franklin delano roosevelt. which is so good for this moment. the american people 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 on the front lines 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 ]

>> president zelenskyy in front of the u.s. congress and the exchange of the ukrainian with the american flag there. he said ukraine, america, and the free world united. but ukraine will win -- >> 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. >> thanks the american people for their support, the people who hosted ukrainians here in this country, who have flown ukrainian flags in their homes and neighborhoods. he thanked the president, he thanked both parties, republicans and democrats, both

chambers, the senate, the house. unmistakable that he believes that america's support for ukraine will determine whether or not there is victory here, and he made it clear there will be victory, because othe pane he said russia can end this war, but he said you can speed up our victory. to both members of the senate and the house. >> i can hold. >> turn around. >> yes. >> there we go. >> proudly holding the american flag, the exchange of flags taking place. president zelenskyy saying ukraine will hold its lines, it will never surrensurrender, tha was a great honor to speak to the congress. >> this flag was flown over the capitol today in honor of the

president's visit. >> thank you. i will take it. >> house speaker nancy pelosi obviously explaining to him that that is the flag that flew over the capitol today to mark this historic visit and the wartime leader, as we have been reporting here, the first time since winston churchill addressed the u.s. congress. he said, we have defeated russia in the battle of minds of the world. and it gives us courage to keep going. he thanked america for the partnership from the very beginning. he talked about being outnumbered on the battlefield in every military aspect, troops, weaponry, but he said, ukraine's defense is holding. there were multiple standing ovations in that room for president zelenskyy, as he made the case for continued partnership.

rachel scott witnessing this, as well. rachel, describe the scene there up on the hill. >> truly a remarkable sense of bipartisanship and one that we do not see very often here in the congress, as members are so divided, as this congress is so divisive, but there you see it, republicans, democrats standing shoulder to shoulder, giving president zelenskyy a standing ovation. you hear house speaker nancy pelosi closing out this joint meeting of congress. you could really hear a sense of urgency in zelenskyy's voice, saying that what congress de decides right now will determine the outcome for future generations in ukraine. he said the support from the united states is crucial and, of course, this comes at a very critical time, as congress is considering an additional $45 billion in aid to ukraine, as republicans are expected to take control of the house in just a matter of weeks. and you heard zelenskyy there, with a very strong warning of what would happen if support from the united states stopped.

he said that it will be a matter of time before they strike your allies, as well. that this is not charity, that it's an investment in global democracy. and he ended with that powerful moment, a really big sense of unity there, you had the two flags, one that flew over the capitol here today, and then you had zelenskyy handing that flag to house speaker nancy pelosi and the vice president. david? >> rachel, president zelenskyy telling lawmakers from both parties that your money is not charity, your money is an investment in democracy in our fight to preserve our own fragile democracy in ukraine. terry moran, we were talking earlier on the air about this particular leader and his ability to connect with people, not only in his own country, but around the world as he fights russia. on a very human level, talking about christmas approaching. he said if ukraine yan families have to go to bomb shelters on christmas eve, so be it. but they would gather for christmas and the future of

ukraine. >> he's an electric performer. he had no preparation for public life, aside from being an actor in a sitcom playing the president. and he met the moment that he was given. that this war by russia in ukraine. and he and his people have inspired the world with their defiance of russian brutality. what he did tonight was attempt to connect their struggle for freedom and for their nation with the american story, as well. again and again, he referenced american history and tried to summon up that sense in american politics that freedom fighters around the world deserve american support. >> terry moran at the white house. terry, thank you, as always. and as we bid you a good night, president zelenskyy wishing the american people a merry christmas and a happy victorious new year, he said. insinuating, obviously, that ukraine will have victory ahead in this year to come. our coverage continues on abc news live, abcnews.com. for our viewers in the west,

i'll be back here with the i'll be back here with the >> monday morning 6.4 earthquake in ferndale and aftermath is a lot for these small towns to deal with. thank you for joining us. i'm dan ashley. ama: i'm ama daetz. we want to get to latest from that earthquake. positive news this hour as you can see, pg&e has restored power to just about everyone in the area. at one point yesterday, more than 71,000 customers didn't have electricity. there is still a lot of cleanup and rebuilding ahead, though. here is abc7 news reporter liz kruetz. >> in humboldt county cleanup and recovery are still under way from that 6.4 earthquake that rattled people awake early tuesday morning. right now, the big issues here are water and electricity. and you can see pg&e crews behind us here working to get power restored. >> and right now we have about

14,000 customers, still without power in our humboldt division. that's down from 70,000 at the height of the earthquake. so we've made a lot of progress. and we're going to make more progress today. reporter: and pg&e says they expect power to be restored to all customers in the county by 3:00 p.m. today. they have more than 200 crew members here from all over northern california working to repair the power lines. the most outages have been in fortuna, eureka, ferndale and rio dell. the city of rio dell is also going on day two now with no water. a water distribution site has been set up at the fire department. and we spoke to tyler hutton who lives in town with his family including a toddler. he says they have no running water right now and no heat. >> through the night. >> it was cold. but we did it. so -- >> you bundled up together? >> bundled up together and we're thankful for the water here and everyone that's pulling together. reporter: this is what it looks

like right now here at the fire department. you can see these long line of cars here waiting to get water, a big delivery came in this morning. all of these cases here being given tout people here in the community. the big question right now, whee water turned back on? that is the big unknown. some say it still could be days. here in rio dell, liz kruetz, abc7 news. dan: let's hope by christmas at the very latest. some people may have felt shaking near san leandro about 8:30 this morning. the earthquake was reported as a magnitude 3.1 but has been downgraded to 2.9. the epicenter was close to interstate 580 on the board border between san leandro and oakland. one of the reasons we're letting you know about this quake is because we're getting questions about why you didn't receive a shake alert before it happened. even though you received one for the 6.4 earthquake in humboldt county. well, here's the reason. the my shake app only sends alerts out for earthquakes that are magnitude 4.2 or greater. this one today didn't qualify. now, this is a good time to

remind you that we all have a lot of resources to help you prepare for an earthquake including what to pack in your earthquake kit. go to to your web site. abc7news.com/preparenorcal. ama: the campus library at san jose state university had to close for the day because a woman with what looked like a gun wouldn't come out of a bathroom. abc7 news streaming anchor covered this developing news today on our live stream. and here now with how it all ended. >> the barricade situation lasted for about three hours at the dr. martin luther king jr. library on san jose university campus. the library which is open to the public had to be evacuated while police tried to negotiate with the woman barricaded inside a bathroom. police arrived on campus shortly after 10:00 a.m. they received a call saying a woman maybe armed with a gun and she was inside the women's restroom at the library. university police safely evacuated everyone who was inside the library.

and because the university is on winter break, there were fewer people than usual there. police tried to get the woman to come out of the bathroom but that didn't work. at that point the san jose police department was also on hand to help with the situation. bringing in a robot for assistance. >> the robot went in in order to determine if there was somebody in there and they confirmed that. during the attempt to contact the suspect, she went ahead and tried to access a hatch within the bathroom. and went into the ceiling and in an attempt to either evade or hide from us. ama: police learned that the wop's gun was a replica. she surrendered to officers three hours later at around 1:15 this afternoon. police say they are thankful for an alert custodian who made the initial call. as of now, police have not filed charges against the woman. and they are looking into her

mental well-being. abc7 news. dan: thanks very much. abc7 news is committed to uplifting issues of race and social justice as securing housing for all is a big part of that. certainly. alameda county is now the first county in the nation to give people who have been formally incarcerated and paid their debt to society a fair chance at housing through a newly passed ordinance. and abc7 news anchor race and social justice reporter julian glover is here with us with that story. reporter: good evening. alameda county following oakland and berkeley and becomes the first county in the country as you mentioned to prohibit landlords from performing criminal background checks on potential tenants. this is seen as a big win to help formerly incarcerated people get back on their feet. proponents also believe the landmark move could help break the cycle of homelessness. >> so now that the ordinance has been passed, now that fear factor has been removed.

reporter: it's a fear that he knows all too well. formerly incarcerated and was released from prison in 2016 after serving 30 years and had a tough time securing housing. even though he had paid his debt to society. >> i committed a crime. i went to prison. done my time. why punish our families? why put a mother in a position to tell her child that you can't come live with me? and that i have to force you to be homeless? reporter: taqua found a landlord willing to rent to him but his story is one of many. that will soon change in alameda county thanks to the fair chance housing ordinance passed last night by a 4-5 vote by supervisors. the law named after the late alameda county supervisor loma chin banned landlords from performing criminal background checks on prospective tenants. a move that advocates believe will cut down on homelessness. >> we know from studies and records that about 73%.

unhoused residents in oakland's housing encampments have criminal records and we can see it has been a barrier for them to access housing. and we know that a person who has a criminal record is 10 times more likely to face homelessness. reporter: the new ordinance follows similar laws passed in oakland and berkeley in 2020 and now includes uncorporated areas of alameda county. while a coalition of groups in the bay area work to pass the measure at least one attorney that specializes in landlord-tenant disputes and owns a property management company disagrees with the decision. >> i'm not in favor of the law. i absolutely respect it. and i understand the public policy behind it. however, what i'm most concerned about is ensuring a safe community of apartment or housing providers. reporter: california system of mass incarceration disproportionately impacts people of color and black people are more likely to be unhoused in the bay area despite a dwindling population. taqua hopes this ordinance changes that for good. >> so we have to take this ordinance and get this ordinance

passed throughout california. and every city in california and throughout the rest of the world. reporter: this ordinance will take effect when alameda county's moratorium on evictions put in place at the start of the pandemic ends in april of 2023. this follows the fair chance act of 2018 that made it illegal for employers statewide to run those criminal background checks when hiring employees. all of this making it easier for the formerly incarcerated to re-enter society. we're going to put my contact information up on the screen. there it is. if you have a story, i would love to hear from you. you can reach out to me on twitter, facebook, or instagram. ama? ama: all right. thank you so much, julian. a call to action following a spike in crime and attacks on the aapi community. after community leaders in. doc: asked police and city leaders to do more. a new community liaison officer was added to the little saigon neighborhood. now three months later, what's the impact? abc7 news reporter met with the officers and community members to see how things are going.

>> part of officer anwin's day includes meeting with businesses like this restaurant in oakland's little saigon. the owners say they're happy to see him on the regular. >> i'm happy and feeling good. you know? and -- different right now. reporter: following this year's rise in crime, and attacks on the aapi community, community leaders demanded more be done. in august, a resource center was opened. born in vietnam, raised in san jose, win was named community liaison officer for little saigon. >> every time that i do go to work and talk to the community members, they said that they feel safer. and i've even seen little kids out there hanging around. so -- >> making a difference. >> yes. reporter: community leaders say underreporting of crime is one of the biggest challenges they face. >> hello. officer mafu is the liaison officer for oakland's chinatown. she says more education is helping. >> and they've had like some

mistrust before. and so therefore they would not make reports and so we've highly encourage everyone to make a report and we tell them the benefits so they can report which is to get more resources to the area. reporter: and it seems to be working. o.p.d. says robberies are down 60% since officer win has been on scene. and no reports of robberies in china town in all of november. the drop in crime may be welcome news but there are those who are critical of overpolicing. especially in communities of color. dr. jennifer tran is president of the oakland vietnamese chamber of commerce. she fully supports the liaison officer's work but adds they need additional resources to address systemic issues like human trafficking and homelessness and violence prevention. >> we do feel supported by the community liaison officers and -- but that's not the only support that we're going to need to reduce violence in our communities. reporter: in oakland, abc7 news. ama: we've been following this story about a single mom who's

been homeless with her daughter for almost a year. she recently learned she's getting a new home. and she's getting another surprise today. that story

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>> winter has arrived and our pattern is going to change as early as tomorrow. check kouat live doppler seven. yo check out live doppler seven. energy going into the pacific northwest but we will get the tail end of it and that means the possibility of showers. right now, 40's and 50's. the chilliest spots out toward concord and fairfield where the fog has been lingering. beautiful views from our tower camera. and we also have higher clouds up above. and here's a look at san francisco from sutra tower. a chance of light showers tomorrow afternoon and evening. warmer days for the holiday weekend and a wet pattern sets up early next week. coastal flood advisory has been issued from 6:00 a.m. tomorrow until 2:00 p.m. sunday due to those king tides. next in our days, watch out. low lying areas will have -- see some flooding as the high tide is going to be near seven feet

at 9:38 tomorrow morning. and on friday at 10:24. so just definitely be careful if you're going to be out walking around the low lying areas. tomorrow afternoon and evening, a light level one on our exclusive abc7 news storm impact scale. scattered showers, slick for the evening commute under .15 inches is expected. your morning begins with deposition and cloudy skies. we head into tomorrow at 5:00, some showers develop in the north bay. that's going to be the best possibility. but some scattered showers will continue to move through other parts of the bay area going into the evening. your temperatures first thing in the morning in the 30's and the 40's with the cloud cover and fog down below, especially in the valleys. out toward the delta, as we look at the afternoon highs, they will be in the mid 50's to low sibs 'tis. you'll need those umbrellas first in the north bay. a possibility elsewhere. so keep that in mind. and carry the umbrella for tomorrow. the accuweather seven day forecast a chance of some showers. amp and evening -- afternoon and cleaning, dry and milder as we

hit the weekend and warmth low to mid 60's showing up on sunday. level one system monday night. going into tuesday and possibly lingering into wednesday. so we have much needed rain coming as we head toward next week. week. dan and ama will it's hard to explain what depression feels like. but i can tell you what it feels like when someone offers help. every plan through covered california is comprehensive, with mental health coverage, and financial help for people who need it. enroll by december 31st.

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dan: before we go an update on building a better bay area story that we've been following for the past three weeks. our reporter first introduced you to a single mother who has been living in an r.v. with her teenage daughter for almost a year. richmond's mayor found them housing and paid for one year of rent. and today, another act of generosity from a nonprofit for the family and their new home. reporter: about five days ago we followed up with briani peters a single mom homeless for almost a year. and got one year of free rent from the mayor of richmond. she gave us a tour of her new home and today she's getting another surprise. and this is where the surprise is coming from. the nonprofit make it home bay area is going to furnish bria u.n. i's entire place for -- briani's entire place for free. and how did we get here? after the story breeni began

fundraising to buy furniture her her new place and donated $2,000 and one of you contacted me to tell you about make it home bay area. a furniture bank that donates furniture to formerly homeless families and foster children. we told them about briani and they wanted to help. >> we wanted to give her some warmth and some -- a little bit of color. some personality. so we put together a really cutt that we're going to give her with a couple of dressers. and then this is the lounge chair that -- a beautiful, beautiful piece with gorgeous upholstery. we hope she likes it with another little side table. reporter: in october of 2020, carolyn left her interior design job to open this nonprofit. since then, they've helped furnish over 1,000 homes. and they've gotten -- she gets ladders like this often. >> thank you notes that i've gotten. >> we are tickled pink, carolyn. i wanted to say thank you for

helping my patient kelly furnish her very first home. kelly begins empowered to begin her life at home with her son. i truly believe this is the runway she needed to truly soar. reporter: this is her last push before christmas. briani is one of at least six families getting furniture before the holiday. and the packing continues. briani has no idea what's coming. they're even getting beds and mattresses. the last time they actually had a bed like this was almost a year ago. as they wait for the movers briani's' daughter eagle tore see what their new home looks like. in richmond. abc7 news. dan: what a special christmas they will have this year. ama: absolutely. all right. world news tonight with david muir is next. i'm ama daetz. dan: and i'm dan ashley. for sandhya patel and all of us here we appreciate your time. we will see you again in half an hour for abc7 news at 6:00. ama: see you then.

tonight, breaking news as we come on the air in the west. ukraine's president zelenskyy here in the u.s. tonight, addressing congress and the american people just a short time ago. also tonight, we're tracking this massive holiday storm just as millions travel now. dangerous driving and the winds. bracing for real trouble at major airports. first tonight, president zelenskyy in the nation's capital. what he said to congress and to the american people, thanking americans for their support. the first wartime leader to visit the u.s. and address congress since winston churc churchill. rachel scott on the hill tonight. the other news this wednesday night, this major christmas storm sweeping across the country. tonight, 40 states now from washington down to texas, up to the northeast, under alerts for snow, heavy rain, ice. brutal cold and dangerous winds.