are you a christian author with a book that you're ready to share with the world? get published now, call for your free publisher kit today! hello and a very warm welcome to or viewers joining us in the united states and right around the world. i'm isa soares in london. and just ahead right here on "cnn newsroom." >> now we are facing the challenges of this new variant, we can put this behind us, i hope. >> what people shouldn't forget, number one, we have tools to protect ourselves. we have to double down on using them. vaccinations, masks, testing. >> what everybody didn't see is how rapidly and aggressively delta would come into the

country. we made that mistake. i made that mistake. >> president biden unveiling yet another new covid strategy as the omicron variant hits the united states. can it help in this new one? alec baldwin speaks out on the shooting of the movie "rust." he said he never pulled the trigger. she was sold into marriage to a 55-year-old man while the cameras were rolling. they speak to cnn exclusively about this. >> announcer: live from london, this is "cnn newsroom" with isa soares. >> hello, everyone. it is friday, december 3rd. we begin with the united states president joe biden's new winter plan to fight the coronavirus pandemic. now, he outlined the approach as now five u.s. states are reporting cases of the

fast-spreading omicron variant. california, colorado, hawaii, minnesota and new york. the president's plan relies heavily on vaccines with boosters for all adults and shots to protect kids. tougher restrictions you can see on your screen on international travel as well as 60 rapid response teams available to state to fight outbreaks. cnn's chief white house correspondent kaitlan collins has details for you. >> reporter: with the still mysterious omicron variant now in the u.s., today president biden laid out a new strategy to fight the pandemic. >> my plan i'm announcing today pulls no punches in the fight against covid-19. >> reporter: at the national institutes of health, biden attempted a balancing act, preventing panic while taking aggressive steps to combat the spread of omicron. >> we move forward in the face of covid-19 and the delta variant. we'll move forward in the face of omicron variant as well. >> reporter: biden will impose stricter testing requirements on u.s.-bound travelers, extend

tsa's mask mandate, launch mobile family vaccines clinics, move to require private insurers to pay the cost of at-home tests, and boost access for those without it. there are some caveats to biden's new campaign. given insurance won't pay for past test purchases and the rule likely won't go into effect for at least six weeks. >> we expect to be -- have the final rules on this and have this implemented mid january. i expect details about how it will work and the functioning of it will be out in that time line. >> reporter: americans are currently split on biden's handling of the pandemic. 44% approving, 48% disapprove. the kaiser family foundation find most vaccinated adults in the u.s. plan to get a booster, but nearly one in five say they probably or definitely won't despite cdc recommendations. >> we need to be ready. >> reporter: today biden making this appeal to stop the pandemic from being so political. >> i know covid-19 has been very difficult advice i have in this

country. it's become a political issue, which is a sad, sad commentary. it shouldn't be, but it has been. this is a moment we can put the divisiveness behind us, i hope. >> reporter: the president's attempt to mandate vaccines in some capacity has hit a slew of legal challenges and led to a political fight with republicans on capitol hill. >> while my existing federal vaccination requirements are being reviewed by the courts, this plan does not expand or add to those mandates. >> reporter: and those new testing requirements to get into the united states on international flights requiring a negative test result within 24 hours instead of 72 hours, goes into effect at midnight monday, december 6th. kaitlan collins, cnn, the white house. >> thank you, caitlan. the divisiveness the president talked about some times have life and death consequentials. a cnn analysis of data from johns hopkins university said since vaccines have been widely available, the average risk of

dying from covid is 50% higher as you can see there in states that voted for donald trump than states that voted for joe biden. why, you ask? consider this. according to kaiser family foundation poll, four in ten republicans remain unvaccinated, compared to about one in ten democrats. joe biden's former covid response adviser said it is time for gop leaders really to step up. have a listen. >> the message to you they're sending is not what they should be doing which is ideally standing shoulder to shoulder with the president saying this is bad everywhere. we can fight about anything we want to in politics. we can argue over anything. none of us want anybody to die. for a party not willing to lift its finger to help fight the pandemic, they're going to a great deal of effort to fight people who are fighting the pandemic. and that just doesn't make sense. and so they should partner up here because people in their own communities as you just said are the ones paying the heavy price. >> well, the u.s. surgeon jen says omicron is a concern, but

the country is in a different place in the pandemic than it was a year ago. dr. vivek murthy told wolf blitzer on thursday americans need to wait for more complete data on the new variant. this is what he said. >> i want to emphasize how important this is with omicron. it is because the news around this new variant has understandably worried a lot of people. i get it, it's been a long couple years. what people shouldn't forget is, number one, that we have tools to protect ourselves. we have to double down on using them. vaccination, masks, testing. we should also remember there are unanswered questions about the variant and we have to be careful about taking the anecdote or the small bit of data that's going to pop up over the next few days. we have to wait for all of it to come together. that's going to help us understand more. >> how worried should we be about this omicron variant? >> we should pull out all the stops. number one, is this more transmissible than delta? we don't know yet. number two, is it more severe in terms of illness it causes? we don't know that e either.

third, is vaccine efficacy impacted by this variant? that also we don't have a clear answer to. but one thing we do know is we are doing everything necessary to get those answers. we're working closely with our south african colleagues, with researchers in the private sector and academia, and around the world to make sure we can get the answers. but it will take several weeks. >> more, of course. more countries are restricting travel to southern africa to try and stem the spread of the omicron variant. in the past few hours cambodia has banned travel from countries in ten regions with omicron. cnn has correspondents positioned around the globe to bring you the latest. cyril vanier is in paris. david mackenzie is standing by in johannesburg. and blake essex as you can see there is live for us covering the asia-pacific region. he's live for us in tokyo. i want to take you first to germany where new cases are surging and the unvaccinated are now under a virtual lockdown.

cnn's fred pleitgen is live for us with the latest. fred, germany getting tough on the unvaccinated with this de facto lockdown. we could potentially enforce vaccines come in the new year. how is this all being received? >> reporter: well, you're certainly absolutely right. germans are getting tough on people who are unvaccinated. it really has caused quite a debate in germany. one of the things critics are saying, look, this government said just a couple weeks ago, just a couple months ago that there would not be any sort of mandatory vaccinations here in germany, and now it's clearly something that is very much in the cards. but as we're speaking here right now, isa, i'm also keeping an eye on a press conference by the german health minister who is speaking right now. one of the things he quite frankly said was he said that if all adults had gotten vaccinated, germany wouldn't be in the situation that it is in right now, and certainly that is the main reason why the government is now contemplating these very tough measures and following through on some other

tough measures like, for instance, essentially locking unvaccinated people out of public life. we're not only talking about nonessential businesses. everything except super markets and pharmacies. we're talking, for instance, indoor sports activities, cultural activities, restaurants and the like. so it certainly is going to get tough for unvaccinated people. germany still an extremely difficult situation. we saw early this morning that the case count of new coronavirus infections is up once again. one of the other things the health minister has said right now is that he believes that the climax in icus, the worse things get in i.c.u.s is actually going to be christmastime. things not looking very good for germany. and the germans clearly holding responsible those who did not get vaccinated here in germany. about 69% of the population is vaccinated. if you compare that to countries that are really doing well, like, for instance, portugal, it really isn't enough, the government says. >> yeah, and i know you'll keep us updated on that press

conference that is now ongoing, fred, with the very latest. do stay with us, fred. i want to go to david in johannesburg. david, we are seeing yet again a significant rise in covid-19 cases with omicron i believe fueling the surge. what are you hearing, david, from physicians this hour, the impact it is having on the vaccinated as well as the unvaccinated? i think we're looking at roughly 35% unvaccinated in south africa. >> reporter: that's right, isa. i think everyone is taking a deep breath here to really worry about what the impact of this variant will be here. and, of course, the impact here could tell you what it will be like for the rest of the globe. as incidents of this variant spread across the world, worth he remembering the world health organization head said that's to be expected. as he put it, this is what viruses do. there are some early indications this is more transmissible than delta variant, meaning it's easier to pass from one person to the other. and also some indications just

today an announcement that it may be more likely to get reinfection. meaning if you had covid before, you could get it again with this variant, most likely a milder illness. you asked about vaccinations. yes, there is still a relatively low portion of people unvaccinated. the good news is that it appears that vaccines are staving off at this point severe illness from this variant, and so the message from the health minister was very clear. >> the evidence that is very clear thus far, like all previous variants, our best protection against serious illness lies with the vaccination. we must, therefore, not hesitate to take the vaccine because of this omicron variant.

the vaccination provides our best protection against serious illness and death. >> reporter: and the message is appropriate here, but of course for the whole world to stave off increased infection rates, vaccines clearly are key. isa? >> indeed. david mackenzie for us in johannesburg. fred pleitgen in berlin this morning. thank you very much to you both. of course, we'll have much more ahead on the omicron variant with live reports from cyril vanier i promised in paris. we'll take you there in 15 or so minutes. now, the u.s. government avoided a midnight shutdown after congress passed a stopgap spending bill to keep the lights on until mid february. they will have to do it all over again in a couple months unless a budget is approved. i know, deja vu. they narrowly passed in the house and sailed through the senate 69-28. but for a time it appeared a

small group of senators might block it. senator schumer announced the impasse had been resolved. >> i am pleased to announce that an agreement has been reached between democrats and republicans that will allow the senate to take up and pass the continuing resolution to fund the government through february 18. with this agreement, there will be no government shutdown. >> and breathe a sigh of relief. when former trump chief of staff mark meadows gives a deposition next week in the january 6 investigation, the role to discredit the riot is eye hot topic. new details are emerging about how extensive his efforts were with meadows reaching out to multiple government agencies to promote unfounded conspiracy theories and bogus claims of voter fraud. now, sources familiar with meadows' actions said he did those things because he was too scared to stand up to trump, not because he believed the election had been stolen. meadows had indicated he will honor trump's claims of executive privilege when he goes before the committee.

as one democratic house member explained, claiming executive privilege is not as easy as it sounds. >> i certainly expect, due to his close role with the president and the close communications that he held with the president in his role of chief of staff, that there probably will be instances where he does try to use privilege to choose whether he will or will not answer questions. but as we get to that point of that interview and have the opportunity to address each of those claims individually, i think the committee will address them based on their merits. unlike others who have tried to claim blanket executive privilege and as you've seen mr. bannon, for example, who was held in contempt of congress for refusing to appear before the committee, we also have mr. clark who we anticipate will appear before the committee this weekend and we'll address teach case individually. >> we'll stay on top of that story for you, the deposition, of course, next week. now, teachers saw warning signs about the suspect before

the gruesome school shooting in michigan. still ahead, the community grieves as investigators look into the suspect's behavior just hours ahead of the attack. plus, alec baldwin opens up about the fatal shooting on the set of his film "rust." that is next after the break. ♪ ♪ ♪ aloha! isn't this a cozy little room? sorryour vacation request took so long to get approved, so you missed out on thsuite special. but lucky for you, they had thi when employeesre forced to wait for vacation request approvals,it can reall cramp their style. i'm gonna leave you to it. um, just— with paycom, employees enter and manage their own hr data in a single, easy-to-use software. visit paycom.com and schedule a demo today.

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well, actor alec baldwin is opening up about the fatal shooting that occurred on the set of his film "rust." ci cinematographer hutchins was killed when the gun went off. in an interview with abc news, baldwin recalled being told by hutchins to hold the gun out by her armpit. he asked if she wanted to see him cock the gun, he said she did. he has no idea how a live round was put in the gun used in the scene. he was asked if cost cutting measures could have led to a lapse in safety precautions. here's his answer. >> when people say a cut in

costs, i don't say this with any judgment or cynicism. spielberg wants to save money. tom cruise wants to save money. everybody who makes movies has a responsibility not to be reckless and careless with the money that you're given. those are men who make movies that cost $205 million. and i'm making movies that cost $5 million. >> the question, though, is were costs being cut at the expense of safety and security? >> in my opinion, no, because i did not -- no, i did not observe any safety or security issues at all in the time i was there. >> costs were not cutback. now, the town of oxford, michigan, is trying to make sense of the horrific school shooting. if you remember earlier this week, 15-year-old ethan crumbly was charged on wednesday as an adult with murder, terrorism as well as other counts. investigators say he went on a shoot being rampage at the local high school killing four

students, seven other people were wounded in what was the nation's deadliest school shooting in two years. the teachers saw red flags in his behavior in the run up to the attack. alexander fields has the story for you. >> we have an active shooter incident. we have confirmed injuries. >> reporter: new revelations about what happened inside oxford high school just hours before shooting rampage tuesday afternoon. >> school emergency oxford high school. scene is not secure. >> reporter: investigators now saying two different teachers flagged the suspected shooter's behavior. >> on the day prior to the tragedy, a teacher in the classroom where he was a student saw and heard something that she felt was disturbing in terms of his behavior. the day of the shooting, a different teacher in a different classroom saw some behavior that they felt was concerning. >> reporter: despite those concerns, the 15-year-old sophomore was allowed to go back

to class, a decision now under investigation. >> there is an additional piece of evidence that hasn't been released yet, but i can assure you it was troubling. it was disturbing. and unfortunately he was allowed to go back to class. >> reporter: investigators say he was plotting the attack before it happened. their evidence? a journal in which he talks about shooting up the school, and two cell phone videos recorded the day before. >> horrendously disturbing. obviously talked about what, excuse me, he intends to do and the kinds of things he's thinking about. it's just chilling. >> reporter: the focus also now on the suspect's parents. officials say his father bought the semiautomatic hand gun four days before the attack. in an announcement on potential charges on the suspect's parents could come in 24 hours. >> the people who bought and

improperly stored and weren't responsible with that weapon have to be held accountable. >> reporter: cnn has pressed the d.a. for more on whether evidence was recovered to support those potential charges, and what charges are being considered, but she declined to go into detail. four students lost their lives in the attack. their friends now bearing the burden of grief. >> he was just a great guy to be around. he always, always made you laugh no matter what. >> reporter: michigan's governor whitmer arriving at oxford high school to pay respect at the empty building. 60 schools are closed because of copy cat threats. >> if you're making threats, we're going to find you. >> reporter: investigators are continuing to look closely at the meeting that was held at the school with the suspect's parents. law enforcement officials say they were not notified of the meeting or of the student's concerning behavior. they also say that the school resource officer assigned by the sheriff's department to the high

school was not made aware as well. key questions in the ongoing investigation. in oxford, michigan, alexandra fields, cnn. >> the sheriff you saw in that report later went on into more specifics about how the school responded to crumbly's behavior. this is what he told cnn's wolf blitzer who pressed him for the details. >> i can't articulate the exact nature of it because it is now part of our evidentiary process and we don't want to prejudice the process or trial. but i can tell you that two different teachers, one in the morning the day before, saw behavior they thought was troubling. school officials brought him down to the office and had a conversation the day of the shooting. and, by the way, they left message for the parents as well, both electronically and voice mail on that evening. the next day a different teacher in a different classroom saw behavior that they found troubling and brought the individual down to the office and ultimately school officials

talked with he and his parents the day of the shooting. but at no time were we looped into any of that. >> now, the prosecution has rested in the trial of former empire star jussie smollett after three days of testimony. the actor is accused of staging his own hate crime in january of 2019. smollett who is black and gay allegedly paid two brothers to fake beat him up in order to gain media attention. the brothers provided the core testimony of the case stating the attack was always intended to be fake. smollett pleaded not guilty to six counts of disorderly conduct. we'll take you to paris on the latest of the omicron variant. but first. >> i'm blake essex in tokyo. this pandemic is far from over and world health organization officials said earlier today the new variant omicron will be found in most countries of the

asia-pacific region and now is the time to start preparing for the next surge.

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- during our best wireless deal of the year... the xfinity black friday sales event. click, call or visit a store today. welcome back to "cnn newsroom." i'm isa soares. if you're just joining us, let me bring you up to date with our top stories this hour. he says he didn't pull the trigger, yet the gun still fired. actor alec baldwin breaking his silence about the shooting on the set of his movie "rust" that killed the film's cinematographer halyna hutchins. he said he was working out a scene determining how to hold the revolver when he let go of the hammer of the gun which somehow had a live round in it and, of course, it went off. plus joe biden is tightening the entry rules for

international air travelers as america reports the cases of the omicron parent has been found in five states. the u.s. president laid out his strategy for testing as well as vaccinations. mr. biden said the u.s. will face the new variant without lockdowns and from a position he says of readiness. we'll of course have much more on those two stories in the next 20 minutes or so right here on cnn. now, more countries across the globe of the world are reporting cases of the omicron variant. and germany is taking a major step as we told you earlier in the show to fight the infections driven by the delta variant. unvaccinated people are on lockdown banned from most essential businesses. european officials say the omicron variant could account for half the cases in the next few months. that as africa has seen a 20% rise in new cases in the past four weeks driven as you heard from david mackenzie at the top of the show by the news there. if we look at the asia-pacific

region, china has a zero policy reported 80 cases thursday. the majority reporting in the mongolian city of manzuli. cnn has it covered all over the world. cyril vanier joins us from paris. these numbers in china on the numbers we reported, despite a zero policy, what more do we know about the cases in particular, and what impact do you think this will have on the beijing olympics here? >> reporter: you know, isa, with the beijing olympics a few months away, even though china claims to have every confidence that the games will be held as scheduled, it will be interesting to see how this new variant impacts the upcoming winter games. and the good news in mainland china, they haven't reported any cases of the omicron variant. despite the covid policy as you mentioned, we are seeing an increase in cases with 80 reported yesterday. those cases were reported in

beijing, shanghai, harbin and inner mongolia. no new cases of the omicron variant in china yet. the same can't be said for the rest of this region. so far this new variant has been identified in several countries, including two here in japan, 13 in australia, four in hong kong, five in south korea, two in india, and malaysia, which just reported its first case today. the case in malaysia involves a student studying at a local university who had arrived in malaysia from south africa on november 19th. that's before the first reported case of this new variant was reported to the w.h.o. that being said, the w.h.o. officials say the variant is likely already circulating in many countries, more than what has been reported so far, and now with this new variant starting to spread, officials point to our experience throughout roughly the past two years as a guide for what needs to be done now. and they say it is important for countries to focus on higher

vaccination coverage, a continuing to promote public health and social measures like mask wearing and social distancing, ensuring strong health care capacity, strengthening active surveillance, and taking a risk-based approach to border control. although there's still a lot we don't know, we do know this variant seems to be more transmissible, isa. and as a result many governments across the region are tightening entry requirements and quarantine rules while others have outright banned the entry of travelers from certain countries. >> yes, so lots of unanswered questions. we are waiting for that data. we might be another two or three weeks. let me get to cyril vanier in paris. good morning to you, cyril. i've seen in the last few minutes france reported its ninth omicron case, but there seems to be no alarm so far. >> reporter: well, i think partly because this was inevitable, isa. over the last few days french authorities said they had a number of suspected omicron cases but they were waiting for the genetic sequencing to confirm them. that's why there's been this drip-drip of additional

confirmed cases since the beginning of the week. so we now stand at nine confirmed cases. however, it is likely that there are more. the health minister saying this morning that the omicron variant has probably been circulating in france several weeks earlier than had originally been thought. so authorities know that this will spread. they are aware and they acknowledge that they cannot stop it. they are only trying to slow it down with aggressive contact tracing. matter of fact, the european center for disease control said in the next few months, omicron will probably account for more than half of the covid infections in the european area. with all of that said, isa, france right now is more worried about the delta variant because that is what is causing a surge in cases, almost 50,000 cases yesterday, not seen since the height of the wave that we had at the beginning of the year. and that is forcing france to now consider perhaps the stricter covid measures.

there is going to be a defense council next month. right now, isa, france banking on boosters to give additional protection to those who are already vaccinated, and also calling on those who aren't vaccinated to finally please -- this is the government speaking -- come and get the jab. >> cyril vanier for us in paris. blake essig, if i get it right this time. thank you very much. now, the united states is taking measures to stop the spread of the omicron variant. the biden administration is restricting travel from these eight countries. south africa, botswana, zimbabwe, mozambique and malawi. there will be new measures for travelers in the united states due to newly detected omicron variant. cnn aviation correspondent pete muntean has that. >> reporter: the biden administration says these new restrictions are all about battling the omicron variant. two major changes. the biggest, the

transportation-wide mask mandate was set to expire january 18, 2022. now it's been extended two months. the new expiration date, march 18, 2022. this applies to wearing masks on board all forms of public transportation. planes, trains, buses, boats. also in terminals. also the administration says there is a big change when it comes to testing requirements for international travelers. this is u.s. citizens and non-citizens. foreign nationals coming into the united states. now they have to show proof of a negative coronavirus test of their airline within one day of departure. the u.s. travel association says it supports these moves so long as they are only temporary. pete muntean, cnn, dulles international airport. and still ahead right here on "cnn newsroom," new details on a young afghan girl sold into marriage while cameras rolled. >> hello, pawana and anna. >> how are you, how are you feeling?

>> i'm very good, thank you. how are you? >> translator: i'm fine. i'm so happy. i'm safe. i rescued. >> she's now talking to cnn's anna coran. that exclusivity story just ahead. one role of a lifetime...one sore throat. but she had enough. she took new mucinex instasoothe sore throat lozenges. show your sore throat who's boss. new mucinex instasoothe. works s in seconds, lasts for hours.

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throughout the next 10. through projectup, comcast is committing $1 billion so millions more students, past... and present, can continue to get the tools they need to build a future of unlimited possibilities. remember, we brought you a distressing story about child marriage in afghanistan. many of you were particularly disturbed by the case of a girl sold into marriage to eye 55-year-old man for around $2,000. her father said it was his only option to feed his family. cnn was granted rare permission to document the sale as well as

the hand over. after an international outcry, the u.s.-based nonprofit too young to wed got involved and rescued her. cnn was there to document it and anna coren brings us this exclusive report. >> reporter: an iranian love song plays as a driver navigates his way through the snow dusted valley in northwestern afghanistan. in the back of his station wagon is a mother and her six children who have just left behind a life of constant struggle and hardship, all they've ever known. among them, 9-year-old pawana. our cam ramon sadiki asks her how she's feeling. i'm so happy, she says, with a beaming smile. cnn met pawana dressed in pink in an internally displaced camp back in october. her father claims he was selling

her to feed the rest of the family. as a humanitarian crisis grips the country. he'd already sold his 12-year-old into marriage, and told cnn that unless his situation improved, he would have to sell his four remaining daughters as well, including the youngest just 2. if i didn't have these daughters to sell, he asks, what should i do? pawana's buyer who lived in a nearby village confirmed he was taking the 9-year-old as his second wife. >> translator: i'm 55 years old. i have a wife with four daughters and a son. i bought her for myself. i will wait till she becomes older. >> reporter: cnn was granted rare access to film the final payment and handover. the buyer asked for it to take place at a house in his village and not the camp for security reasons. he paid a total of 200,000

afghanys, just over $2,000 for pawana, in land, sheep and cash. this is your bride, please take care of her, says pawana's father. of course, i will take care of her, replies the man. as he drags her away, she whimpers. moments later she diggs her heels into the dirt, refusing to go. but it's hopeless. cnn's story caused an outcry. >> a distregsssing story out of afghanistan. >> reporter: the network was inundated with offers of help of ngos wanting to assist pawana and others in the story. too young to wed took the lead. the founding director stephanie sinclair has been working to end child marriage and help vulnerable girls around the

world for 20 years. she says the perfect storm is brewing in afghanistan, and it's the girls that are suffering. >> i know these stories are difficult to wrach and they're difficult to do, and they bring around a lot of concern. but at the same time, we need to keep people understanding that this is happening. we need to keep ringing the alarm bell. understand, these are real girls and real lives, and they can be changed. >> reporter: within the province there was widespread backlash towards pawana's father and the buyer after our story went to air. with claims they brought shame on the community. even the taliban told cnn the practice is forbid en. >> translator: i request everyone not to sell their children. child marriage is not a good thing, and we condemn it. >> reporter: women's rights activist and citizen saraj chose to stay in kabul after the taliban swept to power to run her shelter. pawana's case is the tip of the iceberg. >> there is a lot of misery, a lot of mistreatment, a lot of

abuse is involved in these stakes. to keep it happening, with the hunger, with the winter, with poverty. >> reporter: as a result of the controversy caused by the story and intervention from the charity, pawana was allowed to return home after almost two weeks with the buyer's family. >> translator: since pawana has been rescued, i am happy for that. he admitted to cnn under duress from the community and local media outlets, he changed his story out of embarrassment for what he had done, and apologized. the buyer is unreachable for comment, but the debt is still outstanding. too young to wed then organized to have pawana, her mother and siblings removed from the camp with the father's permission. the four-hour journey to the neighboring province was broken up with some childhood fun. before arriving at the motel,

the children who have only ever lived in a tent, being warm, fed and safe wasn't -- they rescued me. they've given me a new life says pawana. i thank the charity for helping me. a few days later they moved into the safe house. pawana's mother, 27-year-old, has never lived in a house. she was sold into marriage at 13 and has since had seven children. six of whom are girls. most days in the camp she would beg for food and often her family would go to sleep hungry. now all she wants is to give her children a better life. i have a dream, ape wish they go to school and start an education, she says. i have a lot of wishes for them. too young to wed has already begun distributing aid to

pawana's camp and others. while the charity is prepared to bridge the gap, they are calling on the large aid organizations to step up. >> these are communities that have relied on international aid for the last 20 years, and so with a lot of that aid stopping, these people depthidn't stop neg support. we can't let them pay the price. ultimately girls always pay the biggest price. >> reporter: i speak to pawana on zoom through my colleague. hello, pawana, i'm anna. >> translator: how are you? how are you feeling? >> reporter: i'm very good, thank you. how are you? >> translator: i'm fine. i'm so happy. i'm safe. i rescued. >> reporter: then she asks, when are you sending me to school? she wants to study and become a doctor or a teacher. but fairytale endings are few and far between for girls in afghanistan. even more so now than ever.

anna coren, cnn. if you'd like to help girls like pawana, visit too young to wed.org. you can learn more about their work in afghanistan and how you can be part of the solution. well, the taliban have just released what it calls a special decree on women's rights in afghanistan. it says women are free to choose their husbands without coercion. they cannot be exchanged as property. the declaration also says widows have the right to remarry without being forced into new marriages. as for men who have multiple wives, the document says they have to give the same to all their spouses in accordance with the sharia law. of course, the taliban brutally suppressed women's rights during their original rule in afghanistan. a story we'll stay on top of. strong words from china after the women's tennis association suspends the event. coming up why the wta says it is

standing by its decision and is still concerned over peng shuai's well-being. that story next.

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as the controversy surrounding peng shuai intensifies. she is, of course, a chinese tennis star who accused a top chinese leader of sexual assault. beijing is criticizing the women's tennis association for suspending events in china. we brought you that story yesterday. the international olympic committee says it believes peng is safe and well after holding another call with her on wednesday. the head of the wta says the chats are very much orchestrated. while the association says it has received a third email from peng, the concern still remains. cnn's will ripley joins me from hong kong. will, the ioc having that second call with peng shuai, but do we know whether a transcript was released, a clip of the video provided? because the ioc faced criticism with the first video for not providing any evidence she was speaking of her own free will. >> reporter: no transcript, no video, not even a still photo this time. just a statement. a statement that echoed

basically what the previous statement said, adding that they are offering wide-ranging assistance to peng shuai, that they set up a personal meeting in january for peng shuai and that everything is fine, she's relaxed, she's not being held under duress, she's not being coerced, she's not being prevented from leaving the country. the wta, women's tennis association getting an email and they say they're not convinced, they're still not convinced just like the first email and second email peng shuai is writing these words without being under a considerable amount of pressure from who knows who. sports officials, government officials, the police. if you talk to people who have been detained inside china, they look at the videos, propaganda videos released three weeks after her initial post, detailing emotionally and allegations of sexual assault at the hands of a retired senior communist leader. the videos where she is all smiles, they said that was stage managed, acting, carefully coached, scripted from start to finish. probably got a critique after

the performance. they said the same thing happened to them and they had to make forced statements on media. they are entirely silenced, cutting off cnn's live feed in china as we talk about this as they do every single time we bring this up. but outside in english, on twitter a platform brought to mainland china, they put their state media resources in overdrive to try to salvage china's reputation ahead of the beijing olympics to prove to the world peng shuai is doing just fine while ignoring the fact she did the unprecedented act of making an allegation of sexual assault against somebody so powerful, somebody seen in videos sitting a couple seats away from chinese president xi jinping. people using code words, isa, on chinese social media to bypass the censors. still within a matter of minutes those posts are deleted. they have literally assigned an army of leaders to keep this quiet so make it look like nothing happened by the time the

winter olympics rolls around in january. >> we know you will stay on top of it. we will, too. thank you very much, will ripley in hong kong. that does it for us. i'm isa soares. "early start" is next with christine romans and laura jarrett. have a wonderful weekend. bye-bye.

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good morning, everyone. it is friday, december 3rd. happy friday. it is 5:00 a.m. here in new york. thanks so much for getting an early start with us. i'm laura jarrett. >> it took a long time to get to friday this week. >> we made it. >> i'm christine romans. welcome do our viewers in the united states around the world. we have reports from chicago, washington, ukraine and berlin. we begin in new mexico with a tragedy on the set of the movie "rust," and a star alec baldwin telling his side of the story. the actor emotionally describing the moments last october leading up to the discharge of the gun he was holding, killing cinematographer halyna hutchins and wounding director joel souza. he tells abc news he didn't pull the trigger but he did cock the hammer so hutchins could set up her shot. >> i said to her, in this scene i'm going to cock the gun. do you want do see that? she said yes. i take the gun and i started to cock the gun. i'm not going to pull the trigger. just tilt it down a little bit like that. i cock t