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Coronavirus Death Toll Rises, Surpassing SARS; Thai Shooting Rampage Suspect Dead; At Least Two Troops Killed in Afghanistan; Trump Fires Impeachment Witnesses; Ireland Election; First Woman to Start Olympic Torch Relay; 2020 Oscars. Aired 3-3:30a ET

Aired February 09, 2020 - 03:00   ET

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

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MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): The death toll from the coronavirus jumps again, as China sees its deadliest day yet. The number of fatalities now surpassing the SARS outbreak.

Some hope for passengers on board a cruise ship quarantined by the Japanese government. They do now have a date when they can finally get off that boat.

We are following breaking news in Thailand. Police say they have killed the soldier accused of killing more than 20 people inside a crowded shopping mall.

Hello, everyone, and welcome live from Studio 7 here at CNN news center in Atlanta. I'm Michael Holmes and this is CNN NEWSROOM.

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M. HOLMES: At least six more cases of the Wuhan coronavirus have been confirmed aboard that quarantined cruise ship in Japan. We will have more about that in just a moment.

Meanwhile, the overall death toll has risen to at least 813. That is more than the entire SARS outbreak of 2003 and it happened in a much shorter timeframe as well. The World Health Organization now sending experts to China this week to study the new disease.

Globally, when you have a look at the map, you can see where it has impacted. It has infected over 37,000 people, most of them in China; 362 cases reported worldwide outside of China.

Let's go to Matt Rivers in Yokohama, Japan, where the Diamond Princess cruise ship has confirmed more cases of the virus.

Bring us up to date there, Matt.

MATT RIVERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes Michael, we're still trying to get clarification from the health ministry here in Japan. But according to an announcement made that was overheard by CNN from the captain of the Diamond Princess, there are six more cases confirmed coronavirus passengers on board the ship.

Those people have since been taken off the ship. He made it the announcement earlier today in a two-minute announcement to passengers, giving them the latest status update on what is going on board the ship.

Yesterday there were three more cases. The fact that it jumped up again, of course, is of concern to passengers on board. That said, this quarantine remains in place. As far as we know, it has not been extended any further. It remains through February 19th at this point.

But this remains in place. Also, you might think, while people are being -- remaining on board and sick people continue to get taken off, both the Japanese and American governments -- there are 428 Americans on the ship -- both governments, according to the defense ministry here in Japan, are in agreement that the best way to make sure that people aboard that ship and onshore stay safe, by limiting their exposure to the virus, is by sheltering in place.

That is the plan at this point even with six more new cases coming off the ship.

M. HOLMES: All right, Matt Rivers there, on the spot for us in Yokohama, Japan. I appreciate it, thanks.

Joining me now, Vera Koslava-Fu, a passenger aboard the Diamond Princess cruise ship.

Vera, thank you so much for your time. I suppose you have plenty of time there. Tell me how you are coping.

VERA KOSLAVA-FU, QUARANTINED CRUISE SHIP PASSENGER: My pleasure. I'm coping well. There's been moments of up and down though the day before when we got the news that there were some more passengers that have been infected, I have to admit I had a slight meltdown.

It was just a lot of unknown. We know our captain is working very hard and is relaying information to us. And he is constrained by Japanese government in what he is allowed to share and when he's allowed to share information.

So we do thank him and the crew but it is human nature to be nervous and have meltdowns when you are confined.

M. HOLMES: I don't blame you. I think anyone would.

Do you feel you should be taken off?

The argument is to contain it all on the boat.

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M. HOLMES: I wonder if you agree with that or whether you think the healthy should be taken off and separated from the infected rather than all being on the same ship? KOSLAVA-FU: I have to agree, we are kept in the dark. In the sense that we know the affected, who've had the result come back positive, have been taken off and are undergoing treatment. But then, there were over 200 people who had symptoms.

So the question that I am constantly thinking about is, where are the others that had shown symptoms?

Are they in the clear?

Is there anybody else?

So if they were taken off then we would be more at ease.

M. HOLMES: So at the moment, do you have any idea when you are going to get off?

KOSLAVA-FU: Yes, we do. We have been given a date, the 19th of February in Japan. It will be the end of our quarantine time. But now the speculation is, if since the announcement was made a day ago, if there are any further passengers that are infected or have positive results -- because we are asked to check our temperature every four hours. If it reaches 37.5, we are to ring our medical member here on board straightaway.

So it is self monitoring. We are hoping that everybody on board is abiding by that rule of self monitoring. So that is the date and there has been speculation about whether the clock will reset.

No one is able to tell us. I received an email from the government consular in Japan saying that that is the date and they are working. But the letter still slightly vague and I understand why it has to be.

M. HOLMES: It's true, I suppose; you don't know, as you put it, that the clock resets if there are more cases. Even the best-case scenario, just under two weeks more in the internal room on board the ship. It must be driving you nuts.

What about other passengers, are they angry, stressed, upset?

KOSLAVA-FU: I believe so. Overall I believe the spirits -- I think -- I don't know -- I only have limited access to a few passengers personally. We do have a group. But there are only about 80 members out of nearly 3,000 people on this ship.

I basically have no idea how the majority of people are feeling on this ship. There are many different nationalities on this ship. So the announcements that are coming through in English followed by Japanese. We know that probably half of the passengers are Japanese.

But there are certainly small portions that might not be able to understand very well either language. So I hate to think how they are feeling, especially if they are in a similar room to mine which is on the inside.

M. HOLMES: A very serious situation, a very worrying one. I admire your spirits. We wish you well --

KOSLAVA-FU: Thank you.

M. HOLMES: Vera Koslava-Fu, thank you so much.

KOSLAVA-FU: My pleasure. Thank you.

M. HOLMES: All quiet now at a shopping mall in Thailand after police say they shot a gunman dead who had killed at least 26 people. That brings an end to what was a 12-hour long standoff.

Security forces rushing to the scene after shots rang out Saturday. Officials say the gunman was a soldier who had plenty of weaponry and ammunition before he headed to the mall. Kristie Lu Stout joining us now from Hong Kong.

The mall was the focus, that's not were it began however. Fill us in.

KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN ANCHOR: We have new details for you, Michael. We learned from the Thai authorities. We have confirmed that the gunman was in fact holding hostages. We also learned that Thai police had brought in the gunman's mother as an attempt to talk to him and to get him to stand down.

Also, in the last three hours we learned from the Thai prime minister, who weighed in on the incident, saying it all started with a quarrel. It was an argument over a land payment commission fee that triggered this mass shooting, starting at a military base and then ending at a shopping mall in northeastern Thailand.

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STOUT: A Thai soldier is accused of killing at least 26 people and injuring 57 others, then after 12 hours he was shot dead by police. Just imagine the scary situation of being there, stuck inside the mall when the shots started to ring out.

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STOUT (voice-over): Terrified shoppers run out of the mall as a calm day turned deadly in one of Thailand's largest cities. Nakhon Ratchasima, also known as Korat city, is where a Thai soldier opened fire at Terminal 21 mall, killing at least 26 people.

Hours after the rampage began, images on social media showed people sprinting across the mall as heavily armed Thai police and military evacuated them.

Jon Fielding, an English teacher, was inside the mall during the shooting.

JON FIELDING, TEACHER: I was just at the mall with a friend. Everything was completely normal. And then all of a sudden, everyone started running. Lots of shouting and panicking. And we immediately knew something was wrong. And the immediate reaction is to kind of duck down and hide. And then everyone was running into the shops and restaurants and barricading the doors.

Luckily we were right next to a restaurant, so we went inside and shut the door. It's a huge mall, really busy, on a Saturday. There must have been thousands of people in the mall.

STOUT (voice-over): The tragic event unfolded in real time and security forces published images on social media, giving instructions for people trapped in the building to get out. Emergency workers livestreamed their rescue efforts as they were taking victims on stretchers out of the building.

ANUTIN CHARNVIRAKUL, THAI PUBLIC HEALTH MINISTER (through translator): We have been trying to bring out whoever we can. And we will gradually save others who are still stuck inside.

STOUT (voice-over): Thailand's defense ministry spokesman said the suspect, Army Sub. Lt. Jakrapanth Thomma, shot and killed his superior, then went around shooting his colleagues. After he escaped from his quarters he drove to the mall and started shooting civilians.

He added, the gunmen's motive is still unknown. Facebook said in a statement it had removed the suspected gunman's page, although there was no evidence of violent videos.

"We are working around the clock to remove any violating content related to this attack," the statement said. "Our hearts go out to the victims, their families and the community affected by this tragedy in Thailand."

The saga ended on Sunday when authorities confirmed the gunman was shot dead by police.

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STOUT: And we have an update on the condition of the wounded. Earlier we heard from Thai officials, saying the 21 were treated in hospital with nine in surgery and 21 have gone home.

But then we heard from the Thai prime minister saying 57 people at least have been wounded, including one undergoing liver surgery and two others at the moment undergoing brain surgery -- back to you.

M. HOLMES: Just an extraordinary situation. You mentioned there, his Facebook page. And social media had quite a role in this. Some people obviously discussing it in the region. But also the police using social media to communicate with people inside the mall.

STOUT: That is right. There was that moment while this was unfolding overnight, where the police took to Twitter to tell people inside the shopping center to stay calm, to stay safe and to keep their phones on mute.

This entire ordeal was shared virtually in real time online through these updates posted on social media by police forces, by emergency services as well, as well as people who were holed up inside. But again, after 12 hours, the manhunt over a few hours ago, this morning in Thailand, it came to an end with the gunman shot dead -- back to you.

M. HOLMES: All right, Kristie, thank you, covering this from Hong Kong, we appreciate it.

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M. HOLMES (voice-over): All right Saturday turned into another deadly day for U.S. forces in Afghanistan. When we come back, why they might not have seen the attack coming.

Also still to come, President Trump gets pushback from lawmakers in his own party after two key witnesses in the impeachment inquiry were fired. Their warning for the president coming up next.

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M. HOLMES: At least two U.S. soldiers are dead and six more wounded after a firefight in Eastern Afghanistan. The U.S. military says reports indicate someone wearing an Afghan uniform opened fire on U.S. and Afghan forces with an automatic weapon.

The incident comes as the White House considers withdrawing more forces from Afghanistan. Last year saw a record high number of attacks by the Taliban and other groups. For more on this, journalist Jennifer Glasse is live for us in Kabul.

Tell us what more you have been able to learn about how this unfolded, Jennifer.

JENNIFER GLASSE, JOURNALIST: Well, we know that a joint Afghan-U.S. forces -- U.S. Special Forces -- were in Eastern Afghanistan in Sherzad district in Nangarhar province. And they were completing a high level visit there when someone in an Afghan uniform opened fire with a machine gun on the forces, killing two Americans and wounding six. We understand from Afghan official at least three Afghan soldiers were also wounded.

We are expecting to hear from the Afghan ministry of defense in the next few minutes. But this was an attack while forces were out in the field. And it's something that we have seen before, Michael.

M. HOLMES: Tell us more. I mean we know that the reports are that the shooter had an Afghan uniform. That doesn't necessarily mean that it was an Afghan soldier. But it if it does turn out that way, what the military calls green on blue attack, tell us how common those are or have been.

GLASSE: That's right. So the so-called green on blue attacks were insider attacks where Afghans in uniform or infiltrators attack Afghan, American or coalition forces. They were very much a problem, especially during the surge of 2010-13, it really peaks in 2012 when 15 percent of all coalition deaths were caused by these insider attacks.

And you can imagine, Michael, how problematic it really is, because the Americans right now, who are out on combat operations, are working alongside Afghan forces and so there has to be a degree of trust there.

And if you can't trust the Afghan forces that you are working with, that you have to worry about what those Afghan forces are going to do, that certainly causes problems. And what we saw in 2000, in the time when these insider attacks, these green on blue attacks were really happening, there were so-called Guardian Angel forces.

So there are American forces assigned to simply watch the Afghan forces that the Americans were working alongside. Of course it means more troops, it means another thing for Americans to do. And it makes the work on the ground much more difficult.

M. HOLMES: Absolutely. And you know the country well and what's going on. And to that point, tell us about the security situation in that particular part of the country. There's Taliban there, also ISIS, right?

GLASSE: That's right. Taliban and ISIS are active in Nangarhar Last autumn we saw the Afghan government with American forces trying to push the ISIS out of that province. We know they killed or captured hundreds of ISIS fighters but still some of those fighters still remain and the Taliban remain in that difficult province which borders Pakistan.

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GLASSSE: It's mountainous and difficult terrain and has always been a problem and has never really been secure.

M. HOLMES: All right, thanks, Jennifer, Jennifer Glasse there in Kabul, a longtime correspondent there in Afghanistan, appreciate it.

Sources tell CNN a handful of Republican senators tried to stop President Trump from firing the U.S. ambassador to the European Union, Gordon Sondland. The senators warned that it might look bad for Mr. Trump to not let him leave on his own terms.

Of course the same day, Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Vindman, the top Ukraine expert at the National Security Council, was also fired. No word that any senators tried to support him. Both, of course, were key witnesses in the impeachment inquiry. CNN's Kristen Holmes reports.

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KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, this is clearly a president who has been empowered by his acquittal. For months we saw the president angry on Twitter, lashing out at Democrats the, impeachment process and those witnesses.

And now it seems like we are in a new phrase, that is acting out on that discontent. Of course, firing those two prominent witnesses within the impeachment inquiry, Lt. Col. Vindman getting escorted off the property here at the White House.

And I want to read a statement from Vindman's attorney, which says, "Lt. Col. Vindman was asked to leave for telling the truth. His honor, his commitment to right frightened the powerful. Truth is not partisan. If we allow truthful voices to be silenced, if we ignore their warnings, eventually there will be no one left to warn us."

I want to note something here. Vindman was not the only person fired. His twin brother, who also was a lawyer at the National Security Council, was fired yesterday. And on top of that, he had he had nothing to do with the impeachment. He was simply related to Colonel Vindman.

So Trump is sending a very serious message that says if you cross me or I perceive you have, you will be punished. And it's not just these big firings. We are also hearing that as early as next week the national security advisor, Robert O'Brien, will begin cutting jobs at the National Security Council.

Why is that important?

President Trump has long suspected that those damaging leaks were coming from the National Security Council, from these career employees who he believed did not have his best interests at heart. So it certainly seems like the White House is cleaning house -- Kristen Holmes, CNN, at the White House.

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M. HOLMES: Vote counting is set to begin in the coming hours in Ireland's general election. And exits polls suggest there may be a tie between three main parties. The survey shows the incumbent party, that's Fine Gael, the Irish nationalist party, Sinn Fein, and the center right Fianna Fail each have a little more than 22 percent support. Statistically they are tied.

The voters there are electing 159 members of the lower house of parliament.

We're going to take a quick break. When we come back, we are just hours away from Oscar time. Coming up we, will have a look at the foreign language film hoping to make history and take home one of Hollywood's biggest awards. Be right back.

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M. HOLMES: For the first time, a woman will start the Olympic Torch Relay. Hard to believe it's the first time but it is.

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M. HOLMES: Olympic shooting champion Anna Korakaki will start the torch's epic journey from Greece to Japan and, of course, the 2020 games in Tokyo. Korakaki won gold in the previous Olympics for her marksmanship and is returning to defend her title.

The final carrier of the flame will also be a woman, 2016 pole vault champion Ekaterina Stefanidi. The torch relay will end in traditional form with the flame being carried into the national stadium before the lighting of the main cauldron at the opening ceremony. That'll be Tokyo 2020. It all starts July 24th.

Well, tonight is Hollywood's biggest night, the Oscars. And one particular dark horse is creating a lot of buzz. The Korean language film "Parasite" hoping to pull off an upset in the Best Picture category. CNN's Paula Hancocks has a look at how this black comedy could make history.

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PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's a scathing view of a class war, an unapologetic black comedy that is storming award ceremonies and has catapulted director Bong Joon Ho to global stardom.

BONG JOON HO, DIRECTOR, (through translator): I don't feel comfortable being called a star. I am a filmmaker who makes films. I am happy that people love the story of this film, the cast and the beautiful cinematography.

HANCOCKS (voice-over): It's a story of a poor family inserting themselves into a rich family's household and lives with devastating results.

WONSUK CHIN, DIRECTOR: The brilliant part about the movie because, because it's not the kind of movie, it's not a black and white story about these two families. You may have sympathy for them, for the rich family, and then you may then have sympathy for the five family.

Who is the "Parasite" here?

HANCOCKS (voice-over): The film has already made history, becoming the first Korean film to win the Palm d'Or, the top prize at the Cannes Film Festival, becoming the first foreign language film to win the top prize at the Screen Actors Guilds awards for best cast about in a motion picture.

Success at the Golden Globes, the BAFTAs, six Oscar nominations, including Best Picture. If "Parasite" wins that title this Sunday, it will be the first foreign language film to do so in 92 years at the Academy Awards.

CHIN: This is really surreal. I mean even Bong Joon has admitted that it feels like a dream, like he is still in a dream. And I think that is almost like a collective dream for the Korean people.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): The title of the movie is perfect. But the story is about coexistence. So it will be more meaningful if we win this film. HANCOCKS (voice-over): The film has grossed more than $160 million

worldwide, putting it in the realm of Hollywood blockbusters. But for the director and cast, this is all new. As they told CNN who they wanted to meet at the BAFTAs last weekend.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Martin Scorsese.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Robert De Niro.

HANCOCKS (voice-over): Paula Hancocks, CNN, Seoul

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M. HOLMES: And good luck to them.

Thanks for watching CNN NEWSROOM, I'm Michael Holmes. I will have your headlines in just a moment.