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Early Start with Rahel Solomon

Meta And YouTube Accused Of Addicting Children To Their Platforms; Winter Olympics In Italy; Rising Temperatures In The East, Snow And Rain For The West. Aired 5:30-6a ET

Aired February 10, 2026 - 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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[05:34:10]

RAHEL SOLOMON, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back to EARLY START. The time now is 5:33 and this is your business breakout.

Let's start with where U.S. futures stand ahead of the opening bell on Wall Street. And right now futures are mixed but pretty much trading near the flatline.

Lots of data for investors to sink their teeth into this week. We have retail sales coming a little bit later today. We have the jobs report -- the delayed jobs report coming tomorrow. And then we have the Consumer Price Index coming a little later this week. So it could be an interesting week for the markets.

Let's take a look at some of the other business headlines this morning.

South Korean lawmakers are trying to quickly pass new legislation to avoid a U.S. tariff hike. The Trump administration has threatened to raise tariffs on South Korea's exports from 15 to 25 percent if it doesn't follow through on its $350 billion worth of investment commitments. A special committee is being urged to pass the legislation by the end of the month.

[05:35:00]

Retailer Eddie Bauer has filed for bankruptcy. The popular outdoor sportswear chain says that it plans to sell about 200 stores across the U.S. and Canada due to declining sales and supply chain issues. The brand's troubles escalated following the Trump administration's tariff policies and inflation.

Lyft just launched new rideshare features for teenagers. The company says that it will only match teen passengers with drivers who meet the highest standards, including background checks, safe driving records, and positive feedback history. And parents will also be able to track their teen's location live.

Well, Meta and YouTube are accused of having "engineered addiction in children's brains." That's according to opening statements in a landmark trial underway in Los Angeles. The tech giants say that the claims aren't true.

CNN's Clare Duffy has more.

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CLARE DUFFY, CNN TECH REPORTER: Yes, opening statements kicked off with the plaintiff's lawyer Mark Lanier referring to these social media platforms as digital slot machines for children.

The plaintiff in this case is a 20-year-old woman known as Kaley who says she started using Instagram and YouTube as a young child and accuses the platforms of intentionally developing addictive features -- things like their endlessly scrolling feeds and late-night notifications. And she says those features caused her to develop mental health challenges, including anxiety, body dysmorphia, and suicidal thoughts.

Now we also expect during opening statements to get a sense of how the companies, Meta and YouTube, will form their arguments in this case. And the companies have said that they reject this idea that their platforms cause young people mental health challenges. They also indicated during jury selection that they plan to argue that Kaley's difficult childhood -- an abusive father -- were responsible for her mental health challenges rather than these platforms.

I'll also read to you what a Meta and YouTube spokesperson told us about this lawsuit. A Meta spokesperson said, "We strongly disagree with these allegations, and we are confident the evidence will show our longstanding commitment to supporting young people." A YouTube spokesperson told me "Providing young people with a safer, healthier experience has always been core to our work. The allegations in these complaints are simply not true."

But this case is really a significant moment for the parents, the families, and the advocates who for years have been asking for more accountability and more guardrails from these platforms. This is just the first of hundreds of lawsuits against these companies and it really could have significant ramifications in terms of how those other cases are resolved if Kaley wins this case. We could see the tech companies on the hook for monetary damages and requirements to make changes to their platforms.

So something that we'll be watching very closely as this trial plays out. It is expected to last through the end of March. And we also expect to hear from executives from these companies, including Meta's CEO, in the coming weeks.

Back to you.

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SOLOMON: Clare Duffy, thank you.

Straight ahead we'll have the latest from the Winter Olympics, including more on a rivalry on the ice as the U.S. faces off against Canada in women's hockey. We'll be right back.

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[05:42:35]

SOLOMON: Welcome back. I'm Rahel Solomon. And here are some of the stories we are watching for you today.

A second reported ransom deadline in Nancy Guthrie's disappearance has now passed. Her daughter, "TODAY" show host Savannah Guthrie, made a new plea on Monday asking the public for any information in this case. The FBI says that they don't know of any communication or new communication between the Guthrie family and the possible captors, and no suspect has been publicly identified.

Epstein accomplice and convicted sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell invoked her Fifth Amendment right to silence during a congressional deposition on Monday. Lawmakers call her decision disappointment. Maxwell's attorney says that she is willing to testify and clear President Donald Trump's name of any wrongdoing if she is granted clemency.

And another partial government shutdown could happen as soon as Friday. That's if lawmakers cannot agree on funding for the Department of Homeland Security. Democrats want reforms to the Trump administration's immigration enforcement tactics. Republicans call their demands unreasonable.

More gold medals are up for grabs today as competition resumes at the Winter Olympics. Among the finals, women's alpine skiing, men's slopestyle, and mixed doubles curling.

Let's get to CNN's Amanda Davies who joins us live with the latest from Milan. Amanda, good morning. Let's begin with alpine skiing and an exciting day for the U.S. women's team.

AMANDA DAVIES, CNN WORLD SPORT: Yeah, 10 gold medals actually up for grabs here on day four of the games.

And if the first few days have all been about Lindsey Vonn, then you suspect the next few will all be on eyes on her U.S. teammate Mikaela Shiffrin, the most successful female alpine skier of all time. And for everything that Shiffrin has won -- her record-breaking feats on the World Cup circuit -- she has a real sense of unfinished business when it comes to the Olympic Games. This is her fourth.

And while she is a two-time gold medal winner she went into 2022 as the favorite to win golds in at least three of the six events, but she failed to medal. You might remember those pictures of her sitting on the slopes with her head in her hands. And she's had a really tough couple of years since then with major crashes and injuries, and she's been very open about how they very much impacted her approach to racing.

[05:45:05] She's talked about suffering with PTSD as a result of them and so how she's very much just looking to try and take the pressure off herself heading into this one.

Now, she's competing in the first of her three events that she's skiing today, and that is alongside the downhill winner Breezy Johnson.

In the new event, the team combined, Breezy has just skied and I can tell you has put Team USA into the top spot as they look to win another gold for Team USA. They're the current world champions, having taken victory last year. But we need for Shiffrin to take part in the slalom and then those two times get combined.

But elsewhere, as Olympic rivalries go, USA-Canada in women's hockey is up there, isn't it, and that is what we are looking forward to later on Tuesday -- a rematch of the 2022 final, which Canada won. They're meeting in the group stage. So although they both know they are through to their knockouts, what we're talking about here is fighting for seeding places in the next round.

Canada have won five golds since Nagano back in 1998. Every single world championship and Olympic gold has gone to one of these two teams in women's hockey. Canada are the defending champions but the U.S., the reigning world champions and the team who took the victory and the bragging rights in their latest rivalry series between the pair. Both very much going to be determined to lay down a marker and we are very much looking forward to attending that one later.

But laying down a marker is something the host Italy have done. They have stunned the women's hockey world over the last few days having entered this competition having never won an Olympic match before. They have now qualified for the quarterfinals for the first time. They sealed the deal with a 3-2 win over Japan on Monday night.

And then later at the figure skating arena that dynamic duo Madison Chock and Evan Bates described themselves as pretty happy after their rhythm dance, even though their score not as good as their first outing in the team competition. They are the three-time world champions sitting in second place behind the French pair of Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Guillaume Cizeron. And so that means a brilliant second day of competition to come on Wednesday.

But ahead of that it's a huge night -- set to be a very emotional evening. The Olympic debut of Team USA's Maxim Naumov just 12 months after losing both of his parents in that Washington plane crash. And, of course, there's also the return of the "Quad God" Ilia Malinin in the men's competition.

SOLOMON: All right, a lot to watch. Amanda, thank you.

Well, CNN meteorologist Allison Chinchar is apparently a curling enthusiast and instructor. She gave our Victor Blackwell and Coy Wire a crash course.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) ALLISON CHINCHAR, AMS METEOROLOGIST: This may look like housecleaning on ice.

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: Lots of folks would not even think this is a sport.

COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: It's actually one of the most strategic sports in the Olympics.

CHINCHAR, BLACKWELL, WIRE: Welcome to curling.

CHINCHAR: Sweep! Keep sweeping!

BLACKWELL (voiceover): We got to spend some time with the curlers at the Peachtree Curling Association in Marietta, Georgia. It's the only dedicated curling facility in the state. And our own Allison Chinchar showed us the ropes.

BLACKWELL: So what is curling?

CHINCHAR: So it's kind of like shuffleboard on ice. Essentially, you have two teams of four different people, and the object is to get the stones all the way from one end down to what looks like a bullseye. It's called the "house."

CHINCHAR (voiceover): Essentially, each team throws eight stones per end. The players will take turns sliding the stone down the ice toward the house with the goal of getting it as close to the button as possible. Now, the stones can also be used to knock other stones out of the way or even block shots. Those are called "guards."

Once the stone is released and crosses a hog line your teammates can begin sweeping. Now, it must cross the far hog line in order to actually stay in play. If not, it's removed. You score one point for each stone closer to the button than the opponent's closest stone. But stones must be at least partly inside the house to count.

WIRE: That's a long way away. I didn't realize it was that far.

CHINCHAR: That's why you have sweepers because you're sweepers can help assist the rock, making it all the way down just in case you don't quite give it that bump that's needed to make it all the way to the end.

BLACKWELL (voiceover): Once we got the rules it was time to get into the game.

CHINCHAR: As I push you are going to sweep. You're trying to almost make a divot as you sweep. Sweep! Sweep! Hard!

BLACKWELL (voiceover): Sweeping melts the ice slightly.

[05:50:00]

WIRE (voiceover): It makes the stone travel farther.

BLACKWELL (voiceover): And sweeping isn't cleaning, it's science.

BLACKWELL: The harder we sweep --

BLACKWELL, WIRE: -- the farther it goes.

CHINCHAR: Get in your position then put your foot on the this.

WIRE: I can do it, believe.

CHINCHAR: There you go.

WIRE: (Laughing).

BLACKWELL: Wait! I'm --

CHINCHAR: One, two, three.

BLACKWELL (voiceover): The best part though might be once the games are over.

CHINCHAR: And now that it's all over and you finally know what you're supposed to do, now is the best part. This is where we all hang out afterwards. It's called "broom stacking." Have a drink and chat with some good friends and enjoy the time. But you're missing the very last step. That is what really separates you from a true fan, and that is the hats.

BLACKWELL: (Laughing).

WIRE: Oh, lord.

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SOLOMON: And our director Mark Swanson tells me it is much harder than it looks. A big thanks to Victor Blackwell, Coy Wire, and Allison Chinchar.

Well, the tennis world is talking about a possible comeback for Serena Williams, but the 23-time grand slam singles champion isn't saying whether she plans to return to the court. The sports drug testing organization has listed her as eligible to compete starting on February 22. Williams last played professionally at the 2022 U.S. Open. She said then she didn't want to use the word "retiring" but preferred to say that she was evolving away from tennis. So stay tuned.

After weeks of a deep freeze a dramatic pattern shift is set to flip temperatures across the U.S. Stay with us for more details here.

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[05:56:08]

SOLOMON: We're learning more about what caused the sudden death of Catherine O'Hara last month. The iconic Emmy-winning actress suffered a pulmonary embolism, which is when a blood clot blocks an artery in the lungs. Her death certificate also reveals that she was being treated for rectal cancer.

O'Hara's career spanned half a century, but she was best known for her roles as Moira rose in "SCHITT'S CREEK" and as Kevin's mother in "HOME ALONE." O'Hara was 71 years old.

In the U.S., the East has been locked in a deep freeze for weeks but now that is about to change, along with a new system headed to the West.

CNN's Derek Van Dam has the latest on rising temperatures and his snow forecast.

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DEREK VAN DAM, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Well, the big freeze continues. There is some light at the end of the tunnel. We're going to get a bit of a reprieve in terms of the temperatures and get back to more normal daytime highs for this time of year. Of course, it's still mid- February so it will be cold and it'll be wintry, but we're not as cold as what we have been.

Did you know that there have been a few locations across northern New England -- specifically, Albany, New York, for instance -- that hasn't seen the mercury in the thermometer rise above the freezing mark. I think that'll probably change here in the next day or so. But nonetheless, you step outside and we still have single-digit windchill values for places like Buffalo and southward into Portland and Boston. Even below zero for Burlington.

But as we go forward by another 24 hours or so -- Wednesday, actually -- expect a brief reprieve from those drastically cold, frigid, dangerously cold windchill values for much of the East Coast before another shot of cooler air settles in and we get back to kind of a normalizing weather pattern here, at least for the time being.

So here's a look at the high temperatures. This is the actual air temperature. And the warmth that I alluded to is right here. You can see it built across the Central Plains, and it's moved through the Ohio Valley. Tuesday we're expecting these temperatures to range from the 60s to the lower 70s, depending on where you're located.

And then the warmth kind of diffuses as it works it way eastward, but it does help warm the temperatures up and that's really needed because guess what? We've had these record highs building over the Central Plains and lots of cold air locked in across the Northeast. That will be changed by this kind of a pattern flip with the exception of a few shots of cooler air starting to settle in behind a few cold fronts that move in from Canada.

But really, this is all part of a larger pattern shift that is unfolding across the country. The western parts of the U.S. have been dominated by dry and warmer than average temperatures while the East has been cooler than average.

And I think things are about to change in terms of what we will see on the horizon. In fact, this is the upper level winds. We call this the jet stream -- getting kind of that wavy action to it. And so that's going to give us brief shots of warm and cold air depending on the exact timing.

But all in all, the long-range outlook from the Climate Prediction Center, above average over the Eastern two-thirds and below average -- a higher percent of chances of low average temperatures over the West Coast. And it's all thanks to this break in the weather pattern.

So we've got a low pressure system that will move into the state of California and bring some much needed snowfall to the Intermountain West -- specifically, the Sierra Nevada Mountain Ranges, which will be measuring snowfall in feet by the time this storm is all said and done.

Well, we can use the relief from the cold air and start to bring out temperatures back to where they should be this time of year.

Back to you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SOLOMON: Derek Van Dam, thank you.

Researchers have some good news for coffee and tea lovers around the world. A new study has found that you don't have to cut out your morning caffeine fix to protect your brain against dementia. In fact, people who drink two to three cups of coffee or one to two cups of tea a day -- well, they may actually see a boost in cognitive health in the long-term. Researchers did not observe the same benefit from decaffeinated beverages.

[06:00:00]

This joins other studies that link caffeinated coffee and tea to better health outcomes. Good news perhaps for those of us on this show.

All right, that'll do it for us here on EARLY START. I'm Rahel Solomon live in New York. I'll see you tomorrow. But in the meantime "CNN THIS MORNING" starts right now.