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Ex-Dolphins Coach Brian Flores Joins Steelers Amid NFL Lawsuit; Ukraine's Zelensky Talks To CNN's Amanpour About Russian "Threat"; Outspoken Putin Critic, Garry Kasparov, Discusses Russia/Ukraine Crisis; California Unveils Nation's First Post-Pandemic Plan; States Move To Life School Mask Mandates As Omicron Wanes; Helicopter Crashes Near Miami Beach, Two People Hurt; American Bobsledder Elana Meyers Taylor Becomes Most Decorated Black Athlete In Winter Olympics History. Aired 8-9p ET

Aired February 19, 2022 - 20:00   ET

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

[20:00:00]

PAMELA BROWN, CNN HOST: In a statement, the Steelers Head Coach Mike Tomlin, now one of just two black head coaches in the league, says he's, quote:

"Excited about Brian Flores joining our coaching staff given his history of developing and teaching defensive players during his time in the NFL. Brian's resume speaks for itself. And I look forward to him adding his expertise to help our team."

Flores recently told CNN he was going forward with his lawsuit despite it possibly costing him a coaching job. And Flores' lawyers say his suit will still continue.

The next hour of CNN starts now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN (voice-over): Tonight, tensions near a breaking point --

(GUNFIRE)

BROWN: -- with Russia building up an army around Ukraine.

Vice President Harris and Ukrainian President Zelensky sit for a face- to-face meeting.

KAMALA HARRIS, 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: 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 would have no borders, why would we need those sanctions then?

BROWN: As Vladimir Putin watches nuclear drills, U.S. officials fear attacks are imminent.

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: As of this moment, I'm convinced he's made his decision.

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

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: I'm Pamela Brown in Washington. You're in the CNN NEWSROOM. Great to have you along with us on this Saturday evening.

And we begin this hour with the Russia/Ukraine crisis and a new measure of the growing concern.

President Biden will convene a national Security Council meeting tomorrow in the Situation Room to discuss the troubling developments and escalating violence.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(EXPLOSION)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Go faster. Go, go, go.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: 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 cease-fire reported there today.

No one was hurt in this incident, but Ukraine says two of its soldiers were killed elsewhere.

It's part of the escalation that has convinced the White House that Vladimir Putin has decided to attack Ukraine.

Today, the Russian president oversaw a strategic weapons exercise from the Kremlin situation room, as did his ally, the president of Belarus.

Ukraine is now surrounded by Russian forces on three sides.

As Russia denies any plans to invade, Vice President Harris and other Western leaders met with Ukrainian's president today at a security summit in Germany.

Here's Great Britain's foreign secretary.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LIZ TRUSS, BRITISH FOREIGN SECRETARY: This is one of the most dangerous moments for European security that we've experienced since early in the 20th century. And we need to show un unprecedented unity.

There are many people who would want to think hopefully about the situation. But I think we need to prepare for the worst-case scenario, and that worst-case scenario could happen as early as next week.

The reality is that Russia does want to turn the clock back.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: Strong words there.

And U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin was just as blunt today. He said that Russia is, quote, "uncoiling and now poised to strike."

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

Jill, both President Biden and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin believe Vladimir Putin has made the decision to invade.

Do you see a diplomatic path to end this crisis?

JILL DOUGHERTY, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: You know, diplomatically, at least judging by what we know publicly, I have to say that, I am not that optimistic.

Because if you look at what Russia has been saying, they want what they call a package, essentially a package deal, which is the entirely revamping the post-Cold War structure, security structure in Europe.

And they say that the United States is ignoring its red lines.

And I went back, you know, to reread just a couple days ago. We had the statement, it was a response by Russia to the United States' response to Russia's original response.

And what they're saying there is, you know, if the U.S. is not willing to abide by these legally binding guarantees, then we, Russia, would be forced to use military technical means or measures.

Now, that's a phrase that President Putin has used. He used it quite a while ago. Not clear exactly what it means. But it does not sound good.

[20:04:58]

So unless there's something that is going on behind the scenes -- and we don't know that there is -- then it does not look promising diplomatically.

BROWN: It certainly doesn't.

I do want to ask you about these exercises going on. Vladimir Putin oversaw this Russia strategic weapons exercise.

What is the significance of that? Why are these exercises so important?

DOUGHERTY: Well, you know, preface it by saying no one is talking about using nuclear weapons in Ukraine. But what the president was doing, this is part of the military

exercises -- massive military exercises that they've been holding with Belarus. And it's the culmination of those exercises.

So both president Putin and the Belarusian President Lukashenko sat in the situation room in the Kremlin and watched these exercises taking place.

And essentially, what it was is the nuclear triad, those missiles, air, land and sea, that can be used by Russia to deliver nuclear weapons.

And some of the weapons that they use, the missiles are really cutting edge. They're new.

And I think you'd have to say it was more an advertisement for the power of Russia and the influence of Russia, not necessarily saying, you know, they are going to use them, but that always is a possibility.

Some of those weapons, by the way, Pamela, can be used with nuclear war heads and with conventional war heads. And some of those weapons actually could be used in that region hopefully without nuclear war heads.

BROWN: Yes, hopefully, wow.

Jill Dougherty, thank you very much, live for us from Moscow.

Ukrainian President Zelensky told CNN's Christiane Amanpour today that sanctions against Russia need to come now rather than later for all the world to see.

Here's some of that interview today at the Global Security Conference in Munich.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ZELENSKY (through translator): 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 have been told that you have several days and then the rule will start. Then I said, OK, then apply the sanctions today. Yes, they say 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, then what are you waiting for?

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

CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: According to the sanctions to be leveled now, you also talked about NATO now. There's obviously, this is big sensitive issue in this whole issue, right?

And you have just talked about, again, wanting to be part of NATO. And yet, you said you don't expect any NATO soldiers on your territory now.

You specifically said, "We want no foreign soldiers with foreign flags on our territory right now."

What is your position on wanting to join NATO today?

ZELENSKY: In terms of NATO, we had a lot of debate regarding this. And there were a lot of discussions around the world leaders, and my friends.

And everyone is saying there's some distance we need to go between Ukraine and NATO that we need to walk.

All we are saying is: Tell us how much time does it take to complete this distance measured in years?

And you see this is measured not just in hours, as you can see with the tragedies in lives. This is measured in the human life of Ukrainians. So tell us.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: I want to bring in Garry Kasparov. He is a legendary chess master and very outspoken Putin critic.

Gary is also the chairman of the Human rights Foundation and for Renew Democracy Initiative.

We just heard there from President Zelensky. What do you think of Zelensky's call to impose sanctions now or at least release the list of what could happen instead of waiting?

GARRY KASPAROV, CHAIRMAN, HUMAN RIGHTS FOUNDATION & CHAIRMAN, RENEW DEMOCRACY INITIATIVE & OUTSPOKEN PUTIN CRITIC: I couldn't agree more with President Zelensky, because we've heard words about sanctions for years, and Putin always got away with his aggressions.

He had a genocidal war in Chechnya in 2008. He annexed Crimea from eastern Ukraine, and we heard the word sanctions, sanctions.

You have to understand the impact of these so-called sanctions on Putin. Look at the list of the oligarchs in Forbes. The list is growing longer and fatter.

[20:10:10]

BROWN: It's interesting, given the fact you are a legendary chess player and you made a point to say Putin is no chess player. How so?

KASPAROV: Because in chess, you have 100 percent available information about the pieces and resources of your opponent and you cannot bluff.

Putin is a poker player, if you want to use an analogy with a board game, and he knows how to bluff. And he believes he can always raise the stakes because he has an unlimited amount of cash, he has nukes.

And he doesn't bother raising the stakes because he believes no matter how good his hands is, his opponents will fold in their cards.

And we just heard the British war secretary talking about Putin wanted to turn clocks back. He declared his intention 15 years ago in Munich.

He told the whole world about his plans to return to the spheres of influence and claim Russia's rights to control not only the former Soviet republics, independent states like Ukraine and Baltics, but even Eastern Europe.

And he was consistent about pushing it through. And we had four American administrations and god knows how many governments in Europe that pretended they didn't hear it.

BROWN: So what do you think now, in this moment, what do you think he's betting on?

KASPAROV: He's betting on that nothing will happen when he attacks. And why he should think otherwise? Because he hear words.

And it's very clear the unwillingness of the U.S. administration at least to publish the list of sanctions with names of oligarchs, the assets, the businesses that will be hit by the sanctions, shows there's no unity in the free world.

We know Germany and France, on top of the list of Germany, where political elite is corrupt beyond imagination, there's no political will to hold any sanctions. Germany refuses to even guarantee the Nord Stream 2 will be shut down even if Putin attacks.

And by the way, the whole current crisis, the new threat of Russian aggression against Ukraine happened when Putin got ready to operate not before.

Because now he can afford to attack Ukraine without worrying his gas supply to Europe, which. by the way, the German government under Angela Merkel made a sort of priority for Europe. So this gas supply will not be interpreted.

BROWN: You have heard U.S. officials and other officials say it would be a no-go if Russia does invade.

And today. a top Germany official, if I recall correctly, did say there was a sanctions package that's been put together.

So you're seeing Germany be a little bit more forceful than we had seen in last couple of months on this issue. (CROSSTALK)

BROWN: Go ahead.

KASPAROV: I'm sorry. This is -- I don't see, I hear. I want to see it. I don't believe Mr. Scholz. I don't believe Macron. I don't believe anybody because wave been listening to all these promises for years.

Look at CNN headlines in 2008, in 2014, in 2015. Putin is a pariah, the Russian economy is in tatters, it's the Russians who will pay the price. Again, Putin heard it and he's still fine.

So I want to see proof that something will happen immediately after Putin starts his aggression.

And according to American administration, the intelligence sources, Putin is ready.

And everything I hear from Russian segment of Internet, the news that we receive from Eastern Ukraine indicate that Putin is ready to use the forceful operation and start full-blown invasion of Ukraine.

BROWN: Right, we're already seeing some of that, the shelling of the kindergarten this week. Ukraine says two of its soldiers were killed today by shelling in the east.

What do you think about that? Do you think that is setting the stage for war?

KASPAROV: Most likely, again, if the dictator can change his decision at the very last moment. But everything indicates Putin is willing to continue because he believes that he's immune.

Sanctions, again, you heard it many times.

Right now, I think Putin's calculations are very much in favor of starting a war. This is no longer just a war about Ukraine.

He originally wanted to make sure Ukraine was subdued and it would not be a free democratic prosperous state that could send a message to Russian people that things could be different.

Right now, it's again between Putin and the free world, predominantly, the United States. And he wants to dismantle the world order that we know since the end of World War II.

[20:15:01]

And he wants to demonstrate that he is -- he is king. He can do whatever he wants on the territories he believes belong to him, right or wrong.

BROWN: Garry Kasparov, so great to have you on the show. Thank you for sharing your analysis on this.

Clearly, you're very passionate about this issue. We hope you'll come back soon.

KASPAROV: Thank you very much.

BROWN: Well, amid the potential for war, inflation hurting Americans and a pandemic that seems like a won't end, President Biden has a lot to talk about in his State of the Union address. It's less than two weeks.

So the chief strategist for President Obama and CNN senior political commentator, David Axelrod, joins me next with some advice for Biden.

Plus, California has a plan for life after COVID.

And hear from a man who says a helicopter almost hit him and his teen daughter on the beach. How they and other people nearby rushed to help. Incredible.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[20:20:06]

BROWN: President Biden's first State of the Union address is less than two weeks away. And it comes as he's facing crises on multiple fronts.

A Russian invasion in Ukraine could soon become a major foreign policy challenge for the for the White House, while inflation and culture wars threaten to overshadow Biden's accomplishments here at home.

My next guest says the president still has plenty of positives to sell -- record job growth, vaccine progress, and a landmark infrastructure bill.

Former Obama political strategist and CNN senior political commentator, David Axelrod, joins me now.

So in the "The New York Times," David you write:

"The Biden State of the Union is stressed without fully acknowledging the hard road we have traveled and the distance we have to go would seem off-key and out of touch. You simply cannot jawbone Americans into believing things are better than they feel."

Tell us a little bit more about where you're coming from with this?

DAVID AXELROD, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, where I'm coming from is the experience of having been in the Obama White House during the first years of the Great Recession.

And, you know, we -- we did many things that we felt were important that did produce progress, but it wasn't progress people were feeling immediately in their lives.

I mean, we get a better jobs report, we want to tout that. But that's not the mood people were in.

So you have to be careful. You talked about the crises the president faces. But really he needs to focus on the crises people feel in their lives.

People are out of sync after two years of historic epic trauma in this pandemic, with all its permutations.

Including economic inflation is in no small part a result of the pandemic and the things that were done to deal with it and the things that it did to the supply chain.

So the important thing for him -- and he should come by this naturally, because he's very good at this -- unusually good for politicians is to speak to people what's going on in their lives.

And give them a sense that he understands what's going on in their lives without looking and trying too hard to tell them what a great job he's doing.

He needs to be the empathizer in chief. He needs to be the identifier in chief. He needs to be Joe Biden from Scranton, middle-class Joe, and less the announcer for the government.

And I think, you know, just judging from what I've seen in the last few weeks, I think he's beginning to find that -- find that voice.

BROWN: What makes you say that?

AXELROD: Because more -- more than he has in the past, he's been talking about the burdens that people feel -- inflation, the burdens parents have felt in schools during this period, which has been traumatic across the country.

He's beginning to articulate their concerns and experiences. And I think that's very, very important.

I was concerned. He had a press conference on the eve of his -- on the anniversary of his inauguration.

And in it, he tried very hard to report to people on what he had done and didn't spend a whole lot of time on what we've been through together. I thought that was a mistake.

He seems to be doing less of that now and more identifying with the struggles that people are going through every day.

BROWN: Let's look at his approval ratings. The latest CNN poll shows Biden's rating is at 41 percent.

AXELROD: Yes.

BROWN: Do you think by sort of showing more of that humility and that empathy that that will help, you know, boost Americans confidence in him as a leader during this tough time, during, like you said, this not tragic but just a really traumatic --

(CROSSTALK)

BROWN: It's trauma. It's trauma. AXELROD: Yes.

BROWN: It's been a traumatic time for a lot of people.

AXELROD: Right. And we all feel it.

Yes, I think it will help. I'm not suggesting that that's the whole mission.

And I'm also not suggesting that he not report to the country on the things he's done and Congress has done to try and alleviate some of the pain that people in the -- the challenges that people are feeling.

Certainly he should do that, but he's going to get a better hearing if he talks about what we've been through together than if he simply sets out to brag about the things that he's done.

And we should say no one speech and no tone is going to solve all his political problems.

Certainly, if inflation abates, that would help a lot.

[20:25:04]

If we can feel like we put this virus in the rearview mirror once and for all, that we have control of it, that would help a lot.

You know, there are things that are only partially within his control. But certainly how he talks about these things is within his control.

BROWN: I want to talk about that point about COVID.

Because we've seen a number of blue states begin rolling back mandates as COVID cases continue to plummet. The mood of the country seems to be shifting towards an endemic phase. People are just over COVID.

So far, though, the CDC and the White House have been slow to budge.

Is it time for the president to pivot on COVID and maybe use his speech as a chance to, like, move the country forward and let them know he understands how they're feeling on this issue?

AXELROD: I'm sure they would desperately like to do that before the State of the Union speech.

But, you know, the president promised that he was going to follow the science. And the scientists are telling him it's not quite time yet to do that.

That may change. We're seeing a rapid, a rapid recession of the Omicron cases in the country.

And that may -- if that continues the way it does, and I suspect -- by the way, Pam, this is why they wanted the speech as late as it is.

It's normally in January. I think they wanted to get through this phase. And he may be able, and the CDC may be able to -- to change their guidance between now and March 1st.

But, you know, he did promise to follow the science. I think he's been faithful to that. That's created some political problems for him.

And, you know, this virus helped elect Joe Biden. I mean, and he's also had to wrestle with it in several phases that weren't anticipated. And they've been a challenge for him.

BROWN: Right. Because he ran on defeating the virus, right? And clearly, the virus has not been defeated. That's for sure.

Really interesting perspective.

(CROSSTALK)

BROWN: Go ahead.

AXELROD: No, I was just going to say Delta, Omicron, these were things that were not --

BROWN: Right.

AXELROD: -- no one foresaw, and they've made it more difficult.

He did mobilize the country behind the vaccines. And he has a lot of things that he can talk about.

But there's been a lot of uncertainty, and there's been a sense of things are somewhat out of control.

And when you're the president of the United States, that lands on your desk.

BROWN: Right. It's just like you said how people are feeling, right? And across the country people are feeling traumatized. They're on edge.

They're watching what's playing out right now with Russia and Ukraine, and

AXELROD: Yes.

BROWN: -- there's a lot to be concerned about.

So, David Axelrod, great to have you on the show. Thank you so much.

AXELROD: Thanks, Pam. Good to see you.

BROWN: Well, California says it has a plan for a smarter way to live with COVID.

Plus, an FDA official weighs in on if we all may need a fourth dose of COVID vaccine.

We're going to talk through those headlines and more with Dr. Carlos Del Rio, up next. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[20:30:43]

BROWN: It is time to get smarter about the pandemic, and California wants to lead the way. After two years of strict lockdowns and mandates, it is the first state to announce a plan to move away from the pandemic response to an endemic one. CNNs Camila Bernal joins me now with more.

So, Camila, Governor Gavin Newsom says it is time to move past the crisis phase into a phase where we will live with the virus. How?

CAMILA BERNAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Pam. So California is adapting. That's what the governor says that's how California will do it. He says that at this point, they've realized that there is no such thing as an end to this pandemic. So instead, he says you have to live with the virus and you have to come up with a plan.

So the plan that they came up with still includes testing, it still includes vaccinating people. But at the same time, it also includes pulling back on some of these restrictions, including a mask mandate, which has been lifted in the state of California.

Now, the thing is that it's now up to the local government. So in Los Angeles, for example, you still have to have a mask if you're going indoors. The school district says that the children, they can take it off if they're outside, but once they're in the classroom, they have to keep it on. And so the thing is a lot of people still agree with keeping all of these measures in place. But you also have a big number of people who are saying, it's enough, people who are frustrated. And people who want Los Angeles who essentially catch up with what the state is doing.

I talked to a lot of residents, and here is how they are feeling.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

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

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The fatigue is real.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was exhausting and very tiring.

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

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERNAL: And a lot of people are feeling this way all over the country. But this week, we saw a lot of political leaders responding to this feeling. We heard from Utah's Republican governor who says they are scaling back on some of the COVID resources that the state had in place. We also heard from Democrats, New Mexico, for example, lifting their mask mandates. Washington State doing the same thing, but they will begin on March 21st. North Carolina's governor also saying and encouraging local governments and schools to lift that mask mandate.

[20:35:05]

In the meantime though, it is really important to point out that Dr. Anthony Fauci says that it's still risky to completely get rid of masks. But then on the other hand, you're seeing the numbers and you're seeing hospitalizations, they're dropping, dropping to pre- Omicron levels. And that, of course, is a welcome sign for the future. And that's what many people are pointing to, when it comes to wanting all of these restrictions to be lifted.

But if there is one thing that we've all learned from this pandemic, is that everything can change quickly. And we still have to wait and see what happens in the future because there is always a possibility of another variant. Pam.

BROWN: Yes, we've seen a lot of COVID curveballs that's for sure. Camila Bernal, thanks so much.

Joining me now is Dr. Carlos del Rio from Emory University School of Medicine. Hi, Doctor.

So, we just heard about California's endemic blueprint, the governor says it will shift the state from a crisis mentality to prevention and adaptability. What do you make of his plan? Is it something other states should emulate right now?

CARLOS DEL RIO, EXECUTIVE ASSOCIATE DEAN, EMORY UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF MEDICINE: You know, Pamela, the California smarter plan is really a very well-thought out plan. You know, smarter stands for shots, mask, awareness, readiness, testing, education and treatment. It has clear metrics that we followed.

And again, it's putting all those things together. It's not just saying mask, no mask. It's really saying we need to be sure that we have enough vaccinations, enough maskings, enough testing, enough treatments available.

I think nowadays with vaccines, with testing, with the available treatments we have, if we make those available to the community and we roll them out the right way, we can start cutting down on some of the other, you know, non-pharmacological restrictions such as masking or social distancing. But the California plan is really a well done and well thought out plan.

BROWN: So, as part of the endemic plan, California will ditch their indoor mask mandate. They still have not set a date to end requiring masks and schools. Is there any public health justification to see kids masks longer than adults? We know they are the least vulnerable.

DEL RIO: Yes. I don't think there is a reason for that, to be honest with you. I think there's a lot of data suggesting that there really is no need. And, again, the kids are going to be masked in school, but they're going to leave school and are going to be unmasked.

The reality is as we see numbers of the community drop, really the question is, what is the likelihood of somebody being infected, being in a room with X number of people and as you see the number of numbers drop, the numbers start coming down. Also, masks are not the only intervention in school, we can do ventilation, there's many other things that can be done to decrease the risk of transmission.

BROWN: I want to ask you about this because it is such a hot button issue, right? This idea of more vaccines and FDA official is telling CNN that the FDA may recommend a fourth dose of the COVID vaccine closer to the fall. That's when respiratory viruses tend to peak. From the data you've seen, how likely is it that a fourth dose will be needed?

DEL RIO: I'm still not convinced that at this point in time, we can afford those. We have very good evidence that if you're vaccinated and you're boosted, the vaccine are working exceedingly well to prevent hospitalizations and to prevent severe disease and death from COVID.

We're seeing a slight decrease in the chance of getting infected. But again, it's still pretty darn good about preventing you from infection, much better than for example, the flu vaccine. I still think that our biggest problem as a country is not the boosting, but it's actually there's still a significant amount of people that are not yet vaccinated. And that to me is a bigger problem that we need to tackle.

BROWN: Yes. I mean, vaccination rates have remained stubbornly low. The U.S. is one of the lowest percentages of fully vaccinated people among industrialized nations, just over 64 percent.

But I want to ask you, as we look ahead, do you think that we're turning the corner with COVID? Or should we continue to just to keep our guard up as we have been?

DEL RIO: Well, you know, as we said previously, COVID cost as many curveballs, and I think making predictions with COVID has been exceedingly hard. I think all of us have grown very humble of trying to do that.

However, having said that, I would say that so many people got infected during the Omicron wave and so, you know, the percentage of Americans vaccinated, the Institute for Healthcare Metrics and Evaluation estimates that about 75 percent of Americans are now going to be protected from COVID. So, what that means is that we'll -- we have not yet reach and we may never reach so-called herd immunity. The likelihood of having a major significant outbreak like we have with Omicron goes dramatically down because the number of people that already been infected or had been vaccinated.

BROWN: Yes. I'm both been infected after being vaccinated three times.

All right. Dr. Carlos del Rio, thank you so much.

And up next, cameras catch the moment a helicopter crashes into the water off the busy shore of Miami Beach.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just going over your head, just seeing this come down, it's like something out of a movie of -- it's really, really scary.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[20:40:04]

BROWN: A man swimming with his daughter describes how it almost came down on them and what happened next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: It was a picture perfect afternoon -- picture perfect afternoon at Miami's popular South Beach, until a low-flying helicopter suddenly crashed into the surf within mere feet of swimmers and sunbathers.

A short time ago, I spoke with one of those beachgoers, Wade Callison, and he described the harrowing events that followed.

[20:45:07]

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WADE CALLISON, HELICOPTER CRASH WITNESS: Yes, my daughter Avery and I were out just knee-deep in the water. And there's lots of little aircraft going over, and there's a helicopter coming over and 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 helicopters went straight into the water.

The guy and I both ran, we were the closest there, we were probably 20 feet of that to the helicopter. We ran to the helicopter and tried to figure out like how many people were in there, anyone was hurt and tried to (INAUDIBLE)

BROWN: So, walk us through that moment when it splashes into the water, you're trying to yell at people, get away. Were you afraid that -- of running toward the helicopter as it just crashed? I mean, what was going on 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 is going to blow up or not. And then it was like this people, and I don't know how many people. And so we just took off running towards it. And, thankfully, it wasn't deep. It's like terribly deep, so we're able to run and be there pretty quickly.

But once we were there and like administering aid and trying to get the people out, it was 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 himself loose.

And so, we were trying to get the lady out, we were able to flow 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 and she was very non-responsive. And so the lifeguards that got there at that time and it started to get her loose and tried to prior, 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 about 15 people were pulling it down to keep it upright so that they could administer aid, and we could get her out.

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

CALLISON: You know, it's funny because it -- 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 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 splashed us, but it was just a huge, huge crash. And then sort of everything goes quiet like you're trying to figure out how -- like what the situation is if anyone's hurt, make sure you keep their head stable. It was a -- it was definitely everyone like at their best trying to help these ladies.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: Wow. We're told that of the three people on board, one wasn't her, two others went to the hospital.

Well, it is Sunday morning in Beijing, and the Winter Olympics are getting ready to wrap up. Up next, we're going to take a look at where Team USA stands right now after getting a boost by an American bobsledder and her historic medal.

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[20:50:51]

BROWN: The final day of the Winter Olympic Games is officially underway. And early this morning, American bobsledder, Elana Meyers Taylor earned her fifth medal, making her the most decorated black athlete in Winter Olympics history. Overwhelming.

That's how she described her incredible feat. She almost missed the games entirely after being diagnosed with COVID before flying out to Beijing. She was supposed to carry the American flag during the opening ceremonies. Well, she'll be Team USA's flag bearer at the closing ceremonies.

And during in Olympics where scandals and disappointments seem to dominate the headlines, the story of American skier, Ryan Cochran- Siegle, stands out as well. He won a silver medal in men's super- giants -- known as Super G. And he did it almost a year to the day after he was in surgery for a broken neck.

Oh, by the way, he follows in the skis of his mom, Barbara, and she won gold. They are on herself 50 years ago, and they FaceTime together after the win. They're going to join us live tomorrow to talk about that very moment. So you're not going to want to miss that.

Well, as President's Day weekend, CNN is premiering a new original series focused on the life and the presidency of Lyndon Baines Johnson. See how LBJ's presidency was as complicated as the times he served.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: LBJ was intensely aware that he came into the office under the cloak of tragedy.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It drove him to try to do things no one else had ever achieved.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He said to his aides, what the hell is the presidency for if you're not going to do something bold, why be here?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think Lyndon Johnson would be seen today as one of our greatest presidents because of all that he did, but he made one bad mistake.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Vietnam really pulled him apart. He couldn't make a wind out of this. No matter how hard he tried.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: LBJ said, I wish they knew that I want peace as much as they do.

LYNDON BAINES JOHNSON, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It's important to reflect and look back and see what has been done because there's no better way to judge the future than by the past.

[20:55:07]

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: "LBJ: Triumph and Tragedy" premieres tomorrow night at 9:00 on CNN.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: And tomorrow, we'll talk to Mark Updegrove. He is the president and CEO of the Lyndon Baines Johnson Foundation and as an executive producer of this new series on LBJ.

Well, don't forget that you can tweet me, @PamelaBrownCNN. You can also follow me on Instagram. Thank you so much for keeping me company on this Saturday evening. I'll see you again tomorrow night, starting at 6:00 Eastern.

Up next is the CNN series, "The Sixties."

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