PEREIRA: The White House is calling the buzzing of a U.S. naval ship by Russian war planes a provocation. Those planes getting too close to the Navy destroyer USS Donald Cook multiple times this week in the Baltic Sea. U.S. officials say it mirrored the posture of an attack. Our chief national security correspondent Jim Sciutto is in Washington with more on this and the reaction to it.</s>JIM SCIUTTO, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Michaela, this morning Russia defending the flybys, claiming that the pilots observed, quote, all safety measures. But really, you look at these pictures and you see why the crew of the USS Donald Cook and really the U.S. military as a whole is expressing alarm. The Russian fighter jets swooping within 75 feet of the guided missile destroyer. A U.S. official described the fights as strathing (ph) runs without firing weapons, saying the pilots took the same path they would have had they actually been attacking the ship. To be clear, Russia has been conducting flights like this close to U.S. warships and aircraft with increasing frequency, but here in closer proximity than ever before. Russian subs also sailing close to U.S. and NATO ships and ports, clearly intended as a warning, a message to the U.S. But the very real concern of U.S. officials I speak with is that these flights are so close, the margin of error is literally zero. They fear a mistake in one of these flights could lead to something dangerous, potentially deadly, Michaela. They're taking this very seriously.</s>PEREIRA: As they should, absolutely. Jim, very concerning. Thank you so much for that. We'll stay on that. Meanwhile, Donald Trump not backing off his claims the Republican Party's rules are stacked against him. Will this blame game tactic help him? Is it going to hurt him on primary day next week?
Buzzing of U.S. Naval Ship by Russian War Planes "A Provocation"