A U.S.
official tells CNN
that a Russian jet
intentionally flew in front of the UN
in front of the unmanned U.S.
Reaper drone, such as the one seen here
And then the Russians dumped jet
fuel in front of it
and then damaged a propeller
on the drone, which forced the U.S.
Air Force to then bring the drone down.
We're covering this from the Pentagon,
from the White House and in Ukraine.
Let's start with CNN's Oren
Liebermann at the Pentagon for us.
And Oren, U.S.
aircraft flying over the black seas,
international waters not uncommon.
Is it clear
whether or not the Russians
did this intentionally?
Jake, the Pentagon and the U.S.
military have been very careful
not to ascribe an intent or goal
to the Russian pilots inside
those two Russian aircrafts.
But it's also very clear
that if you look at the description
of how this played out,
it certainly looks, at least in part,
deliberate
The Pentagon
says over the course of
about 30 to 40 minutes,
two of these Russian
su 27 fighter jets
repeatedly flew in front of sprayed fuel
in front of
and then ultimately
one of them collided with this
MQ nine Reaper
drone, damaging the propeller
and forcing the U.S.
to bring down the drone
over international waters.
It should be noted that
all of this played out
over international waters,
according to the US.
Russia firing back
just a short time ago,
saying they did not use airborne weapons
or come into contact
with the MQ nine Reaper drone.
The Pentagon has said, however,
that there is video
that they're working
to put out, imagery
that they're working to put out,
which will certainly paint
a clearer picture of how this played out.
But Jake,
repeatedly crossing in front of a U.S.
drone
over the course of 30 to 40 minutes,
whether you meant to hit it or not.
That sort of interaction comes
across as very intentional
to us,
calling this unsafe, unprofessional,
even going so far as to call it reckless.
And let's bring in our Ivan Watson,
who is in eastern Ukraine for us.
Ivan,
anything more you can tell us about
what the Kremlin is saying
about this incident?
Sure.
I mean, the Russian Ministry of Defense
issued its statement
within the last hour,
basically confirming that, yes, in fact,
something had happened
there that resulted in the loss
of this U.S. Air Force Reaper.
They are arguing that
the drone was approaching Crimea
and that it was operating,
it was flying without its
transponders on.
And that
prompted the Russians to scramble
the S.U..
27 jets to intercept it.
And they, again,
as you just heard from Oren, said
they did not come in contact,
they say, with the drone,
the Russian jets,
and they also did not use their weapons.
So we have kind of two narratives here
for what may have taken place out there.
This will certainly ramp up tensions
in an area that is already beyond tense.
I'm standing
2030 miles away from frontlines
where Ukrainian and Russian troops
are killing each other
day in and day out.
And much of the rhetoric, the propaganda
coming out of Moscow
right now, out of the state media
is arguing to the Russian audiences
that, hey,
Russian troops are already
fighting NATO's and the U.S.
on the ground, even though
neither organization have sent troops
to engage directly in this terrible war.
Yeah.
And Phil, at the White House,
officials brief President Biden
about this incident this morning.
Is there any expectation
that President Biden
might reach out
to Russian President
Putin to talk about this,
to try to de-escalate tensions
Yeah, Jake,
the president was briefed
by national security
adviser Jake
Sullivan this morning
about the events
that transpired over the Black Sea.
But there's been no indication
from White House officials or U.S.
officials writ large
that the president is considering
reaching out directly to President Putin.
Now, these two leaders have not spoken
since before
Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
And while the president said
he is open to discussions
with President Putin,
it is only on the grounds
of trying
to find
a pathway to end the current conflict.
What you have seen, though,
there has been obviously
harsh and sharp language
Oren laid out in terms of the response.
But there's also been a very methodical
diplomatic approach here
in terms of summoning the ambassador
to the State Department,
making very clear with the language
and the statements that they put out,
their displeasure
for what transpired
and how they felt like
this was significantly problematic.
But there has been no sense from U.S.
officials right now
that there's any desire
to escalate things any further right now,
just using words
and cautioning
Russian officials about what happened.
All right,
Oren Liebermann, Phil
Mattingly, Ivan Watson,
thank you to all of you.
Let's bring in the former secretary
of defense for Donald Trump, Mark Esper.
Mr. Secretary, good to see you.
Do you agree with the U.S.
Air Force's
assessment that this incident
could lead
to, quote, unintended escalation?
Well, first of all, it is
certainly reckless,
and I would say that
it's certainly intentional.
The question is, was the intent
did it
emanate from the cockpit
or was it directed by somebody
further up the chain of command?
And yes, indeed,
it could lead to unintentional escalation
if not controlled.
You know, during my tenure,
we had
similar incidents happen where
Russian aircraft
would overfly our ships or approach
very closely our bombers,
but never nothing like this.
So I think it needs to be addressed
very seriously.
I don't think we should overreact.
I suspect right now within the Pentagon
from the chairman of the Joint
Chiefs staff on down,
they are reaching out
to their counterparts
to find out exactly what happened,
to communicate with them and to find what
find out what
the Russian explanation really is.
And I think that will dictate
in some ways our response not long ago.
The State Department
spokesman, Ned Price, said that
while he can't speak to Russia's
intentions, quote,
the motivations matter much less
than what actually transpired
I guess the idea that the Russian jet
was following and, you know,
playing chicken with this drone
for 30 to 40 minutes.
Do you agree with that?
Well, no intentions do matter.
I mean, that makes a big difference.
But regardless,
the behavior by the pilots was reckless,
reckless and unsafe and unprofessional.
They shouldn't be dumping
fuel on our aircraft.
That breaks the rules of the road.
And I suspect what they were trying to do
is fly so close
that the Reaper drone
would get caught up in jet wash
and maybe plummet
into the sea on its own.
And they just happened
to bump into it as well.
All of this is very dangerous behavior.
And again,
it could lead
to unintentional escalation.
That's why I think reaching out
behind the scenes to the Russians
is very important.
I think we'll know more
in the next 24 hours.
But we also need to assert publicly
as well as privately that, look,
we're not going to tolerate this behavior
because if if you don't do that,
then you'll see an uptick
from the Russians
against us
and our allies in the Black Sea region.
And of course,
we are flying in international airspace.
So it's completely unjustified
The latest CNN poll of Republican
presidential candidates
has your former boss, President Trump.
And Florida
Governor Ron DeSantis
basically neck and neck.
DeSantis told Fox News last night
that the war in Ukraine is a, quote,
territorial dispute.
He said it's not vital to U.S.
interests. Do you agree
Well, look, there are only two countries
in the world that threaten
the United States existence,
and that's China and Russia.
And Russia has invaded
a sovereign country.
Overtaking a large
chunk of its territory.
I do think it's in our vital interests
because,
you know,
we have to help defend
the democracies of the world.
We have to push back
against autocrats like Vladimir Putin.
And if you don't push back,
that means they'll go elsewhere
and eventually comes home to your shores.
I think the other thing, the reason
why we want to help the Ukrainians
as well as they are
knocking down and beating back
the Russian army
in a way that only helps us.
And at the same time,
the Western resolve here
with regard
to Moscow sends a clear message
to Beijing
that we will stand up to them as well
if they decide to
take action against Taiwan.
Well,
what do you make of the fact
that the two leading candidates
for president
in the Republican Party
right now
have such a different view
and different assessment
of this than you do?
I don't know.
I think
you can only chalk it up to politics.
I mean, I,
I consider myself
a Reagan Republican and ask myself,
how would Ronald Reagan approach this?
And I suspect that
President Reagan
would support a young democracy
fighting for its life.
And that's kind of how I look at it,
the lens through which I look at it.
And I think we as Americans,
the United States, have a responsibility
to lead the free world.
Now, look,
it doesn't mean there are blank checks.
There shouldn't be accountability.
I think we can manage all these things,
but we have to
we have to abide by our principles
and live up to our values.
Former Secretary of Defense Mark Esper,
thank you so much.
Good to see you again, sir.