ben hodges, thank ou the only way this ends. ben hodges, thank you for— the only way this ends.ou for being with _ the only way this ends. ben hodges, thank you for being with us - the only way this ends. ben hodges, thank you for being with us tonight. | thank you for being with us tonight. thanks for the privilege. eight years after being in government with the conservatives, the lib dems are now a noisy anti—tory party. it's why the lib dem leadership at their party's conference in bournemouth hasn't been at all keen to openly bash brexit, or remind voters of its policy to rejon the eu in the long—term. will this strategy pay off at the next general election? here's nick. late summer vibes. and a party sensing changing fortunes after nearly a decade in the doldrums. high hopes of advances at the general election. still a lodestar. this generation aims to repeat the late paddy ashdown's success in taking the party from a pinprick in the polls, to potential kingmaker. look behind you, mr ashdown. that involves capturing a series of true blue seats in the english home counties,

ben hodges, by the way, very clearly assessed the situation now on the battlefield, he said, well, only a moron, well, i'm paraphrasing, will criticize what the servicemen of the armed forces of ukraine are doing, overcoming minefields and fortifications. very well, do american generals actually understand what our military is up against? great, and the americans, the british, the french, the germans, who are very well trained in these things , they perfectly understand what is happening and what is the prospect of the development of these events on the front line, but unfortunately, it so happened that in the course of events, this i'm a wealth of information, he brought sadness to many, well and such figures as the figure of kissinger, as you understand, they are able to dramatize any situation, now the phrase and the essence of your question is, so what were the results of the visit, actually of the president himself, what did he succeed in, and what and where did any take place. it is necessary to understand that the object of his work was actually the organizations of the united na

earlier i spoke about ukraine with ben hodges, the former commanding general of the us army in europe. i asked him if reason develop it to show that ukraine's allies are dropping the ball. so i think that the $54.00 nations that are supporting ukraine will continue to support ukraine, including poland. but i do think that our president has stopped short of doing what he needs to do, which is to say that he wants to crane to win. if he says he wants to crane to win, then there's no more excuses about the availability of a tac owns or how long it takes to do certain things. we get serious and deliver these capabilities that are needed. and the president also has to speak to the american people as if they were adults and explain why this is in our interest. and then i think you'd see that supporting congress would remain very strong. what do you make of this path? we're seeing right now between keys and warsaw. poland is blocking ukraine's green exports and he was challenging. poland on that is, is the landscape over playing his hand in this dispute? i think that, terry, what we're seein

so let's take a look at the bigger picture regarding ukraine with ben hodges. he's the former commanding general of us army europe and now serves as a senior adviser to human rights. first, thanks for being with us. general. good to see you. now team is not getting the long range missile system, zaleski says, is troops so desperately need a poet. one of the cranes biggest backer, says it will not make any new weapons. pledges to keep our ukraine's allies dropping the ball. i think that the $54.00 nations that are supporting ukraine will continue to support ukraine, including poland. but i do think that our president has stopped short of doing what he needs to do, which is to say that he wants ukraine to when, if he says he wants to print when, then there's no more excuses about the availability of a tac owns or how long it takes to do certain things, we get serious and deliver these capabilities that are needed. and the president also has to speak to the american people as if they were adults and explain why this is in our interest. and then i think you'd see t

we can speak to general ben hodges now. i bill and what is it crucial for? the key i think _ bill and what is it crucial for? the key i think for— bill and what is it crucial for? tue: key i think for the bill and what is it crucial for? he key i think for the congress bill and what is it crucial for? t“t9: key i think for the congress to bill and what is it crucial for? tt9: key i think for the congress to move forward with this is to explain to the american people why this is in our best interest. it is notjust about ukraine, this is about american prosperity. american prosperity is tied directly to european prosperity, which, of course, is based on stability and security in europe. and also because the chinese are watching to see are we serious about standing up for those things we say are so important. that is why we think it is so important that congress continue to support ukraine. but the republicans — continue to support ukraine. but the republicans on _ continue to support ukraine. but the republicans on the _ cont

russia illegally occupied crimea and annexed it, and i want to say that in particular, ben hodges anderal , how important is it to liberate crimea, i.e., the freedom of crimea must be fought for when ukraine approaches this moment, when it will be on the brink, when the ukrainian military will stand on crimean land, then the russians will have a choice either they die in the crimean territories or they flee and it will really be this horizon of such a perspective is approaching you said yes it is under the island and it is very easy and logistical supplies from russia ukraine has made a decision and no one in the world has the right to indicate in to ukraine, what do they have to win back or what concessions should they make, even when we talk about negotiation schools ? of course, it is important for ukraine to carry out the operation correctly so that the russian military cannot be there. major, there is quite a big debate in the world about what to do with russia, that is, the russia we now know, and how to limit predatory attitudes and appetites. putin because putin threatens this

and create serious problems for putin , the former commander of the us ground forces in europe ben hodgesans they lead the russians by the nose, and the ex-minister of defense of britain and ben wallace says that russia cannot use its ships to attack ukraine and expect that these ships will not become targets for the armed forces, some observers also turn attention to the fact that during the night attack on sevastopol, the starlin satellite network failed. earlier, businessman elon musk admitted that last year, due to fears of escalation , he denied ukraine access to the network near crimea, which disrupted the attack by naval drones on the peninsula. today, the mask, together with other leaders and industry, arrived to the congress to meet with senators, but what was this event about and did the legislators manage to get answers to their questions, including about ukraine? kateryna lisonova, who works in congress and monitors everything that happens there katya i congratulate you, so i congratulate you

and this was said by the former head of the ground forces of nato in europe, ben hodges .ost likely, if these missiles are handed over, they will be effective, for example, the liberation of crimea, because they are not will be long-range what this shows is that even after the political decision and the real decision on the transfer of the takams , they are still trying to find the formation that they were without sharp corners, well, this is actually absolutely not ordinary diplomacy for a while, but i will repeat myself when and in principle according to the consequences, first, the washington post is there, from the insiders, they already said that the decision was political and was not made before the visit of volodymyr zelenskyi . it was simply not announced with the aim of they didn't transfer the warehouses, they didn't transfer the warehouses to the headquarters, well, that is, strategic goals for the same atakams eh, that is, in principle , it is absolutely true, strategically, it was done for the sake of what , after all, are military goals. they have to regulate

to other commanders in the armed forces here of the united states to former commanders such as ben hodgeso the directors of analytical divisions of various intelligence agencies who say this again first-person assessments are very similar to ours and absolutely no different about the fact that this is a very complex operation , the most complex, probably since the second world war, about the fact that the ukrainians are moving forward in a very conditions, well, in general, this is a great success, what we manage to achieve , and you will not find other evaluations in the public space from our partners, of course, when we talk about experts or unnamed persons who do not give their names, but comment on the counteroffensive here , you are really right, a variety of opinions from very positive to very negative, are these the opinions of people who advocated finding a compromise all these nine years after russia attacked us? are these the people who said that ukraine would fall in the first three days of the week and now it is very difficult for them to deviate from their paradigm. they are

mass of eguard as a journalist, specializing in international defense and security policy, and ben hodges, former commander, us army, europe, and chairman of the globe sex future security and defense council. so all of you welcome to thank you very much for being with us and someone's i'd like to start with you because we're constantly trying to assess the state of this war seems to be an increasingly frequent target for the ukraine in military. and they now seem to have hit the russian lexi fleet severely. how significant is that? that's pretty significant. it shows the ability of ukrainians to hit targets in crime. yeah. especially the headquarters of the russian sleep there. and the so you, ukraine makes clear, it's villing and able to hit the target there and going forward are chief military progress with the help of western weapons. is this new, or is this something that has been possible before it has been positively before, but the scale is becoming different? obviously, it's not really confirmed that they use protection salma shadow cruise missiles to hit this headquarters. this m

of reason, here is a retired us general, he was the commander of nato ground forces in europe, ben hodges, finally said what we have been saying to our program all the time. those who criticize 800 km away, as if it were a ukrainian counteroffensive, he actually gave an answer about how others enter minefields and trenches, demining them, should be ashamed to sit 800 km away and criticize the speed of the ukrainian counteroffensive. well, that's a lot it is important, and we can thank mr. general for his support, and now let's talk about what is happening... in the long-suffering mariupol and in its surroundings, in connection with the studio of petro andryushchenko, advisor to the mayor of mariupol. mr. peter, congratulations, glory to ukraine, glory to the heroes , congratulations, i would like, before moving on to some and, you know, such general outlines, essays about today's mariupol, to concentrate on one unusual, as for me, event, unknown struck in mariupol of a russian politician and activist mykola ishkov with a crowbar on the head, the occupier has a concussion, in fact, such in

the ukrainian defense force is doing all this in order to prepare for the future american general ben hodgese ukrainian army is able to liberate crimea from the enemy's presence in a shorter period of time with minimal costs. missiles are needed, including the type of attacks in order to destroy the kerch bridge and the main military facilities on the territory of crimea , first of all, military facilities on the territory of the main base of the black sea fleet of the russian federation, this is sevastopol, and this is what the ukrainian army is doing now the case that is needed in my opinion if i am in a position to implement this plan is the presence of our f16 type fighters in order for these aircraft to be able to cover the actions of the ukrainian army both on land and accordingly, the water area of ​​the black and azov seas, we see that in fact today the ukrainian army does not have fighter jets and 16 ani missile-type attacks with but nevertheless, even in such difficult conditions, we managed to implement, well, at least part of the same plan regarding the destruction of the combat

they are outraged that at all someone remembers this, by the way, another prophet in this sense, ben hodges remember, well , actually everyone remembers, everyone knows. this is eternal, the talking head on all western tv channels, almost the main military expert, retired american general that's stoned, of course, everyone has already forgotten about these, it means plans to take the crimea there in the summer, yes, but he's at home. i until the end of may, i looked at his last statement, almost here are my last days of this year. i still believe that ukraine should. maybe seize and liberate crimea , which means until the end of this summer, you understand, stood up to the stop that everything until the end of this summer, crimea will be under the control of ukraine, something again did not grow together and again. i say, now i’m looking at the comments of all these jess petrius, there and so on, which, uh, accuse all those who for some reason remind them of these words and statements, but at the same time, the other bang ben wallace still said goodbye to zelensky in some way, but uh, well,

. >> all right, thank you very much, steve hall, former cia chief in moscow, and general ben hodges,hank you. >>> and, next, an incredible report on the thousands of migrants who are in southern mexico right now heading north. some held at gunpoint for hours. others forced to navigate dead bodies just to keep moving. it is a special report that you will see only "outfront." >>> plus, commander biden strikes again. the president's dog has a problem. and there's 11 bites now to his name. >>> tonight, new images into cnn showing the desperation at the border as asylum-seekers continue to flood into the united states tonight. 1,400 still crossing daily just at the el paso border. many of the migrants' families with small children walking for days with no food and little water in dire conditions. this is an exclusive story that you will see first "outfront" tonight. our david culver is there on the ground near the mexican/guatemalan border where it starts. >> reporter: as you touchdown in southern mexico, be ready to share the road with migrants. we spot group after group marching north.

with us now is ben hodges a retired lieutenant-commander of a army forces, and so, tell us about theraine to strike this force hard. >> john, crimea is the most important port of this entire war and it is the decisive terrain, and think know it is not safe or secure as long as russia is able to operate from there and russia does not care about donbas except that this war would be over, and so what your team is describing very well, this is part of the counteroffensive which is more than the land operation, but the land and the sea and the special forces of all of the things that are happening, and this is the plan, the design by the ukrainian general staff that is putting enormous pressure on the russian staff, and asking how the commander of the black sea offensive is going, he would say terrible from the russian offensive. >> and now, looking at the tip of the crimean peninsula, and the land part of the counteroffensive is up here with crimean forces trying to push inward here on the russian lines, but one other view here for the people that i want to show here, general, of this, a

joining us is general ben hodges and former general of the allied command, and now we have seen these believe it is important signs, and what are you seeing here? >> kate, it is important that the attacks that we are seeing right now in crimea is in the context of the counter offensive. the offensive is not just a raland assault going through the minefields, but it is multi offensive putting pressure on the russian general staff, but it is making crimea, the most important part of the all of these things are connected. i think the general staff is running rings around the russian general staff. >> president biden meet ing wit zelenskyy around the general assembly. zelenskyy will be visiting congress, the u.s. capitol and as i said in the introduction, you have zelenskyy who will be standing before a gathering of world leaders at the unga looking them in the eye in this critical moment where you're seeing 19 months in and there's question about continued support of ukraine's efforts. how important is this visit for ukraine? >> i think it's very important. the russians are hoping that a

. >> lieutenant general ben hodges served as the commander of the u.s. army in europe.ow an adviser to nato. hodges told us the biden administration has failed to explain to americans what they're getting for their dollar in ukraine. >> if you think about it, russia has been for decades and still is an existential threat for europe and the united states. i mean, listen to what their leaders say. look at the thousand of nuclear weapons and they clearly will keep going if they're not stopped. >> it sounds like you're saying stopping vladimir putin in ukraine directly benefits every american. >> absolutely. this war is about so much more than just ukraine. >> is this a high point for american foreign policy? >> it will be after russia has been defeated. >> american taxpayers are financing more than just weapons. we discovered the u.s. governments buying seeds and fertilizer for ukrainian farmers and covering the salaries of ukraine's first responders, all 57,000 of them. that includes the team that trained this rescue dog named joy to comb through the wreckage of russian s

. >>> and, now, retired army lieutenant general ben hodges. i very much appreciate your time.fensive now talking about breakthroughs. he also says that he doesn't think winter will slow down ukraine's advance. do you think that that optimism is realistic? >> well, erin, you and i have talked before about the decisive importance of crimea. that's what this counteroffensive is all about. we've been focused on the land portion. but what matt just described, of course, shows the sophistication of ukraine's counteroffensive, its air, land, sea, cyber, information and special forces. all of these things are being integrated putting enormous pressure on the russian general staff and giving ukraine the initiative. i think that the optimism that general childrenacity is describing is well founded. the ukrainians have put so much pressure on russian logistics, russian artillery, and certainly this is in the year 2023, in this year we don't have horses pulling artillery. so, that's why the idea that we would stop or that they would stop in the winter, we don't have to have horses that ea

sent into this cauldron, naturally, at any cost, the ex-commander of us troops in europe, general ben hodgesow long this will take largely depends mainly on the united states, germany and other countries that continue to support ukraine. that being said, i think it is important that we view the counteroffensive as more than just a ground element. we would never send our troops into such a battle without complete air superiority and all possible equipment. and yet the ukrainian military is criticized for advancing only in. 8,000 miles. one form of support is such complicity. the west has invested heavily in the nazi regime in ukraine, is now interested in its own support and is now trying to give itself at least some chance of salvation. yuri ivanovich fadalyako joins our conversation, our permanent military expert, yuri ivanovich, hello, just a question regarding the information that appeared on social networks last night, ukrainian publics talked about the fact that in the zaporozhye direction there is walnut and willow production, respectively , work, on this sector of the front, actively

american general ben hodges criticized everyone dissatisfied with the counter-offensive in the ssu, accordingo him, the usa, great britain or, say, germany would not even have gone on the offensive without the support of aviation, well, that is, whether he did it on purpose or not, he told the real truth, in the sense that the west itself would under no circumstances force events at the front and throw tens of thousands of people to slaughter in ukraine. just cannon fodder that can easily be exchanged for achieving various goals, even not the most important ones, against this background the british bbc casually reports that the summer ukrainian offensive has officially ended and autumn has begun, although in the very plot of the ukrainian boys there are some not very cheerful faces, i i would probably say something sad, one of the ukrainian militants, who has on his sleeve, what a damn coincidence, a portrait of bandera on a black and red background, complains that russia has more drones, more artillery and in general everything somehow didn’t go according to the plan developed at nato headqu

ben hodges claims that the pentagon has long been ready to send these missiles to ukraine but is waitingead from the white house . the atacama people are considering it as a weapon for striking crimea. in washington they say that they do not want an escalation of the conflict, but at the same time they do not mind taking credit for the victory. if the ukrainian army is successful. the administration is in no hurry to help because it is afraid of an escalation of the conflict, especially after threats of a nuclear strike in case of attempts to take crimea. now we must do everything so that ukraine wins; there is a demand for this in american society. this is shown fresh surveys. we must inspire people on the american tour with mental missiles . zelensky is coming with his plan for a peaceful settlement, which he wants to present . at a meeting of the un security council , vasily nebenzya called this a quote from a show in which zelensky plays the main role. literally one word about mr. hojas’s forecasts, which should inspire people. now, if all his predictions, uh, came true, and he’s try

have a period of mud that will make any advance on the battlefield extremely difficult, as general ben hodgesmored vehicles against the backdrop of the zaporozhye autumn sunset under work. on each destroyed tank, even after the fire , the nazi wehrmacht insignia is still visible. confirms the theory of the terrorist budanov, winter workers will really only advance on their own two feet. the parties have already twice experienced the invaluable and rich experience of introducing hostilities into muddy waters last year in the fall and then in the spring. and now everyone fears that ukraine’s counter-offensive will reach a complete dead end, especially from the point of view of the southern direction. i believe that the war will continue, although the speed of the already slow advance can hardly be seen on certain sectors of the front. i doubt that ukraine will be able to achieve its goals and access the sea of ​​azov through takmag. now it's 2023, in the 18th and 19th centuries armies went into winter stagnation because they depended on horses and oxen, which pulled the leashes and artillery, s

as general ben hodges rightly pointed out, when we talk about multi-pronged offensives, we focus too budanov, in winter the armed forces of ukraine will really only advance on their own two feet. the parties have already twice experienced the invaluable and rich experience of introducing hostilities into thin air, last year in the fall and then in the spring. and now everyone fears that ukraine’s counter-offensive will reach a complete dead end, especially from the point of view of the southern direction. i believe. that the war will continue, although it will be fleeting that slow advance can hardly be seen on certain sectors of the front. i doubt that ukraine will be able to achieve its goals of accessing the sea of ​​azov through takmag. it is now 2023, in the 18th and 19th centuries armies went into winter stagnation because they depended on oxen horses to pull the carts and artillery, so they could only advance when there was grass in the fields. we. we can walk around for several hours every day, but the fact is that in this part of ukraine the soil, when wet, is a very unpleas

former commander of the us army in europe ben hodges also appeals to the heart of the american publicne would probably have been captured, would have been defeated, and would have lost a lot more. the us state department, having obtained a copy of biden's cheat sheets, assures that 118 billions of dollars, of which 70 are the money of american taxpayers, this is an investment not only in the future of ukraine, but in the future of every country that strives for peace. the senate does not agree with such calculations, instead of the 24 billion requested by the white house. the upper house of congress, gritting its teeth, is ready to transfer only 4 and a half to kiev, white house press secretary karine jean-pierre warns that the biden administration will put pressure on republicans and democrats. we believe that there is a bipartisan commitment to supporting ukraine, therefore, the administration will continue to work with both parties in the us congress to push for additional funds to help ukraine. we will continue to work on this issue with members of both parties, senator from kintu

lieutenant general ben hodges served as the commander of u.s. army europe.red in 2017 and is now a nato adviser. hodges told us the biden administration has failed explain to the americans what they get for every donation given to ukraine. if you think about it, russia has been around for decades. remained an existential threat to europe and the united states, just listen to what its leaders say, look at the thousands of nuclear warheads, they will definitely continue this if they are not stopped. it sounds like you're saying that vladimir putin's stopover in ukraine is directly beneficial to every american. absolutely, this war is more than just a war in ukraine. these will also burn, the kremlin commented on the program ukraine abrams tanks. in less than a month , they have already burned down at the front. seven american bradley infantry fighting vehicles, two german leopard tanks and a british challenger, defense minister shaigu said today. the loss of personnel in the armed forces of ukraine is more than 17,000 people in less than a month. the kiev regi