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Russia Releases Video of Equipment Returning from Crimea; Defense Chief in Brussels for NATO Talks; CDC Study: Getting Vaccinated During Pregnancy Protects Babies, Too; Sandy Hook Families Reach $73M Settlement with Gunmaker; Russian Teen Tests Positive for 3 Heart Drugs, Only One Banned. Aired 6-6:30a ET

Aired February 16, 2022 - 06:00   ET

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

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning to our viewers here in the U.S. and around the world. It is Wednesday, February 16, and I'm Brianna Keilar with John Berman.

[05:59:41]

A day of unity in Ukraine declared by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, even as his nation faces the threat of a possible invasion by Russian forces. President Biden urging Russian President Vladimir Putin not to give up on diplomacy, taking his case directly to the Russian people.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We're not targeting the people of Russia. We do not seek to destabilize Russia. To the citizens of Russia, you are not our enemy. And I do not believe you want a bloody, destructive war against Ukraine.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: So this morning, the Kremlin is responding to President Biden's comments for the first time. Spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said, quote, "It is positive that the U.S. president is also noting his readiness to start serious negotiations."

And Vladimir Putin now claims that some Russian troops are returning to their bases after completing their drills.

New video overnight, released by the Russian Ministry of Defense -- consider the source here -- allegedly shows that tanks and troops are returning from Crimea on a train after exercises, but officials in the U.S. and Ukraine are still skeptical. They insist they see no evidence of a pullback yet. And CNN has been unable to confirm if the video actively -- or accurately reflects the situation on the ground.

We're going to begin with Jim Sciutto, who's live on the ground in Kyiv -- Jim.

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT/ANCHOR: Good morning, John. Skepticism is the word this morning, and that is skepticism shared not

just by Ukrainian officials of Russian claims but also U.S. officials and NATO officials, as well.

Even when you look at that video there, if that is indeed some Russian forces of the more than 150,000 that the president identified yesterday are moving from Crimea, they'd be moving to a base quite close to Crimea, therefore, in a position that they could easily move back.

The U.S. military view remains. They have seen no movements to substantiate the Russian claim that this is the beginning of a withdrawal.

You had comments today from Belarus, of course just across the border to the north, where the U.S. -- rather, where Russia and Belarus have been conducting joint exercises, saying that those Russian forces will leave once those exercises are over.

That's another claim that the Ukrainian officials, U.S., NATO officials say we'll believe it when we see it, in effect.

You do have here in Kyiv today what is being advertised as a day of unity. You'll remember, John, this is a day that U.S. intelligence assessments had identified as a potential day, or sometime this week, for the start of Russian military action.

And sort of in defiance of that you have Kyiv, the Ukrainian president and around the country Ukrainians standing together to show we won't stand for this in effect. So far we haven't seen many big crowds for these events. Really, it's more as you and I have discussed a lot in these last few days. Kyiv going on with life almost as normal.

BERMAN: Which is a statement in and of itself.

SCIUTTO: Yes.

BERMAN: And today really does seem to be a show-me type day. From the world to Russia, if you really mean you're going to deescalate, show me.

Jim Sciutto, we have you there.

SCIUTTO: Yes.

BERMAN: Please keep us posted all morning long. Thank you.

SCIUTTO: Will do.

KEILAR: And happening now, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin is in Brussels, meeting with NATO leaders on Russia's military build-up surrounding Ukraine.

CNN's Melissa Bell is covering this live for us from Brussels. Melissa, what are you learning? MELISSA BELL, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Brianna, that

skepticism that Jim was just talking about here, regarding those Russian statements about their withdrawal from key positions around Ukraine, shared very much here at NATO headquarters in Brussels. We heard from the secretary-general as he headed into that meeting of NATO defense ministers, saying far from seeing any de-escalation for the time being, we continue to see a Russian buildup.

Now today's meeting really an opportunity for defense ministers, including of course, the American defense secretary to just share any intelligence they have to report back to one another about their various discussions with Moscow and with Kyiv and to decide what to do next.

Now, clearly, what we heard was Lloyd often really recommitting to NATO principles of mutual self-help in case of attack.

To be clear, Brianna, of course, Ukraine is not a part of a NATO. So were there a Russian invasion, Article V would not be invoked.

But what the defense ministers are looking at here very specifically is any risk, for instance, of any accident over the border. Because when you look at the Polish and Belarus border, for instance, for the first time, allied NATO, active troops are closer to Russian active forces than at any point since the Cold War along that border.

So there -- there is that fear that there could be some -- some error that was made, some mistakes and misunderstanding along that border.

NATO defense secretaries also looking carefully at any possibility of cyber-attacks on any NATO country. And of course, much more concretely over the coming days and weeks, should that Russian invasion of Ukraine take place, Brianna, they're going to be looking at how allied troops posted at the eastern flank, which has been substantially reinforced these last few days, how they can help with what they imagine will be the columns of refugees that will be coming across from Ukraine -- Brianna.

KEILAR: Very good point, Melissa Bell. Thank you so much.

Let's bring in retired Army Major General James "Spider" Marks to talk about this.

You know, General, Russia just has a credibility problem, right? I mean, Vladimir Putin seems to gleefully tell us down is up at times. How skeptical are you of Russia's troop withdrawal claim?

[0:05:07]

MAJ. GEN. JAMES "SPIDER" MARKS (RET), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Well, the claims you have to be skeptical of, Brianna. And good morning.

Yes, it's a great question. We have to be able to see what's going on. We have to be able to detect it. We have intelligence collection capabilities. Also, there should be an invitation. Look, you want to -- you want to

validate that you're removing forces from deployed locations back to their garrison locations. Have somebody validate that. You know, get a third party in there to validate that. Russia won't do that. That's a pipe dream.

However, in this movement back, unless we can validate it and really get some good intelligence to look at -- and I'm confident we can -- this could just be a troop rotation.

Bear in mind, these forces have been out of their garrison locations, deployed to locations close to the border, which could be attack positions in advance of an incursion of some sort. And these forces have been there several months. This could be a routine rotation. Troops are going back. What we're not telling you is -- Putin -- we're not completing the sentence here.

We're removing these forces -- semicolon; we're putting additional forces in.

KEILAR: Rotation. What about repositioning?

MARKS: Well, sure. Of course, there could be some repositioning.

Again, the repositioning is significant if you extend the repositioning to some other location that exceeds the capability of that unit. I don't want to sound like I'm inside baseball here.

But if you've got artillery and rockets, they have a certain range, right? Let's reposition them out of the range of -- the effective range of that capability.

If you were to take tanks and position them back to their garrison locations, maybe 200 miles away, that means they can't attack without some type of refueling, which would give the Ukrainian forces an opportunity to detect and then to make some decisions about that. So that repositioning would be significant.

So Russia -- pardon me, Biden has said 150,000 Russian troops, up from 130,000. What is the number necessary for Russia to carry out a large- scale invasion?

MARKS: Well, it depends upon the definition of large-scale. 1 , 150,000, that's pretty significant. There's a lot of -- there are a lot of objectives that those forces could accomplish based on that size and based on that complement of forces.

Look, it's a combined arms team. You've got tanks. You've got infantry. You've got rockets. You've got artillery. You've got attack helicopters. You've got logistics, intelligence, et cetera. He has all the components in place.

He also has a joint team with air power as well as sea power. You've got this -- you've got naval forces in the vicinity of Crimea. So those forces can go take some very significant objectives, whether it's in Donbas or elsewhere in Ukraine. But the real discussion is, if Putin wants to occupy, if he wants to

control all of Ukraine, he doesn't have sufficient forces. That would take upwards of 800,000 forces. That's the counterinsurgency model, based on the population and the size and what type of force you would need to occupy that country with that number of people.

He doesn't have that force. So he has 150,000. They can do a lot of damage. They can break a lot of things. But he's not going to have a completely controlled Ukraine.

He's going to have a very difficult time, as well, if he were to choose to go to Kyiv. He would cause a great amount of rubble. He would have to then own it. He'd have to fix it. And he also doesn't have the economy to do that.

So what we're looking at is a threatening force, some incredible capabilities. He could really cause some damage and achieve some objectives. But these will be limited in nature.

It's difficult to say limited. You know, you can't be partially pregnant, right?

KEILAR: Yes.

MARKS: So this could be an incursion that really causes some -- some damage to Ukraine.

KEILAR: So these satellite images here from the past few days that are showing these 60 Russian helicopters. These are transport helicopters.

MARKS: Right.

KEILAR: They're also attack aircraft, as we understand. This is at a base, just 45 miles from Ukraine's southern coast. That base hadn't been used, right? It had been vacant for almost the last two decades.

And we see this image from last November, there were no helicopters. This is coinciding with an exertion in the black sea involving 30 ships. What does that tell you?

MARKS: Yes. Well, again, as an intel guy, Brianna, I'd go to my boss and I'd say, Look, we -- I don't want to talk you into one course of action here. But we've talked about an incursion into Donbas, expanding the size of the Russian forces in the Donbas. Maybe Putin chooses to push down west toward the Dnieper River. Crimea is right there. He's got transport helicopters which can move all manner of logistics, and personnel, fuel blivets, ammunition, et cetera, to support an operation like that.

[06:10:08]

And it's a very short distance. Right? Just look at the geography. And from Crimea into the support operations, if he were to do that, is right there. So it's well-positioned. And he also has these attack aircraft, which can be used, as well, plus the naval capability. So it tells you that, if I were looking at this, I'd say, Look, let's

not throw our eggs in one basket. But let's try to find some more confirming intelligence or to disprove this intelligence that he's going to move in this direction.

In other words, let's kick this around a little bit. But this is pretty significant, in my mind.

KEILAR: All right. Very interesting to note that. Retired Army Major General James "Spider" Marks, always great to see you.

MARKS: Thanks, Brianna, very much.

KEILAR: Up next, a new CDC study shows getting vaccinated against COVID-19 during pregnancy could offer two big benefits.

Plus, Sandy Hook families reach a major settlement with gunmaker Remington, marking the first time that a gun manufacturer has been held liable for a mass shooting in the U.S.

KEILAR: And she disappeared in 2019 and was just found hidden under this staircase, alive. What one officer noticed that led to the incredible rescue.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:15:32]

KEILAR: A new CDC study finds that getting your coronavirus vaccine while pregnant not only helps protect you against severe disease but also your baby in the first six months of the child's life.

CNN's Jacqueline Howard is with us now.

You know, I think, Jacqueline, we kind of assumed this was the case. But now we're getting some really good data on this.

JACQUELINE HOWARD, CNN HEALTH CORRESPONDENT: That's right. Now we have the research to back it.

So what the researchers did, they looked at data on 379 hospitalized infants, and they found that the infants of mothers who completed their COVID-19 vaccines during pregnancy had a 61 percent reduced risk of COVID-19 hospitalization in the first six months of their lives.

And then the infants who were hospitalized for COVID-19 were more likely to have unvaccinated mothers.

And the researchers say when a pregnant mother gets vaccinated, the antibodies that the vaccine elicits can be transferred to the fetus through the placenta. So then once the baby is born, the baby already has those antibodies, which can offer protection for the first six months of the baby's life.

Here's the CDC's chief of infant outcomes of research, Dr. Dana Meaney-Delman, talking about this with reporters. Have a listen. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. DANA MEANEY-DELMAN, CHIEF OF INFANT OUTCOMES MONITORING RESEARCH AND PREVENTION, CDC (via phone): While we know that these antibodies cross the placenta, until this study, we had not yet had data to demonstrate whether these antibodies might provide protection for the baby against COVID-19.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOWARD: So we heard there, Brianna, this is really the first study of its kind.

And of course, I know that there might be mothers out there who might wonder, Well, what if I got vaccinated before I became pregnant. And while this study didn't look at that, the idea is that those mothers will still be able to transfer antibodies to their babies, as well.

KEILAR: Yes, and hopefully be safe themselves.

HOWARD: Yes.

KEILAR: I'll tell you, and I know for you, as well, the -- the numbers with pregnant women being hospitalized and some of the tough choices being made have just been some of the most heartbreaking of the pandemic.

But talk to us a little bit about mask guidance and where the CDC is on this.

HOWARD: Yes, well, we know the CDC is reviewing its mask guidance. But Brianna, we reached out to the agency for a timeline on this updated guidance. And here's what we were told.

The CDC says, quote, "As always, CDC is regularly reviewing our guidance to ensure we are providing science-based recommendations that are most relevant for each moment of the pandemic. We will communicate any updates on your mask recommendations publicly if and/or when they change."

So Brianna, it really seems like a waiting game. We're still waiting to hear more from the agency on this.

KEILAR: Yes. Maybe people are listening more to their locality or to their state. Jacqueline, thank you so much for that.

HOWARD: Absolutely.

BERMAN: A major development this morning in the effort to hold gun manufacturers accountable and also a victory after a nine-year effort by families of Sandy Hook victims.

The families reaching a $73 million settlement with the now-bankrupt gun manufacturer Remington. They also obtained and can make public thousands of pages of internal Remington documents. That's according to their attorneys. Erica Hill has been covering this story and joins me now with the

details. This is a milestone.

ERICA HILL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT/ANCHOR: It is. And it's a milestone because, you know, we know there have been efforts to hold gun makers accountable for different shootings, for different events. None of them have worked. And when this lawsuit was launched, pretty much everybody said this is an uphill battle; you're not going to get anywhere with this. Because there are so many federal protections in place for gun makers, like protections you don't see with any other industry.

What's different here is they looked at a specific Connecticut law. And what they went after was they said Remington, which is now bankrupt, by the way, Remington, which is the manufacturer, the parent company of the Bushmaster rifle that was used in the Sandy Hook shooting, they went after their marketing practices and said that they violated Connecticut state law in the way this gun was being marketed as this, you know, weapon of war, get your man card with it. And that's what the settlement is about.

So $73 million is a massive price tag, right? Every single person involved in this lawsuit will tell you it's not really about the money. Why $73 million, though? It's because this company, as I mentioned, Remington is in bankruptcy. The four insurers, this is the maximum that they could pay on those policies. So that's where the money comes from for these nine families who are involved in the lawsuit.

[06:20:02]

The other big part of it, which you mentioned, are the documents. They got access to thousands of internal documents. We don't yet know what those documents are. I'm told they could be released in a couple of weeks. But they're going to be going through them. A lot of this came through the discovery process through -- through this lawsuit.

But it's those documents specifically, one family told me, Mark and Jackie Barden, whose son, Daniel, was 7 at the time when he was killed, those documents are what they really wanted access to, because they wanted to know everything about what happened.

It's a victory. But understandably, it is hollow. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARK BARDEN, CO-FOUNDER, SANDY HOOK PROMISE: We have these moments when there's any kind of a victory or forward progress, that you want to celebrate, and then it just kind of hits you like a gut punch. That you know, our Daniel is still gone.

It's -- it's a strange psychological dynamic that --

JACKIE BARDEN, LOST SON DANIEL IN SHOOTING: Yes. BARDEN: -- continues to beat the crap out of us. We can protect other families by course correcting for these advertising practices that this -- these companies are engaging in. We'll do that. There has to be accountability, especially when you're marketing the single most lethal consumer product there is. You should have extra responsibility.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HILL: So they want to pull back the curtain. They want to say -- you know, in these documents, say how did you make these decisions? Why did you decide to market things this way? What did you see in terms of financial gain from that? And it will be interesting to see what the potential fallout, if any, is from this; what else it may lead to.

BERMAN: They want to change the landscape for other families going forward. And maybe they succeeded, at least a little bit there.

Erica Hill, great to see you. Thank you so much -- Brianna.

KEILAR: Coming up, she is at the center of the Olympics doping scandal, yet she's in first place and still closer to gold. What her competitors and the IOC are now saying.

BERMAN: And Prince Andrew settles his sexual assault lawsuit. What we know about the settlement, ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:26:14]

KEILAR: New this morning, the head of the International Olympic Committee meeting with Team USA figure skaters to discuss the situation with Kamila Valieva, the 15-year-old Russian skater who is at the center of a doping scandal.

The medal ceremony for the team event postponed after Valieva's positive test for a performance-enhancing drug was revealed. The Russians had won the gold. The U.S. had taken silver there.

And CNN's Selina Wang is in Beijing live for us with the very latest on this. What can you tell us about this meeting?

SELINA WANG, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Brianna, we know that it was long. It went longer than we expected. But what's really casting a shadow of the games right now is the new details around this doping scandal.

We have learned -- I spoke to the CEO of the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency -- that Valieva, she allegedly, reportedly testing positive for three drugs that all have performance-enhancing capabilities, including improving endurance, reducing fatigue.

CNN and Tygart reviewed a document that showed Valieva had declared the use of two substances which are not banned but also have these abilities to improve performance. They include Hypoxen and L- carnitine.

Now, Tygart told me that the fact that she used this mixture of substances suggests a very sophisticated and deliberate attempt. Take a listen to what Tygart told CNN earlier.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRAVIS TYGART, CEO, U.S. ANTI-DOPING AGENCY: Having these three -- you know, two declared and one, obviously, testing positive that wasn't declared, the one that is prohibited, just raises, you know, significant red flags and alarm bells.

There is someone behind, whether it's coach, doctor, the state, that's helping this young athlete and teaching this young athlete to use these substances in order, ultimately, to increase and enhance performance.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WANG: And Brianna, some athletes are saying that all of this is ruining the Olympic experience for clean athletes, ruining the integrity of the sport, of the games.

If Valieva places in the top three this week, which she is expected to, she will not receive a medal. The other competitors will not receive a medal. No medals awarded until the full investigation is complete, which could take months and months.

So by allowing Valieva to compete, they are basically depriving all of these figure skaters to opportunity to stand on that medal podium, get that medal, a moment they've trained their entire careers for -- Brianna.

KEILAR: You cannot help but feel for these athletes. And I will say, it's also depriving viewers, I think, of an experience that is untainted by this. But we'll keep watching.

Selina Wang, thank you.

BERMAN: And joining me now is Adam Rippon. He won the 2018 Olympic bronze medal in the team event and is coaching current Olympic skater Mariah Bell.

Adam, it's great to see you. Look, normally, you just do Jake's show. So it's an honor to have you up so early to speak with us.

ADAM RIPPON, OLYMPIC MEDALIST: Listen, I'm glad -- I'm glad that Jake is sharing me. That's all I have to say. I'm glad that I'm being passed around at CNN.

BERMAN: Well, let's be clear: Jake does not share well, so this is really a statement.

Adam, look, I want to know what it was like for you to watch Kamila Valieva skate yesterday, knowing what you now know about the failed drug test. RIPPON: It was infuriating. It was infuriating to watch. To have a

skater or any sort of athlete in a competition with a known failed drug test is unprecedented, let alone to happen at an Olympic Games.

I mean, for me it was infuriating to watch, because I was watching somebody not play by the rules. It felt unfair. And it feels so unfair to all of the athletes who got here and compete clean.

You know, when I first got here, and she competed in the team event, I couldn't believe my eyes. You know, I've never seen anything like that. And now I know that I was right. I shouldn't have believed my eyes. Because it was unbelievable.

[06:30:00]