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Don Lemon Tonight

January 6th Committee Meets With Top Aide To Former VP Pence; Coronavirus Pandemic: Pfizer Asking FDA for Emergency Use Authorization for COVID Vaccine for Children 6 Months to 5 Years Old; Proposed NH Law Trying to Whitewash American History?; Former Dolphins Head Coach Brian Flores Sues NFL, Alleging Racial Discrimination; Bomb Threats Target Historically Black Colleges; CNN Asks People in Russia What They Think of Tension with Ukraine. Aired 11p-12a ET

Aired February 01, 2022 - 23:00   ET

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

[23:00:00]

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DON LEMON, CNN HOST: Another top aide from Pence's world is taking -- is talking -- I should say, excuse me -- to the January 6th Committee as the former president himself spells out clearly in his own words just how far he was willing to go to stay in power.

And ahead, a so-called teacher loyalty law proposed in New Hampshire, the law aiming to bar educators from teaching the U.S. was founded on racism.

And on this first day of Black History Month, more than a dozen historically black colleges and universities reporting bomb threats.

Plus, breaking tonight, the former head coach of the Dolphins, Brian Flores, filing a lawsuit against the Dolphins along with two other teams, in the NFL, alleging racial discrimination. The legendary sportscaster Bob Costas is going to join me straight ahead.

And we have more breaking news tonight. ABC has suspended Whoopi Goldberg for two weeks in the wake of her comments on "The View" yesterday, claiming that the holocaust was not about race. Also, the president of ABC News putting out a statement saying that Whoopi -- while Whoopi has apologized, I've asked her to take time to reflect and learn about the impact of her comments. More on all of these throughout the next hour.

I want to bring in now Stuart Stevens. He is a former chief strategist for Romney's presidential campaign and senior adviser to "The Lincoln Project." Also, former federal prosecutor and CNN legal analyst Elliot Williams. Gentlemen, good evening. Thank you so much for joining us on this very busy news night.

Elliot, another big name from the Pence inner circle just spoke to the Select Committee, Greg Jacob. Greg Jacob was a former general counsel to Vice President Pence and with him on January -- he was with him on January 6th as the Capitol was attacked. How crucial do you think his testimony is to this investigation?

ELLIOT WILLIAMS, CNN LEGAL ANALYST, FORMER DEPUTY ASSISTANT ATTORNEY GENERAL FOR THE OBAMA ADMINISTRATION: Look, a number of people around

Mike Pence, as you noted, Don, are testifying. Greg Jacob, Mark Short, his chief of staff. And even if Pence doesn't come in to testify, all of these are witnesses that can help fill in the blanks around his potential testimony.

A lot of these folks would have been either in the room with Pence or the president of the time that these events were happening or would've been briefed about it afterward. Greg Jacob was a general counsel to Mike Pence, and obviously, Pence would've consulted him.

We may never see the testimony from Mike Pence, and frankly, that's okay given the almost constellation of staff that are around -- Stuart knows this well -- from being in and around Washington. Someone at that level of government has a lot of people around him who can provide very valuable testimony that is of great use to the committee.

LEMON: Elliot, both Jacob and the former chief of staff, Mark Short, wear with Pence and they have firsthand knowledge of what went down during the riot. And the committee also talked to Pence's National Security advisor, Keith Kellogg, who was with Trump. I mean, that gives them insight to both sides of this equation. Do they still need Pence? You don't think that they need Pence to talk at this point?

WLLIAMS: You know what, Don, you don't ever need anybody in an investigation. What you need is the evidence and the information. And at the end of the day, of course, it would be incredibly valuable for Pence to come in.

But, yes, like you're saying, what these witnesses do is fill in, number one, the nature of the threat, the extent of the threat, because they can talk about what was like Pence feeling at the time, what was he saying, what was the president saying and doing, and it can all be very incredibly valuable.

Of course, Mike Pence's testimony would be great to have, but just at someone at that level of government, you just may never get or you would spend so much time negotiating with the witness. Months would run off the clock.

LEMON: Yeah, the evidence is what is really important here.

WLLIAMS: Yeah.

LEMON: Thank you for clarifying that. Stuart, you know, in just the past few days, Trump said that Pence could have overturn the election. he floated pardons for the riots who assaulted officers and stormed Capitol. And now, we're learning that he may have been directly involved in plans to seize voting machines. That's according to "The New York Times." There can be no doubt that there was a one goal that day, one goal only, and that goal was what?

STUART STEVENS, SENIOR ADVISER TO THE LINCOLN PROJECT, FORMER CHIEF STRATEGIST OF ROMNEY PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN: Look, you can't say it's the end of peaceful transference of power because they did end the peaceful transference of power. People died that day. That never happened before and didn't have to happen.

You know, what I find extraordinary here is this discussion of Mike Pence.

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How can anyone who took an oath of office as vice president of the United States, who served in Congress, who called himself a patriot, who made a career out of running on traditional values, not be breaking down the door of that committee demanding to testify?

This shouldn't be some cutesy game about whether or not he's going to step up. I mean, this man was witness to the most successful attempt to overthrow the United States government ever, at least the since 1860. (INAUDIBLE) in 1/6? Nobody died (INAUDIBLE).

And I just can't -- what did this say about Mike Pence? What did this say about the Republican Party? That they are demanding that anyone who knows anything about this make themselves available.

LEMON: What does that say? This is the technical term, the. We know -- we know what that says, Stuart. Elliot, look, it's saying the words out loud, admitting that he wanted Pence, meaning Trump, wanted Pence to overturn the election. Is he blundering his way into admitting?

WLLIAMS: He's begging (ph) the Justice Department to charging him. And look, after year, it's hard to know sort of what's happening and whether they're going to go forward with it. That is egregious. We've been talking about the voting machines, which is also an egregious attempt at seizing and grabbing power.

Most importantly, what they sought to do was deputize the Department of Homeland Security, a law enforcement agency, and it's yet another instance of the president attempting to use law enforcement to his own political gain and aims. We saw this in so many other contexts throughout his presidency.

Like you're saying, it's playing chicken with the authorities to see if the committee or the Justice Department will actually bring charges.

LEMON (on camera): Stuart, the committee member, Rep. Jamie Raskin, saying this tonight about Trump's admission. Here it is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. JAMIE RASKIN (D-MD): One of the interesting things about Donald Trump is that sometimes people think, because he's so overt about the criminality, that it can really be criminal, but if you rob a bank in broad daylight, you're still robbing a bank.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON (on camera): It's so blatant that everything -- you know, everything we have learned here, so why isn't anyone in the Republican Party coming out and saying that this is completely disqualify, that he is not even fit to run?

STEVENS: Well, I wrote a book about that, and I ended up calling it -- it was all a lie. I think the Republican Party no longer, for the most part, exists as normal political party in our system. It's not advocating a different ideology than the Democratic Party. There's no conservative agenda here. It's about power. The Republican Party exists to defeat democrats.

(INAUDIBLE) cartel. Nobody asked OPEC, like, what is your high moral authority? You sell oil. And that is what the Republican Party is. And this is just a historic moment where I don't think we've ever seen the moral collapse of a national party in America like this and the ramifications of this are just unimaginable.

I mean, the majority of the Republican Party does not believe that we have legally elected president, which means they don't believe that we live in a democracy. So, where does that end? It's extraordinarily disturbing. I think democracy and the survival of democracy is the key issue of our time and the outcome is unknown.

LEMON: Yeah, where does that end? That is the question. Thank you, Stuart. Thank you, Elliot. I appreciate both of you.

WLLIAMS: Thank you, Don.

LEMON: I want to turn to the big pandemic development now. Pfizer has formally asked the FDA for emergency use authorization for its two- dose COVID vaccine for children age six months to five years old.

So, joining me now is Democratic Governor Jared Polis of Colorado. Governor, thank you. Good to see you. We appreciate you joining us. This is very important news. You're one of the governors telling Joe Biden that the country needs to move away from the pandemic. Why do you think that's the right step?

GOV. JARED POLIS (D-CO): Good to see you, Don. And yes, as you know, parents with young kids are among really the last group that is worried. The risk is much lower for young kids, but I'm glad that for my kids that are 7 and 10 (INAUDIBLE) protection. I know soon parents of younger kids will have relief as well.

Look, this virus will be here in a year, in five years, in 10 years. Things simply aren't about to be as safe as they were in 2018 and 2019, but we are in order of magnitude, better and lower risks than we were in the midst of the pandemic last year.

Why? Simple reason. The vaccine works, Don. The vaccine reduces your risk 10, 20, 30 times. Nothing is a zero risk, but you are a lot safer if you've got all three doses of the vaccine. And, if you have, we need to live our lives and continue on to move forward and address some of the challenges that we face in everyday life like increasing costs and the need for kids to improve their education.

LEMON: Listen, I understand your point, the vaccine works, absolutely, but not everybody is getting the vaccine. However, Colorado has a high vaccination rate.

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But there are tens of millions of Americans who haven't gotten one single dose. People who could be hosts for the next variant potentially making things dangerous for the rest of us. We don't know where the next variant is coming from. Does that concern you at all?

POLIS: You know, we are proud. By the way, Don, one of the reasons Colorado has one of the lowest hospitalization rates right now is we have high vaccination rates. We also are doing well on third doses.

And yes, like in many states, we have about 15, 16 percent of our population adults that haven't gotten a single dose yet, but at some point, you have to say, you know what, we gave you every chance to get vaccinated and get protected. If you don't, it's your own fault and you suffer the consequences with the increased risk of hospitalization and death.

But for most of us, we've gotten vaccinated, we've gotten protected. Other people have gotten additional protection by getting through an infection of Omicron, which was a little bit more minor than the Delta phase, and we need to move on and move forward.

LEMON: There are a lot of democratic cities like Baltimore, San Francisco, Denver, and your state, all lifting indoor mask mandates. That's because unlike some cities, they have gotten their communities vaccinated. So, what about places where vaccine rates are still low? What do you say -- what do you think of that?

POLIS: You know, most of the places in Colorado, where I know more intimately, the places that have lower vaccination rates in Colorado haven't had masks for a year. I mean, they just don't wear -- they haven't had mask orders. They don't wear masks. We haven't had a statewide mask order since the early days of the pandemic.

So, that means that they've gotten there through national immunity, which means they got there the hard way. They had more hospitalizations. They had more deaths. We lost the county commissioner the other day in one of our rural counties.

But one way or the other, we get that population level protection. And you're right, Denver has a very high vaccination rate. It's entirely reasonable that they're moving away from their masking requirements.

LEMON: Yeah. I mean, you know, gosh, to pay the price for, you know, for getting what you think -- mass immunity. I forgot the words that you said. That is a pretty -- that is a pretty harsh price to pay. Death or hospitalization or serious illness.

POLIS: It's frustrating that that's the decision some people have made, right? Relatively a simple thing, getting vaccinated reduces your risk. You know, it depends on your age group, but as much as 50- fold are dying, depending on your age, to a very low risk, much more similar to the risk of the flu and other illnesses, if you are fully vaccinated. Some have taken that simple step and it's frustrating. But, you know, you can bring a horse to water but you can't make it drink. We've done everything we can. We've got clinics. We've given people incentives to get vaccinated. We've brought it to the church parking lots and school yards. And people have had that opportunity for many months now.

And there are still people getting vaccinated. It slowed down. I encourage people to look at the signs. But for most people who are protected, it really is time to say, you know what, this is going to be with us for years, let's live our lives, and it's a little riskier than it was before, but it is nothing like, nothing like the risk profile last year (INAUDIBLE) pandemic.

LEMON: Governor, thank you. I appreciate it.

POLIS: Thank you, Don.

LEMON: Here we are one day into black history and the effort to erase uncomfortable history is in full swing. Why one proposed law would prevent teachers from saying, this country was founded on racism.

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LEMON: A proposed New Hampshire law is capitalizing on the manufactured outrage over critical race theory and the issue of race in schools, something that we have seen in several GOP-led states.

I want you to listen to the key part of what the Republican lawmakers call an act relative to teachers' loyalty. The proposed law states this. No teacher shall advocate any doctrine or theory promoting a negative account or representation of the founding and history of the United States of America in New Hampshire public schools which does not include the worldwide context of now outdated and discouraged practices. Such prohibition includes but is not limited to teaching that the United States was founded on racism.

Okay. I want -- I couldn't even believe that I was -- that was coming out of the mouth as I was reading that. Let's discuss now with Peniel Joseph, professor of public affairs and history at the University of Texas, and Megan Tuttle, the president of New Hampshire chapter of the National Education Association.

Okay, so, obviously you know how I feel about this, but let's get some context. Thank you both for joining us. I appreciate it.

Megan, you say this bill is the next step in whitewashing history. Why do you think of that?

MEGAN TUTTLE, PRESIDENT, NEW HAMSPHIRE NEA: Yeah, it is. Thanks, Don. You know, the really big thing here is truth matters. Laws like this one are aimed really just directly at stopping educators from teaching the truth.

LEMON: Very simple. The bill centers this issue over teachers' loyalty. That's almost authoritarian, no?

TUTTLE: It is. And actually, the bill goes back -- we found that is the 1940s with communism and McCarthy-ism, and so this is just something they're bringing back up. It's really just -- it is an attack on our students' freedom to learn. It's created a New Hampshire situation where they're really expecting educators to just teach a one-sided history.

LEMON: If we can -- let me know when you guys have it back, the full screen of what the proposed law states as I talk to Peniel here.

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The proposed New Hampshire bill prohibits educators from teaching, Peniel, that the U.S. was founded on racism.

Okay, there it is. No teacher shall advocate any doctrine or theory promoting a negative account or representation of the founding and history of the United States of America in New Hampshire public schools.

I mean, in terms of -- if you're teaching about colonialism, slavery, the Civil War, how do you do that with this? Help me.

PENIEL JOSEPH, PROFESSOR OF HISTORY AT UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS, AUTHOR: Happy Black History Month, Don. I think that what you find here is an effort to erase American history and, again, to whitewash the most tragic parts of that history that don't give us a context to understand some of the most (INAUDIBLE) context of the history as well.

So, this isn't the first time we've had this and it's not even just about McCarthy and communism of the 1940s and 50s. This goes back to the reconstruction. Me and you have had these conversations, Don. Reconstruction period is what gives the 13th, 14th and 15th Amendments. It gives us Barack Obama. It gives us the context for me and you to have positions that we hold in society.

But there was also this other side of reconstruction and that was called redemption. That is the redeem the south. Not just the clan and violence, but the south mythology and myth thinking.

There's a Columbia University historian called Archibald Dunning who started a whole school of history and just presented lies about American history, half truths (ph) about American history. That was involved by everyone from President John F. Kennedy to average Americans. And what we see in the 1960s is really a pushback of the civil rights era, the era of virtual (ph) justice, black power.

And now, in 2022, after the (INAUDIBLE) in 2020, we've seen millions of white Americans wanting to know that truth, right? They want to know about Tulsa. They want to know about racial slavery. They want to know about the structural racism. And to have a kind of law like this, state by state, and really not all the states have done this, we are setting ourselves up as sort of two different countries, separate hostile and unequal, like Kerner Commission (ph) in 1968.

But this banning of black history, this banning of native American history, this banning of Jewish history and the holocaust and antisemitism and anti-black racism, is profoundly un-American. It's a tragic turn for the worst.

We've been here before, Don. I believe this is America's third reconstruction, and we're once again caught in the battle between redemptionists and reconstructionists.

LEMON: But what it is, what it really is, all of it is America. That is the history of America. All of those things that you mentioned about the holocaust, about native Americans, about African American history, that is American history.

Listen, Megan, I know that you're in New Hampshire, but New Hampshire is not isolated here. There is the proposed discomfort bill in Florida. Virginia Governor Youngkin's tip line for parents to complain about teachers, that is open. Why do white people get the option to avoid history that might make them feel uncomfortable?

TUTTLE: That's a great question. I don't know. I mean, all we really want to do -- and it's all over, as you're saying, we're not unique in New Hampshire. All we want to do is teach an honest history.

I taught (INAUDIBLE) U.S. history, social studies in eight grade for 18 years, and something I told my kids every year is we have to learn the past so that we don't repeat it in the future. Unfortunately, we are being stifled from teaching honest American history.

The history of America is not always pretty, but we still have to teach it. We still have to learn from it so that we don't have the same things happening in the future.

Part of this law that so scary is that your teaching credentials can be taken away. You can have your license taken away from you. And just like in Virginia with the tip line, we have a website on our Department of Education website, where parents or anybody can anonymously put in that they heard something was happening in a classroom that has to get investigated.

But as an educator, the whole process of the reputation being questioned and everything else, it's really just not right. There was actually -- Moms for Liberty tweeted out in November when this was put on the website that they were giving $500 to anybody who caught a teacher doing something they weren't supposed to be doing. So, they pretty much put a bounty on teachers' heads for this.

LEMON: And here we are. Megan and Peniel, thank you very much. I appreciate it.

So, he says that the NFL is managed like a plantation. Breaking tonight, the former NFL coach suing the league and several teams, alleging racial discrimination. We'll talk about that next.

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LEMON: This is a very interesting story considering where we are now, right, with the Super Bowl coming up and what have you. So, this breaking news, the former head coach of the Miami Dolphins, Brian Flores, filing a lawsuit against the Dolphins as well as the NFL, the New York Giants and Denver Broncos, alleging racial discrimination, including in hiring practices.

The suit saying in part, in certain critical ways, the NFL is racially segregated and is managed much like a plantation.

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It's 32 owners, none of whom are Black, profit substantially from the labor of NFL players, 70 percent of whom are Black. The owners watch the games from atop NFL stadiums in their luxury boxes, while their majority-Black workforce put their bodies on the line every Sunday, taking vicious hits and suffering debilitating injuries to their bodies and their brains while the NFL and its owners reap billions of dollars.

A lot to talk about, though, now with legendary sportscaster Bob Costas. Bob, I appreciate you joining us on this. I know that you're really honed in on the story and you want to discuss it. So, good evening to you.

This is scathing suit from Flores. He says that the Giants interviewed him for their head coach position under bogus circumstances. Again, according to him, he says that he was part of another sham interview with the Broncos in 2019. He says that the Dolphins owner wanted him to purposely lose games to get better draft picks. What do you think when you first saw this lawsuit, Bob?

BOB COSTAS, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Well, let's dispense with not because it's important but because will get into the racial aspect of it in a moment.

But the Stephen Ross part of it, the owner of the Dolphins, Flores alleges that in 2019, Ross was upset with him because they won too many games towards the end of the year and moved down in the draft. He wanted them to lose, according to Flores, and even offered him $100,000 for each loss.

He also claims that in 2019, when Tom Brady was still under contract to the Patriots, that Ross wanted Flores, who had been a Patriots assistant and having good relationship with Brady, to contact him about the possibility of becoming a Dolphin when he was a free agent. And under NFL rules, that would be tampering.

Both of those charges against Ross, if true, apart from any racism aspect to it, are very serious for the standpoint of the NFL.

Now, to the racism part, in the big picture, this is undeniable. Until David Culley was fired by the Texans and then Flores by the Dolphins, there were about three head coaches, Black head coaches in the NFL. Now, there's only one, the long-tenured Mike Tomlin with the Steelers.

And perhaps, not coincidental, it was the Steelers owners, the Rooney family, who pushed for the so-called Rooney rule, which says that you must have at least one legitimate interview for a head coaching position, defense over offensive coordinator, and general manager position, at least one legitimate interview of at least one minority candidate before you reach conclusion and hire whoever you decide to hire for those positions.

The Giants say that they interviewed six people for their head coaching job, three of whom, including Flores, were minority candidates. They wind up hiring Brian Daboll, who most recently had been an assistant in Buffalo.

Here's where it gets kind of cloak and dagger intriguing. Bill Belichick, Patriots head coach, of course, both Flores and Daboll had been assistant coaches under him, apparently, the way he kept his contact list had two Brians right next to each other. So, two days before Flores scheduled interview, he gets a text from Belichick apparently intended for Daboll saying, congratulations. Now, what the Giants --

LEMON: It is up on the screen. Let me read it before you finish. Let me read it. Here is the first part of the exchange. It shows Belichick congratulating Flores and Flores asked if Belichick heard something that he hasn't. Belichick says he heard that the Giants want him. But then later, Flores asks if he thinks that he is talking to Brian Flores or Brian Daboll, and Belichick says -- he F this up, and they're actually naming Daboll.

So, he is saying that this was a sham.

COSTAS: Yeah.

LEMON: I hate to interrupt you, but I want people to know what they're reading on their screen. Bob Costas, continue.

COSTAS: Yeah, that was very helpful. So, Flores's position is, look, yeah, they interviewed me a couple days later, but that interview was a sham if they've already decided. The Giants say that Flores was under consideration until, as they put it, the 11th hour, that they came very close to hiring him and just felt that Daboll, by a narrow margin, was the more qualified candidate.

And I guess their defense would be that maybe Belichick just heard it from a third-party or whatever and assumed it was already done deal but that it wasn't. Flores does not see it that way.

There are five, by the way, there are five openings still in the NFL for head coaching positions, including the Dolphins. The Saints, the Texans, the Vikings, and the Jaguars are all without head coaches. And Flores is in the mix or at least he was until now for some of those positions. He's only 40 years old. He won eight of his last nine games this year with the Dolphins. He has a pretty good record early on in his coaching career. His firing was perplexing to begin with. So, he's a highly regarded young head coach, a potential head coach.

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But he said this and he understands it, he says that this, this kind of scorched earth thing, may make him persona non grata in the NFL, but he is willing to put his future on the line, to a certain extent, if he can be a catalyst for some positive change.

And one of the things he wants, apart from his own situation, is that when a coach is dismissed, any coach, that it will be league policy that the team has to spell out in writing the reasons for the dismissal, and that people of color have to be part of the decision.

They have to be in the room when the person is interviewed. They have to have input into who is hired. And then, let the chips fall where they may, if in Flores's view and the view of many who have been around the NFL, if the process is fair. You're not going to have every Black candidate hired, but you're going to get a representative number, and thus far, that has not been the case in the big picture.

LEMON: Let's go over something that you just talked about, because he did manage to have, Flores, some success within the system, right? He came up through the Patriots. He was the head coach in Miami for three years. Had a winning record, as you said, for two of those seasons. So --

COSTAS: Uh-hmm.

LEMON: -- what does that -- what does that mean in all of this? What does that matter? How does that matter?

COSTAS: Well, there are often quirky decisions made and some hires turned out to be brilliant and some turned out to be boneheaded. That is the nature of sports. No one is contending that in every situation, it's going to be perfectly fair and objective.

But in the big picture, it's clear that despite the stated efforts of the league and their emphasis on diversity and despite the presence of the Rooney rule, Black head coaches have not -- no one is saying it needs to be 50/50 or it needs to parallel the playing personnel, but when you have only three and now it's down to one out of 32 teams, that is a pretty bad record.

LEMON: Yeah. Bob, I just want to read this. Thank you. And by the way, Bob, I still stand by what I said about the overtime rules, even after this weekend.

COSTAS: Oh, come on!

(LAUGHTER)

COSTAS: You're killing me. You're killing me.

LEMON: It was a very tough weekend for me because I love both of them. I love Mahomes and I love Burrow. You know, I'm an LSU Tiger and, you know, what Burrow did there, and I love Mahomes because I think he is a great player. But Bob, thank you.

I just want to before-- thank you, Bob. But before we finish this, I just want to say, the NFL released a statement and said, the NFL and our clubs are deeply committed to ensuring equitable employment practices and continue to make progress in providing equitable opportunities throughout our organizations. Diversity is core to everything we do, and there are few issues on which our clubs and our internal leadership team spend more time. We will defend against these claims, which are without merit.

Bob Costas, always a pleasure, sir. I will see you soon. Thank you very much.

COSTAS: All right, Don.

LEMON: Yes, sir. It is the first day of Black History Month, and what are we seeing? More than a dozen historically black colleges forced into lockdown amid bomb threats. I'm going to speak with the president of one of them next.

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LEMON: Interesting story that we're about to talk about. Nineteen historically black colleges and universities receiving bomb threats in the past two days.

I want you to look at this map. The threat is spanning several states, causing campuses to lockdown or postpone classes. There were at least 14 bomb threats just today, including a threat at Xavier university in New Orleans.

So, let's discuss now. The president of Xavier, Reynold Verret, is here. Thank you so much for joining us, president. Thank you. How are you doing?

REYNOLD VERRET, PRESIDENT, XAVIER UNIVERSITY: I'm doing well. It's good to be with you.

LEMON: So, it is not lost on any of us that today is the first day of Black History Month. And your school is one of more than a dozen HBCUs that received a bomb threat. Why do you believe black schools are being targeted? Do you think black schools are being targeted here?

VERRET: Well, I think the facts speak for themselves. The fact that we've had not only this recent cluster of bomb threats at HBCUs, also three weeks ago, beginning in January, as we approach January 6, there was another cluster of threats at HBCUs, it seems that what we are worried about is that we have seen that HBCUs are low hanging fruit.

We have high symbolic value as black churches. And also, synagogues in the struggle, which America is fighting over, what America should be and what we will become. And so, these efforts to target black schools are part of that struggle.

LEMON: So, how are the students dealing with this at Xavier?

VERRET: Our students, you have to be proud of them. I think they are realistic. They have responded to the caution that we have taken. At the same time, I think they have a sense of history. They also know that this is not the first time that Xavier or any of the schools have faced diversity but gone through this.

But also, the mission of their education, of sending them out to do what they need to do to serve the world wherever they go, it's important enough that we will continue educating.

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So, we continue educating remotely. For the morning, we continue our classes. And at noon, classes are resumed in the normal fashion. Our students, you have to be proud of them.

LEMON: The president of Edward Waters University in Jacksonville, Florida says that police received a call early this morning indicating that there were multiple explosive devices that have been placed throughout their campus and that the plan from the person making the threat was to then come into the campus, on to the campus, and shoot any survivors after the detonation of those explosives. I mean, that is serious. That is chilling.

VERRET: We have received a similar message in the first -- we received a note in January, that they would be following incidents that would follow. The message today was -- I don't have -- I don't have the reporting yet because that's in the hands of the investigators. But the first message clearly said that. So, creating more fear for us is part of these messages. It's also an effort to divide the country as well.

LEMON: Has law enforcement told you any more information about the nature of the threats against your school? You said you had a similar one, as the one I just mentioned. Have they told you anymore?

VERRET: We know they are investigating and they are telling us that -- that we have information that they will not share with me. And I do not want to know yet at this point. I want them to find themselves. They are working and paying great attention. The FBI has been on campus. And also, we've had meetings with the secretary of Education and also secretary of Homeland. They are paying a lot of attention to it and looking at it as a localized news phenomenon. It's a national issue.

LEMON: President Verret, we are going to continue to follow the story. We are so grateful that you came on to talk about it. Please be safe and keep us updated if you get any new information regarding the investigation. Thank you, sir.

VERRET: We will continue what we do. Thank you very much.

LEMON: Thank you. Signs of escalating tension between Russia and Ukraine have people on edge here in the U.S., but what do people in Russia think? CNN goes there and asks. That's next.

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LEMON (on camera): Tonight, Vladimir Putin blaming the United States for his country's tensions with Ukraine, accusing the U.S. of attempting to draw Russia into armed conflict by using Ukraine as a tool to expand NATO.

Now, keep in mind that Putin's amassing tens of thousands of troops with the Pentagon saying today that he could move them across the border at any moment.

Meanwhile, in Russia, people are waiting to see what he'll do next. CNN's Nic Robertson is in Moscow.

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NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR (voice-over): On Russian state media, Ukrainian soldiers train on American anti-tank weapons as a pro-Russian separatist from (INAUDIBLE) Ukraine begs Moscow to send them weapons.

The state seems to be readying the nation for a potential conflict. But are Russians listening?

In Moscow's (INAUDIBLE) park, state media gets a cold shoulder.

I try not to watch the news, she says. I think they're escalating it a lot. I believe very little of what they're showing.

What the state media are saying, there is hardly any truth in it, he says. It's just information that plays into someone's hands.

Even so, people are worrying.

Of course, we are worried, she says. We hope that everything will settle down. We wish the Ukrainians well. They're our brothers.

What can we do? Nothing depends on us, absolutely nothing. So, everything is possible.

Everyone here is waiting for President Putin to make his next move. One thing he doesn't seem to need to worry about is panic at home.

(MUSIC PLAYING) ROBERTSON (voice-over): Outside the Kremlin, in Moscow's fabled red square, a winter fun fair to cheer Russians through the frigid months straddles the historic military parade ground. Realities of war feel distant.

I think there will be no war, she says. Our president, whom we love, will not allow war between our states. We love Ukraine.

I'm from Ukraine, she says. I don't think there will be war because we are a friendly country, and Russia and Ukraine are fraternal people.

Even the threat of western sanctions, despite Russia's ruble having a rough ride against the dollar recently, is being shrugged off.

Well, sanctions don't scare us, she says. Our homeland is so rich. We'll figure it out.

We ordinary people, we will not be affected, he says. There will be no sanction on us.

Of course, food becomes more expensive, she says. But I'll just earn more.

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ROBERTSON (voice-over): But optimism here belies the pressures on Putin. If diplomacy fails, he'll have a heavy lift prepping Russia's people for the pain that could come their way.

(On camera): All those critical decisions going on just yards from the fun fair and President Putin's office behind the Kremlin's high red walls.

Nic Robertson, CNN, Moscow.

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LEMON: All right. Nic, thank you very much. If you ever miss our show, you know you can always find the latest episode shortly after it airs. You can find it on our podcast. You can scan the QR code on your screen with your phone. There it is. It is right there. On the screen with your phone's camera or you can find the show at cnn.com/podcast and all major podcast platforms. So just search for "DON LEMON TONIGHT."

And you know what? Thanks for watching "DON LEMON TONIGHT." Our coverage continues.

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