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Kamikaze Drone Strikes Rock Kyiv, Hitting Civilian Targets; Tonight, Rep. Tim Ryan (D-OH), J.D. Vance to Debate in Key Ohio Senate Race; Early Voting Begins in Georgia, Three Weeks Until Midterms. Aired 10-10:30a ET

Aired October 17, 2022 - 10:00   ET

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

[10:00:02]

BRIAN FUNG, CNN TECH REPORTER: But, overall, this is a sign that Ye is more closely aligning himself with the conservative movement and it raises further questions about how the conservative social media world will soon look. Bianna?

BIANNA GOLODRYGA, CNN ANCHOR: He has yet to apologize for the vile anti-Semitic post as well. Brian Fung, thank you.

And good morning, everybody, I'm Bianna Golodryga.

Our top story this hour, the Ukrainian capital under siege once again.

Explosions heard across Kyiv amid reports of kamikaze drone strikes throughout the city. At least three people were killed in the strikes, including a six-month pregnant woman. Those attacks part of a wider assault involving drones and cruise missiles that Ukrainian officials said, once again, targeted critical infrastructure.

Meantime, as Russia's escalation continues, both Russia and NATO are set to hold separate long planned exercises of nuclear forces.

We are covering all of the angles this is morning. Let's begin with CNN's Clarissa Ward live in Kyiv. Clarissa, I know you spoke with the mayor of Kyiv earlier this morning. What is the latest on the ground there and what did he tell you?

CLARISSA WARD, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: So, Bianna, unfortunately, the death toll here in the capital has now risen to at least four people dead. 19 were successfully rescued from a residential building that was hit. We revisited the scene of that building earlier. We spoke to the mayor. He said it is quite clear that Russia is targeting civilians and also crucially civilian infrastructure, heating, electricity, power, these all being very much the focus of Russia's attacks as Ukraine braces itself for a chilly winter that will be expected to come soon.

Now, we don't know exactly how many people were injured in those attacks. We do know that there were many more drones fired at the city than actually struck, though. According to Ukrainian authorities, Bianna, at least 15 were intercepted on their way into the city. And now you're hearing once again from the Ukraine's leaders basically a full throated appeal to the international community to provide better, more sophisticated anti-aircraft weaponry that would help them repel these kinds of attacks and also a full throated cry for sanctions against Iran, Ukraine coming out accusing Iran of supplying weaponry that is being used with deadly effect here on the ground in Ukraine. Of course, Iran has already responded by saying that that is simply not the case.

We did actually see part of one of the sort of the tail fins, if you will, of one of those Shahed drones, and written on it was za (ph) Belgorod, for Belgorod, apparently implying that this was some kind of a revenge for attacks that have happened on the Russian side of the border, attacks, I should emphasize, though, Bianna, that Ukraine has not taken responsibility for officially.

GOLODRYGA: Yes. And, Clarissa, I know you asked the mayor how this impacts the morale of residents there in the city, because it is now week number two of these missile attacks and these drone attacks hitting the city that was relatively quiet for the past few months.

WARD: It had been relatively quiet and peaceful. And there was a sense that businesses were opening again, cafes were busy again, the streets were bustling, definitely feels quieter out on the streets since we've been back and in the last week. But the mayor was quick to say, essentially, listen, the goal is quite clearly to cow civilians, but, actually, it is having the reverse effect. It is making people angry and it is kind of really hardening their resolve to fight this thing through to the end, Bianna.

GOLODRYGA: Clarissa ward, thank you so much. It is great to have you back there on the ground in Kyiv. We appreciate your reporting.

And now let's get to CNN's Barbara Starr at the Pentagon for more on these planned exercises of nuclear forces by both Russia and NATO. What more can you tell us about this? Previous exercises had been paused during this war. These are going forward, though.

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Both sides are going forward with their planned nuclear exercise. Let's talk about the Russians first for a minute. Their exercise was loosely translated to be named storm is something they've done before, something that the U.S. will be watching very closely, as will NATO. This will be an exercise of -- it is of our understanding of Russian strategic forces, could include some missile launches. And the big question is will the Russians actually within the exercise and training framework move some of their nuclear weapons around.

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That is what the U.S. and NATO will be so crucially watching for because there is so much concern given Vladimir Putin's rhetoric about nuclear weapons and President Biden's reference to an Armageddon. And this weekend the national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, again warning Russia to take care with what it does. Have a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) JAKE SULLIVAN, NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: It is incumbent upon the United States, working with our NATO allies and partners and other responsible countries around the world, including the likes of China and India, to send a clear and decisive message to Russia that they should not contemplate the use of nuclear weapons in this conflict.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STARR: So, the question during this exercise period this month with the Russians, will any movement of nuclear weapons be strictly routine as part of their training. That is what everyone will be watching for. And it comes just as NATO, including the U.S., 14 NATO nations conducting their own nuclear training exercise. They will not move nuclear weapons around but there will be some 60 aircrafts for the next several days flying in various locations in Europe, 600 miles at least from the Russian border, also testing and training NATO and U.S. nuclear deterrent capabilities in Europe. Bianna?

GOLODRYGA: Barbara Starr, thank you.

And joining me now to discuss is Steve Hall, former CIA Chief of Russia Operations. Steve, great to see you, as always. So, what will you be paying most attention to during these nuclear exercises, specifically on the Russian's part?

STEVE HALL, FORMER CIA CHIEF OF RUSSIA OPERATIONS: Bianna, I'm going to be watching for the messaging that goes on with all of this. Because, really, at the end of the day that is primarily what this is about as both sides are messaging each other about the possible consequences.

And so on Russia's side, Putin has been nuclear saber-rattling for a considerable period of time and, frankly, that's, to-date, has been the most effective use of his nuclear weapons is reminding the west, look, if this gets too far out of control, you never know what might happen.

It is perfectly reasonable for the west to respond and say, look, you have to remember there is consequences to everything. And, of course, that is a really fine line between reminding somebody who has nuclear weapons and is somewhat unpredictable with your own nuclear capabilities. So, it is all part of this dance to try to ensure that both sides know what they're talking about and that is going to be very important for the Russians to do that messaging.

GOLODRYGA: And Jake Sullivan made clear that even a test fire, either there in the Arctic north sea, north of Russia, or even in the Black Sea would be unacceptable as well. Is that a message that you think was received and understood by the Kremlin?

HALL: Sure, absolutely. I mean, they watch very carefully for the signaling and for the messaging, just like we do. Both sides intelligence services, both sides militaries and politicians, of course, will be watching very carefully. So, when that sort of message comes from Washington and other NATO countries and other members of alliance, the Kremlin will, of course, say, well, we'll do whatever we want, it is our own country, so forth and so on, but the message, nevertheless, will be received and the Russians will be watching this very carefully as well.

GOLODRYGA: Let me ask you about the latest round of strikes against major civilian populations, particularly Kyiv overnight. Obviously, this follows missile attacks last week. But the fact that the Russians have turned to what is believed to be Iranian drones, the latest I read was as many as 28 drones were fired at Kyiv. These are not very sophisticated drones but they're effective.

And the question is now what to be done about them. There is a debate in the E.U. today about whether Iran should be sanctioned. We know that Ukraine is asking for sanctions now. What should the U.S. be doing and why haven't sanctions been leveled yet.

HALL: I think there's a couple of really interesting angles to this question, Bianna. First, it is striking to me that Russia, which always touts itself, is having -- or touted previous to the current war that their involved in, touted themselves as a significant military, as a world leader in military operations and, of course, that has proven not to be true, to the extent that they actually have to reach out to some friends of theirs, the Iranians, for help. There has also been reporting that they've been doing this with the North Koreans. So, to me, that is striking in the sense that they have to go outside and ask somebody for assistance.

The other thing that is interesting is, of course,, this is part of the sort of missile lobbing that the Russians military is doing. They can't really attack directly in places like Kyiv and some of the other major population areas in Ukraine. So, they're just lobbing missiles at them while they continue to try to fight in the east and the south. That is very typical for Russian operations. But these drones are being used primarily, I think, for psychological and terror effects in places like Kyiv these days.

GOLODRYGA: And should Iran be sanctioned over them, over the sale of these drones?

HALL: Yes, absolutely. I mean, Iran should definitely feel the consequences. Whatever is left in terms of the sanction regime, additional sanctions, yes, I think, absolutely.

[10:10:02]

Iran needs to understand that there are consequences for doing these types of things and sanctions may be the best way to go on that.

GOLODRYGA: Yes. Well, listen, Iran can deny that they sent them, these drones. But you remember, we saw it with our own eyes just a few weeks ago, Vladimir Putin was there in Tehran meeting with the leader there, I would you assume talking about this very issue.

Steve Hall, thank you, always great to see you. We appreciate your time.

HALL: My pleasure. GOLODRYGA: Well, still to come, three weeks away from the midterms and one Arizona Republican says she won't commit to accepting the results if she loses. This as candidates and other key races look to make their case to voters on the debate stage.

Plus, documents show law enforcement knew about post containing violent language and threats to lawmakers in the buildup to January 6th. More on the extent of the known risk ahead.

And a stark warning from China, President Xi cautioning against foreign interference in Taiwan, threatening to use all measures necessary.

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GOLODRYGA: Well, tonight, Ohio Senate Candidates Tim Ryan and J.D. Vance will square off for a second debate just days after the pair faced off on a number of topics.

CNN Correspondent Omar Jimenez is following all of this. Omar, this is a pivotal race in the Democrats' push to hold the majority in the Senate. What should we be expecting to see tonight?

OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Bianna. Well, this is the second and last of the two debates, two times these two will face each other on the debate stage this election cycle with about three weeks to Election Day. And if you watch the first one, it was pretty contentious at times. Of course, they hit on the major issues like abortion, law enforcement, the economy and more. But at times, they were talking right at each other, moderators trying to jump in at points. Tim Ryan tried to use J.D. Vance kissing up to Trump against Vance saying that Ohio needs an ass kicker, not an ass kisser, that is a quote from Ryan, especially, when it comes to President Trump.

Here is another one of their exchanges.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. TIM RYAN (D-OH): This is the crowd that J.D. is running around with, the election deniers, the extremists.

He's running with an extreme element here that is very, very dangerous.

SEN. CANDIDATE J.D. VANCE (R-OH): I find it interesting how preoccupied you are with this at a time when people can't afford groceries, people can't afford to walk down the street safely. Let's focus on the significant issues right now, Tim.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JIMENEZ: So, look for a lot of same issues to be brought up. But Tim Ryan also saying he doesn't believe President Biden should be running again and wants a generational change on both sides of the political aisle.

But as I mentioned, we're about three weeks to Election Day. This is a state that President Trump carried by eight points twice, but polls up to this point in this race show that there is really no clear leader.

And one of the interesting points is that this Ohio and specifically Tim Ryan is one of the eight most competitive Senate races where Democrats have outraised Republicans when it comes from July through the end of September.

But the interesting part about that is that in this race, national Republicans have spent a whole lot of money helping with J.D. Vance to the point where we haven't seen that same amount of spending from national Democrats on Tim Ryan.

So, even though Tim Ryan outraised J.D. Vance $17 million to around $7 million this past quarter, looking ahead, it looks like J.D. Vance will be spending over $20 million while J.D. Vance will be under $10 billion. So, we'll see if that factor makes a difference in the end or if the second debate ends up moving the needle.

GOLODRYGA: Yes. Tim Ryan had been complaining that he wasn't getting as much national funding from the Democratic Party as his opponent is. We'll be watching tonight. Omar Jimenez, thank you.

Well, this morning, early voting kicks off in Georgia. The state could play a key role in Democrats keeping the senate, Incumbent Raphael Warnock seen her casting his early ballot last hour. He's facing Republican Herschel Walker.

CNN National Politics Reporter Eva McKend joins me from Atlanta with more. So, Eva, the senator just spoke after casting his ballot. What more did he say?

EVA MCKEND, CNN NATIONAL POLITICS REPORTER: Look, Bianna, he said that a vote is a prayer, and he said that we should stop describing it as Election Day and as really election season. And that mirrors what we're hearing from Democrats here on the ground, just really putting pressure on their voters to get out and vote early.

He also addressed this contentious moment that happened at the debate, the one and only debate, between him and his Republican opponent, Herschel Walker, as it relates to that badge that Walker whipped Friday. Let's take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. RAPHAEL WARNOCK (D-GA): The people of Georgia deserve a serious person to represent them at serious times. And I'm committed to doing that work. I've been very transparent about my life. I've meant what I've said and I've said what I meant. It is an open book. He, on the other hand, claimed to be a police officer. He's not, even though he produced a badge on Friday night claiming to work for the FBI. He clearly did not.

(END VIDEO CLIP) MCKEND: So, Warnock was addressing that moment during the debate when Walker whipped out a badge when Warnock essentially knocked Walker for saying -- making law enforcement claims that are not true.

But for his part, Walker doubling down on this, saying that he is an honorary member and the sheriff's county in the county that the badge is from is actually backing Walker, saying that they are proud of him and endorsing his Senate bid, but, really, this just gets at this issue of veracity, Warnock picking at Walker for not always being truthful.

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Bianna?

GOLODRYGA: Eva McKend, thank you.

Well, joining me now to talk about all of this is CNN Political Analyst Laura Barron Lopez and White House Correspondent for PBS Newshour and Alayna Treene, White House Reporter for Axios. Good morning to both of you.

So, let's start there in Georgia and I want to put up this any Quinnipiac University poll that's basically remained unchanged from September to October. Remember subsequently there has been more news that came out. We had the debate on Friday. And here is where things stand. It has Warnock at 52 percent and Walker at 45 percent. Alayna, what does that signal to you about where this race is and where voters are three weeks before they cast their ballot?

ALAYNA TREENE, CONGRESSIONAL REPORTER, AXIOS: Well really, it is so close, Bianna, and it is really anyone's guess now who is going to be victorious on Election Day in Georgia. And it is such a crucial state. I mean, I know I've spoken with many top Republicans in the Senate who are curious, you know, what will happen obviously, because Georgia is such a crucial state to winning back the majority.

And some of those conversations that I've had had also -- I think people privately recognize that Walker is not an ideal candidate. He has a lot of flaws. Obviously, everything that has been coming out about his past, about his family, about whether he's been lying about some of what he's been saying about his family and being redeemed from his past, all of this really --

GOLODRYGA: Yes. And, Laura, you noted interestingly that in the different race, the gubernatorial race in Georgia, and that is obviously between Stacey Abrams and Brian Kemp, that Abrams has focused a lot more on the issue of abortion that we've seen play out at least from the Warnock camp thus far. And in that challenge, what do you make of that strategy and who do you think it benefits more, Warnock for not dealing with it or focusing on it as much as Abrams' is or does she have the right political strategy going into the midterms?

LAURA BARRON LOPEZ, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, it is really striking this difference here because of the fact that Senator Warnock seems to be deciding that he doesn't want to necessarily initiate attacks on Walker, on Herschel Walker, around the allegations that he paid for an abortion of an ex of his and then that he subsequently asked for a second abortion when the woman became pregnant a second time. Those are allegations that he's been facing that have a lot of Georgians have been talking about. But Warnock has decided not to hammer Walker on it, not to initiate the attacks but simply to say that he's focused on health care for women.

And that is striking simply because since the Dobbs decision, so many Democrats that are running in these very difficult races have been trying to amplify abortion rights in their races because of the fact that numbers show that women are increasingly registering to vote since the Dobbs decision, since Roe v. Wade was overturned, and that it potentially helped Democrats in a lot of special elections.

Now, whether or not it ends up -- it is why Abrams is able to potentially close the gap, we see that she's starting to narrow that gap between her and Governor Kemp. But, again, as you noted, there is a lot of time between now and Election Day, so we won't know whose strategy is the most effective.

GOLODRYGA: Alayna, I'm curious to get you to respond to a piece in The New York Times over the weekend that talked about the Democrats largely not addressing some of the legislative accomplishments that the president has achieved, perhaps because they've been inundated with attacks from Republicans, saying that these legislative accomplishments have led to inflation. Where does that leave Democrats on the campaign trail in terms of embracing President Biden before Election Day?

TREENE: Well, it is interesting. I think you see a big split across the country around candidates who want president support. I mean, he was in California, in Oregon last week, but both very solid Democratic states, I'd argue, where President Biden's presence isn't seen as a detriment. But it is fascinating.

I do think President Biden has been very legislatively successful, I think, to the surprise of many people given the margins in the Senate and the narrow margins in the House as well. But you're right, a lot of people are not running on the Inflation Reduction Act, they're not running on the chips and China competitive spell. They're not running on the bipartisan infrastructure deal. They're running on abortion.

And one of things that when I talk to outside strategists or Democrats and Republicans on Capitol Hill, Democrats say that they think, really, the abortion issue is the one that motivates people. It is something that gets them angry and it's something that Republicans really do well.

[10:25:02]

They know how to pick issues that really rile up voters and energizes them to go to the polls, and abortion is really that issue for Democrats.

I also think that when we look ahead to Election Day, there is a chance that a lot of people recognize they're not as concerned about a lot of the packages that have passed. They think those are great but people are really worried about inflation, they're worried about gas prices, particularly after these OPEC cuts. And so they're trying to focus on issues that really motivated voters.

GOLODRYGA: Laura, what will you be watching out of this debate between J.D. Vance and Tim Ryan in Ohio. Tim Ryan was seen as a strong, blue collar Democratic candidate but that state is no longer up for grabs. I mean, that is a ruby red state at this point.

LOPEZ: Well, I think, first off, the fact that Ohio is even competitive to begin with is something that was not expected, not competitive for Democrats, I mean. Because -- and I think that is why you haven't seen the Democratic official party arm really invest there because this was a reach seat for Democrats.

But the fact that Ryan has made it so competitive shows that J.D. Vance was not always the candidate that a lot of Republicans wanted. I mean, he is an election denier, even though he has said that he would concede and accept the election results. And he's repeated Trump's lies about the 2020 election.

And I think that we may see Representative Tim Ryan try to really hammer that point continually, as well as distance himself though from President Biden. He doesn't support the president's student loan debt forgiveness program. He, as Omar mentioned, has said that he thinks that President Biden should not run for re-election, and this follows the Tim Ryan's history. He has been someone who has pushed back against party leadership, has notably multiple times tried to see Nancy Pelosi removed from speakership. So, I think that is what he's going to be doing in this next debate.

GOLODRYGA: We'll be watching this debate tonight. Laura Barron Lopez and Alayna Treene, thank you both as always.

And up next, aware of the threat, CNN now learning law enforcement knew about threatening social media posts ahead of the January 6 Capitol attack. Details on the extent of that knowledge, up next.

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