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The Lead with Jake Tapper

Rep. Gregory Meeks, (D-NY), Is Interviewed About Belarus, Russia, Ukraine; U.K. Prime Minister Accuses Russia Of Attacking A Donbas Pre-school As A False Flag Operation; Belarus Leader Reaffirms Support Of Russia To CNN; N.Y. Attorney General: Trump Listed His Finances In Detail One Day After Denying Knowledge Of Them; GOP Sen. Cotton: Trump's "Worst Mistake" Was "First Step Act" On Criminal Justice Reform; GOP Sen. Rubio Aligns With Trump Ahead Of 2022 Midterms After Calling Him A "Con Man" In 2016; Beijing Winter Olympics Uniforms Not Linked To Forced Labor; After Disastrous Performance, Kamila Valieva Falls To Fourth; Belgium Adopts Four-Day Working Week. Aired 5-6p ET

Aired February 17, 2022 - 17:00   ET

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

[17:00:00]

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): U.S. officials seem to have made a strategic decision to go public with intelligence as Russia, in Secretary Blinken's words, steps down the path to war.

ANTONY BLINKEN, SECRETARY OF STATE: First, Russia plans to manufacture a pretext for its attack. This could be a violent event that Russia will blame on Ukraine or an outrageous accusation that Russia will level against the Ukrainian government. We don't know exactly the formal take. It could be a fabricated so called terrorist bombing inside Russia. The inventor discovery of the mass grave, a stage drone strike against civilians, or a fake, even a real attack using chemical weapons.

CHANCE (voice-over): It's an extraordinary list of possibilities, and one being wholly rejected by the Kremlin, which is accusing the U.S. of hysteria in releasing more defense ministry images of Russian troops returning to their bases after completing drills near Ukraine.

A military has camped on its own territory says the Russian Foreign Minister. Held drills took down their tents boarded the trains then loaded their hardware and started leaving, he says. But the hysterics are still going on. This is where the real escalation is, he adds.

But there is dangerous escalation on the ground as well. This is what Ukrainian officials say was a preschool hit by artillery shells fired by Russian backed rebels. The rebels say Ukrainian government forces pounded their residential areas too. And now, Ukrainian officials say there's more shelling from the rebel side sending CNN this video of what they say is a hit on a residential building. This tensions near the front lines threatened to spiral out of control.

(END VIDEO TAPE) CHANCE: Well, Jake, despite the warnings from the United States and a spike in violence between government forces and Russian backed rebels, there are still hopes for a diplomatic path with Secretary of State Blinken proposing to his Russian counterpart to meet in Europe next week in order to try and have discussions to discuss avoiding an all- out war.

JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: All right, Matthew Chance in Kyiv, Ukraine, thank you so much.

The United States is threatening severe consequences for Belarus if an attack on Ukraine is launched on Belarussian territory. CNNs Frederik Pleitgen joins us now live from Minsk, the capital of Belarus.

And Fred, you were able to witness joint Russian and Belarussian military drills up close today, the first time international media was able to do so. But obviously we want to underline this point, Russia wants the world to see this.

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, the Russians certainly do want the world to see this. But it was still quite important to be there just for the fact that you could, for the first time, actually see these Russian forces up close that, of course, the USS (ph) are threatening Ukraine not just here from Belarussian territory, but also from Russian territory as well. See the kind of military hardware that they have and also how they work together with the Belarussian forces. Because the U.S. has said that the exercises that are going on here in Belarus at the moment are really dangerous because there's 10s of 1000s of Russian forces here. And of course, Belarus under Alexander Lukashenko is very much in the corner of the Russian.

Some of the weapons systems that we saw, Jake, were very sophisticated. Fighter jets, strike aircraft, but then also the Iskander and missile system, which, from Belarussian territory could easily hit the capital of Ukraine, could easily hit Kyiv. And we have to -- also have to keep in mind as well, Jake, that the fastest way to actually get to Kyiv would be via Belarus.

So really dangerous situation as far as the U.S. is concerned. And I put those concerns to Alexander Lukashenko and said, whether he supported what Russia was currently doing towards Ukraine. Here's what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PRES. ALEXANDER LUKASHENKO, BELARUS (through translator): We have an agreement between Belarus and Russia. We have practically formed here a United Russia group. A united army that is, you might say. And this is our official position.

Please take it into account as we're taking into account your position and on a broader subject. What are you doing here, 1000s of kilometers away?

(END VIDEO CLIP) PLEITGEN: Alexander Lukashenko, they're obviously equating us with the U.S. government there in that final part of that answer. But certainly he is saying that he's very much in the corner of Vladimir Putin, in the corner of Russia. At the same time, however, the Russians are saying that those drills obviously are going to come to an end fairly soon. Nevertheless, a lot of Russian forces here on the territory of Belarus, Jake.

TAPPER: And Fred, the Biden administration is openly concerned that Belarussian territory could be used theoretically to invade Ukraine. Did President Lukashenko give any assurances that Russian troops will definitely leave Belarus after the drills are done?

PLEITGEN: Yes. So that was the other really interesting part from what we heard from Alexander Lukashenko today. Both the Russians and the Belarussians have said that the Russian forces are going to leave. However, what he said today was they might leave shortly after the exercises end on Sunday, but it could also take a month, it could also take longer, it wasn't something that he was going to commit a timeframe to.

[17:05:16]

And that, of course, in itself is something that could be quite concerning to the United States. It's simply it's absolutely unclear when this massive force is going to leave. And that, of course, leaves the question open, what could happen until the day arrives that they do leave. And so, certainly really hard to get a straight answer out of it. And that's something that really does add to that ambiguity that you're feeling here in the entire region, Jake.

TAPPER: All right, CNN Frederik Pleitgen live from Minsk, Belarus, thank you so much.

Joining us now live to discuss Democratic Congressman Gregory Meeks of New York, who's the chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, and recently led a congressional delegation to visit Ukraine.

Mr. Chairman, good to see you as always.

I want to start with our correspondent's reporting that you just heard from Minsk, what goes through your mind when you hear the Belarusian president criticize the U.S. and NATO presence in countries such as Poland or Lithuania, Latvia, or Estonia?

REP. GREGORY MEEKS (D-NY), CHAIRMAN, FOREIGN AFFAIRS COMMITTEE: We know that the Belarus president is a dictator. And so, he's like Putin. In that regards, that concerns me. And clearly from his words, he's standing strongly with Putin. And so, I get concerned about the Belarussian army, militaries happening from Belarus. And that's why the President of the United States has said, if that happens, then there will be severe consequences for Belarus, which has to be.

But it concerns me greatly that you have -- and clearly see the aggression that's coming from the Russians on Belarus where this training is taking place allegedly, is taking place. The best way to show that they're not the aggressive -- don't want to cross that line is to get the troops out of there.

And Jake, you know, them to say that they're removing troops when we have satellites, we can see where the troops are and where they're not and how many people, in fact, there's more people in Belarus doing these drills now than it were a week ago. So, and we're not going to play the sucker punch thing, but they look at one part of the country and say we're pulling out a few people there and adding others and equipment somewhere else where they be ready to attack. We're not going to fall for that. And so the President knighted states is doing exactly the right thing and threading this needle and still talking and giving diplomacy a chance to work.

TAPPER: Today, Mr. Chairman, today, the British Prime Minister accused Russia of staging a false flag operation, creating a pretext to invade Ukraine by shelling a kindergarten into Donbas and then accusing Ukraine of doing it. Do you agree? Was that a false flag? What intelligence or information might you have?

MEEKS: Yes, I agree. I mean, the President has said this all along. You know, for a while back, you know, weeks ago, we would totally classify sessions that this was a possibility. And then the President has decided that we better make it public because we don't want people to be shocked. We're trying to put out Putin's playbook so that people will understand what they're doing. And hopefully that will cause them to deter also.

So, what was classified maybe three weeks ago, the President has decided just talk about it himself, because what our intelligence shows, and we want all of the world to know what's taking place so that we don't fall for any of the games that Putin is playing.

TAPPER: Our reporter Fred Pleitgen also reported on the massive Russian and Belarusian military drills, the first time international media has seen this up close. Of course, we should remember that Russia has a motive for sharing this kind of access. You told CNN earlier this week that you can't get inside Putin's head. Do you think, however, do you think he is indeed going to pull the trigger and invade Ukraine?

MEEKS: Look, I still don't know what Putin thinking. I don't know if Putin has made that decision yet or not. I know that we've got to be prepared either way. Keep the lane open for diplomacy, keep the lane open to give him the opportunity to pull back those troops and deescalate. But don't be fooled, be ready for him to cross.

And if he crosses, as the President has indicated, the devastating sanctions will take place that will be unified between us and NATO allies, our E.U. allies, Canada, U.K., as well as Australia, we will all be working together with devastating sanctions on Russia. So, it's not thinking more on and leaving the other. We've got to be prepared either way.

The door for the promise is open if he chooses to take it. But if he chooses to go another way, there will be huge consequences on Russia that would be put forth in a multilateral way. And I've been confirmed of that when I went to Brussels. Also, talked to our NATO allies there. Had a chance to talk to a number of the ambassadors from our allied countries, and they are in lockstep with the intelligence that we all see and in lockstep in working in unison should Russia decide to invade the sovereign country of Ukraine.

[17:10:28]

TAPPER: All right, the Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Congressman Gregory Meeks of New York. Thank you so much, sir.

We have some breaking news. A judge has told Donald Trump that he has to sit and answer questions about his money under oath and it will be a family affair.

Then, if you pull the thread, will the entire narrative unravel China denying accusations that their Olympic apparel has ties to labor and prison camps? That's ahead as we once again go behind China's wall.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:15:13]

TAPPER: We have some breaking news for you in our politics lead. A judge has ruled that former President Donald Trump, Donald Trump Jr. and Ivanka Trump all must sit for a deposition in the New York civil fraud case. Earlier today, the New York State Attorney General Letitia James argued that the former president knows much more about his finances that he's letting on.

Exhibit A, Trump's lengthy statement Tuesday where he went on and on bragging about a higher net worth than what his accounting firm reports. But on Monday, Trump attorney said repeatedly in a court filing that the former president denies knowledge of his finances.

Let's bring in CNN's Paula Reid.

Paula, what did the judge they have to say about Trump's arguments trying to get out of being subpoenaed?

PAULA REID, CNN SENIOR LEGAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Jake, this judge issuing a fiery opinion after an hour's long contentious hearing earlier this morning. The judge concluded that the attorney general has a clear right to interview principles of a business she has been investigating after she found, quote, "copious evidence of crimes."

Now Trump's attorneys have argued that this investigation by the New York Attorney General is politically motivated, pointing to statements she's made about wanting to pursue Trump. The judge rejected that. Jake, he said, look, the Attorney General had the same first amendment right that Donald Trump had on the campaign trail. He also noted that Donald Trump has been investigated by the Attorney General's office in the past looking at investigations into his university and his foundation.

And the judge concluded, look, this was not started with personal animus. The origin of this investigation is comments made by longtime Trump associate Michael Cohen who publicly said the Trumps were cooking the books.

And the judge also rejected another argument made by Trump's legal team that by sitting for a civil deposition, he could open himself up potentially to criminal liability. The judge noting that Trump's other son, Eric, invoked his Fifth Amendment right over 500 times during his deposition. And of course, Trump and his other two children would have the same option.

TAPPER: The judge also took aim at a statement from the Trump Organization. Tell us about that.

REID: That's right. Earlier this week, Trump's longtime accounting firm came out and said that we can no longer rely on a decade worth of statements that they had made about the Trump organization's finances. The Trump Organization then came out with a statement, Jake, suggesting that that effectively render the investigations by the district attorney and the attorney general moot (ph).

Now here, the judge got really colorful, Jake. While he said the other arguments about political bias and other potential criminal liability, those were plausible, he called this, quote, "preposterous." He compared it to George Orwell, Humpty Dumpty, and alternative facts.

Now we've learned that Trump intends to appeal this decision. If he's not successful with that appeal, ultimately, he will of course have the option to invoke his Fifth Amendment right if and when he sits for a deposition.

TAPPER: All right, Paula Reid, thank you so much.

Let's jump into this with my august panel. And Alyssa, let me start with you because you work closely with Trump. Do you think he, or maybe people around him are regretting that 1000 word statement on Tuesday in which he talked about how much he did know about his finances?

ALYSSA FARAH GRIFFIN, FORMER WHITE HOUSE DIRECTOR OF STRATEGIC COMMUNICATIONS UNDER TRUMP: Yes, I imagine his lawyers are regretting that statement about now. I mean, I expect that you're going to see that Trump's try to draw this 21-day period through appeals and different measures to try to delay and just resort to delay tactics. But ultimately, this is going to likely come down to them all pleading the fifth.

But I would note this, not only are, you know, is the retired former president watching this closely from Florida, I would also note that potential 2024 Republican candidates, I believe are playing -- paying very close attention to this. There are many people who are gearing up considering to run and they're looking for that lane of an opening where Trump's weakened and they could kind of come in as the person. If you're a Mike Pompeo and Mike Pence, this opens a window to you if it goes further.

TAPPER: And Gloria, Trump has bragged about exaggerating in the past in his --

GLORIA BORGER, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL ANALYST: They're lying.

TAPPER: -- in his -- Well, yes. He told on himself in his own book, "The Art of the Deal," he wrote, quote, "A little hyperbole never hurts. People want to believe that something is the biggest and the greatest and the most spectacular. I call it truthful hyperbole. It's an innocent form of exaggeration and a very effective form of promotion."

The problem, of course, is that you can't do that like in a court of law. You can't do it when it comes to official accounting numbers.

BORGER: So the person who wrote that for Donald Trump and who wrote the "Art of the Deal" for Donald Trump --

TAPPER: Tony Schwartz.

BORGER: -- Tony Schwartz, and I interviewed him, others interviewed him, and he made it up because he couldn't figure out how to get around the Trump lying. So he came out with this phrase, truthful hyperbole. After he told Trump about it, and Trump was like, oh, that's great.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Love it, yes, sure.

BORGER: I love that. And Schwartz wasn't sure that Trump really cared or knew what it meant or whatever. But he said later, it's a contradiction in terms. It's a way of saying it's a lie, but who cares.

[17:20:04]

TAPPER: Yes.

BORGER: And that's exactly what it is. It's a lie.

AYESHA RASCOE, WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT, NPR: Even though Trump would be able to plead the fifth, I have to think that the concern is that he won't, because we know that over and over again or that he'll do it sometimes, but then he will get himself in trouble because we know that the idea of his business and the idea of him being the greatest businessman is so important to him, right? Like, that's why he put out that 1000 word statement saying, oh, no, look how -- I'm actually richer than you think. Like, I think that has to be the concern at this moment, is that even with the option to like protect yourself, you know, Trump may not take that option.

MARIA CARDONA, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Your question to Farah was exactly right. Does he regret or do the people around him regret?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

CARDONA: I don't think he regrets anything.

TAPPER: Right.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Ever. CARDONA: That he has ever said publicly, especially when it is a truthful hyperbole, right? He loves this stuff. And I think the problem is for the country, as well as Republicans, you talk about how maybe they're looking at this with the 2024 folks to see if there's any opening. As long as MAGA supporters look at him and say anything that he says, you know, I'm going to eat it up and anything that goes against him is just people going against Trump, and they're never going to leave him, it's going to be a problem for them to find what lane.

GRIFFIN: Right, and there is the factor that I think is true, which is the more the legal walls close in around him, the more likely he is to run in 2024. He wants the full levers of the federal government to fight any attacks he sees coming on that.

BORGER: And to protect him.

GRIFFIN: Right.

TAPPER: Right.

BORGER: If he were to win.

GRIFFIN: Right.

TAPPER: Right.

BORGER: Your president.

TAPPER: So, speaking about the Trump era, there was one moment this week that was very interesting in terms of trying to rewrite the history of the Trump era. You might remember the Criminal Justice Reform bill called the First Step Act. Here is one of the possible 2024 presidential candidates, Republican Senator Tom Cotton of Arkansas talking about this bill as he was blocking the confirmation votes for eight U.S. attorneys.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. TOM COTTON (R-AR): It's your party that voted in lockstep for the First Step Act.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Democrats did the First Step Act? Donald Trump signed it into law.

COTTON: Yes, it's true that President Trump signed the First Step Act. The First Step Act was the worst mistake of the Trump administration.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: So your party that voted in lockstep for the First Step Act. Cotton was one of the 12 Republicans who voted against the First Step Act. But this was, as I recall, a huge achievement for Donald Trump negotiated partly by Jared Kushner. Yes, Democrats went along with it, but Republicans went along with it, too. I mean, you were working at administration at the time. GRIFFIN: Right. Right. I think that was kind of an artful way of Tom Cotton saying, well, he's always been on the hardline side --

TAPPER: Sure.

GRIFFIN: -- of being against this, but I mean, he had to know this was a totally a Republican backed initiative that we're able to get Cory Booker and others on, but something that's interesting, it's something I'm incredibly proud of from the Trump administration. But Trump has actually at times distanced himself from.

TAPPER: Right.

GRIFFIN: Because he wants to balance, like Tucker Carlson hates this bill, he's in the Tom Cotton camp on it. And I could see him actually walking away if that becomes a primary issue.

CARDONA: He wants to have it both ways, right?

TAPPER: Who does?

CARDONA: Donald Trump.

TAPPER: Donald Trump.

CARDONA: As he always does. And you're right. It was something that was touted. I remember, you know, thinking, wow, maybe bipartisanship can be a possibility under Trump.

And what I find so ironic is that in the attack to the Democrats he talked about -- Cotton talked about Democrats being anti law enforcement. What was he doing? You talked about it at the beginning, he was blocking the confirmation of U.S. attorneys. Where is he on January 6? I mean --

BORGER: I want to ask --

CARDONA: -- a hypocrisy.

BORGER: -- if Donald Trump really supported it?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

BORGER: Jared Kushner supported it. That doesn't mean necessarily that Donald Trump really supported it. But he let Jared --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

BORGER: -- he let Jared do it.

TAPPER: Sign it into law.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It was really --

BORGER: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Right.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes. Yes.

BORGER: Because when it worked for him he could take the credit for it.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, yes. Yes.

TAPPER: Yes.

BORGER: But do you think he was out there pushing for this --

(CROSSTALK)

BORGER: I don't think so.

RASCOE: Oh, yes. It was really a Jared project because Jared's father had been to prison.

BORGER: That's right.

RASCOE: It was very important to Jared.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, was it? I mean, you were there. You were there.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: To Ja'Ron Smith --

GRIFFIN: And Ja'Ron Smith --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Right. Right.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, yes.

GRIFFIN: Jared was involved but Ja'Ron doesn't (INAUDIBLE).

BORGER: But Donald --

TAPPER: What was his job at the White House? He was --

GRIFFIN: He was a deputy assistant for --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

TAPPER: Domestic policy?

GRIFFIN: Domestic policy, yes.

TAPPER: Yes.

GRIFFIN: Not a great guy and did a lot of --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

BORGER: I don't think Trump was a champion of it. That's all I'm saying. TAPPER: But wasn't it also that Jared had convinced President Trump that this would help him shore up minority votes?

RASCOE: Yes, that it would help -- yes, this along with supporting HBCUs (ph) and other things like that. This would help him to appeal to black voters. But Trump has always -- I mean, he talked about having the death penalty for drug dealers, like Trump is someone --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

RASCOE: -- who is very, you know, from that '80s, '90s --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Central Park.

RASCOE: -- tough on crimes.

(CROSSTALK)

TAPPER: End quotes (ph).

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Right.

RASCOE: Tough on crimes, certain crimes.

TAPPER: Yes.

RASCOE: That's always been Trump.

TAPPER: Keeping with our Trump team, Republican Senator Marco Rubio of Florida told CNN's Manu Raju and Steve Contorno about his feelings about Donald, quote, "First of all, he's a Floridian so I need his vote. But beyond that, I mean, he's brought a lot of people and energy into the Republican Party."

Now, we do all, of course, remember 2015, 2016, Rubio called Trump a con man. Said Trump would be a disaster for America. How do you view this? Because, look, he's running for reelection, Marco Rubio, I don't see any political upside to attacking Trump.

[17:25:16]

GRIFFIN: Oh, great. And I actually appreciate that Rubio was upfront, like he's a Florida voter and I want his vote, like, say it out loud, don't need to dance around the fact that he wants Trump support.

TAPPER: And that he brought energy, that's --

GRIFFIN: Right.

TAPPER: -- not disputable.

GRIFFIN: Rubio is also highly popular, especially with the Cuban community in southern Florida. But he needs Trump's vote. And so, you don't win Florida as a Republican without Trump's support, so I'm not surprised by it at all. BORGER: Look, you know, Ivanka decided she wasn't going to run. So the field is open for Rubio. The former presidents held a fundraiser for Marco Rubio.

But all of us remember that debate. Do you remember that debate where Rubio said, and you know what they say about guys with small hands?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

TAPPER: Is that a debate? Or was that --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It was a debate.

BORGER: It was a debate.

TAPPER: It was? Boy.

BORGER: And Rubio got smaller and smaller and smaller as a result.

TAPPER: It's when he --

BORGER: He wanted to outrage (ph) Trump.

TAPPER: He'd been trying to take the high road.

BORGER: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Right.

TAPPER: And then that wasn't working. And then he went in the low road. And that really didn't work.

CARDONA: And that wasn't working for him either.

BORGER: Yes.

CARDONA: And that was clearly the problem with so many of the Republicans that went after Trump, they didn't know how to do it. And I also think if Trump run, well, if Trump runs, probably no one else will run. But that is going to be -- well, but that is going to -- if it happens, if Trump runs and others run, that is -- I still think that's going to be a major problem for anyone trying to go after Trump because I don't think he's going to be in any way careful about what he says or how he goes after people.

GRIFFIN: But I agree with Gloria, I think people will run even if Trump runs, but there will never win by attacking him and going to attack dog route. I think Mike Pence --

BORGER: Exactly.

GRIFFIN: -- will very strongly consider running even if he does. I think a Pompeo might. I think there's --

TAPPER: Really?

GRIFFIN: -- Chris Christie and some others.

TAPPER: Do you think Pompeo might run?

GRIFFIN: They're building -- he's building out an operation.

TAPPER: I can see the anti-Trump people, the Larry Hogan's or the Chris Christie is possible, no?

RASCOE: You know, look, if anyone goes against Trump, Trump will scorch the earth with them.

CARDONA: I agree. I totally agree.

RASCOE: And people would tell his MAGA base.

BORGER: But they know that -- but they'd been there, right?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: But it didn't work for them.

RASCOE: And it didn't work for them.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It didn't work for them, though.

RASCOE: They have to come back and say, oh, he's a good guy.

GRIFFIN: There's a length (ph) run, I was like I'm running as the -- or better angels, the better angels of the Republican Party.

CARDONA: But are there enough people within the Republican Party that will support that? I mean, very few people where you are still.

TAPPER: There is. But there was a poll this week that showed that half of the -- or maybe it was last week, half of the Republican Party voters wanted someone other than Trump.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That's right.

TAPPER: And by the way, it was the same --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That's right.

TAPPER: -- for Democrats and Joe Biden. It was a very sizeable chunk of people did not want him to run for reelection either.

BORGER: And let's see what happens in the midterm elections. You know, Trump has endorsed about 85 candidates so far, let's see how they do.

If they do really well, then he can be the kingmaker and people are going to be a little more scared of him. If his candidates don't do well, and don't forget --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

BORGER: -- they have to take the oath to the rigged election in order for him to endorse them.

TAPPER: Right.

BORGER: Let's see how they do. If they do really badly, then I think you've wounded the king to a degree.

TAPPER: Well, I don't know where I read this, so I apologize for who I'm not crediting. But I thought I read somewhere that Donald Trump was considering endorsing multiple candidates in the Ohio Senate race.

RASCOE: He talked about it.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

TAPPER: Yes. I forgot -- but I forget whose reporting it was.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

TAPPER: But it's pretty astounding just because he doesn't want to be associated with a losing candidate, right?

GRIFFIN: Right. Exactly. And on top of that, I think that he's -- you may see him withdraw some endorsements he's already done. There have been some reporting where he endorse --

BORGER: Yes.

GRIFFIN: -- some individuals and then is already regretting it. So, I don't know how strong his endorsement is. If that's the case, an endorsement is one thing. But are you going to fundraise with them? Are you going to hold events? Are you going to appear with them?

And it looks like he's not really doing that right now. He's really just sending out statements.

TAPPER: All right, thanks to all you. Appreciate it.

China, the Chinese government denying accusations that their Olympic apparel has ties to labor and prison camps. But where is the proof that it doesn't have those ties? We're going to go behind China's wall, next. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:33:20]

TAPPER: With the Olympics ending this weekend, we now bring you the final chapter of our series behind China's Wall in which we go behind the fanfare and the glamour of the Olympic Games. The Chinese government obviously hoping to use the games to distract the world from the Chinese government's crackdowns on freedoms, it's crimes against humanity, it's genocide.

Forced Labor programs are just part of China's repression against the Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in that country. Hundreds of thousands of people in Xinjiang province are forced to work in cotton and other industries forced. Under CNN's David Culver reports, the product of that labor has been found in supply chains across the world and quite possibly in the clothing worn by the top Olympic official.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

DAVID CULVER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): China's Olympic hero Eileen Gu appearing in a TV commercial set in Xinjiang for ANTA, the country's biggest sportswear company and the maker of China's Olympic uniforms.

As Gu and her teammates wear their national Olympic gear with pride, ANTA appears proud to use cotton from Xinjiang, where China is accused of forcing hundreds of thousands of Uyghurs Muslims to work in cotton production and other industries. What the United States alleges is part of a much bigger state crime.

NED PRICE, STATE DEPARTMENT SPOKESMAN: Genocide has taken place in Xinjiang.

CULVER: Beijing has repeatedly denied the accusation. While the U.S. is effectively banning all imports from Xinjiang trying to keep forced labor products out of American stores.

JEN PSAKI, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: Companies that fail to address forced labor and other human rights abuses in their supply chains face serious legal risk.

CULVER: ANTA has said it does not allow for forced labor, but it's pledged to source from Xinjiang puts the company in opposition to Western competitors like Nike and Adidas which say they do not want to do business there. Foreign auditors were also forced to leave China making it harder to get independent verification.

[17:35:09]

BENNETT FREEMAN, COALITION TO END FORCED LABOR IN UYGHUR REGION: It's hard to imagine that substantial portions of the cotton isn't tainted with Uyghur forced labor.

CULVER: ANTA has not responded to CNN's requests for comment.

(on camera): You cannot miss ANTA branded clothing at these Beijing Games worn not only by Team China and President Xi Jinping, but also by International Olympic Committee officials.

(voice-over): Rights groups and U.S. lawmakers have questioned whether the IOC could be complicit in forced labor through its partnership with ANTA and another Chinese brands, HYX Group. CNN has reached out to HYX Group as well. No response.

Last month, the IOC announced the result of an independent due diligence study stating quote, we did not find any extreme violations against our IOC Supplier Code, including no forced bonded indentured or child labor. However, the not for profit coalition to enforce labor in the Uyghur region says the IOC has not provided enough detail of the audit. FREEMAN: The world needs to have known the facts. We did not get them for the IOC. And for that reason, there will be lingering disturbing questions as to whether Beijing '22 Winter Olympics were in fact complicit in Uyghur forced labor.

CULVER: The OIC standing by its due diligence study when asked by CNN Thursday,

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: None of all products, none of the production took place in Xinjiang, nor any of the input or raw materials come from that region.

CULVER: Despite the IOC's very public reassurance so murky, our Xinjiang supply chains that companies from China and elsewhere and customers like the IOC could be relying on Uyghur forced labor whether they know it or not.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

CULVER: Jake, ANTA has been on a shopping spree in recent years. They now own more than two dozen athletic brands, including famous North American ones like Arc'teryx and Wilson all deny any ties to forced labor that this has both the clothing brands and their customers struggling to navigate the unknowns in supply chain especially Jake when transparency in places like here in China is constantly in question.

TAPPER: David Culver in Beijing with Behind China's Wall. Thank you so much. It was supposed to be her golden moment but Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva fell, and not just once the shocker on the ice that's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:41:41]

TAPPER: In our sports lead and Olympic shocker, Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva, who's at the center of a doping scandal after testing positive for a banned substance finished in fourth place today after falling several times during her final Beijing performance. The 15- year-old had been hailed by many as perhaps the best women's figure skater ever, after a stunning routine during the team competition.

Joining us now live to discuss from Beijing, USA Today sports columnist and CNN sports analyst Christine Brennan. Christine, thanks so much for joining us.

There was so much pressure on this young woman 15 years old after her positive test was revealed. And because of the incredible expectations on her after her performance earlier in the Olympics, what is your reaction to how this all ended in her fourth place finish?

CHRISTINE BRENNAN, CNN SPORTS ANALYST: Jake, this was so tough to watch being in the arena, the surprise the shock of her falling apart on the ice. And then of course, the realization as we've discussed all week, she's 15 years old, and the weight of the world on her shoulders, the pressure of the world, the spotlight the glare, it just got to be too much.

And she is, as you said, alluding to the poor performance mistakes on her first four jumps including a fall, then she kind of writes herself a little bit. You're thinking OK, maybe she'll get it together, and at least be able to fill out the rest of the program and then no another fall.

And it was as if the entire week of conversation and controversy was just on the shoulders of a 15-year-old girl. It was troubling. It was hard to watch. Frankly, it was awful. It was just something -- when you think of the Olympics, Jake, you think of joy and happiness. Instead the sadness the pall over the arena. I've covered the Olympics a long time. And it is one of the worst things that I have ever seen.

TAPPER: Two other Russian athletes did finish in the top three, including the gold medal winner both share the same coach as Valieva. I mean, what's your take on whether or not anybody should be suspicious if they use performance enhancing substances?

BRENNAN: Yes, of course, we should be suspicious. We should. That doesn't mean they did it. But when you've got one of the skaters landing five or trying five quadruple jumps, and the other doing too, that's the gold medalist, Anna Shcherbakova. You know, you have to ask, they're all in the same stable. They're coached by the same people. As we know Kamila Valieva had not one, not two but three heart medicines inside of her body as a 15-year-old when she tested positive on Christmas Day on December 25.

So what is going on in that camp of skaters? Obviously, the good news, Jake, is you know is there will be investigations, what at least to now of that program. But I think the glare of the spotlight and the world watching in the concern now around the world, maybe that and sponsors particularly maybe it's time for people to ask these tough questions. If the sponsors start asking questions of the International Olympic Committee in the Russians, then maybe something will get done.

TAPPER: I mean, she's 15 I don't blame her. I blame Russia. I blame Putin. Russian athletes aren't competing in this Olympics. Officially, they're not doing so under the Russian flag, because of their previous doping controversies and previous Olympics, then the IOC keeps giving the Russians the adults running this program slaps on the wrist and they keep breaking the rules of what needs to happen for the Russian authorities to stop.

[17:45:02]

BRENNAN: Yes, yes. Well, as you know, covering stories as we all do it sometimes you need the big one, the one that shocks everyone. The terrible thing I would never root for this for Valieva, the 15-year- old, of course, our hearts go out to her sympathy. I hope she's OK today. Right now, early morning here in Beijing, I hope she's all right. I hope people care about her.

But you can't -- you -- maybe this is it. You can't keep as you said, kicking the can down the road. You have to throw the book at them. And as I said, maybe it's the sponsors, Washington, NFL team name change, because the sponsors got angry. Maybe that's it. Somebody has to get angry. Somebody has to say enough is enough. Otherwise, were we talking about a similar story, Jake, in a two and a half years in Paris, and then four years in Milan, this has got to stop. We cannot continue to have the same conversation about the Russians cheating. In this case, not only the victims or the clean athletes out there, but one of their own, their wonderful 15-year-old who we saw, obviously, in such distress and in the competition.

TAPPER: It's hard to argue that the IOC has any sort of moral compass. Christine Brennan, thank you so much. Appreciate your reporting. There's one part of pandemic life that a majority of Americans want to stick around, that's ahead.

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[17:50:37]

TAPPER: In our pop culturally, the brand new CNN series is taking a look at the accidental president and how his landmark civil rights legislation and so called War on Poverty changed the United States. Here's a preview of "LBJ Triumph and Tragedy."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LYNDON BAINES JOHNSON, FMR. U.S. PRESIDENT: This administration declares unconditional war on poverty in America.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's on the one hand incredibly bold to declare war on anything, let alone poverty, which is a complicated, intractable kind of a problem that, quite importantly, social scientists in 1964 don't really understand all that well.

JOHNSON: Our chief weapons, and a more pinpointed attack will be better school, and better health, and better homes and better training, and better job opportunities. All of these increased opportunities must be open to Americans of every color. As far as the red a federal law will run, we must abolish not some but all racial discrimination.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: Here to discuss is Patrick Kondelis the director of LBJ Triumph and Tragedy, the series. Patrick, you hear President Johnson saying there that we must abolish all racial discrimination. Why was it so important for him to take up civil rights as soon as he became president?

PAT KONDELIS, DIRECTOR, "LBJ: TRIUMPH AND TRAGEDY": I think that LBJ looked at civil rights and poverty both as moral issues. And I know it surprised a lot of people that early on in his legislative record, he was not a strong supporter of it. That changed in 1957. And it's really remarkable. If you look at what he did in passing the '64 civil rights bill, he had not been elected president. Can you try to imagine in modern times, a president taking on such a massive, massive issue before they had a mandate from the American public. So, I think LBJ is completely unique and, and his attempts and his accomplishments as a president.

TAPPER: What did you learn about LBJ while making the series that might have surprised you the most?

KONDELIS: I learned a whole lot. But I mean, I was really surprised by his obsessive work ethic. I was surprised that how much of the work he did himself and how absolutely brilliant he was and his legislative knowledge.

I mean, this is a guy in five years that passed 440 significant pieces of legislation. His 89th Congress is the most successful legislative session in American history. They proposed 113 laws, and I believe 97 passed.

So, and that was LBJ working the phones himself. I mean, there were days where he was on the phone with 30 different senators. So it was amazing that he got so much accomplished in such a short period of time, he did it with a staff. That's a fraction of what presidents have today.

TAPPER: Of course, he might be best known for his bad leadership during the Vietnam War. And -- But you make the case that regardless of the Vietnam War, he was one of the most consequential presidents in American history.

KONDELIS: Absolutely. I think there's no doubt that he is. And I think when it comes to Vietnam, for better or worse, I think he completely shaped the America that we're all living in today, whether people know it or not. I mean, every day of your of all Americans lives were being touched in some way by legislation that was proposed and passed by Lyndon Johnson. And he, you know, things did not work out for him in Vietnam, which is one of the most amazing parts of the calls that we had access to in this documentary.

You can hear his concern, you can hear his doubts in that, which is very different from his public persona and kind of pitching the need of upper escalation to the country but it's tragic because he knew this was a huge trap that he probably was not going to get out of and unfortunately, yes, you know, he was right. And it's pretty tragic and Shakespearean actually.

TAPPER: Yes. Pat Kondelis, thanks so much for your time and congratulations. The all new CNN Original Series "LBJ Triumph and Tragedy" premieres with back to back episodes Sunday beginning at 9:00 p.m. Eastern and Pacific only on CNN.

[17:55:09]

Are you looking for a longer weekend? Pack your bags, one country just announced they are switching to a four-day workweek, who is it? We'll tell you. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TAPPER: In our money lead now, if you work remotely, and you love perks like wearing pajama pants, instead of real pants, you're in the majority. Pew researchers found 60 percent of people who work from home want to stay remote even when the pandemic is over. That's up from 54 percent in 2020 in this COVID forces a shift to more flexible work.