ambassador to poland has been greatly moved by codells that have come over there. he talked about how rob portman, roger wicker, along with democrats like senator coons, senator blumenthal, it's been moving to see how politics hasn't stopped at the water's edge, and he sees republicans and democrats focused on the same thing. >> certainly there are party disagreements but more united than divided when it comes to the issue of ukraine, joe. and this president, president biden who we'll hear from in a few hours in direct response to what we're going to hear from president zelenskyy in a few moments. he has from his campaign and now his first year has framed this century as a struggle between democracies, and autocracies. jon meacham knows a thing about that, and he has framed it initially as that rivalry with china, and certainly china does still loom in the background but

of course vladimir putin has brought this rivalry between democracies and autocracies to center stage, with the senseless invasion, unprovoked invasion of ukraine, and president biden has said that this will be the struggle of the century and the first battle as it turned out is on the planes and cities of ukraine. and he has said and with his aid to ukraine, rallying nato allies, rallying europe together he has made clear that democracy will win this fight, and we're going to hear in a few minutes from president zelenskyy who right now is the best messenger for that argument. >> and we should hear from him within moments. we are one minute past the top of the hour, and what you're looking at right now is the capital visitor center, congressional auditorium, members of the house, and the senate, both sides of the aisle have gathered to hear ukraine's president address them. speaker pelosi, as you can see at the very front of the room in

the light blue is getting ready. she will be getting to the podium to introduce him. he is expected to be asking for more aid, to be thanking america for its support, to be thanking the world for its moral support, but if his past addresses are any prologue, we will also be hearing about what is happening in ukraine, the devastation, the desperation, the death, the brutality, and the need to counter this with more military equipment. >> and not only is this influencing how republicans and democrats are working together, it's also changing the policy debate in washington, d.c. reports over the past 24 hours that the united states own military budget continuing to go up, expecting to go up. there had been a belief among many progressives, and also some isolationists on the far right

that the military budget was going to be able to be cut. that is not the case anymore. vladimir putin, just as he has awakened, really, bipartisan democratic yearning in this congress and across europe, and just as he's inspired germany to spend more money on their military, the same is happening here. they're expecting more money to be spent in the u.s. defense budgets to move it up to perhaps 3, 3 1/2% of our gdp. >> a couple of things, joe, the president is expected to speak in a few hours, and deliver more aid, deliver news of more aid toward ukraine. sources very close to the white house say that a lot is being done that isn't being shared publicly to help arm the ukrainians in some way, shape or form, and finally president zelenskyy may be showing some video during this address.

we don't know much about this, and it might be graphic. we know that he has spent a lot of time on social media and making himself available to the people of ukraine through social media, and actually one on one contact recently going to a military hospital and visiting injured veterans, war heroes in ukraine, and doing selfies with them and face timing their mothers. he's very out in the open. perhaps in a message to vladimir putin himself that you can't scare me. i'm not afraid of you, and i stand for my country and i will stand up out in the open, and i will stay here until the very end which i don't think is what vladimir putin expected to see some three weeks into this war. >> and jon meacham, let's be blunt about it. after afghanistan, after america's messy retreat from

afghanistan, putin did not expect to see what he saw from joe biden and nato. actually, jon, we'll get to that a little bit later. we have nancy pelosi, obviously the speaker of the house going to introduce president zelenskyy who has appeared on screen at the capitol hill visitors center. members of the republican and democratic party standing at attention, standing ovation. president zelenskyy putting his hand over his heart. let's listen in. sten in. [ applause ]. >> thank you. >> good morning, good morning, mr. president, good morning, madame ambassador who is with us this morning, madame ambassador.

ambassador mr. president, the congress united states which has great respect and appreciation for your courageous leadership. members of congress i have the high privilege and distinct honor of presenting to you the president of ukraine, volodymyr zelenskyy. my colleagues.

>> translator: glory to heroes. thank you very much. madame speaker, members of the congress, ladies and gentlemen, americans, friends. i'm proud to greet you from ukraine from our capital city of kyiv, a city that is under missile and air strikes from russian troops every day, but it doesn't give up. and we have not even thought about it for a second. just like many other cities and communities in our beautiful country, which found themselves in the worst war since world war ii. i have the honor to greet you on behalf of the ukrainian people, brave, and freedom loving people who for eight years have been resisting the russian

aggression. those who give their best sons and daughters to stop this full-scale russian invasion. right now, the destiny of our country is being decided. the destiny of our people, whether ukrainians will be free, whether they will be able to preserve their democracy, russia has attacked not just us, not just our land, not just our cities, it went on a brutal offensive against our values. basic human values. it threw tanks and planes against our freedom, against our right to live freely in our own country. choosing our own future. against our desire for happiness, against our national dream. just like the same dreams you

have, you americans. just like anyone else in the united states, i remember your national memorial in rushmore, the faces of your prominent president, those who laid the foundation of the united states of america as it is today, democracy, independence, freedom, and care for everyone, for every person, everyone who lives diligently, honestly, who respects the law. we in ukraine want the same for our people. all that is a normal part of your own life. ladies and gentlemen, friends, americans, in your great history you have pages that would allow you to understand ukrainians, understand us now when you need

it right now, when we need you right now. remember pearl harbor, terrible morning of december 7th, 1941, when your sky was black from the planes attacking you. just remember it. remember september the 11th, a terrible day in 2021 when evil tried to turn your cities, independent territories into battlefields. when innocent people were attacked from air, yes. just like nobody else expected it, you could not stop it. our country experience the same every day, right now, at this moment. every night for three weeks now. various ukrainian cities, odesa,

and mariupol, and russia has turned the ukrainian sky into a source of death for thousands of people. russian troops have already fired nearly 1,000 missiles at ukraine. countless bombs, they use drones to kill us with precision. this is a terror that europe has not seen, has not seen for 80 years, and we are asking for a reply, for an answer to this terror from the whole world. is this a lot to ask for, to create a no fly zone over ukraine, to save people, is this too much to ask, humanitarian, no fly zone, something that russia would not be able to terrorize our free cities. if this is too much to ask, we offer an alternative, you know what kind of defense systems we

need as 300 and other similar systems. you know how much depends on the battlefield on the ability to use aircraft, powerful, strong aviation to protect our people, our freedom, aircraft that can help ukraine. help europe, and, you know that they exist and you have them but they are on earth, not in the ukrainian sky. they do not defend our people. i have a dream, these words are known to each of you today, i can say, i have a need. i need to protect our sky. i need your help which means exactly the same, the same you feel when you hear the words i have a dream. ladies and gentlemen, friends,

ukraine is grateful to the united states for its overwhelming support for everything that your government and your people have done for us, for weapons and ammunition, for training, for finances, for leadership in the free world which helps us to pressure the aggressor economically. i'm grateful to president biden for his personal involvement, for his sincere commitment to the defense of ukraine, and democracy all over the world. i'm grateful to you for the resolution which recognizes all those who commit crimes against ukraine, against the ukrainian people as war criminals. however, now, it is true in the darkest time for our country, for the whole europe, i call on you to do more, new packages of sanctions are needed constantly, every week until the russian military machine stops.

restrictions are needed for everyone on whom this unjust regime is based. we propose that the united states sanctions all politicians in the russian federation who remain in their offices and do not cut ties with those who are responsible for the aggression against ukraine. from members to the last of official who has lack of morale to break the state terror. all americans company must leave russia from their market, leave their market immediately because it is flooded with our blood. ladies and gentlemen, members of congress, please take the lead, if you have companies in your districts who finance the russian military machine leaving business in russia. you should put pressure, i'm asking to make sure that the

russians do not receive a single penny that they use to destroy people in ukraine. the destruction of our country, the destruction of europe, all american ports should be closed for russian goods. peace is more important than income, and we have to defend this principal in the whole world. we already became part of the anti-war collision, big anti-war that unites many countries, dozens of countries, those who reacted in principle to president putin's decision to invade our country but we need to move on and do more. we need to create new tools to respond quickly, and stop the war, the full-scale russian invasion of ukraine, which began on february 24th. and it would be fair if it ended in a day in 24 hours that evil

would be punished immediately. today the world does not have such tools. the war of the past have prompted our predecessors to create institutions that should protect us from war. but they unfortunately don't work it. we see it, you see it, so we need new ones, new institutions, new alliances, and we offer them. we propose to create an association. united for peace, a union of responsible countries that have the strength and consciousness to stop conflicts immediately, provide all the necessary assistance in 24 hours. if necessary, even weapons, if necessary, sanction, humanitarian support, political support, finances, everything you need to keep the peace and

save lives. in addition, such union could provide assistance to those who experience natural disaster manmade disaster who fell victim to humanitarian crisis or epidemics. remember how difficult it was for the world to do the simplest thing, just to give vaccines, vaccines against covid to save lives, to prevent new strains. the world spent months, years doing things like that much faster to make sure there are no human losses. no victims. ladies and gentlemen, americans, if such alliance would exist today we would be able to save thousands of lives in our country. in many countries of the world, those who need peace, those who

suffer inhumane destruction, i ask you to watch one video, video of what the russian troops did in our country in our land, we have to stop it. we must prevent it, preventively destroy every single aggressor who seeks to subjugate other nations. please watch the video. video ♪♪ ♪♪

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>> and in the end to sum it up, today, today it's not enough to be the leader of the nation, to be the leader of the world. being the leader of the world means to be the leader of peace. peace in your country doesn't depend anymore on you and your people. it depends on those next to you and those who are strong. strong doesn't mean big. strong is brave and ready to fight for the lives of his citizens and citizens of the world. of human rights for freedom, for the right to live peacefully, and to die when your time comes. and not when it's wanted by someone else, by your neighbor.

today the ukrainian people are defending not only ukraine. we are fighting for the values of europe and the world in the name of the future. that's why today the american people are helping not just ukraine but europe and the world to keep the planet alive. to keep justice in history. now, i'm almost 45 years old. today my age stopped when the heart of more than 100 children stopped beating. i see no sense in life if it cannot stop the deaths. and this is my main mission as the leader of my people, great ukrainians, and as the leader of

my nation, i'm addressing the president biden, you are the leader of the nation, of your great nation. i wish you, the leader of the world, being the leader of the world means to be the leader of peace. thank you. >> translator: glory to ukraine. . [ applause ]. >> president zelenskyy waving to

members of congress after delivering extraordinarily moving speech, the highlight of it, though, being the video that showed really just stark images, not just of warfare but a reminder of the beauty of ukraine and its people aa. a month ago. it reminds me of the quote one photograph said, photography is the story i can fail to put into words. that was so true of those images. his words, though, mika, he did remind americans and members of congress that ukrainians have been resisting russians for eight years, that we have given our best sons and daughters to stop russian aggression. russia has not just attacked ukraine, they have attacked our most basic values, our freedom,

our happiness, our national dreams with the terror that europe has not seen in 80 years. and then he said if you cannot give us a no fly zone, there is an alternative, and he asked for powerful systems, defensive systems. he asked for jets, and then, mika, he said just as you know the words i have a dream, he said, i have a need. and that need is to protect ukrainian skies. >> in graphic detail and raw emotion, president zelenskyy has one big ask, close the skies over ukraine. however, if you can't do a no fly zone, then what else can you offer, what aircraft, what war material can you offer that can protect the skies over ukraine. he brought us back to pearl

harbor. he reminded us of the black skies over pearl harbor. he brought us to september 11th. he tried to invoke the emotion of not knowing when the next bad act was going to happen, when the next attack was going to happen out of nowhere, and that's how ukrainians are living every day. he implored americans, america, and nato to close the skies over ukraine, and i really think in a nod to president biden very directly, saying being the leader of the world means being the leader of peace, and being strong as being brave and ready to fight with your life with freedom, and finally he said, you know, this is not just a fight for the ukrainian people and for their land and their homes that they're protecting right now. this is a fight for the world. >> it is a fight for the world. it certainly is a fight for freedom in the way that we have

recognized and celebrated in the west for some time. jon meacham who's also struck by talking about how the international organizations that have been created after world war ii that have kept us together, as a free west over the past 70, 75 years, are no longer adequate to face the challenges that ukraine is facing right now. it's very interesting that the french president, president macron kept telling us before as he was trying to avert war that perhaps we needed a new security framework for europe in a nod to vladimir putin. well, i suspect after this war more will be listening to president zelenskyy and that new frame work will be the type of framework that will be far closer to his vision than the vision of president macron before this heinous war began. >> i think that's right, out of

great crisis and great struggle, the best part of history, institutions emerge from that, after the second world war. we did create a ripple in the west, these institutions that have by and large kept the peace, have created significant prosperity, ended up after 40 years tuning down the cold war. but institutions have to be renovated. they have to be rethought, unquestionably, and when you think about the, you know, people like me and you, and talk about these things in this theoretical way, i think the power of what president zelenskyy just did is he's on the front line. this is not a counsel on foreign relations seminar for him. as mika said, he talked about

quite effectively, i think, rhetorically, remember pearl harbor. remember september 11th. by quoting dr. king, he linked saying i have a dream, which was the central plane of the black freedom struggle in the united states to i have a need, and by saying i mean this as deeply as your great heroes, he linked the struggle to i think some of the deepest parts of the american psyche, particularly, if i may, the demographic of the united states congress. you know, those are folks who for whom 20th century historical analogies, early 21st century historical analogies would resonate, and by using the combination of this very 21st

century technology doing, you know, doing a video speech, you know, he didn't come to the chamber because he's a wartime leader. he's on the point, very reminiscent of churchill who said in 1940 that if this long island story of ours is to end at last, let it end when we are choking in our own blood upon the ground. he is saying that in a new century. so these ancient forces, strong versus weak, law versus appetite are playing out in front of us, and he's calling on us to react in realtime and to think in terms of a longer future. >> it is remarkable what vladimir putin has returned this country, his country, the continent of europe, how he has reversed the clock with

indiscriminate bombing. and jonathan lemire, i thought it was interesting that this speech was pragmatic. it was powerful. it was pragmatic. he pled for a no fly zone, but knowing that he wasn't going to get that, he said if i can't get the no fly zone, there are other tools that we need. he talked about more sanctions, sanctions against every sitting member in russia of the legislature there. he talked about new sanctions against all politicians, asked for all american companies to leave russia immediately because if they remain in that market, they are, you know, a market that is quote flooded with our blood. he asked members of congress, i thought this was extraordinary, he asked members of congress to put pressure on businesses in their own district to leave

russia at once. he said, we need to do more, and we need more tools. evil should be punished immediately. he certainly does give president biden more to work with beyond a no fly zone in this speech in an opening where these two leaders can agree on even more aid above and beyond the $14.6 billion the united states congress and president have already agreed to. >> president zelenskyy with very specific asks there, you hit a few of them, the pressure on businesses getting companies out of there. he did open up an alternative to the no fly zone, officials heard that. expects the administration to respond in the coming hours and days about that, and we're going to hear from president biden in a couple of hours talking about that new funding and the new equipment, stingers and javelins among them that will be heading

to ukraine. president zelenskyy has been delivering these messages, tailoring them country to country. we heard him invoke martin luther king, as well as pearl harbor on september 11th, two of the darkest days in american history for sure, and two where the menace and danger came from the sky. and that is a theme for president zelenskyy, look, it's from the sky that is raining down death on my people. the video there, extraordinarily graphic, extraordinarily powerful. a number of members of congress were wiping away tears during the video, very emotional, very overcome watching those images of suffering, and as a final point, i think so interesting, zelenskyy there who has emerged as this heroic figure, the trademark t-shirt on the front lines, a wartime leader, after the video, switched to english and spoke eloquently in english.

so lawmakers understand them and closed with his direct message to president biden, and i'll read it. i'm nearly 45, but today my age stopped when the hearts of 100 children stopped. i see no sense in life if it cannot stop death. i'll say that again. i see no sense in life if it cannot stop death, and then he called on biden being the leader of the free world means being the leader of peace. >> it was incredibly powerful, and that video, jonathan emire, in the course of the weeks watching this war go down, how lives and a way of life, how culture and historical monuments and a structure, and the hope for a future, babies, are being blown up, and he talked about this creation of a union of responsible countries that would create a scenario in which

there's a 24 hour reaction. 24 hour get help to the country in need. alluding, mike barnicle, to the fact that weeks have gone by, and moment by moment, lives are crushed. >> yes, mika. he spoke for 16 minutes, and in that 16 minutes, he did quite a bit. he reminded americans, and members of congress, the house and senate sitting in that hall that we have always been blessed by geography and distance, from the shattering scenes of a country being destroyed as we saw in that video. he said something right at the beginning of the speech. quote our destiny is being decided right now, and in a sense when you look at what else he said and what he has been saying, and what he has been living through as the president of ukraine along with all the ukrainian citizens, our destiny is also being sort of decided right now by our response so far

to the war overwhelmingly positive, but our continuing response to the efforts of russia to both destroy ukraine and continue on its march toward some self-defined by putin goal. we don't know what will happen there, but we do know that we have a heroic historical figure that just spoke to this nation and this congress, and going forward, we'll see what happens. >> that concludes our coverage. we'll all see you right here tomorrow morning on "morning joe." of course president biden will be speaking later this morning, discussing what next steps will be happening, and our coverage of the russian invasion of ukraine continues all day right here on msnbc. chris jansing will pick up the coverage after a quick break. g e coverage after a quick break

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good morning, i'm chris jansing, live from msnbc headquarters in new york city. it is wednesday, march 16th. and of course the big news this morning, that extraordinarily powerful speech from ukrainian president zelenskyy appealing directly to members of congress. in his words, he said, quote, i have a need, pleading for the u.s. to close the sky over ukraine and calling for more weapons to fight russia. a fight that's becoming more and more brutal every day. his message to president biden, to be the leader of the world means to be the leader of peace. meanwhile, russia is showing no signs of easing its offensive. overnight, and this morning, more explosions in kyiv, the russians using air strikes in part because u.s. officials say their ground forces remain

stuck, 10 miles outside the capitol. instead their ground defensive is focused on the suburbs where fighting has grown more intense. russia has cut heat to six towns around kyiv. cut running water to a dozen and seized one town outright. the suffering and the misery is almost impossible to comprehend. listen to this story from one man who spoke to our own matt bradley. the type of story that's being repeated over and over, thousands of times across ukraine. >> this massive triple bombing on a residential neighborhood cost sergey his home and his daughter. she was pregnant when she died. he dug her body out of the rubble with his bare hands. as we spoke, he spotted his cat who had been missing since the shelling. he had thought she was gone. now she's among the few things he has left.

>> down south, more horrific developments in mariupol. russian troops have seized a main hospital there. the ukrainian deputy prime minister says they're holding roughly 400 people, locals, patients and staff as hostages. nbc news has not been able to independently confirm that report. we can tell you that roughly 20,000 civilians have been able to escape mariupol, according to the ukrainian government. the russian defense ministry released this video purporting to show the evacuation. the bad news, many of those people fled about three hours west, and this morning, bombs started falling in that city for the first time. cold hard numbers tell a devastating story. u.s. officials now say more than 10% of ukraine an population, that's almost 5 million people have been displaced by this war. at least 3 million have fled the country, including a million

children. in fact, unicef says every single second another ukrainian child becomes a refugee, and then there's this from the u.n. >> before the conflict, roughly the estimate was about 2% of the ukrainian population living below the poverty rate. that's about $5.50 a day. the number of people below the poverty line could reach 28%, and if the war were to continue indeed up to 90% of people could be at risk of falling into poverty or fall below the poverty line. >> poverty, death, homelessness, it's against that backdrop with the urgent appeal from president zelenskyy freshly delivered to congress and the american people that we're now waiting for president biden to speak later this morning. he's expected to lay out details of another $800 million in aid for ukraine to help them keep up the fight. at the same time, there are new hopes that there may be some diplomatic way out of the war. in a video addressed to his fellow ukrainians.

zelenskyy said talks with the kremlin are becoming quote more realistic, and this morning, russian foreign minister, sergey lavrov said they are close to some sort of an agreement. although it's not clear what that might mean. again, as those talks move into a third straight day, the violence continues to escalate, and the situation for those in the war zone continues to get worse. i want to bring in nbc's mike memoli covering the white house. john hurst is director of the atlanta council and former ambassador to ukraine, mark, a senior adviser with the csis national security program. thank you to all of you. the stakes are clear, children becoming refugees every second, thousands killed, millions displaced, that incredibly moving video we just saw from president zelenskyy. are we kidding ourselves to think, ambassador, that there could still be a negotiated way out of this and soon?

>> well, there is going -- there can be a negotiate way out of it, when moscow decides it doesn't want to bludgeon ukraine into submission. progress is made, no indication what the terms are. zelenskyy has made clear he's willing to give up nato membership. moscow is asking essentially to control ukraine's foreign policy, and i don't think ukraine is willing to accept that. we need to wait and see, and in the meantime, we need to provide all the military equipment that zelenskyy is asking for. >> how much of a difference would that make, colonel, in your mind? >> the military equipment is vital because militaries that are in tense combat like ukrainians go through supplies and weapons at a very high rate. continuing to supply what we have been doing allows the ukrainians to keep the fight going, and puts time on their side. the russians are not getting

resupplied. they're going through their stocks. that's why they have approached the chinese to get additional stocks. if we keep the supplies coming, ukrainians will have time on their side. >> a lot of people would agree that the most powerful part of zelenskyy's speech was that video, and it ended with the words, close the sky over ukraine. he refuses to be put off from that request, no matter how many times u.s. officials, nato officials say no. is that the only military solution to stop this brutality? >> well, a no fly zone is very difficult because a lot of concerns about, you know, whether it would start out conflict with russia, the other thing to keep in mind is that most of the bombs and explosions we were seeing in the video were not from aircraft, they were from artillery and missiles, so a no fly zone might not help as much. getting supplies there, would

help a lot. there's also been talk about supplying polish aircraft to the ukrainians, a very symbolic aspects, a number of members of congress have urged the president to do that. i suspect that the united states could find a way to do that, you know, discreetly and quietly that wouldn't be as provocative. >> obviously, mike, the president clearly wants to help. that's what he's going to talk about, and i think less than two hours how. also stay on the periphery without escalating, without causing what a lot of people are concerned is another war, a third world war. having said that, has there been any conversation that you're aware of that the position about closing the skies could change depending on what's happening in ukraine. >> president zelenskyy was before he was a political leader, he was a performer, a comedian, and so i think you saw that on display in that speech

just the power of his words, of the video that accompanied it, was something that the white house was frankly bracing for, and it was conspicuous that they added these remarks to the president's schedule today, knowing that whatever pressure the president has been facing before today, to take further measures to support ukraine, that pressure was only going to increase further based on what was expected and delivered by president zelenskyy, and that's why what the president is going to try to do today is lay out what already has been done, a white house official reiterating to me that the u.s. has been the leader in the world in providing both military and humanitarian assistance to ukraine. he signed legislation today to provide another $14 billion of both to the country and he's going to lay out today the $800 million for initial tranche, what that's going to look like. it's going to include replenishing both their anti-aircraft and anti-tank missile supply, and then i think we're going to be watching what's happening in brussels right now, and look to go what might happen next week.

today, defense secretary lloyd austin is with his nato counter parts to talk about concrete measures as they say, to shore up the eastern flank of our nato alliance, and what president will do when he travels there next week to sit down with his countermore. but at this point, the president has been clear, as zelenskyy laid out, he said, is it too much to ask to close the sky? well, president biden believes it is too much to ask. he's wary of triggering world war iii, as he so often said. but the white house will do their best today, the president himself, to talk about what all issing done and so much more of what's on the table. >> let's bring in richard engel. what's the latest on the ground? >> here in kyiv, the streets are eerily quiet, except for the occasional explosion on the outskirts of the city. you don't hear any noise, because there is a round-the-clock curfew now many place. it began last night during the darkness hours. it extends all day today, until

tomorrow morning. as russia is continuing what seems to be arbitrary and non-targeted attacks into kyiv and other cities, attacking another apartment building this morning, wounding dozens of people, as the city of mariupol is facing what is described as a growing humanitarian crisis, with president zelenskyy and two other officials, saying that russian forces, who have been surrounding the city of mariupol, which is in the southeast of this country for days, allowing some people to leave, but no supplies to enter the city. russian forces are patrolling parts of mariupol and according to president zelenskyy and local officials, russian troops took over a critical care hospital, herded about 400 people inside, including patients and hospital staff, and are holding them hostage. that russian troops are firing from the hospital building and

are not allowing people to come and go, with ukrainian officials describing it as russians using those people, about 400, as human shields. this, obviously, comes as ukraine is asking for more humanitarian assistance, more weapons, so that it can fight off the russian advance. >> ambassador, thank you very much, richard engel. and ambassador, to that appoint, how much can words change minds? he has been, by all accounts, an extraordinary leader. we have watched him, we've watched the bravery, refusing to leave his country. and when he said, i see no sense in life if it cannot stop death, talking about the children who have died. of course, all of these children who have been displaced, children who are now refugees. but at this point, do you think it moves the president? do you think it moves members of nato? do you think it moves members of congress from positions? >> there's no question that

zelenskyy's willingness to challenge the sympathy, you might say, but timidity of western leaders, has been a very important part of ukraine's diplomacy. and actually, good for the united states, too, because western leaders have been too timid in confronting a very dangerous kremlin. so, it's his words and the pictures that you show in that video, and the pictures that the news organization and others have been showing for the last three weeks of moscow's wanton destruction of ukraine. the kremlin is pursuing aggression by trying to kill as many people as possible. civilian deaths in ukraine are not an accidental measure of kremlin military activities. they are designated. he, putin, is trying to break the will of the american people. and when the american people see that, europeans see that, they get mad, and justifiably so. and they encourage their leaders to be less timid and more statesmanlike. that's why, as your reporter

said, biden and his team have been bracing for what zelenskyy would say, because they know they've been too timid and that the american people would be pushing them in the right direction. we need to get more stingers and javelins to ukraine, anti-ship missiles to protect odesa from russian warships. >> ambassador john hertz, mike memoli, thank you. i want to bring in sarah jacobs, a member of the house armed services and foreign affairs committee. thank you for joining us. i know, congresswomen, you've been against a no-fly zone. did that speech or video change your mind at all? >> look, the images that president zelenskyy showed us were heartbreaking. and the civilian casualties are continuing to mount. and it's terrible to see that happen, and we should be very clear that all of this blood is on vladimir putin's hands. but president zelenskyy told us that we need to be leaders of the world and leaders of the united states, and part of that is making sure that we don't get the world into a nuclear war,

which is why i think it's incredibly important that we continue to make sure that we're not doing anything that would put us in direct conflict with the russians, that could escalate into a nuclear conflict, and why i continue to be against a nato or u.s.-enforced no-fly zone. that doesn't mean there's not more we can do to help close the skies, and it's why i've been supportive of sending weapons systems and additional weapons systems like more surface-to-air missiles and s-300ss to make sure that the ukraines have what they need to protect their populations. >> do you think there's a firm red line on that no-fly zone, or is there a point at which you leave open the possibility that the u.s. might need to get involved in that way? >> look, i think it's never good in conflict to put firm lines here or there, because you never know what can happen. but i don't see a scenario where the situation would get to a place where the united states would risk getting us into a nuclear conflict, unless or until, putin decides to try and

attack a nato country, and then our article v obligations are triggered. >> meantime in our final minute, i want to ask you about the humanitarian. as you know, millions have fled, only a few hundred have come to the united states. the biden administration is considering expediting the resettlement of ukrainian refugees with u.s. ties, including those with families already living here, but should the u.s. be doing more, and do they need to do it quickly? you have countries like poland begging for help. >> look, i think we should be doing everything we can to get humanitarian assistance to the ukrainians who are fleeing, to accept more refugees here in the united states, to lift the refugee cap. and i think it's important that that should be not only for ukrainians, but for everyone who's fleeing conflict and war. the images we saw today from ukraine could just as easily have been shown from damascus. and so we need to understand that we need to welcome refugees from conflicts across the globe and make sure that we're getting them the humanitarian assistance that they need and welcoming them here, including the

ukrainian people. >> congresswoman sarah jacobs, thank you so much for taking the time. i know you just came out from the chamber, so we appreciate it. that is going to wrap up this hour. i'm chris jansing. i'll see you back here tomorrow at 9:00. jose diaz-balart picks up breaking news coverage after a quick break. cks up breaking news coverage after a quick break. but when it comes to my insurance i don't. i use liberty mutual, they customize your car insurance, so you only pay for what you need. wooo, yeaa, woooooo and, by switching you could even save 665 dollars. hey tex, can someone else get a turn? yeah, hang on, i'm about to break my own record. yeah. only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty, liberty, liberty, liberty. ♪ inner voice (furniture maker): i'm rubbing the arms of my chair... ...admiring the craft and detail i've put into it. that way i try to convince myself that i'm in control of the business side of my business. intuit quickbooks makes it easy for you to get a complete view of your business. so you can sit back and... ...relax.

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