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Coronavirus Leads to New Normal for Eating Fast Food in China; Your Travel Questions About the Coronavirus are Answered; "Race for The White House" Airs Sunday at 9 PM. Aired 3:30-4p ET

Aired February 28, 2020 - 15:30   ET

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

[15:30:00]

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BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN HOST: Anyone traveling to or living in China has had their life altered in a massive way as the country tries to get this coronavirus outbreak under control. Take, for example, just going out to eat. Our own correspondent there, David Culver shows us how fast food restaurants are taking extreme steps to stay in business safely.

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DAVID CULVER, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): You are looking at the new normal for many fast food restaurants in China. Customers entering this KFC passing through the now standard temperature checks.

Walking up to a giant screen, they either transfer their orders from their smartphones thus avoiding touching the surface or they type it in. As soon as they step away, an employee swoops in to disinfect. Some stores like this Shanghai Starbucks take away only. The goal, keep people from gathering. This is the corporate side to stopping the spread of the novel coronavirus.

JOEY WAT, CEO, YUM CHINA: We have been having daily crisis meetings since the end of January.

CULVER: We sat down with Yum China Holdings CEO, Joey Wat. Her company runs some of the most popular food brands in China including KFC, Taco Bell, and Pizza Hut.

[15:35:00]

WAT: What's the best way to deal with adversity? Is to stay calm, protect ourselves.

CULVER: That protection continues outside of the restaurants. Food delivery also about keeping your space.

(on camera): This is what happened here. They leave it there. He tells me I can go. I move in, pick up the food, and head home to eat. And as soon as you get your food, you'll notice on top of the receipt is this little card. It has two different types of readings on it, the temperature reading of the person who prepared your food along with their name and the name and temperature reading of the person who delivered your food.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BALDWIN: Just to get some fried chicken in China.

Let's take you back here at home where spring break, I know, is upon us. Many of you understandably are worried about the coronavirus. We have been getting thousands of questions here at CNN.com.

So Tariro Mzezewa is back with me, travel reporter for "The New York Times," she is the answerer of all things. So welcome back.

TARIRO MZEZEWA, TRAVEL REPORTER, THE NEW YORK TIMES: Thank you.

BALDWIN: Let me run through just more of these viewer questions, and you can just let people know what to do. Question number one, what is the risk of airlines completely shutting down flights to and from Asia?

MZEZEWA: Well, we saw a few weeks ago major airlines like Delta and United and American Airlines saying we're stopping service to Shanghai. We're stopping service to Hong Kong, that type of thing, and people didn't think that was going to be more widespread. I think there's a higher risk of that happening in more places. I know today United said that it's cutting down service to a lot of Asian destinations. They're starting to use smaller planes to other destinations, and I think that's because of the drop in demand to Asia at the moment.

BALDWIN: Do you have any plans to go to Vietnam, a lot of people are thinking twice about that and other areas around Asia. Question, when should people seriously consider canceling air travel plans? Like if your trip is, you know, months away versus weeks or days?

MZEZEWA: I think if your trip is a few months away, you're OK. This is a really fluid situation. Things are changing not even weekly but day- to-day things are changing. So if you've got a trip at the end of April, give it a little bit more time and see how the situation evolves.

If you've got a trip to northern Italy for two days from now, it's worth reconsidering, right. As we've talked about before and as the CDC has said there are all these places that you can't go unless you absolutely must go. So think about that, too. But I would say a few days to about a week, you should be really careful.

BALDWIN: OK. Here's the next question. Would it be safer to avoid flying and take a cruise instead, or would you postpone altogether?

MZEZEWA: The thing about flying is that it's not that you can catch this virus just because it's in the air, right. I talked to a doctor at Johns Hopkins this morning, he put it really well. He said the virus isn't going to jump out of the seat at you, right. So when you're on there, you want to clean the surfaces, but you can still get on a plane for the most part. You should be able to go on your trip. You don't need to cancel every single flight because you're just very nervous that you could get the virus somehow.

BALDWIN: Just bring your disinfectant wipes, do a scrub a dubs.

MZEZEWA: Scrub it down. And then for cruises, part of the issue with cruises is that we've been hearing that it's kind of like being in a huge petri dish, right. And one of the issues there is no longer just that you won't be able to get off your cruise in another country or you'll go somewhere and be stuck somewhere. There's a chance you'll just be struck on the cruise.

We saw two cruises this week that were turned away. One was turned away from the Dominican Republic yesterday. There was a cruise ship two days ago that was turned away from Jamaica and then people had to keep sailing. It was then turned away from the Cayman Islands, and then it eventually was able to stop in Mexico, but they had to stay on the cruise. That's time that you're losing out of your vacation, right. You're just stuck on the ship.

BALDWIN: What about train travel, what about Amtrak?

MZEZEWA: Amtrak is still running. It's kind of like that same thing with the planes. Where it's like you don't need to cancel your trip just wipe down that area. And when I say wipe it down, really think about, like, the tray table. That's the biggest thing, right. And bathroom knobs, you know, the faucets in the bathroom. That type of thing, hard surfaces.

BALDWIN: OK, that's good advice.

And then lastly, what are some recommendations for travel within the country specifically for destinations like Disney and other busy areas as we're getting near spring break? Kids want to have some fun.

MZEZEWA: You can still go on your trips. You can still go to Disney. I know "The Times" actually published in its parenting section a piece that addresses like what parents should be doing right now. And a lot of the doctors in that piece, and one of them I spoke with myself this morning, he said I wouldn't tell somebody not to go to Disney because there are foreign visitors who are at Disney and there's a chance you might get it. And I wouldn't change that recommendation because one more person got it.

So I think the idea is, you know, if there's someone with a case of coronavirus at Disney World tomorrow, re-evaluate your plans, but you don't need to feel like you should just stay home. That's not the answer either.

BALDWIN: Appreciate the advice from the doctor at Johns Hopkins, it's not like the virus will jump out of the seat and come grab you. Just be cautious. Tariro, thank you very much. The "New York Times" Travel.

[15:40:00] If you have questions by the way you can submit them to us here at CNN. Go to CNN.com/coronavirusquestions.

So how have former Presidents dealt with crises during re-election years? We'll talk to a historian.

Also, just this afternoon, a major blow to President Trump's immigration agenda. The latest court decisions on asylum seekers from Mexico, next.

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BALDWIN: Just into CNN, a Federal Appeals Court has blocked the Trump administration from sending asylum seekers to Mexico to wait for their court dates in the United States.

[15:45:00]

We learned this week that 59,000 people have been sent back across the border since the controversial "Remain in Mexico" Program was put in place last year. Administration officials say the policy has led to a drop in arrests along the southern border. But immigrant advocates say it puts migrants in harm's way as they wait in those makeshift camp.

So our CNN Supreme Court reporter Ariane de Vogue has more on the ruling. And, Ariane, this is seen as a huge blow to the administration. Tell me more about the decision and just what happens next.

ARIANE DE VOGUE, CNN SUPREME COURT REPORTER: Right, it is a big loss for the Trump administration here. Keep in mind President Trump had this rule that said non-Mexicans who were applying for asylum had to go back and wait in Mexico essentially for a court date.

Now this rule, Brooke, had been allowed to go into effect. Today the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals blocked it. The government as you said had already sent 59,000 people back. The government said the conditions were safe, but the court disagreed. It agreed with challenges here. The court said uncontested evidence in the record establishes that non-Mexicans return to Mexico under the rule risk substantial harm, even death while they await adjudication of their applications for asylum.

Now, Brooke, I bet you that the administration is going to act very quickly here. It's either going to go back to maybe a bigger panel of judges on the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals or maybe even straight to the Supreme Court asking for some relief.

BALDWIN: That same appeals court, Ariane, also upheld a lower court ruling that indicates that the administration cannot deny asylum to people simply because they cross the southern border illegally. What can you tell me about that?

DE VOGUE: Well, basically you're right. They said if you come illegally into the country not in a port of entry, then you can't even apply for asylum. That too was blocked. But keep in mind, Brooke, this is the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. It's that liberal leaning appeals court that President Trump has so often criticized.

And in this very case at an earlier phase, President Trump attacked one of the judges, and it was this case that triggered Chief Justice John Roberts to come back with that statement. Remember months ago, where he defended the judiciary against attacks. So this is the court that really bothers President Trump, and today he suffered two really big losses.

BALDWIN: Ninth Circuit, Ariane de Vogue, thank you so much for the updates on that.

The 2020 race heads into Super Tuesday and CNN is taking you behind the scenes of some of the most influential Presidential elections of years past. And so in this week's episode of the CNN original series "RACE FOR THE WHITE HOUSE" we dive into the 1964 race between Lyndon Johnson and Barry Goldwater, a race that redefined both of America's political parties.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): On July 2nd, 1964, LBJ walks into the East Room of the White House and transforms the lives of millions of Americans.

LYNDON B. JOHNSON (D) FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I'm about to sign into law a Civil Rights Act of 1964.

ROBERT MANN, PROFESSOR OF MEDIA AND POLITICS, LOUISIANA STATE UNIVERSITY: This is a time when everybody's watching television to watch a President sign a bill. Every network is covering it. This is a moon-shot moment.

LEAH WRIGHT RIGUEUR, ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR OF PUBLIC POLICY, HARVARD KENNEDY SCHOOL: The symbolism of the moment, a southern white Democrat President signing this into law is huge.

JOHNSON: Let us lay aside irrelevant differences and make our nation whole.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: For many watching, this is a betrayal of what the Democrats have traditionally stood for.

BARBARA A. PERRY, PRESIDENTIAL STUDIES DIRECTOR, MILLER CENTER, UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA: While Lyndon Johnson was jubilant, at least in public to have passed this historic bill, he's melancholy that night in the aftermath.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: LBJ. essentially fretted that he might, in fact, lose the south forever as a result of signing the Civil Rights Act.

DOUGLAS BRINKLEY, CNN PRESIDENTIAL HISTORIAN: The fear for him was uh- oh, what did I do? I'm the big man for a day. I've made history, but now I have an election to win in November, and what is the boomerang effect of this?

(END VIDEO CLIP) BALDWIN: Let's talk all about it. Mark Updegrove is the President and CEO of the LBJ Foundation. So Mark, thank you so much for coming on.

MARK UPDEGROVE, PRESIDENT AND CEO, LBJ FOUNDATION: Good to be with you.

BALDWIN: Johnson's opponent Barry Goldwater voted against the Civil Rights Act in the Senate and took some very controversial positions on race and segregation. Tell me what kind of impact that had on the direction of the GOP both during and after that 1964 election.

UPDEGROVE: Well, essentially with Barry Goldwater's candidacy, you're sowing the seeds of the modern Republican movement. It ended up being a quixotic effort on his part, and he knew that going into it, and he knew that he didn't have much of a chance of beating Lyndon Johnson despite the fact that Lyndon Johnson had alienated southern Democrats by supporting the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

But Goldwater was convinced even though it was a losing cause that he should do it in order to make his point of view about libertarianism and about limited government known to the American people.

[15:50:02]

But ultimately Lyndon Johnson wins in a landslide. The biggest landslide election to that point in American history by garnering 61 percent of the popular vote.

BALDWIN: He was -- Johnson was set on winning and he wanted to win by a landslide and so he resorted to some pretty harsh tactics, attack ads, even spying on the Goldwater campaign. What impact did all of that have on the way of people ran for President just at that point forward?

UPDEGROVE: Johnson wanted to take no chances. He knew that he was an accidental president, and just as he used the power of the presidency to pass the Civil Rights Act of 1964 knowing that it would cost him, because he had that power in his hands, and as he said to the aide, what the hell is the presidency for if you can't use it to do something meaningful.

But he also wanted to win in his own right and win big. And so he used sone pretty harsh tactics in order to do that. There was an ad that exploited the extremism of Barry Goldwater. He said very famously that extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice. And many thought as a result of that that he didn't have the right temperament to be president. And with your hand on the nuclear button, you have to have the man who has the right temperament.

So they exploited that and ran an ad that is now infamous that showed Barry Goldwater essentially pulling the trigger on a nuclear bomb. And it was a very effective tactic.

BALDWIN: I wanted to ask you, too, just moving awe of that but just, you know, with your presidential historian knowledge, what we've been covering. Obviously with this coronavirus and we've been watching the markets. And we've been listening to this President who's been downplaying or saying it, you know, it will just take a miracle and this will all go away.

I'm just wondering can you just go back in history and has there been another example of a president, incumbent president, seeking election, who's really dealt with a massive crisis, could be health, could be war, could be financial, and what would that be?

UPDEGROVE: Crises are an inherent part of the presidency. As Harry Truman said, if you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen. You know that there's going to be heat in that job and you know there are going to be crises that cross your desk that you don't anticipate.

I think the most modern crisis that I can think of is the Iranian hostage crisis that really crippled the Jimmy Carter presidency. As he was running for reelection in 1980, he waged what was a failed campaign to get the hostages out, and it was disastrous for the Carter presidency. It reflected what many thought already which was that Carter was largely ineffectual in the role. And Ronald Reagan ultimately won that election in a landslide defeating Jimmy Carter.

BALDWIN: Mark Updegrove, thank you so much for all of that. And just reminder to all of you the new episode "RACE FOR THE WHITE HOUSE" airs Sunday night at 9:00 right here on CNN.

We are just a couple of minutes from the closing bell, speaking the financials, it's down, Dow down 745 points here. Coronavirus seems to set to propel stocks to the worst week since 2008. We'll be right back.

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BALDWIN: Next week, CNN will reveal its first CNN hero of 2020 and last year's winner was honored for her innovative efforts to end the stigma around menstruation, and that recognition has helped her open minds and doors back home in Ethiopia.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST: The 2019 CNN hero of the year is --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Freweini Mebrahtu.

FREWEINI MEBRAHTU, 2019 CNN HERO OF THE YEAR: I could not believe it. To work so hard for this moment. I felt like, oh, it is really important.

Almost the entire town was waiting for me at the airport. I don't deserve it, but the cause deserved it.

The Ethiopian President, she's been wonderful. It is like, wow, I'm in the national palace to talk about periods. I have a lot of work to do, but the silence has been broken.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: You can watch Anderson's full update and nominate someone that you think should be a CNN hero and go to cnnheroes.com.

That's it for me. I'm Brooke Baldwin, thank you being here, "THE LEAD" with Jake Tapper starts right now.

JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: The highest level of alert as the stocks sink even lower over the coronavirus. THE LEAD starts now.

New signs that the coronavirus may be ready to spread even faster in the U.S. as sports teams play in almost empty stadium after a new outbreak.

This as the Vice President Pence, the man that President Trump put in charge of the response to the coronavirus is right now in Florida fundraising as the President is imagining a miracle where the virus just disappears.

Plus, a tale of two Bernies, why Senator Sanders' comments in 2016 when he was chasing Hillary Clinton could come back to haunt him as the frontrunner.

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

TAPPER: Welcome to THE LEAD. I'm Jake Tapper and we begin with breaking news on our money lead, fears over the spread of coronavirus sparking another drop on Wall Street today.