0 wednesday december 21. the story goes on. look forward to seeing you back here tomorrow. thanks for spending your time with us. we look forward to the news conference at the white house in short order. you'll see that as "your world" continues moments away. see you tomorrow. have a great evening. >> thanks from our people to your ordinary people, americans. i really appreciate. i think it's very difficult to understand what it means when we say appreciate. but you really have to feel it. thank you so much. >> look who dropped in the neighborhood. you're looking live at the white house where in about a half an hour or so, president biden and president zelensky will be holding a joint news conference, this is as he prepares to address members of congress with lawmakers poised now to approve another $45 billion in aid to ukraine. a lot of that tucked in to that $1.7 trillion dollar under the spending initiative. we have you covered in every way with everyone with jacqui heinrich at the white house on what we're hearing. chad pergram on capitol hill on lawmakers split on all of that money we're spending. nate foy in kyiv on what russia is saying and retired four-star general david petraeus on how the u.s. should be responding. welcome, everybody. i'm neil cavuto. glad to have you on this very busy news day. history at the white house. we'll be going there shortly. first to jacqui on what is at stake and what we'll be seeing minutes from now. jacqui? >> good afternoon. the president is announcing a new package of $1.85 billion in security assistance to ukraine, which includes a patriot missile battery. it's the most significant aid transfer the u.s. has made since the beginning of the war, which fulfill as request from kyiv and gives them new strength to defend their cities. today john kirby said the conditions on the ground have really shifted as winter has set in. putin's increasingly relied on ballistic missile and cruise missiles and drones. the u.s. being careful not to frame this patriot system as any kind of an escalation. >> we're certainly not encouraging attacks inside russia. we're not encouraging attacks outside of ukraine. we don't believe that an escalation beyond what is already been an escalated conflict in terms of what he, putin, is doing against civilian targets. >> the cell lin said moscow will target any batteries ukraine receives. ukrainian troops will need weeks of training. so patriots won't be operational until late winter, early spring after the u.s. troops help the ukrainian troops to help learn the system in reportedly germany. the president is going to urge congress to continue supporting ukraine with the new republican-controlled house signalling that future aid will undergo more scrutiny. right now lawmakers are debating a year-end spending package that includes about $45 billion in emergency assistance. >> i want the administration to up their game and give the ukrainians the capability to go on the offense more effectively to end the war on terms favorable to ukraine and us. here's the problem. there's no off ramp for this war. somebody will win and somebody will lose. >> so we'll soon learn more about what president biden and president zelensky discussed in their oval office meeting. officials said today this was not about forcing zelensky to negotiate with putin as the commander-in-chief of his country, he gets to determine what his conditions are. at this point, putin has not indicated he's even willing to negotiate or engage in such talks, neil. >> neil: thanks, jacqui. now to chad pergram on capitol hill. a unique role on the part of president zelensky today addressing what i guess they're calling a joint meeting of congress, correct, chad? >> that's right. as the war dragged on in ukraine, some republicans grew increasingly resistant to helping. the gop could turn off the aid spigot when it controls the house next year. >> no more blank checks for ukraine. we want to make sure where the money is spend and what is the strategy behind it. >> there's worry a gop house may not approve aid for ukraine. zelensky's visit comes as the senate could vote tonight on the 1.7 trillion omnibus spending bill. it includes $45 billion for ukraine. tommy tubberville is a no on the bill and immediate money for ukraine. >> we're borrowing all the money. it's not like we have $45 billion just to send to ukraine. i'm all for helping and haven't be. i didn't vote for the $40 billion. i think we do too much at one time. give them a little at a time. all of that amount of money is hard to oversight. you can't keep up with it. we're flushing money out. we don't know where it's going. >> senate minority leader mitch mcconnell paid a visit to zelensky in kyiv in the spring. he says the global community should accelerate aid to ukraine. >> the most basic reasons for continuing to help ukraine degrade and defeat the russian invaders are cold hard practical american interests. helping equip our friends in eastern europe to win this war is a direct investment to reducing putin's future capabilities to menace americans. >> it's not unusual to have a war-time leader speak to congress against the holidays. winston churchill did so on december 26th 1941, just after the u.s. entered world war ii. now, zelensky requested aid when he spoke virtually to a joint meeting of congress in march and former ukrainian leader poroshenko asked for aid in a similar meeting in 2014. neil? >> neil: amazing. thanks, chad. president zelensky will be on capitol hill addressing that congress at 7:30 p.m. eastern time. let's get a read meanwhile on how russians are responding to this. for that we go to nate foy in kyiv. nate? >> hey, neil. russia sent multiple messages today. first at noon. a russian fighter jet took off capable of launches a hypersonic missile and few close to ukrainian airspace. they were testing the ukrainian air defense. so that was one thing. the other putin made another nuclear threat today. that's president putin. president zelensky of course is waiting on the joint press conference with president biden at the white house. let's show you how he got to the states. this was at a train station in poland. you can see him get off the train. he's accompanied by security. just hours before that yesterday, take a look at this. if you remember, we reported about a gift that ukrainian soldiers gave to zelensky for the u.s. congress. it was a signed flag with letters of appreciation to u.s. lawmakers for all of the military aid throughout the war. zelensky promised them he would deliver that flag. president putin meanwhile is promising today that russia will achieve its goals in ukraine. he says his military will get stronger as they get for fighting experience. again, putin also made a nuclear threat today. take a listen. >> we will continue to maintain the combat readiness and improve the combat readiness of the nuclear triad. >> as for the patriot missile defense system as part of the u.s. aid to ukraine and jacqui touched on, this it will take several months for the united states to train the ukrainians on how to operate and maintain the system. every day counts here. we've had three air strikes in kyiv in the past week. now back to you. >> neil: thanks, nate foy in the middle of that. the russians are not really pleased with these patriot missiles that they're provocative actions that the united states is taken. the read from that with general david petraeus, the former cia director, retired four-star general. served this country honorably. good to see you. >> thanks, neil. >> neil: the russians call this as you know, general, other weapons that we provided provocative. these especially so. what do you make of that? >> well, it's ironic since they're purely defensive, neil. what they will do is substantially augment the capabilities of the ukrainian anti-ballistic missile defenses in particular. we have provided very capable shoulder launched anti-aircraft defense systems. but they only range to about 10,000 feet. we've provided others that provide a medium range, this will provide the high range that will be so important to defeating the ballistic missiles from russia that pack the greatest punch and thus do the greatest damage and destruction to the civilian infrastructure that the russians have been targeting trying to turn out the lights, turn off the heat and turn off the water for the ukrainians during this winter. >> neil: so i don't know the complexities of these missiles. i take it they can shoot down drones. they can't go so far as to get into russia, correct? >> that's correct. now, again, these are not -- this is not an anti drone system, this is an anti ballistic missile system. so this will be focused on the cruise and ballistic missiles that russia has been shooting at the major truck infrastructure sites around kyiv, kharkiv and so forth. the drone problem is a separate one. but much smaller munitions. these are huge munitions and have a lot of explosive power. so when they get through the defenses that ukrainian has, which are gradually being depleted, they're doing enormous damage and destruction. so this will help to plug that gap so very substantially augment with a much more sophisticated system than ukraine has right now. it will be months, months. the ukrainians have should tremendous ability in their training. they don't take coffee breaks. they want to get back to the front lines and remarkably quick at picking up the skills and the knowledge and expertise needed to deploy the sophisticated systems that we have sent to them. this of course today i assume the announcement that president biden makes will take our assistance just since 24 of february, the invasion, to well over 21 billion worth of arms, ammunition and other materials. that's really extraordinary and dwarfs all of the other western assistant. i'm very much with senator mcconnell on this. this is not just about helping ukraine preserve their sovereignty and ensuring secure of nato, europe, this is about cold hard u.s. national security interests. >> neil: might very well be. as you heard a lot of republicans are chafing at the hide that we're picking up most of the tab, 80% of it tucked into that omnibus spending measure. democrats are trying to push it as ukrainian need us, we need your vote to approve this. but some republicans including kevin mccarthy himself who could be the next speaker wants to track exactly where this money is going. what do you make of that? >> i think that's very legitimate. there's numerous initiatives ongoing and more as a result of this legislation to try where it's going. various inspector generals and accounting offices and mechanisms needed to do that. so that is absolutely valid. those concerns are real. there shouldn't be a blank check. he's correct about that. there should be a check, however. frankly the biggest champions as you heard, lindsey graham, senator mcconnell. these are the republicans in the senate. this are the individuals that hung with us during the tough early days of the surge in ebb -- iraq. they are solidly behind this and i fully agree with that and certainly with the other members of congress from both parties that are supporting it, this is about our interests at heart and make no mistake about it what we do here resonates around the world. if we want deterrence el where to be solid and we wanted a -- want adversaries to recognize our will to deploy our weapons, it's important we do it here. we've been leading nato -- >> have we been overleading nato? the reason i ask, germany and some other countries have been very reluctant to go knee deep on these expenditures. there's frustration expressed about how long this goes on. this seems to be on us. largely us. are you comfortable with that? >> yeah, i'm very comfortable with it frankly. have i shared the frustrations of leaders of both parties when they've been in the white house about a desire for europeans to do more for their own defense? certainly. absolutely right. the bottom line is if the u.s. does not lead and do the biggest amount of the support the rest of the world doesn't follow. welcome to life as the super power of the western world. >> neil: general, i'd be remiss if i didn't mention comments out of vladimir putin who yes reportedly had issues, his word, with the russian army going on to say that the war is becoming extremely, again, i don't know what the russian word for complicated is, but he said complicated. what do you make of what he's been saying and the signals he's been sending? >> he's been all over the map. he's obviously completely miscalculated from the very beginning. he has reacted as ukrainian has seized the strategic initiative as it launched counter offenses, won the battles of kiev and other northern cities, kharkiv, retook part of the area that is to the west of the nipro river in south and launched a very impressive counter offensive in the east. he's trade everything he can that will be domestically palatable to mobilize additional forces. it's not going well. they aren't training and equipping them adequately at all. he's in a very difficult position. i don't think he's yet willing to acknowledge that russia cannot out suffer the ukrainians, the americans and the europeans, which i think he still believes is possible. i think there's going to come a point and we need to haste sen that moment when he realizes this war is not unsustainable because of the terrible losses on the battlefield which are many times what they sustained over nine years in afghanistan, just in the first ten months of this war, but also the damage that's being down to their economy, their financial system, his personal confidants, the sanctions against them and the export controls that are bringing their industry to their knees. they have said they're setting their economy foundation back by two decades or more. on the other side, ukraine clearly needs to have this damage and destruction to their infrastructure stopped and have russia withdraw and then get some kind of security guarantee that will be essential to enable a martial-like plan. these are elements of some ultimate negotiated resolution. when that moment arrives, when that might be possible is very hard to tell. it depends on the battlefield and on the continued damage being done to the russian economy and financial system. >> neil: i don't know where these negotiations would go if we ever get there, but obviously he, vladimir putin, would want something before he leaves. he wants land. land captured on the east that russian soldiers have some control over, but the ukrainians have made it very clear not an inch. that seems like a chasm there. what does i'd mean for vladimir putin to go? >> none of us can talk about the idea that there's some land for an agreement. the bottom line, there's some point and impossible to predict because it depends on how the battle goes in the future and how difficult the losses are for the russians and whether frankly russian forces start to crumble and collapse or can hang tough. there will come a point i believe where putin will recognize that this war is unsustainable in the same way that afghanistan was unsustainable for the soviet union after nine plus year there and withdraw from that endeavor. >> neil: that was nine plus year. we're not even a year in to this. >> no. but he's sustained many times the losses on the battlefield in ukraine this they sustained in over nine years in afghanistan. this is going much more rapidly in that regard and much -- really quite abysmally for russia even though the lines right now have stabilized. each side is trying to build up forces. something that i think the ukrainians will do much more impressively once again than the russians as they have since the beginning of this invasion and war. they're fighting for their independence. russia is fighting for causes that their soldiers don't really completely understand. >> neil: general petraeus, thank you. if we don't talk again, hope you have a merry christmas. thanks for being here. >> thanks, neil. >> neil: general david petraeus. moments away from seeing something pretty historic for the first time, president zelensky of ukraine is out of ukraine throughout the war. he's refused to leave the country. again, much of the aid depends on the approval of the omnibus spending measure, 1.7 trillion. let's go to rebecca heinrichs right now. rebecca, that aid is pending. it's coming. i don't know whether it will be in the form of this omnibus spending measure. he's going to get it. there's new chiefs in town in the house that will police it more aggressively. what do you think of that? >> i think it's fine. the concerns are valid. they want to know where the money is going. as general petraeus said, there's oversight measures that were inserted in this omnibus bill for ukraine. that is to the credit of mcconnell and other republicans. all of this senior republicans in the house of representatives who are the most senior on all of the appropriate committees are on the defense for ukraine. they want to learn the lessons from afghanistan and make sure that we're tracking weapons systems and reporting back to congress that the american people are confident that the american is going to u.s. interests to make america safer, freer and more secure. that's what this is for. helping ukraine. it has a direct connection to american security interests. there's a lot of good stuff in this. i know the overall omnibus is eye watering it's so big. i'm very supportive of the work that was made to pup in this bill for ukraine. >> neil: i don't want to overstate it because i am the numbers nerd here at fox. you can't help but mention that we're more than 3/4 of that aid coming ukraine's way, which could explain by zelensky's first visit outside ukraine is to his biggest benefactor, the united states of america. are you surprised that europe hasn't kicked in more? >> no, i'm not surprised. zelensky is smart. he knows that all of this falls apart if the clock runs out, the inpatience of the american people kick in and the united states withdraws its hand from the security of ukraine and from the leadership role we played to the european continent. europe is not a monolith as we talked about before. germany does not have the spine necessary to hold a coalition together. and good and determined allies that have contributed a lot. po poland, the british have been very good on supporting ukraine. all of those countries, none of them are able to hold the coalition together. it's only the united states. if we withdraw our hands, it all falls apart. zelensky understand that. >> neil: you know, we're in it as long as it takes the president says. but its been taking upwards of a year now. we're patient about it. obviously zelensky himself is very grateful for the fact that we are and keep forwarding the money and the weapon systems. i'm wondering how long you see this drag on? no signs right now that vladimir putin is blinking or retreating. if anything, he's gotten much more terror-minded and much more just evil in an assault object average citizens and children centers and hospitals. that is not eased. he's up the ante with these various missile strikes. more than 100 in a single 24 hour period. what do you make of that? >> this is where i become critical of the biden administration's approach. while i'm glad they decided to stick behind ukraine as we witnessed the biggest deterrence failure since the cold war, russia's invasion of ukraine. i could see it coming a mile away. i think it was due to the biden administration's misassessment of the threat that russia posed. and a series of signalling. once that happened, the biden administration has been very risk averse. if you kind of go back and look at the weapons that zelensky wanted to push russia out, you think about the h