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Russia Allowed Teen Skater to Compete Despite Failing Drug Test; New Polls Signal Trouble for Democrats as Biden Numbers Fall; Mandate Protesters Block Third Major Border Crossing with U.S.; Some Trump Records Taken from White House Labeled 'Top Secret.' Aired 6- 6:30a ET

Aired February 11, 2022 - 06:00   ET

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

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Good morning here to viewers in the United States and all around the world. It is Friday, February 11th. And we do have breaking news on the process that will deal with the fate of the Russian figure skating sensation.

[05:59:48]

Right now we don't know what's going to happen with her. It was revealed that she did fail a drug test before her Olympic performance in the team event. And now we know that Russia knew. Russia knew she failed a drug test.

Russia superstar figure skater, 15-year-old Kamila Valieva, competed in the Winter Games in the team event, even though she had failed a drug test taken in November.

Kamila Valieva, competed in the team event even d Kamila Valieva, competed in the team event even though she had failed a drug test taken in November. This is all clear now. They've named names.

Valieva led Russia's figure skating team to the gold medal, but the medal ceremony is on hold.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: The Russian Olympic Committee is fighting for Valieva to remain in the competition and keep what it calls her honestly-won gold medal, insisting that their star skater repeatedly passed doping tests while already in Beijing.

Valieva's right to keep skating in the games is now being challenged by the international Olympic Committee.

And Selina Wang is in Beijing with our top story. This will be the determination. Do they accept -- you know, does the International Olympic Committee accept that? Oh, well, it was before. It wasn't during the Olympics, Selina.

SELINA WANG, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Brianna. And experts here are really questioning the timeline of events. We finally have the official confirmation that 15-year-old breakout star Kamila Valieva, she tested positive for a banned substance in a test that was taken last year on December 25th.

This is a drug that is used to treat a heart condition, that increases endurance, increases blood flow. But from that test result late last year, they did not find out until Tuesday that it came back positive. That is a day after the ROC already took home that gold on Monday in that team event.

Now, the question here is what happened, what was known, what was known later. Now, the Russian Anti-Doping Agency, however, they swiftly moved to ban her from competition. But Valieva then, she immediately appealed that. Then they turned back, and they removed her suspension. So she was still then allowed to compete.

But now, Brianna, the IOC here is pushing back. They are going to challenge that decision in the Court of Arbitration for Sport. The deadline here is coming up very soon, because she's due to compete again on Tuesday.

And this is such a huge deal, because she is really the superstar here, considered one of the best figure skaters in the world. She's already set multiple world records, making history as the first woman to land a quad in the Olympic Games.

Now her ability to continue in the Winter Olympics, the ability for the ROC to keep that gold medal on Monday, that all hangs in the balance.

And unfortunately for Valieva, all of this diminishes her phenomenal athleticism and once again puts the spotlight on Russia, which has already been accused of state-sponsored doping.

Now, the big question here is what is going to happen next. Are the ROC going to keep that medal, or could the team event medal then give the U.S. that gold and then the silver to Japan. Brianna.

KEILAR: All right. We'll be watching. Selina, thank you.

VAUSE: Again, Brianna here, the thing that's key here is that the different agencies involved here, the different international groups, they want to see her suspended. The World Anti-Doping Agency wants the suspension back in place.

So you have some clear conflict here between the organizations that oversee doping in the world that at this point don't seem to think she should be able to compete. And obviously, the Russian government.

KEILAR: And I think it's also obvious what other national organizations, anti-doping organizations, would have done if this were an athlete from their country. Certainly, they may have behaved differently.

And this is an athlete who might never have even made it to the games. Either way it's a total tragedy and also perhaps steals from her this ability to have this historic accomplishment.

BERMAN: Yes. And again, you know, no indication she knew any of this. It may have been done to her, which only adds to the tragedy of it all.

All right. This just in. New CNN polls show trouble ahead for Democrats ahead of the midterms as President Biden's approval numbers are plunging.

Just 41 percent approve of the president's job right now, while 58 percent disapprove. This is a significant drop from his numbers from last year, and inflation is hitting a 40-year high.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LESTER HOLT, NBC NEWS ANCHOR: I think it was back in July you said inflation was going to be temporary. I think a lot of Americans are wondering what your definition of temporary is.

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Well, you're being a wise guy with me a little bit. I understand that's your job.

HOLT: When can Americans expect some relief from this soaring inflation?

BIDEN: According to Nobel laureates, 14 of them have contacted me, and a number of corporate leaders, it ought to be able to start to taper off as we go through this year.

In the meantime, I'm going to do everything in my power to deal with the big points that are impacting most people in their homes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: All right. Joining us now, senior political analyst and senior editor at "The Atlantic," Ron Brownstein.

These numbers are tough for President Biden. They are tough for national Democrats hoping to be elected or re-elected to Congress, and they're tough at every level, right?

One thing you can look at is enthusiasm heading into the midterms. Just 43 percent say they are enthusiastic; 51 percent of Republicans say they are. Explain.

[06:05:10]

RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Yes. You've got a single graphic, John, that has distilled about 150 years of political history there.

You know, you go back to the Civil War -- Republicans need five seats to win the House. If you go back to the Civil War, in every midterm since 1870, except four of them, the party out of the White House has won at least five seats in the House.

And you know, there are a lot of different analyses of why the out party does well in the midterms so consistently. But I think the one that people see as the biggest single factor is what that graphic shows. Which is that when you're out of the White House, your voters have

more urgency, more enthusiasm about voting in the midterm than the party that holds the White House.

And this year Democrats face, I think, an especial problem on that front. Because so much of the agenda that their voters were promised has been blocked by Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema in the Senate.

So the enthusiasm gap is the core of the challenge facing Democrats, as it is -- as it has been the core of the challenge facing the president's party in midterm elections, really, for well over a century.

KEILAR: Let's talk about how Trump influences these midterm races. In this survey, voters were asked, would you prefer a candidate for Congress who supports or opposes Biden/Trump? Donald Trump had a higher net negative on this key indicator. What does that tell you?

BROWNSTEIN: Yes. It tells you that's the one possible lane for Democrats to avoid the history we were just talking about.

We know in modern elections, Brianna, that the vast majority of voters in House elections in midterms vote along -- vote for the House along the same way they view the president. Somewhere around 85 to 90 percent of the people, traditionally, over the last 30 years or so who approve of the president vote for his party's candidates in the House. And somewhere around 85 to 90 percent of those who disapprove vote against his party's candidates in the House.

If that historic pattern holds up, Democrats are going to be in very tough shape, given that Biden's disapproval rating is right now so much higher than his approval.

Can they change that pattern? Their best chance is exactly the numbers you see in that poll. It is turning out some of the voters who have -- who have shown up in either 2016, 2018 or 2020 to vote against Donald Trump.

Catalist, you know, the premier Democratic targeting firm, has calculated that there are roughly 91 million separate individuals who showed up in one of those three elections to vote for Democrats. To have a decent midterm, they probably only need 55, maybe, million of them to come out.

You see the -- you see the headwinds in your first poll number that Republicans are more enthusiastic. If Democrats have a chance to turn out more of their voters, it will probably be by arguing that a Republican victory in the House will pave the way for Donald Trump to return to the White House, whether or not he actually wins the election in 2024.

BERMAN: If I can, I want to skip ahead to inflation and the economy. Because some new numbers that we just released on this, Ron, say that 59 percent say the economy will be extremely important to their congressional vote. That's a higher level than we've seen since 2010.

And these inflation numbers we're seeing here, how Biden is handling his job on inflation, you know, way, way lower, obviously.

I was talking to James Carville last night. And he said, basically, the Democrats have to behave as if inflation's going to go down. The only hope is if it goes down. If it doesn't go down, they're going to lose. So they have to basically just act as if it's going to happen.

BROWNSTEIN: Well, look, I mean, first of all, you know, inflation, as I like to say, politically speaking, is an invasive plant species. It just kind of takes over everything else. It is just so immediate, compared even to other measures of economic health, like overall growth or job growth.

You see inflation in your daily life. Somewhere, you know, from the time you wake up until that you go to bed, it touches you. So it is really hard for a president to avoid the undertow of discontent about inflation.

We haven't seen it very often. But certainly, in the late '70s and early '80s, it dominated our politics.

So yes, I think Democrats need it to get better, or this is going to be a rough midterm election. Part of the problem they had is, again, the policies they had that could most directly allow them to show that they are helping people manage their costs would have been elements of Build Back Better that deal with child costs, that deal with prescription drug costs, that deal with health premium costs. All of those are now on the shelf.

I mean, the hard question for Democrats, John, is as you might remember, as I certainly remember, the last time we had a big bout of inflation in the early '80s, it was ended by the Fed raising interest rates to a point that engineered a recession. Is that what is ultimately going to have to be the stopping point, you know, the end point for this?

[06:10:09]

So far, you don't hear a lot of economists saying that. But inflation is also persisting and -- and growing much faster than they expected.

BERMAN: Ron Brownstein, great to see you this morning. Thanks so much.

BROWNSTEIN: Thanks for having me.

BERMAN: So this morning, Canadian truckers and other demonstrators protesting COVID restrictions have blockaded three major border crossings between the United States and Canada in Michigan, North Dakota and Montana. The protests, which were initially mounted by a group of truckers opposing vaccine requirements, they've grown in the past two weeks. The demonstrations are causing production and delivery issues.

Joining us now, CNN's Miguel Marquez in Windsor, Ontario -- Miguel.

MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The mayor of Windsor, Ontario, now calls this an illegal occupation. The city is going to be in court today at noon to get a subpoena, basically, to give them the power to move this out.

Very few people here right now, only maybe 75, close to 100 cars and trucks out here at the moment. But during the day, typically, people gather out here.

The mayor had a message for those people, as well.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYOR DREW DILKENS, WINDSOR, ONTARIO: The economic harm that this occupation is having on international trade is not sustainable, and it must come to an end.

And as you can expect, this news conference will serve as a clarion call to activists and protesters who may seek to reinforce the occupation to prevent the reopening of the Ambassador Bridge. To those who are thinking about joining the protest, let me just say this: You are not welcome here.

We plan to be in front of a judge in superior court as soon as possible, hopefully today. And I'm hopeful that the fact of this application speak clearly to the court about the need for intervention.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MIGUEL: Now I will tell you, we are already seeing a change to the security apparatus here. There are cement barriers now that authorities have placed around a very large corridor. It's about a mile from the bridge all the way to the major road up the way that is blocked.

There are some more protesters that have come to that major roadblock up there. So people are starting to come down already.

But authorities are starting to get that security around this area for whatever operations they undertake to clear this out.

Clearly, patience running very, very thin, not only here but the federal government also. The prime minister here saying that they are upping the number of resources at all of those crossings that are being blocked to probably try to deal with them all simultaneously.

Back to you.

BERMAN: All right. Miguel Marquez for us on the border. Thanks so much, Miguel.

KEILAR: Let's talk about this now, what are the real effects of this, with John D'Agnolo. He is the president of Unifor Local 200 in Windsor, which covers three Canadian Ford plants impacted by these protests. He is also the union's chair of the Ford Master Bargaining Committee and Auto Council chair.

John, thank you so much for being with us. Have you ever seen anything like this? JOHN D'AGNOLO, PRESIDENT, UNIFOR LOCAL 200 IN WINDSOR, ONTARIO: No, I

haven't. And you know, the border doesn't close. Obviously, we have millions and millions of dollars going back and forth. So I've never seen this. I think the last time, to be honest with you with you, was 9/11.

KEILAR: There's an estimate from one industry group that is talking about $51 million in lost wages in Michigan. So you, of course, are also seeing that on the other side of the border. Tell us how this is affecting your union members.

D'AGNOLO: Well, its impact is it took about three days. We usually have enough stock for that. But we were down on Wednesday. Our B&A plants are -- have also been down in Oakville. The loss of money is immediate. We do have some supplement to the money. But for the new hires, that is not the case. And it's impacted them immediately.

And not just the uniformed members within the Ford facilities. But once that happens, there's a snowball effect. You talk about the parts facilities, et cetera.

KEILAR: Because what you really need are parts that are coming across these bridges to the auto plants, right? There's this back and forth that happens over the border.

D'AGNOLO: Absolutely. Absolutely. We have tight ties with especially Michigan. We've been doing this for 100 years now in the auto industry, on both sides of the border.

And you think about the engine which I represent. We build the F-150 engine for the super duties and the Mustang. There are thousands of parts to build an engine. So you can just -- you can just imagine what's going back and forth.

[06:15:00]

On top of the engine racks, when you think about we load three engines on a rack. And once they go to Kentucky truck, Kansas City, Michigan, we need them back to fill them up. And those are big racks. You can just imagine how many trucks you need to get those to come back and forth. And that causes down time in Michigan, and that causes down time in -- in Ontario.

KEILAR: A snowball effect, as you say. And it's hurting people. It's hurting -- it's stealing their wages. What has to happen, in your opinion?

D'AGNOLO: Well, listen, I've worn the uniform. We've been involved in many, many protests, challenges. And I think they should leave the border.

The whole goal for them was to open up Canada. And what they're doing right now is closing it. So their fight is in the wrong direction.

I think they should be communicating with the leaders, the people in power, lift the mandates. And they haven't done that. This is important.

I know they're in Ottawa. But Doug Ford in Ontario gets to make those decisions. And I think they should be more focused on that. At the same time, I think government should be also making sure they communicate with them.

KEILAR: John, thank you so much for getting up early to talk with us about this very situation there on the border. John D'Agnolo, we appreciate it.

D'AGNOLO: Thank you, Brianna.

KEILAR: And ahead, we're going to be speaking with Governor Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan on how this blockade is having a significant impact on that state's families and her calls for Canada to reopen the bridge.

Coming up, some new reporting from "The Washington Post" that some White House documents were clearly marked "top secret," but Donald Trump took those classified documents to Mar-a-Lago anyway.

And Macron to Putin: you're not getting my DNA. Why France's president opted to sit at this very long table and stayed very far away from the Russian leader.

BERMAN: Has the CIA really been collecting data on Americans in warrantless searches for years? That's what two senators say. Stand by for details.

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[06:21:23]

BERMAN: This morning, "The Washington Post" is reporting that former President Trump improperly took classified and even top-secret documents to his Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida.

As we have previously reported, sources tell CNN the National Archives has asked the Justice Department to investigate Trump's handling of important White House records.

Joining us now is the justice reporter from "The Washington Post" who helped first report on this story, Matt Zapotosky; and CNN chief legal analyst, Jeffrey Toobin.

Matt, lay out your reporting for us this morning.

MATT ZAPOTOSKY, JUSTICE REPORTER, "THE WASHINGTON POST": Yes. So we know -- we've reported over the scope of the last week that the National Archives recovered from Mar-a-Lago, Trump's private residence, 15 boxes of documents.

And then we recorded that Archives officials who recovered these documents, which are government documents which needed to be handed back to the Archive, might have been sensitive. And our latest reporting is that there were actually markings on these

documents that indicated they were top secret or there were other, you now, you know, sort of secure compartmented programs that some people characterize as above top secret. And there were markings on the documents indicating that they were that.

And that's really significant. So that means those documents are classified. There weren't markings that indicated they had been declassified. And that sort of raises the stakes for everyone involved here.

You know, we -- you guys have reported, we have reported that the National Archives reached out to the Justice Department and asked them to look into this. We know the Justice Department officials are now talking about what to do. These documents are being secured in a secure compartmented information facility that the National Archives controls. And we'll see what happens. It seems like it's growing increasingly likely, though it hasn't happened yet, that the FBI and the Justice Department is going to try to wrap its arms around what happened here.

KEILAR: Has the government reviewed these documents? Do they know, Matt, what all is in them?

ZAPOTOSKY: That process is still under way. The FBI has not gone, as we understand it, or at least had not gone as of yesterday afternoon, and taken a look at these documents itself.

The National Archives folks who retrieved these documents got a look at them. How extensive that is, we don't exactly know.

And we also know that the National Archives have said we are also asking the Trump folks about potential other government documents that they might have.

So what it seems like has occurred is that there has been some preliminary look at these documents, but it's not as if the FBI has done a thorough indexing of them, you know, sent them to other agencies that might have a stake in the classified information. So far, the National Archives folks are the ones who have the best look at these.

BERMAN: So Jeffrey Toobin, I have a feeling, because I spoke to you, like, four hours ago about this, you're going to tell me that the intent here matters.

But as I throw this question to you, let me read you a quote from Matt's article, which might get to that a little bit. And I think this was overlooked in their reporting.

"Trump was very secretive about the packing of boxes that were retrieved from Mar-a-Lago last month and did not let other aides, including some of his most senior aides, look at them, according to people close to him."

Does that make the plot thicken? JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN CHIEF LEGAL ANALYST: Well, it does. And you know,

this is an important story. But there's a lot more that needs to be found out about it.

It's like, who packed these documents? Who directed the people who packed the documents? Who knew what was in the boxes?

Now, what complicates this somewhat is that the president himself, when he's president, not ex-president, is in a different position with regard to classified information than anyone else. He has the right to just declassify anything he wants.

[06:25:12]

But what he doesn't have is the right to take documents that are relevant to an investigation. That's where your -- the intent question comes in.

You know, in all of these stories that have come out over the past week about destroying documents, tearing documents, flushing documents down the toilet, the question is why.

Did the president -- first of all, did the president really do this or did Donald Trump do it? And did he do it with the intent of keeping these documents from legitimate investigations?

That's where he gets into potential legal trouble, is that if he did it to keep them away from Congress or from criminal investigators.

KEILAR: So it can be hard to prove intent. But how much does that help if he personally was secretive about packing the documents. and it's clear, look, this is his doing?

TOOBIN: Well, that -- again, if he was doing it the whole time -- you know, one of the things about Donald Trump is that, you know, he has been secretive his whole life. This is a guy who was a businessman, didn't use email, didn't text. I mean, and so if he is simply just secretive as a matter of course, that actually helps him legally.

But if there is evidence that he says I don't -- I didn't want Mueller to see these documents, or I didn't want to see the January 6th Committee to see these documents, that's a different scenario and more problematic for him.

But proving it, as you point out, is a difficult thing. Intent is always difficult to prove.

BERMAN: Jeffrey Toobin and Matt, thank you so much for being with us this morning. I expect more reporting from you and your team because it's been twice a day every day for the last week. So congratulations on all your hard work.

ZAPOTOSKY: Thank you.

BERMAN: An emotional farewell for Team USA snowboarding legend Shaun White. KEILAR: Plus, New York City workers, including teachers, police and

firefighters, who decline to get vaccinated could possibly lose their jobs today.

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