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Rep. Seth Moulton (R-MA) is Interviewed about Russia and Ukraine; Covid Surging as Millions Travel for Holidays; U.K. Reports New Record High for Covid; Noth Denies Sexual Assault Allegations. Aired 9:30-10a ET

Aired December 17, 2021 - 09:30   ET

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

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JIM SCIUTTO, CNN ANCHOR: This morning, CNN has learned that Russia is continuing to amass more troops near its border with Ukraine in recent days. This reporting from myself and my colleagues Katie Bo Lillis and Natasha Bertrand. And this comes despite President Biden warning Russia's president, Vladimir Putin, to de-escalate tensions during their virtual meeting last week. According to sources familiar with the intelligence, Russia has recently sent thousands more troops to the border, and has begun diverting commercial air and rail systems to support the military effort.

Joining me now to discuss, Democratic Congressman Seth Moulton of Massachusetts. He's a member of the Armed Services Committee, just returned from a trip to Ukraine.

Congressman, thanks for taking the time this morning.

REP. SETH MOULTON (D-MA): Good to be here, Jim.

SCIUTTO: The position the president and the White House has been, take a pause in effect, allow time for diplomacy. You, of course, had this face to face meeting last week via video conference in which the president delivered warnings, but Russia's continued to spend more troops.

I wonder, from your view, is the time for diplomacy over?

MOULTON: No, I mean, ultimately we want to resolve this diplomatically. But the way that we do that is by convincing Putin that the cost of invasion are too high. And so while we're pursuing diplomacy, doing what the administration is doing, we also need to be ensuring that we're getting weapons to Ukraine, weapons that will make it difficult for Putin on day one, that we're getting together with our allies and putting together sanctions that can go into effect the second Putin invades, because that's the kind of deterrence we need right now to prevent the full scale invasion, which is something he now has on the table.

SCIUTTO: Yes. Let's talk about those weapons because we know Ukrainians have been frustrated with the pace of some of this lethal military assistance, as have members of Congress, Democrat and Republican. The White House position seems to be, let's hold off, that will escalate for now. Are you saying those weapons should go now and are you communicating that to the White House? And are they listening?

MOULTON: Look, I am communicating this to the White House. I sent them a memo as soon as I got back from the trip. And one of the points I made in the memo is that Putin doesn't care about provocations because he has a history of manufacturing provocations whenever he wants. So we need to be much less concerned about provoking Putin and much more focused on deterring him.

Now, his critical vulnerability here, the real weakness he potentially has, is his own population. They don't want a long, bloody war in Ukraine. They don't want to see Russian boys coming home in body bags. We need to make it clear to Putin that that's exactly what will happen on day one if he -- if he invades. What does that mean in terms of weapons? It means things like shore to ship cruise missiles, it means things like perhaps some antiaircraft missiles, things that will blow up Russian armor, so that it's all over the news that this is going to be a bloody war from the very start.

Putin respects power and that's the kind of deterrence that we need to prevent this war from ever beginning.

SCIUTTO: Speaking of provocations, earlier this week we had the chairman of Russia's nationalist party make an alarming and very public threat against your colleague, Rubin Gallego, fellow congressman, also went on the trip to Ukraine, that -- basically advocating for his obduction and imprisonment here.

Your reaction to a Russian politician making that threat.

MOULTON: I mean, look, I don't want to make light of this. Yes, I mean, look, it's completely inappropriate, unprofessional and, of course, we take these threats seriously.

[09:35:05]

Rubin and I are both Marines. I don't think we're deterred by that kind of business. But it's important that we remain focused on what's really happening here, not distracted by these Russian provocations, and recognize that Putin has all options on the table right now. He can continue to apply political pressure to Ukraine. He can conduct a limited incursion, like he did in the Crimea or in the eastern part of Ukraine. He now holds territory there, of course.

But what I'm really concerned about is this possibility that you are reporting on this morning with the size of the Russian force now assembled, he can conduct a full scale almost blitzkrieg style invasion.

SCIUTTO: Yes.

MOULTON: And I don't think we're doing enough to deter that option.

SCIUTTO: Yes.

MOULTON: That's the most dangerous option for us in Ukraine. If -- if this is -- if this proves successful for Putin, who knows what will be the next stop. So that's what we've got to focus on today.

SCIUTTO: To that point, you have made that point, talking about the potential for World War III. In other words, that if Putin does not feel sufficiently deterred in Ukraine, that his next target might be U.S. NATO allies in the east, the Baltic states, for instance. How severe is the threat to them?

MOULTON: Well, we don't know, but Putin has made these threats in the past. He clearly has a vision of expanding the Russian empire. And I think we have to take that seriously. You know, as some people will be dismiss of this, but every time we've made a big oversight in American national security, it's due to a failure of imagination. We never imagined that terrorists could conduct an attack on the scale of 9/11. We never imagined that Putin would be able to conduct the largest land grab since World War II when he took the Crimean peninsula about -- less than ten years ago. And, frankly, we never imagined that the Taliban would get to Kabul in a week.

SCIUTTO: Yes.

MOULTON: We've got to imagine the worst here. And if there's one lesson we've learned from the last 20 years of war, it's that these wars are much harder to stop than they are to start. We've got to make sure that Putin never even takes the first step.

SCIUTTO: I want to ask, before we go, about the latest revelations from the January 6th committee. Text messages that show fellow congress men and women, fellow lawmakers, communicating with the White House and speaking openly about a plan to overturn the election with specific prescriptions there, right, to reject the votes from certain battleground states.

Do you need to see them testify? Do they need to be called to testify to answer for those communications?

MOULTON: They should. I don't need to see them testify to understand how grave this assault is on our democracy. And the fact that it came from colleagues in Congress is just --

SCIUTTO: Yes.

MOULTON: Unbelievably frightening. And Americans need to take this seriously. They need to take seriously the leading Republican's efforts to take away their votes, because that's the cornerstone of our democracy, Jim. That's what we lose if these January 6th perpetrators don't get prosecuted and we don't ensure, in a bipartisan way, frankly, that this kind of business can never happen again.

SCIUTTO: Well, we'll see if there are legal consequences.

Congressman Seth Moulton, always good to have you on the program.

MOULTON: Thanks, Jim.

SCIUTTO: This news just in to CNN.

Long time Trump adviser, Roger Stone, has arrived on Capitol Hill this hour to appear before the January 6th committee for his scheduled deposition. Stone's attorney says he will plead the Fifth, not produce any requested documents.

Other news, the FDA has announced the abortion pill can now be send by mail, ending the requirement that the medication be picked up in person. This comes as Texas has essentially outlawed abortion and the Supreme Court seems poised to undo its abortion rights precedent as it weighs a case out of Mississippi. Medication abortion now makes up more than half of abortions that occur before nine weeks into pregnancy.

And still ahead, officials are warning Americans to take precautions when it comes to spreading the omicron variant, right, as millions are preparing to travel for Christmas. What you should expect if you're flying. That's coming up.

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SCIUTTO: All right, this is a live picture from New York. A long line there. And this is not the only one we've seen. People lining up for Covid-19 tests. Seeing this a lot around the country right now, particularly as people plan for holiday travel.

Despite rising Covid cases, holiday travel is expected to roar back to near pandemic records. AAA estimates more than 109 million Americans will drive or fly an almost 34 percent increase from last year.

CNN aviation correspondent Pete Muntean, he's live from Reagan National Airport.

Pete, I mean, airlines, are they signaling anything about additional precautions? I mean with omicron, we're certainly seeing, you know, a big bump in new infections.

PETE MUNTEAN, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT: It's so true, Jim. You know, airlines aren't taking any new precautions really. Nothing different than what they've been doing all pandemic long. They're really just preparing for this big onslaught of people. In fact, United Airlines says the busy period really starts today and goes through next Thursday. In fact, it predicts that its passenger loads will be 20 percent higher than what it saw during the Thanksgiving rush when we set pandemic era air travel records.

The TSA now predicts 20 to 21 million people will fly between December 23rd and January 3rd.

[09:45:05] In fact, we just saw 2.06 million people pass through security at America's airports just yesterday. That is the highest number we have seen since December 5th, signaling that this holiday rush is really already started.

You know, the real question here is whether or not the omicron variant will impact these bookings. Airlines say they have tapered off a little bit because of the omicron variant ever since it really reared its head. Now United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby says that cancellations have gone up, but not near as much as the airline saw when the delta variant surged this summer.

Here's what he said.

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SCOTT KIRBY, CEO, UNITED AIRLINES: 2022 is still going to be a recovery year for the industry because, you know, we're not past -- Covid isn't over yet. Covid is never going to be over. But it's still in the probably pandemic phase instead of the endemic phase.

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MUNTEAN: What's so interesting here, Jim, is that the CDC is now giving out at home coronavirus test kits for free to international air travelers as they arrive in the United States. A bit of a trial run right now. The CDC says it's imperative for international travelers to get tested three to five days after arriving in the U.S. Only a few airports right now, Chicago, Dallas, Minneapolis, Miami, but the CDC says this could be expanded soon.

You know, the big thing the TSA is underscoring here is to wear a mask, bring a lot of patience, a lot of flexibility. If you haven't booked a ticket already, maybe consider flying on Christmas Day itself. That's when the numbers will be the lowest, Jim.

SCIUTTO: And wear those masks.

Pete Muntean, good to have you there. Thank you.

In the U.K., the omicron variant is pushing the country's daily Covid infections to the highest level even since the pandemic started. Health officials now urging more caution, in some cases recommending people stay at home as much as possible. The surge also forcing some British businesses to close, not only over health concerns, but due to a flood of canceled reservations.

CNN reporter Salma Abdelaziz is live from London.

You know, interesting for us to watch there because the U.K. is often a canary in the coal mine for the U.S. So what are the latest precautions from the government?

SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN REPORTER: I think definitely all eyes on the U.K. as this tidal wave has absolutely hit here. I mean I can tell you just anecdotally from living in London, everybody here either knows someone with the virus, is self-isolating or has just been pinged because they've been near a positive case.

For two days in a row now there's been record-breaking case numbers, record-breaking daily case numbers.

So what are the new restrictions? Well, they're pretty minimal, especially when you look at the rest of western Europe. Yes, there's mask mandates and requirement to show Covid passes in big social events, but most of those social events, like sports events, are being canceled anyways because, as you noted, so many people testing positive.

Businesses taking matters into their own hands, closing their doors because their staff is calling out sick, but also because of so many cancellations. And the more and more people who are isolating now, Jim, the more and more people who are going to end up at Christmas alone.

And that's really the concern here is this isn't just about whether omicron is milder, it's about the sheer volume of cases that this country might have to deal with. Remember that r number, three to five. That means for every one person infected, they could infect three to five other people. That's why health officials here are worried. They say that it's going to be a couple of week, but we're going to start to see these positive cases turn into people showing up in hospital.

The prime minister, of course, being accused of not doing enough of wringing his hands and leaving it up to each individual to decide whether or not it self-isolate. The accusation there from many people here is this is a lockdown by stealth, Jim.

SCIUTTO: Salma Abdelaziz in London, thanks so much.

Coming up next, the actor, Chris Noth, is responding to two sexual assault allegations, The latest on why two women have come forward. We'll have that coming up.

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[09:53:21]

SCIUTTO: Actor Chris Noth, known for his roles in "Sex and the City" and "Law and Order" is denying new allegations of sexual assault published in "The Hollywood Reporter." Two women approached the magazine months apart accusing Noth of assault and saying they came forward after the reboot of "Sex in the City" brought Noth back into the public spotlight.

CNN entertainment reporter Chloe Melas is following all of this.

Chloe, tell us what we know about these allegations.

CHLOE MELAS, CNN ENTERTAINMENT REPORTER: Hey, Jim. Well, as you said, these women who spoke out under pseudonyms in "The Hollywood Reporter" that published yesterday said that they felt triggered by Chris Noth reprising his role as Mr. Big in the new HBO Max series "And Just Like That," that that is what motivated them to come forward.

So here is a little bit about what we know. Two separate incidents, two women that supposedly separately approached "The Hollywood Reporter," you know, one took place in New York City in 2015, the other in Los Angeles in 2004.

Now, Chris Noth is denying these accusations.

Let me tell you a little bit about what he's saying. He says, quote, the accusations against me made by individuals I met years, even decades ago are categorically false. He goes on, Jim, to say, these stories could have been from 30 years ago or 30 days ago. No always means no and that's a line I did not cross.

But in the midst of all of this, I want to point out, that Peloton that just featured Chris in an ad the other day that Ryan Reynolds produced with his production company after that scene from "And Just Like That" where his character dies on a Peloton, they've scrubbed it, they've deleted it from YouTube, deleted it from social media, and it seems as though this is a story that is not going away.

[09:55:02]

You know, unclear if he's going to be facing any sort of legal repercussions.

But, remember, in the midst of the few years since the Me Too movement has given so many men and women that courage to come forward and to speak out. So it will be interesting to see what happens, if the New York district attorney's office looks to open this up. Same with Los Angeles. But I'm no lawyer. There are statutes of limitations. But it will be interesting to see what happens.

SCIUTTO: Chloe Melas, thanks so much for following it.

SCIUTTO: The ex-cop who says she confused her gun with her taser when she shot and killed Daunte Wright is now expected to take the stand today.

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Miss Potter, do you -- do you still want to testify or have you changed your mind?

KIM POTTER: Yes, your honor, I'll testify.

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SCIUTTO: Court resumes minutes from now. If she is the first witness called, we're going to bring you that testimony live.

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