liberated a number of towns near kharkiv. the region where they reported the civilian killed has seen several explosions. the cause is missiles and bombs. ukraine has not confirmed nor denied responsibility for the blast. another major development is finland joining nato possibly. they agreed to assist each other militarily should either country face attack. finland shares an 800 mile border with russia. finland s president will contact vladimir putin if that should happen. if that will be the case, what my response would be that you caused this. vladimir putin s profile. critics made a daring escape from russia. she ll tell us how she managed to get out. we ll start of the report of the russian civilian killed. scott mcclain. scott, since the first time this war began in february, what do we know? reporter: anderson, yeah. as you mentioned earlier, this is an area where ukrainians have been making progress in taking towns and villages around kharkiv. in those areas they
very well could be next. he also went further ripping the republican party as, quote, petty and extreme. saying it is, quote, coward by trump. well, he is obviously angry with senate republicans. all of whom, blocked voted to block the women s health protec protection act this afternoon. this is the bill that would he ensure roe s protections. the president vowing, quote, we will continue to defend women s constitutional rights to make private reproductive choices as recognizes in roe v. wade. and my administration will continue to explore the measures and toll tools at our disposal to do just that. look, tonight, it is immediate knot immediate apparent what those tools and measures oob could be. a democratic-controlled congress seemed to have nowhere close to 60 votes. in fact, they didn t even get 50. and while the president does blame republican, keep in mind a member of his own party did side with gop because he believes the bill went way beyond keeping the status quo.
and if you re familiar with that area, it is extremely steep. extremely thick vegetation that has not burned in probably decades. once it s got ahold, and started up that hill, i think we all saw that, as soon as i got to my headquarters, you could see the tremendous smoke column and we knew we had a significant fire. okay, this is the live scene right now of what s happening in the laguna hills area. this is the orange county area of colorado. it s about an hour or so outside of los angeles. it s very close to the ocean. you can see that fire burning in the distance there on the hills as the fire officials describe it. that of course is a palm tree. one of the issues they ve had with this fire is that embers have been spread by the winds. in fact, that s why some of these houses, according to the fire officials, have actually been burnt and have been involved in fire, as you can see right there. the embers have been managing to get inside the homes, into their attics and t
high. plus a funeral procession will take place soon as they demand answers for the killing of one of the arab world s most prominent journalists. announcer: live from cnn center, this is cnn newsroom with rosemary church. thanks for being with us. first time since russia invaded ukraine 11 weeks ago, a russian civilian has been killed on russian soil by ukrainian shelling. report comes from the governor of belgorod just across the border from ukraine s second largest city kharkiv. ukraine won t say whether it s responsible for a series of recent attacks on the region. meanwhile new drone video and satellite images show ukraine has blown up at least two pontoon bridges in luhansk region. russians building them to move farther west in donbas offensive. and ukrainians claim they ve recaptured more villages in the kharkiv region, much of the area still in range of russian artillery fire. in the south, ukraine is offering to swap russian prisoners of war for wounded ukrai
putin. well, if that would be the case that we join, what my response would be is that you caused this. look at the mirror. back in the u.s., a milestone almost unthinkable just a few years ago. 1 million americans have died of covid. the president ordering flags lowered to half staff in a country changed forever. we are also learning more today about this amazing story involving nerves of steel and an emergency landing soft as a willow. what happened minutes before a passenger had no choice but to take controls. let s begin with finland s decision to pursue nato membership. nic, is there any doubt that nato would rush to approve finland s application? they ve already given them a green light, if you will. nato secretary general today said that they will be warmly welcomed. there s been a lot going on behind the scenes in brussels at nato head quarters. a lot of conversations between different nations. and all of it coming to the same point. if finland joins nato whic