cap. >> c-span is your unfiltered view of government. supported by these television companies and more, including coxe. >> coxe is committed to providing eligible county -- eligible families access. >> coxe supports a c-span as a public service, along with these other television providers, >> talks about the latest news on russia's military invasion of ukraine. politico's andrew desiderio previews the week ahead in

congress, including tuesday's state of the union address. -- tuesday state of the union address. join the conversation. next on washington journal. ♪ >> it is the washington journal for february 28. officials meet in belarus as what is being described as peace talks. in the background, -- ukrainian forces fight them off. you can comment on these new developments during our first hour, including russia upgrading its nuclear posture. if you want to comment on any of these things you can comment (202) 748-8001, (202) 748-8000 democrats (202) 748-8000, and

independents (202) 748-8002. if you wish to text us you can do that at (202) 748-8003. our facebook page is -- washington post takes a look at this recent increase in posture by rusher when it comes to its nuclear arsenal and what exactly does it mean. you can find it on the website. part of the story is -- saying sunday's announcement would enable russians -- to transmit a nuclear launch order and will make it less vulnerable to detect -- decapitation -- russia has nearly 6000 warheads, slightly more than the united states.

according to the federation of american scientists and a story adding that it follows the warning in the speech last week that the operation in ukraine, outside countries that interfere , would see -- a remark that many analysts saw as a nuclear hint. belarus being the topic when it comes to -- others reporting that the country held a referendum on sunday to adopt a new constitution. when the country has become a launchpad for russian troops invading. the key vote, it was certain to pass. -- could see nuclear weapons on soil -- it raises the stakes at a time when the president in belarus has fallen behind russia's -- after earlier

playing an intermediary role between the two neighbors. that is on the russia side of what is going on particularly when it comes to nuclear issues. it was on the sunday sows yesterday. nato's -- shuffle its troops in preparation for possible aggression from russia. on the sunday shows yesterday, here is a portion. >> -- poses an imminent threat to nato neighbors? >> we do not see it eminent. we see a more aggressive russia which is contesting core -- to our security. also threatening nato allies. that is exactly why we ordered -- since 2014 increased our presence. have stepped up further with thousands of more troops and also deploying parts or elements

of the nato response force for the first time in the collected defense mission. this is something we do to -- miss calculation in moscow about our readiness to protect and defend all allies. -- will trigger a response for the alliance. we are preserving peace and that is the core purpose of nato. we have done that and we -- in the face of a new and more dangerous security reality in europe. >> the security element being one piece. this all serves as a background as we that at the open officials from ukraine and russia meeting in belarus and what is being described as peace talks. that is playing out even as we speak. we will show you more of that as news comes from that. if you want to comment on these developments when it comes to the ongoing issues between the russian in -- wish -- with the

russian (202) 748-8001 (202) 748-8001 invasion. for republicans. (202) 748-8000 four democrats. (202) 748-8002 four independents. or you can text us at (202) 748-8003. democrats lined in sterling, virginia. caller: what can the american people expect when you had an awful triggers form of president trump? you showed those clips of him at cpac and another one of his disgraceful performances. basically attacking our heads of government and sit -- and praising putin. him and the republican party are nothing but a pack of traitors. host: how does this relate to the new events in russia? caller: trope and they republicans basically enabled putin to do what he is doing

now. they wanted to disband nato. which further weaken our nato alliances. putin was emboldened by this. he thought he could go into ukraine and basically taken over. ukraine people, to the credit, have fought against this. it was donald trump who got the ball rolling. host: republican line, joe is in california. caller: previous collar has been listening to the media too much. the problem is that biden need -- projects weakness in the world -- a subtext to what has transpired. host: how does it relate to what is going on currently?

let us hear from paul in kentucky. caller: this is what happens when you have a week full that we have as the president. this did not happen under president trump. that first talker proves that there is a full born every minute. host: why do you think that equates to what is going on currently especially with the announcement from russia and the peace talks? caller: because he is a week how full. this did not happen under president trump. this happened under president biden. host: how do you equate that? caller: because he is weak, a full. host: bob in yuma, arizona. caller: hello.

i read since this morning's paper that biden is leading russia sells oil on the open market, oil and gas. i thought that was supposed to be on the no sale list. i was hoping to get someone's answer to that problem. host: what do you think of the increased threat of nuclear --? caller: i have no idea what in the world. the man is a madman, i think. to mention such a stupid thing. host: when it comes to the weapons capability of defense of ukraine and u.s. assistance, and the washington post under the

headline russia is rushing to arm ukraine -- it highlights the previous trump administration and the administration of obama. -- president obama -- the united states committed more than $600 million in security assistance to ukraine in 2014 22016 including body armor, trading -- refusal to provide -- became a broker republican talking point. that led john mccain to charge -- that ukrainians are being slaughtered that we are sending blankets and meals. highlighting the trump administration's response to it. president trump had his own problem with ukraine, very little had it to do with protecting it from russia. -- 2017 delivered in april the

following year they were not delivered to the front lines for the separatist war. under the terms of the war, they were kept in boxes where they were to serve symbolically as a strategic deterrent to russia. it was in the 20th 19 that president trump be froze -- security assistance to ukraine. an action that later became the centerpiece of his impeachment. with peace talks currently underway between the two countries with the raising of this nuclear threat by russia, we are getting your comments. you can call us on the lines or you can text us as well at (202) 748-8003. you can post on our social media sites. republican line in maryland. caller: everything that is going on is self-inflicted. here we are for four years we

have been told that russia and donald trump is a spy for russia and democrats -- come to find the democrats were behind-the-scenes working with russia to overthrow an election. in 2019 president -- then candidate biden said that he knew how to handle putin and he would take care of it better than donald trump. so far he has caused all of this. i do not trust biden. host: how do those relate to actions as of today? caller: it is escalated things. it started with taking the missiles out of poland under obama. everything he has done has done has been done to undermine our country. our enemies in charge, they

would do the same thing biden has done. host: from virginia, democrats line. caller: good morning. this all actually should have been resolved when that intelligence meeting took lace in finland between donald trump and putin. we want to know what was really said. that is one of the things. the intel that they said -- trump said i believe putin's intel. they have been doing this for decades. rick -- russia has been doing this for decades. how does it relate to today? in ukraine, they planned this. their doctrine is decades.

our -- ours is four years. it is troubling that no one sees this. i wish the world well. i spent 10 years over there in the army. host: let us go to rose in florida. independent line. caller: i think putin wants to make it a soviet union again but the ukrainian people do not want it. they are leaving, they are fighting back. so what disputed think he will have? a bunch of rubble when he comes in? he wants statues erected in his honor, that he brought back the soviet union and nobody in ukraine once it. host: why do you think president putin is interested in reviving the former soviet union in a sense? caller: he is living in the past. he thinks he's going to be the

greatest hero, that he brought back the soviet union, black to its glory. he is going to have statues erected in his honor. it is all in the past. ukrainians do not want it. what is he going to comment on a chariot? all full of rubble, no people. host: do you think the pushback president putin should be a ukrainian problem or the united states, nato and other countries should be doing? caller: it is going to develop where other countries are going to have to do more like world war ii. there was a policy of appeasement and then all of a sudden the united states had to get in because of pearl harbor. it could turn into something like that. host: that is rose in orlando florida. these peace talks going on and also the increase threat. if you go to the headlines of

major papers, all of them reflecting that kind of sentiment. this is the washington times, putin raises threat of nuclear arms. new york times, -- agrees to talks without preconditions. the washington post this morning using bold font, russian nuclear forces on alert. those sentiments being played out in most of the major papers this morning when talking about those ongoing issues between russia and ukraine you can comment on those this morning. what do you think as far as overall what it means for the countries involved including the united dates. in maryland, democrats line. caller: i am an american of ukrainian descent. all i have seen for what putin did yesterday is the desperate posturing of a man who is trying to save face in the face of his

army basically being seen as a corrupt group of smoke and mirrors rather than an actual fighting force. host: expand on that. what lead you to believe that? caller: their inability to achieve any of their major objectives within ukraine and the fierce fighting that ukraine has given them. it has made him desperate it seems to try to save any face. this nuclear posturing is just a way for him to try to threaten the world and make it seem like he is still strong and in control. the fact that these peace talks are being held without condition were even a day before that they were desperately saying they were going to need all of these conditions from ukraine is a clear sign that he is at the end host: of his rope. . host:how do you think sanctions and the more that are coming are factoring into this? caller: i believe that the united states along with its

allies and the rest of the world are doing the exact right thing by heavily sanctioning russia, appealing to its people to try to change and supplying ukraine with the means to defend themselves. host: alex, in jessup, maryland. to the effect of those sanctions and the response from russia just to show you the headline, the russian central bank now saying they played more -- to more than double the key interest rate to 20%. under its keen -- the bank would be freeing rubles and bake resource. -- the central bank -- the dramatic developments -- that is some of the economic sanctions and to the background of what is

going on day to day. columbus, ohio. independent line. caller: i think the russians are threatening us with nuclear power because they are scared. i have a couple of opinions on this. one thing the president and congress have put on their big boy pants and paid attention of to what is going on. donald trump has not been in office for over one year. biden's son -- biden has not been active. host: as far as the point of wounded being scared, exactly why? caller: if he does not threaten us or any other countries they are surrounding ukraine, we might go in and take advantage of what is trying to do.

host: one of the things to watch out for for congress this week when it comes to aid to ukraine, axios and others asking the white house to approve 6.4 billion dollars in aid. that number could increase according to some other reporting. watch out for that to play out this week and congress. you can also go to our website and stay close to that at c-span.org or our app is available to us. the new united nations nations special session being called for later on today. you can watch that on c-span or c-span now. this is in ohio on our independent line. caller: hello, pedro. i am concerned because i do not know if you or your listeners

are aware of the fact that russia is taking control of chernobyl. chernobyl is nuclear power plants, 15 nuclear reactors and russia has seized control of chernobyl. what this means is this. they are going to use their own plants as nuclear anatomic threat to the people of ukraine because that particular plant for chernobyl supplies 50% of the electricity for the ukraine. by putin having control of this this is a major problem. if he decides to contaminate that area further, by taking out the nuclear power plants are some of the reactors there is a lot of problems. host: as far as what are you seeing, with these peace talks and increase threat by russia inc. creasing their threat, how

does that factor into the days ahead? caller: you've got so much firepower that russia has available and surrounded ukraine with i think it is just a matter of time before the ukrainian forces are going to cave and fall to what is coming around them. putin has positioned a lot of military strike force available in the areas. they are putting up a good fight and i went ukraine to win. that is my point. but when you have an onslaught of military power, it is going to be tough to battle. host: john in ohio on the independent line. talking about the defensive efforts of ukraine. ukraine's ambassador to the united states talking about the ukrainian military effort and what the country will need from the united states and others when it comes to keeping up that effort, here's a portion from yesterday.

>> we need more defensive weapons. we are grateful for everything that is about to come and we need more. we are defending our country against a very strong enemy. we also need sanctions, more sanctions. we need russia to clearly see that and feel that it is not ok in the 21st century to attack another country. a sovereign country, without any reason. i would also like to use this opportunity to call on america -- this is a full-fledged unjust war. it is time for many american businesses to also think, i know how hard it is. -- the former minister of finance i understand. i think it is time to -- not cooperating with a regime that will end up in the -- everything they have done and everything to ukraine. boycotting russia vodka, not

enough? >> that is not enough. ukraine is a country that went through horrible times in the previous century. we have lost so many of our jewish brothers and sisters in the holocaust on our territory. survivor of holocaust, -- you always have to take sides because the silence or neutrality always helps the oppressor and never those who are oppressed. it is time to take sides and it is time to take ukrainian side because we are defending our home. host: that was on abc's this week. aaron in virginia on the democrats line. caller: i strive to have the -- to answer the question, i feel as though russia making these threats has placed them in the position where they now have to

follow through. with the reclamation of ukraine, because putin was slated to make russia great again by collecting these assets. bybee him making that threat whether it is a cyber threat and remember putin did attack us on the cyber front which should be seen as an act of war. it is not our friend. he should be taken very seriously. these threats that go on and within being sort of getting cozier with china who is also -- not our friend. who has also been to cyberattack us. we had been attacked by this -- regardless of where you whether you like the president americans need to move with one voice and condemn russia for their attack. this is either the end of ukraine or the front where we are going to have to face, instead of to russia. host: to that point of standing

up. what do you think is our capability? ukraine's capability to stand up and united states nato and others? caller: we need to speak with one voice because russia in their eyes -- if this is a nuclear threat that needs to be taken seriously and responded to. it is sad, i live in the d.c. metro area, i know this is a target. the reality is that if you start making those threats, and putin has been emboldened by seeing the lack of support that we have given ukraine and that ukraine is so close to them. right now, ukraine is desperately pleading to the rest of the world, to say hey, you see what is going on. he lied saying this is military exercises out of sight of donbass. we know that was a lie. now it comes a time where we have to play sanctions and if

sanctions are not hard enough we have to put people in direct opposition to. if we get attacked cyber we have to deal with the consequences. enough is enough with putin playing these games and being emboldened by his allies to move and speak this way. russia is not the united states of america. let us get that clear. host: to the digital part of what is going on between the two countries, the caller mentioned cyber threats. censorship is one of the topics being played out in the papers today. this is your times with the headline kremlin steps up online censorship. warned google, tiktok and others -- the end of this month to comply -- the landing law makes companies and their employees more vulnerable to russia's legal system and demands of government sensors according to

legal experts -- this adds that the moves are part of a pressure campaign against foreign campaign -- to block and slow services as the authorities are pushing the companies to censor unfavorable material online while keeping probe dublin media unfiltered. -- google has taken steps to do so. twitch and telegram have not. mezzo the parent company of facebook and twitter have complied with portions of that landing law. if you go to the washington planet -- washington times this morning for their perspective they are saying it was facebook said friday, there -- posted by state run media organizations. in response, moscow has -- announced a restriction.

ordinary russians are using our platforms -- posted on twitter, we want them to share what happened and share what happened. john is next on the republican line. caller: i spent 28 years in the united states air force in strategic air command so i have a working knowledge of what nuclear war is all about. one of the points that everybody keeps talking about is these nuclear missiles that used to be in the ukraine. those were not ukrainian missiles, they were the soviet russia -- rocket forces that were poised to be shot to the united states or wherever they decided it was to store things. it is not like you -- it is not like ukraine had nuclear weapons. i cannot fathom that putin would shoot off a intercontinental --

intercontinental ballistic missile from russia. the gentleman talked about living in washington dc. the united states has its own intercontinental ballistic missiles that would go the other way. i don't know why everybody is putting their hair on fire and running in circles over the nuclear threat. host: this recent announcement by russia and not a concern? caller: to be quite honest, not to be. it is nuclear war. it is a quantum leave from anything else. i spent 28 years in that business as an aircrew member that was going to take off, fly and drop atomic weapons on somebody. it is not just ok we will snap our fingers and start a nuclear war. the gigantic portions of that are unfathomable.

i do not put much in the fact. putin is not going to start a nuclear war. that is all there is to it. host: he also said he is not going to start a conflict but here we are. caller: for 20 years ever since the soviet union was broken up, he wants to put it back together. groves troops going into ukraine is taking it back. he is not going to start a mobile nuclear war because he is not going to have anything to come back to. host: john in louisiana. putting his military experience into the mix when it comes to comments about these situations. you may have that experience and want to edit. (202) 748-8001, for republicans. (202) 748-8000 four democrats. (202) 748-8002. or you can text us at (202) 748-8003.

let us hear from james in new hampshire. democrats line. caller: the last caller was very correct in the fact that imx air force but he made one small error or. the fact that he was crew chief, i was actually down in the launch control facilities in the u.s. air force in north dakota. i am not telling you anything that was confidential but i lifted. when you are down in the lcs 175 feet below ground and you are training for nuclear war, it is the most terrible thing. i would like to say to america, please, nuclear war is the worst scenario that you could ever deal with and that is my aesthetic point of view.

objectively, it is a situation where i think putin is overstepped his bounds. he has gone into a sovereign country that i think he underestimated himself where he did not understand where a lot of people of his age which is close to my age, 60's, or watching tv. state tv in russia is not what a lot of younger people in their teens and 20's and early 30's are watching. they are all on digital devices which is wonderful. the more information and communication anybody can have is great. it suggests -- i suggest anybody in america, please, take news sources from everywhere. fox news, cnn, msnbc, and washington journal. thank you.

host: james talked about the information coming across a lot of digital platforms including the internet. it was a tweet sent out that had video of a rally in support of ukraine. this taking place in st. petersburg, russia. there is a portion of that. >> you can find more of that on various digital platforms. some members of congress commenting on the events of the day. representative josh gottheimer says this, while putin invades -- the democratic -- call to -- another -- ridiculous.

senator lisa murkowski saying the world is watching, the senate must agree to a package with aid and sweeping sanctions against russia including strict embargoes against his energy and seafood. -- are at stake. you will hear from members of congress particularly with the debate starts in that package of epic economic aid. stay close to the website and our app. minnesota, the independent line. caller: it is very interesting, impressive to see how unified the europeans are including switzerland that i heard this morning. switzerland is freezing bank accounts and i believe that is the only way out of the dilemma. if we are unified, go against

badness and that is all i have to say to that. host: we will go to alfred in california. i'm sorry, in georgia. democrats line. caller: -- host: you are breaking up, quite badly. if you could, i will put you on hold and try to get your signal better. you are not getting good signal. try again and we will come back to you. this is matthew in north carolina, independent line. caller: hello. i wanted to say, this is a

pretty much, you could see this coming back in 2004 when he invaded georgia. at least i think it was 2004. then, 2014, crimea -- the soviet union, all the satellite nations especially ukraine was their bread and butter when it comes to agriculture. i think he is trying to put up old iron curtain and that is my thought. host: if that is the case, if he is trying to do that, what do you think of our response to date and will it keep that from happening? caller: well, i know russia has

a nuclear power but i really think the whole world is pretty much against what putin is doing and i think this is a war that is worth fighting. if he is not stopped, who knows how long this will go on? host: did you expect the response for the world community that you are seeing? what was your reaction? caller: i was not that surprised but it makes me glad to see the whole world stand up for ukraine , a sovereign nation. they have a right to be free and putin, he went in there with

everything to his disposal. ukraine still whipping him so far. host: that is matthew in north carolina. thank you. let us try alfred again. alfred, in georgia. hello? i apologize, alfred. you are breaking up still. if you can, give us a call again. mark, in dallas texas. caller: good morning. this is not a threat. this is reality. this is what the man will do. two years ago, mr. putin stated

and declared that the russian army is undefeatable because any nation that attacks it, he will attack with nuclear weapons. he leads that he can survive a nuclear war -- he believes he can survive a nuclear war. -- we have no solution to him. that is the reality. he can hit us quick and we cannot stop him from doing this. he will do this. host: if you think you cannot stop them from doing that what do you think of our ability to respond if he does? caller: it is a question of him diminishing our response. for example, our airfields will be gone. i suspect that our aircraft carrier task force will be gone. of course, our submarines can respond.

our missile silos can respond. where should does have defenses against those weapons. they are indeed themselves capable of shooting down hypersonic rep missiles. he brings he believes he can bring some down. moscow has defenses where they can put a nuclear umbrella, explode nuclear weapons over the city that can take out incoming weapons. whatever his process are -- the man believes he can survive. -- his civil society will be sustained. host: you are quite knowledgeable on those things how did you come to that knowledge? caller: i only read. i do not read pop culture and -- i go for the facts. host: dallas, texas. talking about the nuclear portion of the current

conversation that is taking place between russia and ukraine. you can add yours to the mix. this talked to ed in maryland. democrat line. caller: one of the differences between germany going into poland in 1939. once again the united states is late to the party. as soon as he started gathering his troops on the borderline, the united states should have put takes and men on the ground right there also. i guarantee you, putin would not have done anything. plus, our friends would've had followed us. once again, we are not leading and then why aren't we not afraid of a country who has the gdp of texas?

it is very tough to send in missiles now. how are you going to send ukraine anything? it is very tough now. we are just late to the party again. host: usaid united states should act unilaterally? caller: when it comes to war there are no rules. if putin following any type of rules? heck no. he is doing whatever he wants to do. we should've had confronted him at the borderline ended our friends would've followed us. the whole world would have followed us, once again we are not leading. host: let us hear from larry in

florida. independent line. caller: good morning. just two points. number one. biden should've had the military stuff for ukraine prior to this action. the russians were therefore what? a month? biden should stop the oil we are getting from russia so russian has money to carry on this war. maybe biden should -- start up our own oil. host: adding oil to the mix. that is the subject of several stories. the wall street journal talking about british petroleum, bp selling its stake in an oil giant. saying the company -- maximum possible impact valued at $14

billion. an expected charge -- bp relies on -- one third of its oil and gas production. another buyer could be interested -- potential chinese interest. rapidly changing -- more complicated -- a russia buyer or consortium of buyers seem less likely. sunday would be well to unload the stake weekly. when it comes to oil industry here in the united states, this is oracle to poochie writing for the new york times. the uterus -- the crux of the industries -- makes a world already reeling from high oil prices more dependent on oil and gas from russia, a rifle and

superpower. -- industry demands -- the biden administration has -- the main driver of climate change. the administration should release permits for drilling on federal lands, according to the lobby. more tracks for offshore loyal -- offshore oil and development. white house press secretary talking about summer publicans concerns about energy here and at home. here's the response. >> he says the united states should be doing more to crack down on the russian energy sector. here's what he had to say. >> how about we impose those sanctions but we lift all of those restrictions on production of american oil and gas so we can start drilling on federal lands and putting out new leases. so we can read open the keystone pipeline that would bring more oil into the america from canada. >> is the president open to

those proposals? >> on the energy sector, the way president biden has a post sanctions is we want to take every step to maximize the impact and consequences on president putin while minimizing the impact on the american people and the global community. energy sanctions are on the table what we have not taken them off. we also want to do that and make sure we are minimizing the impact on the global marketplace. i would say that the congressman's recommendations there, the keystone pipeline was not processing oily -- that does not solve any problems. that is a misdiagnosis of what needs to happen. i would also note that our oil leases, what this actually -- we need to reduce our dependence on foreign oil, oil in general and we need to look at other ways of having energy in our country and others. we have seen over the last week

or so, a number of european countries recognizing that they need to reduce their own reliance on russian oil. i am not sure we agree on the assessment. energy sanctions remain on the table. >> let us hear from helen in washington dc. democrats line. >> all of a sudden he is talking about nuclear weapons re-. all of a sudden, north korea is sitting off missiles. that is an ally of russia and china. i am concerned about that. you do not hear about north korea. north korea has been to russia several times. we need to pay attention. that is my concern. host: to the caller's point, it is the associated press saying that north korea launched a

ballistic missile into the sea. it is a test that came the wildly united states is focused on the invasion of ukraine. -- some experts say that north korea is trying to perfect its weapons technology. -- amid long stalled disarmament talks. north korea could see the preoccupation with the ukraine conflict could be a way to -- without a serious response from washington. independent line in pittsburgh, pennsylvania. caller: i just wanted to know if russia just needs a warm water ports in crimea and that is what it is all about. -- ukraine to get crimea who we have allies with. they have a warm water port.

peace talks are a good thing. host: what are the -- what is the importance of a warm water port? caller: he is real low in russia. it would increase their -- host: republican line. caller: good morning. i heard a couple of points. first, responding to an earlier caller who said -- get this bowl rolling. the biden and obama administration got this ball rolling. they allowed him to take territory during their administration. second, on the sanctions, when biden was speaking about sanctions last week i picked up my local paper and the headline said biden holtz all oil and gas

leasing amid -- he sanctioned u.s. producers harder than he did russia. host: what do you think about the increased nuclear threat? caller: putin knows that nuclear war is unwinnable. nobody wins. host: you saying he would not go forward? caller: i do not think he would? nobody wins nuclear war. host: jerry in virginia, giving his thoughts. the topic of refugees in light of what is going on, that is the topic of a posting by abc news out of hungary. this from the associated press, the mass exodus of refugees from ukraine showed no signs of stopping on monday. you it estimates more than 500,000 people have escaped. long lines of cars and buses have depth at checkpoints --

others cross the borders on foot, dragging their possessions away from the war and into the security of the eu. several refugees were gathered at the hungarian border. i cannot pronounce the lame but they awaited transportation to take them further into hungry. you can read that at abc news. a few more minutes on this topic especially in light of this new posture from russia and nuclear capability talks going on between russia and ukraine. this is tina in virginia. democrats line. caller: michael really is based on family history. it breaks my heart to see this all happening. my father went through this as a small child and ukraine and they had to flee during the early 1940's and they had to walk across the continent and they were bombed and they were buried under rubble and they made their

way eventually to the united states after that war was over. through the help of generous people who help them. we grew up knowing these stories and having that fear. your life can change in an instant and you see in this day and age that it really can and it is still happening again. the same as my grandparents. they lost their entire families. at least five members of their families. they want people to remember, politics are fine and all but there are human lives over there that are being changed forever. they really need to think, you know, what can we do to help because i am here today because someone helped my father and members of him family. he was able to go on with his life.

we always had that in the back of our mind, what happened to them and how it happened and how this was scary. to see it happening again is very upsetting and i hope that everybody prays for the people ukraine and everybody in the world. bring some more kindness back into the world. it would make so much difference because it is really heartbreaking to be. host: tina in virginia. let us hear from philadelphia, pennsylvania. caller: good morning. god bless us. she is right. more kindness in this world. for the draft dodging donald trump, those of the republican party that still want to back him, you know what would've happened? god bless biden. he is standing up in the world

and standing up against putin. while you are eating your eggs and bacon, safe in your homes -- host: as far as the increased nuclear front desk nuclear threat and these peace talks with you think? caller: thank god they are still trying. those folks are walking and trying to get out of harm's way. because of what? job said -- are you kidding us? host: as far as the former president, that is one thing. what do you think the current president is doing right in the situation? caller: he is doing his best. he is brought the world together. oh my god, look at the people. the way they are bobbing the buildings and stuff. it makes no sense. honest to god. thank god the world is come together. host: we will leave it there.

we will go to randy in wisconsin. republican line. caller: good morning. it is just too bad that one man in this world can cause all this trouble. russia is a beautiful country. and he has a big cities and stuff that are beautiful, to take care of. people believe, for the most part are happy. to go in and intervene and invade crib ale like he has and because all this terrible trouble, and it is all about oil. oil money, oil. if biden would open up the keystone and start letting -- in the private and federal land and fire up that great big newfound gas deposit up there in

pennsylvania, get that over to those cities and cut russia back a little bit on his oil. he has goaded all wrapped up with oil over there. -- i am going to start your oil off. we need to ship some of our oil and get our country back to independence. so we do not have to depend on anyone else. -- the way this country has gone with biden in there. host: do not forget. if you are interested, united nations holding a debate today. that will stop -- that will start at a proximately 10:00 this morning. you can go to our website at c-span.org or our app. if you want to check out the international response to this as far as congress meeting, we

will talk about this later on in the program. sanctions program, assistance program that is being debated, you can stay close to our website and app for that. windsor, connecticut. you next. caller: this is not about oil. this is about democracy. thank god donald trump is not in their because he held back aid to ukraine for a big lie and these russia republican supporters. host: how does that relate to the current events? caller: i am glad there are peace talks. we need peace talks. we need peace, kindness like the two callers said. this is about democracy. this is not about oil. this is about the stock market. nobody can stop the stock market. host: what do you mean about

democracy. caller: ukraine wants to be independent from russia. that is what the u.s. is about, that is what the european union is about. they just want peace. we have a world order and then here comes this job, putin, and he wants to upset things because he wants to go back to the dark ages with russia. host: gwendolyn from macon, georgia. democrats line. caller: thank you. i am calling because i am thinking back to when president kennedy was in. our missiles were on alert then because of russia had them put ballistic missiles in cuba and this is sort of the similar because president kennedy felt that we were threatened.

i think that his whole situation can be worked out. all this talk they are doing and most people have no idea what is really going on but this can be resolved. i do not think that the soviets put the nuclear stuff on alert because they plan to start a war. i think they did it because he said because of everything that was being said from our people, not just our people, but around the world. avon's -- i even heard joe lieberman call -- putin something. i said this man is out of his mind. we do not need a nuclear war and

people think it cannot happen but anytime missiles are put on alert, it certainly could happen. caller: i am getting disturbed about the total lack of the russian point of view in all of these reports. i am hearing that putin that -- is a monster and a satanist. it is almost a hysterical russian bashing from the lame stream media and the russian point of view is suppressed from the american people. guest: what is the russian -- host: what is the russian point of view?

how would you surmise that? caller: my field of study -- host: what is the russian point of view of all this? caller: it is that increasingly, nato has been assessing their borders with massive weapons provided by the united states. host: you think the invasion is justifiable from russia? caller: they have gone too far. the provocation of it was the expansion of nato. russia was begging us not to do that. host: is it justifiable? caller: you are interrupting me. you are asking me about the justification. the final tripwire was under

pressure from the united states, germany close down the pipeline. that is 25% of the russian economy. they were in a desperate -- situation relative to their own future. the donbass region of ukraine, there was eight years civil war. many people were killed. they had no defense from this imperious -- superior forces of russia -- western ukraine. there were bacon -- baking for russian help. they wanted to have a neutral zone between western ukraine and the donbass region and instead, we provoked russia into this stupid invasion. host: with all that said, is it just the file in your mind?

-- justifiable in your mind. caller: yes they were. host: this is larry. more on these topics particularly -- joining us is kurt volker. -- also the state of the union coming up, nominees to the supreme court. joining us is andrew desiderio. coming up next on washington journal. ♪ >> this week on the c-span worker -- networks, as the crisis on ukraine continues, watch our latest coverage on the response. the house and senate are in

session and president biden speaks before a joint section -- session in congress. c-span coverage begins at eight p.m. eastern with the president's speech at nine. had to c-span.org for scheduling information or to stream video live or on-demand anytime. c-span. your unfiltered view of government. >> at least six presidents recorded conversation in office. here many of those conversations on c-span's new podcasts, presidential recordings. >> you will hear about -- the march on selma and the world -- on -- war on vietnam.

not everyone knew they were being recorded. >> certainly johnson's secretaries new because they were tasked in transcribing the conversation. they make sure they were taped as johnson would signal to them. >> you will hear some blunt talk. >> -- they died, the numbers assigned -- if i can ever -- >> presidential recordings. on the c-span now mobile app. go wherever you can -- get your podcast. >> "washington journal" continues. host: kurt volker -- was an

ambassador to nato. welcome to the program. as far as the current peace talks that are going on, what are the significance of those talks? guest: it is important to have a channel open so if there is a way to have a conflict, it can be done. ukrainians are asking the russians to initiate a cease-fire. the russians are having a harder time in invading ukraine is -- than expected. they are blocking their way through. ukrainians -- we will see this continue for longer. host: is there value to what is going on? guest: there is always a reason to have a channel open for dialogue. let the russians communicate and

the ukrainians communicate. if there is a point where russia decides that the invasion is not working and wants to end it, it is good to have a channel like this. host: when it comes to nato, for everything that is taking --ta m -- taycan, where can they go from here? work in to go as far as the best responding to this -- where can nato go as far as responding to this? guest: -- we will give them supplies and and munition so they can fight for themselves but there are not any natal troops and natal has put their own -- nato has put their own forces. host: as -- when it comes to the systems of ukraine, how can --

how much further can nato go? guest: we have provided about a billion dollars of military equipment to help the ukrainians get what they need to defend themselves. this includes antitank's missiles and antiaircraft missiles and there needs to be more of that. munitions. there are so much more they need and this will be a grinding war for them. they are only so big and there are only so many. they have done an extraordinary job defending their cities but it will be difficult. host: as far as nato itself, what is the purpose of the united states as far as further action and how is president biden doing? guest: natal has been -- natal has been unified. -- it was originally just a

handful of countries that agreed to support ukraine military. canada also helped. now we see the belgians coming up with equipment and the germans and the sweets who are not even nato members so the lever -- level of support from ukraine has escalated significantly. host: how much influence has president biden have own -- had on that? guest: showing that we are in support of ukraine and announcing that we will have does -- devastating sanctions if the russians ukraine and supplies ukraine -- that sense -- send a signals -- to others.

i want to say -- the european union sanctions are probably the most significant things. these hit the russian economy and they hit them directly. host: the discussion as far as sanctions was sanctioning directly. so that come into play? guest: this was one of the frustrations i had. i am happier that we see sanctions but we cannot leave things off the table on purpose and that will lose ukrainian lives. we need to do everything to stop food. host: our guest is with us. (202) 748-8001 four republicans. (202) 748-8000 four democrats. (202) 748-8002 four independents

. guest: i was being distracted. host: if you could quickly talk about -- guest: my job was to pull the allies together. everyone on the same page so that we could support ukraine. russia had attacked ukraine in 2014. the idea was to unit ghost -- negotiate with russia an end to the conflict. we never got it done. we spent two years building the pressure on russia to get them to that point. just as we were making headway, we looked at the arms ban on ukraine. we increased sanctions on russia but as we were making some headway, the impeachment thing broke out and it made ukraine a

political football in the u.s. that it was a serious national security policy. host: one of the things that was brought up from the previous administration were missiles going to the country per only used as a political deterrent. guest: with the javelins, they are meant to be a defensive weapon. if the tanks are coming, you use them. we were not arming ukraine with javelins in order for them to retake the territory by force that russia had occupied. that was understood by the ukrainians in the u.s.. arm them so russians wouldn't advance further. as term -- in terms of security, it was a mistake to suspend -- that we would know longer supply security assistance and get that

reverse from 6-8 weeks. host: when it comes to the threat that russia talked about as of yesterday, of its new era posture, how serious should that be taken and what does that mean? guest: it is hard to know. one thing is that putin is losing. the armed forces of russia are having a harder time so he is brandishing a nuclear threat to scared europeans and met -- americans. he is trying to make sure that he is still seen in the dominant position trying to play with ukrainian psyche, don't resist or we will use nuclear weapons against you and finally, it is also a means of trying to shore up the position in russia. i think a lot of people in russia, the public and people in

the intelligence and military community are questioning the judgment. why is he doing this and killing all these ukrainians? there are a lot of people questioning the judgment so escalating, he is trying to show that he is in charge. host: is de-escalation possible at this point? guest: it requires putin to decide that this is not working or for others in russia to put food in a site this is not working -- putin aside and say this is not working. they have a lot of forces in ukraine that they have not used. they have brought in these weapons that are like a fire over this evening. they are escalating dramatically but it is up to the russians. they can stop at any time. host: john in salem oregon.

thanks for calling. caller: thank you. i have a very specific question about the italians -- the far right neo-nazi group that is embedded in the ukrainian national guard. in how much american taxpayer money is funding this organization? guest: to clarify, the battalion was in 2014 when russia attacked the first time. ukrainian military was in terrible shape. several private militias formed and it had very far right elements in it. they did well in defending the territory but there were

far-right groups. the ukrainian military absorbed these private militias as a way up preventing them from acting in -- independently and they rotated personnel through them in order to diminish these far right tendencies and side of the military. -- inside the military. these have been a much as nights -- homogenized. host: diane in arkansas. republican line. caller: thank you for taking my call. i will like to say we are looking very weak in the world and when we are strong, the world is safe and we were energy

independent. biden close the -- closed the pipeline and taxes went up. -- gases went up. we get some of our gas from russia. it should not be that way. if we were drilling, that would cripple his economy. if we were drilling. that what cripple iran's economy. we have raised taxes on corporate, operations are not going to get -- back in america. we have to lower taxes and stop funneling money. afghanistan was the laughingstock of the whole world. it was awful how we left them. host: ok. guest: the point you are making -- putin perceived weakness in

the west. a lack of willingness to use force. focus on domestic issues. weakness on nato. he saw the withdrawal from afghanistan, which was catastrophic and i think he felt that this is the moment where the west is weak. it will not be support for ukraine and ukrainians will not defend themselves that is one of the things that entered his decision-making. another factor is his own self driven effort to rebuild the russian empire. he thinks that the collapse of the soviet union was one of the greatest tragedies and he saw the soviet leaders as failures for losing lance and he is going on a mission to recover

territories that were under the soviet union and he is doing it on this 100 anniversary year on the founding of the soviet union. he has had this vision in his mind to expand the russian empire. host: in writing about that, you wrote this, saying " coming to grips with this reality -- " what does that mean? guest: corporate take -- protecting nato members, whoever it may be. we are facing a aggressive military threat from russia, which is the kind that we only

saw from the soviet union. even ringing up the issue of nuclear weapons. we have led our military forces and our readiness go down over the next 30 years -- last 30 years because of the russian threat disappeared and we have dramatically cut defense spending, troop deployment, number of forces in europe. everything is lower than 30 years ago. we have to begin to reverse that and bring ourselves to a more capable level, given the threat that russia is conducting. host: germany announced recently that they were going to increase their military spending. guest: we have been pushing germany under multiple administration. i joined the foreign service during the reagan administration and we were pushing germany to spend defense.

we never really got the germans there but this weekend, they announced that they will be increasing their defense spending. this is a positive step and this is a perverse consequence on what putin has done. the second point -- our countries in europe that want to live in peace and freedom and have their own democracies and to be safe and secure for the future. ukraine is one of them. exactly what is happening to them now is what they were afraid of. now, they are seeing the results of not being a member of nato, not being protected by the rest of europe and there are a couple of countries. there is georgia and ukraine and moldova and we need to have a serious and urgent conversation with the conflict is over, how do we protect these other

countries? we should not be weak and we should not be late and see puts an attack other countries. host: our guest is with the center of your premium policy analysis -- european policy analysis. what is the purpose of that group? guest: it started -- it spent -- expanded to be transatlantic focus. it has young researchers and a lot of think tanks. i do not know all the financial backing. you have to as the organization itself and the leaders trip there. -- leadership there. host: democratic line. caller: my comment is i know the buck stops with our president.

this is the first time in american history that i have never seen a american president meets with an enemy. -- it comes out, no one is there in the meeting but americans come out and say on national tv, he takes enemy word over the cia word. he is receiving love letter -- letters from korea. -- ex military and i cannot tell you how that made me feel when i heard that. host: lynn from georgia. mr. ambassador. guest: i think that episode was unfortunate. i think that saying that we

trust putin's judgment over intelligence forces is not -- should be the case. losing came into power in 2000. i think we need to meet with the russian leader but i think what is important is the message that we get. we need to show one of strength and resolve and even during the trump administration, and i was a part of the effort in the increases of sanctions on russia. we closed down some of their intelligence operations and we -- despite what you say, we were able to move that forward and that has continued and expanded under the biden administration. host: what do you think from the treasures it -- from the acquisitiveness from -- from the criticism trump hazardous --

received from -- that putin -- guest: if you want to assess it that way but what he is doing his people and we shouldn't be using the positive ways of appraising what he is doing. he is attacking another country unprovoked and whether you think his tactics are good or bad, it is a terrible thing to do. host: here is kathleen. in massachusetts. independent line. caller: i would like to know what you think about current sentiment about the condensation president trump had with -- which led to his impeachment that was the quid pro quo and

over the phone, he -- the interpreter and he was the one that -- i am nervous and i watched your testimony and i watch everyone's testimony so i would like to hear what you think about the colonel who was demonized as a whistleblower china writing out -- trying to >> out president trump --rat out president trump. guest: i would not like to talk about the impeachment process. it is very unfortunate that we have a national policy interest in the united states in seeing ukraine being successful and that emplacement -- impeachment process distracted us.

we have not had a replacement for me as a u.s. representative. the focus on ukraine was this law -- dislodged. we need to keep the focus on the national security interest of the ukrainian people. host: dominic in new york. republican line. caller: good morning. thank you for your service. you said earlier you expect the crisis in ukraine to be a grinding war. i would like you to expand on that and integrate how that looks like in terms of time -- weeks, months? and how military psychological

operations and sanctions can be used during this time? guest: excellent question because that's what we will be following and watching over the next couple weeks to months. where do we stand? the russians have amassed 190,000 to 200,000 forces in and around ukraine. they have gone in, in a largely sloppy way. they have lost over 3000 soldiers, probably 4000 by this morning. they have lost tanks, aircraft and helicopters. ukrainians are fighting very hard to defend their cities. they have done remarkably well, even though their equipment may not be as good as the russian equipment. but the russians can come in with wave after wave of troops.

we can bring in new types of weapons and have not yet brought in. and ukrainians are the same ukrainians who are defending their cities. so this is going to be very hard, very long for the ukrainians. it will be difficult. they do not have the depth, they are not as big of a country as russia is. they do not have as big of an armed force that's ready come although they have reserves an they have -- they have reserves and have armed their citizens. ukrainians will not give up. they ultimately will prevail in my view, because it is their country. the russian soldiers do not fully understand where they are or what they are doing, they have not been fully informed. and i think the russian people are kind of shocked when they realize they are killing ukrainians. so i think that this will drag out for a while. then we have the separate

dynamic of the sanctions and the political pressure against russia itself, which are being noticed. for instance, from little things like the swedish national football team refusing to go to russia to play, to all flights from russia being banned from the european union. to the economic sanctions, where russian banks are being banned from the international transfer system. assets will be frozen. these will have an impact on the russian economy and the people will notice that. that is both a direct impact as well as a psychological impact on russia. and i hope it causes people in russia to begin to question putin's leadership, that he has dragged them into something that is damaging for russia, and the only threat to russia is actually his leadership. on top of that, i do not see the u.s. or nato allies directly intervening to defend ukraine,

even though there's things i think we could do. we'll be providing the supplies. more and more countries will provide supplies. and ukrainians will hang on, but it will take a long time. i suspect he will see heavy fighting probably through another -- we'll see heavy fighting probably through another week or two. then i think it will stabilize into a standoff, continuing conflict unresolved, but a standoff after that. host: a no fly zone is part of this discussion, do you think it is an option? guest: i think it is essential. russia is using missiles the bomb civilian populations. they are targeting nuclear facilities. they are targeting nuclear waste storage facilities to it that low-level radiation out there. this is horrendous.

and i think when we go back and examine everything we will find it was crimes against humanity. we could be preventing some of this if we did a no-fly zone over kyiv. we could at least prevent some of these attacks in kyiv. we could also create a secure corridor for the transport of security assistance from nato countries to ukraine, so we do not run the risk of russia taking out the supplies or making attacks on the ukrainian-polish border. host: this is jeremy in charlotte on the democrats' line. caller: good morning. i want to make a statement and get a reaction from your guest. i would like to say that the american people have been kept in the dark as to what the u.s. and nato have been doing over the last eight years. nobody knows in the states that

the u.s.-backed coup in 2014 to replace the democratically elected viktor yanukovych, and they replaced him with a puppet. ever since then the russian speaking areas in knew ukraine have been bombarded and attacked. this is all a long-term plan. they have been at russia's doorstep. and they have been doing it to get their reaction. the whole idea was the bomb russia down, and then to be able to sanction, basically cancel their nord stream 2 pipeline, which was delivering natural gas to germany because this is a great threat to the u.s. market. and they are using the worst people. they are backing and sending

arms to militias in ukraine, such as the -- military brigade. they have been ruthless. host: ok, we will let our guest respond. guest: everything the caller said is false, everything from there being a coup to an puppet government, the last two presidents elected by the people with a peaceful transfer of power. russia conducting a war in ukraine for eight years. we tried to help strengthen ukraine over that time, and they have actually done better as a country economically and politically, and they have improved their security forces. nobody wanted russia to attack ukraine. russia did this out of its own volition. the biden administration bent over backwards not to sanction the nord stream 2 pipeline. it has only been sanctioned because of russia's invasion now. host: we have a viewer on

twitter who asked about the peace talks, saying, "is it too late for ukraine not to seek membership in nato in exchange for russia agreed to withdraw from ukraine? if so, what will happen to d onetsk and luhansk?" guest: let's not be outside powers making the decision for an outside country, ukraine needs to do what is in their interest. if they seek to join nato, we should take that seriously, especially in the face of the obvious security threats they face. we should be thinking hard about whether they should not be a member of nato. maybe they should be, maybe we should help them. maybe it would've prevented the war we are seeing. it's something on the table and we have to hear from ukrainians and other nato allies. in terms of luhansk and donetsk,

they have been occupied by russia for eight years. they are part of ukraine. the former secretary general of nato had publicly come out with a formula about states with occupied territories. that if you allow the fact of some territory being occupied to be an obstacle to that country becoming a needle, you create in -- to that country becoming a member of nato -- he said we should find a formula where we apply article v to the unoccupied parts of a country's territory. and make a commitment, a legal commitment, with that country that there will be no effort to retake those territories by force. we recognize their territorial integrity as a legal matter, but

only support peaceful reintegration of those territories and not the use of force to do so. that would then level the playing field and give us the opportunity to give fair consideration as to whether those countries it should be members or not, without the occupied territories being a fundamental obstacle. host: from sheldon in south carolina coming right next. -- carolina, you are next. caller: good morning. i was overseas at a base. we had our weapons in the old soviet union and all. i believe it is the biggest card putin has in his debt. and -- deck. and i do not think he will use it because of mutually assured destruction. i think it is a bluff. guest: i hope you are right. i think it probably is a bluff,

but what putin is doing right now in ukraine is the rational. -- is irrational. it is the actions of a madman who is trying to achieve a fantasy everybody in the russian empire. the methods he is using of killing innocent civilians in taking over a foreign country, these are the actions of a madman so this makes me concerned he may not be thinking rationally about nuclear weapons. but i hope it is a bluff. and i hope our government makes a strong statement today that we will not tolerate any use of nuclear weapons, period. host: how do you factor china into what is going on? guest: at the china is uncomfortable with this. they signed an agreement about a month ago during the olympics with putin, where they said they reject western hegemony. china does not like the u.s. preside -- the u.s. presence in asia.

they do aim to take over taiwan, so they are a risk for us, but they see themselves as more sophisticated and more patient, and a rising power. and they look at russia as brutal, vulgar and a declining power. and they do not like the idea of attacking a different sovereign state, especially the means the russians are using. i think the chinese are uncomfortable with this. at the u.n. over the weekend, there was a call for a special session, which will take place today, a discussion on ukraine. the chinese did not vote with russia, they abstained. they did not but with the other 13 members to call for this either, they did not want to go against russia. at the same time, i do not think they are comfortable with where russia is. host: in austin, texas on the republican line. caller: good morning, hope everyone is having a great day. i want to say one thing.

i get tired of everybody beating up on trump. there's the saying, you keep your friends close and enemies closer. trump did a good job of keeping his enemies close. as far as his comments about putin being smart, there is not anyone out there that has a purse and they may not have liked, they did not trust in them, but they agreed that they were smart. and i agree with trump, the leaders on our side have been slow to go. and what nobody else is commenting on is right after trump said our leaders are not smart, he made the comment that was happening over there was a horrible humanitarian crisis. so i do not know why everybody wants to beat up on trump when biden has gotten us where we are now. why can't we keep our focus on this groups biden has done? guest: no real comment.

i think you make a good point. host: jeff is in indianapolis. caller: it's interesting to hear the republicans, especially the last caller. the idea that the ukrainian government is being run by drug addicts, when the leader of ukrainian cell -- when the leader of ukraine itself is jewish. and that guy saying that trump is irrational, you may need -- is rational, you may need therapy. they are playing fox news on russian propaganda with tucker carlsen basically praising mr. pompeo, pleasing putin and trump as well. host: what is your question or comment for our guest? caller: i think the republican party is enabling putin.

the republican party should never be back in power after january 6. host: jeff, that is a little off of our conversation. guest: he identified a couple people who are speaking out, and have spoken in support of putin, but i would not characterize that as the republican party because i happen to be visiting my parents this we can and they had fox news on and i saw steve hadley there, senator lindsey graham, former senior director abrams -- all taking tough positions against the russian invasion of ukraine. these are people i worked with in a previous administration so that is not quite accurate. host: for the long-term, what does this mean for the u.s., not only the direct conflict going now, but as far as the long-term? guest: we have the very immediate problem of an authoritarian russia under putin

that's acting against other countries, its neighbors, in an effort to rebuild the russian empire. this could be a direct threat to nato allies, the baltic states or norway or poland. it could be a threat to the united states and we have to do with this immediately. we have to build up our defenses to take a position of strength, to make clear to russia that any attack will be met with the full force of the nato alliance. and event to try to help these countries caught in between, like ukraine, georgia and moldova. and then we also have to be looking further down the road to try to make sure that we do not end up in a conflict with china. we have to show strength there, preemptively, so we do not get into a hot conflict, as we are seeing from russia right now. host: one more call. bill from albany, new york. make it fast. caller: i was wondering if the ambassador would --or thinks

republicans and democrats can put their hypocrisy down and work together? is it possible that they can do that or are we far to gone on that? do you think the invasion is a diversion? i know you talked about china, but does china somehow get involved with this by knowing about it? host: i apologize, we will have to leave it there. guest: on the china question, i think that china is more likely not to go to aggressively against taiwan right now. it does not want to be seen in the same league as russia. in terms of bipartisanship in the u.s., i have to say that there is very strong bipartisan support for ukraine, sanctions against russia, military support for ukraine. and i think that that is only increasing. host: ambassador kurt volker, from the center of european policy now, former special representative for ukrainian

negotiations, thanks for your time. host: we will continue on with your calls, as we look at russia going back to what is going on with the nuclear posture. and the peace talks. for 15 minutes, let us know your thoughts on that. 202-748-8001 for republicans. 202-748-8000 for democrats. 202-748-8002 for independents. we will take these calls when "washington journal" continues. ♪ announcer: july 23, 2022 will be the 55th anniversary of the detroit race riot. 43 people died in that week and 1189 were injured. our guest, clarence, was there.

his mother and sister were shot. we talked with the professor about his memory of the 12th street riot in 2011. we invited him back to talk more about that moment in his young life and much more. announcer: the howard university professor will be on this episode of book notes+, which is available on the c-span now app or wherever you get your podcasts. ♪ announcer: c-span's new american presidents website is your one-stop guide to our commanders in chief, from george washington to joe biden. you can find short biographies, life facts, and images that tell the stories of their lives and presidencies, all in one c-span website. visit c-span.org/presidents to begin exploring this rich

catalog of c-span resources today. announcer: "washington journal" continues. host: if you want to participate in this short time of phones, looking at the situation in russia and ukraine, you can also text at announcer3 -- at 202-748-8003. here is a portion from yesterday. [video clip] >> we have an instrument right now that is able to move quickly in the next few days, if it is needed, and the circumstances go that way. i briefed our board on thursday. it can be added to by other countries at that want to support ukraine. and we also have instruments moving that can help the refugee flow. as you heard earlier, there's a

big flow going right now to poland, but there is also the possibility -- ukraine has borders with moldova and romania, and we have programs in those countries and that can be added to support the refugee flow. so this can work. it depends -- the g7 is meeting with finance ministers on tuesday morning, so i will meet with them and with the central banks of the g7 and they can decide how much it will go into ukraine. the imf also has, we are working with them closely to assess the needs and to think about instruments. host: that was from the sunday shows. jack on the independent line, good morning. caller: good morning. host: go ahead. caller: i want to join the discussion. there's no rationale for what puti has donen.

and he does have those weapons. and nobody knows how this will end, or if he'll use killer weapons against anybody. nobody knows. and the other observation i was making is that covid has been used as a tool or device against the entire population in the united states. host: let me stop you only because that is not the point of this session, but when it comes to russia, according to the associated press russia has closed its airspace. and europe has closed their airspace to russia. this is in response to moscow's invasion of ukraine. the state department closed at the u.s. embassy in belarus and is allowing nonessential staff

at the embassy in russia to leave. antony blinken announced the suspension of operations at the belarus embassy. frank is next. middletown, new york. caller: yes, good morning. thank you. the former administration with mike pompeo and the former president, wanted to pull troops out of germany. they cut off ukrainian security funds. they canned the ambassador in ukraine. this has been the plan since the beginning, this has been five years in the making. host: what plan exactly? caller: the plan for the russians to get into ukraine. our former administration facilitated this since the beginning. host: what facts do you base that on? caller: on the fact they removed

the ambassador, so the working people in and out of ukraine, aka rudolph giuliani. so on and so forth. host: how do those things exactly lead to the events of today? caller: all those plans were to weaken the situation around ukraine. weaken their defensive security, pull our troops out of germany, which are probably being deployed for nato right now. and -- and yank the security funds for lethal weapons. host: frank in new york. ed in georgia on the republican line. caller: you are doing a good job with some of the things that you read. the only thing you did not say is the ruble compared to the dollar today is one ruble, that

is how bad the sanctions are working or how good they are working against putin. i do believe that putin is -- you can see the look on his face, every time they show pictures of him now he does not look so happy. i believe this will crush the russians to the point where the people of russia are going to turn on putin. host: ok. phil in florida. he's in orlando, florida on the independent line. caller: i believe the last caller and the one beforehand for emphasis on what we should have done 20 years ago when it came to the development of nuclear weapons and the strategy to take down the u.s. by russia. they said they would do it from within.

this is not evident to people looking at the scenario that there seems to be a chessboard play of how they gain power through the political system of planting people to go along to try to disrupt america for the capability of being dictators over the world. and using the resources of the world for their own geopolitical reasons. it's so obvious. but i guess some people are so loyal to whatever party they are looking at, but if we do not get it together it will become like back in the days of charlton heston in "planet of the apes," they finally did it. they finally did it. and we want have anything left that looks like a society. there will be a mutation of

people and whatever else is left after they destroyed the whole thing. host: we will go to roger in boston on the republican line. caller: i do not know about that last caller, but you know, you talk about putin bringing up nuclear weapons. i mean, putin could pull out nuclear weapons at any given time, so i do not know that -- i mean, i do not know how we should take it more seriously now than any other time. the thing is biden's popularity is creatoring -- cratering. host: back to your original point, with russian forces being placed on alert, at least the nuclear arsenal, that's not a cause of concern to you? putin i think the way that -- caller: i think that the way biden handled the afghanistan

pull out where the marines getting blown up and the way that he ran with his tail between his legs, he showed putin -- 62% of people say that if trump was in office putin would not have gone into ukraine. i think that the weakness -- putin smells weakness. host: that is roger. now patrick in maryland on the democrats line. caller: thank you. and i wanted to congratulate you on the first 30 minutes of the program because people really were not answering the question. in any case, what i want to say is i do believe this is nothing but a bluff. i believe that people need to understand that this is not the 1940's. it's not that the united states and russia are the only superpowers.

we are the only ones with nuclear weapons -- everybody has nuclear weapons. if you create any type of nuclear war, one, china is going to be very upset. and will not know what to do. but ultimately, though, what is going to be wrong with this war and what president putin did not realize is how interconnected the world is with the internet and with all of the information. the young people in the -- sorry, in russia, are revolting and protesting. they do not want this war. russia did not realize how strong nato is in terms of 100% backing with ukraine. the only -- only the united

states, unfortunately, wants to still create this division. wants to say that biden did that, a former president did that. that has nothing to do with today. this is 2022, not the 1940's. host: patrick in maryland. jackie in missouri on the independent line. caller: i have something very short to say. i pray, and i know a lot of people do, that the russian people and the military will throw down their arms and topple the government that is in there. host: mike from maryland on the republican line, go ahead. caller: hi, thanks for having me. i think a lot of people are very emotional about the whole situation. that's exactly what the media wanted to create here in

america. i think that it is -- russia has security concerns. the people's republic there have been bombarded for eight years. and nobody has done anything about it. they killed over 10,000 people there. and i think that it is insane to think that russia, who is also ethnically slavian, just like in the people's republic's, wouldn't save their own people. america is doing what they do in iraq, doing what they do all over the world, in libya, they are giving the american people to hate somebody to go to war with them. i think it is unreasonable. our country has been usurped by people like lincoln, who is a liar. biden, he does not even know

what he is doing. host: last call from margie. caller: i wanted to talk about when the trump administration was an office. the first thing he did was have a meeting with putin's right-hand man. host: ok, let's relate it today, how does that matter to today? caller: let me put my thoughts together and stop cutting me off. and after that, you had like 15 republican senators and representatives that went to russia, went to meet putin. and after that, trump himself met with putin one-on-one. host: again, how does that relate to the events of today? caller: look at what they talked about. what were all the meetings about? i could look at your face and tell you do not want to know.

you look like you are about the breaker jawbone. host: you went back in the past and i asked how it relates to today. i will give you the chance to answer. caller: you let the republicans talk, but not the democrats. why don't you be quiet and let me finish? host: go ahead. caller: no, no, no. you keep cutting me off. host: coming up, politico's andrew desiderio discusses what will be happening this week in congress, including what will be happening with ukraine and financial help there. that's next when "washington journal" continues. announcer: c-span offers a variety of podcasts. weekdays, washington today gives you the latest from

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today. >> i can report to the nation, america is on the move again. announcer: live on tuesday, the state of the union. president biden will address congress and the nation, reflecting on his first year in office. it live coverage begins at 8:00 p.m. eastern, the president speaks at 9:00, followed by the republican response. we will take your phone calls and social media reaction, live tuesday on c-span, c-span.org or on the free c-span radio app. announcer: "washington journal" continues. host: joining us now is andrew desiderio. he's here to talk about the week in congress, particularly in how it relates to ukraine. guest: thank you for having me. host: an aid package to ukraine, can you break that down? guest: we know the white house

has asked congress to appropriate around $6 billion in humanitarian assistance and military assistance to ukraine. half would go to find troop deployments that biden has set forth in eastern europe, the other half would be for humanitarian aid geared toward the humanitarian crisis in eastern europe, with so many ukrainians leaving the country. that is what the breakdown looks like right now. the most likely vehicle, legislatively, for the money to get through the door would be the omnibus spending package that they are trying to get done by the middle of march. host: that figure, is that a floor or ceiling depending on what happens? guest: i think it is definitely a floor. the white house made the request last friday to the house and senate appropriations committees.

it's possible the number could go up, especially as we get closer to the funding deadline. host: why the strategy of attaching it to the funding deadline? guest: it is the most logical for a legislative vehicle at this point, that is the one thing that needs to pass by mid-march. it's possible that they could pass it as a standalone emergency appropriations package, but as of now there is not much appetite for that. host: when it comes to bipartisan support, what level is there amongst those in congress? guest: it has wide bipartisan support. one of the worries about putting it on the floor as a standalone, especially in the senate, anyone senator could hold up the package and they could spend a week on it. and they expected that there would be resistance, specifically from rand paul, who likes to have emergency appropriations bills paid for by spending cuts elsewhere in the federal budget.

so again, they believe that the most logical and easiest way to do this would be to pass it as part of the omnibus. host: aside from the financial peace, what is the mood of congress, particularly as we have seen russia invaded ukraine and the actions of the white house and nato countries along with that? guest: there has been remarkable unity, democrats and republicans alike. there had been disagreements leading up to the invasion in terms of sanctions, what types, whether to do them immediately or wait until after the invasion actually happened. but right now i would say that there is broad support for the actions biden has taken in terms of sanctions and other measures, including those announced this morning in regard to the russian central bank. republicans, of course, want biden to do more and at some of them have put forth legislation that would force him to do that, but i think it is unlikely that

congress would vote on sanctions related legislation here in the coming weeks, absence -- absent a major disagreement with the white house. host: as far as information about the path forward, how regularly are they getting information from the white house and other sources? guest: they were on recess last week my the house and it senate will be coming back today. the congress will get a classified briefing tonight at 7:15 p.m. from top national security officials, and i would expect throughout the week that the national security committee in both chambers of congress would also get relevant briefings. host: as far as sanctions, there was a debate about their own force on sanctions relief. what happens is that? -- happened to that? guest: there was an issue on whether to trigger the sanctions immediately to deter an invasion or to hang the sanctions over

putin and tell him, if you invaded these are the sanctions that will be triggered if you go into ukraine into violate their territorial integrity. that was the root of the squabbling as they tried to put together legislation. the white house was not involved particularly, they took a hands-off approach. but i suspect if the white house had made a bigger push on capitol hill for some sort of legislation they may have needed, then this would have passed. what we have seen in the aftermath of the invasion is the administration using authorities that the president already has. many of them were given to the president by 2017 sanctions bill that passed overwhelmingly in congress, those sanctions or those authorities were brought in. so that is what president biden has been doing over the last few days.

host: our guest will be with us until 9:30 a.m. if you want to talk about the debate over funding for ukraine efforts. call 202-748-8001 for republicans. democrats, 202-748-8000. independents, 202-748-8001. you can also text at 202-748-8003. this comes as the president delivers his state of the union this week, what is the anticipation from those on capitol hill about the speech? guest: usually states of the union addresses do include a large section devoted to national security, but i think given the events in ukraine right now i think that the president will focus a lot more on national security issues. usually it is an opportunity for a president to lay out the revision domestically and rally support on capitol hill for their legislative initiatives. but right now on the domestic

front, that is dormant. obviously with the failure of the president's build back better proposal and questions about whether it can be revised, i imagine the president, even for that alone, will be focusing more on national security and rallying congress behind what he has done with regard to russia. host: you say that is the white house press secretary was on the sunday shows yesterday teasing a little bit of what to expect tomorrow. here's a little bit. [video clip] >> no question that the american people will hear the president talk about the efforts he has led over the past several months to build a global coalition to fight against the autocracy and efforts of putin to invade a foreign country. that is something that is present in all of our lives, certainly in the president's life at this moment. but what people will also here is his optimism and belief in

the resilience of the american people, and the strength of the american people. host: jen psaki from yesterday. you can go to our website for more information on how to watch. you talked about reception when it comes to sanctions and the unifying factor of this. do you expect more of the same from the state of the union? guest: i would expect the president to try to rally bipartisan support for the actions he has taken via his executive authority, his economic measures, the economic pressure that has been put on putin over the last few days. like i mentioned, the president has asked congress officially for about $6 billion in humanitarian assistance and military assistance, and i imagine if he has updates to share he will do so, especially because there will be a broad, widespread bipartisan support for that. host: you hinted at elements of

the speech, but as far as build back better, is it dead on capitol hill? guest: i would not say it is dead but it is a difficult question right now. senator joe manchin, who has been the deciding factor in all of this, has said recently that nobody has approached him about it. some progressives have said, look, let's sit down with joe manchin to figure out what he can support, particularly on the climate aspect of build back at her -- back better. it will be up to joe biden to morrow to rally democrats behind that, but right now with everybody focused on ukraine and obviously the covid-19 pandemic still a huge part of everyone's lives right now, i imagine that that will be a bigger focus. host: i will also factor into that the midterm elections. guest: exactly. as it looks, democrats will

probably get clobbered in the midterms, and a lot of that has to do with american anxiety over covid, the covid restrictions at that have been in place for the better part of the last two years now. folks are ready to return to back -- return to normal and you have seen top democrats hint at this with their public statements, and i am thinking of sean patrick maloney who leads the house democrats campaign arm, saying we have to give people their lives back. that is why i think democrats will want to focus on that as we get closer to the midterms, in which they are projected to lose a lot of seats, especially in the house. host: the senate, as you see it, they think that they will stay under democratic control? guest: it is a 50-50 senate right now and i think it will be tough for democrats to flip republican held seats, even in those states where republicans are retiring, for example

missouri, ohio and north carolina. those will be tough for the democrats to flit. they could maintain control. it would be historic if they maintain control with a 50-50 senate again. we have already been any 50-50 senate for longer than we ever have and i think it is possible that that continues. but republicans feel confident right now about the midterm elections, both for their raises and senate races. -- races and senate races. host: we have a caller on the line. go ahead. caller: my comment is not related to the state of the union, but rather to the ukrainian affairs. i've figured out that the international community weakened -- the only decision they

have, the organization, because putin has no right to [indiscernible] the nuclear use of nuclear weapons -- i suggest they s hould take advantage to make him pay for all the crimes he's committed since chechnya. host: ok. guest: what the biden administration is trying to focus on is isolating putin. all the actions putin has taken over the past couple decades, the invasion of georgia, the annexation of crimea, and now the full on invasion of ukraine, i think the administration is getting bipartisan support right now for its efforts to hold

russia accountable for that, as well as impose stringent economic sanctions, which are really further isolating putin on the world stage. host: gayle in florida, the republican line. caller: yes, i have a question first and then some comments. are you aware that bill gates threatened another pandemic? and also, the comments are -- there are 10 bio labs in ukraine. all the good ukrainians are underground. there's also a ukrainian mafia in ukraine that, if you look it up it starts with a k, and they take children 12 years and under and do horrific things to them. host: ok. caller: also, the money

laundering -- host: our guest covers congress, do you have a question directly to that? caller: i was just, well - it was in regards to ukraine, so i did not know if he knew about the bio labs in ukraine. host: we will leave it there. we'll give him the chance to answer. guest: i do not know much about that. i know one of the issues over the weekend was russia holding the chernobyl nuclear plant and the safety measures and they are trying to take with regards to that, but i am not sure that that relates to anything that congress can do. host: tony on the democrats line. caller: i have not talked to you for about 18 years, glad to get through. i do not think the united states should give money to ukraine. i think if putin wants to take

russia, he will do it. if he does take it, how long do we keep sanctions going on after it is done? just ask your guest that questions. host: that is tony. guest: that is a really good question. once the sanctions and start to impact americans here, i am talking about consumer prices, energy prices, gas prices -- the president has said there would be short term economic pain here, but the question he raises is at what point will the biden administration start to ease these sanctions, if and when a a lot of them start impacting average americans. i think there will be little appetite for continuing them, especially if gas prices soar. they are already high, americans are dealing with inflation at home. it is a tough situation. the biden administration will

have some tough decisions to make. host: one thing that happened last week was the revelation of president biden's nominee to the supreme court, what happens now? guest: this is the first week for judge jackson to make the rounds on capitol hill. she will meet with the senators, that senate majority leader in particular, on wednesday morning. this is her opportunity to really persuade these senators, make sure they can get to know her. in terms of the prospects of her confirmation, i would not expect any democrat to oppose her nomination, and that is all she needs to get confirmed. i think it is possible that she gets a couple republican votes, but i would not count on that. last year for her circuit court nomination, she was confirmed with all 50 democrats and some republicans, including lindsey graham. all three of those republicans have said that their vote in

favor of jojo jackson last year does not necessarily mean that they will support her for the supreme court. i think everybody has to take that into consideration when thinking about whether she will get republican support. but i would expect this process is not going to be terribly difficult for her. host: we saw the minority leader put out a statement, that i voted against judge jackson less than a year ago. since then, and understand she has published two opinions, and that one of her prior rulings was reversed by a. understand she was the favorite toys of -- i also understand -- i look forward to carefully reviewing her nomination through a senate process and the american people deserve. as far as the tone of that, how is that received? guest: i would not expect mitch mcconnell to vote for this nominee. and i would not expect the majority of republicans to vote for her either.

in terms of the opinions that he referenced, that judge jackson has authored, she has only been in her current position for a year now, because she was confirmed around this time last year. one of them has been a high-profile one, which is related to president trump's efforts to shield his white house records from the select committee investigating the january 6 attack on the capital. she, along with others on the panel, sided with the january 6 select committee in that regard and former president trump has lost many of those court cases, if not all of them. host: is there a timetable with the confirmation hearing? guest: it will probably be what is normal for these processes. i would say about 35 45 days -- about 35-45 days. one issue would be getting senator ray lujan back to d.c.

he had a stroke and was undergoing treatment for that in new mexico.he has since been transferred to the d.c. area where he is finishing rehabilitation. and chuck schumer has said he does not expect senator ray lujan's illness to impact their timeline for the supreme court confirmation. obviously, they would need him to be present and voting in order to advance her nomination. host: beverly in baltimore on the independent line. caller: good morning. my concern is the ultimate objection of putin. i'm concerned because the american people are suffering more because of all of these shutdowns of the gas and everything. if we were not getting gas from other countries, it is time to

open up our own reserves. i'm wondering if the congress, and of the president would agree to do that? and can the congress do anything about it if the president does not want to do anything? the thing shut down in the favor of global warming was understandable at the time, but now i think it is important that people become less disgruntled, less disgruntled because of what is going on. and the only person to gain anything by disgruntled people is putin. and it's obvious that he's an evil person. thank you. host: thank you. i appreciate it. the tone of her question, does this renew the debate of energy independence on capitol hill? guest: it has already. republicans have come out with more legislation aimed at

opening up energy independence in america. obviously the president got heat from republicans when he shut down the keystone xl pipeline. i would not expect action from congress on this issue, given that democrats control both chambers, unless the president would ask for some sort of legislation related to energy to try to lower prices for americans. but at this point i would not expect that. host: from montana on the republican line, george. caller: yes. ok. i think it was around 1948, the teacher came into the school carrying a flag and she said, this is the united nations flag. and what it is, if any country invades another country, all the other countries will pounce on him. and you have got these lawyers,

that's all they got now, and they know the law. i wish somebody would explain that law to me. what should be done as all the russian troops are lined up two miles long, they are going in there with her bombers. then white the outcome of the war is over and they can quit talking about it. bye. guest: i think with the caller is referring to is article v, an attack on one country is an attack on all. the reason that biden has been sending our trips to european countries is to shore up nato defenses, in case putin tries to move into other countries in eastern europe, particularly those that are members of nato. if putin or any maligned actor were to try to invade those nato

countries, it would trigger an automatic response from the u.s., the u.k., germany, france and italy, all the major powers of nato, and that is the best deterrent they have right now against an encroachment into nato territory. that is what the caller is referring to. host: have members spoken out in opposition to the u.s. involvement in ukraine? guest: i think it is tough. there's no appetite right now to send u.s. troops into ukraine. ukraine is not a member of nato. they try to become a member in recent years, they believe it would have shored up protections in a situation like this. obviously it would've triggered a response from nato allies, that is why ukraine wanted to become a member. but those efforts have since fizzled out. ukraine has been trying to move west for years and years, to sort of distance itself from the

influence of russia and the former soviet union. i would say that there is no appetite at all at this point among republicans and democrats for u.s. troop involvement in ukraine, there is no desire to have american troops fighting against russian troops directly on the ground. however, i think that there would be broad bipartisan support for involving u.s. troops if putin were to try to invade a nato ally country. host: deborah in indiana on the independent line. caller: look, and you -- andrew, is there any way we could talk to putin and say, look. ok, we understand that during world war ii, we all have been playing these unbelievable games, but our civilian people

on the bottom have learned how to make money on internet and everything. and the connections that you wanted anyway -- can you explained to him that we succeeded in doing that? and we can stop playing this game of, of a man running around on a horseback? we do not need that. we are too intelligent. host: thank you. clyde is in oklahoma. he's on the democrats line. hi. caller: yeah, uh -- hello? host: go ahead. caller: i mean, back in the

second world war whenever hitler's, you know, he was -- hitler, you know, he was half jewish and half russian, wasn't he? host: what do you want to know about congress this week, particularly what is going on with russia and ukraine? caller: we helped them. everybody needs help once in a while in this world. sometimes it is better to help than ask questions. one person trying to take over the world is not right. host: what us can we expect from congress this week? guest: i think that the main thrust of what lawmakers will be focusing on is going to be this war between russia and ukraine. i mentioned the $6 billion emergency aid that the biden

administration has requested. i think we will hear from lawmakers who want to increase that number, especially as the crisis worsens. tomorrow is the president's state of the union address. in addition to that, the president's supreme court nominee, judge jackson, will be making rounds on capitol hill this week. so there will be no shortage of news this week for all of us who cover capitol hill. and i would expect that to continue for the foreseeable future. host: as far as congress being in, how long will they be coming back from the break? guest: they will be in for the next few weeks. they have a recess intermixed in there at some point over the next couple months. we have easter and passover as well, so they have a long stretch of remaining in washington. host: andrew desiderio, you can follow his work at politico.com

thanks for yourhost: we will fih open forum. text us at (202) 748-8003. we will take calls, when washington journal continues. ♪ >> president biden addresses a joint session of congress with the state of the union address on c-span, c-span.org were on the c-span now the deal at -- video app. >> at least six presidents recorded conversations while in office. here those conversations. -- hear those conversations.

>> you will hear about the presidential campaign, the march on selma and the war on vietnam. not everyone knew that they were being recorded. >> certainly, johnson's secretary knew. they were charged with transcribing many of those conversations. they were the ones who made sure that the conversations were taped, as johnson would signal to them through an open door. >> you will also hear some blunt topics. >> i want a number of people assigned in the day that kennedy died. if i cannot ever go to the bathroom, i will not go. i promise i will not go anywhere. i will stay right behind you. >> find it on the c-span now app

or where ever find your podcast. >> washington journal continues. host: again, you can call us on the lines or text us. we also have a twitter feed when it comes to this session of open phones. one of the comments made was from utah republican mitt romney. he responded to a question from a moderator about some members of the republican party. here is his response. >> a lot of those people are changing their stripes. but how anybody in this country, which loves freedom, can side with vladimir putin, which is an oppressor, a dictator -- he kills people. he imprisons his political opponents.

he has been an adversary of america, any chance that he has had. it is on the ball to me. it is almost treasonous, and it makes me ill to see some of these people do that. it is disgusting, and i am that you are seeing some of those people back i just how wrong they were. >> treasonous a big word. with that include the former president? >> standing up for freedom is the right thing to do in america and anything else is unworthy of american support. host: that was mitt romney from yesterday. the court will hear oral argument on a plan to reduce domestic greenhouse gases.

this revolver -- revolves around epa's ability to reduce carbon emissions. if the court takes a narrow approach and rules only on the question of their authority to control emissions, that could still interfere with the president's agenda. the president and executive director of look -- the law policy center says climate change is causing extreme events. another said that they are focused on congressional authority. we look forward to that playing out in the supreme court as well. let's go to the independent line. caller: good morning. i hope that the world gets behind excluding russia. i think that will send a clear message to the world, especially

to china, that you cannot do this kind of stuff. host: why do you think that will have an impact? caller: i do not know that much about it, but it sounds like the swiss payment system, excluding russia from it will pretty much bring their economy to a whole. that, to me, is better than any military or anything. that would show the world that when you behave like an authoritarian dictator, invading other free nations, we exclude you, period. it just does not work. their country will not be able to continue without being part of the global swiss system.

host: san francisco, california on the democrats . caller: -- democrats lying. -- democrats line. caller: maybe ukraine being part of nato would have stopped this from the beginning. but vladimir putin is unstable. yeah, he has a military, but the rest of europe and the u.s. have a much more massive military than russia. their economic impact on the world is about number 15. if the -- the world has to respond to this the way that they did not respond to hitler's. they did not do the right things in the beginning and we got world war ii and over 100 million deaths. this man is a madman, trying to

reconstruct the soviet union. this is the first stage of all of that. he has belarus and he will try to take ukraine. they all have to really get behind ukraine to make sure that he does not accomplish his goal in ukraine, for the safety of europe. unfortunately, this is what happens when a madman gets into power. host: richard, we will leave it there. let's go to cindy on the republican line. caller: good morning. i have a few points. i feel like we should open up our energy here because russia has control over so much of the

country. i think congress needs -- we have cleaner energy than russia does. i think we should be filling our own oil through this crisis. i just want to come -- when president trump was giving an interview to the play and book show at mar-a-lago, i never took president trump saying that vladimir putin was a genius. i took that comment as, when they asked him a question about ukraine, i felt like president trump was strong in keeping ukraine separate from the russians. the narrative that vladimir

putin was putting out, he said that is genius. he said they are going in as peacekeepers. he was sort of marking it, taking them down as peacekeepers, almost like saying, all right. host: that interview is still available, the president's interview that they did at mar-a-lago. independent line. caller: appreciate you taking my call. i have two things. mainstream media, i do not see anybody reporting on those being exiled and shunned in the ukraine. there are videos of people of african descent who have been pushed off of trains. a three month old baby and she would not allow him -- would not allow her to be on the train.

another young lady said something about a pipeline. that is the situation that we are in now. we need our own independence. we need to find a better source of energy, but this is what we are using. we have to be independent. how can we depend on a madman and people who do not like us? thank you, and again, somebody needs to get out there, get in front of it and put it out there what they are doing to people of african descent in the ukraine. host: taking a look at the events in ukraine being part of the midterm election. foreign policy really touches on those elections, but u.s. response could have domestic implications. this is going to be a backdrop.

a key swing state with the country's fifth highest population. some believe that president biden is well-positioned to defend his sanctions against moscow. calling russia's invasion a premeditated attack. we will go to tina in maryland. caller: thank you for taking my call. i have a quick question about how the american -- all that is going on through the conflict in ukraine, but also in general, as a population. as a general population, if we could get behind anything, it is true transparent.

host: why do you think they are not being transparent? caller: i think transparency is good for ukraine crisis, but just concerned that americans have a lack of trust in the leadership and government in general. we cannot really decipher truth versus non-truth. we had left in this whirlwind of who to trust and who should we take information from? we just need to go about fixing that problem in the u.s. host: how do you go about learning about politicians, so you can make those decisions? caller: in general, how do we fix the missed trust in our government? host: how do you go about determining that?

are you there? caller: like as the u.s. as a whole, friends and, with the cdc and the constant changing of things for covid, leading up to this, how do we take into account that we are getting accurate information? i understand that we are, but i want to make sure that other people, people who are not as well versed in written areas, that the information is getting to them correctly. host: thomas in massachusetts, go ahead. caller: good. after that last call, i am going to hush up a little bit. if they are going behind-the-scenes of vladimir putin, the people around him, the need to contact them to take care of this guy who is a few french fries short of a happy

meal. host: what do you mean a --i that? caller: -- by that? caller: do you think that we could influence them to make some decision to take him out -- not physically murder him or anything, but taken out? host: do you mean russians themselves? caller: his officials around him. i'm sure a lot of them love mother russia, the way it used to be, and they do not agree with vladimir putin. i cannot imagine that everyone under his control are agreeing with what he is doing right now. what will it take for them to realize that this crazy man has his finger on the button and maybe we should grab him and get him out of there?

host: that is thomas in massachusetts, reporting -- in massachusetts. a trial beginning today. the trial selection begins today. one person who read glue -- group of rioters with a video camera retreated after he was pepper sprayed and did not enter the capital. it will include testimony from his children, including his then 18-year-olds on who reported that he was going to do some serious damage. he recorded his father after january 6 saying he was willing to die at the capital. that riot was just the beginning. we will go to pennsylvania on the republican line. quite -- caller: thank you for taking my

phone call. i attended the rally last night, in the early evening, in pittsburgh. there were probably about 500 people assembled. unbeknownst to me, pittsburgh has a pretty large ukrainian american population. it was so interest being to see the anguish of fellow americans -- it was so interesting to see the anguish of fellow americans on this crisis, and in the end that they have heritage from. a lot of them were actually immigrants from ukraine. some of the signs that i saw were interesting. the ones that caught my eye the most were two or three that dealt with, let us establish a no-fly zone over the ukraine. when i say us, i mean the world.

as a subset of the world, i mean nato. nato has the ability to do that. it is there only owned asset that can look down, into ukraine from places like romania, a member of nato, and they have the fighter force that can enforce that no-fly zone. i think that we, as americans should call our congressmen and say, that is what we want our country to do. host: that is william in pittsburgh talking about that rally. a quick bit of video, but here is a portion of that.

[chanting] host: again, that is found online in a variety of places. this is paulette. hello. caller: good morning. inc. you for taking my call. i wanted to say this to the republican party. this is what happens when you have a big tater that lies to you on a regular basis. donald trump lied to you guys on a regular basis. he tried to get you to overturn the election. january 6 could have been where ukraine is, if you wanted a war between black and white. thank you. host: independent line. caller: my thing reflects back to another member who was on the line. when trump said vladimir putin

was pretty smart, i agree with him. he waited for our country to be the weakest. we have covid and we are divided among our own country. our city -- our country is just sitting back waiting to go over there or -- i strongly believe that if we had someone a little more -- who had a little more power as president, we would get something done as of right now. host: from california on the republican line. caller: good morning. how are you? host: prefect -- pretty good. how about yourself? caller: pretty good. ukraine has wanted to get into nato for years, but nato has said that they have been to corrupt. if you remember back during the obama administration, he sent biden over there to end

corruption in ukraine. his son ended up on a payroll and stuff like that. at least we can believe -- i'm not sure any of these countries really care about ukraine because they would not let them into nato because they were too corrupt and joe biden going to straighten that out, and that turned into a wreck. they said germany would not -- would not let them and because they were getting all their inner from russia. -- energy from russia. host: how would you explain the reaction from the world community you then? caller: it is after the fact. russia has been setting up tubes for how long on the ukraine border.

there have been reports that we were not willing to send them air defense missiles until the actions have gotten stronger after the fact. some of this could have been ended before, i think. host: let's hear from alexandria, virginia, democrat . caller: i hear a lot of things from americans, who find people wearing masks as unpatriotic. some of the comments i am hearing are totally unpatriotic. we are in a position to help a country, who needs help. we have troops stationed in the area to provide support, yet we are divided here about support, and helping a country that needs it.

i really have a problem with that. if we are americans, we should be supporting the effort. we are not going into take over the country, and we are doing our best support -- to support them. host: who do you think is not supporting the effort? caller: this morning, most of the people who called in on the republican line, unfortunately. they seem to have a problem of selfish can earns about this whole situation. the first thing i heard was energy. we are not being affected by that right this minute. if we are affected by it, we have been there before. the government is not going to let this government sink. we need to be patient. if it was our country and we needed help, we would have a different attitude about things.

we need to be patriotic. host: let's hear from president trump former security advisor, talking about the options or at least military options that u.s. and nato could take. here is a portion of that. >> they are doing a tremendous job. the problem is russia's control of the air. it is hard to meet this mobile prime defensive. you have to defeat them in detail, when russians control the air and the sea. there is probably a military option to tell the russians, you do not own the black sea. i think it will open up traffic again. it will also keep open the land routes to resupply the ukrainians with weapons.

i think that is very important as well. i think vladimir putin got a lot more than he bargained for. he is in a difficult position. going after his criminal enterprise with sanctions and so forth is important. what is also important is ukraine's ability to defend themselves. caller: hello. i wanted to call to make sure that people understand that they do not know joe biden. joe biden is obviously covering up a giant mess that he and his son created after -- in ukraine. host: how did you get to that conclusion? caller: he is a failure and he is destroying our country. host: why does that all relate to current events in russia?

sir, why does that relate to events going on in russia? how does it all relate? caller: russia probably has people coming across our southern border right now. host: how did you determine that? caller: we have had iranians caught at our southern border. yeah. how do you mean how do i determine that. host: you made the assertion. i just wanted to know how you can back it up. ok. let's hear from andrew. caller: how are you? host: great. caller: there is a problem with that last caller. there are people in the far right -- these kind of things -- people are going to have to

decide in this country. there are great republicans, democrats and independents. there are people that will have to decide, are you for democracy or autocracy. these people that always went to pick on joe biden -- there is a book -- truman had bad cold ratings. he ended up being one of the greatest presidents of all time. donald trump would not give zelensky a meeting in the white house. he tried to get dirt on joe biden and his son. after trump lost the election, he went into isolation. two months and he showed up

january 6. trump left america behind because he lost the election. people still want to call him a leader. trump and historians have shown that he is the worst president that this country has ever had. in the end, zelensky will be made a hero around the world and joe biden will receive so much respect for the way he has pushed back. host: let's hear from the republican line. brad in florida. caller: hello. i am hearing. how do i follow that? i agree with a lot of it, but my lord. i think we are trying to talk about what is happening in

europe right now, which is the worst invasion since 1939. we have vladimir putin calling uruguay -- seriously calling him hitler's. is he not hitler's himself? how in the world and we sit back and allow this to happen? granted, it will be six dollars a gallon for gas, but we are the ones buying the big hummers and big trucks. they are everywhere. please, people, realize, the amended they said it was nuclear, this was world war iii.

host: next caller. caller: in the like people forget about history. it was 1994 when president clinton asked ukraine to give up the nuclear bombs. they agreed to protect this country. we should help them. we should do some thing because it should matter. if we do not, what are we going to be? host: finishing out this open forum, thank you so all those who participated. right now, people take you to the general assembly meeting of russia's invasion of ukraine. we will bring you a few hours of that meeting that is set to

start, momentarily. [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2022] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org]