the detained americans issue, as colonel leighton was saying, builds on itself. when a rogue state like north korea sees what russia does, it seems to embolden them in some ways. will, i want to go back to you on the question of where do we go from here, and as kylie said, south korea is a key ally, likely to be leaned on by the united states in figuring this out. what about china? what role do you think china will play as they are a close ally of north korea's? and while they are not necessarily allied with the united states, there is some communication that happens there. >> there is no country with more leverage over north korea than china. china is the enforcer of sanctions or the nation that would look the other way if sanctions are not being enforce. sanctions prevent missile components and other -- and materials that are used either for the north korean military or north korean elite. but if china kind of, you know, allows those things to go in the country, the life and living standard continues as it does for those who in pyongyang need to be kept happy,

and her one day lifelong friend leighton long. 17 years later leighton and tatum went to prom together her mom laura along with leighton and his mom lurie. good morning to all of you. >> good morning. >> good morning. >> we just saw those adorable pictures. tatum let's start with you. this was actually your idea, right? >> yes, it was. >> steve: so what did you want to do? >> well, i thought it would be fun and it would be something new to try and we've always liked hanging out so i figured i would invite him to my prom and have a lot of fun. >> steve: okay. and leighton, you obviously accepted. >> yeah. >> steve: you guys have been friends -- is it hard to wrap your head around the idea, i was in a nicu unit bed two beds over from her 17 years ago and now here we are going to the prom? >> i mean, yeah, it's kind of a crazy experience just thinking about like how fast time goes and where you were to where you are now. >> steve: such a good point because, lori, i'm sure you look at the pictures of your daughter in the nicu unit and it's got to seem like that wasn't 17 years ago, that wa

. >> joining us now cedric leighton.eek tell us about the key issues on the table. >> pamela, good morning. the big issue, of course, is the one that's kind of taking the air out of the room, is ukraine's path to membership. this is going to be the key thing that they're going to be discussing. are they going to actually make this work? then you have sweden's succession to nato, that's another country that is trying to enter the nato alliance for the first time in its history. and then, of course, the type of assistance that we will actually be providing to ukraine, whether the west provides certain weapons such as atakims and f-16s. over this you have the whole issue about the cluster munitions. >> colonel leighton, the ukrainian president volodymyr zelenskyy told erin burnett in an exclusive interview giving ukraine an invitation would be a affect on the fighters. >> one of the key things that you actually have here is, you know, what do you do with the rest of the world and how are these particular issues going to be

cnn military analyst colonel cedric leighton joining us now.drone attacks. russia says it was launched by ukraine. if that is indeed true, i mean, this is happening inside russia's capital in moscow. how significant would that be if ukraine now does have the ability to reach deep inside russia, impacting ordinary russians? >> yeah, that's pretty significant. good morning you to. there are so many different aspects to this. the key thing i think is first of all the morale impact this could have on the russians. when we saw this tape coming in from moscow and you heard the people screaming, that, you know, is an indicator ity they weren't expecting it to happen and shows how significantly this can affect people psychologically, especially a civilian population. i think the ukrainians are trying not to hit civilian targets, but if their rockets and their drones are moved off course because of russian jamming, that could result in civilian targets being hit even inadvertently, that will have its own terror aspect to it. there is no question about i

was it wrong of biden, colonel leighton, to deny ukraine a nato invitation now? all right. sounds like he's still not hearing me. i'm sorry, we're having some technical difficulties there. andre, let me ask you just about that significance. how frustrating do you think this is for president zelenskyy that -- i mean, he went out in that interview with us in english, he has been pounding the table, and to be given a definitive now. >> i think in this war a lot is about messaging. and for president zelenskyy it's extremely important to get this clear message from nato of support. and i think he expected a lot, and the whole country, ukraine expected a lot from this summit. so let's see how it goes. while he got some guarantees today. again, let's see. >> so, andre, i want to ask you about some of your reporting because you have been reporting extensively on how prigozhin's failed coup exposed the weaknesses in the russian security services, specifically the fsb, where you have done so much in-depth reporting, that they failed to stop the mutiny, even though, as you report, the

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let's see the correct answer date of today, calendar natalya choose dragons 600 in frederic leighton'sg he saves andromeda from a dragon, not from a cetacean monster. in the 1961 soviet film planet of storms , it is a little hot on this planet, but in general the conditions are tolerable, which is in full accordance with scientific according to the ideas of that time, in my opinion, this is venus. quite right, the cosmos. the first launch of artificial satellites from this russian cosmodrome took place on april 28, 2016. three objects were sent into space, no, the first launch was in 2016. from the vostochny cosmodrome one and a half thousand near the galaxy m51 in the constellation of hounds of dogs was first discovered. spiral structure the galaxy is nicknamed after this phenomenon for its resemblance to a whirlpool is true. dragon 900 this large river is called the heilongjiang black dragon river by the chinese. in my opinion, this is correct. in this chamber you can also admire the treasures of the diamond fund of the kremlin. it's not easy to get tickets though. weapons replaced k

. >>> we have jessica leighton good morning. >> frank, good wednesday morning to you we begin with that devastation left in the wake of that flooding in vermont the state's historic capital area slammed by two months worth of rain in a matter of two hours. the city of montpelier is under a boil advisory and officials are keeping an eye on a stream four areas have been declared disaster areas after 53 years, leslie van houten has been released on parole now 73 she was convicted of the 1969 murders of two. she was originally sentenced to death but an appeal reversed it to life with the possibility of parole. >>> and after nine straight de defeats, the national league won the mlb all star game for the first time since 2012. kohl's rockies catcher hit a two-run homer in the eighth to help lift the a.l. to a 3-2 win over the american league in seattle. so frank and everyone, let everyone know nobody beats the national league ten times in a row in the all-star game i'll send it back to you. >> a lot of fun. it's great to see you do as always. >>> why top economist mark zandi is optimiss tig t

nbc's jessica leighton is in new york with the very latest. good morning. >> reporter: frank, good morning. hope you're having a great start to your week political turmoil in israel. hundreds of thousands of protesters voted on jerusalem on a judicial overhaul that would allow prime minister benjamin netanyahu to overrule supreme court decisions. hundreds of israeli air force reservists say they will not show up for duty netanyahu is insisting on today's vote despite his own health struggles he's been admitted to the hospital and he announced he had a pacemaker put in the brutal heat wave thousands of tourists were forced to evacuate on the island of rhodes. crews working around the clock to try to contain this disaster. and back here at home, another shot at a massive jackpot. the mega millions prize climbing to $820 million after nobody hit the jackpot on friday. it is the fifth largest prize in the game's history and you still have a lot of time to get your ticket, frank. the next drawing is tomorrow night at 11 p.m. eastern back to you. >>

colonel cedric leighton joining us. good morning, colonel.d on friday that none of the west has been helping in the counteroffensive. president zelenskyy seemingly blaming the west for having to wait for these weapons to begin the counteroffensive. what are your thoughts on why it's not going as well as hoped? >> well, good morning, amara. in many ways president zelenskyy is right. the way in which the counteroffensive was unveiled and the way it rippled out, it's pretty clear that, number one, there should have been more secrecy. all of it should have been done in a concert and synchronized fashion, and the fact that it wasn't really points to the late start and the fact that things are slow going. the ukrainians gave the russians six, seven months of extra time and used that time to dig in and the fact that they dug in, used mines, and in essence created this mine field off the portion of ukraine about the size of florida, that really creates a real problem for any advancing forces. the fact is the uukrainians havn able to hold off. >> how

. >>> cnn military analyst colonel cedric leighton joins us now. thank you so much for being with us. i want to talk to you about a key part of this report that says, look, this largely boils down to a failure to consider a worst case scenario. we all remember that terrorist attack in the final days of the withdrawal that killed 13 american service members and more than 70 afghans. shouldn't a focus on worst case scenarios be a vital part of planning for anything of this magnitude and complexity? >> absolutely, paula. there's no question about it. you know, it's -- a tragic mark on the administration and on the prior administration for not considering worst case scenarios. that's what planning is all about. you know, in the military and we should have the same situation in the state department. you should be planning for the worst possible outcome. you hope that that worst possible outcome doesn't take place, but in the afghan situation, it was really clear. we've had plenty of antecedents such as vietnam, the fall of saigon, which happened quickly

we have retired air force colonel cedric leighton joining us now. he's a cnn military analyst.ell us about this decision and why the u.s. decides it's worth it to send these to ukraine? >> one of the big questions, the russians are using these weapons all the time in ukraine. you can see from the video, these are one of the key weapons that the russians have used, but the ukrainians have also used, they've had stockpiles of this weapon quite some time. and the key thing to remember is, because of the shortages that the ukrainians are experiencing in the munitions that they currently have, they feel they need the cluster bombs in order to prosecute their counteroffensive. >> so is this weapon really a game-changer, this weapon? >> this weapon will definitely change things tactically on the battlefield become but it may not be a game-changer in the sense of actually being the win thing that you need in order to take everything to the next level. so, basically, what it's designed to do, of course, it's designed to go after conceconcentrate ed troop movements and areas. any informa

. >> colonel cedric leighton, thanks for being with us today. >>> coming up, controversy on capitol hillis about, but who republicans have decided to call as their key witness. >>> and the justice department is now stepping in. troubling reports about the treatment of migrants at the u.s.-mexico boarder. an allegation that texas troopers were told to push migrants back into the rio grand and also deny them water i in t scorching heat. we'll be right bacack. my frequent heartburn had me taking a antacid after antacid all day long but with prilosec otc just one pill a day blocks heartrn for a full 24 hours. for one and done heartburn relief, prilosec otc. one pill a day, 24 hours, fozero heartburn.rs. it's not too late to show summer's who's boss. and wayfair's got just what you need. they have all the top grills and gear. with smoking fast shipping. and wayfair deals so epic... you'll feel like a big deal. yes! so get outdoorsy for way less at wayfair. ♪ wayfair, you've got just what i need ♪ for too long, big pharmaceutical companies have bought off politicians so they can get away with

let's break this down with military analyst and retired air force colonel cedric leighton.o much for taking us through this here. what is the strategy here with russia's southern bombardment? >> one of the big things is really the port of odesa. when you look at what is happening in odesa, major ports here, odesa, up here in m mikolaiv, they're critical for exporting grain. what russia is trying to do, notice they have everything in red, that's russian-occupied territory. all the coastlines here. they want to make this coastline right here completely unusable for ukraine. that's the russian strategy, to prevent this kind of thing from happening and to also make sure that this route right here doesn't work no matter what -- no matter what actually is done, that they actually can cut this whether or not there's a grain deal. >> yeah. in a way they're saying why would we be making things easier for russia? they're not re-upping this grain deal that allowed safe passage to turkey of that grain. and now with the u.s. warning of these potential false flag attacks, what do you mak

and cedric leighton, thank you, my friends. >>> we're going to continue to cover the breaking news of the peninsula, an american man is believed to be in north korean custody after crossing the border. stay with us, our reporters across the world are working to bring this information to you as soon as we have. "cnn news central" starts right now. >>> breaking news. a u.s. soldier detained by north korea. taken into custody right at the border. we are working our sources and have the latest from u.s. officials. >>> missiles rain down on the city of odesa. russia's response to ukraine's attack on a key bridge. for the first time in weeks, wagner mercenary troops are spotted after launching a serious challenge against russia's vladimir putin. we're live in ukraine with developments. >> the most important day of the classified documents case yet. and maybe the most important decision could be coming, when donald trump's trial will start, i'm kate bolduan with john berman and sara sidner, this is "cnn news central." >>> all right. the breaking news this morning. we learned just a short tim

let's continue this conversation with cnn military analyst and retired air force colonel cedric leighton. colonel, thank you so much for being here about us. how significant is it that westminster abbeyer er-- wagner forces are moving closer to the bored? >> it's significant. this is near the gap, and it's this area between lithuania, poland, and belarus that is a vulnerable point for the nato forces because it allows the russians, it's an area where the russians have transit rights or at least in the past had transit rights to take equipment and men into the enclave of russia that russia has had since basically the end of world war ii. and that area is one that the russians want to protect because that's where their baltic sea fleet is, if they want to also be able to project power into the baltic. so what they're trying to do is trying to make sure, the russians and the wagner group, trying to make sure they can maintain that connection to the group. if they can do that, then that, of course, puts forces at risk for nato. and also in addition to keeping maritime forces at risk, of cour

colonel leighton, good to see you. john?wilmington, delaware, from the hunter biden plea deal hearing. our kara scannell just ran out from inside the courtroom. kara, bring us up to speed. >> john, as i went back in the courtroom the hearing had just begun again. the judge was back on the bench and she was pressing the prosecution on this investigation and the four corners of this plea agreement. one of the prosecutors said that the investigation was very much ongoing and she asked him, what is not covered in this plea agreement? if you are leaving the possibility for there being further charges. would this be a charge as not registering as an agent. blow the plea deal would not include that. it was at the point that she said to the prosecution, if you can charge that then what does this mean and the prosecutors, she asked hunter biden's attorneys said there's no deal. the prosecution said there is no deal. the plea agreement as they understand it is now null and void and they were move ahead to talk about what the next step

. >> one question i have, for you, chairwoman ross, leighton, is that how do you, given your experience chairwoman of foreign affairs, how has our state department doing on this. are they properly engaged? no. can you expand on that >> thank you for that question, and i so agree with you, mr. crenshaw. that mexico should be that country. because it truly impacts what happens in our country, directly. and i would add to that list the axis of evil of latin america, which is cuba, nicaragua, venezuela, while all of these countries are in cahoots with the iranian regime and other entities, and they allow penetration within their soil, and in nicaragua, russia has now established a foothold in where nicaraguan law was amended so that it allows russians to have facilities in nicaragua, spy facilities, and they can operate freely and off the coast of venezuela. you see russia and china, and iran operating as well. so we've got a real hotbed of potential terrorist activity, and certainly gathering of secrets and spying on the united states right in our own hemisphere. and i would say that on yo

but yeah, he's been spending a lot of time up in leighton buzzard.e's really fallen in love with the british countryside and he will be spending of the summer spending most of the summer here. well, i never did . here. well well, i never did. >> i love seeing him eat crisps at wimbledon. he's really soaking up everything. >> and americans call it chips, right ? right? >> oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, they do i >> -- >> oh, that m >> oh, that will confuse him when got fish chips , he when he got fish and chips, he probably thought it was something different. something entirely different. >> like fries. >> probably it was like fries. he probably expecting fries. he was probably expecting fries. not chips, but not the big fat chips, but apparently loves the apparently he really loves the british menu up british food and the menu up there. so anyone who's up in that area keep an eye out for brad pitt. >> keep your peeled, >> keep your eyes peeled, steven. round to my place steven. all round to my place after go out. exciting. >> go for a pint in late. i went for

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