[bleep] >> griff: fox news alert, chaos in downtown austin, texas as street racers take over a major intersection downtown, sparking questions about police readiness after the city slashed its budget. i'm griff jenkins, in for todd piro. >> ashley: i'm ashley strohmier in for carley shimkus. one injured in the chaos, people smashed the windows out of two

police cars. a giant mob forced a cruiser backward down the freeway. lauren has more from washington. >> good morning, these videos are just as wild as dangerous and dumb. this was a busy intersection saturday night. take a look. >> oh. [bleep] [engines revving] >> ashley: at police cars, a crowd swarming and forcing a police car back. one officer was injured, several police cars were damaged. the police department is understaffed from officers on the street and 911 operators. just 60% of calls is answered

within seconds. they had to lower minimum job requirements to fill openings. in 2020 the austin city council defunded the police by $150 million. the austin police association tweeted austin policymakers are responsible for the overall safety of citizens and visitors, looked like the wrong decision and they continue to demoralize public safety. austin was one of the safest cities, not anymore. the police budget was reinstated, but not until after officers left. they are struggling to recruit qualified people. >> griff: fox news alert, breaking now president biden is on the ground in ukraine for a surprise visit as we approach a one-year since russia invasion.

the president was expected to leave per poland tonight and deliver an address in warsaw tomorrow. saying they were no plans to visit ukraine. this visit coming after a slew of world leaders, including boris johnson visited and then speaker nancy pelosi visited and first lady jill biden visiting last may for mother's day in western ukraine. this as president biden in kyiv. we'll go right to peter doocy in poland, if we have him. what can you tell us? >> in the last one minute, this visit to ukraine that was a surprise and unannounced became reportable. we're getting photos. as recently as friday, we were told no plans for the president to visit ukraine. as recently as 2-1/2 or three

hours ago, they were in washington, d.c., be ready to come to the south lawn and watch president biden tonight at 6:40 leaving on marine one like he does any time he goes to air force one. that was all part of a very elaborate rouse, to give the military time for the visit. according to a small traveling press pool with the president in kyiv, he did not announce any kind of new assistance that the ukrainians hadn't already received, they will get half a billion more in security assistance. this is new, we have not had time to read through all of it. big headline is that the president made this daring drop by to a city that the russians have been attacking or trying to

attack for almost an entire year and some of the early social media reports we've seen with the president on the ground indicate that he's there standing next to zelenskyy as air raid sirens are going off, that is highly unusual and very dangerous. it appears that president biden has safely made a trip to ukraine and we expect to get much more details once he joins us in warsaw a little ahead of schedule. we didn't think we would get him until this time tomorrow. >> griff: this is very significant. it appears we have photos of him walking along president zelenskyy and near the presidential palace, we'll see if he visited zelenskyy's presidential palace there. as someone who has been on the ground in ukraine, they are never secure there and in the recent increase of attacks in

kyiv as russia gears up for this new offensive, many believe, to include jack keane has started and there is high level of risk the administration decided to take in sending president biden. any indication why he would take that risk with creased concern of attacks on that capitol city? >> we are getting new information about how they were able to pull this off and keep it a surprise. we thought the president was going to leave at 6 p.m. tonight, yesterday at 2:00 in the morning, the traveling press pool was asked to hand over to the president's staff their devices, which is common for a trip arlington this. we saw something similar when president trump recently went to kabul as a surprise visit overthanksgiving. they handed over their devices. they did not see the president

board the plane. you usually get a shot of him walking up the stairs and sometimes talk to reporters. they showed up and got on air force one. we don't know which aircraft was used, any time a president is on a plane, that becomes air force one. we have quotes from the president and expect to get him on video saying these things next to zelenskyy. the president says i thought it was critical there not be any doubt about u.s. support for ukraine and the war. president biden said the ukrainian people stepped up in a way few have in the past and the president said for all the disagreement we have in congress on some issues there is significant agreement on support for ukraine, it is not just about freedom in ukraine it is democracy at large. that is all important. recently as yesterday, secretary

of state blinken was doing rounds on the sunday shows saying he recently met with chi counterpart and they are concerned about chinese support for russia in this effort. if that comes to bear where china and russia are essentially teaming up against ukraine and nato, that is entirely different can of worms and that would escalate this conflict in way it has not over the last year and we've seen how brutal the last year has been without china getting involved that we know of. that's a big one. there is also, as the president referenced, there are in the new republican congress, there are a lot of lawmakers in the majority that want to essentially slow down some of the support that has been going to ukraine. it is billions upon billions of dollars and there is not as much support in the republican-led congress as there was maybe in

the democratic congress and so president biden is aware of that, he is addressing that and these images are extraordinary on the camera that you are seeing on the screen right now. the president of the united states in an active war zone, standing next to the president, who this time last year zelenskyy was hiding out in a bunker. expect to see something like this, pictures like this in the oval office or at the white house, you do not expect for security reasons to see something like this happening in ushg yoo. there was so much secrecy about this. again, president biden has been planning and teasing this visit to poland to commemorate the one-year anniversary of the russian invasion of ukraine and we did not expect him to make a dramatic drop by kyiv, but here

we are. >> ashley: peter, since there was so much secrecy surrounding this trip, no one had a clue, what does this mean right now? do we know he is there right now? when were the pictures taken, do we know? >> so they would have been taken in the last couple hours, we don't know exactly where the president is at the moment and part of the agreement with initial details we are getting, it is so new, we have not had time to read through all of it, the press pool says they agreed not to report on the president's realtime movement. usually we get a note as part of the traveling press. we boarded air force one. air force one has landed. we are not getting that because of the security concerns that had everybody for the last several weeks saying there was no plan for president biden to go to ukraine and there is

reporting recently as yesterday in politico where they were citing unnamed white house aids who said they concluded it was just too dangerous for the president and too dangerous for the ukrainian side to attempt a stop like this. we were here this time last year or maybe about 11 months ago when the president came to poland and there was speculation he might try to cross the border and maybe not into the center of the country, but cross the border as show of support and he didn't because it was considered too dangerous. a lot of folks thought this was too dangerous, as well, and they figured out with careful security planning and coordination with the ukrainians of u.s. military it was going to be possible. they did it. >> griff: images coming in, president biden walking there with president zelenskyy and

first lady of ukraine, here we see the president sitting in the presidential palace meeting with president zelenskyy no doubt talking about f-16s, the jets, the thing that ukraine and zelenskyy wants more than anything right now after getting tanks, after asking for a long time, before that long-range missiles. we are getting a statement from the white house at this moment, peter, statement from president joe biden. it says, i am getting on my phone, world prepares to mark one-year anniversary of russia brutal invasion of ukraine, i am in kyiv to reaffirm our commitment to ukraine democracy, sovereignty and territorial integrity. when putin launched his invasion nearly one year ago, he thought ukraine was weak and the west was divided, he thought he could outlast us, but he was dead

wrong. i had a meeting with president zelenskyy for a discussion on our support for ukraine and will announce another delivery of critical equipment, anti-armor system to help protect from aerial bombardment and share that later this week and will announce additional sanctions against companies trying to backfill russia's war machine over the last year the united states built a coalition of nations from the atlantic to pacific to help defend ukraine with military, economic and humanitarian support and that support, i would endure, he ends in saying, i look forward to traveling on to poland to meet president duda and deliver remarks on how united states will rally the world to support the people of ukraine and the core values of human rights and dignity in the un charter that

unite us worldwide. peter, a very strong statement of unwaivering, unflagging support, his words, not mine. this is significant statement to make coming on the one-year anniversary of the largest ground war in europe since world war ii. >> yes, and again, there are some influential foreign policy writers president biden pays attention to, writing president biden should give the ukrainians anything they want to fight back the expect the russian onslot over the next months. we know the ukrainians want f-16 fighter jets and that would require a lot of training for ukrainian pilots and would give the ukrainians capability they don't have right now, potentially to do things the united states is not comfortable with, including strike inside of

russia. a lot of weapon systems that the u.s. has been giving over the last year to the ukrainians are being outfitted in a specific way so they can fight russians in ukraine and cannot fight russians in russia, they cannot do that. at the moment, it does not appear that this trip is going to yield any f-16 fighter jets. doesn't mean it will never happen, they were not going to give them abrams tanks they wanted and that commitment was made a few weeks back and training is underway to etch too the uukrainians how to use those. it takes a couple months to get those things going. this is a big visit. think back to the last 20 years, while the united states was at war in afghanistan, for example, when a president or vice president would visit there, including joe biden when he was vice president for barack obama,

the threat was terror groups, for the most part. that is who they were concerned with. the russian military has such sup superior capabilities than any terror group that they would have been worried about legitimately over the last 20 years and that is the threat here, the worry would be russia is lobbying missiles into a city and they still calculated they could get president biden in there, it is extraordinary accomplishment for white house planners, for secret service and u.s. military to make this happen in a safe way and we don't have realtime movement for the president still, but it does appear they have figured out how to do this safely. >> ashley: absolutely, peter doocy is live in warsaw, poland, where things were different this morning. you were expecting the president

in poland, the last we heard, he is in ukraine. we will find out where he is, peter hang on the line, we'll be coming back to you. steve harrigan is live on the ground in kyiv and he's been there. steve, what has been the atmosphere in kyiv, especially the past three to five-hour gap. i know there are reports of air raids when president biden was with zelenskyy. >> this was a guessing game for sometime. we knew president biden was coming to poland, schedule visit. there was question, would he take a risk by coming hereula the way to kyiv. just about 30 minutes ago, we were able to see him -- >> griff: hold that. i just want to hold that thought, we are getting live video right now showing playback, this was live, this is

playback we're able to show. sorry for cutting you off, steve. we want to show the viewers, you see at the presidential palace, president biden arriving and looking at security there. we will see shortly president and president zelenskyy walking in kyiv. you can see president zelenskyy, along with ilena zelenskyy. this is president biden moments ago in kyiv, a historic visit just days before the one-year anniversary of the russian invasion into ukraine taking us all by surprise as peter doocy was saying no indication this was happening, a big surprise, historic in nature in sending a very unambiguous message to vladamir putin, who is ramping

up this new offensive here. we see president biden walking, let's listen for a second. >> can we get a handshake? >> sure. >> griff: you can see the handshake taking place, the

photo op here, remarkable it was one year ago when many, including western nato allies were offering that man in the green on your screen there a ride out of this war zone thinking that ukraine would capitulate in days. he said, i don't need a ride, what i need are bullets and one year later, seeing president of the united states on the ground offering support, handshakes. want to come back to you. getting tape on there. pick up where you were, steve, in describing the situation and mood in kyiv. >> there were warnings the day before there would be extraordinary security procedure in place, this without coming out and saying president biden would be here. they sealed people up in hotels, told you to keep windows shut and cut off internet for several hours. we can see president biden at

st. michaels monastery. apparently biden made two stops, at the presidential palace to meet with zelenskyy and the two coming to the seat of ukraine orthodox church to tour the church and to visit the memorial. two dead ukrainian soldiers outside when they walked down the streets. 36 degrees here on this sunny morning, taking place just before noon. this is extremely powerful one year laters, one year after the kremlin after russian president putin said he will take kyiv in three days, a year later you have zelenskyy and president biden walking the streets. this was certainly a high-risk effort, we did hear air raid sien ares during president biden's visit, but no sound of explosions and a strong statement from biden saying we at this one-year mark are

reaffirming commitment to ukraine, putin thought ukraine was weak and the west was divided and he was dead wrong on both counts. this is one year mark on friday and comes at time when russia is trying to launch offensive in the east to take control of more territory and time ukraine is asking for more weapons, especially fighter jets and time of higher risk when china appears to be on the fence about weighing in with lethal aid for russia that would ignite this conflict and make it more deadly. back to you. >> ashley: for anyone just joining us, this is steve harrigan, we are live on the ground in kyiv. you are seeing on the screen president biden and president zelenskyy. the president was supposed to be in poland, but made this stealth visit to ukraine without anyone

knowing. steve, you were talking about the day before, there were warnings of tightened security. did you see anything in particular that would have directed you or specified something like the president of the united states would be making his way in there? what did you see that was different from a security standpoint? >> i think being sealed up in a hotel was different and getting a note saying the internet was get cut off was different and large size of the u.s. convoy tipped it off if this was not the president, it was certainly a high-level figure coming to town. we've seen visits like this in the past, u.s. presidents visiting war zone in afghanistan and iraq and usually keep it quiet until the visit is almost over. we knew about the visit to warsaw and could think maybe he will get here, certainly a huge risk and air raid sirens going

off while biden on the ground in kyiv. >> griff: steve, i know this just happened, on the ground, the ukrainian people are united like no nation ever before temperature is almost reminiscent of our country in the wake of 9/11, everybody was for one effort and of course, you see that on the ground in ukraine. yet here we are a year later, many concerned that the u.s. support, the strongest support ukraine has gotten might be waning, here this visit could possibly be positive moral boost, if you will, for ukrainian people who are sacrificing so much in this are war. >> the sacrifice is huge and really hard to realize that sacrifice until you talk to people here. i was talking to a woman

yesterday who sent her children to the u.s., but goes to the frontline herself and says if i don't fight the russians now, my children will end up fighting them. we have seen reverse effects from what putin was trying to do. he was trying to take over ukraine, he's basically galvanized it, brought people together and done the same with nato. a lot of actions had the reverse effect from what he wanted and gratitude, i think it is open when you talk to people. they know that more than 100 billion dollars comes from the west, weapons, financial aid, starting with shells, now advanced tanks and jets in the future. there is a real sense they are being supplied and intraed and gratitude is palpable from the u.s., from the uk, they know they are getting tremendous

resources and they hope it can continue. we're looking at a major battle in the east. russia resupplying and using convicts and china might help russia with weapons. many believe ukraine has a window of about a year to push russia out of the east, they need help urgently and we've seen it step by step, once you get long-range artillery, you ask for tanks, and then jets. really the demands don't stop here for aid. >> griff: steve harrigan live in kyiv. on that point in the president's statement released moments ago, he says he will announce another delivery of critical equipment, including ammunition and armor systems and raider to help protect the ukrainian people from aerial bompard bardment, the best defense is to put

fighters in the air. >> certainly, they will need to protect and keep in mind what a different kind of war this is, this is not just a front line where soldiers fight soldiers, one side, russia, is trying to break the will of the people and trying to target electricity, infrastructure, during the winter and trying to break the spirit of civilians, targeting apartment comcomplexes, this is attempted slaughter, total war by one country against another, not just typical soldiers fighting on the front line. this country denies existence of another country and is trying to destroy it. >> ashley: steve harrigan is live. i want to bring in richard newton, retired general. my biggest question, how

difficult was this to put something like this into play and how long do you think something like this took to get to fruition? >> good morning, ashley, this is remarkable news, certainly with president in kyiv, i salute the president for doing this. this is extraordinary, it could be, in my view, game changing here to have the president of the united states to meet with president zelenskyy, obviously in kyiv right now. it is difficult to put together, i was on the front end when i was assistant vice chief of the air force. it is difficult. there are serious challenges to do so, certainly make sure the president is protected and also to orchestrate the visit and get the message to the american people and to nato alliance and

the rest of the world that our president is willing to go to kyiv and stand tall with president zelenskyy. timing is difficult and one in this particular situation regarding ukraine and russia, it couldn't be more critical because i believe we're at a cross roads, the russians are mounting what i believe offense of some kind, everything they can including hundreds of thousands of recruits and so forth. comes at a time when time is not on ukraine's side. for a president to be here in kyiv talking with president zelenskyy and my hope is that we'll come out with more advanced weaponry to include f-16s and perhaps can get into that. it is extraordinary moment for us, difficult to orchestrate and so far, so good. >> griff: let's go into that, what would f-16s do? you mention this visit being a

game changer, how big of impact would f-16s have? >> they would be significant, but let's manage expectations here. right now the ukrainian air force hvintage aircraft, we wil have to train the pilots and provide weapons and training for maintainers to maintain the aircraft. talking months of getting them in the cockpit of f-16s to fly missions. the fact we could be doing that, i'm ahead of myself, if that is in the offering with the president, not only from operational standpoint -- >> griff: hold that thought, we're playing tape back, can we listen in, i believe president zelenskyy is speaking. >> please. >> help in this year. you are very welcome, mr. president. >> thank you for having me.

say this, i thought it was important that the president of the united states be here the day the attack began because as -- remember, i was warning the world he was going to attack, i was concern of it. i thought it was critical that there not be any doubt, none whatsoever about u.s. support for ukraine and their war against the brutal attack by russia. it is good to be back in kyiv, i was telling the president, one of my newest staff members on the flight from washington asked me how many times i've been to kyiv. i had to stop and think, it's my eighth trip. much has changed. much bad because of the

invasion, but also the ukrainian people have stepped up in a way few people ever had in defense and have apparently embraced a notion of democracy. no longer discussions about whether or not certain privileged people have control. and i bring goodwill from members of congress and good impression when you spoke to them last. for all the disagreement we have in our congress on some issues, there is significant agreement on support for ukraine. this is so much larger than just ukraine. it is about freedom of democracy in europe and at large. and all the american people, i know that so many have been kept

ukrainian people, particularly women and children, in their prayers. seeing this happen, they can't fathom the idea of shell ing of orphanages to schools, to the like, it is barbaric. i am here to show unwaivering support for the nation for independence, sovereignty and tertoriat integrity and today i hope we will have a chance to discuss how the united states and our allies keep in constant contact with and partners can most effectively support you and your cause, mr. president. i look forward to discussing all this and addressing the world with you afterwards. again, admiration for the people of ukraine, ordinary, hard-working citizens, who were

never trained to be military, the way they stepped up. the whole world is looking, the whole world. >> thank you very much. >> mr. president -- >> walking out. >> press, we're walking out. >> ashley: what you just heard was from earlier this morning, president biden made this secret trip to kyiv in ukraine to meet with president zelenskyy, he was supposed to be in warsaw, poland, expected to go there later. we were speaking to richard newton and will bring him back in. richard, you heard there, biden made it clear that the u.s. and allies will be in constant contact with ukraine and to give them anything they need and he brought up the disagreements in congress saying that basically they weren't getting along with

certain things. how does this meeting and the fact he brought up congress and possibly the republicans not being eye to eye on what the democrats see with ukraine, how does this change the trajectory of the war in ukraine, especially like we said, this was a secretive visit. >> right, yeah, first off, i go back to my commentses at the top, it is extraordinary visit, i'm most pleased to see him there. and i think the american people and nato allies, as well. certainly president zelenskyy, we're at phase time is not on the side of ukraine. russia is digging in what i believe will be offensive action in the coming weeks or perhaps months and so forth. what president zelenskyy and the ukrainian military need are more capabilities that go into not just and we've done fairly remarkable job to date in terms

of arming and supplying ukraine and so has number of other allies, the war in my view starts to take a turn, where russia conducts this offensive action in the east and a little in the south, we need to provide precision hardware and we had a discussion regarding air power, in this case, f-16s, would be vital. president zelenskyy -- >> griff: hold for one second and dip back in, translation going on, president zelenskyy is making a statement, let's listen for a second. >> president of the united states over the course of this large-scale war, this is the first visit over 15 years and this is really the most important visit of the history of ukraine and u.s. relationship, this is the visit in this most difficult period for ukraine, when ukraine is

fighting for liberty of the world and these are the lines, the results we have already achieved and what sort of historic achievements we might gain together with the whole world, with the united states, with europe and today our negotiations were very fruitful. they were very important and crucial and as has become traditional in relationship between our countries, i like to extend words of gratitude and to the team, the congress and to all the u.s. people and i thank you for these level of -- u.s. cooperation and this week will be marking one year of our fight against russia aggression. it is symbolic we solidify

resilience through two meetings with the president of ukraine, my visit in december and the visit of mr. president of the united states to kyiv today. the results of these visits will surely be seen and surely have reflection on the battlefield in liberating our territory, the decision of the united states on abrams tanks for ukraine has already presented a foundation for establishing a tank coralition and historic importance in many other aspects, more specifically defense and patriots for defense of our cities, this is crucial reinforcement of our capacity and we talked about long-range weapons and the weapons that may still be supplied to ukraine even though it wasn't supplied before. i know mr. president, that there

will be package of security support to ukraine and currently it will serve as a clear signal that russia attempt will have no chance and we will together defend our cities and citizens from russia will have more impo tus toward our victory and today we have yet again underlined we have -- with regard to perspective of this are wa, we have coordinated the follow-on pressure on the terrorist state and are working hard on reinforcement bilaterally in and in the form of g-7, which is important. we have common vision on the content of many aspects of our peace formula because it is security elements, as well as the task to restore the un

charter to full capacity and defend international rule-based order. that is common joint task for all the countries interested in international security. the rebuilding and the recovery of justice is also very important for all those who were affected by the russian war and the aggressor has to take responsibility for the aggression and reimburse all damages. thanks to the president of the united states for supporting restoring the justice, more specifically in the work of our all of our institutions and that area and we believe there is no alternatives to establishment of the special tribunal, this is the position of ukraine and we shall support this position and i would really like united states to be engaged in the

implementation of our peace formula because implementation would mean reinforcement of productability of international relations and we have some achievements in this area already this week in new york together with the united states of america. and over 16 other countries will be submitting for the consideration of the un general assembly of the draft resolution on supporting peace in ukraine and on the eve of 24th of february, we believe approval of this resolution would be significant evidence to the fact the terrorist state would never break civilized country and i think we are also opening a special tablet dedicated to

president biden, first call night of 24th of february with united states and since that time, we had conversations and significant attention to protection of ukraine democracy besides personal contribution and president biden solidify liberty and democracy in the world. this will be remembered internally and ukraine is grateful to you, mr. president, to all the u.s. citizens, to those who cherish freedom just as we cherish them. glory to our warriors, glory to allies and glory to the united states of america. >> thank you very much, mr. president. >> it was one year ago this week that we spoke on the telephone, mr. president, it was late in washington and early in the morning in kyiv, russian planes

were in the air and tanks rolling across your border, you told me you could hear explosions in the background. i will never forget that. the world was about to change. i remember vividly because i asked you next, i asked you, what is there, mr. president, what can i do for you? how can i be of help? i don't know if you remember what you said to me, you said and i quote, gather the leaders of the world, ask them to support ukraine. gather the leaders of the world and ask them to support ukraine. you said that you didn't know when we'd be able to speak again. that dark night, one year ago,

the world was at the time bracing for the fall of kyiv. seems like a lot longer than a year, but think back that year. perhaps even the end of ukraine. you know, one year later, kyiv stands and ukraine stands. democracy understand stas stands, america stands with you, the world stands with you. kyiv captured my heart. i've come six times as vice president, once as president and in 2009 as vice president when i first came here and back in 2014 i came three times in the aftermath of the resolution of dignity and came in 2015, to address the ratta, about the work of building a strong

democracy. and i came in 2017, just before i left office as vice president. i knew i'd be back, i wanted to be sure, even though the elections were over, barack obama and i were out of office, i decided to make one more trip before the next president was sworn in to kyiv. so president zelenskyy, you deeply honor me in kyiv today to meet with your diplomatic teams, community leaders who stepped up and helped their country in their hour of need, it is astounding who stood up, everybody. everybody. women and young children trying

to do something, trying to do something. pulling people out of apartments and being shelled and i think is war crimes, it is astounding and the whole world, the whole world sees it and looks at it. this is largest land war in europe in three quarters of a century and you're succeeding against all and every expectation, except your own. we have every confidence you will continue to prevail. you know, from the moment i first received -- about a year ago, we were focused on determining how do we rally the rest of the world, how do i help you with the promise you asked me to make to rally the world?

well, how do you succeed? how do you get the world to respond to a prosperous economy, confident democracy, secure and independent state, when united americans of all political backgrounds decided they would step up. american people know it matters, unchecked aggression is a threat to all of us. we build coalition of nation from the atlantic to the pacific, nato and the atlantic, japan and the pacific. across the world, a number of nations, over 50. help ukraine defend

unprecedented humanitarian support. we are -- leading economy of the world to impose unprecedented cost squeezing russia economic lifelines. together we committed nearly 700 tanks and thousands of armored vehicles, 1000 artillery systems, two million rounds of ammunition, 50 advanced launch rocket systems, anti-ship and air systems and that doesn't count what we're announcing today and tomorrow that will be coming your way and that is just the united states in this piece and just today, that announcement includes artillery ammunition for high mars and more javelin, air surveillance

radar, protect from ariel bombardments. later this week, we will announce sanctions against elites trying to evade sanctions and backfill the war machine and thanks to bipartisan support in congress, this week we're dlifring billions in direct budgetary support, billions in direct budgetary support. put to use immediately and provide for basic services of citizens. the cost that ukraine had to bear has been extraordinarily high. sacrifices have been far too great and met them far too great. we mourn alongside family of those lost to brutal and unjust war. we know that there will be difficult days and weeks and

years ahead. but russia aim was to wipe ukraine off the map. putin's war conquest is failing, russia military lost half its territory it once occupied. young, talented russians are fleeing by tens of thousands, not wanting to come back to russia, not just from the military, fleeing from russia itself. they see no future in their country. russia's economy is now a back water, isolated and struggling. putin thought ukraine was weak and the west was divided. mr. president, i said, he's counting on us not sticking together, counting on inability to keep nato united and counting

on us not to bring in others on the side of ukraine. he thought he could outlast us, i don't think he's thinking that right now. god knows what he's thinking, not that. he's been plain wrong, plain wrong. and one year later, the evidence is right here in this room, we stand here together. mr. president, i am delighted to be able to repay your visit to our country in washington not long ago, you told us, you told the congress, "we have no fear, nor should anyone in the world have it," you and all ukrainians, mr. president, remind the world every single day the meaning of the word

courage is. all sectors of the economy, all walks of life, it is astounding. astounding. remind us that freedom is priceless. it is worth fighting for for as long as it takes and that is how long we'll be with you, mr. president, for as long as it takes. thank you. [ applause ] >> griff: and you are looking at live at president biden. sorry i that's tapes just moments ago but we are playing it back now for the first time. happened a little bit earlier. president biden making a historic, surprise visited to the capitol of ukraine in kyiv, delivering marks saying he will be with ukraine as long as it takes, unwavering support and adding that putin's war is failing now. you are seeing the tape ployback

of president biden walking on the streets of kyiv with president zelenskyy. i want to wring in fox's dan bongino. he was obviously a secret service secret. has quite a bit of experience in this. dan, if why have got you on the phone. you had some experience with this back under president obama when president obama visited afghanistan in 2010. a war zn much like this. talk about what went into the security footprint of this. >> yeah. i remember it vividly. i'm just sitting here on my couch in the morning getting ready to go in for surgery. i texted you i said you know, griff, i did one of these. and exceedingly difficult to pull off. the secrecy component. when the president travels we had motorcade assets. tackle assets. secret service. staff assets, it's a large footprint. not the kind of thing can you sneak in on a few coach seats on

an airline. that's not the way it works. so what we did back then in afghanistan is we just pretended we were there for someone else. an upper level dod official. if i remember correct there there were only three or four people who really knew what was going on. and david petraeus was actually one of them. he was the head of isaf back then. secrecy is incredibly important. you have to pick people you know who don't have loose lips. they do more than sink ships in cases like this. and in other things kind of like the rules go out the wind co, griff with trips like to war zones. typically, having covered this stuff through the years, the president only travels in the president's cars, the motor indicated, the limo, the camp david package. we almost never put the president in another car unless it's like some gimmicky thing like the jay leno thing he did at the training center when he got his corvette. when you go to a waziristan like

this. all the things go out the window. grab whatever can you get. humvees, mirnltd vehicles. obviously, too. you don't want to put the presidential seal on the presidential limo on cars. i don't know what they have. i am seeing the breaking news as you are. i'm literally sitting here couple hours from going to the hospital. i have to call in and talk to the guys. grab whatever can you get. we typically only use our counters assault team in conjunction for tackle assets. this local swat teams on the ground. but, when you are -- i mean an active live war zone like you have in ukraine, ariel come barredment. drone picture you can't predict. you grab whatever tactical assets you can get. u.n. getting out is the issue. getting in by surprise, griff,

is difficult. but, obviously possible. it happens. we have done it multiple times. real danger is getting out. i specifically remember being on runway with air force one. and they knew we were there. we were on the ground for well over an hour. we ran the significant possibility of getting hit by indirect fire with air force 1. so, you know, wish him the best but getting out is the tough part. >> ashley: dan, obviously, this is ashley, we have no idea when or if he is out of there already. but, like you said, getting in is the easy part. getting out might be a little tougher. if you listen to what biden said when he was speaking just a couple of minutes ago in that tape we were rolling. you know, during this visit. biden pledged an extra $500 million in aid to ukraine. what do you think that message is going to be perceived at from someone like the kremlin or putin. well, i mean, listen, obviously

on the domestic side there is a significant grand canyon like catch between people who think further involvement is a mis mistake. it is a kick behind the legs of putin. there is no pretty way to say that. you have a sitting president of the united states who is basically landing an area you are claiming as your own. putin thinks this is his. that's why he is doing this, right? he is basically landing there with an enormous middle finger to putin. the question is you know, what is putin do next? i mean, you know how -- is he a reasonable actor, right? i mean, that's the question right now. we have been asking that question with kim jong un for a long time. you know, the mad man theory of politics. is this a sane, rational person, putin anymore or is he not? and, if he is not. you know, i fear what these type of things could bring next and i

think a lot of people do. >> griff: that's a great point, dan, you know, having been the reporter there in kyiv, i follow still to this day the british defense updates on their intelligence, every morning it releases about 5:00 a.m. and looking at it today, it just coincidentally says that russian forces are likely under increasing political pressure as this anniversary of the invasion draws near and now you have president biden showing up in kyiv, standing next to president zelenskyy saying, quote: putin's war is failing. what kind of impact do you think that will have as russia is now on their third war commander? >> well, you got to remember, griff, you know, you were there. putin essentially fighting two wars. is he fighting, you know, it's a buzz term, kinetic war, the actual war on the ground but fighting a p.r. war at home. i mean, this isn't the united states where we do our change at

the election, griff. this is the kind of place, you know, russia and the soviet union prior to that has a history of telling you it's time to go if you know what i mean. and having the president of the united states land there, again with his big like metal finger to russia hey, this is how poorly you guys are doing. putin has got to do something to save face. that's where i get concerned because i don't think is he a rational actor. griff griff no he is not at all. >> ashley: that's what people are thinking now that we have this out in a open. biden landed a lot of people are wondering what the response, if anything, is going to be from russia. >> griff: dan, good luck on surgery today my friend. our thoughts and prayers with you. thank you for calling in such great and important perspective on the significance of the security. joust how hard this was to pull off regardless of your views on where you stand in the war in ukraine. thank you very much. >> absolutely, great to talk to

you guys. griff griff still playing out tape from this visit earlier. president biden with zelenskyy going around parts of the city and, of course, standing next to zelenskyy making those statements. it was quite a morning. ashley, it was great to be with you. >> ashley: so great jug especially on day like this when you have been to ukraine. obviously our coverage with "fox & friends" is going to continue right now. have a good monday. ♪ >> brian: all right. here we go almost to a year to the day when it began, guess what? we begin with this. president biden making a surprise visit to kyiv this morning. meeting with ukrainian president volodymyr zelenskyy right now. >> lisa: biden and zelenskyy both giving remarks a year of the deadly invasion. >> steve: i know it's 1:00 there in kyiv and poland as well. this was a big surprise, right? >> a huge surprise. president biden wasn't