Russian offensive, Israel-Lebanon Tensions, DOJ Special Counsels
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Russian missiles rained on ukraine I yesterday, killing at least .

thirty people. Ukrainian say IT may be the largest area .

atack yet and present says there will be retribution A A look, and this is up first from end r news. Israeli forces are ramping up their offensive in gaza, and the united .

nations is sounding the alarm about the humAnitary arian crisis there.

All this while tensions on the lebanon ee's border with israel increase and back .

at home in just over year, three prosecutions were named to investigate farmer, president trump, t. Current president biden and biden son hunter.

But what makes these special councils will so special stay with us?

We've got the news. You need to start your weekend.

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Apartment buildings in schools were hit by more than one hundred and fifty russian missile and drones in ukraine on friday. At least thirty people were killed in over one hundred and sixty were wounded, according to the .

ukrainian an officials. IT may also be the largest arial assault in the war to date. And P, R, A, listen, adorneth is in ukraine and has more details from lisa.

Alla also tell .

us more about the strikes, what all happened.

So the attacks were all across the country. There were some energy infrastructure hit in the east, but largely the attacks at mostly places where civilians live and visit more than forty five apartment buildings, one hundred private homes in the city of negro in central ukraine. The attack at a shopping mall in a maternity hospital. Artem resume was in nebran visiting his family for Christmas. He planned to see the movie for ri friday night at that shopping mall that was said.

the world somehow is growing tired of of news from ukraine while we try not to get tired of being bumped, of being terrorized.

He sound so exhausted yeah .

and you know, in kev, a commercial warehouse was hit this morning, the mayor said. The bodies of four more people were found in the rubble. The other thing that happened, delena, is that one of russia's missiles appears to have briefly entered the air space of poland, a nato member, according to the military, there IT only lasted about three minutes in polish airspace, reaching just about twenty four miles inside poland before flying back to ukraine.

So understand ukrainean officials are saying that its air defense systems managed to shoot down most of the missiles, even though there were a lot of them. right? Yeah.

that is right. And you know what's different? Now where to say a year ago is ukraine has new western supplied air defence systems, including the patria missile defense system from the U.

S. And so yes, they we're able to shoot down a lot of those missiles. Russia was likely testing and aiming to weaken those defenses with the volume and kind of all of these missile and drones at once.

What has been the response to this attack in .

ukraine for ukrainians who've had kind of a quiet fall? IT spent terrifying ola alexa va, who has two kids in nebran, said the hardest part was watching her five world. Be so afraid.

mom, mom and you have in ah just he told her, mom, I don't .

wanna die he said IT over and over again you know ukrainean president voting in slinky gave in a .

dress about the attacks. Let's listen a little bit.

He said ukraine would respond, though he didn't provide any details, and the ministry of defensive russia claimed that ukraine said drones and U. S. Made harm's musil's into russian territory in the aftermath, but ukraine has not confirmed that .

any response from abroad. The U. N.

Security council and many foreign leaders have expressed outrage, including president biden, who urged congress to approve billions of dollars in funding for ukraine that is currently stalled. The ukrainian minister of foreign fairs said he wanted the sound of explosions in ukraine to be heard all across the world, and according to the institute for the study of war, russia will likely continue to do these large scale aiw attacks to be down ukrainian rail and and limit the country's military capabilities. I mean, just this morning, elena, we've had a RAID sions go off across ukraine, so officials here are bracing for more attacks to continue this all weekend.

And VR is that listen, advert y reporting in ukraine from the city of leave. Thank you so much, lisa.

The slender.

Gaza will see an increase in hostilities by the israeli army in the coming days.

I mean, united nations says the humAnitarian crisis keeps getting worse.

All this, while artillery exchanges between hezbollah itself and israel have gone up for more, were joined by bus Carry khan in television, good morning. Carry. hello. So what can you tell us about the stepped up offensive deep into gaza by israel's military .

fighting has intensified with israel stepping up air, land and sea bombardments. In recent days, botas and israel's military have reported intense combat in central gaza and around the second largest city community. And even in southern gaza, israel has told most cousins to go for their safety.

The us. says. One hundred thousand more palestinians have fled in recent days to the south.

According to gaza health ministry, more than twenty one thousand palestinians have been killed since the start of the war. Now the U. N. Secretary general yesterday again called for a humAnitarian, an ceasefire and release of all hostages that hamas still holding captive from the october seven attack on israel. Antonio guta said he is concerned about further spills over the conflict throughout the region.

And what is the situation along the lebanon israeli border in the north?

A class sported artillery. Cked fire have been a daily occurrence there all week, with many already happening today. We've heard some warning signs have been constant in northern israeli towns. Israel says it's Carried out extensive strikes on hezbollah targets in lebanon near the israeli border just in the last couple days. Israeli military officials this week issued some very stern warnings to hesba of fighters and lebanon. One member of the israeli work cabinet was quoted early this week warning the militants that israel could do in braut what he has done in gaza, if has below continues its attacks into northern israeli.

And what's the latest on any proposals for ceasefire or an exchange of hostages?

Earlier in the week, there wasn't egyptian proposal, and now another team by guitar is being discussed, but neither appears to be moving forward. The proposals call for withdrawal of israeli tubes from and a political resolution to the conflict, but israel still wants to press ahead with its military goal of crushing hama's. Meanwhile, last night, an interview of one of the release, hostages, my scheme is getting much play on major news outlets here in israel. Here's a small.

except from channel thirteen. He talked about .

feeling very guilty about being freed while others remain in gaza. And he talked about promising them, as he left, that the hostages will not be forgotten. SHE was held in gaza for more than fifty days, part of the time with a family there, he says. He also said he had an Operation there without anesthesia or painkillers for a wound SHE sustained in the october ack. And he says while there, he felt like being a caged animal in the zoo .

that's npr Carry kon until if you've thank you for sharing all this.

thank you for having me.

Attorney general mark garland made three high profile prosecutor appointments in just over a year. There, jack Smith robbed her and David voice.

They will be investigating former president Donald trump, president joe biden and biden sun hunter.

And there could be big ramifications for the twenty twenty four presidential campaigns in paris, just as correspond and Carry Johnson is with us for .

more hay Carry.

So given the sensitivity of these investigations of two leading candidates for president, remind us, how did the justice department get embroiled in all of this?

The D. O. J has been investigating Donald trump over documents, highly classified documents that trump a stored at his morale go resort and refused to return. It's also been investigating trump over the efforts to overthrow the last presidential election.

The FBI has been investigating the current president, joe biden, after classified documents were found at in office he used in washington and at one of his residences in delivery. And then the justice for man has also been investigating hunter biden's taxes and possession of a gun while he was addicted to drugs. Of course, these are not at all the same level of seriousness. Trump now faces two separate incitements in florida and dc, hunter biden, who's not a political candidate, faces two other entitles and delivery in california, and joe biden has not been charged with any crime.

That sounds like a lot of work for prosecutions. What what makes these special councils leading these investigations of special?

They Operate outside of day to day supervision from the justice department in this process is designed for cases where there may be a conflict of interest, where the attorney general might be accused and they're supposed to Operate in the public interest. These lawyers tend to be a turney who have work for the justice department in the past, sometimes in very high level jobs.

Jack smiths, who's been leading the trump probe, is a former prosecutor and justice official in the obama years. Robert her, whose leading the joe biden probe is a former prosecutor and justice efficient in the triumph years, and David wise sues investigating hunter biden is the U. S. Attorney and delaware. He's a hold over from the trump era, too.

So I mean, with three of them though, I mean, how special are they?

That's exactly what some experts are asking. Their argument is the justice and is supposed to act based on the facts in the law, not on political considerations. So why not have regular lawyers, A D, O, J, leave these kinds of cases. Chuck rose and burg work for the FBI and the justice department. Here's what he says about that.

It's almost in a sense saying that we can't trust an a political department to do a political work, though in my of you are we can and we should trust them to do exactly that.

Prosecutors of the justice and have handled terrorism cases in political corruption cases for decades, chuck rosenberg says the justice department ment disappointed five special councils over the past six years, and that may be too many.

So I mean, what are the benefits of naming a special council supposed to be?

What big one is speed. These people can work faster than the Normal channels at the justice department, which have lots of layers of review. They are also generally focused on one narrow missions so they can concentrate their efforts. The other is the idea that they're a political, but that hasn't worked out too well in the recent past. Again, here's former prosecutor chuck rozen burg.

Attacks on them have been relentless. Attacks on bob moler when he was special council. Attacks on jack Smith today while he serves a special council.

The people doing the attacking in those instances are a former president trump allies in congress and some of his supporters. Jack smyth's, for instance, has nearly constant security given off. The threats Carry.

you know, as we begin a new year, what do you expect out of these special council robes?

Two sources are telling me the investigation of joe biden for having classified material in his office in his home is close to an end. It's unlikely they say we will see charges there, but the prosecution is writing report that we may be able to see in the new year. It's still sure to become a conversation point in the campaign and ask for Donald d.

trump. s. He did not guilty to two federal indications in dc and florida. His dc trial is set from march, but that on hold while he argues that he should get lifetime immunity from prosecution because he was presented at the time of january six, not clear right now.

Trump has gone to face trial next year, but these prosecutions have been a key part of his campaign. And as for hunter biden, he is now fighting those charges in two different jurisdictions to, and unless he reaches a predial, he could be going to trial any year. His father is running to return to the White house .

that in pr dresses correspond, Carry Johnson. And thanks.

kerry, my pleasure.

And that's a first, first saturday, december thirty two, twenty three. And I lash .

tomorrow on .

the sunday story, a look into what drove this year's massive worker strikes that shook the private sector. The saturday .

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