increasing inflation. well, it has the advantage of not only people being able to live longer and better and be able to perform their prescription drugs, but, guess what? it reduces the deficit $158 billion. [ applause ] don t forget that part to tell people. it s not just that you pay less for the drug. it means that the federal government isn t paying for the drugs for medicare. president joe biden in baltimore last night, debunking republican claims about the deficit and calling on democrats to remind americans what his administration has achieved over the past two years. meanwhile, on capitol hill, a hearing dominated by grievance politics, as attorney general merrick garland makes his first appearance before the new congress. he actually had insurrectionists. right. like, the guy with, like what is it, willie, the bird bone hands, like, doing the power to the people signal. the raised fist. that s right. raised fist of a bird. yeah. there it is. the
control. but a city of bakhmut is facing a ferocious assault right now with thousands of civilians in dang danger as the russian s advance. and a man is rested for trying to bring explosives on a flight to florida in his suitcase. what we re learning about the case. new information coming in. and juries visit the scene where alex murdaugh s wife and son were kill and then the closing arguments in the disgraced lawyer s murder trial. prosecutors wrapping up just a short wild ago after condemning his lies confirm his guilt. welcome to our viewers in the united states and around the world. i m wolf blitzer and you re in the situation room. let s get right to our top story this evening. very intense fighting raging right now in the key eastern ukrainian city of bakhmut. civilians hunkering down as russia throws some of the most battle hardened forces into the fight. cnn s melissa bell is joining us live from kyiv with an update. melissa, how dire is the situation in the
so i take garlique to help maintain healthy cholesterol safely and naturally. and it s odor free. i m taking charge of my cholesterol with garlique. good evening, we begin tonight keeping them honest with what is one of the most powerful elected officials in the country said today about transparency versus what he s actually doing about it. house speaker kevin mccarthy is the highest ranking republican in congress, and is second in line to the presidency, but became speaker only by the barest margin and only by winning the votes in the 11th hour by the most extreme members of his party. one promise that he made while competing to be speaker, according to cnn s melanie zanona, the new york times, was to make thousands of hours of security camera footage from the january 6th attack public. today, here s how speaker mccarthy justified his decision to release the video. i think that sunshine matters, i don t care what side of the issue you are on. that s why i think that gett
committee, defending his justice depend and to the probes, and allegations that he s weaponized the doj. paula reid is in washington. how has the hearing gone so far? he clearly wants to highlight the work of the rank-and-file employees who are not working on the special investigation, but as well at another high-profile investigation into hunter biden. the attorney general was grilled about why a special counsel is not overseeing the huchblter binden investigation. let s listen to how he explained that. i promised to leave the matter of hunter biden in the hands of a u.s. attorney for the district of delaware, who was appointed in the previous administration. so any information like that should have gone should or should have gone to that u.s. attorney s office and the fbi squad working with him. i have pledged not to interfere with in a investigation, and i have carried through on my pledge. there you hear him defending the trump-appointed u.s. attorney who stayed o
attorney general wants tech giants to flag you. the lead starts right now. attorney general merrick garland grilled on capitol hill today from classified documents to abortion rights, fentanyl to rising crime. the wide-ranging topics have put garland on the spot. and five close calls in 2023 and it s only march 1st. the latest, a private plane came 565 feet from a jetblue flight loaded with passengers at boston logan. are these frightening encounters happening more often or just being reported more often? plus, protests turning violent. the faceoff between police and anti-netanyahu demonstrators in israel as crowds there call for a national day of disruption. welcome to the lead, i m jake tapper. we start with two high-profile hearings in capitol hill. one room joe biden sen battled pick to lead embattled pick to lead the administration finally had a confirmation hearing after being picked nearly eight months ago. republicans pressed phil washington, a 24-year a