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The Lead with Jake Tapper

Biden Asks Congress For Additional $33 Billion In Ukraine Aid; Trevor Reed Returns To U.S. After Release From Russia; U.S. Economy Shrank Unexpectedly In First Quarter; Moderna Seeks COVID Vaccine Authorization for Kids Under 5; FAA Investigating Failed Plane Swap That Resulted In Crash. Aired 4-5p ET

Aired April 28, 2022 - 16:00   ET

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

[16:00:22]

JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: Biden goes big to the tune of $33 billion.

THE LEAD starts right now.

The president's massive request, $33 billion to help Ukraine defend itself, as explosions rock the capital city of Kyiv.

Plus, has the time come for kids finally? More than two years into the COVID pandemic, Moderna becomes the first drugmaker to ask for emergency use for a COVID vaccine ready for kids 6 months to 5 years old. Now many parents want to know how quickly can Moderna get FDA approval?

And a new and potentially dangerous online craze. Daredevil pilots on a mission for social media clicks. But now the feds are cracking down.

(MUSIC)

TAPPER: Welcome to THE LEAD. I'm Jake Tapper.

We start today with our world lead and a massive request from Joe Biden today asked Congress for $33 billion additional dollars to help support Ukraine. A clear sign of how Mr. Biden sees this war as existential to democracies beyond just Ukraine.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The cost of this fight is not cheap, but caving to aggression is going to be more costly if we allow it to happen. We either back the Ukrainian people as they defend their country, or we stand by as the Russians continue their atrocities and aggression in Ukraine.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: This enormous proposal is now in the hands of Congress, where already some Republicans are raising concerns about the size and scope of the package. According to the White House, the proposal includes more than $20 billion in military and security aid, $8.5 billion in economic health for the Ukrainian government and Ukrainian civilians, and $3 billion for humanitarian assistance. Ukrainian leaders say more aid and more weapons can not arrive soon enough, with Russia intensifying its attacks in the east and south of that country.

Mariupol police say the city's steel plant where hundreds of innocent civilians, as well as soldiers are sheltering, Mariupol is suffering the heaviest air strikes so far from the Russians, they say, and the U.S. says it has credible information that Russian forces executed Ukrainians who were attempting to surrender. This happened near Donetsk in the east, we're told.

Also this afternoon, the mayor of Kyiv confirming two Russian strikes in the Ukrainian capital right after a meeting between the Ukrainian president and the U.N. secretary-general.

Let's get straight to CNN's Sam Kiley who is live for us in Kramatorsk, Ukraine.

Sam, the U.S. says it also has credible reports of Ukrainians killed execution style with their hands bound. How does that claim fit in with the larger picture of Russian tactics in this war?

SAM KILEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, this claim coming from the United States' new ambassador for international human rights, Beth Van Schaack. She's saying that they have this credible evidence, Jake, of a group of fighters, of soldiers from the Ukrainian armed forces attempting to surrender.

Clearly, if the allegations are correct, successfully surrendering in that these bodies were found with their hands tied and that they were shot execution style. The nature of that evidence, we have not yet learned from the United States. Of course, we have had no corroboration here on the ground.

But it is the sort of thing now that one would be -- it would be natural frankly to expect after what happened in Bucha with the murder of civilians in an area under Russian control. With recent reporting now from Anderson Cooper and others of the murders there, and have been very carefully cataloged. The naming indeed of ten people involved in human rights abuses from the Russian armed forces are already being named by investigators here in Ukraine.

It should be understood that this is the sort of thing that the Russians were quick likely to do, given the use of bombardment of civilian areas, all of which are illegal under international law, Jake.

TAPPER: Kramatorsk, the city where you are would be Russia's strategic prize for Russia's battle for Eastern Crime. Are they making any progress on the ground near you?

KILEY: Yes, they are, Jake. They captured a day and a half or so ago the town of Rubizhne. They're pressing on the town called Lyman. Those are two towns that are to the north.

Essentially what the Russians are doing, if you could imagine a map of Ukraine with sort of an area like that, surrounded on three sides. It's a big area. The Russians are fighting across a front of more than 500 miles. Coming in from the north, from the town of Izium, they are trying to press down towards the southeast towards my location now.

[16:05:04]

And they're also trying to cut this location off with a thrust due south, potentially trying to meet up with their troops, if their troops can be released or they have advances up from Mariupol. Now, that's quite a big ambition. In the meantime, what they are doing is incrementally trying to capture towns along the northern side of the Donetsk River. That arguably could be a natural line of defense for the Ukrainians.

So, the concern, I think, for supporters of Ukraine in the international community and Ukrainian government itself is that the Russians may -- even if the Russians were stopped at the river, they will have expanded territory under pro-Russian control, dig in for the long term and prove very difficult to dislodge.

One of the reasons the Ukrainians are keen to see this bill going through the U.S. Congress and to see the additional money being promised from other European allies is they know they have a small amount of time before the Russians consolidate, to get that more effective, more modern, frankly, superior weaponry into the hands of the outnumbered Ukrainian soldiers before it's too late and the Russians begin to start overwhelming them.

At the moment, it's fairly evenly balanced. But it is just about the moment in the Russian's favor. They are slowly advancing, Jake.

TAPPER: CNN's Sam Kiley live for us in Kramatorsk, Ukraine, thank you so much.

President Biden today called on Congress to approve the additional $33 billion in aid for Ukraine, quote, as quickly as possible.

CNN's Kaitlan Collins now takes a closer look at what is in this funding request and the White House push to get it across the finish line.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: President Biden asking Congress for a $33 billion boost to Ukraine.

BIDEN: It's going to keep weapons and ammunition flowing without interruption through the brave Ukrainian fighters and continue to deliver economic and humanitarian assistance to the Ukrainian people.

COLLINS: The price tag for the new funding is more than double the last aid package, and would last Ukraine for the next five months. As Biden says the cost of this fight isn't cheap.

BIDEN: But caving to aggression is going to be more costly if which allow it to happen. We either back the Ukrainian people as they defend their country or we stand by as the Russians continue their atrocities and aggression in Ukraine.

COLLINS: Of the $33 billion that Biden is asking Congress for, over $020 billion is for military assistance like weapons and ammunition, $8.5 billion is for economic assistance to keep the Ukrainian government running, and another $3 billion for humanitarian assistance. If approved, it would bring the spending on the war in Ukraine to nearly $50 billion.

BIDEN: We're not attacking Russia. We're helping Ukraine defend itself against Russian aggression.

COLLINS: Biden urging lawmakers to act quickly, but it remains to seen if his request is tied up in deep disagreements over COVID-19 funding and immigration.

SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER (D-NY): On both Ukraine funding and COVID funding, Republican obstruction will not serve the American people.

COLLINS: Today, Biden also asked for the power to sell off the assets of Russian oligarchs, and use the proceeds to help Ukraine.

BIDEN: We're going to see their yachts, their luxury homes, and other ill-begotten gains.

COLLINS: After rejecting Moscow's claim that NATO is fighting a proxy war with Russia, Biden condemned the nuclear saber rattling from high- ranking Russians.

BIDEN: No one should make idle comments about the use of nuclear weapons or the possibility. It's irresponsible.

COLLINS: Biden speaking hours after Trevor Reed, the former U.S. marine he freed from Russian detention, touched down on U.S. soil for the first time since 2019.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS (on camera): And, Jake, when it comes to this $33 billion request that he's made, the White House is putting a deadline on when they want Congress to pass that new number. Jen Psaki did say they only have about $250 million left in the authority that Joe Biden has to send more military assistance to Ukraine. Of course, they just sent several packages as well, so they have a little bit for the next several weeks, Jake.

One thing she did say that will be very important for lawmakers who are listening in, they don't necessarily believe it needs to be tied to the COVID-19 funding. That is something that could complicate getting it passed if it is tied to that. Now, Jake, of course, how Congress handles it remains to be seen.

TAPPER: Kaitlan Collins at the White House for us, thank you so much.

Joining us now to discuss, State Department spokesman Ned Price.

Ned, thanks for joining us. So, this is obviously a massive ask, $33 billion. Senate Republican whip John Thune said there's big interest to give Ukraine more aid, but these numbers kind of get eye popping after a while.

Do you have any guarantees Congress is going to pass this?

NED PRICE, STATE DEPARTMENT SPOKESMAN: Well, Jake, we know that Congress has generously already supported our strategy in Ukraine, and we're requesting this sum of money because it will allow us to continue that strategy, a strategy that has proven and demonstrably proven effective.

[16:10:01]

Just think about where we are. We're more than two months into this conflict. We have every indication to believe that Vladimir Putin, within a couple of days, or a matter of a few weeks, thought that he would essentially be the de facto leader of Ukraine, with a proxy government installed.

Instead, his forces have been pushed out of large parts of the country. His forces have lost the battle of Kyiv. His forces have been forced to concentrate in the south and the east.

The fact is that Ukrainians have been able with their grit and determination and courage, have been able to repel Russian forces. They are winning these battles.

But the key enabler -- a key enabler in all of this has been the massive amount of security assistance that we've been able to provide, $3.8 billion from the United States alone since February 24th when the invasion began. As you heard from Kaitlan, much of this money will go to additional security assistance, $20.5 billion to provide the Ukrainians over the coming months with what they will need for the battle in the east, the battle in the south, the battle in the Donbas, where the Russians are now concentrating their firepower.

TAPPER: Right. And you refer to the United States as a key enabler of the Ukrainian military, the Ukrainian people. Let's talk about the key enabler of the Russians, because today, Russian state energy gas giant Gazprom reported record profits in 2021.

Isn't it a fact that this war is likely going to continue until the Europeans stop paying -- I've heard estimates of up to $1 billion a day -- to Russia for Russian fuel?

PRICE: Well, we've already seen significant steps. And, of course, the United States has taken significant steps in the form of an executive order the president signed a number of weeks ago. But we've been clear, this country, with our energy infrastructure we have here, can do things others can't, including countries in Europe.

But still, we have seen countries in the European Union take important steps away from importing Russian fossil fuels. We have a two-prong strategy. In the near term, we are surging assets and energy, including liquid natural gas and oil to our partners and allies in Europe. We're doing that including by undertaking coordinated draw- downs from strategic petroleum reserves. We're doing this with countries around the world.

That's in the near term to offset any energy price shocks and to make sure that the global supply of energy is steady. We're also fortunate that we've emerged through this winter. So as the temperatures get warmer, the dependence on Russian oil in the coming days and weeks will lessen even further.

But over the longer term, we have established a program, a task force in fact, with the European Union, to affect this transition away from Russian fossil fuels fully, and to move in the direction of renewables.

We want to see to it, that no country, whether that's in Europe or anywhere else around the globe, can ever again be held hostage to Russian energy flows. We have seen Russia weaponize energy flows before. That's precisely what they've done to Ukraine. We want to see to it they can't do this ever again.

TAPPER: Trevor Reed is now back in the U.S. after nearly three years of being detained in Russia, which is great news.

But we should note U.S. citizen Paul Whelan, another former marine, who is still imprisoned in Russia, he released a statement through his family saying, quote, why was I left behind? While I'm pleased Trevor is home with his family, I have been held on a fictitious charge of espionage for 40 months. The world knows this charge was fabricated.

Why hasn't more been done to secure my release?

Do you have an answer for Mr. Whelan and his family, or for that matter, for Brittney Griner and her family?

PRICE: Well, Paul Whelan is right. He has been held on a fictitious charge for 40 months. It's a case we're working on.

We're working very concertedly on the case of Brittney Griner, as well, to provide her with the support she needs.

Look, this president has made a clear commitment to bring home Americans who are unjustly detained, held hostage around the world. We made good on that commitment once again yesterday. That adds to the countries from which we brought home Americans who have been unjustly detained from Afghanistan, from Venezuela, from Haiti, from Burma and as of yesterday, Russia.

Trevor Reed is now reunited with his family in Texas where he arrived this morning. But we made clear yesterday that our work is not finished. It is not finished in Russia. It is not finished in countries across the world that are unjustly holding Americans against their will.

When it comes to Paul Whelan, we are working with his family. We're doing everything we can to try to get him -- see him released from Russian custody as soon as we can. When it comes to Brittney Griner, we are providing her and working closely with her team, with her network, with the WNBA, providing precisely all the forms of support we can.

And in fact, a senior embassy official was able to visit her in recent weeks. We are continuing to press the Russians to live up to their obligation to provide us with regular, consistent consular access to Brittney Griner and to every American for that matter in pretrial detention.

[16:15:01]

TAPPER: State Department spokesman, Ned Price, thank you so much. Appreciate it.

There's also the emotional scars of this war. A 12-year-old girl kidnapped and rescued. How this invasion is leaving a lasting impact on some of its youngest victims.

Plus, the U.S. economy unexpectedly shrinking for the first time since the early days of the COVID pandemic. What this might mean as some economists warn a recession may be near.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TAPPER: And we're back with our world lead.

At least 1.6 million children have been forced to leave Ukraine because of Putin's brutal war. According to the United Nations, the U.N. Refugee Agency says it's absolutely critical to keep families together for the well-being of the kids, especially sadly many families are still torn apart.

CNN's Matt Rivers now follows the heartbreaking story of a 12-year-old Ukrainian orphan taken by Russians. She is now miraculously safe and healing from her physical injuries, but with lasting emotional scars.

[16:20:03]

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MATT RIVERS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): For Kira Obedinsky, her new iPad is everything. She's 12, after all. But the shiny screen is also a welcome distraction from an ordeal no 12-year- old should ever have to endure. Because just a few weeks ago, the young Ukrainian wasn't safe like she is now in Kyiv. But in a hospital run by Russian-backed separatists, forcibly separated from her family.

When the Russians first invaded Mariupol, Kira's dad was still alive. Her mom had died just after she was born, and when Russian bombs started to fall, they sheltered in a neighbor's basement, she recalls.

But they hit the house we were staying. We were buried in the cellular. Then the rescuers took us out of the wreckage.

Her dad did not emerge, Kira told us. Now an orphan, she started to walk, to try and find safety amidst chaos, and then another explosion from a mine. My friend saw something on the ground, she says, and she hit it

accidently on the boot. The military came and took us to a hospital because we were bleeding.

But in some ways we are journey was just beginning. In the chaos, she was picked up by soldiers she said spoke Russian and eventually brought to a Russian-held area in Donetsk.

I was taken there at night, she says. They took shrapnel out of my me, out of my ear. I screamed and cried a lot.

It was shortly after this happened that CNN first learned about and reported her story, because Russia paraded it on state TV. State propaganda showed images of Kira in a Donetsk hospital and said she was being treated well.

Convinced she was being mistreated, her family went public with her story, and it worked. A deal between Russia and Ukraine allowed her grandfather to travel to Russia and bring her back to Kyiv, where she told us what Russian state TV did not.

It's a bad hospital there. The food there is bad. The nurses scream at you. The bed is bent like this. There wasn't enough space for all of us inside.

None of that came out on Russian state TV. Her injuries have largely healed now, though she'll stay in the hospital a little longer. It was there someone gave her that iPad, after a presidential visit came bearing gifts this week. She didn't love all that attention, so she says she just wants to see her cat and spend time with her grandfather, recovering from the horrors of war, one game at a time.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

RIVERS (on camera): And, Jake, this is the absurdity of Russian state media, propaganda really, basically saying that this girl is an example of Russia's humanity in this war, despite the fact that they're only in their care in Donetsk because the Russian army killed her father in a war that the Russian army started -- Jake.

TAPPER: Yeah, really twisted.

Matt Rivers reporting live for us from Kyiv, thank you so much for that special report.

Economists say they did not see this coming, the worst quarter for the American economy since the pandemic turned the world upside down in 2020. What this might mean for the chances of a recession, that's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:28:05]

TAPPER: In our money lead, a potential warning sign for America's economic recovery. The U.S. gross domestic product, or GDP, was down at an annual rate of 1.4 percent for the first three months of the year. Most economists expected a positive growth number. Instead, that was the weakest quarter for the nation's economy in two years when COVID first hit.

The GDP shrinking 1.4 percent in the first quarter means that at least by that measure, the economy is smaller today than it was in December. That seems to be largely because of supply chain constraints, imports to the U.S. have surged, exports fell, so did government spending.

But other indicators such as hiring and consumer spending grew.

Let's bring in Richard Quest to make sense of this.

Richard, the GDP stumbled, and it was unexpected. But economists say this doesn't necessarily mean a recession is imminent. Explain this.

RICHARD QUEST, CNN BUSINESS EDITOR AT LARGE: No, but does it mean is this the canary in the mine for what will happen either later this year or early into next? So, the next quarter is very unlikely to be negative, as well. There were unique factors about this set of numbers.

However, if we look, Jake, at the wider economic position, there is cause for concern. While the White House has tried to spin this as a one-off, they cannot ignore the fact that more and more private economists, those working for big banks and the like, are now saying a recession in the U.S. is likely next year, as the Fed raises interest rates. So it is a murky picture, which this particular number today, while maybe not crucially important, is giving a bell of alarm.

[16:30:02]

TAPPER: Speaking of spin, we should note, that as presidents do, the ones -- the numbers that are not all bad were emphasized by Mr. Biden today, President Biden. Take a listen.

QUEST: Yeah.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BIDEN: I'm not concerned about a recession. I mean, you're always concerned about a recession, but the GDP, you know, 1.4 percent. But here's the deal a recession, but we also had last quarter, consumer spending and business investment and residential investment increased at a significant rate, both for leisure, as well as hard products, number one. Number two, the -- unemployment is at the lowest rate since 1970.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: How do you explain this mixed pitch? What is your response to what you heard there?

QUEST: Well, he says he's not concerned too much about a recession. Well, there's not much he can do about it any way, to be blunt. First of all, there's the underlying economic situation. I made a list

here, Jake. You got inflation that's already in the system from the monetary policy of the last few years.

You've got the supply short from COVID. You've got the higher oil price as a result of the Ukraine war. You've got the Ukraine war itself and the problems of European slowdown.

You then got worries about what will happen next. And you've got China currently on shutdown. Now, put all that together, throw in the Fed, which is absolutely terrified now by 8.5 percent inflation rate in the United States, the highest for 40 years, and talk of a half percentage rate rises for the foreseeable next few meetings -- no, there's not a lot the president could do even if he wanted to.

This is a cake that is well and truly baking at the moment, the ingredients are all there, and it really just depends on how the Fed is going to move as a result of the way they see it rising at the moment.

TAPPER: All right. Richard Quest, thank you so much for your insight as always.

Coming up next, the news many young kids have been waiting to hear -- the first COVID vaccine ready for children 5 and younger. But how long until shots can be approved to go into those little arms?

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:36:32]

TAPPER: In our health lead, the long wait for parents eager to vaccinate children may soon be over. Moderna announcing today that the company is finally seeking emergency use authorization for its vaccine for kids age 6 months to 5 years old. The company says the vaccine was 51 percent effective at preventing symptoms for kids under 2, and 37 percent for kids age 2 through 6. Results are similar for adults during the omicron wave.

Joining us now to discuss, Dr. Paul Offit, the director of the Vaccine Education Center at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and a member of the FDA's Vaccines Advisory Committee.

Dr. Offit, I have to say, these seem like pretty poor numbers. As a member of the vaccine advisory board, how do you see these results?

DR. PAUL OFFIT, FDA VACCINE ADVISORY COMMITTEE MEMBER: It's what you would expect. I mean, the vaccines that are given, whether it's Pfizer, Moderna, or Johnson & Johnson, are all made to protect against the original strain of virus that came out of China, the so-called ancestral strain. And the vaccines were very good at preventing serious disease caused by the subsequent strains, alpha, delta.

But these vaccines are not as good preventing against the newer variants, the omicron, BA2, these BA2 subvariants, because what those variants are, it's so much that they're more contagious, they're immune evasive for protection against mild disease. So, it's just what you would expect.

What you would also expect is that these children would be expected against severe disease, as appears to be true also from adult.

TAPPER: What sort of timetable should parents expect for the FDA to grant emergency approval? Moderna applied today, so what's the timeline do you think?

OFFIT: Well, I think it's likely the FDA Vaccine Advisory Committee will consider this in June, and then we need to see all the data to see if we do recommend it. But if we do, then it goes to the FDA, which then agrees with that recommendation or doesn't, then to the Centers for Disease Control and Preventions Advisory Committee, which would again agree or not. Once submitted or once considered by the FDA Advisory Committee, usually about a week or week and a half assuming everything goes smoothly.

TAPPER: So, the FDA won't -- the FDA advisory committee won't consider it until June? I mean, it's April right now. Why -- I mean, does it take a month to review the data? Or what's -- why the delay?

OFFIT: The FDA makes those decisions. They usually set aside dates in May, June, and forward and take those dates away as we get closer and they don't need them. Right now, the meetings that are scheduled are scheduled in June.

TAPPER: Okay. I would just say --

OFFIT: Why not until June? I don't know. You have to ask the FDA. I'm just on the advisory committee.

TAPPER: Well, on behalf of my staff with two women of my staff who have young children under the age of 5, let me just say, if anybody from the FDA is listening, maybe before June would be good.

Pfizer says it expects to submit its vaccine trial data for children under five in the coming months. Fauci has said -- the FDA is weighing to consider emergency use authorization for both vaccines for young kids at the same time. Could that slow down the process further given that Pfizer hasn't submitted anything yet?

OFFIT: Yeah, I'm not sure I understand why. I mean, the Moderna vaccine is a two dose vaccine which has been completed and submitted to the FDA. The Pfizer vaccine is a three-dose vaccine. We certainly have considered vaccines separately before. We considered the Pfizer and Moderna vaccine separately, the J&J vaccine separately.

So I'm not sure where the feeling is we can't do that separately.

[16:40:01]

I think the American public could understand there are differences among those or between those vaccines, as long as we explain it well. TAPPER: Dr. Fauci caused a bit of a stir after he appeared to declare

the COVID pandemic over. He clarified by saying the country is moving into a transitional phase of the pandemic.

How do you see it? Are we still in the pandemic? How will we know when we're not?

OFFIT: Well, so right now we have about 90 percent population immunity, from vaccination or natural infection or both. And what you're seeing is -- what really is hopeful is when you see outbreaks now, for example, an outbreak in New York City or Philadelphia, what you don't see subsequent to those outbreaks is a dramatic increase in hospitalization or death, that's good. That's what you want. These vaccines are doing what you want them to do, which is to protect against serious illness.

The definition of pandemic is it changes the way you live, work or play. The definition of moving beyond that into an endemic or epidemic period, you go about your day normally. So, I mean, for example, two years before this pandemic hit, influenza caused 800,000 hospitalizations and about 60,000 deaths in the United States. That didn't change the way we live, work, or play because we accept that as a yearly epidemic. We'll get to that point with this virus as well, I just don't know what those numbers are of disease, hospitalization and death that we're going to be willing to accept, where we go about our life as normal and just accept that level of illness.

TAPPER: Dr. Paul Offit, thank you so much. Good to see you again.

Coming up next, mid-air stunt pilots armed with GoPros. How the fed are now trying to go after these sometimes hard to catch daredevils.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:46:17]

TAPPER: In our national lead, the federal aviation authorities are landing hard in those involved in a crash of what the FAA says are made for clicks mid-air stunts. On Sunday, two pilots attempted a dangerous mid-airplane swap. A stunt that ended in a crash that left both pilots unharmed.

As CNN's Pete Muntean reports for us now, many fear flying is the latest frontier for this over-the-top viral video culture desperate for attention.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PETE MUNTEAN, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): They are high- flying spectacles meant to attract millions of views. Now those behind them have become the newest targets of federal authorities.

Just this month, the Federal Aviation Administration has cracked down following three incidents, suspending the license of a YouTube pilot the FAA said flew too low, revoking the license of the YouTuber who parachuted from a supposedly crashing airplane, and opening an investigation into Sunday's plane swap sky-diving stunt gone wrong, that sent an out of control Cessna crashed into the Arizona desert.

ANDY FARRINGTON, VETERAN SKYDIVER: We're both here and good to go. Everybody is safe and sound and I guess that's the important part.

MUNTEAN: Veteran skydivers Andy Farrington and Lou Aikins survived the stunt, which required two diving planes to be empty, under the control of autopilot. But in documents shared with CNN, days before, the FAA denied Aikins request to be exempt from the rule that requires pilots at the controls all the time. Aikins did not return our multiple requests for comment.

PAUL BERTORELLI, EDITOR AT LARGE, AVWEB: I can't defend it. And I don't think they can, either.

MUNTEAN: Aviation journalist and skydiver Paul Bertorelli says the FAA will likely pursue larger punishment, especially since the agency just revoked the silence of Trevor Jacob, whose "I crashed my plane" YouTube video has been teen more than 2 million times. The FAA says Jacob purposely caused the crash, jumping out while holding a camera attached to a selfie stick.

BERTORELLI: He needed someone to put the brake on him. Well, now, the FAA is putting a breaking on him.

MUNTEAN: Now experts fear flying has found itself at the center of over the top viral video culture, where competition for clicks is coming before good judgment.

NATALIE GOUCHE, SOCIAL MEDIA EXPERT: Everyone is trying to one-up, which means you have to do the most outlandish thing. You have to do the most eye popping thing, something that will grab attention.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MUNTEAN (on camera): Red Bull sponsored Sunday's plane swap event, and Hulu streamed it live. Both declined comment for this story.

Trevor Jacob also did not reply to our request for comment.

We did speak with YouTuber Trent Palmer, who is appealing the FAA decision to have his pilot license suspended. Palmer says he was cited for low flying, was following FAA rules, even though he insists to us today -- Jake.

TAPPER: Yeah. All right. Interesting. Thank you so much.

Turning now to our pop culture, Carlton McCoy is a classically trained chef, a master sommelier, and an expert traveler, who has found himself at home everywhere from his grandmother's kitchen to the top restaurants in the world and all of the variety of places in between.

Now, in the all-new CNN original series "NOMAD WITH CARLTON MCCOY" he takes us on a global exploration of food, music, art to discover the universal thread that is connect us all. Here's a preview of his trip to the suburbs of Paris.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CARLTON MCCOY, CNN HOST: This is not like it a tour or anything like that. I am here to meet with someone special, Chef Francis Oge. He's a chef de partie here at the palace kitchen.

FRANCIS OGE, CHEF WHO COOKS FOR FRENCH PRESIDENT MACRON: It does not work like a regular restaurant or hotel. This is the first house of France, we are like a display for the world.

[16:50:03]

MCCOY: Chef Oge is a first generation immigrant, he grew up in the suburbs but he now cooks for the president and his wife.

First of all, it is a pleasure to meet you. I am then fan buoying out on your Instagram. I also love very ornate classical French cuisine, it is about as classic as you can get, like food that people don't -- really not to cook anymore.

Today, he is preparing an old school French dish that we both love.

OGE: Culturally, you have a mille-feuille.

MCCOY: It means 1000 leaves?

OGE: Exactly.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: Now, the host of "NOMAD", Carlton McCoy.

Carlson, welcome to the CNN family.

So you grew up in D.C., you learned how to cook from your grandmother. Out of high school, you got a scholarship to the Culinary Institute of America. You're only the second African American to earn the title master sommelier.

So, tell us how this prepared to take viewers on this journey?

MCCOY: First of all, Jake, I will say I am very impressed with your pronunciation of sommelier. It's not an easy word.

(LAUGHTER)

MCCOY: So, I'm guessing you have spent a little time in wine listing restaurants. No, I think from where I was raised and looking at where I am now, I think that journey has given me a pretty unique perspective on the world. Being able to travel and cross threshold of class, race, so forth, in culture.

You know, I think my perspective, in a way of connecting with people through cultural lenses, whether it be food or beverage or art or music, it's become something that is incredibly important to me. I am excited to show the world how tend when I travel.

TAPPER: And what do you want viewers to take away from your show?

MCCOY: I want them to be challenged to explore outside what they know. We look at Paris, a city that people think they really understand. I have been here a ton of times. But, you step outside of those normal where people tend go, you realize that there are parts of Parisian stories and history that aren't told. They are equally authentic Parisian identities. They tend to be from immigrant groups, most of which have been for three or four generations there.

And for me, that really excited me. Not to discount the identity of a normal Parisian, what we call the normal Parisian, but it added to the excitement and what makes Paris a very special city.

TAPPER: Yeah, in this first episode, you visit the Paris suburbs. And there's this evolution of French identity underway. The idea of what French culture is is changing, being redefined. So, what did you find there?

MCCOY: Well, we found what you often see when you get anywhere in the world. You go outside that normal purview. You realize that the concept of national identity is evolving very quickly around the world.

And we realized that this Vietnamese family who have been in Paris for three or four generations, you know, that was also Parisian. We went to Saint-Denis, and we went to a soccer game where you had these families where, again, they've been in the suburbs for three or four generations, ancestors came from different countries around Africa. That was also a very authentic creation Parisian experience.

What it does is, instead of making people afraid of that, if we want to open it up and say, look, this is an exciting new frontier for me to explore when you go to these places. To say, hey, look, this is now making its way into the mainstream, crossing the periphery of the city, making its way to the downtown Paris. So that it's now on the main stage is a really authentic part of Paris. And for me, I think that's something we should all be excited about, but also to look at the place where you live through the same lens, and say, what am I not expose to, what am I not exploring in my own hometown?

TAPPER: Very interesting. I can't wait to watch. Everyone else, be sure to tune in.

The all new CNN original series, "NOMAD WITH CARLTON MCCOY" premieres Sunday at 10:00 p.m. Eastern only on CNN.

Carlton, come back soon, and best of luck with the premiere.

MCCOY: Thank you.

TAPPER: Coming up, the source of all that U.S. military equipment headed to Ukraine. CNN digs into the weapons business, how defense contractors are going to make a profit after this war is said and done and why no one will ever really know where all that equipment ends up. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BRESAK)

[16:59:01]

TAPPER: Welcome to THE LEAD. I'm Jake Tapper.

This hour, the struggle for control of Congress with midterms now only 194 days away. Democrats zeroing in on gas prices and student loans, while more Republicans focusing on classroom cultural wars.

Plus, the business of war. How some of the largest American defense contractors could soon be making bank on the U.S. weapons supply going to Ukraine.

And leading this hour, explosions in Ukraine's capital city of Kyiv. The mayor quick to blame Russia. Officials saying at least ten people were hurt. Fighting is also intensifying in the south and east. And that steel plant in Mariupol is hit with the heaviest air strikes since the invasion began.

CNN's Scott McLean is joining us now live from Lviv, Ukraine.

Scott, what do we know about these missile strikes on Kyiv tonight?

SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Jake. Yeah. So, it happened a little under four hours. President Zelenskyy said there were five missiles launched at the city, one struck a 25-story apartment building, causing extensive damage and a fire that was put out a little more than an hour later.