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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

Atlanta Spa Killings Escalate Asian-Americans' Fears; Senate Democrats Introduce Sweeping Election Reform Bill; March Madness Tips Off Later Today. Aired 5:30-6a ET

Aired March 18, 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]

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PEDRAM JAVAHERI, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Tornadoes there, and much of it coming down across the states of Alabama and Mississippi on Wednesday afternoon and evening.

But notice that energy shifts off towards the southeast, so parts of the Carolinas, eastern Georgia, northern half of the state of Florida all get in on the action.

And yes, wintry weather on the backside of this around places such as Wichita on into areas around Missouri as well there, getting in maybe one to three inches of snowfall before it's all said and done.

But when it comes to severe weather, here we go. The area indicated in red, that's a level-four there and that is a moderate risk -- it includes Wilmington there -- for some widespread damaging winds. You could see some large hail. And yes, some possibilities here to see scattered large tornadoes across this region as well.

Temperatures will climb up into the middle-70s in Charleston with the instability in the atmosphere. Atlanta, just shy of 70 degrees. While on the backside of this in areas around, say, Kansas City, the best we can do -- right around 47 degrees, guys.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LAURA JARRETT, CNN ANCHOR: Pedram, thank you.

EARLY START continues right now.

Good morning, everyone. This is EARLY START. I'm Laura Jarrett.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Christine Romans. It's exactly 30 minutes past the hour this Thursday morning.

We begin in Atlanta. The Atlanta spa killings are not an isolated event. A restaurant spray-painted with the message "Kung Flu" -- that's Texas. Robberies, muggings, and other attacks in California, including one that killed an 84-year-old man from Thailand.

That was all before that rampage at the three metro Atlanta massage parlors that left eight dead, including six Asian-American women.

Then just hours later, a travel agency employee in California was nearly blinded.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DANILO YU CHANG, VICTIM OF UNPROVOKED ATTACK: Somebody pushed me from the back and started kicking me, and I lose consciousness. When I wake up, I am all bloodied up.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JARRETT: The rise of hate and attacks jolting a community already on edge after months of dealing with all the vitriol about the origins of the pandemic.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. TED LIEU (D-CA): For any elected official who still wants to use ethnic identifiers in describing this virus, I urge you to please stop. You are hurting the Asian-American community.

REP. GRACE MENG (D-NY): There are Asian-Americans telling their parents not to leave their homes. There are parents of kids who are texting me saying there's no way I'm letting my kid play outside even when it's nice out. They don't want them to get bullied and harassed.

ANDREW YANG (D), NEW YORK CITY MAYORAL CANDIDATE: The Asian-Americans are just as American as anyone else. This kind of hatred and violence has to stop.

JEREMY LIN, NBA VETERAN: We can't stop speaking out, we can't stop fighting, and we can't stop lose hope. If we lose hope, that's the end of it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JARRETT: All this as Robert Aaron Long is charged with murder after police say he confessed to killing eight people in the spa attacks. Police say he may have frequented some of the massage parlors in the past. He could now face hate crime charges under a new Georgia hate crime law where sex is a protected category.

Community leaders say enough.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SAM PARK, GEORGIA STATE HOUSE: So there's been a lot of concern with the Asian-American community, particularly given the surge in violence and discrimination we've seen over this past year -- a lot of it being driven by racist political rhetoric. I think this is a reminder in which we need to do everything that we possibly can to protect the most vulnerable among us.

(END VIDEO CLIP) ROMANS: A Korean-American congressman sums it up movingly in this tweet. "Gun violence, healthcare, overdose, hatred, racism, and other causes. We have grown accustom to so much death in our communities. My 5-year-old boy talks about people we lost in the last year with too much normalcy. We should fight for every life."

JARRETT: President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris are going to Atlanta tomorrow. Their trip was already scheduled to promote the coronavirus relief package but now they will mourn the victims of Tuesday's deadly shootings.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I know that Asian- Americans are in very -- very concerned. Because as you know, I've been speaking about the brutality against Asian-Americans for the last couple of months and I think it's -- it is very, very troubling.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JARRETT: A large crowd gathered in downtown Washington last night at a rally for the victims. People marched in Chinatown and lit candles mourning the eight lives that were lost.

ROMANS: All right.

One year into the pandemic, a renewed focus on something that never worked well enough -- testing. The federal government is funneling $10 billion to states to help fund surveillance testing in K through 12 schools across the country. It's part of the administration's push to help reopen schools safely.

Education Sec. Miguel Cardona says the idea is to get back to normal as much and as soon as possible.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MIGUEL CARDONA, SECRETARY, DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION: While I anticipate that our fall season will look more like what it was before COVID, I really want to focus right now on the spring. My focus really, right now, is getting as many schools open -- K-8 schools, pre-K-8 schools in the first 100 days. But also trying to get those high schools open so that we can get all students back in safely and engaging with their friends and learning in the classroom, where they learn best.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[05:35:17]

JARRETT: A CNN analysis of federal data shows in at least 34 states it's older children 12 to 17 that have higher COVID-positive test rates than any other age group, but most of them are still too young to be vaccinated.

And researchers now say the safest way to reopen universities is through frequent widespread COVID testing of everyone on campus combined with strong prevention measures.

ROMANS: All right.

This morning, the European Medicines Agency will announce its decision on the safety of AstraZeneca's COVID vaccine. Most European countries stopped using it in recent days because of a few dozen reports of blood clots. Now, 17 million doses have already been administered -- so a few dozen blood clot reports, 17 million doses.

The Biden administration has stockpiled tens of millions of doses even though that vaccine is not yet approved in the U.S. The White House is considering sending some of that stockpile to Mexico and Canada. Despite the concerns in Europe, Canada has not paused its AstraZeneca vaccine rollout.

JARRETT: Well, Senate Democrats introducing a sweeping election bill that would curb Republican efforts to restrict voting access. But the reality across the country -- well, it's more complicated.

CNN's Daniella Diaz is live on Capitol Hill with more for us. Daniella, good morning. So, what is this new bill and how is going to work? Explain it for us.

DANIELLA DIAZ, CNN CONGRESSIONAL REPORTER: Laura, Senate Democrats are introducing this sweeping election and voter rights package in the Senate, which is similar to the one that was passed in the House earlier this month. It passed by the Senate.

This would counter any Republican-led efforts at the state level to restrict voter access. This legislation would specifically prohibit any restrictions on mail-in voting and it would also call for states to use independent redistricting commissions to create congressional district boundaries. It also includes efforts that will help prevent foreign interference in elections.

And Democrats and Republicans are incredibly divided on this issue. Democrats say that this legislation would help create transparency and accountability in elections, but Republicans say that this would limit their political speech and it's just a power grab by Democrats.

But it faces a very steep uphill climb in the Senate because Democrats need Republicans to support this legislation for it to pass -- for them to be able to break this filibuster and get 60 votes for this legislation to pass. So it's a very uphill climb for Democrats in the Senate for this legislation.

But this comes after there have been dozens of Republican-led state legislatures across the state (sic) who have introduced legislation that would restrict voter access in their states.

Specifically this week, there was a bill introduced in Georgia that would create new obstacles for mail-in voting as well as other rules for voting, which is -- comes after this contentious Senate runoff that took place in January where two Democrats won seats that were previously held by Republicans.

So it's unclear whether this legislation will even pass the Senate, Laura.

JARRETT: It's amazing how everything comes back to the filibuster, doesn't it? And maybe this could put pressure -- I think the idea is that this could put pressure on some of those more moderate Democrats to rethink how they've positioned themselves on the filibuster when it comes to this issue, in particular.

All right, Daniella, thanks so much -- appreciate it.

ROMANS: All right.

President Biden, as a candidate, promised higher taxes on the rich. It should be a surprise to no one that he's prepared to do it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BIDEN: Anybody making more than $400,000 will see a small to a significant tax increase.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: Biden said those who make less than 400 grand won't pay a single penny more in taxes. A tax hike could help fund his ambitious infrastructure package.

You know, Biden also said the GOP is criticizing tax breaks in his stimulus plan because those tax breaks benefit the bottom 60 percent of Americans.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BIDEN: They don't like it because, in fact, their idea of a tax cut is to give the Trump tax cut where 83 percent went to the top one percent of the people in America.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: So it's true. Seventy percent of Biden's tax benefits go to low and middle-income Americans -- that's according to the Tax Policy Center -- while nearly half of President Trump's 2017 tax cuts -- well, they benefited the top five percent. In fact, the stimulus -- top 50 percent, rather. In fact, the stimulus relief will be the largest ever single-year tax break in history -- larger than Trump's tax cuts or even President Reagan's 1981 tax cuts.

The catch, most of the breaks in Biden's package only last a year.

But, Laura, I think it's so interesting that this package that just passed, this is the big tax relief --

JARRETT: Yes.

ROMANS: -- for working Americans. President Trump's tax relief was for companies and for higher-earning --

[05:40:00] JARRETT: It just shows you --

ROMANS: And the middle-class tax cut in President Trump's, by the way, those expire in 2025.

JARRETT: It just shows you how the messaging on this is so important, right? I mean, just like everyone thought that Trump's tax cuts --

ROMANS: Yes.

JARRETT: -- were obviously where it was at, but it shows you the reality might be a little different.

ROMANS: And Democrat, the big tax-cutter.

JARRETT: It's amazing.

All right, 39 minutes past the hour.

Allies of New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo tried to damage the credibility of Lindsey Boylan just days after she became the first woman to accuse him of sexual harassment.

Now, according to "The New York Times" his allies did it by writing an open letter that they hoped former staff members would sign to support him. The "Times" reports Gov. Cuomo was involved in crafting the letter which called Boylan's claims -- allegations politically motivated and disclosed personnel complaints filed against her.

The Cuomo administration would not comment to the "Times" citing the ongoing investigation.

We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:45:12]

JARRETT: Stimulus checks are now in the hands of millions of Americans. But for many, the money isn't helping them save or spend, it's helping them just to survive.

CNN's Vanessa Yurkevich has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ASHLIE ORDONEZ, BUSINESS OWNER, WAITING FOR STIMULUS CHECK: We've given up so much as a family already, it's just scary to think that we might be losing more.

VANESSA YURKEVICH, CNN BUSINESS AND POLITICS CORRESPONDENT (voice- over): It's been a year of sacrifice and uncertainty for Ashlie Ordonez, Kyle Price, and their five children in Denver, Colorado.

ORDONEZ: Jay, where are you hiding?

YURKEVICH (voice-over): They drained their savings and sold her wedding ring, all to survive.

KYLE PRICE, WAITING FOR STIMULUS CHECK: That was a tough one.

ORDONEZ: It's just a piece of material and it's a means to an end for my business.

YURKEVICH (voice-over): Like 100 million other Americans, they're eligible for stimulus checks as part of President Joe Biden's COVID relief package. They could get up to $8,400 for their family, which they say will go straight into their wellness studio that's been surviving month-to-month. The checks will give them one more.

ORDONEZ: It's keeping our dream alive.

YURKEVICH (voice-over): In Arkansas, Nikki Martin's check arrived just in time.

NIKKI MARTIN, RECEIVED STIMULUS CHECK: It has kept a roof over my head and kept my lights on.

YURKEVICH (voice-over): Martin just finished months of aggressive chemo treatment when the pandemic started.

MARTIN: I didn't get to celebrate being cancer-free for very long before this hit.

YURKEVICH (voice-over): Without a job, she filed for disability checks and is still waiting, making her ineligible for unemployment. But when that $1,400 in stimulus hit her bank account she breathed a sigh of relief.

MARTIN: I just immediately got online and paid every bill I had and got caught up for the first time in months.

YURKEVICH (voice-over): And Madeline Aguiar, out of work for the last year, has spent much of it here, applying to hundreds of jobs.

MADELINE AGUIAR, RECEIVING STIMULUS CHECK FOR THE FIRST TIME: I've had to move from where I lived before in New Jersey to my parent's house in the Bronx.

YURKEVICH (voice-over): Aguiar said she lost her job in hospitality when the industry was crushed by the pandemic. With work hard to come by, she's found herself in debt and receiving a stimulus check, both for the first time.

YURKEVICH (on camera): When you think about $1,400 does that seem like a lot?

AGUIAR: Not in comparison to the debt I've had to incur.

YURKEVICH (on camera): Do you see a way out of the debt in the near future?

AGUIAR: I think the only way out, really, is to get a job. YURKEVICH (voice-over): For many Americans, stimulus checks will make a difference. But for Ashlie and Kyle, who put their house up for collateral to insure their business, it's simply not enough.

ORDONEZ: Any extra income goes straight to the business so that we don't lose this house. It's kind of the last thing we have. So it's really scary thinking about me -- there's like --

YURKEVICH (voice-over): Thoughts of the future too much to bear, especially one so uncertain.

Vanessa Yurkevich, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROMANS: Heartbreaking stories, and just repeat that on the hundreds of thousands, if not millions of times in this country.

All right, to Mississippi now. The boil water notice has finally been lifted for tens of thousands of residents in Jackson, Mississippi. A severe winter storm crippled the city's water system more than a month ago. The green light from the Mississippi Health Department now after two days of clean samples.

JARRETT: The judge in the Derek Chauvin murder trial dismissing two jurors who said they couldn't be impartial after hearing about the $27 million settlement reached with the family of George Floyd.

Chauvin, a former Minneapolis police officer, is charged with murder and manslaughter in Floyd's death. Jury selection resumes this morning.

ROMANS: All right, let's take a look at markets around the world right now. Asian shares closed for the day and closed with a gain. And it looks like European shares have opened slightly higher here, although a better performance there in Frankfurt. On Wall Street, stock index futures at this hour are narrowly mixed.

It was big record-high days Wednesday with the Dow crossing 33,000 for the first time in history.

The Federal Reserve kept rates super low and vowed to keep buying up billions of dollars in bonds each month, essentially stimulus-critical oxygen for the recovery. The Fed chief also said any increase in inflation -- that big worry in the bond market -- well, that is going to be temporary.

Today, expect the Labor Department to say another 700,000 Americans filed for first-time jobless claims last week. That's the lowest since the pandemic began and exactly -- 52 weeks exactly after the coronavirus began upending the U.S. economy.

The world's demand for gasoline has peaked and likely won't return to pre-pandemic levels. That's a forecast from the International Energy Agency. It says greater fuel efficiency and a shift toward electric cars will weigh on gas use in the years ahead. More carmakers are betting their future on electric vehicles. General

Motors plans to stop selling gas-powered cars by 2035.

[05:50:03]

This global chip shortage we've been reporting about is causing Toyota and Honda to temporarily shut down U.S. plants. Both blamed a lack of crucial supplies, particularly semiconductors. Honda also cited port blockages and severe weather for the disruption.

The computer chip crunch has caused big problems for automakers but now it's hitting other industries around the world, too. Samsung, the world's largest smartphone maker, said the shortage would hurt its business into next quarter.

The pandemic also transforming the workforce. Ford will now let its 30,000 office workers work from home indefinitely. Factory workers will, of course, continue to work in person.

JARRETT: Some sad news this morning. A Boston sports legend has died.

Dick Hoyt was a beloved Boston Marathoner who ran while pushing his son Rick in a wheelchair. Together, they finished the marathon 32 times. They raised more than a million dollars for charity and launched a non-profit to help people with disabilities.

Dick Hoyt was 80 years old.

ROMANS: All right, the wait is almost over. March Madness tips off this evening a year after being canceled due to the pandemic.

Andy Scholes joins us from Indianapolis with this morning's Bleacher Report. Hey, Andy.

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, good morning, Christine.

This is going to be a tournament unlike we've ever seen before. All of the teams are here in Indianapolis and the hotels where they are staying are on lockdown as the NCAA is trying to everything it can to make sure that COVID doesn't stop the big dance.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SCHOLES (voice-over): March Madness is back, but for the teams involved it's a much different experience. Instead of games taking place across the country, all 68 teams competing in this year's tournament are staying in four different hotels in Indianapolis. The teams are using the skywalks, which have been closed off to the public, to get to the Convention Center to practice.

HUNTER DICKINSON, MICHIGAN CENTER: We're just fortunate to be out here and play because like last year, the team wasn't able to play. But yes, I haven't been outside since Sunday so I don't know what the air feels like outside anymore.

SCHOLES (voice-over): Team members and NCAA officials are being tested daily for COVID-19. Players are also wearing devices that track who they have been in close proximity with to aid contact tracing if necessary. It's not a bubble like the NBA had. Instead, the NCAA is calling it a controlled environment.

DAN GAY, NCAA SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT OF BASKETBALL: Teams have been very cooperative. Things are going quite well right now but no one's letting their guard down. No one's making any assumptions about the lack of challenges going forward but so far, so good.

SCHOLES (voice-over): The games are taking place at six different sites across Indiana. There won't be bands or cheerleaders this year, but fans are being allowed to attend the games at a reduced capacity. Lucas Oil Stadium, where the Final Four will be held, normally holds 70,000 but will only host 25 percent capacity -- about 17,500 fans at games through the tournament.

SISTER JEAN SCHMIDT, TEAM CHAPLAIN, LOYOLA RAMBLERS: Go Ramblers, and amen.

SCHOLES (voice-over): One special fan is making her return to March Madness. Loyola University Chicago team chaplain Sister Jean will be at the team's game Friday. The 101-year-old is fully vaccinated and ready to root on the Ramblers.

SCHMIDT: I'm so happy I'm going. I just -- I just waited for the day that I -- they would say yes.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SCHOLES: Yes, Sister Jean's excited.

But unfortunately, we have had our first player test positive for COVID. Oklahoma confirming guard De'Vion Harmon is going to miss at least the team's first two games after testing positive. But luckily for the Sooners, no other players are in contact tracing.

And the first four gets the thing -- gets the action started tonight, Laura. Still plenty of time to fill out those brackets and you can play with us here at CNN. Go to cnn.com/brackets. Just make sure to get those in before the first round starts tomorrow at about 12:15 eastern.

Laura, have you filled yours out yet, done your research, and know who you're picking?

JARRETT: No -- full disclosure. I need to get on that, so thank you for the reminder, Andy. Appreciate it.

All right, have fun out there -- appreciate it.

SCHOLES: All right.

JARRETT: All right.

Finally this morning, who needs a hug machine when you can have the real thing? During the pandemic's peak, Rose Gagnon's family built a makeshift hug machine so they could literally keep in touch -- look at that. Now, nine months later, nothing comes between a fully vaccinated Rose and her grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

This is what it's all about, right here. I'm 86 years old and haven't felt better.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JARRETT: The family making up for lost time with plenty of sleepovers at grandma's. I bet the parents are very relieved to have grandma back in action.

[05:55:01]

ROMANS: You know what? I predict we have lost control of the grandmas and grandpas of the world, right? They're going to be able --

JARRETT: Yes.

ROMANS: -- to spoil their grandkids and we can't say anything about it because they've missed that year.

JARRETT: Love it.

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

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The suspect in the killing spree that left eight people dead at three different spas in the Atlanta area Tuesday felt tortured by.