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Russian Skater Kamila Valieva Competes amid Doping Scandal; San Francisco Voters Reject the Far Left; Senate Passes Bill to Help Vets Exposed to Toxic Burn Pits; "Morning Pop"; Defense Chief Lloyd Austin Says Russia Is Sharpening Readiness. Aired 7:30-8a ET

Aired February 17, 2022 - 07:30   ET

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

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JULES BOYKOFF, AUTHOR: This was a systematic effort on the part of Russia to dope its athletes to enhance their performance.

And in the wake of that, the World Anti-Doping Agency actually recommended suspending Russia because it was so egregious, what they had seen. Well, in stepped the International Olympic Committee.

And they decided not to suspend them. Instead, they had them compete under originally the Olympic athletes from Russia. And then today, at these Olympics, the Russian Olympic Committee.

Well, guess what, that wordplay didn't work out very well. And a lot of analysts are drawing a throughline between what happened at the 2014 Sochi Olympics and what we are seeing today. That slap on the wrist didn't teach a lesson and here we are.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: What would you think if you were one of the other figure skaters this morning?

BOYKOFF: It would be tremendously difficult. You know, just making it to the games, qualifying for the Olympics is tough enough. Then doing it in a pandemic, that makes it even more difficult.

Then performing at the Olympics in a way where you actually are up there in contention for a medal. And then when you get up there to the press conference and all you're asked about is this Kamila Valieva and the doping, not your amazing performance, that has got to be really gutwrenching for these athletes. And so I really feel for them in this difficult moment.

BERMAN: Yes, sure. I feel for all of them. And I do think that the Olympics needs to take a big look at itself. Look at the mirror and see how it wants to handle this going forward, because it didn't have to be quite like this. Professor Jules Boykoff, thank you so much for being with us this morning.

BOYKOFF: Thank you.

BERMAN: A big step forward for U.S. veterans who have often suffered life-threatening illness because of exposure to toxic burn pits during their military service.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: And parents in very, very Democratic cities recalling school officials for prioritizing symbolic social justice issues over educating their kids in person.

Is this a growing trend?

We'll have your "Reality Check" next.

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BERMAN: Three San Francisco school board members ousted in a consequential recall vote that pit Democrats against Democrats. John Avlon with a "Reality Check."

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JOHN AVLON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: There are a lot of trumped- up culture war issues, designed to stoke fear and resentment, maybe to get folks to vote Republican, despite pesky little issues like trying to overturn democracy.

And yet, every once in a while, those left-wing stereotypes have a root in reality for sure. Just sometimes. The reaction from local voters is a reminder that the vast majority of Americans are basically sensible people, despite all the screamers who dominate our debates.

And that's what's unfolded in San Francisco this week, where three members of the local school board were recalled by an overwhelming margin. Yes, even in famously liberal San Francisco, there is such a thing as too extreme. And that's good news because our Democratic cities don't actually live up to the caricatures created by conservatives.

And here's what happened. The president of the school board, Gabriella Lopez, and two of her top deputies drew the ire of Bay Area voters where their fixation on symbolic social justice issues rather than the basic work of getting schools open and educating again.

Their highest profile snafu came last January in the form of a recommendation that 44 of their public schools remained because their namesakes were deemed inappropriate. These included Abraham Lincoln, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and Teddy Roosevelt. Yes, that's all the presidents on Mount Rushmore.

They were joined by Presidents Monroe, Garfield, McKinley and Hoover, Union generals Sherman and Sheridan, the author Robert Louis Stevenson, conservationist John Muir, Spanish priest Junipero Serra, Revolutionary War hero Paul Revere and sitting U.S. senator Dianne Feinstein. Each was alleged to have committed some sin, including inhibiting

social progress. Now in some cases, the accusations got the history wrong, which was perhaps no surprise, because the committee that made the renaming recommendations initially said they did not want to include historians.

The plan was so pointlessly polarizing that it was abandoned soon after being announced. But it might as well have been an in-kind contribution to the RNC. Now what really pissed parents off was that the school board was spending time on issues like that when it should have been focused on getting schools safely reopened.

The Democratic mayor and governor were pushing for a return to in- person learning but met resistance from the local teachers' union. And schools didn't fully reopen until this past fall, despite vaccines being widely available.

In addition, the school board faced criticism when it moved to change admissions criteria from an academically elite program at Lowell High School, from being merit-based to a lottery system to improve the diversity of the student body.

And this provoked a backlash in the city's Asian community, which was heightened when the school board president -- vice president Alison Collins (ph) was found to have tweeted in 2016 that Asian Americans were using white supremacist thinking to assimilate and get ahead and used a racial slur.

Now there's a lot to unpack there. But it's safe to say it wasn't helpful because Collins was recalled with a stunning 79 percent of the vote in an election where Asian Americans turned out in high numbers. That's 79 percent of the vote in a city that voted for Joe Biden by 85 percent.

There are a lot of lessons here. But it is not what right wing pundits might like to think. San Francisco voters were jumping on the Glenn Youngkin/Ron DeSantis bandwagon of immunizing teachers and creating a phantom menace out of critical race theory.

Now here's what's clear. Democrats do risk real brand damage from association with a handful of folks who embody right wing stereotypes. But even more to the point this vote is a reminder that the vast majority of Democrats are not from the far left.

In fact, a 2020 poll by Pew found that only 15 percent of Democrats identify as very liberal. Compared with 38 percent, who call themselves moderate. And despite Republican attempts to tar Democrats with slogans like "defund the police," "open borders," they don't reflect reality.

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AVLON: They have been denounced by leading Democrats, from President Biden to speaker Nancy Pelosi, who actually represents a San Francisco district. The ultimate proof is that it was San Francisco voters who drew the line and kicked the radicals off the school board. It's a reminder that, even in our divided times we are far more united

in our commitment to common sense than it might seem. And that's your reality check.

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BERMAN: Yes, it was a clear message there.

"We think you should be doing a different job than you've been doing."

Like your job.

Thanks so much, John.

KEILAR: The Senate has passed a bipartisan bill that expands health care benefits for veterans who were exposed to toxic fumes from burn pits. The Health Care for Burn Pit Veterans Act will extend the period of health care eligibility from five to 10 years following a discharge for military service.

And it opens the door to previously ineligible veterans into the VA system through a period of open enrollment. The U.S. military used burn pits. You may not know this. But this is what they did.

They used them in war zones. They used them on bases. And they disposed of trash, all kinds of trash, carcinogenic trash, by burning it. So the smoke from the pits often contained substances, no surprise, that negatively impact the health of those exposed.

So let's talk about this bill, what it does, what it doesn't do, with the CEO of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, Jeremy Butler.

So look, the word on this from veterans groups, it seems like is great.

And where's the rest?

First, let's just remind people what burn pits are and how many people they affect. This is really almost like Agent Orange for the post 9/11 generation

JEREMY BUTLER, CEO, IRAQ AND AFGHANISTAN VETERANS OF AMERICA: That's exactly right. And I appreciate you bringing this up right now.

If you deployed to Afghanistan or Iraq, you were probably exposed to a burn pit. It's almost unavoidable. In some places multiple acre-size burning trash heaps. This is a process that is illegal here in the U.S. and has been for decades. You just can't do this here.

But in these overseas locations, this was standard process. Not only would you dump everything in there but service members themselves were often responsible for doing the dumping and keeping them alight and keeping them going.

So if you were one of 3.5 million who deployed to Afghanistan and Iraq and other areas in the global war on terror, you were probably exposed to a burn pit.

KEILAR: I know you've surveyed people; the numbers are staggering. Three in four veterans exposed to burn pits, and most of them were, report they are having symptoms they think are related to -- or they are sure are related to their exposure to burn pits.

Let's talk about this bill. It goes through the Senate. It seems like, yay. But it is only a little bit of what you really need.

BUTLER: That's right. It's the frustrating process of getting legislation through Congress. So basically what happened is there was very bipartisan, strong across the veterans group support, for two bills, one in the House and one in the Senate, to bring health care and benefits to veterans who were exposed.

They scaled it back in the Senate. The bill that just passed in the Senate basically does about a third of what we were asking for. Unfortunately, that's because health care is expensive. Benefits are expensive.

But when you are sick and dying from rare cancers, that's what you need. You need health care and benefits. So that's why we are not applauding this step. This is a small first step because it moves the ball legislatively down the line.

But it doesn't get to where we need as veterans groups. So we're fighting for the much larger legislation that has been supported by veterans groups across the country for literally years now.

KEILAR: What you want is a presumption for disability benefits. So if you have a veteran, right, who cannot work, they can't do their post- service job, they're taken care of, their family is taken care of, for what may be a service-related injury

BUTLER: That's right. That's right. The bills would say if you served in any of these countries and you come down with 15 different illnesses on the Senate side, on the House side it's 23 different illnesses. If you served in these countries, we will presume your illness is because of your service overseas.

KEILAR: I know you are hoping the House takes this up, they beef it up, you get more and that this will pass.

But what is the holdup?

What is the obstacle to getting veterans the coverage that they need for, you know, exposure to burn pits?

Like even General David Petraeus said, come on, let's get with it.

BUTLER: It's money. Health care is expensive in this country. It's even more expensive when you are talking about really rare cancers that are never going away, they can only be treated. That's basically what the scaled-back legislation says.

[07:45:00] BUTLER: It says we are acknowledging there's a problem. But if we were to take care of all of you, as we promised we would do when we sent you overseas, we wouldn't have enough money for that. So we will give some of you a little something and then hope that it goes away.

KEILAR: So it was actually through IAVA that I met Wesley Black, who died recently and was exposed to burn pits, a very young man. We shot this past summer. He died not long after than interview from stage 4 colon cancer.

Under this bill that the Senate passed, would someone like Wesley be able to get these benefits?

BUTLER: Sadly, probably not.

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KEILAR: Really?

BUTLER: The way this legislation works is it basically says, for the last 10 years, if you came off active duty in 10 years, there's some health care that we will give you. We are pushing for legislation.

As I said, this legislation already exists. It passed out of committee in both the House and the Senate. It is called the PACT Act in the House and the Cost of War Act in the Senate.

It says, from 1991 on, if you served in these areas and if you come down with any of these illnesses, you will have health care and benefits. Wesley got out, I think, in 2008, came off active duty around that time. So that's over 10 years. So he unfortunately would not be eligible.

KEILAR: I know I'm preaching to the choir here but the Wesleys are the people who will need this the most.

Why are they not being considered in this?

BUTLER: It's frustrating. Almost every single veterans support organization in this country supports this larger legislation. It is mind blowing that Congress is not keeping the promise that it made over the 20 years that it was sending military members overseas.

For 20 years, we had no problem coming up with the trillions of dollars necessary to send them overseas. And now they're saying it's a little too expensive to keep that promise.

KEILAR: There would be an opportunity for, say, someone like, with Wesley's timeline, to get in, which is this period of open enrollment. So if you have been exposed and it's been over 10 years since your discharge, you can get in. But you will only have this narrow window of time like an open enrollment to do.

What is this?

BUTLER: Correct. I shouldn't say that everything is negative. Progress is being made. Secretary McDonough at the VA is doing an outstanding job of trying to improve the way things work. But the VA is a massive bureaucracy and it can only move so quickly.

For basically a year after you come off active duty, you have open enrollment, you can get in and get health care. The problem, when I transitioned off active duty, I was paying attention to none of that. I was focused on getting a job. I thought that was the best case of getting forward and getting health care through my job.

I didn't think anything about the VA. And that's the case, unfortunately, with so many transitioning service members

KEILAR: Look, this is so important. I'm so glad you're here to talk with us about this. We've been shining a spotlight on this issue. We will be tracking this legislation and we're going to continue to do that. Jeremy, thank you.

BUTLER: Thank you, Brianna.

KEILAR: Happening now, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin is speaking in Brussels amid the heightening crisis with Russia. And we're going to go there live. Plus --

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BERMAN (voice-over): New rules for those going to see Harry Styles headline the Coachella music festival. By new rules I mean kind of no rules, at least when it comes to COVID.

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BERGER: All right, time for "Morning Pop." Joining us CNN entertainment reporter Chloe Melas.

CHLOE MELAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, John.

Aaron Rodgers and Shailene Woodley are over. The Green Bay Packers quarterback and the "Big Little Lies" actress have called off their engagement after a two-year relationship.

A source close to the actress said, "They grew apart. Both have busy careers and unfortunately their relationship took a back seat. There is no animosity and they will remain friends."

News of their romance was a surprise to many as their low key relationship grew stronger during their quarantine bubble during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, as the world opened up and NFL season approached, the two were rarely seen together.

Festivalgoers will be able to party like it is 2019. The Coachella and Stagecoach Festivals have announced there will be no COVID-related barriers to enter at all.

What does that mean?

No vaccination testing, no mask requirements. You don't even need a negative test to go to the big shows when they return to California in April, in accordance with local guidelines. Coachella will be headlined by Harry Styles, Billie Eilish and Kanye West. Stagecoach, they're going to see Thomas Rhett, Carrie Underwood and Luke Combs.

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MELAS (voice-over): Britney Spears stronger and possibly heading to Congress. The pop star, whose conservatorship was terminated in November, shared to Instagram an invitation she received from Democratic lawmakers, asking her to testify to help change the laws regarding conservatorships.

This is what she wrote in her caption, "Because of the letter, I felt heard and like I mattered for the first time in my life. I want to help others in vulnerable situations take life by the balls and be brave."

Britney also added a new addition to her family, this is Sawyer, a white Australian shepherd she says she found in Maui. She also says she has a new cat, who she is going to introduce later.

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KEILAR: Life is looking good for Britney Spears. I love it. I love she says that she feels heard and then added to grab life by the balls afterwards.

MELAS: Good for her. She loves her animals and I'm excited to see if she eventually goes to Congress.

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MELAS: But yes, it is a new year, new beginnings for Britney. I think we're all happy.

BERMAN: Huge hearings. Those would get a ton of attention.

MELAS: Yes. I know. It is absolutely crazy. And, you know, also the big story today with Aaron Rodgers and Shailene Woodley, that's what everybody is talking about and, you know, I think that they jumped into this relationship in the middle of COVID-19.

Shailene said they had to get to know each other during the quarantine bubble. It hasn't been easy and he's made a lot of headlines for things he's said about vaccinations and his thoughts on COVID over the last several months. So it is definitely a lot of scrutiny for them and probably tough for the relationship.

KEILAR: What looks good, maybe in the silo of the pandemic, doesn't look good afterwards.

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KEILAR: But she defended him. I'm saying, we have seen this with some relationships, I suspect we'll see it with some other celebrity relationships, where things are great when they get to spend all their time together and they don't have to work and don't have pressures on the relationship. And then real life, real life pops in and oops --

MELAS: Brianna, it can not be all just Netflix and chill all day.

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KEILAR: I wish it were.

MELAS: I took my sweat pants off to be here today with you guys.

But look, the harsh realities of the spotlight of Hollywood and the NFL might have encapsulated the relationship. But it is sad, you know, obviously everybody wants a relationship to work out. But we're waiting for them to tell us more because they haven't said anything yet on the record.

BERMAN: I just want everyone to find their soulmate. That's all I want. I believe -- I believe in love. I believe there is someone out there for each of them.

KEILAR: I thought they had found it. I thought they had found it, Chloe. I thought they had.

BERMAN: I didn't actually know they were dating.

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MELAS: I think they're both going to be OK, you guys. I think they're going to be just fine.

BERMAN: They'll survive. Chloe, thank you very much.

MELAS: Thank you.

BERMAN: NEW DAY continues right now.

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BERMAN: Good morning to our viewers here in the United States and all around the world. It is Thursday, February 17th. I'm John Berman with Brianna Keilar.

And moments ago, we heard from Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin in Brussels, where he's meeting with NATO leaders. He's calling out Russia, questioning all of the Kremlin's claims about a pullback of forces from the border of Ukraine. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEN. LLOYD AUSTIN, U.S. SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: Now the Russians say they are withdrawing some of those forces, now that exercises are complete. But we don't see that.

Quite the contrary, we see them add to the more than 150,000 troops that they already have already arrayed on that border, even in the last couple of days. We see some of those troops inch closer to that border.

We see them fly in more combat and support aircraft. We see them sharpen their radius (ph) in the Black Sea, even see them stocking up their blood supplies.

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KEILAR: So, yes, Russia is gearing up. And just moments ago, CNN learned Ukrainian armed forces and separatists in the disputed Donbas region are reporting shell fire there.

Russia calls the shelling a matter of deep concern but has no plans to talk to Ukrainian officials about it.

In the meantime, new satellite imagery shows Russian forces consolidating, even adding to their positions. Russian and Belarusian military units, including self-propelled artillery units, seen conducting drills near Brest, Belarus. This is about a 150-mile drive from Ukraine.

And then overnight, Russia's ministry of defense released new video insisting that it shows units from the southern and western military districts returning home to their bases after completing combat training exercises.

Jim Sciutto is on the ground in Kyiv with the very latest and to tell us the real story.

I don't think we're getting it from Russia.

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN ANCHOR AND CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well, Brianna, basically what Lloyd Austin is saying there -- and this has been a consistent message from U.S. and NATO officials the last several days -- is that Russia is making it up, right, that those videos we saw of tanks getting on train cars and moving east don't reflect the reality.

And to push back, again, sharing their intelligence assessment, saying that, in effect, we see more aircraft going in, more aircraft units going in. We see the blood supplies Secretary Austin mentioned there as well as more forces, 7,000 forces to be exact. That's the U.S. claim.

So adding rather than subtracting forces in and around Ukraine. What hasn't changed, I'll say, is this: regardless of the final number, it is still the U.S. opinion that Russia has the capability today to mount a serious invasion.

Whether they do that or not is an open question. But they're saying that that capability is getting more so; they've had it for some time.