assistance. i thank your cities and your citizens who supported ukraine this year, who hosted our ukrainians, our people, who waved our national flags, who acted to help us, thank, thank you all from everyone who is now at the front line from everyone who is evading victory. standing here today i recall the wars of the president franklin delano roosevelt which i chose for this moment, the american people, in their might, will win through -- to absolute victory. the ukrainian people will win

too absolutely. [ applause ] i know that everything depends on us, on ukrainian armed forces yet so much depends on the world so much in the world depends on you. when i was in bakhmut yesterday, our heroes gave me the flag, the battle flag, the flag of those who defend ukraine, europe and the world at the cost of their lives. they ask me to bring this flag to you, to the u.s. congress to members of the house of representatives and senators whose decisions can save

millions of people, so let this decision be taken, let this flag stay with you, ladies and gentlemen. this flag is a symbol of our victory in this war. we stand, we fight and we will win because we are united, ukraine, america and the entire free world. [ applause ] [ cheers and applause ] >> just one thing, if i can, the

last thing, thank you so much, may god protect our brave troops and citizens, may god forever bless the united states of america, merry christmas and happy victorious new year. [ speaking non-english ] [ applause ] [ applause ] >> thank you so much. [ cheers and applause ]

>> i can hold. >> turn it around. there we go. [ applause ] >> this flag was flown over the capital today in honor of the president's visit. >> thank you so much. [ applause ] [ applause ]

a rousing and inspiring speech from the president of ukraine, a very rare moment for a world leader to speak to a joint meeting of congress. you see members of the house, members of the senate. hold on, we'll listen to speaker pelosi speak. [ applause ] >> the purpose of the joint -- >> excuse me. >> the purpose of the joint -- >> god bless america. [ applause ] >> okay. now the purpose of the joint meeting having been completed, the chair dictates -- declares

the joint meeting of the two houses new dissolved. the house will continue in recess subject to the call of the chair. >> all right. the gavel has come down and the joint meeting is over. a rousing and inspiring speech from ukrainian president zelenskyy. he invoked history, he talked about -- he compared ukrainian soldiers in the winter in the donbas region fighting russians to american soldiers in 1944 during the battle of the bulge fighting the nazi, he quoted franklin delano roosevelt. he even invoked the turning point of the revolutionary war, the battle of sara toga then what was the last thing we have with us, former u.s. ambassador to ukraine bill taylor. what was the last thing he said in ukrainian? >> he said -- [ speaking non-english ] which means "glory to ukraine" and the response from all ukrainians, glory to the heros.

>> that was something he delivered throughout his speech giving credit to the heroes on the front lines. one thing, jim, i was thinking while watching this was, man, this is vladimir putin's worst nightmare. he thought that this war was going to be over in 24 hours. he thought zelenskyy by now would have been abandoned and killed and instead volodymyr zelenskyy is "time" magazine's person of the year being greeted as a hero by a bipartisan group of the house and senate. i mean, i don't have much sympathy for vladimir putin on any day but he's not having a good night. >> no, and he's watching. certainly he's watching not just the speech but this joining of the minds and of the nations this this war between ukraine and a fellow superpower in the u.s. and that's quite a moment with many consequences beyond it, passionate, full of shared purpose. this is not just our war, it is a war with the u.s. for the free

world and deliberately addressing the american people, the first people he talked to were the people at home saying that i hope that this resonates in each american heart and that's deliberate, i believe, to bring everybody in and say that this is our battle. it's not some distant war. it is a battle you can relate to and all those historical comparisons to our war of independence, not accidental, just as you said going in that he does this deliberately, to bring the audience on his side. >> although i have to say the battle of saratoga might be a bridge too far. >> people are googling it at home i'm sure. when you talk about putin thought this would be over early, u.s. intelligence thought this would be over early. you are remember the early assessments and thought kyiv would fall in 72 hours. that was not a crazy assumption given russia's advantages and with a dose of prize the ukrainian president said ukraine didn't fall. >> the significance of the battle of saratoga, it was the turning point of the american war for independence. it was a time when american

soldiers who were outgunned and outmanned by a superior force, the british, were able to turn the tide, improve morale and get more foreign support to enable the american people to defeat the british. >> and obviously that's why he used it because this is a moment, this is the winter in ukraine. this is why they need the patriot. this is the hardest time, the electricity is out. families are cold. he talked about celebrating christmas, i mean, he knows that his people are suffering and i think he wanted to turn that to american families. i mean this was an extraordinary moment here in his greens, in his, you know, coming to address -- what looked to me like a state of the union speech. you had everyone there except the supreme court and it was -- he was greeted and hailed as a hero by most people in that chamber. there were notably some conservatives who sat on their

hands. but he was greeted as a hero and he made the point and, you know, this resonates with americans because we're the product of a revolution, right? ukraine holes its lines and will never surrender. >> yeah. >> i know we also talked about a ten-point peace proposal which he didn't really -- >> he didn't present even one point of that, but he has gone public with the steps that he thinks needs to be taken. >> but he said let the world see us. let the world see what we're going through and you as american, thank you so much but you know what we're going through. >> this had to have been helpful for members in the audience who will approve the aid. they have not gotten the private audience with president zelenskyy, nancy pelosi has. the rank and file members have not. the objection is total victory. your money is not charity. something that he says, they're not taking this money for granted. he said is this enough money? no, probably not enough. he's suggesting they'll probably have to come back for more.

i do want to point out key reaction coming off the house floor from kevin mccarthy, the house republican leader, calling annie caught up with them. he supports ukraine but doesn't support a blank check. that's similar to what he's saying? >> nobody is suggesting -- >> exactly. what does that mean going forward? that will be the big question for ukraine and for their future and the republican party. >> nobody has suggested that there be a plank check for ukraine. ambassador taylor, one of the things -- first let me say we heard people yelling something from the gallery over seeing the house and we didn't know what it was. we now have some reporting from inside the chamber. it was shouting in ukrainian from the ukrainian delegation y yelling -- [ speaking non-english ] and also "god bless america" overlooking the chamber looking up, democrats and republicans and applauding, the ukrainian delegation. i couldn't help but notice that

president zelenskyy also referred to the russian people as victims of the kremlin. it wasn't just the ukrainian people, he was also talking about the russian people being under siege by putin. >> he did and that's controversial actually in ukraine. ukraine sees russia as now just clearly the enemy, overwhelmingly the ukrainians no matter what language they speak, no matter where they're from. they see russia as the enemy so that reach out to russian people, this possibility of some conversation with russian people was unusual. >> yeah. and particularly because earlier in the day he described russian leaders, those responsible for this invasion as inhuman. he used the term inhuman and by the way when we speak of a ten-point peace planout any specifics listen to the other language here. he calls them inhuman. he says of the russians they destroy everything they see as you noted they say -- he said ukraine will never surrender. when you listen to that at this moment that does not sound like

a leader willing to negotiate. >> it sounds like a leader whose civilian population has been bombarded by missiles and human rights violations for the last eight months. you're watching a special edition of "ac 360" to anderson cooper right now. >> thanks very much for watching "360" talking more about president zelenskyy's speech, the team in new york. first to clarissa ward in paris covering the war in ukraine from before it began. clarissa, i'm wondering what you made of president zelenskyy's address. one thing he talked about, he talked about not only russia but also iran, talked about the alliance between the two and telling the members of congress it's a matter of time before they strike at other of your allies. >> reporter: yeah, i think, anderson that volodymyr zelenskyy understood he had to meet the moment and i think he certainly was successful in achieving that objective. this was a strong, rousing

speech in which he really pushed for broad bipartisan support and he knew which buttons to press for which different representatives, obviously talking about iran, calling iran a terrorist state, talking without actually saying the word israel but warning of the danger of one of america's allies potentially being attacked by iran so he knew what he was going for there. he also used lots of historical analogies as we've heard appealing to america's'sort of sense of identity as a country that was born out of a revolution, fought for freedom but what i felt was interesting beyond that, anderson, just as i was watching president zelenskyy speak was how he has really sort of modeled himself as the anti-putin in almost every way. he is informal. he is approachable. he wears, you know, military fatigues or very simple

sweatshirt and pants. he is casual. he is personable. he speaks intimately, directly to americans in their homes directly to ukrainians through the use of selfies or whatever video he might be making, and so in the sense i think he really has captured americans' imaginations as this kind of seminal anti-putin man of the moment and was very savvy about really pressing the right buttons in order to elicit an emotional response and also to shore up that support ahead of, you know, what will promise to be a difficult year for ukraine. he urged the time is of the essence. i think he said this battle cannot be frozen or postponed. ukraine has done so well. but what they feel now, officials, they cannot afford to slow down. they need to keep their foot on the gas. they need that support and they

need those weapons. >> it's also an extraordinary milestone in the war to have president zelenskyy leaving the country really for the first time to come here, i mean, clarissa, when you were there, you know, in the east of the country, i think it was, when the war began and then quickly in kyiv as it was being bombarded, did you ever imagine that ukraine would be where it is now still standing, still independent and the president, a household name in the united states visiting the united states? >> reporter: i don't think anyone ever could have predicted the extraordinary trajectory of this war and the extraordinary success of ukraine's counteroffensives, but also the extraordinary success of president volodymyr zelenskyy, who has, as i've said, really captured people's imaginations, not just in ukraine, not just in the u.s. but all around the world. and the idea that he would

actually leave the country during this war with the risk that that entails, that he would go within a space of two days, anderson, from being on the front lines in one of the most dangerous places in the country in the city of bakhmut to being at the white house to then speaking to congress and to the american people, honestly, that is the kind of bold and risky move that we have come to associate with zelenskyy, getting to know him over time. but i don't think anyone could have predicted at the beginning of this invasion that we would see that kind of grit, that kind of determination and also that kind of savvy which has really served him well. he has an extraordinary group of advisers who are surrounding him as well who are helping them to find just the right tone to strike with everyone who he talks to and whose support he needs in order to ensure that ukraine can keep up the momentum, anderson. >> yeah, clarissa ward, good to

talk to you. kaitlan collins, one thing president zelenskyy talked about to those members of congress who maybe skeptical or frankly unwilling for the u.s. to continue to pour support to the people who are frustrated he said your money is not charity, it is an investment in democracy and global security. >> that line i think is one of the key lines from the entire speech but can i say quickly, i covered trump, it is so stunning to me to see president zelenskyy in the house of representatives speaking in the same place that impeached trump in 2019 over a conversation he had with zelenskyy and the circumstances he's being welcomed back into tonight but on that note about what the support means, he also was candid today in two moments where he said there we have artillery, yes, is it enough, no. an earlier saying we're getting this one patriot missile but, yes, i'm going to ask for more and candid about what he wants and what he thinks he needs and helping accelerate what he wants to be the ukrainian victory by

giving them they need and to the moment of being an investment we're not asking for u.s. troops. we can operate your tanks and your planes which they have not gotten. we can do that ourselves but we just need the materiel. >> instead of being this far away country that's batted around in part an politics where it's tied to some of the conspiracy theories that president trump pushed when he initially tried to extract something out of zelenskyy in that phone call and reposition it as a soviet republic in an independent story and trying to tie that to the american independent story. everything was extremely purposeful in how it was laid out. i think you said it was a very kind of tight speech and there was nothing on there that wasn't aimed at someone. it's like you would hear lines you felt like were directed at the russian people and putin himself. >> he said on independence he said we'll also go through our war of independence with dignity

and success, not wanting handouts. >> even mentioning world war ii an nazi, a chief propaganda point coming out of russia and repeated by the metabolized right wing fringe is ukraine is full of neo-nazis and they're thugs and this is why the u.s. should not be helping them. you will see this online coming from lawmakers and i think he again plants these nuggets in the speech to reposition these concepts because he knows what's floating around. this is a very savvy person in that way. >> i want to bring in doris kearns goodwin the author of "leadership in turbulent times." where do you place the historical significance of this visit and what you made of his speech? >> well, the extraordinary thing about this speech, i think, is that as everybody has been saying, he just targeted the different parts of american history that he want the to

bring up. that was not the line everybody remembers about the pearl harbor speech, the only -- they remember this will be a day that lives in infamy, not the righteous mind will continue on forever. that was a line fdr wrote himself at the bottom of the draft and thought it was important. what zelenskyy did by coming at christmas, i don't know they knew that but it brings back the thought when churchill gave his speech to the joint session of congress and brings back world war ii and the importance of that alliance between america and britain and now america and ukraine and talked as if the alliance were already there. together we will do this. together we will do that so he's already established in the american people's mind we're in this together but then pointing out that the soldiers are not -- they'll do the fighting for us, just give us the tools and we will finish the job. that's what churchill said. i keep thinking to when churchill came, it was at christmastime 81 years ago now. he was very nervous before that speech. i wonder how zelenskyy felt

tonight. churchill said he was new. it was a turning point for history. he was afraid that japan had attacked us and we would then go to japan instead of carrying about germany and europe and finally he asked for tumblers of sherry in the morning. he asked for scotch and soda at lunch and champagne and brandy at night. >> he stayed at the white house. he was camped out at the white house. >> he stayed at the white house. he stayed right there on the rose suite. i actually stayed this that room when i went to a sleepover with hillary clinton and bill clinton had they invited me to see what it was like when churchill and roosevelt was there. i was in the same room where he took the tub and practiced the speech. >> i also know details -- i know a detail because i've read it, you wrote it that according to the butler, walked into a argument between eleanor and franklin roosevelt. eleanor hadn't been told by franklin that churchill was actually coming. >> it was a bick surprise to her and she wanted to be prepared for him but he wanted it to be a

secret so that it would be a surprise when he came and eleanor was pissed off at that but had an extraordinary time and stay up until 2:00 a.m. drinking and smoking and eleanor would come in finally and say isn't it time for you two little boys to go to bed because the next day churchill could take a nap and roosevelt had to run the country. he was exhausted after the two were together during that time but it cemented their alliance. that speech to the joint session. when churchill came out at first he talked about the connection between the two countries but then he talked about what kind of people did the germans think we are? do they think we won't persevere to the end and roared like a british lion. just like for zelenskyy tonight and i think he cemented that relationship between us and between the ukrainian people tonight. that's what he wanted to do. it'll be very hard. if the public sentiment of the country goes for ukraine, then that might be able to override the america firsters and isolationist magas that don't

want to give them what they need to have. >> throughout history and especially now this this age of zoom calls and, you know, mass communications that coming to a place, meeting people in person, showing yourself, making a speech in front of, you know, in front of members of congress, it makes a difference in -- it can affect things in a way that a zoom speech cannot. >> oh, it's absolutely huge. i remember when churchill and roosevelt first met and churchill said it's fun to be in the same decade with you. now, you can't feel that through a zoom or through far away but through the chemistry. when you listen to that press conference today you felt a certain connection between president biden and president zelenskyy. you know, they teased each other and talked about things in a relaxed way and there's nothing like a personal connection that does that. that's one of the reasons churchill not only came at christmastime but for weeks at a time throughout the entire war to make sure that personal

connection stayed strong and i think we're seeing the result of that and how he was able to put that speech together tonight and not feel the nervousness, maybe he did that churchill fell and come out and do what he needed to do, he's got to feel really good. he did what you need a speaker to do. he spoke in that -- the very first line he said applause is not for me it's for the ukrainian people, always the ukrainian people, the foundation of what he was saying. you need the humility of a leader. this is not me, this is my people. this say night. i feel like we're living in history and have to remember how important democracy is for us and when we think about the minor things we worry about, preserving democrat si here at home and preserving it abroad is what we should all be thinking and maybe it will raise us to that height and look at the january 6th hearings and think of where do we go to predesk democracy. i feel like for me as a historian it's a great feeling. >> especially to have a leader would comes here who probably still has the dust of the front

lines on the boots he's wearing that where he was just some two days ago, gosh, i love talking to you doris kearns goodwin, such a pleasure. >> i'm so glad to be with you. >> take care. we'll talk to you again soon. what did you make of tonight, david? >> just picking up on where doris left off here, he talked as if we were allies, in fact, ukraine's not a member of nato. they're not a treaty ally of the united states, and he never made the case here that ukraine should get into nato. what he basically -- the case he made was you should treat me as if i am already in nato which i thought was pretty fascinating but if you listened carefully between the lines you heard his fears here, obviously the coming winter. obviously the fact that the mere mass of the russian force is beginning to show up.

one american military official very senior official noted to me that if those 300,000 conscripts actually get trained and show up and the spring comes, zelenskyy will be facing a bigger russian force than he has ever faced before. so that's a significant line and i think the final thing was, his invocation of iran, which was meant to go bridge those republicans who are still hesitant. >> to david's point i think you're right. the key thing that he really asked for was more weapons. he asked for f-16s, in essence he didn't say the term f-16. that's what he meant. he wants abrams tanks and those things because he knows those things actually work in terms of their technical capabilities and ability to prosecute the war effort and that is a really big thing, a big ask. >> 300,000 conscripts even if

poorly trained and low poral it's still 300,000 bodies. >> what that does is goes back to russian history because the russian always use the mass of people into these kinds of conflicts. they bring as many people as they possibly can to the fight and that's where either you have the people or the technology. if you can combine both, then that's a really good thing but most countries can't do that and ukraine is banking on the technology part. >> yeah, let's go back to jake in d.c. jake. >> right now where we have our own reporter will ripley. this is obviously a huge moment for the ukrainian people. but the key question, because the russians have been attacking all the infrastructure in ukraine, how many of them are -- you don't know the exact number -- but were any of them able to watch president zelenskyy address this joint meeting of congress? >> reporter: very few.

partially because it's in the middle of the night but also because millions of people in ukraine are in the dark and in the coal. they don't have electricity. they don't have heat and, yes, this is a hugely triumphant moment and people will undoubtedly be proud of their president for being on the front lines in back hewitt where he was speaking with troops and you could hear the explosions from artillery near his location and then 24 hours later he is in the united states capital and he delivers this powerful speech, has a very productive meeting, bringing back big help for the men and women who are fighting on the front lines, the families struggling here to just live when they do not have electricity or heat sometimes for days on end or maybe for 40 minutes a day. there are people here in the capital, kyiv, who are telling us they have electricity for less than an hour a day so they can't really watch and frankly people don't have a whole lot of time to celebrate because they have to fight this war.

they are fighting this war with their own blood. they are getting weapons. they're getting money from around the world but it is ukrainians who are dying every single day fighting this war and so that's what they have to focus on is how are they going to survive tomorrow. how are they going to hole the lines to the east and the south? how are they going to fortify their defenses to the north with a russian troop buildup in bell rust and potential for hundreds of thousands. troops to try to make an invasion heading straight towards the capital city kyiv and how do they do that when their power grid is so crippled they have essentially in some places run out of soviet era replacement parts to fix the power grid. they're even appealing to other former soviet nations for parts because they just don't make them anymore so the reality of the situation is as triumphant as this is the ukrainians know more than anyone else in the world this war is far from over. >> triumphant in washington, dire in ukraine. will, thank you so much. joining me now the former u.s. ambassador, marie marie.

both the content and the fact of it at all. yeah, well, i completely agree with one of your previous speakers, doris kearns goodwin. this is a historic moment and we will look back on this speech the way we look back at fdr's speeches and some of the others invoke the tonight. president zelenskyy traveling from back hewitt and traveling thousands of miles west to washington, d.c. to thank the american people and the congress and the president of the united states but to also say, you know, we can win this war but we need additional assistance in order to win it and this is not a charity. this is an investment in the international global order. this is an investment in u.s. security. i thought it was really

masterful, and he also combined not only the strategic thinking, but also appealed to our emotions. you know, talking about christmas in a couple of days and how ukrainians are going to celebrate probably mostly by candlelight. not because it's romantic but because they don't have electricity. i think every american can relate to that. and, you know, obviously we want to help to stop these attacks by the russians and to not only provide the defensive systems necessary, but also the humanitarian assistance and the energy assistance that is necessary in ukraine right now. >> it's interesting also when he invoked christmas. he talked about the faith that we have in ourselves, the faith that the ukrainian people have in their ability to fight and to win this war. you've previously referred to president zelenskyy as one of the great communicators of our age. like one of our great communicators ronald reagan, he is a former actor.

do you think that is one of the reasons why he is so effective at getting his message across? what do you think sets him apart from the other world leaders with whom you've dealt? >> i do think there are personal qualities we didn't see in the beginning when elected president but we have certainly seen over the last ten months, i mean, there is the personal courage of staying in kyiv when he knew he was being hunted down by assassination teams. when, you know, the strategic guidance he's provided his country and the communication skills that you referred to are also extraordinary and i think absolutely he's tapping into his past experience as a performer, as an actor, as somebody who knows how to reach out to different audiences and move them. but he's also -- he's got that other skill that is often rare in leaders. he's a good listener. he listens to the ukrainian people and he is not only

leading them but he is reflecting in his leadership where they are and where they want to go and that resolve that we see in ukraine, it's coming from him but it's also coming from the people themselves as he referred to in his speech. >> let me bring in jim sciutto and ask a question. >> ambassador yovanovitch, you were a central figure in the first impeachment. you were a target of the former president because you didn't go along with a different approach. a specific approach, one might say. i wonder if you could describe the shift between then and now in terms of u.s. support and could ukraine be putting up the fight that it is today without that change, without that shift, without u.s. support? >> yeah, i think u.s. support is absolutely critical to the fight in ukraine right now and every ukrainian starting with president zelenskyy on throughout the population recognizes that. and is very grateful and, you

know, tells, i think every american they meet how grateful they really are. our support is crucial. it is the ukrainians who are fighting and dying. it is the ukrainians who are winning battles, whether it's the battle of kyiv, whether it's the battle of kherson. but they are doing it with our assistance, with our essential assistance, whether it is equipment, whether it is training, whether, you know, it is other forms of assistance and i think everybody knows that and that is why the president of ukraine took this very risky and bold move to fly to washington, d.c. to say, thank you and the fight is not over. it will continue and it is important to ukraine, but it is important to the united states. we are in this together. this is our joint battle. >> yeah. >> i think he made a very compelling case. >> every time he is outside or even when he's inside, he's at

risk of being killed by the russian military. former u.s. ambassador to ukraine masha marie yovanovitch, thanks for being with us. another former secretary of state hillary clinton. cnn's coverage of president zelenskyy's speech to congress continues after this break.

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we are back with "360th. united ee president zelenskyy 300 days into the war, a new military aid package in hand including pate yawl anti-aircraft missiles addressing a joint meeting of congress. >> we'll celebrate christmas. maybe candlelit. not because it's more romantic, no, but because there will not be -- there will be no electricity. if they attack us we'll do our best to protect ourselves. if they attack us with iranian dr drones, and our people will have to go to bomb shelters on christmas eve, ukrainians will still sit down at the holiday table and cheer up each other, and we don't, don't have to know everyone's wish as we know that

all of us, millions of ukrainians, wish the same, victory. only victory. we're joined by 2016 presidential candidate, madam secretary clinton, glad to have you on. what are your thoughts about what president zelenskyy said tonight? >> i thought it was extraordinary, anderson. it was as others have said rousing and inspiring. it also touched all the chords. it connected the struggle of ukrainian people to our own revolution, to our own feelings that we want to be warm in our homes to celebrate christmas and to get us to think about all the families in ukraine that will be huddled in the cold and to know that they are on the front lines of freedom right now. they're fighting. their cause is our cause, and i

was thrilled to see the very positive response from the congress. i also thought that the meeting between president zelenskyy and president biden was substantive and very positive along with their press conference. it could not have been a better day for him but more importantly as he pointed out a better day for the people of ukraine and for the cause of democracy and freedom. >> do you think sending a patriot battery to ukraine was the right move? >> absolutely. i hope that they will send more than one. i know that there's been some reluctance in the past by not just the united states but our nato allies to provide a lot of the advanced equipment particularly in this case defensive equipment which is what the patriot battery is. but i think we've seen with our own eyes how effective ukrainian military is. i think they will be quickly

trained to use the patriot system, and they should be getting as much help as we can give them to end this war as quickly as possible in victory. >> there's obviously opposition in among some particular republicans in congress, kevin mccarthy said something towards the effect of he's not sure american families will be willing to continue to write a plank check or have a blank check in a recession to ukraine. do you think that zelenskyy's visit will have changed any minds and those who were skeptical? >> i think it will certainly have strengthened both democrats and republicans who understand what is at stake in this fight against putin and russian aggression and now with their ally, iran, as well, i also think no one is asking for a blank check. i believe that the ukrainians have proven that they are a

really good investment for the united states. they are not asking us to be there to fight their war. they're fighting it themselves. they're asking us and our allies for the means to not only defend themselves but to actually win. so i think this had a positive effect and i agree with some of the people you've already talked with on the program. this was historic, some people have compared it to when churchill came 81 years ago and basically asked that the united states continue to stand with them after we'd been attacked and we did. so, there were a lot of points that zelenskyy made that were quite resonant with any of us who know how hard our own struggle for freedom and the cost that we've paid to defend it over all these years actually has been. >> you've met president putin on

a number of occasions. what position do you think he finds himself in and what he pay do? >> well, it's always probably impossible to actually predict, but i think around now what he is considering is how to throw more bodies and that's what they will be, bodies of russian conscripts into the fight in ukraine. it's been proven, i think conclusively that he's willing to sacrifice as many russian men as he can round up throughout the vast reach of the russian territory. i think he's trying desperately to convince lukashenko and belarus to try to get him to be involved. i think so far lukashenko has played his hand adroitly. he doesn't want to get drawn into that. he doesn't want to see his own

military decimated. where that ends up, i don't think we know yet. so there has to be a moment of reckoning and it can only come if the cost, both in military losses and in economic pain, because of sanctions continues to increase on putin and i thought it was quite smart of zelenskyy to make it clear that he's willing to reach out to the russian people. he, in effect, invited the russian people to free their minds from the rule of putin and by doing so, he is sending a signal that if the russian people, whether it is people around putin or more generally people out in the country understand that this is a war that is putin's war, not russia's war, that could also change the internal dynamics that will be confronting putin so there's a lot of moving

pieces but the most important thing is to keep supplying them with what they need to keep defeating russia every chance they get. >> do you think that's a possible scenario of dissent in russia whether it's, you know, nationwide or among powerful forces around vladimir putin, that that could actually topple him? >> well, i don't know about topple but it could certainly influence the calculations he makes. there is some reporting that i have seen coming out of russia that there is increasing distress and anger among mothers of sons and people who are related to those russian men who have been rounded up as they come back having been poorly or not at all trained having been killed in the front line of putin's war, that can have an impact. i think information continues, not enough, but still to seep

into russia so that the resolve of the ukrainian people become clear enand clearer, i think there will be jockeying around putin. one never knows if there is the appetite to do anything directly against him or try to maneuver him so that he's looking for an exit. all of this is happening simultaneous. this is an incredibly complex set of circumstances, anderson. but right now i think it's fair to say ukraine has the upper hand. ukraine is winning its war thanks to the enormous support we and others have provided, and we need to keep the pressure on putin. >> hillary clinton, appreciate your time. thank you. >> thank you. >> coming up next a conversation with someone we've gotten to know well since russia invaded ukraine. yew lana gnes. we talked to her throughout the world sheltering in a basement

in kyiv with her three children while her husband was fighting. what she thought of her president's visit and what he had to say tonight. is'll help. vicks vaporub? vicks vaporub's ...medicated vapors go straighght to the source of your cough... ...so you can relieve your cough to breathe easasier. vicks s vaporub. fast-acting cough relief. (brent) people love subaru just because it stands for much more than just a car. (vo) through the share the love event, subaru retailers have supported over sevenen hundred (vo) through the share the love evehometown charities. (pl) have i witnessed and seen the impact of what we do? you bet i have. (kathryn) we have worked with so many amazing causes and made a difference. (vo) by the end of this year, subaru and our retailers will have donated over two hundred and fifty million dollars to charity. (brent) it's about more than just selling cars. (phil) the subaru share the love event going on now. aubree: i'm aubree. i went to st. jude because i had a cancerous tumor. casey: these kids, they don't deserve to have to go through this.

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around the world tonight landmarks which are normally lit up brighter instead shrouded in darkness. take a look. these are ju four of the opera where they turned off the lights in solidarity with millions of ukraine who lost power. power has been taken away from them by attacks by russia. part of the hashtag light up ukraine campaign, a fund-raiser drive to acquire generators throughout the country. we've been visiting with her from her home in kyiv and from her basement where she was sheltering throughout much of the war. recently she and her family have temporarily relocated to this country. we're glad she could be here on this important night. it is great to see you, and it is great to see the kids with you. and what do you make of the president's speech? >> we've been listening our

whole family to the president. and we're very proud of him, but it was very bittersweet feeling, anderson, because it's a shame that our president had to fly all the way from ukraine to here to america, you know, still to persuade, to beg for weapons. after 300 days of the war, he still needs to convince someone that the war is real, it's huge and that america has to react and the whole free world has to react. because the fact that you don't want the third world war to happen, it doesn't mean that putin didn't start it yet. he started. he attacked the whole free world, and this is now on ukraine who is covering the free world as a shield. and this shield is mainly the bodies of our people, most of our defenders and our soldiers but also women and children who stay there right now in these freezing temperatures. >> it is one of the points he made tonight, and i want to get

the quote right. he spoke of russia and iran, the alliance they have made. he said it's a matter of time before they strike at other of your allies and he talked about this not being charity, it's an effort in democracy and global security. that was something he was trying to get across. >> and i agree with him. the longer this war goes on, the stronger he's a terrorist because he feels he's unpunished and dictators in this world they see, look, putin is destroying another country, killing thousands of people and no one can stop him, so he's strong. he's stronger than america. so let's make friends with him, let's cooperate. we already see him cooperating with iran. me and my children heard about this iranian drone in ukraine. we don't want any chinese drones over there. we don't want to make this war global. we don't want to bring this war to your home in america, here.

to stop this war there must be weapons. it's still not enough to stop the enemy and push back the terrorists. it's still not enough. billions of money, it's a lot but still not enough because russia gets more money from oil and gas, and we still have people in business who want to do business with russia. >> i'm wondering on a personal level to watch your president speaking in washington while you're in the u.s. temporarily, what was that like? >> it was like you call this historical speech, but i -- i'm like will it really change something? i mean it's cool for america to be proud that he put all these ukrainian flags everywhere, but for people in ukraine it's like -- it's not on tv for them.

it's not a reality. and they need weapons like yesterday. >> it was obviously risky i mean for the president to make this trip, both his own personal safety what could happen to ukraine while he's out of the country. do you think it was worth the risk? >> come on? what kind of risk? he recently visited bakhmut of the front line. i was impressed by this visit. this visit to america doesn't seem to us in ukraine doesn't seem as something dangerous. and our children who stay tonight in kyiv and closer to the front line they face more danger than zelenskyy in washington. >> how are your family doing right now in the u.s.? >> we want to come back home. we want our home to stay intact, not ruined. we want our friends to stay alive and come back from the

front lines. we want all ukrainians just to come back and to start our peaceful life from the very beginning, but it's real. i mean christmas is coming, and we want to have the christmas mood, but being in america as ukrainians we feel that the war is already here. it's already here. it's happening. and to know when you have christmas dinner and you enjoy this time, the roof is on fire. and this is the most important right now to stop the fire because it's already happening. it's huge. it just happened that it's happening in my country in ukraine. but it involves the whole world. and right now somewhere in ukraine, in my country it will be decided in which kind of the world your children will be living. >> those are the stakes. >> sorry? >> those are the stakes that --

you're saying this is not just a battle for utape, this is battle for democracy and freedom? >> this is battle for the world and the result of the battle will define which kind of a world our children will be living in. will it be a free and democratic world where life matters, where there's dignity and respect and equality, or russia pulls us back to tyranny and into darkness. >> i appreciate talking to you and i appreciate talking to you on this night. thank you. >> thank you, anderson. it was a pleasure. >> thank you. we'll be right back. there's toothpaste white and d there's crest 3d whitestrips white. whitestrips safely work below the enamelel surface for whiter teeth in 3 days, guararanteed. a zillion times whiter! crest.

- life is uncertain. everyday pressures can feel overwhelming it's okay to feel stressed, anxious, worried, or frustrated.

it's normal. with calhope's free and secure mental health resources, it's easy to get the help you and your loved ones need when you need it the most. call our warm line at (833) 317-4673 or live chat at calhope.org today. as eloquent as president zelenskyy's words were tonight, there was a moment towards the end of his remarks that spoke powerfully. he presented the flag yellow and blue covered in signatures. it was the furthest thing from an ordinary signature. the signatures from the troops there, t