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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin
U.S. on Verge of 200,000 Dead Virus; McConnell Gains Critical Support in SCOTUS Showdown; Michael Jordan Becomes a NASCAR Team Owner. Aired 5-5:30a ET
Aired September 22, 2020 - 05:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[05:00:21]
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: The U.S. on the verge of passing a tragic milestone no other nation is near, 200,000 Americans, moms, dads, brothers, sisters, friends, and loved ones lost to coronavirus.
BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: And a serious blow to Democrats hoping to stop Republicans from replacing Ruth Bader Ginsburg on the Supreme Court.
Welcome to our viewers in the United States and around the world. This is EARLY START. I'm Boris Sanchez, in for Laura Jarrett.
ROMANS: Nice to see you again today, Boris.
SANCHEZ: Good to see you, Christine.
ROMANS: I'm Christine. It's Tuesday, September 22nd. It is officially the first day of autumn, 5:00 a.m. in New York. Six weeks until the election and one week until the first debate.
But any moment, the U.S. will pass a milestone that is as tragic as it was preventable, 200,000 Americans killed by coronavirus. The U.S. far outpacing the rest of the world, no matter how you parse these numbers. America has already lost more lives than World War I and Vietnam combined.
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DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: Close to 6 million deaths. You can't look at that and say, that's terrific.
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ROMANS: And there are signs of more trouble ahead. The 7-day moving average of new cases has crept above 40,000 for the first time since Labor Day. Cases are now increasing in 24 states with the Western half of the country a really big concern now.
SANCHEZ: And to put a face on these numbers, we want to share with you two of the latest victims, 67-year-old Johnny Lee Peoples and his wife Cathy. The North Carolina couple was together for more than 50 years and they died just minutes apart holding each other's hands.
Of course, you can't escape the politics of this. Here's Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: What worries me now is we've been living with the pandemic for so long, I worry we risk becoming numb to the toll it has taken on us and our country and communities like this. We can't let that happen. We can't lose the ability to feel the sorrow and the loss and the anger for so many lives lost.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: Remember, President Trump's response has been, as he told Bob Woodward, to play it down. He has remained largely focused on the economy even more so than the science. With almost 200,000 Americans dead, his citizens on his watch, here's how he rates his own performance.
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DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: And we've done a phenomenal job. Not just a good job, phenomenal job. Other than public relations, but that's because I have fake news. I can't -- you know, you can't convince them of anything. They are fake.
But we have done -- on public relations, I give myself a D. On the job itself, we take an A+ with the ventilators, and now, with the vaccines that are used ahead of schedule.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: The president was back on the road in Ohio last night, holding another rally with few if any masks and little distancing. The Republican lieutenant governor made a push for masks that was met with hostility.
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LT. GOV. JON HUSTEAD (R), OHIO: But if you go into a grocery store where you've got to wear one, all right? Hang on. Hang on. Just listen up. Just listen up. All right. I get it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: Wow.
The CDC on Monday abruptly reverted to earlier guidance on how coronavirus is transmitted, a language about airborne transmission was removed, just days after being posted. Now, federal officials tell CNN the change was not the result of political pressure. The new language was just posted by mistake.
SANCHEZ: Yeah, but bear in mind, the new guidelines actually brought the CDC in line with the accepted science. The incident highlight questions over past political pressure on CDC guidance, about social distancing, testing, transmission and hospital data as well.
A former top official at the CDC says the abrupt change just feeds in the concern that no one is really in charge.
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DR. RICHARD BESSER, FORMER ACTING DIRECTOR, CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL: Once you have trust broken, it's extremely hard to get that back. I worry about that. I worry about people trusting great science the CDC puts out, because they're not sure great science, what has the fingerprints of politics all over it.
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SANCHEZ: Meantime, the CDC has issued its first guidance for the fall and winter holidays. It is discouraging. Most traditional Halloween activities like trick or treating and costume parties, I just want to point out, we are at Halloween at this point, talking about coronavirus. Remember when the president was talking about having churches packed for Easter?
[05:05:02]
In Texas, more than 4,500 COVID cases have been reported in public schools and some of the state's largest districts, including Dallas and Houston have not even restarted in-person classes.
ROMANS: This morning, hypocrisy on the right and outrage on the left will not stop President Trump from trying to confirm a new Supreme Court justice before this election. Senator Majority Leader Mitch McConnell getting close to locking down on that support to pave the way for a confirmation vote to replace Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
Two key Republican senators signaling support for confirming a nomine, Cory Gardner, who's facing a tough reelection fight in Colorado, and Chuck Grassley of Iowa, who led the Judiciary Committee when it blocked hearings for Merrick Garland.
SANCHEZ: Yeah, remember, it takes just a simple majority to confirm a justice. So, even if Mitt Romney joins two other GOP senators, Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski, who already said they want to wait until after the election, it appears that McConnell has the votes.
Democrats meantime say that all options are on the table. But they are virtually powerless to shut this down. The current Judiciary chair, Lindsey Graham, in a tough reelection fight himself, vowing to confirm before Election Day.
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SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R-SC): The nominee is going to be supported by every Republican in the Judiciary Committee, and we've got the votes to confirm the judge -- the justice on the floor of the Senate before the election and that's what's coming.
(END VIDEO CLIP) ROMANS: The president's choice, it's expected at the end of the week. A source close to the process confirms Judge Amy Coney Barrett was at the White House Monday and met with President Trump.
Remember what is on the line. A challenge to Obamacare days after the election, the president still has no plan to replace it as he tries to repeal it and a legal fight over the election itself could find its way to the Supreme Court and even number of justices could complicate any ruling.
SANCHEZ: Meantime, the president starting a disinformation campaign on Justice Ginsberg's dying wish for the new president to replace her. He claims it came from Democratic leadership but the late justice's granddaughter says different.
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CLARA SPERA: I asked her if there was anything she wanted to say to the public, to anyone that wasn't already out there, and she said there was. And I pulled out my computer and she dictated the following sentence to me. She said, my most fervent wish is that I will not be replaced until a new president is installed, and I read it back to her. She was very happy with that.
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SANCHEZ: Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg will lie in repose at the Supreme Court Wednesday and Thursday, so the public can pay their respects. She will then lie in state at the U.S. Capitol on Friday, becoming the first woman to receive that honor. Then, a private interment will be held next week at Arlington National Cemetery.
ROMANS: The $600 enhanced unemployment benefit was a key life line for millions in the pandemic. New analysis shows that money did not keep work workers on the sidelines. The San Francisco Federal Reserve found the unemployment benefits had little no affect on job searches. Instead, the money served as a much needed economic relief and stimulus.
The Trump administration called that extra money a disincentive to work, saying, people would rather sit at home and collect this money then go out and find a job. This report found the opposite, saying job seekers do not have the luxury to be choosy and delay accepting a job in favor of continuing to receive benefits.
The extra $600 ended weeks ago. Trump's emergency $300 unemployment payments ended for some almost as soon as they started. With stimulus talks, the standstill, and fears of the second wave of coronavirus, millions of Americans are left in limbo and this San Francisco Fed made it very, very clear. There was a talking points for weeks that somehow that extra money was going to keep people from getting a job. That's not true.
SANCHEZ: Yeah. It's also hard to get a complete picture of just how far this pandemic is affecting unemployment. There are states like California where there are massive backlogs -- ROMANS: That's right.
SANCHEZ: -- of unprocessed claims. And they've actually have had to put a pause on processing them to get to them.
ROMANS: That's right. So very difficult time for a lot of folks.
Looking ahead, can closing pubs early stop the surge of coronavirus in the U.K.? We'll take you live to London, next.
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[05:13:37]
SANCHEZ: Coronavirus cases are spiking across Europe, especially in Spain, France, and England, where Prime Minister Boris Johnson is set to announce new measures to try and slow the spread.
Let's go live to London and bring in CNN's Scott McLean.
And, Scott, with these rising numbers, there's some concern that there might be a second national shutdown ahead.
SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yeah. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is undoubtedly going to have to make some difficult decisions on how to get a handle on this coming second wave of the coronavirus trying to avoid a second lockdown which the government has made clear really is a last resort. And so, new restrictions have been coming in fast and furious. Last week, the number of people allowed in a social gathering was announced.
Overnight, we heard pubs will have to close down and only have table service, something which is pretty unusual in this country. And this morning, a British cabinet also said that if you have the ability to work from home, you should, which is a huge reversal from what the government was encouraging people just a month ago. They said that, look, things are safe, it's time to get back into the offices, and workers should intend be going back.
So, the reason for this reversal is because the virus, new cases are doubling every seven days and at that rate, the government says that the U.K. could have 50,000 cases of the virus every single day.
[05:15:02]
And to put that into context, that's more than the U.S. has right now. And this country has only 1/5 of the population.
The U.K. has also gone ahead and raised its COVID threat level to the second highest. That means it's either high or exponential. The new restrictions are being put forward and gotten used to the new found freedom that it's gotten over this summer, where restrictions have been eased, and so, the prime minister will actually give an address to this nation this morning to explain why the time for action is right now, Boris.
SANCHEZ: And we know you'll track it for us.
Scott McLean reporting live for London, thank you.
ROMANS: So, coronavirus cases are also spiking in other parts of Europe. CNN has the pandemic covered around the world.
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MELISSA BELL, CNN PARIS CORRESPONDENT: I'm Melissa Bell in Paris.
Here in Paris, the number of people testing positive for coronavirus continues to rise. This is leading in some parts of the country to a strain on ICUs. Another jump overnight in the number of people entering those intensive care units and this fresh announcement from Italy.
If you're coming from some of the hardest-hit regions here in France, you're going to be tested upon arrival, simply because that country wants to avoid an uptick in its own figures.
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: I'm Nic Robertson in London. The U.N. assembly kicks off today. It will be different. No gridlock in New York. In 2018, President Trump rattled off his achievements. This year, expects features, many of them to be recorded. Three minutes long, President says he'll be tough on China.
Putin and Xi are trying to also expect to speak today. Xi also having a message for President Trump.
The U.N. hoping to rebrand itself. The world we want; the U.N. we need.
AL GOODMAN, CNN MADRID CORRESPONDENT: I'm Al Goodman in Madrid.
The coronavirus has stolen the show in Madrid's opera house, forcing the cancelation of the production of the Verde opera, just as the performance was about to start, many of the audience loudly protested that they were seated too closely together especially in the cheaper seats, higher up in the opera house. The police were called in. Upper management said it regrets the incident, but insisted that local regulations allowed that many people in the opera house. Spain is battling one of the worst second waves of the coronavirus in Europe.
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ROMANS: All right. Michael Jordan, start your engines. The NBA legend is coming to NASCAR and he's bringing some star power to his team.
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[05:22:03]
SANCHEZ: The NFL taking its mask policy very seriously, handing out more than a million dollars in fines for coaches not wearing their masks on the sidelines.
Andy Scholes has more in this morning's "Bleacher Report".
Good morning, Andy.
It was three teams, right, that ended up getting fines.
ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, three for now, Boris. There could be more, but the NFL not messing around when it comes to wearing masks on the sidelines. They are cracking down on three teams, three coaches specifically for not wearing masks during their games on the sidelines. So, it's Broncos' Vic Fangio, Seahawks' Pete Carroll and 49ers Kyle Shanahan. They're all fined $100,000 each, and all three of their teams have also been fined a quarter of a million. A league source telling CNN they issued a memo reminding anyone on the sidelines must wear a mask due to coronavirus.
Now, Raiders coach Jon Gruden was seen without masks during last night's game. They're likely going to be hit with fines as well. Gruden apologizing after the game, while revealing for the first time he's already had COVID.
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JON GRUDEN, LAS VEGAS RAIDERS COACH: I'm doing my best. You know, I had the virus, OK? I'm doing my best.
I'm very sensitive about it, but I'm in place, I just want to communicate in these situations and I apologize. If I get fined, I will have to pay the fine. But I'm very sensitive about all of that and I apologize.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHOLES: All right. Raiders opening up the brand new $2 billion stadium last night, right off the Las Vegas Strip. They've been named the death star, rightfully so, it looks really, really cool. And they're going to have no fans in the stands the entire season there in Vegas because of the coronavirus.
But Raiders continued to look good. Derek Carr throwing three touchdown passes last night. Early 10-point deficit into a 34-24 win over the Saints.
Game two of the Stanley Cup finals taking place, Tampa Bay Lightning jumped on the Stars with three goals in the span of less than four minutes of the first period. The Bolts been able to halt a late Dallas rally to win the game, 3-2. Series now even at a game apiece. Game three going to be tomorrow night.
All right. Finally, Michael Jordan going to be a NASCAR owner. Six- time champ teaming up with Denny Hamlin to own a team next season. Jordan will be the first black majority owner in the sport in over 45 years.
His driver is going to be Bubba Wallace. He's the only black driver at the sports top level Jordan saying in a statement, historically, NASCAR has struggled with diversity, and there have been few black owners.
The timing seems perfect as NASCAR is evolving and embracing social change more and more. In addition to the recent commitment and donations, I've made to combat systemic racism, I think this is a chance to educate new audience and open more opportunities for black people in racing.
And, you know, Christine, Michael Jordan grew up in North Carolina.
[05:25:02]
He says he's always been a fan of the sport. NASCAR, its headquarters is there in Charlotte, so this just seems like a perfect fit all the way around.
ROMANS: Yeah, absolutely.
Well, good luck to them. Thanks so much, Andy Scholes this morning.
Join CNN today for Citizen by CNN, a virtual conference featuring interviews with guests like Dr. Anthony Fauci, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Loretta Lynch, NBA all star Chris Paul, NBA commissioner Adam Silver, discussing an array of issues that matter to voters, six weeks before election day. You can stream it starting at 9:00 a.m. Eastern on CNN.com.
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