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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin
Democrats Get Aggressive Ahead of New Hampshire Primary Tomorrow; Coronavirus Cases Nearly Double on Quarantined Ship; Parasite Makes Oscar History. Aired 5-5:30a ET
Aired February 10, 2020 - 05:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[05:00:00]
ALISON KOSIK, CO-ANCHOR, EARLY START: That's with a final push ahead of the New Hampshire primary. The Biden campaign going negative, but didn't have to.
LAURA JARRETT, CO-ANCHOR, EARLY START: The number of coronavirus cases nearly doubling on a quarantine ship in Japan. Now another Chinese citizen trying to spread awareness of the outbreak has been silenced.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: "Parasite."
(CHEERS)
(APPLAUSE)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KOSIK: History at the Oscars. How "Parasite" broke 92 years of precedence at the Academy Awards. Good morning and welcome to EARLY START, I'm Alison Kosik.
JARRETT: And I'm Laura Jarrett, glad to see you here, Alison --
KOSIK: Glad to be here --
JARRETT: It's Monday, February 10th, 5:00 a.m. in the east. There is a new urgency in the democratic race. Struggling candidates trying to salvage hopes for a comeback face a critical juncture in tomorrow's New Hampshire primary. 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 surging 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 helped lead 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 a act of desperation on your campaign to be --
JOE BIDEN, FORMER VICE PRESIDENT & PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Oh, come on, man, you think --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Making this assertion right now --
BIDEN: This guy is -- this guy is not --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Of Mayor Buttigieg?
BIDEN: This guy's not a Barack Obama.
MAYOR PETE BUTTIGIEG, SOUTH BEND, INDIA & PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Well, 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 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, OK? So, here --
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JARRETT: Bernie Sanders meantime beating a familiar drum to go after Buttigieg. Billionaire money and politics.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (D-VT) & PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I am 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.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KOSIK: This week, there's also a lot at stake for Senators Elizabeth Warren and Amy Klobuchar. Warren came in a disappointing third in Iowa. Klobuchar placing fifth, but she had more support than many expected, plus, she had a strong debate before bench on Friday. Stay with CNN for full coverage from New Hampshire, special coverage begins tomorrow at 4:00 p.m. Eastern on CNN.
JARRETT: Bernie Sanders backtracking on a promise he made 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. Well, that hasn't happened and it sounds like it may not happen at all.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHUCK TODD, MODERATOR, MEET THE PRESS: Shouldn't voters see your medical records --
SANDERS: We have released --
TODD: Before Super Tuesday?
SANDERS: As much documentation, I think as any other candidate.
TODD: But no other candidate has had a heart attack.
SANDERS: Well, look, I am -- no other candidate is doing four or five events a day running all over --
TODD: Yes, I hear you --
SANDERS: In this country. We have --
TODD: Proven -- I mean, no doubt you've proven your mettle here, but voters -- you heard voters have been concerned about your health --
SANDERS: I mean, you can start releasing medical records, it never ends.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JARRETT: The 78-year-old Sanders says since his heart attack, he's been trying to do more walking and get more sleep.
KOSIK: 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 tampering 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.
[05:05:00]
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, SECRETARY OF DEFENSE, UNITED STATES: We welcome back all of our service members wherever they served to any assignment they're given. We protect all our persons -- service members from retribution or 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 his strong jobs 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 non-defense 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.
Two hundred and ninety two billion dollars from safety net cuts such as work requirements from 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 the 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 down-turns, but the economy is expanding and unemployment is at a 50-year low.
JARRETT: Two U.S. soldiers killed in Afghanistan, another round of violence in an already violent year against Americans.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[05:10:00]
JARRETT: The newly-minted best picture-making history at the Oscars.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The Oscar goes to "Parasite."
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JARRETT: Critical darling "Parasite" becoming the first non-English language film in the Oscar's 92nd year history to win top prize. The show did not 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 accidentally read out the wrong name, and it was nobody's fault, but they have guaranteed that this would not happen this year because the Academy has switched to the new Iowa Caucus app.
(LAUGHTER)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JARRETT: The lack of recognition for women filmmakers, that issue came up several times. Past Oscar winner Natalie Portman even wearing a cape imported with the names of snubbed female directors. But the night belonged to "Parasite". CNN's Stephanie Elam has more from Los Angeles.
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. And now walking away with four Academy Awards, we caught up with the director, the screen writer 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.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ELAM: How are you feeling right now?
BONG JOON-HO, DIRECTOR OF PARASITE (through translator): I think we destroyed the barrier too much. We should have taken our time actually.
When the Oscar trophy was staring at me, so we locked eyes for a second.
(LAUGHTER)
ELAM: And that was before the drinking?
JOON-HO: Yes, I was sober. Totally sober.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ELAM: On the acting side, the wins went pretty much the way Hollywood was expecting. You had Laura Dern winning for best supporting actress for "Marriage Story", Renee Zellweger winning best actress for "Judy", Brad Pitt won 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.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BRAD PITT, 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)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ELAM: And winning for best actor as expected, Joaquin Phoenix for "Joker". He's been political all awards season long, this was no different.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOAQUIN PHOENIX, ACTOR: I think at times, we feel or were 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.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
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?
KOSIK: OK, now that I haven't seen it and you haven't seen it, let's go together to the movies, shall we?
JARRETT: I'm in. I'm in.
KOSIK: A dunk for the ages not by a player, but by the BYU mascot. Andy Scholes has this morning's "BLEACHER REPORT" next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[05:15:00]
JARRETT: The number of coronavirus cases on a quarantined cruise ship off the coast of Japan nearly doubling. There are now 65 new cases of the virus on the ship, bringing the total to 135. The global death toll has now climbed to 910 surpassing the 2003 SARS outbreak. There's now more than 40,000 cases worldwide. CNN's Will Ripley live in Tokyo outside a hospital where an American woman from the ship is being treated. Will, what can you tell us there? WILL RIPLEY, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, this is where a
lot of the coronavirus patients are being treated. This is one of the hospitals. And there's a network of hospitals throughout Japan, Laura, where they're treating coronavirus patients, but they keep it, you know, pretty secret. They don't want to create panic amongst the surrounding neighborhood.
[05:20:00]
In this case, this is a very quiet residential neighborhood adjacent to this hospital. But they have a quarantined ward here, and we were surprised how quickly we were able to walk up and actually wave to Rebecca Frasier(ph) in her hospital room window and speak with her. She is a patient with coronavirus who's showing no symptoms whatsoever.
She's feeling healthy, she's not even being treated for the virus, not getting any fluids, not getting any medications, and I think that's really an under-reported angle here. That there's just a huge spike in cases on the cruise ship, but we know that cruise ships are a breeding ground for viral illnesses.
Think about Norovirus, think about the outbreaks that have happened on ships, when hundreds of passengers, you know, end up -- end up sick. So, it's not necessarily surprising that there are all these new cases. But what we're trying to do is remind people that, yes, if somebody is over the age of 60 and they have pre-existing conditions like diabetes, like heart disease, they are at a much higher risk for a serious case of coronavirus.
But the vast majority of patients are just like the one who we interviewed here, and that interview is coming up in the 6:00 a.m. hour of NEW DAY. These are people who will recover, and many times they're not even showing symptoms at all. So there's a lot of panic right now, even crew members on the Diamond Princess have appealed to the Indian government, asking to be segregated from the sick passengers because they're so afraid right now. But health officials are reminding folks that it's not a life or death situation, even if you do test positive for coronavirus.
JARRETT: Well, if she isn't showing any symptoms, why did they take her off the ship?
RIPLEY: Because anybody with coronavirus has to go into quarantine because --
JARRETT: Right --
RIPLEY: Scientists know so little about it, and they're taking every possible precaution. But if she had the flu, if she had a cold, she wouldn't have been taken here to the hospital. She probably wouldn't even have missed work because she's feeling perfectly fine. But she does have coronavirus. She did test positive for it. And you know, a couple of her friends on the ship are in the same situation where they also tested positive and they're not showing symptoms. So --
JARRETT: Right --
RIPLEY: Yes, the headlines, the numbers are alarming and some of the stories, particularly out of Wuhan are heartbreaking with hundreds of deaths. But put this in context, so far the coronavirus has killed hundreds of people this year. The seasonal flu every year --
JARRETT: Way more --
RIPLEY: Kills hundreds of thousands of people --
JARRETT: Yes --
RIPLEY: And we don't have this kind of hysteria about the seasonal flu. So let's --
JARRETT: Yes, it's a really good perspective --
RIPLEY: So, let's just keep it all in context --
JARRETT: Yes, that, thank you for mentioning that, Will, good to see you. Thanks. Well, two years after winning an Academy Award, Kobe Bryant was honored at the Oscars.
KOSIK: Our Andy Scholes has more in this morning's "BLEACHER REPORT", I was just thinking about Kobe Bryant for that moment. Good morning to you.
ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS REPORTER: Yes, good morning, guys. You know, Kobe, he won an Oscar for his short animated film "Dear Basketball" two years after retiring from the NBA, and the picture of him holding that Oscar in 2018 was shown during the tribute for all those who died over the past year. Now, Director Spike Lee also honoring Kobe last night, wearing a purple and gold suit with Kobe's number 24 on the front and back of it.
And last night, former NFL player, Matthew Cherry, he won the same award that Kobe did, best animated short for his film "Hair Love". It's a 7-minute film about an African-American father's attempt to do his daughter's hair for the first time.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MATTHEW CHERRY, WON ACADEMY AWARD FOR BEST ANIMATED FILM: This award is dedicated to Kobe Bryant. May we all have a second act as great as his was, thank you.
(APPLAUSE)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHOLES: All right, and in NBA last night, the Rockets were hosting the jazz. Down one, closing second, Russell Westbrook gets it over to P.J. Tucker who knocks down the three, the Rockets up by 2 with just a second left. But that was plenty of time for Bogdan Bogdanovic, two Rockets right in his face for this 30 footer, nothing but net. Wins it for the Jazz at the buzzer. His teammates all run over to maul
him. Jazz shock the Rockets 114-113. And finally, this is one of the most impressive dunks of all-time. BYU's cheer squad just chunking Mascot Cosmo the Cougar from beyond the 3-point line. Look at that, incredible, 22 feet away guys. I personally think this is one of the greatest dunks of all-time just because I didn't know that humans can throw another human I guess dressed as a mascot that far.
But man, talk about a dunk, if anyone ever tries this in the NBA dunk contest which is coming up this weekend, they would win it hands down there.
JARRETT: I mean, it's just incredible. People can't do that without an enormous heavy suit on. I mean, that's just --
KOSIK: Yes --
JARRETT: That's amazing.
KOSIK: It's like a jet pack --
SCHOLES: You can stop watching that, what I thought of yesterday --
JARRETT: It's so great. It's so great --
SCHOLES: Yes --
JARRETT: Andy, good to see you. Thank you --
SCHOLES: All right --
JARRETT: So much. Well, time is running out for candidates to gain traction in the Democratic race. Was it smart of Joe Biden to go negative when he claims his surge is just around the corner?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[05:25:00]
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 Rey Rodriguez of Las Cruces, New Mexico. The Pentagon says the shooter was wearing an Afghan Army uniform, the attack is under investigation.
It's just 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. EARLY START continues right now.
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