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New Day

Chen Says Gold Medal Not Possible Without his Mom; States Lifting Mask Mandates; Rhinos Under Threat from Poaching; Snowstorm Headed for Great Lakes. Aired 6:30-7a ET

Aired February 11, 2022 - 06:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:32:10]

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: All right, Nathan Chen says that his gold medal wouldn't be possible without one person. Is it -- no, it's not John Berman, it's his mom. He said it's not possible without his mom.

Coy Wire just spoke with the American skating star at the Beijing Olympics, and he joins us with more.

That's going to be very disappointing to John Berman because of all that great advice that he gave him so many years ago. But, you know, mom has been there through thick and thin.

COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: You just confused Nathan Chen with Tom Brady. But I understand what you meant, Brianna.

Look, our crew here, we drove five hours round trip from these mountains to Beijing to meet with the quad king. He hadn't slept much. And as a kid, this is someone who predicted he was going to be an Olympian one day. When he was 10, even though he was born and raised in Salt Lake, his current coach was in California. But mom found a way to help Nathan pursue his passion.

I talked with him about it not even 24 hours after he won gold. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NATHAN CHEN, MEN'S FIGURE SKATING GOLD MEDALIST: She still scrapped together as many dollars as she could and would drive me from Utah to California, back to Utah to California, back to Utah to California, over and over and over. Racked up like hundreds of thousands of miles on her Prius. But, you know, we made it back and forth and, you know, just goes to show she didn't -- you know, any -- any hour of the day, you know, whether it was 3:00 a.m., she was just trucking -- you know, trucking along in the car and getting me to my training sessions. For her to just like just completely -- not a second thought. Just immediately, yes, you need to go? Let's go. Hop in the car, let's go to California. It's just like unreal.

(END VIDEO CLIP) WIRE: That's love.

And lots of love after the ride of a lifetime. Snowboarding legend Shaun White's final Olympic run putting a bow on an historic, iconic revolutionary career. At 35 years old, in his fifth Olympics, Shaun White put up a score, enough to finish fourth in this halfpipe final. This was 16 years after his Olympic debut.

He teared up. It looked almost as if he wasn't prepared for how this was going to hit him. Shaun White finishes with three gold medals and a GOAT status next to his name. He says he's grateful for the legacy he's leaving for the next generation.

All right, Rams, Bengals going at it this Sunday to see who's going to hoist that Super Bowl trophy. The NFL already handing out some hardware in Los Angeles, though. Last night, and for the second year in a row, Packers' quarterback Aaron Rodgers is the league MVP. It's his fourth time winning the award in a 17-year career. Only Peyton Manning has won more with five of them. He beat out a strong list of Jonathan Taylor, Cooper Kupp, and Tom Brady, who now trails Rodgers with three league MVPs. That is, of course, until Brady unretires, Brianna, goes back to New England and wins John Berman's Patriots another Super Bowl in John's dreams probably.

KEILAR: In John's dreams.

BERMAN: Coy, who do you like in the game on Sunday?

WIRE: You know, I said the Rams were going to make it. I'm going to stick with them. Although it would be awesome for the city of Cincinnati and the whole state of Ohio if those Bengals can pull it off.

[06:35:02]

I'm going with the Rams.

KEILAR: Going with the Rams. OK, we'll see, right? It is upon us.

All right, Coy, thank you so much for the live report from China.

So, before football's biggest night, pregame the Ram-Bengals matchup with Coy Wire and Andy Scholes. Kickoff in L.A. A CNN "Bleacher Report" special airing live tomorrow at 2:30 p.m.

BERMAN: This morning, several states set schedules to abandon indoor mask mandates despite the CDC believing now is not the time. President Biden says the growing trend is a big concerning.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It is confusing. It's worrisome to people. They're trying to figure out. But what I've tried to do, I've tried to make sure we have all the vaccines needed, all the boosters, all the masks needed, all the protection that's needed.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: CNN has new reporting on the metrics states are watching when deciding to lift these mandates.

CNN's Jacqueline Howard joins us now with that.

Jacqueline, what have you learned?

JACQUELINE HOWARD, CNN HEALTH REPORTER: John, well, I reached out to all of the states that have plans to lift their indoor or school mask mandates in the next few weeks. We should have a list of the states here.

And I found some interesting, common themes in their responses to my question of what metrics they used. And, of course, I asked this question because the CDC still recommends to wear masks in areas with high or substantial transmission. The United States is still averaging more than 2,000 deaths a day. But when I reached out to these states, their governor more so focused on their hospitalization rates. Many of these states are seeing significant declines in their hospitalizations. Yes, case counts played a role in decision-making, but hospitalizations really seem to be a factor that had more of an emphasis in the response I received from these states.

Number two, these states also highlighted their high vaccination rates. So, in the United States, about 64.3 percent of the U.S. population is fully vaccinated. All of these states, except for one, you see Nevada here, but all of them have a higher vaccination rate than that national average.

And then number three, John, these states also really emphasized how they were among some of the first to adopt strict measures early on in the pandemic. And the governors I talked to said that those strict measures played a role in them seeing these subsequent declines in hospitalizations, subsequent declines in case counts.

And, you know, there's still a few states that never had mask mandates and a handful that even went as far as banned school mask mandates. So that's something important to keep in mind.

But the takeaway here, John, it seems like these states really focused again more so on hospitalizations and vaccinations more so than transmission, which signals a shift in our thinking here of the pandemic.

John.

BERMAN: We'll see what happens going forward.

Jacqueline Howard, thank you so much.

This is an amazing story. S-a-v-e-d. How Wordle, the wildly popular online word game, helped a daughter end her 80-year-old mother's 17- hour hostage ordeal.

Plus, rhino poaching rising sharply in South Africa. We'll take you behind the scenes of an aerial operation and the ongoing efforts to save them.

KEILAR: And Sting sells his catalog for nearly $300 million. Maybe now literally walking in fields of gold.

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[06:42:38]

BERMAN: This story is just amazing.

Wordle has become such an obsession. Now it may have saved an Illinois woman's life.

Eighty-year-old Denyse Holt was being held hostage in her home and was only rescued after her daughter noticed she had not shared her Wordle score and called police.

"EARLY START" anchor and attorney at law Laura Jarrett joins us with these details.

I can't believe this.

LAURA JARRETT, CNN ANCHOR, "EARLY START": It's remarkable. It's remarkable. Your favorite new game, John, not just a pandemic distraction anymore.

Eighty-year-old Denyse Holt was sleeping in her home just outside of Chicago last week when truly every woman's worst nightmare happened to her. A naked man, armed with a pair of scissors, broke in the home and got into bed with her. Terrified, as you can imagine, Holt says she tried to stay calm as she -- as he forced her into the shower with him in her nightgown and then dragged her around the house, sopping wet, as he disconnected her phone lines.

Now, enough time went by that morning that Holt's daughter noticed she hadn't heard from her mom and she had a hunch that something was wrong because her mom was reading her messages but her mom wasn't responding. And then there was this other sure sign that something was off.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DENYSE HOLT, HELD HOSTAGE: I didn't send my older daughter a Wordle in the morning. And that was disconcerting to her.

MEREDITH HOLT-CALDWELL, DENYSE HOLT'S DAUGHTER: I never thought in a million years this is what was happening, but it was.

HOLT: I'm very lucky.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JARRETT: Thankfully, her daughter reached out to police for a wellness check. The officers arrived at the home in time. They saw the broken window at the home and ultimately found Holt locked in a basement bathroom downstairs. Officers managed to subdue the man who had broken in, who by this point was surrounded by several knives. The suspect was arrested and now faces multiple felony charges.

Just the most terrifying thing that can happen.

BERMAN: Right. I mean I know the Wordle part of it's whimsical, but the other part really is horrifying.

JARRETT: Yes. But the daughter had the presence of mind to say something is off.

BERMAN: Yes, just so glad that something -- something got them there in time.

JARRETT: Yes.

BERMAN: Laura Jarrett, thanks so much. Appreciate it.

JARRETT: Sure.

BERMAN: So, an awkward moment when a Republican congressman shows up outside Trump Tower to sing Donald Trump's praises even though he does not return the favor.

KEILAR: Plus, two senators say the CIA has been collecting data on Americans in warrantless searches for years. New CNN reporting, next.

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[06:48:47]

KEILAR: Now to South Africa where there is a growing threat to the country's dwindling rhino population. The animals are prized for their precious horns and illegal poaching is on the rise.

So, what is being done to protect these magnificent creatures?

David McKenzie is live for us at Kruger National Park in South Africa with new CNN reporting.

What have you learned?

DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Brianna, good morning.

It's such a privilege to be here at this national park, which is one of the true wonderful places around the world. But the people here, the rangers and those trying to protect this keystone species are fighting a losing battle.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MCKENZIE (voice over): An aerial operation.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They're about 30 meters (ph) to our right.

MCKENZIE: A wildlife vet readies powerful (INAUDIBLE) darts to save an iconic giant. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's one. And he's got a bunch of people (ph). (INAUDIBLE). This is the one I was looking for. And they're out trying to get (INAUDIBLE).

For now I'm going to put him on your side. No problem.

MCKENZIE: Even drugged, it's 5,000 pounds of raw power.

[06:50:14]

LUFONO NETSHITAVHADULU, WILDLIFE VETERINARIAN: Whenever they are down, you need to be very careful because you sort of put them in a border (ph) of death and life. So we just need to be -- to keep the balance and make sure they don't go to the other side.

MCKENZIE (on camera): They have to everything to keep the rhino calm, not to make this that (ph) traumatizing. But it's extraordinary what they needed to do here to make these rhinos safe.

MCKENZIE (voice over): They're removing the rhino's horns. This doesn't hurt the animal, but it may save its life. Illegal poaching syndicates target rhinos for their horns. They sell for tens of thousands of dollars in Asia. Take away the horn, take away the incentive to poach.

MCKENZIE (on camera): What does it feel like that you have to take this extraordinary step to actually change the way an animal looks and is?

ROBERT THOMSON, SECTION RANGER, KRUGER NATIONAL PARK: Yes, for me, it's terrible, because it's not really a rhino at the end of the day. You're taking that piece of it, which makes it sort of prehistoric.

For the species to survive, we have to do it at the moment.

MCKENZIE (voice over): That survival is far from assured. New figures show that in the past decade Kruger National Park lost around 70 percent of its white rhino, mostly to poaching.

MCKENZIE (on camera): What is the consequence if you get this wrong?

KATHY DREYER, HEAD RANGER, KRUGER NATIONAL PARK: So, if we get this wrong, the consequence is no rhino in Kruger, which for us is really not an option. Because we know that we don't have another 10 years of looking after rhino if we don't turn things around.

MCKENZIE (voice over): Her team is up against it. Covid-19 drove away tourists, collapsing the park's revenue stream. Forensic teams like this one are underfunded and they know that in many cases a poached rhino represents a generational loss.

PETRONEL NIEUWOUDT, CARE FOR WILD RHINO SANCTUARY: (INAUDIBLE).

MCKENZIE: Often baby rhinos, like Iquazi (ph) and Shalu (ph), would have died alongside their mother if Petronel Nieuwoudt hadn't stepped in to raise them by hand. NIEUWOUDT: Just look at them. You know, why do you want to not save

them, you know? They're here for 50 million years. And now, on our clock, we can save them.

MCKENZIE (on camera): It's like a giant vacuum cleaner. There you go. Almost done. Almost done. Oh, all finished.

The aim is to get all of these rhinos, even when they come here as young orphans, back into the wild. And look at this crush of them together like this. They're socializing, learning how to be rhinos.

MCKENZIE (voice over): Even teaching the very youngest, like two- month-old Daisy. She's made an unusual friend, a zebra called Mujaji (ph). Daisy arrived barely able to walk. In rhinos, the will to live is strong, but we are failing them.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MCKENZIE: And we got to feed that young Daisy. What a tough little animal she is and striving to survive. You know, the people here, the rangers, believe they can turn this around. They just need the commitment of the government, of the world to support their efforts to save this wonderful species.

Brianna.

KEILAR: Thank you for that report, David. It is -- it is beautiful. And it is sad. And I really appreciate it.

David McKenzie with that special report for us from Kruger National Park.

And ahead, we're going to speak live with a high school basketball player who heard racial taunts during her game.

BERMAN: Plus, new warnings this morning about the economic havoc the trucker-inspired protests are having in Canada and now the United States. Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer calls it unacceptable, and she will join us live next.

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[06:58:10]

BERMAN: A fast-moving winter storm set to sweep across the Great Lakes. Let's get to CNN meteorologist Chad Myers.

Chad.

CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: John, even a blizzard warning in effect now for eastern North Dakota, western parts of Minnesota. Maybe just a few inches of snow, but the winds are going to be 50 miles per hour blowing that around. Doesn't that sound lovely?

This weather brought to you by the Jamaica Tourist Board. Plan your vacation at visitjamaica.com. So here comes the storm. It's moving across the Great Lakes. Even

right now, some slippery roads out there. More snow to come behind it. And then it's so quick moving, it will be gone by later on this afternoon. And what we're seeing here on the next couple of maps is the potential for some slick conditions on Sunday morning, maybe on your way to church, from D.C., to Richmond, all the way down to the Carolinas, possibly as far north as New York City, with just an inch or two of snow, but sometimes that's all it takes to really get in your way if you're trying to drive around.

So, there's the radar. Going to be moving on by. By Sunday night, it's completely gone and no real heavy deposits of snow. Could be up to four inches in some spots, but that's still two days away.

The mild air that we have right now is about to leave. It is up to -- go all the way to the south, maybe towards Cuba. This is the cold air, the arctic air across the area tomorrow and into -- temperatures are going to be going down 40 degrees in some spots across the northeast, from New York City to D.C. A pleasant day the next couple of days, but all of a sudden that cold front comes by and things go south, way south. Almost 70 degrees in Atlanta today, but not by the weekend.

John.

BERMAN: All right, Chad Myers, thank you very much for that.

And NEW DAY continues right now.

KEILAR: Welcome to our viewers in the United States and around the world. It is Friday, February 11th. And I'm Brianna Keilar, with John Berman.

[07:00:01]

And, this morning, a trucker-inspired protest over Covid mandates is intensifying, bringing pain to workers and economies on both sides.