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Britney Griner Lands in U.S. After Release from Russian Prison; Russia Wanted a Spy Held in Germany in Exchange for Whelan; Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX) Discusses Release of Brittney Griner, Efforts to Free Paul Whelan; California's Orange County Declares Racism Public Health Crisis. Aired 2:30-3p ET

Aired December 09, 2022 - 14:30   ET

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

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[14:31:21]

BIANNA GOLODRYGA, CNN HOST: WNBA Star Brittney Griner is back on American soil. She touched down in San Antonio earlier this morning after spending nearly 10 months in Russian prison.

She has been reunited with her wife and was then taken to Brooke Army Medical Center for a routine health evaluation.

The Biden administration secured her release by turning over convicted Russian arms dealer, Viktor Bout.

Earlier today, I spoke to Griner's head coach, Vanessa Nygaard, who had this message for her.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VANESSA NYGAARD, BRITTNEY GRINER'S HEAD COACH IN THE WNBA: B.G., we love you and we're so happy that you are home. I burst into tears when I heard that you were returning. And I know so many other people did as well. We're just so touched to have you back. We love you so much.

We live in a world that can be divisive. And there's a lot of noise out there. But from us, from the people nearest to you, we love you and we're so happy you are home.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GOLODRYGA: A really heartfelt message there from her coach.

CNN national security correspondent, Kylie Atwood, is joining me now.

Kylie, we have Brittney Griner home. That's great news. But what more do we know about process that led to her release and the administration's efforts now to bring home Paul Whelan as well who is still detained in Russia?

KYLIE ATWOOD, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Listen, it was a complex process that carried out over the course of several months. And it was really in recent weeks that the Biden administration

realized that it was one or none, that they were going to get this deal for Brittney Griner and trade Viktor Bout or they weren't going to get any deal at all. So that is why they went ahead.

But over the course of those negotiations, U.S. officials were growing frustrated because the Russians were putting people on the table that they wanted as part of a prisoner swap who wasn't even in U.S. custody. That's according to a senior administration official I spoke with.

And our colleague, Natasha Bertrand, has actually confirmed that the person that Russia kept asking was Russian who is in prison in Germany facing a life sentence due to murder. It's a former Russian spy.

And the Russians kept saying that's who they wanted in return for a prisoner swap that included Paul Whelan. And so that was frustrating to U.S. officials.

Now, going forward, the question is, how can they figure out something to put on the table that will actually get Paul Whelan home?

Because administration officials said they were quite creative over the course of the last few months to try and put something down that Russians would actually accept.

But what they are saying today is that they are trying to think of new innovative ways, new things that they can offer to Russia to try and get Paul Whelan home.

And I do think that it is significant that, just today, we're hearing from President Putin. As you know, he is the one who will make any determination on any prisoner swap. And he said that there's the possibility of a future prisoner swap. So that is a positive signal.

But U.S. officials are headed back to the drawing board to try and be creative to get out this American who has been wrongfully detained in Russia for about four years now -- Bianna?

GOLODRYGA: For nearly four years. And that offer that Russia put on the table of the releasing that Russia held in German prison, of course, that was something that the United States was never going to do or put Germany in the position of having to address.

Kylie Atwood, thank you.

Joining me know is Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee. She represents Houston, where Brittney Griner is from, and helped in the process to bring her home.

Thank you so much for joining us, Congresswoman.

We see Brittney Griner back home in the state of Texas. We know that she is undergoing a medical evaluation right now. What do you know about her welfare and how she is doing?

[14:35:01]

REP. SHEILA JACKSON LEE (D-TX): Well, thank you for having me.

There are no words that can express the ecstatic joyful feeling that we have here in Houston, Texas. We love her. She's a hometown girl. We know she's been playing for the Phoenix Mercury.

But we're so excited. Because this is the home she grew up in. This is the high school she went to and, of course, went to Baylor University.

And of course, her parents and her relatives, siblings and others are here. So we call her a Houstonian.

And we know she is resilient. She showed that as a player in high school and in college. We know that she is someone who remains determined.

She went through a grueling experience. And from our perspective, the best place for her to be is, of course, at Brooke Army medical Center.

But more importantly, we believe that she is stronger than we might have thought. But there are aspects that have to be reviewed.

We hear that she has spoken to her family members here. She sounded good. Looking forward to seeing them.

And we also know that she walked on her own capabilities both in terms of the swap and then when she landed in San Antonio. So from our perspective, Brittney is on the way.

But we want to be as respectful to Cherelle and Brittney as we can so that she can truly be strong and get back to what she loves. We hope that it will be playing basketball. But those will be her decisions.

GOLODRYGA: Yes. And have had the opportunity to speak with her wife, Cherelle, or her parents since she returned back to the U.S.?

LEE: I have spoken with a parent. And he was eagerly waiting for a call, which was arranged, and so she was able to, in midair, call her dad. And I can assure you that made him more than ecstatic.

He's a veteran. And what we kept saying, as we pushed for the negotiations to go forward, that he is a veteran whose daughter has been taken by one of the worse leaders in the world. So he is happy.

Obviously, they all want to see her. And might even want to see her back here at home. But I know that that was a happy phone reunion to hear his daughter's voice.

GOLODRYGA: And I remember that her father is a veteran. She referenced her father in that letter that she hand wrote to President Biden over the summer.

LEE: Absolutely.

GOLODRYGA: What is your understanding of the conditions that she faced at that Russian labor penal colony?

I read that, through her attorneys, she told them that she carried fabric all day because, given her height at 6'9", she wasn't able to sit down and sew along with the other women at that camp.

That must have been really grueling for her to be doing.

LEE: It was grueling.

And may I remind the audience what a false and unacceptable legal process is in Russia. And 99 percent of those who go into a courtroom under criminal charges are convicted. And she was convicted.

GOLODRYGA: Yes.

LEE: The appeal lasted, I believe, one day or a couple of hours and it was denied. And it almost looked like the judge was gleeful.

And then she had to move to a labor camp, which is none too pretty. As a 6'9" young woman, it was completely incapable of handling her bedding. The food was more than distasteful.

And I don't want to judge the other prisoners, but there was certainly some comment about how agreeable they would be with her and how helpful or how possibly disagreeable they might be and that would make her stay very difficult.

And how much you could trust the guards, if you will, to be protective of her, the living conditions, the water. It was more than -- it would have been more than grueling.

We certainly understand. I'm a big supporter of POWs, MIAs and men and women in the United States military. And as she honored her father, knew the difference.

But I will tell you, it was inhumane. It was cruel. And it would have been violent, if you will, just by her presence there and the inability to speak the language, and what would happen with the other prisoners, what would happen with the lack of protection with the guards.

It wasn't going to be a situation that we'd want to have her to be able to survive in that.

GOLODRYGA: Yes. And in that bit of video that the Russian media released upon her when she was leaving, I could hear the Russian guards speaking to her in Russian and it did appear that they were taunting her as she was leaving the facility.

Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee, as someone who also grew up in Houston, this is a story I've been following, as close as you. I mean, perhaps not as close as you. But this whole country is relieved that she is home.

And we also hope and are thinking of those others not as fortunate, like Paul Whelan, who are still wrongfully detained in Russia and in other countries.

[14:39:59]

Thank you for joining us.

(CROSSTALK)

LEE: And if I might just quickly say, everything we did had Paul Whelan in it. The legislation that we introduced as members of Congress and voted on in the House, we want Paul Whelan home. I know his family, through his sister.

And I can assure, just make it very clear, no matter what anyone says, it was the Russians who played the game and played and played and played with the idea that they would take and bring out both Paul and Brittney.

It was only directly Vladimir Putin who made the ugly decision to keep Paul. And we'll fight that every single day that we can and bring him home as well.

GOLODRYGA: I know Brittney was your constituent, but I'm sure it will be reassuring to Paul's family to hear that you will continue to publicly fight for his release as well.

Congresswoman, thank you.

LEE: Absolutely.

GOLODRYGA: Thank you.

JACKSON: Thank you. Thank you for caring.

GOLODRYGA: Thank you.

Well, a predominantly white county in southern California just declared racism a public health crisis. What's behind the move, up next.

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[14:45:37]

GOLODRYGA: A largely white and wealthy California county has declared racism a public health crisis. All four members of Orange County's Board of Supervisors, who were at the Tuesday meeting, two Democrats and two Republicans, approved the resolution.

Which says, in part, "The county is deeply alarmed by the recent racially motivated attacks and violence on black, indigenous, Latino, Asia-American and Pacific Islanders and other communities."

CNN's Josh Campbell has been covering this and is joining me now.

This is fascinating, Josh. So why is Orange County doing this and what is the reaction? JOSH CAMPBELL, CNN SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Yes, my friend, throughout

the COVID-19 pandemic, we've seen many progressive jurisdictions taking on racism, particularly in the light of so many hate crimes we've seen against Asian-Americans.

What is notable here, it is a Republican leading the co-sponsoring of this resolution in Orange County. His name is Andrew Do.

I spoke to him about his own experience dealing with racism and what he is trying to accomplish with the resolution.

Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANDREW DO, (R), ORANGE COUNTY, CA, BOARD OF SUPERVISORS: My experience personally is I have faced racism in many forms. When I first came over, it was more extreme. Now, lately, it's more subtle. But I believe it is there.

What we are trying to accomplish with our resolution is to promote understanding, to review our policy, to see if there's any aspect of it that might be a remanence of past prejudices that we did not realize that are there. And we will support diversity.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMPBELL: He told me he thinks racism is more subtle in the U.S. now compared to when he came to the U.S. as a refugee from Vietnam in the 1970s.

But he himself has faced a lot of racism in public settings. Last year, in a supervisor's meeting, there was one attendant who called him a parasite, who told him to go back to Vietnam.

And, Bianna, I want to show you something that happened just this week, in the meeting where these supervisors were preparing to vote on this resolution declaring racism a public health crisis.

There were many people in the audience who were against it, who were saying that this is overblown, it's unnecessary.

And as one of the speakers supporting it gets up to talk, he is actually the target of a racial slur. Watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. CLAYTON CHAU, DIRECTOR, ORANGE COUNTY HEALTH CARE AGENCY: Thank you for passing this resolution.

(SHOUTING)

CHAU: Can I please speak? Can I please speak?

We need to have this resolution in this county. With that, I thank you for your work. Thank you. UNIDENTIFIED AUDIENCE MEMBER: Go back to China.

DO: Really? Go back to China? And you think that racism is dead? Really? OK, all right. So irony is a concept that is foreign to some of us.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMPBELL: So in the meeting where they are debating whether racism is a crisis in Orange County, you see someone right there subjected to racism. Perhaps, proof, Bianna, of why this resolution is so important.

GOLODRYGA: So disgusting and difficult to see play out in real time.

And also interesting that Representative Do came to this conclusion because of his own experiences regardless of whatever party he is affiliated with.

Josh Campbell, thank you so much. Great to see you.

CAMPBELL: You bet.

GOLODRYGA: Up next, consumer spending is up and saving is down. Why some economists worry about a so-called holiday hangover. We'll explain what that is straight ahead.

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[14:53:11]

GOLODRYGA: Inflation is cooling off, but not as much as economists had hoped. The Producer Price Index, which tallies what businesses pay for goods and services, rose 7.4 percent last month. That's still high, but it's down from October's 8.1 percent gain.

CNN's Matt Egan is here to break it down for us.

Matt, the trajectory is headed in the right direction, just not as quickly as the Fed had hoped. How will this impact their meeting, if at all, next week?

MATT EGAN, CNN REPORTER: Bianna, I don't think it will really impact the meeting. The Fed is waging this historic war trying to cool off the economy by rapidly raising interest rates.

Despite all that tough medicine from the Fed, inflation remains way too high.

A mixed bag with this report. The good news is, as you can see on that chart, inflation is cooling off.

This is the fifth straight month where wholesale prices on an annual basis have cooled off. This is the lowest reading for this figure in 18 months.

I think the bad news is inflation remains way too high. This is hotter than expected.

As far as the Fed goes, the thinking remains the same. The Fed is likely to raise interest rates at next week's meeting.

But they're probably going to take it a step slower. Instead of 75 basis points, the thinking is they're going to go with 50 basis points. But that still means higher borrowing costs for everyone.

GOLODRYGA: Yes, it's frustrating. It may have peaked but inflation is going down much slower than it had risen before.

We also know that Americans are beginning to dip into their savings and going into debt, some families are.

What do we make of that?

EGAN: Well, Bianna, holiday shopping sales seemed to be off to a solid start. Black Friday, Cyber Monday sales, they were pretty solid.

Experts say, though, that consumers are leaning on credit cards and they're dipping into savings to cover their spending, in part, because of high inflation.

You can see on your screen the personal savings rate is actually at its lowest level since 2005. That was when the record low was set.

[14:55:07]

People are leaning on credit cards at a time when credit card rates are at record highs.

And so the concern here, Bianna, is that there's going to be a holiday spending hangover where people have to cut back on spending just to repay debt and replenish savings.

GOLODRYGA: Yes. We won't know how that plays out until probably January or February.

Matt Egan, thank you.

EGAN: Thanks.

GOLODRYGA: Well, a major shakeup in the Senate. Arizona Senator Kyrsten Sinema left the Democratic Party and registered as an Independent. What this means for the narrow majority the Democrats had just secured. That's up next.

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