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January 6th Panel's Message to DOJ; Will Smith Apologizes; Svyatlana Tsikhanouskaya is Interviewed about Belarus; Displaced Ukrainian Children Send Postcards to Front Lines. Aired 6:30-7a ET

Aired March 29, 2022 - 06:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:33:12]

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: Do your job. That is what Democratic and Republican members of the January 6th committee are saying to Attorney General Merrick Garland. The committee has voted unanimously to recommend that Dan Scavino and Peter Navarro, two former top Trump advisers, be referred to the DOJ on criminal contempt of Congress charges. Both men refused to cooperate with the committee's investigation.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. ZOE LOFGREN (D-CA): This committee is doing its job. The Department of Justice needs to do theirs.

REP. ADAM SCHIFF (D-CA): The Department of Justice has a duty to act on this referral and others we have sent.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: All right, let's talk about this with Maggie Haberman, CNN political analyst and Washington correspondent for "The New York Times."

They sound over this. They sound really unhappy with Merrick Garland, Maggie.

MAGGIE HABERMAN, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: I think that's right, Brianna. And I think you have seen increasing pressure coming from this committee on DOJ. This committee has essentially behaved as if it is a prosecution. This is much less like a House committee than we have seen, you know, at any other time certainly in my memory, I think in yours too. And they are trying to exert pressure on the Justice Department, which is the only entity that can bring criminal charges. I mean, you know, Congress can refer and that's it.

I don't know, Brianna, how much of their frustration is about these specific referrals which, you know, two of which just happened, or whether it's just an overall frustration that there have not been charges brought against former President Trump or people closer to him on DOJ's own initiative, which you hear a lot of complaining about. And I'm not saying that there's justification for that, just that that's their complaint.

KEILAR: I mean, for instance, Steve Bannon, he's been indicted. I think a trial this summer, right? But DOJ still hasn't said if it's going to pursue the criminal charges that the committee recommended for Mark Meadows.

What is the holdup here, do we know?

[06:35:00]

HABERMAN: We don't know. I certainly don't know. Usually, Brianna, these things actually do take some time. I remember when Steve Bannon was indicted. And I believe it's a misdemeanor, not a felony. But when Steve Bannon was indicted, that moved pretty quickly and people commented about how quick that process was. I think that the Meadows' prosecution, if there's going to be one, i's moving on a more standard timeline.

KEILAR: Yes, it feels like it begins slowly but then it happens all at once if it happens, right? So, there's this frustration that builds up.

HABERMAN: Right.

KEILAR: We've seen just yesterday a federal judge saying that Trump and John Eastman, his former campaign lawyer, likely committed a crime. Quote, more likely had than not.

How significant is that?

HABERMAN: Criminally, it's not necessarily significant because this is a judge. This is not a prosecutor. This is not DOJ. But it is certainly significant in, you know, potentially significant in the court of public opinion. This is not a Democratic senator. This is not Adam Schiff. This is not somebody who you have heard the former president condemn over and over again. This is a sitting judge, albeit a Clinton appointee, but still a sitting judge. And so making that comment is pretty extraordinary.

Whether it changes anything, whether it means anything, I don't know. I do think, Brianna, the thing that the public needs to bear in mind, and we've seen this over and over over the last four years, is there is always this sort of sense that investigations related to Trump are building to something, which is why comments from congressional members saying things like do your job to DOJ. It does leave the public with a sense of, this is heading in a certain direction that it might not be heading in.

KEILAR: That's right. I mean this is an expectation that's being built up if it is not met. You know, what happens then.

The committee is seeking an interview with Ginni Thomas, Virginia Thomas, the wife of Associate Justice Clarence Thomas.

What are you watching for here? HABERMAN: The main thing, Brianna, is whether they subpoena here. As

of now, we know that they're likely to ask her to come in for a voluntary interview. My colleagues and I reported earlier this week that this issue has pretty much split, you know, members of the committee. They're not in agreement about how to approach her. This is, obviously, an unprecedented situation because she's the wife of a sitting Supreme Court justice.

So, whether they actually go ahead and subpoena her I think remains to be seen. We referred earlier this week to experts saying there would be -- they would be seen as having a double standard if they don't because they have subpoenaed people for, you know, associates of Trump's children and so forth for far less than the text that she had with Meadows. So, we'll see.

KEILAR: What do you make of what you've learned about her text messages? I mean just to remind people, she was texting with Mark Meadows. She also referred to as if she were texting with Jared Kushner and other aides. And she was basically telling him to keep on with the fight. To keep fight the election result. And she continued saying basically that after January 6th.

HABERMAN: Right. She's -- look, she's always been very politically active. And as you know, her political -- her political activism and the work that she has done on policy issues has been a flash point for a lot of Democrats who have raised questions about it. Ginni Thomas' supporters have insisted this is a fake standard being applied. "Fake" is their word, not mine. That this is not a standard that, you know, would apply to other justices. But I can't think of another spouse who's been as active as she is.

What I was very struck by in those texts is, frankly, not just what she was saying. I mean she was pushing a lawyer who she thought they should be using and that was Sidney Powell. And that's obviously striking simply because the case could have ended up before the Supreme Court. And other cases related to Trump did.

But what was also striking was that Mark Meadows seemed to be, you know, on the one hand I know he was telling Senate Republican leadership there's going to be a peaceful transition of power, and then he is describing this to Ginni Thomas as a fight between good and evil. So I was equally struck by how much Meadows seemed to be telling everybody what they wanted to hear.

KEILAR: Yes, talking out of all sides of his mouth, indeed. It's a very good point.

Maggie, thank you so much. Appreciate it.

HABERMAN: Thank you.

KEILAR: Will Smith is now apologizing to comedian Chris Rock for slapping him at the Oscars.

CNN's Chloe Melas is with us now with some new developments in the Oscar drama because it was telling, Chloe, when he apologized during his acceptance speech for best actor. He did not apologize to Chris Rock. And here we have this.

CHLOE MELAS, CNN ENTERTAINMENT REPORTER: You're right, Brianna. And notably absent in his acceptance speech, in his apologies to the nominees and the Academy, he didn't have an apology to Chris Rock. Well now, less than 24 hours after the slap seen round the world, we have that.

So, this is what Will Smith said in an Instagram post. He says, violence in all forms is poisonous and destructive. My behavior at last night's Academy Awards was unacceptable and inexcusable. He goes on to say that jokes at my expense are part of the job. But he went on to say that when it comes to Jada's medical condition, he's talking about her battle with alopecia, an auto immune disease where she's been losing her hair, she's been outspoken about it for a few years, he said that's when it really just sent him over the edge.

[06:40:04]

But he goes on to say, I would like to publicly apologize to you, Chris. I was out of line. I was wrong. And he says, I am a work in progress.

Well, Brianna, I can tell you that two sources told me yesterday that there was an impromptu meeting held by Academy members who were really divided over what next steps should be. And then we got that statement from the Academy saying that they are looking into all options and that they are launching their own investigation into this.

And then another source telling me that in the actual broadcast there was discussion about whether or not Will should be removed from the Dolby Theater, but that -- that all of the people in the Academy leadership were actually seated and it makes sense all over the Dolby Theater. So, it was hard to get everybody together to discuss what next steps should be.

And next thing you knew, about 40 minutes later, it was his category and then he won. So, a lot of things at play. But I can guarantee that probably in the next day or so we are going to have some answers from the Academy on what are they going to do next.

KEILAR: Yes, really interesting to watch. Chloe, thank you so much for that report.

MELAS: Thank you.

KEILAR: We do have some more on our breaking news.

Ukraine says that the Russian military has bombed a government building in one city and now civilians are trapped under the rubble. The new video, the new escalation ahead.

Plus, the city of Chernihiv is right now under siege. We just spoke with the mayor as a bomb appeared to go off during his interview.

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[06:45:58]

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: The role of Belarus in the war on Ukraine still unclear after U.S. and NATO officials said last week that the country was increasingly likely to enter the conflict.

Svyatlana Tsikhanouskaya is the leader of the Belarusian opposition. In 2020 she took over her husband's campaign to run against Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko after her husband, Sergei, was jailed and eventually sentenced to 18 years in prison for allegedly organizing riots. She's now living in exile after losing the election, which the U.S. State Department would later characterize as not free and fair. Svyatlana also spoke to President Biden this weekend and she joins us now.

Thank you so much for being with us this morning.

I do want to ask you, do you think that Belarus, that President Lukashenko, will order Belarusian ground troops into Ukraine?

SVYATLANA TSIKHANOUSKAYA, BELARUSIAN OPPOSITION LEADER: Good morning.

First of all, Lukashenko is not the president of our country. He lost. His legitimacy in the last election in 2020 and he's not recognized as president, not by Belarusian people, no by the (INAUDIBLE) countries.

I have to say that Belarus is already a key (INAUDIBLE) in this war and Lukashenko (INAUDIBLE) tricked our country into this war against our brothers and sisters, Ukrainians. But our army doesn't want to participate in this war because our people don't understand why they have to fight for one person, why they have to fight against our brother Ukrainians. And they are really demoralized.

Belarusian regular (ph) troops could be in Ukraine already one week ago, but something went wrong and the army doesn't want to fight for Lukashenko/Putin. I know that many officers voted for me in 2020 and even joined the rails. And I released an appeal to them, refuse to fight Ukrainians or defect. You have the right not to follow the regime's illegal orders.

When you cross the border, change sides or join the Ukrainian troops. And a few hundreds of Belarusian officers and soldiers have already joined the Belarusian independent units and fight alongside Ukrainians.

BERMAN: Who do average Belarusians -- who do they want to win here in Ukraine?

TSIKHANOUSKAYA: Belarusians want Ukraine to win because we understand that without free Ukraine, there will be no free Belarus and vice versa. And now all our the (INAUDIBLE) society, Belarusian society, reenters (ph) their (ph) activity (ph) to help Ukrainians because we are sure of when we will be in need, Ukrainians will come to help us.

BERMAN: I know you spoke to President Biden by phone. What do you want from President Biden and the United States? TSIKHANOUSKAYA: We need to keep Belarus in focus because Belarus and

Ukraine fates are interconnected now. And I told him that we -- that Belarusians support Ukraine. And, you know, I really feel President Biden's personal engagement in our story. He understands the situation quite well. And we -- it's important that Belarus now will not be a huge loophole in sanctions against Russian Federation.

I think that Lukashenko shares the full responsibility for this war and the toughest sanctions should be imposed on the Lukashenko regime as well.

But what is more important is implementation of the sanctions. Sanctions are imposed, but there is no control of the implementation. And it's very important to create especially European Union, important to create mechanisms of implementation of sanctions.

[06:50:09]

BERMAN: Your husband's in prison. You're in exile. What do people know? What should they know about life in Belarus?

TSIKHANOUSKAYA: Just imagine life in (INAUDIBLE). You don't have rights at all. If you are against regime, if you are against the war, you for sure will be detained. After the war had started, we had a huge rally against war rally. And about 100 people went to the streets to show their attitude. That day, about 1,000 people had been detained. They had been tortured in the jail. A lot of people went directly to hospitals and to -- after so-called interrogations. And you don't have right to say at all. You are nobody in your country. And a lot of people had to flee Belarus because of oppressions, because not a lot of young people fleeing the country because they are afraid of forceable mobilization. They don't want to fight in this war.

But, on the other hand, despite all this repressions and atrocities in our jails, people are ready to fight. People are not giving up.

We will work hard with this (INAUDIBLE) movement and be launched antiwar movement at the moment. We are what's (INAUDIBLE) information. We -- our cyber (INAUDIBLE) are working hard to crack regime's systems. Our active (ph) people (INAUDIBLE) railway connection between Belarus and Ukraine to stop -- to stop Russian military equipment follow (ph) -- further to Ukraine.

So, we have very small space of opportunities, but Belarusians are eager to continue our fight because without new elections in our country, without the moment that all political prisoners, and at the moment it's about 2,000, there will be no free Belarus. We want to choose our future by ourselves. We don't want to be in the sphere of influence of any country.

BERMAN: Of course.

Svyatlana Tsikhanouskaya, thank you so much for joining us. A lot of people looking to you for guidance. I appreciate your time. Stay safe.

TSIKHANOUSKAYA: Thank you.

BERMAN: Crucial face to face talks underway at this moment between Russia and Ukraine. What are the chances for any kind of movement?

Plus, we're just getting word from Ukraine. They say Russian troops withdrawing from the region around Kyiv and also the region around Chernihiv. We're going to speak to the Pentagon about that, coming up.

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[06:57:08]

BERMAN: The lives of millions of innocent Ukrainian children turned upside down as Russia's attacks intensify. They've been forced to flee the only place they've ever called home and now must find ways to cope with the continuing stress of war.

CNN's Salma Abdelaziz joins me now with that.

And you've been spending time with kids here in Lviv who've fled from so many different places.

SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN REPORTER: So, half of the children of Ukraine have been forced out of their homes. That's an entire generation, John. And there's volunteers all across Lviv that are trying to give them a sense of normalcy, but there really is no normal.

So, we went to this art therapy class. And, yes, some of the pictures were of flowers and puppies and cats, but some of the pictures were of soldiers and tanks and guns. And what the kids were doing that day was very far from normal. They were writing postcards to the frontline troops to try to keep them safe.

Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ABDELAZIZ (voice over): This is art therapy for the youngest forced out of their homes. Today's task is to make postcards for good luck to keep the frontline troops safe.

For nine-year-old Vlad, the escape from Kyiv was terrifying. I saw rockets flying and guns, he tells me. And there was a crushed tank right in front of our house.

This is his message to Ukraine's defenders. I wake up every day wishing for peace, he reads. Please protect us.

Misha loves drawing the faces of his country's poets and warriors.

ABDELAZIZ (on camera): Why do you like to draw portraits?

ABDELAZIZ (voice over): Because they look beautiful, he says. And they're not too difficult for me. I have drawn a famous Ukrainian cosa (ph), he says. I think he will protect the troops. Halfway through class, an air raid siren sounds. The children head into the basement, draw by torchlight and sing the national anthem to pass the time. Childhood should not look like this.

Back in the classroom, we meet Snizhana and Kvitka. They only met two days ago, but they're already inseparable.

ABDELAZIZ (on camera): Why did you become best friends?

ABDELAZIZ (voice over): We both love anime, she tells me, so we became very close.

Thirteen-year-old Snizhana is from Kharkiv, hard hit by Russian bombardment.

SNIZHANA, FLED KHARKIV, UKRAINE: I want to tell that my country is now is in bad time. Tons (ph) of houses are broken now.

[07:00:02]

ABDELAZIZ (on camera): When you're drawing, does it make you feel calmer?

SNIZHANA: Yes.