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The Global Brief with Bianca Nobilo
Nearly Half Of China Is Living Under Travel Restrictions; U.S. Evacuees Face Another Two Weeks In Quarantine; CNN's Arwa Damon Is The Only Western Journalist Reporting From Inside Syria; Footballer Moussa Marega Leaves Pitch After Racist Abuse; German Football Crowd Chants "Nazi Out" At Racist Fan; Press, Social Media Under Scrutiny After British TV Host's Death; Price Of Wine Dropping. Aired 5-5:30p ET
Aired February 17, 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]
BIANCA NOBILO, CNN INTERNATIONAL HOST: Tonight on THE BRIEF, hundreds of people, including 14 infected with the coronavirus have been evacuated from
the quarantined cruise in Japan.
CNN gets rare access inside Syria, where refugees are trying to escape the war's latest escalation are running for their lives.
And British tabloids and online trolls are under new scrutiny after the death of a reality TV host.
Live from London, I'm Bianca Nobilo. Welcome to the show. As the coronavirus virus epidemic rages in china, life in much of the country has
slowed to a crawl. Around half of the population, more than 780 million people are living under some kind of travel restriction or lockdown, some
more severe than others.
In Hubei Province, the epicenter of the outbreak, many people aren't allowed to go outside of their homes. The slowdown is affecting some of the
world's busiest cities like Beijing and Shanghai. David Culver shows us what that looks like.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAVID CULVER, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: We are in the heart of Shanghai's financial district and just look how slowly things are moving.
There's hardly any traffic in what is normally a very busy circle. And as far as the lunch time rush, well we've seen maybe a few folks who are out
and about. But this certainly does not feel like a city coming back to life.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NOBILO: The meeting of China's National People's Congress was due to open in early March. But state media reports that there's a proposal to postpone
the session. The meeting hasn't been delayed or cancelled since the 1970s.
The country's Central Bank says that they're going to disinfect or destroy cash that comes from high risk infection areas and replace it with new
bills. There is no evidence of how long the virus lives on surfaces. But experts believe it likely dies after few hours.
Around the world, the virus is still spreading. More than 71,000 people have been infected and more than 1,700 people have died. United States has
brought home hundreds of its citizens from the Diamond Princess cruise ship docked in Japan, including 14 people who tested positive for coronavirus.
The sick people will be treated in isolation, and the uninfected are facing another two weeks of quarantine. Will Ripley shows us their long, arduous
journey.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WILL RIPLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Daybreak in Yokohama, Japan. The final day on the Diamond Princess for more than 300 Americans evacuated
by the U.S. government.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is a converted cargo 747. So there's less insulation than a regular passenger jet. So bring extra layers so you can
stay warm for you.
RIPLEY (voice-over): American health officials try to prepare passengers for a long, uncomfortable journey. A journey Karey Maniscalco from Utah is
reluctant to take. She and her husband already endured nearly two weeks of quarantine on the cruise ship.
KAREY MANISCALCO, DIAMOND PRINCESS PASSENGER: I didn't like that answer.
RIPLEY (voice-over): Now, they're about to do it all over again at a California military base.
MANISCALCO: They have sent over a dozen emails assuring us that there would not be an additional quarantine. And they just told us that we'd be re-
quarantined for 14 more days. I've just lost a whole month of my life.
RIPLEY (voice-over): She's angry at the U.S. government, angry they waited so long to evacuate the American passengers. Others, like Gaye Courter from
Florida, are grateful.
GAYE COURTER, DIAMOND PRINCESS PASSENGER: And I want to go somewhere where I can feel safe. And I just want to thank President Trump and the U.S.
government. There's been a lot of silence on this, and now we know the silence has been putting together a brilliant plan.
RIPLEY (voice-over): Executing that plan will take nearly 10 hours, even though the airport is just a 20-minute drive from the ship.
MANISCALCO: The buses are starting to line up.
RIPLEY (voice-over): Once they get on, there's no getting off, not even to go to the bathroom.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, the best I can do is go find out where a bathroom is.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Go find out.
RIPLEY (voice-over): As the hours drag on, this health worker tries to break the tension.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What do you call a witch on the beach? A sandwich.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There you go.
RIPLEY (voice-over): Passengers are beginning to feel like the joke is on them.
MANISCALCO: We're just waiting. I don't really know what we're waiting for, but we are waiting indefinitely.
RIPLEY (voice-over): Finally, they're allowed off the bus--
MANISCALCO: Woohoo.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, yes.
MANISCALCO: Yes.
RIPLEY (voice-over): --and onto the tarmac, boarding two converted 747 cargo planes. The cabin best described as bare bones, no windows, makeshift
toilets, temporary seats.
MANISCALCO: This is first class, baby. First class.
RIPLEY (voice-over): Lack of luxury aside, Maniscalco feels anxious.
MANISCALCO: It's not good conditions. No one on here has had their temperature taken by the federal government or any government, for that
matter. So we're all in really closed, tight quarters. Everybody's sitting next to each other. I have a girl sitting here in just a minute. It seems
dangerous and not safe.
[17:05:00]
RIPLEY (voice-over): The U.S. government says they are safe, even though 14 passengers who tested positive for coronavirus are allowed on the flight,
all showing no symptoms. They're put in a specialized containment area, isolated from the other passengers. Just after daybreak, both planes
finally take off. A long, sleepless night followed by a ten-hour flight. Now they've arrived in California and Texas. One ordeal ends, another
begins.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
RIPLEY: The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention does say that the data is clear. People who remain on the Diamond Princess face a higher
risk of infection. And whether it's cases that are existing, Bianca, or cases that were - that are that are happening - you know new cases
spreading, certainly you can't deny the jump every single day which may explain why countries like Canada and South Korea and Italy and Australia
are also following suit, trying to get their citizens off that boat as soon as possible.
NOBILO: Well, thank you for your reporting, as ever. Will Ripley before us in Yokohama, Japan.
Now to Northwestern Syria, were civilians are fleeing a government offensive at the rate of 10,000 every day. Upwards of 900,000 have left
their homes in less than three months, an unprecedented number in this war. They often end up in flimsy settlements in the heart of winter, and the UN
warns the region could become quote, "a pile of rubble strewn with corpses of a million children."
CNN's Arwa Damon is the only Western journalists reporting from Idlib. Some of her reporting may be difficult to watch, but all the more reason why we
must.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ARWA DAMON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): There is barely enough light to see as we head toward Samiya's tent in one Idlib's
sprawling camps. A couple of night ago, temperatures dropped well below zero and the family didn't have enough to burn.
I fed my baby and he went to sleep, Samiya tells us, still in shock. At 6:37 the children woke me up screaming. I touched him, and he was icy. The
doctors told them he froze to death. Her husband walks out before he breaks down. She doesn't have a photograph of Abdulwahab alive, just this image as
they said their final good-byes. She can't forgive herself. She can't understand how life can be so cruel. Few people here can.
We have made multiple trips into Idlib province. None like this. Roads throughout the province are clogged with the traffic of those on the run.
Unending ways. Many have been displaced multiple times before, but this time it's different. They feel like no matter what they do, they won't be
able to outrun the war.
These children walked for seven hours in the middle of the night to get away from the bombing near their village but it's not far enough.
DAMON (on camera): They want to leave from here but they each try to figure out transporters. Because if they tried to go walk, it would just be
impossible.
DAMON (voice-over): Down the road Dima and Betoule clutch their stuffed animals for the last time, for theirs is a world where toys are not
considered essential, survival is. They don't cry or complain as they are loaded into the truck. There is a sense of finality, claustrophobia
compounded by the collective misery of those trapped here with the regime rapidly closing in and emptying out entire areas.
One village settled down among these 13th Century ruins two weeks ago. A little boy shows a picture in his father's phone of the bombing overnight.
DAMON (on camera): This Mohamad and he's 10. And he said that he was very scared last night because this entire area, the hillsides all around it
were being bombed.
DAMON (voice-over): They almost took off walking in the dark.
I would rather die than not be able to protect my children, Saifuddin (ph) vows. He used to be the village's elementary school director. His tent is
considered a palace by this wretched existence's standards.
DAMON (on camera): A few of his kids have fallen over into the stove. Her face was burned.
DAMON (voice-over): His children are too young to know anything but war and hardship.
Let Trump get a bit angry and send a couple of tomahawks, Saifuddin says half joking. For those here know too well that in the world's view they are
dispensable, the last nine years taught them that.
[17:10:00]
Obaid's (ph) tent is perched on a hilltop away from the countless makeshift camps.
ANNOUNCER (through translated text): Warning! Russian fighter jet in the air.
DAMON (voice-over): Our conversation is broken up by warnings from an app he has on his phone about where the planes are flying and bombing. His
elderly mother lies in the corner. She's been that way ever since they found out that his brother died in a regime prison and the regime is
getting closer.
DAMON (on camera): Yes, you can hear that. This is his brother, who was detained in 2012 when he was part of the protests. And then in 2015, they
got notification he was dead. This is the photograph they got of him dead, imprisoned.
DAMON (voice-over): All I have is this photo, just this memory, he says, haunted by his pain. Even if the regime tried to reconcile, it's
impossible, he swears. You can't trust them.
Nothing in this forsaken place is guaranteed. Gone is the schoolyard laughter and crowded classrooms. They have been converted into shelters and
smoke-filled living spaces. But even as new families arrive, some of those here are getting ready to flee again.
Saifuddin who we met at the camp in the ruins, sends me a distressing voice message.
DAMON (on camera): He saying that the bombing was all around them overnight and that the aircraft were flying over the camp.
DAMON (voice-over): When we arrive, the sounds of the violence closing in echoed through the hills. Saifuddin's children are playing in the mud,
seemingly oblivious to the encroaching danger or just used to it.
DAMON (on camera): They've called for a truck, but they are being told that there's no one who can come here that quickly because the roads are so
clouded and clogged up with other people fleeing.
DAMON (voice-over): Those who manage to get transport are packing up. They still cling to a hope that someone, something will save them. That the
world will realize it can no longer turn away. That they won't be abandoned to desperately search for a lifeline that doesn't exist.
Arwa Damon, CNN, Idlib Province, Syria.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NOBILO: Portuguese police are working to identify football fans who racially abused a player this weekend. Here's how it unfolded.
Moussa Marega scored for Porto. Then pointed to his skin as opposition supporters who'd been making monkey noises throughout the game around him
and through objects from the stands. The abuse continued. Eight minutes later, the striker tried to leave the pitch to protests. His teammates
tried to calm him, but he pushed him away and was eventually substituted.
He gestured angrily towards the crowd as he left the pitch, clearly wanting to take a stand and not leave. Marega, later criticized the fans and the
referees for not supporting him when he was clearly receiving racist abuse.
World Sport's Patrick Snell joins us now from Atlanta. Patrick, you've been following this story? What's the latest on another incident of racism in
the world of football and it's very concerning weekend as far as that goes,
PATRICK SNELL, CNN WORLD SPORT ANCHOR: Yes, Bianca, once again, we've seen the ugly stain on - of racism, on what really should be the beautiful game
of football. But, yet again, an incident that we could just do without.
And the player in question here that you've mentioned. Marega is rightly frustrated, very upset, very emotional, as we could see from that video
there. And to make matters worse, he was actually booked as well by the referee, would you believe, in that situation. We've been gathering
reaction to this developing story right through the day. Here is what the Porto Head Coach Sergio Conceicao had to say about it all, take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SERGIO CONCEICAO, FC PORTO MANAGER (through translator): We are enraged by what happened. I know the passion that exists here in Victoria for the
clubs. But I'm sure, most fans don't identify with the attitude of some people who sit on the stands tonight, insulting Marega since the warm up.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SNELL: And also another highlighted story that we've been following from the German football. This actually is the third tier of German football,
Bianca, were we actually saw one isolated incident with a fan inside the stadium making monkey noises aimed at a
player there.
And you can see the video with this one. This is in the match between Munster and Wurzburger Kickers. But what's encouraging here is actually the
fans taking action here taking action here and moving quickly to identify the offender, the perpetrator in question, having him removed from the
stadium and then later arrested as well.
But, of course, our heart goes out to the player in question, because he should not have to be going through that and experiencing that. I just want
to get to what the defender Leroy Kwadwo had to say.
[17:15:00]
"Even though I have a different skin color, I was born here in this wonderful country that has given me and my family so much and made things
possible. I am one of you. We should all continue to stand against it, how you did and nip it in the bud. I hope that this finally has an end. Thank
you for your humanity there." Leroy Kwadwo the player there. We're going to follow this one, you could be sure. Bianca, keep right across all of it.
NOBILO: Thank you, Patrick. And of course you'll have more on this in about 15 minutes' time in World Sport so stay tuned for that. Thank you.
Coming up on THE BRIEF, the death of A British TV host is raising questions about the media and online bullying. Next, a conversation about how we all
treat each other.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NOBILO: Caroline Flack, the presenter of one of Britain's most popular shows, "Love Island" took her life in her home on Saturday, just weeks
before she was scheduled to stand trial for assaulting her boyfriend Lewis Burton in December. Caroline denied the charge and Burton withdrew the
complaint. But the Crown Prosecution Service decided to proceed.
Over the last three months the details of Caroline's personal and professional life collapsing became public. Front covers of magazines,
newspapers, trending online. In the wake of Caroline's death, close friends, and with some irony, the media, have raised questions about how
much press intrusion and online bullying played a part.
Ultimately, the causes of suicide are known, but there's mounting evidence to suggest that technology can play a role. Suicide rates among teenagers
in the U.K. have almost doubled in eight years, figures have shown.
The ubiquity of social media is thought to play a part. Caroline's supporters are warning against knocking someone down, invading someone's
privacy and saying that people need to reflect on how they behave online.
For today's "Debrief," I sat down with activist Gina Martin. She's been harassed by online trolls over her campaigning. And she spoke about the
toll that bullying can take on someone's mental health.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GINA MARTIN, ACTIVIST AND CAMPAIGNER: Well, I think even if, you know, we're not even talking about what's led her to pass away, but even if we're
just talking about what led her to have difficulties with her mental health even more so in her final sort of years.
I can't imagine the impact that that many people coming at you for 24 hours a day has. I've had a short and small experience of it, but it's been
nothing like what Caroline has experienced. So I would imagine the - kind of, the trial by social media is everyone is kind of explaining it now.
It's had a huge impact on her. I can't imagine how it couldn't have.
[17:20:00]
NOBILO: You're young and female and lead a very public and successful campaign to outlaw upskirting. What has the experience been like for you as
your platform grew?
MARTIN: I went from working in an office and just secretly doing this campaign as a hobby, basically. And then within a year, I was getting rape
threats, like most days. Like whenever I did media, I would get raped. Some of them were really specific. I would just get comments on how I looked all
the time.
Sexist comments and idioms (ph). People were e-mailing me. People were making like fake accounts playing to be me. And it's so insidious. And it
means that whenever you reach into your phone to call your dad, like I've set a calendar reminder.
You're just getting battered with this language that just makes you question your value. Makes you question what have I done this, what seems
to me that they've disliked me this much or - it's really, really insidious. And I can just see immediately how that was on your mental
health. And it's the consistency and the compounding nature of it that wears you down over a long period of time. It was really hard for me and
mine was on a minute scale, so a lot of women.
NOBILO: You've made an important point to me just a few minutes ago before we started filming about this separation between online and offline
behavior.
MARTIN: Yes.
NOBILO: Talk to me about that.
MARTIN: We have to stop separating online, offline. Online is offline. It's the same thing. It's people in the world sending messages, even the
language we use. We talk about trolling, right? We talked about that like it's some kind of breed of person who's in a basement in their mom's house
and they sit there all day and they do this thing and they're a monster.
It's actually just people who serve you coffee, its people who work in the offices. And we have to be better like digital citizens and about digital
communities to each other like we are in real life. We need to stop separating the idea of an online persona and offline persona, because it's
not, they are one.
NOBILO: Caroline's Law, which has been suggested has over 500,000 signatures. Do you think this kind of legislation would be helpful?
MARTIN: I think it's a really good conversation to open. I think it could be really helpful. Because, we look at these kind of, I guess, smear
campaigns. Someone call them against certain women or certain people in the public eye. The Meghan Markle one was a huge, huge debate.
If they weren't platforms, if they were people running that many stories, that many headlines with that many clicks, that much engagement and that
kind of language, that would be a harassment case. There'd be there'd be a leg to stand on as that being harassment. But because it's a platform, not
so much.
NOBILO: It seems difficult to me to draw the line of when you're complicit and when you're not. Because it's one thing to publish headlines about
somebody, it's one thing to troll them on social media. But then, if you read those headlines, if you read that stuff on social media, if you talk
to friends about it, surely you're perpetuating that culture. So where does it end?
MARTIN: I think a lot of people, when they see these things go, well, I don't troll someone, so this has nothing to do with me. I'm not a monster.
So they separate themselves. We actually have to all look at what we're doing.
You know, I have been known to have outrage clicks. I've probably clicked on "The Daily Mail" a bunch of times, because I've been outraged by that.
How could they report that? What is that headline? And actually "The Daily Mail," The Mirror" or "The Sun," or a lot of these kind of tabloids,
they're not selling physical copies, they're making their money on clicks.
So my kind of feeling now, and what I've done personally is, I've actually blocked a lot of certain platforms on my social feeds so that I can't click
on them. Because I don't want to perpetuate the structure that is getting these pieces out and harassing women and hurting women online.
So even if you're not the one that's doing the trolling, you have a role to play. And I think having a bit of a look in the mirror and a nuanced
conversation with yourself is really helpful. And also, let's be honest, we're talking about this #bekind, radical kindness online needs to happen.
We need to be building people up, supporting people. But also, everyone thinks unsavory thoughts. That's the human nature. But you don't have to
save them. Just don't type them out. You don't have to speak on everything. I think that's kind of the golden rule.
NOBILO: There does seem to be something about celebrity that invites a lot more of this criticism and trolling, whether it's the people buy into the
glamorous lifestyle, the extensible happiness, everything looking perfect, the wealth and the fame, which seems to make it more acceptable, almost,
for people to troll those people, to bring them down a peg or two.
And as you mentioned, with radical kindness, I suppose, it's just important to remember that it doesn't matter what things look like from the outside,
you have no idea what's going on in somebody's life.
But that seems to be quite, quite a repetitive and traditional way of looking at certain public figures that they're so lucky and so far removed
that it doesn't matter what we say about them.
MARTIN: I mean, I think I can see where it's come from. You know, money and success is the marker of capitalism. If you've got money and success,
you're fine, your life is fine. We all know that's not true.
I've met so many people in successful positions, whether that's in politics or TV or influencers who are really struggling, because they're people with
lives and families, and they're someone's daughter, and they're struggling with their mental health or their financial troubles. We all have our
stuff. And I think we need to really have a long look at ourselves and go, do we want to be the type of people who like pick and choose who we give
our humanity to? Probably not.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NOBILO: If you or anyone you know is struggling with suicidal thoughts, CNN's Impact Your World has compiled resources for suicide prevention in
nearly every country. Search for how to get help for someone who might be suicidal on CNN online. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[17:25:00]
NOBILO: It's one of the most fundamental concepts in economics supply and demand. All you wine lovers out can thank those market forces for giving us
extra incentive to raise a glass tonight. The price of wine produced in the United States is dropping fast. One expert predicts consumers could enjoy
the best wine retail values in 20 years.
So how did it happen? Well, basically too much of a good thing. Some California vineyards began planting thousands of hectares of new vines in
2016, while also making their harvesting methods more efficient, that resulted in more wine, more supply. But, there is now less demand as more
Americans returning to cocktails instead of a nice Cabernet.
A business of predicting future demand is difficult. It can take five years after planting grapes to bring wine to market. So while prices are down,
the industry adjusts, you may want to take advantage and drink up.
And full disclosure. Even though I do share my name with the wine brand. It's not mine and I don't even drink.
That is THE BRIEF. Bottoms up. I'm Bianca Nobilo. "World Sport" is up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
END
