Fraternity Under Fire; Where Is Vladimir Putin?
BALDWIN: You're watching CNN. I'm Brooke Baldwin. Let's talk about Russia, because as you well know, the economy there near collapse, but the Russian military, that is a whole different story. Russia is increasing the capabilities of its weapons systems, so much so now that this U.S. admiral who leads NORAD -- that's the North American Aerospace Defense Command -- is warning U.S. lawmakers about this, specifically mentioning Russia's long-range missiles.</s>ADM. WILLIAM GORTNEY, NORAD COMMANDER: The element of the cruise missiles that they have that have a very long range that from the Russian -- from Eastern Russia, they can range critical infrastructure in Alaska and in Canada that we rely on for our homeland defense mission.</s>BALDWIN: With me now, a familiar face to us here at CNN, Jill Dougherty, an expert on Russia, now at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. And, Jill, you heard the reporting from this admiral at NORAD. And we know what has been going on with Ukraine and Russia, but what would be the motivation here for these longer-range missiles?</s>JILL DOUGHERTY, WOODROW WILSON INTERNATIONAL CENTER FOR SCHOLARS: Well, Russia is showing what it has. If you ask the Russians, they would say, look, the United States and some other countries, but especially the U.S., do this all of the time, a kind of show of force. They fly around the world, and we're just doing the same thing, except that we could not afford it before and now we have enough money, and we're going to show the power that we have. And what they're talking about, what the commander was talking about is those heavy bombers that have been flying, he says, more patrols outside of Russia since the end of the Cold War. And there of course have over -- flights around countries in Europe as well. So the concern I think is not only those, but what Russia is doing in terms of building up, as this commander says, working on long-range, conventionally armed cruise missiles. But he points out that you do not always know when those missiles are, let's say in a silo, whether they're conventional or nuclear. It's all part of the nervousness right now, which is actually quite dangerous, that talking about the potential of some type of nuclear conflict because of Ukraine. Nobody I think on either side wants anything like that, but there's a lot of brinksmanship going on right now.</s>BALDWIN: Right. So there's the nervousness, but then there's also the questions over Vladimir Putin, because the man has been oddly MIA. We have video of him, Jill, that just came out of him today, but the caveat here is this was actually recorded earlier in the month. And people have been wondering where he has been and all kinds of speculation. What are you hearing?</s>DOUGHERTY: All you have to do is go on Twitter or on the Web in general and just Google Putin, and you're going to find a lot of insane things. It's true that the last time he was seen, at least up until a few hours ago, was a meeting with the Italian prime minister, which was about a week ago. Then he had several meetings that were scheduled. He was supposed to meet with the FSB, which is the former KGB. He was supposed to have talks with the presidents of Belarus and Kazakstan, et cetera, and he did not show up. So now in that -- the situation right now, it always -- Moscow always has been a center for rumors and speculation, et cetera. And it's in high dudgeon at this point. As soon as the president does not show up, which is really kind of rare for him, people begin to question.</s>BALDWIN: Where could he be?</s>DOUGHERTY: Well, he could be -- well, just look on the Web. He could be all over. He could be in a yoga retreat. But, seriously, there are some explanations. He could be sick. The flu is going around Moscow. That might be the more normal thing. Or it could be his schedule. The Kremlin continues to say that he feels fine, his handshake could crush a man's hand, et cetera, he's just fine There's even a rumor that -- there has been a rumor that he has a girlfriend,that the girlfriend is having a baby in Switzerland. Now, the Kremlin denies that too. So, all I am trying is say is that you have to look at this in terms of why all of this insanity? And one of the problems is, people are very nervous, legitimately. Where is Putin? Is he in charge? Could there be, as one commentator said, a palace coup? It's -- the situation is serious, even if these rumors sound pretty bizarre.</s>BALDWIN: You had me at Vladimir Putin yoga retreat and the mental image I had was kind of priceless. Jill Dougherty, thank you so much for coming on. As always, I appreciate it.</s>BALDWIN: Speaking of Vladimir Putin here, our Cristina Alesci actually spoke with the man who spins, spins the Russian president's tunes. Putin's unofficial deejay has actually played the Kremlin and here is Cristina Alesci's conversation with D.J. Fenix.</s>CRISTINA ALESCI, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): When you think of the world's music capitals, Moscow probably does not come to mind. But D.J. Fenix has grabbed international attention, thanks to some seriously high-profile gigs, like Russian President Vladimir Putin's second inauguration and private shows for guys like Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev. (on camera): You have gotten a lot of attention lately because you have played in the Kremlin.</s>D.J. FENIX, DEEJAY: Kremlin special place. Of course, it's history place.</s>ALESCI (voice-over): He is the first deejay ever to spin in Moscow's president residence.</s>D.J. FENIX: Of course, I am a little bit nervous. Somebody say, no, D.J. Fenix, and everybody say, who? Deejay? Now?</s>ALESCI (on camera): They're not raving.</s>D.J. FENIX: They do not have dance floor in Kremlin.</s>ALESCI: EDM has such international appeal. It grew out of Europe really. Now it's around the world. Was it always popular in Russia?</s>D.J. FENIX: It's a fresh thing, fresh thing in music industry in Russia. I'm Yuri Gagarin, guy who go first in space, in my genre of music.</s>ALESCI (voice-over): He may be breaking new ground on the music scene in Russia, but critics say freedom of speech is stifled in the country and political dissent has been met with severe consequences. (on camera): The American impression of Russia is that there's a lot of censorship of artists. Is that true?</s>D.J. FENIX: I don't want to put political message in my music. In dance music, you want to feel only good emotions, only good feelings. It's not a problem for me to write my lyrics. I'm not stressed with the government.</s>ALESCI: Spotify has decided not to enter Russia with its service.</s>D.J. FENIX: Yes.</s>ALESCI: Do you feel like that limits opportunities for artists in Russia?</s>D.J. FENIX: Of course, because it's a big instrument to promote music. It's not good for musicians, for artists.</s>ALESCI: What is it about the Russian market that makes it difficult?</s>D.J. FENIX: Now in Russia, black market is very big problem for all artists and musicians. It's difficult to control music. If I can help to change something in this situation in Russia, I am ready.</s>ALESCI: So, how do you make money then, if you can't sell your music?</s>D.J. FENIX: For us, final goal, it's gigs, our shows.</s>ALESCI: There are tensions now between the U.S. and Russia. Have you had any reaction from your American fan base?</s>D.J. FENIX: Young people want to find something good. It's not important American or Russia or Chinese. Everybody wants to find something positive. And I do everything for these people, for young people.</s>ALESCI: Cristina Alesci, thank you very much. Want to go quickly now to lawyer Stephen Jones. He is respecting that fraternity, that now infamous fraternity, SAE, the fraternity that has been shuttered now at the University of Oklahoma because of the racist chants caught on video. Let's take a listen.</s>STEPHEN JONES, ATTORNEY FOR SAE FRATERNITY: I have a prepared statement which I will read. I have copies of it for you, although there may of course be some interlineations, and I will try to take a few questions, time permitting. Anyone has to leave, that's certainly fine. I understand that. So, thank you for coming, and I will address why I am here. First, let me tell you that the board of directors of the SAE chapter of Oklahoma University retained me yesterday afternoon to assist them in evaluating certain legal issues and other matters that may impact the local chapter of SAE and its members as a result of a recent incident and action by the University of Oklahoma on that incident. Let me begin by telling you that we're not here because we're interested in a legal solution. We hope, and I hope my statement will make it clear, that we seek to have some other resolution of this matter. There have been -- or I have been retained to respect the chapter and its members where they wish for me to do in any matters that may relate to the due process of the students. But our first concern is for their physical safety. Unfortunately, there have been some incidents involving current members of SAE where death threats have been placed, where there have been physical assaults or alterations on the University of Oklahoma campus, and where some of the students who are members have frankly been afraid to go to class and their parents have expressed their own concern about the well-being of their children. And the SAE corporation locally shares in that and we take this opportunity to make those concerns known to the University of Oklahoma, and I am sure they will respond in an appropriate manner. Secondly, all of us agree that the actions which led to this matter at the University of Oklahoma are inexcusable. Let me be clear. There's no justification for what occurred, zero. The incident, however, occurred on one of five buses. Each bus had 55 seats. There are over 100 local members of the SAE chapter, and they were going to the founders day banquet at the Oklahoma City Golf and Country Club. Must of the buses had somewhere between 25 to 27 members and their dates. So, we're talking of one incident with nine seconds of video on one of five buses. Above all else, the board of the local chapter that I represent is concerned about the physical safety. That's our first concern and paramount concern. Secondly, we are interested, where needed, to act to protect the due process rights, the First Amendment rights and the 14th Amendment rights of the members. These include those rights for due process and disciplinary hearings, due process before the national SAE chapter, which I might parenthetically say I talked to the general counsel of SAE today and was assured by reviewing with him the provisions of the SAE national chapter and bylaws that they do afford due process to members of the SAE fraternity who are suspended. We hope that the university will do the same thing. And we extend to them our initial belief that they will do the right thing. But we stand ready to protect the rights of the student members. Finally, as I said at the beginning, this matter is not one that seeks a legal solution. We seek to invite the university and its leadership, President Boren, and his designated representatives, and, where appropriate, we consider it a good idea to invite representatives of the American Civil Liberties Union in Oklahoma and the state and perhaps Oklahoma City chapters of the NAACP. We believe that, working together in a positive manner, we can find a solution that is acceptable to everyone to make this a teachable moment and an educational moment for what is seriously a flawed incident. And we will seek to accomplish that.