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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin
America's Choice 2020, Democrats Brace For New Hampshire; Coronavirus Cases Nearly Double On Quarantined Ship; Parasite Makes Oscar History; Trump Targets Enemies Post Impeachment; Trump White House; Two U.S. Soldiers Killed In Afghanistan Identified; V.A. Watchdog Weighs Request To Probe Wilkie; Coronavirus Viral Outbreak; NYPD Shooting Suspect Says He Hate Cops; Man Arrested For Crashing Van Into Trump Campaign Tent; Bill Nye, Caught On Video. Aired 4-4:30a ET
Aired February 10, 2020 - 04:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[04:00:00]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE BIDEN, FORMER VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, 2020 U.S. PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: This guy's not Barack Obama.
MAYOR PETE BUTTIGIEG (D-SOUTH BEND-IN) 2020 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Oh, he's right. I'm not, and neither is he.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LAURA JARRETT, CNN HOST: Democrats with a final push ahead of the New Hampshire primary. The Biden campaign going negative, but did it have to?
ALISON KOSIK, CNN HOST: The number of coronavirus cases nearly doubling on a quarantined ship in Japan. Now another Chinese citizen trying to spread awareness of the outbreak has been silenced.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Parasite.
(APPLAUSE)
(CHEERS)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KOSIK: History at the Oscars. How Parasite broke 92 years of precedence at the Academy Awards. Welcome to our viewers in the United States and around the world. This is Early Start. I'm Alison Kosik. Good morning.
JARRETT: Good morning. I'm Laura Jarrett, so glad you're here with us. It's Monday, February 10th, 4:00 a.m. in New York.
A new urgency in the Democratic race, struggling candidates trying to salvage hopes for a comeback face a critical juncture in tomorrow's primary in New Hampshire.
The latest CNN poll shows a clear top tier. Bernie Sanders leading at 28 percent. That's about where he was last month. And Pete Buttigieg making the biggest gains now at 21 percent. Everybody else including Joe Biden well behind.
KOSIK: Biden and Sanders forcing the searching Buttigieg to play defense this weekend. First it was Biden, his campaign going negative with an ad in New Hampshire highlighting former Mayor Pete's experience gap.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Joe Biden had to leave the passage of the affordable care act which gave health care to 20 million people. And when park goers called on Pete Buttigieg, he installed decorative lights under bridges giving citizens of South Bend colorfully illuminated rivers.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KOSIK: Then Biden himself took a shot. He was asked about his decision to attack another moderate in the race. Listen to his answer and the response from Buttigieg.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is this an act of desperation on your campaign to be making this assertion right now of Mayor Buttigieg?
BIDEN: Oh man, this guy is not Barack Obama.
BUTTIGIEG: He's right. I'm not. And neither is he. Neither is any of us running for president. And this isn't 2008. It's 2020. And we are in a new moment calling for a different kind of leadership.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KOSIK: Biden now looking beyond New Hampshire focusing squarely on the next contest in Nevada and South Carolina. Both with bigger minority voting blocks.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BIDEN: That I've viewed from the beginning and I really mean this. I've viewed from the beginning that you have to take the first four as one. You've got two primaries and two caucuses back-to-back basically. Not a single person has won without overwhelming support from the black community, overwhelming, overwhelming. OK?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KOSIK: Bernie Sanders meantime beating a familiar drum to go after Buttigieg. Billionaire, money and politics.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) SEN. BERNIE SANDERS, (I-VT), U.S. PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'm running
against a candidate, Pete Buttigieg among others who has raised contributions from more than 40 billionaires.
BUTTIGIEG: Hundreds of thousands of people who supported our campaign, some of them have a lot of money. And just as I'm going to expect them to pay more in taxes when I'm president. I invite them to contribute as much as they can if they share our vision for defeating Donald Trump.
(APPLAUSE)
(CHEERS)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JARRETT: There's also a lot at stake this week for Senators Elizabeth Warren and Amy Klobuchar. Warren came in a disappointing third in Iowa. Klobuchar placing fifth. But that was better than many expected, and she had a strong debate performance on Friday. Stay with CNN for full coverage from New Hampshire. Special coverage begins tomorrow at 4:00 p.m. Eastern right here on CNN.
Bernie Sanders backtrack on a promise to release his full medical records. Last September prior to having a heart attack, the Vermont Senator insisted he would release the records before the Democratic primaries. That hasn't happened. And it sounds like it may not happen at all.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHUCK TODD, MSNBC HOST: Shouldn't voters see your medical records?
SANDERS: We released as much documentation as I think any other campaign.
TODD: But no other candidate has had a hard attack.
SANDERS: Well, look, I am out -- I'm the only candidate is doing four to five events a day in this country.
TODD: I hear you. I mean, no doubt you've proven your mettle here but voters -- you've heard voters had been concerned about you.
SANDERS: I mean, you can start releasing medical records and it never ends.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[04:05:00]
KOSIK: The 78-year-old Sanders says since his heart attack he's been trying to do more walking and get more sleep.
President Trump wasting no time punishing his enemies in the aftermath of the impeachment trial. His actions undermining claims by Republican Senators about the shame of impeachment tempering the president's behavior. The U.S. Ambassador to Europe Gordon Sondland sent packing. His testimony implicated the president in a direct quid pro quo exchange of favors with Ukraine.
JARRETT: Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Vindman escorted out of the White House for testifying about the president's July 25th phone call with Ukraine's president. That came just hours after Defense Secretary Mark Esper said this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARK ESPER, U.S. DEFENSE SECRETARY: We welcome back all of our service members wherever they served, any assignment they're given. We protect all of our service members from retribution, anything like that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JARRETT: This week, President Trump is expected to gut the National Security Council, one of the few remaining sources of non-Trumpian thought in the federal government. He's also expected to trample on Congress' power of the purse by diverting billions more in already appropriated funds to pay for his border wall.
KOSIK: Fresh off a strong job report President Trump is expected to release a multi-trillion dollar budget with big cuts to safety net programs. The $ 4.8 trillion plan calls for cuts to nondefense discretionary programs which does not include Medicare or social security.
The Wall Street Journal reports the plan does include cuts to mandatory spending programs including $130 billion in changes to Medicare prescription drug pricing, $292 billion in safety net cuts, such as work requirements for Medicaid and food stamps and $70 billion from tightening eligibility access to disability benefits.
As a candidate Trump promised to get rid of the national debt, but the proposed budget plan would not eliminate a deficit never mind the debt in the next 10 years. The deficit has ballooned partly because of tax cuts and a two year budget deal that boosted federal spending. Usually budget deficits widen during economic downturns, but the economy is expanding, and unemployment is at a 50-year low.
JARRETT: The newly minted best picture making history at the Oscars.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The Oscar goes to Parasite.
(APPLAUSE)
(CHEERS)
JARRETT: Critical darling Parasite becoming the first non-English language film in the Oscars 92nd year history to win top prize. The show didn't have a host, but there was no shortage of political humor. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A couple of years ago there was a big disaster here at the Oscars where they accidently read out the wrong name. And it was nobody's fault but they have guaranteed that this will not happen this year because the academy has switched to the new Iowa caucus act.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JARRETT: the lack of recognition for women filmmakers came up several times. Past Oscar winner Natalie Portman even wearing a cape that was embroidered with the names of snubbed female directors. But the night belonged to Parasite. CNN's Stephanie Elam has more now from Los Angeles.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Laura and Alison, this Oscars is all about Parasite. It's the movie that grew so much by word of mouth and a lot of people thought it was a dark horse in this race and then it just shot through. Now, walking away with four academy awards. We caught up with the Director, the screenwriter behind it, Bong Joon-ho, after his win after he came up here to the Governor's Ball. Take a listen to what he said about the win. How are you feeling right now?
BONG JOON-HO, PARASITE, SCREENWRITER (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): I think we destroyed the barrier too much. We should have taken our time actually.
JOON-HO: And when he is doing speech -- I hear like this, -- I felt like the Oscar trophy was staring at me so we locked eyes for a second.
ELAM: And that was before the drinking.
JOON-HO: Yeah, I was sober. Totally sober.
ELAM: On the acting side the wins went pretty much the way Hollywood was expecting. You have Laura Dern winning for best supporting actress for Marriage Story. Renee Zellweger winning best actress for Judy. Brad Pitt, one for Once upon a time in Hollywood. He was the best supporting actor there. And he did get a little political while he was there on stage in his acceptance speech.
BRAD PITT, HOLLYWOOD ACTOR: They told me I only have 45 seconds up here which is 45 seconds more than the Senate gave John Bolton this week.
(APPLAUSE)
ELAM: And winning for best actor, as expected, Joaquin Phoenix for Joker. He's been political all award season long. This was no different.
JOAQUIN PHOENIX, BEST ACTOR, JOKER: I think at times we feel or are made to feel that we champion different causes, but for me I see commonality. I think whether we're talking about gender inequality or racism or clear rights or indigenous rights or animal rights we're talking about the fight against injustice. We're talking about the fight against the belief that one nation, one people, one race, one gender or one species has the right to dominate, control and use and exploit another with impunity.
[04:10:30]
ELAM: But still while all of the acting categories were pretty much as expected, the big news here is the win for Parasite. Definitely taking home big wins in categories that we weren't so sure. However, we can tell you it also broke history becoming the first foreign language film to win best picture. So, a great night for the Parasite team indeed. Laura and Alison.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
JARRETT: Such a big sweep for Parasite. There's great behind the scenes footage of the Director actually apologizing to the engravers for having too many Oscars. It's a great night for him.
KOSIK: OK. Two U.S. soldiers killed in Afghanistan. Another round of violence in an already violent year against Americans.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[04:15:00]
KOSIK: The number of coronavirus cases on a quarantined cruise ship off the coast of Japan nearly doubling. There are 66 new cases of the virus onboard the ship bringing the total to 136. The death toll has now climb to 910, surpassing the 2003 SARS outbreak. There's now more than 40,000 cases worldwide.
CNN's Matt Rivers is live for us in Yokohama, Japan with more. Now, we know that thousands are on this ship, but this jump in the number of people showing that they have the coronavirus, it's a little stunning. What's the reaction you're hearing?
MATT RIVERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, I mean that's a good way to put it. You know, we were expecting maybe there to be a slight increase today. You know, in the last couple of days we've seen three new cases, then six new cases, but this news came out this afternoon, 66 new cases. That's nearly a 100 percent increase over the 70 cases which is where we stood yesterday. And so that freaked people out a little bit.
And the question was that's been hanging over all of this, is the virus still being spread onboard the cruise ship even though passengers have been put into a two-week quarantine? What officials are saying though is no. They believe that all 66 of these cases are people that contracted the virus before the quarantined was put into place on Monday.
So that quarantine will remain in place for the next 10 days or so because they believe that it is working onboard. Still, this number is scary, and it shows you how quickly this virus can spread. That said, people onboard taking it pretty well. We spoke to a couple from Canada. Rose and Greg, here's what they had to say after today's news.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We still feel good. We still think we're in a good, safe place. We've quarantined ourselves. We're not getting in touch with -- we're not dealing with any other people on a personal basis.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So we've decided not to participate in the walks on deck that the captains arranged for people. We're fortunate we've got the outside cabin with a balcony.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is one of the nicest prisons in the world and here we're going to stay until we ride this out.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
RIVERS: A really good spirit on those two. Now, they're going to be stuck in quarantine until February 19th, but Alison, really it's just day to day here in Yokohama. Each day people wake up and wonder how many more cases are going to be confirmed today.
KOSIK: They are definitely good sports. They're giving the old thumbs up. Matt, thanks very much.
And we wanted to note the Royal Caribbean Anthem Of The Sea ship that docked in New Jersey since Friday it will set sail today. Passengers began boarding Sunday after four passengers tested negative for the coronavirus.
JARRETT: Two U.S. Army Green Berets were killed and six others wounded in an attack on a joint U.S.-Afghan operation over the weekend. The Pentagon on Sunday identified the two sergeants killed as Javier Gutierrez of San Antonio, and Antonio Ray Rodriguez of (Inaudible), New Mexico.
The pentagon says the shooter was wearing an Afghan army uniform. The attack is under investigation now. It's the latest in a series of deadly incidents in Afghanistan involving Americans in the last month including an explosive device, a plane crash and an abduction.
KOSIK: A Congressional staffer reported a sexual assault. Why investigators now want to speak with the secretary of veterans affairs.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[04:20:00]
JARRETT: The watchdog for veteran's affairs is reviewing a request to investigate the V.A. Secretary Robert Wilkie. Wilkie is accused of seeking dirt on a Congressional staffer who alleges she was sexually assaulted. The request to investigate Wilkie was made by California Congressman Mark Takano. One of Takano's top aides, Navy Veteran Andrea Goldstein claims she was sexually harassed and assaulted at the V.A. Medical Center Washington last fall. Once she filed a complaint, the Washington Post reports, Secretary Wilkie began inquiring about her background and encouraging staffers to discredit her.
KOSIK: The man who launched two shootings attacks on New York City police officers over the weekend said he did it because he hate cops. Police say the first attack took place Saturday on two officers sitting in a van at the 41st precinct in the Bronx. The second happening the next morning on uniformed officer and a civilian employee inside the precinct.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DERMONT SHEA, NYPD COMMISIONER: This is not a crime gone bad. This is not a liquor store robbery interrupted that a tragedy erupts from. This is a premeditated assassination attempt.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KOSIK: The commissioner says in all two officers were shot but survived. The suspect, 45-year-old Robert Williams is set to be arraigned today.
JARRETT: A man is under arrest this morning for driving a van through a tent with Trump campaign volunteers in Jacksonville, Florida. Gregory Tim faces charged of aggravated assault, criminal mischief and driving on a suspended driver's license.
[04:25:00]
The Jacksonville sheriff's office say they're still investigating whether the incident was politically motivated. Trump quickly jumped onto Twitter to condemn the attack warning, quote, be careful tough guys with who you play with. No one was injured.
KOSIK: OK, we all no Bill Nye the science guy, but how about Bill Nye the style guy? Watch the style guy, watch this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(MUSIC PLAYING)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(LAUGHTER)
KOSIK: So, if you notice as he's walking, everybody is kind a walking chill, but when they see him getting down to Lizzo, everybody else kind a starts dancing as well. Who knew the popular science explainer had moves. Nye was caught on TikTok, dancing down the runway to Lizzo, during New York fashion week. He was there for the blue jacket fashion show, an event raising awareness for men's health and prostate cancer treatment.
JARRETT: First of all, I love that he's in fashion week. Look at that jacket. The brocade is gorgeous.
KOSIK: And look how comfortable he is in his own skin grooving to the music.
JARRETT: Go ahead Bill Nye.
Well, time is running out for candidates to gain traction in Democratic race. Was is smart of Joe Biden to go negative when he claims his surge is just around the corner?
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