>> good evening, we begin tonight with breaking news, we have obtained what is expected

to be a centerpiece of the government's case against donald trump. the actual audio recording of the former president talking as if he is showing a highly cost five document on plans against iran, with people not clear to even know it exists, let alone what is in it. in a moment, only on cnn, you will hear what yours will here in one day, the recording was made two summers ago in july 2020, one the former presidents club in bedminster new jersey. we will clearly hear the former president says he is speaking to several people, according to the special counsel indictment they clear a writer working on meadows memoir, the publisher, and to trump staff members. the president was aware he was being recorded. it is the first time it is being played publicly. >> these are bad sick people. >> but that was your crew, you know, that against you -- >> while it started right -- >> millie is talking about, oh -- they were trying to do that even before -- trying to overthrow your --

>> well, mainly, let me see that again. he said, that i wanted to attack iran. isn't it amazing how -- look. this was him. they presented me this off the record. they presented me this. this was him. this was the defense department. we looked at some, this was, him this was not done, by me this was him. all sorts of stuff. pages wrong. this is highly -- you this is secretive. look at this. >> hillary would print that out all the time. >> she sends it to anthony weiner.

pervert. by the way, isn't that incredible. i was just saying, we were talking about, it and here, he wanted to attack iran -- this was done by the military, given to me, i think we can probably -- we will have to see. trying to declassify. it as president i could have declassified, and now i can't. >> now we have a problem. >> isn't that interesting, it is so cool, and here -- you probably almost didn't believe, me but now you believe me. it is incredible. it brings some -- >> joining me now, cnn at the chief correspondent kaitlan, call it also senior -- paula reid. caitlin, first of, all what do you, make this is the first time we are hearing, this the transcript, as more in this audio we that we have seen in the transcript.

what stands out to you? >> there is more in this, this is a two minute clip of a recording that is over an hour long. this is of course the part that is at the center of jack smith's investigation, and we knew about, this we have seen it first reported that this existed, jack smith brought a caution had it in their hands. but to hear it, i think it really drives home, and undercuts everything that trump has been saying. even as of a few days ago, he was saying there was no document per se, but you can hear him very clearly in, they're referencing something and his hands. >> you can hear him shuffling through papers. >> he's not just saying here is this document, he very clearly appears to be showing it to them. >> look only the people in the room could, know that what you could hear in that, why this is so critical to jack smith case, because -- i have this document, it is secret, it is classified, i cannot declassify it now, because he is six months out of office. it is just remarkable to hear him saying it, and i was

talking to someone in trump's orbit about, this because obviously several people in his orbit have heard it themselves, when they found out about it in mid march. we were talking about comparing it to the access hollywood tape, how if you just had a transcript of, that it would not have been as, maybe, you know, controversial and contentious as it was when you could actually hear it. the same with this. the fact that we could read the transcript, but hearing it drives at home so much more. >> paula, you have reported extensively on this, case what is your reaction to hearing about -- >> anderson, it is remarkable how casual this conversation is. the former president knew he was being recorded during this, meeting his own aides when the habit of recording him, anytime he talked to journalists, or people working on, books in the room with him where to people who were working on an autobiography for mark meadows. even though he knows he is being recorded, you hear him casually discussing classified documents in admitting that he cannot declassify these. then, just a few moments, later calling to someone to bring

some coke. it is very conversational. that is one of the things that sticks out, to me i think it is important for people to really hear exactly what this sounds like. there is a lot of laughter in that recording as well, one of the other things that stands out to me, is the fact that he and the people around him in that room or choking that former secretary of state hillary clinton's use of a private email server, that is something we previously did not know, about because it was not included in the indictment. now, from a legal standpoint, it makes sense prosecutors would not include that. it is not incriminating, it is not relevant to the case, but in the court of public opinion, the fact he is making jokes about hillary clinton, other people in the, room making jokes about anthony weiner as, well that i think really comes off as humorous. we have the benefit of hindsight, here right, now this is being used as a key piece of evidence in a federal prosecution. and, caitlin, there is that moment where he says, that these are the papers, you can hear them, i want to play that

again because it is instructive to actually visualize what he is doing. >> i was just saying, we were talking, and, you know, he, said he wanted to attack iran, he said you did. this was done by the military. >> that was not in the indictment, that part of, it i don't think it was in the indictment. >> it is unclear, what he is talking about, there that people are watching it closely, as chairman mark milley, he is basically saying, this is proof that he wanted to attack, around not me. we should note, the document that is in question here, we are told, was predated, it was not actually something that he produced, but it is fixed to something we have, heard the former national security officials and people trump's orbit talk, about which is, this is not just something of information, a document, this is a nation secret which do not just change on a daily basis, you do not just come up with an attack plan for iran, he is just brandishing, and proudly

to random people in the room. these are random autobiographers working for mark meadows that are in the room. they do not have security clearances, he is showing this to, and i just think, i think this audio changed a lot about the way that trump's legal team viewed this case. they told me, paula and i and our other colleagues covering this for months, we had heard they were worried about this investigation that they had this document that he had just taken what he had with him and it wasn't nefarious. he is trying to use that now saying it is just golf clippings, you can see, there he knows exactly what he has. he knows it is not declassified. it is his own words. >> and why he is showing it to them, and to bolster his own case, to show, himself to brag essentially. >> there is reporting on how the doj, the fbi, they struggled as they were investigating, this they knew there was classified information that had not been returned, but they obviously had questions about trump's intent. this is before they knew, there was surveillance videos of him moving boxes around before his attorneys come to search.

i think this also speaks to his intent here. >> also wondering at the, and where he says -- i wonder if his body man is in the, room because he is now also facing charges. >> that was his primary job in the, white house that was -- fetch diet coke and cook for trump, he is the one getting arraigned tomorrow. >> paula, with that in, mind i want to play what trump said to fox last week in his interview. >> there was no document. that was a massive amount of papers, and everything, else talking about iran, and other things. and, it may have been holdup, or may, not but that was not a document. i did not have a document per se. there is nothing to declassify. these were newspaper stories, magazine, stories and articles. >> so, he is downplaying the papers he is, holding the articles and magazines, stories clearly that does not seem to be the case. we heard this audio, and he says these are the papers. he said, look, this just popped up. >> and it is significant, because these are the papers. that specific quote, that was

not included in the transcript that the special counsel included in this indictment, and, now it has taken on more significance, because he has altered his defense here to say, no, i did not have the document per se. there were no documents. now we reached out to the special counsel's office to ask if this was an intentional or mission, or a mistake, special counsel's office declined to comment, but i understand, your team has been -- it appeared to take a dozen innovations before everyone agreed on what they were, hearing so it is most likely just a mistake, and at this point if the special counsel will make an amendment to the indictment to include that line. >> it is an interesting idea, though if it was intentional omission in order to see how the president would react, maybe that is thinking too much, maybe i'm overthinking this. >> they had the opportunity to go back on, this to go on the record and say hey, we have made a mistake, as you can hear, there are lots of differently

as to the audio. at this point, it is unclear if this was a mistake, if they did not hear, it if it was a typo, or an intentional omission. it is likely to come up in the course of this, case because again, this is a really significant substantial of line now. >> and, beyond, in terms of the other people in the, room do we know exactly who they are beyond being -- >> you know, you make a great point, among people in the, room liz harrington, one of the people who works with -- one of his longtime aides, to people working on an autobiography for former white house chief of staff mark meadows, and it is really surprising when you hear this reporting, these voices, even the special counsel has labeled as staff, or egging him on, laughing, again like you, said being -- it is sort of encouraging him off the speed back that he was getting in the room. and in hindsight, you have to ask whether his staffers were in the best interest given the

responses throughout the at one point, one of the staffers acknowledged, now we have a problem. there is still some nervous laughter. >> kaitlan collins, paula, reed thank you. joining us now conservative lawyer and -- george conway, george, how damning is this for the former president do you think? >> well, the special counsel already had because we knew this tape existed in some form but to actually hear a former president of the united states committing a felony, probably multiple felonies on audiotape, my laughing, about it it is something i just -- i think it is just stunning, and i do not see how, i can understand exactly why trump's legal advisers think that this really changes the complexion, because i just do not see how a jury is going to -- i do not know how you can explain that in front of a jury. his waving around the, documents saying it is controversial, he is almost by definition of one of the most

confidential things you could possibly, have which is off the shelf plan to attack a potential enemy of the united states of america. that is very valuable top secret information, it is something the iranians would probably pay tens of millions of dollars for. it is something that you, know if it ever got to the wrong hands, it could lead to the deaths of american serviceman if the iranians were able to prepare for an attack, and they knew what the attack was going to be if they knew what the options laid out in this pentagon document war. it is just -- the fact that he is so absolutely cavalier, i mean, it is just sociopathic. this man has no respect for, rules no respect for the lives of other human beings, no respect for the country, no respect for the constitution, no respect for his duties. he is a sociopath a criminal, and this is just another nail in the coffin of -- this is just another thing that will put him away. >> you should play the video,

the former president last week downplaying these documents, calling them articles a newspaper story, -- >> he is just lying. he is just lying. >> what is so interesting about, this this is what he has continually done, which is, he lies, creates a, story that story gets debunked, and then he creates a new story based on the information that is out there, and he cannot stop himself from speaking he will give an interview with that news story and that gets debunked, and he will come up with a new story. >> it is a totally -- semi humourists piece in the washington post, when this first came out last, year about you, know cookies. he is saying, he does not have the cookie jar. you put the cookies there, the jar is mine, the cookies are mine. you know, the story changes from moment to moment, to moment. it is like the narcissist prayer, which, is if i didn't do it, if i didn't, you made me do it. it was all -- you just endless lying.

and -- it is like an onion -- you peel these lies, and you get more lies. >> how much of this undercuts the former presidents legal argument that he can declassify anything he wanted, which was his argument that it is making early on. a lot of his supporters are making early on. he acknowledges, he could have declassified it when he was president, but now no longer. >> and he, knows he knows that he didn't do, it and he knows that he can't do it now. he is no longer president. he knows, this is off the record, this is confidential, look at this, and i mean, it is manifesting. it is top secret cause a, fired and that doesn't even matter with him or serious charges he has been filed against him under the espionage act, because that doesn't even require the material to be classified, it just requires it to be sensitive national defense information, which unquestionably, plans to attack a foreign power is -- that is secret national defense information, and quite sensitive. >> and yet, there are plenty of people that are --

who hear this, tape and, continue to defend what is in it. >> yes, i don't know what drugs they are on, i will have what they are having, it is just amazing that they are able to do, this and able to pretend this man is not a criminal for so long. >> appreciate your time tonight. >> thank you. >> more on our exclusive breaking news in a moment, including what this -- but again, now, publicly for the, first-time means for the -- quote, there was no document. we will talk to a legal analyst, plus former member of the january 6th committee adam kinzinger. also tonight, tensions remain high after this weekend short-lived insurrection in russia, vladimir putin finally breaking his, silence calling those behind have traders, but not mentioning anyone by name. his one-time alight yevgeny prigozhin defended his, actions saying, he was not trying to threaten putin. we will have a live report from moscow, conversation with expert at the new yorker. tourists that turn into scientists. tourist taking photos that are analyzed by ai.

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more on breaking, news a cnn exclusive exclusive recording at the government's indictment against former president, which includes charges of illegal retention of national security document and obstruction of justice. the paper marks occurred months after the white house in july of 2021, and we will play it for you once again. >> these a bad sick people, -- >> that was your coup, you know, against you. >> well it started -- >> when emily is talking about, oh trying to --

they were trying to do that before you were even sworn in. trying to overthrow -- >> well, with milley, let me see that, i will show you an example, he said that i wanted to attack iran. isn't it amazing how politics -- this was him. they presented me this, it is off the record, but they presented me this. this was him. this was defense department -- this was him. this was not done by me, this was him. all sorts of stuff. pages. wait a minute, let's see here. i just, isn't that amazing, just this is my case you know, except it is highly -- this is secretive. look at this. >> hillary would print that

out. now >> she send it to anthony weiner. the pervert. by the way, isn't that incredible. i was just saying, we were talking, about it and he, said you wanted to attack iran, and he said -- >> you didn't. >> this was by the military. i think we can probably -- >> we will have to see. declassify. it as president i could have declassified, it now i can't. >> now we have a problem. >> isn't that interesting, it is so cool. look, you probably almost did not believe, me but now you believe me. it is incredible. it brings some -- >> we are joined now by cnn's political commentator adam kinzinger, for more republican congressman who served on the january six, committee and senior legal analyst -- former counsel to the u.s.

assistance an attorney general for national security. congressman, 2016 and candidate donald trump ran on the protection of classified information, saying, quote, in my administration, we will enforce all laws concerning -- no one will be above the law. i mean, you hear this, it is just a joke. >> it is a total joke, and hypocrisy through donald trump's whole administration and every day occurrence. this is a huge example of that. i mean, the whole thing about protecting classified information in 2016, let's state the, obvious it had nothing to do with classified information. it was a way to go after hillary clinton. that is what led to the whole, chance and all that kind of stuff. he has no regard for the protection of classified information, when he can sit in front of a group of people, and impressed them with the papers he has. what i thought was interesting, i think he is trying to act surprised that he found, it he says look at this, here this is -- first off, come on, secondly,

he is just sitting there upset because general milley tried to pin something on him, and his emotion is just welling up so much, he had this attack document put into papers, and he puts it like you founded to make his case. >> the former president, saying this totally wins my case, it is incredible how ironic that, is because if, anything this is now -- i mean, this proves the government's case. >> yes, i mean, when he's talking about his, case he talks about the argument, of the administration in favor of developing a war, but with respect to his legal, case this obviously is going to be a critical piece of evidence if the government ends up going to trial, in other words if he doesn't and up clean first. and, if it really does go to a, trial did the transcript of, it he had in the indictment, so he knew this incident occurred already, because the text of it was in the document. one of the things that stood

out to me now, and hearing the audio, it was that individual who says, wow. because, when that person says wow. when it sounds like he is showing the individual a classified document, you hear in a different way that came across in the text, that it really does sound like the person is looking at a document that they observe to be classified. now i still think that if this was evidence being presented at the trial, the government would have the audio, but the government would also have to have these witnesses who say, corroborate, yes, at that, time i was looking at a document that i understood to be classified. but the audio itself, and when that person says, wow i think that is a different impact than just reading the indictment alone. >> and, if you were representing the former government, what kind of events could you offer to rebut this recording. >> well, again, the question goes to, those the government

have other corroborating evidence that he wasn't just bsing. he was not just ruffling through papers, and sort of lashing something in front of them, and pretending like it was classified. so from a defense council perspective, the, burden they will need to put the government to task, to make sure that the government can authoritatively convince all of the potential jury members that in fact, there was a specific document, and there is corroborating evidence that he showed it to people who were not authorized to see it. >> congressman, the fact that you hear the former president saying he could declassify these, documents again, he is saying all of the stuff out loud, that he should just be keeping in his head if he wants to defend himself at all. >> it is funny, because, every argument he is, made he basically robots. when he is out, there is that can be classified. by the way, quick point on the wow.

as somebody who is seeing classified documents when you have seen something classified for the first time, it is kind of like -- so, i think it makes sense that somebody who's not seeing the classified information looks at that, and goes, wow. but i mean, donald trump has no defense here. and, what he has decided to, do it has worked for him in the past, i think the legal system will be very different, but he wins public, opinion or at least winds enough public opinion in his party to survive. i think that is his defense. to try and win the people, over run for president, win the reelection, and maybe sunday pardon himself. >> that is the, goal that is the goal. >> i think -- obviously, he wants to be president, again he doesn't want to be considered a loser, but i guarantee you in his mind right now, he thinks if i win, that is what i think the trial would get stalled as long as they possibly can, if i, when i will pardon myself. >> and, the special counsel would have access to people in that room. they would not really have any

legal argument for not -- if they were called, for not testifying, correct? >> well, i would presume that the special counsel has at least tried to talk to these people. i would expect, these are people that the government has already spoken to. i do not have the information, i have not seen it the reporting that these individuals were for example, before the grand jury. but, one would, think that is the type of information we have that the government would have wanted to know what these people in the room observe, before putting this into the indictment. because, again, one of the key things i think, anderson, the government's decision to charge this case, even notwithstanding the high cost vacation of all the information, and the potential damage to national security. even notwithstanding all that terribly damaging information, i think the government, because they have evidence that he showed it to other people, combined with the obstructive conduct, that is laid out in

the indictment, those are the two factors that i think push prosecutors hands to force them to have to bring this case against a former president. once they had evidence that demonstrates that he showed information that was classified to people unauthorized to have it, that was a critical factor i would judge in the investigation. >> so, it is so extraordinary, when you think about all the people at a national security apparatus of this country, who spent their lives trying to keep stuff compartmentalized, and keep stuff safe, the fact is telling this to a room full of people who have no security clearance, all of whom can go back to their loved ones and that night, and they will never guess what the former president showed me today, it is crazy. as are classified documents, there's nothing to stop somebody from doing that. >> we all have egos, but hopefully the goal is to put the country above your own ego. and, the interest of the country above your own ego. in this, case in his case, it

is his ego. he can look, say i shouldn't have had in the first place, but he knows that will impress people. he knows it will win his argument against milley. and, there are so many people, look, -- i think the airmen who just got arrested for disseminating classified information, there is no other american that knowingly does something like this that gets away with, it the president can't be different. >> congressman kinzinger, coming up, next live report from moscow and ukraine, in the wake of the mutiny by wagner group mercenaries with all sides saying about the apparent deal to and it. where it leaves the power struggle between yevgeny prigozhin, volodymyr, booton and on the ground, the war in ukraine next.

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>> russia's president vladimir putin addressed the -- wagner group mercenaries, their actions, and inexplicably and suddenly with wagner forces on the march north to moscow stopping short of the capital, and a deal that dissolves wagner into the regular army or exiles them to -- goshen as well, allegedly. no one friday night expected that to be the end of it, but at the same token, the three

days later no one fully knows what will come next. late today, putin said any move on moscow would have been defeated. >> an armed rebellion would have been suppressed in any case, the organizers of the rebellion, despite the loss of adequacy, could not fail to understand this. they understood everything, including that they resorted to criminal, acts to divide and weaken the country, which is now confronting a colossal external threat, unprecedented pressure from outside. >> prigozhin, his whereabouts unknown, spoke out as well today. >> the purpose of the march was to prevent the destruction of wagner, and the persecution of those who made a huge number of mistakes, in the course of the special military operation, due to the unprofessional actions. society demanded, this and all those who supported us sauce. >> he also weighed in.

they made clear that the -- in or the russian system. >> new reporting as well, tonight on what american intelligence knew leading up to the event, and e -- eight senior british officials, and the broader nato level. to report source from cnn's matthew chance in moscow, and eastern ukraine's been wedeman, we'll go first to moscow and matthew chance. so, talk more about what vladimir putin said today. >> well, i, mean this is the first time, anderson, first of, all that vladimir putin has appeared since this crisis, this armed rebellion on mutiny came to an and. so it has been three days that he has been silent, and that was being noticed around the country, and around the world.

he came on russian television looking visibly very angry. he did not look like somebody who is prepared to forgive. and you know, he talks about how the people who led this uprising, referring obviously to yevgeny prigozhin, did mention him by name, or traders. he talked about how -- what he could to reclaim the authority, that he certainly lost over the past of the several days over that weekend and mayhem, my saying there was more bloodshed in the personally ordered, for the authorities to make sure that there was little bloodshed as possible. he also restated an offer made to the wagner fighters that took part in this mutiny, to either sign contracts with the russian military, or -- in belarus where it is believed to be yevgeny prigozhin, their

leader, is also heading as well. >> yeah, it is it clear where prigozhin is? or if he is actually going to go to belarus? >> no, i, mean he sort of referred to the possibility of that today, in his first audio message, since the rebellion was called off saying that alexander lukashenko who is the leader of belarus a close putin ally had offered the potential for wagner to keep on operating their legally, because it is officially illegal in russia and so that was something he was referring to but belarusian officials i've spoken to repeatedly over the course of the past couple days refusing to confirm or deny that prigozhin is already there. there are some reports he might be. there is depends press conference schedule tomorrow with lukashenko, the belarusian leader, and we will hopefully get a bit more clarity there. >> so, i mean, i'm still

unclear, was this all about wagner forces being forced to join the regular army, and that was what was motivating this push by prigozhin? because he did not want to see wagner forces dissipated like that? what happens to them now, because they do play a role in a number of countries, certainly in africa to bring in a lot of money i, sumy certainly to prigozhin, but also to the kremlin in some way? >> yes, i mean, i think, so yes. look, there have been long-standing rivalry between yevgeny prigozhin, and the sort of higher ups in the russian military, particularly -- and the military chief of staff -- but, that battle which had been simmering in the background, sort of to the surface, and publicly backed his defense minister in that standoff, and called on wagner, fighters

ordered them to sign contracts with the russian military. in other words, to basically take them away from this private military company, and make them officially under the sway of the russian military. that was something that if johnny prigozhin just did not like, it was following that on friday, night there was an attack on prigozhin said on one of the camps of wagner, in which he said several of his fighters were killed. that really pushed the situation to this crisis point. >> matthew chance in moscow, appreciate it. -- love how russians, color author of the -- last days of the soviet empire, he joins us now. david, i don't even know where to begin, with you but, first what did you make of the speech from vladimir putin today? >> well, he is incensed, his, furious he has been -- like the wizard of oz when the -- you know, for years, we have been talking, about or certain people have been talking about vladimir putin as the grand

chess master of strategy, and placed the -- world stage like no other, et cetera, et cetera. now what has happened, is that this personalist regime of -- everything is dependent on, him his relationship to, him and beginning with -- who is a creation of vladimir putin, who is beginning to see the fissures at the highest moment of tension in putin's regime. now, vladimir putin is at war on three fronts, he invaded ukraine unnecessarily, so -- but he is confirming nato forces, and he is filing opponents at home, and i don't mean the liberals he is jailed, or the wall street journal correspondent -- we should not be forgotten jail, i mean people in his own circle. and, he knows he has been,

exposed 23 years into his reign, and suddenly, but speculation is rife in moscow. people know about this. >> so, what was prigozhin's game? was he intending to really have a coup? he says he wanted to go to moscow to confront his forces, to confront you, know the leaders of the army who he believes are incompetent, he wants to see removed. hard to see what he was going to show up their offices, and disarm them? i don't understand how that would play out. was he expecting there would be others in the security services who would maybe rally if they knew the forces were coming, but then realized they are not rallying, so he turned around. what was that? >> well, we shouldn't underestimate the factors ego and idiocy. ego and idiocy. because, look, prigozhin is a guy who spent nine years in jail, for breaking into apartments, that was his distinguished beginning.

then, he sold hot dogs in philly, markets made some, money and became a restaurateur, and his client, great client was lattimer pond in who set him up. he became one of the great st. petersburg knew all of our x of the regime, and one of his acquisitions was sponsored by the kremlin was this mercenary army that proved to be quite successful, and put air quotes around, impressive in ukraine. the built prigozhin sense of ego, and his pretensions to power, suddenly he was found in political ratings. he was getting some support in various polls, and you know, he decided that he was going to show putin that his army was incompetent and weekend, denying him the glory and ammunition he deserved, and like an idiot, he march towards moscow, until he got the better of, it and i don't mean to say it is a simple as all that, but

we should not underestimate the very human dynamic of ego and stupidity. >> and so, what happens to him now? vladimir putin allows him to just live in belarus? i mean, does that -- >> i don't think atlanta is striving to give him an increase life insurance policy. considering what the record for putin's opponents have been, and by the, way let's distribute these analyses evenly. it is not that putin turned out to be a genius, here a year and a half ago he recklessly and for no reason at all politically or, otherwise other than his own sense of power, and empire, invaded a country that he thought he could take over in a week. and, that could be an absolute folly. he is in a, spot i'm not saying he will be out of power next week or next month, but i think it might haste in the process. >> i really appreciate your, time thank you so much.

>> my pleasure. >> ukraine's president zelenskyy visited frontline troops today giving a combat citations and getting a briefing from one of the regional commanders. he is firmly the wagner rebellion as positive for the war efforts. cnn's ben wedeman is in eastern ukraine as well, joins us now. so, how has this impacted things on the ground in ukraine? at this point, anderson, it is not altogether clear. what we are seeing, anderson, i'm sorry, i'm having problems. anderson what we understand is that it hasn't really had a huge impact on the war effort, that many ukrainians were hoping that this chaos in the kremlin would last a little longer. but it really didn't. today they announced they were able to take one village, a very small village in the south. and we heard i think the front expression of frustration with the situation from the deputy defense minister who said our troops are having a really hard time, it's very difficult.

>> is the issue the air superiority that the russians have. i mean, the artilleries superiority that they have? >> well what we have heard from troops of the front is that oftentimes when they advance, the russian troops basically run away. the problem is in fact the artillery. the artillery is then unleashed and their gains are nullified. and also yes, they do have air superiority at the front lines. now the russians are very cautious with their use of helicopters for instance. they don't fly them over the ukrainian positions. but they simply have more of them than the ukrainians. and they use that to their maximum advantage, anderson? >> and was there any response in ukraine to what vladimir putin said today? have you heard? >> well we have. in fact, we heard one statement from hallow pontiac who is a

senior adviser to the ukrainian president. dripping with sarcasm. he said putin's speech was a truly epic address that determines the future of russia. he said that doubts are finally dispelled. russia is waiting for a new president. anderson? >> ben wedeman, appreciate, it thank you. just ahead, to understand how putin may deal with this latest threat to his power, it is helpful to understand perhaps how he has dealt with previous threats. and ike has more on his rise to power, that is next. remember the things you loved... ...before asthma got in the way? fasenra is an add-on treatment for asthma driven by eosinophils. it's designed to target and remove them and helps prevent asthma attacks. fasenra is not for sudden breathing problems or other eosinophilic conditions.

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before the, big scholars -- said that the wagner group uprising shatters in the image to the world that vladimir putin is some sort of grand chess master. that is the image he's cultivated of himself for many years. -- has more on putin's rise to power. >> he is the ultimate alpha male. or at least he'd like the world to believe that. vladimir putin -- always presenting himself as the picture of strength. often, shirtless captured -- or taking a -- putin was born in 1952, in what is now st. petersburg. in 1975 he joined the kgb as a --

in 1990, nine then president porous your ultimate appointed putin prime minister. in putin he was elected president of russia. at the, time even president george bush was impressed. no it did not last, i thought it would be very straightforward, and trustworthy. >> putin was reelected in 2004, but 2008 seed reached the tournament under russia's constitution. he got creative, and switched jobs within prime minister dimitri medvedev -- matter enough was elected president of, russia and named putin his prime minister. a move that raised questions about how much power -- had. he changed his constitution, and being -- from four years to six years. before putin was reelected president again and 2012. [speaking non-english] >> putin has rolled russia for more than two decades, and his dad powers undeniable. he escalated the world in chechnya, invaded ukraine, and his government allegedly interfered in the 2016 u.s. presidential election. though he is denied that, he also allegedly had a hand in disposing of his critics, like

former russian spy alexander -- who died weeks after drinking a -- of poison laced. he blamed putin. the kremlin denied his involvement, still, putin won his last election in 2018 with more than 76% of the vote. his critics have slammed the election as unfair, citing tight control over the media, and election monitors, some critics have suggested putin has used his reign, not better the lives of the russian people, but to enrich himself, through theft and corruption. bill browder, who wants invested heavily in russia is now one of vladimir putin's toughest critics. >> can you estimate his net worth? >> 200 billion. putin's wealth are hard to come by. these photos from inside one of putin's lavish homes were shared with cnn by an independent russian just journalist who left the country. >> this man loves gold, and he loves his rich life very much. >> putin also likes to keep his private life private.

but news of his longtime mistress with whom he reportedly has children has made headlines. these are pictures of putin was alina kabaeva, a former olympic gymnast who is about 30 years younger than putin. she and putin met more than a decade ago, but are rarely seen together. >> despite his grip on power, now suddenly in question, putin is expected to rule at least until 2024, one at age 71, he will and his fourth presidential term. however, he signed legislation in 2021 that would allow him to run for two more terms. this could mean he may be an office until 2036. randi kaye, cnn. >> coming up next, remembering

one of the great innovators and television news. someone who was very special to me and so many people here. tourist taking photos that are analyzed by ai. so researchers can help life underwater flourish. ♪

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to take a moment to tell you

about somebody who is incredibly important to all of us here at cnn. and to plenty of folks at abc news and nbc news and cbs news and a whole lot of other places. his name is david bohrman. he died over the weekend and it is simply hard to imagine that. because david bohrman was so full of life and joy and enthusiasm and ideas. so many ideas. he loved television and news and thinking of new ways to convey the extraordinary event he himself was able to see firsthand as a producer. david grew up in news, his mom was a television writer and his dad was a fixture in local california news. >> good evening everyone, at 6:00 here in the bay area, i am stand bohrman. >> that was david's dad, by 26 dave it was one of the original staffers and abc news is nightline with tim koppel. he quickly became the youngest senior producer ever in network news. he was a visionary. he came up with ways of doing

things that nobody had done before. he was the first to get labial from mount everest. at abc created a kind of news what vague before the web as we knew it even existed. and he also created a completely unique an offbeat newscast called world news now, erin brown at lisa priem where the first anchors. and the show is still on the air. it is on in the wee hours of the morning. i was at abc news in the late 90s, and struggling to find my footing. and getting to anchor that show was like a life raft. >> your pre-featherweight, you are like what's next and featherweight, you are teeny? >> i mean teeny? >> how long have you've been here, can i just show you something? can we get a tight shot of this? what does this say? what does this say? anderson cooper, senior anchor. >> we were on in the middle of the night and you can do a lot of you can do elsewhere. we're not for that i would not be sitting here tonight. no doubt about it. cnn, they've pioneered so much using technology and innovation