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Ukraine Says Russian Troops Invading; Cyber Attack on U.S. Banks; TV Producer Arrested for Crime He Didn't Commit

Aired August 28, 2014 - 08:30   ET

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

CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Have confirmed that actual Russian forces and materiel have crossed into that city in southeastern Ukraine.

Now, there are different analyses of what is actually going on. Some are saying that this may be a Russian attempt to sort of divide and conquer, if you like, because the separatists in the other parts of the separatists held parts of eastern Ukraine have been on the back foot recently as the Ukrainian government has succeed in pushing them back a lot. So now they may be trying to draw out the Ukrainian forces and spread them thinner.

Alternatively, this is another theory, and one that the commander of NATO, General Breedlove, had told me, you know, several months ago that Russia may be trying to implement some kind of establishment of a land route, a land bridge, from Russia to Crimea, which at the moment it doesn't have. But whatever, it is continued instability, it's obviously a dramatic escalation. I've spoken several times to President Poroshenko of Ukraine who says that this must be resolved diplomatically. We need to talk with President Putin. And for this to happen two days after the two of them shook hands in Minsk, in Belarus, another former Soviet republic, is truly audacious of the Russians because President Putin said there he was very ready to work on a cease-fire.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Well, you know, you say people say this must be solved diplomatically. The fact is, if what we're seeing is actually happening there, it's not being solved diplomatically. Russia is moving in, in greater numbers, whatever their ultimate motivation is, which could be territorial acquisition, as you say there. So what do you do about this? What does the west do about this? What do the NATO officials that you're speaking to then do about this?

AMANPOUR: Well, it's clear that nobody thinks that there's going to be any kind of confrontation of Russia as the west may or may not be contemplating against ISIS. What is going to presumably happen is a continuation and potentially even a ratcheting up of sanctions, but also NATO and the NATO secretary general has said that there's going to be more deployment of NATO material to try to, you know, preposition and keep sort of the defensive nature at the very least and keep trying to pressure President Putin economically, diplomatically, politically, to see that this is basically not going to serve Russia in any which way.

But at the - but in the meantime, it causes immense destabilization and Ukrainian forces do not want to engage with the Russian forces because they will get whipped as the Georgian forces did when they tried to do that in 2008, when Russia, you know, took over south Asettia (ph). So the Ukrainian forces do not want to engage with the Russian forces per se. And those who have done are being pushed back and it's a very dramatic situation for the Ukrainian forces right now.

BERMAN: Christiane, is this an indication of the sanctions as they are right now are not working? If the sanctions can't keep Vladimir Putin from escalating the military situation, one could ask what good are they?

AMANPOUR: Well, look, they have had an effect. They absolutely have had an effect. They've had an effect on the Russian economy, on the stock market, on the currency. They've had an effect in isolating Vladimir Putin to an extent that he would not want to be isolated. Yes, I mean it's continued diplomatic pressure that's obviously going to have to somehow find some kind of a breakthrough because it's very difficult to see right now how this is going to be solved in any immediate term, if indeed that that doesn't - you know, the political and diplomatic breakthrough doesn't happen.

Now, we may know a little bit more about how the west confronts this because the NATO summit is going to be held in Wales next week and obviously Ukraine, Russia, ISIS, Afghanistan, these major, major challenges are going to be front and center. It's going to be a very important NATO meeting here in Wales in exactly a week from now.

BERMAN: Oh, the timing, Christine, is stunning. You know, two days after Vladimir Putin meets with President Poroshenko -

AMANPOUR: It is.

BERMAN: Days before this big NATO meeting in Wales. I'm going to ask you to do the impossible here. Put yourself in the head of Vladimir Putin. What possibly could he be thinking right now? You say one possible reason for this might be to create a land corridor with Crimea. Is it possible he's also looking for an honorable exit to this, leave, you know, with a strong hand?

AMANPOUR: You know, if he had been looking for an honorable exit, that one was offered over and over again, most particularly several times. We were there, for instance, in Normandy on D-Day shortly after the election of Petro Poroshenko. Petro Poroshenko himself offers the best chance for Vladimir Putin to have a face-saving way out. In Normandy, with the U.S. president, Barack Obama, with the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, with all the, you know, NATO and other leaders, they did meet, Poroshenko and Putin, and afterwards I spoke to Poroshenko and he said, you know, sometimes President Putin is very emotional about what's going on and sometimes he's pragmatic. And the question is, we don't know when he is which. We think there is a peaceful way out of this. I have offered a detailed peace plan. One that respects the rights of the Russian minority, the Russian speaking minority in eastern Ukraine. So he says, yes, we can do this, but then he doesn't do it.

So they believe that Putin is either being boxed in by the propaganda that he's already created, but also the desire to control events in Ukraine, or that he has entirely nefarious designs and no matter what he says to Poroshenko or to the west in public he's doing something completely other in private. So what's in his head? It's hard to get into his head. But, you know, actions kind of speak louder than words at the moment.

BERMAN: Those actions are putting 1,000 troops heavily armed on the ground inside Ukraine right now.

AMANPOUR: Yes.

BERMAN: We'll be watching this all morning. Christiane Amanpour, thanks so much. Appreciate it.

Alisyn.

AMANPOUR: Thanks, John.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: All right, John.

The FBI is investigating a string of cyber attacks on U.S. banks. Evidence suggests it could be Russian hackers retaliating for those economic sanctions you were talking about. We'll give you the facts.

And, a bad case of mistaken identity. A black TV producer pulled over, handcuffed, and held for six hours before police realized they had the wrong man. That producer speaks to us next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CAMEROTA: The FBI is investigating a series of cyber attacks against U.S. banks thought to be coming from Russia. Hackers are believed to have accessed sensitive information from several financial institutions, including banking giant JP Morgan Chase. Could this be retaliation for western sanctions against the Russians? Christine Romans is here with more.

Is this retaliation?

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Well, that's what the investigation is going to have to really zero in on here, quite frankly, Alisyn. A U.S. official tells us that the location of the hackers still isn't clear, but given the sophistication of this, the cyber security community is saying this investigation appears to center - it should definitely center on Russia.

Now, hackers from Russia are often the top FBI suspects. And the timing of the hack has raised suspicions given recent U.S. sanctions against Russia. Also still this big question, the motivation. Still unclear if the attack was financially or politically motivated or if it was some sort of espionage. Banks have very tough security. Getting through that and getting account information, getting so much information definitely not an easy task.

Now, in response to this breach, JP Morgan said companies of this size experience attacks every day and the bank has measures to protect itself. And again, the FBI, U.S. officials, are investigating just what the cause was of this cyber attack.

CAMEROTA: I was going to ask you that, aren't hackers always trying to get into the banks?

ROMANS: They are knocking on the door every day and it's eastern European based hackers, it's Russian hackers, it's Chinese hackers, it's hackers from all over the world. What the - what the cyber security community is telling us this morning is, this looks like it was something with political motivation. It looks like something that has at least the knowledge of, as one expert told us this morning, of the Russian government because they are so angry about banks being the tools with which the U.S. is carrying out sanctions against Russia. I mean, think about it, I mean they've frozen accounts, they've, you know, disallowed transfers of money from one account to another. That's something the banks have to do under U.S. law.

CAMEROTA: Yes, great information. Christine Romans -- or just Romans, as Berman calls you.

ROMANS: He does just call me Romans.

CAMEROTA: I'm going to - I know. Great to see you.

ROMANS: Sometimes he calls me "oh beautiful one," but I'm trying to put that to rest (ph).

CAMEROTA: Oh, OK. No, no, I'm going to institute that.

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: He calls you that, too?

ROMANS: Oh, here we go.

PEREIRA: That Berman. He's rounded by women who are giving him a tough time today. Poor guy.

All right, let's give you the five things you need to know for your new day.

At number one, we are learning of a second American killed in Syria, reportedly fighting for ISIS. That's coming from a Syrian opposition group. The other American, Douglas McCain, was killed in a gun battle.

The United States looking to convince other nations to join the military fight against ISIS. U.S. officials say there are potential candidates, but that some allies could be hesitant following the U.S.- led invasion of Iraq in 2003.

Ukrainians say Russian soldiers have joined rebels and invaded their territory. The U.S. official tells CNN, intelligence indicates up to 1,000 Russian troops have moved into Ukraine with heavy artillery. We'll be watching that.

Just moments ago the National Institutes of Health announcing testing will begin next week on an experimental Ebola vaccine. Testing will be done overseas. This comes as the death toll now tops 1,500. And a clue in the search for Malaysia Flight 370. Officials say data

from a failed attempt to phone the plane suggests it turned south earlier than previously thought.

We do update those five things to know, so be sure to go to newdaycnn.com for the very latest.

BERMAN: All right, thanks so much, Michaela.

With heightened concern this morning about police discrimination, a questionable case out of California. A television producer headed to a party when his night took a very, very bad turn. He was arrested and held for six hours before cops realized they had the wrong man. We'll hear from him next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PEREIRA: Beverly Hills police are apologizing to an African-American TV producer after he was mistakenly arrested for a crime he did not commit. This obviously comes amid growing concerns about police discrimination across the country. Charles Belk, you may have seen this picture online, seen here handcuffed, sitting on a sidewalk, was headed to an Emmy party, when police accused him of robbing a nearby bank. He was arrested, held for about six hours, before police realized their mistake. The Beverly Hills police department said Belk closely matched a description of the suspect and regrets the incident. On his Facebook page Belk says this happened to him because was "misidentified as the wrong tall, bald-head, black male fitting the description." Charles Belk got up really early this morning. He's in Los Angeles and joins us now to tell us this story. Well, my man, this is quite a tale you have. Tell me about it.

CHARLES BELK, TV PRODUCER FALSELY ARRESTED: Yes, indeed.

PEREIRA: It first caught out attention online, but now I can talk to you personally about what went on. So, set the stage. You're on your way to a pre-Emmy party, minding your business, headed to your car, and what happens?

BELK: Immediately, as I was walking down the street to my car, looking at my phone, a police officer from the Beverly Hills Police Department pulled up in front of me on his motorcycle and said, "Could you come hear, please?" And then he immediately asked for my identification and asked me to sit down on the curb.

PEREIRA: And you thought to yourself, was I texting while walking? Is that illegal in Beverly Hills? What did you think immediately?

BELK: I was really confused, and I think, as I displayed my level of confusion and looking at him, he was very anxious to quickly get me on the curb, and so I was like, really, really intent on making sure I gave him no reason to think that I was not cooperating.

PEREIRA: So you complied. You sat down on the curb. The handcuffs are put on you. What is he saying to you as this is all going on? BELK: He is actually -- he did look at me when I was sitting down. He

said, "Just so you know, because I want to be up front with you, you match the description."

PEREIRA: The description of what?

BELK: That was it. You matched the description, and I'm sitting thinking the description of what?

PEREIRA: And so then, tell us more what happens. I want to you back up a second, because you were kind of in a rush, correct? You were trying to get to your car and had to get somewhere else.

BELK: Absolutely. Very interesting, I was in a rush to my car because my parking meter was about to expire. I didn't want to break the law and get a ticket. I was concerned about that, and in fact, under normal circumstances I would have been rushing, walking very rapidly, if not running. I had a text that come in, and I stopped to walk a little slower, as I was reading that text. Otherwise, I definitely would have been running to my car, and if you can imagine what I'm thinking now, that if I would have been running when they thought that I was a suspect in some high-profile armed crime, I'm not sure if the circumstances would have been that favorable for me.

PEREIRA: In their defense, there was a bank robbery that had happened nearby and there was a description of a bald, black male. Were you wearing the same clothes or the same colors as this suspect?

BELK: So, as far as I have been told, I was told that the bald, black male had on a green shirt and tan pants, which is what I had on that day, because I hadn't changed yet for the evening event. Well, I was transitioning from another event and it was very casual mode at that time. The interesting point about this, Michaela, to me, is that what does that mean, black male? Is that an onyx black, is that a jet black, or is it a brown? Is it a coffee brown, a caramel brown? You know, what does that mean? In my case, I'm a Tahitian sunset brown. So, what exactly were they looking for?

PEREIRA: A Tahitian sunset brown. Okay Charles, I see what you did there.

BELK: Exactly.

PEREIRA: I appreciate that. I do. Ok, fast forward, you're arrested. You're taken to the police station. Are you given a phone call? Are you allowed to reach out to anybody? Are you told why you're being held?

BELK: Eventually -- so after sitting down for about two or three minutes, that was when , at first it was just one cop, then there were about four, five, six more cops came. One came right out of the car and immediately came over to me, approached me very aggressively, had me stand up, patted me down, put handcuffs on me, and then indicated that I needed to sit back down on the curb. Took a very strong kind of approach with me, but again, I did not want to give them any reason to think that I was not going to cooperate. So I sat out there probably for 45 minutes to an hour on the curb, on busy La Cienega Boulevard, which I'm sure you're familiar with, at rush hour traffic on Friday, on Emmy Awards weekend, VMA awards weekend. Everybody's watching me so I sat there with my head down in handcuffs on the curb.

PEREIRA: This is not how you expected your day to go at all and I'm sure people were expecting you where you were supposed to be conducting business. At any point were you able to protest, sort of explain who you were, what you were doing? You are an award-winning professional, you are a person that is well respected in your community for the work do you and philanthropic ventures. Were you able to tell them that you were the wrong guy?

BELK: A lieutenant came over and that's probably five or ten minutes into it, he then kind of explained the situation, there was a bank robbery, a little bit more. That's when I went into hey, look, I own my own company. I consult in the industry. I consult with various organizations.

PEREIRA: You were the wrong guy.

BELK: I did not rob a bank. I did not do anything, but once they asked me to stand up, get into their car, they kind of pushed, got me into the back, not pushed, I'm sorry, but got me into the back of the police car and hauled me away to the station, I still didn't know what was going on, what I was being charged for. I was all the time thinking to myself, this will sort itself out because clearly there are cameras.

PEREIRA: It did because you were able to call a friend, they called the NAACP, they were able to get you out. You're now free. They have apologized. Is that apology enough for you?

BELK: Well, so I appreciate that apology. Let me just clarify you on one point. I actually was not able to call a friend. A friend was there with me - -

PEREIRA: Oh.

BELK: - - explaining to the officer that we had just finished eating. We were just around the corner. I kind of yelled back to my friend, I was like please call so and so. He called a friend of mine, Robin Harrison from the NAACP Hollywood bureau who then called an attorney. If it wasn't for that, I think I really would have been on my own at that police station. When I got to the Beverly Hills police station and once they went through the process of taking my fingerprints, taking my photo, they had taken my belt, my shoes, my wallet, everything out of my wallet, I asked him, I said wow, this is a real, this is like a nightmare, and one of the officers, the booking officer said to me, this is a serious crime you committed.

PEREIRA: Oh.

BELK: And I thought to myself, I've been convicted.

PEREIRA: Yes.

BELK: I've been tried and convicted, all in a very short period of time.

PEREIRA: Charles --

BELK: I asked to make --

PEREIRA: You were able to make a phone call, sorry, we've run short on time. But the bottom line is - -

BELK: Sorry about that.

PEREIRA: No, no, no, no, this is such an important story considering what we've been seeing going on across the country right now, a real hot topic, and you unfortunately experienced this for yourself. A man in his 50's, a professional, being mistakenly arrested for a crime he did not commit. Charles Belk, thank you so much for sharing your story. We're so glad that you are out and you are in good humor. We'll watch to see what the outcome of all of this is. Thanks for sharing your story with us on NEW DAY.

BELK: Thank you so much, Michaela and just one last thing, I hope they can start making it about the face and not about the race.

PEREIRA: That's right, that's right, well said. Thanks so much, Charles.

We're going to take a short break. When we come back we're going to tell you the story of a couple, well they split up, called it quits before their wedding, but what they did after this, well that's the Good Stuff.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(CROSSTALK)

PEREIRA: The Good Stuff for you. I love this, a jilted groom turns lemons into lemonade, in a manner of speaking.

(BEGIN VIDEOCLI)

PEREIRA (voice-over): Lemon-aid, A-I-D, is a fund-raiser, born out of Phil Laboon's heartbreak after he and his fiancee split before their wedding. Stuck with a reception space, lots of food and drink he'd already paid for, Laboon and his buddies got to thinking, why not sell tickets for a nice night out?

PHIL LABOON, DONATED CANCELLED WEDDING RECEPTION TO CHARITY: It makes you feel really good that we're literally going to be changing a massive amount of kids' lives and makes it almost feel like it's not the worst thing in the world that I canceled a wedding.

(END VIDEOCLIP)

PEREIRA (on camera): Proceeds and extra donations will benefit a charity that provides free surgical care for impoverished children from developing nations. Ladies, he's available, he's philanthropic and good looking. There you go. CAMEROTA: His bride regrets that now.

PEREIRA: Yes.

CAMEROTA: Thanks so much for watching.