Ukraine President Leaves Palace; U.S., Russia Tied in Olympic Medal Count
CHRISTI PAUL, CNN ANCHOR: Seven o'clock here in the East. Still feels a little early, doesn't it, for a weekend morning. But just grab your robe and your coffee and sit back and relax. We'll get you educated on what's happening today. I'm Christi Paul.</s>VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: We've got it all. I'm Victor Blackwell. Now, 7:00, this is NEW DAY Saturday. And we've got a lot coming up this morning.</s>PAUL: Yes, we do. We're going to talk about Arizona, because that, of course, is one of the big issues that a lot of people are -- they have opinions about. We want to get them all in. But we do want to begin with some live pictures from Ukraine right now because they've been going through incredible upheaval.</s>BLACKWELL: This morning, our correspondents on the ground in Kiev tell us that the streets are calm but look at what's been happening overnight. You hear the cheering there from the protesters as they yanked down the statues of the Soviet Union's Vladimir Lenin in cities all across the Ukraine. They couldn't make it any clearer how much they despise closer ties with Russia. These images are now. Look at these.</s>PAUL: I know, you can't help but think of these images, too. These would be coming up from nearly a quarter century ago from 1990. Statues fell all across Eastern Europe as the Soviet Union collapsed, signaling a revolution. So, in the midst of this very tense situation in Ukraine, remember, there is a peace deal that's been brokered. But, of course, dozens of people were killed prior to that happening.</s>BLACKWELL: Yes, but now, we're hearing that Ukraine's president has left the presidential palace in Ukrainian capital Kiev. Let's get the latest from CNN's Phil Black. He's in Kiev. Phil, is there any word on where President Viktor Yanukovych is? Who is at the presidential palace? Are the opposition supporters there at the palace?</s>PHIL BLACK, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. So, we believe that the president has left Kiev. The word from U.S. State Department, an official there, as well as members of opposition here in Kiev, they believe that he's headed to the east of the country, probably a city called</s>PAUL: OK. So let's talk about this peace deal for a minute. It was brokered yesterday, we know. And we know it sharply cuts the president's powers. Obviously, we see from the protesters, that's not enough. They don't want it to end in 2014 at the end of this year in December. They want it to end by May with a special election. What -- besides that, what else are they fighting for? Help us understand this.</s>BLACK: Certainly. So the opposition did very well out of this agreement in the sense they got three key demands. Firstly, the formation of a national government, including members of all political parties to try and return the country's stability, a change in powers removed from the president and given back to the parliament and then eventually new presidential elections. So, the people of Ukraine can have the Democratic say in terms of who will lead them and what direction that person will take the country. They've got all three things. What they want is for those things to happen as fast as possible. Not later this year. That's why there are still people in the square. They're determined and distrustful that the government will follow the agreement. They don't want to take that long. They want maintain the pressure. That's what opposition politicians are doing in the parliamentary chamber today.</s>BLACKWELL: All right. Let's see if the calm continues there on the streets of Kiev. Phil Black, thank you so much.</s>PAUL: And, of course, as both sides in Ukraine agree to a deal, President Obama picked up the phone and he called Russian President Vladimir Putin because they needed to discuss the situation, of course.</s>BLACKWELL: Yes. CNN's foreign affairs reporter Elise Labott is live in Washington for us. Elise, good morning.</s>ELISE LABOTT, CNN FOREIGN AFFAIRS REPORTER: Good morning.</s>BLACKWELL: And how did that conversation go?</s>LABOTT: Well, officials, no surprise, Victor and Christi, are describing it as a constructive type of conversation. You know over the last several weeks, there's been a lot of tension on Ukraine. Now, the White House is saying -- a statement from the White House saying on Ukraine, leaders exchange views on the need to quickly implement the critical agreement reached today in Kiev, the importance of stabilizing the economic station and undertaking necessary reforms and all the needs for all sides to refrain from further violence. If you look at the statement that came out from the Kremlin, President Putin saying that the president expressed need to take immediate measures to stabilize the situation, emphasizing the importance of working with the radical opposition which led to the confrontation in Ukraine to a very dangerous point. And so, Christi and Victor, this just shows how both sides see this problem from two different angles. Obviously, the U.S. and Europe are on the side of the protesters and the side of those who want to move closer to the West. While President Putin is looking at these protesters as so-called terrorists, saying that they're the ones that have started the problem.</s>PAUL: All righty. CNN foreign affairs reporter Elise Labott, thank you for walking us through that. Appreciate it.</s>BLACKWELL: Let's stay there in the region now and go to the Olympics.</s>PAUL: U.S., Russia they're tied -- tied for the lead in the medal count, people.</s>BLACKWELL: Yes, Russia's Vic Wild just won a gold medal, giving the host country 27 medals total, same as the U.S. now.</s>PAUL: So, Norway, also, we understand picked up three medals today. It's in third with 25. Canada has 24 medals. And the Netherlands and Germany round out the top six. You want to know the worst part, Vic Wild who competes for Russia was born and raised in America.</s>BLACKWELL: Yes, but he is winning the gold for Russia. Two at these games actually. CNN's Amanda Davies covering the games there in Sochi. So, I mean, he might be a villain here in the states but Vic Wild is now a Russian hero I'd imagine.</s>AMANDA DAVIES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, that man, Vic Wild, has done it again. I thought you might have glossed over that medal table quite quickly given what happened since I spoke to you an hour ago. It is now the case that Russia are now level with the USA in terms of medals, but they have that one more gold. This is Vic Wild who was born and raised in America. And the U.S. snowboarding authority might well be ruing their decision to cut that funding from the parallel slalom, because that is what helped push Vic Wild's into the arms of Russia. That, of course, and the fact that he fell in love to his now wife Alena Zavarzina and that helped him moved over here in 2012, and he's now representing Russia, standing on the top of the podium for Russia as a two-time Olympic gold medalist. He added the parallel slalom gold to the giant parallel slalom gold that he won earlier in the week. And you'd think the Russians will be holding a big party for that partnership when this games is over.</s>PAUL: Let's be honest, we do have a new American hero, right, a skier who has made history?</s>DAVIES: Yes, 18-year-old Mikaela Shiffrin, her mother admitted she nearly had a heart attack when her daughter was going down her second run late last night under the flood lights. She had a bit of a stumble, looked as if she was going to lose the gold medal. But she pulled it back. Mikaela Shiffrin said she was channeling what she'd seen from the figure skaters the night before, picking themselves up and carrying on. And now, 18-year-old Mikaela Shiffrin is the youngest ever of an Olympic slalom medal. Before she's even reached 19, she's won everything she could possibly win. She's an Olympic gold medalist, a world champion and she's won the World Cup. So, definitely a star has been born. Would you think she will go on and win more and more golds.</s>BLACKWELL: I love the video of dad. He's so excited. He can't even take the pictures. He has the camera. He just can't press the button.</s>PAUL: That's OK. There will be plenty of pictures.</s>BLACKWELL: Certainly well. Amanda Davis in Sochi for us, thanks. You know, this story, the way it's developed over the past few days really is disheartening. On NEW DAY coming up in a few moments, Ole Miss back in the spot light after two different racially charged incidents on campus now.</s>PAUL: Up next, why the FBI is getting involved. And why so many people are asking if the university has a bigger problem here. Up next, why the FBI is getting involved. And why so many people are asking if the university has a bigger problem here.