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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

Democrats Get Aggressive Ahead of Tomorrow's New Hampshire Primary; "Parasite" Makes History With Best Picture Win At Oscars; 65 More Coronavirus Cases Aboard Cruise Ship. Aired 5:30-6a ET

Aired February 10, 2020 - 05:30   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


[05:30:00]

LAURA JARRETT, CNN ANCHOR: Explosive device, a plane crash, and an abduction.

EARLY START continues right now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: This guy's not a Barack Obama.

PETE BUTTIGIEG (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Well, he's right, I'm not, and neither is he.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ALISON KOSIK, CNN ANCHOR: Democrats with a final push ahead of the New Hampshire primary. The Biden campaign going negative, but did it have to?

JARRETT: 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)

JANE FONDA, ACTRESS, OSCAR PRESENTER: "Parasite."

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KOSIK: History at the Oscars. How "Parasite" broke 92 years of precedent at the Academy Awards.

Good morning, this is EARLY START. I'm Alison Kosik.

JARRETT: And I'm Laura Jarrett, about 30 minutes past the hour here in New York.

There is a new urgency in the Democratic race right now. Struggling candidates trying to salvage hopes for a comeback, they 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)

BIDEN POLITICAL AD: Joe Biden helped lead the passage of the Affordable Care Act, which gave health care to 20 million people. And when parkgoers called on Pete Buttigieg, he installed decorative lights under bridges, giving citizens of South Bend colorfully illuminated rivers.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KOSIK: Then, Biden, himself, taking 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)

JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Is this a (sic) act of desperation on your campaign to be making this --

BIDEN: Aw, come on, man, you think --

ZELENY: -- assertion right now --

BIDEN: This guy's -- this guy's not --

ZELENY: -- of Mayor Buttigieg?

BIDEN: -- a Barack Obama.

BUTTIGIEG: 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)

JARRETT: Biden is now looking beyond New Hampshire, focusing squarely on the next contest in Nevada and South Carolina, both with bigger minority voting blocs.

(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. And not a single person has won without overwhelming support from the black community -- overwhelming -- overwhelming, OK? So, here --

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JARRETT: In case you missed it, it's overwhelming.

Bernie Sanders, meantime, beating a familiar drum to go after Buttigieg -- billionaire money and politics.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I am running against a candidate -- Pete Buttigieg, among others -- who has raised contributions from more than 40 billionaires.

BUTTIGIEG: The hundreds of thousands of people who've 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 Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Amy Klobuchar. Warren came in a disappointing third in Iowa. Klobuchar placing fifth, but she had more support than many had expected. She also had a strong debate performance on Friday.

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: Lt. Col. 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 Sec. Mark Esper said this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARK ESPER, SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: We welcome back all of our service members, wherever they served, to any assignment they're given. We protect all of our persons -- service members from retribution or anything -- anything like that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JARRETT: CNN has just learned Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer sent a letter to the acting Department of Defense inspector general requesting investigations into retaliation against witnesses.

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.

[05:35:05]

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: And we're going to have a lot more on all of this. Plus, a congressional staffer reporting a sexual assault. Why investigators want to speak with the secretary of Veterans Affairs.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KOSIK: Just one day to go until New Hampshire's Democratic primary. Bernie Sanders and Pete Buttigieg way ahead in the polls and showing momentum. But, Joe Biden is struggling and he's going negative in a way that could backfire in the long run.

JARRETT: Joining us to discuss, Princeton University historian and professor Julian Zelizer, a CNN political analyst as well. Julian, good morning.

JULIAN ZELIZER, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST, HISTORIAN AND PROFESSOR, PRINCETON UNIVERSITY, CO-AUTHOR, "FAULT LINES: A HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES SINCE 1974": Good morning.

KOSIK: Good morning.

[05:40:00]

JARRETT: Always great to have you on set.

ZELIZER: Thank you.

JARRETT: So, the New Hampshire primary is shaping up a little bit like Iowa. You've got Buttigieg and Sanders in the top tier right now. Obviously, Sanders ahead in most of the polls. It's almost shaping up to be the moderate millennial against the boomer socialist, self- described Democratic socialist.

If Buttigieg comes in a close second tomorrow night in New Hampshire, what does that mean for the race?

ZELIZER: Well, I think the two of them have positioned themselves well and I'm not sure it matters if either of them are slightly in second place. In some ways, the big story is who comes in third and fourth.

What happens to Sen. Warren? Can she deliver in this neighboring state? And does that put her campaign in peril?

And what happens if Joe Biden does poorly again? Everyone's always anticipated his campaign will be about Super Tuesday. But this does shake up fundraisers and deflate organizers.

KOSIK: Yes.

And speaking of Joe Biden, he's getting some criticism that he's not aggressive enough. So guess what? He's going negative. You look at the ads -- you look at how he's talking to potential voters and being negative.

What risks are there? Does he risk alienating every mid-sized city in America by doing this?

ZELIZER: Well, you can go negative. Politics ain't beanbag, as they say. You have to be tough.

But he's always been a little bit of a mystery in terms of what he's about. His claim is he's electable. His claim is he was vice president. So the risk is that it all becomes about the attack and that he never fills out the substance.

Sen. Sanders, we know what he's about. In some ways, we now know what Mayor Pete is about. Biden still has defining to do and that's the risk if it's just attack, attack, attack.

JARRETT: But was this a good idea right now? I mean, he's kind of described this race as the first four -- you know, that's one bloc and then we'll all move along. But -- I mean, how are people in the Midwest supposed to receive and ad like that and think oh, that's somebody who speaks to me and my issues?

ZELIZER: No, you're right. There is a way to turn off the voter if that's all that they see. And in some ways, Biden's an aspirational candidate in that he's supposed to be politics can be in a better place.

JARRETT: Yes.

ZELIZER: Politics can be different.

So I think some might receive that and say well, he's more of the same and I'm going to go with these other choices who are more defined and who seem to have a little more --

JARRETT: Sure.

ZELIZER: -- there there in terms of the substance.

KOSIK: You brought up Elizabeth Warren. Can Elizabeth Warren, can Amy Klobuchar -- can they survive a bad night? Let's say, one of them or both have a bad night in New Hampshire.

ZELIZER: They can survive in that we have a multicandidate process, but I do think it would really hurt Warren. This -- the first two contests were somewhere Warren was expected to do well, like Sanders and Buttigieg. She has not. And I would imagine if she performs really poorly, she's going to be struggling or cutting funds and then that hurts you in the next run.

Klobuchar, she's staying in this place and waiting for things to break and I think there's space for her to continue doing that.

JARRETT: Yes. Before we let you go, I want to get your thoughts on the president firing Ambassador Gordon Sondland and also Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman. We saw that over the weekend.

And it's not just them. I mean, if you look at this map here you can see there are eight different officials -- career diplomats who have either been forced out or who have essentially retired and decided they're getting out of this.

I mean, what do you -- what do you make of this and this retaliatory firing? I mean, that's what it is. These are people who spoke out against the president in testimony and are now out of a job.

ZELIZER: It's a purge and this is what President Trump does. He's very vindictive. He's very uncomfortable with any disloyal around him and he goes after anyone who has gone after him.

So if you're in his inner circle, this is what's happening. He's trying to clear out his Oval Office.

But it's a dangerous message to people who are open to testifying, who are open to being honest about what's going on or what's going wrong. This sends a message there's no room for that in the White House.

JARRETT: Yes, and it makes you wonder -- I mean, what career folks who are still at the State Department are supposed to think about all of this.

ZELIZER: No, it's a totally politicized environment.

JARRETT: Yes.

Julian, it's always good to see you.

ZELIZER: Thank you.

KOSIK: Thanks for joining us.

JARRETT: Thank you so much.

KOSIK: And the newly-minted best picture is making history at the Oscars.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FONDA: And the Oscar goes to "Parasite."

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KOSIK: Critical darling "Parasite" becoming the first non-English language film in Oscar's 92-year history to win the top prize.

The show did not have a host but there was no shortage of political humor.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) STEVE MARTIN, ACTOR-COMEDIAN: A couple of years ago there was a big disaster here at the Oscars where they accidentally read out the wrong name, and it was nobody's fault. But they have guaranteed that this will not happen this year because the Academy has switched to the new Iowa caucus app.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[05:45:05]

JARRETT: The lack of recognition for women filmmakers came up several times. Past Oscar winner Natalie Portman even wearing a cape embroidered with the names of snubbed female directors.

But the night clearly belonged to "Parasite."

CNN's Stephanie Elam has more 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 shown through and 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 Governors Ball. Take a listen to what he said about the win.

How are you feeling right now?

BONG JOON HO, DIRECTOR, "PARASITE" (through translator): I think we destroyed the barrier too much. We should have taken our time, actually.

HO: When he was doing speech, I was like this -- you know, (speaking foreign language).

TRANSLATOR: It was like the Oscar trophy was staring at me, so we locked eyes for a second.

ELAM: And that was before the drinking.

HO: Yes, I was sober. Totally sober.

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. BRAD PITT, BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR, "ONCE UPON A TIME IN HOLLYWOOD": They told me I only have 45 seconds up where, which is 45 seconds more than the Senate gave John Bolton this week.

ELAM: And winning for best actor, as expected, Joaquin Phoenix for "Joker." He's been political all awards season long. This was no different.

JOAQUIN PHOENIX, BEST ACTOR, "JOKER": I think, at times, we feel or we're 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 queer 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.

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: Stephanie, thanks so much.

We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:52:25]

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 onboard the ship, bringing the total to 135.

The global death toll has now climbed to 910. That surpasses 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. So, Will, break this down for us. If you have any indication that you have the virus, even if you don't have symptoms, you're off the ship.

WILL RIPLEY, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right. In fact, we have pictures from the ship where you can see a very large -- the largest we've seen, so far -- a line of ambulances that have been taking people off the ship because they're being taken to hospitals like this one. There are hospitals across Japan that are being used to treat coronavirus patients. This is just one of them.

In fact, we just saw an ambulance a few minutes ago pass by. The lights were off. It was kind of quietly moving in as not to disturbed this residential neighborhood that the hospital sits next to, but the people who were driving it were in full hazmat protective gear. So we know that that was an ambulance with coronavirus patients most likely taken from the cruise ship because it looks just like all of the other ones that we've seen rolling away from the ship.

But, yes, if you have no symptoms, if you have a minor case, you're still in quarantine because they just know so little about coronavirus and there is no, at this point, necessarily effective treatment for it other than the individual body's own immune system. They're not taking any chances.

But for the vast majority of patients, this is not a death sentence when you get a diagnosis. It's basically -- you know, we spoke with an American woman, Rebecca Fraysure, who's in the hospital here. She doesn't even have any symptoms. She's not getting any medication or treatment for the coronavirus.

So, to try to dial back some of the panic that can ensue from these rapidly rising numbers, the captains -- the ship's captain actually saying that this is not unexpected. All of these people were actually exposed before the quarantine period began.

China is doing everything it can to censor information that's coming out about this.

We know that a citizen journalist who had been posting videos from inside Wuhan, kind of exposing what he claimed was the city's lack of preparation and lack of equipment to handle what's happening there. Obviously, the vast majority of deaths have been in Wuhan. He has now disappeared. His family believes the Chinese government put him in forced quarantine and they're very worried about his safety, Laura.

JARRETT: (audio gap) what happened to him there.

Will, thanks so much for being there for us. We'll see you soon.

RIPLEY: Yes.

[05:55:00]

JARRETT: And we want to note, Royal Caribbean's Anthem of the Seas ship docked in New Jersey since Friday, it will set sail today. Passengers began boarding Sunday after four passengers tested negative for coronavirus.

KOSIK: The watchdog for veterans' affairs is reviewing a request to investigate V.A. Sec. Robert Wilkie. Wilkie is accused of seeking dirt on a congressional staffer who alleges she was sexually assaulted. This stems from a complaint by a top aide to California Congressman Mark Takano.

Navy veteran Andrea Goldstein says she was sexually harassed and assaulted at the V.A. Medical Center in Washington last fall. Once she filed a complaint, "The Washington Post" reports Sec. Wilkie began inquiring about her background and encouraging staffers to discredit her. JARRETT: Well, the man who launched two shooting attacks on New York City police officers this weekend says he did it because he hates 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 happened the next morning on uniformed officers and a civilian employee inside the precinct.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DERMOT SHEA, COMMISSIONER, NEW YORK POLICE DEPARTMENT: 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)

JARRETT: The commissioner says in all, two officers were shot but survived. The suspect, 45-year-old Robert Williams, is set to be arraigned later today.

KOSIK: A man is under arrest this morning for driving a van through a tent with Trump campaign volunteers. This happening in Jacksonville, Florida. Gregory Timm facing charges, including aggravated assault. The Jacksonville sheriff says that they're still investigating whether the incident was politically motivated.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BILL NYE, THE SCIENCE GUY: (Dancing in Blue Jacket Fashion Show).

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JARRETT: Oh, yes, that is Bill Nye, the style guy. Who knew the popular science explainer had those 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.

KOSIK: He is grooving.

Let's get a check on CNN Business this morning. Taking a look at global markets, it looks like Asian markets closed lower and European markets have opened in the red. On Wall Street, futures are pointing to a lower open as well.

Stocks closed lower on Friday despite a strong jobs report, though. The economy added 225,000 jobs in January and the unemployment rate edged up to 3.6 percent, but for the right reasons. It's because more people decided to look for work.

The Dow closed down 277 points. That's as investors continue to worry about how the coronavirus will affect the economy. The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq both closed half a percent lower.

JARRETT: Well, "SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE" taking jabs at the Democratic field and the conclusion of President Trump's impeachment trial. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DANIEL SUDEIKIS, ACTOR, PORTRAYING JOE BIDEN ON NBC "SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE": By the time we get to South Cackalacky, Joe Biden's going to do what Joe Biden does best, creep up from behind.

LARRY DAVID, ACTOR, PORTRAYING BERNIE SANDERS ON NBC "SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE": I have an idea for an app, it's called no apps. No apps, no computers, no gadgets, no gizmos.

You show up to your polling place, take a number like you do at the butcher, they call your ticket. You walk up to the counter and say to the guy, give me a pound of whatever's about to go bad.

KATE MCKINNON, CAST MEMBER, NBC "SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE", PORTRAYING SEN. ELIZABETH WARREN: I know a lot of people like me but they worry about if I'm electable. And I have a great solution for that -- elect me.

RACHEL DRATCH, CAST MEMBER, NBC "SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE", PORTRAYING SEN. AMY KLOBUCHAR: And guess what? Elizabeth is J. Lo and I'm Shakira. And so, to Donald Trump, I say, (imitating Shakira's tongue wag from her performance at the Super Bowl halftime show).

COLIN JOST, CAST MEMBER, NBC "SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE": President Trump was acquitted in a Senate trial this week and Democrats are calling it a cover-up. But does this look like a guy who can pull off a cover-up?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JARRETT: Rachel Dratch as Amy Klobuchar is so good. I love to see all the old "SNL" characters come back.

KOSIK: They are all just killing it. I love it.

JARRETT: They're great -- they're great.

KOSIK: Thanks for joining us. I'm Alison Kosik.

JARRETT: And I'm Laura Jarrett. "NEW DAY" starts right now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JARRETT: Tensions run high amongst the candidates just one day before the New Hampshire primary.

SANDERS: I'm running against Pete Buttigieg, among others, who have raised campaign funds from over 40 billionaires.

BUTTIGIEG: I respect Sen. Sanders, but when I hear that you're either for a revolution or you're for the status quo, that's a vision of the country that doesn't have room for most of us.

SEN. ELIZABETH WARREN (D-MA), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We have one job in November, beat Donald Trump.

FONDA: And the Oscar goes to "Parasite." PITT: They told me I only have 45 seconds up here, which is 45 seconds more than the Senate gave John Bolton this week.

HILDUR GUDNADOTTIR, OSCAR WINNER FOR BEST ORIGINAL SCORE, "JOKER": To the girls who hear the music bubbling within, we need to hear your voices.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANNOUNCER: This is NEW DAY with Alisyn Camerota and John Berman.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: This is obviously the part of the show where we're supposed to chat.

END