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 would think the russian government would have both. and any opinion is, based on what i know, is that it was the russian government behind this, either in cahoots with the cuban government, and until i m proven otherwise, i ll continue to believe that. i should point out, wolf, i should be clear about this, the united states has never officially blamed russia for this and the russian government has categorically denied any involvement. dmitry peskov, the spokesperson, told us this specifically, that these are purely unfound accusations, that we do not accept. we have nothing to do with this. at the same time, wolf, you just heard from the head of counterintelligence at the time. and he obviously still has some serious questions about what happened six years later, wolf. looking forward to the documentary. a special report this sunday night, we ll be watching, sanjay, thank you very much for doing this. coming up, a cnn exclusive. trying to stop grand jury testimony. the secret
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
you can tweet the show, and if you ever miss an episode of the show, you can listen to the lead wherever you get your podcasts. our coverage continues now with wolf blitzer in the situation room. have a great weekend. happening now, the west is condemning a sham vote now under way in russian held parts of ukraine. vladimir putin seeking a bogus endorsement of his violent takeover of territory as his war strategy ignites growing dissent at home. also tonight, a cnn exclusive. on former president trump s secret court fight. his lawyers working to block testimony by former trump aides and a grand jury s criminal probe of january 6th. and u.s. stock prices plunnge t the lowest level in nearly two