our correspondents are standing by in ukraine with war refugees in estonia. we want to welcome our viewers from the united states and around the world. i m wolf blitzer. i m wolf blitzer. you re in the situation room. captions by vitac www.vitac.com we begin with russia s escalating offensive in eastern ukraine as top ukrainian officials are confirming that the battle for the don baas region has begun. let s go right to our chief national security correspondent jim sciutto in ukraine for us. he is reporting from lviv. president zelenskyy is now speaking out about this new phase of the war. reporter: that s right. u.s. intelligence reported a major strategy shift by russia to stop focusing on its failed attempt on capture the capital kyiv and focus on the east and the south. we ve been seeing the forces move over the last couple of weeks. now they are there. and now that battle, though it never quite stopped there, but that battle intensifying to a degree we have not
of breaching premier league financial rules and could face further points deducted. and they re not the only ones nottingham forrest have also confirmed they are at risk of a fine or a points deduction. senegal need the defence of to a winning start after beating gambia. beating gambia. also coming up on sportsday andy murray is out of the aussie open in the first round with many frustrated at his straight sets defeat, including him. disappointed with the way that i played in all that stuff, so tough way to finish. and an early exit for osaka out of her first major since having a baby. welcome to the programme. they ve already been plunged into uncertainty after being docked ten points, now everton face further sanctions for breaching profit and sustainability rules. nottingham forrest join them. our sports editor dan roanjoins us now. to remind us of the background of this issue. the to remind us of the background of this issue. league have what s known as profit and s
duress and that hamas has provided no evidence for that claim that these two men were killed in israeli air strikes, but clearly deeply upsetting for all the families concerned. israel says more than 100 hostages are still being held by hamas. and there is no sign, as yet, that negotiations to free them are making any progress. let s go live to oliver mcternan, director of forward thinking, who has worked in hostage negotiation for over 20 years. he played a key role in the negotiations surrounding the release of the israeli soldier gilad shalit, held hostage by hamas for five years. good to have you back on the programme tonight is a very sad circumstances without the israeli army said tonight to hamas media was the brutal use of innocent hostages. how do you think it will affect the debate in israel? will it harden the resolve of the israeli government or put more pressure on them? first of all, put more pressure on them? first of all. christian. put more pressure on them
weather where the national weather service has said is dangerous and life threatening. if you stay out longer than ten minutes, there s a risk you might get frostbite even if you are layered up. i think the weather is one of those issues that people like to talk about more than politics. it has dominated conversation. when it comes to the issues at play, what are the different candidates talking about and how are people in iowa specific the responding? here in iowa, donald iowa specific the responding? here in iowa, donald trump iowa specific the responding? haze: in iowa, donald trump is iowa specific the responding? flee: in iowa, donald trump is by iowa specific the responding? hee in iowa, donald trump is by far the most popular candidate. the bull by the des moines register, the most prodigious full shows that he has a very commanding lead. all three candidates there are others as well seen as outsiders they all have these different messages. ron desantis s messa
and for desantis, this does have the make or break feel about it. were he to finish third behind haley after spending something in the region of $150 million on this campaign then he d be in serious trouble, heading into two states, new hampshire and south carolina, where he is already polling behind her. south carolina don t forget is her home state. that perhaps explains why, on wednesday, at that final head to head debate, they seemed more intent on attacking each other, than the front runner donald trump. ..bureaucrats. .. that s not true. you talk about putting americans last, that is wrong. you ve supported all that money going over there so we ll put our own people first. you re so desperate, you re just so desperate. senator haley, let him speak. you need someone standing to fight for you, don t look for nikki haley. you won t be able to find her if you had a search warrant. but every time he lies, drake university, don t turn this into a drinking game because you