Hello from CNN I'm Joe Beck with the five things you need to know for Thursday

September 21st. As much of Washington anxiously watches to see if we're heading

towards a government shutdown in 10 days time, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy appears

to be optimistic.

We're very close there.

We're in a good place where we are.

That was McCarthy talking to reporters after a marathon two and a half hour GOP conference

meeting last night.

He says they made tremendous progress, but he wouldn't say if he had enough votes on the

table to pass his temporary spending proposal.

The plan would keep the government open for 30 days and would allow for some funding to address

debt and border security.

But the level of spending is still far lower than senators from both parties and the White House

are willing to accept. So even if McCarthy gets it through the House will likely move from one standoff

to another. One of the sticking points could be the amount of aid for Ukraine

that's included in the spending bill something that Ukraine's president

Vladimir Zelensky will likely be addressing as he visits Congress today.

And while Zelensky's been in the US calling for more aid, Russia has launched a deadly wave of strikes across his country this morning.

The attacks hit at least five major cities, killing at least two people

and wounding several others. CNN's Katie Polgles explains why the timing of this

attack is important. Well Joe this is a further evidence of the civilian toll of

this conflict one of those injured was just a nine-year-old girl in Kiev and

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