Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Markets Drop as Putin Orders Troops into Ukraine; Germany Halts Nord Stream 2 Pipeline from Russia; U.S. Soccer and Women's Players Reach $24 Million Equal Pay Settlement; Ukrainians on Edge as Tensions with Russia Escalate. Aired 3:30-4p ET

Aired February 22, 2022 - 15:30   ET

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

[15:30:00]

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN HOST: The U.S. markets are responding to Russian President Vladimir Putin's moves in Ukraine. Stocks are down. Here is a live look at numbers.

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN HOST: And CNN's Matt Egan is here with more on what's happening with stocks and oil prices. Matt, the president said just about an hour ago that defending freedom comes at a cost and I guess we're about to see it.

MATT EGAN, CNN BUSINESS REPORTER: Yes, Alisyn and Victor, the mood of the market is being completely driven by this Russia/Ukraine crisis. Just like everyone else, investors want to know how far militarily is Putin going to go into Ukraine and how tough are these sanctions? And what is all this going to do to inflation and supply chain situations. So, we've seen U.S. markets before President Biden start talking. The Dow is down 700-point around 2 percent. Pairing the losses down about 400 points right now on pace for its fourth straight losing day.

Oil prices, Brent oil the world benchmark hit above $99 a barrel this morning. Fresh 7-year highs. Retreating a bit in U.S. oil prices down around $91.50 a barrel. The higher oil prices go going to drive up gasoline prices. Fresh 7-year high for gasoline prices, 3.53 a gallon, up 20 cents in a month. This means you're going to see higher costs for transporting goods, higher air fare. All that's going to be passed along to consumers. And President Biden did hit on this topic today. Let's play the sound that we have.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We're closely monitoring energy supplies for any disruption. We're executing a plan in coordination with major oil producing consumers and producers toward a collective investment to secure stability and global energy supplies. This will blunt gas prices. I want to limit the pain to the American people, our feeling at the gas pump. This is critical to me.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

The president has pretty limited options here to really blunt and mitigate the impact from higher oil prices. So, it's interesting to hear details eventually, hopefully from the White House on specifically what they're going to do here.

CAMEROTA: And also today, the German chancellor announcing they're halting the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline. How much pain does that inflict on Russia? Because I know it inflicts pain on Germany.

Yes, absolutely. I think there's going to be pain on both sides. And the United States doesn't really rely on Russia for natural gas but Europe does. I mean, Germany is Russia's biggest gas customer. In this pipeline, the Nord Stream 2, 750-mile pipeline supposed to be carrying gas from Russia to Germany. A lot of natural gas, equal to more than half of Germany's annual consumption.

And remember, Germany can really use this gas right now because they have very high prices. For Russia, this was supposed to be $15 billion a year in revenue to their gas company, Gazprom. All of that is hold at least for the moment. The pipeline is built so it could still happen but for now all this is on hold and it is going to drive up prices for consumers in Europe.

BLACKWELL: All right, Matt Egan, thank you.

EGAN: Thank you.

CAMEROTA: All right, U.S. soccer stars say it's a huge win. And will mean a lot for girls and women playing in the sport for years to come. They actually say it's a huge win for women everywhere. The U.S. Women's National Soccer Team just resolved its long, equal pay fight with the U.S. Soccer Federation. We have all the details, next.

[15:35:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CAMEROTA: U.S. soccer and the U.S. Women's National Soccer Team have reached a $24 million agreement ending a six-year fight over equal pay. The agreement guarantees equal pay for players on the men and women's national soccer team going forward. The bulk of the settlement will serve as back pay to several dozen current and former players on the U.S. Women's National Team.

In a joint statement, the organizations said quote: Getting to this day has not been easy. Today we recognize the legacy of the past U.S. WNT leaders who helped to make this day possible as well as all of the women and girls who will follow.

Soccer star Megan Rapinoe celebrated the deal.

[15:40:00] MEGAN RAPINOE, U.S. WOMEN'S SOCCER PLAYER: Now I'm just so proud, to be honest. I'm so proud of, you know, all the hard work that all of us did to get us here. Obviously, the players on team and the players this lawsuit represent and our extended team that has helped us but it's a really amazing day. I think we're going to look back on this day and say this is the moment that, you know, U.S. soccer changed for the better.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: Joining me now, the President of U.S. Soccer Federation Cindy Parlow Cone. She herself was a member of the epic 1999 Women's World Cup championship team. Cindy, great to see you again.

CINDY PARLOW CONE, PRESIDENT, U.S. SOCCER: Great to see you. Thanks for having me.

CAMEROTA: When you and I last spoke, which was just something like 5 1/2 months ago, you didn't know if this day would ever come. It was not clear that you would be able to reach a resolution. And so, tell me what this day means to the soccer world.

CONE: It is such a huge day. This is a momentous day. This settlement is a win for everyone. It's win for U.S. soccer. It's win for the players. It's a win for women sports. And it's a win for women in general. And so, I couldn't be happier to get to this moment. It was, as Meghan said, it was not easy getting to this moment. As you know, when I took over the presidency it was one of my top priorities and it took us a lot longer to get to this day that we had hoped. But we got here and that's what's important.

CAMEROTA: I want to ask you about how it's a win for all women. Because I heard Alex Morgan echo that statement today as well. Basically, she said this a huge win for all women. So, how does this benefit women outside of the sports world?

CONE: Yes, well I think first in the sports world now we can shift the focus to growing the game at all levels and increasing opportunities for millions of players and millions of women both on and off the field. And now we can do that hand in hand with our national team players. We are obviously the best players in the world, but there also the best ambassadors for the sport. And we all know that giving a girl and a woman the opportunity to play sport will transform their lives through all the life lessons that we'll learn.

So, regardless of where you live here in the U.S. or abroad, having sport in your life and specifically soccer, I think has the opportunity to transform lives and transform countries because you learn those leadership skills. I know I'm a leader and the person I am today from growing up in sports, playing on the national team. And so, we really do believe that this can be transformative for girls and women everywhere whether there in sport or not.

CAMEROTA: When you and I spoke in September, basically you said then that the biggest challenge was the massive discrepancies in FIFA prize money between men and women. So, has that been rectified? CONE: No, and so, this settlement is tied to the new CBAs which we're

negotiating currently. And so, we've asked the men's and women's team to come together with U.S. soccer to find way to equalize the World Cup prize money. Obviously, we're also at the same time being pushing FIFA to equalize it themselves.

But until they do the three different entities that are coming together and working on a way to equalize it. We've been inviting the men's players association to the women's negotiations and vice versa so there's full transparency there and hopefully we can find a solution. We've extended the deadline to March 31st to do that. So, negotiations are going very well. The players are very engaged. So, I think we're moving on the right track.

CAMEROTA: And last, Cindy, on a personal note. I mean, you have seen this from both sides. You were a player and you understood the feeling of injustice when you were a player and then you are the President of the U.S. Soccer Federation. And so, how did you negotiate both of those competing agendas to reach today?

CONE: Well, I think it was really helpful that I was a former player and many of the players on the national team know me. They know my level of integrity and how honest I am. Not that I always told them what they wanted to hear. But they always knew that I would tell them the truth.

And you know, I'll be the first to admit the federation has made mistakes in the past. And as a former player I definitely have understood those frustrations. But I'm really proud of the work we've done and continue to do on equal pay. And this is just one step towards rebuilding the relationship with our players and this is truly a great accomplishment. And I'm so excited about the future in working together with them.

CAMEROTA: Well, congratulations. I know you've been working on it a long time. Cindy Parlow Cone, thank you.

CONE: Thank you.

BLACKWELL: Well, there are people of course all around the world watching what's happening right there on the border of Ukraine and Russia. There are some here in the U.S. who have some family members there.

[15:45:00]

How they are feeling about Putin's latest moves and President Biden's response. We'll get reaction, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:50:00] START HERE

BLACKWELL: In Ukraine there are millions of people who are worried that Vladimir Putin's words and actions are a clear sign that Russia wants war. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BOHDAN KHIMYAK, LVIV, UKRAINE (through translator): I can tell you right away that people of Ukraine consider his speech as a full-scale invasion of our country.

ROMAN, LVIV, UKRAINE (through translator): Russia can't stand to see Ukraine as an independent state. With our own national anthem, coat of arms, flag. Ukraine is and will always be independent.

[15:50:00]

KHIMYAK (through translator): His time is coming to an end. And those mercenaries who he had sent over here will go back to his country as dead bodies. We are ready and we are taking it seriously. We are not panicking, as you see. We are calm and we are just waiting for the order. I am ready to defend my country. My homeland. Which we all love.

YAROSLAV, LVIV, UKRAINE (through translator): He is making a wrong decision. People don't want the war. We want to live in peace.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLACKWELL: Ukrainian Americans here in the U.S. are also watching the Russia tensions very closely. More than 1 million Ukrainians live in the United States. Andrij Dobriansky is the co-chair of the United Ukrainian American Organizations of New York. He's with me now. So good to have you. I wonder what you have felt over this last week. You will one of my producers that it felt like the end is coming.

ANDRIJ DOBRIANSKY, CO-CHAIR OF THE UNITED UKRAINIAN AMERICAN ORGANIZATIONS OF NEW YORK: It felt like a punch to the gut. Let's make it clear. We have been to Ukraine. Ukrainian Americans get to speak to Ukraine. It is a brand-new world where we, you know, can face time any time with our friends who are living there, people with family members there. And what we hear from them over there is the fact that a lot of life is going on as normal.

But at the same time, the fact that Russian tanks are now going over to east of Ukraine in the way that we haven't seen since 2014 makes people -- reminds people of what happened in 2014 and 2015 and on when almost every person in Ukraine -- and that includes (INAUDIBLE) as well. They know somebody who served on the frontline, died on the frontline or come back paralyzed from the frontline.

BLACKWELL: And you've said that a lot of the people you know there in Ukraine, friends, family members, are Ukrainian Americans. And we've heard from the State Department, from the White House, that they're telling Americans to come back to the U.S. to leave Ukraine. Are they considering doing that? Are people leaving?

DOBRIANSKY: For people who have the ability to leave, that's on the top of their minds right now. But also understand that, you know, these are people who may have married Ukrainians who were born in Ukraine. And imagine somebody coming to, you know, here in New York and somebody trying to take away our Manhattan or Brooklyn and what have you and you're being told that you need to just flee because they say that's the best thing for you to do. There's a lot of national pride for anybody, other country.

And you heard President Biden's response to President Putin announcing that he declared some provinces of Ukraine as his. We heard that last night at the security council. How dare the Russians decide they can just go into Ukraine? And that's the attitude you're going to get from a lot of people who were born and raise in the Ukraine. They've lived for 30 years with independence. They're not going to give it back to their occupier.

You know, we heard from some Ukrainian who've spoken with CNN reporters who were there, who said that they're willing to come out and fight. This's one man who lives in the Donbas region who says he's considering joining a territorial defense unit to protect that portion of Ukraine.

I wonder if at the top of the last hour, you heard from President Biden his announcement of sanctions that are coming and what your thoughts are. What you heard from the president.

DOBRIANSKY: Well, as far as the sanctions, everything helps. Although a lot of this stuff could have happened a lot sooner. I would frankly have liked to have heard something more specific before today. We've heard a lot from either the White House press briefing, any other announcements from the White House that they have sanctions in place already.

However, today, especially after we heard the announcement last night by Putin, it seems like people are still discussing exactly what sanctions they want to put in place and it doesn't sound to me as if all of these are coordinated. Even though we're hearing one country announce, another country announce, et cetera. So, we'll see in fact how powerful this is. But frankly, why wait until something is actually as critical as more and more Ukrainian lives dying? Why can't we have the full amount right now?

BLACKWELL: So then that's the follow-up. If you don't believe what has been announced is enough, what do you want to see right now?

DOBRIANSKY: Well, for instance, we're glad that the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, according to President Biden and the Chancellor of Germany, they said it was not go further because they're not getting certification. What they didn't say, they didn't say that President Biden would take away his waiver against the entities that built that pipeline. And what also they can't promise is that Russia will not bomb the existing natural gas pipelines in Ukraine and then force Europe to say, you know what? We're going to have to use that pipeline because Russia destroyed the pipelines in Ukraine.

BLACKWELL: Yes, we also did not hear from the Chancellor if that suspension of approval will last for as long as there are more Russian troops there in the Donbas region. Andrij Dobriansky, I thank you so much for your time and perspective.

DOBRIANSKY: Thank you.

[15:55:00]

CAMEROTA: As you guys were discussing, President Biden just announcing new sanctions against Russia. So, we have the latest for you live from Washington, Ukraine and Moscow.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLACKWELL: This is a momentous day.

CAMEROTA: Tell me.

BLACKWELL: It's "Twosday."

CAMEROTA: OK. I think you mean "Twosday."

BLACKWELL: That's what I said.

CAMEROTA: It's a two-la-palooza.

BLACKWELL: Don't do this.

CAMEROTA: Yes, today is 2/22/22. The last time we had a date like was November 11th, 2011. Which was 11/11/11.

BLACKWELL: Got you.

CAMEROTA: And I'm told we won't see another "Twosday" for another 200 years on February 22, 2222.

BLACKWELL: Wouldn't it be fair -- OK, yes you got it.

CAMEROTA: I got it.

BLACKWELL: OK.

CAMEROTA: OK, how will you be celebrating today?

BLACKWELL: It is also National Margarita Day.

CAMEROTA: Everywhere?

BLACKWELL: A taco Tuesday.

CAMEROTA: A taco Tuesday.

BLACKWELL: I feel like you got to have two margaritas just to -- I mean, you're going to miss out if you don't.

CAMEROTA: That's just the math just works for that.

BLACKWELL: It's a fantastic day. What are you going to do?

CAMEROTA: $2 tacos.

BLACKWELL: All right, I'm in.

CAMEROTA: All right. "THE LEAD" starts now.