>>> CNN reporting that
the Russian military has
discussed how and under what
conditions to use a tactical
nuclear weapon in Ukraine.
It comes amid a growing power
struggle inside Russia.
Yevgeny prigozhin, one of
Putin's closest allies and a
leader of the notorious and
brutal private army, the Wagner
group, is using the
mismanagement of the war to
jockey for power inside of the
Kremlin.
Prigozhin is someone you've
heard a lot about.
We've been covering him and the
Wagner group for months.
But there's no question that in
recent weeks he has grown more
emboldened and his influence
seems to have increased quite
potentially.
Natasha Bertrand is out front.
What more are you learning?
>> What we're told is that
yevgeny prigozhin, who is the
head of that mercenary forest
Wagner group, he confronted
Putin directly last month about
the war in Ukraine saying that
he believes that it's being
completely mismanaged and that
the generals that Putin has put
in charge are completely
botching the war effort there.
And this was deemed significant
enough, this meeting,
presidential daily brief.
The reason why the U.S.
Intelligence community found
this meeting so interesting is
because it says a lot about
prigozhin's ambitions and his
standing in Putin's inner
circle.
Members of Putin's inner circle
don't usually descent from his
policies.
Prigozhin has become more and
more embolden in terms of
challenging the Russian defense
minister for influence.
He's been telling people he
wants more resources, more
responsibility, more everything
for Wagner forces, who are
operating in Ukraine at a large
scale. Upwards of 5,000 mercenaries now
operating in Ukraine.
The Kremlin is walking this
tight rope, Putin in particular.
It's not only prigozhin who has
confronted him.
It's other senior officials who
are saying you need to change
something about the way this war
is going.
U.S. Intelligence officials are
concerned about that.
Some of these officials are
saying you need to do something
more, potentially drastic.
Erin?
>> Natasha, thank you very much.
Confronting to say you need to
do more, up the ante.
That particular angle.
I want to bring in the former
director of national
intelligence in the Obama
administration, James Klapper.
Director, let's start with that.
Prigozhin's power, look, he's
been a crucial player here.
It has no doubt increased quite
quickly.
What does that say to you?
Is that a threat to the minister
of defense?
Is he a threat to Putin?
What's happening here?
>> Erin, a couple things struck
me about this.
First, I think it's the visible
tip of the iceberg in terms of
the palace intrigue that must be
going on in the Kremlin today.
I'm sure there's more of this
jockeying and back stabbing and
this sort of thing we're not
seeing.
This is just what's visible to
us. The other thing about it is I
think it is a dramatic comment
on the erosion of the prestige
and stature of the Russian
military.
When someone like this, an
oligarch with a private army
gets direct access to Putin and
complains about the performance
of the Russian military, which
is accurate, and the other thing
about it is it speaks to the
erosion of Putin's power and the
fear and the intimidation factor
that has prevailed with him for
years. Now it seems to be dissipating.
This is an interesting
development.
I think there's more of it that
we're not seeing.
I mean, to your point if we are
seeing this, we can only imagine
sort of what we actually can't
see. Now, we know that prigozhin did
confront Putin about the way the
war was going.
It wasn't to criticize Putin as
far as we understand or to say
he should back off.
It was to say they could
escalate.
She talked about the fear that
it should go in a more drastic
direction.
This is in the context CNN has
reported Russian generals have
discussed how and under what
conditions to use a nuclear
weapon.
It's not just a general
discussion.
It's specifics of how and when
and in what way.
Does that say anything to you?
>> Well, it's not surprising to
me, Erin.
I'm quite sure there has been a
lot of discussion among Russian
senior officers about nuclear
weapons and whether they should
be used or not or when.
What's missing from all this, or
at least what's missing from the
reporting that's available,
accessible to us, is what would
the objective be on the part of
the Russians to use nuclear
weapons?
What would they try to do beyond
what they're doing already,
which is using conventional
weapons, gradually destroying
the civilian infrastructure of
Ukraine?
So, I think -- I still -- I
still feel that the prospect for
the use of nuclear weapons is