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"the lead" starts right now. the justices erase race-based college admissions. were talking to one of the attorneys that argued in support of affirmative action before the court. then documents shared exclusively with cnn show a russian general, whose whereabouts is currently unknown, was a secret vip member of the wagner mercenary group. plus cnns erin burnett joins us live from kyiv where she just sat down with former vice president mike pence during his surprise trip. the parkland...

♪ very good wednesday morning to you, im jim sciutto. >> and im erica hill. happening right now, more than 4,500 civilians are stuck in the ukrainian city of bakhmut, this as russian forces launch a barrage of attacks on the fiercely contested area, president zelenskyy calling it the countrys most difficult situation. as of now, though, ukrainian forces are still holding the line. cnn is on the ground in eastern ukraine and we will bring you the very latest. plus a political -- >>...

states hits today and that is the legal limit. if congress does not raise that limit, the country risks default which would have almost unmanageable consequences. now the treasury department is taking what are called extraordinary measures to push that date back a bit. but they cant do it forever. this morning cnn has also learned that president biden still plans to announce he is running for re-election. he does plan to announce that bid after the state of union address next month. th...

set. this is what were watching "at this hour." thank you for being here. im kate bolduan. the battle over the nations debt ceiling is upon us. the united states just hit its borrowing limit of $31.4 trillion. and that means that the treasury department must now begin to use a series of what is called extraordinary measures to avoid default. extraordinary measures that are no longer so extraordinary since they have been -- theyve had to be used so often. this is a completely avoidabl...

current prime minister fumio kishida really encapsulated the emotions felt across japan. he was visibly upset, in tears almost, you know, as he talked about the current condition of former prime minister abe and went on to say that -- calling the shooting an unforgivable act. abes brother and current minister of defense nobuo kishi also addressed the media calling the attack an affront to democracy and the suppression of freedom of speech. witnesses say that abe was shot from behind, h...

>> good evening, everybody. im jim acosta in washington. this is cnns special coverage election 2024, the campaign and the courtroom. what a consequential week it has been, both the one we witnessed and the one coming. the case in georgia against donald trump is about to face a big test. were just hours away from a hearing over a key co-defendants attempt to move his case to federal court and potentially dismiss the charges. the hearing could have major implications for trump, who is now facing ...

Many indictments it is now, but hes going to spend a lot of time in a courtroom and not on a campaign trail. and my concern is we cannot have kamala harris as president. we cant chance this. >> here to discuss, cnn correspondents audie cornish and eva mckend. plus cnn political commentator kate beddenfield. and scott jennings. scott, your reaction to how nikki haley is framing this. she obviously knows theres four indictments. >> first of all, coming out of the debate, i was surprised to sea hal...

Better sense this week if his legal calendar will in fact clash with the campaign calendar. cnns senior crime and justice reporter katelyn polantz joins us from atlanta. what can we expect tomorrow, and why is this hearing about so much more than mark meadows? >> reporter: well, jim, it is going to be about mark meadows first and foremost, but it is about more than that because there are other people that want to do what mark meadows is trying to do here in this case, move the case from state co...

Court hearing tomorrow morning where mark meadows will ask a federal judge to move his case to federal court or dismiss it altogether. lets turn now to some legal experts. cnn legal analyst elie honig and carrie cordero. elie, let me start with you. what do you think were going to learn from this hearing tomorrow? i was kind of curious about this. might there be some nuggets or easter eggs lurking in tomorrows hearing that may be some new information we havent heard before as fani willis is tryi...

Affairs correspondent paula reid. paula, what are we learning about this campaign aides conversations with the special counsel? >> abby, one of the most damning parts of the special counsels indictment was the allegation that former president trump showed a classified map to a representative of his political action committee but this person wasnt named. thats significant not only because he was allegedly showing a classified document, but also this is someone very much in his inner circle. multi...