♪ judy: good evening. i'm judy woodruff. on the "newshour" tonight, the war intensifies. russian armed forces bombard ukrainian cities with heavy shelling, as ukraine's president warns russia is trying to erase his country's history. then, taking to the streets. an increasing number of russians protest their country's invasion of ukraine, despite the repercussions they could face from their own government. >> i don't want this war. almost no one here wants it. i want the whole world to see that we don't want it. we don't want it to weigh on our conscience for decades. judy: and, the state of the union. on the heels of his address to congress, president biden takes his message on the road, in hopes of bolstering support ahead of this year's midterm

elections. all that and more on tonight's "pbs newshour." ♪ >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provid by -- ♪ >> moving our economy for 160 years. bnsf, the engine that connects us. ♪

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contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. judy: the united nations overwhelmingly voted to denounce the russian invasion of ukraine today, as the now weeklong war grinds on in the north, the east, and the south of ukraine. meantime, the u.n. also reported that as of now, more than 800,000 ukrainians have fled for surrounding nations. after refusing comment for days, the russians today said nearly 500 of their troops have been killed, and 1500 wounded. those numbers are believed to be actually much higher. meantime, prosecutors at the international criminal court have formally opened a investigation into possible war crimes committed in ukraine. and after vladimir putin raised russi's nuclear alert level sunday, the u.s. said today it would cancel the test of a nuclear-capable ballistic missile, in the interest of not raising tensions further.

nick schifrin is in the city of lviv, in western ukraine, and begins our coverage. nick: today in ukraine's second largest city, the brutal bombardments of russia's unrestricted warfare. a russian rocket gutted kharkiv's police and intelligence headquarters. also damaged, karazin university, one of the first universities in the russian empire, destroying part of russian heritage moscow is claiming to protect. nearby, a cruise missile hit kharkiv's city hall. a volunteer filmed just before impact. and despite promises to only target the military, russian strikes demolished residential buildings. residents salvaged what they could carry. after the bombing, another resident filmed the damage inside his apartment. >> my city destroyed too much. people suffered. all the time, we sit in the basement, hiding. nick: 37-year-old darya grygoryeva is from kharkiv.

yesterday morning, she and her family braved a gauntlet of attacks, and fled the city. >> i cannot feel myself safe now, because my heart still feels like, jumped out the chest. nick: but despite her and her husband's trauma, they are trying to protect, and shield, their children. nick: how are your children doing? >> they said that it is very scary. kids that could hear the sounds for a long time, they start crying. we ted to keep them safe all the time we didn't allow them to come close to windows. nick: when your children ask you what was going on, what did you tell them? >> i just said that it is not safe to stay in our city anymore. i didn't say that it is a war. i'm not ready to say it. i don't want them to know it. i want them to be safe, and i want them to stay human, you know?

i want them to believe wars exist only in games, but it's not. nick: in kyiv, there are suburbs that are burning. the targets include homes and playgrounds. and in the city center, women and children shelter inside subway stations. maternity hospitals have moved their operations underground. others tried to flee the city, over a bridge the ukrainian military destroyed to halt oncoming russian tanks. according to a british assessment, russia now controls territory, in red, in the north, northeast, and southeast, and is advancing toward kyiv in the north, mariupol in the southeast, and mykoliv in the south. russian soldiers also surround 5 cities, and are expected to further advance in three separate areas. but the u.s. and ukraine say russia is struggling with basic logistics. soldiers, who don't have enough food, ransacked a convenience store for anything to eat. u.s. officials say the giant

convoy near kyiv is also struggling to get enough fuel. but ukrainian president volodymyr zelensky warned, there are miles to go before they sleep. >> the time will come when we will be able to sleep. but it will be after the war. after the victory. today you, ukrainians, are a symbol of invincibility. a symbol that people in any country can become the best people on earth at any moment. nick: this is literally a bomb shelter. >> yeah. nick: and so you you thought this would be the safest place to be. >> yes. nick: 28-year-old oleg boynoifsky is not hiding beneath this soviet-era factory. he's doing what he can to help fight the war, volunteering to receive donations from ukrainans and other europeans, and ship it to families near the front. why does everyone want to help? why is it important for you,t seems for every ukrainian, to pitch in? >> because it's our land. we are fine here. it's already 30 years from the

end of soviet union, and now we are raising as a nation, as a country. nick: are you afraid? >> no, i'm mad. i am mad, angry, and i want to finish it, but i want to save as many lives as we can. nick: to save lives, they take medicine, bags of clothes, and replacement prized possessions for traumatized children. they makes the long journey east, by car, or if the roads are blocked by russian soldiers, by train. rostyslav radysh engineered this effort with his phone. he launched this telegram chat last week. today, it has more than 22,000 members. digital resistance, where previous ukrainian efforts failed. in 1932, the soviet union forced a famine on ukraine that killed millions. >> it's not a new war for us, because in previous age, russians also wanted to kill everybody in ukraine.

but in previous age, we didn't have a big and good communication between ukrainians, and it it was harder than it is at this moment, now, when we can send messages. and now, when we can be united. >> we will win this war. i know it for sure. because we are on our land, and everyone is fighting for our country, not only soldiers. it's 48 million people that want to live on this land, and want to be free. nick: today president zelensky an attack that damaged a memorial to attend this -- tens of thousands of jews killed in a nazi massacre in world war ii,

and said russia wants to erase us all. in the face of existential threats, ukrainians are trying to maintain resilience. one woman said she wants to rebuild her city. she admitted she didn't know when or if that would be possible. judy: so moving, these stories. nick schifrin reporting live from ukraine. thank you, nick. meantime, russian citizens by the thousands are protesting the war in ukraine, at great personal risk to themselves, as the putin government cracks down on all kinds of dissent. special correspondent ryan chilcote reports from moscow. >> [chanting] ryan: from yekaterinburg -- >> [chanting] ryan: to st. petersburg -- >> [chanting] ryan: to the capital, moscow, thousands of russians across the country, sharing one chant, one voice, spilling into streets and city squares, outraged ever since president vladimir putin last week ordered a full-scale

invasion of neighboring ukraine. >> war must be stopped. it must be. it's crazy, what's going on right now. we should all shout, "no to war!" ryan: many protesters say they don't want to feel as if they have ukrainian blood on their hands. >> i don't want this war. almost no one here wants it. i want the whole world to see that we don't want it. we don't want it to weigh on our conscience for decades. i don't want to feel guilty for living here through my whole life. ryan: russians seekrainians as brothers and sisters. plenty have family and friends there. olga mikheeva doesn't want putin's assault to lead to both countries' destruction. >> it is a crime, both against ukraine and russia. i think it is killing both ukraine and russia. i am outraged. i haven't slept for three nights, and i think we must now declare very loudly that we don't want to be killed, and don't want ukraine to be killed. ryan: but as swiftly as russians

began to dec the conflict, so, too, came the armed police to strangle the dissent. one video on social media showed russian security forces in st. petersburg roughing up a woman holding a peace sign, and a baby. speaking out risks not only physical harm, but russian authorities warned, protestors could face criminal charges that could mark their records for life. an independent monitoring group reports that more than 6,000 demonstrators to this point have been arrested. the crackdown also extended online to facebook, as russia's state communications regulator announced some restrictions on accessing the platform. but facebook and other tech giants, like apple, google, and microsoft, are flexing their muscle on moscow, limiting the reach of kremlin-controlled media outlets. and some prominent russians have been publicly calling for restraint in the war their country started. oligarchs like billionaire oleg deripaska and steel baron alexei mordashov have cald for peace.

sanctions are beginning to threaten the russian economy. comedian and popular talk-show host ivan urgant posted a black square on instagram, captioned with, "fear and pain. no to war." his show was then taken off the air. the russian tv station said removing it had nothing to do with his post. and last week, tennis star andrey rublev, ranked 7th in the world, wrote 3 words on a camera lens after winning a tournament match, "no war please." just the week prior, he had won a doubles title with partner denys molchanov, a ukrainian. as the condemnations, protests, and crackdowns continue, the russians, and not to mention ukrainians, are not alone in their outrage. demonstrations erupted around the world after putin launched his assault. from the ancient city of jesalem -- to new york city, home of the largest ukrainian population in the u.s., to berlin, where more than

100,000 protesters made a show of force. as more and more countries rally around ukraine, will vladimir putin bow to t pressure? and inside russia, how long can the dissent last, and how far is the kremlin to go -- the kremlin willing to go to drown it out? for the pbs newshour, i'm ryan chilcote in moscow. judy: for more on the russian invasion of ukraine, plus the reaction and resistance to it, we turn to dmitri alperovitch, co-founder of the silverado policy accelerator, a washington-based think tank. welcome back to the newshour. give us your sense of the status of the fight right now in ukraine. we learned this afternoon the russians have apparently taken over their first city, in the south. >> i would say the results are really mixed. obviously the initial plan was believed to be ill-conceived

based on the notion the ukrainian armed forces would melt away and they could rollover into kyiv with minimal forces. that backfired but now they are regrouping, doing major assaults particularly supported with long-range artillery and missiles and airstrikes to suppress ukrainian forces. i have to say they are making a lot of advances on the ground. one thing most people don't realize is that they have made a 400 kilometer dash from crimea in the south in five days. to compare that to the iraq war towards baghdad, that was a 550-kilometer dash that took the u.s. forces two weeks. in the south the russians have a pace that twice exceeds what the u.s. forces did in 2003. judy: we haven't seen as much reporting from the part of the country. you and others were telling, were saying to us and others, just yesterday, the sense had

been that the russian troops were undersupplied, there was low morale. what was going on in the beginning? >> that is still the case. the logistics are a mess. that favors -- famous 40 mile column is stuck, using roads that are small and some cases two lane roads. if a vehicle breaks down or runs out of fuel, the whole column stops. that is challenging to do. the traffic management is complicated when you are moving massive forces around. the russians are encountering these problems. morale is bad in part because they are attacking a country with no pretext. the troops learned minutes before they were supposed to invade that they would invade ukraine without being told what to do. ukraine looks like russia, the babushka on the street looks like the soldier's grandmother so it is a tough fight. judy: but that has changed? it is changing? >> yes, in part because they

suffered significant casualties. when your buddy is dying next to you, you get hardened. what we see now unfortunately is absolute our barium -- barbarian is him on the part of troops. they have targeted civilians. we have seen fire on cities. i'm afraid that will only continue. judy: compare what they have to the weaponry on the part of the ukrainians. we know nato, the united states have been supplying some weapons to them, but just how outmatched are the ukrainians? >> the weapons supplies are really these antitank weapons, javelins and weapons the europeans are providing, missiles to take down helicopters, they will be helpful. the ukrainians are using them effectively. what they need is more drones, air defenses to shoot down the planes the russians are flying, the bomber strikes they are doing. unfortunately they don't have

that and can't get that at this point. judy: how much difference would that make? >> it will make some difference but if the russians want to take kyiv, they will do it. they may do with the way they took out the capital of chechnya, by decimating the city. they did that in aleppo as well, turning it into complete dust. unfortunately that made -- maybe the reality kyiv is facing. judy: can you hear the russians are prepared to resort to those tactics? >> that is their doctrine. everyone expects them to use absolute brutality to accomplish the objective. the problem for putin's that he is committed. he has suffered the consequences for the war in terms of harsh economic sanctions that have been put on russia. we have seen the dissent across russia to his rule and this war, so he has to finish this and try

to get something out of it without pulling back and not being able to save face. judy: how much difference do you think the protests we just saw in that report from ryan will make for him? is he likely, is that likely to have any bearing on his thinking? >> either -- i don't think it is likely because the security forces are squarely on his side. what i'm looking for is cracked in the military and security apparatus because they feel the pressure from these sanctions as well. many of them are corrupt. they have a lot of resources overseas so if they see their personal savings and their families savings go down the tubes because of what putin is doing, they may decide to say, it is time for the old man to go. that is when his regime is in trouble. judy: at this point, you don't see that? >> i think it is unlikely. the chance is no longer zero. a few weeks ago i would tell you there is no way this would

happen but we are starting to seek racks. even the people who supported putin for decades are coming out against the war. it is not popular in russia. judy: thank you very much. >> thank you. ♪ judy: as nations increase economic pressure on russia, president biden has warned that some of those moves could also end up hurting u.s. consumers, especially at the gas pump. gas prices are already high, further pinching consumers who are also dealing with high inflation. so, how big a hit might americans take in the weeks and months ahead? william brangham has the story. william: judy, nearly a week into russia's invasion of ukraine, global oil prices reached a peak $113 a barrel. that's the highest price since 2014. in the u.s., the national

average for a gallon of gas is now $3.65. and there are questions now about how high those prices could go, as sanctions for russia's invasion continue to ratchet up. for more on this, and what might be done to curtail the economic impacts, i'm joined by bob mcnally, president of rapid-an energy group. great to have you back on the newshour. broadly speaking, can you help us understand what is driving these prices up? is this principally a response to russia and ukraine? >> it is two things. before the russian attack on ukraine, oil prices had risen sharply from $60 to $90. that was because the global oil market is tight. demand has been quite strong. supply has been lagging, inventories are low so that brought us from $60 to $90. it is the invasion of ukraine,

specifically the severe sanctions announced over the weekend, that startled the market and put another $10 into the price of crude oil so we are now at $110 wti. williiam: the u.s. and this global coalition seem to have a double-edged sword. they want to inflict as much pain as possible on russia and vladimir putin, but they don't want the pain to boomerang back onto their own societies. can they manage the balance? what are the levers the west and this coalition have to protect their own citizens? >> they are certainly trying to do so. the first thing is to say, we are going to impose sanctions but not on russia's oil and gas exports. those exports are so big that if we do that, our own consumers will see higher prices. they try to take pains to say we aren't going to sanction russia's oil exports. the problem is there is uncertainty about that and traders don't want to test --

touch russian crude. the second then, they announced yesterday i withdrawal of strategic stocks from the system. that will help a little bit, not too much, in taking some of the edge off and dropping another 60 million barrels into the market. the only good option president biden has really is to call up saudi arabia and uae and ask them to accelerate their production. if he signs the iran nuclear deal, he will get another bunch of oil that way as well. iran's oil, those are his real options. williiam: we saw opec plus resist calls thus far for any further oil supply. the creation of more oil supply. is it your sense that if they pick up the phone to make those calls and exert that pressure, that it would be fruitful? >> i think so. i think if the president of the united states calls of the crown prince, and he has been reluctant to do so for understandable reasons, but if you were to do so and put it on the line, not only with saudi

arabia but uae, and say this is the time to choose, this is the time to help not only the united states but your brother consumers from china to western europe, there is a chance they would accelerate their increases in production. williiam: we have also seen major oil companies, bp notably, saying they are pulling their investments out of russia. will that contribute to the problem and will that also be an effective lever against the russians? >> no, that is a longer-term issue. exxon pulling out, bp, shell pulling out, they are pulling out of projects that are already operating. they will do so carefully so they don't disrupt production. this is something that will hurt russian production in years to come. but for now and for the forthcoming months, it is not really going to disrupt supplies. williiam: we are still early days in this and don't really know how this invasion will play

outdoor how much additional sanctions might be levied against the russians. what are you looking towards the future, what concerns you the most? >> i do have concerns and i wish i had better news. unfortunately i think crude oil prices, therefore gasoline prices, are going to keep rising until one of two things happens. either authorities will make it very clear that russia is not going to be located or its oil exports aren't going to be cut off for president putin doesn't do it himself, so they have to remove the risk of that supply. or we will have a recession. one of those two things apparently is going to happen. otherwise oil prices will continue rising. that is just the brutal math of the global oil market. williiam: i know you are not a political analyst per se, but we know americans react badly when gas prices go up. with midterms coming up, do you think the president might be put in a situation where his efforts against russiare starting to

hurt him domestically, politically? >> that is entirely possible. i worked for president bush so i'm familiar with the political pressures. he is already under pressure. oil prices, gas prices are up over 10% just since january. 67%, 70% since november. he is under a lot of pressure and i think that is why president biden even today, the white house announced they are taking pains to try to avoid restricting russia's oil exports so they minimize the hike in oil prices and the pain on consumers. he can't control the global oil market and it may be that the price of punishing putin is paying for himself into the midterms -- pain for himself and to the midterms. williiam: thanks for being here, bob. >> thank you. ♪

vanessa: i'm vanessa ruiz, in for stephanie sy with newshour west. we'll return to the full program after the latest headlines. updating our top story, the u.n. now estimates 1 million ukrainians have fled the country. president biden hit the road, seeking momentum after his state of the union address. he traveled to the wisconsin-minnesota border, and the site of an aging bridge, to tout his billion-dollar infrastructure program. it's part of his effort to rebuild his political support ahead of the mid-term elections. we'll get details after the news summary. the head of the federal reserve has confirmed, he expects to start raising interest rates this month. jerome powell said today, he supports a traditional quarter-point increase. he did not rule out bigger hikes if inflation keeps accelerating. at a congressional hearing, powell also acknowledged that the russian invasion of ukraine could make conditions more volatile. >> given the current situation,

we need to move carefully, and we will. and we will be nimble. we'll be looking at the situation as it evolves, and again, we will use our tools to add to financial stability, not to create uncertainty. vanessa: the fed is widely expected to raise interest rates at least 5 times this year. this month's increase would be the first since 2018. an oath keeper leader pleaded guilty today in the most serious criminal case to date stemming from last year's attack on the capitol. joshua james pleaded guilty to seditious conspiracy and obstruction of an official proceeding. james agreed to cooperate with prosecutors in other federal cases against other oath keepers. late tonight raised their strongest direct accusations against president trump, alleging in a court filing a lawyeror trump helped him in a corrupt scheme and conspiracy to

impede the transfer of power. the biden white house has rolled out a new covid preparedness plan. officials say the goal is to stop letting the virus dictate how americans live. the plan would provide free antiviral pills at pharmacies to peop who test positive. it also envisis vaccines that work against multiple strains of a virus. >> we've reached a new moment in the fight with covid-19. today, we are in a position to move forward safely, and to get back to our more normal routines. funding from congress will be critical for these efforts, so we will be working very closely with capital hill going forward. vanessa: meanwhile, the defense department lifted the indoor masking mandate at the pentagon, in keeping with new cdc guidance. police in new zealand today broke up a camp for protesters targeting pandemic restrictions. officers moved in on the site, set up 3 weeks ago outside parliament. some protesters fought back, throwing things and burning tents and mattresses.

the prime minister condemned their actions. >> we have a difficult journey in front of us, to address the underlying cause of what we have seen here today. but in doing so, we will never, ever excuse it. it was an attack on our frontline police, it was an attack on our parliament, it was an attack on our values, and it was wrong. vanessa: police also towed cars, and arrested at least 65 people. it came as new zealand is facing its biggest outbreak yet, with the spread of omicron. happening in neighboring australia, thousands of people were ordered to evacuate near sydney, and the death toll reached 14 from record flooding. a powerful storm cell dumped as much as 8 inches of rain after rolling south from brisbane. rivers along sydney's western edge reached historic levels, and officials warned the flooding could be the worst in more than 60 years. back in this country, texas

republican congressman v taylor dropped out of his re-election race after admitting to an extramarital affair. he'd been forced into a runoff in tuesday's primary. in other results, republican governor greg abbott and democratic challenger beto o'rourke will face off in november. the trump-endorsed republican attorney general, ken paxton, will meet george p. bush in a may runoff. and democratic congressman henry cuellar also faces a may runoff with jessica cisneros, his progressive opponent. also in texas, a judge has temporarily blocked the state from investigating the parents of a transgender teenager who underwent gender confirming treatment. such treatments on youth could amount to child abuse under a recent directive by governor greg abbott. the judge set a hearing to weigh issuing a broader order blocking the directive. still to come on the newshour, republican senator rob portman offers his take on ukraine and

the president's state of the union address. also, we hear from two ukrainian parents facing a dangerous future for their families. plus much more. >> this is the pbs newshour from w eta studios in washington and in the west, from the walter cronkite school of journalism at arizona state university. judy: more than 30 million americans watched as president biden delivered his first state of the union address last night. and today, he hit the campaign trail to promote his domestic agenda in a key midwest state. geoff bennett has our report. geoff: president joe biden, back in the battleground state of wisconsin today -- >> hello, wisconsin. geoff: to tout the roads and bridges being built as part of his bipartisan infrastructure law. >> after years of talking about infrastructure, we're finally getting it done. geoff: wisconsin helped secure

biden's 2020 victory, and his stop in the battleground state builds on a key theme of his state of the union address, arguing his economic agenda, with a focus on infrastructure investments and american manufacturing, creates jobs and makes the u.s. more competitive. the presiden also touting individual policies to reduce prescription drug costs, and provide affordable child care, elder care, and universal pre-k, without mentioning the words "build back better," the name of his stalled legislative package. >> i call it building a better america. my plan to fight inflation will lower your costs and lower the deficit. 17 nobel laureates in economics say my plan will ease long-term inflationary pressures. geoff: with national polls showing his job approval ratings plummeting, the president is attempting to reset his priorities while giving his party a roadmap for the midterm elections in november.

got -- that means easing americans' concerns over the pandemic and surging inflation, all while confronting russia's invasion of ukraine. in his tuesday night address, president biden condemd russia for what he called and -- an unprovoked and unjustified invasion. >> russia's vladimir putin sought to shake the foundations of the free world, thinking he could make it bend to his menacing ways. but he badly miscalculated. geoff: this morning, speaking to reporters, the president said it's clear russia is targeting ukrainian vilians, but stopped short ofaying whether the country has committed war crimes. >> do you believe russia is committing war crimes in ukraine? >> we are following it very closely. it's early to say that. geoff: with the ukraine crisis looming over his domestic agenda, democrats pushing another of the president's key priorities, with the supreme court confirmation process officially kicking off today. the president's nominee, judge kentanji brown jackson,

beginning the customary series of meet and greets with key senators. sitdowns today with senate majority leader chuck schumer, senate republican leader mitch mcconnell, and the democratic and republican leaders of the senate judiciary committee. >> i want this to be fair, time, and professional. geoff: the committee, announcing today that hearings on jackson's nomination will start on march 21st. two days have been put aside for questioning jackson, then another day for additional witnesses to testify. senator schumer says he wants the confirmation process finished by april 8th. if confirmed, jackson would be the first black woman to serve on the nation's high court. all of it, coming at a pivotal moment for president biden, at home and abroad. for the pbs newshour, i'm geoff bennett.

judy: for reaction to president biden's state of the union address, and especially what the administration is doing with regard to ukraine, we turn to a republican on the foreign relations committee, the co-chair of the senate's ukraine caucus, senator rob portman of ohio. i spoke with him moments ago. senator, thank you very much for joining us. what is your reaction to what president biden had to say last night about ukraine and your reaction to the overall response of this administration to the crisis? >> i thought they ukrainian comments we the strongest part or the speech. so did others. he gotta standing ovation. it is important we are unified with other countries around the globe because it is the only chance we have to be able to be successful here. and to stand with ukraine is the right place to stand for everyone. including countries that have yet to step forward like china. you are with tyranny or you are

for the people of ukraine. i was encouraged to see that part of the speech be so well received. i advocated for more sanctions earlier on, so-called pre-invasion sanctions. we weren't successful getting that done but the sanctions came and they came extensively, and tough sanctions once the invasion happened. i hoped we could do that before the invasion because i thought it might have the effect of changing vladimir putin's mind. i don't know that, but now we are where we are so we need to continue to tighten the noose on the putin economy and we should cut off the oil from russia. that makes no sense to me. we will have to make some adjustments in terms of our refinery capacity but it is only 4% of our oil. we shouldn't be sending millions of dollars every day to putin's regime to finance the war. judy: i want to ask about several of those things bu i want to ask about the, that the u.s. needs to be speeding more lethal assistance to ukraine.

today e secretary of state antony blinken said the administration, i am quoting, he said it is very actively working every day, every hour to provide assistance, make sure it gets to where it needs to go. i think you have a good idea of what the administration is sending but you are sayg that is not enough? ask first of all, i appreciate that the american people are funding so much support for the ukrainian people, allowing them to protect themselves. ukrainians haven't asked us to be on the ground over the years but they said they need more help and i am a strong advocate for that. we are finally doing it in larger numbers and that is great. there are two areas were we could helpore. one is with regard to aircraft which they desperately need. the europeans talked about providing mig fighters, and our bombers for that matter, yet today, there was news perhaps some of that was being pulled

back. it is in the u.s. interest to be involved in compensate european countries who want to provide the kind of fighters ukrainian pilots can fly and use. that is one i -- area. the second is in regard to drones. our drones are probably not appropriate because it requires months or years of training but other drones are on the market where the united states could help with regard to purchasing those or compensating countries like turkey to provide that capability. we have seen this horrible image of miles and miles of russian tanks and armored vehicles going towards keep -- towards kyiv. part of that is the air set power -- the airpower superiority of the russians. we could do more creative things, maybe something in addition to the small arms we are sending, which is needed, to javelin missiles to knock down tanks and airplanes. i think there is more we can do. judy: you don't have concern

that in sending some of these supplies, assuming they can get there quickly enough, could be intercepted by the russians at this point? x that is a was possible but the russians, their present isn't in western ukraine at this point. we still have the ability to send things through poland and romania and hungary. we have the opportunity to do it now and we should take advantage of that. judy: you mentioned the oil a moment ago. you said the u.s. should stop buying oil. you advocated for more energy independence in this country. there is as you know pushback from those who say yes, we need to do all we c but we also need to think in the future about climate change and this country, rather than going all in again on whale, needs -- on oil, needs to think long range. >> there are two answers to that. one is that the russian oil is a lot dirtier than our oil including how they produce it. if you look at the methane map

of the world, you see the flares all over russia as far as natural gas and oil production. it is not a good bargain from an environmental point of view bringing oil from russia to the united states, all of the energy costs associated with that. number two, substituting it with north american supplies would make sense. number two, we have the opportunity to do more in our country and we should, because it is important we do what we can to keep gas prices down. judy: i have time for one more question. i want to come back to president biden's state of the union. several calls he made for cooperation, working with republicans and one of those areas is beefing up american manufacturing, including in your home state of ohio. you mentioned intel, gm. do you see these as venres that are good for the economy as a country and for ohio? >> i do. i think the competes act, which

is something the past the senate, in different version past the house, is important. he talked last night about providing help for the semiconductor industry. i'm all for that. partly because ohio will benefit because of intel but more because our country needs to compete and win in this area. we only make 12% of the worlds semiconductors now. we have seen this with regard to our supply chain problems. whether it is electronics or washing machines or other things, they all use these chips so it is important we can rely more on u.s. sources. i think this is an opportunity to do this on a bipartisan basis. judy: senator rob portman ohio, thank you very much. ♪ judy: and we'll be back shortly to get the perspectives of ukrainian parents trying to protect their families in the midst of war. but first, take a moment to hear from your local pbs station.

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♪ judy: the number of ukrainians who have fled the country because of russia's invasion could exceed one million within days. many more are still in ukraine, unsure of what the next day will bring. two ukrainian parents, in different parts of the country, shared their experience with us as they desperately try to keep themselves and their families safe. >> i'm inna kozub. i'm living in kharkiv. people are very frightened who is in apartment, because they hear constant bombing. and i understand how lucky we are, because we in the subway station and don't hear it. every day, it is twice or three times a day, we get food, milk, water, and even sweets.

and today, today it was the best day. all small children get cakes. when i see news, when i see videos, i'm crying. and -- and so i'm trying to be -- and so i'm trying to be positive with my daughter. and sometimes when i go to sleep, i'm crying a little bit to let my stress out, and and every morning when i get up, i say, "hi, my daughter," trying to make her as comfortable here as we can.

and we are happy that we don't hear what is going on up there. and i do not know if i will be ok. from time to time, i think, i'm dreaming. i have to wake up. and this is, i never feel this feeling. and i think everyone, when i talk to people, everyone says they think they e dreaming. we can't believe that in 21st century, it could be. >> i'm vladislav stadnyk, and i'm from kiev myself. the big war has caught us, while we were on a family retreat, skiing in the mountains, in the western part of ukraine. and we planned this vacation since the summer, like most normal families do, and we hope

that nothing like that would ever happen to ukraine. so what i've been doing for the past several days is collecting money from everywhere, everywhere in ukraine, from the diaspora, from just, you know, people just from all across the world, and trying to purchase everything we can in the neighboring countries. vests, you know, bulletproof vests, helmets, and just simple stuff like that. what is absolutely incredible is how quickly all of us just simply, you know, change -- changed their normal way of being. i have, you know, i have a regular job like everyone else, which i go to, nine to five. i travel a lot. i do a blog about heavy metal music for myself. yet all of these things have just suddenly became absolutely unimportant. and you understand that the only thing which is important to you is the safety of your family

first, and then the safety of your country. the scariest thing is to hear your daughter, who is, you know, i have two daughters, one of them is four a the other one is onejust asking you, "hey, why can't we go home? and when will the russians go away from our land, and why did they come?" and just having the struggle of, you know, how do we explain a thing like that to a four year old? how do you make it so it doesn't scar her for life, so it doesn't take away, you know, her childhood? judy: how do you explain it to a 4-year-old? and how do you believe that this is the 21st century? these are ukrainian parents. and that's the newshour for tonight. i'm judy woodruff. joins online, and again here tomorrow evening. for all of us at the pbs newshour, thank you, please stay safe, and see you soon. ♪ >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by --

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