city came under fierce fire. good morning, and welcome to way too early. i m jonathan lemire on this wednesday, march 16th. in just a few hours, ukrainian president volodymyr zelenskyy will virtually address both chambers of the u.s. congress. zelenskyy is expected to thank lawmakers for the $13.6 billion in aid already passed on the hill. and make the case for even more assistance. the ukrainian president has been relentless in his calls for nato to enforce a no-fly zone over his country, and is pleading for fighter jets in the war against russia. but so far, the u.s. has refrained from granting either request. as i report from politico this morning, the speech should surely increase the pressure on president biden to do more. yesterday, senators discussed what more could be done for ukraine, and what to expect from today s speech. i look forward to a really stirring, moving address, that
investigation of russia. on capitol hill, lawmakers grilled biden administration officials on the intelligence and about why poland s offer for mig 29s to go to ukraine was rejected. the u.s. house has included $13.6 billion in aid for ukraine in its new spending bill. we will talk with the chairman of the senate intelligence committee, virginia democrat mark warner in just a few minutes about all the details from that hearing today. state department correspondent benjamin hall is live again on the ground in kyiv tonight. and a warning here again, some of the images in this report may be disturbing. good evening, benjamin. good evening, bret. well, here in kyiv, there are concerns now that the stalled russian offensive to try to encircle the city could take a more dangerous turn. meanwhile that scene down in mariupol is becoming evermore miserable. global condemnation over a missile attack on a maternity hospital in the southern city of
ukraine as united people across america. united are two parties in congress, and united the freedom loving world. this new security funding we are moving urgently to further augment the support to the brave people of ukraine as they defend their country. today, president biden signed a 1.5 trillion dollar government funding bill that includes 13.6 billion dollars in humanitarian and security assistance for ukraine. joining us now is former u.s. ambassador to ukraine, she is the author of lessons from the edge, a more that is published today. and it s already a bestseller. ambassador, i ve been wondering
a, quote, humanitarian obligation for the whole world. that is what ukrainian president zelenskyy is calling the crisis in his country this morning as he urges the west for more financial and military aid for his people. a bipartisan deal was just struck to spend some $13.6 billion in aid. the house is said to vote on that bill today. i m joined by brendan boil and congress joe wilson. they are the co-chairs of the congressional european union caucus. and, congressman boyle, we ll start with you. the major funding del, part of a 1.5 trillion omnibus bill of which $13.6 billion will go
all on bipartisan lines. this is one time where we ve come together to support his efforts and the ukrainians efforts on behalf hoff democracy. of course we have already invested $13.6 billion and will go to additional foreign aid, military supplies, intelligence. enforcement of the sanctions. but he is a war criminal as our president biden said. the international court already just this past week ruled he should get out of the ukraine. in fact, he has been targeting civilian sites, maternity wards, children s hospitals, apartment buildings where families live, and we re very concerned of his next step being chemical warfare. we re very conditioned about that. certainly he is walk down the path past war criminals in