to play out. seize ukraine, cut off the pipeline to germany. split the nato alliance and seized baltics. hopefully that does not happen but we will see. that's all for tonight. our hearts are with the people in ukraine. tucker carlson is up next and always remember i'm watters and this is my world. ♪ ♪ ♪ >> tucker: good evening, and welcome to "tucker carlson tonight." let's say you really didn't care about the country you lead. let's say you want to do humiliate degrade it and undermine its ancient institutions. what would you do? you might take the single most important appointed position in the entire government and announce in public that you are filling that position on the basis of appearance. not on the basis of skill or wisdom or fealty to the founding documents of the united states,

but on the basis of the way the person looks. it is not the most bona fide person who happens to look this way, what you are saying is we found a person who looks this way who, by the way, may be qualified. that will send a very clear message that you don't like the country you run and you don't care about the institutions that his ancestors built, and joe biden is doing that vehicle we will have details straight ahead. also tonight we are hearing reports of new attacks across ukraine including the capital city. we will of course be monitoring those and tell you when we learn more. but first on last night's show we tried to bring you a straightforward analysis that we could of the invasion of ukraine that was in progress and still is. the war at that point was less than 24 hours old and it seemed disrespectful and wrong to use the deaths of people on the ground as a partisan cudgel. war is horrifying, of course, but it also a grave and profound thing. he ought to stand back in awe for a moment before you start drawing convenient conclusions from the suffering you see.

death is a mystery. acknowledge that. that is how we feel. joe biden's allies in the media do not feel that w the use the opportunity to attack their political opponents immediately, as they always do. they have no restraint and no shame. we are grateful not to be them. so that was last night. tonight it is fair to note the obvious: the invasion of ukraine is a humiliating defeat for joe biden. he's our leader. he staked this country's reputation, billions of dollars, and the full force of the u.s. government on preventing vladimir putin from invading ukraine. vladimir putin invaded ukraine anyway. and america is diminished by that. it is not the first time joe biden has done something like this. less than six months ago, biden oversaw an almost indescribably chaotic withdrawal from afghanistan. he left american citizens behind. he armed the taliban with advanced weapons systems on the way out. it could not have been worse. so here you have two historic

foreign policy debacles in under a year. is there a precedent for that? what's the message of eight? well, weakness, obviously, republicans often say that but as usual don't go far enough. weakness? well, north korea is weak. they literally have famines, people starve to death in north korea. that's weakness. but they are still a nation we have to contend with because they bite. a venomous spider is weak, you can crush it, but you are still afraid of it because it bites. we do not bite. and that's the problem. we are not simply weak, the united states government under joe biden is ridiculous, it's pompous, it's self-involved, it's long long-winded and fatuous, not so different from the fading old man who leads it. there is no hiding it, the rest of the world sees it clearly answer to many americans. if watching the invasion of ukraine this week made you feel a little sick, this is probably why. of course you felt sorry for the ukrainians being killed, but you also sense this was a genuine

disaster for us in america, and you're right, it is. joe biden is quickly draining the reservoir of america's credibility and power it has accumulated over centuries of wise decision-making, like the u.s. treasury, this is not joe biden's capital to spend. he is squandering something that others made. how much is left at this point? you hate even to think about it. sunday we are going to find out. so the problem here isn't complicated. joe biden broke the oldest rule of all: don't make threats you can't back up. you think you would know that if he actually squared off against corn pop at the public swimming pool in wilmington 60 years ago but he never did so he doesn't know that if you say something serious you had better mean it. it is reckless to tell obvious lies. if you do that, before long -- and it happens very quickly, in fact -- people figured out that you can be ignored. you're not a superpower, you are a joke, and that is why you never under any circumstances say anything like this.

>> the purpose of the sanctions has always been and continues to be deterrence. but let's also recognize the unique nature of the sanctions that we have outlined. these are some of the greatest sanctions, if not the strongest that we have ever issued. >> the president believes that sanctions are intended to deter. >> as to the sanctions, the most important thing we can do is to use them as a deterrent, as a means of dissuading russia from engaging in further aggression. >> tucker: if you've saw the dates, you notice those clips are from recently, in some cases just days before vladimir putin showed precisely how meaningless our sanctions actually were. the greatest sanctions ever, said kamala harris, wearing her stupid little mask on monday. she is a buffoon. you knew that. now it is obvious that her buffoonery is a real peril for the rest of us. no one in the white house seems to understand this. it's like the most obvious lesson. here was joe biden from today telling you that actually, these

sanctions, the greatest, most deterrent sanctions ever, were never intended really to deter anything. sorry if you took us seriously the first time, we didn't really mean it. >> no one expected the sanctions to prevent anything from happening. it's going to take time, and we have to show resolve, so he knows what's coming, and so the people of russia know what he has brought on them, that is what this is all about. >> tucker: who gives him these scripts? do they not think we have access to youtube? or maybe they are hoping google will scrub it. by the time he holds another press conference. you just told us on monday that the purpose of the sanctions was to deter the invasion of ukraine, so at the very least, acknowledge they didn't work as intended. they can never acknowledge that. oh, the vaccine prevents transmission and infection. just tell the truth. people will understand. but they lie every time. now they're telling us putin knows what's coming, we will get him next time.

right. no one believes you anymore, joe biden. no one should believe you. it is very hard to take on serious people seriously a serious president who cared what have reassessed everything come america's foreign policy and how it is administered after the afghanistan withdrawal last august that was a disaster. so a responsible person would have asked himself, how do we prevent this from happening again? that is highly possible people think. it is how leaders who care about their country think. course, it's a baseline requirement for leadership. this was a disaster. how do we prevent it from happening again? that is not hard. but lifetime federal employee that he is, joe biden did the opposite of that. his first instinct was to protect the bureaucracy, not the country, the bureaucracy. so not a single person from the pentagon or the state department was fired or even reprimanded. in fact, famously, the only person who was punished in the end for that historic debacle was a marine colonel who complained about it. he went to jail for complaining.

and you will see the same response this time. after the disastrous invasion of ukraine. the american officials who so publicly trashed this country's credibility will be promoted for it. they always are. taurean newland is one of the geniuses behind the iraq war that was almost 20 years ago, did that hurt her career? it should have ended her career. in place, right then, go do something useful. learn how to lay tile. but it didn't end her career, in fact her career accelerated. this same person, taurean newland, went on to help lead the ukraine debacle we are watching now. she is completely unqualified for the job she has, we knew that 20 years ago. and yet she is highly successful in washington. someday she will probably be the secretary of state, remember her name, taurean newland. she will be rewarded for her failing. meanwhile, people who criticize toria nuland or who care about this country enough to critique joe biden's foreign policy disasters find themselves denounced in the media as come of all things, traders to

america. emmons spied on by the nsa. do you see how that works? it is -- only buffoonery is rewarded. that is exactly why john kerry is still around. here is john kerry telling the bbc in public on camera that the real victim of this war is something called the climate. >> massive emissions, consequences to the war, but equally importantly, you will lose people's focus, lose, certainly, big attention because they will be diverted, and i think it could have a damaging impact, so i hope is improved and will help us to stay on track with respect to what we need to do for the climate. >> tucker: of course, he flew private to that interview, hoping no one noticed, not caring if anyone noticed. what is the explanation -- how can you say someone like that? that is real, we did not make it up, it's hard to believe it but it is real, it is all real.

what you did a nationwide search for the people least capable of leading a large nation through complicated times he would get our leadership class, you get john kerry. oh, we found him, the search is over come at a force at the very top of that list would be john kerry's friend hillary clinton. so here is hillary clinton revealing the real story. she is telling you that the actual enemy in this war is not in russia or eastern ukraine, it's not vladimir putin, it is you. the real enemy of this country is anyone who dares to criticize the mismanagement of hillary clinton and her friends. watch. >> i think it's time for what's left of the republican party that has any common sense, not just to say, okay, go help defend ukraine against putin, but to stand against those people and politics and government and the media and elsewhere in our own country who are literally giving aid and comfort to an enemy of freedom

and democracy. it can't -- it can't continue because it plays right into the ambition of not just putin, but also president xi of china, to undermine democracy, to literally divide and conquer the west without ever invading us, but by setting us against each other. >> tucker: your opinions are the real threat to democracy. dare criticize us, and we will denounce you as a dangerous traitor. because that's democracy. so vladimir putin invades ukraine, but guess who's fault it is? it's your fault. noticed a theme here? it's always your fault. every single time. and they are going to punish you for it. hillary did say one interesting thing in that clip, probably inadvertently. she didn't say it but the illusion was there. russia and china are now aligned as a block against the united states, how did that happen? it's pretty obvious, he looked around the world and our thinking, who are the big powers with meaningful economies and

nuclear weapons? maybe they shouldn't be aligned against us. that's just the simplest kind of math. maybe we shouldn't do anything that pushes out enemies into a bloc because that threatens us. but they don't know that's happening or maybe they are in favor of it. god knows what the biden administration is thinking. according to "the new york times," "the united states met with china over three months to present intelligence showing russia's troop buildup near ukraine and to urge beijing to help avert war. chinese officials rebuffed the united states and then shared that information with moscow." yeah. so we went to china for help to prevent putin from invading ukraine at the very moment that russia and china were forming a very public alliance against us. did that really happen? apparently it really did happen. how long can this go on?

and maybe that's why biden didn't mention china during his press conference. he gave them our intelligence and they gave it to putin. perfect. don't mention that or you are a traitor. lee smith is a journalist and fellow at the government accountability institute and we are very happy to have her as we always are on our show tonight. will be, thanks so much for coming on. i'm not the brightest bulb but i am starting to sense the real traders here aren't in russia or china, they are in our country and if anyone who points out that the people in charge of the united states are making very bad decisions. >> yeah, absolutely. one of the fascinating things here it is actually the 50th anniversary of richard nixon's trip to china. the idea was opening -- opening with china would help the united states against the other time much more powerful communist party of the soviet union. and what we have seen instead, this was an important geostrategic move. it was a very excellent move but

what we have seen in the last 50 years is corruption set in this country and regarding the chinese communist party and this plays a large part in where we are right now with the sinema, biden intelligence officials going to the chinese, giving them what they have on russia and begging for assistance. >> tucker: they don't read the news? i don't know you and i are as informed as say our fabled intel agencies but i think both of us knew that russia and china were enmeshed in this ancient alliance with one another so why would you give u.s. intelligence to china? >> i think it is a sign. and open sign. this is the way the biden administration -- this is the way the biden administration and the national security establishment generally has been acting toward china for a long time. remember earlier in the year, we found out the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff,

mark milley boasted of calling up his chinese counterpart and saying "by the way, if we are going to do anything it is knocking to be a surprise attack," that is an indication of the ease, how casual they are about partnering with the chinese, and as you said in your introduction, talking about the desecration and the campaign of demoralization against americans. who are their partners? the chinese communist party. that's our establishment class at this point. >> tucker: that's exactly right. boy do they hate their own people. and i think it is requited, if i'm being honest about it. hate to say that but i think it is true. lee smith, grateful as always to have you, thank you very much. ♪ ♪ a fox news alert for you, explosions and fighting heard across the capital city of ukraine right now. fox news' trey yingst is on the ground at as it is happening. trey, are you there? >> tucker, good evening. we have seen and heard a number of explosions tonight in the ukrainian capital of keith

earlier today, there were also air sirens going off, these raid sirens basically warning the ukrainian people they need to go underground because there could be a russian air offensive at that time, but tonight, there is some significant fighting around the ukrainian capital as reports indicate, and president zelenskyy of ukraine himself said this could be the major push into this capital city. it is not just here in kyiv that we are seeing this fighting, though, across ukraine, i want to show you some video here of a fire earlier today in a ukrainian city where a security service building was hit by a russian strike. similar scenes across this country as the russian invasion continues. the new numbers we are getting indicate only a third of the russian forces, nearly 200,000 that were staging along the ukrainian border, have actually entered this country and started to participate in the invasion. we know belarus is also being used as a staging ground for these russian forces.

satellite images today show attack helicopters that are lined up less than 20 miles from the ukrainian border. just yesterday, there were some fierce fighting outside of kyiv, where there were basically a firefight of forces going back and forth, trying to maintain control of an airport that experts worry could be used by the russians to bring in more supplies and troops as they try to make their way to the capital, but again tonight, the latest, tucker, is there is fighting outside the capital city right now and ukrainian officials have told us they believe there are russian forces within the city limits at this hour. tucker? >> tucker: holy smokes, what a story. trey, thank you so much for that update. appreciate it. >> sure. >> tucker: so joe biden has a supreme court vacancy to fill. imagine if it had unfolded this way, joe biden said, look, this is the most serious appointed position in the u.s. government, obviously someone who is going to define life in this country

to some great extent, so we are going to pick someone who is the smartest we can find, who is the most deeply grounded in the founding documents of the constitution, bill of rights, and someone who has impressive character. and that person is an african american woman. and most people would say, great. he went about it backwards. he said i'm picking african american woman for my picking someone on the basis of their appearance for the most serious appointment i have. him now maybe she is great, that is not the point. the point that she was picked because of how she looks, so what does that tell you not about the nominee but about joe biden? it tells you that he is absolutely happy to defile a system built by other people over hundreds of years, the best system in the history of the world, and he is happy to destroy it. doesn't care at all. a new poll by fox shows 57% of voters think it is "inappropriate" for the president to consider only african american women for his first nomination of the supreme court. well, of course it is, or any group, because it is not about

the group, it is not about what color or what gender, it is about choosing by appearance, which are irrelevant criteria for this or any other job except perhaps modeling. this job is really simple: you interpret law against the constitution. is it constitutional or not? but that's not even a consideration. so biden announced he is going to nominate in town she drowned jackson, someone who has been an appellate judge for less than a year to the highest court in the country feel how insulting is this? there is a lot to be said about ketanji brown jackson's record or lack thereof, but the lies our media are telling to make this appointment seemed normal, it is not normal. over at cnn, the morning zoo lady is pretending until today, it would have been impossible, just impossible because it was against the law, people are so stupid, for someone like ketanji brown jackson to become a supreme court justice. watch this. >> assuming she is confirmed, she will be the first

african american female justice on the supreme court which, look, maybe not officially, but at least in practice has been disqualifying when it comes to nominees up until now. >> tucker: and was disqualifying? what are you even talking about? it's idiotic and just another attack on america, it is a rotten, crappy country, therefore we need to put a moron in charge. in point of fact, 55 years ago, became a supreme for justice -- he was black. sandra day o'connor became a justice, she was a woman. whatever. in order for what you just heard to make sense you have to believe this country has harbored against not just black judges but black female judges is. let's assume joe biden picked up the single most qualified african american female justice in all of america and assess her record because my not? jackson has consistently ruled in favor of the democratic party -- wow, is that surprising to you?

probably not. the of repeatedly overturned her anyway. jackson blocked donald trump's executive order. the d.c. circuit unanimously reversed that decision by jackson. ben jackson did jerry nadler's bidding and opened a former -- again, she was overruled by the left-wing d.c. circuit. meanwhile she has done everything possible to defend once again her patrons in the democratic party. was right there and say this is making everyone the last thing anyone else needs to be which is even more cynical about our government. you have to believe a least one institution in the government is on the level and people acting out of principle and not simply political considerations and biden has -- who will believe this prim court ever again? a few years ago, jackson, back to the facts here, ruled that a clinton aide called philippe reines did not have to justify his use of a private email account for official business, so legally speaking, ketanji brown jackson isn't much

of a jurist. she is not simply ignorant of the law, she has a political activist and the irony is right now the supreme court is considering an important question, a central question, but affirmative action. they are about to decide whether harvard and other collegiate institutions can make decisions based on racial quotas. do you want to live in that country? most people don't come of all colors. they think should be elevated in america based -- if confirmed, jackson, a nominee selected because of a racial quota, will help decide whether that is legal. jackson has a conflict of interest in the case, obviously, but a specific one, she serves on harvard's board of overseers. does any of this matter to joe biden's administration? needless to say, it didn't. democrats and their allies in the media are becoming more hysterical by the day and are admitting that that is what it is all about pure nbc news told us jackson "it's mostly democratic party and the progressive movement's agenda." what? of the progressive's agenda?

at least they are being honest, that is what it is really about. they don't care that she is black or female, they care about putting a true believer on the bench. and they are going to do it. and republicans -- any republican who stands up and says i'm so happy about this is dumb and you shouldn't support that person. harmeet dhillon joins us tonight, and actual constitutional scholar and civil rights lawyer from california, to assess -- so, harmeet, i'm not even attacking this woman personally. i'm just saying, the way that biden has chosen this nominee is so destructive to all institutions that i wonder why no one else is saying that. >> well, you are absolutely right, tucker. what you see is the culmination of some decades of activism on the left, starting with destroying a nominee back when i was a student in law school that made a huge impression on me, and coming forward to today. he actually could affect any of the people who he had on his short list and it would have

been the same, they would have checked all the boxes of the left, so this is not really a critique of judge ketanji brown jackson, so much as the process, the process beholden, like joe biden is, to a far left agenda with dark money controlling what the president dollars, so this is not the way to pick justices and the system needs to change, tucker. >> tucker: by the way, the system is built on faith. we follow supreme court directives not because they or someone in our living room think on making us but because we believe it is real and who is going to believe that now? >> this really does undermine the credibility of the court. if i were the judge, i would be a little offended that i was out in the white house, having this announcement next to the last big affirmative action pick, kamala harris. she did not go so well for the country, so she gets elected, hopefully this one is better appeared to i sure hope so. for the country. harmeet dhillon, thank you.

continuing our coverage of the invasion of ukraine by the russian government, ukrainian government warning russian forces could take the capital city any hour. what's happening there, we will talk to someone who is there right now and to a businessman who lives close to the city, next. ♪ ♪

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♪ ♪ >> tucker: this is a fox news alert. things seem to be getting tough in the capital city of ukraine for the people who live there. many thousands have fled. what is a ukrainian business executive, the head of production for ukraine's state owned gas company who fled the capital today. he joins us now. thanks so much for coming on. it's hard to know exactly what is happening there. what is your sense? doesn't seem like the city is going to fall to russian forces? >> it is very hard to say for me. i think the russian forces definitely underestimated the will and resolve of the ukrainian military to fight, but what's more important and what is more uplifting to me is the regular people that are picking up arms and are willing to defend their city. i don't know the result of this fight is decided. >> tucker: how did you get out and how difficult is it to

leave? >> well, i tried to leave on the 24th, the day things kind of started when i was woken up by the sound of missiles hitting around town. unfortunately, i was a little late in the city was completely gridlocked. i came back to my apartment, which actually is right next to the resident's office, and it's probably going to be a very hard place today. i attempted to leave early enough with my friends this morning, and was able to get out of town, you know, jets flying over me, on the way from kyiv through a few cities in ukraine. i heard missiles hitting different military installations. a lot of traffic. >> tucker: it sounds scary as hell. if you could just quickly paint a picture for us, how crowded

are the roads leaving kyiv? >> they were extremely crowded, gas shortages, but people are very calm, people drive, i did not see anything too crazy. there were parts of the road where you could drive really fast and in some parts where you are completely gridlocked for a couple hours. >> tucker: oh, i think everyone listening can put themselves in your position or imagine it and how scary that is. oleg, thank you so much for coming out tonight. >> sure. >> tucker: so what's interesting, as you watch people like the man we just interviewed flee the capital city of ukraine, is how quickly huge parts of that country seem to fall in the face of the russian invasion and that makes you wonder where were its defenders, not just within ukraine but the united states? people you've been watching for years now have been encouraging conflict in ukraine, of course, and saying we need to go all out

to defend it. david from, the canadian who is everywhere, telling us you are a trader if you are not willing defend ukraine. him saying that from the safety of his kitchen. where was david fromm when this broke out? why weren't they defending ukraine? why were the only pushing your kids to do it? we thought we would ask that question to pedro gonzales, who has been watching this carefully, thanks for coming on. i don't want to get personal about it but since he comes to this country and makes it much worse and then starts denouncing americans as traitors to our country, not his, for not supporting these various countries, why wasn't he in ukraine when this happened to defend the ukrainians? >> that's a very good question but i want to start by saying i feel really deeply sorry for the ukrainians. this tragedy is precisely the consequence of a liberal elite

that has faced zero accountability. they bought into these false hopes sold by people like david fromm and it is getting them killed. of course, like you pointed out, david fromm insist anyone who disagrees with the establishments -- is actually a nazi. you will never find frum on -- like many, david frum is a coward and i would be happy to buy him a ticket to ukraine and put a rifle in his hands. but i think frum is just the surface level problem here, to understand how little accountability there is on the entire level of american elite, you have to know this war goes all the way back to the clinton administration, which reneged on its promises eastward expansion and turned nato into a tool of liberal imperialism, the kind of stuff that people like david to be 26 cheer on. than you have obama comes along,

he topples ukraine's democratically elected government in 2014 and installs a rampantly anti-russian one. this is the kind of stuff david frum and bill kristol love, although they never participate in any of the action. zero consequences. she was a player in the russia gate scandal and is currently serving under biden and now these people are trying to browbeat americans into another war but they have lives and blot on their hands for ukraine, afghanistan, iraq, and worse, their legacy, people like frum, crystal, nuland, their legacy is civilian deaths, troop deaths, veteran suicides, destabilized countries, destroyed cultures. there liberal internationalism got us into this mess and not one more person should die but

they are welcome to go to the front lines of they want. >> tucker: and i think your point that the ukrainians really suffer, and a lot of people have died because of this, because they thought maybe david frum and adam kinzinger would come to their eight and they haven't because they never do. pedro gonzalez, appreciate your analysis. >> thank you. >> tucker: some thing as big as the invasion of ukraine takes place, it is hard to know exactly what is going on, particularly at first and what it means, and who is really suffering. but it turns out, with about a date to think about it, the people who are really suffering, not really the ukrainians peter the person who is suffering most in this war is joy behar of "the view," she set it out loud. on thursday, her cohost explain the human cost of the conflict but joy behar knows who the real victim is. watch. >> estimates of 50,000 ukrainians will be dead or wounded and that this is going

to start a humanitarian crisis, a refugee crisis in europe, talking 5 million people that are going to be displaced here. >> it's heartbreaking to hear what is going to happen. i'm scared of what is going to happen in western europe, too, you know, you plan a trip, you want to go there, want to go to italy for four years and have not been able to make it because of the pandemic and now this. what's going to happen there? >> tucker: yeah, let's say you had a reservation in venice, this massive saltwater pool, delivered right to you, people in fashionable outfits. that could all be destroyed. by putin's invasion of ukraine. that could literally happen to joy behar's vacation. so as you watch this, as you watch civilians fleeing and being killed, just remember joy behar is suffering more. ♪ ♪

well, russia was planning its vision of ukraine,... the rest of us weren't thinking enough about energy and what it means for the united states and for western europe. we've got details of what it might mean next. ♪ ♪

♪ ♪ the one this is new video taken from outside kyiv just a moment ago come of course while russia was planning to do this, planning this invasion of ukraine, the biden administratin was not simply weak, as republicans are telling you, it was ridiculous and subversive fear of its pentagon was focused on something called white rage. the biden administration itself, the white house was concerned about maternity flight suits. watch. >> some of it is relatively straightforward work, where we are making good progress designing body armor that fits women properly, tailoring combat uniforms or women, creating maternity flight suits, updating requirements for their hairstyles. >> tucker: so the whole point of this, of course, was not to be inclusive but to degrade and humiliate united states military, and they have certainly done that and now we are seeing the consequence of

it. it is all very sad. it is reversible, though. tate hard. dan holloway is the host of a podcast and we're happy to have them join us tonight. it does seem like they have made the united states weaker on purpose and certainly more ridiculous on purpose. >> yeah, and unnecessarily so, too. what you were talking about before, those of us who paid attention to foreign policy for the last forever know that energy independence is critical to any country's national security interests, right? and in the course of one year, we have gone from the number one producing oil company -- country, rather, in the world, and energy independence, buying 5-6 million barrels a day from russia. lure russia into being nice by subjugating ourselves to the whims of their energy policy and war policy? it doesn't make sense.

is this the most feckless administration of our lifetime. >> tucker: thank you for saying that. i do think it is that simple and i would love to hear the culture argument, that energy independence is critical, one of the most critical national secuy questions. how did the rest of us not pay attention to this as was happening? >> people up in talking about it all while. trump talking about it, he got lit up at the time for it but he was actually right. it is not just the united states. germany over the last few years shut down three of their nuclear facilities and plan on shutting down the other three, the last three they have left, before the end of this year. now the bulk of their energy comes from russia. the craziest thing that i thinky life, but it is the hallmark of what is going on in the west right now and certainly the hallmark of the biden administration, a series of feckless and in confidence moves and of the domestic and foreign policy side while focusing on

failed green energy policies and identity politics, and this administration is completely 100% captured by wolkness and now people are paying for it with their lives. >> tucker: i think it is self harm, macca masochism, only a country that hates themselves would -- most americans love this country. i appreciate the clarity of your analysis, thank you. >> sure. >> tucker: as if to underscore it, the price of oil has just surged over the international markets from over $100 a barrel for the first time in over a decade, your prices in the country will continue to rise. victor davis hanson is a senior fellow at the hoover institution and joins us now. what is your response to all this? >> i think we have the morality upside down. it is immoral because when you have plentiful oil that is moderately priced and you empower the middle-class, they can try to work, heat their

homes, not involved in the middle east eastern european hot spots over energy. or your friends and neutrals have affordable oil and gas in europe and we can do a lot more environmentally sound and the west than russia or iran, but when you don't, then you get involved in optional middle east wars or you have in the time of inflation, the middle class can heat their homes, et cetera. if i was in control of the largest gas and oil producer in the history of civilization, as joe biden was, and i really did not believe all that was good, i would do the following: i would take and more and a million barrels off the market. i would take the keystone pipeline and cancel it and sacrifice a million barrels coming in from canada. i would cancel all federal leases and not have another million or 2 barrels. i would tell some of our closest

friends, tucker, the greeks, the cyprian's, the israelis, we don't want you sending cheap natural clean-burning gas into italy to help energy for europe, we don't want to do that, and then i would cancel any criticism of the russian german pipeline, and if i did all of that, i guess i would be deliberately trying to hurt the middle class, our allies, and empower people with petrol dollars like russia, iran, and venezuela, for example, and that is exactly what the biden administration did and they called all of that moral. to have the high moral ground. they are not, they are the immoral ones, they cause death and misery for people and i think it is time for americans to call it out for what it is. they are dangerous people have no concern for our allies, no concern for people who have to fight these wars, they have no concern over the middle class. >> tucker: if you convince the entire financial sector, something called esg was an

important moral criterion and it was somehow immoral to fund domestic energy exploration, i mean, that almost sounds like an op designed for the government of china to weaken its main adversary, us. >> that's why the chinese and the russians have been so encouraging our green advocacy. they think it's great. they are telling people in the united states, do all you can to reduce gas and oil, we are all behind you, and then you will have less money, you're middle class will be strapped, the price will go up, your allies will be hurt, you can cancel pipelines all over the world of your friends, use it, and we'll have more petrodollars than anybody, and that is what has happened. right after ukraine, we are going to have a problem with iran because there's a lot of pressure, they are going to have a lot of money when we drop sanctions, they are going to be selling a lot of oil into going to make a lot of money and this is just beginning, so i think people have to understand the factor, the horizontal

driller, not the multi-million green energy -- the real hero in america appears to be on thanks for joining us, we appreciate it. >> thank you. >> tucker: gun fire erupted within the city limits of kyiv, ukraine, and new video of explosions, going to try to get back to trey yingst on the ground vehicle if he is. trey, what do you see? >> tucker, we have heard a lot of large explosions tonight and the ukrainian capital. it is ongoing. i don't want to tell you what it is from because we can't differentiate often times between the type of missiles being fired, antiaircraft, there is a lot happening here but what we know it, there have been loud explosions in the ukrainian capital tonight. gunfire, small arms, very close to where we are at, within about 10-15 minutes away, and in the distance, you can't see much but on the other side of the city, we have seen these videos of

what looks like something on fire, and we hear these explosions and this gunfire and it does indicate that what ukrainian president volodymyr zelenskyy said earlier in the evening is true, that the russian forces that currently surround this capital city are trying to advance on kyiv tonight. earlier in the day, we heard these explosions and those air raid sirens going off. we have not heard the air raid sirens tonight, indicating that this could be focused more on a ground offensive, but again, it does appear it is coming from multiple different angles, so kyiv could fall into the hands of the russians in the coming hours or coming days. that matches the u.s. intelligence assessment right now. from what we understand, ukrainian president volodymyr zelenskyy is still in the city. the mayor, according to recent reports, is also still in the city, and members of parliament even picking up arms today. i spoke with one member of parliament, and he brought with

him and ak. he had just picked it up from a police station nearby. he said they were handing them out like candy. there is a real understanding here in the capital that if the russian forces entered the city, it will be a very urban battle environment. it will look very much like guerrilla warfare where you see ambushes by ukrainian forces who are still left here trying to defend the ukrainian capital, and it will be quite bloody. it will be a different battlefield than what these guys have been fighting in the past few days, past 36 hours since this erupted. we are also seen reports in the south near crimea of a bridge that is currently contested. the russian forces trying to take control of this, as the ukrainian line trying to hold strong in the southern part of the country. this scene is playing out not only in the south near crimea and here near the ukrainian capital, but also in the far east, in the region in the donbas region, and also near kharkiv, the second largest city

in ukraine. much of the country is at war, at the russian forces currently fighting on behalf of president putin, who ordered this invasion, are only about at a third capacity from what we understand, according to u.s. defense officials. so they have more troops if the russians decide to push more forces into this sovereign country, but the coming hours will be a major indicator if those russian forces are able to take the capital of kyiv. tucker? >> tucker: trey yingst, obviously a fast-changing situation on the ground in ukraine. thank you so much. so, there are an awful lot of americans of ukrainian ancestry and there are a lot of americans who have family in ukraine right now. you have to wonder what that is like and how they feel about what we are seeing on our screen. a former controller for erie county, new york, we have had him on the show before, and he has family there, and we're happy to speak to him live right now.

thanks so much for coming on. do you have contact with people in ukraine, what are they saying? >> we do, ukrainian cultural center in buffalo, we have a large ukrainian community in buffalo, constantly talking to friends and family, and the one thing we keep hearing is about resolve, that even 80-year-old man are joining the militia in ukraine, and a professor we spoke with earlier had said basically, we showed tremendous restraint while on the verge of war, and putin was on our doorstep, and now that they have invaded, we are showing incredible resolve, so the friends and family we are talking to are heartbroken because not only are they going to be fighting back, but they feel as though this was entirely preventable. we have a weak president who basically kicked open the door to vladimir putin by saying, well, we're going to determine our response based on if the russians have a minor incursion in ukraine, and five weeks later, here we are, some would say on the verge of world war

iii, so even from a political perspective, the one thing we talk about in the ukrainian community is, sure, 81 million people dead and alive voted for joe biden because they didn't like president trump's meme tweets, but we were a safer america, and biden did not invade ukraine while he was president. we had a weak president who also learn from the best in barack obama, who famously talked about this redline in syria and then what happens, you know, one year and one day later, assad gases his own people and 1400 are dead in damascus, so the kiss of death here was president biden and his weakness. basically opening the door for putin to invade ukraine, and all of these global leaders know, and china is really paying attention now. look at taiwan. you are looking at 85-95% of major computer chips made their and china is sitting back and saying, well, okay, if u.s. and the world is going to let putin

get away with this, what's next? >> tucker: it does feel like the worst place to be is on the friendless of this administration. its enemies make it hurt, but they love baltimore, but baltimore gets worse every year. they love ukraine. you don't really want to be one of their friends, it seems like. >> it's heartbreaking, and you are 100% right, because a lot of people within our ukrainian community, whether it is in buffalo, rochester, or across america, know this was preventable. again, people can say what they want about president trump, not liking him, but russia did not invade ukraine when he was president, and we have a president now who is showing global leaders weakness, whether it is weakness when it comes to energy independence, on putin, venezuela, and all of our enemies, or basically them knowing, there is going to be zero repercussions when it comes to russia invading ukraine, and obviously, as a ukrainian american i feel very

passionately that vladimir putin is going to burn in hell, i hope a ukrainian sense and there, but in the meantime, the united states, nato, the world, someone has to come forward to make sure they are tough as nails sanctions, because this is hitler in 1939 all over again. >> tucker: yeah, maybe david frum will help you. stefan mychajliw, good to see you tonight. we are going to listen in quickly to new footage out of ukraine's capital city. we just got this. charlie hurt is the opinion editor for "the washington times," one of the smartest people we know. charlie hurt, thanks for joining us tonight. what is your take away from everything we are watching? >> i think you have laid it out

exactly right. obviously, this is a political sense, a terribly humiliating defeat by the biden administration, but it's also entirely predictable, and i think entirely intentional. when you take a country like the united states, which as you pointed out here tonight, with energy independent and strong. we had a president who believed in america first, making decisions based on the best interest of america, and you replace that president with a president who puts america last and believes in literally cutting every source of strength the country has out, and setting us out into the world, this is what happens. this war is the green new deal war. this is john kerry's war. this is -- if there is any silver lining in it, it is that we can place 100% of the blame for all of it on joe biden and

john kerry because this is the exact result of their decades of expertise in washington and an exact result of their policies as they intended -- as could have been predicted for them to lay out, and they may claim to be surprised right now that everybody could have predicted it. >> tucker: you really see a bunch of potentially disastrous scenarios ahead, not just in ukraine or russia, but in a bunch of other countries. everyone i've talked to seems nervous about where this goes next. do you know that way? >> oh, absolutely. because you know, if we have not learned anything over the last couple of months, these people have no idea what they are doing. you don't have to watched the movie "mad max" to realize when fuel gets scarce and you take our leadership positions when it comes to energy, to fuel, and you take it away and you give it to bad people and you give them lots of money, bad things

happen. and of course, this whole debate has been -- by this whole notion that somehow or other come if you ask the question, what is in the best interest of america, you are suddenly a stooge for vladimir putin. that level of absurdity is a hallmark of totalitarian regimes, and that is where we are now. until we get rid of these people, we are going to be living in this absurd world. >> tucker: there's a lot of lies, you are absolutely right about that. charlie hurt, we appreciate seeing you. >> thank you. >> tucker: reports at this hour, as we started from kyiv, ukraine, just before 4:00 in the morning there, we show you video of a massive explosion, trey yingst is back with us to wrap it up tonight. trey? >> tucker, kyiv is under attack from multiple directions right now. small arms fire in the distance, and we understand, according to

reports inside the city limits, fighting is taking place. the russians clearly are trying to advance on the ukrainian capital at this hour. it is significant because if they make it into the city as we talked about earlier, tucker, the battles are going to be focused much more on this urban warfare, like we are hearing in the distance now. some explosions taking place tonight in the ukrainian capital and earlier in the day, there were air raid sirens. civilians are underground right now in the metro system of kyiv and in bomb shelters. there is a real understanding that as this escalates, it threatens the city of 3 million people, that there will be civilians caught in a cross fire. ukrainian president volodymyr zelenskyy described might basically as a dealmaker or deal breaker for the ukrainian people. he is pleading with the international community to increase sanctions and he is also calling for defensive weapons. tucker? >> tucker: trey yingst for us tonight on the ground in ukraine.

bless you for doing that. we appreciate you. and bless you for watching. trying to get some time off this weekend with the love ones you love, clear your head's. we will be back monday. as we always are. sean hannity follows this show. mack >> welcome to "hannity." we start this friday in newsday with a fox news alert. bombs are bursting. we begin with a scary new development from ukraine. ukrainian president's warning that russian troops will storm key of at any moment. it's 9:00 p.m. on the east coast, for i am in the capital city of ukraine, where air raid sirens have been sounding all night long. kyiv is under attack at this hour, but the president is not leaving. there is cell phone video filmed just