governor intensifying and apparently costing the state thousands of jobs just days af before the republican is ex expecting to announce his campaign. welcome to our viewers in the united states and around the world. i m wolf blitzer. you re in the situation room. we begin with a new u.s. message about the war in ukraine. a significant development as president biden is out there on the world stage right now and in a potentially very pivotal moment in the conflict. phil mattingly is with the president at the summit in japan. kn nic robertson is in eastern ukraine. phil, as the president prepares for this summit, the biden administration is signaling a major shift on ukraine. what can you tell us? yeah, wolf, it would be a significant development. the president is just a few hours away from starting the first day at the g-7 summit here meeting with leaders. leaders that have been integral to the steadfast support of ukraine since russia s invasion oaf the course f the year
now, for the business news, i m victoria valentine. we start in the us where there is more evidence that, after tens of thousands ofjob cuts, big tech is pulling out of its post pandemic slump. amazon is the latest to reveal it s making much more money than wall street was expecting. sales hit more than $127 billion in the first three months of the year, and the online retail giant says that figure will be higher in the current quarter. it comes after alphabet, the owner of google and youtube, and meta, which owns facebook and instagram, both surprised investors with better than expected results. samira hussain reports from new york. this over the last year and is on has been aggressively cutting costs to help with profitability. it has already laid off 18,000 people and is currently about to eliminate another 9000 jobs. currently about to eliminate another 9000jobs. it currently about to eliminate another 9000 jobs. it would appear that some of those measures are already pay
into former president trump s efforts to overturn the 2020 election. former vice president mike pence appears before a federal grand jury offering what could be critical testimony about trump s role in the january 6th capitol attack. and as pence was testifying the former president took his 2024 campaign to new hampshire. trump ignore his legal troubles and instead focused his attacks on president biden and other potential white house opponents. and also breaking this morning, russia launches new attacks across ukraine hitting a residential building in the central part of the country and killing at least a dozen people. we ll have the very latest on the fighting overseas. good morning and welcome to way too early on this friday, april 28th. i m jonathan lemire, thanks for starting your day with us. we ll begin with big news from here in the nation s capitol. former vice president mike pence has testified before the federal grand jury investigating the january 6th insurr
and 48 hours to come up with the next generation of video games. we ll be hearing from the man behind the global gamejam. hello there. we start here in the uk, where the bank of england has raised the cost of borrowing for the tenth time in a row. the half a percent rise puts uk interest rates at 4%, their highest level in more than 1a years. a bonus, of course, for savers, but it piles more pressure on businesses and those with mortgages, loans and credit card debt. the good news is that the bank now thinks the uk s recession will be shorter and less severe than it previously thought, and there s a hint that rates may not have to go any higher. but a recovery could take years as our economics editor faisal islam reports. the squeeze continues. an official interest rate of 4% should not feel huge, but it does, and notjust here in nuneaton, forjoanne, who runs a furniture and gift shop. the mortgage a furniture and gift shop. the mortgage on a furniture and gift shop. th
the oscars have certainly had their shocking moments. but none of these have had the cultural impact of the slap heard around the world. so here s the scene. chris rock s on stage. he s presenting one of the awards, best documentary. the most interesting thing that has ever happened in the academy awards happened when most people went to get their second beer. chris rock spots. jada pinkett smith. will smith s wife sitting in the front row and she s rocking this bald head. i think she looks better without hair than most women look with hair. chris rock says, jada, i love you. she adds to can t wait. the entire audience laughs, including will smith. she shoots. will this look like him? like she is not amused and then will like. like hitting a light switch. jumps up on stage, stalks right to chris rock. then like a pitcher in the bottom of the knife rearing back stance. when violence spiked at the oscars. that s the moment we knew crime was out of control in liberal cities. fir