Americans Return From Cruise Ship Hit by Coronavirus; Big Turnout for Early Voting in Nevada Caucuses; Former Justice Department Officials Call on William Barr to Resign; President Trump Serves as Grand Marshal at major NASCAR race; African Americans in Nevada Prepare to Choose Candidates; Quarantined Passengers Finally Touches U.S. Soil; Democrats with High Hopes in Primary States
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is CNN breaking news.</s>ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everyone. I'm Rosemary Church. And you're looking at these pictures came in just moments ago, in fact, from Travis Air Force Base in California, and that's where many of the Americans quarantined on a cruise ship previously in Japan because of the coronavirus have just landed. Now they are now expected to spend another 14 days under quarantine. The U.S> says 14 of the evacuees tested positive for the virus just before that flight and will move to a specialized containment area on one of the planes. Now all this comes as the number of infections and deaths continues to rise. Officials say another 105 people died in mainland China on Sunday, bringing the global death toll to more than 1,700. At least 71,000 cases have been confirmed worldwide. The vast majority of those in China. Now for more let's turn now to our correspondents. Will Ripley is in Yokohama, Japan where that cruise ship, the Diamond Princess is docked, and Kristie Lu Stout joins us from Hong Kong. Good to see you both. So, Will, let's start with you. And of course, now we have confirmation that this plane has landed at Travis Air Base. And to great relief no doubt to all on those on board, but unfortunately for them they now start another round of 14 days of quarantine but they must feel relieved at least knowing they are one step closer to going home.</s>WILL RIPLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely, Rosemary. We haven't been able to speak with any of the passengers yet because obviously their phones were switched off during the 10-hour flight from Hamada airport here in the Tokyo area to Travis Air Force base which is northeast of San Francisco. But certainly it's got to be a relief that they've landed in the United States. It was quite an ordeal to get them to this point. First there is, you know, nearly two weeks of quarantine on board the Diamond Princess. Most of the time spent in their cramped cabin, just maybe an hour outside every couple of days. Then when they got word that the U.S. government was sending in charter flights to evacuate them, that was welcome news followed by unwelcome news for many that, you know, what they had been told repeatedly that after they finished the quarantine period on the ship they would be allowed to go straight home. That has now changed. The U.S. government saying that they have to out of an abundance of caution put these people in a new 14-day quarantine at either at Travis Air Force base in California or a military in Texas. And in fact, the flight is still in the air and should be landing in Texas within the next hour, an hour and a half or so. But to get from the cruise ship to those planes, even though the airport is just 20-minute drive or so from here, was it took nearly 10 hours. They had to wait on buses, a convoy of buses that was outside the cruise ship. Some of them in excess of three hours. No access to bathrooms. Tempers were definitely flaring. Passengers were getting into, you know, kind of confrontations with the Centers for Disease Control officials who were just trying to do their jobs, trying to keep everybody kindly of safely in place. And then when passengers get on this flight, obviously this is probably not like the flights that they had booked home for themselves when they thought that this was going to be the end of a vacation that turned into a holiday from hell, they're riding in a cargo cabin. They had to dress in layers, they had to bring their own food, the toilets that were set up were kind of this makeshift portable toilets, the see-through temporary seats. But now they have landed, the flight is over. If they did get any sleep it probably wasn't great sleep because the seats were packed together. And it didn't look comfortable from the video that I was seeing. But now they are going to at some point, I'm sure it's going to be hours more processing, but at some point they're going to get to accommodations where they can have a bed, they'll be on dry land and they will be under the care of doctors that they can more easily communicate with than the doctors here in Japan. And so, there are some who are really happy that this has happened, who are grateful to the United States government for finally bringing people home off of a ship where health officials have acknowledged they have a higher risk of infection. But yet it's not over. They're not able yet, Rosemary, to return back to their lives. Their lives have essentially been on hold and they will continue to be on hold for another 14 days at least.</s>CHURCH: Absolutely. But at least as we've said, they are back on U.S. soil. They are one step closer to home. We will be watching their progress. Will Ripley bringing us the very latest there from Yokohama. Many thanks. So, let's go now to CNN's Kristie Lu Stout. She joins us live from Hong Kong. And of course, Kristie, it's understandable they would have to go into another 14 days of quarantine, particularly now with this news that an additional the Americans who were on board that plane have been found to -- confirmed cases of coronavirus. So, talk to us about the overall numbers, the latest numbers you're getting in on those who have died and, of course, the infections.</s>KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely. Precautions must be taken as the outbreak continues to grow all across the world. As of now, the coronavirus has infected more than 71,000 people. The global death toll has risen to 1,770 with those 100 additional deaths that were reported by health authorities in Hubei province this morning. Hubei being, of course, the epicenter of this corona outbreak. China's national health commission, they are set to release the latest numbers for all of the provinces in China that is yet to be released. We will continue to monitor that for you. Now, this all follows the spike in numbers last week, that was after Hubei expanded the criteria in counting new infections. And that just added to this massive and ongoing debate about just how reliable and accurate the data is coming from mainland China. Now, again, the global death toll stands at 1,770. The mass majority of those deaths is in mainland China. But outside the mainland we now know five people have died in Hong Kong, Philippines, Japan, and as of this last weekend, France and Taiwan as well. In a hospital in Paris, France, an 80-year-old Chinese tourist died while he was in quarantine in hospital. That was the first death outside Asia. And on Sunday a man in Taiwan, he was in his mid-60s, died. He is the first confirmed death in Taiwan from the coronavirus and worryingly, he had no history of travel to mainland China. Now crucially, as we continue to report this story, we must report this. We also learned that Chinese President Xi Jinping knew about the outbreak in early January. This according to a transcript of a speech he made last month. It was published over the weekend. Previously it was thought that Xi only found out about the center of the outbreak in late January, and this revelation is very significant because it exposes Beijing and the Chinese central government to getting blamed for ignoring the risk for not acting sooner as the outbreak spreads around the world. Rosemary?</s>CHURCH: Yes, and we saw this previously with the SARS outbreak. It is unfortunate because we need that transparency globally with anything like this. Kristie Lu Stout bringing us the very latest there from Hong Kong. Many thanks. Well, accusations of political interference in the U.S. Justice Department are intensifying. In an extraordinary public statement, former Justice Department officials are calling for Attorney General Bill Barr's resignation. Jeremy Diamond has our report.</s>JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, a firestorm of controversy is continuing around Attorney General Bill Barr's decision to intervene in that politically sensitive case involving the president's political advisor Roger Stone. Barr taking that extraordinary action to reverse a sentencing recommendation from career prosecutors, and now we are seeing more than 1,100 career Department of Justice officials, former Justice Department officials, some of them prosecutors, career, some of them political appointees. But having served in both Democratic and Republican administrations. And essentially what they say in this statement is that while it's all well and good for Barr to be coming out and criticizing the president's use of Twitter to talk about some of these cases, putting him in a difficult position, they're saying that ultimately Barr's actions are what really matter. Here's what they say. "Mr. Barr's actions in doing the president's personal bidding unfortunately speak louder than his words. Those actions and the damage they have done to the Department of Justice's reputation for integrity and the rule of law, require Mr. Barr to resign." Now, the White House for its part has spent a couple of days insisting that the relationship between the president and the attorney general is on solid footing despite Barr's rebuke of the president's use of social media as it relates to the Department of Justice. What we are also seeing is the White House insisting that the president has confidence in Barr, but also a little bit of push back on what Barr was saying. Here's the vice-president's chief of staff Marc Short making that point.</s>MARC SHORT. CHIEF OF STAFF TO VICE PRESIDENT MIKE PENCE: I don't think that it's impossible to do his job. In fact, I think Attorney General Barr is doing a great job. He has a lot of confidence inside the White House. I think that the president's frustration is one that a lot of Americans have which feels like the scales of justice are not balanced any more. There has been a bias inside the Department of Justice that Attorney General Barr is trying to correct. I think that he has said the president has not called him directly to say, please do these things. He has acted independently to initiate these reviews and I think he's doing a fantastic job with it.</s>DIAMOND: Now I asked the president on Sunday as he returned to the White House whether he would heed his attorney general's advice in terms of stopping his tweets about the Justice Department and Justice Department cases. The president did not answer my question as he walked back into the White House. And the president has already made it quite clear that he has no intention of changing his behavior. In the wake of Barr's comments about the president's use of Twitter as it relates to the Justice Department, the president tweeted that, while Barr said that he had not asked him to intervene in any criminal cases at the Justice Department, the president maintains that he has the right to do so. Jeremy Diamond, CNN, the White House.</s>CHURCH: Democratic presidential candidates are now focusing on Nevada. The caucuses this Saturday will offer results from a diverse state as opposed to Iowa and New Hampshire. And that could shake up the results we've seen so far. Voters appear to be eager to cast their votes. There were long lines for early caucusing. The chairman says the party has worked around the clock to make sure they don't have the same problems experienced in Iowa. Arlette Saenz is in North Las Vegas covering Joe Biden. Athena Jones is in Carson City with the latest on Sanders campaign. So, let's start with Arlette first.</s>ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN POLITICAL REPORTER: Nevada is the first test of Joe Biden's argument that he will perform better in states with a more diverse demographics, Latinos make up a significant amount of the population here in Nevada. And over the weekend, to that point, Biden spent the weekend courting both Latino and African-American voters, saying that it's time that their voices be heard. Biden is also making a strong push when it comes to union support, trying to bring those workers on board. He's made several back-of-house stops, visits at casinos here, and he's also been talking about health care, stressing that his plan would allow union workers to keep their negotiated plans that they've worked out through their unions. Take a listen to what he's had to say.</s>JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We're not going to tell all of you breaking your neck and giving up wages and giving up salaries in order to be able to have health care through your employer and you've worked like the devil for it. You're not going to be required to give it up like the others do. Medicare for all requires you to give it up.</s>SAENZ: Now, Biden's campaign views Nevada as a launching pad towards the nomination. They are pouring more resources here into the state as they are trying to get a stronger finish than those disappointing losses in Iowa and New Hampshire. Biden telling me he doesn't think he necessarily needs to come in first place, but he does think he has a shot at winning. Arlette Saenz, CNN, Las Vegas.</s>ATHENA JONES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi there. We are in Carson City, Nevada. This is one of the places where Senator Sanders has been pushing to get out the vote. Early caucusing here in Nevada began on Saturday and it goes until Tuesday. And so, one of the things that Sanders campaign is hoping for is that his supporters will go straight from a rally like this one here in Carson City and go straight to the early caucusing sites. Now, I should mention that Bernie Sanders lost Nevada to Hillary Clinton in 2016, but he did very well in the northern part of the state. That's where we are. He won Carson City and he won other northern counties like Washoe County which is where Reno is, only half an hour from here. One of the most interesting things we saw from today's rally was to see Senator Sanders going after some of his opponents. We've seen him doing that more and more, drawing contrasts with some of the other people that these voters may be deciding among. So, he attacked Pete Buttigieg, saying that he's raising money from millionaires and billionaires and he also went after Mike Bloomberg, the former mayor of New York, for what he called his support for racist policies like stop and frisk. We heard that from Senator Sanders himself and from the current mayor of New York City Bill de Blasio, also slamming Bloomberg. That sparked a lot of boos in the crowd. And it's no accident that Sanders is bringing up an issue like this here in Nevada. Nevada is the first truly diverse state of the states to vote so far. Of course, Iowa and New Hampshire are largely white states, more than 90 percent white. Hispanic voters make up about -- or Hispanics make up 30 percent of the population here in Nevada. And in 2016 Sanders won the Latino vote. He won 53 percent of that vote. And so, this is the sort of criticism of an opponent that could really resonate here in Nevada. Back to you.</s>CHURCH: Thanks so much for that. Well, Natasha Lindstaedt is joining us now. She is a professor of government at the University of Essex in England. Good to have you with us.</s>NATASHA LINDSTAEDT, PROFESSOR OF GOVERNMENT, UNIVERSITY OF ESSEX: Thanks for having me.</s>CHURCH: So, the Nevada caucuses just days away and polls are showing Bernie Sanders in the lead. There is also increased concerns that we may see a repeat of the Iowa debacle. If that happens and if Sanders wins Nevada, perhaps goes ahead and wins the nomination, the big question here for all Democrats is can he beat Donald Trump. What's the answer to that? And who, if he can't, is better positioned to do so?</s>LINDSTAEDT: That's a really important question. Of course, there is a big difference between Bernie Sanders in 2016 and 2020. I actually think in 2016 he might have been able to beat Trump. He seemed to resonate with the same types of people who ended up voting for Trump in 2016. Now we have a completely different landscape and we're seeing Sanders being portrayed on the right side from Trump and his team. As a socialist, as someone who is incredibly dangerous and they are trying to play upon people's fears of what he's going to do. Particularly to talk to independents. Of course, Trump's base is always going to vote for him. But it's really a battle for these independent voters. And the question is whether or not Sanders appears as too extreme. That's, of course, what Biden is talking about. Biden's campaign was about the fact that he felt he was best suited to actually beat Trump in 2020. But we're seeing his campaign in complete disarray at the moment. He's really dropping in terms of the national support where he has somewhere around 17 percent support in terms of the average of all the national polls and Sanders is up to 23 percent. We're also seeing Biden dip in terms of the support that he has from African- Americans. And Sanders going up by 10 percent and Biden going down by 10 percent. With Biden only having about 21 percent support from African-American voters to Sanders' 32 percent. So, the polls aren't really looking good for Biden at the moment. They are looking great for Sanders. He's likely to come out on top in Nevada, which is a very diverse state as had been reported, about a third or 27 percent or so Hispanic, 8 or 9 percent African-American. That's supposed to be where Biden does well but we're seeing him faltering in all categories.</s>CHURCH: But as you point out, there's a lot of concern about Bernie Sanders. So, who do you think is better positioned or best positioned in the whole lineup of Democratic presidential hopefuls to beat Trump?</s>LINDSTAEDT: Originally, I thought it was Biden all the way because of how well he was doing in the polls in the swing states, in particular in the Midwest in states like Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan and Wisconsin. He was doing really well in the polls head to head against Trump. And that was basically what lost Hillary Clinton the election in 2016. But his campaign has just been falling apart. If he can't win the nomination, obviously he can't beat Trump. He seems to not be able to get off to a good start. South Carolina is going to be really important. I'm also looking to Bloomberg. Bloomberg might be able to beat Trump, but, of course, he has to get past the primaries. And he's had sort of this weird campaign, lots of money that he's putting into the campaign which some people find to be problematic and the fact that the Democrats are changing the rules to include him. And he had been a Republican in the past. He's not really a Democrat. He sort of changed and has become a Democrat more recently. But he's the other candidate that does really well head to head against Trump. Sanders, it just depends on the poll that you look at. Sometimes he seems like he has a chance, but other times it looks like he's quite a vulnerable candidate. If we even look to the case of Nevada, we have the top union --</s>CHURCH: Right.</s>LINDSTAEDT: -- concerned about his Medicare for all plan. So, he has a lot of vulnerabilities to be worried about.</s>CHURCH: Yes. You mentioned Michael Bloomberg. And of course, he is rising in the national polls. As he does that his Democratic rivals are increasing their attacks on him of course, seizing on the former New York City mayor for his past comments on women, race and policing. And then of then, of course, there was the Washington Post that reviewed thousands of pages of court documents, and this coming from the most high-profile case of a former saleswoman who sued Bloomberg and his company after she told him she was pregnant. And he responded by saying, kill it. the plaintiff asked Bloomberg to repeat himself, and again, he said kill it and muttered great, number 16. He was meaning there that it was the 16th woman in his employ to fall pregnant. And Bloomberg also allegedly said that his company's financial information computers will do everything including give you oral sex. I guess that puts a lot of you girls out of business, he added. You know, when you look at this, what impact do you expect it to have on Bloomberg's campaign and his chances? Because they're going to keep doing this to the very end, aren't they? They see him as a threat.</s>LINDSTAEDT: They definitely do see him as a threat. And we're seeing Democratic candidates really go after him because of his record is just so problematic. With some of the things already mentioned in the report, the stop and frisk program in New York City, and the fact that he just is very conservative and hasn't had such a great record in terms of things that are relevant to the Me Too movement. As you mention, that's what's going to make it difficult for him to win the nomination and that is going to be the big obstacle for him because I actually think that if he did win the nomination, a lot of these issues -- Trump faces the same types of accusations. And so, it would almost cancel out. It would be really a race to see if they can get the independent vote and then, of course, Michael Bloomberg would have to work really, really hard to bring out Democratic supporters. And we also have to remember this X factor, is that Bernie supporters, many of them just didn't vote in 2016. They were so upset about that. So, the Democrats have to be careful to not alienate the base, but also not alienate the independents as well.</s>CHURCH: That's going to be interesting. We'll be watching it all the way. Natasha Lindstaedt, thank you so much for your analysis. I appreciate it.</s>LINDSTAEDT: Thanks for having me.</s>CHURCH: Well, storm Dennis has disrupted travel, forced evacuations and caused flooding across the United Kingdom. When we come back, we'll find out where it's headed next. Back in a moment.