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Reduction in Public Gatherings and Increased Sanitizing Efforts Continue; Interview with Mayor of San Juan, Puerto Rico; Thousands of Syrian Refugees Stuck at Border Between Greece and Turkey. Aired 10:30-11a ET

Aired March 02, 2020 - 10:30   ET

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


[10:30:00]

DAVID CULVER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: -- little bit. Over the weekend, they started to go back up and that raised some concern, and now we're starting to see it drop over the past 24 hours or so.

But the reality is, officials are saying, OK, you've got those numbers, you've got to put them aside. Don't put too much joy when they're going down and complacency, and don't get too panicked when they're going back up. But the reality is, the vast majority is still focused in Hubei Province and Chinese officials saying, outside of that is a much more controlled and different story. That's certainly what they're trying to portray.

Meantime, outside of mainland China, as we take you around the world, in Iran, I mean, that's the most number of deaths outside of mainland China. And to put it in perspective, in mainland China, you've got 2,900 deaths. In Iran, you have 66.

Now, numbers there are being questioned but as of now, there is still concern that they're going to go up a good amount. And we've even heard of some high-profile deaths, including an advisor to the ayatollah -- that just came out -- in addition to those who have been infected. We were hearing the vice president there, along with the deputy health minister. So certainly rising the ranks to the government officials.

So South Korea, where you have the highest number of cases -- not the highest number of deaths, but it's the largest outbreak outside of mainland China -- and they're trying to essentially bring in the army to clean up as much as possible. I mean, they're literally sanitizing public spaces to try to combat the growth and spread of this virus.

The majority of those infected in South Korea come from a religious group, we know more than half of those are from that religious group. And 12 of those leaders from that group are now even facing charges including homicide. Essentially, they weren't being very forthcoming, according to officials, when it came to tracking some of their individuals.

Lastly, to Europe, where we know Italy is really ground zero for the Europe outbreak, but now France has a lot of concerns. In one region in France, Poppy, they have 100 schools closed that affect some 28,000 students. We know that the Louvre has also been shut down, the most- visited museum in the world. And they're saying avoid kissing and hand-shaking.

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN ANCHOR, NEWSROOM: Yes.

POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR, NEWSROOM: OK, wow, David.

SCIUTTO: We just --

HARLOW: Yes.

SCIUTTO: -- we just -- former director of the CDC was just on the show, he said no more handshakes. Do the elbow bump.

HARLOW: Yes, that's what he said. He said you'll see --

CULVER: Right.

HARLOW: -- things are changing. David Culver, thank you.

SCIUTTO: In politics, Bernie Sanders leads the Democratic field now with 60 delegates, but it's tight and it's early. Tomorrow, there are more than a thousand delegates up for grabs. Next, what the candidates are doing today to win those and stay in the race.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:36:59]

SCIUTTO: Welcome back. So many states, so many delegates, so little time to reach all of them and win them. More than 1,300 delegates on the table for Super Tuesday tomorrow. That's why the candidates are campaigning all over the country today, not an easy travel schedule and the field is getting shaken up.

Pete Buttigieg, he's out. Michael Bloomberg, finally on the ballot tomorrow after betting millions -- hundreds of millions --

HARLOW: Hundreds of millions.

SCIUTTO: -- in fact -- in fact, that he could make a splash.

HARLOW: Joining us now from the campaign trail, CNN national correspondent Athena Jones and CNN political correspondent M.J. Lee joins us in Washington.

Athena, what are you hearing?

ATHENA JONES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Poppy. Well, Bernie Sanders is starting this sprint to Super Tuesday here in Utah, a state with 29 delegates at stake. Of course, this is an attempt to rack up as many delegates as possible.

Sanders did very well here in 2016, he won 80 percent support and they're certainly hoping to do that again. They've held more than 300 events over the -- over the time since the campaign launched last year, including several hosted by Sanders' wife, Jane Sanders, just in the last few days: events with Mormons who support Sanders, black people who support Sanders, a small business roundtable.

So they're starting out today with a rally here, and then they'll head to Minnesota and then on to Vermont, where Sanders will vote and hold a rally on Tuesday night. We should expect to hear from him, how he's going to argue that he is better positioned to beat Trump than Vice President Joe Biden -- Poppy.

HARLOW: OK.

SCIUTTO: M.J. Lee, you're on the trail as well. Tell us what you're hearing.

M.J. LEE, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Michael Bloomberg started his day here in Washington, D.C., where he just finished speaking at the AIPAC conference. He talked about his Jewish roots, he talked about his support for Israel. And notably, he called out Bernie Sanders by name, calling him out for not coming to this conference. So it could be an indication of more pointed attacks from Michael Bloomberg, headed in the direction of Bernie Sanders.

And later today, Michael Bloomberg is going to be campaigning in northern Virginia. Virginia, of course, is a state that votes tomorrow. And then tomorrow, he is going to be spending all day in Florida. Florida is a state that doesn't vote until later in the month. So another indication that, at least for now, Michael Bloomberg intends to stay in this race for a little bit longer, past Super Tuesday at least.

But keep in mind, guys, one of the big reasons that Michael Bloomberg got into this race was because he thought that he saw real weakness in Joe Biden. And his candidacy, while (ph) given what we saw in South Carolina on Saturday, and then if he ends up having a strong night on Super Tuesday, there could be more pressure on Michael Bloomberg to get out of the race -- guys.

SCIUTTO: Amazing. Just a few days ago, folks were talking about his as the sort of standard-bearer for the moderate wing of the party. Things change quickly. Athena Jones, M.J. Lee, thanks very much.

HARLOW: With us now is the co-chair of Bernie Sanders' 2020 campaign and mayor of San Juan, Puerto Rico, Mayor Carmen Yulin Cruz. Mayor, it's so nice to have you. Thanks for taking the time.

MAYOR CARMEN YULIN CRUZ (D-SAN JUAN, PUERTO RICO): Thanks for having me.

HARLOW: So Bernie Sanders, Senator Sanders is betting that America wants a Democratic socialist as their president, and he has spent a lot of time explaining what socialism means to him.

[10:40:00]

You were asked in July by Jorge Ramos about that, and you said you don't identify as a socialist or a Democratic socialist. And that for Latino voters, it brings about thoughts of authoritarianism. How do you get them to stomach a Democratic socialist candidate for president?

YULIN CRUZ: Well, first of all, when you switch into the Spanish language, things take a little bit different meaning. What Bernie Sanders is talking about, when it comes down to it, is equality, is a better distribution of the wealth. Is that human rights are amongst them, health care and education. So Latinos, we know very well that some of our Latino people cannot go to the doctor because they don't have the money to.

And what Bernie Sanders is talking about, just as Dr. King talked about at some point in time -- and he was also called a socialist -- just as FDR talked about at some point in time, when Social Security was coming along and he was also called a socialist, is talking about ensuring that we all have an opportunity to thrive and not only to survive.

So one of the things that is very important is, let's take the label out, let's not focus on the label and the meaning that people with good or bad intentions can give to it. But let's get down to the policies.

And the truth is that Bernie Sanders is leading with people of color all over the United States and that poll after poll, the last 11 polls have shown that he's better positioned to beat Donald Trump because he doesn't have to talk about building a coalition that is multiracial, multigenerational. He is already and has that basis for that coalition, going into Super Tuesday.

SCIUTTO: But we (ph) didn't -- we have not seen that with African- American voters, and that's frankly one reason that Joe Biden performed so well, 40 points ahead of -- or 30 points ahead, rather --

HARLOW: I think it was 61 to 16 percent.

YULIN CRUZ: Forty, yes.

SCIUTTO: -- yes, yes, 40 points ahead of -- sorry -- Bernie Sanders in South Carolina. How has he proven that he can take large portions of the African-American vote to win the nomination, as Jim Clyburn said, that African-Americans, in his words, the base to many (INAUDIBLE) the Democratic Party.

YULIN CRUZ: And Clyburn also, as you just pointed out, a few minutes ago, criticized the Joe Biden organization and the way campaign has been run. First of all, people of color, we're not monolithic. So different issues appeal to different people.

What has been proven, poll after poll, is that Bernie Sanders has been not only surging, but leading in the people of color. Why? Because his message resonates, you know? He has a comprehensive DACA program to protect DACA students from day one. He has a comprehensive immigration policy. He has a justice reform system that is a system that will take care of everybody. When you compare him to Bloomberg, that has the stop-and-frisk

situation in New York City, that was directed to Latino and African- American people. And we know -- there's a lot of Puerto Ricans in the New York State and New York City.

So one of the things is, is numbers don't lie. What happened also in South Carolina is that Bernie increased his support amongst African- Americans by 17 percent. And he has been proven, he doesn't have to come now to say this is where I've been. In Chicago, in the '60s, Bernie Sanders was leading the fight amongst people that wanted housing to be fair for all.

SCIUTTO: OK.

HARLOW: Look -- and you've been pressed on this yourself, when you've been called on some -- by some to condemn the Castro regime or Maduro's reign, and Bernie Sanders continues to say there are parts of it that we condemn.

But for example, Castro has done good things like the literacy program, et cetera, and that has been a big problem for a number of Democrats, specifically in the state of Florida, for example, among Latino voters there, including lawmakers we've had on this program --

SCIUTTO: Yes.

HARLOW: -- Democratic women from Florida. At this point, do you wish that he would just talk about the majority of what Castro did and what that regime meant for so many Cubans?

YULIN CRUZ: At this point, it's important to know that what Bernie Sanders is doing, first of all, he has condemned dictatorships and totalitarianism around the world. He -- you don't have to focus it into one particular person.

SCIUTTO: Well, he did -- he did.

YULIN CRUZ: But Obama --

HARLOW: Right, right. He did.

YULIN CRUZ: -- and Obama -- but Obama, you can go into CNN clips and you can see Obama praising some of the same things that now Bernie Sanders is being criticized, for saying the exact same words that Obama said when he opened relationships with Cuba.

What I have said is that each country has to take care -- look, Puerto Rico is a colony of the United States and one of the reasons that I support Bernie Sanders is because he has committed to a process of self-determination, where all the voices have heard.

[10:45:09]

And one of the things that are important about Bernie Sanders is that he keeps on going, and that he knows exactly what this decision on 2020 is all about. It's about whether -- HARLOW: Yes. I get -- look --

YULIN CRUZ: -- people want to continue having the same thing and having the rich get richer at the expense of the poor getting poorer.

HARLOW: We are out of time. We'll have you back. I guess my point was, should he be talking a little bit more about, you know, the rivals being executed by Castro or people being sent into forced labor camps, and a little bit less about the literacy programs there. But it's a lot to discuss, and we have -- we'll have you back when we have more time. Mayor --

YULIN CRUZ: I think we should -- I -- yes, sure. And I think we also should be concentrated on the people that are starving today in the United States of America.

HARLOW: Yes, we should. Mayor Cruz, thank you.

SCIUTTO: Coming up --

YULIN CRUZ: Thank you (ph).

SCIUTTO: -- a humanitarian crisis in Syria is now at Europe's doorstep, thousands of refugees trapped at Turkey's border with Greece. They're being blocked there. The dilemma they're facing now, next.

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[10:50:30]

HARLOW: Members of the Taliban are divided over whether to stick to the peace agreement just signed over the weekend with the United States. This is according to a source close to the Taliban. And some of the members say the language in the agreement is not, quote, "peace language." Remember, this deal was touted as possibly being the first step to finally ending the war in Afghanistan.

SCIUTTO: Yes, that would make the deal, it's just hours old before it runs into major obstacles. There's also a major confusion over this issue, and that is a prisoner swap. The U.S. says it is working to release thousands of Taliban prisoners ahead of talks in just over a week. There's no word on the exact number. The Taliban, however, says that all 5,000 prisoners must be freed.

We should note, the Afghan government, these people were put in prison there because they carried out attacks that killed tens of thousands of Afghans, they're opposed to it. We're going to stay on top of this story.

The Greek prime minister says that he will go to his country's border with Turkey tomorrow. This comes as thousands of refugees from Syria and Iraq huddle there, fleeing both war and policy -- poverty, rather. A lot of them are children.

HARLOW: Yes. Wait until you see this remarkable reporting. They are desperate to cross into Europe, looking for a better life, a second chance. Greece has hardened its stance on asylum-seekers, turning many of them away. Our Arwa Damon reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ARWA DAMON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): They just spent a night cold and wet, out in the open. And for what? A sliver of hope, sparked by Turkey saying it would no longer stop refugees crossing to Europe, and facilitating their transport here, to the border with Greece.

Abdullah (ph) is the sole survivor of a bombing that killed the rest of his family in Syria.

DAMON: They shout it was open, they thought the whole border was open.

DAMON (voice-over): It's not. Greece is not letting anyone through.

DAMON: But it's quite chaotic, it's quite intense. People are just trying to bust through, towards what they think is going to be a better life.

DAMON (voice-over): Europe doesn't want them, never really has, striking a financial aid deal with Turkey, back in 2016, that it never fully paid up on, to stem the refugee flood.

Turkey, hosting upwards of 3.5 million refugees, mostly from Syria, has long threatened to open the gates if left to shoulder the refugee burden alone. And now, Turkey is even more angered by the West's refusal to support it in Idlib with anything more than rhetoric.

Many here are aware they are being used as leverage. The tear gas wafts over, and mixes with smoke from multiple fires as those here try to stay warm.

Samida's (ph) husband was killed in Iraq by ISIS. She came to Turkey with her children, elderly mother and disabled brother. Where are we supposed to go, then? She wonders.

This Syrian mother doesn't want to talk. When we ask how she's doing, she just strokes her child's face. It's all horribly reminiscent of the desperation we witnessed years ago, as throngs crossed through Europe.

At night, we meet some of those who tried to cross the river to Greece but failed. Greek authorities deny this, but Khalid (ph) from Idlib says the Greeks forced him back, tore up his ID and took his phone.

DAMON: He hasn't spoken to his parents in almost four weeks. And they're in Idlib, they're in the camps. He's worried about them and now he has no way of getting in touch with them.

DAMON (voice-over): This family from Afghanistan says the same thing happened to them. But even worse, they were separated from their men.

DAMON: Her father -- your brother -- her husband are over there. And you're stuck here.

DAMON (voice-over): They are scared, vulnerable, alone, burning discarded clothing, not knowing where to go or how to find those they love. What are they supposed to do when their misery and desperation has become little more than a political weapon?

Arwa Damon, CNN, on the Turkey-Greece border.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARLOW: Wow. What a piece.

SCIUTTO: Those folks need help, yes.

HARLOW: Absolutely.

Some sad news to report. Jack Welch, the former CEO, chairman of General Electric, has died. He was named CEO in 1981, and led that company for 20 years.

[10:55:01]

During that time, G.E. stock had an incredible run for the most part, rising nearly 3,000 percent. He earned the nickname Neutron Jack for his blunt management style and cost-cutting efforts there.

SCIUTTO: In a statement, current G.E. chief executive Larry Culp said, quote, "Jack was larger than life and the heart of G.E. for half a century. He reshaped the face of our company and the business world." Welch died at the age of 84.

HARLOW: I read so many of his books over the years.

All right. Well, the president is speaking right now in the Oval Office about coronavirus. As soon as we get those remarks, you will see them right here so stay tuned for that.

Thanks for being with us. We'll see you back here tomorrow. I'm Poppy Harlow.

SCIUTTO: And I'm Jim Sciutto. "AT THIS HOUR" with Kate Bolduan starts after a short break.

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