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U.S. and Japan Report First Deaths from Wuhan Coronavirus; Coronavirus Ship Quarantine Continues; Trump Takes Revenge Against Star Impeachment Witnesses; Oregon Flooding; No Evidence of Engine Failure in Kobe Bryant Helicopter Crash; Former ISIS Bride Stranded in Syria; Trump's Pricey Trips. Aired 5-6a ET
Aired February 08, 2020 - 05:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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NATALIE ALLEN, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Ahead this hour, the coronavirus claiming new victims, including the first American and Japanese citizens.
GEORGE HOWELL, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): In the United States, Democrats take the stage, their final debate before voters in New Hampshire make their votes.
ALLEN (voice-over): And firing witnesses. Donald Trump gets rid of two people who testified against him during house impeachment hearings.
HOWELL (voice-over): We're live at CNN headquarters in Atlanta. And welcome to viewers here in the United States and around the world, I'm George Howell.
ALLEN (voice-over): I'm Natalie Allen, CNN NEWSROOM starts right now.
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ALLEN: 5:00 am here in Atlanta. And we begin with the coronavirus yet again. Japan and the U.S. now both reporting their first fatalities. The two victims, said to be in their 60s, were in the city of Wuhan, the epicenter of the outbreak.
HOWELL: That brings the virus death toll to 726 people who have died. It could overtake the SARS outbreak of 2003.
ALLEN: And the infection rate is on the rise daily. At least 35,000 people now have the virus, the vast majority in China.
However, just a short time after, France announced five new cases there. This brings the total to 11 people. France's health minister said all of them are British nationals, including a child. Let's go live to Steven Jiang covering the story in China.
Steven, China has been praised and criticized for how it's handling this.
What's the latest there?
STEVEN JIANG, CNN SENIOR PRODUCER, BEIJING BUREAU: Well, George, sometimes, it seems like a tale of two outbreaks. If you watch the Chinese state-run television, they're running nonstop coverage of the Communist Party's effort in the epicenter around the country and the progress, improvements and praises that the government is receiving from around the world, including from President Trump, for example.
If you follow Chinese social media and talk to people on the ground, you also hear increasing voices of frustrations, grievances, as well as anger, especially culminating in reactions, people's reactions in the death of that whistleblower, Dr. Li, on Friday.
The reality is, the situation remains grave and grim, especially in the epicenter in Wuhan. And there you have officials increasingly take draconian measures. They have mandated a body temperature check for all of the citizens, 9 million people remaining there. They have to report their body temperatures to local officials on a daily basis.
If you don't do so voluntarily, police and officials will be knocking on your doors. In other parts of the country, officials are resorting to very much drastic measures to try to contain the virus.
The latest we have seen in state media reports, in the city of Guangzhou, not far from Shanghai, authorities have ordered all pharmacies to stop selling drugs treating fever and cough to local residents in their effort to force anyone with symptoms to go to the hospital and to check if they have contracted the coronavirus, George.
HOWELL: And Steven, on the streets of many cities there, across China, do you get a sense that people are even comfortable going out for their daily routines?
Or are people mostly staying at home?
JIANG: People have been mostly staying here, including here in the Chinese capital, Beijing. Streets have been so quiet sometimes it feels eerie. But a lot more people on the move now, even with the extended Lunar New Year holiday, that's about to end on Sunday.
So a lot of people have to go back to their bases to resume working, even if they're going to work from home. That is why the authorities are strengthening measures across the country, at transportation hubs, train stations, airports and bus stations.
But also they're increasingly having very strict access rules for residential areas including my own hometown. For example, when I was trying to buy groceries this morning, the delivery guys are no longer being allowed in. You have to go out to get the bags. Sometimes, they resort to pushing things through the fences.
One interesting tip, though, when you order deliveries online, you will get a message from these delivery people, saying, hi, I am on my way to deliver your package and my temperature is normal today -- George.
HOWELL: Wow, wow. That's been added to the routine. Steven Jiang, live for us in Beijing. Thank you for the report.
ALLEN: The measures they're having to take, it's unbelievable. Well over 300 cases of the coronavirus have now been documented outside of Mainland China.
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ALLEN: Fears of it spreading have led to the quarantine of two cruise ships, one in Hong Kong, one in Japan. It's the ship anchored in Yokohama port, the Diamond Princess, where the greatest concentration of the virus has been found outside of China. Matt Rivers is there to tell us how many people there are infected.
And what are the conditions for people stuck on that ship, Matt?
MATT RIVERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Natalie, 64 people now have been confirmed with this coronavirus on board that ship. It remains here in Yokohama.
And the question is, will those number of cases go up?
In the meantime, people will be quarantined on that ship for the next 14 days as authorities monitor the progress there. And it's this kind of a situation, in this petri dish of people, interacting close to one another that has the Japanese government and other governments around this region very wary of cruise ships in general.
That's why we've seen the situation with another cruise ship. We spoke to somebody on board a ship that is right now 300 kilometers off the east coast of Taiwan. It's out there, because no regional government will let it dock in any of its ports.
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RIVERS (voice-over): David Holst turns 64 on Sunday. Where he'll be on that day, he has no idea.
DAVID HOLST, QUARANTINED CRUISE SHIP PASSENGER (from captions): Am I nervous?
Yes, I am nervous.
Am I scared?
I'm not sure I would say scared but I'm certainly nervous.
RIVERS (voice-over): David and his wife, Judy, left on the Westerdam, a Holland America cruise, from Singapore on January 16th for a dream 30-day trip. All went to plan until February 1st and a stop in Hong Kong, a city battling the coronavirus.
Passengers spent a day onshore and new passengers joined and so off they sailed. But when they tried to go to next stop Manila, they were turned away and Taiwan authorities banned cruise ships, too, as did authorities here in Japan. RIVERS: Everywhere the ship was supposed to go after February 1st
turned it away, with each place citing fears the virus might be onboard, even though so far no cases have been found.
HOLST (from captions): Stressful, emotionally taxing, frustrating. No one wants us. Holland American advise that they are in discussions with the State Department, U.S. Navy and Dutch government, trying to find a solution and I have no idea what that will be or when it will be.
RIVERS (voice-over): Holst is frustrated with not only the decision to go to Hong Kong but what he called a lack of health checks and screenings done at the time. He believes the company didn't take the virus serious enough.
HOLST (from captions): People are angry. I think the tension is rising. And everyone on this boat has lived for the last seven days under the dark shadow of a bell ringing and being told we have the virus onboard.
RIVERS: In response, Holland America says they chose to sail for Hong Kong because the U.S. Centers for Disease Control's warning levels didn't indicate that Hong Kong was unsafe.
RIVERS (voice-over): Since then, the company says they prevent anyone who's traveled through China within the last two weeks to board its ships. They're conducting pre- and onboard medical screenings and imposing additional cleaning measures, among other things. They'll also issue refunds.
Though that may not bring much relief for folks on the Westerdam. David Holst managed to send us this video from aboard, passengers just sitting and waiting, no idea where they'll go next.
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RIVERS: So the ship remains off the east coast of Taiwan. And there is no word yet on where this ship will end up. They're trying to go to any port they can. Right now, no one is taking them.
It's a good reminder. Anyone on that ship will say, it's not a worst case scenario, no one has died or confirmed sick on the ship. However, it's a reminder that the coronavirus creates more victims than just those people who were unlucky enough to actually contract this virus -- George and Natalie.
ALLEN: How much longer, Matt, do we know that they'll be stuck on this ship?
RIVERS: We don't know. It's obviously a good question. It's the logical question. It's what everyone on board that ship is asking. It's what the company is trying to figure out.
And no one has an answer, at least at this point. There's a lot of rumors on the ship. Maybe they'll go to Honolulu, maybe they'll go to Guam. You know, they'll go to anywhere. They're not going to go to Taiwan. They're not going to go to Japan.
They're not going to go to the Philippines because they've been rejected by all three of those countries. Maybe they go to Hong Kong. We have no idea.
And that's why this story is so fascinating. You got a ship with hundreds of people floating in the East China Sea with no idea where it will go and they might end up.
ALLEN: I've never heard of anything like this before.
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ALLEN: And they have families all over the world thinking about them and wondering about them. It's unbelievable. Matt Rivers, thank you for your reporting on this.
HOWELL: Just to think of the limbo, not knowing where they'll to pick up and be in limbo, not knowing where they'll go next.
Look, U.S. health officials, they're scrutinizing a cruise ship that docked Friday near New York City.
ALLEN: A number of the passengers had recently visited China. CNN's Polo Sandoval has the story.
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POLO SANDOVAL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It was initially 27 passengers aboard this cruise ship who caught the attention of health officials who boarded it no longer after it docked early Friday morning. All of them except for four were medically cleared. That family sent to a nearby hospital to be tested for coronavirus.
We should point out, according to Royal Caribbean Cruises, they did not exhibit any coronavirus symptoms and only one of them actually tested positive for influenza during the cruise itself. So it certainly looks promising here.
But they will have to wait until those test results are released, until they can definitively say they were not exposed to the virus itself.
We can tell you Royal Caribbean implementing a series of stricter boarding protocols. They include guests holding passports from Hong Kong or China denied access to their ships for now and anyone traveling from Mainland China the last 15 days regardless of their country of origin denied access.
And finally there would be mandatory health screenings for some of those passengers who feel sick and particularly if they report traveling to mainland China in the last couple of weeks.
In the meantime, as for the ship itself, it was initially scheduled to return back out to sea on Friday afternoon. We're told that will now be heading out on Saturday -- Polo Sandoval, CNN, Bayonne, New Jersey. (END VIDEOTAPE)
HOWELL: Democratic candidates take aim at Pete Buttigieg in Friday night's debate. Coming up, hear from the candidates as they make their final pitches ahead of the New Hampshire primary.
ALLEN: Plus post impeachment rage turns to action against the U.S. president's perceived enemies. The key figures Donald Trump is showing the door in the wake of his acquittal. We'll get into that, next.
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ALLEN: Well, Friday night was the last chance for voters in New Hampshire to hear from most of the Democratic candidates at once before casting their ballot.
HOWELL: And as the debate heated up, Pete Buttigieg found himself in the crosshairs over lack of experience, while former Vice President Joe Biden and Senator Bernie Sanders, they sparred over health care. Our Nadia Romero has more on where the candidates stand ahead of this primary.
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NADIA ROMERO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Seven familiar faces took familiar places at the New Hampshire Democratic debate. But after the disastrous Iowa caucuses...
JOE BIDEN, FORMER U.S. VICE PRESIDENT AND PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I took a hit in Iowa and I'll probably take it here.
ROMERO (voice-over): -- the stakes seemed higher than ever.
WARREN: We need to reestablish the rule of law in this country.
ROMERO (voice-over): Pete Buttigieg and Bernie Sanders claiming victory in Iowa, leading the polls in New Hampshire and feeling the front-runner fire.
BIDEN: Buttigieg is a great guy. He's the mayor of a small city who has done some good things but has not demonstrated he has the ability --
ROMERO (voice-over): Others hoping for a memorable moment.
SEN. AMY KLOBUCHAR (D-MN), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Bernie and I work together all the time. But I think we are not going to be able to out divide the divider in chief.
PETE BUTTIGIEG (D), MAYOR OF SOUTH BEND, IND., PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The next president is going to have to restore the credibility of this country.
ROMERO (voice-over): The Democratic candidates touching on the topics that matter most to people in New Hampshire, like health care.
SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (D-VT), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: If we do what Joe wants, we'll be spending some $50 trillion on health care over the next 10 years.
That's the status quo, Joe.
ROMERO (voice-over): Climate change.
SANDERS: Maybe we pool our resources and fight our common enemy, which is climate change.
ROMERO (voice-over): And the economy.
TOM STEYER (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We're going to have to take Mr. Trump down on the economy and he's going to beat us unless we can take him down on the economy, stupid.
ANDREW YANG (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: What we actually have to do is get the markets working to improve our families' way of life.
ROMERO (voice-over): With the New Hampshire primary on Tuesday, the time for candidates to stand out to voters is quickly running out -- in Manchester, New Hampshire, I'm Nadia Romero, reporting.
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HOWELL: Following the Senate trial, the president is going on a post impeachment purge. He fired two key witnesses, Gordon Sondland and Alexander Vindman.
ALLEN: Vindman was a top Ukraine adviser in the National Security Council while Sondland is the now former ambassador to the E.U. who connected the president to a quid pro quo. And that's not all. Our Jim Acosta reports from the White House.
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JIM ACOSTA, CNN CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): President Trump is charging full speed ahead on his vindictive victory lap, sounding like he's on a warpath against his perceived enemies.
First on the president's list appears to be national security official Alexander Vindman, who was fired and escorted off of the White House grounds. His brother was forced out as well.
The president all but hinted at the move earlier in the day.
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Well, I'm not happy with him. You think I supposed to be happy with him? I'm not.
ACOSTA: It was Lieutenant Colonel Vindman, a Purple Heart recipient, who got under the president's skin, testifying during the impeachment inquiry.
LT. COL. ALEXANDER VINDMAN, DIRECTOR FOR EUROPEAN AFFAIRS, NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL: This is the country I have served and defended, that all my brothers have served. And, here, right matters.
ACOSTA: Vindman's lawyer released a statement saying it's obvious why his client was fired, writing: "There is no question in the mind of any American why this man's job is over, why this country now has one less soldier serving it at the White House."
Talking to reporters, the president was tearing into another target, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, claiming she could somehow be prosecuted for ripping up his speech at the State of the Union.
TRUMP: I thought it was a terrible thing when she ripped up the speech. First of all, it's an official document. You're not allowed. It's illegal, what she did. She broke the law.
ACOSTA: Mr. Trump is still fixated on the impeachment fight, tweeting and retweeting dozens of times just in the last 24 hours.
In an interview with CNN, the Democratic House managers who presented the case against the president and the Senate are insisting Mr. Trump will never change his ways.
REP. HAKEEM JEFFRIES (D-NY): Yes, of course he hasn't learned a lesson, because, as we repeatedly pointed out throughout the trial, Donald Trump is a serial solicitor.
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ACOSTA: The Democrats have just lost another legal battle with the president after a unanimous court decision to dismiss claims that Mr. Trump was violating the Constitution's emoluments clause by accepting foreign payments at his Washington, D.C., hotel.
TRUMP: So, I just got this. It was just handed to me. This is the D.C. Circuit. And we get one the big emoluments case. I think it was a unanimous decision. This was brought by Nancy Pelosi and her group.
ACOSTA: The president also has a spring in his step after the latest unemployment numbers found 225,000 jobs were created last month.
TRUMP: We just came out with fantastic job numbers. I think it was 230,000 or something thereabouts, which was much higher than projection. So jobs continue to be great. Our country continues to do great.
ACOSTA: But the president is pushing back on reports he's about to unload his acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney. A senior administration official told CNN earlier in the day that rumor of Mulvaney's demise, quote, "have been greatly exaggerated" -- Jim Acosta, CNN, the White House.
(END VIDEOTAPE) HOWELL: A lot to thank you about for sure. To do so, let's bring in Leslie Vinjamuri, head of the U.S. and Americas Programme at Chatham House in London.. Glad to have you with us.
LESLIE VINJAMURI, CHATHAM HOUSE: Thank you, George.
HOWELL: Let's start with the latest debate in New Hampshire, the former Vice President Joe Biden admitting he would take a hit in that state, compared to Bernie Sanders and Pete Buttigieg had momentum there.
Who had a good night?
Who's in trouble?
VINJAMURI: Well, I mean, this is an interesting debate now that the Democrats are looking at each other, trying to stake out their own positions going forward.
But it's been an extraordinary week, I think coming into Iowa, you know, there was one sense of who was on top; certainly, Joe Biden. And then to wake up, not have the results and really, the AP not officially calling the results takes us into a very different place going into New Hampshire.
I think that, again, you know, there's a lot of division. I think what comes out of New Hampshire won't necessarily be what we continue to see. But the country right now seems to be looking for a change. But it's very unclear what that change will be, whether it's about age, whether it's about more progressive politics.
The Democratic Party continues to be divided between the moderates and the progressives. And I think this overlay of the impeachment has not probably helped and it probably hasn't -- it probably has had an impact on the way the candidates are being perceived across the United States.
HOWELL: I'm curious to ask on that question, Leslie, you know, as you describe, the Democrats divided between impeachment, divided between these issues, are they getting closer to any issue that really lands, for instance, in your hometown, in Omaha, Nebraska?
Are they getting closer to that voter sentiment?
VINJAMURI: Yes, I mean that is a very interesting question.
You know, how will Democrats in the Midwest -- you know, I grew up in Omaha -- where will they cast their votes?
One would assume that it will be more of a moderate candidate. I've certainly heard any number of things coming out of that state, including an interest in Mike Bloomberg. So I think there isn't a consensus, this is a very dynamic primary season.
And there are a lot of events that are taking place, as we have been seeing, external to the debates, external to the individual caucuses and primaries. They're going to have a very significant impact on how people see the candidates.
HOWELL: How Bloomberg factors into all of this will be interesting to see in the weeks and months ahead.
Look, while the debate happened in the foreground, in the background, the U.S. president, the administration flushing out the pipes, as one of his advisers suggested, in the aftermath of the impeachment trial, firing the U.S. ambassador to the European Union, Gordon Sondland, and Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Vindman, the top Ukraine expert at the National Security Council dismissed.
What's the message here to others in the administration who see something and want to say something?
VINJAMURI: Well, the message is very clearly that this president expects loyalty, that this is not a president who gives priority to expertise on foreign policy over following his line.
This has been -- we've seen this develop over the last several months. It's very disturbing. There are broader changes taking place in the National Security Council that have gone under the radar during the impeachment hearings. We've seen 60 or 70 people let go or restructuring or rethinking of the National Security Council to really shore up Donald Trump's vision of foreign policy, his way of thinking about the world, bilateral, transactional. A very different take from the previous president. But to add the layer on this that loyalty is absolutely essential.
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VINJAMURI: I think in the aftermath of an acquittal, where the president could stand up and say, I've been acquitted, it's time to move forward, instead, he seems to be taking advantage of a current surge in his popularity to clear up shop.
And I think it's tremendously disturbing for those of us who take America's role in the world, its leadership, its commitment to foreign policy, alliances and responding to any number of challenges, where we need the expertise of those who have worked in the government for so long. It's a very disturbing period.
HOWELL: We mention here, there is an election around the corner.
The question here, what precedent does this impeachment trial and the acquittal, what does it set for future presidents, when it comes to using the power of the office to get dirt upon political rivals from adversarial nations?
VINJAMURI: Well, I think the question remains open. The American people are watching. They have watched this. They didn't vote. This was a vote taken by the Senate.
But the Senate, the Congress, the American people have heard the evidence. There will be more that comes out in the weeks and months ahead. This is not a story that's over. The press has been tremendously important. And I think the lessons that are learned won't simply be a product of the vote. They will be a product of the process.
And the idea that one would be called to account before Congress, before the Senate, before the American people, I think that's a tremendously powerful lesson regardless of the final decision to acquit.
HOWELL: Leslie Vinjamuri, live for us in the London bureau, thank you for your time.
VINJAMURI: Thank you.
ALLEN: Next, it looks like a ghost town, 11 million people are shut behind their doors. Still, what it's like when you're locked down in the city where the coronavirus got started.
HOWELL: Plus, new details on the crash that killed a basketball legend. We'll tell you how his widow is inviting fans to honor his legacy.
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HOWELL: Wherever you're watching this day, welcome back to viewers in the United States and around the world, this is CNN NEWSROOM. I'm George Howell.
ALLEN: And I'm Natalie Allen. Here are our top stories.
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HOWELL: And for people living in Wuhan, it is a life in limbo at this point. It's been shut down, that city, under quarantine now for a little more than three weeks.
ALLEN: That means 11 million people are now feeling the strain when it comes to finding the necessary supplies. CNN's David Culver spoke to some of them and asked how they're coping.
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DAVID CULVER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Within the epicenter of the deadly coronavirus, an eerie silence. The streets of Wuhan, China, a city 11 million people call home, mostly empty. But even in self-quarantine, some locals like Wu Chen keep moving.
WU CHEN, WUHAN RESIDENT (through translator): I live in an area of Wuhan.
CULVER (voice-over): The start of day 21 when we chatted with Wu, he's only left his place three times. WU (through translator): I don't really have any real difficulties in
daily life right now except that I'm extremely bored at being confined at home.
CULVER (voice-over): Most of his time spent in his apartment with his cat.
WU (through translator): I stopped going out from about January 13th because I feel the epidemic is quite serious and it is relatively safer to stay home.
CULVER (voice-over): From cooking to practicing good hygiene, the 26- year-old graphic designer records videos to keep entertained. Having friends over isn't really an option.
WU (through translator): Everyone says don't let any outsiders to come in.
CULVER (voice-over): Wu wishes the rest of the country was a bit more understanding.
WU (through translator): The epidemic is in no one's control. I know maybe the people of China are biased about Wuhan people plus the government did not resolve problems in time.
But though a small number flew out of Wuhan and spread the epidemic, all the Wuhan citizens are carrying the blame. I don't think that is sensible.
JUSTIN STEECE, U.S. CITIZEN LIVING IN WUHAN: We're in local Korean store, as you can see. The store is starting to get pretty cleared out here. So I'll grab some food while I have the chance.
CULVER (voice-over): American teacher Justin Steece gives us a feel from an expat's perspective, awaiting the proper paperwork to evacuate his wife, who is Chinese, and their 1-month-old baby. He and many others becoming at-home health safety experts.
STEECE: Next thing is take eye protection. Well, I don't have a pair of medical safety goggles. I do have my handy dandy eyeshades here, which I really like these.
CULVER (voice-over): Back inside Wu's home, a daily temperature check followed by a game of hide and go seek with his cat.
WU (through translator): I believe the epidemic will pass and, for us ordinary people, all we can do is take good care of ourselves.
CULVER (voice-over): Day 22 is still hours away -- David Culver, CNN, Beijing.
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ALLEN: Day 22, unbelievable.
Well, in the U.S., health experts say they're ready to go to China to help investigate the coronavirus outbreak but Beijing doesn't appear to be taking them up on their offer.
HOWELL: In the meantime, people try to stay safe from spreading the virus. They demand medical face masks. And that definitely had been on the rise. Factories can't make them fast enough. Our Robyn Curnow has that.
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ROBYN CURNOW, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): It's a global scramble for medical supplies as the coronavirus infects tens of thousands of people and continues to spread.
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DR. TEDROS ADHANOM GHEBREYESUS, WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION: The world is facing chronic shortage of personal protective equipment. I will be speaking to the Pandemic Supply Chain Network to identify the bottlenecks and find solutions and push with fairness in distribution of equipment.
CURNOW (voice-over): Chinese factories in Hubei province have ramped up daily production of medical face masks, this factory from 120,000 to 250,000. Workers are putting in three shifts a day to help overcome the shortage.
China and Taiwan produce most of the face masks in the world and the outbreak has forced this company to focus on domestic orders over exports. In the hardest hit areas, masks are flying off shelves as customers wait in long lines for hours to get their hands on some.
Medical professionals say the protective masks are for one-time use, which is also driving up the need for more. The demand is having a global impact. At a factory in Western France, orders from pharmacies and hospitals are pouring in. They're hiring a third more staff and increasing production to seven days a week but they admit they may not be able to make enough right away.
GUILLAUME LAVERDURE, MEDICOM GROUP: Since the epidemic outbreak in China, the demand has been multiplied by five and we're trying to answer the demand as soon as we can. So we will be able to answer most of the demand but maybe not for next week. It will be scheduled over time.
CURNOW (voice-over): The Chinese government has ordered citizens to wear face masks when they go outdoors but experts warn the masks aren't very effective at preventing transmission of the virus. The World Health Organization says hand washing is the best way to protect yourself.
DR. SYLVIE BRAND, WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION: Think to stop transmission of this virus it's very important that sick people wear masks. That's for clear. Then in terms of risk, again, I have said that, for people who have no symptoms, the mask will not necessarily protect them 100 percent because if they don't apply other measures, it's not sufficient. CURNOW (voice-over): The assembly lines at these factories continue to
run nonstop as the coronavirus paralyzes China and spreads around the world -- Robyn Curnow, CNN, Atlanta.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOWELL: In parts of Oregon, severe flooding is forcing emergency rescues there.
ALLEN: Also investigators say they're getting a better understanding of what may have caused the helicopter crash that killed basketball legend Kobe Bryant. Ahead, the latest on the investigation and his widow's plans to honor his life.
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HOWELL (voice-over): Take a look at what's happening in the U.S. State of Oregon. Ten people there rescued from floodwaters; two of them, rescue personnel themselves. Authorities say the flooding happened very fast, washed out roads and made access around that part of the country very difficult.
ALLEN (voice-over): Yes, look at that water under the bridge. And that one road cut right in two.
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HOWELL: The late basketball legend, Kobe Bryant, his widow is offering fans a chance to celebrate the star's life. Vanessa Bryant announced plans for a public memorial to be held February 24th. It will be at the Staples Center where he played his entire career for the Los Angeles Lakers.
ALLEN: The legendary retired athlete, of course, was killed last month when the helicopter he was in with his 13-year-old daughter crashed into a hillside near Los Angeles. On Friday, the National Transportation Safety Board released new details. Our Nick Watt has that.
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NICK WATT, CNN ANCHOR: The NTSB is calling this an investigation update; this is not analysis, these are not conclusions, this is a report of the facts that they have gathered so far. But experts say it does give an indication, a roadmap of where the investigation is going.
And one line in particular stands out and that is viewable sections of the engines show no evidence of an uncontained or catastrophic internal failure, which suggests that engine failure has pretty much been ruled out. A former managing director at the NTSB talked about his initial reactions.
PETER GOELZ, CNN AVIATION ANALYST: If there were concerns about either the equipment or anything else, it would be mentioned. In this case, they focused in on the weather, they focused in on the pilot's interaction with air traffic control and, in the end, I'm afraid the spotlight will be on the pilot and his decision making.
WATT: The report also details the condition of that helicopter, says there were no outstanding airworthiness directives or minimum equipment list items and all inspections were up-to-date. The pilot, aged 50, had worked in that Island Express for about 10 years. No issues with his record, either.
There was focus on the weather. Photographs, one showing -- taken from a security camera showing the helicopter flying in heavy fog. Some eyewitness testimony, videos and photos taken by the public in the area of the accident also depict fog and low clouds obscuring the hilltops.
We now also know that the last contact with controllers, the pilot said that he was planning to climb to 4,000 feet to avoid cloud. He only got to 2,300 feet before making a left turn, descending and crashing.
A full report might take more than a year to come out. And in the meantime, we now know that there will be a memorial for Kobe Bryant at Staples Center here in Los Angeles Monday, February 24th -- Nick Watt, CNN, Los Angeles.
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ALLEN: In Syria, a former ISIS bride faces what could be a long journey through the U.K. courts.
HOWELL: That's because she lost her first attempt to reclaim her British citizenship. Our Phil Black has this story for you from London.
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PHIL BLACK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Shamima Begum was a 15-year-old London schoolgirl when, in 2015, she decided to leave the U.K. and travel to Syria to live with and be part of ISIS.
It was four years later, February 2019, she was found in a refugee camp in northern Syria, at the time heavily pregnant, pleading to be allowed to return to the U.K. The British government moved swiftly to prevent that by revoking her British citizenship, citing national security concerns. As part of her lawyer's challenge against that decision, they said
that it was unlawful because it's effectively left her stateless, something that isn't allowed under international law.
But the tribunal hearing this appeal disagree, saying that Begum still has the right to Bangladeshi citizenship because that's where both her parents were born. Even though she's never been there, she's never sought to formalize that citizenship and the Bangladeshi government has said publicly she's not welcome.
Her lawyers also argue that, because she's effectively stranded in northern Syria, it's pretty much impossible for her to fight a fair and effective legal battle against the decision to revoke her citizenship.
On this point, the court agreed, saying that point alone could not automatically mean that her appeal is successful. Her lawyers say they will appeal this urgently because she's never been in greater danger.
But there's no doubt this initial ruling is big a setback for her in what is now likely to be a lengthy appeals process as her lawyers pursue all options to try to bring her back to her country of birth and the British government remains equally determined to ensure that never happens -- Phil Black, CNN, London.
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ALLEN: A new report says President Trump is racking up big bills when he visits his properties. How much it's costing U.S. taxpayers and where all of that money is going. We'll have that story when we come back.
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HOWELL: Well, during his time as president, Donald Trump has spent more than 340 days at his clubs and hotels. And lodging Secret Service personnel during those trips, well that doesn't come cheap, we've learned.
HOWELL: That's right. The Trump Organization disputes that. But one report says taxpayers are footing a bill in the hundreds of thousands of dollars. And those dollars are going back into the Trump administration. Our Tom Foreman breaks it all down.
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TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Hotel rooms at $650 per night for dozens of stays, close to $400 a night for dozens more and a whopping $17,000 a month to use a three-bedroom cottage.
Those are bills for Secret Service agents lodging at Trump properties during presidential travels, according to a new "Washington Post" analysis of available public records. And "The Post" says those documents collectively show more than $471,000 in payments from taxpayers to Trump's companies.
The Trump Organization says that's total nonsense. We provide rooms at cost and for anyone to suggest otherwise is not only inaccurate but an outright lie.
Eric Trump once claimed the same thing about when his presidential father travels to the family's properties.
ERIC TRUMP, DONALD'S SON: It saves a fortune because if they were to go to a hotel across the street, they'd be charging 500 bucks a night whereas we charge them like 50 bucks.
PRESIDENT TRUMP: Vacation, if you want vacations you're not really in the right business.
FOREMAN (voice-over): Of course there was a time on the campaign trail when Donald Trump said he'd hardly leave Washington at all if elected.
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PRESIDENT TRUMP: I promise you I will not be taking very long vacations, if I take them at all.
FOREMAN (voice-over): But that was then. Now between golfing, visits to golf courses and simply time away from D.C., as "The Post" puts it, he has spent more than 342 days, one-third of his entire presidency, at his own clubs and hotels and charges the government for it.
PRESIDENT TRUMP: I'm not looking for credit. But I'd give up my salary. I get zero.
FOREMAN (voice-over): The president has often bragged how he does not accept a salary and about all he does during frequent trips to his Mar-a-lago resort in Florida or, as he calls it, the winter White House.
PRESIDENT TRUMP: Well, I like working.
FOREMAN (voice-over): But getting the bottom line cost for taxpayers is tough. The Secret Service is woefully behind in its public reporting of expenditures for tailing Trump, so much so "The Post" notes the nearly half-million dollar price tag we mentioned covers only a fraction of the cost for a fraction of the time Trump has been in the office and out of it, on the road.
FOREMAN: For all that the Secret Service sent CNN a statement, saying they use resources judiciously, can't discuss details of how they protect the president. And that seems to suit team Trump just fine.
Indeed the administration is resisting congressional demands for better reporting of these costs until at least after the next election -- Tom Foreman, CNN, Washington.
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ALLEN: And that will do it for us. Thank you for watching CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Natalie Allen.
HOWELL: And I'm George Howell. For our viewers in the United States, "NEW DAY" is next. For viewers around the world "ERIN BURNETT OUTFRONT" is next.
ALLEN: See you around.
