stain on the soul of america. russia is not achieving its strategic objectives. russia tried to deny any enlargement of nato. the social democratic party has concluded that sweden should join nato. live from london, this is cnn newsroom with isa suarez. welcome to the show, everyone, it is monday, may 16th. we begin with the consequences of russia s war on ukraine. finland and sweden have announced they intend to join nato, reverse ago neutral stance held by the two nations for decades and really paving the way for major expansion of nato s military alliance directly on russia s doorstep. now, what you are looking at right now, a live images coming to us from helsinki in finland where finnish lawmakers are gathered to consider the issue. swedishish use are set to do the same in 30 minutes or so both parliaments are widely expected to endorse the decisions, from there nato says the approval process could move very quickly. finland s acceptance would also double r
the horror started immediately in the parking lot. as the gunman emerged from his car heavily armed and wearing tactical gear, he shot four people, killing three of them. to eyewitnesses, it was clear he came to do maximum damage. when i first saw him shooting, he shot a woman, he shot a deacon, he shot another woman. and then, he went in the store and started shooting again. a retired buffalo police officer was working security, and shot the gunman. but he was unharmed because of his armour. the shooter then returned fire, killing the security guard. the entire horrific episode of people being killed in cold blood in the store was streamed live online. the suspect was taken into custody alive, after putting his gun to his neck and threatening to shoot himself. he has been identified as an 18 year old white male, and has been charged with murder in the first degree. officials said evidence showed the attack was racially motivated. we are investigating this incident as both a
world developing, getting better. how we get rid of these problems we have, the crisis in ukraine. very important, as you said. once again, it s very valuable to have you here. thank you. mr. president, it s great to see you again and this historic day in the history of finland, brought about, obviously, by vladimir putin s invasion of ukraine. first on that issue, just let me say briefly i expect the united states senate to finally approve the bipartisan package of $40 billion this week. we also want to thank your country for all you ve done to help the ukrainians and to deal with some ukrainian refugees as well. with regard to the news of
membership, last week we went to 76% in favour. in many ways this is vladimir putin s attack on ukraine. in some ways the position has been more nuanced in sweden, the ruling social democrats are still debating this weekend whether or not they will go that route, everyone except they will. just as you are indicating. in that sense, ijust wonder what it is in the history of finland s experience of relations with moscow that it looks at what is happening at ukraine, a separate country, no historical connection are such an thanks, ukraine first, it could be as the next. it could be as the next. yes. you are correct it could be as the next. yes. you are correct they it could be as the next. yes. you are correct they are. it could be as the next. yes. you are correct they are. swedish - are correct they are. swedish neutrality was always much more ideological and of course that lasted for a couple of centuries. in
a anchor in the northern part of the border between the russian world and russia, 830 miles of border that s pretty extensive. there s a long history of finland and russia going after each other in the last hundred years, actually 200 years, and there is a real possibility that finland can serve not only as a great [ no audio ] but also a great observation area for the nato alliance so that they can observe troop movements even more keenly than they ve been able to in the past. so it brings a lot to the table. the fins are a great fighting force, extensive military background and heritage within their military and certainly a willingness to defend and fight to defend their country and territory. so it brings a lot and they ll probably bring sweden with them into the alliance. i want to drill down on a