and what it means for the war in ukraine. then, despite the mounting legal troubles, the twice and i did former president is still the republican front runner. why some democrats are sounding the alarm. as that 11th hour gets underway on this monday night. good evening once again. i am stephanie ruhle. tonight, for the first time, we are hearing donald trump on day in 2021, discussing a secret document about attacking iran that he did not declassify. as we reported, the conversation is a key part of special counsel jack smith s case against donald trump, and it is referenced in the indictment against him. cnn obtained and played the recording earlier this evening. these are bad, sick people. that was your coup, you know, against you well, it started right at the when hillary, miller is talking about, you are trying to do a coup. they were trying to do that even before you were sworn in. well, with milley, let me see that. i ll show you an example. he sai
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
more importantly you need to hone a message that is hyper critical of donald trump and beat on it every single day until iowa. what do you make of this messaging as you talk about messaging there, right, the super pac making this antitrump ad about being too chummy with dictators. interesting they bring up putin. he s obviously in the news not just because of the war in ukraine but because of this rebellion, 24/48 hour rebellion led by the wagner mercenary group as well. do you think that resonates with voters here in the united states? you know, when i was doing the bush stuff years ago, the most compelling value that republican primary voters focused on was are you a strong and decisive leader, and i think that s what s behind this ad. it s not so much about the dynamics of vladimir putin or the dynamics of north korea, it s more about undercutting donald trump s strength as a strong leader, and i think he has such an advantage on that,
take time. so what then is exactly the objective of this counteroffensive? is it to push the russian front line far south as possible? is that where they re focusing is? well, they are going to try to break the russian presence in two by driving to the sea of azov if they can. in the first stage of this offensive, they are going to be trying to set up this attempt to split the russians in two. how far they get, we don t know. but the plan is that ultimately to get the russians out of ukraine, but right now they are going to try to split that russian press ence in two. it s going to be hard going and we might not see success until a month or so. are you seeing any indications that the wagner rebellion, the rebellion led by the leader yevgeny prigozhin, has had any impact on the field, on the battlefield?
the warnings face up to $500 in fines, or for repeat offenders, possible arrest. norah? norah: nicole sganga, thank you. turning now to the war in ukraine and new fallout from that failed armed rebellion led by the leader of russia s private army, there are questions tonight about whether the oligarch could leave the wagner mercenary group could have support for his revolt from inside the russian militar. cbs s yearly reports from kyiv. reporter: the images shocked the world. wagner troops advancing toward moscow before turning around. but questions remain surrounding the mercenary boss yevgeny prigozhin s failed mutiny. cbs news has learned the u.s. has intelligence that a senior russian general had advanced knowledge of the mutiny. the kremlin s as these allegations speculation and gossip. but in kyiv today, ukraine s national security chief oleksiy danilov claimed prigozhin was in league with not