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IAEA: Chernobyl Staff Stop Repairs, Maintenance Due To Fatigue; Sources: White House In Early Discussions About Biden Traveling To Europe; Zelenskyy Presses Biden For More Sanctions On Russia; Wife Of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas Acknowledges She Attended 1/6 Rally But Played No Role In Planning It; Brent Renaud Is First American Believed To Be Killed In Ukraine. Aired 2:30-3p ET
Aired March 14, 2022 - 14:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[14:31:44]
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST: Staff at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine are so exhausted and warn out they've paused safety repairs and maintenance.
The International Atomic Energy Agency said they are suffering from "physical and psychological fatigue" -- their words.
It says workers have not been allowed to leave the plant since Russian troops seized Chernobyl right after invading Ukraine.
Now the IAEA director general says there's no immediate radiation danger at the nuclear plant.
And he laid out how his team is working to try and secure an agreement for safety at Ukraine's nuclear facilities.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RAFAEL GROSSI, DIRECTOR GENERAL, INTERNATIONAL ATOMIC ENERGY AGENCY: We're in constant contact with all of the nuclear power plants and all of the nuclear facilities in Ukraine.
I've been talking about this with Russians, with the Ukrainians. Last week, I was in Turkey speaking to Mr. Lavrov and Mr. Layva (ph) about the whole situation.
Not only Chernobyl but the rest of the facilities because we urgently need, we urgently need an agreement, an overall agreement on the safety and the security of these places.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: Well, CNN has learned that Ukrainian President Zelenskyy pressed President Biden for more sanctions on Russia in their last conversation.
And White House officials are having early discussions about President Biden coming to Europe soon. This is all coming right after a Russian air strike hit a Ukrainian
military base 11 miles from the country's border with Poland, which is a NATO territory.
CNN chief White House correspondent, Kaitlan Collins, joining me now.
So what more do we know about what has been happening from the White House?
KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well the biggest thing right now, Anderson, is this trip that they are considering having President Biden go to Europe, maybe a stop in Brussels and maybe Poland.
It is far from clear right now, based on what we've heard, and it is also far from finalized.
This would be to showcase American support, of course. It would come after we've seen several other top U.S. officials go, including Vice President Harris, Secretary Blinken as well, all making trips to Europe.
And now it is something under consideration for President Biden himself to do. Though we're still waiting for any kind of confirmation from the White House on that front.
But, Anderson, it does come after this 49-minute phone call that President Biden had with President Zelenskyy on Friday.
Where I'm told Zelenskyy thanked the president for the step that he was about to announce on Friday about revoking the Russia favored trade status when it comes to trade with the United States.
But, Anderson, he also pushed him to do more, to restrict Russia's access to international trade, to close off Russia's access to international waterways.
And to continue to go after those Russian elites, the oligarchs that the United States and others have sanctioned in recent days and weeks.
And we'll see if the U.S. follows in that and they continue to take any more steps.
But we should not this comes as President Zelenskyy is expected to virtually address Congress on Wednesday. You can expect lawmakers after that to give readouts to that meeting.
And often times, that is where he makes requests for more assistance. As he did during the one call with lawmakers where he asked for fighter jets and for the United States to encourage Visa and MasterCard to cut off access in Russia, something that they eventually ended up doing.
That would be a key question for this White House, is what steps is Zelenskyy trying to push lawmakers and try to get them to rally around? And does this increase the pressure on the White House to take those steps.
[14:35:00]
One thing we should note, Anderson, is that today Jake Sullivan, the national security adviser, did meet with China's top diplomat in Rome. This was supposed to be a follow-up meeting to that virtual meeting that President Biden with Chinese President Xi Jinping in the fall.
It comes amid this Russian invasion of Ukraine. We know that Russia has reached out to China to try to get help when it comes to military equipment and economic assistance.
And that was something they talked about, the importance of maintaining open lines of communications between the United States and China today -- Anderson?
COOPER: Kaitlan Collins, appreciate it, from the White House.
Alisyn and Victor, let's go back to you.
VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN HOST: All right, Anderson, thank you.
There's a new rare interview with the wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. She acknowledges that she attended the January 6th rally, but she said that she played no role in planning it and she said she left early. We'll have more on that next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[14:40:33]
BLACKWELL: The wife of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas is acknowledging that she attended the January 6th rally that preceded the capitol insurrection but she said she had no role in planning the rally.
ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN HOST: In a newly published interview with the "Washington Free Beacon," conservative activist, Virginia Thomas, said she left the rally before then-President Trump took the stage.
She told the publication that she does not involve her husband in the work she does for conservative causes and that Justice Thomas does not discuss his work with her.
So authorities in New York and D.C. are hunting for a gunman that they say is targeting homeless men in both cities and killing two of them.
BLACKWELL: Officials released these images of the suspect. They say that the attacks happened over the past two weeks in the middle of the night.
Now, three of the attacks happened last week in Washington. And then there were two more in New York over the weekend. Some were caught on surveillance video.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) MAYOR ERIC ADAMS (D-NEW YORK): The cases are a clear and horrific, intentional act of taking a life of someone that appears because he was homeless.
The video is chilling. To see a cold-blooded act of murder. Homelessness turning into a homicide. We need to find this person.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLACKWELL: Local and federal authorities have offered a combined $55,000 reward for information leading to the suspect's arrest.
CAMEROTA: China is facing the worst COVID outbreak since the beginning of pandemic, with several thousand new infections in dozens of cities.
Two major Chinese cities, both of which are economic and industrial hubs, are under lockdown for at least a week.
BLACKWELL: That has caused a major supplier for Apple to suspend operations.
In some areas, people cannot leave their homes. And only one person could go out to do grocery shopping every two days.
CAMEROTA: Former President Barack Obama says he has tested positive for COVID. He tweeted the news on Sunday explaining he had a scratchy throat for a couple of days but he's feeling fine and he's grateful to be vaccinated and boosted.
BLACKWELL: He added that former first lady, Michelle Obama, has tested negative. A friend close to the Obama's tells CNN the former president tested positive after returning to D.C. from Hawaii.
Tom Brady is back.
I don't know if he ever really left though.
CAMEROTA: I guess not.
BLACKWELL: It is, what, a month or so that he's been in retirement?
Brady tweeted Sunday that he will return to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers next season. He said that his place is still on the field and not in the stands. He added he has "unfinished business."
CAMEROTA: I guess so.
Tampa Bay fans are not surprisingly delighted. A assume John Berman is as well.
BLACKWELL: Of course.
CAMEROTA: The Bucs organization said they are thrilled to welcome back their star quarterback.
In his 22-year career, Brady has won seven Super Bowl titles, six with the New England Patriots, one with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
I guess he -- I don't know what is going on. I guess retirement didn't suit him, those few weeks.
BLACKWELL: Here's what I don't get. We have this story on CNN where somebody paid $518,000 for the final career touchdown ball.
CAMEROTA: Oops.
BLACKWELL: I'd want at least half of that back.
CAMEROTA: More.
BLACKWELL: Because it is not the final one.
All right.
CAMEROTA: All right.
[14:43:48]
BLACKWELL: We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[14:48:31]
CAMEROTA: He's been described as kind and gifted and infused with humanity. Those are some of the tributes for first American believed to be killed in Ukraine, award-winning journalist, Brent Renaud.
Renaud was 50 years old. And he was filming a documentary on refugees for "Time."
Another American journalist was with Renaud when he was killed and said Russian forces opened fire on them.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED AMERICAN JOURNALIST: We're going to film the refugees leaving and we got on to a car. Somebody offered to take us to the other bridge. And we crossed a checkpoint and they started shooting at us.
So the driver turned around and they kept shooting. There's two of us. My friend is Brent Renaud, and he's been shot and left behind.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And how is he?
UNIDENTIFIED AMERICAN JOURNALIST: I don't know. I don't know.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You don't know? You don't know what happened to him?
UNIDENTIFIED AMERICAN JOURNALIST: I saw him being shot in the neck. And we got split. (END VIDEO CLIP)
CAMEROTA: Kyiv region police accuse Russian forces in Renaud's death, posting a picture of his body and passport.
CNN has not been able to verify the police details.
Joining us now is a friend and colleague of Brent Renaud, Jeff Newton.
And Jeff came to know Renaud after hiring him for several projects for "60 Minutes" and "Vice News."
And, Jeff, we're looking at photos of you two together just in all sorts of places where you were working, obviously in really tough conditions it looks like.
And so just tell us about your friend, Brent, and what made him so special as a journalist and, of course, as a friend.
[14:50:04]
JEFF NEWTON, FRIEND & COLLEAGUE OF BRENT RENAUD: Well, I think the most important thing to know about him is he wasn't really a thrill seeker, which sounds strange for people who cover conflicts.
But he is just one of the people that loved people. And the human condition was what he was after. He wanted to understand what people were having to deal who were in the middle of these conflicts.
And even when he was not in conflict zones, he was covering things like disadvantaged kids in Chicago school systems or kids that were moving to homeless shelters in places like New Orleans.
He was always trying to figure out the story as it relates to how people were affected. The people that were in war zones, he was concerned with who was stuck in the middle of it.
(CROSSTALK)
NEWTON: And so we --
CAMEROTA: We actually have a little clip of him talking to young migrants who were trying to escape Honduras. Let's just play that.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BRENT RENAUD, AMERICAN JOURNALIST KILLED IN UKRAINE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
UNIDENTIFIED BOY: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
RENAUD: Are you traveling alone? Are you here by yourself?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE) He's alone.
RENAUD: Where is the rest of your family? UNIDENTIFIED BOY: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
RENAUD: Why were the gang members after you?
UNIDENTIFIED BOY: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CAMEROTA: I mean, get what you mean in that little clip. He just wants to story. He's talking to this young boy who has left home.
Why were those stories important to Brent?
NEWTON: I think you have to understand where he came from. He's a kid that grew up in Arkansas. And, you know, went to Columbia University, ivy league school and became a fellow at Harvard.
But deep down, he was still a kid from the country and from a small southern town. And I think he related to them really well.
When he sat down with people, his interview questions were always very basic like that. He was never trying to be the story. He was always trying to get the story.
He did it in way that was so very elemental and basic to journalism, which often kind of gets lost in the kind of news programs that we see where the correspondent seems to always take front stage.
He wasn't like that. He didn't want to be noticed.
CAMEROTA: Yes, I got that just from watching that clip. I got that right away it was his style. It was just paired down and just to get the story.
I know that you recently spoke to him. Just tell us about that conversation.
NEWTON: I was at a Ukraine protest in Washington, D.C. I lived outside of D.C. and he called me on the phone. He was looking for people to help -- fixing in Poland and Ukraine.
We talked for a while. We spoke for probably 10 minutes. I knew he was going to go the next day. And he went the next day.
We always kind of -- when you cover wars for a living, like he and I do, you go to places like Somalia and Libya and Iraq and dealing with ISIS things, you always think that you might not see that person again.
But when you talk to Brent, you're always talking to a guy who is very upbeat and very secure in what he's doing and why he's doing it.
I just wished him well and told him I would see him when he got back.
CAMEROTA: You never talk about things like that. You war correspondents are so brave. We see it in full display right now with so many of our correspondents in Ukraine.
Do you talk about that before you leave? Do you talk about the risks?
NEWTON: Not much. I used to be a roommate with Chris and David. You know their stories. I worked with Clarissa Ward when she was at "60 Minutes," one of your great correspondents there. Probably the best in the business.
You spend a lot of time talking about that stuff and you spend a lot less time talking about the story if you're talking about that stuff.
You put it in the back of your mind. You know what you're doing is risky. You know being in places like that, there's a very good chance something could happen to you.
But you also do your best risk assessments and work with people you trust and you know. And you do your best to stay out of harm's way.
But you can't account for every sniper rifle in a window. And you can't account for every mortar that's shot that you can't hear until it's too late. And that's just the nature of the beast.
And I think that -- you know, if you look at his life -- he was 50 years old, I think, when he passed away -- he did more in the last 15 years in documentary filmmaking than probably anybody in the last 30 or 40.
He and his brother Craig have done so many documentaries and so many important things.
There was time there where he won back-to-back DuPont Awards, which is extraordinary, and Poke's and Peabodys and Emmys.
That only comes from getting after it every day like he did.
[14:55:00]
CAMEROTA: Have you been able to talk to Craig or any of his loved ones back here?
NEWTON: Yes. I talk to Craig several times a day. He's dealing with some pretty heavy stuff right now in term of dealing and getting Brent back.
And actually Juan, which shouldn't be forgotten, who was with him, was my graduate student at Columbia about 18 months ago. So -- and he's at a second surgery today and I hope he gets better and we get him out of the country soon as well.
CAMEROTA: Jeff Newton, thank you very much for all of the information. We're really, really sorry for the loss of your friend.
NEWTON: Thank you so much for highlighting his amazing career.
BLACKWELL: More than 2.8 million people have left Ukraine. Most of these refugees crossed the border into Poland. We're going to take you there, ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
