and the role that nordstream 2 plays in that critical issue. i have been a strong and long-standing opponent of nordstream 2 . i believe now when i believe that the time that i originally cosponsored the nordstream 2 sanctions bill with senator cruise that the pipeline is a long-term threat to theenergy security of your . but right now we're in a different place on this. and while senator cruise and i worked together on sanctions legislation tostop this pipeline , i my disagreement now with senator cruise is in his approach to what we need to do to address what is right now a much more serious threat to europe, to nato, to the transatlantic alliance and that is russia's threat against ukraine. and what senator cruz's bill would do is not stop nordstream 2. it would undermine the currentdiplomatic situation that is absolutely critical if we are going to respond to the russian threat . is ill is a vote supporting his bill would be a vote to compromise transatlantic capabilities. it is a vote that breaks the message of bipartisan support in the fa

we will halt the nordstream two pipeline project if you invade ukraine — the us warns russia. at the border. the reality of �*frictionless�* trade with the eu — as truckers struggle with post—brexit paperwork. plus — skating on thin ice — why global sponsors are finding the winter olympics a slippery proposition. we start in the us — where apple has stunned wall street with its biggest quarterly sales figure of all time. the tech giant made revenues of almost $124 billion in the last three months of 2021, buoyed by soaring sales of iphones during the holiday season. all that despite a global shortage of chips and concern about the omicron variant hitting consumer confidence. it was way more than investors were expecting — and will calm some nerves after the recent steep sell—off in technology shares. let's talk to dan ives from wedbush securities in new york. it has been a turbulent time, hasn't it? do you think that this is enough to quell some of the problems that we have been seeing? are we putting that in the rearview mirror?— seeing? are we putting that in the rearview mi

2 in operation, russia can use nordstream 2 and nordstream 1 and not use the other pipelines. so it's a blow against the countries of eastern europe. but even more insidiously it inbe hanses -- enhances the response in germany. their response to ukraine was not too bad under merkel because she led the fight within europe and put sanctions on russia for its aggression in ukraine. but germany has been weak especially in the current crisis, and that reflects russian be influence within germany and nordstream 2 only inbe hanses that influence. the biden administration has made a serious mistake with nordstream 2. they've accommodated germany and they have let germany dictate our policy. congress was on the verge of putting sanctions on the pipeline which would have stopped it and the biden administration waived those sanctions. the biden administration claims it's against nordstream 2 but that's more for show. everything they've done has made it possible for nordstream 2 to go into operation. that cuts against american interests if we don't want moscow's influence to increase in g

pipeline, which now is seen _ the nordstream pipeline, which now is seen as— the nordstream pipelineis seen as discussions have changed quite a lot from it being something that many— quite a lot from it being something that many countries are not happy about, _ that many countries are not happy about, the — that many countries are not happy about, the us in particular is very unhappy— about, the us in particular is very unhappy about the idea of nordstream which your— unhappy about the idea of nordstream which your mind be written as a pipeline — which your mind be written as a pipeline which will bring russian -as pipeline which will bring russian gas to— pipeline which will bring russian gas to europe without going through ukraine _ gas to europe without going through ukraine. now that russia is threatening to invade ukraine, nordstream is something that people actually— nordstream is something that people actually will not accept if russia invades — actually will not accept if russia invades ukraine it. what does that mean? _ invades ukraine it. what does that mean? it — invades u

. >> one of the things i'm sure you've heard from-- ukrainians is nordstream 2. ted cruz is pushing for a vote this week for sanctions against nordstream 2 saying it will give moscow too much pressure. zelensky supports cruz's bill. our sources tell us the state department is actually lobbying democrats to not support the cruz legislation. why not? >> so, jake, we have been very clear that one of the most effective if not the most effective tools we have in our arsenal when it comes to russian aggression and that includes energy coercion, is trans-atlantic unity. is having a united front with our european allies, with our european partners as well against russia. and that's what we've been able to put together in recent months. we do not wish to do anything that would undermine that most potent tool nour arsenal when it comes to russia's potential use of energy as a weapon. we're concerned this amendment would do just that. so we're very clear that we want to take steps to buttress that trans-atlantic unity. and let me make one other point here, jake. the germans

its dependence on russian gas and the nordstream 2 pipeline, the $11 billion undersea link between the two countries. while berlin recently claimed the pipeline was a purely economic project at least now the government says a russian invasion of ukraine would have an impact. >> translator: if there is renewed aggression we have the full bandwidth of measures including nordstream 2. >> reporter: the u.s. has long urged berlin to use nordstream 2 which is not yet certified for gas transit as leverage to deter moskow. now the state department says if russia invades, the project is dead. >> if russia invades ukraine one way or another nordstream 2 will not move forward. >> reporter: but currently the germans are still very much moving forward with mordstream 2. in fact, a german subsidiary was just found trying to speed up certification here in europe. all this as berlin says it remains firmly in the u.s.' corner and says that it will support massive sanctions against russia if there is a further invasion of ukraine. fred pleitgen, cnn, berlin. >> london police say their investigation into

russia invades ukraine ( way if russia invades ukraine one way or another, nordstream two will not move forward. the us coastguard has suspended the search for dozens of people lost after their boat capsized off the florida coast. uk government admits april's planned national insurance rise is unpopular — but says they are in "listening mode". the nigerian teens creating low budget sci—fi films on their phones — and grabbing the attention of hollywood. and we meet the woman who has spent her life collecting thousands of plastic carrier bags from across the world. welcome to the programme. the united states has urged china to use its influence with moscow to discourage any russian invasion of ukraine. a us state department official said western countries were unified in wanting a diplomatic solution — but the costs must be swift and severe for russia if it took military action. the us has also called for a meeting of the un security council to discuss russian aggression towards ukraine. mark lobel has the latest. in belarus, to the north of ukraine, russian arrivals for more training exe

2 in operation, russia can use nordstream 2 and nordstream 1 and not use the other pipelines. it's a blow against the countries of eastern europe. but even more insidiously it inbe hanses -- enhances the response in germany. their response to ukraine was not too bad under merkel because she led the fight within europe and put sanctions on russia for its aggression in ukraine. but germany has been weak especially in the current crisis, and that reflects russian be influence within germany and nordstream 2 only inbe hanses that influence. the biden administration has made a serious mistake with nordstream 2. they've accommodated germany and they have let germany dictate our policy. congress was on the verge of putting sanctions on the pipeline which would have stopped it and the biden administration waived those sanctions. the biden administration claims it's against nordstream 2 but that's more for show. everything they've done has made it possible for nordstream 2 to go into operation. that cuts against american interests if we don't want moscow's influence to increase in germ

2 in operation, russia can use nordstream 2 and nordstream 1 and not use the other pipelines. it's a blow against the countries of eastern europe. but even more insidiously it inbe hanses -- enhances the response in germany. their response to ukraine was not too bad under merkel because she led the fight within europe and put sanctions on russia for its aggression in ukraine. but germany has been weak especially in the current crisis, and that reflects russian be influence within germany and nordstream 2 only inbe hanses that influence. the biden administration has made a serious mistake with nordstream 2. they've accommodated germany and they have let germany dictate our policy. congress was on the verge of putting sanctions on the pipeline which would have stopped it and the biden administration waived those sanctions. the biden administration claims it's against nordstream 2 but that's more for show. everything they've done has made it possible for nordstream 2 to go into operation. that cuts against american interests if we don't want moscow's influence to increase in germ

again, close off the nordstream 2 pipe line until russia withdraws all of its forces currently outsidees that don't want them like georgia, like muldova, like ukraine, a lot of things we could do now to change putin's assessment. >> i'm glad you bring up the pipe line, because just listening to jake sullivan, national security adviser for biden again on friday, here's what he said about the pipeline because the u.s. continues to believe it has all the leverage now in the pipeline, germany says don't worry about it, it has nothing to do with russrus russia/ukraine in this conflict and russia says it has the leverage, this is what jake sullivan said. >> there's no gas going through the nordstream 2 pipe line, there won't be for months a the least and we made clear to the russians, that pipeline is at ri risk if they move further into ukraine, that is leverage, for us, right now. >> who has leverage with the pipeline? >> i think what he said demonstrates why putin is not deterred, he's talking about doing something if the russians move my point s the effect of deterrence stops them from m

great to see you. >> shannon, they belong to the sanctions nordstream last week. shannon: the outcome a couple of weeks ago in the senate. democrats responsible for that one. now saying they want to find a bipartisan path forward. and see if they can. thank you again. >> all right. thanks, shannon. >> shannon: vaccine mandate requires patience to show their vaxx cards but one veteran owned business is publicly refusing to comply and it could cost them big. we will tell you about the standoff next and it's easy to get a quote at libertymutual.com so you only pay for what you need. isn't that right limu? limu? sorry, one sec. doug blows a whistle. [a vulture squawks.] oh boy. only pay for what you need. ♪liberty, liberty, liberty, liberty♪ introducing the all-new gillettelabs with exfoliating bar. only pay for what you need. it combines shaving and gentle exfoliation into one efficient stroke, for a shave as quick and easy as washing your face. your shipping manager left to “find themself.” leaving you lost. you need to hire. i need indeed. indeed you do. indeed ins

we've talked about every aspect of this crisis, including nordstream 2. and the answer is simple. we need trans-atlantic unity in order to stand up effectively to russia, no matter what they do. and that trans-atlantic unity rests in no small part on the united states and germany coming together around a package of severe economic measures if russia invades. what kind of sense does it make for us to undermine our relationship with germany in a decisive way right now when we're trying to build that unity? it makes no sense. and secondly, and this is a critical point for your viewers to understand, there is no gas currently going through the nord stream 2 pipeline. there will not be for months at least. and we've 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. so from our perspective, the right thing to do is to continue on the course we're on right now. there isn't gas flowing through the pipeline. it sits there as leverage for the united states, for europ

the nordstream 2 pipeline, which is a cash cow for putin, that will probably be after the invasion, knockingt of financial systems they will need to conduct business normally. the the swift program -- >> brennan: european allies don't support that. >> the congress has a different view here. i want sanctions on putin's behavior now. what is he did? he is warning to get his way by threatening countries. that's not the way to resolve this dispute. i think there will be bipartisan support for sanctions now and for more lethal aid now to the ukraine, and more economic assistance to the government now, and i think there is bipartisan support to reinforce nato. >> brennan: in your version of the bill, what would trigger innovation. is a cyber attack -- does that trigger sanctions? >> a eyber attack against the united states would be an act of war, which we'll respond in kind. i'm tired of china and north korea attacking us. shutting it d it down through a cyber attack is the same thing. any attack on the sovereignty of a nation, any attack on their critical structure, any attack on their ability to

to all of this, and it's russian energy and germany's reliance on russian energy in light of the nordstream inevitably that's going to impact how a key nato ally approaches putin and the alliance with the west. do you think germany is willing to hurt its own economy and energy supply in the sake of ukrainian sovereignty? >> well, it's a great question and all eyes are on berlin as this controversy with russia and ukraine heats up. the germans have assured us if there's an invasion of ukraine again and also additional problems with russian aggression, that they're willing to do something about nordstream 2 in terms of using it, in terms of approving its usage. berlin is on the record with us being willing to take steps. will they do it, given that there's going to be a harsh reaction, not just in germany and other places in europe that are dependent on russian energy, we'll have to see. that's a weapon the west has if the germans are willing to step up and use that weapon should we need to. >> i quickly want to ask you about something that nic alluded to. senior and russian officials set to

they've spoken out on putin's project, nordstream 2. i agree with your condemnation of russia's increaingly aggressive postures. we encourage that and support that. firm opposition and clear out recognition to the authoritarian threats are necessary to ensure free tom and democracy prevail around the globe. these goals must not be a partisan issue. destabilizing actions from moscow and beijing and the threat they pose to democracies across the globe demand and deserve our full attention. i look forward to hearing from you all today on these pressing matters, particularly as it relates to the existential threats posed by the chinese president and the vladimir putin regime. with that, mr. chairman, i yield back. >> thank you, ranking member. i'll introduce our witnesses. again, thank you for being here and thank you for your commitments to democracy. first mr. matus vallo is the mayor of britslava in slovakia. he served in that position since 2018. he's an architect by trade and an urban activist, someone who has brought those skills to h

>> i think we do need to keep our powder dry but it has to be plain to russia that the nordstream pipeline is over and their access to western capital markets is done if they invade ukraine. the number one deterrent is the ukrainian military. not with americans anywhere near the front lines. it is and we have to provide them with weapons and assistance now. it's that military, not that russia couldn't defeat them but will the russian populous accept the kind of casualties that the ukrainian military can impose? e russian president when he argues support of the west for ukraine is nato expansion, and something he sees as a threat to his country? guest: well, i do think we have to have understandings of not having missiles right up against the russian border. we reacted rather intensely when we saw nuclear missiles based in cuba, 90 miles, separated by an ocean, away from us. ukraine is even closer to russia. so i do think that an understanding on force deployments is appropriate, and i think that some assurance that there is no -- that for many decades, we would expect that the ukraine woul

is also threatening to with hold the opening of nordstream 2, a key pipeline that would send gas from russia if they invade we don't know what his next move is and he's probably doing that on purpose to keep everyone on edge >> staying silent and making up for it with action thank you. >>> disgraced attorney michael avenatti cross examined his former client, stormy daniels, in court things got a little bizarre when she said she could speak to dead people nbc's tom winter has the details. >> reporter: michael avenatti and film actress stormy daniels going head to head in court. >> as i learned a long time again, to thy own self be true >> reporter: representing himself cross examining his former client. the attorney trying to undermine daniels, getting her to admit that in the past she said she could speak to the dead and chat she has conversations with a haunted doll named susan who has her own instagram account. the two had famously teamed up in 2018 to take on then president donald trump they immediately made headlines. >> ultimately the american people and others far more educated

to gas prices and energy provision and this constant situation between russia and germany, about nordstreaminly add to the problems because germany will only feel these higher energy crisis now because there is annexation and households will only feel it january one. inflation will only gradually come down in the first half of this year. this has to do with energy prices, this has to do with the companies actually passing through higher production prices to the i think we will only see in the second half of this year, that inflation will continue to slow down, probably reaching the 2% at the end of this year. all of this means that private consumption will be dented by higher inflation. it will also mean that they will be pressure on the european central bank to maybe accelerate its process of ending these policies.— ending these policies. karsten, aood to ending these policies. karsten, good to talk — ending these policies. karsten, good to talk to _ ending these policies. karsten, good to talk to you. _ ending these policies. karsten, good to talk to you. thanks - ending these policies. k

gas must never flow through nordstrom -- nordstream 2's pipeline. firm opposition and clear recognition of the authoritarian threats are necessary to ensure freedom and democracy prevail around the globe. these goals must not be a partisan issue. the destabilizing maligned actions from moscow and beijing and the threats they posted democracies across the globe demand and deserve our full attention and i look forward to hearing from you all today on these pressing matters, particularly as it relates to the existential threats posed by the chinese communist party and putin regime. i yield back. rep. keating: thank you. i will now introduce our witnesses. thank you for being here. thank you for your commitments to democracy. first, mr. vallo is the mayor of press lava -- of bratislava in slovakia. he served in a position since 2018. he is an architect by trade and an urban activist. welcome. mr. karacsony has served as the mayor of budapest in hungary since 2019. he previously served as the mayor of budapest's 14th district and member of the hungarian

russia invades ukraine ( way if russia invades ukraine one way or another, nordstream two will not move

for germany, for example, nordstream two, the pipeline to germany, with important gas supplies, which part in this. your thoughts?— plays a part in this. your thoughts? plays a part in this. your thou~hts? , ., ., thoughts? indeed. first of all, we're talking _ thoughts? indeed. first of all, we're talking about _ thoughts? indeed. first of all, we're talking about a - thoughts? indeed. first of all, we're talking about a 27 - thoughts? indeed. first of all, i we're talking about a 27 member a lot of countries. we are talking about the european union, who have to line up behind one policy position. there is currently a debate about what the responses should be in the case of each scenario. for example, a false flag operation in the east of ukraine or a cyber kind of attack or a full on occupation. and then, you are right, today leaders — or actually staffers, advisers — from france and germany are meeting in paris in a sort of normandy talks with participants from ukraine and russia, and france and germany, and while they agree on some things there is a lot of disagreement with respec

happens, kayla, if we put sanctions on russia that include the blockage or the cancelation of this nordstream pipeline and gas supplies to europe are pimnched? can we fulfill them? >> yeah. there are two questions, tyler one is whether the supply within europe would be impacted by any potential military activity by russia experts and traders and industry executives have said that possibility is unlikely but what is possible is if sanctions cut off the flow of gas from russia into europe and europe gets about 40% of the energy supply from russia and clearly a big deal they have six weeks worth of energy in the continent. so certainly the u.s. is trying to divert more shipments to bolster that supply. how long it would last for is an open question and hoping that they can tie the europeans over until winter or no invasion at all. >> quick question. i'm sorry if you don't know the answer how does the qatari guess to europe >> it is tankers by and large, yep. >> all right thank you. near or at the white house probably near. >> undisclosed location. >>> okay while president biden is certainly payi

militarily distracts from that goal, and also most important, stopping the certification of the nordstreameline, you see that germany is being very wishy washy about going after putin because they depend on his energy sources. >> ruth, we appreciate your time this morning and your context always. we appreciate that. ruth ben-ghat is a professor of history at the new york university, the author of "strongmen from mussolini to the president,". >>> a shepherd who dedicated his life to peaceful resistance: he's small in stature, but his presence was towering, and posed a threat to the israeli government. ence was towering, ad a threat to the israeli manage your payroll taxes. cheers. 100% accurate payroll tax calculations guaranteed. once upon a time, at the magical everly estate, landscaper larry ans trusty crew... were delayed when the new kid totaled his truck. timber... fortunately, they were covered by progressive, so it was a happy ending... for almost everyone. ♪ i'm chi lan, i am a mom, and a real estate agent. after having a kid, everything that you used to do for yourself goes out th

the nordstream 2 pipeline is almost done. the germans need russian gas.is. gas prices are up 400%. this is all part of a very strategic move by putin. he may -- i think he's willing to go to war. but that is not his first choice. his first choice is to get this rewriting of the sort of security landscape that he wants. the biden administration is trying to do a combination of deterrence and diplomacy. on the one hand, they've rallied the west pretty well. they've gotten the europeans on board. they've gotten talk of fairly strong sanctions. and as you mentioned, they are also putting in place more military deterrence, actual troops, actual armaments, while at the same time they've made clear to the russians there is a ding diplomatic off-ramp. let's talk, let's figure out if there are some areas that we can create common security arrangements that benefit both of us. it's a delicate balance. and this goes beyond politics and cheap name calling. it's tough to get it exactly right. i think the biden people are doing a good job -- >> but fareed -- >> -- but

. >> brennan: you know the germans have sort of been uncomfortable on moving on nordstream, and the presidentve mid-term races coming up. in 2018, the united states took aggression action again russia to stop them meddling in those races. do we need to do that in 2022? >> i don't want to see russia overturning u.k.'s government. i don't want to see any foreign nation adversary getting involved in our elections. but, again, pointing from afghanistan forward, we sent a message to our adversaries that we are projecting weakness, not strength. reagan talked about strength. if we're projecting weakness, it only invites aggression. historically, you know that. >> brennan: uh-huh. >> i talked to the administration. i want to stop this from happening, but i'm very concerned about the aggression that i'm seeing. >> brennan: okay. congressman, thank you very much for your perspective. we'll be right back with we'll be right back with dr. scott gottlieb. n the country in boston, where biotech innovates daily and our doctors teach at harvard medical school, and where the physicians doing the world-changi

if you ever think you're going to finish the nordstream 2 pipeline gas and oil flowing into germany,e stopped. and i think there's a bit of a pause now. the fact we are frankly flooding the zone constantly meeting with the russians and again our nato allies, the germans were in kiev recently, i think we keep this pressure on. i think it's increasingly becoming aware to putin that he's got to find an exit ramp. but i fear putin may not be hearing what really is happening on the ground, that the ukrainians are united against him as is the west. >> thank you. we have to leave it there. thank you. and that does it for this edition of "andrea mitchell reports." i'll be live in geneva tomorrow. and chuck todd is up next with a special edition of mtp daily starting right after this. mtp organized chaos. and make sure everything's in it's place. so nothing is out of place. starting right after this. make your home a place like no other. maybe it's another refill at your favorite diner... or waiting for the 7:12 bus... or sunday afternoon in the produce aisle. these moments may not seem remar

senators who have frankly flipped their position from several months ago in terms of being against the nordstreamd that is frankly an affront to the ukrainian people the fact there are money interests trying to make money off this war instead of going ahead with the sanctions. >> thank you for joining us this evening. >>> next how former president trump's travel ban is still impacting muslim families across the country after biden overturned it. >>> plus still to come with my saturday night panel, biden's supreme court pick and how spotify ended up wedged in between joe rogan and neil young. n joe rogan and neil young. and it's easy to get a quote at libertymutual.com so you only pay for what you need. isn't that right limu? limu? sorry, one sec. doug blows a whistle. [a vulture squawks.] oh boy. only pay for what you need. ♪liberty, liberty, liberty, liberty♪ getting your cholesterol checked can be a hassle. only pay for what you need. i missed work for this? with letsgetchecked, you won't have to. it's virtual care with home cholesterol testing. so you can track your progress and adjust your tr

was doing on nordstream 2 through press briefings and selenski was begging publicly as well as privatelytions with biden that. relationship has obviously changed over the last several months and weeks and he now believes in messaging to his own constituency that the u.s. is firmly at their side. i think biden has made the calculation that they have to come through when it comes to sanctions and the kind of tough behavior they have promised, both for domestic message, both for this idea that they not appear weak or in any way appear to replicate afghanistan or running away from obligations or anything like that. second of all, this is a moment for opportunity for biden to show strength on the foreign policy front and to get americans to see them in a different way and thirdly from a foreign policy perspective if the u.s. does blink it would be a real problem in terms of russia's position in the region going forward so i think the u.s. is -- has made a resolve that if putin does go forward and further invade as biden says, ukraine, that they have no choice but to respond strongly but preci

administration is playing catch-up there but i was critical at the time of the decision to waive the nordstream two sanctions. i understand the strategic bet they were trying to make which is if we give germany a pass on this because most of the pipeline is built, maybe germany will play ball with us in other areas but seems to not have cultivated anymore goodwill or cooperation from the germans and sent a sign of weakness and deterrence to putin so i'm pretty worried again, i'm not privy to whatever's going on internally and in some ways are inheriting a weak hand in terms of the last several years not been good for the u.s./ukraine relationship, really the last three administrations now. and it's tough, because one of the unique aspects of this competition we have is while china is the first and primary threat, russia is a very significant one and putin is very savvy, seems he follows american politics and policy closer than many of us do and seems there's an opening to make a play towards ukraine. i do worry about the administration kind of deterring itself, worrying if they take stronger ac

. >> reporter: we just highlighted nordstream two, the pipeline between u.s.t is a source of division between the united states and germ and also poland and the baltic states who see this as a way for russia to bypass them, to bypass ukraine and to gain greater leverage over europe. but the reality is this is bigger than a pipeline. this is not about a pipeline, and i'm a little concerned that we're spending too much time in washington about a particular pipeline. what we really ought to be concerned about is a russia that is prepareperhaps to engagein the kind of military operations that we haven't seen in europe since 1945. this is very serious business, and we need to make sure that russia, if it does do so, does not succeed by changing borders for the use of force. it did so in 2014, and we' got to make absolutely sure witness we deverything possible to raise the cost for russia, and that would, of course, include not using the pipeline, if that were to come about. >> reporter: senior european officials i talked to described that the alliance is trying to

he already understands that cutting off the nordstream 2 pipeline with germany is almost certainly toone of the costs. he understand ls that sanctions that would cut russian banks off from the international banking system is cooked into the price at this point. and so the fact they're still willing to engage in this rhetoric, that they still have this enormous military footprint literally threatening ukraine right now, i think it's very worrisome and it seems like a much bigger force, i should point out, than the one that did begin a military incursion into ukraine in 2014. this is a bigger and more serious invasion force than we saw a number of years ago. >> the u.s. said it's finalized the sanctions options in the event russia does ultimately invade ukraine again. the state department is warning putin of severe consequences again. are these threats? how does putin even hear these threats? he already calculated what he might lose, how the u.s., how the west would respond. is he just playing a completely different game? he just doesn't care? he's going to do this? >> well, look, i thi

you have to talk about more arms sales, weapon sales to ukraine, and this nordstream, the idea the presidentests of the united states. it just emboldened and empowered putin to start completing his pipeline and i think most importantly, jake, you and i talked about afghanistan over the summer. >> um-hum. >> last summer. i think people, foreign adversaries like putin, president xi in china, the ayatollah and kim jong-un all view that as a moment of weakness. we are not projecting strength as reagan talked about but rather projecting weakness, which historically going back to hitler and chamberlain, always invites aggression and i think you're going to see a lot more of it. >> russian president putin previously warned of a complete rupture of u.s.-russia ties if the biden administration were to retaliate against any military action they take against ukraine. russia's also hinted they could take more direct action against the u.s., whether through cyber attacks on the u.s., by taking steps to move nuclear weapons closer to north america. is that just bluster or do you think that is a real threa

senators who have frankly flipped their position from several months ago in terms of being against the nordstreame are money interests trying to make money off this war instead of going ahead with the sanctions. >> thank you for joining us this evening. greatly appreciate your insights as always. >>> next how former president trump's travel ban is still impacting muslim families across the country after biden overturned it. >>> plus still to come with my saturday night panel, biden's supreme court pick and how spotify ended up wedged in between joe rogan and neil young. young. it's mindy! downloading a movie up to 10 times faster than before. oh, is that the one where the mom becomes a... (mindy) yep! (vo) i knew it! and claire in hd clarity. steve, iat jelly? this place is packed! you couldn't even send a text in a crowd before. now look at david with the connection. posting like crazy! (david) it's wild. (vo) 5g ultra wideband is now in more and more places. verizon is going ultra, so you can too. get your personal points plan! i'm james corden and i'm here to tell people that ww is getting eve

there will be economic sanctions and that would include, for instance, the nordstream 2 pipeline beingby the big bipartisan majorities in congress. this is the pipeline that the russians want to build to transport energy to europe. secondly, we would definitely supply defensive equipment to the ukrainians to protect themselves and ward off this invasion. so i strongly suggest that the russians need to really carefully figure out what the costs are and it's not just the president who would be in favor of sanctions or these measures. it would be huge bipartisan majorities in congress. >> cnn's barbara starr at the pentagon reports military leaders are looking at options if russia invades. military options. should the u.s. be willing to put boots on the ground in ukraine? >> no. and our constituents would not want that. it would not be prudent. however, we should help the ukrainians defend themselves. and we should continue with our supply of armaments to them. but i would oppose any putting of our u.s. forces in ukraine. >> finally, you maybe heard earlier in the broadcast, at least 70 p

delayed and i want to hear how that would counter the influence that we're seeing in things like the nordstream 2. i'll start with you but i would like to get to the other witnesses as well. >> pertinent question. very important. i mean, that's the problem that some of those countries actually use energy as a leverage and use energy security to influence the situation in countries such as poland. that's why all of the initiatives that we have mentioned are so important. it is very important to work within the european union to counter that and we have created an energy union. we have created a lot of tools to give us independence. but, unfortunately, you know, there are some decisions on the table which try to sort of go around it. when you -- and when you mentioned the initiative of three "c"s, fine, that's another initiative which can actually make us a bit more independent, for example, of the chinese influence. they've invented this form of 16 plus one in order to have more influence in the balkans, especially in those countries which are not members of the european union. so this immensely

and a couple days ago, nordstream is being canceled, and imminent invasion.t until the end of the aging winter olympics, wouldn't want to mess up his ally xi jinping. president biden coming to your state today talking infrastructure. a bridge collapsed in pittsburgh a few hours ago. don't mean to be facetious but good timing if you're going to make a speech on infrastructure later today. >> infrastructure is a core function of government. there bill was in the house, which they did pass, $4 trillion of extra spending and taxes which mitigated any gains. much of that money was for things that were not related to infrastructure. the president is looking for any game he can get at this point. his handling of the economy is a total failure. we had a good gdp number, that was an awful quarter but between inflation, gasoline prices, stocks of goods being laid down, he received an f on the year's handling of the economy. stuart: you won't be at the presentation announcement today in pennsylvania? >> my invitation must've gotten lost in the mail. i won't be out there

natural gas is very expensive especially relative to pipeline gas i know everybody's hating on the nordstreamine and the reason for that is obvious, the geopolitical risk, but there's no competing with the gas you get out of the ground, process it minimally, run it through a pipeline as opposed to liquefied natural gas which gets out of the ground, super cool i'm talking liquefied mr. freeze cold, put on a ship, sailed far away and when it gets unloaded has to be defrosted like meat out of the freezer and then gets to your pipeline and then gets to your burner tip so i think the complications with lng are pretty apparent europe has got a huge problem here, and we can only hope at this point what's going on with russia and putin is pure bluster and this thing ends with hopefully without a shot fired but with a lot of chest beating by the russians as they pull back and declare victory >> what -- when did this happen with germany and why did that happen? so that no more nukes and the country is totally comfortable being at the beck and call of vladimir putin in russia did they think about this w

being very upset neither here nor there i think it's important to note you look at russia on the nordstream look at the price for megawatt hour in europe for power it's almost ten times the price of the united states because germany just turn off its last three nukes, they stopped drilling for hydrocarbons this policy of wanting to immediately flip to alternative energy is one that's creating major national security problems for europe it will create national security problems for the united states and will create inflation around the world, which is what we're seeing today remember russia exports about $8 billion of crude every day. sanctions on russia won't work like sanctions on china. >> because there's no way we're going to be able to say we're looking for a coalition of the willing because there's no way germany can go along with us, can they >> if you look at preparation for a potential conflict the u.s. and u.k. have ferrying and launched tank and military equipment. and if you watch the flight of transport from the u.k. germany won't let the planes flyover their airspace that's a b

i will give them credit that as it relates to nordstream they had basically stopped the process of thede and if the germans don't to it, i think we will end up sanctioning it. so in this is a moment for leadership so we don't repeat what we saw in 2008 and 2014, where putin took very weak responses and said i can get away with it, if we don't act now, not just the united states but potential troop deployments we've deployed them already and send a message what you hate the most is going to happen and it will strengthen the resolve of our allies as well. >> senator robert menendez, chairman of the foreign relations committee, thank you for being with us. mika? >>> a report is expected later today on allegations that government employees in the united kingdom threw parties at ten downing street while the rest of the country was on covid lockdown. keir simmons has the latest. >> reporter: british prime minister's boris johnson inner circle facing a police investigation into parties at his office in downing street while strict lockdowns were in force. >> i welcome the investigation. >> rep