united states and around the world. and just ahead on cnn newsroom make no mistake, if any object presents a threat to the safety and security of the american people, i will take it down. to see that i couldn t stop it, it was the worst thing. they were like my kids. we will go through this process with the citizens of east palestine for as long as it takes. just happened to hit some good shots finally and made a couple putts. live from london, this is cnn newsroom with max foster and bianca nobilo. it is friday, february 17th. in washington, d.c., u.s. president biden is finally speaking publicly about those unidentified objects shot out of the sky by the military. he says nothing suggests these objects are related to china s spy balloon program or that they were surveillance objects from any other country. it is important to note the u.s. has not been able to recover any of the debris because of the remote locations and severe weather. phil mattingly r
and the ceremony injerusalem to consecrate the oil that will be used to anoint king charles during his coronation in may. ukrainian and russian forces are fighting in the northern suburbs of the city of bakhmut which has been pulverised by seven months of fighting. oleksandr marchenko, the deputy mayor, confirmed the street clashes, but said the russians have not taken control. western analysts say the scene has been set for ukrainian forces to carry out a fighting withdrawal. a british defence ministry update said ukrainian soldiers are digging new trenches west of the city and are being reinforced by elite troops. the capture of bakhmut would be the first russian victory of note in more than six months of fighting. our diplomatic correspondent, james landale, sent this report from the capital, kyiv. for more than six months of russian shells and missiles have rained down on the city. thousands of russian soldiers have died trying to seize it and now their commanders are g
vossoughian. if you are just joining us, welcome. if you are sticking with us, we thank you for that. we are following the breaking news out of mississippi. death and destruction as tornadoes ripped through the states. towns have been virtually wiped out. we saw into the middle part of the house, and we did, and we got in there, obviously, it was right behind us. as soon as we got in there, we heard a big boom, and we didn t do anything else for a while. we walked out and came out to about ten trees down in our yard. and increasing tensions between iran and the u.s.. what s looking like a proxy war in syria. donald trump sets to hold what he s doing as the first rally of a 2024 race in a matter of hours, and it comes as an indictment looms. and manhattan investigation in the special counsel probe heats up, plus, the future of tiktok. after a contentious congressional hearing with the ceo, continued threats from the white house, to ban the social media phenomenon, unless i
strikes on ukraine. power facilities in key cities taking a direct hit and leaving residents in the dark and cold. also tonight, we re digging through a new batch of just released january 6th transcripts including testimony by donald trump jr. and we re getting new insight into melania trump s mistrust of her husband s inner circle. and the southwest airlines meltdown drags on now for an eighth day. with thousands more flights canceled. will southwest get back to a full schedule tomorrow as the company claims? welcome to our viewers here in the united states and around the world. i m wolf blitzer. you re in the situation room. we begin this hour in ukraine after one of the biggest russian missile assaults since the start of the russian invasion. let s go straight to the capital, kyiv. our senior international correspondent ben wedeman is on the ground for us. ben, so what are you seeing and hearing over there? reporter: well, what we heard at about 9:00 this morning l
wait a minute. someone in the white house was calling one of the rioters? absolutely. and you know both ends of that call? one end. i don t know the white house end, which i believe is more important. so that call that denver writes about reportedly lasted just nine seconds. made at 4:24 p.m. after trump made a video message telling supporters to go home, you re very special. on meet the press yesterday, congressman raskin confirms that the committee knows about this call. watch. i can t say anything specific about that particular call, but we are aware of it. and we are aware of lots of context between people in the white house and different people involved obviously in the coup attempt and the insurrection. in a statement, the committee adds that quote, in his roll on the select committee, mr. riggleman had limited knowledge. the committee has run down all the leads and digested and analyzed all the information that arose from his work. we will be presenting