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Kyiv Rocked By Deadly Explosions From Kamikaze Drones; Stockton, CA Police Arrest Suspected Serial Killer; Elections To Determine Who Controls Congress Now 3 Weeks Away. Aired 2-2:30p ET

Aired October 17, 2022 - 14:00   ET

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

[14:00:00]

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, I'm Victor Blackwell, welcome to CNN NEWSROOM.

ERICA HILL, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Erica Hill.

In Ukraine, a deadly new wave of Russian attacks, Vladimir Putin's latest brutal escalation targeting the capital city of Kyiv with a barrage of missiles and what are known as kamikaze drones, at least four people are confirmed dead, among them a pregnant woman.

BLACKWELL: Now, Ukraine says it managed to shoot down 36 of the 42 Iranian-made drones used in that blitz, including this one which was captured on a police officer's bodycam.

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BLACKWELL: The U.S. says Russia's use of drones will now factor in future decisions on how to best support Ukraine's defend itself. CNN's Fred Pleitgen is in Dnipro, Ukraine. Fred, you are in one of the regions that was targeted by the strikes, what are you seeing?

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, you're absolutely right, Victor. What we saw here was a power plant that was hit by the Russians. This is something that happened earlier today. And essentially the Ukrainian authorities were saying that there was severe damage at that power plant. It was also hit by one of those kamikaze drones. They had to have rescue crews on hand that was apparently a large fire.

And as a result of that, they're urging the citizens in a town where I am right now in Dnipro, they're urging them to use less electricity to ration electricity simply because they have to get things back up and running. You can see behind me it's pretty dark right now in the city. That is because people are heating that. And they are trying -- are trying to do that.

But of course, Victor, the really big strikes today were in the Ukrainian capital were in Kyiv, where you had those massive kamikaze drone strikes going on, at some stage, there were scenes where you had police officers trying to shoot these drones down with AK-47s just in any way trying to get them out of the sky.

It's quite interesting because the Ukrainians are saying of 42 drones that were launched by the Russians today at Ukrainian territory, they actually managed to take 36 of those drones down. But as we saw, you know from the videos that we've been seeing from Kyiv, the drones that do crash into buildings, they cause severe damage like that residential building in Kyiv where four people were killed, Victor.

HILL: There's also, Fred, we've learned about this group of Russian soldiers arriving in Belarus to form a joint force. Give us a sense of what that force could ultimately mean.

PLEITGEN: Well, that force Ukrainians believe could mean that there could be an invasion from the north once again, in the works by the Russians, Erica. Essentially right now latest information that we have, that we're getting from the Russians in the Belarusians, they say around 9000 Russian soldiers are now on Belarusian soil as well as their equipment. So, we're talking about pretty heavy weapons like for instance tanks and rocket launchers as well.

The Belarusian strongman Alexander Lukashenko is trying to spin this as though he's defending Belarus from the Ukrainians. He's been saying he believes the Ukrainians might be plotting an attack. Obviously, the Ukrainians say that that's nonsense. And of course, we know that Ukraine was attacked from Belarusian territory when the initial invasion began. It was one of the main invasion routes.

I've actually spoken to some pretty senior Ukrainian officials and they tell me they believe at this point in time an invasion is not imminent. However, it is obviously something that does concern them, a great deal because they do have a very long border with Belarusian. The last thing they want is to have another front open against them.

One of the officials that I spoke to said that it would be highly detrimental for Alexander Lukashenko if he did make that move back. This official said that he believes that it could be Alexander Lukashenko's last move as Belarusian president because he thinks that there might be an uprising in Belarus as a cause of this.

HILL: It'd be interesting to see. Fred, appreciate it. Thank you.

Retired U.S. Army Brigadier General Steve Anderson joins us now. Good to have you with us, General. Let's first start if we could by talking a little bit more about the capability of these kamikaze drones. What specifically can they do? Why are they seen as the choice to make right now?

BRIG. GEN. STEVE ANDERSON (RET), U.S. ARMY: Well, thank you very much for having me. I think it's telling to see just how desperate Vladimir Putin is. He has to go to the Iranians to get drones like this. But these can be very effective drones. They're intended to be fired in unison -- in groups, in swarms, and they've -- their launching platform has five rockets on them.

They're rocket-assisted. They fly to their target. They have 1500 miles of range. So that means that they can -- they can launch these things conceivably from Moscow, all the way into anywhere in Ukraine. They carry an 88-pound warhead, which is enough to maybe not take out a bridge but cause some pretty significant damage. I mean, you don't want flying in -- one in your apartment window in the morning, that's for sure.

[14:05:04]

But these things aren't effective. We saw that the Ukrainians were able to knock out 85 percent. But again, they're being deployed in swarms. So, a few are going to get through. And those who get through are intended to terrorize the Ukrainian people.

They're trying to take down infrastructure. They're trying to knock out energy assets, prior to the winter, to make life more miserable for the Ukrainians. But look, spoiler alert -- spoiler alert to Mr. Putin, it's not going to work.

BLACKWELL: So, General, when a U.S. official says that the administration will consider the use of these drones when deciding future support for the Ukrainians, what do they need to counter these kamikaze drones?

ANDERSON: They need more Air Defense Artillery systems. I mean, right now they have the S300 they got from Slovakia. And they've got these NASAM systems, these joint Norwegian U.S. air defense systems, two of which are inbound in the next two months, another six for a total of eight are going to come in over the coming months.

But the problem with this is it's a medium-range system, OK? The problem with UAVs is their low range. So what they need is they need some low-range capability. And I submit to you that we need to look at the United States at providing the CRAM system.

That's the CRAM, counter rocket, artillery, and mortar. These are incredibly effective systems. They are made by Raytheon. They're intended to go after low-flying targets. They go after rockets, artillery, and mortar rounds.

If you got something that's good enough to shoot out a mortar round, then I mean it's going to be easy pickings for anything that's flying in a UAV. Now, I had 20 to 25 of these systems when I was in Afghanistan in 2016 and 2018. They're incredibly effective. These are the systems that the United States needs to get on the ground in Ukraine now.

HILL: Once they get there, how quickly could they be put into use? Because we've talked about -- a lot over the last several months about certain systems, learning how to use those systems, being up to speed and time, what is that amount of time that they would need.

ANDERSON: They're mobile systems, so they can literally be put up in a matter of hours. We're not talking days or weeks. They can be driven into the system that they need. They can be established. Now the problem there, of course, is they'd be operated by probably American contractors. Right now, there's a prohibition against that. I submit to you that this is a bridge we need to cross. We need to get American contractors on the ground to operate systems like this. Also, to help prepare all the systems we've given them in the past that they're breaking the Triple Sevens, the HIMARS, the systems that we've given them, they're operating with devastating effect against the Russians, but they're not able to maintain them.

And if we really want to help the Ukrainians push the Russians all the way out of their held territory to include Crimea, we're going to have to surge logistics capabilities and get U.S. contractors on the ground, not only providing air defense, expertise, and operations but also provide logistics support.

BLACKWELL: All right, I don't want to rush by this. You suggested there should be U.S. contractors in Ukraine. Putin is likely not going to see the nuance between a U.S. contractor teaching the Ukrainians how to use this hardware versus actually being in the fight against Russians. Do you think it's worth it?

ANDERSON: Oh, absolutely, Victor, absolutely. He -- well, he probably will perceive it as some sort of an escalation, but it's one that we need to see -- we need to go across this bridge right now. We need these systems. We need to show our support to Ukraine. We need to show the Russians that we're behind the Ukrainians all the way and that includes putting American contractors on the ground.

We're going to send a mass message to our allies, to the Ukrainians, to the world to the Russians, that we're serious about making sure that Ukrainians win this. This is an existential threat to us all. And we must do everything possible to include putting U.S. contractors on the ground in Ukraine now.

BLACKWELL: All right, Brigadier General Steve Anderson, thank you.

HILL: Police in Stockton, California say they've arrested a suspect in a series of deadly shootings that left the city on edge. Wesley Brownlee, 43 years old, a Stockton resident was taken into custody early Saturday morning. Stockton's police chief says he's confident officers stopped another killing with this arrest. And that Brownlee was in his words, out hunting.

BLACKWELL: He is suspected of killing six men and wounding a woman in a string of shootings. The earliest stretches back to April of 2021. CNN's Camila Bernal is live now in Stockton. So, what led police to this suspect?

CAMILA BERNAL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hey Victor and Erica. Two things, the first, just being in the community's help. So many people that calls in and reported just whatever they saw. And then the next was just good old-fashioned police work. And there was a promise from the mayor to get this guy. Here is what Kevin Lincoln, the mayor here in Stockton had to say.

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(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) KEVIN LINCOLN, MAYOR OF STOCKTON, CALIFORNIA: We made it very clear to the public that the senseless acts of violence will not be tolerated. And that even though there's no -- there wasn't any words that we could say that will bring back the lost loved ones, the least that we could do is do our part to bring justice.

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BERNAL: Now, here is what the police said. They said, once they reviewed all of these tips, they zeroed in on the person they believed was responsible. So, once they did this, they began to follow this guy, just watch his every move, study him, and they say they were looking for a pattern. And in fact, they found that pattern.

And it was going out early in the morning or late at night, going to parks going to dark places. And that's exactly what happened on Saturday at two in the morning. And that's why the Chief of Police is saying that look, this is someone who was out on a mission to kill, that was out hunting.

Those were the words that he used because he says when they arrested this man, he was wearing all black. He had a mask around his neck and he did have a gun. And so that's why they're saying they prevented another possible attack.

Police also saying he does have a criminal record. He's 43 years old, lives here in Stockton, and we're expecting more information tomorrow when he first appears in court. That's when the DA will announce all of the charges and explain what happens moving forward.

But, of course, there is still the question on motive, and the police chief just not saying that at the moment but a lot of people here who were terrified for weeks wanting to know exactly why this happened, Erica, Victor.

BLACKWELL: Yes, motive is one of many questions there in Stockton. Camila Bernal, thank you.

HILL: Joining us now is the city manager of Stockton, Harry Black. Sir, good to have you with us this afternoon. I want to pick up on just what, you know, my colleague, Camila was just saying there, talking about how people in the area were terrified, understandably, for weeks. Can you just give us a sense of not only what it was like during that time, but how residents are doing this morning, knowing that there is someone who was arrested who police say they believe, is the person responsible?

HARRY BLACK, CITY MANAGER, STOCKTON, CA: Well, thank you -- thank you for having me. I think with a crime in general, it generates a certain degree of fear and anxiety. But when you're dealing with a serial killer, which we -- you know, we have in this country from time to time, but it's not the norm and it creates a heightened sense of anxiety and fear.

So, as the city government, we did what we could in terms of communicating to try to allay some of the anxiety. But once again, until you have the person in custody, you're going to -- you're going to continue to have some element of anxiety, and fear.

Just want to commend our police department, the joint task force that we stood up in bringing this person to justice very quickly. And so now the community can sort of rest and be at peace, and not have to deal with that level of anxiety, as we have had to do over the past two or three weeks.

HILL: In terms of how this all came together, we've heard so much about how the tips were key here. Is there any indication have you heard at all from law -- from law enforcement that some of those tips may have come in from someone who knows this person personally?

BLACK: Yes. Well, first, I mean, you know, policing in the United States today is very data-driven. And Stockton Police Department has been continues to be very data-driven. We know what crime looks like in our city. We know what the patterns are. And back in July, something just seemed off, it's something seemed abnormal. And then our police department launched an investigation and here we are today.

Again, we owe a great deal of gratitude to our Joint Task Force partners. We also owe a great deal of gratitude to the public and the community of Stockton in terms of the overwhelming response to providing information and tips. And there were tips involved in this -- in this particular case that works very, very helpful in apprehending this person.

HILL: You -- when this video first came out, I have to say I looked at it and I thought to myself, that feels like it's going to be really tough to get people to say, oh, I know who that person is because all you're seeing is this figure from the back. Were you surprised with that video? How much information actually came in?

BLACK: I think people in general in Stockton want to be helpful, but having a $125,000 reward is also helpful.

HILL: That it would be. Do you -- are you confident? I know that the police chief said at that press conference, of course, you're there on over the week, that then he was confident. Are you confident that this is likely the person behind the killings and do you feel safer this morning?

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BLACK: I feel very, very safe. We have a very competent police department here. And I would echo the chief. I think that we've got our person.

HILL: City Manager Harry Black, thanks for joining us.

BLACK: Thank you for having me.

BLACKWELL: President Biden will try to keep abortion rights in focus at an event tomorrow. Will that help Democrats in the final stretch of the 2022 midterms? We'll discuss.

HILL: Plus, hearing aids now available over the counter. What this could mean for millions of Americans? That's ahead.

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[14:20:05]

HILL: Election Day just three weeks away now. And in a just-released poll, these new findings certainly getting a lot of attention, Republicans showing a slight advantage there, as you see, 49 percent surveyed said they prefer the GOP candidate in their House district, 45 percent want the Democrats, the difference there is within the margin of error.

And that same poll determined a combined 44 percent of likely voters with the economy or inflation, as you see there at the top of the list in terms of the nation's most important issues right now.

BLACKWELL: CNN's average of the last five national polls shows a virtual tie with support for Democratic and Republican candidates at 46 percent. Let's discuss further with CNN chief political analyst Gloria Borger, and CNN senior political analyst Ron Brownstein, who's also the senior editor at The Atlantic. Good to see both of you.

Gloria, I'm going to start with you. And these polls on -- the New York Times poll on the most important problem facing the country today 44 percent the economy or inflation, nothing else breaks into double- digit that we have the grad, let's put it up. What's this mean for Democrats?

GLORIA BORGER, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, it's not great news. I think this election was always going to be about who was defining the election. And what the Democrats were trying to do, particularly after the Dobbs decision, was take a turn, particularly with women, and say, look, you know, look at what the Supreme Court did on abortion.

This is really important. Look at what we've done for you in terms of prescription drug benefits, look at how extreme the Republican Party is. And instead, it's the old saw, it's the economy stupid, credit to James Carville, but it is.

And what we've seen is kind of a stalled momentum for the Democrats. There was a sense that they were making some headway on these other issues, and they still might, there's a ways to go. But for now, it seems that they're losing independent voters, they're losing a whole bunch of women independent voters, and that's really important for them.

HILL: And I'd love to drill down on that point about the independent women voters because, Ron --

BORGER: Yes.

HILL: If you look at this in this poll that was the biggest shift that we saw was independent women. Back in September, the number of independent women who said they favored Democrats, they favored Democrats by 14 points, just a few weeks later, now the Republicans have the edge by a margin of 18 points. That is a massive, massive swing fraud.

RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Yes. And more than you probably are really seeing in the real world, Erica, frankly. I mean, that that -- a change of that magnitude, you'd have to see confirmation from more than one poll to believe it. But the basic construct that Gloria laid out really is the fundamental tug of war in this election. You know, Democrats are dealing with a level of economic dissatisfaction and disapproval of the president that in the past has meant significant losses for the president's party in a midterm election.

And they have been levitating above that downward pressure by focusing more voters on not only what Democrats have done, but what Republicans would do with power, and mobilizing their coalition around the view that Republicans are a threat to their rights, their values, and even to democracy.

When you have this level of economic discontent, it's hard to keep the focus on those other issues all the way through Election Day. And that really, I think, is kind of the core lever or seesaw that will determine you know, how this ultimately plays out.

If the focus shifts entirely back to performance on the economy, it could be a long night for Democrats. But there is evidence that in a lot of these key statewide races, especially they are able to keep a substantial number of voters focused on the Republican alternative, and that could allow them to avoid the worst.

BLACKWELL: Gloria, Senator Michael Bennet was on with Danna bash, and he was talking about the economy, trying to explain it's not just the U.S.

BORGER: Right.

BLACKWELL: Here's what he was trying to explain.

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SEN. MICHAEL BENNET, (D-CO): This is a global problem. You know, Canada has the same inflation that we have, the European -- every country in Europe has the same inflation we have, the UK does as well, India has as well because we're facing, you know, broken global supply chains that we have to -- have to address and we're in. And we're facing increases in energy prices because two years ago, oil was at $20 a barrel, went to 93 because of the economic recovery, and then Putin invaded Ukraine.

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BLACKWELL: All important contexts.

BORGER: Yes.

BLACKWELL: But does that -- does that sell?

BORGER: No, it doesn't sell. And one other thing the administration says is that we're in a better position than other countries. And all of this may be true. But the problem is when you're a voter out there, and you see that gas prices which were going down are now going up, and you may have a little bit of a raise in your paycheck but prices of food, etcetera are going up, this is not foremost on your mind.

[14:25:12]

You know, you can be mad at OPEC for turning off the spigot, and lots of things. You come in angry in other countries, but you're focused on what's right in front of you. So that argument may make sense, but it doesn't make voters go to the polls and say, yes, I'm going to give the Democrats another chance.

HILL: Ron, is it surprising to you that Democrats haven't figured that out yet? And I understand why you don't want to be the party in power and say, hey, we get it. Things are not great right now. But they're -- I mean, they're politicians, there's a way to spin things.

BROWNSTEIN: Yes.

HILL: And so, it's fascinating to me that they keep drilling down on some of these messages that are clearly not landing well.

BROWNSTEIN: Yes, it's real -- look, it's real -- as your question noted, it's really hard if you're the party in power with 9 percent inflation. We haven't seen this in 40 years. The last time it happened, you know, Ronald Reagan's Republicans lost 26 seats in the 1982 House election.

I do think, though, that the impact of inflation will tend to reinforce one of the most important dynamics we've seen over the last several election cycles, which is the widening education divide between the parties. There's no question for a lot of non-college blue-collar voters are operating without a lot of economic margins, inflation is a pressing, immediate, everyday concern. It's like a shoe that -- you know, that is too tight.

And I think a lot of those voters are going to be focused on that issue and are going to kind of move against the party in power. Among white-collar college-educated suburban voters, inflation is real, but it often is more of an inconvenience than an existential threat.

And what we see in polls is that those are the voters who are most focused on these other questions or rights, like abortion rights and preserving democracy and the threat that Trump and his movement may present to the future of American democracy.

So, I would not be shocked to see a wider -- even wider than usual education gap that allows Democrats to hold some white collar seats like Abigail Spanberger in Virginia, and do well in states like Arizona, and potentially Georgia where there is a significant pool of those college-educated voters.

But in places that are more blue-collar in nature, whether it's the districts or for that matter, a state like Nevada that doesn't have a big college population, it could be a big challenge. And two key groups to watch, noncollege white women and non-college Latino men, both of whom are swing groups, but who may be very affected by their sour and our views of the economy at this moment.

BLACKWELL: Gloria, listen to former President Obama and he's talking here about Democratic candidates focus, former President Trump versus some of those kitchen table issues.

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BARACK OBAMA, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We join that game and we spend enormous amounts of time and energy and resources pointing out the latest crazy thing he said or you know the -- how rude or mean some of these Republican candidates behaved. That's probably not something that in the minds of most voters overrides their basic interest.

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BLACKWELL: You know, the focus on former President Trump, Democrats -- not Democrats alone, but they're trying to make this clear and present danger argument, alongside the economic argument, can they -- can they make that without focusing on some of the things that Trump and his ilk they're saying leading up to the midterms?

BORGER: Look, I think it's very difficult. I mean, you hear Joe Biden talking about it all the time. They want to make Donald Trump an issue in this campaign, and they may succeed to a certain degree, particularly, by the way, because of the Supreme Court decision on Dobbs. I don't think people pay attention every day to everything Donald Trump is saying.

And I think what Obama is saying makes sense, which is that you have to hit people, right where they live, right at the kitchen table. And if you keep only talking about Donald Trump and how extremist he is, you also have to understand that these polls show that Republican voters and lots of independent voters believe that Democrats are extremists at this point. So, it isn't going to really get you very much.

So, I think he's absolutely correct. Bernie Sanders was singing that same tune, saying talk about what Democrats have done for people, talk about what we've done on infrastructure, prescription drugs, health care, you know, he wants Democrats to talk about that, and he thinks that's not happening enough.

BLACKWELL: All right, Gloria Borger, Ron Brownstein, thank you.

BORGER: Thanks.

HILL: Paging all online shoppers, before you hit by on that next purchase, you're going to stay -- want to with us for this one, especially if you'd like a free return like this girl does. Yes. Those may not last. Victor and I may be in mourning. Stick around.

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