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What to Know About Super Tuesday; U.S. Recently Dropped Emergency Humanitarian Assistance by Air in Gaza; Updates to COVID-19 Guidelines from the CDC; Corpse Flower`s Stinking Bloom Draws Crowds in San Francisco. Aired 4-4:10a ET

Aired March 05, 2024 - 04:00   ET

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

COY WIRE, CNN 10 ANCHOR: What`s up sunshine. It`s time to shine here on this March 5th. I hope it`s a super Tuesday so far because in the political

world, it is a literal Super Tuesday. I`m Coy Wire. This is CNN 10, and this is the day where more states vote than any other date. Both

Republicans and Democrats casting their votes in at least 15 states in one territory to choose their party`s Presidential nominee.

The term Super Tuesday is only several decades old and originally referred to those states voting at the end of the primary season in June. But in the

1980s, Democrats in Southern states combined their voting days to front load the primary process. They thought this timing would give an edge to

more moderate candidates in their party, though, that goal hasn`t always worked for either party. This Super Tuesday could be Nikki Haley`s best

chance to challenge former president Donald Trump for the Republican presidential nomination.

Over the weekend, Haley won the GOP primary in Washington, D.C. Her first such win this election season. Trump has won every other primary or caucus

holding a 244 to 43 lead in the delegate count over Haley. At least 1,215 delegates are needed to win the party`s nomination.

Now, on Monday, former president Trump had a meaningful victory at the Supreme court. The justices unanimously agreeing that he should remain on

the ballot in Colorado. The state previously declared that he was ineligible to run for president because of his alleged role in the January

6th attack on the U.S. capital building. But the Supreme court put him back on Colorado`s ballot.

Now, for Democrats while Super Tuesday is super important, it may be less of a defining moment than President Biden`s State of the Union Address,

which will be held on Thursday. A series of recent polls show voters concerns with the current U.S. president, the 81-year-old commander in

chief faces distrust in his ability to serve a second term as well as frustration with how his administration has handled global and domestic

crises. So the State of the Union Speech will give Biden an opportunity to address these concerns and reassure voters.

Now, one of the major concerns of voters is President Biden`s policies towards Israel and Gaza, and that`s where we`re going next. It has been

nearly five months since Hamas attacked Israel. And since then Israel has waged war on the Palestinian territory.

Currently, U.S. officials are negotiating a six-week ceasefire proposal that would allow for the release of hostages held by Hamas and a surge of

humanitarian aid into Gaza. Progress towards a deal being reached has been slow as both sides claim, there are sticking points, holding them back.

In the meantime, the U.S. began airdropping emergency humanitarian assistance this weekend with thousands of meals for the war-torn Gaza

residents. Here`s CNN`s Paula Hancocks with details on this emergency aid package.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: We are expecting more aid airdrops over Gaza in the coming days. This, after what we saw Saturday,

the U.S. and the Royal Jordanian Air Force dropping aid along the coastlines of Gaza.

Now, the U.S. said that they dropped 66 bundles, that was 38,000 meals. No water or medical supplies in this airdrop. But they say that they did

consider it successful as they were monitoring the area afterwards and said that they saw civilians come out to take the aid and then distribute it.

Now, Jordan and the UAE have already been doing airdrops over recent days, and we know that other countries are considering whether this is the way to

try and get desperately needed aid into the some of the hardest hit areas off Gaza.

But we are hearing from some humanitarian aid groups that this is not the ideal way to try and get the aid in. They say -- in fact, one called it a

band aid measure to try and help those desperately in need. Of course, once the aid lands in Gaza, there is no organized distribution. There is no

control over who gets this aid. And there`s no guarantee that it will get to those who desperately need it.

What we`re hearing from humanitarian aid groups and the U.N. agencies, and we`ve been hearing this for months, is that Israel needs to lift

restrictions on what gets into Gaza, restrictions at the crossings, and restrictions of transporting the aid around the Gaza Strip once it is

inside.

Now, one thing that all humanitarian aid groups agree is that a ceasefire would allow them to get humanitarian aid into where it is needed.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WIRE: Ten second trivia.

What was the CDC or Centers for Disease Control and Preventions primary mission when it first began in 1946?

Combat malaria, teach public health workers, develop good hygiene routines, or study cancer.

If you said, combat malaria, boomshakalaka. The CDC`s first name was actually the Communicable Disease Center and it established its

headquarters in Atlanta because malaria was most prevalent in the south.

Our next story is about new COVID-19 guidelines from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. We ask CNN`s Chief Medical Correspondent,

Dr. Sanjay Gupta, to explain these changes, why they were made and about the best ways for people to protect themselves from the virus.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, these are some of the biggest changes in guidance that we`ve heard from the CDC in quite some

time now. And there`s people who say, look, this is a long time coming. Other people who understandably are very concerned about this especially

people who are more vulnerable, have some sort of pre-existing condition for example.

Let`s take a look here. Previous guidance on the left, current now guidance on the right. The top line is the most significant. In the past, they said

days zero to five you should stay in isolation, now they`re saying stay home or away from others if you have symptoms. The reason that`s concerning

for a lot of people is because we know you can still be contagious even if you don`t have symptoms.

Day six and onward they say especially if you`re going to be around vulnerable people, you should wear a mask. You should think about

ventilation. You should try and keep your distance. Now, part of the reason they`re making these changes, the CDC, few reasons.

They say that 97% of the country now has some degree of immunity which is probably true between vaccination and people who`ve been previously

infected. But keep in mind, a lot of people get infected over and over again, so if they have the immunity, it doesn`t seem to last very long.

Also, if you look at hospitalizations and deaths, they`ve gone down consider considerably, 60% lower for hospitalizations. Deaths have gone

down 83%.

Let me show you this graphic as well. They implemented this in Oregon in the past back in May of 2023. And you can see what sort of happened. Cases

did surge again. And then you had these sort of these absent and flows of cases, but the CDC says Oregon really behaved not much differently than the

national average. So, even with the loosening of the guidelines, it didn`t seem to increase the risk they say at least to people there in Oregon.

Now, one thing to keep in mind is that some people say this is sort of flu- ifying COVID. We`re treating this like flu. But I want to show you this graph that we pulled, that makes this case that COVID is still a lot more

concerning than flu. Orange line is COVID. Go back to 2019, 2020, you see the difference between COVID. Flu in blue and then R is -- red is RSV. Even

now, most currently you see how much more of an impact COVID has overall on hospitalizations.

In the last season, flu killed -- had about 21,000 people who died. With COVID, it was closer to 245,000. COVID is not flu. People can still spread

this even when they`re asymptomatic as I mentioned. They are more contagious. They are contagious for longer with COVID. They can experience

symptoms for a long time after infection, long COVID, and it can cause some very serious illness in people. So, I think that`s the concern that even

though it`s being treated, more and more COVID been treated more and more like flu, it is not flu.

As we get more information about these guidelines, we`ll certainly bring them to you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WIRE: Today`s story getting a 10 out of 10, the curious case of the "corpse flower," the Titan arum, A.K.A. corpse flower native to the rainforest of

Sumatra, Indonesia, blooming at the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco last week. A rare treat as these plants have a blooming cycle

that can take years sometimes even longer than a decade. This one lurked underground gathering nutrients for five years, and then like a zombie

rising from the dead, shot up to nearly seven feet tall. These beautiful behemoth-like blooms only last for about 24 to 48 hours. But why the term

corpse flower? Well, it smells like rotting flesh apparently.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TIM WONG, BIOLOGIST: People say garlic, sweaty feet, you know, rotten flesh. Yeah, I actually kind of thought it smelled a little bit like a

porta-potty, like a collection of sense.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WIRE: Ooh, let this be a reminder that just because something or someone is beautiful, looks aren`t everything. So be kind y`all. And remember to

shower.

Also, remember tomorrow`s #YourWordWednesday, where you can help us write the show. Follow me @coywire on Instagram, Snapchat, and TikTok, and put

your unique vocabulary word and definition in the comment section on a most recent post and we`ll choose a winner to work into tomorrow show, with a

shoutout to you and your school.

Speaking of shoutout, today we are showing some love to Canon City High School in Canon City, Colorado. How about them, Tigers?

And this shoutout goes to South Terrebonne High School in Bourg, Louisiana. See you later, Gators. Thanks for subscribing and commenting on our "CNN

10" YouTube channel. I`m Coy Wire. We are CNN 10. And you are awesome.

END