donald trump in a defamation lawsuit. we ll explain why the doj is backing off its previous position. plus two months worth of rain in two days. vermont is just starting the recovery process from that disaster. we ll get an update from one of the state s top lawmakers. all right, good morning, and welcome to way too early on this wednesday, july 12th. i m sam stein in for jonathan lemire. we begin with the major developments out of the nato summit in lithuania. the alliance says it will invite ukraine to join but only when allies agree and conditions are met. the group did not give a time line or details on what those conditions might be. vague wording is in line with what president joe biden said last week, calling a pathway to membership for ukraine, quote, premature while it is at war with russia. as the new york times points out, it appears the president and like minded allies have prevailed over poland in baltic nations that wanted a formal invitation for ukraine t
victory on tuesday with a comfortable win over nikki haley in the new hampshire if primary. and now the former south carolina governor is facing growing pressure from mr. trump and his allies to drop out of the race with the former president threatening to blacklist haley donors if they continue to give to her presidential campaign. but haley is vowing the fight on, hoping to make a comeback in her home state next month. now, you ve all heard the chatter among the political class. they re falling all over themselves saying this race is over. [cheers and applause] well, i have news for all of them. new hampshire is first in the nation, it is not the last in the nation. [cheers and applause] paul: joining the panel this week, wall street journal columnists dan henninger, kim stras thing and bill mcgurn. so, dan, do you think that nikki haley has earned the right to stay in the race? yes, i do. she did well enough in new hampshire, she didn t get beaten by 20 points, she s
donald trump another chance. i ve had disagreements with donald trump such as on the coronavirus and anthony fauci, trump is sue pure yore to the current joe biden. it s now officially a two-person race for the republican nomination. with ron desantis ending his disappointing campaign, dropping out, and then promptly endorsing donald trump. we ll go through this major shakeup and preview tomorrow s primary in new hampshire. also ahead, an update on the border deal that includes critical aid for ukraine. president joe biden is challenging speaker mike johnson and house republicans to act on what he hopes will be a bipartisan package. plus, we ll go through the latest developments out of israel where there are growing calls for a leadership change now four months into the war against hamas. good morning and welcome to way too early on this monday, january 22nd. i m jonathan lemire. thanks for starting your day and week with us. he was once seen as potentially the m
a good sunday evening to you. i m jim sciutto. and welcome back to cnn special live coverage of the russian rebellion that erupted without warning and ended quickly this weekend not long after it began. yet and we should be clear the world is only beginning to assess the fallout. there are growing questions tonight about vladimir putin s leadership going forward and whether his iron grip on russia is weakening. the crash site of a russian military plane reportedly brought down by the wagner group yesterday. the cause of the crash not clear. but footage indicates the aircraft had been struck by a missile or rocket. there s still no sign of vladimir s leader, yevgeny prigozhin, who led this march on russia, af he cut a deal to go into belarus. also not seen, putin. we re going to have the latest on the white house reaction and president biden s conversation today with ukraine s leader. first, though, an update from cnn s matthew chance, who is in moscow. reporter: jim,
i got to know them quite well during my time as white house press secretar y, there wasm jim acosta, kaitlan collins, the playboy reporterosta, hyena. lately, they ve had some rather harsh words. former president trump. i mean, he s a hoarder. these horrible stories about hoarding of animals and he was doing the sametoriesof thing with thee classified document hoarding of nuclear secret hoas. os it s almost a kind of gollum in lord of the rings moment.oment. you know, my precious. yes. it s it mys like a hoarding instinct. it s pathological. g in addition to being criminal after wonder, could a presiden t trump unshackled by any opposition, it is somehow use the justice department to imprison his enemies. iison t was really starting to freak me out. is the idea thata that we re non discussing changing the constitution to make it say you cannot be in jail? the well, that part. i mean, i will, because my fear in a government would be that i you know, i m a i m a big