Return to Transcripts main page

Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

Biden Preparing for Tough Questions At First News Conference; AstraZeneca Releases Revised Vaccine Efficacy Data; North Korea Launches 2 Ballistic Missiles; Suez Canal Blocked by Stranded Container Ship. Aired 5-5:30a ET

Aired March 25, 2021 - 05:00   ET

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


CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Today, the first news conference of Joe Biden's presidency, what will he say about the border, the economy and guns in the wake of the Boulder mass shooting.

LAURA JARRETT, CNN ANCHOR: AstraZeneca forced to revise its data on its COVID vaccine. What the missteps mean as the company eyes U.S. approval.

[05:00:02]

ROMANS: And a cargo ship as long as the Empire State Building is tall still stuck in one of the world's busiest waterways. What it could mean for major shipping delays and higher gas prices for you.

Welcome to our viewers in the United States and all around the world. We have reports this morning from Colorado, Paris, Hong Kong, Capitol Hill, Abu Dhabi, and London.

This is EARLY START. I'm Christine Romans.

JARRETT: And I'm Laura Jarrett. It's Thursday, March 25th. It's 5:00 a.m. here in New York.

And in just a few hours from now, President Biden will hold his first news conference since taking office. Expect him to claim credit for crick passage of the American rescue plan and increased vaccinations across the country, but other issues dominating the day like gun violence and young migrants at the southern border, of course, top of mind.

CNN's Daniella Diaz is live on Capitol Hill this morning.

Daniella, good morning.

We know that the president has been preparing. He's got a binder. What are you watching for today?

DANIELLA DIAZ, CNN CONGRESSIONAL REPORTER: Laura, that's exactly right.

This is President Joe Biden's first press conference since he took office more than 60 days ago. This is the first time he will face his press corps directly.

And this is a departure from former President Donald Trump, he's facing his press corps at 1:15 p.m. Eastern, Donald Trump always preferred to face his press corps or Americans directly during prime time, he never shied away from the cameras. This is, of course, the first time we're seeing Biden directly in this way.

And we are expecting him highlight the -- parts of his administration he is proud of including passing this $1.9 trillion stimulus package, and called the American Rescue Plan, and this 100 million vaccine doses in 100 days. We are also expecting him to publicly announce a new vaccine distribution goal. But he's also going to face very tough questions from his press corps amid a lot of crises that have happened in recent days including this Boulder, Colorado, shooting that left ten people dead and also this increase in unaccompanied minors crossing the U.S./Mexico border and this criticism from Republicans and some members of the press corps of a lack of transparency from the Biden administration about what's happening in these migrant processing facilities.

So we're expecting him to of course highlight these issues of his administration but face these tough questions from his press corps today.

JARRETT: Yeah, we'll see how long it goes. He's got a lot of questions to answer. People really -- I mean, it could go for a while.

All right. Daniella, thank you so much.

ROMANS: The city of Boulder, Colorado, pausing at that to remember the lives of the ten people killed in the supermarket massacre.

CNN's Dan Simon live in Boulder, Colorado, really moving what's happening there right now as people are trying to mourn the ten -- the ten dead, even as the legal process gets under way for the suspect, Dan.

DAN SIMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, good morning, Christine.

Hundreds of people gathering in downtown Boulder last night, this was a very somber evening, people bundling together in the cold to pay their respects and honor the victims. Among those people who spoke out were the loved ones of Lynn Murray, one of the ten people who died. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She was amazing. She's just the best, most beautiful person in the world.

I was calling her, I was like maybe she will pick up somehow. And left her a message and I was like, just call me back.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She's the most remarkable human being I have ever known. I feel incredibly blessed to have had the time with her that I had. (END VIDEO CLIP)

SIMON: Well, we are here at the Boulder County courthouse where the suspect will have his first court appearance this morning. These are usually routine hearings, very quick, but given the enormity of the case, this will be anything but. The judge has already said prepare for a long hearing. The suspect will be told of the charges and advised of his rights.

As far as the investigation is concerned, investigators are still trying to ascertain a motive and specifically figure out why the suspect chose this particular grocery store. After all, it was 30 minutes from his home, there were grocery stores that were closer. Investigators are also probing mental health issues as we know the brother said that he suffered from some kind of mental health issue and this case is going to continue to go on for some time. Investigators said this could last for up to a year -- Christine.

ROMANS: Just tragic.

Dan Simon, keep you posted on any developments there on the legal front. Thanks, Dan.

Laura?

JARRETT: Right, to coronavirus now as AstraZeneca is now forced to revise the data on its COVID vaccine. The company is trying to recover from a series of stumbles in the rollout of its shot. The new figures show it is 76 percent effective against COVID symptoms. At first, the company said it was 79 percent effective. It could add to doubts when some are already hesitant about getting the shot.

Now, importantly here, the vaccine was still found to be 100 percent effective at preventing severe disease. The vaccine may not be needed quickly in the United States but many other countries are relying on it as the cheaper and easier to use option.

One of those countries, Europe, trying to dig out from a third wave of COVID now, lockdowns ramping up while the vaccine rollout sputters.

Melissa Bell is live in Paris this morning.

Melissa, good to see you.

France approaching 100,000 deaths and the rate of infection is rising among younger people. What are you finding?

MELISSA BELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That, Laura, is exactly the most worrying trend we're seeing here in France but also elsewhere in the European Union. That third wave driven by the new variants, specifically the one first identified in the United Kingdom.

And that has really changed the dynamic in the faces of people entering ICUs. Just to give you an idea of how much more contagious it is, and how bad the figures are here in the greater Paris region. You are looking at an incidence rate for people between 20 and 50 of more than 700 per 100,000 people. That's extremely high. ICUs already running out of room, already under tremendous strain.

And we're seeing that the people entering them are much younger than they used to be and also people with no comorbidities, so that of extreme concern. Restrictions ramped up throughout the European Union. Of course, the vaccination campaign desperately slow in getting off the ground.

To give you an idea in France, the proportion of the population who has had at least one dose just over 9 percent compared to more than 25 percent in the United States, the French president recognizing that one of the problems is that the European leaders had is they simply didn't, as the United States did early on in this, decide to really go for it. They simply didn't believe that vaccines could be produced fast enough and he said you have to hand it to Americans who realized back in the summer of last year that they needed to put a lot of money into production, a lot of hope into the fact that it was possible and who are now getting the benefits of that.

In fact, overall, I'd say, Laura, this is probably the first time since the pandemic began that you are probably better off in the United States than you are here in Europe.

JARRETT: That is saying something.

Melissa Bell in Paris, thank you so much.

ROMANS: All right. Get the shot, get a bonus. Some companies are rewarding their workers for being vaccinated. For months, companies have debated whether to require employees to be vaccinated. Once survey of CEOs found more than 70 percent of want to do so to protect their workforce and their customers and get back to normal.

This is a big question in business. Grocery stores, airlines, fast food chains and discount stores are given paid time off, bonuses or a gift card to their employees so they will get vaccinated. It's not just a little extra money for employees, business are starting to offer customers free stuff to get vaccinated.

Krispy Kreme said for the rest of the year, it will give one glazed donut a day to anyone who shows proof they received the shot. Chobani has been giving out free yogurt at some vaccination sites. And one brewery in Cleveland said it's given 10 cent beers to the first 220 people who show their vaccine certificates.

So, Laura, I think these incentives allow some companies to be able to step back and don't mandate their employees but get the vaccine, but you try to entice them to do it. a lot of these companies want their workforce vaccinated, right?

JARRETT: It's a really interesting move because they know legally, they can't force them to do it, especially given the circumstances under which all of these vaccinations are coming out under an emergency use authorization, right, this isn't a normal approval process. But the incentives there are fascinating. It will be interesting to see if it works.

ROMANS: Yeah.

JARRETT: All right. Well, Dr. Rachel Levine confirmed by the Senate to be the assistant secretary of health, becoming the first out transgender federal official ever confirmed by the chamber. The vote was 52-48 with Republican Senators Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski joining all 50 Democrats. Levine is a pediatrician who previously served as Pennsylvania's secretary of health and physician general.

Still ahead for you, another missile test from North Korea. The rogue nation posing a renewed challenge for the Biden administration. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:13:13]

JARRETT: North Korea launching two ballistic missiles into the Sea of Japan. This is their second weapons test in less than a week.

CNN's Will Ripley joins us live with the very latest.

Will, this seems like an escalation as they had already done one of these missile tests over the weekend, right?

WILL RIPLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Right. It was a cruise missile, actually two of them that were launched on Sunday. And then U.S. President Joe Biden was seen on camera almost laughing it off, which I can tell you after meeting with North Korean officials many times would not have been received particularly well. So, now, in the early morning hours of Thursday, you saw two ballistic missiles, much more provocative act than what happened on Sunday.

These are similar to launches that we saw in the spring and summer of 2019 in terms of their trajectory into the waters between Korea and Japan, but not getting so close as they would violate a Japan's exclusive economic zone. They traveled 280 miles at an altitude of just under 40 miles, and were in the air for seven minutes.

We haven't seen major intercontinental ballistic missile test or nuclear test in North Korea since late 2017.

But President Biden will likely be getting questions at his press conference later today in Washington and the North Koreans I can tell you will be watching that very closely. As will China, because, of course, the United States in a very difficult position here after recently confronting China over alleged human rights abuses in Xinjiang, of the Uyghur Muslims and other ethnic minorities.

But the U.S. knows it does need China's cooperation if it puts more sanctions pressure on the North Koreans. Of course, we know Biden has been speaking with Trump's North Korea people trying to put together this long awaited North Korea policy.

Laura, maybe we will get some insight on that when President Biden answers questions later today. JARRETT: I'm sure it will come up and you will be keeping your eye on

it. Thanks, Will.

ROMANS: All right. Globalization stopped in the Suez Canal.

[05:15:02]

And you might feel this when you fill up at the pump. That's right. The Suez Canal has been blocked for more than a day, disrupting one of the most critical waterways on Earth.

John Defterios is live in Abu Dhabi.

The pictures -- I want to put those back up, the pictures of this huge super tanker stuck like perpendicular in this super important water way. I'm sort of laughing. It's not funny. This is something -- there are ships on both sides trying to get through. That tanker there, it's the Evergreen is the company that runs it and it's essentially the size of the Eiffel Tower on its side stuck.

How long is it going to take to dislodge this thing?

JOHN DEFTERIOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, they're saying sources we're talking to in the canal authorities -- the Suez Canal authority say two to three days to get it unstuck and another two to three days to unclog the trade artery that you are talking about. We're getting a sense what 400 meters or 1,300 feet in terms of a super carrier can do to this major passageway which usually handles 50 ships a day.

You know, Christine, it's interesting through this process, I was covering it for the last 48 hours. Day one, there's a lot of speculation, oh, they're moving the ship and it's going to be clear. Day two we're hearing actually from the source here, Bernhard Schulte Management, BSM, is in charge of the Ever Given here, the name of the vessel.

And they're saying they're going to stage two which is augmenting the process here by dredging the sand from underneath the vessel while using the tugs as well. I think worrying is that they or the Suez Canal authority have not given a timeline to action. So this could drag on.

Then you have to start thinking rerouting if it goes on more than a week with the vessels south of the canal having to go around Africa to Europe and the United States instead.

ROMANS: What about the supply chain here for goods? I mean, we have already been crashed by COVID for supply chains, oil, for example. I mean, what are the implications longer term here?

DEFTERIOS: Yeah, just as a reminder, this canal handles 30 percent of sea borne traffic so it will make a huge difference. Just taken simply from U.S. exports of soybeans going to Southeast Asia for processing that's going to get stopped or slow down, all the Chinese manufactured goods, telecommunications and electronics going into Europe and the United States, this vessel was going from China to Rotterdam. Then you have to get, Christine, if the damages here. Shoei Kisen,

which is the ship owner, said, we expect damages but number one, the priority is to get this thing refloating and we don't have clarity yet.

ROMANS: Wow. That is really something. You can feel this in the gas -- you know, when you fill up -- you know, in this global economy and this is one of those examples where 48 hours stuck there is going to -- we're going to feel that.

All right. Nice to see you, John Defterios.

Laura?

JARRETT: All right. Still ahead, the press finally getting access to facilities along the U.S./Mexico border but not the ones housing all the children. Why? We'll take you there next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:22:31]

ROMANS: All right. Vice President Kamala Harris now in charge of a critical piece of the puzzle at the U.S. southern border. President Biden has asked Harris to lead the administration's diplomatic efforts with what's known as the Northern Triangle, El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras.

These are the countries where most of the people currently crossing into the U.S. are coming from. The hope is to address the root causes of that migration. It's also one of the most important issues the president has directly assigned Vice President Harris.

The White House allowed the media into a border facility Wednesday but not one housing children for prolonged periods of time.

CNN's Rosa Flores has more for us this morning from Donna, Texas.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Laura, Christine, the Biden administration calling it a first step, granting access to an HHS facility for unaccompanied migrant children in Carrizo Springs to one pool reporter and not allowing that pool reporter to ask the children questions, effectively presenting a sanitized version of reality that is steps removed from the bottleneck at the border that is going on right here where I am.

Here is what the Biden administration has not allowed us to see, take a look at this video. Our cameras were rolling as we were on a ride along with Texas Department of Public Safety. These are state troopers that are also patrolling the border and you will see if you look closely there is effectively a make shift immigration processing center under a bridge, and if you look closely you will see long lines of migrants getting processed.

We also saw groups of migrants who just crossed the border on dirt trails following arrows leading to that processing center.

Look, my team and I have been here for two weeks, 24/7. We have made repeated requests to Customs and Border Protection for access to ride alongs that would take us to that bridge and we've also asked for access to processing facilities like the one here in Donna that you see behind me and those requests have been denied -- Laura, Christine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

JARRETT: Hopefully, you will get access to soon. Rosa, thank you so much for that report.

For the first time, prosecutors alleged two far right groups coordinated their efforts to stage an insurrection at the Capitol. A new court filing by the Justice Department reveals an Oath Keepers leader telling associates about his communications with Proud Boys leadership. Now, he talks about how he, quote, orchestrated a plan with the group and now, there is new video from the insurrection showing an attack on a Capitol police officer who later died.

We get more now from CNN's Jessica Schneider.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JESSICA SCHNEIDER, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Laura and Christine, this new video is giving us our first glimpse of Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick in those hours before he died, where you see him on the frontlines guarding the west side of the Capitol on January 6.

Now, this is video from "The New York Times" in those moments before and after Officer Sicknick was hit with chemical spray. This video shows one of the two men accused of assaulting Officer Sicknick and two other officers. His name is Julian Khater. It shows him standing nearby in the crowd and another angle shows the close proximity of Khater and Officer Sicknick.

Then we see Khater is raising what "The New York Times" identifies as a spray can and then shoots chemicals in Officer Sicknick's direction. That's when you can see officer Sicknick suddenly turned away after being struck by this spray and then moved away from the crowd.

Officer Sicknick, he later collapsed in an office. He died the next day at the hospital, but the cause of his death has not been revealed and it's not clear if it was the direct result of the chemical spray. And that's why those two men are now still charged with assault and not murder -- Christine and Laura.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

JARRETT: Jessica, thank you for that.

This Saturday, Ed Lavandera investigates one state, its employment system and the impact of COVID 19. It's a CNN's special report, "The Price We Pay: The Economic Cost of COVID", airs Saturday at 9:00 p.m.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)