protests across china tonight

in that israel by itself. what has been unthinkable to this moment of the calls for the lead of the country, xi jinping, to step down. john berman here in for anderson and angry at the country's rigid zero covid policy and questions of what it delayed response for a fire and one city that killed ten people. has unleashed a wide array of resentments with some calling for democracy and freedom. to sum up overseen and has confirmed protest amid 16 locations they schweiger the capital beijing. as well as. shanghai and of course is happening in the country of more than one billion people whose face both politically and financially have a huge impact on the u.s. and the entire world. and cnn's nick wang in beijing. want to start with ivan watson. >> john for three years the

chinese government has been trying to snuff out the covid-19 virus. it is put enough psychological, emotional and financial pressure on the country's population. and over the weekend, some of that pressure finally snapped. >> anger on the streets of chinese cities. the biggest nationwide display of discontent is in this tightly controlled country is seeing in a generation. protesters pushing back against police and the governments go zero covid policy. the unrest triggered by deadly fire in a city in the western xinjiang region last wednesday. videos arrive a fire hoses barely reaching the blaze which killed at least ten people.

among them, this woman and four of her children. >> what happened to your mother and your brothers and sisters? >> the fire started on the 15th floor. the smoke poisoned my family. the government could not stop the fire in time. >> two surviving adult children speak to me from turkey. unable to see their families since 2017 due to the harsh crackdown. the government accused of putting up to 2 million of their fellow ethnic leaguers uyghurs and others in internment camps. they say that their loved ones were trapped in the building to the covid measures. >> they could not escape because the fire escape was blocked, and the fire escape to the roof of the building was also blocked. >> accusations cnn cannot can independently confirm. but chinese authorities have been seeing literally locking residents into buildings. outrage over the fire compounded by previous deadly incidents in recent months

directly linked to covid prevention. so cnn verified 16 protests in 11 chinese cities this weekend, a chinese government official told the journalist they just didn't happen. >> what you mentioned does not reflect what actually happened. china has been following the dynamic zero covid policy and has been making adjustments based on the realities on the ground. >> on monday, the white papers that become a symbol of the protests in mainland china spread here to hong kong, where these small groups of demonstrators are holding a vigil for what they say are the victims of china's zero covid policy. >> i am a victim. i cannot go home for many years, like 2 to 3 years. my parents were locked down for three months, and even relatives of my good friends, this committed suicide because of the lockdowns. >> with china reporting record breaking new daily cases of covid, there appears to be no end to the lockdowns in sight. meanwhile, siblings mohammed and his brother cannot even pray for closure after

suffering the unimaginable loss of five immediate members of their family. >> will you go home? will you go home for the funeral of your family? >> we want to attend the funeral of our family members, but if we went back now, china will put us in jail or even torture us. >> ivan watson back with us. any signs that the chinese government will back down from a zero covid policy? >> well there may be some glimmers of hope that beijing city government on sunday said it was prohibiting authorities from taking measures like blocking the entrances to residences as part of covid lockdowns. that may be a recognition that that could've contributed to the high death toll with that fire in rishi. but overall we have not heard a change in the country's rhetoric. it says it is still committed, the government is to completely

eradicate covid 19 from china. and when it comes to the protests, we had a quieter night certainly in the capital beijing on monday night. the chinese government has an enormous system of surveillance and state security. many levers it can use to try to repress people from coming out into the streets. for instance, we are hearing more and more about universities sending their students home very early, perhaps in an attempt to try to take some of the air out of some of these protests. and just bring back to that family that has suffered so much in that fire, they are ethnic uyghurs, that is a population that has been rounded up by potentially the millions in this recent years. that family alone, they tell us that their father who has been put into an internment camp, they haven't spoke to him for years, and brother as well. they don't even know if they can get any information to those people to let them know

about the tragedy that their mother and four other siblings died in this terrible fire. >> if suffered so much an even more. ivan watson in hong kong thank you. let's go to beijing now and cnn's selina wang. selina, you were in the protest in beijing on sunday night into monday morning. what did you see on the ground? >> yeah john, what i saw was people essentially past their breaking point. sick and tired of three years of harsh lockdowns and restrictions. but the anger went beyond covid. and went to frustrations about all the repression that comes in with living in authoritarian china. there was cheering, people chanting for freedom, to be released from lockdowns. there was crying to because this is a rare chance for these young people to be surrounded with others and to pour out

your emotions in a country where people cannot freely express themselves. we see in a video, people holding white pieces of paper. that is a sign of protest without actually writing anything that the authorities can arrest them for. this protest eyewitness was peaceful, but there was heavy police presence and after 2 am you just saw arose a police filing in, pushing us all of us to disperse. but china's giant censorship machine is determined to make it as if these protests never happen. erasing videos, comments about the protests and state media meanwhile completely ignoring it and instead publishing headlines calling zero covid scientific and effective. >> i keep looking at the video because i just haven't seen protests like this in china since i can't remember when. you spoke to so many of the protesters. what are their demands and are they afraid of the consequences of doing this? >> look, this is a big country and there are protests across the nation. we did see in places like shanghai these rare and bull calls for she shrinking himself to step down.

when i saw more was caution and some examining some disagreement as well. some protesters were chanting for more political change. then you saw others arguing in urging them to keep it focused on covid. what really struck me john was how, many people said we really love china, we are doing this because we love our country wanted to change for the better. there's even a man on a loudspeaker saying we support the communist party, but we want more freedoms. that was one protester without a mask that was really eager to speak to me on camera. he said he to and biked for more than an hour to get to the protest. he told me that the chinese people need to stand together but jinping and the government they don't necessarily to step down, they just need to listen to the people and make those changes. of course the irony is just by being there he is putting himself at risk. >> so is the government responding? how are authorities responding?

>> well, we are already seeing this very heavy security presence in all the areas where there have been protests including here in the capital. last night i went back to that exact same place where i was the day before the protest and you can see in this video that we filmed when we drove by that it is eerily quiet, with a giant role of police fans parked with their lights flashing. there were moments during a protest the other night, i was standing there thinking i could've been in any other openly democratic country in the world. but this going there the following days, a stark reminder that this is a police state with far reaching security and surveillance capabilities. this is a country where facebook and twitter and platforms like that are banned. the main messaging platform people rely on is monitored by authorities, so it's risky, it's hard for protesters to communicate to, mobilize, just have their voices heard. but while the authorities can't get rid of all the evidence at home, they can't get rid of the rage people are feeling or the ability of these videos to spread overseas. john? >> there were sirens and police vehicles as far as the eye could see in that video.

selina wang, thank you so much for that reporting, stay safe. perspective now from the u.s. expert on china u.s. relations. the director of the china program, also cnn's david culver who spent about 50 days in strict lockdown earlier this year while in shanghai. i want to start with you, ivan watson's peace and seeing those images, what do you make of it? >> this is really unprecedented in the recent memory of chinese people or any chinese generation. this is something that has not happened since 1989. i remember the communist party congress only ended last month. so basically we are seeing a month where she jinping is starting his third term, we are seeing popular opposition, and we are seeing the mass protests against the xi jinping's covid zero policy, which is zero covid. i must say this time must be a very embarrassing moment for xi jinping's leader of party. >> the whole world is seeing it. what they are seeing in the rest of china remains to be seen. david, as mentioned you were caught in lockdown yourself for

50 days most recently when you are living in shanghai earlier this year. when you look at these protests, where do you think it's headed? can you just speak to the psychological effect of being on lockdown and what that has on people? >> and you're starting to see the results of that john, in just the frustration is bottled up over the course of now three years of this policy in place. one that is only got increasingly mounting as far as the pressure is putting on the folks there. it's interesting because you look at where this is going and i think there would be some hope if you leased or you say they're at least there's an end in sight. there is no endgame here, and that was the frustrate living out of the lockdown and talking to my neighbors who are local shanghai easy would love their for generations. they had felt that at this point in the lives they had nowhere to go and no one to

voice their concern too. what you also look at an even brought this up, you go to places like xinjiang where we have traveled to. it is one of the most heavily surveilled places on this planet arguably certainly within china, and you start to see now traces across china particularly in shanghai where we were, one of the most cosmopolitan and the financial hub of china, to city that really had a gravitated in giving a lot of attention internationally to folks who saw this is perhaps the window to the west, and they started building that same infrastructure. we started to see it in front of our whole homes. we started to see the walls go up, the cameras go in a place, never corral you through certain places where conveniently those places was cameras were putting on your face. and they started to build that

same infrastructure a name of covid ensued for structure if. this is a thing that seemed to be relentless. now >> do you think there is an off ramp for president xi when it comes to the zero covid policy? >> this is very hard because for him to change the policy now, it will place acknowledgment on the failure of the policy or the mistake of the policy being adopted for three years. so if he does not change the policy, he is looking at this popular discontent spreading across china. i would agree with saline that not all people want political regime change. most of the people are demanding the freedom, the freedom to go outside of their apartment, the freedom to go to work, the freedom to make a salary. so that is very different from the political demands for chinese communist party or jinping to step down. but for xi jinping to cater to that demand would require him to reconsider and adjust his zero covid policy which has been his signature policy in the past three years to demonstrate the superiority of

the model that china has been adopting. this is a very difficult position for jinping. he has to change but changing his policy also acknowledges a failure on his part. >> so david based on your experience what do you think she's a response is likely to be in the coming days? >> first of all i really believe that covid is not a huge factor in all of this. i think what we're looking at is an ideology that is at its core is the party's effort to try and purify certainly from jinping's perspective. he is at the center core of the party, and so this seems to be an effort to really maintain control over a mass of population. we started to see that with the big brother data that they were implementing their, having the qr code, with a first seem quite effective and ultimately begin to feel that they were tracking you, and now just into a restaurant in places, to go into any sort of public space, you need to scan in. not only are they able to unacknowledged that in your words you not a close contact, and you don't have the virus, but also they know exactly where you have been they want to tracey from one point on. they're able to do that with

these protesters. they'll be able to track them all down individually, so it's not gonna be that tough. the other thing that's also worth mentioning, i was talking to friends on the ground. they are talking people randomly in cities like shanghai and hangzhou and beijing they're asking to see their phone. they're going through their camera roles. measuring a copier doing that and having to hold over photo of, and things being deleted, apps being delayed and especially those that are like whatsapp, and signal that might have connections to outside of china. it's scary. >> to try to erase any evidence that these protests have happened at all. you seen, and david culver, thank you so much for your insight into all this. still to come tonight, republicans but certainly not all republicans speaking out against former president trump in the white nationalists he served a dinner table with last week. new comments from his former vice president as well as georgia governor brian kemp. nothing so far from the man who hopes to be the next house speaker kevin mccarthy. we're keeping them honest next. also tonight, and in credibly senate runoff in georgia just days away. because he's not gonna be there to campaign for the republican candidate he himself picked. details ahead. i was always the competitive one in our family... 'til my sister signed up for united healthcare medicare advantage. ♪wow, uh-huh♪

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breaking news to report.

former vice president mike pence has condemned the dinner that donald trump held last week in his mar-a-lago estate dining with the former president at patio table where nick fuentes, known white supremacist and kanye west, now known as ye who has his own troubling history of antisemitic remarks. in an interview just released, this is what vice president pence said about trump and fuentes. >> president trump was wrong to give a white nationalist and antisemitic holocaust denier a seat at the table. i think he should apologize for it, and he should denounce those individuals and their hateful rhetoric without qualification. >> it is a noteworthy break from his former boss. a new objection comes from georgia's recently reelected governor brian kemp. this is what he told our kaitlan collins a short time

ago in an exclusive interview that mueller tomorrow on cnn this morning. >> it was a bad decision. there's no place for that in the republican party. i know he's got his answer to that question at all let him speak to that but, my views in the matter very clear. >> again, you can watch the full interview tomorrow on cnn this morning. they're not the only republicans to condemn the former president. a handful of others primarily in the senate have also condemned the dinner meeting. however we have yet to hear from house minority leader kevin mccarthy, or senate minority leader mitch mcconnell yet. this literal breaking of bread with a white supremacist and a refusal to disavow fits a familiar pattern for donald trump. take his interview with jake tapper early in 2016, one of the most well-known white supremacists in the country david two can endorsed trump was then asked if he would

condemn duke and his support. repeatedly asked, and then repeatedly this is how trump responded. >> well, just so you understand, i don't know anything about david duke okay. i don't know, did he endorsed, near what's going on. i know nothing about david duke. i know nothing about white supremacists. honestly, i don't know david duke, i don't believe ever madam. a pretty sure it in medium, but i just don't know anything about him. >> by the way, that's another hallmark of trump's call and see with white supremacists. his supposed ignorance. we're supposed to know that he knows nothing of david duke, just after the dinner last week trump posted to social media and said that i don't know nick fuentes. again, that's the white nationalist dine with last week for roughly two hours according to a cnn source. now if you believe that, you believe you never heard about the uproar involving marjorie taylor greene, and paul gosar, to republican members of congress who got into hot water for making an appearance at a conference smoking by yes you guess it, the same nick fuentes. it was a huge deal, so much so that about three days after

greene spoke at the conference, gosar appeared by video. house republican leader mccarthy condemned the advances by fuentes. he called it appalling and wrong and said quote, the party should not be associated anytime, any place with somebody who is antisemitic. that was after three days. it is been six days since trump's dinner and no statement yet from mccarthy who's right now busy trying to secure enough votes to be the next speaker of the house. i'm joined now by jonathan greenblatt, ceo national director for the anti-defamation league, which is identified nick fuentes as a white supremacist. jonathan, great to see you. look, we just saw how donald trump's danced around or with white supremacists over the years. but sitting at a table, at his home at mar-a-lago, with the white supremacist like nick fuentes does that cross some sort of new line? >> look, for most line it's crossing a line, for donald trump is sort of another day in the life. i think we just have to acknowledge that the president has now sort of joined the delisting of celebrities. this is what you do.

you hang out with discredited entertainers, you hang out with neo-nazis and you try to make time with whoever will give you attention. but the fact of the matter is, it's appalling when anyone in public life has any degree of hesitation about hanging out with those people who promote antisemitism, racism in all forms of hate. >> what's the impact of a former president and the world seeing a former president dining with someone like that? >> john it is the normalization of hate. we're seeing it again and again. i think of it, we're still mourning the people who were shot dead in colorado springs, just because they're lgbtq. we had an attack that was nearly averted by men who were apprehended with automatic weapons, bulletproof vests and knives who were planning on attacking on a synagogue. and now this, this is a normalization of hate. for somebody in public life who thinks it's permissible to spend time with people who spew prejudice and hate. >> so as a civil society, what

should we do about this? what is the right response? >> i think one thing that we are already showing, prominent risk publicans calling out when a republican enormous promotes hate. you have to call it when it happens from your own side. democrats need to call it democrats, republicans need to call out republicans. but the second thing is we have to cut off the oxygen to these people. trump and nick fuentes, they thrive on attention. we have to cut it off, really reconsider how we even cover these people anymore. >> how do you do both? how do you call it off and cut off the oxygen at the same time? >> i love the way the new york post covered his announcement. they said florida man announces running for president. that's how we need to treat

donald trump, not as a credible former federal politician, but as a discredited hack. someone who weaponizes hate and uses antisemitism antisemitism to further his agenda. doesn't matter how you, vote no matter what your party affiliation, there should be nobody promoting hate. >> and marco rubio and --, we heard some of their response.

saying you love them, we have to judge donald trump by what he does again and again again. it's validating the worst elements of society. >> kanye west was there also, and kanye west he's been seen a lot the last few months, it's not like ancient history at this point. jonathan greenblatt thank you for being with us tonight. appreciate it. again, you can watch kaitlan collins in her interview with governor georgia governor brian kemp, again that condemnation of trump's dinner.

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juicy rotisserie-style chicken. you should've been #1. this isn't about the sandwich, is it chuck? it's not. the new subway series. >> most former presidents are highly coveted camping acids to turn out the vote. rock obama will return to georgia first thumbprint democrat raphael warnock ahead of the senate runoff. we learn late this afternoon that donald trump will not be making appearances for republican nominee herschel walker. opting instead to phone in at some point for a remote rally. it's not known if the decision has anything to do with the controversy swirling around the former presidents meeting with the white supremacist we just talked about. as you, know both walker and senator warnock are african american. worth noting, there are no current plans for the current president to travel to georgia

to campaign. cnn's dianne gallagher joins us from atlanta. we are dave matthews is performing i think right now. in support of ruffle warnock. what more can you tell us about the former president and the current president kind of staying out of this race? >> john, i will speak as loud as i can without disturbing the dave matthews fans who are here during the show right now. so, former president donald trump not coming to georgia. according to a person close to senate candidate herschel. walker this is something that. look there's no will he or won't be in the weeks leading up to this runoff election. he did not come for one right before the election itself. candidate herschel walker is never put any daylight really between him and the former president. talks about him on campaign stuff. mentioned him during the name-calling of a friend. but there are republicans here in georgia who are likely breathing a sigh of relief. they still tend to blame donald trump for their double losses

in the january 2021 runoff elections here in this state that saw incumbent democratic senator raphael warnock get placed in the senate. get elected into the senate. back last year. now, you mentioned, the current president joe biden also not likely as far as we know coming to georgia to campaign for senator warnock. but, there is one former president who is coming to town. former president barack obama will be here this week to garner support for warnock. to try to get out the votes. some of these events we've seen in the run up to the general election. but also here like we are seeing here. take it out the. vote try to make sure they have this people to show up for this abbreviated four-week runoff period. they still have that enthusiasm behind them john. >> i have to say, diane you speaking along with dave matthews is the best dave matthew song i have ever heard. so early voting, it's underway in georgia. i know it began over the weekend. what has turned out been like

so far? >> john, for a couple counties it began, the days before thanksgiving. there was lawsuits to try and get the saturday voting, they have seen just phenomenal numbers over the weekend, including a record breaking sunday for a runoff period. and today, according to gabriel sterling with the georgia secretary of state's office, we are looking at another record breaking day of early voting. we are talking more than 240,000 people voting just today alone. on this first day of the mandatory statewide early voting. there are five dates of this across the state. monday through friday, it must and on friday. we are looking at intense numbers. we talked about the enthusiasm, they are trying to garner from the surrogates here. looks like there is no shortage of that in the state of georgia. one thing we are noticing, long lines across the state. people waiting for 30 minutes, an hour in some places, and

some of the most densely populated counties to try to cast their ballot for this runoff period. >> all right diane gallagher, thank you very much will let you get back to the concert, we do appreciate. it let's dig in further. with me now chief political correspondent state of the union anchor dana bash, along with the correspondent for the atlanta journal-constitution. so dana, what do you make of this political calculation to keep former president trump out of georgia in the final days? >> i was talking to senior republican strategists who is involved in this georgia runoff who said point blank, there is one reason and it is because donald trump is incredibly unpopular in the state of georgia, even among many republicans. the strategists reminded me of the spread in the republican primary for governor. governor kemp who now famously broke with and sort of pushed back on donald trump's attempts to get him to overturn the election in 2020, donald trump supported and endorsed david perdue to go up against camp. purdue lost by more than 50 percentage points. that was a complete repudiation of not just purdue , but most

importantly of donald trump. it he didn't go into georgia in the general election and there's no expectation for that reason that he won't go into georgia for this runoff. now you might be asking, when was the last time donald trump respected the wishes of those who are asking for him to come or not come or not endorse or endorsed because of the political realities that is true. but in this case, the source says he seems to understand where he stands in georgia. >> he hasn't had much luck in georgia at any level. as you know, president obama will campaign with senator warnock later this week.

but what does it say that the current leaders of both parties, because president biden is not going for senator warnock either. what is a say that he's not going down there? >> i think it's kind of similar to what president trump and walker are facing on one side, president biden and warnock are facing on the other side. walker and the republicans made this race in a lot of ways a referendum on biden. they want to say warnock is too aligned with biden, he votes with biden so often. we need to replace him in the senate with someone who's going to challenge biden and keep biden in check. so, i think it a lot of places they don't think biden would be helpful. at the end of the day the base , the democratic base can be,

there are other surrogates like obama who can get the base fired up without bringing biden down to remind perhaps those moderate voters, so swing voters, those persuadable conservative voters that think the president is very popular right now. so i think that's why they also asked biden to stay away. >> téa, here also talking to governor kemp. what impact do think he will have in this runoff? to think he can be of substantial help to herschel walker? >> i think camp is of help, is a substantial enough to get walker to 50%? we will find out on election day. but kemp can help because kemp had over 200,000 more votes than herschel walker. so what they are hoping is the camp kind of encourages people to give herschel walker another chance. to say if you like me, if you trust me, my candidate is herschel walker, i need you to show up and vote for him. they are trying -- they want kemp to help pull herschel walker alone, that may convince some voters who were hesitant about herschel walker to support him. >> and dana, can you talk about the stakes here?

why is this one see important given that the democrats will have control of the senate either way? >> that's an important point the last when you made their. this isn't going to determine who has the balance, or who is in control, will determine the balance of power like it did in january of 2021. but while that is true it is also true, and we've seen this time and time again, a couple of things. number one, every single vote in the senate matters, particularly when it is so razor thin and there are some democrats who the party leadership can't rely on, depending on the issue. the same goes for republican

leaders. that's a reality. the other is a little bit more monday, but it really does have important when you are talking about a republican run house which is the makeup of each of the committees. yes, we already know that the democrat will have the gavel, but if they have one more seat, if they get raphael warnock back in the senate then they will have a little bit more breathing room on these committees, particularly those that will be trying to fend off investigations and other things that house republicans are going to be doing on the other side of the capital. >> the other thing i'd like to point out is, being a senator is not a tenth job. these a six year terms. being elected, you have this job for a while so each one of these races as long term races. dana bash, tia, great to have you. when we come back. a teenager's family is dead after police say she was kept fished online. this is a deeply twisted case where the suspect was in law enforcement. it's also a cautionary tale. we have details ahead. i'm just happy i was able to pick this baby. good on ya! we'll drive you happy at carvana.

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visit coventrydirect.com. police say homicide in california is tied to the catfishing of a teenager online. former united states troopers also dead. he was a suspect killed in a

shootout with police after traveling cross country. a story that is deeply twisted in very disturbing. cnn's camilla purnell has more. >> police say the call came in>s were responding to the scene, more calls to 9-1-1, but this time about a fire in the same neighborhood. >> i found three people deceased inside the house. >> the three victims -- the girl's mother and grandparents. >> we had grandmother, grandfather and mother, murdered by the suspect who traveled from across the country for what most likely be sexual exploitation of this teenager. >> according to law enforcement, this is a case of catfishing, a situation where someone pretends to be a different person than they actually are for the person of someone exploding another person. the suspect, 28-year-old austin lee edwards developed an online relationship with the team, then traveled across the country, from virginia to riverside, california to find her.

>> we do know that there was some direct text messaging going on. the suspect turned out to be in law enforcement, a person who is going through orientation to be a patrol officer with the washington county sheriff's office just four days before the murder, he was a former florida state trooper according to police. more than two hours after edwards drove off with a teenage girl, police tracked them and says edwards fired shots at sheriff's deputies who were in pursuit. when he lost control of the vehicle, the teenager fled the vehicle and edwards pointed a gun at the police helicopter before deputies shot and killed him. >> this is just a very tragic example of how dangerous those interactions can be. >> the teenager in this case

was unarmed, and placed in protective custody. according to police who say they now worry edwards may have catfish to others. >> it's hard to believe that someone who's going to travel all across the way across the country, kill a grandfather and grandmother and mother of the teenager he's trying to sexually exploit, that he hasn't engaged in similar type of behavior before. >> camilla grenell, joins us now from riverside. kamala, what an awful story. do we know how this girl is doing? as she able to tell authorities anything more about what happened? >> hey john, it really is tragic. we know that this teenager is okay. this 15-year-old is still with child protective services. and police telling me, yes she was able to talk to them and corroborate a lot of the information that they put out. but they are also telling me that they are being extremely careful with her, because they

say this is probably the most traumatic experience that she is ever going to live through, so they don't want to put too much on her plate. they say they definitely want to talk to her again. john? >> and the fact that the suspect up until last month was a virginia state trooper is all the more shocking. were there any warning signs missed? >> well, riverside police says that no warning signs on there and but it's why they are working with authorities in virginia to try to see if they missed something along the way. the sheriff in washington county, virginia saying he reached out to previous employers, called them and said nothing came back negative. so what they are saying is they hired him and now the sheriff is saying he's in shock. john? >> all right camilla purnell, thank you so much for that reporting. up next, we're gonna take you to the front lines in eastern ukraine where russia claims to have the city surrounded despite their humiliating withdrawal from many areas in recent weeks. senegal 38%, portugal 29. did you know that? i had no idea. the more you learn the more you want to know and then it just fuels that fire. we now live in a place our ancestors have been for many,

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>> tonight, new details on the front lines of ukraine. we are now nine months into the invasion. heavy fighting continues in the east. the russian appointed leader in ukraine's donetsk region now claims that russian forces are closing in on the city of bakhmut. the city became a key target for russian forces after they

were forced to withdraw from other areas of the east. ukraine rejects the russian claims. joining me now near the front lines and donetsk. cnn's senior international correspondent matthew chance. matthew, what do we know about who holds about? did the ukrainians or russians have the upper hand here? >> well john, i was up on the outskirts earlier on today. i had the opportunity to speak to several ukrainian commanders on the ground. to look at the maps, look at the live feeds from the drones they've got up in the air. to survey the situation. and the town is not encircled yet. but that certainly appears to be the efforts the russian military are heading towards. there is fierce fighting taking place in the center of not. and it's outskirts as well. russians basically are approaching from the north and the east. ukrainians still hold the south, east of the south.

ukrainians are still holding the north and west. but, that situation is very dynamic. again, fierce fighting. dozens of people. every day being killed on both sides, according to ukrainian officials i spoke to john. >> matthew, why is control so important? why is control of the mood so important? >> well, that is a good question. because it is not a particularly strategic town. given that much of the rest of the area has been taking back. by ukrainian forces. but, i think that from an internal russian point of view, there is a sort of political battle underway. the majority of the fighting is being undertaken by the mercenary wilder group. not the main russian army. i think internally, wagner want to show they can win battles.

at a time when the russian military is having to retreat from territory elsewhere in ukraine. so i think that is one of the reasons why so many resources are on the russian side being plowed in to achieving some kind of victory in bakhmut. >> what about from the ukrainian side? what are the main challenges they are facing in defending this territory? >> they are facing first of all incessant attacks by the russians. one commander told me earlier today that the tactics from the russians seem to be throwing in 20 men at a time. and when those men are killed, throwing in another 20. happening 24 hours a day, seven days a week. obviously that's having a big impact on the ukrainians as well. having to consistently fight. in addition to that. they are in artillery range from the russian side. and the weather is getting absolutely freezing in this part of ukraine. mud on the ground. wet, damp, miserable, it's cold. these are the challenges that

they are facing. in defending that town right now. >> matthew chance near the front lines, please stay safe my friend, thank you very much. >> still ahead, more on the former president facing backlash from his own party. including from former vice president mike pence. this is after trump died with a known white supremacist at mar-a-lago. plus a look in at some of the controversial guests the former president has hosted at his florida home. ... a fortune. no matter how much we paid it was always just... there. you know? ♪ so, i broke up with my bad student loan debt and refinanced with sofi. turns out we could save thousands. break up with bad student loan debt. refi and you could save thousands. plus, we're paying off up to a million dollars of student debt. enter at sofi.com/million sofi get your money right. for people living with h-i-v, keep being you. and ask your doctor about biktarvy. biktarvy is a complete, one-pill,

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