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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

Biden Pleads With Americans To Do Their Part To End Pandemic; Relief Bill Expected To Cut Child Poverty In Half; European Nations Pause Oxford-AstraZeneca Vaccine Use. Aired 5:30-6a ET

Aired March 12, 2021 - 05:30   ET

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


[05:30:00]

MATT RIVERS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Thirteen are on the verge of collapse with an ICU occupancy rate about 90 percent or higher. Meanwhile, 23 states are reporting over 80 percent ICU occupancy at this point.

It's part of the reason why the largest state in Brazil, Sao Paulo -- the governor there announced that new restrictive measures will be going into place soon with things like hardware stores and churches forced to close starting from the 15th and lasting for about two weeks -- Christine, Laura.

LAURA JARRETT, CNN ANCHOR: Matt Rivers, thank you so much for that.

EARLY START continues right now.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: All right, good Friday morning, everyone. This is EARLY START. I'm Christine Romans.

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

And May first -- at long last, a date for something everyone has been waiting for.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: All adult Americans will be eligible to get a vaccine no later than May one. And let me be clear. That doesn't mean everyone's going to have that shot immediately but it means you'll be able to get in line beginning May one. Every adult will be eligible to get their shot.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JARRETT: I've never been so happy to get in line.

In his first prime time address to the nation, President Biden urges Americans to do their part. Don't reverse all the gains. Don't let your guard down. See this fight through.

ROMANS: The larger goal here, safe, small celebrations to declare independence from the virus on July fourth.

CNN's Jasmine Wright is live at the White House this morning. I mean, these are some important dates that this president is putting out there. May first, get in line for a vaccine. Fourth of July, having an event with your family and friends. Stimulus checks by the weekend.

The president's adding people to the front lines -- dentists, veterinarians, and others who could administer vaccines. Now there's this target date for everyone to sign up.

They must be confident they can do this. I can't imagine this administration, Jasmine, putting out these dates as deliverables without thinking they can hit them.

JASMINE WRIGHT, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Well, Christine, this is an answer to what a lot of Americans have been asking over the last few months. When can I get a vaccine? When will things be going back to normal? This is President Biden now answering that question, saying that all adult Americans will be eligible to sign up for the vaccine May first. President Biden has previously said that the country will have enough vaccine supply to vaccinate those Americans by the end of May.

So, of course, there's going to be a gap of when those folks are eligible and when they can actually get their shot. But this is, as you said, President Biden setting deadlines.

And now, this is going to be a huge lift. It's going to be hard to navigate and so the national government is going to be setting up a Web site for folks to try to navigate that.

But again, President Biden, in terms of those small gatherings, set the marker on July Fourth. That is when he says he believes that families will be able to gather together to feel a sense of normalcy, but only if Americans do their part to stop the spread.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BIDEN: I will not relent until we beat this virus. But I need you, the American people. I need you. I need every American to do their part, and that's not hyperbole. I need you.

A year filled with the loss of life and the loss of living for all of us. But in the loss, we saw how much there was to gain in appreciation, respect, and gratitude. Finding light in the darkness is a very American thing to do.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WRIGHT: Now, in a speech largely about unity as well, President Biden forcefully denounced the hateful attacks that Asian-Americans have been facing over the last few months. President Biden said that we, as a country, are better than this -- Christine.

ROMANS: All right, thanks so much for that, Jasmine. And, of course, the president will hit the road to educate Americans about the American Rescue Plan. Biden, the first lady, the vice president, and Doug Emhoff will hit New Jersey, Nevada, Pennsylvania, Colorado, New Mexico, and Georgia next week. It's the "Help is Here" tour coming to a state near you -- Laura.

JARRETT: Well, it is really a delicate balance in the United States right now. Americans can taste a return to normal but still face the reality of a pandemic. Fewer masks and social distancing and more travel can also increase the risk as more states open up.

CNN is covering the pandemic coast-to-coast.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (on camera): I'm Kristen Holmes in Washington, D.C.

More states are easing those coronavirus 19 restrictions.

In Maryland, the governor announcing that they will be lifting capacity on both indoor and outdoor dining, as well as retail businesses and religious facilities. They're also going to be allowing those largescale venues to operate at 50 percent capacity. In addition to that, they are removing any sort of quarantine for out-of-state travel.

[05:35:02]

NATASHA CHEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (on camera): I'm Natasha Chen.

The city of New Orleans is moving to a more relaxed set of COVID-19 restrictions starting Friday. There still won't be any parades or block parties for St. Patrick's Day but starting Friday, businesses like restaurants, retail stores, and movie theaters can open to 75 percent capacity with masking and social distancing in place.

Mayor Cantrell cited the city's 1.5 percent positivity rate, the lowest in the state, as she announced these changes.

JEAN CASAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): I'm Jean Casarez in Manhattan.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo is announcing domestic travelers entering New York from another state or U.S. territory will no longer have to self-quarantine as of April first. He says the COVID-19 numbers continue to go down day after day and he credits the strength and perseverance of New Yorkers. Mandatory quarantine, however, will still be in effect for international travelers.

ADRIENNE BROADDUS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): I'm Adrienne Broaddus in Chicago.

And Oklahoma's governor announced he is lifting some of the state's final COVID-19 restrictions. So what does all of this mean? Limits on public gatherings are now eliminated and so are reduced-capacity requirements for indoor sporting events.

The governor is expected to sign this new executive order on Friday. That new order also removes a requirement which says people must wear a mask inside of state buildings.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROMANS: All right, it's the law. The president's new COVID relief law is the biggest federal effort to cut poverty in the last half-century, reducing poverty by a third, by some estimates, and cutting child poverty by more than half.

Here's how. Most important, that enhanced child tax credit. It gives parents with children six and under $3,600 for the year for a child and $3,000 per child age seven to 18. Key here, direct monthly payments -- essentially, a guaranteed income for the year for low- income families with children. Regular direct deposits from the government instead of a lump sum at tax time.

The $1,400 stimulus checks still very important here. The full amount is available for people making up to $75,000. It phases out at $80K.

A check for their kids, too. And this time, their adult dependents qualify. An elderly parent who is a dependent on your taxes, a college-aged child -- there's money -- $1,400 stimulus checks for them, too.

There's more generous food stamps. There's an extra $300 a week in jobless benefits and that continues through the fall. And the first $10,200 is tax-free.

This all amounts to a massive tax cut for low-income and working Americans. But there's one big catch here. These benefits are all temporary. It's a mix of one-time infusions and assistance that lasts through the year, Laura.

JARRETT: It's just so much there.

ROMANS: It is.

JARRETT: You run through it all and it's still just stunning.

ROMANS: There's even more.

JARRETT: Right.

ROMANS: Those are just the highlights you'll feel right away.

JARRETT: Yes, all right.

Well, it turns out one of the rioters from the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol was a driver for Trump ally Roger Stone a day before the attack. Joshua James is about one of a dozen members of the so-called Oath Keepers, a right-wing extremist group, now taken into custody.

Stone denies have any advanced knowledge of plans to storm the Capitol.

Meantime, Trump's own former Defense secretary -- well, he says his former boss is to blame for the violence.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEBASTIAN WALKER, CORRESPONDENT, "VICE NEWS TONIGHT": Do you think the president was responsible for what happened on the sixth?

CHRISTOPHER MILLER, FORMER ACTING SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: I don't know, but it seems cause and effect -- yes. The question is would anybody have marched on the Capitol and overrun the Capitol without the president's speech? I think it's pretty much definitive that wouldn't have happened.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: So, one of the veterans charged in the Capitol insurrection, John Andries, worked in the Marine Corps unit responsible for transporting the president and operating his helicopter, Marine One. Military records obtained by CNN show Andries served from 2004 to 2009. His assignment required high-level security clearance.

JARRETT: All of this as bipartisan calls this morning for a measured drawdown of National Guard troops in Washington, D.C. The top Democrat and Republican on the House Armed Services Committee write they are deeply troubled by all this tight security.

This week, the Pentagon approved a Capitol Police request extending deployment of 2,300 National Guard troops for another 60 days.

ROMANS: It is day four of jury selection in the trial of Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis police officer charged with second- degree murder and manslaughter in the death of George Floyd. So far, six jurors have been seated. A total of 14 will be chosen.

Chauvin now faces an additional charge after the judge, Thursday, reinstated a count of third-degree murder.

JARRETT: An impeachment investigation of New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo has been authorized by the speaker of the New York State Assembly. This is the most serious sign yet that support within his own party is eroding. The committee can subpoena documents and interview witnesses.

[05:40:11]

Cuomo is under intense scrutiny over sexual harassment allegations and his handling of pandemic nursing home deaths.

The New York attorney -- the New York attorney general says the assembly's probe will have no bearing on her investigation of Cuomo.

We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

JARRETT: All right, 44 minutes past the hour.

It was supposed to be the cheaper, easier-to-distribute vaccine that brings Europe out of the pandemic. But now, several countries have stopped using the AstraZeneca vaccine.

Melissa Bell is live in Paris for us. Melissa, walk us through what is happening here. There's a concern about blood clots?

[05:45:00]

MELISSA BELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right. These are three countries, so far -- Denmark, Norway, Iceland -- who have announced, Laura, an outright stopping of that delivery of the AstraZeneca vaccine. Other countries have announced that they've stopped a particular batch of the AstraZeneca vaccine.

This, over fears that some people who've been inoculated then went on to be found to have blood clots. So while that is being investigated there's been this suspension, of course, in that crucial vaccine to so many European countries.

Europe, though, is really split on this. And you have other countries like Spain, Germany, and France really saying that they're going to continue with their rollout of the vaccine and that they don't agree with that decision.

The French health minister speaking to this yesterday saying look, of the five million Europeans who've been vaccinated so far, there are about 30 across the E.U. who've reported those problems.

The European Medicines Agency also giving its backing to that vaccine it approved back in January.

Now, this is really a vaccine that has been beset with problems ever since it began. You'll remember that back in January it was over deliveries that the European Union had this pretty unseemly row with the company. It had introduced an export ban. That's now been extended until the month of June.

So Europe really determined to keep all of those doses of the vaccines produced in the E.U. in the E.U. even as it struggles, of course, to deliver some of them now in those countries where the investigations are ongoing into those blood clots.

One bit of good news, though, from Europe. That is the approval yesterday by the European Medicines Agency of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. A single-dose vaccine, of course, of which the E.U. has purchased 200 million doses.

That should bring some relief to Europe's slow vaccination program -- stopped in some areas, slowed in others. But bear in mind that even that's going to take some time to come online. The EMA may have approved it, now it goes to the national agencies. Only then will the rollout begin.

JARRETT: All right, Melissa. Thanks so much for staying on top of this one for us.

ROMANS: All right.

Uber and Lyft announcing a joint effort to share names and information about drivers who have been deactivated from their platforms over serious offenses. The companies will immediately begin sharing data on drivers dating back to 2017.

Uber and Lyft have largely operated independently when it comes to deactivating their drivers and that potentially allows bad actors to move from one platform to the other.

JARRETT: A Michigan man who spent nearly five years in prison for a murder he didn't commit -- well, he's suing Hertz. Herbert Alford says the rental car company failed to provide records that could have exonerated him.

Alford was freed last year after Hertz finally turned over a receipt that proved he was renting a car at the airport minutes before the murder.

Now, Hertz claims it tried to find the receipt back in 2016 and is, quote, "deeply saddened" to learn about Alford's experience.

ROMANS: All right, folks, get ready to spring forward this weekend. Daylight saving time arrives at 2:00 a.m. Sunday and lasts until November seventh. You will lose an hour of sleep, but it also means an extra hour of daylight in the evening.

A group of bipartisan senators has again introduced a bill, the Sunshine Protection Act, that would make daylight saving time year- round.

JARRETT: I think that is the best news ever, especially when you have toddlers in the house.

All right, how about no more beer? Is that enough to get your attention at 5:47 in the morning?

Well, the brewer Molson Coors revealed a cybersecurity incident disrupted its beer-making operations. The company says the hack took its systems offline, delaying production and shipments. The company is working around the clock to get it back up and running.

There have been a number of high-profile cybersecurity incidents recently, including hundreds of thousands of Microsoft Exchange users targeted as part of a hack linked to China.

ROMANS: Netflix is on to you. If you are sharing your password with friends and family, you may have to pay up soon.

The streaming service is testing a new pop-up message that warns people who are using a shared password. The message reads, "If you don't live with the owner of this account, you need your own account to keep watching." If you do receive the pop-up message Netflix will follow up with an offer for a free initial trial. All right, let's get a check on CNN Business this morning.

Looking at markets around the world to end the week, a mixed performance in Asia. A big move in Tokyo and Hong Kong. And London, Paris, Frankfurt -- European stocks have opened just slightly lower here. On Wall Street, futures this morning very narrowly mixed, although the Nasdaq looks like it could give some back.

Look, the president's ambitious coronavirus rescue is now law and Wall Street likes it. Vaccine progress and eventual reopenings of the economy launching blue chip stocks to record highs. The Dow closed up 188. The S&P 500 also finishing with a record high.

I guess you could say beware the Ides of March. Do you know the stock market crashed a year ago on the realization that life would be disrupted -- what we've not seen in our lifetimes -- this coronavirus pandemic? Think of that. A year ago this week, the Dow suffered its worst intraday drop in history. It snapped right back and is now up 38 percent over the past year.

This same week a dozen years earlier, another milestone. That was the bottom of the 2008-2009 stock market crash -- 12 years ago this week. Back then, a subprime housing mess led to a financial crisis and a recession so terrible it earned its own nickname, the Great Recession.

[05:50:08]

The Dow has launched from 6,400 then to 32,000 today, hitting record highs all along the way. And -- OK, Laura, this week in 2000, the Nasdaq crumbled from its dot.com bubble high. The dot.com bubble hit in 2000 this same week. It was 5,048 then. Wow, it is up to more than 13,000 right now.

I guess there are two lessons here, Laura. One is we have crises and they're always different and they come around. The other is never bet against the American economy and the American stock market because investors along the way, if they didn't panic at the bottom, always fared well.

JARRETT: I love a history lesson from Christine Romans.

All right. Duke's basketball season is over following a positive COVID-19 case in the program.

Coy Wire this morning's Bleacher Report. Hey, Coy.

COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Laura.

The Blue Devils needed to make a deep run in the ACC Tournament to have any sort of shot of extending their streak of 24 consecutive March Madness appearances. Instead, the team had to pull out of last night's game against Florida State due to a positive COVID-19 test within the program. Duke's athletic director says that before this there had been no positive tests all season for a player or a coach.

On Monday, the university sent a letter to students saying that there had been a spike in COVID-19 cases at the school after more than 100 students tested positive within the past week.

All right. Like Duke, Kentucky's season is over and in heartbreaking fashion. The Wildcats coming back from being down by 14 to Mississippi State last night. But Dontaie Allen missing the game-winning three Kentucky needed to win the SEC championship to have any hope of making it to March Madness. Instead, they finish the season nine and 16.

It's the first time since 1976 that both Duke and Kentucky will not be playing in the NCAA tournament.

To New York's Madison Square Garden now for the Big East tournament. Top seed Villanova is out after being ousted by Georgetown, coached by former Hoya and Knicks star Patrick Ewing. Despite being the all-time leading scorer for the pro team that plays in that arena, Ewing's upset that security does not seem to know who he is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PATRICK EWING, GEORGETOWN HEAD COACH: I thought this was my building and I feel terrible that I'm getting stopped, accosted, asking for passes. Everybody in this building should know who the hell I am and I'm getting stopped. I can't move around this building.

Like -- I was like, what the hell? Is this Madison Square Garden? I'm going to have to call Mr. Dolan and say Jesus, is my number in the rafters or what?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WIRE: All right, let's go to a fantastic finish in the Syracuse- Virginia game all tied up. With seconds to go, Virginia's Kihei Clark finds freshman Reece Beekman, who hits that three-pointer for the win. The buzzer-beater there was the only shot Beekman made the entire game but it's the one that mattered. Cavs win 72-69.

And the daughter of Kansas City Chiefs star Patrick Mahomes isn't a month old yet and she's already catching the eye of colleges. Sterling Skye, born February 20th, got an offer to play soccer at Texas Tech, dad's alma mater, in the year 2039. Yes, you heard it -- 2039.

Mom -- Mahome's fiance Brittany Matthews -- is all for the idea. She liked the tweet. Now, mom played soccer in college and briefly as a pro in Iceland and is part of the ownership group with Kansas City in the NWSL.

ROMANS: Really?

WIRE: Dad's, of course, the Super Bowl-winning league MVP. Grandpa -- Pat, Sr. -- a Major League Baseball player for over a decade.

So a little early but safe to say, Laura and Christine, a strong chance Sterling Skye will be solid if not a spectacular athlete.

ROMANS: No pressure. No pressure, little girl. I've got to say I love it that they had her right after the end of the season because he's not getting any sleep, I'm sure. WIRE: That's right.

ROMANS: Right?

Thanks, Coy.

WIRE: All right.

JARRETT: All right, thanks, Coy.

Finally, this morning, after a year of COVID we all deserve some hope. With new CDC guidance, grandparents and grandkids finally getting to see each other again safely.

ROMANS: All right. So we leave you this morning with a little taste of what's to come. Thanks for joining us. See you Monday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

Grandparents and grandchildren reuniting for the first time in a year.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[05:59:42]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: More than two million doses of COVID-19 vaccinations are going into arms per day on average.

BIDEN: All adult Americans will be eligible to get a vaccine no later than May one. That's much earlier than expected.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: From Maryland to Oklahoma, more states are easing restrictions.

GOV. KEVIN STITT (R), OKLAHOMA: The standard for normal cannot be zero cases. In Oklahoma, the standard for normal is freedom.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You wear your mask not because your governor tells you to. You wear your mask.