peril. announcer: live from cnn center, this is cnn newsroom with michael holmes. and we begin in ukraine which has just cleared the first hurdle on the path to join the european union. eu and ukrainian flags flew side by side in kyiv on friday after the european commission recommended that ukraine should be given candidate status. the move doesn t guarantee membership, which could be years away, but president zelenskyy says it still brings ukraine a step closer to winning the war. the commission s leader says ukraine deserves to be in. we all know that ukrainians are ready to die for the european perspective. we want them to live with us, the european dream. now, the british prime minister boris johnson made a surprise visit to kyiv on friday, his second since the war began. he offered ukraine a major military training program that he said would, quote, fundamentally change the equation of the war. new videos meanwhile appear to show two u.s. military volunteers wh
and with tourism roaring back to life across europe, italy seeing a two-wheeled invasion that many want curbed. what rome plans to do about the influx of e scooters. well, donald trump lashing out at the january 6th committee hearings, accusing them of doctoring video testimonies that cast him in a very negative light. yet both taped and live witnesses over three hearings have consistently shown trump illegally tried to overturn the 2020 election, culminating of course in the capitol riot. the next hearing on tuesday is expected to include two prominent georgia election officials who were pressured by trump to, quote, find nonexistent votes after he lost. and there are growing questions over the potential role of ginni thomas, wife of clarence thomas. the select committee has requested an interview with her which she has indicated she is willing to do. for the latest on trump s continued defiance and what lies ahead, here is cnn s jessica schneider. never called mike penc
donald trump there doing what he can to flip the script in response to the recent january 6th hearings. we ll have more from his first public appearance since they began, and what we can expect next in the next round. and colombia is poised to lead latin america s green energy initiative. we ll tell you how politics are getting in the way of that. we begin in ukraine, which has just cleared the first hurdle on a path to join the european union. ukrainian and eu flags flew side by side after recommending they be given candidate status. vladimir putin is okay with that because the eu isn t a military alliance like nato. boris johnson made a surprise visit. he offered ukraine a major military training program he said would fundamentally change the equation of the war. and new videos of the wars appeared on pro-russian sites that appear to show two u.s. volunteers missing in ukraine. this is a photo posted earlier. cnn isn t showing the new videos because the men appear to
claiming that the west s sanctions are doing nothing to hurt his economy. donald trump fires back at the committee and his former vice president. and china is showing off its most advanced aircraft carrier in what appears to be a direct message to the west. live from cnn center, this is cnn newsroom with kim brunhuber. we begin in ukraine where russia is reportedly sending more firepower to eastern lines. russian artillery is pounding areas near sievierodonetsk, trying to cut it off from surrounding cities. ukraine says it intercepted two russian missiles near odesa and no one was killed. in kyiv, ukrainian and eu flags flew side by side. the move doesn t guarantee membership, which would be years away, but president zelenskyy says it s still important. here he is. translator: ukraine deserves this positive. ukrainian values are european values. ukrainian institutions remain resilience, even in conditions of war. ukrainian democratic habits have not lost their pow
the war. we re live in kyiv. plus, dangerous heat waves across the u.s. and western europe. we ll go to the cnn weather center on when people can see relief. announcer: live from cnn center, this is cnn newsroom with kim brunhuber. the new york times is reporting that the u.s. justice department could begin receiving interview transcripts from the january 6th committee as early as next month. earlier, federal prosecutors believed they would not get them until september and delay some trials of capitol rioters. former u.s. president donald trump remains defiant despite growing mountain of testimony and other evidence against him. he spoke out on friday for the first time since the hearings began calling former vice president mike pence weak now for not blocking the 2020 certification. several former officials everyone around trump told him repeatedly he lost the election and a scheme to stay in office was illegal. cnn s jessica schneider has more on trump s reactio