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Retreating Russians Leave Equipment Behind In Some Towns; First U.S. Monkeypox Death Confirmed In Los Angeles County; Trump's Influence Hangs Over Final Primary Day Of 2022; Queen's Coffin Arrives In London From Edinburgh. Aired 1:30-2p ET

Aired September 13, 2022 - 13:30   ET

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

[13:30:04]

SAM KILEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Now the fact that the command and control structures there fled is critical for the Ukrainians. They need to keep those senior officials on the run to prevent the Russians regrouping. But that's going to be a very tall order as their logistics tail. This is the Ukrainian logistics tail gets longer, they'll be more vulnerable to Russian counterattacks. We've seen the evidence of that here in Kharkiv with these power cuts following missile strikes against the power generating plants here, but also because the Russians will be retreating into long-established positions inside the Donbas, inside the so-called People's Republic of Donetsk and Luhansk, both of which have been held by Russia since 2014 but they've got much stronger defensive positions -- Ana.

ANA CABRERA, CNN ANCHOR: Ukrainian officials are also saying that some Russian soldiers remain at large in the Kharkiv region. Some of them wandering in the forest, as they put it. What are you seeing on the ground there.

KILEY: Well, we drove a very long distance through forested areas, down long empty stretches of road that could well have been Russians who've been left behind. And we know from military commanders on the ground, they've taken what they call it, saying as huge numbers of prisoners. We haven't yet seen independent evidence of that.

They do say that they will be afforded all of the protections that Ukrainians have frequently denied under the Geneva Convention when they're captured by Russians. But we've seen this in the past around Kharkiv where the Russians who've been left behind take shelter and retreat into the woodland. Again, it depends on whether or not they have turned into partisan fighters or they just want to get out of harm's way -- Ana.

CABRERA: Sam Kiley, in Kharkiv, thank you so much for your reporting.

Let's bring in retired U.S. Army Major John Spencer. He is the chair of Urban Warfare Studies with the Madison Policy Forum and author of "Connected Soldiers: Life, Leadership and Social Connections in Modern War."

Major, always great to have you here. Ukraine regaining more than 2300 square miles in just the last two weeks. You've called this the greatest counteroffensive since World War II. That's remarkable. Explain.

MAJ, JOHN SPENCER (RET.), CHAIR OF URBAN WARFARE STUDIES, MADISON POLICY FORUM: Yes. And I know there's pushback to that, whether it's the Inchon landing or anything. But the greatest surprise in war, meaning to Ukraine, meaning to Europe, and meaning to us the free world since Russia is trying to threaten the global international order, what Ukraine has done is huge. It's a turning point in this war. It's the first time that they've done a large-scale offensive backed with Western weapons, but also they're achieving unthinkable gains. Really only rival by their defeat of Russia in saving Ukraine in the battles of Kyiv and other (INAUDIBLE).

CABRERA: And obviously while the Western world is really cheering them on, U.S. officials aren't quite as confident. They're not expressing a supreme confidence, so to speak. Their tone has been more cautious optimism. I want to put up the map here of all the territory Ukraine has gained since the invasion and just take a look at this. Given all the headwinds right now, can Russia battle back and ultimately capture and hold on to the country or at least a very significant portion?

SPENCER: Now I personally don't think so. I'll go out and say that Ukraine is not fighting an attrition war. The war will not go for years. I understand the apprehension to celebrate a victory at this point. Well, you can't take from Ukraine what it's done. It's claimed in just a few days more land than Russia took in the last few months.

And it's not just the coverage on the map, Ana. If you look at some of those videos, it's exposing how weak the Russians were. And those look like homeless camps. And this is a war about cities. So Izium was a critical city in Russia's ability to have a logistical note. You know, war is about cities, logistical notes, logistical hubs, and Ukraine just dealt Russia a major blow to their ability to stay in the fight.

CABRERA: Here, we've been seeing the pictures of the tanks and the artillery being abandoned by Russian troops as they flee. Analysts say the losses are mounting. In fact they say one Russian tank division may have lost half its combat power. How does Russia recover from these losses?

SPENCER: They don't. They don't. I mean, Russia is like we've known from the beginning, gets weaker every day in Ukraine. And this blow, it will take decades and decades for them to rebuild their military. But they don't recover from this in Ukraine. And ironically, they just became the biggest supplier to Ukraine of military aid to date. I mean, they're abandoning -- no military does that. A military would usually blow up their stuff if they can't take it with them or they'd usually take it with them like they did in April.

[13:35:01]

So this is really a huge sign of the status of Russian forces. I understand be apprehensive, there's a lot of fighting to be had. But this is a major inflection point.

CABRERA: Major John Spencer, always great to have you here. Thank you so much. SPENCER: Thank you.

CABRERA: The first known monkeypox death was just confirmed here in the U.S. We have the latest on that, and today marks the end of primary election season. Get ready for some fierce political battles over the next eight weeks. What's at stake ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:40:22]

CABRERA: Welcome back. We're learning more today about the first confirmed monkeypox death here in the U.S. It happened in Los Angeles County, and I want to bring in CNN senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen.

Elizabeth, we know deaths from monkeypox are extremely rare. So what do we know about this person who died?

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Ana, what we know about this person is that they're immune compromised. And so that makes a huge difference when it comes to an infection like this. If an immune compromised person gets really pretty much any virus, it can really be a problem. Even, say, the common cold. So that's what we know about this person, the first known death linked to monkeypox.

Let's take a look at a bigger picture nationwide. About 20,000 people have had monkeypox in the United States. And if you take a look at this map, not surprisingly it is linked to big cities, to Houston, Texas, to cities in California, Atlanta, New York City. And so that's where we stand right now with monkeypox in the U.S.

CABRERA: OK. Thank you for that quick update, Elizabeth Cohen, appreciate it.

Intense talks are under way in the Senate to get 10 Republicans on board for a bill to codify same-sex marriage rights. The bill is a reaction to the Supreme Court's abortion rights reversal. And a vote could come next week. GOP Senators Tom Tillis and Susan Collins plan to lobby members to get enough support to break a filibuster. Then they need 10 Republicans to join the Democrats. As of now many Republicans are non-committal. And in Washington that essentially means there's hope for this bill.

It is primary day once again, and for the last time in this heated midterm cycle, and voters in New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Delaware are hitting the polls. Those smaller states could have big impacts on who controls Congress next year and Donald Trump's shadow looms large in some key races.

CNN's senior data reporter Harry Enten is here to break it down for us.

Harry, this midterm season seems to be a lot about Trump endorsements and turnout. So give us the lay of the land. HARRY ENTEN, CNN SENIOR DATA CORRESPONDENT: So there are three things

sort of as we wrap up primary season that I think are quite interesting. The number one thing is that Donald Trump is still in charge of the Republican Party. So look at the Trump-backed candidates, their primary win percentage. This year 89 percent. 2020 it was 96 percent. 2018, 88 percent. So what's happening in 2022 is basically in line with what's happened the last four years.

The other big story, or the second big story that I think is interesting to look at is the primary turnout, 2022 versus 2018. Overall this year, despite the fact that Trump is not on the ballot, primary voters, the turnout is up. It's actually up. But when we break it down by Republican versus Democratic side, you can see among Republicans it's up. Among Democrats it's down. So there is a lot of Republican enthusiasm. Not so much Democratic enthusiasm.

But there is one little takeaway. What happens if we take out the state of Kansas, right? Because Kansas had that abortion rights measure, constitutional, the right that they can say, you know, can we ban it. What happened in Kansas? Look at the partisan primary turnout. Democrats have 85 percent from 2018. Republicans were just up 50 percent. Compare that to all the other states where Democratic turnout was down, Republicans were up in Kansas as well, but not nearly as much as Democrats were. It was the highest increase in Democratic primary turnout anywhere in the nation -- Ana.

CABRERA: Well, so on this abortion rights issue, that's interesting because Republican Senator Lindsey Graham just introduced a bill for a national 15-week abortion ban. Again, a federal abortion ban is what we're talking about. This is after numerous Republican lawmakers and candidates have said no, no, a federal abortion ban is not something we're considering. You know, there have been candidates who sort of touted that in the primaries, now they're backing off as they move into the generals. How do you see this playing?

ENTEN: I don't really understand. I mean, I guess Lindsey Graham wants to take abortion off the board. But should politicians who oppose Roe v. Wade, and we're just looking among those who actually approved of it being overturned, should there be a push for nationwide abortion restrictions? Just 20 percent said yes. 80 percent said leave it up to the states. So from a political standpoint, Ana, I don't really know what the heck he's doing.

CABRERA: And it's interesting because he also emphasized that he could assure voters that this was going to happen should Republicans take back the Senate.

ENTEN: Sometimes politicians make me truly think. I don't know in this case.

CABRERA: Harry Enten, thank you so much.

ENTEN: Thank you.

CABRERA: Any moment now the Queen set to arrive in London before she's taken to Buckingham Palace. We're going to have special live coverage after a quick break. You can see the preparations for her arrival right there. Stay with us. You're live here on CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:49:21]

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, I'm Anderson Cooper.

Queen Elizabeth II is coming home. At any moment the body of Queen Elizabeth II will arrive in England, at Royal Air Force Northolt in London. You're taking a look at live pictures outside Central London where the plane carrying the Queen's coffin will land.

Every inch of the Queen's final journey has been choreographed and planned just as the Queen directed. Her coffin will then head after landing to Buckingham Palace where she will lay for the night. Tomorrow her coffin will travel to Westminster Hall where the people of England, people here in London and from all around will be able to say their personal farewells to her.

[13:50:01]

For a single day the Queen was lying in rest in Scotland. More than 26,000 mourners queued up and were able to pay their final respects.

Joining me here outside Buckingham Palace is CNN's chief international anchor Christiane Amanpour, CNN royal correspondent Max Foster.

It's been really an extraordinary day from what we have seen, just the respect shown to the Queen in Edinburgh and now crowds have been gathering here in the rain for much of the day.

CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: I mean, absolutely, and I think we're all sort of, you know, reinforced by what we've been seeing building over the last several days, right, of mourning, as people come to terms, as people do everything that they can to actually be around their queen for the last time in whatever location they find themselves. I think people wondered whether the Scots, for instance, would turn out on masse like they do either to line the Royal Mile or even the route as her motorcade traveled from one place to the next.

And it's been heartening, actually, I think, for the royal family and for the institution of Great Britain, the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland to see that actually things are moving in a way that people can recognize, the transition, the sad, profound, but one that was not unexpected and one that has caused people to stop and think and to reflect and to respect, to mourn and to continue this rite of passage.

COOPER: It is so interesting how important rituals are in the wake of death, I mean, in any family, but in this country, for this country these rituals matter.

MAX FOSTER, CNN ROYAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. On the very point of the monarchy because they were symbols and they allow us to connect with what's happening and they were all messages as well about what's happening. And it's -- this is a transition process from the time the Queen died to the funeral, it's not just about remembering the Queen's life and her monarchy, it's about connecting the people with their king's new monarchy. You're noting every other day there is a focus on either the Queen or the new king.

We're watching the aircraft now come into RF Northolt. So this is a really profound moment for the people of England. This is the first time the Queen of England, as she is, also as part of the United Kingdom, will be landing here. And then it will be her final journey, Anderson, to Buckingham Palace. And that's what all the crowds here are here to witness. This is -- every step of this is a moment in history and the public want to be part of it. And I think you'll see, you know, when the coffin comes to Buckingham Palace it's going to be a very powerful moment, I think, at the gates.

COOPER: It's a C-17, it's an American aircraft, the Royal British Air Force aircraft carrying the Queen's coffin, also Princess Anne, her husband are on board as well as several other dignitaries.

FOSTER: She's talked about this being, and she wanted to be able to sort of guide mother's body back all the way to England, and it would have been something that the Queen asked for. As you say, everything is being planned and approved by the Queen and she wanted Anne to take her back to England, with is quite profound.

COOPER: And the troops you're seeing are the Queen's Color Squadron, the 623 Squadron of the RAF. They have what's called a bearer party that will actually convey the coffin to the state hearse, then the Guard of Honor will present arms as we just saw them upon the arrival of the coffin and they're going to remain in that position until the state hearse has actually departed the airfield and the Queen makes her way back here to Buckingham Palace.

AMANPOUR: And interestingly we were talking before because a lot has been made of the flags, the royal standard, the flag that draped her coffin in Scotland was the Scottish standard. And we understand that in flight that flag would have been changed to the English one. And so that will be slightly different looking than the one -- the same colors, you know, gold and reds and things like that.

And also, you know, she took off in a beautiful -- it was a beautiful sunset as she took off and you saw the silhouetted pictures of the princess royal watching, you know, the body being taken on board this mighty aircraft here, which is a cargo plane, in fact, as you know, Anderson, just as well as I do, it's used to taking troops and material to military deployments.

COOPER: People evacuating from Afghanistan.

AMANPOUR: Exactly. Humanitarian aid. All those -- that particular model is used to doing that.

FOSTER: On the standards, the standards flying above Buckingham Palace signifying that the king is in residence there. So we can assume the king will receive the coffin.

COOPER: We saw, for those who happened to watch it the other day, we did see the king, King Charles III, the queen consort as well, returning to Buckingham Palace. They were in Belfast in Northern Ireland making a stop there and there we see the Queen -- the late queen has now landed.

AMANPOUR: I think that the fact that the king and Queen Camilla are really -- I mean, this is a frenzy of activity. I mean, for anybody, especially a mourning family, especially elderly people to be doing this amount of travel, which is not just logistics but it's going to meet dignitaries, going to receive condolences on behalf of the Queen, it's going to, you know, try to cement from the day one relations with the constituent parts of the United Kingdom, it's -- all of that is really interesting and meaningful beyond just the mourning and the condolences.

[13:55:12]

COOPER: Also going to Belfast at a time when there is great political turmoil in Belfast between the ruling parties. So it's an important time politically for prince --

FOSTER: The Queen's visit to Ireland was probably her most successful, most historic of her foreign tours and the follow-up visit that Christiane's been talking about to Northern Ireland.

COOPER: That was back in 2000, what, '11, '12?

AMANPOUR: Yes.

FOSTER: Yes. And it was, you know, there was a deep rift between the countries, all this history, and her brilliance was that she did something that politicians couldn't do, she just went there and she went as a visiting head of state. She termed everything as a visiting head of state and spoke in the local language, and everything she did went down incredibly well. And that was massive healing.

I can tell you, Anderson, that I've been told by the palace that when the coffin comes back to Buckingham Palace it's going to be a really profound moment, not just the king and queen will be there to greet the coffin or the children, all the grandchildren and their spouses. So everyone is going to I think be standing at the gates to receive the coffin and that's going to be very poignant.

COOPER: So you're going to see Prince William, who is now the --

AMANPOUR: Prince of Wales.

COOPER: Prince of Wales.

FOSTER: Prince Harry, Meghan.

COOPER: Prince Harry and Meghan will be there as well.

FOSTER: Yes. Also Margaret's children as well.

COOPER: And Prince Andrew, Prince Edward, they'll all be there as well. FOSTER: Yes.

AMANPOUR: And Kate, the princess of Wales. And everybody recalls obviously Diana is the iconic princess of Wales, and even that has passed, right, Max, faster than one expected, the titles have been passed to them by the king.

FOSTER: Yes. Yes. He could have taken his time. I think that's a reflection frankly of the massive expectation now on William's shoulders to step up. If you look at the monarchy, it slimmed down incredibly from all the cousins that the Queen was able to lean on for all of the duties, being slimmed right now, but more than anyone expected. You know, this generation of monarchy, William's generation of monarchy was meant to be shared, the duties with Harry. He's not a part of it. And I think it was a recognition of how Kate and William are going to have to do so much more now that they are the primary stand-ins effectively for the king.

COOPER: When you say it was slimmed down that was intentional. That was something that Prince Charles and Prince William were really involved in.

FOSTER: To some extent, but then Andrew and Harry and Meghan came out of the midst as well.

AMANPOUR: And part of that slimming down is not just personnel, right, is how much of the royal purse goes out to pay for these royals.

COOPER: To pay more of their own way.

AMANPOUR: Because, you know, the Queen started to announce that she was going to be paying taxes and this, even Charles. I found it interesting that in his first speech to the nation, you know, on the eve -- well, just after his mother's death, said that that was also a tradition that he would -- that he would obviously continue.

COOPER: It's been extraordinary today, you know, as we saw the Queen's body being driven along the route to the airport in Edinburgh, just to see the sheer number of people in very rural communities coming out, standing in ones and twos and threes on the side of the road, taking a time out of their day. There was something very just incredibly touching about that, sort of the personal nature of them wanting to witness, and wanting to pay their respects and bear witness, even if it was just a passing car going by.

FOSTER: I think people recognize that she is a, you know, true figure of history and even if they are not monarchists, you know, they like the Queen and if you had an opportunity -- I mean, lots of people coming down to London at the moment. I mean, I feel for them. If you imagine in 1965, that's the last state funeral, Churchill's, 320,000 people queued up to pay their respects at Westminster. That was 1965. I mean, what is it going to be this time?

AMANPOUR: They expect how many now, they've said, about two million?

FOSTER: They it's 700. I think it's going to be millions. They're going to try, aren't they?

AMANPOUR: And they say that they're going to keep, you know, the lying in state available and open 24/7, which is also a change.

COOPER: It's going to take, what, about an hour once the Queen is received at the airport for her to be brought to Buckingham Palace, is that right?

FOSTER: It could be less. And they took a very round-about route, didn't they, last time we were commenting on one of these when Charles came back. This is a more direct route. They're going to come straight along the A-40 basically towards Marble Arch Parklane and they're going to come to -- not behind us, Anderson, from the back of the palace and in there. But by that point you will see the family gathered, I think.

COOPER: Do you think the family will stay inside? Do you think they will come out to see the crowds?

FOSTER: No. I think we would have been told if we weren't going to see them.

AMANPOUR: You think we will see them?

FOSTER: Yes.

AMANPOUR: When you think, I mean, seriously, when you think that it was only a few months ago that this very spot where we are sitting was bathed in the light, literally, the warmth and the expression of her 70 years on the throne. This was the party. This was all the ruckus for the jubilee in early June there.