a good sunday evening to you. i m jim sciutto, and this is cnn s special live coverage of the extraordinary events this weekend out of russia. moscow s red square blocked off again today after the brief but stunning insurrection that s gripped the world, could perhaps weaken vladimir putin s grip on his country. we should note it s far too soon to know. so much we don t know about what led wagner mercenary group leader yevgeny prigozhin to launch a march on moscow and what convinced him to abruptly call it off. and then, it s said, go into exile. u.s. secretary of state tony blinken today called the whole series of events extraordinary, believes it indicates that cracks are emerging in putin s rule. the very latest now from cnn s sam kiley live from london. sam, we re watching russia closely, ukraine, also events in belarus. any developments to indicate to us what s actually happening right now? reporter: well, jim, i think the most stunning development so far is an absence
war plans against iran, with people who were at his golf club in new jersey two years ago. we re going to have expert legal analysis on this seemingly damning piece of evidence in just a moment. it comes as the justice department will meet this week with someone who stood up against trump s efforts to overturn the 2020 election. trump s lawyers are also busy in new york trying to get the ex-president s hush money case moved to federal court. we ll have the latest on that. we ll also get a live report from moscow for an update on that revolt against russian president vladimir putin. good morning and welcome to morning joe. it is tuesday, june 27th. joe is on assignment, but willie is back. with us, we have the host of way too early, white house bureau chief at politico, jonathan lemire. former press secretary and now msnbc host, jen psaki. founder of the conservative website the bulwark, charlie sykes. a lot going on in politics, willie, but this audio tape, of course,
way towards the city. earlier today, that group seized control of military headquarters in a southern key russian city. they are now on a northern track towards the capital city of moscow. about halfway. this is also a view for you this morning, moscow s mayor, just moments ago, saying a counterterrorism operation declared in the city, in moscow. this is canceling the workday, it is asking people to stay home. obviously not a common situation or request. also new for you at 12 pm eastern in new york city, vladimir putin mobilizing troops in an address to the nation vowing to crush what he calls an armed rebellion. this rebellion led by the group s leader, yevgeny prigozhin. whose forces, up until the past couple of days, we re fighting alongside russia in ukraine. today, not that day. not that way. on friday, prove goshen accused the kremlin of invading ukraine on false pretenses. putin today vowing to punish anyone who takes up arms against a russian military. that s last 24
russian president vladimir putin trying to project an image of strength as he faces the biggest threat ever to his authority. is putin still in danger of losing power? his former prime minister says yes, and he will be outfront next. plus, where is yevgeny prigozhin? no confirmation that the wagner chief ever made it outside russia. as the fsb keeps its criminal investigation on prigozhin wide open. two moscow reporters who have covered him extensively with be reporting this hour. i m going to talk to the mayor of kyiv who warns ukraine is not prepared if putin attacks the biggest nuclear plant in all of europe. let s go outfront. and good evening, and welcome to a special edition of outfront. i am erin burnett live from ukraine tonight. tonight, putin on defense. the russian president speaking out three days after the armed rebellion led by his former ally yevgeny prigozhin. and make no mistake, a threat to putin s authority tonight is very well. putin right now
we begin with a stunning reversal of the rebellion and russia. wagner fighters, led by getting a rousing send off of a wild 24-hour march on moscow. it began when he announced that man had taken over headquarters and rostov, and it has leading a so-called justice march towards moscow. fighting was reported along the way, and wagner forces got stopped to yell its before moscow. you called off the rebellion and agreed to leave russia. russian residents getting a heroes sendoff. russian officials said he agreed to travel to belarus. a lot of questions about what happened, and what comes next. analysts now chalk it up to a murky power struggle. i don t think it was a stunt. i think it was a mutiny. i think that s the right word. not a coup d état, a fight among armed forces to take over, but to be loyal to putin with dramatic consequences for undermining stability and the consolidation of russian armed forces. questions still remain about the future in exile. i suspect h