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Growing Number of U.S. States Lifting Indoor Mask Mandates; Japan's Hirano Wins Men's Snowboard Halfpipe Gold; Mikaela Shiffrin Completes Super-G, Finishes 9th; Prince William in UAE to Promote Closer Ties with U.K.; South Africa's Rhino Population Under Threat from Poaching. Aired 4:30-5a ET
Aired February 11, 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: Welcome back to CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Isa Soares. If you are just joining us, let me bring you up to date with our top stories this hour.
A Russian figure skater in the Beijing Winter Olympics has had her results from a December drug test come back positive for a banned substance after she had already competed. 15-year-old Kamila Valieva on provisional suspension that was later lifted by the Russian anti- doping agency. Now the IOC is appealing that decision on lifting the suspension to the court of arbitration of sport.
And over in Canada protests against vaccine mandates have morphed into a catch all of grievances that could spread to more areas including the United States. At least three border crossings between the U.S. and Canada have now been blocked by trucks and other vehicles on the Canadian side. And of course, we'll have much more on those two stories at the top of the hour on "EARLY START."
Now here to U.K. where Prince Charles is in isolation after testing positive for COVID again. The heir to the British throne who is 73 and fully vaccinated, first caught the virus back in March of 2020. The royal source says he recently met with the Queen. But she's not displaying any symptoms.
New Zealand has broken its record for daily infections for the second day in a row. Case counts are still extremely low compared to other Western countries. But the number of Kiwis hospitalized has nearly doubled in two days.
South Korea is also struggling with a surge in cases. This week it surpassed 1 million since the start of the pandemic. Its health agency warns daily infections could quadruple by months end.
In the coming hours some 3,000 employees in New York City are said to be fired because they refuse to get vaccinated. Termination notices take effect as of today. COVID vaccinations are required all of the city's municipal workers after a mandate took effect back in November. And New York City's mayor says it will be enforced. Meanwhile, infections are falling nationally. Florida is the only
state showing cases trending in the wrong direction. The latest seven- day average is just over 200,000 new cases, way down from the peak several weeks ago of some 800,000.
Also today, another two U.S. states will end their indoor mask mandates and five others are planning to lift theirs in the coming weeks. But that's somewhat at odds with guidance from the CDC which insists masks should be worn in stores and there's growing confusion over which regulations to actually follow.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It is confusing. It's worrisome to people. They're trying to figure out. But what I've tried to do -- I've tried to make sure we have all the vaccines needed, all the boosters needed, all the masks needed, all the protections that's needed.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SOARES: A head of the CDC says the agency is working on updating its guidance on mask wearing but warns death rates and hospitalizations are still high. Quote, we are not there yet.
Updating you now on our lead story from yesterday if you remember. Florida's sheriff's office said the investigation into Bob Saget's death remains an open case. An autopsy report, released on Wednesday, said the 65-year-old actor had died from blunt head trauma. The medical examiner says he thinks Saget accidentally fell and hit his head. CNN's chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta spoke with Don Lemon about the conclusion.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: There is an abrasion on the back of his head, and also fracture on the back of his head. In the yellow, that fracture sort of extended along the right side of his head. But then, he also had fractures on the front, just above his eyes as well. The orbital rims as they're called.
Let me show on this, Don, if you can see this, the skull. So, you imagine this, somebody falls, they hit here, an abrasion over here, significant blow, though. Like falls down significant blow. The fracture extends into the right side of the head over here, that's all possible from one mechanism. But then also fractures in the front over here just about the eyes.
If I didn't know anything else about this, I would say is this someone who is unrestrained in a car accident. Is this someone who fell down a flight of stairs, for example, or something like that.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SOARES: The autopsy also shows Saget was positive for COVID-19 and had an enlarged heart. [04:35:00]
It is day seven of the Beijing Winter Olympics. His first name translates to walk the dream in Japanese. An earlier snowboarder Ayumu Hirano did exactly that winning gold for Japan and turning in a near flawless performance during the man's halfpipe. But for the legendary Shaun White it wasn't meant to be. Not at least this time. The U.S. snowboarding icon failed to medal finishing fourth in what he said will be his last Olympics.
We are covering all this hour here on CNN. Right now, we want to live to Zhangjiakou in China where Coy Wire is standing by. And Coy, some rather disappointing news for Shaun White and perhaps not quite the way he probably wants to end his last Olympics.
COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS: Still the ride of a lifetime, right, Isa? Snowboarding legend Shaun White's final run putting a bow on an historic, iconic, revolutionary career. At 35 years old in his fifth Olympic games. White put up a score in the halfpipe which was enough to finish in fourth. And that was 16 years after he made his Olympic debut. It's phenomenal, he teared up afterwards. He looked almost as if he wasn't prepared for how was going to hit him, Isa. Shaun White finishes with three gold medals and goat status next to his name. And he says he's forever grateful for the legacy he's going to leave for the next generation and passing the torch Ayumu Hirano of Japan.
As you mentioned, he instantaneously progressed the sport in his own right, becoming the first person ever to land the triple cork in competition after pulling off arguably the most difficult run any human has ever pulled off to win that gold medal in the halfpint. His idol Shaun White was there to hug him and tell him that he was proud.
All right, let's go to American skiing sensation Mikaela Shiffrin back competing. This time in the Super-G. She said she had a repeating dream all night, Isa, kept her awake dreaming that she was going to ski out of this race like she had in her first two races in these winter games. But she did not. She finished 9th. She said afterward, it's been a lot of emotions, a sense of dullness but she said she felt better today. And it's a relief just to finish and get out there and ski well. Shiffrin's plans to medal in all five Alpine events coming into this game they are down to two chances. Next up will be the downhill early next week.
Now it's Lara Gut-Behrami who is your new Olympic champion in this event dominating the competition. Adding gold to the bronze that she'd already won in the giant slalom. And the 30-year-old's run is historic for her and for Switzerland. It's the first Olympic gold in the Super- G by any Swiss athlete. And she says afterwards that she is going to need a few days to try to understand and fully comprehend what is going on.
Incredible stuff in the competition today. Also, today we've got to meet with a we got to meet with a young man named Nathan Chen. You may have heard of him from Team USA, fresh off his individual men's Olympic gold. At a young age, Isa, he predicted that he would be an Olympian. Now he's an Olympic champion. And he thinks his mom for the countless hours of sacrifice that she's made for him over the years. And we caught up with him just a few hours ago.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NATHAN CHEN, AMERICAN FIGURE SKATER: She still stuck together as many dollars as she could and would drive me from Utah to California, back to Utah to California, back to Utah to California over and over and over and racked up like hundreds of thousands of miles on her Prius. But you know, we made it back and forth. And you know, just goes to show any hour of the day, you know, whether it's 3 a.m., she is just chugging along in the car and getting me to my training sessions. For her to like just completely not a second thought, just immediately, Yes, you need to go, hop in the car. Let's go to California. Is just like, unreal.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WIRE: Now Nathan although he appears super human and stoic at all times, Isa, he said, you know what, I actually do cry. He cried before coming to these games because he had rough practices but he worked everything out. He's the Olympic gold medalist.
SOARES: And what a modest young man and taking the time to actually think his mom. That is lovely. Coy Wire, great to see you
WIRE: Thank you.
SOARES: Now coming up right here on CNN NEWSROOM, Britain's Prince William is on his first official trip to the UAE to promote his agenda and that of the U.K. We'll have a live report from Dubai with Max Foster after the break.
And legal poaching is taking its toll on South Africa's rhino population. We'll tell you about efforts to protect these magnificent creatures. Straight ahead in a live report.
[04:40:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SOARES: Prince William is just leaving Dubai actually but he's been there looking to strengthen ties between Britain and the UAE. The Duke of Cambridge was also there to showcase his conservation efforts. He delivered an urgent warning on the climate crisis before an audience at the world's fair. Let's bring in CNN's Max Foster who is live for us in Dubai. And good morning to you, Max. Give a sense of how successful his trip was both on the diplomatic as well as on the conservation front, I should say.
MAX FOSTER, CNN ROYAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, I have to say last time I was here a couple of weeks ago all the talk was about the chaotic state of British politics and how everything is looking like a complete mess there. And this is really I think where the foreign office, the British government likes to use royals to project that stability and strength. Despite the fact that the world family has had their own issues of course over the last year.
But this was Prince William coming in, big crowds meeting him at Expo. And they might've found quite a lot of overlap between what he's able to offer in terms of representing the country but also what he wants to promote as his own causes. Very much focusing on the climate yet again.
But I think what's interesting, Isa, is that he's taking a slightly different approach to his predecessors. Rather than talking about the stark realities of climate change and how awful everything is in that area, he's saying that but he's trying to offer solutions. So, what he's doing is promoting a lot of the ideas that have come through his Earth Shot award. And what he did he tied up with D.P. World which runs the ports around the world. It's a Dubai-based company and he got funding from them to promote innovations in climate change that young people have come up with.
So, he's coming up -- I think he described it, it's probably a solutions-based approach to royalty. But it seems to be working. And I think it's something that went down pretty well here. He's left now. Obviously, a lot of the talk ended up being about his father catching COVID, whether or not his father has been in touch with his grandmother the Queen. So, there's a bit of talk around that. But Prince William wouldn't go there talking about that saying it's a private matter. Tries to keep it focused on promoting the U.K. and the issue of climate change.
SOARES: Max Foster there for us in Dubai. Bringing us back to the sunshine, Max. Good to see you. Thank.
Now South Africa's rhino population has decreased dramatically in recent years. Their falling numbers have been largely driven by poachers who use rhino horns to make bogus medicines. South Africa's government says 451 rhinos were poached last year. Just a staggering number. Numbers were lower in 2020 likely due to pandemic restrictions.
[04:45:02]
But those restrictions also deprive wildlife reserves of desperate need of tourist dollars used to fund of course conservation projects and conservation efforts. CNN correspondent David McKenzie is in South Africa's Kruger National Park and joins us live. And David, explain to our viewers why we are seeing now such an increase -- a large increase in rhino poaching.
DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Isa, it's all about the trends. And the trends are very disturbing. Here in the Kruger National Park, it's really one of the iconic parks on the African continent that has long been seen as a strong hold of the white rhino in particular. But while we've been here, we've seen the extraordinary efforts they're going through to save them.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MCKENZIE (voice-over): An ariel operation. A wildlife vet readies power full opiate darts to save an iconic giant.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's one and he's got big horn. (INAUDIBLE)
For now, we'll put on your side.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No problem.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A big bull.
MCKENZIE (voice-over): Even drugged it's 5,000 pounds of raw power.
LUFUNO NETSHITAVHADULU, WILDLIFE VETERINARIAN; Whenever they are down, we need to be very careful because you sort of put them in a battle of death and life. So, we just need to be -- to keep the balance and make sure to go to the other side.
MCKENZIE: They have to do everything to keep the rhino calm, not to make this that traumatizing, but it's extraordinary what they're needing to do here to make these rhinos safe.
MCKENZIE (voice-over): They're removing the rhino's horns. This doesn't hurt the animal but it may save its life. Illegal poaching syndicates target rhinos for their horns. They sell for tens of thousands of dollars in Asia. Take away the horn, take away the incentive to poach.
MCKENZIE: What does it feel like that if you have to take this extraordinary step to actually change the way an animal looks and is.
ROBERT THOMSON, SECTION RANGER, KRUGER NATIONAL PARK: Yes, for me it's terrible because it's not really a rhino at the end of the day. You're taking a piece of it which makes it sort of prehistoric. For the species to survive, we have to do that at the moment.
MCKENZIE (voice-over): That survival is far from assured. New figures show that in the past decade Kruger National Park lost around 70 percent of its white rhino mostly to poaching.
MCKENZIE: What is the consequence if you get this wrong?
CATHY DREYER, HEAD RANGER, KRUGER NATIONAL PARK: So, if we get this wrong, the consequence is no rhino in Kruger. Which for us is really not an option. We know we don't have another 10 years of looking after rhino if we don't turn things around.
MCKENZIE (voice-over): Her team is up against it. COVID-19 drove away tourists collapsing the park's revenue stream. Forensic teams like this one are underfunded and they know that in many cases a poached rhino represents a generational loss.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: All, good, good.
MCKENZIE (voice-over): Often baby rhinos like Aquazi (ph) and Shilo (ph) would have died alongside their mother if Petronel Nieuwoudt hadn't stepped in to raise them by hand. PETRONEL NIEUWOUDT, CARE FOR WILD RHINO SANCTUARY: Just look at them.
You know, why do you not want to save them. You know, they are here for 50 million years and now on our clock, we can't save them.
MCKENZIE: It's like a giant vacuum cleaner. There they go almost done. Almost done. All finished. The aim is to get all of these rhinos, even when they come here as young orphans, back into the wild. And look at this crutch of them together like this. They're socializing, learning how to be rhinos.
Even teaching the very youngest like 2-month-old Daisy. She's made an unusual friend, a zebra called Muchaci. Daisy arrived barely able to walk. In rhinos the will to live is strong but we are failing them.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MCKENZIE (on camera): Well, we got to feed Daisy. What an extraordinary experience that was. This little rhino that looks about the size of Alsatian. And they grow into these massive beasts that really are so connected to this national park where I'm standing.
But numbers don't lie and the efforts that they are putting in are really hard to contemplate. Some 15 rangers in one section of a park looks after an area 12 times the size of Manhattan. But they are focusing their efforts using technology, using intelligence and law enforcement.
[04:50:00]
What they need is funding and support to try and stabilize this critical population of rhinos here in the Kruger Park, Isa, and then grow them again. But right now, it's in a very tenuous space -- Isa.
SOARES: Just a beautiful and sad report at the same time to see, like you said, David, they have to take away obviously what makes them their own identity. It's quite sad that we've gotten to this, isn't it? But I loved seeing Daisy. Thank you very much for that. That cheered me up. David McKenzie in South Africa's Kruger Park. Appreciate it.
If you'd like to help like David was saying, visit Care for the Wild website. That's at careforwild.com. And we of course will be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SOARES: Football fans in the U.S. are gearing up for the biggest event of the year. That is of course the Super Bowl. In case you didn't know, it's the L.A. Rams versus the Cincinnati Bengal's. and we might have a spoiler into which team will win. Have a look at this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
Oh, oh, it's L.A.
I know. (END VIDEO CLIP)
SOARES: That's Misha the tiger there picking the L.A. Rams as the next champions. The Blank Park Zoo in Iowa presented their Bengal tiger with the logos.
[04:55:00]
Each had the same perfume so Misha wouldn't be influenced in the decision. We'll see of course if Misha is correct soon enough. Tweet me and let me know which one you think might win or if you agree with Misha or not.
Now Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers won the National Football League's MVP award on Thursday. This is the second straight year he has received the honor. Rodgers had another strong season throwing for more than 4,000 yards with 37 touchdowns. The 30-year-old led the Packers to a 13-win season but lost in this division around of the playoffs to the San Francisco 49ers.
Legendary country music star Dolly Parton just keeps demonstrating why she is an icon.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DOLLY PARTON, SINGER, SONGWRITER, ACTRESS, BUSINESSWOMEN: 9 to 5, for service and devotion you would think that I would deserve a better promotion
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SOARES: She's just announced that she will pay all college tuition for all 11,000 employees at her Dollywood theme park in Tennessee. The money will also cover books and miscellaneous fees. And it will be available to employees as of the very first day on the job. Tuition reimbursement will be available to all seasonal, full-time and part- time workers at Dollywood starting February 24. What a legend.
And that does it here on CNN NEWSROOM. Thank you very much for your company. I'm Isa Soares in London. Do keep in touch via Twitter or Instagram. Our coverage continues on "EARLY START" with Christine Romans and Laura Jarrett. Have a wonderful weekend. We'll see you next week. Bye-bye.
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