solemn anniversary with a moment of silence and other ceremonies. in washington, d.c., president biden and the first lady visited the world war ii memorial to pay their respects. in a proclamation marking pearl harbor remembrance day, the president encouraged all americans to reflect on the courage shown by the brave warriors that day. the news continues. let's hand it over to michael smerconish and cnn tonight. >> i'm michael smerconish. this is cnn tonight. president biden put vladimir putin on notice there will be consequences if russia decides to invade ukraine. but was he able to dial putin back today from the brink of war in their two-hour video summit? that's the looming question tonight. it certainly looks like the brink of war. russia's been amassing tens of thousands of troops on its border with ukraine, potentially as many as 175,000, along with weapons and tanks and other military equipment. all caught on satellite cam. could it all be just a bluff?

just a show of force? perhaps, but not likely. putin wasn't bluffing when his country invaded crimea in 2014 in violation of international law, and remember, russia annexed crimea from ukraine after a military intervention. the international community still considers crimea as ukrainian territory. so this was likely the most important foreign policy conversation of the biden presidency thus far. the secure call via video link, it began with pleasantries. >> hello. >> good to see you again. unfortunately, last time we didn't get to see one another at the g-20. i hope next time we meet, we do it in person. >> the white house says biden was then crystal clear about where the u.s. stands on this aggression. if russia further invades ukraine, america and our european allies would respond with strong economic measures

that could devastate the russian economy and would be much tougher this time around. here's jake sullivan. >> president biden looked president putin in the eye and told him today that things we did not do in 2014 we are prepared to do now. >> a package of sanctions didn't prevent russia from annexing crimea back when biden was serving as vice president. here's the read from the white house on putin's intentions this time. >> we still do not believe that president putin has made a decision. what president biden did today was lay out very clearly the consequences if he chooses to move. he also laid out an alternative bath. we'll see in the days ahead through actions, not through words, what course of action russia chooses to take. >> so why are russian and ukrainian tensions reaching such a boiling point again? we know putin's adamantly against ukraine's desires to join nato. he said last week he would call for specific agreements that would rule out any further nato

expansion eastward. we don't know if he addressed that with president biden today, but the white house says biden made no commitments, no concessions on the call. so where did they leave things? the two presidents asked both of their teams to follow up, and the u.s. said it would do so in close coordination with allies and partners. president biden will be speaking with ukraine president zelensky thursday, and that's the state of play. i want to know what you think putin is up to and what should the u.s. andts allies do if russia invades ukraine again. reach out to me via social media during the course of the hour. i will share some of your thoughts during the course of this program. >> we have two perfect guests tonight with their takes. a former supreme allied commander for nato joins us in a moment. first up is retired army lieutenant colonel alexander vindman, former director for european affairs for the national security council. he was a key witness to that infamous trump call with the president of ukraine that ultimately got trump impeached

the first time. he's also the author of "here, right matters, an american story. why is ukraine so important to putin." that's my question, colonel vindman. i want to know why is there such a fascination on the part of vladimir putin with ukraine. >> well, there's many different reasons. the first one is ukraine is central to russia's conception of itself as a great power. it believes ukraine is its right by history, and only as a freak of history with the collapse of the soviet union did the worst case unfold. russia losing ukraine. the heart of the empire. so that's part of the story. but there's something more fundamental. ukraine as a successful experiment invalidates putin's view of managed democracy. basically, this idea that he could -- that everything is

under centralized control, and with limited curtailed freedoms for the population. if ukraine is able to be successful, if ukraine is prosperous, and it's made some headway, significant headway since 2014, which is why we see ourselves in this situation right now. with a major escalation looming in the next couple weeks and months. if ukraine is successful, it basically proves his alternative view of managed democracy to be false. and on those two reasons are the driving force. that's why some of the conversation going on around security assurances that nato could offer, i see those as red herrings. i see those as negotiating tactics, trying to draw out compromises, trying to test the resolve of the u.s. and nato, but really, it's a question of whether he can keep ukraine in russia's orbit. he lost it in 2014. he lost it as a result of the revolution of dignity, and then the assault on ukraine. it's consolidated the ukrainian national identity, and he

thought he had done enough by taking bites out of ukraine, large chunks. that was wrong. ukraine has continued to make progress. and now he's trying to see if he can keep it. it's slipping through his fingers. >> you're the perfect -- you're the perfect person. i have something on my mind and you're the perfect person to ask because no one knows the dynamics as between the american government, ukraine, and russia like you do for the reasons i mentioned in your introduction. so here's the question. if putin really wants to invade ukraine, why wouldn't he have done it on donald trump's watch? >> well, i think he -- that's a very, very good question. i think part of it is that he saw an opportunity to get what he wanted through trump, whether it was the first administration or the second administration. he saw some continuing opportunities. now, he thinks that relationship between russia and ukraine will continue to grow, has been

rebranded, rebaselined. in some small incremental ways but he could see forcing progress continuing on through the next administration, through the next three-plus years. it just makes it that much harder for hem to keep ukraine in orbit. time is not on his side. he thought ukraine was going to be a failed state. ukraine is not a failed state. ukraine is going to continue to become a more difficult problem for him. this is the time to act. he also perceives a lot of opportunities with regards to the hyperpolarization in the u.s., the rhetoric from the right wing media, why should we care, we should just give ukraine to russia the way putin is asking for it. he sees the opportunity to leverage pressure, energy, this energy crisis in europe against europe. he sees divisions between europe and the u.s. this is the time to act. >> quick final question. guys like putin, they seem either to be in office, in jail, or dead. is it all about him asserting his strength and therefore trying to hold on to the office?

>> i think this is part of his legacy. i think he's definitely firmed up his control. there are no real contestants for power there in the short term. he does eventually have to identify a successor. right now, the question is what is his legacy? is he the gathering of lands, is he the one rebuilding the russian empire? is he the one retaining ukraine in russia's orbit? he wants to do this. i think it's a coin flip of whether this becomes the largest war in europe since world war ii. >> that's a scary thought. >> the u.s. cannot be on the sidelines. we saw what happened the last time the u.s. sat on the sidelines. >> thank you. we appreciate your contribution. >> thank you. >> a central question isn't just what the white house would do but the entire nato alliance. ukraine's interests in formally joining nato has been growing over the past three decades. when my next guest was the supreme allied commander for

nato, u.s. forces were under his command. james stavridis is also the author of the sailor's bookshelf, 50 books to know at sea. admiral, welcome. here's my first question. does ukraine stand a chance against russia in armed conflict? >> depends how you define a chance, michael. i think ukraine could make it very painful for russia. the vast majority of ukrainians will fight. they will fight to defend their land. they have improved greatly in war fighting capability over the last four or five years with u.s. and nato assistance. it will be a painful struggle for vladimir putin if he decides to invade. >> in other words, what i hear you say, admiral, is this could be a repeat for putin of afghanistan in '79. >> or chechnya. let's face it. the russians have experienced their own forever wars, michael.

and those ghosts rattle around moscow. putin is trying to weigh that precise calculus. if he does go across that border, he'll do it swiftly. h he'll try to carve out a chunk that creates a land bridge from mother russia to crimea. he's not hanging around for a long fight in ukraine. >> okay, admiral. here's another thought in my mind. is it in the united states' best interest to have ukraine in nato? and i ask that question because i'm sure many people are watching this discussion tonight, alarmed at the thought that the united states could get dragged into this, if ukraine is in nato, then that prospect of u.s. troops being deployed, american men and women, becomes much more likely. >> it does indeed. and in my view, we ought to be very measured in actually bringing ukraine or any other new nation into nato, michael. we have 30 countries in nato today. we have added several in the

last few years, in the balkans. 30 is a pretty good number, but that does not mean we cannot have close partners, as was mentioned in your introduction, ukrainian troops deployed under my command as part of the nato mission to afghanistan. they were part of our efforts globally with nato. we can have partners who are not full members. i think that's a sensible construct. >> i have to believe that over the course of your career, you have been dialed in on putin and his personality. do you think he knows tonight what he's going to do? >> i think he does not. he is weighing everything. he will have listened carefully to president biden. he's a former kgb intelligence officer. he's trained to weigh all of the factors. but we ought to remember he can be reckless, and it's not just 2014 when he invaded ukraine, michael. in 2008, he invaded georgia. he's rolled those cosmic dice

twice already. and if we let him get away with it again, crossing a sovereign border in anger, shame on us. >> i just have to repeat what i put to colonel vindman. if he really wanted to invade, you would think when he was on friendly terms with the prior american president, that would have been his moment. if you have a thought in ten seconds, express it. >> he above all seeks to divide american public opinion. he seeks to divide the nato alliance. he sees advantage in moving at this moment in both of those regards. >> admiral stavridis, that was great. thank you so much. >> my pleasure. >> what are your thoughts? tweet me or go to my facebook page. you know i enjoy doing this, which is the read some of the responses live and unscripted. what do you got from the world of twitter? here it is, always learn once a liar always a liar, putin. i know biden is trying hard to walk the fence to keep peace. some days you just wish he would, i think that's bitch slap

putin and the rest of the trump id idiots. kenny, it's an interesting dynamic what brought this about. on one hand, i was thinking maybe the cozy relationship between trump and putin allowed for the build-up of the circumstances that we face today. but as i expressed to my guests in the opening portion of the program, if putin really wanted to go in, you would think he would have done it on trump's watch. one more from twitter, if we have the opportunity. ukraine should not be prohibited from joining nato. if they meet the requirements in an effort to appease putin, it would be a military win for him without firing a shot. just factor in, though f all of a sudden you have ukraine in nato. what does it stay to the dynamics here in the united states? because now we're committing our men and women to respond in kind if a nato ally is attacked. think about that. >> president biden faces another big foreign policy problem. he ticked off china in the last 24 hours with his diplomatic boycott of beijing's olympics.

china's threatening the u.s. will pay the price, and my question is, did the president go far enough? should there be a full boycott pulling all our athletes as well? that's a survey question tonight on my website. at smerconish.com. i hope you'll go vote. we'll give you the results at the end of this hour. but first, insight from olympic broadcasting veteran and legend bob costas. he's next. ♪ limu emu... & doug ♪ ♪ superpowers from a spider bite? i could use some help showing the world how liberty mutual customizes their car insurance so they only pay for what they need. (gasps) ♪ did it work? only pay for what you need ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪ spider-man no way home in theaters december 17th

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who cares if tony blinken shar shows up at the olympics. >> maybe my view is too parochial, but recall what happened when jimmy carter put into effect a full boycott of the 1980 moscow games after the afghanistan invasion of a year before. it had little to no effect on soviet policy. the effect it had was it deprived all those athletes of their opportunity to compete. which is difficult for any athlete, but olympians spend four years in preparation, essentially in the shadows. then step onto the world's biggest sporting stage. this is a moment that you don't want to take away from them. it's not the only consideration, but i think it's an important consideration. and this will matter symbolically, the chinese say we'll pay the price for our wrongdoings, but they never want to pay the price or acknowledge their monstrous wrongdoings. >> to me, it feels like double secret probation. i hear you point about punishing the athletes. i don't know why it's always these --

>> take it up with dean warmer. >> good for you. i don't know why these international conflicts are always heaped on the olympics. like, why are the olympics such a convenient target for this? >> well, it brings virtually the entire globe together. and it raises the question about the ioc, a question i raised going -- >> 1996. >> beginning in 1996, when i ran afoul of the chinese because i said as they came in during the opening ceremony in atlanta, you're looking at the one nation that has the means and the motivation to replicate what the old soviet bloc and the eastern bloc did with their sports machine, with all that implies and a few other things, and orchestrated from beijing, there was an effort to have me fired. nbc would have none of it. then they said we'll accept a full public apology in primetime, and i wouldn't do that. eventually it went away. >> didn't they apologize. didn't nbc try to walk that back. >> there was some sort of boiler plate thing, it was in august. everyone had gone on vacation, and a pr man put out one of those sorry if anyone was

offended statements, bebut not with my approval. in 2008, president bush was there. in fact, he was seated next to vladimir putin when it became clear that russia had invaded georgia. and i mentioned the human rights record, not as often as i would have liked. networks tend to be timid about these things and i put the question to president bush when i was able to interview him. did the same thing about putin and russia when sochi hosted the olympics. here is china hosting an olympics again, what, a decade and a half after -- >> nothing has changed. >> one of the big questions now that you can't evade is what is it with the ioc and their affinity for authoritarian nations? there will be a summer olympics in 20 twathd in los angeles. it will have been since 2002 when the winter games were in salt lake since there was an olympics on american soil, yet

american television is the single greatest source of revenue for the ioc. many ioc delegates remain ticked off at the u.s. because a free press blew the cover off the salt lake bidding scandal. mitt romney had to come in and set the thing straight. the whole thing was up in the air. whole thing might have fallen apart. they have long memories about this stuff, and the ioc and many of those delegates act in a high-handed way. and in that sense, you can see where the affinity for authoritarian nations comes in. >> i have another acronym for you. it's not the ioc, it's the nba. i have to believe there are guys holding their breath because if there's sufficient grounds for this to be a diplomatic boycott, what does it say about the nba doing business in china? >> the nba is up to its neck in china. china is a huge sports market. basketball is especially popular there. but they will put up with not even the slightest criticism.

they reject it out of hand, and when they can, some of it may just be saber rattling like saying today the u.s. will pay the price for their wrongdoing, but to the extent they can, they exact a price. i am repeating myself, but back a couple years ago when daryl morey, the gm of the houston rockets tweeted stand with hong kong, rockets games were suddenly off the air for an extended period in china, and the rockets are one of the most popular teams there because yao ming was one of the first big chinese stars. more recently, enes kanter, celtics, a turk, he spoke out against china. same thing. celtic games like that, gone. i guarantee you that the feed of this conversation is gone. >> yeah. >> in china right now. >> i think most americans are not dialed in on the issue and want to make sure there's going to be an iphone under the tree in three weeks. you want do quick social media with me? >> sure. >> what has come in from the world of twitter, i think.

they'll put it on the screen. maybe the u.s. should stop having 80% of the goods we use come from china. well, that's my iphone point. your thought. >> well, that's a very large -- how do you unravel that? >> in 60 seconds or less. well, the point is we talk a good game. >> i don't mean unravel the issue. let's assume you wanted to do that. how do you unravel that? >> there will be a lot of goods that we're reliant upon that suddenly aren't available to us. >> by the way, a lot of nike's goods that benefit the likes of colin kaepernick and lebron james made in china. >> yeah. >> and those outspoken individuals and in many cases i think millions of americans would agree with their positions on domestic issues, but they are conspicuously mum when it comes to china, and no matter what the issues are here, and they're serious issues, in terms of dimension, they pale alongside what's going on in china. >> i think we talk a good game, but we are louis c.k. in first

class, how's my wireless. >> nice reference. >> follow the ancient tradition and set politics aside during the games. cities at war would declare a truce so that their athletes could compete. by the way, how about if we drop some of -- triumph of the will. hitler's documentarian. >> your reaction to this comment. this is pretty deep thinking. >> olympia was the other movie. the aryan glory. >> so wrap it up. what's the takeaway? >> i tend to agree with this person on twitter. which is, yeah, in effect, call an olympic truce. we know what -- >> i'm for that. >> we know what the subplots are. i'll also say this quickly. this is very treacherous terrain or at least tricky terrain for nbc. they have a small army of people there or will. and those who run the network have to be concerned with their safety and wellbeing. we have no idea what the chinese might do.

it might begin with cutting the feed if they're displeased. it also could begin with making life difficult for anyone up and down the ladder of the nbc hierarchy. >> it just feels half-assed to be. either they're deserving of the boycotts and athletes don't go, or don't even play this card. you know i love having you here. make sure you vote at smerconish.com on this survaive question. okay. >> you know i live on the internet. >> reach out, continue to reach out via social media, and i'll report back as to what you're saying as the program progresses. >> ahead, controversy over, listen to this, bob, over a restaurant denying service to three people who sat down with weapons. that sounds reasonable. >> but they were cops. >> but they were cops. >> on duty, in uniform. >> they say hey, you're not welcome here. so i'm about to get into that now with the chief of police from san francisco. >> and i'll leave you with this. i'm going to quote bill maher. when your position sounds like it could be an onion headline,

you have gone too far to wokeville. >> we'll be back in a moment.

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so a trendy san francisco restaurant closed tonight after backlash for refusing service to three on-duty police officers. it wasn't the badges that bothered the staff but the guns. this happened at a brunch spot called hilda and jesse. the officers sat down but were asked to leave when the owners said their crew not uncomfortable seeing the service weapons. . it's not about the fact we're anti-police. it's about the fact we do not allow weapons in our restaurant. we were uncomfortable, and so we politely asked them to leave. >> the outrage led to a wave of negative reviews on yelp. the owners are gnaw apologizing, calling it a teachable moment

for us as we repair and continue to build bridges with the sfpd. the city's police chief is here tonight, william scott, spoke with the owners by phone today. chief, welcome. what did they say? >> thank you, michael, for having me on. first and foremost, they apologized for what happened, and you know, said that it was a mistake. >> how did your officers handle this? >> well, our officers are professional, and look, this is upsetting. this is definitely was a disappointment when this happened. it was a disappointment to all of us who wear a uniform, i believe, but they were professional. and that's the type of department that we are and that we want to be. we understand that not everybody agrees with us sometimes, and not everybody likes us. but we maintain our professionalism. and we have been working very hard to protect and serve our city, and we have been working very hard on improving our department, and i think our

officers who have put in all of that work, they need support. >> yeah, it's a tough -- tough time to be in law enforcement. may i say, in your particular city, based on what i read in the newspaper, based on what i see in terms of the apparent attitude of the district attorney in your parts. i would hate to be a person in uniform right now. >> well, we have to stay focused on our jobs, what we can control, treating people with respect, being professional, and look, not to say -- we're all humans. we wear uniforms but we're all humans. we get things done to us and said to us that are hurtful, but we have to rise above it and be professional. that's what these officers did. i'm so proud of the work that we have done. you know, a lot of what's been portrayed in our city is a narrative that really is not our city. >> chief, you said the owners apologized today.

are you accepting of the apology, and what do you want for that business? because as reprehensible as i think it was for them to have asked your officers to leave, i don't want them wiped out as a result. lesson learned, right? >> correct. and on behalf of the department, yes, i accepted their apology. look, one of the things that we have to do, and this was said by the owners of the restaurant, is we have to sit down and have conversations. you know, that's what we do in this city. we know that there are sometimes opposite sides of conversations about police officers and policing. but we sit down, we have conversations, and we can agree to disagree, but there has to be some civility in this process. you know, time is a healer. and you know, people were upset about this, and rightfully so. >> no doubt. good but time is a healer, and we're willing to have, as a department, sit down and talk to anybody who is willing to sit down and talk to us. >> i applaud your attitude. thank you so much for being here. >> thank you. thanks for having me.

>> sure. >> next, we'll turn to a triumph in college sports overshadowed by backlash. a champion swimmer set to make history, but because she's transgender, she faces the same criticism others like her now have dealt with for years. a transgender sports pioneer is here to walk us through what critics might be missing and the questions that remain even in 2021. that's next. mprehensive wealth n for your full financial picture. with the right balance of risk and reward. so you can enjoy more of...this. this is the planning effect.

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and earn a cash bonus when you open a new eligible account and complete required activities. a remarkable college swimmer named leah thomas making national headlines, and it's not just because she won three events, smashed three school records, and two ivy league records in one weekend. one race, notably, by a 38-second margin. but anger stems from the fact that she's a transgender athlete, these headlines speak for themselves. the editorial board of the new york post claims, quote, dominating in women's sports as a trans lath lete is fundamentally selfish. the same sentiment is echoed in numerous bills and legislative efforts across 31 different states attempting to restrict trans youth from participating

in sports. i want to bring in veronica ivy, two times masters track cycling world champion. thank you for being here. you're both an athlete and you teach sports and trans ethics. can we be fair and inclusionary at the same time? >> oh, yeah. i think that the idea that fairness and inclusion are somehow in tension with each other is a fundamental disunderstanding. fairness demands inclusion. we have to start from a place of inclusion, and when i think about these sorts of headlines about, like, dominating. those sorts of headlines have been used against me, for example. even though i lose most of my races. and the fact is that we don't use those headlines for male athletes. so if we want to talk about swimming, for example, i'll talk about a swimmer who has 28 olympic gold medals or sorry, 23 olympic gold medals, 8 gold

medals in a single games, 39 world records, 20 guinness world records, and for 4 olympics in a row, he was the most decorated athlete period, and that's michael phelps. phelps actually truly dominated at the highest level, and we celebrate people like phelps. >> do you not concede any advantage held by leah thomas? the margin of those victories are pretty astounding, right? >> no, they were very long races where those sorts of margins happen. let's remember, she broke her own school's record. she didn't set records for the ncaa. she set an ivy league record, which is itself a subset of u.s. colleges. so she didn't set an ncaa record. so why are we so afraid of a trans athlete doing well? >> why do these controversies seem to stem from competition involving transgender women but

not transgender men? is there anything to be read into that? >> yeah, it's real simple sexism. so it is basically that -- >> well, no, but i'm asking the question of where in reverse are the transgender athletes who are breaking records and winning races? >> oh, you mean, where are the trans men? >> yes. >> so the most commercially successful trans athlete in the world is a man. it's chris moser. he's a nike sponsored athlete. he had during the 2016 rio olympic games, a primetime ad by nike. there was, of course, the wrestler, mack begs, in texas, that he was forced to compete in the girls' competition as a trans boy. and won against everyone's wishes. because states like texas do not let trans athletes compete in the gender they really are.

so trans male athletes are absolutely out there. so why is the focus only on trans women? well, it's misogyny. it's secism. >> i wiessh we had more time. to be continued, as they say. >> you, too. >> we'll be right back. liquid-fe clinically shown to cause fewer ulcers than plain aspirin. try new vazalore. aspirin made amazing!

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with deep repair has the science to show that the toothpaste goes deep inside the exposed dentin to help repair sensitive teeth. my patients are able to have that quality of life back. i recommend sensodyne repair and protect with deep repair. today marks 80 years since the infamous surprise attack on pearl harbor, a day that would change the course of our nation's history. just as our democracy was tested, we find ourselves in a different but dangerous war on truth and democracy and science. cnn's john avlon is here with a reality check. >> 80 years ago today, pearl harbor was attacked, dragging america into the second world war. it remains a date which lives in infamy, as fdr said, but it followed more than a decade of depression. in which democracy seems to be in retreat against authoritarian

regimes. by comparison, we have it easy. but democracies are again suffering from self-doubt as authoritarians seem on the march. over the past six years, america has endured sustained assaults on truth, democracy, and science. leading to reduced trust in our institutions and each other. those breaches don't heal overnight. it has a downstream effect, tainting a rising generation with a sense of pessimism. and perhaps the most stark snapshot of that came from a new poll of young people age 18 to 29 conducted by the harvard institute of politics. it shows that a majority believe that our democracy is at risk. and who could blame them, after seeing a president lie about election results, incite an insurrection, and then see one party follow him into la la land. but the very nature of the big lie that means there's a partisan divide. get this, while 44% of democrats say our democracy is healthy or at least somewhat functioning, only 23% of republicans feel

that way. but there are other partisan divides that speak to the trust deficits facing both parties. for example, democrats have a problem when it comes to patriotism, or at least perceptions of american exceptionalism. just 21% of democrats surveyed agree with the statement that america is the greatest country in the world. while 64% believe that there are other nations as great or greater than america. and among republicans, those ratios were nearly reversed, with 62% saying that america is the greatest. but when it comes to the science of confronting climate crisis, republicans are clearly on the back foot when it comes to young americans. a solid 55% say that the federal government is not doing enough to combat climate change, which includes 68% of folks with a college degree and 50% without. a small slice, just 14%, think the feds are doing too much. which lines up with the do-nothing climate change denial of donald trump. while president joe biden's popular has dipped to 46% today,

he is still far more popular among young people than trump ever was, and the ex-president's approval is double under water, with 63% unfavorable and just 30% favorable ratings. interestingly, for all our dysfunctional partisan divides, there's a glimmer of hope here, or at least a demand for something different. get this, by a 2 to 1 margin, 43 to 21%, young americans say they would rather have elected and spence of their preferred policy. their ideas are tempered by a deep pessimism. the poll asks americans to put a percentage on the chance the united states would see a second civil war in their lifetimes and while these dramatic what if questions should be taken with a pound of salt, it's still not reassuring to see 35% of respondents place the likelihood of a second civil war at 50% or higher in their lifetime.

behind these hard numbers is an even harder psychological impact. the survey found 51% of folks say they felt down, hopeless or depressed over the past 12 weeks while 25% think they would be better off dead or hurting themselves with young women particularly feeling that way. if you're feeling depressed, don't be afraid to ask for help. you're not alone but also remember that we are made from sturdy stuff. the so-called greatest generation suffered through the great depression and world war. they were great because they overcame great obstacles and found they didn't have to be perfect to be heroes. for all our very real challenges, the 80th anniversary of pearl harbor is a reminder we've been through worse. that attack caught america by surprise by within years the world found out a diverse democracy found strengths authoritarians can't match when we work together with a sense of urgency toward a common goal and

that's your reality check. >> john, i'm so glad that you referenced pearl harbor in the way you did on the 80th anniversary because it makes me nervous too few talked about it today. luckily, you did. anderson did just before my program began tonight. we just marked the 20th anniversary of september 11 and i get nervous 60 years from now, not enough people will be talking about that important milestone so really good stuff on a variety of levels. >> that historical amnesia is dangerous. we learn from history to be a god and give us courage. that's what we need right now. >> john avalon, thank you. we'll be right back with your reactions to tonight's program. . but when it comes to my insurance i don't. i use liberty mutual, they customize your car insurance, so you only pay for what you need. wooo, yeaa, woooooo and, by switching you could even save 665 dollars. hey tex, can someone else get a turn? yeah, hang on, i'm about to break my own record.

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time to see how you responded to tonight's cnn

question. did you agree or disagree with this? the u.s. should implement a full boycott of the beijing olympics. agree or disagree? is the result. we had more than 8,000 votes tabulated. interesting. a nearly, let's call it two-thirds disagree, disagree with the proposition that we should have a full on boycott. i talked with bob costas about this earlier tonight. he thinks the athletes would be punished if it were a full on boycott. i agree with that but i don't like the half measure of diplomatic protests. as i said, i mean, tony blinken doesn't go. does that take notice? we're all in or all out and i don't like the half measure adopted by the biden administration. here is reaction that came in during the course of the conversation. i love you tweet at me while i'm speaking. happy we have a president not afraid to take action against russia. i say hit them where it hurts, right in the wallet and stop the pipeline, seize foreign assets, whatever it takes. ukraine has a right to its

sovereignty. does that 2020 was decided by women? okay. i like your handle. does that include the commitment of american troops if it comes to that? i appreciated having admiral staff formally the supreme ally commander for nato and i said to him, what are the dynamics for the united states? of ukraine joining nato. ukraine wants to be in nato under president zelensky but once they're in, we're on the hook. think about that. what would be the sentiment of americans if all of a sudden, our men and women had to go and fight for ukraine. i'm raising the question and that's part of my anancestry. smerconish, many wonder if russia would call the u.s. if remass troops on the boarder with mexico. good news is we won't do that any time soon nor on the

northern tier. one more if we have time. i think we do. screw the olympics, the ioc is as trust worthy as fifa but let's allow the existence to inflame tensions. the ioc? how about the nba? that's the acronym -- i think lebron and others holding their breath watching how this plays out because if in fact we have a diplomatic protest against the olympics, what does that say to the nba as they're trying to expand the market share in china. one more because i have time. i love this part of it. i don't see these in advance and you're saying to yourself, we know because your responses are so weak. i'm a solid no on boycott even putting aside the athletes olympics are an avenue for better relations as is the u.n. i'm reminded of samantha smith and that even small openings might be leveraged to better relations. that's my approach, as well. either all in or all out but

probably all out and why the olympics? international strife gets heaped on the olympics. that isn't fair to athletes. figure out another avenue. i'll be back here tomorrow night. "don lemon tonight" starts now. >> that's the most exposure i've had to social media in like two years. >> you're probably healthier as a result. >> i do. i cut my consumption of social media and i'm happy and no knee jerk reactions to people criticism but you take it very well. i just can't deal with it anymore because i get the trolls. >> tonight we're kind. we'll see what tomorrow night brings. >> you never know. i'm sure you get some of that, too. >> oh my god. >> can i talk to you about something? we were talking about foreign policy and china and ukraine. but i want -- kitchen table stuff i'm happy about that we'll cover in the show and that is very happy about the price of gasolineor