selina wang joins us live now from tokyo with more on all of this. good to see you, selina. so why are we hearing this denial now, so long after peng shuai's initial accusation was posted? and is this raising more questions than answers? >> yeah, well, rosemary a lot of questions remain unanswered. this appearance does not extinguish shuai and the women' tennis association is still calling for an investigation. but this marks the first time peng shuai has spoken to international media about those sexual assault allegations. [ audio difficulty ] >> all right. i have to apologize. having some audio issues there with our connection with selina wang. appreciate her joining us, though, for that. >>> well, gabriel boric is set to be sworn in next year as the youngest president in chile's history. he defeated jose kast sunday in a runoff. rafael romo looks at how he did it and the challenges that lie ahead. >> reporter: he's 35 years old, a former student leader, and has the support of the country's communist party. gabriel boric will be chile's next president. the former congressm

selina wang bringing us the very latest from tokyo. many thanks. >>> still to come, a christian aid group is now claiming it was help from god, not a ransom payment, that led a dozen kidnapped missionaries to freedom in haiti. we will have the details just ahead. and get back to your rhythm. ♪ the relief you need. the cash you want. i'm jonathan lawson here to tell you about life insurance through the colonial penn program. if you're age 50 to 85, and looking to buy life insurance on a fixed budget, remember the three ps. what are the three ps? the three ps of life insurance on a fixed budget are price, price, and price. a price you can afford, a price that can't increase, and a price that fits your budget. i'm 54, what's my price? you can get coverage for $9.95 a month. i'm 65 and take medications. what's my price? also $9.95 a month. i just turned 80, what's my price? $9.95 a month for you too. if you're age 50 to 85, call now about the #1 most popular whole life insurance plan available through the colonial penn program. it has an

cnn's selina wang is following developments live this hour in to tokyo. we just heard about the wrench that covid has thrown into so many holiday travel plans here in the u.s., now australia as well. >> reporter: yeah, kim, exactly. this is turning out to be a very stressful holiday season for travelers around the world, including in australia. we've learned that at least 80 flights, 40 inbound and 40 outbound, have been canceled from sydney on friday. a jetstar spokesperson told us these last-minute cancellations were happening because many of their frontline team members have been in close contact with people who have tested positive for covid-19. so they are having to test and isolate. the airline has apologized and said that the majority of passengers have been rescheduled onto later flights. the other airlines that also fly from sydney domestically in australia include qantas, virgin, and rex. both qantas and rex have told us their flights have not been canceled. but we're seeing many travelers complaining on social media that after going through all

selina wang is in tokyo. first we go to jerusalem. the restrictions are coming at a time when so many of us really long to be with our loved ones. how is it being received there? >> reporter: that's right, isa. from 5:00 p.m. eastern time today, that's midnight local time the united states, canada, germany and other countries will be added to israel's seemingly ever expanding no-fly list. those returning will have to undergo seven days of quarantine. i should say there are still some people determined to get away. you may see a little spike of people trying to leave the country to go visit friends or family in the united states and elsewhere before that comes into force. likewise people trying to return in order to do those seven days of quarantine. meanwhile ministers were meeting in jerusalem, senior ministers were meeting to discuss new restrictions within israel, potentially putting more limits on gatherings both indoors and outdoors. there is also talk of ending free antigen tests for children that aren't vaccinated. those discus

selina wang joins me from tokyo with the very latest. what did she say, selina? >> reporter: michael, this is the first time that peng shuai has spoken to international media on the assault allegations. in the interview, she denied the claims. she was speaking on the sidelines of a cross country skiing event in shanghai. she was speaking to a singaporean, chinese language news outlet. this is what she said in the interview. quote, i want to emphasize one thing that is very important. that i have never spoken or written about anyone sexually assaulting me. this point is very important to be emphasized clearly. in terms of the weibo post, first of all, it's my personal privacy. there possibly has been a lot of misunderstanding. photos of her at the event were also posted by chinese state media reporters, including this video of her talking and smiling with former chinese nba star yao ming. in the interview, she said she's been living at home in beijing and denied she's been under any kind of surveillance. but, michael, global concern about peng shuai's well-being s

selina wang joins me live from tokyo for more on this. why are we hearing this denial now, so long after peng shuai's initial accusation was posted? and is this raising more questions than answers? >> well, rosemary, this does leave a lot of questions unanswered. it does not extinguish global concerns about peng shuai and the women's tennis association is calling for investigation. what we do know is this is the first time peng shuai has spoken to social media publicly about the sexual assault allegations. and in the interview, she denies the claims. she was speaking on the sidelines of a cross country skiing event in shanghai. she was speaking to a chinese news outlet. take a listen to what she said in that interview. >> translator: i want to emphasize one thing that is very important, that i have never spoken about or written about anyone sexually assaulting me. this point needs to be emphasized clearly. first of all, it's my personal privacy. there possibly has been a lot of misunderstanding. >> in the interview she also said she's bee

selina wang joins us. it packs quite a punch. do we know at this hour whether the majority of people have been able to evacuate? >> reporter: well, isa, we noah round 198,000 people have evacuated their homes, and this is absolutely devastating for residents. this is the 15th typhoon to hit the philippines this year. you already have millions of people still trying to rebuild their homes and their lives after the devastation from earlier this year. and parts of the philippines had been gearing up for this. they had been getting heavy rainfall in parts of the country for the past several days. we've got footage in a southern city where they've been having streets and homes flooded with this muddy brown water. at the same time, you've got airlines cancelling flights, thousands stranded at ports as authorities have canceled land and sea travel in the central and southern part of the country. and this super typhoon made landfall on the eastern coast in the island called shaga, which is a popular tourist destination, also known as the

we have athena jones in new york, scott mclean and nada bashir in london and selina wang in tokyo. >> reporter: america bracing for a tough winter that's beginning to look a lot like last winter. >> this virus is extraordinary. it has a doubling time of two to three days. it will take over. >> we can it is very contagious. we saw what happened in south africa initially. then in europe. now in the u.s. it is doubling about every two to four days and we'll see that number of cases go up pretty steeply over the course of the next couple weeks. >> reporter: the u.s. now averaging about 1200 death as day. 130,000 new covid-19 cases a day. that figure up 10% from a week ago. hospitalizations nationwide up 35% over last month. and intensive care unit beds, nearly 80% fulfill cases rising much faster in parts of the southwest and the northeast. new york city, an early he said center of the pandemic, seeing a spike in cases officials say is being driven by omicron. >> we have to move faster. that's why we're focusing even more on vaccination. and we know that vaccination helps address omicron.

selina wang in tokyo with the very latest. appreciate it. >>> a russian and european space probe may have discovered a surprise perma prfrost on mars. the orbiter found the ground in the central area was emitting a high level of neutrons, something typically seen in wetter soil. the findings suggest that up to 40% of the near surface material in the area could be water. it amounts to an enormous quantity because it is ten times longer and 20 times wider than the earth's grand canyon. pretty sure i said that wrong. thanks for watching. appreciate your company. i'm michael holmes. world sport is up next for international viewers. for everyone else here in the united states i'll be back with more news after the break. i brought in ensure max protein, with thirty grams of protein. those who tried me felt more energy in just two weeks! (sighs wearily) here i'll take that! (excited yell) woo-hoo! ensure max protein. with thirty grams of protein, one gram of sugar, and nutrients to support immune health. ♪ this holiday, let them sh

selina wang is live for us in tokyo. celina, we know that meeting has just wrapped up and we're starting to get some reaction from the russian side. >> reporter: yeah, christine, we are now seeing actually both sides, both leaders touting and praising the strong relationship that they have with each other. putin even calling china/russia relations a model of cooperation for the 21st century. and really what this meeting was, it was a show of solidarity, especially towards washington at a time when both countries are facing mounting diplomatic pressure from the west. china facing pressure over trade, technology, human rights, and russia, of course, facing pressure around the buildup of troops near the border with ukraine. they are both showing this united front at a time when the relations with the west are deteriorating. and that deepening tie between russia and china is evident across sectors. they are striking energy deals. they are working together to build a lunar space station, also enhancing their military cooperat