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Omicron in 19 Countries, Travel Bans and Restrictions; Omicron Vaccine Months Away; Barbados Leaves the U.K. Monarchy; Omicron Sparks Volatility in Global Markets; Tiger's Golfing Future. Aired 10-11a ET

Aired November 30, 2021 - 10:00   ET

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

[10:00:00]

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BECKY ANDERSON, CNN HOST (voice-over): Will the vaccines work?

What the main players are saying as the new variant raises concerns.

The dawn of a new era: Barbados cuts 400 years of colonial ties with the United Kingdom.

And in the battle for the Ballon d'Or, Lionel Messi reigns supreme yet again. Who went home empty handed, though?

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ANDERSON: It is 7:00 pm in Abu Dhabi. I'm Becky Anderson. Hello and welcome to CONNECT THE WORLD.

Well, the world is in a nervous waiting game, isn't it, to see what the impact of the Omicron variant will be. So far, it has triggered

international panic, governments shutting their borders as more cases pop up around the world.

At least 19 countries and territories have now confirmed cases of the new coronavirus strain, with Japan the latest to confirm its first case. It is

also one of at least 70 countries to impose travel restrictions, a move the World Health Organization says is unnecessary at this point.

But remember the hundreds of travelers from South Africa, who became stranded at the Amsterdam airport on Friday?

More than a dozen had tested positive for the Omicron variant. Now Dutch health authorities are saying the Omicron strain was already in the

Netherlands, a full week before those cases were found. It isn't clear whether those people had also been to southern Africa.

The spread of this variant rattling markets around the world; stocks in Europe, the U.S. and Asia down, the mood also dampened somewhat by a

warning from the Moderna CEO that current vaccines will struggle with the Omicron variant. That is the opposite of what some other scientists have

been saying.

So a lot of confusion still as we just mentioned, Japan has now confirmed a case of the variant. CNN's Kristie Lu Stout will join us from a moment from

Hong Kong. First, I do want to get to Ben Wedeman, live from Rome with more on the European situation. Ben?

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, the situation -- obviously we're seeing every country almost is now reporting some cases of

this new variant.

Spain is the latest country to announce travel restrictions to the usual set of countries in southern Africa. But despite the alarm that has been

raised by this new variant, it is sort of overshadowing the fact that Europe, particularly Central, Eastern and Northern Europe, are being hit by

the regular variant, mostly Delta at the moment.

And therefore, for instance, we see in Germany, leaders there will shortly be meeting to discuss new measures to try to bring the numbers down. And

the measures being discussed are ever more harsh.

They're talking about basically a lockdown for the unvaccinated, banning the unvaccinated from going to all public facilities, except for essential

stores. So as I said -- and President Biden said yesterday this new variant is a cause for concern but not for panic.

And this variant has obscured the fact that Europe is really grappling with -- in terms of numbers similar to those we saw last year but because of the

vaccination -- the number of deaths is much lower, except for those countries which have very low vaccination rates, like Bulgaria and Romania.

Becky?

ANDERSON: Scotland has confirmed three more cases of the new coronavirus strain. We'll talk about what actions the government is taking. And I want

to get to Kristie Lu Stout and see her perspective from the region where she is.

KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT: Well, Japan, as you mentioned at the top of the show, has confirmed its very first case

involving this new variant. Omicron was detected in a man in his 30s, believed to be a diplomat, who traveled from Namibia to Tokyo.

And he tested positive at the Narita International Airport. Also on Tuesday, Japan has sealed its borders from all foreigners.

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STOUT: And including international students and people who want it see their relatives, family members in Japan.

Also this day Australia has confirmed its sixth confirmed case of this new variant. This involves a traveler who flew from Doha to Sydney on November

25th. This individual was fully vaccinated and also had a travel history in southern Africa.

Meanwhile In Hong Kong, officials have confirmed that the three cases here of the Omicron variant were all imported -- detected in quarantine, not in

the community, Hong Kong continues to strengthen its already strict border restrictions, including banning nonresidents from a growing list of

countries from entering the territory.

And this day, you know, Hong Kong added four more African countries to that growing list. Despite the fact that the new variant has been detected here

in this Chinese territory, China remains calm and confident.

So much so -- we were monitoring the ministry of foreign affairs presser earlier today and the spokesman said that, in regards to the Beijing

Olympic Games, now two months away, they will proceed as planned. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ZHAO LIJIAN, SPOKESPERSON, CHINESE FOREIGN MINISTRY (through translator): I believe it will definitely pose some challenge to our efforts to prevent

and control the virus.

But as China has experience in preventing and controlling the coronavirus, I fully believe that China will be able to host the Winter Olympics as

scheduled smoothly and successfully.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STOUT: China is confident because China believes in its zero COVID policy, its zero tolerance approach to the pandemic, which involves a raft of very

strict measures, including sealed borders, mass quarantines, mass testing, contact tracing campaigns as well as targeted lockdowns.

So China remains calm and confident. But it is hard to guarantee success, especially when we're dealing with so much uncertainty with this new

variant. Becky?

ANDERSON: Yes, absolutely. Let me get back to Ben.

I was just reporting a number of cases in Scotland, Ben. And I think it is quite clear at this stage that there are governments around the world, who

have reacted sort of out of the gate, haven't they, as soon as this variant was reported as having been sequenced by the South Africans.

They don't want to get flat footed, certainly don't want to be in the position they were in 18 months or so ago. I think we all understand the

world is a different place at this point.

But it is the winter and you've rightly reported on the fact that there are big COVID problems in so many countries in Europe.

What is the perception amongst people across the region?

We were reporting, for example, on anti-restrictions and anti-lockdown protests just a week or so ago.

How are people around Europe reacting to what they're hearing at this point?

WEDEMAN: I think the Omicron variant has really raised alarm. So for instance, here in Italy on Sunday, there was an open day for people to get

vaccines, whether it is the first, the second or the third dose.

And you saw a lot of people; there was basically a crowd control problem there, so many people lining up to get it. So I think this new variant has

raised a certain amount of alarm that we may be going back to where we were over a year ago in terms of numbers, in terms of fatalities perhaps.

But as time has gone on, I think perhaps some of the initial fears are starting to recede. For instance, here in Italy, only four cases have been

reported; one, a man whose symptoms are relatively mild. The other three cases, family members of his, apparently asymptomatic.

So it is not clear at this point just how bad this variant is, despite the initial reports that it was much more infectious than other varieties.

ANDERSON: Ben Wedeman in Rome, looking at the picture across Europe. Kristie Lu Stout out of Hong Kong for you today. Thank you, both.

Let's get to Johannesburg, where David McKenzie is standing by. He joins me, having just got, as I understand it back, from the lab where the

variant was first spotted.

What have you learned?

DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, it is fascinating. This is a private lab called Lance Laboratories (ph) that, early in November,

possibly even late in October, started noticing an anomaly in their PCR tests. That's the test many of us have had to take through exposure or if

you need to travel for COVID-19 in this period.

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MCKENZIE: And they noticed the dropoff in one of the S proteins that indicated in fact that there was something more similar to the Alpha

variant, the one that was discovered in the U.K. many months ago.

At first they thought maybe there was some Alpha circulating in this country as it has been. And as the positive tests increased off of a low

base, the lab noticed more of these anomalies. And after a sustained number, they sent that off to the authorities.

And within just a few days, the national authorities sequenced this to come up with what everyone now knows as Omicron. And that swift action allowed

the world to take action, even though those measures and lockdowns are seen -- well, knockoffs are seen as unnecessary by many here and punitive.

And one extra bit of reporting to note, the lab head of that lab said, at least initially, they also are seeing milder cases of COVID-19, which -- it

is very early and there has been warnings from public health officials not to take this necessarily as an end result.

But it is interesting that, at this point, even with positive cases expanding rapidly in this region of South Africa, you haven't yet seen a

rush on the hospitals. They don't know whether that is because of the virus variant or some other factor. And it is too early to tell.

But it does add to at least very incidental evidence and reporting that there might be some milder cases and possibly not the level of alarm needed

about this variant. But again, it is going to take several weeks, I think, before we can nail down those facts for sure. Becky?

ANDERSON: Yes, and that's very important to note. You and I -- since we have been talking, when this was first reported on Friday -- have been

discussing that very fact, that we will not know the real sort of detail until we get this ultimate report and that's not going to be for some days.

Is it clear, just before I let you go, whether those who have the virus with this variant have been vaccinated or not?

MCKENZIE: Well, the stats or the statistics out of hospitals in South Africa, at least in this region, which is the epicenter of this outbreak,

associated, they believe, with this variant, is still pointing toward hospitalizations being largely amongst those that are unvaccinated.

Now again, you can't draw too many conclusions at this point. But if it is the case that this variant has dominated quickly in this area of a pretty

low base in the period of the pandemic and that most of the people are unvaccinated, you could possibly draw some conclusions, say scientists,

that the vaccines do have some effectiveness.

Now the scientists and one of the leading vaccinologists I spoke to on this topic said they do expect breakthrough infections much like we saw with the

Delta variant but there is an expectation that there will be a prevention of severe disease, most likely, with the vaccines and this variant. But

people have to be patient.

ANDERSON: Absolutely, patience is a virtue at this point. Thank you.

With all this raising questions about the vaccines already out there, do they work against Omicron?

Or will we need a special shot?

Europe's drug regulator says a new vaccine targeting the variant is at least three months away. Pfizer and Moderna both testing the effectiveness

of the current shots while coming up with a new booster. The Moderna CEO warned current vaccines will struggle with Omicron. The drugmaker's top

doctor tells us the variant is worrying.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. PAUL BURTON, MODERNA CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER: This virus probably emerged around early October in South Africa or Botswana; lays relatively

low and then, suddenly, in early November, explodes to become the dominant strain, displacing the Delta variant in South Africa.

And as you mentioned as well, it is now in maybe 20 countries around the world. I think all the evidence points to the fact that this is a very

transmissible virus and one that we need to take very seriously.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: Well, some countries and medical experts sounding the alarm bells there. Our own top Dr. Sanjay Gupta has been talking with people

involved in the vaccine-making process and joins us live.

What have you been hearing?

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: I've been hearing that the idea that there may be some erosion of the effectiveness of the vaccine

is a possibility but that there should be some level of protection. Keep in mind, when these vaccines first came out, we heard about them being 95

percent protective against serious illness.

[10:15:00]

GUPTA: At that point in the United States, the FDA would have accepted 50 percent effectiveness. So somewhere in between likely is what I'm hearing

this -- the vaccines will be effective against Omicron. We'll see. We don't know for sure.

These are interesting experiments. They take the virus, Omicron; they take blood from vaccinated individuals; they put it in a test tube and they see

what happens.

They also follow real-world data to see, in places where this vaccine is circulating, are hospitalization rates going up there?

I don't know if we have the numbers, in Gauteng province, where Johannesburg is located, I went on their health ministry's website and

pulled some data. And you do see that hospitalization rates have gone up there over the last three weeks. They're starting at a low number. But they

have gone up.

Keep in mind, as you well know, it is sort of late springtime in South Africa. So this is not likely related to flu; weather is getting warmer.

Typically numbers go down.

So they want to see, is this some evidence of the -- this particular variant resisting vaccines as well as the others have?

ANDERSON: There have been a number of sort of narratives around this variant. I just want to get your perspective on things. Some people making

a bit of a deal about the number of mutations. As I understand it, what is far more important is what the mutations are and what they aren't.

Can you just explain a little?

GUPTA: Yes, I mean, this is really interesting. So we're learning a lot about this virus and again it is a novel virus. But let me show you this 3D

animation of the spike protein. This is the protein that allows these viruses to enter the cells.

And what they find is that, overall in the virus, there are some 50 new mutations they're seeing here, 30 on the spike protein. But some of these

mutations they have seen before.

There is one, for example, that was associated with Beta and there was some concern at that point that it could be a mutation that would allow the

virus to escape some of the immunity.

There is another one called 501 that is a mutation that could potentially make the virus more transmissible.

Now these are just sort of signals. We don't know that they will still sort of confer those same abilities to this variant. And we don't know what

happens when you mix all these mutations together.

But there is enough of a concern here that they're labeling this as a variant of concern for that reason. There has probably been a thousand

variants or so that have come out since we first started talking about this particular coronavirus. Most of them have been inconsequential.

A few of them have risen to the level of variants of concern. But that is why, because they're seeing signals -- it doesn't mean anything for certain

in the real world yet. But that's what's driving these scientists' concerns.

ANDERSON: And we have been talking now for four or five days about needing to be patient because it is not clear yet that we have the full picture. We

know we don't have the full picture.

What has happened is that governments haven't wanted to be flat-footed. And so out of the gate, the U.K., Europe and other countries closing their

borders to South Africa and other southern African countries.

That's a real concern for people from those countries, people traveling to those countries, people stuck in those countries and, indeed, for many of

our viewers watching around the world -- and I'm sure there will be those in the States saying what happens next?

Are we looking at further travel restrictions and bans?

We're going into, certainly in the Northern Hemisphere, the winter period, the Christmas period, a traveling period.

What is your sense at this point?

The WHO have said these travel bans are unnecessary.

GUPTA: I think it is hard to argue with the WHO's position on this. This is just based on reporting, Becky. If you go back to March of last year,

for example, you may remember, in the United States there was a travel ban on travelers from Europe at that point. That was March 15th.

What they subsequently found was that, at least a week earlier, maybe two weeks earlier, the virus was already spreading quite robustly in the United

States. By the time you're at this point, with the global travel the way that it is, you have to assume that this particular variant is in most

places around the world. That's just the reality.

So we also now have a couple of tools at our disposal. Besides vaccines, which everybody is recommending people get, we also have testing. So

instead of doing travel bans, the idea that you could require a negative test would probably be a much more effective tool.

Right now these travel bans are probably just the illusion of some sort of protection. As somebody put it yesterday, it's like locking the screen

door. It doesn't do much. But the other point is that you're allowing U.S. citizens, for example, into the United States but not foreign nationals.

[10:20:00]

GUPTA: The virus doesn't care if you're a citizen or not.

So how would that travel ban make sense?

ANDERSON: Sanjay, it's always good to have you on. Thank you very much indeed for spending time with the viewers around the world.

Again, you know, we don't want to be sensationalists here. We are going to be patient. We know there are more questions than answers at this point. As

we begin to fill in the gaps, we will get that information to you.

David McKenzie, just been reporting, just been in the lab where the variant was first spotted. We have got that sort of reporting and we will continue

to be aggressive, this story -- out front on this story for you, as you would expect us to be. Thank you.

Just as the countries were starting to open up, we're seeing more restrictions as we have been discussing. We break it down for you country

by country on the website. Find out where your nation stands, which countries you can and cannot visit, all at cnn.com or you can use your CNN

app.

And join us for a town hall, "Coronavirus Facts and Fears," hosted by Anderson Cooper and Dr. Sanjay Gupta and featuring Dr. Anthony Fauci. That

is Wednesday, 8:00 pm Eastern, 9:00 am in Hong Kong. And for early risers, 5:00 am if you're watching here in Abu Dhabi.

Still to come, the queen of England has a little less territory under her control today. We'll tell you which country is no longer part of the crown.

And despite a delay in the final vote count, there are celebrations in Honduras after a history-making election.

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ANDERSON: Well, the queen of England, one less jewel in her crown. Barbados has left the monarchy, becoming the world's newest republic and

immediately inaugurating a new president to replace the queen as head of state. We get more on why this happened from CNN's Max Foster.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SANDRA MASON, BARBADOS PRESIDENT: I, Sandra Prunella Mason, do swear that I will well and truly serve Barbados.

MAX FOSTER, CNN LONDON CORRESPONDENT: Fifty-five years after gaining independence from the U.K., Barbados cuts its last formal tie to its former

colonizer. The royal standard flag lowered and replaced by the presidential standard, marking the end of the queen's reign on this island.

And a new future under a Barbadian-born head of state appointed by the Barbadian parliament.

MASON: Our country and our people must dream big dreams and fight to realize them.

FOSTER (voice-over): Prince Charles invited as a guest of honor, among the likes of pop star Rihanna. He used the moment to acknowledge Britain's role

in the slave trade.

[10:25:00]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHARLES, PRINCE OF WALES: From the darkest days of our past and the appalling atrocity of slavery, which forever stains our history, the people

of this island forged their path with extraordinary fortitude.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER (voice-over): It was unusually stark language from the U.K. but disappointed those holding out for a formal apology.

DAVID DENNY, CARIBBEAN MOVEMENT FOR PEACE AND INTEGRATION: Prince Charles is part of the royal family. The royal family contributed to slavery. The

royal family benefited from slavery financially. And many of our African brothers and sisters died in battle, OK, for change.

FOSTER: It was in the 1620s that British settlers arrived in this paradise. And they went on to build vast fortunes from the sugar and the

slave trades. Calls for compensation for that dark period in British history grew louder during the Black Lives Matter protests, as did the push

to a republic.

SCOTT FURSSEDONN-WOOD, BRITISH HIGH COMMISSIONER TO BARBADOS: Clearly people in Africa, in this region, in all parts of the world, still feel

that profound sense of injustice. And it is quite right we recognize that, that we are determined that such a thing could never happen again.

FOSTER: The queen is still head of state in 15 countries around the world and republican movements in those nations will be looking at what happened

here in Barbados and hoping that this will add momentum to their own campaigns.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ANDERSON: Max Foster joining us live from Barbados.

Weather looks good.

What does a country get out of being part of the crown?

And was this decision to leave controversial, Max?

FOSTER: It was controversial; I think it was seen as inevitable that it happen at some point. There's some controversy around the timing of it;

perhaps the government rushed this through sooner than it needed to happen.

Some concern that the president was appointed by parliament, voted for by parliament but that the public wasn't given a say on who that president

should be and some campaigners have said to me it is a real shame that the public didn't have their chance to be involved in this moment of history.

But broadly, they're very supportive of what happens here. There is some concern that, looking forward, apart from the excitement of independence,

about the trade ties that the island has with the U.K., some concern that they're becoming too reliant on Chinese investment.

I actually speak to a lot of younger people and they do talk about this concern about Chinese investment on the island and perhaps they should be

sticking with the U.K. But at the same time they don't want to be having the queen as head of state.

So it is a complicated, layered cultural debate here. But I'd say broadly people are happy that it is now a republic; not necessarily happy with the

timing of it.

ANDERSON: And some celebs in attendance, including Rihanna. Explain.

FOSTER: Well, Rihanna, you drive around Barbados and her picture is everywhere, she's in the graffiti, she's in posters, she is the nation's

sweetheart. She is a huge megastar here. She is Barbadian, of course.

But I think what was very interesting last night is that the president's first honor that she conferred was to Prince Charles; gave him a freedom

award, which some found controversial.

But the second one she gave out was to Rihanna, calling her a hero of the nation. And she is now up there for those big national events, sitting

there, alongside the likes of Prince Charles.

But I think the messaging there was, really, this is someone who has been hugely successful and she is young and she's dynamic and she really points

to the future. So I think this was a Barbadian story, not necessarily just about Rihanna. It was about what the future could hold for Barbados.

ANDERSON: Good stuff. Max, thank you, as ever. Max Foster in Barbados for you.

Still ahead, it has been a roller coaster week for these financial markets.

And we're only two days in, aren't we?

Investors react to the Omicron variant. What could be next for these markets, particularly for the equity markets, is up next.

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ANDERSON: Right, you're with CONNECT THE WORLD. I'm Becky Anderson out of Abu Dhabi for you. This is our Middle Eastern programming hub.

A recap for you on our top story, the spread of the Omicron variant, what we do and don't know about it at present.

Well, what we do know is that Japan is just discovered its first case. That means 19 countries or territories have now diagnosed at least one case of

the strain, a week after it was identified.

Health officials in the Netherlands now believe the variant was there as early as November 19th, a week earlier than previously known.

And two Israeli doctors have contracted the Omicron variant. One of them who traveled, infecting the other. It is the first case to be spread

locally there as we understand it. That brings Israel's total to four cases of this latest strain.

All this has prompted some 70 countries and territories to impose travel restrictions from countries with the Omicron strain. South Africans have

said they feel they're being punished for doing the right thing and sounding the alarm.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. JOHN NKENGASONG, DIRECTOR, AFRICA CDC: Identifying a virus, a new strain or a new variant doesn't mean it came from there. It just means a

good system is in place to pick it up. So I think that is extremely important.

But at any rate, regardless of where it was identified, it doesn't actually have it at all. What matters is how we can together collaboratively, in a

coordinated way, put systems in place that can pick up this new variant and share the information so that we can collectively use it to drive our

response to the pandemic.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: Well, we have seen some volatility on the markets and let's look at what the European stock exchanges are up to, all lower after Monday's

recovery. Friday was a shocking day for investors.

And I say all lower; yes, they are. We've got stocks in the Asia Pacific which finished -- Paris is -- sorry, well -- going in and out of positive

territory. Let's say they're pretty much flat. Losses in Tokyo and Hong Kong today.

And in early trading on Wall Street, the major indices are trending lower. Again, the Nasdaq just popping into territory in the positive front.

Look, it is difficult to tell what's going on here. These markets are up and down. Business reporter Matt Egan watching what is going on from

Washington for us today.

It's interesting, I looked those markets during the break; they were doing one thing. Then I look at them again, two, three minutes later, Matt,

they're doing something else. Investors can't quite seem to make up their minds from day to day.

Why?

MATT EGAN, CNN BUSINESS SENIOR WRITER: Yes, it is a roller coaster ride. It really is all about the Omicron variant.

People are just trying to understand, what does this mean for the economy?

[10:35:00]

EGAN: What does it mean for corporate profits, what does it mean for central bank policy?

And so, as you mentioned, the Dow is actually off its worst levels of the day; down 200 points. In recent trading, we have seen the Nasdaq turn

positive, which is encouraging. Also have to keep an eye on what's going on in the oil market. Oil is a proxy for confidence in the global economy.

And we saw oil prices, they are still down pretty significantly, giving back some of the gains from yesterday. And they really collapsed on Friday.

Now investors have really paid a lot of attention to some new comments out of one of the biggest vaccinemakers. Moderna's CEO spoke to the "Financial

Times" and he said, listen, in all likelihood, vaccines are going to be less effective, materially less effective, against the new variant.

And he also said it is going to take weeks -- sorry, months -- to really produce new vaccines at scale. And so that is unsettling to everyone,

including investors, who are trying to understand what all this means.

And here in Washington, the Federal Reserve chairman, Jerome Powell, he is testifying as we speak on Capitol Hill. And he talked to lawmakers about

three big threats he sees from Omicron.

He said, one, more uncertainty around inflation; prices are high and it is not really clear when they're going to come down because of Omicron.

Two, he said there could be slower job growth; if people are nervous to go back to work, then that could slow things down.

And the other big thing is the supply chain and he said that there could be more pressure on the supply chain if, again, there is not enough workers.

So Becky, I think that, big picture, we do need to stress that it still feels like is more unknowns than knowns. And until we get answers to the

key questions around how contagious this is, how severe the symptoms are and how vaccines are going to respond, no one can really say for sure what

the impact to the economy or the market will be.

ANDERSON: Let me tell you, uncertainty is the nemesis of these markets. Investors absolutely hate it. So no real surprise that these volumes are

perhaps lower than they might be, that we're seeing this kind of real uncertainty about where investors go next.

They talk about sitting on the sidelines to a certain extent. And that may be where the investors are today. We'll keep an eye on them. Matt, thank

you for that.

Let's get you up to speed on the stories on the radar right now. A warning from the U.N.: it says hunger in Latin America and the Caribbean is at its

highest point in two decades. A new report in the region says the number of people suffering from food insecurity jumped 30 percent between 2019 and

2020.

Nearly half the people who live in Guatemala, in El Salvador and Honduras are going hungry.

America's top diplomat, the U.S. secretary of state, Antony Blinken, is set to travel to Sweden on Wednesday for European security meetings. This comes

as Sweden's first female prime minister prepares to form a minority government of her own party.

Parliament elected Social Democratic leader Magdalena Andersson as prime minister for a second time on Monday. To note, she resigned last week after

only hours in the post, when the coalition she had hoped to lead broke down.

The pilot who worked for accused sex traffickers Ghislaine Maxwell and Jeffrey Epstein is expected to return to the witness stand today. Maxwell's

trial got underway on Monday. In opening statements, the defense said Maxwell was just a scapegoat being blamed for Epstein's abuse, since he is

deceased.

The NATO secretary-general says the alliance must send a clear signal to Russia about amassing troops at the Ukrainian border, while the U.S.

secretary of state warns Russian aggression can trigger "serious consequences." And I quote him there.

Jens Stoltenberg speaking at a NATO summit in Latvia a day after the Belarusian defense minister said his country and Russia, both neighbors to

Ukraine, plan to hold joint military drills.

Still considering the future: coming up, after a car crash and older and wiser, Tiger Woods reflects on his recovery and on playing golf.

And nobody does it better; the football world honors its brightest star with another golden award.

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[10:40:00]

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ANDERSON: Welcome back. I'm Becky Anderson.

Tiger Woods says his future as a full time golfer is over. At a news conference today to promote his tournament, this coming weekend, Woods told

reporters if he's physically able, he hopes to play a few tournaments a year at some point.

He talked about his car accident back in February, saying, at one point, amputating his leg was a possibility. Woods says recovery has been a long,

painful process.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TIGER WOODS, GOLFER: It's been a lot of hard work. I'm thankful to all the surgeons and especially the nurses who -- the unsung heroes through all of

it, who were there by my bed and kept my spirits up, all my friends and family.

There was some tough times in there. There were some really tough times and pain got pretty great at times. But they helped me get through it and I'm

on the better side of it but I still got a long way to go.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: It won't be easy but he says one positive aspect of his recovery is getting to spend more time with his kids, including his -- watching his

son, Charlie, play golf. If you've ever seen any videos of Charlie, he is one hell of a golfer.

(WORLD SPORT)

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