you've nets or mates of hurricane ian were still causing havoc, even tonight with major flooding along the virginia shore. the storm's death toll is rising. most in florida. especially in the county, where the storm hit hardest and at least 54 people have now died. john berman here, in frontier sun, and all hurricane ian is now responsible for at least 104 deaths and just as it did today that number is expected to rise. five days since this came ashore. islands are still cut off from the mainland. search and rescue operations are still underway. serious questions are being

asked about whether evacuation orders came too late for some. nearly 2000 people have been rescued so far according to the governor. this is footage from santa belle island. loose skies overhead, the only way out is by chopper. we have two reports tonight. the first is from fort myers, our randi kaye was among the first reporters to get an and witness the enormous destruction and ongoing rescue operations up close. this is what she saw. >> this is our first look from the ground at fort myers beach. hurricane ian's winds combined with the storm surge, they chewed through homes and businesses sparing nothing in its path. >> massive devastation. we are somewhat used to it. the first toilet was hurricane katrina. we have seen a lot of hurricanes over the years. it is certainly a big disaster. >> jennifer brown is a canine

search specialist with florida task force to. her dog fears and fame are searching for human remains. they have worked dozens of missions since florida's task force first arrived. the storm was still pounding the community. >> it was a good day. again, you know, you don't want to leave anybody behind. that's what you're here for. on the other hand, -- >> is a good thing. >> a team of 80 from the task force has been busy crisscrossing the seven mile stretch on the beach. working 24/7 and house to house and search of survivors. >> we found a lot of residents who are still sheltering in place and need info just getting out or wear to get water, ice, food. just giving that information to them is a huge out of health. >> it is no easy task given the scene. homes crumbled, smashed, stacked on top of others. businesses blown to pieces. >> this building used to be over there across the street. it was moved by the sheer power

of the wind and water. >> we had 60 medical calls and emergencies. two people want into cardiac arrest. the search and rescue personnel ended up running cpr. they were not able to get a pulse, and get the transfer to local hospital. >> the team rescued this elderly couple who are trapped in their home. the storm had washed away the entire ground floor of their two story house. >> this is one area of fort myers beach where you can really see the destruction. nothing is where it belongs. this laundry mission came from that laundromat or what's left of it over there. and this whole area here, these were homes, now, those homes are over there. just look at that level of destruction. they are up against the other homes. they are shredded and crumbled there is nothing left of them. >> this woman was rescue today. she has cancer and rode out the storm so she could continue her

treatments nearby. >> it was rushing, 30 miles an hour. it was pulling houses, roofs apart, literally. you can see the vote by. we are sitting up in my bedroom watching all of this debris go by. >> there is no power or water in this area. anyone still at the beach is completely cut off from services. the search and rescue team has been using high water vehicles and front letters to navigate through the debris as they continue to surge from anyone trapped in the rubble. task force to has found human remains but did not say how many bodies they have recovered. bob and rosemary copdac or some of the lucky ones, they lost everything inside their home but were rescued today. >> we have not been able to contact him, he is 92. he is not leaving the island. i hope he did. i sent the police to his home. >> you have not been able to

reach a. >> no. >> so many people, it, seems still unaccounted for. leading friends and loved ones to wonder if they made it out. >> randi joins us tonight. the physical and emotional strain on the responders is so obvious. they are still finding people today. >> they are, john. it is truly incredible. this is the team's third passed through this area. they are working that seventh mile area and they are still finding survivors. it is excellent news. the task force does tell me that it's the first 48 hours that are so critical. in that time period, they were able to find 150 people who had fled to higher ground in their homes and many of them in attics to escape the rising floodwaters. you heard the mayor saying they just don't know, they don't have a handle on how many people could still be missing. that is not good news for loved ones who can't reach their family members. they don't know if they are trapped or if they are alive or dead. the task force and the search teams will continue here 24/7 for as long as it takes, face a,

until their mission is complete. >> work goes on. randi, thank you very much for that report. >> more on the broader sweep of the story and what emergency teams across the area found today. cnn's carla suarez has that. >> unrecognizable in parts. hurricane ian's destruction and path is so vast search and rescue efforts continue phase after the storm and florida. >> we can't get over the bridge. >> residents in the county hit by river flooding are stopped. airboats are now key to getting supplies in and people out. >> they are going out and taking people into town. it is going for a while now. >> the death toll across the state climbing rapidly two of the hardest hit florida counties in charlotte each adding a dozen deaths today alone. >> a lot of sick people are running out of medications. a lot of people are running out of water. we can get everything up and going. we are trying to get them out. >> hundreds of sanibel island residents cut off from the mainland have been rescued so far. no timetable to rebuild, the only road to the island.

>> we are encouraging everyone to get off the island. we also need to understand that this is everyone's home. they need to get back. >> meanwhile, there are mounting questions in the county over why the first mandatory evacuation orders there came just one day before landfall. county officials there are standing by the decision-making saying they base the orders on the storms forecasted path. >> they made the call as soon as the forecast for calls for them to make the call. monday afternoon, we were telling people you don't need to wait for evacuation orders to leave. you can't leave now. >> the county's own emergency plans suggest that evacuations should have happened earlier. specifically when there is a 10% chance of six feet or higher storm surge. it was sunday night when the national hurricane center first mentioned 4 to 7 feet of storage for that area. the first mandatory evacuation orders for the county were not issued until tuesday morning. over 24 hours later. it turns out that the day

before, the town of fort myers beach, quote, encourage people to leave with a facebook post which made a point of noting the county's decision wouldn't come until the next day. >> i am confident, confident in the decisions that were made. like i said yesterday, stand by them, and i would not change anything. >> officials here say residents didn't want to leave whether they were ordered to or not. >> they informed people, most people did not want to do. it that is just the reality. >> mixed opinions from residents themselves on how the county handled the decision. >> and then when the evacuation order came, by 24 hours, that's not a lot. >> we have so many retirees here and the elderly that need more time about being able to get to places. people who don't have vehicles.

they need more assistance. that wouldn't deter whether i go or not. it's for each individual. it is right for me, doesn't mean it's right for you. >> carlos moralize joins us now. scarlett, what is the latest from officials on this gap in the evacuation order? >> well, john, officials across the county are defending that decision saying it was made with the best possible information. that they had at the time -- the governor, grew frustrated when he was asked about this issue. he was asked about the evacuation orders. and he said that the county officials have already explained their decision. he was pressed on whether or not he was ready to order a former review of the entire process. the governor said he would. john? >> so are as, thank you very much for reporting. next, a potentially big new development in the mar-a-lago documents story. new reporting about what

sources tell the washington post, the former president asked one of his lawyers to say. something the lawyer suspected might not be true. later, my conversation with maggie haberman about her new book on the former president. what she learned about him in the making of it, what she learned we may never truly know about the man. above the gumline than floss. for a cleaner, healthier mouth. listerine. feel the whoa! this is going to be great. taking the shawl off. i did it. is he looking at my hairline? my joint pain isn't too bad. well, it wasn't this morning. i hope i can get through this. is plaque psoriasis or psoriatic arthritis making you rethink your everyday choices? otezla is a pill, not a cream or injection that can help people with plaque psoriasis achieve clearer skin. otezla is proven to reduce joint swelling, tenderness and pain in psoriatic arthritis. and no routine blood tests required. don't use if you're allergic to otezla.

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>> new reporting tonight in the mar-a-lago document story that does get into that area, where people joked that america stands for making attorneys, get attorneys. or at least, making them an easy working for the former president. the washington post headline reads, trump lawyer refused trump request in february, to save all documents returned, after initial return of 15 boxes of attorney alex cannon thought there might be more records at mar-a-lago, people familiar with the matter said. our sarah murray joins us with more on this. sarah, what else is in this washington post reporting? what does it reveal about what reportedly happened between the

former president and his lawyers? >> i think what this tells you, you know, the former president, going to one of his attorneys, alex cannon, earlier in 2022, and saying, well, you tell the archives that everything they've asked for, we have returned it. and you see in this washington post report, the attorney is not comfortable making that statement. and of course, we would later learn why. you know, he had made that statement, and then he came out after, he made a subpoena after the august search, that there will all these classified documents at mar-a-lago, that puts his lawyers in legal jeopardy. it's clear that this attorney had enough misgivings that he didn't want to make that declaration junk. >> there's also some reporting about who packed the boxes that were initially returned to the national archives. what did they say about that? >> that's right, these are boxes that were returned to the archives in january, and according to the washington post, donald trump was the one who backed up these boxes. now, certainly, this would be interesting, if that is in fact true. if the former president's hand picking things that go in these boxes, we do have to say that,

you know, cnn has not confirmed this reporting that former president was the one who was actually going through it. but certainly, it's an interesting anecdote for the issue. >> sarah murray, thanks so much. joining us for his perspective, cnn contributor and former nixon white house counsel, john dean. so, john, how could this impact the justice department investigation into the former president and potentially, criminal case against him? >> you don't, i was listening to sarah, as she was reporting, and i am thinking about watergate days, and how these kinds of stories keep coming out. but they are generally, there is a long lag time. the key events have already happened. alex cannon may have already been in front of her grand jury. the buzz and the concern about his testimony or lack thereof, or the attorneys are gonna deal with it, probably, it has already rippled through the trump team. so it's just something, we the public, are learning, and it looks more and more from that information, like the

department is working on very strong obstruction of justice case. this would fit right at that pattern. >> why? >> why? well, because the president -- you know at this point the department of justice is actually in the investigation. the president is telling someone to not honor, or be truthful about what you are turning over. he has dictated a statement that his lawyer is not gonna put his name on. they later will get somebody who will do a modified version of that. but it's part of a pattern, of obstructing the investigation. >> so, according to the report again your furred to alex cannon here, the former president asked this attorney, alex cannon to make a statement to the national archives about the documents. because it's an attorney here, are there ways that the justice department can investigate, without hitting attorney client privilege roadblocks? >> there certainly are.

if this gets into what is called the crime fraud exception, there is no attorney client privilege. and if you have an attorney who is unwilling to do something, well, he may not have told the department directly himself, and others might have reported it for him. and then, he got asked the question, he would have to do it, or claim the privilege. it doesn't sound like a privilege has been raised here. although, he would theoretically be able to fight for that for a while, both he and trump. it sounds like they're over that hurdle, and this information has helped and part of the investigation. >> what would a possible criminality be in asking your attorney to give false information to a government agency? >> just that, asking your attorney to give false information, that is obstruction of justice. that is so burning perjury, that is some warning full statements, it has a nasty

crime and one that the government is very active in pursuing, the steps investigation. >> and the fact that the washington post reports that trump backed the box, or boxes himself, how does that impact the case? does it give him knowledge or a greater knowledge of what was in the boxes then? >> that certainly made me sit up when i was reading the story, i must say. that kind of detail, and he would be involved, and actually backing the boxes, and deciding out of the thousands of pages of documents that were there, what to put in the box, and what to keep himself. making decisions that might somehow be explanatory. maggie haberman will be much more attuned to this than i am. and what we might learn from the pattern of what he did give versus what he kept. so, i don't know if we'll ever know all that, because a lot of

what will be classified, the non-classified might show a pattern of what he wanted to keep, and why he wanted to keep it. >> john dean, thank you very much. and john has mentioned the name next to the former president told maggie haberman about the documents he did and did not take, in the making of her new book, and how that squares with the facts, and more of what you learned about the former president strange way of disposing of some white house papers. so do we. aspen dental was built around your life. so come on in, no matter how long it's been. we're not just on your corner... we're in your corner. with smarter, more affordable care. that'll bring more life to your smile... and more smile to your life. >> tech: at safelite, we take care of vehicles with the latest technology. when my last customer discovered a crack in his car's windshield, he scheduled at safelite.com.

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>> so, i want to redo a portion

of a recent item the former president posted on his social network. maggot haberman, it begins. it ends with, she is a bad rider with very bad sources. according to the fact, maggie haberman is one of the best writers, reporters in this business. her newest book was making the donald trump the breaking of america. as for sources, one of them, 50 separate three lengthy interviews with her specifically for this book. maggie haberman is senior political respondent for the new york times. she's a cnn political analyst, and has covered trump locally and nationally throughout her career. we spoke shortly before that washington post story on the mar-a-lago documents. >> it's so great to have you here. and i so enjoyed reading this. and what you do here, just so people know, this is not, oh, look at the crazy things that happened when he was president.

you are doing something different here, which is looking back, really, at the beginning. and drawing of through thor line between how we got from there to hear. let me start with this how big picture what's different or the same about talking to donald trump before he was president, while he was president, and now, after he's president? >> it's an excellent question. and thank you for having me to talk about this book. that talking to him before he was president was him taking himself to some extent less seriously. once he became a candidate in 2016, and started seeing the crowd tick up, he started taking himself more seriously. talking to him as president, he was, i think, essentially playing a role, you know. he described it to me in one of our interviews as, before i did the presidency, and i've never heard somebody describe elected office as doing that office. it was as if he was talking about a show. after there was a real bitterness about that, but the thorough line, john, it's the same, he's so driven by

grievance. he has a handful of moves that he uses and changes up and is figuring out which moves he is using. and he is basically saying whatever he has to say, to get through shortcomings of the time. >> my next question is short of the very end of the book. and everything previous to that point, to an extent, it's a buildup to this. it's getting some play in the press right now, where trump says to you, at the end of one of your interviews, i loved being with her. she is like my psychiatrist. now, i am sure that means something to you, personally, to hear that from him, and there are a lot of thoughts given of how you are covered over the years. but you also know, it's probably given, bigger something going on here. >> it didn't mean anything to me. it was a meaningless line. it's intended to flatter. he said something similar about the release of his twitter feed, or he has some said similar things to other people about how they're engaging in contentious back and forth, it's like therapy.

the reality is, he treats everyone like they were his psychiatrists, like it's his friends, pseudo-friends, staff, white house aides, rally attendees. he's working it out in front of all of us in realtime. and in the course of doing that over the last, however many years he sits here now, here we oriented the country about his moods and -- in a way i never imagined possible. >> you laid that out, which is why i want to ask that, because that's the conclusion of the whole book. it's really remarkable to get to that point. i want to ask about something that's been in the news the last few days. it's not in the book. but it is,? because of everything that you established, it's about his comment on mitch mcconnell and his wife, elaine chao, which is just racist. but those into context put those into construct based on what you see from donald trump when he was in new york. >> there is a couple of things of that comment. one, there is a racist comment about mitch mcconnell's wife.

donald trump has been engaging in casual racism throughout his life, according to my reporting. all kinds of comments that, you know, or offensive to people who heard them. they were about black people, or were about gay people, so on, and so forth. and he often claimed that he was being misunderstood. and we've seen that with him. so, that allows his supporters to claim something else was going on here. it's not possible with this mcconnell comment, or this comment about mcconnell's y. why. the other piece about this comment about mcconnell's wife, it's menacing. he had a line where he has a death wish. his allies are insisting that a political death wish, that's not what he said. after january 6th, there should be no confusion for anyone that when donald trump says certain things, his supporters hear it a certain way. and one of the through lines that i try to establish here is how much violence, sort of, informed his sense of strength. and that in turn informed his sense of what a strong leader he was, and he tends to talk

about violence. he tends to talk in violent terms. he tends to glorify violence. all of this is something that you see here throughout his life. >> elaine chao with secretary of transportation, just to be clear, under trump, she's been secretary of labor under previous administrations. she's had a bunch of jobs, to our quite. this is more about trump than it is about elaine chao. and then he was a bespoke, there's a conversation that you had with donald trump, where you brought up the correspondence he had with north korean leader, kim jong-un. we have audio of this conversation. so, let's listen. >> did you leave the white house with anything in particular where there any memento documents you took with you? >> well, nothing of great urgency. i have great things, you know, the letters, the junk own letters. i have many of them. >> you are able to take that with you? >> i think that is in the archives. but most of it is incredible.

but, kim jong-un, i have incredible letters with him, and other leaders. >> this was before the washington post reporting that he had taken the kim jong-un letters, or a, kim jong-un letter, or some king john letters. you could almost see the wheels turning their when he's talking about that. >> it was unclear what his comment meant in realtime. i asked him on alert this question about taking memento documents because i knew how proud he was of the documents that he would weave around in the oval office, as if they were trophies. the immediate reaction to me is to say, i didn't take anything. and then, it's almost like he wants to boast that he has something. he sees my reaction, and he starts backtracking. it's only clear now why that was. and this exchange is much more relevant after the august 8th fbi search of mar-a-lago. >> let's end on january 6th, because there is audio of a conversation you had with him about what he was doing that day. let's listen. >> but what are you doing when

-- how did you find out that there were people storming the capitol? >> i had heard fact afterwards, and actually, on the late site, i was having meetings. i was also with mark meadows and others. i was not watching television. i did not have the television on. >> you weren't? >> okay, i didn't usually have that television on. i had it on, maybe it was something else. i later turned it on, and i saw what was happening. i also had -- confidence that -- the capitol who didn't want it east in thousand people -- >> the capital police, you may? >> to be able to control these things, and you don't realize that, you know, they did lose control. >> there is a lot in there. there is a lot in there that we believe is not true, based on our reporting, your reporting, everyone's reporting. >> testimony. >> you are watching tv? >> and was aware of the things,

they were back, pretty early. >> he's describing this as a situation, who knew that this was, that the capitol police, you know, where in this situation. it was really clear early on that the capitol police were in trouble, mario bowser, mayor of washington d.c., was trying to reach people to the white house, to get to the national guard. ordered up to the capitol. very little, according to a reporting, of what he said there is truth. but it's fascinating to me that that is where he tends to go. >> what do you want people to take from this as we head to 2024? and i know, you've set, and we've talked about it, you think, he may very well run. you are not sure whether he has the same type of energy that he had before. but what should people take from this as they evaluate his candidacy? >> this is, i think, the most complete picture that i have enabled, been able to point of him. and i hope that people take a fuller portrait of this person who is, you know, whatever he was in new york, decades ago, is now a person of consequence. and i'm hoping they have a greater understanding of how

much overeating gets done, of why he is doing various things. it is often purely about getting attention. it is often purely about trolling. and it is very difficult to look at him through the prism of any typical politician. >> and he knows what he is doing. >> he is often more calculating than people realize. that is a big thing that i try to show here. >> maggie haberman, the book is a confidence man, it is well worth the wait. >> thank you so much. >> thank you. coming up, i look inside the strategically important city in eastern ukraine that is now back in the hands of ukrainian forces. cnn's nick paton walsh was there shortly after ukraine gained control. and days after vladimir putin claimed it and other territories as part of russia, what nick witnessed, ahead. before... & bath fitter.

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>> russia's attempts to redraw maps as it loose territory in ukraine continuing today. the lower house and its parliament ratified attempted x-ray annexation of four tallies juries vladimir putin annexed last week. further gains in the south toward kherson, and after their forces seized a strategically crucial city, the strategic

herschel city of lyman in the east over the weekend. today, russia removed the top military commander in that region, and now, according to sources who spoke with cnn, ukraine is trying to obtain longer range missiles in exchange for giving the u.s. a veto power over targeting. cnn was in lyman, hours after ukraine gained control. our international security editor, nick paton walsh, joins us now from delivery in ukraine, with those details. nick, what can you tell us about what you saw on the ground there in that case city? >> the striking thing about lyman, john, is when you understand it significance is basically, it's a source of railway, it is split into by huge railway tracks, which is a remarkable thing to think about in terms of how warfare is being fought by russia, in 2022. it's about maintaining control of trains and the damage done to the town was extraordinary, frankly. it's been a sight to fighting, back and forth, over a number of months. key buildings they, are pretty

much all of them damage. but it was also quite ghostly. there were very few ukrainian troops still there when we went there. so many who moved on to that next target further east and we've heard locals, some said in fact many have looked over the ukrainian push towards that particular city. one thing also, we did not see as much as we thought we would do, which was russian prisons of war, potentially russian casualties. we were told there had possibly been some that were taken away earlier. but locals also said that at one point, russian troops did manage to get themselves out before they were finally encircled by the ukrainians. while the korean officials did also say that some russians tried to get out, and were hit as they tried to flee. so, a mixed picture, certainly, in terms of the damage done to russian forces in lyman. but make no mistake at all, this is a huge strategic defeat for moscow. they are absolutely struggling now to regroup, find defensive lines back from that front. but most importantly, the political consequences are very extreme. open bickering in the russian

elite, that's something vladimir putin faced at all in his 20 years proceeding russia, and that will have far-reaching consequences in the months ahead, as moscow struggles to get a grip on its campaign. >> nick, do we know where the russian forces ever retreated to? >> it seems as though they've moved further east. in a town called, another town -- complicated to explain, but essentially, they're shifting east towards russia's own border. and that's been something we've seen slowly happen, since about a month ago, one of the last russian route happened around the second largest city in ukraine, kharkiv. ukrainians, as we thought, might regroup, might pause, but actually, they kept pushing south, and a bit east as well. lyman was the ultimate target, because ukraine is being clear, if it hits the supply hubs that keeps russians army they're fed, then they can crumble. the same thing happened with lyman, that was their focus. and now, we are beginning to see the impact on their positions moving back towards

their border. it's probably, i'm not gonna be an overnight route like we so around kharkiv. it's certainly causing many to wonder exactly where the problems stopped for russia. they began to regain control of their positions. we're understanding now in kryvyi rih, john, it's a source of another major problem for moscow, they are losing ground on the west side of a cute river down to the black sea, called the dna pro, very fast this days, unclear how fast is this going. the great military, extraordinary elements here as well. and this, frankly, it just means that day by day, there is less of a frontline for ukraine to worry about, and they can focus their energies more intensely on certain parts of it. that's yet more bad news for russia, who were struggling to get fresh food in any meaningful way. >> and wait and watch, thanks so much for reporting. again, perspective now from matthew chance reporting from both inside ukraine and moscow.

cnn military analyst retired for general wesley clark, former nato supreme allied commander. general clark, let me start with you. the loss of lemon, this key rail hub, how much of a setback is this for russia? >> it is a significant setback. because it's not only a rail that connected the russians to bellow grad in belarus, where they can bring logistics into the donbas. so to sit back, there's no doubt about it. it's pushing more disorganized russian troops back on russian position and demoralized this organize mass troops it's really hard to handle. so this is a really big defeat for russia. it's very heartening for ukraine. and we just have, we hope the momentum continues for ukraine. >> matthew, what does this sort of embarrassment mean for vladimir putin, and how you might expect him to respond? >> well, he puts it in a very

difficult position, particularly because he's coming under a lot of pressure, domestically. and we are seeing the sort of upsurge in an extraordinary amount of criticism, which is really what you don't hear very much in russia, traditionally when it comes to vladimir putin. but it's coming from a sort of a very powerful, sort of group of section of society. we're talking about people who talk about military. people who are very connected with his military circles. and connected with his power circles. they are coming out and saying, look, this is not going well. you know, there should be, you know, a change made in the military command. and represent good era of, a figure who is very close to vladimir putin rounds and could arrow of chechnya -- and the sides of the country, he said even look, we should be looking at using tactical nuclear weapons to turn the tide off the battle.

inherently, that is, explicitly, they are criticizing battlefield tactics as battlefield commanders. but indirectly, that is a criticism of putin, particularly because he's a person who is believed to have been calling the shots, when it comes to this military operation. and so, yeah, he's facing an unprecedented amount of criticism from within. and also, people are voting with their feet. we're seeing hundreds and thousands of people attempt to leave the country, to avoid being called up and sent the frontline. a very precarious situation for vladimir putin. >> matthew mentioned nuclear weapons, general. and he seems to be talking about the idea of nuclear opens even more now, reminding the world that he has them. how likely is it, do you think, he's taking them under serious consideration, and there is news today that the united states indicated that it is preparing for a response to russia trying to use any of these. what kind of response do you think that'll be? >> i think it is something we

should take very seriously. i think the likelihood of the use of firearms is difficult to use these battlefield, tactical nuclear weapons effectively, especially against a mobile ukrainian forces. we've done it in exercises four years of the united states. we did it during the cold war, and found that it's so, it's a more difficult problem than it looks like on paper. even with like ten kiloton warheads in an area of destruction, as well, relatively small. the likelihood of missing is relatively high. we create a, excuse me of a mess in this country, but it may not have military significance. now, what we have to do, and hopefully, will show signs of that preparation. not just by words, but by action. meaning our capabilities, in romania, bulgaria, and other countries, that are there. so, there is no question that putin knows that we could would

respond. taking out those troops on the ground, and we could take out russian maritime assets. we could go after certain logistics. but it would be a big deal for the united states. it wouldn't be over overnight. >> matthew, in an effort, comparatively, to get the u.s. to provide long-range rocket systems, they queen anne government is now saying that they would more or less grant u.s. veto power. u.s. veto power over any strike they propose. do you see that as a workable solution, matthew, based on what you saw on the ground in ukraine? >> certainly, it would offer the united states that sort of security they're looking for in terms -- look, the reason they haven't given ukraine these longer range weapons yet is because the biden administration says they can, they are concerned that these longer range weapons would be used by ukraine to fire sort of into targets inside russia itself.

and that is something that would be escalator. what they've queen anne's are offering now, as i understand it, look, now, you would essentially get veto over any targets which shows. and that would offer you the kind of security you need, you can give us sort of these army tactical missile systems for the range of about 200 miles, with confidence that it's not going to escalate the conflict beyond where it is kind of now. i think what the u.s. is concerned about is being drawn into basically battlefield decision-making in that way. it would be in itself crossing the red line, and it would be considered by the kremlin as the united states being actually actively engaged in the conflict. and so, it's something they want to avoid. and so, that issue of whether or not to give the ukrainians these longer range weapon systems is not a result. >> matthew chance, general clark, thank you both very much. just ahead, more on that commentary discussed earlier with maggie haberman, once so

incendiary, the wall street journal editorial board says it's ugly. quote, it deserves to be condemned. plus, the awful language he used about elaine chao, former cabinet secretary and wife of senator mitch mcconnell. i got into debt in college and, no matter how much i paid, it followed me everywhere. between the high interest, the fees... i felt trapped. debt, debt, debt. so i broke up with my credit card debt and consolidated it into a low-rate personal loan from sofi. i finally feel like a grown-up. break up with bad credit card debt. get a personal loan with no fees, low fixed rates, and borrow up to $100k. go to sofi.com to view your rate. sofi. get your money right. ♪

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>> mostly silence from republican ranks after something i discussed earlier with maggie haberman, and what appears to be a racist comment from the former president over the weekend, that also invoked political violence. the full remark was aimed at republican and senate leader mitch mcconnell. at the end of it he says, mcconnell, quote, he has a guest with death wish. it's an all caps. it's the only part of the comment in all caps. it comes as members of congress and both parties are facing a surge in threats. the former president then writes that mcconnell, quote, must immediately seek help and advice from his wife. and he goes on to use it clearly derogatory term, instead of her actual name, elaine chao. on sunday, our dana bash

pressed florida republican senator rick scott who is overseeing republican efforts to retake the senate about these comments. >> you remember the senate gop leadership, are you okay with this? >> well, i can never talk about the response, and why anybody else says what he said. you know, the president likes to get people nicknames. you can ask him how he got came up with that nickname. i'm sure he has a nickname for me. >> nicknames are one thing. but this is, this is pure racist. is that okay? >> it's never ever okay to be eight races. >> laura joined now by cnn chief political correspondent, dana bash, co-anchor of cnn state of the union. dana, what did you make of how senator scott responded or didn't really respond to you, just how quiet the republican party has been on this? >> extremely quiet. now, it's been several days about this comment has been out

there. the fact that rick scott took a lot of prodding to get him to condemn, particularly, the part of that was clearly racist, is really indicative of where this party is right now. it's not as if they're not privately disgusted because they are, and i am sure you are talking to your sources, as am i, john. they are absolutely disgusted. but there are also looking at the calendar. and noting that there, they are just a little more than a month away from a term elections, but usually the senate, where are they are extremely, extremely worried that amount that should be, they think, favorable to them will not give them the majority, because mitch mcconnell has said publicly, he doesn't believe the candidates on his side are necessarily strong enough to do that. so, they are trying to stay focused on the issues that they think will help them, an issue

that they do not think will help them is getting into a feud with donald trump, despite how absolutely outrageous and egregious and racist those comments were. >> they were really racist. and they invoke violence. the president said, mcconnell has a death wish. and political violence is on the rise in that country. don't they care about that, the republicans in congress? >> yeah, well, not only is it on the rise, there is very recent evidence that they, most of them, were actually a part of, physically, when rhetoric like that, invoking violence, actually result in violence. of course, i am talking about january 6th. so, yes, they are concerned. but getting them to speak up about it, again, so close to the election, especially when you have mitch mcconnell, who was the target of donald trump

's fire in this particular case, telling his conference, telling republican senators privately, over and over again, don't take the bait from him. stay focused on the issues that we think matter most to voters, the economy, immigration, crime. that is the message coming from mcconnell, so, he is trying to take his own advice. it will be very interesting, john, to see what happens after election day, meaning the midterm election day, to see whether or not he changes his tune, because this is a whole new level. privately, as you can imagine, i am told that he is not happy. but he is biting his tongue, publicly, because he is trying to keep his eye on the prize, which is he wants to be majority leader again. >> just to reiterate, in about 15 seconds left, dana, do you think mcconnell is gonna stay quiet on this, even if you heard an attack on his wife? >> i wouldn't be surprised. unless he is pressed. if somebody corners him and gets him at the right moment,

maybe. but john, you covered him for a long time, as well, he is incredibly disciplined, when he wants to be. >> ottawa you, if you're listening tonight, we're talking about you there, manu raju. dana bash, thank you very much for reporting. we'll be right back. >> thanks, john. so when something happens that could affect your portfolio, you can act quickly. that's decision tech, only from fidelity. a is for awareness, because knowing that your chronic kidney disease in type 2 diabetes could progress to dialysis is important. b is for belief that there may be more you can do. just remember that k is for kidneys and kerendia. for adults living with ckd in type 2 diabetes, kerendia is proven to reduce the risk of kidney failure, which can lead to dialysis. kerendia is a once-daily tablet that treats ckd differently than type 2 diabetes medications to help slow the progression of kidney damage and reduce the risk of cardiovascular events, such as heart attacks. do not take kerendia

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