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Trial Begins For Only Officer Charged In Breonna Taylor Raid; Jury Weighs Fate Of 3 Former Officers In George Floyd Civil Rights Trial; Ukraine Given Warning By U.S. Of Imminent Russian Attack. Aired 11:30a-12p ET

Aired February 23, 2022 - 11:30   ET

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

[11:30:00]

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KATE BOLDUAN, CNN HOST: We are following developments in two important trials involving race and policing in America. Opening arguments are underway in the trial of former Louisville police officer Brett Hankinson. He's charged with wanton endangerment for firing shots into Breonna Taylor's neighbor's apartment during the botched raid that killed her. CNN's Jason Carroll joins me now from Kentucky with the very latest. Jason, what has happened so far today?

JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, opening statements, Kate, have already concluded with a precaution -- with the prosecution starting on first and explaining what the trial is not about. She said that it is not about Breonna Taylor's death, that she should not have died that night, that is not about search warrants, it's not about reforming the Louisville Metropolitan Police Department.

She told jurors what the trial is about is Brett Hankinson and his actions that night. What he did, what he did not do. And she spent much of her opening, Kate explaining where exactly he was standing in the moments leading up to the shooting and what happened during the shooting. Of course, for Breonna Taylor's mother, this is not the trial that she wanted to see. And right now she told me she's dealing with a whole list of emotions.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TAMIKA PALMER, BREONNA TAYLOR'S MOTHER: Frustrated, angry, heartbroken, disappointed. The list goes on. It's just -- this vicious cycle of not trusting in the system.

CARROLL: Do you feel like justice is being served?

PALMER: No, not at all. But it's a start, I guess. That's for somebody, not Breonna at all.

LONITA BAKER, TAYLOR FAMILY ATTORNEY: This is the justice that her neighbors deserve, but it's still not the justice that Breonna deserves.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CARROLL: Hankinson, charged with three counts of one endangerment for firing shots that went into a neighboring apartment. Hankinson's attorney Stuart Matthews gave a very brief opening, Kate where he said that the shooting is justified given the circumstances.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEWART MATTHEW, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: You're going to find it go down the path of we suggest you go down and find that he was justified, his actions were reasonable and justified given the chaotic situation he was in.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CARROLL: Right now on the stand, Kate, is Cody Etherton. He is the man who was in the neighboring apartment. He said that at one point he could hear someone saying to Taylor "breathe, baby, breathe." He also at one point said that he had his girlfriend called 911 because he said that he feared that the police were shooting in the wrong apartment. Kate.

BOLDUAN: Jason, thank you very much.

Let's go to Minnesota right now where a jury has started deliberating in the trial of three former police officers charged with violating George Floyd's civil rights. In closing arguments, federal prosecutors argued that the former officers "chose to do nothing" as Derek Chauvin murdered Floyd by kneeling on his neck for those nine minutes. CNN's Omar Jimenez is live at the courthouse there with much more. Omar, what's happening?

OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kate, this case is now in the hands of a jury to decide whether these three former Minneapolis Police officers Tou Thao, Alex Kueng, and Thomas Lane violated George Floyd's civil rights in his killing.

Now, before they got this case, the judge read them instructions on how to interpret the law were some of what he said is that just because an officer violates the U.S. Constitution doesn't mean he's acting inconsistently with training policy, but also for them to say that just because an officer acts inappropriately, it doesn't necessarily mean they violated the U.S. Constitution.

[11:35:00]

JIMENEZ: So those are some of the issues that these jurors are going to be weighing in this. This trial is gone for about a month at this point. But this week, we heard closing arguments from both sides where both sides painted some crucial bottom lines, including from the prosecution who singled out defendants Thao and Alex Kueng were Assistant U.S. Attorney Manda Sertich said they watched while George Ford's conditions slowly deteriorated.

They had the ability, authority, opportunity, means, and duty to intervene. But didn't, and they later argued because they didn't choose to intervene that showed willfulness. The defense attorneys argued the opposite as at least one of them said, for there to be willfulness, there needs to be an intent, and the reason that's important is because at least Tou Thao and Alex Kueng are charged with willfully failing to intervene and stop Derek Chauvin, who of course, had his knee on Floyd's neck at the time. It's all left for a jury to decide, Kate.

BOLDUAN: It is. Omar, thank you for being there. Joining me now for more on this is CNN Senior Legal Analyst and former Federal Prosecutor, Laura Coates. Laura, let's start where Omar just left off. I mean, what do you think this federal trial that these officers are facing? What do you think it is going to come down to for the jury?

LAURA COATES, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: Well, this is why it is probably one of the more important cases we'll ever see about police conduct and misconduct because as we saw from the Derek Chauvin trial, there were many officers who could clearly distinguish themselves from that behavior, who would say they would never have engaged in the behavior of kneeling on a man's neck for nine and a half minutes.

But far more officers would find themselves in the position perhaps to be in the presence of officers who were doing that, who also have an affirmative obligation to provide a duty of care to somebody who is in their custody. And what they choose to do, and what they choose not to do, will actually essentially determine what accountability looks like in police training and down the line in a criminal courtroom.

And so this really comes down to the idea of what was the affirmative obligation that you had to somebody who was in your custody? And it's not enough to essentially be present if you're not going to go forward and accomplish your oath of office of providing that particular duty. So this is an extraordinarily important case that will have a ripple effect all across this country and every police department from coast to coast.

BOLDUAN: This also isn't over for these officers. They're facing state trial later on this year on charges of aiding and abetting in the murder of George Floyd, what do you expect there?

COATES: Well, you know, this is really important. Normally, the state cases go forward first. And oftentimes the federal prosecutions are the backstop to figure out what they need to do, it might be an opportunity for a plea, especially there are civil rights violations involved. But this opportunity to go beforehand to talk about that affirmative obligation really sets the standard in showing you how important the prosecutors in Minnesota really view this case.

And again, the person who has the initial crime, the initial conviction, Derek Chauvin is already in jail. He's already pled guilty to this particular offense as well. But they still have this as a sword of Damocles over their head about what they did.

These prosecutors are very serious, basically very telling, if a jury does not find that they have violated his rights in this way, it might be an even harder case to prove it the state prosecution, although not insurmountable, one verdict can oftentimes lead to the influence of a jury pool and other conditions down the road.

BOLDUAN: Well, let's talk about Kentucky. Let's talk about this officer who's charged not in the death of Breonna Taylor, but in for firing into the neighboring apartment. No one has been charged with her death. Hankinson is on trial as Jason Carroll laid out for wanton endangerment for firing to the other apartment. Why isn't anyone charged Breonna Taylor's killing though?

COATES: Well, that's the million-dollar question. And it's one that has irked and been such a problem in indignity for the family of Breonna Taylor. And the idea of -- I remember, I think I was with you on your program when we first learned that there would be no grand jury charges --

BOLDUAN: That's exactly (INAUDIBLE).

COATES: -- And then we later learned that the grand jury had never been presented with an opportunity to even charge anyone for the killing of Breonna Taylor. This whole discussion about the AG their Daniel Cameron, and what he provided to the grand jury and chose not to.

This case really comes down to in many respects what people perceive as the value or the lack of value of a human life, the idea that you would charge an officer because he had the potential to fire into -- in blindly into an area that could have harmed three people, but not to actually charge anyone when they actually did harm and kill a person is always going to be nonsensical to the average person in these cases.

And even I as a prosecutor thinking about this, I'm wondering so what the calculus was. But ultimately, this is not the pursuit of accountability on behalf of Breonna Taylor, but the thematic underlying undercurrent here is that an officer engaged in behavior, allegedly, that showed a demonstration and a disregard for the value of human life.

[11:40:00]

COATES: That was true for Brenda Taylor. It's also true for those three people, including a five-year-old girl, a pregnant woman, and a man who were next door as well.

BOLDUAN: It's good to see you, Laura. Thank you.

COATES: Thank you.

BOLDUAN: Coming up for us. Russian troops and tanks are on the move in the regions of Ukraine that Vladimir Putin just declared independent. We're going to bring you the very latest on this growing crisis next. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:45:00]

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN Breaking News.

BOLDUAN: We're following breaking news right now, everyone. CNN has just learned the United States has issued a new warning to the Ukrainian government. That warning as the latest U.S. intelligence indicates a full-scale Russian invasion is imminent. This is a significant escalation in the growing crisis.

Joining me now on this breaking news is seen as Matthew Chance. He's live in Kyiv, Ukraine. CNN's Kylie Atwood is live at the State Department. Nic Robertson is live in Moscow, and also joining us, Retired Air Force Colonel and CNN Military Analyst, Cedric Leighton.

Matthew, let me start with you. This is your reporting. Tell us more.

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, well, actually, the reporting has come from multiple sources, both Ukrainian officials and sources in the United States as well. And what they're saying to us is that the United States has now issued a new warning to the Ukrainians that their latest intelligence assessments suggest that they -- there could be an imminent invasion, a full-scale invasion of Ukraine. You know, very shortly indeed. That, again, coming to us from various sources.

The new warning was conveyed, according to a Ukrainian official that I've spoken to, to Ukraine in the early hours of Tuesday morning, that's over 36 hours ago. The Ukrainian official, again, that spoke to me about this and is familiar with the matter, saying that it's not been verified that that report of an imminent attack by Ukrainian intelligence and, of course, he said that the United States has warned them in similar ways like this in the past. But Ukrainians have consistently been trying to push back and play down the intelligence in this sense and the timing of it. That's been -- it's been coming from the United States.

I will say this, though, that this latest indication of a new warning from the United States to Ukraine comes as the Ukrainian President demands from the Ukrainian parliament that the State of Emergency be imposed in this country from midnight, local time here in Ukraine, that's just about five hours from now. And so whether that was part of the decision-making or not, that intelligence to impose that that State of Emergency, it's not clear at the moment, obviously I'll try and get some more reporting to you on that.

But this is interesting because of particular concern. According to Ukrainian officials that I've spoken to familiar with that U.S. warning is the city of Kharkiv. This is a big city of nearly one and a half million people, I think 1.4 million people in the northeast of Ukraine, it's very close to the Russian border, and it's sort of under government control.

But it's also very close to where you cross over the Ukrainian border into Russia, about 30 or 40 miles, there's been a big buildup of Russian forces. We've been seeing it through satellite images, we've managed at CNN, to geolocate and verify ourselves concentrations of Russian armor, including tanks and armored vehicles very close to that facility. Also, hospital facilities close by as well, all the signs, in other words, that some kind of major Russian incursion is being prepared for at least in that region.

As I say, you know, we will wait, we will see, we will watch very closely what actually happens. But that is the latest intelligence assessment that has been communicated by the United States to the Ukrainians, again, more than 36 hours ago.

BOLDUAN: Let's get to the State Department. Now, Kylie, you've got some new reporting on this as well. What are you learning?

KYLIE ATWOOD, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well, listen, Kate, U.S. officials say that this is in line with what they've been saying for some time that there could be an invasion within hours, within days. But there appears to be some new urgency here.

And the reason for that is because of the force posture of those Russian forces that are surrounding Ukraine right now. You heard President Biden just yesterday cite the fact that Russians have blood that is situated along the borders, and they won't have blood unless they're planning to go to war. We heard from the NATO Secretary- General just yesterday saying that all indications are that Russia is planning for a full-scale invasion here.

So you have heard these comments from U.S. officials, from European officials with a sense of urgency in the last day or so. And that is, according to our reporting, being reflected in the intelligence that the United States is gathering and therefore sharing with the Ukrainians.

Now, we should know that the Ukrainian Foreign Minister was here at the State Department yesterday. He was specifically asked if the Ukrainian government has plans to evacuate that town of Kharkiv, that's in the northeast part of the country, and he said there are no plans to do so at this time.

[11:50:00]

ATWOOD: Plan A, is diplomacy to try and prevent an invasion, and he said Plan B, essentially is to fight it out. The Ukrainians -- excuse me will fight for every inch and for every village so that demonstrates where their posture was as of yesterday but, of course, things could change because this is a rapidly quickly developing situation, Kate.

BOLDUAN: Absolutely. Let me bring in Colonel Cedric Leighton on this as well. The -- I think the wording is important, Colonel, because I want to get your reaction that this new warning to the Ukrainian government, the U.S. intelligence is, it points to a full-scale Russian invasion eminently, your reaction to that

CEDRIC LEIGHTON, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Well, Kate, it's clear that the United States government is taking this very seriously. And when they use the term full-scale Russian invasion, what they're talking about is everything that we have seen in the reporting from all our correspondents, so long the border along the Russian-Ukrainian border, I -- that all is going to be used, at least has the potential of being used.

So, we're talking a standard invasion that I think will be coupled with cyber efforts which may be occurring right now as we speak. We also think that there are going to be some hybrid warfare methods that are going to be used. So this is going to be something that is going to impact really the entire Ukrainian nation.

But the fact that the city of Kharkiv, as Matthew just mentioned, is going to perhaps be in the crosshairs, this may be the first area that the Russians tried to take and that may mean that they're trying to encircle the Ukrainian forces that are deployed along the eastern border in opposite Luhansk and Donetsk, there were breakaway regions of Ukraine that the Russians have control since 2014.

BOLDUAN: Colonel, stick with me. Let's get over Jeremy Diamond. He's at the White House. Jeremy. I'm just thinking, you know, one thing you and I have discussed is kind of the unprecedented new approach that the Biden administration has taken all throughout this, which has been the transparency of putting out intelligence and declassifying intelligence, almost in real-time in order to try to stop Putin from invading. What do you think we're going to hear today from the White House on this?

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, that's right, Kate, and just yesterday, for example, you heard Secretary Blinken when he was asked whether he had underestimated -- whether the administration had underestimated Putin. He said, no, we've laid out very clearly every single step of the playbook. And frankly, the words that Blinken use, that as the UN Security Council speech last week, and the Russian actions are pretty closely mirrored here.

What we heard from President Biden yesterday, of course, was warning that this is the beginning of an invasion. And he made very clear that the Russian President, in his words, is also setting up a rationale, as the President said yesterday, to take more territory in Ukraine by force. We've heard senior administration officials telling us over the last several days, that that's how they interpreted President Putin's lengthy diatribe in which he laid out his version of the history of Ukraine and Russia over the past century as a justification for war.

And that is why as much as the White House and the intelligence community in the U.S. is basing this assessment off of the military moves that they are seeing, the positioning, the pre-positioning of so many of these Russian Armed Forces, they are also basing it off of some of the political actions that are being taken in Moscow. And that is not only the words that we've heard from the Russian President but also his move to get permission from the Duma in Moscow, in order to take Russian forces and be able to use them outside of the country, to be able to use them in a potential armed conflict against Ukraine. So that is what the White House is watching here. And they've also made very clear, of course, that beyond the sanctions that we saw President Biden and his administration imposed yesterday against these two large Russian banks, against Russian elites and individuals, and also against Russia's sovereign debt that more is going to come. We heard from the Deputy National Security Adviser Dalip Singh this morning saying that it wouldn't even necessarily require additional Russian military action that the U.S. will continue to impose costs is the wording that he used there.

And we know that the U.S. has a lot more left in its sanctions bag that it could potentially use against Russia. We've heard talk of export controls on key technologies that Russia would need. Also, of course, this notion of sanctioning additional Russian banks, particularly those banks that are not just used by the military and for its development fund, but banks that are used by large swaths of the Russian population.

So, expect to see more sanctions action particularly if Vladimir Putin does take these steps that the U.S. intelligence community is now warning could be imminent now with a potential invasion. But certainly, there is a ratcheting up of tensions and of concerns here at the White House and across the administration about what the Russian President may do in the coming hours and days.

[11:55:00]

BOLDUAN: Absolutely. Jeremy, stick close. Let's get back to eastern Ukraine right now. CNN's Alex Marquardt is live there. Alex has just handed this little additional new reporting on top of this intelligence that's been given to the Ukrainian -- to the Ukrainians. This recording is now NATO allies have also been given a similar intelligence assessment warning of an imminent attack. That's according to a NATO military official. This official cautions, as we've heard all along, Alex, that no one knows for sure what Putin is going to do. But one thing that I think is different and interesting about this, you tell me, is the focus here on Kharkiv, as Matthew Chance was talking about.

ALEX MARQUARDT, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Yes. I mean, that is a city that is right up against the Russian border right there in the Northeast, and we have seen a significant buildup of Russian forces just across the border. As we have, Kate, along three sides of this border, that massive buildup during what they called exercises with Belarus, just to the north of Ukraine, and that is what has given a lot of intelligence and national security officials.

A lot of concern about Kyiv because Kyiv is just a short drive from that Belarusian border. Down in the south, where I've spent a lot of time along that southern coastline, you have naval exercises. So there is a huge buildup all-around three sizes -- three sides of Ukraine, but this new reporting, you're right, Kate does indicate particular concern about that city of Kharkiv.

BOLDUAN: Alex, thanks for jumping up. Stick with me. Let's get over to Moscow right now, Nic Robertson, back with me. Nic, we were talking at the top of the hour Putin being undeterred by sanctions. What do you make of this?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Yes, look, since we talked to the top of the hour, the Russian ambassador has spoken at the UN Security Council, and some of what he said particularly at the end is perhaps going to prove to be very prescient, it's certainly very chilling. He said that the Russian troops that were going to be going into the -- to the separatist enclaves are going in to monitor the ceasefire. And he said that they won't be going in softly-softly.

I think when the Russian Ambassador says they're going in, to monitor the ceasefire, and that it won't -- that it won't be softly, softly. That doesn't sound like your traditional ceasefire monitors who check out who's firing, when, make a note of it, go back to both sides, inform them, try to -- try to use that to establish some kind of peace, when they're not going to be softly-softly implies that these Russian forces that are going in will be firing off rounds at what they'll be accusing of being Ukrainian forces firing them.

There have been so many false flag claims, so many claims by the separatists that the Ukrainians are firing upon them that have proven so far, to be entirely false and without merit. These words from the Russian ambassador at the UN Security Council are quite chilling in that context. He's essentially saying the Russian forces that are going in are not going to tread lightly, and there'll be shooting a lot. That was the implication of what he was saying.

BOLDUAN: Nic, thank you very much. Thank you all for being here. CNN's Breaking News coverage on this continues with INSIDE POLITICS after this quick break.

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