forces are close to encircling bakhmut. the u.s. is downplaying the strategic significance if russia wins this round of the war. also tonight, republicans are presented with the sharpest contrast yet between donald trump and ron desantis. we re breaking down dueling speeches by the former president and the current florida governor as they gear up for a potential 2024 primary showdown. and a series of new airline scares is raising serious questions about aviation safety here in the united states. from a bird strike that caused engine failure and smoke in the cabin to the wings of two commercial jets clipping on the many close cal? welcome to our viewers here in the united states and around the world. i m wolf blitzer. you re in the situation room. we begin on the front lines of eastern ukraine right now, where the battle for bakhmut is growing more urgent by the hour. russian fighters making gains as they move to surround the city. cnn s alex marquardt is joining us live
mar-a-lago. an urgent new warning that a ukraine knew clear plant may be on the brink of a disaster. there s shelling around the plant as images of the facility seen first on cnn are casting doubt on vladimir putin s claims. welcome to our viewers here in the united states and around the world. i m wolf blitzer. you are in the situation room. we begin with a new legal blow for a key trump ally. senator graham losing, losing a new attempt to try to avoid facing a grand jury in georgia next week. the ruling happened a little while ago and caps a very eventful week in multiple investigations linked to the former president. go to cnn political correspondent sara murray here. senator graham is making every effort to try to avoid testifying. the senator made the argument he should not have to testify saying he did is legislative activity. well, the federal judge said this week i won t quash the subpoena. graham said will you stay the decision? will you put it on pause so i don
It reveals a dramatic conversation that took place as the ferry sank wednesday with 475 people on board. We learned that an unidentified crew member talked to two different radio towers that morning. The crew member said passengers aboard the doomed ferry could not board lifeboats because the ship tilted too much too fast and in another part of the trimt, one tower told the crew member that the captain should make the final decision on the passengers escape. Most of the people on board were students and teachers on a class trip. I want to bring in cnns reporter in south korea. Search crews brought back dozens of bodies, exceptionally painful for the parents to watch and that includes even the first responders. Reporter absolutely. Everyone is affected and its impossible not to be when you see these bodies coming back one by one. You hear hundreds of parents, their cries punk waiting the air. Its been an extraordinarily difficult process that promises to repeat many times over. The firs
the priority right now, wolf, that door remains open. oren liebermann at the pentagon, thank you very much. let s bring back alex marquardt again along with our military analyst, spyder marx and jill dougherty. based on what you re seeing right now, is there still hope for ukraine to keep the bakhmut area, and is defending the city a good use, from your opinion, of ukrainian resources at this very, very sensitive point? wolf, two great questions. certainly the ukrainians have the ability, if they wanted to secure bakhmut, they could pour more resources in there to ensure that. but it goes to your second question, which is what is the strategic advantage? and frankly bakhmut is not a strategic piece of key terrain for the ukrainians. and it really kind of baffles why the ukrainians have chosen
you can t hide from us anywhere. we have enough warheads for everyone to get what they deserve. strong words there from the russians. after the call between the french president and vladimir putin both sides said that moscow agrees to let inspectors to that power plant there. that could happen september. all of that only if the security situation doesn t further deteriorate. thank you. let s discuss with analyst spyder marx. the situation is monitored closely. give us a closer look. it is extremely important. zaporizhia is located right