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U.S. Senate Acquits Trump Of Impeachment; Republicans Target Romney After Vote To Convict Trump; Beijing Critical Of U.S. Travel Ban On People Who Visited China. Memory of SARS hangs over Hong Kong as New Virus Looms; Disease Taking Economic Toll on Many Global Businesses. Aired 1-2a ET

Aired February 06, 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]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

JOHN VAUSE, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Hello, welcome to our viewers joining us from all around the world. I'm John Vause. Coming up on CNN NEWSROOM. The Power of one. Mitt Romney's lone guilty vote stands out among Republican senators who fall in line and acquit the president in his impeachment trial.

In the mix of the coronavirus crisis, President Xi Jinping was said to be a hands-on, take-charge kind of guy, only he's been almost totally out of sight for a week. And where's winter? Countries across Europe just had their warmest January ever recorded.

It was just one vote, but it was also as historic act of dissent by the junior senator from Utah who broke ranks with his party and his president because he said his conscience would allow him no other choice. Mitt Romney was the only one of 53 Republican senators who voted guilty on the first article abuse of power, the only U.S. Senator in history to ever vote for impeachment of a president from his own party.

And angry intense backlash from Trump supporters started just moments after Romney cross party lines, and this is likely just the beginning. In the coming hours, Donald Trump will address the nation and more than likely continue to claim he was the victim of a partisan witch hunt by Democrats. But like so many claims made by this president, that too will be a lie. CNN Jim Acosta reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JIM ACOSTA, CNN CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: A lone voice of dissent in the Trump Republican Party.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mr. Romney.

SEN. MITT ROMNEY (R-UT): Guilty. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mr. Romney, guilty.

ACOSTA: Utah Senator Mitt Romney sent shockwaves to the GOP voting to find the president guilty of abusing the power of his office in the Ukraine scandal.

ROMNEY: The President asked a foreign government to investigate his political rival. The President withheld vital military funds from that government to press it to do so. The President delayed funds for an American ally at war with Russian invaders. The President's purpose was personal and political. Accordingly, the President is guilty of an appalling abuse of public trust.

ACOSTA: Romney defended his decision as one of conscience and faith.

ROMNEY: My faith is at the heart of who I am. I take an oath before God as enormously consequential. I knew from the outset that being tasked with judging the president, the leader of my own party, would be the most difficult decision I have ever faced. I was not wrong.

ACOSTA: The senator who was his party's nominee for the presidency eight years ago conceded his vote won't sit well with fellow Republicans.

ROMNEY: I will tell my children and their children that I did my duty to the best of my ability, believing that my country expected it of me.

ACOSTA: The reaction inside the GOP was swift and severe with the President's son Don Jr. tweeting, "Mitt Romney is forever bitter that he will never be POTUS. He's now officially a member of the resistance and should be expelled from the GOP." And Romney's own niece, the chair of the RNC tweeting, "This is not the first time I have disagreed with Mitt and I imagine it will not be the last."

Four years, there's been bad blood between the two men with Mr. Trump accusing Romney of choking in 2012.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The last election should have been won except Romney choked like a dog. He choked. He went -- I can't breathe. I can't breathe, he said.

ACOSTA: The atmosphere in Washington has only grown more toxic during the impeachment saga. At the State of the Union, the President snubbed House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who then ripped up Mr. Trump's speech after he was finished.

REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA): Because it was a manifesto of mistruths.

ACOSTA: A move that infuriated the White House.

MIKE PENCE, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I didn't see her do it. I found out just a few moments later, and I think it was a new low. I wasn't sure if she was ripping up the speech or ripping up the Constitution. ACOSTA: Romney's decision stands in stark contrast with Maine's Susan Collins and other Republicans who conceded Mr. Trump behaved inappropriately, but not enough to be impeached.

SEN. SUSAN COLLINS (R-ME): He was impeached There has been criticism by both Republican and Democratic senators of his call. I believe that he will be much more cautious in the future.

[01:05:11]

ACOSTA: Mr. Trump has been fuming over a Senate trial barring CNN from a lunch with network news anchors where he warned former National Security Advisor John Bolton could face criminal penalty if he publishes his book and mocked Bolton's title of ambassador.

STEPHANIE GRISHAM, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: In fact, the President didn't eat his lunch because they asked so many questions and he answered every single one.

ACOSTA: Romney said he knew his vote would not result in a conviction of Mr. Trump, but the Senator's decision deprived the President and Republicans have a key talking point that Mr. Trump's impeachment was a partisan exercise. That's not the case anymore.

White House officials thought at least one Democrat would vote to acquit Mr. Trump, and we're telling reporters as much throughout the day. But in the end, the President is acquitted and he is still the president. But it was Romney who demonstrated there is still room for Mavericks here in Washington. Jim Acosta, CNN, the White House.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: Joining me now from Los Angeles, CNN Global Affairs Analyst and Washington Post Columnist Max Boots. So Max, thank you for taking the time to be with us. Before voting in the trial, Mitt Romney went on Fox News to explain why and how he reached this decision.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHRIS WALLACE, FOX NEWS CHANNEL ANCHOR: You realize this is war. Donald Trump will never forgive you for this.

ROMNEY: There's a -- there's a hymn that is sung in my church. It's an old Protestant hymn which is, do what is right, let the consequence follow. I know in my heart that I'm doing what's right. I understand there's going to be enormous consequence.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: So he talks about consequences from essentially voting his conscience. He also will (INAUDIBLE) about the concern he has for the consequences for his family. This is beyond politics. This is sort of like how the mob operates.

MAX BOOT, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: Absolutely. There's no question that President Trump and his minions will try to destroy Senator Romney. And you saw that beginning today with Donald Trump Jr. calling for Senator Romney to be expelled from the Republican Party with Lou Dobbs, you know, comparing him to Judas and Benedict Arnold. You're going to see this campaign diversification ramp up and most Republicans are frankly terrified of it.

This is why no other Republican dares to cross Trump because they know what's going to happen if they do that. But I think, you know, Senator Romney has put himself on a different moral and intellectual plane from the rest of his party. And this will be remembered. When Senator Romney passes away, I guarantee you, this will be one of the first lines in his obituary just as when President Trump passes away, the fact that he was impeached, that will be one of the first lines in his obituary.

VAUSE: It was eight years ago when Senator Romney was the Republican Party standard-bearer, their nominee for president. Here's part of his concession speech. It's a reminder of how political leaders once talk.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROMNEY: The nation as you know is at a critical point. At a time like this, we can't risk partisan bickering and political posturing. Our leaders have to reach across the aisle to do the people's work. And we as citizens also have to rise to the occasion. (END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Compare that to Tuesday when Donald Trump was talking about the economy he inherited from Democrats and this was just completely untrue, but here's the President of the United States.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: In just three short years, we have shattered the mentality of American decline. And we have rejected the downsizing of Americans. Destiny.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: OK, so we look at you know, then and now, will the 2020 Presidential Election come down to the type of America this country wants to be, this Romney's version, finding common ground, putting country before party or Trump who is president it seems just for his base, his supporters?

BOOT: I think that's exactly right. And those clips that you just put up there are very dramatic. I think they really do show the difference between Trump and Romney, and that Trump preaches this kind of poisonous partisanship where he seeks to divide the nation for his own political gain. Whereas Senator Romney has shown that he can rise above partisanship and do what's right for the nation even if it cost to himself, and he can compromise with the other side and fight for his ideals.

And I think you're right, that is exactly the choice that American voters will face in the fall, what kind of America do they want. And unfortunately, right now, I think what you're seeing is that President Trump is actually becoming more popular, I think, largely because of the economy.

So it's quite possible that he could actually win reelection, and then he will feel emboldened to continue acting in the way that he's acted for the last three years of which poisonous partisanship is certainly a major part of his legacy, dividing the nation. It's certainly a major part of his legacy. I would hope that the country would rise above that, but I'm sure that it will not.

VAUSE: But you know, looking towards the future here and the President's behavior, Democratic Senator Sherrod Brown wrote an op-ed about the impeachment trial. He talked about the challenges of self- delusion facing Republicans. Here's part of what he wrote.

"I've asked some of them, if the Senate votes to acquit, what will you do to keep the president from getting worse? The responses have been shrugs and sheepish looks." Some senators talked of a lesson that Donald Trump learned during this process, they just don't say what that lesson is. It seems that the lesson might be that he can get away with it.

[01:10:28]

BOOT: I think that's exactly right. I think the lesson that Donald Trump has learned is that it really doesn't matter what he does. As he said, I could shoot somebody on Fifth Avenue, and my supporters will still be supporting me. And that's exactly right. That's exactly what the Republican Party has shown. There's basically no line they will not cross to support Donald Trump. And of course, that will embolden Trump to imagine that he can do anything.

I mean, he's already said that under Article two, he has the power to do anything he likes. And I think this will simply confirm that view. It's just pathetic to hear Senator Susan Collins and others suggest that somehow Donald Trump has learned his lesson when he is trying to make it very clear that he has not learned any lesson when he insists that his call was perfect, that he did nothing wrong.

You're not hearing any of the contrition that you heard from Bill Clinton, when he was impeached in 1999. Donald Trump has learned nothing, he's -- and he's not going to forgive anybody who has crossed him. So you now have a president who is in many ways stronger and more dangerous than ever.

VAUSE: Max, but good to see you. Thank you so much.

BOOT: Thank you very much.

VAUSE: The death toll from the coronavirus on Mainland China has hit a record daily high for the third consecutive day. Officials reported 73 fatalities on Wednesday alone. All but three of the victims were from Hubei province, the epicenter of the outbreak. Since the virus was first detected back in December, it is claimed at least 565 lives including two confirmed deaths beyond Mainland China, and the number of confirmed new cases has surged.

Health officials in China say 3,700 people were diagnosed with the virus just on Wednesday, pushing the number of confirmed cases in China to more than 28,000 where another 255 cases have been diagnosed around the world. And here's one of the direct impacts from this viral outbreak and only bustling streets of Wuhan, capital of Hubei province now deserted. Daily life has seemed to come to a standstill. And next week, the world's leading experts in disease control will

gather in Geneva to try and find new ways to contain this outbreak. In state-controlled media, much has been made of the hands-on response from China's president for life Xi Jinping. He was said to take direct control of the government's response to the killer virus, it's just that for almost a week, Xi has been nowhere to be seen almost.

Live to Beijing now, CNN Steven Jiang. You know, for days, he was conspicuous by his absence, only Xi Jinping has plastered all over state media. He did finally emerged though, very briefly, for meeting with the Prime Minister of Cambodia. So what are the details here?

STEVEN JIANG, CNN SENIOR PRODUCER: Well, John, there are no details as you know. Politics here is entirely conducted behind closed doors, especially when the president, the most powerful Chinese leader since Chairman Mao is involved. But you know, as you said, his name has never really disappeared from the public view. You know, it was mentioned everywhere even when his image was not.

And you know, every policy was formulated under his guidance. Every measure was implemented according to his instruction. And every senior official visiting the epicenter was entrusted by him. But still, you know, the fact as you mentioned, the fact, the people's leader as he has been increasingly referred to, has not visited the epicenter two weeks after Wuhan was placed under virtual lockdown is not lost on many people both inside and outside of China.

Now, if you ask analysts, they have different reasons or educated guests -- educated guesses. Some say because, you know, he initially was probably relying on information from aides who was just so afraid of telling him any bad news. So they downplay the situation from Wuhan.

Others say like the reason he made his premiere, the number two official who many consider sideline, the head of this government Task Force in charge of the virus was because he was trying to keep some distance from this outbreak in case things continue to go wrong. And then, of course, others say right now, given the uncertainty of the virus, the risk of him in contracting it if he did go visit was just too great for him or his aides to take.

So a lot of educated guesses, but you know, as you know, this is China, so it is -- everything's behind closed doors. So it's just impossible to tell, really, John.

VAUSE: Reading the tea leaves from a distance is never easy. And we do the best we can. At the same time, officials in Beijing have come up with this novel approach that more censorship of crucial information about this virus is a good idea.

JIANG: Well, that's the thing. They're now at this stage where they're not only trying to control the flow of people to contain the virus, but also the flow of information. And you're right, the propaganda authorities here are ramping up their efforts to try to control the narrative.

They not only, of course, start to censor more reports from both domestic and foreign media, but also sending in their own hand-picked journalist to really produce more positive coverage from the epicenter at, you know, at a time when the picture continues to look very grim. But then again, this is not new. This is something they have always been doing as you well known, John.

[01:15:36]

VAUSE: Yes, good times. Not really. Steven, thank you. Steven Jiang live for us there in Beijing. Kirk Douglas was larger than life on- screen and off. And on Wednesday, that life came to an end. He made more than 90 movies across seven decades including the iconic Spartacus.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm Spartacus.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm Spartacus.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm Spartacus.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Like many of these characters on screen, Douglas was independent-minded off-screen. He played a major role in breaking the Hollywood blacklist of actors, directors, and writers who had links to communism. In the mid-1950s, he took control of his career and formed his own production company. He was nominated for several Oscars, but never won.

In the family statement, his son, Michael Douglas, said "Kirk's life was well-lived, and he leaves a legacy in film that will enjoy for generations to come, and a history as a renowned philanthropist who worked to aid the public and bring peace to the planet." Kirk Douglas was 103 years old. And we'll be right back.

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PEDRAM JAVAHERI, CNN INTERNATIONAL METEOROLOGIST: Thank you for joining us on CNN. I'm Meteorologist Pedram Javaheri for CNN Weather Watch. And the trend across the Americas looks as such with the eastern third of the U.S. being impacted by some pretty incredible weather here, an inclement weather, I should say, when it comes to what is happening down along the Gulf Coast.

We do have a severe weather threat kind of akin to what you would see in the month of say April and May here as a level threes in place there for severe weather stretches from Panama City all the way into portions of the Carolinas. Certainly a few tornadoes possible. The stronger threat here could be four straight-line winds, some large hail as well as the strong storms migrate off towards the eastern seaboard of the U.S. from Thursday into Friday.

And of course, once you get into a very densely populated corner of the U.S., some travel disruptions could be expected they're heading on in towards this weekend. Snow showers generally got to go work your way north of New York City, and to say Syracuse, in around Boston, potentially seen some snow accumulations, but not a significant amount stated in the region.

In New York, climbing from seven to 12, and eventually by next week moderating back out about eight to 10 degrees or so by this time next week. Not a bad setup there for the heart of February. Across the western United States, it is all about the heavy snowfall especially around the Northern Rockies and parts of the Cascades as well. Highs in Vancouver, six degrees, Dallas eight, and in Atlanta, a spring-like 20 with rain showers expected leave you with conditions across the south.

[01:20:00]

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VAUSE: Three people have died in a plane accident in Istanbul. This video released by a Turkish news agency shows the plane skidding off the runway. According to Turkish officials, it travel for about 60 meters before breaking apart and landing in a ditch. 183 passengers and crew members were on board, 139 of them went to local hospitals. One person is unaccounted for, some remain in intensive care. Thunderstorms were moving through the area at the time of the accident.

Well, you thought January was warm especially if you're in the Northern Hemisphere. Well, then you have right. Last -- well, southern hemisphere I should say. Last month, it broke all previous records as the warmest January ever recorded. Some countries in Europe come in for more -- came in more than three degrees warmer than average. Let's go to Pedram Javaheri.

I screwed out completely. If you thought January was warm in the Northern Hemisphere, you are right. But it's also a world in the southern as well, right?

JAVAHERI: That's what's most impressive. Absolutely, of course, you expect it to be warm across the southern hemisphere. We had plenty of fires to tell you about in recent weeks, John. But when we kind of take a look at this global presentation of the warmth for January 2020 and kind of separating the hemispheres for you between the northern and southern hemisphere. And keep in mind again, the northern hemisphere in the heart of their winter, the warm tier incredibly above average, especially considering pre-industrial times.

And again, the colors are red and orange indicative of warmth, the deeper the shade, the warmer above average. And, of course, the color is blue indicative of cooler. And you kind of see the global perspective in an area that is considered to be winter this time of year and seeing much of it well above average at 1.4 degrees Celsius on a global scale above pre-industrial levels. So that in itself was pretty impressive.

Keep in mind, January 2019 was the warmest January on record. And of course, now with 1.4, we beat the 2019 number of 1.2. That becoming now second warmest on record for the month of January. But other areas of interest here with this particular information being released show you the warmth, as John noted, in different parts of Europe, in particular.

Europe as a whole 3.1 degrees Celsius above average. So I often say, unless it's about one and a half degrees above average, you're not going to feel temperatures, the variability in those temperatures on a day to day basis. But when you take that over three degrees above average, certainly something that a lot of people were talking about, and if you're tuned in across places such as Finland on into Norway, we're talking about the warmest days on record period, across some of these regions.

Moving forward, some mild temperatures certainly as we kind of make our way towards the middle of February, and the heat has been on across portions of Spain. We know Spain has a very mild winter typically but how about if I told you in the past couple of days, cities such as Valencia climbing up to nearly 30 degrees Celsius.

So yes, that is considered a hot winter day across that region. And in fact, the 29.6 official reading on Tuesday at of Valencia now makes the hottest February day on record, beating a record that's been standing for almost for three decades there so pretty incredible on a run of warmth. And February certainly doesn't seem like it's cooling off just yet. John?

VAUSE: That's why we have you because I would have got this completely wrong. Thank you, Pedram.

JAVAHERI: It could be confusing, yes.

VAUSE: I'm not doing weather again. I'm done. Well, for the first time, the Irish Nationalist Party Sinn Fein could see a political breakthrough at elections this Saturday. Opinion polls show the party ahead of Ireland's center-right Fine Gael and Fianna Fail. CNN's Nic Robertson has more on Ireland's changing political landscape.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: The big surprise in Ireland's Sinn Fein, the party once known for its links to the IRA and terror attacks are leading the polls for the first time given a coveted spot on a national T.V. leaders' debate.

MARY LOU MCDONALD, LEADER SINN FEIN: The reality is that the homeless figures have gone skyrocket --

ROBERTSON: Housing, health care, and social reform are the crunch issues. Here pro-united Ireland party could remap islands political landscape. In second place, center-right Fianna Fail. MICHAEL MARTIN, LEADER, FIANNA FAIL: We want to do know in terms of

health, for example, is to bring up about real immediate urgent change.

ROBERTSON: The problem is Martin's Fianna Fail Party and third Fine Gael of the incumbent prime minister are the establishment and perhaps belatedly seem to recognize that.

LEO VARADKAR, PRIME MINISTER, IRELAND: I think this election is going to be a change election. If there's one thing that's certain, is that the next government is not going to be the same as the last. It won't be Fine Gael, the independent alliance supported by Fianna Fail. It is going to be a new government.

ROBERTSON: Sinn Fein's gains have come not just in demand for change, but in changing their own image as political wing of a former terror group the IRA, notably dropping the aging Gerry Adams, their former president and allegedly an IRA commander, although he denies it, from their roster of candidates this year.

Even so, Adams' shift doesn't mean his influence is dead. The party under his leadership tried to fight the British out of Northern Ireland. McDonald sees Brexit as a springboard to that goal.

[01:25:28]

MCDONALD: I think Brexit has changed things massively, as you know. And I think the conversation now about constitutional change, reunification has broaden to the extent that it's not simply a Sinn Fein matter.

ROBERTSON: Yet Sinn Fein's surge seems to have caught even them by surprise. McDonald is only fielding 42 candidates for 160 seats. She can't get a majority. And given Sinn Fein's troubled roots are unlikely to be welcome coalition partners. Sinn Fein's day to rephrase one of their own slogans may not yet quite have come. Nic Robertson, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: Very public display of U.S. support for Venezuela's opposition leader Juan Guido, a White House visit and presidential welcome on Wednesday. Both sides talking of working together to end Venezuela's political crisis. The U.S. and at least 50 other countries recognized Guaido as Venezuela's legitimate leader over the embattled President Nicolas Maduro. Opposition President Trump notably raised during his State of the Union speech on Tuesday when he introduced Guido as his guest and cold Maduro a tyrant. For his part, Maduro says President Trump's obsession with Venezuela is leading to his insanity.

We'll take a short break. When we're back, a cruise ship in Japan becomes a floating quarantine zone after some onboard tested positive for the coronavirus. A live report on the very latest in the moment. Also ahead, some of the world's biggest brand say the virus is starting to hurt their bottom line.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[01:30:30]

VAUSE: Leading experts from around the world in disease control will gather next week in Geneva to try and work out new ways of containing the coronavirus. And that solution cannot come fast enough for Hong Kong where the deadly SARS outbreak of 2003 still casts a very long shadow over the city.

Here's CNN's Kristi Lu Stout.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KRISTI LU STOUT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: even after nearly two decades, former SARS patient Alex Lam is haunted by his experience.

ALEX LAM, FORMER SARS PATIENT: I was put in a big room with many other patients. I heard some coughing at night, crying -- and that's really sad. It's really sad.

STOUT: SARS infected around 8,000 people globally and kill 774, nearly half of them in Hong Kong. The isolation of cases eventually led to the end of the outbreak.

The new coronavirus outbreak is already larger than SARS, and unprecedented measures are in place to control it. The rapid construction of hospitals, mass production of medical supplies, and protective equipment and sweeping travel restrictions and temperature checks.

When will these measures stop the outbreak? Well, the answer lies in understanding the virus itself.

Inside that building is the world's first lab room copy of the Wuhan coronavirus outside mainland China. It's a major breakthrough that allows researchers here in Hong Kong University to better understand the behavior of the virus.

Inside the lab we are required to wear face masks.

DR. JOHN NICHOLLS, PATHOLOGIST, UNIVERSITY OF HONG KONG: my feeling is that this is just going to be like SARS in that the world is going to get basically a very bad cold for about five months.

STOUT: But with one major caveat. It appears the new virus unlike SARS can spread before symptoms arrive.

NICHOLLS: The problem with this virus is that it does appear that there is a period within the first four or five days where people say they can be rash-shedding but maybe asymptomatic. So for that reason it's going to be far more difficult to manage.

STOUT: I want to shake your hand but it is during an outbreak so --

The masks are off when I meet Malik Peiris in his office. He advises the World Health Organization on the virus. MALIK PEIRIS, PUBLIC HEALTH VIROLOGIST: Either Indian greeting or the Japanese greeting.

STOUT: He says there are two extreme scenarios: the outbreak is brought under control or --

PEIRIS: The other extreme, of course, is that the virus is like influenza, which means that it cannot be contained and it will spread.

STOUT: This has already happened with H1N1, also known as swine flu. The strain emerged in a pandemic in 2009 and now it's a seasonal virus.

But for Alex Lam, humankind doesn't need another disease to contend with.

LAM: We must stand together. We need to think positive because one day the disease will go away.

STOUT: Now the head of a group of SARS survivors in Hong Kong he is calling for the government to take tougher measures -- whatever it takes to end the latest outbreak.

Kristie Lu Stout, CNN -- Hong Kong.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: Right now in the waters just off Hong Kong and Japan, almost 7,300 passengers and crew have been quarantined on two cruise ships. The medical teams screen for the Wuhan coronavirus. So far no one has tested positive for the virus on board the World Dream which is docked at a port in Hong Kong. Still all on board -- 3,600 people are being told they cannot leave until everyone is screened.

The other ship, the Diamond Princess is anchored off the coast of Yokohama. It's been under a 14-day quarantine at least after 20 people on board were confirmed to have been infected by just one patient it seems.

Well, the Wuhan coronavirus only emerged back in December, yet it is already having a very adverse economic impact on China. We have more now from CNN's Clare Sebastian, live -- sorry, reporting now From New York.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The situation remains very fluid and difficult to predict for companies but many are reporting earnings right now and they are starting to give some sense of the cost.

Capri Holdings, the owner of luxury brands, Michael Kors and Versace, they have closed 150 of their 225 stores in China and are seeing much reduced traffic at the rest and the company says it will see $100 million hit to revenues in a full year.

Now it's a similar story for Nike, about half of their China stores remain closed and they are warning investors this will have a material impact to their China business.

[01:34:55]

SEBASTIAN: Now, Disney which, of course, usually benefits from the lunar new year holiday in China says the closure of its Shanghai and Hong Kong theme parks could cost the company $280 million if they stay closed for two months.

And it's not just closures we're talking about. There are also supply chain impacts, Airbus' assembly plant in Tianjin is still closed. Carmaker Hyundai is suspending production lines in South Korea because of disruption in the supply of parts from China.

And the situation is still most acute of course, for the travel industry. Cathay Pacific which has suspended 90 percent of its China flight -- that's about 30 percent of all of its flights. It's now asking employees to take three weeks off unpaid. The company says they need to try to preserve cash. The last time the airline did this was during the 2008, 2009 financial crisis and during the SARS outbreak in 2003.

Cathay had already decided to cut capacity in 2020 after the Hong Kong for democracy protests caused a shock drop in demand.

Clare Sebastian, CNN -- New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: Still to come, the Iowa caucus results are still not in, but they're close. We'll have the latest tally in a moment.

Also U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, she has a new Internet name after she ripped up the President's State of the Union speech -- guess what it is?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I am not going to sugarcoat it. We took a gut punch in Iowa.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Mr. Fourth -- that is Joe Biden the candidate in desperate search for a little mojo right now. Biden has been the front runner of the Democratic race for U.S. president since before he officially started running. But finishing fourth place in the Iowa caucuses has sucked the air out of his campaign which has been losing air for quite some time.

And now the former vice president is scrambling for some momentum vowing to fight on.

Most of Iowa's precincts have reported in and Pete Buttigieg is still in the lead. Senator Bernie Sanders is a close second, but insisting his lead in the overall vote tally means he's actually the front runner, not that Buttigieg guy. And Elizabeth Warren at third.

Meantime at a series of town halls hosted by CNN on Wednesday, some of the candidates spoke out on bipartisanship, gender in the 2020 race, and also impeachment.

[01:39:50]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BIDEN: We just have to -- we just have to reach out a little more for people, man. We don't do it enough. We have to heal this country. We didn't used to be -- we didn't used to be like this. Somewhere we were as a nation. We weren't like this.

SENATOR ELIZABETH WARREN (D-MA), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: A lot of folks said we can't have an African-American nominee because we've never had an African-American president before. but our party is better than that and we proved that our country is better than that. 2020, we can and should have a woman for president.

ANDREW YANG (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The fact is many Americans have regarded this impeachment process like a football game or a baseball game when you know what the score is going to be at the end. And that's the way it played out unfortunately.

I just want to congratulate Senator Mitt Romney for voting his conscience and character.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Meantime after she visibly and very consciously ripped up the President's State of the Union speech on Tuesday night, well, the Internet went to work and came up with a special name for the Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi. Here it is.

Here's Jeanne Moos.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Despite all the flattery, it was President Trump's nemesis who will be remembered for ripping up his speech -- the state of their union is ice-cold.

STEPHEN COLBERT, TV HOST: She ripped him a new one.

MIKE PENCE, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I think it was a new low.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The shredder wasn't available and so she did what she needed to.

PENCE: I wasn't sure if she was ripping up the speech or ripping up the constitution. MOOS: Mike Pompeo tweeted Lisa Simpson ripping up her own Civics essay

then he got ripped by a former Simpsons' producer saying "Mr. Secretary of State please do not ever, ever, ever use Simpsons' material.

Both fans and critics dubbed Pelosi "Nancy the Ripper" -- unlike their previous run-ins when she famously pointed a finger at him and clapped back at the President. This time he didn't see it coming.

Of course when Nancy Pelosi went on a tear, others couldn't resist following suit.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was very clear.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm moving on to that.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That wraps up the show.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We got radio talk show host.

MOOS: Speaker Pelosi told house Democrats, "He shredded the truth so I shredded his speech."

REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA), SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: It was the courteous thing to do, considering the alternatives.

MOOS: The shredding even eclipse the snubbing, if that's what it was.

OPRAH WINFREY, TV HOST: It looked like he blew her off with the handshake. Some people say, no, no, he just didn't see it.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Ok.

MOOS: And then there was all that head shaking.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I keep my promises. We did our job.

MOOS: By Nancy.

TRUMP: The big pharmaceutical companies. We have approved a record number --

MOOS: And other Democrats, along with mouthing things like "not true".

TRUMP: Illegal aliens forcing taxpayers to subsidize --

KELLY ANNE CONWAY, COUNSELOR TO THE PRESIDENT: What is wrong with her? She looked like she was in a cheesecake factory menu.

MOOS: The guy who avoided Pelosi by hanging a towel over his TV missed the big moment but Team Trump turned it into what Mitch McConnell thinks of the articles of impeachment. Does that count as a rip off?

Jeanne Moos, CNN -- New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: And so the State of the Union is about 12 years old.

Thank you for watching CNN NEWSROOM. I'm John Vause.

"WORLD SPORT" is up next.

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