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CNN NEWSROOM
Westerdam Cruise Ship Not Allowed To Dock In Thailand; Angela Merkel's Succession Plan Thrown Into Chaos; Sources: Trump Wants No Talks With Kim Before Election; Coronavirus Death Toll Passes 1,000; Democratic Race Intensifies Ahead of New Hampshire Primary; AG Barr Confirms DOJ Is Vetting Giuliani Information from Ukraine. Aired 2-3a ET
Aired February 11, 2020 - 02:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): How China and other countries are trying to control the outbreak.
High stakes in Tuesday's election for the U.S. Democratic presidential nominee, after the mess in Iowa, it's New Hampshire's turn. Officials there under pressure to report results quickly and accurately.
Plus the U.S. president reportedly tells aides he does not want another summit with the North Korean leader anytime soon. We will talk to an expert about the implications.
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CHURCH: China has just suffered its deadliest day so far in the Wuhan coronavirus outbreak. More than 100 deaths were reported on Monday alone, pushing the death toll past 1,000 worldwide. Some 43,000 infections have been reported, the vast majority in Mainland China.
Still, Beijing insists it can stamp out the virus. Noting more than 2,000 in Hubei province have been treated and discharged. On Monday president Xi Jinping, who has been absent during this outbreak, made a rare appearance at a Beijing hospital, trying to reassure the public, that China will pull through.
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XI JINPING, PRESIDENT OF CHINA (through translator): We will fight with great confidence, we will fight for people. We must build confidence, we will absolutely win.
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CHURCH: CNN's Steven Jiang joins me from Beijing with more on all this. Good to see you Steven, so how successful was President Xi Jinping on
this, to say that his country has everything under control and why is he now only emerging to do that?
STEVEN JIANG, CNN SENIOR PRODUCER, BEIJING BUREAU: Rosemary, the timing of this reemergence is interesting. But in the Chinese culture there is this tradition, probably going back to the days of the emperor: when something goes horribly wrong, the blame tends to lie with local authorities, where the central leadership is considered wise and good and maybe not aware of what's going on.
So there are some of that as Mr. Xi reappears, we heard of the sacking of two officials in Hubei province, for their role in the failed containment of this in their province. But the pictures that we have seen of Mr. Xi Jinping in a sign of the sign of times, wearing a surgical mask, saying to residents, let's not shake hands because of what's been going on.
And, of course, visiting medical facilities and video conferencing with medical workers from the front line. All of this meant to address the question of his role in the government's response to this outbreak and power dynamic within the ruling Communist Party.
By reassuring the public both on the health and economic fronts and sounding confident in terms of the government's ability to fight and win this war on this virus, all this is reinforcing this notion that this most powerful leader in China in decades is firmly in control of the government's response to this outbreak and the people's leader, as he has been called, very much cares about the people.
But the question remains though, until he shows up in Wuhan, which is 1,000 kilometers away from Beijing, there are still going to be a lot of skeptics when it comes to what the situation really is at the epicenter of this outbreak -- Rosemary.
CHURCH: He is not likely ever to travel to Wuhan, given the situation.
Are there any signs that China does, indeed, have this outbreak under control?
JIANG: Well, that is very much a pressing question right now given the numbers you have just mentioned, at the epicenter right now, local officials say their priority is to get all of these suspected cases tested by the end of today.
The challenge up to now was the lack of testing kits and hospital beds and local officials say they are improving on both fronts, especially in terms of capacity to take in more patients. We have mentioned the brand-new hospitals they have built on the outskirts of Wuhan.
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JIANG: But they have also been increasingly converting existing spaces, indoor stadiums and halls, into makeshift hospitals, able to take in more patients. It's not very promising on the ground because now they have further
tightened their lockdown in the city, basically sealing off all the residential compounds, limiting the access and exits of residents in addition to what they already have to endure. That is on top of the mandatory daily temperature check for all 9 million residents who are still in Wuhan -- Rosemary.
CHURCH: Many thanks, Steven Jiang with that live report from Beijing, appreciate it.
The number of infections on the Diamond Princess cruise ship has doubled, in a single day to 135. But Japanese authorities say that it would be too difficult to test all 3,700 people on board that ship.
The Diamond Princess is leaving port in Yokohama, Japan, for what the captain calls "normal sea operations." One of the passengers quarantined on the ship for the last week explained how she and her family are passing the time.
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AUN NA TAN, CRUISE SHIP PASSENGER: We've been doing a bit of strengthening (ph) and exercise in the room, just to make sure that we're (INAUDIBLE) healthy with -- I have been checking in to a lot of family and friends, a lot of messages coming in that they're keeping me preoccupied, just treading (ph) with them.
We've got reading, we've got movies to watch. The kids are doing a lot of social media stuff with friends, (INAUDIBLE) friends and surfing the Internet with the (INAUDIBLE) devices.
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CHURCH: And CNN's Matt Rivers live with us in Yokohama.
So, Matt, how are authorities explaining the doubling of infections on the cruise ship and what is happening now with the ship leaving port?
What is the logic behind that move?
MATT RIVERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Rosemary, in terms of the number of cases going up, what authorities are saying is that they have no way to know how many people ultimately are infected on board the ship. We haven't had any new cases reported yet today, although we haven't heard from government officials yet.
But there is no way to tell day-to-day how many new cases are going to be declared, what the government does say is that any new cases that will be declared, these people contracted the virus before government officials say the quarantine began.
They do not believe that any of the cases, even those 65 people yesterday additionally, were reported to have this virus, they do not believe anything contracted the virus after the quarantine. They believe the quarantine is working. That is their line and they're sticking to it. As for these normal sea operations, we saw this a couple days ago as
well, the ship has to go out, to do normal maintenance functions, as they say, including the production of fresh water. They take about 24 hours to go out and then come back. So we are going to see that later today.
It has been taking a little while though, they were supposed to leave hours ago but they are still taking some of the people who are infected off of the ship.
As far as the tests that you mentioned, it is going to be an uphill battle to test all the people on board. It's one of the things I spoke to about, with one of Japan's vice ministers of health, I spoke to him yesterday evening. This is what he had to say.
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GAKU HASHIMOTO, VICE MINISTER OF HEALTH, LABOR AND WELFARE, JAPAN (through translator): We understand everyone is anxious. Spending 14 days in small spaces is very difficult.
So we need to take care of people, especially those with pre-existing conditions and the elderly. We're doing our best to be ready and test those who are higher risk first and then bring them to special facilities should they test positive.
RIVERS: How challenging has been has this been for your government to try and deal with a problem that is not of your making?
HASHIMOTO: This ship has many nationalities on board. So it's a problem involving many countries. They're all asking for our help, so we have to take responsibility for this.
Our primary goal is to prevent a pandemic in our own country but at the same time, we want everyone on board to get home safely, so Japan can do this alone. We need lots of cooperation from other countries to make this work.
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RIVERS: The United States has sent a representative from its Centers for Disease Control here to help monitor the situation. But we are expecting the number of cases on board to go up, it's a two week gestation period and even if they contracted the virus before the quarantine period, officials are saying they do expect more cases to be reported from the ship.
It's just a matter of how many people will be declared positive.
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RIVERS: But at this point no plans to end this quarantine later than February 19th.
CHURCH: Very frustrating for so many on board. Matt Rivers, bringing us the very latest from Yokohama, many thanks. Pharmaceutical companies are now racing to develop a vaccine for the
deadly virus. GlaxoSmithKline is one of the companies leading that charge. Its chief medical officer tells CNN he thinks a vaccine is still 12 to 18 months away and that is being optimistic.
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THOMAS BREUER, GLAXOSMITHKLINE VACCINES: Normal vaccine development it takes 8-10 years, available tests happened over the last few years, the time period between starting the development, having a candidate in hand, has dramatically been reduced.
So we can have vaccine candidates in hand within three months and two companies have already announced they have vaccine candidate.
But what takes longer is testing the vaccine on humans, because we have to make absolutely sure that the vaccine, A, creates an appropriate immune response and is safe. And that takes time. And therefore under optimistic circumstances, I would guesstimate, it will take between 12 to 18 months before we have a vaccine ready for use.
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CHURCH: Researchers in France are part of that global push to develop a vaccine. CNN's Jim Bittermann takes a look at some of their efforts.
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JIM BITTERMANN, CNN SR. INTL. CORRESPONDENT: As infections and death tolls mount from the coronavirus, the pressure is growing on the scientific community to come up with answers to help fight the disease.
Some of the most important laboratories in the world are involved in the coronavirus crisis, including here in Paris at the Institut Pasteur, named for Louis Pasteur, the 19th century doctor, whose name is synonymous with the development of vaccines and treatments for diseases.
And if finding a new vaccine against the virus is the ultimate goal, it could be months or even years away since it will require animal and human testing before it can be deployed.
What is more urgent for the researchers here and elsewhere is developing tests for coronavirus antibodies, which provide early detection of infection, since patients can be contagious and spreading the virus without showing any symptoms or sickness.
DR. ARNAUD FONTANET, GLOBAL HEALTH EPIDEMIOLOGIST: This is actually quite crucial to know how virulent this new virus is.
What is the true rate of mortality associated with the virus?
It is also essential to understand the risk of contamination from people who would be asymptomatic. BITTERMANN (voice-over): A second priority for researchers is finding
a treatment that can slow or stop coronavirus infections from the existing treatments, repurposing other drugs that have been already tested and approved for other diseases if they can be effective against the coronavirus.
MANUEL ROSA-CALATRAVA, VIRPATH LABORATORY (through translator): Our objective is to evaluate and hopefully validate these repurposed medicines very quickly, in a matter of a month or a month and a half, to propose them as therapeutic solutions for patients.
FONTANET: In the morning when I wake up, first thing I do is to go on Twitter. On Twitter I'm following the top biologists, top mathematical (INAUDIBLE) and biogeneticists.
BITTERMANN: What scientists say have worked far better with the coronavirus outbreak than in previous pandemics is the amount of sharing that's going on. Since early in January when the Chinese were able to put online the genetic code of the virus, scientists around the world have been able to conduct their own research.
But despite the collective efforts of some of the top infectious disease experts in China, Australia, Great Britain, France and the United States, there is as of yet, no antiviral treatment against the coronavirus and no vaccine to prevent it -- Jim Bittermann, CNN, Paris.
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CHURCH: We'll take a short break here. Still to come, New Hampshire voters are casting their ballots in the first U.S. presidential primary of 2020. Three small towns kicked off the voting at midnight Tuesday and we will have those results for you -- that's next.
Meanwhile Donald Trump is still on the attack, his latest claims against Democrats, Republicans and impeachment witnesses -- coming up.
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CHURCH: In the United States, the New Hampshire primary kicked off at the stroke of midnight on Tuesday, with the residents of three tiny towns casting the first ballots. Former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg unexpectedly got the most votes in the most famous of the three towns, Dixville Notch.
He is not even officially on the ballot in the state. But overall, senator Amy Klobuchar led the early voting, with eight votes, followed by senators Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren with four votes each.
The rest of New Hampshire will be voting in the coming hours. The latest poll shows Bernie Sanders in the lead, both locally and nationwide, with 29 percent support in the CNN/University of New Hampshire tracking poll and 25 percent in a new national poll from Quinnipiac University.
CNN's Brian Todd was in New Hampshire earlier to take a look at their voting process.
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BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Tonight, increased pressure on New Hampshire officials to get tomorrow's primary results out quickly and fully, after Iowa's disastrous caucuses.
TOM TILLOTSON, TOWN MODERATOR, DIXVILLE NOTCH, NEW HAMPSHIRE: Well, I think the whole state is under a sort of a microscope that they haven't been before because of Iowa.
TODD: Tom Tillotson, moderator of tiny Dixville Notch since 2004, says towns like his have been delivering fast, reliable results for decades.
TILLOTSON: We'll have people counting the ballots by hand and it'll be a correct count and it'll be available immediately.
TODD: Authorities like Tillotson tell us they don't have the same pitfalls Iowa did. They're not using an app to collect results. There's no change in procedure from previous elections. And it will be run by election officials, not by state parties.
RAY BUCKLEY, CHAIRMAN, NEW HAMPSHIRE, DEMOCRATIC PARTY: Everything's we've done exactly the same as if you're running for town election office or state or federal office.
TODD: New Hampshire uses all paper ballots counted by scanner or by hand.
HOWARD ALTSCHILLER, GENERAL MANAGER/EXECUTIVE EDITOR, SEACOAST MEDIA GROUP: People are going to go into a private voting booth. They're going to take out a pencil and they're going to fill in the dot or a checkmark next to their favorite candidate.
The paper ballot is then fed into an AccuView scanner. And within minutes of the polls closing, I would say 15 minutes, we're going to get a printout. It looks like a grocery store receipt printout of the tally.
TODD: Each location will then publicly read the results aloud.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We had 4,056 votes.
TODD: Any mix up or delay not only jeopardizes a state status of voting first, but can rob the winner of momentum and victory and undermine confidence in the primary process.
A.B. STODDARD, REAL CLEAR POLITICS: A scrub in New Hampshire would be cataclysmic for the Democratic Party and would rob the victor and the number two and the number three finishers of their bragging rights. They would be conspiracy theories about sabotage.
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STODDARD: It would be an incredible blow to the Democratic Party.
TODD: Now, New Hampshire's voting process could still be tested in a couple of different ways. Tomorrow, there are new voting residency requirements for college students and others that are going to be implemented for the first time.
And there are questions as to whether the cyber defenses for voter registration files are going to be adequately protecting those files -- Brian Todd, CNN, Dixville Notch, New Hampshire.
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CHURCH: Joining me now from Tokyo, Paul Sracic is a member of the political science department at Youngstown State University in Ohio.
Good to have you with us.
PAUL SRACIC, YOUNGSTOWN STATE UNIVERSITY: Thank you for having me.
CHURCH: The New Hampshire primary is now underway and, even though he is not on the ballot, former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg won the town of Dixville Notch, even though it's a very small population.
And a new Quinnipiac University national poll Monday showed Bloomberg's support rising 7 percentage points, catapulting him to third place in the Democratic lineup.
What might this signal?
Is he the Democrats' new hope here?
SRACIC: He seems to be the flavor of the week. We are going to have to see what happens at the end of New Hampshire. But as we move to Super Tuesday, he is taking a tack that has been tried before, most recently by Rudy Giuliani, staying out of the early primaries and then deciding to come in later.
Now the advantage that Mr. Bloomberg has, that no candidate has ever had, is an unlimited amount of money to spend on his own behalf.
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CHURCH: I do want to look at that because Bloomberg has already spent over $250 million on TV and radio ads, about $50 million on digital. And here's a taste of one of these ads, let's just bring this up.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): Leadership and action, Mayor Bloomberg and President Obama worked together in the fight for gun safety laws, to improve education and to develop innovative ways to help teens gain the skills needed to find good jobs. BARACK OBAMA, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: At a time when
Washington is divided in old ideological battles, he shows us what can be achieved when we bring people together to seek a pragmatic solution.
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CHURCH: So guess who's dominating that ad?
Barack Obama center stage.
Do you think the former president is giving Bloomberg his stamp of approval here?
SRACIC: No, not yet. But you see all the candidates, you see Joe Biden do this all the time, trying to wrap themselves around the person who is still the most popular Democrat in the country. And that is Barack Obama.
Obama has not formally endorsed, we don't know when or if he will. But it is a tremendous advantage for any candidate to secure that endorsement. So they are all trying to show, at least Biden and now Bloomberg, that they're close.
But Bloomberg has the problem of being a former Republican. So he needs to win the votes now of Democrats. So he needs to reassure Democrats that he really is one of them. And, of course, showing his relationship with Barack Obama is part of that.
CHURCH: Right and, of course, in that same Quinnipiac national poll, that we mentioned just a moment ago, Bernie Sanders is in first place with 25 percent support among Democrats and Democrat-leaning independent voters.
Joe Biden is at 17 percent and Sanders is also leading in New Hampshire polls but Democratic strategist James Carville had this to say about that on MSNBC.
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JAMES CARVILLE, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Some people in this country want a revolution. They want disruption. I don't know what, you know, they scream at people. They go and bully people. And I don't know how you want to lecture that, 78 years old, standing up and screaming on a microphone about the revolution.
But you've got to give people an alternative. You've got to give people an alternative.
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CHURCH: Carville says he is scared to death and warns, if Bernie Sanders wins the Democratic presidential nomination, that will hand victory to Donald Trump.
Do you agree with that? SRACIC: It is going to be a problem. The real problem for Sanders is the label, Democratic socialist. Young people don't quite perceive this. But if you are over 50, if you remember the Cold War, being a socialist was sort of close to being a Communist. It was un-American. It was essentially siding with the enemy.
And older voters remember and they're going to have a hard time embracing a candidate who embraces that label. Also Trump has already mentioned it, if Sanders is the candidate, you're going to see commercials showing Bernie Sanders drinking vodka in Moscow during his honeymoon and praising the Soviet system.
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SRACIC: And that is going to be a problem and I think that is what Carville is worried about.
CHURCH: We'll be watching to see the results of the New Hampshire primary very closely. Paul Sracic, thank you so much for joining us and sharing your analysis with us.
SRACIC: Thank you.
CHURCH: Well, impeachment may be in the rearview mirror but the drama of Donald Trump in Ukraine is not. The U.S. House Judiciary Committee Jerry Nadler is demanding answers from the Justice Department, looking into what Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani found in Ukraine. CNN's Boris Sanchez has our report.
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BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Tonight, attorney general William Barr confirming that the Justice Department is receiving information from the president's attorney, Rudy Giuliani on the ongoing operation to dig up dirt on Joe and Hunter Biden's dealings in Ukraine.
WILLIAM BARR, U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL: And the DOJ has the obligation to have an open door to anybody who wishes to provide us information that they think is relevant.
SANCHEZ (voice-over): Barr explaining there is a process to try to verify that information.
BARR: We have to be very careful with respect to any information coming from Ukraine.
SANCHEZ (voice-over): William Barr responding to senator Lindsey Graham, who's now distancing himself from Giuliani's claims, saying it may just be Russian propaganda.
SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R-SC): All I can tell Rudy and anybody else, if you have some information connected to the Ukraine against anybody, go to the Intel Committee, not me.
Any documents coming out of the Ukraine against any American, Republican or Democrat, need to be looked at by the intelligence services who have expertise. I don't, because Russia is playing us all like a fiddle.
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SANCHEZ (voice-over): Graham is also backing Trump's controversial decision to fire two key witnesses in his impeachment trial, Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman and U.S. ambassador to the E.U. Gordon Sondland, insinuating they may be members of the deep space, a term co-opted by Trump to describe those in and out of government who he deems disloyal.
GRAHAM: We won't live in a world where the DOJ, the CIA and the FBI can cut corners and go after Trump and nobody gives a damn.
SANCHEZ (voice-over): Both Sondland and Vindman were quietly planning to leave the administration on their own but sources tell CNN that Trump wanted their exits to be anything but quiet and publicly fired them Friday while also dismissing Vindman's brother.
That as advisers and several GOP senators warned the president of the optics of firing witnesses.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. Romney, guilty.
SANCHEZ (voice-over): Trump also ramping up criticism of those who turned on him in the impeachment trial.
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TRUMP: How is Mitt Romney?
QUESTION: I have not talked to him.
TRUMP: You keep him. We don't want him.
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SANCHEZ: And the president tweeting angrily at Democratic senator Joe Manchin multiple times and at one point saying, quote, "They are really mad at senator Joe munchkin in West Virginia," Manchin telling CNN the criticism does not faze him.
SEN. JOE MANCHIN (D-WV): I don't know where he got the munchkin, I think I am a little bit bigger than he is, taller. But anyone I guess it's not surprising. I won't call him names. I've heard the names of people who have responded back. I have respect for the president. I want my president to do well.
SANCHEZ: Now there are a growing number of the president's allies who have urged him to move away from these attacks. One of them, senator John Cornyn of Texas telling CNN, quote, "We've got other things we need to do."
He says he hopes the president will move on from this. Of course judging from the president repeated attacks on not only lawmakers but officials he feels betrayed him on the impeachment saga, it is highly unlikely that he will move on -- Boris Sanchez, CNN at the White House.
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CHURCH: We'll take a break. Still to come, a twist in German politics, as Angela Merkel's succession plan falls apart. We'll look at why the woman widely seen as the chancellor's heir apparent is stepping aside.
Plus the economic toll from the coronavirus outbreak, the two industries bearing the brunt of the damage. That's next on CNN NEWSROOM.
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ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Welcome back to CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Rosemary Church. I want to check the headlines for you this hour. Voters in three tiny towns cast the first ballots the New Hampshire Democratic presidential primary at midnight Tuesday. And although only a handful of people live in these towns, overall, Senator Amy Klobuchar got eight votes followed by Senator Bernie Sanders with four votes, former Vice President Joe Biden and South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg got two votes each.
Four members of the Chinese military are facing charges in the U.S. for one of the largest cyber-attacks on record. They're accused of hacking the Equifax credit agency in 2017, Stealing trade secrets and the personal data of nearly 150 million Americans. The four men accused currently being sought by the FBI.
The worldwide death toll from the Wuhan coronavirus has now topped 1,000. China reported more than 100 deaths on Monday alone, making it the deadliest day since the outbreak began. Meantime, officials say they've treated and discharged more than 2,000 patients in Hubei province, the epicenter of the outbreak.
Well, Thailand is now the latest country to prevent the Westerdam cruise ship from docking at its ports even though the vessel has no confirmed cases of the coronavirus. Right now, the Westerdam is sailing off the coast of Vietnam on its way to Thailand. A Thai official says it has requested to dock near Bangkok but has not received permission from health authorities.
Last week, the ship was also turned away by Japan, the Philippines, and Taiwan. Thailand's public health minister explained his country's decision saying and I'm quoting here, "We are not going to be an alternative port. They can't just do an immediate docking."
Well, Steve Murth is a passenger on the Westerdam and he joins me now on the phone. Thank you so much for talking with us.
STEVE MURTH, PASSENGER, WESTERDAM CRUISE SHIP: Thank you for having me, Rosemary. CHURCH: So, I do want to ask you, what was your reaction when you heard that Thailand was refusing permission for your cruise ship to dock?
MURTH: Well, it's interesting. My first thought is confusion. The senior management of the ship has not yet confirmed that that's no longer an option. So I think there's some hope that the upper end to the organization that they're still going to be able to pull that off. We talked about it. I happened to catch somebody earlier who was in a position to know, and they were having a meeting this morning at around 11:00.
And at the end of the day, the ship came out or the captain rather came out very shortly thereafter and said, yes, we understand there's some confusion here. We'll get back to you but they've not yet told people to not continue to make reservations for flights out of Thailand.
So you know, I'm not yet -- I guess (AUDIO GAP). To be honest, I thought that -- it seemed to be too good to be true when they first said OK, we're going to Thailand even though it took a few days to get there as for -- as far as getting that approved, so you know at first it was relief, then confusion (AUDIO GAP) number of emotion, certainly.
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CHURCH: Yes, I mean, I totally understand that. Of course, the problem is there's so much fear and so little known about the Wuhan coronavirus that there's probably a little overreaction from a number of countries. But certainly, the information we're getting is that Thailand has made this decision that it does not want your cruise ship to dock. So what happens now? Do you know -- I mean, there seems to be a reluctance to pass this information on to you and all the other passengers.
MURTH: There is. And I've gotten information from several sources off ship as well as on ship. And let me say this, by the way. This cruise line is outstanding. It's a very great -- it's a great cruise, the food's great, the crew is great. But that is perhaps one thing is that they don't give us a lot of transparent information as they get it. They've been very judicious and waiting until the very last minute to give us. Once they get something confirmed, then we'll get it to us. But they're not telling us what they're contemplating or what they're strategizing on.
If I had to guess right now, possibly Malaysia may be an option. I'm not an expert. I can't tell you if they have docks or piers that are capable of taking a large vessel like this. There may be other options. I'm sure they're looking at other options. That's one of the reasons probably they're not getting back to us right now. They'd like to be able to say, OK, we're not going to Thailand, but we're going to go to country X or whatever the case may be.
The problem is geographically our situation is -- I think you may have seen our map. We're getting to a point -- we're getting pretty far away. You know, if Malaysia doesn't take us then, we're going to be on this ship another week, Rosemary, probably trying to find someplace because you know, you're looking at maybe India. I don't know. Brunei. I don't even know if they can take us. But there's not a lot of big cruise ports out there, so we'll be trapped in a while if we don't get this resolved.
CHURCH: Certainly, I understand your frustration. But I guess if there's some way you have to be, a cruise ship probably isn't the worst option, is it? Steve Murth talking to us there from the Westerdam that's waiting to get word from Thailand or any other country and on a docking admission. Thank you so much.
Well, it's not just the cruise industry that's been hit hard by the coronavirus, airlines are also struggling. And we get the details now from CNN's Richard Quest.
RICHARD QUEST, CNN BUSINESS EDITOR AT LARGE: As the virus grip takes hold, there are two industries particularly affected, the aviation and the cruise industry that are bearing the brunt. Starting with aviation, and immediately you see airlines around the world suspending or cutting flights from China on mass. North America, Europe Middle East, only a few airlines in Asia are still offering service, and even then, at a reduced rate.
The Lunar New Year is the peak travel season in China. Just 1look at this comparison from China's busiest airports during 2019's New Year and the last few weeks. And it's a fair bet some of these flights no longer run. IATA's Director General Alexandre de Juniac told me the industry is prepared for this crisis.
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ALEXANDRE DE JUNIAC, DIRECTOR-GENERAL, IATA: The airlines has clearly learn from the past experience, and so the resilience of the sector is probably better, higher than it was before. So there will be a negative impact but the recovery should happen.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
QUEST: So as the airlines are cutting flights on mass, the cruise industry has been the public face of the crisis so far. Ships have been quarantined or denied entry into port. And that stranded thousands of passengers and still there appears to be more well ahead. Asia is the third largest cruise market. Capacity grew 277 percent over the last five years.
And of the fleet, half the ships in Asia are actually deployed in and around to China. The cruise stocks have been tumbling charpy. Royal Caribbean off the most down nearly seven percent. And the cruise lines themselves have been denying some passengers getting on board. There are health screenings, 1cancellations and refunds have been offered.
Brian Salerno is in charge of maritime policy of the Cruise Lines International Association, CLIA. And he told me emergency measures appear to be working.
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BRIAN SALERNO, SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT FOR MARITIME POLICY, CLIA: We have put these additional measures in place to make sure that we limit to the absolute maximum extent possible the introduction of this illness on onboard any of our ships. And again, it appears to be working. We've only had again, the one ship where there's a confirmed case.
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QUEST: Airlines are in a rush to resume services until they can be sure the integrity of the flights. Similarly, cruise lines are going to do all they can to avoid further problems. How long these lasts, well, that's anybody's guess. Certainly, not until the virus has peaked and is well on the decline. Richard Quest, CNN New York
CHURCH: And major tech companies are dropping out of one of the world's biggest annual business conferences over concerns about the outbreak. Amazon, Sony, Ericsson, and LG are among those pulling out of the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona later this month. Organizers say the event will go on as planned, but they will have more safety precautions including screening travelers who have been in China.
Well, Germany's post-Merkel future looking uncertain after the Chancellor's handpick successor says, no thanks. We'll take a closer look at what happened and why. That's next. Plus, despite summits with Donald Trump and all the talk of progress, the U.N. says North Korea has given the world more empty promises moving forward, not backward with its nuclear program. Back with that in just a moment.
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CHURCH: Welcome back, everyone. A political shocker out of Germany. Angela Merkel's succession plan has collapsed now that her hand-picked heir apparent says she will not be the next Chancellor. The decision by Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, often referred to as AKK, could impact Mrs. Merkel's legacy. CNN's Melissa Bell looks at the complex political background that led up to Monday's stunning announcement.
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MELISSA BELL, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: AKK's decision to stand down came as something of a surprise in its suddenness. Indeed, Angela Merkel confirmed that she hadn't even been informed of it before it was announced. But in many respects, it had been a long time coming. Only last quarter, she urged her party to back her sack her. So weak was she considered and her party so divided.
The chosen successor to Angela Merkel, who was a huge takeover as chancellor at the end of 2021 when Angela Merkel will stand down had been contested in her role as the successor for many months with the right-wing of the CDU wanting to take the party further to the right than she was willing to take it in order better to take on the far- right AFD in the polls. The latest scandal and the one that no doubt really put a nail in the coffin of her future as a potential chancellor came last week when it emerged in Thuringia that CDU party members have voted with AFD to keep the far left out of the local government there.
Now there is a long-standing agreement within German politics that the mainstream parties do not enter into any kind of political alliance, formal or informal, with the extremes on either wing of the German political spectrum. And so, the announcement came this is what AKK herself had to say about her decision.
[02:45:40]
ANNEGRET KRAMP-KARRENBAUER, LEADER, GERMAN CDU (through translator): Almost two years ago, the CDU party conference in Germany elected me as its general secretary. At that time, I gave up my heart one state office of Prime Minister of Saarland to serve the party. That was then and is still my motto today. Because like many others, I have a lot to thank the CDU for.
I knew back then This was going to be a difficult time and the past two years have confirmed that. For all these reasons, and with the intention of strengthening the CDU, I have therefore inform the Presidium and the federal executive board of my following decision today. I will not apply for candidacy as Chancellor.
BELL: The denouncement no doubt opens a new period of instability in a country where for the last few years and for all of Angela Merkel's terms, stability has been the norm. Melissa Bell, CNN Paris.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHURCH: A new U.N. report says North Korea is still cheating sanctions and enhancing its nuclear and ballistic missile programs. Now, this comes just by those summits between Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un and talk of progress between the two sides. As one example, the report highlights how the regime is secretly exporting coal to fund its weapons programs.
Well, sources tell CNN President Trump wants no further talks with the North Korean leader right now at least kindly. Kylie Atwood has more from Washington.
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KYLIE ATWOOD, CNN U.S. SECURITY REPORTER: President Trump has told top foreign policy advisors that he does not want another summit with Kim Jong-un ahead of the presidential elections in November. His frustration and his comments came at the end of last year after the working-level negotiations between the U.S. and North Koreans essentially fell apart with the North Koreans pointing their finger at the U.S. saying that they didn't show up prepared. The U.S. is trying to cast it in a more positive light, but they have not returned it to the negotiating table.
And there is evidence that President Trump is still disinterested in a summit with Kim Jong-un. Just last week, when he delivered his State of the Union address, he didn't mention North Korea or Kim Jong-un at all. Now that is a stark contrast to last year's address where he used it to announce that he was going to be meeting Kim Jong-un for a second summit They're using it as a platform to tell the American people that he was successful with regard to that portion of his foreign policy.
But the fact of the matter is that as President Trump focuses on his reelection, his campaign has decided, according to sources that I have talked to, that North Korea is not a crucial factor to him winning reelection. They do not plan to highlight any of his achievements or efforts with regard to North Korea and diplomacy.
Now, this of course, against the backdrop of the fact that North Korea continues to work on and perfect its nuclear program. There have not been as many test missile launches in recent months. But just last week, a Pentagon official said that North Korea is working on its -- on its weapons just as fast as any other nation. It continues to develop that nuclear program. So that is a very important thing to pay attention to as the U.S. and North Korea get further and further from diplomacy. Kylie Atwood, CNN, Washington.
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CHURCH: Let's bring in Bruce Klingner to talk more about all of this. He is a senior research fellow at the Heritage Foundation, and the former CIA Deputy Division Chief for Korea. Good to have you with us.
BRUCE KLINGNER, SENIOR RESEARCH FELLOW, HERITAGE FOUNDATION: Thank you for having me.
CHURCH: So, a new U.N. report says North Korea continues to build up its nuclear ballistic missile program despite U.N. sanctions. And now we learn President Trump has absolutely no interest in meeting with Kim Jong-un before the November elections. So what's Kim's likely next move here?
KLINGNER: He very well may carry out what had been an end of year deadline, where North Korea hinted they would do some kind of provocation either revealing a new strategic weapon or perhaps doing some kind of missile launch. They could go incrementally up the escalation ladder to medium range, intermediate range, or go immediately to crossing President Trump's red line of an ICBM or a nuclear test.
[02:50:08]
CHURCH: Right, of course, this comes as the U.N. report says that North Korea is also secretly using barges to export coal, petroleum, and sand in return for hundreds of millions of dollars. So what should the U.S. and the rest of the world be doing about that?
KLINGNER: Well, the world really has been not fully enforcing the required U.N. resolution sanctions. And the U.S. has also been pulling his punches. When last March, when the U.S. sanctions, two of many, Chinese shipping companies that were violating the resolutions, President Trump reversed that action by the Treasury Department.
And a year and a half ago, he said that there were 300 North Korean entities that he was not sanctioning because we're talking so nicely to Kim Jong-un. So the U.S. could do more to enforce our own laws so we can be pushing China to more fully enforce the required sanctions.
CHURCH: Yes, because of course, the whole reason for U.N. sanctions is to inhibit North Korea's ability to build its nuclear and ballistic missile program. Clearly, that's not happening. And instead, the sanctions are being ignored and North Korea is thumbing its nose at the rest of the world with considerable help from China. So what are the alternatives are there to sanctions, especially given China and Russia want to see an easing of those sanctions on North Korea?
KLINGNER: Well, we want to have a comprehensive strategy where we're using all the instruments of national power. So it's not a question of diplomacy or sanctions. We want to use both along with military deterrence to make sure we're protecting ourselves and our -- and our allies. The U.S. is again trying to reach out to North Korea for diplomacy and negotiations, but Pyongyang has rejected Not only working-level talks, but another summit with President Trump.
So while we're waiting for them to come back to the table, we need to ensure that we're pressuring them, we're upholding our own laws and the resolution. So we've also been relatively minor in our pressure on Chinese banks and Chinese companies that are violating the resolution. So, again, there's more that the U.S. could be doing to influence the Chinese entities that are in defiance of the international community.
CHURCH: Like what?
KLINGNER: Well, the majority of all international financial transactions in the world are denominated in dollars, which means they have to go through U.S. Treasury Department regulated banks. The U.S. Congress over a year ago sent a list of 12 Chinese banks, including the four largest in the world that Congress felt was committing money laundering crimes in the U.S. financial system. To date, the White House has taken action against none of those.
And in the past, the U.S. sanctioned British and French banks to the tune of $9 billion in fines for money laundering for run. We've imposed zero dollars in any fines on any Chinese bank for money laundering for North Korea.
CHURCH: All right, Bruce Klingner, thank you so much for joining us. We do appreciate it.
KLINGNER: Thank you for having me.
CHURCH: Well, running for U.S. president means your life is on public display. And we will take a look at candidates getting real after the break.
[02:55:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) CHURCH: Well, there's lots of excitement in the United States as voters cast their ballots in the first in the nation presidential primary. And CNN will be covering it from all angles of course. Our special coverage begins at 4:00 p.m. on the U.S. East Coast. That is 9:00 p.m. in London right here on CNN.
Well, it's been a long and winding road to the White House for the Democratic presidential candidates. And some are taking the pressure better than others. Here's our Jeanne Moos with some of the more interesting and light-hearted moments from the campaign trail.
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JEANNE MOOS, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: We're not sure if Joe Biden won over the polar bear demo, but he did shake the bear's paw and seemed to touch his nose. And that's not even the wackiest Joe Biden campaign moment. This is when a student asked about his poor showing in Iowa, he jokingly bantered.
JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Have you ever been to a caucus? No, you haven't. You're lying dog-faced pony soldier.
MOOS: Lying dog-faced what? It was a joking sold unknown in these parts, any parts. In 1953 John Wayne movie called --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hondo.
MOOS: Was cited as the origin.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And on top of that, you smell all over like a woman.
MOOS: Or maybe it was this other John Wayne movie.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The dog-faced soldier.
MOOS: Does Joe relate to Hondo, the most exciting man you'll ever meet? Speaking of dogs, someone asked Elizabeth Warren if she ever pondered.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Who is going to be my Mike Pence? Who is going to look at me with adoring eyes?
SEN. ELIZABETH WARREN (D-MA), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I already have a dog.
MOOS: (INAUDIBLE) famous for posing for selfies is also known for sleeping while his owner speaks. Something President Trump would never let his VP do. It's unlikely the Democratic contenders would swear like the President. OK, B.S. maybe too much for the Democrats, but as the race tightens, they are loosening their tongue.
BIDEN: I would have been so damn angry. I don't know what I would have done.
SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (D-VT), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: No matter who wins this damn thing.
BIDEN: I'll be damned if I'm going to stand by and lose this election to this man.
MOOS: But with Tom Steyer, the dams broke.
TOM STEYER (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: So many darn times.
MOOS: So many darn times. We've seen Joe Biden licking ice cream. He told reporters it's never too cold for ice cream or too dark for sunglasses. But his rival Bernie Sanders may be eyeing one of his campaign co-chairman for cabinet post. That would be Ben Cohen of Ben and Jerry's.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He's going to be the minister of ice cream when we win.
MOOS: At least we can all look at ice cream the way that Pence looks at Trump. Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHURCH: Never too cold for ice cream. Love that. Thanks for your company this hour. I'm Rosemary Church. Remember to connect with me anytime on Twitter. And I'll be back with more news in just a moment. You're watching CNN. Stick around.
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