russia had paid for his political rise and for his political party. they had worked to install him in power. they totally controlled him. he was their guy. that was how russia controlled ukraine. they controlled the ukrainian president. they installed him in power and told him what to do and he did it. and russia, of course, didn t want ukraine to have better economic ties to the west. they didn t want ukraine to have any ties to the west. they wanted ukraine to only be tied to russia. and so when ukraine had the opportunity to sign on to this pro-european trade deal, russia didn t want him to do it and russia s guy in ukraine, this very corrupt, very compromised pro-russian president said he wouldn t sign that trade deal with europe. he said instead he would sign a knew one with russia. people in ukraine did not want that. they wanted to stop looking east. they wanted to look west instead. so in response they started protesting. in november of 2013. and a few months into it,
here. it is presidents day today, february 20th. presidential historian gonna be with us tonight. she s gonna be with us here live very very much looking forward to that conversation. but it was on this date, which won february 20th in 2014 when the group they call the heavenly hundred was killed. it was actually 118 people, call them the heavenly hundred. the youngest of them was just 16 years old. the oldest of them was 83 years old. it all happened as the culmination of protests that had started the previous november, people were protesting in ukraine. because the government of that country had had the chance to sign on to a big trade deal with europe. a deal that was expected to have big economic benefits for ukraine, it was definitely something that would bring ukraine closer to europe. closer to the west. people in ukraine frothy war, really looking forward to. it this is a popular thing they very much wanted it. but the president of ukraine at the time decided he was
Zelenskyy went out of his way not only to thank president biden for making the trip, which he called historic and timely and brave. he thanked president biden for making the trip. he thanked president biden for supporting ukraine. he thanked president biden for making the first call to him from a foreign leader when the russian invasion started. the first call of support, the first telephone call he said came from president biden. in addition to thanking america broadly and president biden in the specific, president zelenskyy also today shrewdly, i think, thanked the american congress for its bipartisan support, which at this point isn t a foregone conclusion that it will remain. president biden for his part went out of his way to say american support for ukraine will last as long it is a takes. he said that russia cannot win this fight. russia s aim was to wipe ukraine off the map. putin s war of conquest is failing.
Trump part of the republican party being a little cuckoo. or at least a little unpredictable on this issue. it is not clear yet whether in our domestic politics there are going to be complications ahead. and how much and how well we will continue to support ukraine as this war starts its second year this week. for his part in ukraine today, while he was meeting with president biden, president zelenskyy went out of his way not only to thank president biden for making the, trip which again he called historic and timely and brave. he thanked president biden for making the, trip he thanked president biden for supporting ukraine, he thanked president biden for making the first call to him from a foreign leader, when the russia invaded. the first telephone call of support came from president biden, he said. but in addition to thanking america broadly, and president biden in this, visited president zelenskyy today also shrewdly, i, think thanks to the american congress for its bipartisan supp
The people what we can t do for ourselves. with regard to outreach, democrats talk about clicks and groups. republicans talk about america broadly. and i think he has made some very interesting points. i think he is right and democrats should heed his advice. sandra: he went to say that identity politics has made being a comedian harder and harder because of such division in this country right now. where this comedian is right is there is so much division in this country. you are either on this side or that side and no meeting in the middle. no compromise and thus we have total and utter gridlock in washington you don t have any members of congress that could work in the middle to get things done which i think speaks to it s we have to put aside our political ideology and how can we as