Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Biden Makes Unprecedented Kyiv Visit As War Nears One-Year- Mark; Man Arrested After Catholic Bishop Fatally Shot In L.A. Home; Former President Jimmy Carter Under Hospice Care At His Home; WSJ: Aide Says Sen. Fetterman's Hospitalization for Depression Could Range From Weeks to Over a Month. Aired 1:30-2p ET

Aired February 20, 2023 - 13:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:32:02]

PAMELA BROWN, CNN HOST: And getting back to our lead story, President Biden made a surprise, historic trip to the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv earlier today.

It is the first time a sitting U.S. president has visited a war zone without a major American military presence, first time in modern history. And it comes the week of the one-year anniversary of Russia's invasion.

Biden also announced a new $500 million military aid package.

Ukrainian President Zelenskyy hailed the visit and the promise of more fire power.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKY, UKRAINIAN PRSIDENT (via translation): The results of this visit will surely be seen and will surely be seen and would surely have a reflection on the battlefield and in liberating our territories.

I know, Mr. President, there will be a very significant package of security support to Ukraine. And currently, it will serve as a clear signal that Russia's attempts will have no chance.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: Let's bring in retired Army Major General Dana Pittard. He is a CNN military analyst.

As we have been talking about, this is an unprecedented trip. You have to wonder what folks at the Pentagon were thinking about this trip. I know a lot of planning went into it. Our reporting bears that out.

But would the Pentagon have felt pretty confident about the president's trip to this active war zone, or do you think that there is a lot of nervousness?

MAJ. GEN. DANA PITTARD, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Well, good afternoon, Pamela.

I'm sure there was a lot of concern, especially from the Secret Service. I worked with the Secret Service certainly in the past.

As far as the Pentagon is concerned, the Pentagon, with the number of troops that we have in Europe and the ability to do certain things from as close as Poland, I think probably the Pentagon and the military was OK.

It was probably the Secret Service that was probably the most concerned.

BROWN: Yes. Well, fortunately, he went. It was a safe trip. He is now gone.

Biden says Putin is, quote, "failing in his conquest."

And as we look at the map of Ukraine, then and now, do you see this as a military failure on Russia's part? What's your view?

PITTARD: Oh, absolutely, to this point. I mean, it was predicted nearly a year ago by many that Kyiv would fall within days, if not weeks. And that the eastern side of Ukraine would also fall. Well, Kyiv is maintained.

The Russian troops that were outside of Kyiv, last year, have been defeated and have withdrawn. Kyiv is now back to being a thriving metropolis and capital. I have been to Kyiv several times.

And in eastern Ukraine, it's a stalemate right now where the Russians were supposed to roll right past the Ukrainian troops.

And what the Ukrainian troops have shown is moral, technology and training can make such a difference. And they've made that difference in at least stopping the Russian offensive attempts.

[13:35:07]

And the Ukrainians have done their own counteroffensives to regain territory. So half the territory the Russians initially gained has been lost. It's a failure on the Russians part so far.

BROWN: We just had Kim Dozier on. She cited the U.K. Defense Ministry as saying that Russia is losing about 800 soldiers a day.

So, it makes you wonder, how are they going to keep this up? But it does appear that it is ramping up for a major offensive.

Do you think they will be trying to make up for a lack of quality with more quantity, bringing in more and more untrained troops, recruits, just trying to wait out the Ukrainians?

PITTARD: Yes. What Russia has is its mass. Russia has mobilized its troops and has done that fairly well, initially, with some problems. But they have amassed more and more troop units.

But what they're doing now is sending those troops basically untrained into battle. They had very little training.

And their ability to employ them, that are using them in frontal attacks, in some cases, almost like suicide attacks. So, there is a lethality with mass and the Russians are showing that.

But the Ukrainians are playing pretty smart as far as absorbing those blows by the Russians and then counterattacking.

And that's what the Ukrainians need. They need more equipment to be able to do that counteroffensive, whether its tanks on the ground, armored vehicles, artillery and of course, fighter bombers.

BROWN: We're getting more reaction from lawmakers to President Biden's trip.

Senator Lindsey Graham, a Republican, issued a statement a short time ago saying, quote, "I am very pleased that President Biden took the time and effort to visit Ukraine and meet with President Zelenskyy. This was the right signal to send at the right time."

Graham even went so far as to say the U.S. ought to start training Ukrainian pilots now on F-16s because he believes the U.S. will send them soon enough.

Of course, that means the F-16s was not on the list of weaponry that the U.S.Is handing over that Biden gave Zelenskyy today. But is training Ukrainian pilots the smart thing to do right now?

PITTARD: I think so. Especially on equipment that they're more familiar with, like MIG 29 aircraft, which are Russian-built or old Soviet built aircraft, which Ukrainians are familiar with. And they can get those aircraft from Poland and other sources.

But eventually, having more modern aircraft like the F-16, could be very beneficial to them. But that will take months if not years to train their pilots to do that.

And the U.S. has sent more military equipment than any other nation in the world to Ukraine. I think it's now close to $113 billion.

Ukrainians are very grateful for that, but they also believe they need more to win this fight against Russia.

BROWN: I'm going to talk about other countries, because, as we know, Russia is increasingly turning toward Iran. Now there's concern about China.

When meeting with his Chinese counterpart over the weekend, Secretary of State Anthony Blinken warned China not to provide lethal support for Russia in its war with Ukraine.

That was a point re-enforced by the U.S. ambassador to the U.N. when I spoke with her yesterday.

How does China benefit if it does supply that type of military support? PITTARD: Well, China is supplying non-lethal support at this point.

But the United States and other nations are getting indications that China wants to funnel or send lethal aid to Russia.

And this is where it benefits China. It is in China's best interest to prolong this war between Russia and Ukraine because it's burning through the military stocks, ammunition stocks of both the U.S. and NATO and the West. So that's in China's best interest.

It is not in China's interest for Russia to collapse. But it is in China's interest for Russia to be weakened and more dependent upon China.

And if Ukraine wins, with the support of the U.S. and NATO, that is not in China's best interest because it will impact their future ambitions and aggressions against Taiwan.

BROWN: All right. General Dana Pittard, really interesting insight you're sharing with us. Thank you.

[13:39:36]

Still ahead, shock and sadness after a Catholic bishop is found shot and killed in his home. Now a possible break in the case. We are live in Los Angeles up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: This just into the CNN NEWSROOM. Police in Los Angeles say they have arrested a man in the shooting death of a Catholic bishop. Auxiliary Bishop David O'Connell was found dead in his home.

CNN's Camila Bernal joins us from Los Angeles.

What are we learning? This is a big development.

CAMILA BERNAL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It really is. This is what a lot of Catholics here in Los Angeles, Pam, were waiting for.

The sheriff's department confirming they have made an arrest in connection to the killing of Bishop O'Connell. What authorities are saying is that we have to wait a little bit for a press conference. So, details have been limited so far.

But we know he was killed on Saturday at around 1:00 P.M. when deputies arrived to his home. They already found him dead. He was shot. And they say that he was shot in the chest area.

[13:45:04]

And so we are, again, waiting for a press conference from the sheriff's department to essentially fill in the blanks here.

But the news shocking the community here in Los Angeles. So many of the Catholics that have been impacted by him saying that they are just heartbroken to hear the news and the details of what happened here because the sheriff's department is saying that this is a homicide investigation.

There are some of the parishioners that were even too emotional to speak out yesterday.

Here is how one of those parishioners is feeling.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROMONA TOREES, PARISHIONER: It's just heart breaking to see what happened to him. I'm brokenhearted.

I've been crying for the last two days knowing that he's no longer here to share all of his inspiration and his prayers and everything with us.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERNAL: And O'Connell had been serving the L.A. community for 45 years. He is described as a man who was constantly praying, who had a heart for the poor and the immigrant community. So he will be missed here in Los Angeles.

But again, we are waiting for more details from the sheriff's department -- Pam?

BROWN: So sad.

Camila Bernal, in Los Angeles, thank you.

An outpouring of love and support for Jimmy Carter as the former president begins hospice care. We are live in his beloved hometown of Plains, Georgia, where people know him as "Mr. Jimmy."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:51:08]

BROWN: The church where Jimmy Carter spent decades teaching Sunday School is praying for his comfort and peace. The oldest living former president in U.S. history is under hospice care at his home in Plains, Georgia.

CNN's Eva McKend is in Plains.

So, Eva, Carter has been a fixture in the church and the community there. How are people reacting to the news that he's entered hospice care?

EVA MCKEND, CNN NATIONAL POLITICS REPORTER: You know, Pam, I think it's a bit of a mixture of sadness and pride here. That is what we're hearing on the ground.

We know that the former president has opted to have end-of-life care in his home. He's surrounded by love and his family, according to his grandson.

But as you speak to folks here, nearly everyone has some sort of story about the former president or a member of his family.

We're just a stone's throw away from where he went to high school. Just down the train tracks is the train depot at the end of the block. And that's also where his campaign headquarters was in 1976.

There's also a great southern restaurant, Bonita's, not too far from here. We spoke to the owner about the legacy of the former president.

Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BONITA HIGHTOWER, OWNER, BONITA'S RESTAURANT: You see this restaurant? It's plopped right in the midst of where the former president grew up at.

You know, and for him to come from these humble means to being the 39th president of our United States is just phenomenal. You know, so it just goes to show that it doesn't matter where you come from. It's all about what you desire and where you can go with that desire.

So he's a living example to me. For sure, for certain. A living example.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MCKEND: So not only a sense of pride coming from Bonita, you heard there. She said, over the years, she liked to cook for the Carters and mentioned the former president particularly liked fried catfish.

But also, we're hearing from others as well. We spoke to a mail carrier. He's also a painter in this community. And he was painting a peanut structure just at the edge of town. That, of course, has worn in recent years.

But he shared with us that it was really important for him to get out there and make sure that it was painted, as so many folks come to town in Plains, Georgia, is in the national spotlight.

Pam, the former president was once a peanut farmer.

BROWN: He absolutely was. His dad was a peanut farmer.

I'm so touched, seeing that and hearing from Bonita. She was so well spoken and what she said was really moving.

Eva McKend, thank you.

We turn now to Senator John Fetterman. One of his aides tells the "Wall Street Journal" today that the Pennsylvania Democrat could spend weeks or more than a month in the hospital for clinical depression.

Fetterman's treatment is raising questions about the possible connection with strokes.

CNN's Elizabeth Cohen joins us. Walk us through, Elizabeth what we know. Because in Fetterman's case,

he had a history of depression. His spokesperson said that he has a stroke and now he's getting treatment for clinical depression.

DR. ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL ANALYST: Right, Pamela. It is not unusual for people who have had a stroke to suffer from depression.

Let's take a look at that number. One out of three stroke survivors experience depression afterwards. One out of three.

Now, sometimes that's because the injury to the brain was in an area of the brain that deals with emotions. And the person, because of that injury, might not be able to sort of feel positive emotions as effectively as they did before.

Sometimes it's because they had depression before. That contributes to it.

Sometimes it's actually because, Pamela, it's depressing to have a stroke. And so you have a stroke, and sometimes you can't do what you used to do.

[13:55:01]

So let's take a look at what they do for folks who suffer from depression. Psychotherapy and antidepressants remain the mainstay to treat depression.

Sometimes -- and we are not saying that the Senator is going to have these treatments. But sometimes electroconvulsive therapy or ketamine- derived nasal spray are sometimes used as well -- Pamela?

BROWN: Elizabeth Cohen, thank you.

And thank you for joining us today. I'm Pamela Brown. I'll be back in the anchor chair tonight at 7:00 Eastern.

Victor Blackwell and Bianna Golodryga continue our coverage of the CNN NEWSROOM right after this quick break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)