of what s to come as we approach peak summer travel. the pressure the biden administration is now putting on the airlines. the dangerous new heat wave taking aim at much of the country, millions under heat alerts tonight. rob marciano standing by timing it out. the new warning from nato that the war in ukraine could drag on for years as american firepower makes it to the front lines. our team on the ground with a up-close look. will the heavy artillery make a difference in the war? the news out of italy, the oscar-winning film director detained after allegations of sexual assault. celebrations across the country commemorating this year s juneteenth national holiday marking the end of slavery in america. and led by the 95-year-old grandmother of juneteenth, opal lee. and an emotional story this father s day, the promise one dad made to his son, the dream fulfilled. announcer: from abc news world headquarters in new york, this is world news tonight. good evening
course. saying the united states will in fact send advanced rocket systems to the war torn country. we will have more on what led to the presidents change of heart. good morning, welcome to way too early, on this wednesday june 1st. i m jonathan lemere, thank you for being with us. the official account has changed once again. concerning how the gunman who massacred 19 children and their teachers entered the texas school. last friday, the director of the texas department of safety, said a teacher propped open the door. in which of the gunman used to enter. now the agency says the teacher had come back to close the door, but had failed to locked. the new account comes after a attorney for the teacher told the san antonio express news, that the teacher did prop up an the door. using a rock, so she could carry food from her car into the school. once you saw the gunman crashes car into a ditch. she went back inside the school to get her phone to report to crush the police. t
Glimpse at the american firepower on the front lines. the u.s. provided howitzers helping the battle in the donbas. a team on the ground in ukraine with exclusive access. are the weapons making a difference? britt clennett is in kyiv for us tonight. reporter: tonight, homes on fire in northeastern ukraine, after heavy russian shelling. and tonight, still no word on the fate of three americans, thought to have gone missing while fighting in the east, where the kremlin appears to be doubling down. a ukrainian official saying russia is sending in reserves to the key city of severodonetsk. but american firepower, assisting in the battle for the donbas. our james longman, getting exclusive access, as ukrainian forces fired howitzers on the frontline. reporter: the power of that gun is just unreal. it sucks the air out of you as it goes out. now, this is an active combat zone. they are finding russian targets. reporter: nato s secretary-general today warning putin s war could last for
What s the latest there? absolutely. the difference is, this is a small fighting area. we have been talking about that pocket were sievierodonetsk, that last kind of stronghold up until yesterday. ukrainian stronghold in that pocket of the donbas was. as of this morning, according to the regional government, russian control 70% of that city. ukrainian troops who have been fighting in that city have now retreated according to the regional governor. tomorrow there is fighting inside that city, there are still civilians inside that city. no humanitarian aid jonathan. no possibility for evacuation. but again, russians forces basically carpet bombing small villages to make those incremental gains. incremental, it is slow, i want to get out of the way. we are near it is slow, but militarily it is working. and really watching the battle in the donbas. it looks like that pocket is going to be close, jonathan.
Logistics. the amateurs are worried about the strategy. logistics either strategy for lunch. so the idea that russia is going to simply immediately solve these kind of deep-rooted problems. third and finally, you can t surge leadership on to a battlefield, and that s what we ve seen again and again is a lack of direct leadership. on the russian side of this, yeah, we will see a lot of piece parts moving on the battlefield. don t look for a sweeping cohesiveness on the battlefield. on the ukrainian side, look for resistance. they re here to say. let s close on a snapshot of mariupol, a doomed city, but where you see defenders like at the alamo standing and delivering for their country. magnify that through the ukrainian forces. that steel factory we are looking at right now, it is their alamo. it is their alamo and we have to honor it. admiral, we have heard for a while that the battle in the