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Ukraine President Calls For Diplomatic Solution To Crisis; President Biden "Convinced" Putin Has Already Decided To Invade; U.S.: Up To 190,000 Russian Troops Likely In And Near Ukraine; Zelensky: "We Cannot Remain Passive" On Russia Threat; States Move To Lift Mask Mandates As Omicron Surge Wanes; Closing Arguments Monday In Federal Trial Against Arbery's Killers; Journalist Gwen Ifill Didn't Let The "Nos" Stop Her. Aired 12-1p ET

Aired February 19, 2022 - 12:00   ET

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

[11:59:57]

KRISTIN FISHER, CNN SPACE AND DEFENSE CORRESPONDENT (on camera): Think of it. This is like a drone, being operated on a completely different planet. The first time that humans have ever been able to do this.

And now, it's really become kind of this companion to the Perseverance rover, it is now used as kind of a scouting tool, it flies ahead to make sure that the rover is not going to hit any treacherous terrain. And now in fact, the rover is heading out on its longest and most dangerous stretch of its journey, at least on Mars, that is.

It's heading to the place that it was originally intended to target and land on.

FISHER (voice-over): When the rover landed on Mars about a year ago, it landed about a mile and a half off course in the Jezero Crater. So, scientists at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory have really made the best of it. And they did come up with some very successful surprises and findings.

But now, it is heading about 3-1/2 miles away to this dried up river delta. And the goal there is to see if any of those rocks or sediments and debris at the bottom of that river delta, perhaps hold the signs of ancient life.

FISHER (on camera): But it's going to take a little while for the rover to get there, about three months. Kristin Fisher, CNN, Washington.

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN HOST (on camera): All right. Hello, again, everyone. Thank you so much for joining me. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. And we begin this hour with this "BREAKING NEWS". Ukraine President Zelensky, a short time ago, calling for a diplomatic solution to the threat of a Russian invasion, as tensions in the region rise.

But he also added he doesn't know what Russian President Vladimir Putin is going to do next. Zelensky is attending a key global security conference in Munich today and spoke with CNN's, Christiane Amanpour.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: I want to ask you that I'm not sure how many people in this room expected you to make the decision to leave your country and come here today.

What was so important for you to be here? And what do you know about Vladimir Putin's intentions that perhaps the United States or others don't know? Because they think that he's made the decision to enter your country.

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKY, PRESIDENT OF UKRAINE (through translator): I had very important meetings today with the leaders of different countries and still more to go. And I would like you to hear, to see, to ask questions, and get the answers to understand the level of resilience of our country that we're not panicking. We're very consistent that we are not responding to any provocations.

AMANPOUR: Can I ask you how you feel today, compared to a few days ago? Because I think everybody's been quite amazed that this solidarity between the United States and your country and Europe and the united front that's been presented.

And also the extraordinary departure that the United States has used intelligence to telegraph exactly what it sees President Putin doing. You have said different things about that, that on the one hand, it could so panic, and you're going to remain disciplined. And you just said, again, we're not going to panic.

How do you evaluate the U.S. aggressive use of intelligence to try to dissuade President Putin?

ZELENSKY: it's difficult for me to judge how United States should be using the intelligence. I guess, they are doing this in a professional manner. This is their choice.

But I'm grateful for the work that both my intelligence has been doing. But the intelligence I trust is my intelligence. I trust Ukrainian intelligence on our territory, who understand what's going on along our borders, who have different intelligence sources, and understand different risk based or intercepted data.

We are talking about this, and this information should be used. I repeated this many times, we are not really living in delusion. We understand what can happen -- to happen tomorrow. But maybe the comparison I will make is not good. But just putting ourselves in coffins and waiting for foreign soldiers to come in is not something we are prepared to do.

We are not going to advance on anyone, but we stand ready to respond to everything. We cannot remain passive. We cannot say on the daily basis that war will happen tomorrow.

What kind of state will it is going to be? What kind of economy is it going to be? How can you live in the state when on the daily basis, you're being told that tomorrow the war will happen. Tomorrow, the advanced will happen. It means crushing national currency, money is being taken out, business flying out. Can you live in that kind of country? Can you have a stability in that kind of country? No.

And those who want to disbalance our country from within are multiple, and everyone wants Ukraine to be weak, weak economy, weak army, and if there is weak army, you can just go ahead and invade, and we won't be able to protect neither people, neither children, nor the economy.

[12:05:03]

ZELENSKY: This is why our response is very calm to one piece of information or the other. We have to assess it, we have to think, know how to react to what I just got. But I have to digest this information, I have to understand what will happen after my words up to my reaction to this. What happened to my people -- what will happen after these people will around to the banks to take money from their deposit accounts, after they start fearing, and the panic will start?

We have the information war, the hybrid war going on. This is why Ukrainians are not giving up in different sense of this word. We want to live day after day and protect our country.

If you want to help us, we have lots of examples from this information. A lot of very concrete things, strengthen our arm, give us more armament, strengthen our economy, invest in our country.

We had a discussion some time ago with one of the leaders of one of the leading countries. And we were talking about the sanction policy, we had a different vision on how sanctions should be applied when Russian aggression will happen.

And we are being told that you have several days and then the war will start. And I said, OK, then, apply the sanctions today. Yes, they say yes, we apply sanctions when the war will happen.

I'm saying, fine. But you are telling me that it's 100 percent that the war will start in a couple of days, when -- then, what are you waiting for?

We don't need your sanctions after the bombardment will happen, and after country will be fired at, or after we will have no borders, and after we will have no economy or parts of our countries will be occupied.

Why would we need those sanctions then?

AMANPOUR: Can I ask you?

ZELENSKY: Just a second. I think -- I think cyber-attack -- can I -- can I have another one (INAUDIBLE)? Yes.

AMANPOUR: But maybe you -- maybe you can (INAUDIBLE)

(CROSSTALK)

ZELENSKY: You see, Russia is not here, but they're here.

AMANPOUR: Were you at all afraid of coming here?

ZELENSKY: No. Why? Where there our friends here?

AMANPOUR: No, no leaving your house on guarded.

ZELENSKY: Well, my response will be very brief. I'm sure that our country is in good hands. And this is not just my hands. These are the hands of our soldiers and our citizens.

I think my visit here is important. And I would like to say that I had breakfast in the morning in Ukraine and I will have my dinner in Ukraine as well. I never leave home for long.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: All right, let's talk about all of this. Joining me right now, retired Army Major General James Spider Marks, he's CNN military analyst. And Aaron David Miller, a CNN global affairs analyst, and a former Middle East negotiator for the U.S. State Department.

Good to see both of you, gentlemen.

AARON DAVID MILLER, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST (on camera): Thanks, Fred.

WHITFIELD: So, General Marks, you first. I mean, what's your reaction to what we're hearing from President Zelensky today that he is confident about his military, wants to maintain calm in his country, and also doesn't really know what Putin's intentions are, and seems rather relaxed, you know, at the same time very defiant to hold his ground?

MAJ. GEN. JAMES MARKS (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST (on camera): Well, that's you -- that's what you would expect from a leader like that. You would want him to be very calm, you would want him to demonstrate a sense of the magnitude of the moment that he is in. And the importance -- that critical importance geopolitically, I mean, we're at inflection point.

Is NATO going to fracture? Or is NATO going to hold together under this incredible stress?

And oh, by the way, what does it look like going forward? They might respond in the moment. They, NATO, might respond to the moment. But what does it look like going forward?

And then, also the fact that he's in Munich, my view is that he should be back home in Kyiv, and he should be standing firm. He could have a platform from Kyiv that allows him to have the same voice that he has right now in Munich. But I got it.

I mean, he got himself an audience, he was able to demonstrate that he's got his finger on the pulse. But nobody knows whose intentions and that's the challenge that we have right now. We know that Putin wants concessions, you know that Putin wants a buffer zone that he lost with the expansion of NATO. And Ukraine is sitting right in the middle of all of that, the largest country in Europe -- the largest country in Europe, sitting right below all of this, which is a vassal state of Russia.

WHITFIELD: Yes. And --

(CROSSTALK)

[12:10:00]

MARKS: Putin would love to have Kyiv be a vassal capital of Russia.

WHITFIELD: Right. And perhaps, that's part of the messaging that the Zelensky was sending, which was, I am among friends here. And he's gives real purpose to why he had to be in Munich.

Aaron, you know, also interesting language coming from the president of the United States. Not cautionary language that you usually hear from the White House like we are bracing for, you know, Russia's invasion, but instead, the words of President Biden, I am convinced he's made the decision, talking about, you know, Putin and Ukraine.

How do you assess that?

MILLER: The president clearly made news yesterday. I mean, these daily weather reports, Putin is mobilizing troops over the last several weeks. Yesterday, he basically put it all out there.

It must be a judgment of the intelligence community that Putin, in fact, has made a decision. He has the capacity for any number of possible military options. And I think it's part of the administration's notion of transparency, you take the disinformation or information campaign of the Russians away from them. And you put all this out there.

I think the president is pretty persuaded though, that even if he wins the information war against Putin, it's not going to deter or dissuade him from acting in Ukraine.

And look, Fred, from the beginning, there's been three options here.

One is a significant military operation for some of the reasons that General Marks laid out. A second is a diplomatic off ramp -- off ramp. And a third is a hybrid of the two.

Look what Putin's achieved already, he's bankrupting the Ukrainian economy without firing a shot. He's stirring apart pot with any number of false flag operations in the Donbas, in eastern Ukraine. He has the world on the edge of its collective seat, wondering.

Even now, after the President said he's made a decision to go, what is Vladimir Putin going to do? And that makes, and finally, a parade of just about everybody, traipsing to Moscow to try to divine what great Russian leader is thinking. So, right now, it's been his crisis from the beginning. He owns it. I wonder, though, frankly, if he knows what he really wants to do with it.

WHITFIELD: And so-- but I hear you loud and clear, Aaron, and that he really has won, in a sense, because he is arrested the entire world, even though he's still trying to perhaps think about how does he -- what -- what's the exit strategy here?

So, so general, I wonder while the Kremlin is saying, and has said, we actually have no intention of invasion? Why would we? So, why else then? Are they there? 190,000 troops strong along the border. And what's with these deterrent exercises? Deterring what?

MARKS: Well, the exercises with Belarus -- clearly, this is a country with whom Russia has a very close relationship. And so, from the military guys perspective, they want to conduct exercises. I got it, have at it. And do it in the winter.

I mean, this is when you should do it, the ground is hard. And now, we can get some pretty good flying weather, et cetera.

But the -- but the real issue is, when you deploy 190,000 forces to the border of Ukraine and you surrounded on three sides, you don't have to do a thing to start exacting some concessions, you get some concessions, and you send a very powerful message.

It's all about influence. And that's what Moscow is trying to achieve. Putin wants to have influence over the direction of politics within Ukraine.

Look, geography dictates politics and Russia has been abused by European powers forever. They don't want -- they don't want that to happen again. Whether we believe it, will or not, it's in the eye of Putin. He's the guy that needs to be convinced with this movement. He's -- by NATO, over the course of the last 20 plus years, this rush from 16 members to 30 members over the course of 20 plus years, is it a threat?

So, he is now stating and putting his foot down, saying I want to try to alter the table a little bit. And I think he'd be perfectly satisfied as David indicated, not to engage, not to have a military operation, although I do think he's going to expand his presence in the Donbas. But he doesn't want to take Kyiv, he wants to influence Kyiv.

He doesn't want to crush Kyiv, he wants to convince them that there's a better path through Moscow and through leadership.

WHITFIELD: And Aaron, you say, you know, Putin is looking for weaknesses, and it won't be in the U.S., nor in NATO, in your opinion, but he is looking for the weaknesses in Ukraine.

What will be the indicators, especially as you see the posture of President Zelensky while in Munich, and he says, hey, I had breakfast in Ukraine and I will be back for dinner. I don't want to stay long. There really are no worries, so, what is it that you Putin will be looking for, I guess, how crippled Ukraine might be economically?

[12:15:08]

WHITFIELD: Or what will be the signs of weakness?

MILLER: That -- Putin think that's already happening. You know, Churchill referred to Russia as a hotel burglar, trying every door. And the ones that are locked, he won't enter, but the ones that are open, Russia would.

And I think, I think NATO will hold on this. I think the Biden administration on balance. I think he's done an excellent job of trying to use diplomacy and building the case for deterrence and for punishment in the event Putin acts.

The weakest actor here -- I think, Zelensky reflects that he's the sixth Ukrainian president to try to navigate an impossible line between the West, NATO and the United States, and Russia.

Putin is already exactly the price. There's no direct foreign investment, multinationals, for the moment are holding fast. Ukrainian bonds are devaluing, the currency is being devalued. He's already engaging in what you could call a slow bleed, and creating a certain amount of havoc and uncertainty in eastern Ukraine.

And this may well be what ultimately he decides to do, although how long you can keep 190,000 forces deployed is arguable.

WHITFIELD: Yes, that really does underscore the point that you know, President Zelensky said. He said you know, how do you help us? You know, more armament, invest in the country and strengthen the economy.

So, General, the U.S. also said yesterday that it believes Russia was behind a cyber-attack in Ukraine earlier in the week. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANNE NEUBERGER, DEPUTY NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER DORMENT: CYBER AND EMERGING TECHNOLOGY: We have assessed that Russia was responsible for the distributed denial of service attacks that occurred earlier this week.

And I will note that the speed with which we made that attribution as you note is very unusual. And we've done so because of a need to call out the behavior quickly, as part of holding nations accountable when they conduct disruptive or destabilizing cyber activity.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: So General, how significant is it that the U.S., you know, directly is accusing Russia of this kind of activity right now?

MILLER: Well, it's significant that we call them out. We want to make sure that the world understands that this is what Russia does. Understanding that the use of cyber is a continuation of warfare. I mean, it's just a continual exertion of warfare online. And it's not in advance of military operations, it's very much a part of military operations. But we're not holding them accountable. You don't hold anybody accountable. Russia could care less what we say about their cyber use.

The real issue is cyber is the one, you know, military domain that is not governed. Every other domain of war is governed, but cyber. So, that really tells you, we still have a challenge, we need to move forward and see if we can get our arms around that because this will continue to be, as I said, a continual conflict online, it will happen forever.

They did it, Russia did it, and they've done before in Ukraine just a few years ago. So, they're going after the banking system, they want to try to invalidate that economy. And this is again, this is politics by other means.

WHITFIELD: General Spider Marks, Aaron David Miller. Good to see both of you, gentlemen. So, appreciate you.

MARKS: Thank you, Fred.

MILLER: Thank you, Fred,

WHITFIELD: All right, conducting that interview with President Zelensky in Munich is our CNN chief international anchor and correspondent Christiane Amanpour. She does it all. She just sat down with the president.

And so, Christiane, you asked him right off the back, why are you here? I mean, why are you not in your country, helping to secure it and allay the fears of residents there?

And he said, hey, I had breakfast in Ukraine, and I'm going to have dinner there. And I'm never too far away. Why was it so important for him to be on this stage in Munich? Particularly as Russia is threatening, you know, incursion.

AMANPOUR: Well -- right. Well, the thing is, I asked that question --

WHITFIELD: Yes.

AMANPOUR: Not really, you know, just trying to figure out why he wasn't there helping his country. But wasn't he afraid that something might happen in his absence?

You know people have said, the United States have said, maybe Putin will go on the capital Kyiv, maybe he'll want to, you know, install a puppet government, something like that.

And so, I was really quite amazed that he did actually show up and he was very impassioned. He gave a very, very passionate speech about wanting the world to realize that this is not just about Ukraine. That it is about maintaining the rules-based world order that we're meant to be living under, certainly, since the end of the Cold War. And that Ukraine is simply, you know, right there in between the Europe and the NATO alliance and an actor, i.e. President Putin, who shows that he wants to implement his political wishes through unconventional means.

[12:20:11]

AMANPOUR: So, he was very, very passionate about that. And then when I asked him, how he, you know, took the American -- I always use the word aggressive, because it is. It's very full-frontal, U.S. use of intelligence and information.

You know, it's the first time in our experience that the intelligence agencies have allowed the president and others to use so much intelligence in real-time to try, in this case, to head off a war. To put Putin on notice. And to put everybody else on notice that we know what he's up to. At least the U.S. would say that.

So, this is what Zelensky said to me after his speech to the auditorium.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ZELENSKY: We are not going to advance on anyone, but we stand ready for -- to respond to everything, that we cannot remain passive. We cannot say on the daily basis that war will happen tomorrow.

What kind of state will is it going to be? What kind of economy is it going to be? How can you live in the state when on the daily basis, you're being told that tomorrow the war will happen? Tomorrow, the advanced will happen? It means crashing national currency, money is being taken out, business flying out.

Can you live in that kind of country? Can you have a stability in that kind of country? No. And those who want to disbalance, our country from within multiple, and everyone wants Ukraine to be weak. Weak economy, weak army. And if there is weak army, you can just go ahead and invade. And we won't be able to protect neither our people, neither our children nor the economy.

This is why our response is very calm.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

AMANPOUR: So, that's what he -- his answer was to how come you've kept a very disciplined and very calm reaction, certainly in public to all this extraordinary pressure that you are facing, and that was his answer, obviously.

I could tell that he was more anxious than it appeared in recent days. Obviously, the situation on the border keeps ratcheting up. Obviously, there are certain issues that are taking place.

For instance, President Zelensky said at least two Ukrainian soldiers have been killed in the last couple of days in that area -- disputed area of eastern Ukraine. And the Russians have claimed that there are Ukrainian explosions, mines have exploded on the Russian side.

Well, he denies that. But he says, you know, we're under this pressure. Where they're trying to provoke us, trying to provoke us, and we have to be incredibly careful.

The other thing he said was, you know, why don't you just released the list of sanctions publicly against Putin? You keep talking about a united front of sanctions, but why don't you release them so that he and the rest of the world knows what you will face? If indeed, he does invade? Back to you.

WHITFIELD: Yes. Public, and he says, why don't you do it now, preemptive to any kind of invasion? He said, what kind of deterrent is it, if you wait until after Russia were to invade?

What was the reaction, perhaps from the audience? Or did they feel like, you know, he is got -- he is in good company by making that kind of statement or challenge?

AMANPOUR: Well, they didn't actually react to that specifically. But I will tell you that when he came on to the stage, and when he left, he got a thunderous standing ovation.

I think people really know, certainly the people who attend this Munich Security Conference. And don't forget, the U.S. Secretary of State has been here. The whole delegation has been led by the U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris, and the NATO secretary-general and the German chancellor, and, you know, top-level ministers in the national security, and military segment of society here, because it's called the Munich Security Conference.

And I think he realized that he had a huge amount of support from this -- from this audience, and from the world.

And don't forget, President Putin has already -- essentially failed in the two things that he wanted to stop. He wanted to, you know, keep Ukrainians having a high opinion of Russia. And now, that has plummeted with President Putin's new aggressive posture over the last several months. And he wanted Ukrainians not to join E.U., NATO, or anything like that.

Because now, the sentiment for Ukrainians to join NATO has skyrocketed since these provocations by President Putin. Zelensky himself, again, said that he wanted to join NATO because that would be a protection for his country, and for the rest of the world.

He said that we don't want to be a buffer zone between Russia and Europe. We're not here to be your pawns. We really do actually need protection.

But I asked him specifically about that when he sat down, and he said we understand that this is not something you know, today, tomorrow or even next year. We just want to know the actual full timeline and conditions for when we can apply.

[12:25:04] AMANPOUR: So, he hasn't given up on that, but certainly is not making a big deal in public of wanting that to happen immediately.

WHITFIELD: Yes. Well, it was fascinating top to bottom. Christiane Amanpour, thank you so much for bringing it to us.

AMANPOUR: Thank you so much.

WHITFIELD (voice-over): All right, so much more -- many more states are actually rolling back COVID restrictions. And California's governor has announced that his state will be the first to treat COVID-19 as an endemic risk. What this may mean for potential return to normalcy?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD (on camera): All right, California is entering a new chapter of the pandemic. Governor Newsom, declaring that his state is shifting its strategy to more of an endemic response.

CNN's Camila Bernal has more.

CAMILA BERNAL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Living with the virus, turning the page endemic.

[12:30:00]

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm tired of it. I'm tired. I think I'm COVID tired.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The fatigue is real.

CAMILA BERNAL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): No matter what you call it, many wanting to move on.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just kind of it was exhausting and very tiring.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's over. Let's move on.

BERNAL (voice-over): This week, more than Democrat run states moving to end mask mandates. New Mexico announcing an immediate end to its indoor mask mandate. Washington State too but starting March 21st.

GOV. JAY INSLEE (D-WA): We will no longer have a state mandate for wearing masks in indoor spaces. We think that's a very important step in the next part of our journey to normalcy.

BERNAL (voice-over): North Carolina's Governor encouraging local governments and schools to end mass mandates.

GOV. ROY COOPER (R-NC): Now we take a positive step on mask requirements to help us move safely toward a more normal day to day life.

BERNAL (voice-over): And California's Governor Gavin Newsom, focusing on the next phase of living with the virus.

GOV. GAVIN NEWSOM (D-CA): We have all come to understand what was not understood at the beginning of this crisis, that there is no end date, that there is not a moment where we declare victory.

BERNAL (voice-over): Newsom's plan includes the ability and resources to continue testing and vaccinating, and the expansion of school based vaccine sites. Local governments can impose their own mandates, but the state's mask mandate for indoor businesses expired this week. Opinions and emotions on this still high.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When you feel more comfortable, you should wear your -- wear the mask. And if you don't want it, you don't wear it.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A lot of people going to sick, a lot of people died. We could have done a lot things better. But at this point, I feel like we should still kind of be trying our best.

BERNAL (voice-over): Dr. Anthony Fauci saying that getting rid of masks is risky. And there's another concern, the Omicron sub variant BA.2. One preprint lab studies showing it may spread faster and may cause more severe disease.

DR. F. PERRY WILSON, ASSOC. PROFESSOR, YALE SCHOOL OF MEDICINE: The good news is, though, we're not seeing much BA.2 in the United States at all.

BERNAL (voice-over): Instead, COVID hospitalizations have dropped to near pre-Omicron levels, a welcome sign for the future.

WILSON: If we're going to live with this thing, let's live with it as safely as we possibly can.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BERNAL: And California has been one of the most strict states when it comes to these COVID mandates. So it will be interesting to see if there are other states or even local governments that follow California's plan. Now, there are still a lot of unknowns, for example, another variant or an increase in hospitalizations. But despite all of this, most of the people that I've talked to have told me that even with those unknowns, they're simply ready to move on. Fred?

WHITFIELD: All right, understood. Camila Bernal, thank you so much in Los Angeles.

All right, President Biden says he is convinced that Russian President Vladimir Putin has made a decision to attack Ukraine. CNN is now learning that the President had not initially been planning to announce that during the speech. More on this straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[12:35:52] WHITFIELD: President Biden saying now he is convinced Russian President Vladimir Putin has made the decision to invade Ukraine. But he's also emphasizing there is still room for diplomacy. CNN's Arlette Saenz joining me now from the White House. So Arlette, we're learning new details of how Biden came to this revelation about Putin and why he decided to publicize those thoughts.

ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Fred, this marked a significant change in messaging from President Biden who, for weeks, has said they did not have insight into whether President Putin had made that final decision to invade Ukraine. But yesterday speaking to reporters in the Roosevelt Room here at the White House, the President said that he is convinced that Putin has made that decision.

Now these comments did not come in the President's prepared opening remarks. Instead, he revealed his view of Putin's thinking when questioned by reporters afterwards. That sentiment has also been echoed in the day since including from Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, who has been traveling in Lithuania.

And sources have told us that this matter, this view on Putin's decision is based in part on the intelligence assessments that Russian forces, about half of Russian forces have now moved into an attack position around the borders of Ukraine, marking a significant developments in those movements and intentions. But President Biden, even as he was warning that a Russian attack could occur at any time, he also stressed that there is still a -- some room for diplomacy even if that window for diplomacy is narrowing.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken is set to meet with his counterpart Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Thursday. But Biden said that meeting will only move forward if Russia does not conduct an attack. Otherwise, Biden said Russia would be shutting the door on diplomacy.

Now, the President had been considering departing the White House this weekend to go to one of his Delaware homes. But officials have told us that he decided to stay here in Washington to monitor this situation between Russia and Ukraine. We do know that the President a short while ago, went to lunch at a restaurant just a few blocks away from the White House to meet with two of his granddaughters. But officials have said that he and his national security team have really been drilling in on these issues regarding Ukraine and Russia.

Of course, Vice President Kamala Harris is in Munich, Germany this weekend for the Munich Security Conference where she is trying to rally allies to show this united front. She's also meeting with heads of state including the Ukrainian President Zelensky. And she had an issue that warning that we've heard repeatedly from administration officials that Russia would face severe consequences if they move forward with an attack. Fred?

WHITFIELD: All right, Arlette Saenz at the White House, thanks so much.

All right, closing arguments are set to begin Monday in the federal hate crime trial for the three men convicted of murdering Ahmaud Arbery. This after stunning testimony from Travis McMichael's former boss who said he fired McMichael for lying about his role in Arbery's killing. Details next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[12:43:37]

WHITFIELD: All right, closing arguments are set to begin Monday in the federal hate crime trial of the three men convicted of killing Ahmaud Arbery. During the four days of testimony, Travis McMichael's former boss Joe Mandela, said he fired McMichael for lying to him about his role in Arbery's death. Travis McMichael, Gregory McMichael and William Bryan were convicted in November of murdering Arbery.

CNN's Nadia Romero is live for us in Brunswick, Georgia. So Nadia, what can be expected during the closing arguments on Monday?

NADIA ROMERO, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Fred. Monday morning, right here in this courthouse, 9:15 a.m. closing arguments. And let's start with the defense. So the defense, of course, doesn't have the burden of proof. They already presented there one witness who came to the stand, a woman who lived in the same neighborhood as the defendants, the same neighborhood where Ahmaud Arbery was killed, and she spoke about that neighborhood. But she didn't know the defendant's personally.

And the defense will tell you this is not about race at all. They say that the three defendants knew about a man, a black man who had been going in and out of a vacant property, a home that was under construction. And they knew that some items were missing from that home and from a vehicle and they believe Ahmaud Arbery was the person vandalizing and stealing things from their neighborhood.

They were only trying to do a citizen's arrest, but then he resisted. And they killed him but it was all self-defense. It had nothing to do with the color of his skin.

[12:45:06]

The defense is already saying that they know that their defendants, that their clients are not great guys, but that doesn't mean they killed him because they're racist. Now, Ahmaud Arbery's mother says this case, this federal hate crimes trial, it matters so much. All three men already facing life in prison, but this case will send a message. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WANDA COOPER-JONES, AHMAUD ARBERY'S MOTHER: It says to the nation that you cannot grab your guns and chase down a black man because he's running. And he had not committed the crime, that they will be held accountable for their actions.

(END VIDEO CLIP) ROMERO: So the prosecution brought forth 20 witnesses compared to just the one witness from the defense. And all of those witnesses talked about text messages, social media posts, and personal conversations. As you mentioned, Fred, the boss of Travis McMichael about all their interactions to lay the ground to say that all these men had a long history of being racist, that they did not like black people and that hatred was deeply rooted in their souls. And that is why they targeted, attacked and ultimately killed Ahmaud Arbery.

That is what the prosecution will try to prove in their closing arguments. Again, Fred, that happens right here on Monday morning. Fred?

WHITFIELD: OK. And of course, we'll have live coverage of that here on CNN. Nadia Romero, thank you so much.

All right, much more from CNN's interview with the Ukrainian President Zelensky. He's calling for a list of sanctions on Moscow to be made public now. We'll discuss.

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[12:51:19]

WHITFIELD: We continue celebrating black history month with a special series called "Inspiring Voices." Journalist Gwen Ifill was the first black woman to moderate a vice presidential debate and to co-anchor a national news program. She was a trailblazer for many women and black journalists including myself and my colleague, Laura Jarrett, who became a journalist because of her.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GWEN IFILL, PBS NEWSHOUR HOST: I'm Gwen Ifill of the News Hour and Washington Week on PBS.

Ronald Reagan's legacy.

LAURA JARRETT, CNN ANCHOR, EARLY START: She was hungry and she was ambitious, but she didn't let her success and her drive overwhelm her ability to be kind. Part of what's so inspiring about Gwen Ifill story are the times that she was told no. She was told by the Washington Post that she wasn't ready to cover Capitol Hill and so she went somewhere else and she just kept pushing for it. She didn't let that deter her.

MICHELE NORRIS, JOURNALIST AND FRIEND OF GWEN IFILL: She learned how to speak to authority without being sent to her room. That is a really valuable asset in journalism, where you're yelling questions at presidents on tarmacs.

JARRETT: I found that so inspiring when I was ready to make a big change in my career. And I had a lot of people tell me I was crazy to leave that law firm. But I knew that I had to make a change.

Three, two. I came to journalism late in my career. And I remember I was working on my senior thesis and it was about false confessions during police interrogations. And I knew that I needed a human story to draw the reader in.

UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER (in unison): Justice for the jogger.

JARRETT: And so I focused on the Central Park Jogger case and the injustices that I saw in that case, and I approached it, like an investigator, and it was one of the first times I saw how storytelling can be used for social change.

The other thing that was so inspiring about Gwen story, is the environment that she found herself in and how she was able to navigate it. She's a black woman from a modest background, who didn't go to Ivy League schools and predominantly white male spaces and thriving.

NORRIS: She had the confidence to speak to authority in a way that was not necessarily disrespectful, but help them understand their own blind spots.

IFILL: So I want to talk to you about AIDS, and not about AIDS in China or Africa, but aids right here in this country, where black women between the ages of 25 and 44 are 13 times more likely to die of the disease than their counterparts. What should the government's role be in helping to end the growth of this epidemic?

JARRETT: Whether she was on a panel on Meet the Press, or she's moderating a vice presidential debate, she had a certain confidence about her.

IFILL: I want to get -- try to get you both to answer a question that neither of your principals quite answered when my colleague Jim Lehrer asked it last week.

JARRETT: Ifill died in 2016 after complications from cancer. She was 61 years old.

IFILL: It's not enough to have walked this path and then to leave it unoccupied when you're done.

JARRETT: She cared about the young people that were coming behind her.

LYNN WOOTEN, PRESIDENT, SIMMONS UNIVERSITY: The College of Media Arts and Humanity was named after Gwen in 2018. And when I think about Gwen's legacy in this building here, it's creating the safe and brave space for young adults to be their best self. She was iconic in the world.

NORRIS: She was herself. You know, she smiled. She laughed while she was covering things but she was still tough as nails.

JARRETT: She had the courage of her convictions and never let anyone see her sweat.

IFILL: I'm Gwen Ifill, thank you and good night. (END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Oh, I so agree with Laura and Michelle there. Gwen Ifill and I were both correspondents at NBC News at the same time. And on every level, she exemplified greatness as a colleague, as a friend and as a mentor to so many.

[12:55:12]

All right, former President Donald Trump's legal woes only got worse this week after a federal judge said civil lawsuits seeking to hold Trump accountable for January 6 could move forward. Plus, major developments in the New York Attorney General's probe into the Trump Organization, we'll break it all down.

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