russia. the lead starts right now. cnn on the front lines where ukraine s fight for freedom is in the trenches. the u.s. cia director was there before a critical meeting of nato allies. why he thinks instability in moscow is creating a unique moment. then, a holiday block party in bullet turns tragic. now the hunt for shooters who opened fire killing two injuring nearly 30 others including teens. the mayor s urgent plea for lawmakers nationwide to do more. plus, can cows help curb the climate crisis? you might have heard their possible gas problems, but there time cattle may be eating their way to a solution. welcome to the lead, i m abby phillip in for jake tapper. we start with our world leader. multiple russian attack drones hit apartment buildings and an administrative center in the northeast of sumi, two people were killed, and 19 were hurt including a 5-year-old. as ukraine presses on tur counteroffensive, they ve gotten more territory from russia in the last
back at home, new developments into the investigation of former president donald trump s handling of classified documents. another grand jury is expected to convene in the case where they are asking what could this mean? and then chris christie expected to throw his hat into the ring tonight. meanwhile, authorities in california are investigating two private planes carrying migrants from the border and dropping them off without warning in california. we will talk to the state s attorney general that says this could mean criminal charges. in florida, calls are growing for the arrest of a woman that shot and killed her neighbor. she knocked on the door, unarmed, no weapons, just wanted answers. we begin this hour with breaking news out of ukraine. overnight an explosion destroyed a critical dam in russian-controlled territory that is threatening tens of thousands of people. ukraine officials are urging residents to evacuate with water levels reaching critical levels withi
reports, president trump lashing out at jack smith today trying to portray the investigation as an attempt to rig the 2024 election calling on his supporters to fight against the justice department and fbi in a series of fiery social media posts. as the potential for indictments grows by the day. despite a direct appeal this week from trump s legal team. the special counsel in new video obtained exclusively by nbc news is not ready to show his cards. is an indictment coming soon, sir? is an investigation wrapping up, sir? also today, former new jersey governor chris christie is entering the republican contest kicking off a string of announcements this week from candidates trying to catch donald trump in the polls. and i ll be joined by maryland governor wes moore on the culture wars being waged by top republicans as a wedge issue against democrats. plus a disaster in ukraine, a major dam and electric power plant blown up, thousands are being evacuated from rising floodw
we are. that does it for us this morning. ana cabrera picks up the coverage now. on this wednesday, thank you so much for joining us. it s 10:00 eastern. i m ana cabrera. we have breaking news. in the special counsel s investigation into donald trump, just moments ago, nbc news cameras caught a top aid to trump awe arriving at the federal courthouse in miami. the same courthouse where we learned a grand jury will had hear testimony this week. the guy in the tie has been the right-hand man to trump in his post presidency. he runs a superpack and that sighting just after the bomb shell report from the new york times about testimony from former chief of staff mark meadows. we re live in miami and d.c. on what all of this could mean. and breaking news out of the vatican this morning. pope francis is expected to undergo surgery and remain hospitalized for several days. smoke from wildfires lead ing to had hazardous conditions across much of the country. dr. gupta is going
reporter: it remains under russian control. the facility, the nuclear power plant, the biggest in europe, is in shutdown mode. but it s important to keep the reactors cool and the water in the reactors cool. but according to the head of ukrainian intelligence who last week said that the russians had mined the cooling pools to the reactors and also had deployed explosive filled trucks outside four of the six reactors at the plant. in addition to that, there s this puzzling news that the russians are actually pulling it appears technical staff out of the power plant and sending them elsewhere. at the same time, they have planted mines around the grounds of the nuclear power plant, as well. so it s good news that this backup power line has been installed at the nuclear power plant. but there s a lot to worry