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Deadly Blasts Rock Kyiv; Petro Poroshenko is Interviewed about Deadly Blasts in Kyiv; Sergio Tupac Uzurin is Interviewed about Migrants in New York City. Aired 8:30-9a ET

Aired October 10, 2022 - 08:30   ET

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

[08:30:00]

MICHAEL FANONE, FORMER DC METROPOLITAN POLICE OFFICER: They have been, you know, the most important part of my recovery from, you know, from January 6th, but also from a - a two-decade career in law enforcement. And, I mean, I look forward to spending as much time with them as I possibly can. But as far as a career, I don't know. No idea.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: Well, Mike, it's really something to read about your experience. And I know that this has been quite a path for you. I know it's been really difficult for you. And I'm sure some people have some idea about that, but this is essential reading so that people can really understand how this day and also just the lack of truth in the wake of it has turned your world and so many people's worlds upside down.

So, I encourage people to check out your book, "Hold the Line: The Insurrection and One Cop's Battle for America's Soul," which does come out tomorrow.

Mike, thank you so much for being with us this morning.

FANONE: Thank you, ma'am.

KEILAR: And we are tracking the latest developments in Kyiv where multiple deadly explosions rocked the city this morning, as well as across the entire country. Multiple cities targeted. We're going to speak to a former leader of Ukraine, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:35:20]

KEILAR: Explosions rocking Ukraine this morning. The official death count has already reached ten people, all of them civilians. Russian missiles, air strikes and drones also targeting the western city of Lviv. This all coming as Russian President Vladimir Putin is holding a meeting with his national security council after declaring the explosion on a bridge that links Russia to Crimea, which it illegally annexed to be a terrorist attack that was orchestrated by Ukraine.

Let's bring in CNN international security editor Nick Paton Walsh. He is in Dnipro, Ukraine.

And there's a huge crater behind you. This is where one of the strikes hit.

Tell us about this, Nick.

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN INTERNATIONAL SECURITY EDITOR: Yes, I mean, it's just beggars belief, frankly, why a place like this would be targeted. You can see the crater behind me.

Now, just moments ago, there was a civilian bus sat here on the road, which we're told was hit in the explosion. Miraculously, nobody killed.

The size of the crater, you can basically get a feeling as to the kind of lethality that Moscow was willing to send here. And this seems to have been their target. But the most startling thing about it is, it seems to have been an old telecoms building, disused. And you can see that simply because there are no windows in most of it. And that looks like the case prior to the blast.

So, extraordinary choice of target here. You can see the damage all over the floor. And still people already starting the clear up to get back to normality. But also here too, the potential civilian cost. Windows blown out across these enormous apartment building blocks here. It's going to be a horrible winter for those living here.

We're hearing, though, that in the area in which this city is, Dnipro (INAUDIBLE) region, the death toll is now four and possibly somewhere in the higher teens of people who have been injured. So far concern though amongst locals here that there could be more rockets. One saying to me they were simply stark (ph) of looking here at the damage with her children, stark (ph) the ordinary civilian people would even be targeted like this.

But it's the ferocity of these blasts. And when they began these missiles to come in around all of Ukraine, there was a sense, I think, amongst many people living here that the whole country was under attack.

Now, it's subsided. The wreckage is being cleared up. It's clear that it seems energy infrastructure was some of the target. But also the standard, blatant disregard for the possibility that other people could be hit and also it seems here civilians targeted, too.

Back to you.

KEILAR: What is the mood like there, Nick, when you're speaking to people? How would you describe their emotions?

WALSH: Yes, anger, I think. There's a man quite angrily talking to somebody else here about how this is just simply ordinary people being targeted. There is no military objective around here. I said even if you were to try and justify this telecoms building being targeted, it looks like it's been abandoned for quite some time. Its roof is entirely caved in. And I think there is a sense of shock here really because this has been a war where Russia has shown a blatant disregard for civilian lives. Has, at times, it seems, targeted hospitals or civilians, too. But the ferocity and the scale and the multiprong nature of this attack hitting pretty much every major city in Ukraine with some exceptions, trying to take out power it seems.

We think there's about 80,000 people possibly in this region who have no power as a result of some of the strikes here. I think that's got people deeply concerned about a new level of callousness from Russia, but also it's tinged, I think, with a sense of resilience, too, that regardless they will carry on.

Alisyn (ph).

KEILAR: Yes, thank you so much, Nick Paton Walsh --

WALSH: Brianna, sorry.

KEILAR: Oh, that's all right. Nick, thank you so much.

ALEX MARQUARDT, CNN ANCHOR: Let's discuss now with former Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko.

Mr. President, thank you so much for joining us this morning.

PETRO POROSHENKO, FORMER UKRAINE PRESIDENT: Thank you. 12:15

MARQUARDT: Are you afraid these strikes that we've seen across Ukraine today, do you believe that this is just the first step in a wave of upcoming strikes that will - that will continue to strike cities that have been relatively spared for the past few months?

POROSHENKO: First of all, that this was not a strike against Kyiv. And I'm standing exactly in the place where is a child ground for -- where Russian missiles attacked a couple of hours ago. You see at how it tried to rebuild, to restore, to take all the glasses here. And this is just 100 meters from here, my university, which I graduated.

[08:40:01]

But with that situation - and we now have an (INAUDIBLE) this is just mentioning that this is the new Russian missiles expected. This is an attack against the whole free world, against freedom and against democracy. And this is attack not only Russia. This is attack of the three (INAUDIBLE), Russia, Bella (ph) Russia from the territory of which we have an attack, and Iran, because we - they -- Russia use Iranian drones, (INAUDIBLE), which is killing Ukrainian people.

We have already more than ten definitely Ukrainian civilians killed and more than 60, which is definitely wounded in the absolutely center, without any military object, the center of the civilians.

MARQUARDT: Right.

POROSHENKO: And this is just a demonstration that we should be extremely decisive. Today we have an extraordinary recession from the United Nations and we definitely need to launch the process to throw Russia away from the United Nation and from U.N. Security Council, same like Soviet Union for attack on Finland. And the second (INAUDIBLE) on the 12th we will have a (INAUDIBLE) group meeting. Definitely with that (INAUDIBLE) rename (INAUDIBLE) as an anti-Putin coalition.

MARQUARDT: Right.

POROSHENKO: And we need to be supplied anti-missiles, anti-aircraft and anti-drones, weapons who urgently should be delivered to Ukraine, to Kyiv.

MARQUARDT: Do you think today's strikes -- again, more than 80 missiles all across the country, do you think that will make it more likely that Ukraine will be getting those weapons that you feel you need, those air defense systems, those long-range rockets? Is this going to change things in the eyes, do you think, of NATO?

POROSHENKO: Definitely we -- the Ukrainians count on that because more weapon we receive, and particular not the armed jacket, not the help (ph), but anti-aircraft, anti-drone, anti-missiles. And this is definitely is the only way to peace. And we have another arguments (ph) how we can get closer to peace, and this argument is full (INAUDIBLE) of - in NATO for Ukraine. To repeat the same scenario like we have for Sweden and for Finland. And with that situation, the fast that we happen there, the faster would be peace.

And third position, today we have a very important discussion in United States for recognize Russia as a country sponsor of terrorism. We have many countries already to implement this initiative. Baltic states. Today I speak with the - our Polish. But the global leadership of the United States should be confirmed with an urgent decision to recognize as a sponsor of terrorism with the necessary results of these decisions by the international law.

MARQUARDT: Well, a very dangerous and scary day all across Ukraine. Our thoughts, of course, are with the Ukrainian people.

Former President Petro Poroshenko in the Ukrainian capital, thank you very much for your time, sir. Appreciate it.

POROSHENKO: Thank you.

MARQUARDT: New York City is now under a state of emergency over the influx of migrants being bused to the city. Who the mayor is blaming, that's next.

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[08:47:05]

MARQUARDT: The mayor of New York City, Eric Adams, has declared a state of emergency in the city over an influx of migrants seekers bused in from southern states like Texas. Mayor Adams is insisting that New York cannot immediately accommodate the number of people who are arriving.

He said this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) MAYOR ERIC ADAMS (D), NEW YORK CITY: This is a humanitarian crisis that started with violence and instability in South America. And it is being accelerated by American political dynamics.

We are at the edge of the precipice. We need serious partnership and realistic solutions. As I have said before, we need help. And we need it now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MARQUARDT: Joining us now is Sergio Tupac Uzurin. He is the spokesman for NYC ICE Watch, one of the groups that is working to help newly arrived migrants in New York.

Sergio, thank you so much for taking the time to speak with us this morning.

SERGIO TUPAC UZURIN, SPOKESMAN, NYC ICE WATCH: Good morning.

MARQUARDT: I want to ask you first, how much of the work of settling these recent arrivals is being taken care of by the city versus groups like yours?

UZURIN: We have to say the city strategy seems to be getting the migrants to be out of sight and out of mind. When they arrive off buses, they tend to be told to go to the shelter system, which are prison-like conditions. The abolitionist mutual aid groups of which ICE Watch is a part of have been helping migrants get settled, get identification, get medical treatment, get clothing, get metro cards, all the things necessary to live.

MARQUARDT: The city has said that they may set up a program for New Yorkers to volunteer to host people. Do you think that that would work, and is it enough?

UZURIN: Well, it would be the least that they can do. You know, we've had individuals opening up their homes temporarily. We've slowly seen churches opening up their doors to migrants who have, you know, literally run from the shelter system because conditions are so violent in there. You know, we demand what the sweeps campaign has been demanding since Adams took office, which is good, clean, safe, community controlled housing in New York City. The city has the budget, the state and federal government have the budget to buy out vacant housing and underutilized hotels to house every unhoused person in New York almost immediately. And that's what we really want to see.

MARQUARDT: Are you getting the support that your group needs?

UZURIN: Unfortunately, not yet. You know, from the beginning we saw that the mayor's office of immigrant affairs handpicked a few select non-profits with million-dollar budgets to work with and kind of literally pushed out the mutual aid that was trying to greet the migrants coming off the buses.

Our line is open. If they understand that our strategy to help out the migrants is the same that New Yorkers who have lived here for a while have been calling for, we need the rent to go down.

[08:50:08]

And that means challenging the city's strategy of sucking up to big real estate interests and funding the NYPD over everything else.

MARQUARDT: I want to play a little bit of sound from Mayor Eric Adams. He said this to the Biden administration. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYOR ERIC ADAMS (D), NEW YORK CITY: We need a realistic decompression strategy at the border that will slow the outflow of asylum seekers. We need a coordinated effort to move asylum seekers to other cities in this country to ensure everyone is doing their part. And Congress must pass emergency financial relief for our city and others.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MARQUARDT: What's your reaction to that, and do you agree that more help is needed on a -- from a federal level?

UZURIN: More help is absolutely needed from the federal level, and we need immigration reform that allows entry to anyone that wants to come to the United States. We need to make it so that immigrants can legally work because they are going to work anyway. The first thing out of their mouths when I greet them off the buses is, where can I get a job? These are people that help make the city run.

Our concern is, you know, Republicans, let's be honest, may be too far gone to care about the migrant crisis, but we know what Democratic mayors have done in New York, Chicago, L.A., D.C., which is take money meant to solve these crises and fund them towards law enforcement and surveillance. So, we can have money coming from the federal government, but we need community-controlled enforcement of housing policy and where this money goes to.

MARQUARDT: Yes, a very complex and a very dire situation.

Sergio Tupac Uzurin, in New York, thank you very much for your time this morning.

UZURIN: Thank you for having me.

KEILAR: A new round of Russian strikes across Ukraine. Missiles pounding cities that have been relatively quiet for months. We are on the ground ahead.

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[08:55:25]

KEILAR: Our top story this morning, deadly explosions rocking Ukrainian cities across the country, Kyiv, Lviv, Zaporizhzhia, as well as this blast in Dnipro in the most extensive attack on the country since the start of Russia's invasion. Officials say ten people have been killed, at least 60 so far injured. Those are the numbers as they stand right now.

Here's video showing an explosion near a pedestrian bridge in Kyiv. A playground also hit in the capital.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says he's speaking to the G7 group of nations during an emergency meeting on Tuesday.

And we'll continue to cover this all day today.

CNN's coverage continues after this break.

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[09:00:00]