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New Day

Russian Olympic Figure Skater Kamila Valieva Allowed to Continue Competing Despite Failing Drug Test; Russia Continues Military Buildup Along Border with Ukraine. Aired 8-8:30a ET

Aired February 14, 2022 - 08:00   ET

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

[08:00:00]

DAVID HOGG, CO-FOUNDER, MARCH FOR OUR LIVES: More specifically, that obviously comes down to more authority that Congress has there, but we have seen from his very own attorney general, the continuous defense on flakka (ph), which is that law that helps protect gun manufacturers from being sued in the first place, protecting them from liabilities.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: What do you say to what you've heard from the president?

PATRICIA OLIVER, MOTHER OF PARKLAND SHOOTING VICTIM, JOAQUIN "GUAC" OLIVER: I heard that from the president in person. He said that to us once during campaigning. And what I say to him today is, where are those actions? What's going on that you are not taking anything in practice? We need to see those things besides your words into action.

IGOR VOLSKY, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, GUNS DOWN AMERICA: And the president is going to have an opportunity on March 1st when he stands before a joint session of Congress to deliver a State of the Union. And it's there that he should lay out a comprehensive plan for reducing gun deaths, including the office we've been talking about, including a new nominee to head the ATF so we can really crack down on gun trafficking. He needs a plan, he needs to tell the American people what that is, and then he needs to implement it.

HOGG: And the best way people can help with that and join us in this fight is we need people to text "Action" to 954954. And that's "Action" to 954954, because we need more people with us in this fight to put pressure on the White House like we did in 2018 with Congress and like we did in 2020 to really hold them accountable now that they're in office.

KEILAR: David, Patricia, Igor, thank you for joining us on this anniversary. I'm thinking especially of you, Patricia, and we'll continue to follow what happens there by the White House. And David, thinking of you and the friends you lost, and we really, really appreciate you all being with us. Thank you.

HOGG: Thank you.

OLIVER: Thank you.

KEILAR: NEW DAY continues right now.

Good morning to viewers here in the U.S. and around the world. It is Monday, February 14th. And a true Hollywood ending for the Los Angeles Rams. They rallied to beat the Cincinnati Bengals 23 to 20 in Super Bowl LVI. Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford throwing the game winning touchdown pass to Cooper Kupp, with less than a minute-and-a-half left in the game. Kupp capping his remarkable season being named Super Bowl MVP.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: The half-time show was really, really good.

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BERMAN: Snoop Dogg, Eminem, Dr. Dre, Mary J. Blige, Kendrick Lamar, and a surprise guest, 50 Cent, they all performed. You see right there, Eminem taking a knee at the end of his performance in the name of -- well, standing up for racial justice.

Overnight, Super Bowl celebrations got out of hand a little bit on the streets of Los Angeles. Rowdy fans vandalized a bus, spray-painting it and trying to set it on fire as police moved in to clear the streets. Much more on all of this ahead, but first --

KEILAR: Breaking this morning, outrage around the world as a Russian teen sensation will be allowed to continue competing despite failing a drug test before the Olympics. That ruling from an international court on the fate of figure skater Kamila Valieva. But moments ago, the IOC ruled that if she wins, if she medals, there will be no medal ceremony. American Olympic officials are livid. They say that Russia promotes a, quote, "systemic and pervasive disregard for clean sport."

And just some background here, Valieva tested positive for a banned heart medication back in December, a medication, though, that can aid in endurance. It is considered a performance performance-enhancing drug.

Joining us now is Kaitlyn Weaver. She is a former Olympic figure skater and Canadian ice dance champion. Kaitlyn, since last we spoke, huge news about this decision that she will be able to compete. What is your reaction?

KAITLYN WEAVER, FIGURE SKATING OLYMPIAN: I'm devastated. Since we spoke last, more information has come to light. And it's just so clear that this is a huge wrongdoing on behalf of the governing body. And I think this is devastating, not only for figure skating, but for the Olympics as a whole. KEILAR: This decision that the IOC is making, that if she medals,

there will not be a medal ceremony, what of that?

WEAVER: To be honest, I don't understand really the point of that, because to me what I see is the robbed opportunity of the clean athletes to have their Olympic moment and receive their medal in front of the world. So it feels like a minor slap on the wrist for something that's huge and systemic.

PAUL: What do you think, Kaitlyn, of the fact that this is a 15-year- old? You know she's going to get the brunt of this. She'll carry this with her her whole life. And of course, the question out there about what did she know, and of her age and what she knew, and Russia's real role in this, how do you make sense of that?

[08:05:06]

WEAVER: I feel for her. I do believe that she probably doesn't have a say in what she puts in her body. It appears like that. But I believe that when you step on the ice at an Olympic Games or at the highest level, there should be a level playing field. So I don't understand why this case is treated any differently than any other athlete that is above the age of 16. I think this is a case of child abuse. I think so many things, Brianna. But it is so unfortunate for her, but I really think the adults around her need to be held accountable.

KEILAR: In the end, do you think that she's getting less protection because she's a minor?

WEAVER: That's a great question. No. I think she's getting very protected because she's a minor. She's able to continue competing at the Olympic Games with a positive drug. My heart goes out to Sha'Carri Richardson. What about the people that can't compete because of the same rules? So I just don't understand why we have to treat this case differently. It's the Olympic Games. An athlete should be an athlete, and there should be a level playing field no matter.

KEILAR: Does it encourage Russia to do this more with younger people who won't suffer the consequences?

WEAVER: There's a definite loophole in the system. Anyone below the age of 16 is a minor in the eyes of sport, and they can face little to no repercussions. So it just makes you wonder how much of this was designed around the youth and how many more young people are there in the pipeline. And so I think it begs the question of, what do we need to do to prevent this? I can't even imagine all the things that we need to do to prevent this, but perhaps raging the age above 16 so that everyone at least is treated fairly, that's a place to start.

KEILAR: Clearly whatever is happening now is not working. Kaitlyn Weaver, thank you so much for being with us again.

WEAVER: Thank you.

BERMAN: So a Russian invasion of Ukraine could happen at any time. That is the latest warning from the Biden administration. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAKE SULLIVAN, NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISOR: We cannot perfectly predict the day, but we have now been saying for some time that we are in the window. And an invasion could begin, a major military action could begin by Russia in Ukraine any day now. That includes this coming week before the end of the Olympics. The way they have maneuvered things in place makes it a distinct possibility that there will be major military action very soon. And we are prepared to continue to work on diplomacy, but we are also prepared to respond in a united and decisive way with our allies and partners should Russia proceed.

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BERMAN: So that precise warning by President Biden was issued directly to Russia's Vladimir Putin in a phone call between the two leaders on Saturday. CNN chief national security correspondent Jim Sciutto is in Kyiv right now. Jim, what's the situation there?

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN ANCHOR AND CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: John, the unanswered question at this point is will Putin order the invasion. But the answered question, according to U.S. intelligence -- and you heard the same from Jake Sullivan there, is that Russia can, it can carry out a broad-based invasion. It has the forces in place. In fact, it's been adding to those forces in recent days. And it has the plans in place based on U.S. intelligence, again, for a broad- based invasion extending really much of the country, including the capital here, Kyiv.

I will tell you, though, being here, and my colleagues have found similar in other cities around the country, you speak to Ukrainians, this does not feel like the capital of a country that is about to be invaded. It's calm. The streets are crowded. The restaurants are full and open, the stores. When I've spoken to Ukrainians, I ask them how is that. They say they're aware of the forces on the border for sure, but they feel very much what happens next is out of their control. But from the U.S. perspective, Russia has the capability to do it as soon as this week. They don't know that they will, but they can.

BERMAN: But Jim, some confusing, maybe revealing comments this morning from a Ukrainian diplomat about Ukraine's involvement in NATO. Explain this.

SCIUTTO: Yes. So this is key because this is at the center of this conflict, potential conflict here. That is, Ukraine, of course, is not a member of NATO. But could they someday become a member of NATO? The U.S. position is absolutely. We're certainly not going to rule it out. That is the NATO position, unanimous position of NATO allies. And that has also been Ukraine's position in contrast to President Putin who wants that taken off the table. He says that is a threat to Russia. So the Ukrainian ambassador to the U.K. this morning said in a public interview, well, maybe that's negotiable.

[08:10:02]

Very quickly afterwards a foreign ministry spokesman says that was not intended -- that is not the position of the Ukrainian government, because, by the way, it's in the Ukrainian constitution that that is at least a possibility. But the comment was out there enough for the Kremlin spokesman to then respond and say, well, if you are talking about taking NATO off the table, perhaps we can talk. We'd have to see it in writing. Again, I should be clear, the foreign ministry says that is not an offer, but those comments certainly making waves this morning.

BERMAN: Jim Sciutto, terrific having you there in Kyiv. We'll see you at the top of the hour.

And joining me now, CNN senior global affairs analyst Bianna Golodryga. Bianna, I want to put up, just so people can see, how Ukraine is surrounded on three sides by Russian forces now. But even as this is the military reality, a stark reality, you say there's important diplomacy going on right now.

BIANNA GOLODRYGA, CNN SECURITY GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: Listen, the threat clearly is real. And you see the over 100,000 troops surrounding the country. But it is a bit eerie to hear from Jim. And others, I would say, even Russia who up until just recently said they just couldn't fathom the idea of a major conflict on European soil in 2022.

That having been said, the threat is real. Clearly the rhetoric continues to come from the Kremlin. But I would say to focus on a few meetings this week. Obviously, you have the German chancellor going to Ukraine tomorrow and then he'll be going to meet with Putin on Wednesday. And you also have a meeting this week with the Brazilian president, Vladimir Putin. Normally you wouldn't focus too much on Brazilian politics, but the more foreign heads of states that you have meeting with Putin, with Zelensky, hopefully that would give at least some sort of a pause before we see any sort of military action.

BERMAN: At least the German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, it's hard to imagine Putin launching an invasion with the German chancellor sitting in Moscow.

GOLODRYGA: It would be a real slap in the face. You know the tension between these two countries. There had been a lot of frustration among NATO allies towards Germany. It's a new chancellor there. There had been a storied history between Putin and Merkel. But a lot of focus on the ties between these two countries, specifically oil and natural gas. And that's where Germany does come across as a bit beholden to Russia at this point since they rely so much on it.

BERMAN: We've been looking at this overall map to see how Ukraine is surrounded on three sides for some time now. But there's been a little bit of a change where in some ways, the situation is even worse now for Ukraine because of these military exercises in Belarus up here, but also the new presence of the Russian Navy.

GOLODRYGA: The maritime threat is real as well. And we have seen Russian ships go into the Black Sea last week. Ukraine had been reaching out to the U.N. and other western leaders to chastise Russia for this and to say that this just should not be allowed at this point. Russia has been arguing from day one that this is our territory, we're not encroaching, we're not inside Ukraine right now. Nothing we have done is illegal, and these exercises have been long planned.

BERMAN: And very quickly, people talk about the possibility of a larger invasion, which might include going into Kyiv. But you say if there's a limited incursion, or a further limited incursion, because Russia is already here and here, you think that's the area to watch.

GOLODRYGA: Again, listen to what I say, and quite frankly, what anyone but Vladimir Putin says with a grain of salt because no one knows what exactly he will ultimately decide to do. But this had been the area where most military experts had been most concerned about, that if Vladimir Putin was to go in at all, remember as he did in Crimea in 2014, there's been a huge Russian presence there, largely supportive and pro-Russia, the same in this region as well. So what he does with that, though, is the bigger question, what happens there.

BERMAN: Bianna Golodryga, we'll see you at the top of the hour, also. Thanks so much for being with us.

So breaking overnight, an American Airlines flight forced to make an emergency landing after a passenger tries to break into the cockpit. Plus, this hugely important bridge at the border of U.S. and Canada is back open after truckers blocked it for days.

KEILAR: And the Super Bowl half-time show rocked the stadium, and the grand finale brought Eminem to his knees. So was it a surprise or part of the script?

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[08:17:39]

BERMAN: All right, more now on the deteriorating situation between Russia and Ukraine. Ukraine's President is trying to downplay the threat to his nation's sovereignty saying after a phone call with President Biden quote: "Let's stop any escalation towards Ukraine, the capital of Ukraine, Kyiv, other cities have our state and under reliable protection."

So how big is the threat of a Russian incursion into Ukraine, a further Russian incursion into Ukraine? And what if anything can be done to slow Putin down if that's his aim?

Joining me now, CNN national security commentator and former House Intelligence Chairman, Mike Rogers, as well as founding partner and Washington correspondent for "Puck," Julia Ioffe.

Julia, I just want to start with you because you have the advantage of actually also talking to people inside Russian speaking the language. Tell me right now, what you are hearing in terms of imminence?

JULIA IOFFE, FOUNDING PARTNER AND WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT FOR "PUCK": Well, from the Russian side, things don't sound nearly as dire as they do from here in Washington, D.C. People still think that imminent war is quite unlikely. They see this as a negotiating tactic, that this is a way to maximize the pressure to get Russia heard and Russian security concerns heard, taken seriously, and seriously negotiated.

From what I'm hearing, they like the Biden administration's response and that it is serious, and that there is a serious political and diplomatic negotiation going on, which is what they wanted.

They're also saying that basically, Russia could keep this up all day, that they can keep the troops there as long as they need even as long as all year while these negotiations go on, because they could take quite a while.

But everybody I've spoken to in Moscow sees the chance of an imminent invasion as below 30 percent.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, because these exercises, as you said could go on for some time. Mike, are they working?

MIKE ROGERS, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY COMMENTATOR: Well, clearly they're working. They've got certainly the world in a tizzy on this. So far, they have stopped Western investment into Ukraine. The Russians have stopped Western business investment into Ukraine.

Clearly, there is no NATO ascension anytime soon in Ukraine. Those are both big wins for Putin and now, that he is the center of all of this negotiation including trade and natural resource policy, I would say that that's exactly where he would like to be right now.

[08:20:17]

ROGERS: And remember, he has spent maybe the better part of a year getting ready for even the sanctions piece of this, that he has amassed about $600 billion in reserves. He has improved his ability to sell natural gas through China, if he gets cut off.

I mean, he has a lot of other options now left. So, he is in a pretty strong position, I think in the negotiation table.

BERMAN: And Julia, you note, one of the major differences here is in the Kremlin's perception of time itself. What do you mean by that?

IOFFE: Well, there -- as you know, Vladimir Putin is not really bound to elections, he technically has them, but we all know they're not really real. And in Russia, they say they think in longer terms, in terms of eras, as opposed to election cycles, which here in the U.S. are every two years, which from the Russian perspective, really, you know, is constantly changing things up.

I will say to Mike's point, he is exactly right. You know, with all of this chaos and uncertainty, oil prices to which the Russian Federal budget is pegged, it's pegged to the oil price are steadily rising. And Russia has, you know, they've kind of factored sanctions into the cost of doing business, and they figure it's worth getting their geopolitical aims accomplished for the price of sanctions, which, you know, we already saw last week that SWIFT, getting rid of -- getting Russia turned off of SWIFT the global financial transaction software, but that's off the table because it would be too painful for Europe.

So I think Russia sees it has a very strong hand and they're playing it quite well.

KEILAR: Mike, how is President Biden and the administration -- how do you think they're handling this so far?

ROGERS: Well, I mean, diplomacy is certainly the only cause here, no troops, no U.S. troops, no NATO troops are going across the border into Ukraine to defend Ukraine. That was the setup from the very beginning.

The one thing I think that the Biden administration fell down on is Ukraine has been asking and still is asking, by the way for advanced weaponry. They know that if Putin decides to come across the border, there is going to be just an ungodly amount of missile artillery, and other options that are going to be devastating to the country.

They have real -- Ukraine has no way to really defend against that in a real or sustained way. And so what they've been asking for is, please help us just do that. Let us defend ourselves best we can with advanced weaponry, and we've been dribbling it in just a little bit at a time.

My argument is, continue the diplomacy, but give them what they need to defend themselves. This is about their freedom, their independence, they're willing to fight for it. We ought to at least help them do that. And so I think that also factors into Putin's calculation. They see that we're a little slow to that end.

The fact that the SWIFT, which is just huge, by the way, that that is taken off the table. That was the one painful sanction that would really hurt the Russians, that's off the table. You know, they don't have a lot of options, but the options that they do have they need to pick up the pace, the Biden administration.

BERMAN: Chairman Mike Rogers, Julie Ioffe, really appreciate you both being with us this morning.

IOFFE: Thank you.

BERMAN: We do have more breaking news, one of the main border crossings between Canada and the U.S. is open. It is open this morning after police cracked down on the trucker protests.

KEILAR: Plus new this morning, an American Airlines flight diverted after a passenger tried to breach the cockpit.

And the first all hip-hop Super Bowl halftime show electrifying Los Angeles, why the scene wasn't even imaginable 30 years ago.

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[08:28:17]

KEILAR: This morning, the Los Angeles Rams are the new Super Bowl champions. They defeated the Cincinnati Bengals with less than two minutes to go to win the game in front of a hometown crowd.

And then at halftime, some of the West Coast's biggest performers, you see him there from Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Kendrick Lamar, they just lit up the stage in a show that was really a throwback to two of the best decades, the 90s and the early 2000s.

But it does seem as you see here, this is Eminem taking a knee during his performance. That is what has so many people talking this morning.

Joining us now is cultural critic, Kierna Mayo to talk about this. What did you think about this moment and about the show overall?

KIERNA MAYO, CULTURAL CRITIC: Oh, I thought the show was electric. It was really alive. It's really exciting to see hip-hop come this far after 50 years. It took this long to make it to the Super Bowl.

I do think there are some other inconvenient truths. You know, when we're talking about the NFL, we've got to have a more holistic conversation and inclusion just being about Jay-Z's vision for a Super Bowl halftime, you know, and I think there's also the problematic question of who is performing and who is really representing the culture.

You know, I watched with my 16-year-old and he and I are both from the hip-hop generation, different hip-hop generations. And he was like, "Mom, this is so great for the culture. This is so great for the culture." He was loving Kendrick's feat. He was loving everything. And of course, I'm there for everything, Mary J. Blige.

But, again, I still wonder if we are asking larger questions when we are featuring a Dr. Dre, a Snoop Dogg, when we're not asking larger questions about who was making allegations about these people.

[08:30:10]