we ll go over what exactly happened and what it could mean for putin s leadership as well as the war in ukraine. plus, republicans continue to veer toward an electoral cliff, backing former president trump despite his mounting legal challenges, even as many voters are deeply disturbed by his multiple indictments. perhaps that s why president biden is leading trump in a 2024 matchup. and a year after the supreme court stripped away abortion rights, the high court s approval rating is in the basement at just 31%. we re breaking down the new poll numbers just ahead. good morning and welcome to morning joe. it is monday, june 26th. joe is off this morning. we begin with this weekend s developing news out of russia, where the head of the mercenary group, wagner, launched the most direct challenge to vladimir putin s grip on power in his 19 years as president. it started on friday when yevgeny prigozhin, the leader of a private army, posted a video to social media. in it, h
welcome back. you are live in the cnn newsroom. i m jim acosta in washington. and russia, it s the day after. the day after the head of the wagner mercenary group called off his armed rebellion and advance on moscow the day of the military leadership in the handles of the war in ukraine, the day of wagner forces were almost uncharged as the columns marched towards moscow. it s the day after. locals were heard cheering for the mercenaries, and not for putin. they said they had captured military facilities in two russian cities. the wagner chief yevgeny prigozhin said he wanted to spear sharing russian blood. translator: realizing all the responsibility that russian blood will be shed from one of the sides. we turn our columns around and leave in the of sirte direction to the field camps, according to the plan. did you ever think you would see this? here is prigozhin receiving a h hero s farewell as he leaves. the kremlin says he will not be prosecuted and he will be sent t
forces. so, i think putin is afraid of them. tonight, how tenuous is black vladimir putin s hold on power. what does russian infighting mean for ukraine s counteroffensive. and what did the u.s. and western allies know in advance. we gave putin no excuse to blame this on the west and blame this on nato. good evening from kyiv, ukraine. i am ali velshi. and i am here because something unprecedented unfolded over the weekend. never in 23 years under putin s russia has this happened. thousands of armed soldiers, mercenaries, taking up arms against their own country. [inaudible] this was a scene inside russia today, explosions and cities, and a private army watching through the streets, vowing to take the fight all the way to the capital. those rebel forces previously allied with putin and the russian military, even leading many of the battles and ukraine but then that ship suddenly violently ended. what exactly they were marching for remains unclear.
this is our special coverage out of russia. the head of wagner group, the leader released a statement. therefore, realizing all the responsibilities for the fact that russian blood will be shed from one of the sides we turn our columns and move in the opposite field of the camps. officials claim their president had reached a deal with the wagner boss to halt his troops. earlier, he said his private army seizeded control of russian military facilities in it two critical cities. that is half way on the road to moscow. president putin called the actions a betrayal and stab notice back to the russian people. and he warned anyone who followed pergosian will pay a price. these are bulldogs and gangsters and the fight is way out into the open. it is a very serious one. we have full coverage of the breaking news. we have cnn chief international security correspondent with us nick paton walsh, national security reporter natasha bertrand. nick, i guess the question now is not onl
vladimir putin in a surprisingly quick advance on moscow. the wagner group claimed to seize control of an important russian military facility in the city of rostov-on-don. [ applause ] the leader of the wagner group says they captured the facility, a key operations base, for the war on ukraine without firing a single shot. the cheers you just heard are locals showing their support ahead of wagner. yevgeny prigozhin also claimed to seize a military facility in another city about halfway to moscow. that s when prigozhin said he ordered his mercenaries to suddenly turn around. this is video of them pulling out of one town. and here s prigozhin receiving a hero s farewell as he leaves. he said he did it to avoid a bloody conflict. translator: therefore realizing all the responsibility for the fact that russian blood will be shed from one of the sides, we turn our columns around and leave in the opposite direction to the field camps according to the plan. we re following all