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CNN Poll: Half Of Russians Back Force To Keep Ukraine Out Of NATO; American Staying In Ukraine Despite Potential War Joins New Day; FDA: Live And Dead Rodents Found At Family Dollar Facility; Family Dollar Closes 400 Stores Amid Rodent Infestation; Phil Mickelson "Deeply Sorry" For Saudi Golf League Comments; Biden Meets With At Least 3 Potential Supreme Court Nominees. Aired 7:30-8a ET

Aired February 23, 2022 - 07:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:31:23]

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: So we've heard the reaction from world leaders to what President Biden now says is the beginning of a Russian invasion of Ukraine, but what are people in Russia and Ukraine say? CNN has just released the results of an exclusive new poll conducted in both countries this month. CNN's Nick Robertson, live in Moscow. Nick, give us the results here.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Yes, there are some results that I think our audience might find quite startling. 50 percent of Russians think it's OK for Russia to go to war with Ukraine to stop it, becoming a member of NATO. Of course, that's not the view from inside Ukraine. 70 percent more than say that it would be completely wrong to do that.

But I think what this speaks to is the amount of propaganda and the success of President Putin's propaganda coming from the Kremlin, and the lack of alternative voices. Not only does Putin tell the nation what he thinks, and that appears on all pretty much all the state broadcast this year, there really are no independent broadcasters, the state has shut those down. And I think another reflection of the fact that Putin controls the airwaves we see in the statistic of 13 percent. 13 percent of Russians think that it would be Russia that would initiate a conflict with Ukraine.

The world sees an entirely different picture. Ukrainians see an entirely different picture. They see the 150,000 Russian forces lined up around Ukraine, yet only 13 percent of Russians think that Vladimir Putin is the one that would initiate the violence, initiate a war in Ukraine. What Russians have experienced here historically during the Soviet Union is this sense that you cannot voice your opinions, you cannot go out on the streets until the leader has getting it wrong.

Go back to 2014, and that was towards the end of the period, after the end of the Soviet Union, and people were beginning to find that they had a voice, and people came out on the streets to criticize Putin for his invasion of Ukraine and annexation of Crimea. And what happened? Putin sent his police out on the streets. They initially rounded up the political leaders who wrote those rallies. They rounded up anyone holding a placard. They rounded up those who were shouting slogans.

And the message that has now seeped into and affected the population here is that you cannot go out on the streets and complain. This past weekend, three human rights activists turned up to protest what they think Putin is doing -- is going to do in Ukraine. One of them an old man was arrested. That's the level this government has taken it to.

So I think when you look at that 50 percent figure right now, who says OK to go ahead and invade Ukraine, to stop joining NATO, you could expect that figure to come down. Some there might be protests and push back, as we saw in 2014. But it's probably not going to change hugely because people are afraid to go out on the streets. And I think the other figure that's worth looking at is, President Putin's narrative has been that Ukraine and Russia, one country.

Less than one in 10 people in Ukraine believe that, unsurprisingly and about a third of the population here believe it. Again, it's the power of Putin's propaganda and narrative that is all over the airwaves. That isn't an alternative voice because the independent media here is being crushed. His narrative on the airwaves is winning.

BERMAN: I will say, pulling in Russia's very high with the mistrust and fear as you've said. I'm actually surprised to see 25 and 26 percent of people opposing Vladimir Putin in those polls there.

[07:35:08]

That's actually a bit higher than I would have even imagined. Nick Robertson, thank you very much. Fascinating.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: And joining us now is an American who has decided to stay in Ukraine, Katharine Quinn Judge. Katharine, thank you so much for being with us. As you're there weathering things in Kyiv, can you tell us why you made this decision to stay?

KATHARINE QUINN-JUDGE, AMERICAN IN UKRAINE: Yes, so for the past four years, I've been researching ways to mitigate the effects of the war in Donbass, which has been going on since 2014. And has never stopped and searching for ways to prevent the further escalation and maybe even bring peace. And I felt that leaving now that those goals haven't been reached with seem a bit cowardly, and I would basically just feel really terrible and kind of stupid.

KEILAR: Are you worried that Russian forces could come all the way to Kyiv? QUINN-JUDGE: I'm, I mean, I'm worried that there could be air strikes here. A lot of serve respected analysts have been talking about it. I have a former professor who's, in intelligence, who keeps telling me to get out of Kyiv because, yes, because things like that could happen. On the other hand, I mean, it -- I will say that the mode in Kyiv is it's serious, it's much more subdued than it was a few weeks ago. But people certainly aren't imagining airstrikes or having to sort of defend the city block by block on the pool, right?

KEILAR: Many people still kind of -- it sounds like going about their normal lives. But what do you do if you --

QUINN-JUDGE: Yes.

KEILAR: -- see, if you see Russian forces on the march towards the Capitol?

QUINN-JUDGE: I mean, at that point, there will be -- hopefully, you know, this is something that should have been happening already. But, you know, hopefully there'd be sort of, you know, a big public education campaign to drive to get people to, you know, to realize didn't learn where their nearest bomb shelters are, to develop plans of evacuating their buildings. I mean, I would -- if I saw the Russian forces were probably advancing towards the capital, I would try to do whatever I could to help with efforts, you know, to bring people in to safety (INAUDIBLE).

KEILAR: Do you have an exit strategy, though, if needed?

QUINN-JUDGE: Yes. I mean, I've -- it various points, I've bought train tickets to Western Ukraine and then canceled them. You know, when the promised invasion hasn't transpired, I would, at this point, I'm a bit more cautious about viewing in, you know, about considering an exit by train just because of the potential for sabotage and, you know, railroads getting blown up and that sort of thing. But I think at this point, that that's still probably the best plan. Otherwise, I mean, I would -- yes, I could try to hitch a ride with someone to Western Ukraine.

KEILAR: Well, Katharine, look, we want to stay in touch with you. We do wish you all the best. We hope that this is not something that you ultimately have to worry about and we wish for your safety. Thank you so much for being with us this morning.

QUINN-JUDGE: Yes, thank you very much. Take care..

KEILAR: So coming up, the right-wing rhetoric in support of Vladimir Putin here in the United States very similar to what's being aired on Russian television.

BERMAN: And Phil Mickelson, apologizing in the face of backlash, but who exactly is he apologizing to?

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[07:42:50] BERMAN: All right, brace yourself for this. A new FDA report reveals a disgusting rat infested conditions at a Family Dollar distribution facility in Arkansas. Live and dead rodents at various states of decay have been found among the merchandise, including animal and human food, leading to a voluntary recall at hundreds of stores. CNN's Elizabeth Cohen joins us now with the details on this. Go ahead, Elizabeth.

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Oh, John. I have to tell you I made the mistake of reading this FDA inspection report while I was eating breakfast this morning. Rookie mistake. It's just disgusting. I've read a lot of these reports and this one is in a category unto itself. I will not go into all the gory details. But suffice it to say there's a lot of rats doing a lot of things the FDA inspectors describe, literally rats running east, rats running west. One of the most disturbing things, John, is how long this went on for.

Let's take a look at some excerpts from this FDA report. They say that in January of 2020, more than two years ago, Family Dollar was aware of, quote, increased presence of rodents in the distribution center. And then fast forward to October of 2021, the FDA report says Family Dollar employees stopped using the break room and the inventory control center due to the significant foul stench/odor of rodents. You think that might have been their first clue that something needed to be done.

And then you don't see the FDA going in until January of 2022, just last month after a customer complains. So now there's been a recall of certain items back to January of 2021. And also closures of hundreds of stores in these states, in Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Tennessee, Alabama, and Arkansas. So just the scale of this, John, is just horrific. John?

BERMAN: I can't even look you in the eye. You're grossing me out. This is -- I can't even think about this. What you're saying is --

COHEN: Sorry.

BERMAN: -- it's making my skin crawl. Elizabeth Cohen, thanks so much for this.

COHEN: So yuck.

BERMAN: Appreciate it.

[07:45:04]

COHEN: Oh you're welcome.

KEILAR: Or don't appreciate it. I mean, look, if you're on a diet, we're here to help. I think that it's obvious. I know I was like, what was that sound? Oh, that was Berman's sound. It's really -- I made the mistake of reading it too. It's good reading but it's gross.

So Phil Mickelson is apologizing because he made some very controversial comments about a Saudi-backed golf tour that's going to cost him two huge sponsors. Andy Scholes has this morning's Bleacher Report. Andy?

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, good morning, Brianna. So Phil Mickelson, you know, one of the few stars that has expressed interest in taking part in the Saudi golf league which is aiming to be a PGA Tour rival. And according to an unauthorized biography by Alan Shipnuck, Mickelson he defended his association with the Saudis saying, "They're scary to get involved with. We know they killed Khashoggi and have a horrible record on human rights. They execute people over there for being gay. Knowing all of this, why would I even consider it? Because this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to reshape how the PGA Tour operates."

Now Mickelson says that those comments to Shipnuck were off the record but Shipnuck says Mickelson never told him that and knew it would be used for his book. Now his comments drew a massive amount of backlash from fans and his fellow competitors and yesterday, two huge sponsors, KPMG and Heineken parted ways with the six-time major winner.

Now Mickelson posting a long apology yesterday, saying, in part, "I use words I sincerely regret that do not reflect my true feelings or intentions. It was reckless, I offended people, and I am deeply sorry for my choice of words. I'm beyond disappointed and will make every effort to self-reflect and learn from this."

Brianna, Phil also said in that lengthy posts, he would be taking a break from golf and is going to work on being the man that he wants to be.

KEILAR: So my first impression of the story was I thought, oh, Andy, he's apologizing for posing an existential threat to the PGA. But when I read a little --

SCHOLES: Yes.

KEILAR: -- more closely for his apology, it actually seems like he's apologizing to the Saudis for describing their human rights abuses. Is that a fair-- fair?

SCHOLES: It was kind of like he was apologizing all around, Brianna.

KEILAR: Yes.

SCHOLES: Because he really alienated people on both sides during this entire process. And now he kind of finds himself in no man's land.

KEILAR: Yes, it's quite a story. Andy, thank you so much for staying on top of that for us.

SCHOLES: Right.

KEILAR: Ukraine is getting ready to declare a state of emergency in the face of Vladimir Putin's increasing aggression. We are on the ground in Ukraine and Russia for a special report next.

BERMAN: And President Biden's shortlist for the Supreme Court. The candidate he has met with face-to-face. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:52:05]

KEILAR: CNN has learned that President Biden could make an announcement on his search for a new Supreme Court Justice here in a few days. According to a source familiar with the matter, interviews have already started with potential candidates. No word yet on how many candidates will be questioned. But the President has pledged to nominate the first African-American woman to the High Court.

And joining us now to talk about this is CNN Senior Political Correspondent and the Anchor of "Inside Politics" Sunday, Abby Phillip. Abby, it's great to have you on set this morning.

ABBY PHILLIP, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Hey. Yes.

KEILAR: And can you tell us who the President has met with, who's on the shortlist?

PHILLIP: So it's Ketanji Brown Jackson, Leondra Kruger and Michelle Childs. These are the ones that we know that he has met with in recent weeks, although we can't say that there weren't others that he met with as well. These are -- have long been viewed as his top three potential contenders. And many people still view Ketanji Brown Jackson, a circuit court judge, as being the likeliest contender, because she has been recently confirmed already by the Senate, with bipartisan support.

But at this point, what White House aides are saying is that President Biden is deliberating he will make the final decision until he's done. It's not over.

KEILAR: So that just makes it easier to confirm her since there's already Republican support on the record for her.

PHILLIP: Yes, exactly. And not just that, look, you have a lot of Democrats in the Senate saying the timeline here matters. President Biden has taken all of the time that he said he would take and he will do this before the end of the month by his State of the Union. But Democrats are getting nervous that if this goes on too long, it just will increase the likelihood that something could go wrong, someone could get sick, someone could, you know, unfortunately --

KEILAR: A senator --

PHILLIP: -- a senator.

KEILAR: -- who they rely on for a vote.

PHILLIP: -- who they rely on for a vote. When you have a 50-50 margin plus the vice president, there's no room for error. So they're getting a little nervous. The decision will be made soon. But someone who has already been confirmed, a lot of the paperwork has already done, a lot of the vetting has already been done. It just makes the process easier. KEILAR: Do you think it could really come to that point where you're going to see all Republicans voting against the potential nominee?

PHILLIP: You know what? I actually don't think so.

KEILAR: You don't?

PHILLIP: Look, there are some Republicans who, you know, like, for example, Senator Ted Cruz and others, they make a name for themselves, tweeting controversial things, saying controversial things to get clout in the conservative base. But when you look at what, you know, the sort of mainstream to some extent of the party, what -- let's say Mitch McConnell is doing. He said this week and it was not an accident that he said that he has no problem with President Biden saying he wanted to put a black woman on the court. You're hearing Republicans like Mitt Romney saying the same.

[07:55:02]

I'm not saying they're going to vote for this person but the signals coming from much of the Senate is that this is not a fight we're going to pick with Biden over whether it is a black woman or not. They might not vote for her because maybe they think that she is extreme, whatever that means for Republicans, but they're not going to fight over that issue.

And I think someone like Michelle Childs has gotten positive words from Senator Lindsey Graham, from Senator Tim Scott, two of the senators from her home state. Ketanji Brown Jackson is someone who was confirmed with several Republican votes, including Lindsey Graham's. I don't necessarily think this is going to be a party line vote, because there's already been Republicans on the record voting for some of these top contenders.

KEILAR: The debate over whether Biden should have said, yes, I'm going to put the first African American woman on the court, I've found it to be a very interesting one.

PHILLIP: Yes.

KEILAR: Because for so much time, African American women have been discounted simply because they are black women. And yet, I think writing that wrong, whether or not the senators agree with her on her merits, or where she is in her judicial views, it just seems like a weird kind of hill to stake a claim on.

PHILLIP: Two interesting things about that. One, the Republican Party right now is running against what they call identity politics, but they're doing it by running on white identity politics, telling white Americans that they are being discriminated against, by efforts to level the playing field for non-white people. That's a core -- that's core to the Republican Party's platform right now.

But interestingly, we've also seen Republicans using this idea of a black woman being put on the Supreme Court to drive a wedge between Hispanic voters and the Democratic Party. They are advertising to Latinos saying to them, it's racist against you that Biden would say he would put a black woman on the court. Again, the Republican Party is running against identity politics by running toward identity politics. And so you have to really be clear eyed about what's happening here.

This is not about eliminating racism idea. It's about speaking to race, but for certain people. And in a lot of ways, it's about isolating black voters and saying to white voters and even Latino voters, Democrats are giving unfair advantages to black voters. That's what this is all about in some quarters.

But again, Brianna, the extremes of the Republican Party are doing this. But you have a lot of people who are closer to the middle who are saying, this is nonsensical. Ronald Reagan did the same thing. Heck, Donald Trump did the same thing when he said he would put a woman on the court before he picked her.

KEILAR: Yes, it's a justification of closing the door on including all voices at the table.

PHILLIP: Yes, absolutely.

KEILAR: It's just perplexing to me.

PHILLIP: And it makes no sense. And I think a lot of people see through it, frankly,

KEILAR: Abby, thank you so much.

PHILLIP: Good to see you.

KEILAR: So we'll have a special edition of New Day beginning right now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: President Biden lashed out at Putin, what he calls the beginning of Putin's invasion of Ukraine.

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Is a flagrant violation of international law that demands a firm response from the international community.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The world must respond with all its economic might to punish Russia.

BIDEN: And Russia goes further with this invasion, we stand prepared to go further as with sanctions.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Moscow has now moved to overturn military action.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You're seeing Ukraine's leaders, they're trying to keep people calm. But there is a sickening sense of dread I think developing among many people.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is quite a dangerous game of poker playing out here with very real consequences ahead for Europe.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: All right, good morning to our viewers here in the United States and all around the world. It is Wednesday, February 23rd. I'm John Berman live in New York. Brianna Keilar with me in Washington. This is a special edition of New Day,

Ukraine set to declare a state of emergency and is telling its citizens to leave Russia immediately. That's a big deal. There are a lot of Ukrainians (ph) to go back and forth over the border. Russia's Vladimir Putin is getting more aggressive this morning. He is bragging about weapons that have no equal, he says, and insisting that Russia's interests in security are non-negotiable.

And just in, we're getting word that Russia is pulling all diplomatic staff from Ukraine. We have new satellite images from Maxar Technologies showing the Russians adding logistics and infrastructure near the Ukraine border, including a field hospital and shelters.

KEILAR: And in the meantime, the Pentagon is moving F-35 fighter jets and Apache attack helicopters already in Europe to the Baltic States in NATO's eastern flank.