hello. welcome to our viewers joining us here in the united states and all around the world. you're watching cnn newsroom and i'm rosemary church. just ahead, the republic-led senate acquits the president. for democrats, he's impeached forever. for republicans, the president has been vindicated. mitt romney was the only republican who voted to convict donald trump and his abuse of power. and he is facing political backlash. plus, a cruise ship in japan becomes a floating quarantine zone after some passengers test

positive for coronavirus. ♪ well, donald trump's re-election campaign is claiming total vindication after the u.s. senate voted to acquit him of abuse of power, and obstruction of congress charges. the president plans to talk about what he calls the victory on the impeachment hoax in the day ahead. and he tweeted this familiar peopl meme, which he uses to annoy democrats, implying he will run for re-election well beyond two terms. after wednesday's vote, mitch mcconnell refused to say if he thought the president's conduct was inappropriate. >> we've completed it. we listened to the arguments. we voted.

it's in the rear-view mirror. what's inpoept is for ways where it all began, the political impact on it. >> there's a giant asterisk next to the president's acquittal. thes a ri s asterisk says he wad without facts. he was acquitted without a fair trial. his acquittal is valueless. >> his acquittal sparked protests in several cities. this small crowd gathers outside of the u.s. capitol. and in new york, police arrested at least eight people for disorderly conduct outside of the trump international hotel. another group of protesters showed up near central park. mr. trump was hoping all of the senate republicans would vote for his acquittal. but that didn't happen.

and now, the president has a new target in his sights. jim acosta has this report. >> reporter: a long voice of dissent in the republican party. >> mr. romney? mr. romney, quality. >> reporter: utah senator, mitt romney, sent shock waves through the gop, voting to find the president guilty in abuse of office in the ukraine scandal. >> the president asked a foreign government to investigate his political rival. the president withheld funds for that country to do so. it delayed the funds with the ally at war. the president is guilty of an appalling abuse of public trust. >> reporter: romney defend his position as one of conscience and faith. >> my faith is at the heart of who i am.

my faith is at the heart of who i am. i take an oath before god as enormously consequential. i knew from the outset, that being tasked with judging the president, the leader of my own party, would be the most difficult decision i have ever faced. i was not wrong. >> reporter: the senator, who was the party's nominee for the presidency eight years ago, conceded his vote will not sit well with fellow republicans. >> i will tell my children and my children's children, that i believe my duty to country. >> reporter: president trump tweeting, he is a member of the resistance. and romney's niece, the chair of the rnc tweeting, this is not the first time i've disagreed with mitt and i imagine it will not be the last. for years, there's been bad blood between the two men, with mr. trump accusing romney of choking in 2012. >> the last election should have been won. but romney choked like a dog.

he choked. he went -- i can't breathe. i can't breathe. he said. justi >> the atmosphere has only grown more toxic as the saga. he snubbed nancy pelosi, who ripped up his speech when he was finished. >> a manifesto of mistruth. >> i didn't see her do it. i found out a few moments later. i think it was a new low. i wasn't sure if she was ripping up the speech or ripping up the constitution. >> reporter: romney's decision stands in stark contrast with maine's susan collins and other republicans who conceded mr. trump behaved inappropriately but not enough to be impeached. >> he was impeached. and there has been criticism by both republican and democratic senators of his call. i believe he will be much more conscience in the future. >> reporter: mr. trump has been

fuming over his senate trial, barring cnn from a lunch with network news anchors, where he said that john bolton could face penalty if he publishes his book. and mocks the title of ambassador. >> the president didn't eat his lunch. they asked so many questions and he answered every one. >> reporter: romney said he knew his vote would not result in a conviction of the president trump. that mr. trump's impeachment was a partisan exercise. that's not the case anymore. white house officials thought at least one democrat would vote to acquit mr. trump and were telling reporters as much. but in the end, the president is acquittal. and he is still the president. but it was romney who demonstrated there is still room for mavericks here in washington. jim acosta, cnn, the white house. >> cnn scott jennings resists me now. he is a personal assistant to george w. bush. thank you for being with us.

>> glad to do it. thank you. a historic day for the senate. with mitt romney voting with the democrats to convict the president and in so doing, proved this was not the partisan exercise the president insisted it was. what was your reaction to romney's conscience vote? >> well, i worked for mitt romney in his 2012 campaign. these are u.s. senators. they can do whatever they want to do. his vote is largely out of step with the rest of the republican party. president trump has a 94%, 95% approval rating in his party. every republican in the senate and in the house voted against this impeachment. he's a man standing alone. i found it amusing having worked for his campaign in 2012, all of the people who said, a lot of terrible things about mitt romney and his character in 2012, are now praising mitt romney. i find it interesting to if you are willing to call someone great moral character when it's in your best interest but you're

not willing to do it in their best interest, maybe you're not doing it properly. i think the president would love to have had his whole party together. it's over. he's acquitted. he moves on. >> of the people you refer to, pete buttigieg, appeared on the late show with steven co colbert on wednesday night. let's bring it up. >> mitt romney is not the only person in that chamber on the republican said that knows what the president did was grievously wrong. i do think he deserves credit. he's been on the wrong side of a lot of issues. but i think he deserves credit for doing the right thing in this case. and the fact he's the only senate republican to do it, i think more than anything, that says a lot about what's happening in the senate gop today. >> is buttigieg right therether? were other senators afraid to follow their conscience for

whatever reason? because if a former presidential nominee believes that what the president did was grievously wrong, that has to carry some weight, surely. >> mitt romney is a respected person. he was nominated for president in the republican party. he's out of step with the party on this. there were republican senators who expressed varying degrees of discomfort with what the president did. lamar alexander said, it was wrong or inappropriate. the real question, is whether it rose to the level of throwing the president out of office and off the ballot for the first time in american history. not a single republican in the senate or the house, other than romney, came to that conclusion. >> romney was on fox earlier, with chris wallace. let's take a listen to that. >> you realize, this is war. donald trump will never forgive you for this.

>> there's a hymn that's sung in my church, on old protestant hymn. do what is right and let the consequence follow. i am doing in my heart what i know is right. i understand there is going to be enormous consequence. >> scott, we know that donald trump jr. is calling for romney to be expelled from the party. is that acceptable? does it signal a culture of intimidation that requires absolute loyalty to the president with consequences for those that fail to fall into line? >> no. i don't think mitt romney should be expelled from the republican party. it's a big tent party. we ought to allow people of all kinds in. i think for mitt romney, though, donald trump has a high approval rating in the state of utah, it's up to him to explain to his constituents that approval of donald trump, why he thinks that the president should not only be thrown out of office, but in this impeachment, would have resulted in the president being thrown off the ballot and not be a candidate for president, this

november. it's for mitt romney to explain to the republicans in utah, why he thought that was the best course of action. and i'm sure some of the folks in utah, are not going to be happy with romney. but the great thing about being a u.s. senator, it's a six-year term. romney doesn't face the voters again for a couple of cycles. >> scott jennings, thank you for joining us. appreciate it. >> thank you. let's get the view, now, of the democratic strategist. chris cofinas joins me from houston, texas. welcome. >> thank you. >> the democrats weren't able to convict the president. but they were able to make it a bipartisan vote, with republican mitt romney joining the democrats. in tend, what did the democrats achieve? >> i think in terms of standing up for the rule of law, they sent a clear message of what is acceptable and unacceptable for any president, in particular,

president trump to do. i think there's -- that's one perspective. constitutionally, i think in the terms of rule of law, sending a message there, it has been a pretty significant black mark on president trump's presidency. politically, we are where we started. a country that is extremely divided, politically and otherwise when it comes to this president. and by no means, did the impeachment bring the country together. it arguably reenforced those conviction divisions. >> we've seen that in the early part of the week. the democrats looked incompetent monday night. it has to be said of the iowa caucuses, with the results still coming in. and trump lets nancy pelosi get under his skin, ripping up his speech at the very end. how can you prove to voters that

the democrats offer a viable alternative, when they see this play out? >> we sometimes get astray and i think you've seen this in the various campaigns that are running for president. they talk about so many issues, it becomes difficult for voters to know where you stand or to distinguish you between the candidates. that's why so many of the candidates are jumbled together. this race really is still democratic race is really undecided. it's obviously very early. you can feel a lot of anxiety about who is the potential nominee? it's not clear. the iowa caucus, that didn't help. in terms of the state of the union, i don't think you ever want to let yourself be kind of taken off-message.

and angering -- >> pelosi allowed that to happen, didn't she? and she had specifically told others not to do that. chris, we talked about the impact of the iowa caucuses, the debacle of nancy pelosi allowing her anger to get the better of her. all this as we learn the latest gallop pole shows president trump's job approval ratal is at 49%. how concerned does that make you and the democrats, of course? >> listen, i've believed that president trump is going to be a f formidable opponent more than some. i believe that's going to be the case. if you go out there, as i do, and you talk to so many of the american people across the country, they have different perspectives than those who live in new york city and los angeles. >> but more formidable with democrats that can't get their

act together. if you can't rally behind the person that you feel can beat president trump, what are your chances going forward? >> what is going to be our competing message and vision, against a president that will be more formidable than we want to believe. and he is going to run a very aggressive, nasty, brutal campaign. and when you face those opponents in elections, you cannot have mistakes or setbacks. we had won one with the iowa caucus. it will be forgotten in the coming weeks and months, as we move on. you can't have more of those going forward. >> chris, thank you so much for joining us. appreciate it. >> thank you. well, it's been three days and counting since voters in iowa caucused for their democratic hopefuls.

and the final results are not in. right now, with most of the precincts reporting, pete buttigieg and bernie sanders are in a tight race for first place, with buttigieg clinging to a very slim lead. elizabeth warren in third place and joe biden coming in fourth. many of the candidates are saying they've moved on, looking ahead to the new hampshire primary on tuesday. biden told his supporters in new hampshire, that iowa was a gut-punch. and he is focusing on what lies ahead and going after his rivals. >> is he really saying the obama/biden administration was a failure? pete, just say it out loud. i do believe it's a risk to be straight up with you, for this party to nominate someone who has never held an office higher of mayor of a town of 100,000 people in indiana. i believe it's a risk. every democrat will have to carry the label that senator

sanders have chosen for himself. he calls him -- i don't criticize him. he calls himself a democratic socialist. we're seeing what donald trump is going to do with that. >> later wednesday night, at a cnn town hall, biden and three other presidential candidates told voters their plans to fix the i economy. >> i know they call me middle-class joe. they think i'm concernedmiddle-. i want to get to the middle class and stay in the middle class. when the middle class does well, people have a shot. the people have a way up and the wealthy do well. no one should be working in the united states of america, 40 hours a week and living in poverty. that's why we have to raise, nationally, the standard of $15 an hour for every worker in america. >> we have an america where the

gdp deep keeps going up. corporate profits keep going up. the stock market keeps going up. and where hardworking families have flat wages and rising expenses for health care, for housing, for child care, for y trying to send a kid off to school. the squeeze on working families, on the working poor, is getting unbearable. but those at the top, just keep sucking more and more value out. we have to change that in 2020. that's why i'm in this fight. >> my proposal is a freedom dividend of $1,000 a month at age 18. this would make sure our economy works for young people. we are stacking the deck against our young people much, much more seriously than has ever been the case in this country. if you're born in the united states in the 1990s, you're down to a 50/50 shot of doing better than your parents and it's declining fast.

>> i'm for a wealth tax. if we think that incomes are unequal and have gotten much worse than they have over the last 40 years, wealth, we've redistributed the wealth from everybody, to just the richest people. i'm for a wealth tax, to raise money and address this huge inequality. >> cnn will hold four more town halls thursday night, with bernie sanders, pete buttigieg, amy klobuchar and due value eva. it starts at 8:00 eastern. several case of the coronavirus on a cruise ship. now, thousands are being told not to leave. but how long will the quarantine last? we'll have a live report, back in a moment. does your battery deliver extra life or extra power?

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welcome back, everyone. some of the world's top disease experts will gather next week in geneva, switzerland, to brainstorm strategies to deal with the wuhan coronavirus.

the streets of chinese cities like wuhan have been deserted for weeks, under strict lockdown. on wednesday, china's death toll surged by 73. so far, the virus has killed at least 565 people, including two fatalities outside of mainland china. the number of people diagnosed with a virus also skyrocketed on wednesday, with nearly 3,700 new cases. they are more than 28,000 confirmed cases in china, plus another 255 cases globally. about 350 americans are back in the united states, after being evacuated from wuhan. and they will now spend 14 days in mandatory quarantine. right now, officials are screening two cruise ships for the virus and telling thousands onboard to stay put. one ship is docked in hong kong. so far, no one on that voyage has tested positive for the virus. but another ship in japan is

being quarantined for two weeks, after 50 people became infected. paula hancocks is joining me now. 20 people infected on that ship in japan. what happens if more people get infected? do the 14 days have to start over again? and has everyone been checked for signs of infection at this point? >> reporter: that first question is a good one. it's one that we haven't been able to clarify at this point. you've spoken to many of the passengers onboard. we asked them what their understanding is. and they fear it may be 14 days from when the last positive test comes through. but they simply don't know at this point. one of them telling me, they've been contacted by the u.s. embassy, saying, after 14 days, they can leave without condition. what they have said, they haven't been tested for the virus.

it's only those showing signs of illness or who say they feel ill, who are being tested. i have just spoken to a couple here on their honeymoon, a young american couple who have been on this cruise for three weeks now, who are desperate to get off the ship. they say they did have their temperature taken. but they have not had more checks than that. and they believe that everyone on the ship should be tested. the infection has been passed on the ship itself. so, they are, at this point, calling on the u.s. embassy and the u.s. government to do a similar thing of what they did in wuhan, china, to send a plane in and bring passengers and citizens back to the united states. it doesn't look like thaao is going to happen in this case, at this point. but there's a growing sense of fear from this particular couple and desperation. they feel that the longer they stay on the ship, the greater the chances that they may, in fact, catch this virus.

>> absolutely. a real concern. paula hancocks, bringing us the latest from yokohama, in japan. many thanks. there's a new public enemy number one for donald trump, after the senate impeachment vote. why mitt romney voted to remove the president from office, in his own words. and mourning the loss of a hollywood legend. remembering kirk douglas. like ty our trashy back ribs? oh, that sounds great... everything is locally harvested, farm to dumpster to table. uhhh, what do you... what else do you got? (stammering) w-we have a melon rind stew. comes with a pork and bean reduction. yeah, we're going to just do a lap and we'll come back. okay. well, we'll be here. man! why isn't this working? my mouth is watering. i think that's just your rabies flaring up. with geico, the savings keep on going. just like this sequel. 15 minutes could save you 15% or more on car insurance. we got gristle pot pies!

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the senate having tried donald john trump among two

articles of impeachment, against him by the house of representatives, and two-thirds of the senators present, not having found him guilty of the charges contained therein, it is therefore, ordered and adjudged that the said donald john trump be and he is hereby acquitted of the charges in said articles. justice john roberts in the impeachment trial. only one senator broke ranks in the mostly partisan vote, republican mitt romney. he's the only senator in history to vote to remove a president of his own party. here's how he explained his decision. >> the allegations made in the articles of impeachment are very serious. as a senator juror, i swore an oath before god, to exercise impartial justice.

i am profoundly religious. my faith is at the heart of who i am. i take an oath before god as enormously consequential. i knew from the outset, that being tasked with judging the president, the leader of my own party, would be the most difficult decision i have ever faced. i was not wrong. the house managers presented evidence supporting their case. and the white house counsel disputed that case. in addition, the president's team presented three defenses.

first, there could be no impeachment without a statutory crime. the grave question the constitution tasks senators to answer, is whether the president committed an act, so extreme and egregious, that it rises to the level of a high crime and misdemeanor. yes, he did. the president asked a foreign government to investigate his political rival. the president withheld vital military funds from that president to press it to do so. the president delayed funds for an american ally at war, with russian invaders. the president's purpose was personal and political. accordingly, the president is guilty of an appalling abuse of public trust. what he did was not perfect. no, it was a flagrant assault on

electoral rights, our national security, and our fundamental values. corrupting to keep one's self in office, is probably the most abusive vibration of oath of office that i can imagine. in the last several weeks, i received numerous calls and texts, many demanded that i stand with the team. i can assure you that thought has been very much on my mind. you see, i support a great deal of what the president has done. i voted with him 80% of the time. but my promise before god, to apply impartial justice, required that i put my personal feelings, and political biases aside. >> my next guest joins me now from charlottesville. always great to have you with us. >> thank you, rosemary. >> mitt romney became the first senator in u.s. history to vote to convict his own president in an impeachment trial.

how significant were his actions? and would you call it bravery or political suicide? >> well, certainly, there's going to be consequences that are negative for him and probably for a long time. and i think he knows that. but i would say, it's very brave because he's the only one. if you were part of a group, then at least the anger would be diffu diffused. he knows what is coming. he and trump have never gotten along well. and romney doesn't think a great deal of president trump and it's probably mutual. this was a very significant thing. anybody who watched his short speech, or even a piece of it, understood that this was heartfelt. he was very emotional when he was giving his statement. so, i tend to think this matters a lot. people are going to remember it. and they know mitt romney. they respect mitt romney. this isn't just some garden

variety senator that no one has heard of. here's the 2012 republican presidential nominee condemning, in essence, the 2016 presidential nominee of the republican party, who actually became president. >> i want to ask you about that. how is it possible that senator romney found what the president did was grievously wrong? but none of the other republican senators agreed with him. what might that tell us? >> partly, i think romney is secure in his seat in utah. and he has another five years to run on this determiterm. who knows what the situation will be in 2024? i doubt that impeachment of donald trump will be the foremost issue that far into the future. but anybody who has known romney and worked with him over the years understands that his religion, lds, mormon, really does have an impact on his day-to-day life. and he mentioned his belief in god and the importance of his

religion a couple times in the speech. and i think it was very sincere. >> so, do the actions of the other republican senators prove that votes like this, are more about self-interest than a conscience vote? >> well, as i always tell people because i've studied john f. kennedy very well. he was the author of a book called "profiles in courage." and it was a very thin book because there aren't that many profiles in courage. romney qualifies. if we have a new edition, he'll get a chapter. i can't think of another republican senator who will. >> yeah. and romney talked of the likely consequences of his actions. is he hinting at presidential and party intimidation? what might this mean for his future in the party, do you think? >> all i can tell you is i spent a good chunk of my day on twitter, meaning it was wasted. i did learn some things being on twitter.

hundreds if not thousands of trump supporters took out after him and anyone who defended him on twitter. it was intense. it was as though the hive of the trump cult had been jostled and the bees came roaring out. this is just day one. this is something he's going to feel for the rest of his career. >> i don't want to put you on the spot. how should this impeachment trial have ended, given what we know about testimony and documents that were presented? >> oh, my goodness. personally, i think he was guilty on both counts. i don't think the arguments, the factual arguments, are in doubt. the house managers, as many republican senators have admitted privately, proved their case. in the old days, when we had better standards, higher standards, i think he would have been convicted. and it's not as though the democrats stepping into the presidency, he would have

republicans conceding him. and mike pence, who would provide more problems for the election. it's not to be, is everything. absolutely everything. >> larry, always great to have you on the show. >> thanks a lot. one of hollywood's legendary stars has died. dirk douglas was 103 years old. in that long, celebrated life, he challenged the movie establishment, created his own production company and the blacklist. stephanie elam looks back at his life and career. >> reporter: before kirk douglas became a big star, he was born to russian immigrant parents in 1916. douglas headed to hollywood after serving in the navy during world war ii. caricaturists focused on the

clef chin. but he was distinctive how he tore into each part with animal ferocity. after his breakthrough role in "champion," came a slew of memorable parts. the hollywood producer in "the bad and the beautiful." and "paths of glory." the sailor in disney's "20,000 leagues under the sea." vincent van go in "lust for life" and his biggest one, spartac spartacus. >> i'm spartacus. >> i'm spartacus. >> reporter: douglas produced the epic and hired dalton trumbo to wreet ite it. it was blacklisted for 13 years. douglas felt breaking the blacklist was his proudest moment. >> studios would not mind using a blacklisted writer as long as they didn't have to look at him. as long as he didn't come into the studio and as long as he never used his name. and that was such hypocrisy that

it enraged me. i decided to hell with it. i'm producing spartacus and i'm going to use dalton trumbo's name. >> reporter: he starred in 80 films, produced 30 and directed two. his son, michael, followed him into the business and became an a-list star himself. >> he personifies the individual, at the time of the big studios. the man who stood alone. >> reporter: in 1991, he survived a helicopter crash in which two people were killed. five years later, he suffered a stroke that affected his speech and left him contemplating suicide. he was finally recognized by the academy in 1996, with an honorary award for his half-century of accomplishments in the motion picture industry. in his later years, douglas wrote a number of successful books, including his memoirs and did occasional acting, i peering in a one-man stage show and

starring with son michael in the 2003 film, "it runs in the family." a on-screen or off, kirk douglas approached life in a simple yet powerful way. for bathroom odors that linger try febreze small spaces. just press firmly and it continuously eliminates odors in the air and on soft surfaces. for 45 days. americans come to lendingtree.com to compare and save on loans, credit cards and more! but with the new lending tree app you can see your full financial health, monitor your credit score, see your cash flow and find out how you can cut your monthly bills. download it

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two launches in eastern turkey have killed at least 38 people. rescue workers have been sent to find two survivors of the first avalanche that happened late tuesday evening. those workers were trapped in a second snowslide around midday wednesday. more search and rescue teams are trying to find any of the dozens of people are set to be trapped. three people have died,

following a plane accident in istanbul. it shows the plane skidding off a runway. turkish officials say it continued 200 feet after landing, before careening into a ditch and breaking apart. cnn's international international producer joins me from istanbul. what are you learning about how this plane skidded off the runway and broke apart? >> rosemary, just looking at that video that you described a moment ago, you can see what the istanbul governor was talking about. what they believed was that the plane was on the runway. it had made its landing safely. it was a plane from ismir flying into istanbul. after it landed at the airport, it skidded some 50 to 60 meters on the runway, going past it. eventually running out of space,

and taking a 30-meter to 40-meter fall off of an embankment after going past the runway. at which point it broke into three pieces. and you can see in the videos, just how much that plane really broke apart. seeing something like that is really quite dramatic. and 179 people are being treated in hospitals nearby. 18 hospitals in all, where the victims of this tragic plane accident have been taken to. and we don't know at this point what caused it. there's been -- experts have come out and said, we don't know what caused this plane to so dramatically fall apart. but they're saying that weather could have had something to do with it. yesterday, in istanbul, we were experiencing a lot of rain and

unpredictable wind changes. experts will be looking into whether that was the cause. there is an investigation that was launched. they immediately announced that the prosecutors' office will be looking in to determine what happened to cause this tragedy. at this time, they don't know whether or not this was caused by human error and whether or not it was mechanical or whether weather did play a huge role in causing the images that you're seeing. rosemary? >> many thanks gul, bringing us the latest from that accident in istanbul. many thanks. time for a short break. when we come back, the growing controversy over the medal of freedom for talk show host rush limbaugh. you're watching cnn newsroom. back in a moment.

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verizon keeps business ready. welcome back, everyone. a public display of venezuela's leader, he got a white house visit and presidential welcome on wednesday. and both sides talked of working together to end venezuela's political crisis. the u.s. and at least 50 other countries recognize him as

venezuela's legitimate leader over the embattled nicolas maduro. a position president trump notably raised during his speech on the state of the union. when he introduced guaido as his guest and called maduro a tyrant. he said president trump's obsession is leading to insanity. at. at the sate of the union, donald trump awarded the nation's highest civilian honor to rush limbaugh and the president is facing criticism for doing that. cnn's brian todd has the details. >> reporter: in dramatic fashion, for the first time ever, a president awards the presidential medal of freedom. >> rush limbaugh, thank you for your decades of tirele lesles l devotion to our country. >> for some members of congress, who have worked for years to

bridge divides, the award of the highest civilian honor to rush limbaugh in their chamber, was a gut-punch. >> this would be one bad time in america's history, where we placated and pandered to racists and dividers. >> reporter: for decades, limbaugh has been appealing to the worst of americans' prejudices. often directing the most incendiary remarks to the other americans. >> it looks like a game between the bloods and the crips without any weapons. limbaugh, playing a provocative song on his show. ♪ barack, the magic negro >> reporter: and one of the most false attacks on obama that was promoted by donald trump. >> rush intercontinental ballistic missile law wimbaugh a contributor to the conspiracy theories about president obama. the harmful argument that

president obama had not been born in the united states and was an illegitimate president. >> reporter: and what riles him, is the company that limbaugh keeps. >> you think of the people ha have received this award, are people that bring people together and fight for a cause. and we give it to somebody who has stoked and is a blatant rpb racist? >> reporter: he shares the award with martin luther king, muhammad ali, jackie robinson, and rosa parks, who president clinton recognized after bestrohhibestroh i stowing the medal on her. and limbaugh drew criticism for his comments about women, including a georgetown university student, who asked for her right to birth control. >> that makes her a slut. that makes her a prostitute. >> reporter: limbaugh later apologized. president trump does have the prerogative to give the medal of

freedom to whoever he chooses and plenty of other recipients have been controversial. it should also be noted that rush intercontinental ballistic missile limbaugh has an enormous following and has late-stage lung cancer. but at this moment, in this climate -- >> i think the president has tarnished the award. by giving it to a very divisive figure. >> i asked if he will have the award revoked? and he said there's too many important issues he has to concentrate on. and he says he doesn't want to give this more attention. we asked the white house to respond to the criticism over the limbaugh award. we never heard back from them. brian todd, cnn, washington. more cnn newsroom in a moment. do stay with us.

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welcome back to our viewers here in the united states and all around the world. you're watching cnn newsroom and i'm rosemary church. let's get started. the u.s. president is celebrating his acquittal. while donald trump's impeachment trial is over, much of the focus now is on the one republican voice of dissent. thousands of people are quarantined on cruise ships in japan and hong kong, after some xae passengers tested positive for coronavirus. and we look back at the career of one of the last stars

of hollywood's gol