fred pleitgen, cnn moscow. >> fred, has there been any signal from the kremlin about what could come>> it's very clear that all this is extremely important to the kremlin. in fact, an hour and a half ago we got an email from the kremlin press service that darya dugina have been awarded the order of courage from the russian federation, and we also heard vladimir putin in that condolence telegram that he sent. but it's also the case and very clear that there are a lot of prominent people in russia who, as brutal as things are in ukraine right now, want russia to hit ukraine even harder than it already is, and taking more ukrainian territory. one of those people is actually aleksandr dugin who has been advocating that for a very long time, but those voices have now become even louder. you hear that from the top echelons of russian kremlin control media, for instance, where there have been people who have been called and 4 strikes on kyiv in response to this, and also hitting kyiv's decision-making centers, as they say. whether or not the russians have the capacity to do that is of cours

. >> cnn senior international correspondent fred pleitgen is outside the courthouse near moscow. fred, visibly emotional, griner, apologizing to the court, taking responsibility for her actions there. you mentioned last hour moscow courts don't have a record for leniency, though? >> reporter: no, you're absolutely right, they certainly don't. i don't think it's something that can be expected of a moscow court and that dependence could rely on. if you look at the conviction rates for russian courts, they're around 99%, so that obviously is a huge number. if you look at some of the sentences recently doled out, like against mark fogle, he received 14 years in court so the sentences here usually here in russia are very high. nevertheless, brittney griner's defense team told me as far as russian courts go, they believe they have done as good a job as possible to try and get some sort of leniency. part of it was exactly for the reasons that we just saw on our screens. it was brittney griner taking responsibility, it was brittney griner apologizing. it was brittney griner saying how muc

i'm going to go straight to cnn's fred pleitgen who is live outside the courtroom near moscow. ed, what is the latest? what are we hearing about how that sentencing will go? >> yeah, i mean it really is significant information that we're getting, dana. first of all, you're absolutely right, the court has found brittney griner guilty. as we see on our screens right now, the judge is still sort of reading out the verdict and what exactly the specifics of this verdict are. but there's something that's very important that the judge has read in saying that they have found brittney griner guilty with criminal intent. that means that the court believes what the prosecution has said, that they believe that brittney griner intentionally took narcotics to the russian federation, obviously talking about those two vaping cart ridges. you'll recall one of the cases or one of the things that the defense team tried to establish and brittney griner tried to establish was that she did not intend to take these vaping cartridges into russia, that she packed very quickly, very hastily, and by accid

let's check in with fred pleitgen. i understand griner's attorneys are speak.et's listen to them and then i'll come back to you. >> reporter: this correspondents to what's happening. it's totally going against the actual part of the russian penal code. we will appeal and we're very disappointed and surprised by this decision. how is britney feeling? she feels bad. any word a possible exchange? no, no one is discussing that was. it's a question for the administration. if appeal will not be granted. do you think you can write to the president for the presidential pardon? we will do everything in our -- everything in order to free her. she doesn't have to stay behind bars for nine years. we have ten days for our appeal. it's moscow's regional court. if the appeal is totally appropriate if the verdict goes against the actual text of the russian penal code. we've seen similar cases. everyone gets much more lenient sentences. we will see. it depends. it's certainly established by the court. the journalists saw her reaction who was in the courtroom. she's very upset.

we have fred pleitgen standing by live near moscow. e really noticed that we're getting into the decisive phase of the trial. what the defense tried to do, put forth an expert witness to cast doubt on the forensics on the vaping cartridges that britney grotney griner had on h. and were conducted improperry to try to discredit some of the evidence that the prosecution has put forth. this is all part of a several-prong strategy that we're seeing from the defense here, i actually spoke to brittney griner's defense lawyer, she said for now, things are going as well as expected in a trial like this. obviously, brittney griner pleaded guilty, showed remorse. and they brought in character witnesses as well one of the things gleaned from today, the fact that the next hearing could be on thursday and there could be a verdict that day. >> fred, is there any sense of how the prisoner swap offer has impacted the trial today? >> reporter: well it certainly looms over this trial in a big way. obviously, it's something talked about here in russia just

fred pleitgen is standing by for us in moscow.hat more are you hearing about these potential steps and also about the possibility of these international inspectors gaining access to the plant? >> reporter: hi there. yeah, as far as the steps are concerned, essentially the russians every day accuse the ukrainian of shelling the area of the nuclear power plant or the area around that nuclear power plant and specifically on this day of course the russian military has said that they believe that there will be a false flag operation on the part of the ukrainians and there have been even some officials who said that they believe that the ukrainians were trying to create a radiation leak at that nuclear power plant to then blame that on the russians. so that is sort of the backdrop of what moscow has been saying and also what the military civilian officials there in the zaporizhzhia region have been saying as well who then said that her going to increase the security around that nuclear power plant site. as far as the visit of the intern

. >>> and let's turn now to cnn's fred pleitgen who is live for us in moscow. fred, you were hearing from melissa there reports that the counteroffensive has got under way. russia have already been responding. what are they saying? >> reporter: ukrainians said that they had taken four towns on the ground but russians claim that the offensive as they put it as so far failed miserably, but it also did take the russians a long time to acknowledge that there was a counter offensive going on. so the russians at least acknowledging now that there is heavy fighting going on, that this is a counteroffensive by the ukrainians. one of the other things that the russians have said, that overnight there was pretty heavy shelling going on in a town that is in that general area, a pretty long frontline actually if you look at the counteroffensive where the ukrainians are trying to make head way. again right now the russians say that they are holding on but they acknowledge the heavy firing going on from the ukrainians as well. it was quite interesting because there was a local

our senior international correspondent fred pleitgen is joining us from moscow with the details. still a developing story, but what more do we know at this point? >> reporter: certainly is a developing story. all of this happened late last night when a car that was heading towards the outskirts of moscow all of a sudden blew up and then crashed and burned out. at the wheel of that car was daria, daughter of the prominent sort of pro kremlin ideologue and philosopher. he has laid ground for the sort of thinking towards ukraine in the high circles and elsewhere in russia as well. obviously a very expansionist theory of russia. but investigators have said that there was an explosive device placed inside the car. they say that they have launched an investigation. daria of course died on the spot. her father appears to be seen in some of the videos that have come in from the scene. so obviously a big deal here in russia as the sort of investigators have said that they launched the investigation. they have not placed blame yet. but if you look around the sphere of a lot of the people p

we get more details now from fred pleitgen live in moscow. aring from the kremlin? >> reporter: really after only a day of investigation at that site where the vehicle was blown up and crashed and obviously engulfed in flames killing darya dugina, they came out and said this ukrainian woman came to russia with her 12-year-old daughter, moved into a complex where darya dugina lived to see the routine of her and went to the same festival that darya and her father were at on saturday and then conducted that bombing. we see some of the aftermath of that destroyed vehicle that burned out and managed to escape to estonia afterwards. they put out a video, the fsb has, the russian intelligence service. you already mentioned that the ukrainians deny they were behind this saying russia lives in a fictional world. the ukrainians came out very early in the game and said they have nothing to do with that. the ukrainians hinting they believe this could be some sort of inside job. it's very difficult to tell but the russians very quickly coming out. i think

cnn correspondent fred pleitgen has the latest from moscow. >> brittney griner's legal team says she russian court sentenced her to nine years in jail on drug charges saying only this to our camera as she was led out of the courtroom. >> brittney, how do you feel? >> this after griner had made an emotional appeal to the court, holding up a photo of the team she plays for in russia at times breaking out in tears. >> i want to apologize to my teammates, my club, the fans and the city of ekat. it's my mistake that i made and the embarrassment they brought to them. >> the wnba star and two-time olympic gold medalist had pleaded guilty to the charges, but said she did not intend to bring vaping cartridges containing cannabis oil to russia when she was detained in a moscow airport in february. >> i never meant to hurt anybody. i never meant to put in jeopardy the russian population. i never meant to break any laws here. i made an honest mistake, and i hope that in your ruling that it doesn't end my life here. >> but that did not move the judge who ruled that griner acted with criminal inte

fred pleitgen is in moscow. the u.s.s you know suggested a prisoner swap before griner's sentencing. russia kind of anted up. do you find the statement now a sign that substantive negotiations will begin again? >> well, it certainly appears as though there is some movement at least, jim. i think first of all you're absolutely right. the russians were extremely irritated when the u.s. came out and said publicly said that there was a substantial offer on the table to try and get both brittney griner and paul whelan out of russian custody, a swap. it is something the russians really didn't want to talk about publicly. they called it megaphone diplomacy, said that the u.s. needed to return to quiet diplomacy. it seems there are changes to that now with sergey lavrov, the russian foreign minister publicly saying that russia is willing to engage. and one of the things that brittney griner's lawyers told us throughout the trial is that they believe that there needed to be a verdict in this trial, a sentencing in this trial for

fred pleitgen joins us from moscow. about a potential prisoner exchange that would theoretically contain paul whelan. tell us about that. >> yeah, jake. it's really been shaping up over the course of the weekends where the russians once again said they were very willing to engage with the united states for some sort of prisoner exchange. that would bring brittney griner home. however, now for the first time, the head of the north america department of the russian foreign ministry said that he confirmed that the names currently in play are for the russian side, arms dealer viktor bout, serving a 25-year sentence in a jail in the united states, and for the u.s. side, brittney griner and paul whelan, who of course is serving that 16-year sentence here in russia for alleged espionage, which he denies. the russians once again, however, saying they want all of these talks to happen in secret. they say there's a mechanism in place, and they certainly don't want to get any details out in the public. they say if any details get

fred pleitgen looks at what happens now. >> reporter: for the first time, russia is saying it is willingner swap to bring wnba star brittney giner home. but the kremlin warning talks must remain secret or they'll fail. >> if we discuss a few details by the press, then those exchanges will never take place. the americans have already made that mistake. suddenly deciding to use mega phone diplomacy to resolve these issues. this is now how they are resolved so we will not give any comments. >> reporter: the u.s. has said it put an offer on the table to get brittney giner and paul whelan in russian for espionage which he denies released. cnn learning that the biden administration is offering convicted russian arms dealer victor bout in return. secretary of state blinken said washington will take up moscow's offer to negotiate. >> we put forward as you know a substantial proposal that russia should engage with us on. and what foreign minister lavrov said this morning and said publicly is that they are prepared engage through channels we've established to do just that and we'll be pursuing tha

but as fred pleitgen reports, moscow and kyiv are not mincing words as they blame each other for theeporter: russia and ukraine accusing each other of bringing the world to the brink of a nuclear disaster. both sides claiming the other is targeting the atomic power plant in zaporizhzhia in southern ukraine. vladimir putin with a staunch warning after a call with french president, emmanuel macron. vladimir putin in particular stressed that the systematic shelling by the ukrainian military on the territory of the zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant creates the danger of a large-scale catastrophe that could lead to radiation contamination of vast territories, the official kremlin readout says. these new images seem to show little to no additional damage on the area of the plant since mid-july. but the ukrainians say russia has moved heavy weapons into the power plant and is shelling ukrainian towns nearby. it's unacceptable that russia puts all of us on the verge of a nuclear catastrophe of a global scale, ukraine's president said. as the brutal war in ukraine drags on with neither side re

fred pleitgen in moscow.nk you very much. >>> let's discuss this with congressman collin al redd. he's been involved in efforts to secure her release. thanks so much for joining us. as you heard the russian foreign minister said they're ready to discuss to possible prisoner swap. are you more optimistic now that her trial is behind her. >> as sad as yesterday was, and it was hard to see the impact that this entire process has had on britney and i sew so many of her fans, some people that care about her, seeing a nine-year sentence that is heartbreaking but we few we had to get through the show trial faze to get to this point. and i think hearing minister lavrov say now tear ready to negotiate is a positive. and this is going faster, this process so far for britney than it did for trevor reed or for paul whelan. and that is also positive because that means she's had to spend less time in prison in the pretrial phase. >> you say it is actually a positive step that grien's trial moves so quickly but what message

>> all right, thanks to fred pleitgen. for more cnn national security analyst steve hall. steve, right now we don't know who is responsible for this attack. there's that stunning footage of a distraught alexander dugin at the scene. there's one report his daughter was driving his car. what is your initial read? do you think this was an assassination attempt? >> it's a fair bet the actual target of this explosive device was not dugina, the daughter, but was alexander dugin himself. alexander dugin, himself is a pseudo political philosopher, more of a mouthpiece or ideological supporter of the kremlin. he's essentially a propagandist who believes russia should extend as far as it possibly can to include in ukraine n. that sense he is very supportive of putin. then that takes us to the whodunnit piece. i think it's safe to say we'll probably never know for sure because, of course, these investigations in russia will never be made actually public. there will be a lot of propaganda. if you look at it, two different possibilities, two groups of possibilities. the first is an ext

. >>> let's go now to fred pleitgen, he is in moscow for us.s russia thousand saying about that nuclear plant? >> reporter: first of all, i mean, sam is right, russians are saying that they believe that there will be a provocation on the part of the ukrainians. they basically every day it is quite interesting to view it from moscow, they ever accused ukrainians of shelling the area of that nuclear power plant and they also say that they believe that while the u.n. secretary-general who of course was in sam's report is in ukraine, that there could be another provocation as they call it. they say they have stepped up security in those areas. i think the two main important things though is the russians are saying they are not against a visit from the international atomic energy agency. in fact they say that they think that it will happen. however the russians are saying that they will not allow that area to become a demilitarized zone, they say they don't trust the ukrainians and they are not going to withdraw their forces from that area. >> fred

cnn's senior international correspondent fred pleitgen is in moscow for us with more on theesh plosion that could trigger a major escalation in this war, including new video of the suspect released by russia, a video that raises more questions than answered about this supposed evidence. >> shortly after the explosion that caused darya dugina to crash on a moscow highway, her car engulfed in flames. darya dugina was dead at the scene, police say. her father, pro-kremlin ideologue alexander dugin looking on in dismay. tonight, vladimir putin with an angry response. quote, a vile, cruel crime cut short the life of darya dugina. she proved by deed what it means to be a patriot of russia, the russian leader said in a condole bs letter. after only a short investigation, the russians now blaming ukraine for the murder. the intelligence service releasing this video which cnn cannot independently verify claiming to show a ukrainian special services operative who allegedly entered russia together with her young daughter, shadowed dugina, and fled to neighboring estonia. alexander dugin, who some

our senior international correspondent fred pleitgen joins us from moscow with details. still a developing story, but what do we know at this point? >> reporter: well, we know that this happened late last night on the outskirts of moscow. apparently she was coming in this land cruiser vehicle from a patriotic event she had attended with her father, alexander dugin, who is, of course, a prominent ideologue and philosopher here in russia, very much pushes a lot of the expansionist theories of a future russian empire and also very much supports russia's invasion of ukraine and the annexation of the donbas. darya dugina, what we know happened, she was traveling in this vehicle, when the vehicle blew up according to the investigators and then caught fire. she was dead on the spot. there are some here in russia, sort of some of the things we're hearing from prominent circles in the pro kremlin camp especially who very much believe that alexander dugin himself may have been the target of this attack, that someone wanted him dead. he is, as we stated, someone who is quite promin

fred pleitgen is in moscow for us tonight. nd how soon could there be a verdict? >> reporter: there could be a verdict very soon. the defense called the final witness. it was an expert witness who testified and cast some doubt in some of those early forensics that took place. one of the vaping cartridges that brittney griner is having admitted to have on her when she entered the airport on february 17th of this year and then of course was apprehended by the police there. now i spoke to her legal defense team and her lawyer told me that she believes the next court date, which is going to be on thursday, that's going to have the closing arguments and there could possibly be a verdict on that day. not 100% certain yet. there are certain things that that still depends on but she says it's something that could happen. she also says that right now brittney griner, of course, very focused on to get as lenient a verdict as possible from the court. let's listen in. >> she's still focused and she's still nervous and she still knows that

and fred pleitgen has covered iran stextensively and is joini us live from moscow. the response from the united states to these demands? >> reporter: well, so far the u.s. says it is studying the demands put forward by the iraniance. the european union says it is studying them as well. but so far the vibe from the iranians after statements made by u.s. officials have not been very negative, they still believe that there are positive vibes out there, they believe that deal can be done very quickly. i want to listen in quickly to what the state department had to say about what they received from the iranians and how things could move forward. let's listen in. >> we started this process in the spring of 2021. it is now nearly late summer of 2022. if all sides, if the iranians had demonstrated a seriousness of purpose from the earliest days of this, we would have been able to achieve a mutual return to compliance with the jcpoa in relatively short order. >> reporter: of course the iranians have very different take on that. they believe that the biden administration when

fred pleitgen has covered iran st extensively and is joining us live.learly iran still has reservations here. do we know what those are? >> reporter: they certainly do and the iranians have said none are unsolvable. and i've just spoken with some folks close to the negotiations and they have said that they believe that all of this can be done very quickly. they want some minor changes they say to the text that was put forward by the european union. on the one hand they say that probe that was done by the international atomic energy agency where the board of directors of the iaea repr reprimanded iran for not being able to explain some traces that was at a site. and iranians say that was unfair and the probe needs to be closed. and iranians also, and this is important, they also want guarantees that there will be real sanctions relief, that the sanctions relief that is put forward if the deal can comes back into full force, that is if the u.s. joins it, because of course we always have to keep in mind that the united states is the country that is current

fred pleitgen reports from russia's capital for us where some putin supporters are done using the termitary operation in ukraine. >> as darya dugina's buddy lay in an open casket among the mourners, grief, sorrow, but also massive anger and a thirst for revenge. dugina's faurlt, the hard line pro-kremlin ideologue alexander dugin, emotional, openly calling for a massive escalation of russia's invasion of ukraine. the price we have to pay can be justified by only one thing, the highest achievement, victory, he said. she lived in the name of victory and she died in the name of victory. our russian victory, our truth, our orthodoxy, our country, and our empire. some going even further than that, demanding an all-out war. maybe this event in the capitol will help convey the message to our government that we have to stop playing around with, quote, special military operations and it's time to start a war, a serious war with first and foremost spiritual mobilization, a friend of darya dugina said. after darya dugina was killed when her car exploded and crashed on a moscow highway, it took th

cnn's senior international correspondent fred pleitgen is in moscow. this investigation in russia has begun. what do you know about it? >> reporter: yeah, the investigation seems to have moved extremely quickly in russia. after only a day of investigating the russians have come out saying that they know who is behind the killing of darya dugina. they say it was a ukrainian woman who worked for special services who allegedly came to russia with her young daughter, scoped out darya dugina, killed her in a bomb blast and then managed to escape to estonia. that's what the russians are saying. the ukrainians are saying they have absolutely nothing to do with this, ukrainians hinting they believe this might have been some sort of inside job. unclear what exactly happened. however, one of the things that we do have to note is that this could lead to serious escalation or an even bigger escalation between russia and ukraine. there are russians who are already speaking about revenge and one of them is the father of darya dugina, her father alexander dugin. i wa

we get more details from cnn's fred pleitgen live in moscow.what did you see? >> rep >> reporter: hi there, bianna. i think one of the more remarkable things is that the denials we heard from the ukrainians seemed to fall on deaf ears to all of the folks attending the memorial service. there was a lot of mourning, a lot of grief and a lot of anger and calls to hit ukraine harder than russia is doing right now. there are a lot of people calling for an all-out war against ukraine as a response to the killing of darya dugina. you mentioned, of course, one of the people who was one of the staunchest hard liners in this case is darya dugina's father, alexander dugin, who is known as an important ideologue here, someone close to the thinking of vladimir putin. he went on stage today and, you know, obviously there was a lot of grief but there was also clearly a call to escalate russia's military operation in ukraine further. mer here is what he said. >> translator: the price that we have to pay can be justified by only one thing, the highest achieveme

cnn fred pleitgen is live in moscow for us at this hour. half a year in. what is putin's strategy now? >> two-fold strategy, kate. i think on one hand what vladimir putin is trying to do is insulate the public if you will especially in the larger russian population center from the brutality of the conflict that's going on there in ukraine and also the way things are going at least in detail on the battle field, as well. one of the things we know is that at the beginning, the russians thought this would be over in a couple days. it was something said on tv shows here in the public, it was something that russian p politicians had said, as well. we're here six months on and i was actually before we went on air watching one of the main talk shows here that deals almost exclusively with the what russia called the special operation in ukraine and it took them a very long time to even mention that all this has been going on more six months and you know, one of the things that i think is really interesting is that when you're here in moscow, like i have been so mu

cnn's fred pleitgen has more. >> reporter: hi, phil. there is very little in the way of information coming out from that investigative committee as to where exactly things stand with that investigation. however, one of the things we have heard is that the explosive yield they believe of that bomb was the equivalent of about 400 grams of tnt. they also say they found parts of what they think might have been that explosive device and have sent those in for forensic investigation. a lot is still very much unclear, like, for instance, who might be behind all of this. here's what we're learning. a car engulfed in a massive fire ball on a highway outside moscow. police say the vehicle exploded and then crashed. the driver dead on the scene. that driver was daria dugena a well known commentator and supporter of russia's invasion of ukraine who was sanctioned by the united states and the uk. she was also the daughter of prominent right wing idealogue. according to russia state media an explosive device detonated saturday night setting the vehic

this morning, a memorial service is being held for darya dugina in months wow, cnn's fred pleitgen isthe things you can see from that memorial service, there was a lot of obviously a anger, a lot of people calling for escalation with what's going on with russia and ukraine. openly calling for a wider war to end. one of those speaks was, of course, the father of darya dugina, an ideologue in line with vladimir putin as far as the thinking of ukraine, what he calls the russian world. he was broken to tears in several occasions but essentially calling for an escalation towards ukraine, let's listen in. >> translator: the price that we have to pay can be justified by only one thing. the highest achievement, victory. she lived in the name of victory. and she died in the name of victory. our russian victory, our truth, our orthodoxy, our country, and our empire. >> reporter: yeah, you see it there, kaitlan, speaking of a russian empire. speaking of a victory that russia wants to achieve there. so, certainly pretty tough words. there were other speakers exactly mirroring pretty much of the e

cnn's fred pleitgen has the latest from moscow. >> reporter: the murder of daria dugan could inflame it even more. the fsb coming out and squarely blaming ukrainian intelligence services for the murder. they say that a ukrainian woman who was working for the ukrainian special services entered russia and then killed daria dugan and managed to escape to estonia. the ukrainians are saying that is absolutely not true. they say that these accusations show that russia is living in a fictional world. the father of the woman, who's said to be very close to vladimir putin in his thinking, alexander dugan, he came out and has already called for revenge and an escalation of russia's special military operation in ukraine. he said, quote, our hearts yearn for more than just revenge or retribution, it's too small, not the russian way. we only need our victory. my daughter laid her maiden life on her altar so win please he said in a statement. there are other people in the top echelons of russian state-controlled media and politics who are calling on further escalation against ukraine. again, the u

fred pleitgen, thank you so much. keep us posted with the very latest. thank you. >>> just ahead, a siege at a hotel in somalia is finally over after at least 20 people were killed. this whole thing lasted hours and hours. we're going to tell you how security forces were able to take back control from insurgents and how the united states is now responding to the attack. >>> plus, after nearly a decade, parents of college students abducted in mexico are learning more about what happened to their kids. this report is shedding new light on their abduction, and how government officials are responding. >>> plus, a cnn exclusive, our own chloe melas sits down with actor alec baldwin following the fbi's report on the shooting on the set of the film "rust." who he blames and why he says he feared for his life. )♪ ♪ bout to get down, living it up ♪ ♪ never touch ground, never enough ♪ ♪ got me feeling good vibes ♪ ♪ everything's everything's good vibes, gogood vibes ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ trelegy for copd. ♪ birds flyin' high ♪ ♪ you know how i feel ♪ (coughing) ♪ breeze

fred pleitgen is live in moscow with the latest. give us an update. >> reporter: the diplomatic sphere but then also the legal sphere as well. certainly i can say that brittney griner's lawyers are continuing their fight, i was actually in touch with her legal defense team earlier today and they say that they have to file an appeal if they are going to do so within ten days and they say they are absolutely going to do that with the court on the outskirts of moscow. as we speak right now her legal team is actually outside of moscow at the detention facility where brittney griner is being kept and trying to visit her. of course, right now after this verdict she needs all the support she can get. she's getting that not from her legal team but internationally really, especially from the basketball world. here is what we're learning. a moment of silence between the wnba's connecticut sun and phoenix mercury. 42 seconds of silence to be exact. the number that brittney griner wearing for the phoenix mercury. >> obviously it's devastating.

cnn's sam kiley in kyiv and fred pleitgen in moscow.n with fred pleitgen's report. >> reporter: shortly after the explosion that caused daria dugina to crash on a moscow highway, her car engulfed in flames. daria dugina was dead at the scene, police say. her father, alexander dugin, looking on in dismay. tonight, vladimir putin with an angry response. quote, a vile, cruel crime cut shore the live of darya dugina. after only a short investigation, the russians now blaming ukraine for the murder. the intelligence service releasing this video which cnn cannot independently verify, claiming to show a ukrainian special services operative who allegedly entered russia together with her young daughter, shadowed dugina, carried out the car bombing, and then fled to neighboring estonia. alexander dugin, who some believe may have been the actual target of the plot, lashing out against ukraine. >> translator: our hearts yearn for more than just revenge or retribution. it's too small, not the russian way. we only need our victory. my daughter laid h

fred pleitgen is in moscow for us. >> reporter: the investigation is still in the early stages. saw investigators there at the crime scene and so many questions that have been raised by this. first and foremost was daria dugina the target or her father? the big question, who exactly could be behind this? here's the latest. a car engulfed in a massive fireball on a highway outside moscow. police say it exploded and crashed. the driver dead on the scene. the driver was daria dugina, a supporter of russia's invasion of ukraine and daughter of alexander dugina who promotes russian expansionism. an explosive device detonated setting the car on fire. the committee believed she was murdered. taking into account the data obtained they believe that it was preplanned of an ordered nature. the foreign ministry implied that ukraine may be behind the attack. if the ukrainian trace is confirmed the spokesman wrote on telegram, then we should talk about the policy of state terrorism by the kyiv rejeenl. the ukrainians deny any involvement. >> translator: i emphasized that ukraine has nothing t

i want to bring in cnn's fred pleitgen in moscow. fred, what is the reaction in russia to the news? just dropping here in russian news agencies, and really so far, what we're getting is a message from the hospital where miguel gorbachev was being treated when simply said, i'm translating this as i go, tonight, this evening, after a very prolonged and very severe illness, mikhail gorbachev has died. that's so far all we have from the hospital itself. obviously reaching out to various government agencies. it's already pretty late here in moscow, but jill is obviously absolutely right. a lot of people here in russia will obviously be very sad tonight, will be mourning tonight, but at the same time, gorbachev did have a mixed bag of results for a lot of people here in this country and is not someone who necessarily has been a popular figure here over the past couple of years, over the past couple decades. many of course saying he was responsible for the ends of the soviet union and many people feel it's sort of brought this country into a chaos that it took a long time for the country t

as fred pleitgen reports, moscow and kyiv aren't mincing words as they blame each other for the attacks. >> reporter: they blame each other for bringing the world to the brink of a nuclear disaster. vladimir putin with staunch warning after a call with french president macron. the shelling of the nuclear power plant creates the danger of a radiation to vast territories. these new images by maxar seem to show little to no additional damage in the area of the plant since mid july. but ukrainians say russia has moved heavy weapons to the power plant and is shelling ukrainian towns nearby. it's unacceptable that russia puts all of us on the verge of a nuclear catastrophe on a global scale, ukraine's president said. as the brutal war in ukraine drags on, with neither side recently making significant territorial gains, the zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, the biggest in europe with six reactors, lies right on the front line. one thing both russians and ukrainians can agree on, a full-blown nuclear catastrophe here could be as bad or worse than the chernobyl disaster in 1986 which contaminate

fred pleitgen isle following the developments for us from moscow. and this could be the final day, we could get the result. >> reporter: we could indeed. certainly something that is not set in stone and isn't necessarily on the official agenda. but something that brittney griner's legal defense team could happen. they said that they expect today to have the closing arguments and then there could be a verdict but it doesn't necessarily have to be the case. but in any case, certainly a big day for brittney griner as this trial is sort of moving towards coming to a close. we heard the final witness two days ago, an expert witness trying to cast doubt on some of the original forensics that were done. and in general if you look at the strategy of the legal defense team, they say that they believe they have done pretty well so far despite, you know -- in light of the fact that of course this is a russian court, it does have a lot of discretion as to sentencing and verdicts. they have tried to have brittney griner show respect, remorse, and also had some c

let's bring in fred pleitgen. we heard from john bolton last night. him again this morning i think on "new day." but give me a sense of what this is all about. >> reporter: quite an elaborate plot and certainly something that was in the planning stages but in the late planning stages where this member of the islamic revolutionary guard allegedly called someone and asked him for information, first of all, john bolton and said he wanted a hit on john bolton and offered $300,000, at the same time offering up photos of john bolton's residence and saying that he wants this assassination to take place in the parking garage underneath the residence where john bolton apparently lives. so it seems to be in the fairly late stages of planning. however the person he was talking to was an informant to u.s. authorities. so he offered up this $300,000 for john bolton and said apparently that there was another job for $1 million the u.s. understands to be former secretary of state mike pompeo. we understand that the u.s. does have very tight security both on former a

cnn senior international correspondent fred pleitgen reports the fighting is raising fear of a nuclearn the scale of chernobyl. >> reporter: russia and ukraine accusing each other. both sides claiming the other is targeting the nuclear power plant. vladimir putin with a staunch warning after a call with french president macron. vladimir putin in particular stressed that the systematic shelling on the territory of the nuclear power plant creates the likelihood of a large scale catastrophe. say they russia moved in weapons and shelling the towns nearby. it's unacceptable that russia puts us on the verge of ka catastrophe ukraine's president said. as the brutal war in ukraine drags on with neither side making significant territorial gains the nuclear power plant the biggest in europe lies on the front line. one thing both russians and ukrainians can agree on a full-blown nuclear catastrophe could be as bad or worse as chernobyl in 1996. the russians accusing ukraine of planning a false flag for today. august 19th the kyiv regime is planning a -- during a visit of the u.n. secretary-secret

we start with fred pleitgen. what happens now? where do we go? >> hi, erica. essentially the court sentenced her to nine years in the penal colony. if she would send her, the fields are very far away from the russian capital. they're usually tough places as well. our understanding is that because her legal team say they're going to appeal this verdict, for now she's going to remain in the same detention facility outside of moscow that she has been insofar as long as an appeals process would take place. brittney griner, of course, was essentially appealing to the judge for leniency in a very long speech to the judge asking for leniency. let's listen to some of what she had to say. >> i know everybody keeps talking about political pawn and politics, but i hope that that is far from this courtroom. again, i had no intent on breaking any russian laws. i had no intent. i did not conspire or plan to commit this crime. >> so that was one of the things we heard from brittney griner again and again, that she's not meaning to break russian law, that she wants to take re

. >> fred pleitgen, thank you. >>> russian strikes defivastati cities in ukraine.ighting back. and now those who are among the most badly injured are doing what they can to rejoin that battle on the frontlines. jason carroll is joining us live this morning from kyiv. so i know you've spoken with some of the ukrainian soldiers who want to get back out there. and there are a lot of them. >> reporter: yeah, there certainly are. and you know, when they see what is happening to ukraine, when they see how cities are being destroyed, how families are being torn apart, these are some of the things that are motivating some of these soldiers to get back out there. we spoke to one soldier in particular who has been sidelined by his injuries and he says that he is eager to go back to the front lines. yuri is just out of the hospital after a month of doctors tending to his injuries. an unwelcome yosouvenir of war, his leg shattered so badly these rods now hold it together. this video showing the moments after he was injured and rescued in june by fellow soldiers who were fighti

fred pleitgen in moscow, kylie atwood at the state department. >>> another story we're following this morning, korean air is canceling flights into taiwan for the next two days because china's firing multiple missiles towards the water very close to the self-ruled and democratic island. the live fire military drills are a response, china says, to house speaker nancy pelosi's visit to taiwan. you can hear the drills off the coast. china has called pelosi's visit, quote, irresponsible and irrational. taiwan is accusing china of acting like north korea. there has been some bipartisan support here in this country for pelosi's visit to taiwan. this morning, nancy pelosi's focus on the korean peninsula, she is in south korea right now for her latest leg of her trip to asia. cnn's senior international correspondent will ripley is in taiwan. will, this morning secretary of state antony blinken said he hopes beijing will not manufacture a crisis. from taiwan, do they see this blowing over in the coming days or do they see a new level of tensions now? >> reporter: i'm not sure that they are, yo

fred pleitgen is in moscow. where do things stand on this investigation? >> reporter: a lot of this is still very much a mystery. at such dazzling time in russia as you have russia's special military operation, as they call it, in ukraine, going on. so there were, of course, someone in the pretty high echelons in russia who believe that maybe the ukrainians might be behind all this. but right now, it still remains absolutely unclear. the latest from the investigation is that they say the explosive yield of that charge was the equivalent of about 400 grams of tnt. they say the bomb was placed inside the car. they've recovered some parts and sent it in for a forensic investigation as well. still very much unclear who might be behind all this. here's what we're learning. >> reporter: a car engulfed in a massive fire ball on a highway outside moscow. police say the vehicle exploded and then crashed. the driver dead on the scene. that driver was daria, a supporter of russian ukraine who was sanctioned by the united states and by the u.k. she was also the daught

there are a lot of sides in the west, but it doesn't always compute in russian. >> jill dougherty, fred pleitgen so much. >>> coming up for you tonight, a potential chilling effect in the wake of the mar-a-lago search. will key u.s. allies be more hesitant to share intelligence. zero-commission trades for online u.s. stocks and etfs. and a commitment to get you the best price on every trade, which saved investors over $1.5 billion last year. that's decisiotech. ly from fidelity. >> tech: cracked windshield? trust safelite. we'll replace your glass and recalibrate your vehicle's camera, so automatic emergency braking and lane departure warning work properly. don't wait--schedule now. >> singers: ♪ safelite repair, safelite replace. ♪ my most important kitchen tool? my brain. so i choose neuriva plus. unlike some others, neuriva plus is a multitasker supporting 6 key indicators of brain health. to help keep me sharp. neuriva: think bigger. ♪ my name is austin james. as a musician living with diabetes, fingersticks can be a real challenge. that's why i use the freestyle libre 2 system. with a painl

. >> fred pleitgen, thanks very much. joining me now to discuss this, former cia operative bob bahre. bob, there are a number of assassination that is have taken place in russia in recent years that years later are not solved. this one, russian police claimed solved in 48 hours and pointing the finger on ukraine a couple of days in front of the victory day celebrations. does that speed and does the past russian track record raise questions for you? >> oh, absolutely, jim. they wouldn't have had time to collect the shrapnel and everything else from this, the detonators. it happened too fast. the russians can't do this. there's absolutely no reason to believe they have the evidence against ukraine. it's way too fast. these things take months. so i think they made a political decision to blame ukraine to justify whatever they're going to do next. >> there is a long history, including in this war, we're about six months into the russian investigation of ukraine, of russia attempting what is called false flag operations. an op

cnn's fred pleitgen is following all the developments from the russian capital. >> reporter: a car engulfed in a massive fireball on a highway outside moscow. police say the vehicle exploded and crashed, the driver dead on the scene. that driver was dara dugin, daughter of a supporter and idea log alexander dugin. of course to russian state media, an explosive device setting the vehicle on fire. russia has opened a criminal investigation, the investigative committee says they believe she was murdered. taking into account the data already obtained, the investigation believes that the crime was pre-planned and of an ordered nature a statement said. while forensic work continued, the foreign ministry implied that ukraine may be behind the attack. if the ukrainian trace is confirmed, a spokesperson wrote on telegram, then we should talk about the policy of state terrorism implemented by the kyiv regime. the ukrainians deny any involvement. >> translator: i emphasize that ukraine definitely has nothing to do with this because we are not a criminal state which the russian federation is and even m

but first let's get to fred pleitgen who is live for us in moscow. know gorbachev was a polarizing figure viewed by the west very much a man of hero rim. but in russia, he is seen as a leader who lost an empire. so what reaction has there been to news of his passing this morning? >> reporter: you're right, quite a controversial figure here in russia. there are obviously some who are expressing their condolences and their sorrow today, also pretty high level members of parliament and other public figures as well. and you had vladimir putin's speaker saying that the russian president had send his condolences. however there are a lot of people here in russia who view mikhail gorbachev very critically. obviously especially with the fact that it was under his leadership that the soviet union fell apart and that many people felt that their lives fell into disarray, many people felt that they were personally humiliated by the way things went in russia afterwards by a lot of economic uncertainty and security and that the country itself was humiliated also on

fred pleitgen is there. >> the russians are saying that the ukrainians are failing. it took the russians a long time to actually acknowledge that their forces were under pressure, but they're saying that their forces are holding up and that -- made big casualties on the ukrainians as well. in fact, the russian defense ministry came out earlier today and spoke with over 1,000 ukrainians who had been killed or wounded in that attack which the russians, again, say is not making very headway. they were also speaking of around 50 tanks destroyed, also armored vehicles destroyed and fighting vehicles destroyed as well. so the russians clearly are saying that they are standing their ground. there was one official in that local area who is installed by moscow who said that kherson which is the main city out there and the main place that the ukrainians want to win back, that was not in danger of being taken by the ukrainians. the russians are taking heavy hits from the ukrainians. there's one town on the front line where the russians are saying that's being heavily shelled by

. >> fred pleitgen is joining us.g anything from vladimir putin about gorbachev's passing? >> reporter: we are. obviously mikhail gorbachev a towering figure who not just was so pivotal in tearing down the iron curtain, but also doing it in a peaceful way. one of the things that we have to keep in mind, at that time there were hundreds of thousands of soviet troops in eastern europe and eastern germany, so making all that happen in a peaceful way is certainly something that the world will remember him for. a little bit more of a mixed bag here in russia. there are many who have bad feelings toward mikhail gorbachev. we have heard from vladimir putin this morning, there is a condolence letter that just came out. he said that mikhail gorbachev was a politician statesman who had a huge impact on the course of world history and he led our country during a period of complex dramatic changes, large scale foreign policy, economic and social challenges. he deeply understood that reforms were necessary and strove to find his o

fred pleitgen, thank you very much. >> let's bring in the ambassador to ukraine william taylor as wellnato allied supreme commander wesley clark, thank you for joining me. ambassador taylor, you know that country. you know ukrainians. what goes through your mind when you see ukrainians mark 30 years of independence from the soviet union and at the same time they're mourning at least 22 people killed in one of the latest strikes against ukraine? >> so, alex, every time the russians commit these atrocities and commit these war crimes the ukrainians get angrier and more determined to maintain that independence that they maintained for 31 years. all of these atrocities just go to show what they are fighting against. if they don't want to give up their independence and they want to maintain that freedom they've had for 31 years and they know that russia, putin in particular is trying to take it from them. your reporter fred made the point that what putin wants is to eliminate ukraine as a nation, as a people, and so that is existential for them and that's why they're fighting so hard. >> th