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World Health Organization Experts Land In China; Cases On Crew Ship Have Doubled Since Sunday; Tokyo Hospital Quarantines U.S. Cruise Ship Passenger. Aired 11a-12p ET
Aired February 10, 2020 - 11:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[11:00:53]
New development in the coronavirus outbreak. The number of cases on a quarantined cruise ship in Japan doubled overnight.
KENT FRASURE, CRUISE SHIP PASSENGER FROM OREGON: Just today I got a message from somebody who've said don't come home.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do they have this situation under control?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We really, really still do have a very serious problem that we don't know where it's going.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A lot of questions been raised as to where he was throughout much
of this process.
ANNOUNCER: Live on CNN, this is CONNECT THE WORLD.
ZAIN ASHER, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: This hour new developments in the fight against the Wuhan coronavirus. It is 11:00 a.m. here in New York,
Midnight in Beijing and there's definitely a lot going on around the world. I'm Zain Asher sitting with my colleague, Becky Anderson.
Experts from the World Health Organization have touchdown in China as part of the international efforts to contain the coronavirus. The group warns we
have a very narrow window to stop the virus from spreading. Over 900 people have died and more than 40,000 people around the world are infected. And as
cases pop up and people who have never been to China, the Director General had this to say just moments ago.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. TEDROS ADHANOM GHEBREYESUS, DIRECTOR-GENERAL, WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION: The detection of this small number of cases could be the
spark that becomes a bigger fire. But for now, it's only a spark. Our objective remains containment. We call on all countries to use the window
of opportunity we have to prevent a bigger fire.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ASHER: As China kicks back into getting off the extended Lunar New Year holiday. China's President Xi Jinping for the first time taking a hands on
approach to the crisis, you're seeing him wearing a facemask at a command center here but it's not in Wuhan. Instead, he's actually out in Beijing.
Remember, he's called the virus, a demon and today insisting China will win. It's also important to note that despite Mr. Xi's low profile, Chinese
authorities insist he's been very busy taking charge behind the scenes.
Now about 99 percent of cases are in mainland China but the virus has touched 27 other countries and territories but the biggest outbreak outside
China is actually on board, a cruise ship. The Diamond Princess has been docked in Japan for days with thousands of passengers under quarantine. 135
people have tested positive for the coronavirus, nearly double the number of cases reported Sunday.
Meantime, in the U.K. a doctor's office is closed after one of its staff members tested positive for the virus as well. And it's according to the
BBC, which as the office is in the City of Brighton. The U.K. now has eight reported cases of the virus. We are everywhere that matters for you at this
hour. We've got David Culver who's out about in the Chinese capital for you. Scott McLean, he's in London as we keep seeing more cases in Europe.
But first I want to get to Will Ripley who's live for us in Tokyo. So Will, you've been speaking to pass in aboard this cruise ship, in particular a
married couple. The wife has the coronavirus. She's at a hospital. The husband doesn't have it miraculously. What are they saying?
WILL RIPLEY, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I mean, this is never how they expected to, end their vacations, Zain. She is sleeping in a
quarantine ward in isolation at a hospital here in Tokyo. Went to several hospitals here and hospitals across Japan right now are continuing to bring
in new patients. When we were out of the hospital earlier, we saw an ambulance come in with, you know, driven by, you know, nurses in fully
protective gear.
And yet, she's actually in very good spirits because she's doing well, she's not showing symptoms. And her husband incredibly hasn't even
contracted the virus at all. In some ways, their experience actually getting the coronavirus has made them less afraid and here's why.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The death toll from the coronavirus jumps again.
RIPLEY: The number of the headlines are grim.
[11:05:00]
RIPLEY: Each day seems to bring more bad news.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A grim milestone for the coronavirus.
RIPLEY: Often overlooked in the Wuhan coronavirus hysteria. Patients Like Rebecca Frasure from Oregon.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is the door --
RIPLEY: Frazier is one of a growing number of Americans to test positive for coronavirus on this cruise ship, the Diamond Princess under quarantine
in Yokohama. Japan has coronavirus patients under quarantine at hospitals nationwide, including this one in Tokyo.
We think we know where Rebecca's room is. In fact, there she is. She's standing the window right now. Rebecca. Here we are. Hi. How are you doing?
REBECCA FRASURE, NOVEL CORONAVIRUS PATIENT: Hi.
RIPLEY: Turns out she's doing just fine. Barely has any symptoms. The majority of coronavirus patients don't end up dead or seriously ill, the
majority recover.
Do you know what they're giving you for coronavirus? How -- what kind of treatment they're giving you?
FRAZIER: They have not given me any actual medication or any fluids or anything for the virus.
RIPLEY: She says the hardest part is being away from her husband, Kent, that's him waving at us from their quarantine cabin. Kent take his
temperature every day. Every day he still does not have the virus
K. FRASURE: 37.3 I really don't have that much concern over it right now. In additional, the six cases --
RIPLEY: The number of sick passengers on the Diamond Princess grows by the day, including two of their close friends on the ship. A couple they saw up
to five times a day, both with barely any symptoms.
K. FRASURE: This this fear of, you know, mob mentality sort of fear is just unwarranted.
RIPLEY: Rebecca was talking about the people online and the things they were saying.
K. FRASURE: Just today I got a message from somebody who've said don't come.
home.
R. FRASURE: I actually got a couple of like, really threatening messages. People can be really nasty.
RIPLEY: She says they can also be really nice, flooding her phone with messages of love and support. A welcome distraction when she's stuck in a
place like this.
If you were going to choose between being on the cruise ship or being in the hospital room, which would you say is the better place to kind of hang
out for these next 14 days?
R. FRASURE: Well, I would say definitely the cruise ship still.
RIPLEY: You'd rather on the cruise ship?
R. FRASURE: Yes.
RIPLEY: She says people need to take the virus seriously. They also need to keep things in perspective. This year, Wuhan coronavirus has killed
hundreds every year, seasonal flu kills hundreds of thousands.
K. FRASURE: Just take care of yourself but there's no reason to panic.
RIPLEY: And wash those hands.
K. FRASURE: Wash those hands. Absolutely.
RIPLEY: The Frazier say it's time to stop living in fear even as they live on the front lines of a global health emergency.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
RIPLEY: More than 130 crew members on the Diamond Princess are from India and they have made a very emotional plea to their prime minister to get
them off that ship. They see they don't feel safe being around passengers who may or may not been infected. So obviously there's a lot of fear,
there's a lot of fear from people who are quarantine in their cabins worried that even though doctors and scientists are pretty unanimous that
this is not an airborne virus, that, you know, they're afraid of what they're breathing in in their cabins.
Although health experts say probably the safest place for them to be is in a room away from other people. Diamond Cruise Line is also offering a full
refund for passengers, Zain. I'm not sure if that's going to make up for the experience that now 135 are having and probably more frankly in the
coming days.
ASHER: Yes. I'm not sure it will either. Will Ripley live for us there. Thank you so much.
I want to get straight down to David Culver. So David, we have been seeing video of Xi Jinping out and about in Beijing wearing the facemask. This is
clearly an attempt by Chinese authorities to combat some of the negative headlines about how much or how little is being done behind the scenes.
DAVID CULVER, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, because there were so many questions in the past couple of weeks really, Zain, as to where
exactly President Xi Jinping has been. And this is now showing him out and about on the front lines as they like to portray it, though, as you pointed
out earlier, not in Wuhan but here in Beijing. Nonetheless, maybe with medical professionals, he was in the local community, he was at a hospital,
he was at the disease control center, and looking like the rest of us and that he wore a face mask out there.
But there have been these growing concerns as to why he was staying out of the limelight, why he wasn't taking on a public role. Now the Chinese media
would like to portray and certainly the government officials in particular, that this was not his avoiding the net, the public. This was his simply
doing work behind the scenes. And so he didn't have time to just show face, he was handling the deployment and the coordination efforts here.
But at the same time, there are questions that have been raised as to was he just trying to buffer away from some of the negative headlines. And you
have to look at back where this all started. It was at the local level, right? It was in the City of Wuhan. that's where the criticism was aimed at
the mayor of Wuhan in particular, at the provincial leaders of Hubei Province. And so, early on state media was even turning some criticism
towards those local leaders.
[11:10:04]
CULVER: However, when the central government came in and when President Xi Jinping himself took control, things changed a bit, we noticed that shift
within state media, they were far more hesitant to link any negative headlines, certainly not to the president or even to the central government
for that matter. And they seem to be resistant to show anything that was negative related to this virus.
In fact, most of the coverage focused on the construction of hospitals. And really, the full efforts to contain this outbreak. Now what's interesting
when you heard from Will there and he introduced you to the Frasures and that couple was saying put things in perspective, right? Look at this,
compared to the flu, don't overreact, essentially. Well, that's exactly what the Chinese government's been trying to say as well.
And they have been pushing that more and more saying look at the numbers. The issue is a lot of folks have questions, those numbers and the data that
they're releasing. Nonetheless, they want that overreaction to be pushed aside particularly from the U.S. and from Western officials and they feel
like they've been mislabeled in many ways and simply isolated from the world after the U.S. issue those travel restrictions, several other
countries did the same.
So that's the frustration that's been evoked from Chinese officials. And they're certainly pushing back on that more and more, even now, Zain, they
have started releasing numbers to show the recovery rate, the number of folks who have been cured, that's something that they're putting out in
addition to the death toll and the number of infected and as they point out today, the rate of folks who have been cured in their words is 8.2 percent.
They say that is up from 1.3 percent, just two weeks ago, so they're already seen that progress, Zain.
ASHER: All right. David Culver standby. I want to go straight now to Scott McLean. So Scott, we know the U.K. is now declaring the coronavirus an
imminent threat, what does that mean in practical terms, in terms of measures that will now be used to keep people safe?
SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Zain. So it's certainly an indication that they are ramping up their response to this coronavirus.
That declaration essentially gives them more tools at their disposal to make sure that people can get into quarantine and there have been certain
quarantine areas that have been set aside as sort of infectious areas where they want to corral this virus.
There is one case in particular that really illustrates how easily this virus could spread. It's the case of one businessman from the U.K. who had
traveled nearly three weeks ago to Singapore for a sales conference for his company. He was in close contact with several people there, and that's
where it's believed that he contracted this virus. From Singapore, he then went on to France where he spent some time in a ski chalet with friends and
family.
And then according to EasyJet, the airline he then traveled 13 days ago today from Geneva, Switzerland to the U.K. The airline says that -- as I
said, that was 13 days ago and no one has shown signs, no one from that flight has tested positive but there were others who were within that ski
chalet in the French Alps who were not so lucky. France today has declared five new cases of the coronavirus linked to that chalet.
The U.K., four cases against linked to the that cluster in France and all of those go back to that initial contraction of this virus in Singapore.
And it's not just this one case, that same company that this man works for says that there were other employees who traveled to other countries who
also managed to take this virus home. In the media in the U.K., this person in some cases has been labeled a super spreader, though.
I spoke with experts today who takes serious issue with that term. And the reason being is because we don't know enough about this virus. Yes,
generally, every person who has the virus will then pass it on to two or three other people but there's some variation there. Some people may pass
it on to no one, others may pass it on to a much higher number. And so it's not clear whether this is natural variation, whether he is just more
infectious sheds the virus more easily than other people.
Or he was just in contact with more people and it's just a numbers game, the more people you're in contact with, the more likely you are to spread
the virus. The other issue here is what type of stigma this person is going to face once this is all over. They're concerned, the experts are concerned
that if we label these types of people who infect a lot of others as super spreaders, that they'll be sort of stuck with this stigma and that maybe
other people who potentially have also passed on the virus to others maybe are reluctant to come forward with their own diagnosis, which obviously
doesn't help officials get a handle on it in the first place. Zain?
ASHER: Yes. And we saw in the case of the American couple that Will Ripley interviewed that with a husband and wife, the wife contracted the
coronavirus, and the husband didn't despite both of them sharing the same bed for a number of days. So you just don't know. Scott McLean live for us
there. Thank you so much.
For all the latest and up to the minute, update, head on over to CNN.com. Learn about how China is turning to a sophisticated playbook to control the
Wuhan virus.
[11:15:04]
ASHER: From drones to severe punishments for violating quarantine orders. The one thing it cannot fully control though, is of course the narrative.
According to one economist, the fast spreading virus could shave more than $280 billion from the global economy in the first quarter.
Coming up later on CNN, my colleague, Richard Quest is going to be having a special edition of Quest means business. He'll speak to some of the world's
top travel executives, CEOs, chief economist as the world counts the cost of the coronavirus. That's tonight 8:00 p.m. in the evening if you are
watching from London. Midnight if you are watching from Abu Dhabi.
Still ahead on CONNECT THE WORLD.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): I'm so happy that the movie has won the best picture.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ASHER: Jubilation there. South Korean dark comedy shakes up the Oscars status quo.
Also ahead. One day before the New Hampshire primary, the Democratic presidential contenders declare open warfare on each other. That's next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ASHER: Now's the race for the White House after playing nice for month and pledging to focus on President Trump and not attack each other. The
Democrats vying to be the next U.S. president are turning the heat up on each other. All this comes a day ahead of the first presidential primary in
New Hampshire. Right now the candidates are crisscrossing the state, making their final pitch to voters.
Bernie Sanders is focusing on Pete Buttigieg ahead of the vote. His campaign is planning to call for a partial recanvas of the results after
finishing with two fewer delegates than Buttigieg in Iowa. Meantime, in New Hampshire, 24 delegates are up for grabs. Sanders is on top in the latest
poll there with Buttigieg in second place. Elizabeth Warren and Joe Biden are battling for first place.
President Donald Trump is also headed to New Hampshire few hours to fire up his supporters after his Senate impeachment acquittal. The President is
using the power of his office to retaliate against two witnesses who testified during the House inquiry. He removes Lieutenant Kendall Alexander
Venneman and E.U. Ambassador Gordon Sondland. CNN is learning that they were both planning to exit the White House.
[11:20:05]
ASHER: But the President did not want them to go so quietly. So before we get into all of that, I want to go straight down to Abby Phillip, she's
going to talk to us about the Democratic presidential primary there in New Hampshire. So the big question, Abby, is Mayor Pete Buttigieg for real, was
Iowa fluke? We will know, know more than 24 hours from now.
ABBY PHILLIP, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: That's right. We have just one day left until the Hampshire voters go to the polls. But it's clear here
that in this state, there's a lot of momentum behind the Buttigieg campaign, but also several of the other candidates including Bernie
Sanders, who did very well here four years ago. And Amy Klobuchar, who had a very strong debate and has seen some pretty big crowds in the last
several days.
So there's clearly momentum here but New Hampshire voters want to decide for themselves and a lot of them are coming out to give these candidates a
final look, and they're also hearing a lot more contrast from the candidates, all of them really making it more clear how they differ from
each other. We've had Joe Biden more aggressively going after Pete Buttigieg on the issue of experiencing that he's a small town mayor, he
does not have the kind of experience that is needed to be President of the United States.
And Buttigieg essentially replying, you know, may all experiences exactly the kind of thing that Washington needs. But Buttigieg himself has been
taking aim at Bernie Sanders, making a much more direct pitch to voters who might be interested in Sanders by pointing out in Buttigieg's view that
Sanders is not being transparent about the cost of his plans. He's also used a line on the stump in the last several days that voters do not have
to choose between a revolution and the status quo, that there's something in the middle.
So, the gloves are off for these candidates on the last day and I think for voters, it's going to be a tough decision because Iowa is kind of seen a
little bit as a sort of unsettled race. It ended in a virtual tie, New Hampshire voters have an opportunity here tomorrow to clarify exactly where
these candidates stand in this race right now.
ASHER: All right, Abby. Stand by. I want to bring in Stephen Collinson, and he's joining us live now. So, Stephen, I mean, everybody is looking closely
at Joe Biden. Where does he go from here? Obviously, New Hampshire is heavily, heavily white. So he's really looking ahead to South Carolina
because that is where black supporters he's hoping will come to rally around him. The big question is, after not doing well, in Iowa, and
potentially coming third or fourth in New Hampshire, will the black supporters in South Carolina wait for Joe Biden?
STEPHEN COLLINSON, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: That's the big question whether Biden's narrative of being the only person that can beat Trump can
survive two big losses in Iowa and New Hampshire. I think the race for third and fourth in New Hampshire is going to be very interesting. If Biden
can somehow come in third behind Sanders and Buttigieg at least he can say look, Sanders is a local Senator.
He's from Massachusetts across the border from New Hampshire. Everybody knows him, that will give Biden at least it may stop the bleeding, it will
give him a plausible spin line. If Biden comes in fourth, or even fifth behind Amy Klobuchar, that would basically mean that he's not even the
second strongest candidate in the moderate lane of the Democratic Party. I think then, the idea that he can hang on to South Carolina, and it's going
to really help him will really come under scrutiny, the narrative will be of a campaign in crisis.
In that case, South Carolina, which is on the 29th of this month, would become a last stand for Biden, rather than what the campaign was hoping all
along would be a show strength that catapults him into the national primary on Super Tuesday, a few days later, and really helps him clinch the
nomination. So even though Biden is clearly not going to win in New Hampshire barring some huge upset, it's very important how far behind the
other candidates he actually comes.
ASHER: I want to talk about all the attacks because former Vice President Joe Biden, in a new digital ad is actually attacking Mayor Pete Buttigieg's
lack of experience. Let's listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: When President Obama called on him, Joe Biden helped lead the passage of the Affordable Care Act which give healthcare to 20
million people. And when parkgoers called on Pete Buttigieg, he installed decorative lights under bridges, giving citizens of South Bend colorfully
illuminated rivers.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ASHER: So obviously, he's going off, Mayor Pete Buttigieg because of his lack of experience. He's only been a mayor of a small town, but here's the
thing, does experience matter anymore In the post-Trump era? What are your thoughts?
COLLINSON: I think you put your finger there. I can't remember the last time that kind of argument actually worked in a presidential election.
Attacking someone for inexperience. Inexperience is also a synonym in presidential politics for freshness. And being an outsider. Hillary Clinton
tried the same attack on Barack Obama in 2008. Remember all that stuff about the 2:00 a.m. alarm call, who would you like to pick up the phone in
the White House if there was a global crisis?
[11:25:07]
COLLINSON: It didn't work with Obama in the 1992 race. Bill Clinton who was inexperienced as a governor of Arkansas, but didn't have any D.C.
experience. He'd be the most experienced Washington insider we've seen for many years, George H.W. Bush. I just don't think it necessarily connects
with voters. And it -- what it does is it shows someone like Biden, or Amy Klobuchar, who makes this kind of argument.
It shows them a little bit out of touch. They see every day in Washington, the value of experience, the difficult choices they make as Senators. A lot
of the rest of the country sees that experience as a symptom of somebody that's in the political process, which they see as indifferent and not
really responding to their views and their aspirations. So it's a two-edged sword.
I just don't think it's a very powerful argument these days in the President's politics.
(CROSSTALK)
ASHER: Go ahead, go ahead. I'm sorry, Stephen.
COLLINSON: I was just gonna say as you said, Donald Trump used his experience as a calling card when he won the election in 2016. And the
whole point about Trump was he wasn't a Washington politician. And I think, you know, attacking Buttigieg on those grounds is just not going to work.
ASHER: Yes. I think it's going to backfire, too. But I'm glad you brought up Amy Klobuchar because I'm just so -- I'm so interested in how her
presence changes the dynamic of the race, because it's being said that she's taking women voters away from Elizabeth Warren, she's taking
moderates away from Pete Buttigieg and Joe Biden, what -- how is her presence just shaking everything up for everyone?
COLLINSON: So if you start from the premise that she doesn't seem very likely to win the presidential race, she's actually helping to fracture the
vote of the moderate candidates, that can help somebody like Bernie Sanders, for example, who we think is probably got a -- an embedded 25
percent of the vote guaranteed in somewhere like New Hampshire. So if you get 10 percent going to Klobuchar, 15 percent going to Biden, some
moderates might go for Warren.
And then you have -- perhaps Buttigieg taking 20 percent. You can see how the disunity on the one side of the party is actually helping Bernie
Sanders. That's worrying a lot of people in the Democratic Party who believe that Sanders as a Democratic socialist, a proud Democratic
socialist is tracking far too far to the left for the general election electorate and would be a gift for President Donald Trump.
So I think that's the case. You know, that -- that's what's worrying a lot of Democrats that Klobuchar while she appears to be rising, may not be able
to win anywhere, and may not really have a state where she can really latch on to after New Hampshire, but she's still helping Sanders by fracturing
the moderate Democratic vote.
ASHER: And I was just looking at the polls that came on the screen. You just -- you got to think that if you're Elizabeth Warren's campaign, you go
to one if you don't have a strong finish in New Hampshire. Where do you go from there? Stephen Collinson live for us there. We got to leave it there.
Thank you.
Widespread flooding is affecting the U.K. after a storm dumps rain and hurricane force winds in parts of Europe. We are tracking the storm Ciara.
We'll tell you where it's headed, next.
Plus, Southeastern Australia is getting record rain which is causing problems like flooding. We'll tell you why it's still a welcome relief to
the entire region.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ASHER: At least one person has died in the U.K. because of storm Ciara. Police say a 58-year-old man was killed when street trees -- excuse me,
fell on his car during the height of the storm on Sunday. The storm is now on its way to Russia, leaving behind the threat of flooding across the U.K.
ITN's Neil Connery has more.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NEIL CONNERY, ITV NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Stone Ciara's arrival lived up to the forecasters warnings. In Yorkshire, the rising waters left residents in a
desperate race to protect their homes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So worried what we're doing, trying to protect as best we can. As you can -- you can see, it's fairly horrendous.
CONNERY: Sirens sounded to alert those living near the river banks of the impending floods.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It actually came over the wall. Hate to think what the situation is going to be like -- yes, quite -- I'm stress.
CONNERY: In between the bands of severe weather, the vast volume of water spilled out wherever it could. Fire and rescue crews did what they could in
the face of the powerful storm.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I can sum it in one word, grim. And that's through the hall of the valley.
CONNERY: Ciara's impact on transport was felt far and wide. At Heathrow, pilots contended with extreme winds. Not every attempt to land first time
proved successful.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Missed approach. Didn't land there. He didn't land there.
CONNERY: On the railway, some lines were blocked by debris like this trampoline, with speed restrictions in place, it was a challenging day for
travelers.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's why we are limited to 52 miles an hour today because of the storm.
CONNERY: In Hastings, this life boat crew battled severe gales as they went to rescue a surfer. Thankfully despite the conditions, the crew and the
surfer all returned safely. In Hoy, on the Scottish borders, this swollen river spelled disaster for this cafe. In North Wales, flooding brought
misery for motorists and residents. Business owners said they'd never seen anything like it.
CRAIG DANIELS, BUSINESS OWNER: Within an hour, it was 4-1/2 foot deep, literally couldn't get to the back room because the kitchen had come off
the wall. The fridge freezer had fallen down over the door.
CONNERY: The forecasters had predicted that storm Ciara would pack a punch, and for much of the country that's been borne out. Here in West Yorkshire,
the cost and the impact of the floods has been devastating.
RACHEL HAYES, RESIDENT, WEST YORKSHIRE: We're safe so far. And all ornaments plants, pets are all upstairs.
CONNERY: Tonight, Rachel Hayes is one of those here counting the cost after her home was flooded.
HAYES: This is terrible. This is going to take months to sort out and this is going to affect a lot of people on this road.
CONNERY: In the deserted streets nearby, storm Ciara's worst may have moved on, but her impact is just sinking in.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ASHER: CNN's Chad Myers joins us live now. So Chad, just walk us through where exactly Ciara is on its way to now and what can residents expect
especially as it heads towards Russia?
[11:30:09]
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes. I mean, the center is now broken up into a couple of pieces. So it isn't what it was just a day ago. So I mean,
we had wind gusts of 200 kilometers per hour. Now, I would suspect we're somewhere in the ballpark of, I would say 90 kilometers. Right now still a
good wind gust. That will still knock down trees and power lines, 175 reports of wind damage, many reports of flooding.
The storm is getting closer to the Ural Mountains at this hour and we'll get the snow up to the north of there and the rain to the south. It is
going to be a cold but still windy storm for the next couple days. Everywhere that you see that dark red, you look up on the map that's 80 KPH
right now. So, 80 KPH moves to the east and then moves away. This was a big storm for this time of year.
And we get them this time of year. I understand that but this was a major storm nearly hurricane or even category to gust at times.
ASHER: And also Chad, I want to just talk about another weather story we're following because there's been record rainfall in Sydney, that is causing
widespread flooding. We know that people have evacuated, several towns in New South Wales, we know that dozens of schools are closed. But
interestingly, this is, you know, sort of welcome news for firefighters there.
MYERS: You know, drought, heat, and now flood. I just don't even know what's next. Yes, at least we did get some rain for the firefighters. But a
lot of this water is just running off not helping drought and creating flash floods here. We still have 65 fires going, the rain is certainly
going to help, Zain. We're going to have a couple of days of rainfall if it would just slow down and rain nicely, but it's not playing nicely.
It's all coming down at once 100 kilometers in, you know, eight or nine hours and that's just too fast for anybody there as the water is just going
to run off. We are going to get here along the coast there of New South Wales, probably somewhere in the ballpark of 150 more millimeters of rain
in the next 48 hours.
ASHER: I will keep an eye on that, Chad Myers live for us there. Thank you.
British Airways has a new record after getting a bit of some help from storm Ciara. One of its Boeing 747 aircraft flew from New York to London in
just four hours and 56 minutes. That is now the fastest ever, fastest ever subsonic flight between the two cities. The overnight flight took off
Saturday and landed in London's Heathrow two hours ahead of schedule with a boost from the storm as it sped towards the U.K.
All right, it's been called a revolution. We'll take a look at the big political shake up happening in Ireland. And what the nationalist Sinn Fein
parties upset means for the country.
Plus, some new legal challenges are on its way in the U.K. after a man convicted of terror-related charges was released early and then went on a
stabbing spree. That's next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[11:40:04]
ASHER: The U.K. government is working on changing a law that allows for the early release of terror offenders. That's after the latest stabbing attack
in London last week, the attacker had been jailed for terrorism-related offenses, but was released after serving half of his sentence. Our
International Diplomatic Editor Nic Robertson is following the story from London. So of course, the new laws I'm sure, Nic, will be welcomed by many.
But the big question is, how do authorities actually stopped convicted terrorists from reoffending once they do leave prison?
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: And I think that is going to form one of the sort of more enduring and bigger pieces of
criticism here. Politicians, Boris Johnson in particular, the government, his government, has been under a lot of pressure, not just the attack by
Sudesh Aman just over a week ago now, but also back in November, Usman Khan, another prisoner who'd been to -- been to jail on radical Islamic
charges.
Released then attacking people then shot dead. There have been attack in a jail in the U.K. in January. So the government under a huge amount of
pressure to move this legislation forward.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTSON: To avoid this, newly released convicts, committing frenzied knife attack been shot dead by police. The government is doing this. New
legislation keeping terror convicts in jail longer.
ROBERT BUCKLAND, U.K. JUSTICE SECERTARY: introducing longer and tougher sentences for serious terrorist offenders. Ending release for them before
the end of their custodial term.
ROBERTSON: Reaction has been swift pointing up problems. The government's own former reviewer of terror legislation says the new law keeping convicts
longer than they all the judge expected may prove illegal.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What's proposed will definitely be attacked in the courts. It's already clear that will be litigation. And I couldn't possibly
predict that the outcome will be favorable to the government.
ROBERTSON: And not just a legal, missing a fundamental issue. Jails have become hot houses for radicalization, says former politician and counter
radical organizer, Fiyaz Mughal.
FIYAZ MUGHAL, DIRECTOR, FAITH MATTERS: The fact is these prisoners are allowed to come together around some of the most charismatic Islamist
extremists you have. That's got to stop.
ROBERTSON: Terror convict Muhammad Wahhabi was one of those charismatic prisoners. Got de-radicalized in jail. In this interview conducted 10 days
before the most recent terror attack, he warned of dangerous to come because government de-radicalization in jails is failing.
WAHABI MOHAMMED, DERADICALIZED TERROR CONVICT: Unfortunately, they haven't produced the results that you want because it is just turning everything
into a machine conveyor belt.
ROBERTSON: Usman Raja who counseled and help de-radicalize Wahabi Mohammed also interviewed 10 days before the most recent attack had the same somber
prediction.
Is de-radicalization taking place in jails?
USMAN RAJA, BRITISH-PAKISTANI CAGE-FIGHTING COACH: There is definitely radicalization taking place in jails.
ROBERTSON: So if we don't tackle this phenomenon, then there's going to be more cases like the Usman Khan getting out of jail and killing people.
RAJA: Yes. There's going to be more cases.
ROBERTSON: Over the past year, successive governments have failed to successfully tackle radicalization in jails. The government's most recent
report in 2016, called for 69 changes. only a fraction of those have been fully implemented. And the problem is getting worse. A recent U.N. report
predicts as many a thousand terror convicts could be released across Europe this year. Not enough is being done to figure out what works according to
Lord Carlile.
LORD CARLILE, DIRECTOR, S.C. STRATEGY LIMITED: We don't know whether it's fit for purpose.
ROBERTSON: Why?
CARLILE: Because there is not being the quality analysis that is needed to tell us whether it's fit for purpose. It certainly needs to be examined.
ROBERTSON: Bottom line, until new legislation is backed up by new de- radicalization initiatives. Experts say the public are still in danger.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTSON: So the political ramifications if you will, for getting this wrong, a huge but what the -- clearly they got the step the government has
taken is to protect them in the short term. And I think the expectation is there, they will try to make more changes in the future. Is this going to
be a stopgap or will there be something else? That's the question right now.
ASHER: And, Nic, before I let you go, I want to turn now to the Irish general election because we're learning that National Party -- Nationalist
Party, rather Shinn Fein declaring a major victory. They've won 29 seats so far, that is more than double or roughly around double their nearest
rivals. Just walk us through this. Is this a political revolution? What are your thoughts?
[11:45:04]
ROBERTSON: It's a -- it's a significant change in the politics of the Republic of Ireland. There's
no doubt about it. If you think about it this way, the two political powerhouses in the -- in the Republic of Ireland since it was created 100
years ago, have remained the same. And Shinn Fein campaigned against them, this time calling for change. People saw these older parties, Fina Gael is
power, Fianna Fail as well as being part of the old establishment that weren't able to bring that important change on housing, on healthcare and
other issues like that.
Sinn Fein has been able to campaign on that very successfully, but their policies are quite different to these sort of center right of center
parties. They are -- they are socialists, they're also much more inclined to want to speed up the unification of Ireland, the Republican Party if you
will, and that's going to change the narrative. So when they say they've done something huge, they have -- they've won the popular vote.
That's their claim, they'd certainly the most popular party, they didn't feel enough candidates to be able to -- it -- to be able to sort of come
out with the most T.D.'s. M.P.'s if you will. They didn't feel enough candidates to do that. But they have been incredibly successful. This is a
step change to the politics of Ireland.
ASHER: Nic Robertson live for us there. Thank you. Ahead on CONNECT THE WORLD. Videos of fathers fixing their daughter's hair inspire the filmmaker
to capture, it's important but when he couldn't find the funding, he found something bigger. Public support all the way to an Oscar.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ASHER: It was a historic night at the Academy Awards after growing calls for more diversity at the Oscars. A non-English language film has won best
picture. Parasite, the South Korean film exploring income inequality. It made history at the 92nd Academy Awards on Sunday. The Oscars of course,
drawn criticism, a lot of criticism in recent years for its lack of diversity and have become a platform for politics.
And while the top acting awards went to white actors. The night took an unexpected turn. The dark comedy earned the top award. Our correspondent
Stephanie Elam was on the red carpet at the Academy Awards. She joins us live now from L.A. So, Stephanie, I was so moved not just about the
Parasite one, but at the director's acceptance speech because he really made it clear that there were so many other directors in the audience who
lifted him up.
He talked about studying the films of Martin Scorsese, and the fact that Quentin Tarantino, when he was nothing, Quentin Tarantino looked out for
him and helps bring him up.
STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. I mean, it was so great, Zain, like, in the middle of him accepting his award for directing that he
actually managed to get a standing ovation from Martin Scorsese there. He just a very generous man from what I have learned from the people who are
around him. I talked to him all award season long. And really, that was the big story coming out of the Oscars was just how much Parasite role to this
big crescendo of a win. But to just wrap it all up for you, take a look at how Oscars went.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
[11:50:03]
JANE FONDA, AMERICAN ACTRESS: And the Oscar goes to Parasite.
ELAM: A historic victory at the Oscars last night, as the South Korean film Parasite became the first non-English language film to take home Best
Picture.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I feel like a very opportune moment in history is happening right now.
ELAM: The Academy lowering the lights during the film's acceptance speech. The crowd demanding they let the winners finish. Parasite Director Bong
Joon-ho also winning Best Director and Best Original Screenplay. And the newly titled category, Best International feature film.
The glass ceiling has been broken. You said that you're feeling pretty good. How are you feeling right now?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think we destroyed the barrier too much. We should have taken our time actually.
ELAM: Before acting awards did not offer many surprises.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The Oscar goes to Renee Zellweger.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Joaquin Phoenix, Joker.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Laura Dern, Marriage Stone.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Brad Pitt. Once Upon a Time In Hollywood.
ELAM: But the night wasn't without his political statements.
BRAD PITT, AMERICAN ACTOR: They told me I only have 45 seconds up here, which is 45 seconds more than the Senate gave John Bolton this week.
ELAM: And jokes too.
STEVE MARTIN, COMEDIAN: A couple of years ago, there was a big disaster here at the Oscars where they accidentally read out the wrong name. And it
was nobody's fault, but they have guarantee that this will not happen this year because the Academy is switch to the new Iowa caucus app.
ELAM: The show opening with a high-octane musical number by Janelle Monae.
Incorporating the lack of diversity and Oscar nominations right into her number.
JANELLE MONAE, AMERICAN SINGER-SONGWRITER: We celebrate all the women who directed phenomenal films.
ELAM: Actress Natalie Portman highlighting the all-male directing category wearing a cape with the names of women who directed critically acclaimed
films, but were not nominated this year. The call for more female voices in Hollywood was clear.
NATALIE PORTMAN, AMERICAN ACTRESS: To the girls, to the women, to the mothers, to the daughters, who hear the music bubbling within. Please speak
up. We need to hear your voices.
ELAM: The show was hostless again this year but Steve Martin and Chris Rock performed an opening monologue that also noted the lack of diversity and
nominees.
CHRIS ROCK, AMEICAN COMEDIAN: Cynthia did such a great job in Harriet hiding black people that the Academy got her to hide all the black
nominees.
ELAM: The Oscars also saw some light-hearted moments with James Corden and Rebel Wilson, addressing their recent box office flop.
REBEL WILSON, REBEL WILSON AUSTRALIAN ACTRESS: As cast members of the motion picture Cats.
JAMES CORDEN, ENGLISH ACTOR: Nobody more than us understands the importance of goods visual effects.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ASHER: And actually on the more sort of serious matter of diversity, Oscar winner Matthew Cherry brought DeAndre Arnold as his special guest.
Definitely Arnold recently made headlines with his high school told him that his dreadlocks was too long for the school's dress code. The school
also said he would have to cut them in order to walk in his graduation. But this is important, he refused. He said no.
And that proved to be basically a good luck charm of sorts because he ended up going to the Oscars and it's such because he was invited by Gabrielle
Union and it's such a message of pride in who you are and self-love as well. That's the message that was being sent here.
ELAM: Oh, for sure. And on top of it, I mean hair love is about a black fathers animated, that's what it won for, as an animated short. Having to
do his daughter's hair for the first time when mom is really the big hairstylist for their daughter, but it's a very touching story and they
wanted to say normalize all the different styles that black hair can come in. And that's part of what this sort of backlash is about DeAndre is that
they're saying he can't walk in graduation because he has dreadlocks, which it for him is actually part of his heritage to having this hairstyle like
his father.
So, this was something that really did resonate and talking to the filmmakers Matthew and also Karen Rupert Oliver about this. They felt very
strongly about this and they just sort of like wove it together. And so that was a big window. The fact that they won because they were up against
Pixar for Kitbull which a lot of people thought was going to win. So this was a really big win that they had there on top of it with DeAndre coming.
And overall, like, you know, the topic of diversity when you look at Parasite winning as well. Think about it, this is the first South Korean
film to be nominated category and it won. There were so many wins here. So this is a level of diversity we haven't seen. Now, maybe there's plenty of
work to be done but still we are seeing progress in some ways and the fact that you're having a movie that foreign language film taking away these top
prizes.
[11:55:11]
ASHER: And just going back to the sort of Oscars So White controversy, we saw a number of people just talking about the fact that the Oscars does
need to become more diverse now instead of just talking about it because obviously, you know, talk could only change so much. What can members the
academy, actors and actresses who won yesterday, what can they actually do to implement change?
ELAM: The problem is when you look at Oscar So White is that you're looking at what has been nominated out of the past year, what needs to be
addressed, or what kind of roles are being offered up to Asians? What kind of directing opportunities are there for Latinos? The point is to look at
it more wholeheartedly deep inside before you can just focus on the Oscars if you ask me but that's the problem that Hollywood itself has to address
ASHER: All right. Stephanie Elam live for us. Thank you. That was CONNECTE THE WORLD. Thanks for watching. I'm Zain Asher.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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