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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin
Tropical Storms Marco and Laura Target the Gulf Coast, Forcing Evacuations in Louisiana; Kellyanne Conway Announces She's Leaving the White House; GOP Convention to Start Today. Aired 5-5:30a ET
Aired August 24, 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]
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CO-ANCHOR, EARLY START: The Republican Convention is just hours away. The president will be a daily attraction, but in a surprise move, one of his longest and staunchest defenders is stepping away at a critical time, we'll tell you why?
LAURA JARRETT, CO-ANCHOR, EARLY START: And a twin weather threat in the Gulf Coast. Two major storms barreling towards Louisiana, mandatory evacuations overnight. A new update just in from the National Hurricane Center. We have reports this morning from Charlotte, the White House, Cuba and Belarus. Welcome to our viewers in the United States and around the world, this is EARLY START, I'm Laura Jarrett.
ROMANS: Good morning to you, I'm Christine Romans, it's Monday, August 24th, 5:00 a.m. in New York and 71 days now to the election. Happening now, unprecedented back-to-back hurricanes targeting the same state, forcing evacuations in Louisiana. First up, Marco. It weakened to a tropical storm overnight, but could regain strength before landfall today. Next, storm Laura forecast to strengthen into a hurricane before it makes landfall on the U.S. mainland late Wednesday or early Thursday, both headed towards the Gulf of Mexico.
JARRETT: Weather officials say never before has a single state faced such severe storms in one 48-hour period. Mandatory evacuations ordered for Plaquemines Parish and Grand Isle, Louisiana, the timing here could not be worse with shelter space limited because of the pandemic, of course. The governor gave residents until last night to prepare. His warning, don't let your guard down.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. JOHN BEL EDWARDS (D-LA): The geographic proximity of these storms pose a challenge that quite frankly we've not seen before. With this one-two punch, that what we are expecting, this is a situation where you really need to be prepared, as we've always told you, to ride out these storms, and the first 72 hours is on you.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JARRETT: This water spout off the coast, you see there, giving a sign of what's to come. So far, 114 oil and gas production platforms on the gulf have been evacuated.
ROMANS: Flooding and storm surge are the major concerns. Of course, there may not be enough time for water to be pumped out or recede in the short time between these back-to-back storms. Meteorologist Pedram Javaheri is live for us this morning. This is just really remarkable, the governor there saying, you know, look, there could be some time before we can get to you, so you need to get where you need to be and stay safe.
PEDRAM JAVAHERI, METEOROLOGIST: Yes, you know, they're saying 72 hours before they might be able to get in your direction. But when you think about the storm system and of course, Laura, on the teals, about 48 hours apart from one impact to the other impact potential across this region. Certainly, as you know, that's something we have not seen, really you'd have to go back to the 1950s, the last time two- named tropical systems into the Gulf of Mexico. But Marco, the good news with it as of the latest update from the National Hurricane Center continues to show signs of weakening.
In fact, down to 60 miles per hour, last hour was up to around 70 miles per hour. And we think this will not have what it takes if it remains such here to become a hurricane. Only the steering environment here wants to shift the system back towards the west. So somewhere around the southern coast of Louisiana within the next 24 or so hours, and then it can either rain itself right along the coast of Louisiana or make landfall across this region as a weak tropical storm. Now, the water in advance of it, the storm surge certainly going to be significant as much as 4 feet to 6 feet, that's why places such as Grand Isle have already forced a mandatory evacuations in place across this region. But you'll notice, it is tropical storm Laura that we're really concerned about over the next 24 to 48 hours because opposite of what's happening with Marco as it weakens while it approaches land.
This storm looks to have what it takes to strengthen rather quickly, and the National Hurricane Center says don't just look at this forecast and see a category one or a category two, this is one of those storms that can intensify rather quickly and at this point, they're not comfortable putting a 4 or a 5 on a map, but they're saying certainly, anything is fair game with the storm system once it gets into the heart of the Gulf of Mexico, come say Tuesday night into Wednesday morning and landfall sometime late Wednesday into early Thursday, possibly right along the same region, guys, right into western areas of Louisiana, eastern Texas --
ROMANS: Wow --
JAVAHERI: As you noted, the area here with the offshore platforms, upwards of 600 platforms in place, and as you noted, about a 100 of them have already seen evacuations. So, a lot of people stand to be impacted across this region.
ROMANS: All right, we know you'll follow it for us, thank you so much, Pedram.
JARRETT: Breaking overnight, one of President Trump's most trusted aides is leaving his side. Kellyanne Conway says she's leaving the White House to focus on her family. Her husband, prominent conservative lawyer George Conway is also stepping back as a leader of the Lincoln Project. He says he still supports the Republican group's anti-Trump mission.
[05:05:00]
ROMANS: Political tension between the Conway's has spilled into public view in recent years and one of the Conway's high school-age daughters has generated attention on social media by their parents and their political views over the last several months. Kellyanne Conway said she and her husband disagree on plenty, but they're united about their kids mattering most. She says the decision to leave the White House, quote, "is completely my choice and my voice. For now, and for my beloved children, it will be less drama, more mama." You know, when they're coming into a Fall season of at-home learning too, you know, for schools, so, four kids, it's just tough.
JARRETT: A lot of stressors, a lot. It is going to be a big week for Republicans. A slimmed-down Republican National Convention kicks off today in Charlotte, North Carolina. Bucking tradition, President Trump is said to appear every night of the convention. He's been pushing aides hard to deliver a blockbuster event, never mind pandemic limitations. Speakers tonight include prominent Trump allies and a black Democratic state representative from Georgia who endorsed the president, withdrew from re-election and accused his own party of bigotry against African-Americans.
ROMANS: The convention is expected to include moments designed both to surprise viewers and trigger outrage from opponents. The party will not adopt a new platform this year, backing the president's agenda in full. So there's one thing Republicans and Democrats agree on, this election is all about Trump. More now from CNN's Ryan Nobles in Charlotte.
RYAN NOBLES, CNN WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Laura, Christine, no doubt, this is not the Republican Convention that the city of Charlotte expected to host when they were granted the bid more than a year ago. But the city still going to play an important role in this convention this week. They're going to kick things off here on Monday morning and that's where they're going to have the roll call of delegates. This is where the delegates from across the country, a little more than 300 of them will formally cast their ballots for Donald Trump and Mike Pence to be the ticket for the Republican Party in the 2020 presidential election.
And President Trump is going to be here to mark the occasion as well. He and the vice president will appear briefly to thank the delegates for their participation and he'll deliver brief remarks, this of course not his big acceptance speech. That won't happen until Thursday, and that's going to happen on the South Lawn of the White House. In fact, the bulk of the activities for this convention will actually shift to Washington, starting on Tuesday. That's where we're going to see most of the speeches come from, that includes the speeches from of course, second lady, Karen Pence, for instance, Melania Trump will deliver her remarks from Washington and of course, President Trump as well on Thursday. Now, President Trump has told his team he wants this convention to be
bigger and better than what we saw from the Democrats last week. He of course, a former reality television show star himself, he's brought in some of his former associates from "The Apprentice" to help produce this event. It all kicks off here in Charlotte on Monday morning. Laura and Christine?
JARRETT: Ryan, thank you so much for that. This morning, there are new questions about whether political pressure is driving government's decisions related to coronavirus. The FDA is granting emergency use authorization for convalescent plasma as a treatment, expanding its use in hospitals now. The decision came shortly after President Trump accused the agency of slow-walking the development of vaccines and therapeutics to hurt him politically.
ROMANS: Convalescent plasma of course is made using the blood of people who have recovered from an infection. Now, it's safe, but not yet proven to work specifically on COVID-19. The president calls the move historic, the FDA much more measured, saying it may be effective treating coronavirus and the benefits outweigh the risks. CNN has learned several top health officials have been skeptical there was enough data to justify this emergency authorization.
JARRETT: So, here's where things stand on the virus. About 80 percent of the country is now seeing a drop in cases, almost 35,000 new cases reported on Sunday, now weekend numbers are typically lower, but that is the lowest total for a Sunday since June 21st. Still, deaths are rising in 19 states, many of them in the Midwest and the Mid-Atlantic, and 31 states are struggling with rising positivity rates which is usually followed by a surge in cases. So the U.S. is clearly not out of the woods yet especially with Labor Day coming up.
ROMANS: Right, large gatherings remain the big concern here, at least, 26 cases of coronavirus in three states have now been linked to the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally in South Dakota earlier this month. The University of Kentucky began a second phase of COVID-19 testing, focusing on fraternities and sororities. Penn State has suspended two fraternities over social distancing violations. Central Michigan University is threatening to fine or suspend students who attend large gatherings there.
JARRETT: All this as Americans are really feeling the pain of a devastated economy. One food bank in New York is feeding at least 10,000 people a week with folks lining up for blocks to get food as you can see there. But New York has also come a long way in a short time, museums and other cultural institutions are set to reopen today with limited capacity.
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ROMANS: All right, the biggest question on the minds of millions of Americans, when will things get back to normal? CNN business and Moody's Analytics have teamed up to get you some answers there. The back-to-normal index is comprised of indicators from the state and the national level. Data shows the national economy was operating at about only 78 percent normal as of August 19th. Now, some states have fared better than others, you know, South Dakota has the highest index in the country at 93 percent. Hawaii has the longest road back-to-normal, it's operating at just 61 percent. You know, South Dakota doesn't depend on industries that have been devastated by the pandemic, and even hosted the president's 4th of July celebration. Hawaii is highly dependent on tourists from the U.S. and Asia, but of course, no one is traveling. Now, the crisis is far from over, about half the members of the National Association of Business Economists expect GDP won't return to pre-pandemic levels, Laura, until 2022.
JARRETT: Wow. Well, one person you won't see at the RNC this week, President Trump's sister. New audio that went public this weekend, we'll explain why?
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[05:15:00]
JARRETT: Later this morning, Postmaster General Louis DeJoy will testify at his second congressional hearing in just a few days. Overnight, the U.S. Postal Service warned against some of the measures in a bill passed by the house on Saturday. The bill would prevent changes like dismantling sorting machines or removing those collection blue boxes until the pandemic has ended. The Postal Service says while the changes are well meaning, they will constrain its ability to improve service.
ROMANS: And the Senate is not expected to consider the bill anyway. The immediate concern is the presidential election we've been expecting nationwide surged in voting by mail. President Trump has railed against it including a tweet, Sunday, that was flagged for misinformation. Forty three states either primarily vote by mail or allowed voters to request a mail ballot with no excuse. That accounts for more than 80 percent of voters. The former head of the Federal Election Commission says it's more likely that earth will be hit by an asteroid than mail-in voting would lead to a rigged election.
JARRETT: Some of the most salacious claims in the "Tell-All" book by President Trump's niece, Mary, raised questions over her sources. Well, we now know where some of it was coming from because she secretly recorded conversations first obtained by "The Washington Post", the president's sister, Maryanne Trump Barry who is a retired federal judge, offered her niece a blistering assessment of how her brother has operated as president.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARYANNE TRUMP BARRY, SISTER OF DONALD TRUMP: All he wants to do is appeal to his base. He has no principles on none. And his base, I mean, my God, if you were a religious person, you want to help people not do this.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Just begs the question like what exactly has he accomplished on his own?
TRUMP BARRY: Well, I don't know. Listen --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What's the answer?
(CROSSTALK)
TRUMP BARRY: Like bankruptcies.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Good point. He did accomplish those all by himself.
TRUMP BARRY: Yes, he did. Yes, he did.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That is very true.
TRUMP BARRY: You can't trust him. God damn, tweet and the wife --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, my God, (INAUDIBLE), but you know, if the change of story is a lack of preparation, the lying, the holy shit.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: The recording is legal in the state of New York, a spokesman for Mary Trump tells "The Post" that she began taping conversations after she claims her relatives lied about the value of the family estate, neither Maryanne Trump Barry nor the White House have commented on these recordings.
JARRETT: Still ahead for you, four years since Colin Kaepernick last suited up in the NFL, well, the commissioner now goes further than he ever has, admitting where the league fell short.
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ROMANS: All right. For the first time, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell says he regrets not listening to Colin Kaepernick earlier. Andy Scholes has more in this morning's "BLEACHER REPORT", hey, Andy.
ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS REPORTER: Hey, good morning, Christine. You know, Colin Kaepernick has not played in the NFL since the 2016 season. That's the season he began kneeling during the national anthem to protest police brutality and racial injustice, and Commissioner Roger Goodell has admitted recently that the league was wrong in the way they handled Kaepernick's peaceful protests. And in a conversation with former NFL player Emmanuel Acho, Goodell apologized for not listening to what Kaepernick was trying to do.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROGER GOODELL, COMMISSIONER, NFL: The first thing I would say is that I wish we had listened earlier, Kaep, to what you were kneeling about and what you were trying to bring attention to. We had invited him in several times to have the conversation and have the dialogue. I wish we had the benefit of that.
EMMANUEL ACHO, FORMER LINEBACKER: Yes --
GOODELL: We never did. And, you know, we would have benefitted from it --
ACHO: Yes --
GOODELL: Absolutely.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHOLES: And Goodell also said players kneeling during the national anthem is not about the flag and their intentions are being mischaracterized. All right, in the meantime, the NFL is investigating some COVID-19 test results after several teams that used the same laboratory in New Jersey received positive tests on Saturday. According to "ESPN", tests on 77 players from 11 different teams turned out to be false positives. Several of the teams had to alter or cancel practices yesterday due to the irregularities. Now, the league has not responded to CNN's request on how many teams used that lab.
All right, the Indy 500 being run without fans. First-time ever in its 104-year history. And a scary moment with five laps to go and Spencer Pigot smashes right into that pit wall there, sending his car spinning out of control. Now, Pigot was taken to the hospital and was later released. There was so much debris that the race had to end up on a caution, giving the chance to Takuma Sato, his second Indy victory in the past four years.
All right, to the NBA, Utah's Donovan Mitchell and Denver's Jamal Murray engaging in a duel for exchanges. Mitchell pouring in 51 points, second time in this series he's topped 50. Murray meanwhile had 50 points as well. First-time ever two opponents both scoring more than 45 points in a playoff game according to the Elias Sports Bureau. The Jazz though ended up winning that nail biter, 129-127 to take a 3-1 lead in the series. Now, the game of the bubble so far though, Clippers-Mavs game for -- down one in overtime. The Mavs' Luka Doncic, the step back three at the buzzer to win it. Luka was just incredible in this game, he scored 43 points, plus that 17 rebounds and 13 assists.
[05:25:00]
First-time that stat line has ever been done in the playoffs. The 21- year-old doing it all on a bad ankle as well. And just this out, Luka getting mobbed by his teammates again in the locker room, getting that water bottle bad. Dallas tying that series to two games apiece, heading into game five tomorrow. We've got a triple header of action on our sister network "TNT" today, starting with the Rockets, the Thunder at 4:00 Eastern, and you've got LeBron, the Lakers looking for a 3-1 lead in the night cap, Laura.
I'll tell you what, now these games and the NBA bubble had been so entertaining, that's like the first time in a long time I was on the couch all weekend just yelling at my TV. It felt great.
JARRETT: I was enjoying it, too, Andy, I can just see you doing that. All right, have a good day, thanks so much.
SCHOLES: All right. JARRETT: All right, one-two punch in the Gulf Coast right now,
Louisiana on alert for two major storms this week. And President Trump is the featured attraction at the RNC, but one of his most staunch defenders is leaving the White House. The surprise announcement overnight, we'll give you all the details next.
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