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NASA Astronaut Returns on Russian Spacecraft Amid War Tensions; Russian Oil Tankers Disappearing from Tracking Systems; Biden Speaks on Administration's COVID-19 Response; Academy Leaders Meet Today to Consider Action Against Will Smith as 2 Oscars Co-Hosts Speak Out. Aired 1:30-2p ET
Aired March 30, 2022 - 13:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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[13:31:28]
ANA CABRERA, CNN HOST: Back on earth after hitching a ride on a Russian spacecraft, NASA Astronaut Mark Vande Hei touched down in Kazakhstan this morning after 355 consecutive days in space. That is an American record.
CNN's space and defense correspondent, Kristin Fisher, is watching this story for us.
Kristin, good news, he landed safely. The tensions, of course, between the U.S. and Russia are quite high. But in space, there's cooperation, right?
KRISTIN FISHER, CNN SPACE & DEFENSE CORRESPONDENT: The cooperation continues, Ana. This U.S./Russia partnership up at the International Space Station, which has been successful for more than two decades, has been tested in recent weeks like never before.
And today was really kind of a culmination of sorts of that test. Both NASA and Russia space agency, Roscosmos, passed that test with flying colors.
You can see right there, NASA Astronaut Mark Vande Hei being taken out of the "Soyuz" capsule minutes after it touched down in Kazakhstan, which is standard operating procedure for this type of spacecraft.
And just so remarkable that a NASA astronaut landing in a capsule alongside two Russian cosmonauts, Pyotr Dubrov and Anton Shkaplerov.
Something else that was real concerning heading into this was there was so much concern Russia might perhaps leave Mark Vande Hei up on the Space Station.
Because the head of Russia's space agency, Dmitry Rogozin, shared a link on social media, a heavily edited video clip, in which it appeared to show some cosmonauts waving good-bye to Vande Hei.
He denied it. NASA said this partnership was going to move forward intact. But there was a lot of concern that today might not be successful. So
big sighs of relief from NASA and everybody in the space community that it was.
And, Ana, it is easy to allow the geopolitical strife and tensions to overshadow what a historic occasion this is for Mark Vande Hei personally.
Today, he beat Scott Kelly's record. He now holds the longest single space flight record in American astronaut history, 355 days in space.
It was his second space flight and his last space flight because, Ana, he has promised his wife he will not fly again.
Just imagine, when he launched back in April of 2021, he did not know that he would be spending a year in space. He thought he would be spending just six months.
Imagine that conversation that you have to have with your wife. He told her that he loved her and that promised he would not be going back, this was it.
And what a way to end your space life career.
CABRERA: I know. I'm sure she missed him so much. I'm sure they missed each other so much.
I'm curious what he has to do to get his body back into earthly shape after spending almost a whole year in space. I have no idea.
Thanks for being the bright spot in our show today. We certainly needed that good news.
Kristin Fisher, thanks for being the bright spot in our show today. We certainly needed that good news.
Now let's talk about a growing phenomenon. That Russian oil tanker suddenly vanished, literally disappearing from tracking systems, for hours at a time.
Experts call this dark activity. And it's where ships intentionally turn off their transponders, something that in the past has been done to evade sanctions.
CNN's Matt Egan is reporting on this today.
Matt, what are we learning on this?
MATT EGAN, CNN BUSINESS REPORTER: Ana, this feels like something out of a spy thriller.
[13:35:01]
CABRERA: It does.
EGAN: Ships are supposed to keep their transponders on at all times unless they're going through pirate-infested waters or something like that.
What we've seen is an uptick in ships turning off their transponders. They're calling it dark activity.
Artificial intelligence tracks ships. They send over the data. And shows there's been a sharp increase in the number of Russian- affiliated ships that carry crude oil or petroleum products that go dark.
In the past, U.S. officials -- and you can see in the chart on the screen, you the increase in the last few weeks as this war has gone on.
Now in the past, officials have warned that going dark is a deceptive shipping practice that can be used to try to evade sanctions. Iran and Venezuela have used it in the past.
The twist here is that Russian oil is not directly sanctioned. The United States can't bring it in but other countries can.
There's been this de facto embargo on Russian energy because a lot of companies, banks and insurance companies and shipping companies, don't want to do business with Russian energy.
Analysts are saying we're seeing this increase in dark activity, in large part, because buyers don't want to be outed doing business with Russia.
CABRERA: Is it like there's a black market for the Russian oil? And who would be part of that?
EGAN: Most of this oil is probably going to China and India. Those are two countries that use a lot of oil. They import a lot of oil. And they have a need for it.
Russian barrels are discounted right now so there's an economic incentive here as well.
All of this really matters because there's so much uncertainty over Russian energy supplies. And that uncertainty is driving up energy prices.
Just yesterday, we saw U.S. oil prices fall below $100 a barrel because of hopes of a ceasefire in Ukraine.
They've shot back higher. Last check, $107 a barrel, up around 2 percent today. And I think we can expect these wild swings to continue as this uncertainty and the war drags on.
CABRERA: Thank you for giving us that update, Matt. Good to have you here.
EGAN: Thank you.
CABRERA: He is the Ukrainian soldier who famously told a Russian warship to go -- well, listen for yourself. (BEGIN AUDIO FEED)
UNIDENTIFIED RUSSIAN SERVICEMEMBER: I am Russian military ship. Propose to put down arms or you will be hit. Acknowledge.
UNIDENTIFIED UKRAINIAN SERVICEMEMBER (not through radio): (EXPLETIVE DELETED) it as well.
UNIDENTIFIED UKRAINIAN SERVICEMEMBER (not through radio): Just in case.
UNIDENTIFIED UKRAINIAN SERVICEMEMBER: Russian warship, go (EXPLETIVE DELETED) yourself.
(END AUDIO FEED)
CABRERA: Roman Gravov (ph) didn't die from attacks on Snake Island but he was captured. After a prisoner swap with Russian troops, he was able to return home. And he just received a medal for his service.
We'll be right back.
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[13:40:31]
CABRERA: We're going live directly to the White House and President Biden addressing the country on COVID-19.
JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Because of the strategy we executed over the past year on vaccinations, testing, treatments and more, we're now in a new moment in this pandemic.
It does not mean COVID-19 is over. It means COVID-19 no longer controls our lives. That's what it means.
Cases are ticking up, as we thought they might. But now thanks to the foundation we've laid, America has the tools to protect people, all the people.
And as we've done from day one, the Biden administration is making it easier than ever to access these tools.
Today, I'm announcing the launch of COVID.gov, COVID.gov. A one-stop shop where anyone in America can find what they need to navigate the virus.
Free vaccines and boosters, free at-home tests, high-quality masks. And for the latest information about the level of COVID-19 spread in your community, you can get that immediately.
Now you also will be able to find our new test-to-treat locations, which I announced in my State of the Union address. These are pharmacies and other places in your neighborhood you can get tested and, if positive get life-saving treatments all in one stop. We've already stood up 2,000 test-and-treat sites across the country.
We have nearly 200 sites just to serve military families and veterans communities as well.
We've done -- what we've done throughout the pandemic, we've ensured these locations are the hardest hit, hardest to reach communities as well.
No longer will Americans have to scour the Internet to find vaccines, treatments, tests or masks. It's all there.
And just go visit COVID.gov. COVID.gov.
Let me remind you, when I took office about 14 months ago, the deficit was soaring. Most schools were closed. We didn't have enough vaccines. The unemployment claims were sky high.
Enough vaccines months ahead of schedule, at-home tests that are free and accessible. Over 99 percent of our schools are open again. Businesses are open again.
And because of how we responded, we created more jobs last year than ever before, 6.7 million jobs.
And, by the way, we did it while cutting the deficit, the largest reduction in American history. The largest one-year deficit reduction in American history.
But none of that happened by accident. We were able to do it because we coordinated across the government, partnered with state and local leaders, governors on both sides of the aisle, and the private sector to leverage every resource we had to fight against this virus.
We left no stone unturned. And we were able to do it because Congress worked with us and provided us the necessary funding.
Congress has to provide the funding America needs to continue to fight COVID-19. We're already seeing the consequences of congressional inaction.
The monoclonal antibodies, for example, they've helped save lives. This isn't partisan. It's medicine. But Congress hasn't provided enough money to keep purchasing these monoclonal antibodies.
We've had to cancel planned orders and cut the supply we're sending to the states. Without more funding, we'll start to run out of them by the end of May, the end of May.
We've also had to scale back our plan to purchase more preventive therapies for Americans who are immunocompromised. Critical tools to protect the most vulnerable among us.
Without more funding, we risk running out of supply by this fall.
The same is true of testing. It took months to ramp up our testing capacity. The Omicron, we saw how vital it was. And we have enough tests on hand to weather the surge.
[13:45:05]
Without funding, we're not going to be able to sustain the testing capacity beyond the month of June. And if we fail to invest, we leave ourselves vulnerable if another wave of the virus hits.
Look, on vaccines, our most important tool in this fight, we're running a risk.
Yesterday, the Food and Drug Administration, the FDA, and the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, the CDC, authorized a fourth shot for those 50 years old and older.
We know boosters are critical to providing an additional level of protection. That's why I plan to get my second booster today right here after I'm done speaking.
If you haven't gotten your first booster, please don't wait. Do it today. Those who are 50 and older as well as those who are immunocompromised can now get even more protection than they had from the initial first doses.
We have enough supply to give booster shots to those newly eligible individuals.
But if Congress fails to act, we won't have the supply we need this fall to ensure the shots are available, free, easily accessible for all Americans.
Even worse, if we need a different vaccine for the future to combat a new variant we're not going to have enough money to purchase it. We cannot allow that to happen.
Congress, we need to secure additional supply now. Now. We can't wait as we find ourselves in the midst of another surge to act. It will be too late.
We need this funding to continue our efforts to vaccinate the world it's critical to our ability to protect against new variants. There's no wall you can build high enough to keep out a virus.
Congress needs to act now, please.
Let me close with this. I've worked so hard to get our lives -- we've worked so hard -- we, all of us, have worked so hard to get our lives back.
We're summoning every ounce of American resilience, pulled every lever of our government, called on the goodness and patriotism of the American people.
Together, we turned an unthinkable pain into an extraordinary progress and purpose. Americans are back to living their lives again. We can't surrender that now.
Congress, please act. You have to act immediately. The consequences of inaction are severe. It will only grow with time.
But it doesn't have to be that way. We have proven what we can do when we work together.
So I urge Democrats and Republicans to get this done with urgency. Let's stand united. Let's continue to pull together. Let's get this done.
Thank you and God bless you all. And may God protect our troops.
And I'm going to get my second booster shot.
(INAUDIBLE)
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Mr. President, what is the danger of Putin being left in the dark by his military advisers?
BIDEN: (INAUDIBLE)
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Can you talk about U.S. Intelligence saying that he doesn't trust his leadership since it is declassified?
BIDEN: No, I can't.
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: (INAUDIBLE) -- security -- (INAUDIBLE)
BIDEN: I'm feeling great.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: (INAUDIBLE QUESTION)
BIDEN: OK, all right.
We'll get you squared away.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Mr. President, are you going to extend Title 42?
BIDEN: We'll have a decision on that soon.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Mr. President, what did President Zelenskyy tell you about the --
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: (INAUDIBLE) -- against COVID here?
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: What did President Zelenskyy tell you about --
(CROSSTALK)
BIDEN: Someone ask me about the vaccine. Wonderful.
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Mr. President, what did you hear about negotiations?
(CROSSTALK)
BIDEN: I have always thought that it discourages people getting the vaccination when they watch people get a needle in their arm. So I apologize.
It didn't hurt a bit. And I was able to roll my sleeve up.
And thank you all.
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: (INAUDIBLE) -- while they're here in Washington, they say you promised them a meeting.
BIDEN: I'm going to see if I get to see them.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Today?
BIDEN: They're good people. We're trying to work that out.
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: What did President Zelenskyy tell you? What did President Zelenskyy tell you about negotiations?
CABRERA: President Biden trying to keep this moment about the pandemic.
[13:50:01]
He just got his second booster shot there on camera after delivering an address to the American people about the current state of play with COVID-19 in the U.S.
And funding that he says the administration desperately needs Congress to pass to continue the right in this pandemic.
I want to bring in CNN White House correspondent, M.J. Lee, at the White House for us.
M.J., what was the goal of this address? Because you have reporting that this was something that has been thought through for weeks.
M.J. LEE, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Ana. This is the clearest sign we have seen yet coming from the White House that they are ready to mark a next phase of this pandemic.
The president saying off the top, quote, "We are now in a new moment in the pandemic." While the pandemic isn't over, he said COVID-19 no longer controls our lives.
Ad getting the second booster shot on camera is a big part of that messaging. The White House has made pretty clear that for the president of the United States to get these shots on camera can hopefully encourage others to get vaccinated and boosters.
This is quick turnaround because, remember, it was just yesterday that the FDA approved that adults who are older than 50 years old, as long as it has been four months since their first booster shot, they can get their second booster shot.
So all of this is part of the messaging from the White House that, again, we are entering a new phase of this pandemic.
And we heard importantly from the speech that President Biden just gave, basically pleading with Congress to authorize more funding for the nation's ongoing COVID-19 efforts.
He basically said, look, if we don't get more funding, we can't continue with some of the things that we need to do, including on testing, getting some of the antibody testing and the supplies the nation needs.
And saying that unless Congress authorizes more funding, the progress that we have made so far could really be erased or be stopped.
I will just say, too, as much as this White House is wanting to sort of move forward on the pandemic, and point to this next phase, there are examples -- even in this White House, two White House aides in the communications shop, including the White House press secretary, Jen Psaki, within the last week testing positive for COVID.
So just reminders here at the White House that as much as this is their messaging now, that the pandemic is far from over -- Ana?
CABRERA: And, Lauren Fox, to you on Capitol Hill.
The president just said, without the funding -- M.J. highlight some of it -- the U.S. could run out of testing supplies, could run out of treatments and supply of those COVID treatments.
As well as problems with the vaccine supply come later this year or down the road when people need additional vaccines.
So what's the hold up on this funding on Capitol Hill? Why can't they agree on it?
LAUREN FOX, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, right now, there's a meeting happening in Chuck Schumer's office with two leading Republicans trying to negotiate out this package.
And what we've heard so far is these negotiations have centered around spending about $15.6 billion. But it's hard to figure out how Republicans and Democrats are going to offset or pay for this new investment.
If you remember, a couple of weeks ago, when Democrats and Republicans needed to pass the spending bill to keep the government funded, they were going to include $15.6 billion for COVID relief and treatments moving forward. However, there was a number of concerns from Democrats in the House of Representatives over the fact that that money was going to be using unspent funds from past COVID relief bills.
Their concern that there were states and local governments that had been planning to get money that then were not going to have the money they thought they were going to have.
So there was a little bit of a revolt in the Democratic Party in the House of Representatives. The House speaker had to pull that provision from the legislation. And they had to pass the bill without it.
So now they're really back to square one. They need 60 votes in the Senate, which means they need to get ten Republicans on board.
So this meeting in Schumer's office happening now with Mitt Romney as well as Richard Burr, the top Republican on the Health Committee.
That's going to be critical to seeing whether or not they can do this before the easter recess, which is the deadline Schumer would like to meet -- Ana?
CABRERA: Lauren Fox and M.J. Lee, thank you, ladies.
Let's pivot to another developing story today. Just hours from now, a meeting to discuss consequences, if any, for Will Smith after this happened at the Oscars.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHRIS ROCK, COMEDIAN: Uh-oh.
(LAUGHTER)
(APPLAUSE)
ROCK: Oh, wow. Wow.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CABRERA: CNN's Stephanie Elam is following this for us.
Stephanie, we have yet to hear from Chris Rock, other than what he said on stage. But we are hearing from two Oscar co-hosts.
What are they saying?
[13:54:59]
STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right. We have heard now from Wanda Sykes speaking on Ellen DeGeneres' show. And now Amy Schumer has posted on her Instagram about it.
In short, Any Schumer talks about the fact she's still triggered and traumatized. She said she still loves her friend, Chris Rock and believes he
handled it like a pro and stayed there and gave an Oscar to his friend, Quest Love.
"And the whole thing was just disturbing. So much pain and Will Smsith
It was just so disturbing. Anyway, I'm still shocked and stun and sad. And I'm proud of myself and my co-host. But, yes, waiting for the sickening feeling to go away from what we all witnessed."
Summing up what I think a lot of people feel. I think a lot of people feel that way when they see that video of Will Smith striking Chris Rock.
Obviously, we have not heard from Chris Rock. It was almost like he vaporized from the Dolby Theatre. Like, no one knew where he went.
But what's interesting about what Wanda Sykes said is that she did see him at a party later and he apologized to her saying this was supposed to be their night.
CABRERA: Stephanie Elam, thank you.
That does it for me today.
The news continues right after this.
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