Return to Transcripts main page

New Day

Viruses Escape From Labs; Florida Governor Won't Require Vaccines; Iconic Music Hall Reopens; Protests over Hat Store; Honoring Fallen Heroes; Fan Arrested at NBA Game. Aired 6:30-7a ET

Aired May 31, 2021 - 06:30   ET

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

[06:30:00]

HADAS GOLD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Just seeing Netanyahu in power, few rule out the possibility of a further twist or two before this story finally resolves.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GOLD: Now, Israeli politics can change on a dime, so many people here are waiting for the votes to actually be counted in parliament and the new government to actually be sworn in. But another important thing to keep in mind here is that Netanyahu is still facing a corruption trial on charges he denies, but many political observers here say that Netanyahu not only faces losing power, losing his role as prime minister, but also potentially losing any sort of political way out he may have out of this trial.

John.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, and this could all go down in the next few days.

Hadas Gold, thank you so much for being there for us. Appreciate it.

As the coronavirus lab leak theory gains steam, one former health official says it's not uncommon for viruses to escape from labs.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: Plus, a Nashville hat store facing backlash after promoting a patch resembling the star of David with the words "not vaccinated." We'll have that story, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:35:58]

KEILAR: This weekend, former FDA Head Scott Gottlieb discussing the possibility that coronavirus originated in a Chinese lab and explaining that these types of leaks are actually common.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. SCOTT GOTTLIEB, FORMER FDA COMMISSIONER: That's right, these kinds of lab leaks happen all the time, actually. Even here in the United States we've had mishaps. And in China, the last six known outbreaks of SARS 1 have been out of labs, including the last known outbreak, which was a pretty extensive outbreak that China initially wouldn't disclose that it came out of a lab.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: All right, we have to talk about this with CNN's senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen.

OK, Elizabeth, I mean these happen all the time? Then why -- why are labs proceeding like this?

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: I mean, Brianna, all the time is kind of a bit of a fuzzy term, but Dr. Gottlieb is right in that the list is long from lab leaks, not just from China, but from other countries as well. I'm going to give you three highlights, so to speak.

If you look in 1978, the U.K. had a smallpox leak, then actually ended up in infection. People got infected with smallpox.

In China, in SARS, in 2000 -- sorry, in China, there was a lab leak that resulted in people getting SARS in 2014. And that wasn't the only one, as Dr. Gottlieb said.

In the U.S. there was a leak of anthrax in 2014 that did not end in anyone getting sick, but there were many people who were potentially exposed.

And that brings me, Brianna, to two important points. First of all, most of these lab leaks, they don't actually end up in anyone getting leak. But, still, you shouldn't have a lab leak. You should have good rules, good procedures so that they don't happen. So while lab leaks may be common, they don't usually result in an actual infection.

And, secondly, I want to make it clear, just because a virus leaked from a lab doesn't mean it was invented in that lab. It could be out in the community, as well as in a lab, and came out of the lab. So it doesn't mean the lab was the origin of the virus, it just means that the lab potentially helped spread that virus.

Brianna.

KEILAR: OK. So there's also this showdown that we're watching. It's going on between Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and the cruise line because he is banning them from asking people whether they have been vaccinated. Cruise lines say this is going to make it harder for them to return to normal. Taking the politics out of this, what is the impact of putting unvaccinated people together onboard a cruise ship?

COHEN: Brianna, you do not need to be a virologist to know that putting a bunch of people on a ship where they're not -- you don't have a lot of vaccinated people, you have a lot of unvaccinated people, could cause problems. We see how quickly this virus can spread. You put these people in a contained area, and, yes, cruise ships do their best to keep things cleaned and to ventilate the air, et cetera, but, still, you're in a very contained space where at times it's very hard to social distance. And if people aren't vaccinated, guess what, coronavirus can spread. And that's why it's so important that they have all or nearly all of those people vaccinated.

One, it saves lives. Number two, two words for you, Diamond Princess. We do not want that to happen again. They poor people who get stuck on these ships, they're quarantined. It is a public health mess. I can't think of a better example where it is in the interest of public health to require vaccination.

KEILAR: Yes, it is perplexing because it seem like this would be good business to have a safe environment.

COHEN: Exactly. Exactly.

KEILAR: Elizabeth Cohen, great to see you this morning. Thank you.

COHEN: Thanks.

KEILAR: John.

BERMAN: So the show goes on after more than a year of being closed to the pandemic. The iconic Stone Pony music venue in Asbury Park, New Jersey, is reopening its doors today. The venue opened in 1974 and gained notoriety thanks to incredible, live performances by rock legends and New Jersey natives, including Bruce Springsteen, Steve Van Zandt and Southside Johnny.

Joining me now is Caroline O'Toole, she's the general manager of The Stone Pony.

And, Caroline, I know you waited 14 months to reopen. The pandemic kept you closed for 14 months and then rain this weekend delayed it by two more days.

[06:40:00]

So today's your first live perform. How excited are you?

CAROLINE O'TOOLE, GENERAL MANAGER, THE STONE PONY: Oh, we're very excited, John. Thank you so much for having me on today. And greetings from Asbury Park. And we're ready to rock and roll starting today.

BERMAN: Starting today, live music again at The Stone Pony, which is long overdue for some people. What precautions are you going to take? A smaller stage today. July 31st I know you're live almost 5,000 seat venue will open. What precautions are you taking?

O'TOOLE: Well, here in our state we believe that people are doing the right thing. So we're going to follow our state guidelines and, you know, trust that the people of New Jersey, when asked to step up and do the right thing, will always do the right thing. So we're pretty confident in our crowd coming in today.

BERMAN: Masked? Unmasked? Requiring vaccination? Not requiring? What do the state rules dictate? O'TOOLE: The state rules right now are, if you're unvaccinated, you

should wear a mask and socially distanced. If you're vaccinated, none of that applies. So we're going to go ahead with our state and do the same.

BERMAN: If you're vaccinated, show up and enjoy the music, shoulder to shoulder, yell and scream and sing along, do whatever you can.

O'TOOLE: Absolutely.

BERMAN: Listen, how -- how hard has this been for you the last 14 months? How much longer could you have survived without live music?

O'TOOLE: Without live music in -- you know, the last 14 months, a lot of businesses were going through the same thing that we did. You never thought that the shutdown was going to last that long. So what you -- you just had to do the best that you could. And we were very lucky in -- we got a lot of support in our online merchandise store, not just from people in our country, but from all around the world. And we sold a lot of these. We still have a lot left. Only now we're called them, John, collectors' items.

BERMAN: That's right.

O'TOOLE: So -- so we've been very lucky. But I think like every business, you just had to do the best you could and -- and wait it out. And here we are.

BERMAN: Well, look, I'm so glad that you made it through. We wish you the best of luck going forward. Those masks, I know, probably saved a lot of lives over the last 14 months and they will work well as collectors' items going forward.

O'TOOLE: Thank you.

BERMAN: I hope so many people get down to the shore to see The Stone Pony. Thanks so much for being with us, Caroline. Appreciate it.

O'TOOLE: Thank you so much. Appreciate it.

BERMAN: So, this morning, a Nashville hat shop is apologizing after sparking widespread condemnation for announcing on social media that it was selling yellow patches similar to the Star of David with the words "not vaccinated." This comes after Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene compared vaccine mandates with the Holocaust.

Jean Casarez joins us now.

I guess the apology came better late than never, but, still, so many questions about what on earth they were thinking?

JEAN CASAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: A lot of questions. The post has been deleted. But here's what it said. It said, quote, patches are here. They turned out great. $5 each. Strong adhesive back. We'll be offering truckers soon. Now, according to The Holocaust Memorial Center, Jewish people in Europe, they were legally forced to wear badges or other identifiers at various points in history. The Nazi's continued this practice, which, according to the center's website, made the Jew's separation from society much easier and ultimately six million Jews were murdered.

Well, this weekend, in Nashville, protesters gathered outside the store with signs that read "no Nazis in Nashville" and "Nashville, Condemns HatWRKS."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RON RIVLIN, COMMUNITY MEMBER: When you take a symbol like the gold -- the yellow star that was foisted upon Jews to ostracize them and make them victims, and then they took all those people and brought them onto boxcars and annihilated them.

Don't belittle the memories of six million Jews by using that -- that -- that symbol.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CASAREZ: Stetson, which sold their hats at the store, has posted on social media, quote, as a result of the offensive content and opinions shared by HatWRKS in Nashville, Stetson and our distribution partners will cease the sale of all Stetson products.

Several other hat brands say they have also cut ties with the store. Kangol headwear, Tula hats and Goorin Bros.

CNN has made several attempts to reach owner Gigi Gaskins. She has not responded, but has posted this to the store's Instagram account, quote, in no way did I intend to trivialize the Star of David or disrespect what happened to millions of people. That is not who I am or what I stand for. My intent was not to exploit or make a profit. My hope was to share my genuine concern and fear and to do all that I can to make sure that nothing like that ever happens again. I sincerely apologize for any insensitivity.

John.

BERMAN: I have to say, though, it makes it sound like it was some kind of mistake or something, but it was so deliberate and intentional as they were trying to sell those patches.

[06:45:05]

You know, I don't -- I don't know if the apology quite goes far enough for some people in Nashville.

Jean, thanks so much for that.

So late-night drama in the Texas senate. Democrats blocking a restrictive Republican voting law for now. We'll talk to the Democratic leader who orchestrated this last-minute walkout. KEILAR: Plus, today is the day to honor fallen service members. General Mark Hertling joins us next to discuss the true meaning of the Memorial Day holiday.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KEILAR: For many, Memorial Day means picnics and barbeques, a three- day weekend that unofficially kicks off summer. But the holiday's true meaning, of course, is to honor fallen service members who have given their lives for their country.

I want to talk now with retired Lieutenant General Mark Hertling.

Sir, I'm so glad to have you on this morning because I want to discuss this special way that you remember service members who have died fighting for the country, defending the country.

[06:50:07]

How do you do that?

LT. GEN. MARK HERTLING, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Well, a couple of us, Brianna -- first of all, good morning.

And a couple of us, Brianna, carry a box that started back in 2004 with our division commander, General Dempsey. He used to make plastic cards with the picture and some information about soldiers we lost in combat. As we repeated tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, that box grew. Unfortunately, my box now holds 253 cards of soldiers that I either served with or were under my command in combat who gave the ultimate sacrifice. And, truthfully, that box sits right here on my desk. I look at it every day and try and remember those young faces and how they might be today with their families, missing them, of course, and how much they gave to the nation.

And it's an opportunity for me, on a daily basis, to remember, reflect, and rededicate myself to who we are as a nation. On top of the box is a phrase that we always used to comment on in combat when we had memorial services called -- it just simply said "make it matter." We would rededicate ourselves to what we were doing and serve in honor of those that we lost in combat.

KEILAR: And I understand there are two particular service members that you would like to talk about, Private Jonathan Falaniko (ph) and Command Sergeant Major Eric Cooke (ph).

Can you tell us about them?

HERTLING: Yes, Brianna, you -- Brianna, you have actually extended something that Alisyn Camerota, your predecessor, did, where we would talk about several of them every year on Memorial Day. But those two particular ones meant a lot to me.

Sergeant Major Cooke, first of all, was a brigade command sergeant major in the first armor division when we were in Baghdad in 2003 and 2004. And he lost his life on Christmas Eve to an improvised explosive device. His family, back in Germany, that was waiting for him, they were all told, his wife, Daggmar (ph), was told Christmas morning about his death. He was just universally loved in the division and especially in his brigade. He had served in the first Armory in Germany for a long time, and he was just a living legend.

The other soldier, Jonathan Falaniko, had just come to us from basic training. He had -- he had just arrived about three weeks earlier when he was killed in action. And what was interesting about Jonathan was, he was the son of the engineer brigade -- he was an engineer but he was also the son of the engineer brigade command sergeant major, Sergeant Major Neil Falaniko (ph). And, unfortunately, what Sergeant Major Falaniko had to do was escort that body back to Germany, where they picked up his wife and Jonathan's mother, and then continued on to Arlington Cemetery.

What was interesting -- I was talking about these two individuals and many others at a ceremony yesterday and I got an email from my old sergeant major, Roger Blackwood (ph). And he had just visited Arlington and sent me the two pictures of their gravesides and said, we're remembering our soldiers, not -- not knowing that I had talked about them just this -- that morning. So this year those two are especially moving tributes to two individuals that served their nation, along with so many other diverse soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines that were in our task force.

KEILAR: You know, I'm so glad that you could highlight them. This is a really tough day for military folks and military-connected folks. And I know that a lot of times civilians feel a bit of a disconnects, but I think this is really one of the ways that they can connect with Memorial Day, which is learning about the people that are being remembered.

So, General Hertling, thank you for helping us do that.

HERTLING: Thank you, Brianna. Thanks for having me on.

KEILAR: We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:58:25]

BERMAN: Just days after the NBA released an enhanced code of conduct for fans, another awful incident is making headlines.

Carolyn Manno has more this morning in the "Bleacher Report." This one in Boston, just so stupid, Carolyn.

CAROLYN MANNO, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: That's right. Good morning, John.

It's great to have fans back at games, presuming that they remember how to act. We all love a rivalry, but players need to feel safe. And this is a troubling trend that we've seen since fans have returned to sporting events. Former Celtics turned Nets star Kyrie Irving facing his old team in

Boston. And after Irving's 39-point performance helped lift the nets to a 3-1 series lead, a Boston fan was caught throwing a water bottle at him as he was leaving the floor. Now according to a statement released from the TD Garden, the man was arrested by Boston Police. He's now subject to a lifetime ban from the arena. This after three NBA teams had to ban fans for crossing the line with players last Wednesday night.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KYRIE IRVING, BROOKLYN NETS GUARD: (INAUDIBLE) that way in history in terms of entertainment, performers and sports for a long period of time with this underlying racism and just treating people like they're in a human zoo, you know, throwing stuff at people, saying things. You know, there's a certain point where it gets to be too much.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MANNO: And, John and Brianna, as you heard there, Kyrie Irving feels that there's a racial undertone to this. Kevin Durant adding that people need to have more respect for the game, including the human beings who play it.

BERMAN: Yes, you can't -- you can't do this. I mean fans can't do this. It's not safe for the players to play if fans are throw things at them.

And just think about the mentality of a fan thinking that it's within their rights to cause harm, you know, at least threaten harm to the players.

[07:00:04]

It really is astounding.

MANNO: Unacceptable.

KEILAR: Completely.

BERMAN: All right, Caroline, thank you very much.