let's go to europe with cnn's fred pleitgen live for us in berlin. re you hearing from german officials? >> reporter: hi there, boris. it's interesting because alex was talking about what is going on in denmark. there's no relations to what has been going on here in germany apparently, but there certainly are similarities. here in germany also, four people were arrested in total, but one of those arrests also took place in the netherlands as well. this is as far as the german federal prosecutors concerned. three people were arrested here in berlin. what we have from the federal prosecutors office and the german authorities is they say all three people who were arrested were long-standing members of hamas, or are long-standing members. they went even further to say that all of them have very close and direct ties to the leadership of the military wing of hamas which is of course the al-qassam brigades. with the germans are saying is they believe that hamas has started to put a weapons depot together here in germany, and that these three suspects appare

thanks to fred pleitgen repoporting.nd thank you for watching. i'm wolf blitzerlitzer in "the situation room," erin burnett "outfront" starts right now. >>> "outfront" next, new

fred pleitgen, cnn, berlin. >> thanks to cnn's fred pleitgen for that report.ad here on "the situation room," what is being hailed as a miracle survival in indiana. a man who was trapped in his crashed pickup truck survived off of rainwater for nearly a week before his unlikely rescue. we'll share his story, next. >>> an indiana, who was trapped in his pickup truck for nearly a week, has now been rescued. he was discovered by a creek near a major highway after a crash. he was pinned in his car, and unable to reach his phone. cnn's athena jones has more on his incredible story of how he survived. >> quite frankly, it's a miracle that he's alive. >> reporter: found alive in his mangled truck six days after a crash that left him trapped. the wreckage, under a bridge of i-94, a mile east of portage, was not visible for the road. fortunately for him, a father and son were out scouting areas for fishing when they spotted something. >> i looked inside and moved the white airbag, and there was a body in there. i went to touch it, and he turned around. that almost kille

fred pleitgen, cnn, near grindavik, iceland. >> investigation could youers a -- rescuers are not giving up hope at finding survivors. rescue operations are still under way in the northwest where death toll is at least 135 people. close to 15,000 homes were destroyed when the earthquake hit while tens of thousands had to evacuate. to make things worse, temperatures in the region are dropping below freezing. while some survivors say that they are struggling to find warm clothes and places to stay. >>> cleanup continues in australia after devastating floods hit the country far north. intense rains inundated areas in a popular tourist great way. and the government announced that it will provide financial help to those affected. >> after the floodwaters have receded, and after some of the physical aspect of damage has gone, some of the scars will remain as well. so we need to as governments, but also as a community, be very conscious about mental health issues, about the trauma which people have suffered from during this difficult time. >> residents are being evacuated from some rural towns,

cnn's fred pleitgen is in the heat of it all in a town just under two miles away from the volcano where efforts are underway to house more than 4,000 evacuated residents. >> reporter: up close, as the earth spews lava. south iceland remains in a state of emergency as the volcanic eruption continues. this is as close as the icelandic authorities are going to allow us to the fissure to where the eruption is happening. i would say we're a mile or less away from it. things have calmed down a little bit, but the danger is still there. the authorities fear there could be new vents that might open up, pop-up, and more lava could be gushing to the survas and could besurface. so things have become muted but certainly the dangerer is not over. in the early stages of the eruption, a wall of lava spewing hundreds of feet into the air. while it has subsided somewhat, the underground magma tunnel remaining active and dangerous. >> it's still dangerous. the magna is around 1200 degrees hot when it comes to the surface, and it takes a long time for the surface to cool down. >> reporter: the area around

fred pleitgen has more. what more the you tell us about these raids? >> reporter: they certainly are having a chilling effect on the lgbtq community in russia. it's hard tooverstate the amount of downright fear going on in this community. people were searched, frisked, somehow to tarek their clothes off. obviously some in the lgbtq community fearing there could be further issues for them down the line with now the authorities in possession of those photographs. the russians saying these are regular drug raids. there are folks in the lbtd community who said this did have a chilling effect on them. this came basically just hours after the russian supreme court came down with that verdict that also labeled members, as they put it, of the international lgbtq community as extremists which could have serious repercussions for those folks in russia, jake. >> this comes nearly one year after putin signed the law that banned what he called lgbtq propaganda in russia. why is he targeting this community? >> reporter: i was in russia when that came down from vladi

fred pleitgen is there.s outfront in grindavik, iceland, which is less than a mile from the eruption. >> reporter: the arctic night illuminated as the earth breaks apart from the fissure bursts its molten core. weeks of earthquakes led to this display of our planet's fire and force. >> following a volcanic eruption, there's always high levels of toxic gases. the big concern in iceland now is the distribution of this with the wind. >> reporter: it's never possible to say exactly when or if a volcano like this one near the town of grindavik will erupt. officials took no chances, though, evacuating the population after weeks of tremors. thousands of shakes were felt in november, and all knew what they could bring. thankfully, none were in grindavik town when the volcano, around two miles away, finally did erupt. this crack in the surface of our world, close to four kilometers or more than two miles long, spewing lava. this is as close as the authorities are going to let us to the volcanic eruption in the southw

fred pleitgen is joining us in iceland and fred, you have the opportunity to do this, to fly over this did you see? >> yeah, it is certainly remarkable, and it is a nighttime flight actually over the eruption zone, particularly, because it is night here in the arctic area, and the, you can see that the eruption is very much ongoing, and the seismic activity and the volcanic activity has died down a great deal, and the events that are spewing lava in the last couple of days, but you could see the magna under us, and kate, what is amazing we could not only see the lava below us, but feel the eruption, and smell the gases that the authorities are talking about. you don't want to be exposed to that for an extended period of time and you could feel the heat, because we were flying low over that magna field. and one of the geologist said it was furious in the beginning, and we saw the fountains of magna spewing into the air, but it is dying down quickly, and one of the things that you mentioned that is absolutely correct, the danger has not passed. in fact, i came back from ra town called gr

cnn's fred pleitgen joins us now from berlin. fred, what's the latest details that we are learning about the suspects and the plot in germany? >> reporter: hi, boris. this is all moving forward in germany pretty quickly. these suspects were today in front of a judge here in germany from the federal prosecutors office. all of them were formerly arrested. three that were detained here in germany and also the one who was detained in the netherlands as well. all in front of the federal prosecutor, brought to a judge, and then formally arrested. that obviously means the authorities believe there is a pretty hard case that they were up to something that could have been very dangerous especially to jewish institutions are in the country. of course, we have to point out that the germans have been very open about the fact that they say that at least three members of this group were in very close contact with hamas. in fact, they were hamas members for a long period of time and had very good contacts also to the military leadership of hamas

fred pleitgen is in germany for us. his lawyers san jose say he's been gone for six days and they don't know where he is? >> reporter: absolutely. they were supposed to visit him in prison on friday. back then the prison authorities said, look, you simply can't see him. today, as you mentioned, he was supposed to have this hearing that was supposed to take place via a video link, and he simply didn't show up for that. the lawyers were then told and this says a lot about the russian prison service. the lawyers were told there was apparently a power failure. then the lawyers kept asking, and the prison authorities then admitted he was no longer even on the list of prisoners who were inside that jail. so what happened then is that alexey navalny's associates and his lawyers as well made a lot of phone calls to a lot of jails in the vicinity of that area, and none of them knew anything about alexey navalny being there. as of this point, she and remains missing. this leads to a lot of concerns among his family, among his ass

. >> our fred pleitgen joins us now with much more. u've been following this so closely for years, as so many people has. cnn's documentary on navalny followed all of this. the fact that a spokesperson for the person is saying, look, he left or was taken. not that he left voluntarily the penal colony a week ago. there has not been any update, right, on where he is from anyone? >> yeah. not been any update whatsoever and just to give our viewers a sense of how difficult it is to get straight answers or any sort of answers out of the prison service, none of this came voluntarily from the russian authorities. the lawyers for alexei navalny saying he was supposed to show up for a hearing via video link from the jail he was supposed to be yesterday. he didn't turn up. they said there were problems with the electricity there. however, upon questioning they then acknowledge that actually he was no longer listed as even being inside that prison anymore. today he was supposed to show up for a video link again and didn't show up. then they finall

jake. >> fred pleitgen in iceland for us. thanks so much. >>> new court filings about multiple cases the u.s. supreme court could decide about donald trump may seem incremental, but the overall impact could be quite consequential. coming up next, away stepback on it all and the unprecedented nature of the questions. the justices are weighing right now. i'm a little anxious, i'm a little excited. i'm gonna be emotional, she's gonna be emotional, but it's gonna be so worth it. i love that i can give back to one of our customers. i hope you enjoy these amazing gifts. oh my goodness. oh, you guys. i know you like wrestling, so we got you some vip tickets. you have made an impact. so have you. for you guys to be out here doing something like this, it restores a lot of faith in humanity. >>> welcome to "the lead." i'm jake tapper. this hour another man out of prison after yet another wrongful conviction in the united states. if you think you've heard several of these stories recently, you're right. cnn is digging into why. what is

fred pleitgen has more on a recent ruling from the country's supreme court, which limits the right oftq communities there. >> repeporter: as vladimir p pu continues s his brututal invasif ukraine, at home, the kremlin is prosecuting a legal war against the lgbtq community. russia's supreme court now labeling its member as extremists. >> the court decision to ban the activities of the international public lgbt movement and its structural subdivisions should be subject to immediate execution. >> that means this may be considered extremist behavior in the future. saffron is a drag artist, often performing at an underground club. >> what scares me is that a large layer of interesting ideas, interesting people, and interesting creativity will be lost. i fear for the safety of these people. if they continue to do what they are doing, they could be in danger. >> sodomy and pedophilia, that's how kremlin-controlled tv has been labeling the lgbtq community for years in a sustained media blitz. >> sorry, i don't want to talk about this. i won't even say this disgusting word out loud. i'mhmhomop

. >> fred pleitgen, cnn, berlin. >> and thanks to fred pleitgen repoporting. and thank you for watching. i'm wolf blitzerlitzer in "the situation room," erin burnett "outfront" starts right now. >>> "outfront" next, new bombings and rocket fire in gaza tonight, casualties mounting as questions grow over whether israel's prime minister new that hamas had an attack plan a year ago, i'll ask his senior adviser. >>> plus, to hell with this place. the parting quote of george santos, his office already locked already changed and his name above the office gone. so now what happens to his seat? >>> and an exclusive new reporting this hour, house speaker mike johnson promoting a book full of baseless conspiracy theories and homophobic insults some directed at pete buttigieg and he's out front to respond. let's go "outfront." >>> and good evening, i'm erin burnett. "outfront" tonight, hamas once again firing rocks now deep into israel. our team in sderot hearing the rocket fire from northern gaza. this is the aftermath that you are looking at now of israeli strikes in t

let's bring in cnn's fred pleitgen in berlin. are so many moving parts here, it's a little confusing. tell us what we are learning from germany about all of this. >> reporter: first of all you are right, pam. it's certainly very confusing, and it's all taking place in three european countries that are all neighboring. the germans are saying that, in total, four people were arrested, and they say three of those people have direct links to hamas, or long-standing hamas members. those three people were all arrested right here where i am in berlin. there was a fourth person arrested in the netherlands, who apparently was also part of what was going on. the germans are saying that these three people who were arrested here in berlin had long-standing ties to the al-qassam brigades, the armed wing of hamas. that they were essentially tasked with finding a weapons depot that is buried somewhere. they have been trying to do that for a few months now, to bring those weapons from germany, in what would have been attacks at jewish sites acro

fred pleitgen joins us now. where were these people arrested, and what were they planning? >> reporter: there were two sets of arrests. one of them happened in denmark, where four people were arrested in total and terror raids related to that. three people were arrested in denmark, one in the netherlands. the interesting thing about the arrests, the danish authorities are saying the more anti terror arrests. they say they were raids around the entire country. but the danish arrests didn't mention hamas. with the israeli intelligence service, both -- and mossad came out and said that these were thwarted attacks and they happened on the order of hamas. what the danes has done, anderson, is they have strengthened security around jewish institutions around denmark. clearly taking this extremely seriously. at the same time, you have these terror raids in germany as well, we are also for people in total were arrested. three people in germany, one person again in the netherlands. and the germans are being a lot more clear. saying at least three of the suspects were along members o

cnn's fred pleitgen getting as closest safely possible tonight. fred, what are you seeing?laurence and massive volcanic eruption is taken place in the south of iceland. it started late last night and it happening along a fissure a crack in the ground it's about two and a half miles long. in the early stages of that corruption you just saw magma spewing from that large crack really dozens of feet in the air. also it was a lava flow of us happening as well, laterally moving away from that. spectacle a lot of people were seeing. we also saw the s landed coast guard flying missions around. we want to see if there were any people out there. this is an extremely concerning situation for the authorities here. according to this area of a long time ago. this is a city close to where the eruption took place is called grindavik, as a inhabitants of 4000 people, it was evacuated quite a while ago, we were able to fly over that area few weeks ago there already cracks in the area. as of now, the authorities say they don't believe anybody was injured, they don't believe right now that any

fred pleitgen is on the scene. wrr >> reporter: the arctic night illuminated as the fissure breaks apart. week of earthquakes led to this display of the planet's fire and force. it is never possible to say exactly when or if a volcano like this one near the town of grindavik will erupt. officials took no chances though, evacuating the population after weeks of tremors. thousands of shakes were felt in november and all knew what they could bring. thankfully none were in grind vehicle when the volcano finally did erupt. this crack in the surface of our world close to 4 kilometers or more than two miles long spewing lava. this is as close as the authorities let us to the volcano eruption in the southwest of iceland, the so-called fissure eruption, and that means the eruption is along a crack that can be several miles long rather than on a volcano cone. one of the good things about these gee eruptions is usually don't spew ash into the atmosphere very high which can and has in the past disrupted air travel internationa

fred pleitgen is two miles from the volcano. how real is the risk right now as this continues to be a problem, clearly? >> reporter: yeah, good morning, phil, i think the authorities are taking this risk very seriously. one of the things we saw last night around the volcano, they let us fairly close to it but at some point the situation changed and we had to move to a new location. they are taking the risk of those toxic gases quite seriously. i think right now, though, evacuations not set to happen until the situation once again could change again. one of the things that we are noticing, phil, the activity of the volcanic eruption diminished a little bit. there was, of course, that gigantic wall of magma we saw in the early hours, authorities are warning us this morning, there's still three major events, spewing magma more than 100 feet into the air, it's a natural spectacle we are witnessing here in iceland. here's what we're seeing. >> the arctic night illuminated, the fissure breaks its molten core, our planet's display of f

cnn's fred pleitgen has the latest. >> reporter: up close, as the earth spews fountains of lava, south iceland remains in a state of emergency, as the volcanic eruption continues. this is as close as the icelandic authorities are going to allow us to the actual fissure, to where the eruption is happening. we're about a mile from it. things have calmed down, but the da danger is still there. authorities fear more vents might open up, pop up, and more lava could be coming to the surface in fountains like we've seen over the past day and a half. so, while things have gotten a little bit more muted, certainly the danger is not over. in the early stages of the eruption, a wall of lava spewing hundreds of feet into the air. while it has subsided somewhat, the underground magma tunnel remains active and dangerous. >> still dangerous, of course, and the magma that is coming up is around 1,200 degrees hot when it comes to the surface. and it takes a long time for the surface to cool down. >> reporter: the area around the eruption zone remained cordoned off, critical infrastructure in danger, th

fred pleitgen is out front. >> reporter: ukraine's military intelligence wages war in the shadows, but it is hitting the russians hard. orchestrating cruise missile attacks on vladimir putin's black sea fleet, ousting moscow's forces from oil and gas drilling platforms off the coast of occupied crimea in a daring amphibious assault, and attacking the russian capital with long-distance combat drones while maintaining deniability. the man leading the intelligence service gur is lubdanov, one of russia's most feared enemies "i appeal to russian soldiers, to those who got lucky enough to survive in destroyed trenches," he recently said. "it will be even worse. you have a choice. die or save your life." but now ukraine believes the russians may have struck back. kyiv saying his wife has been poisoned by what they say is, quote, a heavy metal. a ukrainian source telling cnn budanova tested positive for mercury poisoning. officials believe the kremlin could be behind it, like the foreign minister right here on "outfront." >> definitely our intelligence chief is the enemy of russia, as all of

and fred pleitgen has more from iceland for us. >> reporter: hi there. the authorities are saying that the volcanic activity a subside as bit but the danger ser not over. in the initial hours after the first erums, we saw the massive wall of magma. and hlava is being spewed into the air. and the flows moving laterally into the immediate area. at first they thought there were five vents still spewing. now they say three. but still a lot of activity going on. and they say that there could be new vent and new fissures opening up across the vault line going on. of course the magna tunnel that goes all the way to the atlantic ocean. so the authorities here definitely still very much on high alert. they have core doned off the immediate area. and then you have the town of grindavik which has been so faes affected. it was evacuated and residents have been told that they can't go back until christmas which is not surprising considering the gates of hell have opened up in their backyard. but as of now, luckily no one injured. and authorities do say this they have

fred pleitgen is with us for the latest. fred, what is the status here?it is completely unknown. one thing to point out is how difficult it is for navalny's lawyers to get that little bit of information from the russian prison system, and more difficult for them to find alexei navalny, and for the last two days he was supposed to appear on a video link from where he is, and he has not shown up in the past two days. the people inside of that prison said there were issues with the electricity and then they did admit that alexei navalny is no longer listed in the prison, and then they admitted that he had left that prison, and that is how far his lawyers have gotten that he had left that prison, but it is unclear where he is. we know that he was supposed to be transferred to another jail which has a tougher regime than the one he has been in so far. it is not unheard of for prisoners when they are in the process of being transferred to be off comms, but they don't know if that is the case, but they simply don't know. all of this is extremely concerning for t

cnn's fred pleitgen is on the ground, has a live report coming up in "the situation room." if you ever miss an episode of "the lead," listen to the show where you get your podcasts. coverage continues with wolf blitzezer and "thehe situationo room." i'll see you tomorrow. >>> happening now, donald trum

f fred pleitgen is live for us. you've covered inavalny for years. what do we know? >> reporter: and it is difficult to get any sort of answers out of the russian prison system. and we mentioned some of the stages that navalny's lawyers have gone through trying to find him. and it is even worse than that because for a while the prison was saying that he wasn't showing up to meetings because of some sort of power outage in the prison where he was supposed to be. and only now are admitting that he is no longer in that prison. but at the same time, not saying which prison he has been transferred to. one of the things that we need to mention is that he was up to be transferred to a different jail which is supposed to be an even tougher jail than the one he has been in so far. we know he spent a lot of time in solitary confinement. and you mentioned correctly that he has had serious health issues. his spokeswoman says he fantsed in his cell last week and had to be put on an iv. so at this point in time, he is supposed to be transferred and it is not clear where that is an

fred pleitgen was on one of those flights. >> iceland coast guard flying into the eruption zone in therctic night. these flights are extremely important for the icelandic coast guard. on what, hand they have to survey the area but also they have to practice in case they need to do -- i slid was prepared for a massive eruption that started earlier this week. more than two miles long fisher spewing magma hundreds of feet into the air. but while residents have been evacuated, authorities are still working in the area. >> so this is highly important for us to do this. during the night. and it serves -- >> the crew even spots a person walking close to the lava and say they notified police to check it out. the eruption has weakened considerably but magma is still bubbling below us. the crew strapped me and for a closer look. >> this is an amazing thing to be witnessing from up here. we can see just how active the volcanic zones still is. we can see the lava, we can smell the magma, we can feel the power that our planet is unleashing. the chopper drops off right by the lava field to train eva

cnn's fred pleitgen reports. >> ukraine's military intelligence wages war in the shadows, but it is hittingsians hard.d. orchestratining cruise misissile attacks on vladimir putin's blacack sea fleet, oustiting moscow's forces from oil and gas drilling platforms off the coast of occupied crimea, in a daring amphibious assault. and attacking a russian capital with long distance combat drones while maintaining deniability. the man leading the intelligence service -- it is -- one of russia's most feared enemies. >> i appeal to russian soldiers, to those who got lucky enough to survive and destroy trenches you recently said. it will be even worse. you have a choice, die, or save your life. but now ukraine believes the russians may have struck back. saying has wife -- has been poisoned by what they say is, quote, a heavy metal. a ukrainian source telling cnn, she tested positive for both arsenic and mercury poisoning. ukrainian officials believe the kremlin could be behind, it like the foreign minister in an interview with cnn's erin burnett. >> definitely our intelligence chief is the enemy of

fred pleitgen is live with reporting on both of these fronts.u look at kherson and how strategically vital that is and you look also at crimea and how important that is, what do we make of the airstrike the third loss of russian military hardware in a week? >> reporter: yeah, the third major loss, russians seem to be taking serious losses recently. also those jets that have been shot down apparently by patriots sur surface-to-air missile systems the past couple of days. request this hit on this landing ship is one of things that's remarkable is that crimea is a very big peninsula and was hit on the side of the peninsula that is very far away from ukrainian scrolled territory. the ukrainians saying these were air launch classrooms that took out the ship. the russians are saying there was damage. the ukrainians say they destroyed the ship. the footage that that's come out and the mag you'd of that explosion there, it seems as though damage might be a bit of an understatement. could be substantial damage. the other thing that the ukrainians are say

fred pleitgen thank you for getting there and showing us those amazing pictures. >> israel back in negotiationss to secure the release of hostages who have been held captive in gaza forrer inially three months now and members of congress are urging president biden to push for a way they're saying that is a significant shift from israel's military strategy. more on that. >>> and the colorado supreme court has spoken, and now we're going to speak to colorado's top election official, the colorado secretary of state next. negotiation in exchange for a pause in fighting the war grinds on and civilians in gaza are still suffering the brunt of those battles. here in the united states a group of house democrats is calling on president biden to pu push israel for an immediate and significant shift. it came in a letter to president biden's desk this week and sign by six democrats who sat on national security committees. one of those lawmakers is democratic kelly houlihan and with the arms services committee and joins us now from pennsylvania your home state this morning and thank you so much for joining

our fred pleitgen got a ride on a helicopter to see the extensive lava field. look at this. >> this is an amazing thing to be witnessing from up here. we can see just how active the volcanic zone still is. you can see the lava. you can smell the magma. you can feel the power that our planet is unleashing. >> it's incredible for fred to have seen that and shared it with us. officials warning any tourist to do that obviously to stay away. but thank goodness for fred and that incredible reporting. thanks so much to all of you for being with us. "ac 360" starts now. >>> good evening. anderson is off tonight. and we begin with breaking news. a new window into just how far the former president went to overturn the election that he lost. we've already heard the phone call of him pressuring georgia officials to find him votes that he was not entitled to, not to mention his phone call to arizona governor doug ducey to overturn the election results in arizona. and now the detroit news is reporting on recordings they've reviewed in which he is pressuring detroit area elec

fred pleitgen returning from a helicopter flyover. give us a sense of what you saw. >> reporter: that was an incredible flight over the volcanic eruption zone. we saw the sheer size, smelled the magma and felt the heat flying above. that's coming up. >>> a live look for you there at laguardia airport in new york city. calm right now. could it be the calm before the storm? just might be. it is expected to be busy this holiday season. triple a predicting record setting air travel over christmas and the new year. and add to it road travel, more than 115 million people who will be traveling 50 miles or more between friday and the first day of the new year. talking about 2 1/2 million more people than traveling last year. >> pete muntean joins us from reagan national airport. 2 1/2 million sounds like a lot. is it a lot? should people be stressed out right now? >> should they be stressed out? maybe a little. the tsa just updated the forecast. they thought that 2.5 million people were going to be screened at airports across the country toda

cnn's fred pleitgen has the latest. >> up close as the earth spews fountains of lava. south iceland remains in a state of emergency as the volcanic eruption continues. this is as close as the icelandic authorities are gonna allow us to the actual fissures where the eruption i s happening. i'd say wear a mile, maybe a little less than a mile away from it. now, things have come down a little bit, but the same time, of course, the danger is still there. authorities fear there could be new events that might open up pop-up and that more lava could be gushing to the surface, and then could be coming to the surface in fountains like we've seen over the past day and a half. well things have gotten a bit more muted, certainly, the danger is not over. and the early stages of the eruption, a wall of lava spewing hundreds of feet into the air. well that has subsided somewhat, the underground magma tunnel remains active and dangerous. >> too dangerous. and of course, the magma that's coming up is 120 0 degrees hot when it comes to the surface. and it takes a long time for the surfa

cnn's fred pleitgen is near, not far from the volcano. and he is joining us now. hat is the latest where you are, fred? >> reporter: hi there, pamela. authorities are saying that the lava flow has diminished somewhat, but it's still an absolutely massive lava flow that can fill an olympic-sized pool in a matter of seconds. this is really an eruption that the folks here down in the southwest of iceland say it's absolutely massive. it started around ten pm local time last night when a massive fissure crack opened here in the southwest of iceland. now, that fissure is about four kilometers or about 2. 2, 2. 3 miles long. and it was just viewing magma, hundreds of feet up into the air. and that lasted for the better part of the day. and what authorities are now saying that things have calmed down a little bit, that magma is still being volted into the air by about 30 feet. so, there's still definitely a lot of activity going on, a lot of that lava flow is still going on as well. and you mentioned the toxic gases, it's one of the really interesting things about this vol

fred pleitgen is out front. >> reporter: the prize, dust and rubble. vicious fighting turned this town into a wasteland. still, russia's defense minister claiming this is significant progress for moscow. the russian army is constantly taking more favorable positions and expanding controlled territories in all directions, he said. we are consistently moving forward, achieving the stated goals of the special operation. russia says its forces are pressing in the entire east, looking to encircle the ukrainians, increasingly laying waste to the city. we have been bringing humanitarian aid and food here for a long time, he says. people have already left. i hope there were no casualties. this is what it looks like, there's nothing here. kyiv says the russian army is suffering losses. ukraine's military acknowledges their own large-scale cou counteroffensive has essentially stalled. a situation compounded by severe ammo shortages. ukraine desperately hoping congress will end its impasse and green light further u.s. military aid, after months of delays. ukraine

. >> fred pleitgen with the reporting. thank you. >>> and "cnn this morning" continues right now. >> this is unacceptable and it's just an unfair, unethical situation what's going on here in eagle pass. we feel ignored by the federal government. >> the federal government said to new york city we're not going to do our job. you do our job. >> good morning, everyone. so glad you are with us. from the texas border towns to right hear in new york city, mayors slamming the biden administration over its handling of the migrant crisis as top white house officials head to mexico today. >>> and vivek ramaswamy halting tv ads spending weeks before the first primary contest. he says it's only for candidates with, quote, low iq. >>> and a star found dead in the middle of a drug investigation and claims he was being blackmailed. this hour of "cnn this morning" starts now. >>> we begin this morning with the crisis at the southern border where president biden is sending some of his highest ranking officials to confront the surge. right n

our fred pleitgen got a ride on a helicopter to see the extensive lava field. look at this. >> this is an amazing thing to be witnessing from up here. we can see just how active the volcanic zone still is. you can see the lava. you can smell the magma. you can feel the power that our planet is unleashing. >> it's incredible for fred to have seen that and shared it with us. officials warning any tourist to do that obviously to stay away. t

cnn's fred pleitgen is on the ground, has a live report coming up in "the situation room." if you ever miss an episode of "the lead," listen to the show where you get your podcasts. coverage continues with wolf blitzezer and "thehe situationo room." i'll see you tomorrow. >>> happening now, donald trump and his top republican rivals are swarming the campaign trail tonight with 2024 almost here. we're getting a new read on the former president's confidence heading into the iowa caucuses. his campaign already predicting when he'll clinch the gop nomination. >>> also tonight, a major legal challenge to a strict and sweeping new immigration law in texas. will civil rights groups be able to block the measure that authorizes police in texas to arrest migrants? >>> a stunning explosion of red-hot lava as a volcano erupts in iceland. cnn is right near the danger zone getting updates on the threat from the oozing inferno and the toxic gases spewing into the air? welcome to our viewers here in the united states and around the world. i'm wolf blitzer. you're in "the situation room." >

pleitgen joins us now. what is the latest where you are, fred? >> reporter: the authorities are saying that the lava flow diminished, but it's an absolutely massive lava flow that could fill an olympic-size pool in a matter of seconds. it's an eruption that is massive. it started around 10:00 p.m. local time last night when a massive fissure opened up. it's 2.2 miles long. it was just spewing magma hundreds of feed into the air. that lasted the better part of the day. authorities are saying things have calmed down. that magma is still being volted i into the air. the lava flow is still going on. you mentioned the toxic gases. that's one of the interesting things is that it's not spewing ash into the air, as you would, but the toxic gases, authorities say it could be a problem because we are close to the capital of iceland. >> the toxic gases are a concern. are there residents in danger? >> reporter: right now, the authorities believe there's not. one of the things that they have done before this eruption took place is that they emptied out, evacu