Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Newsroom
Too Late for Regrets; Quarantined Passengers Holding on to Their Faith; President Trump Chooses no Occasion to Attack His Opponents; Middle East Peace Plan Brought More Division and Violence; Buttigieg, Sanders In Virtual Tie In Iowa Caucuses; America's Choice 2020, Democratic National Chair Calls For Recanvass In Iowa; Wuhan Whistleblower Dr. Li Wenliang Dies; Coronavirus Outbreak; Severe Weather Strikes The South; Christina Koch's Return To Earth. Aired 3- 4a ET
Aired February 07, 2020 - 03:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[03:00:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: He was silenced by authorities when he raises the alarm about China's coronavirus and now, he's among the latest victims of that virus.
And holiday from hell. With the coronavirus confirmed on two cruise ships, more than 7,000 passengers and crew under quarantine and confined to quarters for most of the day. And there is no end in sight.
You may have heard of the National Prayer Breakfast, it's an annual event in Washington when normally lawmakers put aside politics and they focused things on tolerance and cooperation. That was not the case this year as Donald Trump attacked his opponents and railed against impeachment.
It did not stop there. After the breakfast, he went on to hold what he considers to be a celebration in the East Room of the White House. And what a celebration was.
He is CNN's Kaitlan Collins.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: This is what the end result is.
(APPLAUSE)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: One day after he was acquitted, President Trump touted the headlines and expressed no remorse as he claimed vindication.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: I never thought a word would sound so good. It's called total acquittal.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: From the East Room of the White House, the president lashed out at the Democrats he says tried to bring him down.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: Adam Schiff is a vicious, horrible person. Nancy Pelosi is a horrible person.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: Trump repeated a jab he made at the House Speaker Nancy Pelosi during a National Prayer Breakfast accusing him of being dishonest when she says she praise for him.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: I pray for the president, I pray for the president, she didn't pray.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: Pelosi who was four seats away from Trump at the breakfast later hit back.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. NANCY PELOSI (D), UNITED STATES SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: I don't know if the president understands about prayer or people who do pray, but we do pray for the United States of America, I pray for him.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: Basking in his victory while surrounded by Republican allies, Trump also denounced the one member of his party who voted to convict him on the abuse of power charge.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: And then you have some that used religion as a crutch. They never used it before. Say hello to the people of Utah, and tell them I'm sorry about Mitt Romney.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: Some Republican senators have claimed Trump learned his lesson after being impeached. But today, he insisted he did nothing wrong.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: I had someone who said I wish he didn't make the phone call. That's OK, if they need that, it's incorrect, it is totally incorrect.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: During the at times rambling remarks, Trump appeared to undermine aides who claimed earlier in the day he would express honesty and humility.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: We first went through Russia, Russia, Russia. It was all bullshit.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: Instead, he lashed out at the investigations against him, which he dismissed as efforts to take him down.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: It was corrupt, it was dirty cops, it was leakers and liars and this should never ever happen to another president ever.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: Now, the president's legal team who led his impeachment defense got a standing ovation in that room today. But even though the president spoke for over an hour, there was one attorney he did not mention, his own, Rudy Giuliani.
Kaitlan Collins, CNN, the White House.
VAUSE: Thomas Gift is a lecturer of political science at University College London. And he joins us live at this hour. OK. So, Thomas, OK, so if you thought that relations between Pelosi and Trump were as bad as they were ever going to get before today, clearly, they have gone a lot lower and this is a total breakdown of whatever relationship was left. What are the implications now moving forward? Obviously, these two can't work together.
THOMAS GIFT, POLITICAL SCIENCE LECTURER, UNIVERSITY COLLEGE LONDON: You are right, obviously these two can't work together. But one of the things that really struck me most, John, is that over the last several months have been a lot of comparison, John, between the impeachment of Donald Trump and the impeachment of Bill Clinton. And I think we can learn a lot from how both presidents handled their acquittals in the Senate because they couldn't have been more different.
What we saw today from Trump speaking to Nancy Pelosi was just pure defiance, a lack of remorse, huge amount of vitriol. Contrast that with Clinton who after his acquittal asked the public for forgiveness and said that he was humbled by the process and wanting to move forward and bring the country together.
So, America came out of the Clinton impeachment trial divided nowhere near though the levels of polarization that we see right now. I think that's in large part due to Trump's rhetoric and attacks, the vitriol and so on. It is going to make it very, very difficult for Democrats, Republicans to come together to get anything done during the last several months of Trump's presidency.
VAUSE: Yes. I mean, the actual content of the president's, whatever it was that he was doing in the East Wing of the White House, it obviously seemed like he had this pent-up frustration and bitterness and anger which had been brewing for almost three years.
[03:05:00]
But it was mixed in with Fox News talking points and right-wing conspiracy theories that were debunked and not true and outright lies. And it was very weird mix of a world which didn't seem to exist.
GIFT: Well, I do not think I can say it any better than you just did. You know, one of the justifications that some senators gave for acquitting Donald Trump was that they thought he learned his lesson from this entire process. To me, that's difficult to reconcile.
You know, the president continues to say that he did nothing wrong in Ukraine, that the impeachment was a witch hunt that his political opponents have been acting in bad shape and continued to do so.
But just think about the Mueller report. The day after Mueller testified before Congress, the very next day, John, Trump was on the phone with President Zelensky trying to get Ukraine to dig up dirt on the Biden to interfere with the next election.
So, the notion that Trump won't be tempted to engage in this kind of behavior again and there is no accountability strikes me as wrong, at the very least it can't be ruled.
VAUSE: Yes. Susan Collins is right when he says he probably learned a lesson but the lesson he learned is that he can get away with it, right? I mean, there has been no attempt by the Republicans to hold him accountable for anything which has happened in the past three years.
And the system doesn't work when one party is completely beholden to the executive. And that is where the problem lies with all of this.
GIFT: Yes, I couldn't agree with you more. So basically, what this does is create a culture of impunity and I think that it does give Donald Trump license to beave in ways in the future that are inconsistent with the Constitution.
Because the problem isn't just the president that this will set for future presidents going forward, it's the potential precedent that it will set for Donald Trump because it is certainly not a foregone conclusion that he will lose in 2020. He could be given four more years and I think what is really concerning to a lot of Democrats is the idea of a Trump presidency totally unrestraint and totally unaccountable against the Republican (Inaudible).
VAUSE: Yes. Thomas, we're out of time, but you know, this thing about learning a lesson and contrite. When in Donald Trump's life has he ever showed any sign of contrition over, you know, learning a lesson and changing's behavior? I don't think that is ever happen and it certainly has not happened now. But thank you for being with us, Thomas, we appreciate it.
GIFT: Thank you.
VAUSE: To the troubled Iowa caucuses and with 100 percent of the vote now in. Former Mayor Pete Buttigieg is locked in a virtual tie with Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders. But the contest, the controversy and it seems the counting is not over yet.
The Democratic National Committee has now weighed in with the party chairman calling for a recanvas. That would mean all the results released by state party officials who ran the caucus will be check against the results recorded at the caucus sites.
A CNN Democrat town hall wrapped in new Chester (Ph) Manchester, New Hampshire just a few hours ago. My tongue is tied. And the candidates there, at least Bernie Sanders address the divisions within the party.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (D-VT), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Campaigns have become contentious, you know, and people will say things about other things. I've known Joe Biden for so many years, he's a friend of mine, he's a very decent human being. So, people are going to say things during the hot -- heat of a campaign, I want somebody's vote, I will say something, somebody else will say something.
But at the end of the day, because of the threat that Trump poses to the future of this country, because of this ugliness, because of his racism and sexism and his homophobia and his xenophobia and his religious bigotry because he is trying to divide our people up. I have zero doubt that we will bring the party together.
MAYOR PETE BUTTIGIEG (D-FL), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Because this president now believes and the Senate GOP has given him reason to believe that you can get away with anything, that is OK to lie, it is OK to cheat, it is even OK to involve foreign governments in domestic politics for your own gain.
And you know, all of this, the good news, if you can call it that, the silver lining is that this is 2020. This is an election year. And so, the senate may have been the jury yesterday but we the people are the jury now, and the final verdict on the president and on the Senate is going to be up to us this year.
SEN. AMY KLOBUCHAR (D-MN), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I look at this way, there were so many people in this race, as you know and I am now in the top five. I think there are a lot of people that didn't predict I would get through that initial announcement speech in the middle of the blizzard. They were literally predicting that I couldn't make it through the snow.
Then they were predicting I wouldn't make it through the summer and then it was debate by debate by debate and every single time I have exceeded expectations.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: A quick programming note, remember to tune in to CNN on Tuesday for our extensive coverage of the New Hampshire primary.
We'll take a short break. When we come back, it's not like the love boat right on board a quarantined ship just off the coast of Japan.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VERA KOSLOVA FU, QUARANTINED ABOARD DIAMOND PRINCESS: There is about another hundred passengers who are waiting and who are showing symptoms but waiting for the results to come back. Where they kept? You know, are we breathing the same air they are?
[03:10:07]
VAUSE: Yes, it's the coronavirus and we'll talk with one of the thousands of people now stuck on a crew ship where dozens are infected with the virus.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VAUSE: Across China there has been a huge outcry over the death of a doctor in Wuhan who was among the first to raise the alarm over the coronavirus. At the time like two months ago, authorities accused him of spreading rumors and warned him he would be prosecuted if he would not be being quiet.
The government now says they will investigate some of the quote, "issues raised by the masses over the death of this man" who is now being held a hero by many.
The death toll has risen to 638 with well over 31,000 confirmed cases. More than 300 of those are outside of China including 61 people on board a crew ship now quarantined in Yokohama, Japan. Another cruise ship is quarantined in port in Hong Kong.
Let's go now to Yokohama where CNN's Matt Rivers has the very latest for us. You know, we are hearing about life on board that ship. And boy, it is not fun right now and there is no sign that it's going to end anytime soon.
[03:15:00]
MATT RIVERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, that's exactly right, John. We were just talking here amongst the crew and we were saying, you know, you'd be lucky if you are one of the people on that ship right there that has a room with a balcony. Imagine if you are one of the rooms in the bottom of the ship with just a port hall where you can't even open it because you can't really leave your room.
That's part of the conditions of this quarantine here as that the people on board that ship were only allowed out of their rooms for a certain amount of time each day. A very limited amount of time, the rest of the time has to be spent inside the room.
And so, you and I were talking about this earlier, it a kind of feels like that ship behind me is a sort of a floating prison for people who thought that they were going to go on vacation and now are faced with this situation.
In terms of the number, 61 people according to Japanese health authorities have tested positive for the coronavirus. There are 3,700 people or so on board that sip, about a thousand members of staff in addition to more than 2,000 passengers. Only about 275 or so people have actually been tested for the virus so far.
Those are people that have presented symptoms. That could change over the coming days. You know, just yesterday there were 20 people that are tested positive for the virus. Today it was announced 41 more. So that's 61 people in total and that number could certainly go up, and that's the problem with these cruise ships.
You've had people in very close proximity with each other for a long period of time and now they are just stuck there. They are breathing the same air, they are, you know, they're next to people who are sick and that's part of the frustration and the people that we are speaking to on board is they want to get off.
You know we spoke to an American couple who are on their honeymoon right now and they said that they are scared to death that they are going to contract the virus from other people on that ship, and they want to, quote, "get the hell off of there."
But what the Japanese authorities are saying it's not safe to bring people off that ship, they don't know who's sick who's not. They want to get a handle on the situation before they allow people onshore and they haven't been giving an inch despite the request on board that ship to get off the ship and on to land.
VAUSE: Yes. We've seen this before with cruise ships say are incubators. One person gets sick, you can pretty much guarantee almost everyone gets up.
Matt Rivers live for us there in Yokohama. Thank you.
A short time ago, my colleague Natalie Allen spoke with one of the passengers quarantined on the Diamond Princess cruise ship. This was the first cruise ever for Vera Koslova Fu and her family. Chances are it will be their last.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NATALIE ALLEN, CNN ANCHOR: Vera Koslova Fu is a passenger on the Diamond Princess cruise ship. She has been on board for the past three weeks. Vera, thanks so much for talking with us on your holiday cruise. How is it going for you right now?
KOSLOVA FU: Thank you. It's -- I'm actually feeling really well at the moment because I just had my allocated one and a half hours of fresh air and sunshine, so for those of you who don't appreciate sunshine in cruise ship, please do because it is so valuable. I've been in here for three days cooped up and today is the first time that we've been allowed to go outside.
ALLEN: I can't imagine what that's like. You are there with your husband and your two boys.
KOSLOVA FU: Correct.
ALLEN: Once you realize --
KOSLOVA FU: Correct.
ALLEN: -- we're stuck on here, we can't go anywhere, what was that feeling like?
KOSLOVA FU: I was anxious to start off with and then I am quite a positive person in general, so I kept thinking, well, you know, they need to find, they need to -- the confinement is good because at least we're not going to be spreading anything or we're not going to be in contact.
But as it progressed, first, we were told there were 10 affected and then the next day we were told there were another 10, and this morning -- we -- so, part of the problem has been that we haven't been given the information in a timely manner but we've been pointing out information on media before we are actually told here in the -- in our cabins.
So, this morning when I found out that there was more than 41 cases confirmed, I started to really, really worry because one of the things (Inaudible) where the areas are recycled constantly. And I really want to know if there is about another 150 passengers who are waiting, who are showing symptoms but waiting for the results to come back. Where they kept? You know, are we breathing the same air they are? So, I mean, there are the questions --
ALLEN: That's a good question.
KOSLOVA FU: Yes.
ALLEN: I can fully understand your frustration. Why do you think that the folks there on the cruise ship aren't being more opened and more communicative considering they have people like you and your family holdup in their cabins?
KOSLOVA FU: The cabin in the first two days has been slow in getting information through us and he is too slow.
[03:20:01]
And I think because people like myself and others who are voicing what's happening through media have voiced that we are not getting information. He has apologized today. He has said he is trying very hard but basically, we didn't get the information, there was another 41 case is confirmed. And he said that it is due to the fact that they are not allowing him to share information. So, he has to get the OK before he can share the information with us.
ALLEN: When you think this will be over? And are you getting everything that you need in the meantime?
KOSLOVA FU: You know, main necessity, yes, so amenities through lift, you know, like toilet paper, food and things like that. When we do need things we can ask for, and generally speaking -- speaking it is given to us. We are being serve room service like meals.
There is over 1,600 cabins, so today is the third day that they are having food for room service and they are doing better and better. So, the first day it took them three hours just to serve one meal throughout the ship. So, you know, we have to commend the crews for working so hard as well to get things to us, and you know, we are getting warm meals now rather than cold meals, but they are working very, very hard as well.
ALLEN: You have a very positive attitude, as you say 1,600 cabins there is a lot of people in the same predicament as you. But when you look back on this, when you finally get to come to shore, what will stay with you as far as being stuck there on the ship?
KOSLOVA FU: Firstly, I think -- this is actually our first ever cruise.
ALLEN: Yes.
KOSLOVA FU: It was to celebrate my younger about 18-year-old from finishing high school and my older, my 21-year-old from finishing university, graduated from university. So, it was our celebration for us. Big family for a holiday.
So, the crews itself has been wonderful. So, the 15 days we saw lots of places and did lots of things, but I suppose having stuck here for the next another 12 days or 14 days altogether, we hope, is probably left a bit of a sour taste from my mouth.
So, although the experience of the cruise itself has been wonderful but I would not be coming back on to a cruise very, very quickly or very soon. I am scared. I am very, very scared. I am mostly scared with where are we going after we get off this cruise. I'm scared basically.
ALLEN: We hope yes, that you can maintain, and your family, your first cruise a celebration and this. Well, the good news is they are looking out for your health, all of you. We might talk to you again, Vera, check in with you so we can see how you are doing. We really appreciate your time. Vera Koslova Fu, thank you and we wish you the best.
KOSLOVA FU: Thank you. Thank you.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: A week ago, the White House unveiled its long-awaited Mideast peace plan. The so-called deal of the century. On Thursday, in Jerusalem a car was driven into a group of Israeli
soldiers. Twelve were hurt. Police have now arrested the suspect. This comes less than 24 hours after three Palestinians were killed in the West Bank during days of protests against U.S. President Donald Trump's peace plan.
We have more now from CNN's Oren Liebermann.
OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's easy to look at these attacks in the sudden uptick in violence and see that they come in the wake of the Trump administration's peace plan and link the two. And that maybe the reason behind some of what we are seeing in the sudden violence in the last 24 hours, but there's more to it than that.
There are some attacks here that may well be related to the anger and the frustration over the peace plan. The Palestinian factions -- chief among them Hamas, has called for more attacks in the Israelis in the wake of the plan as a way of expressing an outright rejection and anger over it.
Early Thursday morning, police say a Palestinian driver carried out a ramming attack against Israeli soldiers in Jerusalem wounding 12. One of them seriously. The suspect was arrested Thursday evening in the West Bank.
Similarly, shooting attacks in the old city of Jerusalem and in the central West Bank may also have anger over the plan at their root. And that goes for rocket and mortar fire from Gaza as well.
But what happened in Jenin, in the northern West Bank is a different story. That starts early Thursday morning when Israeli soldiers go into Jenin to demolish the home of a Palestinian convicted of mourning a rabbi some two years ago. In the clashes that broke out following the demolition, one Palestinian was shot and killed. Israel said he had shot with a sniper rifle at Israeli soldiers who responded.
[03:25:04]
A second Palestinian was also shot and killed in Jenin. A member of Palestinian police. Video posted by Al Fattah which controls the Palestinian authority shows the officer standing at his place of work not taking part in any clashes or protests when he's shot and killed.
Israeli military says it's investigating the incident. Where does it go from here and does it get worse? It's certainly tense. And there is some tremendous amount of strain on Israeli-Palestinian security coordination which is crucial to both sides.
Where does this go from here then? Well, it could spiral out of control quickly and one of the big questions here is, can both sides put a lid on it as quickly as possible to stabilize the situation and do they want to?
Oren Liebermann, CNN, Jerusalem.
VAUSE: We will take a break now. And for our international audience, African Voices Change Makers is up next. And for our viewers here in United States, CNN Newsroom continues in just a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VAUSE: Welcome back to CNN Newsroom. I'm John Vause. It's 3.29 here in the east.
We'll take a look at the top story this hour.
Donald Trump taking a victory lap over his impeachment acquittal. He lashed out at critics and political opponents on Thursday as evil and scam, insisting he's done nothing wrong. And he mocked the religious faith of Republican Senator Mitt Romney and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
The White House says the leader of the Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula is dead. Qassim al-Rimi led the terror group franchise in Yemen and that's where he was killed in a U.S. air strike. No word on when he died but CNN reported last week that he had been targeted.
And with a 100 percent of the precincts now reporting in the Iowa Democratic caucus remain a virtual tie.
[03:30:00]
Former Mayor Pete Buttigieg has a razor thin lead over Senator Bernie Sanders. The party's national committee chair is calling for a recanvas of overall results.
OK, For Democrat presidential candidates, the debacle at Iowa is now very much in the rear-view mirror. They are now in New Hampshire which hold its primary next week and CNN's Abby Phillip is there.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ABBY PHILLIP, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: The New Hampshire primary is now just five days away. But the drama in Iowa isn't over yet. Democratic National Committee Chairman, Tom Perez stunning Iowa Democratic officials with his call for a full recanvas of the result from the caucuses on Monday. Perez tweeting, enough is enough. But Iowa Democrats aren't budging. Saying in a statement, they won't start a recanvas until one of the candidates officially ask for one.
Former South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg and Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders are locked in a virtual tie. With only one tenth of a percent separating them. Senator Sanders now declaring victory and calling Buttigieg's slight lead meaningless.
SEN. BERNIE SANDERS, (I-VT), U.S. PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: What's certainly is not going to change is the fact that in terms of the popular vote, we won a decisive victory.
PHILLIP: But in Iowa, state delegates determine the winner, not the popular vote. Even without a clear winner, Iowa is shaping the New Hampshire race. Sanders announcing his campaign raising whopping $25 million from supporters just in the month of January, the largest fund-raising month ever for his campaign. On a call, Buttigieg urging his supporters to keep their financial support going.
MAYOR PETE BUTTIGIEG (D-SOUTH BEND-IN) 2020 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Each day our campaign is making decisions about how to guide our resources. I need everyone on this call to go to the website, peteforAmerica.com and chip in 5 bucks or whatever you can right now.
PHILLIP: After a disappointing performance in Iowa, Joe Biden acknowledging that Iowa was a gut-punch. And sharply pivoting his message to attacks on the two leading candidates.
JOE BIDEN, FORMER VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, 2020 U.S. PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Every Democrat will have to carry the label that Senator Sanders has chose for himself -- chosen for himself. He calls -- I don't criticized, he calls himself a Democratic socialist. We're already seeing what Donald Trump is going to do with that.
I have great respect for Mayor Pete and his service to this nation. But I do believe it's a risk to be just straight up with you, for this party to nominate someone who has never held office higher than mayor of a town of 100,000 people in Indiana.
PHILLIP: Abby Phillip, CNN, Merrimack, New Hampshire.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Richard Johnson is a lecturer in U.S. politics and International relations at Lancaster University in England. He is with us this hour. Sir, good to see you. Now, let's put this all in perspective. As far as Iowa is concerned, should they do this recanvassing as to any point of this stage? Or should they just burn this whole thing down, walk away and never talk about it again?
RICHARD JOHNSON, LECTURER U.S. POLITICS AND INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS, LANCASTER UNIVERSITY, ENGLAND: I think there are many in the Democratic Party who haven't probably feeling the latter right now. I think that probably, though, it's not a bad idea to do a recanvas. What a recanvas is, to make take the popular vote counts in the different precincts and to ensure that those counts are mathematically translated into the delegate formula in the correct manner.
And so, what we're actually getting these kind of two sets of results from Iowa. We get the popular vote, which Bernie Sanders appears to have won clearly. And then, we have the state delegate equivalents that come out. And that's the product of looking at the different distribution of delegates in different parts of the state. And that, at the moment, Pete Buttigieg has a slight edge. But it's so close. The last count I saw, is just two out of about 2,000 state delegates that he's leading.
So, I don't think it's a bad idea to run those calculations again just to make sure that everything is -- that result is the definitive result.
VAUSE: But even if you go through all of that hassle and it will take a considerable amount of time to get that done, Iowa will always have this stench that there was something not quite right about it. JOHNSON: I think that's right. And you know, there was the canary in
the coal mine in 2012, when -- on the Republican side, Mitt Romney was declared the winner of Iowa. And then, they reran their own calculations. And two weeks later, they realized that actually Rick Santorum had won.
The issue is that the Iowa caucus is really -- it's a mechanism from a kind of almost a pre-mass democracy age. You know? And I think that, you know, this process, which, you know, has its charms, it's quite a communal way of selecting a candidate, I think it's really under strain in an age of mass party democracy.
And I think, you know, the extent to which people are going to be take Iowa seriously in the future now is seriously in doubt. And I think the kind if process that we will see in New Hampshire, which is just like a normal election, where people go and cast a ballot, I think people will have much more confidence in that process.
VAUSE: And just a footnote to the 2012 result, because then they gave it to Santorum. He missed out on the front-runner status. And then after that, I think, they (inaudible) Congressman Ran Paul, father of Rand Paul, actually had won the most number of votes.
[03:35:10]
So, it was a bit of a disaster for the Republicans in 2012. It was close again in 2016. And a disaster for Democrats this year. Let's look at what's happening in Washington right now. Because you have Nancy Pelosi, we've had this situation with the national prayer breakfast, exchanging insults with Donald Trump. Obviously there's hostility between these two. This is not a relationship which is working. But does it matter? I mean, we're what? Eight months away, 10 months away from November.
JOHNSON: Well, some commentators have said that Donald Trump had the best week of his presidency this week. And you know, I think there is some evidence to suggest that. His approval rating now is the highest it's been since the early stages of his presidency. He's about 49 percent approval. That is a shift upwards from say, October when he was at 39 percent.
But I think we have to put that in context. After Bill Clinton was acquitted, in his impeachment trial, his approval rating went up to 72 percent. So, you know, so, Trump isn't at that level. And I think really what we're seeing in the approval ratings and in the Trump/Pelosi back and forth, is just the highly polarized nature of American politics now, where Trump is at sort of 95 percent approval with Republicans but about 5 percent approval with Democrats.
So, what we are seeing there actually is these two party leaders, and Pelosi is the de facto leader of the Democratic Party at the moment, speaking to their bases. And maybe that's how this election is really going to be run. It's not about really persuading the middle. It's about mobilizing your existing partisan supporters.
VAUSE: Yes. It's about getting as many true believers to the voting booth. I think that is going to be the case come November. Richard, thank you very much for being with us. Richard Johnson there, from Lancaster University. Thank you.
JOHNSON: Thank you.
VAUSE: After the break, outrage over the death of a doctor who tried to sound the alarm about the coronavirus. A look at the days leading up to his death. That's in a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[03:40:00]
VAUSE: Just a few hours ago, a plane carrying close to 200 Canadians from Wuhan China landed in Vancouver. And two military planes with hundreds of Americans on board are in the air and heading for San Antonio, Texas, and Omaha, Nebraska in weeks of quarantine. The Pentagon says, it will open 11 more quarantine housing sites near airports accepting these evacuation flight. Those sited will be run by the Department of Health and Human Services.
Meantime, China's government is launching an investigation into what it calls issues raised by the masses online related to the death of a doctor, who was one of the first to try to warn the public about the risks of the coronavirus. That Dr. Li Wenliang died Thursday from the Wuhan virus. CNN's David Culver has our report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DAVID CULVER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: in a matter of days, Dr. Li Wenliang went from treating patients to becoming one. The 34 year-old ophthalmologist diagnosed Saturday with the Wuhan coronavirus. Dying less than a week later in the same hospital in which he worked.
If action had been taken when he and others started sounding alarms, the severity of the outbreak might have been understood sooner. Struggling to communicate, Li spoke with CNN briefly by phone on January 31st. You can hear the hospital machines pulsing in the background.
It was back in late December, when Li first warned friends on WeChat about a SARS-like disease going around. Li sent a group message saying that a test result from a patient quarantined at the hospital where he worked showed a patient had a coronavirus, but hours after Li send, Wuhan city health officials tracked Li down, questioning where he got the information.
Within days, they closed the suspected source of the virus, this seafood market and announced the outbreak. But instead of being praised, Li got a call from Wuhan city police. With Li coughing too much and breathing too poorly to speak by phone, we asked Li by text, how did you feel when this happened?
I felt a little afraid. Afraid I would be detained. Afraid my family would worry, Li respond responded. He agreed to sign this document, admitting to spreading rumors online and severely disrupting social order. It reads, we want you to cooperate with the police and listen to our reminder and stop the illegal act. Can you do that? Li answered, yes, I can.
In the weeks that followed, the Wuhan municipal health commission maintained that there was obvious evidence for human-to-human transmission, no infection of health care workers and that the outbreak was in their words, preventable, and controllable. And with that, the people of Wuhan continued about their normal lives.
Then came a sudden jump in infections. China's central government took over, scrambling to contain a spreading virus with a rising death toll. Chinese state media first reported that Li was one of several whistleblowers, silenced by police. Calls for Li and the others to be vindicated grew online.
China's Supreme Court even weighed in. Adding quote, it might have been a fortunate thing if the public had listened to this rumor at the time. But for many, including Li and his parents, it was too late. They all contracted the coronavirus. Li's condition declined rapidly. But before his death Friday, he witnessed the support of thousands online who considered him a hero. Late Thursday night, Chinese state media first reported Li's death.
The responses online reflected a profound grief and a deep anger. The two topics trending on Chinese social media were Wuhan government owes Dr. Li Wenliang an apology and we want freedom of speech. Both had tens of thousands of views before being centered. Soon after state media changed its reporting, citing Wuhan central hospital which reported Li was still alive but in critical condition. And a few hours later, in the middle of the night, hospital authorities officially announced Li's death. He was 34. David Culver, CNN, Beijing.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: For more live now to Beijing. Steven Jiang, standing by. So, let's look at the issues raised online by the masses. So, let's talked some of the issues which had been raised, David mentioned in his report, freedom of speech. They say this doctor is a hero. He deserves an apology. But there's also some, you know, controversy of the timing of the doctor's death. Was he dead? Was he still alive? So, what are they saying about the death of the doctor and the circumstances surrounding it, as far as what they call netizens say in China, those people who are on the internet?
STEVEN JIANG, CNN PRODUCER: Well, John, you're right. There's so many questions raised by millions of people in the past few hours. Not only the government accountability issue, the freedom of speech issue, but even his medical condition.
[03:45:00]
For example, he was 34, a very young, healthy man, before he contracted this virus. But his condition worsened so quickly and died within the week, as they were saying, of diagnosis.
So, the press conference in the last hour, by the National Health Commission, a state media reporter, actually asked the government officials on the stage, why did this happen, if you guys have been insisting this disease mostly happened affecting older people with a lot of preconditions, especially when it comes to mortality cases. So, the officials said they had no answers because they did not know the specific situation of Dr. Li, but promised to look into it.
So, a lot of questions around Dr. Li's death. That's why there is this outpouring of grief, anger, you know, we have seen in the past few hours, really uniting this country of people of different political spectrum, even. A lot of them are asking this soul-searching questions because they have been really have all of these pent-up frustrations and emotions for some time.
Now, of course, they are increasingly questioning the government's assertions and the credibility. And not only this issue but many other issues. And the latest twist, John, we have just seen another state media report, saying another group of medical workers, five of them getting detained by police, in another province is South Western China for filming and posting information about what was going on in their hospital amid this outbreak. So, already, John, history seems to be repeating itself.
VAUSE: Yeah. This is all happening in Wuhan. This is a city of 11 million people, part of that 60 million or so, who are under lockdown. And they've been under lockdown for two weeks now, and heading into its third week. Is there any idea, an indication of what the situation is inside of those lockdown areas? Are the people getting anxious? Is there any kind of sign of unrest? Is there any indication of that online?
JIANG: I think, based on our conversation with the people who are there on the ground, there seems to be an increasing sense of fear and abandonment. Because there's no -- there's no sign that this lockdown will be lifted anytime soon. If anything, the authorities around the country have been placing more cities under lockdown in one way or another.
Now, inside Wuhan, of course, there is still this severe shortage of medical supplies and medical personnel. Even acknowledged by officials. They say they had already sent in 10,000 medical workers from around the country, to reinforce overworked local doctors and nurses. But there are still more than 2,000 short. John?
VAUSE: Steven, we appreciate the update. Thank you. Steven Jiang, live in Beijing.
We know all of the people and young children are among those most at risk from the Wuhan virus. But doctors had been surprised that some newborn children are diagnosed, as well. And as Elizabeth Cohen reports, it's not at all clear how they're actually getting sick.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: There are new reports out of China that there are two newborn babies infected with the Wuhan coronavirus. Now to be clear, these reports are coming from Chinese officials on state run television. They are not being reported in peer view of medical journals. But having said that, here's what we know.
At least one of the babies, the mother also had Wuhan coronavirus. We also know, and this is very important, that the babies were 30 hours or older when they were diagnosed. That means that there are a variety of ways that this baby might have become infected. It's possible, probably not likely, but possible, that the baby was infected while the mother was carrying the baby. While the mother was pregnant. It's also possible that the baby became infected during delivery. It's possible the baby became infected during breast-feeding. It's also possible that the mother while holding the baby, breathed on the baby and that's how the baby became infected. And perhaps nurses or other health care workers might have infected the baby. We just don't know.
But health experts do tell us that it would be unusual for a mother to infect a baby while the mother is pregnant. So, it seems likely that it's probably from one of those other modes of transmission. But unfortunately, with so few details coming from the Chinese, we don't know the answer. Back to you.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Elizabeth Cohen, thank you. We appreciate it.
Now we'll take a short break. When we come back, tornadoes, torrential rains, high winds and flooding. Parts of the U.S. dealing with a massive storm system. What's still ahead? We will have an update with Derek Van Dam.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[03:50:00]
VAUSE: A powerful storm system is barreling its way across the Eastern United States. At least two people have been killed and a number of others have also been injured. Nearly two dozen tornadoes have been reported and torrential rains had cause flooding across the south. To the north, snow and ice are hammering New England, making travel dangerous. It's not over yet. Here's Derek Van Dam with the forecast. So, what are they in for in the next day or so?
DEREK VAN DAM, CNN METEOROLOGIST: More snow, more ice and looks like the severe weather threat and the flood threats starts to diminish really there quickly as we enter into the early Friday morning hours along the East Coast. Check out this video, John. This is incredible. That is an Amazon delivery truck driver being rescued from the rising floodwaters, just outside of Atlanta, in Northeast Georgia, just near the CNN World Headquarters, where we're reporting from. Dramatic video, you can see the waters rushing across that region. That's because widespread tow to 4 inches of rain fell within that region.
And we talk about rainfall accumulation across the Southeastern United States, that wasn't the highest rainfall total we saw. In fact some of our rainfall accumulation maps indicates anywhere 4 to upwards 6 inches of rain, across the Appalachians, into the higher elevations of the Carolinas.
Really the Southeastern United States, were the battleground over the past two days between the warm and the cold air masses. And this collision of air masses, typical this time of year, cause severe weather outbreaks. In fact we had nearly two dozen tornadoes reported from Louisiana, right to Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, north and South Carolina and now into Florida, as well.
And look at that. Just under 170 reports of severe wind damage. They've been highlighted there on the screen. You can see in front of you. Just an incredible amount of energy pent-up with this system.
[03:55:00]
And check out what some of these the tornadoes actually did in a mobile home park in Central Alabama. Nearly flattening some of the buildings and unfortunately, this is exactly where one of the fatalities that we're reporting on came from. And you can see why this -- by the National Weather Service was indicated as an EF-1 tornado, with winds in excess of 100 miles per hour. But you see just how destructive tornadoes can be across this part of the world.
Now, talking about the severe weather that is ongoing, this is the line that move through Tampa Bay across the overnight hours. That actually closed one of the main skyway bridges across Tampa Bay, with winds over 40 miles per hour, and it collapsed a crane. There's the backside of the storm, transitioning some of these rainfall to snow across Tennessee and into Kentucky. We have a rain/snow mix taking place across northern New England. And it's not over yet, John. We've got another 12 hours of impactful weather across the Eastern U.S., with a rain/snow mix for northern New England. Back to you.
VAUSE: You bring such bad news. Thank you, Derek. I appreciate it.
(LAUGHTER)
VAN DAM: All right.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She is out. Thumbs up and a huge smile.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: That's (inaudible) American astronaut, Christina Koch, overjoyed after her Soyuz capsule landed safely on Thursday in Kazakhstan. She made her return trip to earth along with a European space agency astronaut and a Russian cosmonaut, who now holds the record for the longest single space flight by a woman. She spent 328 days in space. Took part in the first all-female spacewalk with a fellow astronaut, Jessica Myers.
That's it for us, thank you for joining us. I'm John Vause, Early Start with Christine Romans and Laura Jarrett is up next. Thanks for watching.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
END
