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Ukrainians are finally finding a way out of that steel plant in Mariupol. One of the evacuees described the situation as "two months of darkness. We did not see any sunlight." The trek out of captivity comes after another turbulent, restless night. A Ukrainian commander inside says constant shelling resumed the instant evacuations were done for the day. Meanwhile, Nancy Pelosi is in Poland followi...

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi led a congressional delegation to Ukraine, recommitting U.S. support amid intense fighting in the east. Pelosi is the highest-ranking U.S. official to visit Ukraine and to meet with President Volodymyr Zelensky since the war began. Plus, why some Democrats are urging President Biden to get more aggressive with the GOP ahead of November's midterm elections. But will he re...

Soldiers and civilians are surrounded in Mariupol's final stronghold. Today, a renewed effort to get people out of the steel plant. But that effort was blocked by Russians overnight. It's produced few Russian land gains but plenty of mounting destruction. It remains literally a life or death waiting game. A field commander worries they cannot survive another direct hit. Today's episode with a live...

"The cost of this fight is not cheap. But caving to aggression is going to be more costly if we allow it to happen. As long as the assaults continue, we're going to continue to supply military assistance." That's what President Biden said today when he asked Congress for $33 billion in additional new funding for Ukraine. He also directly responded to the Russian regime, saying that the Kremlin is...

Trevor Reed, the former US Marine held in Russia since 2019, is headed back to his family. The Biden White House announced a deal today to secure Reed's release in a prisoner swap. He's been held in Russia for 985 days after being arrested and sentenced to prison for nine years there. His family on CNN earlier today called his release an answer to their prayers. Our coverage begins with their emot...

US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin highlights new commitments from Germany, Canada, and others to get heavier weaponry to Ukraine, and makes clear a significant American strategy shift. The goal, he says, is to make sure Vladimir Putin not only loses in Ukraine, but that his military is significantly degraded in the process. Austin is in Germany, as is CNN's Oren Liebermann, who begins today's c...

CNN has exclusively obtained over 2,000 text messages sent and received by former Trump Chief of Staff Mark Meadows between Election Day 2020 and President Biden's inauguration on January 20th, 2021. The messages give an extraordinary glimpse at how Meadows was doing Trump's bidding in how they were trying to overturn the election when they knew that there was no widespread election fraud. In this...

Russian forces are focused on capturing the east and eliminating the last pocket of resistance in Mariupol. Meanwhile, President Volodymyr Zelensky says Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin are expected to visit Kyiv. They'd be the highest-ranking U.S. officials to step foot in Ukraine since the war began. Plus, Kevin McCarthy is caught on tape suggesting former Pre...

A top Russian commander makes it clear that full control of Ukraine's south -- a 600-mile swath of strategic land along Ukraine's southern coast -- is also part of the Kremlin's invasion plan. Mariupol is one of those port cities on Putin's list, and new images show Russian tanks rolling through. The Kremlin says the city is captured but there are still Ukrainian fighters at a waterfront steel pla...

President Biden unveils another big package of heavy weaponry for Ukraine, saying the west will not yield and that Vladimir Putin will never succeed in his quest to conquer his neighbor. This comes just hours after the Russian President claimed victory in the strategic Ukrainian port city of Mariupol, telling his defense chief there's no need to storm a steel plant that's home to the last Ukrainia...

As Mariupol's mayor urges residents to leave the besieged port city, a Ukrainian marine commander there makes a dire -- and perhaps final -- plea: "We might have only a few days or even hours left. The enemy's units are ten times larger than ours. We appeal to the world leaders to help us." Meanwhile, US defense officials watching the battlefield see no major Russian territorial gains in the Donba...

President Zelensky says the battle for Donbas is now in full force, and he vows Ukrainians will repel Russia's advancing army. The Kremlin says the goal is to "fully liberate" what Moscow calls two new independent republics in eastern Ukraine. One is in Luhansk, where a top Ukrainian official is pleading with anyone left to "evacuate now," saying residents of the fallen town of Kreminna are now ho...

The western city of Lviv, a place that's been relatively safe since Putin's invasion began February 24, has been hit by multiple Russian missile strikes. At least seven people were killed and 11 hurt, including a child. In eastern Ukraine, Kreminna in the Luhansk region is now in Russian hands. A Ukrainian official says Russian forces opened fire on a car filled with civilians trying to escape the...

Russia is calling for the remaining troops in Mariupol to surrender after weeks of shelling have decimated the eastern city. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky says tens of thousands have died in the siege. As Russian troops regroup ahead of their expected focus on the east, $800 million worth of U.S. heavy weapons and artillery are arriving to boost the Ukrainian military. Plus, President Bid...

Today's show features a new and exclusive CNN interview with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who tells CNN's Jake Tapper the world should prepare for Vladimir Putin to use chemical or, yes, even nuclear weapons. Plus, the US Secretary of State is telling European allies he believes Russia's invasion may last the rest of the year. And, important battlefield developments today, as Russia ret...

This is day 50 of Vladimir Putin's invasion, and the Russian military is poised to open a new chapter of this war. The west warns of a major Russian offensive on the Donbas region as soon as the next couple of days. The US is now promising to deliver heavier and deadlier weaponry. Overnight Ukraine said it put a major military win on the scoreboard, striking Russia's premier warship with a cruise...

Police say Frank James, a 62-year-old black man, is the shooter who turned the 36th Street subway station in Brooklyn, NY into a trauma ward. Investigators determined James bought the gun recovered at the scene, and an intensive hunt to capture him is underway. CNN's Jason Carroll kicks off our extensive coverage live from the scene. Also in today's show: The latest from Ukraine, and some fascinat...

What's expected to be a massive Russian assault on the Donbas region has begun. Shelling overnight in Kharkiv left scorched buildings, debris spilling out from shattered windows, and at least 11 dead. Satellite images tell us Vladimir Putin has assembled an eight-mile long convoy of Russian tanks and artillery outside the city. Meanwhile, today marked an invasion first: Austria's chancellor met wi...

As Russian troops refocus their efforts on eastern Ukraine, Vladimir Putin has named Alexander Dvornikov as the overall commander of the invasion. Dvornikov had previously led Russia's brutal attacks in Syria, which means the already bloody war could become even more vicious Plus, Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson is poised to join a Supreme Court that could overturn decades of precedent from abortion t...

The death toll continues to grow after Russia bombed a rail station in Kramatorsk. At least 50 are dead and another 98 injured. Ukraine's foreign minister says the Russian military knew this station was jam packed with thousands, following local government advice to evacuate. The Russians chose to attack anyway. In Kharkiv, Putin’s forces attacked a bread factory. And there's intense worry today b...

In the 233-year history of the Supreme Court, a black woman has never held the title of Justice. That will change this afternoon when the Senate votes to confirm Ketanji Brown Jackson. The math is a done deal now that three Senate Republicans say they’ll vote yes. Senate Majority leader Chuck Schumer calls it a “joyous day.” An Inside Politics panel discusses this important first in US history. Pl...

The US unveils new sanctions targeting the Russian elite including Vladimir Putin's two adult children. Today, though, more proof Putin is undeterred. A flurry of new Russian military assaults and haunting words from the most besieged city. Mariupol's mayor says the scale of death rivals Nazi concentration camps and calls it the new Auschwitz. Officials say Moscow's military is using mobile cremat...

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky makes perhaps his most powerful speech yet, addressing the United Nations security council and accusing Russia -- one of the council's permanent members -- of war crimes. He also compares Russia to a "terrorist organization." CNN's Phil Black begins our coverage from Lviv. To learn more about how CNN protects listener privacy, visit cnn.com/privacy Learn more a...

The apparent indiscriminate Russian killing of Ukrainian civilians in Bucha prompts President Biden to label Vladimir Putin a "war criminal" and call for a "war crimes trial." CNN's Chief White House correspondent Kaitlan Collins begins today's coverage by exploring what, if anything, Biden and the world can do to hold Putin accountable. To learn more about how CNN protects listener privacy, visit...

As Putin's invasion of Ukraine enters its 6th week, Russia appears to be shifting strategy and withdrawing from the area around Kyiv. But they're leaving rubble where apartment buildings once stood and burnt out cars and wrecked tanks line the roads. Bodies of at least 20 civilians were found on the streets in Bucha. Now U.S. intelligence says the military will refocus on the east as President Vla...