I'm Brian Lehrer. This is my daily politics podcast from WNYC Studios. It's Wednesday, March 9th.

Senator Kirsten Gillibrand joins us now for her monthly visit. She's a member of the Armed

Services Committee,

so we will definitely talk about the delicate line that the U.S. is seeking to walk right now

on how far to go to support Ukraine without becoming a military party to the war ourselves.

This is becoming a bigger thing and more complicated. For example, Poland, did you hear this yet,

is apparently trying to

escalate the war, kind of in our name, by sending MIG fighter jets to a U.S. NATO airbase in Germany

to fly from there into the contested airspace over Ukraine. So far, the U.S. is calling that plan

untenable. And Ukraine's president, Zelensky, wants us to enforce a no-fly zone over Ukraine, but that too could mean direct combat between the U.S. and Russia and launch a wider war. President Biden had also been resisting the boycott of Russian oil because of the price increases. It would impose on

Americans, but bipartisan pressure, including from Senator Jillibrand, got him to do it. And yes,

the price of a gallon of gas has been going up in the U.S. daily now. As you know, New York State

Attorney General, Letitia James, is looking into possible price gouging, that is, using the embargo as an

excuse by unscrupulous sellers in the gasoline industry. So we'll talk about all that,

but there is also some good news, bipartisan good news, no less. Senator Gillibrand and Senator

Lindsey Graham were together representing their parties at a White House signing ceremony

for the ending forced arbitration of sexual assault and sexual harassment act.

So, explain how that protects workers and shines a light on the process that tens of millions

of American workers don't even know we're subject to until they have a problem,

so-called forced arbitration that their employers impose. Senator Gillibrand, always good to have you.

Welcome back to WNYC.

Thanks so much, Brian. How are you?

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