Of early start. Im Boris Sanchez. And im laura jarrett. Happy president s day, everyone. Its 4 00 a. M. In new york. Overnight the u. S. Government evacuating more than 300 americans from the diamond princess cruise ship quarantined for weeks in japan because of the coronavirus. The evacuation a relief for some but angering others. Some exhausted passengers say the move could setback their life because theyll have to be quarantined all over again in the u. S. Thats why one couple from sacramento decided against evacuating. It doesnt make any sense and throwing them all together. And then there was another twist with planes in the air. 14 passengers who took part in the evacuation tested positive for coronavirus after leaving the ship, but theyre still allowed on these chartered flights. The state department and hhs say those people were isolated from passengers during the flight. Lets go to cnns will ripply at the cruise port in yokohama. Frustrating for that passengers i imagine. Reporter absolutely, boris. It took 10 hours to get from the boat to the airport and there was a whole lot of frustration on the way for having to sit on the buses for three hours without bathrooms to then arriving to these flights and finding out theyre basically sitting in a cargo cabin with portable toilets and temporary seats right next to passengers. Yes they were kept isolated from others but there are some americans who weve been speaking to for nearly two weeks now, they desperately want to get on the flight. But rebecca was told specifically she did not qualify and shes not allowed. So her husband is still on the diamond princess behind me. He had to tell cdc workers when they knocked on his door he wasnt going. I understand. Good luck. I hope she does well and other people have been doing really well with this. Is there any sort of plan how thats going to happen later . I dont know. Sorry. They have no information about what happens to them when rebecca eventually tests negative for coronavirus, she hopes soon and is released from the hospital. They have to spend 14 days of their own dime here in japan and then fly themselves back home and what happens then . As for those americans on those two flights one landed in texas. One passenger told me, boris, she feels like shes serving a prison sentence for a crime she didnt commit. Her life still on hold for another two weeks. Its unbelievable they have so few answers for these people after they spent so much time in quarantine. Democratic candidates taking aim at Michael Bloomberg as the former new york mayor rises in the polls. Bloomberg has not competed in any contest yet, but starting with super tuesday in just over two weeks the one time republican will try to carve a path in the moderate democratic lane. Moderates pouncing as old claims resurface about policies in minority communities and the culture at his Corporate Office where hes accused of being hostile to women. And also under scrutiny to the hundreds of millions hes poured into his own campaign. 60 billion can buy you a lot of advertising, but it cant erase your record. I couldnt have to answer questions like i just did on the record. Fighting to keep his Campaign Alive joe biden in nevada over the weekend pushing hard. Its going to be the first test of his claim he keeps repeating hes going to do better in nevada than he did in iowa and New Hampshire because its a more diverse state. What might help, the Culinary Workers Union have gone public with concerns about bernie sanders. Biden is stressing his Health Care Plan would protect them. Were not going to tell all of you who have broken your neck and given up wages and given up salaries in order to have health care through your employer and you worked like the devil for it, youre not going to be required to give it up. More than 18,000 democrats turned out for the first day of early voting in nevada on saturday. By comparison about 80,000 voters in total participated in nevadas 2016 caucuses. Some voters voicing concerns over long wait times and a shortage of volunteers over the weekend. Caucus goers and president ial campaigns are both worried about the lack of detail from the state party about how results will be reported. They dont want to repeat the mess in iowa. For starters they scrapped plans to use that same app that was used to report results in iowa. Over the weekend Pete Buttigieg pushing back against conservative radio host rush limbaughs recent remark that america isnt ready to, quote, this is limbaughs words here elect a gay guy kissing his husband on the debate stage. Well, i love my husband. Im faithful to my husband. We usually just go for a hug, but i love him very much, and im not going to take lectures on family values from the likes of rush limbaugh. It drew criticism including Elizabeth Warren and biden standing behind him. Even President Trump saying he wouldnt mind a gay president. A bipartisan rebuke of bill barr for intervening in the sentencing recommendation for roger stone. Calling on the attorney general to resign and encouraging Current Department employees to report any unethical conduct. Their rare statement coming in the wake of an extraordinary week at the doj. The week capped off by news barr is having u. S. Attorneys outside of washington reexamine several high profile cases including the one involving trumps former National Security advisor and all bringing fresh scrutiny to the political motives behind the Justice Departments decisions. Barrs agenda was already being questioned when he claimed the president s tweets was making it difficult for him to do his job. I will make those decisions based on what i think is the right thing to do, and im not going to be bullied or influenced by anybody. And i said at the time whether its congress, newspaper, editorial boards or the president. If the attorney general has been on the job for a year and never once publicly pushed back against any of trumps missives about doj cases. Instetd hes given into the president s demands to investigate various conspiracy theories. So willcalls for change from 1,100 doj alums have an affect on barr . Reporter good morning. What were seeing now is this rebuke from more than 1,100 former Justice Department officials who are calling on the attorney general to resign. Theres no indication, of course, that bill barr will do so but the question is quite striking. Mr. Barrs actions in doing the president s bidding unfortunately speak louder than his words. His action and the damage thaicthey have done to the department of justices reputation and integrity and the rule of law require mr. Barr to resign. The white house has spent several days dow insisting the relationship is on solid footing despite barrs comments. We know this is not a president that likes to be undermined or criticized by his own aides no matter how mild that criticism may be. I tried asked the president as he returned to the white house on sunday whether or not he would heed his attorney generals advice to stop tweeting about Justice Department cases, and the president he did not respond to my question, but hes already made it quite clear he has no plans of changing anything, and thats because we already saw him taking to twitter to insist during the wake of the president s comments had not asked him to do anything as it relates to any criminal cases at the Justice Department. The president saying he has the absolute right to do so even though he hasnt done so yet. Suspected tweets are not going away anytime soon. The president spent part of the weekend taking a spin around daytona floridas racetrack and the beast, the president ial limo. He welcomed nascar fans this year with a speech and a command, gentlemen, start your engines. In the last few months hes also attended the world series where quite a few fans booed him, also attending the College Football championship. It final four this year in atlanta. Well see if he makes an appearance there. Mr. Trump is the second president to attend the daytona 500 after george w. Bush. And there was a minor snafu, Trumps Campaign manager posting this impressive photo of air force one above the packed stands. Of course sharpeyed fans pointed out it was from bushs visit and he was forced to post a less impressive picture. That picture getting a lot of attention as you might imagine. Now the u. S. Is broadening the threat. But the wordings may ring hollow. Well tell you why next. [coughs] kim is now demonstrating her congestion. Save it, slimeball. Ive upgraded to mucinex. We still have 12 hours to australia. Mucinex lasts 12 hours, so im good. Now move kim nooooo mucinex has a patented tablet that lasts 3x longer, for 12 hours. Do that are degrading . Ideo tapes, film reels, or photos, legacybox professionally converts them to dvds, thumb drive, or the cloud. Legacybox is simple and safe, with over half a million satisfied customers. Visit legacybox. Com today, and get 40 off. Shes had a tiny cough. See you at 5 seriously . Protection. Lysol kills over 100 illness causing germs and viruses. Even those that may cause cough. Lysol, what it takes to protect. Lets get down to business. The business of atlanta on monday. Cincinnati on tuesday. Philly on wednesday. And thursday back to cincinnati. Modernized comfort inns and suites have been refreshed because when your business keeps going, our business is you. Get the lowest price guaranteed on all Choice Hotels when you book direct at choicehotels. Com. Colon Cancer Screening for people 45 plus at average risk. Some things are harder than you thought. And others are easier. Like screening for colon cancer with me, cologuard. Im noninvasive and you use me at home. Im also effective. I find 92 of colon cancers using dna in your stool. So why wait . Cologuard is not for those at high risk for colon cancer. False positive and negative results may occur. Ask your Healthcare Provider if cologuard is right for you. Most insured patients pay 0. With growing concerns china could weaponize Huawei Technology warning countries against using untrustworthy 5g vendors. The president called him from air force one. Remember the Trump Administration recently walked back a threat to stop sharing intelligence with the u. K. Even though british Prime MinisterBoris Johnson said he would go ahead with plans to let britain develop the 5g network. Last week the u. S. Charged huawei with racketeering and conspiracy to steal trade secrets. Huawei has denied those claims. Gale force winds and heavy rains battering the u. K. For the second week in a row. Theres widespread flooding triggered by storm dennis, the second most powerful nontropical storm ever recorded in the atlantic triggering evacuations even cutting off some communities. You see that car just floating there. And look at this, winds approaching 60 miles an hour forcing a british air ways jet to abort its landing at Londons Heathrow airport. Could you imagine being on that plane . Still ahead this morning disney is mourning the loss of one of its young rising stars. Man, im thinking tacos. Hey hey you guys look like foodies. Would you like to try our trashy back ribs . Oh, that sounds great. Everything is locally harvested, farm to dumpster to table. Uhhh, what do you. What else do you got . stammering wwe have a melon rind stew. Comes with a pork and bean reduction. Yeah, were going to just do a lap and well come back. Okay. Well, well be here. Man why isnt this working . My mouth is watering. I think thats just your rabies flaring up. With geico, the savings keep on going. Just like this sequel. 15 minutes could save you 15 or more on car insurance. We got gristle pot pies [ fastpaced drumming ] a state of emergency in mississippi. Hundreds of people in jackson forced to evacuate their homes. The pearl river is rising and expected to crest later this morning at 37 1 2 feet its the highest level in decades. That is a half a foot lower than earlier forecast and make as huge difference because at 38 feet a large number of homes would be flooded by 6 feet of water. Working security at a local walmart, the 35yearold officer was in full uniform. He was shot multiple times as he approached the suspect. Fortunaty his injuries being described as nonlife threatening. Police believe the gunman jumped in a car and took off. Fans mourning the death of a young actress just 15 years old. She appeared in the disney film about a chess prodigy. Shed been diagnosed with a brain tumor in 2015. Remembering her in an Instagram Post as sweet, warm and talented and saying her thoughts and prayers are with nikitas family and community as they say goodbye too soon. Suspects who stole a pickup truck and ran over an employee during their get away have been arrested. Take a look. The thieves broke in, ran into that fence, slamming into a worker in the process. You see how he got up. Were told he suffered significant injuries despite getting up so quickly. The pickup was spotted by a tow Company Employee saturday night. A suspect was then taken into custody. A major pot bust in california. Authorities seized 440 pounds of illegal marijuana inside a building. An adjacent home had been turned into a mass grow house containing more than 1,400 marijuana plants. Officers made the find after unsafe electrical. Hes now facing illegal marijuana cultivation and other drug charges. A deer runs into a super market. The deer bolting into the store, sliding along the floor, running across the aisles, trashing stuff it sounds like. The store staff and police try to corral the animal who oeventually made it back outside. I dont know how you corral a deer like that. Elton john has been diagnosed with walking pneumonia. The 72yearold music superstar making the announcement in auckland, new zealand, while on his fair well yellow brook road tour. Elten telling fans he was dep deeply upset and sorry for his performance and thanking them for their support. Hes scheduled to play two more concerts this week. Capping a weekend of festivities in chicago. Honoring kobe bryant and his daughter gianna wearing their basketball numbers, 24 and 2. The game ending when one team reached a specific final score, 24 points in the Fourth Quarter in honor of kobe. Kawai leonard won the first ever kobe bryant mvp award. His presence was felt throughout the weekend not only with these amazing plays but a tribute including one from jennifer hudson. We wont say goodbye she always brings it. She knows. Looks like a very special night in my hometown there. Two plane loads of americans heading home after being evacuated from a ship quarantined over coronavirus. Turns out some of the passengers brought back to the u. S. Were infected as well. Whats next for hundreds of people itching for their freedom . New overnight, hundreds of americans heading back home evacuated from a cruise ship hit by coronavirus. But not everyone was thrilled. Some choosing to stay behind. Mike bloomberg with a target on his back from fellow democrats. Hes facing renewed scrutiny for policies with minorities on the street and women in the workplace. And a new format bringing a whole new energy in to the nba allstar game. An electric night on the court as players and fans paid tribute to kobe bryant. Welcome back to a special Holiday Edition of early start. 31 minutes past the hour here in new york. Overnight the u. S. Evacuating more than 300 americans from the diamond princess cruise ship quarantined in japan because of coronavirus. The evacuation a relief for some, but its also angering others. Some exhausted passengers say the move could actually setback their return to normal life because theyre going to have to be quarantined all over again in the u. S. Thats why one couple from sacramento decided against evacuating. It really didnt make any sense if the u. S. Were fearful these were infected people which is why theyre going to quarantine them for another two weeks to have thrown them all together. And then officials announced another twist with plans already in the air. 14 passengers who took part in the evacuation testing positive for coronavirus after leaving the ship still allowed on those chartered flights. The state department and hhs say those people were isolated from other passengers during the flight. Cnns will ripply was at the cruise port in yokohama. Sounds like thigh werent giving these passengers much information at all. Theyre not. And that has been a consistent source of frustration for people on it diamond princess. Remember the americans were told up until a couple of days ago repeatedly, like more than a dozen emails they say from the u. S. Embassy after they finish the quarantine on the cruise ship they would be cleared to go directly home. Then they found out the u. S. Government is sending in these two 747 cargo plains sharter flights to bring them back to the united states, but they dont get to go home. They have a new 14day quarantine period in california and texas. And even though those passengers have endured a long journey, it took them 10 hours just to get them from the boat, they were sitting on the buses for hours, they were waiting for hours. When they got on the planes, they didnt know that some of their fellow passengers had actually tested positive for coronavirus. Because people who had the virus had been told including, you know, more than two dozen americans that tested positive they didnt qualify for those flights. And this was not a cushy journey back home. Listen to what the centers for Disease Control and prevention were telling passengers how to prepare for this grueling 10hour flight back to the u. S. Dress in layers. This is converted cargo 747, so theres less insulation than regular passenger jets. Any questions . Do you i was going to ask you something but i cant remember. Are we for sure going to be quarantined for 14 days . I didnt like that answer. So what about the americans who remain here in japan, and there are a number of them whether theyre in japanese hospitals or still on the ship those who elected not to go, the simple answer is they dont know. Where they will have to go, what theyll have to do before theyre allowed to get back to their lives. But for people on those flights yes it is relief to be back on their home turf, be able to communicate with doctors who speak english fluently because thats been a consistent source of frustration here. As for the 14 passengers who did test positive were kept in isolation on the plane away from the other passengers. The cdc says no one was in any danger of being infected. But you understand why many are skeptical. Incredibly frustrating. Wip ripply reporting from yokohama. Meantime were now seeing signs of life return to normal in parts of china. David, i know folks are starting to go back to work. I dont know if theyre happy about that, but hopefully it means the situation is contained on the ground there. Reporter well, laura, heres the deal. Officially the government is set to reopen businesses here, and theyre asking folks when you own a business in Certain Companies trying to come back online, try to regain a sense of normalcy as you put it, but ive got to tell you this is city of some 25 Million People, this is the Financial Hub here in china, generally it is bustling and it is still eerily quiet. You go through the financial district and theres only a handful of people out and about. When you continue onto some of the popular pedestrian plaza where normally people are packed in and a hot of shopping opportunities, very few stores are open. And the ones that are open if you walk in its almost as if the employees are desperate for customers. It really is the sad reality youre starting to see here. The government has expected some 160 Million People will be traveling post the extended Lunar New Year holiday. But it seems as folks really are not traveling all that much. Even as we traveled here from beijing the train was less than half full. It seems as though theres the attempt to try to come back, but as you put it the reality is far from that in this moment. And you even go through some of the residential areas here as we are making our way around and they have chains locking some of the fences and theyre closed off. And for the folks who lived there, they had to go through asia single entry and exit point. Its a rather extreme containment effort happening here even in one of the largest cities in the world here in china. Its certainly not something going to restart overnight laura. Back to the states now, Democratic Candidates taking aim at Michael Bloomberg as the billionaire former new york mayor rises in the polls. Bloomberg hasnt even competed in any contests yet but starting with super tuesday the one time republican will try to carve a path in the moderate democrat lane. Rivals are pouncing as old claims resurface about policies in minority communities and the culture at his Corporate Office where he was accused of being hostile to women. Hes also under scrutiny for the hundreds of millions of dollars hes poured into the campaign. 60 billion can buy you a lot of advertising, but it cant erase your record. Ive got to answer questions like i just did on my record, and he has to do the same thing. I dont think he should be able to hide behind air waves and huge ad buys. Mike bloomberg or anybody else spending hundreds of billions of dollars trying to buy an election. Joe biden in nevada over the weekend pushing hard to earn a bounce from the nevada caucuses on saturday. It will be the first test of his claim you heard a lot of it he will do better in more diverse states than iowa and New Hampshire. The Workers Union has gone public so biden is stressing his Health Care Plan would protect them. Were not going to tell all of you who have broken your neck and given up wages and given up salaries in order to be able to have health care through your employer, youre not going to be required to give it up. So far more than 18,000 democrats turned out for the first day of early voting in nevada on saturday. To compare about 80,000 voters in total participated in nevadas 2016 caucuses. Some voters voicing concerns over long wait times and a shortage of volunteers over the weekend. Cnn has reported caucus workers and president ial campaigns are both worried about the lack of detail from the state party about how results are going to be reported. Meantime nevadas state democratic chairman says the party has been working around the clock to avoid some of the same problems they face in iowa. The chaos there for starters they originally planned to use the same app that was used in iowa. Those plans have been scrapped. Yeah, they said they were scrapping those almost the same day. Good idea. A bipartisan rebuke for bill barr for intervening in the sentencing recommendation for roger stone. 1,100 Trump Officials and Justice Department officials and counting calling on him over the weekend to resign and advising Current Department employees to report any unethical conduct. Their rare statement coming in an extraordinary week at doj, a week capped off by news that barr is having u. S. Attorneys outside of washington reexamine several high profile cases including the one involving trumps former National Security advisor michael flynn. Its all bringing fresh scrutiny to the political motives behind the Justice Departments decisions. Barrs agenda was already being questioned when he claimed the president s tweets were making it difficult for him to do his job. I will make those decisions based on what i think is the right thing to do, and im not going to be bullied or influenced by anybody and i said whether its congress, newspaper, editorial boards or the president. He says hes not going to be bullied yet the attorney general has been on the job for a year and never once publicly pushed back against any of trumps missives on doj cases. Instead, hes given in to the president s demands to investigate various conspiracy theories, and the president is still tweeting about doj. Were refreshing. Its about that window now hes going to be tweeting any second. The president taking a spin around daytonas track in the president ial limo the beast. This year welcoming the daytona 500 with a speech and a command, gentlemen, start your engines. Sports venues becoming a theme for the Trump Campaign lately in the last few months. He also attended the world series where a few fans booed him and the final this year in atlanta. Were going to see if he makes an appearance there. The second president to attend the daytona 500 after george w. Bush. And there was a bit of snafu after his Campaign Manager posted this. Turns out some sharpeyed followers pointed out this photo is actually from ws visit in 2004. He later replaced it with a less impressive photo. Heavy rain ultimately forced officials to delay the race until today. Still an impressive photo there. Some record flooding in the south endangering communities and several states. The holiday forecast up next. Nba commissioner adam silver putting a price tag on the nbas fall out with china. I think the magnitude of the loss might be in the hundreds of millions of dollars, you know. Certainly probably less than 400 million. Maybe even less than that. Its substantial. I dont want to run from that. The league is still dealing with the aftermath of a tweet from the Houston Rockets general manager that supported prodemocracy protests in hong kong. Chinese sponsors cut ties with the rockets and nba games are still not on cc tv, chinas state broadcaster. He doesnt think theres permanent damage to the business in china. He says theres mutual interest in getting those games back on tv, but he couldnt say when they would actually return to cc tv. Gale force winds and heavy rain battering the u. K. For the second weekend in a room. Triggered by storm dennis, the second most powerful nontropical storm ever reported in the atlantic. Triggering evacuations and cutting off some communities. Take a look at this. Winds approaching 60 miles an hour forcing a british air ways jet to abort its landing at Londons Heathrow airport. It does not look comfortable. There is some great news this morning, by the way if you love wine. Your favorite bottle about to cost less. Its about time. If your dishwasher doesnt get dishes completely dry. Try finish jetdry. It dries 100 better than detergent alone even plastics. Get dishes drier than you ever thought possible. Try finish jetdry. And with the sXfinity Stream app, screen is your big screen. Which is free with your service, you can take a spin through on demand shows, or stream live tv. Download your dvrd shows and movies on the fly. Even record from right where you are. Whether youre travelling around the country or around the house, keep what you watch with you. Download the Xfinity Stream app and watch all the shows you love. A state of emergency to tell you about in mississippi. Hundreds of people in jackson forced to evacuate their homes. The pearl river is rising. Its expected to crest later this morning at 37 1 2 feet, the highest level in decades. Thats a half foot lower than earlier forecast, and that makes a huge difference because if it hit 38 feet a large number of homes would be flooded by about 6 feet of water. Some parts of the south have already had double their normal rainfall for this point in the year, and more rain is on the way, which will worsen the impact from flooding. Meteorologist gene norman has the latest. Hard to believe over the last 30 days there are parts of the south thats seen over a foot of rain. Thats indicated by this purple shading here. But thats in the forecast for the next couple of days. It wont be coming in all at once in waves but every bit will add up. And in places especially like jackson, mississippi, where theyre closely watching the pearl river where it could exceed its banks over the next couple of hours. Thats going to be a big problem. By the end of the week were looking at anywhere from 2 to 4 additional inches of rain scattered across the south. Also this morning fog will be a concern. Dense fog advisories already been posted and theyre likely to expand. Further north, snow and it still is winter makes a surprise return. Places in the great lakes and Northern New England could see anywhere from 4 to 6 inches and a couple of isolated spots could see about a foot. And cold air will return by wednesday. If you have the day off, i hope you get a chance to enjoy it. Thanks, gene. Two snow mobilers in colorado killed by an avalanche they accidently triggered. A third person who was skiing in their group managed to free himself and alert the authorities. Attempts to rescue the victims were hampered saturday night by dangerous weather. The bodies of the two men were recovered yesterday. Fans are mourning the death of a young yugandan actress who was just 15 years old. She appeared in the disney film queen of katwei. Saying her thoughts and prayers are with her family and community as they say goodbye so soon. Two former College Volleyball stars and their 12yearold daughters have been killed in a horrible crash in missouri. 40yearold leslie and 444yearold were traveling with their daughters to a tournament on saturday. Thats when a pickup truck veered off the road and crashed through a cable barrier before overturning and slamming into their vehicle. Their daughters were also killed. Pragter played volleyball at louisville and mccaw starred at syracuse. One of two suspects who allegedly stole a pickup truck and ran over an employee during their get away has been arrested. Watch this. The entire incident caught on video last week. The thieves breaking in and ramming that fence and slamming the worker in the process. You can see he leaps up there but were told he did suffer serious injuries. A suspect was taken into custody. Heart break for hundreds of aspiring doctors. The mayo clinics school of medicine accidently accepted them by mistake. 365 applicants received acceptance letters last thursday only to be notified by email three hours later they were sent by error. The medical school only accepts 46 students and those are usually notified by phone. The mayo clinic says it deeply regrets the stress and disotomy. I bet so. Thats frustrating. If youre looking for a romantic story after valentines weekend this is not it. The city of lakeland, florida, forced to close off a park because of meeting snakes. Residents were alarmed to see groups of coupled up snakes congregating in the area. Park officials urging people to stay calm while assuring them these florida snakes are nonvenomous. They say once the mating is over the snakes will go their separate ways. Well, a mystery solved at north Canon Middle School in ohio. A red purse discovered by a custodian inside a wall there belonged to a former student named patti rumfola. Inside they found a card, a comb and inside photos of the family, friends and a dog. And also in the purse 27 cents. Each of pattis five children took one penny to remember their late mom. The nba allstar game capping a weekend of festivities in chicago. Honoring kobe bryant and daughter gianna by wearing their basketball numbers, 24 and 2. This new allstar format featured an untimed Fourth Quarter, the game ending when one team reached a specific final score. They had to score 24 points in the fourth to honor kobe. A lot of money raised for charity and theres kawai leonard. Kobes presence was felt throughout the weekend with tributes including one in song from jennifer hudson. Shes always amazing. All right, lets get a check on cnn business this morning. First a quick look at markets around the world. Asian stocks closed mostly higher. European markets have started the week higher as well. On friday the dow closed 25 points lower. The s p 500 and nasdaq finished with record highs. The u. S. Markets are closed today for president s day. Your favorite bottle of white or red may be getting less expensive. Wine prices are expected to drop to the lowest levels in five years, and they could stay that way for a while. Wine lovers can thank a surplus of grapes from california and a decrease in demand, those pesky millennials, causing prices to fall. Wine consumption has dropped for the first time in 25 years as more americans turn to liquor and ready to drink cocktails. Experts say shoppers will enjoy the best wine retail values in 20 years. I know what youre doing this afternoon. Well keep that offtherecord. Thanks very much. And thanks to our International Viewers for joining us. Have a great rest of your day. For our u. S. Viewers early start continues right now. New overnight, hundreds of americans head back home. Evacuated from a cruise ship hit by coronavirus. Now more than a hundred new cases suggest the quarantine is not working. Mike bloomberg with a target on his back from fellow democrats. Hes facing renewed scrutiny for policies with minorities and women in the workplace. And a new format brings a whole new energy to the nba allstar game. An electric night on the court and an emotional one as players and fans pay tribute to kobe bryant. Good morning and welcome to a special Holiday Edition of early start. Im Boris Sanchez in for christine romans. Im laura jarrett. Its monday, february 17th. Its 5 00 a. M. In the east. Overnight the u. S. Government evacuating more than 300 americans from the diamond princess cruise ship quarantined for weeks in japan because of the coronavirus. The evacuation a relief for