Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

VP Harris Says The United States Stands With Ukraine; Belarus, Russia Conduct Joint Military Drills Near Ukraine; Helicopter Crashes Near Miami Beach, Two People Hurt; Protesters Clash With Police In Canada, 170 Arrested Since Friday; Closing Arguments Begin Monday In Hate Crimes Trial; Ukraine-Russia Crisis Affecting Gas Prices, Inflation In U.S. Aired 6-7p ET

Aired February 19, 2022 - 18:00   ET

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

[18:00:15]

PAMELA BROWN, CNN HOST (voice over): Tonight, tensions near a breaking point with Russia building up an army around Ukraine. Vice President Harris and Ukrainian President Zelensky sit for a face-to-face meeting.

KAMALA HARRIS (D), VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: If Russia further invades your country, we will impose swift and severe economic sanctions. The United States stands with Ukraine.

BROWN (voice over): Zelensky pleads for Russian sanctions to be made public now.

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): After our country will be fired at or after we will have no borders, why would we need those sanctions then?

BROWN (voice over): As Vladimir Putin watches nuclear drills near the border, U.S. officials fear attacks are imminent.

JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: As of this moment, I'm convinced he has made the decision. We have reason to believe that.

LLOYD JAMES AUSTIN III, U.S. SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: If you look at the stance that he is in today, it is apparent that he has made a decision and that they're moving into the right positions to be able to conduct an attack.

BROWN (on camera): I am Pamela Brown in Washington. You are in the CNN NEWSROOM on this Saturday.

In Ukraine, the sound and the fury of a ceasefire under siege.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Go faster.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Go, go, go.

(END VIDEO CLIP) BROWN: Ukraine Ukraine's Interior Minister and a CNN news crew came

under mortar fire today in eastern Ukraine. This is one of at least 70 violations of the ceasefire reported there today. No one was hurt in this incident, but Ukraine says two of its soldiers were killed elsewhere, and is part of the escalation that has convinced the White House that Russian President Putin has decided to attack Ukraine.

Today, Putin oversaw a strategic weapons exercise from the Kremlin Situation Room, as did his ally, the President of Belarus, which is on Ukraine's northern border.

Ukraine is now surrounded by Russian forces on three sides, as you see right here. Russia is denying any plans to invade as Vice President Harris and other Western leaders met with Ukraine's President today at the Global Security Summit in Germany.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: The United States take seriously the importance of the integrity and the territorial integrity of Ukraine and your sovereignty, and the United States stands with Ukraine.

ZELENSKY: We do clearly understand what is going on. This is our land and the only thing we want is to have peace, bring the peace back to our country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: Ukraine's President Zelensky stressing his desire for a diplomatic solution to avoid bloodshed, even as U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin described Russia as quote "uncoiling and now poised to strike" end quote.

I want to bring in Jill Dougherty. She was CNN's Moscow bureau chief for nearly a decade and is now a contributor. Jill joins us from Moscow.

Hi, Jill. So both President Biden and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, they believe Vladimir Putin has made the decision to invade. What is the sense there in Russia? Is there any sign that people are bracing for war?

JILL DOUGHERTY, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: You know, I wouldn't say, Pamela that it is bracing for war. It's more what they're seeing on TV is pictures of people in that Donbas region, which is the eastern part of Ukraine, and pictures of people being loaded onto buses and being taken out of Ukraine into Russia.

In other words, they're looking at more the possible pretext for Russia to take action to go in and help those people, protect them, rescue them, whatever. So, it's not -- I don't think Russia would say, because they deny that they want to attack, what they would say is: We need to protect the people in there, and that theoretically, could give a pretext for an attack.

BROWN: And today, Vladimir Putin oversaw a Russian strategic weapons exercise. Why are these exercises so particularly important?

DOUGHERTY: I think they're very important, at least it both physically and symbolically. So physically, this is what's called the nuclear triad and he was in the control room, the Situation Room in the Kremlin watching this take place.

So the triad is usually nuclear weapons that can be delivered either by land, sea, or air, and so they went through each type and they use some of the most sophisticated cutting-edge weapons and missiles that Russia has, you know from the air, the Kinzhal which is a hypersonic missile.

[18:05:09]

DOUGHERTY: From the sea, they have the Kalibrs and the Tsirkons, and then from the land these giant Yars ICBMs, intercontinental ballistic missiles.

Now, it's important to say nobody is talking about nuclear war at this point. This is not what we're talking about in Ukraine. But this show of strength really, is an advertisement for Russia to say, you know, we are the nuclear power and the United States is the other one, and they can change the equations supposedly, you know, with showing their power.

BROWN: All right, Jill Doherty in Moscow for us tonight. Thank you very much.

If Russia attacks Ukraine, U.S. officials believe one launch point could be Belarus. The Belarusian and Russian militaries have been conducting joint drills along the Ukrainian border. CNN's Fred Pleitgen has a closer look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Russia's Army on the offensive in major live fire drills with Belarusian forces inside Belarus, but close to the border with Ukraine, practicing for a massive onslaught, the commander explaining their objective.

"Today, at the live-fire demonstration, a defensive battle was shown and then a counter strike to restore the forces position along the front line," he says.

These troops are part of the more than 150,000 soldiers Russia has amassed around Ukraine, the U.S. believes. Washington fears Belarus could be one of the launching pads for an attack on Ukraine even though Moscow claims it has no such plans.

PLEITGEN (on camera): In these very tense times, Russia is really flexing its military muscle, not just with these massive drills here in Belarus, but with exercises elsewhere as well involving some of Russia's more elite combat units.

PLEITGEN (voice over): Vladimir Putin himself oversaw nuclear drills near NATO's borders, involving some of Russia's most dangerous weapons like the Kinzhal hypersonic air to ground missile, or the intercontinental ballistic missile Yars fired from a mobile launcher.

Russia fired missiles from air land and sea showing off the Kremlin's nuclear arsenal. "The main goal of the ongoing exercise is to work out actions to inflict guaranteed defeat on the enemy," Putin's top General said.

The widespread military power play comes as the U.S. believes Vladimir Putin has already made a decision to invade Ukraine.

AUSTIN: I believe that we should continue to try up until the very last minute until it's no longer possible, but I think -- I think if you look at the stance that he is in today, it is apparent that he has made a decision and that they are moving into the right positions to be able to conduct an attack.

PLEITGEN (voice over): Russia denies it will attack Ukraine, but its leadership so far has not announced any timeline for the withdrawal of the massive forces it has placed around Ukraine.

Fred Pleitgen, CNN, Obuz-Lesnovsky, Belarus.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: And let's continue this discussion with retired Army Lieutenant General Mark Hertling. He is a CNN military analyst and was the Commanding General of Europe and the Seventh Army.

Hi, there. We just saw Fred's reporting on the military drills, the buildup in Belarus, north of Ukraine. Could this show of power in the north be a possible distraction? I mean, after all, Russia has forces that could attack not only from the north, but also the east or south.

LT. GEN. MARK HERTLING (RET), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Well, it could be a distraction, Pamela, but it also is a performance. You know, Fred, his great reporting that he is delivering there has some good film, but it is exactly what the Russian and the Belarusians want us to see.

It is not a training exercise. It is not a training drill. It is a performance. And having seen many of these in my career in Europe, especially from some of these kinds of countries like Belarus and Russia, there are some things that stick out that show that it is a very rote, lockstep performance for the cameras as opposed to getting the soldiers ready.

Having said that, though, you'll see the focus was primarily on the artillery and the long range weapons, the area, fire weapons, if you will. That is what the Russians depend upon whenever they go into the attack.

What they didn't show was the maneuver of their ground forces, and what they also haven't talked about is some of the things that are leading up to the potential uncoiling and eventual attack.

I talked last night with one of our colleagues about something called a synchronization metrics where you plan for what you're going to do in each step of the way occurs, one after another. We're seeing some of the unconventional asymmetric gray zone pieces that the Russians are doing right now before they potentially go into the attack and they still have a plan or they still have the potential, Pamela, I'm sorry, to stop all of this, and to go the diplomatic approach, just not sure that they will.

[18:10:13]

BROWN: Right. I mean, at this point, though, do you think there is any hope that they're going to go the diplomatic approach? I mean, officials have been trying that approach for so long now, and clearly, it doesn't seem to be deterring Putin at all.

HERTLING: Well, truthfully, Pam, for the last couple of weeks, I didn't think this was going to happen. I personally did not believe that Mr. Putin would be dumb enough to do this. This will be disastrous, not only for Ukraine, it will cause massive amounts of casualty and destruction if he were to attack.

But it's also going to be devastating, in my view, to the Russian force, because Ukrainian military is much better than I think Mr. Putin ever thinks it would have gotten to. I've watched them develop over the last decade or so, they are a very good force, and they will fight hard for their country in a very patriotic manner.

But it will also cause Mr. Putin to be a pariah on the world stage, not just in Europe, but all over the world. I think we're seeing a lot of people come together even the Chinese government today said that they did not support this kind of incursion into Ukraine.

So we're beginning to see a lot of people stand up to Mr. Putin. NATO is rock solid. And he's getting something from the United States that I don't think he expected.

BROWN: Yes, that was interesting. The top Chinese official basically pushing for the diplomatic route, which is notable, because of course, Putin has been trying to show his unity with China, he was just in Beijing. So that is something that is worth pointing out there.

At the same time, U.S. Intelligence keeps coming in, and it is worth noting how the U.S. officials have been trying to put out Intelligence to show Russia that it has its calling card. But basically, Russia, we're told has a list of Ukrainian political figures that it would target if it invades and topples the government. The Intel says they could be jailed or assassinated.

What is your reaction does to that? Does that seem credible to you?

HERTLING: It does, because they've done it before. We have seen this occur in other places like, two, I'll give examples of Chechnya and Georgia when the Russians attacked into those two countries. And what I'd suggest, Pam, I think our government is doing two different things. They are countering what's called the MDM, the misinformation, disinformation and malinformation. But they're also pushing the information out that they know they have

Intelligence on, that says: Hey, watch what is about to happen, because when it does happen, you know that we've got good Intelligence. And the U.S. government and NATO have been very successful in doing that over the last several weeks.

But unfortunately, and I can't understand this, it has not deterred Mr. Putin and his continued press. I think he's also getting some commentary from his military leaders saying this is not a good idea. We do not have the forces that can execute this mission. But unfortunately, he's a power of one that makes the decisions.

BROWN: Yes, I mean, we're still seeing the troop buildup now, it could be up to 190,000 troops there at the border. But you are right, U.S. officials have been saying for quite some time that they're trying to put forth false flag operations as a pretext, and now it appears in the last couple of days, we are seeing signs of that.

General Mark Hertling, thank you very much.

HERTLING: Thank you, Pamela.

BROWN: Have you seen this video? Shocking images caught on this video, a helicopter crashing into the Atlantic near crowded Miami Beach. Miles O'Brien joins us next to help explain what happened.

Plus, the Dolphins' former coach who is suing the NFL and claiming he was paid to lose now has a new job.

And an American bobsledder started the Beijing Olympics in isolation and she finishes as the most decorated Black athlete ever for the Winter Games.

Plus, video evidence of why you should not walk and surf on your phone at the same time.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:18:08]

BROWN: Stunning footage from earlier today in South Florida, a helicopter crashing into the Atlantic Ocean just feet away from swimmers and sunbathers. It happened near Miami's popular South Beach area.

Police say three people were on board, two of them were taken to the hospital reportedly in stable condition. The third person wasn't hurt.

We found someone who saw the whole thing. His name is Wade Callison and he joins me now on the phone, or actually, he is here in the flesh. Wade, so, I mean, stunning. You go to the beach wanting to like enjoy some nice weather, you know, get out of the cold. And then suddenly you see a helicopter coming towards you. What happened from there? What did you see?

WADE CALLISON, WITNESS: Yes. Yes, my daughter, Avery and I were out just knee deep in the water, and there are a lot of little aircraft going over and there was a helicopter coming over and it was getting low, and I kind of thought, you know, that's getting a little low, we should come back a little bit.

We took a few steps towards the shore, and all of a sudden, it dove and it started going towards this couple next to us and we started yelling at them "Move, move, move. It's coming down. It's coming down," and the helicopter just went straight into the water.

The guy and I both ran, we were the closest there. We were probably 20 feet at that to the helicopter. We ran to the helicopter and tried to figure out like how many people were in there, if anyone was hurt and tried to lend aid.

BROWN: So walk us through that moment when it splashes into the water. You're trying to yellow people get away. Were you afraid that running toward the helicopter as it just crashed? I mean, what was going through your mind?

CALLISON: Yes, yes, so it was scary because when it crashed, the canopy broke and came towards us and landed right near us. And in that moment, the instinct was we should get away. I don't know if this thing is going to blow up or not. And then it was like there's people in there. I don't know how many people.

And so we just took off running towards it and thankfully it wasn't deep, it isn't like terribly deep, so we were able to run and be there pretty quickly. But once we were there and like administering aid and trying to get the people, and just about trying to figure out how many people were in there, so the one lady in the front, we were able to see and talk to, and we couldn't see anyone else other than the pilot who just let themselves loose.

[18:20:20]

CALLISON: And so we were trying to get the lady out, we were able to float her out past the broken canopy, get her onto a surfboard and then we got back and then saw the lady in the back, who we found out was the lady's mother and she wasn't moving. She wasn't blinking. She was very non-responsive.

And so the lifeguards that got there at that time started to get her loose and tried to pry her, but she was stuck in there for quite a while and we had about 15 people on the skid trying to stop it from sinking, it was trying to tip over and sink. And so that 15 people were pulling it down to keep it upright so that they could administer aid and we can get her out.

BROWN: Unbelievable. And again, just to remind our viewers that two of the passengers were reportedly in stable condition, the third person wasn't hurt. So the pilot you said was there and got out. What was he doing during all of this? Was he okay?

CALLISON: Yes, so he was actually hurt. He has a big cut in the back of his head and on its arm, he didn't realize it. But when we got to the helicopter, he had already let himself loose here. His seat was the one that was submerged. So he was able to get himself loose and he was standing there and he was kind of directing us.

And this other gentleman and I were trying to get the lady loose, and he was there sort of directing us and trying to help us the best he could. But I'm sure he was really shook up. I mean, we didn't talk at all other than just trying to focus on getting the people out of the helicopter.

BROWN: Incredible that you were there to help. I mean, really, just the fact that you jumped into action in the way that you did, what was the overall reaction there among the beach goers who were just trying to like, enjoy a nice day on the beach when this happened? I mean, it's so -- I can't get over watching this video how close it comes to the swimmers.

CALLISON: Yes, I know and it was right next to us. It was scary and it was the talk of the beach. I mean, a lot of people were taking videos afterwards. A lot of people were there watching. It definitely changed the mood for the day.

I mean, we sat on the beach for a while, but it is all that you can -- it keeps going over your head just seeing this come down, and it's like something out of a movie. It was really, really scary.

BROWN: What did it sound like? What did it look like?

CALLISON: You know, it's funny because the helicopter didn't seem to be in distress other than it was coming low. And it was one of those things where in the moment, you're never sure if they're just coming low, and they're under control or if it's coming down. And so it was just flying, and then all of a sudden, they made this sort of jerk and then tipped and went in and the crash was just tremendous.

I mean, you can see the waves from the video, and those waves hit us because we were close enough to it. It sloshed us. But it was just a huge, huge crash. And then sort of everything goes quiet.

If you're trying to figure out how -- like what the situation is, if anyone is hurt, make sure you keep their head stable. It was definitely everyone, like at their best trying to help these ladies.

BROWN: Well, again, thank you for what you did to try to help them and I'm glad that you're okay and I'm sure you're just still processing all of this.

Wow. Wade Callison, thank you so much.

CALLISON: Yes, absolutely. Thank you, Pam.

BROWN: My goodness. Well, CNN aviation analyst Miles O'Brien joins me now. Miles, you're a pilot yourself. You have some background on the type of helicopter involved in this accident. I'm curious what you think what we just heard from Wade where he said, you know, he couldn't quite tell at first what was going on. It just started coming lower and lower and then it tipped over into the water. What do you think was happening? MILES O'BRIEN, CNN AVIATION ANALYST: Well, Pamela, I just want to --

first of all, just commend Wade and all those people for what they did that. That's an extraordinary story that he just told, might very well have saved a life or two.

But the clue that we need to focus on here is, how low was that helicopter in advance of this crash? Was it violating a Federal Aviation Regulations and flying too low to people, putting itself in harm's way? Now, that in and of itself doesn't necessarily lead to the crash, but it certainly puts the aircraft in a position to make it very difficult for a pilot to recover safely.

BROWN: That makes sense. So helicopters we know can land without power using something called auto rotation. Can you explain that? And do you think that's maybe what the pilot was doing there?

O'BRIEN: Well, one thing I want to point out, Pamela is about six seconds into that video, you'll see a flash around where the tail rotor is. The tail rotor is designed to stop the craft from spinning like the top when the main rotor is spinning.

Now, was that cause or was that effect? Unclear if the craft was in control part of that moment maybe something struck that tail rotor. Now in an instance when you lose a tail rotor or the engine itself, you do have the capability of auto rotating forward.

[18:25:13]

O'BRIEN: When you lose the tail rotor, it's very important to come off the power, stop the main rotor from spinning, and then the helicopter can glide what is called auto rotation.

But this auto rotation was not textbook by any stretch. At the end of the auto rotation as you approach the ground, or in this case, the surface of the water, the pilot is instructed to pull back on the controls to sort of ease the descent, to retard it, and then come down for a softer landing. It didn't look like that happen here.

BROWN: Do you think the pilot was aiming for water instead of land there toward the end? Would that have been the better choice if they had lost power?

O'BRIEN: Yes, well, there's no question he didn't have enough auto rotation distance or glide distance to get to land. He was very low at the time that this all happened. And as the witness reported, he was flying low in advance of that.

So it may not have been a prudent decision to be flying that low to a very crowded beach at a holiday weekend, but that's the kind of thing that the F.A.A. will be investigating as we speak.

BROWN: Yes. What else will they be looking for? We know the F.A.A. and the National Transportation Safety Board will be investigating.

O'BRIEN: Yes, well, I mean, you know, comes down to the pilot, the machine, and the weather. The weather was spectacular, we know that. The machine itself, was there an engine failure? Was there a tail rotor failure? If there was a tail rotor failure, was that caused by some sort of object? Maybe it did strike an object being so low, who knows what it might have struck?

All those things will be on the plate and then ultimately, the decision by the pilot to fly that low near a crowded beach, and ultimately, whether the auto rotation procedure was done correctly.

BROWN: Wow. Miles O'Brien just incredible seeing that video talking to the eyewitness and hearing your expert analysis on all this. Wow. Thank you so much, Miles.

O'BRIEN: You're welcome, Pamela.

BROWN: Pepper spray and escalated tactics. That's what police in Canada's capital say they use to deal with people protesting vaccine mandates.

CNN's Paula Newton is following the story and she joins us next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:30:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: Convoy crackdown in Canada, demonstrators clashing with police as law enforcement attempts to clear streets that have been blocked in the nation's capital for weeks now. The crackdown turned violent today when police used pepper spray and stun grenades to disperse the crowd.

The demonstrators have been rallying against COVID restrictions and jamming trade routes critical to our country for weeks. Police have arrested 170 people over the past two days. CNN's Paula Newton is on the scene in Ottawa. Paula have things calmed down?

PAULA NEWTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: They have to a certain extent. But I do want to tell you at this hour, Pam, that protesters remain there on the streets facing off with police, there are just a few 100 of them at most and we have seen this pattern now for about 24 hours.

I have to tell you, Pam, the scenes on the streets of Ottawa completely unprecedented for really what is one of the largest police operations in Canadian history. And as you were just saying, on the street for more than three weeks now, police said we will give you warnings. They did that. I was there when they were handing out flyers. They were speaking and negotiating in the last few days, but now they've said enough is enough. We are getting the streets back from the protesters.

I want you to listen now to the Interim Police Chief in this city telling protesters that, look, he's hearing complaints about police brutality and this was his answer.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) STEVE BELL, OTTAWA INTERIM POLICE CHIEF: This occupation is over. We

have advised them that if they peacefully leave, they may go home that still exists. We also indicated that we would escalate and forcibly remove people from the streets if they did not comply. Some of that is what you're seeing. So I will stand here today again and say this demonstration is over, go home. If you don't go home, we will remove you from the streets.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NEWTON: What's been so unconventional about this, Pam, is the kind of protests that it is, I mean, the protesters will say, well, look, we're peaceful. That is not the way residents have seen it. And more than that police have said that the complicated task of getting cars and trucks hundreds of them, Pam, off the streets as well as the protest protesters is the issue that there are families there and children.

And twice today, Pam, we had Ottawa police again, tell parents, get your kids away from this situation. If you don't we will arrest you and the Children's Aid Society will have to be taking care of your children. As I said, still a very volatile situation but much calmer than it had been in the middle of the afternoon, Pam.

BROWN: All right. Paula Newton, thank you so much.

The jury will hear closing arguments Monday in the federal hate crimes trial of Ahmaud Arbery's killers. Gregory McMichael, his son Travis and their neighbor William Bryan did not testify in their defense this week. The prosecution called 20 witnesses before resting its case, the defense only called one.

The men were convicted last year of killing Arbery as he jogged through their South Georgia neighborhood. CNN Nadia Romero is following the story. Nadia, what did we learn from the testimony this week?

NADIA ROMERO, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Oh, Pamela, we saw the prosecution bring witness after witness to the stand to testify about their personal interactions with the Michaels.

[18:35:04]

And saying that their conversations often turned into a rant about black people and how Travis or Gregory McMichael didn't like black people, using racial slurs. We also saw the same from Roddie Bryan. The prosecution laid out text messages and social media posts from all three defendants and that's why they say it's clear they didn't like black people, they hated them. And that's why they targeted, attacked and killed Ahmaud Arbery simply because he was a black man in their neighborhood.

Now, all three men already faced life in prison because of conviction in their state trial. But in this federal hate crimes trial, Ahmaud Arbery's mother says it is so important to get a conviction in this case because it sends a clear message. Take a listen. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

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

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMERO: Now defense lawyers have said, listen, our clients are no angels and they've said some horrible, horrible things. But that is not why they went Ahmaud Arbery. They believe that he was going in their neighborhood and stealing things, he was committing crimes and that's why they tried to do a citizen's arrest and then it just turned into self-defense and that's why they had to kill him. Closing arguments are set for Monday morning, Pamela.

BROWN: Nadia Romero, thank you.

An American woman has just become the most decorated black athlete and Winter Olympics' history. A look at her success and why she almost didn't get to compete in Beijing next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:41:19]

BROWN: The final day of the Beijing Winter Olympics will begin in just a few hours from now. And earlier, American bobsledder Elena Meyers Taylor took home a bronze medal and earned a place in Winter Olympic history. I want to bring in CNN World Sport Host Don Riddell. Hi, there, Don, what made this bronze so special?

DON RIDDELL, CNN HOST, WORLD SPORT: Well, it was special for so many reasons, Pamela, but mainly because it makes Meyers Taylor, the most decorated black athlete in Winter Olympic history. And it's something that she certainly couldn't have imagined when she arrived in Beijing because she barely got off the plane when she tested positive for COVID-19 and was sent into isolation.

And at that point, she didn't know if she was going to be able to compete at all. She had a young son, Nico, with her. She was having to send breast milk out of the room so that he could be fed. She was able to train but not in the way that she would have liked. When she did get out, she missed the opening ceremony in which she was supposed to be carrying the flag for the American team.

But she quickly got involved. She won silver in the inaugural monobob competition and then on Saturday, as you say, bronze in the two women bobsled. And earlier on, she was just reflecting on everything that has transpired, just remarkable.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ELENA MEYERS TAYLOR: This has been incredible Olympics, starting out in isolation, I had no idea what was possible. But fortunately, I had a great team behind me, who believed in me, who believed that this was possible and I couldn't have asked for a better outcome. I couldn't have asked for a better Olympics and it just goes to show you that even when the cards are stacked against you, if you have the right support behind you, you could still achieve great things.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RIDDELL: And she couldn't imagine this when she was a college athlete. She went to college on a softball scholarship. She dreamed of playing in the Summer Olympics. She's ended up becoming a Winter Olympic legend, winning five medals in all, dating all the way back to 2010. And she has helped really change the look of the Winter Olympics, especially in bobsled.

Seven of the eight women in bobsled team in the American team are black. She's 37 years of age. She's hinted that this will be her last Olympics, Pamela, but she will be going out on a high for obvious reasons. Her team have also cast her to carry the flag in the closing ceremony since she didn't get to do it in the opening ceremony.

BROWN: She's a hero in so many ways. Also through this she's been nursing, she has a young son who is there with her. I mean, just incredible what she has been able to accomplish.

RIDDELL: Yes.

BROWN: So I want to shift gears quickly to the NFL, the Pittsburgh Steelers have hired Brian Flores their defensive coaching staff. He is currently suing the NFL for racial discrimination. What is the reaction been to his hire?

RIDDELL: Well, it's an interesting development, isn't it? Of course, people who don't follow the NFL will have really learned about Brian Flores in the last few weeks because he's suing the NFL and three teams including his former team, the Miami Dolphins for discrimination, racial discrimination in the hiring process.

I think for the supporters of Bryan Flores. The good news is he has a job again in the NFL. The bad news, he's not a head coach anymore. He will be working for Mike Tomlin at the Steelers. Tomlin is one of only two black coaches in the NFL. This of course in a league with 70 percent black players, and his lawyer has said today that the lawsuit against the NFL will still proceed. He's not giving up on that.

BROWN: Don Riddell, thank you so much. Always great to see you.

Well, the Ukraine-Russia crisis could hit home for millions of Americans. That is because it could cause gas prices to shoot up even more

[18:45:00]

We're going break it down with CNN Economics Commentator Catherine Rampell up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [18:49:32]

BROWN: Half a world away. The simmering tension between Ukraine and Russia could have real implications for millions of Americans in several ways. All right, inflation is pushing gas prices higher across the country. And if Russia invades Ukraine, it is likely to get much worse. In fact, right now in California, regular gas is edging close to five bucks a gallon and it's not just higher prices at the pump, signs of escalation have spooked stock markets. The Dow had its worst day of the year on Thursday.

[18:50:04]

Joining me now with more, CNN Economics and Political Commentator Catherine Rampell. She is also an Opinion Columnist at The Washington Post. Hi, Catherine. Tell us why does a crisis in Eastern Europe affect oil prices here? Why should we be concerned about that?

CATHERINE RAMPELL, CNN ECONOMICS COMMENTATOR: Oil is a global market and so the price of oil is set by that global market. If there is a disruption in supply in Russia, which is one of the biggest oil producers in the world, that affects what prices get charged for oil, and therefore, for products that are made of oil, including gasoline.

So that's the big risk here. And there could be disruptions in supply, not only because of the actual conflict itself, but because of things like sanctions, for example. So all of that can later on lead to a higher pain at the pump.

BROWN: So how long could a potential spike last and what else can the U.S. do to ease the pain?

RAMPELL: Well, that really depends on whether there is a conflict, how the world responds to it, and how long that conflict lasts. The last time that we saw oil prices get up to hundred dollars a barrel, which is what we're inching towards right now, I think that translated to gasoline prices of about $3.70. This is back in I think, 2014 or so. So you could see something along those lines. That's nationwide, of course, it varies somewhat depending on where you are.

But it's hard to say exactly how it would translate and, again, depending on how long any potential conflict lasts, how long that pain itself would last as well. As for your question about what the United States could do, Biden has already been asking Saudi Arabia, for example, to up production so that you don't have as much volatility in the oil market. So that if there is some sort of disruption with Russian oil, then maybe Saudi Arabia could pick up the slack.

So far, the Saudis have been unreceptive to those pleas, in part because OPEC has made a deal with Russia, made a deal about a year ago to set particular limits on how much oil it could produce and is continuing to side with Russia.

BROWN: So you have this concern of this potential invasion into Ukraine by Russia and what that could mean for the oil market. And then you also have inflation and the lingering supply chain issues. On that front, how long do you think it will be before that eases?

RAMPELL: That really depends on a number of factors, including the path of the pandemic. There are a number of reasons that are contributing to the higher prices that we've been seeing, not only at the pump, but in grocery stores and in pretty much everything that consumers buy.

And one of the factors, of course, is the supply chain problems around the world labor shortages, factories getting shut down, et cetera. Another issue has to do with the fact that demand is really strong here in the United States. And so as long as there continues to be these kinds of disruptions, because of supply chain issues, because of the pandemic, amongst other problems, including geopolitical risks, I think you'll continue to see upward pressure on prices.

Now, with that said, the Federal Reserve whose job is officially to keep prices stable, has indicated that it will soon begin raising interest rates, which should put a damper on that really strong demand that I was just talking about. And in theory, at least, reduce the amount of inflation that we're seeing now.

Again, a lot of other variables at play here and it could take a while before any sort of interest rate hike actually works its way through the economy. But there is a hope that the pandemic is hopefully receding or at least the effects on the national economy to some extent the global economy may be receding of that pandemic, even as people are obviously still growing ill and passing away and that these kinds of policy interventions may further get these inflationary pressures under control. But a lot is still unknown, obviously, at this point.

BROWN: So with so much unknown, what is your advice for us in terms of minimizing the financial pain?

RAMPELL: in terms of inflation, so if you can delay any sort of major durable good purchase, which is just a fancy way of saying things like buying a car, a big appliance, any sort of big, major purchase like that, delay it because those are the kinds of goods that are having the most difficulty working their way through these global supply chains.

People really want them right now. It's hard to get cars, it's hard to get fridges, it's hard to get ovens and furniture and things like that. So if you can delay it, obviously do it.

In terms of your actual investments. The advice depends a little bit on how close you are to retirement. Generally for younger people, investing in stocks for the long run is still a relatively common sense bet.

[18:55:02]

You don't have to take your money out anytime soon. You can probably ride out this inflationary spike. And besides that, markets tend to beat inflation in the long run, have historically done so. If you are closer to retirement age or in fact retired, obviously, you don't want to take on that amount of risk. There are some kinds of financial products out there, like treasuries that are basically hedging against inflation that are available to you.

So it depends what kind of risk you're trying to manage here, where you are, in terms of retirement, and how much flexibility you obviously have about your budget. A lot of people don't have the choice of putting off a new oven purchase if their oven has just conked out. So limited options here, but do what you can.

BROWN: All right. Catherine Rampell, thank you so much, and we'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)