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The Global Brief with Bianca Nobilo

Democratic National Committee Heads Calls For Re-canvassing; World Health Organization: Slight Drop In New Chinese Cases; Three Palestinians Killed, 12 Israeli Soldiers Injured In Just 24 Hours; Evacuated American Speaks On Living Under Quarantine; Could High Technology Equipment Make Sports Too Easy. Aired 5-5:30p ET

Aired February 06, 2020 - 17:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


[17:00:00]

JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: All right thanks so much. And that is our coverage at "The Lead". I'll continue tomorrow.

BIANCA NOBILO, CNN HOST: Tonight on "The Brief" President Trump holds a no whole spot impeachment victory speech. He lauds his supporters and bluffs

his Democratic opponents. The whistle blower doctor who raised the alarm about the Coronavirus has now died from the very disease that he warned

about. And 24 hours of violence in the Middle East just Donald Trump unveiled his speech plan.

Welcome back to the show everyone. It's meanwhile I'm Bianca Nobilo in London. U.S. President Donald Trump is reveling in his impeachment

acquittal today, praising Republicans who stood by his side as incredible warriors while blasting Democrats and federal investigators as, "Horrible

people and top scum".

Mr. Trump brought this prop to his victory speech at the White House a two- word headline that for him says it all. The President told the room packed with his supporters that he has been through hell.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We had the witch hunt. It started from the day we came down the elevator. It was evil. It was

corrupt. It was dirty cops. It was leakers and liars, and this should never, ever happen to another President ever dirty cops bad people. If this

happened to President Obama, a lot of people would have been in jail for a long time already.

We first went through Russia, Russia and Russia. It was all bullshit. We then went through the Mueller report and they should have come back one day

later. They didn't. They came back two years later after lives were ruined. Adam Schiff is a vicious, horrible person. Nancy Pelosi is a horrible

person.

These are vicious people. But they do two things. They stick together. Historically I'm not talking now. They stick together like glue. That's how

they impeached. It's been very unfair to the country. Think of it a phone call a very good phone call.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NOBILO: A top Senate Democrat says Mr. Trump's speech makes clear that he has not learned a lesson from his impeachment as some Republicans have

suggested.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER (D-NY): Many of our Republican colleagues probably knew that Donald Trump was wrong but they know that there is a vindictive, angry

President, as his hour and a half speech showed, and they were fearful.

And some of those colleagues said, well, the President will now never do it again. This speech proved that he will do it again because he is on his

self-righteous horse saying he did nothing wrong.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NOBILO: Mr. Trump started the day with an appearance at the National Prayer Breakfast. An annual bipartisan event focused on faith. He took veiled

swipes at U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Republican Senator Mitt Romney who broke ranks to convict Mr. Trump.

Pelosi was on the same stage this morning. She later told reporters that House Democrats will continue their oversight responsibility and protect

and defend the constitution.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA): The Senate has spoken in terms of any punishment to the President. He is impeached forever no matter what he says or

whatever headlines he wants to carry around. You are impeached forever. You are never getting rid of that scar.

History will always record that you are impeached for undermining the security of our country, jeopardizing the integrity of our elections and

violating the constitution of the United States.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NOBILO: Earlier we spoke with CNN White House Correspondent Kaitlan Collins. She says that President Trump is now emboldened and unrepentant

after his acquittal.

KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Bianca the reason you saw the President taking that victory lap that he did here at the White

House today really is because he feels emboldened by this acquittal. Not only does he seem vindicated, but he is also pretty vindictive towards the

people who were pursuing this impeachment inquire starting with Nancy Pelosi when she launched that back in September.

But also of course ending on with Adam Schiff, that Lead Democrat on the House Managers team throughout this impeachment trial, and really what you

are essentially what as a preview of what's to come.

Several people said over the next several months as the President is running for office. That speech you saw there today where the President was

not only going after the impeachment inquiry but also against the Mueller investigation and all these other investigations that have come to embark

his Presidency was one who feels empowered by this acquittal.

And that's what sources say you can likely continue to expect because not only is the President going after Democrats, it's members of his own party

who cross him, which is really an indication why you saw so many Republicans hesitant to cross the President, vote for more witnesses in

that impeachment trial.

[17:05:00]

COLLINS: Now he took this victory lap today, of course, and one thing that really stood out, was you heard some Republican Senators say they believe

that President learned his lesson, that he is going to be more cautious going forward and essentially by impeaching him they had drawn a line in

the sand about his behavior at least for Democrats of course.

But the President made clear during that hour-long speech today that he does not have any regrets about that phone call with the President of

Ukraine and, instead, he once again said it was a perfect call and people who say otherwise are totally incorrect.

NOBILO: Thanks to thanks to Collins there for her reporting. Now there is this big contest going on for Democrats who are battling to replace Donald

Trump and the next one in New Hampshire is just five days away but we still don't have the final result Monday's caucuses in Iowa.

The Democratic National Committee now says the Head of that Committee now says enough is enough and he is calling for an immediate re-canvassing of

results. Now with 97 percent of precincts now reporting it is clear that Pete Buttigieg and Bernie Sanders are now in a virtual dead heat followed

by Elizabeth Warren and Joe Biden.

And not only is Sanders closing the gap in Iowa, but he is also reporting a huge fundraising call. His campaign says it raised $25 million in January

his highest monthly total since entering the race.

CNN's Jeff Zeleny joins us now from Des Moines, Iowa. Jeff, can you explain to the viewers how this re-canvassing will work and also what impact all of

this confusion is having on this Democratic race.

JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Sure Bianca. I mean the candidates are long gone to New Hampshire campaigning there but the

controversy here remains. Now what a re-canvassing is, if it actually happens, is essentially going back through all of the records and the

papers to reconcile the numbers, to see if the numbers from each precinct across the State of Iowa actually were the same as they were recorded in

the official tally.

So basically just double-checking the numbers, going back through all of them but of course that could - it's not exactly a speedy process

considering how they are not finished counting the first time. But the question here is, if it will actually happen. The rules require a campaign

or a candidate to request a re-canvassing, not the Democratic National Committee.

So it's very unclear if this re-canvassing will happen. One thing is clear. So many inconsistencies with the numbers here the Iowa Caucuses you know

which have been a tradition here in the U.S. for so long, certainly have an embarrassing stain on them. But the outcome, regardless of what the

specific numbers are, it looks to be a bit of a draw with Bernie Sanders and Pete Buttigieg essentially just neck-and-neck in the delegate hunt.

Bernie Sanders getting a few more in the popular vote but it is all about the delegates that are so important. And also Joe Biden, his fourth-place

finishes here, Bianca that is not changing.

NOBILO: Jeff Zeleny, thank you very much. It will be interesting to see if any of the candidates do come forward and ask for that re-canvassing. Thank

you.

Well, CNN will hold four more town halls on Thursday night with Bernie Sanders, Pete Buttigieg, and Amy Klobuchar and Deval Patrick. It starts

8:00 pm eastern time and that's 1:00 am in Friday if you will of this - only on CNN.

Amidst all the impeachment rancor the Democrats and Republicans managed to find common ground in one area. Their support for Venezuela's opposition

leader Juan Guaido met with Nancy Pelosi a couple of hours ago. He got support in a new push to oust President Nicolas Maduro.

She called the plight of Venezuelans, "A challenge to the conscience of the world" and thanked him for his struggle. Guaido met with President Trump a

day earlier. A source tells us Mr. Trump promised more action to put more pressure on Mr. Maduro in the next month.

Now after hours of contradictory reports from Chinese media the hospital treating Li Wenliang the doctor who founded the early alarm on the

Coronavirus now confirmed that he has died from the virus. They reprimanded him for what they called rumor among ring but he tried to warn others of

the deadly virus.

Chinese social media has erupted in an outpouring of grief and anger. There are now more than 28,000 global Coronavirus cases most of them in Mainland,

China. More than 560 people have died. Even though the number of cases is still rising, the World Health Organization reports a slight drop in the

amount of new cases reported in China over the past 24 hours. Still the W.H.O. warns that it's too soon to say that the virus is peaking.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. TEDROS ADHANOM GHEBREYESU, DIRECTOR-GENERAL, WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION: But there is still a lot we don't know. We don't know the source of the

outbreak. We don't know what its natural reservoir is and we don't properly understand its transmission ability or severity.

[17:10:00]

GHEBREYESU: To defeat this outbreak, we need answers to all those questions.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NOBILO: Some of China's newest Coronavirus patients also the youngest. State media says that two newborn babies in Wuhan have tested positive for

the virus one of them at just 30 hours old.

Let's talk about Dr. Li Wenliang, As David Culver joins me now from Beijing. And David first of all, your reporting on this has been

phenomenal. It's good to have you on the program. Let's talk about what happened today with Chinese state media and their reporting of this.

First of all, they didn't really need to announce this anyway. They have control over what media they choose to disseminate, and then they went back

and forth. So what do you know about that? And also the timeline of what happened to this poor doctor over the last weeks?

DAVID CULVER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: First off, thank you Bianca. I appreciate your acknowledging my team's reporting here. We have been up all night

covering this back and forth that you mentioned between state media and the hospital's release and release social media. That's kind of the triangle

playing that is playing out here.

And it's becoming increasingly difficult in this social media age, even in China, where it's tightly controlled, to push back against something that

has already gone viral in a sense, and Dr. Li Wenliang's story really hit a chord here, an emotional one at that.

This dates back to December when he first shared in a WeChat group that there were concerns of a Sars-like virus going around. That then got screen

shouted, it went out, and from there we know that several other people, I was just checking to see if they censored us out yet, we know that several

other people got word that he was a part of this.

And so his name was attached to this. And all of a sudden there was a backlash from police, Wuhan police in particular. They told him essentially

you can't talk about this any further. He went back to work at the hospital with a president. Then he contracted the virus, passed it along to his

parents.

But then over time we begin to see that this Coronavirus obviously was something, that there was something there, and his name rose to the top as

one of the whistleblowers. But now with this back and forth between state media it seems that folks are not letting this go.

In fact, trending right before they took down their story was the Wuhan government owes Dr. Li Wenliang an apology. And Bianca that was something

that had tens of thousands of likes and it went down a short time ago. It was censured.

NOBILO: David Culver, thank you very much for your reporting. David for us there in Beijing. The Coronavirus nightmare is extended out to sea.

Thousands of passengers are stuck on two cruise ships Quarantined off Hong Kong and Japan.

So far there haven't been any confirmed Coronavirus cases on the ship in Hong Kong, but 20 people on board the Diamond Princess in Japan have tested

positive and they have to wait in place for at least 14 days.

And we are hearing stories from people who have been quarantined or evacuated around the world. Coming up on the program we will speak to

someone who is currently being quarantined in California. So do stay with us for that.

Israel is beefing up its military presence in the West Bank after clashes and attacks there and in Jerusalem. The surge comes after the Trump

Administration unveiled its way forward for the region last week. CNN's Oren Liebermann looks at why the timing is significant.

OREN LIBERMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Bianca it's easy to look at these attacks and see that they come after the release of the Trump

Administration's peace plan and link the two. And that may be the reason for some of what we're seeing here in the last 24 hours, but there is

certainly more to it than that.

There are some attacks here that may well be related to the anger and frustration over the peace plan. Palestinian factions' chief among them

Hamas has called for more attack on his rallies in the wake of the plan as a way expressing outright rejection of it.

Early Thursday morning police said Palestinian driver carried out a ramming attack against Israeli soldiers in Jerusalem wounding 12 soldiers one of

them seriously. A suspect was arrested Thursday evening in the West Bank.

Similarly shooting attacks in the Old City of Jerusalem and in the Central West Bank may also have anger over the plan, anger over Jerusalem at their

root and that goes for rocket and mortar fire from Gaza as well.

But what happened in the - Jenin Northern West Bank seems to be a different story. That also starts early Thursday morning when Israeli stories go into

Jenin to demolish the home of a Palestinian convicted of murdering a Rabbi some two years ago.

In the clashes that broke out following the demolition, one Palestinian was shot and killed. Israel said he was shot with a sniper rifle and Israeli

soldiers who responded. A second Palestinian was also shot and killed Jenin, a member of police.

Video posted by Fattah which controls the Palestinian Authority shows the officer standing at his place of work not taking in part in any clashes

when he was shot and killed. Israeli military says it is investigating the incident. Where does this go from here? Could it get worse?

[17:15:00]

CULVER: It's tense and there is a tremendous amount of strain on Israeli Palestinian security coordination which is crucial to both sides. If that

gets out of hand, the situation here could very quickly and very easily spiral out of control.

NOBILO: Thanks to Oren Liebermann for his reporting. Still to come on "The Brief" tonight, stuck on a U.S. military base dozens of people under

quarantine for the Coronavirus and one American man tell his story to us on CNN next.

(COMMERCIA BREAK)

NOBILO: Hundreds of people right now are waiting to be evacuated from Wuhan, China the epicenter of the Coronavirus outbreak. Two dozen countries

are scrambling to bring their citizens home. We are now beginning to see how chaotic it can be for people trying to leave Wuhan.

Michael Schoenberg and his wife and son were visiting family in the area and got caught in a citywide lockdown. They sent these photos from the

airport as they waited to board a Canadian charter plane out of China.

Frank Honan and his wife say that they are grateful that they made it out on a U.S. chartered flight. You can see passengers and their photos wearing

face masks. They tell CNN that health workers in protective gear were on board the flight doing their best in a stressful situation.

Joining me is somebody who knows something about this in the "Coronavirus Debrief", it is Jarred Evans. He is one of the dozens of Americans

evacuated from Wuhan, China, and now being kept under quarantine at a U.S. military base in California.

Jarred, it's really good to hear from you. I imagine you are looking for ways to fill your time, but nevertheless great to have you on the show.

JARRED EVANS, AMERICAN EVACUATED FROM WUHAN, CHINA: Thank you Bianca, I appreciate it.

NOBILO: Tell us about how you first became aware of the Coronavirus when you were in Wuhan as a professional footballer and then how you were

evacuated back to California.

EVANS: Yes, Bianca, so I became aware of the whole situation from a Chinese friend of mine. Apparently, they found it over the weekend. He direct

messaged me and said, hey, man, I think you have an opportunity to go home to your family. You know, read this email that he received.

So I basically just emailed the Beijing ACS, which is the consulate in Beijing, and all my information, they emailed me back and I had to pretty

much find a way to the airport. As you know, all personal vehicles were completely not allowed on the road.

NOBILO: How were you feeling personally? You are not suffering from any symptoms yourself? Are you having medical checks at the base?

EVANS: Yes, I'm not suffering from any kind of symptoms. I am completely healthy. I haven't caught a cold in three years. Bu yes, we are getting

basic medical checks every single day, twice a day. And we are just pretty much waiting for our release form.

NOBILO: And are you able to mingle and interact with other people that are also quarantined on the base?

[17:20:00]

NOBILO: How are you all spending your days?

EVANS: Yes, I am personally spending my day taking care of my body, working out. But there are all different types of activities on the base. People

are playing cards, dominoes, zumba classes, boxing classes, art classes, learning how to do your taxes? We are trying to keep as much - you know,

busy as much as possible.

NOBILO: Are they putting on these classes and activities for you, like learning how to do your taxes and cards and exercise?

EVANS: Yes. Whoever wants to join is capable of joining. Our most active class is actually our Zumba class. We get about 30 women in the classes.

They enjoy it. They are definitely keeping busy.

NOBILO: And how are you all doing in terms of how relaxed you feel about this situation? It sounds like you are being taken care of there, but

obviously being stuck in one place for 14 days under these circumstances could potentially be stressful, could make you go a bit stir crazy. How are

you all finding it?

EVANS: Definitely Bianca. I think we are all actually in complete understanding of spending our time here for 14 days. We are still taking

major precautions. Half of us are still wearing our face masks when we are in like public gatherings. But we all have our daily routines, you know.

And I think that is actually helping us. Some of the individuals have their laptops. I guess they are doing their work. And they are just, you know,

enjoying this beautiful California sun at the moment.

NOBILO: And Jarred, are you still in touch with friends of yours that you know in Wuhan? And if you are, what's their experience like at the moment?

EVANS: Yes, I'm sharing much grief right now thinking about all of the safety of myself but leaving all my friends back behind. I want to send my

prayers out to those of all my Chinese friends because it's a serious matter. I know that they are dealing with it as best they can right now. I

hope everything is getting better back home.

NOBILO: Jarred, it's been good to talk to you. We really appreciate your time. Jarred Evans for us in California. Thank you.

EVANS: Thank you. Bye-bye.

NOBILO: An investigation has been opened in Italy after a high-speed train derailed killing two people. Italian investigators are trying to figure out

what caused the derailment just Southeast of Milan. Officials say that the incident is being investigated on three counts. The train disaster,

culpable homicide and culpable injuries. The train's two conductors were killed and dozens more people are injured. Traffic has been suspended on

the high speed line.

And Turkish authorities want to know what caused a plane to skid off the runway in Istanbul on Wednesday killing three people. Prosecutors say that

they want to speak to the two pilots of the Pegasus Airlines Jet and bring them in for questioning once they have been released from hospital.

Nearly 180 people were injured and 88 still people are still hospitalized, 14 of them are in intensive care. One of the survivors described what

happened.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ALPER KULU, PLANE CRASH SURVIVOR: I was one of the first passengers to get out. I got out on my own. There was a serious gas leak when we first

landed. The fire brigade was the first to arrive on scene. I climbed that 40-meter-high hill with a broken arm and reached the site of the fire

trucks and ambulances, but there were people who were in bad condition. There were people who were in much worse condition than me.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NOBILO: Two avalanches in Eastern Turkey have killed at least 41 people and injured 84. Many of the dead are rescuers. They were caught in the second

avalanche Wednesday while trying to recover victims of Tuesday's initial avalanche. Explosions have been carried out to prevent a third. A team of

almost 200 rescuers has been deployed to the area.

And they are still looking for two people believed to be buried in the snow. When the program returns we will hear about the shoe that could make

running marathons easier, but is it the technical equivalent of doping? We will discuss that next. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:25:00]

NOBILO: Astronaut Christina Hawk is back on earth after a record-breaking 328 days in space. Hawk set the record for the longest time in space by a

woman. While on the International Space Station Hawk took part in the first all-female spacewalk. Her extended stay in orbit will provide NASA

scientist with important health data. They want to study how Hawk's bones and muscles responded to such a long time in zero gravity.

No a NIKE's new shoe is causing controversy and raising that well-worn question. Should technology and sport be limited? Later this year a variant

of the shoe that powered the first ever Marathon Run below two hours will be available to you. It's called the Air Zoom Alpha Flight.

But with its thick foam sole and added cushioning under the forefoot it allows runners to go faster on less effort. According to a 2017 study in

the journal of sports medicine NIKE's Vaporfly Shoes provide a 4 percent boost in running economy compared with other top racing models.

NIKE calls it a sign of game changing progress, but leading sports scientists Ross Tucker has argue that the latest advancement in shoe

technology hurts running and said that marathon running is supposed to be the purest things humans put themselves through. It's just about feet,

legs, lungs, heart, and brain.

These shoes create the same problems that doping throws up. So do you think that this amounts to technical doping or is it just another step for human

ingenuity? Let me know on Twitter. I'm bianca_nobilo and in a seamless transition, "World Sport" is next. It is great to have you with us again.

I'm Bianca Nobilo.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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