vlad and so many of the people that we have met here on this visit and of course that we ve talked to over the past 16 months, they all have that incredible, powerful reservoir of strength. thanks so much for joining us. it s time now for ac 360. good evening. we begin tonight with breaking news. we have obtained what is expected to be a central piece of the government s case against donald trump, the actual audio recording of the former president talking as if he s showing a highly classified document on u.s. war plans against iran, with people not clear to know it exists, let alone what s in it. you will hear what jurors will hear one day. the recording was made two summers ago in bedminster new jersey. you will clearly hear the former president, as he is speaking to several people. they include a writer working on mark meadows memoir, the publisher, and two of trump s staff members. the president was aware he was being recorded. it is the first time it is being played
happening now, rescues are under way after another deadly russian missile strike in eastern ukraine. local officials accusing russian forces of deliberately targeting crowded civilian areas right in the center of this city. in russia tonight vladimir putin is attempting to show strength after the mutiny by wagner mercenaries. this, as we have a new satellite image suggesting the wagner chief is indeed in exile right now in belarus. and donald trump is now responding to the audio obtained exclusively by cnn in which he acknowledges having secret documents he did not declassify. stand by to hear the recordings and what trump is saying 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 in ukraine with the new russian missile strike on a very crowded city center, the death toll now up to at least four, including a baby, and more than 40 injured. cnn s ben wedeman is joining us now live from
special counsel jack smith is looking for in the classified documents probe. as with the $5 million defamation and sexual abuse judgment against donald trump, his own words are once again being used against him in a court of law. this time we re of course talking about that stunning february 2021 audio recording. donald trump bragging about a secret document with plans to attack iran at bedminster. to a writer working on a book, the discovery of that recording according to report from the wall street journal we discussed on this program last week, we know was a watershed moment that helped spur doj into pursuing a criminal case against the ex-president. days after his indictment on 37 felony counts, the ex-president claimed this. there was no document. that was a massive amount of papers and everything else talking about iran and other things, and it may have been held up or may not, but that was not a document. i didn t have a document per se. there was nothing to declas
acknowledging he had sensitive secret documents that were not declassified. we re breaking down the recordings and what they mean for the special counsel s criminal case against him. also tonight, cnn is live in ukraine where the death toll has been rising from a new russian missile strike in a crowded city center. president volodymyr zelenskyy is calling the attack a manifestation of terror. this comes as vladimir putin is on damage control after the mutiny by wagner mercenaries. all ask former u.s. defense secretary mark esper about the rebellion and how it s influencing putin s war strategy. 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 this hour with powerful evidence against donald trump in the special counsel s case against him. cnn exclusively obtaining recordings of the former president talking about highly classified material in his possession. this comes as trump is speaking out
china. president biden is facing ongoing questions about why he allowed his son hunter to attend a state dinner last week as more information is coming out about other investigations. critics say the decision was poor. the president s defenders disagree. jackie is live from the north along with details tonight. when we have questions about the ongoing federal probe into the president s son, officials redirect us to the white house counsel s office or the doj, saying they can t talk about it. when it comes to the decision to bring hunter to official events and presidential spaces, the answer is we are not going to engage on this. the former spokesperson believes hunter biden asked to attend the dinner days after accepting a plea deal with prosecutors in an ongoing investigation. his son wanted to come, so his son is going to come to the dinner. is the love for his son greater than the love for his country? that is what it looks like. the leader of the free world is a r