Top Ukrainian Pilot Brutally Killed, Haberman And Scaramucci Shares New Reporting On Donald Trump

news a source tells CNN that a top Ukrainian pilot has been killed while flying a us- made F-16 fighter jet it was one of the first f-16s delivered to Ukraine after its president pleaded with the West for the military aid CNS Nick pton Walsh joins us now Nick what more do we know about the crash and and kind of the broader implications yeah let's start with what we know about the crash now we're being told by Ukrainian defense official this occurred during uh the F-16 and its pilot alexe Mess by the call sign MoonFish were repelling one of the largest Russian assaults on Ukraine that we've seen in the past years frankly that occurred earlier on this week over 400 projectiles fired this week at Ukraine sort of moscow's Retribution for its losses On the Border the F-16 involved this defense official says in repelling that attack and we heard from Ukraine's President Vladimir zalinsky he said somewhat cryptically that f-16s had been used to try and stem some of the missile attacks earlier this week the defense official refers to a crash and so there will be discussion as to exactly whether this was a technical problem caused by a roll in combat or the plane shot out of the sky as it flew over Ukraine but remember this is one of six that have arrived in Ukraine already the pilots perhaps trained at such a compressed rate maybe even more a valuable resource potentially than the Jets themselves 80 of which have been promised by European allies to Ukraine the Biden administration had to sign off on this because these planes are us made and it could potentially when they arrive in Mass be a bit of a game changer for Ukraine who suffered from a lack of their superiority for the the past years they have limited Jets and helicopters but it's the Russians who have enough Jets to bomb Ukrainian positions at will that's been a huge problem for Ukrainian forces across the front line the f-16s may have been able to change that but here we have a piece of news which I think a military analysts will say is not entirely surprising if you put pilots in a compressed training regimen into some of the most complex combat scenarios seen over Europe for decades and then of course rush into the field as well these F-16 Jets with a a maintenance regime that must be so complex given the environment they're functioning in so a key moment certainly for Ukraine the F-16 in combat defending its Skies but now enduring a loss as well there will be questions as to what this means the technical viability going forwards but it is a a startling moment and I think the loss of this pilot known as MoonFish Alexa mes felt keenly by many ukrainians very experienced man chosen for this particular role he went to the US to advocate for the f-16s being delivered uh and now meeting his death it seems uh while defending Ukraine pton Walsh as always thanks so much new this morning Ukraine says its air defenses have destroyed more than a dozen Russian drones flying toward the capital of Kei one Ukrainian official described the overnight attack as quote massive leaving several buildings damaged and says it's the third aerial raid on the city just this week now we're learning also that Ukraine wants to expand its list of targets on Russian soil a Russian lawmaker tells CN that that two top officials will brief the Biden White House this week in face-to-face meetings they're going to ask for the US to lift restrictions on the use of longrange American weapons inside Russia CNN's or liberman is live for us at the Pentagon Orin what more do we know about what these meetings are going to entail Phil the the push to use Us weapons to hit targets longer range deeper in Russia has been a very public and private campaign in the part of Ukraine stretching from Ukrainian President Vladimir zalinski and on down it'll be Andre ma the head of the Office of the President of of Ukraine and the defense minister who will be here for meetings tomorrow with Biden Administration officials to present a priority list of targets that they want to hit with longrange us weapons deeper inside of Russia they need a green light from the White House to be able to do that and that's their goal here so far the Biden Administration hasn't changed its position in fact Us weapons can only be used inside of Russia in a very small area north of Ukraine inside of Russia and they have used those weapons to that effect the KK offensive has been carried out effectively within that restriction from the US but they say they need to be able to Target uh military assets and high value targets deeper inside of Russia to change the course of the war President Vladimir zalinski talked about this yesterday we continue to insist that their determination now lifting the restrictions on long range strikes for Ukraine now will help us to end the war as soon as possible in a fair way for Ukraine and the world as a whole Ukraine has used its medium range assets its medium- range weapons to Target and Carry Out crossb attacks but Russia has simply moved their high value assets farther back farther away from the front line and they're out of range of Ukraine's current Weaponry within the restrictions placed upon them by the US that's why they say it's so important to get these restriction eased or outright lifted and that's their goal here you make a great point in the sense that this has been a public campaign that has been going on for a while from Top Ukrainian officials including uh president zalinsky do we have any sense right now that because of some reason or another the US is actually considering changing the restrictions so far the administration and the Pentagon have been clear that the restrictions remain in place but Phil you and I have seen this so many times over the course of the war especially when Ukraine carries out a very public c campaign that the Biden Administration will say no no no no no and then suddenly yes we saw it with Patriots we saw it with attacks we saw it with Abrams tanks and that's what Ukraine is hoping for here that the public and private pressure campaign that that perhaps a a comprehensive list of targets of what they want to hit to make that clear to the White House that that will build up enough pressure and convince uh Administration officials that finally they will go from all of those NOS to the yes that Ukraine is hoping for we'll have to wait and see or leave from the Pentagon thanks so much let's continue this discussion with CNN political and National Security analyst David Sanger he's also the White House National Security correspondent for the New York Times and the author of The Great Book new cold Wars China's rise Russia's Invasion and America's struggle to defend the West David I want to start with you where or an ended in the sense of there has been month after month an evolution of kind of the administration's analysis of the escalatory risks related to specific requests from Ukraine why is this time different why would they not consider uh signing off on lifting restrictions it's a great question Phil because we're not completely certain where it is that they are in their assessment of Putin's sensitivity to these kinds of escalations you know early in the war you'll remember because you and I were both covering this at the White House at the time uh President Biden was concerned that if the US even provided some long range weapons just for use inside Ukraine that uh that could uh lead Putin to threaten again to use nuclear weapons as they decide discovered he wasn't that sensitive to it they allowed the use of the himars the attacks they sent tanks that whole list that you heard from aurin what's different this time is that the ukrainians are actually attacking inside Russian territory and holding some us some Russian territory and they haven't been able to answer very convincingly at least in public two questions the first is what's their long-term goal do they really plan to hold this land or are they trying to trade it away for a territory that Russia has invaded inside Ukraine brand new reporting from The New York Times tonight the family of a Green Beret who's buried at Arlington National Cemetery is not happy about Donald Trump's photo op near his grave site Maggie Haberman joins us in just a moment the Trump campaign is offending its decision to film in a restricted section of the cemetery where soldiers who were recently killed are buried NPR reports an official at Arlington tried to stop Trump's team from doing so on Monday but was then verbally abused and pushed by Trump campaign staff according to reporting VP candidate JD Vance though is blaming the media it is amazing to me that you have apparently somebody at Arlington Cemetery staff member had a little disagreement with somebody and they have turned the media has turned this into a national news story Trump spokesman is blaming the cemetery official claiming that they tried to physically block campaign staff we should note that federal law prohibits any campaign or election related activities within Army National military cemeteries which is notable because the Trump campaign posted this video on Tik Tok promoting his visit to the CET we didn't lose one person in 18 months and then they took over that disaster the leaving of Afghanistan my source tonight is New York Times senior political correspondent Maggie Haberman so Maggie you're reporting this hour on new reaction to that Tik Tok we just showed so Pam my colleagues and I have reporting from another family uh that has a a soldier buried in that section 60 which is a very uh Restricted Section it is it is for people for soldiers uh who were uh who died after serving in Iraq and Afghanistan for the most part this is a family who the soldier in question he was a a master sergeant uh Andrew Marcano he died by suicide in in 2020 and he had served multiple tours uh combat tours uh including in Afghanistan but not only and his grave site was caught in pictures As Trump was posing with the grave site of another sergeant uh at the same section now that other Sergeant's family had indeed said they would like Trump there as you noted these these gold star families welcomed him as you also noted the rules of the cemetery are that uh campaign photography campaign filming is not permitted uh you know uh photographs that are going to be used for election purposes and the Marcano family certainly was not contacted or asked for this but his gravestone is now in that Tik Tock video from behind the that Trump uh posted on Tik Tok he's also his the front of the grave site with his name is in pictures that were posted online with Trump posing with a thumbs up and you know they were very clear uh the family in a statement to us that they they really support this other family and other families uh that lost people in the abig gate bombing uh during uh in Cabell in Afghanistan uh but that this is a restricted area and that they would hope that uh everyone would be respectful of that it was a restrained state but it was very clearly displeased but what does this signal to you about Trump's thinking and how kamla Harris is getting under his skin well there's two things going on Pam one is that Trump just likes posting things like this we have seen him do this for years this is you know not this extreme this is this is pretty explicit um but he has he has toyed around the edges of this kind of thing for a very long time and he did something recently a similar type of uh repost on social media along on these lines I so I think part of it is it just plays to what he wants to be talking about and enjoys part of it is I think that he believes that this is going to amplify or people around him believe this will amplify these claims of his and get people talking about them and that is always the risk in in talking about these things is that it does spread it to a broader audience but I think he has been trying to bait KLA Harris and her supporters into a fight about race a fight about gender and that's what this speaks to and I think that they have for the most part ignored it all right Maggie hberman thank you so much Katherine um the thing that that struck me here uh and that uh I'm interested to hear you weigh in on is that there's a a family member so there there are family members who say they invited Trump to do this to come graveside right and that that's why it was okay what that there were photographers there however they clearly don't speak for all family members of people who are buried in in section 60 and and there was another family who uh you know the the uh The Headstone for their loved one was in this photo op um that Trump uh took there and uh they talked to the New York Times um they say that they fully support another family's Quest For answers and accountability about the Afghanistan withdrawal but uh they also uh say that according to our conversation with the cemetery the Trump campaign staffers didn't adhere to the rules that were set in place for this visit to this other family's grave site that lies directly next to this is the sister my brother's grave but instead of stopping there in making that point the Trump campaign now has created this narrative that feeds into what people already believe about him is that not only does he not understand military service but that he doesn't respect military service and now that is becoming what we're discussing instead of the Afghanistan withdrawal all and that's entirely because of choices made by Donald Trump in his campaign so even JD Vance saying you know kamla Harris can go to hell if she wants to criticize us on that I think I think he might regret those words because it's not just kamla Harris or the Harris walls campaign or even just Democrats who are criticizing what happened at Arlington National Cemetery the most famous cemetery in America it's veterans groups it's going to be military families gold star families and will JD Vance tell them to go to hell I think he probably wouldn't but they're going to be asking him what does he mean by those comments it just seems like a very unforced error for what started out as a very valid critique of the Biden Harris Administration and the former president put out a statement from some of those family members that said quote we had given our approval for president Trump's official videographer and photographer to attend the event ensuring these sacred moments of remembrance were respectfully captured and so we cherish these memories forever now that doesn't mean that they supersede the federal law that exists which is at the heart of this dispute Chris LV the co-chair of the or co- campaign uh manager of the Trump campaign put out a much sharper statement saying for a Despicable individual to physically prevent president Trump's team from accompanying him to this solemn event is a disgrace and does not deserve to represent the hollowed grounds of Arlington National ceter the cemetery officials themselves have not gone beyond an initial statement saying only there was an incident and a report was filed they are not trying to identify the individual or go much further than that clearly they don't want this to become a big thing it is starting to become a big thing particularly on the campaign Trail Aon yeah and interesting if if Chris lvid is talking about someone trying to physically prevent I mean it does appear that was some sort of a physical altercation at least that that may that implication all right Phil thank you very much and I want to go now to Anthony scaramucci former Trump White House communications director who now supports kamla Harris for president so Anthony I want to ask you about quite a few things here first uh this incident at at Arlington National Cemetery Trump posed four photos during his visit like the one I'm showing here uh his thumbs were up he was uh smiling there with with families he also posted a Tik Tok promoting that he was there so when you heard that his team got into an altercation with a cemetery official as they tried to film the visit you see Chris lasita talks about that there was physical prevention what was your reaction well I I want to be careful because there are uh men and women there that are mourning our veterans on that sacred ground and so what's that issue is were they used by the president and so the short answer is they'll say no because they invited him but he stretched the bounds of normaly once again by bringing a film crew to those sacred grounds and there's no uh excuse for that and it's evident that there were people there that respect the solemn nature of Arlington National Cemetery that were trying to stop them so uh it's once again Trump going outside the Norms uh that we're used to in the United States and so what's that issue is were they used by the president and so the short answer is they'll say no because they invited him but he stretched the bounds of normaly once again by bringing a film crew to those sacred grounds and there's no uh excuse for that and it's evident that there were people people there that respect the solemn nature of Arlington National Cemetery that were trying to stop them so uh it's once again Trump going outside the Norms uh that we're used to in the United States he likes breaking those things he likes being unethical he likes being a moral these are things he's doing he gets a lot of justification to do this by the right-wing press uh but it's very very sad and I think those poll numbers that you were mentioning earlier in the show related to Georgia and other states I think people are actually tired of this he's the old man in the race now at age 78 he's older he's slower and he's smaller in terms of the way he thinks about things uh and I think the momentum is with vice president Harris so you know we have heard Anthony and because you know him and and have spent time with him and obviously at one point you were a real believer in in in his view right obviously that's changed but but at one point I'm just saying you've have a different perspective we've heard in Trump's own words how he talks about veterans I mean just a few days ago you know when he claimed the presidential medal of freedom which was awarded to civilians is better than the Medal of Honor given by Congress uh to people who have suffered uh great losses in war here's what he said it's actually much better because everyone gets the Congressional Medal of Honor that soldiers they're either in very bad shape because they've been hit so many times by bullets or they're dead you know with the RNC though Anthony to your point about the families with him at the cemetery we saw gold star families calling compassionate one one said he spent six hours talking with her at Bedminster so in the context of of you knowing him for a long time what do you think he really feels about veterans well I I think it's true to his nature he has an ambivalence I do believe what general Kelly said that he called people that were volunteering to defend our freedom suckers and losers they've just released this ad Donald Trump's back and he's out for control I would have every right to go after them complete control I will wield that power very aggressively and he has a plan to get it detailed plans for exactly what our movement will do it's called project 2025 a 922 page blueprint to make Donald Trump the most powerful president ever you wrote a new OP ad Anthony arguing and that the headline was Trump is planning to use project 2025 to build a Russia style oligarchy in the United States now I just want to note he denies connections to the group even though many people who work for it worked for him uh but he says that he does not support the things in Project 2025 USA today's fact check says he does indeed say he doesn't support it so in that context that he sort of denounced it why are you confident why are you sure that this is a real risk that he would follow the blueprint this is exactly what he does so his next move is he barely knows the people even though he's been flying them around on his plane he's got 85 former uh employees in the Trump Administration working for it and of course his former OMB director was caught on tape last week saying that Mr Trump's denunciation of project 2025 is a ruse he's really still for it I mean we got that on tape so so this is what he does this is his Mo uh but there's 920 Pages there I would ask people to look at Agenda 47 and look at the overlap between agenda 47 on his website and project 2025 now of course his people will go and try to erase some of that stuff now let's just call talk about a few things he wants to eliminate 50,000 workers and have them pass a loyalty test in the government