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Hala Gorani Tonight

Joe Biden Builds Momentum Following Super Tuesday; Italy Second In Coronavirus Deaths With 107; Live Coverage Of Bernie Sanders Statement; WHO: COVID-19 Appears To Be Deadlier Than The Flu; Global Travel And Tourism Hit Hard By Virus Fears; Migrant Crisis Deepens; Japan: 2020 Olympics Could Be Delayed Until Later This Year. Aired 2-3p ET

Aired March 04, 2020 - 14:00   ET

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


[14:00:31]

ZAIN ASHER CNN INTERNATIONAL HOST: Hello, everyone. Live from CNN New York, I'm Zain Asher, in for my colleague Hala Gorani.

The 2020 U.S. Democratic presidential contest is effectively becoming a two-man race as another candidate drops out and endorses Joe Biden.

Plus, Italy takes significant steps to contain the coronavirus, but the impact is being felt across the world.

And Europe and Turkey play the blame game, pointing the finger of a what- to-do about the influx of migrants at Greece's border.

All right, we begin with a radical shake-up in the Democratic race for the White House. Joe Biden is certainly riding high today, getting another huge

boost after his campaign came roaring back to life with sweeping Super Tuesday victories.

Just hours ago, one of Biden's biggest rivals -- I'm talking about Mike Bloomberg -- dropped out of the race and threw his support behind Biden.

Bloomberg tweeted that he entered the race to beat Donald Trump, and he's leaving for the exact same reason, saying, it's now clear that Biden has

the best chance.

TEXT: Mike Bloomberg: Three months ago, I entered the race to defeat Donald Trump. Today, I'm leaving for the same reason. Defeating Trump starts with

uniting behind the candidate with the best shot to do it. It's clear that is my friend and a great American, @JoeBiden.

ASHER: Biden has surged ahead in the overall delegate count -- let's take a look here -- overtaking Bernie Sanders by winning nine states on Super

Tuesday. You can see there, Pete Buttigieg has 26 delegates; he of course dropped out of the race on Sunday, also throwing his support behind Joe

Biden as well.

But two states are still counting votes, including the biggest prize of all, California. Sanders is expected to win there, and that could shake up

the delegate count once again. But Biden says that he has all the momentum.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: -- I'm here to report, we are very much alive.

(APPLAUSE)

And make no mistake about it, this campaign will send Donald Trump packing. This campaign is taking off. Join us.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ASHER: There is at least one more major wild card out there, and that is what exactly will Elizabeth Warren be doing? She is reassessing her

campaign after a disappointing Super Tuesday. Warren even lost in her home state, she came third.

All of this means a once-crowded field has essentially narrowed to just a two-man race, Joe Biden versus Bernie Sanders. Biden is expected to make an

appearance very soon in California. Our Jessica Dean is live for us in Los Angeles.

So, Jessica, just walk us through this. How exactly did Joe Biden pull this off? He basically exceeded everybody's expectations, including -- I'm

guessing -- his own.

JESSICA DEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. I think that's probably quite true. It was certainly unprecedented, this comeback that we have seen from Joe

Biden. You know, he won big in South Carolina on Saturday, and his campaign had started out saying, look, if we could just get to South Carolina,

that's going to springboard us into Super Tuesday with all this momentum. And you'll see, you'll see, you'll see.

And everyone kind of thought, well, no one's ever done that before. No one -- no nominee has ever come in and lost in such fourth, fifth place before

in New Hampshire and Iowa, and become the nominee. But Joe Biden won very convincingly in South Carolina, and in fact did get incredible momentum,

going into Super Tuesday.

And so what they did was that they focused on these congressional districts where there were the most delegates in each state. And they would get

endorsements there, and really try to turn out their voters. And then of course, it all culminated with the big endorsements from Pete Buttigieg,

Amy Klobuchar and Beto O'Rourke on the eve of Super Tuesday, his three former rivals, coming on-stage with him, appearing with him. And that all

really seemed to just tip the tables in his favor.

If you look at who was voting for Joe Biden, it was African-American voters, it was voters in the suburbs. They were turning out in huge numbers

in places like North Carolina, in Virginia. And that is what the Biden campaign wanted to see, it is the argument, Zain, that they have made all

along, which is that Joe Biden is the one person in the Democratic field that can create this coalition that can beat Donald Trump in November.

Now, you mentioned California, that's where we are right now. It takes longer to get results here because they have a little bit of a different

system in terms of counting the ballots. If you mail in your ballot, here in California, as long as it arrives by Friday, it can be counted. So they

-- it takes several days for all of that to shake out.

And it will -- it remains to be seen, exactly how that shakes out, if Joe Biden stays ahead in the delegates, if Bernie Sanders is able to leap-frog

him again, Zain. But there's no question about it, this race has changed fast and furiously, ending today of course with that endorsement you talked

about from Michael Bloomberg.

[14:05:12]

ASHER: Right. Jessica Dean, live for us there. Thank you so much.

I want to get some more perspective now from CNN Political Commentator, Aisha Moodie-Mills. She's a Democratic strategist. Aisha, thank you so much

for being with us.

So I want to talk about the path ahead for Joe Biden, because we know that he largely appeals to minority voters, particularly to African-American

voters. Just walk us through what happens next week, because we have a handful of very white states voting, like North Dakota for example, like

Idaho. What happens to Joe Biden then?

AISHA MOODIE-MILLS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, I've got to tell you that it's undeniable, coming out of South Carolina, just last weekend,

literally on Saturday -- I feel like the days are moving so quickly -- that Joe Biden has the momentum, they're calling it "Joe-mentum."

African-American voters surely do determine who's got the juice in the Democratic primary here in the United States, and so what we're seeing is

that Joe Biden came off of South Carolina with a great showing, swept the entire south on Super Tuesday, as well as Minnesota and Massachusetts,

which are interesting because those are states that he may not have won if he hadn't gotten the endorsement from Amy Klobuchar, and done so well in

South Carolina.

So moving forward with this momentum at his back, he's going to probably continue to do really well. A scenario where you see Bernie Sanders being

able to kind of catch up, just doesn't seem likely at this point because people are already, you know, teaming up with Biden and it looks like he's

the guy to beat.

ASHER: What happened to Elizabeth Warren? I mean, was it because people just don't really connect with her, is it because she's a woman and there's

some gender bias going on? Or is it because people just quite frankly don't think that she could beat Donald Trump?

MOODIE-MILLS: Yes, well, so the first two things I'll say is that there's always so much gender bias. We've seen it in the media coverage of her, we

saw in 2016, even though Hillary Clinton was the most qualified person -- perhaps one of the most qualified to ever run for office -- so much gender

bias toward her.

But the bigger picture of this that I have found interesting, as someone who is a progressive and who has really cared deeply about the platforms

and the policy recommendations et cetera from the candidates, is that you have Elizabeth Warren, who had so much support from African-American

thought leaders as well as activists, she literally has a plan for everything, she probably has one of the most racial -- the best racial

analyses, and has a plan for everything that has to do with race in this country.

And still wasn't able to catch on. And I think the lesson for -- for me, frankly, who's been following this, and that we should take away, is that

the relationships, deep, deep, deep political relationships matter, often more than being right. And the rhetoric.

And so you see Joe Biden come out and surge because he's been around about 50 years now, and has a very storied career and relationships with

communities including African-American community, that some of the newer folks, who tout themselves on being outsiders and being new, haven't been

able to build those deep relationships. And while they may be right on policy, while they may have really great rhetoric, it just didn't really

connect with the people.

ASHER: What happened to all the diversity? I mean, there was history being made, just roughly around a year ago. This was one of the most diverse

Democratic fields in history. A lot of women, a lot of minorities. Now we're left with Bernie Sanders and Joe Biden. What happened?

MOODIE-MILLS: Yes. We're talking about a matter of what, four months maybe, since Kamala Harris had her big beautiful debut. And yes, we did have the

most diverse field in history.

And unfortunately, you know, it didn't matter. I think that the good news to me is that we're at a place where we are checking the boxes and we've

hit a lot of the firsts.

And we are in a climate right now where voters are just really afraid. They're afraid here, they're afraid because Donald Trump's policies have

been so egregious to the vast majority of Americans, as well as our friends around the world. People at this point are really focused on who can beat

him.

And I believe that a lot of the calculus that's been playing out in terms of the voters is that, look, we want to pick somebody that we think can go

head-to-head with Donald Trump. And unfortunately, that has defaulted to another old white guy. I don't necessarily agree with that attitude, but

the voters have spoken.

ASHER: Right. So it's sort of just like, listen, you know, we just want someone who can beat Donald Trump. It would be nice to have a woman, it

would be nice to have a minority, but we don't have time for that this time. Let's just get Donald Trump out of that -- that's the thinking.

MOODIE-MILLS: That's what seems to be happening --

ASHER: Not my words, but that's their thinking.

MOODIE-MILLS: -- yes.

ASHER: All right, Aisha, I have to leave it there. Thank you so much.

MOODIE-MILLS: Thank you, thank you.

ASHER: All right, countries in Europe, Asia and the Middle East are taking desperate measures to stop the deadly coronavirus from spreading out of

control. It is a daunting task, but the World Health Organization says aggressive containment efforts work.

Since the epidemic began in December, the virus has infected almost 94,000 people, past and present; more than 3,200 people have died. The worst of it

is in mainland China, but the virus is spreading from hotspots in Italy, South Korea and Iran. Christiane Amanpour shows us how the world is

responding.

[14:10:16]

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR (voice-over): A worldwide shortage of protective equipment is hampering the response to the

coronavirus outbreak, and leaving countries scrambling to prepare for public health emergencies. Rapidly depleting supplies of goggles, gloves

and masks have left doctors and nurses dangerously ill-equipped, according to a new warning from the WHO, the World Health Organization.

China announced a further drop in new cases, raising hopes that the outbreak is beginning to level off there, the hardest-hit country and where

it erupted.

But across Asia, the number of confirmed infections continues to grow. In South Korea, where a spike was recorded, authorities are battling the

contagion with technology. A GPS-based app is expected to monitor thousands of people under quarantine, and set off an alarm if they leave their

designated locations.

Iran, one of the worst-affected countries, will activate a 300,000-strong team of health care workers after reporting more than 90 deaths from the

virus, including an advisor to the supreme leader.

An outbreak of the virus in Iran's prisons prompted the temporary release of more than 54,000 inmates, including the British-Iranian Nazanin

Ratcliffe. And the country's parliament has been suspended until further notice after some 23 lawmakers tested positive for the coronavirus.

Across Europe, authorities are taking early precautions to stop person-to- person transmission, and several governments have banned large-scale gatherings and have closed some public places. Italy announced a

significant increase in its death toll, most of them living in the north of the country.

The disease and its knock-on effects have rattled markets all over the world, and a sudden interest rate cut by the U.S. Federal Reserve on

Tuesday was designed to stimulate the economy and could be followed by similar actions from other countries.

As for developing nations grappling with their public health response, the World Bank has now committed $12 billion in aid. Christiane Amanpour, CNN,

London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ASHER: Right, Italy is closing all schools and universities until March 15th as 107 people have died and more than 3,000 are infected with the

coronavirus. It now has the highest number of deaths outside of China. The government is weighing all of its options including a ban on kissing,

handshakes and public gatherings, and also closing football matches to fans.

Globally, cases originating from Italy are showing up in the U.S., Argentina and Ireland. CNN's Ben Wedeman is in Milan, which is the

epicenter of Italy's outbreak.

Ben, just walk us through how daily life in Italy, particularly Milan, is suffering as a result of this crisis.

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Zain, this business of closing schools nationwide certainly is going to have a huge

impact, given that many Italian mothers and fathers are working. So the question is, what are they going to do with all the children who are

staying at home.

Now, people are being encouraged, if they can, to work from home. But in this part of the country, where there's a lot of industry, that's going to

be particularly difficult. And this closure of schools nationwide is really unprecedented, the first time anything like this has happened in decades.

And so really, the -- sort of texture of daily life is slowly changing dramatically, as a result of the changes imposed by the coronavirus.

Now, what we heard from Giuseppe Conte, the Italian prime minister today, is that the Italian National Health Service, which is really one of the

best in the world, is increasingly overwhelmed by the number of cases that it's having to deal with.

And in fact, yesterday, we spoke to two doctors who work in the intensive care unit in one of the hospitals that has treated more than 500 people

afflicted with coronavirus. And they say that at times, they are -- as the prime minister said -- completely overwhelmed. They have minutes to make

life-or-death decisions with the people who are flooding the emergency wards.

And therefore, yes, sort of on a microeconomic level, people are having to change the way they are living. And on a macro level, this country is

really struggling with this outbreak that is now into its fourth week -- Zain.

[14:15:03]

ASHER: Right. Ben Wedeman, live for us there. Thank you so much.

Traveling in the coronavirus era: what cruise lines and airlines are doing to try to keep passengers safe, and their businesses afloat.

All right, it looks as though Bernie Sanders is speaking right now. Let's listen in.

I need to hear it, please.

SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (I-VT), DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: California, the largest state in the country, with more (ph) delegates. And I am always

grateful for the support that I receive, here in the state of Vermont.

Now, I haven't seen the latest delegate count but my guess is that after California's thrown into the hopper (ph), I think it's going to be pretty

close. We may be up by a few, Biden may be up by a few. But I think we go fully (ph) basically neck-and-neck.

And I very much look forward, you know, plane (ph) tomorrow, going out west. And campaigning and doing everything we can to win in Michigan and

Washington, Mississippi, North Dakota, Idaho and Missouri.

What this campaign, I think, is increasingly about is which side are you on? Our campaign is unprecedented because there has never been a campaign

in recent history that has taken on the entire corporate establishment -- and I'm talking about Wall Street, and I'm talking about the insurance

companies and the drug companies and the fossil fuel industry.

There has been never a campaign in recent history, which has taken on the entire political establishment. And that is an establishment which is

working frantically to try to defeat us. And there's not been a campaign, I think, that has been having to deal with the kind of venom we're seeing

from some in the corporate media.

This campaign has been compared to the coronavirus on television. We have been described as the Nazi army, marching across France. Et cetera, et

cetera.

As we come into the last several months of this campaign, what I hope very much is that what we can focus on is an issue-oriented campaign, which

deals with the concerns of the American people.

As some of you may recall, the last debate that took place really was, I think, insulting to the American people, it was a food fight, it was about

who could yell the loudest. That's not what the American people want. They want a serious debate on serious issues.

Joe Biden is somebody I have known for many years. I like Joe, I think he's a very decent human being. Joe and I have a very different voting record.

Joe and I have a very different vision for the future of this country. And Joe and I are running very different campaigns.

And my hope is that in the coming months, we will be able to debate and discuss the very significant differences that we have. Joe is running a

campaign, which is obviously heavily supported by the corporate establishment. At last count, he has received funding from at least 60

billionaires, 60 billionaires.

Our campaign has received more campaign contributions from more Americans, averaging $18.50, than any campaign in the history of our country at this

point in time.

So what does it mean when you have a campaign, which is funded very significantly by the wealthy and the powerful? Does anyone seriously

believe that a president backed by the corporate world is going to bring about the changes in this country that working families and the middle

class and lower-income people desperately need?

Well, we are going to the Midwest, I'll be in Michigan shortly. And as I think everybody knows, Michigan, Wisconsin, Indiana, Midwest in general --

Minnesota -- have been very hard-hit by disastrous trade agreements.

And Joe is going to have to explain to the people, the union-workers in the Midwest, why he supported disastrous trade agreements like NAFTA and PNTR

with China, which have cost this country millions of good-paying jobs. And in fact have resulted in a race to the bottom, where people are now earning

lower wages.

[14:20:07]

Millions of people today lost good-paying jobs in manufacturing and are now earning substantially less than they used to earn. Joe is going to have to

explain it to the American people, why he voted for a Wall Street bailout, something that I vigorously opposed.

Joe is going to have to explain to the American people, who are so tired of endless wars, which have cost us too many lives, destabilized many regions

around the world, have cost of trillions of dollars, while he was a leader in getting us involved in the war in Iraq at a time when half of our people

are living paycheck-to-paycheck and struggling to make ends meet.

Joe is going to have to explain to the American people why he voted for a disastrous bankruptcy bill, which benefited the credit card companies.

Joe is going to have to explain to people all over this country, why he was on the floor of the Senate, time and time again, talking about the need not

only to cut Social Security, but Medicare, Medicaid and veterans' programs. How does that happen? Why would a Democrat talk about cutting Social

Security, Medicare, Medicaid and veterans' programs?

Joe and I have a very different opinion with regarding health care. Joe essentially wants to maintain what I consider to be a dysfunctional and

cruel health care system, in which we are spending twice as much per person on health care as other people of any other country.

And yet we have 87 million Americans who are uninsured, underinsured; 30,000 people who are dying and 500,000 people who go bankrupt every single

year because of medically related bills. And on top of that, we pay by far -- not even close -- highest prices in the world for prescription drugs,

from an industry which is involved in collusion and price-fixing.

So the American people have got to understand that this is a conflict about ideas, about a record, about a vision for where we go forward. And I like

Joe, Joe is a decent guy and I do not want this campaign to degenerate into a Trump-type effort, where we're attacking each other, where it's personal

attacks. That is the last thing this country wants.

Joe has his ideas, his record, his vision for the future. I have mine, and I look forward to a serious debate on the serious issues facing this

country. And I would hope that the media would help us do that, allow that kind of debate to take place.

And by the way, I would offer Joe -- because I know the issue of health care, among many other issues -- is such an enormously important issue, I

would hope that instead of having a debate, where we have to spend 28 seconds trying to respond to a complicated issue, maybe we could spend an

hour, talking about why the United States is the only major country on earth not to guarantee health care to all people through something like a

Medicare for All, single-payer program.

Yes?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Senator, in 2016, you won Michigan. This has now become a swing state, Donald Trump flipped that state --

SANDERS: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: -- later on in the general election. Do you have to win that state, to prove again that you can beat him in a general?

SANDERS: Well, look, I have said -- I've been asked every day, do you have to win this state? Do you have to win that state? You know, I wish (ph) we

could win all of the states.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: But you won that over Hillary in 2016.

SANDERS: We won it by a few points. Look, we are going in there with the full expectation and the hope that we will win. Michigan is obviously an

enormously important state, a state I feel very comfortable in. We'll be going to Michigan within a few days.

And I think some of the issues that the people of Michigan are concerned about are trade. They were devastated, they were devastated by trade

agreements like NAFTA and PNTR with China, trade agreements which I vigorously opposed, which Joe Biden supported. And that is certainly one of

the issues that I will be talking about in terms of Michigan.

(CROSSTALK)

SANDERS: One second (ph), (INAUDIBLE).

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Senator, you talk about a mass movement, a broad coalition.

SANDERS: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Are you disappointed that that wasn't able to deliver more states last night? And what's your plan to expand?

SANDERS: Well, look, you know, of course I'm disappointed. I would like to win every state by a landslide. It's not going to happen.

What we are trying to do is unprecedented, all right? We are talking about a political revolution. We are talking about bringing millions and millions

of people today who have no voice, who have given up on the political process, who in many cases are working longer hours for lower wages, people

who don't have any health care, people who have not traditionally been involved in the political process.

[14:25:16]

You all know what politics has always been about in America. You've got a candidate from the establishment, going out to rich people's homes, raising

all kinds of money and then running for president. This is a different campaign. This is a campaign, which is trying to bring -- and it's not easy

-- people who have not been involved in the political process.

So you might want to ask me, maybe as a follow-up question, have we been as successful as I would hope in bringing young people in? And the answer is

no. We're making some progress. But historically, everybody knows that young people do not vote in the kind of numbers that older people vote in.

I think that will change in the general election. But I am -- to be honest with you, we have not done as well in bringing young people into the

process. It is not easy.

Yes?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Particularly African-American --

ASHER: Right, you've just been listening to Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders, speaking to his supporters after that rude

awakening on Super Tuesday that saw Joe Biden surge ahead of him in terms of delegate count. He just proceeded to outline the stark differences

between his campaign and Joe Biden's campaign, what he stands for and what his rival Joe Biden stands for.

I want to bring in CNN Global Economic Analyst, Rana Foroohar in New York. So, Rana, just walk us through this. Just what is the economic promise of

Bernie Sanders, and why did it not translate yesterday on Super Tuesday?

RANA FOROOHAR, CNN GLOBAL ECONOMIC ANALYST: Well, you know, I think he didn't get the sweep, perhaps, that he was expected to get. But I think it

did translate to a certain extent. You know, I think that even when you saw all of the rest of the candidates pretty much getting behind Joe Biden, and

getting endorsements, you know, having that incredible tailwind from South Carolina, Sanders still has a fair bit of support.

I mean, look, he won California. And I think his economic case is that there are two Americas, you know, to go back to that oft-used phrase. And

there's an America that enjoys high asset prices and you know, Wall Street, you know, the America represented by Bloomberg, he is now going to try and

sort of pull Joe Biden into that picture.

And he's going to use the Rust Belt -- just as he said -- to say, look, the '90s were not good for broad parts of America. Your part of the Democratic

Party, that more corporatist wing, was responsible for trade deals that turned globalization into a zero-sum game for certain parts of the country.

He's going to find those pain points. And I thought that the speech that he just gave was actually -- it was remarkably calm for Bernie Sanders, and he

made some good points about, look, we need to talk about the issues now.

It's going to be very interesting to see where Joe Biden positions himself in the economic debate. So far, it's been Trump saying, hey, the economy's

great, stock prices are at record levels. And Bernie and Elizabeth saying, you know, the average Joe hasn't gotten a raise since the early 1990s.

Where's Biden going to live in that debate? I think that's a very interesting question.

ASHER: We heard Bernie Sanders basically lay out the differences between his campaign and Joe Biden's. He said, you know, that I've taken on

corporate establishment, I've taken on Wall Street, fossil fuel industries, that sort of thing. You're right that he does seem to have very passionate

supporters, but is it really broad enough to get him the nomination?

FOROOHAR: That's the big question. I think another big question -- and he alluded to this -- is how many of the Millennials are really going to come

out and support him. You know, they don't vote in the same numbers as older people. I actually do think that that's going to change, as that group

becomes bigger and more powerful.

But in some ways, Joe Biden and Bernie represent the political square-off of our times. Even though they're two older white men, it's really Boomers

v. Millennials, and who's going to get which slice of the pie. Is it going to be old politics or new politics? And I think that you're going to hear a

lot about the tradeoffs around education, health care, trade.

This is really going to be a quite stark juxtaposition of what do we want America to look like in the future, more like a social democratic Europe,

or more like the 1990s?

ASHER: Yes, he did actually say that also, when the California delegates are completely counted, that him and Biden will probably be neck-and-neck.

We shall see.

FOROOHAR: Yes.

ASHER: Rana Foroohar for us there, thank you so much.

[14:29:38]

Still to come tonight, with cases of coronavirus spreading further outside China, there are conflicting ideas about just how deadly the novel

coronavirus actually is. We'll explain why experts are urging the public to take the numbers with a grain of salt.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:30:16]

ASHER: Welcome back. Iran's president says the coronavirus is touching nearly every province in the country. Authorities are scrambling to contain

one of the worst outbreaks in the world for a second week in a row. They are canceling the public Friday prayers in most places the country is

facing dire shortages of hospital beds and hand sanitizer.

And after weeks of allowing access to holy sites in the city of Qom, medical teams are testing people who leave. An official say they'll

quarantine anybody with symptoms. More than a dozen countries have cases connected to Iran and many to Qom in particular.

The World Health Organization says the novel coronavirus appears to be deadlier than the flu. They say the current mortality rate is somewhere

around 3.4 percent. It's important to know that number does not mean the virus has suddenly become more dangerous or more deadly, simply means

health officials are still finding out more about who has been infected. And that number can still change as we learn more about the virus.

CNN Senior Medical Correspondent, Elizabeth Cohen, is joining us from Atlanta.

So, Elizabeth, the WHO says that mortality rate is 3.4 percent. Anthony Fauci says it's a little bit lower. How can we actually know what the real

mortality rate actually is given that we're only really guesstimating --

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Right.

ASHER: -- the number of true infections.

COHEN: Right. Zain, the reality is, and it's understandable that people want to know what these numbers are. The reality is, is we're not sure. And

so the WHO has made estimates, you know, over time, but really, we don't know. And here's the reason. So many people just get mildly sick with this

virus. So someone gets like a stuffy nose, a runny nose, a bit of a sore throat, maybe a slight fever. They're not going to raise their hand and say

I have coronavirus because that happens to all of us at some point in time.

So we don't know what the true number of cases is, we know the number of deaths or at least, we think we know the number of deaths. So even knowing

the number of deaths can't get you a rate. You need to know the number of cases in order to have a true rate.

And a while this is something that, of course, should be pursued, it is not absolutely critical, whether it's one percent, two percent, three percent.

What we know is that it can kill. We know that it tends to kill typically people who are older and or people who have immune -- you know, underlying

problems such as heart disease or diabetes, and we need to protect those people. That's the most important thing to remember right now.

ASHER: So, how is the shortage of medical and protective equipment like gloves and that sort of thing? How is that affecting the response here?

COHEN: Right. So different areas are experiencing, you know, different supplies of these kinds of things. The issue here is that many of these

supplies are certainly the ingredients for many of these supplies has come from China. And for obvious reasons, there have been issues with

manufacturing there. So different areas experiencing different things.

[14:35:11]

I know here in the United States, we've been urged, you know, don't try to stock up on gloves. Don't try to stock up on masks because you might not

need them and other people do.

ASHER: Right. Elizabeth Cohen, live for us there. Thank you so much.

COHEN: Thanks.

ASHER: The hard hit travel and tourism industry is adopting new measures to try to stem the spread of the coronavirus. Cruise lines are expanding

screenings including forbidding people who have recently traveled through airports in China, South Korea, Iran, and other coronavirus hot zones from

boarding.

U.S. based airlines are offering to set up a website to collect passenger information to help health officials track potential coronavirus carriers.

The number of passengers flying, at all, has dropped dramatically. The trade association of the world's airlines as the air traffic growth in

January was the slowest in almost a decade.

British Airways, Lufthansa, United Delta, Singapore Airlines, and American all canceling flights or grounding planes. U.S. President Donald Trump made

a surprise appearance Wednesday at a briefing by Vice President Mike Pence with airline officials and laid out what travelers to and from the U.S.

will face.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: When people come in from certain areas, we're doing checks not only at the site of takeoff, but at

the site of landing. So when they land in our country, we'll also do this if the planes are leaving from certain destinations.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ASHER: CNN's Richard Quest has more now on the widening impact of the coronavirus outbreak on travel and tourism related companies across the

world.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RICHARD QUEST, CNN INTERNATIONAL HOST (voice-over): The travel industry has faced many shocks of different types before, but this is something

different.

SCOTT SOLOMBRINO, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, GLOBAL BUSINESS TRAVEL ASSOCIATION: The last time I've seen anything close to this was post-911.

QUEST: It's the range and scale of industry that's truly worrying. Think about it. It's more than just planes and trains, it's the hotels where we

stay. There are restaurants we dine at, the credit cards we use for expenses.

Giant companies like Nestle and Unilever have restricted almost all business travel, and massive trade shows like Mobile World Congress have

been canceled, along with even travel trade shows, such as ITB. It's creating a cascading threat to the travel industry, and the millions of

people who depend on it.

SOLOMBRINO: If there's nobody traveling on planes, there's nobody staying in hotels. If no one's staying in hotels, nobody's going to restaurants. No

one's using taxi cabs, Ubers, chauffeured cars or anything else. Everything kind of stops and that's the problem.

QUEST: This is what the impact of coronavirus looks like on Chinese airspace, busy routes disappeared altogether at the height of the outbreak.

As travelers stayed home.

Now major European and transatlantic routes are also being canceled because of falling demand. All told (INAUDIBLE) says it will cost airlines more

than $29 billion this year.

BRIAN SUMERS, SENIOR AVIATION BUSINESS EDITOR, SKIFT: It is not good. I'm talking to people who say that this is the worst crisis for airlines since

at least 2008. And maybe post-911. People right now don't want to travel.

QUEST: The cruise industry has been particularly hard hit. Last month, thousands of people are confined on board to cruise ships, amid fears of

spreading the virus. Coronavirus was detected on only one of the ships.

There are fresh restrictions as companies deny boarding to passengers deemed at risk. Cruise line ship prices have tumbled heavily. And some

countries are turning ships away from ports that rely on the constant flow of tourists.

QUEST (on-camera): So look at the effects on some of the major players across the areas, cruise lines, carnival straight away down. United

Airlines with all those Asian roots out of the West Coast. Also a big fall. And the largest hotel group in the world, Marriott, seeing some very

serious falls, down some 21 percent.

SOLOMBRINO: This is a new twist. It's the Black Swan that landed on your lawn. Nobody ever wants the Black Swan showing up, but we had one show up.

But, you know, the world is resilient. Humans are resilient. There's always a solution. It's just a matter of how much time is it going to take to find

the solution if necessary.

QUEST (voice-over): The travel and tourism industry is huge. It's estimated 10 percent of the global workforce is in some way connected to travel and

tourism. So with all its vulnerabilities, the industry is worried but well- practiced at dealing with crisis.

Richard Quest, CNN New York.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ASHER: And a reminder, you can join CNN's Anderson Cooper and Dr. Sanjay Gupta for our global town hall on facts and fears about the coronavirus.

That is Thursday night at 10 p.m. Eastern Friday. Eastern Friday morning at 11:00 a.m. if you are watching from Hong Kong.

[14:40:14]

All right. Still to come tonight, undeterred by terrible conditions, and even by tear gas. We'll look at what thousands of migrants fazed as they

try to move from Turkey into Greece and a string of new militant attacks and a U.S. drone strike. Is the just signed U.S.-Taliban deal already in

jeopardy? Details, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ASHER: The European Union is urging Turkey to cooperate to end the nine- year civil war in Syria. Turkey has been waging a military operation against Russian-backed Syrian forces in Syria's Northwestern Idlib Region.

The latest fighting has forced around a million Syrians from their homes. The E.U. also called on Turkey to stop the flow of illegal migrants into

Europe. Turkey recently went back on a deal and it's been waving migrants through onto Greece. But Greece is keeping them out, even tear gassing them

bad. Both sides are standing for Europe today reiterated it will keep its borders close to illegal migrants. And it's considering new measures to

help Greece.

Caught in the middle of all of this, more than 10,000 men, women, and children who are trying to cross over. For those at the border, frustration

is growing, rights groups are urging Greece and the whole of Europe to do more to help them.

CNN's Jomana Karadsheh looks at the conditions they are facing.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOMANA KARADSHEH, CNN INTERNATIONAL HOST: We're not allowed past this police barricade, but about a mile down this road, that's where thousands

of refugees and migrants have gathered over the past few days. They're squeezed against that closed Greek border.

Now, a short time ago, we did see some ambulances going in and out. We've heard from the Turkish government saying that several people were injured

and killed in an incident today where they accused Greek border forces of opening fire on the refugees and migrants accusing them of using live

ammunition. Now, the Greek side, the Greek government has denied it. They say they categorically deny this and they call it fabricated and fake news.

But we didn't only hear this from the Turkish government. We've spoken to a number of eyewitnesses, refugees inside an Afghan refugee and also a Syrian

who describe this situation where they say that people completely fed up with the conditions. There are people who have been there for days with no

running water, with no toilets, barely any food, they say, for these people in their thousands who are waiting by the border.

They say they had enough and that they move towards the Greek fence earlier in the day and that they were protesting peacefully. They claim and they

accuse the Greek border forces of opening fire of using tear gas, live ammunition against the protesters and the refugees.

[14:45:14]

Now, these reports of violence, we've also heard this in the past few days from the Turkish Government. They also say that number of people were

killed. All this being denied by Greece.

But this has not deterred the thousands of people who have gathered here, waiting to get across. We've met people from all over the world who are

heading to this border, who are coming here. We've met people from Afghanistan, from Pakistan, Yemen, Somalia, Palestinian, from Gaza, even.

So many people and some Syrian families who say that they know there are risks. They understand the risks and the challenges here.

But they say that this is the first time in four years that the Turkish Government has opened its borders for them. And they know that they might

be possibly being used as leverage by the Turkish government to get what it wants to get from the European Union, but they say they do not care. This

is an opportunity and they're not going to waste it right now, they're ready to risk everything for this opportunity to get to Europe.

Jomana Karadsheh, CNN on Turkey's border with Greece.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ASHER: Just days after the U.S. and the Afghan-Taliban signs an agreement, the U.S. has carried out a drone strike on Taliban fighters. A U.S. forces

spokesperson says the strike was in Helmand Province and was defensive in nature. It says the targets were attacking an Afghan military checkpoint.

A U.S. coalition official tells CNN the coalition has talked with Taliban since Wednesday's drone strike to stress that the militant group needs to

control its fighters.

And this comes amid renewed attacks by Taliban fighters in more than a dozen Afghan provinces despite that agreement reached Saturday with the

U.S.

CNN's International Diplomatic Editor, Nic Robertson, joins us live now. So Nic, these U.S. strikes were in retaliation because the Taliban forces

attacked these Afghan forces. What more do we know at this point?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Well, it seems to have gone quiet. We're not hearing reports of more strikes, it does -- the ball

does sort of seem to be in the Taliban court. If we just take a couple of steps back, that agreement over the weekend between the United States and

the Taliban, didn't involve the Afghan government, but the Afghan government was obligated in that deal to hand over $5,000 or up to 5,000

Taliban prisoners, so that they -- that the Afghan government and its representatives could begin intra-Afghan talks with the Taliban.

The Taliban had an expectation that they will get these 5,000 prisoners back, that wasn't forthcoming. The Afghan government said that it was too

quick for it to hand back all these prisoners. And that's when it seems that some elements of the Taliban, from our understanding, from what I've

been told, there were internal disagreements within the Taliban and they decided some elements decided to go on the offensive.

But we also know that the U.S. government had told Afghan officials, some of whom I've spoken to a couple of weeks ago, were given hard guarantees by

the United States that if the Taliban reneged on the deal, then the United States will bring lethal firepower to bear on the Taliban.

And I've spoken with a senior Afghan official today and says, that's what's happened if the Taliban here, he says, were testing the resolve of the

United States or the connectivity between the Afghan government and the United States, then they've learned there are no gaps there, that the U.S.

will back up the Afghan government.

So where does that leave everything? It leaves it in a position where the reduction in violence has not gone completely. It's certainly been dented

and confidence in it will have been dented.

But I think one important takeaway I took away from the weekend, from the signing when I met with one of the Afghan negotiating team was he said,

look, that reduction in violence lasted seven days. There were virtually no attacks going on. That shows that the Taliban were in control -- in control

of all their elements, which if you stand where we are today means the Taliban were in control of those attacks that they've now just received a

very clear message from the United States they can't partake in, they've had that verbal message now.

So next move to the Taliban, do they escalate or do they wait to see if some more diplomacy can work?

ASHER: I want to touch on something that you mentioned at the top Iran says. So if the Afghan government doesn't release any more Taliban

prisoners, what happens next in terms of talks on the Afghan side?

ROBERTSON: There are no talks. I mean, the Taliban have been absolutely categorical, they wouldn't even get in a room where the Afghan government,

sort of, six-member ice breaking negotiation team to sort of get a conversation going before you got to these 10th of March expected or

planned in the agreement, at least, beginning of the intra-Afghan talks.

So that's just -- from the Taliban perspective, that is just not going to happen. What the United States putting that agreement was up to 5,000

Taliban prisoners to be released by the Afghan government.

[14:50:08]

I think what sort of experts and advisors sitting on the sidelines believe is that over the period of March into April, maybe, the Afghan government

may go into a phased release of some of the Taliban prisoners that the Taliban may accept that that's the way forward.

But, of course, when you have an escalation of spike in violence so quickly, after the deal is signed, that really erodes confidence on the

part of the Afghan government and the Taliban are now stunned because they've just received airstrikes from the United States, who they've just

sat down and signed an agreement with.

So, you know, I think there's going to be a cooling off period. It doesn't mean this is all dead, but it's just not moving ahead quickly, which I

think was everyone's expectation from the beginning, Zain.

ASHER: All right. Nic Robertson live for us there. Thank you so much.

Still to come tonight, sporting events around the world are being canceled because of the coronavirus. Will the 2020 Tokyo Olympics be next?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ASHER: All right. And this just into CNN. California is reporting its first coronavirus death. California is reporting its very first coronavirus

death, making it the 11th death in the United States, so far.

Washington State has reported 10 deaths from the virus, but California is now reporting its first.

OK. So sport events across the world on taking extra precaution as the coronavirus spreads in China. The Formula One Grand Prix has been

postponed. Ireland is considering canceling the Six Nations match against Italy. And now, the 2020 Tokyo Olympics could be postponed until later on

in the International Olympic Committee says there are no current plans to postpone or cancel, but volunteer training has already been delayed.

Let's bring in CNN's World Sports, Patrick Snell, he's joining us from Atlanta.

So, Patrick, how long does the IOC actually have to decide, whether or not, they're going to cancel or postpone the Olympics at this point?

PATRICK SNELL, CNN INTERNATIONAL SPORTS ANCHOR: Well, that's a good great question, and that's a gray area right now. We did hear from a senior IOC

member, Dick Pound, on just very, very much to that topic, Zain, that there could be that two months out scenario window.

But the fact is, as of right now, the IOC is saying that the games are going ahead as planned as of this day.

Now, let me give you a bit of backstory to all this, because early in the week, we heard from Japan's Olympic minister, fueling speculation about the

game, saying that there might just be the possibility of a postponement until later on in the year.

So it's no wonder then that that was a hot button issue when the president of the International Olympic Committee, Thomas Bach, fielded reporter's

questions on Wednesday in Laos and Switzerland. His message though, I feel, one of defiance. Take a listen to what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

THOMAS BACH, PRESIDENT, INTERNATIONAL OLYMPIC COMMITTEE: I cannot tell you that today in the meeting of the executive board, neither the word

cancellation or the word postponement was even mentioned.

I can assure you I will not get tired to repeat the statement I made. The IOC is fully committed and we are not participating in any kind of

speculation.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SNELL: That's the messages right now, Zain. The game is set to start further scheduled July the 24th this year.

ASHER: And, Patrick, just walk us through how sporting events around the world are being disrupted because of the coronavirus from the NCAA

tournament here in the United States to football matches in Europe that are being held behind closed doors.

[14:55:08]

SNELL: Yes, right, most notably in Italy. Let's talk big picture though. Certainly for me, among the biggest sporting events, so far, to been

impacted, we're going to actually put up a little format for -- you can see, most notably, the Chinese Grand Prix in Shanghai, that has been

postponed and not yet rescheduled. Chinese Super League and football as well.

But I want to mention Serie A, because over the last two weekends, in the top flight of Italian football, we've had a total of 10 Serie A fixtures

postponed. That really is one big impact.

In the world of rugby, the Six Nations, the game between Ireland and Italy that was scheduled for this coming weekend in Dublin, that one has been

postponed. It's just a question of waiting and watching to see what happens.

And I do want to just let our viewers know that we are following something very closely on this day regarding Serie A and the fact that a meeting

that's been going on right through Wednesday over the potential to potentially player months' worth of Serie A fixtures behind closed doors.

We are following that one very closely, indeed, to see exactly how that transpires, Zain.

ASHER: All right. Patrick Snell live for us there, thank you so much.

The film industry is also feeling the impacts of the coronavirus. Filmmakers of the newest James Bond movie have announced a seven-month

delay in the film's release. The film, "No Time to Die" was scheduled for release next month. And now, it's been pushed back for November premiere.

The announcement did not directly mentioned the coronavirus, but said it was after an evaluation of the global theatrical marketplace.

One unexpected side effect of the coronavirus outbreak air pollution over China has dropped significantly. Take a look at these images from NASA and

the European Space Agency. On the left, you can see the yellow brown haze of pollution in January. On the right, showing February. It is basically

almost gone, most notably over Wuhan where the outbreak began.

Air Pollution does typically fall around the Lunar New Year break. You can see the before, during, and after images in these charts moving from left

to right. On the top, you see the 2019 levels, compare that to the bottom row. And you'll actually see this year the pollution has stayed low, even

after the holidays.

Scientists say that's because of China's efforts to contain the virus. Cities are, of course, on lockdown, cars off the road, manufacturing

factories have grounded to a halt.

All right. Thank you so much for watching tonight. I'm Zain Asher. Stay with CNN. "QUEST MEANS BUSINESS" is up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

END