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Pentagon Responds to Kabul Airport Investigation; NFL Commissioner: Won't Tolerate Racism in the League; Heat Advisory Ahead of Super Bowl LVI; Key Test for Modi as India's Most Populous State Votes; American Nathan Chen Claims Gold in Men's Figure Skating; U.S. Snowboarder Chloe Kim Wins Gold in Women's Halfpipe. Aired 4:30-5a ET
Aired February 10, 2022 - 04:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[04:30:00]
ISA SOARES, CNN ANCHOR:
JOHN KIRBY, PENTAGON PRESS SECRETARY: And reading the CNN report, there is no autopsies that were done by those doctors in those hospitals of Afghans as well.
So, again, we respect the reporting of CNN clearly, but we're going to stand by the investigation, which did not find any conclusive evidence that there was gunfire of any kind by American troops on Afghan citizens.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SOARES: You can read and watch our CNN exclusive report by Nick Paton Walsh at CNN.com. And of course, will continue following developments from the story.
A new version of the U.S. Black Hawk helicopter took to the skies without a single person on board. The military said the first test flights were conducted at Fort Campbell, Kentucky in recent days. Instead of a pilot the aircraft was operated by what's called MATRIX autonomous flying software. The helicopter flew twice each time for about half an hour. Officials say the technology will give the U.S. Army more flexibility to achieve its missions.
Still ahead this hour, racism and the National Football League. The NFL commissioner responds to allegations and a lawsuit just days before the Super Bowl.
Plus, there will be blood, sweat and tears when the Rams and Bangles go head-to-head in Los Angeles. And plenty of extra reasons as well for the sweating part. PEDRAM JAVAHERI, CNN METEOROLOGIST: And a potentially historic weekend across parts of Southern California and really the entirety of the state as we do have as many as 30 record temperatures possible. We'll break this down. The excessive heat alerts and also possibly the warmest Super Bowl Sunday on record. All of that and more coming up shortly.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[04:35:00]
SOARES: Welcome back to CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Isa Soares. If you're just joining us, let me bring you up to date with our top stories this hour. Russia has begun ten days of joint military drills in Belarus. U.S. officials insist Russia is showing no signs of de-escalating the crisis over Ukraine. But the Kremlin says the exercises are a response to an unprecedented threats from NATO.
And the family of actor and comedian Bob Saget has released a statement revealing that he died of head trauma. Saget was found dead in a Florida hotel room in early January while on a comedy tour at the age of 65. Of course, we'll keep you want top of both of those stories at the top of "EARLY START" in about 20 minutes or so.
Football's biggest day, the Super Bowl, is three days away. But the NFL commissioner is spending his time addressing allegations of racism in the league. And he's promising to look into the ways teams hire their coaches. CNN's Brian Todd has the story for you.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell facing tough questions about racism in the league at his annual pre-Super Bowl news conference.
ROGER GOODELL, NFL COMMISSIONER: Racism or any form of discrimination is against our values.
TODD (voice-over): Goodell admitting the league has fallen in hiring enough minority head coaches in the wake of the class action lawsuit filed by former Miami Dolphins Head Coach Brian Flores against the league and three franchises.
GOODELL: I think we made a lot of tremendous amount of a lot of progress in a lot of areas but not at the head coach. And that is something that -- is something we really had focused on to try to get the kind of results that we would expect, and we fell short of that by a long shot for us.
TODD (voice-over): Flores, fired as the Dolphins' head coach after posting winning records in two of his three seasons, accuses the New York Giants and Denver Broncos of bringing him in for sham interviews, in the case of the Giants, for a head coaching job they'd already decided to give to someone else.
BRIAN FLORES, FORMER NFL HEAD COACH: It was humiliating, to be quite honest. There was disbelief, there was anger.
TODD (voice-over): He also accuses the Dolphins owner of offering to pay him to lose games, which the owner denies.
GOODELL: All of those to me were very disturbing. Integrity of the game is obviously an important element.
TODD (voice-over): The league and the franchises named in the suit all deny wrongdoing, but Goodell announced the league will take a fresh look at the hiring process.
GOODELL: We're going to talk to other people, have independent people come in and look and help us evaluate it, because it's sometimes hard to evaluate your own policies and procedures.
TODD (voice-over): Flores and his attorneys say the NFL Rooney Rule, which requires every team to interview at least two external minority candidates for open head coaching positions doesn't work and is basically a scam, with teams interviewing minority candidates only as window dressing then hiring the coach they really want.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you not bear some personal responsibility for not having made more progress?
GOODELL: The answer is, yes, I do. As a league I don't think there's a subject we've discussed more frequently in the ownership over the last four or five years. It has been at every league meeting other than two.
TODD (voice-over): about 70 percent of the NFL's players are black. But out of 32 teams, only two have black head coaches.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why does the NFL and its owners have such a difficult time at the highest levels hiring black people into decision-making positions?
GOODELL: We work really hard. We believe in diversity. We believe in it as a value. We believe it's made it stronger. People who have come into the league who are diverse have been very successful and made us better. And we just have to do a better job.
TODD (voice-over): One analyst is skeptical that the Flores lawsuit will affect real change.
HOWARD BRYANT, WRITER, MEADOWLARK MEDIA AND ESPN: The NFL owners do not want to hire black coaches. The reason why they don't hire black coaches is because they've never hired black coaches unless they've been forced.
TODD: The NFL is also conducting a new independent investigation into allegations of sexual misconduct against Washington Commanders owner Daniel Snider. Who's been accused by a former team employee of making inappropriate physical contact and trying to force her into a limousine. Snyder denies the allegations. The team has announced its own investigation into that. Roger Goodell said flat out he doesn't see any way a team could do its own intervention of itself. Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SOARES: A party for the big game is going to going to cost to big bucks. U.S. Bank Wells Fargo said the price tag for a Super Bowl party could be up to 40 percent -- 14 percent higher than last year thanks to inflation and depending really what's on the menu. The biggest offender is steaks with a 21 percent jump in price. Ground beef, soft drinks, beer and potato chips also seeing a price hike. Consumer experts suggest making cheaper substitutions and checking for specials. But whatever you do end up spending you can always go back of course knowing that you're not paying for the actual Super Bowl tickets.
[04:40:00]
The excitement is building of course ahead of the big game on Sunday and so is the heat. The temperature on game day could be something no Super Bowl has ever seen before. Pedram Javaheri has that. Good morning, Pedram.
JAVAHERI: Good morning, Isa. What a weekend of weather across portions of Southern California. Look at this, high wind alerts in place, which this time of year usually means we've a Santa Ana wind event developing across this region. Winds going to be impressive and the warmth going to be impressive associated with these easterly winds that are really warming as they sink down the mountains of portions of California, down into these lower lying areas. So, heat advisories remain in effect, which again, for the month of February is pretty unusual and unprecedented for the records across the region to see the alerts in place.
Temperatures potentially as warm as 91 degrees or so continuing through the afternoon hours of Sunday before some cooler weather returns. But as many as 30 record temperatures now possible really across much of the state of California on into portions of Oregon. Some of these areas into Oregon even crossing into the 60s, even the 70s in a few spots.
But notice this, when it comes to of course Super Bowl weekend, a lot of people looking at the forecast. Because this time of year it should be 68 degrees. Temperatures going to be into the middle 80s approaching record territory. And then look at Super Bowl Sunday, 86 degrees kickoff time. Temperatures right into the middle 80s. That would go down as the warmest single Super Bowl game on record. Of course, we know, SoFi Stadium has a roof, but these sides are open and certainly the impact is going to the the-certainly the impact is going to be limited for the folks inside the stadium. But again, an impressive amount of heat for a Super Bowl Sunday -- Isa.
SOARES: Thank you very much Pedram.
India's Prime Minister is feeling confident that his ruling party will come out on top as elections kickoff in the country's most populous states. We'll have a live report from Uttar Pradesh. That's just ahead.
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[04:45:00]
SOARES: Voting is underway in India's most populous state in an election viewed as a mid-term referendum on Prime Minister Narendra Modi's rule. And a test really for his ruling party's popularity. The polls will remain open in Uttar Pradesh for the next few hours. The northern state has about 200 million residents. A larger population than all of Russia. CNN's Vedika Sud joins us with the latest. And Vedika, this election of course in Uttar Pradesh is important as it can be seen, like we just said, as a barometer in many ways of Modi's popularity. How is he expected to fare here?
VEDIKA SUD, CNN REPORTER: Oh, absolutely. When it comes to Narendra Modi, the Indian Prime Minister, or his party, the party Bharatiya Janata, he seems to be absolutely confident that he will get 300 plus seats in the 403 total seats that the state assembly is voting for.
What's interesting though is the size of the population of this state, Isa. Because it's going to be over seven phases that people are going to vote just in this one state which has a population of over 200 million people. Well, you spoke of Russia and equating it to the size of a Russia. Let me just tell you, take into and really defending frankly Uttar Pradesh will be the eighth largest country in the world.
Now in 2017 BJP came to power in this state and it's being led by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, who is a (INAUDIBLE) mountain politician. He's known for his divisive politics. It really helped Narendra Modi to get the votes he needed in the 2019 national election. And he's hoping the same happens in the year 2024. Because this once did have 80 seats that are part of the lower house of parliament where the elected representatives sit. Now Yogi Adityanath, like I said, is known for stirring and is accused of stirring anti- Muslim sentiments. Now let's just listen into his latest controversy which is as recent as Wednesday.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
YOGI ADITYANATH, CHIEF MINISTER, UTTAR PRADESH, INDIA (through translator): Stay cautious. If you miss, our efforts over the past five years will fail. And this time it won't take long for Uttar Pradesh to turn into Kashmir, West Bengal and Kerala.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SUD: It won't take time for Uttar Pradesh to turn into Kerala, West Bengal. This is what he is talking about -- or Kashmir. Now these two states and the union territory of Kashmir are known to have a significant Muslim population. So, there you see that as recent as Wednesday. This state is the reason why BJP could win 2024, the national elections, if they win this time. And this is essential and crucial for any future aspirations that Narendra Modi holds -- Isa.
I know you'll keep us posted on this. Vedika Sud there for us. Thank you very much, Vedika. Good to see you.
Still to come, Team USA is celebrating some exciting wins during today's competition as the Beijing Winter Olympics. A recap of the big event with Coy Wire after the break.
[04:50:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SOARES: It has been an exciting day of competition for Team USA at the Beijing Winter Olympics. Nathan Chen claims gold in men's figure skating hanging onto the league after setting a world record with the short program. And it was a huge day for another American athlete. Snowboarder Chloe Kim successfully defended her gold metal win in the women's halfpipe.
Let's get more on this. CNN's Coy Wire joins us live outside Beijing. Good morning, Coy. Let's start, first of all, with what was a fantastic day as well as flawless performance for Nathan Chen.
COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS: Isa, I don't know if you saw it but it is awe inspiring. He's like a unicorn out there wearing ice skates, a majestic piece. Nathan Chen generally known as the most dominant figure skater on the planet in the past several years, Isa. But he's been on this collision course with this moment since the last Winter Olympic when he fell short of expectations and the quad king reigned supreme.
Gold for Team USA the three-time defending world champ landed five quadruples. It was an incredible long program performance. He won by a huge marge, more than 22 points. And that of course was fueled by the new world record he said in the short program just a few days ago.
Nathan Chen, we talked about him, Isa, he's a student at Yale. He now officially does it all. He snags his first ever individual Olympic medal. Have to point out though all impressive in this as well, Japan finished two, three, four, Yuma Kagiyama taking the silver, Uno Shoma with the bronze and the legend Yuzuru Hanyu finished four.
Also want to talk about a repeat performance. Chloe Kim has done it again. Team USA's star defending her Olympic gold in the snowboard halfpipe becoming the first woman to ever win two golds in the event. And how good is she, isa? She said afterwards that she was just playing it safe on her first of three runs. Because she had had the worst practice of her life. She was feeling all sorts of emotion and self-doubt. But she still scored a 94 playing it safe. And even the commentators said that's enough for gold. She doesn't have to go anymore.
She got to see her family virtually afterwards. And that was a big moment for her because they've been big in supporting her. She talked about after her big win as a 17-year-old four years ago in her Olympics debut, how much the pressure had gotten to her. And she was asked about it after this big moment about that journey and coming to grips with dealing with all of the pressure.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHLOE KIM, OLYMPIC HALFPINT GOLD MEDALIST: After my last Olympics I put that pressure on myself to be perfect at all times. And that would cause a lot of issues at home. I would be really sad and depressed all the time. The biggest challenge for me and now is just to be as open as possible. Because I hope that maybe one day a little girl can hear my story and be inspired to be, you know, to keep going, to never give up.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[04:55:00]
SOARES: And one more. Australia's Johannes Strolz has just done something that his father did 34 years ago -- Isa. Winning Olympic skiing gold in the Alpine combined.
Norway's Aleksander Aamodt Kilde took the silver. His second medal of these games. Canada's James Crawford earns bronze. But Johannes Strolz and his father Hubert are now the first father/son combo in Olympic history to win gold in the same discipline.
SOARES: Fantastic news. I'm still getting my head around Chloe's performance. If that was her playing it safe, Coy, I wonder what she can do when she doesn't play it safe, right? Thanks very much, Coy Wire. We'll touch base again tomorrow.
Now Tesla says that California's Department of Fair Employment as the housing planning is planning to sue the automaker over alleged racial discrimination, as well as harassment. The company has faced several allegations of racism in the past. This is the anticipated lawsuit is quote, misguided. Last year a former tesla employee was awarded $137 million after a jury found he was subject to a racially hostile workplace.
"Star Wars" fans got a surprise after Disney announced of its newest entry into the franchise, "Obi-Wan Kenobi". The new show will debut in May on the 45th anniversary of the science-fiction phenomenon. New artwork was also released featuring actor Ewan McGregor in the title role, of course, of Jedi Master.
I can tell you my producers and I are absolutely ecstatic for this to show. Will reunite McGregor with Hayden Christiansen, most known for his turn as Anakin Skywalker. The apprentice who would later become legendary villain Darth Vader. Obi-Wan Kenobi premieres on May 25.
And that does it for us here on CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Isa Soares in London. Thanks very much for your company. "EARLY START" with Christine Romans and Laura Jarrett is up next. I shall see you tomorrow. Have a wonderful day. Bye-bye.
