Erin burnett out front starts right now. The Michigan Supreme Court handing donald trump a win, keeping him on the ballot in that state. Thats not stopping challenges in other states. I will speak with someone at the center of it all. Bidens border problem. The president s top diplomat wrapping up his meeting with mexicos president. Will it change anything at the border . Before and after Satellite Images of a russian warship ukraine says it destroyed. Lets go out front. Im erica hill in for erin burnett. Donald trump with a win in michigan where the state Supreme Court rejected a bid to remove him from the Primary Ballot. Trump quick to hail that on social media today. The fight is really just beginning. Michigan is the fourth state to reject efforts to keep trump off the Primary Ballot. Similar efforts continue in a number of other states. A ruling in maine is expected any day now. Trump is actually now demanding that maines democratic Secretary Of State, who would decide that ballot issue, recuse herself because of past comments she made about january 6th. So far, as you see on the map, one state, colorado, has ruled to remove trumps name from the ballot. The ball is back in Donald Trumps court now in his legal battles with special counsel jack smith. Smiths team arguing in a new filing that trump should not be allowed to push political Talking Points during his Election Subversion Trial saying in part, the court should not permit the defendant to turn the courtroom into a forum in which he propagates irrelevant disinformation and should reject his attempt to inject politics into this proceeding. An effort by prosecutors to stop trump from saying things like this in court. Every time the radical left democrats, maxist, fascists indict me, i consider it a great badge of honor. Joe biden is a threat to democracy. They are weaponizing Law Enforcement for a high level election interference. Every poll, we are kicking bidens ass. Thats the problem. Thats the problem. If i wasnt if i wasnt, we wouldnt be under investigation by deranged jack smith. Paula reid is out front. You have breaking news in one of these cases. Whats the latest . Thats right. The Republican Party of colorado has just appealed to the Supreme Court asking it to overturn the states unprecedented decision last week to remove former President Trump from the 2024 ballot. Trump has signals he intends to appeal the ruling. Hes not done so yet. The gop was a party to this case. They are working to try to keep trump as an option to list in the 2024 Primary Ballot. This is significant because this appeal means the colorado decision from last week is now on hold until the Supreme Court reveals whether it is going to get involved in this issue. As you know, theres a lot of pressure on the high court to weigh in here and offer clarity about the 14th Amendment and also the power of states and state officials to remove candidates from the ballot. Do you have any sense of how quickly the court could decide whether or not to take that . They have asked for expedited review, which i was joking with one of the lawyers, its popular right now. Everyone wants to move quickly. This has huge consequences. Right . Right now, this will be on pause for the primary. But we know from what we have seen in the decisions across the country that the door is still open to relitigate this issue even in states that have kept trump as eligible for the ballot, for the general election. Its unclear how quickly the Supreme Court will move on this. Everyone involved in this knows, time is of the essence. Speaking of people who would like to see things expedited, jack smith. He is filing from his team now this is more about what can and cant be said in court ultimately. How likely is it that jack smith gets what he wants . What he ultimately ly wants to bring this to trial before the 2024 election. Its on pause. They are working through the holiday, continuing to file motions and requests of the court so that once the appeals the larger constitutional questions have been appealed, they anticipate they will prevail and they hope that by filing these requests, this can move forward quickly once they get on the other side of the appeals. Here the specific issue is trying to limit potential defenses that trump could use. Specifically, they are focused on any suggestion that trump has been the target of, quote, political persecution. They told the court they dont want trump to use this trial as a forum to share what they describe as disinformation. They do not want him to be able, they say, to distract jurors with these political arguments. They want the jury focused on facts. Paula reid, appreciate it. Thank you. Ron fine is a lead attorney on the challenges to remove donald trump from the ballot in michigan, oregon, and minnesota. Good to have you with us. Lets go back to michigan, if we could. The fourth state to reject a bid to remove donald trump from that Primary Ballot. I know you are not done in that state. What is next here for you . The Michigan Supreme Courts decision actually left it open for us to refile after the primary. It was a very narrow ruling. The Michigan Court did not say that donald trump didnt engage in insurrection. It did not say that michigan cant decide whether he is disqualified under the 14th Amendment. All it said is that that challenge needs to come after the primary. We will be ready to refile. The former president , as im sure you saw, was quick to celebrate the decision on social media, praising it. Calling your efforts, a pathetic g gambit to rig the election. You were unsuccessful with a similar effort in minnesota. Do you see at this point any states as wins for you . We have a case pending in the oregon Supreme Court right now. We will be filing several more cases in other states. The key point is that these decisions that have gone against us have not addressed anything about Donald Trumps engagement in insurrection. All they have said is that state law doesnt allow those challenges to be brought until after the primary. We preferred to address these issues before the primary. But if the courts want to kick the can down the road, we will be ready to relitigate these same issues after the primary. In the meantime, the colorado decision is apparently going up to the u. S. Supreme court. Do you want to see the Supreme Court take this up . The u. S. Supreme court is most likely going to take it. We dont oppose that. We think its important to get a prompt decision. Its best for the country. Its why we filed before the primary to allow the courts as much time as they need to decide this properly, because its obvious that donald trump engaged in sininsurrection. Thats what the constitution is designed to exclude someone who did that from public office. We will wait to see if the court takes it up and what the decision will be. A lot is happening in the coming months, which i dont need to tell you. Appreciate it. Thank you. Now, the former chief assistant District Attorney in the manhattan dc. A. s office an Anthony Michael smith. Anthony, when we look at michigan, the state Supreme Court there keeping trump on the Primary Ballot for 2024. We just saw the thappeal from t gop in colorado. What do you think all of this means for both colorado and michigan as this moves potentially to the Supreme Court . Its really hard to make a lot out of the michigan case, particularly because as previous guests noted, this is basically a question about the vehicle in which state law provides to challenge the eligibility of a candidate. Michigans Supreme Court essentially ratified a ruling that said, the Secretary Of State doesnt have the discretion to challenge the eligibility or to look into the eligibility of a candidate at this particular stage. Its really not a loss or win for anybody. Its just kind of a status quo, very similar to the minnesota case. In all, i think its untenable to have a scenario where you have this patchwork of eligibility determinations. So ultimately, the Supreme Court will, i think, have to take this up. I want to point out, the Secretary Of State in michigan, a democrat, who agreed with the fwien findings. Also in michigan, the New York Times obtaining an interview that investigators did with a fake elector from 2020. His name is james renner. Cnn reported he was the first and only fake elector to agree to cooperate. He said in part in that interview, i cant overemphasize how once i read the information in the january 6 transcripts, how upset i was that the legitimate process had not been followed. I felt i had walked into a situation i shouldnt have ever been involved in. How significant is this testimony and this cooperation . This is an insider. This is somebody who is going to be able to provide information to prosecutors, whether its in michigan or to jack smith or any other case where Donald Trumps intent and the fact that they intended to install fake electors and the Pressure Campaign he put on this could be a very significant witness to talk about how it wasnt just an alternative slate just in case. This was they were lied to. I think that could be very powerful to a jury. Speaking of jack smith, we have a new filing from the special counsels team. He does want to prohibit donald trump from pushing disinformation, from turning this trial political, from making political Talking Points in that Election Subversion Trial. How delicate is this line, anthony, between keeping trump to the facts and allowing him to claim he is being where do you see that going . The job of the trial court is to ensure that the jury is able to weigh facts and evidence, not conj conjecture, not speculation, not political Talking Points. At the same time, the court has to give some latitude to the defense to make the case that they want to make before the jury. Its this very delicate balance of determining what has more Probativative Value versus what prejudicial. Donald trump and his team will have considerable ability to create the narrative that they want to create in their own defense. There will be limitations and there will be i think the court will put limitations on the kind of political commentary we have seen run rampant from the Trump Campaign so far. It really seems when you read this, as the nonlawyer over here, its just saying, we want you to enforce the rules and the way things are normally done for a jury. Am i reading that correctly . Yeah. Well, 100 . The only thing that can be admissible at a trial where theres a jury is relevant, admissible evidence. Thats the main part that jack smith in his filing has asked the court to consider. Remember, the court cannot consider it right now because the case is on pause and is being stayed while its being appealed. Jack smith is hoping that the d. C. Circuit goes quickly and then the Supreme Court goes quickly. He is getting all his ducks in a row and putting everyone on notice. Thats what the filing was. He is saying, keep it relevant. If its about the facts of the case or about any defenses that trump has, thats what should come in. Everything else thats extraneous, whether he wants to talk about how its political or its a witch hunt and all of that, thats not really relevant to a jury. Jack smith is really making sure that the judge is on notice of the types of information i wouldnt call it evidence, but the type of information that he is seeking to keep out at a trial. Thank you so much. Next, the top level Immigration Meeting between two Biden Cabinet members and the president of mexico wrapping up after more than three hours. What happens now . Can mexico help the u. S. Stem the flow of migrants. New images out of an accusation against the idf. We will go live to israel. A Missile Strike on a russian warship. Ukrainine isis clalaiming credi. What d does russiaia say . Tonight, a meeting, bidens top diplomat and his Homeland Security chief appealing directly to mexicos president in an effort to reduce the surge at the u. S. Southern border. The meeting lasting more than three hours. It wrapped up moments ago. All of this as around 6,000 migrants were apprehended on tuesday alone. They are now bracing for the coming days. Some warning that the border is at a, quote, Breaking Point. Rosa flores is at the Southern Border. Reporter as Border Authorities near a Breaking Point from the Migrant Surge, u. S. Secretary of state Antony Blinken and mayorkas met with the president of mexico in mexico city to discuss ways to drive down the unprecedented number of illegal migrant crossings. The sevenday average earlier this month, 9,600. Blinken and mayorkas are expected to ask mexico to move migrants south, control railways and provide migrants incentives to stay in mexico, like visas. In eagle pass, texas, apprehensions dropped from 3,000 daily last week to 2,000 monday, according to a Law Enforcement source, one of two international bridges are still closed to vehicle travel to redirect personnel to process migrants. The wait time to cross by car wednesday afternoon, an astounding 15 hours. Many americans who frequently drive back and forth are opting to cross on foot. She says that when she ditched her car in mexico, she saw a group of 100 migrants walking towards eagle pass, some with children. One eagle pass businessowner says the Migrant Surge is tearing the community apart. I can tell that tempers are flaring. Thats why im hoping that there is a peaceful resolution to this crisis. Reporter would you like to see President Biden visit eagle pass . I would. Very much so. Reporter this Texas State Representative who represents residents from 11 west texas counties along the border with mexico says the federal governments ongoing closure of the bridge and the recent fiveday closure of the International Railway cost the u. S. Economy hundreds of millions of dollars. Every daeveryday texans suff. Reporter he is hopeful the talks will pave the way for change at the border but says he would have liked to see greg abbott have a seat at the table. We are only going to get there if theres communication between the two countries and also with the state of texas. Reporter texas passed its own Immigration Bill and has come under fire for abbotts security tactics. Morales supported the Security Push initially which cost billions of dollars, but now says those efforts have fallen short. We have nothing positive to show to our taxpayers for the amount of money that we have invested. Reporter if you look behind me, you will see an open field with no migrants. You might think is there no crisis. Here is the thing. The u. S. Federal government has gotten really good at something called decompression. They have had a lot of practice. Thats when migrants are moved from an area where theres overcapacity to an area where theres processing space. When it comes to the talks in mexico city, one of the things i will look for as a possible clue for the outcome of the talks is the posture of Law Enforcement on the mexican side of the border. Important to have that to watch for. Democratic congressman Henry Cuellar of texas. Good to have you with us. We heard what rosa said. Do you think this meeting tonight between mexicos president and blinken and mayorkas will, in fact, impact the Migrant Surge at the Southern Border . I got some responses from people at the meetings. Im hoping what they finalize will be something that we can use and we can use right away. When the mexicans stop people on the border with guatemala, the numbers slowed down. They gotta do their job on the mexican side. The only problem is that the mexicans dont want to be seen doing americas dirty job, stopping migrants. They are their own internal politics. As we wait and as we watch, im sure you are hearing so much of this. We have spoken a number of times over the years. Last night i spoke with the mayor of eagle pass, texas, who says they fear forgotten. We have been getting slammed with 2,000 to 3,000 people a day. Its an unfair, unethical situation whats going on here. We feel ignored by the federal government. It has been flnearly a year since you had a conversation with the president. Do you feel ignored by the administration . For many years, i dont think they listen to people that live here at the border and understand the border. The mayor from eagle pass is right. What theyre doing is just processing people. They get people from eagle pass, send them to san antonio, fly them into the interior of the u. S. We are good at processing people. We gotta go back to what worked. If you look at the numbers, straightforward for the last 25 years, for the last 25 years, when somebody goes in front of the immigration judge, 13 will be accepted. The rest will be rejected. Why are we processing hundreds of thousands of people . At the end of the day, which im talking about four or five years from now, they will not be accepted. I agree, the border has been ignored. They are listening to the immigration activists. The white house and a lot of members of congress and the Senate Listen to immigration advocates. Who is listening to the border communities . They may be losing members of their own party. Look at this poll, nearly half of democrats disapprove of bidens handling of immigration. Thats up 17 points over the past year. Why do you think he is losing so much support from democrats . Its the policy of doing the right thing and then you have the politics. On the politics part, we are losing democrats. People are frustrated because they are not seeing what should be done at the border. We want to see Law And Order at the border and treat the migrant with respect and dignity. But they have to follow the rules. They feel all they have to do is get to the border and they will be processed and sent to the interior and wait four, five, six years to have a hearing. 87 will be rejected. Thats what we are the Democratic Party feels the president is not doing enough. We will lose a lot of democrats. Its because we are not doing the right thing at the border. Based on what you would like to see done, im guessing thats your message to the president if you had another conversation. Its been nearly a year. Do you think the president , this administration, has the appetite for that, especially in an Election Year . It depends who he wants to lose. Does he want to lose folks here at the border . Is he worried about other folks . Look, keep in mind, democrats are divided in new york. Democrats are divided in chicago. They t there are people who feel theres to many people coming in. Its not bringing water buckets. What we have to do is turn off the faucet. The only way to do this is you gotta give people the quick hearing. If they have to be deported, with all due respect, get them deported. At the end of the day, 87 will be rejected. Why are we delaying this for four, five years . A lot of them im are not going to show up. Good to have you with us tonight. I will be interested to see if those Text Messages from the folks you say were in the meeting, what comes to pass. Keep us posted. Thank you. Thank you so much. Democratic strategist Basil Smiegel and joe walshe. I was watching you out of the corner of my eye as i was talking to congressman cuellar. You are shaking your head with what he says specifically when it comes to losing democratic support, the support for President Biden of his own party. Right. You can hear the frustration in his voice. When you look at even today the mayors of new york city, of denver, and of chicago, because they are trying to figure out what to do with the migrants that they have are having difficulty trying to manage, trying to move through the process, trying to find actually adequate shelter as we getting into the winter. This is a concern drawing on the budgets of the major cities. There are people going to there are people more recent migrants that are upset so much attention is being paid to the new migrants and not ones who have been here that are struggling. You have a lot of voters who are saying, you have all this money for migrants what about us . We have been here. We are looking for support. Its very contentious within the Democratic Party. Thats something that the mayors of the cities and governors of those states are trying to wrestle with. All the while theyre doing that, they are going to the federal government and saying, help us. I think thats whats dragging down the administration on this issue. They are not responding to those its friendly fire. When we look at this, joe, from a political perspective, this is a can that gets kicked down the road. Its not an easy fix. Theres no one solution to fixing this very broadism gracious problem. That said, going into an Election Year, is there any Incentive Giving what biden and democrats are facing for republicans to work with them to try to come up with a solution . God, no. Republicans have zero incentive to help. I say this as a former republican who never, ever, ever wants to see donald trump back into the white house. This issue, the border, and its a crisis, and its been a crisis for two to three years, this issue could cost joe biden the election in 2024. Democrats have ignored this issue. Joe biden, when he first got elected, he said, im going to be the antidonald trump. He welcomed all these people up. They came up. Now our borders is being flooded. Its being flooded on a daily basis. Democratic mayors in the interior of this country are crying for help now. For the life of me, i dont know why joe biden has not done more on this, because this issue could cost him his presidency. In terms of voters, a fox news poll finds that immigration for voters is the second most important issue facing the u. S. Right now behind the economy. From what we heard from the congressman who said he believes that President Biden is listening too much to immigration activists, not paying attention to the problem. If democrats want to fix their message at this point, knowing how important immigration is to voters, how do they do that . I tell you, its a nuanced problem here. I think immigration in some ways is a proxy for a larger economic concern. I think what donald trump was masterful at doing this issue has not been solvable. But what donald trump is good at doing is conflating economic nationalism and ethnic nationalism. Are they taking our jobs . Do we have enough resources to go around . What i think the Administration Needs to do is hit the economic message, not so much the immigration message. Theres no easy solve for that. You may hear joe. Joe is disagreeing. No, no, no, no, no. Theres no easy solve. If you hit this, hit the economic issue to just be able to say to voters that you can plan for the future, that your economic as spirations can be found. I love you but, no, no, no, no. This is not a freaking nuanced issue. This is simple. Its an amazing opportunity for biden. Secure the damn border, period. If joe biden, over the next eight to ten month, took this issue seriously and became a border hawk [ no audio ] secure the border. If he leads this charge, he will get reelected. But the issue is, again, how many years have we been talking about how simple this problem is, that could be fixed if there was a better Immigration Hawk in office . It doesnt solve itself that way. We have to deal with the folks here. Reform is difficult. We have to deal with the folks here now. I will concede this. When we talk about the individuals, the migrants here now, what you are hearing from a lot of republicans is a little fear because they are concerned a lot of whats happening in the urban centers is going to go now into the suburb and even the rural communities. Thats one thing that a lot of the suburban voters and rural voters, independent voters, thats the big concern. Its not the democrats themselves but the suburban voters and independent voters that democrats are afraid of losing, because this issue is not something that can be so easily contained. Its also not something go ahead, last word. I was going to say, he is right. Immigration reform is difficult. Securing the border, leading on that is not difficult. We have donald trump out there saying, i will be a dictator to secure the border. Let me tell you something. That plays with much more than just his crazy base. Bidens got to be lean into this issue big time. Great to have you with us tonight. Thank you. It will not be the last time we discuss it. Next, israel warns there are many more months of war ahead. Will there be an end in sight . New Satellite Images of a russian warship damaged by missile. We will dissect the images to show you what really happened. To duckduckgo on all your Devie Duckduckgo comes with a builtn engine like google, but its pi and doesnt spy on your searchs and duckduckgo lets you browse like chrome, but it blocks cooi and creepy ads that follow youa from google and other companie. And theres no catch. Its fre. We make money from ads, but they dont follow you aroud join the millions of people taking back their privacy by downloading duckduckgo on all your devices today. Tonight, many more months, thats how long israels Military Chief warns the war could last. It comes as new video is circulating reportedly showing two palestinian students stripped and held at gunpoint. I want to bring in will ripley who joins us from tel aviv. What more do you know about this video . Reporter this video was posted by an israeli journalist on christmas eve. As you said, even though we geo located it, we dont know exactly when it was taken. We cant independently verify that. What you can see clearly in the video we blurred the faces there are two children among this group of palestinian men who have been their hands are tied, stripped down to their underwear. Israel has not responded to our request for specific comment about this video. In the past they have said the reason they stripped detainees is because they need to check whether they are wearing explosive belts. Within the last week, israel was going house to house in gaza. They claimed they found explosive belts that had been modified for children to wear. We dont know if thats any connection to the two children that we see detained in this video. Certainly, its a dire situation for children across gaza right now. Those who are out of school now for ten weeks, some of them actually are taking classes. One of the schools was hit by Artillery Fire within the last couple of days. We also know that there was an attack an israeli attack, near a hospital, that left at least 20 people dead. The video, its absolutely horrific. Its right outside this hospital, the sidewalk covered in blood, mangled bodies. Inside the hospital, a scene of absolute pandemonium. A team of International Surgeons able to get access into gaza. They visited the handful of hospitals that are functioning. They describe the situation where doctors are getting flooded with patients, more than 55,000 people reported injured in this conflict, which is now at its 80th day. 55,000, and they barely have enough medical supplies to offer the most minimal care, never mind some of the traumatic, really critical injuries they are seeing in the hospitals. Thats the reason why the World Health Organization warned a lot of patients are dying just waiting to see a doctor. Of course, the death toll has now surpassed 21,000 people, according to the hamas controlled health ministry. We cant verify that. The picture paint a grim picture of this war that israel says will last for many months. Appreciate the reporting. Thank you. With us now is seth jones, who is Senior Vice President for international studies. The u. S. Government relies on assessments from you and your colleagues. You just returned to israel. You spent time there with u. S. And israeli officials. The videos we are seeing, the Utter Destruction People around the world are seeing, is that impacting the Decision Making at all . I think its impacting the decision in one important sense, and that is the u. S. Government has been putting additional pressure on the israelis to move from this phase of the operation, which i saw on the ground about a week and a half ago in gaza, which is mostly ground forces, to a new phase which relies on a much more limited Ground Presence and strikes from the air from drones and some artillery, which limits or hopefully limit civilian casualties. I dont think the israeli population is pushing the netanyahu government to decrease the types of attacks it conducted, at least not my interviews with israeli citizens. The public support in israel, talking about the conversations, we know one of netanyahus top advisor met with officials from the Biden Administration in washington yesterday about israels plans for scaling down the war. Is that the sort of plan that you believe they were likely talking about . I have seen the israeli governments phases of the operation. The idfs phases. They showed it to me at idf headquarters. Whats important in what they are laying out, even to the u. S. Government, is they are not arguing it will end any time soon. What they are looking at is a long war, one thats if not months, potentially years. More Like Operation defensive shield. I think the real iity torfor th israelis, they have only killed 8,000 to 10,000 hamas operatives out of a total Pop Ouulation of 24,000 hamas. They have not captured or killed leaders in gaza or the head of the military wing. They have a long way to go in their perspective. Theres the concern about the other battle thats being waged against this ideology, not just people. What about the concerns that have become more and more part of the conversation in the u. S. When it comes to the widening war in the region . How real do you believe that threat is at this point . I think its a serious concern. I talked to u. S. Officials in israel as well. Just the number of attacks, what the pentagon gave to me yesterday was over 100 attacks against u. S. Infrastructure and targets in iraq and syria. Over 100 targets against commercial vessels in the red sea coming out of the houthis in yemen. Well over 1,000 strikes on both sides of the israel Lebanon Border right now. I think this is a role the u. S. Has to play in deterring an escalation of the conflict by iranianbacked groups in the region. That would really increase the level of casualties to much more significant if this were to get out of control. Appreciate your insight and expertise. Thank you. Thanks. Next, new Satellite Images reveal extensive damage to a russian warship which ukraine says its possible for. How big of a hit is this for the russian navy . An update on the apple watch ban, a federal Appeals Court now weighing in. Tonight, stunning new before and after images from an air strike that ukraine claims destroyed a russian warship. They said it was carrying iranianmade attack drones. Russia says only one person reportedly i canned. This is a ship that carries 90 people. Russia, perhaps not surprisingly, trying to downplay the incident. You can see the ship reduced to smoke and ash. 20 of russias Black Sea Fleet has been destroyed in a span of four months. Where does the fight stand . Fred pleitgen is out front. Reporter the prize, dust and rubble. The vicious fighting turned this town into a wasteland. Still, russias Defense Minister claiming this is significant progress for moscow. The russian army is constantly taking more favorable positions and expanding controlled territories in all directions, he said. We are consistently moving forward, achieving the stated goals of the special operation. Russia says its forces are pressing in the entire east, looking to encircle the ukrainians, increasingly laying waste to the city. We have been bringing humanitarian aid and food here for a long time, he says. People have already left. I hope there were no casualties. This is what it looks like, theres nothing here. Kyiv says the russian army is suffering losses. Ukraines military acknowledges their own largescale Cou Counteroffensive has essentially stalled. A situation compounded by severe ammo shortages. Ukraine desperately hoping congress will end its impasse and green light further u. S. Military aid, after months of delays. Ukraines top general, in a rare press conference, says he is confident the assistance will come and that on the Foreign Military help for ukraine has made a huge difference. We have ambitious goals. I was not disappointed by the level of assistance in 2023. Of course, it was not everything, but it allowed us to conduct confident military operations. While gains on the ground remain incremental for both sides, the air war continues. Russian missiles and drones striking in kherson and in odessa killing two people. And moscow now admit ts kyivs air force struck a large landship. Ukraine claims the ship and its cargo were completely destroyed. Footage on air now is impressive indeed, the air force spokesman says. A warship was destroyed, most likely a ship with a set of ammunition, powerful ammo. A key strike for ukraine. But on the front lines, the war grinds on in the Eastern European winter, little territory changing hands. But many soldiers on both sides killed and wounded. And erika the ukrainians do acknowledge the russians are pressing along the eastern front, but they also say the russians are suffering immense casualties, saying the russians lost about 3,000 soldiers in a weeks time with 1,000 of those killed. The russians themselves of course not giving any exact numbers. Fred with the reporting tonight. Appreciate it. Military analyst colonel cedric leighton. When we look at this, going back to this ship, russia confirmed the ship had been damaged but stopped short of admitting it had been hit beyond repair. When you look at those images, what do they tell you . This is actually quite instructive. What youre seeing here, this is the before picture of the Transport Ship thats in question right here. And here it is in the before picture in its port in crimea. But lets take a look at what it looks like after the strike. This is completely destroyed. So, the ukrainian Battle Assessment of this is accurate, appears to be accurate. And what youre seeing here is a ship that is going to be really, really hard to repair, if in fact it can be repaired. When we see those images, and you have russian officials saying one person was killed, two were injured in these strikes, its pretty remarkable. According to the u. S. Military, that ship carries around 90 people, about 87, can hold upwards of 237 troops. Do you believe that that death toll could actually be higher . I do. Lets take a look at the statistics. Like you mentioned, 87 crew is the complement that is slated for. 237 troops can be carried on this transport. Can hold ten main battle tanks. And in this particular case, its reported to have been carrying drones. It stands to reason that this is one of the key things that i think we should really focus on here. With an explosion of this type, erica, it really, i think, is impossible that only one person was killed in this situation. Not only was there a strike on the ship, but any type of damage that occurred peripheral to the ship would have impacted people in the immediate vicinity. So, i think the death toll is much higher than one. And i think the total of injured is also pretty high in this case. When we look at where things stand on the ground, right, and we saw some of this in freds piece, hearing from ukrainian officials, the war seems to be somewhat of a stalemate for the last several months. When you look at what is happening on the battlefield, what do you see at this point . Well, erica, i think one of the key things to look at is what is happening in the town of off dee ka, which is right here. Notice that the Russian Forces are basically surrounding on three sides. What theyre trying to do is similar to what they did in bakhmut, which is right here. That town was surrounded by the russians as well. And it took a while for the russians to take bakhmut, many months actually, about nine months. Is facing the same fate here. The russians have never been able to capture this town. And now that they are moving their forces into this particular area, its always been, kind of, on the borderline between the Russian Forces and the ukrainian forces. The next move for the russians will probably be to cut things off and in essence encircle the town. Theyre also having issues in bah renka, the town the west here. This area on the confluence of the eastern and southern fronts is going to be critical, kind of a pivot point for the russians. What theyre going to try to do is theyre going to try to consolidate their gains in the Donetsk Region and the luhansk region. Thats important for Vladimir Putin because he says that these territories are now independent of ukraine and in fact are affiliated with russia. Of course the ukrainians beg to differ with that. But that is the russian goal. Theyre trying to take over all of this and consolidate their gains in these areas. As we keep an eye on that in the coming weeks and months, were also approaching the twoyear mark at this point. Where do you see this war headed . Is it going to be more focused simply in those areas at this point . I think what youre going to see is spectacular actions like we saw in crimea with the ship that blew up. But youre also going to see movements here on the ground. And these movements are going to be fairly static. During this wintertime period, unless something breaks within the front lines here, were going to see a static picture with a few incremental gains here and a few incremental gains by the russians here. But the ukrainians are going to be able to hold this at least for the time being. Colonel leighton, always great to see you. An update on the apple watch story we told you about last night. It turns out they will stay on shelves for now. Another court weighing in tonight. The power goes out and we still have wifi to do our homework. And thats a good thing . Great in my book who are you . No power . No problem. Introducing stormready wifi. Now you can stay reliably connected through Power Outages with unlimited cellular data and up to 4 hours of battery backup to keep you online. Only from xfinity. Home of the xfinity 10g network. An update now on a story we brought you last night. If youre still in the market for that latest apple watch, youre in luck. A Federal Court has temporarily blocked the Sweeping Import Ban on the series 9 and the ultra 2 models, which the International Trade Commission Found violated another Companys Technology patent. Important the onote, this isnt the end. Stay tuned for further updates. Thanks so much for joining us tonight. Tonight. Ac 360 starts right now. Captions by vitac www. Vitac. Com tonight on 360, the former president s leading challenger in a state that likes challengers looking to set the stage for an