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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

States And Businesses Begin Lifting COVID Restrictions; Biden Voices Support For Ceasefire As Israel-Hamas Conflict Escalates; FAA Cracking Down On Unruly Air Travelers. Aired 5:30-6a ET

Aired May 18, 2021 - 05:30   ET

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

[05:30:00]

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: In the honor system, of course, unvaccinated people can blend in with less incentive to become vaccinated.

More cities are tying reopening to vaccination rates. Right now, one- third of Baltimore residents are vaccinated but they have to double that to lose their mask mandate.

EARLY START has the pandemic covered from coast to coast.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): I'm Kristen Holmes in Washington, D.C.

Washington's mayor announcing on Monday that fully vaccinated people will no longer have to wear masks outdoors and at most indoor venues. Now, she did say that masks will still be required at schools, healthcare facilities, and on public transportation.

Meanwhile, while Maryland has lifted its statewide mask mandate, the city of Baltimore is no longer following suit. On Monday, the city's health commissioner announcing that they would still require masks indoors and at outdoor venues, including stadiums. The commissioner saying that this would remain in place until 65 percent of people in Baltimore were vaccinated.

JULIA CHATTERLEY, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT (on camera): I'm Julia Chatterley in New York.

The world's largest cruise company says it's resuming operations with seven of its brands this summer sailing from ports in Europe and the Caribbean with a limited number of passengers and extra health measures.

Carnival Corporation says it's working with U.S. authorities to try and restart cruises here again in July. The company wants to begin sailing from ports in Miami and Galveston, Texas. The company also said it's hopeful sailing to Alaska will resume for part of the summer.

ADRIENNE BROADDUS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): I'm Adrienne Broaddus.

This week in Wisconsin, Milwaukee public schools are offering COVID vaccine walk-up clinics. It's for Wisconsin residents 12 and older. It's happening at five schools in Milwaukee. All youth need a consent form signed by their parent. Appointments are not required.

And according to the Wisconsin Department of Health, 39.5 percent of Wisconsin residents are fully vaccinated.

ALEXANDRA FIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): I'm Alexandra Field.

Vaccinated people in Ohio have a chance to win one out of five $1 million prizes, but the state has announced a key change to the program. People will now have to opt-in if they're interested in winning that prize money. Previously, the state planned to depend on its voter rolls. They say the new sign-up process will allow them to better verify a person's age, identity, and vaccination status.

ERICA HILL, CNN ANCHOR AND NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (on camera): I'm Erica Hill in New York where the city's iconic marathon is slated to return on November seventh. This year's race, the 50th, will allow 33,000 runners. That's 60 percent capacity, although Gov. Cuomo says the numbers and the plans could change before race day.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROMANS: All right, thanks to our correspondents for all of those reports.

So after a year -- a year-plus -- work-from-home is now return-to- work. Vaccinated Americans are safe from coronavirus. The CDC is relaxing mask and social distancing rules. Meetings are no longer a superspreader event for vaccinated people. And in-person collaboration is safe again for vaccinated adults.

A growing number of executives say it's time to get back to the office. Goldman Sachs wants most of its employees back in the office by late June.

Last week, WeWork's CEO told "The Wall Street Journal" people who want to come back to the office right away -- they are identified as the most engaged in the workforce and time in the office is essential. Even with hybrid models that allow people to work from home a few days a week you still need to be in the office at least some of the time.

JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon says working from home, quote, "doesn't work for young people" and people who want to, quote, "hustle." Some JPMorgan employees are coming back into the offices this week for a few days a week.

Are the workers ready, though? An Axios-Ipsos poll shows 60 percent of employed Americans say working indoors in an office is a small or no- risk activity.

At the same time, the Society for Human Resources Management found people do love their flexible work life. Get this -- 35 percent of workers said they would take less money -- a pay cut -- if they could work full-time at home permanently.

All of this hinges on vaccines, of course. The Ipsos poll shows the majority of employed Americans would support showing proof, Laura, that they have been vaccinated in order to get back to the office.

LAURA JARRETT, CNN ANCHOR: That's really interesting. What does the data really show, though? Are people more efficient when they're in the office?

ROMANS: I don't think we know yet. We've got a year now -- we've got a year now of data that we'll be able to kind of analyze and figure out --

JARRETT: Yes.

ROMANS: -- if you're better here at home.

I mean, I know, for instance, my husband doesn't have a commute on both ends but he works for half of the time that he would have been commuting, so he is probably logging more hours.

JARRETT: More.

ROMANS: So I think what people want is flexibility. They want a vaccinated workforce. I thought it was so interesting that 60 percent -- a majority said -- a slim majority said they would be fine with having to prove they were vaccinated.

JARRETT: Yes, and take less pay. Just really interesting.

ROMANS: Right.

JARRETT: So that's going on on the corporate side.

[05:35:00]

Meanwhile, three more GOP-led states will drop the $300 weekly federal boost to unemployment benefits. That means more than 3.7 million laid- off Americans will go without those payments by the start of the summer. Texas, Indiana, and Oklahoma are joining 17 other GOP-led states in ending the pandemic relief the Democrats in Congress extended until September.

The cuts mean workers will forego more than $22 billion in benefits. Republican governors claim that these benefits are keeping Americans from going back to work. But stripping them of these -- of these benefits might not solve workforce shortages.

ROMANS: Many Americans can't return to work because of childcare or health issues. And experts say the extra money helps local businesses by allowing out-of-work customers to shop and spend.

Oklahoma's Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt and Connecticut Democratic Gov. Ned Lamont both offering bonuses to residents who return to the workforce.

JARRETT: All right.

Overnight, no new rockets fired toward Israel for the first time in a week. The relative quiet broken by sirens in a southern Israeli town early this morning, though. Israel also targeting Hamas militants in Gaza early this morning.

CNN's Salma Abdelaziz is live in Beirut for us. Salma, this conflict has seen an interesting response from neighbors on -- around in the Middle East. And younger generations might not necessarily see this conflict the same way as their parents and grandparents, right?

SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN REPORTER: Absolutely. There is a huge shift in this region. And yes, in some ways, we are seeing very traditional ways that you would expect for this conflict to be dealt with playing out. You hear the very biting rhetoric from the Arab government that turns out to be just that -- just rhetoric, just words.

You see the protests and the marches. I was at one along the Lebanese- Israeli border over the weekend and I heard those chants that really echoed those values for decades. But I would argue that probably the protests you saw in London over the weekend were bigger than anything we say in the region and there's a couple of reasons for that.

First, there is a big diplomatic shift in the region. Several countries now are signing normalization agreements with Israel. The United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Morocco, Sudan all trying to normalize their relationships with Israel which means, of course, a more muted criticism.

And then the key shift here is the generational one -- the fathers and grandfathers of this region -- they can rattle off the dates of the great Arab wars. They can tell you the key moments of the Intifada.

But if you're under 30 in the Arab world, which is about 60 percent of the population here, that is not your lived experience. Your lived experience is one of the Arab Spring, of trying to overthrow dictatorships, of demanding greater freedom and equality, of trying to live and thrive under very difficult economic conditions. And that generation is tired of their politicians. They are tired of being mired in the past.

I'll give you one example here in Lebanon. The economy is in freefall. The government is in paralysis. The youth here say they want new leadership, new ideas, and they no longer want to be entrenched in the conflict of the past.

And as talk and mediation efforts ramp up, there's a sense of hopelessness -- a question as to whether or not this is just a Band- Aid until a few months from now, a year from now -- there's yet another conflict and more lives are lost. Bottom line, people are tired. They want a sustainable peace for their future. They no longer want to be mired in the conflicts of the past.

JARRETT: That's an interesting perspective. All right, Salma, thank you so much for your reporting.

ROMANS: All right.

President Biden voicing support for a ceasefire but not demanding one during a conversation with the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu -- a full-throated demand for an end to the violence, something many Democrats have been asking for.

Jasmine Wright live from the White House. The tone here pretty clear talking about but not demanding a ceasefire.

JASMINE WRIGHT, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: That's exactly right. Listen, President Biden is walking a fine line in his response, but we are starting to see slight changes in the language as pressure mounts within his own party for him to do more.

President Biden, as you said, supported a ceasefire. He didn't explicitly call for one but that use of ceasefire -- that word -- is notable because it's the first time that the White House has used it in a readout between him and a call between Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, his third in just six days. So we see him inching towards slightly pressuring Netanyahu to come to the table to try to find some end to this violence.

And not only was there a shift between the rhetoric of the White House in the last week, but it was even a shift just on Monday as earlier in the day White House press secretary Jen Psaki seemed to suggest that instead of calling for a public ceasefire it was more beneficial for the White House to work in a quiet, unintrusive, behind-the-scenes diplomatic way to get the results that they wanted. And she said that at that point, White House officials had already made 60 calls to the region.

Take a listen.

[05:40:00]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEN PSAKI, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: Our goal -- every single action we take, every statement we make is with the objective of reducing the violence and bringing an end to the conflict on the ground. There are times in diplomacy where we'll need to keep those conversations quieter -- where we won't read out every component of it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WRIGHT: Still, every time that President Biden is not forcefully calling for some ceasefire, he's kind of out of lockstep with the Democratic Party that is slowly shifting towards holding Israeli's actions against Palestinians more accountable.

And that includes some of the staunchest Israeli Democrats -- staunchest Israeli defenders in the Democratic Party, like Rep. Gregory Meeks, New York Congressman and also chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee. He's expected, CNN has learned, to ask for a delay on that $700 million-plus weapons sale to Israel that was preplanned before this violence.

But still, an indication of where this party is going -- something that may not have happened had this happened five years ago. So this is now the new political reality for President Biden, a longtime politician who has watched how the U.S. and Israel's relationship has evolved.

So we will be watching to see whether or not President Biden increases more pressure on Netanyahu as civilian deaths possibly increase or whether or not he ignores calls from his own party to do more -- Christine.

ROMANS: Yes, the civilian deaths simply unacceptable. But the White House saying at this point, it is the pressure campaign of diplomacy where they will be focusing here right now.

Jasmine, nice to see you this morning. Thank you.

JARRETT: President Biden says the U.S. will share 20 million more doses of coronavirus vaccines with other countries on top of the 60 million he's already promised. With millions of people in the United States refusing to get vaccinated, millions more overseas are waiting anxiously to get their shot.

Larry Madowo is in Kenya where vaccines could run out within weeks. Larry, for months it's been China out in front on so-called vaccine diplomacy. Now the U.S. is trying to catch up.

LARRY MADOWO, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The U.S. is definitely trying to catch up, Laura. And these extra 20 million shots will be Pfizer, it will be Moderna, and some Johnson & Johnson shots, on top of the six million AstraZeneca shots that the U.S. already promised to Covax. This is the World Health Organization alliance to try and get vaccines to low- and middle-income countries either for free or at a heavily discounted price.

What is happening is that the rich countries have 83 percent of the vaccines and poor countries that account for about 50 percent of the world's population, only 17 percent of the vaccines. And that's why in Kenya, for instance, Kenya got only one million shots of AstraZeneca and those are almost used up.

The chair of the task force of the COVID-19, the Minister of Health, told CNN that they have used up more than 91 percent, so they could be completely out by the end of this month or early June.

In reality, what that means is that I am fully vaccinated and yet, that's because I've been living in the United States. And my grandmother, who lives in the west of the country, who is 96, has not been vaccinated.

That's a problem for people in the U.S. and around the Western World because viruses mutate. If there's no vaccination to this part of the world, as you have seen with the variants from South Africa, from India, from the U.K., they will find their way to the U.S. and to the rest of the world and the world will not be able to deal with the pandemic.

So that is the true crisis here as African countries scramble to get vaccines from wherever they can. So it means that China, which has been offering vaccines to a handful of African countries, they will take it. Sometimes they're also taking vaccines from Russia, from India because in the race to inoculate Africans to make sure that the world can deal with a pandemic, they will take it from whoever is offering it.

So what the U.S. is doing -- these 60 million shots and the 20 million just announced -- is -- forgive the pun, a shot in the arm for Africa's vaccine efforts.

JARRETT: Well, and the reality is that people here -- some people are simply just not going to take it. We're having to pay people. We have million-dollar lotteries while some people are struggling so much and would do anything for their shot.

Larry, thank you so much, and great to have you at CNN.

We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:48:16]

ROMANS: All right, it's Tuesday. Let's get a check on CNN Business this morning.

Looking at markets around the world, you can see Asian shares all closed higher. Japan up two percent even after data showed the economy shrank five percent in the first quarter. You can see Asian shares -- or European shares, rather, opened slightly higher.

Let's take a check on Wall Street at the moment. A little bit of a lift there in the early going here. But yesterday, inflation fears were back -- relatively small losses. The Dow down 54 points -- not much. The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq also down a little bit here.

Important insight into how -- into how the consumer feels. We're going to have earnings from Home Depot, Macy's, and Walmart today.

The housing market has been red hot and Americans have had extra money from stimulus checks and jobless benefits. We'll see if they keep spending.

Cash payments for families with children. July 15th, the IRS begins sending money in that enhanced child tax credit -- payments to families of more than 65 million children. The American Rescue Plan overhauled and expanded the child tax credit from $2,000 per child, per year to up to $3,600 for a child six and under, and $3,000 for older children.

Now, the benefit is temporary. Democrats pushing to make it permanent. Biden's latest proposal, the American Families Plan, would continue the payments through 2025. All right, the highest gas prices in seven years as the southeast recovers from that cyberattack on Colonial Pipeline. The national average still above three bucks a gallon. Panic buying caused stations in South Carolina, Washington, Georgia, and North Carolina to actually run out of gas. And as of yesterday, Gas Buddy said 69 percent of gas stations in D.C. were still out of gas.

AAA said the southeast will see a tight supply this week as gas stations are refueled, and noted prices are expected to fluctuate leading up to Memorial Day weekend.

[05:50:03]

JARRETT: Bad behavior on commercial flights is getting costly. How costly? CNN's Pete Muntean gets the lowdown from the head of the FAA.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PETE MUNTEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): Christine and Laura, the FAA is cracking down on those who become aggressive on commercial flights. It's a real problem, it says.

And it just announced its biggest fine yet since rolling out a zero- tolerance policy against unruly passengers. A Delta passenger accused of repeatedly assaulting a flight attendant and trying to break into the cockpit now faces fines of more than $52,000. It is the latest of 17 such fines totaling more than $300,000.

FAA administrator Steve Dickson told me in an interview that this has become a real problem because the numbers just keep going up. The FAA has received reports of about 1,300 unruly passengers on commercial flights in recent months.

And this is happening as more and more people are coming back to flying. The TSA screened more than 1.8 million people at airports across the country on Sunday. That's a new record of the pandemic -- about 70 percent of what numbers were before the pandemic -- Christine, Laura.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROMANS: All right, Pete. Thank you so much for that. A $52,000 fine for some very bad behavior.

All right. Failed inspections allowed a crack in a bridge connecting Arkansas and Tennessee to go unnoticed for two years. That inspector has now been fired.

Drone video showed evidence of the fracture on the I-40 de Soto bridge in 2019. Authorities have a plan to fix the damage but no timeline for reopening this critical artery.

JARRETT: Torrential rain triggering dangerous flash floods across the southwest. The governor of Louisiana declaring a state of emergency. Rainfall in the city of Lake Charles, Louisiana reaching more than 12 inches. Reports of stranded cars, flooded roadways, and home damage. More rain is expected this week.

All right, a scary moment last night when a Mets player is hit in the face with a fastball. Andy Scholes has more in this morning's Bleacher Report. Hey, Andy -- what happened?

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT (via Cisco Webex): Yes, good morning, Laura.

So it was the seventh inning Mets-Braves. Outfielder Kevin Pillar comes to the plate and he gets hit right in the face with a 94-mile- per hour fastball.

And I'm going to warn you this is pretty tough to watch. The ball just clearly gets away from Brave's pitcher Jacob Webb and it drills Pillar square in the nose. He immediately goes down. Tough for everyone to watch, including the players.

Now, Pillar wasn't even down that long, though. He was able to get up on his own and walk off the field. Pillar was taken to the hospital where he underwent a CT scan.

Pillar tweeted about an hour after the game, "Thanks to everyone that has reached out! Scary moment but I'm doing fine! #RBI #gamewinner."

The Mets did win the game three to one, so Pillar kind of joking there that taking the ball off the face did drive in the eventual winning run.

All right. The New York Racing Association has suspended Hall of Famer trainer -- Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert from entering any horses at New York tracks. That means Medina Spirit and Baffert's other horses are not allowed to run in the Belmont Stakes on June fifth.

Medina Spirit failed a post-race drug test after the Kentucky Derby and faces disqualification if a second test also comes back positive. The horse finished third in last Saturday's Preakness Stakes.

Baffert had no comment when reached by CNN about the suspension.

All right, Kelly Kleine making history yesterday as she was hired by the Denver Broncos as their executive director of football operations. Kleine is believed to be the highest-ranking female scouting executive ever in the NFL.

The 30-year-old is also going to serve as a special adviser to general manager George Paton. The two worked together in Minnesota for nine years and Paton says Kleine is a rising star in the NFL.

Kleine's going to oversee player evaluations and preparations for the draft and free agency.

All right. Finally, Derek Jeter has sold his Tampa mansion -- the one that he had been renting to Tom Brady during his first season with the Bucs. The sale price, a cool $22.5 million. It's the most expensive sale ever in Tampa Bay, according to the realty firm that handled the listing. The nearly-22,000 square foot home has a movie theater, air-

conditioned six-car garage, and four dishwashers if you needed that many.

Guys, no word on who purchased the mansion. Who knows? Maybe it was someone who was early on Dogecoin or something like that.

ROMANS: But where's Tom Brady going to live? I mean, does Tom Brady have a place to live?

SCHOLES: Got to find some new digs. Apparently, him and Gisele are building something in Miami. But for now, I guess, he's --

JARRETT: Something tells me he's not homeless.

SCHOLES: -- in the market -- yes.

ROMANS: Andy Scholes, nice to see you.

Thanks for joining us.

SCHOLES: All right.

JARRETT: Thanks, Andy.

ROMANS: I'm Christine Romans.

JARRETT: I'm Laura Jarrett. "NEW DAY" is next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:59:38]

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, I'm Brianna Keilar alongside John Berman on this new day.

The scramble to reopen workplaces, retail, sports arenas -- all trying to figure out how fast to move forward after the CDC's abrupt reversal on masks.

And just in, Rudy Giuliani telling a court that he wasn't telling the insurrection crowd to rise up when he instructed them, quote, "Let's have trial by combat." Hear his explanation.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: President Biden calling for a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas as impatience grows in Congress, including a rift in his own party over.