we will get back to you if there are new development. president biden pushing back against criticism of his decision to include cluster bombs in his administration s latest military aid package to ukraine. human rights activists oppose cluster bombs which can carry dozens or hundreds of smaller bomblets which sometimes do not explode on impact because he will see in this video of a russian cluster bomb dropped on ukraine last year, the unexplained ordinance can kill and maim civilians more than 100 countries have outlawed cluster bombs, but that does not include the united states or russia. priscilla alvarez is in delaware, where the president is spending the weekend. priscilla, the president is facing some pushback from some of his fellow democrats, isn t that right? reporter: that s right. two democrats put it bluntly, calling it, quote, a serious mistake. in a washington post op-ed, senator merkley and
decision to help ukraine, but many disagree. critics say it is a mistake that will cost the lives of many innocent civilians. joining me to talk about this is cnn military analyst and retired air force colonel cedric layton. colonel layton, what do you think the biden admitted patient decided on this course? why cluster munitions, one at other types of munitions that have not been banned by 100 other countries? why go into this kind of a thicket in trying to help out the ukrainians? think the primary reason, jim, is that our defense industrial base has not kept up with the standard munitions the opinions have been using for the most part in their effort against the russians. so what we have is the defense industrial base that cannot keep pace with demand. the fact that it cannot keep pace with demand means that once ukrainians run out of the munitions they have they are going to have to ask for other munitions, and cluster munitions was one of their asks
congressman, you serve on the house armed services committee. what do you think? do you agree with the president on including cluster bombs in this aid package to ukraine? i was talking with the former u.n. ambassador bill richardson in the prior hour, and he thought that this was not the right move. what do you think? i think the president did make the right move. i also recognize how difficult this decision is. however, when you consider all the factors, as the president has done, it is the right thing to do. the fields in ukraine where this war is taking place are currently littered with duds of all kinds of arms, 4 million rounds of artillery have been fired across both lines and there is considerable number of duds already in the field. these cluster munitions are very effective. the problem with them is that there are a
done it might be that we want to put in place more safeguards, more rails, if you will, to make it clear that no administration should ever be using the federal the power of the federal government to go after their political opponents. clearly, biden has not done that. clearly, trump did. if guardrails are necessary, then that should be our work, not just, as mr. jordan is doing, using the committee as a weapon. jordan is using the committee as a weapon. using the government as a weapon, to go after his perceived political foes, specifically the biden family and biden administration. congressman, of course if congress majority wants to come on and refute what you said, we would be happy to have him. thank you, we appreciate it. coming up, she has been in prison for more than 50 years.
i have heard her say that she wakes up every day feeling remorse and guilt and it is genuine and the court found that to be true. nancy, thanks very much, we will check back in with you once this release happens. appreciate your time. thanks so much. thank you for having me. still ahead, ukraine is welcoming president biden s decision to send cluster munitions to that country. how much could the weapons impact tactics on the battlefield? we will discuss that next with colonel cedric layton. you are watching cnn newsroom. and if you don t have the right home insurance coveragag, well you could end up paying for all this yourselflf. so get a allstate. [clicking] when occasional heartburn won t let you sleep. [clicking] get fast relief with new tums+ heartburn + sleep suppt. love food back and fall asleep faster. tum, tum tum tum, tums