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Navalny's Mom to Putin, Hand Over My Son's Body; Russians Advance in Ukraine After Capturing Key Town; Today, Haley in South Carolina to Deliver State of the Race Speech. Aired 7-7:30a ET

Aired February 20, 2024 - 07:00   ET

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

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning everyone. I'm John Berman with Audie Cornish here in New York.

[07:00:00]

Poppy and Phil are off this morning.

And new this morning, Alexei Navalny's mother making a personal plea to Vladimir Putin to hand over her son's body now. She just released a video standing outside the Siberian prison where he died. She is telling Vladimir Putin, let me finally see my son.

AUDIE CORNISH, CNN ANCHOR: Navalny's team says the Russian government is refusing to release his body for at least a couple of weeks to conduct some sort of chemical examination. Navalny's wife is suggesting her husband may have been poisoned again with nerve agent.

CNN's Melissa Bell is live in Paris. Melissa, what else are you hearing from Navalny's mother in this message directly to Putin?

MELISSA BELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, as we spoke about earlier, Audie, what we'd heard is from Dmitry Peskov, the Kremlin spokesman, pushing back against that video we'd heard from Yulia Navalnaya, the widow of Alexei Navalny, a very strong message she sent yesterday accusing Vladimir Putin of being behind her husband's death.

Now, this morning, the Kremlin pushing back against that, suggesting that neither Peskov nor Vladimir Putin had seen the video message. Almost immediately afterwards, we had a very strong tweet from Alexei Navalny's widow pushing back, saying once again, hand us back Alexei Navalny's body, and then this, this very dramatic video.

Now, what you're about to see is Alexei Navalny's 70-year-old mother, who is standing outside the notorious Polar Wolf colony, where he breathed his lost breast.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LUDMILA IVANOVNA NAVALNAYA, NAVALNY'S MOTHER: Behind me is the IK-3 Polar Wolf Colony, where my son, Alexei Navalny, died on February 16. I haven't been able to see him for five days. They won't give me his body. They don't even tell me where he is. I'm addressing you, Vladimir Putin, the solution to the issue depends only on you. Let me finally see my son. I demand that Alexei's body be immediately handed over so that I can bury him humanely.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BELL: Now, for a start, the remarkable courage of this woman who's traveled to the nearly 2,000 kilometers northeast of Moscow to this extremely cold, difficult to access region to stand there very bravely defying authorities and calling for the release of her son's corpse.

Quite extraordinary, I think, what both we've heard from her and from Alexei Navalny's wife this morning suggests that they're not going to take this line down. They're going to continue to make as much noise about this as they can and to continue to be a thorn in the side of Russian authorities.

What we'd also heard yesterday was Yulia Navalnaya heading to Brussels and urging European lawmakers not to recognize the Russian election that's due next month at this stage that's highly expected to deliver Vladimir Putin the fifth term that he seeks.

BERMAN: All right. Melissa Bell, thank you very much for that.

Russian forces are advancing this morning after seizing control of a key Ukrainian town. Ukraine's army is under intense pressure at several critical points along the frontlines.

CORNISH: President Biden tearing into Republicans for failing to pass an aid bill for Ukraine. He's calling it a big mistake. House Speaker Mike Johnson also facing global criticism for his lack of action.

CNN's Nick Paton Walsh is there in Kherson, Ukraine. And, Nick, to begin, the Ukrainian military, he's closely watching the movements of Russian troops. What do you think that they're preparing for?

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Yes, we've heard now for two days in a row from Ukrainian forces saying that they have repelled a Russian bid to advance in Zaporizhzhia region, near a village called Robotyne, a tiny place, frankly. We were near it during the summer as that counteroffensive began And they claim that it's place where Russia's put a lot of effort in and has been essentially repelled. Many fears just after Avdiivka fell, that would be the focal point of another Russian assault and that appears to have been the case.

And Ukraine, I think, caught in this complex task it has to put both project frailty to suggest to its western backers that things are all not entirely right on the frontlines. But at the same time, too, not also sound like they're losing, nobody wants to back a winner, particularly not Republicans in Congress, and they don't want to spark concern amongst their own population here as well.

And so, yes, we've heard about Robotyne and the suggestion that's holding, Ukraine also claiming it took down two Russian fighter jets in the east over the last 24 hours. But concerns all up and down the frontline here in Kupyans'k, near Kharkiv, to the northeast, around Avdiivka itself, and also around Bakhmut, which fell to the Russians after an equally bloody and brutal campaign like that, which we saw around Avdiivka, there may be some potential Russian advances there.

So, a very messy few weeks ahead here, two weeks where Congress are simply not in session or able to even think about moving this aid, urgently needed aid package forwards.

[07:05:05]

But, ultimately, a Russian force here that is clearly a resurgence and now has the opportunity to redeploy the forces it used in Avdiivka somewhere else along the frontline, and that's what has everybody deeply nervous.

CORNISH: Nick Paton Walsh, thank you.

Now, here in the U.S. in a few hours, Nikki Haley is set to deliver remarks on the state of the presidential race. She'll be in her home state of South Carolina ahead of the primary there.

Yesterday, she accused President Biden and Donald Trump of dividing the country, making it clear that despite the polling numbers, she's not going quietly.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NIKKI HALEY, REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I promise you this, on Sunday, I'm headed to Michigan. And then we're going to Super Tuesday states. And we're going to keep on going.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: CNN's Eva McKend joins us now from Washington. And, Eva, can you talk about the case that she's continuing to make, right, in terms of staying in this race?

EVA MCKEND, CNN NATIONAL POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: Well, Audie and Phil, she says that she is the person that can unify the country. And to the extent that we can measure that, Democrats are showing up to her rallies. I can tell you that. So, that is an indication that her message has a broader appeal than just the average Republican voter.

It's not uncommon to meet people at her rallies even in South Carolina who voted for President Biden in 2020, but Haley is expected to continue to essentially tell voters that she's in this for the long haul. She's resisted this pressure campaign for weeks to drop out and this state of the race speech sort of gives her the opportunity to crystallize her mission going into the closing days here.

Part of that strategy has also been confronting the former president, arguing Trump is just too distracted to engage the voters that Republicans will need in a general election. Let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) HALEY: Look at last week. He lost another case on immunity. He'll be tried a citizen Trump. Republicans lost a bill on Israel. They lost another bill on Mayorkas in the border. The Republican Party chair lost her job, and Donald Trump's fingerprints were on all of it. Everything he touches, we lose.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MCKEND: So, with just days to go until the primary, she remains the clear underdog, according to polling. A Winthrop University poll has Trump at 65 percent, and you can see Haley there at 29 percent. This is her home state.

But she's still telling voters and telling us she will head to Michigan and Super Tuesday states immediately after the South Carolina primary. I think the main message we get from Haley today is that she's not giving up the fight.

BERMAN: And, Eva, you've been covering her for a while now. How have you seen her message evolve week by week, if not day by day?

MCKEND: Well, certainly the attacks on Trump have become sharper. That was something that she was really reticent to do at the outset. She would say that this is not a personal thing between me and Trump. I enjoyed being in his administration. He was the right president for the right time.

We're getting less of that these days. She is more consistently pointing to the chaos he inspires and says he's just too much of a liability in a general election. And she's just beating back these voices that essentially say she can't do it. She's not looking at the reality here. She thinks that she can, I guess, pull off an upset in the weeks ahead, John and Audie.

BERMAN: All right, Eva McKend for us, Eva, great to see you this morning.

Newly released footage from the IDF reportedly shows Israeli hostages inside Gaza as negotiations reach a critical phase.

CORNISH: And Donald Trump proudly showing off an endorsement from one of Vladimir Putin's closest allies. Former Trump National Security Adviser John Bolton joins us next to discuss.

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[07:10:00]

BERMAN: Donald Trump and his seeming love affair with the world's authoritarian leaders, he posted this video of the Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban endorsing him.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VIKTOR ORBAN, HUNGARIAN PRIME MINISTER: We can't interfere in the elections of other countries, but we really want President Donald Trump to return to the White House and make peace here in Eastern Europe.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: Orban is an ally of Vladimir Putin, and the video comes as Donald Trump declines or has declined to condemn the death of Putin- critical Alexei Navalny or say anything critical of Putin at all in the aftermath of Navalny's death.

So, in an op-ed for The Hill yesterday, former Trump National Security Adviser John Bolton wrote, quote, killing Navalny is evidence that Putin feels back on top, confident in his rule, untroubled about either domestic or international pushback.

And Ambassador John Bolton joins us now. Ambassador, thank you for being with us.

You know, moments ago, we saw pictures of Alexei Navalny's mother outside the Siberian prison where Navalny died pleading for the release of the body of Alexei Navalny. What do you read in to the reluctance or failure of Russia to turn the body over?

AMB. JOHN BOLTON, FORMER TRUMP NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: Well, quite likely they tried again with poison, maybe even using Novichok again, which didn't work the first time. And they're waiting for the evidence of the poisoning to dissipate. So, it's not subject to uncovering during an autopsy.

Look, these are very cold blooded people. This doesn't bother them. And despite some demonstrations inside Russia, which have been quickly swept up by the police, I think Putin's domestic position with Navalny gone, with Prigozhin gone, with elections coming in a few weeks, he's sure to win. He feels very much in control.

BERMAN: We read a quote from your op-ed where you say he's untroubled by domestic opposition or international pushback. What does he see in the United States, specifically in the U.S. Congress that makes him so untroubled?

[07:15:04]

BOLTON: Well, I think Congress is not acting in the national interest at this point, not being able to get aid for Ukraine, not being able to get aid for Taiwan, aid for Israel, funding and policy changes on the southern border, and he sees Donald Trump looming in the background. And right at the moment, he sees Joe Biden in the White House who threatened severe consequences for Russia several years ago when Navalny returned to Russia and was immediately imprisoned, and yet we haven't seen any severe consequences.

Now, I would say the same is true for Western European leaders. You know, we're all very good at expressing outrage, but when it comes to doing something about it, I think Putin is not so worried.

BERMAN: Liz Cheney referred to certain members of Congress as the Putin caucus. What do you think of that assessment? BOLTON: Well, look, I think it's objectively supportive of Russia not to provide assistance to Ukraine. And part of the problem here in both parties, frankly, is we haven't had leaders in recent years who explain what the benefit to the United States of NATO is. We're not providing these resources to Ukraine out of charity. We're doing it because it's in our national self-interest to do it. And yet President Biden, for example, has not made that case.

He talks about authoritarianism versus democracy, which I think is relatively uninteresting to most people and Republicans haven't been able to explain concretely why peace and stability in Europe benefit the United States.

What happens if Mike Johnson doesn't allow a vote on Ukraine aid? Who wins?

BOLTON: Well, I think Russia wins, clearly. Yes, this is something that once was a time when we liked bipartisanship in foreign policy. I never thought the Democrats were as strong as they should be, but we did have some evidence of bipartisanship and I'm afraid we're on the verge of losing it. I think worse, I think the isolationist virus is loose generally and particularly in the Republican Party. It's a big problem.

BERMAN: What do you think Donald Trump knows about Alexei Navalny? How much?

BOLTON: Well, I suspect very little. I don't recall from my tenure that there was a conversation about him. Navalny was poisoned in 2020, which is when he really came to Trump's attention for the first time. And when asked whether he thought the Russian government was responsible then in 2020, the president of the United States, with full access to the best intelligence collection in the world, said he didn't have enough information.

So, I don't think he's going to say anything negative about Putin. In fact, the only thing he said about Navalny is trying to compare himself to Navalny as a victim of a fixed judicial system, which would be hilarious if it weren't so dangerous.

BERMAN: Again, so you don't think he cares one way or the other if what happens or what happened to Alexei Navalny?

BOLTON: What Donald Trump cares about is what benefits Donald Trump. So, when people look for policy ramifications from what he says or doesn't say, they're looking in the wrong direction. If he thought condemning Navalny would help him, he would do it. And if he doesn't think it brings him any benefit, he'll remain silent.

BERMAN: So, The New York Times this morning published some of Alexei Navalny's letters from prison. And I'm going to read you something from The New York Times.

It said, Mr. Navalny confided that the electoral agenda for former U.S. President Donald J. Trump looked, quote, really scary. It says, Trump will become president should President Biden's health suffer, Mr. Navalny wrote from his high security prison cell, doesn't this obvious thing concern the Democrats?

Let's take that in the parts. Donald Trump's -- President Donald Trump looked really scary. Why do you think that Trump looks so scary to Alexei Navalny?

BOLTON: Well, I think Trump has made it pretty clear he wants to withdraw from NATO. And I think that should be scary to anybody who worries about defeating Russian aggression and not just in Ukraine, but really around Eastern Central Europe, Central Asia and the prospects of growing linkage between Russia and China.

A lot of people on the Republican side are defending Trump's rhetoric about NATO, saying he's just bargaining. All I can say is repeat, his intention is not to strengthen NATO, it's to weaken NATO and ultimately withdraw from it.

And I hate to be proven right on this if Trump is elected, but I feel very confident that's what he wants to do. I consider that scary.

BERMAN: And I just wanted to also ask, because you mentioned that some of the protests have been put down inside Russia. We've spoken to so many people since Friday who hope that Alexei Navalny's death will somehow spur action, resistance inside Russia.

[07:20:05]

It doesn't seem like you hold out much hope that his death won't be in vain.

BOLTON: Well, hope is not a strategy. I mean, I certainly wish the best for him, but a lot of the Democrats are in exile. You know, authoritarian regimes have a long record of success in human history in staying in power.

BERMAN: All right, chilling analysis this morning, Ambassador John Bolton, we do appreciate your time. Thank you.

BOLTON: Thank you.

CORNISH: As Trump's legal team works to remove Fulton County D.A. Fani Willis in the Georgia election interference case, an unexpected source has corroborated some of her claims. We have brand new CNN reporting next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CORNISH: The use of cash has been a key sticking point in the testimony of Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis. Defense attorneys are trying to get Willis disqualified from Donald Trump's Georgia elections subversion case over her romantic relationship with a top prosecutor.

BERMAN: So, CNN has spoken to a California man who says he spent two hours at a wine tasting in Napa Valley with Willis and her then- boyfriend Nathan Wade. CNN's Zach Cohen has new reporting on this, shoe leather reporting, in a manner of speaking, or shoe leather wine tasting. I don't know how exactly you say it, but really good reporting, Zach. Tell us what you've learned here.

ZACHARY COHEN, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY REPORTER: Yes, good morning guys. Look, Stan Brody told me that he hosted Fani Willis and Nathan Wade at Acumen Wines back in 2023 when they both visited this winery in Napa Valley, California. And he distinctly remembers the moment Bill came because it was about $400 and Fani Willis told him that she was going to pay cash, which struck him as odd given the amount.

But take a listen to what he told me about his recollection of their visit to this winery and the moment where Fani Willis foot the bill.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STAN BRODY, HOSTED WILLIS AND WADE AT ACUMEN WINES: I ran up to saying and I showed her I was expecting a credit card quite frankly and she's out paying cash. And so that was that. So, then I just put the cash in made change for her and she was very generous to me.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COHEN: So, why does this matter, right? In the hearing last week, we saw defense attorneys really push Willis on her use of cash because they're trying to establish that she and Nathan Wade had an improper relationship and that she benefited financially from that relationship in the form of him paying for these trips, including trips to Napa Valley, California. We now know at least one instance when she paid for Nathan Wade to visit this winery.

But take a listen to what Fani Willis testified to last week when she was pushed on her use of cash and the questions around that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And what did you pay for on that trip?

FANI WILLIS, FULTON COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY: I gave him much less cash that time, probably $400 or $500. And then I paid for a bunch of stuff. I think we did two different wine tours that you do, which are pretty expensive. I think I bought him. He likes wine. I don't really like wine, to be honest with you. I like Grey Goose. When I travel, I always take care.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COHEN: So, part of the issue with using cash, too, is there's obviously no documentation, receipt, that shows how Fani Willis and Nathan Wade's sort of financial transactions worked.

But look, again, this is one specific example of an unusual source corroborating at least part of Fani Willis' testimony last week. I'm sure there will be many more questions about Fani Willis' use of cash or financial relationship with Nathan Wade. But, again, one concrete source in California saying, look, she paid cash, and it was about $400 worth.

CORNISH: And, Zach, just a quick reminder, as you said, this is important because of --

COHEN: It really undercuts what defense attorneys are claiming about Fani Willis, that she benefited financially from her relationship with Nathan Wade. This is one example where actually she was paying for him to enjoy this wine tasting.

CORNISH: Thanks so much.

BERMAN: She doesn't even like wine, according to Fani Willis, it turns out.

CORNISH: But more on stake than the date. So, thanks so much, Zach.

You know, the desperate search for an 11-year-old Texas girl missing since last week, that continues. CNN spoke with the sheriff in the case and you'll hear from him next.

BERMAN: And an alarming number of suspects in Washington, D.C., crimes are children. What some people are doing to help.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you think there's a crisis right now with kids in D.C.?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Definitely. Definitely a crisis. I've never seen a nine-year-old and an eight-year-old pull on robbers. I've never seen 12-year-olds do the things that they had.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

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[07:30:00]