2, and trump didn't impose sanctions over nord stream 2. now, mr. president, i recognize in politics sometimes heat of the moment, you say things you don't entirely think through them. but even in the ana ls of bad arguments, that is a singularly absurd argument. it's true. i didn't hold the state department nominees over nord stream 2. it's true trump didn't impose sanctions. why? because we stopped nord stream 2. because we were successful. when i authored the bipartisan sanctions, there were significant elements of the trump administration that resisted it. the treasury department fought mightily against it, and i was more than happy to battle my own party on this because this is the right thing to do for u.s. national security. is there even one democrat with the courage to do that against his own party? now that it's the other side. the argument i didn't hold nominees. why would i hold nominees? president trump signed the bill. i said from the beginning if biden imposes the sanctions, i will lift all the holds. i lifted 32 holds in dec

sanctioning nord stream now in the way that the cruz bill would do would not just be a sanction on nord stream 2 a.g., the bill would sanction, quote, any corporate officer of any entity established for or responsible for the planning, construction, operation of the nord stream 2 pipeline or a successor entity, close quote. this broad scope would have a clear ripple effect on the entities, many of them german and the principles, many of them german citizens, it includes industrial sites, port operators, rail operators and any entity associated with that deal. so for an ally that is with us in this fight against putin's aggression for an ally that is standing up with us when we need them to be strong, this would be a sanction on them. they have made that clear to us. now is not the time to take that step. again, the pipeline today is pause. they basically stopped the regulatory process on it. at the earliest it could be months before anything happens, depending upon what putin does -- depending upon what putin does, and even if they allow it to move forward. now is not the time to take o

he has tried to blame president biden for nord stream. he is now trying to blame them for putin's illegitimate power grabbing and military aggression. but do you know what? i suggest you look back and review just how and when north stream came to beat. because it was not president biden who could have imposed sanctions back in 2017. it was not president biden who did nothing for years while 94% of the pipeline was being built. it was not president biden who waited until his last day in office to impose sanctions on nord stream. mr. president there was somebody else who could have used his authority to put a stop to this malign influence project but did not. there was someone else who could have made the kremlin's weaponization of energy a priority but didn't. the senator already knows this. so how could i be so sure? because he said so at the time. in december of 2019 he said, and i quote, i want this to be very clear. if the pipeline is completed it will be the fault of members of this trump administration who sat on their rear end and di

nominees but has been his suggestion that the change in response on my part and on others who oppose nord stream 2 has been partisan. but, as you points out, during during -- as you point out, during all of the trump administration, senator cruz did not hold one nominee because of north stream 2. is that your understanding? mr. murphy: that's my understanding. my understanding is that there may have been private advocacy or public speeches given, but that there certainly wasn't the tactic used thats that been used during 2020, which is extraordinary, the holding of all nominees. i think i'd add to that that democratic senators have not used that tactic, right? we had huge disagreements with president trump's policy, including his failure to use sanctions that were given to him by congress to stop the pipeline, the moment when those sanctions would have been most effective. but we didn't block all of president trump's ambassadors we thought that it was better to have those people on hand working to protect us interests than it was to have those positions vacant. acted. so i think it's really impo

he supports sanctions on nord stream 2.where senator murphy is starting to dig a little deeper on his weak arguments and trying to provide cover for his colleagues who are going to change their vote. he had to respond on where president zelensky of ukraine was. here's what senator murphy said about that -- i'm a big supporter of president zelensky, but he often misreads american politics, and i think it would be better for him to have stayed out of this one. wow. wow. so the leader of the country right here, who many of us think this is all about, who certainly knows what russian energy power politics are about, since he's been on the pointy end of that weapon many times, we now have a senator saying president zelensky, sit down, be quiet, stay out of this one. we don't want to hear from you. even though this is about, quote, saving your countries. unless, of course, you support his position on nord stream 2. so, mr. president, these are very weak arguments by the senator from connecticut. the most legitimate argument i've

colleen, nord stream 2 is dead. >> i do not think it is dead.e end, we are dealing with -- and if gas prices are going too high -- it is heat versus food. people will go in. it's billions of dollars. it is not gas, it is also rwe billions. quickly coming back to natural gas, yes, u.s. l&d can come back to europe a we don't have that many reclassification terminals that can take out all the pipeline gas coming from the east. let's not forget in terms of gattaca -- there -- china is becoming the largest importer of lng after japan and korea. we have real competition here for the -- for the lng molecules. >> pablo pipeline -- the nurturing pipeline, berlin says it is effectively dead pared what you think? >> from moscow, that would be very bad news. maybe it is not that. technically, it is built. it is there. if the present crisis over ukraine between russia and the west emma russia and nato get some kind of more or less permanent resolution, maybe nord stream 2 could be part of that. kind of fit -- kind of a bonus for russia acting in a more conse

step one, he's got to implement sanctions to stop nord stream 2. he needs to make sure the ukrainians can defend themselves. if he doesn't, he's going to -- we're going to watch putin do the wrong thing and we're going to watch other dictators and thugs around the world do the wrong thing. hopefully this president will step up and say being mr. nice guy and appeasing is not right and he will change. senator cornyn: historically, wars are easy to start, and they are hard to finish. that's why this threat of sanctions after the fact is not alone enough to deter vladimir putin and to prevent him from invading -- further invading ukraine. neither are the promises of financial assistance to the ukrainians at some undetermined position or time in the future, sufficient to deter putin. and make no mistake about it, our goal in a bipartisan basis should be to stop putin and to make him think twice about invading ukraine. one of the things that we should do is to consider whether we ought to, as we did in world war ii, make the united states once again the

the nord stream ii pipeline to go on and senator menendez bill says stop the nord stream ii pipeline only after an invasion occurs. that's not a deterrent, that the punishment for bad behavior grade we need to stop it now. .. there are enough of us very interested in that on both sides of the aisle, trying to push the state department to get on that much more quickly. but that is an area in addition my sanctions work in the nato allies. you probably saw a number of our nato allies are actually trying to get shipments of these kind of weapons for the ukrainians. that is another area that can happen quickly. a number of us are pressing the state department to prove that much more rapidly. reporter: [inaudible] [inaudible] [inaudible] >> there's a bipartisan group working on that. romney's part, joe manchin's part of it. you can talk to them i think there going to have a meeting next week on that specific thing and it is bipartisan. thank you. reporter: [inaudible] how do you talk to democrats. [inaudible] >> number one i am a doctor. i'm fully vaccinated might wife, my family, have had

you may not have known how it figures into the current crisis with putin, it is called nord stream, nord one is a pipeline. it is owned and operated by russia. it transports natural gas from russia to germany, it has been an operation for about a decade. nord stream two is a parallel pipeline that has been built, but it is not yet operational, or online as they say. it is now potential leverage in the negotiations with russia. if nord stream 2 goes on a line, that would mean much more gas going from russia to germany, which actually could affect ukraine, it is not anywhere close to it in several ways. for more on that, i want to bring in chris miller, he is the author of putinomics, power and money in resurgent russia. thank you for joining us this. evening oil and gas power the russian economy. but they are different, oil can be set anywhere by rail or by ship, but with some exceptions, most natural gas today primarily flows through pipelines like nord stream. how does this pipeline that takes natural gas from russia to germany, nowhere near ukraine, play into this crisis?ia currently t

project, nord stream 2 is dead."ay it to existing — the existing project, the existing link, because presumably, they can't really afford to do that, can they? well, actually, it wasn't even agreed by scholz, the now chancellor of germany, that there would be sanctions on russia involving nord stream if russia uses energy supply as a weapon — that was already agreed by angela merkel last summer. so there is a paper which washington and berlin agree because, you remember, there was a pretty big row between washington and berlin around nord stream 2, and you can read it there. it says if moscow uses energy supplies as a weapon, there will be sanctions involving nord stream. i mean, the situation now in germany is much more complex because you have three parties in the government — the so—called traffic light coalition. the spd, of course, also has some domestic stakes because where the nord stream pipeline ends is in mecklenburg—vorpommern and their prime minister is spd politician and is very keen for this pipeline to

, very good time to go ahead and reimpose the sanctions on the nord stream pipeline. get the german's attention if it doesn't get vladimir putin's attention. >> in the last few years, gas prices have soared to record highs fueling russia's coffers. germany being criticize ford refusing to send wednesday to ukraine. it has a long standing policy not to send weapons to he it has sent field hospital and helmets. the mayor of kyiv says it's a joke, what next, pillows? president biden will host new german chancellor at the white house next month. first time the two sleerdz met since schultz became leader. bret? >> bret: benjamin hall live at the stated department. thank you. up next, we will talk to the german ambassador to the u.s. and the french filmmaker and author who brings us video from the front lines and russia. first beyond our borders tonight. cutter's top diplomat visits iran before commander holds talks in washington. the visit comes at crucial time for efforts by tehran to try to revive a nuclear pack. this is a look at lithuania from earth tv. bun one of the

in this case nord stream is not a commercial project it was a strategic project and president biden hasreenlighted this initiative it would cost ukraine and compromise our european partners who were relying for us to be strong. biden administration is doing some hopefully deterrent by building up the access with ukraine that we authorize last fall and is putting pressure on the banking system and cutting off putin that way which i think those things could really sting putin in his attempts to take over ukraine but right now i feel that putin feels he is empowered as ever as we project that. we are hoping biden administration continues to act tough and make sure it doesn't happen in the first place and obviously we do not want to get into a conflict in the ukraine speed with the nord stream pipeline is something that tom cotton mentioned today on his discussion with maria bartiromo on "sunday morning features". >> germany has not only refused to provide ukraine with antiarmor and antiaircraft weapons they are blocking other nato countries from providing those weapons to ukraine now with

because one of the things that has been unfortunate about senator cruz's approach to nord stream ii inrecent weeks has not just been his holding up of nominees but has been his suggestion that the change in response on my part and on others who oppose nord stream ii has been partisan. but as you point out, during all of the trump administration, senator cruz did not hold one nominee because of nord stream ii. is that your understanding? >> that's my understanding. my understanding is that there may have been public speeches given but there certainly wasn't the tactic used that has been used during 2020, which is extraordinary. the holding of all nominees. i think i would add to that that democratic senators have not use that tactic. we hadse huge disagreements with president trump's policy including his failure to use sanctions that were given to them by congress to stop the pipeline at a a moment when sanctions would been most suspected but we didn't block all of president trump's ambassadors and state department personnel because we thought that it was better to have those people on

this will put nord stream 2 on the table. everything would be up for discussion if russia attacked ukraine. this is something they have been emphasizing for a while now. it is good to see that the coalition seems to be landing on the same page when it comes to moscow. >> is it clear? are we getting this message from this new german government if russia invades ukraine that germany will kill the nord stream 2 line? is that message clear? >> i think germany is reluctant to do anything. but it would do so in consultion with its nato allies. as we heard antony blinken traveling to europe this week as well. he is going to kiev tomorrow. then he ll presumably meet his russian counterrt. anything germany wld discard would not be around the consultation of the transatlantic context. >> we appreciate your time and insights tonight. tonight, the european parliament has a new president. they have elected this conservative as the new there. she is 43, the youngest person to ever hold this job. she is only the third woman since the europe

2, but cruz's bill would want to make sanctions immediate on nord stream 2.dminstration is saying we don't agree with nord stream 2, but at the same time, we struck a deal with germany they would make sure they would cut off nord stream 2 and access to that if russia does in fact breach ukraine. so a little bit of a nuance of two different bills and how the administration is looking at it because many democrats are saying we are in the middle of these negotiations. we heard from the quinlan today that negotiations were pretty much meh when it comes to nato talks, but democrats are saying why poke the bear when we are in the heart of negotiations right now with moscow? jonathan: the british house secretary has wrapped up and address in the united kingdom moments ago, saying the isolation period would be cut to five days from seven in england, in line with the guidance we had from the cdc a number of weeks ago. he's gone on to say the u.k. is leading the world in learning to live with covid. it seems like a lot of countries around the world are leading into tha

>> i think there is no doubt if there was a russian invasion that nord stream will go away.hink it's fair to say that this is pretty clear. i think germans hope that it won't come to that and they want to minimize the annoyance and irritation caused with russia. look, i mean, you know, germany is that power in the center of europe and has traditionally seen itself as a kind of bridge between east and west. you know, under merkel it served that position very well, it was merkel who 2014 rallied all the european countries behind pretty tough sanction regime. so there is an argument to be made that those channels of communications between berlin and moscow are important, but i think in this case it has definitely gone too far. it is interesting, if you look at the language that scholz has used and has been criticized for, calling nord stream 2 a private sector project and almost, you know, being in pains not to mention it even now that they're saying that everything is on the table, which clearly refers to nord stream 2, other politicians have named it, he hasn't. and it's some

so does that change your calculus about the in order stream nord stream 2 -- nord stream 2 pipeline?> i'll tell you what, we've got a bunch of natural gas and energy in the united states. we would be glad to ramp up and supply to our friends in europe and in nato, and we're a country that absolutely does not threaten them at all. i hope the message with this new government in germany now is they're not quite so wedded to giving russia this great foreign policy tool where ho-ho 40% of their a economy is determined by this nord stream 2 pipeline. it would be a crushing blow to putin to lose it, and we still have within our means -- the united states alone has within our means the ability to stop that pipeline from opening, and we should have already done that. p but, certainly, i hope we have the resolve to make our words factual if, indeed, he takes one step into our friend -- arthel: into ukraine, yes. >> -- ally, ukraine. arthel: senator roger wicker, my next door neighbor in mississippi, i'm from louisiana. >> thanks for having me. arthel: absolutely. eric: it was another tragic ni

we haven't even mentioned nord stream nord stream ii and use of energy as a weapon. so today, over 100,000 russian troops and equipment that are placed threatening ukraine and this is on top of the other challenges that ukraine is experiencing. as we know ukraine's partners in the west, united states, eu, nato member states have included at the standing of ukrainian people and ukraine's right to choose its future, not mr. putin's right to choose that future. an attack against ukraine will be met with swift and severe response. this has been the mantra of the last couple of weeks of the united states, nato and other partners that have been working closely with ukrainian government and people to address the current russia crisis. i want to highlight the important critical the biden administration and rallying support for ukraine, also nato, secretary-general stoltenberg, the eu which critical additional support to assist ukraine over the last couple of days which i think it is not only important in terms of military security but strengthening the resilience of ukraine

any sanctions against russia would likely impact the nord stream 2 pipeline, that is a stalled projecto increase applies of russian gas to europe. the you is working on finding alternative supplies, they rely on russia for 40% of their natural gas. >> germany hardening its stance on a controversial gas pipeline between russia and europe after weeks of hesitation, germany's foreign minister confirmed that if russia invades ukraine the nord stream 2 pipeline is at risk. >> in the event of the regression a range of responses are available including nord stream 2, yes we want a dialogue at all times. in the view of the current situation we also need toughness. >> the pipeline has been divisive since announced in 2015, built along the bottom of the baltic sea, it by trout -- bypasses the traditional route of ukraine. doubling eu energy dependence on russia, it has been ready since september, but flow is on hold until german regulators open the valves. canceling t project would mean a huge financial blow to russia. >> while it is possible to put europe under pressure, europe would eventually

but he hasn't actually said that the nord stream pipeline would be abandoned.the germans said that? i'm sure it's time because next, er, news in bbc, for example, will be the russian submarine in the baltic sea near the nord stream pipeline. for example, like they do it in black sea or azov sea, and it will be the challenge for baltic countries. so, i think that it's time, and it's time not today, it was yesterday. are you disappointed, are you disappointed with what you hear from berlin and maybe from some other western capitals too? i am realistic and an optimist, so i cannot be disappointed. i am trying to find out new arguments for our colleagues in berlin, because berlin and paris, it's members of the normandy format, and they're trying to do their best in minsk process and normandy process. so, i will not criticise official berlin. i will hope that they will understood, or understand, sorry, what is going on in reality. now, minister, you are a former member of the soviet armed forces. i dare say that you feel you understand the mind—set in moscow quite w

if russia invades ukraine, one way or another, nord stream 2

. -- nord stream 2 as a weapon. today, there are over 100,000 russian troops and equipment on the border of ukraine, and this is on top of the challenges ukraine is experiencing. as we know, ukraine is a partner of the west, that you -- the eu and nato. ukraine's partners have been steadfast about standing with ukraine and its right to choose the future, not mr. putin's right to choose that future. an attack against ukraine will be met with a swift and severe response. the last couple of weeks the united states, nato, and other partners have been working closely with the ukrainian government and people to try to crisis. address the current russian crisis. i want to highlight the role of the biden administration in rallying support for ukraine. also nato and secretary-general jens stoltenberg which just announced additional assistance to ukraine over the past couple of days, which i think is important in terms of to military security to strengthening the resilience of ukraine internally. a number of other countries h

nord stream 2. seen as exacerbating that dependence.ion position is that russia invades further, nord stream 2 is done. but if he doesn't invade further, they still keep that leverage, do they not? >> look, i believe the biden administration made a huge mistake when it caught on germany and waived sanctions. we should have put that baby to rest back in the spring but now i'm delighted to see at last the crisis the state spokesman if russia goes into ukraine, again, nord stream 2 put. that's at least a good thing. but nord stream 2 is a measure for putin to put leverage, the leverage gas against the countries of eastern europe and also increases russia's influence in germany which is a very dangerous thing. it's definitely against american interests. >> the columnist josh rogan wrote a piece for the "washington post" saying that one thing russia succeeded in doing here is for yet another american president who said we're going to focus our resources, attention and power on asia. putin has dragged those attention, resources, and power bac

nord stream 2. why does russia need nord stream 2 when the ukraine has a huge unused gas transit facility that can transit or gas in europe than it needs. nord stream 2 is about undermine the ukraine. undermining the economy, undermining the sovereignty. undermining the ukraine's ability to come to in times of crisis. that is what it is about. we need to be concerned. alex: a stark warning. it matters this year. timothy ash, a strategist. this is bloomberg. guy: i'm talking about the comments we just had from timothy about what is going on in the ukraine. we are getting more commentary about the president and from president biden about infrastructure at the white house. we have arranged at our disposal to deal with russia, and they will pay a heavy price if the tax ukraine -- if they attack ukraine. it is very clear on the situation. any units across ukraine border is terrifying. what an invasion will look like. we have that kind of scale. it is happening yesterday. a small-scale incursion or large-

take a listen to what he said. >> is nord stream 2 dead if russia invades ukraine?i want to be very clear about this. if russia invades ukraine, one way or another, nord stream 2 will not move forward. >> it's clear there ned wasn't speaking off the cuff. he was prepared for a question like that. if there is a way to deter putin, do you think that's it? >> well, the west has put a whole set of costs in front of putin if he decides that he want to go in, again, militarily into ukraine and nord stream 2 is just one of the things on the table. i mean, i think for those of us on the outside when we look at this, we just see an enormous ray of costs for him, but we don't know what his calculations are. >> clearly no one knows but putin but to the idea that he perhaps is a pragmatic practical man, right, it begs the question, is the putin today different from the putin 20 years ago or even 8 years when he went into crimea? he's an older man, shrinking demographics, thinking about his legacy and seeing other authoritarians around him really struggle to keep their regimes i

on the nord stream 2 pipeline, it's all but effectively up and running.could they step back from nord stream 2 at this very late juncture? how big an injury to putin would that be? bruce: the big problem that the biden administration faces, trying to do that is that it is not at all clear that the germans are onboard board with this plan. holes published showed a majority of germans want this pipeline to begin operation. we know that there are members of the coalition that recently took power in germany that are strongly behind it as well as some who are opposed to it. that is still quite unclear at the moment. that does make the u.s. and its allies planning more difficult as they try to figure out a way out of this crisis, manus. manus: who is the biggest injured party from nord stream 2 as we see gas prices ratcheting all the way around europe and lots of blame being hurled around as to why we have gotten to that situation? winky very much. coming up, another bruising week in politics. it's time for boris johnson -- planning a raft of policy announcemen

germany and this administration seem dead set on handing putin another point of leverage, nord stream 2. it is no secret i and many other members formally are opposed to this pipeline and not efforts to see it and putin's influence stopped. that is required to deter russia. an operation with germany must be a priority. the data states and europe must take on the challenge of the chinese calming his party together, cooperating with counterparts to counter chinese influence will need to be among our top priorities. chinese influence is a problem all over the world. as we will see in a minute, it is a real problem right here in the united states. is important this committee understands how dr. gutmann will handle these issues. given these extensive ties between china and the university of pennsylvania, the institution you ran during your tenure and still do. the department of education data shows penn has received roughly $86 million -- i will say that again. $86 million in donations and contracts from sources in china since 2014. it is safe to assume the amount is higher given universit

. >> there is no gas currently going through the nord stream 2 pipeline.ths at least. we have made clear to the russians that pipeline is at risk if they move further into ukraine. that is leverage for us. you slap sanctions on it right now, you take that leverage away. >> is the biden administration simply miscalculating that it has the leverage here? >> yes. the germans have refused to say so. >> right. >> the defense minister said last week there's no connection between russia going into ukraine and nord stream 2. when blinken was in washington a week or so ago, they said if the russians go into ukraine they may not be able to use nord stream 2. it signals weakness. the administration should make it very clear right now to germany and to russia that if germany does not stop nord stream 2 if russia goes into ukraine, the united states will let the senate do its work, which the administration to its disgrace in my opinion fought successfully last week. >> what should president biden do if russia invades ukraine? >> they should do what they've said about p

that is why the nord stream 2 bill should pass. senator, reports are coming in the white house wants to hold on to nord stream 2 in its own hip pocket as leverage itself in talks with russia. what do you think of that angle? >> well i think they gave away the leverage we had in place before this administration came into office. if you think about it under the trump administration we had nord stream 2 sanctions in place. russia was not piling up on the ukrainian border. before the administration came in we held the s.t.a.r.t. talks up. biden extended for five years and got nothing in return. what the russians are doing, what vladmir putin is doing, he is looking and observing what his administration is doing, whether afghanistan, southern border what is happening on the taiwan strait, middle east, russians taking notice of this. we need to regain our strength. that is why the bill should be put forward and passed. >> we're hearing russia is increasing troops at the border as we speak. watch the pentagon spokesman on this and white h

this could be the approval of the nord stream to pipeline that would supply us directly from russia to germany. however, with tension tie you between the you and moscow, the green light for that project is far from so i've been leaving the e. u. scrambling to find the money to pay increasing energy bills, while members remain bitterly divided over the future of energy policy challenge even sky artie. paris analyst story to bring you today. the 2nd section of the andras see pipeline linking russia to germany has been filled with gas with the channel now ready for exports. but the use certification of it is taking longer than anticipated. our senior correspondent morale guilty of looks at the fuss surrounding north stream to 2020. what was the year that the great green dream that's a rude awakening. we all felt it in our bills, but no. where like europe, power gas prices are up for 500 percent in a year. this wasn't what your average green party propaganda, booster promised. europe was supposed to go from a dirty oil burning wasteland to a green renewable paradise just like that, which w

nord stream ii, for example. there might be also physical electricity infrastructure because ukraine is going to join electricity, common electricity system in the european union. so in order to prevent doing this, this might happen. or as in the war, russia may destroy the electricity infrastructure and not allow people to actually use electricity, or many people use electricity to pump water from the ground. so there will be shortage of water supply. cyber attacks, the same on gas infrastructure and electricity might happen. informational, as i said this is what we live with and fight with every year. we have to travel to the eu countries and explain that russia uses disinformation campaigns against ukraine and explains with facts and figures why it is not true. it will definitely continue. an economic threats, again, this can be locate of gas supply or coal supply to ukraine. also there might be a possibility from russia and belarus to blockade world products, supply to ukraine. that's what might happen or wha

we should immediately, immediately president biden should announce that nord stream 2 is over.russia's proven that it cannot be trusted to hold ukraine's energy supplies hostage, and he should lay out specific sanctions. what are the energy sanctions. the reason we haven't done that is because the germans don't want to do it. he should lay out those sanctions. he shoulding lay out the specific russian banks that will be sanctioned and show the cost to putin, that the costs will be higher than what he's willing to bear. shannon: all right, thank you, panel. we will see you later in the show. >>> up next, states move to the front lines of the abortion battle with the supreme court soon to decide a blockbuster case. we will talk to south dakota governor kristi noem on plans to pass new rickses texas' controversial six week abortion ban to remain in place while the legal battle plays out. >> we believe that a post-roe world is in sight. >> reporter: texas state senator brian hughes authored the ban. >> this law, unlike others we passed, was not blocked, and it's been saving lives i