and finally, the faa investigating what is now the fifth close call involving commercial airlines this year. this latest at boston's international airport last night. according to the faa, a private jet was told to line up and wait on runway 9. you see that in red. a jetblue was landing on 4r which you can see flashing yellow. obviously that's a problem. the plane started to take off. the jetblue pilots saw the plane coming in and aborted successfully. the two planes came wonder 565 feet of a crash. thanks for joining us. "ac 360" starts now. good evening. we begin tonight keeping them honest with one of the most powerful elected officials said n the country said today about transparency versus what he is actually doing about it. house speaker kevin mccarthy is the highest ranking republican in congress. he is second in line to the presidency, but became speaker

only by the barest margin and only by winning the votes in the 11th hour of the most extreme members of his party. one promise he made while campaigning to be speaker according to cnn's "the new york times" is to make thousands of hours of security footage from the january 6th attack public. today here is how house speaker mccarthy justified his decision to release the video. >> because i think sunshine matters. i don't care what side of the issue you're on, that's why i think putting it out all to the american public, you can see the truth. >> so what could be wrong with that? well, for starter, he is not actually doing what he said. he is not putting it all out to the american people. he is giving it to fox host tucker carlson, the one who spent months downplaying the significance of the day and hosting people peddling conspiracy theories about the day, lies about the election. when asked about that today, the speaker suggested the objections were just sour grapes. >> did you raise that issue when

cnn sat out here in statuary hall or were you concerned when cnn got the footage ahead of time or when cnn got the subpoenas before the people being subpoenaed? so people get exclusives. what's going to happen here, everybody in the country will be able to have their own opinion because they'll see it. >> see it exactly the same way. that doesn't quite make sense. as the rest, yes, we've gotten plenty of scoops about plenty of things. so has every network, and we welcome them. simply today majority leader steve scalise singled out the one week from filmmaker alexandra pelosi showing her mother speaker pelosi and others on the day of the attack. >> i didn't hear a lot of concern about that back then. they released a lot of stuff that probably wouldn't be good for capitol police. >> what congressman scalise should know about that is the care that went into that exclusive. the capitol police saw every piece of footage we aired to make sure it didn't raise security concerns. in any case, this is not about us or any other network airing

an exclusive. it's about the particular network that the speaker chose to get this particular exclusive about a specific incident that this network has covered in a very particular way, especially after what we learned just yesterday in dominion voting system's lawsuit against fox. and not from the plaintiffs either. from fox's own chairman rupert murdoch who admitted that his own network, quote, endorsed false claims that the 2020 election was stolen. the very same false claims that fueled january 6th, lies that tucker carlson knew or suspected to be lies, according to his own communications. also made public in the dominion lawsuit. lies that he aired while also downplaying the attack itself. cnn's manu raju asked speaker mccarthy about it today. >> are you at all concerned about the fact that carlson downplayed this attack? you thought it a very serious attack on the capitol. why give to it someone who has downplayed it? >> because i think sunshine matters. i don't care what side of the issue you are on. >> question about that.

if sunshine about january 6th really matters, why did the speaker defy a subpoena to testify before the house january 6th committee? and even if he thought himself exempt, if sunshine really matters, why did he not tell three of his member, scott perry, andy biggs and jim jordan to testify instead of defying their subpoenas, which is what they did. if bringing the truth about january 6th out in the sunshine really matter, why a conspiracy aficionado now downplayed the they aye tack to his right hand woman. >> they say that whole thing was planned. are you kidding me? a bunch of conservative second amendment supporters went in the capitol without guns, and they think we organized that? i don't think so. >> that of course is marjorie taylor greene, who helped him become speaker about whom "the new york times" quoted mccarthy quoting a friend, in the friend's words, he will never leave that woman. and it's mccarthy's support that speak volumes about what matters about transparency and sunshine. namely, her support of him and other extremists.

he goes higher than that. under attack from a violent siege, he called president trump. he said reuters were breaking into his office. when it became apparent nothing would be done about it, mccarthy asked, quote, who the f do you any you're talking to? apparently the president already knew, a man who badly wanted to become speaker, which is why weeks later mccarthy went down to mar-a-lago and kissed the ring on the hand of the man who did not call off the mobs terrorizing him, but crucially could make or break him becoming speaker, along with other men and women tangled up. a and the speaker now talking about grand principles and not petty ambition. man kmanu raju joins us from th capitol. >> these are his most extensive comments about the capitol. the house has been on recess. yesterday when they came back into session, he ducked reporter, escaped out of the first floor, did not answer any

questions. but did so today and continued to defend his decision. tried to compare to it other networks like cnn who got exclusives on other issues. but time and again, as i pressed him about why tucker carlson, who has downplayed this attack, was floated these conspiracy theories, why would he give it to tucker carlson particularly, he did not engage on that. something you noted in your open. something that sunshine matters here. and that's why he is giving it to tucker karlds. now he did indicate that the media more broadly would get it afterwards. unclear exactly when that would occur. initially he believed there would be 14,000 hours of security footage provided. he since learned there would be more than 42,000 security footage hours also as part of this review. but he said the u.s. capitol police is looking at all this footage, looking at making sure that whatever is aired does not compromise security. so he expects that process could take another few weeks.

and anderson, we also learned today that mccarthy is green lighted defendants, january 6th defendants to essentially use the house, to come into the capitol and review security footage as part of their own defense. he said this is perfectly normal. it's part of due process. he contended this is also available under nancy pelosi when she was speaker. speaker pelosi's office told me pelosi as speaker never authorized anyone to come in and review those who were january 6th defendants, to review that footage. but nevertheless, all part of the questions and controversy of mccarthy's handling of this issue, even as he contends it will all be public some time soon, anderson. >> so will the public just get the footage that tucker carlson has decided to use in whatever message he wants to use it for, or will they get all 44,000 hours? >> it's still a bit unclear. mccarthy did not exactly specify what the public would see and whether it would be different than what tucker carlson ultimately gets to air.

that is something that still seems to be being worked out. but anderson, i caught up with a number of house republicans today about this issue. some defend kevin mccarthy. others were concerned. >> so i disagree with that decision. if you're going to release 40,000 hours of video, give it to everybody. it shouldn't be filtered through one lens or another. >> does it worry you that someone who has pushed these conspiracies is going to have first access to it? >> it wouldn't have been my choice, but in the end, we're all going to have access to it. and i think that's the bottom line. >> i think there is going to be full transparency and it will be given out to the american people. >> it doesn't bother me. i was there. >> so one member, republican member of the leadership also would not express how he views the situation that is mitch mcconnell, the senate republican leader. i asked him directly whether or not he was concerned about providing this footage to tucker carlson. all he would say is he is concerned about the security of

the capitol as he was under speaker pelosi. would not go any further. and mccarthy told me today that he did not consult with mcconnell about this decision to release this footage, anderson. >> manu raju, appreciate it. i want to get perspective from "washington post" contributing columnist george conway. what do you make of this? does it make sense what mccarthy is doing? >> no. it makes sense as a purely pr act to placify, to play indicate tucker carlson and to play indicate the maga base. but it doesn't make any sense from any other standpoint. for example, the idea that the defendants need this -- need this in order to defend themselves. well, the government already has this stuff. and if there is anything in there exculpatory, they're required to produce it. and under brady against maryland. and the fact of the matter is, what is it that it could possibly show that would help these defendants? i mean, for example, if you catch one defendant smearing

feces on the walls of the capitol, and he later then uses the batter in another video and washes his hands, that doesn't get you off of what he did in the first place. and showing that i don't know what else they could possibly glean from it, showing that capitol police officers at some points allowed people to come in? well, they did that in part because they were trying to prevent a bloodbath. so i just don't understand what it is that they're trying to accomplish other than to just perpetuate the january 6th lie, that there was nothing extraordinary that happened on january 6th. >> from a legal perspective, how much trouble do you think fox news is in with this dominion lawsuit? >> it's incredible. i litigated libel cases, one in particular in my practice 25 years ago. i litigated lots of other cases. when you a libel case and you're

the plaintiff's lawyer, you don't expect to get anything remotely like this. this is sort of like a -- these cases are like a kaleidoscope. what you have is sometimes you turn it one way and the reporters look a little careless and they look like they're ignoring something. the other way, you can see how they might have believed this story to be true. and what's really remarkable is that this comes in the context of the most different. standard, the most standard that you could possibly apply in a libel case, which is "the new york times" against sullivan standard, which governs the libel claims on matters of public concern against public figures. and that requires -- it's a bit of a misnomer. people talk about it being the standard of actual malice. the supreme court uses that word. but malice isn't required. you heard the term "reckless disregard." reckless isn't enough. it's not enough the reporter blew past some facts. what you have to show, in a case from 1968 called st. amon versus

thompson that says what you have to show to show reckless disregard is at a minimum, the publisher of the information or the broadcaster of the information actually entertained serious doubts as to the truth of what was being reported. and here it's you have that in droves, at multiple levels. i don't have you the fact checker, you have the anchors, you have rupert murdoch, all agreeing that this was false. and you never see in a libel case, you just virtually never see in a libel case the libel plaintiff moving for summary judgment, which is a judgment without a trial, saying there is really no issue to go to the jury. it's all one-sided. because the standard against libel plaintiffs is so high. and here they made that motion. and it's not a bad motion. i think ultimately it will be heard before a jury, but if the judge actually granted certainly on falsity, but they're not disputing falsity, if the judge even granted on actual malice and the state of mind, "the new

york times" standard, that wouldn't be crazy, and that's remarkable. >> do you think it affects -- if the ruling, if it does go to trial, and there is a big fine for fox, does that impact, do you think kind of right wing media how it behaves going to the 2024 election, or even the former president? fox is in this weird position now of how -- if the former president guess on their air and repeats lies about dominion voting machines and the last election, what did they do? >> well, it's hard to say, because the law isn't any different after a judgment is entered against fox than it was before. you're not supposed to lie. you can't tell lies. you're going to be held liable for lies. and yet foxes that been taking this crazy view. and you saw it in the excerpts of rupert murdoch's deposition. you see it in some of the statements that their pr flakes have been producing which is oh,

well, fox didn't endorse the big lie. maybe some of our anchors did. it doesn't work that way. you know, that anderson. if you say something and you report something and you describe it as fact or even as something short of established fact, cnn is on the hook if you libel somebody. and your state of mind matters. >> yeah. >> it's crazy what -- they're taking a position like these people, we pay them. we pay them millions of dollars. they're on our air. they work for us. but they don't speak for us. >> yeah. >> crazy. >> george conway, appreciate it. thank you. next, breaking news. what the fbi director just said about the bureau's investigation to the origins of the covid pandemic and whether it started with a lab leak. later, the prosecution calls its final witness in the alex murdaugh double murder case. that and a preview of tomorrow's jury visit to the crime scene, tonight. can hehelp you open those doo. for you, mama.

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the fbi has folks, agent, professionals, analysts, virologists, microbiologist, et cetera, who focus specifically on the dangers of biological threats which include things like novel viruses like covid and the concerns that in the wrong hands, some bad guys, a hostile nation state, a terrorist, a criminal, the threats that those could pose. so here you're talking about a potential leak from a chinese government-controlled lab that killed millions of americans. and that's precisely what that capability was designed for. >> director wray added that the bureau's investigation continues, and the chinese government, in his view seems to be trying to obfuscate the work here. david culver joins us with more. what is the significance of director wray's comments? do you expect any official chinese reaction? obviously they have swatted this down before. >> they're good at doing that and they'll continue likely to do it again. it's a significant given that

these are his first public comments on the fbi's investigation, and he reiterates that there is moderate confidence from the agency's investigation that this started as a lab leak. i think what we would love to see is some of the intel that actually details why they come to that conclusion. but he held back on specifics, as of most of these agencies as they have come forward with their conclusions. as far as the chinese and how they're going to go forward with this, it's been playbook at this point and some is literally scripted from the foreign ministry. at this point they've probably memorized it, and that is to say that the u.s. is trying to smear china, that this is politicizing the issue. they often go back to that science-based approach. they say that's the way this should be done, through science. the issue with what is while the w.h.o. initially said after their field visit in 2021 that it's highly unlikely it started in a lab, the w.h.o. also asked to go back. and if china really wants to pursue that science-based approach, you think they would say all right, come back in. anything you need, we'll

provide. they've done the opposite. they've said no to the data and no to another visit. >> the data is really critical. they have not provided the data that scientists would need to really understand exactly and zero in on the origin. >> that's been the issue going back to the start of this. now they argue that they have provided enough to allow the international science community to figure out what steps they need to move forward, and they argue that even played into some of the vaccine creation. but the reality on the ground has been that there has just been a wall after wall for a lot of these scientists and researchers who pointed out that they were not there as investigators. they wanted to stress that. and that's kind of a way to ease in from the chinese side in particular, because they don't want the chinese to think that they're really trying to convict them on something. the chinese hated this idea that they will potentially be seen as to be blamed globally for this. but the reality has stood that any information that would get us conclusive evidence as to how this started has really not come

from the chinese, and that approach doesn't seem to change any time soon. >> it's interesting that china keeps saying this shouldn't be politicized. they're clearly aware in some quarters of political divide that exists over the lab leak theory in the united states. >> oh, yeah. they're acutely aware of that. and they watch closely how it's played out here in washington and particular. they love that. they love to see the division over the discussion of how it started and democrats going against republicans on this. that's really what they try to foster more than anything else. and they are hoping that that will continue to distract things. the problem that they're seeing here is there is bipartisan support to be tough on china and the party and state media sees this in particular. and they hope for another campaign cycle more than anything else in which they'll see more division, the infighting, and that will distract things once again, anderson. >> david cultculver, appreciate the latest on ron desantis and his efforts to change hohow

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i should get paid more for this. you get paid when you win. from xfinity. home of the 10g network. ahead of a likely 2024 presidential run, florida governor ron desantis is expanding his influence and how kids are taught in his state that led to a protest in sarasota's new college of florida this afternoon. ron desantis recently replaced six of the 13 members trustees and today with the new interim president, they abolished the office for equity and inclusion programs. >> this is political theater. all of you are here because you are not interested in education. you're here because you are riding someone's coattails that

you think is going to take you to the white house and national office. >> cnn's laila santiago was at the meeting and has more. >> shame on you! shame on you! >> reporter: a fight for the future of a small liberal arts college in sarasota. new college of florida, a self-described community of free thinkers, an honors college nestled off the waters of florida's west coast. >> i hope you enjoy the blood on your hands. history will judge you harshly. >> i hope the kind of educational derailment and utter disrespect you are currently showing my student, my child is never suffered by one of yours. >> it's gorgeous. >> reporter: alaska miller is a trans woman and a second year student. >> new college is a really special place. i'm worried about my future. i'm worried if i'll be able to graduate here, if i'll have to move to another institution foremy safety. >> reporter: the public university of 700 students the latest target in the education

makeover of governor ron desantis. the campus now at the center of a conservative takeover after desantis appointed six political allies to its board of trustees last month. >> i've been working on an exciting project to take over a public university in florida called new college, well-known for being a kind of social justice ghetto, recruiting left-wing ideologues. >> reporter: conservatives like chris rufo credited for leading the gop's battle against critical race theory. rufo and other trustees have said they want to bring in more money to improve the campus and make everyone, including conservatives, feel welcome. but first -- >> florida is where woke goes to die. >> reporter: the board was quick to make big moves. today trustees voted to abolish the office that worked on diversity, equity, and inclusion programs. this after ousting the president during a previous board meeting in january. >> i do not believe that students are being indoctrinated at new college. [ applause ]

>> reporter: she was replaced by a former education commissioner and speaker of the house, republican richard corcoran, and the board agreed to pay him more than double the base salary. >> first and foremost, i'd be remiss if i didn't say, one, i think a tremendous gratitude and thanks to governor desantis. >> reporter: the overhaul on this campus only part of the governor's agenda for education in the state of florida, and possibly beyond. >> why don't we just do and teach the things that matter. why is it always someone has to try to jam their agenda down our throats? >> reporter: widely considered to be a potential republican presidential candidate for 2024, the governor is battling the woke agenda, as he calls it, in classrooms, rejecting a proposed a advanced placement african american studies course saying it lacked significant educational value, mandating closer scrutiny of books at schools, and endorsing candidates running for school board in florida, a nonpartisan position. >> two years from now people say wow, what governor desantis led

at new college with the new trustees and the trustees choosing the new interim president, and during that interim period, that was a wonderful whatever that might be, three months, six months, a year and a half. >> reporter: a political road that students like alaska miller say they're losing sleep over. >> it breaks my heart to see that they want to destroy a place that's so special and has been so successful in providing a wonderful education for so many people. >> laila, is it clear why governor desantis has chosen to implement the changes to this college in particular? >> well, anderson, the governor's office will tell you there is concern over declining enrollment numbers that is what they told cnn in a statement. and today when i spoke to the interim president and asked him for a response to some of the criticism that we heard in the meeting, he told me that he remained pretty optimistic and confident about the future of new college, saying that he was sure he was going to bring in more money that would help this

small community. but that provided little comfort to the people that i spoke to on campus today that said that they admit this is a pretty progressive community that is now worried about academic freedom given the shift in conservative leadership. >> laila santiago, thanks. coming up, prosecutors and their rebuttal in the alex murdaugh double murder trial with a double move, using a shotgun to try to dispute a theory from the defense. we have details on that, next. at university of phoenenix,. you could earn your masterer's degree inin less than a year for under $11k. learn more at phoenix.edu.

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tonight, new developments in the alex murdaugh double murder trial. murdaugh accused of killing his wife and son in an attempt to cover up his alleged financial crimes. tomorrow morning the jury is expected to visit the scene of the killings. today the prosecution ended their rebuttal after calling six witnesses. randi kaye joins us now from south carolina with the latest. what happened in the court today? >> anderson, it was an incredible day in court. south carolina's attorney general took over to question the state's last witness, and it was dramatic. together they recreated how paul murdaugh may have died, at least court according to the defense. they used a courtroom door to act as a feed to the dog kennels where he died. all the while the attorney general was wielding a shotgun. here is how it played out in court. >> is it your expert opinion

that a 6'4" shooter cannot be excluded from the murder of maggie and paul? >> i see nothing that could exclude a 6'4" shooter. >> reporter: dr. kenneth kinsey, an expert in crime scene investigation and recreation called back to the stand by the state to dispute key system. a forensic scientist testified for the defense and told the jury whoever killed maggie and paul murdaugh was likely much shorter than alex murdaugh, who is about 6'4". but the prosecution's expert disagreed. >> can a person be on their knee and get the same angle and be standing and get the same angle? >> yes, sir. >> can a 6'4" person and a 5'4" person still shoot the same angle, just at different distances? >> absolutely. >> can you exclude a 6'4" defendant like alex murdaugh, or anyone for that matter at that height from shooting that shotgun at that angle?

>> absolutely not. >> reporter: in one of the most dramatic moments of the trial, south carolina attorney general allen wilson pointed a shotgun atkinsy to illustrate another defense theory the state also believes is flawed. >> if you'll give me permission to point this at you, correct? >> i have. >> reporter: a defense witness said paul murdaugh's fatal shot was a downward facing contact wound, meaning the barrel of the shotgun was up against his head. but this court demonstration was designed to show why prosecutor says that just doesn't make sense. >> okay, paul has just been shot. >> yes, sir. >> and in the defense's theory, you tell me what to do, and you act this out, and i'm going tell you what to do based on the defense's theory of the case. >> the defense agreed with the assessment that paul stood there for a moment, bleeding down his injured left arm, and he slowly walked toward the door. >> okay. and what does the shooter do? >> the shooter is coming in the door. >> and then what does the shooter do?

>> he shoots paul in the back of the head after he passes him. >> okay. and then shoots paul in the back of the head like this? >> i think the theory is preposterous, in my opinion. the shooter is shooting down. how do pellets get embedded into the door frame up here? how is that possible? >> i think it's impossible myself. physics don't work that way. they will turn around because of the pressure, go back the opposite direction, 180-degree direction at enough velocity to dent a steel exterior door and imbed in the door frame. that doesn't happen. >> the defense did its best to push back. >> so you believe that -- that this pellet that's in the doorjamb came through the shoulder, through his neck, out the top of his head and ended up

at that location? >> well, it didn't turn around and come back out the top of his head. yes, sir, i do. >> randi, we mentioned the introduction to your piece that the jury is going to visit the crime scene tomorrow. i understand you're getting some additional information about it? >> yeah, anderson. we've learned that they're going to leave early in the morning, and they'll probably spend about an hour there. a van is going to take them there. they'll have security. they'll have courtroom staff with them. and the judge is going with them as well to moselle. it's about half an hour or so from the courtroom where we are tonight. and now the case is really winding down, because once they return from the crime scene tour that they're going to take, we're going to have jury instructions for them, and then we'll have closing arguments as well here at court. and tomorrow, anderson, i should note marks five weeks of testimony. so we've had 61 witnesses from the state, 14 witnesses from the defense. a lot of time in that courtroom for this jury. >> yeah. randi, thanks. appreciate it. i want to get perspective from criminal defense attorney mark

o'mara, former federal prosecutor jessica roth. mark, let's start with what we heard in randi's piece about the final rebuttal witness, that forensics expert pushing back against the defense's crime scene expert who claimed that the shooter was likely shorter than alex murdaugh. what did you make of the testimony from this guy today? >> i thought it was very good because i thought the rebuttal to what the defense was suggesting was spot on. the defense was suggesting one very static way where it couldn't have been somebody 6'4". but the whole situation is so dynamic. and i thought the presentation by that witness and the prosecutor, i thought it just came across very well and really discounted what the defense is trying to come up with, with their one view of how it couldn't have happened. >> jessica, what did you think about it? and also, the fact that it was the attorney general doing the questioning? >> so i thought that the prosecution's rebuttal case, especially that last witness we've been talking about was very effective in debunking the defense's forensic case on a number of fronts with respect to the so-called two shooter

theory, the height of the shooter, and also other aspects of how the shooting of paul in particular happened. the defense had presented expert testimony suggests that whoever shot paul would have had a lot of blood and tissue and would have been hard to get it off in time. and also that that person would have been stunned momentarily and unable to then go shoot maggie. so i thought the expert testimony rebutting that forensic case was very, very effective. but the attorney general himself showed up to do the last witness of the case i thought was symbolically important. it was show of force from the top law enforcement official in the state showing that he fully endorsed and supported this prosecution of this powerful figure. >> i never understood when the defense's crime scene person was saying that the shooter would have been stunned by what had just occurred, how could anybody know that? if somebody has the mental capacity to shoot somebody point-blank, two people point-blank, why does this person assume they would be

emotionally stunned by it? >> it was theory based on his assumptions, based on his analysis of the crime scene and the evidence about how physically it happened. this is why we heard so much testimony about what was the trajectory of the wounds, did the bullets go first into the head or the shoulder? because the defense theory about being stunned had to do, as i understand it with there be a blowback from the gun and the pellets and also the tissue that would have come back on and that physical force. >> scarred by that. >> it would have been more physical stunning as opposed to emotional stunning. >> okay. mark, as we look at closing arguments, what are you expecting to see from the state, from the defense? how do you think is going? >> the state needs to stay factual. they need to support everything that they're suggesting happened with the forensics and with a common sense approach to it. they need to go in there and say we've proven the case here, even though they don't have great motive, there are some questions about how it happened. but that's where they have to be strong. on the other hand, the defense

has to just prove up some reasonable doubt. they have to suggest there is no motive. and the other thing i think the state may have overplayed their hand on is so much time spent on the fraud and the financial that you're going hear a closing argument from the defense that this is really a fraud case that they're trying to turn into a murder case. and that's going get some play with the jury. >> jessica, what do you think? >> i think that the prosecution is going to hammer the timeline. i think they're going to talk a lot about the defendant's lie about not being at the kennels and continuing that lie until he was confronted with the evidence. >> that timeline which the prosecutor brought up effectively before. when you lay out what the defense is suggesting based on the timeline, it does seem somewhat ludicrous. >> i think that's why the prosecution is going to hammer the timeline, they're going hammer the lie that's so critical and shows consciousness of guilt. and i think they're going to say the jury can't trust anything the defendant said on the stand because of his proven history of lying to so many people, including law enforcement, including his partners,

including clients he stole from. >> mark, do you think the timeline as effective as it may have been from the prosecutor is enough to overcome circumstantial evidence? >> i really think it's going to be. that was just said. the timeline is so insanely ludicrous to suggest that somehow somebody else within that very few minute period came in, committed a murder for which they have no other evidence to support, and then blame him for it. i do think the timeline is going to be the focus of the closing. and what we're going to hear again is the last few questions asked by the prosecutor to murdaugh where he said this is what you want us to believe, and laid out an entire timeline of what turns out to be sort of almost the impossible to have occurred. and that's where we're going to be i think the focus of the prosecution closing. >> mark omar remarks jessica roth, i appreciate it. just ahead, dangerous work on the eastern front in ukraine. >> this was a russian position, russian trenches. and now these guys are working through here carefully,

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that and the paycheck. >> tonight in ukraine a possible new strategy in the besieged eastern city of bakhmut. ukraine's military is going to weigh all the options when it comes to defending the city, this includes, quote, strategically pulling back if needed. that's what they call it. earlier today president volodymyr zelenskyy warned the toughest battle in bakhmut. thousands remain, many cut off from humanitarian relief. the fight for the city is one of obviously many problems ukraine faces. also the unexploded mines that litter the lands that ukraine liberated from the russians. cnn's alex marquardt is in eastern ukraine with the dangerous work being done there. >> reporter: the hulking armored

mine clearer lurches into an open field. over 40 tons, it spews exhaust. its tracks struggling across the muddy ground. following close behind, the mine clearance team called sappers, they advance deliberately on the hunt for deadly explosives. this is delicate work. this was a russian position, russian trenches. and now these guys are working through here carefully, methodically, looking for mines, for booby traps and even ukrainian ordnance, those fired at the russians who were here. last september, a ukrainian counteroffensive pushed the russians out of these trenches. now, colonel maxine's team is charged with clearing any explosives. they have left many traps behind and many of our brothers or sappers died he says. russia doesn't obey

international conventions. they put mines on top of mines. leave booby traps and use banned mines. russian and ukrainian mines are scattered throughout the eastern front, making ukraine one of the biggest mine fields in the world. rockets and other explosives can often fail to detonate when they land, too. all of it posing immense danger to civilians. the sappers of ukraine's ds & s emergency service like edward harris, who is a father of a 10-year-old daughter, are keenly aware of the danger. it's dangerous for everybody, he says. i wouldn't say we take more risks than others. everybody is taking risks now. >> reporter: harris was demining before the war started. seeing what russia has done to his country infuriates him. they are just animals, he says. there's no other way to describe

them. he finds and carries an unexploded rocket propelled grenade to the side. working day after day, all across this country, deminers know how much they still have left to do. after the war, the soldiers get to go home, but your work will continue for years. we will keep working for decades, colonel says, this will go on for decades. >> incredible work. are land mines also used by ukrainian armed forces? >> reporter: they are, anderson, with quite a bit of effect. the land mines that have been planted all along the front line by the ukrainians, many of them have come from the u.s. they've been donated by the thousands. we've seen them used in the southeastern city that we just came from a few days ago. the ukrainians there managed to keep russians at bay because of miens they planted in the fields there, but at issue here,

anderson, are anti-personnel mines. which are banned under international humanitarian law because of how indiscriminate they are. now, russia is not a party to the 1997 mine ban treaty, but ukraine is. and that is why they have been called out by human rights watch in a recent report saying that they have fired anti-personnel mines into russian-held areas that russian military facilities, particularly in and around the city of izium, we were near there earlier today. it has now been retaken by the ukrainians. but this is something that they say the ukrainians are doing. it doesn't justify what russia is doing, of course, but human rights watch calling on ukraine to look into it. and in response, ukraine did not deny that report. they said that they will look into it. they, of course, say they're exercising their right to defend themselves, but that russia, of course, is committing war

crimes. anderson? >> alex marquardt in eastern ukraine tonight. alex, thanks. as the war? ukraine rages on, many of vladimir putin's political enemies remain in prison, among them alexny navalny, a poisoning that cnn tracked back to russian intelligence. navalny is in one of russia's most brutal colonies. don't miss navalny and the cost of standing up to putin on friday night at 9:00 p.m. up next tonight, antarctica sea ice falls to a record low. we take you to talk to bill weir and find what it means and looks light right now. chno wizardry calculates youour car's value and gives you a real offer in secondnds we'll come to you pay you on the spot then pick up your car ththat's it at c carvana

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even as this part of the northern hemisphere is experiencing another near-warm winter, scientists are warning the sea ice around antarctica is breaking levels set last year. sea ice is now at the lowest point since satellite starting monitoring the levels in 1979. researchers warn that with the summer melting season now happening, the southern hemisphere, the ice could shrink even further. bill weir is on his way to

antarctica and joins us from south argentina. >> bill, it's amazing you're there. looks incredibly beautiful. can you give us a sense of the scope of the problem how much ice has been lost and what that means for the region as a whole? >> reporter: yeah. to give you that perspective, anderson, you got to consider the fact that the top of the world, the arctic, is an ocean surrounded by continents. down here at the bottom, it's a continent surrounded by oceans, which complicates climate change as it has been observed and for a long time scientists thought it was somewhat immune to the effects because the ice around the continent was growing. in 2014 it was about 7 million square miles, but in less than ten years the national snow and ice center out of colorado has confirmed it has broken the record again, now it is just over 700,000 square miles. that's over 90% of that ice around antarctica has disappeared in less than a decade. and the trend line is really disturbing because it makes the glacials that hold all the land ice in place. we're not worried about sea ice

melting. like the ice cubes in your glass, it doesn't spill your drink when it melts. all the land ice held in place by the ice dams, a glacial the size of florida, it's already hanging on by its fingernails. but now with less sea ice protecting it, it spells bad news. >> how much of the melting can be attributed to climate change? >> because it's so complicated, the weather systems in the southern ocean, they need at least another decade of data to say specifically impeerically that this is what percentage is caused by planet cooking pollution as well, but the trend lines are just so obvious. they've had spikes in record high temperatures like the freakish ones we saw up in the arctic and greenland are starting to happen down here as well. and this is, of course, a threat to sea coastal cities everywhere. >> bill weir, appreciate it. thank you. that's it for us tonight. jake tapper's one of one interview with bill mahr