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Daunte Wright's Parents Speak Out; John Kirby is Interviewed about Russia; Identifying Behind QAnon. Aired 8:30-9a ET

Aired February 21, 2022 - 08:30   ET

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

[08:30:00]

AUBREY WRIGHT, DAUNTE WRIGHT'S FATHER: You know, I honestly thought that we were going to get some form of justice. And I just -- I've kind of -- I was just upset.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: So, we saw in this case, it seemed like the attorney general -- it seemed like prosecutors were going to pursue a higher judgment. And just to be clear, the state's sentencing guidelines have a presumptive punishment of a little over seven years. That is about what was suggested or requested by prosecutors. And, in the end, it went down lower, which isn't unusual in sentencing.

Keith Ellison, the AG, is now saying, Katie, that he urges people to accept her judgment even though he had asked -- he had asked for more. What do you say to that?

KATIE WRIGHT, DAUNTE WRIGHT'S MOTHER: We don't accept it. She needs to be held to a higher accountability. She was a person that was supposed to protect our son, protect the community. So she should be held to a higher standard. Who she was prior to shooting my son that day, that doesn't matter. She needs to be held accountable for her actions on April 11th.

Aubrey, why do you think that she's getting, what is essentially for when she can be released 16 months in prison, why do you think she is getting that amount of time instead of a higher sentence?

A. WRIGHT: Well, I think -- I mean I think America knows -- I mean a white woman with tears, I mean, I think America knows why she got this sentence.

KEILAR: Katie.

A. WRIGHT: The world knows.

KEILAR: Katie, why do you think? K. WRIGHT: The same reason. If it was my son, a black man, 20 years

old, on trial for manslaughter, he would have had an upward departure regardless of what his criminal record was prior. He could have had nothing, not even a speeding ticket on his record, and he would have been thrown under the jail. It's definitely about race. It's been about race since the moment my son was pulled over. He was racially profiled. It was -- you're -- you're pulling him over because he was a young black man in a nice car. So it's always been about race and it showed all the way up to sentencing.

KEILAR: How, Aubrey, does -- how do you view the conviction. She was convicted. How do you view the conviction now that the sentencing is two years?

A. WRIGHT: I view it as a joke. I view it as a -- I mean it -- I feel like, I mean, I feel like they were more concerned about her well- being in jail than my son who was killed. So, I feel like it was a slap to our face, a spit in our face.

KEILAR: Katie, I know you know with the initial conviction you went through a period where that felt like a win, but now this sentencing, how are you feeling?

K. WRIGHT: We were. We were super -- we were I don't want to say happy. It's never a victory because my son is not coming home. But we were -- we felt that there was some sort of accountability. And we were so optimistic when it came down to sentencing. And then to hear what happened in that courtroom was like a stab in our stomachs with a butcher knife. It was -- it was horrible. And, you know, we've gotten a lot further with getting a conviction out of -- you know, there's plenty of names that have not been able to see this kind of accountability in cases like police officer-involved shootings. So we're happy for that.

And the fight will continue. We're going to continue until driving while black is no longer a death sentence.

KEILAR: I think that's a very interesting point that Katie makes about the fact that there have been -- you know, I think, Jeff, the norm is that you would see someone just completely get off and that they wouldn't be convicted, right, and they wouldn't be sentenced at all.

JEFF STORMS, ATTORNEY FOR DAUNTE WRIGHT'S FAMILY: Well, I mean, historically we certainly have seen a lack of prosecution of officers. But certainly, this family shouldn't accept half justice as a victory. You know, in particular, in the words of the judge, asking, you know, effectively the family to empathize with Kim Potter. You know, when have we seen judges come forward and say, let's empathize with the fact that, you know, young black Americans have grown up with significant disadvantages statistically, or people have come from -- you know, we've had immigrants come from war-torn countries where they have been susceptible to horrible abuses and PTSD.

[08:35:08]

You know, we've had judges, as Katie touched on before, traditionally in those situations not empathize with the, you know, with the defendants in those situations and often, you know, increase the potential sentence and go above guidelines. Certainly we've seen that many times here in Minnesota.

So, to, you know, to have the court, you know, basically shirk the determination of a jury, right, which found Kim Potter guilty of manslaughter one and two, and then offer a lower sentence than for, example, what Mohammed Nor got, who was only convicted of manslaughter two, it just shows all of us that all of a sudden we engage in things like criminal justice reform and we show empathy in -- when it applies to the white officers or white defendants.

KEILAR: Yes.

Katie and Aubrey, you know, we are out of time and have to say goodbye, but I do just want to give you a chance to talk about your son. We see the photos. We also see the blurred out face of Daunte Jr. in those photos. You are going without your son. He is going without his father. What has been for you to not have him?

K. WRIGHT: It's been a nightmare. Every day is a challenge. Daunte was a whole piece of our family that has been stolen from us. And it's hard to even just wake up every day knowing that we're not going to see him walk through our door. We're not going to watch him play with his son. We're not going to watch him tell jokes and be just the goofy kid and come in the door smiling and grinning any longer. And it's hard. It's really hard. It hurts bad.

A. WRIGHT: Bad. I miss my son.

KEILAR: I know you do miss him.

Katie and Aubrey, thank you so much for being with us.

Jeff, thank you for joining us as well.

STORMS: Thank you.

K. WRIGHT: Thank you.

A. WRIGHT: Thank you.

KEILAR: It is the question that many have been asking for years, who is Q, the inventor, the person, persons, behind the QAnon movement. Some computer scientists think they have the answer.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: And chaos on the court after a college coach takes a swing at another.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:42:22]

KEILAR: Time now for "5 Things To Know For Your New Day." A potential new path to diplomacy in the Russia-Ukraine crisis, or is it. President Biden agreeing to meet with Vladimir Putin if the Russian president holds off on invading Ukraine. But new satellite images show activity intensifying among Russian units close to Ukraine's northeastern border.

BERMAN: Canadian authorities freezing bank accounts of truckers participating in the anti-vaccine mandate protest. Police also have arrested more than 200 protests over the weekend. They say some had grenades. Canada is offering small businesses that have been disrupted or shut down due to the protests $10,000 in assistance.

KEILAR: Police in Commerce City, Colorado, are trying to determine how five people died in an apartment Sunday. Officers were responding to a medical call when they discovered the bodies. Two people were found alive in the apartment, including a four-month-old baby. There were no signs of any violence.

BERMAN: A men's college basketball game, there was a brawl afterward. Michigan Coach Juwan Howard and Wisconsin Coach Greg Gard were arguing when Gard. You can see him put his hands on Howard. Then Howard ultimately threw a punch and hit another coach. Both teams started pushing and shoving. The coaches explained it all started over a time- out that Gard called that Howard did not like.

KEILAR: And Justin Bieber announcing he does have Covid. The singer had to postpone his show in Las Vegas last night. His representatives are calling it a mild case. Bieber's Justice World Tour had just begun last week. And the Las Vegas concert has been rescheduled for June, which is very warm in Las Vegas.

And that is "5 Things to Know for Your New Day." More on these stories all day CNN and CNN.com. Don't forget to download the "5 Things" podcast every morning. Just go to CNN.com/5things and you can also find it wherever you get your podcasts.

BERMAN: So, just moments ago, the White House warned that an extremely violent Russian attack on Ukraine is possible in the coming days or possibly even hours.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAKE SULLIVAN, WHITE HOUSE NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: Well, we believe that any military operation of this size, scope and magnitude of what we believe the Russians are planning will be extremely violent. It will cost the lives of Ukrainians and Russian, civilians and military personnel alike.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: This comes after President Biden agreed in principle to meet with Russian Leader Vladimir Putin if Putin holds off on an invasion. That was in response to a French proposal.

Joining us now is John Kirby, Pentagon press secretary.

John, thank you so much for being with us.

Jake Sullivan said that a Russian invasion could happen within hours. And my question to you is, hours, really?

JOHN KIRBY, PENTAGON PRESS SECRETARY: Yes, really.

[08:45:00]

I mean we've been saying for a long time now, John, that a Russian attack could come any day now. Well, today might be that day. And we hope that's not the case, which is why we continue to exhaust every possible diplomatic option here going forward. The president, once again yesterday, saying he's willing to sit down and talk to Mr. Putin about a peaceful way forward here. Obviously, assuming there's no invasion.

So, diplomacy is still possible. Even though we -- we know that that time is running short, we're still going to exhaust every possibility.

BERMAN: What are you seeing that indicates that the invasion could begin within hours?

KIRBY: It's a mosaic of information, quite frankly, John. It's stuff that we're picking up in intelligence. And, obviously, we've got lots of different sources of information coming in to us from that regard.

But it's also, quite frankly, John, in plain sight. I mean you can see it with cell phone footage of people on the ground there and what they're seeing in terms of tanks and armored vehicles moving closer to the borders, as well as missile launchers. You can see it in commercial satellite imagery. I mean it's out there for everybody to see.

And, again, as Secretary Austin said just a few days ago, we continue to see the accumulation of significant combat power on that border with Ukraine.

BERMAN: One of the things that Jake Sullivan also said is that it would be a particularly brutal invasion. Violent. How so?

KIRBY: Well, look, if he goes in big, which is certainly an option available to him, with conventional ground forces preceded by air and missile assaults in advance. This is going to be bloody. I mean this is not a military that is known for respecting innocent civilian life. It's not a military that necessarily ascribes to the law of armed conflict and doesn't really care about the kinds of casualties that it incurs. So we would expect that you could see significant casualties on the ground in Ukraine. I think you also see Russian casualties as well. And he's going to have to answer to his own people for the dead and wounded Russian soldiers that he's going to be sending back to -- back to Russia.

BERMAN: One of the things that CNN reported over the weekend is that an order had been given to commanders for the invasion to take place. If that order has been given, I guess what's to keep it from having started already? I mean what's preventing it from starting at this point?

KIRBY: Any leader at his level can change the orders. You heard Secretary Austin say in Lithuania that he believed that they were uncoiling and they were poised now to strike. And that is still the case.

Again, could happen literally within hours. But that doesn't mean that the order can't be remanded. It doesn't mean that Mr. Putin can say, you know what, I've changed my mind, I'm going to try to find a peaceful way out here. Don't do it. He can still -- he still has that option available to him. And all the options available to him militarily, the one that we really want to see him pursue is a diplomatic one. And there's still time for that, John.

BERMAN: What options does the United States have available? What options does NATO have available at this point?

KIRBY: Yes. So, one, economic consequences. And you've heard the president talk about this. We're examining very severe economic consequences. Sanctions the likes of which have not been perpetrated on Russia or their economy. And those remain available to us.

And it's not just the United States, John. Other nations are thinking about doing the same kind of thing.

And then in terms of NATO, we just got back from Europe this weekend. And we are continuing to look at ways we can bolster our NATO allies to add to their defensive capabilities. I would not be surprised. I mean certainly we have the capability, if we want to add more forces to some of these NATO allies, this was an active topic of discussion when the secretary was in Europe. We're certainly going to do whatever we can, as the president said, to be able to defend every inch of NATO territory. Our commitment to that alliance to collective security is ironclad.

BERMAN: Again, NATO territory, not Ukrainian territory. And you just told me that the Russian invasion could be very violent and brutal and cost many, many Ukrainian lives.

Ukrainian President Zelensky basically said, your sanctions don't do those lives any good because you're not willing to put them in place until after those lives are lost, frankly.

KIRBY: Yes.

BERMAN: So, what do you say to the Ukrainian president?

KIRBY: Yes, look, here's the thing about a deterrent implement like sanctions. If you pull that trigger before the action takes place, then you've absolutely reduced any possibility that it's going to be (INAUDIBLE). If you punish somebody for something they haven't done yet, well, they might as well just go ahead and do it.

So these are going to be very severe, economic consequences. Mr. Putin knows what we're thinking about. They will have a dramatic impact on his ability to fund his own country and it will cause a great disruption, not only to him and to his oligarchs, but to the Russian people. And again, John, no reason for us to go down this path. He can do the right thing by finding a diplomatic path forward. BERMAN: Yes. Walk me through what the few hours of an invasion would

mean from the United States standpoint. So, Russia rolls tanks over the border, maybe sends planes into bomb or maybe launches a massive cyberattack, what does the United States do hour one, hour two, hour three, hour four?

KIRBY: I think the president has been crystal clear on what -- if there's another incursion, another invasion of Ukraine, these economic consequences will come into effect, and they'll come into effect immediately.

[08:50:04]

And I suspect you'll see the president make clear what those are and the effect that they're going to have. I think you'll also see other capitals, particularly in Europe, announce similar measures like that. And then, again, I don't want to get ahead of decisions that haven't been made militarily, but certainly we're going to be actively consulting with NATO and with the alliance to see if there's more that needs to be done to shore up our defensive capabilities. And I would look -- NATO -- NATO might also make some decisions, John, about, you know, across the alliance what they want to do perhaps with some of their readiness forces. So, I mean, there's a lot of options here.

BERMAN: There are talks that might happen on Thursday between Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. It won't happen, obviously, if there's an invasion beforehand. What -- is the United States going with anything to offer at those talks if they do happen? Is there any wiggle room to shift U.S. troops or NATO troops around or reposition them in various places to meet some of the Russian concerns?

KIRBY: John, we've been saying that from the very beginning, that we'd be willing to take a look at our exercise regime, and our posture inside Europe, maybe looking at the scale and scope of how we're training with some of our allies. We've laid that out. That's been on the table now for weeks and we're still willing to have a talk about that. We're still willing to talk about offensive missile capabilities on the continent. We have been very serious about the proposals we put forward with the spirit of reciprocity, right? It's not just, we're going to lay this out there for concession's sake, it's going to be, we want the Russians to reciprocate. But these are real proposals. They're tangible. And we believe that the Russians should take them seriously. Again, there's still time to do that.

BERMAN: John Kirby, we appreciate you being with us this morning. Look, I don't know if we'll be talking to you again in the next few hours or not. I hope this invasion doesn't happen in the next few hours. But, obviously, you're standing by, we're all standing by watching this. Thank you.

KIRBY: Yes, sir.

BERMAN: So, two teams of detectives say they've solved the mystery of QAnon. Who they say is behind the conspiracy, coming up.

But first, the a CNN original series, "LBJ: Triumph and Tragedy" continues tonight at 9:00 on CNN.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: LBJ was intensely aware that he came into the office under the cloak of tragedy.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It drove him to try to do things no one else had ever achieved.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He said to his aides, what the hell's the presidency for? If you're not going to do something bold, why be here?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think Lyndon Johnson would be seen today as one of our greatest presidents because of all that he did, but he made one, bad mistake.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Vietnam really pulled him apart. He couldn't make a win out of this, no matter how hard he tried.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: LBJ said, I wish they knew that I want peace as much as they do.

LYNDON JOHNSON, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: It's important to reflect and look back and see what has been done, because there's no better way to judge the future than by the past.

ANNOUNCER: "LBJ: Triumph and Tragedy," continues tonight at 9:00 on CNN.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:56:19]

KEILAR: The big question, and there may be an answer, who is behind QAnon? According to "The New York Times," scientists investigating the origins of QAnon believe that two men are behind this and one may even be running for office in the U.S.

CNN's Donie O'Sullivan joins us.

All right, what have they found, Donie?

DONIE O'SULLIVAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Brianna, it's forensic linguistics looked into the QAnon posts and how those posts might have resembled posts by people who post publicly on the Internet. And they identified two men. Two men who had previously been identified as possibly behind the QAnon conspiracy, a software developer in South Africa named Paul Furber and a computer programmer, conspiracy theorist who is running for office in Arizona named Ron Watkins.

Now, both of these men had been identified before through other means, but deny it. But quite, both of them, seem to kind of enjoy the notoriety of this. And, look, the reason, of course, why this is important, Brianna, is

that QAnon has taken on a life of its own. It all started because there was this anonymous poster on an online forum calling himself Q who claimed to be a top military intelligence official. And many people bought into this. If these people can show for sure that this is an absolute fraud, which it is, it might -- it might stop some people from believing in it. And also it might hold these people accountable for all that has happened in QAnon's name.

KEILAR: Yes, look, it's really, really important.

Donie, thank you so much for that. Really appreciate it.

And CNN's coverage continues right after this break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)