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Blinken Says, U.S. Deeply Concerned Russia is Not On Path to Diplomacy; Ex-Police Officer Kim Potter to Be Sentenced in Daunte Wright's Death. Aired 10-10:30a ET

Aired February 18, 2022 - 10:00   ET

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

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[10:00:01]

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN NEWSROOM: A very good Friday morning to you. I'm Jim Sciutto reporting live this morning from Kyiv, Ukraine, where just in the last few minutes, a rainbow appearing over the St. Michaels Monastery here in the Ukrainian capital. Perhaps a sign of hope, Bianna?

BIANNA GOLODRYGA, CNN NEWSROOM: Let's hope so. A beautiful shot indeed. I'm Bianna Golodryga in New York.

This as Secretary of State Antony Blinken deeply concerned today that Russia is not looking for diplomacy. U.S. officials estimate that Russia has amassed some 190,000 troops and other personnel in and around Ukraine, including Eastern Ukraine there.

Hours from now, President Biden will speak with global allies on how to deter Russia's aggression, this as Ukraine says ceasefire violations are surging in that eastern part of the country.

SCIUTTO: And breaking this morning, we have learned that a bleak new intelligence assessment is driving new urgency from the Biden administration on Russia and Ukraine. I'm told the latest assessment indicates that Russia is continuing with preparations to invade, warning an attack could take place in the coming days.

U.S. officials caution they do not know if Putin has made a final decision to invade, note that he may delay action or not order it at all. The U.S. is now, however, watching for signs that Russian preparations have entered the final stage, including things such as the loading of amphibious ships and the further positioning of combat units closer to the Ukrainian border.

The U.S. also remains concerned that Russia may attempt to create a false pretext for invasion by staging attacks on its own territory or forces which would then blame on Ukraine or the west.

Our reporters and correspondents are following every angle of this story across the region as well as back home.

We do begin through with CNN's Natasha Bertrand, she's in Munich, where the vice president, Kamala Harris, and Secretary of State Antony Blinken are holding a series of critical security talks with leaders on European leaders on Ukraine.

And, Natasha, I wonder, as you're there, do you find hope that there's still a diplomatic path out of this?

NATASHA BERTRAND, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Well, the conversations so far have been pretty bleak, Jim, as that intel assessment that we reported on suggested. And we heard just a short time ago actually from the secretary of state, Antony Blinken, who said that while the diplomatic path forward is obviously something that the U.S. and its allies would like to see, all signs are pointing in the wrong direction. And he actually said that in the last 24 to 48 hours, we've already seen kind of coming into play these false provocations, he says, that could lead Russia to justify an invasion, which kind of serves as a pretext for that invasion. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANTONY BLINKEN, SECRETARY OF STATE: Even as we are doing everything we possibly can to make clear there's a diplomatic path, that this has to be resolved, the differences have to be resolved through dialogue, through diplomacy, we are deeply concerned that that is not the path Russia has embarked on and that everything we're seeing, including what you described in the last 24 to 48 hours is part of a scenario that is already in play of creating false provocations, of then having to respond to those provocations and then ultimately committing new aggression against Ukraine.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERTRAND: So, the U.S. obviously there warning that a Russian invasion could be prefaced by a false flag operation. And U.S. officials say that they still believe that that is the case, that while Russia is taking steps to prepare for a potential invasion, they do believe that that would be prefaced by any kind of false flag operation by the Russians. That assessment has not really changed here.

But, obviously, a lot of pessimistic talk today, Kamala Harris, the vice president, just met with Baltic allies, and we will wait and see what those allies say to her about the Russian threat. But, so far, no one is particularly optimistic. Jim?

SCIUTTO: And, Natasha, as you reported earlier, it's the belief this plan or partial Russian withdrawal was, in fact, disinformation in itself. Natasha Bertrand, good to have you there in Munich.

CNN Chief International Correspondent Clarissa Ward is here with me in the Ukrainian capital. And, Clarissa, you just returned from Eastern Ukraine, where tension clearly rising, a lot more shells getting lobbed in each direction. I think crucially as well, you have the Russian president now talking about pressuring the government here in Kyiv to negotiate in some way with Russian-backed forces there. First of all, how tense is the situation there now? CLARISSA WARD, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, we were at the frontlines a couple of weeks ago and again yesterday just a few miles back from the frontlines and I can say it definitely felt a lot more tense.

[10:05:06]

It was a different situation. You would normally have maybe three or four major ceasefire violations along these frontlines in any given day. Yesterday, there were more than 40, according to the Ukrainian military.

And I want to be clear that it is reportedly going on both sides. We can't verify the claims of the people in those separatist areas, that Ukrainian military are also firing in, but what it does is it escalates the situation, Jim. It makes -- you're laying yourself vulnerable basically to a scenario whereby both sides are shooting back and forth. The Ukrainian military is provoked into responding. A kindergarten was hit twice yesterday. Obviously, people get emotional. The temperature rises. And before you know it, you could potentially be in the kind of scenario where President Putin is able to say that he needs to go in and protect his people.

And, by the way, interesting that we're hearing today, not just President Putin saying to the government here in Kyiv that you need to negotiate with the separatist leaders, but also we are hearing from the separatist leaders themselves who are saying that they are now evacuating because of the optic and kinetic incidents. They are evacuating civilians from these two separatist republics into Russia.

So, it's kind of, I think, a lot of people here are assuming that that's more theatre than anything else. They also, in one of those (INAUDIBLE) called on all men to take up arms to defend. But what it does is it heats the situation up a lot at a time where, really, cooler heads need to prevail.

SCIUTTO: Is there any consideration that the decision to call for an evacuation, whether it happens is another question, to call for it is viewed as a way to kind of clear the ground for further Russian military action?

WARD: Well, this would be the obvious sort of speculation, right? The minute you have pulled all those civilians out, you've kind of cleared the way for some potential Russian military incursion.

We don't really understand yet, how many times we said before, what President Putin's objective is, whether he does actually want to take over Luhansk and Donetsk. There are many reasons that that would be complicated for him. And going ahead with the Minsk agreements and seeing them properly implemented arguably would be more favorable of an outcome for Moscow. But there are many different permutations at play here, and that's part of his strategy, keep people guessing and keep them on the back-foot.

SCIUTTO: And as part of the larger question, is taking over this country or large parts of the country, is Putin, is Russia interested in bearing those costs as well? Clarissa Ward, great to have you traveling the country, thanks so much.

Joining me now further to discuss is Democratic Congressman Mike Quigley of Illinois. He sits on the House Intelligence Committee. Congressman, thanks so much for taking the time this morning.

REP. MIKE QUIGLEY (D-IL): Good morning here, good afternoon there, I guess.

SCIUTTO: It is a chilly afternoon here in Kyiv. As you heard my colleague, Natasha Bertrand, and I are reporting this morning, is that there is new intelligence assessment. This thing, as you know well, is updated constantly that shows really a bleak picture here. The administration believes the military, the government moving closer, they're not there yet perhaps but closer to a decision, and certainly capability to invade.

I know you are briefed on intelligence as well, much of it is classified. But are you convinced as well that an invasion is coming?

QUIGLEY: I started getting briefed on this several months ago, and the intelligence then led me to believe that Putin was planning to go. It wasn't the spring trial run. This was the real thing. And I'll say this, our intelligence has been outstanding. Just about everything we've been briefed on has been spot on. It has taken place. And I do commend the administration for an outstanding use of that publicly, to let people know about the possibility of a false flag, to pin Putin down. But, obviously, I'm very concerned. In fact, the next thing on my agenda this morning is to get briefed again.

SCIUTTO: There is a danger, right, that when the U.S. raises the alarm and that alarm does not bear out, as we saw earlier this week, there was some attention to possibility of military action earlier this week. It didn't happen. That, by the way, could have been a move by Russia, right, to back off. But you're aware that those warnings could begin to ring hollow if they don't prove to be true.

Are you concerned that the U.S. is setting itself up for that to some degree by being so public and so forward-leaning with these warnings?

QUIGLEY: I understand the concern, but the fact is Ukraine is flanked by 190,000 troops, a Russian ship armada to the south, and history was a great indicator of future activity. Russia already invaded Ukraine twice, Moldova, Georgia. So, this is a country that has been -- Putin is likely to do something like this.

[10:10:02]

And I think Secretary Austin put it in the most common sense way possible. You don't do all the things Putin is if you're not getting to go. And the fact is the devastation caused by this, the onslaught is so dramatic, if the Biden administration didn't sound the alarm so dramatically and then something happened, they would have been accused of malpractice.

SCIUTTO: You, I'm sure, as others, have been watching the situation in Eastern Ukraine, I imagine, with interest, you have increased contact along the line of contact, increased shelling. Of course, shelling can be deadly. Many of the 14,000 people who have died in this eight-year war died from shelling. And now you have an order to evacuate from the Russian-controlled side, allegations of war crimes, even coming from the Russian president's mouth.

Do you see the ingredients there of this pretext that we have heard Blinken and Stoltenberg and the president talk about as a possible set-up for Russian military action?

QUIGLEY: It's what I anticipated. The Kremlin playbook is in full action right now, disinformation, propaganda, cyberattacks, the threat, subversive use of energy sources. And they could recognize that by flanking Ukraine and terrorizing the country, they have destabilized it, they have dramatically impacted their economy. We are in constant contact with our counterparts, the members of parliament in Ukraine, and they tell us the billions of dollars their economy is bleeding every single month.

So, Putin is getting his way so far, the expulsion of the diplomat, the expansion of military instead of a contraction, every indication that the situation is grave.

SCIUTTO: I spoke to the NATO secretary-general yesterday, Jens Stoltenberg, and he raised an interesting possibility that if Russia chooses to not invade, at least immediately in the coming days or weeks, that Russia could maintain this military pressure, this military presence around Ukraine and that that could become, in Stoltenberg's words, something of a new normal, in other words, a constant pressure campaign, though short of a full invasion.

I wonder if you see that as a possibility and if you see that NATO unity could be maintained during something like that.

QUIGLEY: Putin has put that into his calculations. I think the fact is if he invades, there would be NATO unity. If he does this, there's the possibility of divisions there in terms of how to react. And, again, the cost involved in trying to maintain this, keeping NATO on the same page particular with further posture in the east and how they react to this, how long can Ukraine and its people handle this situation?

Clearly, there is something in some people's minds that could be almost as bad as war and that's the destruction of Ukraine economically and internally by something like this. Again, this is the second time he's done it. He (INAUDIBLE) withdrawals, keeps it there, the damage could be extraordinary.

SCIUTTO: It's important to highlight that, right, this would be a further invasion of Ukraine, not the first, already happened eight years ago in that territory in Crimea and the east still in Russian hands.

Congressman Mike Quigley, House Intelligence Committee, thanks so much for joining us this morning.

QUIGLEY: Thank you and be safe. GOLODRYGA: And still to come, the sentencing hearing is under way for the former police officer convicted in the killing of Daunte Wright. We'll go inside the courtroom as Kim Potter learns her fate.

And former President Trump now planning to fight a judge's order that he and two of his adult children must sit down for depositions in a civil investigation of their family business, but will his appeal win out before the 21-day deadline?

And drivers stranded overnight in freezing temperatures after a severe winter storm causes several pile-ups on the road. We'll have a live report for you up next.

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GOLODRYGA: We're taking you live to a courtroom now in Minnesota where Daunte Wright's mother is emotionally speaking there at the sentencing of Kim Potter. Let's listen in.

KATIE WRIGHT, DAUNTE WRIGHT'S MOTHER: I have to be the voice for myself, my family, my community, but most of all, I have to be the voice of my son, Daunte. Your honor, I hope the defendant is listening as I speak loud and clear today, and, yes, I refer to her as defendant because I will not give her the respect of calling her by her name.

She referred to Daunte over and over again as the driver, as if killing him wasn't enough to dehumanize him. She never once said his name, and for that, I'll never be able to forgive you, and I'll never be able to forgive you for what you've stolen from us. I hope you're listening and don't mistake any of my words because we can't afford the defendant to make any more mistakes. His name is Daunte Demetrius Wright.

Let me tell you what you've stolen from us. Daunte was born October 27, 2000, at 9:25 A.M., one of the happiest days of our lives. My husband named him after Daunte Culpepper because he loved the Vikings and knew our son was a star from the moment we looked into his eyes and he played way too much and he joked a lot. Even when he'd get on my nerves, I couldn't stay mad at him because of Daunte's goofy laugh.

Daunte loved hard, loved his family, friends, and his son. Daunte's smile was genuine and big just, like his dreams. You took those. You took his future, what he could have been, and it was so many things.

April 11th was the worst day of my life. A police officer who was supposed to serve and protect took so much from us. She took our baby boy with a single gunshot through his heart. She shattered mine. My life and my world will never, ever be the same.

And I often replay that phone call in my head over and over again and I blame myself because I should have told him, I shouldn't have told him it was going to be all right. I told him he was going to be okay. And just to find out a few minutes later, he wasn't. The police officer that took the oath to serve and protect for 26 years, but not on this day. On this day, she did not protect. She failed Daunte, our family and our community. She did not render aid to Daunte, Alayna (ph) or the elderly couple that was in the vehicle. His car held at gunpoint for five minutes while my son bled out in the driver's seat.

The last numbers of Daunte's life is now watching him being shot over and over again, seeing his lifeless body pulled and dragged (INAUDIBLE), where they left him on the ground for hours as people all over the world watched. I had to cry from behind a caution tape and couldn't go to be with him. My motherly instincts was to go hold him, to caress him, kiss him. And even in my mind at that moment, I wanted to save him, another opportunity that was stolen from me.

She left our world with so much darkness and heartache.

[10:20:01]

The best way that I can explain it is what I feel every day since Daunte was killed is comparing it to a sinking feeling that a mother gets when she turns around and realizes her kid is missing in a grocery store and you can't see him, feel him, touch him, know if he's scared, safe, okay. She took a grandson, brother, uncle, cousin, friend, she took a son from his father, son from his mother, but most of all, she took a father from his son.

Daunte was only 20 years old. He had so much life ahead of him. The defendant left us with memories and a picture. I have to grieve in public. The whole world sees my crying face and it's plastered all over. My shattered heart has been on display for almost a year now and I have to live in this nightmare watching my son shot and killed over and over again.

The defendant will be here to watch her sons marry, have children, buy a house, start a family. For me, every day, I could only hope to wake up and see Daunte walk through the door and watch him play with his son, mess with his sisters, laugh with his brothers, a hope that's never going to come true.

Your honor, I'm asking you to hold the defendant to the highest accountability, to the person of authority who portrayed her badge not only when she shot Daunte but when she rolled around on the ground crying for herself, I'm going to prison, I shot a boy, call Chuck, her union rep, when she should have said, please go save him, how is he doing, is he okay, please help him. She didn't even try, your honor. She didn't try to save him. You should have done better.

When it comes to trials, I was there every single day. My heart wanted to see remorse, sadness in her eyes and wanted to see her mouthful words, I'm sorry, but she sat there with such entitlement and privilege. She never once looked at us, passing through the hallways every day.

As she sat on the stand, not at all, no eye contact, nothing. Then she finally said, I'm sorry it happened. Those are her exact words. That was coming after a break, your honor, that the defendant had to have time to be coached on how to gain some sort of sympathy from the jury, but not me. I can't give the defendant sympathy.

Your honor, I'm stuck with three questions I ask myself. How do you show remorse when you're smiling in your mug shot after being sentenced to manslaughter, after taking my son's life? How do you say you're sorry with no tears? How much time is my son's life worth? I know here today, the defendant and her attorney, they're going to tell the court how sorry she is. Her family will meet (ph), even give victim impact, and afterwards both the defendant and her family will be able to talk, hear each other's voices, hug, kiss, say I love you, as her husband did on sentencing on verdict day.

Eventually her sentence will be fulfilled and she will have her whole family to be with her at dinners and holidays, again, another thing that has been stolen from me.

Please keep in mind the impact this has caused her family and herself is just a small passing, just a small storm that's going to pass compared to our life sentence without Daunte. Daunte Demetrius Wright, I'll continue to fight in your name until driving while black is no longer a death sentence. I'm proud to be your mom and I love you, Daunte.

Thank you, your honor.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you, Mrs. Wright.

And, Mr. Arbuey Wright, please come forward.

[10:25:00]

And state your full name and spell it, please.

ARBUEY WRIGHT, DAUNTE WRIGHT'S FATHER: My name is Arbuey Wright. You said spell it?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: yes.

A. WRIGHT: I'm sorry. A-R-B-U-E-Y, last name is Wright, W-R-I-G-H-T.

I am kind of nervous though but I'm Arbuey Wright, Daunte's father. I want to start by telling you what Daunte meant to me. Daunte meant the world to me. He was my son made out of unconditional love that me and his mother have for each other. Daunte was every man's dream. My first child with my wife and he was a boy. I was so proud to be his father. He was handsome, he was my son, he was my prince.

Daunte was my reason. He was my reason to do better. He was my reason to change life. A father's love is so powerful and deep, it's hard for me to put it into words, but I need you to hear me when I say I love my son with all my heart.

I've been there for his first steps, his first words, first day of school, all of it, basketball games, the birth of his son. It hurts my heart that Daunte will not have these memories with his son, Daunte Jr. Daunte Jr. will only remember his dad through the stories and memories that we tell. They only had a very short year together because of Kim's recklessness.

Daunte was my go-to guy, my helper around the house. People say he was funny like me, he looked like me, he was cool like me. I would watch Daunte as he slept for many years thinking, wondering how his future would be and what he would become. And I would kiss and hug him. And he would not like me to do that, obviously, but I would do it anyway and I would obviously tell him that, no matter what, I got you.

From the day he was born to April 11, I had him. I was always there for my son. Daunte's life was cut short by Kim Potter, who claims she thought she had a taser. She pointed a gun into my son's chest and pulled the trigger, not only killing Daunte by damaging his heart to the point of unrepairable but she also damaged my whole family's heart. Nothing will ever be the same. Everything we do as a family ends in tears because all we have is memories left of our son. What should be happy times turns into sadness.

Kim Potter was trained to prevent this type of thing from ever happening. She was a police officer longer than my son was alive. I ask that Kim Potter be held accountable and that the maximum sentence be applied, which is incomparable to the life sentence we have been given because her negligence. My son, Daunte's life was taken away way too soon and he's never coming back. It's affected our whole family.

Thank you.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you.

And I think Damik Bryant, will you please come forward. And please state your full name and spell it.

DAMIK BRYANT, DAUNTE WRIGHT'S OLDER BROTHER: I'm Damik Bryant, D-A-M- I-K B-R-Y-A-N-T.

First, I want to start off by saying my name is Damik Bryant. I am the oldest child out of my parents' seven kids. On April 11th, he was killed by the same people we were supposed to trust, who was supposed to serve and protect our community.

[10:30:00]

He was killed by someone who was on the force longer than any of my parents' children have been alive, who was a field training officer.