Ukrainian President Volodymyr
Zelensky will begin a day of high
level meetings on Capitol Hill.
He is set to meet with senators
and have a one
on one meeting with the House Speaker
Mike Johnson,
before he heads to the White House.
Senators are getting more pessimistic
about a deal on immigration
in order to greenlight aid to Ukraine.
Republicans say Zelensky's
visit will not do anything
to change their demands
that US border policy
be dealt with as part of this
We have a responsibility.
The United States of America.
That would be me going back to my state
and saying I care about people
in other countries,
but I don't care about what's happening
in my own country.
It's important that we actually do
two things at once here
and we're the United States of America
is not that we look at other nations,
we go, Gosh, they're really in trouble,
but we're getting more
our own needs as well.
We've got to actually pay attention
to our own needs.
While we're also
dealing with the needs around
the world as well.
That was Oklahoma Republican Senator
James Lankford,
who is the lead Republican negotiator
on immigration policy,
the lead Democratic negotiator
on all this,
Senator Chris Murphy,
has warned, quote,
The future of the world is at stake
if we fail
or if he also says Putin
is delighting in Republicans insistence
that we get a deal on immigration reform.
Russia does appear to be celebrating.
Look at Russian state TV
we cannot trust
what's happening in the U.S.
is beneficial for us. Like you could.
Ukraine is losing.
Russia is winning.
This is it.
Their funding and weapons came to an end
as of now.
Well done, Republicans.
They're standing firm.
That's good for us.
Even Mitch McConnell Well done, Gramps.
Joining us now is Senator Chris
Murphy of Connecticut.
Senator,
you said the future of the world
is at stake
and you're shaking your head,
I think, because of what you just heard
from Russian state television.
You guys have 48 hours.
Are you going to get this done?
Well, I hope that president's
visit is impactful,
but that's absolutely remarkable
to listen to.
Vladimir Putin's
mouthpieces on Russian state
TV celebrating Republicans decision
to hold up aid to Ukraine,
which they say they support
because they want to get Trump
border policies
put into law,
something that
the American people don't support.
I just think this is too important
to play games over.
Yes, I'm in the room
trying to figure out a path forward
on these Republican demands
because failure cannot be an option.
But we shouldn't have to be here
if we all agree
that it would be terrible for America
and terrible, terrible for the world
for Vladimir Putin to march
through Ukraine
and potentially into Europe.
Then let's stop him from doing that.
I have lots of domestic
political priorities.
I would like to see
universal background checks
or a ban on assault weapons passed.
But I am not conditioning my support
to stop Vladimir Putin's
march into Ukraine upon the resolution
of my domestic political priorities.
Because if all of us did that,
Washington would grind to a halt.
We've got to get things done
when we agree.
And Republicans say that they support
Ukraine funding.
So I wish they would just put their votes
where their mouth is.
Instead, we are
in a difficult negotiation
on border policy
that may come to a conclusion this week.
It may not.
But the future of
the world really is at stake.
James Lankford, who we just
heard from
your Republican counterpart
in all of this, said,
look, it's the Biden administration,
the president
that coupled this all together
in his supplemental request.
He put border funding with Ukraine
and Taiwan and Israel funding.
You said the
White House is more involved now.
Do you think he has a point
by saying the Biden administration
coupled it together
and now we've got to deal with it together?
I don't because it's fairly
normal for there
to be these emergency spending bills
before Congress
when we have insufficient funds for
the operation of the border
or for our foreign policy objectives.
It's very different
to say
on top of that funding,
we are going to make
major changes in law.
And that's what Republicans are asking for.
They're asking
for very severe,
very draconian immigration policy
changes, policy changes that they know
could not pass if they weren't
holding up support
for the war against Vladimir Putin.
But isn't that the exact
that's the difficulty isn't that.
Isn't that their exact point?
Well, this is a no, it's a crisis.
I think many people agree
what's happening at
the border is a crisis.
So this is a moment
we got to deal with it at home
and then we're going to help Ukraine to
Yeah, I think we should separate the two.
I don't think that
Vladimir Putin should be
given a green light to invade
and conquer Ukraine.
And Europe simply
because for 40 years
we've had a tough time
coming to a conclusion
on immigration policy.
But listen,
Poppy, we're going to work at this.
I'm at the table.
I hear what Republicans have been saying.
We are going to try
to come to a conclusion.
And I'm sitting down with Senator
Lankford and others in good
faith this week.
And you did point out,
look, in your words,
this is ten times more complicated
than even gun reform
to have comprehensive immigration reform,
which I think speaks to
just what you guys are up against.
You know, what I'm really struck
by, Senator, is
is a sentiment of the American people.
There are a number of new polls out
that show
that the support
for more funding for Ukraine is waning.
I mean, just look at the Pew numbers.
31% of Americans
think the US is providing
too much support to Ukraine.
The same thing is reflected in Gallup.
What do you say to those people at home
who feel that way?
How do you change their hearts and minds
Well, listen, I think we do
labor under the consequences of
really bad American foreign policy
for the last 20 years.
When the American public
looks at the places
where the United States has been involved
or funded wars overseas,
few of them have gone right.
I admit that right,
from Vietnam
to Afghanistan to Iraq to Syria.
But this is different.
This is the World War
to the post-World War
to Order coming undone.
And if big countries can reset
their borders
by invading smaller countries,
then I think it's just a matter of time
before American troops
are directly at war
with a big power abroad,
whether it be Russia or China.
So this feels different to me.
If we don't hold the line here.
Ultimately,
I think we're going to have American men
and women
fighting and dying overseas,
which is something
that I don't want
the American people don't want.
Senator Murphy, Thursday
marks 11 years since the tragic massacre
at Sandy Hook Elementary.
It is the reason it propelled you
to Congress to try to change things.
This has been your fight on guns
of your entire career in Congress.
The youngest
Sandy Hook victim would be 17 today.
They'd be finishing high school.
They'd be planning for college.
They'd be with their family,
getting ready,
celebrating Hanukkah,
getting ready for Christmas. All of that.
Our latest analysis at CNN is
that there have been 80,
80 school shootings
just so far this year,
most of them on K through 12 campuses
reflect on the last 11 years where
we are and where we go
You know,
listen, obviously
this is a really hard time for all of us
as we get ready to mark.
11 years since Sandy Hook.
I've spent a lot of time
with the families from Sandy
Hook at this time.
And there's a descent that happens
for all of them
as they get ready for December 14th.
And yes, the mass shootings and school
shootings are still at historic highs.
But there is some good news.
We passed last year, the first
bipartisan major change in gun
laws in 30 years.
We broke the back of the NRA.
And overall gun
violence rates
in this country are actually down
by a significant number
since we passed that bill over 10%.
The mass shootings are still high,
but there are far
fewer people
dying from guns this year than last year
because we passed legislation
making it harder for dangerous people
to get guns.
Now, that means there's 100 people,
not 110 people dying every day.
That's still far too high,
but it shows what is possible.
And what is possible
is real changes in gun laws
because we've built a movement
since Sandy
Hook of kids, adults, community members
to make sure
that we are more powerful than the NRA.
So it is a very sad time of the year,
but for me,
it's a reminder of what is possible
and what we've actually
achieved in the last decade.