beyond seven counts of murder. also tonight, former trump white house counsel pat cipollone is set to face the january 6th committee after months of pressure to testify. will he reveal crucial evidence against the former president? and president biden is responding to a desperate personal plea for help from wnba star brittney griner. we'll tell you what president biden told griner's wife. we want to welcome viewers here in the united states and around the world. i'm wolf blitzer. you're in "the situation room." we begin in highland park where authorities say the july fourth shooter is confessing to what he did and what he thought about doing after the slaughter. cnn senior national correspondent ed lavandera is on the scene.

>> reporter: appearing in court for the first time since the july fourth massacre, prosecutors say shooting suspect robert crimo, iii admitted to opening fire on parade goers celebrating independence day in highland park, illinois. authorities say three 30-round magazines and 83 spent shell casings were recovered and crimo was considering another shooting in madison, a 2.5 hour drive away. >> he did see a celebration occurring in madison and he seriously contemplated using the firearm he had in his vehicle to commit another shooting in madison. >> reporter: a judge ruled he will be held without bond. [ gunshots ]. >> reporter: the state's attorney is charging the 21-year-old with seven counts of first-degree murder. the fbi is also considering federal charges. >> these are just the first of many charges that will be filed against mr. crimo. i want to emphasize that. there will be more charges. we anticipate dozens of more

charges centering around each of the victims. >> reporter: new surveillance video captured the commotion after the gunfire started. some parade spectators were scrambling into a nearby outdoor apparel store, a few stumbling upon entry and ducking for cover. crimo's past contact with law enforcement is under krutscruti. they were conduct in april of 2019 he tried to kill himself. the matter was treated as a mental health matter and no police action taken. five months later a family member contacted police reporting that crimo had a collection of knives and said he was going to quote kill everyone. police responded and removed 16 knives, a dagger and a sword from his home. no one from his family, however, filed a complaint. later that day, the knives were returned to crimo's father who claimed they were his. despite this, crimo was granted a firearm card with his father

sponsoring the application for the card. the agency says crimo passed four background checks between june of 2020 and september of 2021. >> i'm looking forward to an explanation of what happened. we in highland park, our police department did the right thing, filed the necessary reports and i am waiting for that explanation. i expect it in the next few days. >> reporter: as a community mom mourns, more witnesses are sharing harrowing experience. >> the whole time i'm trying to figure out who is going on and what i need to do. >> reporter: bryant attended the parade with his wife and four kids and says his oldest son was briefly missing after the shooting stopped but says he still managed to help victims while searching for his child. he eventually found his son in a nearby jewelry store. >> i came and got him and just like where you been, son? we're scared to death. we didn't know if he was shot. that's why we couldn't find him. we didn't know if he was hiding

somewhere. we didn't know. >> reporter: wolf, it's not entirely clear why that second attack wasn't carried out in madison, wisconsin. authorities said today that perhaps the early indication right now is that the shooter didn't feel like he had researched it enough to carry it out. as far as the overall motivation for why he carried out this deadly attack on the streets of highland park, illinois, investigators don't want to speculate the motive. they say it not necessarily clear at this point given the conversations they've had with the suspect. wolf? >> edlavandera, thank you. joining us also from highland park, the lake county state's attorney. eric, thanks for joining us. thanks for all you're doing. as we watch this truly horrifying new surveillance video of parade goers fleeing the attack, tell us why you believe it's so important that this gunman faced justice for everyone he terrorized on top of

the seven murder charges he's already facing. >> reporter: thank you, wolf. it's vital to the healing of this community that every single victim receives justice. i've been meeting with victims since yesterday. we've had our office personal down in highland park since early yesterday. the fbi victim assistance team is doing an amazing job. everyone is pulling together. i want to express my condolences to those who lost their loved ones to those injured physically and psychologically. every one of those people injured and killed has lost their freedom. their freedom matters. the freedom to be free from the trama of what happened here on the fourth and so for every victim, we'll file multiple charges against pmr. crimo. >> given this confession to investigators, are you expecting this gunman will plead guilty in court? >> reporter: i don't want to speculate on what he's going to do. law enforcement did an amazing

job. our federal partners at the fbi, the atf, the highland park police department and task force and illinois state police and so many other agencies crime together to investigate this case quickly and able to capture him in a matter of hours and obviously, i have to mention first responders who were here to help those who were injured. everybody has done an amazing job even in a heartbreaking even in such a heartbreaking situation. >> we're all so very grateful to all of them. during your briefings over the past day or so, you left open the possibility of charging the gunman's parents, especially his father. what charges could they potentially face? >> reporter: i don't want to speculate too much on that. the investigation is very active. we continue to encourage people who have information about mr. crimo or about the parade to come forward. we are looking a lot at his contacts and his social media as well as his digital footprint

and that will help us understand the complete picture of this premeditated and calculate attack. >> i ask the question eric, because the gunman's father signed off on the gun violence application as you know in december of 2019, despite his history of violent threats. does he bear some legal responsibility for this attack? >> reporter: we're looking at all of the details of what everyone's involvement was, what everyone's knowledge was, when people were aware of the danger, when people were aware of the risk, the substantial risk to other individuals and we continue to evaluate that as we receive evidence. >> police say the gunman seriously contemplated a second attack in madison, wisconsin, not very far away from highland park. how close did he actually, though, come to carrying out another massacre? >> reporter: you know, that information is just stunning to conte

contemplate. that information is unbelievable, and we don't know how close he came. he was certainly by himself up there as far as we know right now and, you know, his 125 statements about that i'll leave for another day. it's certainly incredibly concerning to think about that and the really access he had to assault weapons. i've called for a state and nationwide ban on these type of assault weapons. it was an mnp 15 and that is not something that he should have had access to for a variety of reasons. >> could more charges, do you believe, stem from the plans of a second attack? >> certainly, we're looking at what happened in wisconsin. we're looking at him crossing state lines to do that. we're looking at all of the information that may be out there digitally to understand the full scope of his attack. i speak with the u.s. attorney every few hours. i would certainly refer you to them in terms of some of the

federal questions about potential federal charges but we're working day and night on this. our office is coordinating with the fbi to understand all of the digital evidence. >> the shooter, as you know, eric, passed four, not two or three but four background checks despite previous threats against his own family. what needs to change to prevent someone like this from getting their hands on an assault rifle? >> so that information is conveyed from a local police department directly to the illinois state police who governs that application process. i think some of that information could have come to prosecutors' offices possibly in the future in case we had contact with him. it just so happens the state's attorney's office never had contact with mr. crimo at any point. so i don't know that would have prevented it but at this point, we should look at everything we can to make the community safe. of y obviously, increasing digital

information and cooperation between law enforcement and state's attorneys and the illinois state police to understand when people are a threat is important and to store that information and be able to access that information later in case its obtained early and the law changes or obtained early and then not searched later. we've got to increase the connectivity when people are making these types of blanket threats. >> you're absolutely right. it's so heartbreaking and i'm sure you'll agree to hear from the families of these victims. it really is terrible. what is your message to them, eric, tonight as you try to bring this gunman to justice? >> yeah, that we're here to support you. that this journey could be a long one and that it's an individualized journey and that we are here for each and every one of you. the fbi victim assistance team is amazing. the state's attorney victim witness coordinators are here in highland park and we'll continue to be here as long as we need to be and we'll get justice and

seek the maximum penalty against mr. crimo for this unbelievable attack not only on highland park and lake county but the peace of the nation. when somebody does this here in lake county, illinois, i think people in california and new york and maine and texas, in florida, i think they're thinking about that when they go to the zoo or the museum. it is a devastating attack on us and we must meet it with a full force of our community to counter act that. that's what i want to pledge to the victims and make sure there are no more victims and do everything we can policy-wise and legislatively to make sure there are no victims in the future. >> yeah, because if it can happen in highland park, it can happen anywhere in the country. eric reinhart, thanks for all you're doing. i'd like to continue our conservations down the road. appreciate it very much. >> thank you very much, wolf. just ahead, heartbreaking details about the shooting victims and how they died. also, a potential breakthrough of the january 6th investigation

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witnesses in the january 6th in investigation has reached a deal with the select committee. sources say former trump white house counsel pat cipollone will be interviewed behind closed doors this coming friday. let's go to ryan nobles. ryan, this is certainly a major development for the select committee. >> there is no doubt about that, wolf. pat cipollone is a name that came up over and over again during testimony that we heard in previous hearings, particularly the testimony of gas cassidy hutchinson, the former aide to mark meadows and cipollone is a key player here. he's someone at the center of everything taking place at the white house especially in the critical period of time the committee is interested in from after the election leading up to january 6th. and according to hutchinson's testimony, he worked very hard to prevent things like having jeff clark be installed as the attorney general and also prevented the former president from marching down to the capitol on january 6th, which

would have made a bad situation worse. we're not clear about the parameters of the particular interview. it will take place behind cloclosed doors and will be transcribed and videotaped. we'll see some in future hearings. we don't know how they will handle the issue of privilege. committee members said they're willing to work with cipollone when it comes to matters like that and likely means, though, wolf any specific and direct conversations that he had with the president will be off limits. wol wolf? >> yeah, i think you're right and they will run clips, excerpts from the videotaped interview during the next round of hearings. regarding the georgia special grand jury investigating trump's attempts to overturn the 2020 presidential election, i understand the senator lindsey graham who is now responded to the subpoena he was issued for his testimony but he's saying he's not ready to agree. what's the latest? >> senator gram making it clear he plans to challenge the subpoena request through the

courts, which of course will mean that it will delay any sort of testimony or information that he could provide the district attorney in fulton county and basically extend this process out. now, depending on which legal expert you talked to, it does seem as though there is nothing that absolves graham from stepping forward and answering the questions that the grand jury and the district attorney are looking for but still, graham decided he wants to fight this in court and plans to do so. of course, graham is a key player in this. he was among the group of people close to the former president that was putting pressure on election officials in georgia to at least investigate allegations of fraud or stand in the way of the certification of the election results there. this particular investigation in fulton county is moving ahead now at a rapid clip and it appears they believe graham is a key part of the investigation. >> they certainly do. ryan nobles on capitol hill, thank you very much. let's bring in defense attorney and former federal prosecutor

along with cnn senior political correspondent abby phillip. how significant is scipollone's testimony? >> very significant because of who he is and his great statement that if trump went to the hill, they might be charged with every crime imaginable but i completely agree with ryan's observation that because of the privilege issues, january 6th committee really doesn't have time to litigate those issues with them so they will cave to his parameters and therefore we'll probably hear very little about his actual conversations with trump but he can certainly corroborate a lot of what we heard from cassidy hutchinson. >> we'll see what happens on that front. he's known as someone and you covered the white house, abby, as someone that doesn't necessarily like the limelight right now talking about s cipollone but his testimony could be very, very significant. >> it absolutely will be. even though it will be behind closed doors, it will be videotaped like many of the other depositions that have happened and i think you can

expect that if it's of significance and it has bearing on sole ome of the additional hearings, you might see pat cipollone in further hearings. he is someone who obviously has been in this white house, the trump white house through thick and thin. he defended trump through his impeachment hearing, his first impeachment hearing. he sees himself as a defender of the presidential institution but at the same time, based on the testimony of others, he was issuing big red flag warning signs and i think the committee wants to know what did he know about how much the president knew about who was armed in that crowd, about how badly he wanted to go to the capitol, about all the things happening behind the scenes by people like rudy giuliani and others? those are really important pieces of testimony from someone that would have had a good 360 degree view of what was going on from the legal side and also just from the perspective of

people trying to get the former president trump to do something on january 6th. >> abby phillip, thank you. we'll stay on top of the story of course. coming up, a father's final act of love trying to shield his toddler son from gunfire. we'll share new and get wrenching stories of highland park shooting victims and plus, we're learning right now about a new investigative report on the law enforcement response to the school massacre in uvalde, texas. we're going to tell you what it' v reveals. a lot more comining up. blam blatche or my money back... i love i it! [laughs] we'll drive you happy at carvana. reveals. a lot more coming up .

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. tonight we have a glimpse into some of the victims of the highland park shooting, terror, pain, bravery they showed in the final moments. mike, what more are you learning about these truly wonderful innocent people who simply went to a fourth of july parade and never returned? >> reporter: well, wolf, we're learning the stories of a father who simply in his dying moments wanted to protect the life of his toddler son and a mother that just wanted her daughter to have a great time reuniting with high school friends at the parade. these stories, wolf, led hundreds of people together paying their own silent tribute to the dead. one of the images came this morning when a man sinks to the ground with sunflowers at his feet and puts his head right into his hands and just prays in

a moment of aginagony. we're remembering the story of aiden. his father decides to save his son, shield him from the bar rage of gunfire and his mother would be lost in this depraved attack and it's up to a good samaritan couple to save the baby from this catastrophe, from this chaos. they bring him into their home, launch a social media campaign to find relatives and he was recently reunited with his grandparents. wolf, we're remembering the story of 64-year-old katy goldstein that brought her daughter to the parade. the daughter described her mother's last moments of life. listen to what she said. >> i looked up and i saw the shooter shooting down at the kids and i told her that it was a shooter and that she had to run. so i started running with her and we were next to each other and he shot her in the chest and she fell down and i knew she was dead. so i just told her that i loved her but i couldn't stop because

he was still shooting everyone next to me. she was just a good mom. and i got 22 years with her. and i got to have 22 years with the best mom in the world. >> reporter: 22 years but not nearly enough, wolf. when you see the images of the souls we lost, every single name, every single face, every story it brings new heartbreak all over again. wolf, there is a line in hamlet when sorrow comes, it comes not in single spies but comes in bar t -- battalions and every news story we hear, more heartbreak is another battalion that hits here in highland park, wolf? >> mike, thank you very, very mush. it is so, so heart wrenching and painful to see the stories and hear the stories. let's bring in our legal analyst

joey jackson and paul. joey, the lead prosecutor in this case eric reinhart told me this hour a little while ago, it's important to pursue justice for everyone at that parade, not just for those who were killed. as we watched this terrifying new surveillance video of people fleeing the attack, you can certainly understand why he wants to file even more charges, right? >> without question, wolf. it's about accountability and the obvious charges and to the prior report, the issue is on the other side of a dangerous weapon are families, families with loved ones who are lost that thought they were going to a parade simply to enjoy themselves and they are no more and in addition to those and of course, we know the premeditated murder charges are others, others just there to have a good time and celebrate the founding of our country and of our democracy and so certainly, the prosecutor has to ensure there is accountability to those who died. accountability as to those who

tempted to be killed and those injured physically, psychologically, et cetera so i believe moving forward you'll see an amendment of the charges so everyone involved and really at the other end of really this disgraceful act could be held, right, the shooter could be held to account for. it's just really we're talking about it too much, something needs to be done. it's just really, really harmful for families and communities alike. >> certainly is. it's possible, paul, that the gunman's parents potentially could face charges, as well, specifically the gunman's father who signed off on his son's gun violence application back in 2019 despite the son's history of violet threats. does that put him, the father in legal jeopardy? >> i think it could put him in legal jeopardy, however, the likelihood of a criminal prosecution is very, very low. more likely a civil lawsuit by the victims against him but that's for money damages and who

is to say he would have the funds to pay for a big judgment? so unfortunately, it's going to be hard for any of these families to find justice for this horrible act. >> joey, what do you make of the fact that the gunman confessed to the shooting but still hasn't entered a formal guilty plea? >> yeah, i think that that is really of value. first of all, what you have to look at is the fact he gave an indication what his thought process was when he left to go to wisconsin and his plans there and he didn't do that, he came back. so the place really in doing their job really in vetting out the case made an assessment and he of course, fully indicated exactly what he did. but in terms of a plea, i think we'll see that moving forward. there is a process and we have to determine whether the process will involve a full blown trial or whether that process, wolf, will involve him seeking really to plead guilty. we know this is not a death penalty prosecution. it will be life in prison

without parole but i think in a confession in addition to the other evidence goes a long way of establishing his guilt but not with standing the fact what is justice in this case even though he pleads guilty, you have seven people without their family members anymore and so many more tarnished psychologically damaged and physically injured. >> so heartbreaking. paul, what about the possibility of federal charges? christopher wray says that's still a possibility. >> well, it is a possibility but generally, we see those kinds of charges where the killings is racially motivated or ethnically motivated and he seemed to have a hatred of everybody. he was shooting wildly into the street so i'm kind of doubtful that there will be federal charges and bear in mind, wolf, that he's facing life without parole on the current set of charges so you can only put somebody in jail for so long. i do think, though, that if there is some lesson to be learned from these charges, it's

that these red flag laws that people feel are helping us are of no help whatsoever. they're filled with loopholes and the lawmakers have to go back and write better laws that protect us against people like this individual who never should have had a gun in his hands in the first place. >> you're absolutely right, paul. thank you very much. joey jackson, thanks to you, as well. just ahead, a damming new report finds police missed several chances to stop the uvalde, texas gunman in the moments before the elementary school massacre. we have details when we come back. dude, dude... oh boy. your cousin.from boston. [whiff] [water splashes]s] is it on the green? [goooose squawks] i was just looking for r my ball. 19th hole, sam adams summer a ale. [goose squawks] (here you go.) (cheers guys!) i grew up an athlete, i rode horses... i really do take care of myself. i try to stay in sha. that's real important, pecially as you age. i noticed after kids that my body totally chand.

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a new review of the uvalde mass shootings finds police missed multiple opportunities to stop the shooter before he went on a rampage inside robb elementary school killing 19 children and two adults. rosa flores is joining us from houston. rosa, what are we learning from this new report? >> reporter: this new report is by law enforcement training experts and they note that t the -- >> i think we unfortunately lost our connection with rosa flores but let me read to you what the texas state university report says about the uvalde school shooting. quote, the officer armed with a rifle asked a supervisor for permission to shoot the suspect, however, the supervisor either did not hear or responded too

late. statement goes on to say the officer turned to get confirmation from his supervisor and when he turned back to address the suspect, he had entered the west hallway unabated. very disturbing information, indeed, potentially that shooter could have been stopped before he entered that elementary school. we'll try to reconnect with rosa flores when we can. rosa, in the meantime, thank you very much. coming up, what president biden told brittany brittney g wife after she sent a letter begging him, begging him not to forget about her.

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president biden and vice president harris spoke today to the wife of detained basketball star brittney griner. the white house says the president assured brittany's wife he's working to secure her release from russia as soon as possible. brian todd is following the late breaking developments for us. brian, who are you learning? >> wolf, a short time ago brittney griner's wife issued a statement to cnn saying she's grateful to the president and vice president for the phone call and means the world to her family and wife brittany. this phone call came after significant public pressure on the biden white house from brittney griner's family, teammates and from gringriner her herself. urn urgency in the case of brittany brianer. her wife gets a call from president biden and vice president harris assuring her

they're wokkrking to secure the release as soon as possible. >> the president and vice president are under pressure to do more but this is understandable given the highne situation. >> reporter: it's said the president wrote her a letter in response to the letter she wrote him and she said i'm terrified i might be here forever. please don't forget about me and other american detainees a few days after her wife implied not enough was being done by the wliet white house. >> i do have to unfortunately push people to make sure things they are telling me is also matching their actions and so it has been the hardest thing to balance because i can't let up. >> reporter: one analyst says the russians could seek to capitalize on the recent publicity over the griner case. >> it's in the russians interest to have this be as high profile as possible because they can drive a harden bargain trying to get a hostage released because

that's what really this is. it's a hostage situation. >> reporter: griner is being charged on drug smuggling charges. she was carrying less than a gram of cannabis oil when she was apprehended in february. griner's wnba coach vanessa in recent days accused the biden administration of a double standard saying if lebron james was being held by the russians, he'd be out by now saying women, black people and gay people are given lesser value. after hearing of the president's call with griner today, she said this to msnbc. >> to get the call from president biden and vice president harris and know they read the letter and are going to react and respond, this is great, great news and we hope to have more progress continue. >> reporter: but not everyone is pleased. paul is an american whose been detained in russia since 2018 on espionage charges which he's denied. his sister says she's furious

not that biden called griner's wife but he hasn't spoken with the whelan family. why are the whelan's not getting a call? >> an americans that have a family member being held in russia is justified in being angry but remember, the u.s. has been given sustained attention to the paul whelan case for months now. >> reporter: contacted by cnn about elizabeth whelan's c complaint says president biden has been clear about the need to secure paul whelan's release and the state department have been in regular contact with the family. brittney griner's wife is still pressing for an in person meeting with president biden, w wolf. she may get that soon. >> i suspect she will. let's discuss what is going on with sports columnist. it remains to be seen whether the biden administration will in

fact be able to get brittney griner out of the russian prison but very significant that the president actually responded to her emotional letter and reached out with a phone call to her wife. >> wolf, it certainly is. it's a big step forward. this is heartbreaking. it is such a difficult story. i think everyone's heart goes out to the griner family and of course, brittney griner 6'9" stuck in a cell is almost five months now. it was february 17th, another week or so it will be five months, wolf she has been arrested at the moscow airport and of course, being held and it is such a difficult story and it's set against the backdrop of course of the horrors of the ukraine war that started just a week after brittney griner was arrested and also, the issue of how women athletes are treated compared to male athletes. the money they make, the reason

that brittney griner as you know was going to russia was because so many wnba players don't make much money, basically $200,000 or so they go to try to make more money, supplement their income overseas that is wrapped into this very difficult story. >> very difficult. is there some risk, christine, to the presidents getting personally involved in making this an even higher profile case because some experts as you heard, say that could give the russians more leverage in what is essentially probably going to turn out to be some sort of hostage >> certainly. it could turn out exactly as the griner family is hoping it wouldn't. in other words, as brian had in that piece that she now becomes higher profile. so that irony of the woman athlete, the conversation about if it were tom brady, if it were lebron james it would be so

different. well, brittney griner now is becoming more high-profile by the day, wolf. because of that because this high-stakes game of chess, this hostage drama becomes more difficult to get her back because of it. i'm asking a question because we don't know. there is so much unknown here, but the emotions of the moment and the situation for the grfamy is carrying the day forward. as this trial starts tomorrow, we'll see how this plays out. >> thank you very, very much. still ahead, we're going to live to ukraine as russia makes new advances in the east and hundreds and thousands of ukrainians are now being urged to evacuate. stay with us. te exam and x-rays free to new patients without ininsurance - everyda. plusus, patients get 20% off their treatment plan. we're on n your corner and in your corner

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the dove beauty bar, is gentle. it not only cleans, it hydrates my skin. as a dermatologist, i want what's best for our skin. with 1/4 moisturizing cream, dove is the #1 bar dermatologists use at home. tonight russia's war against ukraine is at a critical stage with kremlin forces advancing in the east.

cnn senior national security correspondent alex is on the ground for us in ukraine. he's joining us from kharkiv right now. what is the latest on this russian advance? >> reporter: wolf, things here in kharkiv are intense in what is expected to be a renewed russian advance. this city comes under almost daily bombardment from the russians, wolf. in the past half hour we have heard two huge booms in the distance. president volodymyr zelenskyy referenced the bombing of a teachers' university overnight last night that left at least one person dead. russian troops have been pushed back from the city 12 miles or 20 kilometers but ukrainian forces are digging in. they're fortifying those. you can see out here that it is pitch black around me. there are no lights on around this city for security reasons. all of this comes as russia has

made significant gains in east ukraine, particularly in donbas. that is where they have taken over almost the entire territory except for a few small pockets. that is why now there is a belief that russia will turn its attention to the other part of donbas. local officials are telling residents they need to flee. the national rail company has put more carriages on to the trains to help people get out. the population there, wolf, is around 20% of what it was before the war, but there is still some 300,000 residents that local officials are hoping will get out soon. now, president volodymyr zelenskyy is optimistic that they will be able to take back the donbas. he says the ukrainian troops were pulled out in order to save lives in the face of intense russian attacks, but he says he believes you kraun yan forces will go back in and take donbas

with the help of that military aid that is coming from the west. wolf? >> alex, stay safe over there. we will be in touch. joining us the former nato supreme commander, retired general wesley clark. general clark, thanks for joining us. now under kremlin control, is the entire donbas region now at risk to falling to the russians? >> well, i think this gives the russians -- it shows what the russian tactics and tragedy is, and it does put the region at greater risk, but it's not because it has fallen. it is because in the process a lot of good ukrainian forces have been chewed up in battle. this is a russian effort to degrade the ukrainian military. the military is their real objective. what they're doing is holding the military forward because the ukrainians can't give up terrain without hurting themselves

politically. you heard president volodymyr zelenskyy say, we're going to take it back. at the same time, they're holding the ukrainians forward. they're hitting them with poorly drained troops, but it is enough to inflict tremendous casualties and losses. what he wants to do is break the ukrainian military and he's using his heavy artillery to do it. is it critical? yes. because in the next four to six weeks as the ground is dried out, russia still has several dozen battle groups that are basically held out in the fight. they could breakthrough. they could exploit. that would be the conventional war strategy. whether they're capable of doing it or not effectively remains to be seen. but, yes, this is the fear that we have had all along simply because the ukrainians didn't have enough artillery, didn't get aircraft, didn't have enough modern equipment, didn't have air defense, that they would be ground up in this artillery

schedule, and that looks like that's what's happening. >> is there anything the u.s. can do, general clark, to help the ukrainians right now? >> well, in the near term first it would be better if we gave them more intelligence so they could use their longer range weapons accurately. we said we're not going to help the men targeting. okay, that's a legal decision. if there is a way to help them with intelligence, we should find a way to do it. secondly, we need to expedite the flew of munitions and longer-range artillery there. third, they need to be preparing for the fact we will run low on warsaw-packed ammunition. they don't have the long-range rockets, so we have to get ukrainians trained on nato standard equipment. that means at the same time they're fighting, they're reorganizing their whole armed forces. they have a lot of volunteers, a lot of people that want to fight. they don't have body armor,

helmets, the equipment they need. some of these units are poorly equipped but they're being forced into the fight to try to hold the line in donbas. wesley clark, thank you very much. to our viewers, thanks very much for watching. i'm wolf blitzer in "the situation room." erin burnett starts right now. >> new surveillance video of people fleeing gunfire at the deadly independence day parade. the shooter confessing today saying he contemplating firing on another city toe ddaytoday. a tipster blowing a whistle on another mass shooting in virginia. two americans captured in ukraine. the mother of one of the men who actually did speak to her son last night, got a call from him. what did he tell her? let's go "outfront."