appear poised to deliver sophisticated tanks as they urge ukrainians to turn the focus from brutal battles in the east to a renewed offense in the south. also tonight, former vice president mike pence facing his own document controversy. about a dozen records were found in pecnce s home. we re following gut wrenching developments out of california, the scene of back to back mass shootings. police releasing information about the suspect in the latest massacre as the governor there mourns tragedy upon tragedy in his state. welcome to our viewers here in the united states and around the world. i m wolf blitzer. you re the situation room. let s get to the top story. the log jam over delivering tanks appears to be this reversal could be a major development in the war. explain how the biden administration came around on this. well, the biden administration finalizing plans to commit to sending the u.s. made m 1 abrams tank to ukraine with officials familiar with the matter.
start getting that. wesley clark, jill doherty, guys, thank you very much. let s continue the discussion now with democratic senator richard blumenthal of connecticut a key member of the armed services committee. i know you re just back senator from this bipartisan delegation you were on. you went to kyiv and met there with president zelenskyy. how significant is this apparent breakthrough for the u.s. and allies to start providing abrams and hleopard battle tanks to ukraine? profoundly significant, wolf. we heard again and again, not only from president zelenskyy but from his top military leaders that these tanks, remember the firepower, the armor they have, the mobility are essential to defending against the on slot, the russian offense that is anticipated not months from now but literally weeks away. one of the key military leaders said to me why don t you trust us? in effect saying we have used
off any future offense by moscow s forces. there are strong logistics hubs and they need to be struck to disrupt the supply systems of all kinds. reporter: wolf, back to the main battle tanks how happy ukrainian officials are. the chief of staff came out and categorized western main battle tanks as he put it as a democracy s punch against autocracy, wolf? we ll see how this unfolds. thanks very much fred pleitgen on the scene from ukraine. let s bring in retired u.s. attorney general wesley clark and contributor on russian officials jill doherty. these major developments today when it comes to tanks. how big of a game changer potentially could be the german leopard tank and eventually, the u.s. abrams tanks? how big of a change could that be on the battle field? well, i think it s very
significant politically, would which. it depends how many tanks. zelenskyy says he needs 500 to 300 new tanks. he may get 100. it s good with a breakthrough or sets up an armored brigade to punch in the south but ukraine needs the long range drones. really would help to have aircraft and have to hold on the eastern front. good point. jill, what message does this send when it comes to tanks, what message does this send to putin? they were issuing warnings if you start sending tanks to ukraine, this could be a game changer from their perspective. they would see the u.s. or germany being part of the ukrainian offensive. you know, wolf, they re already saying not they ve been saying it since this issue