stephen o'brien, in the 7th of october. stephen o'brien. the — in the 7th of october.he 7th of october. stephen o'brien, the former united - in the 7th of october. stephen - o'brien, the former united nations 0'brien, the former united nations undersecretary general for humanitarian affairs. undersecretary general for humanitarian affairs. russia's president vladimir putin says his country will never back down in its war against ukraine, as he addressed the nation in a new year's eve speech. ukraine came under attack from russian air strikes again overnight, mainly in the eastern kharkiv region. ukraine has disputed russia's claim it was targeting military targets in its latest attack on the, with kyiv claiming "not a single one was hit". here's our correspondent james waterhouse in kyiv. in a week where we saw its biggest ever aerial bombardment, we saw ukraine respond. then russia hit back. and it seems the northeastern city of kharkiv over the past 48 to 48 hours has really bore the brunt, with several dozens of missiles landing in the city, causing extensive damage

stephen o'brien speaking to me in the last hour or so. just want to take you to the us.re they give putin the greatest christmas gift they can possibly give him. because we have seen what happens when dictators don't pay the price for the damage, death and destruction they cause, they keep going when no price is paid. the threat to america, europe and the world will only keep rising if we don't act and i intend to act. american people, democrats and republicans alike, understand this and they understand the very real fight going on right now. the winner, putin plans to bombard ukraine's electric grid. it intends to, with rockets, plunging families in darkness in the coldest part of the year and doing great damage. we mustn't let him succeed in that. mr president, i call on congress to do the right thing, to stand with ukraine, to stand up for freedom the right thing, to stand with ukraine, to stand up forfreedom and i want to thank you for being here to help the cause and i don't want you giving up hope. to help the cause and i don't want you giving up hope-— you giving

and i'm sorry that he interrupted my guest, stephen o'brien.ay, haven't they, going into gaza? �* , ., today, haven't they, going into gaza? . , ., , , today, haven't they, going into gaza? . , . , , ., today, haven't they, going into gaza? a . , , ., ., gaza? as we hear, yes. i have to sa , i gaza? as we hear, yes. i have to say. i thought — gaza? as we hear, yes. i have to say, i thought that _ gaza? as we hear, yes. i have to say, i thought that antony - gaza? as we hear, yes. i have to i say, i thought that antony blinken's statements and indeed answers to questions there, you know, you can't dispute the facts of the approach they are taking in seeking to influence how to ensure that whilst israel has the right to defend itself, to seek to ensure that the terrorists hamas do not have the capacity to inflict the appalling death and suffering that they did in october the 7th on the israeli people again, at the same time, as there has a cheer draw clear understanding from the us in particular and indeed the international community that it is i

live now to stephen o'brien, former united nations under—secretary—general for humanitarian affairs.to start this breaking news that we've had within the last half an hour or so. the news that the israeli defence forces are withdrawing some forces, mainly reserve units, from the gaza strip. what you make of that? i have course welcome it because anything which is a de—escalation of any nature has to be welcomed. i suspect that it is tactical and won't have a huge military effect. i am sure the israeli defence forces under the command of the israeli government been wanting to withdraw to the point where they are less effective against the campaign which they are forsworn to prosecute against the mass terrorists in order to stop them being a continuing threat to them being a continuing threat to the israelis across the israeli border. and they have said it on the grounds of the level of fighting and there are still, as i understand it, air strikes as well as the extensive ground fighting but having no effectively have gone through the middle of the gaza strip, a lot of the tunnels the

o'brien. >> i agree with both leon and stephen. early morning on the west coast, so it's nice to be later in the afternoon. often time go on tv, fox, one of networks my wife always tells me, such a debbie downer, no good news there. i'm glad you asked the question because at the end of the day i still believe like ronald reagan said, we are the last best hope of mankind on the earth and women can't unearth. we cut freedom, free men and free women, free markets. we could ingenuity, innovation. there's no one here as bad as or polarization is a need to be concerned about it, no one is trying to get out of america. people are flooding here because i want a piece of what we've got. and so i will end up the way ronald reagan talked about in the cold war. how will the cold war in? ronald reagan said we when they lose. that's how i feel about china, i feel that russia, wakefield iran and north korea. we went, the malign actors, dictators and tyrants, the terrorists lose. it will be tough sledding between now and then and we need the coura