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Coronavirus Claimed 240 Lives in Hubei; Service de Luxe Despite High Risk; President Trump's Lesson After Impeachment; Coronavirus Freezes Some World Events; Independent but Not Free to Scrutiny. Aired 3-3:30a ET

Aired February 13, 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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ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us from all around the world. I'm Rosemary Church. And this is CNN Newsroom.

A surge in coronavirus cases and deaths inside the province where the outbreak began.

Plus, more cases on that quarantined cruise ship but some passengers are being allowed to go ashore.

And Donald Trump's payback campaign. Why he is thanking the U.S. Justice Department.

Good to have you with us.

So there's been a massive surge in the number of deaths and infection from the novel coronavirus in China. More than 240 deaths were reported Wednesday in Hubei province of just alone there. And that's the largest single day increase so far and it pushes the world wide death toll above 1,300.

The number of suspected infections jumped to at least 60,000 worldwide with nearly 15,000 new cases reported in Hubei.

So why the sudden spike? Well, officials are now counting cases they've confirmed through testing as well as patients who were observed and diagonals in clinics but have not necessarily tested positive.

So, let's go now to our correspondents. And Steven Jiang joins us now from Beijing, and Will Ripley is in Yokohama, Japan where a cruise ship with over 200 cases of coronavirus is docked. Good to see you both.

Steven, let's start with you as the deaths and infections surge inside the epicenter of this coronavirus in Hubei province. China went after local officials there. What was the outcome? STEVEN JIANG, CNN SENIOR PRODUCER: That's right, Rosemary. Heads are

starting to roll. In the past few hours we have learned the most senior official in Hubei province, the communist party chief of that region has been replaced by the mayor of Shanghai, a trusted protege of Chinese President Xi Jinping.

And also replaced was the communist party chief of the city of Wuhan, the provincial capital. Now we are expecting to see more role in the coming hours and days.

But this is not entirely surprising given the scathing criticism these local officials have been receiving for their mishandling of the outbreak. And also, it's probably in the best interest of the central leadership including President Xi Jinping to keep people's frustrations and anger at the provincial and local level.

But despite these changes in the leadership in the province and in the methodology of how the officials there account the cases, what hasn't changed though is the grim reality at the epicenter.

We've been talking to people trapped in Wuhan and surrounding provinces for over two weeks now. They continue to paint a very, very desperate and helpless picture. Many telling us despite being severely ill and very, very weak and displaying full-blown symptoms of the virus they are still unable to get tested or treated.

And even local officials there are acknowledging they continue to face a severe shortage of medical supplies, personnel and facilities. So, until and unless these issues get resolved, I think we are continuing -- we are not going to see the picture there to improve anytime soon. Rosemary?

CHURCH: Understood. Steven Jiang in Beijing with the very latest there. Many thanks.

Well, another 44 cases of the coronavirus have been confirmed on a cruise ship quarantined in Japan. Bringing the total numbers of cases on the ship to 219.

CNN's Will Ripley is standing by in Yokohama with the latest on this. So, Will, the quarantine effort doesn't appear to have worked very well. Does it? But some people are being allowed off the ship before that February 19th date where everyone presumably will be released.

WILL RIPLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: So, the cruise line and the Japanese health ministry said the quarantine is working, Rosemary.

But the fact that they are allowing certain high-risk group, specifically people over the age of 80 who have not had a direct contact with anyone who's positive for the novel coronavirus, it does indicate that they are acknowledging the concerns shared by many of the passengers and crew on board. That this might be more infectious and more dangerous situation than what the health authorities are either aware of or letting on.

[03:05:03] And so, we know that the -- those people that I just mentioned, part of that slight group, the senior citizens, they will be given the option of being allowed to disembark off of the Diamond Princess and move into housing that is managed by the Japanese government for the duration of this quarantine which is expected to still come to an and on February the 19th.

Passengers say they've only been told that ends at 7 a.m., Rosemary, but they don't know what's going to happen after that. You know, who gets to go off first, will their flights be booked by the cruise line? Will they have to book their own flights? Those are all unanswered questions at this point.

CHURCH: I mean, that is the worry. And of course, we know that the crew feels that they've been exposed to a lot of dangers here. They've been complaining and asking for help. So, this is the problem when you sort of keep people all on board a ship like that.

And we know in Hong Kong there have been instances where people have actually been infected from the pipes. So that is the worry that people don't know, there's a lot they don't know about coronavirus at this juncture. So maybe that situation wasn't ideal.

RIPLEY: Yes. And you know, those incidents out of Hong Kong, Rosemary, they just kind of send chills down the spine of anybody who remembers the SARS outbreak of 2003 when Amoy Gardens which was the epicenter of the outbreak there, people in this, you know, particular housing building.

Yes, as you mentioned, they were getting infected because through people's, you know, the pipes from their bathrooms going from one apartment to the next. That's obviously very scary for people.

And despite reassurances on the Diamond Princess that, for example, they say all the air that people are getting, you know, pumped into their cabins is fresh air or at least as much as possible, not like recirculated air amongst other people's cabins aside from the fact that scientists say this coronavirus is not airborne.

It's little reassurance for those who are spending, you know, up to 24 hours a day, multiple days in a row inside these crumped cabins wondering if they're safe.

CHURCH: Absolutely. Some very good points there. Our Will Ripley joining us live from Yokohama in Japan. Many thanks.

Well, thousands of kilometers away in Cambodia. Another cruise ship has finally found a friendly port. The Westerdam has no reported cases of the coronavirus on board, yet it was turned away from multiple Asian ports.

Now it has docked in Cambodia. And those passengers will soon get off the ship and fly home. The cruise line says it will arrange and pay for their airfare, give a full refund for their trip, and plus give them credit for a future cruise. More than 3,700 passengers and crew of the Diamond Princess cruise

ship will remain quarantined for nearly another week in Yokohama in Japan. As we mentioned, crew members are especially worried about catching the virus and some of them have been working around infected people.

CNN's Matt Rivers talked to one crew member.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are doing everything in our power to maximize your comfort during your extended stay with us.

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MATT RIVERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: A Wednesday announcement for passengers aboard the Diamond Princess as the captain seeks to reassure them all is OK, saying the air on board is clean. But amidst his crew there is palpable fear that the virus is spreading.

CNN spoke with the crew member aboard the ship, Sonali Thakkar speaking behind the mask. Her message is urgent.

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RIVERS: Are you concerned that the virus is spreading amongst the crew right now?

SONALI THAKKAR, CREW MEMBER, DIAMOND PRINCESS: Yes. Because the number of crew members who are infected is also increasing now.

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RIPLEY: At least five crew members have already tested positive for the virus. Sonali said she's had a fever and chills since Monday. She says her boss told her to stop working and stay in her cabin, she's scared she's got it too.

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RIVERS: And how does that make you feel?

THAKKAR: We just want to get back home safe, without this infection. That's all we want.

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RIVERS: When we talk, she'd been waiting to see a doctor for two days. Meanwhile, about 1,000 of her colleagues kept working because there's over 2,600 passengers on board that had been put in a mandatory quarantine by Japan's government forced to stay in their rooms most of the day.

But the ship still needs to run so the crew works side by side wearing masks and gloves. Tough Sonali says mealtime is most dangerous.

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THAKKAR: We all remove our masks and gloves when we are eating. So, we are all sitting in the same place, and having food, and it can spread.

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RIVERS: CNN has spoken to multiple disease experts who express skepticism that the current quarantine system is the best way to contain the virus.

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ERIC RUBIN, PROFESSOR OF IMMUNOLOGY, HARVARD UNIVERSITY: I think a lot of that went into what to do with the passengers but it puts the crew at increased risk.

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RIVERS: Japanese authorities continue to defend their actions saying they believe anyone who test positive contracted the virus before the quarantine went into effect.

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Anyone who test positive is brought off the ship and sent to local hospitals. Earlier this week, we ask a Japanese health official if the crew was safe.

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RIVERS: Is everyone on board the ship being treated the same way. What do you say to their concerns?

GAKU HASHIMOTO, JAPANESE VICE MINISTER OF HEALTH (through translator): We are trying to treat all the people equally. However, we also know that crew members don't have private rooms like the passengers have and they still have to work and help people on the ship, so it's not all equal.

However, we are giving everyone on the ship guidelines for prevention.

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RIVERS: Princess cruise is saying it's following Japan's quarantine guidelines, saying the, quote, "Japan Ministry of Health has been the lead defining the testing protocols for all guests and crew."

But the fact is, as long as Japan continues to insist on quarantining passengers on board the ship the danger will remain because the crew has to keep working.

There is mixed reaction from passengers on board.

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ROSE YEREX, QUARANTINED PASSENGER, DIAMOND PRINCESS: The crew are being so good and I know they are worried as well.

GAY COURTER, QUARANTINED PASSENGER, DIAMOND PRINCESS: I do not feel the quarantine is working. It's a filled quarantine.

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RIVERS: During our phone call with Sonali on Wednesday she had to hang up.

Are you still there?

A doctor had finally come to test her for the virus. She'll find out soon if she tests positive.

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RIVERS: How do you feel now that the doctors came to your room?

THAKKAR: I'm still scared because I don't want to be positive.

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RIVERS: The Diamond Princess will remain in quarantine until February 19. Until then, the crew will keep working. More exposed to the virus than the passengers they're taking care of.

Matt Rivers, CNN, Yokohama Japan.

CHURCH: Well, the outbreak has forced major sporting events in China and elsewhere to be cancelled or postponed. The latest is the Chinese Grand Prix set for Shanghai in April.

Organizers will soon meet to try to find another date for the Formula One event, but it's no easy task because the racing schedule is so tight.

And the tech world is also feeling the effects of the outbreak. Its forced organizers to cancel the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, one of the largest tech gatherings every year.

CNN's Hadas Gold has our report.

HADAS GOLD, CNN REPORTER: After dozens of major companies had pulled out of the event, Mobile World Congress is now officially off. The event's organizer of the GSMA announce the decision on Wednesday after an emergency board meeting.

Saying in a statement, the global concern regarding the coronavirus outbreak travel concern and other circumstances make it impossible for the GSMA to hold the event.

Big time companies like Nokia, Sony, Erickson, Amazon, and Facebook had all pulled out of the conference which was scheduled to start on February 24th over coronavirus fears.

The Congress is normally one of the biggest telecom events of the year, typically attracting around 100,000 people to Barcelona. It's a chance for some of the biggest names in the industry to unveil their new products.

Mobile World Congress organizers had announced extra safety measures like banning attendees who had been in China antenna in the past 14 days and temperature screenings, but it wasn't enough for many of these companies who said they wanted to protect their employees, vendors and customers.

It's also a blow to the city of Barcelona. According to El Pais newspaper the Congress generates around 14,000 temporary jobs and brings more than $500 million to the city.

The coronavirus which has already so deeply affected major industries like airlines and manufacturing has now claimed another economic victim.

Hadas Gold, CNN, London.

CHURCH: President Trump says he's learned some lessons from his impeachment. But they are not exactly what some Republicans had predicted. That is next.

And then later, Prince Harry and the price of financial independence. What we're learning about a potential new deal in the works. Back in a moment.

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CHURCH: Nearly a decade into Syria's devastating Civil War, new conflicts are still emerging with potentially disastrous fall out.

Turkey's president is threatening to attack Syrian regime forces if anymore Turkish soldiers are hurt there.

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RECEP TAYYIP ERDOGAN, PRESIDENT OF TURKEY (through translator): If there is the smallest injury to our soldiers on the observation posts or other places, I am declaring from here that we will hit the regime horses everywhere from today regardless of the lines of the Sochi agreement or Idlib.

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CHURCH: Turkey is hardening its position in northwestern Syria after the latest and a series of attacks on its troops. And Syria's Idlib province is one of the strategic keys to the conflict. It is the last area in the country held by rebels and it stands in the middle of many Syrian government assets.

But there's another reason Bashar al-Assar's government wants to take back control. A key highway runs right through Idlib, the route from Aleppo to Damascus also links to key and Jordan to Syria. On Tuesday, Syrian government forces took control of the highway. Why does that matter? Well, any movement on the highway is now under the watch of the Assad regime.

Also, near Idlib is the city of Latakia, it's a Syrian government stronghold. Latakia holds a Russian air base nearby and Russia has long played the role of ally to Al-Assad's government. But in the middle of all the recent bombardment are the civilians.

The United Nations Humanitarian Coordination office reports that since December 1st more than 700,000 have been displaced from their homes in Idlib. Most of them are women and children.

Well, now to Washington where President Donald Trump says the lesson he learned from impeachment is Democrats are crooked and vicious. He's been on a tear since his acquittal in the Senate last week.

To see what he can get away with, and CNN's Kaitlan Collins reports from the White House.

KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: In the weeks since he was acquitted, President Trump has embarked on a payback campaign that has targeted witnesses and cause upheaval at the Justice Department.

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DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: They treated Roger Stone very badly.

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COLLINS: White House officials insist Trump didn't ask the Justice Department to reduce Roger Stone's recommended prison sentence, though he publicly thank them today. The president criticized the four prosecutors who citing federal sentencing guidelines said Stone should serve seven to nine years in prison before later being overruled by senior officials.

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TRUMP: They ought to go back to school and learn. Because I'll tell you with the way they treated people nobody should be treated like that.

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COLLINS: As Trump has continued too dangle a pardon for Stone --

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TRUMP: I don't want to say that yet.

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COLLINS: The White House also abruptly pulled the nomination for a top treasury job for the former U.S. attorney who headed the office that prosecuted Stone. CNN has now learned it was Trump who made the ultimate decision to pull Jessie Liu's nomination two days before her scheduled confirmation hearing, and that decision was directly tied to her former job.

Trump hasn't stopped there. After impeachment witness Lieutenant Colonel Alex Vindman was fired and escorted off the White House grounds last week, the president is now suggesting he should face disciplinary action.

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TRUMP: That's going to be up to the military, we'll have to see. But if you look at what happened, I mean, they are going to certainly, I would imagine, take a look at that.

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COLLINS: The army says there's no investigation into Vindman. Vindman is not likely the last career official to leave the National Security Council. Dozens more are expected to be transferred out in the coming days, and what the national security adviser is describing as a house cleaning.

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ROBERT O'BRIEN, U.S. NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: I think we're down to around 115 to 120 staffers or will be by the end of this week.

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COLLINS: Now the president told reporters that no one can define what it is that Roger Stone did. Though, of course, a jury did after they found him guilty of on all seven counts after deliberating for less than two days, and those counts included lying to Congress and witness tampering.

Kaitlan Collins, CNN, the White House.

CHURCH: And when we come back, Prince Harry's path to financial independence. What sources are saying about a potential deal with a financial powerhouse.

And it is a mouse-eat mouse world. How one photographer captured this stunning shot and top accolades to go with it.

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CHURCH: Well, there have been plenty of questions since Prince Harry and Meghan Markle announced they would no longer be working members of the royal family. Now, we are learning Prince Harry has been in talks with Goldman Sachs about a potential appearance on an online interview program.

So, let's turn to Phil Black in London for more on this. Good to see you, Phil. So, what -- what are you learning about this, and what checks and balances are necessary in a situation like this involving the British prince?

PHIL BLACK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Rosemary, this particular appearance for Goldman Sachs we're told would not be paid, but it is generating interest, making headlines, if you like, because it points to, or it's being interpreted as a way in which the Sussexes could build potentially a future relationship with the banking giant, possibly a very lucrative one.

And it follows not long after an appearance for another big U.S. bank, that was at the J.P. Morgan conference in Miami. So, taken together, it suggests that they are as they prepare to become private citizens to go it alone, to take responsibility for building their own personal wealth while also generating financial support for their charities.

It shows that they are prepared to talk to, at least, potentially do business with big corporations. And in a sense, why shouldn't they do that? They will be private citizens why shouldn't they be allowed to leverage their brand, partner with big business in order to support themselves and the good causes they care about.

But the tricky point is, of course, that they're brand power runs on being royals. And so, it therefore follows that every step they make, every decision they make especially the financial ones, well, it all has the potential to reflect on the broader institution of the royal family.

Now, in this particular case, we are told that the Goldman Sachs negotiations started about a year ago, and were conducted through one of Harry's patronages. So, the implication is that there is no connection between that and their decision later to go it alone, to stand down from active royal duty.

But the broader point is, that that decision to stand down as senior royals is unprecedented. And so much of how it's going to work is consequences remains unknown.

And so even though no doubt Harry and Meghan won't like it very much it seems highly likely that as they go forward establishing themselves as private citizens, that every step they make will continue to be scrutinized very closely by the public. Rosemary.

CHURCH: So, Phil, do we know exactly what Prince Harry would be doing?

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BLACK: For this particular appearance --

CHURCH: Yes.

BLACK: -- we understand that it is a -- an online interview series that has in the past featured very other -- other very high-profile people including celebrities and business people. Really, really big names. Stressing again, we are told that it is an unpaid interview type appearance. That's what we're told to expect. But of course, I think that it is the vacuum of information, or the absence of information, if you like, about the Sussexes imminent financial plans.

That means that everything that everything they do, in particular when it comes to anything they have to do with big corporations or big businesses and financial powerhouses like this, it means that there will be interest in every step they may going forward, Rosemary?

CHURCH: Yes. And a lot of scrutiny for sure. Phil Black bringing us the very latest on this from London. Many thanks.

Well, Italy's formally interior minister has lost legal immunity from a criminal investigation. Italian Senator Matteo Salvini could now face trial over allege mistreatment of migrants in 2019.

CNN's Barbie Nadeau has more now from Rome.

BARBIE NADEAU, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: The Italian Senate on Wednesday voted 152 to 76 to lift immunity for former Interior Minister Matteo Salvini. Now he is the leader of the far-right Lega Party. They came out of government last August when he pulled his support for the ruling coalition in hopes of triggering snap elections.

Now with the lack of immunity Salvini faces potential charges for aggravated kidnapping related to keeping 131 migrants on board on an Italian coast guard ship in July of 2019. That was part of a government policy under the interior ministry to block ports to keep migrants from coming into the country.

His argument is that he was waiting for the rest of Europe to claims some of the migrants and to help distribute them among the entire European Union and not just leave them to be Italy's problems.

Now it's up to the court in Catania to determine whether or not they will go forward with trying to prosecute the former interior minister.

On the one hand, it could very easily play into Salvini's popularity and fire up his base if he's standing trial for defending the country's borders. On another hand, many people argue that this could set a dangerous precedent. Because he was interior minister at the time carrying out a government policy, it could be dangerous to be putting a government policy on trial.

Barbie Latza Nadeau for CNN, Rome.

CHURCH: Well, the best laid plans of mice and men can sometimes get chew the shot of a lifetime. British photographer Sam Rowley had to lay down on the floor of several London e underground stations to capture this scene two of the tiny rodents in a tiff over leftover crumbs.

His fittingly title photos station squabble earned top prize from London's Natural History Museum. He beat nearly 50,000 other entries for wildlife photographer of the year. Fantastic. And thank you so much for joining us. I'm Rosemary Church. Vital Signs

with Dr. Sanjay Gupta is next. But first, I'll be back with a check of the headlines. You're watching CNN. Do stick around.

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