behind us, end quote. not really. our coverage continues now with wolf blitzer. he s in the situation room, actually he s replaced by alex marquardt today. i ll see you soon. happening now, donald trump brushes off questions about a report you heard first right here on cnn, that is, federal prosecutors now in possession of audiotapes undercutting trump s defense over retaining classified documents. we re also getting reaction from one of the former president s previous attorneys. in the senate the debt ceiling deal could come to a final vote as soon as tonight. even as members of both parties raise serious concerns. majority leader chuck schumer telling senators, they have to stay in session until the bill passes. and russia says that regions near the border with ukraine have suffered dozens of attacks in just the last day. the kremlin condemning international silence over the recent strikes on russian territory. welcome to our viewers here in the united states and
kennedy and the cuban missile crisis. what is putin s off ramp? where does he find a way out? where does he find himself where he does not lose face but significant power? his military is, you might say, significantly underperforming. cnn s fred pleitgen is in kyiv. fred, significantly under performing. there are voices inside russia saying the same thing right now. reporter: there certainly are. i think those voices are growing. we ve also seen a lot of in fighting, if you will, between a lot of the power sectors of russia, especially at the top of the country. one of the interesting things we ve been seeing over the past couple of weeks, christine, the ukrainians believe there is a threat, that russia might at some point use tactical nuclear weapons in this conflict. the threat of which keeps rising all the time. however, the ukrainians are saying that is not something that will have those counter offensive. here s what we re finding. dangerous battles for ukrainian force
Tim parlatore, who left trump s legal team in recent weeks, says the classification status of the document trump is heard talking about is irrelevant based on the laws that are cited in the search warrant that was executed in summer 2022. really what doj is investigating is willful retention of national defense information. whether it s classified or declassified is not an element of that offense. reporter: former president trump s lawyers have asked for a meeting with attorney general merrick garland to express their concerns about the special counsel s regs. one of trump s attorneys tells cnn there have been some communications between doj and the trump legal team about the possibility of this meeting. but the fact there is this recording in the hands of investigators really undercuts their key concern, which is their allegation this is just a politically motivated investigation. but if they do get this meeting with the attorney general or
Mar-a-lago state with boxes of top documents. trump continuing to say the doj s interference is shameful and the meritless investigation should cease wasting the american taxpayer s money. there were no classified or marked documents there. reporter: former trump lawyer who left the team in recent weeks says that the classification status of the document trump is heard talking about is irrelevant based on the laws cited in the search warrant that was executed in summer 2022. really what doj is investigating is willful retention. whether it is classified or declassified is not an element of that offense.
And the meritless investigation should cease wasting the american taxpayer s money. when were no classified or marked documents there. reporter: former trump lawyer who left the team in recent weeks says that the classification status of the document trump is heard talking about is irrelevant based on the laws cited in the search warrant that was executed in summer 2022. really what doj is vets gaiting is willful retention. whether it is classified tee classified is not an element of that offense. reporter: former trump lawyers have asked for a meeting with attorney general merrick garland to express their concerns about the special counsel s investigation. one of trump s attorneys tell cnn there have been some communications between doj and the trump legal team about the possibility of this meeting, but the fact that there is this recording in the hands of