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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

U.S.: Putin Building "Pretext" for "Imminent Invasion"; Soon: VP Kamala Harris Meets NATO Leaders in Germany; Millions of Americans Under Wind Advisories, Winter Storm Alerts; Judge Orders Trump, Ivanka, Don Jr. to Sit for Depositions. Aired 5-5:30a ET

Aired February 18, 2022 - 05:00   ET

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

[05:00:24]

LAURA JARRETT, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, everyone. It is Friday, February 18th. It's 5:00 a.m. here in New York.

Thanks so much for getting an EARLY START with me. I'm Laura Jarrett. Christine Romans has the day off.

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

We begin this morning with the charge we've been discussing all week, Russia's Vladimir Putin building a pretext to start a war in Ukraine. The Secretary of State Antony Blinken now calling up Putin for his use of the term "genocide" to describe supposed discrimination against the Russian speakers in Eastern Ukraine.

Today, President Biden hosts a call with Western allies on this escalating threat of a Russian invasion, which Biden says is likely within the next several days. And right now, Vice President Kamala Harris is in Germany, leading the American delegation to the Munich security conference, set to focus on the Russian threat.

We have reports this morning from Moscow to Washington, and we begin our team coverage with senior national correspondent Alex Marquardt in Ukraine.

Alex, what has been the response in Ukraine to all of these claims of false flag operations, pretexts for attacks in this so-called genocide?

ALEXANDER MARQUARDT, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well, Laura, there is significant concern not just here, but across NATO, that President Putin, as you say, could use what's going on here as a potential pretext or an excuse to justify an invasion. That has been warned of by U.S. officials and many others, that he could come up with some kind of story or use what's happening here as a justification. In the past 24 hours, Laura, we have seen a significant spike in the violence, a significant spike in artillery and shelling.

Just yesterday, there were some 60 violations of the cease-fire along what's known as the line of contact, which is just about 15 miles or 25 kilometers away. That's where Ukrainian forces are facing off against Russia-backed forces. Those 60 incidents are much are the highest in three years.

So far this morning, the Ukrainian defense ministry says that there have been 20 incidents. As you note, the Russians have had very aggressive language about what has been going on here. They accuse Ukrainians of starting a civil war. President Putin has talked falsely, of course, about a genocide.

Just yesterday, we saw that shelling a bit farther north from here in the Luhansk region, that shelling that hit a school, both sides accusing the other of carrying it out. It did happen in Ukrainian-held territory. So things are getting a lot hotter here. The tension is rising.

This is an area that is very familiar with fighting, Laura. It has been going on for the past eight years. Some 14,000 people have died. Just here, they have seen shelling that have led to deaths. People in this town have died from this fighting.

So, this is something people are very concerned about. On the surface, there is calm, there is no outward panic, but we have been speaking to people, and there is real worry about what could happen next -- Laura.

JARRETT: Alex, thank you for that report from Ukraine

Now to this, from Moscow, just minutes ago, more minutes from Russia's defense ministry said to be of tanks and armored vehicles returning to base. More claims that CNN has yet to verify.

CNN's Nic Robertson is live in Moscow for us.

Nic, good morning.

Vladimir Putin now planning to show off some of Russia's military might overseeing military drills. What are we to make of this? The returning to base, putting more troops in, then withdrawing troops. All the back and forth. What do we make of this?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: All of this is signaling that President Putin can keep his forces in the battlefield as long as he wants, on these military training exercises. It's going to be meeting within the next few minutes with the Belarus president, Alexander Lukashenko. They'll discuss these joint military exercises, 30,000 troops there to the north of Ukraine. They were expected, these military exercises to last from the 10th of February to the 20th.

So in theory, could be ending this weekend. But the Belarus president has said that the exercises basically can go on as long as we would like them to go on for. So if the pair hold a joint press conference, people will be listening to see, are they giving indications of when they might actually end these military exercises? Does that give a clue to diplomacy? I think when we talk about these troop redeployments, the Russian ministry of defense characterizes them as equipment returning to base.

[05:05:01] It will get cleaned, it will get serviced, and it will be back out again for these winter military exercises. I think the clues there from the Russian perspective is these exercises are not over. What should we read into President Putin showing up for what could be the biggest show of force yet in these exercises?

We could see this. And this is a combination of aerospace forces, the strategic land forces, the navies in the north and the south, Russian navies, of course, doing their sort of joint triad nuclear deterrent exercises. They'll be firing ballistic and cruise missiles.

And I think in this context, we can see that either as the high point, the crescendo of these military exercises, or just a big show of potential force, and then a continuation of military exercises. Putin there oversee it. It sends a message, but we don't know the real message, is he going to switch to diplomacy now.

JARRETT: Nick, thank you for putting that in context for us, as always.

Right now, Vice President Kamala Harris is in Munich, where she's about to start a high-stakes meeting with NATO leaders.

CNN's Jasmine Wright joins us live.

Jasmine, this is perhaps the most critical foreign trip of her vice presidency so far. So what exactly is she hoping to add to the conversation?

JASMINE WRIGHT, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Well, Laura, you're right. And I think it's a little bit less about breaking new ground here and more about deepening the work that President Biden and other U.S. officials have already done in this space. So experts and officials tell me that her goal is three-pronged here, right? It is to maintain those close connections with NATO allies and partners, it's to message support for Ukraine sovereignty, and also, it's a message to Russia that the U.S. stands ready to respond to any type of invasion, but also to any hope of diplomacy here.

And now this does not come without risks for the vice president. As you said, it's her biggest international trip yet and she will be under the most, the largest international gaze so far. And we know that as the face of the administration at this very premiere security conference, allies and adversaries alike are going to be looking at her, watching her every word, her every move, trying to analyze U.S. posture here.

And so any misstep carries really grave ramifications. Not only for her personally, but also for the international community at large.

Still, though, we know that this comes under the backdrop of those really grave warnings from U.S. officials that something -- that a Russian invasion could happen in the next few days. So today, we will see the vice president really certifying those relationships with allies. She will meet with NATO General Stoltenberg. She'll meet with -- have a multilateral with Baltic nations as well, as meet with U.S. congressional representatives at the Security Council. And tomorrow, she meets with the Ukrainian president -- Laura.

JARRETT: All right. Jasmine, I know you'll be following it all for us, thank you!

Also this morning, some wild weather. Fifty million Americans are under wind advisories in the east right now. Violent storms tore through parts of Alabama last night. Wow, look at that.

CNN's Derek Van Dam joins me now with more on this.

Derek, good morning. There are also winter storm alerts, I know, along the great lakes. How bad is this going to get?

DEREK VAN DAM, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yeah, you know, in fact, this is a very multi-faceted storm that brought snow on the north side, the cold side of the storm and severe weather to the south. So, you just see how much is at play here in the atmosphere, that tug-of-war between the cold air to the north and the warm air to the south. Unfortunately, we had four tornado reports yesterday in Alabama. We had over 40 severe wind reports and several large hail reports, as well.

You mentioned the power outages. We had over 100,000 people without power or customers without powers across the eastern half of the country, stretching wards the Deep South. The good news is, the storm is going to exit rather quickly this morning and into the afternoon hours.

But still, we're feeling the effects of this with heavier snow now across northern New England. And behind it, we're going to kick up some winds, just off the lake, and help pump out some of that lake- enhanced snowfall totals in those typical areas downwind from Lake Erie and Lake Ontario. We could easily pick up half a foot to a foot of snow once the system passes through.

This is the current radar. I want you to see that this is an all-rain event for Boston, New York City, D.C. to Washington. It looks as if you have escaped snowfall for this particular winter storm this time. Back to you.

JARRETT: All right. Glad to see this is going to pass through relatively quickly.

Derek, thank you.

All right. Later this morning, the former cop who says that she mistook her gun for a Taser will be sentenced for manslaughter.

Plus, the Olympic boss who just promised to crack down on the adults responsible for that teen skater's doping scandal.

And football fans sacking a Super Bowl champion quarterback seen here dropping back instead of helping out.

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[05:14:20]

JARRETT: Welcome back.

Today is sentencing day for a former Minnesota police officer, Kim Potter. You'll remember, she was convicted back in December of fatally shooting Daunte Wright during a traffic stop. A 26-year veteran of the police force, Potter claimed to have confused her handgun for a Taser.

Joining me now is Julius Kim, a criminal defense attorney and former assistant prosecutor in Milwaukee County, Wisconsin.

Julius, so nice to have you back on EARLY START. Thanks for getting up bright and early for us.

The prosecution here --

JULIUS KIM, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: My pleasure.

JARRETT: The prosecution here initially suggested that Potter be sentenced above the sentencing guidelines, but they've now asked the judge to sentence her to just seven years, that's right in the middle of the guidelines.

[05:15:01]

What do you make of that shift?

KIM: You know, I think that has to do with the fact that maybe emotions have cooled off a little bit, and the prosecution has taken a little bit more sober look at their case. Maybe they got some input from the victims' families and other people in the system. And I also think that they're to maybe bulletproof the sentence, as well, because they don't want the sentence to be overturned on appeal, for instance.

So I think that their recommendation is still calling for a sentence that's within the recommended guidelines for this type of situation. It's just that they toned it down a little bit. And I think it falls more into a safe category or a safe area, where it might be safer from appeal.

JARRETT: And hoping that the judge will, of course, agree with them. So, Potter's defense team listed Daunte Wright's actions during this incident, during the traffic stop, as what you call a mitigating factor, something that should actually help her, a reason why she should get a lesser sentence. Is that a smart strategy?

KIM: You know, I think it's always dangerous to start blaming the victim, especially the sentencing phase of the case. While the case is going on at trial, that was a strategy that the defense used to try to explain away Kim Potter's actions. But we're at the sentencing stage, it's a completely different part of the case. And so I think that that's a dangerous move. I understand why they did it. They're trying to say that Kim Potter's acting reasonably and that Daunte Wright may have brought some of this on himself.

But that doesn't ping off my ear and I'm sure everyone else's ears very well. So I think it's a risky move to make. I understand the argument. But to me, it came across as a little tone deaf, to be honest with you.

JARRETT: I want to get your thoughts on another case going on right now, also in Minnesota. The civil rights trial, the federal civil rights trial of the three officers who were on the scene when George Floyd was murdered. Their main defense strategy, at least so far, seems to be blame Derek Chauvin. He was the senior officer on the scene. He's the one that we've all seen on that horrific video, time and time again. He's already been convicted.

Do you think the jury, though, will buy this argument? That it was all Chauvin's fault?

KIM: You know, it's really the only argument that they have at this point in time. They're blaming the guy who's already accepted for this. And they're blaming the main actor.

And that makes sense. It makes sense for them to try to deflect. Whether the jury bias buys it or not, I don't know. Your guess is as good as mine.

But I think it's a smart strategy, it might be the only play they have because they can say, listen, I wasn't the person that did this to George Floyd. But the government's argument is not that they were necessarily the people that did this, but they failed to act and stop Derek Chauvin when he was doing it and they failed to check up on George Floyd when they realized that something was wrong.

JARRETT: Yeah, it seems strange to me that they took this case to trial instead of trying to get a plea deal like Derek Chauvin did in this federal case. But maybe that wasn't an option for them. We'll see where this one goes.

Julius Kim, so nice to have you. Appreciate you coming back. Come back soon.

KIM: My pleasure. Take care.

JARRETT: All right. Now to this. The head of the International Olympic Committee vowing that those responsible for Kamila Valieva's doping situation will be held accountable. This after the Russian teen's disastrous performance in the Olympic figure skating final.

Let's bring in CNN's Steven Jiang live from Beijing.

Steven, good morning.

STEVEN JIANG, CNN BEIJING BUREAU CHIEF: Good morning, Laura. It was just so heartbreaking to watch Valieva compete on Thursday night. That performance was such a stark contrast from the near-perfection she displayed just over a little week ago at the team event. Now, this dark cloud of doping allegations hanging over not just her, but her teammates as well, even though two of them did win medals. There was so much drama, tension, a lot of tears, and not so much tears of joy from all these young athletes. That's why IOC president Thomas Bach said he felt disturbed watching Valieva on Thursday, because she was clearly under so much mental distress. And Bach said he was even more upset when he saw how she was treated by the adults on the Russian team after the event, because instead of offering her comfort and help, the adults seemed to be giving her the cold shoulder.

So, Bach obviously now training his fire on those adults, who are indeed under investigation for their role in this doping investigation. But also, incidentally, the court of arbitration says the claims by those adults that the whole thing was a mix-up with her grandfather's drug now backed by concrete evidence. So, the whole saga, far from over -- Laura.

JARRETT: Far from over and just so sad, all-around. Steven, thank you.

The L.A. Rams are stepping up after their quarterback just dropped back. The Rams are offering to pay NFL photographer Kelly Smiley's medical expenses. You'll remember, she fell off a stage and fractured her spine on Wednesday, right in front of quarterback Matt Stafford. The Super Bowl winner, you see here, turned around and just walked away.

Now, thankfully, his wife, Kelly, rushed to check on her. As you can imagine, people on social media roasted him for it. Smiley posted on Instagram that she is feeling okay, which is good.

[05:20:05]

Just ahead for you, a judge is ordered for Donald Trump and two of his kids: take a seat and tell all.

And President Biden's plan for the Supreme Court vacancy. What lawmakers are told about the timing for his pick, next.

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JARRETT: It turns out, alternative facts don't hold up in court. A judge in New York has now ruled former President Trump and two of his children, Ivanka and Don Jr., must sit for depositions in the New York attorney general's investigation of the Trump Organization's business practices.

[05:25:06]

Tierney Sneed joins me live from Washington. She's been covering this for us.

Tierney, the Trumps argue that sitting for this investigation in the civil investigation would undermine their constitutional rights. The judge did not buy that. What did he say?

TIERNEY SNEED, CNN REPORTER: What he said time and time again during the hearing and again in the opinion he issued yesterday is that Trump and his children have every opportunity to invoke the Fifth Amendment in this civil deposition. So they can refuse to ask -- answer specific questions that they think could incriminate them. And that's the point he kept making and making. Why won't you just take the Fifth? And that's why they might have to do if they're going to sit for these depositions.

JARRETT: And what was the answer to that? We know that the former president has talked about taking the Fifth. He's made fun of it. Is the issue that he just doesn't want to be seen as actually having done that? Is that the issue? What is his lawyer saying about that?

SNEED: So, one of his lawyers yesterday claimed that if it was reported on front-page newspapers across the country that the former president had to take the Fifth several times in this deposition, that it would taint a hypothetical jury pool if there was ever a criminal case brought against the former president.

Now, of course, the former president has not been charged with anything. The district attorney in Manhattan who is doing a criminal investigation into his financial dealings has not brought any charges against the former president.

But his lawyer was saying, if there was ever a case brought against Donald Trump, if there had been all of these reports about him invoking the fifth in this separate civil investigation, that would skew the jury against him.

JARRETT: That seems like a heart argument hard argument to make, given that juries are seated every day reading the newspaper and knowing what's going on and are supposed to be nonbiased anyway.

How much time did the judge give the former president and his children to actually comply with this? It's pretty quick?

SNEED: Yeah. So, he has given them 21 days to sit for their depositions, and then part of the subpoenas were also requesting documents and records from former President Trump. And that has a 14- day deadline.

So, there's enough of a window here that they could appeal it and their lawyers say they're going to appeal it. But if the higher courts don't step in quickly, this could be all over in a couple weeks.

JARRETT: Yeah, it seems like this is going to get wrapped up very swiftly.

Tierney, thank you so much. Appreciate your coverage.

SNEED: Thank you for having me.

JARRETT: All right. This next story is about a prosecutor, a conspiracy theory, and how hard it is to put the genie back in the bottle. Special counsel John Durham had one job, to look into how the FBI originally started its investigation into Donald Trump's connections to Russia.

It was a probe that raised a lot of hope in conservative media circles, looking for a hope to say that Trump was wrongfully spied on. Remember spy-gate? The problems with this and the fruits of Durham's labor is that they haven't panned out in the way that people have hoped. Nevertheless, a court filing from Durham this week has caused an uproar and now he's trying to walk it back, a bit.

CNN's Katelyn Polantz joins me now.

Katelyn, good morning.

KATELYN POLANTZ, CNN CRIME AND JUSTICE REPORTER: Good morning.

So, Laura, we have had a week of uproar because of the space of two court filings. So, last Friday, John Durham had this very vague court filing that included a reference about Democrats presenting information to the CIA about Russian phones being used around the White House. So what he didn't say at that time, that that information was not even about Donald Trump at all, but people on the right, including Trump himself were filling in the blanks saying, this must be evidence of spying, hacking, look what John Durham has here.

So, now, 60 days later, which is, you know, the court process takes some time, Durham is coming back into court, and he's cleaning it up in a new court filing, and this is one where he really needs to be saving face, because he is before a judge. And so what he wrote in this filing, he said, if third parties or members of the media have overstated, understated, or otherwise misinterpreted facts in his previous filing, that does not mean in any way -- it does not undermine in any way his court proceedings.

So, Durham here is saying that he doesn't want to be enflaming any sort of partisan discourse. He just wants to be arguing in court. But, you know, the political class is hanging on his every word. He's a special counsel and he is still having an ongoing investigation about 2016.

JARRETT: Yeah, this investigation, which I believe has now gone on longer than Robert Mueller's special counsel investigation of Russia.

Katelyn, thank you. Appreciate you staying on top of that one.

POLANTZ: Thanks, Laura.

JARRETT: All right. Still ahead, California moving on to the next phase of the pandemic. Will the CDC finally follow suit with new mask guidance?

And how the IRS now promises to tackle that massive tax backlog that could make your refund late.

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