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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin
House GOP Expected To Oust Rep. Liz Cheney From Leadership; Colonial Hack And Panic Buying Empty Gas Pumps Across Southeast; Brown Family Says Bodycam Differs From D.A.'s Account Of Shooting. Aired 5:30-6a ET
Aired May 12, 2021 - 05:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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[05:31:47]
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: All right, good morning -- it's Wednesday. This is EARLY START. I'm Christine Romans.
LAURA JARRETT, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Laura Jarrett. It's about 31 minutes past the hour here in New York.
For the crime of speaking the truth, Republican Congresswoman Liz Cheney is about to lose her role in House leadership. In a secret ballot this morning the GOP is expected to oust Cheney, paving the way to elevate a person who once billed herself as a moderate but now fervently pro-Trump, Congresswoman Elise Stefanik from New York.
ROMANS: All because Cheney, who is supposed to control the GOP message, refused to get behind the stolen election conspiracy theory. That put her out of step with the party in the grip of former President Trump.
Remember that Cheney already survived one secret ballot to oust her this year but with the writing on the wall, she remains defiant.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. LIZ CHENEY (R-WY): I am a conservative Republican and the most conservative of conservative principles is reverence for the rule of law. The election is over. That is the rule of law. That is our constitutional process.
Those who refuse to accept the rulings of our courts are at war with the Constitution. The election is over. That is the rule of law. That is our constitutional process. Those who refuse to accept the rulings of our courts are at war with the Constitution.
One of us who has sworn the oath must act to prevent the unraveling of our democracy. This is not about policy. This is not about partisanship. This is about our duty as Americans.
Remaining silent and ignoring the lie emboldens the liar. I will not participate in that. I will not sit back and watch in silence while others lead our party down a path that abandons the rule of law and joins the former president's crusade to undermine our democracy.
We must speak the truth. Our election was not stolen and America has not failed.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JARRETT: Now, the nation might have seen her speech but Cheney's colleagues -- well, they did not. They headed off the House floor before she even spoke.
New reports this morning say more than 100 prominent Republicans, including former governors, lawmakers, and cabinet secretaries, are set to sign a letter this week threatening to launch a third party if the GOP does not break with the former president.
ROMANS: The battle for the soul of the GOP.
All right. The vote to oust Cheney will take place at almost the same time as a critical hearing about the riot that her Republican colleagues are trying to whitewash.
Former Acting Defense Sec. Christopher Miller expected to tell the House Oversight Committee he was worried that sending U.S. troops to the Capitol that day -- it would have fed into these conspiracy theories about a possible military coup. Miller's prepared testimony, obtained by CNN, says the Pentagon was also concerned about a lack of coordination between the law enforcement agencies with primary jurisdiction in D.C.
JARRETT: At the same hearing, former Acting Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen will reaffirm that the Justice Department found no evidence of widespread voter fraud, as Attorney General Bill Barr also said.
[05:35:02]
Also this morning, the Senate Appropriations Committee will hold a hearing on domestic violent extremism with the current attorney general, Merrick Garland, among the witnesses.
ROMANS: All right, panic at the pump. Fuel shortages creeping up and gas prices climbing after the hack of a critical pipeline along the east coast.
In Georgia and Virginia, more than 10 percent of gas stations are dry, including more than half in the Atlanta and Norfolk areas. Sixteen percent are out of gas in North Carolina, including about 60 percent in both Raleigh and Wilmington.
JARRETT: Sources telling CNN administration officials are privately frustrated with Colonial Pipeline's weak cybersecurity. Colonial says it's been in regular -- it's been in touch with the FBI and the White House since the attack.
But in timely testimony to the Senate, top cyber officials say they need information to safeguard the country against future threats.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BRANDON WALES, ACTING DIRECTOR, CYBERSECURITY AND INFORMATION SECURITY AGENCY: Cyberattacks on our nation's infrastructure are growing more sophisticated, frequent, and aggressive. Malicious cyber actors today are dedicating time and resources towards researching, stealing, and exploiting vulnerabilities, using more complex attacks to avoid detection, and developing new techniques to target information and communications technology supply chains.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: Colonial Pipeline -- the company is now manually shipping nearly one million barrels of fuel since the shutdown. Its pipeline usually delivers 2 1/2 million barrels a day.
JARRETT: This morning, more signs of real sustained progress in the fight against the pandemic. The average of new COVID cases in the U.S. at its lowest level since September, and the number of Americans dying hasn't been this low in 10 months.
A CDC panel expected to greenlight the Pfizer vaccine for 12- to 15- year-olds today. Testing showed no clinical concerns. The question is whether children who get other vaccines should get the COVID vaccine around the same time. But either way, this could be a big boost for camp season, a fact not lost on the CDC director.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. ROCHELLE WALENSKY, DIRECTOR, CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL AND PREVENTION: I have a 16-year-old. Every day -- every year he comes home from camp and he writes the number of days until he returns to camp the next year. This year, it got to zero and I told him he wasn't going. I want our kids back in camp.
We now have 38,000 new infections, on average, per day. Last May 11th it was 24,000 and we sent a lot of kids home and camps were closed. The camp guidance is intended to get our kids to camp and allow them to stay there.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: All right.
Meantime, the number of shots going into arms is starting to rise again, a trend likely to continue as more teenagers become eligible for the vaccine. Incentives for getting vaccination should also help. What incentives, you ask?
EARLY START has the pandemic covered coast-to-coast.
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VANESSA YURKEVICH, CNN BUSINESS AND POLITICS CORRESPONDENT (on camera): I'm Vanessa Yurkevich in New York.
McDonald's, Uber, and Lyft are all partnering with the White House to promote vaccinations.
Beginning in July, expect the McCafe cup to look a little different. They'll feature the slogan "We Can Do This" and include the Web site vaccines.gov to direct Americans to nearby vaccine appointments. And Lyft and Uber will help get people there by providing free rides to and from vaccine appointments through July fourth.
These new partnerships with the White House come a week after President Joe Biden set a goal to fully vaccinate 160 million U.S. adults by July fourth.
STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): I'm Stephanie Elam in Los Angeles.
The Las Vegas Monorail is going to roll back into action on May 27th just in time for Memorial Day weekend. The monorail runs from one side of the strip to the other and has been shut down since last year due to the pandemic. Passengers will be required to wear masks and hand sanitizer will be available at all of the monorail stops.
CHLOE MELAS, CNN ENTERTAINMENT REPORTER (on camera): I'm Chloe Melas in New York.
The countdown to Broadway reopening its doors is well on its way. Mark your calendars because on September 14th, "The Lion King," "Hamilton," and "Wicked" will reopen at 100 percent capacity, and tickets went on sale Tuesday.
It's been more than a year since the COVID-19 pandemic shuttered New York City's theaters. And when it comes to these three shows, specifically, they employed nearly 1,000 performers according to representatives for these shows.
The production stated in a press release that they will be following state and CDC guidelines, requiring face coverings for audience members, health screenings, enhanced air filtration and ventilation, cleaning and disinfection.
Other shows, like "Phantom of the Opera" and "Tina Turner: The Musical" are set to resume in October.
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ROMANS: Oh, I can't wait for the lights to go back on on Broadway.
All right, jobs, jobs everywhere. A record 8.1 million open jobs in March -- new fuel in the worker shortage debate. The government reports unfilled jobs in manufacturing, in construction, in hospitality.
[05:40:03]
So why so many open jobs? Some Republican governors have complained workers aren't going back because of the free lunch -- free government money. Jobless workers have a cushion from $300 a week in extra jobless benefits. Truth is, it is more complicated than that. The economy is still in the middle of a pandemic and schools are not fully open.
Liberal economist Robert Reich said, "There's no shortage of willing workers. There's a shortage of employers willing to pay workers enough to live on. And a shortage of affordable childcare."
A growing number of states opting out of the expanded jobless benefits -- Missouri, Iowa, Idaho, Tennessee, and Wyoming joining Alabama, Mississippi, North Dakota, Montana, South Carolina, and Arkansas. They cite worker shortages and called the benefit a disincentive for returning to work.
Now, the extra money was already set to expire in September. That's when, hopefully, schools can reopen fully.
We know that 2 1/2 million women have dropped out of the labor force -- many of them to take care of kids or elderly family members at home.
We'll be right back.
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[05:45:16]
JARRETT: New this morning, prosecutors will seek the death penalty against the suspect in the Atlanta area spa shootings that left eight people dead.
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis says Tuesday -- she said on Tuesday that she will also ask for hate crime charges against Robert Aaron Long. He's accused of targeting victims based on their sex and their race. Long has been indicted on over a dozen counts after opening fire at those three Asian spas back in March.
This will be the first test of Georgia's new hate crime law passed last year.
ROMANS: Unequivocally unjustified. Lawyers for the family of Andrew Brown, Jr. lashing out at North Carolina sheriff's deputies after viewing bodycam footage of Brown's death. Deputies fatally shot Brown in April while serving search and arrest warrants at his home.
Brian Todd is in Brown's hometown of Elizabeth City, North Carolina. He's got the latest for us this morning.
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BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): Christine and Laura, these protesters have gone from calling for accountability to being more and more animated in their calls for justice after the attorneys for Andrew Brown's family came out on Tuesday afternoon and gave a completely different version of what's on that body camera footage from the version that the district attorney Andrew Womble gave.
Womble, several days ago, said that Andrew Brown made contact with the deputies with his vehicle, and only then were shots fired. Well, on Tuesday, the attorneys for Andrew Brown's family viewed 18 minutes and 40 seconds of body camera footage and came out and gave a completely different version of what the district attorney said.
This is what the attorneys for Andrew Brown's family said about what they saw on that tape.
CHANCE D. LYNCH, ANDREW BROWN FAMILY ATTORNEY: At no point did we ever see Mr. Brown make contact with law enforcement. We were able to see where they possibly reached out to make contact to him, but we did not see any actions on Mr. Brown's part where he made contact with them or tried to go in their direction.
TODD (on camera): So the attorneys for Andrew Brown's family saying that he never posed a threat to the deputies in any way -- that he was simply trying to get away and that his car only moved when shots were already fired.
The attorneys are calling for arrests, prosecutions, and long prison sentences for the deputies.
They are also calling for the district attorney, Andrew Womble, to recuse himself from this investigation completely. They're arguing that Womble worked much too closely with the sheriff's department and its deputies who are, of course, under scrutiny here. Andrew Womble steadfastly refuses to recuse himself -- Christine and Laura.
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JARRETT: Brian Todd, thank you so much.
"The Washington Post" has a new leader this morning. Sally Buzbee was named executive editor -- the first time a woman will hold that role in the paper's 143-year history. Buzbee is currently executive editor and senior vice president of the Associated Press. She replaces Martin Baron who retired back in February.
Buzbee is not the only woman earning a new prominent role in news. Last month, Alessandra Galloni became the first female editor of Reuters, and Kimberly Godwin became the president at ABC News on Monday.
ROMANS: All right, vaccinations for community college students. Walgreens working with the Biden administration to bring vaccine clinics to students nationwide. Walgreens hosting clinics in May and June for community college students, faculty, and staff.
Walgreens also trying to help the newest eligible Americans, reaching out to more than 1,000 school districts in order to provide support for vaccinating children ages 12 to 15.
JARRETT: This strange, scary-looking fish that washed up on a California beach -- it's actually a rare find. Marine officials say the Pacific "Football Fish" is one of more than 200 species of angler fish worldwide and is normally found in the dark depths of the ocean. To see one intact they say is very rare. They don't -- they do know that it's a female but have no clue how or why it wound up onshore. Very scary looking, indeed.
And speaking of rare, this stunning purple-pink diamond is expected to sell for as much as $38 million at an auction next week in Hong Kong. The nearly-16 carat Sakura diamond is named for the Japanese word for cherry blossom. According to Christie's, the rare stone is the largest flawless diamond of its kind to ever be sold at auction.
ROMANS: Wow, you've got to have a lot of money to spend that kind of money on a ring -- all right.
JARRETT: It is pretty.
ROMANS: Taking a look at markets around the world, Asian shares closed mixed, although Tokyo fell another 1 1/2 percent. And in Europe, shares have opened narrowly mixed here. European markets really had a big move on Tuesday.
On Wall Street, same deal there. You're seeing a bit of a decline this morning as surging prices and supply shortages really rattled stock markets Tuesday. The Dow fell 473 points at just about 1 1/2 percent. That's the worst day since February. The S&P and the Nasdaq also down.
[05:50:06]
The next big event, the consumer price index. That's at 8:30 a.m. eastern time. So we'll find out if all of that nervousness on Wall Street is justified.
Investors want to see how quickly prices are rising as the economy recovers. You can see prices rising all over the place and some have worried that a spike in prices will force the Fed to raise interest rates and cool down the red-hot U.S. economy.
The housing market is still red-hot with home prices hitting record highs. Get this -- the National Association of Realtors -- prices rose in 99 percent of metro areas, they said. The median sale price for existing homes up 16 percent from the first quarter last year. The median sale price -- you can see, $329,000. And every region saw double-digit price increases from last year.
Even though mortgage rates are historically low demand is pushing prices up higher and faster, making it harder for new buyers to even find homes.
And chickens -- chickens are in short supply around the country. Part of the blame goes to Tyson's roosters. I'm not kidding.
Tyson said its chicken volumes have been low because it made a mistake picking a type of rooster for breeding, leading to fewer chickens being hatched. Tyson said it will switch back to another rooster to increase its supply.
Another reason for the shortage -- well, increased demand for chicken sandwiches at fast-food chains. Tyson also said the winter storm in February affected its operations.
JARRETT: Well, Kentucky Derby champion Medina Spirit will race in Saturday's Preakness Stakes.
Andy Scholes has more in this morning's Bleacher Report. Hey, Andy.
ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, good morning, Laura.
So, Medina Spirit will be allowed to run in the Preakness Stakes on Saturday but it will be subject to extra testing and monitoring, as will the other horses trained by Bob Baffert that will be taking part in the event.
Now, Baffert, through his lawyer, issued a statement yesterday saying he has now learned that an antifungal ointment Medina Spirit was treated with prior to the Derby contained betamethasone and that ointment could have caused the failed drug test. Now, Baffert says they are continuing to investigate.
Regardless of how it happened, if the second test comes back positive, Medina Spirit will be disqualified from the Kentucky Derby.
Medina Spirit drawing the third post yesterday and is the favorite to win the Preakness. Baffert is undefeated in the race with eight Kentucky Derby champions.
All right, to baseball. The Padres are going to be without five players as a possible COVID-19 outbreak sweeps through the clubhouse.
Outfielder Wil Myers left last night's game against the Rockies in the third inning after testing positive. This comes just hours after star shortstop Fernando Tatis, Jr. was placed on the injured list because of a positive test. Three players are in those contact tracing protocols. Manager Jayce Tingler says both Tatis and Myers are asymptomatic.
In the meantime, the Yankees dealing with their own COVID issues as two coaches and one member of the support staff tested positive. The team says all three people had previously been vaccinated.
All right. Could the Oakland A's be joining the Raiders in Las Vegas? Major League Baseball has instructed the team to explore relocating to another city as efforts to build a new stadium in Oakland remain in limbo. Major League Baseball said the team's current home, the Oakland Coliseum, is quote "not a viable option for the future vision of baseball" and stresses that the team needs a new ballpark to remain competitive.
And, you know, Laura, that news definitely sad for Oakland sports fans, but you've got fans in, like, Portland, Nashville, and some others places getting kind of excited at potentially maybe being able to steal the A's from Oakland.
JARRETT: All right, we'll see what happens, Andy. Thanks so much.
SCHOLES: All right.
JARRETT: Well, a local news crew in Boston in the right place at the right time, spotting and saving a stolen dog. Get this. Reporter Juliana Mazza and her cameraman were at the scene covering the story when they spotted a man walking a dog. They soon realized it was Titus, the stolen dog, and the suspect seen in surveillance footage.
The crew calls the police --
ROMANS: What?
JARRETT: -- and Titus is reunited with his dog dad.
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GREG SIESCZKIEWICZ, OWNER OF TITUS: Once they said that they had him. I'm just glad that the person came back and I'm glad that you guys were there.
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JARRETT: Isn't that amazing, Christine? The suspect was arrested and charged. Not sure why he was walking around the scene of the crime but the reporter obviously acting as part-time detective there with some quick thinking.
ROMANS: Oh, wow. That is news you can use. I'm solving the crime. Gosh, I'm glad Titus is home.
JARRETT: Yes.
ROMANS: Thanks for joining us. I'm Christine Romans.
JARRETT: I'm Laura Jarrett. "NEW DAY" is next.
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[05:59:37]
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, I'm Brianna Keilar alongside John Berman on this new day.
And it is a consequential day for the future of the Republican Party. Truth or Trump? Liz Cheney is about to find out just a short time from now.
Plus, on the brink of an all-out war, the bloodshed is growing as Israel and Palestinians fight in the worst violence in nearly a decade. CNN is there.
JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: A landmark day as the CDC gets ready to approve a COVID vaccine for adolescents in what could get us closer than ever to normal.
And a new book suggests two of Donald Trump's.
