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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin
Naomi Osaka Withdraws from Grand Slam Over Mental Health; Dems' Revolt in Texas Ramps Up Pressure for Voting Reform; Israel's Possible Unity Government Could Ed PM Netanyahu's Career; Record Travel Expected for Long Holiday Weekend. Aired 5-5:30a ET
Aired June 01, 2021 - 05:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[05:00:31]
LAURA JARRETT, CNN ANCHOR: A bold move by one of the top tennis players in the world putting mental health ahead of the game. How her fellow players responded overnight.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: He says democracy is in peril. Pressure building for the president to stop new voting restrictions after a reprieve in Texas.
JARRETT: And new details this morning on how the White House plans to close the racial wealth gap 100 years after the massacre in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Welcome to our viewers in the United States and all around the world. We have reports this morning from Dallas, Jerusalem, Miami, Las Vegas, Tokyo and the White House.
This is EARLY START. I'm Laura Jarrett. Back with Christine Romans on set after 15 months.
ROMANS: Back and vaccinated on the set, ready to go. I'm Christine Romans. It's Tuesday, June 1st, it is 5:00 a.m. in New York.
And we begin this morning with a move that is rocking the world of sports. Top women's tennis star Naomi Osaka, she has withdrawn from the French Open citing her mental health. Andy Scholes joins us this morning.
And, Andy, if Phil Mickelson or Rafael Nadal pulled out in the middle of a major or grand slam because of mental health, you know, the earth would shake here. Tell us what happened with Osaka.
ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Well, Christine, Naomi Osaka said she never wanted to be a distraction to the French Open and she feels for her mental health, the best thing is for her to withdraw from the tournament. Now, Osaka won her opening match and spoke on the court afterwards but not with the media.
And the 23-year-old has said last week she would not be speaking with the media during the tournament citing her mental health and the anxiety she gets from media sessions. Now, over the weekend, Osaka then was fined $15,000 for not speaking with the media and the four grand slam tournaments, the French Open, U.S. Open, Australian Open and Wimbledon put out a joint statement saying Osaka would face further consequences such as being kicked out of the tournaments for continuing not to speak with the media, the tournament citing the need for a fair playing field where all players have the same obligations.
Well, after that Osaka withdrew from the French Open. In a lengthy post, she revealed: After winning the 2018 French U.S. open she's dealt with depression, doesn't like public speaking and was feeling vulnerable and anxious since arriving in Paris. Now, Osaka added, when the time is right, I really want to work with the tour to discuss ways we can make things better for the players, press and fans.
Now, the president of the French tennis federation called Osaka's withdrawal unfortunate and wished her the best but he did not take any questions.
After her first round win last night, Serena Williams, she reacted to Osaka's withdrawal.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SERENA WILLIAMS, 23-TIME MAJOR CHAMPION: I feel like I wish I could give her a hug because I know what it's like. Like I said, I've been in those positions. We have different personalities and people are different, not everyone is the same.
I'm thick, you know, other people are thin, so everyone is different and everyone handles things differently. So, you know, you just have to let her handle it the way she wants to in the best way that she thinks she can, and that's the only thing I can say. I think she's doing the best that she can.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHOLES: Now, Osaka was the highest paid female athlete in the world, said in that lengthy post that her original message could have been clearer and her timing may not have been ideal, but many think this could have been handled much better, Christine, and not ended with Osaka feeling the need that she would have to withdraw from this tournament.
ROMANS: Yeah, certainly, what a great talent. It just shows you the physical and mental aspect of this sport and just the pressure under at that level.
Andy Scholes, thank you so much.
SCHOLES: All right.
JARRETT: All right. A revolt by Texas Democrats is ramping up the pressure on Congress and the White House to take action on voting rights. A bill that was blocked in the Texas House just the latest example of the GOP's attempt to build on Donald Trump's lies about election fraud. But this isn't about 2020. Their goal is to make it harder to vote in
2022 and 2024 and beyond. Forty-seven states have introduced laws rolling back voting rights, 14 have already passed at least one.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Democracy itself is in peril. Here at home and around the world. What we do now -- what we do now, how we honor the memory of the fallen will determine whether or not democracy will long endure.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[05:05:02]
ROMANS: The Texas bill would make it harder to vote by mail, it would ban after hours and drive-thru voting that helped black and Latino voters in the Houston area. It also makes it easier for courts to overturn an election.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
STATE REP. TREY MARTINEZ (D), TEXAS: Walking out last night here is the equivalent to us being on our knees begging the president and the United States government to come up with a federal response, please give us a For the People Act, please give us a John Lewis Act, please give us a federal response when it comes to elections in America.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: Many Democrats are questioning how long Joe Biden can pursue deals with an opposition party bent on neutralizing his presidency.
JARRETT: Yeah, this last ditch walkout by Texas Democrats underscores how this deadlock in Washington is making it easier for Republicans to act on Donald Trump's election fraud lies to stack the deck in future elections. Now the Texas governor is ready to take further action to get this voting bill passed in a special session, though Democrats are quick to point out he never called special sessions over those deadly power outages last winter or hurricane Harvey or a series of shootings in his state.
Ed Lavandera is on the ground for us in Dallas.
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ED LAVANDERA, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Christine and Laura, while Texas Democrats were able to stop at least for now the voting bill that they describe as one of the most restrictive bills in the country, now all eyes are on the governor in the state of Texas who says the voting bill issue is not dead yet, he will put it on the agenda of a special session, but it's not clear when the governor is going to call Texas lawmakers back to Austin to carry out that special session.
So the timing of all of this is very much up in the air. Democrats have been celebrating the blockage of that voting bill. It happened on Sunday night in a late night maneuver where Democrats essentially walked out of the state capitol and there weren't enough members on the House floor to conduct business before a midnight deadline and because of that the bill died during this legislative session, but the governor of Texas is vowing to bring this issue up once again.
SARAH ECKHARDT (D), TEXAS STATE SENATE: We delayed a bullet train to suppression, to voter suppression, and it was important to delay it so that we can shine sunlight on what this leadership is doing. So, yeah, inevitably we are going into a special suppression session, but everyone will see them do this in the daylight, Democratic voters and Republican voters.
LAVANDERA: Again, it's important to repeat here that Republicans just dominate every chamber of government here in Texas, so it will be very difficult for Democrats to stop this bill once again. But right now, the focus is on exactly when the timing of this bill will be brought back for lawmakers to resume a debate -- Christine and Laura.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROMANS: All right. Ed Lavandera, thanks for that.
You know, while Texas Republicans are trying to make it harder to vote only last week, they made it easier to carry a gun as the epidemic of gun violence wages on. Just days later, police in Kerrville north of San Antonio disrupted what could have been another devastating mass shooting. Police claim 28-year-old Coleman Blevins was planning an attack at a Walmart. Investigators confirmed his connection to what they call extremist ideologies. In a search of Blevins home, authorities found guns and ammunition. He is now in jail on $250,000 bond.
JARRETT: Well, the end of an era could be near. Could Benjamin Netanyahu's days in office now be numbered, and what would change actually mean for the Middle East? We are live in Jerusalem. That's next.
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(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
YAIR LAPID, ISRAEL OPPOSITION LEADER (through translator): If this government is formed, the keyword will be responsibility, to take responsibility, to restore inner calm, not to blame others. Not to look for enemies. Not to brand anyone who thinks differently than us a traitor who should be killed.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JARRETT: A possible unity government being negotiated in Israel. Centrist Yair Lapid says a coalition deal with right wing leader Naftali Bennett could end Benjamin Netanyahu's record tenure as prime minister. Elliott Gotkine is live for CNN in morning in Jerusalem.
Elliott, you spoke with a course involved in the talks on all of this this morning. Any closer to actually forming this coalition?
ELLIOTT GOTKINE, JOURNALIST: They are inching forward, Laura. This source tells me there are some final issues to sort out but nothing insurmountable, adding that everyone is committed to getting a deal done as soon as possible.
Now, in practical terms, that should mean that we'll see Yair Lapid, the leader of the Yesh Atid, the leader opposition going to President Reuven Rivlin between now and the deadline which is midnight tomorrow Israel time and saying that, yes, he can get a coalition over the line. After that, the speaker of the Knesset, the parliament here will have up to one week in which to call a vote and if more than half of lawmakers approve it, that government will come into being and the end of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's era in charge will come to an end.
But I should add that the speaker is an ally of Netanyahu and he could well take the maximum amount of time possible to try to allow for any possibility that that incipient coalition government doesn't come into being.
JARRETT: So, Elliott, of course, this is a done deal but if it happens, how does this change or not change things regionally? Things -- you know, regionally, a lot of balls in the air including with Iran, of course.
GOTKINE: Yes. I think, look, on the Iran front, we were hearing from Benny Gantz, the defense minister who would be a part of this governing coalition, he spoke with members of the foreign press and he maintained that the Iran deal was a bad deal, that there needs to be more pressure on Iran, more access to nuclear facilities and the like to make this deal a good one.
I don't think there will be much disagreement among this potential coalition on that count.
[05:15:00]
Likewise with the Abraham Accords which saw Israel sign peace agreements with a number of Arab countries as well. And to be perfectly honest, they are just going to probably ignore the issues that divide them. So don't expect progress on the Palestinians, don't expect much change vis-a-vis settlements, neither more settlements, neither freezing settlements.
So, they will avoid the issues that divide them and they will focus on what unites them and their main focus will be passing a state budget, economic recovery after the coronavirus pandemic and trying to heal some of the divisions that have emerged over the last two years of political stalemate that we've seen here in Israel -- Laura.
JARRETT: All right. Elliott, thank you so much for all of your reporting as usual.
ROMANS: All right. To Germany now, the German military appointing its first chief rabbi since World War I. Rabbi Zsolt Balla was selected by the German defense minister to provide religious assistance to Jewish soldiers. Around 300 German Jews Rabbis currently serve in their country's armed forces. Rabbis had been banned from the German military since 1933 when Hitler came to power.
JARRETT: All right. He sued the CDC to get cruises back in the water, but now the governor of Florida is threatening the city's survival in his state. We're going to tell you how.
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[05:20:38]
ROMANS: All right. Welcome back.
Ready to set sail, the cruise industry wants vaccinated passengers on board to get back to business, but Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is threatening that industry's recovery. Last month, he signed a law banning businesses from asking customers if they've received the coronavirus vaccine. That's at odds with new CDC guidance that allows cruises to set sail again in July if 95 percent of crew and passengers are fully vaccinated.
Now, cruise operators say Florida's law makes it harder for them to safely restart after losing billions of dollars last year. Norwegian Cruise Line CEO told investors it may avoid sailing out of Florida and operate from other states instead if DeSantis doesn't allow cruise lines to check vaccine status.
Earlier this year, DeSantis actually sued the CDC over mask and social distancing guidelines he said were too strict. The cruise industry a key source of revenue for Florida. Data shows Florida's tourism industry saw a 34 percent drop in visitors last year, the lowest since 2010.
JARRETT: Well, even if Americans are not back on cruises yet, they are on the road and in the air. Americans were on the move for the first maskless holiday of the pandemic, record travel numbers are expected to be reported by the TSA later this morning.
Coronavirus cases in the U.S. on average are now under 20,000 a day for the first time since March of 2020 and fewer Americans are hospitalized with COVID than at any time since early April 2020. Hawaii is lifting its ban on surfing competitions today, the state also dropping its mask mandate for outdoor activities. Hawaii, one of just three states with an indoor mask mandate still in place right now.
EARLY START is covering the pandemic coast to coast.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LUCY KAFANOV, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Lucy Kafanov in Las Vegas. After more than a year of pandemic shut downs and restrictions, Sin
City is back. As of today, vaccinated people can scrap their masks and ditch social distancing in most places.
Casinos, restaurants and hotels could now operate at full capacity. Large gatherings and dance clubs are also back and restriction-free and next week, the city will host it's first major in-person trade show since the pandemic began.
ALEXANDRA FIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Alexandra Field.
With vaccination numbers still climbing across the country, more states are doing more to roll back some of their COVID-related restrictions. The state of Michigan taking its next step forward, they are lifting the limits on outdoor social gatherings and increasing the capacity for gatherings inside to 50 percent.
MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I'm Martin Savidge in Atlanta.
Feeling lucky? How about feeling lucky and healthy? Arkansas is joining a growing list of states offering incentives to people to encourage them to get the coronavirus vaccine. Starting today those vaccinated May 25th or later can receive a $20 scratch off ticket that has a potential million dollar payout or gift certificates for hunting and fishing licenses.
According to Governor Asa Hutchinson, the state is using $2 million in federal funds to make it all possible.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
JARRETT: All right. Thanks to all of our correspondents for those reports. Just picking up on Martin's point, Christine, you know, Arkansas is a state that could really use some incentives. Look at those numbers. It has one of the lowest vaccination rates in the country as a percentage of population.
Other states like New York, California, Ohio, they have over 40 percent of people vaccinated and they've offered millions in giveaways. Think about the lottery that Ohio did, right?
ROMANS: Yeah, it is amazing how different it is around the country. Just how -- the uptick of vaccine.
JARRETT: But the places that need it the most are not the ones that are doing those incentives.
ROMANS: You know, to Peru now where the death toll from coronavirus is worse than previously thought. The number of deaths nearly tripled after an official review. It's almost 181,000. The staggering increase means more people have died per capita in Peru than any other country during the pandemic.
Meantime, India which has been devastated by COVID finally showing signs of improvements. The lowest number of cases and deaths in over a month. India plans to nearly double its vaccine supplies in June and government officials claim they will have everyone vaccinated by December.
JARRETT: Haiti another place badly struggling during this pandemic. Child malnutrition expected to more than double as the country deals with rising violence and a shortage of resources. UNICEF says it urgently needs $3 million to purchase essential supplies and medicine warning it will run out of those ready to use food packets next month. The agency says more than 86,000 Haitian children under 5 could suffer severe malnutrition.
[05:25:02]
That's up 41,000 last year.
ROMANS: All right. Just about, almost 25 minutes past the hour. He had the ear of the president. Now, it sounds like Michael Flynn is endorsing a violent coup in the United States.
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ROMANS: It's Monday. We're on the set. We can't believe it. It's Tuesday --
JARRETT: She was off yesterday.
ROMANS: I'm totally wrong. I was off yesterday.
Good morning. This is EARLY START. I'm Christine Romans. Fact check, it is Tuesday.
JARRETT: I'm Laura Jarrett. It's 30 minutes past the hour here in New York.
All right. He once served briefly as former President Trump's national security adviser. It now sounds like Michael Flynn is advocating a bloody overthrow of the government he swore to protect. Flynn made the comments in an event attended by prominent peddlers.
