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Coronavirus Outbreak; Trump Middle East Plan; Trump on Trial; Hong Kong Closing Border Crossings with Mainland; Officials: Helicopter Lacked Terrain Warning System. Aired 12-1a ET
Aired January 29, 2020 - 00:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Hello and welcome to our viewers in the United States and around the world. I'm John Vause.
Coming up on CNN NEWSROOM, China sees a surge in confirmed cases of the Wuhan virus overtaking the number of patients infected on the mainland during the deadly SARS outbreak.
The U.S. president calls it the deal of a century. The opportunity of the century says the Israelis.
As for the Palestinians?
It's the slap of the century. But their opinion of this long awaited plan for Middle East peace does not seem to matter.
And Bolton down the hatches at Trump's impeachment trial. Senate leader Mitch McConnell facing a revolt from some Republicans who want to hear from former national security adviser, John Bolton.
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VAUSE: We will start with the latest from the Wuhan coronavirus and a grim new milestone in China, which now reports more than 6,000 cases. This outbreak has surpassed the number of SARS cases China reported in 2003.
Some of the other big developments, the virus has claimed 132 lives in China. State media reports some patients have recovered and have been discharged from hospitals. But the number of confirmed cases globally continues to rise.
And after repeatedly declining offers of international assistance, China has now agreed to allow the World Health Organization to send in teams of scientific and medical experts. For the latest, CNN's Steven Jiang is live in Beijing.
What specifically do we know about these expert teams?
When will they arrive, what will they do and why is Beijing being so reluctant to accept help?
STEVEN JIANG, CNN SENIOR PRODUCER, BEIJING BUREAU: Well, John, on that front, no specifics yet in terms of when the WHO will be sending these experts into China but at least during a meeting between the Chinese president Xi Jinping and the head of the WHO on Tuesday, they agreed to further collaboration on many, fronts including a containment of measures in Wuhan, public health measures in other health Chinese cities.
Probably more importantly, in addition to sending experts in is agreeing to continue sharing data, including Chinese authorities promising sharing -- to share biological material.
Why is that important?
One of the alarming trend we have seen here in China is people without any symptoms infecting other people. In the latest example of that on Tuesday, authorities announced a case of a young woman who lives in Wuhan but went back to her home for the Lunar New Year on January 10th.
So far, she has not displayed any symptoms but she has already infected five family members, none of whom had ever been to Wuhan.
So it's cases like this that makes this virus -- there's still so much unknown about the virus which is why collaboration with the international community and experts from the outside may really help, because a lot of outside experts say, if that is the case, it could be a game-changer in how to prevent and contain this virus.
Because if you did not show symptoms, there are a lot of measures that authorities have put in place, could be a futile attempt if you're checking temperatures and people are not having temperatures, then that may not really help.
So at least right now they've agreed to let outside experts in but we don't know a lot of specifics at this point.
VAUSE: We will see when it happens, thank you for the update and we appreciate it.
Many countries begin airlifting their citizens out of Wuhan, they face the problem of minimizing the risk of the virus spreading once they arrive home. A plane carrying up to 240 Americans will return to the U.S. from Wuhan, stopping in Alaska, where they screened and then will be flown to a military base in Southern California. Once, there they could be held and monitored for up to two weeks in an isolated hangar.
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CURT HAGMAN, SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY BOARD OF SUPERVISORS: We are getting them all set up and hopefully it can't happen in a hangar at this standpoint, bringing in TVs in for the Super Bowl, they'll be laughing in there and watch over the weekend and chargers for their phones and try to make their life as good as possible.
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VAUSE: Joining me now is Dr. Carlos Del Rio, professor of medicine and global health at Emory University in Atlanta.
First question to, you how concerned are you in surge of the death toll, as well as the number of reported infections?
Is it a question of what's behind that, increase, more awareness and better testing or is it the nature of the virus itself?
DR. CARLOS DEL RIO, EMORY CENTER FOR AIDS RESEARCH: I think it's a combination of both. I think you have transmission ongoing.
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DEL RIO: But you also have more testing and more detection, so I'm not terribly surprised the number of cases has increased, we're close to 5,000 cases of which the great majority are in China, we're now over 100 deaths.
The cases will continue to go up and mathematical modeling suggests that probably there will a peak somewhere in early to mid February.
VAUSE: CNN is reporting that the researchers at the Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity have successfully recreated the virus. Explain why that is significant and potentially good news in terms of developing a vaccine.
DEL RIO: It's going to be very important to develop the vaccine for this virus and there are several strategies. And one of them is this so called recreation of a virus. But it is available, so people are actually using it. You don't need to recreate a virus to create a vaccine.
In fact the NIH were developing the vaccine based on what they knew of the sequence. You don't need the virus nowadays to create a vaccine. So the NIH has a vaccine that will go into testing, some of the vaccine treatment evaluation units, which are part of the NIH funded vaccine trials network, sometime in mid March or early April.
Hong Kong has the vaccine, China has the vaccine, Australia, so there will be several vaccines.
But we have to remember that when SARS occurred several years ago, we were able to contain it without having a vaccine. By the time there was a, vaccine the epidemic was over.
So public health simple measures, such as isolation, quarantine, hand washing, respiratory hygiene is what we need to control the transmission and decrease the number of new infections.
VAUSE: That is what is underway right, now when you look at what's happening in places around the world, it's locate the infected, get them into isolation early and continue to treat them while keeping them away from the rest of the population.
China is doing that on an industrial scale.
Do you see potential for those measures to backfire?
DEL RIO: There are very few countries in the world that can do what they are doing and China is about the only country that can do. I think if you are trying to do that in New York or Atlanta, it would be impossible to lock down a city like that and there would probably be civil disobedience and riots happening.
But China is able to do it and I think it's an incredible experiment, though I don't know what will happen. I think the Chinese will do everything they can to try to stop that. I think they realize what the potential consequences are.
And the most serious consequence besides the human toll is obviously the economic consequences. Any epidemic like this has tremendous impact on the economy of a country and this could have a significant impact on the economy of China and that is the biggest concern from a world perspective.
The economic slowdown and the potential recession that could result of this pandemic.
VAUSE: We're seeing governments moving to isolate those that traveled to Wuhan, a measure that is not without critics. The latest is Dr. Paul Offit, a pediatric infectious disease expert from the University of Pennsylvania, he made this point.
"When someone on a plane is found to have influenza, fellow passengers are not quarantined. We don't do this for the flu and it's known to cause 30,000 deaths in the U.S. every year."
I guess the question that follows is, why is there need to do it for this strain of flu?
DEL RIO: Again, this is not the flu, it's a different virus. And we don't know enough about it. I agree with Paul in the sense that there's a horrible virus out, there a respiratory virus that has killed over 6,000 Americans this season and that is influenza. We tend to be very blase about influenza when people don't get their vaccines.
But we do have antivirals at work against influenza, so I have somebody with influenza today and start then on medications and there are vaccines, so we feel we are a little more prepared for influenza.
I think with this virus, there's a bit of uncertainty that has created this sense of governments wanting to isolate people. But rather than bringing somebody to the hospital I would just keep them at home. We have to limit transmission, that is the most important thing.
VAUSE: In the United States, the Health and Human Services secretary is calling for China to be more open in what it knows about this virus. Here he is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) ALEX AZAR, U.S. HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES SECRETARY: We are urging China, more cooperation and transparency are the most important steps you can take toward a more effective response.
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VAUSE: That seems to be contrary to what the WHO has been saying about the cooperation it has received from Beijing. In fact, the WHO has been very positive about how it has seen the cooperation from China.
So from your point of view, how do you see things?
DEL RIO: I think that China has been more transparent than it has been in the past but it's still not enough. And I think what WHO and I think what Secretary Azar are asking is for China to allow researchers and public health experts from WHO, the CDC, from NIH, from Imperial College and other places, from London School of Tropical Medicine and others to be able to go into China and help contain the outbreak.
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DEL RIO: And I think Secretary Azar is absolutely right. We are asking for China to open so international collaboration can happen there. They're clearly not able to control this on their own. They need more help and more scientists and people are wanting to go and willing to go.
And controlling this outbreak should be an international priority, so I strongly support Secretary Azar's request.
VAUSE: OK, Dr. Carlos Del Rio, thank you so, much I appreciate you being with us.
DEL RIO: Not a problem.
VAUSE: U.S. president Donald Trump is calling his long delayed Middle East peace plan a win-win opportunity. There's no doubt it is a win for the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu.
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BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, PRIME MINISTER OF ISRAEL: If the Palestinians are genuinely prepared to take that path, if they are genuinely prepared to make peace with the Jewish state and if they agree to abide by all the conditions you have put forward in your plan, Israel will be there, Israel will be prepared to negotiate peace right away.
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VAUSE: The question, is what is there to negotiate?
Palestinians are outraged, large crowds protested in Gaza and the Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas called the plan "the slap of the century."
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MAHMOUD ABBAS, PALESTINIAN AUTHORITY PRESIDENT (through translator): All our rights are not for sale or for negotiation. Your deal is a conspiracy and it will not work.
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VAUSE: Notably, there was no criticism from Saudi Arabia and Egypt, both countries offered encouraging statements and the United Arab Emirates called it an important starting point. CNN's Oren Liebermann breaks down the details.
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OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: For the Israelis and for prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, this is no doubt a historic moment. Whether the rest the world sees it that same way is irrelevant to Israel and the United States.
The Trump administration's vision for Middle East peace gives Israel really just about everything that it wants and more. It leaves the Palestinians little room or incentive to engage.
Effectively, the administration has said that everything Israel controls right now it can keep as its own, green-lighting Israel's annexation of 30 percent of the West Bank. The White House said it recognized Israeli sovereignty in the Jordan Valley and in all of the Israeli settlements in the West Bank.
Prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu's promised to take action on Sunday at the cabinet meeting. The first stage would be annexation of the Jordan Valley and the settlements in what he called Judea and Samaria, using the Biblical term for the West Bank.
The second stage would be annexing the remaining area given to Israel under this plan and recognized as part as Israel. The White House also says Jerusalem is Israel's undivided capital, offering the Palestinians only a few small neighborhoods on the outskirts of the city, separated from Jerusalem by a physical barrier.
This is a much bigger political gift to Netanyahu than anything we have seen from the White House over the last couple of years. Recognition of the Golan Heights, Jerusalem as the capital, moving the embassy, those were certainly significant but largely symbolic, no doubt symbols are important here.
But it did not change anything on the. Ground and this very much changes facts on the, ground especially since Israel is moving to annex next week.
More than just a gift to Israel, it's a gift to the settler movement in the West Bank, who will not only have the application of Israeli law, annexation but American recognition to go with it.
What was the cost? He had to agree in principle to the future creation of a Palestinian state if they meet certain requirements that are nearly impossible for them to meet and which they will see little reason to even try to meet.
Netanyahu had to say he would make a payment in the future to be given everything for free right now. The plan itself places no substantial burden on Israel; the stringent requirements and demands are all on the Palestinians.
Earlier in the day, Netanyahu had been formally indicted on charges of bribery and fraud and breach of trust. That would have been the major news of the day. But this Trump plan quickly overshadowed that.
Even under indictment and heading to trial, Netanyahu will be welcomed home as a history of the right wing when it comes back to Israel -- Oren Liebermann, CNN, Jerusalem.
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VAUSE: Presidential son-in-law and senior White House adviser Jared Kushner is the main architect of this peace plan. During an interview with CNN's Christiane Amanpour, he defended it, while urging the Palestinians to sign on board.
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CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN HOST: The Israeli prime minister has stated that this weekend he will impose the laws of the State of Israel -- those are the words out of his mouth -- on the Jordan Valley, on those areas in the West Bank, he calls it Judea and Samaria, where there are settlements and other such places -- and presumably over Jerusalem as well -- or I don't know about Eastern Jerusalem but nonetheless -- if that happens this weekend, is that with the approval of the United States?
KUSHNER: Yes, I don't believe that's going to happen this weekend, at least not as far as I know.
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KUSHNER: Yes. And a lot of these areas -- just the reality is that Israel is there and they're -- and they're not leaving. There's never been a deal where they've contemplated doing that and it's not pragmatic.
I'm not looking at the world as it existed in 1967. I'm looking at the world as it exists in 2020. You have 5 million Palestinians who are really trapped because of bad leadership.
So what we've done is we've created an opportunity for their leadership to either seize or not. If they screw up this opportunity -- which again, they have a perfect track record of missing opportunities -- if they screw this up, I think that they will have a very hard time looking the international community in the face, saying they're victims, saying they have rights. This is a great deal for them. If they come to the table and negotiate, I think they can get something excellent.
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VAUSE: We'll hear a lot more from Jared Kushner in that interview, in the next hour right here on CNN.
In the meantime, it's the end of the beginning of Trump's impeachment trial and still no indication if witnesses will be allowed to testify. Right now, the top Republican in the U.S. Senate says he does not have the numbers to stop them.
Also ahead, the first close-up look at the site where Kobe Bryant's helicopter went down, as more details emerge on what may have caused the crash.
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TRUMP: And President Trump inherited this war now we are creating jobs and we are creating jobs and killing terrorists, the congressional Democrats are obsessed with demented hoaxes, crazy witch hunt and deranged partisan crusades. That is all they know how to do.
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VAUSE: The U.S. president at a campaign rally a few hours ago in New Jersey, lashing out at Democrats and his impeachment trial. It is looking more likely that we could hear from witnesses at that trial.
A source tells CNN Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell admits he does not have the votes right now to block testimony. But there are still two days of questions before there is a vote. That means anything could happen and probably will. Here is Sara Murray.
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PAT CIPOLLONE, WHITE HOUSE COUNSEL: That ends our presentation. Thank you very much.
SARA MURRAY, CNN NATIONAL POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): That is a wrap on the opening arguments from the president's defense team. But a vote on whether to call new witnesses is still up in the air.
JAY SEKULOW, TRUMP ATTORNEY: The trial of the leader of the free world and the duly elected President of the United States. It is not a game of leaks and unsourced manuscripts.
MURRAY (voice-over): Trump's defense team warned that impeaching the president would be dangerous. [00:20:00]
SEKULOW: Danger. Danger. Danger.
You are being asked to remove a duly elected President of the United States and you are being asked to do it in an election year, in an election year.
CIPOLLONE: Why not trust the American people with this decision?
We tear up their ballots?
MURRAY (voice-over): The arguments from Trump's lawyers come after "The New York Times" reported former national security adviser John Bolton wrote in his manuscript that Trump told him directly he was withholding security aid for Ukraine until Ukraine pursued investigations into Joe Biden and his family.
Today, Trump's team used the president's own words to defend him.
SEKULOW: Here is what the president said in response to that "New York Times" piece.
"I never told John Bolton that the aid to Ukraine was tied to investigations into Democrats, including the Bidens. If John Bolton said this, it was only to sell a book."
MURRAY (voice-over): And used lawmakers' decades-old comments against them.
REP. JERRY NADLER (D-NY), CHAIRMAN, HOUSE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE: There must never be a narrowly voted impeachment.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is unfair to the American people.
REP. ED MARKEY (D): The Republicans are crossing out the impeachment standard of high crimes and misdemeanors.
CIPOLLONE: This should end now as quickly as possible.
MURRAY (voice-over): Next, up senators get up to 16 hours over two days to question House impeachment managers and Trump's defense team. Democrats are expected to use much of that time hammering home their call for witnesses in the hopes of winning over moderate Republicans.
Today, Senator Mitt Romney signaled he would be open to a witness swap.
SEN. MITT ROMNEY (R-UT): But I would like to hear from John Bolton and I think the idea expressed in the media about having each side be able to choose a witness or maybe more than one on a fair basis has some merit.
MURRAY (voice-over): Senator Lisa Murkowski said Bolton probably has some things that would be helpful for us.
Senator James Lankford suggested senators should first be able to review Bolton's manuscript, then make a decision on witnesses.
SEN. JAMES LANKFORD (R-OK), HOMELAND SECURITY COMMITTEE: We can read all of it and see for ourselves if there is anything significant there.
MURRAY (voice-over): Sara Murray, CNN, Washington.
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VAUSE: Michael Genovese is the president of the Global Policy Institute at Loyola Marymount University. He's here from Los Angeles.
The defense has wrapped; the focus is shifting to the witnesses. Republican senators met with Leader Mitch McConnell a few hours ago. According to CNN's reporting, a source in that room said McConnell made clear to senators that Republicans do not currently have the votes to block witnesses but underscored that it is still a work in progress as several GOP senators remain noncommittal on their votes.
McConnell can punt on this until Friday.
Is that enough time to bring those reluctant senators in line?
MICHAEL GENOVESE, POLITICAL ANALYST: I think the momentum is to have witnesses. In the 20 or so trials we have had on impeachment, every single one has had witnesses. The question is not should you have witnesses.
It is why would you not have witnesses?
A fair trial was never in the playbook for Republicans. They want to get it done quickly and move on. So I think what we are seeing is a lot of pressure because of the Bolton revelation.
Did the president tell him that he was deeply involved in a quid pro quo?
Did the president say he was doing favors for Turkey and Russia?
There are a lot of questions the Bolton revelations have revealed. It seems impossible not to have him testify.
VAUSE: On one, hand Republican senators are being pressured by the White House. Then there is the overwhelming opinion of the American people, that you have seen in the CNN poll, 75 percent of voters believe witnesses should appear at the impeachment trial and testify.
Then we had a big boost to Bolton's credibility with former White House chief of staff John Kelly. He was asked about the claims made by John Bolton the former national security, adviser and Kelly said he believed Bolton. Here he is.
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JOHN KELLY, FORMER TRUMP CHIEF OF STAFF: You may disagree with his politics or what he wants to do under certain circumstances. But John is a standup guy.
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VAUSE: This is a huge problem for the White House. They have built their entire case on the fact that no one heard directly from the president, who said I am withholding the aid because I want investigations and dirt on Biden.
The one guy who says that is now John Bolton. It seems that if Republican senators vote for him to appear, they are damned; if they don't vote for him to appear, they are damned as well.
GENOVESE: A lot of the Republicans have very mixed interests in this. For example, those running for reelection are really put under pressure, someone like Cory Gardner, who wants not to vote for witnesses might feel that he must at this point.
If you have a Romney, a Murkowski, a Collins, then you get the fourth vote, maybe an Alexander, you might see the dam burst and six or eight Republicans say that we have to face up to this.
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GENOVESE: The Republican strategy that you saw from the president's attorneys is attack, attack, attack the Democrats. Attack Schiff, attack Biden. Even attacking Obama today.
I think that is a function of them saying, oh, no; they're trying to steal the election, to distract us from what was going on.
No, the Democrats aren't trying to steal the election. The Russians did that already. They're trying to prevent the next election from being stolen with the president trying to use a weaker ally to try to go after his political opponent. That's going to be really what this is going to be about in the long run.
VAUSE: We heard the mustache in the room being addressed in their closing statements by the defense team of lawyers. This was their argument. Here is Jay Sekulow.
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JAY SEKULOW, TRUMP ATTORNEY: Responding to an unpublished manuscript that maybe some reporters have an idea of maybe what it says. That's what the -- if you want to call that evidence, I don't know what you'd call that. I call it inadmissible.
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VAUSE: Aren't they making the argument precisely why John Bolton, the actual source, who is willing to talk, should be called to testify?
GENOVESE: Yes, they are doing a great juggling act here because on the one, hand they are saying you don't have any direct evidence. On the other hand they are saying we know there might be some out there but we're going to make sure you don't get it. They are doing a political comb-over on this to obscure what is really going on.
They don't want Bolton and I wouldn't if I were in their shoes. I think what is happening now is Republicans are trying to salvage as much as they can out of a very bad situation. Mitch McConnell is in a position where, if he loses three, four, five and six members he's going to give up and let them fall where they may. He will lose control of the caucus.
VAUSE: Much of the defense is centered on attacking Joe Biden and his son, Hunter Biden, who served on the board of the Ukrainian energy company which was corrupt as all get out.
Keep in mind, Iowa will hold the first vote in a Democratic primary on Monday. Here is part of an ad Republicans are running in Des Moines.
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SEN. RICK SCOTT (R-FL): I'm Rick Scott, one of the jurors in the Senate. I would like to thank the Democrats for badly botching this impeachment and for spending so much time in a cover-up for Joe Biden.
The real story here is the corruption Joe Biden got away with. Vice President Biden threatened a foreign country and forced them to fire a prosecutor who is investigating a company paying his son $83,000 a month. Biden got away with it and his son got paid. I'm Rick Scott. I approve this message.
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VAUSE: This comes after Joni Ernst questioned the impact the impeachment trial might have on Biden's support among Iowa caucus voters. What is interesting is that Biden finally seemed to nail the response. Here it is.
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JOE BIDEN, FORMER U.S. VICE PRESIDENT AND PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Did anyone see what Senator Joni Ernst did yesterday?
She spilled the beans. She just came out and flat said it. The whole impeachment trial for Trump is just a political hit job. They are smearing me because they are scared to death to run against me and they have good reason to be concerned.
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VAUSE: Here's the thing, this controversy over Hunter Biden and Burisma is not going away. Joe Biden needs to address it beyond challenging someone to pushups or a fight in the back of the woodshed. He needs a decent answer.
GENOVESE: Thus far he has been pretty lame in his responses. He has sounded weak. He has sounded like he is trying to distract attention. Either head it off frontally, go right after it and attack, it or there will be lingering questions.
You want to bring in Hunter Biden?
Fine. Maybe bring it Ivanka and have her talk about the licenses from China she has gotten. Bring in Jared and have him talk about the loans he may have gotten from Saudis when his business was failing. This could really become a circus.
And Biden has to get control of his message, the Democrats of theirs and the Republicans need to get control of the process, because it could tumble out of control. And once you start opening the floodgates, I'll trade you this witness for. That it becomes a circus.
I think Joni Ernst had it right. She hit the nail on the head. It was an oops moment of truth, where she said, no, really, this is all about trying to destroy Joe Biden. And that is what we are looking for.
VAUSE: In many ways, they got their chance to get that smear out there, not as they originally intended.
Michael, as always. We appreciate you being with us.
GENOVESE: Thank you, John.
VAUSE: We'll take a short break.
We'll have a live report in a moment from Hong Kong, with the very latest on the virus there as parts of the city are left as a ghost town.
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VAUSE: Thank you for staying with us. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM. I'm John Vause with headlines this hour.
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With the Israeli prime minister by his side, President Trump announced his administration's plan for Middle East peace. Among other things, it allows Israel to annex all of its settlements in the West Bank. Palestinians have rejected the deal outright, calling it the slap of the century.
Sources tell CNN U.S. Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell admits he does not have enough votes right now to block witnesses in Donald Trump's impeachment trial. The president's attorneys finished their opening arguments on Tuesday. Next comes two days of questions from senators.
The Wuhan coronavirus has set a new milestone in China. Now, with nearly 6,000 cases, it has surpassed the number of SARS cases China reported back in 2003. The virus has claimed 132 lives, all them in China. President Xi Jinping has allowed the World Health Organization to send teams of experts to help contain and investigate the cause of the outbreak. Meantime, Hong Kong is restricting some travel from mainland China to
try and stem the spread of the virus. CNN's Blake Essig is live now with more on this.
And, Blake, there have been demands for a complete and total shutdown of all travel between Hong Kong and the mainland. I think that was coming from some of the unions representing health workers. This isn't quite to that degree, but it's close.
BLAKE ESSIG, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, you know, Hong Kong in general seems to be shutting down in an effort to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. And you can see it when you walk around the streets of Hong Kong, even this morning. They're pretty much empty, and part of that reason is because the government has asked employees to stay home. Sports centers, museums, libraries all closed. The two largest theme parks here in Hong Kong are closed. School is closed.
But as you said, the one thing that isn't closed, at least not completely closed yet, is the border.
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ESSIG (voice-over): A sea of people, shoulder to shoulder, hiding behind protective masks. This is the scene from a key border crossing connecting mainland China and Hong Kong. Already, border restrictions are in place to block the entry of anybody from Hubei province, the epicenter of the deadly Wuhan coronavirus.
And on Wednesday, the city's leader addressed the media, announcing further measures, including partial transport bans and the suspension of some services at border crossing stations.
CARRIE LAM, HONG KONG CHIEF EXECUTIVE (through translator): We will substantially reduce the flow of people between the two places.
ESSIG: But several points of entry with the mainland remain open.
(on camera): We're here at the Lo Wu border crossing, one of several border crossings connecting Hong Kong and mainland China. And while several medical officials and legislators are calling for the border to be closed completely, as you can see, people from the mainland continue to stream in on the heels of the lunar new year.
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(voice-over): And that's a problem for some people, like Hong Kong lawmaker Michael Tien.
MICHAEL TIEN, HONG KONG LAWMAKER: The idea if you have a complete closure of the land and sea border --
ESSIG: He says drastic measures need to be taken to prevent a further spread before it's too late.
TIEN: It's better to do it right now and then be prepared to lift the ban any time if signs are improving in China. Rather than not do anything, and wait for hell to break loose, and then impose the ban.
ESSIG: A sentiment shared by many Hong Kong residents and those visiting the city.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think they should stop, like, people from mainland China from entering Hong Kong, because they keep bringing the virus here.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think they should block the way that the Chinese people coming into the Hong Kong, because now the virus is very serious, and we don't want all the virus of Wuhan to come into Hong Kong and affect our people.
ESSIG: While many people are calling for a complete border closure, and some medical workers threatening to strike if it doesn't happen, when asked, Chief Executive Carrie Lam defends the current measures put in place.
(on camera): Chief executive, you said that public safety is your primary concern. Yet, when you laid out your measures that you're taking, they sound only like half measures. Are you putting Hong Kongers' lives at risks by not closing the border?
LAM: There are a large number of Hong Kong residents who are now traveling into mainland and overseas, and they need to come back. So I don't think it is very meaningful to talk about a complete closure of the border control points.
ESSIG (voice-over): And that means Hong Kong's border with the mainland will remain partially open, forcing everyone, including the littlest of Hong Kongers, to protect themselves.
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ESSIG: And John, while this is a continuing -- continuous, evolving situation, at this point, tonight, at midnight local time, six out of the 14 points of entry between mainland China and Hong Kong will be closed.
VAUSE: Blake, things the update. We appreciate it. Blake Essig is live in Hong Kong.
A short break. We'll see you in two minutes.
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VAUSE: Four bodies have now been recovered from amid the debris of help Bryant's helicopter, which crashed over the weekend. Four of the nine people on board have been officially identified, including Bryant. Among those yet to be I.D.'d is Christina Mauser, an assistant girls' basketball coach. And earlier, her husband spoke with CNN.
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MATTHEW MAUSER, HUSBAND OF CRASH VICTIM CHRISTINA MAUSER: The thing that gets me the most, are the -- you know, it's not the big things. It's not how good she was at basketball, you know, although those things are wonderful. The things that I miss the most are the little -- the tiny little things.
My wife was not just focused on the big things. My wife was focused on the little things. And the attention to detail, you know, about what kind of foods to give our kids, doctors, you know, how she would research every disease that was out there.
[00:40:14]
She was, you know, she was relentless, and she was organized and detailed. And how she'd treat people that weren't important, that was -- my wife would always treat the person who you would -- you wouldn't expect anybody to treat well, she would always treat them the best.
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VAUSE: Authorities believe the helicopter was only about nine meters short of clearing the hilltop where it crashed. The say the flight did not have a safety feature which could have alerted the pilot about the looming terrain. And there are new details now about the moments leading up to Sunday's deadly crash. CNN's Brian Todd has our report.
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BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A new glimpse from the ground of Kobe Bryant's helicopter minutes before it crashed. A man took this video of the helicopter over Glendale, California, on Sunday morning. The aircraft went down about 26 miles away.
NTSB investigators are examining pieces of the wreckage by hand from a debris field that officials say stretches the length of about two football fields. Officials now say moments before the crash, the pilot requested and was granted special visual flight rules clearance to fly in weather conditions worse than normal.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Copy that, we'll maintain special VFR.
TODD: Officials say the pilot reported he was climbing to avoid a cloud layer. But then --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: When ATC asked what the pilot planned to do, there was no reply.
TODD: The crash killed Bryant, his 13-year-old daughter Gianna, and seven others. Current and former Laker legends are struggling to wrap their emotions around it all. LeBron James posting on Instagram, "I'm heartbroken and devastated, my brother!"
Shaquille O'Neal, who won three world championships with Bryant, spoke at length on his Monday podcast about his teammate.
SHAQUILLE O'NEAL, FORMER NBA PLAYER: This one's going to hurt for a long, long time. I know he's going to be remembered and all that stuff, but I just wish he was there. I wish I could say something to him. I really lost a brother yesterday. TODD: Now, the five-time champion and 18-time all-star is being
remembered not only for his greatness on the court, but for the way he exited the game after 20 years.
KOBE BRYANT, FORMER NBA PLAYER: There's beauty in that. It's going through this cycle. It's the cycle. It's a natural progression of growth and maturation. I mean, it's -- there's no sadness in that.
TODD: Indeed, Kobe Bryant is also remembered for his embrace of life after basketball, as a business owner, an Oscar-winning filmmaker, and as a doting father of four daughters.
He was seen with Gianna a little over a month ago, on the sidelines of an NBA game, on the Yes network, breaking down the game with her, explaining moves and plays.
From all accounts, he loved being the coach of Gianna's team.
Less than a year and a half ago, Bryant appeared on "Jimmy Kimmel Live" on ABC, and they talked about her love of the game.
BRYANT: The best thing that happens is when we go out and fans will come up to me and she'll be standing next to me. And they'll be like, "Man, you've got to have a boy. You and V got to have a boy, man. You've got to have somebody carry on your tradition, the legacy."
She's like, "Oy, I got this."
Like, that's right. Yes, you do. You got this.
TODD: When Kent Babb of "The Washington Post" worked on a profile of Bryant in 2018, he says he broke the ice by talking about both men's daughters.
KENT BABB, REPORTER, "THE WASHINGTON POST": I think he was particularly close with Gianna, Gigi. And, you know, he would say that he had to act like a jungle gym for his kids, like everybody. And with Gigi, like, that was the one that was really -- like really into basketball. Like, she wanted to be just like her dad. She had the same jump shot.
TODD (on camera): Kent Babb says he has one haunting memory of his memory of his interviews with Kobe Bryant. He says during one of their several meetings, he and Bryant took a round-trip helicopter ride from Orange County to downtown Los Angeles and back, and Babb says he's almost certain it was in the same helicopter that crashed on Sunday.
Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.
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VAUSE: Thank you for watching CNN NEWSROOM. I'm John Vause. Please stay with us. WORLD SPORT is next.
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