barbara starr is at the pentagon. we begin in the ukrainian capital of kyiv. she explains the decision by the european commission is largely symbolic. here she is. >> reporter: one small step towards ukraine's major goal of joining the european union. the president of the commission recommending ukraine for status saying that ukrainians are willing to die for european ideas and welcoming people in in next step. president zelenskyy of course welcomed the news and said it would make ukraine safer and stronger. take listen. >> translator: ukraine deserve this is positive. ukrainian values are european values. ukrainian democratic habits have not lost their power even now. and our approach with the european union is not only positive for us. it is the greatest contribution to the future of europe in many years. >> this past week has been very important in healing divisions in the european alliance. president zelenskyy has been vocal in tech against two leaders. he believes that they in the past were soft on president putin, soft on moscow and particularly his grie

barbara starr live at the pentagon. fred pleitgen live.>> reporter: well, it didn't take him long to start rips into the united states and the western allies, essentially blaming the u.s. for what he called a conflict in ukraine, and essentially he basically said forcing russia to invade ukraine because essentially he said the u.s. was sort of bringing ukraine into nato's auspices over the past couple of years and russia was forced to act the way it is. this is according to vladimir putin. he also was forceful in saying he would not allow russia to be isolated economically. he said russia is to big. russia would seek different partners and build the economy. there's no doubt the russia economy is suffering this. what we see on the ground, it doesn't seem to be as crippled as the biden administration said could be by the tough sanctions. and we saw a combative vladimir putin who said russia will continue the invasion of ukraine until all the objectives are met. fred, thank you very much. let's move onto barbara starr at the pentagon. let's

the missiles were launched into the sea, but let's get more from cnn correspondent barbara starr. barbara, this is a clear message to north korea from the other side of the dmz. is this when the new south korean president means when they will get tougher on north korea. >> reporter: what you just said about the u.s. and south korean missiles going into the sea is really an important point because it just shows that it was a response. there was no consent of a military action here. it was a response to the north koreans launching eight are ballistic missiles earlier in the weekend. that was one of the big concerns right now is that north korea is continuing at a very fast pace of test launches in its ballistic missile program, and even when they are short range and even when they fail, the concern that the u.s. has, of course, is that north korea is still learning with every single launch. this will be a very interesting week in that part of the world. defense secretary lloyd austin takes off for asia in singapore. he's expected to meet with his chinese counterpart. china is one voi

barbara starr with details from the pentagon. >> it was in kharkiv where two americans went missing last week. working with the ukrainian authorities to find them. >> have i been briefed. we don't know where they are. but i want to reiterate. americans should not be going to ukraine now. >> reporter: now this photo from a russian blogger has emerged of alexander drueke and andy tai huynh. video later emerging of an interview they did with pro-russian media. cnn is not showing the video as the two appear to be speaking under duress. now the state department is working to verify their status. >> they said that the photograph that is circulated on the russian media, and they're working hard to verify it. we're very hopeful. >> reporter: retired staff sergeant drueke, an army reservist from 2002 to 2014 served in beth kuwait and iraq. drueke's mother bunny tells cnn her son wanted to lend his skills to train those who were coming to ukraine to fight. >> he felt if putin wasn't stopped now, he would just become bolder with every success, and that eventually he might end up on american shores.

cnn's barbara starr live at the pentagon. ovide in public. looking at those comments, do you have a clear sense of exactly how far imilitarily the u.s. would get involved here? >> good morning to both of you. very interesting question. you'll remember, just several days ago, president biden publicly said the u.s. might intervene militarily if china were to invade taiwan. that's kind of the starting point for this and we see a political appointee by the white house, confirmed by the senate, lifting that veil, as you say. what she was talking about is trying to get access to bases out in the pacific region, bases as close as possible potentially to a conflict zone and then using advanced army weapons that are still in development. she mentioned the possibility of a long-range system that could sink ships as they cross the taiwan strait to 200 miles. so she's laying out a sort of pattern of what a war plan might begin to look like where the u.s. would try to deter china militarily with fire against chinese targets, but also try a

first, let's go to barbara starr at the pentagon. and what can the state department learn from them? >> these clear propaganda videos appeared on russian social media channels. very few clues about where the men are, who is holding them. and that right now is the challenge for the biden administration to try to find them. >> reporter: it was in the fighting north of kharkiv where two americans went missing last week less than five miles from the russian border. the u.s. government, working with ukrainian authorities, to find them. >> i have been briefed. we don't know where they are. but i want to reiterate, americans should not be going to ukraine now. >> reporter: now, this photo from a russian blogger has emerged of alexander drueke and andy tai ngoc huynh appearing to be bound in the back of a russian military vehicle. video later emerging of an interview they did with pro-russian media. cnn is not showing the video, as the two appear to be speaking under duress. mow the state department is working to verify their status. >> they

barbara starr has the details. >> reporter: u.s.d coalition forces have identified what they say is the name of the senior isis leader that they detained during a helicopter raid in northern syria on thursday in the allepo area. they say that the man was a senior isis operative and facilitator, his expertise was in bomb making, he had taken part in planning operations against u.s. and coalition forces. this is part of the effort to continue to go after isis operatives in syria, the remnants of isis the u.s. says when and where they find them. but some of these operations have been very controversial because they have happened in areas where civilians are living. in this case the u.s. and coalition says that they planned the operation meticulously and they have no reports of any civilians killed or injured. barbara starr, cnn, the pentagon. >>> authorities in israel say that they have concluded that their investigation to police actions during the funeral procession of lane slain journalist. police had widespread criticism following

barbara starr is with us.how were released over the weekend. what can you tell us about them? >> this is nearly hour-long video released by a nationalist channel of both american volunteer fighters, both of them, of course, former u.s. military, one army, one marine. now, when they are being interviewed, you do hear a voice behind the camera making a reference to here in donetsk. and so that is seen as a clue to where the men might be being held in eastern ukraine. and what kind of fighters are in that region of donetsk. it's being closely looked at. drewky is asked if he has any problems with his treatment. he referenced he's been beaten. we're not showing any of the video. it's propaganda. both men are speaking under duress. they are being held against their will. what are the next steps is very difficult to determine. they are not part of a regular armed force. they were volunteers when they went. the u.s. has always cautioned americans not to go to fight to ukraine. it's too dangerous. but both of them hea

i want to bring in cnn pentagon correspondent barbara starr. , the details are still very sketchy, brianna, but the air force is saying that, yes, an airman has been arrested in connection with a set of explosions that occurred at a base in april in northeastern syria where u.s. troops were located. i want to just read part of the statement that we were provided by the air force and it says, quote, after reviewing the information in the investigation the airman's commander made the decision to place him in pretrial confinement. this airman has not been identified, there's been no information that has been put out about the motivation, but the attack has been very strange to follow. it's a very strange story. this is at a place called greegr green village. in april they put out a press release saying they had come under rocket or mortar fire from the outside. a week later that changed, they said that the explosions occurred inside the base that is correct they were deliberate, that someone set off explosions in a shower facility and ammunition st

cnn pentagon respondent barbara starr is joining us right now. i know you're getting more information. what are you learning? >> in recent hours two videos have emerged on russian social media channels, separate videos, each of them showing one of these men. now the two menu see there on the left-hand side. i want to be clear right off the top, cnn has chosen not to show the video. the men are speaking. they don't appear to be harmed in any way. they don't appear to have been mistreated, but they are being held. so they are speaking under duress, and we will not show that video. we do have the picture from earlier where they appeared with their hands behind their back and appeared to be held by someone they had been fighting in eastern ukraine near kharkiv. not clear if they are directly in control of russians or russian-backed fighters. on the left in that vehicle photo, you see alexander drueke, former u.s. army. on the right, you see andy t tai ngoc huynh, a former marine. concern is rising about their fate. a third man, a third american a mari

cnn's barbara starr is covering all of the developments at the pentagon. what have you learned?sturbing and bizarre story, to say the least. it was back in april when the military first announced it thought that u.s. troops came under attack from rockets and mortars at a place called green village, where u.s. troops are in northeastern syria. a week later, they corrected the statement and said, no, the explosions had actually happened on the base, and now, they are investigating a criminal investigation by the army and air force into whether a u.s. service member in the middle of the night on that base deliberately set off two sets of explosives. they believe they have identified a suspect, according to a statement issued by the pentagon. innocent until proven otherwise. no charges have been brought, nobody is in custody, but they have identified a military suspect that they believe may have been responsible for all of this. and as you say, four service members suffered traumatic brain injury from the explosions. the explosives set off apparently were not insubstantial, describe

barbara starr joins us now. what are pentagon officials saying?ral minutes, a photo has emerged, and we want to show it to people. it appears to show both men in the back of a truck, in this photo i think you can see at the very bottom, there are food cans with russian labels. you see them there. they appear to have their hands behind their back. now, the state department has informed, we are told the drueke family this may be evidence that the men are being held by either russian or russian-backed forces in eastern ukraine. they have been there fighting alongside ukraine forces for some time is our understanding they were last seen on june 9th during a very bitter battle, very heavy combat north of kharkiv in eastern ukraine. other people went to look for them. they found no remains, no bodies. so there is somewhat of an assumption that they may be being held now. and that is the -- that is the challenge, to find out exactly what has happened to these two men, find out where they may be, how to get them back to their families. the state departmen

cnn's barbara starr has the latest developments. >> reporter: it was in the fighting north of kharkiv where two americans went missing last week, less than 5 miles from the russian border. the u.s. government working with ukrainian authorities to find them. >> i have been briefed. we don't know where they are, but i want to reiterate americans should not be going to ukraine now. >> reporter: now this photo from a russian blogger has emerged of alexander and andy appeared to be bound in the back of a russian military vehicle. video later emerging of an interview they did with pro-russian media. cnn is not showing the video as the two appear to be speaking under duress. now the state department is working to verify their status. >> they said that there is a photograph that is being circulated on the russian media, and they're working hard to verify it. we're very hopeful. >> reporter: retired staff sergeant druuke served in both kuwait and iraq. his mother, bunny, tells cnn her son wanted to lend his skills to train those who were coming to ukraine to fight. >> he felt if putin wasn't s

cnn's barbara starr is at the pentagon. state department confirms a third american is missing in action in ukraine. what more do you know? >> all three of the men have served in the past in the u.s. military. let's go back to that photo of the two men in particular. and take a deeper look at it. on the left, you have a former u.s. army soldier alexander druki. you see his hands behind his back. on the right, hands behind his back. if you can get a close look at that photo, you would say food cans with paper labels on them with russian writing. now, neither of the men have been heard from by their families in some days. so -- and they were in fighting north of kharkiv by all accounts in eastern ukraine. so there's a good deal of concern about their safety. the pentagon, the state department, the white house has not said they are being specifically held by russians or russian-backed forces, but the photo raises a good deal of concern about where they are and what has happened to them. there is a 20-year marine veteran. let's

. >> our barbara starr broke this story. she joins us now from the pentagon. ppened here. >> well, details are sketchy other than the air force is saying that they have put someone into custody, no charges have yet been filed. the person has not been identified, but is a member of the u.s. air force. all based back to an april attack in northeast syria at a small base called green village where u.s. service members were located. in the middle of the night, two sets of explosives went off, one in the storage area. they thought they were under attack but when they looked closer, they realized it had been explosives set off inside the base. and that has set off a huge investigation to find those who are responsible. right now, what we know, one air force member in custody awaiting potential charges on this case. it could turn out to be the first insider attack against u.s. troops in syria. jim, poppy? >> barbara starr, again, who broke this story, i'm sure you'll bring us more details as you get them. thanks very much. >>> still ahead, at the top of the next hour.

i can guarantee the russians are going to try to extract that information. >> barbara starr, the cnn, coming up, hush money and a sex scandal. the chair of world wrestling entertainment is out of the ring and on the ropes. of what big wireless does. they charge you a lot, we charge you a little. they put theirir names on arenas, we put ours on my lower back. so naturally when they announceced they would be raisising their prices due to inflation, we decided to deflate our prices, due to not hating you. and if this were one of their ads, they would end it here with a "happy customer". so, we'll end ours with an angry goat. oh ho ho, look at the angry goat. your shipping manager left to “find themself.” leaving you lost. you need to hire. i need indeed. indeed you do. indeed instant match instantly delivers quality candidates matching your job description. visit indeed.com/hire ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ meet a future mom, a first-time mom and a seasoned pro. this mom's one step closer to their new mini-van! yeah, you'll get used to it. this mom's depositing money with tools on-hand. cha ching. and this m

let's go to cnn pentagon correspondent barbara starr.lved an osprey, a plane that has a history of problems. what do we know about this crash? >> reporter: this was a tilt rotor aircraft that flew about 150 miles due east into the california desert as part of a training mission. a good deal of training goes on out there in that very remote desert area. five marines now confirmed to have perished in the crash. their families being notified. we will not get the identities or the names of those who perished in this crash until all the families are notified. an investigation will be underway, of course. this is an aircraft that has had a lot of high profile mishaps over the years, jake. just in march, several weeks ago, another one crashed in norway. four marines losing their lives in that crash. no indication any of these are related, but certainly the marine corps investigating the families getting the worst possible news. >> barbara starr at the pentagon, thank you so much. >>> back in our politics lead, no deal on guns this week accordin

cnn's barbara starr is with me now. what more do you know?arlier today the kremlin spokesman in moscow said they didn't have any information about these men. but as you say, very difficult circumstances, their families have not heard from them. and now we have that photo of two of them. on the left is alexander drueke, former u.s. army. on the right, andy nguyen. the fine detail shows cans of food with russian writing on them, but their familiar hees have not heard from them in many days. the last time any account of them was made, they were apparently in fighting north of kharkiv, in eastern ukraine. so their circumstances, very difficult to know at this point. now, the other american, as you said, is a marine corp. veteran, 20 years in the marine corp. apparently his family has not heard from him since april, so as well, a good deal of worry about him. right now the state department says they are in touch with ukraine forces, they are also in touch with the international committee of the red cross. but until they can get some word from the

barbara starr has the details from the pentagon. >> boris, earlier today the kremlin spokesperson toldy know nothing about the two men shown in the photograph. this is, of course, alexander drueke, and andy tai ngoc huynh. mr. drueke, a former member of the u.s. army, mr. huynh, former u.s. marine, shown in this photograph, apparently, with their hands behind their back, and also some food cans with russian lettering on them. these men had not been seen or heard from by their families in several days. reportedly disappearing north of kharkiv, in eastern ukraine, where there had been heavy fighting. alexander drueke's mother spoke to cnn about her son. >> he was excellent at training soldiers, he had done a lot of that not only on the tours, but also later in the army reserve. and he said and i also know how to operate the equipment that we're sending over there, and i can teach them how to do it. because he knew that this was the ukrainians' fight. he just wanted to be there in a support role. >> the third missing american is grady kurpasi, a veteran of the u.s. marine corps, 20 years

barbara starr joins me. this is sad to hear.oins the two americans we were talking about yesterday, reportedly captured. what can you tell us? >> there are now three at least former members of the u.s. military, veterans, if you will, who are unaccounted for inside ukraine. let's go over it for a minute. first we have alexander drueke. he was in the u.s. army. the next picture you see there is andy tai ngoc huynh. and on the far left you have grady kurpasi, 20-year marine veteran. but both drueke and huynh were seen in a photograph that emerged yesterday and what appears to be the back of a vehicle, appears to be their hands behind their back, some food cans observed in the photo with russian lettering on them. alexander drueke's mother spoke to cnn about her son. >> he was excellent at training soldiers. he had done a lot of that not only on the tours, but also later in the army reserve. he also knows how to operate the equipment that we're sending over there and he said i can teach them how to do it. he knew this was the ukrai

cnn's barbara starr is live for us at the pentagon. barbara, what can you tell us? >> well, good morning, brianna. we've been tracking this since it happened in april, and now, the u.s. military is confirming it's investigating a military member for the possibility of whether that person deliberately in the middle of the night set off two rounds of explosives at a u.s. military base in northeastern syria. for the first time now, u.s. military investigators providing cnn with a statement and let me just read it in part, it does say, and i quote, a possible suspect, a u.s. service member, has been identified. at this point these are just allegations. all suspects are presumed to be innocent until and unless convicted in a court of law. so this whole incident began on the night of april 7th at place called greenvilleage in northeastern syria. at that time there were two explosions. the military put out a statement saying they believed they had taken fire from forces outside the base, a rocket or a mortar, and it does happen in that region of northeastern syria. a week

cnn's barbara starr is joining us from the pentagon right now and has new information. f this may come tomorrow as we learn when defense secretary lloyd austin and general mark milley, chairman of the joint chiefs, sit down in brussels tomorrow with more than 50 countries to discuss what additional weapons and aid they have available to give to ukraine. it will be a critical moment. ukraine is continuing to say it needs more and it needs it fast because russia is continuing to press what advantage it does have in eastern ukraine with long-range missile strikes, with artillery. they have an overmatch of weapons and personnel against the ukrainians in the east, and everybody knows it. so what are we looking at? there are several scenarios in play. putin could decide to declare victory and go home. not very likely. the battle lines could harden into essentially a stalemate with the lines frozen in place, more death and destruction, and a long-term impact, strategic impact on the global economy through rising food and fuel prices and that's what the allies are worried about.

cnn's barbara starr is live for us at the pentagon.s investigation. >> well, jake, this really is shocking. army and air force criminal investigators have told cnn in a statement they have identified a possible suspect, a u.s. service member in these explosions at a u.s. military base in northeastern syria back in early april. this was april 7th at a base called green village. several dozen u.s. troops are there. and explosions went off in the middle of the night. now, originally, the u.s. military thought it was incoming rocket or mortar fire. but they looked at the explosive pattern and a week later they corrected themselves in another public statement, saying no, it wasn't incoming fire, but it was explosions set off on the base in the middle of the night. they have been working on an investigation ever since. and now today, they say a u.s. service member identified as the possible suspect, we should say immediately, no charges have been filed. investigators say they don't know if they will be able to develop enough evidence for a c

let's get manier from barbara starr. what is the significance? >> reporter: the u.s. and south korea pursuing the policies of a public response to north korea's continuing missile launches. the north koreans on a fast pace all of this year. now with eight short range ballistic missiles fired on saturday by north korea the u.s. and south korea jointly responded. it's monday morning over there. firing eight surface to surface missiles and according to a statement from south korea the firing response is to demonstrate to north korea that they have the capability to immediately strike with precision if needed. this is one of the key things the u.s. feels is important to do when north korea does this. there's been these responses before and continuing with them to send a message to north korea. is north korean leader even listening? does he care? we may get a better sense because this week lloyd austin goes to asia and in singapore expected to meet with the chinese counter part to talk about china and taiwan but coming to north korea china may be the one voice that the nor

. >> let's go to barbara starr at the pentagon. very difficult image just to look at. what do we know this morning? >> well, the marines, of course, are now investigating the cause of the crash. and they have said that there were five marines on board. there is no official word about the fate of those five marines in that crash. and, look, we know that there is a very good possibility family notifications are under way. and that at some point the marines will issue a formal statement about the fate of the marines that were on board. this happened yesterday. as you say in a remote area of the desert in the southeastern, california, about 150 miles east of san diego. this aircraft was part of a unit head kwquartered at camp pendle and miramar air station along the coast. this is a training area out in the desert. we don't know if training was actually going on when this aircraft went down. so they are looking at all of this, trying to determine what happened, trying to make sure, of course, they take care of the families that are inv

barbara starr is at the pentagon. barra, what makes this new package different? >> reporter: well, this is those rockets are rockets that can go about 50 miles with precision and speed. that is important. they are aimed at trying to push back against russian forces in eastern ukraine. but one of the critical things here is that they're going to be accompanied by radars. that's a part of the package as well. those radars will allow ukrainian crews to quickly countertarget if you will when the russians fire at them. those radars will be able to quickly send their rockets back against the russians. the idea here is to try and give the ukrainian forces a bit of breathing room. try to get them to push back against russian forces in eastern ukraine so they can strengthen their own position if and when they can get to the negotiating table with the russians. president biden writing in an op-ed about why he selected these items for the package. he said in part, let me read it. pardon me. we have 3406 quickly to send ukraine a significant amount of weaponry and ammunition

let's get manier from barbara starr. what is the significance? >> reporter: the u.s.ches. the north koreans on a fast pace all of this year. now with eight short range ballistic missiles fired on saturday by north korea the u.s. and south korea jointly responded. it's monda

our pentagon correspondent barbara starr is working our story as well as cnn international correspondentst to you, barbara. what is the latest. >> reporter: wolf, tonight, there are three former-u.s. military servicemen who are missing in ukraine, unaccounted for. tonight, a confirmation that one of them -- a former marine -- his name is grady. his family has not had any communication since april with this man who was in ukraine. there was a photo emerging of two others who are in the -- everybody should take a very close look at this. this is drew -- pardon me -- this is alexander and andy wen. on the left, you have a former army soldier. on the right, another former marine. this picture, emerging. they were fighting in recent days around ckharkiv when they disappeared. their colleagues went to look for them, did not find any remains. this photo now showing them in the back of a trk or vehicle with their hands behind their back. there are small cans of food with russian lettering. very difficult to get a handle right now on what is really going on, where these three people may be. what