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Kyiv Rocked By Deadly Explosions From Kamikaze Drones; Russia Intensifies Strikes On Civilians Across Ukraine; Two Connecticut Officers Killed, 1 Hurt During Domestic Violence Call; Police See Alarming Trend Of Officers Being Ambushed, Killed; Biden Has Spent More Than 1/4 of His Presidency In Delaware. Aired 3:30-4p ET

Aired October 17, 2022 - 15:30   ET

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

[15:30:00]

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That certainly is what happened earlier today. It was really at the crack of dawn that these attacks began in Kyiv with those drones circling overhead and then coming down. Four of them actually hitting their targets.

The Ukrainians, as you mentioned, saying that they shot down 36 of the 42 that were launched towards Ukrainian territory, but of course, some of them did hit some targets. They say one of them was a power plant in Kyiv that was actually seemingly the power plant that was also hit in last Monday's strikes. And then also residential building where those four people were killed.

The Ukrainians now urgently calling for more and better air defense systems especially to take out these drones. Because the Ukrainians are saying what the Russians are doing is there using these Iranian- made drones to attack in swarms.

They say that all the drones that were launched toward Ukrainian territory today, and they all came from the south, all came from areas to the south of Ukraine. They're able to take many of them out, but certainly not all of them because simply because of the amount because of the quantity of drones that are launched.

They simply overwhelm the air defense systems that Ukraine has, and therefore they say they need more effective ones to fight against these Iranian-made drones -- guys.

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN HOST: Yes, and the U.S. says as we said at the top, they're going to take that into consideration on what's happening next as it relates to the hardware support. Let me ask you, Fred, about this Russian fighter jet that went down inside Russia, but near Ukraine. Tell us about it.

PLEITGEN: Yes. Well, when we say near Ukraine, this is -- this place was -- you can see it from Ukraine. It's a place called Yeysk, which is in the so-called Krasnodar region of Russia. However, when you are standing in Mariupol, as I had in the past before the war started, you could actually see the air base and see the town where this was coming from. This apparently happened shortly after takeoff when there seemed to be

a fire on board the aircraft coming from the engine, and it then immediately afterwards crashed into a residential building. It seems as though the pilots were able to eject, however four people were killed. And if you look at the picture, it's hard to believe that many people would have survived that.

Apparently 17 apartments in that large building were damaged so far. Obviously, this is something that is going to require a very long time to investigate by the Russians. This was by the way, an SU-34 fighter bomber aircraft, however, the Russians say it was only on a training mission at the time.

BLACKWELL: Fred Pleitgen in Dnipro, thank you.

ERICA HILL, CNN HOST: Susan Glasser is a CNN global affairs analyst, staff writer for "The New Yorker," and also the author of "The Divider: Trump in the White House 2017 - 2021." Susan, good afternoon to you this afternoon.

When we look at what is happening and what is happening these most these attacks, looking at these Iranian kamikaze drones that are being used, it was interesting that we had some reporting just a short time ago from our colleague Barbara Starr at the Pentagon that in fact DOD is trying to accelerate the delivery of some of these surface to air missile systems.

Get them into a nearby country so they can quickly get them into Ukraine. As we look at everything that's going into these decisions, how much speed do you think this is adding to this process?

SUSAN GLASSER, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: Well, look, Putin, you know, backed into a corner by the reverses that his forces have suffered on the battlefield, has essentially made very clear he's chosen of course of escalating by attacking civilian targets in Ukraine cities that are not on the front lines.

So, that seems likely to continue for the foreseeable future despite I noticed Putin did make a statement the other day saying, oh, well we've done enough so far, but then launched this salvo of attacks anyways.

So, I think it's quite urgent for the Pentagon. I'm also noticing more reporting and more pressure on Israel for example to join in and supplying Ukraine with this as well. Obviously, Iran is Israel's greatest security threat in its own region, and it looks to me like they're testing out the effective kind of tactics for the future of war here in this assault on the capital city of Ukraine, Kyiv, in a way that must be very worrisome to leaders in Tel Aviv.

BLACKWELL: Susan, an adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says that it's time for the G-20 to expel Russia. Now you remember that Russia was kicked out of that than G-8 in 2014 after their annexation of Crimea. But considering some of the allies that Russia has in the group of 20, is that likely to happen? GLASSER: Well, I think it's important to keep the pressure on Ukraine

-- sorry -- Ukraine to keep the pressure on Russia diplomatically in as many fora as possible. In fact, you saw last week it was at the U.N. General Assembly a very big vote against Russia including more or less everyone in the world except for North Korea, Belarus and oddly, Nicaragua. And so, I think, you know, this is part of the broad pressure tactics that Ukraine is using diplomatically.

What is amazing is that it does expose the bankruptcy to a certain extent in the hollowness of international institutions.

[15:35:00]

Remember, Russia right now is a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council and yet it is launching, you know, outrageous drone attacks on civilian targets in the capital city of another country. Obviously not very much a guarantor of international security is Russia. It is hard to see that it belongs in responsible international fora.

HILL: And yet it doesn't seem there will be much change to that. To both your point, when we look --

GLASSER: No.

HILL: -- as you were talking -- when we were talking to Fred Pleitgen just in the last hour, he was also talking about Russian troops and concerns about the Belarusian border and what could be coming perhaps. And whether Ukraine is in a position to deal if there are threats coming from that northern border to also deal with that potential threat. How much is that do you think a consideration at this point?

GLASSER: Yes, I think that it's been a constant worry. Again, Vladimir Putin has very few allies at this point, even those who have historically supported him. Other leaders in central Asia for example have started to criticize him publicly in ways that are surprising. Lukashenko, the leader of Belarus is more or less one of the only other world leaders who has stood by Putin's war of aggression against Ukraine.

And with Putin under pressure on the other front, there is the concern that if they use Belarus as a staging ground, they could relaunch an attack in the center of the country moving directly toward Kyiv which is not that far from the border from Belarus. And so, I think that's going to remain an active worry, and every time there's movement that suggests Russian troops in Belarus, you see a new round of this anxiety sparking up.

BLACKWELL: Susan, let me get your thoughts on the latest round of prisoner swaps between the Russians and the Ukrainians. More than 100 for each. Now this is one of the few, if not, the only areas of cooperation between the two. Explain from the Russian side of the equation, there is no huge, like, headline name in this exchange, why they continue to cooperate with the Ukrainians on this front.

GLASSER: Well, you know, look, this is generally speaking, this is pretty common in warfare, and I have to say it was very moving. I saw a photograph that was just released by the Ukrainian government of many of those who had been swapped, Ukrainian women walking together back across the border and into Ukraine. It was a very moving photograph. Again, this is pretty much standard practice.

What's been striking so far is how much Russia has generally flouted the laws of war and flouted what is seen as acceptable standards of conduct and so it's interesting that in a military to military level, they're still able to accomplish something like this. But I wouldn't call it a, you know, a major indicator of anything except incredibly good news for those families, you know, of the prisoners on both sides.

HILL: Susan Glasser, appreciate it. Thank you.

BLACKWELL: Thank you, Susan.

A shocking rise in violence against law enforcement, including an ambush attack this week where police say a suspect fired more than 80 rounds at police, and killed two officers, wounded a third. We take a look at what's behind this increase in violence, next.

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HILL: Two police officers in Bristol, Connecticut are dead. A third seriously injured after investigators say a gunman ambushed the officers and fired over 80 rounds. I do want to warn you the following audio which was captured on one officer's body camera is disturbing.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(SOUNDS OF MACHINE GUN FIRE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HILL: State police officers -- state police rather say the officers were deliberately lured to a home on Wednesday night, and that as soon as they arrived, a man began firing at them from inside the house.

BLACKWELL: Law enforcement leaders say Wednesday's ambush is just one example of an alarming but growing trend across the country. CNN's security correspondent Josh Campbell is here with more on these attacks on police -- Josh.

JOSH CAMPBELL, CNN SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Victor and Erica, 12 police officers shot in America in the last week alone. Some of them were out on patrol. Others responding to calls. Some of them believed to have been specifically targeted because of their profession.

As you mentioned, this is part of this part of this alarming trend. The statistic so far from this year appeared to be on track with what we saw in the grim figures from 2021 when the FBI said that more police officers were killed in the U.S. in a single year than the terrorist attacks of 9/11.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SWAT OFFICER: I'm shot in the hip. My partner is shot in the leg.

CAMPBELL (voice over): Three Philadelphia SWAT officers shot last week in the line of duty. So far 2022 has been an especially violent and deadly year for law enforcement in America.

DANIELLE OUTLAW, PHILADELPHIA POLICE COMMISSIONER: I'm outraged. I'm disgusted. I'm wondering where the level of outrage and upset is outside of the law enforcement community.

CAMPBELL (voice over): Danielle Outlaw is Philadelphia's police commissioner.

OUTLAW: And right now, things are wrong, because the level of violence that we're seeing against our law enforcement officers is just beyond outrageous.

[15:45:00]

CAMPBELL (voice over): Across the country there have been 252 officers shot in the line of duty through September of this year according to the National Fraternal Order of Police. Fifty were killed. It's a continuation of a rising violent trend. According to the FOP, 44 law enforcement officers were killed by gunfire in the line of duty during the same time period last year, adding up to officers being fatally shot more often than once a week during that time.

In El Monte, California, a suburb of Los Angeles, two officers were killed this summer as they responded to a call about a stabbing.

MAYOR JESSICA ANCONA, EL MONTE, CALIFORNIA: They were acting as a first line of defense for our community members when they were essentially ambushed.

CAMPBELL (voice over): In fact, there have been 63 ambush style attacks on law enforcement through September of this year according to the FOP. At least 93 officers were shot during those onslaughts, 24 died as a result.

In Bristol, Connecticut, last week, three officers were allegedly ambushed and shot. Only one survived. The gunman may have lured them there by making a false 911 call according to investigators.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Shots fired. Shots fired. More cars. Send everyone.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: One down. Suspect down.

CAMPBELL (voice over): In 2021, data from the FBI showed the highest number of law enforcement officers were intentionally killed in the line of duty since the September 11th terrorist attacks 20 years earlier. The data mirror a rise in gun violence in many parts of the country in recent years, now rising to levels not seen since the mid- 1990s. A teenager gunman killed five people in Raleigh, North Carolina, last week. A responding police officer injured in the shooting. The increasing violence against police has law enforcement leaders around the country sounding the alarm.

CAMPBELL: Three of your officers have been shot. What -- what's that like?

OUTLAW: It's a pit in your stomach. These are folks that answered a call to serve. They want to give back. We signed up to do this understanding the risk, understanding the danger, but we did not sign up for these jobs to be martyrs. We just didn't.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CAMPBELL (on camera): Now Victor and Erica, I'm here in Dallas where police chiefs from across the country have been meaning to discuss key issues facing the profession.

And the officers I have been talking to, they say this violence is concerning not only because they worry about their own personnel, but they worry that this could negatively impact recruitment and possibly dissuade people from stepping forward in the future to sign up to become police officers. Of course, that could have negative impacts on public safety for years to come -- Victor, Erica.

HILL: Certainly, that's sobering, that's for sure, Josh. Appreciate it, thank you.

BLACKWELL: President Biden is now outpacing former President Trump in days spent away from the White House. That's next.

[15:50:00]

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BLACKWELL: New today, a judge has dismissed one of the two claims against Kevin Spacey in the sex misconduct trial in New York. The claim of intentional infliction of emotional distress was dropped but the claim will move forward with a claim of battery.

Actor Anthony Rapp alleged that Spacey took him to his Manhattan home in 1986, where he picked Rapp up, laid him down on his bed and assaulted him. Spacey also took the stand in his own defense saying the allegations against him are untrue.

HILL: A new CNN analysis finds that President Biden has spent more than a quarter of his presidency working from his home in Delaware and now outpacing the rate that former President Trump spent away from the White House. CNN White House correspondent Kate Bennett joining us with more on this. So, what more do we know, Kate?

KATE BENNETT, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: So, we've tallied the numbers and it's about -- well, counting today -- about 175 days for President Biden, 174, 175 days in Delaware. That's about a quarter of his presidency and significantly more at this juncture in this term than it was for Donald Trump going away.

Now we're gist counting time spent at his home in Delaware and for Trump the analysis was about Mar-a-Lago and Bedminster -- so, we're not counting foreign or domestic trips -- but just being away from the White House. You know, a lot of presidents say that living in the White House is luxurious but it can be sort of like gilded cage.

So, certainly Joe Biden has been Amtrak Joe, as he's known in the Senate, goes home a lot. And a president could do their job from anywhere. We said the same thing about Donald Trump. They travel basically with a mobile oval office.

And quite frankly, our ideas and norms about workplace, work from home have changed since post pandemic. Maybe Joe Biden just had a better idea of how to model that before we all did.

He certainly has enjoyed working from home in Delaware for most of his career, not just his presidency. But at this pace he is probably going to probably break the record for modern day presidents who have been in office for spending time at home. That includes Ronald Reagan at his ranch and George W. Bush at his ranch.

President Obama didn't go home all that much, neither did President Clinton. But certainly, Joe Biden loves Delaware and he likes to be there most weekends and get out of town and out of Washington -- Guys.

BLACKWELL: All right, Kate Bennett, thank you.

BENNETT: Thank you.

BLACKWELL: Tom Brady had some choice words for his teammates during the Tampa Bay, Buccaneers will game against the that on Sunday. His team was trailing -- this was the second quarter -- and the quarterback was seen on the side lines -- look at here -- venting to his offensive line saying, you're so much better than you're f'ing playing.

HILL: Social media users were quick to point out the timing and weighing in about the recent divorce rumors with his wife, of course, Gisele Bundchen. Meantime -- I'm a little more excited about this football story.

BLACKWELL: OK.

[15:55:00]

HILL: A plea from officials at the University of Tennessee after their football fans made the brilliant decision to storm the field to celebrate the volunteer's big last second win over Alabama on Saturday. Stormed the fields and tore down the goalpost, paraded the goalpost through the streets of Knoxville and then what does one do, they dump them in the river.

BLACKWELL: I still don't get this.

HILL: Makes two of us. BLACKWELL: But it's expensive because the school has now been fined

$100,000 by the conference for letting the fans go on to the field. And then the team is now asking for donations, guys, we need to replace the goalpost. So far more than $145,000 raised online.

HILL: We were checking it. When I first looked this morning, it was at I think $54,000. It is gone up $90,000 today.

BLACKWELL: At some point somebody in the crowd who is caring this thing is like, guys, this was not a good idea. Do we have to go all the way to the river?

HILL: And yet they did.

BLACKWELL: And they did. "THE LEAD" starts right after a quick break.

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