battleground goes bionic? the lead starts right now. one of the most anticipated debates of the year. john fetterman versus mehmet oz as this political season kicks into overdrive for candidates nationwide. plus, distraction for democrats. the anger and outrage over a letter to president biden now retracted. and moscow shuts down an appeal to release brittney griner from a russian prison. is there any hope left to bring the wnba star home? welcome to the lead. we ll get to the midterms in just a moment. first, a significant step for the justice department and its investigation into the january 6th attack. sources tell cnn the doj is trying to force the testimony of pat cipollony and patrick philbin, the top two lawyers from donald trump s white house, and hear about their conversations with the former president. this is exclusive new reporting, so let s get right to cnn s sarah murray. this is an attempt to break through a firewall of sorts trump has used to avoid scr
years amid fears that the country is heading into a recession. it s a challenge for president biden as he attends a dnc event and tries to sharpen his midterm message. welcome to our viewers in the united states and around the world. i m wolf blitzer. you re in the situation room. we begin our coverage tonight in ukraine where bogus referendums are under way as moscow tries to solidify its hold on occupied territory. our senior international correspondent ben wedeman is on the ground for us. ben, is this so-called voting essentially happening at gunpoint? reporter: basically it is, wolf. we re seeing video and hearing reports of election workers going house to house, door to door, with ballot boxes, accompanied by armed men, in some cases armed men wearing balance cla vas. we re wear the election workers are going door to door. people are locking their doors and simply not answering to avoid voting. in fact, the ukrainian authorities have urged residents of the occupied t
i m kayleigh mcenany and for sean. well, it s been a rougn h week for joe biden with one bad headline after another 1. d guiy on tuesday, his son hunter, was found guilty, convicted ongun cm charges for his federal gun crimes. and then on wednesday, the flew to italy for the g7 summit and his trip, it s safe to say, was marked by bizarre gaffes s and embarrassing blunders. in fact, according to a report from the sun, this trip was such a disaster that it raised alarm among our allies with one diplomatic insider saying. he lost focus during discussions before calling his condition, quote, the worsti he has ever been in in. a non us attendee told the sun that biden s missteps were, quote embarrassing.nd keep in mind, all this is happening. russian warships arrived in cuba. that s about 100 miles from the u.s. mainland for military exercise hs. lorida right by the state of florida, our adversaries series are watching this embarrassing president. arrassinesidenand pope francis e
we know this is obviously something that could have great importance for this investigation from the justice department. we know that how the judge resolves this question could really help the prosecutors get important information that could, again, help them decide whether to bring charges not only against the former president, but against some of the people who were involved in the broader efforts to overturn the 2020 election. are these so-called privilege fights that are going on right now causing friction, at least among some of the people called to testify? a great deal of friction. at least one of the people who was called to appear before the grand jury, eric herschmann, a former white house lawyer, he was called to testify on september 2nd. that testimony was postponed in part because he was arguing with the former president s team, saying, i want exact instructions from you, i want a judge s order, also, in order to provide this testimony. i ll read you just a part of an