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Erin Burnett Outfront

CDC: Coronavirus Cases Confirmed on New Cruise Ship; Rep. Lou Correa (D-CA) Discusses About Mike Pence's Comments on The Briefing; New Delegate Numbers Just in to CNN After Super Tuesday; Warren Weigh Future of Campaign After Failing to Win Any Super Tuesday State, Finishing 3rd in Home State. Aired 7-8p ET

Aired March 04, 2020 - 19:00   ET

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

WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: ... under a state of emergency right now after a severe storms and at least one tornado ripped through the national area, killing at least 24 people and injuring dozens more. We'll continue to follow this story.

That's it for me. Thanks very much for watching. Erin Burnett OUTFRONT starts right now.

ERIN BURNETT, CNN HOST: OUTFRONT next, Trump under fire for his handling of the coronavirus epidemic, blames Obama. And now an aide to a Republican senator says Trump's claim is false. This as the death toll in the United States rises.

Plus, the CDC is investigating yet another cruise ship with coronavirus. We will hear tonight from an American who was quarantined for 28 days. How her vacation on a cruise ship became the center of the global crisis.

And more Super Tuesday delegates have just been awarded this moment. Where do things stand now? Who's ahead, Joe Biden, Bernie Sanders?

Let's go OUTFRONT.

And good evening. I'm Erin Burnett. OUTFRONT tonight, the breaking news, the coronavirus hits another cruise ship. The CDC now working with officials in California after discovering another cruise ship with confirmed cases of the virus. That ship called the Grand Princess, now getting ready to dock in San Francisco. Coronavirus cases were traced back to the ship's previous voyage.

All right. Now, this comes as the number of confirmed coronavirus cases in the United States stands at 157. It has been rising through the day. It's up 54 percent in the past two days, an increase in part due to more testing. And we are seeing growing numbers around the world.

In France, the number of case spiked from 73 to 285 in one day. Now, officials in California are also tonight confirming another death, which brings the death toll in the United States to 11. It is serious and yet President Trump continues to have people question his credibility when it comes to his response. Here's something he said today. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The Obama administration made a decision on testing that turned out to be very detrimental to what we're doing and we undo that decision few days ago, so that the testing can take place in a much more accurate and rapid fashion.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: The problem with all of that is it's not true from everything we understand. An aide to Republican Senator Lamar Alexander tells CNN that the Obama administration never made a change to rules regarding testing.

Now, at times like these, it is imperative that the President be explicit, specific and accurate. One could use the word honest.

Kaitlan Collins is OUTFRONT live outside the White House. So Kaitlan, now the President made that claim which isn't true and the White House is not even explaining what the President meant or why he said this tonight?

KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: No. We reach out to them multiple times as we were looking into this trying to figure out what rule it is, what decision it was that the President was talking about. When we finally went back to them and said there was no Obama era decision about this, they have not given us any kind of a statement yet about why it is that the President made this claim and then, of course, he later relied on the Vice President and the CDC Commissioner to try to really back him up on what exactly he was saying when reporters asked him for clarification.

But yes, we are being told tonight that there was no change like this made. Now, during the Obama administration, they did propose a rule that would essentially give the Food and Drug Administration more oversight over this diagnostic testing that's happening at labs. But, Erin, we are told by a Republican senator's office and a lab association that that rule was never finalized. It never happened.

And therefore, what the President said today saying he undid this Obama decision just simply is not true. So this did not happen. This is not the reason for these hampered efforts of this testing that you've seen nationwide with local officials raising concerns about their ability to test people. It's really become a focal point in the administration's response to coronavirus.

And Erin, it really comes under increasing scrutiny tonight because this comes at a time when the Trump administration and this White House is really trying to put their best foot forward here trying to say, hey, yes, we are adequately prepared to handle this. Because they've been facing some criticism from critics and Democrats alike over their handling of it so far.

And it just comes at a time when now the President is putting false information out there trying to say it's the Obama administration for the reason why they have been hampered in those efforts when that just simply is not the case.

BURNETT: All right. Kaitlan, thank you very much.

And I want to go OUTFRONT now to Democratic Congressman Lou Correa. He sits on the House Homeland Security Committee and he called for his committee's coronavirus hearing today, also attended a coronavirus briefing from Vice President Mike Pence today.

So, Congressman, what did Vice President Pence say in your briefing today?

REP. LOU CORREA (D-CA): Well, let me start at the beginning, which is this issue should have never been politicized. It should be dealt with by the health officials, by scientists and not be made a political issue. Stop the blame game. Get down to fixing the problem.

This issue of coronavirus started in China in December. What month are we on? We're on early March and now we're finally beginning to say, this is an issue.

[19:05:05]

Don't blame Obama. Don't say it's a Democratic hoax. Address it and call it for what it is. This is the new norm in the United States. A little disease that started in China a few months back is now at our doorstep. And it'll continue to happen, so first step and I'm glad Vice President Pence was there to say I'm taking control surrounded by scientists, healthcare officials, that's what you're supposed to do.

Vice President control the bureaucracy in this country and number two, stick to the sciences, and do not cut funding.

BURNETT: And when he briefed you today, you're colleague, David Cicilline, he says that Pence recognized that Cicilline described it as 'mistakes made early in the process with flawed testing as an example'. Did you feel Vice President Pence acknowledged there were mistakes and did you feel that he is truly in control and doing the right thing now?

CORREA: I think we're going in the right direction. I think by him saying I'm in control surrounded by scientists, not yes people, not political people, not spin people, but scientists is the right move. We're investing $8 billion when just a few weeks ago we are cutting Ebola virus research to shift to corona, that is not the way to do it.

Long-term, we owe it to the public, to our people, to United States, to make sure that we are ready to address these issues, long-term, short-term and be ready to be honest with the public.

BURNETT: So about President Trump today talked about how his administration has reacted. Obviously, he referenced something that was not true about President Obama in testing but he also said this, let me play it for you, sir.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) TRUMP: We close the border as you know very, very early to the

troubled areas and that saves a lot of lives. A lot of countries are having big problem, bigger than what we have, frankly. But we close those borders very early against the advice of a lot of professionals and we turned out to be right, took a lot of heat for that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: He didn't exactly close the borders, Congressman, but he did restrict travel early on by people who have visited China, foreign national specifically, was he right to do that?

CORREA: I think we need to coordinate with China and other countries around the world because closing a border, stopping a flight is not going to be the answer. Coronavirus has a one to 15-day incubation period.

BURNETT: Yes.

CORREA: And most people, 80 percent of people that are infected don't even know they're infected. So how are you going to stop the spread? The issue is, are you prepared as a nation, as a world to address these issues as they come up on you and you have the equipment, the scientists, the researchers ready to go at a moment's notice.

Again, December when we knew what's happening in China, it's March. Three months have gone by that we know of. Not a good response.

BURNETT: So United Airlines says it's cutting flights in the United States by 10 percent, overseas flights by 20 percent. That's all the way through April and they're saying it's because of coronavirus. There's a hiring freeze at that company as well.

What is the bigger risk right now, Congressman, the coronavirus itself or fear about the coronavirus?

CORREA: I think it's both because we don't have enough information on the coronavirus. Again, 80 percent of individuals that are infected don't even know it. Flu-like symptoms.

And number two, you can't create a panic, address this intelligently, get the healthcare experts out there. We are going to try to contain this issue. Try to contain the virus, because we know 20 percent of those cases primarily the elder, this could be a serious problem, it could be mean death.

So we just want to make sure that we're dealing with the facts. That is what's important. To me what the Vice President did today was start to address the facts. This is not a hoax. This is not a move forward by Democrats. It's actually an issue and it's going to happen over and over again. We need to be ready.

BURNETT: All right. Congressman Correa, I appreciate your time. Thank you very much, sir.

And next, Joe Biden building on his momentum as more delegates from Super Tuesday have just been awarded here at the top of the hour.

Plus, Elizabeth Warren, where does she go from here? If she drops out, will she endorse and whom?

And as the number of coronavirus cases jump in the U.S., how close are we to a vaccine? We're going to go inside the lab tonight show you what they're doing.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:13:26]

BURNETT: Breaking news, new delegate numbers just in to CNN for Super Tuesday. And Joe Biden is expanding his lead over Bernie Sanders after winning 10 out of 14 states including Texas and three states that Sanders one in 2016.

I want to go straight to our political director David Chalian at the wall. So David, where do we stand right now with the delegate count now that we've got these latest numbers in.

DAVID CHALIAN, CNN POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Yes. We just updated the numbers, here they are, 509 delegates for Joe Biden, 449 delegates for Bernie Sanders. That is a 60-delegate lead for Biden. Actually, Erin, his campaign thinks he's going to end up the night about 50 delegates ahead, so that lead for Joe Biden may actually shrink when all the vote gets counted in California and elsewhere.

BURNETT: All right. And, obviously, I know there's still votes out there. Now, when you look ahead, though, David, how realistic is it at this point when you look at Super Tuesday, where about a third of the delegates are awarded. At this point when you look at what's left, how realistic is it that no one heads to the convention with a majority, the magic number of delegates required to not have a brokered convention.

CHALIAN: Right. So you see here, that magic number is 1,991 and I want to show you this chart here. This on the left hand side here, 48.6 percent of the delegates allocated is what Joe Biden has won, 142.8 percent is what Bernie Sanders has won.

This column over here, Erin, shows you what they need of the remaining delegates. Joe Biden needs 50.6 percent of the remaining delegates, Bernie Sanders 52.6.

[19:15:00]

So what I'm saying is you see, actually their win rate right now is below where both of them need to be performing in order to get to 1,991. If it stays throughout the process, then your notion of a contested convention becomes a bigger reality.

But I just want to show you how early we are in this process, OK, about 37 percent of the delegates have been at stake so far. The rest of March, you see here, another 27.7 percent of the available delegates are up for grabs. And then in April through June, you get the final 35 percent of delegates.

So we're still early in this process before we can say whether or not somebody can get to that magic number of 1,991 before the convention, Erin.

BURNETT: All right. Thank you very much, David Chalian. So I want to go now to David Sirota. He is Senior Communications Advisor and Speech Writer for Bernie Sanders' campaign. And David, it's good to have you with me.

So you just heard the delegate math. You obviously know this better than anyone, but what path do you see to an outright majority, 1,991 delegates for Senator Sanders?

DAVID SIROTA, SENIOR COMMUNICATIONS ADVISOR & SPEECHWRITER, SANDERS CAMPAIGN: Well, look, I think Senator Sanders is - you've heard him had a press conference today talking about how the race is really coming down to a choice between Bernie Sanders and Joe Biden and their records. And as you see, Senator Sanders go to the upper Midwest, which we're moving into states like Michigan. You're going to hear a lot more about the differences between Joe Biden's record on, for instance, trade and trade deals that have wiped out the industrial base of the upper Midwest and Bernie Sanders who has fought those trade deals.

You're going to hear a lot more about Bernie Sanders working to protect and expand social security and Joe Biden for 30 years, trying to work with the Republicans to cut social security. So the bottom line is what I'm saying is that voters are going to hear a lot more now that it is coming down the stretch.

They're going to hear a lot more about the policy differences between Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders and what the choice between these two candidates actually means in real world terms.

BURNETT: All right. So you had today Michael Bloomberg endorsing Biden and dropping out. Senator Klobuchar did that, Pete Buttigieg did that. How much do all of these Biden endorsements hurt Sanders? Because all of them had support, all of them had delegates, maybe not a lot, but at this point we're at a point where everything counts. How much does that hurt?

SIROTA: Well, it shows that the establishment is coalescing around Joe Biden. And let's be clear, it's not just those candidates, you've seen some stories today about Wall Street donors starting to open their checkbooks for Joe Biden, that big money is flowing to Joe Biden and that's on top of the fact that he's being bankrolled by Super PAC.

So what it really says is it makes the choice very, very clear. On one side, you have Bernie Sanders, a grassroots funded candidate, who is running a grassroots campaign, a multi racial working class campaign and on the other side, you have Joe Biden, who has told his big donors that 'nothing will fundamentally change if he's elected'.

Joe Biden picking up big support from places like Wall Street and from the establishment in Washington and that just makes the choice very, very clear.

BURNETT: All right. So on that point of establishment, because you've now mentioned it twice in this answer and obviously Senator Sanders said it today. His words were the establishment is 'working frantically to try to defeat us'.

Here though is what Congressman Cedric Richmond, the former head of the Congressional Black Caucus and Biden's co-chair for his campaign said about this point that you and the Senator making about the establishment working to take Sanders down. Here is Congressman Richmond.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. CEDRIC RICHMOND (D-LA): As he rails against the establishment, I just did not know that African-Americans in the South were considered part of the establishment.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: What do you say to that? Joe Biden did overwhelmingly strongly with that particular group? Do you consider African-Americans in the South part of the establishment?

SIROTA: Well, let's be clear, I mean Bernie Sanders did very well among younger African-American voters. And secondly, when we talk about the establishment, what we're talking about are the billionaires who are bankrolling Joe Biden's campaign. We're talking about those Wall Street executives.

BURNETT: What about the people who are voting for Joe Biden? I mean, billionaires, there's only going to be, what, like 60 votes in the country.

SIROTA: Well, but billionaires fund campaigns, billionaires fund lots and lots of ads. You've got corporation, lobbyists and big donors of funding Super PACs. So what we're talking about when we talk about the establishment, we're talking about the people who are financing the campaigns, allowing them to put on huge amounts of ads, allowing them frankly to distort Bernie Sanders' record. So that's what we're talking about.

BURNETT: So are you saying that people are falling prey to that, that they're not able to figure out the truth, that they're falling prey to these ads. They're not voting the way they would really vote, I mean, what are you trying to say about the actual voters themselves who vote for Biden?

SIROTA: Look, what I'm saying is money has power in elections. Clearly money has power in elections.

BURNETT: Yes.

[19:19:59]

SIROTA: When you have Super PACs funding and bankrolling Joe Biden, when you have a healthcare Super PAC, a healthcare industry Super PAC that's basically trying to distort Bernie Sanders' position, for instance, on Medicare for All, as we saw in South Carolina, hundreds of thousands of dollars of ads by the health insurance companies and the drug companies distorting Bernie Sanders' position fear mongering about what Medicare for All really is.

I mean, that has an impact on the discourse and the debate in elections, which can have an impact on the outcome of elections.

BURNETT: So Sanders said, when I asked about some new reporting that just came out from The Washington Post here, Sanders said he spoke with Warren earlier today. What can you tell us about those discussions between your team, Senator Sanders' team and Senator Warren's team on her future? Is she thinking of endorsing Senator Sanders, David?

SIROTA: I don't want to comment on the discussions going on between Senator Sanders and Senator Warren. What I can say is that Senator Sanders and Senator Warren have worked very closely together on many legislative initiatives. I think they have respected each other's records. They have worked together in a lot of ways.

And look, Senator Warren has run a good campaign. She is apparently thinking about what she's got to do and we respect that process.

BURNETT: One final question. Last night Sanders did lose three states that he won in 2016. There was a big drop in support, as you know, about 30 points in each. He said today, "Have we been as successful as I would hope in bringing young people in? And the answer is no, we have not done as well in bringing young people into the process. It is not easy."

David, what specifically are you doing to change that?

SIROTA: Well, look, it is true that the turnout in the Democratic primary generally there has been - it has been somewhat in some cases lower turnout than we expected. And that is a challenge for the entire Democratic Party that we need a robust turnout, a robust engagement in the Democratic Party in this primary and then ultimately with Donald Trump.

We have an enormous grassroots volunteer operation that is working day in and day out to bring voters out, bring new voters into the process. It is not going to happen. The success of that is not going to happen overnight. It is an ongoing process and ultimately, though, that with Bernie Sanders as the Democratic nominee, as we build that process, that will make the party stronger up and down the ballot. It will make him a stronger nominee. It will make us a stronger party against Donald Trump and defeating Donald Trump is the ultimate goal here.

BURNETT: All right. David Sirota, thank you very much. I appreciate your time.

SIROTA: Thank you. Thanks for having me.

BURNETT: And next, Elizabeth Warren meeting with staff as the pressure builds for her to drop out. So what is she thinking?

Plus, for 28 days she was quarantine both on the coronavirus-infested Diamond Princess cruise ship and then at a U.S. Air Force Base. Tonight she is home and she's going to tell you what she went through and what she saw.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:26:54]

BURNETT: New tonight, Elizabeth Warren assessing her options after a disappointing Super Tuesday where she failed to win any state full. She did, of course, get some delegates. She finished third in her home state of Massachusetts. Is her campaign about to come to an end and could there be an endorsement.

MJ Lee is OUTFRONT. And MJ, of course, Warren is under incredible pressure to say something about her future in this campaign. She has not yet done that but obviously a lot of pressure. What is she thinking?

MJ LEE, CNN NATIONAL POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Erin. We do know for sure that Elizabeth Warren has some big decisions to make. We understand that she has been in the Boston area since her disappointing performance on Super Tuesday, yesterday, but her campaign has been very quiet other than just telling reporters this morning that she is making an assessment about what to do about the future and what path she wants to go down by.

We don't know exactly what she is thinking. They really have not said much all day. What we do have is an email that her campaign manager, Roger Lau, sent to staffers earlier today in which he acknowledged in addition to thanking them for their work that yesterday was certainly a disappointment. And he said that they just did not clear the bars that they hoped to clear going into Super Tuesday.

And so Elizabeth Warren is now trying to figure out what the right way to continue her fight is, that is according to Roger Lau. Of course, the big, big, big question right now is whether Elizabeth Warren is one; going to drop out of this race and two; whether she's going to make an endorsement.

Of course, over the last 72 hours or so, we saw a number of candidates get out of this race and throw their support behind Joe Biden, including just today, Michael Bloomberg. The campaign, again, has not indicated either way, whether they are thinking about making a potential endorsement. But, of course, there's no question, Erin, that heading into tomorrow, Elizabeth Warren faces a very pivotal moment for her campaign and also her political career, Erin.

BURNETT: All right. Thank you very much MJ.

And I want to go now to a former Special Adviser to President Obama, Van Jones and CNN Chief Political Analyst, Gloria Borger.

So Van, I mean, obviously, she has to have her own soul searching moments which no doubt she is having. But are we at this point at this time where she is going to get out?

VAN JONES, FORMER SPECIAL ADVISER TO PRESIDENT OBAMA: I hate to say it, if you can't help yourself, there's really no path for her now to get this nomination. If you come third in your own home state, you're not going to come in first in somebody else's home state. If you can't help yourself, you're probably hurting somebody else and so it's probably time for her now to take a bow.

BURNETT: So Gloria, as recently as Monday though, Warren insisted she was going to be in this race until the very end. Here she is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. ELIZABETH WARREN (D-MA), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The way I see it is I'm out there running to get enough delegates to be able to win the convention.

My campaign is built for the long haul.

I've done a lot of pinky promises out there, so I got to stay in this. I've told little girls, "We persist."

(END VIDEO CLIP) \ BURNETT: How much longer do you actually see her staying in, Gloria?

GLORIA BORGER, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, not much longer. I think Van is right. She doesn't have a path to the convention at which she could win. I think her big decision now is does she just got out or does she endorse somebody and that is, of course, very difficult for her.

[19:30:06]

But I think they're probably having long, hard conversations inside the campaign about what's best for Elizabeth Warren and what's best for the things she believes in. And those might not be the same thing. I mean, she might -- if she endorses Joe Biden, perhaps she could wind up on the ticket. But what does that do to the progressives who believe in Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders?

ERIN BURNETT, CNN HOST: Right. I mean, that's the thing. When you look at the Venn diagram, we see who she over, yes, Venn Van, who she overlaps the most.

OK. But Warren has been critical of Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders in different ways. Joe Biden specifically, here she is on Biden.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. ELIZABETH WARREN (D-MA), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: No matter how many Washington insiders tell you to support him, nominating fellow Washington insider will not meet this moment.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: OK. That's pretty direct.

And when it comes to Bernie Sanders, though, remember the whole imbroglio about the conversation they had about she said he told her a woman could never win the presidency. She says he said, he says he didn't. And then there was this moment.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WARREN: I think you called me a liar on national TV.

SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (I-VT), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: What?

WARREN: I think you called me a liar on national TV.

SANDERS: Let's not do it right now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: OK. Those are the two choices for endorsement.

VAN JONES, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yes. Well, that was not a warm and fuzzy moment. But I tell you what, if anything about Elizabeth Warren stands out, she's progressive. She's idealistic. She's very, very pragmatic.

She is going to make a disciplined smart choice. Does she endorse Bernie on his way down, it looks like? Does she endorse Biden on his way up? How does she use her leverage to get the most into the party platform and do the most for her cause? Those are the kinds of things she's going to be thinking about. She's not worried about the side bar moments and stuff like that.

I think you're going to see her make a choice that's going to be the right thing for the cause more than the thing that's the right thing for her.

BURNETT: So, Gloria, you raised, you know, the word VP. Look, when you look at policy at the point I was making, right? She's now all-in for Medicare-for-All, Biden not for that.

BORGER: Yes.

BURNETT: She supports a tax on the wealthy. Biden has opposed that. If Biden is the nominee, if Warren goes all out for him, right, she tries to help him that group of progressive Bernie voters, which she has got to get on board and it's hard to envision how he will do that, right, but if he wants to beat Trump. What could she get in return? How high of a slot?

BORGER: Well, look, obviously people are talking about her as a potential vice presidential nominee. And in that role, you have an awful lot of influence.

She might be able to say to her supporters, look, here's what I demanded from Joe Biden and here's where he's willing to shift a little bit with me. Maybe he's not going to do Medicare-for-All because he doesn't like it. But there are certain things about my plan that he does like.

And so, I think she can -- you know, there are lots of ways to peel the onion here. I think if she goes with Joe Biden, she's going to try and extract something for it and she's going to try and figure out ways that she can support Joe Biden.

If she goes for Bernie Sanders, it's a different kind of decision. There's not a lot of love lost between them. But they do share a lot of ideals. And Sanders said today that he had spoken with her, that she was thinking about this, had not made a decision yet. So, we don't know which way she's going to go.

And, by the way, she could also decide not to do anything right now.

BURNETT: Right, right, to sit it out.

BORGER: Yes.

BURNETT: So, Van, we're talking about endorsements and it's been pretty powerful. It's been an unprecedented moment. I mean, Bloomberg, you can only imagine how he feels, the money may mean nothing to him, but just to have to get out --

(CROSSTALK)

JONES: Tried.

BURNETT: To have tried and failed. And they all get in line behind Joe Biden, and yet Obama hasn't.

JONES: Uh-huh.

Well, look, at least from a public posture point of view, you don't want the former president to jump in and put his hand on the scales. Why? There will be a convention and somebody's got to walk out there and try to get everybody back together.

It's been obvious that President Obama, beloved by everybody, was putting his hand on the thumb against your person, he can't do that.

So, at least in a public posture, he's got to stand back, let this thing go forward, so he can be the one to bring everybody back together.

BURNETT: And do you believe he believes in Joe Biden? Because some people want to read into this, well, why not? You know, Chris Coons was asked today, why hasn't he? He said, I don't know, kind of, I wish he has, where is the guy?

JONES: No, no, even for Hillary Clinton against Bernie which was much easier, his own secretary of state, against one person, he stayed out of it until it was obvious that Hillary was going to win.

So, in a crowded field as it's been for him to come out, I think this is going to go forth. This is a defining moment for Elizabeth Warren.

[19:35:02]

I don't know what she's going to do. Nobody knows what she's going to do. She can take her time, but if she goes with Biden, it says one thing about who she is. If she goes with Bernie, it's something totally different. She can't dock it forever.

BURNETT: No.

JONES: And we're now going to figure out who Elizabeth Warren truly is.

BURNETT: Gloria?

BORGER: You know, I was just going to say one thing about Obama. He hasn't endorsed, and I agree with Van, he shouldn't do it now because of a certain point, he is going to have to bring the party together. But he's been a presence in this campaign.

How many times does Joe Biden talk about his good friend Barack? And he was in Bloomberg ads. And then today, he appeared in a Bernie Sanders ad.

JONES: Bernie ad.

BORGER: So, here's Bernie Sanders railing against the establishment, and who does he decide to put in an ad praising him? The leader of the Democratic establishment, the former president of the United States.

JONES: All hail. All hail.

BURNETT: That's the way politics is.

BORGER: There you go.

JONES: All hail.

BURNETT: Just says it all.

All right. Thank you both very much.

BORGER: Sure.

BURNETT: And next, we first brought you the story of an American author, a writer, trapped on the cruise ship that had a coronavirus outbreak, the Diamond Princess. She is now home. She was quarantined there then quarantined on a U.S. base. We're going to talk to her next, tell us exactly what happened.

And we're going to take you behind the scenes to see how scientists are in a race one lab to create a vaccine to fight the coronavirus, what's actually happening right now.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:40:34] BURNETT: Breaking news, coronavirus cases have been confirmed on another cruise ship, the Grand Princess will dock in San Francisco after two patients from one of the ship's prior voyages tested positive for coronavirus. One of those two has since died.

The ship's arrival has been delayed so officials can conduct tests on a number of passengers and crew member who have developed coronavirus symptoms.

This development comes after a majority of the Diamond Princess evacuees -- as you know, this was the largest cluster of coronavirus cases outside mainland China. They were under quarantine at Lackland Air Force Base and they've now been released.

OUTFRONT now, Gay Courter. She was on this program when she was on that ship. She was quarantined on the Diamond Princess and at Lackland Air Force Base for a total of 28 days.

It's wonderful to see your face, Gay, because all those times you joined me on the phone, you are now home. Diamond Princess quarantined on an American air base, 15 days on the second, 28 in all.

What was it liked to be confined for all this time?

GAY COURTER, AMERICAN WHO HAS QUARANTINED ON DIAMOND PRINCESS: You know, at first it was really horrible, Erin. And then people are strange. You adapt to the new situation. And so we adapted. It was a little harder for some reason at Lackland Air Force Base. It was a much stricter quarantine. We really were not supposed to go out of our rooms at all, but they were tolerated if we went for very short walks and didn't talk to anybody else, didn't get close to anybody else and of course wore masks.

But it was good it was a strict quarantine. I mean, it was terrible for us personally. We hated it. But we knew we were doing the right thing for ourselves, first of all, for safety. There were doctors watching us every minute. And we were tested twice a day.

And we were also doing the right thing for our community, our grandchildren, the country. We wanted everybody to be safe.

And I would say now after 28 days testing in Japan, swabs here as well and being watched as acutely as we were, we're probably the most virus-free people in the country right now.

BURNETT: So, you know, let me ask you about that. You talk about the Lackland Air Force Base and how strict it was. And you're right, I know it must have been uncomfortable, but that's all we want to hear, you know?

We want to hear that it's strict and that we can be sure of what comes out of it. Two questions on that, pictures, though, pictures that you and your husband, Gay, took inside the plane. This is the plane you took from Japan to Texas.

What happened on that flight? When you talk about different protocols? COURTER: Well, first of all, the people who were monitoring this and

taking care of us on the flight were real professionals, total everything. There were two types. One, the people in the white uniforms. And there were what I call the ghostbuster people with the green tops with the hoses like ghost busters and the air supply on the back. And they were the one who is took our temperatures and got closer to us.

It was a little weird waking up in the middle of the night and seeing this freakish thing looming over you. But that was very good. We were -- you know, we had not been around other people for two weeks. We had just been alone in our cabins.

So, now we're sitting on buses and also on chairs quite close to other people although they did have enough chairs to have spacing. And then we did learn there were people put in an isolation unit on the plane who had turned positive. In fact, I was standing next to a lady when they came up to her and said she was positive.

Now, we're wearing masks. But I have to say that I was very unhappy knowing I was right next to somebody who was positive because two weeks, we've been in isolation.

So, I understand why they added 14 more days to our quarantine because we had somewhat broken our quarantine, although we were all protected with masks and things.

BURNETT: Right, right. But obviously that's scary.

Before we go, one other question, Gay. There was a county judge in Texas, as you know on Lackland Air Force Base, there was a woman who tested positive and then negative and then released into the community. She went into a mall and a food court.

And it turns out she's positive.

[19:45:01]

So, obviously, there was fear in that community. He had ordered an emergency order that anyone coming out of Lackland Air Force Base -- which, obviously, would have been included you -- would have been prohibited from coming into the county.

Do you -- are you concerned that anyone was let out who was still positive when you get to the end of the Lackland Air Force Base quarantine which you describe as a strict?

COURTER: Well, first of all, they were in a different cohort. They were with the Wuhan, China people. I can't explain how that was run. They were not near us at all.

And I don't understand what happened with her testing. I believe she had actually had the virus. But again, that's just reading the same news you have.

Nobody in our group that that happened to -- if you tested positive or you had symptoms like an elevated temperature in the morning, you were taken away from an ambulance. You were taken to a very special facility.

BURNETT: Yes.

COURTER: You were checked, got the tests, and you had to have two negative tests to get out of there. I don't believe anybody left our quarantine with any positives.

BURNETT: All right. Well, Gay, it is good to talk to you. Glad you're out. Glad you're safe. And as I said, it's nice to see your face this time. Thank you.

COURTER: Thank you so much.

BURNETT: And next, President Trump urging drug makers to come with a corona vaccine now. So, how are they doing? We're going to go inside an actual lab tonight to show you what they're doing.

Plus, don't mess with Jill Biden.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:50:36]

BURNETT: Tonight, new cases of the coronavirus announced in these 32 countries in just the past 24 hours. As that number continues to rise, the question is, when does a vaccine actually come that can save lives?

Fred Pleitgen is OUTFRONT with an inside look in a lab tonight.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FRED PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): As the novel coronavirus continues to spread around the globe and the death toll mounts, these scientists in Germany, like countless others around the world, are in a race against time. Trying to develop a vaccine as fast as possible, for an illness the scientific world has a lot to learn about.

FRANZ-WERNER HAAS, COO, CUREVAC: Well, the challenge, first of all, is that the virus is unknown. So you don't know which kind of protection you need in order to stimulate the immune system, in order to be protected.

PLEITGEN: German American company CureVac, whose CEO has been to the White House to meet President Trump, makes vaccines by essentially embedding the virus' code into human cells, to help the body protect itself.

HAAS: We are making the body to produce your own vaccine or your own drug.

PLEITGEN: Each of these little tubes contains a different construct of the virus' code. Right now, the scientists at the main lab in Germany are trying to find out which one is the safest and most effective to be turned into a vaccine. While they don't want to put a date on it yet, they believe they're getting closer.

HAAS: We are in preparation for a clinical trial. Out of the different constructs, we have to get the best ones into the clinics and we're in constant discussions with the regulatory authorities.

PLEITGEN: The pressure couldn't be higher with the number of novel coronavirus cases jumping everything day, and the global economy taking a beating for the coronavirus' effect, President Trump at a meeting with drug makers urged the industry to come up with a vaccine ASAP.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We're moving aggressively to accelerate the process of developing a vaccine. A lot of good things are happening and they're happening very fast. I said, do me a favor. Speed it up. Speed it up. And they will.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We need to be prepared.

PLEITGEN: While U.S. health officials acknowledge it will be at least a year before one will be certified, the company says it's working overtime to get it done soon.

HAAS: If you compare, normal vaccine development takes several years. We are fighting an outbreak right now, and therefore regulatory authorities are hands on and trying to do this within a year's time.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PLEITGEN: And, Erin, the folks at the lab do acknowledge that it's extremely ambitious to try to get a vaccine market ready within a year, especially since this virus is still so very new. And there's still fairly little that's actually known about long-term effects.

But one of the things that they are saying is that they've almost never seen this amount of international urgency and information- sharing on the part of government, regulatory bodies, and, of course, the industry, as well, to get a vaccine very quickly that's both safe and effective -- Erin.

BURNETT: All right. Thank you very much, Fred.

And next, Jeanne Moos on Jill Biden's epic pushback.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:57:52]

BURNETT: Tonight, who needs the Secret Service if you've got Jill Biden on your team?

Here's Jeanne.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) JEANNE MOOS, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Like a lioness protecting her cubs, Jill Biden got between her husband and an animal rights protester and seconds after that demonstrator was hustled away, another popped on stage. This time, Jill Biden was hands-on, pushing back.

No penalty for holding in this key block.

Read one tweet, if any NFL teams are scouting for a right guard, Jill Biden is available.

Though the takedown was performed by Biden's senior adviser, Symone Sanders, who wrapped her arms around the demonstrator. That's Symone in the striped jacket, dragging the woman off the stage, and later tweeting, I broke a nail.

Evidently, a long nail a small price to pay.

One website added a sports sound track.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Watch out! Watch out! Watch out! Watch out! Oh!

MOOS: Jill Biden was proposed for secretary of defense. Just last month, she pushed back on a male heckler who headed for her husband as the crowd chanted to drown out the protests.

DR. JILL BIDEN, JOE BIDEN'S WIFE: You've got to protect those you love, right?

MOOS: Back when Kamala Harris was still in the race --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hey, hey, hey, hey!

MOOS: A MoveOn.org moderator stood up to a protester.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you so much, sir, for your big idea.

MOOS: Kamala's husband rushed on stage to help. His protective juices flowing captured in this photo. Now, it's Joe Biden's spouse being celebrated as Wonder Woman and senior aide Symone Sanders --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She reminded me of Kevin Costner in "The Bodyguard." I mean, she's like --

MOOS: Kevin Costner took a bullet for Whitney Houston while Joe playfully nibbled on Joe's fingers when he waved her hand too close for comfort. Better guard her body, Joe. She needs those fingers to protect you.

Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BURNETT: And thanks so much for joining us.

"AC360" with Anderson begins now.