristin Fisher, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: For more on the Artemis mission, I want to bring in Leroy Chiao. He is a retired NASA astronaut, and he joins me from Houston, Texas, so he knows all about this stuff. It's interesting, Leroy. It was fantastic watching it happen live. One

of the big tests on this mission was how the heat shield performed. Obviously, the capsule was intact. That's great news.

But what will the experts be looking at in terms of the shield and also other aspects of how the capsule looked and performed? It looked pretty good.

LEROY CHIAO, RETIRED NASA ASTRONAUT: This was a really good flight test. It looked like things went almost flawlessly. There were a few little glitches with the power system, a little bit with the antenna and the star trackers.

But all in all, it looked like it went very well. The heat shield was perhaps the most critical piece of this flight test. And it, by all accounts, or by looking at it, it looks like everything worked out well.

[00:20:03]

As you said, the capsule came back intact. Engineers will be poring over it, looking at all the data that were collected. They will be looking at the physical heat shield itself, perhaps taking some samples for tests, and the underlying structure. And learning as much as they can to make sure that what they predicted would happen actually did happen. That is compare the predicted to the actual flight data.

So, hopefully, everything will go well. No major issues, hopefully. And then the next flight up may indeed involve actual astronauts flying around the Moon.

HOLMES: Yes. It was -- yes, I think this was a whole new heat shield, too, based on the previous ones. A whole new thing. So it's great that it worked.

I want to ask you this, too, because I actually didn't realize this until today. There were mannequins on board that were completely covered in sensors. What will those sensors tell those running these -- this project? What were they there for? What will they learn?

CHIAO: Sure, the instrument and mannequins are not unlike the so- called crash dummies, except fortunately, they didn't crash. So they'll be measuring critical data information, such as temperature and G-loading, things like that.

Stresses that may have been, you know, if there were humans in the capsule, that would have been on their bodies. You know, temperature stresses. Force stresses, things like that.

That is just a small part of the overall test program, where they did a lot of different evaluations. Really put the Orion through its paces. And like I said, it looks like it all went very well.

HOLMES: Yes, it was sort of a moment of space symmetry, that I think it was the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 17 landing on the Moon, which is -- well, that's kind of fitting.

And -- and to that point, in the '60s, the Moon race was, you know, the U.S. and the Soviet Union. In 2022, it's China, which isn't far behind the U.S. when it comes to the Moon.

How do you see the international dynamic, the competition playing out?

CHIAO: It's a very different situation now than in the '60s. I think in the '60s, I was very young back then, but I still felt the tension. It felt like it was kind of a life or death. We had to win the so- called space race; it was critical that we got to the Moon first to show that our technology was better.

This current situation with China is very different. First of all, the Americans, we have been there before, over 50 years ago. We have the technology. We are currently still the leaders in human space flight and continuous International Space Station operations, and prior to that, 30 years of space shuttle operations.

And so it's not really a matter of, you know, who's ahead.

But China clearly has stated their goal of landing their astronauts on the Moon sometime in the 2030s. And so, you know, it is out there that, OK, we would like to return our astronauts. And of course, ideally, it would be before they do. But it's really not as critical, I think. Or at least the tension in the political atmosphere is not as tense as it was back in the 1960s.

But, you know, going back to the Moon, there are a lot of reasons to do it. Technical reasons, operational reasons, scientific reasons. It's the perfect place to prepare to eventually send humans to Mars, which is kind of the next big step for -- for humankind.

HOLMES: Yes. Heaven forbid all nations work together on this. And you know, what could we achieve if that happened?

I want to finish with this, because I've asked you this before on other space events. But for the doubters, what is the point of all of this? We've been there before. Why do it again? It costs a lot of money.

CHIAO: Yes, it does cost a lot of money, but this is a way of testing out and evaluating the spacecraft, the rockets, all the equipment we're going to use.

Going back to the Moon is a perfect place to develop all the things you're going to -- and test all the things you're going to need for Mars. Habitats, rovers, spacesuits. A great place to train astronauts.

And the reason you want to do on the Moon is it's a similarly harsh environment to Mars, in that it's got a much-reduced atmosphere, much- reduced gravity, a lot of dust.

And -- but the reason you do it on the Moon, it's only three or four days away. If there's an issue, you can get your crew back quickly. Mars, even when the planets are lined up, it's about a six-month trip one way. And so if you have an Apollo 13 kind of situation, it could be -- easily be a year before you get your crew back.

So you want to make sure everything is going to work before you go off and mount that expedition.

HOLMES: Always learn something. Always enjoy a chat with Leroy Chiao. Thanks so much, Leroy. Appreciate it.

CHIAO: My pleasure, thank you.

HOLMES: The Japanese Moon lander and a UAE rover blasted off on a SpaceX rocket on Sunday, headed for the Moon. And with that launch, the United Arab Emirates became the first Arab nation to send a rover to the Moon.

It will analyze plasma on the lunar surface and conduct experiments to better understand lunar dust, which can erode space suits and equipment.

[00:25:04]

The Rashid is making the trip on a Hakuto-R lander made by the Japanese start-up ispace. Also in tow, a smaller rover made by Japan's space agency. They're expected to arrive at the Moon next April.

Well, after a thrilling weekend of World Cup action, the remaining four teams are now gearing up for the next round. The semis will start on Tuesday, Argentina taking on Croatia. And then on Wednesday, Morocco will try to extend its Cinderella run against the reigning champs, France.

The French players are coming off a close match against England and, to mark the victory, they celebrated with fans at their hotel, dancing, cheering, and high-fiving those around them.

Now, Croatia also coming off a nail-biter against Brazil. And after stunning the World Cup favorites, they will try to defeat another South American powerhouse, Argentina. Their strategy will be to stop the entire team, instead of focusing on the star, Lionel Messi.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNO PETKOVIC, CROATIA PLAYER (through translator): We don't have a specific plan or individual idea to stop Messi. We have seen before, when we played against very good teams, with very good individual players, that we were playing as a team. We never focused on an individual.

So I don't believe we will have a special plan to stop one player. Because Argentina has a lot of good players. So we will not focus just on one.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Well, even though much of the sports world is looking forward to the semifinals, some are choosing not to watch them out of moral objection. Former migrant workers who helped bring the tournament to life say

they can't enjoy it, because it reminds them of the horrible conditions that they endured.

CNN's Larry Madowo with their stories.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LARRY MADOWO, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Boniface Barasa is back in Kenya but says he's still suffering from trauma after three years as a construction worker in Qatar before the World Cup.

BONIFACE BARASA, FORMER MIGRANT WORKER: I saw the supervisor call another Kenyan a lazy Black monkey. Then when the Kenyan countered back, he asked him, "Why are you calling me a black monkey?" Then he slapped -- the supervisor slapped the Kenyan.

MADOWO (voice-over): The 38-year-old is a lifelong football fan but says he hasn't watched any matches. The pain is still too fresh.

BARASA: Another -- another one died from that harsh weather conditions. My colleague died. Another was beaten, and he went missing.

MADOWO: You saw somebody die in front of you?

BARASA: Yes. Somebody collapsed and died. And I think that was because of the harsh weather conditions.

MADOWO: Because of the heat?

BARASA: Because of the heat, the limited drinking water breaks.

MADOWO (voice-over): Last month, the Qatar World Cup chief acknowledged that 400 to 500 migrant workers have died on projects conducted to the tournament.

As the World Cup got underway, some black migrant workers have taken on highly visible roles in a country where they're often invisible. Part of the workforce, but not the society.

Kenyan traffic officer Dennis Kamau handing red and yellow cards, entertains fans, and has attracted global media attention.

And 23-year-old Kenyan Abubakr Abbas has become a viral megastar as Metro Guy. Organizers even brought him out to address fans before the England/USA game.

But advocates for migrant workers dismissed these as isolated cases and empty P.R. that had a dark, exploitative work environment.

MALCOLM BIDALI, CO-FOUNDER, MIGRANT DEFENDERS: As we speak, we still have people not getting paid. People are still living in cramped conditions. We have people still facing physical, verbal assault, discrimination, low (ph) working hours, working conditions. Horrible working conditions.

MADOWO (voice-over): Malcolm Bidali was a security guard in Qatar but says he was detained and then deported for advocating for migrant workers' rights.

BIDALI: I am very worried and scared, and concerned, when the World Cup ends. Because like, all the media, you know, spotlight and everything else will, you know, shift and move away to the next big thing.

MADOWO (voice-over): Qatar says it dismantled the previous restrictive migrant labor system, which has been criticized across the Gulf for exploiting foreign workers from Africa and South Asia and taking away their passports.

But critics say the reality has not changed.

Geoffrey Owino was a city inspector at Lusail Stadium who believes he, too, was deported from Qatar for speaking up for migrant workers.

MADOWO: The African migrant workers complain of exploitation despite all these changes Qatar says it's put in place.

GEOFFREY OWINO, FORER MIGRANT WORKER: On paper, the laws are very good. But implementation and good will from the government of Qatar is the problem.

That's why workers will continue complaining until a framework, a robust justice system, is put in place, whereby violators of these laws against migrant workers are punished.

MADOWO (voice-over): Geoffrey says he receives complaints and distress calls from migrant workers all over the Gulf, desperate to return home.

[00:30:06]

Larry Madowo, CNN, Nairobi.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: Quick break here on the program. When we come back, fear of rising COVID cases in China has some residents choosing to quarantine at home instead of reporting their positive result. How those choices are affecting cities trying to reopen. We'll have that when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: Iran has now executed a second person involved in the recent anti-government protests across the country.

News agencies affiliated with the Iranian government say the man was hanged in public after he was convicted of killing two members of the security forces and injuring four more. That was the prosecution claim. Iran conducted its first known execution connected to the protests on

Thursday.

Meanwhile, the former head of a key Iranian state broadcaster is speaking out of the country's authorities. Mohammad Sarafraz ran the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting outlet from 2014 to 2016 and was a member of the Iran's Supreme Cyberspace Council.

In a video posted on YouTube, he said Iranian leaders were unable to respond to the needs of the people. He called the crackdown on protesters, quote, "a dead end," adding, "This mode of governance is not to last."

Fears of a new outbreak of the Omicron variant are growing in China, just as Beijing starts to overhaul its zero-COVID policy. A top Chinese health expert says Omicron cases are spreading rapidly.

And while negative COVID tests are still required to enter some public spaces, many people tell CNN they've chosen not to report positive results, instead, opting to quarantine at home.

New cases were down on Sunday in the Chinese capital, but the true number could be much higher than reported.

CNN's Kristie Lu Stout joins me now from Hong Kong with more. And this -- these fears of a new Omicron wave and now Wuhan, the epicenter of the pandemic three years ago, bracing for a spike in cases. What is the picture inside that city?

STOUT: Yes. Like many other cities across China, including Beijing, residents in Wuhan are bracing themselves for a surge of COVID-19 infection, especially as China unwinds from nearly three years of this punishing zero-COVID pandemic prevention policy.

What we know in the situation in Wuhan is as follows. We know that businesses are closed there. We know that people have been standing in line in front of hospitals and clinics.

And we also know that there are reports saying that pharmacies are selling out of fever medications. Very few people are seen out and about in the streets of Wuhan, as people remain very, very wary of an exit wave, of a flare-up of COVID-19 infection. Watch this.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

STOUT (voice-over): In this restaurant in Wuhan, China, getting a table isn't a problem. Owner Zhu Chonping says, even though China revised most of its COVID-19 restrictions last week, the customers have yet to return.

ZHU CHONPING, RESTAURANT OWNER (through translator): On our street, people are still struggling. They all believe that life will go back to the way it was after reopening. Everyone has this fantasy.

STOUT (voice-over): It is a wary reopening in Wuhan, which was the epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic three years ago. Many small business owners say, even though people are freer to move about, there are less customers than before. The streets aren't as bustling as they once were, and some businesses remain closed.

Restaurant owner Zhu says people are still afraid of COVID.

ZHU (through translator): Now that things have opened up, it also means the positive cases are all out. No one comes to the restaurant.

STOUT (voice-over): Last Wednesday, China lifted many of its strict COVID restrictions following protests against the country's zero-COVID policy.

In many places, QR codes are no longer needed to enter public spaces. Mass testing has been rolled back. And some people are allowed to quarantine at home.

But as more people resume contact, there are fears of more scenes like this line of people waiting outside of a fever clinic in Wuhan.

Experts say China has fallen short on vaccinating the elderly with boosters, stockpiling antiviral medications, and improving surge capacities in hospitals. And some people worry that could mean more outbreaks.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): If we were in lockdown, at least all the asymptomatic cases would either be quarantined at home or sent to makeshift hospitals. But now with everything opening up, all of these people are out. So the infection rate is high. I have a lot of friends who already have a cold or fever, and I'm one of them, too.

STOUT (voice-over): There are reports of some pharmacies selling out of fever medications. Many people bracing for a new wave of sickness. The price of moving away from a zero-COVID policy means learning to live with it.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

STOUT: And as China lets go very slowly of its tough zero-COVID policy, one of the nation's top disease experts is speaking out. He is warning of a surge of COVID-19 infections.

In an interview with Shihua (ph) News Agency over the weekend, Zhong Nanshan, he also called for an intensification of the COVID-19 booster drive, especially ahead of the lunar new year, which is a very key holiday travel season in China.

Let's look at his statement. He says this: "Preparations need to be beefed up. I suggest those planning to travel back home get a booster shot so that even with COVID-19 infection, they don't become seriously ill," unquote.

Now, Zhong also added that Omicron's fatality rate is in line with influenza or the flu. So effectively, downplaying the risks of COVID- 19, as China slowly relaxes its zero-COVID policy restrictions across the country. Back to you, Michael.

HOLMES: Yes. Appreciate the update. Kristie Lu Stout there in Hong Kong. Thanks.

Well, at least six people are dead and 17 injured after clashes at a busy border crossing between Pakistan and Afghanistan. Pakistan's military claims Afghan forces fired indiscriminately at civilians with heavy weapons and mortars and that the attack was unprovoked.

CNN has reached out to the Afghan government, but so far, there has been no comment.

Still to come, CNN honors everyday people doing extraordinary things to change the world. See who was named Hero of the Year, after the break.

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HOLMES: CNN has a new Hero of the Year. Nelly Cheboi, the Kenyan-born software engineer, was honored on Sunday as part of CNN's annual celebration of everyday people changing the world.

She founded a tech -- she founded TechLit Africa. It is a nonprofit organization that uses recycled computers to create technology labs in rural schools in Kenya.

Cheboi learned coding while attending school on scholarship in the U.S. and now is able to give children in Kenya the opportunity to learn those skills at a young age.

Now, Cheboi wasn't the only one honored at the star-studded ceremony in New York. CNN's Bryn Gingras has more on the other honorees who shared the spotlight.

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BRYN GINGRAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This is the night to be inspired, as we are on the red carpet honoring the ten CNN Heroes. And what incredible stories each of them has.

There is a woman who has been upcycling computers to bring back to her community in Kenya to be able to teach them computer skills.

There's a man who spent time in prison, going back to his West Philadelphia community, creating a center for kids to get on the right path.

Another man, a war veteran, Iraqi war veteran, who is using the arts to help other veterans escape the war zone and deal with PTSD. I want you to hear from him.

RICHARD CASPER, CO-FOUNDER AND EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, CREATIVETS: That moment for me, when they're, like, so excited to talk about the worst thing that happened in -- in their life, I've known that we've repurposed their memory right there, and they're going to be successful.

So all the texts and love that we get back, that's what keeps me going.

Our waiting list is rather long, because as you think, like, we build these programs so veterans don't want to turn it down. Twenty suicides a day in the veteran military space. Fourteen of the 20 don't seek help. This is how we're getting to them.

Just by you doing this interview, it's going to get veterans to know we exist. And we'll bring them out to the program to save their lives. So this is just huge; just this makes me a winner right here.

GINGRAS: You should learn all about their inspirational stories. You can go to CNN.com to learn more and donate yourself.

It's an incredible evening, honoring those -- for those people just doing small things and making a huge impact in their own community and in the world.

Bryn Gingras, CNN, on the red carpet, in New York.

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HOLMES: Well, there's less than two weeks until Christmas, believe it or not. But hundreds of Santa Claus sightings were reported over the weekend.

In Mexico City, runners filling the streets dressed as Santa for the city's fourth annual Santa Run. Some even brought their dogs along, running up to ten kilometers.

And who needs Rudolph? Santas flew through the air on a ski lift in the U.S. state of Maine. Skiers had to dress up from head to toe in order to get access to the slopes for a charity event.

Thanks for spending part of your day with me. I'm Michael Holmes. You can follow me on Twitter and Instagram, @HolmesCNN. Do stay with us. WORLD SPORT is next. In about 15 minutes, Laila Harrak will pick up the news.

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