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Military in Myanmar Says Protesters will "Suffer Loss of Live"; Garland's Confirmation Hearing for Attorney General Begins Today; U.S. House Expected to Vote on $1.9 Trillion Stimulus Bill this Week; British Prime Minister Unveiling Roadmap to Ease England's Lockdown; Italy Marks One Year Since First COVID Lockdown; Texas Homeowners Shelter Delivery Driver During Storm. Aired 4:30-5a ET

Aired February 22, 2021 - 04:30   ET

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

[04:30:00]

ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR: An ominous warning from Myanmar's military leaders. Anti-coup protesters will, quote, suffer the loss of life if demonstrations persist. But activists do not plan to stop. The country's leading pro-democracy group is calling for historic demonstrations today after more than two weeks of protests by tens of thousands of people, and those activists have already suffered the loss of life. Large crowds attended vigils for two protesters who were shot and killed by police this weekend.

In a tweet the U.S. Secretary of State promised, quote, firm action against anyone who commits violence against protesters.

And our Paula Hancocks is following the story from Seoul. She joins us now live. Paula, of course we are seeing those pictures. Just so many people getting out on the streets. They are digging their heels in despite this warning from the military there in Myanmar of loss of life.

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Rosemary, we're seeing significant numbers of people out onto the streets. It appears that the call by the civil disobedience movement to have an historic day and for people to close businesses, close shops and come out onto the streets to protest hasn't been heeded. Many of the live streams that we are watching, says that there many thousands of people on the streets and in different cities as well throughout the country.

But it is an ominous warning that we have heard from the military blaming some protesters for inciting violence and saying that they created riots and anarchy in the words of the military. And that is why the military had to return fire, as they say. Now this is obviously referring to Mandalay over the weekend. On Saturday night two more people were killed by security forces trying to disperse crowds. And on Friday, there was the first casualty on the protester's side since the February 1st coup.

So the military through its state broadcaster has said that those protesters trying to incite violence will, quote, suffer the loss of life. Now we haven't at this point seen any kind of confrontation between security forces and the protesters but, of course, it is something that we are watching very closely to see on those live streams if there's any sense of tension -- Rosemary.

CHURCH: All right, our Paula Hancocks joining us live from Seoul. Many thanks. Appreciate it.

The confirmation hearing for U.S. President Joe Biden's pick to lead the Justice Department begins in just a few hours. Merrick Garland will face tough questions from Senators. And you may recall Garland had been nominated to the U.S. Supreme Court back in 2016 by former President Barack Obama. But it went nowhere because Republicans refused to hold a hearing.

This time Democrats control the Senate. Here is part of his opening statement. If confirmed, I will supervise the prosecution of white supremacists and others who stormed the Capitol on January 6th, a heinous attack that sought to disrupt a corner stone of our democracy. The peaceful transfer of power to a newly elected government.

Meantime, the House is pressing ahead with the president's $1.9 trillion stimulus package. The biggest hurdle, a proposed minimum wage hike that even some Democrats aren't on board with. CNN's Suzanne Malveaux has this.

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SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN U.S. NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: A very busy week here on Capitol Hill as Democrats say that the aid that is desperately needed by millions of Americans will be on its way just weeks away.

[04:35:00]

This is a $1.9 trillion COVID relief package. The Democrats pushing it through without the support of Republicans. They point to things that they believe all-Americans will appreciate, the $1,400 of stimulus checks, enhanced unemployment aid, assistance for small businesses, for vaccine distribution, for schools as well as state and local governments. The main sticking point here, however, the minimum wage, the increase $15 an hour. Now that is something that progressive Democrats are pushing for saying it is essential that it become a part of the COVID relief package.

REP. PRAMILA JAYAPAL (D-WA) CHAIR, CONGRESSIONAL PROGRESSIVE CAUCUS: The president came out very strong early on saying he wanted a $15 minimum wage in this bill. He has been fairly consistent on hat. I know there are questions about whether or not the Senate can get it through.

But I can tell you, Dana, this $15 minimum wage increase would mean 30 million Americans would get a raise, a million Americans would come out of poverty, and 30 percent of those minimum wage workers are black, 25 percent are Latin X. It is absolutely essential that we do it. And I believe the Senate will do it.

MALVEAUX: The Senate parliamentarian must actually approve of that increase, the minimum wage increase, that it is not an extraneous provision inside of this budget bill. It is a reconciliation process. The rules are pretty there. But also there are several Democrats who are calling out against this provision as well. It is not likely to survive this massive COVID relief bill. But Americans, rest assured, they believe that the relief will come. It will come quickly and is on its way.

Suzanne Malveaux, CNN at the Capitol.

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CHURCH: CNN senior political analyst Ron Brownstein joins me now from Los Angeles. He is also a senior editor for "The Atlantic." Great to have you with us as always.

RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Thanks. Rosemary.

CHURCH: So President Joe Biden has been in office now for one month. And this represents a big week for him with a critical vote for his COVID relief bill. Most likely coming later in the week in the House. It's on track to pass without Republican support. But the president is still open to hearing smart ways to reduce the $1.9 trillion price tag. Where do you see this going? And will it matter if the bill ends up not having Republican support?

BROWNSTEIN: I don't think it's going to matter in the end. I mean, I covered the first year of the Bill Clinton presidency. I covered the first year of the Barack Obama presidency, and each time there was high drama about their ability to hold together Democrats behind their core economic package that passed in the first year. And Clinton's was calamitous trying to get that through a Democratic House and Senate.

And of course, in 2009, Obama with Joe Biden in the lead, had to negotiate away big chunks of his stimulus plan to get those three Republican votes he needed in the Senate to preempt a filibuster. This time you are seeing much less division on the Democratic side, and there's really only one issue, whether it include the minimum wage in the plan and one major issue that is seriously dividing them.

And it's highly likely that they are going to pass this in both the House and Senate through reconciliation. Maybe one or two Republicans -- a couple Republicans in each chamber will come along. But there is I think a clear kind of learning from experience here, Democrats being much more willing to go alone and much more willing to kinds of jump together than they were in the first year for either Obama or Clinton.

CHURCH: Also this week, President Biden's pick for Attorney General, Merrick Garland, is scheduled for his confirmation hearing. How do you expect that to go? What might be some of the stumbling blocks?

BROWNSTEIN: Well you know, first of all, this is like probably the longest lead up to a hearing ever. I mean, you know, he was of course Barack Obama's choice for the Supreme Court in 2016 after conservative Antonin Scalia died. Mitch McConnell would not schedule even a hearing for him with Republicans in control of the Senate at that point. So here we are five years later, and President Biden picks him to be the Attorney General. I think obviously the most charged question for Merrick Garland is going to be what he says, if at all, about how wide a net he intends to cast about the January 6th insurrection and whether President Trump might be in the crosshairs -- former President Trump in the crosshairs for that.

You know, Dick Durbin, chair of the Judiciary Committee, has already put out a statement anticipating the hearings tomorrow, basically saying that we came even closer than we realized to the former President Trump successfully weaponizing the Justice Department, enlisting it in his efforts to subvert the election. And I think those will be -- there are a lot of important issues in front of the Justice Department on civil rights, on voting rights, on criminal justice reform, on police reform, but I think the most explosive area is going to be how he -- what if anything he signals about whether he's willing to look at the president's role in the riot.

[04:40:00]

CHURCH: Ron Brownstein, always a pleasure to get your analysis. Many thanks.

BROWNSTEIN: Thank you. Thanks for having me.

CHURCH: Well England is on the path to ending a coronavirus lockdown. What we're learning about a roadmap set to be unveiled later today. That's next.

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CHURCH: Well, the end could be in sight for England's third and hopefully, final coronavirus lockdown. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is set to announce a roadmap today on how to start lifting restrictions. Downing Street says measures will be eased step by step and must pass four key tests to move ahead. And for more CNN's Isa Soares joins us live from London. Good to see you, Isa. So what are these four key tests that need to be met?

ISA SOARES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Rosie. I think may people up and down the country have been waiting anxiously to see this roadmap being laid out 7 o'clock local time by the Prime Minister Boris Johnson. Who's been looking at the date to try and make his decision. He said he's being led by data and not dates. Clearly having learned from his previous mistakes of opening up too quickly.

But these are the conditions. I'm going to talk you through them. The conditions that need to be met before he opens up step by step in differing phases. The first condition is, Rosie, is that the vaccination continues at full speed. He wants us to go further and faster, so that's been successful.

The second point that he wants to point out is that the evidence -- there's evidence showing the vaccinations are being effective in terms of bringing down the rate of hospitalizations. That is the second point.

The third point is infection rates. Are they decreasing? So far, they are. They've been decreasing in January and February, but they want to continue decreasing so that has an impact on hospitalizations.

[04:45:00]

And for the fourth point, the fourth category really is really the variants. And the variants are important because here the quickly you open here, open too quickly you create a breeding ground of course, Rosie, for further variants. And that has an impact on hospitalizations. And it has an impact also on the vaccination program.

So with that in mind, those who think the country's going to open up at full speed may be somewhat disappointed, Rosie, because what we know is that schools will open on March 8th. We don't know if that's going to started or not. So schools will be open March 8th. Parents will be relieved no doubt. And then two people will be able to meet outdoors, for a coffee, let's say, on March 8th. Care home residents, we've learned in the last 24-hours, will also be able to have one visitor and that will be so important because they really need that human physical touch. After March 8th, here's what the government expects to do.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NADHIM ZAHAWI, U.K. VACCINES MINISTER: On the 29th of March it will be two families or the rule of 6 meeting outdoors and outdoor sports, tennis, golf, and other outdoor sports including team sports on the 29th of March will return.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SOARES (on camera): So what you're hearing from the government, this approach, Rosie, is going to be slow, is going to be cautious and it's going to be phased. And the Prime Minister wants it irreversible. He clearly does not want to go into a fourth lockdown.

And all of this that I've just set out for you needs to be approved by members of Parliament. That's going to happen later today. No doubt the Prime Minister will get some sort of push back from those who perhaps think that the economy -- that the country is opening up too slowly.

But worth bearing in mind, Rosie, it's important that the vaccination program which has been so successful is not hampered in any way. 17.5 million people have had their first dose of the Oxford AstraZeneca and the Pfizer vaccine. That's a third of our population. Well that is very good news indeed, but there are so many vulnerable people. And we know that almost 2/3 of hospitalizations are by under 70s, those who have not been vaccinated. So important balancing act by the Prime Minister, but it will be interesting to see, first of all, whether he gets pushback from this government -- Rosie.

CHURCH: Indeed, let's hope it all goes smoothly. Isa Soares bringing us the very latest from London, many thanks.

Well it has been one year since Italy's first coronavirus lockdown and the first lockdown in Europe. The images of silent streets and exhausted medics spooked the continent and pointed to a sign of things to come. CNN's Delia Gallagher revisits the town that had Italy's first reported COVID-19 case to see how they're doing now.

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DELIA GALLAGHER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): February 21st, 2020, is a date that people of Codogno, Italy will never forget. It was here in this tiny town that Italy's first case of COVID-19 was reported. Resulting in a complete lockdown of their town and the beginning of what would become a national and international pandemic.

Resident Pietro Chervi (ph) says it was the mother of all tests. We live differently now.

The mayor of Codogno, Francesco Passerini says he still gets goose bumps when he remembers that day which took them all by surprise.

It seems the risk in Europe, he says was practically zero, nothing. Instead, it was among us and had already stricken.

From that first patient, Italy has seen the disease spread to more than 2.7 million citizens and close to 100,000 have died. Three hundred twenty-four people died in Codogno from COVID in the first three months alone. In a town of only 16,000 residents this past year has taken its toll.

We lost so many friends, as resident Dario Chuarti (ph), and so many relatives and they are never coming back.

Codogno was the first down to go into strict lockdown. The Codogno model was followed soon after by other towns, and eventually the entire country. One year on, Codogno residents echo sentiments felt by many across Italy.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's crazy. I don't want to live like this anymore. No. No. No.

GALLAGHER (voice-over): Mayor Passerini is optimistic that things have improved.

Last year, we were really fighting barehanded, he says, an enemy that we couldn't see and did not know. This year, we made giant steps both in prevention and in diagnosis. [04:50:00]

The mayor says he is proud of his town, a front line, he says, where the battle was fought and where resistance and resilience continue.

Delia Gallagher, CNN, Rome.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: Well Texas leaders are facing lots of questions about last week's deadly winter storm. Despite that, ordinary Texans did extraordinary things to help each other through the crisis. Some of their stories when we return. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHURCH: An update now on our top story. We just learned South Korea's Asiana Airlines has become the latest to halt operations of its Boeing 777 planes. They are powered by the same Pratt and Whitney 4000 type engine under scrutiny in the U.S. And Korean Air says it is waiting to receive recommendations from the transport ministry before it grounds its 777 aircraft.

Well Texans are known the world over for the maverick spirit. So when the state was hit by that ferocious winter storm last week, it's no wonder many Texans turned to one another to get through the crisis.

[04:55:02]

Michael Holmes takes a look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Whatever affects Texas affect us.

MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A commitment to the community that's no sales gimmick. During the recent winter storm, a Houston furniture store owner known as Mattress Mack turned his show room into a shelter for residents needing a place to warm up and have a hot meal. It's an act of kindness that some will never forget.

BRYAN QUINTANA, IMPACTED BY TEXAS STORM: The coronavirus, I lost my job, you know, my mortgage, and in those pictures, looking at my house, you know, it was terrible. I have to clean it up.

HOLMES (voice-over): Stories like those of goodness and hospitality have helped melt the ice by brightening the days of Texans enduring hardship caused by the cold temperatures.

Like when delivery driver Chelsea Timmons slid down the icy driveway of the people she was delivering to and couldn't get back out. The homeowners got their groceries and invited Chelsea to wait inside, which turned into a five-day stay until the weather cleared, and a new friendship.

Then there's the local distillery that decided to open its taps of water and give away free filtered water to anyone with a jug until boil orders are lifted.

Or the grocery store that lost power and with no way of checking people out, let them leave with their supplies without paying.

TIM HENNESSEY, RECEIVED FREE GROCERIES DURING STORM: They're putting groceries on the belt, and the woman checking them out said, no, don't bother. We won't have time to bag anything. I thought, well, that's kind of weird. How are you going to ring it up? She kind of said with her arm, go ahead. You can proceed out the store.

HOLMES (voice-over): These feel-good moments stretched beyond humankind. Volunteers rescued thousands of sea turtles off San Padre Island, who were stunned by the cold, and are keeping them in warm pools until they can be released. A shelter that may not be as cozy as Mattress Mack's show room, but another example of Texas strong.

Michael Holmes, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: And we need more of those moments. Thanks so much for your company. I'm Rosemary Church. "EARLY START" is up next. You're watching CNN. Have yourselves a great day.

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