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Russia Blames Ukraine for Drone Attack at Kremlin; Eight Children, Security Guard Killed In Belgrade School Shooting; Sudanese Army Agrees 7 Days Truce, No Word From RSF. Aired 1-2a ET
Aired May 04, 2023 - 01:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: Ahead here on CNN Newsroom.
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ANTONY BLINKEN, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: I would take anything coming out of the Kremlin with a very large shaker of salt.
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VAUSE: Mystery in Moscow doubts over a claims that a drone attack on the Kremlin was an assassination attempt by Ukraine on Vladimir Putin. A rare and deadly school shooting in Serbia and still no answers why a 7th grader armed with at least two handguns and a kill list open fire, leaving at least nine deadlier.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): This is an internal problem and we will focus on solving it internally.
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VAUSE: And it's a flat out no from Sudan's army to a negotiated settlement and more than two weeks of deadly fighting with a rival military factor.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Live from CNN Center. This is CNN Newsroom with John Vause.
VAUSE: Great to have you with us for another hour now. In the past few hours, authorities in Kyiv have described the most intense Russian air attacks of the year what is believed to be retaliation after Moscow accused Ukraine of a drone attack on the Kremlin, which Ukrainian officials say air defenses destroyed all incoming missiles. Explosions have also been reported to the south in Odesa.
Moscow says an early morning drone attack on the Kremlin was a terrorist plot to assassinate President Vladimir Putin by the Ukrainians. Putin doesn't actually live at the Kremlin. CNN analysis confirms Russian claims that two drones were spotted over the Kremlin, but finds no evidence of Ukrainian involvement.
Unlike previous attacks on Russian soil, when Ukrainian officials have hinted and implied Ukraine was responsible, this time, President Vladimir Zelenskyy made it clear Ukraine had nothing to do with the drone attack at the Kremlin.
There are many theories about who may have carried out the attack. Ukrainian officials have suggested it could be a false flag operation by Russia, while a former Russian lawmaker now living in exile tells CNN Russian partisans may be responsible. More now from CNN's Matthew Chance.
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MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voiceover): This is the moment Russia's war in Ukraine finally struck home. Two drone attacks on the Kremlin minutes apart, leaving smoke billowing from the historic buildings and an extraordinary scene of vulnerability at the heart of the Russian state.
It was hours before Kremlin controlled TV announced the news in the form of an official statement blaming Ukraine. Last night, the Kyiv regime attempted a drone strike against the residents of the president of the Russian Federation. The statement reads. We view these actions as a planned terrorist attack and an assassination attempt, adding that Russia reserves the right to take countermeasures wherever and whenever it deems appropriate.
Amid calls in Russia for an overwhelming military response, Ukraine's president visiting Finland is distancing his country from the incident.
VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT: We don't attack Putin or Moscow. We fight on our territory. We are defending our villages and cities. We don't have, you know, enough weapon for these.
CHANCE: It's more likely a false flag operation or local resistance forces in Russia, say Ukrainian officials that are responsible for this.
In recent weeks, even days, have seen an upsurge in unexplained attacks inside Russian territory, like this train derailment in the Bryansk region near the Ukrainian border, or this key oil storage facility in southern Russia near annexed Crimea set ablaze, also using a drone, causing significant disruption.
One former Russian lawmaker, now in exile and linked with groups carrying out operations in Russia, tells CNN the Kremlin attack is the work of what he calls Russian partisans.
ILYA PONOMAREV, FORMER RUSSIAN LAWMAKER: Some of them are focused on railroad sabotages, some of them doing arsons of military recruitment posts, some of them doing attacks on activists, pro war activists, some of them doing hacking attacks. CHANCE (on camera): Are any of these partisans supported by the
Ukrainian Special Services, for instance, because Ukraine says it's got nothing to do with this attack? Do you believe that claim?
PONOMAREV: Look, Ukraine indeed has nothing to do with this because it's all organized by Russians.
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CHANCE (voiceover): But whoever's responsible is a threat. At the moment, preparations are continuing for the annual May the 9th Victory Day Parade in Red Square near where the drone struck. The weakness and the insecurity of the Kremlin has now been exposed for all to see. Matthew Chance, CNN, London.
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VAUSE: Steve Hall is a CNN National Security Analyst and the former Chief of Russia Operations for the CIA. Good to have you with us, Steve.
STEVE HALL, CNN NATIONAL SECERITY ANALYST: Great to be here.
VAUSE: OK, so this intercepted drone, it certainly did not appear to have the capability of causing major damage. And while the official residence of the Russian president is listed as within the Kremlin, it's fairly well known that Putin doesn't actually live there. Those two factors alone would seem to confirm that this was not an assassination attempt. Or if it was a pretty poor one of Vladimir Putin.
HALL: Yes, Putin actually has a whole set of different dodges apartments. Pretty nice places, actually. You know, not only around scattered around Moscow, but also really throughout the country. He does have offices, of course, in the Kremlin. But you're right, you know, if they were going after him as an attempt at an assassination, the Kremlin is not the first place that you would look in all likelihood.
VAUSE: Moscow, though, standing by the claim that this was an attempt on Putin's life, and they're adding this, the Russian side reserves the right to take retaliatory measures where and when it sees fit. So, you know, if this was a false flag operation by Russia to justify an escalation in the fighting, since when does Russia need a justification to escalate the fighting?
HALL: Yes, and for me, that's the problem with that theory. You know, certainly the Russians have done false flag or provocation operations in the past. There's no doubt that's an arrow in their quiver. But in this particular case, you know, are we positing that they require some additional action before they're really going to come down hard on the Ukrainians?
I mean, I think that they're stretched about as thin as they can be in Ukraine, and they're hitting them as hard as they can. So, you know, aside from sending more volleys of artillery as an excuse because of this drone attack, that explanation doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me.
VAUSE: What are the chance of homegrown insurgency Russians opposed to Vladimir Putin? They did this, and it's true. Does that upend a whole lot of assumptions about the capability of air defenses around Moscow to domestic intelligence, to just how safe Vladimir Putin might be or might not be?
HALL: Yes, I mean, it calls into question lots of different things, some of which you've just mentioned. I mean, the FSB, the Internal Security Service, has this amazing capability of tracking down dissidents, because that is probably the first and foremost concern that the Putin regime has, is internal dissidents.
And so if some guerrilla organization or some partisan organization has actually emerged and is capable of this kind of thing, that's going to send shivers down the spine of, you know, not only Putin, but other criminal leaders and their intelligence services who spend so many resources trying to make sure that precisely that doesn't happen.
VAUSE: And finally, I want you to listen to an advisor to Ukraine's president explaining why Ukraine would not carry out a drone attack like this one. Here he is.
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MYKHAILO PODOLYAK, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENTIAL ADVISER (through translator): This is obvious that it's to Ukraine's disadvantage to conduct such kind of operations because, first of all, it does not reach any military aims. This does not significantly change the situation on the front line. Secondly, this will certainly provoke talks about the need not to provide Ukraine with long range missiles.
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VAUSE: There's a lot in that. But, you know, while it may not change the status quo on the front lines, it can cause some very real fear within the Kremlin. You mentioned this, that even though, you know, they're 300 miles from Ukraine's border, they're not untouchable. So that has a very real impact on the Russians.
HALL: Yes, I understand why the Ukrainians are saying what they're saying, but in fact there is some significant benefits to the Ukrainians. As a matter of fact, they stand, in my view, to gain the most out of this operation. So, yes, there's no major destruction, nobody was killed.
But it does send a very strong message, an embarrassing message to the Russians. You can't protect yourself. You can't protect your own people. And let's not forget that the Russians are just days away from one of their major military parade celebrations, which marks the end of World War II.
If you're a Russian, are you going to say, yes, I'm going to attend those parades, but you're going to be wondering, well, if I take my kids, you know, one of those drones going to show up? So, this is all part of a psychological, I would argue sort of warfare, that if the Ukrainians are the ones who are responsible for this, that's the kind of impact that they're looking for, as opposed to an actual military physical type of impact.
VAUSE: Were you surprised that the Kremlin owned up to it, released the images and actually put out a statement?
HALL: You know, it's interesting because the Kremlin has been doing a bit more of that recently.
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Usually they, well, oftentimes they don't say anything, especially when it's something that's embarrassing. But, you know, that said, what the Kremlin says is, of course, extremely suspect, as a lot of American officials have been saying. And if you give the Russians enough time, they will come up with some very compelling but fake evidence like they did with the Malaysian airliner shootdown over Ukraine a number of years back.
VAUSE: Yes. Steve, as always, great to have your insights. Thanks for being with us.
HALL: Sure.
VAUSE: Serbia has been left reeling after a 7th grader opened fire at his school in Belgrade, killing eight fellow students as well as a security guard, wounding six other children and a teacher. After the shooting, the 13-year-old boy called police and turned himself in.
Police say he was armed with two handguns allegedly belonging to his father. Authorities have announced three days of national mourning, while hundreds gathered for a candle at vigil, not far from the school just hours after the shooting.
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LYDIA BULATOVIC, BELGRADE RESIDENT (through translator): As a mother, as a grandmother, as a teacher who has worked for 37 years in the school, I'm aghast and surprised.
ALEKSANDAR ARADJELOVIC, BLEGRADE RESIDENT (through translator): All this time, I'm very upset, and it's not going away. I just hope we won't see anything like this again.
VESNA KOVAC, BELGRADE RESIDENT (through translator): It's a tragedy. There can't be a worse kind of tragedy. We live through a lot, but this is just unbelievable.
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VAUSE: Officials say the shooter showed no remorse. There's still no word on a motive. At age 13, he's too young to be held legally accountable. His parents have also been arrested.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) ALEKSANDAR VUCIC, SERBIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): The boy is, as of now, in a special place. He will be placed in a special neuropsychiatric ward. His father, as the owner of the weapons that were improperly kept despite having permits, was arrested. The mother has been taken in as well.
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VAUSE: Serbia's president wants lawmakers to consider lowering the age of criminal responsibility from 14 to 12. CNN's Scott McLean has more now on the attack and the investigation.
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SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voiceover): Handcuffed with a jacket over his head, a teenager is whisked away by police. He's the suspect in a mass shooting that's brought Serbia to a standstill. The 13-year-old was accused of using his father's handguns to kill at least eight children and a school security guard at a renowned elementary school in an upscale part of Belgrade.
Serbia's interior minister says the boy had the code to the safe where his father locked the weapons. In the immediate aftermath, worried parents rushed to the school, anxiously waiting for news their kids were OK. The ones who do emerge are shell shocked or overwhelmed. Some parents recalled their children seeing me attack right in front of their eyes.
ASTRID MERLINI, MOTHER OF SHOOTING SURVIVOR (through translator): She heard shots before that, but thought those were firecrackers. When she saw the security guard fall, she immediately rushed back to the class. She was scared. She told her teacher, there is a shooting upstairs.
MCLEAN: Police and ambulances quickly rushed to the scene to treat victims. Six students and a teacher were taken to the hospital, some in stable condition, others fighting for their lives.
DR. SINISA DUCIC, CARETAKER DOCTOR, TIRSOVA CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL (through translator): It is very difficult surgery because of severe brain injuries. The child is out of operation room and is vitally endangered, and it's intensive care unit. All resuscitation procedures are performed.
MCLEAN: Belgrade police said the teenager waited to be arrested in the schoolyard after calling police himself to confess what he'd done.
VESELIN MILIC, BELGRADE POLICE CHIEF (through translator): Upon arriving at school, he immediately pulled the pistol out of his bag and shot DV, the security guard. He then went past the on duty staff member and sat down at his desk like he did nothing wrong.
MCLEAN: Despite one of the highest rates of gun ownership in the world, mass shootings in Serbia are rare. Police said the attack had been carefully plotted for more than a month. While the precise motive is unclear, the education minister and this high school student blamed violent video games and media. UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): The themization and
popularization of violence and crime through public and media, through art, through everything that can popularize it. This example of violence is a consequence of that.
MCLEAN: Police have cordoned off the scene and continue to investigate. While answers may bring clarity for families, they won't bring back the young lives taken far too soon. Scott McLean, CNN.
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VAUSE: The two rival military factions in Sudan are digging in and seem to be dividing up the country between them. Heavy fighting has been reported around the Presidential Palace, which is controlled by the paramilitary group the Rapid Support Forces. Fighting has been reported around other key landmarks as well as infrastructure.
The Sudanese Armed Forces have agreed to South Sudan's proposal for a seven-day ceasefire scheduled to take effect Thursday, but still no official response from the RSF. CNN's David McKenzie following developments from Johannesburg.
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DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (on camera): Despite ceasefire announcements being made repeatedly on Wednesday, there were still reports from eyewitnesses and CNN reporters on the ground of clashes and airstrikes in Khartoum, in Sudan. The U.N. says that more than 100,000 people have left the country, and at least three times that many are stuck within the country displaced.
The head of the Humanitarian response U.N. Undersecretary General Martin Griffiths was in Port Sudan. There's a need for everything, he says, food, water, medical supplies. And the need is very urgent to get to civilians in Sudan. But he said, what is critical is that there are assurances of security for both their staff and for those supplies.
MARTIN GRIFFITHS, U.N. UNDERSECRETARY GENERAL FOR HUMANITARIAN AFFAIRS: We will still require agreements and arrangements to allow for movement of staff and supplies. We will need to have agreement at the highest level and very publicly, and we will need to deliver those commitments into local arrangements that can be depended on.
MCKENZIE: To illustrate his point, he said six trucks of the World Food Program were looted on their way into Darfur. In Darfur, there's been some of the most chaotic scenes. Eyewitnesses saying that there have been repeated clashes in cities like Al Junaynah, where all of the hospitals are closed.
They say it means that people are streaming across the border into Chad, where they are getting help from the UNHCR and others. But if there isn't a meaningful ceasefire in the coming days, you can imagine, thus, this humanitarian catastrophe will get even worse in Sudan. David McKenzie, CNN, Johannesburg.
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VAUSE: Alan Boswell is the Horn of Africa Director for the International Crisis Group. He's with us this hour from Nairobi. Thank you, Alan. Thanks for taking the time.
ALAN BOSWELL, HORN OF AFRICA DIRECTOR, INTERNATIONAL CRISIS GROUP Thank you, John.
VAUSE: So right now, both sides seem to be scrambling to take control of key infrastructure and prominent landmarks. So, let's listen to the UN Secretary General on the current situation and what he wants.
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ANTONIO GUTERRES, UNITED NATIONAS SECRETARY GENERAL: The present situation is totally unacceptable that a ceasefire, elastic ceasefire needs to take place, that a political dialogue needs to be established, and that the transition for a civilian government needs to be guaranteed.
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VAUSE: While this fighting is ongoing with looting and bloodshed, it seems unlikely that there's any kind of negotiation for peace anytime soon because there's still a lot of bloodshed, a lot of fighting to go with these two sides.
BOSWELL: Yes, we've seen a lot of attempts at ceasefires. They continue to agree to ceasefires, but they essentially immediately break down. We're moving into a situation now where people are starting to consider, you know, worse scenarios, such as the fighting continues. Are there ways of creating maybe some de-escalation zones? Are there ways of trying to find some humanitarian corridors? Are there ways of getting representatives to talks even as they keep fighting?
But the kind of hope or expectation initially that maybe we could get these two to agree to some more full ceasefire. Those sort of hopes are dimming, unfortunately.
VAUSE: And with that in mind, once you listen to a representative of the leader of Sudan's army who is speaking from Egypt, listen to this.
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DAFALLAH ALHAJ, ENVOY TO SUDAN'S ARMY LEADER (through translator): There's no responsible government or state that would accept mediation with those who rebelled against it and caused all this instability, damage and fighting. Mediation comes in issues lighter than this when there's no military conflict.
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VAUSE: So, I mean, that statement just seems incredulous when just taking on the surface, but with both sides here, well-armed and well stocked, you know, with ammunition to varying degrees, you know, the RSF has light weapons, the Sudanese army has the jets and the tanks. But it seems, you know, that statement that this will not be a negotiated end to this conflict is very ominous. It means that essentially this conflict is going to be dragging on for a very prolonged period of time.
BOSWELL: Yes, that's the risk. These are scary remarks coming out. They're not very surprising. The parties have been fielding phone calls from diplomatic powers urging them to go to talks. We've especially seen the army very intent, I think, on trying to gain an upper hand. So they don't go back to talks with this paramilitary on the same equal footing that they started with.
But the problem is this paramilitary force is still swarming the capital with fighters, is more or less entrenched in residential areas, and we're looking at a very prolonged fight. Because this is taking place in the capital, Khartoum, you have essentially a state collapse while this is going on. It's not looking good if we're not able to somehow get this resolved soon.
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VAUSE: Yes. And one of the main challenges facing the UN and other aid organizations is with security. Trucks carrying humanitarian supplies are being looted, despite assurances. Here's a little more from the UN. Martin Griffiths. Listen to this.
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GRIFFITHS: It's not as if we're asking for the movement. We're asking for the movement of humanitarian supplies and people. We do this in every other country, even without ceasefires. It's a traditional humanitarian enterprise to go where others don't.
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VAUSE: Compared to the Sudanese army, the RSF went into this fight lacking the logistics for medical treatment for their wounded and others. Are they more likely to behind the hijackings of the humanitarian medical supplies and the commandeering of hospitals?
BOSWELL: Well, I think it's hard to say specifically who's behind what without looking into further information. I mean, both sides have forces throughout the country, but there are many other armed groups in Sudan, too.
And so one of the big risks is that we see these other armed groups, tribal militias, community militias join this fight, and we see something that looks like localized power struggles, civil wars, or just a really breakdown in security generally.
I think a lot of the problems for humanitarian aid might not specifically come from either of these two groups. They might just come from the general lack of security in other armed groups in the country. We're looking at a very scary scenario in Sudan. VAUSE: Yes. Certainly go from bad to worse in the blink of an eye.
Alan, thank you for being with us. Taking the problems and all. Appreciate it.
BOSWELL: Thank you, John.
VAUSE: Could 10 times be the charm. Another hike interest rates by the US. Fed, but maybe. Maybe this could be the last for a while. And police raids from Italy to Brazil targeting one of the richest and notorious organized crime groups in the world. Those details next.
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VAUSE: Former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro says he has nothing to hide, which worked out well because his home was rated by police investigating falsified COVID vaccine cards. Three of Bolsonaro's former aides have already been arrested, including a close personal assistant who's accused of being the mastermind of the scheme, which involved the former president shown to be registered as vaccinated even though he wasn't.
Some of Bolsonaro's former advisors, even his 12-year-old daughter, are under scrutiny. Bolsonaro told reporters he was not vaccinated against COVID-19 and that his vaccination card was never tampered with.
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JAIR BOLSONARO, FORMER BRAZILIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): My mobile phone has been seized. My phone has no password. I will make that very clear. I have nothing to hide not only about the vaccination card. I have nothing to hide about anything. It would be good if we had a democratic country where we to discuss all subjects. There are subjects that are forbidden to talk about in Brazil, and one of them is about the vaccine.
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VAUSE: Police say falsifying health records constitutes a number of crimes.
Europol says one of the most powerful and feared mafia groups in the world has suffered a major blow after a series of raids by thousands of police officers in multiple countries. Arrests were made across Europe as well as in Brazil and Panama. Barbie Nadeau has more now reporting in from Rome.
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BARBIE NADEAU, CNN CONTRIBUTOR (on camera): More than 130 people have been arrested in multiple European countries in what authorities are calling the largest ever coordinated hit against Italian organized crime. The arrests were part of the Eureka operation and tied to the increasingly powerful Ndrangheta crime syndicate based in the southern Italian region of Calabria that has achieved global reach.
108 of the arrest warrants were handed down in Italy. The arrests were made in Belgium, Germany, France, Slovenia, Spain and Romania. Arrests were also made in Brazil and Panama. More than 2,770 officers were involved.
The massive sting operation took nearly two years of investigation that unraveled an international network of drug smuggling from South America to Europe and Australia. A number of European seaports were also involved, officials said at a press conference announcing the successful operation.
The arrests were tied to the Ndrangheta extensive global drug smuggling network and charges included arms trafficking, money laundering, mafia association and aiding and abetting of fugitives.
Millions of Euro in cash, drugs and weapons were also confiscated in the raids. Barbie Latza Nadeau , CNN, Rome.
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VAUSE: An almost eight hour long manhunt has ended with an arrest of the alleged shooter open fire at a medical facility in Atlanta, killing one woman and wounding four others. 24-year-old Deion Patterson was captured at a condominium complex about 16 kilometers from the crime scene.
The suspect had gone to the medical facility with his mother. She says he was seeking a new treatment. Police say at some point he became agitated, opened fire with a handgun. The woman who was killed has been identified as a 38-year-old who worked at the US Centers for Disease and Control and Prevention. The four wounded women were taken to hospital. Three remained in critical condition.
Well, Americans may be paying a little more, but as interest rates go up for mortgages, credit cards and automobile loans, that's after the U.S. Fed hiked its benchmark interest rate by a quarter percent the 10th consecutive raise.
Now at five to five and a quarter percent, the official rate. But the Fed chairman suggested rate hikes might take a breather for a while to see if inflation eases.
The uncertainty, though, rattled Wall Street that had been running higher early in the day. All three major indices ended down just less than 1 percent.
In Asia's markets two up, two down, the Hang Seng up there by almost a percent, Shanghai Composite up by almost three quarters 1 percent, Seoul down a touch and Australia's ASX 200 down by nothing. Pretty much flat. CNN's Matt Egan has more now on the rate hike and what it means.
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MATT EGAN, CNN REPORTER (on camera): The Fed's war on inflation goes on, for now, at least. This marks the 10th straight meeting with a rate hike, bumping up borrowing costs to levels unseen in more than 15 years.
But the Fed did drop hints, significant hints, about a pause in this inflation fighting campaign. Maybe. This rate hike was a unanimous decision, but it was also a controversial one, because it comes just days after the second largest bank failure in American history. And these recent bank failures were caused in part by the Fed's spike interest rates.
By lifting rates even higher this week, some experts warn that the Fed is basically pouring gasoline on the fire, setting the stage for a credit crunch and perhaps a recession.
Now, the Fed is signaling that this inflation fight could be nearing an end. Officials removed a key line from the statement that previously indicated more rate hikes are likely coming.
Fed chair Jerome Powell described this as a, quote, meaningful change, and he left the door open for a pause, depending upon what happens next in the economy. Powell also said that no decision was made at this week's meeting to pause at the next meeting in June. What does all of this mean for consumers?
Well, there's just no relief coming yet from crushing borrowing costs. Mortgage rates. They have jumped nearly three percentage points since the Fed started raising rates last March. Typical car loan rates, they're at 13-year highs. And it has never been more expensive to carry credit card debt.
And even if the Fed does pause rates soon, Powell indicated today that they're in no rush to cut rates yet.
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The big question is how much this banking crisis is going to slow down lending and hurt the economy and no one, not even the Fed, knows the answer to that.
Back to you.
VAUSE: Matt Egan, thank you.
We'll take a short break. When we come back, who is behind the drone attack on the Kremlin as an early morning barrage of missile fire on Kyiv being (ph) just the beginning of Russian retaliation?
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VAUSE: Welcome back. I'm John Vause. You are watching CNN NEWSROOM.
Authorities in Ukraine's capital Kyiv report the most intense attack so far this year in the early hours of Thursday morning. But officials say 18 to 24 Russian drones were intercepted by the air defense. The latest wave of airstrikes comes after two drones were shot down over the Kremlin in Moscow. More now from Nick Paton Walsh.
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NICK PATON WALSH, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL SECURITY EDITOR: It is on the edges of imagination, but the Kremlin insists it's real.
An apparent drone flies into the Kremlin and detonates right on its dome. Captured on many cameras, a truly seismic allegation. Russia saying Ukraine sent two drones to kill President Vladimir Putin but he wasn't home.
As the smoke rose, these videos played out globally unverified and the only slim evidence of the Kremlin's claim. It is a moment that carries great risk for the Kremlin ahead of an annual victory day parade there just next week.
It is embarrassing. They have claimed such a breach of security happened. And there will be calls for their (INAUDIBLE) military to find a way to escalate. Now they have.
Ukrainian President Zelenskyy on a visit to Finland today issued a flat denial.
VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT: We don't attack Putin or Moscow. We fight on our territory. We are defending our villages and cities. We do not have, you know, enough weapons for these.
WALSH: The U.S. also not convinced.
ANTONY BLINKEN, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: I would take anything coming out of the Kremlin with a very large shaker of salt.
WALSH: But fear of Russian reprisals rising again in Ukraine where bombings already definitely do happen every day and night.
Over a dozen dead this day in a recently liberated Kherson, a railway station shelled and a supermarket midmorning.
Tension mounting here, ahead of unexpected Ukrainian counter offensive. So from Friday, there's a 58 hour curfew, nobody coming out of their homes.
[01:34:55]
WALSH: In Zaporizhzhia, our nights were shaken by sirens and blasts. Here is where they hit -- homes, the first missile landing outside, and leaving enough time for families to jump into the bath or shelter their children before the second left its hole.
"You know, we were in such stress," Ludmila says, "but it was only when people asked us if we were ok that we realized we were alive."
Like in the Kremlin, nobody killed or injured here either. But lives destroyed, and no doubt who is behind it.
Nick Paton Walsh, CNN -- Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Joining me now from Washington, retired U.S. Air Force Colonel and CNN military analyst Cedric Leighton. Good to see you again, Colonel.
COL. CEDRIC LEIGHTON (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Good to be with you, John.
VAUSE: Ok. So, the Russians claim under cover of darkness, two drones flew to the very heart of Moscow for what would be the most serious breach of Russian airspace 36 years, since that kid let in a light plane on Red Square in 1987.
But wait, there is more. The drones to reach the very heart of the Kremlin before being shot down at the last minute. This smells fishier than the dumpster at Red Lobster. I mean so what is your take on all of this?
LEIGHTON: Yes. That's quite the dumpster at Red Lobster. I have to say that that is -- it's really an impossible scenario the more you think about it. If the Russian air defense system fails so miserably, it would really be cause for lots of heads to roll.
This does very much, when you look at the videos, when you look at exactly what seems to have happened, it is really impossible for this to have been a successful Ukrainian attack.
They would have been detected at launch. They would have been detected as they crossed the border. They would have been -- the drones would have been detected several instances on the way to Moscow.
There is no way that they would have made it all the way to the Kremlin undetected. And you know, probably would have been shot down or at least an attempt would have been made way before they made it to the Kremlin area.
VAUSE: Ok. So I just want to play the moment, when one of the drones appear to be intercepted, and then it explodes. So this is just a moment, just before it gets into the Kremlin area. You 0can see the explosion, there it is.
So what sort of capability do these drones have for causing any kind of major damage?
LEIGHTON: Very minimal at best. You know, it's kind of hard to tell from the video how big the drones actually were, but they may have been a lot smaller than I thought initially.
Initially I thought they might be one of the drones that was used to attack the (INAUDIBLE) airfield, you know, a few months ago, in the southern part of Russia but these seem to be much less capable drones, and could very well have been very simple drones with almost no armament on them, if any armament. And certainly, there is little reconnaissance capability. The other thing to note here, John, is that these drones probably
would have had to have been controlled by a ground controller, on the way in to a target like the Kremlin. And, you know, the range of a drone like this, the range of the command and control effort, would have had to exceed 100 miles and that is not something that most of these drones have the capability of.
So I think it seems that on several fronts, it would be impossible for these drones to have been launched from Ukraine, and have actually been a Ukrainian operation.
VAUSE: And just very quickly, Putin doesn't actually live at the Kremlin. He doesn't sleep that at night which means this is not much of an assassination attempt.
LEIGHTON: Not at all, in fact the Ukrainians are pretty aware of where Putin is. And we know he uses his train. We know he spends time like you said away from the Kremlin, especially at night. And this is not a place that he would have been at. If anything, it would have been a warning to him but I don't even think it was that. I think it was a staged attempt to basically rally the troops if you will, rally the people to the flag. And in this case, I think it is a fairly transparent effort.
VAUSE: What about this theory that Russian insurgents may be behind this attack? Would they have the capability and the opportunity to do something like this?
LEIGHTON: Potentially, you know, there were several possibilities, of course, when you think of the Wagner group being at odds with the Kremlin. And this might have been something that they could done. There are other groups out there that are interested in -- at the very least making life difficult for Putin, if not potentially even deposing him.
It is possible that they could have done it, but I think it is somewhat unlikely that they would have mounted an attack like this. And it is certainly unlikely that the attack would have achieved this kind of a shoot down sequence.
[01:39:58]
VAUSE: Ok. Colonel, thank you so much for being with us there. We appreciate your insights and your analysis. Thank you.
LEIGHTON: Thank you, John.
VAUSE: Still ahead, face to face for the first time in 13 years. Leaders of Iran and Syria meeting in Damascus. How the Arab world is trying to bring Syria back into the fold.
And demand for justice by female wrestlers in India after the head of their sport was accused of sexual harassment. Vedika Sud is there.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) VEDIKA SUD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You'd expect professional wrestlers to be training inside an academy. But these women have little choice but to train on the road here at the protest site.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VAUSE: Damascus is hosting the first state visit by an Iranian leader since the outbreak of civil war in Syria. State media reports Iran's Ebrahim Raisi and Syrian President Bashar al Assad signed a long term cooperation agreement on Wednesday.
For more than a decade, Syria under the dictator Bashar al Assad has been considered an international pariah because of the brutal crackdown during the civil war on defenseless civilians. The murder of women and children with chlorine bombs and on it goes.
President Raisi's two-day visit comes as the Arab world looks at normalized relations with that regime.
CNN's Becky Anderson has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BECKY ANDERSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: An historic visit 13 years in the making. Iran's president Ebrahim Raisi meeting with the Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in Damascus. Despite Tehran's ongoing financial and military support for Assad, it is the first state visit of its kind since Syria's brutal civil war began in 2011.
Raisi's two-day trip taking place against a backdrop of wider regional efforts to bring Assad back into the fold. Saudi Arabian's foreign minister making a similar trip to Damascus just a few weeks ago.
FAHAD NAZER, SPOKESPERSON, EMBASSY OF SAUDI ARABIA IN THE U.S.: We are working closely and towards advancing a political solution to the crisis in Syria, that preserves its sovereignty, its territorial integrity, and make sure it is part of the Arab fog.
ANDERSON: And earlier this week, Jordan hosted a rare meeting between Syria and its Arab neighbors. The tangible outcome of that was Syria agreeing to curb trafficking of the highly addictive amphetamine Captagon. Saudi Arabia and the Gulf are its primary market. The agreement seen by many as a confidence building exercise.
The push for normalization gaining momentum after a devastating earthquake hit Syria and Turkey in February. Nearly 6,000 people in Syria died, and many Gulf Arab countries rushed to provide humanitarian assistance. Earthquake diplomacy, seemingly shaking the Syrian stalemate.
[01:44:55]
ANDERSON: Saudi Arabia hopes to invite Syria to an Arab League summit in Riyadh later this month. But some Arab states oppose Syria's return without a political solution to the conflict.
MOHAMMED BIN ABDULARAHMAN AL-THANI, QATARI PRIME MINISTER (through translator): We don't want to impose solutions on the Syrian people. The people need to reach them. There must be a political solution for the Syrian crisis.
ANDERSON: As for the millions of Syrian refugees brutalized by Assad's war --
MOUAZ MOUSTAFA, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, SYRIAN EMERENCY TASK FORCE3: It is a betrayal of the Syrian people. I think for any government to normalize with the Assad regime to do business with the Assad regime. The person that is responsible for displacing and killing his own people. for the Syrian people themselves, it is a stab in the back. It's a huge betrayal.
ANDERSON: Syrian refugees and citizens caught between shifting politics, facing an uncertain future.
Becky Anderson, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: The highest court in France has ruled against the referendum over changes to the government's pension system. On Wednesday, the Constitutional Counsel ruled that raising the retirement age from 62 to 64 doesn't actually violate the French Constitution, ending all immediate legal challenges.
The changes have led to massive protests across France for months, sometimes leading to violent clashes with police.
Female wrestlers in India are demanding the head of the sports' governing body resign will be removed amid accusations of sexual harassment. After months of investigations going nowhere, the women are now camping out and protesting in the street, with growing support from the public.
CNN's Vedika Sud has the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SUD: They're up just dawn merging from tents on a dusty road side in the heart of New Delhi.
Quickly, their makeshift home becomes a training ground. These women are celebrated athletes. They have held this protest vigil day and night for over a week. Their fight could bring a major reckoning for Indian sport.
"We are Olympians, gold medalists, and world champions", wrestler Vinesh Phogat tells me. There's been a grave injustice. We have dedicated our lives to our country she says.
Protest leaders Vinesh Phogat and Sakshi Malik are accusing the most powerful man in the sport of sexually harassing female players. Brij Bhushan Singh, president of the Wrestling Federation of India
strongly denies the allegations. He was asked to step aside earlier this year while the complaint went to a government oversight committee. And while a committee now runs the day-to-day affairs of the federation, Singh officially remains chief.
Malik and Phogat are among those who have been demanding a thorough and impartial investigation.
"Seven women athletes have filed police complaints. I believe there are more victims," says Olympic medalist Sakshi Malik. Singh isn't only involved in sport, he is also a member of federal parliament and an influential voice within India's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party.
The police registered two cases against him only after the Supreme Court intervened. India's top court is now observing the police investigation.
You would expect professional wrestlers to be training inside an academy but these women have little choice but to train on the road here at the protest site.
Support has come from across the country, each day hundreds come to demand action.
"We realize we have just one avenue left, to appeal to the public," says Phogat. "If we get public support, then at least we know the country stands with us."
Supporters say these wrestlers could become a symbol of change in a nation so often shocked by sexual misconduct.
RAHUL MEHRA, SPORTS LAWYER AND ACTIVIST: Surely, it is that MeToo Movement and surely, you know, women athletes have really mustered the courage to come out. This is at least in my living memory, I've not come across this kind of protest ever. So this is unique. This has its own power.
SUD: India's sports minister has promised an impartial probe, but without any firm deadline. These wrestlers, who have put their careers on the line are prepared for a long wait. They say they are ready to camp it out on mattresses, under mosquito nets, for as many nights as it takes to get justice.
Vedika Sud, CNN -- New Delhi.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Still to come, more on the star-studded lineup for a weekend performance celebrating the coronation of King Charles III. Spoiler alert, Lionel Richie is the headliner.
[01:49:45]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) VAUSE: Drugmaker Eli Lilly claims the experimental Alzheimer's drug makes slow progression of the disease by more than a third, but only if taken during the early stages.
The drug removes a buildup of plaque in the brain, that nearly half the people who took it during an 18-month trial showed no decline on a key measure of brain cognition.
But it is not without some concerns. Lilly reports two of more than 1,700 patients in the trial died from adverse effect like brain swelling. Still, the drugmaker plans to file for FDA approval by the end of next month.
U.S. regulators have approved the world's first vaccine for a respiratory virus called RSV. The drug made by the pharmaceutical company GSK, GlaxoSmithKline, is designed to be given as a single shot to adults 60 and older. It still requires approval from an advisory committee of the Centers for Disease Control but could be available later this year.
RSV is often associated with babies and young children but it can also be dangerous to seniors. In the U.S. an estimated 160,000 adults 65 and older are hospitalized each year with RSV. Up to 13,000 people die as a result of the infection.
Just two more sleeps now until the coronation of King Charles. On Wednesday, he attended a garden party at Buckingham Palace with Queen Camilla, in celebration of the upcoming events.
Among the guests were American singer Lionel Richie, who will join Katy Perry and the British boy band Take That to perform at a special concert on Sunday.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LIONEL RICHIE, SINGER: First of all, does this ever happen? No. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity. So to be a part of it is everything. And I have known His Majesty now for a couple of years, and so to celebrate this with him, and it is just going to be so much fun.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: King Charles named Lionel Richie a global ambassador for his charity, the Prince's Trust in 2019. That organization supports young people who try to get into work, education and training.
Well, the royal (INAUDIBLE) may have to brave some potentially wet weather on coronation day. Forecasters expect a chance of rain to increase in London by late morning on Saturday, just as the coronation begins, darn it, and will continue through the afternoon.
Despite that high temperatures in the capital expected to receive 17 to 19 degrees Celsius.
Britain's Met (ph) office says showers and thunderstorms will be moving across the U.K. over the next few days.
The coronation ceremony will be Britain's first in seven decades with all the pomp and pageantry you expect, but there will also be some notable differences compared to the coronation of his mother Queen Elizabeth II.
CNN's Max Foster has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MAX FOSTER, CNN ROYAL CORRESPONDENT: Not since 1953 that we have had a glimpse of this sacred moment. The crowning of a monarch, Queen Elizabeth, then just 27, thrust to the throne after her father's untimely death. Her coronation designed to introduce the young queen to the world, and give a morale boost to postwar 0Britain.
70 years on, and amidst a cost of living crisis, King Charles' coronation will have many of the same traditions incorporated albeit slightly toned down.
Up to 2,800 guests in Westminster Abbey, CNN understands, versus the 8,000 who gathered for the late queen's.
[01:54:49]
ELIZABET NORTON, ROYAL HISTORIAN: The king has actually ruffled some feathers by not inviting many members of the ancient nobility, including some of the dukes in fact. It is said that the king has invited members of the community, so charitable workers for example.
FOSTER: A sign perhaps that Charles wants to make the monarchy more accessible, though much of the pomp and ceremony will of course remain.
He will sit on the coronation chair, used by monarchs for more than 700 years. And he will be crowned with the St. Edward's Crown a gold, velvet and jewel-encrusted piece weighing more than two kilograms.
The coronation is first and foremost a religious ceremony, it culminated in the king's anointing with holy oil, which has been consecrated in Jerusalem.
NORTON: It is seen as symbolizing the king's commitment to god, because of course he is a very religious man himself. He is now the head of the church. It is a sacred moment.
FOSTER: His wife Camilla will also be anointed and crowned. Charles' sons William and Harry will be there, although Harry's wife Meghan will remain at home in California with her two young children.
It remains to be seen what role Harry will play in proceedings now that he's stepped back from his senior royal duties.
For many in Britain, the coronation is about more than just another public holiday, there will be street parties up and down the U.K., and thousands will come here to Buckingham Palace to witness the famous balcony moment, to see for the first time the newly-crowned king and queen.
Many more will line the streets for the coronation procession, just as they did for Queen Elizabeth II seven decades ago.
The king and queen will travel in this gilded carriage accompanied by a huge military procession. Night time rehearsals spotted in the streets of London, as the capital gears up for a moment in history.
Max Foster, CNN -- London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: And of course, CNN will have special live coverage of the coronation of King Charles III this Saturday May 6th starting at 10:00 a.m. in London, get up early at 5:00 a.m. Eastern in the United States. We will be everywhere. We'll be from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Abbey, in the mall with the crowds, everywhere you can think of there will be someone from CNN.
And you can watch it all here on CNN.
Thank you for watching CNN NEWSROOM. I'm John Vause.
The news continues with Kim Brunhuber after a short break.
See you tomorrow.
[01:57:17]
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