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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin
Nearly 65 Million People Facing Heat Alert In West And Northeast; Rescuers Running Out Of Time To Find Condo Collapse Survivors; Withdrawal Of Troops From Afghanistan Could Be Complete In Days. Aired 5:30-6a ET
Aired June 30, 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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[05:32:25]
LAURA JARRETT, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, everyone. This is EARLY START. I'm Laura Jarrett.
WHITNEY WILD, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Whitney Wild. Thirty-two minutes past the hour.
JARRETT: This morning, a historic heat wave shattering records with nearly 65 million people under heat alerts across the west and the northeast. The extreme temperatures slowly tapering off in some areas but still creating dangerous conditions in Oregon and Washington. The heat is so intense there roads are actually buckling.
And in parts of British Columbia, temperatures topped out at 121 degrees, an all-time record.
WILD: The heat, combined with a terrible drought, is raising this wildfire risk in the west.
President Biden is scheduled to meet with governors of seven western states today.
The northeast also very steamy. Records were set yesterday in New York. Boston could hit 100 degrees today for the first time in 10 years.
JARRETT: So why is all of this happening? Well, for one thing, studies show severe heat is three to five degrees hotter than it used to be because of manmade climate change.
Meteorologist Pedram Javaheri explains for us.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PEDRAM JAVAHERI, AMS METEOROLOGIST (on camera): Good morning, guys.
Yes -- when we're looking at this sort of a heat wave and this incredible ridge of high pressure that has built is often responsible for these heat waves. And we talk about the heat dome that develops and you've got to think and -- keep in mind that with an area of high pressure you get sinking air.
When air sinks it warms by compression. And I often use the analogy of thinking of a bicycle pump. When you pump in a tire you begin to see the bike pump itself begin to warm up a little bit. It's because you're compressing air within that pump into the tire. And that's essentially what's happening on a broader scale here and the atmosphere has a lid on it with that massive area of high pressure.
So that air just sinks. Anytime it tries to escape it doesn't happen. And, of course, it warms up quite rapidly.
And you'll notice we're talking about the one-teens here with historic value temperatures because of the significant strength within this area of high pressure that essentially it's jutted the Jetstream all the way as far north as the Arctic Circle. And you notice that's where the heat advisories and heat warnings have kind of stretched to as well.
And over the next couple of days, we begin to see the heat dwindle just a little bit and the energy shifts a little farther towards the east.
But really, the human body has done an incredible job evolving to extreme heat, and it does a great job of cooling itself off. In fact, the most effective cooling mechanism in your body is sweating. It's responsible for about 22 percent of the heat loss within your body.
And any time you're talking about excessive heat waves that involve humidity, that's the limiting factor here because sweat sits on your skin. It doesn't evaporate. That evaporative cooling is really the large area of cooling your body down. And you're still sweating and you're still losing quite a bit of fluids. That alters the sodium and potassium within your body and within your blood, and that is what makes it a dangerous go for a lot of people across North America with these heat waves -- guys.
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[05:35:05]
JARRETT: All right, Pedram. Thank you so much. Really helpful to lay all that out there.
Well, for the first time, we are hearing chilling dispatch audio from the first responder to reach the scene of that condo collapse in Surfside, Florida.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MIAMI-DADE FIRE-RESCUE FIREGROUND CHANNEL: We have a 13-story building -- we have a 13-story building with most of the building gone. This is going to be a high priority. We're going to need CRT. We're going to need a full assignment on this -- everybody.
Seventy-six command -- a quarter of the building is left. We still have people standing upstairs that still need to be evacuated. I see many people on their balconies.
The building is gone. There's no elevators. This is nothing. I mean, it almost resembles the Trade Center.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WILD: Well, clearly, that dispatcher was shocked but remains so calm, and I'm really impressed by that.
Officials say more than 900 people working in and around the disaster scene. Rescuers are racing to find survivors under the rubble. One hundred forty-nine people remain unaccounted for with the death toll now up to 12.
CNN's Rosa Flores is live this morning for us in Surfside, Florida. So, Rosa, what's the latest there?
ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, we've learned from officials that three million pounds of concrete have been removed from the rubble -- from that pile of rubble. We've been talking about how search and rescue teams have been using large equipment and their hands, with buckets, to move this rubble out of that pile, looking for life -- looking for survivors.
Well, now we know that some of that debris will be headed to an undisclosed location that belongs to the Florida Department of Transportation where it will be photographed, where it will be cataloged. Where a forensic analysis will happen.
We've also learned from the Florida fire marshal that they have taken pictures. Drones have flown over this rubble so that those pictures can be used in the forensic analysis.
And if you look closely at the video of the building now you'll see markings. You'll see markings on the side of the building. You'll see markings on the scene. According to the fire marshal, those markings will be used for them to reconstruct and do a forensic analysis of that rubble, but once it's at another location.
So think of it like a puzzle. How you use different markings or landmarks to recreate something. That's what's going to happen. That's why some of those markings are on the building and also on the site.
Now, for the search and rescue teams that are on this site -- even though there is so much danger, even though their lives are on the line -- really, all they're thinking about are the potential survivors that are under that rubble.
There was a Miami-Dade Fire-Rescue first responder who talked to CNN yesterday and became emotional talking about the work that these brave men and women are doing. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CAPT. EDDY ALARCON, MIAMI-DADE FIRE-RESCUE: The first day that we got here at the scene, it was just tough how devastating everything was. It's just _- I mean, we're all trained to kind of maintain our composure and do our jobs the way we're supposed to but --
I'm sorry, I've been working on very little sleep right now and it's hard not to get emotional about this stuff. But we're -- you know, it's hard not to put yourself in that situation -- not to put yourself in the position that these families are in.
We start thinking about it in that way and what would I do? How hard are we going to work to save our family members if something like this were to happen?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FLORES: And Whitney, these individuals are so selfless, really. They are putting all of their time and effort to save lives.
And now we're learning that there are two disturbances in the Atlantic. This is hurricane season. This is South Florida. That's another huge concern right now. That's why they're bringing in more resources to try to get to as much of this rubble as fast as possible because again, this is a race against time -- Whitney.
WILD: Rosa Flores, thank you.
JARRETT: All right, to COVID now, as U.S. health officials are keeping their eyes on the coronavirus Delta variant when it comes to potentially reinstating health precautions so many people have been so eager to shed this summer. So far, Los Angeles appears to be the only county to recommend that even vaccinated people put their masks back on.
A top official for a company whose tests have been used to identify a large share of variant cases says the Delta variant is now the most prevalent in the U.S. Still, Dr. Anthony Fauci is not expecting any nationwide change in mask guidance for vaccinated Americans.
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DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES, NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH: You're going to find some local groups, understandably, who might have a degree of viral dynamics that they want to be doubly sure and just do that. But from the standpoint of the country as a whole, we should feel good about that.
[05:40:05]
As a general recommendation, the CDC feels that we should just keep things the way they are. If you're vaccinated, you're safe.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WILD: The daily pace of COVID vaccinations is now about a third of what it was two months ago. And a new poll out moments ago shows just three percent of adults who have not been vaccinated want to get the shot as soon as possible.
JARRETT: And almost everybody who is dying right now is someone who is unvaccinated.
WILD: I know.
JARRETT: It's just a staggering statistic.
WILD: Yes, true.
JARRETT: All right. Just in to CNN, President Biden expected to announce eight new judicial nominees today. The White House and Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer working to keep up a steady pace of confirmations to the federal courts while Democrats still hold that narrowest possible majority in the Senate.
And they're mindful of former President Trump's sweeping effort to remake the federal bench with more than 230 judges during his time in office.
President Biden has managed to get seven judges confirmed already, including two high-profile appeals court selections in recent weeks. That puts Mr. Biden on the fastest pace for judicial confirmations in a first term in more than 50 years.
We'll be right back.
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WILD: This is a huge moment. We could be just days away from the end of America's longest war. But completing the formal withdrawal of U.S. troops is still far from absolving America's involvement in Afghanistan.
[05:45:08]
CNN's Oren Liebermann is at the Pentagon with more.
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OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (on camera): Laura and Whitney, the withdrawal of U.S. forces from Afghanistan could be complete within a number of days, according to multiple U.S. officials, making this a critical week for the Biden administration and President Joe Biden's promise to end American's longest war.
Now, this comes even as the top U.S. general in Afghanistan warns the country could devolve into a civil war as the Taliban makes significant gains in the countryside.
GEN. AUSTIN MILLER, COMMANDER, NATO'S RESOLUTE SUPPORT MISSION: The security situation is not good right now. That's something that's recognized by the Afghan security forces and they are making the appropriate adjustments as we move forward.
LIEBERMANN (on camera): Now, even after the withdrawal, there will be U.S. troops there focusing on two specific missions. First, to protect the U.S. Embassy. And second, to protect Kabul International Airport. The Biden administration has made it clear it wants an embassy in Afghanistan and it wants diplomatic relations. And to do that you need an airport to get troops in and out, though it will be Turkey that has the bulk of that responsibility. The U.S. says it may assist in the mission of securing the airport.
Now, this doesn't mean all of the questions on Afghanistan have been solved -- far from it. Key among those questions is what to do with thousands of interpreters and other Afghans who helped U.S. forces along the way, as well as their families. Where will they be moved to as the U.S. processes their special issuance visas? That is a major question that remains here.
And second, how and from where to conduct counterterrorism operations in Afghanistan when you no longer have forces in the country.
Both of these questions still need to be answered as the withdrawal -- the end of the withdrawal coming very close here -- Laura and Whitney.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
JARRETT: Oren Liebermann, thank you for that reporting.
The Department of Homeland Security warning about potential right-wing extremist violence this summer fueled in part by QAnon conspiracy theories.
A source familiar with a new intelligence bulletin says QAnon believers are pushing the idea that former President Trump will somehow return to the White House in August. That bizarre reinstatement narrative part of the larger big lie of a stolen election.
WILD: And the active acceptance, the active promotion of this big lie by members of the Republican Party is something that former President Barack Obama is deeply worried about.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: But to see not only a riot in the Capitol around what historically had been a routine process of certifying an election, but to know that one of our two major political parties -- a strong majority of people in those parties actually believed that -- in a falsehood about those election results.
The degree to which misinformation is now disseminated at warp speed in coordinated ways that we haven't seen before, and that the guardrails I thought were in place around many of our democratic institutions really depend on the two parties agreeing to those ground rules and those guardrails. And that one of them, right now, doesn't seem as committed to them as in previous generations -- that worries me. And I think we should all be worried.
(END VIDEO CLIP) WILD: DHS says it has no evidence of a threat connected to Trump's supposed August reinstatement. But it notes that these conspiracy theories have already sparked violence by domestic extremists, so you cannot be too careful.
JARRETT: I've heard a lot about worries.
WILD: Yes.
JARRETT: I've heard a lot about concerns, sounding the alarm. But I haven't heard a lot about what officials are actually doing to disrupt any plots and to actually change minds here.
You cover this stuff every day.
WILD: Yes.
JARRETT: Are you hearing anything?
WILD: Well, I think that's the big question. So, DHS is still trying to struggle with what is --
JARRETT: Yes.
WILD: -- First Amendment-protected speech and what constitutes a real threat? I mean, I don't think that law enforcement has a good answer for that at the moment.
JARRETT: Yes.
WILD: I mean -- so, you know --
JARRETT: (INAUDIBLE).
WILD: -- in the coming days I think we're going to explore that more. But yes, it's really scary.
JARRETT: Yes.
WILD: The big question is how to keep the Capitol secure --
JARRETT: Right.
WILD: -- and its soft targets secure.
JARRETT: Right.
WILD: And so -- yes, we'll explore that more I think.
JARRETT: Well, with just over three weeks to go before the start of the Summer Olympics, health experts in Japan are sounding the alarm about a troubling spike in coronavirus cases.
CNN's Blake Essig is live in Tokyo. Blake, good morning. So what's the plan here? Are these experts' warnings be heeded? BLAKE ESSIG, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes -- you know, Laura, it's been a little more than a week since state of emergency orders were lifted in Tokyo and several other prefectures. Ever since, COVID- 19 cases have started to rebound, increasing for a 10th day in a row compared to the week before, and that could have an impact on the Olympic Games set to begin in just 23 days.
[05:50:07]
Now, recently, a panel of experts advising Tokyo's metropolitan government, warned that the Delta variant first detected in India is showing signs of spreading and suggested that it could soon become the dominant strain here in Japan.
Now, currently, only about 11 percent of Japan's population has been fully vaccinated. And government officials say the infections are spreading mostly among young and middle-aged groups that haven't been vaccinated.
Now, in an effort to limit the spread of infection, a quasi-state of emergency order is in place for Tokyo through July 11th. Tokyo government officials have also decided that the first eight days of the torch relay segment scheduled for next week in Japan's capital will be moved off public roads and held without spectators.
Japan's prime minister has also said that the Olympics could be held without fans if the COVID-19 situation worsens. Now, at this moment, Olympic organizers plan to allow no more than 10,000 local spectators at events despite continued calls for the games to be canceled or postponed.
Tens of thousands of athletes and foreign delegates will be arriving in the coming weeks and that could include first lady Jill Biden, who might attend the opening ceremony. While a final decision hasn't been made when asked whether the first lady will go to Japan for those openings, President Biden said, quote, "That's the plan."
Laura.
JARRETT: All right, we'll see if she goes.
Blake, thanks -- appreciate it.
The Bucks losing their MVP in a blowout loss to the Hawks last night in the Eastern Conference Finals. Andy Scholes was at the game for us and has more in this morning's Bleacher Report. Hey, Andy.
ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, good morning, Laura.
So the injuries are in this year's NBA Playoffs. I mean, they have been just brutal.
And Giannis Antetokounmpo the latest to go down, injuring his knee last night. In the third quarter, Giannis going for a block when he came down awkwardly and his knee bent backwards. Giannis stayed down for a while and was eventually helped off the court by his brother. Now, Giannis went to the locker room. He briefly walked back to the bench before leaving for good.
The Bucks calling it a hyperextended knee. They're going to be doing further testing today.
Now, Milwaukee trailed this entire game despite Hawks star Trae Young sitting out with an injured foot. I'll tell you what, the atmosphere at State Farm Arena was just incredible as Atlanta fans cheered the Hawks to a 110-88 blowout win.
The series now tied at two. And all eyes are going to be on Giannis' knee ahead of game five tomorrow night.
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P.J. TUCKER, FORWARD, MILWAUKEE BUCKS: It's not good losing anybody on your team and losing your best player stinks.
But we didn't come out with energy tonight. We thought we was just going to walk in and win the game. We didn't do anything to show that we wanted to win this game tonight. We were flat, and our guy's injury was just another piece of the puzzle to us losing.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHOLES: All right. Serena Williams beginning her quest for a record- tying 4th Grand Slam title yesterday at Wimbledon, but it ended in heartbreak. Serena slipping in the first set, hurting her right leg. She went to the locker room and then tried to continue, but after falling again was forced to retire due to injury. It's on the second time in her legendary career she's left the Grand Slam due to injury.
The 39-year-old walking off the court in tears to a standing ovation. She waved goodbye to the fans.
Serena later posting on Instagram, "My love and gratitude are with the fans and the team who make being on centre court so meaningful. Feeling the extraordinary warmth and support of the crowd when I walked on and off the court meant the world to me."
Many blaming the slick conditions of the grass for Serena's injury. The All England Club saying in a statement rain forced them to close the roof more than normal, resulting in slipperier conditions.
All right, police in Pasadena, California tell CNN Dodgers pitcher Trevor Bauer is being investigated for assault. The attorney for the accuser says she received a temporary restraining order against Bauer.
The reigning Cy Young award winner has not been charged with a crime but police have interviewed him, according to reports.
Bauer denies the allegations, saying the relationship was consensual, according to a statement from his agent.
Major League Baseball says it's aware of the investigation and is looking into the allegation. All right, the College World Series, meanwhile, will come down to a winner-take-all game three tonight. Mississippi State staying alive with a 13 to two win over Vanderbilt last night. It could be a big night for the Bulldogs. They will be playing for their first championship in any team sport, while Vandy is going to be going for their second straight national title and the third since 2014.
But I'll tell you what, guys. If Mississippi State wins that first title for any of -- for their school, those guys will be forever legends at Mississippi State.
JARRETT: I'll take your word for that.
All right, Andy. Thanks so much -- appreciate it.
SCHOLES: All right.
JARRETT: All right, thanks for joining us, everyone.
WILD: I'm Whitney Wild.
JARRETT: I'm Laura Jarrett. "NEW DAY" is next.
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[05:59:46]
JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning to our viewers here in the United States and all around the world. It is Wednesday, June 30th. I'm John Berman in Surfside, Florida this morning, along with Erica Hill in New York.
Here in Surfside, the agonizing search for survivors enters day seven as questions mount about the cause of this deadly building collapse. And this morning, an eyewitness who escaped from the condo tower.
