Pamela brown in the situation room. Ukraine reports significant damage from a massive and deadly russian attack while also claiming it struck a major blow to mass cow by killing the commander of russias black sea fleet. Well get an assessment from key white house official john kirby. Senator bob menendez speaks out for the First Time Since his indictment on Bribery Charges, defiantly rejecting fellow democrats calls for him to resign. Donald trump is ramping up his appearances in key battlegrounds as hes set to skip another republican primary debate. Stand by for a new snapshot of the 2024 raisin colluding a Swing State Showdown between trump and President Biden this week. Welcome to our viewers in the United States and around the world. Wolf blitzer is off today. Im pamela brown and youre in the situation room. We begin with ukraines claim that it has killed the commander and other officers in russias black sea fleet, potentially crippling the kremlins naval forces. Kyiv now accusing moscow of seeking revenge for that attack by striking the Southern Port City of odesa. Cnns sam kiley is following all the new developments. Reporter ukraine dismissed this as a pathetic attempt at retaliation, a russian Bom Bombardment of the port city of odesa with drones and longrange missiles. Two Warehouse Workers were killed, an abandoned hotel smashed in what could have been an almost routine attack by russia, but for this. Kyiv now claims to have killed the commander of russias black sea fleet, admiral victor sokolove. Ukraine claims it cleared another 33 russian officers in a strike against the Fleet Headquarters in sevastopol on friday. Ukrainians have targeted senior russian officers throughout this war, often using intelligence from nato, and specialist units have been tasked by kyiv with these killings. Theyre aimed at Sapping Morale and undermining command systems. Cnn has no independent confirmation of ukraines claim to have killed russias admiadmiral, but it would be its biggest success in this campaign and part of the ongoing effort to break through russias Defense Lines to ultimately strike at crimea. They include an attack on putins navy and a bridge to russia itself. The first batch of u. S. Donated abrams tanks have now also arrived in ukraine. Their ear not the strategic weapons the ukrainians say they need. Translator Defense Packages from the United States including artillery, himar munitions, Additional Air defense systems, tactical vehicles and other types of weapons that will prove themselves on the battlefield. Reporter kyiv wants these atacms, long range Missile Systems to attack deep behind russian lines to kill more officers and destroy logistics hubs. The u. S. Has yet to announce that ukraine will get these missiles before the winter freezes over the front lines where they are. Now, of course, from the ukrainian perspective, without air dominance, breaking through those Defense Lines are extremely difficult. So a great deal, pamela, of their main effort is focused on breaking what the military calls c2, the command and control. Thats why they want those atacms, because they believe if they can kill enough russians, the Russian Military will collapse on itself, sparing bloodshed on both sides. Joining us from the white house, National SecurityCouncil Coordinator for Strategic Communications john kirby. Thanks for joining us. Ukraine, as we know, says the russian attack on odesa is revenge for fridays strike on crimea. If ukraine did, in fact, kill the commander of russias black sea fleet, how big of a blow would that be to Vladimir Putin . That would be a significant blow, certainly to Russian Naval operations in the black sea area. They have been very active in the last 18 months from the black sea striking at ukraine from ships at sea. If youre able to kill the commander of the fleet or a lot of his or her staff, obviously thats going to have a Significant Impact on their ability, as sam says in his reporting, to command and control that fleet. That doesnt mean its going to be some sort of permanent fix, pamela. Theyll replace those people. Obviously theyll put a new leader in, and the russian fleet is not going anywhere out of the black sea, but for a while it will have a Significant Impact on their ability to operate. To follow up on that, can the u. S. Confirm whether this commander was killed along with 33 other russians as ukraine says . No, we cannot. How far do these attacks on occupied crimea go in disrupting russias fight on the front line . I think its important if you look at the map, crimea is critical to continue the Occupation North of crimea, north of the peninsula and up the eastern side of the country into the donbas. Crimea acts as a bit of a staging ground, not just for attacks from the black sea, but also to be able to replenish and resource their troops particularly in the southern part of ukraine. It makes perfect sense that ukraine would want to hit strategic targets inside crimea to try to hamper their ability to use crimea as a staging base, if you will, for supporting their troops further inland. President zelenskyy for his part says the First American abrams tanks have now arrived in ukraine. What does that mean for the counteroffensive . This is the First Tranche of the tanks, the first abrams tanks that can have a Significant Impact on the battlefield. Only the First Tranche of the more than 30 that the United States has committed to ukraine. There will be more flowing in in coming weeks. Obviously it will be up to president zelenskyy and his generals to determine how to use these tanks. They have other tanks from other countries theyre using. In this counteroffensive where theyre making steady, but slow progress particularly in the south, these sophisticated abrams tanks, they can be a significant help. There are also reports that the u. S. Will provide ukraine will longerrange atacms missiles. Is that the case . And did President Biden make that commitment when he met with president zelenskyy last week . I dont have any announcement on these atacms, these longrage cruise missiles. I will say were continuing in conversations with ukraine about their needs, including air defense needs. As you saw the president after he met with president zelenskyy announced another tranche of security assistance, additional arms and equipment, well keep that going. Before we let you go, i want to ask about another potential Government Shutdown, the pentagon saying it could disrupt the delivery of Military Equipment to ukraine. Weve got a little more funding to go. I think well be okay for the next few weeks or so. Without the supplemental request that we asked for, it will absolutely have an effect on our ability to support ukraine well into the fall and winter months, pamela. The weather is not going to be that cooperative soon. You heard from sam, once we get into the winter, it gets really hard for both militaries to maneuver and to operate. We want to make sure were getting them everything they need while they still have good conditions on the ground. Not getting the supplemental request if theres a shutdown, that will have a Significant Impact on their ability to succeed on the battlefield. Ukraine says its going to keep fighting through the winter. What do you think that looks like . I think it will look like last winter unfortunately, another winter of war. Last winter both sides they did fight, they didnt stop. But the fighting gets greatly affected by the weather conditions, as it does anywhere around the world. Its going to have an effect on them. We want to make sure thap can take advantage of the good conditions they have now for as long as they can. John kirby, thanks so much. You bet. Where efforts to avert a Government Shutdown stand right now. Rebel republicans digging in their heels with the deadline only days away. Tonight the u. S. Government is hurdling towards a crippling shutdown at the end of this week. House speaker Kevin Mccarthy unable to defuse a Civil War Preventing Critical Funding from being approved. Melanie, with time running out, what happens when lawmakers return tomorrow . Pam, i can walk you through what their plan is. Theres no guarantee that its actually going to go according to plan. Starting tomorrow House Republicans will try to move forward with a package of individual longterm Spending Bills in the hope among speaker Kevin Mccarthy and his Leadership Team is that will build good will with members of the far right who have been calling on them to pass these individual bills and theyll eventually rally around a shortterm Spending Bill to keep the government over, to buy more time to pass the rest of their longterm Spending Bills. There are a couple hurdles. First of all, still unclear whether they have either longterm or shortterm Spending Bills. Even if they did, all those bills are dead on arrival in the senate. Looming over it all is a potential threat from hardliners to force a vote ousting Kevin Mccarthy from the speakership if he crosses them or acts in a way they feel violates the deal he made to become speaker. Kevin mccarthy is insisting these hardliner threats are not driving his decision making. Take a listen. Im not worried if someone makes a motion. Im not worried if somebody votes no. Im going to wake up each and every day with the same thing that drives my opinion of what needs to be done, solving these problems. Thats what im going to do. Im going to work with people who want to get that done. Reporter meanwhile, across the capitol, Chuck Schumer has taken steps for the senate to advance its own shortterm Spending Bill. Thats unlikely to include many of the conservative priorities. Kevin mccarthy has not said what he will do if that bill were to come over from the senate. Ultimate wli for Kevin Mccarthy, it may come down to him making a choice between keeping the government open or keeping his speakership. Meantime you have former President Donald Trump weighing in, seems to be encouraging hard line republicans when it comes to conceding. Thats right. Donald trump presided over the longest shutdown in u. S. History when making demands over the border. Hes entered the fray once again, encouraging republicans to shut it down. I want to read you part of his truth social statement. He said, unless you get everything, shut it down. Thats just a sam of the challenge that mccarthy is dealing with here. He knows a number of these hardliners are listening to donald trump. He has their ear. It makes it harder for Kevin Mccarthy to convince them to back down. In fact, theyre digging in and amplifying trump for making these comments. President biden weighed in a short while ago about the threat of a Government Shutdown, laying the blame on what he calls extreme House Republicans. Cnns Kayla Tausche is at the white house for us. What is the president saying . Reporter the on the is doubling down on the white house message that its republicans alone gearing the government towards the shutdown despite the deal the president helped broker in june. Here is the president speaking on that earlier this afternoon. Just a few months ago, the speaker of the house and i agreed to spending levels for the government. Now a small group solve extreme House Republicans, they dont want to live up to that deal, and everyone in america could be faced with paying the price. A white house official tells me that President Biden remains in touch with congressional leaders on both sides of the aisle, and that the president is broadly supportive in this officials words of the efforts by the senate to overcome the hurdles that Kevin Mccarthy is facing among his conference in the house, to broker some sort of deal there, and that President Biden believes a senate brokered deal is one that would be in the spirit of the bipartisan budget deal that all parties reached just a few months ago n. The meantime, the Office Of Management And Budget is telling agencies to start putting in place their individual plans, Contingency Planning for a Government Shutdown that would begin saturday at midnight. The white house is now dispatching officials from independent cabinets to start warning of disruptions to specific programs like air Traffic Control and nutritional programs for women and children if that shutdown does take effect. Ive also asked the white house for its Economic Assessment of what would happen if the government endured a short or a longterm shutdown. The council of economic advisers which normally crunches those numbers has not made those available. Its safe to say, pam, there would be an Economic Impact if that were to happen. Just to take a step back for The Big Picture context here, who do voters usually blame for a shutdown, and how does the white house navigate that . It really depends on who is empowered, who is the one pushing the Shutdown Narrative here, pam. Just a few months ago we saw the white house once again trying to put republicans on the hook for a potential partial shutdown or a default on the nations debt if a deal was not reached at that time. By and large American Voters said the buck stopped with President Biden and he would bear any responsibility if that were to happen. The difference in that scenario is that House Republicans coalesced around a specific set of priorities, and they passed a bill that the white house had jumpstarted negotiations in response to. In that situation, House Republicans have moved first and did have a relatively united position, thus putting the white house on the hook. It remains unclear how exactly americans would feel about the shutdown this time around, albeit it appears were careening toward one. Pam . Kayla Anthony Fauci she, thank you very much. A powerful senator says hes not going anywhere after being indicted on Bribery Charges. Youre in the situation room. Well be right back. Senator Sherrod Brown is the Second Senate democratic to call for the resignation of new jersey senator bob menendez. Since friday several senators have called for menendez to resign. Based on what ive seen, im disappointed. Yes, i think he should resign. Certainly hes innocent until proving guilty. This indictment is damning and he should resign. I do believe it is in the best interest for Senator Menendez to resign in this moment. Menendez says he will continue to serve despite the federal Bribery Charges against he and his wife. Cnns Kara Scannell is covering the story and joins us from new york. Reporter pam, in these first public remarks menendez made it clear hes not going anywhere. Hes been charged with three counts of briberyrelated offenses. Prosecutors say he took hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes and in exchange helped three new jersey businessmen and aided the government of egypt. Today menendez said he believes he will be exonerated, and he tried to address the envelopes stuffed with cash that the fwib found in jackets bearing menendezs name when they searched his home last year. I recognize this will be the biggest fight yet, but as i have stated throughout this whole process, i firmly believe that when all the facts are presented, not only will i be exonerated, but i still will be the new jersey senior senator. I have withdrawn thousands of dollars in cash from my personal Sa