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Almost Half of China Currently Under Quarantine or Restricted Travel; Interview with Jim Messina; Boy Scouts of America Files for Bankruptcy. Aired 10:30-11a ET
Aired February 18, 2020 - 10:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[10:30:07]
POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: Well, this morning, the Chinese government is facing more criticism that it isn't doing enough to protect frontline medical workers who are treating patients infected with the deadly novel coronavirus.
It comes as the director of Wuchang Hospital -- that's in Wuhan, of course, the city at the center of the outbreak -- became the first hospital director to die from the virus. He was one of more than 1,700 health care workers in China infected with it.
Joining me now is CNN International anchor Kristie Lu Stout. She joins us from Hong Kong.
This is a major concern for those fighting the coronavirus because remember, it was just a few weeks ago that that doctor who was the whistleblower --
KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT: That's right.
HARLOW: -- on all of this, succumbed to it.
LU STOUT: Yes. You're referring to the death of Dr. Li Wenliang. And just over a week after his death, the virus has claimed another high- profile medical victim, the director of a hospital in Wuhan. He's also a neurosurgeon. His name is Liu Zhiming and he died this morning from the virus.
And his death underscores just the danger medical workers in China have been facing, as many are just overwhelmed and under-protected. And China says it will designate all of them -- the frontline doctors, nurses and medics who died while fighting the virus -- as martyrs at the epicenter of the outbreak.
Of course, Wuhan, the capital of Hubei Province, it is all but sealed off from the rest of the country. Even harsher lockdown measures are in place, requiring millions of people in the province to stay at home, 24/7, with food and daily necessities delivered to their door, almost -- and the scale here is breathtaking, Poppy. Almost half of China's population, some 780 million people, are now living under some form of quarantine or travel restriction. The outbreak is a health crisis; it's also turning into an economic
mess. Scores of businesses, factories are not fully operational in China, given the harsh restrictions on movement. And that is affecting the global (ph) sectors that reach so deep into China: textile, apparel, auto, toys, technology with that warning from Apple, you know, warning investors that the virus is hurting its business more than expected -- Poppy.
HARLOW: Yes. Much more. Kristie, thank you very much for that reporting, live in Hong Kong.
So this morning, 13 Americans who have tested positive for coronavirus are being treated at a medical facility -- this is in Omaha, Nebraska -- meantime, about 160 others are expected to be released today from their 14-day quarantine at a Marine Corps air station in Southern California.
Joining me this morning is Dr. Carlos Del Rio, professor of medicine and global health at Emory University. Doctor, thank you very much for being with me.
CARLOS DEL RIO, PROFESSOR AND CHAIR OF DEPARTMENT OF GLOBAL HEALTH, EMORY UNIVERSITY: Good morning, Poppy.
HARLOW: Let's begin with this news that an American passenger who was evacuated on one of those U.S. chartered jets overnight from a cruise ship that was docked in Japan, told CNN that she didn't know that there were others contaminated on that flight until she (INAUDIBLE) concern is that for you, and should it be for her and others?
DEL RIO: You know, I don't think it's much of a concern. I can tell you that the CDC and the people that plan the evacuation and bringing home those almost 400 Americans, did a very, very good job. This was a very carefully planned operation in which people were tested, people were put -- those that were infected were placed in sort of isolation compartments, areas in the plane and they were separated from the noninfected individuals.
And then they're going to be -- you know, those infected, as you mentioned, have been taken to the University of Nebraska, to their biocontainment unit for management. And those that are not infected have been kept in quarantine either in San Antonio or in California. So I think what the U.S. is really trying to do is prevent further spread in this country from those affected (ph) individuals.
Let's remember, the U.S. up to now had had 15 confirmed infections. With this number brought in, it's almost doubled the number of people that we now have in the country.
HARLOW: Yes. And when it comes to what Kristie just reported -- and that is the death of this hospital director, just this morning, as a result of this in China -- and then the doctor who blew the whistle about all of this in China, dying from the disease just about two weeks ago, is China doing enough to protect the frontline people addressing this, the doctors that are addressing the crisis? DEL RIO: You know, it's very hard for me to say yes or no. I suspect
they're probably not doing enough, simply because -- simply because they're overwhelmed, right?
HARLOW: Yes.
DEL RIO: It's very hard to do as much as you need to do when you probably don't have the necessary equipment.
But what we know from this infection, what we know from SARS, what we know from MERS is that there's a lot of transmission within hospitals, what we call nosocomial transmission. And not only health care workers, but other patients are at risk.
So we as health care workers have to take really special precautions and CDC has and WHO has recommended that we use gloves, that we use a gown, that we use a special mask called an N95 mask, which has to be fitted, and that we use eye protection, we need to use a face mask, you know, eye cover.
[10:35:04]
So I would suspect that there's simply not enough supplies of these materials available for all the health care workers in China.
HARLOW: What is the most important thing that you have learned about this disease, about this virus? You -- we talked in the break about learning something --
DEL RIO: I --
HARLOW: -- new every time. What has this taught you?
DEL RIO: I think what this tells me, again and again, is the importance of rapid detection so we need surveillance, of rapid detection and of rapid containment of the infection.
If I would say something, is that the delay that we saw in China because they initially did not believe it, they suppressed Dr. Li, et cetera, that was a deadly mistake because in fact, this infection could have been contained much sooner if China had taken the -- instead of denying it, had taken the actions necessary.
HARLOW: Yes. But contained how, right? I mean, actions necessary, look at Wuhan, China right now. I mean, can you imagine something like that happening in the United States --
DEL RIO: Oh --
HARLOW: -- an entire city quarantined like that?
DEL RIO: -- well, it's not an entire city. Think about the number of people essentially under quarantine in China right now --
HARLOW: Yes.
DEL RIO: -- it's twice the population of the United States.
HARLOW: Yes.
DEL RIO: I mean, it is not just a city, it's the entire country, right? So, I mean, I think, though, that because of the Chinese New Year and the travel that happened, they should have contained it, they could have stopped that travel before it happened. By the time they stopped travel, it was a little bit too later, almost --
HARLOW: Yes.
DEL RIO: -- the genie was out of the bottle.
HARLOW: For the average American watching at home this morning and wondering how concerned they should or should not be about contracting coronavirus --
DEL RIO: I would --
HARLOW: -- how should they think about it this morning?
DEL RIO: -- I would say I would not be concerned about it. I think we need to be -- keep up with the information, which you guys are doing a very good job of keeping the information. But the reality is, I think the risk for the average American today, it's not at all there. Simply, I'm more concerned about influenza. We have heard, already, about 7,000 deaths from influenza this season.
But I would tell people, you know, wash your hands, have respiratory (ph) hygiene, cover your mouth when you cough, when you sneeze. And just if you're sick, stay home. Because -- and if -- for the flu, get your flu shot because it's still -- the epidemic is still ongoing and you can still be protected from the influenza by getting the vaccine.
HARLOW: Dr. Carlos Del Rio, thank you for those sage words. We appreciate it very much.
DEL RIO: Thank you, Poppy.
HARLOW: Of course.
The Democratic candidate vowing to take on billionaires is now leading a national poll, followed by a billionaire. A big question now, can Democrats ultimately unite after all of this division?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[10:42:05]
HARLOW: A pretty stunning shift in the Democratic race for this morning. Queue Mike Bloomberg, now polling second behind Bernie Sanders. This is a new national NPR-PBS poll. And what does that do? It qualifies him for the debate tomorrow night in Nevada.
With me now, Jim Messina, former Obama White House deputy chief of staff who also successfully managed President Obama's 2012 re-election campaign. Good morning. Good to have you, Jim.
JIM MESSINA, FORMER OBAMA WHITE HOUSE DEPUTY CHIEF OF STAFF: Thanks, Poppy, how are you going.
HARLOW: I'm good. What do you make of these numbers? You've got the sort of anti-billionaire candidate in the lead at 31 percent, and then you've got the billionaire clipping at his heels at 19 percent. What does this make you think?
MESSINA: Yes. It makes me think the Beatles are wrong, money can buy love, right? I mean, we're seeing unprecedented spending and Bloomberg rising the national pools for a couple of reasons.
One, you know, 70 percent of Democrats say the most important issue is who can beat Donald Trump in November, and Bloomberg's starting to really rise on this. And the second thing is, he's benefitted from Vice President Biden's slide in the polls. And you can literally track Bloomberg going up as Biden's come down.
Meanwhile, Bernie's consolidating the left. So, you know, right now it's a two-person race. But I'm a little skeptical whether it's going to stay that way.
HARLOW: You're not -- just to be clear to folks -- you are not a Bernie Sanders fan. I mean, you recently said that he is the worst candidate for the Democrats to select as their 2020 nominee, just to put your thinking out there for people.
But, you know, it was President Obama, who you helped get re-elected in 2012, that warned of a circular firing squad among Democrats. Are you concerned about the division?
MESSINA: I am in the short term. I mean, I think what you're going to see tomorrow on this debate stage is everyone take their first shot at Bloomberg, right? Bloomberg is the unicorn in the race that no one's really got to look at except for a few hundred million dollars of ads.
And I think tomorrow night is going to be a little bit of a food fight, with people throwing their lunch at Bloomberg. And I think the question is, how is he going to handle it and can he continue to just stay focused on his dual message of I got things done as mayor of New York and I can beat Donald Trump.
So I am in the short term. But long term, Democrats are going to unite behind whoever comes out of there, out of this primary. Because, Poppy, you know, Donald Trump is everything we don't believe in. And so I'm less worried in the general election about unity. I think you're seeing historic high Democratic turnout all over the place --
HARLOW: Well --
MESSINA: -- in the '18 and '19 races.
HARLOW: We just saw -- I just want to note, my colleague Brooke Baldwin did a fascinating interview yesterday with Jeff Weaver on the Sanders campaign, who told Brooke that he -- that they will not take Bloomberg money if he is the nominee, if Sanders is the nominee. I mean, I don't know what that says about unity.
MESSINA: Look, I think once you get to the general election, if you're anyone's campaign manager -- and as you noted, I was President Obama's campaign manager --
[10:45:05]
HARLOW: Yes.
MESSINA: -- you're going to take help from whoever is going to give it to you, right? You're going to be up against Donald Trump and his unprecedented spending, and you know, people are going to take help and they already are. I mean, Bloomberg is funding huge campaigns to register voters in these early states, and was doing it before he got into this race. And I didn't see Bernie Sanders or Jeff Weaver start whining about that.
HARLOW: All right, let's talk about former Vice President Joe Biden because of course, he was by President Obama's side for eight years. And now he's dropping in this national poll, he's really seen a decline of 20 points among African-Americans in terms of national polling.
Why do you think his vision for America, the vision that he crafted and cultivated for so many years with President Obama, is not resonating right now?
MESSINA: Well, look, with African-American voters, he's still in the lead. His numbers have gone down. And, you know, I think the reason they've gone down is because Michael Bloomberg is spending tens of millions of dollars advertising to African-American voters in the early states, featuring Barack Obama, right?
These ads -- you know, I had one African-American activist from a Super Tuesday state call me and say, Jim, why did Barack Obama endorse Michael Bloomberg?
And I said, he didn't. Bloomberg is just running ads all over the place, and that's why you think this. And, again, money can buy a little bit of love and I think that's the numbers that Bloomberg is starting to rise with African-Americans.
HARLOW: Finally on the economy, right? It's the economy, stupid, and it's a good economy. It was a good economy under President Obama, it's a good economy now for President Trump. But how to Democrats beat Trump in this economy?
MESSINA: Well, a couple things. The swing voters, these Trump-Obama voters who decide these elections, their economy's not great. They have an average of two and a half jobs, they don't have stocks, you know, their economy has kind of slid in the past five years. And, remember, the economy was growing faster with Barack Obama than it is, Donald Trump.
But, Poppy, Democrats have to have an economic message that makes sense, and they have to go right at the economy and talk about it, and I think we'll get there in the general election.
And it's one of the appeals of Michael Bloomberg because if you look at the majority of his ads, they're straight economy and Democrats are starting to respond to that because we know that Democrats win presidential elections when we talk about the economy.
HARLOW: Jim Messina, good to have you. Come back soon.
MESSINA: My pleasure.
HARLOW: Thanks.
The Boy Scouts of America, filing for bankruptcy as the organization faces mounting lawsuits over child sexual abuse allegations. Will that bankruptcy actually stop all of those cases from going anywhere? We'll talk about that, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[10:52:07]
HARLOW: Well, a new court filing from the Boy Scouts is throwing hundreds of sexual assault and abuse lawsuits completely into limbo. Overnight, the Boy Scouts of America filed for bankruptcy. Now, this comes as the youth organization faces allegations from thousands of abuse victims. But because of the filing, all civil litigation against the Boy Scouts will be suspended.
Our Marty Savidge is covering this with more. This has been, you know, more than a year in the making. What does this mean for the organization and for all of those that have filed these lawsuits?
MARTY SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, it has an impact on both rungs, both for the organization and for the litigation, Poppy.
Let's start with the litigation, the lawsuits. There are hundreds of lawsuits that have now been brought against the Boy Scouts of America, alleging sexual abuse. If you add up the participants in those lawsuits, there are thousands of alleged victims here. And attorneys have been speculating that the overall compensation that the Boy Scouts might have to pay out would be in the billions of dollars.
So the Boy Scouts decided that the way to go forward was to go into bankruptcy court. What that means it that those civil suits are suspended. It also means that all those victims who had hoped to have their day in court to express the horrors that they say they went through, they won't have it. Instead, it'll be more of a mechanical function to file a claim with the bankruptcy court.
One of their attorneys said this about the whole process: "These young boys took an oath. They pledged to be obedient, pledged to support the Scouts and pledged to be honorable. Many of them are extremely angry that that's not what happened to them and the Boy Scouts of America did not step up in the way they should have."
Now, the Boy Scouts of America says this is the only way they could keep paying the victims' compensation and also keep the programs that many rely on.
There's also going to be a deadline here -- and this is crucial -- if there are victims that haven't come forward, you need to come forward now because you may not have the opportunity to get compensation.
And in an open letter, the head of the Boy Scouts said this about that very thing. "I encourage you and all the victims to come forward and file claims so you can receive compensation from this Trust." It goes on, " I want you to know that we believe you, we believe in compensating you, and we have programs in place to pay for counseling for you and for your family."
But there's still no way to sort of express, this was an organization, at one time, that seemed to represent all of the great American values of trustworthiness, of loyalty, of honesty. And now, in light of all the horrible things that have happened, that seems so far in the past -- Poppy.
HARLOW: It really does. Marty Savidge, thank you on both of those fronts.
SAVIDGE: Yes.
[10:55:03]
HARLOW: Jury deliberations are under way right now in the trial of Harvey Weinstein, the ex-movie mogul facing five charges from two women in New York including rape and sexual assault. Jurors heard four weeks of testimony in the case.
This morning, the judge ordered Weinstein's defense not to communicate with news outlets or the public until after the verdict comes in. If convicted, he could face life in prison.
Minutes from now, the judge in the Roger Stone case will talk to the Justice Department and to Stone's defense team on --
[11:00:00]
