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country in crisis. inflation reaching 8.5%, highest in a generation. and that read on consumer prices is reading double digits in some parts of the country. accelerating fears of the r word, recession. hello, and the voice you heard is mr. bill hemmer. good afternoon. our offices are right next to each other, so now we are sitting next to each other, so i always have a track on you and what you are doing. sandra: no secrets here. bill: good to have you along with us. america reports. americans don t agree on much, but inflation is the exception. a new poll shows a whopping 94% of americans are either concerned or upset about the rising prices on just about everything. sandra: everybody is feeling it. the same poll shows nearly 70% of americans disapprove of president biden s handling of this tough situation. high gas prices, skyrocketing food costs, and unreliable supply chain are threatening to sink democrats in november. midterm elections, quickly approach ....
united nations chief visits the country. we ll get a live report from the ground. and the january 6th committee ready to go public. as the chairman announces the date of the first open hearings. good morning. and welcome to way too early. on this friday. april 29th. i m jonathan lemire. president biden is asking congress to fund a sweeping aid package aimed at keeping ukraine in the fight against russia for at least the next five months. the president is proposing $33 billion in military, economic, and humanitarian assistance. it s more than double the size of the nearly depleted $13.6 billion aid package that was approved last month. the president announced his proposal by acknowledging quote, the cost of this fight is not cheap. we either back the ukrainian people as they defend their country or we stand by and as the russians continue they re , atrocities and aggression in ukraine. every day, they pay the price with their lives for this front and so we need t ....
them into custody. if true, this would be a violation of a core principles of the laws of war. isa soares is live on the ground in lviv, ukraine this morning. these revelations come as the offensive on the ground continues to heat up. what more can you tell us? reporter: good morning to you, laura. let me start on the battlefield because you are right, we are hearing of intense shelling right across the east of ukraine. we have heard from a ukrainian general who have told us in the last few hours the russian forces continue to exert intense fire across three regions. he said that the russian forces are focusing in one area in particular, and that is in what he seems to be a staging ground as they try to go into donetsk and luhansk. that is where the offensive is taking place. if i focus your attention on luhansk, we have new video coming in where a hospital really taking a hit, severe hit. and this is a main hospital that we have seen operating in that area. we know ....
for weeks now ukrainian, u.s. and nato officials have war on the russians preparing for a renewed military offensive in the east. it seems the battle for the donbas region is under way. according to ukraine top security official a 300 mile long front came under attack by russian forces monday. and for the most part that defensive line held. for civilians who remain trapped in the conflict zone, hope of a escape is starting to fade. ukrainian prime minister announced no evacuation corridors will be open today. pentagon believes 76 russian tactical groups have been deployed in the south and east. eleven added in the last few days alone. each consists of 800 troops. tens of thousands of russian soldiers committed to the offensive. and despite the out numbered and out gunned, ukraine president says his country will not give up without a fight. meantime we re receiving new images from mariupol. weeks of heavy fighting have decimated the port city. and russians are near total ....
our correspondents are standing by in ukraine with war refugees in estonia. we want to welcome our viewers from the united states and around the world. i m wolf blitzer. i m wolf blitzer. you re in the situation room. captions by vitac www.vitac.com we begin with russia s escalating offensive in eastern ukraine as top ukrainian officials are confirming that the battle for the don baas region has begun. let s go right to our chief national security correspondent jim sciutto in ukraine for us. he is reporting from lviv. president zelenskyy is now speaking out about this new phase of the war. reporter: that s right. u.s. intelligence reported a major strategy shift by russia to stop focusing on its failed attempt on capture the capital kyiv and focus on the east and the south. we ve been seeing the forces move over the last couple of weeks. now they are there. and now that battle, though it never quite stopped there, but that battle intensifying to a degree we ha ....