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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

CDC: Vaccinated Americans Can Drop Masks, Social Distancing; Israel, Gaza Violence Sending Families Fleeing from Homes; Colonial Pipeline Restarting But Gas Shortages Remain. Aired 5-5:30a ET

Aired May 14, 2021 - 05:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[05:00:24]

LAURA JARRETT, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome to our viewers in the United States and all around the world. This is EARLY START. I'm Laura Jarrett.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Hey, Laura. Good Friday morning. I'm Christine Romans. It's May 14th. It's 5:00 a.m. in New York.

All right. The good news this morning, fully vaccinated you can take off the mask. It's a turning point in the pandemic. The CDC says if you've been fully vaccinated against COVID-19, you don't have to wear that mask inside, you don't have to wear social distancing -- or don't have to practice social distancing, you don't have to wear it outside, of course, either.

There are some exceptions. You still need to wear a mask on an airplane, public transportation or in a hospital. It's both an incentive and a reward, relaxing restrictions now will prod more people to get vaccinated and give the CDC credibility that it's following the science.

JARRETT: Yeah, that's right. It's also worth noting only 43 percent of people are vaccinated right now and then there's the free rider problem. What about people who don't want the vaccine and they never will, many already not wearing a mask. And what does this all mean for maskless adults around younger children who aren't eligible yet for the vaccine?

Our chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, has some answers.

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DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Laura and Christine, big, big news coming out of the CDC for sure and somewhat unexpected news as well. As recently as last week, the CDC was saying it would probably be some time before there would be any new announcements regarding these recommendations, these guidelines for mask wearing and really kind of out of the blue, the announcement came yesterday that said if you are vaccinated, it's basically an entirely new world for you, outdoors or indoors, large or small gathering size, you really don't need to wear a mask anymore. But the big piece of news, guys, was revolving around these new

studies that came out showing how unlikely it was for someone who was vaccinated, maybe became infected how unlikely it was for them to then transmit the virus, that was some of the big data that came out just over the past week or so, the idea was that even if you are vaccinated, you should still wear a mask so that you don't transmit the virus to others. But if the data shows that that transmission is so unlikely, that would mean you really don't need to wear a mask and that's really what informed these guidelines.

So it's come into clearer focus what the CDC guidelines are but there's still a lot -- there's blurriness around the edges, if you will. What does this mean, then, for businesses who have to determine if someone is vaccinated or not vaccinated. Are they going to ask for proof of vaccination? The federal government says if they are not going to require that, but will private businesses potentially do that?

What about schools? What about colleges? What about travel?

I don't want to diminish the importance of what is happening right now with regard to these guidelines. I think it marks a point in time where we say we actually transitioned to a more liberal, looser sort of approach to the pandemic and that's in response to the fact that we're doing so well. But how this is all implemented, guys, over the next few weeks, maybe few months, that remains to be seen -- Christine, Laura.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROMANS: You know, Laura, it's such an important reward for people who have been playing by the rules.

JARRETT: Hopefully.

ROMANS: Incredibly cautious, social distancing, doing what the CDC says, but one of the big concerns here is that you see somebody out on the street or in a restaurant without a mask, you assume they have been vaccinated because that's what you're supposed to do, but we know that people who don't believe in the masks have never been wearing the masks, so you just don't know who is safe and who isn't.

JARRETT: Yeah. And I think Sanjay has raised the question before about vaccine passports. We already see some states trying to ban those for private businesses, but that would be one way to help you know whether somebody was safe or not, especially people coming into restaurants and to stores, it's going to be a huge issue.

ROMANS: Yeah, it puts a lot of the burden on the business owners. U.S. retailers are grappling with the new CDC guidance and what it means for their workers. Walgreens, Macy's, CVS, they tell us, CNN that they are reevaluating their policies, their policies have both employers -- or employees, rather, and customers must wear masks. CVS says its major concern is the safety of our employees and customers.

However, Home Depot, Kroger and Starbucks, they are keeping their current mask policies in place. If you go to a Starbucks today and you are vaccinated, just be prepared, it's still going to have a sign on the front door that says a mask required. And that is their right.

Now, many front-line workers in retail, grocery and restaurants have had to enforce their employers' mask rules and sometimes that has been difficult.

[05:05:02]

It has had violent consequences like last year within a Family Dollar security guard was killed in Michigan.

That's why this new guidance concerns the unions representing these workers, the president of the UFCW calls it confusing and making front-line workers the vaccination police puts them at risk.

Now, the new guidance does not include travel. Really important here, folks. Airlines will keep enforcing their mask mandates. Public transportation as well.

Now, it's not clear how airlines will check a passenger's vaccine status, as for employees they are encouraging the shot not requiring it for the airlines, but Delta CEO goes a little further. He told CNN new hires at Delta must be vaccinated.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ED BASTIAN, DELTA CEO: Any person joining delta in the future, future employee, we're going to mandate they be vaccinated before they can sign up with the company.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: Delta is one of the first major companies to require this.

JARRETT: I think you're going to see more and more companies do that. There is no legal prohibition against doing it, most employment in this country is at will, meaning you can get hired or fired for any reason at all. I think you're going to see a lot more employers do that.

ROMANS: And, Laura, don't restaurants and retailers also have the right to refuse service for any reason.

JARRETT: They do.

ROMANS: Except for a civil rights reason.

JARRETT: That's right, and the question is just what happens at the state level, though, if places start banning that, right? So if states start setting up rules that say private employers can't do that you have to follow state law. So, again, really interesting intersections here.

ROMANS: Maybe this winds up in court.

JARRETT: I'm sure. It already has, I know some employees have already sued over this.

All right. Now to this exchange of fire not letting up between Israel and Gaza. United Nations officials inside Gaza say dozens of people fled their homes to seek refuge in schools which are considered emergency shelters. Just over the border residents in southern Israel fleeing to their bomb shelters again as sirens wailed, warning of a fresh barrage of rockets.

CNN's Nic Robertson live in Jerusalem with more for us.

Nic, what's happening with Israeli soldiers near the border with Gaza?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Well, overnight, Israeli residents near that border we're told by the IDF, the Israeli Defense Forces, that they should be close to or seek shelter through the night. What we've seen Israeli forces do is use ambiguous language perhaps saying that they were attacking in Gaza with the ground and air force.

It, you know, appeared first blush to perhaps mean that there was a ground offensive going in. There wasn't. But what the IDF, the Israeli Defense Forces actually did was pound an area in northern Gaza with heavy artillery, they say hundreds of artillery shells were fired, dozens of tank rounds were fired so they really focused intensive action on that area with the presence of additional troops right along the border.

Hundred and nineteen deaths in Gaza, according to Palestinian health officials there. They say 31 of those were women, 19 were children. More than 800 people injured and that appears to be what's behind the U.N. agencies inside Gaza saying that there were a lot of people fleeing some parts of Gaza. The intensity of that artillery barrage, though, faded by early morning.

JARRETT: Who gets caught in the middle of this violence of course is the innocent children and other people.

Nic, the president says he doesn't believe Israel is overreacting to rockets fired at them by militants in Gaza. Now, in the past two parties have really helped broker ceasefires when this has flared up in the past, the United States and Egypt. Any sign the Egyptians are ready to intervene here?

ROBERTSON: Nothing that we can say concretely. Yes, this he would be expected to come in, you know, perhaps sending intelligence or other government officials into Gaza, liaising with the Israeli government as well. That's not happening, it's not clear at the moment that it is. You might suspect that it would be.

But if it is, it's not something we have good visibility on at the moment. There was first to be a debate about the situation here at the U.N. today, according to two diplomats at the U.N. that CNN has spoken to, the U.S. representatives at the United Nations in New York have stopped in its tracks that meeting at the U.N. to discuss the situation, countries like Norway, China are pushing to get that back -- that track -- that diplomatic track in New York at the U.N. back up and running, but at the moment it's not moving forward.

So what's happening on the ground here are Egyptian officials making contacts in Gaza and here in Jerusalem not yet clear.

JARRETT: All right. Nic Robertson, thank you so much for being there for us.

ROMANS: All right. Nine minutes past the hour.

The political divide and personal mistrust reaching a dangerous new level on Capitol Hill. One lawmaker calls another the kind of person I threw out of bars.

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[05:14:04]

JARRETT: Despite the new guidance from the CDC, one place not lifting its mask mandate, the House of Representatives. Speaker Nancy Pelosi telling CNN members will still be required to wear masks on the House floor except when they speak during debate. Some Republican lawmakers have downplayed the virus and still refuse to get vaccinated.

ROMANS: The mask issue is part of a broader fear and mist trust looming large in the Capitol, especially in the wake of the January 6th insurrection.

CNN's Daniella Diaz live on Capitol Hill with more.

Good Friday morning.

DANIELLA DIAZ, CNN CONGRESSIONAL REPORTER: Good morning, Christine.

Look, there is still a lot of Republican lawmakers that continue to down play what happened on January 6th during the insurrection. They are whitewashing the events, you know, starting with Congressman Andrew Clyde who compared what happened during the insurrection as a normal tourist visit. You know, those of us who were here now it was not that.

And, you know, there has been decorum going out the window here, especially on the House side, with lawmakers being more vocal about how they feel with their colleagues on the opposite side of the aisle.

[05:15:07]

You know, one example of this is what happened between Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene on Wednesday. Marjorie Taylor Greene confronted Ocasio-Cortez outside the House chamber, shouted at her, asked to debate policy with her. Reporters witnessed this, and then continued to harass her yesterday.

This is, of course, just one example of what happened, but Marjorie Taylor Greene defended what she said to Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez yesterday to our camera. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE (R-GA): I was talking to AOC saying you need to debate me about the Green New Deal. She doesn't need to file ethics violations or whatever she's doing. That's reacting like a child. Adults are able to debate policy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DIAZ: You know, Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez used to be a bartender and she said in a statement: I used to work as a bartender. These are the kinds of people that I threw out of bars all the time.

Again, I really want to emphasize this is one example of many of Democratic lawmakers feeling unsafe on the Capitol with their Republican lawmaker colleagues continuing to downplay what happened on January 6th and continuing to spread lies about the election that it was stolen from former President Donald Trump.

You know, I spoke to a Democratic lawmaker yesterday and they told me that they continue to feel unsafe and it's been difficult to work with their colleagues across the aisle on issues when they are still upset about them down playing what happened on January 6 -- Christine, Laura.

ROMANS: There are 435 voting members of Congress and Marjorie Taylor Greene certainly knows how to find her spot in the news flow and get her name out there. That is -- that is something we have seen before. There are a lot of them and sometimes being noisy in the halls certainly gets the news and attention.

Al right. Thank you so much. Nice to see you -- if not the decorum.

Laura?

JARRETT: So as Daniella mentioned, this backdrop as Republicans in Congress try to erase the history of the Capitol riots, federal prosecutors now revealing new evidence in one of the biggest conspiracy cases against members of the far right Proud Boys. Prosecutors say they have 11 text message threads running 5,000 pages in which top members discuss a so-called ministry of self-defense or special leadership team for the January 6th insurrection.

ROMANS: In other words, prosecutors have built a case showing coordination and planning ahead of that riot. You watched it yourself and now efforts to minimize it add to the frustration of one D.C. police officer who nearly lost his life.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAEL FANONE, OFFICER WHO DEFENDED U.S. CAPITOL ON JANUARY 6: I'm not a politician, I'm not an elected official. I don't expect anybody to give two shits about my opinions, but I will say this, you know, those are lies and peddling that bullshit is an assault on every officer that fought to defend the Capitol. It's disgraceful.

(END VIDEO CLIP) ROMANS: Prosecutors say proud boys leadership even held a videoconference ahead of the riot. The feds have gathered more than 1.3 million Telegram messages.

JARRETT: Among the exchanges on telegram, two Proud Boys discuss their wish that members of a non-extremist pro-Trump group would, quote, burn that city to ash. The other replies, God, let it happen. I will settle with seeing some of them smash some pigs to dust.

All the Proud Boys here have pleaded not guilty.

ROMANS: Pigs to dust. Blue lives matter.

Join Fareed Zakaria for an in-depth look at the changing Republican Party, how did it become what it is today, a radical rebellion, the transformation of the GOP begins Sunday, 8:00 p.m., only on CNN.

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ROMANS: All right. The Colonial Pipeline has now restarted after a six-day shutdown but widespread gas station outages in the Southeast, that has not stopped. That could last for a few more days. As of Thursday morning, 71 percent of gas stations in North Carolina, 80 percent of gas stations in D.C. are dry and those numbers have not improved since yesterday.

Pete Muntean is in Arlington, Virginia.

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PETE MUNTEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Christine and Laura, we are not out of the woods yet. Colonial says its pipeline is up and running, but there will be a bit of a delay in getting the gas from refineries all the way to your gas tank. Gas travels about 3 to 5 miles an hour through that pipeline hundreds of miles long. So a relatively slow speed then it has to go to terminals some, even here at airplanes and then on a truck to get to a gas station.

The point is from federal officials, you should not be panic buying gas right now and things should be back to normal by this weekend.

Still a lot of lingering questions about how this hack happened in the first place and how vulnerable our infrastructure really is as a whole. One expert tells me this just shows how easily our economy could be crippled -- Christine and Laura.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

JARRETT: Pete Muntean, thank you so much for that.

And we also have an update to what we told you yesterday about this story. CNN has learned from two sources that Colonial Pipeline did in fact pay the group that demanded that ransom. The hackers demanded nearly $5 million in cryptocurrency. The actual amount Colonial paid as it tried to retrieve the stolen information is unclear.

All right. More bad news for Republican Congressman Matt Gaetz, a key ally plans to plead guilty and cooperate with prosecutors as part of their sex trafficking investigation.

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So what does this all mean for the congressman?

CNN's Paula Reid reports now.

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PAULA REID, CNN SENIOR LEGAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Well, good morning, Laura and Christine.

Joel Greenberg's cooperation with the federal government is certainly not good news for Congressman Gaetz. Now, at this point, we don't know what, if any, information Greenberg will provide about the congressman as part of his cooperation deal but we do know that Greenberg has been speaking with federal investigators since last year, including providing information about how he and Gaetz allegedly had encounters with women who were then given cash or gifts in exchange for sex.

Now, this is significant because for months, federal investigators have been examining whether Congressman Gaetz broke federal sex trafficking, prostitution and public corruption laws. They were also looking into whether or not he may have had sex with a minor.

Right now, Joel Greenberg has every incentive to talk, he faces decades in prison on 33 federal counts that range from identity theft to sex trafficking of a minor. And we have spoken with women who were at could called sex parties with Greenberg and Gaetz, we have seen some of the transactions that show money being exchanged for sex.

These are the kinds of details that investigators are likely to be interested in. We also know federal investigators have hundreds of transactions that they have records of and Greenberg could help them make sense of those.

Now, we expect to learn more about this cooperation deal Monday when Greenberg is expected to appear in court in Orlando -- Laura and Christine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROMANS: All right. Paula, thank you for that.

Three more Republican governors ending extra unemployment benefits early, taking money out of the pockets of millions of Americans in the middle of a COVID recovery.

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