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The Global Brief with Bianca Nobilo
Iran Activates 300,000 Health Workers To Stop Virus; Senator Elizabeth Warren Ends U.S. Presidential Campaign; UK High Court: Dubai Ruler Conducted Sustained Harassment Campaign Against Estranged Wife; London Mayoral Candidate on Coronavirus Preparations; Democratic Republic of Congo Discharges Last Ebola Patient. Aired 5-5:30p ET
Aired March 05, 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: Barbara Starr at the Pentagon, thank you so much. Our coverage on the CNN continues right now. Our thanks to - family for
participating in that story.
BIANCA NOBILO, CNN HOST: Tonight on "The Brief" from schools to sports to travel, the Coronavirus is impacting your everyday life including your
money.
Senator Elizabeth Warren drops out of the race for the Democratic Nomination for the U.S. President. Migrants, refugees face off with
authorities in Greece as they attempt to enter Europe.
Live from London, I'm Bianca Nobilo. Welcome to the show. Coronavirus is reaching further into Europe, Africa, the Middle East and the United
States, and the effects are visible everywhere. UNESCO says that almost 300 million children have missed school because of the closures. They say
that's a figure without precedent.
Fear is striking the heart of the Global Tourism Industry. Several governments are urging their citizens not to travel. People who do make it
to places like Italy are greeted by closed museums and quiet streets.
Around the world football, rugby and other sport events are cancelled or being played in empty stadiums. Investors are feeling the fear. The DOW
closed down nearly 1,000 points, almost wiping out yesterday's gains.
OPEC unveiled a plan to slash production of crude oil as it faces the biggest collapse in demand on record. Millions of people in Asia are
working from home and Amazon, Facebook and Google are asking employees in Washington to stay out of the office.
The Coronavirus outbreak is having a major impact on the airline industry. With fewer people traveling, it could cost airlines more than $100 billion.
Richard Quest joins me now. Hi Richard, could you help us understand how we got to that figure of $113 billion in losses? That's staggering.
RICHARD QUEST, CNN EDITOR AT-LARGE: It is. It comes about because besides the U.S. carriers the rest of the world is barely profitable when it comes
to airlines. A competition fierce, brutal competition amongst low-cost carriers in Europe and Asia, over-capacity in some markets has all led to a
dramatic drop in profitability.
Just a few years ago they were very profitable, but all these other factors have kicked in. Oil prices of course have moved back up again. Now this is
all pre-Coronavirus. The Coronavirus look Bianca, on the one hand you have got oil prices coming down which is a good thing for airlines, but on the
other hand demand has just disappeared.
Flights are going empty. They're cutting back routes, they're cutting back capacity and eventually it will lead to losses and failures.
NOBILO: Richard Quest for us in New York. Thank you very much. All 31 of Iran's provinces now have Coronavirus cases making the country's total over
3,500. More than 100 people have died including a Senior Politician and Former Adviser to Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif.
CNN's Sam Kiley reports on what Iranian morgues are facing. A word of warning, our next report contains images that many might find disturbing.
SAM KILEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The grim ranks of the unburied clutter the floor of an Iranian morgue. Some of the Coronavirus's
victims have to be treated with lime before burial. But those believed not to be infected can be interred unsullied that according to tradition here
in the holy city of Qom.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ALI RAMEZANI, DIRECTOR OF OPERATIONS, BEHESHT-E- MASOUMEH MORGUE: What we are dealing with is how to handle the bodies of Coronavirus victims versus
non-Coronavirus victims as the instructions for burial are different for each.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KILEY: The tests take time. Delaying burials and straining the city's facilities.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RAMEZANI: This is the reason for the pile-up.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KILEY: With around 3,000 known infections and over 90 deaths from the epidemic, Iranian authorities have begun screening for more infections in
Qom, the worst-hit city after the capital, Tehran.
This Mosque will be empty for Friday prayers for the second week in a row. The weekly services have been banned in cities across the country. 300,000
extra health care workers have been drafted in to deal with Iran's expanding epidemic.
Citizens are instructed on how to avoid infection, public transport hosed down with disinfectant. Under U.S. sanctions Iran's oil industry and
banking system have been crippled making even humanitarian goods hard to come by. There are fears that Iran may also be underestimating the scale of
the epidemic it faces. The Supreme Leader though keen to dispel such anxieties.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
AYATOLLAH ALI KHAMENEI, SUPREME LEADER ODF IRAN: This outbreak did not just happen in our country. You know and have heard that it is happening in many
countries today. The difference is many that countries have kept it hidden. Our officials have been informing the public since the first day with
confidence, honesty and transparency, but some countries are hiding the fact the disease is more severe and more widespread.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[17:05:00]
KILEY: Perhaps. But across the Middle East Iran is being seen as a springboard for infection into other countries and there are few if any
signs that the epidemic is being brought under control here. Sam Kiley, CNN, Abu Dhabi.
NOBILO: Another cruise is at the helm of a suspected Coronavirus cluster. The first person to die of the virus in California was a recent passenger
on the Grand Princess Cruise Ship and now 21 people on board are showing symptoms. CNN's Dan Simon was in San Francisco where the ship is waiting to
dock.
DAN SIMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Not a great way to end your two-week vacation sailing to the Hawaiian Islands. Right now this ship is basically parked
off the coast of San Francisco until medical officials can get on board and do some testing, see if people have the Coronavirus and understand what
they're dealing with.
It is going to remain offshore until they figure out if, in fact, Coronavirus is on the ship. We should point out that there was a previous
voyage where at least three people tested positive for the virus and 60 of those folks who were on the last cruise they are on this cruise, and
they're now confined to their rooms.
NOBILO: Just hours ago a coast guard helicopter dropped testing kits to the ship. The CDC has started testing around 100 people on board. The man
coordinating the U.S. response to the Coronavirus had a blunt admission just a short time ago. Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MIKE PENCE, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We don't have enough tests today to meet what we anticipate will be the demand going forward.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NOBILO: U.S. health officials say they should have enough tests for almost half a million people by the end of the week and they're working to
manufacture more. U.S. Senate voted overwhelmingly on Thursday to approve $8 billion of emergency funding to fight the outbreak. President Trump is
expected to sign the funding bill.
Meanwhile, the President made some confusing comments about Coronavirus. In a phone call with "Fox News" Sean Hannity on his broadcast to around a
million viewers, Mr. Trump seemed to say that people infected by the virus get better by going to work. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We have thousands or hundreds of thousands of people that get better just by, you know, sitting around
and even going to work, some of them go to work, but they get better.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NOBILO: The President later clarified his comments on Twitter, saying he never said people who are feeling sick should go to work.
There are a lot of questions about the virus we want to keep you informed. So CNN is hosting a Town Hall on facts and fears about the Coronavirus that
airs live Friday morning at 11:00 am in Hong Kong and will replay Friday at 10:00 am Central European time.
Now to the U.S. Presidential Race Elizabeth Warren has dropped out after disappointing results in Tuesday's big primaries in which she failed to win
even her home state of Massachusetts. The move essentially leaves the race as a one-on-one battle between Bernie Sanders and Joe Biden. When asked
about the role her gender played in the race, here is what Warren had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. ELIZABETH WARREN (D-MA): If you say, yes, there was sexism in this race, everyone says, whiner. And if you say, no, there was no sexism, about
a bazillion women think, what planet do you live on? I promise you this I will have a lot more to say on that subject later on.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NOBILO: CNN's Stephen Collinson is in Washington with more. Stephen, good to see you. What now happens to Elizabeth Warren's supporters? What might
be her motivation as well for delaying endorsing another candidate?
STEPHEN COLLINSON, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Well, you would think, Bianca, that since she was widely seen as competing for the left with Bernie
Sanders her supporters would automatically transfer to him and boost his prospects. That might not be the case for all of them.
Elizabeth Warren was very strong with college educated women in suburban areas around some of America's big cities. That's a group that Former Vice
President Joe Biden has been doing very well with. They helped him to that big Super Tuesday result this week. So I think it is possible that some of
her supporters could actually go to Biden even though he's more moderate politically than Elizabeth Warren.
On the question of the endorsement, she actually waited a long time four years ago before endorsing Hillary Clinton. I think she is thinking about
who she wants to back, her own political future as well. You remember she had a very frosty relationship with Bernie Sanders who she accused of lying
when she said that he told her in a private conversation that a woman couldn't win the Presidency.
So there's a very chilly relationship there to start with, and Elizabeth Warren could be somebody that might be on the Vice Presidential list of Joe
Biden if he wins the nomination or somebody that could play a big role in a future Democratic Cabinet. So she has personal as well as political
questions to think about.
[17:10:00]
NOBILO: Stephen, thank you so much. Stephen Collinson there for us in Washington. There's new hope for civilians paying the price of fierce
fighting in Syria's last rebel-held stronghold. The cease fire has now in effect for Idlib Province. The Presidents of Russia and Turkey agreed to
terms after marathon talks in Moscow.
They're on different sides of the conflict with Turkey fighting against Russian backed Syrian forces battling to retake Idlib. But Presidents
Erdogan and Putin agreed to try and ease the humanitarian crisis.
Turkey wants more help from Europe in dealing with Idlib. Frustrated by what it considers western indifference Turkey opened its borders so
refugees inside the country could head to the EU. That triggered an exodus that's overwhelming parts of Greece. Phil Black visited the Island of
Lesbos.
PHIL BLACK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: These people are cold, exhausted and deeply relieved. They're all Afghan, mostly families and children traveling alone
who recently crossed that stretch of water from Turkey in a small boat during the night.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It is scary very scary. Water, up and down.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLACK: That danger is behind them, but their suffering doesn't end on this shoreline. This is where most migrants on Lesbos must stay, the now
sprawling - camp. Designed for a touch over 2,000 people, the current population is 18,000. Most live among olive trees in handmade shelters
without running water, sanitation, electricity. It is a slum.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Baby.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLACK: It is no place for a newborn, no place for 3-week-old Adrian to start his life. No good, they chant. The migrants want out of the camp and
off the Island to catch a ferry to Mainland Greece. The police won't let them. They're especially fired up. There's a rumor a few migrants were
allowed to board a ferry to agent Athens the day before. When clubs fail to calm them, the police try words.
BLACK: This is the friction on the Island of Lesbos. On one hand the migrants who hate where they live, who say that it is not good, and then on
the other hand the authorities, the people of Lesbos who believe their quality of life has suffered unduly because of all of this and they just
want it to end.
After five years and hundreds of thousands of migrants arriving on Lesbos and nearby Islands, Greek frustration is turning event as well.
This U.N. facility was torched on Sunday night. Aid workers say they're now frequently targeted by angry locals because they're helping the migrants.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BORIS CHESHIRKOV, UNHCR SPOKESMAN FOR GREECE: There have been intimidating acts, violent acts against humanitarian workers, against refugees arriving
on the shores, but also against journalists.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLACK: We hear about a gathering on a dark, empty patch of land by the coast road where migrants walk to and from the camp.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BLACK: There we find a plain-clothed police officer watching dozens of local people, some carry sticks, cover their faces. They scream furiously
at us not to come near them. Cars have been attacked?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLACK: This man, who only gives his name as Tony and insists on staying hidden, tells us the meeting is for people who are worried about the
situation on the island.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BLACK: I mean the violence against the NGOs, the aid workers, is that okay?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think it's not.
BLACK: But you know--
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are all humans.
BLACK: You know some people do it?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Some maybe some people will do.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLACK: There is tension everywhere on Lesbos, among Greeks who feel abandoned and trapped in an endless crisis they didn't create, and with the
many migrants living in squalor, hopelessly watching ferries come and go every day. All want the same thing, a chance at a better future. Phil
Black, CNN on the Greek Island of Lesbos.
NOBILO: The UK high court has issued a ruling against Dubai's ruler Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum. The judgment says that the Sheik conducted
a sustained campaign of fear, intimidation and harassment against his estranged wife Princess Habib Al-Hossain. The court says such behavior is
provable through the Sheik's previous conduct, including orchestrating the abduction of two of his daughters.
The Sheik criticized the judgment in a statement saying, as a Head of Government I was not able to participate in the court's fact-finding
process. This has resulted in the release of a fact-finding judgment which tells only one side of the story.
[17:15:00]
NOBILO: Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are back in Britain. They're attending an event to honor wounded soldiers. It is their first official
appearance since they announced that they are stepping down as senior members of the Royal Family. They have several more events before ending
their royal duties March 31st.
Still to come tonight on "The Brief" the Conservative Party candidate running to be the next Mayor of London sits down with me, Shaun Bailey
addresses the Coronavirus outbreak in the UK plus much more right after a short break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NOBILO: Health officials in the UK confirmed the first Coronavirus-related death in the country on Thursday as the number of cases keeps rising. The
British Prime Minister offered his condolences and say preparations for the outbreak are moving forward.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BORIS JOHNSON, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: Obviously our sympathies are very much with the victim and their family, but the situation is pretty much as
it has been in the sense that we're still, Sam, in the contain phase, though now our scientists and medical advisors are making preparations for
the delay phase.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NOBILO: The British government announced new cases have been identified in England and Wales, bringing the total number of confirmed Coronavirus
patients to 116. For today's "Debrief" I spoke with Shaun Bailey, the Conservative Party Candidate running to be Mayor of London.
And I asked if he was Mayor at the moment how he would be handling the Coronavirus outbreak? And here is what he said.
SHAUN BAILEY, CONSERVATIVE PARTY CANDIDATE FOR LONDON MAYOR: Two things I would say about Coronavirus. Firstly, in - I'm glad that the Mayor is
taking on my suggestion that we should be putting our information. We have lots of free advertising space that could be used by the Mayor on across
our travel network, particular YouTube.
And using that space to give information, wash your hands, how we're going to deal with the infections? Cover your nose when you cough, et cetera. All
of those things are very powerful so I'm glad he is taking that up.
The second piece I would say is we have public health in England who give clear and very concise advice to us to what we should be doing on a
personal level but also on a national level. I think the best thing we do is to follow their advice.
It was very instructive to me when the PM hosted a cobra group and led the group and basically said, look, here is what we will set up a war room, we
will give the NHS and public health of England any resource and help they need to make sure we can control the spread of Coronavirus.
NOBILO: Just to - do you think it was right that Sadiq Kahn was excluded from that meeting? If you were London Mayor would you be happy to be
excluded from that meeting?
BAILEY: I don't think he needs to be in that meeting. All you need is information that comes from that meeting. One of the things you learn when
you've been involved in public life is huge meetings turn into talking shops.
[17:20:00]
BAILEY: What I liked about the Cobra meeting was there is shop of action. They said - we're going to take some action. And I don't think the Mayor of
London is not a health expert. Public Health England are they disseminate the information; we get on with it and run the show.
NOBILO: Of course other countries are more severely affected at the moment than Britain when it comes to Coronavirus particularly Japan, who is meant
to be hosting the Olympics. You said that London could potentially be in the position to host it if Japan couldn't.
BAILEY: I think at the time what I said was if it was physically safe for us to host the Olympics and they can't, then we would seek to help. Now we
are Londoners we always want to help out. We have 90 percent to 95 percent of the physical structure you need to run the Olympics and we have 100
percent of experience to do so.
I think right just now with our own Coronavirus problems because at that time I don't think we had any cases at all, and now we have just passed the
115 level, and I don't think anybody will be hosting the Olympics.
The way I see it now, if Japan can't host the Olympics, probably no other major city should or could host Olympics. Of course, Japan has spent
billions of dollars to make it happen and we wouldn't want to get in the way of their Olympics it is only to support them if it couldn't happen in
Japan.
NOBILO: You received some criticism in past for your comments which were interpreted as favoring assimilation rather than multiculturalism, the idea
that it would be more beneficial for communities to adopt traditionally British cultural values and learn to more about Britain rather than
focusing on these various communities that you mentioned.
BAILEY: I think what I was talking about was a very specific thing. So I have worked and lived in many of the poor communities in London, and you
cannot benefit from the success of London if you don't adopt some what it is to be British, some what it is to be a Londoner.
It means that your community doesn't have access to the success that is London and that's where my comments were focused, particularly around very
young people. We have to make sure we include them in the educational system.
You can't compete with middle class Londoners if you haven't been throughout the education system in its fullest sense. That's the kind of
thing I was trying to say.
NOBILO: How do you perceive the relationship between elected representatives and the press in the United Kingdom?
BAILEY: We have had a healthy history of our press being a very separate unit. I think there is something about the laws of journalism, and many
journalists see themselves as political activists which I think is a shame. When you pick up a paper you know where sort of where it is going to lean,
but I think many journalists have gone beyond that point which is a shame. The relationship is as good or as bad as it has ever been.
NOBILO: Do you think it is in the central one in a functioning democracy?
BAILEY: I think it is key. I'm running for Mayor of London I would love the press to just say, yes, Shaun is right. Clearly they're not going to do
that for me. But one of the reasons this country is in a good state is because we had a press to provide balance to politicians.
It is very hard in this country as a politician to get away with it, whatever it is, and that's the proud boast of the press because it
basically kept our nation safe. Unchallenged politicians, I mean what would unchallenged politicians deliver?
For us the press is that challenge. We need them in one sense and we loath them in another, but I think British democracy is served by a free press.
NOBILO: Do you think that the Prime Minister loathes the press? Why is he not making himself more accessible?
BAILEY: I actually think the PM is right on this. If you saw - when I first got involved in politics Tony Blair was very prominent and went on to be
the Prime Minister. He had a style of government that was led by the presses, a lot of fluff, a lot of press releases.
I actually think that is wrong. When you govern the country, that's what you do, you govern the country. Yes, you need to work with the press, but
you should not be at the press's beck and call. You are much better being in a Cobra meeting, letting your Ministers to conduct their job properly
than you are running around because the press demands you to be in a place.
If you try to please the press, the press is a very big beast. If you try to please it, you probably will never get anything done. And I think many
times when you looked at that new labor government, it was governance by press release, which was vacuous and lots of things weren't happening.
What was happening was lots of press releases. I think a government that sticks to its job, its tasks, and delivers is more important than pleasing
the press.
NOBILO: When "The Brief" returns, this has been the scene in the Democratic Republic of Congo for the last few years, but we're finally seeing good
news when it comes to the Ebola outbreak.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[17:25:00]
NOBILO: You've heard a lot about it this week, disease, precautions. We're living in a world that feels on edge as Coronavirus spreads and health
systems struggle to cope. So let's end on some good news.
For a number of years the Democratic Republic of Congo has struggled to contain an outbreak of Ebola, but earlier this week this happened. The last
patient being treated for the disease in the country was discharged from hospital.
As you can see lots of celebrating it is a significant step, but it is not quite the end. Dozens of people who have had to come in contact with her
are being monitored. More than 2,000 people died in the outbreak. The tenth iteration of the disease since it was discovered.
The W.H.O. are calling for vigilance, and rightly so, but in a world consumed by the authority of Coronavirus, it is uplifting at least to see
some hope. That's "The Brief". I'm Bianca Nobilo and "World Spots" is up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
DON RIDDELL, CNN HOST, WORLD SPORTS: The world of sport is reacting in ways big and small to the Coronavirus. They won't be shaking hands in the
Premier League, and that is not an overreaction since a former world cup player now has the virus.
Meanwhile, Eric Dier got up close and personal with the fans on Wednesday. Spoiler alert, he wasn't there to make friends.
END
