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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin
EU Commission President Says Vaccinated Americans Can Visit Europe This Summer; India Shatters Daily COVID Case Record for Fifth Conservative Day; North Carolina Sheriff Wants Body-Cam Video of Andrew Brown Shooting Released. Aired 5-5:30a ET
Aired April 26, 2021 - 05:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[05:00:00]
LAURA JARRETT, CO-ANCHOR, EARLY START: A vaccine passport, but not like the one you've heard before. New details overnight on when Americans could finally start traveling to Europe again.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CO-ANCHOR, EARLY START: What does the body cam show of a deadly police shooting of a black man in North Carolina? The family could find out today.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And the Academy Award for actor goes to Anthony Hopkins, "The Father".
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JARRETT: A huge surprise caps off the Academy Awards. Welcome to our viewers in the United States and around the world. We have reports from Paris, Hong Kong, the White House, Moscow, Jerusalem as only CNN can. This is EARLY START, I'm Laura Jarrett.
ROMANS: Good morning Laura, I'm Christine Romans, it is Monday, it's April 26th, 5:00 a.m. exactly in New York. So, it's time to dust off that passport after more than a year. Americans will likely be able to travel to Europe this Summer, late Summer, probably. The head of the European Commission is set to recommend the switch in policy for Americans who have been fully vaccinated.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANDY SLAVITT, WHITE HOUSE SENIOR COVID-19 ADVISER: But what the world is basically saying is they're looking at the U.S., they're looking at the success of the vaccination program, they're looking at the reduction in disease, and while they know we're not done yet, they're saying those Americans are safe to come to our country without risk of spreading COVID-19.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JARRETT: Of course, that speaks to the need to keep vaccinating Americans at a pretty good clip, and that rate has slowed a bit in the last ten days. CNN's Melissa Bell joins us live now from Paris. Melissa, good morning to you. So, how is all of this going to work? Are there going to be vaccine passports or there're going to be some sort of certification, how is it going to work?
MELISSA BELL, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, for the time being, we have no particular timeline. No specific timeline, Laura, and no real idea of exactly how this is going to work. This was Ursula von der Leyen; president of the European Commission saying that they were looking at the moment at how they could translate American certifications of vaccination into something that would allow Americans once again to pass European borders. It's been more than a year now that Europe's external borders have essentially been closed to the rest of the world and very few people have been able to get through to places like Paris, Greece, Portugal.
All of these countries so heavily dependent and so heavily dependent, also Laura, and particularly on American tourism. So, Europeans are looking at those American vaccination rates, 42 percent of Americans now fully vaccinated, 28 percent having had one vaccine, much better than we have here, by the way and trying to figure out how they can make it work. Now, the problem is that Ursula von der Leyen; the president of the European Commission doesn't actually have control of Europe's external borders, they are matters for the member states. That's the first problem I can see with this.
The second is that what the Europeans are planning to do is by mid June have a system that allows Europeans to get around Europe. How do you translate that into something that Americans can also use? But clearly, huge desire here to get this up and running. While Europe continues to progress fairly slowly with its vaccination campaigns, at least to be able to look beyond this catastrophic year economically to things like reviving its tourism industry, clearly that is the impetus, that is the goal here, the motivation for Europeans. How and when exactly this can be made to work still up in the air, Laura.
JARRETT: Yes, the documentation issue here very controversial even within our own borders, so let alone going overseas. But interesting to see how all this shakes out for sure. Melissa, thank you.
ROMANS: All right, India just shattered its own record for daily cases of COVID for the fifth straight day. More than 350,000 new infections, all the worst-case scenarios from one year ago, people sharing hospital beds, running out of oxygen. All of that happening right now.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VIVEK MURTHY, U.S. SURGEON GENERAL: If there's uncontrolled spread of the virus in other parts of the world, that means that there's a greater chance that new mutations and variants will develop that may escape the protection of the vaccines that we have in the United States. And that means that those viruses, those mutant viruses, those new variants could travel here to the U.S. and cause real challenges here.
(END VIDEO CLIP) ROMANS: So frustrating. Now the United States is getting more
involved in the India situation, Anna Coren live for us in Hong Kong. And what's happening in India, I mean, it seems nothing less than a nightmare at this point.
ANNA COREN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Christine, it's nothing short of catastrophic. There are people quite literally dying outside hospitals. Crematoriums have been working around the clock. And those numbers that you mentioned, as you say, a fifth consecutive day of a global record. Experts believe that the true number is so much higher because testing is limited and in rural areas, it's virtually non-existent.
[05:05:00]
The big killer, Christine, is the acute shortage of oxygen in hospitals. We've spoken to hospital chiefs who said we're turning patients away unless they bring their own oxygen cylinder and can provide their own supply of oxygen. You have to remember that cylinders and oxygen concentrators, they have skyrocketed in price on the black market. So, for everyday people in India, it is virtually impossible. The government has announced that 500 -- more than 500 oxygen generation plants will be set up around the country, but it's too little, too late for so many people living through this nightmare right now.
You mentioned that international aid, the United States will be helping, Germany, Singapore. But it's not getting there now. People need help now. And the level of anger, Christine, that has been generated at the government, at the Prime Minister Narendra Modi is growing. Interestingly, the government has decided to try and silence its critics. It sent an emergency order to Twitter telling them to take down dozens of tweets from journalists, filmmakers, lawmakers who criticized the mishandling, the incompetence of what is taking place right now.
People in India are feeling abandoned. Interestingly, Twitter did comply and removed some of those tweets. But to think that the government has the time to focus on its critics rather than what is unfolding --
ROMANS: Yes --
COREN: On its doorstep where people are dying is absolutely terrifying.
ROMANS: Just awful. All right, Anna Coren, thank you so much. And we should point out, there's a trend here with populist leaders, Trump, Modi, Bolsonaro, Erdogan to an extent presiding over some of the worst COVID outbreaks in the world and then trying to silence critics and reality as well. Anna, thank you so much for that. Laura?
JARRETT: All right, back here in the U.S., today, family members of Andrew Brown Jr. may finally get a chance to see how he died. A North Carolina sheriff says he wants police officers' body cam footage released to the public and plans to ask a court to order it. Police shot and killed the 42-year-old man last week after deputies claim they tried to serve him with an arrest warrant in Elizabeth City.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KHALIL FEREBEE, ANDREW BROWN'S ELDEST SON: With all these killings going on, I never expected this to happen so close to home. Like, he left a close and tight family, with each other every day, talking to each other every day. And we -- my brothers and my sisters, we're what drove him as a person. We made him better. And now I've got to live every day, my newborn without even getting a chance to meet him at all.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JARRETT: Now, very few details have been released about this shooting, but the deputies involved have been placed on administrative leave. According to dispatch audio from that day, first responders can be heard saying a man had gunshot wounds to the back.
ROMANS: A Virginia sheriff's deputy shooting and an unarmed black man who the deputy had just given a ride home an hour earlier. The man's family says it happened because the deputy mistook the phone 32-year- old Isaiah Brown was using to talk to 9-1-1 for a gun. Brown was taken to the hospital with serious but non-life threatening injuries. We want to warn you, this video is disturbing.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Drop the gun!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's got a gun to his head.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Drop the gun now! Stop walking towards me! Stop walking towards me! Stop!
(GUNFIRE)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: Now, before the shooting, on 9-1-1 audio, Brown is heard arguing with a brother. At one point, Brown asked for a gun, but the brother refuses. The unnamed deputy is on administrative leave and a state of police investigation is underway.
JARRETT: Still ahead, an upset for the ages at the Oscars. The late Chadwick Boseman does not get the Oscar many assumed he'd win. Hear the first reaction from the man who beat him, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[05:10:00]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And the Academy Award for actor goes to Anthony Hopkins, "The Father".
(CHEERS)
(APPLAUSE)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: So, a shocker to end Oscar night. The show was heading for a climatic finish with the late actor Chadwick Boseman as the presumptive winner, but the Hollywood ending did not go as expected. CNN's Chloe Melas joins us now. The year -- this year, they switched up, Chloe, the order of the awards, teeing up this potential end of show tribute to Chadwick Boseman. It didn't happen.
CHLOE MELAS, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: Honestly, guys, the show ended with a resounding thud. I mean, I have seen reactions on social media this morning that says that it might be the worst ending in Oscars history. First of all, the show was already different. All of us remember Oscars ending with best picture. So, like you said, they switched it up, making us all think that there was going to be this incredible ending, this incredible tribute to the late Chadwick Boseman for his final role in "Ma Rainey's Black Bottom", and he did not win the Oscar posthumously.
I mean, that was what all award season was, leading up to this big moment and tribute for him. It went to Anthony Hopkins, who is the oldest Oscar winner ever at 83, but it was a huge disappointment for everyone. But we are happy for Anthony Hopkins. Take a listen to him.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANTHONY HOPKINS, ACTOR: I'm very grateful to the Academy and thank you. And I want to pay tribute to Chadwick Boseman, who was taken from us far too early. And again, thank you all very much. I really did not expect this.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JARRETT: Well, at least, he met the moment, I guess, right? Like he could read the room. So, Chloe, there was more diversity among the Oscar winners this year.
[05:15:00]
We have Chloe Zhao winning best director for "Nomadland", we also have Youn Yuh-Jung who became the first Korean actress to win best supporting actress for her role in "Minari". She had a bit of a fun moment with producer Brad Pitt when she accepted. Watch this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
YOUN YUH-JUNG, ACTRESS: Mr. Brad Pitt, finally, nice to meet you. Where were you when we were filming in person? Very honored to meet you.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(LAUGHTER) JARRETT: Which is kind of nice, right?
MELAS: We all -- we all love her. Her speech was so great! So endearing. I loved "Minari". I couldn't stop crying, it's such a great movie about a family from South Korea who moves to the United States to make a life for themselves in Arkansas. And then she plays the grandmother who comes over to, like, save the family, essentially. Brad Pitt's production company Plan B produced this movie. So, that was that moment where --
ROMANS: Yes --
MELAS: You know, she had heard about Brad Pitt, he produced this movie and they're meeting and she's kind of fan-girling with him, flirting a little bit. And then they walked off stage together and then there's photos, in many of them, she has her arm in his arm, he let her off stage, it was very sweet. I think everybody wants to see more of her.
ROMANS: Yes --
MELAS: She was great.
ROMANS: Absolutely --
JARRETT: For sure --
ROMANS: And then Regina King who is amazing, started off the show with this powerful moment. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REGINA KING, ACTRESS: If things had gone differently this past week in Minneapolis, I might have traded in my heels for marching boots.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That's right --
(APPLAUSE)
KING: Now, I know that a lot of you people at home want to reach for your remote when you feel like Hollywood is preaching to you, but as a mother of a black son, I know the fear that so many live with, and no amount of fame or fortune changes that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: How political did the show get this year?
MELAS: You know, it did get political. There were references to the Derek Chauvin trial like you saw Regina King kicking off the show, kind of setting the tone, Daniel Kaluuya who won for "Judas and the Black Messiah", he thanked Fred Hampton in his speech, and many people talked about, you know, all of the issues that we have had with race and social injustice over the past year, throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. You know, I would say that the show got political, but not in an overt sort of way. I think that it needed to be this way because for years the Oscars has
been criticized as being Oscars so white and for its --
ROMANS: Yes --
MELAS: Lack of diversity. And I think that despite the issue with maybe Viola Davis not winning like I think she should have for "Ma Rainey's Black Bottom", like Chadwick Boseman not winning. There was diversity with Chloe Zhao winning for "Nomadland" for best director. That was a huge moment as the first woman of Asian descent to not only be nominated in the category, but to win. So, that was huge. And for Youn Yuh-Jung for "Minari", that was big as well. You know, I would say that overall, I just want to say that, you know, they were tasked this year, the producers of the Oscars with a huge undertaking.
Viewership has been down over the last few years, and Steven Soderberg promised that this was going to be different, and this was going to be like this magical movie. I think that there was too much hype. They built it up way too much, and they didn't show enough movie clips. That's my biggest thing. They talked about the movies but they didn't show the clips. That's why we come to watch the Oscars! So I don't know, I'll give it like a 7.
JARRETT: Especially those of us who have children at home who may not have seen all of these movies --
ROMANS: Yes, exactly.
JARRETT: We use these as sort of teasers as to what to watch, right? You know, Chloe, before we let you go, you mentioned one thing during the break, that the fact that they didn't have a host really made a difference here. You know, the award shows have been struggling really hard with these. What did you make of that?
MELAS: Laura, great question. So, you know what? I'm just going to tell you what Billy Crystal told me last week. He has hosted the Oscars nine times. He said it's a mistake to not have a host.
ROMANS: Yes.
MELAS: Everybody is kind of looking for that captain of the ship to steer us throughout the night. It would have been nice to have had a host, too, at the end of this awkward moment where Anthony Hopkins wasn't even there to accept the award --
ROMANS: Yes --
MELAS: To have someone to say something. You know, that would have been good. It kind of felt a little --
ROMANS: Yes --
MELAS: Aimless at moments. Regina King did a great job at the beginning, but, you know what, you guys, there needs to be a host next year.
ROMANS: All right --
MELAS: I think they should bring in Tina Fey and Amy Poehler. That's what they should do. That would be good.
JARRETT: All right, Chloe, thank you so much for watching and getting up early with us this morning. I appreciate it, nice to see you.
ROMANS: Everything you need to know --
MELAS: Thank you --
ROMANS: If you didn't watch the Oscars from Chloe Melas. Thanks, Chloe.
MELAS: Thank you.
JARRETT: All right, you'll never guess who is singing Joe Biden's praises as he gets ready for his first address to a joint session of Congress. That's next.
[05:20:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROMANS: All right. New signs of an American comeback. Optimism growing among America's business economists, two-thirds of economists in a brand new survey from the National Association for Business Economics say the vaccine rollout and the new administration have had a positive impact on their view of the economy. Corporate America likes Biden's economic agenda. They just don't want higher taxes to pay for it. At the same time, CEOs of major companies cashed in big paydays last year as millions of Americans struggled to make ends meet.
Hilton, Norwegian Cruise Line and MGM Resorts all hit hard by lockdowns, furloughing workers as the travel industry hit a standstill.
[05:25:00]
But Norwegian more than doubled the pay of its CEO to $36 million. Filing shows Hilton's CEO was paid almost $56 million last year. A spokesperson for Hilton told "The New York Times" because of the pandemic, Hilton restructured its stock options, its CEO's earnings for 2020 will be closer to $20 million, Laura.
JARRETT: Well, President Biden is set to address a joint session of Congress on Wednesday night. The event will be noticeably different from past speeches of this sort. COVID seating means 200 people instead of a thousand plus and two women behind him. That's never happened before. The agenda is clear here. Jobs and the economy. Jobs and the economy and, oh, yes, jobs and the economy. And a really interesting dynamic you might never have expected a year ago, Senator Joe Manchin is uncomfortable, but Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio- Cortez is pleased.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOE MANCHIN (D-WV): I'm not a roadblock at all, the best politics is good government. I can't believe that people believe that if you just do it my way, that will give us momentum to get through the next election. But when you do something that everyone tags on to -- and I've seen good things happen, that people voted against it, took credit for when he went back home. We won't give this system a chance to work. I'm not going to be part of blowing up this Senate of ours.
REP. ALEXANDRIA OCASIO-CORTEZ (D-NY): One thing that I will say is that I do think that the Biden administration and President Biden has definitely exceeded expectations that progressives had of -- you know, I'll be frank, and I think a lot of us expected a much more conservative administration.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JARRETT: Quite the juxtaposition there. The Biden agenda obviously centers on COVID relief, the new infrastructure plan on the way, and a big tax hike for the wealthy. Notable here is a tax hike on people, not companies right now.
ROMANS: And a tax hike on people who make more than a million dollars a year in that capital gains tax hike. All right, tens of thousands of people safely packed into a concert in New Zealand. But the number of people skipping vaccine appointments in the U.S. makes a return to normal here that much harder.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
