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New Day
Variant Hunter Joins New Day As Answers Loom On Omicron; Flooding In South Sudan Displaces Hundreds Of Thousands; Witness: Maxwell Said Epstein Needed Sex Three Times A Day. Aired 7:30-8a ET
Aired December 07, 2021 - 07:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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[07:33:17]
JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Researchers are racing to gather data on the new Omicron COVID variant. One key question, does it make people sicker?
Here's Dr. Anthony Fauci.
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DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES, CHIEF MEDICAL ADVISER TO THE PRESIDENT: Thus far, it does not look like there's a great degree of severity to it, but we've really got to be careful before we make any determinations that it is less severe or it really doesn't cause any severe illness comparable to Delta. But thus far, the signals are a bit encouraging regarding the severity.
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BERMAN: Joining me now, the chief scientific officer at Hackensack Meridian Center for Discovery and Innovation, Dr. David Perlin. In his role, he helps to hunt and identify new variants.
I'm so glad you're here, Dr. Perlin because one of the things that I think is misconstrued in the public, they hear new variant and they automatically assume the sky is falling. We don't know. I mean, Dr. Fauci says we're still waiting to get more information, but he says at least what we're looking at now, the cases may not be severe.
As someone who studies variants, why might that be? Why is it something that we do see historically, sometimes, that variants mutate away from severity?
DR. DAVID PERLIN, CHIEF SCIENTIFIC OFFICER, HACKENSACK MERIDIAN CENTER FOR DISCOVERY AND INNOVATION: We know in general when we look, for example, at drug resistance pathogens that the induction of resistance mutations often reduces the fitness of those particular pathogens. It makes them less pathogenic, less virulent. And for viruses, we often see that as well. That is, you start accumulating mutations that the viruses can become less pathogenic, less transmissible. Now, in this particular case, it may well be that the virus has increased transmissibility but it doesn't necessarily mean it's more pathogenic -- we just don't know.
[07:35:03]
BERMAN: You can have both. You could have increased transmissibility.
PERLIN: Yes.
BERMAN: In other words, it spreads faster but could actually be less severe?
PERLIN: Absolutely. I mean, we have -- we have a number of viruses that are highly transmissible but they don't cause very severe disease, and that's what we'd like to see here if this virus persists. I mean, of course, for all of us, we'd like to -- we'd like to end this pandemic and eliminate this virus. But fundamentally, if it mutates to a state where it's highly transmissible but rather poorly pathogenic and doesn't cause much disease or severe disease, we'll be fine with that.
BERMAN: How many variants are there?
PERLIN: Yes. There are lots of variants. And we've been tracking variants since the beginning of the pandemic and we do that by sequencing, by doing analysis. As the largest healthcare system in New Jersey, we have a large web of cites where we receive virus from.
So, people come in, they're sick or they're not sure. They test positive. We then analyze those viruses. We analyze every single one. We do sequencing.
And since the beginning, we've looked at hundreds if not thousands of minor variants. We talk about variants of concern. Those are the ones that potentially can increase transmissibility or escape immune surveillance.
BERMAN: One thing we know for sure is there will be more.
PERLIN: There absolutely will be more. I mean, that's what we can absolutely guarantee. There will be more variants.
And by the way, variants of concern. While we focus on travel-related variants and we were concerned about Delta coming from Indian, we're concerned about Beta and Gamma coming from South Africa and Brazil, the reality is that we're home-growing variants as well.
BERMAN: Yes, Omega or Zeta Eta Theta.
PERLIN: That's correct.
BERMAN: One of those could come from New Jersey.
PERLIN: Come from New Jersey. Come from New York, which is what we've been dealing -- which we -- which prior to Delta, which is now 99 percent of all the viruses we see, that's exactly what we are seeing.
BERMAN: Dr. Perlin, we're lucky we have you out there hunting for them and looking for them. I think we understand much more about that now.
PERLIN: Right.
BERMAN: And I think we're all grateful for the work that was done in Southern Africa to identify Omicron early so that there could be measures taken.
PERLIN: It's really an extraordinary surveillance system; one that we really need to carefully look at because it would be very nice to emulate that here.
BERMAN: Appreciate it, Dr. Perlin. Thank you very much.
PERLIN: My pleasure.
BERMAN: So, new witnesses testifying to seeing graphic scenes at a millionaire's mansion -- schoolgirl outfits, voyeurism, and why Jeffrey Epstein needed to have sex three times a day.
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: And next, CNN is on the ground for a firsthand look at communities submerged under floodwaters.
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CLARISSA WARD, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: This used to be the central shopping area in town. As you can see, completely destroyed.
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[07:42:25]
KEILAR: The world's newest nation is drying up and drowning at the same time. Biblical flooding in South Sudan displacing hundreds of thousands of people and the devastation here triggered by the worsening climate crisis.
CNN's Clarissa Ward is on the ground in South Sudan with more on this developing humanitarian crisis. Clarissa, tell us what you've seen.
WARD: You know, Brianna, what's really extraordinary about what's happening here is that these floods hit back in the summer but the waters are just not disappearing and the situation is getting worse and worse. Eight hundred thousand people already affected. Hundreds of thousands forced from their home, disease spreading. And the next rainy season is just five months away.
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WARD (voice-over): Just four months ago this was a bustling town of 11,000 people. Then the floods came, biblical in scale, leaving it submerged underwater and largely cut off.
As we arrive in Ding Ding there are few signs of life; just some belongings stashed in the treetops, the only protection from the waters that have inundated much of South Sudan.
WARD (on camera): So this entire town has been flooded since August and the waters are still getting higher and higher even though the rainy season is now over.
Hi.
WARD (voice-over): A group of women catch sight of us and want to talk.
WARD (on camera): Hi. Where are your homes? Have your homes been destroyed?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Speaking foreign language).
WARD (voice-over): They survived years of vicious civil war here but these floods may pose the greatest threat yet.
They tell us their crops have been completely destroyed.
WARD (on camera): So what are you living on right now? What are you surviving on? The lilies?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
WARD (on camera): The lilies. The water lilies.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
WARD (on camera): Are people getting sick from the dirty water?
WARD (voice-over): Many people have waterborne diseases, Masra Kazara (ph) explains. The wells were all covered so we have to drink this water.
While South Sudan is no stranger to seasonal flooding, Unity State hasn't been hit like this since the early 1960s. Scientists say the floods have become much more intense and unpredictable in recent years, in part because of global warming.
[07:45:00]
WARD (on camera): James -- hi, James.
WARD (voice-over): James Ling is one of hundreds of thousands who have been displaced. He agrees to show us what's left of his family home.
WARD (on camera): Oh my God.
JAMES LING, DISPLACED FROM FLOODING: Yes.
WARD (on camera): That's your motorcycle.
LING: Yes.
WARD (voice-over): Nothing is left except for his children's drawings on the walls.
"Since the conflict erupted, we've never had a rest," he tells us. "We've been constantly running, displaced. Our children have had no relief from the dangers."
Now he is forced to flee once again. The journey to the promise of dry land is long and arduous. The lucky ones travel by boat. Most swing or wade, moving slowly but purposefully through the muddy waters. Some push makeshift floats piled high with family members and possessions.
We come across a group of women whose raft is stuck in the mud. The men of the family have gone to try to save their livestock. Nereka tells us they left their destroyed home four days ago.
WARD (on camera): Have you been pushing this raft for four days?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Speaking foreign language).
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (Speaking foreign language).
WARD (voice-over): "Yes," they tell us. Along the way, they say their food ran out.
WARD (on camera): How old is your baby?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (Speaking foreign language).
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Five to six months.
WARD (on camera): Five to six months? Are you worried about your children?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (Speaking foreign language).
WARD (voice-over): "Yes, I'm worried," she says, "and that's why we keep moving."
They still have several miles to push before they reach this narrow strip of dry land. According to UNICEF, some 6,000 people have now settled here, completely dependent on aid to survive.
LUEL DING, UNICEF EDUCATION OFFICER: They don't have a latrine. They don't have enough food for them to eat. So --
WARD (on camera): They don't have bathrooms? They don't have food?
DING: Nothing -- nothing at all.
WARD (on camera): And there are more people arriving every day?
DING: People are continuing to be displaced and they continue coming. WARD (on camera): You're obviously doing everything you can but is it enough?
DING: This is not enough and that is the reason why we are calling for donor communities to be sure that children get to school, children get healthcare, they get latrine services. We have to make sure we prevent them to die.
WARD (voice-over): As the fetid, stagnant waters continue to rise so do diseases like diarrhea and hepatitis E. Malnutrition in children is now at its highest level since 2013.
Those who make it all the way to the state capital Bentiu find little sanctuary. Some of the main roads have been turned into waterways -- cars replaced by canoes.
Just a mile further, the ghostly remains of what was once a commercial hub.
WARD (on camera): This used to be the central shopping area in town. As you can see, completely destroyed.
WARD (voice-over): According to authorities, 90 percent of Unity State has been impacted by these floods. Here, the effects of climate change aren't a hypothetical problem in the future but rather, a real disaster in the present
LAM TUNGWAR KEUIGWONG, MINISTER OF LAND, HOUSING, AND PUBLIC UTILITIES: We are fighting to block this water not to reach here.
WARD (voice-over): Minister Lam Tungwar concedes local authorities were completely unprepared and are now unable to cope with the scale of the crisis.
KEUIGWONG: We don't have any sufficient for survival.
WARD (on camera): How much longer can you cope with the situation as it stands?
KEUIGWONG: Realistically, I can tell you frankly, we don't know. But we are just worried about the next rain because we are told the water behind me will not go now. It will not recede right now or dry up. It's going to take a while because it's water.
WARD (voice-over): They don't have long. The next rains are expected in May. And if the current waters don't recede, the fear is that this area will be wiped off the map.
Dikes are being built to try to hold back the encroaching waters but the handful of diggers are no match for the vast flooding. Breaches are common, leaving many with no choice but to take matters into their own hands, hastily improvising protection for their endangered homes as the waters quietly continue to rise.
(END VIDEOTAPE) WARD: You know, it's important to remember as well that South Sudan is the world's youngest country. So when we're talking about things like climate change, this is not a country that has been a major contributor to global emissions.
[07:50:00]
There are only roughly 125 miles of paved roads here in Sudan and yet, it is this country that is really paying such a heavy price for the effects of global warming as we have seen. And the fear is that the situation is only going to get worse and worse. And as you heard from Minister Lam there, they simply cannot cope.
KEILAR: I mean, the pictures that you're showing us and the fact that this flooding has been occurring for months with the water still rising, it's unbelievable. Is this the new normal, Clarissa, for Sub- Saharan Africa?
WARD: Well, this is what the fear is, right, Brianna? Because Unity State, as I said, hasn't been hit by floods like that since 1964. They had to get boats out to deal with the floods for the first time. This is new. Flooding has been a normal phenomenon here in South Sudan, but at this level of intensity, absolutely not.
And as I mentioned before, it's a compound effect. So, next rainy season, which starts in May, this country will be even less equipped to deal with it. And we are literally talking about an entire state, potentially, being forcibly displaced from their homes. That raises a huge source of secondary issues that could knock on from that.
So this is a desperate situation and very much, sadly, it is only getting worse.
KEILAR: Yes, flooding is a permanent state that is not normal.
Clarissa, such an important report. Thank you so much.
Still ahead, Joe Biden and Vladimir Putin. What is at stake in their crucial call this morning.
BERMAN: And Steven Spielberg's "West Side Story" banned. More and where and why. Not cool, boy (ph).
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[07:55:54]
BERMAN: Shocking testimony at Ghislaine Maxwell's sex trafficking trial. A woman who claims Jeffrey Epstein sexually abused her says Maxwell set up their meetings and talked often about sexual topics, including Epstein's carnal needs.
CNN's Kara Scannell, who has been covering the ins and outs of this story, joins us now with the latest -- Kara.
KARA SCANNELL, CNN REPORTER: John, that's right. We heard yesterday from the second of four accusers in the sex trafficking trial of Ghislaine Maxwell.
This accuser testified under the pseudonym Kate. She said she met Maxwell in Paris when she was 17 years old and she wanted to be like Maxwell. She said that she tried to befriend her. They would hang out at her London home.
And Maxwell said she had to meet her boyfriend, Jeffrey Epstein. Well, Maxwell, she alleges, lured her into giving Epstein a massage. And Kate said that the first time that she saw Epstein naked, Maxwell was standing right beside her.
She said during that massage, Kate alleged that she was assaulted by Epstein and that began a series of massages that ended up in the same sort of alleged abuse.
Now, Kate also testified that Maxwell had complained to her about Epstein's voracious sexual appetite -- Maxwell asking her if she knew of any other cute, young, pretty girls like her.
And that Kate said that when she was in Palm Beach that Maxwell had laid out on her bed a schoolgirl uniform and said that it would be fun if she served Jeffrey Epstein tea in it. Now, Kate said that when she did serve Epstein the tea, she didn't know how to say no, and that also resulted in sexual assault.
Now, the cross-examination on this witness was pretty aggressive. Maxwell's attorney suggesting that her memory was damaged by substance abuse and that she was seeking fame for speaking out and coming forward with these allegations.
Now, Kate, under questioning by prosecutors, said that aside from this alleged assault, the hardest thing that I've ever had to do -- "This is the hardest thing I've ever had to do and I'm here because I don't think there's anything more important, especially now that I'm a parent, than demonstrating to her that I can stand up for yourself and demonstrating that the truth is important."
Now, the judge said the jury can consider this testimony but they cannot convict Maxwell on this testimony because Kate was of the legal age of consent when this alleged assault took place.
The jury also learned some information about what the FBI seized in the 2019 raid of Epstein's Manhattan mansion. They learned that they recovered binders of CDs and bins of hard drives. The jury is expected to see what is on some of those CDs today -- John.
BERMAN: Kara Scannell, a lot going on here. Thank you so much for that.
KEILAR: "Spiderman" star Tom Holland is swapping his web-shooters for dancing shoes. Holland confirming that he will portray the legendary actor, dancer, and singer Fred Astaire in an upcoming biopic.
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Clip of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers dancing. (END VIDEO CLIP)
KEILAR: Astaire and dance partner Ginger Rogers are one of the most popular teams in movie history. The Fred Astaire role may be a natural fit for Holland. After all, he did start his career on the London stage in "Billy Elliot the Musical," which is about a boy who just wants to dance.
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Clip from Steven Spielberg's reimagined "West Side Story."
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KEILAR: The Sharks and the Jets won't rumble anytime soon in the Gulf. Steven Spielberg's brilliant reimagining of "West Side Story" has been banned in Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and other Gulf Nations. This is a decision that is reportedly over a transgender character in the new cast who is played by a non-binary actor.
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BOYZ II MEN, R&B GROUP: Singing "End of the Road."
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BERMAN: R&B supergroup Boyz II Men is getting the movie musical treatment. The coming-of-age film titled "Brotherly" will be based on the music of Boyz II Men. The group is famous for their emotional ballads that are preferred with an acapella harmony -- peppered, I should say, with acapella.
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BTS, K-POP MEGA-GROUP: Singing "Shining Through the City."
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BERMAN: And BTS taking a rare break from performing and the K-Pop mega-group is taking a vacation, their first since 2019, to quote "enjoy ordinary and free everyday lives." Good luck with --
