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President Biden And President Zelensky Spoke About The Potential Invasion Of Russia; Right Wing Media Exaggerates Coverage Of Canadian Truckers; Don't Say Gay Bill In Florida Gains Support From Governor DeSantis; Interview With Rep. Charlie Crist (D-FL); Russian Figure Skater Tests Positive For Banned Substance; Historic Gold For The Americans In Speed Skating; Forty-Year High For Inflation In The U.S.; Hole-In-One In The Phoenix Open; Super Bowl Ticket Prices. Aired 5-6p ET

Aired February 13, 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]

JIM ACOSTA, CNN HOST: You are live in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Jim Acosta in Washington. Today, another shot at diplomacy trying to bring down the military aggression between Russia and its next door neighbor Ukraine. Today, President Biden on the phone for an hour with the leader of Ukraine, a country that could be invaded by Russia any day now.

According to U.S. officials, Russia already has Ukraine surrounded on three sides and a top Pentagon official says the drumbeat of war is growing louder.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN KIRBY, PENTAGON PRESS SECRETARY: We have good sources of intelligence and they're telling us that, you know, that things are sort of building now to some sort of crescendo opportunity for Mr. Putin.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: The U.S. continues to support Ukraine and search for a diplomatic exit ramp. Biden spoke by phone yesterday to Russia's President Vladimir Putin and the U.S. has deployed troops to the region to help Americans who want to leave.

The U.S. also sending military aid to Ukraine, 180 tons of ammunition arriving today, but in an interview with NBC, President Biden says there is one thing the U.S. will not do if a Russian invasion begins.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LESTER HOLT, NBC NEWS HOST: What scenarios would you put American troops to rescue and get Americans out?

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We're not. That's a world war, when Americans and Russia start shooting at one another, we're in a very different world than we've ever been in. (END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: In other words, if you're an American in Ukraine, get out now before it's too late, if you can. But inside Ukraine, the mood feels less dire. CNN's Alex Marquardt is on the ground in Ukraine. Alex, we're learning that Ukrainian President Zelensky invited President Biden to visit Ukraine. I'm guessing that invitation was not accepted. We should not be expecting that anytime soon.

ALEX MARQUARDT, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well, we haven't heard the official rejection just yet, Jim, but it is extremely unlikely we're told by U.S. officials. It was a pretty extraordinary request by President Zelensky in his hour-long phone call with President Biden that he come to Kyiv at this moment, at this crescendo as the Pentagon called it, of an opportunity for President Putin to invade.

You know, this could come any day now if you believe U.S. intelligence. And so, President Zelensky asking President Biden to come here to help with the de-escalation. I want to read you part of this official request by President Zelensky. He writes or he says, "I am convinced that your arrival in Kyiv in the coming days, which are crucial for stabilizing the situation will be a powerful signal and contribute to de-escalation."

So I think it's safe to assume, Jim, that that is not going to happen, but we are hearing other things from this phone call that President Zelensky made requests to President Biden, this is according to a senior official who spoke with our colleague Matthew Chance, both financial aid request and more military aid.

As you noted, tons, literally tons of military aid has come into Ukraine over the course of the past few days and weeks. But Ukrainian officials want more and they want more sophisticated weaponry. They want anti-aircraft weaponry to fend off Russian aircraft, helicopters and planes. But -- so this -- this kind of highlights the two paths that President Zelensky is on.

On the one hand, you know, he is saying, yes, the situation is serious enough that we need more military aid, but at the same time, he's telling his population that the situation is not serious enough to justify chaos or panic.

I mean, just as recently as yesterday, Jim, we heard President Zelensky talking about this new U.S. intelligence that shows that Russia could invade in the coming days and he really did downplay it. He said that he needs to analyze this information and that he has other information.

So, as President Zelensky makes these -- asks for many millions of dollars more of financial and military aid, at the same time, he is still trying to tell his population that this is -- things are not critical. Don't panic. Don't, you know, there's no reason for chaos. And, Jim, that seems to be working. We are seeing in the streets that things for now seem to be still very calm. Jim? ACOSTA: It is remarkable. I mean, with all of those forces building up

on Ukraine's borders, contrasting that with a sense of calm that you're talking about. Let's hope that Zelensky is right and it doesn't come to war. Alex Marquardt, thank you very much.

Let's bring in CNN military analyst, retired Lieutenant General Mark Hertling and CNN global affairs analyst Susan Glasser. General Hertling, let me start with you. President Zelensky of Ukraine asking President Biden for more military support makes sense, but asking the president to make an official visit to Ukraine does not make any sense at all. Does not seem likely at all.

MARK HERTLING, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: No.

ACOSTA: Why even put that out there?

[17:04:56]

HERTLING: Well, he's just putting it out there, Jim. But as Alex just said, that certainly wouldn't contribute to de-escalating the situation. I mean, it's -- I'm sure it's Zelensky, again, trying to get additional support from the United States, if the president were to show up. It would certainly shore him up with his population. But it certainly would not contribute to what the president's primary goal is, and that's de-escalating Russia from any kind of attack in the near future.

ACOSTA: And Susan, the White House readout of this call today between Biden and Zelensky, it's another example of how the president's been pretty consistent in terms of his rhetoric on the situation. He is standing firm in terms of what he is saying to Vladimir Putin. What is your sense of the White House approach and whether this is going to work? Or is there -- you know, as part of that just sort of a realistic resignation that Putin is sort of driving events here?

SUSAN GLASSER, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: Well, I think you're right to say that. I mean, the bottom line is I think they have been clear communicating from the Biden White House that they understand it's a decision that it ultimately rests with Vladimir Putin. That he's serious. They have made it abundantly clear it seems to me in the last few days that de-escalation is not a path that we're pursuing right now.

You don't have, the Pentagon spokesman using words like crescendo idly in a world where misunderstandings can occur and, you know, we're talking about the very real prospect of war. So, I mean, I think this messaging has been very clear from the Biden White House.

Remember, too, though, that you can't talk about deterrence when President Biden has ruled out on the front end any use of American force on the ground there. Everyone understands that the Ukrainian military is no match for the Russian military. That if Putin is determined to come over the line he can do so.

And, you know, then we're going to be in a completely different, not only European security situation, but international one as well. I think that's the point that is so important here. Putin has already essentially destabilized and blown up the European security order that existed. We don't know what will come after this, but it's not going to be a return to the status quo beforehand.

ACOSTA: And General Hertling, Biden's national security adviser Jake Sullivan, explained why the administration has been so quick to publicize details about Russia's plans. Here's what he was saying earlier today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAKE SULLIVAN, NATIONAL SECUROTY ADVISER: We're not putting forward this intelligence to start a war, which has happened in the past, Jake. We are putting forward this intelligence to stop a war. And I think that fundamentally gives it at the outset a different level of credibility.

We're not going to give Russia the opportunity to conduct a surprise here. To spring something on Ukraine or the world. We are going to make sure that we are laying out for the world what we see as transparently and plainly as we possibly can and share that information as widely as we can. That's what we've done.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: General Hertling, what do you make of that approach? And I wonder what you think of the idea that Putin was really trying to test the west with this buildup and test NATO to see, you know, would there be this unified front after what we saw during the previous administration where Donald Trump in a very determined way, you know, tried to do some damage to NATO. What do you think?

HERTLING: Yes. For your first question, Jim, yes. They were absolutely trying to do this. This has been Putin's strategy since about 2008. They have continued to attempt to divide the United States from NATO and to disrupt NATO within itself. So, yes, both of these things they thought -- Mr. Putin thought the United States coming out of Afghanistan, being divided as we are as a country right now between Republicans and Democrats.

He saw an opening against the United States and at the same time, he saw a divided NATO. What with Brexit, with some of the changes within the German government, the French government. So all of these things were contributors towards it. Now, to your other question about what Jake Sullivan said early this morning.

I have repeatedly said on various CNN shows that there are four elements of national power; information, economy, the military, which should always come out last, and diplomacy. We have been working hard on the diplomacy piece for the last several months with multiple elements engaged. Not just the United States but all of NATO.

The information piece is something, Jim, and I served over 12 years in Europe. This is the first time I've seen the United States use information against Russia. Using the things that they are doing and publicizing them. Because most of the things they do are very nefarious across the board.

And for the first time in my lifetime as a soldier, I've seen the U.S. government say, hey, this is what they're doing and it's all wrong. The false flag operations. The potential for replacing government officials.

[17:10:01]

And then the economic piece. I think it's -- the threats that Mr. Biden and NATAO have made as a united front against the economy of Russia and especially Mr. Putin and his oligarchs has been very different in a way we've approached this before.

The military is last on the table for all these things and I think the reinforcement of NATO by U.S. forces, which we've been doing and the delivery of weapon systems to Ukraine has been very critical and I think it's all-important and is part of the overall campaign strategy of the Biden administration.

ACOSTA: And Susan, your sense as to why the Ukrainians have been downplaying this prospect of an attack. Does it make sense to you? Is it just to keep things calm?

GLASSER: Well, look, obviously President Zelensky is very concerned about anything that destabilizes his government and that is one of the goals of this Putin buildup. Remember, I assume that, you know, Vladimir Putin and certainly President Zelensky has to assume that President Putin would prefer simply to topple and to get a more favorable Ukrainian government because it's not just about the United States.

Vladimir Putin is, I think it's fair to say, obsessed with Ukraine. He has written and said repeatedly over his two decades in power, he does not even believe in the legitimacy really of Ukraine as an independent state, notwithstanding Russia's legal obligation and agreement to its international borders.

And Putin has freaked out repeatedly, twice there have been revolutions inside Ukraine that have shaken the Russian government to the core. Both because they worry what it says about the longstandingness of Putin's own government inside Russia, but also because they feel that they don't want to have a pro-western government in Ukraine.

So, it's about Ukraine as well. And anything that destabilizes Zelensky's government is to Putin's advantage right now. So that's one possibility. There's also, I think it's very clear, some sort of difference of understanding again and again between the United States and between Washington and Kyiv about how to -- what to make of this 130,000-troop buildup on their borders.

ACOSTA: No question about it. All right, Lieutenant General Mark Hertling, Susan Glasser, thanks to both of you. Appreciate it.

Vaccine mandate protests in Canada blocked streets and even shut down border crossings with the U.S. It's been a big mess. So why are some Republicans and right-wing talking heads encouraging it? I'll put that question to John Avlon and Margaret Hoover. Our Hoovalon segment coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:15:00]

ACOSTA: For days now, there have been headaches at the U.S.-Canadian border as truckers and crowds of people stage protests against COVID- 19 mandates. Canadian leaders have been begging for it to stop. And yet despite the chaos, Republican Senator Rand Paul says he would love to see those trucker convoys roll right into the U.S.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. RAND PAUL (R-KY): I'm all for it, civil disobedience. Civil disobedience is a time-honored tradition in our country from slavery to civil rights to you name it. Peaceful protests. Clog things up. Make people think about the mandates. I hope the truckers do come to America. I hope they clog up cities.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: Rand Paul is hardly the only voice on the right gushing over the protesters. Let's take a listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. TED CRUZ (R-TX): The Canadian truckers are heroes. They are patriots and they are marching for your freedom and for my freedom.

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We want those great Canadian truckers to know that we are with them all the way.

SEAN HANNITY, FOX NEWS HOST: The tide is officially turning. The freedom movement is growing. Farmers are now joining. This is an amazing scene unfolding, with truckers in Canada and the U.S. demanding to end every and all mandates.

TUCKER CARLSON, FOX NEWS HOST: The question is how long before protests like this come here?

LAURA INGRAHAM, FOX NEWS HOST: Do we need our own trucker rally to end all of this insanity once and for all?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: And joining us now, CNN political commentator and host of PBS "Firing Line" Margaret Hoover and CNN Senior political analyst John Avlon. He's the author of the forthcoming book "Lincoln and the Fight for Peace" which is out this week. Congrats John on that. It looks terrific.

And Margaret, obviously everything you do is wonderful as well.

MARGARET HOOVER, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: That is (inaudible). ACOSTA: no, no. And I can't wait to see it and read it, John. Really looking forward to it. You know, Margaret, what's glossed over in all of these fawning coverage is that these protests are straining the supply chain and you may want to weigh in on this or give us your take, but I mean, this has cost auto workers in Michigan millions in lost wages apparently and I thought the guys at Fox were for law and order at the border. That was my thought on this, but perhaps it depends on which border you're talking about?

HOOVER: Yes and the auto -- you're exactly right. The auto industry trades $140 million with auto parts and machinery and mechanics back and forth across the border every day. All of that is being stunted and stalled as trade is stopped. And by the way, like, you know, those are jobs, those are working-class jobs.

That's -- those are losses to businesses that are providing jobs in those states and those sort of rust belt areas that supports Donald Trump and supports the more nationalist populace policies. So there is a cognitive dissidence there, which I think you're right to point out.

But it's not also -- this is, you know, we're all for peaceful protest, we're all for civil protest, sieve's protests. But when you're disrupting trade, you're hurting the economy, you're hurting the country. So, you know, careful.

JOHN AVLON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Total hypocrisy.

ACOSTA: What do you think, John?

AVLON: It's total hypocrisy. I mean, look, you know, I won't get into the history of libertarians and the civil rights movement, but I will say is that if Rand Paul was consistent, if we could just get some consistency, that'd be great, folks. Because I don't recall many conservatives praising BLM when they shut down highways and byways and bridges.

[17:19:59]

This is just a trolley impulse to own the libs. And for all the outrage they're conjuring about some rebellion against mandates, doesn't seem to apply to their own parent company. And I don't hear any of those folks expressing outrage or concern about thousands of Americans today who are still dying of COVID. We're past 915,000 Americans who've died of COVID and we're getting numb to it and they don't seem to care at all.

ACOSTA: Yes. Why hasn't Hannity strapped himself to the front of, you know, Fox headquarters in midtown over these mandates that they have at Fox at requiring people to get the vaccine there, you know.

AVLON: Yes.

ACOSTA: Speaking of Canada. Trucker Carlson is helping resurrect this old bonkers conspiracy theory about Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, which is truly bonkers. Let's watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CARLSON: This afternoon the prime minister of Canada who clearly is Fidel Castro's illegitimate son, came out from hiding to threaten the protesters directly.

People have talked for quite some time now that Justin Trudeau, the prime minister of Canada to our north is actually the son of a famous dictator, and frankly it appears to be true. Is that famous dictator, A. Colonel Muammar Gaddafi of Libya, B, Fidel Castro of Cuba or C, Chairman Mao of China? Did Margaret Trudeau bear the love child of Fidel Castro and does he now run Canada? And of course the answer is, for sure.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: I don't know what is happening. It is -- this is theater of the absurd or something. I don't know. John, what are your thoughts? Margaret?

AVLON: It's exactly what it is. I mean, look, you know, this is -- trolling has been, is basically option A for a lot of the conservative (inaudible) because it gives you the ability also to say, hey, can't you take a joke? But even if I say it with a straight face, can't you take a joke? I'm just saying that, you know, the prime minister of Canada is the illegitimate son of Fidel Castro, which is crazy and apparently has constituency out there.

HOOVER: There's also a constituency for every conspiracy theory we've learned, Jim.

ACOSTA: Right.

HOOVER: So, maybe not new. I was just delighted to learn of a new one. Hadn't heard this one before. But apparently it's been around the block before. They just, you know, picked up an oldie and dusted it off. Of course, it's not true. It's eminently disprovable for many reasons but, you know, Margaret Trudeau didn't meet Fidel Castro. Although they did meet until four years after Justin Trudeau was born.

AVLON: Details, details, Jim.

HOOVER: But it's, you know, it's clear that Tucker does this to get attention. He gets attention, he gets clicks. He's driving traffic to his site. He doesn't care if it's outrageous. He doesn't care if it's us trying to debunk a false conspiracy theory that is now out there again. He's just doing it for his own opportunistic, frankly, you know, capitalistic, money-making reasons because he doesn't care. All attention to him is good attention. It's the lesson he learned from Trumpism.

ACOSTA: Yes. I just don't -- I don't know what's gotten into him. It's very, very strange. But let's move on to the next thing because I think you're right, Margaret. Let's not give it too much air time. We have some brand new CNN polling that shows -- and this is interesting. Voters are apparently looking for alternatives to both Biden and Trump in 2024. This is according to our latest CNN poll. It shows only 45 percent of

Democrats want Biden to be the nominee in 2024, 51 percent would prefer a different candidate on the Republican side. It's almost evenly split.

I suppose, you know, some of this might have something to do with inflation and these economic issues that have been plaguing Biden, although, you know, Biden supporters will say look at the way that the job picture has been doing, gang busters. I would say that the -- many of the -- it's more disturbing that 50 percent of Republicans want Donald Trump to be the nominee. I still -- I can't wrap my head around that.

AVLON: Yes, but that's baked in the cake. I think the news is that it's evenly split. I mean, that shows that to some extent the fever is breaking on the right. And on the Democratic side, I'm not surprised. And look, I don't think it has to do with economic numbers. I think it simply has to do with the fact that people don't want a rematch of 2020.

They like fresh blood and fresh faces, and maybe that means that we don't, you know, have this knock (inaudible) drag out fight about, you know, septuagenarians. Biden's economic record is very good with the exception of inflation and I think the key for 2020 was he was a good and decent man running against a pathological liar, but we don't need to run that race every time.

ACOSTA: And Margaret, I have to ask you about this. There seems to be this weird fantasy over on Fox, speaking of weird fantasies that Hillary Clinton is going to be the Democratic nominee in 2024. We're showing you the chyrons of just some of their coverage on Friday. They just can't quit her.

HOOVER: Slow news day. You know, have a perennial, you have --

ACOSTA: Or slow news network for that matter, I guess.

HOOVER: Look, but you -- I mean, Hillary Clinton, if we're honest, has been the villain of the conservative media since the 1990s.

[17:25:00]

Since she was not even first lady of the United States, but the candidate or the wife of Governor Bill Clinton when he was running for president. I mean, that is -- she is, you know, victim number one in the context of, you know, or enemy number one as a woman who was a feminist, that bad word "feminism" and she represented all the things that, you know, traditional conservative America didn't represent. And then that, you know, the criticisms of her, of course, evolved over the last 30-35 years.

AVLON: Yes.

HOOVER: But the fact is that she remains public enemy --

ACOSTA: Did we get a freeze there? They froze. All right. Margaret was on a roll there, but did we get them back? We think it's -- all right. We'll let them watch the Super Bowl. Okay, very good. We'll go to a quick break. First, that we have some important coverage coming up of what's been happening down in Florida. We want to talk about this in just a few moments.

Critics are slamming it as the "Don't Say Gay Bill." Will Florida really ban the discussion of sexual orientation and gender identity in schools? We're going to talk about that next. You are live in the "CNN Newsroom."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:30:00]

ACOSTA: Much of the nation is watching Florida's controversial bill as it takes another step forward. Critics say it does -- that the "Don't Say Gay Bill" and there's good reason for that. It bans certain discussions of sexual orientation and gender identity from classrooms across the state. This week, Florida's Republican governor, Ron DeSantis signaled his support for it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RON DESANTIS, GOVERNOR OF FLORIDA: We're seen instances of students being told by different folks in school, oh, you know, don't worry. Don't pick your gender yet. Do all this other stuff. They won't tell the parents about these discussions that are happening. That is entirely inappropriate. Schools need to be teaching kids to read, to write. They need to teach them science, history.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: Congressman Charlie Crist, the Democrat who is running to become Florida's next governor, a job he's held before, joins me now. Congressman, thanks so much for being with us. We appreciate it. This bill cleared the Florida Senate Education Committee this past week and still has hurdles ahead, but I wanted to ger your thoughts of what you just heard from Governor DeSantis.

He was saying that while schools should be busy teaching, you know, kids how to read and write and so on and of course, yes, part of that is true, but we also have such a terrible problem in this country where, you know, kids who are gay are bullied and, you know, schools have to be able to deal with that sort of thing.

REP. CHARLIE CRIST (D-FL): You're absolutely right, Jim. I think it's pretty unconscionable that our governor would be advocating censorship about something that is happening all over the world. There are gay people. In fact, last night, I was at an LGBTQ caucus gala and, you know, I just think it's important for us to understand that we're all children of God and be accepting and be embracing and not be discriminating.

And so I really don't understand where the governor's coming off with this. I don't understand where the legislature is on this. You know, trying to, you know, say that certain people don't exist or we're not going to talk about it is just a head in the sand approach and it's pretty disappointing that the governor of Florida, the current one, really takes that kind of view.

I think we need to be honest about facts, honest about history, honest about our society. And to take a different view is censorship, in my view. It's wrong-headed and it really is, you know, putting your head in the sand and -- plus it can be very disappointing and harmful in a physical way.

I mean, unfortunately, a lot of the younger folks who realize they're gay status get bullied at school and some end up committing suicide. So, I think this is just a horrible step in the wrong direction. I hope the bill doesn't pass. I would hope that the governor would veto it. Obviously, he's signaled he's going to sign it if it does pass. Just another case and that we need the leadership in Florida.

ACOSTA: And this is the exact wording of the bill. "A school district may not encourage classroom discussion about sexual orientation or gender identity in primary grade levels or in a manner that is not age-appropriate or developmentally appropriate for students." That is pretty ambiguous.

CRIST: Yes. Well, who's the judge of all that garblely gook (ph) you just read out of the bill? I mean, it is ambiguous. You're giving a more appropriate word for it, but it's just -- it's a joke. I mean, it's awful and it can be hurtful, as I said, and that's why it's not appropriate for Florida or any other state in our country or anywhere in the world, frankly. We are all children of God. And whether people are gay or straight or black or white or short or tall, we should all admit facts and teach history appropriately.

ACOSTA: And I want to switch gears to something else that's been happening in Florida down in Miami. Earlier this week, our Randi Kaye did a story on Miami voters who say their registration was changed from Democrat to Republican by someone who came to their housing development. It's a home to elderly, low-income residents who don't speak fluent English in some cases and this is what they told Randi.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RANDI KAYE, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: You were a lifelong Democrat?

UNKNOWN: From 1978.

KAYE: And now all of a sudden you're a Republican?

UNKNOWN: Now, I'm a Republican.

KAYE: And you don't want to be a Republican.

UNKNOWN: I don't want to be, no.

[17:35:01]

UNKNOWN: I ask to her, are you Republican? And she told me, yes.

KAYE: This is the old card.

UNKNOWN: That's the old card.

KAYE: And it says right here, Democratic Party.

UNKNOWN: Yes.

KAYE: And the new card says Republican Party of Florida. And that's not what you want?

UNKNOWN: No. I want to be Democrat.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: Congressman, your thoughts on that? I know local media down in south Florida, they've been focusing on this scam attempt as well. What's going on?

CRIST: Well, it sounds like what's going on is people's parties are being changed against their will and that's illegal. That's wrong. It's inappropriate. It's outrageous. You know, we hear from Republicans talking all the time about how they want to change the law to diminish fraud in the elections, which is a worthwhile goal.

But in this case, it sounds like that people are being switched from the Democratic Party to the Republican Party against their will, without their knowledge. And I'm encouraged to hear that the local state attorney has said that her office will look into this and see what's happening. And what it would do, you know, we have closed primaries in Florida, Jim.

And so, if people are registered in a party they don't want to be registered in, they're not going to be able to vote if they want to be a Democrat in a Democratic primary or if they're Republican in a Republican primary. And that's just wrong.

And meddling with that electoral process, you know, that would make my former colleague, God rest his soul, John Lewis, you know, flip in his grave. I mean, the vote is sacred. The vote is precious. And without having good integrity in our voting system, then we can't rely on it and can't have confidence in it. And that's just wrong for the people of Florida.

ACOSTA: You know, and I want to ask you about some of DeSantis' is doing from, I guess from a fundraising standpoint. He's got these "Don't Fauci My Florida" trinkets that he's been selling, beer koozies and flip-flops and that sort of thing. His official campaign website, I guess, want's to turn mockery into money, peddling these Fauci flip- flops. For $39 you can imprint Florida beaches with "Fauci can pound sand."

What do you make of all of this, this continued demonization of Dr. Anthony Fauci who is a widely respected, you know, medical expert who has been helping lead this country through this pandemic, and as a result of a lot of these attacks from the far right gets, a lot of death threats. What are your thoughts on this? CRIST: Well, I saw Dr. Fauci testify about the death threats and it's

disturbing as hell. And, you know, the notion that a man who has dedicated his life under several administrations throughout Republican and Democrat to simply trying to save lives and have better health care for the citizens of our country is appalling.

And you know, for the governor's campaign to have these sandals that say, you know, "Dr. Fauci, pound sand," that's grossly inappropriate. It is highly disrespectful. You know, I mean, how do you talk to your children about having stuff like that, that you're putting out in your political campaign?

That's not appropriate leadership. It's not appropriate parenting. It's a horrible example. Florida deserves better than what we're getting, Jim, and I hope we make a change this November.

ACOSTA: All right. Of course, if Governor DeSantis wants to come on we'll have him on. We can even have him debate you, Governor Crist, Congressman Crist. Thanks so much for being with us. We appreciate it. Good talking to you.

CRIST: Always great to be with you, Jim. Thank you, sir.

ACOSTA: All right. Appreciate it. Coming up, we're waiting a verdict on the 15-year-old skater from Russia at the center of an Olympic doping scandal.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:40:00]

ACOSTA: This just in to CNN. The San Francisco 49ers say they are the target of a network security incident that's disrupting some of their computer systems. A ransomware gang is claiming responsibility. The team says the incident did not affect computer systems involved in its stadium operations or assistance related to ticketholders. It says the incident appears to be limited to its corporate I.T. network and that it has notified law enforcement officials.

At the winter games in Beijing, a ruling is expected in hours on whether a breakout Russian figure skating star can compete. This has been in the news, a lot of people talking about this. The 15-year-old skater's Olympic future is in limbo right now after she tested positive for a banned drug.

Today, the court of arbitration for the sport held a hearing to determine if she can take part in today's or in Tuesday's, I should say, women's singles event where she is favored for the gold. CNN's David Culver joins me now from Beijing.

David, just a remarkable story. I know it's making headlines over there where you are, but a lot of people around the United States are talking about this. And we've also just learned the world anti-doping agency will investigate the skater's entourage. What more do we know?

DAVID CULVER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, there, Jim. Yes, there's a lot of moving parts to this and we've pointed out here that the court of arbitration for sport, the CAS, they've wrapped up now their hearing. This is the big part of the question of whether or not this is going to move forward into her actually competing.

And that testimony of hers, the young star, was included in that hearing. So this young star athlete, she's at the center of all of this. She's 15 year-old Kamila Valieva.

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You just need to think of this as a legal case, really, because it is a bit confusing. On one side, you have several international sports related bodies including the IOC. They want to reinstate Valieva's suspension. Then on the other you have the Russian anti-doping agency which lifted the suspension so that Valieva can still compete.

By the way, her performance in last Monday's team figure skating event was unreal. She crushed it. She made history. And Russian athletes took gold. But before the medals were awarded to Tuesday, talk of that failed drug test began to emerge. And later officials confirmed that the minor tested positive for trimetazidine which helps increase performance.

Valieva was then provisionally suspended by the Russian anti-doping agency, but she appealed. And then that same Russian agency lifted her suspension. So right now she is still technically allowed to compete in her next figure skating event which, Jim, you pointed out, is scheduled for Tuesday.

That is unless the IOC and several other international bodies win their case here, in which Valieva's suspension would be reinstated. Now, the court's decision should come in the next few hours, probably overnight your time, Jim. A bit later in the day here in Beijing. But it's likely to lead to more appeals.

And the one question we still don't yet know the answer to is will the Russian figure skaters get stripped of their gold medal? That would then elevate the silver medalists to gold. That's team USA. So Jim, perhaps that's where geopolitics will overtake this whole thing.

ACOSTA: Yes, a lot on the line. And David, history was also made in the women's speed skating event where the American Erin Jackson. Tell us what happened?

CULVER: Yes, this is great. The 29-year-old becoming the first American woman to win a speed skating gold at the Olympics in nearly three decades. Erin Jackson, also now the first black woman to win an individual medal in speed skating. It's really inspiring considering Jackson almost missed competing in the 500 meter after she had slipped during qualifying trials.

And get this. Her teammate and her friend Brittany Bowe gave up her own spot to ensure that Jackson could come here to Beijing and boy, did it payoff. Jackson had a tearful reaction hugging Bowe after her win telling reporters here in Beijing, Jim, that she still hasn't processed it all. But that brings Team USA to six overall gold medals. They're sitting at third right now in the medal count behind number one and two Norway and Germany, Jim?

ACOSTA: All right. We're rising fast. Go, Team USA. David Culver, thanks very much. Appreciate it.

CULVER: Yes.

ACOSTA: And now here's CNN's Christine Romans with your "Before the Bell" report. Hi, Christine.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Jim. Inflation accelerating to near a 40-year high. Consumer prices rose 7.5 percent in January from a year ago. That's the steepest annual increase since February 1982. It's worse than economists forecast. So are higher prices weighing on Americans willingness to spend? That's the key question and this week, we get some insight there.

January retail sales are due Wednesday. Remember they fell. Retail sales fell in December, the first drop after four straight months of increases. Thursday brings quarterly results from Walmart. The world's largest retailer has benefitted from huge pandemic demand for goods, but higher labor cost and supply chain bottlenecks are challenges for the company.

That's partly why Walmart stock price has slipped over the past three months. Expect more inflation headlines this week, too. The January producer price index is out in Tuesday. That measures inflation at the whole sale level, the factory level before it gets passed on to you. In New York, I'm Christine Romans.

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ACOSTA: In Arizona, pro-golfer Sam Ryder sealed his place in the history books. It's a shot you have to see to believe. This is at the Phoenix Open on the par 3, 16th hole. A hole in one. That's right, a hole in one that can only be described as incredible, stunning. Look at that.

It's amazing. It's Ryder's first hole in one in PGA -- in a PGA tour sanctioned event. And how did the fans react to that phenomenal hit? Well, with a beer shower, of course. Look at this. I don't know if all of that is beer, but I think a lot is definitely beer.

The celebration caused a delay of about 15 minutes, but it's worth it when somebody hits a shot like that. Ryder soaked it all in quoting "Gladiator" and tweeting "Are you not entertained? All the drinks are on me." That's the way to celebrate. No question about it. Sam Ryder says he's going to give the ball to his parents who were at the tournament.

And what they say about lightning never striking twice turns out to not be the case in professional golf, as look at this, Carlos Ortiz did the exact same thing earlier today at the very same 16th hole. And, yes, you guessed it, there was another beer shower. And about 100 million people will watch the Super Bowl. Is that coming

up in a few minutes? Is that right? I think it might be. But for some, it's not about the game. It's about the commercials. This year advertisers are selling out $7 million for a 30-second spot during the Super Bowl. That's $233,333 per second, a read that correctly. A record high price for that kind of advertising.

Super Bowl ticket prices, by the way, have dropped over the past few weeks, but they are certainly not cheap. We checked ticket resale sites, SeatGeek and StubHub today. If you want to sit on the 50-yard line, first of all, you're too late, but if you wanted to sit on the 50-yard line, that would run you about $11,000.

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How about a seat in the end zone or near the end zone? That average price is about $5,000. And the nose bleed seats, that's where you'll find me, furthest from the field. Be ready to pay about $3,000 for that ticket.

And, of course, millions of people will watch the Super Bowl on television, but not all of them will be watching the game. Only 35 percent of adults polled say their favorite part of the game is the actual game, 25 percent say it's the commercials, 18 percent say it's the halftime show.

Of course, I don't know how it's not the halftime show with Snoop Dogg coming up tonight or is it Snoop Lion? Anyway, that's the news. Reporting from Washington, I'm Jim Acosta. Have a good night. See you next time.

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