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The Lead with Jake Tapper

Putin Addresses Russians After Armed Rebellion; Ukraine Claims War Gains After Brief Russian Mutiny; Biden: U.S. Allies "Had Nothing To Do" With Rebellion; Belarusian Opposition Leader Says No "Confirmation" Prigozhin Is In Belarus; Three San Antonio Officers Charged With Murder Of Woman Experiencing A "Mental Health Crisis". Aired 4-5p ET

Aired June 26, 2023 - 16:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[16:00:26]

BIANNA GOLODRYGA, CNN HOST: Vladimir Putin just responded to the greatest threat to his power.

THE LEAD starts right now.

The Russian leader with his first public comments claiming that, moments ago, that any attempt at internal mutiny will end in defeat, and making an offer to Wagner fighters.

And the bombastic leader of the Wagner group all school breaking his silence, giving the real reason that he claims why his forces were headed toward the Russian capital. But after a stunning turn, one major question remains: where is Yevgeny Prigozhin?

Plus, Ukraine's unique opportunity to capitalize on the chaos. CNN is along the front lines.

(MUSIC)

GOLODRYGA: Welcome to THE LEAD, everyone. Jake Tapper is off today. I'm Bianna Golodryga in New York.

ERIN BURNETT, CNN HOST: And hi, Bianna. I'm Erin Burnett live at the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv, joining Bianna today.

Here, the fallout from the attempted armed insurrection in Russia is reverberating across the front lines and the entire region. The Kremlin right now says that Russian President Vladimir Putin is meeting with the heads of law enforcement agencies after that attempted insurrection threaten Putin's iron grip on power.

And last hour, as Bianna mentioned, Putin's address the nation, calling rebellion lend by the Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin, a mutiny led by traitors who betrayed their country. Putin also offering the Wagner fighters who did not participate a chance to join the former rescue military.

But it's not suggested in that may have led to the insurrection in the first place, because earlier today Prigozhin claimed he wasn't even trying to overthrow Putin. He says he was demonstrating against the government's attempts to take over his military, and to force his fighters to sign contracts with the Russian ministry of defense. The Russian prime minister admitted today that Moscow faced a, quote, challenge to its internal stability. And Prigozhin and his fighters took over a southern Russian city on Saturday and threatened to march all the way to Moscow.

All of this was unfolding in Russia as Ukrainian forces claim that they'd been beating back Russian forces and taking territory, making advances around the embattled city of Bakhmut in the east and other parts of the southeast.

And I want to bring in CNN's international diplomatic editor Nic Robertson to begin our coverage today.

Nic, let's start with what we just heard from Putin as Bianna said finally breaking his silence, but days have passed before he did so, brief remarks. The Kremlin spokesperson claims Putin's speech would, quote, determine the fate of Russia. Well, if that's the case, then would we take away from it?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Maybe the Kremlin hopes that Putin speech would determine the fate of Russia. Putin surely hopes it would determine the fate of Russia because he's trying to say, you know, he is part of the savior, part of the saving Russia from the possible uprising, this armed uprising, dangerous uprising on the streets of Russia by these forces coming into the country.

This is a narrative that the Kremlin wants. This is the narrative that they want to set. That everything is okay now. Everyone pulled together. We're going to hold these people to account. We're not going after the soldiers, these Wagner mercenaries, the ones that didn't do anything wrong. They can sign up and become a proper part of the military.

And no surprise, Putin blaming the West and Ukraine for trying to foment and exploit the situation. This very typical of Putin, very typical of how the Kremlin defends itself at a moment of weakness. Fascinating here that he doubles down on Prigozhin, won't name him, which shows you how much Prigozhin is under Putin's skin. He doubles down calling him a traitor.

Which begs the question, if you are still calling him a traitor, and only a few hours earlier he was able to call you, and your government out again, why did you let him go and escape on Saturday? Which seems to point that Putin's weakness, which points to my point, that they hope that this will help but some parts of it don't make it sound like as if it will -- Erin.

BURNETT: Yeah, it seems confusing it to that point. He was marching on Moscow. They were able to do something or wanted to do something. They should've been able to do. Something now they're calling him a traitor without as you point out Putin using Prigozhin's name directly. So, is Prigozhin essentially a dead man, or is he showing that Putin thinks that killing him, or hurting him would do too great of a damage to Putin? ROBERTSON: Now, there's a possibility that Putin was concerned or was

just prevaricated or, you know, got cold feet about trying to kill Russians on Russian soil.

[16:05:05]

That it might -- that might have been blown back in his face and drawn people's attention to the fact that what Prigozhin is saying, that the war is ill-conceived and ill-fought, and there's a lot of Russians would buy into that particular narrative.

But I think the fact that the military didn't go after him speaks to the fact that Prigozhin still has a, you know, a potential, voice left, and that Russia is somehow for some reason not determined to completely silence him, which really doesn't make sense. Prigozhin from this will absolutely take away that if he's anywhere from the grasp all reach of Russians military or intelligence services, then that's not a safe place to be, because clearly -- clearly, Putin would like to have him disappear off quietly.

But let's not forget that Prigozhin was doing a lot, making a lot of money for Putin in countries like Central African Republic, Mali, Libya, Sudan, gold deals --

BURNETT: Yes.

ROBERTSON: -- diamond deals, all those sorts of things. He has the keys for that kingdom.

BURNETT: Yeah.

ROBERTSON: So, is Putin looking live because they're still trying to work out that piece of the puzzle?

BURNETT: Obviously, here in Ukraine, there is real concern for what this means for Wagner group, right? What happens on the front lines.

The mayor of Kyiv here was telling me today that they don't know where Prigozhin is. And, you know, if they do, they're certainly not telling us. But it just speaks to the uncertainty about what role the Wagner troops are going to play on the front lines. And when they have played such a crucial role in this war so far.

ROBERTSON: It's going to be a boost from around the front lines for Ukrainian troops. And if you get some of those Wagner mercenaries that I signed up for the defense ministry, how will they fight? How will they integrate?

It's a mess behind the scenes. It's a mess at the command level. It's a mess potentially on the ground.

And Prigozhin himself earlier on today said that the vast majority, 98 percent of his fighters did not want to sign up for the military. Are we really supposed to believe that Russia's going to let them go and join him in Belarus? That seems unlikely, why would you let this guy is clearly a thorn in your side, clearly you don't want him speaking, why would you want him to retool up with his forces again somewhere else?

There were elements of this but still don't make sense. We were seeing it over the weekend. And I think it still remains true.

BURNETT: Absolutely. Some real questions and chaos that we know is there even if we can't ascertain exactly what it.

Nic Robertson, thank you so much.

And the Russian officials right now say that they're investigating whether Western countries had a role in Prigozhin's attempted coup.

Today, President Biden insisted, though, that the U.S. had, quote, nothing to do with it.

Our own Jeremy Diamond is live at the White House at this hour for us.

Jeremy, look, I -- you know, to be honest, right, over the past couple of days that we've been following these movements here, it's the message top U.S. officials have frontally frantically trying to convey to Russia since the uprising began. But they had nothing to do with that.

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, that's right. It's a message that we're told that U.S. diplomats conveyed quietly behind the scenes directly to Russian officials over the weekend. The National Security Council spokesman, John Kirby, said there was good and direct communication with the Russians over the weekend to emphasize that point, but there's another way in which U.S. officials were also conveying the idea that the U.S. was not involved with this attempted insurrection.

And that was through the White House to strategic silence on the matter. We heard very little from the White House over the weekend other than the fact, to convey the fact they are actively monitoring the situation. And that was strategic because they did not want to land any appearance of Western interference. The president today himself emphasize that strategy saying that he wanted to give no excuse to Putin to be able to blame the West or NATO for what was happening inside of his country.

And today, that silence, that caution continued as John Kirby, he declined to even define exactly what happened in Russia. Or to weigh in on Prigozhin's motives, what this means for the future of Russia. That's in part because the U.S. doesn't know exactly what will happen next as the president emphasized today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We're going to keep assessing the fallout of this weekend's events, and the implications for Russia and Ukraine. But it's still too early to reach a definitive conclusion about where this is going. The ultimate outcome of all this remains to be seen, but no matter what comes next, I'll keep making sure that our allies and our partners are closely aligned in how we are reading, and responding to the situation. (END VIDEO CLIP)

DIAMOND: And that final point by the president has really been a defining characteristic of how President Biden and his administration have sought to address Russia's war in Ukraine. That is by remaining united, and carrying on a united front with the U.S.'s allies.

That's why the president over the weekend was speaking with several key NATO allies. Today, he spoke with the prime minister of Italy. He said he expects to speak once again with Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

The U.S. also tomorrow expected to announce $500 million of additional security aid for Ukraine. Another key message amid all of this is that the U.S. will continue to support Ukraine no matter what happens inside of Russia -- Erin.

[16:10:07]

BURNETT: All right. Jeremy, thank you very much.

Something I can tell you officials here just speaking to them today continue to emphasize how much they are aware of how significant U.S. weaponry is and how they want to continue to make that point clear.

Joining me here in Kyiv is Maria Avdeeva. She is a Russian and Ukrainian security expert.

And I very much appreciate your time, Maria.

So, you know, after days of silence from both Prigozhin and Putin, and now, suddenly, we hear from both of them almost back to back. Of course, Prigozhin speaking on tape for 11 minutes, and Putin speaking about five minutes to trust address the Russian people.

Let's start with Putin. What did you hear in those five minutes?

MARIA AVDEEVA, RUSSIAN AND UKRAINIAN SECURITY EXPERT: Well, it's nothing important he said. But his press spokesman Peskov said that there will be something that people will be shocked with, but nothing happened. And this means that Putin tries to keep control of the power vertical that has fallen apart.

The whole Russian system is falling apart. And now he tries to restore his fate, restore his image as a strongman who can control what's happening in Russia, which in reality he does not.

BURNETT: So, now, okay, there's Putin speaking for five minutes. Prigozhin speaking for 11 minutes on tape, whereabouts unknown. I emphasize that.

The mayor of Kyiv, Mayor Klitschko, told me, well, they don't know where he is. Again, they may or they may not know where he is. But he was supposed to be banished Belarus, he could be here in Ukraine, he could be in Belarus, he could be anywhere.

Does it surprise you that at this point we simply do not know where he is?

AVDEEVA: Yes, this, and that he can speak freely, someone who gave an order to shut down several Russian helicopters and several planes is now speaking --

BURNETT: He did shoot down -- Russian soldiers died.

AVDEEVA: Yes, exactly. And he made it and stopped going 200 kilometers before Moscow, and someone who did that now can freely on public and publicly continue to humiliate both the minister of defense and, Gerasimov, the head of the general because blames them and he says openly that they both are incompetent.

So, this shows us that there are different groups of influence inside Russia. And there's a war happening between them.

BURNETT: And all of this is happening because of Kyiv, where we are, this is what it sparked all of this unrest, this coup, all of an in Russia.

I was speaking to Ukrainian soldier on the frontlines in Bakhmut tonight. They have operations tonight. He said there was panic initially among the Russian forces on Saturday. That has since normalized a bit, but there's still great uncertainty about what happens from here.

Has this changed the counteroffensive itself?

AVDEEVA: From what we hear from Ukrainian officials and we see on the battlefield, that Ukraine continues attacking in several directions. There is not a major move in one direction. We've seen for example with Kherson, or Kharkiv, but more smaller moves all along the front line.

And this means that Ukraine is probing the front line, seeing where it can attack at the most, and then what is important is that Ukraine is now using the tactics to attack Russian bases and Russian lines of supply. And this is why Ukraine is asking for more weapons to do that, and to cut off the supplies for the Russian troops.

BURNETT: Maria, thank you very much. We appreciate your time tonight.

AVDEEVA: Thank you, Erin.

BURNETT: All right. Thanks so much to Maria.

And coming up, we're going to speak with a man who to weeks ago predicted that the Wagner group would turn on Putin. Why he warms that the West should be particularly prepared for what could happen next in this shocking, and in many ways unexpected saga.

And are Russian leaders distracted? Some of the gains made along the front lines here in Ukraine as the unrest unfolds.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:17:54]

BURNETT: And welcome back to THE LEAD. I'm Erin Burnett in Kyiv, Ukraine, where moments ago, an adviser to the Ukrainian government publicly mocked tonight's speech by Vladimir Putin, suggesting that Russia is waiting for a new president to take power, Bianna.

GOLODRYGA: And we just got this new video in from Moscow where the Kremlin says that right now, Vladimir Putin is meeting with top law enforcement officials after an armed insurrection threatened his grip on power.

I want to bring in former deputy director of national intelligence, Beth Sanner, and former NATO supreme allied commander of Europe, General Philip Breedlove.

Welcome both of you.

Beth, let me start with you, what did you make of Vladimir Putin's short comments tonight? It had been billed as comments that would decide the fate of the country. I think it's safe to say that was an overstatement. But my first thought was where was this speech? And where was this side of Vladimir Putin Friday night or Saturday as this community was taking place?

BETH SANNER, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Yeah, it was a little underwhelming to say the least. But I think that he had to. I mean, it's about 10:00 I think you all said Moscow time. And, you know, with Prigozhin coming out earlier today, Putin had to say something.

Prigozhin had set the narrative for today. And Putin had to reassert himself. But the fact that this was so short and really didn't say much was the fact that maybe they're just not ready yet. But I think that we shouldn't take this as the final word this is still underway, and this is just kind of step one. We should be expecting to see some more shoes to drop, maybe some personnel. We don't know yet.

GOLODRYGA: Yeah, we had expected perhaps that we hear of some personal moves in terms of who's in charge of the defense leadership there, or the war apparatus. That did not happen.

We didn't hear, Beth, Putin mentioned Prigozhin by name. It's something that he does when he doesn't want to speak about a, quote/unquote, enemy. That's how he does not address Alexey Navalny in the same manner.

But we heard Prigozhin say earlier that Wagner is alive and well in Belarus. Clearly, a contrast to what we just heard from Vladimir Putin.

[16:20:03]

SANNER: Yeah, this is a big dilemma for Putin. You know, Wagner is more important than just what it was doing in Ukraine. But clearly, he's worried about what will happen to those fighters. You heard in Putin's speech, really, that dividing between the bad guy Prigozhin, and the patriots of the Wagner fighters. But Wagner as an organization is actually a very potent arm a foreign policy for the Kremlin and African in the Middle East. And that cannot just be snatched, that Putin takes it over. They need to figure out how that works.

And so, think they're very, very busy dealing with an incredible amount of complexity and working out their next moves, figuring out how to deal with all the stakeholders and dilemmas that they have.

GOLODRYGA: Yeah, I think it's a bit of a misnomer, General, when people categorize the Wagner group as some sort of private army. It's a branch of the Kremlin, a heavily armed branch at that.

And Vladimir Putin we heard offered their troops the opportunity to now sign contracts with the ministry of defense. He also said you can join other law enforcement or go home to your families, or go to Belarus.

How do you interpret this? Is this an all of branch to these fighters?

GEN. PHILIP BREEDLOVE (RET.), U.S. AIR FORCE: Well, it's very odd. I haven't heard the hold text of Lavrov's remarks. But he actually said in the last several hours apparently that, yes, Wagner still had utility especially in Africa were, quote/unquote, they're doing a good job.

So, the whole surrounds of Wagner and what it's going to be in the future is quite astonishing right now. How they're working this all out. I think Mr. Putin was caught short.

Again, I agree with my predecessors remarks. This is a Putin that wasn't quite ready for these remarks. He's trying to knit together the fabric that's beginning to tear in support for him around him.

So, this is a leader that's going to try to scramble to be seen as in charge, not only as a political leader but as a strong leader of his military because the last two days have challenged both of those pictures.

GOLODRYGA: We know that Yevgeny Prigozhin had been saying from the get-go that this wasn't something that he wanted to do in terms of changing leadership in Russia. This wasn't a revolt, that this was just him lashing out at the fact that his fighters would now have to sign up with the ministry of defense, and he hasn't been shy about attacking the leadership there of this war.

We didn't hear Vladimir Putin address that today. There's been some speculation perhaps that we'd see some changes.

What will you be watching for in terms of how this impacts the war, and its leadership?

BREEDLOVE: They're both tiptoeing around each other a little bit. As we've seen most of Prigozhin's remarks were aimed at Shoigu and Gerasimov, until just at the last moment of the insurrection, or whatever you call. It wore Mr. Prigozhin spoke out so stridently that this war was a sham, and that was on false principles, and that NATO wasn't attacking, that Ukraine wasn't attacking.

That was the first remarks that literally were sort of aimed at Mr. Putin. But most of what Prigozhin is doing I think is slightly disagree with the way you said there. I think he wants to see change in leadership, but the military leadership. I don't think he was (INAUDIBLE) the leader's position.

GOLODRYGA: That is what I meant, yeah.

BREEDLOVE: So, this is going to be a problem in the future for both Putin and Prigozhin. I'm quite frankly surprised that Prigozhin is still able to hide and make these sort of follow-on statements.

GOLODRYGA: Yeah, we will watch to see what happens next. Beth Sanner, and General Philip Breedlove, thank you.

And, Erin, that is the big question, we have yet to find out where exactly Prigozhin is right now.

BURNETT: Yeah, and such a crucial question here. On the front lines in Ukraine, they are trying to take advantage of this, talk about gains they say they're making.

Our Ben Wedeman is actually with Ukrainian fighters tonight along the front lines in this country, talking to one of those fighters tonight. He says, look, nights when we do big operation so all of that happening now here in Ukraine. And we'll talk about the games Ukraine says they're making as that power struggle plays out in Moscow.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:29:20]

BURNETT: And we are back with our world lead live from Kyiv, Ukraine.

The failed military insurrection by the Wagner mercenary group has major implications for the world and, of course, for Ukraine, and its defense against Vladimir Putin's invasion. He says it's achieved tactical success on the battlefield as Wagner troops marched towards the Russian capital.

Today, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy visited troops in Eastern Donetsk, where he met with military officers and handed out awards.

CNN's Ben Wedeman reports from the front lines in Eastern Ukraine tonight.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A brief revolt and Russia complicating the fight on the frontlines in Ukraine.

Now as Prigozhin halts his uprising and relocates to Belarus, it's part of an agreement to avoid Russian bloodshed, Wagner's future on the battlefield is uncertain.

YEVGENY PRIGOZHIN, WAGNER CHIEF: The purpose of the marshals to prevent the destruction of the Wagner PMC, and the prosecution of those who made a huge number of mistakes in the course of the special military operation due to their unprofessional actions. The society demanded this. All the soldiers who saw supported us.

WEDEMAN: Eager to accelerate the haunting start of their counteroffensive. The Ukrainian military claim a spate of advancements over the weekend. The Russian defense ministry has yet to comment on the Ukrainian claims.

In the southeast, Ukrainian troops claimed to liberate the village of Renovi (ph), Ukrainian armed forces said they cleared a strategic Russian possession on the western bank of the Siverskyi, Donetsk, Donbas canal. In the long embattled town of Bakhmut, Ukrainian troops that they made gains on territory and Wagner fighters fought mercilessly to claim for months.

The battle in Bakhmut unfolded in close quarters among the trenches. Some fighting even taking place at point blank range, a Ukrainian commander said.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy visited the front lines of Donetsk to praise the efforts of the troops to advance.

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): Ukraine is proud of each and every one of you. You are tough, strong, real Ukrainians. Everyone in the country understands that you are with us. Those who are not on the frontline, everyone knows that you're doing the most difficult work right now.

WEDEMAN: Despite these small territorial gains, the front lines remain largely unchanged.

While Ukraine has claimed some tactical success, it remains to be seen whether it's enough to turn the tide of war.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WEDEMAN (on camera): So far, the going is indeed tough this evening. And the deputy defense minister put out a statement on telegram saying that our troops are having a real hard time. It is very difficult. Then she added, but they are moving forward steadily -- Erin.

BURNETT: Ben, thank you very much. Ben Wedeman in eastern Ukraine.

And joining me here in Kyiv is Yevheniia Kravchuk, a member of the Ukrainian parliament.

And, Yevhenila, thank you very much for joining us.

You know, talking to a soldier on the frontlines near Bakhmut, a Ukrainian soldier, he was saying to me, that he talked about that they had had felt there was panic on the Russian side on Saturday. That these were Russian military troops that they were against, not Wagner, that there was great uncertainty about what this would mean and that was disarray.

But that has now changed, that at least for now, that it's sort of back to business as usual in terms of how the Russian troops are operating. Is this a window that Ukraine can still exploit?

YEVHENIIA KRAVCHUK, UKRAINIAN PARLIAMENT: For Ukraine, it doesn't change anything. The counteroffensive without Prigozhin, with Prigozhin, whatever happens in Russia.

But I believe that what happened with this rebellion, coup, whatever you want to call it, will have long-lasting consequences for Russia, because Putin got a major blow. Everyone in the world saw how Wagner group came as close to Moscow as Philadelphia is closer to Washington, D.C.

BURNETT: Uh-huh.

KRAVCHUK: It's 125 miles. And no one was stopping. Who will stop it?

BURNETT: He stopped himself, essentially.

KRAVCHUK: Exactly. so, they were new people saying, oh, no, don't go to Moscow. People were taking selfies.

So it clearly shows this image that Putin try to show that the autocratic doesn't work. And it will not work anymore. He can try and have a lot of sit-ins with the ministries and everything, but even in Russia itself, this image had cracked.

For Ukrainian soldiers, of course, every day, it is another opportunity to regain more territories. And actually it more depends on how much ammunition we get.

BURNETT: And I know that's a crucial question, the supplies.

Yevgeny Prigozhin, in his taped remarks tonight, we don't know where they were from, he spoke for about 11 minutes. He said that of Russian troops that march on the first day of the war here on Kyiv, the way that he marched on Moscow this weekend, that Russia would've taken Ukraine and one day as he said. Because how effect if he wasn't marching on Moscow.

Were you shocked when you saw how he moved through Russia? That it wasn't just no pushback from the troops at all that there were people greeting him and cheering him.

KRAVCHUK: Well, actually, all the Russian troops are in Ukraine right now, so they had militia, you know, getting the national guards and everything, but the troops are in Ukraine trying to gain more territory but there are dependent of the occupied territory.

[16:35:14]

And what also is important I think that Prigozhin, as you said, cannot march to Kyiv, because Prigozhin was trying to get back Bakhmut for ten months, for almost a year and lost thousands -- tens of thousands of convicts, of course. You know, the criminals that got out of prisons and gained the weapons. What could go wrong?

BURNETT: And yet it is around Bakhmut tonight we were talking about soldiers on the front lines. They're still there, Ukrainians fighting. They're still there. As Ben Wedeman says, this frontline has -- has not moved a lot.

KRAVCHUK: Exactly.

BURNETT: Is it disappointing at this point?

KRAVCHUK: We are regaining territories near Bakhmut, and actually, even some street inside of the city. So, actually, they could not take the city itself. Of course, it is difficult because Russia him mined a lot of territories especially in the south. It takes longer because we need to make sure that we take out the supply chains and, you know, whatever, talks they have on occupied territories. That's why we need ATACMS to get our arms longer.

BURNETT: Right. The ATACMS, okay.

All right. Thank you very much. I appreciate your time.

KRAVCHUK: Thank you.

BURNETT: Yevheniia Kravchuk.

And Prigozhin brokering a deal Saturday, right, to leave Russia and go to Belarus. But is he in Belarus? No evidence of that. No one seems to know.

One Belarusian opposition leader says the Wagner boss is not welcome in Belarus. We'll be back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:40:49]

BURNETT: We're back with our world lead.

The State Department saying it doesn't know where Wagner boss, Yevgeny Prigozhin, after his failed rebellion on Moscow, which, Bianna, is pretty incredible, right? I mean, this is a guy who, often, likes to broadcast where he is very loudly.

GOLODRYGA: Yeah, and that's leading some people to speculate whether he's even in the country where he was thought to have gone, and that is Belarus.

And this, of course, after the Kremlin said that Prigozhin had agreed to leave Russia and live in that neighboring country, an ally of Russia.

CNN's Jim Sciutto is with us now.

And, Jim, you spoke to the Belarusian opposition leader, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya. Does she know about where Prigozhin might be a? JIM SCIUTTO, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: I spoke to her

just a short time ago this afternoon. I asked her that, is Prigozhin now in Belarus and are Wagner forces if not there are now headed to Belarus. She said no evidence of either of those things. That the Wagner leaders headed there or that those forces are headed there.

And here's what she said as to why she thinks that story is out there.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SVIATLANA TSIKHANOUSKAYA, EXILED BELARUSIAN OPPOSITION LEADER: I don't know what Prigozhin intends to do in Belarus. But he's definitely not welcome in our country. He's a war criminal and he can bring the war to Belarus, and we don't want that. We heard from Prigozhin today, that Lukashenko promised him to legalize the Wagner Group, what it means in practice we don't know.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCIUTTO: She said the intention of this story is to mislead. She did say though that anything is possible and if Prigozhin were to end up their arms forces wound end up in Belarus, that that would be a threat, not only to the country itself but the possibility of becoming a threat to eastern Europe, including those eastern facing NATO nations such as Poland that are boarding Belarus.

And she, of course, brought up the possibility that Russia might transfer nuclear weapons to Belarus, which is something that's been discussed as well. It is a -- it is a dangerous, volatile mix of, she says.

GOLODRYGA: Yeah, it was just last week I believe that Vladimir Putin said the first installations of those tactical nuclear weapons have been transferred over to Belarus.

Jim Sciutto, fascinating to hear from her. Thank you so much.

SCIUTTO: Thanks.

GOLODRYGA: I want to bring in Leon Aron. He's a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute.

And, Leon, I first want to get you to respond to what we heard from Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, the Belarusian opposition leader, telling Jim Sciutto that she doesn't think that Prigozhin is anywhere near that country.

What do you think? There's a lot of speculation going on on social media, but what's your take on this?

LEON ARON, SENIOR FELLOW, AEI: Well, Lukashenko, the leader of Belarus, the dictator, probably does not sneeze without clearing it with Putin. So, whatever guarantees he gave Prigozhin, they are Putin's guarantees.

And as you probably heard, Putin spoke about an hour, hour and a half ago, and he again instead of just keeping the silence, he again came down on Prigozhin without naming him, as a traitor and somebody who damaged the unity of Russia. That does not bode well with Prigozhin.

GOLODRYGA: Yeah, and it was interesting to hear Vladimir Putin also thank Lukashenko for being the middleman throughout this conflict.

You actually predicted two weeks ago that Prigozhin could in fact turn on Putin. Do you think -- do you attribute that to this concern that he has expressed publicly now that he did not want to lose control over the Wagner group and have it turn over to the defense minister?

ARON: Well -- correct. Correct. Well, you know, Prigozhin had been putting, pressing the envelope, pushing the envelope for a long time until finally Putin decided to put a stop to it. And have Prigozhin signed a contract with the defense ministry, Prigozhin refused.

At this point, he already put himself outside the law, already potentially put himself before the firing squad for disobeying the commander, his commander-in-chief. So, I think at that point, once he rolled the dice, Prigozhin really haven't much choice.

[16:45:06]

That he either have to, you know, surrender and probably be arrested. Or at least have a chance to create a situation in which he could get out of this corner in which he painted himself.

And so, I think this is precisely what happened. The large problem here is that Putin has been playing the waiting game. I mean, he cannot advance in Ukraine. He doesn't have the morale. He doesn't have enough people, soldiers.

But what he did was he got himself in a defensive crouch, and hoping to outlive, to survive the offensive by Ukraine and then maybe the next one and then have some sort of Ukraine fatigue settle in the West. What Prigozhin I think showed is that Russia, the country, and especially the armed forces, cannot wait forever to accomplish the scenario. They're there to win and that's what Prigozhin accuse the defense ministry of sabotaging the Russia's victory, or they have to do something, and I think patience is wearing thin.

GOLODRYGA: Yeah, and the calculus of Vladimir Putin have been taking up until now was that time is on his side, and how quickly we've now seen that things can dramatically take a turn as quickly as they have.

These two men go back many, many years. I wouldn't say they're the best of friends but they know each other quite well. And they do have the sort of gangster mentality in their backgrounds.

Were you surprised to see an effect that Putin at least appear to blink first as Prigozhin's men and troops were marching towards Moscow?

ARON: Well, this is the major long lasting impact on the situation. Look, Putin has political elites. He has his people, and he has the army, and neither -- none of those three key blocs of his power stood up for him. And Prigozhin kind of deflated this image of tough, unforgiving, invincible authoritarian.

This is what happened. This is something that will stay in history. And we'll see the repercussions of it.

GOLODRYGA: Well, we are continuing to follow this by the day and hour, and not just within Russia, obviously, Western allies and our adversaries are following this very closely as well.

Leon Aron, thank you for your time. We appreciate it.

ARON: Thanks, Bianna.

GOLODRYGA: Well, much more ahead on the fast-moving developments from Russia. Putin now making an offer of to Wagner fighters after their weekend revolt.

Also, back here in the U.S., a Texas woman killed. See the disturbing video of the three police officers now charged with her murder.

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[16:52:24]

GOLODRYGA: In our national lead, three San Antonio officers face murder trials after they fatally shot a woman. Forty-six-year-old Melissa Ann Perez was killed early Friday after police were called to her apartment for a disturbance.

CNN's Natasha Chen reports on how the shooting unfolded and why police say the officers were never in any danger. Now, we want to warn, you some of the video you'll see is disturbing.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I miss her terribly. We're heartbroken.

NATASHA CHEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The children of 46-year- old Melissa Ann Perez are asking for prayers, after their mother was shot by San Antonio police officer shortly after midnight on Friday. The youngest of her children's just nine years old.

DAN PACKARD, FAMILY ATTORNEY: There's no adequate explanation for how that happened. The children will be fine for a little while, and then they'll burst into tears.

CHEN: Within 24 hours, three officers were charged with murder, and taken into custody.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They're no longer on the job in terms of patrolling the streets of San Antonio.

CHEN: CNN's been unable to reach the officers who are released on $100,000 bond for comment.

An affidavit says that when the officers responded to a disturbance at her apartment complex, Perez told him that she'd cut the wire to the fire alarm because the FBI was listening to her.

CHIEF WILLIAM MCMANUS, SAN ANTONIO POLICE: Officers tried to speak with her through an open window, after they determined that the damage to the fire alarm was a felony criminal mischief.

CHEN: Police haven't released unedited body cam footage but what they have released shows when an officer removed a window screen on the first floor, she threw an object hitting the officer in the arm.

POLICE OFFICER: You're going to get shot.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Shoot me.

CHEN: The officers backed away and waited for others, including supervisors to arrive. That's when the three officers in question showed up.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You don't have a warrant.

POLICE OFFICER: Let's go, let's go, let's go.

CHEN: One of them saw Perez swing a hammer. The affidavit says the officer believed she might be throwing it at them. So, he fired and she stepped back. But then --

PACKARD: Ms. Perez advanced towards the window again while still holding the hammer. And all three officers opened fire.

(GUNFIRE)

CHEN: The police chief said appear Perez was having a mental health crisis.

MCMANUS: The shooting officer's actions were not consistent with SAPD's policy and training. They placed themselves in a situation where they used deadly force, which was not reasonable.

CHEN: And there was no eminent threat according to the affidavit.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHEN (on camera): The police union president expressed deep condolences to Perez family and said that the police chief followed all the necessary protocols -- Bianna.

GOLODRYGA: All right. Natasha Chen, thank you.

Erin?

[16:55:01]

BURNETT: All right, Bianna.

Well, we are also live in Ukraine today with major developments. Vladimir Putin's comment since the biggest threat to his leadership, first coup attempt in Moscow in decades. CNN is live with how this was all playing inside Russia, with a live report from Moscow, next.

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GOLODRYGA: Hello, everyone, and welcome to the second hour of THE LEAD. Jake Tapper is off. I'm Bianna Golodryga in New York.

BURNETT: And I'm Erin Burnett live from Ukraine's capital city of Kyiv. A five-minute late night speech by Russian President Vladimir Putin, after a weekend that marked the biggest political challenge in Russia since the fall of the Soviet Union.