808 to 14000 welcome to the lead. Im Jake Tapper this hour, a new interview with a republican who says hes worried that hell be on the public end and these lists, if Donald Trump gets reelected and even musing about whether or not he might need to flee the country, blossom. Stunning failures by the us Secret Service detailed in a new report from the lawmakers investigating the first now to assassinate Donald Trump, an allegations that so many of those failures were not only called preventable, but The Agency has not done anything to address them in leading this hour, a brand new update just in to cnn as Hurricane Helene Gains Strength in barrels toward the united states with landfall expected tomorrow. Its a massive update lets get straight to Meteorologist Chad myers and Cnns Hurricane Headquarters and chad, you tell you tell us this is pretty serious it is. Now were up to cat four. We are category four Hurricane Making Landfall in that big Bend Area of florida. And i know theres not
more setbacks for russia as ukraine makes strides on the battlefield, possibly downing four russian jets, killing two russian commanders and gaining ground all as kyiv gdpeers up fr a counteroffensive. some service members stationed at north carolina s camp lejeune in the 70s and 80s were exposed to a chemical called tce and could lead to a massive lehigher risk of parkinson s disease. and aaa is warning of a blockbuster season. tens of millions on the roads and in the skies as well. we re following all of these stories all coming in here to cnn news central. we begin the hour with the war in ukraine. today ukrainian president volodymyr zelenskyy was in the united kingdom enlisting serious financial and military support from the british prime minister. he s been meeting with key nato leaders ahead of ukraine s counteroffensive. he says his country needs a little bit more time to prepare for that major assault. meantime back on the battlefield, russian troops are facin
top of the hour on cnn newsroom. good to have you along. i m victor blackwell. the fbi is searching for four americans assaulted and kidnapped in mexico. we are getting new video of the attack into cnn but we want to warn you, it is disturbing. you can see people being loaded into the back of a pickup truck by armed men. it is unclear if they are americans. according to the fbi shortly after the group of u.s. citizens drove across the border friday, the car crashed with another vehicle and they were taken at gunpoint. authorities believe that they were not the intended targets. the u.s. ambassador to mexico said an innocent mexican citizen was also killed. cnn rosa flores is following this for us. rosa, what are you learning and make of the mexican president and authorities saying these were not the intended targets? reporter: you know, the president of mexico saying these four americans were actually in mat morore mexico to purchase medicine, which is something peo
yet happened. the lead starts are right now. republican officials rushing to defend trump with a variety of claims and chexcuses as the forr president faces a possible indictment. i think in your heart of hearts you know too that this you can this is just political. is this all firing up the maga base? we ll talk to two former trump insiders. plus, meeting with a menacing message, leaders of russia and china coming out of their second day of talks and offering deliberate prolposals about a future collaboration. and a colorado dentist accused of killing his wife by lacing her protein shakes with arsenic, how his internet searches became evidence. welcome to the lead, i m jake tapper. we start with our politics lead and a high alert day for new york city police bracing for possible unrest if donald trump is indicted. an internal memo shared with cnn shows that all nypd officers are expected to be in uniform and ready for deployment today, although law enforcement
300,000 additional troops will be called up to fight. this comes as russia has suffered ahumiliating losses to ukraine with troops retreating from territory. putin used his most direct language to date regarding the possible use of nuclear weapons. translator: this is not a bluff. the citizens of russia can be sure that the territorial integrity of our homeland, our independence and freedom will be ensured. those who try to blackmail us with nuclear weapons should know that the prevailing winds can turn in their direction. the comments come across the backdrop of the u.n. general assembly here in new york. president biden set to speak just hours for now, as multiple kremlin backed authorities announced referendums on joining russia this week. ukraine and its allies dismissed the moves as a sham driven by fear of defeat. i want to bring in kylie atwood here in new york, nick paton walsh is live in ukraine for us. this speech we thought it was going to happen yesterday, i