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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

Biden Agrees In Principle To Meet Putin; If No Further Invasion; Canada Freezes Bank Account Of Anti-Vaccine Mandate Protests; Closing Arguments Set To Start Ahmaud Arbery Hate Crimes Trial; "Uncharted" Tops At Box Office. Aired 5:30-6a ET

Aired February 21, 2022 - 05:30   ET

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

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ANTONY BLINKEN, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: While we believe President Putin has made the decision, that the die is cast, until that die actually settles. And until the tanks are actually moving, the planes are actually flying, the bombs are actually dropping, we're going to do everything we can, with diplomacy and with deterrence and persuasion, to get President Putin to reverse the decision that we believe he's made. And part of that is making very clear what he risks in terms of sanctions.

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LAURA JARRETT, CNN ANCHOR: That's of course Secretary of State Antony Blinken clinging to hope that diplomacy can in fact prevail here. The White House says President Biden has agreed in principle to holding a meeting with President Putin, as long as the Russian president does not invade Ukraine. CNN's Jasmine Wright is in Washington with the very latest this morning.

Jasmine, the French government says that President Macron actually broke or this potential summit between Putin and Biden. What more do we know about how all of this developed?

JASMINE WRIGHT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Laura, it came after a weekend of last ditch diplomacy. We know that President Biden convened a rare Sunday morning national security meeting with his advisors in the Situation Room at the White House. One official telling me that it lasted nearly two hours as they tried to chart a path ahead on this high tensions issue.

And so shortly after President Biden spoke with French president Macron, who, as you said, acted as a broker, where he had had multiple conversations with Russia's president, Putin. And so, they agree to this on principle.

But I want to be clear here, that there is no time set, there is no venue set for this presidential meeting. It all exists in principle on the very high condition that Russia does not invade Ukraine at all. And, of course, this comes after we heard lots of warning from US officials over the weekend. We've learned that US intelligence officials had, intelligence suggesting that Russia's Putin had actually given an order to his commanders to invade Ukraine. Of course, we heard President Biden on Friday make big news, saying for the first time that he was convinced that President Putin had decided to invade Ukraine. He had not said that before. So all of that comes after this.

So in terms of what happens going forward, White House officials say that Secretary Blinken, who repeated that, as we heard, that warning that he believed that Putin had also made the decision to invade. Blinken will meet with his Russian counterpart, Lavrov, on Thursday where they will iron out details.

But again, that meeting is on the condition that Russia should not invade Ukraine as well. So really, really conditional meetings here on principle, nothing is actually certain. So if that meeting goes well, if they have it, then potentially we will see here more information about when this presidential summit could take place and how.

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But as Blinken said on State of the Union yesterday, he said that Biden is willing to meet with Putin at any time, at any place, if it means that they can deter war. And so here we see that playing out. Laura?

JARRETT: Yes. Everything really seems TBD at this point. Jasmine, thank you. Appreciate it.

Joining me now, CNN political analyst Rachael Bade. She is the co- author of a "Politico Playbook" as well. Good morning to you, Rachael Bade. I want to start here with GOP candidate JD Vance. He got in some hot water over the weekend for saying he doesn't care about Ukraine. But if we're being honest, he's probably sadly not alone in that view. And so I wonder, in your view, has the President done enough to explain to the American people why Ukraine matters?

RACHAEL BADE, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: I mean, this is a perfect example of why, you know, Biden, President Biden, when he came into office, really wanted to sort of draw back American troops and why he is reluctant to sort of send any American troops right now. This is a political reality and that is a lot of Americans couldn't pinpoint Ukraine on a map. It was a challenge during the first impeachment investigations against Trump. It's going to be a challenge now.

And so, you know, President Biden, he's really got a tough job right now. I mean, he's had issues sort of selling his own agenda in the past, in terms of highlighting things that were passed through Congress. Now he's got to tell the American people why we should be involved, why should the sanctions go through. And again, he's just going to need to really articulate this is also in America's interest in the future of democracy and worldwide. And so it's a tough job, it's a really tough job for him.

JARRETT: Well so, right. So to your point, there's never a good time for war but this crisis comes at a tough time for this President still trying to position things carefully, of course, for the Democrats ahead of the midterms this fall. Do you see this issue affecting Democrats in the fall?

BADE: It's going to really depend on how it impacts America's pocketbooks, I think. You know, right now, inflation is at an all time high in decades. Obviously, people are paying a lot more at the pump here in Washington. We're about $4 a gallon. And there's a real situation here that could arise if this summit that you guys were just talking through falls through and, you know, Putin ends up invading Ukraine, we could see oil prices spike even more, which could affect Americans here back home. Even though we don't rely a lot on Russian oil, we rely on, you know, other countries, including our own. But it still impacts the whole world and the whole, you know, oil market. We could also see stock markets plummet and that will impact Americans.

And so, to the extent that it could affect inflation, it could affect the economy and it could affect prices at the pump, this absolutely is something that President Biden is going to be watching and the administration is to be watching at a time when they're already getting pretty tough marks on these issues, right? Voters are really concerned about these things and they want to see them addressed. And they're not a simple fix. And so this absolutely could have some sort of fit, spillover effect before the midterms.

JARRETT: So what are you hearing from your sources on the Hill? Are Democratic lawmakers prepared to back him if, in fact, there is a war in Europe? Are they prepared to sort of figure out how to shore up the messaging on this politically to make people understand why it's so important?

BADE: I mean, look, I think they've been in lockstep so far with the White House and been in touch with them as they've been trying to negotiate some sort of sanctions in the Senate bill. Obviously, that hasn't come together yet. But Democrats have shown that, yes, they're going to be absolutely in lockstep with this president.

I think the interesting thing to watch will be what how did Republicans respond to this? You know, they've been sort of trying to get -- some Republicans have been trying to get the White House to do more in advance of Russia doing anything in terms of moving into Ukraine, do they squawk about that. How do they take this news that President Biden might sit next to President Putin, which, as you know, Putin loves to have a global audience.

And so, some people might say that sort of plays into his hand. At the same time, though, Biden has to show he's doing everything he possibly can to stop war, to make sure that, you know, it's not impacting the world, it's not impacting America, simply Americans. And so, it's a tricky political position.

But this is certainly not what Democrats want to be talking about.

JARRETT: Right.

BADE: They want to be talking about how they're trying to fix inflation right now, and so it's another talking point and things that people are going to want to know more about, that is not, again, what's going to help them in the midterms.

JARRETT: Yes. It's always the pocketbook issues. Rachael Bade, thank you so much for getting up early on Monday. Appreciate it.

Now to this disturbing case of five people who were found dead inside an apartment in a Denver suburb on Sunday. Police in Commerce City say, officers made the discovery after responding to a medical call at that apartment.

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POLICE: There were three females and two males that were deceased inside the apartment. What I can tell you, and again this is in the infancy of the investigation, there does not appear to be any blunt trauma or any violent incident of any nature.

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JARRETT: The police chief says, an adult and a baby were found alive inside that apartment both were taken to the hospital. The baby, thankfully, believe to be around four months old, is said to be doing well. The adult is now talking to investigators.

And this, a harrowing day at the beach in South Florida. Take a look at this video of a helicopter crashing into the ocean on Saturday, within just a few feet of swimmers and sunbathers there. Wow, you can see that two people in the chopper were transported to the hospital in stable condition. A third was not injured in that crash. The cause of the accident is unknown and the FAA is investigating.

All right, little programming note for you here. On Presidents Day, what drove Lyndon Johnson's decision to escalate the war in Vietnam, even as he pushed through the most productive legislative session in history? CNN Original Series "LBJ: Triumph and Tragedy" continues tonight at 9:00 only on CNN.

And closing arguments begin today in the federal hate crimes trial of three white men who murdered Ahmaud Arbery. Could the case go to the jury as soon as this afternoon? And "Spider-Man" actor Tom Holland popping the box office again, in his new movie.

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JARRETT: Welcome back. Police in Canada are ramping up their tactics to break up these ongoing protests against vaccine mandates. Now, authorities are freezing demonstrators' bank accounts, it's all in an effort to choke off their funding. CNN's Paula Newton is live in Ottawa with more on this.

Paula, do you have any sense of how many accounts have actually been frozen? What kind of scope are we talking here? PAULA NEWTON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Well, police have put a number on it. They told us on Sunday that it was more than 200 personal and commercial bank accounts. And that is interesting, most of the people that seem to have been targeted, would be the organizers. We even heard one protest organizer who was arrested and charged say in the bail hearing, "I don't have access to my funds."

You know, Laura, this goes far beyond just the scope, this is all part of the Emergencies Act, which remains highly controversial in Canada right now. I will tell you the streets of Ottawa quiet at this hour. And it is largely because of that Emergencies Act.

This city is under three states of emergency local, provincial, and national. And right now that Emergencies Act, while it's invoked immediately, the Trudeau government will have to vote on it tonight to see if they can keep it in place. What's interesting here is that some of the tactics that you were looking at on the street that police say without that act, it would not have been possible. And that includes trying to cut off the funding.

Now, you and I just discussed those personal accounts but at issue as well, Laura, is funding that is coming from crowdsourcing accounts, from crypto accounts and those Bitcoin wallets. And also accusations from the Trudeau government have backed up, they say, by their investigations that a lot of the funding has also come from the United States.

This is going to be interesting to see if this works going forward. Certainly even the Civil Liberties Association here in Canada, Laura, which you will appreciate, are trying to fight this in court saying that this Emergencies Act goes far, too far, part of me goes too far in terms of trying to restrict people's rights. And really that financial pinch is at issue as well this hour. Laura?

JARRETT: Very interesting, clearly escalating. Paula Newton, thank you for breaking it all down for us.

So some people choose to take a polar plunge even in winter. This week, millions of Americans, like it or not, will experienced in one as temperatures take a nosedive. Here's meteorologist Karen Maginnis.

KAREN MAGINNIS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Laura, it's going to be some topsy- turvy weather over the next several days as back to back winter systems impact much of the United States, with very cold air, sharply colder air. Plunging temperatures, with a rare exception across the Deep South, and this is where we've got the potential for severe weather. But just to point out, Kansas City, the temperature on Monday should be rolling around in the low 70s, but by Wednesday, it's only going to be 27.

Now, both of those temperatures are not normal for this time of year, should be in the 40s. 71 is not normal, temperatures in the 20s not normal. But look at this Arctic plunge all the way down across the Central Plains, into the Great Lakes, interior sections of the North East. But as the Deep South will experience the potential for some isolated thunderstorms, could see some large sized hail and damaging winds.

About 21 million people impacted by this going for Monday. And by Tuesday, it shifts towards the east. But guess what happens for New York City towards the end of the workweek, temperatures only in the 30. So, enjoy the mild weather while it lasts. Laura.

JARRETT: Got to enjoy it while it lasts. Karen, thank you.

This morning, closing arguments are set to begin in the federal hate crimes trial of three white men, Travis McMichael, his father Gregory and William "Roddie" Bryan, all three were convicted of murder in state court for chasing down and killing black jogger Ahmaud Arbery in Georgia.

Both the prosecution and defense rested their cases on Friday. Let's bring in criminal defense attorney and former prosecutor Bernarda Villalona. Bernarda, it's so nice to have you back on "Early Start." Appreciate it.

So there's no real dispute over the facts in this case, right? This trial is all about the motivation for that killing, that the men shot Ahmaud Arbery because he was black. Do you think prosecutors have met their burden on that score?

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BERNARDA VILLALONA, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: The government has met out their burden in this case, especially when you think of that the government and law enforcement did their due diligence in the sense of going through social media, doing text messages, talking about phone calls and investigating, and talking to neighbors, and co-workers, and colleagues to try to get into the mind brain of these three men. what were their views on black people or just people in general.

And I think because there's an enormous amount of evidence that has been presented that the government has made up their burden in this case.

JARRETT: Take a step back for me here. We've now seen a conviction for the former officer who killed George Floyd, the one who killed Daunte Wright, and McMichaels there were already found guilty in state court and are facing life in prison. Are we seeing how critical video evidence now is in these types of cases, almost essential, perhaps?

VILLALONA: Absolutely. Laura, you got to think that. But for the video in this case, there would not have been an arrest. You got to think that the history of this prosecution, it took four different district attorney's office in order to get an arrest and an indictment in this state case. That's how long it took just to even get here. But for video, we would not be here at all.

JARRETT: So let's turn now to the situation in Minneapolis, where we will hear more from the police officers, the three who were at the scene when George Floyd was murdered by Derek Chauvin. They've essentially been trying out a "Blame it on Chauvin" defense. Saying he was the senior officer, he was the one doing everything. He's the one on video that we've all seen. How has that defense working out so far?

VILLALONA: Well, I don't think it's really working out for them. But, however, we'll see how close an argument works out today. You got to think this is what exactly we expected. It was in their best interest for Derek Chauvin to be separated from the case in the sense that he already pled guilty, because they can all point their fingers towards Derek Chauvin.

He's the one who had his knee on the neck of George Floyd for the nine minutes and 29 seconds. And then, you're talking about two rookie officers, and then two tell who was supposed to be crowd control, the human comb.

JARRETT: I also want to ask you while I have you about Kim Potter, the officer who shot and Daunte Wright, getting just two years for that manslaughter case. Prosecutors, I think, had asked for seven. Were you surprised by the judge's sentencing?

VILLALONA: I was surprised by the judge choose sentencing in this case. But you got to think that, first off, no matter how many years that can part of what a god it is not the worth of Daunte Wright life at all and not representative of that. However, when you look at the probation report, and the probation report recommended probation in this case, and you have a veteran of 26, I'm sorry, of over 20 years as a police officer, you found judge to that it was very difficult for her to send her to jail. She started crying.

JARRETT: Yes. All right, Bernarda, thank you so much. Appreciate it. Nice to see you.

VILLALONA: Thank you.

JARRETT: Now to this, Netflix announcing the release of not one but four upcoming comedy specials hosted by comedian Dave Chappelle. The series is called "Chappelle's Home Team" and focuses on veteran comics who have been in the business for at least 30 years. This, of course, after Netflix stood by Chappelle while many criticized his last special on Netflix the look closer as transphobic. Chappelle's new series premieres Monday, February 28th.

Chrissy Teigen has a message for her very well-intentioned fans, stop with all the questions about whether she's pregnant. The former model revealed in an Instagram post over the weekend she is going through a another IVF cycle, saying she's trying to save as many eggos as I possibly can and hopefully make some strong, healthy embryos. Teigen sharing the news a little over a year after she and her husband, John Legend, lost her third child, Jack, during her pregnancy. Their other two children Luna and Miles were both conceived with the help of IVF.

"Spider-Man" star Tom Holland following up that blockbuster with another hit now.

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TOM HOLLAND AS NATHAN DRAKE, UNCHARTED (voice-over): I've been dreaming about this stuff since I was a kid. My brother, Sam, with one final clue.

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JARRETT (voice-over): His new movie "Unchartered" tops at the box office. The video game adaptation taking in an estimated $44 million just the first three days of the long Presidents Day weekend. It's the biggest film debut since "Spider-Man: No Way Home" which made nearly $2 billion worldwide since premiering in December.

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JARRETT: Thanks so much for joining me, I'm Laura Jarrett. Christine is back tomorrow. "New Day" is next.

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