Return to Transcripts main page

CNN This Morning

Biden Leaves Today For High-Stakes NATO Summit; Cluster Munitions Part Of New Ukraine Aid Package; Budget Battle Looms As Congress Returns To Washington; Federal Appeals Court Allows Tennessee's Ban On Gender-Affirming Care For Minors To Take Effect; City Of Memphis, Police Chief Seek Dismissal From Tyre Nichols Civil Lawsuit; Soccer Trailblazer Megan Rapinoe To Retire After This Season; Zelensky Brings Home Ukrainian Commanders From Turkey; Ukraine Appears To Claim Responsibility For Crimea Bridge Blast; Elton John Says Goodbye After 50 Years Of Touring. Aired 8-9a ET

Aired July 09, 2023 - 08:00   ET

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

[08:00:05]

BRITLEY RITZ, AMS METEOROLOGIST: And that, of course, gives that threat of severe weather and it cools down the plains and right to the Ohio valley and up to the Northeast. Unfortunately, we bear the brunt of it here in the southwest and back down into Florida. And that's going to be the case all the way into next week and in fact, even more weather expected into next week -- Victor, Erica.

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: All right. So, we are in for a lot long call. Britley Ritz, thanks so much.

RITZ: Yeah.

BLACKWELL: Next hour of CNN THIS MORNING starts right now.

BIANNA GOLODRYGA, CNN ANCHOR: And good morning, everyone. And welcome to CNN THIS MORNING. It is Sunday, July 9th. I'm Bianna Golodryga, in for Amara Walker.

So good to see you my friend, Victor.

BLACKWELL: It's always good to anchor with you. Good to see you again, too.

I'm Victor Blackwell. Thank you for spending some time with us.

And here's what we are watching for you this morning. President Biden will head overseas later this morning to Lithuania for the NATO summit. The critical issues on the table and what the White House is hoping to accomplish with this trip.

GOLODRYGA: Congress returns to Capitol Hill this week and one of the most pressing orders of business is finding a compromise to fund the government. The divisions that so far half both chambers still far apart on a resolution.

BLACKWELL: The city of Memphis has filed a motion to be dismissed from the $550 million civil lawsuit filed by the family of Tyre Nichols. He was the Black man who was beaten to death by police. Why the city says it should not be held liable for Nichols' death?

GOLODRYGA: And U.S. soccer great Megan Rapinoe is getting ready to call it a career. Her impact on the sports, gay rights, and the fight for pay equity.

BLACKWELL: Up first, the war in Ukraine and the future of the NATO alliance. Those issues top the agenda as President Biden leaves today on a high stakes trip to Europe and the NATO summit.

GOLODRYGA: The president will play a key role on critical issues facing the alliance. His trip comes just after he signed a new aid package for Ukraine.

CNN's White House reporter Priscilla Alvarez joins us live for more on this.

So, Priscilla, fill us in on the president's agenda, and give us a sense on what's at stake for him this week, his meeting with NATO allies and Lithuania?

PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: His agenda includes a series of high stakes meetings with world leaders. And it comes at a critical time with the war in Ukraine still ongoing, and that failed coup attempt in Russia last month.

Now, President Biden will leave for his trip this morning. He will start at the United Kingdom, where he will meet with King Charles, the first face-to-face meeting since his coronation, as well as the British prime minister. He will then move on to Lithuania, where he will attend that critical NATO summit, and conclude his trip in Finland.

Now, looming over all of these meetings is going to be the war in Ukraine, especially now after the U.S. announcement that they will be providing cluster munitions to Ukraine, as it tries to make gains in its counteroffensive against Russia.

Now, this was a controversial announcement, and one that was considered for sometime within the administration, and now is moving forward after unanimous decision among President Biden's national security team.

The reason there is concern is because this is a weapon that over 100 nations agree should not be used in modern warfare. And number two, this is a munition that includes scattering bomblets in large areas, and that is something that could pose a long-term risk to civilians. For those reasons, some members of President Biden's own party have pushed back against this decision. President Biden was the one that ultimately gave it the go, and he also conceded that it was a difficult decision for him to make.

So, that will be a topic of discussion this upcoming week. But then also is the question of whether there is a path to NATO membership for Ukraine. That is something that Ukrainian President Zelenskyy has been asking for, for sometime.

Now, what President Biden has said, it's premature for Ukraine to be a member now, to be part of this alliance at this moment. But there could be a path forward. And that's going to be one of the issues that will be discussed during the summit.

So, again, a lot of pressing questions for President Biden as he heads out on a weeklong trip which is going to be critical -- Bianna, Victor.

GOLODRYGA: All right. Priscilla Alvarez, thank you.

Let's take a closer look at what's at stake for the NATO summit. Joining us now is CNN military analyst and former NATO supreme allied commander, General Wesley Clark.

General, thank you so much for joining us.

So, first, what should be the main goal for allies going into the summit in Lithuania this week?

GEN. WESLEY CLARK (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Well, the most important thing, of course, is always NATO unity. We want to go into this. We have a lot of issues. We need to come out of it with NATO solidly in agreement about the path forward.

And that includes accession of Sweden, what to do about Hungary and Turkey's objections on Sweden.

[08:05:06]

But most importantly, it includes the path forward for Ukraine.

GOLODRYGA: On that issue, obviously, this is front and center for Ukraine, after winning the war against Russia, their top priority is becoming a member of NATO. And we have seen some waffling in terms of how allies feel about Ukraine joining and when they can join.

I asked NSC coordinator for strategic communications, John Kirby, about some of the obstacles for Ukraine coming a member and here's part of that exchange and I want you to respond to it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN KIRBY, NSC COORDINATOR FOR STRATEGIC COMMUNICATIONS: You are right. They are in the middle of the war. And that is really important to remember when you talk about potential NATO membership, and what that means for other allies. It also, it says a lot about where our focus needs to be right, Bianna, and that is on helping them succeed in this war.

GOLODRYGA: But, John, can I just jump in quickly on that issue --

KIRBY: Sure.

GOLODRYGA: Because it is the point that they have fulfillments that they still need to meet and requirements, or that they are in a war. Which one is it?

KIRBY: It's both. There are still requirements that need to be met for NATO membership and yes, they are in the middle of the war. And everybody needs to be focused on helping them succeed in that war and get them what they need for the fight that they are in.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GOLODRYGA: Generally, where do you stand on this issue and what message do you think these sort of public disagreements sent to the Kremlin?

CLARK: Well, I think that always before NATO gets the critical issues like this, there's always public disagreement, there's always discussions. So, I wouldn't worry about that message at this stage. It's what comes afterwards.

Personally, I would like to see Ukraine assured of NATO membership. I would like to see a group, a commission, a council put together that lays out what's required and a date certain for that report. There are some who'd go further.

They would simply say, look, this war could continue for sometime. We can't let Russia have a veto on the membership. So, the membership could entail all of Ukraine. It's not in a conflict zone so that NATO could go in and secure -- help secure the bulk of Ukraine, including Kyiv, and other major cities against Russian air attacks.

And this will be Mr. Putin's problem. So, there's really three major polls of opinions on this. I think we'll come out somewhere in the middle. I expect to see some kind of a path setup for NATO membership, and hopefully, a date certain for that.

GOLODRYGA: Let me ask you about the cluster munitions that the U.S. has reluctantly agreed to supply Ukraine with. A well-respected Russia and Ukraine war analysts said that the delivery of these munitions would actually be more significant than even giving Ukraine ATACMS or F-16s at this point. And his argument it's not because it would help them fight more efficiently, but it would because it will open a tranche of artillery and ammunition they desperately need right now, and it will take the time pressure away from them in terms of where the offensive is.

Would you agree with that assessment?

CLARK: Oh, I think they need both. They need the ATACMS. They need the F-16s. And the fact is we don't have enough conventional 155 ammunition to keep up with their daily requirements. They are being outgunned by the Russians on a consistent basis.

And in order to put this counteroffensive together, they have to win the so-called counterfire battle against Russian artillery in at least a limited portion of the front to make that penetration, to be able to clear the minefields, deal with reserves up close, and get their forces into maneuver warfare in Russia rear. So, this DPICMs are going to be useful in that respect but it was essential to provide because we could not keep up with the demand for the conventional 155.

That having been said, we would not do an offensive like this without air power. We wanted to sweep the battlefield well in-depth, be on the front line. We would not do it without long-range artillery fires including ATACMS, and we wouldn't do it without electronic warfare superiority which we've also withheld from Ukraine.

So, we are asking them to do some things against a very sophisticated Russian defense. We've all put the Russian forces out. Yeah, they fumbled in Kyiv. They're not very good on the attack. But putting people behind a couple of minefields and give them anti-tank weapons, and it's a much tougher problem for Ukraine going forward than it was defending. I think we have to recognize this.

GOLODRYGA: These cluster munitions were presented as a temporary stopgap measure until defense companies were able to produce more artillery ammunition. Realistically, how long do you think that will be?

CLARK: Oh, I'd say it would be several months I would say. We've got several million DPICM rounds, as they're called, in stockpile. They have to be demilitarized, destroyed anyway in some way. They are there. Meanwhile, we are building up the conventional ammunition.

But these rounds, look, this is Ukraine's own country. They've asked for this. It's their concern. The Russians are using similar munitions not as effective, higher dud rate, against the Ukrainians.

So, you know, I think the Ukrainians have every right to ask for the use of these weapons and I think we have every right to provide them. And I hear the humanitarian concerns. But look, what we're saying, the civilians killed in Ukraine by Russia, isn't that a concern that overrides the use of this weapon? I think it is.

GOLODRYGA: Yeah, Russian launched -- Russia launched missiles were just cluster munitions killed just about seven or eight civilians in Ukraine yesterday alone.

General Wesley Clark, thank you so much for your time.

And make sure to watch "FAREED ZAKARIA GPS" later this morning. It's a CNN exclusive one-on-one interview with President Biden. That airs later today at 10 a.m.

Victor?

BLACKWELL: Congress returns to Washington this week, but their long -- a month long, rather, August recess is just a few weeks away. There's a lot to do before they get to that break.

CNN Capitol Hill reporter Annie Grayer is with us now.

So, what's on the list?

ANNIE GRAYER, CNN CAPITOL HILL REPORTER: Victor, when Congress returns, it's going to be a critical time. They're going to have three weeks to try and make progress towards that September 30th deadline when the government has to be funded. And right now, the House and Senate could not be further apart. And the House specifically, we are seeing a wide array of differences and because members of the far right and the House Freedom Caucus want to sit spending levels much lower than the rest of Congress.

As you can see on some of the other issues, not only government spending but defense spending is another issue at play here. All this has to be figured out by September 30th. So, this puts Speaker Kevin McCarthy back in the middle where he's going to have to try and negotiate with members of his conference to maintain his slim majority. He knows he can't alienate his more moderate members. He's got to find a way to keep those members of his right plank happy.

This is a situation that McCarthy is familiar with. But, Victor, it couldn't be more critical as Congress gets closer and closer to that September 30th government funding deadline.

BLACKWELL: They always get close to the deadline. Annie Grayer, thanks so much.

GOLODRYGA: Well, a ban on gender affirming care for minors takes effect in Tennessee. We'll have the very latest on the legal fight, up next.

Plus, he died after being beaten by police at a traffic stop. Now, Memphis is trying to get claims against it dismissed from the lawsuit over the death of Tyre Nichols. Why the city says there is no evidence to hold it responsible.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:17:16]

GOLODRYGA: This morning, a ban on gender affirming care for transgender youth has gone into effect in Tennessee for now, after a federal appeals court lifted an injunction against the law.

BLACKWELL: The law was originally set to take effect on July 1st, it prohibits health care providers from performing gender-affirming surgeries, administering hormones, or puberty blockers for transgender youth.

It marks the first time a federal court has allowed a ban of this kind to proceed.

CNN's Rafael Romo has been following this for us.

So, the courts still had to reach a final decision on this, right?

RAFAEL ROMO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right. It remains to be seen what's going to happen in the end, but in their opinion, the three judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals from the Sixth Circuit in Cincinnati acknowledged that their views were, quote, initial. They also said they may be wrong. But there is a reason why they expedited the appeal of the preliminary

injunction. The judges say they are the goal of resolving the matter no later than September 30th this year, in an effort to mitigate any potential harm, from that possibility, to reach their conclusion, they were granted a stay of a lower court injunction which had been blocking enforcement of the state's ban on health care providers, performing gender-affirming surgeries and administering hormones or puberty blockers to transgender minors, spanning the duration of the appeal.

Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti who is a Republican, acknowledged Saturday after the ruling was announced that this case is far from over, but this is a big win, he said, adding that the Court of Appeals lifted the junction, meaning the law can be fully enforced and recognized that Tennessee is likely to win the constitutional argument and the case.

On the other side, the American Civil Liberties Union blasted the decision, in a statement, also saying that this case is far from over. This ruling is beyond disappointing, they said, in a heartbreaking development for thousands of transgender youth, their doctors and their families. As we and our clients consider our next steps, we want all of the transgender youth in Tennessee to know that this fight is far from over and we will continue to challenge this law until it is permanently defeated, and Tennessee is made a safer place to raise every family.

Now, Victor and Bianna, the ruling means that the ban will now take place immediately. This is the first time a U.S. federal court rules in favor of a law banning health care providers from providing transition care to transgender minors.

So it's going to be interesting in the next few months, Victor. We'll see what happens.

GOLODRYGA: Certainly will, and versions of this fight are happening across the country.

Rafael Romo, thank you so much.

This morning, police in New York are trying to figure out a way and then went on a deadly, seemingly random shooting spree Saturday. One person was killed, three others injured when a man on a scooter started shooting at five different locations in Queens, and Brooklyn.

[08:20:08]

GOLODRYGA: Now all five shootings happened in the span of just about 30 minutes. The 25-year-old shooting suspect is now in custody.

CNN's Polo Sandoval has more details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Bianna and Victor, the indiscriminate nature of this shooting spree is particularly disturbing here as investigators say that the gunman was shooting people randomly, not just in Queens but also in Brooklyn. And all five shootings in the Queens neighborhood of Richmond Hill, and then at least one in the Cypress Hills Brooklyn neighborhood.

The suspect aboard a scooter, according to investigators, used a nine millimeter pistol with an extended magazine that you can clearly see in some of these images which were clearly released by investigators. Five people shot in total, the rest of the suspects happened less than two hours after this spree started. He's a Hispanic 25-year-old man, previously had been arrested by the NYPD, though investigators haven't elaborated on more details regarding that arrest.

I want you to hear from one police official about what they know, at this point, about a possible motive.

CHIEF JOE KENNY, NEW YORK POLICE: It seems that these acts were random. If you look at the demographics, the pedigree, they are all different. At this time, video shows that he is not targeting anybody, he is not following anybody, as he is driving on his scooter, he's randomly shooting people.

SANDOVAL: Police went on to say that they have not yet found a serial number on that weapon, so it is still too soon to say if it is a ghost gun, which is privately assembled and virtually untraceable weapon, or if that identified information was simply filed of or modified. But certainly they will turn to federal investigators for help with that investigation.

I want to remind viewers this is really just the latest shooting of its kind. It was just this past Monday that a masked, armed and armored individual opened fire in southwest Philadelphia, shooting and killing five people -- Bianna, Victor.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GOLODRYGA: Yeah, a really disturbing trend we've had in the past few days.

Polo, thank you.

Well, there are shocking allegations coming out Chicago this morning. The police department is investigating several officers for alleged improper sexual relations with newly arrived migrants.

BLACKWELL: Hundreds of migrants have been living in the city buildings, including Chicago's police stations for the past several months. They were bused to the city after crossing the Texas border.

CNN's Camila Bernal walks us through the allegations first reported by "The Sun Times".

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CAMILA BERNAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Victor, Bianna, these are allegations which are currently being investigated. We have to wait for the results of this investigation, or wait for more details from authorities. But what we know so far is that these allegations are coming from the tenth district police station. And these are of improper sexual relations between officers and migrants.

It is unclear exactly how many officers. But to understand all of this, you have to remember there are many, many migrants who are currently being housed at police stations in Chicago. This is something that has been criticized by many. This is something that is been covered for months by "The Chicago Sun-Times". They were actually the first to report these allegations that a lot of the activists I spoke to told me, we're not shocking necessarily.

They said tat they've been working with migrants now for months, and I talked to one of those people who has been there for months, helping the migrants day in and day out. Her name is Evelyn Figueroa. And she tells me that it is not a good situation for either the migrants or the police officers.

Here's what she said.

DR. EVELYN FIGUEROA, DIRECTOR, PILSEN FOOD PANTRY: Such a harsh setup for the police and for the migrants. This is a complete lose-lose situation. So unless you have -- unless you have dedicated staff, that are going to ensure equity, safety, accountability, it's just that these types of things are going to happen.

BERNAL: And I also spoke to the president of the police union who says there are many officers who go above and beyond to help these migrants. But he says he has a lot of questions and concerns about these allegations. Here he is.

JOHN CATANZARA, JR., PRESIDENT, FRATERNAL ORDER OF POLICE CHICAGO LODGE NO. 7: We do not even know the validity of this complaint, the origin of this complaint. Who made? It is there any truth whatsoever? Anybody can -- it's is ridiculous.

BERNAL: And we also reached out to COPA, which is the independent agency that is investigating these allegations, and they say the allegations are of the highest priority. They also say they act swiftly to address misconduct -- Bianna, Victor.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLACKWELL: All right. Camila, thank you so much.

Still ahead, the city of Memphis is asking to be dismissed from a $550 million lawsuit over the death of Tyre Nichols. We'll talk about that, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLACKWELL: The city of Memphis has filed a motion to be dismissed from a $550 million lawsuit, brought on by the family of Tyre Nichols. You remember, he died days after being violently beaten by Memphis police officers during a traffic stop in January.

According to a court document the -- and reporting from our affiliate, WMC, the city joins Memphis Police Chief CJ Davis and a former Memphis police department lieutenant in saying they did not actively aid in the violation of Nichols' civil rights. They allege that there isn't enough sufficient evidence to hold them legally responsible for the death, which has been ruled a homicide.

Here with me now to discuss is former U.S. attorney, Michael Moore, partner of Moore Hall.

So, first, what's the purpose of this request to have the city, the chief and former lieutenant dismissed?

MICHAEL MOORE, FORMER U.S. ATTORNEY: Yeah, I'm glad to be with you. You know, this really is just a standard practice in a federal lawsuit. So, if you think about it, there's been an allegation filed, that's the complaint. And this allegation says all these people were involved, this is the activity that went on. And now, the city has a chance to sort of make their initial response.

They're not having to answer the lawsuit yet. They're simply saying, judge, there's not enough information here to keep our clients in the case. So there is nothing particularly unusual. It is not necessarily just an effort to escape anything at this point. But it is standard practice.

And so the motion to dismiss, the court will look at the law and decide whether or not the facts alleged and the complaint are sufficient to move the case forward.

BLACKWELL: I mean it would be malpractice for any defense attorney in a civil case to try to not to do this.

MOORE: Certainly in this kind of case, I would say so.

BLACKWELL: Ok. So for people at home who are thinking so they're suing not only the city and those other I mentioned, but the five officers who have been charged in their individual capacity. They might remember from the -- the machinations of the fight in Washington over police reform, qualified immunity protecting some law enforcement officers from being sued civilly.

Why does that not apply here?

MOORE: Well, I mean here, you have a pretty clear indication of some individual actors doing things outside of departmental policy. And so immunity is not meant to sort of give a total blanket or a complete shield to any type of conduct. But it is to allow aggrieved parties to hold those who have violated their civil rights responsible.

So in this case, you have specifically the officers involved, and the case I think will rightfully proceed clearly against them.

The issue will be whether or not the plaintiffs in the case have alleged that there has been a policy. Was there a Memphis Police Department policy that the Supreme Court would require that would have essentially led to this action. And that is going to be what the plaintiffs may have to very well amend their complaint and move around a little bit to make sure that they could make those allegations fit.

But the judge has to accept what is in the complaint is true at this point -- at this stage. So you can't just make a blanket allegation that somebody did wrong. You have to say, somebody did wrong and tie it to some policy on their part especially when you're talking about a sovereign municipality or state that this is what they did.

BLACKWELL: So it seems in this motion to dismiss, that they are arguing the inverse of that, that the absence of a policy would not have led to this.

Let me read from the motion. "Nichols life was cut short by the actions of these rogue officers in the city in no way condones, ratifies or proves that these actions". They also say, "no amount of training or policies could have prevented five rogue officers from acting in a manner outside of the scope of their employment." So they say in here that even if we had a policy, it would not have stopped them from doing this. Is that right?

MOORE: Yes. Or if we had some -- what I would call sort of a super policy. Clearly they train officers, they have policies about hiring, they have policies about chase, these things that think as sort of run-of-the-mill police department functions.

I think what they're saying is look, it wouldn't have mattered if we had folks with a 24-hour day babysitter out in the patrol car, these rogue officers were going to act in a certain way and they did in this case. So we couldn't have policied ourselves up enough.

But we did have certain policies in place and you haven't pointed anything, plaintiff, to tell us which policies you think led specifically to this action. It is these officers' responsibility, these officers violated the policies of our department, they should be the ones responsible not the city of Memphis.

BLACKWELL: So there is this motion to dismiss, removing these entities from the lawsuit. There's also a motion to strike references to the Red Dog Unit which used to exist in Atlanta Police Department and big cities across country always have these drug task forces like this the Scorpion Unit which has now been disbanded, the Red Dog Unit here in Atlanta disbanded more than a decade ago, some high-profile challenges, officers went to prison. There were multimillion-dollar payouts, most notably a 92-year-old woman killed in a botched drug raid. What is the significance of asking for that to be removed here?

MOORE: It's a little bit of an unusual motion. The federal rules allow for the redaction or the taking out of specific allegations of a complaint that are just useless, that are irrelevant, that are made for harassing purposes.

And so the defendants have tried to say, look, this should come out because it is not going to be relevant at trial. We're not at the trial point yet. So the judge will have to make a decision whether or not that should come out.

Clearly there may be some relevance if there was an officer who was engaged in the Red Dog Unit and may have had advanced knowledge or some knowledge based on that experience of particular concern where these types of specialized units and then went to another department and participated in the setting up or the formation of the same unit just in a different city.

BLACKWELL: Yes.

MOORE: That may become relevant. And so the city of Memphis doesn't want to talk about that and may not have to. But at this stage I think the motion to strike, the judge will probably say at this point I'm not going to strike it.

[08:34:50]

MOORE: That may be something you can try to dig into in the discovery process, take their deposition, see what they have to say about it and if determined it later that it is not relevant to the case, then that is when we'll keep it out.

BLACKWELL: All right. Michael Moore, thanks.

MOORE: Yes. Great to be with you.

BLACKWELL: Bianna.

GOLODRYGAR: All right. Still to come, Ukraine appears to claim responsibility for an explosion on a bridge that connects Crimea to mainland Russia that happened last October. We'll have the latest details. That is next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLACKWELL: U.S. soccer legend Megan Rapinoe has announced that she will retire. After 17 years on Team U.S.A., Rapinoe will hang up her cleats at the end of the season after this year's Women's World Cup which is set to begin next week.

[08:39:54]

BLACKWELL: As she announced her retirement yesterday, she says she feels grateful to end her career on her own terms.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MEGAN RAPINOE, SOCCER PLAYER: I could have just like never imagined where this beautiful game would have taken me. I feel so honored to be able to have represented this country and this federation for so many years. It's truly been the greatest thing that I've ever done. And I feel like as excited to play the rest of my career as I do to retire and to step away from this beautiful game.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GOLODRYGA: Now Megan has been a powerhouse figure both off and on the field. Rapinoe is a three-time Olympian and a two-time Women's World Cup champion and has transcended the sport by becoming an outspoken advocate for LGBTQ rights and equal pay and Black Lives Matter.

Last year she became the first soccer player to ever receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

And CNN sports analyst and sports columnist for USA Today, Christine Brennan joins us now.

A little bit of a bittersweet moment, Christine. You know, Megan jokingly says that she's been on borrowed time. She's 38. She still have a World Cup ahead of her this summer. That having been said, were you surprised at all by this announcement?

CHRISTINE BRENNAN, CNN SPORTS ANALYST: I was a little surprised. The timing at first was surprising, Bianna. But then when you think about it, it is a perfect segue into this World Cup that is going to be so important for the U.S. and for women around the world and anyone who cheers for women athletes and female athletes.

And so, in many ways, then it makes sense. Because she's setting the stage for the story line of this World Cup which is that one of the greatest soccer players in U.S. history and frankly one of the greatest soccer players in the history of soccer worldwide, male or female, Megan Rapinoe.

This is her last dance. This is her swan song. This is her goodbye, hopefully for them, victory tour. And so I think it is in many ways absolutely perfect.

She introduced herself to so many of us at the 2011 World Cup with what I believe it the greatest pass in history from her foot all the way across the field, yards and yards. I mean literally one of the longest passes ever to the forehead of Abby Wambach who scored a goal that tied a game Brazil against Brazil and moved into and allowed the U.S. to win.

Remarkable, if anyone hasn't seen it, look it up. And from that moment up, Megan Rapinoe has been a star and just an absolutely incredibly exciting athlete on the field of play and one of the most important athletes in the country off the field of play.

BLACKWELL: Let's look at some of those stats, Christine. So far, she started in 199 games for the U.S., made 63 goals, three-time Olympian winning gold in 2012, Bronze in 2021. She also has two World Cup championship trophies -- 2015 and 2019 for those. One FIFA women's play of the year in 2019. And on and on and on.

But it is also off the field as we've alluded to that she has accomplished so much. List off those greatest accomplishments. I mean, the legacy in that respect can continue even after she's retired from the game.

BRENNAN: Oh absolutely Victor. We have not seen the last of Megan Rapinoe. I could see her as someone who will be speaking out on shows like yours, writing books, doing documentaries, doing everything possible to continue to highlight the issues that she thinks are so important, that millions of Americans and people around the world think are so important.

You ask what they are. Equal pay, certainly comes to mind first. The way she was going to depositions and fighting for equal pay for the women's soccer team, wildly popular, wildly successful. They finally got that with the men from U.S. soccer. But she was spending years, years fighting tor that even as she was then at the top of her game on the field. Extraordinary use of her time both off the field and on field.

And then as you mentioned, LGBTQ issues, continues to fight for those. And in 2019 when she was leading the U.S. to victory in the World Cup, U.S. athlete wearing the red, white and blue on foreign soil. The President of the United States, Donald Trump was attacking her, and she was fending him off while also becoming not only the leading goal scorer of that World Cup but also the most valuable player at that World Cup.

I don't know that I've seen an athlete do more on the field and off at the same time especially when it was the president of the United States attacking a U.S. athlete who was representing the country at that moment.

BLACKWELL: Yes. She certainly will be missed on the field. But as you say, we've not seen the last of her.

Christine Brennan, thank you so much for being with us this morning.

And we'll be right back.

[08:44:50]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLACKWELL: Ukraine's president has brought back five former commanders who had been sent to Turkey by Russia after being captured in battle. The soldiers were freed in a prisoner swap and reunited with their loved ones when they returned home yesterday, the 500th day of Russia's war.

GOLODRYGA: They were greeted by supporters and church leaders in a ceremony and pledged to return to the battlefield to take on Russia. The group was allowed to leave Turkey after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy negotiated their release which he said was long overdue.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): On the 500th day of war our state brought home five heroes of Ukraine, commanders of Mariupol and Azovstal defenses.

They fought heroically, absolutely. They went through Russian captivity and then they were in Turkey for more than 300 days. It is time for them to be at home.

(END VIDEO CLIP) [08:50:01]

GOLODRYGA: And CNN's Nada Bashir joins us from London. Nada, talk about the significance just optically and emotionally to have these men return home to a country that has now marked its 500th day at war.

NADA BASHIR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well this is a hugely significant and also a deeply symbolic achievement for President Zelenskyy. Many will remember the siege of Mariupol where we saw the Ukrainian defenders holding out for months in tunnels and bunkers underneath the Azovstal steel plant until they were ordered by Kyiv to surrender, placing the port city completely and totally under the control of the Russian armed forces and later seeing them part of that prisoner swap brokered in part by Turkey.

Now of course, this has been a key priority for President Zelenskyy for some time. Now we saw him in Istanbul meeting with President Erdogan (INAUDIBLE) and this was certainly high on the agenda. And we heard from these five commanders speaking in the western city of Lviv alongside President Zelenskyy, they were clear they planned to return to work.

They said they took an oath, they are military men and they plan to continue to support the Ukraine counter offensive against the Russian armed forces.

But this has also been met with some backlash from Moscow. We heard from the Russian foreign ministry (INAUDIBLE) and the Kremlin spokesperson first criticizing Turkey for its part it says in not upholding their agreement with the terms of the prisoner swap.

And of course, there have been some questions around now the relations, the potential strain on the relations between Turkey and Russia. However, we have heard from President Erdogan. He also plans to meet with President Putin next month where he says prisoner swaps will still be on the agenda.

BLACKWELL: Nada, we're hearing some details about the Crimea bridge explosion in October. We're getting those from Ukraine. What can you tell us?

BASHIR:: Well look, at the time of that explosion, there was certainly celebration in Ukraine. But there was never a clear admission of responsibility, although there were some hints and suggestion, but today we are getting perhaps the most clear admission of responsibility.

Ukraine deputy defense minister taking to Telegram to mark the 500 days passing since the beginning of Russia's invasion of Ukraine listing 12 key achievements by the Ukrainian armed forces and among those 12 achievements was the targeting explosion on the Crimea bridge.

Now of course, at the time this was a significant blow to Russia's military effort. Both logistically and also symbolically. This took place just a day after President Putin's 70th birthday and it marked quite literally a breaking of the connection between Russian territory and the occupied Crimea.

We've already heard from the Russian foreign ministry describing now Ukraine as a terrorist state in response to this admission.

BLACKWELL: Nada Bashir joining us from London. Thank you.

The new "CNN ORIGINAL SERIES: SEE IT LOUD, THE HISTORY OF BLACK TELEVISION" is coming executive produced by Lebron James and Maverick Carter. This five-part docuseries explores the impact of black television on all cultures.

Here is a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: When I think about the history of black television, I really think about progress. For the longest time we were footnotes in history.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It is so important for us to have African American representation.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We talk about things that nobody in this country was willing to have a discussion about.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I was like, Martin, do you believe they call us icons.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That was one of the first times I saw myself in the sci-fi genre.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That show was so successful, it launched Bravo Network.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You have Tyler Perry, who owns the studio. In 1950 you could have never have imagined it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is an era to be as loud as possible and as black as possible.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We are the story.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: "SEE IT LOUD, THE HISTORY OF BLACK TELEVISION" premieres tonight at 9:00 on CNN.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, I still get those residual checks. Thank you. You're welcome.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[08:54:04]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLACKWELL: So tomorrow is the start of a brand-new workweek. And if all you have ever wanted for Christmas for real is to go into that job and tell your boss what you really think about them, you can't do that yet.

First you have to win the Powerball jackpot. It is now up to $650 million. It is the 9th largest ever after nobody won Saturday's drawing.

GOLODRYGA: You still have a chance, Victor.

(CROSSTALK)

BLACKWELL: Still got a chance.

GOLODRYGA: The winner could spread the payments out over 30 years, or they could take out a full payment of just over a cool $328 million.

Other news for you this morning, the Rocket Man is retiring from the road, that is, after 50 years of touring.

(MUSIC)

GOLODRYGA: Yes, hard to believe, Elton John said his good-bye on Saturday night in Stockholm, Sweden during his last show on the final tour of his career. He posted these photos of the final performance on his Instagram account.

BLACKWELL: He made the announcement -- I was so enraptured by the story. I'm sorry.

BLACKWELL: Go ahead. No, you take it. Go. Go ahead.

[08:59:48]

GOLODRYGA: He made the announcement on social media Saturday and wrote, "What a journey this tour has been and now we find ourselves at the end of it. Tonight is the final night."

BLACKWELL: No, finish it now. Go ahead.

GOLODRYGA: The five-time Grammy winner's "Farewell Yellow Brick Road" tour was set to end in 2021 but had to be postponed because of the pandemic. But fans would be relieved to know he says he will still be working on new music.

Thank you for letting me take that. You know I'm an Elton fan, Victor.

BLACKWELL: I know you are. And thank you for being with me. Thank you so much for joining us this morning.

GOLODRYGA: It's been fun to be with you, Victor.

"STATE OF THE UNION" is next.