that and the potential for the former president to influence the races. good morning, everyone. happy saturday and welcome to your new day. it is a good day. saturday, august 20th. good to be with you, boris. always a pleasure. good to be with you, amara. we begin with the concerns about a nuclear power plant on the front lines of russia s war against ukraine. fighting around the zaporizhzhia nuclear plant has intensified, so much so that now there are concerns about a possible nuclear disaster. cnn first reported new satellite images contradict russia s claims about the facility. they say there is systemic shelling there, but the images just don t show that. vladimir putin accuses the ukrainian military of conducting repeated military strikes at the plant. a special adviser to ukraine s armed services chief says moscow can t be trusted. russia always tells two truths and a lie. you can t believe anything they say. ukraine is not firing at their own nuclear plant
in illinois, eight dead. including all six members of the debose family. the losses tell the story of what safety advocates call a crisis on our roads. the overall numbers are still moving in the wrong direction. reporter: new data from the national highway traffic safety administration shows 9560 people were killed on u.s. roads in the first three months of this year. that is a 7% jump over the same period last year and the highest for a first quarter in 20 years. we hope these trends were limited to 2020, but sadly they aren t. risky behaviors skyrocketed and traffic fatalities spiked. reporter: virginia saw one of the biggest increases nationwide with traffic deaths spiking more than 70% in the first quarter. last week, near richmond, triathlete jonah holland say she was hit and killed by a suspected drunk driver while cycling. thursday, fellow cyclists held a benefit ride in her honor.