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NGO Aid Agencies Halt Operations amid Taliban Banning Women from Work; Ukraine President Delivers Christmas Message after Russian Strikes; Russia Continues Arctic Expansion; China Carries Out Military Exercise Near Taiwan; China Stops Reporting Daily COVID Figures of Cases; At Least 37 Killed by Christmas Day Winter Storm in the U.S. LGBTQ Couples from China Getting Married Online. Aired 2-2:30a ET

Aired December 26, 2022 - 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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LAILA HARRAK, CNN ANCHOR: And welcome to our viewers joining us from all around the world. I'm Laila Harrak.

International aid groups are halting operations in Afghanistan in the latest fallout from the Taliban's decision to ban women from NGOs. We'll hear from one of those organizations about the dire consequences this move will have.

Plus, the holiday season offering no break from Russia's relentless attacks on Ukraine as Voldymyr Zelenskyy warns of dark and difficult days ahead.

And China stops publishing daily COVID data, even as new infections explode amid rollback restrictions.

UNKNOWN: Live from CNN Center, this is "CNN Newsroom" with Laila Harrak.

HARRAK: But first, several countries are condemning the Taliban's decision to ban female employees of eight organizations from working. Four major international aid agencies have announced their temporarily suspending operations in the country. They say they cannot effectively reach children and other women in desperate need in Afghanistan without their female staff.

Meanwhile, the Red Cross and the European Union said the move will severely restrict the delivery of aid and the E.U. is urging the Taliban to reverse this decision.

Qatar also expressed deep concern over the ban. However, in a tweet, a Taliban spokesperson lashed out at a U.S. official asking her not to interfere in Afghanistan's internal issues.

Joining me now is Jan Egeland, he is the secretary general of the Norwegian Refugee Council, one of the eight organizations that has temporarily suspended its operations in Afghanistan. This organization employs more than 400 Afghan women that he says are crucial to humanitarian efforts across the nation.

Mr. Egeland, the situation as you know better than anyone else in Afghanistan is already very grim. What damage is inflicted by this ban and what are the effects that you are now seeing?

JAN EGELAND, SECRETARY GENERAL, NORWEGIAN REFUGEE COUNCIL: It would be a horrific blow to the population of Afghanistan. Listen, it's in the middle of the winter. It -- they have storms like you have in America at the moment. It's cold. It's freezing. People are hungry. People are without shelter. That's why we are there to help them with female and male employees.

So, when they tell us to take away one-third of our able, committed humanitarian workers, we cannot operate. It means that millions with the combined total of the aid organization will not get aid next week. And they are totally dependent on this.

But we cannot continue with male staff only. It will be totally wrong, in contradiction with all of principles, but it also would be technically impossible. We cannot have males giving assistance to women or to mothers directly. That is against the traditional values of Afghanistan.

HARRAK: Tell us a little bit more about your female staff that you employ on the ground. I mean, you outlined a little bit why their participation is so important. What makes women an important part of your operation in Afghanistan?

EGELAND: Well, they're 470 out of our 1,400 field workers. They are the ones who are doing assessment, communication with an aid directly to women and children. They are the ones who are communicating with the mothers. They are also able, committed, hard working aid workers who are crucial to our whole operation. They are managers. They've been with us now for decades some of these women.

And for them, this is a devastating blow. Many of them are the only breadwinner in their family. We were among the few places where they could have a career. This is a blow for the women of Afghanistan but also for the civilian population of Afghanistan.

[02:04:57]

So, we need to reverse it and we appeal to all who have an influence on the Taliban to reach out now, explain how counterproductive this is so that we can be back doing our work as soon as possible.

HARRAK: Are you in talks now with the authorities, the Taliban-led government, and do you feel that there is room to maneuver and that this ban could possibly be revoked?

EGELAND: We are in contact with them all the time. I've been personally twice to Afghanistan in recent months. I met with the foreign minister with Taliban leaders several times. They keep saying that they are pro-education for women. They are pro. They are in favor of female staff working if they cover up according to the traditional values, if we have separate offices, if we have make our (inaudible) going with them on longer travel. We did all of that. We have no warnings.

So, there must be some kind of an internal struggle in the Taliban where a much more reactionary streak was able to prevail. We need to have the pragmatic people be back in some position of decision making so that it can be reversed.

HARRAK: Mr. Egeland, as a humanitarian, I can hear the exasperation in your voice and the passion obviously that you have for helping the people in Afghanistan. Can you work with this government?

EGELAND: Well, we could up until this point. This (inaudible) even things that were better than before with the -- where there was a raging war. There were many parts of the country where there was so fierce crossfire we couldn't go there. Now, we could go to new places. We could help more people. We have as big or bigger aid program last week than we had at the end of the previous regime.

However, it's been increasingly bad. It's been one blow after the other to our freedom of operation and especially our ability to have the women work with us, women be educated, women moving freely and so on. And I told them several times, and so have our people that we respect that they say they have values. We have values, too. This is fundamental to the way we operate that we have equality between men and women. That's how we became an effective organization, helping millions of people across the world.

HARRAK: Jan Egeland, thank you so much for speaking to us.

EGELAND: Thank you.

HARRAK: Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy is warning difficult days may lie ahead before the end of the year even as Ukrainians across the country gather to pray for peace and mark the Christmas holiday.

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HARRAK: Inside the Kyiv metro station, the sounds of resilience as Ukrainians break out in song during an air raid alarm. Residents say the songs help lift their spirits to the sounds of theirs songs. Some Ukrainians marked Christmas in church just a day after a deadly wave of Russian strikes targeted the city.

And even on Christmas Day, the sounds of shelling could be heard in Bakhmut, the frontline city that's been the scene of fierce fighting between Ukrainian and Russian forces. Mr. Zelenskyy issued this warning ahead of the new year.

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VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, PRESIDENT OF UKRAINE (trough translator): Only a few days of this year left. We must be aware that our enemy will try to make this time dark and difficult for us. Russia has lost everything it could this year. But it is trying to compensate for its losses with the gloating and its propagandas after the missile strikes on our country and our energy sector. I know that darkest will not prevent us from bringing the invaders to their new defeat, but we must be ready for any scenario.

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HARRAK: Meantime, in Russia, state media quoting the defense ministry as reporting that three Russian servicemen were killed when a Ukrainian drone was shutdown as it approached a military airfield in western Russia.

Russian President Vladimir Putin says he's now ready to negotiate over the war in Ukraine. That's according to an interview with state TV. Mr. Putin says he's ready to talk with everyone involved about acceptable solutions, but claims Ukraine is refusing to negotiate.

Well, Ukraine says it's actually Russia who doesn't want negotiations. In a tweet, the Ukrainian presidential advisor said, quote, "Putin needs to come back to reality." And then it's Russia who is trying to avoid responsibility.

[02:10:00]

While Russia's deputy prime minister suggests, his country is now prepared to resume gas supplies to Europe via the Yamal-Europe pipeline. That's according to state media, which reports Alexander Novak said the European market remains relevant and with a gas shortage. Novak says the pipeline had been stopped for political reasons and remains unused.

While despite the losses and ongoing setbacks in Ukraine, Moscow's military reach is continuing to expand elsewhere, including building up new bases in the Arctic.

CNN's Nick Paton Walsh reports.

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NICK PATON WALSH, CNN INTERNATIONAL SECURITY EDITOR: Up here in the Arctic, you wouldn't get the feeling Russia's military has crippled by its catastrophic invasion of Ukraine. To Moscow, this ice quickly receding with climate change is vital to its defense in the future.

These new satellite images obtained by CNN revealed the changes of key military installations over just the past year and show that despite the damage done to Russia's military for their invasion of Ukraine, they're still expanding up near the Arctic Circle fast.

Towards the east, three raid (ph) domes have been built up here at Tiksi between this October and last. Where here, too, over the last year on the runway in Nagurskoye Air Field far up near the Arctic Circle. And one of five new resonance and radar switch they claim confined stealth jets emerging out of nowhere here and this new building at one radar station near Norway emerging since June last year.

In an exclusive interview, NATO's chief is aware of the growing threat.

JENS STOLTENBERG, SECRETARY GENERAL OF NATO: What we see now is a significant Russian military build up in the high north. As we see, Russia reopening old Soviet bases military sites but also testing novel weapons in the Arctic and the high north.

PATON WALSH: The Arctic is vital to Russia not only for oil and gas but also as part of its nuclear defense. The Kremlin is also urgently launching new atomic ice breakers to ensure it retains influence over a shorter trade route from the pacific to Europe, opened up by climate change, reducing the Arctic ice cover.

But the war in Ukraine has led to major changes on both sides. Russia sends 75 percent of its Arctic land forces to Ukraine, a senior western intelligence official has told me. But its Navy is almost untouched, semi-detached from the war, they added also. After strikes on air fields deep inside Russian, jets are being dispersed around its territory, some to the north, boosting effectively their presence in the Arctic. NATO is also sending its messages.

What you're seeing here looks like a normal air drop of a supply palette, but it is an unprecedented exercise over Norway by U.S. Special Forces this year, dropping off a cruise missile on a parachute. Here, it ignites. The U.S. military keen to show it can fire such arms from a cargo plane, greatly increasing its range near Russian.

Shaken by a recent sabotage of Baltic Sea pipelines, NATO is now focused on protecting Norway's energy infrastructure. Now, Norway, not Russia, supplies about 30 percent of the gas export to Europe.

STOLTENBERG: Since the sabotage in the Baltic Sea, we have doubled our presence with ships, with submarines, with maritime patrol aircrafts in the Baltic and North Seas.

PATON WALSH: The change unlikely to come Moscow or produce its footprint somewhere so close to home.

Nick Paton Walsh, CNN, London.

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HARRAK: Taiwanese officials say nearly 50 Chinese aircraft have crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait that's seen from a barrier between China and the South Govern (ph) Island. The incursions on Sunday are Beijing's largest show of force against Taipei in recent months.

They were part of so-called Strike Drills that China conducted in response to, quote, provocations from Taiwan and the U.S. It comes just days after U.S. President Joe Biden signed a new law to modernize defenses for Taiwan to deter Chinese aggression. Still to come, China's top house authorities stop reporting new COVID cases amid a staggering outbreak. Why some think it's an attempt to conceal the true impact of the virus.

Plus, many Americans are starting to dig out from under heavy snow fall as a massive winter storm finally moves on. Details from the hard hit city of Buffalo, New York in just a few moments.

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HARRAK: China is changing the way it reports new COVID infections. Its National Health Commission announced they would stop publishing a daily case count, and that responsibility now falls to China Center for Disease Control and Prevention. It is unclear how often they will publish new numbers.

Well, it comes as China is seeing a surge in new infections after a dramatic reversal of its strict zero COVID policy. Officials in an eastern province near Shanghai are reporting more than one million new cases a day, and they expect that number to double in the coming days.

Let's hear (ph) more now, CNN's Kristie Lu Stout joins me from Hong Kong. Kristie, they've done a 180.

KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, a 180 in terms of reversing gears of its zero COVID policy but also this very interesting announcement from the very top, from the National Health Commission. As cases of COVID-19 are surging across the country, we've learned that china's top health authority, the National Health Commission, is no longer reporting daily COVID-19 cases.

On Sunday, the NHC said that a relevant outbreak information would be handled by China's CDC, which is a sub-department it manages. And so far, the CDC has published data for Sunday and on Monday, but it's unclear if this will continue to be a daily COVID case count.

Look, concerns are rising about what is the true scope and scale of the COVID-19 outbreak in China. We know that official figures are not reliable, especially now given the fact that China is conducting less testing as before as it ends years of its zero COVID policy. But some data points had been coming in from various provinces and cities across China.

For example, Zhejiang province, which is located just south of Shanghai, this is an area that's home to some 64 million and it is reporting, according to health authorities there, around one million new cases of COVID-19 everyday.

Now, it's important to contextualize that number. According to CNN's count, that's equivalent to 1,563 new daily infections per every 100,000 people. Authorities there in Zhejiang, they also add that the peak is coming, likely to take place around New Year's Day where Zhejiang province will report, according to their estimates, around two million new cases of COVID-19 everyday.

We're also monitoring the situation in Qingdao. That is the big port city that's in northern Shandong province. Authorities there saying that that city, about 9 million people, reporting about half a million new cases of COVID-19 everyday.

We also had the city of Dongguan, that's a big manufacturing powerhouse located in the south of China, up to 10 million people, reporting 250,000 to 350,000 new cases of COVID-19 everyday.

I want to show you this statement from the health authority in Dongguan emphasizing the increasingly dire situation there and just follows, quote, "The peak of COVID infection is approaching. Infection numbers are increasing at an accelerating rate in Dongguan. Our health system and health workers are facing an unprecedented challenge and immense pressure."

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And Laila, despite the surge of COVID-19 cases and infection across the country, China reported zero, no, COVID deaths or COVID-related deaths in the six days up to Sunday. This, according to China's CDC. Back to you.

HARRAK: Kristie, thank you so much. Kristie Lu Stout reporting from Hong Kong. Thank you.

Millions of Americans are digging out as an Arctic blast that battered most of the U.S. in the days before Christmas slowly starts to weaken. The winter storm brought heavy snow, bitterly cold winds, and frigid temperatures to central and northeastern states. Well, at least 37 people have died as a result of the storm and about 98,000 homes and businesses are still without power.

More than 55 million people are still under wind chill alerts and freeze warnings are in affect across the south. The National Weather Service says Buffalo, New York caught the grunt of the storm, getting more than a meter of snowfall over the weekend.

CNN's Polo Sandoval has more.

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POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It has been a wicked winter weekend for so many people here in the city of Buffalo as folks are in the process of basically digging themselves out. I want to give you an idea of what the situation looks like here in the heart of the city of Buffalo.

Many of the streets, it looks kind of like this. Finally, on Sunday, when the situation improved, when conditions improved and visibility was restored, we saw this plow trucks that have been out in full force, making sure that the streets are drivable.

All weekend long, there have been restrictions in place, including a travel and a driving ban, basically encouraging people to spend Christmas Eve and Christmas Day at home. And it's really out of safety. Over the weekend, they confirmed -- authorities here in Erie County confirmed at least seven weather-related deaths, just four alone that were confirmed on Sunday morning.

Some of them were homeless individuals, some of the most vulnerable. While others, according to New York Governor Kathy Hochul, were individuals that were found dead in their vehicles, stranded on roads and highways.

So, that is why all weekend long, crews have been out in full force in large high profile vehicles, even on snow mobiles trying to get to individuals who spent all of Christmas weekend stranded on the side of the road. They certainly that that number of people who've lost their lives as a result of this massive storm does not go up any more.

Polo Sandoval, CNN, Buffalo, New York.

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HARRAK: Well, for a better sense of just how cold it's been even as far south as Texas, check out this carwash, encrusted with icicles on Christmas Eve. Forecasters said the entire state of Texas was below freezing on Friday.

Still to come, how LGBTQ Plus couples in countries where their marriage is not allowed are finding ways to tie the knot online.

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HARRAK: Couples from China's LGBTQ Plus community are getting married online, all thanks to a U.S. state halfway around the world, Utah, who does not have citizenship requirements for marriage licenses, making it possible for couples anywhere to tie the knot.

CNN's Marc Stewart reports.

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MARC STEWART, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This Disney loving couple, Eong (ph) and Johnny Ni (ph) shared this first selfie kiss with masks on almost three years ago.

UNKNOWN: And this year, we have this little guy with us.

STEWART: Yet, as a gay couple, living in China, getting married hasn't always been an option, until now.

UNKNOWN: Do you take --

STEWART: In October, the couple tied the knot in a virtual ceremony--

UNKNOWN: Yes.

STEWART: -- from their home in Shanghai. UNKNOWN: Congratulations.

UNKNOWN: Thank you.

UNKNOWN: Thank you.

UNKNOWN: So, just one piece of --

STEWART: But there's a high tech twist. The ceremony and certificate actually originated on the other side of the ocean in Utah County, Utah in the United States.

During the pandemic, the clerk's office began offering online weddings as a service. Now, couples from outside the U.S., like E (ph) and Johnny (ph), are logging on to get married.

Was the intention to allow same sex couples from around the world to get married in Utah?

JOSH DANIELS, UTAH COUNTY CLERK: Yeah. It certainly wasn't our intention, but we're really happy to serve members of our community and our community today is very global. And if we're able to serve people outside the physical boundaries of our community, that's great too.

STEWART: From January to September of this year, 399 couples from China had been married using the online service, 117 were the same gender. For the two men, getting married wasn't necessarily a priority. And in China, such a certificate carries no legal weight or protection. The country has even banned the portrayal of gay relationships on TV, going so far as to cut out any gay references in Hollywood movies.

But with Johnny (ph) moving to the United Kingdom next year for business school, this felt like the right thing to do.

UNKNOWN: Well, we talked about the situation we face like move together. Yeah, long distance relationship is a challenge we faced. We think, OK, probably we could get married at this point.

UNKNOWN: Yeah, actually, it gives me more confidence to have a good life in a new country.

STEWART: Marc Stewart, CNN, New York.

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HARRAK: And that wraps up this hour of "CNN Newsroom." I'm Laila Harrak. Connect the World is next, then Newsroom kicks off with Richard Quest at the top of the hour. Stay with us.

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