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Ukraine Skeptical of Russia's Troop Withdrawal; Biden Administration Response if Russia Invades Ukraine; U.S. Embassy Opens Welcome Center Near Poland's Border; James "Spider" Marks and David Gergen are Interviewed about Russia and Ukraine; Trump's Accounting Firm Cuts Ties with Him; Nuclear Engineer Pleads Guilty to Selling Secrets. Aired 9-9:30a ET

Aired February 15, 2022 - 09:00   ET

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

[09:00:33]

BIANNA GOLODRYGA, CNN ANCHOR: Conflicting signals this morning. Russia announces it's pulling back some troops from around Ukraine in what could be a sign of de-escalation. However, at the same time, satellite images show at least 60 helicopters have landed in the past few days at a previously unused air base in Russian-occupied Crimea.

And Ukrainian officials, well, they're responding with some skepticism.

Good morning, everybody. I'm Bianna Golodryga in New York.

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Jim Sciutto, reporting live from Kyiv, Ukraine.

We are expecting to hear minutes from now from Vladimir Putin and the German Chancellor Olaf Scholz at a joint news conference following their meeting in Moscow. Putin says he's still willing to negotiate. But it comes as the Pentagon warns that Russia has, in fact, increased its military capability near the Ukrainian border over just the last 24 to 48 hours, could invade with little to no warning. I'm told this morning that some Russian combat units have now moved into combat positions and that the U.S. is on alert today for a possible Russian false flag event.

This morning, the Ukrainian foreign minister says of Russia's claimed partial withdrawal, we will believe it when we see it.

We are covering all of the latest developments, the way only CNN can.

We begin, though, here in Kyiv this morning with CNN senior international correspondent Matthew Chance, here with me now. Yes, a dose of skepticism from the Ukrainian foreign minister this

morning in response to Russia's announcement of a withdraw. You've been covering this story for some time. Does this look like a significant move?

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, I mean it's a -- hopefully it's a significant move. You know, for the first time in a long time, we've heard the Russians say that some of these tens of thousands of troops that have been deployed close to the Ukrainian border in the past several months are being rotated out, withdrawn and sent back to their home bases.

Now, we haven't gotten any figures on that.

SCIUTTO: Right.

CHANCE: And we haven't had any visual -- as far as I'm aware -- any visual kind of corroboration of that. And that's why the Ukrainian foreign minister is coming out and saying, look, we've heard this too. We don't believe things when we hear them. We only believe things when we actually see them.

But I will say -- I will say this. First of all, we've had some, you know, very positive signals coming out of Moscow in the course of the past 24 hours that they're willing to negotiate, that diplomacy has not run its path. And so that does indicate a decision has not been taken by the Kremlin to go in.

And, secondly, we had a buildup of Russian forces last year back in April. And what happened at the end of that sort of semi-crisis? Well, the Russians announced the return of thousands of its troops back to their home bases then and the situation calmed somewhat for some months. So it may be a repeat of that.

SCIUTTO: True, until it then ramped up again a number of months later.

CHANCE: That's right.

SCIUTTO: There's another development, which is interesting, and that is the Russian state duma, parliament in effect, discussing recognizing some of these eastern, largely Russian controlled regions. I mean I ask about that in part to wonder, is this the kind of step Putin could take and claim a partial victory?

CHANCE: I think it might be. And I think we have to keep a very close eye on the progress of that bill to recognize those Ukrainian rebel- controlled regions in the east of the country. You know, we're still a long way from it yet, but the Kremlin may be generating some kind of option for itself if it -- if it decides not to invade. Say, what we're going to do instead, for the sake of Russian security, is recognize the independence of these currently rebel-controlled regions of Ukraine.

SCIUTTO: Yes. Which we should say, Ukraine does not recognize them as independent.

CHANCE: Yes.

SCIUTTO: They say they are inside its sovereign territory, as was Crimea when it was taken some eight years ago.

Matthew Chance, thanks so much.

So, as you hear there, as so often with the story, Bianna, you have what is said and you have what is done. And the question is, which of those is true. I know that from the U.S. perspective, the Ukrainian perspective, they're waiting to see what is actually done.

GOLODRYGA: Right. And from the Ukrainian perspective, this has been going on for eight years now, right, ever since Russia annexed Crimea illegally in 2014.

Let's get the U.S. side here and go straight to CNN's Jeremy Diamond on new reporting that the White House conducted tabletop exercises to game out how the U.S. would respond if Russia, in fact, reinvades Ukraine.

Essentially, Jeremy, helping them take preemptive action such as exposing Russian information warfare that we've seen over the course of the past few weeks. What exactly are we learning today?

[09:05:00]

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Bianna, these efforts began back in the fall after the United States noticed that Russia was making these troop movements near eastern Ukraine, deploying many of its forces there, forces that have now mounted to over 130,000. And so they conducted what are called tabletop exercises to game out potential scenarios for everything from a full-scale Russian invasion, to a more limited series of Russian military actions. These tabletop exercises were coordinated by Alex Bick, the director for strategic planning at the National Security Council, and it involved officials from a range of agencies, everything from the Pentagon, the State Department, to the Department of Homeland Security, as well as aid organizations, like USAID, to prepare for potential humanitarian assistance scenarios as well.

Jon Finer, the deputy national security adviser, he says now in a statement to our Kaitlan Collins that while what the Russians may end up doing is not likely to be 100 percent a facsimile of what these scenarios are, that the U.S. is preparing for, it's all about reducing the amount of time needed to respond effectively. That's what these tabletop exercises, two of which were conducted back in December, are designed to do to help the U.S. respond more quickly should a Russian invasion move forward.

Bianna.

GOLODRYGA: A new strategy perhaps even surprising Russians as well.

Jeremy Diamond, thank you.

Well, right now, the U.S. is preparing to receive Americans who are currently evacuating Ukraine. The U.S. embassy in Ukraine opened a welcome center near the Poland/Ukraine border. The State Department is telling all U.S. citizens in Ukraine and neighboring Belarus to get out right now.

CNN's Kylie Atwood has more from the State Department.

Kylie, what more are you learning?

KYLIE ATWOOD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, they've opened a -- this center along the Ukrainian/Poland border for all these Americans that they are encouraging to leave the country. And, as you know, the State Department has been telling Americans in the country to leave for quite some time now, dating back to late last year. But their calls for Americans to depart have become much more urgent in the last few weeks, and particularly in the last few days, just over the weekend, say it is past time for Americans to leave.

And, of course, the reason for that is because they are concerned about the worst case scenario, that there could be a Russian invasion, that it could include aerial bombings that would then potentially kill Americans who choose to stay behind.

So, they've got this welcome center now set up to help Americans who are leaving the country. And, of course, this comes as the Biden administration is also now telling Americans in Belarus that they should leave the country immediately because of this concerning Russian military activity.

And the State Department is also putting its best foot forward when it comes to continuing U.S. support for Ukraine. Secretary of State Antony Blinken announcing that the United States is offering a sovereign loan guarantee of up to $1 billion to Ukraine. Of course to help it as it -- they are concerned about their economy facing problems as these threats of the Russian invasion continue.

GOLODRYGA: No doubt the economy has taken a massive hit over the past few months.

Kylie Atwood, thank you.

SCIUTTO: Yes. And, of course, there was the closing here in Kyiv of the U.S. embassy just in the last 24 hours.

Joining us now to discuss all these developments, David Gergen, former presidential adviser to Nixon, Ford, Reagan and Clinton, and retired Major General James "Spider" Marks. He's now head of geopolitical strategy for Academy Securities.

Good to have you both on.

General Marks, I wonder if I could begin with you. You've been a Russia watcher for some time. We have seen Russia play this game before, ratchet up the forces, ratchet them down, perhaps only to see them ratcheted up again.

What would we have to see for this to be a genuine de-escalation, a genuine withdraw or partial withdraw of the forces it now has arranged around Ukraine?

MAJ. GEN. JAMES "SPIDER" MARKS (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Thanks, Jim. Great question. What would have to happen clearly is, it's got to be very overt. Our intelligence capabilities must be able to detect and assess what that movement looks like. In other words, what we're hearing from Russians is wonderful. We should be optimistic that, in fact, they're going to try to move some forces back. But we have to be able to take this thing in totality and see what capabilities they are removing.

Bear in mind, the Russians truly learned how to fight as Soviets, right? So, this is all about rockets. This is all about artillery. This is all about mass. Lots of stuff will get broken when they invade.

There is every likelihood that what we see right now could be used. That's a capability that's very (INAUDIBLE). But we would have to be able to put our fingers on the behavior that takes capabilities, that really reduces their ability to conduct an invasion and removes them from the border.

GOLODRYGA: Yes, because what we're hearing and seeing perhaps so far is that these troops that would be moved are the troops that are stationed very near the border to begin with, not the troops that came all the way from the eastern part of Russia and closer to Siberia. That would essentially be a much more significant development.

David, let me turn to you and get your read on the new strategies that you heard earlier about what the U.S. is doing and sort of gaming out these tabletop projects, right, assessments of what to do in response to Russian aggression.

[09:10:12]

We saw many of these same players in the Obama administration at the time that Russia annexed Crimea in 2014. It does appear that a lot of lessons were learned from that invasion and hopefully trying to preempt this new one.

DAVID GERGEN, FORMER PRESIDENTIAL ADVISER TO NIXON, FORD, REAGAN AND CLINTON: It does appear that we've learned a lot of lessons, thankfully, from the past invasion, but I would also point out one other thing. The United States response this time is much better organized than we were had we contemplated action in Afghanistan. That was so -- such a mess, such chaotic. And here the administration has more time, they have the lessons learned, and they can proceed in a more methodical way. And tabletop exercise make a big, big difference.

But, let's -- let's -- even as we take some encouragement from what the Russians appear to be doing, we always have to remember who we're dealing with and who he is. Putin is one of the most manipulative characters who's ever walked across an international stage. He is -- he is -- he plays the low cards very well. He doesn't have a lot of high cards in his hand, but he has learned how to play low cards very, very well. And he is ruthless. And we're not going to be out of this for certain until a lot more progress has been made and a lot of those troops move back from the border.

SCIUTTO: Spider Marks, Vladimir Putin has made some good calls and he's made some bad calls. There's an argument that by pushing so hard into Ukraine, threatening other NATO countries, that he's strengthened the alliance, brought more forces closer to his frontier. Is it possible, and, again, we've got a long way to go, but if you see a continuing withdraw, is it possible that Putin blinked here?

MARKS: I don't think Putin's blinking. I mean as David described it, I think he has baked in the various outcomes, both of the sanctions and of the increase of NATO's military presence on the borders, on the shoulders of this potential incursion. Bear in mind, you know, the politics of a nation are based on its geography, and Russia has always been abused by its neighbors. And so what Putin sees clearly as an incursion of NATO, an expansion of NATO over the course of the last 20 years and he's going, guys, you told me you weren't going to expand NATO, you expanded NATO. And I can't have this type of activity going on in Poland and Bulgaria and up in the Baltics, et cetera.

I don't think Putin has blinked. I think he's going to walk away with a win. The key is, how is the alliance going to walk away with a win? That's the key thing in my mind.

GOLODRYGA: Spider, have we spent enough time talking about the threat -- the maritime threat that Ukraine faces? We talked a lot about land operations, right, ground operations there, and air. But you have six Russian battleships there in the Black Sea. What kind of a threat does that pose, not only for Ukraine, but the region as a whole?

MARKS: Well, first of all, Bianna, bear in mind, this is freedom of navigation. They can put their ships in there, just like we routinely transit into the Black Sea. We don't want to be in a bathtub. The Black Sea is a bathtub. You're kind of vulnerable. But they do that as a matter of routine. That's a warmer water port, right? That's why Crimea belongs to them now.

But this is a joint capability. Absolutely a threat. He has a combined arms capability with power and ground power He now has the ability with sea power to, you know, facilitate the further expansion of the existing forces he has in Donbas to the west, toward (INAUDIBLE). And those forces that are there, those NATO forces that are there, can contribute to that operation. It's very significant, and we continue to watch that.

SCIUTTO: David Gergen, clearly many of the steps the Biden administration have taken have been informed by its disastrous experience in Afghanistan. Two different countries, different regions, but they seem to have tried to learn some lessons. This table-toping exercise to try to get ahead of decision-making, closing the embassy here, giving ample warning to Americans to leave the country, as well as trying to get on the same page with allies early about standing up to Russia.

Can you say that the administration sufficiently learned lessons from past failures, such as in Afghanistan? GERGEN: I think we can certainly be encouraged. They aren't doing

things differently. I -- in particular, the pathway they're opening for Americans to get out, to get across the Polish border, is very, very important. And it sends a signal that, hey, we did learn that lesson. And I think that they have -- they've done a good job moving the allies to the forefront, so the Germans are now participating, Macron has been participating. It has become I think in many ways one of the most successful rallying of the NATO alliance that we've seen in years.

[09:15:07]

It has sent a clear message to Putin, they're -- they're -- we're not messing around here.

SCIUTTO: Yes.

As always, look at the big picture.

David Gergen, Major General Spider Marks, thanks so much to both of you.

MARKS: Thank you.

GERGEN: Thank you.

GOLODRYGA: And still to come, the long-time accounting firm for the Trump Organization now cutting ties with the former president. Why they say nearly ten years of financial statements are now unreliable.

Plus, a Democratic candidate for mayor is the target of an attempted assassination. The bullet got so close that it ripped his shirt. He, thankfully, escaped unharmed. We're going to hear from him straight ahead.

Also, the Russian team skater accused of doping at the Olympics, who she now says mistakenly took her grandfather's medication, just moments ago surged into the women's singles skating lead. We'll have the latest from Beijing. That's all straight ahead.

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[09:20:22]

GOLODRYGA: Former President Trump's accounting firm has cut ties with the Trump Organization, saying that it can no longer stand behind ten years' worth of the company's financial statements. The firm, Mazars USA, also advised the Trump business to inform any recipients of those statements to no longer rely on them. This happening as investigators try to determine if Trump manipulated his assets illegally to get loans or reduce his taxes.

CNN's Kara Scannell joins me now.

A highly unusual move, Kara, all experts are saying, by this decision. What more are we learning this morning? KARA SCANNELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, I mean you don't see this every day, where a company's accounting firm says you should no longer rely on these records and you should tell everyone else not to rely on them.

Now, this came about because it was filed in a court filing as part of the New York attorney general's investigation into the Trump Organization and its finances. This letter from Mazars to the Trump Organization was sent last week and in it they go through a couple of reasons how they came to this conclusion. They said they've done their own internal investigation, they're internal/external sources and they're citing some of Letitia James, the New York AG's, findings where she published in a court record last month, you know, these allegations, there were multiple misstatements and omissions in these financial statements, including the amount of cash that the Trump Organization had on hand and the size of Donald Trump's apartment.

So, those are part of the reasons here. And they said that while they have not concluded -- this is Mazars -- on the whole that the financial statements are materially inaccurate, they're saying because of all these reasons they don't think people should rely on them anymore.

Now, you know, this, of course, comes as they also are quitting from representing or, you know, doing the accounting work for the Trump Organization anymore citing these -- the way that they referred to it as unwaivable conflict of interest. And we do know that Mazars has been cooperating with both the AG's investigation and the Manhattan District attorney's investigation, which is conducting a parallel criminal inquiry into the accuracy of these financial statements.

Now, the Trump Organization did issue a statement in response to this filing saying, while we are disappointed that Mazars has chosen to part ways, their February 9, 2022 letter confirms that after conducting a subsequent review of all prior statements of financial condition, Mazars work was performed in accordance with all applicable accounting standards and principles and that such statements of financial condition do not contain any material discrepancies. This confirmation effectively renders the investigates by the DA and AG as moot.

GOLODRYGA: Wow. So any idea as to whether they themselves, Mazars, are going to be legally culpable as well, perhaps?

SCANNELL: Well, you know, that's such a good question because, as an accounting firm, you know, they've received the material from the Trump Organization, and they put together these statements. In these statements there's two pages of an introduction which go through a lot of ways that this doesn't comport with GAAP, Generally Acceptable Accounting Principles. So that's what also makes this case very challenging because there are a number of disclosures here, even while there may be some things that are omitted or misstated.

GOLODRYGA: Well, we'll talk to a legal analyst more on this in the next hour.

Kara Scannell, thank you so much.

A Navy nuclear engineer has pleaded guilty to charges that he tried to sell top secret information about American submarines to a foreign country. Prosecutors say the man and his wife wanted millions of dollars in cryptocurrency in exchange for some of America's most closely guarded secrets.

CNN crime and justice reporter Katelyn Polantz joins me now.

Katelyn, what more are we learning?

KATELYN POLANTZ, CNN CRIME AND JUSTICE REPORTER: Well, this is a guilty plea in a case with some pretty sensational details already about trying to sell these secrets to a foreign government. But in this one, there's already a divergence between a husband and a wife on Valentine's Day in court.

So, this nuclear engineer, Jonathan Toebbe, he admitted to trying to sell secrets from the Navy to a foreign government. That's part of the guilty plea that he entered yesterday. And included details like him putting memory cards into things like a peanut butter sandwich, into a chewing gum wrapper and leaving them at dead drops.

Now, prosecutors have also accused his wife, Diana Toebbe, of providing cover for him at these dead drops and acting as a lookout.

Now, as of yesterday, on Valentine's Day, the wife, Diana Toebbe, she was still maintaining that she is not guilty. The husband, Jonathan Toebbe, is saying in his admissions that his wife took part in this conspiracy, knowingly, and voluntarily. He's going to be sentenced at a later date. He did make these admissions in court and agreed to things that prosecutors demanded.

I asked Diana Toebbe's attorney this morning what this means for her case going forward, and he didn't have a comment.

Back to you.

GOLODRYGA: Wow, probably the most anti-Valentine Day action we've seen in a long time.

Katelyn Polantz, thank you.

Well, ahead, we go back live to Ukraine as the country braces for Russia to invade.

[09:25:04]

We're getting conflicting signals today as Russia claims that it's open to diplomacy but has built up troops along the border. We'll have a live report up next.

And we are just moments away from the opening bell on Wall Street. Futures are pointing higher today. Reaction, it seems, to Russia's claim that it is pulling some forces back from the Ukrainian border. All of this, of course, is very fluid. And CNN has reported the situation around this is not entirely clear.

Also, the producer price index report out last hour indicating that inflation shows little sign of slowing down. Investors looking to this data for any clues to the Federal Reserve's moves with regard to interest rates. We're keeping a close eye on it all for you.

Stay with us.

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