great to have you with us. we begin with some news from the war in ukraine. russia says its troops have fully captured the ukrainian city of bakhmut. kyiv has denied those claims, but if true, it could mark an end to the longest and bloodiest battle of the 15 month war. russia has been trying to take bakhmut since last year in a grinding war of attrition. and in the last hours, the russian news agency interfax has said president putin congratulated his troops and the paramilitary wagner group for capturing the city. earlier, ukraine had said its units were still fighting in the city. meanwhile, ukrainian president volodymyr zelensky has been on a whirlwind tour in an effort to drum up support and weapons for an expected counteroffensive against russia. it s been a busy few hours for zelensky, touching down injapan on saturday fo diplomatic talks touching down injapan on saturday for diplomatic talks with many of the gathered heads of the g7 nations. that includes prime minist
we start injapan, where leaders of some of the world s most powerful democracies are gathered at the g7 summit. on saturday, the focus has primarily been on one man: volodymyr zelensky. the ukrainian president is in hiroshima, in person. you can seem sitting next to the indian prime minister and other partner countries, and also presidentjoe biden awaiting his meeting with president zelensky and also justin trudeau. many others as part of the g7, including rishi sunak. we will continue covering that summit. you see him here taking part in a so called family photo. it s part of a multi day diplomatic tour to solidify support for an expected spring counter offensive against russia. later, mr zelensky will address the leaders and is expected to meet directly with presidentjoe biden. earlier, french president emmanuel macron said zelensky s presence at the g7 is a way to build peace and emphasized the need for a solution to the conflict based on international law. and new comme
charged. the news coming less than 24 hours after the graphic video of nichols being beaten and tased by officers was released to the public. again, want to warn you, this video is disturbing to watch. mom, mom! give me your hands. give me your hand. cnn s isabel rosales joins me now. the family attorney of ben krunlp, he had a to say this morning on cnn to dana bash. what did he have to say. he told her that clearly there is a problem in america. the officers failed their oath and tyre nichols. but this beating, jim, he said, goes beyond the individuals officers and beyond their color and really going to a problem with the system, with police culture where time and time again we re seeing traffic stops ending with the death of black men at the hands of police officers. now crump also touted how quickly these officers were charged and were fired. saying that this is really a blueprint going forward across america regardless if the officer is black, white or anything
a good saturday morning to you. it is saturday, february 4th, you re live in the cnn newsroom, thanks for joining us so much for sharing part of your saturday morning with us. we begin with an eye toward the sky. we re getting new reports about the location of that chinese spy balloon that has been drifting across the country. according to reports, it has been spotted over north carolina an officials say it could move off the east coast and out over the ocean in a matter of hours. and as you would imagine, the balloon is raising national security concerns, and it is adding to the tension between washington and beijing. it was people on the ground in montana who spotted the balloon as it passed overhead. that thing is not the moon. the moon is right there. this thing is so weird. it is definitely moving. the context and the timing of this are really important. the secretary of state antony blinken called it an irresponsible act by china. keep in mind, this comes just day
nearly a mile wide and stayed on the ground for more than an hour. leaving nothing but destruction in its wake. bill: it touched down near rolling fork, mississippi. a town of 2,000 people. that community is wiped off the map. sandra: houses reduced to rubble. some ripped off their foundations. the storm had winds reaching 170 miles-per-hour. that s strong enough to send cars and power lines flying through the air. bill: satellite images. on the left a picture of rolling before the storm hit. on the right is what happened after ward. an elementary school, trees, homes, cars, all of them are now gone. sandra: leveled. a church left unrecognizable with the steeple blown off. the scope of destruction is hard to fathom even for those who lived through it. it was dark. call for help. it was quiet. to hear those little kids hollering help. it s devastating. i look around town and i m saying i know we can rebuild, but what do you do with the devastation? what do you do w