Return to Transcripts main page

EARLY START

Rescue Crews On Scene After Building Collapse Near Miami Beach; Gen. Milley Offers Forceful Defense Of Pentagon Diversity Efforts; COVID Cases Surge In Countries Using China's Vaccine. Aired 5:30-6a ET

Aired June 24, 2021 - 05:30   ET

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


[05:30:00]

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: This is EARLY START. I'm Christine Romans. Laura Jarrett has the morning off. Twenty-nine -- almost 30 minutes past the hour.

We're going to begin with that breaking news this morning -- a residential building collapse near Miami Beach. Nearly 100 rescue units on the scene.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WILLY GOMEZ, PROPERTY OWNER: My family has a unit there and we have a tenant that lives in one of the units, and I just came to see where it was. I couldn't really see what part of the building and I'm -- it's like -- it's unbelievable.

REPORTER: What's your reaction right now? I mean, your biggest worry. What --

GOMEZ: Oh my God, that there's people who were there. I mean, there's got to be people in those -- that were -- that were there in these units. I mean, it's like what's going on?

I don't think that they got any notice before this happened. It's like -- it had to be like all of a sudden. I don't know if people were able to get out or heard something or what, but it's -- man, I just -- I just hope people were not in there -- people were out.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: CNN's Leyla Santiago is live at the scene for us in this village of Surfside, just north of Miami Beach. And Leyla, for people who know the area this is 88th and Collins. What are you seeing there on the scene right now?

LEYLA SANTIAGO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: A very large response when it comes to rescue teams. We know at least 80 rescue teams have responded. Many of the area is blocked off.

From where I stand I want to kind of walk you through what we can see. The partial collapse is just beyond this tall building here. I know it's a little dark but that is what we can see from this and beyond. Fire trucks, police, city workers, all out there trying to respond.

The big question, how many injuries, who was inside, what are they finding? We are still working to verify that.

But I can tell you that this building address comes up as a condo building. We're still trying to figure out more information on exactly what type of building it was and who, if anyone, was inside. But we have seen firefighters walking around on some of the balconies of the neighboring -- the neighboring buildings.

I want you to listen to how a neighbor described the incident.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAEL RUIZ, LIVES NEAR COLLAPSED BUILDING: So around close to -- before just 2:00 in the morning -- I live off of Collins Avenue and I'm hearing, oh about -- I would -- I would say about 50 ambulances and fire trucks and fire rescues just driving by. So we have a WhatsApp group in our building where we communicate and somebody mentioned something on our app there was -- there was a building that collapsed.

So I live nearby, so I came by. And I have never seen so many ambulances and police in my life all at once. It looked like something from like 9/11, literally.

And so the back of that building -- I was able to go to the back and I have video footage and photos of the entire building collapsed from the 14th floor. So there's a third of the entire building that you cannot see from the street but it's completely gone in the back towards the beach side.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANTIAGO: Completely gone. And the video that we have been able to see close up, you just see debris everywhere, very much like the gentleman described. Still a lot of information that we're trying to confirm right now.

But it's also interesting to see those who live near the area or were here walking around still kind of in a bit of disbelief. We saw a few people when I first came in that were in shock describing how they're trying to check in on their family or friends. We do understand that there has been an area set aside for family and neighbors where they are gathering folks.

But at this point, we're trying to talk to officials just about how this happened and why they believe it happened, and how many injuries, if any. Of course, there will be a long investigation that goes into that so it might be a while before we get those answers. But I can tell you the response here is massive -- Christine.

ROMANS: All right, Leyla. We'll let you get back to work and find some more details for us and keep us posted. Thank you so much there in Miami. All right. Meantime, powerful testimony on Capitol Hill yesterday from the most senior general in the U.S. military defending Defense Department diversity efforts at the House Armed Services hearing.

Florida Congressman Matt Gaetz asking Joint Chiefs Chairman Mark Milley about the Pentagon's alleged embrace of critical race theory. That's a decades-old academic concept that recognizes systemic racism as part of American society, and it has somehow become a political boogeyman for Republicans in recent months.

[05:35:04]

Here's Milley's response.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEN. MARK MILLEY, CHAIRMAN, JOINT CHIEFS OF STAFF: I do think it's important, actually, for those of us in uniform to be open-minded and be widely read. And the United States Military Academy is a university. And it is important that we train and we understand -- and I want to understand white rage and I'm white -- and I want to understand it.

So what is it that caused thousands of people to assault this building and try to overturn the Constitution of the United States of America? What caused that? I want to find that out.

I want to maintain an open mind here and I do want to analyze it. It's important that we understand that because our so soldiers, sailors, airmen, Marines, and guardians -- they come from the American people. So it is important that the leaders now and in the future do understand it.

I've read Mao Tse Tung. I've read -- I've read Karl Marx. I've read Lenin. That doesn't make me a communist.

So what is wrong with understanding -- having some situational understanding about the country for which we are here to defend?

And I personally find it offensive that we are accusing the United States military -- our general officers -- our commissioned and non- commissioned officers of being quote "woke" or something else because we're studying some theories that are out there.

That was started at Harvard Law School years ago and it proposed that there were laws in the United States -- antebellum laws prior to the Civil War that led a power differential with African-Americans that were three-quarters of a human being when this country was formed. And then we had a Civil War and Emancipation Proclamation to change it, and we brought it up to the Civil Rights Act in 1964. It took another 100 years to change that.

So look, I do want to know.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: (INAUDIBLE) embrace of reading lots of stuff and knowing your history there.

Defense Sec. Lloyd Austin also dismissed Gaetz's concerns. Austin called the congressman's complaints quote "anecdotal input."

All right. How can researchers find the origins of COVID-19 if key data was deleted? Scientists looking into the origins of the pandemic may be working with the wrong samples because some early samples submitted by a Chinese researcher were deleted from a shared database.

A Seattle virologist says he found them on Google Cloud and he says they show some early cases of Wuhan are genetically different from the variants that eventually spread.

The NIH says the investigator who submitted the samples in March 2020 requested their removal a few months later. The NIH says it is standard practice to allow this, but the incident only heightens broader concerns about Chinese efforts to obstruct investigations into the origins of COVID.

The deleted sequences, themselves, don't shed any new light on whether the virus jumped naturally from animals to humans or might be the result of a laboratory leak.

All right, countries that depended on China's coronavirus vaccines are facing some devastating surges in new cases and many of them will now be turning to the United States to step in and save the day.

David Culver for us this morning live in Shanghai tracking the latest developments. This was sort of vaccine diplomacy that appears to be backfiring in some cases, David.

DAVID CULVER, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: And we saw this massive vaccine diplomacy effort Christine play out here early on in an attempt many believe to counter some of the negative images of China that were really emerging because of the initial outbreak in Wuhan.

This is a difficult case study here in Mainland China though because of the strict lockdown, the contact tracing, the mass testing. All of that has made it so that the virus is really just not existing here all that often and life is near normal.

So if you look at these other countries that have now received the Chinese-made vaccines, they are seeing these surges and infections. And so, we wondered why, and here's what we found out.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CULVER (voice-over): China's portrayed it as an act of goodwill, shipping Chinese-made vaccines to other countries even before guaranteeing enough for its own citizens. State media reporters 350 million doses have gone out to more than 80 countries.

Among the nations on the receiving end, neighboring Mongolia; and in South American, Chile. Both countries mobilized quickly to put those vaccines to use. In Mongolia, more than 52 percent of the population has been fully vaccinated; Chile, just a bit less. They are among the highest vaccination rates in the world alongside countries like the U.S. and Israel.

But why is that as cases are dropping in those countries, Mongolia and Chile are seeing surges of new COVID-19 infections? Last week, Mongolia hit a record high in daily case counts, and authorities in Chile announced a blanket lockdown across its capital, Santiago, two weeks ago.

BEN COWLING, HEAD OF THE DIVISION OF EPIDEMIOLOGY AND BIOSTATISTICS, UNIVERSITY OF HONG KONG: Some places where there's relatively high vaccine coverage and social distancing measures have been relaxed, it may be that those measures have relaxed a little bit too soon.

CULVER (voice-over): One of the most striking differences, the types of vaccines. While the U.S. and Israel turned to Pfizer, BioNTech, and Moderna, Mongolia and Chile are relying heavily on two from China, Sinovac and Sinopharm. My team and I based here in China received our two doses of Sinopharm in recent months.

[05:40:07]

The efficacy rates of the Chinese-made vaccines containing inactivated virus range from about 50 percent to 79 percent. Whereas, U.S.-based Pfizer and Moderna, using mRNA science, are more than 90 percent efficacious. Though the environments in which they were all trialed varied with different variants of the virus circulating, the American- backed ones appear to be much better at preventing transmission compared with China's vaccines.

COWLING: Right now, what we can see very clearly is the antibody level in people who received BioNTech is much higher -- much, much higher than the antibody level in people who received Sinovac.

CULVER (voice-over): The WHO authorized both Sinovac and Sinopharm for emergency use despite the Chinese companies behind them providing limited clinical trial data. But medical experts warn while less effective, this does not mean the Chinese vaccines are a failure.

COWLING: Somewhere like Chile, somewhere like Mongolia, vaccines have saved a lot of lives, but maybe they haven't been able to stop the virus from spreading and causing mild infections in vaccinated people. And the, of course, the potential for more severe infections in people who haven't yet been vaccinated. And that's one of the limitations of less effective vaccine.

CULVER (voice-over): While overall cases in Mongolia and Chile are on the rise, the vaccines may be helping lower the severity of those cases.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: If you look across the board in countries that have higher vaccination rates, those hospitalization rates, those death rates -- while they may move around a little bit they are probably a lot better now than they would have been without the vaccines. Because the vaccines, more than anything else -- regardless of which one it is -- help protect against severe illness and death.

CULVER (voice-over): To better stop the spread of the virus countries like Bahrain and the UAE, which have also relied heavily on China's Sinopharm, are now offering their citizens a third dose as a booster. The choices, a third shot of Sinopharm or they can use the Pfizer vaccine as their booster.

The development and distribution of vaccines has become highly politicized, especially between the U.S. and China. And if both countries refuse to recognize each other's vaccines that could keep you limited to crossing borders based on the vaccine you've gotten, essentially preventing international travel from returning to near normal for years to come.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CULVER: A couple of big takeaways from this, Christine. I think the first is experts that we've spoken with all agree that while it may be less effective, the Chinese vaccines, they're still playing a role and they're doing something.

The other side of this is this is highly geopolitical and it's becoming, as I mentioned, increasingly politicized. So if you think that because you have not received the Chinese vaccine -- perhaps you had the Pfizer and Moderna one and this doesn't impact you --

ROMANS: Yes.

CULVER: -- well, if you're interested in travel then you're wrong. Because the reality is you're going to --

ROMANS: Yes.

CULVER: -- potentially see these travel bubbles -- if it becomes that politicized -- in which people can't cross from one to another unless they've received the other country's vaccine. So what could change this is countries recognizing the other's vaccine.

And we've mentioned recently the potential of a Xi -- President Xi- Biden summit. It's possible that among the areas that they'll touch on in collaboration, pandemic relief -- and perhaps this would be one of those areas, Christine.

ROMANS: All right, David Culver for us. Thank you so much for that.

Forty-three minutes past the hour. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:47:30]

ROMANS: Nearly 42 million Americans rely on food stamps, but how do you make sure that money is well spent? The Department of Agriculture is revamping the program now to focus on healthy meals.

The USDA says nearly nine in 10 families using food stamps face challenges getting healthy food. The most common hurdle is cost. Other issues include lacking time for making food from scratch or getting to the grocery store.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TOM VILSACK, U.S. SECRETARY OF AGRICULTURE: What we saw was in the last 10 days of each month, as SNAP benefits were basically all used up, choices were made that were perhaps less nutritious than would have been made if the benefits had been more. So I think that's a wake-up call.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: During the pandemic, Congress increased SNAP benefits by 15 percent to help address the hunger crisis across the country. But the Agriculture Sec. Vilsack noted that many families will see their benefits drop after that boost expires at the end of September. The cost of the plan has only been adjusted for inflation since it was introduced in 1975.

All right, looking at markets around the world you can see gains, really -- small gains here to start the Thursday trading session. And in the U.S., stock index futures are also higher here.

It was a pretty quiet trading day for investors but enough for the Nasdaq to notch a record high. The Dow closed lower. The S&P 500 also finishing lower. That was the second-straight record high for the Nasdaq and I think the 16th or so this year.

Bitcoin and other cryptocurrency prices recovered after a rough few trading days due to a crackdown in China.

And the price of lumber falling from its peak. Lumber prices have skyrocketed due to increased demand and supply shortages. Rising prices have been a major concern for investors watching for inflation as the economy recovers.

San Francisco is the first major city in the U.S. to require all employees be vaccinated for coronavirus or face penalties that could include being fired. The decision affects about 35,000. The city says it will offer religious and medical exemptions. The mandate will take effect when the FDA grants full approval for the vaccines.

The Biden administration expected to extend a national moratorium on evictions. It is set to expire at the end of the month. It will be extended through July. Congressional Democrats have urged the president to keep that moratorium in place as the country emerges from the pandemic.

Breaking overnight, a Daytona Beach, Florida police officer shot in the head. This edited, 29-second video tweeted by police shows the encounter between the officer and the gunman. Authorities are offering a $100,000 reward for anyone who can help them located the suspect identified as 29-year-old Othal Wallace. The unidentified officer, we're told, is hospitalized this morning in grave condition.

[05:50:14]

A lot of questions this morning for prison officials in Barcelona after the death of controversial anti-virus software magnate John McAfee. The 75-year-old McAfee was awaiting extradition in a Spanish prison after being charged with tax evasion last year in the U.S.

He was found dead in his cell on Wednesday. The cause of death under investigation. The Catalonia Regional Justice Department says everything indicates that McAfee could have died by suicide.

A linguist for U.S. Special Ops Forces in Iraq sentenced to 23 years in prison for passing classified information to a man with ties to Hezbollah. Prosecutors, in their rare terrorism espionage case, say 62-year-old Mariam Taha Thompson gave the names of informants and at least 10 U.S. targets to the man who she hoped would marry her.

"The Washington Post" reports Thompson made a tearful plea for leniency in court. She said, quote, "I just wanted someone to love me in my old age and I forgot who I was for a short period of time."

The head of the FDA isn't saying if the agency plans to ban flavored e-cigarettes despite growing pressure from Congress. At a hearing Wednesday, members pressed the FDA commissioner on removing flavored products from the market, saying the sweet and fruity vapes are attracting too many teens and children.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. KATIE PORTER (D-CA): If the FDA banned all flavored e-cigarettes would less kids continue to vape among those who started, in your opinion?

DR. JANET WOODCOCK, ACTING FDA COMMISSIONER: Well, I can't predict the future. I think that might be likely. We also would have to, regardless, limit advertising and sales --

PORTER: Yes.

WOODCOCK: -- and targeting children and other (INAUDIBLE).

PORTER: Well, if they're not on the market it's tough to advertise them, right?

WOODCOCK: Well, yes.

PORTER: So to summarize, if kids have the choices of any tasty flavor they're going to go for it. And I'm speaking to you from experience here as a mom of three school-age kids.

If there were no watermelon snow cones, my kids are happy with blue raspberry. No blue raspberry, they'll take mango. No mango, they'll take strawberry. But if their only choice was brown tobacco-flavored snow cone, they are going to walk away.

WOODCOCK: Yes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: Hmm.

According to the FDA, more than 80 percent of youth e-cigarette users consume these flavored products. The makers of e-cigarettes must apply to keep their products on the U.S. market. The FDA has until September ninth to decide.

Lego is going green. The Danish toymaker unveiling the first prototype of its trademark bricks made using recycled plastic bottles. Lego says the plastic of a one-liter bottle is enough to make 10 two-by-four Legos. It's hoping these bricks will hit the market within two years. Lego has pledged to invest $400 million over the next three years to incorporate the use of sustainable materials.

So what's the deal with Pop-Tarts?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JERRY SEINFELD, COMEDIAN: A frosted fruit-filled heated rectangle in the same shape as the box it comes in, and with the same nutrition as the box it comes in?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: Jerry Seinfeld's obsession with the toaster treat became a staple of his stand-up act. Now he's set to produce, direct, and star in the Pop-Tarts origin story for Netflix -- no joke. The movie is called "Unfrosted."

Seinfeld, of course, is best known for his iconic T.V. series but he also co-wrote and starred in the animated "Bee Movie."

Production on "Unfrosted" expected to start next spring.

Finally this morning, a COVID-19 survivor who spent 263 days in hospital care finally going home. The cheers, the applause are for Gary Taylor, the Lexington, Kentucky man, and his family. They were not sure this day would ever come.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GARY TAYLOR, COVID PATIENT RELEASED AFTER 263 DAYS IN HOSPITAL: I feel great going home.

JEFF TAYLOR, GARY TAYLOR'S SON: I think prayers really helped get him through, so we're blessed.

G. TAYLOR: You don't know what family is like until you get to the point you think you're not going to be around them again.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: Wow. Taylor spent time in three hospitals and rehab facilities. He was on a ventilator for four months. Now he says he wants nothing more than to be around his wife, his children, and grandchild. We wish him and his family all the best.

Thanks for joining us this Thursday morning. I'm Christine Romans. "NEW DAY" is next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:59:16]

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, I'm Brianna Keilar alongside John Berman on this new day.

We do have some breaking news. An apartment building collapsing near Miami. There are reports of people trapped as crews race to save survivors.

Plus, a critical day for the fate of President Biden's agenda. There is talk of fragile deals on both infrastructure and police reform.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Pentagon officials dressing down Republican lawmakers to their faces. Why the military's top officer calls it offensive after being called too woke.

And a stunning turn in the conservatorship drama involving Britney Spears. Why the pop star compared her father to a sex trafficker and what she says they forced her to do.