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U.S. Carries Out Anti-Terror Raid in Syria; 3,000 U.S. Troops Headed for Eastern Europe; Parts of U.S. Facing Winter Storm Warning; Ex-DOJ Official Meets with January 6 Panel; Star Witness in Trump's Impeachment Sues Over Intimidation; 'Masked Singer' Hosts Giuliani, 2 Judges Storm Out. Aired 6-6:30a ET

Aired February 03, 2022 - 06:00   ET

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

[05:59:35[

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: I'm John Berman with Brianna Keilar. On this NEW DAY, breaking news. The U.S. Military carries out a significant counterterror mission overnight. We have new details coming in this minute.

A colossal winter storm from the Midwest, to the south, to the east. Heavy snow, ice and sleet. This is a travel nightmare. We have the latest storm track ahead.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: And Alexander Vindman, the star witness in Trump's Ukraine impeachment saga, suing several Trump allies, alleging intimidation and retaliation. He'll join us on his explosive lawsuit.

And four people have now been arrested in connection with the overdose death of actor Michael K. Williams. How investigators pieced together the final drug sale.

BERMAN: Good morning to viewers here in the United States and all around the world. It is Thursday, February 3.

And we do have breaking news overnight. U.S. Special Forces conducting what we're told is a significant counterterror operation in northwest Syria. Now, up until now, the Pentagon has released only few details, except they say, in their words, it was successful.

KEILAR: The U.S. Has targeted al Qaeda and its affiliates in the Idlib province before. And in this latest mission, Syria's civil defense forces claim that 13 people were killed, including six children.

Let's go straight to the Pentagon and bring in CNN's Barbara Starr. Barbara, what do you know about this?

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Very scant details overnight, Brianna. We are expecting to hear more from the Pentagon in the coming hours this morning and throughout the day.

But as you point out, the Pentagon calling it successful, although civil defense authorities on the ground say 13 people, including six children, were killed. This was an area quite close to the Turkish border. The Pentagon not

saying much, but there are significant hints in a statement, a three- sentence statement from the Pentagon, about what we may be looking at, from John Kirby, the chief spokesman. Let me read it to everybody.

He said overnight, and I quote, "U.S. Special Operations Forces under the control of U.S. Central Command conducted a counterterrorism mission this evening in northwest Syria. The mission was successful. There were no U.S. casualties. More information will be provided as it becomes available."

But go to those first words, "U.S. Special Operations Forces." This is an indication that this was most likely a ground operation. U.S. Special Forces, often their tactic is to come in by helicopter with very heavy fire power on a compound or a target in an area they have been monitoring for some time.

There would have been aircraft overhead, of course, to gather any intelligence, to keep watch, to conduct any operations that they needed to from the air.

But this is an indication most likely -- we don't have confirmation -- that it was a ground operation. When U.S. Special Operations Forces conduct these high-risk missions, they are more often than not briefed to the president of the United States, who gives his approval for it. Very often these are conducted by the most elite Special Forces. And that means Army's Delta Force, SEAL Team 6, possibly. We don't know yet. Of course, all Special Operations are trained and capable to conduct these missions.

We will have to find out during the day what we can about exactly what happened. There were many reports overnight of firefights, of significant use of weapons. The Pentagon not addressing any of that just yet at this early hour -- Brianna.

KEILAR: Barbara, do we usually hear about these kinds of operations?

STARR: Yes. The trend over the past many years has been when these are significant and they kill the target, the human that they want to kill, they will say, because they want to advertise that, if you will, they want to make that fact public to terrorist groups.

And of course the one perhaps most significant a couple years ago, Qassem Soleimani, killed by U.S. forces, the head, at the time, of Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps.

They wanted to make his death very public to send a message. And we will wait and see who it was they were going after, how long they'd been watching this area waited to determine the person was there, and how significant this person or persons may have actually been in any of these terrorist groups -- Brianna.

KEILAR: All right. Barbara Starr, live for us at the Pentagon, certainly with more to come throughout the day. Thanks so much.

BERMAN: Yes. I would say, given the apparent size of that operation, we do have a lot more to learn. And I expect we'll be getting major new details over the next several hours.

In the meantime, President Biden has ordered nearly 3,000 U.S. troops to Eastern Europe as Russia's military buildup continues. The Kremlin tells CNN exclusively, quote, that "they have reason to be worried."

This as the White House says it will no longer describe a potential Russian invasion as imminent.

Joining us now, the former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine and vice president of Strategic Stability at the U.S. Institute of Peace, William Taylor.

Ambassador, thank you so much for being with us. I noted a statement by you yesterday where you say what the United States is doing is working and that it does appear to you that Putin now is perhaps pausing, if not backing down. Why?

[06:05:02]

WILLIAM TAYLOR, VICE PRESIDENT OF STRATEGY STABILITY, U.S. INSTITUTE OF PEACE: John, I think Putin is pausing, at least for now, is significant, in response to the strong measures that the Ukrainians have taken, that the United States has taken, and that NATO has taken.

It is very clear, I think, to anyone who looks, that any decision by Mr. Putin to invade Ukraine will bring on incredible consequences, costs that he will bear, Mr. Putin will bear.

And it appears that they are looking for a way out. It appears that they are looking to negotiate instead of invade. And that would be a good thing for the Ukraine, for the United States. It would be a good thing for Russia.

KEILAR: He's watching U.S. troops deploy. What is his worry?

TAYLOR: His worry is that, if he does invade, he will trigger all the things that he doesn't want.

He will trigger more forces coming into the eastern part of NATO from the United States. He will trigger more military assistance, weapons, going to the Ukrainians. He will trigger such a hatred of Russia in Ukraine that he will not recover.

Russia will not recover for generations. Russia will have an enemy on its border for a long time if he invades again.

Again, let's remember, he invaded once already in 2014. If he does it again in a big way that he's been hinting, threatening to do, that will have great consequences for him.

BERMAN: I think the message being sent by the U.S. troop deployment is you are already getting, Mr. Putin, what you don't want. Your current actions are resulting in the very thing you're trying to avoid, which is a greater western troop presence near your border.

You say you think Putin is looking for a way out. What specifically do you see that indicates that?

TAYLOR: First of all, he says -- he keeps saying that, Oh, I never intended to invade Ukraine.

Well, of course we know -- we take that for what it's worth.

Second, however, he has exchanged notes with the United States. They have exchanged ideas and written responses back and forth. Prime minister -- the foreign minister, Lavrov, has sent a message to 57 countries in OSCE, asking for information or ideas about a very nebulous concept called the in divisibility of security. That step is clearly going to take months for any kind of response for.

They're looking to delay. They're looking to change the subject from an invasion to a more negotiated outcome.

KEILAR: So -- then what is the off-ramp and how does it actually play out? If he has all of these traps amassed on three sides of Ukraine, I mean, do they just turn around and go home? And he says, you know, Never mind? It's hard to see it playing out like that.

TAYLOR: Brianna, he can do this. He can do this. He can convince the Russian people that, first, never intended to invade Ukraine.

Second, he can say to the Russian people, Look, I have been demanding from the west, from the United States that they take our security interests into account, take us seriously. And he can say now they have done that. Not only are they taking it seriously, they are sitting down with us in ways that I've been demanding for years. Now they are ready to sit down with us and have these conversations.

So I'm going to send all these troops back home. We have accomplished what we were after. We've succeeded. And now we can send these troops home.

BERMAN: We'll see what kind of message he sends. The next time I think we'll see him in a significant way is with the Chinese leader, Xi, at the Olympics, which sends a totally different type of message.

Ambassador Bill Taylor, thanks for being with us this morning. Appreciate it.

TAYLOR: Thank you, John.

KEILAR: This morning, a major winter storm has about 100 million people in two dozen states facing a triple whammy of snow, sleet and ice.

Parts of the Midwest have already been hit with more than a foot of snow from this storm that actually spans more than 2,000 miles. Today's shaping up as one of the worst days for air travel in the past year. Thousands more flights have been canceled today, amounting to more than 40 percent of air traffic at a dozen major airports.

So let's bring in our meteorologist Chad Myers. Look, it feels like we've been talking about doozies lately. But this is the doozy. CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, right. We had the cold air come

down from the north. And then the warm air tried to ride on top of that, Brianna.

Thirty-seven hundred flights as of right now are already canceled. Warnings and advisories from Mexico all the way to Canada.

[06:10:08]

Here's the snow here into St. Louis. The problem with many areas is that it rained. Then it went to freezing rain, then sleet, and now it's snowing.

So s you're trying to get rid of the snow, there is a layer of ice on your driveway as you shovel, which was the initial ice storm that already happened.

Yes, the snow is coming. It is still moving toward the northeast into New England, into New York. Many areas, around Indianapolis, all the way down toward Louisville.

Lexington, Kentucky, going to have a significant ice storm there. Could be thousands without power. Maybe more than that.

And then the snow finally moves away. But by tomorrow morning, there may be even a glaze across parts of New Jersey, New York, and the tri- state with that -- finally, that slight bit of light freezing rain coming through by about 8 a.m. tomorrow morning. Could be a real difficult commute across the northeast.

More snow coming down. Big impacts, almost, I want to say, from coast to coast. But from -- from all the way from Mexico, all the way even up into New Brunswick and Atlantic Canada seeing this storm, as well, Brianna.

KEILAR: Yes. It doesn't take much ice to break a branch, take out power in your neighborhood.

MYERS: That's right.

KEILAR: Chad, thank you for that.

MYERS: You're welcome.

KEILAR: A crucial Trump Department of Justice official meeting with the January 6th Committee for nearly two hours. We'll have new details about his testimony.

And the key witness in Trump's first impeachment, Alexander Vindman, is suing Donald Trump Jr., Rudy Giuliani and others over what he calls a smear campaign.

BERMAN: And speaking of Giuliani, who tried to overturn an election, why on earth is he showing up on "The Masked Singer"? Really? Why do we want to hear a guy who tried to overthrow an election sing?

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[06:16:00]

KEILAR: The former Justice Department official who was part of President Trump's pressure campaign to pursue bogus election fraud claims meeting with the House January 6th Committee for two hours yesterday.

Jeffrey Clark is currently facing a criminal contempt of Congress charge from the committee. And ahead of this meeting, he said that he would be pleading the fifth.

CNN's Whitney Wild is with us now. So what happened here, Whitney?

WHITNEY WILD, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT CORRESPONDENT: Well, we still don't know the details of what he might have told the committee. But again, we're waiting to find out if he actually did plead the Fifth as he said he was going to.

Let me remind our viewers exactly what Jeffrey Clark knows. The committee is acutely interested in him, because he was one of these DOJ officials who was working with the former president to try to basically weaponize the Department of Justice in an effort to overturn the election.

There was this key moment in January in which he and other members of the Department of Justice went to the White House, in which Jeffrey Clark was trying to make a case that he should be installed as the acting attorney general. Again, working, according to people who were around him at the time, working directly with the former president.

And he continued to peddle these election lies and try to use the Department of Justice's authority to investigate and ultimately overturn the election, Brianna.

That is why the committee thinks that his testimony is so crucial. It was back in December that he was voted -- that his criminal contempt charge was voted out of the House. Almost -- excuse me, out of the committee, almost simultaneously with the committee saying, Yes, we're going to move forward with these criminal contempt charges, he said, Whoa, whoa, whoa. Wait. We'll talk.

And so there had been this long lag now. The committee working with him over several weeks, because he apparently had some kind of medical issue, finally getting this testimony, which is crucial, Brianna, because the committee is trying to get closer and closer to the president.

So now we have these -- these connections that are just one person away. Trump actually speaking with someone that is why he is so important, Brianna. Because when we see these other Trump allies that the committee is trying to get to, Mark Meadow among them, they're stonewalling. The people who are closest to the president are stonewalling.

But here we have a witness who was very close to the president at this crucial time, who was at the center of this effort to try to overturn the election, and now the committee had a chance to question him.

KEILAR: Showing up.

WILD: Right.

KEILAR: But maybe just to refuse to say anything. So we'll have to see about that. Whitney, thank you very much for that.

BERMAN: New this morning, Alexander Vindman, a star witness in former President Trump's first impeachment trial, is suing Donald Trump Jr., Rudy Giuliani, and two Trump White House staffers, alleging they conspired against him because he was willing to tell the truth.

Joining me now, "EARLY START" anchor and attorney at law, Laura Jarrett. What's going on in this suit?

LAURA JARRETT, ANCHOR, "EARLY START": All right. So it's a 73-page lawsuit detailing what he calls a coordinated campaign of smears and retaliation, all because he had the gall to stand up to the former president.

Of course, Alexander Vindman because a household name as he was that key witness in the first impeachment trial, because he was on the infamous 2019 call, where the president tried to do a quid pro quo, tried to extract a promise that President Zelensky of Ukraine would actually investigate the then-vice president [SIC], former vice president, Joe Biden, and his son Hunter, his ties to Ukraine, in exchange for security funding.

Vindman spoke up and, of course, pushed back on that, reported it. And for that, he's now suing. His lawyer writes this. That the campaign against their client was, quote, "designed to inflict maximum damage by creating and spreading disinformation that they knew would be picked up and amplified by anchors at FOX News."

So he's speaking to sort of the feedback loop, the close contact between the White House and FOX News on things like this.

He also talks about an intimidation factor, John. He writes this: "The actions taken against Vindman send a message to other potential witnesses, as well: cooperate and tell the truth at your own peril."

He points to one of Trump's old tweets from 2019, insinuating, quote, "big consequences" for people within his administration who provided any information about that call.

[06:20:03]

So now he doesn't specify exactly how much money he wants in this case, but he's taking them to federal court.

BERMAN: What did they say that he alleges was over the line? And what will this case, as a legal matter, hinge on?

JARRETT: I mean, he points to a variety of information and just misinformation, really disinformation, that was on FOX News about his past, his history, his reputation, all of which.

BERMAN: Split loyalties with Ukraine.

JARRETT: Exactly. But he points to how coordinated it was and how the -- the deputy communications director, Julia Hahn, who worked for Bannon, had ties to Laura Ingraham, and sort of all of the incestuous relationships.

And all of this, of course, will come out in discovery, if in fact, this case proceeds. He will get depositions of all of these people and be able to walk through their text messages, their emails, and how they coordinated this.

BERMAN: It will be interesting to see. It puts them in a lot of potential jeopardy, particularly if it ever gets to the deposition stage.

JARRETT: It's interesting. He says he never regrets backing down and for telling the truth.

BERMAN: No. And again, Laura, thank you very much for this.

We should note he's going to be here with us on NEW DAY. Colonel Vindman will join us to talk about his lawsuit, and why he filed it now, and what he think it -- what he thinks it means for the future of whistleblowers.

So he tried to overturn democracy. Now he's getting a guest spot on a variety show. Why did Rudy Giuliani show up on "The Masked Singer"? And wait until you hear what the judges did about it.

KEILAR: And former -- former Miami Dolphins coach Brian Flores flipped the NFL upside down. Now more coaches are considering joining his lawsuit, and they are coming with receipts.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:26:00]

KEILAR: Police have arrested four men for allegedly being part of a drug-trafficking ring that sold actor and producer Michael K. Williams deadly fentanyl-laced heroin.

Williams, who was best known for his role on HBO's "The Wire," was found dead in September inside of his apartment in New York City. And the medical examiner determined that his cause of death was an accidental overdose.

Now, prosecutors allege that the men continued selling that fentanyl- laced heroin in Manhattan and Brooklyn, even after learning of Williams' death.

They each face 5 to 40 years in prison.

BERMAN: So this story will blow your mind. The subpoenaed, disgraced former mayor of New York, Rudy Giuliani, whose actions contributed to not one but two impeachments, who vigorously and publicly worked to overturn an election, turned up as a contestant on a game show, the FOX show "The Masked Singer," prompting two judges to storm off the set in protest.

Chloe Melas joins you now with what I hope is some kind of explanation, Chloe.

CHLOE MELAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, good morning, John.

When you put it like that, OK. So yes, "The Masked Singer," if you do not watch this show, it's on FOX. And you have celebrities who are singing parts of famous songs. And the judges have to guess which celebrity they think is in the costume. Their voices are distorted. But they're given clues about this celebrity in the costume.

So upcoming season seven, it's going to premier in March. We have some scoop that you've said a little bit of about the first episode.

So, yes, Rudy Giuliani is in one of the costumes. He is one of the individuals that is unmasked in the first episode. And when he took -- we don't know what song he sang. We don't know what the costume was. John, when he took the head of his costume off, that's when Robin Thicke and Ken Jeong, two of the hosts, judges on the show, they stormed off. They walked off the set.

Eventually, they did come back. We don't really know if any words were exchanged. A representative for the show on FOX said that they don't comment on upcoming episodes of the show.

We reached out to Ken and Robin's representatives for comment.

We do know that this episode was called "The Good, The Bad, and The Cuddly." Perhaps that's actually the theme for the entire season.

The other judges, Jenny McCarthy and Nicole Scherzinger, they sat there. And then they did interact with Rudy.

It's a shock that he was even on this episode. But they say the good and the bad as the theme of the season. John.

KEILAR: Do you think the producers, Chloe, were going for shock value, or are they just kind of ignorant to the kind of person they were putting in?

MELAS: It's all about shock value, Brianna. They want to put people on the show that are going to make headlines, that are going to get people to talk about it.

But he is an incredibly polarizing and controversial figure. I think that, quite honestly, he might be the most controversial person that's ever been on the show.

Many people are upset about this. But, again, you know, maybe there's a reason why he's unmasked in the very first episode. And then, you know, they go away. They're given the boot.

So perhaps some of this is intentional behind the scenes.

But again, Robin Thicke, Ken Jeong not holding back. They're disgusted for Rudy being on the show, and they walked off. You know, and it will be interesting to see how this is all edited.

This is going to actually premier on March 9th. And you know how it works in the editing room. It will be interesting to see if we're actually going to -- you know, how much they're going to play up that drama of that moment.

BERMAN: You know, next week on "The Masked Singer," Harvey Weinstein. The week after that, Manuel Noriega.

Great job, guys. Great job. I hope the viewers that you're attracting here are worth it to you.

I want to read a tweet from my friend, Michael Schur, who is the creator of "The Good Place," who just wrote a book on morality, by the way. He writes, "The bare minimum, the absolute bottom level for the bar that we set as society must be, if you try to launch a coup and overturn a presidential election, you are no longer allowed on game shows."

MELAS: Yes.

BERMAN: Just think about that.

[06:30:00]