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America's Choice 2020; CNN Hosts Four Democratic Presidential Town Halls; South Carolina Could be Make-Or-Break For Joe Biden; Democratic Candidates Slam Bernie Sanders At CNN Town Hall; Wisconsin Shooting, Five Dead After Gunman Opens Fire At Beverage Company; Coronavirus Outbreak, Japan Admits Quarantine Flaw; Cruise Ship Exposed To Virus As They Worked; Simpson Bid Adieu To Voice Of Apu; Pope's Message, Give Up Useless Words, Gossip For Lent; Just Call Him Harry; Possible Community Transmission Being Investigated in California; Experts Calling Everyone to be Vigilant; South Korea-U.S. Military Exercise on Halt; Middle East Ramping Up Measures on Virus Spread. Aired 3-4a ET

Aired February 27, 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]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back to our viewers joining us here in the United States and all around the world. You are watching CNN Newsroom. And I'm Rosemary Church.

Just ahead, a coronavirus case in the U.S. maybe the first of its kind with no known link to travel abroad or contact with someone else infected. We will ask an expert what this could mean.

New outbreak clusters across the globe are causing alarm and emergency measures in the Middle East with school cancellations and impacts religious rituals.

With just days to go until the critical primary election, four Democratic candidates made their case for why they should be the next U.S. president.

Donald Trump is writing his prescription to stop the spread of the novel coronavirus in the United States and the efforts will be led by Vice President Mike Pence. Mr. Trump is trying to reassure Americans that the risk from the virus is very low but he insists his administration is working with Congress on funding and is prepared.

Meanwhile, sources say privately the president is worried the falling stock market will hurt his chances for reelection.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: We're very ready for this. For anything whether it's going to be a break out of larger proportions or whether or not we're, you know, we're at that very low level. We were asking for two and a half million and we think that's a lot.

But the Democrats and, I guess Senator Schumer wants us to have much more than that, and normally like I say we'll take it. We'll take it. If they want to give more, we'll do more and we're going to spend whatever is appropriate.

Hopefully, we're not going to have to spend so much because we think we've done a great job in keeping it down to a minimum.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Meanwhile, another new development with the Centers for Disease Control saying a patient in Sacramento could be the first U.S. case of what's called community spread.

CNN's chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta explains what that means and why it's a concern.

SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: It's unclear how this person got coronavirus. Maybe they did get exposed to someone who was infected. We're not sure exactly how this happened but it could represent the first example of community transmission.

That's something that we've been talking about for some time. This idea that you haven't traveled there, you haven't come in contact with a known infected person and yet you still have the coronavirus. That's an indication that the virus is now here and starting to spread within communities.

Again, the CDC still going to chase this down. It's unclear if that's -- that patient represents this first evidence of community spread but the president has been saying for some time look, it's not inevitable that this will happen. Maybe we don't have any community spread at all which has been at odds with what we're hearing from the CDC who has been saying it's not a question of if community spread will happen, it's a question of when it will happen.

So that's why so much attention is going to be paid to that one patient. We'll certainly give you details as we get them.

I also want you to listen closely to an exchange I have with the president yesterday at this news conference. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GUPTA: Flu have a fatality ratio of about .1 percent.

TRUMP: Correct.

GUPTA: This has a fatality ratio somewhere between 2 and 3 percent. Given that --

(CROSSTALK)

TRUMP: We don't know the exact number is.

GUPTA: Based on the number so far --

TRUMP: And the flu is higher than that. The flu is much higher than that.

GUPTA: There are more people who get the flu, but this is spreading. It's going to spread maybe within communities. That's --

TRUMP: It may. It may.

GUPTA: -- the expectation. Does that worry you?

TRUMP: No.

GUPTA: Because that seems to be what worries the American people.

TRUMP: No, because we're ready for it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GUPTA: Now the reason we were talking about this is because the president has been comparing this new coronavirus to the flu virus, and in some ways understandably so. They both, the flu virus and coronavirus very transmissible. They go human to human and it seems to spread pretty easily.

But when you're looking at a potential outbreak, a potential pandemic you do want to look at transmissibility but also how lethal something is. With the flu, the lethality or the fatality ratio is 0.1 percent, .1 percent of people who get the flu will die from it.

With coronavirus, the largest study suggests it's closer to 2 percent or even a little bit higher than that. So that's 20 times higher.

[03:04:59]

If this coronavirus starts to spread like the flu does and it see fatality ratio is significantly higher you can see the problem there. And that's why the public health community is so focused on this. They've got to be ready. As they say they're planning for a pandemic. Hoping it doesn't happen, but planning nonetheless.

Back to you.

CHURCH: Thanks for that. And Sanjaya Senanayake is an infectious disease specialist with us -- joining us from the Australian National University, and he comes to us via Skype from Canberra. Thank you for being with us from my old university. Good to chat with you.

So, let's start by talking about this new case in Sacramento, California. This person has no history of traveling abroad and as far as we know no contact with anyone who wasn't affected. Clearly, they must have at some point. Yet, here she is now infected with the coronavirus. What does that signal to you?

SANJAYA SENANAYAKE, INFECTIOUS DISEASES SPECIALIST, AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL UNIVERSITY MEDICAL SCHOOL: Hi, Rosemary. Lovely to be here. It is of concern now when the U.S. and Australia have been having cases that have been identified that have a clear link to China. We've been confident and that is unlikely to have been any local transmission. We found the person. We've isolated them and isolated their contacts.

But in this case this person has caught it from someone without leaving the U.S. So, there is clearly local transmission. What is really important is to find how this person got infected.

Hopefully there's only been one chain of infections so it's someone close to them who's been infected who went to a country which has coronavirus in it. If not, if they can't trace it back to a particular origin within the U.S. then it suggests there might be a lot of cases going around.

CHURCH: And that is a signal to you perhaps that we could be very close to a pandemic. Do you feel that's a possibility?

SENANAYAKE: Rosemary, I think we are very close to a pandemic, but in practical terms I don't know if it should make a difference. There's this wonderful catch phrase on social media which I can't claim to my own unfortunately, which is prepare, not declare.

So, I think it is really important even if a pandemic isn't declared this week or next week or next month that all nations Australia, the U.S. review their pandemic planning and make sure it is in place in case this tips over into a pandemic.

CHURCH: Right. You have some very good advice there. And of course, we know U.S. President Donald Trump has been trying to downplay the risk of an outbreak across the United States despite what he's being told about his very own experts. A number of critics think that's to preserve the economy.

Whatever the reason, how prepared do you think the United States is to deal with an outbreak, and what does it need to be doing right now along with all of the other countries that are involved here?

SENANAYAKE: Look, I don't envy the role of any world leader in this type of situation because it's important to ensure that there is no sense of panic but also provide accurate information. So, going -- what was your question again, Rosemary? I lost my thought there.

CHURCH: Well, just giving us an idea of how prepared do you think the United States is and what it should be doing right now, as well as these other countries.

SENANAYAKE: So, I think it is very important to activate or look at their pandemic plan. Australia has just activated their pandemic plan.

What's a pandemic plan? Well, we've had a number of close pandemics or outbreaks that have been close to pandemics like SARS, Ebola, swine flu that have given us an opportunity to prepare for the eventuality of a very dangerous infection going around the world.

So, I think it is reviewing that plan and making sure the resources are in place if we have sustained local transmission in our countries.

CHURCH: Right now, over all we know the mortality rate appears to be around the 2 percent mark, but in Iran we're seeing it as high as 14 percent. What do you think is behind that, perhaps unreliable numbers or something else?

SENANAYAKE: Yes, you're quite correct. So far from confirmed cases we've been seeing a case fatality rate of 2 percent. Now, Rosemary, it is actually possible that the true case fatality rate is much lower than that because there may well be a number of cases who have been very mild or not even having symptoms who have never been tested who have COVID-19 so the actual case fatality rate may be lower.

But going back to your other point, why does Iran such have -- have such a high case fatality rate? I suspect that their numbers aren't correct. They probably are a lot more cases of coronavirus in Iran that haven't been identified.

[03:09:59]

CHURCH: Right. Very interesting. Sanjaya Senanayake, thank you so much for joining us from the Australian national University. I appreciate it.

SENANAYAKE: Thank you.

CHURCH: Well, the virus has now spread from China to every continent except Antarctica. And for the first time on Wednesday, there were more new cases reported outside mainland China than inside. China tallied 433 new infections while the World Health Organization counted nearly 460 everywhere else.

Well, in South Korea almost 1,600 people are now infected. The majority are in the city of Daegu.

Earlier, CNN spoke with an American teacher living there and she described what life is like in the heart of the country's outbreak.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RACHEAL DOWNEY, AMERICAN LIVING IN SOUTH KOREA: There's a few people on the streets. Everyone for the most part taking the sub quarantine advice very seriously. I went out myself today because I had to pay a bill at the bank but I was wearing gloves and everyone is wearing masks. It's just, life is normal except the streets are sparsely populated.

The -- I live near a whole market and those are still open, the convenience stores are still open. It will blow over. It will -- life will go back to normal sooner or later. I was just -- I would prepare sooner rather than later.

Everyone is taking the advisory seriously, everyone is staying indoors except for a few people that need to go and run errands. But now I really enjoy living here and I'm really thankful that I still came here. I was getting messages from friends back home asking if I wanted to come home and I said no.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Well, so far, the virus has infected 20 South Korean service members and one American soldier stationed in the country. Now the U.S. and South Korea have decided to postpone a joint military exercises until further notice.

Officials say they are prioritizing the health and safety of their personnel.

So, let's now go live to Seoul and to our Paula Hancocks. So, Paula, of course this indicates just how seriously South Korea is taking the outbreak across the country. Talk to us about the latest on this.

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Rosemary, I have an update on figures for you. Now we know that 25 South Korean military personnel have been confirmed as having the virus, still one within the U.S. forces in Korea.

But from the South Korean side there it is across the board. It is in every unit, so to speak. It is in the navy, in the army, in the marine corps, and also in the air force. So certainly, there is a great deal of concern.

And we saw this today by the fact that the South Korean side say that they are the ones that raise this with the U.S. forces, Korea. They are the ones that wanted to postpone these military drills. Many of the soldiers from the South Korean side would be living in fairly close quarters. They would be in barracks and they would be living in close -- working in close quarters as well.

So, certainly they are doing everything they can to try and contain this virus. So, there has been one case within the U.S. military as well.

A 23-year-old male who was from a base close to Daegu about 20 miles -- 20 kilometers from Daegu. This is the city in the southeast of the country which is really ground zero for the coronavirus increase in cases in this country at the moment.

He had traveled to a base within Daegu itself, and he is now in Camp Humphreys, the headquarters. And what the military is trying to do is to trace his steps, to do the contact tracing which is so key to try and contain any kind of outbreak within the military itself.

And we also know from the State Department that they have changed their alert level for traveling to South Korea. They have now raised to level three which means that they are saying to Americans you should reconsider travel to South Korea. Rosemary?

CHURCH: All right. Our Paula Hancocks bringing us the very latest there from Seoul in South Korea. Many thanks.

Well, cases of the coronavirus are rising throughout the Middle East. Iran, Iraq, Pakistan, Lebanon, and Israel have reported cases. In an effort to slow the spread of the virus, Pakistan and Iraq are closing schools, and Saudi Arabia is keeping religious pilgrims from entering the kingdom.

CNN's Jomana Karadsheh joins me now from Istanbul, Turkey. And Jomana we talk about Iran of course, because it's seen as the epicenter of this outbreak in the Middle East. Let's start there and look at the problem across that part of the world.

JOMANA KARADSHEH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, Rosemary, the thing is we don't know at this point how widespread the disease really is in Iran. The scale of the outbreak. There are concerns about how transparent officials are being about this because if you look at the figures, they just don't make sense.

[03:15:01]

You've got 109 confirmed cases in Iran. Nineteen deaths. That's basically looking at a mortality rate of around 13 to 14 percent. That is significantly higher than the mortality rate in other countries, the global average significantly higher than that.

So, there are lots of questions about why that is. Is this an issue with how they're screening these cases? Considering, you know, the situation when it comes to the healthcare infrastructure in the country that has been impacted by U.S. sanctions.

Is there an issue with how they're reporting these cases? Are people not going to hospitals when they suspect that they may have the symptoms of the coronavirus? Or are we looking at a case basically here where the Iranian regime is basically trying to downplay the severity of the situation?

Certainly, this is the kind of message that you get when you hear officials there speaking. We heard the Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, basically reassuring people yesterday, telling them that the situation is under control, telling them not to listen to rumors. Slamming the United States, he says, for spreading fear and panic amongst the population.

But they are taking some measures. One really extraordinary measure we've heard from authorities there is that they are not going to be holding Friday prayers in cities where there has been an outbreak.

But at the same time, they're saying at this point that they're not considering and they've not made a decision to quarantine any cities.

This is really raising a lot of concern amongst countries in this region. Countries bordering Iran putting pressure on them to basically put in place their own preventative measures and measures to try and contain the spread and the outbreak. Rosemary.

CHURCH: All right. Jomana Karadsheh bringing us the very latest from her vantage point there in Istanbul, Turkey. Many thanks.

We'll take a very short break here. Still to come, days of sectarian violence leave a grim scene in New Delhi. The rising toll it's taking. That's ahead.

[03:20:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHURCH: Well, days of sectarian battles have reduced parts of New Delhi to smoked-out rubble. At least 33 people have been killed in protests that exploded into violence Sunday. The demonstrations began in December over a law that fast-tracked Indian citizenship for refugees from neighboring countries but only for non-Muslims.

We turn to Sam Kiley now who joins us live from New Delhi. So, Sam, what's the latest on this and what's the Indian government planning to do about it?

SAM KILEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, India's government has moved very slowly to respond but it has now flooded this area of northeastern areas or northeastern Delhi with police, bringing down, for now, the level of violence.

But the level of violence was the highest that had been seen in many, many years here in the capital. This is what it looked like on the ground, Rosemary.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KILEY: Rioters desecrate the minaret of a Delhi mosque with a flag bearing the simian image of Hanuman, the Hindu god of power. It's calculated to insult and inflame.

The mosque itself torched on the third day of communal violence that killed dozens and injured many more. This is what remains of (Inaudible) ritual. I asked Ashir (Ph) how will you make a living now?

He said "when there is nothing left, how will we earn? We will steal and then drink poison and die." He told me a mob attacked a mosque in his mostly Hindu neighborhood 24 hours earlier. They move on to smash and burn Muslim homes around it.

This has been not only burned but the toilet has been smashed, the shower rendered useless. This is what communal violence really looks like.

Violence erupted after a powerful Hindu politician from the ruling BJP Party published a video demanding the anti-government protests be stopped. He warned that if the police did not stop the demonstrations, we will take to the streets.

Soon rival mobs clashed in riots that spread across the northeast of Delhi. Victims from both communities ended up size by side in the local morgue.

Yasmin (Ph) waits for the release of her brother-in-law's body. She said "people came from behind and were shouting Jai Shri Ram, hail lord Ram. They took Metap (Ph) away, then we got an anonymous call that Metap (Ph) had been set on fire." Hamir Singh, a Hindu, lost his nephew.

Do you think that the policies of Mr. Modi have contributed to this?

"That is true. If they didn't make this law that would not have happened. But the law is right from his perspective. He is a prime minister and people shouldn't riot like this." he said.

The Indian P.M. has appealed for calm, but schools have died in riots and protests this year across India and the bloodletting looks far from over.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KILEY: Now the national security advisor has been out on the street, has indeed the chief minister of Delhi who is not part of the ruling BJP Party. He has called for control of the police to be placed under the city authorities and even that the military, the armed forces should be deployed on the ground.

That was when the violence was at its height, Rosemary. It has dialed down. But the issue now will be that the scars and resentments from this intercommunal violence from this murder on a massive scale by New Delhi standards, how much more energy will that actually give to these communal confrontations that have their heart at what is called by the opponents of it, anti-Muslim legislation.

[03:24:59]

And those opponents don't just include Muslims but the many people here who believe it flies in the face of a secular Constitution that has underpinned India's social fabric for the last 70 years. Rosemary?

CHURCH: Sam Kiley joining us live from New Delhi. Many thanks.

Well, the humanitarian emergency in Syria is only getting worse as regime forces try to retake rebel-held territory. The U.N. has condemned ongoing air strikes in the Idlib region mostly carried out by Russian forces backing the Assad regime.

A relief organization said at least 21 people including nine children were killed when air strikes hit 10 schools and a hospital Tuesday. Nearly a million people have been displaced in the past three months of fighting. Turkey says it can't take in anymore Syrian refugees and has closed the boarder.

Ankara also plans to push Syrian forces away from its observation posts in the Idlib region.

Well, if you're watching internationally, thank you so much for being with us. African Voices Change Makers is next for all of you.

And if you're joining us here in the United States, so stay tuned. I'll have more news for you just ahead including what we heard from four of the Democratic candidates running for U.S. president when they took questions in town halls ahead of the South Carolina primary. Back in just a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHURCH: Welcome back to our viewers here in the United States. You are watching CNN Newsroom. And I'm Rosemary Church.

Well, just days before voters head to the polls in South Carolina CNN hosted four back-to-back U.S. Democratic presidential town halls in Charleston.

[03:30:03]

Former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, former Vice President Joe Biden, Senators Amy Klobuchar and Elizabeth Warren were there answering questions on coronavirus, stop and frisk and other key issues.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON COOPER, BREAKING NEWS SHOW HOST: You continued to defend these policy though for years. Just 18 months ago, which is just five years after you were married, you told the New York Times quote, it was a technique that was appropriate at the time to a lot of people. And I think some people in the audience side, it seems like you only had a change of heart when you decided to run for president.

(APPLAUSE)

MICHAEL BLOOMBERG, CEO BLOOMBERG, 2020 U.S. PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: No, The process is not true. I don't want to get down on the weeds and talk about it. We made a mistake. We did too much of it and I cutback to almost zero and we're not doing it again.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Other candidates are being asked to account for past programs or policy choices they now regret. What do you say to those female voters who were and perhaps are still unhappy with how you handled the conformation of Clarence Thomas?

JOE BIDEN, FORMER VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, 2020 U.S. PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I wish I could have protected her more. I publicly apologized, apologized then and I was able to -- what she -- we owe her. We owe Anita Hill a lot because what she did by coming forward, she gave me the ability to pass the violent right and pass the violence against women act. We owe her a great deal of credit.

(APPLAUSE)

SEN. AMY KLOBUCHAR (D-MN), U.S. DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We can go back and forth on issues but Elizabeth and Bernie and I actually are all three of us are in leadership together at the U.S. Senate. I bet you wish we were on those meetings. And we have worked together on many, many issues and I admire both of them. I don't agree with their bill on Medicare for all. I think it's better to build on the affordable care act with a public option. SEN. ELIZABETH WARREN (D-MA), 2020 U.S. DEMOCRATIC CANDIDATE: I'm

going to be introducing a plan to take every dime that the president is now spending on his racist wall at our southern border and divert it to work on the coronavirus. We need someone who is not actively disqualified from doing that the way the vice president is. Do keep in mind that this vice president has dealt with a public health emergency before in Indiana. And what was his approached, it was to put politics over science and let a serious virus expand in his state and cost people lives.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Joining me now is Seth Masket, he is a political science professor at the University of Denver. Good to have you with us.

SETH MASKET, POLITICAL SCIENCE PROFESSOR, UNIVERSITY OF DENVER: Thank you for having me.

CHURCH: So, after all that unruly shouting on Tuesday's debate, the town hall allowed for more substantial discussion about policy. Which of the candidates dominated, do you think?

MASKET: It was really striking how different this was from the debate. It was much more calm and measured. I thought tonight Biden had some of the strongest performances. You saw him speak very effectively about policy, but also really make a very emotional connection on a couple of occasions with a number of his -- the people asking him questions. But really, you know, in many ways, all the candidates did substantially better job I think than they did in the debate this week. I think Warren had a number of strong moments too.

CHURCH: Michael Bloomberg certainly seemed to be more at home in this town hall setting. He was able to lay out considerable detail on his various policy ideas and seemed much more (inaudible). What did you think of that journey he had made from the first debate which I think we all agree, it was just a -- pretty much a debacle for him to this town hall and how much more viable is he now looking?

MASKET: Well, it was really kind of striking, because he actually addressed that a little bit tonight. He was talking about how much he was struck on the debate stage about how pugnacious everyone was. And people are all trying to tear each other apart. And which had me sort of wondering, haven't you been watching the other debates. I mean this is how they go.

And it seems that, you know, he made a point of entering this presidential contest fairly late. He only jumped in at the end of November. Whereas most of this other candidates been doing for at least a year. And there's a cost to that. He has, you know, he has to kind of ramp up to where everyone else is and they've all have quite a bit of experience on the debate stage and being grilled about some of their past stances. He was a little bit of a disadvantage there.

CHURCH: Right.

MASKET: He's clearly working on it and he's working on ways to express himself but so far the debate stage seems to be kind of a tough environment for him.

CHURCH: It does have to be said though, she said that debate was particularly bad, the moderators have pretty much lost control and it was the loudest voice in the room. The one that day wasn't it to suddenly, and even Joe Biden pointed that out that anyone -- the nice guy on the stage would miss out if he didn't just start shouting like the rest, but the polls show Joe Biden in a commanding lead for the South Carolina poll, that primary, but this is a do or die moment for him isn't it? Did he appear to revive his chances of moving forward in his town hall performance, do you think?

[03:35:23]

MASKET: I think so. I was, you know, watching him tonight I was thinking if more people saw this Joe Biden, you know the town hall Joe Biden rather than the debate Joe Biden, I think he'd be in a much stronger situation. In the debates there's obviously a lot of yelling even when they're fairly well run, people are shouting a lot and people are trying to get as much information as they can across in just 30 or 60 seconds. When they have a little time as they did tonight to develop their ideas and try to connect with the audience that something really were Biden really has a considerable set of skills.

I think he has -- he certainly has a chance, he's got still a lot of party support behind him. He's going into South Carolina where polls have been favorable for him for some time even if it gone down a bit for him and he is still in pretty good shape. He's got some very important endorsements there and he's also looking good at a number of other Southern states. So, he may not be the front runner anymore but he should not be counted out at this point.

CHURCH: And for all those candidates Wednesday night at the Town hall their goal was to make Bernie Sanders look less viable and put their own name on the radar. Did they all achieve that?

MASKET: For the candidacy we saw tonight, I think so. They -- it's difficult for any of them to really cut into Bernie Sanders area of strength. He has maybe 25 or 30 percent of Democratic voters and in various states pretty strongly committed to him and it's hard to really chip that away. Bernie fans tend to be really strong Bernie fans.

They're all really competing for the rest of the party and so far that's a very divided and fairly undecided on group of Democratic voters. So, they are all kind of fighting with each other for that, but anyone who can do that hasn't had a chance of defeating Bernie Sanders in later contest but Sanders has his group really pretty well consolidated so far.

CHURCH: Seth Masket, thank you so much for talking with us, we do appreciate it.

MASKET: Thanks for having me on.

CHURCH: Well, another mass shooting in the United States with five people dead after a gunman opened fire at a brewery in the state of Wisconsin. The company's president called it an unthinkable tragedy. The 51-year-old gunman was an employee who according to police shot and killed himself. No motive has been released nearly 1000 people were working at the Molson Coors complex at the time.

Well, stock markets in Asia trying to shake off the coronavirus. Japan admits some of its containment efforts were flaw. Details on how it handled the quarantine of a cruise ship.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[03:40:00]

CHURCH: Welcome back everyone. Well, Thursday could be another rough ride for global stocks. European shares have just open lower as investors continue to worry about the coronavirus. The main markets are all trading about 2 percent lower right now. And meantime U.S. stock futures are down across the board. On Wednesday Wall Street was again rattled by the outbreak but not nearly as bad as previous days. Market in Asia have just closed and finished mixed for the day.

For more, Kaori Enjoji, joins me now live from Tokyo. Good to see you again Carrie. So, let's look at those numbers across Asian markets.

KAORI ENJOJI, JOURNALIST: Yes, Rosemary, it's not as nervous as we seen in the last two or three trading sessions, but still your seeing some pretty big losses on the Tokyo equity market in particular. Down 470 points that set 2 percent below the 22,000 mark. A modest gains in some of the Shanghai and the Hong Kong markets but still weaker in some the rest of the Asian region.

So, I think nervousness -- nervousness excuse me, still prevails particularly around the economic impact of as this coronavirus continues to spread throughout the world. You see countries like South Korea, their central bank coming out earlier on this today saying that they have to lower their economic guidance for this year. You have countries like New Zealand coming out saying that they may have to (inaudible) emergency measures as well. Particularly when you consider that 25 percent of their exports are headed to the Chinese market.

So, I think this paralysis that were seeing in the manufacturing sector in particular in China investors want to shun themselves to and they fear that the fallout is still yet to come. We are also saying of course productivity start to fall, because most -- a lot of corporations every day are saying that they want their employees to stay at home. You're seeing heightening anxiety in particularly in cities where they have cluster outbreaks.

Schools are being close and parts of the region as well and of course they still don't have -- you still don't have a lot of visibility on how corporates are dealing with the supply chain issues particularly in the technology and automobile sector. So, we're seeing continued weakness in some the major indices stock markets using weakness again for the fifth day running in oil markets and a safe haven right now seems to be the U.S. Treasury Markets. So, you're seeing prices continue to gain there and the yield hit

record low. So, not nearly as a nervous as we seen in the last couple of days, but still some weakness in some key training regions here in Asia, Rosemary.

CHURCH: All right, we'll keep an eye on all of these, Kaori Enjoji, many thanks to you, for bringing us live report from Tokyo.

Well, medical experts in Japan admit their quarantine of the Diamond Princess cruise ship was almost expected to fail. Because the passengers were kept in isolation, but the crew members were not. CNN's Blake Essig joins me now from Tokyo with more on this. So, Blake, it's taking Japan longer than everyone else to realize and admit the failure, but now they have, what's next and what does this mean for the crew?

BLAKE ESSIG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Rosemary, we've heard from infectious disease specialist governments around the world who question that quarantine for days, weeks, you know during the quarantine process in according to Japanese health officials it all came down to logistics. There wasn't enough room to isolate and quarantine all 3700 passengers and crew here on land. And so, they kept them on the ship.

And now the Japanese government is focused on the next one to three weeks calling that timeframe critical to preventing the further spread of the virus here in Japan. And I did just speak to a Japanese health experts who focused on the idea that, that quarantine from the very beginning was never going to be successful.

[03:45:15]

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They just knock on you door for food.

ESSIG: In a cruise ship infected by an invisible enemy protective isolation was extended only to Diamond Princess passengers. Its crew continued going door-to-door.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: With beverages and everything included. Even including wine and spinach and everything that is gullible, to the (inaudible).

ESSIG: What Major (inaudible), says, even thru the end days of the quarantine, no details was ever too small in making sure guest were well cared for.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We ensured all our guest had a fulfilling experience.

ESSIG: A consideration for the passengers. Was the government own advisers admit wasn't extended to the crew.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We suspect that that some of the crew, staff, they had already fixed it. But, you know, because they had to handle the (inaudible) they had to deliver the meals, something like that. So that may have cause some sort of cross and contact. It includes workers and also the passengers. That may have cause some secondary or such any cases.

ESSIG: Should the crew members have continued to work, is it fair to have continued to expose them to potentially contract this virus?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Strictly scientifically speaking, you know, what needed was strict isolation for the crew members, all the members.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you.

ESSIG: From the start, Doctor Noria Omagani (ph) admits it was a flawed quarantines. But the ship needed to run. So the crew continue to work. Until the last of the passengers disembarked. Diamond Princess crew members say they were just following Japanese government orders. By the time the crew were the ones receiving the meals from the shore, around 50 percent, more than 150 ended up testing positive for the novel coronavirus.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm very sorry what's happened here in (inaudible), because there was a limitation. When it comes to facility, in term of structure of the cruise ship.

ESSIG: Was there ever the option to your teams says, listen, and if you don't want to go door to door, you don't -- you're not comfortable, you don't have to do it. Was that ever a conversation that was had?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Every team member is willing to serve our guest.

ESSIG: But willingness for many, but fear for others expressed only a few days into the quarantine.

We are extremely scared since (inaudible) start calling this Facebook post on February 10th. A request he says is to segregate the crew from the infected.

Finally after weeks of uncertainty onboard the ill-fated ship, for the crew members on board who tested negative, it's down again planked and on to dry land toward a line of buses. Where the only journey left is the one home.

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ESSIG: Japanese health officials and advisers did say that they are sympathetic to the human rights of the crew members from all over the world, but Rosemary at the end of the day they said that the passengers and the ship had to be maintained.

CHURCH: Yes. And I think they'll be reassessing the way they approached this and certainly other cruise liners. Many thanks to you Blake for bringing us the latest on that. I appreciate it.

And time now for a short break, just ahead, he's been a TV staple for over 30 years. Why the Simpsons is bidding adieu to the voice of Apu. Back in a moment. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHURCH: it is lent, the Christian season of fasting and reflection and Pope Francis wants Catholics around the world to give up something. Not chocolate or French fries or soda instead he's asking people to quit insulting others on social media. Speaking at St. Peter's Square on ash Wednesday, he said lent is a time to give up useless words, gossip, rumors tittle-tattle and speak to God on his first name basis.

Well, for more than 30 years, the TV show The Simpsons has remained pretty much the same, Bart, Lisa and Maggie, never get older and Homer never get smarter apparently. But one character is changing, voice actor Hank Azaria says he is done playing the role of Kwik-E Mart owner Apu, the character was once seen as funny but some now say he represents offensive stereotypes. One Indian-American comedian explained it in this documentary.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Had a great career filled with laughter. Critical acclaim, I should be completely happy, but there's still one man who haunts me, Apu Nahasapeemapetilon.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Please pay for your purchases and get out and come again.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A white guy doing an impression of a white guy making fun of my father.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How did you feel about that?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, I'm making a movie about how much I dislike it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right away they were like, you're doing an Indian voice and how offensive can you make it? I immediately began to talk this way and I say it's not tremendously accurate, there's a little stereotype like (inaudible).

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: And Hank Azaria is now opening up about why he wants (inaudible) Apu anymore, he said, he gradually became aware that Apu was her thought. Azaria is Jewish and he tells the New York I started thinking if that character were the only representation of Jewish people in American culture for 20 years which was the case with Apu and might not love that. In a statement The Simpsons produces hinted someone else might voice Apu in the future saying, the character is beloved worldwide. So stay tuned.

Well, Prince Harry has made it official, just call him Harry. At a tourism conference in Edinburgh Scotland, he asked to be introduced without the royal title, he's making his final round of public engagement before stepping back from official duties.

[03:55:15]

On Friday, he'll take part in a recording session with John Bon Jovi, who is recording a song for the Invictus Games. He was jokingly referred to Harry as the artist formerly known as Prince. I'm sure he enjoyed that. Thanks for joining us. I'm Rosemary Church. Early Start is up next.

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END