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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin
Fuel Supply Emergency Declaration Follows Pipeline Ransom Hack; Clashes Escalate in East Jerusalem Ahead of Annual March; Death Toll Rises in Afghanistan Girls' School Bomb Attack. Aired 5-5:30a ET
Aired May 10, 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]
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CO-ANCHOR, EARLY START: All right, Monday is here, welcome to our viewers in the United States and around the world. We are live this morning in Jerusalem, London, Washington, Hong Kong and Tokyo. This is EARLY START, I'm Christine Romans.
LAURA JARRETT, CO-ANCHOR, EARLY START: Good morning Christine, I'm Laura Jarrett, it's Monday, May 10th, it's 5:00 a.m. here in New York. And this morning, a cyber attack on the country's largest fuel pipeline causing an emergency declaration in 17 states and the District of Columbia, all to keep the supply lines open. Colonial Pipeline took certain systems offline Friday after learning of this attack, trying to contain it. The pipeline carries more than a 100 million gallons of gas and other fuel from Houston to New York Harbor daily. That's almost half of the East Coast supply. We will have more on all of this in just a few minutes.
ROMANS: All right, 5 O'clock at the very top of the hour. Another night of clashes in east Jerusalem between Israeli police and Palestinian protesters. A new overnight Israeli officials have temporarily stopped Jews from visiting the revered holy site at an already sensitive time. CNN Jerusalem correspondent Hadas Gold live for us this morning. What's happening there, Hadas?
HADAS GOLD, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Christine, hundreds of Palestinians have been injured in the past few hours during clashes with Israeli police at the al-Aqsa Compound. It's the third straight- day of violence in Jerusalem's holy site where tensions are just absolutely boiling here. We've seen multiple video clips of stun grenades being fired into the mosque as well as Palestinians throwing rocks at police outside. Officials were already very concerned of what today would bring after several days of tension. That's partly because today is also what's known as Jerusalem Day.
And that's what you see people preparing for behind us. Jerusalem Day is when Israel marks when it took control of the Western Wall. And in a few hours, we're expecting a march of tens of thousands of Israelis through the old city of Jerusalem. But as you noted, police say they are preventing non-Muslims from visiting the temple, and that also known as Haram esh-Sharif or the noble sanctuary which is a revered holy site for both Jews and Muslims. And though police may be hoping that such an act would potentially help calm things down a little bit here, as we're seeing in the past few hours, things are just getting more tense.
The situation is really escalating here. We are also seeing some rockets overnight and this morning being fired from Gaza. There's really just a feeling of tension in this entire city. And it really begs the question, this is -- this could be very well be a test for the Biden administration, though the Israeli-Palestinian conflict may have been -- and that's not necessarily the highest on their list of foreign policy priorities right now, the situation here just cannot be ignored. We're hearing more and more comments, condemnation of the violence, concerns from other countries, from international organizations as well as from members of Congress. So there really is a question of will the Biden administration get more involved in the situation? What will they say? And there's just a lot of concern of what the rest of today will bring here in Jerusalem.
ROMANS: I know, all right, keep us posted. Hadas Gold in Jerusalem for us. Laura?
JARRETT: All right, when can the masks come off inside? Dr. Anthony Fauci believes that it's time to start loosening the rules as more people are now vaccinated. The CDC recently relaxed its guidance on wearing masks outside, but still recommends masks in public indoor spaces like offices and stores. But critics believe that approach is too cautious at a time when more people need incentives to get vaccinated.
ROMANS: "The New York Times" reports states are turning down hundreds of thousands of vaccine doses as demand drops. That's one reason why Pfizer is looking for a full FDA authorization, hoping that will reduce hesitancy and decrease demand.
JARRETT: All right, this morning, we mentioned that cyber attack on the country's largest fuel pipeline. We have Geneva Sands with us who covers the Department of Homeland Security for CNN. Geneva, nice to see you this morning, bring us up to speed, what's the latest.
GENEVA SANDS, CNN PRODUCER: Good morning. One expert is calling it the most significant, successful attack on the energy sector. Most significant successful cyber attack on the energy sector. And one source of former official telling us that it's -- the group behind the incident is a group, a criminal group known as Dark Side. This is a group originating out of Russia. The company over the weekend coming out and saying that this was an incident of ransomware, but not saying what those demands are.
[05:05:00]
This is a type of malicious code that they've put into the system asking the company to -- asking the company to hold up their systems in order to threaten -- threatening the company --
JARRETT: Yes, national security experts have warned that this might be a problem. They've warned that we might see these type of attacks on aging infrastructure. We also mentioned at the top here this emergency declaration, 17 states, D.C. as well, if you can still hear me, Geneva, what does it mean for the next few days? What does that actually do?
SANDS: This puts the company and the customers in a tough spot. At this point, they're not saying whether or not they have any concerns about fuel prices unless this goes on for a long time. The company is trying to get their systems up and running, which they've started to do over the weekend. They've got some of their smaller pipelines going, but their main pipeline is still down. Now, at this point, gas prices are not expected to go up unless there's a prolonged shut down. But officials have been warning for weeks of this threat of ransomware, and now we're seeing a real world example of this incident.
JARRETT: Yes, of course, the issue on gas prices always a big one. Geneva, thanks so much, I appreciate it. All right, this bombing outside an Afghan school killing at least 85, many of them young girls. Can the future there be secure as the U.S. pulls out? Stay with us.
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ROMANS: To Afghanistan now. When President Biden announced a complete U.S. troop withdrawal from Afghanistan by September 11th, one immediate concern? The safety and welfare of Afghan women. Those concerns realized this weekend when a bomb ripped through a school for girls. The death toll has climbed to 85. Some families still searching hospitals for their children. Nick Paton Walsh has reported extensively from inside Afghanistan. He joins us live from London. Heartbreaking, seeing the families burying their loved ones here. And this is exactly what we had feared that this vacuum for the United States leaving would encourage insurgents, maybe the Taliban who have long opposed the education of women.
NICK PATON WALSH, CNN INTERNATIONAL SECURITY EDITOR: Yes, absolutely. It's important to point out the Taliban have officially through their Twitter account said that they were not behind this attack, although it's also fair to say that, that one tweet doesn't necessarily encompass all the different strands of extremism and moderation that are now part of a Taliban insurgent movement after 20 years of war here. But it is, I have to say, one of the most shocking attacks I can recall in the 20 years of Afghanistan, simply because the number of victims that have now risen from initially 25 to 85 confirmed dead, according to the office of the second vice president.
But also because many of those victims are school girls. Now, as you mentioned, to the Taliban insurgency at times, female education has been abhorrent. They keep sort of slightly modifying changing their position, but to many other extremist groups too, particularly the brand of ISIS in Afghanistan who fingers have been pointed towards in this, it is something that is abhorrent. And what is shocking is that the bomb, that first detonated, placed inside a car went off at around about 4 O'clock outside the Syed Al-Shahda School in the west of Kabul, just as the girls were leaving their education.
These are simply young women trying to get -- girls trying to get a foothold in life, referred to as a future Afghanistan by the U.S. charge d'affaires there. And they were hit by one blast, and then as we often tragically saw quite awfully frankly, see in attacks like this, as people ran in to help and to investigate, secondary devices went off, increasing that death toll. To add to that as well, this occurred on one of the holiest days of the holiest month in the Muslim calendar in Ramadan increasing to the number of potential victims as well in the days since, we've seen, of course, condemnation, agony, shock, fears amongst the particular part of the Kabul population.
The Hazara Shiite minority that this had targeted, and is often targeted by extremists, too, that they can't rely on the government to defend themselves. And at the same time, too, as you mentioned, this broad general fear that we're now seeing a security vacuum opening up as the U.S. swiftly withdraws. Many felt this would be the case, but also, too, an ugly competition perhaps between parts of the insurgency to show who is the more hard-line, frankly, who is the more sickening in your or my opinion, and we may see more shocking angst like this in the months ahead. Back to you.
ROMANS: That's just awful. All right, Nick Paton Walsh for that from London for us, thank you. Laura?
JARRETT: All right, still ahead, all bets are off for Kentucky Derby winner Medina Spirit after a failed drug test.
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JARRETT: As many Americans emerge from a long coronavirus hibernation, the country still has another virus to deal with. The wave of gun violence hitting the U.S. In Colorado Springs, police are investigating a shooting at a birthday party that killed six early Sunday. Authorities believe the boyfriend of one of the victims walked in and started shooting before turning the gun on himself. In Los Angeles, one is dead and five are hurt after a shooting there. The circumstances are still unclear. The NYPD is searching for at least one gunman involved in a shooting Saturday in Times Square. Three bystanders were shot including a 4-year-old rushed from the scene in the arms of an NYPD officer.
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DERMOT SHEA, COMMISSIONER, NYPD: How many more kids do we need to be shot before we realize that bad policies have consequences? And we need action and we need policies regarding laws to have consequences.
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JARRETT: In Phoenix, one person was killed and at least seven others taken to the hospital after a shooting downtown Saturday night. All the victims are between the ages of 18 and 22. Two people were killed and three injured in a shooting Friday night in Kinloch, Missouri.
ROMANS: In Baltimore County, Maryland, a shooting and fire left three dead in addition to the gunman. And in south Florida, a shooting at a mall Saturday afternoon sent panicked shoppers fleeing and left three people injured. That is in just one weekend.
JARRETT: Well, Kentucky Derby winner Medina Spirit faces possible disqualification after failing a post-race drug test. Andy Scholes has more in this morning's "BLEACHER REPORT", all right, Andy, so what happened here?
ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Well, Laura, it's not good. You know, there's been one horse ever in the 147-year history of the Kentucky Derby that's been disqualified for a failed drug test.
[05:20:00]
Medina Spirit could become the second. And Medina Spirit's win gave trainer Bob Baffert a record seven Kentucky Derby titles. And he was the one who announced yesterday that a test back positive for an excessive amount of anti-inflammatory drug. Now, this was the fifth horse trained by Baffert to fail a drug test in the past year. But Baffert denies any wrongdoing and says they'll be doing further testing to find out what happened.
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BOB BAFFERT, MEDINA SPIRIT'S TRAINER: I got the biggest gut-punch in racing for something that I didn't do. And this is really -- it's disturbing. It's an injustice to the horse. I don't know what's going on in the racing right now, but there's something not right. And I don't feel embarrassed. I feel like I was wronged. And we're going to -- we're going to do a complete -- in our own investigation. We're going to be transparent with the racing commission like we've always been.
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SCHOLES: And Churchills Downs immediately suspended Baffert from the race track, and said if the tests is confirmed, Mandaloun, who finished second will be declared the winner. All the bets though is still final, no going back on those. For now, Medina Spirit is still scheduled to race in Saturday's Preakness Stakes in Baltimore. All right, golfer Rory McIlroy's nearly 19-month winless drought is finally over. He won the Wells Fargo Championship in Charlotte by one stroke yesterday. His first victory since November of 2019.
And making it even more special is that his wife Erica was there celebrating her first Mother's Day along with their 8-month-old daughter, Poppy.
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RORY MCILROY, WELLS FARGO CHAMPIONSHIP WINNER: Life's changed a lot for me being a dad, winning on Mother's Day, thinking of Erica, thinking of my mom back home, oh, it just feels awesome!
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SCHOLES: Yes, Rory is going to be one of the favorites at the PGA Championships at Kiawah Island in South Carolina in two weeks. He won the second of his four major titles there back in 2012. All right, finally, Timberwolves star Karl-Anthony Towns sharing an emotional moment with his dad before yesterday's game against The Magic. This is the second Mother's Day for Towns without his mom Jacqueline who passed away from COVID-19 last year.
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KARL-ANTHONY TOWNS, MINNESOTA TIMBERWOLVES CENTER: My mom has some weird ways I feel prepared me for these moments to handle more than I ever thought I possibly could. This is just something that, you know, through life I've garnered a lot of strength through a lot of trials and tribulations, and it's made me the man I am today and I wouldn't change it for anything.
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SCHOLES: Yes, Christine, see it was an emotional day for Towns. They went on to win that game, and he says, you know, he continues to do everything in his life for his mom.
ROMANS: Oh, all right, Andy Sholes, thanks so much. You know, Laura, I thought about that a lot on Memorial Day yesterday, Laura, just about how many people, right, maybe don't have their moms here --
JARRETT: Yes --
ROMANS: Because of what we've gone through. The numbers are just staggering. And also learning to live past COVID, that's what I think we learnt so much from that young man too by trying to take his mother with him in all of his successes in life.
JARRETT: Yes, that's a better sweet holiday --
ROMANS: Yes --
JARRETT: For many people. All right, America's largest fuel pipeline forced to shut down after a cyber attack. What this could all lead to, a spike in gas prices soon? That's just ahead.
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JARRETT: More places now starting to vaccinate people without appointments. Starting today, public supermarkets will accept walk-ins in Florida, Georgia, South Carolina and Virginia. EARLY START has the pandemic covered coast to coast.
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PAUL VERCAMMEN, CNN REPORTER: I'm Paul Vercammen in southern California. A big shift in the strategy with COVID-19 vaccines. The mayor of Los Angeles announcing that there will be no more appointments. That's whether someone drives up or walks up in the city of Los Angeles. He says that Los Angeles has reached a critical juncture in the fight against COVID-19 and he wants there to be no barriers to access. He wants to really get the shots into the arms of people in underserved communities. And this week, just like last week, he wants to get vaccines into the arms of a quarter of a million people.
ERICA HILL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Erica Hill. Starting Monday, amusement parks in Massachusetts can open at 50 percent capacity. Large venues including stadiums can bump up to 25 percent capacity and large outdoor sporting events including road races can resume. Also getting the green light, tournaments for moderate and high risk sports. And if the state's positive trends continue, more restrictions could be lifted Memorial Day weekend.
ADRIENNE BROADDUS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Adrienne Broaddus in Chicago. And here in Illinois, pandemic restrictions are lifting this week. Governor J.B. Pritzker says starting Friday, that's May 14th, retail spaces, museums and theaters can operate at 60 percent capacity. Restaurants, when it comes to indoor dining can operate at 30 percent capacity. Governor Pritzker says the goal is to have 50 percent of the population, 16 and up vaccinated before fully reopening the state. The date in mind to fully reopen is June 11th.
NATASHA CHEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Natasha Chen. Starting today, Miami International Airport will become the latest U.S. airport to offer COVID-19 vaccinations. MIA will offer Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine to airport employees, their family and friends, and travelers who live and work in Florida. The vaccinations will happen Monday through Friday of this week, plus five weekdays in early June. The Miami-Dade County mayor says they want to make it as easy and convenient as possible for people who live and work in the county to get vaccinated, including for the 36,000 travel industry employees who work at MIA.
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JARRETT: Thanks to all of our correspondents for those reports.
