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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

New Efforts Underway To Contain Coronavirus After Second U.S. Death; Pete Buttigieg Drops Out Of 2020 Race; South Korea Launches 'Drive-Thru' Coronavirus Testing. Aired 5:30-6a ET

Aired March 02, 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: What to watch for this week as global efforts expand to slow the spread.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: And a big surprise ahead of Super Tuesday. Which Democratic candidate has bowed out and who will get their support tomorrow?

Good morning, everyone, this is EARLY START. I'm Christine Romans.

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

Some important new developments on the coronavirus' spread in the United States. Public health officials announcing the second death in Washington State -- a man in his 70s with underlying health conditions. That patient was hospitalized at Evergreen Health in Kirkland, the same place as the first person who died in Washington. And there are now three new cases connected to Evergreen Health.

ROMANS: "The Washington Post" reports analysis of samples from two patients indicates coronavirus has been spreading for about six weeks in Washington State with hundreds of other infections likely.

CNN has also learned the Centers for Disease Control has, so far, failed to release crucial information to doctors. That includes what treatment worked for patients who recovered from the virus in the U.S. and beyond to help doctors diagnose and treat the virus.

JARRETT: There are now 89 confirmed cases of coronavirus in the U.S., with the first cases announced in Oregon, Florida, Rhode Island, and New York.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo says the New York patient is a woman in her late 30s who took herself to a Manhattan hospital after contracting the virus while traveling in Iran. She's isolated at home with respiratory symptoms, though the governor says she's not in serious condition. There's no word on the health of the other passengers on her return flight.

ROMANS: Public health officials have been warning coronavirus would spread in U.S. communities. What should Americans look for this week? Chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta puts it in perspective for us.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Christine and Laura, I want to show you this animation real quick. You can take a look at these various outbreaks over the last several years and see how they compared.

And if you look at the lines there you see coronavirus and then H1N1 at the nine-week mark. Coronavirus actually outpacing H1N1 and then obviously, H1N1 -- that flu pandemic -- sort of takes off and you can see it reaches 60 million people by year one.

The big news I think, this week, is the president is going to be meeting with pharmaceutical companies to try and figure out are there therapeutics that could be in the -- in the pipeline and actually trying to figure out what's happening with the vaccine.

And then, these 15,000 testing kits, which will get distributed to these various points of care around the country. Whether or not that will make a difference at this point, it's a little bit tough to say.

Keep in mind, Korea has been testing thousands of patients a day. They've tested 65,000 patients total. In the U.K., they've tested close to 8,000 patients. And in the United States, so far, we've tested only around 500 patients. Without that surveillance, it's hard to get a good idea of exactly how many patients are affected.

But let me end on this note, Christine and Laura, I think it's important -- and we've said it all along -- is that the vast majority of people who do get exposed to this virus are not going to have any symptoms or they're just going to have minimal symptoms. There may be many people out there who simply aren't getting counted because they're also not getting sick.

Christine and Laura, like I said, it's a fast-moving story. As we get more details, we'll certainly bring them to you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

JARRETT: All right, Sanjay. Thanks so much for staying on the case for us.

President Trump, meanwhile, announcing ramped-up airport screenings for travelers from high-risk countries.

CNN's Brynn Gingras is at Newark International Airport for us.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRYNN GINGRAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Christine and Laura, travelers can expect some changes -- some extra screenings in response to this coronavirus. We learned all about this from the Trump administration over the weekend.

For example, travelers who are coming into the country from those designated high-risk countries -- we're talking about parts of Italy, South Korea, Iran, China -- they are going to go through a screening process before they even board the plane. And then we're learning they also will be screened a second time when they get stateside.

Also, the Trump administration expanding the travel ban to Iran. That means for nationals going to that country in the last 14 days will not be allowed into the United States.

Also, they raised the travel advisory for those high-risk countries. Again, parts of Italy and South Korea, China, and Iran. That means it's the highest level for Americans. They are urging Americans to not travel to those countries until this all dies down.

And in response to that, we know that American Airlines canceled its flights to Milan up until April 24th for the time being, and it's very possible other airlines are going to follow suit.

Christine and Laura, back to you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROMANS: All right, Brynn. Thank you for that at Newark for us this morning.

Global stocks markets in serious need of a rebound after this -- the worst week since the Great Recession. Huge, fast losses for all the major averages. And now, things are looking like they're trying to stabilize.

[05:35:00]

Asian shares finally closed higher after days of losses and corrections around the world. European shares are just slightly higher here right now, trying to rebound.

What's happening on Wall Street? Up about one percent. I'll caution you that Dow futures number has been down 500, up 500, and now up 250, so anything could happen today.

There were concerns a second coronavirus death in the U.S. could spark a major selloff overnight but so far that has not happened. The reason markets feel this virus, business disruptions worldwide.

Amazon is asking employees to postpone nonessential travel. Google canceled its upcoming summit in California. Nike deep-cleaned its headquarters in Oregon out of an abundance of caution. A virus case was confirmed about 10 miles from Nike's world headquarters in Beaverton.

The travel industry has -- probably suffering the worst crisis for travel since September 11th -- that's what experts say. It's not just business travel. Americans who were making plans for spring and summer trips are rethinking those travel plans.

And imagine a March Madness arena with no fans. The National College Players Association has asked the NCAA to at least consider tournaments with no crowds. The NCAA said it is monitoring developments with the outbreak.

JARRETT: The global death toll from coronavirus now tops 3,000 with almost 87,000 people sick. The epidemic has triggered a homicide investigation in South Korea. Seoul city government just filed a complaint against leaders of a religious group at the heart of the outbreak in that country.

Italy now has the most cases of any nation outside of Asia -- nearly 1,700. That's a 50 percent increase in just 24 hours. The famed La Scala opera house will be closed until March eighth.

ROMANS: The Louvre in Paris remains closed. There were long lines on Sunday, normally a free entry day, but workers decided the risk of contamination was simply too great and the museum turned everyone away. And the government says no kisses on both cheeks. Let's just quit that for a minute.

And look at these NASA images of China before and after the outbreak. With production in many factories halted and transportation restricted, the air quality has improved dramatically. There was a number overnight -- Chinese factory economic data that came out that showed the worst on record actually because they closed down the factories --

JARRETT: Yes.

ROMANS: -- and that improved the air quality.

JARRETT: Well, a historic 2020 run comes to an end. Who will win the support of Pete Buttigieg and his supporters for Super Tuesday?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:41:40]

JARRETT: A major shakeup in the 2020 race for president. Pete Buttigieg ending his historic presidential run. The gay former South Bend, Indiana mayor turned into a national political player with his unexpected rise, but Buttigieg made the decision to step aside, seeing no viable path to success on Super Tuesday and beyond.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PETE BUTTIGIEG (D), FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Our goal has always been to help unify Americans to defeat Donald Trump and to win the era for our values. And so we must recognize that at this point in the race the best way to keep faith with those goals and ideals is to step aside and help bring our party and our country together.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: Now, Buttigieg did not endorse anyone but critical support in states like California and Texas could gravitate to Joe Biden, whose convincing win in South Carolina revived his campaign. Biden is calling on Super Tuesday states, like Virginia, to keep that momentum going. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: On Tuesday, here in Virginia, you could be the launching pad to the path to beat Donald Trump.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: Former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg will be on the ballot for the first time tomorrow. Now, some polls show him gaining support among African-American voters but there's still some anger over some of his policies as mayor.

JARRETT: Protesters silently turned their backs on Bloomberg as he spoke at a historic black church in Selma, Alabama yesterday. His appearance coincided with the 55th anniversary of Bloody Sunday, a historic civil rights march demanding the right to vote. Seventeen people were hospitalized after violent confrontations with white police officers as they attempted to cross Edmund Pettus Bridge on that historic day.

ROMANS: All right. Joining us here, Princeton University historian and professor Julian Zelizer, a CNN political analyst. Good morning, Julian.

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

ROMANS: Certainly, a good weekend for Joe Biden and he really needed that. And then, Pete Buttigieg drops out. What does that mean for Joe Biden and for the field heading into Texas and California?

ZELIZER: Well, it does certainly revive his campaign and it will boost his chances in states like Virginia. Joe Biden could do very well. And, Buttigieg's dropping out is the first consolidation of the non-Sanders bloc that's happened. So, I don't think Biden thinks he's going to win in Texas and California but he's certainly hoping now he does better than expected and can secure some other states.

ROMANS: Yes, we're showing those California numbers right there, right now. You have Buttigieg there with nine percent and Biden -- you know, you add nine percent to Biden there -- you know, Sanders is still -- he's raising a lot of money and he still has a lot of energy as the front-runner here.

JARRETT: Yes.

ZELIZER: Sanders is the front-runner and it's likely, come Wednesday, that will be the story. He will come away doing very well. And so what they're thinking about is not winning a majority of the delegates. This is a contest right now to have enough so that you can go into this convention and have an honest chance to be brokered.

JARRETT: Talk a little bit about just the historic nature of the Buttigieg campaign. I mean, this is a young, 38-year-old former mayor of South Bend. ROMANS: Right.

JARRETT: He goes on to win Iowa. I mean, he outdoes a two-term vice president. Talk -- just talk a little bit about what the campaign meant.

ZELIZER: It's a milestone in the history of gay rights. I've been teaching my class about the 1970s and the gay rights movement, and simply coming out was a political act. And now, we had a presidential candidate where that was an issue, but it wasn't the central issue.

[05:45:06]

And those are moments in presidential history that really matter and open up the possibilities for who can be a candidate and who's viable.

ROMANS: What about the pressure on Elizabeth Warren and Amy Klobuchar? I mean, they were -- they -- I mean, Buttigieg has 26 delegates.

JARRETT: Right.

ROMANS: They -- you know, they don't. And he backs out because there's not a viable path forward.

ZELIZER: Well, this increases the pressure on them come Wednesday and Thursday if they do not perform well. You will be hearing a lot from the pundits, from the politicians to step out because they're going to want to consolidate around Biden.

ROMANS: Can we look at the cover of "The Economist" magazine that dropped this weekend because this is getting a lot of attention in, sort of, my world -- in the business world and then people who have been looking for a moderate. It says "American Nightmare: Could it Come to This?" And it's Bernie 2020 and Trump 2020, both of whom are the lead -- both raising a lot of money and Uncle Sam cowering underneath the pillow there.

And the story goes on to say that Bernie Sanders has sponsored seven pieces of legislation that have passed; two of them with the naming of a Vermont post office. He essentially has been a professional blowhard. That's what "The Economist" magazine -- their words, not mine.

JARRETT: Their words, not yours.

ROMANS: Is there a shift happening in this race because of how well Biden did this weekend and Buttigieg slipping out? Is there a path for the middle?

ZELIZER: I mean, maybe "The Economist" is not necessarily where a lot of Democrats are.

ROMANS: No, it's not.

ZELIZER: There is a difference. ROMANS: It's not.

ZELIZER: And so, the Democratic base still likes Sanders right now. He is doing well not simply with new voters but with traditional Democratic voters. So that could maybe rally support for Sanders to have "The Economist" come out against you rather than vice versa.

ROMANS: Right -- true.

JARRETT: Well, one way you see where he's really doing is just on money. I mean, Sanders -- if we have the numbers, I think, that shows you the February haul for him.

ROMANS: Yes.

JARRETT: It's just extraordinary -- $46.5 million. I mean, it just -- it just shows you he has such a broad base of support. But it also makes you wonder -- I mean, Biden at $17 million there, not bad, but he needs to really come up going into some of these other states in the next couple of Tuesdays ahead in March, right?

ZELIZER: He does. And when you're in Iowa and New Hampshire, you can shake a lot of hands, you can make a lot of speeches, but you can't do that in states like California, Texas --

JARRETT: Yes.

ZELIZER: -- and other states that are coming. You need to have advertisements. You need organizational muscle. Sanders does have that. And so, we saw with Tom Steyer, money alone is not enough but it certainly matters.

And so that's where Biden has to catch up. That's where he's hoping South Carolina helps him -- not simply momentum, but money, and that's what we're looking for now.

ROMANS: All right, Julian Zelizer. So nice to see you.

ZELIZER: Thank you.

ROMANS: Thanks for that historian --

JARRETT: Nice to see you this morning.

ROMANS: -- perspective on what has been a historic race.

Ahead of Super Tuesday, CNN will have exclusive one-on-one interviews with the Democratic presidential candidates live from Washington, D.C. starting tonight at 8:00 p.m. eastern, only on CNN.

We will be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:52:19] JARRETT: Outside of China, South Korea has the most coronavirus cases. They've come up with a new, innovative way to test for the virus in the form of a drive-thru.

CNN's Ivan Watson is there for us.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Laura and Christine, South Korea has come up with an innovative way to struggle with the coronavirus.

I'm going to show you drive-thru coronavirus testing. This is a free service that the city of Goyang is offering anybody. I just took the test, actually. Vehicles come through here and you get a questionnaire, you get your hands sanitized, and then you go through a number of stations here.

Now, Korea has the most coronavirus cases outside of Mainland China. Their numbers surged from 31 to more than 4,200 in just two weeks. And the authorities say this method can test people faster and limit the exposure of potential carriers to the brave doctors and nurses that are on the front lines of this public health crisis.

The patients never get out of the car. They come in, they fill out questionnaires, and find out whether or not they're in a risk category. They get their temperatures checked.

And if it's deemed that they're symptomatic -- you know, they have a fever, runny nose or if they've been to one of the big exposure places, they come down. And while sitting in their cars, the nurses will swab their nostrils and their throats -- take samples -- and then the results will come in within two to three days.

A doctor I talked to in a city which has more than 70 percent of the coronavirus cases in the entire country -- he says that this could be a model for countries like the U.S. that are just starting to deal with their first coronavirus cases -- Laura and Christine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROMANS: All right, Ivan. Thank you so much for that -- fascinating.

All right, a bit of wintertime magic on the shores of Lake Erie -- ice castles. These are real houses in Hamburg, New York frosted by 48 straight hours of gale-force winds blowing lake water ashore and freezing in those homes. One homeowner said it was dark and eerie in his Lake Erie house.

Today, severe storms developing in the south could affect turnout on Super Tuesday.

Here's meteorologist Pedram Javaheri.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PEDRAM JAVAHERI, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Hey, good morning, guys.

Yes, at least 11 of the 14 states that are going to be taking polling locations there for Super Tuesday are going to be impacted with at least some weather when it comes to strong storms, some gusty winds, and certainly, some severe weather to be had as well across this region on Tuesday.

But notice the threat kind of shifts from areas towards the north back toward the Gulf Coast for Tuesday into Wednesday. So we'll watch this carefully because a really persistent pattern in place.

[05:55:02]

For this afternoon, Nashville and points back towards the west into Memphis and northern Mississippi -- that's the highest threat zone here for some strong winds and maybe even a few isolated tornadoes. But notice as we work our way toward Super Tuesday, the energy shifts a little farther towards the south and west. Austin and San Antonio, that's the highest threat zone. The largest threat really going to be for damaging winds and large hail when it comes to severe weather.

But I'm here to tell you it is not necessarily the severe weather that's the concern, but the amount of rainfall that's forecast to fall across this region through at least Thursday. Widespread coverage of four-plus inches -- some areas as much as six inches of rainfall in store through Thursday. So flooding becomes a major player for much of this week -- guys.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

JARRETT: Pedram, thanks so much for that.

All right, an important heads-up for spring breakers. There's still no booze allowed on the beach in Panama City, Florida for the entire month of March. That goes along with a 2:00 a.m. deadline for buying alcohol anywhere in the city limits.

Panama City's police chief says the zero tolerance policy, in effect since 2015, has helped the city transition from a national spring break madhouse to a year-round family-friendly destination.

ROMANS: All right, let's get a check on CNN Business this morning.

Speaking of madhouse, taking a look at global markets trying to stabilize here with some success. On Wall Street, you've got futures moving up just a little bit. Look, they have been down 500 points, up 400 points, now up about 174.

Look, it was a terrible week for the U.S. stock market. The Dow closed 357 points lower on Friday. The S&P 500 fell slightly. The Nasdaq ended flat -- but that was just Friday.

Friday capped an awful, truly, terrible, very bad week for stocks. The three major averages posted their worst weekly percentage drops since the Great Recession. Investors are focused now on the Federal Reserve. There are expectations for an interest rate cut at the Fed's next meeting in March. Expectations spiked to 100 percent on Friday.

Analysts say the Fed could meet even earlier for an emergency rate cut. The last time that happened was 2008.

All right, there's going to be a new driver at the helm of Harley- Davidson. Its CEO stepping down after its worse sales in at least 16 years. Harley's been struggling for years as younger people become less interested in motorcycles.

First, it was the chicken sandwich wars, now it's a breakfast battle. McDonald's deemed today National Egg McMuffin Day and it's offering free McMuffins to celebrate. McDonald's said the day is meant to celebrate the best fast-food breakfast sandwich, which turns 50 years old this year. But today is also the same day Wendy's takes its new menu nationwide.

This offer for free McMuffins valid today in the U.S. from 6:00 to 10:30 a.m.

JARRETT: I'll go get in line for us.

ROMANS: OK, good.

JARRETT: "SNL" takes on the White House coronavirus response with the 2020 Democrats stealing the vice president's thunder.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KEENAN THOMPSON, CAST MEMBER PORTRAYING BEN CARSON, NBC "SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE": We suggest getting these wonderful Make America Great Again masks from the White House Website. It may take a couple of months for delivery because they are made in Wuhan, China.

JOHN MULANEY, COMEDIAN, PORTRAYING JOE BIDEN: The year was 19 Rikki- Tikki-Tavi and me and Nelson Mandela were palling around South Africa "Green Book" style. We had one elephant between us and who do we run into but the Ebola monkey. And weird story longer, I wrestled that sucker to mercy.

LARRY DAVID, COMEDIAN, PORTRAYING BERNIE SANDERS: You've got admit, folks, universal health care doesn't sound too crazy now, does it?

No, no, no, no -- no Purell. I got a bottle of that junk and on the label it says it kills 99.99 percent of germs. What happens to the top .01 percent?

You know who was great at washing his hands? Joseph Stalin.

COLIN JOST, CAST MEMBER, NBC "SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE": Mike Bloomberg is reportedly spending a record $3.5 million buying ads in black media. So get ready for Tyler Perry's Madea goes to MikeBloomberg.com.

(END VIDEO CLIP) JARRETT: I just want more Larry David on "SNL" all the time.

ROMANS: Zero point one percent.

JARRETT: He's a perfect impression.

ROMANS: Thanks for joining --

JARRETT: Like long-lost relatives.

ROMANS: Thanks for joining us. I'm Christine Romans.

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

ROMANS: Zero point one.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JARRETT: Public health officials announce a second U.S. death from coronavirus.

ALEX AZAR, SECRETARY, HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES: There's a large investigation going on to try to determine how it might have spread.

MIKE PENCE, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The American people can be confident that we are bringing a whole of government approach.

JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: One day left before the big Super Tuesday contest but boy, has this race changed over the weekend.

BUTTIGIEG: I am making the difficult decision to suspend my campaign for the presidency.

SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I just want to welcome all of his supporters and urge them to joining us in the fight for real change in this country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

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

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: We want to welcome our viewers in the United States and all around the world. This is NEW DAY. It is Monday, March second, 6:00 here in New York.

And we begin with several developments in the coronavirus outbreak. A second American has died in Washington State. He was in his 70s and he came from a nursing facility in the Seattle area where dozens of people are sick.

END