This is CNN breaking news.
And we are
following some more breaking news
out of Ukraine.
President Zelensky
says a Russian missile
hit near
where he and the Greek prime minister
were meeting in Odessa on the Black Sea.
Zelensky says
people were killed and injured
in that attack.
And CNN's Fred Pleitgen joins me now.
Fred, what more can you tell us
either, Jim?
Well, it certainly looks like
it might have been a close call there
for the Ukrainian president
and actually
also the Greek prime minister.
It's not clear
whether or not
the Ukrainian
president, Vladimir Zelensky,
was actually the target of what
apparently took place there,
which seems to have been a missile
strike by the Russians near the port
or inside
the port of Odessa was quite interesting.
To hear the Ukrainian president say
that they not only heard an explosion,
but he says that they also
saw the missile as it was coming down.
Which of course
seems to indicate
that both him and the prime
minister of Greece
were quite close
to that explosion that took place.
I want to listen in
to what Vladimir Zelensky
had to say later at a press conference.
Just listening
By choice.
Let's say,
you know that we saw this strike today.
You can see who we are dealing with.
They don't care where they strike.
I know that there were victims today.
I don't know all the details yet,
but I know that there are dead
and wounded.
Now, we need to defend ourselves
first and foremost.
The best way to do
that is with an air defense system
And the Ukrainian president
there saying that there were dead
and wounded.
The Ukrainian authorities,
the Ukrainian navy now
coming out
and saying that there were five
people who were killed and further people
who were wounded in that strike.
And some new information
that we literally
just got a couple of minutes ago
actually coming from the Russians.
They claim
that near
that port facility
that they struck, what they said
was a warehouse
containing unmanned sea drones
from the Ukrainians.
Again, impossible to confirm
whether or not
that was really the case,
but definitely appears
as though
it could have been a close call.
There for the Ukrainian president, Jim.
Absolutely.
I mean, that
would have been extraordinary
had things turned out differently here.
Glad that the president is okay.
Fred Pleitgen, thank you very much.
Joining me now
to discuss,
CNN national security
analyst and former deputy
director of national intelligence
Beth Sander,
and CNN
military analyst, retired
Air Force Colonel Cedric Leighton.
Beth, let me start with you first.
I mean,
this as Fred was saying
just a few moments ago,
this was an extremely close call.
And according to the Ukrainians,
this Russian strike
not only
potentially could have taken out
the Russian president,
but the Greek prime minister.
I mean, can you imagine
if something like that had occurred?
Just extraordinary.
Yeah,
it is absolutely extraordinary.
And it's interesting
what this might mean in
terms of really galvanize even more
the European support for this war effort.
You know,
this attack
I mean, obviously, the Russians knew
he was there.
They knew Zelinsky was there.
And they did it on purpose.
And I don't want to steal Cedric's
thunder here.
But what Fred just said about
attacking the warehouse with the unmanned
drones,
it does seem to me
that this is in retaliation
perhaps for the sinking of that
Russian warship yesterday, a patrol ship
that was only a year and a half old
and has cruise missiles
and as part of
what is the force in the Black Sea
that is continuing this
raining down
these missiles
on Odessa and across Ukraine,
Yeah. Colonel Leighton, what do you think?
I mean, the other question
that I had in the back of my mind
as I was digesting this news this morning
is whether or not
the Russians
have the ability to track
zelensky's movements
with this kind of precision,
because it sounds like
this was fairly close
Yeah, I think so, Jim.
And, you know,
we certainly have to
think of the possibility
that the Russians are tracking
zelensky's movements.
I this you know,
according to some reports, at least,
you know, as Beth
indicated, was
about 150 meters or so away from
the Lewinsky's convoy.
That's pretty darn close And,
you know, if they were also looking at going
after the see, drones, as Beth mentioned,
that, of course, is a military target.
And you know
you know,
clearly within,
you know,
some of the parameters
that the Russians have set for themselves
and would be
of military interest to them.
But they also,
of course, have always wanted to
do something
that would be decapitated
since the Ukrainian regime.
And this would be one way
in which they could do that.
Of course,
they also had the Greek prime minister
visiting at the same time.
That may have complicated things.
If something bad it happened.
And, you know, in addition
to what already occurred.
But this is,
you know, clearly a Russian effort
to go after the leadership and the,
you know,
very distinct possibility of that.
And there's also the chance,
of course, that they were going
after a military target in
this particular case.
Ambassador, it's
impossible to not put this
in the political context this morning.
This morning,
we had Nikki Haley
dropping out of the presidential race,
but at the same time saying that aid to
Ukraine is essential
and that that's what her supporters
want to see happen.
Obviously, Donald Trump
feels differently about a lot of this.
He has other plans
for Ukraine and Russia.
How big of it?
How big of an issue is this, this issue
now of Congress passing aid for Ukraine
with Donald Trump
all but guaranteed
to be the Republican nominee
come November?
Well, yeah, I think that this is
you know,
it is getting to the point where
we are on the verge
here of Ukraine really potentially
having the tables turned
completely on them.
And it is just incomparable to me
that the US Congress is is
is not doing what they're supposed to do.
I mean, put it on the floor
and debate it and vote on it.
Right. Isn't that what democracy is all about?
Just vote on it.
And let's see where the votes come down.
But I mean, we're at the point
now where
Ukraine cannot defend itself
and they're almost out of air
defense missiles in many cases.
And certainly there are rationing there.
They're ammunition,
and it's why they're losing territory.
So I think I also
just want to take a second
and remind people
that it's not $60 billion for Ukraine.
That package,
only 14 billion of it
is actually for Ukrainian arms.
Another 20 billion is just going straight
to U.S.
manufacturers along with that 14 billion.
That 20 billion is just going to go back
into the U.S. stockpile.
So, you know,
these votes
also aren't just about Ukraine,
it's also about America
and about America's safety
and about American jobs.
And I think that that is really
what Republicans should focus on,
as well
as doing the right thing
for Ukraine and for the U.S.
reputation in the world,
which Haley really doubled down on today.
Yeah, we have to go.
I apologize, Colonel Leighton,
I do want to get your take
on all of that.
We'll do it next time.
We'll have you back.
We're going to talk about
this Ukrainian issue tomorrow.
Beth-center Colonel Layton,
thanks to both of you.
A lot of breaking news this morning,
really appreciate both of you
taking time for us.