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At This Hour

How The Russian Invasion Of Ukraine Can Affect U.S. Economy; Supreme Court Reinstates Death Penalty For Boston Bomber; Russia Could Face War Crimes Investigation Over Atrocities In Ukraine. Aired 11:30a-12p ET

Aired March 04, 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]

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN HOST: Thank you for being here. This is a strong report. So where are we in the recovery from the pandemic?

MARTY WALSH, U.S. LABOR SECRETARY: Well, you know, you look across the board, this report, this -- one thing different about this report, we've had good numbers in the past, but we saw it in all different industries across the board, which is -- which is a good thing to do. We saw the unemployment rate in the black community drop to 6.6 percent, the Latino community 4.4 percent, the indigenous people community 7.4 percent.

One number that jumps out at us today is people with less than a high school diploma, the lowest unemployment rate since 1992. So we are seeing people go back to work in the workforce in big ways over -- three-month averages almost 600,000 jobs per month, we're seeing people go back into the workforce. And what we have to do now is be really focused and intentional about creating pathways into good- paying jobs.

We saw the rate of pay go up 5.1 percent year over year. But what we're doing here at the Department of Labor is really thinking about creating more apprentice and pre-apprentice programs into all industries, and more investments in workforce development and training because there's still a way to go in some communities, you know. The black community, Latino community, and women are still in a lot of ways haven't come back fully and in some cases are being underpaid.

BOLDUAN: Let's talk about the new factor that's hanging over all of this, including the labor market, including everything, Russia's war in Ukraine. How much of your focus now, Secretary, is on how that is impacting or will be impacting the U.S. economy?

WALSH: Well, you know, I'm not sure if it's going to impact us as far as job creation, certainly it potentially has impacts on inflation in some cases. But at the end of the day, we stand united with the Ukrainian people. And not just the United States, but a major -- you've been reporting all day today, major countries in the world and all countries in the world were rallying around the Ukrainian people. And I think for some short-term, inflation, we just need to continue to stand with the Ukrainian people. They don't deserve what they're experiencing right now, they don't deserve what they're getting, and we need to -- we need to show as a world that we're united behind them.

BOLDUAN: There has been a wave of U.S. companies that are cutting ties with Russia over this war, from Boeing to Exxon to Harley Davidson. We have a whole graphic on the screen of how many companies. Do you want to see more American companies move in this direction, cut ties take a stand?

WALSH: Yes. It's not what I want to see. I think we're going to see more American companies cut ties, I think we're going to see more worldwide companies cut ties with Russia. You know, nobody can understand what Russia is doing, what Putin is doing here. You know, everyone's kind of baffled by this. The images that I'm watching on TV and we're all watching on TV are so sad and horrifying.

As I said to you off-air, you know, people in Ukraine were enjoying the holiday season a couple of months ago, and today, their neighbors' homes are being bombed. I mean, that's just uncalled for. So I hope to continue -- I hope companies and people continue putting pressure on Russia every, every pressure point we can so they realize that the world does not support their action and the world stands firmly behind Ukraine.

BOLDUAN: Secretary Walsh, thank you for coming in.

WALSH: Thank you.

BOLDUAN: Breaking news. Also this morning, the Supreme Court has reinstated the death sentence for the Boston Marathon bomber, the justices siding with the Justice Department in reversing this lower court ruling. CNN Supreme Court analyst Joan Biskupic. She joins me now for more on this. Joan, Phyllis, and one of the justices say what more are you learning?

JOAN BISKUPIC, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Sure. Good morning, Kate. It was a six to three decision to uphold the death sentence that had been imposed in 2015 by a trial court judge. You'll recall that Tsarnaev had been convicted in the murders of three people who were killed at the finish line, and a police officer who had been killed during a week-long manhunt for Tsarnaev and his brother, they had set off to shrapnel bombs right at the finish line back in 2013.

But an appeals court had set aside the death sentence saying there were two errors in what the trial court had done. One, that the trial court judge supposedly had not scrutinized enough the pretrial publicity that potential jurors had seen, and the second error that the appeals court had found was that the trial judge had refused to let in evidence of an incident that the brother had been involved in back from 2011 when three men were killed.

Tsarnaev had wanted that evidence put in because he said he was under the influence of his brother, his brother had been the mastermind here, and he argued that it could be mitigating for the death sentence. But by 6-3 vote with Justice Clarence Thomas writing for the majority, the court said that the trial judge had not abused his discretion at all in terms of how he had screened jurors for the -- for the 2015 trial and had also not abused his discretion as he had decided what evidence would come in and go out.

[11:35:00]

BISKUPIC: The three liberal justices dissented. They took issue with the part of the evidence that could have been brought in for the brother's involvement in those two -- in the 2011 killing, saying that was relevant, it could have been mitigating for the death sentence for Dzhokhar Tsarnaev. And I should say, even though the court has now upheld this death sentence, there's a very real question about when and if it would be carried out because the Biden administration, which argued for the reinstatement, has also put a moratorium on the federal death penalty right now, Kate.

BOLDUAN: Yes, this isn't over yet.

BISKUPIC: That's right.

BOLDUAN: Joan, thank you very much, really appreciate it. Coming up for us, bombing apartment buildings, schools, hospitals, attacking and seizing a nuclear power plant, and using banned cluster bombs, all in Ukraine. How can the world hold Vladimir Putin accountable for these potential war crimes? That's next.

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[11:40:00]

BOLDUAN: The devastation and death brought by Vladimir Putin's war in just the last 24 hours are truly horrifying. This is the aftermath of Russian airstrikes on an apartment complex in Ukraine. Dozens of civilians were killed. Officials there say there were no Ukrainian government or military targets anywhere near the site. Add to that, the NATO Secretary-General today confirmed that Russia is using banned cluster bombs in this fight. And overnight, Russian forces shelled and seized Europe's largest nuclear power plant in Ukraine, risking a potential nuclear disaster in what the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv calls a war crime.

Joining me now is Stephen Rapp. He's the former U.S. ambassador-at- large for war crimes issues. Thank you for being here, Ambassador.

STEPHEN J. RAPP, FORMER U.S. AMBASSADOR-AT-LARGE, WAR CRIMES ISSUES: Good to be here.

BOLDUAN: A nuclear power plant attacked, cluster bombs confirmed, civilian apartment buildings destroyed. What do you see here?

RAPP: Well, I certainly see evidence of war crimes, it's, of course, necessary to build cases not just on appearances that there can always be defenses that they were aiming for military targets and the shot went wild. But you know, here is a -- you know, a pattern of violations of attacks on civilian homes and buildings. I mean, in Kharkiv, we had school, 17 schools, 75 schools, 118, destroyed, hospitals shot at, city council chambers, you know, blown up.

You know, these are not -- these are not the acts of going after, you know, military forces. And I think as the evidence develops, we'll see a clear pattern, a strong circumstantial pattern that these are the war crimes of intentional attacks on civilians, or civilian infrastructure, and certainly indiscriminate attacks, attacks that don't discriminate between military and civilian targets, which are war crimes under international law, the Geneva Conventions, and under the Statute of the International Criminal Court that Ukraine decided to accept the jurisdiction of back in 2013.

BOLDUAN: And you know better than anyone. How difficult it is and how long it takes to prosecute and hold accountable anyone who has committed more crimes? With these crimes happening now -- these potential crimes happening now in real-time, how do you think Putin can be stopped before more of these atrocities are committed?

RAPP: Well, I mean, obviously, it's difficult when somebody gets -- is all in committing criminal acts that to stop them, we hope to deter them from making it worse, and certainly send a message to others. But clearly, the fact that the ICC has now opened this investigation with the referral of 49 ICC states, including the United Kingdom, the United States, Senator Graham sponsoring a motion, a resolution and the State Department is now supporting that in terms of the ICC, this morning, the Human Rights Council established a commission of inquiry by a vote of 32-2, so there's going to be an ability very quickly to develop strong evidence and then the prosecutor needs to go to the judges and seek an arrest warrant.

The one thing that we have here that we didn't have, in some of the other cases, when we dealt with a Milosevic or Taylor, or those kinds of people we always had that, you know, the question of whether the individual was truly in command and control are the folks that were doing the crimes. And they were -- they were often in another country or proxy forces were used. This is not that kind of situation. This is a situation that goes exactly to the top.

No question that this is Putin's decision-making, that he has full knowledge of what's going on there, and that he's in control. Even his own defense minister is sort of taken aback in one of his recent statements. So you know he's the guy that's in control. And you know, I predict in a few months, there'll be an arrest warrant for Vladimir Putin. Now, will it be answered? Will he stop?

Now, although they will -- it will weaken him, it'll make him an international pariah, no more summits, no more going -- no more hope of visiting his tens of billions of dollars of property. And I think in the end, he'll make him quite dispensable as a leader of Russia. So -- and we hope someday that he faces justice.

[11:45:00]

BOLDUAN: That gets to something I really wanted to ask. You know considering everything you've seen in your -- in your many years of work on war issues. I heard -- we heard from a member of Ukrainian parliament yesterday, who notes -- who noted that there is a 90 country Coalition in support of Ukraine. And she simply asked and it stuck with me, if 90 countries in the world cannot do anything to one single bully, and if the tyranny wins, and democracy loses, what does that say about the world and world order? What do you say?

RAPP: Well, I know it's a depressing aspect of how tyranny can win and a man with the 6000 nuclear weapons, whose forces take shots at a nuclear power plant that if it catches fire, it could begin spreading radiation like Chernobyl did 30 to 36 years ago. You know he is able because of that incredible military power and because he's a dictator. With nobody really to restrain him in that system, he can -- he can potentially get away with these crimes. So one has to be careful about it. That we can, in the end, enforce the law and send a clear message.

And frankly, in the last few years, you know, he's gotten away with supporting horrible things in Syria two decades ago, you know, flattening Grozny and Chechnya in his own country. You know, there was a time earlier when more effective steps should have been taken to prevent it from reaching the point that it is today. But now, all we can do is investigate to build our case, use every tool that we have, you know, reinforce the forces in Ukraine to be able to resist the war-making and the aggression, but then, in the end, rely on the law, and I believe that in the end, that will make the difference.

BOLDUAN: Ambassador, thank you so much for your work, and thank you so much for coming in here.

RAPP: You bet. Very good to be with you.

BOLDUAN: Thank you. Coming up for us. Children in need of life-saving surgeries and treatment, now forced to hunker down in basements, their parents, their doctors, desperate to keep them safe from Putin's war. We're going to take you inside Ukraine's largest children's hospital next.

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[11:50:00]

BOLDUAN: Russia's relentless bombardment of Ukraine, making children who are already fighting for their lives, now facing unimaginable danger. CNN's Clarissa Ward takes us inside Ukraine's largest children's hospital.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CLARISSA WARD, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voiceover): Outside the Okhmatdyt hospital, the sound of heavy fighting pierces the night air. The shelling has started, this nurse says. We're in the surgical department for newborn babies. It's so loud. Exhausted staffs hover nervously in the hallway. This is Ukraine's largest children's hospital. Shutting down is not an option.

DR. DMYTRO ISHCHENKO, NEUROSURGEON: We decided to open a new surgical department here.

WARD: Neurosurgeon Dmytro Ishchenko shows us the impact of just one week of the war.

WARD (on camera): So the children who are too sick to be moved have to stay here in the basement in case the bombardment starts again.

WARD (voiceover): There are 10 patients currently being treated in this underground hallway and they are very sick, indeed.

WARD (on camera): Is this your daughter?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Speaking a foreign language.

WARD (voiceover): On the floor in one corner, we meet Sonia and her three-month-old daughter Milena. Milena has a brain tumor.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Speaking a foreign language.

WARD: It's a terrifying situation, we must stay underground and we don't know how long for, she says. I'm alone here at the hospital and my husband is at home with my other kid.

For seven nights, she has been sleeping on this floor as the bombing gets closer.

WARD (on camera): She's saying that the stress of the situation has meant that her milk has dried up so she's now using a formula for her daughter.

WARD (voiceover): With resources being diverted to deal with trauma injuries, parents are stepping in to help where they can. At one bed, Valentin is feeding an unconscious child.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Speaking a foreign language.

WARD (on camera): So he's saying, that little baby there is his little boy, but he's helping with this child because their mother can't be here.

WARD (voiceover): I tell him he's strong. There's no other way, he says. God gives us strength. In this environment, Dr. Ishchenko offers his patients and their families whatever he can, but there are limits.

ISHCHENKO: It's really very challenging and really tough because we don't have good conditions for our patients.

WARD (on camera): Is this dangerous for them, this situation?

ISHCHENKO: Yes, and not only because we have a war. This condition is not suitable with brain surgeries.

WARD (voiceover): For now, non-essential procedures are on hold. 11- year-old Yaroslav's sutures should have been removed, but the risk of infection is too high. His mother, Lyudmila (PH) tries to comfort him.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Speaking a foreign language.

WARD: I will massage you and everything will be OK, she says. But no one knows how long this war will last and these children cannot wait forever. Clarissa Ward, CNN, Kyiv.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[11:55:00]

BOLDUAN: That is just haunting. For more information on how you can help the people of Ukraine, go to cnn.com/impact. Thank you, Clarissa, for bringing that to us. CNN's breaking new cover -- news coverage of the war in Ukraine continues with INSIDE POLITICS with John King after this quick break. Thanks for being here.

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