immigration here at home could get in the way. meanwhile, new attacks all across ukraine, including kyiv, as the united nations chief visited the country. plus, things go from bad to worse in mariupol, as russia bombs a makeshift hospital inside the steel plant where fighters and civilians are barely holding on. former ambassador to ukraine, bill taylor, joins us in a moment. and later, we ll talk to former u.s. ambassador to russia, michael mcfaul, on the very latest in ukraine. and the january 6th committee ready to go public as the chairman announces the date of the first open hearings on the attack on the capitol. good morning and welcome to morning joe. it is friday, april 29th. quite a week. yesterday, we knew president biden would be asking congress to fund a sweeping aid package aimed at keeping ukraine in the fight against russia for at least the next five months.
europe and the united states to send this heavier weaponry, to say, we think it is time that ukraine can win this and russia can be beaten. yeah. we see america leading in that way. what could slow this down, jonathan lemire, as democrats and republicans are sticking other things to this bill and haggling over it. what are the potential issues that could get in the way? first, let s just underscore the size of this commitment. the administration officials i talked to yesterday say that this package is gigantic, and they know it. it might not be enough. they may have to have more at the end of the five or so months they think this money will last. but they want this as an underscore from what we heard from the defense secretary this week. they want to weaken russia to the point where they can t do it again. heavy, heavy equipment going that way. arms heading that way, to the point where the u.s. is going to be depleting some of their own supplies. this is a growing story line. the
its attempt to take that city and had fallen back to the east. yet, missiles lobbed from russia into the capital city yesterday so what do you make of that? reporter: the ukrainian government says it was a clear attempt to humiliate the secretary general of the united nations. the missiles rained down an hour or so after he wrapped up his meeting with president zelenskyy earlier in the day. he went on a walking tour of one of the suburbs, along with bucha, whose names will be etched in infamy, as one of the places where russian forces appear to have committed mass war crimes. the read from president zelenskyy s office is this was the kremlin sending a clear message to the united nations, to the international community, not to interfere with their operations in ukraine. we now know one person has died in that missile strike. missiles hitting two residential buildings. ten people were injured.
border. though i think most republican leaders and rank and file republicans under the evil that russia represents at this point in time, that s not true of the guy who is the most likely republican nominee in 2024, or the guy who was the most popular spokesman for republicans today. that s a big problem. unfortunately, joe, i think the problem for my mind is that, although most republicans disagree with donald trump about russia, they don t worship putin the way donald trump worships putin, it is not a make or break issue. they re not going to reject donald trump because he has been revealed to be this horrifying, putin sycophant. so i think that, you know, my concerns about the future of the republican party and the future of the country remain, unfortunately, very much in tact, though i am cheered to see the bipartisan support ukraine is now receiving. i do think it is going to be claire mccaskill, i m curious at your political insights here. it s been my operating theory
attention, as the war becoming a constant backdrop. not every day producing huge headlines. they ll turn into this slog and, therefore, the ability of the united states, the willingness of the united states and europe to keep supplying them with the equipment they need can fade. that s what he is afraid of. that s why we hear from him each and every day. thanks so you for getting up way too early on this friday morning and all week long. morning joe starts right now. the cost of this fight, it s not cheap. but caving to aggression is going to be more costly if we allow it to happen. russia is the aggressor. no if, ands, or buts about it. russia is the aggressor, and the world must and will hold russia accountable. president biden as he urges congress to approve a massive new aid package to help ukraine fight against russia. he wants quick passage, but we ll explain how the fight over