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Biden Signs Spending Bill That Includes $13.6 Billion In Ukraine Aid; Russian State TV Staffer Found Guilty In Russian Court One Day After Live Anti-War Protest; Russian TV Presenter Resigns From Pro-Kremlin Channel & Flees Russia; Key Inflation Measure Hits Double Digits As Prices Keep Rising; Ukraine Says It Detained A "Hacker" Helping Russian Troops Communicate; Zelenskyy Issues New Call For No- Fly Zone Over Ukraine. Aired 2:30-3p ET

Aired March 15, 2022 - 14:30   ET

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

[14:30:00]

WENDY SHERMAN, DEPUTY SECRETARY OF STATE: Great to talk to you too. Thank you.

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN HOST: A Russian TV presenter for one of the nation's most popular channels leaves the country and resigns. She says that she was afraid that they wouldn't just let her go.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN HOST: Plus, the Russian TV editor who protested the war on live television is speaking out after appearing in court. We have all of the new details next.

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[14:35:02]

BLACKWELL: President Biden is holding a signing event at the White House for the omnibus spending bill. It includes more than $13 billion in aid to Ukraine.

Let's go there to the president.

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: -- exceedingly difficult to get supplies to Ukraine while the Russian onslaught continues. But we're managing to get supplies into Ukraine regularly thanks to the bravery of so many frontline workers who are still at their posts.

And we are supporting food assistance at refugee reception centers in frontline countries like Moldova.

With billions more included in this bill for new humanitarian assistance, we're going to be able to quickly ramp up our response and help alleviate the suffering that Putin's war is causing the Ukrainian people and the region.

This bill also provides necessary economic support for Ukraine and Ukraine's neighbors that are impacted by this war. Things like loan guarantees, direct financial support, including to address the needs of energy and cybersecurity. This bill is also going to help face our challenges here at home. It

sends a clear message to the American people that we're investing in safety, health, and the future of Americans.

Let me just mention a couple of highlights, starting with community safety.

We know what works to make our communities safer, and that's investing in prevention and community police officers so that they can walk the streets, know the neighborhoods, and can help restore trust and safety in the communities.

The answer is not to abandon our streets or to choose between safety and equal justice. It's in funding -- it's in this funding bill, which we make sure we do both.

This budget invests in funding for agencies like the FBI and U.S. Marshals, the drug enforcement agency, but also includes funding for --

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST: That's President Biden talking about a spending bill, including some $13.6 billion in aid for Ukraine.

A Russian journalist who staged an anti-war protest live on Russian state TV has been found guilty of organizing an unauthorized public event.

She appeared in a Moscow court today with one of her attorneys, who posted this picture.

She was arrested after crashing a live TV newscast to protest Putin's war in Ukraine and held up a sign that read, "Stop the war. Do not believe propaganda. They tell you lies here."

CNN's Nic Robertson joins us from London.

What more are you learning about the punishment that she now faces for this protest?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: It's a relatively light punishment, a 30,000-Ruble fine, about $275 fine.

What the investigative committee, that body, the Russian body that oversees journalists, had initially said she could be tried under the very new draconian laws that prohibit any comment, any negative comment about what Russian forces are doing in Ukraine.

You know, in Russia right now, you can't even say there's a war. You have to call it a special military operation.

It looked like she was going to get -- face those charges, maximum 15 years in jail.

When she came out of the court -- and I think this perhaps surprised a lot of people -- she was able to speak to the cameras there.

She said -- and I think this is something that the -- that will be what the Kremlin wanted to hear, which is that she acted alone.

This was her decision, that she wasn't sort of part of a conspiracy at this major sort of organ institution of state propaganda channel, channel 1 there.

But she also said that while she was being questioned, she was questioned for 14 hours, that she wasn't allowed to contact any legal representation, that she wasn't allowed to contact any family members.

Which goes a long way to explain why, for so long, her lawyers didn't even know where she was.

But it is very interesting that the government hasn't thrown the biggest laws at her, if you will.

And it gives the impression that they're charging her for a social media post and not for storming on to the set.

And that keeps that very sort of high-profile anti-war protest out of the limelight, because then the government's now -- and the judiciary are not drawing attention to it -- Anderson?

COOPER: She's not the only Russian journalist who's protested the war. There was another Russian television presenter who worked for a pro- Kremlin channel, not as popular a channel.

She resigned and left the country, right?

ROBERTSON: Yes, she did. She worked for NTV. She had been there for well over a decade. So she had been at the station for a long time, committed to it.

I think when it started up, it was initially, you know, more of an independent station than it became, because of Putin's sort of crushing of independent media.

And it became and is today the sort of third most popular state TV in Russia, and because it's state TV, it's putting out the Kremlin's lines/

And she apparently is uncomfortable with that. She told a popular blogger in Russia that she was worried about leaving, that she thought perhaps she wouldn't be allowed to leave.

We don't know the full reasoning for why she left. But it appears to be connected with the war, the fact that she was worried about sort of giving in her resignation and leaving the station.

[14:40:08]

You know, I think it's worth saying that there's a lot of people in Russia, perhaps a quarter, maybe just from our unscientific polling, that disagree with the war.

But it clearly takes really brave people to put their jobs on the line. And some are standing up. But yet, not a turning point for the Kremlin. It would be my estimation -- Anderson?

COOPER: Yes. Nic Robertson, I appreciate it.

Let's go back to Victor and Alisyn.

I talked to an American who was in Moscow yesterday who is saying he is seeing small acts of resistance.

People putting up stickers on buses, people wearing messages on their face masks for COVID, small things that give you a sense that there are people in Russia who are certainly opposed to what is happening here.

CAMEROTA: That's interesting to hear, Anderson. People are doing whatever they can to fight back.

And then there are those grand gestures that those women that we just showed, those journalists did.

But you -- that takes a lot of courage, because, as we point out, we didn't know what was going to happen to those women. And we're happy that she got a small fine and not -- isn't disappeared, as we thought.

Anderson, we'll check back with you.

The Fed is expected to raise interest rates tomorrow. What this means for you. That's next.

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[14:46:03]

CAMEROTA: Prices of necessities in the U.S. are still going up. Another key inflation gauge just hit double digits.

BLACKWELL: CNN's Matt Egan is here to explain.

So, where we're seeing the steepest price hikes?

MATT EGAN, CNN BUSINESS REPORTER: Not surprisingly, it's food and energy, gasoline, in particular.

A new report out today shows that selling prices from producers jumped by 10 percent year over year in February. That's tied with January for the biggest 12-month gain since tracking began a dozen years ago.

As you can see, from that line chart, prices are going up very sharply. Businesses are passing along at least a chunk of those higher costs to consumers.

Good news and bad news in this report.

Good news is that month over month, look very narrowly, prices actually cooled off a bit. That's encouraging.

Bad news is that this report only captured prices until mid-February. We know the world has changed since then.

Russia's invasion of Ukraine has sent up prices for commodities, for energy, food, metals. That's not captured in this report.

Nor is the fact that China has resorted to lockdowns because of a COVID outbreak. That could make the supply chain situation worse.

All of this explains why the Federal Reserve is expected to take action tomorrow, raising interest rates off of zero.

It's a big deal. It's going to raise borrowing costs for mortgages, credit cards, auto loans, student debt.

The goal is to try to get inflation under control without short circuiting this economic recovery. The jury is out on whether or not they can do this.

The Fed is also going to be watching gasoline prices. We've seen the national average for gas actually drop by a penny in the last day to $4.32 a gallon. That's not cheap.

But given where prices were, given that oil prices were skyrocketing, given that the national average for gas looked like it was going to keep going straight up, that is encouraging.

We don't know if it's going to last. The key will be if oil stays below $100 a barrel. That can change pretty quickly.

But for now, we'll take good news where we can get it.

CAMEROTA: Even if it's a penny drop, we'll call it good news.

EGAN: Yes, even if it's a penny drop. But analysts do expect that the national average could drop box by 20 to 25 cents in the coming days.

BLACKWELL: All right, well, that's good.

CAMEROTA: Matt Egan, thank you.

EGAN: Thank you.

BLACKWELL: Ukrainian authorities say they have detained a hacker who was allegedly helping Russian troops communicate. We'll discuss.

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[14:51:59]

BLACKWELL: Ukrainian authorities have detained a hacker accused of helping the Russians communicate.

The suspect allegedly was on thousands of phone calls to Russian officials, including senior military officials. And Ukrainian officials say the suspect sent text messages to Ukrainians suggesting they surrender to Russian forces. CAMEROTA: Joining us now is retired U.S. Army Colonel Liam Collins. He

served as an executive officer for the U.S. senior defense adviser to Ukraine from 2016 to 2018. He's also a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.

Colonel, thanks so much for being here.

When you hear a story like this, when they detained the hacker who was on thousands of calls to Russian troops and officials, you just understand on how much fronts Ukraine is trying to fight this war right now.

COL. LIAM COLLINS, U.S. ARMY, RETIRED & MEMBER, COUNCIL ON FOREIGN RELATIONS: Yes, that's not really a surprise. You're going to have those kinds of things. Russia would infiltrate earlier, pay people off, bribe them. That's been the modus operindi before the conflict started.

But what' been a surprise is the lack of success in the electronic warfare and information operations capabilities. They really haven't had the success we thought they would there.

BLACKWELL: We heard from President Zelenskyy today before the Canadian parliament. Congress will hear from him tomorrow.

And he will likely say what he's been saying. Close the skies. Give us fighter jets. We need more offensive resources.

NATO said has no. The U.S. shut down the idea.

Do you think they need more than they are getting now? What should the West supply?

COLLINS: Yes, I don't think, obviously a no-fly zone will be problematic. It's NATO nations enforcing no-fly zones. So that's clearly off the table.

And I don't think fighter aircrafts are the answer either. They're extremely vulnerable. The Russians could see them and take them out, like they did most of the Ukrainian air force to date.

I think the answer is more anti-aircraft missiles, like the Stinger missiles, that were shipped right before the start of the war. And then getting those dispersed among Ukrainian troops around the

country.

As well as armed drones that they had early in the war. They have appeared to be shot down.

So giving them those kinds of assets, much cheaper, easier to fly drones that can be hidden from the Russians. Are responsible. And can give that capability to troops on the ground but really take out the Russian aircraft.

CAMEROTA: I* was reading about your history online. You were on the ground there in 2017 when they were desperate for these weapons then. Because they feared Russia was going to attack.

Was there not enough foresight before this?

COLLINS: Yes, without a doubt. That was when President Poroshenko was there. That's what they woke up or went to bed every night worrying about was large scale Russian invasion.

They weren't so worried about the conflict in the east, the Donbass conflict out there.

But, yes, the West, I don't think a lot of people believed this was a possibility. We saw this as a potential and things they needed to be armed at the time.

[14:55:06]

Javelins, I think they got first shipment of Javelins in December of 2017 or January 2018. These are the antitank missiles that allow to take out the Russian vehicles coming across the border.

There was some real debate as to, if we give them too much support, is this going to force Russia to invade?

BLACKWELL: It's day 20 of this war. We've heard from the Pentagon and senior U.S. defense officials that the Russian effort is stalled.

However, we see this continued bombardment. Four apartment buildings hit today. There's a report out of Mariupol that there's hundreds of people being held at a hospital.

What is your assessment of this war on day 20?

COLLINS: Yes, Ukrainians are fighting like I thought they would. Very capable force.

They made significant reforms over the last six years to really reform their defense establishment. Getting additional capability from the West in term of key weapon systems.

But a lot of those reforms were internally and how they fight and empowering better trained, better tactics, better doctrine than the Russians have. No surprise there.

But the Russians have really underperformed. They are where I thought they would be in terms of what just surround the city. They're not worried about collateral damage. It's not something that really concern them.

That's what they're doing. Keep their troops where, if they go into the city and they're exposed, not only to the Ukrainian forces but tens or hundreds of volunteers.

So they are just sort of holding back, getting engaged in a strategy of annihilation and exhaustion at the time. And just trying to bombard the Ukrainians into submission. But it just isn't going to work.

BLACKWELL: Colonel Liam Collins, thank you, sir.

CAMEROTA: A Ukrainian official is accusing Russian troops of holding people hostage at the Mariupol hospital in south Ukraine, as we mentioned. We have a live update, next.

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