this after the u.s. justice department informed the former president he s a target, a target of the probe. also tonight, washington, d.c. monuments are shrouded in haze as wildfire smoke from canada drifts to the nation s capital. we re tracking this air quality emergency as it moves into the mid atlantic and threatens the health of tens of millions of americans. and the flood disaster in ukraine grows even more dangerous as the region is rocked by shelling and the kyiv government accuses russia of shooting at rescue workers. i ll acquit white house official john kirby about that devastating dam collapse and the broader state of the war right now. 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 with donald trump apparently in imminent legal peril. once again, the u.s. justice department moving toward a final decision on indicting trump in the classified documents probe after alerting the for
special counsel s investigation. standing by for the next big announcement in the race for the republican presidential nomination. the former new jersey governor chris christie kicking off his campaign this hour. we ll have live coverage. welcome to our viewers here in the united states and around the world. i m wolf blitzer, you re in the situation room. announcer: this is cnn breaking news. let s get right to the breaking news on the special counsel s investigation of former president donald trump. our senior legal affairs correspondent paula reid is joining us right now. paula, tell us about this new york times report and why potentially it is so significant. reporter: incredibly significant in the special counsel investigation. the new york times reporting trump s former white house chief of staff mark meadows testified before the grand jury, that special counsel jack smith has been using in both of his investigations, both into january 6th and also into the
we start tonight with the news out of colorado. the state supreme court has ruled that former president donald trump should be removed from the 2024 republican primary ballot. since january 6th there has been plenty of discussion in legal circles and even some excitement about section 3 of the 14th amendment of the constitution which bans insurrectionists and people who have aided insurrectionists from holding office. and there has been a whole lot of interest in whether this section of the amendment might bar donald trump from running for office because of his role in the january 6th insurrection. now, the minnesota state supreme court dismissed the idea. over in michigan the judge ruled that trump could not be taken off that state s ballot. in total 14th amendment suits to disqualify trump have been dismissed in four states. they are pending appeal in two states, and they are pending being heard for the first time in 13 states. and just until two hours ago, it looked like c
colorado supreme court shakes up the 2024 presidential race. donald trump is ineligible for that state s republican primary ballot. we ll have expert legal analysis on the ruling and what could come next. meanwhile, the former president is doubling down on his disturbing rhetoric about immigrants, using more language that mirrors adolph hitler s speeches to nazi germany. plus, congress leaves washington all without passing a foreign aid bill, leaving critical funding for ukraine until next year. we ll break down the chances they can get a deal done once they return. good morning and welcome to way too early on this wednesday, december 20th. i m ali vitali in for jonathan lemire. in a historic decision the colorado supreme court has ruled donald trump is disqualified from hold office again after determining he engaged in insurrection in january 6, 2021. the 4-3 ruling reverses a lower court decision and effectively keeps the former president off the state s ballot unti
weeks away, donald trump is taking his campaign rhetoric to dark extremes. we re getting new reaction to trump s immigrant-bashing that s invoking comparisons to nazi germany. the gop governor of new hampshire chris sununu joins us live this hour. also tonight, two former georgia election workers are su su suing rudy giuliani again after he was ordered to pay the women nearly $150 million in damages. we re going to tell you what they want now. and hamas releases video of three elderly israelis it s holding captive in gaza. the u.s. is playing a role in restarting negotiations aimed at freeing the remaining captives amid pleas from hostages. i m wolf blitzer. you re in t the situation room. exactly four weeks from tonight, the first votes of the 2024 presidential election cycle will be cast in iowa. and gop front-runner donald trump is trying to fire up supporters with ugly and very chilling new attacks on immigrants. cnn s omar jimenez has more on trump s rhetoric and t