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Plane Slides Off Runway at Istanbul Airport; Senate Expected to Acquit Trump; Trump's State of the Union; Coronavirus Outbreak. Aired 11a- 12:00p ET
Aired February 05, 2020 - 11:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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BECKY ANDERSON, CNN HOST (voice-over): The U.S. Senate prepares to acquit Donald Trump but it won't heal the divide in Washington.
And quarantined: we take a closer look at how authorities are trying to stop the spread of the coronavirus.
Plus Turkey's president gives a stark warning to Syria: pull back or else.
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ANDERSON: Hello, I'm Becky Anderson and welcome to CONNECT THE WORLD.
We are following some breaking news just coming in to us as we speak. A plane has just slid off the runway at a major international airport in
Istanbul. Turkish media is showing the plane, apparently broken into pieces. They are also showing a number of passengers being evacuated.
Our team is working on the ground to get you more on this story as soon as we get it. We'll bring it right to you. More on that story as we move
through the hour.
After a more than two-week-long trial in the U.S. Senate and weeks of witness testimony before that in the House, it is all set to end today.
Five hours from now, the Senate in the U.S. is poised to acquit President Trump of abuse of power and obstructing Congress.
These are the two charges that led to his impeachment in the House. And on the eve of today's vote, President Trump gave the annual State of the Union
address. I want to show you two incidents that bookended this speech. Both are showing a stark view of the partisan divide in the U.S.
As the address started, the president ignored House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's offer of a handshake. Just after he finished, Pelosi ripped up the speech
and tossed it aside. She later called it "a manifesto of mistruths."
The speech itself was rooted with reelection themes aimed at the president's base, perhaps no surprise there, the economy, immigration and
guns, while ignoring pressing issues like climate change, for example. It sounded like a campaign rally as the president walked into the House
chamber. Have a listen.
(VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: As the Senate gets set to acquit the president, his potential challengers for the November election are campaigning in New Hampshire
today; still, though, waiting for final results from Monday's Iowa caucuses.
Pete Buttigieg maintains a slim lead as questions really swirl over the faulty app that has delayed the results. The more straightforward primary
vote in New Hampshire happens next Tuesday.
Let's bring in the team covering all the bases for us today. John Avlon joining us from New York. Lauren Fox is on Capitol Hill.
Lauren, let me start with you. Those images on and the sound of "four more years" being chanted in the house on the floor, some 24 hours ago or less
in stark contrast to what happened two months ago, when the House itself voted to impeach the president, that all is coming to an end later this
afternoon.
And the verdict really is sort of already in, isn't it?
LAUREN FOX, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, that's exactly right. We expect that around 4 o'clock today the president will be acquitted. And
that's important for the White House. Right?
They have been trying to move in this direction and do it as quickly as possible for the last 2.5 weeks. I'll tell you, this all got started at the
end of September, when House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced she was going to open an impeachment investigation into the President of the United
States.
Now everything coming to an end. And really the conclusion that Democrats have expected since the beginning, since September, that the president
ultimately would be acquitted because there were never going to be the 20 Republican votes needed to cross the aisle to actually remove the
president.
In fact, there weren't even enough votes to get witnesses, something that Democrats viewed as very troubling and corrosive for their relationships
with their Republican colleagues.
We still have a few small surprises ahead. We do not know how Mitt Romney, a Republican from Utah, plans to vote. Doug Jones, who is up for reelection
in 2020, just announced minutes ago that he plans to vote to convict the president on both counts, both obstruction of Congress and abuse of power.
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FOX: And we're still waiting to see what Kyrsten Sinema and Joe Manchin plan to do. Manchin argued he is going to make his decision at 4 o'clock
and not a second sooner. We'll be waiting to see how he votes later today - - Becky.
ANDERSON: Lauren Fox on the Hill.
John, this isn't the first time a U.S. president has made a State of the Union address under a cloud of impeachment. Bill Clinton, of course,
delivered his State of the Union in 1999 in the midst of his impeachment trial and did not bring up the subject.
Back in 1974, of course, Richard Nixon took a quite different tack during his address, directly asking Congress to end the Watergate investigations.
Last night, John, it was as if it had never happened, the president moving on, swinging into election mode.
Should we be surprised?
JOHN AVLON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, I think Republicans were gratified because he was getting a lot of unsolicited advice to not address
impeachment and to not try to poke at Democrats over the last several months in the divisive process.
Instead, this was really full campaign rally mode. I can't stress enough how unusual it is for a State of the Union, typically a unifying address,
to degenerate a partisan chant. But so much about the speech was unusual.
It had his reality show trappings and gimmicky gifts to different constituencies in the conservative movement, bookended by the bad blood
between Pelosi and the president. The State of the Union is divisive.
ANDERSON: And you allude to some TV moments as it were. President Trump orchestrating what many have described as a made for TV reunion. He
surprised a military wife by announcing her husband was back from deployment. Their two small kids right there to give Dad a hug.
This is -- I have to say, many people who watched that really were very moved by that moment. And we shouldn't underplay how moving it was.
But this is all very familiar territory to this U.S. president, isn't it, this sort of made for TV moment?
AVLON: Exactly right. And that's one of the ways President Trump connects. There's no question that's a powerful emotional moment. But there are a lot
of conflicting emotions as well. To see that kind of a private moment, where a soldier comes in reunited with his family, being used for
transparently political purposes undercuts the personal nature of it. It doesn't mean it's not effective.
My wife is a Republican. When John McCain was running for president, he never mentioned his son was serving on the front lines in Iraq. That's a
different approach for the military, especially from a president who never served.
ANDERSON: What did you make of Nancy Pelosi's shredding of the speech at the end of the U.S. president's address?
AVLON: I think there's been a lot of conservative pearl clutching over that. It's very difficult to say civility for thee but not for me. It's a
bookend of the fact the president refused her handshake at the top.
Was it good politics?
Probably not. That said, there's a lot of fake outrage going around in politics these days and you can't buy that hook, line and sinker. Things
are divided in the country.
The difference is the president as matter of politics seems to be leading a lot of the division. But someone needs to reunite the country and none of
the leaders seemed intent on doing that on the stage last night.
ANDERSON: Yes.
Lauren, John making a good point. The corridors you work in on Capitol Hill have been as divided as any of us can remember. I wonder whether you and
your colleagues there on the Hill and those lawmakers who have been working, it has to be said, the press and their own colleagues for months
now during impeachment will feel it's somewhat anti-climactic, come tomorrow and the result of this vote.
FOX: Well, I think that some relationships are going to have to be repaired. I've talked to a lot of moderate Democrats, who argue there were
plenty of Republican colleagues who they work with all the time, they have personal relationships with, who they were so surprised voted against
witnesses, voted against having more information.
And I think those relationships especially will have to be repaired in the upcoming weeks. I talked to Richard Blumenthal a few moments ago this
morning. His argument was there are still places where Democrats and Republicans can work together.
In fact, he said he was speaking with a couple of his Republican colleagues before the State of the Union yesterday.
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FOX: And he identified that an infrastructure bill is another place that the president really campaigned on that Congress still hasn't gotten around
to doing, that that could be a potential place. Lowering prescription drug prices, another potential place where they could build some good will and
bipartisanship.
We should note this is all happening in an election year. So despite the fact that you had impeachment, which is divisive enough, you are now
turning the corner into the president's reelection.
And I'll tell you, it gets harder and harder for Democrats to work with their Republican colleagues in a presidential election year, not to mention
how many moderate Republicans or at least Republicans in swing states are up for reelection this fall.
So a very hard climb ahead but definitely something that senators are thinking about at this moment as impeachment comes to a close.
ANDERSON: Lauren Fox on the Hill.
And, John, always appreciate your thoughts. Thank you, sir.
President Trump briefly touching on foreign policy in his speech, touting the killing of the top Iranian general, Qasem Soleimani, and ISIS leader,
Abu Baker al-Baghdadi. But it was this moment that stood out.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: Here this evening is a very brave man who carries with him the hopes, dreams and aspirations of all Venezuelans. Joining us in the gallery
is the true and legitimate president of Venezuela, Juan Guaido.
Please take the message back that all Americans are united with the Venezuelan people in their righteous struggle for freedom. Thank you very
much, Mr. President.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Let's bring in Nic Robertson, our international diplomatic editor.
The Trump administration will have engineered that as a valuable moment for the U.S. president and, indeed, the Venezuelan leader that Trump
administration's is supporting.
Was it?
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Look, I think if you -- to analyze it any other way than this is a very, very powerful way to
make a very, very powerful message, this is clear that President Trump is very good at being clear of nailing his colors to the flag, if you will, of
who he supports and who he doesn't support.
So that message will have gone down very well. Now will it have -- gone down very clearly in Venezuela.
Will it change the dynamic there?
It's not clear that it will.
Will it rally more people to President Trump to support his position on Venezuela?
Maybe not. It may have made it more obvious to those that really hadn't been paying attention the president's feelings about Venezuela but those
would have to be people that haven't been paying attention.
Perhaps that's what he's counting on. But I think there are other elements in his speech, where in a way, again, if you hadn't been paying attention,
it all sounded strong. Listen to what he had to say about NATO.
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TRUMP: We're also getting our allies, finally, to help pay their fair share. I have raised contributions from other NATO members by more than
$400 billion and the number of allies meeting their minimum obligations has more than doubled.
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ROBERTSON: Yes. It's more than doubled from 4 to 9 but that $400 billion, that's hyperbole because the president has only been able to get additional
contributions from NATO members totaling $130 billion to date; $400 billion aspirational in another four years' time.
He made other points like the Middle East peace plan, his Middle East peace plan, and he failed to mention that the Palestinians have rejected it. He
talked about how well the peace talks were going with the Taliban in Afghanistan but didn't mention they're not making progress. And it's the
Afghan government isn't aligned with that process at all at the moment.
ANDERSON: It was but a week or so ago, Nic, that we saw the U.S. president flanked by the Israeli leader, releasing the details of Donald Trump's plan
for peace in the Middle East, a plan he touted in his speech.
If this was a State of the Union address to the president's base, as many people are suggesting it was, it is interesting to see how foreign policy
played a part, isn't it?
ROBERTSON: Yes. I mean, I think look, he really tried to land the point that, if you kill Americans, we'll come after you and get you. He made that
point about Qasem Soleimani very clearly by referencing very clearly a specific soldier and having his family there, the soldier who had been
killed by Soleimani's attacks.
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ROBERTSON: Then he goes on to say that Iran is under huge pressure from sanctions, which is accurate, economic pressure. Then he said that Iran can
back off those sanctions if it contacts us.
Well, it's been resounding silence from Tehran and that's very clearly their message at the moment but that will resonate with the base. His point
on killing al-Baghdadi, the leader of ISIS, and saying ISIS is dead, the caliphate is dead, we'll go after the terrorists, he made the point there
again about Baghdadi and the killing of a young American woman after 500 horrific days in captivity.
These are powerful ways to get that message across. But again, hyperbole; ISIS is dead, well, the U.N.'s own counterterrorism report from last week
says, actually, ISIS is reconstituting itself and making a threat again in Iraq and in Syria.
So the message may resonate with the base but those that read the detail will understand that this isn't the whole picture. And this speaks, of
course, to the huge division in the United States, those that believe the president and those that know that he oversells what he's trying to get
across.
ANDERSON: Nic Robertson, joining us out of London, thank you, Nic.
New details on a plane accident in Istanbul coming in to us here. These are live pictures just in to CNN Headquarters, live from the airport. It is
dark now, as you can see. We've seen pictures of the plane there, broken into several pieces.
We also know that 177 people were on board when it careened off the runway shortly after landing in Turkey's largest city. The transport ministry
there says a lot of people are injured, according to CNN Turk. I have Arwa Damon standing by in Istanbul.
As we speak we're learning new details.
What do we know?
ARWA DAMON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Becky, the passengers are still being evacuated off of the plane. We also did hear reports that
the plane at some point did have a small fire. That has been extinguished.
The scene itself, as you can see in these images, fairly dramatic. I mean, this plane somehow snapped into three different pieces. The injured are
being evacuated to hospital. You have first responders and firefighters on the scene. Sabiha Gokcen airport is closed to air traffic. And flights are
being diverted to Istanbul's main airport.
This was a Pegasus flight coming in from Izmir. It's about 45 minutes to an hour, one that's generally full because people tend to travel between these
Turkish cities pretty often.
This is Istanbul's second airport. It's a smaller airport. And this Pegasus flight appears to have somehow skidded off of the runway shortly after
landing and then somehow breaking up into these three pieces. Unclear at this stage exactly how or why that would have happened.
But worth noting, Becky, that another Pegasus flight in January also skidded off a runway at Sabiha Gokcen. In that incident, there was nothing
remotely close to the kinds of images that we're seeing today. And there is right now an investigation that is underway into all of this.
ANDERSON: Yes. Just bringing our viewers back up to date, you may just have joined us. It appears a plane has skidded off an airport runway in
Istanbul, causing the jet to split into three pieces.
Arwa, as we've been speaking, authorities have just said that 112 emergency responders are on the scene.
But these images are remarkable, aren't they?
I mean, this jet split in to three pieces. Apparently authorities suggesting this was the result of a rough landing. Just, if you will, just
repeat what we know at this point.
DAMON: Right. So we don't know exactly how many people are on the scene right now when it comes to the first responders as well as the firefighters
that are there, because, remember, there was also a small fire that was on the plane that was extinguished. The passengers all had to be evacuated. At
this stage, that evacuation is still ongoing.
There are injuries that have been reported. Those injuries have been transported to hospital. No casualties being reported so far at this stage.
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DAMON: And this plane when you look at those images, I mean, I'm no aviation expert but what could cause a plane, what kind of a landing or
skidding off a runway causes a plane to snap into three pieces like that?
This was a Pegasus aircraft. That's one of Turkey's local carriers. The route it was flying was from Izmir to Istanbul, a fairly frequent short
flight. And this is the second time this year that a Pegasus aircraft has slid off a runway at Istanbul's second airport.
ANDERSON: Yes, absolutely. And you're referring to the incident in the beginning of January when a Pegasus airline coming from another airport
skidded due to bad weather at this point.
We will get you any further details that we get in to CNN, Arwa and her team working their sources on the ground. These images really quite
remarkable.
This is CNN. We'll be back for more after this.
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ANDERSON: Get your things, get on a plane and get out. That's been the advice of U.S. secretary of state Mike Pompeo to U.S. citizens in Wuhan.
China flights have been evacuating Americans from the coronavirus epicenter throughout the week. Two flights touched down today with more to follow on
Thursday, taking the number of U.S. evacuees to more than 500.
The U.S., of course, not the only country providing help out of Hubei to its citizens. But our David Culver has been following the progress of some
of the Americans and joins us live from Beijing -- David.
DAVID CULVER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Becky, you're right. Dozens of countries have been getting their citizens out of the epicenter of all this. But the
U.S. had this flight scheduled 24 hours before it actually took off.
The delay seemed to be because of tension between the U.S. and Chinese governments. And part of that had to do with the Chinese foreign ministry
being furious at the U.S. for what they consider to have been unnecessary and an overreaction of the travel restrictions.
They were also upset because they felt as though the first U.S. aircraft that came in to evacuate citizens came in empty, took up space in the Wuhan
airport that could have been used for a supply plane. Other countries were bringing in badly needed medical supplies. Meantime, the flights have taken
off and arrived in the U.S.
[11:25:00]
CULVER: But to the folks on board, what may have been a long flight, it was an even longer journey just to get a seat on the planes.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CULVER (voice-over): It's a drive Priscilla Dickey and her 8-year old daughter, Hermione, have made before.
PRISCILLA DICKEY, U.S. CITIZEN LEAVING WUHAN: This is one of the more crowded areas of Wuhan.
CULVER (voice-over): Leaving their home in the epicenter of the deadly coronavirus outbreak, headed to the airport, hoping to board this U.S.
charter flight back to America. Their taxi driver showed up dressed in a blue hazmat suit.
On the drive, Priscilla recording the normally traffic-jammed streets of the city that 11 million people call home now feel empty. We started
following their journey shortly after the unprecedented city lockdown nearly two weeks ago. That has expanded to encompass some 60 million
people.
This mother and daughter hoped to be on the first evacuation flight out last week. It arrived in California carrying nearly 200 passengers, many of
them U.S. diplomats and their families. Now in the midst of a 14-day mandatory quarantine, like Jarred Evans.
JARRED EVANS, U.S. CITIZEN IN CALIFORNIA QUARANTINE: We're still going to take precaution. It's not over. We still are -- everyone here is wearing
face masks.
CULVER (voice-over): But Priscilla and Hermione did not make that flight among hundreds of Americans who still wanted out of Wuhan. On Monday, the
U.S. State Department said it was coordinating more flights with the Chinese government.
MIKE POMPEO, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: To bring Americans back home from Hubei province.
CULVER (voice-over): As other countries have done, the incoming aircraft carried in much needed medical supplies to help Chinese doctors battling
illness on the front lines.
Arriving at the airport from security to airport staff to U.S. officials, almost everyone greeted Priscilla and Hermione in protective suits.
DICKEY: I'm just realizing the scope of the situation I'm in.
CULVER (voice-over): More than 500 Americans, bags packed, gathered to leave on two separate flights, going through health screenings and waiting
anxious hours to board. After weeks of unknowns, Priscilla felt assured. This time, she and her daughter would be leaving.
DICKEY: Now it's starting to finally hit me that I'm going to go to America.
CULVER (voice-over): A final photo boarding the plane, their way out. The eerie neighborhood streets of Wuhan now memories on their smartphone.
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CULVER: And really the journey just beginning for them as they'll spend the next 14 days in mandatory quarantine.
ANDERSON: Yes. All right.
You're watching CNN. We'll return to our breaking news after this short break. A plane crash at one of Istanbul's major airports. More details on
that just ahead.
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ANDERSON: We're tracking breaking news this hour. I want to get you some images that are coming in live to us here at CNN Center. These are the
scene of a plane crash at one of Istanbul's airports. You can see the plane broken into several pieces.
We also now know that 177 passengers and six crew members were on board when this plane came off the runway shortly after landing in Turkey. The
transport ministry there says a lot of people are injured, according to CNN Turk. Let's bring in Arwa Damon, working her sources on the ground in
Istanbul.
What more do we know at this point, Arwa?
DAMON: Our understanding is that this plane somehow skidded off the runway shortly after landing. A Pegasus flight, that's one of the national
carriers here that was coming into Istanbul, a short flight 45 minutes to an hour or so. And the plane at some stage also caught fire.
That fire was fairly quickly extinguished. But whatever happened to the plane, whether it skidded off on impact, it somehow cracked like a twig
into those three pieces that you can see in these images.
And right now you've got rescue teams on the ground. You've got first aid responders. You still have the firefighting team. Worth noting, it has been
raining all day in Istanbul, pouring down pretty hard at some stages throughout the day. So unclear if the weather perhaps was a contribution in
this.
There is an investigation underway. The airport is closed to air traffic. This is Istanbul's second airport. It's the smaller airport. Worth noting,
though, that, back in January another flight, also a Pegasus flight, skidded off a runway at Sabiha Gokcen.
Nowhere near as dramatic and terrifying as what happened today must have been for those passengers. But again, all of this at this stage under
investigation. What we know at least for now is that there have been no casualties, just a number of injured as you were saying there.
ANDERSON: Yes. And you've been alluding to this fuselage. It's, as you described it, cracked like a twig as it were. It's terribly concerning.
One seems that authorities in the hours to come will explain exactly what they believe happened to a plane which, as we understand it, at this stage,
was already on the runway when it physically split into three. I'm seeing reports that passengers were taken off through the cracks, as it were, on
this aircraft.
DAMON: Yes. Right now we're actually just hearing that there are 21 people injured, who were moved to a hospital. One can just imagine, in this kind
of a situation, trying to move the injured is extraordinarily delicate, not to mention trying to evacuate all 177 of the passengers as well as the six
crew members.
We don't know if there were any crew members who were among the injured and again, it is going to be interesting to get the perspective of the experts,
who can perhaps help us understand how it is that a plane can just snap like this.
One can only imagine just how terrifying this experience was for the passengers, because it is very chilling, just looking at these images and
see what can happen to an airplane on landing and what might cause that.
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DAMON: A lot of us fly all the time. We rely on these structures to take us safely into the air, safely on to the ground. I personally have not seen
any sort of plane snapping like this in the past, at least not under these kinds of circumstances. So there are going to be a lot of questions that
these investigators are going to have to answer.
Why did this happen?
Why is this the second time that a plane is skidding off a runway at this airport just this year?
And what does Turkey do and what does potentially the aviation industry do in the future to try to prevent this from happening again?
ANDERSON: Turkey's transport minister reporting no fatalities reported at this stage. The governor of Istanbul has said, as you reported, 21 people
injured and those injured in the incident still being evacuated off the runway and into hospitals, as we understand it.
You can see the emergency response teams there, evacuating passengers from the wreckage; all flights as I understand it have been directed to
Istanbul's Ataturk airport. You were describing weather conditions, Arwa. It's been raining hard.
DAMON: Yes. It has been raining hard all day and in some cases a very intense downpour, lots of winds. I mean, look, when the weather rages here
in Istanbul, it does rage. This can be a very windy city.
And, Becky, one thing: the flights are being diverted to Istanbul Airport. It's a new and large airport. And remember, Turkey in all of this is also
trying to position itself as something of an aviation hub. It wants to become the gateway for a number of flights.
And Turkish Airlines themselves, the main carrier here, do fly around the world. This flight was a Pegasus flight. That is one of the local carriers.
The route that it was on is about 45 minutes to an hour. It's one that is generally fairly busy. This is just a short hop for many business people
throughout the week.
And this plane, it would seem, at least initially, came in and managed to skid off the runway with such force or perhaps it was because of impact on
landing or something due to the weather conditions, that it ended up breaking up into all those pieces.
As you were saying, they're at this stage, we do not have any reports of fatalities. So far reports of 21 injured. They have been moved to hospital.
Passengers still being evacuated off of the plane. This is a very delicate process, one that is involving emergency crews, first aid responders,
firefighters.
There was a fire that was being reported of, that did break out, a small fire that was fairly quickly extinguished. We don't know exactly at this
stage what kind of injuries those who were wounded did sustain.
Sabiha Gokcen is closed to air traffic and presumably part of this investigation is going to have to address the fact that this is the second
time just this year that a Pegasus aircraft has skid off a runway.
Is this due to some sort of weather-related issue?
Is it to do with Pegasus Airlines?
Is it to do with the airport?
Is it a combination of all of these factors?
That's what this investigation is presumably going to determine. But more importantly, especially for Turkey, which, as I was saying, is trying to
position itself and is to a certain degree, an aviation hub, look, flights in and out of Turkey are very affordable. Turkish Airlines flies all around
the world.
People are going to want to know that the airports in Turkey are safe and that the authorities are doing everything they can to ensure that this does
not happen again in the future.
ANDERSON: Clearly a huge emergency response now ongoing on the ground as we look at these images from Turkey's -- sorry, Istanbul's second airport
there. Thankfully, no fatalities but we do understand 21 injured and evacuated from the site. Arwa, thank you for that.
We'll take a short break. Back after this.
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ANDERSON: The Israeli prime minister says he is moving forward with annexation of parts of the West Bank but now does seem to be hinting it
will only happen after the Israeli elections, which are on March 2nd. That is a backtrack from his original promise to start the annexation process
immediately after the unveiling of U.S. president Trump's Middle East plan.
Our senior international correspondent Sam Kiley, just back from the West Bank and Jerusalem, where he's been covering the story since President
Trump, flanked by the Israeli leader in the East Room a week or so ago, unveiled the details of this peace to prosperity plan.
Donald Trump's plan to end decades of conflict between the Israelis and Palestinians.
Are you surprised at the latest development?
SAM KILEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It's been carefully telegraphed. Jared Kushner, without any background at all, charged to come
up with fresh thinking, come up with this, what they call the deal of the century or a vision for peace.
He indicated a few days ago now that the Americans would not look favorably on an annexation this side of the Israeli elections. It's only at the
beginning of March, after all, and also that the committee, a joint committee, not of Israelis and Palestinians but of Israelis and Americans,
would need to meet to agree the boundaries, if you like, that would then be presented as a fait accompli.
ANDERSON: Is this a promise broken but Kushner to the Israeli prime minister, that as soon as this plan was announced, that they would
effectively green light this annexation process?
Or is this the Israeli prime minister getting ahead of himself?
KILEY: It's the Israeli prime minister facing an election. It's a close call. Interestingly, the opinion polls between him and Benny Gantz, leader
of the Blue and White Party, neck and neck, like they were last time we covered the election.
ANDERSON: And the time before.
KILEY: And the time before. Those are not changing. What's interesting is Trump needed to try to take that energy forward to try to help him get a
bit of a bump in the opinion polls. It clearly hasn't worked. The annexation has been green lighted. The issue is the exact borders if you
like as far as the Americans are concerned.
And they are somewhat embarrassed it could happen this side of the election. And the guy that Trump wants to win, Benjamin Netanyahu, who has
made no secret about that whatsoever, doesn't. And he's also facing an indictment on a wide range of corruption related charges.
ANDERSON: That's less than a month away. March 2nd is the third Israeli election in a year.
Right. Returning to the Wuhan coronavirus outbreak for you because this is a big story. The number of confirmed cases in Mainland China has spiked
again and there are worrying new signs of new clusters in Hong Kong and Japan. The number of deaths stands at 492, including the two people who
died outside Mainland China.
[11:45:00]
ANDERSON: Some 24,000 people are now affected or infected. Again, the vast majority within China. David Culver, who we return to now, tells us about a
doctor who gave an early warning about the outbreak but was, himself, silenced.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CULVER (voice over): In a matter of days, Dr. Li Wenliang went from treating patients to becoming one. The 34-year-old ophthalmologist
diagnosed Saturday with the Wuhan coronavirus. But if action had been taken when he and others started sounding alarms, the severity of the outbreak
might have been understood sooner.
Struggling to communicate, Li spoke with CNN briefly by phone. You can hear the hospital machines pulsing in the background.
LI WENLIANG, DOCTOR OF WUHAN CENTRAL HOSPITAL (through translator): I can barely breathe.
CULVER: It was back in late December when Li first warned friends on WeChat about a SARS-like disease going around. Li sent a group message
saying that a test result from a patient quarantined at the hospital where he worked showed the patient had a coronavirus. But hours after hitting
send, Wuhan city health officials tracked Li down, questioning where he got the information. Within days, they closed the suspected source of the
virus, this seafood market and they announced the outbreak. But instead of being praised, Li got a call from Wuhan city police.
With Li coughing too much and breathing too poorly to speak by phone, we asked Li by text, how did you feel when this happened? I felt a little
afraid. Afraid I would be detained. Afraid my family would worry, Li responded.
He agreed to sign this document, admitting to spreading rumors online and severely disrupting social order. It reads, we want you to cooperate with
the police and listen to our reminder and stop the illegal act. Can you do that? Li answered, yes, I can.
CULVER (on camera): In the weeks that followed, the Wuhan Municipal Health Commission maintained that there was no obvious evidence for human to human
transmission, no infection of health care workers and that the outbreak was, in their words, preventable and controllable. And, with that, the
people of Wuhan continued about their normal lives.
CULVER (voice over): Then came a sudden jump in infections. China's central government took over, scrambling to contain a spreading virus with
a rising death toll. Chinese state media first reported that Li was one of several whistleblowers silenced by police. Calls for Li and the others to
be vindicated grew online.
China's supreme court even weighed in, adding, quote, it might have been a fortunate thing if the public had listened to this rumor at the time. But
for many, including Li and his parents, it was too late. They all contracted the coronavirus. Li is now fighting for his life, alone in
quarantine, but, online, considered a hero. Tens of thousands praising his attempts to sound the alarm ahead of what's become a global health
emergency.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON: We'll take a short break. Back after this.
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[11:50:00]
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ANDERSON: Let's get back to breaking news, 21 people injured in a plane crash at a major airport in Istanbul, according to the city's governor.
You're looking at the scene of the crash now. You can see the plane has broken into several pieces. We also now know that 177 passengers and six
crew members were on board when it came off the runway.
On the phone is CNN's safety analyst David Soucie and CNN's Arwa Damon joining me live from Istanbul.
Arwa, you've been working the story on the ground.
What more do we know at this point?
I realize it's still early days.
DAMON: It is, Becky. You look at those images. I mean, it's quite chilling to see what this has done to an airplane, seemingly just snapping it like a
twig.
What we do know is that the plane apparently skidded off the runway shortly after landing or maybe just upon landing. There was a small fire that was
quickly extinguished. You have rescue teams on the ground. You have emergency responders, first aid teams, that evacuated the 21 injured to the
hospitals.
You also have firefighters on the scene as well.
And Becky, you have a lot of questions, what caused not just the plane to skid off the runway but a plane to snap into that many pieces?
Now weather might have been a factor. It has been pouring rain all day. Right now we're just hearing the number of injured evacuated to hospital
has gone up to 52. That's 52 out of the total of 177 passengers plus six crew. We don't know what the breakdown is.
But as of now, no fatalities yet being reported. Also worth noting that this is the second time that a plane skids off a runway, a Pegasus plane,
in fact, skids off a runway here at Istanbul's second smaller airport.
So an investigation underway. The airspace there closed. Flights being diverted to Istanbul's main airport, the Istanbul airport.
And a lot of questions not just about how did this happen but why did it happen?
How does this happen to a plane?
And what are the authorities going to do to make sure it doesn't happen again?
ANDERSON: Well, let's bring in David Soucie who is our CNN aviation safety expert.
David, what do you make of these images and the scope of this damage to this plane, broken into three pieces?
DAVID SOUCIE, CNN SAFETY ANALYST: Yes. That is definitely not typical damage you'd see of an airplane that was simply missed the landing and was
running off the end of the runway.
In that case, the fuselage would crack but not this extensive damage to break it and actually turn over and flip over the cockpit area into the
back of the airplane like it is right now. This just is very not typical.
And I think what it indicates to me is that the speed at which that airplane went off the end of the runway was extremely high. This isn't just
a simple miscalculation by a pilot. This is an extremely high speed coming off the end of the runway. It's very atypical.
ANDERSON: The fact that Arwa is reporting that the weather has been lousy, very lousy today, might that have contributed to an incident like this, do
you think?
SOUCIE: Oh, most certainly. The hydroplaning is a very big concern on any airplane landing at any runway, particularly if the runway is not well
maintained. It develops ruts where the water drifts and that's where most airplanes land, is in the ruts.
When there's water in there, the pilot needs to be very prepared to put on thrust reversers and not rely on the brakes. So it's too early to
speculate. But hydroplaning is a grave concern, especially on runways. I'll have to check to see how long it's been since this runway has been
resurfaced.
But typically in Turkey, I know this airport historically has had some delayed maintenance requirements. So it's something to concern yourself
about as a pilot, is when do you put on the brakes. As soon as you put on the brakes and the wheels stop rolling, they're just sliding like a boat on
top of that water.
ANDERSON: There is clearly a significant emergency response there now at the airport, 177 people on board, six crew. We do now understand that 56
have been taken away -- sorry -- 52 taken away with injuries.
[11:55:00]
ANDERSON: It's very good to hear that there have been no fatalities, of course.
What do you make of the evacuation and the emergency response, at least the images of which we are looking at to date?
SOUCIE: Well, the fact that there is no fatalities and no serious injuries reported so far tells me that the ground crews have done an extraordinary
job of extinguishing the small fire that was there first of all.
And secondly, a lot of damages and a lot of people can be injured or killed when they try to move the remains of the fuselage, trying to extract
passengers that are in there.
ANDERSON: With that, we're going to have to leave it there. David, thank you very much indeed for joining us.
That is our safety expert looking at these images, which are truly horrifying. It has to be said. This is a plane on the runway in Turkey. A
Pegasus flight as we understand it coming in from Izmir. The fuselage broken into three pieces. Our team on the ground, we'll get more details on
this as they come in to CNN for you.
I'm Becky Anderson. That was CONNECT THE WORLD. Thank you for watching.
