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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

Millions Of Texans Suffer In Widespread Power Catastrophe; White House Unveils Sweeping Immigration Reform Bill; 99-Year-Old Prince Philip In Hospital As 'Precautionary Measure'. Aired 5:30-6a ET

Aired February 18, 2021 - 05:30   ET

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


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[05:32:09]

LAURA JARRETT, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, everyone. Welcome back to EARLY START. I'm Laura Jarrett.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Christine Romans. It's just about 32 minutes past the hour on this Thursday morning.

Day four of a humanitary -- a humanitarian catastrophe unfolding in Texas. Millions of people waking up to brutal conditions. No power, no water -- in some places, no heat. Power officials were asked for the best and worst-case scenarios.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BILL MAGNESS, CEO, ERCOT: The best case at this point is that today or tomorrow we're able to at least get back down to the point where all the consumers who are experiencing outages that are no longer than, say, 30 minutes to an hour at a time.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: So that was the best case. He did not offer up a worst-case.

JARRETT: Several hospitals forced to move patients because of low water pressure. Power outages knocked out the generators that keep the pressure up.

And burst pipes making it all worse. Those burst pipes causing water damage in homes across the state. Residents just trying to salvage what they can.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DARRELL RILEY, HOME IS DAMAGED: This part of the wall buckled, which is right over here.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Right here.

RILEY: And then, a few minutes later, we was looking at the damage and then another piece right there fell.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JARRETT: One family southeast of Dallas -- well, their ceiling collapsed after frozen pipes burst. They say they have enough gas to power a generator for one more day. After that, the homeowner tells CNN she will quote "rely on a full bottle of tequila and some prayer candles."

The disaster also affecting COVID vaccinations nationwide. Delays in at least 30 states as the weather holds up shipments through distribution hubs in Memphis and Louisville.

ROMANS: Independence and deregulation of the power grid in Texas led to lower energy prices in good times, but it also led to underinvestment that contributed to all of this. The governor says every source of power has been compromised.

Now, his predecessor, Rick Perry, the former U.S. Energy secretary -- get this. He claims he and his fellow Texans are fine with the outages if it keeps the feds away from the state's power grid.

There's a hint of good news. The power outages dropping from three million customers yesterday now down to about 700,000 in Texas this morning. But remember, each customer is actually several people -- a business or a household -- so millions are still in the dark.

JARRETT: Yes, and one of those people joining us now by phone, Bryce Smith, who lost power at his home in Austin during the storm. Bryce, thank you so much for jumping on the phone with us given everything you're going through. I've got Christine Romans here with me, too.

We know you have a wife, you have two kids. They're young, four and one years old. Your family lost power so you drive six hours to Dallas to be with your mom. I can't even imagine how that trip went.

How is your family holding up right now?

BRYCE SMITH, LOST POWER FROM WINTER STORM (via telephone): Thank you for having me.

[05:35:00]

We are a little shooken up -- a little anxious about what's going to happen. I know the power is still off at our house and we're worried about the pipes. So we're still a little anxious and worried and just trying to make it through, but just happy right now that we actually have power and somebody that we know has power.

ROMANS: Bryce, your instinct to go to -- to get to mom -- to go to grandma with the two little kids is -- you know, we relate. We really relate because that is tough to be in those kind of conditions with two small children.

I know that you're originally from Iowa so you know how to drive those icy roads. But describe -- SMITH: Yes.

ROMANS: -- what -- describe what's happening in your community right now. How are your neighbors coping? What are people doing? I mean, this is not -- this is not normal at all for Texas.

SMITH: No, ma'am. Our neighbors -- they've never seen anything like this in 50 years. Everybody that we know down there, they've been boiling water on stoves, trying to air out their house to keep out carbon monoxide poisoning.

When we woke up on Tuesday morning around 4:00 and went out to the car, all of our neighbors were outside in their cars and nobody around us was selling gas. So everybody's been trying to stay warm somehow.

JARRETT: So you said no one's selling gas. We're also seeing images of these long lines at grocery stores. The shelves just basically bare.

Have you been able to get out, even to the store? How are you getting groceries?

SMITH: We actually ventured out that Tuesday morning looking in about a 30-mile radius, and we even went larger to a 50-mile radius and there was not even a convenience store open selling gas. So these images are kind of frustrating to us because we didn't know or even have any information of how to get to these stores.

JARRETT: Right.

SMITH: Phone lines were disconnected. So we had no supplies and no knowledge of how to even reach any of these available supplies that we were seeing.

ROMANS: We've heard that this best-case scenario, Bryce, is that there will be rolling blackouts for the next few days -- next couple of days.

How are you feeling about how officials are doing to help you and other folks on the ground? Again, you're from Iowa, a place where this sort of thing happens every winter and people power through and you don't really have four days of power outages. Is Texas just not prepared or are officials responding adequately, in your view?

SMITH: No, they aren't. They can't be -- they haven't given us any information or any updates of when to expect our power to come back on or even to get us prepared for the situation that arose to us. We were supposed to have a rolling blackout of 40 minutes on Monday. That was four days ago. It's horrible -- that's horrible.

JARRETT: Bryce, just describe physically, are you guys in snowsuits right now? Like, how are you keeping warm?

SMITH: We're actually at my mother's. We have -- she has power. We're keeping the electricity and the heat to a minimum --

JARRETT: Right.

SMITH: -- to try to conserve power.

But yes, we were fortunate enough to be from Iowa where we actually have snowsuits and pants and boots, and everything. Nobody else around our neighborhood was equipped with these items. You could see them layered up as far as -- as far as they could.

ROMANS: Yes, Bryce. I have some friends from the northeast who moved there just a couple of weeks ago for the weather and for, you know -- and for Texas. You get so much more for your money in Texas than you do in, say, Connecticut or New Jersey. And they still have all of their winter clothes, too. They are huddled in the dark and in the cold with their winter clothes on.

Anything you want people to know across the country about what's happening in Texas right now?

SMITH: I just want everybody to know, honestly, that Texas was not equipped for this. And we are one of the fortunate ones to be able to get out and drive away since we knew how.

I just -- people need help. Our neighbors need help. People need water and food and gasoline. We need -- we need help.

ROMANS: All right, Bryce Smith. So nice to talk to you today. Thank you so much for joining us from there in Dallas.

SMITH: Thanks for having me.

ROMANS: And the best to your wife and your mom and your -- and your two kids. Please stay safe.

All right. More than 100 million Americans from Texas to New England are under this winter weather alert. And now, there's a tornado watch for the southeast.

I want to bring in meteorologist Derek Van Dam. Hey, Derek.

DEREK VAN DAM, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, to add salt to the wound, right?

But the search -- the situation in Texas certainly is dire right now but we can't forget about what's happening across the Tennessee River Valley and specifically, throughout the mid-Atlantic and into the New England coast. That's an area that we're going to focus on heavily today.

Here's the tornado watch box that you mentioned just a moment ago across the Florida Panhandle into southwest Georgia. Ongoing thunderstorms through about 8:00 a.m. this morning for that particular location.

But look what's happening and unfolding across the mid-Atlantic. That is a mixture of sleet and freezing rain. And by the time it's all said and done, through the end of today into early tomorrow, we have the potential for a quarter to up to a half an inch of ice accumulation, including the D.C. region. So this will create very difficult, if not impossible travel conditions for that location.

A major winter event unfolding across that area on top of four to six inches of snowfall. Locally, higher amounts as you head towards Baltimore, Philadelphia, New York, and Boston.

[05:40:06]

Here's the severe weather risk today -- Albany to Tallahassee, as well as Panama City. Keep an eye to the sky -- damaging winds, isolated tornados. Again, best threat of severe weather through the middle portions of the morning hours.

Temperatures today, still another cold day in Texas. We're running 30 to 40 degrees below where we should be this time of year. But good news, Christine. Our temperatures are going to improve this weekend and we can finally see the mercury in the thermometer above freezing.

ROMANS: February, clearly, one for the record books, and it is not over yet.

Derek, thank you so much for that -- Laura.

VAN DAM: Yes.

JARRETT: So, breaking news this morning.

A sweeping immigration reform bill being rolled out by the White House today. It would create an eight-year path to citizenship for millions of immigrants already in the country and it fast-tracks the process for undocumented immigrants who were brought to the United States as children.

Priscilla Alvarez is live for us this morning. Priscilla, nice to see you. What more are you learning about this?

PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN REPORTER: So, this is a day-one commitment that President Biden made and we're now going to get additional details on his immigration reform bill.

Now, there are notable items in here, including a pathway to citizenship that you mentioned. So this sets up an eight-year timeline and an even shorter timeline for those undocumented who were brought to the United States as children, as well as those who fall under a form of humanitarian relief and/or work in agriculture.

The bill also looks at backlogs. So essentially, working to clear backlogs in the system by eliminating categories from annual visa caps but also providing funding to agencies to chip away at their application backlogs.

And finally, it also looks at root causes of migration. So, creating a $4 billion investment plan to Latin America to tackle corruption in the region and provide safer and legal pathways to the United States from that region. Now, we cannot underestimate -- you know, we can't undersell that this is a very big effort. This is a steep uphill climb for the administration and for Democratic lawmakers that will be introducing this in Congress.

Remember, the last time we had immigration reform was in 2013 and those efforts fell short. This bill goes even further than 2013 in some respects, including that proposed timeline for the pathway to citizenship. Now, administration officials say that they recognize they and they are open to negotiations, but how far they're willing to go remains to be seen.

JARRETT: Yes, clearly, a big priority for the Biden administration but you've got to get it passed.

Priscilla, the administration is also preparing new rules that would narrow what ICE officers can do. What can you tell us about that?

ALVAREZ: Yes. This, too, also goes back to those day-one commitments. And in this case, it would be review immigration enforcement policies that have been more aggressive under the Trump administration.

Now, according to a draft interim guidance that CNN obtained, Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers would narrowly focus arrests of immigrants who are considered a national security, border security, or public safety risk. Now, this sets up strict parameters for ICE officers, particularly in the event that they come across an undocumented immigrant in an enforcement operation that is known as collateral arrest.

But the terminology used in this guidance is also notable. They call undocumented immigrants non-citizens instead of aliens, which is what it is in U.S. code and has been considered a dehumanizing term. Again, this goes back to the bill, which is also seeking to change that language and U.S. law.

JARRETT: Yes, it's interesting. Just, you know, subtle, small changes there, actually very meaningful to the people who are most affected.

Priscilla, thank you.

ROMANS: All right.

A Capitol Hill grilling today for the biggest players in last month's GameStop feeding frenzy. Lawmakers concerned about market manipulation.

We have seen the testimony of the key players. They will call on lawmakers to shorten the time required for stock trades to settle. Basically, that's how long it takes for a trade to be processed, which right now is two days.

Robinhood infuriated traders when it suspended trading of GameStop and AMC stocks right in the middle of a ferocious rally -- a rally caused by an online flash mob on Reddit. Now, the frenzy shined a light on the free trading boom set off by Robinhood, the role of trading firms like Citadel Securities, and the angst at the heart of that Reddit mob.

Billionaire Ken Griffin, who owns Citadel, will testify there should be one day between when a trade is executed and when it is settled. Robinhood's CEO Vlad Tenev will call for trades to be settled in real time.

We'll be right back.

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[05:48:42]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We need student loan forgiveness beyond the potential $10,000 your administration has proposed. We need at least a $50,000 minimum. What will you do to make that happen?

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I will not make that happen. It depends on whether or not you go to a private university or a public university.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: All right. That comment did not sit well with some top Democrats, especially progressives like Elizabeth Warren who is vowing to forge ahead with a loan forgiveness plan despite the president's reluctance there.

Daniella Diaz back with us on Capitol Hill. You were CNN's eyes and ears on the campaign trail with Sen. Warren, so you know her stance here. No shock to you on this. She is laser-focused on this loan forgiveness. Can she influence the president?

DANIELLA DIAZ, CNN CONGRESSIONAL REPORTER: Well, that remains to be seen. Look, President Biden has been clear that he does not agree with progressives in his own party on this issue. He talked about that in that sound bite that you just played from CNN's town hall.

But this is coming directly from Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, and Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio- Cortez who think that this is the moment, right now, to try to forgive $50,000 of student loan debt per person. And after Biden's remarks, Schumer and Warren put out a joint statement yesterday saying that they will continue to fight for this despite Biden's reluctance to accept this proposal.

TEXT: "Cancelling $50,000 in federal student loan debt will help close the racial wealth gap, benefit the 40 percent of borrowers who do not have a college degree, and help stimulate the economy. It's time to act. We will keep fighting?

[05:50:00]

DIAZ: And Warren, last night in a town hall, argued to members that were -- or people that were watching her town hall that they should put pressure directly to the administration -- to the Biden administration on this issue. She said telling them to send a note to Biden and say that they want their student loan forgiven -- they want their student loan debt forgiven -- $50,000 -- as this proposal that she has.

And I want to be clear, Biden has helped people in this pandemic with student loan debt. He has extended the pause on student loan payments and interest and the White House has said that they plan to ask the DOJ to review Biden's authority to cancel student loan debt. But I don't think that this is going to be -- that this is going to be a debate between progressives and Biden that's going to let up anytime soon.

ROMANS: No, I think you're absolutely right.

All right, Daniella. Thank you so much for that.

JARRETT: All right, jumping overseas. Prince Philip, the 99-year-old husband of Queen Elizabeth, is in a hospital this morning in London.

CNN's Max Foster is live at King Edward Hospital. Max, what are you hearing from your sources? How is he doing?

MAX FOSTER, CNN ROYAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, they're deliberately not giving a running commentary on his condition, so we're not expecting any updates, frankly. And the reason they're doing that is that they're trying to lower levels of concern. As you say, he is 99 years old.

And he was brought into the hospital here from Windsor where he's staying throughout the pandemic with the queen. He was brought in on Tuesday so this is his second night here.

But they're emphasizing things like he walked in unaided, it wasn't an emergency admission, it's not COVID-related. That's as far as they're going in relation to what's wrong with him but he felt unwell for a number of days. But he's 99 years old.

He -- if he receives some treatment inside they're going to have to monitor it, so we do expect him to be in for a number of days.

We don't expect visits, either, from members of the family. That might sound unusual because, you know, we would have members of our family visiting. But I think they're concerned about the optics that would give. They don't want to make this look worse than it is.

So we're really just waiting for any sort of updates if his condition does change. But at the moment, palace sources being pretty upbeat, actually. They just -- they're just being very cautious, I think is the way to look at.

JARRETT: All right, Max. We know you are keeping tabs on it all. Thank you so much.

ROMANS: All right, let's take a look at markets around the world this Thursday morning. You can see Asian shares closed narrowly mixed and Europe has opened lower. On Wall Street, also slight losses for the Dow futures and S&P 500 futures this morning. I would say treading water here is what markets are doing.

Looking at oil prices as the winter storm hits oil production hard and a new storm is on the way, you can see that Brent Crude has topped $64.00 a barrel, though mostly steady right now. WTI (West Texas Intermediate) at $61.00.

Stocks finished mixed Wednesday. The Dow managed a record high, though. Investors essentially awaiting progress on stimulus. We know stimulus checks helped retail sales last month but call that a sugar rush.

The jobless crisis is far from over. Unemployment benefits expire next month. And even if weekly jobless claims dipped to the lowest since November, as expected, they are still almost four times higher than before the pandemic.

Again, evidence that stimulus checks are propping up the economy. Those retail sales jumped 5.3 percent last month, the strongest gain since last June, reversing three straight months of declines during the holiday shopping season.

You know, people got a $600 check and they spent it across the board, including bars and restaurants, which have been hit hard by the pandemic.

Walmart reports, Laura, its earnings today, so we'll get a good sense of what Walmart executives are seeing. It's the -- it's the nation's largest retailer so they really have their finger on the pulse of what people are buying and whether they're feeling more confident, and whether that stimulus money is making its way into the economy.

JARRETT: Yes.

A snowplow driver in West Bend, Wisconsin being hailed as a hero after saving a 5-year-old boy who wandered from home in subzero conditions. It was in the middle of the night when David Gehrke spotted something in the snow.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAVID GEHRKE, SNOWPLOW DRIVER, WEST BEND, WISCONSIN: I realized it was not a dog or a deer -- it was a small little boy dressed in a pair of -- just a zip-up onesie pajamas. I immediately took my jacket off here and wrapped it around him and I put him in the truck.

I called police dispatch. I've got the heat blasting in the truck to keep him warm until we get help on the way.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JARRETT: Five-year-old Maddox Pierce told police he thought he was alone, got scared, and left for his grandpa's house. His mother says she is extremely grateful that Gehrke found her son.

Can you imagine, Christine? He's just going to grandpa's house -- making his way.

ROMANS: Oh my goodness. I mean, the wandering little kid is like a parent's worst nightmare, right --

JARRETT: Yes.

ROMANS: -- in the middle of the night. I'm glad he's OK. And I'm glad that David Gehrke had his eyes open and was such a quick thinker.

JARRETT: Yes.

ROMANS: That's just how people help people.

JARRETT: I keep mine corralled tightly in his crib.

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

JARRETT: I'm Laura Jarrett. "NEW DAY" is next.

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[05:59:32]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Unlivable conditions in Texas. Flooding homes in bitter temperatures.

ED LAVANDERA, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The bitter cold has now turned to heated anger over the catastrophic failure of the state's power grid.

GOV. GREG ABBOTT (R), TEXAS: Every source of power the state of Texas has access to has been compromised.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The awful winter storm crippling much of the nation now threatens to slow down the pace of vaccinations.

NICK WATT, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Across the Heartland, some vaccine locations are closed.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: State leaders now say severe weather is slowing down their expected deliveries of vaccine.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's having an impact on distribution and deliveries.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

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