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Valieva 4th After Multiple Falls, Russian Teammate Wins Gold; Shiffrin Crashes Out for 3rd Time in Olympics, Says Won't Get Over It; Civil Rights Trial for Ex-Officers in Floyd Death Underway; More States Lift Mask Mandates, More Toward "Endemic Phase". Aired 2:30-3p ET
Aired February 17, 2022 - 14:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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[14:32:45]
VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN HOST: It was a stunning ending to the women's figure skating competition at the Beijing Olympics.
Kamila Valieva, the Russian superstar at the center of this doping scandal, finished fourth.
She was the favorite to win, but the IOC said it would delay the medal ceremony if she finished in the top three.
Valieva's Russian teammates won the gold and silver medals. Japan landed the bronze.
Joining us now to discuss is former U.S. Olympian and retired gymnast, Justin Spring.
Justin, good to see you.
Every time I call one of you guys a former Olympian --
JUSTIN SPRING, RETIRED U.S. OLYMPIC GYMNAST: Retired.
BLACKWELL: Yes -- it feels wrong because, once you're an Olympian, you're always an Olympian.
SPRING: A has-been.
BLACKWELL: No, no, no. Never a has-been.
Justin, good to have you here.
Listen --
(CROSSTALK)
BLACKWELL: -- she's 15 years old. You watched her sob coming off the ice. She fell three times. You know, there are Olympians who say that not just for the sake of
her competitors but for her own mental health, considering all that's happening, she should not have been able to compete.
What do you think?
SPRING: Yes, I would agree with that. I feel like you put her in a no- win situation.
If she goes out there and does what everyone thought she was going to do and wins the Olympic gold medal, it wouldn't have mattered because she was caught with an illegal substance.
And then if she doesn't, then she failed because of her own, you know, misfortunes and she just didn't have a great day.
We set this 15-year-old up on the world stage, a lot of people demonizing her specifically, and I just -- it was a no-win for her. And I feel for her in that regard.
But I also feel for figure skating as a sport and the Olympic movement, honestly, after kind of all of this.
I feel like a lot -- a scab's been picked off. I really don't like what this has done for the Olympic movement.
As a fellow Olympian, right, I feel like we've kind of tainted the brand a little bit.
Nothing else, clean sport at the Olympic Games, the IOC and WADA preparing a level playing field for our athletes to go out and duke it out, see, who is the best in the world, didn't happen.
And that was a failure, I think, on WADA and, honestly, the IOC at this Olympics. And it's a big -- they need to make it right.
BLACKWELL: Yes. Well, WADA, the World Anti-Doping Agency, says they're now going to investigate her entourage as part of, we now know, this banned substance and two other heart medications that were not banned, this cocktail that she had.
[14:35:07]
Again, she's 15 years old.
We look at the silver medal winner, Alexandra Trusova, who was just really inconsolable when she came off the ice, shouting at her coach. She didn't want to be touched.
These are minors. And the whole time she's holding a stuffed animal.
Should the IOC be doing more to protect, essentially, these children?
SPRING: Well, if you're going to allow children to be at the -- to compete at the world stage, the pressure out there's immense.
You're dealing with margins of error that separate gold and bronze that are just almost intangible in those differences.
And so that pressure alone, I think, is incredible. You know, I think you've got a problem.
And you saw this in women's gymnastics where sometimes athletes are hitting their peak at a very young age. So how do you put those athletes in a position with the support that they really need to thrive and be successful in a healthy way?
And that -- I mean, USA gymnastics has just come full circle trying to figure that out. And it's been a long five, six years trying to right the ship, so to speak.
And I think figure skating's starting their journey now. And they need to figure it out because she is a kid.
BLACKWELL: Let's talk about -- yes -- let's talk about Mikaela Shiffrin. Crashed out of the third event now. She says that she feels like a joke.
And you mentioned gymnastics. After what we watched with Simone Biles in the summer games, Naomi Osaka at the French Open, she says she'll never get over this.
I think we -- if we're not having -- we should have a deeper conversation about mental health around these elite athletes.
SPRING: Look, Olympic -- Olympians are a special breed, right? I had -- I had a great career. I got a college scholarship. I went to the Olympics, barely making it through all my own injuries and setbacks, and won a bronze medal, and that was it.
There's no career. There's no, you know -- and a bronze medal is not getting you on the cover of the Wheaties box. So it's a small percentage of athletes that have a long-lasting career in these Olympic Games.
And they spend their entire lives training for it. And then, all of a sudden, you know, a half a degree on the edge of your ski takes a gold medal performance from you, and people call you a failure.
I mean, it's -- I mean, outside of other environmental concerns, I mean, it's crazy, the backseat drivers or the couch trolls that just troll Olympians for failing in their moment.
And it's like the difference between maybe a gold medal and not even being on the podium is a millimeter of difference.
And some of the greatest in the world, undeniably, can just be a little off by that in a day, and that's -- that doesn't make them failures. That makes them human.
BLACKWELL: Yes. Yes.
Justin Spring, I've learned a lot.
Olympian Justin Spring, thank you so much for your time.
SPRING: Thanks for having me.
ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN HOST: There you go. Always an Olympian.
BLACKWELL: Yes, never former Olympian.
CAMEROTA: Absolutely.
BLACKWELL: Stop doing that.
CAMEROTA: I agree.
BLACKWELL: All right.
CAMEROTA: Right now, one of the former Minneapolis police officers connected to George Floyd's case is on the stand. Prosecutors want to know why he did not stop Derek Chauvin.
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[14:43:04]
CAMEROTA: In Minneapolis, more testimony in the trial involving three former officers charged with violating George Floyd's civil rights. Former Minneapolis police officer, J. Alexander Kueng, was back on the stand.
BLACKWELL: CNN's Adrienne Broaddus is with us now.
What have we learned from Kueng's testimony?
ADRIENNE BROADDUS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Victor and Alisyn, during the course of the time that J. Alexander Kueng was on the stand, he told members of the jury he didn't realize George Floyd had died or that the situation was, quote, "a critical incident" until later.
That's when a homicide detective arrived on scene.
He also said, when the paramedics responded, there was no sense of urgency, calling their demeanor, quote, "casual."
Kueng, as you know, was one of the first officers responding to that forgery call of George Floyd, accused of trying to purchase something at the Cupp Foods with a fake $20 bill.
While explaining his attempt to put Floyd into the squad car, Kueng said he struggled and, at one point, he said, quote, "Floyd's legs kind of collapsed without reason."
Kueng testified training taught him, if someone can talk, they can breathe.
And Kueng admits he laughed when Chauvin said, quote, "It takes a lot of oxygen to talk." He says that was a reference to a previous field training call they made together at a hospital. He described it as a brief moment of levity.
And here's another exchange between Kueng and the prosecution. Take a look.
Prosecutor Sertich saying, quote, "You didn't do anything to get Mr. Chauvin off of Mr. Floyd when paramedics arrived, correct?" He agrees.
And Sertich also said, "You didn't move out of the way, either?" And Kueng also agrees.
The prosecution showed video of a sergeant asking the officers what happened.
[14:44:59]
And Sertich says, "You chose not to say anything about Chauvin kneeling on Floyd's neck?" Kueng says, "I was not keeping track of how long it went on.
He also said the officers are trained to not talk about the actions of other officers.
Plus, he says Chauvin was present. And if Chauvin wanted to speak up about what happened, he could -- Victor and Alisyn?
CAMEROTA: OK, Adrienne Broaddus, thank you for the update.
BLACKWELL: More cities are relaxing COVID. California's governor will soon announce the state's plans to shift the focus toward the "endemic phase" now. What this means for our return to normalcy.
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[14:50:19]
BLACKWELL: There are more signs that some officials are ready to move towards less restrictive phase of the pandemic. Philadelphia, Seattle, several other cities are lifting years' long safety protocols.
CAMEROTA: And later today, California's governor will unveil his state's transition plan. Students in Michigan no longer have to wear masks in school.
But several health experts, including Dr. Anthony Fauci, say it's too soon because of very high transmission rates.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY & INFECTIOUS DISEASES: It is really not prudent to pull masks off children.
You don't want to say it's an absolutely wrong decision. It's understandable why people want to take masks off the kids. But right now, given the level of activity we have, it is risky.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CAMEROTA: OK, let's bring in Dr. Ali Khan, the dean at the College of Public Health at the University of Nebraska Medical Center.
Dr. Khan, great to see you as always.
Here is what's so confusing. Let me pull up the first graph to show you and the viewers.
Cases, daily cases, have plummeted from a month ago. They were at more than 800,000 a day. Now they're at, I think, 128,000 a day. Still high but obviously not that high.
Then -- but here is the transmission rate across the country. The country is still in bright red, super-high transmission.
So can we exhale right now and can we start rolling back restrictions or too soon?
DR. ALI KHAN, DEAN, COLLEGE OF PUBLIC HEALTH, UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA MEDICAL CENTER: So, great question, Alisyn. It's not too soon to have that conversation and allowing local authorities to make that decision based on what's going on locally.
But we also need to remember it's more than just what's going on in the community.
Unlike two years ago, we now have the ability to protect ourselves. We know that we can get a three-dose series. We know we can use a high- quality mask and go about life as usual.
So things are very different than they were two years ago when all of these recommendations, public health recommendations, were being put in place.
BLACKWELL: You're right. This is not March 2020, as people continue to remind those officials who are keeping the tight restrictions.
Let me ask you about schools specifically. There are more than half a dozen states that ban mask mandates for schools.
Is there any evidence that the students, the teachers, staff in those schools in those states are worse off, have more outbreaks than students who have been going to class with mask mandates for several months?
KHAN: So, Victor, that's a great question.
During the last series of studies, during Delta times, we know masks work in schools.
But let's also remember, you have the ability to protect your own child by getting them vaccinated and to wear a high-quality mask if they want to wear a high-quality mask.
So, again, not two years ago or even a year ago, when you were subject to whatever was going on in the community, you can protect yourself and you can protect your kids now at this point.
CAMEROTA: So, Dr. Khan, does that mean it is time to segue into an endemic phase?
And by the way, what would be the difference? If we were in an endemic phase rather than pandemic, how would we behave differently?
KHAN: We would behave differently in terms of this constant crisis that we currently have. I think that would be the main difference.
But you would put public health measures in place at a community or national level depending on the need.
But you're right. Right now, this is a vaccine preventable disease.
And what we need to focus on -- and, again, one more distraction from the key focus, and the key focus is getting people that primary three dose series what have we call boosted. Only 28 percent of Americans are currently boosted.
And other countries able to lift their restrictions have much higher vaccination rates and have been able to tolerate some additional cases because they're not having hospitalizations. That's not true in the United States.
And I understand this push to remove all restrictions, including masking, but be ready. If you do it too soon, you will see an uptick in cases again.
The virus didn't disappear all of a sudden. And we continue to have lots of people that are unvaccinated in America.
BLACKWELL: All right, Dr. Ali Khan, thank you.
KHAN: Again, please get boosted!
(LAUGHTER)
CAMEROTA: OK. You are now recycling masks. OK, we saw this one. Now, I love your masks. I'm not complaining. I can see it bears worth repeating basically.
[14:55:05]
KHAN: Exactly.
BLACKWELL: You are under a mask mandate, Dr. Ali Khan.
(CROSSTALK)
BLACKWELL: You are under a mask mandate, sir.
(LAUGHTER)
KHAN: Get boosted.
Thank you both.
BLACKWELL: Thank you, Doctor.
CAMEROTA: Thank you very much.
A new mask. That's his mandate.
BLACKWELL: Yes, yes.
CAMEROTA: All right, more than 100 million people expected to feel the impact of a winter storm that could bring snow, ice, flooding and threat of tornadoes. The forecast next.
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[15:00:02]
CAMEROTA: Millions of Americans are under severe weather threats.
BLACKWELL: CNN Meteorologist Jennifer Gray is with us.
So what's the forecast?
