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Western Powers Targeting Russian Oligarchs with Sanctions; Ukrainian Foreign Ministry Urging Citizens to Leave Russia; Ahmaud Arbery's Killers Found Guilty of Federal Hate Crime; Temperatures Plummet as Winter Wind Chill Hits Central U.S. Aired 4:30-5a ET

Aired February 23, 2022 - 04:30   ET

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

[04:30:00]

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WANDA COOPER-JONES, AHMAUD ARBERY'S MOTHER: What we got today, we wouldn't have gotten today if it wasn't for the fight that the family took up on January 31st.

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MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back, everyone, to CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Michael Holmes coming to you live from Lviv in Ukraine. Now minutes ago, the Ukrainian foreign minister urged tougher sanctions against Russia saying it is the only way to stop Vladimir Putin from further aggression.

He tweeted: Hit hard. Hit now.

And a little bit earlier the Russian president announced that the country's interests and security are non-negotiable but that the Kremlin is open to finding diplomatic solutions to the most difficult problems.

Now that message after Western powers imposed sanctions over what the U.S. calls the beginning of an invasion in eastern Ukraine.

Now more Russian troops have begun amassing along the border, but it's not clear if any have actually yet crossed. Russia has been downplaying the impact of Western sanctions meanwhile. But the French finance minister warns they can get much, much worse if Europe resorts to measures that it is now holding back.

A number of countries punishing Russia, well that's growing. Australia imposing travel bans and targeting individual officials, with the Prime Minister saying is country will always stand up to bullies. And Japan is freezing the visas and assets of people who recognize the independence of those breakaway regions.

[04:35:00]

Now some of the Western sanctions are putting the squeeze on Russia's oligarchs. CNN's Tom Foreman explains.

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TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The West is hunting rich Russians -- their yachts, homes and hidden bank accounts. All the assets of Vladimir Putin's Billionaire Boys Club.

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We will also impose sanctions on Russia's elites and their family members. They share in the corrupt gains of the Kremlin policies and should share in the pain as well.

FOREMAN (voice-over): Many Russian oligarchs, who often spend a lot of time outside Russia at their foreign properties have deep ties to Putin. Newly named to the U.S. sanctions list Denis Bortnikov, an official at a Russian bank and son of the director of the Federal Security Service, the modern KGB.

Petr Fradkov, a banking official with strong ties to the Russia's Defense industry. Vladimir Kiriyenko, son of Sergey Kiriyenko, the former prime minister who oversees Putin's domestic policy, who has also been sanctions. And the list could grow.

ANTONY BLINKEN, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: Other Russian elites and their family members are on notice that additional actions could be taken against them.

FOREMAN (voice-over): The Brits have named too.

BORIS JOHNSON, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: And we are sanctioning three very high net worth individuals, Gennady Timchenko, Boris Rotenberg and Igor Rotenberg.

FOREMAN (voice-over): Timchenko is one of the richest people in Russia with Forbes estimating his net worth at $24 billion. His business deals integrated the illegally seized Crimea into the Russian financial system. The Rotenbergs have strong interests in gas and energy companies. And plenty of Russian banks and businesses are also on the list.

Edward Fishman was formerly with the U.S. State Department.

EDWARD FISHMAN, FORMER U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL: These individuals have kind of a tacit agreement with the state. They support Putin politically and as a result they're allowed to benefit from kleptocratic practices.

FOREMAN (voice-over): Some of Putin's pals were hit with sanctions when Crimea fell in 2014.

BARACK OBAMA, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The goal is to change his calculus.

FOREMAN (voice-over): Analysts believe that did slow Russia's roll into Ukraine. And this time, many say the economic consequences for Putin should be steep. And for the oligarchs, their wives and mistresses and their assets that they shelter abroad.

FISHMAN: You are not going to turn a Russian billionaire into a pauper. What it will do though is create substantial frustration and annoyance in their lives.

FOREMAN: The sanctions could fry freeze assets for many of these superrich Russians. It could block new investments, stop them from traveling, maybe even keep their kids from attending Western universities. But will all of that rocking of the yachts be enough to make Putin change his direction? Smart money says maybe.

Tom Foreman, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: And joining me here in Lviv Ukraine is CNN's Jim Sciutto. Great to have you on again and your expertise. Jim, I wanted to before we move on to other things, just in the last hour or so, Ukraine has been sort of playing this down but trying to play calm the whole time saying, well, we don't expect a war. They just told their citizens in Russia to get out.

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN CHIEF U.S. SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Yes.

HOLMES: What do you make of that?

SCIUTTO: Well, they must not think it's safe for their citizens in Russia. That's a remarkable state to be in. And we've seen a number of steps in the category, U.S. diplomats leaving first the capital and then Lviv here in the west for periods of time. That's about a threat for their safety, right? We've seen Russia remove its diplomats from Kyiv. That in addition to being a diplomat move is about their safety.

So, you have multiple layers here. The U.S., Ukraine and Russia deeming this area to be unsafe and now Ukraine making the judgment it's not safe for their citizens to be in Russia. That is in terms of measuring the temperature and the seriousness and urgency of the crisis, that's a pretty important indicator.

HOLMES: Yes, I wanted to ask you too about this and it's a really important point. Putin recognizing these two break away regions. The important thing he recognized the entirety of those regions. That the separatists do not control the entirety of it. It sort of leaves the window open where we're going to get the entirety of it. What's your read?

SCIUTTO: Well, it give him -- you know, he's a very legalistic guy in terms of what the law is which is fungible to his interest. Things like, you know, the term limits for the presidency. We've seen him breakthrough before but he likes to have some sort of legal justification for these things. So, this gives him the option to expand beyond where the existing line of contact is further into that territory. Which would mean fighting. Because those other parts of those territories are controlled by Ukrainian military. And that's just in that part of the country separate from what the U.S. and the West see elsewhere around Ukraine. Other forces positioned to coming down, for instance, to do a pinscher move on Kyiv and elsewhere.

That is, you have the Russian president setting the groundwork for a major invasion of this place. He has the forces and now he has what he claims to be the legal backing to do so.

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HOLMES: Yes. When it comes to the sanctions, you know, Putin's pretty much ignored these ones. He knew they were coming. And he knew sanctions would come whatever he did. And he's been planning for it. Building up his currency reserves and so on trying to sanction proof the country. He must know that even worse ones are coming if he moves.

SCIUTTO: Yes.

HOLMES: Do you think he's just sort of baked that into his calculations and that it's worth?

SCIUTTO: To some degree. But there are costs here for him as well. It may be that he's surprised by the unity, right. Because he had been deliberately trying to drive fissures within the alliance to make sure everybody wasn't on board with the same thing. It was only in the last couple of days you've had the Italian Prime Minister saying well we can't really target the energy sector. And we woke up yesterday morning and Nord Stream 2 effectively gone, at least for the time being. And granted that does not affect current supplies but it would increase Russian leverage over Europe and energy terms down the line.

And when you look at the sweep of yesterday, you know, it was not an insignificant start, right. Because you started with Nord Stream 2, then you have the U.K. sanctioned banks and oligarchs -- who faced some sanctions before, but it's a step. You have the EU sanction every member of the duma, Russian duma who voted to recognize there. Individuals feel that. And then you have the U.S. piece with the president promising further ones today.

They clearly have some sort of menu, right, that they're ticking through with each moment. You know, when that reaches a point where the costs are too high for Putin, we don't know, and maybe never, right. Because when you listen to that speech the other day, Putin was making the case to say, this isn't a country.

HOLMES: Yes. Right. Yes, Exactly, exactly. Ominous signs all around. Jim Sciutto, great to have you here. Jim Sciutto here with us in Lviv.

Now I am Michael Holmes in Lviv. We're going to have much more ahead on the Russia/Ukraine crisis coming up on "EARLY START" in about 20 minutes. Isa Soares back with more on CNN NEWSROOM in a moment. Do stick around.

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[04:45:00]

ISA SOARES, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back, everyone. A jury in the U.S. state of Georgia has found all three white men who killed Ahmaud Arbery guilty of a federal hate crime. Prosecutors say racism played a key role when the men chased Arbery down two years ago before shooting him. CNN's Ryan Young was there as the verdict came in.

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RYAN YOUNG, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Holding their hands high outside of Georgia courthouse, another victory for the family of Ahmaud Arbery nearly two years after his murder,

WANDA COOPER-JONES, MOTHER OF AHMAUD ARBERY: I knew that we would give victory on the state level and in the federal level.

MARCUS ARBERY SR., FATHER OF AHMAUD ARBERY: I give all glory to God. And we got justice for Ahmaud.

YOUNG (voice-over): A jury found Travis McMichael, his father Gregory McMichael and William Bryan guilty on all counts in their federal hate crimes trial. All three men were convicted of interference of rights, which is a federal hate crime and attempted kidnapping of Arbery. The McMichaels were also each found guilty of an additional firearms charge.

The McMichaels and Bryan are already serving life sentences for the felony murder of Arbery after a separate state trial in November, only Bryan is eligible for parole after 30 years. But these new federal convictions could add more life sentences.

COOPER-JONES: We got a victory today. But it's so many families out there who don't -- who don't get victories.

YOUNG (voice-over): This is a federal hate crime case that almost did not go to court due to a plea deal with the defendants, which was ultimately rejected by a judge. Arbery's mother expressed her outrage with the U.S. Department of Justice.

COOPER-JONES: I told the DOJ that yes, they were prosecutors. But one thing they didn't have, they didn't have a son that was lying in a cold grave. And they still didn't hear my cry.

And what the DOJ did today, they was made to do today.

YOUNG (voice-over): The U.S. Attorney General reacting to today's verdict and Wanda Cooper-Jones comments on the DOJ.

MERRICK GARLAND, U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL: The Justice Department has a legal obligation to prosecute hate crimes. I cannot imagine the pain that a mother feels to have her son run down and then gunned down while taking a jog on a public street.

YOUNG (voice-over): And remember the decision and the previous convictions almost did not happen. Glynn County police and local prosecutors did not arrest or charge Arbery's killers after they chased and fatally shot him on February 23, 2020. When the video that Bryan recorded of the encounter came out nearly two and a half months later, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation intervened and arrested the McMichaels first and later arrested Bryan. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: 74 days -- what's it like to wait 74 days for (INAUDIBLE) especially after they saw the videos to make a charge.

COOPER-JONES: We waited without any arrest for 74 days, and now today that we're actually here with another guilty verdict. I mean, it's -- I mean, it's great.

YOUNG: Just a lot of emotion in this case. You can hear Wanda Cooper- Jones saying they will continue to fight moving this case forward. But when I was sitting behind them in court, you could feel their emotions. Marcus Arbery and obviously, Wanda Cooper-Jones as each guilty verdict was read. On the other side of the court, you could see the McMichael family sort of crumbling under the weight of each verdict being read. And even some of the jurors became emotional.

Ryan Young, CNN, Brunswick, Georgia.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SOARES: In Washington, former U.S. President Donald Trump has lost the latest legal battle to keep the records from White House out of the hands of the committee investigating the January 6th insurrection. The U.S. Supreme Court decided on Tuesday it would not hear the case. And that means a lower court decision allowing the release of the documents will stand.

A winter storm is pushing temperatures below freezing for much of the U.S. right now. Pedram Javaheri has the latest forecast just ahead for you.

PEDRAM JAVAHERI, CNN METEOROLOGIST: And over 10 million Americans underneath wind chill alerts in places where you expected 25 to 50 below in places you don't expect in northern Texas, and parts of Oklahoma as cold as 15 below. We'll break this down with details coming up in a few minutes.

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SOARES: Authorities in the U.S. state of Oregon say this massive fire broke out on Tuesday after a possible boiler exploded at a potato chip factory. Six people were injured. Officials say it was the largest fire the area has seen in the past decade. Roughly 60 firefighters were on the scene working together to put out the flames.

Winter weather alerts are in effect for much of the U.S. right now. Meteorologist Pedram Javaheri has the latest. Good morning, Pedram.

JAVAHERI: Yes, good morning, Isa. All of the elements coming into play here to produce a significant set up when it comes to these really cold temperatures we've seen across a large area of the northern plains. We've got that in place. We've got an ice threats, of snow and certainly across portions of the West some significant snow as well.

But notice this. Parts of 13 states and about 13 million people underneath these wind chill alerts. In spots as cold as 50 below and even into northern Texas. Portions of the Oklahoma panhandle we're talking about when shows getting down into the single digits and even into the afternoon hours. Amarillo, Dallas into the teens or what it will feel like outside. So, an incredibly cold air mass in place across a large area of the United States.

And, yes, winter weather alerts even in place there for not only just snow, sleet but even some freezing rain and ice secretions as well. That could be disruptive and just even expands back towards the four corners region where it's significant mountain snow. Some places as much as 2 feet of snow into the forecast. So, skiers and snowboarders, they're going to be loving live. Travelers across some of these interstates are not going to be the case here with significant amounts of snow could come down.

But notice that arctic air eventually wants to set up shop across portions of the Midwest and on into the Northeast. And if you're tuned in around the Northeast, you know how mild it's been across this region. Look at New York City, aiming for 65 degrees this afternoon, dropping to 35 degrees come Thursday.

[04:55:02]

Even in Washington from the 70s cutting your temperature nearly in halfback there, back down into the 30s. So, a significant shift of temperatures in store. If you tuned in in Dallas, we talked about those cold wind chills. Look what happens. Hang in there, this time next week spring is knocking on your door steps. Temps climbing back up close to 70 degrees. Ranging from about a 2 in billings Montana today, to the middle 80s down in Tampa, Florida. So, the weather as wild as it gets across a large area of the U.S. -- Isa.

SOARES: Thanks very much, Pedram. Waiting for spring as well.

Now persistence pays off for the U.S. Women's National Soccer Team. They have reached a $24 million deal with U.S. soccer ending their years' long battle for equal pay. The agreement will see the American women and men's national teams receive the same pay rate in all friendlies, as well as tournaments including the World Cup.

U.S. soccer will pay 22 million to the players in the case, as well as additional 2 million to better players with post career goals as well as charitable efforts. The women's team has brought home four World Cups. The U.S. men's team, well, let me check, wait for it, none whatsoever. A little context there for you.

And if someone paid you 1,800 to stay off social media, would you do it? Well, this teenager not only took up the challenge but completed it. Sivert was offered the cash incentive to stay off to stay off social media for six years until his 18th birthday. His mother Lorna said some of the best money she's ever spent. She noted that social media can be a depressant. The 12-year-old Sivert initially planned to buy a house with the money but is back to the drawing board and now he understands house prices are a little better. Could you do it? Get in touch with me. Let me know. Our producer definitely can't. I think I definitely be able to do it. That does it for me on CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Isa Soares in London. Our

coverage of the Russia/Ukraine tensions continues on "EARLY START" with Christine Romans and Laura Jarrett. Have a wonderful day. I shall see you tomorrow. Bye-bye.

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