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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

Biden Braces U.S. for Fallout from Possible Invasion of Ukraine; Prince Andrew Agrees to Settle Sexual Abuse Lawsuit; Sandy Hook Families Win $73 Million from Remington in Historic Ruling. Aired 5-5:30a ET

Aired February 16, 2022 - 05:00   ET

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

[05:00:30]

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: All right. It's Wednesday, February 16th. Five a.m. exactly here in New York. Thanks for getting an EARLY START with us this morning. I'm Christine Romans.

LAURA JARRETT, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Laura Jarrett.

Welcome to our viewers in the United States and all around the world.

We begin with the world watching and waiting for Russia's next move. Will Vladimir Putin pull the trigger and order an invasion?

President Biden preparing Americans for the possibility, warning Russia has more than 150,000 troops along the Ukrainian border. The president said the U.S. has not yet verified Russian claims that it is, in fact, withdrawing some of the forces.

Mr. Biden welcomed a Kremlin proposal to continue talking, saying we should give diplomacy every chance to succeed. He also directly addressed the Russian people.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: To the citizens of Russia, you are not our enemy. And I do not believe you want a bloody, destructive war against Ukraine. Invading Ukraine will prove to be a self-inflicted wound.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JARRETT: We have team coverage this morning of this crisis from Ukraine, Brussels, Washington and from Moscow where we begin with CNN's Fred Pleitgen.

Fred, good morning. The president addressed the Russian people directly but did they hear him?

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDET: It's -- it looks like they did. Actually, President Biden's speech or excerpts of it were actually on Russian TV as well. A couple of minutes ago we got off a call with the Kremlin with a spokesman for Vladimir Putin, Dmitry Peskov. He said the remarks that the Russian people are not the enemy of the United States, that those were welcome by the Russian government, by the Kremlin. He did say, however, he believed there were some threats in President Biden's speech Russians didn't really take kindly to or didn't want to hear.

So, certainly, the Russians are saying there were some things in President Biden's speech that do give grounds for optimism but at the same time, of course, you do have the military situation with the U.S. president saying the situation on the ground is still very dangerous. We do have those video on our screen right now of that train allegedly departing Crimea with Russian military hardware on it. You can see Russian TV making a lot of that. Russian media making a lot of that saying some of the troops with heavy armor are departing Crimea.

That's only a small portion of the force that is around Ukraine, according to the United States. There's still a lot to be done.

Nevertheless, the Kremlin saying they do want diplomacy to go forward. They say they want a broader discussion with the United States about security concerns and that they say they have and they certainly believe there will be further talks between President Biden and the Russian President Vladimir Putin and they say the broader dialogue is something they want to continue.

Nevertheless, it has to be pointed out the situation of course around Ukraine is one that remains very dangerous according to the United States even though a spokesman for the Kremlin, again, a couple of minutes ago saying that Russia has no intention of invading, Laura.

JARRETT: All right. Fred, thank you for that.

All of this is happening right now, Ukrainians are marking a national day of unity in the face of a possible Russian invasion.

CNN's Alex Marquardt live in Mariupol, Ukraine, with more on this.

Alex, what are you hearing there?

ALEXANDER MARQUARDT, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Laura, we're waiting to see what this day of unity is like. It's relatively quiet in Mariupol. It is a day of work and this was announced two days ago. President Zelensky is expected to visit here later today.

And, Laura, we are in the southeastern most part of Ukraine and it's here that you are seeing the mixed messaging and, you know, us trying to make sense of what Russia is really up to. As Fred was just talking about, Russia is saying it's withdrawing its forces from Crimea. Crimea is on the Sea of Azov, which is right where we are here in Mariupol.

And they say and they're showing video of what they say are troops and tanks and artillery and fuel trucks leaving Crimea by train across the Kurtz Bridge which was built after Russia annexed Crimea in 2014.

Laura, at the same time, of course, the past few days, we have seen an increased buildup of forces. That's why President Biden announced the figure of 150,000. That's the highest number he has ever talked about. We have satellite imagery showing that 60 helicopters, both attack and transport were sent to Crimea over the past few days. We've seen satellite imagery of fighter jets just across the water over in Russia, that could reach here in no time.

[05:05:01]

So, we are still trying to make sense of whether on balance, this is a drawdown of Russian troops.

Laura, where we are here in Mariupol, it's just about 15 miles from fighting that has raged between Russia backed forces and Ukrainian forces for the past eight years. So, it is fair to say, I think, that even if there is a de-escalation of the situation, and Russia withdraws its forces from Ukrainian border, that fighting back Russia withdraws will almost certainly continue -- Laura.

JARRETT: All right. Alex, thank you so much for that report.

ROMANS: So, the U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin speaking moments ago in Brussels after a high stakes meeting with NATO's leaders.

CNN's Melissa Bell is there for us.

Melissa, what is Secretary Austin saying this morning?

MELISSA BELL, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, for the moment just really recommitting United States and NATO's principles. That meeting just got underway here in Brussels. We also heard, Christine, just a moment ago from the secretary general of NATO who was asked specifically about that question of de-escalation. As far as he was concerned, Christine, he said there was no sign of Russian de- escalation as far as NATO was concerned.

On the contrary, what they were seeing was continued buildup. Secretary Austin arrived for the meeting. Here's what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LLOYD AUSTIN, U.S. DEFENSE SECRETARY: You heard us say a number of times that we're committed to Article 5 and also the principles of collective security, and so, you can expect that that commitment will remain rock solid going forward.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BELL: Now just to be clear because Ukraine is not a member of NATO, it is not -- no one is bound by Article 5 with respect to that. Should Russia decide to invade, there is no suggestion there would be a NATO response that would intervene within Ukraine. That Article 5 does not apply to it.

What it does apply to is all of those where we've seen the buildup of troops. What NATO defense ministers are going to be looking at specifically here is the possibility that there might be an accident along the Belarusian-Polish border, some kind of incident that might lead to a direct confrontation between NATO forces, allied forces and Russian forces and that's something they're looking out for.

Also, any cyber attacks on any NATO countries and the possibility that any invasion of Ukraine would lead to a massive outpouring of refugees on into NATO countries over Ukraine's borders, something that NATO and ally troops would be getting involved in to help. So, that is what defense ministers are looking at. And again, an opportunity to share intelligence about what's exactly going on on Ukraine's borders, Christine.

ROMANS: All right. Melissa Bell for us in Brussels, thanks, Melissa.

JARRETT: Back here in the U.S. president Biden again pledging sanctions on Russia if Vladimir Putin decides to invade Ukraine.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BIDEN: We're putting tense pressure on their largest and most significant financial institutions and key industries. These measures are ready to go and soon and if Russia moves.

(END IVDEO CLIP)

JARRETT: CNN's Daniella Diaz is live on Capitol Hill for us this morning.

Daniella, we know President Biden's position, but what is Congress willing to do here?

DANIELLA DIAZ, CNN CONGRESSIONAL REPORTER: Laura, there's some disagreements between Democrats and Republicans on how to go about a bipartisan sanctions package against Russia should Russia invade Ukraine, but I do want to first talk about a bipartisan statement released yesterday by Senate leaders which was really noteworthy. They said, quote, should Vladimir Putin further escalate his ongoing assault on Ukraine's sovereignty, Russia should be made to pay a severe price. We are fully prepared to have strong, robust and effective sanctions on Russia as well as tough restrictions and controls on exports to Russia, and we will urge our allies, and partners in Europe and around the world to join us.

This is really noteworthy considering that fact that Republican senators released a bill yesterday of their own sanctions that they want to pass against Russia. They introduced their own package to deter Russian President Vladimir Putin from invading Ukraine. It comes after weeks of failed negotiations between Democrats and Republicans on an economic sanctions package.

But, look, they could not agree whether this could be controversial Nord Stream 2 pipeline. And the Republican proposal is a negotiating tactic, of course, to get Republicans trying to sign on to any legislation that they could do a partisan bill now. It needs to be bipartisan for it to pass through the Senate, it needs 10 Republicans to sign on. Every Democrat supports the legislation.

But really, the bottom line here being, Laura, Democrats and Republicans have not yet agreed on how they want to go about a sanctions package and that is -- work continues on Capitol Hill today.

JARRETT: All right. Daniella Diaz, live on Capitol Hill for us this morning, thank you, Daniella.

ROMANS: So much here to unpack. Let's bring in CNN military analyst, retired Air Force Colonel Cedric Leighton.

[05:10:02]

Good morning.

You know, now, Vladimir Putin says Russia does not want war. He says he's moving some troops back to bases with ministry of defense video to go along with it. We don't know what's happening there. Is it propaganda? He says he wants to negotiate.

Can the United States diplomats trust Vladimir Putin?

COL. CEDRIC LEIGHTON (RET.), CNN MILITARY: Good morning, Christine. No, they can't. It's like what Ronald Reagan said, trust but verify. That gets very important.

Obviously, we want peace. We want to make sure Ukraine is not invading and the territorial integrity of Ukraine is not further compromised. Having said that, though, we have to be very careful which game Vladimir Putin is playing. He's looking at this as a way to, you know, not only leverage the Ukraine and the Zelensky comment but also the west. He wants to sew seeds of division. He wants to make sure that NATO's very coherent stance against Russia is broken.

And, you know, right now, there's no sign of that of course. Every little thing he does could be something that leads in that direction. So, U.S. diplomats, NATO diplomats must be very careful with how they answer Putin's requests and diplomatic efforts. But it should absolutely be reviewed, but you just got to walk in their eyes wide open.

JARRETT: So, Colonel, all of this is happening with a troop buildup, a cyber attack hit Ukraine's defense ministry and armed forces as well as two Ukrainian banks.

The timing can't be a coincidence, right?

LEIGHTON: I don't believe in coincidences, Laura, in these cases. I agree, this is not a coincidence. This is most certainly something attributable to either Russian elements or elements that are working on behalf of Russia. Now, there are real execution efforts we have to understand where this is coming from. Let's put this into context. This was a relatively minor cyber attack, inconvenient, absolutely.

But a DDoS attack and distributed service attack, it doesn't rank up there with an attack that happened, for example, a month ago. There were 70 Ukrainian websites that were impacted by a very severe Russian attack and then you go back a few years and the entire power grid was shut down. So, this is kind of a message, kind of a warning shot, if you will, but it's not the biggest thing the Russians could throw at Ukraine. Coincidence, it's definitely not.

ROMANS: The president spoke directly to the Russian people. He said, you are not our enemy. What do you make of this attack from the White House? Is there hope diplomacy can solve this? Is there still a feeling that invasion is inevitable?

LEIGHTON: Well, I think it's -- there's definitely hope, Christine, diplomacy can solve this or at least put it off to the side. That's the better way to put it. I don't think you can solve anything completely until Vladimir Putin is satisfied, but I do think that the White House message was excellent and the reason I say that is it's very important to get behind efforts by the Kremlin and others to make people in Russia believe that the United States is provoking this and that the you states thinks that the Russians are the enemy.

We do not believe that. Nobody in their right mind has believed that. What we are concerned about and the adversary is the Putin government. And I think President Biden's message was actually right on target because he is going around that kind of propaganda from the Kremlin and making it very clear that we don't have a dispute with them but we want them to work within the construct of the world order as it is right now.

JARRETT: Colonel Cedric Leighton, thank you so much, sir. Appreciate it.

LEIGHTON: You bet, Laura. Any time.

ROMANS: President Biden trying to cushion the blow for everyday Americans who will suffer the hardship if Russia invades Ukraine.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BIDEN: I will not pretend this will be painless. We are taking active steps to offset energy prices.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: Translation, higher gas prices. Crude oil is approaching $100 a barrel. It is surging, huge consumer demand and now this threat of war in Ukraine. Russia is the world's second largest producer of oil. If the Ukraine crisis drives oil prices north of $110 a barrel. One estimate has inflation topping 10 percent.

The U.S. has not experienced that type of inflation since 1981.

[05:15:05]

The global energy market already struggling to keep up with demand. JPMorgan has warned any disruption, any disruption to Russia's oil output would easily send oil to $120 a barrel.

There's an important irony, important piece of context, really, that the higher oil prices go, the better it is for Russia. Russia's budget, Russia's -- the business of being Russia is fueled by demand for its product, which is energy. JARRETT: Even in uncertainty now.

ROMANS: This uncertainty financially is very, very good for Russia assuming there aren't draconian sanctions and then that would hurt Russia. But at least right now almost financially a sweet spot for Vladimir Putin.

JARRET: Up next, Prince Andrew settling the high-profile sex abuse lawsuit. The question is, why now?

ROMANS: Plus, Alec Baldwin now facing a lawsuit over the deadly shooting on his movie set.

JARRETT: And new revelations in the Olympic doping scandal. The other drugs detected in the 15-year-old Russian skater's system.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:20:28]

ROMANS: Prince Andrew agreeing to settle a lawsuit filed by a woman who accused him of raping her when she was 17. Virginia Giuffre also says convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein forced her to have sex with his friends, including the prince, who has now agreed to make two payments as part of the settlement.

Anna Stewart is in London with the latest.

What do we know of the terms of this settlement, Anna?

ANNA STEWART, CNN REPORTER: Very little. The settlement has been reached with a person Prince Andrew says never met. It's a settlement with Virginia Giuffre, also giving money to a charity she runs the victims of abuse. We don't know the sum that the money has been agreed.

We also know that if Prince Andrew will be able to pay for this or his legal cost in full or whether he will need help from the queen. He's not accepting any liability here. In the statement we had yesterday from the legal teams is very short and very carefully worded.

It did show a huge shift in tone. Prince Andrew says he's never intended to malign Ms. Giuffre's character. Now, in recent weeks even, his legal team, of course, has claimed baseless, frivolous. In the past, they said that she is motivated by money. In October, his legal team said she was looking to achieve another pay day at his expense.

So, big victory I think for Virginia Giuffre, just in terms of the fact that they are acknowledging what happened even though there was no real apology here. Prince Andrew was already stripped of his military and royal titles last month by the royal family. They've put some distance between them. I can't see any return to public life for Prince Andrew given this latest settlement.

ROMANS: Interesting. All right. Anna Stewart, thank you so much for that. Laura? JARRETT: Joining me now on all of this, Bernarda Villalona. She's a

criminal defense attorney and former prosecutor.

Bernarda, so nice to have you this morning.

My first question is, why now? This is someone who, as you heard in Anna's report there, he says he doesn't have any idea who this person is even though despite the fact her claims have gone on for quite some time. He's alleged this for quite some time.

Why settle now?

BERNARDA VILLALONA, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: It was bound to happen, Laura. This is not taking anyone by surprise. They had to see whether they could make it out through the civil process to see if this lawsuit was going to continue.

Once the judge said the lawsuit can actually continue, that's when they decided, I'm going to settle. You've got to think, so much has happened in the last couple of months. With the conviction of Ghislaine Maxwell, so much information was put into the public eye. There was no way Prince Andrew would have been able to successfully succeed with a civil lawsuit. So it was time, especially with the devastating BBC interview that he gave.

JARRETT: So, do you think this is just the beginning or is this the end of all of the suits you think we might see related to Jeffrey Epstein and his rein of terror?

VILLALONA: At this point, this is the end. I was present during the trial for Ghislaine Maxwell. Based on the information that came out during the couple-weeks trial, I doubt there will be any other criminal investigations or any other criminal charges in this case or aside from that any other civil charges.

This is going to be the end of this. This came down as a strong exclamation mark. It doesn't matter how much power you have, how much money you have, who you are, that you, too, can be held accountable for your actions.

JARRETT: So, I want to switch gears. This is an incredible case. The five children -- the families of five children and four adults killed in Sandy Hook announced this landmark victory yesterday, winning $73 million from Remington, the maker of the gun that was used.

You never see this from an actual manufacturer. Do you think this will pave the way for more suits like this in the future?

VILLALONA: I definitely think it definitely sets a precedent for the future. It sets a precedent all around the country. It puts the arms dealership and the maker of arms, they put them on notice that you have to be mindful of your marketing tactics. You are not bullet proof. You can be held accountable in terms of money for the action of others.

So, it definitely opens the eyes to the wake-up call to the industry. I wouldn't be surprised if I see more lawsuits like this all around the country coming up.

JARRETT: As one of the mothers, I've heard one of the victims say, you know, the headline, people will cling on to, as the 73 million, but it does not bring back her son and certainly this is a very small victory for them.

Bernarda, thank you.

ROMANS: Those kids would be 15-year-old sophomores in high school today.

JARRETT: Yeah.

ROMANS: Just ahead, Bob Saget's family trying to block the release of records related to his death.

JARRETT: But first, new revelations on the Russian skater who blamed a mix-up with her grandfather's heart medication for a positive drug test.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

JARRETT: Welcome back.

New this morning, the Russian figure skater at the center of an uproar at the Olympics, it now turns out had three different drugs in her system when she tested positive back in December. According to "The New York Times," two of the three drugs are not on the banned list.

Let's go live to Beijing and bring in CNN's Steven Jiang.

[05:30:00]