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Ukrainians Say they Hit a Vital Russian Warship; Pentagon Trying to Arm Ukraine Faster; Steve Anderson is Interviewed about the War in Ukraine; Subway Shooting Suspect Arrested; First Court Appearance for Subway Suspect. Aired 9:00-9:30a ET

Aired April 14, 2022 - 09:00   ET

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

[09:00:55]

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN ANCHOR: Right now, day 50 of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. And a key Russian warship, a flagship, in fact, badly damaged. Ukrainian forces claim to have struck it with a Neptune-class cruise missile. I'm told this morning that Ukrainian military has shared its assessment, its intelligence on the strike, with the U.S.

A very good morning to you. I'm Jim Sciutto.

BIANNA GOLODRYGA, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Bianna Golodryga.

New this morning, Ukrainian commanders say they struck one of Russia's most important navy warships with a guided missile. This was one of the ships involved in the infamous Snake Island attack. The Kremlin is denying those reports, claiming instead that there was merely a fire on board.

Now, CNN has not been able to visually confirm the status of that ship.

Also this morning, Russian state TV airing this new video, saying that it shows more than 1,000 Ukrainian marines surrendering to Russian forces in Mariupol. Ukraine is denying this report. Now, we should note, that CNN cannot verify its authenticity as CNN crews are not allowed on the ground there in Mariupol. It's just too dangerous, Jim.

SCIUTTO: It's been the scene of such fierce fighting between Russia and Ukraine.

Happening right now as well, the U.S. is answering President Zelenskyy's pleas for more help, sending Ukraine some $800 million worth of weapons. It includes whole new categories of weapons we haven't seen so far including heavy artillery.

We're also learning that the U.S. may soon send a high ranking official to Ukraine to visit. While President Biden, Vice President Harris unlikely to be on that list, there are talks that the defense secretary, Lloyd Austin, or the secretary of state, Antony Blinken, could travel there.

Let's begin this morning with CNN correspondent Matt Rivers. He is in Lviv, in western Ukraine.

So, Matt, this is quite a moment in this war. This is a Russian flagship. A significant part of its navy. It was involved in perhaps the signature battle of this conflict so far, one of them, that Snake Island encounter. Ukrainians say they hit it with a missile. Jake Sullivan said this morning that the ship was, at a minimum, damaged either due to incompetence or a successful Ukrainian attack. What do we know on the ground there?

MATT RIVERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, well, we're hearing from three different sides in all of this, Jim, as you laid out, the Russians, the Ukrainians and the Americans.

Let's start with what the Russians are saying. And I think it's significant that Russian state media is talking about this as openly as they are. It shows you that the damage to this ship is not something that the Russian government wants to talk about, but they clearly feel like they have to.

And so what we're hearing in Russian state media is that this was a fire onboard this ship. They don't say the cause of that fire. They say it's since been localized and put out. But it did require all the sailors onboard that ship to be evacuated according to the Russian ministry of defense to other ships in the nearby area. They also say that the ship is now being brought to port, although they don't say exactly where it's going.

But in terms of the cause of all this, you've got the Ukrainians on the other hand saying that this was something that they did. This was by design. This was shore-based cruise missiles developed here in Ukraine and brought into service, this Neptune class, as you mentioned, brought into service by Ukrainian armed forces within the last year or so. And they say several of those missiles struck this ship. That's what caused the damage.

As you also mentioned, American officials say they don't have the information right now to determine definitively what happened here.

But I think no matter what the cause here is, Jim, this is a huge blow to Russia's navy. This is the flagship of Russia's Black Sea fleet. And no matter what the cause is, it does two things. It hurts Russia's technical capabilities to conduct war fighting operations in this part of Ukraine, but it's also highly symbolic. This is a ship named after the capital of Russia. It is the flagship of the Black Sea fleet. It is a big blow to the image and possibly to the morale of Russia's navy at a time when we've seen the Ukrainian armed forces have successes in other parts of the country as well.

SCIUTTO: No question, Matt.

Listen, there have been a lot of blows like that. It's a David versus Goliath conflict in many ways. And for this to be a successful strike on one of the most significant Russian warships would be quite a moment in this war.

[09:05:00] Matt Rivers, in Lviv, thanks so much.

The Biden administration is now trying to figure out how to get aid to Ukrainian forces on the front lines more quickly. This after announcing a significant $800 million security package.

GOLODRYGA: CNN Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr joins us now.

And, Barbara, some of these are heavier weapons than the U.S. has provided before. Some are U.S. made also, rather than Russian made from eastern European NATO allies. How significant is this change?

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, it is very significant because that fight in the Donbas, in eastern Ukraine, is virtually underway. In fact, a short time ago, a senior defense official told me they now see the first Russian forces that had left northern Ukraine to move back into Belarus and Russia to get refitted. They now see them moving into the northern Donbas, this region of eastern Ukraine, where the big push is expected to come by Russian forces and massive combat is at least expected to break out. It's why the U.S. is sending these heavier weapons, the kinds of weapons like howitzers, armored vehicles, drones, radars to be able to detect incoming fire at long ranges. These are the things that are going to be needed for this fight, and it is going to be a major effort to get them not only just to the border, but get them picked up by the Ukrainians and it will be up to Ukraine to bring them to that region of eastern Ukraine.

The Pentagon press secretary talked about this a short time ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN KIRBY, PENTAGON PRESS SECRETARY: The kind of fighting that we can expect in the Donbas is going to lend itself to the use of artillery and short-range rockets and missiles. And so you can see in the package that President Biden signed out, that those are the kinds of capabilities that we're trying to help Ukraine with right now.

If we can get it to Ukraine, they can take it to the east as quickly as possible. And I can tell you, Brianna, at some points, it only takes a matter of less than a week from the -- from the time the president authorizes a drawdown package for us to get at least the first shipment or so into Ukraine.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STARR: Look, that timeframe of a week has been what's been going on so far with the so-called, shall we say, lighter weapons, ammunition, drones that the U.S. has already been sending. It will now be a major test of transport capability to get these heavier weapons to the border and get the Ukrainians able to be able to ship them out to the Donbas clear across Ukraine.

Time is of the essence. Even John Kirby said they know they are running against the clock.

SCIUTTO: Yes.

GOLODRYGA: Yes, and at this point there doesn't seem to be much significance between the weaponry that we provided for them before that was more defensive and now, obviously, this does appear to be a move towards more offensive weaponry that we are sending their way.

Barbara Starr, thank you.

Well, joining us now to discuss is retired U.S. Army Brigadier General Steven Anderson.

General Anderson, great to have you on.

So, what stands out to you in this new package of weaponry that the U.S. administration announced yesterday in terms of what you're seeing the Russian troops amass there in the southeastern region of the country?

BRIG. GEN. STEVE ANDERSON, U.S. ARMY (RET.): Well, it's obviously going to turn into a much heavier fight. And it's very good news indeed that the Biden administration is stepping up with Congress to provide the capabilities they're going to need for the next phase of the war, the heavy artillery, the switch blade drones, the anti-ship cruise missiles, the support vehicles, the radar, et cetera. And this is hugely important.

But, you know, I just want to remind everybody, 15 years ago, we were spending $300 million a day in the war in Iraq. No, true, this $800 million package is fantastic news. But, still, all told, we only spent the equivalent of about eight days of the war in Iraq supporting the Ukrainians. Of course, this is an existential threat to our nation as Iraq was. And so we need to step up. We need to be spending more and we need to get all this kind of equipment, as Barbara just said, into the hands of the Ukrainians as quickly as possible.

SCIUTTO: General, I want to talk for a moment about what Ukrainians are claiming, as you know, is a missile strike on the flagship of the Russian navy there in the Black Sea, the Moskva. These would be, according to Ukrainians, what are known as Neptune missiles. Ukrainian made, right, not like the most advanced U.S. or NATO-supplied missiles.

If that is confirmed to be true, and I'm told that Ukrainians have shared their intelligence on this strike with the U.S., how significant would that be to show that Russian warships are vulnerable to these kinds of weapons? I mean we've seen top line Russian aircraft vulnerable to Ukrainian weapons. What does it show you about the Russian military in the course of this war?

ANDERSON: Well, Jim, it's hugely significant. I mean, first of all, tactically, you're taking a Russian flagship out of action, which is really, really important.

[09:10:01]

But operationally now it requires the fleet to get underway. They have to leave the port facilities. It shows that no ship is safe, and they're going to have to get back out into the Black Sea and they cannot provide the kind of supporting indirect fires in their assault on Odessa, or wherever they choose to attack the coast. And then strategically, of course, it's hugely important because it sends another powerful message that the Ukrainians are incredibly resourceful, they have an incredible will to fight and they have proven they deserve our support. So, from a tactical, operational and strategic perspective, this is really a big deal.

GOLODRYGA: Yes, I saw one expert describe it as one of the largest naval losses since the Falkland War. Just to put this into some perspective here.

In terms of the training, you know, there was an article in "The Wall Street Journal," talking about the eight years that NATO and the United States have been training Ukrainian troops there on the ground. And taking them away from their earlier training, more Soviet based, that was top-down training and allowing them not only to become familiar with western weaponry, but also with becoming more flexible in terms of decision-making on the ground, more nimble in having that authority.

Talk about the roles that all of that training has played to help the Ukrainians become as successful as they're showing they are right now.

ANDERSON: Well, the training has been really important. I mean the focus of training, of course, is really to train leaders. Now, the militaries of the west have non-commissioned officers. And I think that that's a difference maker as we have seen in the war against Russia, because they don't.

We have decisionmakers at the tip of the spear that can make decisions on the ground. And so training helps to facilitate that knowledge and that capability. And we need to continue to push these trainers, these special forces trainers and the like, teach them not only how to use the equipment, but how to employ the equipment, how to put it out in a operational sense and how to integrate combined fire, combined artillery and maneuver on the ground and aviation assets, put it all together in a coherent synergized package. That's how you win wars these days.

SCIUTTO: General, I have to ask you this, now to this point, the U.S. and its allies have supplied to the Ukrainians, not just the shoulder fired missiles that have been so effective, but tanks, they're coming from the Czech Republic, air defense systems, high altitude air defense systems. They're sending armored personnel carriers. They're sending mobile howitzers, right. They're sending helicopters. The Brits have supplied anti-ship missiles, more advanced even than the Neptune that the Ukrainians say were involved in this strike.

I mean, really the only thing not on that list are fighter jets. I mean how does Russia read what are clearly highly capable potentially, offensive weapons here, right, given all the sensitivities we've talked about throughout this, in terms of what aid the U.S. and the west supplies?

ANDERSON: Well, hopefully they're reading it as the entire world is unified against them, because that's indeed what's happened.

But I -- the premise that's in an offensive weapon I would object to. There's no such thing as an offensive weapon or defensive weapon. There is weapons. And it's all about how you employ them.

I submit to you that in this case they are using these weapons in a defensive mode. I mean, you know, we had a homeowner shot an intruder with a gun in his home, he was defending his home. We wouldn't say that he attacked that intruder. It's the same situation there. They are trying to defend their home. They need these weapons to do that.

SCIUTTO: Yes.

ANDERSON: And so the U.S. and the NATO must continue to push up, step up and provide these weapons so they can defend their homeland.

SCIUTTO: Yes, no question. They're big ones. They're powerful ones.

Brigadier General Steven Anderson, thanks so much.

Well, there are some signs of life and hope in the middle of just the devastating death, destruction, loss that we're seeing every day in Ukraine. So, we're going to bring you a moment of this. I think we all need to see it. In this new video, you see rescuers digging through rubble and dirt there of an apartment, a settlement, rather, in eastern Ukraine, hit by a shell. And through all that, after moving bricks, clearing dirt, what do they find under there but a puppy. Still alive after all that.

GOLODRYGA: They're saying he's alive, he's alive, he just needs some water.

Rescuers were able to reunite the shaken puppy with his 77-year-old owner. They say it's a miracle that both survived the shelling. Police say the two were given medical care, some water and they're both OK.

Jim, I must have watched that video ten times. It made me so happy to see that puppy come out alive.

SCIUTTO: Well, listen, it's a hellscape there, right? I mean there's so much loss every day. Just to see little moments of survival, if does give you -- does give you some hope.

[09:15:04]

GOLODRYGA: Indeed.

Well, still to come, new images of a bridge that Ukrainian forces say they destroyed to keep Russian forces out of the eastern city of Kharkiv. CNN is on the ground there as the shelling intensifies.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NIMA ELBAGIR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL INVESTIGATIVE CORRESPONDENT: That is so close. Those are Russian positions. They're shelling towards us. We are just over a mile away from the Russian forces. (END VIDEO CLIP)

SCIUTTO: Also ahead, the suspect in the Brooklyn subway shooting set to appear in court for the first time today. Details on how his own phone call to the police tip line could impact his case.

And later, Elon Musk is offering to buy all of Twitter, in cash, just days after turning down an offer to sit on the board. Hear how the company and all those shareholders might respond.

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[09:20:12]

SCIUTTO: The man accused of shooting ten people inside a New York subway, that frightening moment we saw just a couple of days ago, will be in court today. Law enforcement sources say Frank James essentially turned himself in. He called Crimestoppers, shared his location, apparently telling police he saw his face on the news and knew he was wanted.

GOLODRYGA: Such a bizarre twist to the story there.

We're also getting new videos of James before Tuesday's attack.

CNN national correspondent Jason Carroll joins us now from Manhattan.

Jason, what more have we learned?

JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Bianna, this is a spot where it all came to an end. This is where police found and spotted Frank James right here on the sidewalk, just a few feet behind me. This is where they arrested him and brought him into custody.

It all started, as you say, when police got that call to Crimestoppers. They got that tip yesterday afternoon. Law enforcement sources saying it was, in fact, Frank James who called and said that he was at a McDonald's and that police could come and get him there. Once they got over to that McDonald's, located not far from where we are, he was nowhere to be found.

Well, that's where Francisco Puebla steps in. He was working in the area. He's good Samaritan. He basically spotted Frank James on the sidewalk. And when he saw police, he flagged them down.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FRANCISCO PUEBLA, MANAGER, SAIFEE HARDWAR AND GARDEN IN LOWER MANHATTAN: When I saw his face, I recognized him like right away. And -- but -- at the same time I feel like kind of panicked because he was carrying a backpack on his right-hand side, and he was like, heavy, and he was going (ph) and talking himself.

And when (INAUDIBLE) showed up to the police car and I tell the police officer the -- I just saw the man that -- that -- the one that did the shooting in Brooklyn, and he was -- he just told me, like, OK, what he's wearing? What he's carrying?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CARROLL: And Frank James ended up being taken into custody without incident. At one point when he was transferred into federal custody, he was walked outside past reporters who were shouting questions, some of them shouting, why did you do it, why did you do it? Frank James remained silent and did not answer any of those questions.

He will have his first court appearance later this afternoon in federal court. He faces a number of charges, including a federal charge of one count of violating a law, which prohibits terrorist attacks and other violence against a mass transportation system. He faces other charges as well. And if convicted, he's looking at life in prison.

Bianna. Jim.

SCIUTTO: All the terror he caused on that train.

Jason Carroll, in New York, thanks so much.

Let's speak now to criminal defense attorney and CNN legal analyst Joey Jackson.

Joey, good to have you.

I'm curious, you've seen and been involved in a lot of cases. Have you ever seen someone like this, someone carry out what was clearly a planned act of violence -- I mean the smoke grenades, the multiple clips, and then turn himself in?

JOEY JACKSON, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Yes, Jim, good to be with you. Good morning to you and Bianna.

You know, these are difficult and crazy times. And the more we believe we're safe and sound, the more instances like this occur, which make us feel just the opposite.

Now, you know, certainly there's a variety of instances and cases that occurred. This one particularly compelling. We have a tremendous subway system in New York City. People need to be safe. People need to be secure. People need to know that when instances like this occur, we have a unified police force that intervenes. So, this is indeed unique.

He'll be brought to justice. I'm glad that he was captured. He'll be brought before a judge today. And at that time --

GOLODRYGA: Will the manner in which he essentially turned himself in by calling police impact the case at all? Will it help for a lighter sentence or will it, in fact, help prosecutors confirm, you know, what we assume to be the case, that he's the perpetrator here and he's admitted to it?

JACKSON: Yes, he's not going to get any points whatsoever for this. I mean, look, the reality is, is that thankfully you had other New Yorkers, like the one we just saw, who were tuned in. If you seeing some, say something. And so they were assisting the police. In addition to other law enforcement entities, the FBI, of course, ATF and other entities looking for him. But he will get in brownie points for this.

Today, to be clear, with respect to process, he'll be brought in front of the judge. He'll be advised as to whether he knows the charges he's facing, the mass transportation charge, terrorism in effect on a mass transportation system. He'll be advised whether he spoke to his attorney about that. He understands the proceedings.

Thereafter, I do not believe, Bianna or Jim, that any bail will be set. There are no conditions upon which he could be released for anyone to feel safe. And then I think he'll be indicted by a grand jury and the case will move forward.

[09:25:00]

But make no mistake about it, he will face, if convicted, and the police we know, the investigators are getting a bevy of evidence, if convicted he will face life in jail, period.

SCIUTTO: Yes.

GOLODRYGA: Just miraculous that those ten New Yorkers, who he shot, among them, children, are all expected to have a full recovery and survive.

Joey Jackson, thank you.

JACKSON: (INAUDIBLE).

GOLODRYGA: Well, new images purportedly show the Ukrainian resistance destroying a bridge just as a group of Russian military vehicles were crossing. CNN is on the front lines with Ukrainian soldiers up next.

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