between the free world and therefore all serve we have to stop the judging or guessing what vladimir like vladimir putin wants. i think that this should be and i am in a free world who stands behind it. and what are the consequences if we want to do it now. >> i'm not totally sure that i hear the question. when you look at the steps of the president has taken about where he stands and where his values are, i think the question is the american people. do they intend to have the ultimate sacrifice on behalf of the ukraine. >> of the u.s. stands for universal values and freedoms and human rights, should we not put it in a small terms and bespeaking that the u.s. is standing up for its universal values of freedom and human rights and democracy, not just in europe and in the free world? >> my impression is that is what we do and that that is sort of the nature of any administration that is in power. so i think that what we are seeing right now is a really complicated situation and i think we are all worried about escalation as well as a war. so for us to be strident, suggesting that there is a solution at ha

vladimir putin made the u.s. final worse. >> he has. these are false statements. it looks like these are russian troops in eastern ukraine. creating instability. vladimir putin was never going to be an easy partner. russia is a major country demanding attention like china, we haven't given it attention. what are we going to do now. are we going to confront vladimir putin, contain him. the white house is not considering that. >> a lot of interesting issues that are brought up. thanks. >> turning to yemen, where an unprecedented 3-day attack targetting al qaeda killed 55 militants. the tault marks a -- assault marks a significant escalation by drones and forces in the arabian peninsula. it is considered the most dangerous branch of the terror group. the operation comes days after a brays ep video showing a -- braysen video showing more than 100 fighters in al qaeda, in yemen shown around the world. i'm joined by brigadier general mark kimmitt. who served as assistant secretary of state and defense for middle east policy. >> good as always to have you on the show. when we last spoke we talked about the public meeting alarming a lot of people, do you think

like stand close to your photos so they would get sanctioned. >> what do i have -- how can i insult vladimir so i can get sanctioned too, is what they would -- >> seth: obviously, you're no fan vladimir putinf ukraine. a thing you talk about a lot is the idea of toughness and presenting a tough front when dealing with someone like vladimir putin. but, at the same time, like, how do you project this idea of toughness without being willing to go to war or have any sort of armed conflict, which it seems like no one wants. >> first of all, i think it's most important to understand vladimir putin for what he is. he's an old kgb colonel. who said, many times, the worst thing that happened in the 20th century was the break-up of the soviet union. and he wants to restore that. that's why he is doing what he's doing the things that he's doing. listen, russia is a gas station masquerading as a country. all it -- all he's got is gas and oil. and that's really all that is sustaining them. wait, i take that back. it is a gas station run by a mafia that is masquerading as a -- >> seth: yeah, because originally i thought it was a little rough. >> yeah, yeah. [ applause ] >> seth: i'm glad you softened it

clear that he had a relationship with vladimir putin even in the time that he was in power in which he has given the benefit of the doubt and more to someone like vladimir putin. i'm more impressed what the current chancellor has done. who made cheer what happened is unacceptable. he has been a forceful push. strongly urging. she has been the one that has discussions. they have little doubt when it comes to solidarity, and standing up against russia. angela merkel will be there shoulder to shoulder not only with president obama, but the leaders of the n.a.t.o. >> while the government moved to implement the geneva agreement, russia has done the opposite. let's listen to that. >> i have to say to you not one single step has been taken by russia in any public way that seriously attempts to lively the spirit or the law of what was assigned in that agreement. in fact, it's fair to say they have further. >> meanwhile, n.a.t.o. officials are saying there's no indication that russian troops are pulling back from the border. insisting that the defence minister - there'll be no invasion. there'll be destabilising tactics, having it held as a threat. i think that'

like vladimir putin. but did you notice how much that guy looked like dr. phil. >> strong resemblance there. >> in the real world, we did yesterday warn vladimir putin to starttion to the accord and nothing happened again. the violence is ratcheting up. next thing you know ukraine will be gone and then they'll set another red line. >> 11 minutes after the top of the hour. remember the state department official who couldn't remember a single hillary clinton accomplishment during her four years as secretary of state. remember this? >> i am certain that those who were here at the time who worked hard on that effort could point outç one. >> is that going to come back and haunt hillary if she runs for president in 2016? our next guest says no. he will explain. >> they cite religious freedom around the world but atheists want our military to back out of the national day of prayer. ♪ ♪ ♪ chico's effortless shirt. play in it. work in it. go wild in it. do everything but wrinkle in it. the perfect fitting no-iron effortless shirt in 4 styles and 31 colors and prints. visit the shirt boutique, only at chico's and chicos.com. help keep teeth clean and breath fresh wit

putin. >> he sanctioned me which means no spring break in siberia. >> you seem pretty happy to get sanctioned. >> it's amazing. does not vladimir -- i like to call him vladimirmir understand that there's nothing that could do me more good poetically than be sanctioned by vladimir putin? duh. >> that is a good question. with us now republican senator from arizona senator john mccain. it's great to have you here as always. let's talk about ukraine. front page "new york times" this morning talking about chaos breaking out in crimea. that little invasion doesn't seem to be doing a lot for the russians right now. and the question that we've asked time and time again is what can america do? what can this president do to turn back putin in his march westward? >> well, first of all i would not underestimate vladimir putin. we have read him wrong now for five years. pushing the reset button, saying we're going to be more flexible. et cetera. he's going to say the worst thing that happened was the breakup of the soviet union. so he has ambitions. he's not stupid. and he has gone into crimea. what has he paid for crimea? 11 people sanctioned and one bank. we keep threa

vladimir would like to be -- to hear more. in light of absorption of crimea into russia. we have sanctioned 11 people and one bank. do you think that when vladimir putin sees that as a result of what he did that that somehow it's a deterrent? of course not. >> i do want to get at this. what would john mccain as president be doing at this moment? when he marched into crimea, would you have said, get your troops out of crimea or we will actin a way -- in a way that will punish you? ofi will do a long series steps ranging from helping crimea become energy independent. it probably takes a couple three years. in the meantime, you have got to plan for it. there are other ways that we can do to help them. lithuania has just, by getting energy from sweden and offshore natural gas establishment, they're able to do it. we can do it if we want to. second, make it clear to vladimir putin that we will provide these people with weapons with which to defend themselves. if vladimir putin moves further into ukraine from eastern ukraine, i would at least give them the ability to defend themselves. >> what would you give them? >> putin's constellation is, what is the cost for my taking 'srther action -- putin calculation is, what is the cost for my taking further action? so far it has been none. >> -- to restore russia to greatness without necessarily acquiring everything that was part of the warsaw pact. rational?-- is he >> it seems to me that we work more closely with the nato members. we moved forward -- >> isn't the president trying to do that? >> i do not see any real indication of it. if you refuse to fly mre's in because it is provocative, i do not think they are doing a hell of a lot. >> you do not worry about provoking the vladimir putin. >> does vladimir putin need to be provoked? it's crazy. the only thing that vladimir putin understands is peace through st

like a diplomat but his diplomatic actions don't actually bind russia as a nation. there are real questions right now as to whether anyone but vladimir putin speaks for vladimir putinan television, can we see anybody else in russian government as binding russia -- as binding the russian president by anything that anybody else signs? so sergei lavrov signing on for this agreement on behalf of russia, on paper this did look like a breakthrough toward de-escalation of this very scary situation in eastern ukraine. but the white house made clear today that that breakthrough might just be on paper. >> russia right now still has its forces amassed along the ukrainian-russian border as a gesture of intimidation, and it is our belief and not ours alone but i think broad portions of the international community believe that russia's hand is in the disruptions and chaos that we've been seeing in southern and eastern ukraine. but there is an opportunity for russia to take a different approach. we are encouraging them to do so. in the meantime we're going to prepare additional responses should russia fail to take a different course. we've already had an impact on their economy.

like, pick your three favorite things. it is spectacular! i'm nathan tavernaris and i sea food differently. >> doesn't vladimir understand that there's nothing that could do more more politically than be sanctioned by vladimir putinback to "hardball" and time for the side show. that was seth myers with senator john mccain who is still clearly enjoying the honor of being sanctioned by russian vladimir putin. is a last year, cliven bundy got a lot of media attention after confronting federal officials with a ban of armed gunmen in nevada, otherwise known as the welfare cowboy. while he was illegally grazing his cattle on federal land in inform nv f-- nevada for 20 yeat taxpayer expense. however, many on the right feel he should be able to use public land for free. take a look at what jon stewart had to say about that. >> that land is going to stay vacant whether your cattle are on it or not. when your cattle graze there, that keeps the price of meat down for every american consumer. >> yeah, most goods are cheaper when you steal the raw materials to produce it. have you seen the prices at fell off a truck mart? >> he says his family has been raising cattle on the property since 1877, before the bureau of land manag

as much as we would like to say , the moves that vladimir putin is taking show from my standpoint a fair amount of strength. i think vladimir putin is engaged in a cold war. head in thep our sand about these things. host: joseph from california, an independent color. caller.endent going to tell you t now about -- host: got to turn your television down. let'sg go to rebecca in virginia, a republican caller. caller: i was hoping we would stay away from ukraine. isn't itture -- true that we have a weak president and the >> caller: n't it true we have a weak president, and the reason that putin is getting away with what he is getting away with is because he has had years of watching what is going on, and he knows, you know -- now that after years of being weak, it's too late. just all of a sudden we're going to send troops or weapons or do anything. our best bet is just to stay away and take care of what we can take care of, because we cannot take care of russia, and we cannot take care of china. and if we good with russia, we're going to have beg of them on us at one time. thank you. >> host: senator johnson. >> guest: she is

as much as we would like to say , the moves that vladimir putin is taking show from my standpoint a fair amount of strength. i think vladimir putin is engaged in a cold war. head in thep our sand about these things. host: joseph from california, an independent color. caller.endent going to tell you t now about -- host: got to turn your television down. let'sg go to rebecca in virginia, a republican caller. caller: i was hoping we would stay away from ukraine. isn't itture -- true that we have a weak president and the reason that putin is getting away with what he is getting away with is because he has had years of watching what is going on. after years of being weak it is too late to all of a sudden send troops and weapons. our best bet is to stay away and take care of what we can take care of. we can't take care of russia and can't take care of china. host: senator johnson? guest: she is right in that what gives vladimir putin strength is showing weakness. we unilaterally canceled the .issile defense the fact this president draws redlines and does nothing about it, what is happening around the , people that depend on the u

, if russia, vladimir putin, is calling the white house, saying we need assistance, or there's some open dialogue about the situation here, why would vladimir putin not be able to feel liketo lay down their arms? >> i think he does feel as though he has the power to do that. the question to me is whether or not he actually does want to do that. i think it is very interesting, if you look at what's going to happen in ukraine in the next month or so, they have presidential elections scheduled for may 25th. one of vladimir putin's major goals is to make sure ukraine stays in the russian sphere of influence. if he needs to do that by destabilizing ukraine, by making sure presidential elections don't happen or are very difficult or are not recognized by a part of the population in ukraine, i think he is perfectly willing to do so. >> secretary of state john kerry weighed in saying russia could face further costs if the situation does de-escalate as laid out in the agreement. obama says he is skeptical about the situation. does the u.s. trust anything that putin says? should there be trust? >> you know, i think it goes back to, you know, the old saying, trust but verify. we sh