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Key U.S. Inflation Measure Hits 7.5 Percent, a Near 40-Year High; New York Times Reports, Possible Classified Docs Found in Boxes Returned by Trump; CNN Reports, Russian Figure Skater with Failed Drug Test is a Minor. Aired 10-10:30a ET

Aired February 10, 2022 - 10:00   ET

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

[10:00:00]

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN ANCHOR: Heartbreaking. They added that no alcohol or drugs were involved.

Saget was on a comedy tour when hotel staff at the Ritz Carlton in Orlando found him unresponsive. His wife, Kelly Rizzo, posting this tribute marking one month since the comedian's death. He would always tell me, look, life is hard, we need to enjoy it as much as possible.

BIANNA GOLODRYGA, CNN ANCHOR: Top of the hour. I'm Bianna Golodryga. Good morning, everyone.

SCIUTTO: Good morning. I'm Jim Sciutto.

A dire warning from one of America's largest banks, JPMorgan says oil could easily hit $120 per barrel, this if tensions between Russia and Ukraine escalate, this as inflation tops 7.5 percent, that is the highest level in 40 years.

Plus this, new images this morning of U.S. fighter jets arriving in Poland as Russia launches joint military drills in Belarus. Details on what the U.S. and European allies are watching as possible signals of an invasion by Russia.

GOLODRYGA: And back here at home, the National Archives asking the DOJ to investigate former President Trump's handling of White House records. This after boxes of documents were recovered from Mar-a-Lago. And details from a new book this morning reveal former staffers believe the former president tried to flush some documents at the White House.

SCIUTTO: More than once.

But we begin this morning with the inflation news, CNN's Matt Egan following all of this.

So, Matt, a number consistent with what we saw in December but crucially not tailing off at all, which is what the White House had said they'd hope to see in the early part of this year.

MATT EGAN, CNN BUSINESS REPORTER: Yes, Jim and Bianna, that's right. This is really another brutal report on the cost of living. I mean, inflation can't get better until it stops getting worse, but we haven't seen that yet. Consumer price is up by 7.5 percent from a year ago. That's the most since 1982, almost 40 years ago exactly. And remember, the Federal Reserve goal here is for 2 percent inflation. We're nowhere near that.

Now, they're having some hope that maybe there will be signs of progress month-to-month, right? That maybe between December and January, prices would actually cool off. That didn't happen either. We saw prices up by 0.6 percent.

Let me just give you a few concrete examples of what we're talking about, gasoline up 40 percent year-over-year, used cars, 40 percent, food at home, 7.4 percent, electricity, nearly 11 percent.

Now, context is crucial here. There's a lot of positive about the economy. GDP last year grew the fastest pace since 1984, unemployment rate down to nearly 4 percent, exactly 4 percent. It was at almost 15 percent April 2020. But the high cost of living continues to overshadow all of that and today's report just feels like another setback on the inflation --

GOLODRYGA: Yes, and as the administration had at least been hoping to see signs of inflation tampering there.

In the meantime, for many Americans wondering why they should be concerned about what's happening thousands of miles away in Ukraine and Russia, new warning about the economic consequences potentially. JPMorgan saying that oil prices could go up substantially.

EGAN: Yes. This situation with Russia and Ukraine is clearly a geopolitical crisis and it could be a humanitarian tragedy but there's also potentially going to be economic consequences that could impact virtually all Americans. Now, JPMorgan putting out this report, talking about how Russia is the world's number two oil reducer at a time when supplies are pretty tight right now.

Let me read you cue a line from this JPMorgan analysis. They wrote, quote, any disruptions to oil flows from Russia in the context of low spare capacity in other regions could easily send oil prices to $120 a barrel, easily. They also added that if Russia's oil exports were cut in half, and that's a big if because we know Moscow needs oil revenue too, but if they were cut in half, prices would spike to $150 a barrel and that, of course, would only drive up prices at the pump, which are already high, the national average hitting $3.48 a gallon today. A fresh seven year high up 7 cents from a week ago, exactly a dollar higher than a year ago.

Keep in mind, these latest gains in gas prices, they are not captured in today's inflation report. I think all of this is just one more reason why what happens next on the Russia-Ukraine front will be so consequential to, really, people around the world.

GOLODRYGA: Right.

SCIUTTO: Well, and Russia is going to leverage that, right, the threat of higher prices, as it continues to threaten the territorial integrity of the Ukraine. Matt Egan, thanks so much.

There is new reporting from The New York Times that reveals the National Archives found what it believes were classified materials, these documents former President Trump took with him when he left the White House. There were laws, as you should know, for presidents in the White House to preserve those documents. Now, CNN has learned that the National Archives is asking the Justice Department to investigate Trump's handling of those documents.

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GOLODRYGA: All of this comes as a new book from The New York Times Maggie Haberman reveals White House staff believed President Trump was, at one point, actually trying to flush pieces of paper down a White House toilet.

CNN Law Enforcement Correspondent Whitney Wild is following all of the latest developments. Whitney, let's start with this new reporting related to the National Archives discovery and reaching out to the DOJ here. What do we know?

WHITNEY WILD, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT CORRESPONDENT: Well, the Justice Department is declining to comment and it is not clear if they will launch a formal investigation. The reality is a vast majority of these referrals to the department do not end up as a formal investigation. In a statement Wednesday, the Archives said, we do not comment on potential or ongoing investigations.

The request came after recent revelations that the National Archives had to retrieve 15 boxes of records that ended up with Trump at Mar-a- Lago, his Florida resort, and that other documents given to the Archives were torn up and had to be pieced back together.

This is obviously a totality so troubling to the National Archives that they are asking the DOJ to take a look at this, that they want formal prosecutors to decide whether or not this was going to be simply sloppy or whether or not this is something in a more criminal space, Jim and Bianna.

GOLODRYGA: Whitney Wild, thank you.

And let's discuss this with Criminal Defense Attorney and former Federal and State Prosecutor Ron Filipkowski. Ron, welcome to the program.

So, let's just set aside the hypocrisy, because we know that that is overwhelming for years leading up to the 2016 election. We had President Trump go after Hillary Clinton relentlessly about how she handled classified information. That having been said, if the president was told specifically that he had to maintain these and hold on to these documents, that they were indeed classified, is that a crime given what we now know?

RON FILIPKOWSKI, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Well, certainly. I mean, certainly, he could face liability, criminal liability as well as civil liability in terms of even being possibly being even disqualified from being able to run for office again. So, certainly, that appears to be the case.

He put out a statement earlier this morning about it, which is really nonsensical, where he's all over the place. He admits taking documents but he claims he had permission to do so. So, the more he talks, it seems like the worse it gets.

SCIUTTO: Ron, you served as a federal and state prosecutor, so you know that there's the law and there are politics. And in decisions like this, both have an element, an influential element here. So, you're saying this clearly breaks the law, both not preserving those documents, as required by law, but also taking classified documents here.

Do you see these leading to charges, right? Because we've been down that path before with this former president on a whole host of things, where it appears there's evidence of not just wrongdoing and breaking norms, but criminal wrongdoing. Does this one lead somewhere?

FILIPKOWSKI: I mean, I really thought that the Georgia phone calls would have led to criminal consequences a year ago, because that was all on tape. So, yes, it seems like everything involving the former president takes a while when it comes to criminal investigations.

What I have heard is there's a great deal of concern that once you indict or criminally prosecute a former president, that your democracy and your country itself comes into question as far as the legitimacy of it. So, I think there's a lot of hesitancy on the part of prosecutors.

SCIUTTO: It didn't affect the Nixon, potentially. I mean, that was the argument you heard when he was still in the office, right, but he's out of office now.

FILIPKOWSKI: Yes, exactly. Sol, I don't really understand the hesitancy. I think it should be full steam ahead on all of these investigations. So, I'm not sure what the delay is.

GOLODRYGA: You have compiled documents that you handed over to the January 6th committee and you sat down with the members. Tell us more about that.

FILIPKOWSKI: Well, what my team has done over the last year is we have watched a lot of obscure podcasts and events and speeches that have been made on the internet by a lot of the people that led, organized and participated in January 6th, some of which we posted small clips on Twitter, but we compiled them. And so I think some of the attorneys on the committee followed me on Twitter, saw some of the things I was posting and reached out to interview me to try and find out more of what we had, and I met with them for about an hour and a half and explained everything that we had. And then they asked us to organize it and turn it over to them.

GOLODRYGA: What do you think might have piqued their interest?

FILIPKOWSKI: Well, we kind of outlined a number of things that have been not really widely reported but were said on obscure podcasts. I mean, there's just a number of things that we had, like the podcast where Mo Brooks talked about wearing a bulletproof vest on January 6th.

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We were the first ones who posted the Navarro clip about the Green Bay sweep. We had a number of really obscure things like that.

Chris Miller, the acting secretary of defense, talking about in a podcast why there was a delay sending National Guard in. That was the most comprehensive interview that's ever been done of Chris Miller and very few people have ever seen it, so things like that.

SCIUTTO: So, Ron, the thing is about this alleged conspiracy, right, is that it did not take place in a smoke-filled room, right? It's been described in public. You talk about Navarro's comments, and we played the clip last hour. I mean, he says the plan was to get legislatures in several states to, frankly, deny the outcome of the election and turn it. It's in public. Why no charges? Why doesn't the system seem to be policing this?

FILIPKOWSKI: Well, what I can tell you is, for several months after January 6th, most of these people kept their heads down and their mouths shut. And I think a lot of them were concerned that they were going to be charged or arrested during the spring of 2021. When that didn't happen is when they became more brazen.

And as the months have gone on, they're more and more proud of what they did and the role that they played. I mean, the Navarro clip, he was bragging about it on Steve Bannon's show.

So, I think what the committee is doing, and that's why they reached out to me, is they are definitely moved on from the participants on the ground up to the political leaders and organizers, and that's more of what they're looking at and that's more of what they're interested at in getting information from us.

SCIUTTO: The trouble is the committee can issue a report, they cannot prosecute. Ron Filipkowski, thanks so much for coming on.

FILIPKOWSKI: Thank you.

SCIUTTO: Still to come, an Olympic scandal, hard questions. Remember the Russian figure skating team, a minor has failed a drug test. We're going to be live in China with the implications here, particularly for a program that has repeatedly broken doping rules in the past as well as for Team USA.

GOLODRYGA: Plus, several states defying CDC guidance and lifting mask mandates for schools and businesses. Are they acting too soon though or is the updated guidance coming too slowly?

And Republican after Republican going after Dr. Fauci and the confusion over mask mandates, could this strategy help flip the balance of power in the midterms?

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GOLODRYGA: A major scandal is developing in Beijing this morning, CNN has learned that a Russian figure skater, who is a minor, has tested positive for a banned substance and CNN has confirmed that 15-year-old Kamila Valieva is the only minor on Russia's six-person team.

SCIUTTO: CNN Sports Anchor Coy Wire is covering the games in China. Coy, as you know, the entire Russian team, it does not compete under the name of Russia because of an exposed statewide doping scandal a number of years ago. Speak about this specific case here. This Russian team initially won gold. Is that now in jeopardy and when and how will we know?

COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: Yes, Jim, this could affect that team event for Monday, and also the crown jewel of the Winter Games, the upcoming women's individual competition. The Russian Olympic Committee won that gold in that team event. Team USA finished second. So, could we see some movement there?

The event, as I mentioned, was on Monday. Medals though, Jim and Bianna, still haven't been handed out and it's not yet known when or even if that might happen at these games. The International Olympic Committee says the medal ceremony is being delayed due to legal consultation.

It's unclear exactly when that positive test she talked about was taken. Russian newspaper RBC Sport reports that a sample taken in December from one of the six Russian team members came back positive for a drug used to treat people with a heart condition, which is banned by the World Anti-Doping Agency.

CNN has not heard back from the IOC, the ROC, while the International Testing Agency has just gotten back with no comment.

Now at this moment, Jim, Bianna, the International Testing Agency is investigating whether to issue a provisional suspension in this case, Jim, Bianna, which temporarily bans an athlete from competing until the outcome of the matter is determined.

GOLODRYGA: And the really unfortunate part here is that she's a remarkable figure skater, right? And so a lot of questions to be asked as to whether she even knew that she was given this banned substance, so, a lot more reporting to be done there.

But, Coy, there is some good news out of Beijing for Team USA, right? We added two more gold medals to the tally of the games, including U.S. Figure Skater Nathan Chen.

WIRE: Yes. We've been talking about when you're going to show up, Team USA? Well, Nathan Chen, he's been the most dominant figure skater on the planet the past several years, but he'd been in the collision course for this moment since the last Winter Olympics when he fell short of expectations. Team USA's three-time defending world champ landed five quads in this long program to win gold by more than 22 points.

His score was fueled, of course, by the new world record he set in the short program a few days ago. He's been on fire. We'll be sitting down with him one-on-one tomorrow to talk about this incredible journey. So, more to come.

Also, Team USA's Chloe Kim has done it again, becoming the first woman to ever win two golds in the snowboard halfpipe.

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How good is she, Jim and Bianna? After this, her first of three runs, she said it was her safety run because she had the worst practice of her life. She was felling all sorts of self-doubt. But even playing it safe, she still scores a 94. And the commentator said, well, that's enough for the win, defending his Olympic gold. Congrats to Chloe and Team USA after a slow start, snagging three gold medals today.

SCIUTTO: Yes. If that's an athlete playing it safe, man. And, by the way, I shortchange Nathan Chen in the last hour. I said four, as you said correctly, five quads. He landed five quads. That's remarkable.

Coy Wire, thank you so much.

WIRE: You got it.

GOLODRYGA: Well, the U.S. Navy announced that it has discharged 240 service members after they refuse to comply with the Pentagon's COVID- 19 vaccine mandate.

SCIUTTO: The Navy says that 217 were active duty, one was a reserve member. They have since been honorably discharged. 22 were still undergoing training. And within their first 180 days of active duty service, as of Wednesday, more than 8,000 members remain unvaccinated, however, very high percentage of the Navy service members did get vaccinated.

GOLODRYGA: Yes.

SCIUTTO: It was once the center of the COVID crisis in America, but today, New York is rolling back its indoor mask and vaccine requirements. It's a big change there.

GOLODRYGA: Yes, a huge change, and more states following suit. And with cases and hospitalizations declining, CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky says the agency is reviewing mitigation guidance.

Joining us now this morning for more on this is Dr. Michael Osterholm, Director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota. Welcome to the program.

We were really eager to get your thoughts on this because do you think the CDC is now being pressured? They initially said it wasn't time to review the guidance. Now, all of a sudden, they are after we're seeing more and more states loosening theirs and dropping mandates. Do you think now is the time? DR. MICHAEL OSTERHOLM, DIRECTOR, CENTER FOR INFECTIOUS RESEARCH AND POLICY AT UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA: Well, we are surely seeing a major decrease in cases. And while hospitalizations are lagging in that decrease just because they usually occur 7 to 14 days after the cases, I think that by the end of this month, we will see a major drop in cases that surely could argue for a drop in these kind of mandates.

But I think we have a more fundamental issue and that is that if you look at what we've been doing for respiratory protection, which I believe is very important, we call it a mask. That's like calling a vehicle something with tires all the same when it could be a 747 or a tricycle. When we want to mandate masks, we should be mandating high quality masks. And the vast majority of Americans are still wearing poor quality face cloth coverings, surgical masks which do little to protect.

So, I think we continue to argue about mandates when we ought to be talking about what really effectively protects people and the vast majority of what people are using is not protecting them.

SCIUTTO: Dr. Paul Offit told us earlier this week that the combination of vaccinations in this country, the population that has been vaccinated plus the population that's been exposed, has given the U.S. population about 90 percent immunity to this. And I wonder, do you agree with him, with that calculation, and if this means we are moving from the pandemic stage to the endemic stage, that is, a virus we can live with?

OSTERHOLM: Yes. Well, I guess I have to start out by, first of all, reminding Paul Offit said that a year ago today, we were at a very high level of immunity and that vaccines were flowing. So, I think you have to take his comment now and put that in perspective.

SCIUTTO: But not 90 percent. He didn't say 90 percent a year ago.

OSTERHOLM: Well, but, again, Jim, what we're talking about is protection now. And what we don't understand is what happens with the new variant, one that may evade immune protection. I mean, you're seeing how many breakthrough infections are occurring now even with previous infection with delta as well as the vaccination.

And so one of the challenges we have, and nobody can answer this question, this is where great humility must be front and center, is that what does it mean if a new variant emerges, one that could be like omicron but evade the protection that omicron and delta infections or vaccine gave us? We don't know that. We hope it will never happen, but hope is not a strategy. So, we've got to be prepared for what may be hopefully a quiet summer into the winter, but we also have to be prepared for a new variant that could arrive and take us back to where omicron took us originally.

GOLODRYGA: So, then what do you make of the argument by loosening some of the restrictions now and by dropping mandates, that the hope is that you're buying goodwill among the public so that if, in fact, there is another variant, they will once again start wearing their masks as opposed to be telling people to wear their masks in perpetuity or from months on end?

OSTERHOLM: You said it very well. We have two pandemics going on right now in this country. One is caused by COVID. And it surely is taking a heavy toll on us.

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The second one is the pandemic loss of trust in government, in public health and in some cases, the media. And in all cases, where we lose the trust of the people to try to get them to comply with recommendations to help save their life and the life of their loved ones becomes very challenging when they don't believe you.

And so I think it is important, as you stated, we have to basically take the recommendations we make and match them up with the seriousness of the circumstances at the time. And right now, the public is over with this pandemic. The virus may not be over but the public is over with it. We have to acknowledge that and respond accordingly.

SCIUTTO: Michael Osterholm, thanks so much for joining.

OSTERHOLM: Thank you.

SCIUTTO: Coming up next, it might be a cyberattack on Ukraine's energy grid or a movement of tanks along the border. New CNN reporting on what the U.S. is watching that could signal Russia's about to invade Ukraine.

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