He is of course trying to present this as a overwhelming display of national unity, and a sign of, show of defiance to russias enemies round the world. He said that russias power is derived from its people, which is part of this message of presenting this election as a genuine democratic exercise where the russian people have shown him their support, rather than something carefully choreographed by the kremlin. He spoke of russians being one team and one family, and of course, appealing to this traditional values agenda, which we have seen him push over the year, by saying he had spoken to the head of the Russian Orthodox church. Another key point he mentioned what russia calls the new region, the occupied pars of ukraine. We calls the new region, the occupied pars of ukraine. Calls the new region, the occupied pars of ukraine. We are going to gok back to the press pars of ukraine. We are going to gok back to the Press Conference, pars of ukraine. We are going to gok back to the Press
outfront next, ukraine s offensive. a widespread operation underway right now across eastern ukraine. forces on the ground claiming to be seizing territory from russia as a disturbing video tonight emerges of the russian private army holding a russian commander prisoner. plus, tonight, a cnn exclusive. a mar-a-lago employee drained the resort s swimming pool. it s flooded a room where surveillance video logs were kept of the rooms where the documents were. is an indictment imminent? a former member of trump s legal team is outfront. a war of words after another dangerous encounter between american and chinese warships. it s not just the chinese government that s angry with the united states. tonight you ll hear some of the hate, the anger coming from chinese citizens. let s go outfront. good evening. i m erin burnett. outfront tonight, show of force. ukraine s deputy defense minister telling cnn an offensive is now taking place in multiple locations across easte
several democratic officials. then a new discovery about a revolutionary weight loss drug. patients say it actually helps curb other addictions such as smoking or drinking. welcome to the lead. i m jake tapper. we start with our law and justice lead. the first public reaction from former president donald trump in response to cnn s blockbuster reor thing, since matched by the new york times and washington post, in his classified documents case. mr. trump refused to directly answer questions about a recording now in the hands of federal prosecutors where trump is said to be talking about classified materials he kept in his possession after leaving the white house. but the former president did go after those investigators with his usual complaints of being a victim of a witch hunt. in moments i ll be joined by trump s former lawyer, tim parm tory who left the legal team a few weeks ago and played a key role in the classified documents investigation. first, we ll start
outfront next, the war coming to russia. putin and his forces on defense as the kremlin vows to exterminate ukraine. plus, republican kari lake still obviously won t accept she lost the race for arizona governor, giving a keynote speaking slot at the upcoming georgia republican convention. why? well, a top georgia election official who publicly rejected trump s claims of election fraud and bravely so is outfront and china s brutal campaign against its own people now at a boiling point as chinese officials take on mosques around the country. let s go outfront. good evening, i m erin burnett. outfront, the war inside russia. there s a bold, new front in the war and it is on putin s territory. a russian official just this hour announcing that russia s air defense system shot down several ukrainian drones over western russia. that s just this hour. right? earlier today smoke rises over belgorod. new video in from there. you can see on your screen, belgorod is the russian
the world. i am rosemary church. just ahead on cnn newsroom. the clock is ticking down. the stakes are high. and there is still no debt limit deal. but oh away from a default. mounting legal problems for donald trump. new civil, criminal and business troubles and the week is just beginning. plus, a group of anti-putin russian fighters who support ukraine, are claiming credit for an attack inside of russia. good to have you with, us a much anticipated meeting between u.s. president joe biden and house speaker kevin mccarthy has come and gone. still, no deal on raising the u.s. debt ceiling. both the president and mccarthy said monday s talks were productive. but it does nothing for a looming default which could happen in just a matter of days. mccarthy was adamant that i need to strike a deal this week in order to avoid the june 1st deadline. when the u.s. could potentially default on its debt. u.s. treasury secretary janet yellen has been a constant reminder of the urgency