. >>> WELCOME BACK. WESTERN NATIONS HAVE REJECTED VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY'S CALL FOR A NO FLY ZONE OVER UKRAINE. THEY ALSO SAID A BAN ON
PURCHASING RUSSIAN OIL WOULD PURCHASING RUSSIAN OIL WOULD HAVE GREATER IMPACT ON SANCTIONS. JAMES STAVRIDIS IS A RETIRED ADMIRAL, AND FIONA HILL HAS A NEW BOOK OUT. FIONA, I WANT YOU TO RESPOND TO AMBASSADOR HALEY ABOUT WHAT SHE SAID ABOUT BIDEN'S RECORDS ON PUTIN'S SANCTIONS. HOW WOULD DESCRIBE HIS EFFORTS WHEN IT COMES TO PUTIN? >> CERTAINLY THERE WAS MORE BILATERAL ADMINISTRATION BY CONGRESS AND BY THE UNITED NATIONS. ONE THING THAT SUMS IT UP THAT YOU TOUCHED ON IS THAT PRESIDENT TRUMP, AT A CRITICAL PERIOD, WITHHELD MILITARY ASSISTANCE THAT WAS DESPERATE AT THAT PARTICULAR JUNCTURE, BASICALLY GETTING ZELENSKYY TO DO A
PERSONAL FAVOR. PERSONAL FAVOR. >> WHAT'S THE MESSAGE TO ZELENSKYY? >> THAT NOBODY WAS REALLY SERIOUS ABOUT PROTECTING UKRAINE, AND THAT WAS A SIGN OF WEAKNESS. OUR POLICY WAS ON INFIGHTING. PUTIN IS QUITE SHOCKED NOW TO THINK WE HAVE SOME COLLECTIVE ACTION TOGETHER. >> JAMES, I WANT YOU TO LISTEN TO KIRA RUDIK. >> THE NEXT STEP WE NEED TO SEE IS A NO FLY ZONE OVER UKRAINE. I KNOW PEOPLE ARE SAYING, NO, NO, A THIRD WORLD WAR WILL START. I WILL BE BLUNT WITH YOU. IT HAS ALREADY STARTED. >> WE EVER THEHAVE THE MAP UP. LOGISTICALLY LOGISTICALLY, WHY CAN'T WE DO THIS? >> LET ME START ON THE BACK END. IT'S QUITE OBVIOUS IF WE PUT U.S. NATO JETS IN THE AIR ENFORCING A NO FLY ZONE, THEY'LL BE GOING NOSE TO NOSE WITH RUSSIAN FIGHTER AIRCRAFT, DOWN THAT PATH, THE POTENTIAL FOR MISCALCULATION AND A WAR BETWEEN NATO AND RUSSIA AND A WAR BETWEEN RUSSIA AND THE UNITED STATES RISES SIGNIFICANTLY. LOOK, I IMPLEMENTED A NO FLY ZONE. I KNOW HOW TO DO THIS. I DID IT IN LIBYA IN 2011. CAN WE DO IT? SURE. SHOULD WE?
NOT YET. NOT YET. BUT FINAL POINT, CHUCK, WHAT WE OUGHT TO DO IS GIVE THE UKRANIANS THE ABILITY TO FLY. GET THOSE MIG 25s IN THEIR HANDS. >> DOES NATO HAVE ENOUGH OF THEM TO GIVE THE UKRANIANS A CHANCE AT AIR SUPERIORITY? >> YES. AND BY THE WAY, TAKE A LOOK AT NATO COMBAT AIRCRAFT. WE HAVE OVER 25,000. RUSSIAN COMBAT AIRCRAFT, AROUND 5,000. WE OUTNUMBER THEM 5-1 AS AN ALLIANCE. WE OUTSPEND THEM 15-1. WE OUTNUMBER THEM IN GROUND TROOPS 4-1. HE'S NOT GOING TO CROSS A NATO
BORDER IN ANGER, BUT WE OUGHT TO BORDER IN ANGER, BUT WE OUGHT TO DO ALL WE CAN TO SUPPORT THE UKRANIANS. >> THE LINDSEY GRAHAM TWEET SAYS FRANKLY WE NEED TO TAKE THIS GUY OUT. IT WAS A SOLUTION ON A PODCAST A FEW WEEKS AGO. DO YOU EXPECT PUTIN TO LEAVE RUSSIA IF THIS WAR ENDS? >> LOOK, I THINK WE HAVE TO BE VERY CAREFUL FOR THE SAME REASONS THEY ARE TALKING ABOUT TAKING EXTREME CARE WITH A NO FLY ZONE. ONE OF THE REASONS VLADIMIR PUTIN IS ENGAGING IN THIS APPALLING BEHAVIOR IN UKRAINE IS BECAUSE HE'S WORRIED ABOUT HIS OWN POSITION. HE HAS TO BE REELECTED, IN THEORY, AND ALSO IN PRACTICE IN 2024. WE'RE RUNNING UP TO HIS OWN PRESIDENTIAL TIME CLOCK HERE. IF HE FAILS AND LOOKS WEAK, IT'S SDRAS DISASTROUS AT HOME, NOT JUST ABROAD. AND ANY TALK ABOUT TAKING OUT REGIME CHANGE, HE LOOKS AT WHAT THE UNITED STATES HAS DONE AND HE SAYS IT OPENLY ALL THE TIME IN LIBYA, IN IRAQ, IN AFGHANISTAN, AND MANY OTHER PLACES WHERE WE'VE INTERVENED, AND HE LOOKS AT US AND HE THINKS, I'M NOT GOING TO LET THAT HAPPEN HERE IN RUSSIA. HE'S EXTREMELY PARANOID ABOUT THIS, AND ONE OF THE REASONS HE WANTS TO DESTROY UKRAINE IS BECAUSE HE THINKS THAT WE WOULD USE IT, BECAUSE HE WOULD THINK ABOUT USING IT AS A LAUNCHING PAD FOR SOMETHING LIKE THIS. WE HAVE TO BE EXTRAORDINARILY CAUTIOUS ABOUT HOW WE TALK ABOUT THIS CONFLICT. WE NEED TO STOP THE WAR IN UKRAINE, BUT WE HAVE TO BE VERY CAREFUL ABOUT TALKING ABOUT WAR WITH RUSSIA, REGIME CHANGE AND OTHER THINGS, BECAUSE HE WILL ABSOLUTELY DOUBLE DOWN FURTHER. >> JIM, HOW DOES THIS END WITH HIM IN POWER? >> I THINK IT'S INCREASINGLY HARD TO SEE THAT JUST BECAUSE THE BEHAVIOR WE'RE SEEING ARE WAR CRIMES. LET'S CALL IT WHAT IT IS. WHEN YOU FIRE ARTILLERY INTO RESIDENTIAL AREAS, WHEN YOU BOMB CIVILIANS, WHEN YOU ATTACK A NUCLEAR POWER PLANT, YOU ARE COMMITTING WAR CRIMES. INCREASINGLY, THAT IS GOING TO HAVE TO BE TAKEN INTO ACCOUNT AS THIS ENDS. HOW DOES IT END? LET'S LOOK BACK AT THE BALKANS. I THINK IF WE LOOK BACK IN HISTORY, WE HAD SIMILAR KIND OF SITUATIONS, DIFFERENCES, BUT SIMILAR IN THE 1990s -- >> WE WERE NEVER GOING TO GO IN, THOUGH, AND EVENTUALLY WE WENT IN. I'VE BEEN THINKING ABOUT THAT A LOT. WE SAID WE WEREN'T GOING TO GO IN. I REMEMBER ALL THOSE PLEDGES AND WE COULDN'T STAND WATCHING THIS HUMANITARIAN CRISIS AND WE INTERVENED. >> CHUCK, THIS IS PRECISELY WHAT'S UNFOLDING, AND MAYBE THE BIGGEST WEAPON WE HAVE IS PROOF, IS SHOWING THE RUSSIANS WHAT THEIR LEADER IS CREATING IN THEIR NAME. >> WILL THE RUSSIANS SEE THE TRUTH? >> WHAT WE'RE GOING TO HAVE TO DO IS TRY TO KEEP ON PUSHING THIS AT EVERY POSSIBLE JUNCTURE THAT WE CAN. THERE ARE A LOT OF RUSSIAN OLIGARCHS OUT THERE WHOSE ASSETS ARE BEING SEIZED AND CAN BE USED IN PART TO SUPPORT THE UKRANIANS, FOR EXAMPLE, BUT WE HAVE TO WORK ON THE BROADER PUBLIC OPINION IN CHINESE, THE INDIANS AND OTHERS WHO HAVE BASICALLY BEEN SITTING ON THE FENCE TRY TO PUSH THIS, TOO, BECAUSE THIS IS AN ATROCITY THAT THE WHOLE WORLD CAN'T STAND BY
