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White House Warns Russia Could Invade Ukraine "Any Day Now"; Rams Rally Past Bengals To Win Super Bowl LVI; IOC Lets Russian Teen Skater Compete Despite Positive Drug Test. Aired 11-11:30a ET

Aired February 14, 2022 - 11:00   ET

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


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[11:00:23]

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everyone. I'm Kate Bolduan. Here's what we're watching at this hour, imminent threat, new CNN reporting on how the Russian military plans to launch a possible attack on Ukraine soon. The Pentagon's Press Secretary joins us live.

Hollywood Ending the Los Angeles Rams triumph in the Super Bowl as the NFL's diversity issues loom large over the big game.

And on thin ice, Russia's skating star cleared to compete despite a positive drug test. Why the court's decision impacts all the other skaters who might finish on top.

Thank you so much for being here. We'll begin with important developments showing a Russian invasion of Ukraine could be imminent. A senior official telling CNN, U.S. intelligence indicates Russia is amassing more forces around Ukraine for possible military action this week. The U.S. now believes Russian military action would begin with air and missile attacks and they plan to surround Ukraine's capital city very quickly.

European leaders are urgently trying to defuse this crisis STILL, while President Zelensky continues to insist the U.S. warnings are stoking, quote, panic in his country. And from Moscow, the Kremlin this morning is renewing its call for Ukraine to end its bid to become a member of NATO. And again, I will speak with the Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby in just moments. Let's begin though with our coverage with CNN's Sam Kiley. He's live in Ukraine. Sam, what's the latest?

SAM KILEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kate, I'm in Kyiv 30 miles from the Russian border, 50 miles from the Russian city of Belgrade, where the -- a large tank army known as the First Guards Tank Army is massing. And we know that from the evidence from satellite imagery and other things, but that is --it is the massing of those sorts of movements, which is causing the United States to warn once again of an imminent a potential attack and something that the Ukrainian president is still anxious to bat away whilst maintaining his desire to join NATO. This is what he said today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) VOLODYMYR ZELENSKY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): Regarding the future alliances, our aspirations and missions, you know them perfectly well. We have some desire in our country. And in addition to this, we have a war in the East. Yes, we would like to join NATO, and it will protect our integrity.

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KILEY: Now, Kate, there is no sign of any kind of preparations for war here. I was on the border, there's no signs there either. Of course, the Ukrainian Armed Forces won't be putting all of their defenses on public display. But the atmosphere here is pretty relaxed. And that is potentially perhaps, because whatever the Ukrainians NATO, the convention within NATO is that you can't do that while you're in a military territorial dispute, such as they are currently already over Ukraine and the Donbas in the East. Kate?

BOLDUAN: Sam, thank you so much for that. More briefings are on the Hill are happening today on this very crisis in Ukraine, House leadership and members of key committees were briefed this morning by White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan. The Senate senators are going to be getting a briefing later this afternoon. Let's go there. CNN's Manu Raju is live on the Hill for us. Manu, what are you hearing about this crisis from the Hill and also America's role in the conflict from members of Congress?

MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, one of the big questions that members of Congress are grappling with is exactly how the United States should respond in the case of a Russian invasion into Ukraine. It's been a debate that has divided the two parties about exactly how to structure sanctions, whether sanction should go in immediately before any evasion, whether they should be instead focus strictly until after any evasion were to occur that's gone down along party lines, Republicans have pushed for those pre-invasion sanctions to be part of it.

The administration have worried that doing so would take away leverage to use against the Russian government, but they have not come together under one specific proposal. And earlier today, Jake Sullivan, one of the President's top advisors in talk to House lawmakers remotely about what the administration sees as an imminent threat of this Russian invasion into Ukraine, something that he made clear yesterday and speaking on CNN.

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JAKE SULLIVAN, NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: We cannot perfectly predict the day but we have now been saying for some time that we are in the window and an invasion could begin a major military action could begin by Russia and Ukraine any day now. That includes this coming week before the end of the Olympics.

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RAJU: And later today, Kate, there will be a classified briefing for top senators, top members of the key committees to provide specific intelligence about what the administration sees, so we'll see, Kate, if that leads to any resolution between the differences among the parties, but how the United States should respond if that invasion were to occur. Kate?

[11:05:21]

BOLDUAN: Manu, much more to come from there. Thank you so much.

Let's get over to the Pentagon right now, joining us is Pentagon Press Secretary, John Kirby. John, thank you for taking the time today. I want to get to some of our latest reporting, because we have a senior U.S. official who've been -- who has been briefed on the latest intelligence is telling Jim Sciutto that Russian military action would begin with air and missile attacks on key military infrastructure like airfields, air defense, early warning systems. Can you speak to that, John?

JOHN KIRBY, PENTAGON PRESS SECRETARY: Well, I won't speak too much about intelligence assessments, Kate. But that is certainly a set of options available to Mr. Putin. There's no question about that if he wants to choose a very conventional large scale military action in Ukraine, that is certainly one way he could do that. I would also tell you, Kate, that we need to be on the lookout for other ways in which this encouraging could start. It could start with a hybrid type of activity, like we saw on the Donbas in 2015, the so called little green men. It could start with cyberattacks on Ukrainian infrastructure and, you know, utilities, that kind of thing, transportation.

So I mean, there's lots of different ways that Mr. Putin could do this. And we agree with Mr. Sullivan completely, that it could happen any day now. In fact, I think we all need to be prepared for the fact that it could happen with little to no warning.

BOLDUAN: You think it is more likely than not that an invasion will occur?

KIRBY: I think that Mr. Putin is the only one who knows the answer to that. And I think that Mr. Putin knows he has ample capability at his disposal, he continues to add forces along that border with Ukraine and in Belarus, even just over the course of the weekend. He's well north of 100,000. But it's not just the numbers, Kate, it's the capabilities. It's combined arms capabilities that he has available to him from everything, from armor to infantry to Special Operations Forces to cyber and air and missile defense. He's got an impressive array of military capabilities that are all at his beck and call, should he choose to do it.

BOLDUAN: So also, according to this new reporting, John, the Russian plan, that Jim Sciutto is reporting on includes after air and missile attacks, then includes plans to encircle Kyiv within one to two days of the start of military action. Do you see that in the realm of possibility?

KIRBY: We think that, again, he's got lots of options available to him a conventional assault inside Ukraine that could involve the capital city, Kyiv, is certainly not off the table in terms of the possibilities for him. Again, we don't know what's in his mind. We don't know what he will or he won't do. But clearly, there's a lot of options available to him.

BOLDUAN: We know about 150 Florida National Guard were in Ukraine as trainers and have been moved out to another location in Europe due to the security situation. And Barbara Starr noted this morning that what's not known right now is the status of U.S. Special Operations Forces who have also been in western Ukraine doing training. Can you tell us if they've also been moved out?

KIRBY: Well, we don't we don't necessarily talk about all of these forces, Kate. What I can tell you is that those Florida National Guard, they have definitely moved and there are still some -- there's a small military presence in still in Ukraine, connected to our diplomatic presence. And I think that's where I'll leave that.

BOLDUAN: As diplomacy seems to not be going anywhere, quite frankly, we know that the Defense Secretary spoke to his Russian counterpart this weekend. What is the message to the Russians today?

KIRBY: He was very clear with his counterpart over the weekend. And it would be the same message should they talk today, which there's nothing on the schedule in that regard, that this an incursion, another military invasion into Ukraine would be disastrous, not only for Russia, but also for Ukraine clearly and in for peace and security there on the continent. And he made clear that we take our Article Five commitments to NATO, our collective defense requirements to NATO very seriously, and that we were, again adding to NATO's eastern flank in a purely defensive way, purely defensive.

And he also reminded the defense minister that you say, you in Russia say the last thing you want is a strong unified NATO on your western flank. Well, that's what you're getting. Because the alliance is more unified now than then perhaps we've seen in many, many recent years.

BOLDUAN: Well, you're getting to is something that you and I have discussed in the past, which is the, why this matters question, with real conflict appearing very possible and very soon. How does a war in Ukraine impact Americans here? What should the American people be prepared for?

KIRBY: Again, I think the President has been very clear, Kate, that we're not going to send American troops into Ukraine to fight, should there be another invasion by Russia into Ukraine but it does reinforce a couple of points here that I think are important for Americans. Remember one, sovereignty of a free independent nation state, a democracy at that needs to matter. And the whole world needs to take notice if Russia violates that sovereignty and there will be economic consequences, severe economic consequences that the United States is willing to impose on Russia for violating that very basic, simple principle that has been in place, you know, since the end of World War II.

[11:10:29] And then number two, that we need to again, I think, remind folks how seriously we take our NATO commitments, it's a very powerful, very viable alliance. It is more unified, more dynamic than ever before, and we take those responsibilities seriously. And so when we talk about this, we want the American people to understand it's a defensive alliance. It's an alliance that has collective to self-defense as a core principle, and we take that seriously. And I would remind again, you know, in 9/11 the first time Article Five collective self-defense was ever enacted by the alliance was actually for the United States on 9/11.

BOLDUAN: John Kirby, thank you very much.

KIRBY: Thank you, Kate.

Coming up still for us, a controversial decision now allowing a teenage Russian figure skater to compete, despite testing positive for a banned drug, a decision with major ripple effects impacting all of the other competitors in this premier event. That's next.

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[11:15:41]

BOLDUAN: It was a pretty spectacular almost Hollywood like ending for Super Bowl LVI, the Los Angeles Rams with a game winning touchdown in the final seconds of the game to beat the Cincinnati Bengals. And if we're being truly honest, the game's halftime show with hip hop royalty was almost as equally electrifying. CNN's Andy Scholes has the highlights from L.A.

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: Well, Kate, Super Bowl LVI is going to go down as one of the best ever. It had it all start to finish. And in the end, the Rams superstars coming through in the clutch Matthew Stafford and Cooper Kupp hooking up for the game winning touchdown with under 90 seconds to go. Then Aaron Donald who's been one of the best defensive players in NFL history delivering the winning play. Rams beat the Bengals 23 to 20. And all the fans taking to the streets to celebrate, some setting off fireworks, others jumping into the fountains outside of SoFi stadium.

Back on the field the Rams Taylor Rapp proposing to his girlfriend, Danny, during the celebration. She of course said yes. Now Rams receiver Van Jefferson, meanwhile, he had to leave the celebration early. His wife went into labor during the Super Bowl. Jefferson posting this awesome picture holding his son. So what a night for him and what a halftime show we had.

Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Eminem, Mary J. Blige, and Kendrick Lamar, putting on a show for the ages. Eminem kneeling on stage after performing his hit song "Lose Yourself." Many believe he did that as a tribute to Colin Kaepernick, who took a knee during the national anthem to protest police brutality and social injustice during the 2016 season. The NFL saying they were aware that he was going to kneel in advance. Now the performance getting rave reviews. I don't think I've ever seen a crowd more engaged singing and dancing the whole time. It was awesome.

And I've been to quite a few of these over the years Beyonce, Bruno Mars, Lady Gaga, this one likely tops them all. Kate, some saying this was the best Super Bowl halftime performance ever right up there with Prince's performance in the rain back in 2007 in Miami.

BOLDUAN: Andy, thank you so much for that. Joining me now for more on this is former NFL wide receiver Donte Stallworth. Donte, it's great to see you again. What did you think of the game?

DONTE STALLWORTH, FORMER NFL WIDE RECEIVER: You too. It was a great game, I think it was, it lived up to its billing. Everyone expected the Rams and the Bengals game and the Super Bowl to be a great one for the ages. And I think it was. It played out exactly the way if you look at the way the last couple of months of this season played out for each team. It played out exactly that way where you had Matt Stafford going to Cooper Kupp at the end of the game, which was the ensuing touchdown to put them on top. And then at the end of the game, you had the Bengals coming back. But the Rams stop them. And Aaron Donald who was a future Hall of Fame player, making the stop on fourth down to secure the win for the Rams.

BOLDUAN: The halftime show also we're talking about, getting rave reviews. I mean, you just heard Andy Scholes kind of laying it out for us. Eminem, taking a knee during the show, kind of echoing the protest launched by Colin Kaepernick. What did you think of that moment, especially given everything the league is facing right now, everything united have discussed?

STALLWORTH: I think it was very important. I think Eminem has long been someone who's going to speak his mind, regardless of what most people think. And obviously, a lot of people agree with him. A lot of people don't in certain instances. But in this case, you know, you look back to 2017 when he did his BET cipher, where he essentially eviscerated the former president for speaking out in derogatory terms towards all the NFL players who are kneeling against racial injustices in this country. And so I think that was a very important moment. And I'd love to hear more from Eminem about, you know, what his thoughts were going into this. But I think if he doesn't speak it, also his kneeling spoke for itself.

BOLDUAN: Yes, speaking of speaking out, I want to play what President Biden said about the Brian Flores lawsuit when he during an interview ahead of the game, let me let me play this.

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JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The whole idea that a league that is made up of so many athletes of color, as well as so diverse, that there's not enough African American qualified coaches to quote, to manage these NFL teams. It just seems to me that it's a standard that they'd want to live up to. I don't know it's just not a requirement of law but it's a requirement I think of some just generic decency.

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BOLDUAN: Donte, what did you think of that and kind of the state of play where things stand with the lawsuit in this conversation?

STALLWORTH: Yes, I think President Biden is correct. I mean, if you look at the last two coaching cycles, there's been 16 head coaching vacancies, and only I believe a couple have been filled by black coaches. And going into this new season, you know, you have a lot of coaches who are coordinators that haven't really gotten their shot. And obviously, the Brian Flores allegations are something that the NFL is going to have to answer to and will have to answer to in the future until they until they correct these things.

And I think now that, you know, the Super Bowl is over in the 2022, NFL season has begun, the NFL needs to make this a priority just as much as they tried to do with player safety and player health and all those other things that they put at the top of the line. This has to be at the top of the priority list for the NFL as well.

BOLDUAN: And your voice is going to be important in this. Donte, thanks for coming on. It's good to see you.

STALLWORTH: You too. Thank you.

BOLDUAN: Thank you.

Let's turn now to the developing story with big implications at the Winter Olympic Games. Russian figure skating sensation Kamila Valieva has been cleared to compete in the figure savings figure skating short program tomorrow despite testing positive for a banned drug before the Beijing Games. However, the decision also means the 15-year-old will not get a medal ceremony, nor will any skater who finishes in the top three. Joining me now live from Beijing is CNN sports analyst Christine Brennan. She's a sports columnist at USA Today. And also here with me is CNN contributor Patrick McEnroe. He's a former coach of the U.S. men's tennis team at the 2004 games. Christine, I understand why this is controversial. But why is this so complicated?

CHRISTINE BRENNAN, CNN SPORTS ANALYST: That's a great question. Obviously, it starts Kate with, and Patrick hello, with Russia, a nation that is the worst doping nation since the East Germans of the 60s and 70s. And it's also involves a 15-year-old, so they didn't want to throw the book at her. She's a protected person and gets leniency. That's at least what we've been hearing from the Court of Arbitration for Sport. Of course, it's alphabet soup, right, IOC, ISU, CA, on and on it goes.

And but the bottom line is someone who tested positive for performance enhancing drug, 15-year-old. We're all very sympathetic that the adults in her life obviously have betrayed her and abused her. But she tests positive and now she's going to compete in the Olympics. And that is a devastating blow to these games. You know, if you can't trust what you're watching, if you can't believe it's true, then why do you watch. And it's so true, obviously, it's a scandal of massive proportions. She's going to be competing and as you mentioned, no medal ceremony which the IOC decided, Kate. And I think that tells us a lot.

They think it when -- at the end of the day, when all of this is examined with another cast ruling in five, six months whenever that it may well be that they will determine that she will be disqualified and the Russian team will be disqualified because of her positive drug test.

BOLDUAN: So Patrick is as a former Olympic coach. I mean, what are you -- what are you thinking about with this news today, well, quite frankly, for all of the other skaters?

PATRICK MCENROE, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: That's what I'm thinking about, actually. And it's great to see Christine again, she's working overtime over there. But I'm thinking about the athletes that are there, their figure skaters. I'm going to go to my phone because I want to get the names right. I had some names this morning, and I'm going to read some of the names Mariah Bell. She's an American figure skater. Anastasiia Shabotova from Ukraine. Josefin Taljegard from Sweden. Alexia Paganini from Switzerland. Kim Ye-lim from South Korea. That's who I'm thinking about.

I'm thinking about those athletes, those figure skaters that are now having to deal with the fact that they're not going to be able to have a ceremony if they're lucky enough to be finished in the top three, or the top four, depending on what happens with Valieva in the long run. They've spent all this time all this effort working their whole lives for moments like this in the Olympic Games.

And as Christine rightly said, the IOC, they pass the buck to these other organizations, whether it's WADA, whether it's the CAS, they're running the Olympic Games, and maybe there's a sliver, the sliveriest of hopes that the IOC is getting their act together, at least by saying they're not going to have the ceremony, which is a negative for the athletes right there. But maybe they're starting to take some responsibility.

And thank goodness, we've got Christine over there, it's late, it's after midnight there, keeping the pressure on them. And I hope those other athletes who made sure they ate right, who made they took the right supplements, made sure they've done all their training, now they've got to go up against someone that they know, has been doping and is still able to compete.

BOLDUAN: Christine, she's 15. She's a minor. What does her age have to do with this?

[11:25:06]

BRENNAN: Because one would assume that she's not making these decisions herself. And Patrick knows this as a coach and someone who has been around young tennis players that, in effect, the World Anti- Doping Agency is already going to investigate the team, the coaching team around Valieva because the real questions clearly, she didn't decide that she was going to take a medicine for angina that helps increase endurance and blood flow, and could help her continue to practice when all, as to Patrick's point, all these other athletes did not do this.

And I think also of Katie Ledecky and Michael Phelps and Michelle Kwan who've done everything right and want to be tested more. And what a slap in the face this is today. But you really I think you look at the team around her. And again, Russia state sponsored doping. We shouldn't exactly be shocked that Russia again is in the news about doping because that's all they've been in the news for 2014 Olympics in Sochi, '16, '18, of course in Tokyo, and they shouldn't have been at any of these Olympic Games.

But they're here. And now they have created this absolute chaos, obviously, because they keep doing -- they keep cheating. And so in this case, they're using a 15-year-old who by the way is the gold medal favorite. And what a shame this is because on all accounts, you know, she's a victim. But she still, you can feel that way. I think you can be sympathetic to her and understand that you feel really bad for her, but also be for clean sport and say that someone who had a positive drug test should not be competing at these Olympic Games.

BOLDUAN: Christine, it's great to see you. Thanks for staying up for us. Patrick, thank you. It's great to have you here in studio. Thank you so much.

All right coming up for us, a critical trade route between the U.S. and Canada back open. The protesters are still gridlock in Canada's Capitol. The very latest on the protests that's next.

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