amna: In the day's other
headlines,
Ukraine's president zelenskyy
rallied support in London and
Paris, on just his
second trip abroad since the war
began.
Britain announced for the first
time, it would train Ukrainian
pilots on western jets,
as Ukraine braces for a new
Russian offensive.
Nick schifrin has more.
Nick: For 900 years princes and
politicians have walked these
steps, in Westminster hall.
Today, to rapturous applause
the leader fighting Europe's
largest war in 75 years,
predicted freedom would win.
>> We proved together that the
world truly helps those who are
brave in defending freedom and,
thus, paves the way for a new
history.
Nick: And Ukrainian president
volodmyr zelenskyy asked for a
specific weapon by handing the
house of commons speaker the
helmet of a Ukrainian pilot.
>> We have freedom.
Give us wings to protect it.
Nick: Today Britain pledged to
train Ukrainian pilots on
British jets, including
typhoons.
And British prime minister rishi
sunak said providing Ukraine the
jets was not off the table.
>> The first step in being able
to provide advanced aircraft is
to have aviators that are
capable of using them.
That is a process that takes
some time, we started that
process today.
>> I heard from Mr prime
minister the desire to provide
fighter jets.
When it comes to supplying
typhoons to Ukraine, not
everything depends on the
decision of great Britain alone.
Nick: So far, the United States
has refused Ukrainian requests
for f-16 fighter jets.
Senior us officials believe they
are expensive, difficult to
maintain, and would duplicate
some of Ukraine's existing
capabilities.
But today secretary of state
blinken did not rule it out.
>> This is an evolving process,
and we will continue to make
judgments about what we think
Ukraine needs, and would be most
effective.
Nick: Today zelensky also
visited Paris, to meet French
president Emmanuel macron, and
German chancellor olaf Scholz.
Zelensky pointed out when he
last visited Europe, he got tea.
>> We will be there until the
end, until you are victorious.
Nick: Today, he got tanks.
>> Thank you so much.
Nick: A declaration of unity.
And the first ever meeting
between a Ukrainian leader, and
a British monarch.
For the pbs newshour, I'm Nick
schifrin.
Amna: The French and German
leaders
said later that zelenskyy will
attend a European union summit
tomorrow, in Brussels.
Investigators report they have
strong indications that Russian
president Putin approved sending
missiles to Ukrainian rebels,
who then, shot down a Malaysian
airliner in 2014.
But the international team said
today, the evidence is not
conclusive enough to prosecute
Putin or anyone else.
The attack on the airliner
killed all
298 people on board.
A Dutch court already convicted
2 Russians and a Ukrainian of
shooting down the plane.
The U.S. Military now says the
Chinese balloon shot down off
South Carolina was part of a
global surveillance effort.
The U.S. Says it was a spy
balloon.
China denies it.
But a Pentagon briefer today
pointed to Chinese balloon
flights over 5 continents in
recent years.
He said they're aimed at
gathering military data, and he
confirmed previous flights
involving the U.S.
>> We are aware that there have
been four previous balloons that
have gone over U.S.
Territory.
What we do know is that in some
cases, whereas some of these
balloons previously had not been
identified, subsequent analysis,
subsequent intelligence analysis
did enable us to indicate that
these were Chinese balloons.
Amna: The state department says
U.S. Diplomats have briefed
dozens of countries on those
Chinese surveillance activities.
A Texas man has pleaded guilty
to federal hate crimes in one of
the country's deadliest mass
shootings ever.
He was accused of killing 23
people at an El Paso Walmart in
20.
Federal prosecutors agreed not
to seek the death penalty, but
he still faces a possible death
sentence on federal charges.
>> A a congressional hearing
that made a mistake, but they
denied being pressured by
Democrats.
The hearing was dominated by
claims and counterclaims between
Democrats and Republicans now in
the house majority.
>> Instead of allowing people to
judge the information for
themselves, you rush to find a
reason why the American people
shouldn't see it.
In a matter of hours, you are
deciding on the truth of a story
that spans years and dozens of
complex international
transactions.
You did this because you were
terrified of Joe Biden not
winning the election in 2020.
>> A whole hearing about a 24
hour hiccup in a right wing
political operation.
That is why we are here right
now.
And it is -- it's just an abuse
of public resources and abuse of
public time.
We can be talking about health
care, we can be talking about
bringing down the cost of
prescription drugs, we can be
talked about abortion rights,
civil rights, voting rights, but
instead we're talking about
hunter Biden's half fake laptop
story.
Amna: Republicans say this was
just the first of more hearings
to calm on the president's
family and on big tech.
In economic news, the Walt
Disney company announced a major
restructuring that will cut
7000 jobs, three point -- 3.5%
of the work force.
And, on Wall Street:
Uncertainty about interest rates
and inflation kept stocks off
balance.
The Dow Jones industrial average
lost 207 points
to close at 33,949.
The NASDAQ fell 203 points --
1.7%.
The S&P 500 slipped just over
1%.
Still to come on the newshour.
Multiple security breaches at
the Dallas zoo raise questions
about animals' safety.
And one exceptional man's take
on being inspired by the natural
world.
>> This is the "Pbs newshour."