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Biden Arrives In Poland After Surprise Visit To Ukraine; DA Drops Gun Enhancement Charge Against Alec; China: U.S. "Is Not Qualified To Lecture" On Supplying Arms To Russia; Arrest Made In Shooting Death Of Catholic Bishop In Los Angeles; Blinken: U.S. Concerned China May Provide "Lethal Support" To Russia; Biden Vows U.S. Will Back Ukraine For "As Long As It Takes." Aired 3:30-4p ET
Aired February 20, 2023 - 15:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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[15:33:49]
VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN HOST: President Biden has just arrived in Poland after a surprise visit to Ukraine.
BIANNA GOLODRYGA, CNN HOST: Phil Mattingly joins us from Warsaw with more. So he just arrived after an hours long departure earlier this morning from Ukraine. What more can you tell us?
PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, this was part of a train -- trip that the President took back from Kyiv into Poland. He has not arrived in Warsaw yet. He took the train and we were just notified by the White House press pooler, who is with the President. Two reporters have been with the President throughout this trip may have been very close hold on details.
While we knew the details of the President getting to Kyiv, we knew the details of the five plus hours the President spent in Kyiv. We did not know the details of the mode of transit he planned to take out of Kyiv and back into Poland and how he would end up getting to Warsaw.
Now, we did report earlier in the day that we did know the President when he took off from Andrews Air Force Base on Sunday morning. He flew first to Germany where their plane refueled not the usual Air Force One but a smaller Air Force plane went from Germany into Poland where the President landed in the border to train to take the trip into Kyiv.
That's about a 10-hour trip in total, roughly, and the President obviously arrived this morning just after 08:00 a.m. And we saw on camera as everything played out live and then the moments afterwards as well.
[15:35:02]
The President then more or less went straight back to the train station in Kyiv, got back on the train, started the journey back toward Poland. We now know he has crossed the border into Poland. And now more details are coming out about that process in terms of how it was actually engaged in.
I would note where the President boarded the train, where he landed and boarded the train in Poland was a place that he had visited last March where he noted that he wished he could cross the border. He wanted to go into Ukraine, but advisers had said, advised against it due to security reasons. It's also an area where the United States has troops in Poland.
The 82nd airborne has been there. It's a critical supply area for where equipment, both military and humanitarian aid, goes into Ukraine, given its proximity to the Ukrainian border. The President, when he arrives there, will get off the train, board his plane and likely head to Warsaw, as our understanding where the trip was supposed to begin and supposed to last two days.
That schedule is likely to pick up once he arrives back in Warsaw. But for the moment, the President is out of Ukraine, he is into Poland and will be making his way towards Warsaw at some point in the near future, guys.
GOLODRYGA: The President now currently in NATO territory, expected to give a significant speech tomorrow from Warsaw as well. Phil Mattingly, thank you.
BLACKWELL: This just in, prosecutors have dropped the firearm enhancement charges against Alec Baldwin and the armorer in the rust movie shooter.
GOLODRYGA: The 64-year-old actor still faces manslaughter charges for the death of director Halyna Hutchins. CNN's Chloe Malas joins us with more. So how could this impact his case overall, Chloe?
CHLOE MELAS, CNN ENTERTAINMENT REPORTER: Good to see you, guys. This is incredibly significant because Alec Baldwin just went same with Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, the armorer on the set of "Rust." They went from facing upwards of five years, right, to just 18 months. So they still face both two counts of involuntary manslaughter.
But to remove this firearm enhancement charge is a very big deal. So this is what the District Attorney's office is saying out of New Mexico to CNN. In short, "In order to avoid further litigious distractions by Mr. Baldwin and his attorneys, the District Attorney and the Special Prosecutor have removed the firearm enhancement to the involuntary manslaughter charges and the death of Halyna Hutchins on the "Rust" film set. The prosecution's priority is securing justice, not securing billable hours for big city attorneys."
OK. So they're coming out swinging with that statement to qualify removing the firearm enhancement charge. Although we still don't exactly know why they removed it, because some say, and I was just talking to CNN's Josh Campbell. We have experts on our error the day that the charges were announced that perhaps this was overcharged.
And this comes after Alec Baldwin's attorneys filed their own, you know, legal petitions last week trying to remove certain charges and also to remove the special prosecutor, which I'm sure made her very unhappy when that petition was filed. So we still haven't heard back from Alec Baldwin, from his legal team yet.
We've reached out to Hannah Gutierrez-Reed's attorneys as well, but this is a big deal because this is potentially going to go to trial. And we all know that Alec Baldwin, he's going to put up a fight for this.
BLACKWELL: Yes. It's clear that this is not happening because they're worried about how much the defense attorneys are being paid, maybe drops the threshold of proof for the state. So we'll look for more.
GOLODRYGA: Side note, it was really entertaining watching you and inspiring, I guess, watching you and Josh work together in -- right here.
BLACKWELL: Yes, during the commercial break. Yes.
GOLODRYGA: During the the commercial break. Yes.
MELAS: Josh is so smart, you know, and so I was calling him to try -- you know, to try to figure things out because I'm on the Baldwin beat --
GOLODRYGA: Yes,
MELAS: -- and he's on the special prosecutor and the DA beat. So look, you know, it takes a village here.
GOLODRYGA: It does. Thanks, Chloe.
BLACKWELL: Thank you, Chloe.
MELAS: Thanks.
GOLODRYGA: Well, China issues a harsh critique on the United States after Vice President Harris raised concerns over Beijing's support for Russia. We'll have more on that just ahead.
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[15:43:14]
BLACKWELL: A man suspected in the shooting death of a Catholic bishop is now in custody, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department. Deputies say they found Bishop David O'Connell dead at his home on Saturday.
GOLODRYGA: CNN's Camila Bernal is following this story for us. So, Camila, what do you know about the arrest?
CAMILA BERNAL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Bianna and Victor, authorities not releasing a lot of information, but confirming that they have arrested a man in connection to this case. Not giving us very many details on who this man is or how he is connected to this case. What we have heard so far from authorities is that the bishop was at his home at around 01:00 p.m. on Saturday, and there was an emergency call that was placed. When deputies arrived at the bishop's home, they discovered that he had been shot and killed. Of course, all of this shocking to many, many people here in Los Angeles. They held a prayer service yesterday. He was honored and remembered during Sunday mass. And there are many who are still asking a lot of questions and who are heartbroken today.
Here are some of those parishioners.
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LUCY BOUTTE, PARISHIONER: Changed our lives. He's very supportive, always working for good people.
RON SANCEDA, PARISHIONER: He was just a funny guy, a good, woody guy, and he's going to be sorely missed.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BERNAL: And David O'Connell had been serving the Los Angeles community for 45 years. He was originally from Ireland. The archbishop remembering him as someone who was usually in deep prayer, someone who cared deeply for the poor and the immigrant community in this area.
He's also being remembered for being funny, for cracking jokes during his sermons. And we are waiting for a press conference from the L.A. County Sheriff's Department to learn more about exactly what happened because, again, we still do not know who did this and exactly why. And a lot of the people here in Los Angeles and the Catholic community just wanting those answers. Victor, Bianna?
[15:45:12]
GOLODRYGA: All right, Camila Bernal, thank you.
BLACKWELL: President Biden made an unannounced stop in an active war zone to show his support for Ukraine. Details on that and what he told his Ukrainian counterpart next.
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BLACKWELL: As the U.S. reaffirms its support for Ukraine, officials are watching another alliance that will likely impact the ongoing war. And that's the one between Russia and China.
[15:50:03]
GOLODRYGA: Secretary of State Tony Blinken said the U.S. has concerns that China may provide Russia with legal support. Joining us now is CNN Contributor Evan Osnos, a staff writer at The New Yorker, a Biden biographer as well, who wrote the book, "Age of Ambition: Chasing Fortune, Truth, and Faith in the New China."
Evan, you're the perfect person to have on for this segment because as the President landed in Kyiv, we had the top diplomat from China traveling to Moscow to meet with Vladimir Putin. There are reports that President Xi will be traveling to Moscow as well. Why do you think now, one year into this war, clearly where you have seen Russia fail to accomplish its initial mission? Would China even consider stepping in to help Russia?
EVAN OSNOS, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Well, I think, as you say, Bianna, it's this extraordinary moment of a split screen between having the U.S. President doubling down, an effect on U.S. support for Ukraine. And clearly, the U.S. is growing concern. This is a measure of the fact that the U.S. is concerned that China is preparing to do something that would dramatically change not only the U.S.-China relationship, but the decision to send arms and ammunition into the war would have the effect of carving up the world.
It would hasten up -- hasten the feeling that we have two rival strategic blocks of the kind that we had in the Cold War. Both the U.S. and China say they don't want a Cold War scenario. I think part of the message that you hear the U.S. sending to the Chinese is if you do this, you will isolate yourselves, because you'll put yourselves in league not only with Russia, but also with countries like Iran and North Korea, which are some of the only regimes that have been sending arms and ammunition to Russia. So it's a very clear sign that the U.S. is concerned.
BLACKWELL: Senator Tester said that it's time for China to face some consequences. Now he said that in the context of this spy balloon that traversed the U.S. I wonder if the U.S. is willing now to impose some of those consequences publicly at least.
OSNOS: Well, in a way, I think the U.S. wants to avoid that step. Part of what you saw was the U.S. send a very clear message that obviously there can be no more of these kinds of balloon incidents. And that means also it's a warning to China to take a step back on its approach to surveillance, either the posture of being as aggressive as it has been or the management.
You know, one of the big debates, Victor, is whether this was a case of a mistake at the highest levels or whether it was designed to push the relationship into riskier territory. But I think the feeling is this was a kind of stress test of the U.S.-China relationship, and we passed in the sense that we didn't come out of here with casualties, but it was a sign of real vulnerability there. And the U.S. is trying to prevent it from getting worse.
GOLODRYGA: The U.S., Evan, has been quite effective in getting Western and European allies on board with regards to their dependence and their previous dependence on Russia. They have distanced themselves from Russia thus far. That doesn't appear to be the case with China.
And there is sort of a division between how the U.S. is approaching its relationship and its trade with China and European countries. Is that going to make it that much more difficult for the United States to reinforce some of their strong words now that they're sending?
OSNOS: It is harder. I mean, there's just no question. China and Russia are almost incomparable in terms of their role in the global economy. If you're France or you're Germany, the decisions that you make around how you deal with China, whether or not you join in a regime of isolation against them, is just completely different.
And yet at the same time, and I hear this from European diplomats just up into the last few days, there is a general reassessment going on among many European allies that say that business as usual. The idea of the old China relationship, it's simply no longer possible that we've entered into a new phase.
They're more vigilant. They may not be prepared to join an effort to try to isolate China, but it is not the same as it was a year or two ago. And if, in fact, China does join Russia's effort by sending lethal aid to Russia, that would undermine fundamentally any hope that China might have of maintaining its relationship with European allies.
BLACKWELL: Evan, the President, President Biden said today when he was with President Zelenskyy that the U.S. is supporting Ukraine for as long as it takes. Let's put up the latest AP-NORC poll on American support for providing weapons to Ukraine. Over the last eight months, support has dropped 12 points, opposition is up 10 percent.
If this trend continues, the President may have to work harder to convince Americans of the investment, I mean, as he's running for re- election in 2020, he was running against these forever wars. This could become a domestic, a greater domestic challenge for this President.
OSNOS: I think it's true. We've seen some clearly softening of America's what had begin -- what had begun as overwhelming support for this war and for America's ability to play a meaningful role.
[15:55:09]
But I think it's important also to point out, Victor, is, you know, as we've seen, there is still substantial support in the United States for seeing this through, for doing what the United States can to protect democracy. And I think part of the whole goal of this visit was to remind people what we're talking about.
You know, Kyiv is a city, a beautiful European city in so many ways that Americans have had a long-standing relationship with. The idea of turning our backs on it now I think is harder to swallow the more that Americans are reminded of the depth of Europeans -- of Ukraine's commitment to protecting themselves and what we've invested.
So really, now it's about how do you actually achieve victory rather than how do you walk away from something the U.S. has committed so much to.
BLACKWELL: All right, Evan Osnos, thank you so much.
GOLODRYGA: Thanks, Evan.
And thank you for watching. "THE LEAD WITH JAKE TAPPER" starts right after this short break.
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