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welcome to all of our viewers watching from around the world. i'm laila harrak. ahead on "cnn newsroom." shock and heartbreak in qatar. journalist grant wahl collapses at the world cup. how friends and colleagues are remembering him. home at last. basketball star brittney griner finally back on american soil. we're learning new details about what it took to bring her home. and nuclear fears rising once again after vladimir putin floats the idea of changes to russia's nuclear doctrine. >> announcer: live from cnn center, this is "cnn newsroom" with laila harrak. there's grief and disbelief at the world cup in qatar after prominent american sports writer grant wahl died while covering the tournament. a witness tells cnn he collapsed during friday's match between

argentina and the netherlands. qatar's supreme court committee for delivery and legacy says he fell ill in the press area and received immediate medical treatment, which continues as he was taken to the hospital. we still don't know the exact cause of his death, but on monday, wahl said he visited a clinic after feeling chest discomfort. he said, quote, my body finally broke down on me after three weeks of little sleep, stress, and lots of work. cnn's don riddell has more on the sudden passing of wahl as well as his health concerns ahead of the tragedy. >> reporter: what we do know is that he collapsed during the game. it was an extraordinary game, a quarterfinal match between the netherlands and argentina. he had been complaining about a tightness in his chest. he had spoken about it in his podcast. he had written about it. he had said this is not his first rodeo. he's covered eight men's world cups before, or eight including

this one, and he said it's just -- you know, it's just par for the course. this is one of those things that happens. clearly he was concerned about it but not concerned enough to stop working. and, you know, he admitted that the schedule of covering these world cups is absolutely grueling and arguably, this one more so because, you know, it's a condensed schedule because it's being played in the middle of the european club season. so they wanted to kind of race through the tournament and get it over as soon as possible. that meant 17 consecutive days of multiple games. because this tournament is being played essentially in a city, it means that fans and journalists can attend more than one game a day. so that's what many journalists, including grant wahl, were doing. >> that was don riddell. let's get more now from cnn's darren lewis, who is in doha, qatar. darren, shocking and unexpected news. what is going through your mind right now? >> well, laila, i woke up in total disbelief, and i can tell

you many other european journalists, american journalists, all of us feeling the same right now. we just cannot believe that an icon of sports journalism in grant wahl has gone. don was exp explaining a second the work load out here. i can tell you firsthand he's absolutely right. we're out there. the games finish late. last night's game between the netherlands and argentina finished in the early hours. after you finish writing or broadcasting, you then get home around about 3:00 a.m., 4:00 a.m., and then you're up again, what, five or so hours later, and it all begins again. it is so difficult out here. and yet it's a privilege to be here. this is the premier event in world football, and you want to be a part of it. you want to be a part of the big stories. that's what grant did. he was at the vanguard of the biggest stories in world sport, in world football.

that's what made him the legend that he is and was, and it's just a sense of disbelief right now, laila, that he hasn't come home. >> now, darren, this was grant wahl's eighth world cup. both of you are seasoned football journalists. what goes into covering a tournament this big, you know, the size of the world cup, specifically this one in qatar? what does a typical day look like for you? >> well, as i've been suggesting, the days are not just determined by the football and by the action. the days are determined by the new stories around them. of course cnn have been right across all of those stories, and grant will have been among those people breaking that kind of story. we obviously had him on the world sport show alongside don riddell, talking about his experience. he'd worn that rainbow t-shirt.

he'd been accosted by the guards for doing so. but what he was trying to do is what he's always done, promoting lgbtq rights, anti-discrimination, and standing on his principles as he always has done. so it hasn't just been about traveling and covering the football matches, but it's also been about being across the big stories and for some like myself, who has been working those long hours, i can tell you, as i say, it is wonderful to be here. but there are long days. you don't get to see the unfashionable stuff, the waiting, the traveling, the stress involved, the broadcasting, the working hard to get it right. they are all things that meant a great deal to grant wahl, but they made him the great journalist that he was. >> if i can ask you to elaborate on that, i mean what made grant wahl so special? >> well, he worked hard to advance the cause of u.s. men's

and women's soccer. you only have to look across social media right now and see the athletes past and present and the clubs that have been paying tribute to him to know just how hard he worked. i don't mind saying, laila, that has a young journalist, i looked up to him as somebody on the other side of the atlantic, as somebody who was on the front cover of "sports illustrated," and somebody who told the world about a teenage lebron james, as somebody who was a leader in his field, a master of his craft. lebron has been talking about grant and his shock at grant's passing, and that shock will be shared by a lot of people because this is a man who really did fight for the cause of u.s. sport, u.s. soccer in particular, when lots of other countries would look down their noses at the u.s. game, grant was fighting for it.

and a lot of people today, they'll tell you themselves, laila, just how much he was respected and admired, and i think his legacy will live on, and he will inspire people as well to get into the game. i must just point that aspect of it out because he will have opened the gateway for people to want to be a part of this sport and to want to use their voices within this sport. he was a wonderful journalist and a wonderful man. >> and a great legacy that you outline right there. darren lewis talking to us from doha, qatar. darren, thank you so much. >> thank you, laila. and we are now joined by sports journalist keir rad niche. he has covered every world cup since 1966 and was there when the tragic scene unfolded. thank you for joining us. keir, i understand you witnessed what happened. can you describe what you saw? >> well, i was sitting near --

across the gangway from where grant was. this was towards the end of extra time in the match. suddenly colleagues up to my left started shouting for medical assistance. obviously someone had collapsed. because the chairs are free-standing, people were able to move the chairs, so it was possible to create a little bit of space around him. and i have to say the medical team -- you know, this is an 80,000 capacity stadium. the medical team were there pretty quickly and, you know, were able to, as best they could, give treatment, and it was, i suppose they were there working with him for about 20, 25 minutes before he was removed to hospital. >> as far as you could tell, was he still alive at the scene? >> i have no idea. firstly, i think you know it's a

very, very intensely personal and private moment, so people did not want to stare and look. we wanted to let the medical staff do their job. so, you know, i can't speak to that. >> so he was removed and taken to the hospital as far as you know? >> yes, that's correct. yes. >> and did you interact with him before this tragic incident? >> no. only a few days ago when we were both at a presentation event. >> how did he strike you at that event? how did he strike you at that event? >> fine. i mean he was, to all intents and purposes, a big, larger than life character who enjoyed his job, enjoyed his work, enjoyed being around the world cup, around soccer, around sports people in general. you know, he was a very outgoing and very positive personality, which is why, you know, as your colleagues have said, he will be

so, so widely missed. >> what has been the impact on the journalism community in qatar after this horrible incident? >> that's difficult to say because, you know, it's still sort of late morning here and i haven't had the chance yet to go out and meet people. a lot of the social media messages that i've had, people are very, very shocked, very upset. and i see the tributes have come in from all over the world and also from the president of fifa. >> you have been covering the world cup, i'm told, since 1966. can you talk about how the pace of this world cup compares to others? >> the pace of the world cup has increased steadily down the years as more and more teams have been added into the program. that means more matches. it means very few rest days between matches. so, you know, i think journalists are learning that they have to pace themselves

because as much as sports journalists are also enthusiasts about sports and they also want to do the job properly, that means that sometimes you have to be, you know, more sensible than just trying to rush about all over the place. >> all right. thank you so much, keir radnedge, for sharing your firsthand account with us. officials in the united states and around the states are expressing shock and heartbreak over grant weahl's sudden pass. don garber, the commissioner of major league soccer, says wahl was a kind and caring person who had an immeasurable passion for soccer and dedication to journalism. fifa president johnny infantino says his love for football was immense and his reporting will be missed by all who follow the global game. the national women's soccer

league is also praising his integrity and thoughtfulness, saying, quote, his commitment to sharing the stories of our beautiful game was unmatched. now, wnba star brittney griner is back home in the u.s. it's raised hopes about paul whelan and other detained americans being freed in similar deals. russia's president appears to be leaving that possibility open. griner stepped off a plane unassisted early friday in texas and was taken to an army medical center to get checked out. she'd been imprisoned in russia for the past ten months on a drug charge, but was said to be in good spirits upon her release. most recently griner had been laboring at a russian penal colony where the women inmates make uniforms. her attorney said griner cut off her long locks about two weeks ago to better handle the extreme cold. for the very latest, here's

cnn's kylie atwood at the u.s. state department. >> reporter: this is the moment basketball superstar brittney griner stepped back on u.s. soil for the first time in nearly ten mo mo months, landing early morning in san antonio texas and taken to brook army medical center, the same facility where trevor reed was treated after his release from russia earlier this year. the defense department will offer what is known as post-isolation support activities. griner was said to be in good spirits on the journey back to the u.s. despite being held in difficult conditions of a russian penal colony. >> she's on the ground. >> stop it. >> yep, she's on the ground. >> reporter: the white house releasing this new video of griner's wife and president biden moments after the prisoner exchange in abu dhabi. >> it's a good day. >> reporter: wnba coaches and players celebrate the release of one of their own. >> i think it is really a testament to their hard work, their energy, their commitment to keeping bg's name in the

news. >> reporter: but the biden administration is also playing defense. >> it's made us weaker. it's made putin stronger, and it's made americans more vulnerable. >> reporter: amid criticism of the deal privately from doj officials and publicly from republican lawmakers. that deal released notorious arms trafficker viktor bout, who a senior defense official says could go right back to arms trafficking. some fear he could help funnel weapons into the ukraine battlefield. >> nobody is doing back flips that mr. bout is back on the street here. i think it speaks to our understanding of our ability to defend our national interest that the president was able to make this deal. >> reporter: and though the administration was not able to free fellow u.s. citizen paul whelan from russian detention in exchange, a senior administration official says the u.s. is now considering new offers to russia that could help bring whelan home. >> i don't understand why i'm still sitting here. >> reporter: and despite extremely strained relations between the u.s. and russia over russian president vladimir

putin's invasion of ukraine, putin not taking further exchanges off the table. >> translator: this is the result of negotiations and the search for compromises. in this case, compromises were found. we do not refuse to continue this work in the future. >> reporter: now, the question is what will it take from the united states for russia to agree to another prisoner swap to get out paul whelan? that is the question that remains. and u.s. officials grew frustrated in recent months because russia kept demanding something from the united states that they couldn't deliver on. they wanted a russian who is serving a life sentence in germany because of murder to be released. that's something u.s. officials said they simply couldn't do. so the question going forward is do the russians effectively and productively engage in future discussions with u.s. officials? kylie atwood, cnn, the state department. a u.s. federal judge has declined to hold former president donald trump in contempt of court for failing to

turn over classified records. that's according to two sources familiar with the matter. they tell us that the judge instead urged trump's legal team and the justice department to resolve their differences. an fbi search of trump's mar-a-lago resort and home in august uncovered scores of documents marked classified. and while trump's lawyers have since turned over some additional documents, the justice department is concerned that trump still might have more classified material in his possession. ukraine may get a better fighting chance against iranian drones used by russia. next, new anti-drone defenses soon to be on their way to kyiv. plus, russia may reconsider one of the pillars of its nuclear strategy. president putin says the first-strike approach may no longer be off the table. 12 hours!! not coughing? hashtatag still not coughing?!

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on friday, the u.s. announced a new batch of military aid, which includes capability to fight drones like these. ukraine says russia has fired more than a thousand drones and missiles on its energy facilities over the past two months. the last wave of strikes came on monday, taking a number of power plants offline. now ukraine says it's working to repair the damage and restore electricity to critical infrastructure like water plants and hospitals. in the east, ukrainian officials say russia is making an

unprecedented push on the city of bakmut. russian troops are also raining artillery fire on other cities along the front line. president zelenskyy says the damage that russian guns leave behind is staggering. >> translator: for a long time, there's no living space left on the land of these areas that has not been damaged by shells and fire. the occupiers actually destroyed bakmut, another donbas city that the russian army turned into burnt ruins. >> russia's president is taking his nuclear saber rattling to a new level. on friday, vladimir putin said the kremlin might abandon its stated commitment never to use nuclear weapons first. he says u.s. nuclear doctrine does not rule out a first strike, so why should russia? cnn's sam kiley has more from ukraine. >> reporter: vladimir putin, the russian president, is continuing

to play with the narrative of the potential threat coming from russia over the use of nuclear weapons. now, some months ago, this was raised as a specter, hinting that if things went very badly for russia, perhaps on the ukrainian battlefield, that perhaps somewhere emerging from the kremlin back then there were hints there might be the use of something like a tactical nuclear weapon if russia's back was to the wall. since then, recently, olaf scholz, the german chancellor, said in his view the likelihood of a nuclear escalation has gone down as a result of red lines being drawn and explained for vladimir putin. putin followed up those statements by saying that russia would never be the first to use a nuclear weapon, that it was purely defensive, that only russia had nuclear weapons on its own territory. and then just in the last 24 hours, he's now slightly changed that narrative, saying, well,

maybe we'll look at first use as part of the russian doctrine. in other words, the preemptive use of nuclear weapons to attack a potential enemy, to take out its capability to fire nuclear weapons back. now, this would, in vladimir putin's view, represent a shift in russian doctrine. it's not one he's saying he's going to adopt, but he at the same time said that only russia had these hypersonic missiles. these may be mythological. they may be real. the russians claim to have used them in the early stages of their invasion of ukraine here in this country. but he says they are superior to anything in the american arsenal, and that is significant. he pointed out the american arsenal as being inferior. sam kiley, cnn, in kyiv. protesters returned to streets across iran, making their voices heard despite the execution of a demonstrator just one day earlier.

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welcome back to all of our viewers in the united states and around the world. i'm laila harrak and you're watching "cnn newsroom." condemnation rolled in from around the world friday over the execution of an iranian protester. mohsen shekari was hanged on wednesday and many nations have strongly denounced his death. european foreign ministers will discuss it monday at a meeting in brussels. german and the uk summoned their respective iranian ambassadors. even so, inside iran, protesters

were undaunted. demonstrations were back in the streets of cities across the nation on friday. however, iranian authorities say more executions could take place in the coming days. 11 other protesters have also been sentenced to death. the u.n. human rights chief says the government's goal is to suppress the mass movement. >> we issued a tweet yesterday about the execution of mohsen shekari. very troubling and clearly designed to send a chilling effect to the rest of the protesters. >> the hanging of shekari is the first known public execution associated with iran's protest movement. cnn's melissa bell has details, but we must warn you, some of these images may be disturbing. [ screaming ]

>> reporter: the reaction to the news that mohsen shekari had been hanged. the howl of a relative as he became the first protester to be executed in iran in the three months of demonstrations. he'd been arrested on september 25th, one of thousands since taken into detention. just 75 days later, he was executed, the first protester hanged, likely not the last. >> why he was chosen as the first victim, i think it has got to do with the fact that we didn't know so much about him, that his name wasn't so known. >> reporter: it was the death in the custody of the morality police of 22-year-old mahsa amini that set off the wave of discontent that has only widened and deepened, posing the greatest challenge to iran's regime since the 1979 islamic

revolution swept the mullahs and their strict islamic interpretation to power. >> mahsa was a young girl, a just normal young girl, but also a kurdish girl. so in so many aspects, it touched iranians who have been treated as second-class citizens. >> reporter: across iran this week, a strike called by the protesters and on wednesday, known as student day in iran, protests at several universities. inside tehran university, iran's president blamed the united states for what he described as riots. outside, the protesters' chants echoed in the grounds. tehran's response to the popular anger has been predictably violent. already human rights groups say 458 protesters have died. many more now face the death penalty.

>> the death penalty is the strongest instrument of creating fear. it's more than shooting people on the streets. >> reporter: death to the dictator, chanted protesters on thursday night. for now, at least, unbowed by tehran's campaign of fear. melissa bell, cnn, paris. more legal trouble for hong kong media tie ycoon jimmy lie. he's been sentenced to more prison time and a quarter million dollar fine for fraud. he founded the apple news daily, shut down last year after a police raid during a government crackdown. in his latest case, he was found to have concealed using the newspaper's headquarters to support private firms he cont controlled. lai was sentenced to almost 13 months in prison last year for participating in an unauthorized protest.

the u.s. is facing a triple threat as the holiday season gets under way in earnest from influenza, the rsv respiratory virus, and covid-19. the cdc says the u.s. currently has far more flu cases than it normally does as this time of year, and the number of communities with high covid transmission is also increasing. in the first week of december saw the highest covid death toll in two months. meantime, children's hospitals have been especially hard-hit. cases of respiratory viruses like rsv. pediatric hospitalizations are now slowing but remain high. joining me now from los angeles, dr. jorge rodriguez. he is a board-certified internal medicine specialist and viral researcher. doctor, i'm told respiratory viruses are typical for this time of year. so why does this surge in cases seem to take health care workers by surprise?

>> well, because first of all, thank you for having me on the show. it's taking us by surprise because usually the viruses come sequentially. you have respiratory syncytial virus surge. then you have influenza surge. this year they're all happening at the same time, and they're all happening in greater numbers than we are used to. so unfortunately it is a perfect storm of two respiratory viruses, and if you throw in the surge of sars-cov-2, which is the covid virus, we're seeing hospitals that are approximately 80% full on the average in the united states and upwards of 90% in some specific states and counties. >> those are incredible numbers. what can you tell us about what's happening in california where you are? >> well, where we are, you know, los angeles county is probably if not the most populous county, so what we're seeing is we have already surpassed the benchmark that puts us in a very high

infectivity level. we're seeing over 200 people getting infected per 100,000. that doesn't sound like a lot, but it is. we're at 265. that's one of the benchmarks that have to be reached before the county says, you know what? indoor masks are now mandatory. the second is hospitalizations. we are seeing hospitalizations again increasing to levels that we have not seen in months. that's what's happening here. and it's the height of the holiday season, which means that people are going to be congregating indoors with their family, with their children, and that is just going to lead to a greater surge. so we think that probably in the next couple of weeks, l.a. county is going to enforce an indoor mask mandate. >> doctor, i want to talk about rsv because i understand we're seeing a surge of rsv. what is rsv, and who is most at risk for rsv? >> well, respiratory syncytial virus is what rsv stands for.

basically it's a virus that attacks the inner meat, if you will, of the lungs. it is usually, by far, something that happens in children. it is something that is seen every year. sometimes millions of children get infected and tens of thousands end up in the hospital, and unfortunately thousands die from this. what we're seeing this year is a larger amount of children that are getting respiratory syncytial virus, rsv, and are getting sicker. why this is happening, you know, there are some theories. the theories are that for the last couple of years, children were not exposed to rsv because we had isolation. we had distancing. we were wearing masks at a greater level. so all of these children that had not developed any immunity and maybe would have gotten it gradually are all getting it at the same time. >> now, covid in the meantime also persists. it's been three years now. this is going to be the third

christmas basically where covid is still around. you know, is covid still a very serious threat? are people ending up in the e.r.? are people dying from covid? >> absolutely people are still dying from covid, and people are still ending up in the emergency room. what people don't seem to want to grasp is that vaccines do work. the bivalent vaccine, if nothing else, will minimize the potential severity of covid. you may still get it, but you're not going to end up in the hospital dying from it statistic lip if you take the vaccine. unfortunately the percentage of people in this country that have been vaccinated is in the teens, maybe 20% if we're lucky, and that's the main thing that can be done to prevent, you know, getting seriously ill from covid. let me put something in perspective. we don't know what next year is going to bring, just like we didn't know what respiratory

syncytial virus or the flu is going to do this year. so we don't know if a great majority of people who get covid, something catastrophic unfortunately may happen. so it's always best to be proactive, and why not be cautious and take care of your health by getting vaccinated? >> some final tips from you, doctor. what should people do to keep their family safe this holiday season? >> the first thing you should do to keep your family safe is get vaccinated if you're going to be in a large group. if you can, have your family members test themselves even though rapid tests may linger a few days behind. get tested before you meet with the family. if you have any symptoms, if you have fever, chills, cough, for god's sake, stay home and continue to wash your hands and, when possible, wear a mask. >> dr. jorge rodriguez, thank you so much for joining us. thank you. >> my pleasure. still ahead this hour, the stunning upsets, the comebacks, and all the nail-biting

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ci had no idea how muchw i wamy case was worth. c call the barnes firm to find out what your case could be worth. we will help get you the best result possible. ♪ call one eight hundred, eight million ♪ the first semifinal matchup is set at the world cup after a pair of thrilling quarterfinal matches on friday that came down

to penalty shoot-outs. argentina and lionel messi kept their world cup hope as live with a victory over the netherlands. the game was tied at two by the end of extra time, but argentina came out on top with four goals to three in the penalty shoot-out, ending the dutch squad's run in qatar. meanwhile, croatia fans were ecstatic as their team upset top-ranked brazil in the other quarterfinal match on friday. the croatian squad won on penalty kicks 4-2. it's becoming something of a specialty for croatia. the team has won its last four shoot-outs in world cup play. and after finishing runner-up in the last world cup, croatia will once again have a chance to reach the final when they face argentina on tuesday. and it was a stunning loss for brazil. they were in the lead with just a few minutes remaining in regular time before croatia made

its comeback. during the match, neymar tied football legend pele for most goals ever scored for brazil's national team with 77. and it wasn't enough to send the team into the semifinals, dashing the hopes of fans back home. chester darlington has more on the heartbreak from sao paulo. >> reporter: devastation and disappointment here in brazil as fans come to term with brazil's surprise defeat against croatia. energy had been building with high hopes that brazil would head to a semifinals for the first time since 2014 and possibly face off against archrivals argentina. many brazilians were even dreaming of achieving the hexa. the whole country shut down every time brazil played. holidays were called. schools, offices, supermarkets shuttered whenever the ball was rolling as fans gathered in houses and bars across the country. you could hear cheers throughout neighborhoods every time somebody scored, and for a

couple of weeks at least, it seemed brazil was really coming together after very polarizing elections. in fact, before the cup started, many people said they might not even put on the brazilian jersey because it had come to be associated with the current president, jair bolsonaro, who ultimately lost his re-election bid. in the end, football spirit won out. brazilians were glued to the games, wearing the brazilian jerseys. now of course their dreams for a hexa have been dashed. brazil was one of the favorites of the tournament, but at the end of the game on friday, it was tears and an eerie silence. shasta darlington, cnn, sao paulo. >> the quarterfinals will wrap up today with two marquee matches. first morocco will take on portugal, and later defending champions france will face england. the next hurdle on france's quest to become the first country in 60 years to retain the world cup. now, is there anything

taylor swift can't do? when we come back, we'll tell you about her new project that has hollywood buzzing. please stay with us.

welcome back to our viewers in the united states and canada. i'm laila harrak and you're watching "cnn newsroom." rapper ye, once known as kanye west, has lost an honorary doctorate over his offensive

comments about black and jewish communities. on friday, the school of the arts institute of chicago revoked the distinction. it had been awarded to him seven years ago because of his contributions to arts and culture. but now the school says it repudiates what it called his anti-semitic and racist statements. ye recently lost a number of lucrative business deals. his twitter account was suspended after he shared an image of a star of david with a swastika in it. sir elton john is quitting twitter. the music superstar says all of his life he used music to bring people together, but it saddens him to see misinformation now being used to divide our world. he added that he has decided to no longer use twitter given the recent policy changes that will allow misinformation to flourish unchecked. elton john is just the latest celebrity to leave the platform after elon musk's controversial takeover. taylor swift is adding a new challenge to her amazing list of

accomplishments. the singer/songwriter is going to direct a feature-length movie for searchlight pictures, but there's more. she also wrote the screenplay. the president of searchlight referred to swift as a, quote, once in a generation storyteller. no word so far on the topic of the movie. i'm sure it's going to be a huge success. that wraps up this hour of "cnn newsroom." i'm laila harrak. kim brunhuber picks up our coverage after a quick break. i'll see you tomorrow.

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subway's drafting 12 new subs, for the all-new subway series menu. let's hear about this #7 pick, from a former #7 pick. juicy rotisserie-style chicken. you should've been #1. this isn't about the sandwich, is it chuck? it's not. the new subway series. hello and welcome to all of you watching us here in the united states, canada and all around the world. i'm kim br