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Many Airports On High Alert For Signs Of Virus; Impeachment Managers Make Their Case Against Trump; French Leader Demands Israeli Security Leave Cathedral; Wuhan Coronavirus; Trump on Trial; Auschwitz Liberation Anniversary. Aired 2-3a ET
Aired January 23, 2020 - 02:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us from all around the world. I'm Rosemary Church and this is CNN NEWSROOM.
A city of 11 million people in virtual lockdown. Wuhan, China, deals with a deadly virus. Health officials around the world are scrambling to contain the outbreak.
House Democrats lay out a detailed case for the removal of the U.S. president, they have plenty of evidence but they want to call witnesses.
Prince Charles adds his voice to the urgent calls for action on climate change.
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CHURCH: Well in the coming hours the World Health Organization is expected to meet once more to decide if the Wuhan coronavirus represents a global health emergency. The virus has already killed 17 people and infected 600 others. A few cases have also been reported in at least four other countries, including the United States.
A lockdown on public transportation is now in effect in Wuhan, the epicenter of the outbreak, and a city of 11 million people in an effort to keep it from spreading further. Outbound trains and flights are canceled and local buses, ferries and subways have also suspended until further notice. CNN's David Culver just visited Wuhan and has more on the strict measures officials set up and the impact they have on residents.
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DAVID CULVER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Behind the police state, this normally crowded market in Wuhan sits eerily desolate. This is ground zero for the illness sparking global unease.
CULVER: This is where authorities believe the source of the coronavirus is, wildlife and seafood market. And you can see over there, there's police on every corner.
CULVER (voice-over): Within minutes of us arriving, security asked us to stop filming. There is an uneasiness felt throughout Wuhan. We experienced it as soon as we boarded the train from Beijing.
Each car nearly full, most faces are covered, everyone traveling home for the Lunar New Year.
Strict screening upon of arrival, one by one passengers went through a thermometer check to make sure they're not bringing a fever with them. This is playing out across China in transportation hubs.
LI BIN, VICE MINISTER, CHINESE NATIONAL HEALTH COMMISSION (through translator): The virus was being spread mainly through respiratory transmission and is likely to mutate, which will increase the risk of epidemic spreading.
In additional the Spring Festival travel rush saw a mass migration, objectively increased the risk of the epidemic spreading and difficulties taking control measures. Should always be on high alert and never take this lightly.
CULVER: Behind me is one of a few hospitals in the region dedicated to treating confirmed cases or suspected cases of the coronavirus. Out front, you have a few staff members we've noticed, who are all wearing masks. Some of them are wearing protective gloves just to prevent any potential exposure.
CULVER (voice-over): It's brought the normally festive holiday mood in Wuhan to a halt. It's cut down this vendor's business.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): This year the pneumonia situation is getting serious. Not so much people coming to buy goods.
CULVER (voice-over): She's from a city about a two hour drive from Wuhan. She has her mask nearby and she's worried. And so too, her daughter and other relatives.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): They were asking me to go back home but I cannot leave with all my inventory here. I have bought these goods, I have no choice. I have to stay here and resign myself to my fate.
CULVER (voice-over): Other vendors are more hopeful. This woman does not feel the need to wear a mask.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): Maybe I'm having a positive outlook, I've been checking online instructions, drinking more, water washing my, hands. I think that should be fine.
CULVER (voice-over): The unknowns are looming over the city with a rising death toll unclear what is next for Wuhan and the 11 million who call it home.
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CHURCH: Well, let's get more now from David Culver, we've heard from him in Beijing.
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CHURCH: And now he is returned from Wuhan.
And Blake Essig also joins from Hong Kong.
David, want to go to you first, you got out of Wuhan just before the transportation lockdown was imposed. Talk to us about that and, of course, any new updates on these measures being put in place to contain the spread of this virus.
CULVER: About 12 hours later, Rosemary, adrenaline is starting to subside. My team got the call in the middle of the night that the lockdown was going to take place within hours so we had to mobilize and get out. We decided a train would be reliable and efficient.
To get to the train station we waited 30 minutes for a car to pick us up and take us there and when we got there, we realized a few people had that idea, mostly locals trying to figure out how to get out before the lockdown and the deadline hit.
The lines were long; they were stretched out the door to get a ticket and from there was a rush to get to the train station because that's a separate place for us going out of another station.
Inside the train station, we noticed probably two or three people out of hundreds who did not have a face mask on. Part of that is because Wuhan is making it mandatory to wear those masks. The other part is the rising concern is the fear obviously having an impact on people's habits to put one on, as they were about to board the train.
Security was mostly monitoring the thermal readings of folks coming through, checking temperature for people like us. passengers about to board a train. At one point as we are getting on, there was a couple standing, a mom and dad.
And they were looking at the window. They didn't get on the train and we asked what they're waiting for and why were they were not boarding.
And they were looking at their son and his grandfather. They sent them ahead to Beijing to be away from them as the process plays out, clearly difficult to do that. But we asked them why didn't they go with, them. They didn't want to risk other loved ones with exposure.
So at this time, a holiday, everyone supposed to come together, the Lunar New Year, families are supposed to be with one another, they're now suffering separation.
CHURCH: Understandable there, we're talking about the lockdown. Some people were getting out before the lockdown without a mask, the concern is still that there could be a spread as a result of that.
CULVER: Yes, you must wonder about the timing of it.
Will it really be effective? Those questions are surfacing and perhaps for good reason. And the
screening we then endured isn't intense, to be honest, it simply getting off the plane, walking out through the gate. And they put a thermometer to your forehead and try to detect if you have a fever, then allow you to continue on through.
It's worth noting as we were departing 36-48 hours ago to Wuhan, none of the staff on the train, none of the police or security inside the train station were wearing masks.
When we arrived here just a few hours ago, everyone was wearing them, every hotel employee, every police officer, security guard, anyone outside in a public space was wearing a mask.
CHURCH: That is critical because doctors are saying those face masks can stop the spread of this. There's nothing to be lost in wearing it. Thank you, David, for that incredible reporting.
Let's get to Blake now at a train station in Hong Kong.
Blake, what's the latest on the suspected cases? Where you are how is the city preparing with as it deals with the Lunar New Year travel period?
BLAKE ESSIG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Rosemary, at this point two suspected cases here in Hong Kong, both have been tested and preliminary results suggest the Wuhan coronavirus has infected these two people; we are waiting on confirmation.
We are expecting that confirmation a little later today. As for Hong Kong in general, we are here at the West Kowloon train station, the only high speed station connecting China and Hong Kong. If you live take a look around, thousands of people are here. Many of them are trying to get into Mainland China.
These people here, this queue has been packed for hours since we've been here, the majority of which have tickets to Wuhan. They are canceling, getting refunds.
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ESSIG: But we've talked to people that were in this line that also are canceling tickets because of the fear of the infection spreading further. And not wanting to be a part of that.
Over here you can see, people lining up to depart. It has been constantly filled all day. People we spoke to have related this to what happened in 2002, which is part of the reason for the widespread fear and everyone wearing masks.
We have our gear, whether it's the hand sanitizer or masks just in case. But when you look at what happened in 2002 here in Hong Kong, 300 people were killed as a result of SARS. The housing market crashed.
Everyone here, government officials are taking necessary precautions to make sure this doesn't happen again. Very many similarities between 2002 and here again, everything possibly done to prevent spreading is being done -- Rosemary.
CHURCH: Absolutely; containment is critical though, surgical masks are critical. Many thanks for your update, appreciate it
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CHURCH: U.S. House impeachment managers are laying out what they call overwhelming evidence against President Trump. In the first day of opening arguments in his Senate trial, Democrat Adam Schiff spent hours explaining how the president abused his power by asking Ukraine for dirt on his political opponent Joe Biden. Then did try to cover it up.
Schiff says the president's misconduct cannot be decided at the ballot box because he's already shown he's willing to cheat in the 2020 election. Republican Senators who voted against new witnesses or documents a day earlier now are complaining they have heard nothing new. One went even further.
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SEN. TIM SCOTT (R-SC): When you think about this entire process since yesterday overwhelming evidence we've seen just a rehashing of yesterday's charade therefore the conclusion is a very simple one, that the goal of this entire process is not to remove the president from of. It's simply to remove certain Republican senators, Colorado and North Carolina, Iowa, Maine and Arizona from office and this is absolutely an opportunity to overtake the Senate.
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CHURCH: Donald Trump is back in Washington after his trip to Davos, Switzerland. On Wednesday, the president said he had seen only a part of the trial.
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TRUMP: We are doing very well, we got to watch enough, I thought our team did a great job, honestly we have all the material. They don't have the material.
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CHURCH: Sara Murray has more on Wednesday's opening arguments.
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CHIEF JUSTICE JOHN ROBERTS, U.S. SUPREME COURT: The Senate will now hear you.
SARA MURRAY, CNN NATIONAL POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Democrats began to prosecute their case against President Trump today by using his own words try to incriminate. Him REP. ADAM SCHIFF (D-CA), CHAIR, HOUSE INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE: Just as
he solicited help in Ukraine in 2019, in 2016, then candidate Trump also solicited help from Russia in his election effort.
TRUMP: Russia, if you're listening, I hope you are able to find the 30,000 emails that are missing.
SCHIFF: There is no question that President Trump intended to press the Ukraine leader to look into his political rival.
TRUMP: They should investigate the Bidens and, by the way, likewise China should start an investigation into the Bidens
MURRAY (voice-over): The president appeared to be tuning in from Air Force One, tweeting, "No pressure."
SCHIFF: Mr. Chief Justice, Senators ...
MURRAY (voice-over): Lead impeachment manager Adam Schiff opened to day two of the trial with marathon remarks, stretching two hours and 20 minutes without a break.
SCHIFF: That concludes our introduction
MURRAY (voice-over): As he argued the evidence overwhelmingly proved Trump abused power and obstructed Congress.
SCHIFF: The president, this unapologetic, this lawless, this unbound to the Constitution and the oath of office, must be removed from that office.
MURRAY (voice-over): Democrats have two more days to make their case against the president and convince moderate Republican senators the trial should include new evidence and witnesses.
REP. JASON CROW (D-CO), IMPEACHMENT MANAGER: As you can see, there isn't a lot to read here. You should demand to see the full record. The American people deserve to see the full truth when it comes to presidential actions.
MURRAY (voice-over): But today Democrats ran through the record they have, officials worrying that the freeze on Ukraine aid was illegal. Efforts to oust former ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch, Rudy Giuliani's own admission that he was pursuing investigations in Ukraine to help his client, not the country.
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REP. HAKEEM JEFFRIES (D-N.Y.), IMPEACHMENT MANAGER: Rudolph Giuliani is a cold blooded political operative for President Trump's reelection campaign.
MURRAY (voice-over): Schiff skewered Trump's insistence that he was not involved in a quid pro quo even as he withheld security aid and a White House meeting from Ukraine while clamoring for an investigation into 2016 and Joe Biden. SCHIFF: That's not something that comes up a normal conversation,
right?
Hello Mr. President, how are you today, no quid pro quo?
That is the kind of thing that comes up in conversation if you're trying to put your alibi out there.
MURRAY (voice-over): Trump's defenders meantime awaited their chance to take the floor.
JAY SEKULOW, TRUMP ATTORNEY: This whole fact that were here is ridiculous at the end of the day I believe he will be acquitted.
MURRAY (voice-over): Sara Murray, CNN, Washington.
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CHURCH: Joining me now is CNN senior political analyst Ron Brownstein.
Good to have you with us.
RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SR. POLITICAL ANALYST: Hello, Rosemary.
CHURCH: House managers led by Adam Schiff presented a coherent and cohesive case based in fact.
How will it go over politically and are Americans even taking note?
BROWNSTEIN: It's interesting, obviously we are a dug-in and highly polarized country. But the polling is striking in a couple of different respects.
First, asked throughout the process, the share of Americans who believe that the president did something wrong in Ukraine has always been higher than the share who support removing him.
In our CNN poll, we are up to 58 percent of the country, saying he abused his power in what he asked the Ukrainian president to do. That is a striking number. Another poll from the Pew Research Center found 63 percent of Americans believe that he has definitely or probably violated the law; an incredible finding, again.
On the ultimate question of removal, both the Pew poll and the CNN poll had 51 percent, a slight majority of Americans, saying they support removing him from office. Doesn't sound like much but keep in mind that when Bill Clinton was being impeached, no more than 35 percent at any point said he should be removed from office and a majority only agreed Richard Nixon should be removed in the very last poll before he resigned.
Half the country is saying we should take the unprecedented set of removing a president from office, is probably about as far as you can get in this highly polarized time. CHURCH: Polls also show the majority of Americans want to see new
witnesses testifying for this impeachment trial, like acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney or former national security adviser John Bolton.
Some Republicans are now indicating they may very well vote with the Democrats to call new witnesses.
How likely is it that the four of them will do that?
BROWNSTEIN: First, as you saw, the House managers today made a very persuasive overall case. But specifically on this point, I thought they were pretty deft at taking the Republican senators listening up to a point of disputed testimony and then saying, you can resolve this. You can ask for the testimony from the direct person involved, John Bolton.
You could ask him the documents that the White House has profuse to provide. It is right there for you. And in any trial anywhere in the country you would have access to this information.
I think they effectively made the case for more documents. I don't think we know. As you point out, there is overwhelming public support for more witnesses and more evidence. I think they made a very persuasive case.
There are a lot of Republicans who simply do not want to grapple with the magnitude of what's being laid out here.
But are there four or five?
I think it's unlikely there will be just four?
I think if it's four, there might be seven or eight.
CHURCH: What happens if the vote is split 50-50 on calling new witnesses?
How does that get resolved, who gets involved?
BROWNSTEIN: I don't think it'll come to that. I think you'll be surprised. If there are three or four, there are other Republicans, some of the older members, more institutionalists, who must worry about the institutional precedent they're setting here.
If a president can say I'm simply going to blanketly (sic) defy, stonewall all requests for information in an effort to cover up or obscure the underlying behavior, what is the precedent for future presidents?
There will be a Democratic president someday and there will be a Republican Senate at some point when there is a Democrat president and they may want some information from them.
CHURCH: But quickly, some Republican senators were restless throughout the nine hours House managers laid out the case. Lindsey Graham left the chamber for an hour and Mitch McConnell didn't take any notes or even look at the documents. Others briefly were there, in and out of the chamber.
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CHURCH: Are they even giving this serious consideration?
BROWNSTEIN: Most of them are not giving it serious consideration. In fact they want to signal that they are dismissing it out of hand. But there are not 51 Republicans who can do that comfortably. There are still Republicans left in swing states.
But also there are institutionalists who worry not only the underlying behavior about what Trump has persuasively shown to have done. But also the implications of essentially giving him a green light.
One thing I feel most confident about is if virtually every Republican in the House and the Senate votes to say this behavior is acceptable, they will down the road find themselves defending behavior this even more egregious because the president understands weakness.
And if they continue to signal to him that when he breaks the window they will sweep up the glass, you can be sure he'll break more windows.
CHURCH: Ron, thank you, always great to get your analysis.
BROWNSTEIN: Thank you.
CHURCH: World Leaders are gathering in leaders are gathering in remembrance, marking the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz while confronting the current rise of anti-Semitism. Back in a moment.
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CHURCH: An extraordinarily gathering of heads of state, princes and grand dukes are meeting in Jerusalem to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz concentration camp and to focus on the rise of anti-Semitism around the world. We turn to Oren Liebermann joining us from Jerusalem with the details.
How are they commemorating this 75th anniversary and who will be in attendance?
OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Rosemary, this will be the biggest gathering of world leaders, members of royal families and dignitaries in the country's history.
Some of the biggest names arriving this morning. Russian President Putin will make his way to Jerusalem and to the Holocaust museum. Mike Pence also arriving a short time ago. Prince Charles expected this morning. The three will speak at today's event, Fifth World Holocaust Forum,
entitled "Remembering the Holocaust, Fighting Anti-Semitism."
Some of the biggest names here, not only Pence, Putin and Prince Charles but House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and many, many others.
It's not just the timing, coinciding with the 74th anniversary of the liberation of the Nazi concentration camp in Poland, it's also the situation in the world today at this point, fears of rising anti- Semitism.
Dresden in Germany a short time ago, two months ago in fact, declaring an emergency for the reemergence of Nazism.
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LIEBERMANN: Of course we have the anti-Semitic incidents in the United States, shootings in San Diego and Pittsburgh to Monsey, to Jersey City, all of that builds into the importance of today.
Meanwhile the Pew Research Center put out some research, suggesting more than half of American adults don't know basic facts about the Holocaust, such as how many Jews were killed or how Hitler came to power. And that echoes CNN's own survey of anti-Semitism in Europe, which said that one in 20 had never heard of the Holocaust and one in four believed Jews had too much influence on business and finance.
It is because of that that this event with some of the world's biggest names takes on even more importance. Many of the world leaders here were hosted last night by Israeli president Reuven Rivlin and he said there's an opportunity here to stand united against extremism, anti- Semitism and racism.
So we will see what the speakers have to say and what ideas they have in combating the world's anti-Semitism today -- Rosemary.
CHURCH: It is a critical move. Oren Liebermann, live from Jerusalem, thank you.
As the world loses more Holocaust survivors every year, a museum in Jerusalem exists to preserve their memories. The Holocaust History Museum at Israel's Yad Vashem memorial tells the story from a Jewish perspective with an emphasis on individual experiences.
Original artifacts, survivor testimonies and personal possessions illustrate the magnitude of the tragedy. Sara Sidner takes us inside.
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ROBERT ROZETT, INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR HOLOCAUST RESEARCH: Yad Vashem comes from the book of Isaiah and it's really an idiom. And the idiom means "permanent memorial." And if you look at it, it looks something like a scar in the Mountain of Remembrance. I think that's what the Holocaust really is in our world.
SARA SIDNER, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It's a bit shocking when you walk in. You see these massive swastikas.
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ROZETT: I think it is. But again, this is showing you something about what this period is. You can't just enter slowly. You kind of dive in.
SIDNER: Where are these books from?
ROZETT: This is recreation of Leszno Street, the main artery in the Warsaw ghetto. These are actual bricks use in the streets of Warsaw along with the tram line that was there.
SIDNER: What do you want people to feel when they start walking into the ghetto?
ROZETT: We want them to feel maybe what proudness (sic) this is and understand something about the suffering. If you see the photos around you, you see tremendous suffering, especially of children.
Knowing their names is important. When you see their faces, you understand even more. We're talking about 6 million human beings, each with a family, a background, something very human.
The suitcases were left with names and addresses and information. It's a personal thing.
Who doesn't understand traveling with a suitcase?
SIDNER: You also have little baby slippers.
ROZETT: We do. Yes. They're heart-rendering (sic), these things. When you look at the items and tie them to the story, you don't need photographs to understand the atrocity.
Things were taken from them, shoes that look innocuous.
What are shoes?
But understand whose shoes these were and what happened to the owners and you begin to get a feeling of the quantity of what's going on here.
SIDNER: Why do you think anti-Semitism is again growing in places like Europe and the U.S.?
ROZETT: It could be because we're in a period of tremendous change in our world. Often then anti-Semitism comes out even stronger.
SIDNER: You can touch things here. You can experience things in a different way.
What is this?
ROZETT: This is a camp called Flossenburg, where people were working, digging out stone, filling carts. This is one of the carts.
SIDNER: There are 1,000 points of proof that you can experience here to show you just a tad of what life was like.
ROZETT: Ultimately we want people to understand that the Holocaust was caused by people. It wasn't a cosmic event or monsters; it was human beings who were motivated by ideas. And they brought this about, which means we need to understand what those ideas were.
Ultimately we want to learn how to go about preventing anything like this from happening anywhere else?
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ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Welcome back to CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Rosemary Church. I want to take a look at our top story. A lockdown on public transportation is in effect in Wuhan, China to contain the coronavirus outbreak. Outbound flights and trains have been suspended as have local buses, ferries, and subways.
Chinese Officials have reported 17 deaths so far and nearly 600 infections. The closure of the rail stations comes at the worst possible time right in the middle of the Lunar New Year travel rush, meaning millions of people may have to change their plans. Wuhan has three stations that connect China's high-speed passenger train network to other major cities.
Now one of the biggest challenges to containing the coronavirus is the international air travel. Airports around the world are now taking extraordinary precautions to prevent a wider outbreak. CNN's Isa Soares explains.
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ISA SOARES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Before they can be bored in Moscow, each passenger on this plane from China has their body temperature scanned. Russian health workers are carefully screening for contagious and potentially deadly virus. Anyone was suspicious symptoms would be isolated.
Once inside the airport, thermal imaging looks for any abnormalities. There are similar scenes in Nigeria with thermal scanners check each arrival from zones considered high risk. Transport officials in Kazakhstan are also taking precautions as a growing list of countries work to stop the spread of the coronavirus, implementing strict screenings, adding checkpoints, and increasing patient isolation.
All public transportation is suspended in the city of Wuhan with a SARS-like illness was first detected. They're appearing to originate in eastern China. The outbreak is now impacting air travel right around the world.
ALLISON ARWADY, DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC HEALTH, CHICAGO: The CDC appropriately said let's actually change some practices to make it so we can really reach virtually 100 percent of the travelers who originate their travel in Wuhan.
SOARES: In the United States, officials are now stepping up detection measures at major airports. Authorities there are calling the outbreak a rapidly evolving situation as the country's first case of the coronavirus is confirmed. Closer to China airports on high alert as containment efforts intensify.
Passenger screenings now in at least a dozen airports outside of China and that includes Malaysia, Vietnam, Japan, South Korea, and Indonesia where transport officials also carry health alert cards to help doctors quickly identify the disease.
In Thailand where at least three are infected, anyone showing symptoms is quarantined and monitored for 24 hours.
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ANUTIN CHARNVIRAKUL, MINISTER OF HEALTH, THAILAND: We are fully alerted. We are fully alerted. But we are not able to prohibit people from traveling. So what we can do is detecting and bring any suspected to receive treatment from our service facility.
SOARES: Across the region, containment faces another challenge. The start of the Lunar New Year quickly approaches which is the largest annual human migration on Earth as hundreds of millions prepared to travel for the holiday. Officials worldwide prepare to battle the spreading virus. Isa Soares, CNN.
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CHURCH: And our Richard Quest is an expert on international air travel and joins us now from Davos in Switzerland. Good to see you, Richard. So airports understandably on high alert looking for any signs of the virus. As we just saw in Isa's report, they using thermal imaging and scanning to locate anyone displaying a high temperature. But what about those who are already infected but not yet showing symptoms? That is a big concern. What can they do about that? What are they doing about that?
RICHARD QUEST, CNN BUSINESS EDITOR AT LARGE: Well, there you have the nub of the problem. Public health emergencies get worse before they get better. The good news is that the authorities and the airlines know exactly what to do. And the measures being taken so far are the Orthodox measures. You screen, you scan, you monitor, and you quarantine, and that's already put in place. And that will prevent too many more people from if you like getting further into the field, further away from the original cause.
But to your point, those who are already overseas, where you've really nothing else to do other than wait for the virus to display itself. When people feel ill and unwell, that's why the messages go to the doctor so they can be quarantined, and the virus doesn't spread any further.
As I say, if you look back at other viruses, and the authorities know exactly how to deal with this, and they've been exceptionally effective, you do get a rising scale, then the measures kick in, and it tails off quite quickly.
CHURCH: All right, Richard Quest bringing us the latest situation there from Davos. Obviously, surgical masks are critical as well. I appreciate you bringing this up to date on the situation, Richard. Let's turn now to Steven Jiang. He's in Beijing with reaction on social media to this outbreak. So Steven, what are you seeing on social media across Asia particularly? How concerned are people?
STEVEN JIANG, CNN SENIOR PRODUCER: Well, Rosemary, increasingly so. You know, we've heard that about this drastic measure of the authorities here placing a city of 11 million people, Wuhan, effectively in quarantine. That is almost unprecedented. But a lot of people were seeing online that this measure could have come a lot earlier. Because remember, the first case appeared more than a month ago even after the first cluster of cases were traced back to that one seafood market in Wuhan, that market remain open for weeks teeming with people.
That of course, coupled with the fact that hundreds of thousands of people have been traveling from Johan to their hometowns for the Chinese New Year, really, that in the mind of many people, including experts may explain how -- why this virus has been able to spread so far and wide and so quickly.
But the number one pressing issue right now, Rosemary, seemed to be the lack of medical facilities and resources in the city. A lot of people posting very frustrated messages online, even at local officials saying that they had been waiting outside hospitals for hours and hours only to be turned away when they finally got to see a doctor or nurse, even though they were displaying symptoms of this coronavirus, because the hospital's simply did not have the space or resources to accommodate them.
So the local health care system seems to have been completely overwhelmed. That seems to be the number one -- number one issue right now. A lot of people are complaining a lot of people are venting their frustration. And that could be really a disturbing thing for the authorities to handle and take care of at this juncture, Rosemary.
CHURCH: Totally understand, information is so critical and response from authorities are certainly so important at this time. Steven Jiang bringing us the very latest there, reaction from social media and joining us live from Beijing.
Well, three people are From an aircraft firing bushfires crashed in the mountains of New South Wales, Australia. The C-130, Hercules Air Tanker went down in a ball of fire shortly before 1:30 p.m. local time. The Australian Fire and Emergency Service authorities told CNN the casualties were Americans.
Now they worked for a company contracted by the Rural Fire Service to help combat the bushfires that have been ravaging New South Wales for weeks now. Here's how an official describe their work.
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GLADYS, BEREJIKLIAN, PREMIER, NEW SOUTH WALES: It demonstrates the dangerous work currently being undertaken and it also demonstrates the conditions that our firefighters are working on. There are in excess of 70 aircraft that have been used today alone. And today is a stark and horrible reminder of the dangerous conditions that our volunteers, our emergency services, personnel across a number of agencies undertake on a daily basis.
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CHUCH: The plane's crew have been fighting bushfires in Australia's Alpine region. In recent days, the U.S. has sent additional wildfire personnel to assist with the ongoing bushfire crisis in Australia. We'll take a short break here. In just a few hours, day two of the Trump impeachment trial will begin. But will impeachment managers be able to convince the Senate to allow witnesses at the trial? We will ask an expert what he thinks. That's next.
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CHURCH: Back now to our other big story, the Senate impeachment trial of Donald Trump. House Democrats spend all afternoon and evening laying out the case that the president should be removed from office. We want to bring in CNN Legal Analyst Michael Zeldin, for his thoughts on the arguments so far. Always good to have you with us.
MICHAEL ZELDIN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Thanks, Rosemary.
CHURCH: So impeachment House managers don't have access to any new witnesses at this juncture, but they're certainly making the most of what they do have, and that, of course, is the President and his administration's own words as well as testimony from the House impeachment inquiry. How solid is their case against the president so far?
ZELDIN: I thought they made a very compelling argument with respect to the abuse of power argument, which was principally where they argued today. I think tomorrow and later on Saturday, or Friday when they do their last day, we'll hear more of the obstruction of Congress.
But I think that they made a pretty compelling argument that the President of the United States solicited interference in the U.S. election for his personal benefit at the expense of national security and national interest. I think there is no way you could listen to Adam Schiff, the principal House manager and come away thinking that what the President did was acceptable.
[02:45:26]
CHURCH: So how do you expect to the President's legal team will reply to the case set out by the House managers, certainly by what you've seen so far as they tried to defend the president against these charges?
ZELDIN: So on the law, I think they're going to argue that because the House managers didn't charge a crime denominated in the Criminal Code, that the impeachment is imperfect from a legal standpoint, that it should be dismissed for failure to state a criminal law violation. I think that's wrong constitutionally but I think that'll be stage one of their argument.
And then stage two of the argument is that they'll say the President has brought authority as commander in chief. You may not like his style, you may not like the way he talks, but it is within his constitutional rights to do that. And so factually, what he did was not a violation of the high crimes and misdemeanors standards set out in the Constitution.
CHURCH: But of course, it doesn't have to be a crime. So that would be easily argued and there'd be an easy pushback on that, wouldn't they?
ZELDIN: There should be. But we have 53 senators who are all Republican who seem to sort of at the moment, hell-bent on getting this thing done without witnesses, without documentary evidence, and that if they have an arguable hook that you need a crime, then they may just hang their hat on that and call it a day.
CHURCH: In the end, do you believe Republican senators will carry out their constitutional duty and give full consideration to all the facts presented by House managers, or do you think this will follow the way of the partisan voting that we've all witnessed so far?
ZELDIN: Well, one can remain optimistic. I think maybe there's a naivete to my optimism. But it seemed to me that when Adam Schiff, in presenting his case said, if you'd like to know more about this, let's get witnesses. If you'd like to see what this look like in writing. Let's subpoena documents.
You know, it's almost impossible for me to understand how a senator could refuse to receive additional relevant evidence. But these are very partisan times in which we live and we'll just see whether they adhere to their oath to do impartial justice, or whether they adhere to their party affiliation and fall under the spell, if you will, of the President.
CHURCH: What's your gut feeling?
ZELDIN: My gut feeling is that we'll get a witness. But as I say, I am optimistic but hopefully, I think there's a realism because there is just such a compelling need to hear from John Bolton in particular who could put firsthand evidence in before the Senate so that they can make a decision, at least based on one firsthand knowledge witness.
CHURCH: Yes. And of course, there's nothing stopping him from going public at any time that he would like to. But presumably, he's not as committed as how he has suggested. Michael Zeldin, many thanks to you for joining us. We appreciate it.
ZELDIN: Thanks, Rosemary.
CHURCH: Well, French President Emmanuel Macron is in Jerusalem with other world leaders ahead of next Monday's 75th anniversary of the Liberation of the Auschwitz Death Camp during World War II. On Wednesday, he toured various sites in the old city, but when he visited a French Cathedral, he got into a dust-up with Israeli security forces. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
EMMANUEL MACRON, PRESIDENT OF FRANCE: We know perfectly. Everybody knows the rules. I don't like what you do in front of me. Go outside, please. I'm sorry.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: Mr. Macron was upset that some of the Israeli security detail try to enter the church because it's technically French property. The same thing actually happened when President Jacques Chirac visited that same Cathedral back in 1996. Chirac refused to go inside until the Israeli security left.
Two environmental activists meet for the first time in Davos. Coming up a united message across generations from Prince Charles and Greta Thunberg. We're back with that in just a moment.
[02:50:00]
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CHURCH: Prince Charles is adding his voice to the urgent calls for action on climate change. The Prince of Wales has been an environmentalist for decades. And on Wednesday, he met one of the leaders of the next generation of activists, Greta Thunberg. Max Foster has this exclusive interview with the Prince.
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MAX FOSTER, CNN ROYAL CORRESPONDENT: It was a fascinating moment to see you there next to Greta, two icons of the climate campaign really from very different generations. What do you make of her and her contribution to the debate?
CHARLES, PRINCE OF WALES: Well, I mean, she's remarkable. Because I -- well she represents one of the main reasons why I've been trying to make this effort all these years because as I said, I didn't want my grandchildren to accuse me of not doing something about this in time. And of course, there they are. All her generation, almost my grandchildren, all desperate because not enough has happened. We've left it too late.
So I've always worried about the fact that so often in terms of humanity, we need everything to make it. So you have to get -- you have to hit a brick wall in experiencing catastrophe. Only this time, because with this kind of disaster we've engineered, it takes a huge amount to turn the whole thing back to how it should be to restore the balance.
FOSTER: I was interested to hear your positivity around the Paris Climate Accord. A lot of people are being very negative about whether or not it's achievable at all. Just explain to me why you think it is achievable.
CHARLES: Because I think partly we've suddenly (INAUDIBLE) 35 years ago, when I first started trying to encourage corporate social environmental responsibility. And I had endless workshops, conferences, galleries, seminars, dinners, you name it, to try and encourage the private sector and executives to take all these issues seriously.
We could never get the capital markets or the financial services sector to take it seriously. But in the last two, three years, as I was saying just now, there's been this extraordinary change where suddenly there's a huge amount more investment, I mean, vast amount wanting to find sustainable investments to put their money into the right things. Because at the moment there aren't enough sustainable projects that have been worked out.
So how do they work at the investment model that's needed for instance, for nature-based solutions, which is one way of trying to tackle this, and all -- and of course, the other way is all the different technologies, there's carbon capture. There's an amazing range of remarkable ideas and techniques, which are there but undercapitalized. So, there's an immense challenges.
I just been to a gathering we had where the former Secretary of State John Kerry was describing, you know, just how I know the barriers and the challenges are vast, but there is a real opportunity now to link the either the investors with the projects. And I know just from the case of the Commonwealth is such vast challenges there with deforestation and fisheries and agriculture and what we could do is transform a lot of this particularly with -- by putting the second of bio-economy at the center of all this.
And the bio-economy is now even more possible in terms of what are the returns you can make the difference you can make to people and their environment, the use of wo0d, what they can now do the forester sector tell me in terms of wo0d-based products being used for alternatives to plastics, chemicals, aviation fuels, everything, and building materials with immense strength.
All this provides a real incentive to do the right thing. To put trees again where they're needed in order to capture carbon but also to help fuel an economy that centers around nature's own services, the ecosystem services we depend on.
[02:55:34]
FOSTER: You talked about how the reason you're doing this is for the children, for the grandchildren, for your grandchildren. What vision Do you see for the likes of Prince George if something isn't done now?
CHARLES: Well, I mean it's not very encouraging is it if you look at what's happening at the moment? And we can't go on like this with every month another record in temperatures being broken. It went you know, warmer, and warmer, and warmer. Last year was the hottest ever. And we're already seeing a winter where this is even warmer.
So just -- if we leave it too long, and we have done, just growing things, it's going to become difficult. I mean, even you know, in many of these forest areas, in other parts of the world, if you -- if you deforest below a certain percentage, you end up with breaking the hydrological cycle, and then you can't plant anything because there's no water to, you know, to keep the system going. So we only have a very short window.
And this is why it's absolutely critical, I feel. And with the help of the World Economic Forum is why we're trying to bring as many of these investors together with as many of the companies and sectors as possible, and try and do this each month from now on, in order to try and see if we can create the right framework and the right response to make it possible for you know, your children and my grandchildren to have a decent, reasonable future.
FOSTER: Your Royal Highness, thank you very much.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHURCH: Prince Charles talking to our Max Foster there. Thank you so much for joining us. I'm Rosemary Church. Remember to connect with me anytime on Twitter. And I'll be back with more news in just a moment. You're watching CNN.
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