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Passengers to Undergo Another Excruciating 14-day Quarantine; Democrat Candidates Prepare for Primary Elections; No Break from Heavy Flooding in the U.K. Aired 3-3:30a ET

Aired February 18, 2020 - 03:00   ET

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

[03:00:00]

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ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us from all around the world. You are watching CNN Newsroom. And I'm Rosemary Church.

Just ahead, more countries are planning to evacuate their citizens from a cruise ship in Japan as cases of the novel coronavirus increase.

U.S. Democratic presidential candidates looking ahead to the Nevada primaries. All seem to have one common target, Michael Bloomberg.

Parts of the U.K. are dealing with heavy flooding after storm Dennis swept through. And we will give you a look at when some relief may be coming.

Well, Chinese officials say the coronavirus has, for the first time, killed a hospital director in Wuhan, the epicenter of the outbreak. The global death toll has now jumped to at least 1,800 with most cases from China. But the country says some 12,000 patients have recovered and been discharged from hospitals.

Right now, half of China's population or 700 million people are under travel restrictions, and officials in Hubei province are monitoring people who have bought fever medicine since January.

Meantime, in the U.S., 14 Americans who were evacuated from a quarantined cruise ship in Japan are being treated in medical facilities after testing positive for the virus.

Let's get more now from our correspondents. Steven Jiang joins us from Beijing and Matt Rivers is in Tokyo. Good to see you both again. So, Matt, let's start with you and let's talk about the process of allowing the passengers on board this cruise ship disembark. How will they do that?

MATT RIVERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, there's still a lot of details that we don't know yet, Rosemary. It's certainly something that people on board the ship has been asking for a very long time now given the fact that, you know, it's been since February 3rd that they were in quarantine.

But here's what we know so far. Everyone on board the ship must test negative in order to be allowed off. Everyone on board the ship is being tested before they are allowed off. And that testing process is expected to be completed by the end of the day today.

Here is the rub, though. It takes at least two, maybe three days to get the results of those tests back. So, let's you are in a cabin today and your got your test today, well there is no way you are getting off starting tomorrow. You're probably not going to get off assuming you test negative until the 21st.

So, despite the fact that for a while, Japanese officials were saying that the quarantine is going to end on the 19th, functionally speaking that's just not true because there's going to be people that can't get off the ship until the 21st.

Of course, if people test positive, they are going to be put into local hospitals, as has been the case for anyone who is tested positive so far.

The other tidbit here, the other kind of specific detail is that if you are sharing a room with someone who test positive, but you test negative, you will not be allowed off the ship. You will be remaining on the ship under quarantine for an unspecified amount of time.

Now the outstanding questions that we have, Rosemary, what happens when people get off the ship? Let's say people are allowed off tomorrow. Do they just walk down the gangway and they are on land and they're on their own? Or is it the government going to provide them some sort of home housing? How do they get back to their home countries?

There's a number of different questions that we don't -- we don't know when the disembarkation process will start. There's a lot that we don't know and we are inquiring with our government sources about that trying to figure it out. But we do know that from the 19th to 21st we are expecting this process to be carried out.

CHURCH: Many answers on this. Our Matt Rivers bringing us the very latest from Tokyo. Many thanks to you. Let's go now to Steven Jiang, as we said, live in Beijing. And Steven, we know the death toll has gone up, as have the infections. Talk to us about those numbers and what China is doing about this.

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STEVEN JIANG, CNN SENIOR PRODUCER: Well, increasingly, Rosemary, you are seeing these increasingly draconian measures being put in place, especially at the epicenter because authorities are increasingly realizing how contagious this virus has been.

Now at the epicenter in Hubei province in Wuhan, the provincial capital, as well as a growing number of cities, people are being told to confine in their homes 24/7, around the clock. A few days ago, remember we were talking about each household allowed

to send out one representative to buy groceries every three days. Now those were the good old days. Now they were not -- now they are not being allowed to be out and about at all. Food and other daily necessity items will be delivered to their residential compounds by local officials.

But strikingly, though, this is happening not only at the epicenter but across the nation, even as the authorities insist the situation has been improving steadily for the past two weeks.

Now, in cities like Beijing, with more than 20 million residents with fewer than 400 cases, the authorities here have implemented a mandatory 14-day self-quarantine for anyone who comes from out of town and almost all residential compounds here in Beijing now limiting access to residents only.

And these kinds of measures of course now increasingly having an impact not only economically but also politically. The government has announced they will consider delaying the annual meeting of the National People's Congress. That of course is the yearly gathering of nearly 3,000 national legislators here in Beijing.

That meeting was due to open on March 5th, but now it looks like it's not going to be held anytime soon. Rosemary?

CHURCH: All right. Many thanks to Steven Jiang, bringing us that live report from Beijing.

Well, more than 300 Americans from the Diamond Princess were flown to military bases in California and Texas Monday, where they will spend another 14 days in quarantine.

And as CNN's Brian Todd finds out, some of them are very upset about it.

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The buses are starting to line up.

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BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: An excruciating journey for Americans being evacuated by the U.S. government from the Diamond Princess, a cruise ship that has become a floating incubator for coronavirus.

Three hundred thirty-eight Americans taken off the ship in Yokohama, Japan, and flown to two air force bases in the U.S. More than a dozen of them have tested positive for coronavirus.

Passengers irritated that they had to wait hours for buses, hours to board the planes, and at certain points, didn't even have access to bathrooms.

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The best I can do is go find out where a bathroom is. Go find out.

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TODD: One American passenger, Karey Maniscalco was at the end of her rope after almost going through almost two weeks of quarantine on the ship, only to be told she'll have to do it all over again on a military base.

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KAREY MANISCALCO, EVACUATED CRUISE SHIP PASSENGER: They have sent over a dozen e-mails assuring us that there would not be an additional quarantine. And they just told us that we would be re-quarantined for 14 more days.

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TODD: Another American on board the Diamond Princess, Matthew Smith, has not left his cabin for two weeks. And Smith refused to be evacuated.

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MATTHEW SMITH, PASSENGER STAYING ON BOARD DIAMOND PRINCESS CRUISE SHIP: They were going to break that quarantine put us all on coaches and on planes for 10 hours. We thought we have a far better chance of catching the virus on that transfers than we'd ever have on the ship.

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TODD: The Americans evacuated from the Diamond Princess who tested positive or put in specialized containment areas on the planes, kept isolated from other passengers. Was it safe for the rest of the passengers to sit so close together on the long plane ride to the U.S.?

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REBECCA KATZ, GLOBAL PUBLIC HEALTH EXPERT, GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY: I don't know. We really don't know. There was no evidence for separating them from each other. That being said, you'll see the pictures. Everybody had a mask on. That mask is mostly to prevent, so if I cough, the particles will get caught in the mask.

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TODD: There are now more than 71,000 confirmed cases of coronavirus worldwide. Nearly 1,800 people have died. A key question now, given what happened on the Diamond Princess, is it safe to go on any cruise right now?

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CELINE GOUNDER, INFECTIOUS DISEASES SPECIALIST & EPIDEMIOLOGIST, NYU SCHOOL OF MEDICINE: I'm not a big fan of cruises. I think for a whole host of reasons we've seen a number of norovirus outbreaks on cruises over the years. Norovirus causes gastrointestinal illness, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea. This is largely because the conditions for the staff working on cruise ships is really poor. They are in crowded conditions. They have to work extremely long hours.

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TODD: Experts on public health have told us that while hindsight is 20/20, what officials should have done with the passengers on board the Diamond Princess was they should have gotten everyone off the ship as soon as they learned of one case of coronavirus.

That they should have gotten them all to separate quarantines on land, then should have monitored and tested them. That, they say, would have reduced transmissions on board the ship. Instead, what they did was, according to one expert was, they stoke the fire.

[03:10:00]

Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.

CHURCH: Joining me now from Hong Kong is Leo Poon, professor of public health laboratory sciences at the University of Hong Kong. Good to have you with us.

LEO POON, PROFESSOR, UNIVERSITY OF HONG KONG: Hi.

CHURCH: So, Japan's health minister has confirmed that passengers will begin leaving the Diamond Princess on Wednesday. Most experts accept this was a failed quarantine effort, and probably put people at greater risk. Why did this not work? And why did it take them so long to figure that out?

POON: Right. This is a bit unusual. I would say that this is super spreading Wuhan. So, I mean, a lot of people, actually 10 percent of these people are actually getting infected in that confined area.

So, I think that outbreak may have already occurred at the beginning, so maybe probably it's 10 days or two weeks. So that's why there are so many people get infected and they're not -- they actually did not manage to contain it properly right in the beginning.

CHURCH: Right. So, we also know mortality rates help us understand a virus. Right. So as long as the number of infections and deaths are reliable, at this point, we understand the mortality rate for the novel coronavirus is around 2 percent. But how reliable is that number? And what does it tell us?

POON: I think the mortality rate, I mean, is going to go down, because at the beginning, I mean, all these numbers were based on those hospitalized patients. So, 2 percent may be overestimated. I would expect that the number, especially those outside Wuhan, actually the number is a lot lower than 2 percent. So, I would expect that the overall number will go down pretty soon.

CHURCH: So, you think it might be more in line with influenza, which is what, the mortality rate it's around 0.14? Do you think that really, we're dealing with something more like influenza?

POON: Well, I mean, I think so. I mean, I'm not talking about the mortality rate. I am talking about the spreading. But basically, this virus spread early a lot like SARS. SARS actually spread the virus most of the time in the second week of the disease onset.

But this one, I mean, they spread and then at the very first few days of the disease onset. So, this is very contagious. But the mortality rate I think is a lot less than SARS and MERS. So, I mean, it's similar to MERS, but similar to a flu, but it's not exactly.

CHURCH: Right. Well, that is comforting at least. But how long do you think this novel coronavirus will last? And when might we have a vaccine, or at least a reliable treatment for those infected?

POON: There is a lot of speculation. And some people say that I think on April or maybe even later. And I think we should not be trying -- it only depends on these number. I mean, we have to be prepared that it's going to be maybe an extended period of time that we have to deal with this particular disease. Because the disease can spread to other countries, and they may also able to cause similar mandatory of outbreak.

I mean, we have to be very careful of that. For vaccines I think it would take months, I mean, years to actually manage to get, to be able to use in humans. We talk about the vaccine efficacy, we talk about the safety aspect of this vaccine, so it takes months even years to get it approved. So, I think we should not consider this is the option of controlling the disease, this disease at the moment.

CHURCH: How concerned are you, overall?

POON: Well, I think I'm very concerned about it. Because a lot of people are getting infected just in the last couple weeks. Then we have already get -- so many people got infected inside China or even outside China.

Now this particular Diamond Princess actually as typical example of super spreading. (Inaudible) of this virus can able to make. So, we should not underestimate the damage of this virus. I mean, it could happen somewhere, not only in Japan but in other countries as well.

CHURCH: Leo Poon, thank you so much for joining. We appreciate it.

POON: Thank you.

CHURCH: All right. We'll take a short break here. Still to come, in U.S. politics, all eyes are on Nevada. Democratic caucuses are days away and much of the focuses on a candidate who isn't competing there. Michael Bloomberg's presence, ahead.

And the escalating humanitarian crisis in Syria as the regime pushes to end the insurgency. We're back in a moment.

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CHURCH: An American race car driver has been hospitalized after getting into fiery crash of the Daytona 500. It happened during the final lap of the Florida event. Ryan Newman was in first place when suddenly he lost control of his car, and crashed into a wall. His car flipped several times and was sent flying into the air.

TV commentator say he was taken directly to the hospital after they removed from the course. Statement from Newman's racing team says he is currently in serious condition but does not have any life- threatening injuries.

Democratic presidential candidates are focusing their campaigns in Nevada, with caucuses there just days away. Front runner Bernie Sanders is looking to build on his momentum with Pete Buttigieg and Amy Klobuchar trying to overtake him.

And Joe Biden and Elizabeth Warren hope to recover from lagging results in Iowa and New Hampshire.

Jeff Zeleny reports the candidates are also paying a lot of attention to a rival who isn't competing in Nevada.

JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Here in Nevada, there is going to be one answer to a looming question later today. Will Michael Bloomberg qualify for that debate stage at the next debate on Wednesday in Las Vegas? That is one of the central questions hanging over this Democratic presidential contest here.

No, Mike Bloomberg is not competing in the Nevada caucuses which are taking place on Saturday. But yes, he is in the race, of course looking forward to Super Tuesday. And the central question is will he qualify for that debate or not. He is short one qualifying poll.

So, if that happens before midnight tonight, he would indeed qualify for that. I am told that he is already preparing for the debate stage. His advisers are trying to lower expectations, saying look, he's not debated before, he as debated in this presidential campaign specifically, all of the others have been.

But you can just already sense what Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth, Amy Klobuchar, and Joe Biden and others are gearing up to question him on. They believe that his long record -- you know, should be inspected and he can't create his own narrative in this campaign as he has been doing to the tune of more than $400 million in television advertising.

So, we will get that answer to the question of if he is going to join the debate stage. And that will be central point in this campaign, no question. Separately, the early voting is also continuing here in Nevada, the final day of it today, and there are going to be some questions of how this early voting worked, how the caucuses are working overall.

Of course, the shadow of Iowa is still very much hanging over Nevada. There is some anticipation apprehension here as well about how those caucuses are going to go. So, now with just four days left before those Nevada caucuses, the debate of course comes tomorrow, will Mike Bloomberg be on the stage?

CHURCH: And you can join CNN on Tuesday and on Thursday for five town halls in Nevada. Sanders, Buttigieg, Klobuchar, Biden, and Warren all making their case to voters ahead of the next critical vote. And it all starts at 8 p.m. Eastern right here on CNN.

[03:20:01]

Well, Syria's president says his forces recent rapid gains are a prelude to the rebel's defeat. Russian airstrikes and pro-Iranian militias have help Syrian forces seize control of much of the area around Aleppo, and they have pushed further into the rebel-held Idlib province. But Bashar al-Assad warns the war isn't over yet.

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BASHAR AL-ASSAD, PRESIDENT OF SYRIA (through translator): We are fully aware that this liberation does not mean the end of war nor the collapse of schemes nor the demise of terrorism. Nor does it mean that the enemies have surrendered, but it certainly means rubbing their noses in the dirt as a prelude for a complete defeat sooner or later.

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CHURCH: The United Nations says 900,000 Syrians have fled the targeted villages since December. It's the nine-year-old war single largest displacement.

Well, Syrian parents have to do the best they can to help their children get through this. One father encouraged his three-year-old daughter Selma to laugh at the sound of shelling like they used to laugh at fireworks.

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CHURCH: The father and daughter fled to Idlib two months ago because of intense bombardment in their hometown. In this video he asks his daughter if the plane is carrying out airstrikes, she responds by saying they have to laugh.

And for ways to help Syrian survive the conflict, head to cnn.com/impact. We have a list of organizations to which you can donate.

Well, the world's richest man has just put his money where his mouth is in the fight against climate change. We will tell you how Amazon chief Jeff Bezes is spending $10 billion to save the planet. That's next after a short break. Stay with us.

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CHURCH: The United Kingdom is still grappling with the fallout of a severe winter storm. Storm Dennis has prompted a record-breaking number of flood warnings across Britain as workers rescue residents by boat in waist-high waters.

Dennis struck Britain nearly a week after storm Ciara wreak havoc, leaving thousands without electricity.

[03:24:59]

Let's turn to our meteorologist Pedram Javaheri who's been monitoring all of this. Pedram, what are you seeing in the forecast here?

PEDRAM JAVAHERI, CNN METEOROLOGIST: You know, another round of wet weather as we are looking out here for especially going from Wednesday into Thursday. So that's the concern moving forward. We know of course historic flooding has taken place here, really the highest water levels across portions of South Wales valleys that we've seen in some 40 years' time.

And in fact, some nearly 500 properties reporting flooding as well across the U.K. And historically speaking, now the past couple of years we've seen the government across the U.K. actually increased the amount of funds allocated towards weather emergencies.

That number is closer to $3 billion U.S. dollars from 2015 to 2020, they've increased that to $6.5 billion U.S. dollars from 2020 to 2025. So, it kind of speaks to what has happened here in recent years, and the amount of weather disasters that have taken place not only on a global scale but across the U.K. in particular.

And you see some of the images from storm Dennis played out across this region. But upwards of nearly 500 flood alerts and warnings have been prompted across this region, nine of which still considered severe flood warnings at this hour across the U.K.

And kind of breaking down the day-by-day forecast. You see Tuesday, Wednesday into Thursday, plenty of coverage here for at least some risk associated with flooding here in the weather area whether it'd be in Wales, into the midland region, or up towards the northern tier of the U.K.

We know the water levels have been on the rise with all of the recent rainfall. We had Ciara about eight days ago, and of course, Dennis in recent days. So, the ground water supply has been pushed above the water table. Any additional rainfall we get now will essentially become surface flooding which is the biggest concern moving here.

And of course, it's not just the U.K., but all across portions of western Europe we've dealt with significant winds. Look at the images coming out of France here that have brought down some large trees across the area. We've had wind reports as high as 180 plus kilometers per hour. That would put it near a category three of a hurricane equivalent system.

So, it really speaks to what has been happening here, Rosemary. And we are going to watch for another round of wet weather, but of course we don't think the intensity will be nearly as intense as what we saw with Dennis in recent days at least.

CHURCH: Well, that's a relief at least, doesn't it? Thank you so much, Pedram. I appreciate it.

JAVAHERI: Thank you.

CHURCH: Well the world's richest man is putting a portion of his vast wealth behind the fight against climate change. Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos is pledging $10 billion to create a fund to support scientists, activists, and organizations.

The Bezos earth fund will begin giving out grants this summer. Bezos wants to work with others to explore new ways of fighting climate change, saying, quote, "we can save earth. It's going to take collective action from big companies, small companies, nation states, global organizations, and individuals."

And thank you so much for joining us. I'm Rosemary Church. Inside Africa is up next. But first, I'll be back with the check of the headlines. You are watching CNN. Do stay with us.

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