good morning, everyone. welcome to "cnn this morning." ok' caitlyn, what a great job she did. former president trump said he wouldn't if he want u krin to defeat russia. border countries are expecting a new surge of migrants. >> and mccarthy said he won't

back santos for re-election but won't ask him to resign. and the suspect in the 2005 disappearance of natalee holloway will be extradited from peru to the united states. jordan vander sleuth is expected to be on charged of extortion and wire fraud. >> advisors to the fda unanimously recommended that a birth control pill be made available over the counter without a prescription. "cnn this morning" starts ragt now. -- right now. >> someone who chief white house correspondents, what is it likd watch is the town hall last night? >> a slightly different vibe than our day today in the press briefing room, to say the least. i think it is reflective of the

fact that individual on stage with caitlyn collins who knows him better than anybody else with her knowledge of everything last night is exactly who he was in 2015 and 2016 and so on and so on. there are a lot dynamics to dig into what that means going forward. it also means we have super extra large coffee this morning. >> they brought us big coffee. >> we had to stay up and watch that and digest it. >> last night, former president trump had 70 minutes to make his case to be president again even as he faces multiple felony charngs. he refused to admit he lost. he talked about e. jean carroll after a jury found he sexually abused her and defamed her. trump described january 6 as a beautiful day and vowed to pardon many of the rioters who

attacked the capitol that day. he called the overturning of roe versus wade a big victory but he dodged the many critical questions about if he's president again would he sign a federal abortion ban into law. he wouldn't say also if he wanted ukraine to win the war against russia. so that is where we start this morning. let's bring in our cnn national correspondent. i was watching the coverage before the town hall started. you were one of the final voices on. we saw exactly who the former president was and still is last night. >> no doubt about it. good morning, poppy and phil. perhaps no surprise. it was the same tune. the second act effectively the same as the first. airing old grievances and attempting to rewrite history. donald trump acted as though he already won the republican nomination, spending almost no time on the gop rivals or trying to broaden his appeal to voters as he made the case for why he wants to defy history and return

to the white house. >> reporter: former president donald trump picked up right where he left off, lying about the 2020 election. >> that was a rigged election. it's a shame that we had to go through it. >> trump made clear his 2024 presidential bid would follow the same script of his two prapr previous campaigns, saying he is a messenger unburdened by facts and unwilling to move on. >> you would us is spent polarizing talk of election fraud during your run for president? >> yeah. unless i see election fraud. the if i see election fraud, i have an obligation to say it. >> he also says vice president mike pence could have acted to overturnt election results as the vote was certified on january 6. trump said he did not owe pence an apology for failing to call off supporters who threatened his life as they stormed the building. >> no, because he did something wrong. he should have put the votes back to the state legislatures and i think we would have had a

different outcome. >> my question to you is, when you pardon the january 6th rioters who were convicted of federal offenses -- >> i'm inclined to pardon many of them. i can't say for every single one. a couple of them probably they got out of control. >> the audience of republican voters say the college applaud ford much of the night. even as trump belittled and dem demeaned former magazine columnist e. jean carroll after they found him libel of sexually abusing and day faming her. >> i have no idea who she s she's a whack job. >> pressed by whether the verdict would deter women from voting for him, he said this. >> i don't think so. >> yet, some republicans believe otherwise. when new hampshire governor chris sununu who is considering a presidential bid of his own. >> if you're suburban mom, all the voters and republicans are trying to bring back into the mix, i don't think any of them

will be phased by anything. >> seven months after the voting begins, trump is leading the field. even as he faces multiple legal changes over interfering in the 2020 election and more. >> i just want to find -- >> he struck a defensive tone about that call to the george jo georgia secretary of state, searching for votes to take him over joe biden. >> that election was rigged. if this call is bad, why didn't him and his lawyers hang up? how dare you say that? this was a -- >> they were concerned enough they recorded the call. >> he brushed aside questions about another probe including classified documents taking to mar-a-lago. >> whether it comes to your documents, did you ever show those classified documents to anyone? >> not really. i would have the right to. by the way, they were declassified after -- not that i can think of. let me just tell you, i have the absolute right to do whatever i want with them. i have the right. >> that, of course, remains an open question. and a key part of a federal

investigation. >> trump took personal credit for the supreme court decision overturning roe versus wade citing three appointments to the high court. >> i was honored to do it. >> he repeatedly dodged questions about whether he would sign a federal abortion ban. >> i'm looking at a solution that's going to work. very complex issue for the country. people on both sides of an issue. >> on foreign policy, trump once again showed affinity for russian president vladimir putin declining to call for punishment for leading to the invasion of ukraine. >> if you say he's a war criminal, it will be a lot tougher to make a deal to get this thing stopped. >> he also declined to say who he wants to prevail in the war. despite the u.s. and allies investing billions to help ukraine defeat russia. >> do you want ukraine to win this war? >> i don't think in terms of winning and losing. i think in ermzterms of settled we stop killing all the people. >> so much, of course, to process. that's exactly what republican

rivals are doing as they point out that is still the beginning of the road. there are some seven months or so before the voting begins. the white house also paying very close attention to this town hall last night saying that they believe there are many examples that they, in fact, flthat they flo plan to do advertising on. ron desantis, he is he had he should simply stay home and not run. of course that, is it not going to happen. he's jumping into this race, we're told, in the next couple weeks. so, a lot to digest there. but again this is the beginning of the republican nomination. it's not the end. >> thank you for all that. >> what is now to discuss, our "new york times" national correspondent joining us, cnn national politics report eastern cnn senior legal analyst and former state prosecutor. i think we're all, again, as jeff is saying, jeff makes a critical point much it's early.

we're seven months out. this is clearly by the numbers the republican front-runner to be the republican nominee for president. when you watch this and took it in and thought through 2024, what came to mind? >> all of us know this from being out on the trail. the biggest, i think, job for a candidate is engage and bring in new voters. especially if you've been on the scene a while. that is his job. whether he wants to acknowledge it or not, he lost the last election. >> by seven million votes. >> yes. and if he's trying to win the next one, he has to get folks that didn't vote for him before to now vote for him this time. and, you know, watching that performance, i didn't see what new voters he brought into the fold. yes, that entire episode really stroked his ego. he was with a very favorable audience. you know that he thrives in this situation. in this type of situation where his ego is stroked.

but what new voters did he t attract last night? >> i wonder if he lost some republican voters. i say that because of his answer on when asked about the dobbs decision. he took so much credit for overturning roe versus wade. and then would not answer her question about would he sign a federal abortion ban into law? >> you know, you wonder what that means. that's what the performance was last night n a general election, these are -- the reason he took that stance on abortion is looking at the general election. ron desantis leading rival signed a six-week abortion ban in florida. donald trump won't say if he'll raise the abortion ban. this is an issue even though he

appointed ajustices, even though he claimed this was a great victory for him, i doesn't want to go the next step. he has expressed privately here that abortion is an issue that can come back against him and his party in the next election. he blamed it for the loss that's many people blame on him in 2022. >> i thought that was interesting on the abortion issue. i think it is one of the moments you could actually almost see the political calculation in donald trump's head. he ran for the presidency in 2016 saying vote for me and i'll appoint justices who will overturn roe versus wade. >> yes, the lesley stahl interview on "60 minutes." >> he did just that. they did just that. they issued the dobbs decision. it was an affirmative legal argument that he was making that he delivered on. now, last night, it seems like someone said if they bring autopsup abortion, say negotiation. i didn't understand what he was talking about. what do you mean? negotiation of what?

i think he see there's is some political risk there now. >> that means he has his eye open. he watched wisconsin and michigan. he watched 2022 and the elect rat and how important this issue was. look, what he said on dobbs stands. i don't think can you parse where you land on that despite this unwillingness to answer five different follow ups from it kaitlan on this issue. you take a step back. you talk to democrats who were watching, regardless of the views of the town hall, they'll all say we have loads of content to anabbttack in a general elec. on the legal esh issue, i want play this. take a listen. >> you saw that rushing the capitol, breaking windows, hitting officers with flag poles, takesing them, beating them up. when it was clear they weren't being peaceful, why did you wait three hours to tell them to leave the capitol? they listen you to like no one else. you know that. >> they do. i agree with that. >> so why didn't you tell them

to go home sooner? >> nancy pelosi and the mayor are in charge. i assumed they were able to do their job. >> but pe llosi is not in charg. >> i was there on january 6. i was personally enraged by what he is saying. you think there is legal elements to that? >> as a prosecutor, that is the most important clip from last night. caitlyn says clearly, those people listen to you, you know that. he said, yes. yes, i do. i agree with that. if you're thinking about prosecuting donald trump in relation to the effort to steal the election, you need to show that connection. donald trump knew and understood his words would be acted on. he understood that people would listen to him and do thing because he said so and stop doing things because he said so. i never heard him so clearly admit that. everything donald trump says is out there. it's fair game. it can be used. i think if i'm a prosecutor watching last night, i'm circling that clip. >> he referred to january 6 as a

bu beautiful day. it seems like such a detatchment from his supporters. i was talking to conservative vote. >> announcer: iowa. they support trump, they like trump. but they're willing to entertain some of the other candidates because they don't think that he can win for this very reason. >> always good to hear from voters, especially in iowa. the fact he said he was pardon manufacture many of the january 6 rioters and didn't answer the proud boy convicted of seditious conspiracy, he didn't say no. >> he is trying to rewrite the narrative of what happened on january 6. the strike thing for me isn't just what he's staying on stage. it's the reaction from the crowd. this is a republican audience in new hampshire. they were cheering him. as i watched, i really was struck. it reminded me of watching a

sitcom. they brought the laugh track going on in the background. it makes you sort of want to enjoy it along with the main character. he's the main character on stage. they were laughing at these things. when he made jokes and made even on january 6, even on those hard issues this is not a thing that got a boo in the crowd. this had the crowd laughing and cheering for him. >> all right. everyone stick around. we have a lot more to go through from last night. also, the sky is not going to fall when title 42 expires at midnight. that's according to the border patrol. am we'll tell you the tactic the biden administration is rolling out. and george santos charged with money fraud, stealing public funds and lying to congress. what he's saying in his defense. what it could mean for his political future as well. >> now, i'm going to have v. to go to fight and defend myself. the reality is it's a witchunt.

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president. >> that's how you do it. that's our caitlyn collins fact checking the former president's false claims about the 2020 election in real time. as we mentioned earlier -- did you just spill your coffee? >> i did. >> you know, i always think that's going to happen to me. and as someone who is not at a desk, i was like how i do play this? i decided to ignore it and then you called me out on it. i'm going to sit here and wear it for a minute and digest this moment in time. and then i'm going to mourn the fact that i -- >> you can have some of mine. phil, sit here every morning and i'm like, don't knock over your coffee. don't knock over the coffee. >> that's good. i hope we have some standup segments. this is all over my pants too. >> can someone get -- >> this is like the fifth time i've done something this week. poppy is definitely not going to have me back. >> you better come back tomorrow. >> i'll clean it up. i promise you, i'll mop the floors. >> give me my coffee.

back to the news. okay. as we mentioned earlier, former president trump made several false -- more than several, so many false and misleading claims, we're going to look at more now with our washington correspondent. sorry for the holdup. we had a little coffee issue. let's talk about the truth here versus fiction. where should we start? >> yeah. poppy, really the first one that we should start on is trump's comments about abortion that he talked about last night. now these comments were very misleading. we heard trump accusing last night democrats and specifically hillary clinton of supporting abortion late into the third trimester. now clinton stands that mother's whose health is in jeopardy should be able to terminate a pregnancy. they had the authority no regulate or ban abortion in the third trimester except when necessary to preserve the life or health of the mother. it is also very important to note here that late-term

abortions are very, very rare, less than 1% according -- occurring at 21 weeks or later than 2020 and that is according to the u.s. centers for control and prevention. >> on the other issue, indcaitl is very sharp on pushing back on this, building a wall with mexico and also said mexico is going to pay for it. he said he finished building the wall while in office. take a listen to this. >> i did finish the wall. i built a wall. i built hundreds of miles of wall and finished it. then i said we have to build some more. >> so something did the former president build hundreds of miles of wall as he claimed? >> this claim is not true. the numbers clearly show that as well. the border wall just had not been finished. now the u.s. customs border protection, they put out a report on the status of the wall just two days after trump left office. in that report, they say 458

miles of the wall had been completed under trump. but 280 more miles that have been identify ford wall construction had not been completed. if you break down that 280 miles more that had not been built, only 74 miles were in the preconstruction phase and locations where know barrier has existed and 206 miles were under contract in place of dilapidated and outdated design and locations where no barriers existed. so that claim is not true. >> 52 miles. she kept saying. that's a fact. >> and the house republicans are voting on a bill today where one of the primary central selling points of it is that it completes the border wall. i got a kick out of that. i'm a nerd. >> thank you so much. >> we appreciate it. >> i don't worry, guys, i have napkins and stuff. we're doing great. we're thriving on this thursday morning. one thing that was -- look, we know about the top headlines

last block. the policy issues, we got into the abortion law. i want to talk about the biggest issue and that is the debt ceiling. take a listen to what the former president said when it came to how republicans should hold their position going forward. take a listen. >> i say to the republicans out there, congressmen, senators, if they don't give you massive cuts, you're going to have to do a default. >> as president, he said absolutely can't put this on the line. should be something that we use to negotiate over. i'm more interested, what do you think the effect is on the republicans in congress right now? >> i mean, he was pretty sh shameless saying i'm president now so i can take a different position. i think on this issue, until americans really dee digest what this means for them that, is when i think lawmakers are going to feel the heat on this. until that moment, we're seeing sort of early signs that some folks are having concerns about

the implications for their retirement, for social security. but whether we get to that moment in june when it looks like it really could happen and every day americans' lives are affected, i think that's when this is going to be a problem. >> i want to ask what it does for tomorrow's meeting. take two. we're hoping is a good meeting at the white house between those leaders in congress and the president on this. did that just make this a lot more difficult? >> i'm not sure that it does. trump is such a bluffer about these things that, you know, there is this old saying, literally and seriously, you take everything he says literally or seriously. i don't think is an issue he'll be literally in favor of going over the debt limit. everyone is a little afraid of the consequences of this happening. if terms of house republicans, i

think that his comments don't change the fundamental dynamic. they are afraid that if this happens that they could get -- >> are they really afraid though? you think house republicans are really afraid? >> the rarnk and file. >> they have shown that they're willing to blow oup our institutions. >> there are some unafraid. but the leadership, the people that know to keep that job, to remain in the majority, they need districts that joe biden carried, they absolutely are afraid of the backlash from moderate voters. >> yeah. there are absolutely real life consequences to violating the debt ceiling. this is constitutionally unthinkable. this would put us in a situation we never had to face before. that is violate the face of the u.s. constitution. >> another policy issue top of mind for everybody is immigration. the president was asked by indicate caitlyn about i had family separation policy. take a listen. >> another immigration policy

you had was the zero tolerance immigration policy that separated families at the border. if you were re-elected, you are ruling out instituting that? >> when you have that policy, people don't come. if the family hears that they're going to be separated, they love their familiarly. t -- family, they don't come. >> you would reimplement that if re-elected? >> we have to save our country. >> look, he was always very ambiguous in talking about what this actually did whether he was in office. that was pretty unambiguous. >> i think people need to in, family separation policy is just that. it is a policy. it is a decision by the executive branch largely carried out through prosecutors at the justice department. prior administrations generally had a policy that if somebody comes over the border that, is technically a federal crime. doj's policy is for the most part, unless a person has other convictions, turn around, send them home, make a record of it. >> what started happening under the trump doj was they said, no.

we're now prosecuting all of these cases. even if the person doesn't have a prior aggravated felony and as a result, when a family would arrive at the border, okay, parents, we're holding you. you're now going into the criminal courts. children, if you're with the parents, you're being separated. that is absolutely a decision that will be made president by president as you said in the beginning. this is a what you see is what you get moment. voters know what is at stake. if they like that policy, they'll get it from trump. if they won't, they won't. >> he also said we have to save our country. save our country from immigrants? like, what are we saving our country from? there's no migrants do not represent, like, a greater -- they're not overrepresented whether it comes to criminality. what is he talking about? >> in fact, there are a lot of republicans also who will point to how -- including those who worked in the trump add manition w -- administration how important immigrants are to our economy. >> however, it is also understatement that the president has a keen

understanding and grasp of the republican primary electorate and how kricritical this issue for him and that line is along there. all right, a lot to cover. thank you. sorry for spilling my coffee everywhere. >> also a cnn exclusive. sources say britain supplied ukraine with long range cruise missiles that travel so far, one official calls it a game changer. what it could mean for ukraine's expected counter offensive next. ♪ you said close your eyes ♪ ♪ don't look down ♪ ♪ fall into me...♪ celebrate every kiss. with 30% off almost evererything. only at kay. ♪

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hey, should you be drinking that? -it's decaf. because we're busy women. we don't have time for lag or buffering. who doesn't want internet that helps a.i. do your homework even faster. come again. -sorry, what was that? introducing the next generation 10g network only from xfinity. the future starts now. tonight at 11:59 eastern, title 42 expires. now you'll remember for last three years the trump era covid policies allowed the u.s. to quickly expel migrants from the country. migrants gathering at the border near san diego as the policy is set to expire. government officials estimate more than 150,000 people are waiting in shelters and in the streets in northern mexico. u.s. chief of the u.s. border patrol is actually downplaying the surge. he said he thinks it already

happened and the numbers could subside soon. we're live along the border of brownsville, texas. you've been down there and doing the reporting. what you are hearing from local officials? >> phil, good morning. i was in touch with the mayor's office yesterday. they're projecting an air of confidence saying they're as prepared as they can be for what's to come. they're hopeful that policies put forward by the biden administration including regional processing senters in the home countries provide meaningful relief to border cities like brownsville. they need it. a respite center like the one behind me is at capacity. processing between 800 and 1,000 migrants per day. it led to scenes like this of people sleeping on the streets. dozens and dozens of people sleeping on the streets. we haven't quite seen the numbers yet from yesterday. but we noticed an uptick in activity of buses dropping off migrants. we want video we can show you from the border yesterday. we were at the border, popular illegal processing for migrants.

we saw dozens being processed. the question is, where will they all go once they're released on humanitarian role iparole as th released on the streets of brownsville. time will tell if they have a reason to be confident. >> nick, based on the migrants that you spoke with throughout the course of the week and spoke to many, told us about it on the show, what is going to actual i had happen at midnight? >> well, you know, there is confusion among the migrants that we spoke to. some have the understanding that title 42 will allow them to go through the ports of entry, to allow them to claim asylum and not be expelled quickly as title 42 allowed the government to do here. others thought that title 42 ending meant the border would be shut down entirely. there is a bit misunderstanding of the policy that led to the numbers that we're seeing waiting on the other side in mexico. you talk about the border patrol chief downplaying thinking that we're in the middle of this already, that's what we're

hearing from team brownsville here. they're under the impression the last two weeks they've been dealing with this surge and they're not sure how much worse it can get. they're prepared and bracing for that to happen. phil? >> great reporting. thank you. >> thank you, nick. >> one of the last people to see na natalee holloway before she disappeared will be extradited to the united states. we'll tell you why.

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you? calls for republican congressman george santos to resign. several of the freshmen congressman's republican colleagues can calling for him to step down after he pleaded not guilty to 13 federal charges. they're all felony charges. prosecutors accuse him of fraud, money laundering and a string of other crimes. he spoke after a hearing in court. he said he won't resign. he is still running for

re-election. >> i unify my battle. i'm going to deliver. i'm going to fight the witchunt. i'm going to take care of clearing my name. i look forward to doing that. >> prosecutors say santos fraudulently collected more than $20,000 in covid-19 unemployment benefits. he used campaign money to pay off his own debt and to buy designer clothes and they accuse him of lying about his personal finances on congressional disclosure reports. the congressman also facing multiple other investigations, house ethics committee and the new york attorney general, two state district attorneys are looking into possible unlawful activity. santos has been release d on a $500,000 bond. >> let's bring in michael gold of "the new york times." it is his reporting that brought so much of this to light. he is one of two "new york times" reporters that broke the paper's initial story in the discrepancies in congressman santos' resume back in december. this is all really come, michael, from that reporting. so, it's really important. thank you for being here this

morning. >> these are all felony charges. >> yeah. all 13 charges are felony charges. >> potential jail time if convicted? >> prosecutors are saying maximum penalty is up to 20 years. that's if he's convicted on the top charges of wire fraud. >> how closely you've been covering this, i am from d.c. most days if i'm not spilling coffee on myself, this is this an inevitability. i think when it happened, particularly given the scale of the charges, there was a little jarring moment. were you surprised with what came? >> i was surprised by two things. i was surprised by the speed of the investigation. we know that when the justice department, especially the public integrity unit is looking at cases, they're deliberate. i think what we found in the indictment is these were things easy for them to follow the money and find out. i also think this was a pretty wide wide-ranging indictment. you've been doing a great job, too. one of the things in the indictment about the

unemployment benefits is news to a lot of reporters that have been following him for months. >> can you explain that? >> according to prosecutors, congressman santos applied for unemployment benefits through the state. and those benefits were funded by the cares act. according to prosecutors, on a weekly basis he would certify he was eligible to receive this unemployment. he collected $24,000 between june 2020 and april 2021. but during that time, santos was actually employed as a regional director of a florida-based investment firm and collecting $120,000 salary. santos had a mixed track record on this kind of aid. one thing is notable, he is one of 35 co-sponsors that would help states recoup the money they got from the unemployment fraud that he's accused of

committing. we saw republican leaders yesterday really double down on this issue. one thing that i think the congressman did while running for office is said ben futs and pam programmed had gone too far and spending needed to be cut back. it is interesting to see him take advantage of that. >> there's been a lot of attention on how this wasn't kind of flushed out during the campaign. and you saw local press reporting on it. how did you get on this the story? and do you feel like when you look at the national media and how we treated that race that we should have or done a better job? >>. >> that's a great question. i think a lot of things have been said about the fact that my colleague and i didn't publish this story until after the election. looking closely at congressman santos' race for various reasons, a very crowded season here. and i think there is a lot of

talk in the press about how we can do better, locally and national media to make sure that we're covering the races in people's communities. >> let's name the paper. >> the north shore leader was one the earlier reporters i want to point to mark tuson. he was raising a lot of questions about santos. there was a lot to uncover. i think there are a lot of questions as we head into the next midterm cycle about how we're going to vet candidates in a lot of crowded races. >> we can always do better. you have done the real work. >> thank you. >> former president trump refusing to say whether he wants russia or ukraine to win the on going war. but that ended in, quote, 24 hours. we'll tell you what the republican contender responded by calling trump a, quote, puppet. they're called 'small businesses.'

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everyone loves free stuff chuck. can we get peyton a footlong? get it before it's gone. on the subway app. all right. now to a cnn exclusive. senior western officials tell cnn the united kingdom has supplied ukraine with multiple storm shadow cruise missiles. those weapons have self capables and are typically launched from the air with over 155 miles. so that means it could strike deep into russian held territory in eastern ukraine. ukraine has agreed not to use the missiles inside of russia. a u.s. official says the weapons are a game changer. ahead of the highly anticipated counter offensive. let's go to someone that knows more about this than any of us. you know this stuff inside and out. why is this so important? >> it's an enormous weapons

upgrade for ukraine. it triples the range, really, of existing weapons system that ukraine has about 50 miles. this has 150 mile range which allows it to strike, as you said, poppy, deep into russian-held territory in eastern ukraine. also in crimea. ukrainian forces agreed not to target russian territory proper. but as this comes just in advance of highly anticipated ukrainian counter offensive, they tend to regain some of that russian or all of that russian territory in the view of ukrainian officials. it's an enormous step forward in terms of capability for the forces. its a system that u.s. refused to give to ukraine due to concerns that range might make russia skiddish. and spark retaliation. i should note a western official is telling me, the quote, the uk previously said they will supply

ukraine with long-range weapons. this will now include a number of storm shadow missiles. british government has been clear that this is only in response to russia's deliberate targeting of civilian national infrastructure and is a proportionate response. but i don't think we can underestimate what effect this will have in terms of how far ukraine could strike and timing is key here. they are about by all -- perhaps you might say the worst kept secret, right in, national security circles that they are planning and preparing for a counter offensive to take back a lot of that russian territory. >> jim, it's a striking to look to the lens of what is happening with this action. then compare when caitlyn said who do you want to win the war in ukraine? take a listen to this response. >> can you say if you want ukraine or russia to win this war? >> i want everybody to stop dying. they're dying.

russians and ukrainians. i want them to stop dying. i will have that done in 24 hours. i'll have it done. you need the power of the presidency it to do it. >> my biggest question when i hear that is what's the response from international allies? what are you hearing from european governments, from asian government that's have been lined within the u.s. and wonder what is happening after 2024? >> outrage and fear. their fear is if trump is reelected that the u.s. and perhaps its allies will stop supporting ukraine. trump used a both sides approach to that war that does not align with the facts. russia invaded ukraine unprovoked. it invaded the territory of the sovereign nation. and when trump describes it as he wants people to stop dying on both sides, sure number one is rooting for death. but part of russia's military

strategy as we've seen every day in that country is kill civilians. often evidence of war crimes. remember the stories. rape, men, women, and children killed in the most horrible ways and daily missile and bombing attacks that target civilian infrastructure. so trump's both sides description of that war does not align with the facts or reality. >> great. he would not last night call putin a war criminal. >> jim, thank you for your excellent reporting. >> thanks. >> let's turn to sports. it was survival night. the warriors keeping the title defense hopes alive with a must win game five victory over lebron james and the lakers. helping to get out to a quick 12 point lead.

that is his jam. right before the half, curry added again, a buzzer. then in the fourth, anthony davis taking this shot from kevin looney in the face. that doesn't seem great. he would leave the game a head injury. he needed a wheelchair to get to the locker room. the game, of course, steph putting it away. steph, 27 points. warriors winning 121-106. game six is tomorrow night. >> i can't believe i had to ask if the knicks won. >> i'm a big knicks fan. >> when it's convenient. >> dianne fieinstein is back in washington after a three-month-long absence. what this means for the judicial nominations and more. that's next.

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>> welcome back to "cnn this morning." democratic senator dianne feinstein casting her first vote after nearly three months of absence from capitol hill. watch. >> mrs. feinstein? >> aye. >> senator feinstein was pushed in a wheelchair on to the senate floor for a vote on an department of education nominee, the 89-year-old senator returned to the capitol yesterday after months long recovery from shingles. in a statement, she said she still experiencing some of the side effects. she'll be working a lighter schedule. >> her return is democrats back their full majority. they have called on her to retire or resign. they could in the push through some of president biden's key nominees. in her statement yesterday, senator feinstein said she, quote, looks forward to resuming her work from the committe