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Virus Has Now Spread To All 31 Provinces Of China; Senators Try To Sway Undecided Colleagues On Witnesses; Palestinians To Seek U.N. Action Against Trump Plan; Residents In Wuhan, China Try to Cope Under Lockdown; Norway Losing Snow Due to Warmer Winters; Senators Question Impeachment Managers, Trump Lawyers. Aired 1-2a ET

Aired January 30, 2020 - 01:00   ET

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

[01:00:00]

JOHN VAUSE, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Increasingly isolated and counting the costs of this outbreak. A very Trumpian defense for an impeach President. The President's own personal interest is the national interest when he's up for reelection and since never an abuse of power.

Born of anger and frustration with raucous debate and parliamentary deadlock is midwives, get ready Brexit is almost here.

Much remains unknown about the Wuhan coronavirus. But at this point, we do know it's spreading fast, faster than SARS, faster than anyone imagined. Just hours from now the Geneva-based World Health Organization will hold another emergency meeting and decide if the world is, in fact, facing a global emergency.

China has now reported almost 8,000 confirmed cases eclipsing the SARS outbreak with at least 170 dead. And there are more than 100 infections outside of China, including five in the United States. With that in mind, the White House says it has set up a task force to monitor the threat in the United States.

CNN's Steven Jiang joins us once again live from Beijing. So there's almost 8,000 confirmed cases on the mainland. There are reports of another 9,000 suspected cases, and then the ongoing suspicions that those numbers are being grossly underestimated at the, you know, to begin with. So at this point beyond you know, maybe 17,000 people, do we know how many people or is there an estimate idea of what this potentially could be looking like in terms of numbers?

STEVEN JIANG, CNN SENIOR PRODUCER: Well, John, the authorities here are saying look, number is just one thing. They're saying, compared to SARS back in 2003, the severity of the cases, the mortality rate of the patients so far have been much lower. So they're trying to make this severity argument to the domestic audience here.

But of course, they're still treating this very seriously. At the epic center, for example, they are now focusing on the taking in and treating more patients as reinforcements have come in from around the country, including medical supplies and medical personnel. But even so even the province's governor as recently as Wednesday night, was still telling the whole nation that they are -- they are having severe shortage of medical supplies across the province.

Now, this, of course, is now increasingly a nationwide effort because the virus has spread far and wide. You mentioned some of the numbers but now we also understand, in addition to Hubei, 13 other provinces have more than 100 confirmed cases. And now every one of the 31 provinces on the mainland have confirmed cases.

So now it's a nationwide effort. That's why you're seeing authorities in other provinces are really tightening their measures against this virus as well. Here in Beijing, they're saying they're now renovating this large facility on the -- on the outskirts of a city that was used to during in SARS with more than 1,000 hospital beds. They're preparing this facility to make sure it's ready to be reopened if needed. So this is really based on these efforts and the numbers, this is really not going to end anytime soon, John.

VAUSE: That is -- that seems pretty apparent, unfortunately, Steven. But in some ways, I guess the Lunar New Year holiday has been a blessing and a curse or concerns because so many people were traveling, they are in close proximity for days and days at a time on public transport. A blessing in other ways, because it's a week when everybody pretty much once they get there, they stay home, they don't go out.

They don't have to work, again, they're all saying in the one place. It's very easy to contain the population for I guess for that week or so. What happens next week when these people are going to go back to work or people want to actually start moving and heading back to the cities?

JIANG: That is a huge challenge. Now, to that end, of course, a lot of the local governments, including Shanghai, for example, have further delayed the reopening of businesses in schools because the national government has said, look, we are going to reopen on the third, but local governments have their own say in terms of how businesses and the schools located within their jurisdiction when exactly they should reopen.

So a lot of local governments have further delay the reopening, then, of course, authorities also preparing for the mass migration of people probably on a smaller scale than normally it would be, but still we're talking about China, 1.4 billion people. So even on a smaller scale, you are dealing with the millions of people.

That's why there are especially strengthening at detection measures and prevention measures at transportation hubs, railway stations, airports, bus stations. But John, as you know, sometimes having regulations and measures is one thing, but enforcement is another. Actually, when I came into the office today, you have worked in this office, you know we are located within a diplomatic countdown. They are now checking people's temperature before they allow people in.

So this security guard at our gate had trouble, a lot of trouble using this thermometer. So finally, he let me in because he tested my temperature, it was only 32 degrees Celsius. That's about 90 degrees, 90 degrees Fahrenheit, so I'm definitely not running a fever, John.

[01:05:19]

VAUSE: No, but you should see a doctor. That doesn't sound good. (INAUDIBLE) I think. But Steven, thank you. I remember those days when they would check you coming in and out. I always wonder just how effective it was. Steven Jian there live for us in Beijing. Let's get Ryan Patel now a senior fellow with the Drucker School of Management at Claremont Graduate University for more on the economic impact for all this. Ryan, it's been a while. Nice to see you.

RYAN PATEL, SENIOR FELLOW, DRUCKER SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT, CLAREMONT UNIVERSITY: Likewise, John.

VAUSE: It's always been tricky putting $1 figure on the cost of these outbreaks, especially in terms of lost GDP or economic growth, because what is lost in one quarter often rebounds in the next or one after that. Having said that, the U.S. Fed is closely watching this crisis. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEROME POWELL, CHAIRMAN, U.S. FEDERAL RESERVE: There will clearly be implications at least in the near term for Chinese output and would I guess for some of their closing neighbors, and we'll just have to see what the effect is globally.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: And according to one study, the costs in 2003, the SARS -- of SARS for the world economy as a whole are close to U.S. $40 billion. OK, so saying that $40 billion, is it possible to know at this point the economic impact this time around? Are there other factors which might mitigate the losses or are there factors here which might make them worse?

PATEL: Well, there's arguments for both. But definitely where we are as an economy than we were 2003 we're a lot stronger. The markets are lot stronger, the bubble is not there, the recession is not there, like it was for SARS. But the flip side of that is, China now is the number two economy in the world. They weren't that 10 years ago.

And we also live in a little bit more integrated, intertwined global economy. So when you might see a one percent drop in GDP for maybe potentially China, that could be detrimental for the rest of Southeast Asia, especially when there is that uncertainty behind it with specifically now you starting to see us companies reacting to it and trying to provide some damage behind that.

You know, that's where this kind of gets a little bit out of -- it starts going down the hill, right? Because it's hard to stop when this virus continues to make an impact it is not -- if it's long term.

VAUSE: That's the thing. You know, the saying used to be, when the U.S. would sneeze, the rest of the world caught a cold. I guess the question is, you know, when China catches a virus, what happens to the rest of us? And we've seen that sort of play out in a way because many international carriers have started to scale back flights to China or cancel them all out completely. He's part of a report from CNN's Alison Kosik.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ALISON KOSIK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: British Airways says it's suspending all direct flights between Britain and China after a warning from the U.K. Foreign Office. American Airlines became the second U.S. carrier to suspend some of its flights to China claiming concern over public health. It's significantly shrinking passenger demand. United Airlines, Air Asia, Cathay Pacific, Air India, and Fin Air have all announced that similar plans.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: A number cruise lines too are making some big changes to their schedules. Carnival has canceled cruises on its Costa ships until February 4th, that's cruises to China, they will be canceled. Also, the Spectrum of the Seas which is a Caribbean cruise liner, which sails from Shanghai, that is being suspended until January 31st. And I guess they'll reassess after that.

Is this just the sort of the start of the ice cracking? You know, it seems once one airline makes a move like that, it's not long, and we're seeing others follow and then it always becomes sort of an industry-standard that until one stops, eventually they all stop.

PATEL: Well, here's the thing. They have to. The right thing to do is not to get more consumers and their employees sick. And when one breaks it, that just means they all have to break it because they don't want to be the one that is going to be picked on. I mean, I hate to say this, but when it comes to strategy and branding for these companies, imagine that if one of the airlines contracted it, and then move it to another country. Imagine what would happen to their stock. Imagine what would happen to their leadership. And I'm not saying these airlines are doing that because of that, but to your point, one company does it, everyone else is going to follow it because they don't want to take that risk.

And I think when you see others do it in front of you, you realize, oh, wait, that's a big deal. When you see McDonald's and Starbucks closing stores, you're like, oh, it makes any industry take a step back especially those that are traveling, like cruises, like, this is not an easy decision. I mean, it's easy -- it's an easy outside perspective to say, hey, close everything. Internally, they're going to lose money.

For cruises to close shut down shop, that will cause havoc in their revenues, just because that is a major operation. And so it is a big deal that they're doing this. I'm glad that they're doing this. But it's one of those things where I don't know much of a choice that they have to and how long will it be able to go without this route?

[01:10:05] VAUSE: Because of the risk, the cost of the risk that continues on, obviously, is much greater by that -- by a factor of many compared to what it costs them for the actual cancellation. There's also the impact on manufacturing. And you know, for example, maybe that shiny new iPhone might not be ready for launch. On a conference call this week, Apple CEO Tim Cook said, we do have some supplies in the Wuhan area. All the supplies there are alternate sources and we're obviously working on mitigation plans to make up any expected production losses.

I mean, it's this type of crisis which most corporations if they're smart they've planned for, even though there is still a disruption, there are still costs. I guess what if the company hasn't planned for something like this?

PATEL: Well, major companies typically have a global management crisis team. Just because you have the team, doesn't mean that you actually execute on it. And here's a good example of -- I think compared to SARS from 2003 to now, I think these major companies, specifically Apple, Google, Amazon, really kind of jumped in real quickly so we're not going to send our employees anymore to China. They're just putting that -- putting that kind of hammered down.

Now for those companies and countries that do not have these plans to move quickly enough, this is detrimental. This is detrimental for -- the whole point of all businesses and governments have come together is to stop this virus, right? That's the goal. And then everyone kind of can make money and go forward and be able to do that. And that should be the main purpose, not to kind of sneak through and say, let me get an extra dime out of it.

And I think, again, these are -- this management, these prevention, international crisis is something that I hate to say this going for in the future, you need to have plans like this. Every company should be able to. No matter if you're a big or small company, even startups should have something like this to understand what to do for their employees' sake and the consumer wellbeing for the community.

VAUSE: Yes. It's like the Pentagon. They always have plans drawn up you know, for invading this country or if this happens, I just pull them off the shelf when needed. Sometimes they don't have the right situation but you got to have something I guess if you're a major company dealing in these parts of the world. So, Ryan, as always, thanks a lot.

PATEL: Thanks, John.

VAUSE: Well, the fight over witnesses in Donald Trump's impeachment trial will resume in the coming hours. Senators will have a second day for questions for House Democrats and the President's legal team. As they make their -- as they make their full testimony from the -- sorry -- as they made a case, rather, for testimony for the former National Security Advisor John Bolton, and Joe Biden's son Hunter. CNN, Athena Jones has details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) ATHENA JONES, CNN U.S. CORRESPONDENT: Senators apparently haven't heard enough as day one of questions and answers slid into the late hours Wednesday. The three Republican senators who have publicly said they could support calling witnesses are setting the tone for the day, asking Trump's lawyers --

JOHN ROBERTS, CHIEF JUSTICE, SUPREME COURT: If President Trump had more than one motive for his alleged conduct such as the pursuit of personal political advantage, rooting out corruption, and the promotion of national interests, how should the Senate consider more than one motive in its assessment of Article One?

JONES: Their response?

PATRICK PHILBIN, TRUMP IMPEACHMENT ATTORNEY: Once you're into mixed- motive land, it's clear that their case fails.

ALAN DERSHOWITZ, TRUMP IMPEACHMENT ATTORNEY: And if a president does something which he believes will help him get elected in the public interest, that cannot be the kind of quid pro quo that results in impeachment.

JONES: After days of strategizing, both parties use dozens of leading often loaded questions to push their sides case. Republicans honing in on Hunter Biden.

ROBERTS: What did Hunter Biden do for the money that Burisma Holdings paid him?

PAM BONDI, TRUMP IMPEACHMENT ATTORNEY: Hunter Biden did attend one board meeting in Monaco.

JONES: But one question Trump's lawyers couldn't answer, whether Trump ever mentioned concerns about the Biden's to Ukrainian or American officials, before the former vice president entered the 2020 race.

PHILBIN: I'm limited to what's in the record. And what's in the record is determined by what the House of Representatives sought. So, I can't point to something in the record that shows President Trump at an earlier time mentioning specifically something related to Joe or Hunter Biden.

JONES: Democrats trusting the need to hear from witnesses, like former National Security Advisor John Bolton, who has said he is willing to testify before the Senate if subpoenaed.

REP. JASON CROW (D-CO): If you have any lingering questions about direct evidence, any thoughts about anything we just talked about, anything I just relayed, or that we've talked about the last week, there is a way to shed additional light on it. You can subpoena Ambassador Bolton and ask him that question directly.

REP. HAKEEM JEFFRIES (D-NY): The Senate can get to the truth. You can get to the truth by calling witnesses who can testify.

JONES: The Trump team's response. PHILBIN: The idea that the House can do an incomplete job in trying to find out what witnesses there are, having them come testified, trying to find out the facts, just rush something through and bring it here as an impeachment and then start trying to call all the witnesses, and it would forever change the relationship between the House of Representatives and the Senate in terms of the way impeachments operate.

[01:15:20]

JONES: While in a particularly fiery moment, listing the witnesses they would call.

JAY SEKULOW, TRUMP IMPEACHMENT ATTORNEY: I want Adam Schiff. I want Hunter Biden. I want Joe Biden. I want -- I want the whistleblower. I wanted -- I want to also understand there may be additional people within the House Intelligence Committee that have had conversations with that whistleblower. I get anybody we want.

JONES: And delivering a stark warning to the senators.

SEKULOW: By the way, if we get anybody we want, we will be here for a very long time.

JONES: Trump's team also making the case for protecting executive privilege.

PHILBIN: To suggest that the National Security Advisor, well, we'll just subpoena him, he'll come in, and that'll be easy. There won't be problem. That's not the way it would work because there's a vital constitutional privilege at stake there.

JONES: Democrats arguing Trump waive that privilege with this tweet.

REP. JERRY NADLER (D-NY): He kind of characterized the conversation, and then put it into the public domain, and then claim executive privilege against it.

JONES: Trump's team also urging senators to let the voters decide.

PHILBIN: The President is the one who gets to determine policy because he's been elected by the people to do that. And we're right now only a few months away from another election where the people can decide for themselves whether they like what the President has done with that authority or not.

JONES: Schiff spilling out the consequences of not removing Trump from office.

SCHIFF: Bear in mind that efforts to cheat an election are always going to be in proximity to an election. And if you say you can't hold a president accountable in the election year where they're trying to cheat in that election, then you are giving them carte blanche.

JONES: Athena Jones, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: This Friday, Britain will officially be leaving the E.U. Will it be a case of a World War II classic, We'll Meet Again or maybe Good Riddance by Green Day. Details in a moment. And calling it the slap of the century. Palestinians taking Donald Trump's Mideast peace plan to the U.N.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PEDRAM JAVAHERI, CNN INTERNATIONAL METEOROLOGIST: It's January 30th, 2020. I'm Meteorologist Pedram Javaheri for CNN weather watch in across the United States. The corners, either mostly sunny or shower here. Southwest, we'll go with sunny skies, southeast much the same, and northeast also enjoying generally dry weather but it is across the northwest, the talk of town has been a historic run of cloudy conditions, from where I noted that it is January 30th. The last time it was officially sunny in the city of Seattle was exactly two months ago today on November 30th. Last time they saw sunshine across that region and incredible run for an area well known for soggy conditions.

But across the southeastern U.S., the wet weather pushing offshore, we'll enjoy high pressure in place. It is back into the northwest there where the month of January ends with rainfall potentially every single day in the month of January except New Year's Day across that region of Seattle. Notice again the wet spot across the country is the northwestern United States.

High temperatures as such. Vancouver, B.C. eight degrees with some showers. Atlanta at 14, Chicago, cloudy conditions at one degree. And how about we bring in the month of February with an incredible run a warm-up to 13 degrees come Monday afternoon across portions of the northeastern United States. Havana, Cuba, upper 20s, Kingston, Jamaica almost 30 degrees with sunny skies and across Cartagena, should enjoy a warm one as well. Highs there around 32 degrees.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[01:20:00]

VAUSE: On Friday night, as Big Ben strikes 11:00 p.m. in London, it'll be Midnight in Brussels, and after a long drawn out bitter divorce, the U.K. will formally withdraw from the E.U. The European Parliament gave final approval with a 621 to 49 vote for the U.K. to patch up. It's a farewell full of tears, cheers, and a few gees. Here's CNN's Nina dos Santos.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NINA DOS SANTOS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: And now, I will sign the letter. This is the moment Brexit became law. In an emotional session in the European Parliament, to the sound of song, the withdrawal bill cleared its final hurdle.

Some express sadness.

URSULA VON DER LEYEN, PRESIDENT, EUROPEAN COMMISSION: Only in the agony of parting, do we look into the depth of love. We will always love you and we will never be far. Long live, Europe.

DOS SANTOS: While others was somewhat smug.

NIGEL FARAGE, LEADER, BREXIT PARTY: What do we want from Europe? If we want trade, friendship, cooperation, reciprocity, we don't need a European Commission, we don't need a European court, we don't need these institutions and all of this power. And I can promise you, both in the U.K. and indeed in the Brexit policy, we love Europe, we just hate the European Union. It's as simple as that.

DOS SANTOS: But all in all, there was relief the bruising battle had come to an end.

MAIREAD MCGUINNESS, VICE PRESIDENT, EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT: Can I please ask for silence? Please sit down. Resume your seats. Put your flags away. You're leaving and take them with you.

DOS SANTOS: The UK's Union Flag won't just be banished from the chamber after this week. All traces of Britain's presence will be discreetly removed after midnight on Friday. And 73 elected members from the U.K. will lose their seats. Lawmakers like Alexandra Phillips from the Greens, in the job less than a year with barely enough time to decorate her office.

ALEXANDRA PHILLIPS, GREEN PARTY, MEP: I was down, profoundly sad, and pretty devastated that this is ending. I last worked here 12 years ago for green MEP then, and it's the dream job in U.K. politics, if you like. And I'm particularly worried about what might happen later this year in terms of a No Deal for people back in the U.K.

DOS SANTOS: But for the Brexit Party, which has achieved its goal, it's time to go home to hold Westminster to its word. For June Mummery, that means fighting for UK's sovereignty over its waters.

JUNE MUMMERY, BREXIT PARTY, MEP: Oh, I felt absolutely wonderful. I just can't wait to leave. I've been campaigning a long time for our U.K. fishing industry. And once we leave the E.U., we can take back full control of our waters and start to rejuvenate coastal communities that have been abandoned in our country for a long time.

DOS SANTOS: After the vote, a leaving reception complete with a memento. For some, it's a chance to say (INAUDIBLE) and for others (INAUDIBLE) for good. Nina dos Santos, CNN, Brussels.

VAUSE: It seems a deal of the century hasn't quite lived up to its name, at least as far as the Palestinians are concerned. They're now taking the U.S. plan for Middle East peace to the U.N. This edict allows Israel to annex parts of the West Bank and impose strict restrictions on a future Palestinian state. Arab states will discuss this at a meeting in Cairo on Saturday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[01:25:17]

RIYAD MANSOUR, PALESTINIAN AMBASSADOR TO UNITED NATIONS: These consultations will be culminated in a visit by President Abbas within the next two weeks to the Security Council, in which he will put before the entire international community, the reaction of the Palestinian people and the Palestinian leadership against this onslaught against the national rights of the Palestinian people by the Trump administration.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: The plan showers Israel with concessions and that's a big win for a prime minister who's just been indicted on corruption. Oren Liebermann has more now from Jerusalem.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: This has been a continued celebration for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and for Israel's right-wing. After being given the green light to proceed with annexation of the Jordan Valley and the Israeli settlements in the West Bank, Netanyahu held meetings with the Secretary of State and the Secretary of Defense in the .US., thanking the Trump administration every step of the way.

The White House's vision for Middle East peace is everything Israel wants and it doesn't require Israel to do anything. It gives Israel all the land it controls. If the Palestinians want to state, however, they have to meet a long series of requirements, some of which are nearly impossible for them to meet, not that they would want to try in the first place under this plan.

Critics have said the timing of the plan was released specifically and designed by the White House to try to boost the chances of Netanyahu winning the upcoming election in March. But back in December 2018, before the elections in April, Netanyahu was actually asked by considering a comprehensive plans so close to an election. He said he wouldn't do it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, PRIME MINISTER, ISRAEL (through translator): You cannot bring a national plan on election eve without being given a mandate for it. You cannot bring a national plan on election eve, and I still hold that opinion. I do not intend to bring a national plan on election eve.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LIEBERMANN: Fast Forward 13 months to present day and Netanyahu has not just considered the plan, he has wholeheartedly accepted it as the opportunity of the century. Netanyahu has failed the former government twice in recent elections. He is in charge of a transition government and has no mandate to govern. But 34 days before the election, he made it clear he intends to proceed with the administration's plan with the Palestinians or without.

Meanwhile, news that Netanyahu was formally indicted on Tuesday, that got bumped to the back pages. Netanyahu is looking forward to an election and to annexation. Oren Liebermann, CNN, Jerusalem.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: Well, living under lockdown. Ahead, we'll take you inside Wuhan, the city at the epicenter of the viral outbreak in China where millions are quarantined. So, how do they spend their days?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[01:31:32]

JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back everybody. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM.

I'm John Vause with the headlines this hour.

President Donald Trump's attorneys and House Democrats will answer more questions from senators in the coming days as they make their case for and against witnesses in his impeachment trial. Democrats need four Republicans to join them in a vote which is expected on Friday.

European parliament has given final approval to Britain's divorce from the E.U. on Friday. Emotions were mixed in a Wednesday with several lawmakers left in tears. U.K. will still remain within the E.U.'s economic arrangements until the end of the year, probably a lot longer.

The World Health Organization will meet in the coming hours to decided if the Wuhan coronavirus is a global emergency. The virus has now spread wider than the SARS outbreak with almost 8,000 cases confirmed in China and at least 170 dead. The White House has now set up a task force to monitor the threat inside the U.S.

Wuhan, China the outbreak's epicenter has been under lockdown for about a week now as official try to contain the spread. Residents in the city of 11 million are trying to make the best of what is a very bad situation.

CNN's Isa Soares has their story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HELEN CHEN, WUHAN RESIDENT, UNIVERSITY STUDENT IN AUSTRALIA: The last time I went out was probably like a week ago, I think. I wore a mask.

ISA SOARES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Helen Chen has been staying inside her parents' apartment to avoid being infected. The 22-year-old attends university in Australia though returned to Wuhan two weeks ago to visit her family for the lunar new year holiday. Soon after, news of a spreading unknown virus began to take hold.

CHEN: I'm doing my assignments. No party (ph), and it's taking up a lot of my time so that's. My parents -- my dad is just watching the Australian Open and like he is hanging out with my grandfather and they just (INAUDIBLE). SOARES: Chen and her family try to stay (INAUDIBLE) and they stay

indoors. She says they are stocked up on supplies and rarely leave the house as Wuhan remains on lockdown.

CHEN: I think it's just like not knowing what is actually going on and how long it's going to last. It's like -- that's the most scary part. And like the fact that there is literally no one outside is pretty scary as well. It's like a ghost town.

CHEN: Outside an ordinarily bustling city of 11 million people is eerily quiet. During China's busiest holiday, Wuhan's usually crowded streets are nearly empty. Transportation centers are closed. Shops and attractions shuttered. Businesses that do remain open take extra precautions.

This supermarket clerk says customers can only enter if they're wearing a face mask and must have their temperatures taken at the door.

At one of the few hotels still operating, business is so slow that staff looks for ways to occupy themselves. When they're not confined to a room for mandatory periods of rest, hotel employees hold these exercise wearing face masks. They try to stay active during the city's quarantine.

XIAO FAN, MARCO POLO HOTEL EMPLOYEE (through translator): At 10:00 every day the hotel organizes exercise so we can help protect ourselves and feel better. We can't fight this on the front line but we still believe we can fight this in our own minds. We have confidence we will overcome this difficulty.

[01:34:58] SOARES: As some find creative ways to cope, residents and visitors in

Wuhan see activity grind to a halt while China works to fight the spread of the coronavirus.

With no signs of how long the lockdown will last, officials tried to offer encouragements in a light show projecting "Go Wuhan" onto buildings where this city of millions wait for life to return to normal.

Isa Soares, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: Well, as temperatures rise around the world because of climate change, skiers in Norway may need a new pastime soon. We'll have details in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VAUSE: Well, portions of the U.S. border wall with Mexico came down on Wednesday because of high winds. The newly installed panels felling on trees on the Mexican side of the border. U.S. officials say the panels had been set in concrete but had not been securing the ongoing project to improve portions of the border wall that's been a hallmark of U.S. President Donald Trump since his early days of his campaign.

Norway is in the middle of an unanticipated warm winter so there is very little snowfall on the ski slopes and they're now using fake snow to make up for the lack of the real thing and there are fears the problem actually may just get worse.

Here's Robyn Curnow.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ROBYN CURNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Navigating the slopes in Norway, children learn how to ski, the country's national pastime. But scientists warned that by the time these students become experts snow will be an increasingly short supply.

Already this year's ski venues are using man-made snow to cover up the green patches of ground created by unseasonably warm winter temperatures.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's a bit worrying so I hope this is an exception, and one half (ph) here but we'll see.

CURNOW: Experts say it's now an isolated case and that winter will be hotter and shorter. The country recently recorded its warmest day in January ever when temperatures in one town hit 19 degrees Celsius -- that's more than 25 degrees above the monthly average.

REIDUN GANGSTO SKALAND, NORWEGIAN METEOROLOGICAL INSTITUTE: And now we can see that we have less days with temperatures below zero in the future.

CURNOW: Shorter winters could mean fewer days to ski. In 30 years scientists predict the (INAUDIBLE) Oslo will see its 50 days of snow deeper than 30 centimeters which is down from 80 days today.

With less snow, the country will have to rely on artificial powder, but avid skiers say that even that won't deter them from their beloved sport.

ERIC HAMMER, CEO, SNO INDOOR SKI CENTRE: Here in Norway and the meaning of skiing for Norwegian as, you know, it's our DNA.

CURNOW: Robyn Curnow, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: Thank you for watching CNN NEWSROOM.

I'm John Vause.

Please stay with us. "WORLD SPORT" with Patrick Snell starts after the break.

[01:39:56]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) ["WORLD SPORT"]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[01:56:48]

VAUSE: Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us here in the United States and all around the world. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM.

I'm John Vause.

Just ahead -- the battle over Bolton. Will the former national security adviser testify in a Senate impeachment trial? Will four Republicans vote with Democrats? Will Mitch McConnell hold his caucus?

Spreading fast as the number of confirmed cases of the Wuhan virus continue to surge. China is left struggling to contain this outbreak.

We are live in Beijing this hour.

Also ahead -- a song and a tearful goodbye as European lawmakers bid adieu to Britain.

The discordant voices at Donald Trump's impeachment trial may have changed but the talking points have not. Today Senators sat in silence and listened to arguments for and against removing the President from office.

Now, the Senators are asking the questions and most seem to be trying to poke holes in the other side's arguments. Democrats want to subpoena former national security adviser John Bolton who reportedly wrote in an upcoming book Donald Trump told him directly that Ukraine would not receive military aid until Ukraine's president announced an investigation into Joe Biden.

Republicans say they'll call Biden's son Hunter as a witness and ask him about his time on the board of a corrupt Ukrainian energy company.

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HAKEEM JEFFRIES, U.S. HOUSE DEMOCRATIC IMPEACHMENT MANAGER: Counsel has said the greatest invention in the history of jurisprudence for ascertaining the truth has been the vehicle of cross-examination.

Let's call John Bolton, let's Mick Mulvaney. Let's call other witnesses, subject them to cross-examination and present the truth to the American people.

PATRICK PHILBIN, TRUMP IMPEACHMENT ATTORNEY: If there are going to be witnesses, then the President would have to, in order they fair trial, fair adjudication, then the President would have to have his opportunity to call his witnesses. And there would be depositions and this would drag on for months.

(END VIDEO CLIP) VAUSE: Another key moment came when Trump lawyer and Harvard Law School professor Alan Dershowitz, offered a novel defense of the Presidents alleged quid pro quo with Ukraine.

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ALAN DERSHOWITZ, TRUMP LAWYER: If a president does something which he believes will help him get elected in the public interest, that cannot be the kind of quid pro quo that results in impeachment.

ADAM SCHIFF, U.S. HOUSE DEMOCRATIC LEAD IMPEACHMENT MANAGER: To say you can't hold the President accountable in an election year where they're trying to cheat in that election then you're giving them carte blanche. So all quid pros are not the same. Some are legitimate and some are corrupt and you don't need to be a mind reader to figure out which is which.

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VAUSE: Another day of back and forth in the U.S. Senate will begin around 1:00 p.m. Washington time.

For more -- CNN's Phil Mattingly reports from the U.S. capital.

[01:59:56]

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PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It was a long day but it was one that actually had and served a very real purpose for senators on both sides of the aisle, for the House managers and for the President's lawyers. An opportunity, the first opportunity for the senators themselves to ask questions of both sides.

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