reveal the answer. lauren: i'm right. stuart: you and i both get up much earlier. i'm up at 2:30 in the morning. lauren: confession, i overslept by two hours monday this week. i woke up at 6:00 but you never knew. stuart: more than half of americans are awake by 6:30 a.m. how about that? time is up. i would love to tell you about getting up in the morning but i can't. here is neil cavuto. it is yours, man. neil: 2:30 in the morning? stuart: yeah. neil: you're like a vampire. you know there is no rest for the weary. no rest for the weary. thank you. we're following the same developments you are. what could be happening behind the scenes, negotiated settlement is in the works. stocks racing ahead right now on the fact at least the nato resolve to do something about vladmir putin is still on. the latest wrinkle in this is the central bank crack down on cold purchases out of russia. that is lifting gold prices a

little bit more than it normally would. last time i checked, gold was up 25 bucks the ounce. been a safe haven through a lot of this, what is interesting about gold, what is fueling the latest buying interest, we might crack down on russia using this, or central bank using this as a quick way to come up with cash. it has a large, large gold reserve f we're trying to crack down on that, sanction, that, oil, some of these other things that come out of russia, that would naturally shrink the supply of available gold on the market. you know that goes with the demand situation still very strong for that precious resource. obviously prices tick up. but it is not hurting equities in the scheme of things, helping a little bit by what is going on the oil front as prices slide a little bit. putting this in perspective, oil at $112. i see receive it is no longer $130 a barrel. separate goldman sachs report it could go up to $200 what you

see. for the moment any decline is welcome. we're keeping an eye on the moscow stoke exchange, it reopened albeit for very few hours. we saw it move up a little bit here. it has gotten a lot of hand-holding courtesy of the russian government. $10 billion of cash infusion from the government. paltry by western country standards here, but enough to give it a little bit of a lift today. for example on the moscow stock exchange, only about 33 of the 50 stocks listed on it were trading. even then it was limited. there are some rules in place that no short selling, if you're foreign player there, is no selling period. so it is not a real representation what is going on, the purpose of this we're told for vladmir putin to let the world know financially russia is doing just fine, thank you. that is arguable to put it mildly. we're waiting for word out of the nato summit where the president will be detailing some

further sanctions that might be in the offing. let's get a read how things are going there with edward lawrence in brussels. edward? reporter: neil, on the russian stock market no foreigners allowed to sell any stocks too. that is a large part of their stock exchange. here in brussels the president already had two major meetings. the first with nato leaders and the second with the g-7. is is about to start is had meeting with european council going forward. officials tell me in the nato meeting behind closed doors the leaders heard from ukrainian president zelenskyy. he did not ask for nato membership. he did not ask for a no-fly zone. he asked for more planes and military equipment. senior officials say there is a strong sense in the room this is critical moment in history to defend western values. they announced troops going to eastern nato countries and increased defense budget toward

nato from nato members. >> one month start russian invasion of ukraine. nato security environment has fundamentally changed for the long haul and we are responding. reporter: we have not heard from the president yet today though he has been in that nato meeting, the g-7 meeting. we will not hear from him out of the european council meeting this is what happened when reporters tried to ask him questions as president biden walked into the g-7 meeting. listen to this. [inaudible]. >> mr. president -- >> , no, no. come on let's go. reporter: you hurt the no, no, no. still senior administration officials telling me that new sanctions will be levied on 400 russian lawmakers, four military companies in russia by the u.s. and other gcountries. the g-7 countries will prohibit transactions by russia related to using gold reserves to prop up the ruble.

something you talked about. the g-7 countries talked about initiative on sanction evasion, going after any country helping russia get around the sanctions. u.s. will take in 100,000 ukrainian refugees. add that to the one billion dollars the u.s. will pay in additional money for shelter, clean water, medical supplies and other humanitarian assistance to help those displaced by the invasion. so far there is a lot of meat in here but nothing yet on european's reliance on oil and natural gas from russia and how to reduce that as well as exporting more from the united states. we maybe will hear about that tomorrow. they're teasing announcement tomorrow morning. we'll have to see. neil, back to you. neil: edward lawrence thank you very, very much, my friend. in the meantime here big news that ukraine was able to take out a russian ship. if we're to believe the press reports coming out they were able to take down a russian warship. unprecedented. it makes you wonder about the availability of weaponry now

that this is fairly new development to put it mildly. whether this includes some new batch of military aid that president zelenskyy had been asking for. mike tobin in lviv ukraine, with the sig significance of that sinking today. mike, that is game-changer certainly for the ukrainians. reporter: certainly a significant strike back on part of ukrainians. one step further bah the you jailian military channel said it was more than one russian ship that was hit in the port. initial reports 310 ship called the orskk was hit by ukrainian tactical ballistic missile in the port of udansk. reports said it sank at the dock. ukrainian channel another ship had been on fire at some point. the two other ships were damaged and pulled out of that port.

this could be a significant development with this counterstrike since the russians claim controlled of the town of verdansk. that port had become a very important supply hub to them. ukrainians are fighting back northwest of capital city of kyiv. the video is from a little town ukrainians claimed they took back partses of the call tapky give or irpin. they are falling back to defensive position. >> back 20 to 30 clammers to east of ukraine. the ukrainians pushed them back to 40 or 50 kilometers away. in the north of kyiv. reporter: northeast of kyiv the town of chernihiv is in bad shape.

this is where american james hill was killed. they have no power or heat. a bridge near there was blown up. the mayor is rationing water. refugee buses are being fired on. most of the housing is destroyed. the u.n. count the 9300 dead but acknowledged that figure will being dramatically low when the smoke clears and can do an accurate count of the casualties. russian forces are making progress in the town of mariupol but at a terrible, terrible price. ukrainian forces fighting street-to-street are still hanging on. neil? neil: all right, thank you, mike tobin following those developments. want to go to steve harrigan who was there when all of this started. steve, it is interesting, i had a chance to speak to the prime minister of slovenia yesterday and he was telling me, i don't know why we're drawing a line on chemical weapons because the heinous actions of russian soldiers to clearly target civilians, take down hospitals, go after maternity hospitals,

quill pregnant women and their children, go after theaters and the rest that is a red line to him. he is crossed seeing the russian leader routinely blow through that red line long before the talk of chemical weapons. what do you make of that. >> you're right. it is an interesting question whether it is worse to be killed by sarin gas or worst to be killed by an unguided rocket fired into civilian theater. no difference to the people on the ground. there seems to be stigma and some terror associated with chemical weapons. we're hearing a lot about chemical weapons in the last few days as we hear about the stalemate on battle felled. president biden, nato secretary-general warning there could be a use of chemical weapons by russia in the coming period. some military analysts told us they expect a chemical weapons attack by russia is likely. neil: so if it comes to that -- >> chemical weapons to

biological weapons, to possible nuclear, brandishing is all this is rather likely. we are probably about to experience those mixed with conventional operations on the ground. reporter: neil, it was startling during the interview when the analyst said chemical weapons attack likely. now ukraine president zelenskyy has even been more detailed, saying he expects russia possibly to use sarin gas in ukraine. sarin originally developed as a pesticide. it can really stop certain organs from working. in the end you can die from suffocation. the german chancellor has told russian president vladmir putin don't do it, don't use chemical weapons in ukraine but of course this kind of escalation is the russian playbook. this is something the world has seen before in syria.

>> it did have effects positive for assad and russian force, it allowed the syrian military to gain the initiative as it were. one thing russia does not have now in ukraine is the initiative. reporter: the question what would be nato's response to use of chemical weapons? would it be some sort of a red line that could mean introduction of nato forces on the ground in ukraine? neil, back to you. neil: a number of nato leaders, steve, said no, that is a red line the slovenian prime minister comments notwithstanding that should be with far more heinous actions by the russians earlier. having said that, you heard senator lindsey graham and others say that is a complete game-changer for them and would warrant nato participation. now you're talking world war iii though. reporter: it is certainly a scary thought, when people make comparisons to world war ii and

hit le, you have to keep in mind err talking about a nuclear power that needs to be dealt with in a different than one with just conventional forces than in world war ii. >> a very good point, steve. i like to pick your.pause you covered so many of these crises over the years. i'm curious a month into this when you were there at the beginning could you envision what we were talking about what continues to be a brutal stalemate one month later? reporter: i think war has been full of surprises. i think no one thought there would be a full-scale russian invasion. very few experts, very few journalists who were there thought it was going to happen. once it was going to happen, everyone including u.s. intelligence said it would be over in two days. no one expected a month later ukraine would be pushing back, even winning some places on the battlefield. two major surprises so far. goes to show we don't know what is coming next. neil: i can certain intrepid

reporter steve harrigan, let's say had his reservations and doubts early on. thank you, steve, my friend. good catching up with you. >> thanks, neil. neil: let's go to the former policy advisor under margaret thatcher nile gardiner. nile, russia has to be worried a month into this it is nowhere near finishing this. it also has all the advantages. but it has up to 15,000 soldiers dead. that is more than the casualty in a much longer battle in afghanistan back in 1979, 1980. so i'm just beginning to wonder whether that reverberates back home to russians who wonder why the hell are we still waiting in bank lines, why are grocery store shelves empty? what the heck is going on? has it permeated yet? >> neil, thank you very much for having me on the show.

you raise great questions there. without a doubt i think the war in ukraine has gone spectacularly badly for vladmir putin. in many respects it's a disaster. as you point out they lost up to 15,000 troops according to intelligence reports. if you also throw in the likely numbers of wounded as well, it is far, far bigger than 15,000 casualties for the russians. and so this is a spectacular miscalculation on the part of vladmir putin. there is now the realistic possibility, neil, i think of a ukrainian military victory inside of ukraine and a, you know, a real humiliation actually for vladmir putin forcing a withdrawal as well. so this is an incredible scenario. we need to be you know, thinking in terms of victory over the russians here, not containment but the defeat of the russian military, one of the biggest military powers in the world. they have 200,000 troops on the ground. this is going to have, i think,

a huge impact, you know, upon russia itself. i think the russian economy will ultimately be crip tilled by sanctions that will be put in place and i think there will be growing unease, dissatisfaction among the russian people and we have to support every effort by those russians who are opposed to putin regime. there are of course millions of them. just as we did during the cold war support those dissidents who are fighting against totalitarianism, against oppression and tyranny. we have to think i look at the big picture here and you know, putin will not last forever. i think the russian people will grow increasingly discontented with his awful barbaric rule and as well as his invasion of ukraine. yes, the russian military could be facing defeat in ukraine. so you know, i do hope that president biden really looks at the big picture here. he has been so far off the front

on many fronts. antithesis how ronald reagan would have approached mater, margaret thatcher indeed, we need clear strategic thinking on the part of the president leading the free world at this time this is historic moment when we could look at humiliating defeat of one of the world's most barbaric, totalitarian regimes. neil: i'm thinking of maggie thatcher, her response to the argentineans taking falkland islands. which of course know what happened. she didn't take that likely. the signal was sent. don't even think about it. you could argue right now that vladmir putin could be figuring in the back of his mind, no matter how it ends up in ukraine i'm not going anywhere but a number of western leaders saying these sanctions should hold no matter how ukraine ends, hopefully peacefully, without any further gruesomeness, even

when i talked to the slovenia prime minister he should still be punished if he is still in power. in other words keep sanctions in place. keep isolating him in place, no matter how this turns out. what do you make of that? >> absolutely is the right missage to send. i heard this actually from many of our key allies in eastern and central europe. of course i heard it from the friends across the atlantic, the great brins that well, uk has been at forefront confronted russian barbarism and tyranny here. without a doubt our goal should be to bring the russian dictatorial regime to its knees. completely isolated on the world stage, take away availability to launch further invasions. these are expensive exercises for russia to fund actually. we must make sure there is never another invasion of ukraine or our partners in europe. we have to look at a overall strategy frankly for completely,

you know, reining in any capability on the part of the putin dictatorship here and the sanctions have to remain in place. it is very disappointing. there are some big european powers, especially the germans and the french are dragging their feet over the sanctions. this is absolute disgrace. the germans are stuck in appeasement mentality towards russia. this is incredibly dangerous approach to take. biden should be putting pressure upon our european allies here on the sanctions front. he hasn't done so so far. biden has been too weak-kneed. he has been too deferential to putin as well. joe biden is the leader of the world's superpower, the most powerful nation in the world. you don't have to kowtow to vladmir putin. you didn't have to listen to appeasement messages of some countrytries in europe like germans and french. that is irrelevant how the united states has to lead her on the world stage with strength, resolve and conviction.

neil: we'll see next couple days whether that is the case. we're talking about possible new sanctions being added. going with more than oil but financial transactions and industrial activities. but the details need to be ironed out. neil gardner, appreciate catching up with you. appreciate it. up 212 points on the dow. russian stock market opened today. first time it tried to do, essentially a month into this. it had the desired effect. but stocks ended up. they're still down a lot, more than 30% on the year. we should posit it wasn't quite a fair trading day. it was limited, also the number of stocks you could trade was limited. you can't sell the market short. if you're a foreign investor you can't sell at all. so that is sort of like a muted way of opening up but not really being fully open up. then again that is kind of like the russian way. more after this. ♪.

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on that. hillary? reporter: neil, from the white house to the golden state democrats are eyeing a easy fix for higher gas price, just have the government pay for it. california governor gavin newsom announcing a plan to send checks to californians who are facing some of the highest gas prices in the nation right now and also in history. >> so today we're announcing a 9 billion-dollar tax refund to tens of millions of californians. $400 for each registered vehicle that an individual owns, up to two weeks. that direct relief will address the issue that we all are struggling to address and that is issue of gas prices. reporter: that idea popular on capitol hill, the gas rebate act proposed by democrats would send out stimulus checks to $100 for single adults, $200 for couples, extra 100 for each dependent. the checks would go out monthly when the national gas price

average is $4 and above. senate republicans say that is a bandaid and not a cure and could make the problem worse. senate republican telling me the supply of gas, not the lack of gas, not the cash. would that ultimately make the problem worse if inflation was the root of the why gas is high? >> my, if you add more federal spending to give temporary relief in terms of a gas card something the end result will be higher inflationary pressures. reporter: neil, the head of petroleum analysis at gas buddy weighed in this afternoon on this idea of sending out checks to help fix high gas prices. he compared that to giving a bottle of jack daniels to a drunk saying, that is going to enable the problem and only make it worse. neil? neil: i guess the other analogy if you give prime rib doesn't

eat the rib, i see the analogy, see where you're going there. great stuff. hillary vaughn following those developments. wonder what phil flynn thinks of all this. obviously on a bandaid on a problem that requires something far more substantive like expanding oil opportunities in this country. everyone in power seems loathe to do that in washington. so where are we going with this? >> you know, i think it is absolutely ludicrous. you've got the governor of california who is reflective of policies that have driven up gasoline prices, right? i think california has some of the highest taxes in the nation, some of the strictest refining requirements. you can't drill in california waters. you can't have energy. you want to ban natural gas and buildings in certain parts of the state. and then they are shocked prices go up. we'll give you money back. i will give you an idea. lower taxes on gasoline

permanently. let people keep their own money. patrick dehaan is absolutely right. this is crazy. the best way to lower gasoline prices is when prices go up, people pull back a little bit. that is how you will solve this. not giving away a check or two ultimately might give them one fill-up per month. neil: all right, phil. thank you very much. sorry for all the breaking news that truncated our time, my friend. >> no worries, we'll be watching that. we're also going to watch what we hear out of the president of the united states a little later on. he is already ready to telegraph to work in concert with our nato allies to help ease the financial strain, indicating that he will accept 100,000 ukrainians into the united states. that was a welcome development on the part of poland which already has accepted more than 2.17 million ukrainians. we'll have more after this. ♪.

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♪. >> translator: life and death, you can be the force. nato can also be afraid of the actions of russia. i'm sure that russia doesn't think, i'm sure you understand that russia doesn't want to stop on ukraine. it want to go further. we are waiting, we're waiting for real action, real guaranties of security from those who, who we trust and those who can provide these for real. our needs, we need the peace right away. we need, the answer is expected from you. neil: all right. president zelenskyy relentlessly trying to get more aid into thinks country. military is obviously the preferred aid right now. hints he has gotten some new

weapons in his arsenal. how else to explain ukrainians somehow being able to take down a russian warship with pretty advanced technology no doubt provided recently by nato forces. maybe directly the united states but it was a stunning development today. something very few thought they would be seeing in this war but of course this war for the better part of the month now has surprised a lot of folks, hasn't it? certainly has surprised a lot of neighbors nations that have been taking in quite a few refugees from ukraine, close to at this point, you know we're talking about 1.2 million. that it started with in poland, double that now. talk that the united states is open to about 100,000 ukrainians coming to this country. all of this at a time when better than 3.6 million ukrainians have fled or are in the process of fleeing the country. the read from poland with aishah

hasnie. reporter: hey, neil. good afternoon to you. look, the people here in the town of shemsel a border town near the ukraine border, the message is simple, stop the war. i'm standing at a train station where trains are coming in from ukraine carrying hundreds and thousands of refugees. the trains go out into the rest of poland carrying families into other parts of poland because this town can't take so many. i spoke with the mayor of pre-zemsysl today, he said the message to president biden and nato allies to stop this war. that is the only way we see an end to the crisis. since the war began the border town welcomed nearly 800,000 refugees. they are pros lessing 2,000 refugees an hour. only about 2000 have stayed in this town. the rest are jumping on trains or buses, going into other cities in poland further into

the eu the mayor here is very worried about how long this war is going to drag on, because as he put it to me at some point this warm reception from the pols we're seeing, it could run its course. they really need to start planning for long term stays. as president biden works with nato leaders today, heads to poland next to meet with polish president duda i asked the mayor what message he would like to send to the president? listen. >> we do everything what we can for that war, finish that war as quick as possible. so that after we have to think about the rest of the country and rebuild the country and rebuild ukraine. if you talk with ukrainians here, they always say they want to go back. they not want to stay here, you know, for a long time. reporter: meanwhile the mayor of medica, which is another border town 20 minutes from where i am,

they tell us that the u.n. refugee agency, told the u.n. refugee agency his town was not prepared for this crisis. he is now worried about the local infrastructure what happens to that in the long, run. back here the mayor is telling me look i am willing to keep the welcome center operational for up to even a year but he says something has to give. he has to start getting help. can do that as long as he is getting help from the non-profits because they are supplying the most of the help and supplies that this town needs. neil? neil: thank you, ashiah, very, very much. aishah hasnie following developments in poland. the u.s. committed to take in as asia said. when you're poland, taking in more than two million you need help. they're practically screaming for that help. in the meantime the sanction noose is tightening around

russia, this time not targeting oil so much as financial transactions, an interesting development, gold, gold prices up today more than 1 1/3% on news we'll block russian central bank purchases of gold. russia does a little things a little bit different. the central bank hoards the gold, holds most of the gold in the country, but if you lock them down, gold can't get out of country. a means we're assuming that vladmir putin is paying for the onslaught going on in ukraine, to say nothing what he is doing with oil resources yet to be impacted with these sanctions here a month into this. let's get the read from a former imf first deputy managing director. director, good to have you. what is the significance of going after the gold reserves in russia and just clamping down on them? >> it is great to be here, neil.

the gold transactions are important because this is an invasion mechanism or kind of a work around for all the hard work being done by governments globally how to put the sanctions regime in place. so the sanctions are having a biting effect in russia. the central bank has been forced to take emergency action. it had a 3 trillion-dollar ruble action as banks scrambled for liquidity. it had emergency rate hikes. there are limits on cash withdrawals. they are searching through the seat cushions to find more resource, closing off the option to sell gold will be an important one. neil: it takes time. i understand that none of these things happen overnight. but you could argue as soon as we start talking about taking russian oil off the market, oil prices were soaring including russia's. we talk about withholding their ability to sell gold outside of their country. gold prices jump up. so there is pressure on nato

nations, the g-7, the european union, to speed this process up, right? because in the interim ironically it helps vladmir putin, doesn't it? >> it does. i mean i think the, we've seen what this looks like because we have a good example of this in venezuela. after oil was, oil transactions were sanctioned by the united states a few years ago in venezuela, and its access to foreign exchange was cut off it began going to very creative links to try to fence its gold globally. the people that benefit from the transactions are ones that have access to the gold. have means to access the government to move the gold out, exchange it for things that are valuable. it benefits the insiders until you can get this fully cut off. by the way it is important to note -- neil: go ahead. >> we focus a lot on oil but you know russia exports a lot of other minerals as well, right?

so gold one, but titanium, platinum, second largest exporter of platinum. the first largest, largest exporter of palladium. these are potential things that the g-7 could also be looking at. neil: in the case of platinum, palladium, very crucial to the auto industry. for catalytic converters, all of that. one thing you say, geoffrey, quickly china could find a way around on this with the gold thing to help russia out? i'm told that sometimes there are loopholes in this that you could drive a semi-tractor through. are they? >> i mean i think people are, when they're incented enough to move around the architecture they will be very creative in finding ways but you can make it very difficult and expensive for countries to try and navigate around that. i think the broader point is,

what do you do about secondary sanctions, right? a lot of debate whether this should be extended. the linchpin there still is china, right? if you're going to have them be constructive in not facilitating gold transactions you want to make sure that they are fully compliant with the original sanction regime. one way of doing that, right, make sure there are secondary sanctions in place. then countries have to choose. either you do business with the united states or you get to do business with russia. you can't have it both ways. neil: then see what therapy choice is when they do that. thank you very much. the former imf first deputy managing director. former assistant secretary of the treasury for international finance. smart fellow there. neil: we're up a smart 190 points on the dow right now. we'll keep following you that, also give you an update on those incredible tornadoes in the new orleans area. it happened so fast and did so

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♪. neil: you know they are still digging out from all the tornado damage in new orleans greater area. as hard as it is to believe it could have been a heck of a lot worse. the louisiana lieutenant governor billy nungesser good enough to join us now. thank you for taking the time. how are things looking now? >> we are getting cleaned up. unbelievable, community of st. bernard hit so hard by katrina has a floodwall around it, never to think it would get devastated by a tornado. over 200 structures destroyed.

incredible debris all over the parish. it is just another hit from a state that already been hit a lot with two your -- hurricanes. 8,000 people still living in trailers because of that with all the measures we've taken. neil: they can't help you of when it comes to tornadoes, so what do you do? >> i don't know. just help our neighbors recover. that is one thing louisiana is good at. you know, the first night only seven people showed up for the shelter. that is because their neighbors, take in their neighbors. we treat strangers like family here in louisiana. there is people out there right now helping them get their lives back together. so it will be a long haul for those people that lost everything. but it's a great community. they help their neighbors. we'll get through it. neil: you know, governor, there had been concerns about tornadoes in the area earlier

that evening but that this quickly sped up. it is easy to look back and wonder what, what happened, how quickly it happened but can you go through that a little bit? i mean a lot of people who seemingly were caught off-guard, even with the the safety and precautions in place to give them as much of a head's up as you can humanly do? >> absolutely. there was a sighting on the west bank in algiers. within seconds it crossed the mississippi river, touched down in st. bernard and destroyed everything in its wake. you hear stories about house disappearing or another home being lifted and sat down in the middle of the street. that quickly and to target one area after skipping across the mississippi river, it is just unthinkable how quick that can happen. neil: amazing. lieutenant governor, i know you have gotten very, very little sleep these last few days, but

thank you for taking the time. we'll be thinking of you and your constituents and going through a nightmare like this all over again, thank you, sir. >> thank you so much. y'all have a good day. neil: you too. all right, meanwhile we're following some other developments here including the economic impact right now from what is going on half a world away in ukraine to even how we conduct business in this country including the push right now for many restaurants to follow a fast-food paradigm, where you have drive throughs. it is suggested apple be's wants to go to that route for people in a hurry. the guy who owns applebee's says that is easier said than done after this to go beyond ordinary etfs. and strengthen client confidence in you. before investing consider the fund's investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses. go to flexshares.com for a prospectus containing this information.

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neil: it is not news to you of course that inflation is a problem and you're dealing with it. a lot of us tell like fast-food. in fact that has been one of the strengths of this economy not only through the pandemic but coming out of the pandemic. we still really like fast-food even with prices going up. in fact now, a the lot of chains up the if you will, are

contemplating drive-thrus. applebee's is kicking it around but zane tankel who one as lot of them is not keen on this. zane, you're not key on this, right? >> we're more of and urban market, neil. as a result real estate costs drive-thru real estate is incredible part of that. and, number one. number two, i'm a great believer it is "back to the future." there was a time when casual dining which is our segment was the preferred versus fast-food, et cetera and that pent-up demand for the past two years is coming to light. it is showing. more and more people, we're doing more business, neil, believe it or not with 26 restaurants today than we did with 40. we still have 14 closed that we're slowly rolling open. there is a huge pent-up demand

and there is something to be said about sitting down being served. in addition we have liquor, which fast-food doesn't do. no state to the best of my knowledge from permits alchohol to go. having beer with a hamburger works, doesn't it. like cake. neil: it certainly does. i am curious though, you could have the best of both worlds if you did drive-thru as well, right? there are a lot of people who don't like to wait. a lot of people are not saying that your service is bad at applebee's at all, that it is difficult to get help. they don't want to deal with that. you could be passing up something to beef up, no pun intended, your revenue? >> [laughter]. neil, we are, we're sort of the a mix between the drive-thru and the car and the fast-food. we've set up to go stations and to go windows. so we do, the thing that is really changed the dynamics of

casual dining and sit-down the to-go piece. we were exclusively to-go for almost two years. we learned a lot about the to-go business which is fast food. as a consequence that was sticky. second quarterky in the sense when the restaurants started to epup a portion of the to-go stayed. regardless how nice it is outside or sitting outside, a portion of that. where we did six or 8% of to-go business pre-covid, our to-go business is somewhere 30 and 40% today. in addition to the sit-down business. and that has been, that has been the huge change in casual dining segment. neil: keep us posted, zane, always interested in that. have a pretty loyal base, sir. you built that up. zane tankel the metro chairman, dow up 193 points food for

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neil: all right, all eyes right now on what will come of that nato meeting and than the separate g7 meeting and then the separate brian onmeeting to try to get putin to slow down when with it comes to this vicious war now entering its second is month. that's easier said than done. edward lawrence has more.

edward. >> reporter: neil, yeah, the u.s. announcing extensive list of moves out of the three meetings that the president's had with the number of world leaders. you know, he started off the meeting with a nato meeting. we saw the president talking with the french president, emmanuel macron, also with the with the prime minister of japan. in the nato meeting, president zelenskyy made another specific plea if for more plane ares and military hardware. the u.s. is considering a plan to send anti-ship missiles to ukraine, then in the g7 meeting leaders decided on a slew of additional sanctions including prohibiting russia's central bank from using gold for transactions. we have not heard from the president yet, his handlers yelling no, no, no, when reporters tried to ask him questions. but the head of nato talked about the amount of assistance for ukraine and committed to more in the future. listen. >> we pay tribute to the great courage of the ukrainian people and the ukrainian armed forces fighting for their freedom and their rights.

we also recognize those in russia who are bravely speaking out against the war. we hear the voices, they matter. >> reporter: he also balanced starting basically world war iii by bolstering nato troops in nato countries. now, the white house teasing an announcement tomorrow related to europe's reliance on russian oil and natural gas. the european commission president says she will specifically ask the president -- president biden, that is -- to ship more natural gas so the e.u. can cut russia out of the equation. >> europeans have come to the realization that energy security is more important than climate zealotry. they realize what a mistake they've made by depending on their enemies for their energy. we have it in the united states, the president needs to announce that we're not only going to ship them more, that we are going to actually produce if more here at home.

>> reporter: and the president now debriefing with his team, he's a little bit behind schedule. we did expect his news conference in about two hours, that possibly could be delayed as the pool is saying they're about 90 minutes late from going from one location to the other with this european council meeting which is next. back to you. neil: thank you, my friend. edward lawrence following those developments half a world away. don't be surprised in the middle of trying to tighten the screws around vladimir putin, poland comes along and says you could help us out, we've got better than 2.3 -- 3.3 million of the refugees who are trying to exit that country. we could use a little help. are they getting that? ashley webster has more on that story. >> reporter: hey, neil. the answer to that a question is, no, they're not getting any help right to now, but they do hope president biden can chip in at least and the rest of the e.u. we're in a border crossing area about 60 miles north of where

we've been doing the bulk of our reporting, and is we've seen a substantial decrease in the number of refugees coming across the border: but that will quickly change, of course, if there's any more military action anywhere close to the western side of ukraine. so just a lull, is what we're saying. just to reemphasize those numbers, neil, if we could bring those up, more than 3.1 million refugees coming out of ukraine, more than 2.1 million coming to poland. that's close to 60% of all refugees. yes, they need help. we did catch up with a young lady who came across the border hertz earlier today -- herself earlier today, and she told us what she left behind. >> too much children died, too much, too much people lost their house. it's very terrible and we're angry at the russian people. >> reporter: we're expecting, neil, the white house to

announce, president biden here, he's coming to poland tomorrow, expected to say that the u.s. will take up to 100,000 ukrainian refugees through the refugee program or any if ukrainian who may have family in the u.s., they will fast track the application to get them there. still it's rough in the ocean, but it is an offer. also the u.s. expected to kick in a billion dollars to help all of these countries surrounding ukraine who are taking in the refugees. that money will be used to offset some of those costs. the problem is though, to be honest, neil, the refugees that come across, they just want to stay as close to the border as they can. that's why poland in particular and the largest cities have been overrun and full to the brim of refugees looking to stay, of course, hoping to go back to ukraine as soon as the conflict is over. when that is, of course, we don't know. back to you. neil: boy, they are a remarkably generous people. ashley, thank you very, very much. >> reporter: yes. neil: ashley webster following all of that. and the poles say, hey, we're going to keep doing this but,

gosh, we need financial help. connell mcshane, meanwhile, following russian and ukrainian trip movements on a bit of a surprise today, an overnight attack on a russian battleship with technology we didn't think the ukrainians have, but apparently they do now. >> reporter: yeah, right down in theenter of the country and that was key at least for a psychological point of view, hey, we can do this and fight back in an area that russia had already taken over, and that point was well made. the other thing big picture wise, neil, is that the counteroffensives in general not only in the south, but in and around the capital city, have been the story now going on two or three days. not only ukrainian claims that they've been able to hold the russians where they are or push them back, but now those claims being verified by the united states and ore sources -- other souse -- sources. there has been the continuing -- continued targeting of kharkiv, such an area of treatment violence over the past month. there was a government official

who said today a post office where there were civilians waiting to be treated with humanitarian assistance was hit by russian forces, they opened fire, according to this official, and six people were killed. so we still see that. in the big picture though, let's go into the capital city area and take a closer look. we've herald a lot -- heard a lot about the fighting near irpin, recent days here on the left side of the screen. what we're doing here on this map is we're color-coding this to say in blue these are the areas where the ukrainians have claimed success in their counteroffensive. so makariv, they say they've moved the russians out. other areas around the capital city they're getting closer to doing that. local officials talking, unconfirmed still, in buc health care a. john kirby talked about this, the pentagon's press secretary earlier today, in some spots to

where russia had moved its forces within 20-30 kilometers mere the city, they're being pushed out. this is the office of the president, president zelenskyy and where his headquarters are, center city, kyiv. so where fighting has been now you're starting to see it move out of there. now to where you started, neil. let's go down to the southern part of the country. this is the area where that ship was located, very caning,. so you can see the strategic importance in right off the sea that russia had already taken this city, right? so now as the reports go it was being used as a logistical hub. they were trying to get supplies in there and successfully doing so in many ways to feed the front lines. so being able to hit that ship which the ukrainians claim that they did, that gives you the idea that russia can't be comfortable in a place like that. even in mariupol, a city that by all accounts has been just about completely destroyed, it has not

been surrendered. that's ukrainian defense, the blue marks. mykolaiv, russia cannot advance and move down into odesa which is such an important area which really they haven't gotten anywhere close to, they being the russians, at least so far. so it's been remarkable to see this play out. i'll end on the refugees with an update for you, neil. i know you were talking to ashley about this number getting higher. we just got an update, it's just about 4 million, 3.9 and change. so you're talking four weeks, 4 million refugees. the u.n. made a comment earlier today that half children, think about this, half the children in ukraine have been displaced by this war. neil: just incredible. connell mcshane, thank you very much, putting all that in order. we had an opportunity yesterday to talk with the prime minister of slovenia saying that help should be on the way to all the countries doing their part to make things easier on ukraine including some of the richest.

take a look. do you know or do you recommend that there should be american troops in some of the other countries talked about including the czech republic and, certainly, slovenia? >> actually, hay come to slovenia, they're welcome. but i think this is not critical decision, it's military decision. they have to tell us of -- they have to decide where to put such troops and what countries which are members of nato are a possible location. the focus is on ukraine, and currently we are to do everything we can, we're here to help them with defensive and offensive weapons to be able to defend themselves. neil: all right. the prime minister making it very clear everyone from the united states on down has to fork over more and save ukraine

because it's all in their vested interest to do just that. john venable joins us, senior research fellow at the heritage foundation, also harry -- ending with you and begin with you, if i can. the slovenian leader's pitch to say not only one has to keep pitching in, but pitch more in including, he said, the united states. what did you make of that? >> i think he's right. i mean, i think, you know, the united states is not spending enough on defense. during the obama years, it was very shocking that we ended this idea that we could fight who who major wars at the same time. and i think some of our capacity has been degraded dramatically. and now we're in a situation where we're trying to deter china from potentially invading taiwan or putting pressure on taiwan, but now we're struggling to source our allies, partners and friends to push back against the russians in an active war. so i think the united states needs to be spending more on defense.

i think, of course, our nato allies need to be spending more on defense. and specifically, neil, we have to focus in on germany. yes, they've agreed to massively increase their spending, but we need to put pressure on them just like donald trump did to make sure they keep those commitments because this war will end, and i'm afraid we'll go back to this laissez-faire attitude when it comes to are russia, and that'd be a big mistake. neil: you know, john, the slovenian prime minister didn't say we call vladimir putin, but when it comes to delivering military aid no matter that aid into the country, of course, you know that putin has been arguing that would be an act of war, he'd go after the nato countries. he was saying they're ill-prepared -- that is, russia -- to even handle what they're doing in ukraine, let alone what we might do down the road in ukraine and that this idea from chemical weapons to everything else that we draw markers for, we shouldn't obsess about it because that is

vladimir putin is having a devil of a time just getting his soldiers to succeed. what do you make of that? >> neil, thank you for having me with you. i complete completely agree with what harry said. we've been underfunding our military, and europe has been grossly upside funding theirs for -- underfunding theirs for years. we need to give ukraine every tool in our kit that we can offer them to make this fight very viable. they're right now using 40 real and munitions that we're supplying from outside to carry this fight to the russians, and we need to be doing everything we can to bolster that. and that includes giving them spare parts and mig 29s, for mig 29s and us-24s if we can -- su-24s. neil: i'm sorry, john, but would that also include allowing those migs that poland wanted to

send into ukraine to do so and not fear offending or agitating putin? >> neil, the rhetoric surrounding this agitation is ridiculous. in the vietnam war, russia supplied everyone mig 21, 19 and 17, every sa-2 that fired on and shot down american aircraft throughout that war. it was military aid that they gave to north vietnam. and for us to wring our hands over the opportunity to fly in or truck in 29 migs from a neighboring country, at least their spare parts and at least the munitions taha go with them is ridiculous. neil: so, harry, our fear of a world war iii seems based on going too far and ticking off vladimir putin. do you agree with that? >> well, look, we can't be afraid of world war iii.

we haven cob concern -- to be concerned, but let's face it, i don't think putin wants to get into world war iii with us either. i think smart thing to do, as john said, have a solid short-term strategy getting the ukrainians the arms they need, but i don't think this is going to lead to world war. i think what we're most lie -- likely going to see the russians not getting much far, and it is going to be one massive frozen conflict. that also means we need to eye -- assure in the long term we give the ukrainians the military gear they need. we have older f-15 fighters we could train them on, we can be the arsenal of democrat if we want to -- democracy, if we want to, neil. and that's where this is going. neil: harry, final word. john, great seeing you, and great seeing you both again. in the meantime, as both of them were speaking, we're getting word that president biden is pushing back his comments on exactly what sanctions and other

actions nato leaders, the g7, the european union, he's meeting with them all this week, plan to take to isolate russia still further. they're coming up in about 15 minutes. stay with us. when he talks, we're there. ♪ ♪ dad, we got this. we got this. we got this. we got this. we got this. yay! we got this. we got this! life is for living. we got this! let's partner for all of it. edward jones

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neil: all right, democrats making the push for more covid funds, especially to deal with a spike in cases, but a lot of republicans are saying go slow because there's a lot of existing funds we have for covid that are not being remotely used for covid. chad pergram has been picking true that a argument. i think i've heard this before chad. what's the late? >> reporter: indeed, neil. congress approved $4.6 trillion to help with covid, but much of the money went to projects which don't have anything to do with health. millions have gone to a ski resort in iowa, the yankees' farm team in upstate new york to renovate their stadium and and debts at an institute in boston named after the late senator ted kennedy. >> someone uses money in ways they shouldn't have, then we should investigate, and if they

violated the law, then we should prosecute. >> reporter: gop members say congress should retool existing covid funds. the government has spent about 91% of all covid money. the administration says congress needs to act, or it could be caught by a new wave. >> further congressional inaction will set us back. leave us less prepared and cost more lives. there's no time to waste, congress needs to act. >> reporter: this comes as inflation skyrockets and gas prices remain high. that's why doctors want the government to pay for testing. >> whether it's a wedding or a business conference or whatever people enjoy to do, a test on the front end that can help someone potentially prevent a spread is way easier and much more manageable. >> reporter: how the government spent covid money could emerge as an issue in the

midterm elections this fall. neil? neil: all right. chad, thank you very much. dan geltrude with us, geltrude and company founder, accountant by training. so many times i've had you on here, you've talked about it's the government spending that runs far afield from what its original purpose that compounds problems like this suddenly running out of covid dough to deal with extra vaccines and a all of that. leaving that aside though, what's interesting is that this new argument that a it would help deal with the inflation problem when you could make a credible case that it was all that spending that got this going long before the ukraine war. >> neil, this whole topic is absolutely maddening. if you go back to the american rescue plan where we spent or we allocated $1.9 trillion that was supposed to go to saving jobs

and vaccines and opening schools, all those things, one of the big arguments against that was this stuff is not, this money is not actually going all towards battling covid. it's going elsewhere. the real problem was is allocating these funds, for example, to the states, neil. there were no strings attached. neil: that's right. >> now, you know, the comment was made, well, if something was illegal, we need to do something about it. my guess is nothing was probably done illegally. perhaps unethically, but you just throw at all -- out all this dough every everywhere and to have politicians spend it, what did you think was going to happensome. neil: yeah. it's the rule of thumb that 10% is wasted, right in and then you're committing $2 billion, $3 billion, well, $200-300 million in serious, serious waste. having said that though, a

number of fed governors, they're all talking around the countried today and this week including neel kashkari, governor christopher weller who is weighing in, a voting member of the open marketing committee, to a man and woman across the country though we're hearing more of them -- not all of them, but more of hem -- you know, saying we have to be more aggressive. up to jerome powell himself, maybe half-point hikes are in the offing in the next couple meetings. what do you make of this pivoting going on with the fed? >> yeah, i think it's actually ridiculous, neil, because they are way past where they should have taken action, right? this should have been done a year ago. so now, as i believe, the economy is starting to slow down and we're seeing signs of that, we're seeing the potential signs for a recession, and now we're going to start to raise interest rates? it doesn't make sense. the fed thinks they're going to have a soft landing here? if i hope they do -- i hope they

do. i don't know if that's really going to be possible. if i was asked what the fed should do right now, they should actually do nothing. and the focus should actually be on policies coming off the white house -- out of the white house to address what's going on with inflation, not tooling with the interest rates right now. neil: very interesting. dan, thank you very much. dan geltrude, geltrude and company, he's the founder. also a good read of money. we're blowing it, we're blowing a lot of it, aren't we? hope to hear more prosecute president of the united states pretty soon, what he's going to do about ukraine. talk is he's going to beef up financial commitments dealing with refugee issue, also targeting russia in more creative ways right now starting with oil. right now the latest target is gold. after this. ♪ ♪

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♪ neil: all right, president biden we have not heard from publicly talking to reporters or even individually, expecting to hear from him momentarily right now in brussels, belgium, where this nato conference is going on. he's going to spell out what they've agreed to, that is, nato leaders, as far as aid to ukraine and more punishment for russiament in the meantime, back in washington the focus right now on judge jackson. she can sit back and relax today, take it all in, a lot of supporters -- a thousand strong -- have already e-mailed and signed letters in support of her becoming the next supreme court associate justice. but it isn't a done deal just yet. let's get to the read from david spunt at the justice department. david. >> reporter: hi, neil. a busy week for judge jackson, and we actually just got the two minute warning for the president, so i'll get through this quickly. the judge was not before the

committeed today but had two long days yesterday, today was just colleagues going ahead and singing her praises. yesterday wrappedded that two-day-long grilling of the justice. she took questions on her stance from abortion, even her past sentences of child porn offenders which irked her critics. >> why did you sentence him to just 28s? >> senator, you're looking at the record, i don't have the record here. what i will say is that in every case i looked at the recommendations of not only the government, but also the probation office, the defendants, the record, the evidence. i took into account the seriousness of the offense. >> reporter: senator corey beaker became motional when complimenting the judge after those attacks. >> you have earned this spot. you are worthy. you are a great american. but don't worry, my sister. don't worry.

god has got you. and how do i know that? because you're here. and i know what it's taken for i you to sit in that seat. >> reporter: an important point before i send it back to you for the president, neil, judge jackson says abortion is settled law. we could see a full vote in the senate within the next week, week and a half. neil? if. neil: it is interesting. i mean, you know, it is what it is. all right. thank you very much, my friend. president biden now in brussels. ready to address the press. >> good evening, everyone. all the press is here, you must be getting very tired. am i the 16th or 17th? at my rate, all kidding aside, thank you for taking the time. i, today marks one month since russia began its carnage in ukraine, brutal invasion of ukraine.

and we held a nato summit the very next day. at that time my overwhelming objective in wanting that summit was to have absolute unity on three key, important issues among our nato ask is european allies. first was to support ukraine with military and humanitarian assistance. second was to impose the most significant, the most significant sanctions, economic sanction regime ever in order to cripple putin's economy and punish him for his actions. third was to fortify the eastern flank of our nato allies who were, obviously, very, very concerned and somewhat at, worried what would happen. we accomplished all three of these, and today we're determined to sustain those efforts and to build on them. if the united states has committed to provide over $2 billion in military equipment to ukraine since i became

president, anti-air systems, anti-armor systems, ammunition, and our weapons are i flowing into ukraine as i speak is. speak. anded today i'm announcing the united states is prepared to commit more than $1 billion in humanitarian assistance to help get relief to millions of ukrainians affected by the war in ukraine. many ukrainian refugees will wish to stay in europe closer to their homes. but we also will welcome 100,000 ukrainians to the united states with a focus on reuniting families. and we will invest $320 billion to bolster democratic resilience and defend human rights in ukraine and neighboring countries. we're also coordinating with the g7 and the european union on food security as well as energy security. i'll have more to say about that tomorrow. we're also announcing new

sanctions of more than 400 individuals and entities aligned, with an alignment with the european union. more than 300 members of the duma, oligarchs and russian defense companies that fuel the russian war machine. in addition to the 100,000 u.s. forces now stationed in europe to defend nato territory, nato established as you already know four new battle groups in romania, hungary, bulgaria and slovakia to reinforce the eastern front. putin was banking on nato being split. my early conversation with him in december and early january, it was clear to me he didn't think we could sustain this cohesion. nato has never, never been more united tan it is today. than it is today. putin is getting exactly the opposite what he intended to have as a consequence is of going into ukraine. we've built that same unity with our european union and with the

leading democracies of the g7, in the g7. so i want to thank you, and i'll be now happy to take your questions. since there's so many people out there, i'm going to -- been given a list. how about chris with the associated press, first question. >> thank you, mr. president. so you've warned about the real threat of chemical weapons being used. have you gathered specific intelligence that suggests that president putin is deploying these weapons, moving them into position or considering their use? and would the u.s. or nato respond with military action if he did use chemical weapons? >> you know, on the first question i can't answer that. i'm not going to give you intelligence data, number one. number two, we would respond. we would respond if he uses it. the nature of the response would depend on the nature of the use. josh of bloomberg. >> [inaudible] thank you very much.

>> if i had your voice, i'd have been elected a lot earlier. [laughter] >> thank you. can you talk to us about two things, sir? one, your conversation with president xi of china, have you seen any indications of action or lack of action are from china that has led you to believe when they are intervene and help russia either with the sale of arms or the provision of supplies to support this war in ukraine? and secondly, can you say whether the conversation today turned to the subject of food shortages and what the u.s. will do to address wheat shortages in paragraph as a result of this war -- in particular as a result of this war. thank you. >> on the first question relating to president xi jinping of china, i had a very straightforward conversation with xi now i guess it's six days ago, seven days ago, in that range. and i made it clear to him, i made no threats, but i made it clear to him a that make sure he

understood the consequences of him helping russia as has been reported and as was expected. and i made no threats, but i pointed out the number of american and foreign corporations that have left russia as a consequence of their barbaric behavior. and i indicated that i knew how much he -- because we had long discussions in the past -- about his interest in making sure he had economic relations and economic growth with europe and the united states. and i indicated that he'd be putting himself at significant jeopardy in those aims if, in fact, he were to move forward. i am not going to comment on any detail about what we know or don't know as a consequence of that conversation, but tomorrow, tomorrow or next monday that ursula's having that conference with china.

>> [inaudible] >> the 1st. on april 1st. we've had discussions, because i think that china understands that its economic future's much more closely tied to the west than it is to russia. and so i, i'm hopeful that he is does not -- he does not get engaged. we also did discussed today that there's a a need for us to set up, nato to set up and the e.u., to set up a system whereby we have an to organization looking at who has violated any of the sanctions and where and when and how they've violated them. and that's something we're going to put in train. it's not done yet. so with regard to xi, i have nothing more to report. with regard to food shortages, yes, we did talk about food

shortages. and it's going to be real. the price of these sanctions is not just imposedded upon russia, it's imposed upon an awful lot of countries as well including european countries and our country as well. and because both russia and ukraine have been the breadbasket of europe in terms of wheat, for example, just to give one example, but we had a long discussion in the g7 with the, with both the united states which has a significant, the third largest producer of wheat in the world as well as canada which is also a major, major producer. and we both talked about how we could increase and disseminate more rapidly food shortages. and in addition to that, we talked about urging all the european countries and everyone else to end trade restrictions

on sending -- limitations on sending food abroad. and so we are in the process of working out with our european friends what it would be, what it would take to help alleviate the concerns relative to food shortages. we also talked about a significant, major u.s. investment among others in terms of providing for the need for humanitarian assistance including food as we move forward. torina of "the wall street journal." watch out you don't get hit in the head there now. [laughter] >> mr. president, in your view, does president zelenskyy need to cede any ukrainian territory in order to gain a ceasefire with russia, or is that completely off the table? and then, also, do you think that russia needs to be removed from the g20? >> on the latter point, my

answer is, yes. that depends on the g20. i -- that was raised today, and i raised the possibility if that can't be done, if indonesia and others do not agree, then we should, in my view, ask to have both ukraine be able to attend the meetings as well as -- basically ukraine being able to attend the g20 meetings and reserve. with regard to -- what was the first question? >> did you think that unineeds to cede -- [inaudible] >> that is a total judgment based on ukraine. nothing about a ukraine without ukraine, i don't believe that that they're going to have to do that, but that's a judgment witd discussions, i should say, that have taken place that i have not been part of including ukrainians. and it's, it's their judgment to

make. cecilia, abc. if there -- there you are. [laughter] >> sir, you've made it very clear in this conflict that you do not want to see world war iii. but is it possible that in expressing that so early that you were too quick to rule out direct military intervention in this warsome could putin have been emboldened knowing that you were not going to get involved directly in this conflict? >> no and no. >> and to clarify on chemical weapons, could, if chemical weapons were used in ukraine, would that trigger a military response from nato? >> it would, it would trigger a response in kind. whether or not -- you're asking where nato would cross, we'd make that decision at the time. >> and my final question, because you're heading to poland tomorrow, do you think that getting a firsthand look at the effects of this war on these

millions of ukrainians who have fled their country could change the way that you might respond? >> i don't think so because i've been to many, many wars. i've been to refugee camps, i've been in war zones for the last 15 years. and it's devastating. but the thing you look at the most is you see these young children, you see children without parents that are in those camps or -- refugees. you see women and husbands, men and women who are completely lost and have no -- you see the look, that blank look on their face, that absolute feeling of, my god, where am i? what's going to happen to me? and so it, what it will do, it will reinforce my commitment to have the united states make sure we are a major piece of dealing with the relocation of all those folks as well as humanitarian assistance needed both inside ukraine and outside ukraine.

for example, this is not something that poland or romania or germany should carry on their own. this is an international responsibility. the united states is a leader, one of the leaders in the international community and has an obligation to be engaged. to be engaged and do all we can to ease the suffering and pain of innocent women and children and men, for that matter, throughout ukraine. and those who have made it across the border. i plan on attempting to see those folks as well as i hope i'm going to be able to see -- i guess i'm not supposed to say where where i'm going, am i? [laughter] anyway, i hope i get to see a lot of people. [laughter] marcus of "der spiegel". >> thanks, mr. president. there's a presidential election

coming up in 2024 -- >> you're kidding? [laughter] >> it's true. and there are widespread concerns in europe that a figure like your predecessor, maybe even your predecessor himself might get elected president again. so are there any steps, anything you're trying to do and nato is trying to do here these days to from from -- to prevent what you're trying to do come undone two years from now? >> no, that's not how i think of this. i've been involved in foreign policy for longer than anybody involved in this process right now. i have no concerns about the impact -- i made a commitment when i ran this time. i wasn't going to run again, and i mean that sincerely. i had no intention of running for president again, and -- until i saw those folks coming out of the fields in virginia carrying torches and carrying nazi banners and literally

singing the same vile rhyme that they used in germany in the early '20s -- or '30s. and then when the gentleman you mentioned was asked what he thought and a young woman was killed, a protester, and he asked, was asked what he thought, he said there are very good people on both sides. and that's when i decided i wasn't going to be quiet any longer. and when i ran this time -- and i think the american press, whether they look at me favorably or unfavorably, will acknowledge this -- i made the determination nothing is worth, no election is worth my not doing exactly what i think is the right thing. not a joke. i'm too long in the tooth to fool with in any longer. and so we're a long way off on elections, a long way off. my focus of any election is on making sure that we retain the house and the united states

senate so that i have room to continue to do the things that i've been able to do. in terms of grow the economy, in terms of grow the economy and deal in a rational way with american foreign policy and lead the world, be a leader of the free world. so, but it's not an illogical question for someone to ask. i say to people at home, imagine if we sat and watched the doors of bundestag broken down and police officers killed and hundreds of people storming in. or imagine if we saw that happening to the british parliament or whatever, how would we feel. and one of the things that i take some solace from is i don't think you'll find my european leader -- any european leader who thinks that i am not up to the job. and i mean that sincerely. it's not likeing whoa.

the point is that the first g7 meeting i attended like the one i did today was in great broun, and i sat down -- great britain, and i sat down and said america's back. and one of my counterparts, colleagues, heads of state said how long, for how long. so i don't blame, i don't criticize think about for asking that question. but the next election, i'd be very fortunate if i had that same man running against me. thank you very much. [inaudible conversations] >> whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. yeah, one final question. hold on a second, please. i was supposed to be an hour ago at the european union meeting. i'm thanking you. someone is i haven't called on before. you. who are you? >> i'm --

[inaudible] >> okay. >> sir, deterrence didn't work. what makes you think vladimir putin will alter course based on the action you've taken today? >> let's get something straight. you remember if you covered me from the very beginning i did not say, in fact, the sanctions would deter him. sanctions never deter. you keep talking about that. sanctions never deter. the main reason for sanctions, increasing the pain and the demonstration why id asked for this nato meeting -- [audio difficulty] for a month we will sustain what we're doing not just next month, the following month, but for the remainder of in the entire year. that's what will -- [inaudible] >> -- impact on making russia change course in ukraine? >> that's not what i say. you're playing a game with me. i know. the answer's, no. i think what happens is we have to demonstrate -- the purpose, the single most important thing is for us to stay unified.

and the world continue to focus on what a brute this guy is and all the innocent people's lives that are being lost and ruined and what's going on. that's the important thing. but, look, if you're putin and you think you've got, that europe is going to crack in a month, six weeks, two months, why not -- they can take anything for another month. we have to demonstrate, the reason i asked for the meeting, we have to stay totally, thoroughly united. thank you. [inaudible conversations] >> if we could have everyone -- neil: all right. i think the president made a lot of nudes there. i don't know if it was -- of news there. i don't know if it was all intentional. he did let slip that he helps to meet with ukrainian refugees, again, the emphasis being refugees. he stopped himself from saying more. i think i got his quote right, i guess i'm not supposed to say

where i'm going to be. that generated some laughter in the room, but it did raise the possibility that besides going to poland, the president might, in fact, go to ukraine just as some neighboring nato leaders have in the last week or so. if that is the case, that would be a stunning development. the president just kind of teasing that it's a possibility again by saying i guess i'm not supposed to say where i'm going to be. he also referred to ukraine's leadership more to the point but said that he didn't think ukraine would have to give up any more territory in a peace deal. by saying any more, of course, he's referring to back in 2014 when the russians seized crimea. that was then, the president seemed to be making it clear that no matter what type of a deal is ultimately barteredded or brokeredded, it would not necessarily have to require still more land giveaways to the russians rpght.

that's the impression he left with me, i could be wrong. he also said when it comes to ukraine territory, it is their judgment to make, not ours. russia and and ukraine have been negotiating even as this fighting has continued, and negotiations, the president says, are always favored even if they are not initially yielding results. but the other blockbuster comment had to do with the use of chemical weapons and how nato would respond to that. he said we would respond if putin uses chemical weapons, but he went on to say it depends on nature of their use. in other words, it could beg the question whether it's t limited use of chemical weapons, it's sort of like can you be just a little bit pregnant if you're using chemical weapons? it's a big deal to use chemical weapons, but if you are going -- gauging your response based on how much chemical weapons were used or to the degree to which which you were using them and how many people you were using them on, it did raise sort of a

measured response even to the use of chemical weapons. now, y'all recall yesterday when i -- you'll recall yesterday when i was speaking to the prime minister of slovenia, he quickly noted why we should be marking a line on chemical weapons when the heinous offenses russian soldiers have committed against average citizens in ukraine, attacking hospitals, maternity hospitals, killing pregnant women and children, going a after theaters and shopping malls. chemical weapons seem to fall many that same line. dead, as he said, is dead and cruelty is cruelty. the slovenian prime minister said chemical weapons could be potentially a game-changer for which you'd have a strong response. the president seems to be indicating in his remarks it might be measured depending on hair use. again, that is my quick impression. and it could be very, very wrong. for a smarter fellow who's very good at reading maybe political

signals here is senator kevin grahammer -- karen kramer -- kevin kramer, senate environment and public works. kind enough to wait through the president's remarkings. remarks. senator, you're, you know, the diplomatic expert and very schooled in what politicians say and what they mean, but i was struck mostly by the president's response on russia possibly using chem chemical weapons. >> yeah. well, i was too. neil: it sounds measured, what do you think? >> remember, this is the same president who said it depends on whether it's a minor incursion or not, that'll determine how we respond. remember, he was the vice president when barack obama drew a red line about chemical weapons in syria, and then when they crossed the red line are, did nothing about it. he was the vice president when the last time ukraine had a problem and had a skirmish that resulted in yielding some land. they sent blankets. this is the problem with him, is that he talks tough, but his

policies are always late are. late. even when he's done the right thing in this situation, it's been late. i thought, by and large, it was a pretty good news conference up until the end when i'm sure his entire communications team was going please don't, please don't, please don't take one more question. [laughter] neil: right. >> when he said the point of sanctions is not to e deter vladimir putin, i'm going, what the hell is the point of sanctions? this goes back to why at the very beginning when he refused to do preemptive sanctions, no, let's wait until they invade. well, who does that? neil: yeah, again, no many, that was a bit surprising too. but i, without, you know, maybe i'm being a dog with a bone here on this chemical weapons thing. something where you can't be just half -- [audio difficulty] you know, that's like being a little bit pregnant. you're either pregnant or you're not. you're either using chemical

weapons or the you're not. and you're gauging your potential response -- maybe this is a thing to keep vladimir putin guessing, i have no idea. but by saying the response would be proportionate to the use and how much he used those chemical weapons, could be sending a very dangerous signal. i mean, it might galvanize vladimir putin to have a limited attack on population strongholds with chemical weapons, and if it didn't have a far more reaching impact, the response might be very, very measured as well. >> it is very weird and irresponsible quite honestly, neil. he said he is the leader, he gave a long diatribe about being a leader and i want to lead. he has been behind boris johnson for the entire time. united kingdom has been the leader. that is okay. they're in the european continent. obviously they are leaders there. to sort of have timid responses to very serious questions, i

think is exactly the problem. by the way, this nonsense at the end again about re-election and holding house and senate, it demonstrates he is more focused on political outcomes than he is on doing the right thing. i thought i was arguing with himself quite honestly. neil: i don't know about the political stuff he seemed to hint when he wanted to meet with ukrainian refugees, this could me, don't want to take the lead, might not want to make a big production, it could be nothing. he did after meeting with ukrainian refugees, he shouldn't say more and people would get upset. if he does go to ukraine, that is very different than the head of one of these neighbors states, slovenia, czech republic going into kyiv. this would be the president of the united states. what do you think of that? >> first of all i don't think he should go into ukraine, not at least kyiv at this point.

his security is paramount importance. he could go to poland and meet with ukrainian refugees. that would be one of es mo noble things. don't forget, former vice president pence went to ukraine, met with refugees, served meals for refugees. that send as great message, a message of american compassion, if not american strength. neil: senator, quick to have you, i'm so grateful you waited through the president's remarks, how do you feel to continue to sanction russia even when we get past this war, hopefully soon and hopefully without much more bloodshed. would you still if vladmir putin is in charge of russia, keep those sanctions going? >> neil, i would, we have to look at several other bad actors around the world. there ought to be a patriot premium for doing business with our allies in the united states. i think a lot of companies, you know, russia was a great investment, are regretting that decision now, particularly in

the energy field. you talked a lot about food production. of course president rightfully noted that russia, ukraine together, are the third leading producer of wheat. north dakota is the number one producer of spring wheat. we're number two producer of oil in the united states. we can do a lot to feed the world. we ought to do that but i think we ought to be looking at what i call patriot premium when it comes to investing and sanctions. neil: got it, senator cramer, thank you very much. want to turn it over to my buddy, charles payne what he makes of this, how markets are responding. thanks, charles. cheryl: it is the other italian, neil. thank you very much. good afternoon, everybody, i'm cheryl