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Former FTX CEO Denied Bail In Bahamas And Faces Charges In U.S.; U.S. To Send Patriot Defense System To Ukraine; Argentina Fans Celebrate Spectacular 3-0 Win Over Croatia; European Parliament Vice President Stripped Of Role Amid Corruption Probe; Paris Conference Raises $1 Billion Former President Ukraine; U.S. to Send Patriot Defense System to Ukraine; Ukraine Prepares for Russian Attacks from Belarus; France-Morocco Ties Remain Complex, Interwoven. Aired 12- 12:45a ET

Aired December 14, 2022 - 00:00   ET

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

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JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: Coming up here on CNN NEWSROOM, a scam from the get go. U.S. prosecutors accused Sam Bankman-Fried, the failed CEO of crypto trader FTX of scheming to use investor's deposits as his own private piggy bank.

CNN reporting the White House set to approved Patriot defense missiles for Ukraine. But it could be months before America's most advanced air defense system is operational.

And it's complicated. When underdogs Morocco face defending champions France in a few hours, a lot more will be in play than just a ticket to the World Cup finals.

ANNOUNCER: Live from CNN Center, this is CNN NEWSROOM with John Vause.

VAUSE: If U.S. prosecutors are right, Sam Bankman-Fried former CEO or the now bankrupt crypto currency exchange, FTX not only engineered one of the biggest corporate frauds in U.S. history, but it was a giant scam from the get go. The very moment the company was founded, Bankman-Fried allegedly scheme to defraud customers by using their deposits in FTX as a personal piggy bank for undisclosed investments, leveraged real estate purchases for himself, his parents and other senior FTX executives and large donations to political campaigns.

In a written statement, the chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission simply put it like this, we allege that Sam Bankman-Fried build a house of cards on a foundation of deception, while telling investors that it was one of the safest buildings in crypto.

Bankman-Fried was arrested on Monday in the Bahamas and remains there behind bars. He was refused bail during a brief court appearance Tuesday, the judge ruling he was a potential flight risk.

In New York, federal prosecutors unsealed an eight-count criminal indictment which details of the charges Bankman-Fried is now facing, which includes wire fraud, securities fraud, money laundering, and violating campaign finance laws.

If convicted on all counts, Bankman-Fried faces up to 115 years in prison. And authorities have indicated there could be more charges to come with multiple ongoing investigations into the collapse of FTX.

Meantime, on Capitol Hill, lawmakers did not hear testimony from Bankman-Fried as well as originally planned. Instead, his replacement new CEO John J. Ray took his place, had a damning assessment of shoddy business practices at FTX.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN J. RAY, CEO, FTX: The FTX group's collapse appears to stem from absolute concentration of control in the hands of a small group of grossly inexperienced and unsophisticated individuals who failed to implement virtually any of the systems or controls that are necessary for a company entrusted with other people's money or assets.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: And John Ray should know he has a history of dealing with massive corporate failure. He oversaw the liquidation of one time energy giant Enron, here's more.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RAY: This one is unusual. And it's unusual in the sense that literally, you know, there's no record keeping whatsoever, the absence of record keeping. Employees would communicate, you know, invoicing and expenses on Slack, which is, you know, essentially, you know, a way of communicating for chat rooms. They use QuickBooks with multibillion dollar company using QuickBooks.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: QuickBooks?

RAY: QuickBooks.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Carlos Suarez has more now on all today's developments reporting in from the Bahamas.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAMIAN WILLIAMS, U.S. ATTORNEY FORMER PRESIDENT SOUTHERN DISTRICT NEW YORK: This is one of the biggest financial frauds in American history.

CARLOS SUAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (VOICE OVER): FTX founder and former CEO Samuel Bankman-Fried appeared before a judge in Nassau, Bahamas Tuesday morning at his extradition hearing. He was arrested at his home in the Bahamas Monday night at the request of the U.S. government.

WILLIAMS: In 2019 until earlier this year, Bankman-Fried and his co- conspirators stole billions of dollars from FTX customers. He used that money for his personal benefit, including to make personal investments and to cover expenses and debts of his hedge fund Alameda research.

SUAREZ: He's been indicted on eight criminal charges including wire fraud, multiple counts of conspiracy and campaign finance violations. Prosecutors say he made illegal political donations in the tens of millions of dollars.

WILLIAMS: All this dirty money was used in service of Bankman-Fried's desire to buy bipartisan influence and impact the direction of public policy in Washington.

SUAREZ: Prosecutors allege Bankman-Fried conspired with others on numerous schemes including diverting billions of dollars in customer assets to his hedge fund Alameda Research.

In early 2022, investors valued FTX and its U.S. operations at a combined $40 billion.

[00:05:05]

GURBIR GREWAL, U.S. SEC DIRECTOR OF ENFORCEMENT: Bankman-Fried's entire house of cards started to crumble as crypto asset prices plummeted in May of 2022. And as Alameda's lenders demanded repayment on billions of dollars in loans.

SUAREZ: The 30-year-old son of two Stanford law professors studied physics at MIT and traded at a small firm before launching FTX in 2019.

It quickly became one of the leading crypto exchanges with celebrity promoters like Tom Brady, Giselle Bundchen, Steph Curry, and Larry David.

TOM BRADY, FOOTBALL QUARTERBACK FOR THE TAMPA BAY BUCCANEERS: Not a trade-trade. I mean trading crypto.

SUAREZ: Following an industry publication which question the inner workings of the crypto exchange, users began withdrawing their investments from FTX at a rapid pace in November. Then, all came crashing down for Bankman-Fried and he resigned. FTX filed for bankruptcy on November 11th.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A lot of people look at you and see Bernie Madoff.

SAM BANKMAN-FRIED, FORMER CEO, FTX: Yes. I mean, I don't think that's who I am at all. But I understand why they're saying that, people lost money, and people lost a lot of money.

SUAREZ: Later, he was asked about his criminal liability in the matter.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How concerned are you about criminal liability at this point? BANKMAN-FRIED: I think the real answer is it's not -- it sounds weird to say but I think the real answer is that's not what I'm focusing on. It's -- there's going to be a time and a place for me to sort of think about myself and my own future, but I don't think this is it, like, right now.

SUAREZ: On Monday in a podcast on Twitter Spaces, he said he didn't believe he would be arrested.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Are you worried you might be detained if you stepped foot into the U.S.?

BANKMAN-FRIED: I don't believe I would be but I haven't done a like deep dive into that.

SUAREZ: SBF says he is going to fight extradition to the U.S. and you can understand why. If he's convicted of the charges out of New York, he faces up to 115 years in prison. His next court hearing here in the Bahamas is scheduled for February.

Carlos Suarez, CNN Nassau, Bahamas.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: To Chicago now, joining us is Renato Mariotti, a former federal prosecutor and host of the It's Complicated podcast. Thanks for being with us.

RENATO MARIOTTI, FORMER U.S. FEDERAL PROSECUTOR: Very nice to be here. Thank you.

VAUSE: OK, so just your reaction off the top, the number of charges Bankman-Fried is now facing their seriousness. And most of all your reaction to the allegations by prosecutors that this was all just a giant con from the very beginning.

Xxx Very, very serious charges against SBF. Really what surprised me is for a early indictment, in other words, an indictment that comes just a little over a month after the collapse of FTX, to see such broad and significant charges thrown at him, it really suggests that the prosecutors here have a lot of confidence in their case.

I mean, he's charged with wire fraud, commodities fraud, charged with campaign finance violations, conspiracy to engage in money laundering, really everything they could possibly throw at him, they are this early in the game and that really tells me that this -- the evidence is very strong. The fraud that they found is very brazen. And his public statements like some of the ones we heard a minute ago, certainly are hurting him as well.

VAUSE: There are some speculation that there are people from with inside the former company who are helping prosecutors, that's why they have so much evidence to go with so soon.

MARIOTTI: Yes, that very well may be possible, because of course there's some conspiracy charges. It wouldn't be surprised if one of his co-conspirators flipped on him. I would certainly be urging anyone in those positions to be considering that possibility or that approach.

That said, given how much he's incriminating himself. And really the allegations here suggests as you point out, a fraud from the beginning. And not only that, but really they're suggesting that essentially the core of FTX's business was a massive fraud.

In other words, all the money being taken in by FTX customers is being used for all sorts of other purposes really suggest to me that it would be very hard for him to mount a defense and so accordingly, you know, very serious case for him and in very high downside.

VAUSE: Yes, in terms of defense, Bankman-Fried's, you know, number of interviews, he's tried to argue he didn't do anything wrong. He didn't mean to do anything wrong. Here he is, listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BANKMAN-FRIED: I didn't knowingly commit fraud. I don't think I committed fraud. I didn't want any of this to happen. I was certainly not nearly as competent as I thought I was.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: It's a lousy argument, but could his lawyers do any better at this point?

MARIOTTI: Well, you know, it is -- he certainly can't do much better. It is actually a common argument in a fraud case that you are inattentive or inept or incompetent but not a fraudster.

[00:10:01]

The problem for him is you know, by going out and making all these statements. Ironically, under the United States Federal Rules of Evidence, he cannot use these statements to help himself, they're hearsay, but the government can use the incriminating things he said against him as admission.

So, he's really painted himself into a corner. And I would not want to be his defense attorney at this point.

VAUSE: We also heard from John Ray, who's the current CEO now of what's left of FTX, outlined this horrendous situation where there was essentially no paper trail, no documentation left behind in the company at all.

So, you know, compared to all the criminal charges, that SBF is now facing right now, you know, breaches of good corporate of governance seems like small beer. But how does that impact the case which prosecutors are building if there's no little paper trail?

MARIOTTI: Yes, great question. I mean, I think that in a different kind of case, it could be very problematic for prosecutors. You know, usually when I was investigating fraud cases, when I was a federal prosecutor, I was really looking for those smoking gun e-mails and text messages and so forth. And those may not exist here.

I think what really helps prosecutors in this case is that this is not fraud related to one specific program or business unit. This -- you know, their argument is their allegation is really the core of the business was a very massive fraud. And their argument is going to be the reason that SBF was encouraging his employees to use disappearing chats and didn't have any documentation is because he didn't want any paper trail to prove up his fraud.

VAUSE: Renato Mariotti, thanks so much for being with us. We appreciate it.

MARIOTTI: Thank you.

We have this just into CNN, explosions have been heard early Wednesday in the Ukrainian capital that comes from Kyiv's mayor who says response seems now heading to the areas where those explosions were heard. We'll bring in more details as soon as they become available.

And with Moscow's war efforts, suffering setback after setback, a Russian commander says nuclear weapons may now be the only way to win in Ukraine. Here's what he told Russian state media.

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ALEXANDER KHODAKOVSKY, RUSSIAN MILITIA COMMANDER, DONETSK REGION (through translator): We realize that our resources, of course, have their limits. And the next spiral of escalation can only be one, nuclear.

And we don't have the resources to defeat the NATO Block with conventional means. But we have nuclear weapons for that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: America's most advanced air defense system could soon be on its way to Ukraine. With CNN reporting exclusively the White House finalizing plans for the deployment of the Patriot missile defense system.

Ukrainian officials from the president on down have made repeated requests for the Patriot defense system, which is capable of shooting down Russian missiles and aircraft far from their intended targets might be the only way to protect what's left of Ukraine's power grid, which is on the verge of collapse after being targeted for months by Russian airstrikes.

CNN's Oren Liebermann has exclusive details now reporting in from the Pentagon.

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OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (on camera): Patriot missile batteries are a system that Ukraine has been requesting near daily for quite some time now, weeks, if not months. And CNN has learned according to U.S. officials that the U.S. is preparing to send over a Patriot missile battery to help with Ukrainian air defenses.

Air Defense has been one of the U.S.'s top priorities to get to Ukraine and a key focus of the international meetings to see what systems are available. The U.S. now making the decision to send one of its most advanced systems, the long-range patriot, which will fit on top of the systems that U.S. has already provided.

At the beginning of the war, it was the short-range Stinger missiles, then more recently, the NASAMS, a medium range air defense system, and the Patriot will fit on top of that at a crucial time as Russia carries out missile strikes, drone strikes and rocket attacks on Ukraine's civilian infrastructure and energy infrastructure, causing widespread blackouts and water shortages across the country. And that seems to be part of what tipped the scales in favor of sending over the Patriot missiles.

There was also a question of how long the training on these would take. Normally, it takes months but now that the U.S. sees this war is dragging on and as the U.S. is set to perhaps expand its trading of Ukrainian forces, the opportunity is there to provide the necessary training to operate Patriot missiles so Ukrainian can operate them, sustain them and maintain them effectively. That was one of the key decisions here.

How quickly could they get into the country? Well, the U.S. has repeatedly shown it can move systems very quickly when it comes to HIMARS and Howitzers.

The bigger challenge is the training. Ukraine has shown repeatedly that it can compress the training timeline in some of these more advanced systems. Still, this training normally takes months. How much can that be compressed? We're about to find out.

Oren Lieberman, CNN at the Pentagon.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Later this hour, we'll speak to our military analyst General Mark Hertling about the Patriot system and the possibility of training Ukrainians and how long it will take and will the Patriots become operational?

The Biden administration is hoping to have a commercially viable nuclear fusion reactor up and running within the next 10 years. The Energy Secretary praised the work of scientists in California, who have successfully produced a nuclear fusion reaction, which produces more energy than it consumed.

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Fusion reaction produces no radioactive waste. It's the same process that powers the sun. And they see nuclear fusion as the key to ending our reliance on carbon polluting fossil fuels.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JENNIFER GRANHOLM, U.S. ENERGY SECRETARY: It's the first time it has ever been done in a laboratory anywhere in the world. Simply put, this is one of the most impressive scientific feats of the 21st century.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: But scientists say it could take decades before the technology could be used to power homes and businesses and be in commercially viable.

That is the sound of a country which has just secured a place in the World Cup final. Argentina crushed Croatia 3-0, bringing pure joy to Buenos Aires, thousands flooded the streets waving light blue and white flags.

Argentina's World Cup campaign began with an embarrassing loss to Saudi Arabia, but now their first World Cup title is in sight with national hero Lionel Messi, leading the way as team captain, what will likely be his last chance as he scored on a penalty kick in the semifinal, tying the record for most goals in the tournament.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LIONEL MESSI, ARGENTINA CAPTAIN (through translator): We have been enjoying it a lot since we arrived at this World Cup. Even though we had a losing start, as we said at the time, we were confident in this group. We were going to move forward. We asked people to trust because we knew what we are and this group is crazy and well, we did it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Croatia will now compete in the third-place playoff on Saturday, will face the loser of France versus Morocco.

The winner of that semifinal will go up against Argentina in Sunday's final. Morocco have already upset several European giants and have yet to concede a goal from an opposing player throughout the entire tournament.

France ranked fourth in the world are the defending champions and if they were to fall to Morocco, that can be the biggest shock yet in this World Cup, which has been overflowing with upsets so far.

CNN's Don Riddell has details reporting from Doha.

DON RIDDELL, CNN WORLD SPORT CORRESPONDENT (on camera): This Morocco team is treading in uncharted territory here at the World Cup. No African side has ever made it to the semifinals. No Arab side has ever made it to the semifinals.

And having come this far, these Atlas Lions have no intention of stopping now.

Ahead of Wednesday's crunch game against the defending champions France, Morocco's coach Hoalid Regragui put his players through one of their final training sessions at this tournament. They know the drill by now, and they won't be fazed by anybody lining up against them.

Having already drawn against the 2018 finalist Croatia, beaten the second ranked side Belgium and then knocked out the highly fancied Spain and Portugal teams, Morocco have nothing to fear.

WALID REGRAGUI, MOROCCO COACH (through translator): When you get to the semifinal of the World Cup and you are not hungry, there's a problem. Not everyone is lucky to play at this stage of the tournament. The best team here Brazil has already been knocked out. We are a very ambitious team. We are hungry, but I don't know if it will be enough. It can be. We are confident and determined to rewrite the history books. We want Africa to be on top of the world.

RIDDELL: Their run so far has been exhilarating, five games in which they've only conceded one goal and that was an own goal against Canada.

It's a success story which has seemingly unified the Arab fan base and their supporters can't get enough of them. But their biggest fans are surely their moms who are flown in by the Federation to help unify the team. It has been a tactical masterstroke, also providing some of the most memorable scenes of the tournament.

When Morocco began training here last month, not many would have imagined that they'd be among the last few standing. But it's been a tournament of upset, so perhaps, it all makes perfect sense. They're the darlings of this World Cup and maybe the biggest surprise is yet to come. Back to you.

VAUSE: Don, thank you. We'll have full World Cup coverage later this hour, stay with us in WORLD SPORT. Thank you.

We'll take a short break. When we come back, a frightful (PH) forecast just ahead for Christmas, a winter wonderland could turn into a blizzard for parts of the United States. A look at the severe weather threat in just a moment.

Also ahead, the ongoing corruption investigation at the European Parliament, now a Greek member of the E.U. Parliament stripped of her titles after allegations she took bribes, more on that in a moment.

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VAUSE: Winter storms are hammering parts of the United States. Blizzards are raging in Colorado and the plains and tornadoes and floods expected across the South and Midwest.

Anchorage, Alaska has been buried under more than 30 inches of snow the last week forcing many schools to close.

Tornado watches are in place for Louisiana and other parts of the south overnight, nearly six million people will be under threat as storms expected in the coming hours. European parliament has voted to strip a Greek assembly member from

her role as one of the body's vice presidents amid of bribery and corruption investigation.

Eva Kaili was one of four people arrested last week by Belgian police in connection to an influence peddling investigation involving Qatar.

CNN's Nic Robertson has our report.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR (on camera): Well, Eva Kaili's family lawyer in Greece is saying that she is not connected to the scandal, that she has no connections in this alleged way to the Qataris. But the evidence is beginning to build of a very large scandal here, the European Parliament President Roberta Metsola said that she didn't know quite where the investigation was going to stop. The Belgian police who are leading the financial and criminal side of this investigation are continuing, they over the weekend recovered more than 600,000 euros in cash, in one case over 150,000 euros from one particular location that they raided.

Now, Eva Kaili has spoken about Qatar in the past, she has spoken recently in very glowing terms about it, even addressing some of the criticisms that have been made against Qatar.

EVA KAILI, EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT MEMBER, GREECE: Today, the World Cup in Qatar is a proof actually of how sports diplomacy can achieve a historical transformation of a country with reforms that inspired the Arab world.

I alone said that Qatar is a frontrunner in labor rights, they committed to a vision by choice and they opened to the world.

Still, some here are calling to discriminate them. They bully them, and they accuse everyone that talks to them or engages of corruption.

ROBERTSON: On the one hand, the police investigation into these allegations of corruption and bribery. But then the implications of them. What are the policies that the E.U. may have passed, what decisions have been made were then committed, what actions have been taken based on the potential for people to be speaking on behalf of Qatar or others because of payments that they've received?

That is an act of concern. But the E.U., the European Union's ombudsman says that the E.U. has had an opportunity in the past to take action against this sort of thing sooner. But from her perspective, she is hearing a lot more allegations against Qatar.

EMILY O'REILLY, E.U. OMBUDSMAN: And today as well, a number of M.P.s have talked about how they were cajoled by, you know, representatives of the Qatari government, that Qatari administration to visit Qatar to, you know, come to nice hotels in Brussels and discuss Qatar and so on. So, obviously, there was a big, big lobbying campaign going on.

[00:25:04] ROBERTSON: Well, the Qataris continue to deny all these allegations, but the investigation seems set to continue. The police and the European Union or the European Parliament, this is going to run into 2023 and quite where it goes and how far it reaches really isn't clear, but it is big.

Nic Robertson, CNN, London.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Still ahead here on CNN, winter is coming to Ukraine, so too is a billion dollars in assistance thanks to the French president and his ability to convince Western allies.

Also, defending the northern border, Ukrainian troops reinforce their positions as Russian ally Belarus announces snap military drills.

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WILL RIPLEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (on camera): When the Russians invaded more than nine months ago, they just drove down this road right over this bridge. But now, the bridge has been rigged with explosives. And these swamp lands which are frozen over are full of mines.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

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VAUSE: Welcome back to our viewers all around the world. I'm John Vause, you're watching CNN NEWSROOM.

The Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is thanking the European Union and other countries for billions of dollars in humanitarian assistance. The European Union has promised $19 billion.

Well, donors at a conference in France pledged another billion. Most of the money will go to Ukraine's embattled energy sector, which has been decimated by Russian air attacks.

CNN's Jim Bittermann has our report.

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JIM BITTERMANN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (on camera): French President Macron said it was tangible proof that Ukraine is not alone. Macron sponsored what he called the Ukraine solidarity conference in order to raise short term material support to help the battle torn country get through the winter.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy who addressed the conference through a video link argued that the donor countries had a vested interest in helping to save his country, especially if they wanted to avoid a flood of refugees adding to the several million who have already fled the war. He requested $843 million in civilian assistance, but got in the end

more than he asked for with donor nations pledging more than a billion dollars in aid.

The organizers are hoping that between now and the middle of March, the donors will come through in their pledges, five specific areas, electricity, heat, health, food and transport. All areas that have been damaged or destroyed by the relentless Russian attacks on Ukrainian infrastructure.

Jim Bittermann, CNN, Paris.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: More now CNN's exclusive reporting on the Biden administration finalizing plans to send the Patriot missile defense system to Ukraine.

[00:30:09]

It's not clear how many missile launchers the U.S. will send, but an announcement could come this week. Ukraine's made almost daily requests for the Patriot system for months now, to try and counter Russian missile attacks on civilians and infrastructure.

To Washington now and CNN military analyst General Mark Hertling, the former commanding general of the U.S. Army in Europe and 7th Army. Thank you, sir, for being with us.

GEN. MARK HERTLING (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Great to be with you, John, again.

VAUSE: OK. As always. Look, we'll get to the operational issues in a moment, but big picture here, CNN is reporting that the Patriot has this long-range, high-altitude capability; could potentially shoot down Russian missiles and aircraft from their intended targets inside Ukraine.

You know, if this happens, it seems the battlefield has grown in size again, but is it a done deal at this point? I mean, just how far along the track are we, in your opinion, when it comes to delivering a Patriot battery missile system -- defense system to the Ukrainians?

HERTLING: Well, this is something Ukraine has been asking for, for a very long time, John.

But I want to state from the very beginning, the Patriot defense system within the United States military is what's called a high- demand, low-density item. That means there's not very many of these batteries, of these kinds of pieces of equipment.

There's a lot to them. It's more than just a missile. And the muscle alone, by the way costs -- each missile cost between 3 and 5 million dollars, not the launcher but the missile.

And it has missiles, radars, a generation system, and a command-and- control system. So this is a big organization that does have long- range and high-altitude capability of shooting down -- it's designed to shoot down large aircrafts and cruise missiles.

So this is not one of those systems you would use against drones or some of the types of missiles that Russia has been firing, or it shouldn't be that type, because you could be wasting a lot of money to do that.

But the other thing is, it takes a lot of people, and it takes a lot of maintenance and -- and supplies to keep these batteries running.

It is a very large system. It has a lot of people in it. And the training, truthfully, John -- I've seen basic training for those who fire these missiles, and the repairmen and the suppliers. It takes not weeks but months, and in some cases, years, to learn this system.

Ukraine has been very good. They've adapted some of the systems we've given them, and they've done it very well. This is a very complex, high-technology piece of equipment that takes a long time to learn.

VAUSE: Well, to your point, the U.S. Army describes the Patriot as its most advanced air defense system, capable of defeating both high- performance aircraft and tactical ballistic missiles. It has "a phased array radar, an engagement control station, computers, power- generating equipment, up to eight launchers, each of which holds four ready-to-fire missiles." That's from the website there.

And as you say, the Ukrainians have been remarkably adept at learning, but this is a whole different beast altogether. And CNN is reporting that training could actually take place at a U.S. base somewhere in Germany.

HERTLING: Right.

VAUSE: So in terms of escalation from the view of Moscow, how would they see that?

HERTLING: Well, they would see it as escalation, but the question that I think a lot of people would respond with is, so what? You know, they have been escalating this war, killing civilians, conducting illegal activities, striking infrastructure targets, causing the civilian population of Ukraine great pain.

So it is only an escalation to deal with the kinds of things that Russia has been doing.

So they may see it as an escalatory response by the United States and other NATO countries to provide this kind of equipment, but it is what Ukraine demands, because they want to protect their citizens from an illegal war.

VAUSE: And you've been very quick to highlight the fact that, you know, it's not just the complexity of the Patriot system but also the high number of personnel needed to keep it in operation.

For context, this is a photo of Delta Battery in the 5th Battalion, 7th Air Defense Artillery, posing for a photo on a command Patriot launching station in Poland just last August.

You know, usually, about 90 soldiers are assigned to a battery, but only three are actually needed for combat purposes. What are the chances, if this goes ahead, some of those 90 or so support personnel will be U.S. troops?

HERTLING: Yes, I can't speak to that, truthfully, because the president and the secretary of defense have both said there will be no U.S. soldiers on the ground inside of Ukraine.

That's the problematic piece of this. It must be Ukrainian soldiers that are trained in this, unless we change our policy, unless the president says, no, I'm going to send military personnel in.

A lot of people on the Internet are saying, Well, why don't we just send contractors? Well, contractors are the same kind of problematic things. They're normally American contractors, because that's who's developed the system.

[00:35:08]

So you still have Americans on the ground inside of a war between Russia and Ukraine, so that is problematic. I don't foresee that policy changing by the president, so it is a requirement to train Ukrainian soldiers and their supporters on these very complex pieces of equipment.

And as you said before, you know, there are rumors that it may be trained in Germany. The training base in Germany is one that I commanded, Grafenwoehr. It's in Southern Bavarian. They don't even have the capability to launch Patriot missiles at that location, because the ranges are too small.

They could certainly do simulation training, and they could learn the pieces of equipment, but you would not get any live launches of the equipment down there. If would all be in simulations, if they decide to do it in Grafenwoehr.

VAUSE: Yes. There's obviously, it seems, there's a lot to go before this becomes reality, sir.

Good to see you, General Hertling. Thank you very much.

HERTLING: Always a pleasure, John. Thanks.

VAUSE: Well, a staff (ph) inspection of troop readiness in Belarus has sparked concerns that Russia's longtime ally may be looking to open a second front in Ukraine.

Similar moves were noted earlier this year, just before Russia invaded Ukraine, but as CNN's Will Ripley reports, this time, the Ukrainians are ready.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WILL RIPLEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: We just arrived at a Ukrainian military forward operating base near the Belarusian border, where they're going to show us the fortifications that they've put in place to protect against a potential Russian ground invasion.

RIPLEY (voice-over): A few miles away, in neighboring Belarus, an ominous show of force. Russian and Belarusian troops holding joint combat drills, like they did earlier this year, just before the invasion.

RIPLEY: Are you concerned about the troop buildup on the Belarusian border?

OLEKSIY REZNIKOV, UKRAINIAN DEFENSE MINISTER: We have to be concerned, because we have not friendly neighbor, but we have 2,500 kilometers not friendly borders: Belarus, Russia, and temporarily occupied territories. We have to be ready here.

RIPLEY (voice-over): Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov tells CNN Ukraine is preparing in case the Russians invade from Belarus again. He says they urgently need more weapons, anti-tank systems, more advanced missile defense.

"We are not afraid of them," says the captain, Dimitri (ph). "We don't expect them to come here, but if they do, we'll be ready." These soldiers are constantly rehearsing, ready at a moment's notice.

RIPLEY: Do you think the Russians are going to try to come again?

RIPLEY (voice-over): "Let them try," says Ivan (ph).

Before the war, he repaired sewing machines. Now, he drives this.

RIPLEY: How quickly can you get guys to the trenches if you need to?

"It will be very fast," he says.

They started building these trenches in early April, reinforcing them ever since, getting ready for the Russians. They overpowered Ukrainian defenses at the start of the war. Six weeks, and thousands of deaths nationwide later, soldiers from this battalion helped force them out.

RIPLEY: Was there ever a point where it was overwhelming, where you thought, We can't do this; we can't fight them off?

"I never felt like that," says Serhiy (ph), "because I know there's no way back. We have families at home; we have children."

RIPLEY: He says that 2,500 Russian vehicles actually passed right down this road.

RIPLEY (voice-over): Now, we're driving down the same road to a bridge near the border, well within Russian artillery range.

RIPLEY: When the Russians invaded more than nine months ago, they just drove down this road right over this bridge, but now the bridge has been rigged with explosives, and these swamplands, which are frozen over, are full of mines. RIPLEY: When the first convoy of an estimated 30,000 Russians came in

February, the Ukrainians were unprepared and outnumbered 6-1. Now, like soldiers from a century ago, they hunker down in the trenches, waiting for whatever comes down the road.

Will Ripley, CNN, near the Ukrainian Belarusian border.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: The next World Cup semifinal only hours away, and history is on the line, with Morocco eyeing another upset, France eager to become the first country in decades to win back-to-back tournaments. More on that when we come back.

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[00:41:41]

VAUSE: A lot more than football happening at the World Cup, with Morocco heading into Wednesday's World Cup semifinal looking for another upset, hoping to add another remarkable chapter to the history books, while France is determined to avoid the fate of other European former colonial overlords, ousted by the Atlas Lions.

CNN's Melissa Bell explains.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MELISSA BELL, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The quarter finals of the World Cup brought the Champs-Elysees to a virtual standstill.

Morocco had just seen Portugal off. A few hours later, it was France's turn to celebrate beating England.

The question is, which flag will now be raised here on Wednesday, when the defending champions take on the footballing minnows, a David and Goliath soccer semifinal that will pit Morocco against its former colonial master? For many, it's not just about football.

HUGO LLORIS, FRANCE CAPTAIN (through translator): This hostile climate that will be in the stadium, which will be in Moroccan colors, we have to be ready for it.

BELL (voice-over): Morocco's success has inspired support from across the Arab world and Africa, not just for who they are -- the first African team to reach a world semifinal -- but also for who they faced: heavyweights like Spain, Portugal and now France.

A long-time colonial power over Morocco and much of North and West Africa, France's legacy there is bloody, her reputation mixed. But the ties between France and Morocco are woven close.

Many Moroccans fought for the ruling French army in World War I and again in World War II. Even after independence, huge numbers of Moroccans moved North, searching for work, shaping generations of French Moroccan families, singers, actors and even the Moroccan soccer team's coach.

FATIA KARAYAN, FRENCH-MOROCCAN CITIZEN (through translator): Morocco and France are the ones who have given me everything. Morocco gave me life, and France gave me a family, so I owe them everything.

BELL (voice-over): As the sun sets on Qatar on Wednesday, two teams will bear the weight of far more than just a sports match on their shoulders.

Melissa Bell, CNN, Paris.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: Thank you for being with us. I'm John Vause. I'll be back with more news at the top of the hour. In the meantime, please stay with us. WORLD SPORT is up after a short break.

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[00:45:30]

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