U.S. Hammers Down on Russia - But Is It Too Late?

This is Jay Sekulow. President Biden sanctions Russia.

Will it have an impact? Keeping you informed and engaged, now more than ever, this is Sekulow. We want to hear from you.

Share and post your comments or call 1-800-684-3110. And now your host, Jay Sekulow. Hi everybody, welcome to the broadcast.

We've got a big lineup today. Of course, we're going to be talking about the United States. President Biden has put in place what he calls significant sanctions, a full blocking sanctions on two significant Russian financial institutions. One is actually the banks system utilized by the military.

It's an interesting development. The other is a development bank. So we're going to look at that. He also put sanctions on the ability of Russia to deal with sovereign debt.

And that is their ability to market their debt to various financial institutions. That has also been put in place as a stop right now. So that's going on. A full blocking sanctions on five Russian oligarchs, including the leader of some of the financial institutions and also the social media platform that's very popular in Russia evidently. So we've got all of that going on. And the secretary of the treasury will determine that any institution in the financial service sector of the Russian Federation economy is a target for further sanctions.

So this was the prelude. Now the response was that Russia, basically President Putin said, well, he's not so concerned about that. And taking it a step further, there are now reports that cyber attacks have been launched against Ukraine. We're going to get into all of this, including whether this was too late.

Was it too little too late in the impact on it. But again, and Rick Rinnell will be joining us also, former director of national intelligence, because I think that will give you a real sense of what's going on here. The President was very specific that we're not talking about a war in a military sense. But I want to play for you this bite, number three, that talks about, this is President Biden talking about that he views the invasion of Ukraine as beginning. This is the beginning of a Russian invasion of Ukraine, as he indicated and asked permission to be able to do from his Duma. So let's begin to, so I'm going to begin to impose sanctions and response far beyond the steps we and our allies and partners implemented in 2014. And if Russia goes further with this invasion, we stand prepared to go further as with sanctions. Who in the Lord's name does Putin think gives him the right to declare new so-called countries on territory that belong to his neighbors? This is a flagrant violation of international law and demands a firm response from the international community. There's also something important to point out here and the international law part, I agree with President Biden on this, the boundaries of Ukraine are established by international law and Vladimir Putin doesn't have the right to undo international law. Okay.

So that's number one. Number two, there was, they had a Minsk agreement. They had a bilateral agreement between various countries, including Russia and Ukraine as to what in fact could be in place here. And unfortunately what has happened, and this is, like I said, this is unfortunate. The reality is that what you've seen happen is that Vladimir Putin is ignoring that.

There's a much bigger plan at play here than I think we realize. And that's what everybody has understood. But there has been a violation of international law.

There has, there's no question about that. There's been a violation of international law. Anytime a country invades another country, the law has been violated. Sanctions go into place. The question is for the day, do these sanctions matter at all? Do they have really any impact? And we're going to get into it and you realize some of these top line sanctions can be easily, easily gotten around because they sound tough, they sound strong, but they aren't actually accomplishing really what they sound like they're doing.

No, this is, it's, you're exactly right. And we're going to get into it. Professor Harry Hutchinson's going to be joining us and Andy Econimo in the next segment of the broadcast to discuss exactly that, what these sanctions mean, if anything, what will happen. And is it too little, too late? And what do we think Russia's moves are going to be?

And then later in the broadcast, we said Rick Rinnell will be joining us as well. We're taking your calls at 1-800-684-30110. We want your reaction to this as well.

800-684-3110. Back with more in a moment. The challenges facing Americans are substantial at a time when our values, our freedoms, our constitutional rights are under attack. It's more important than ever to stand with the American Center for Law and Justice. For decades now, the ACLJ has been on the front lines protecting your freedoms, defending your rights in courts, in Congress and in the public arena.

And we have an exceptional track record of success. But here's the bottom line, we could not do our work without your support. We remain committed to protecting your religious and constitutional freedoms.

That remains our top priority, especially now during these challenging times. The American Center for Law and Justice is on your side. If you're already a member, thank you. And if you're not, well, this is the perfect time to stand with us at ACLJ.org, where you can learn more about our life changing work.

Become a member today. ACLJ.org. Only when a society can agree that the most vulnerable and voiceless deserve to be protected is there any hope for that culture to survive. And that's exactly what you are saying when you stand with the American Center for Law and Justice to defend the right to life. We've created a free, powerful publication offering a panoramic view of the ACLJ's battle for the unborn.

It's called Mission Life. It will show you how you are personally impacting the pro-life battle through your support. And the publication includes a look at all major ACLJ pro-life cases, how we're fighting for the rights of pro-life activists, the ramifications of Roe v. Wade 40 years later, play on parenthood's role in the abortion industry and what Obamacare means to the pro-life movement. Discover the many ways your membership with the ACLJ is empowering the right to life. Request your free copy of Mission Life today online at ACLJ.org.

Welcome back to the broadcast and we're taking your calls at 1-800-684-3110. So President Biden put in what he calls full blocking sanctions on two significant financial institutions. I'm going to go to Professor Harry Hutchison from our team to discuss what are these sanctions Harry and what are the impact of these sanctions? Well essentially this will bar these two specific banks from engaging in financial transactions with other banks throughout the world system. The problem with that and I speak from some experience I served on the board of directors of a bank which was then absorbed ultimately by Wells Fargo bank is that these two large banks which are very significant in Russia they will simply utilize accounts that they have with other banks. So in other words you can't prevent bank A from having an account with bank C and that's particularly true because the United States has not imposed sanctions on the entire banking system in Russia.

That would have been much more significant. In addition Russia will continue to engage in banking transactions with China with Iran with Turkey and with a raft of other countries. So what we have done is we have made banking in Russia inconvenient. I concede that these sanctions are the most significant sanctions that the Biden administration has imposed so far but they're not crippling sanctions and I think at the end of the day Russia will work around them. When they use the phrase cripple I remember we talked about this in Iran they say crippling sanctions. Crippling sanctions means to me that it impacts the economy at a significant level.

Will these sanctions that have been put in place Harry do that or are there workarounds? There are plenty of workarounds and if the Biden administration was intent on crippling the Putin regime the Biden administration needs to immediately reverse its policy on US oil. So keep in mind Jay that a barrel of oil has risen from $40 at the end of 2020 to about $100 today. That's a 250% increase which you can then use to fuel military expansion and aggression and basically we have made Russia richer and the world needs energy in part because the United States has given up energy independence.

So what does that mean? It means that the black market for Russian oil and financial transactions is out there and so you may have an individual or a banking institution that will cream off another dollar per barrel but guess what Russia is still getting rich on its oil and that's a gift unfortunately that the Biden administration handed Putin almost a year ago. So Andy the sanctions went into effect yesterday. Russia already had troops they called them peacekeeping troops but there were troops in these two regions of Ukraine.

There are reports today that there's been cyber attacks. Were these sanctions at this time the right time? Light Jay extremely light in the process Putin was he's a very smart man he's a very conniving person he's a very scheming person. He's a KGB guy.

He's a yeah he was he was in the he was an operative of the KGB he knows the he knows how to run the Soviet system even though you call it the Russian Federation now and he knew exactly what he was going to do when he was going to do it and he outfoxed us in the sense of the timing of this thing. These sanctions that were that Professor Hutchison so well described and that can be worked around they can be worked around were not timed really in a in an effective fashion because he knew to Putin I'm talking about knew exactly what the repercussions were going to be. Don't think he didn't recognize these two breakaway were using areas of the Ukraine and what the sanctions that Biden was going to put on were before he did it. Of course he knew what he was doing and he knew what that he could actually connive around those sanctions and go toward his ultimate aim and that is the annexation completely of the Ukraine.

So the timing of the thing was critical here and the timing is too little too late in my estimation. And now of course this is not going to be a shooting war Harry so I I look at the the sanctions issue what could have been imposed that would have been crippling sanctions? Well first and foremost we should have declared energy independence from Russia but that requires thinking ahead and the Biden administration is not notable for doing so. It's important to keep in mind Jay that in 2009 then Vice President Joe Biden was pushing a reset with Russia in a speech that he gave in Munich. And it's also important to keep in mind that the left wing commentariat in the United States has essentially said that Biden is the person who can stand up to Putin. But if you look at recent history one of the things that would help the most with respect to dealing with Russia is a deliberate and sustained approach of putting the United States and US interests first and notifying Mr. Putin ahead of time. We have waited. It's also important to keep in mind Jay that the Soviet Union has had troops in the Dunbas region one of the breakaway regions for the last eight years according to a government analyst. So we should have been thinking three four five steps ahead.

And lastly let me point out that if you look at the Biden administration's recent moves by opening the southern border by our disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan I think this has simply done one thing and one thing only it's encouraged Putin. I'm going to take phone calls because our phone lines are already open 1-800-684-3110. Rob is calling from New York. Rob welcome to the broadcaster on the air.

Hey guys thanks for taking my call. Okay we follow the rule of law pretty much in all we do and what seems to be happening is everybody sitting around talking about things and meanwhile in response Putin just simply takes a look at what we're doing and he acts on it. He's moving at the speed of where lives are at stake.

The rest of us are standing around not doing anything truly actionable and by the time that we figure out what we're going to do he will have gone in and done something the equivalent of blitzkrieg with Ukraine. Well boy you see those maps it sure looks like it doesn't it with the way the troops are positioned around Ukraine on all three sides but it does come down to responding at the speed of relevant is usually a good idea that wasn't the case here Andy. No it was not the case Jay I mean it was this it was the speed of a snail I mean when you think that troops in Belarus are Jay how many hours is it a drive from the Belarus Ukrainian border to Kiev?

Three hours. Three hours this is three hours on on a military expedition that can be undertaken so quickly so the timing of what we did was woefully late woefully late to a man Putin who had already figured out what his endgame was and knew if the Americans did thus and so I'm going to be okay because as Professor Hutchison pointed out I can these banks the two banks Vneshekom Bank and Promizve Bank which hold 80 billion dollars in assets can open accounts at other banks and deal with other currencies very easily. So Harry the work around was they were anticipating this I would suspect their intelligence wasn't. Absolutely but the key point here Jay is that we've handed them billions of dollars in cash before the sanctions were put in place and so essentially we have closed the barn door at least partially but that is after they've taken the goal with them and so I think that is one of the real problems here. I think the other problem Jay just to be specific is the fact that the Biden administration doesn't seem to understand history so they sent Kamala Harris to Munich for a conference recently and she said that Europe has enjoyed 70 years of peace.

Well that's clearly untrue. She forgot about the Hungarian revolution in 1956. She forgot about the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1969. So we haven't seen 70 years of peace but at the same time Europeans are insufficiently energized to do what? To combat the Soviet Union that's a broad term basically the Russian Empire on their own and so they tend to rely on the United States and we should for instance not have approved for instance the Nord Stream 2 pipeline.

That was another Biden administration. Well we shut down the Excel pipeline here. Exactly. I mean think about that for a moment you talk about a policy or all right if you're watching on our social media platforms including rumble I want to encourage you to share this feed with your friends radio audience we know you're listening we appreciate that. Our phone lines are open at 800-684-3110. We're going to bring in Than Bennett from our office in Washington D.D.C. to talk about these sanctions and some other issues as well. 1-800-684-3110 if you want to talk to us on air we'll take your calls. Let me also say that we're monitoring the situation closely with this cyber attack that is purportedly going on right now in Ukraine by the Russians. We'll have more information on that.

We'll be back with more at 800-684-3110 in just a moment. Only when a society can agree that the most vulnerable and voiceless deserve to be protected is there any hope for that culture to survive and that's exactly what you are saying when you stand with the American Center for Law and Justice to defend the right to life. We've created a free powerful publication offering a panoramic view of the ACLJ's battle for the unborn.

It's called Mission Life. It will show you how you are personally impacting the pro-life battle through your support and the publication includes a look at all major ACLJ pro-life cases, how we're fighting for the rights of pro-life activists, the ramifications of Roe v Wade 40 years later, play on parenthood's role in the abortion industry and what Obamacare means to the pro-life movement. Discover the many ways your membership with the ACLJ is empowering the right to life.

Request your free copy of Mission Life today online at ACLJ.org slash gift. The challenges facing Americans are substantial at a time when our values, our freedoms, our constitutional rights are under attack. It's more important than ever to stand with the American Center for Law and Justice. For decades now, the ACLJ has been on the front lines protecting your freedoms, defending your rights in courts, in Congress and in the public arena and we have an exceptional track record of success but here's the bottom line, we could not do our work without your support. We remain committed to protecting your religious and constitutional freedoms.

That remains our top priority, especially now during these challenging times. The American Center for Law and Justice is on your side. If you're already a member, thank you and if you're not, well this is the perfect time to stand with us at ACLJ.org where you can learn more about our life changing work. Become a member today, ACLJ.org. Everybody, welcome back.

We're taking your calls at 800-684-3110. If you're watching on any of our social media platforms, including our friends at Rumble, we encourage you to share this feed with your friends right now, get more people involved in the conversation. Comments are coming in as well. Pam Bennett is our director of our government affairs office in Washington, D.C. We've got a lot of things to talk about but I want to start with then the reaction on the sanctions. Harry laid out a very compelling case about that the sanctions, the workarounds on these sanctions are pretty easy. And then Annie was talking about how sanctions can be effective but it can be too little too late. What's the sense in Washington as this has developed? Yeah, I think the sense in Washington, Jay, is really fairly unified in a bipartisan fashion and actually kind of along the lines that you just described. I think there's quite a bit of unanimity, especially in the United States Senate, Jay, that these are probably the correct sanctions to start with but it's the wrong time to start with them.

And here's really the reason why, Jay. I mean, they're not going to repel Vladimir Putin. They're not going to make him turn around and leave Ukraine.

The time to start would have been at least a couple of months ago when maybe you could have prevented him from moving in. So you talk about the sanctions on the banks or the oligarchs, for example, Jay. Once Vladimir Putin started gathering troops into the strike zone and it was clear that this was what he was planning to do, I think these sanctions might have repelled him. They're not going to repel him now and I think there's a fairly unified agreement in the United States Senate that that's the case.

Harry, is there a—because you said you've looked at these kind of issues before and you've dealt with it as a bank director. They're talking about the sanctions so we're clear here. We're not talking about military action. We're talking about bank financial sanctions. Crippling financial sanctions do exactly that. They cripple the economy. I remember as we were negotiating the release of Andrew Brunson, President Trump decided, made the determination that there was going to be severe economic consequences to the Turkish government if they continued to hold an American pastor with no justification for doing that. And there, the lira, the Turkish dollar, Harry, fell significantly. It was global news at that fact that those sanctions were being put in place.

That's when I think of a crippling sanction, I'm thinking about it impacts the entire economy. We saw that in Iran. They put in crippling sanctions. The Iran regime was barely hanging on.

Is this anywhere in that sphere? No, it's not and for two reasons. First, there is the ability to work around these sanctions and Russia has a large amount of experience doing so. Secondly, even though Russia is not really a wealthy country, it is rich in natural resources and you can trade those natural resources. So for instance, if you compare Russia to Turkey, Turkey is much more dependent on external sources for energy. Untrue with respect to Iran, of course.

So I think at the end of the day, I think fans analysis is spot on. These sanctions may have been very, very helpful had they been introduced months ago, but also the United States could have strengthened its position vis-a-vis Russia by increasing our energy independence. Keep in mind, Jay, that since the end of 2020, our trade deficit with Russia, that's just the United States has gone up almost a hundred percent. So we've made them richer.

Yeah. So we're putting up, we're talking about financial sanctions. I want to put up a map right now up on the screen for those, excuse me, that are watching the broadcast and for our radio on, I'm going to explain it to you. The first one is prior to the current buildup, there were very little troop activity in the region on the borders of Ukraine. On December 29th, you see an increase significantly of troops on the Russian border, nothing really significant on Belarus's side, but there is, and it's minor troop development.

That's December 29th, we're talking about two months ago, not even. January 25th, you see more troop development. You see troops, Russian troops in Belarus. You see some more in Russia. Now go to February 20th, Andy, and Belarus, the border is completely encompassed with Russian troops. Russia's border with Ukraine, the same and also to the South. Yeah.

And those are not just ornaments. Those are troops who are intended to do what troops do, and that is to fight and to invade and to do the things that military people are aimed at doing. If you look at Belarus, Jay, to the North of Ukraine, Belarus basically is a satellite of the Russian Federation.

Let's just face it. It was known as Byelorussia, was known as White Russia. They speak Russian. It is run by a virtual dictator, President for life, Lukashenko, totally dependent upon the Russians, and he has allowed his country to become an armed military zone. If you look at the map and you see the red squares in there, you see that, literally red square, you see them peppered throughout the Belarus, and then they are all focusing on and easily accessible to the capital of the Ukraine in Kiev. You see the buildup furthermore in this map to the South in the Crimea, which was annexed by Putin. You see it also on the borders of Russia to the East.

So the only place that they're not is in the West because there you have Romania and Moldova. Right. All right. Let me take a call. Curtis is calling the Missouri's on line one. We're taking your calls at 800-684-3110.

Curtis, welcome to the Broadcaster on the Air. Yeah. Just a quick comment. I feel like we are trapped right now because if we don't assist Ukraine when they are invaded, then we look weak and emboldened with China. But if we do help, then we are all pulled into a conflict with the potential for nuclear war because... Well, we can't put troops on the ground.

I think there's no doubt about that. But then brings up a very good point, Curtis does, and that is how does this impact China? And they know members of the... Across the street in the House and the Senate, they're concerned about that too. And we'll talk to that with Rick Grenell in a few minutes. This is why you had to keep Putin from invading.

You can't repel him now. And look, the conversation you had just a moment ago about Belarus, Jay, we had a conversation on this broadcast yesterday with Senator Lankford, who's got a sanctions bill that I think the Senate will pass when they come back next week to hold Belarus accountable. But to Curtis's point, Jay, I mean, these financial sanctions, where are they gonna flee to?

Iran, China, other places. And so it's gonna be like plugging holes in the dam. Let me just tell you, we got breaking news here.

And so if you're watching on our social media platforms or listening on radio, I encourage your friends to do the same. We're gonna bring down our military analyst. This is being reported now by Newsweek. Am I correct on that, Will? Newsweek is reporting that the United States has warned Ukraine that there will be a full scale Russian invasion within 48 hours.

Let me repeat that again. There has been a warning. This is according to Newsweek.

We don't have an independent verification of this. This according to Newsweek, that the United States has warned Ukraine, I think that means they warned the Ukrainian government, of a full scale Russian invasion within 48 hours. Andy, a full scale Russian invasion is a war. It is a war, and that's exactly what's been happening. And they're in a cyber war right now today. They're in a cyber war. Now they're gonna get into a shooting war, Jay. These troops on Belarus, these troops in Russia, these troops in Crimea are not there, as I said, as ornaments. They're there to do what troops do, and that's invade and shoot and kill. And as I said earlier, it's a three hour drive across the Belarus border to Kiev.

Which means even with armaments, you can get there in a day. Very quickly. So, folks, all right, this is breaking. We're here for another half hour. Rick Grenell's gonna be joining us. Our military analyst, Wes Smith's gonna join us.

Stan's gonna stay put in Washington, and he's gonna be checking on what's happening there. Right now, we've got lawyers in New Jersey, in US District Court, fighting for life, defending pro-life speech. That's going on right now at the ACLJ, and it comes on the moments before we submitted written testimony defending life in the state of Maryland. So all of that's going on right now. We come back from the break.

We'll take your calls at 800-684-3110. Rick Grenell's gonna join us. Colonel Wes Smith is gonna be joining us. There's a lot of moving parts. And again, this is according to Newsweek.

Russia should be, looks like, within 48 hours, full invasion of Ukraine. For decades now, the ACLJ has been on the front lines, protecting your freedoms, defending your rights, in courts, in Congress, and in the public arena. The American Center for Law and Justice is on your side. If you're already a member, thank you. And if you're not, well, this is the perfect time to stand with us at ACLJ.org, where you can learn more about our life-changing work. Become a member today.

ACLJ.org. Keeping you informed and engaged. Now, more than ever, this is Sekulow. And now, your host, Jay Sekulow.

Hey, everybody. If you're watching us live, we have breaking news that has just been reported. That is, this is coming from Newsweek, and that is the United States has warned Ukraine of a full-scale Russian invasion within 48 hours. So this is what Newsweek is reporting.

President Joe Biden's administration has informed Ukrainian President Zelensky of an intelligence assessment that Russia is preparing to conduct a full-scale invasion of Ukraine within the next 48 hours. A U.S. intelligence official has revealed this to Newsweek. Now, that is significantly an uptick from this incursion into the two disputed territories. Colonel Wes Smith, who's our senior military analyst, is with us in the studio right now. Ben, I also want you looking to see what kind of reaction we're getting from this in Washington.

But Wes, let me go to you first. The phrase is used, full-scale invasion. Now, that apparently is what we're saying to the Ukrainians. Russia has not announced that, correct, Will? Russia has not said that.

But the United States has warned of a full-scale Russian invasion. What are we talking about? Yeah, this is sobering, Jay. It is not surprising. What we're… First of all, this is sobering because this hasn't happened since World War II. Exactly. Not since World War II has one country invaded another country to take territory and simply to subjugate their people. And that's what's happening here. It is unprecedented.

Not since the days of Adolf Hitler has this happened. But what it means for the Ukrainians, they are surrounded on three sides by Russian forces. It's going to be an envelopment move if this happens, a pincer move where they actually squeeze Ukraine from these three sides. Keep in mind that Kiev is only a half-day's drive by car from Belarus. So it's relative close. It's in the north central part of Ukraine.

They say three hours. Yeah. And what's going to happen… How am I going to take armaments together?

This is one thing if you're driving on an expressway. But if you've got to move, let's say they're going to… Does a full-scale invasion mean you're moving in tanks, you're moving in air cover? Is that what it means? Eventually. Normally, a full-scale invasion, what it means is they would launch cyberattacks initially. That only takes a matter of a few hours. That's already happening.

Right. But against their military. And then what would happen after that is what the army calls pre-assault fires.

You start sending rocket-propelled artillery and doing airstrikes. But they're saying a full invasion in 48 hours. So if you're moving armaments, tanks, from these border areas, we've got it up on our screen for our audience that's watching us. If you're looking, if you're on radio, it's basically every border other than the sea, and including the sea even, is now got Russian troops. To move those troops into Kiev, how long are we talking about? Well, we're talking a matter of hours, 12 hours or less, if you're coming from the north from Belarus. But again, what normally happens in Russia and the American forces – we did this in Iraq – you don't send armament in initially. You start moving them that direction.

You begin with the pre-assault fires, rockets, artillery, airstrikes, and then you quickly move in armor and armored personnel carries after that. As brave and as courageous as the Ukrainians say they are – Do we have an Afghan – Afghanistan army risk here of the Ukrainian army just saying we're not going to fight the Russians? I don't think so. But what we have the risk of, actually the probability of, Jay, is they are going to be very quickly overwhelmed.

Overwhelmed. This is not going to be a long war, unfortunately. Okay, so then let me go back to Harry quickly on the – on the sanctions side. So we're not going to put troops on the ground here. But we've got troops in Poland. The President was talking about moving more troops in Poland. That was supposed to be handling humanitarian aid. What sanction do you do next that would really impact Russia's ability to do this?

Where are – Well, I – Danny's point will be too late. If the report of the military analyst is correct, then you should block all financial transactions. In other words, prevent any Russian bank from accessing the SWIFT system. What is the SWIFT system?

53 seconds. Essentially, it's a system that allows banks throughout the world to transfer funds from one client to another. And without access to that, it cuts the Russians' ability to engage in financial transactions. The problem is the effectiveness of that will take even a – could even take 48 hours, 96 hours, because Russia has already prepositioned assets.

It already has its troops on the border, et cetera. We're going to stay live during the break here. For those watching on our social media platforms, great time for you to share this feed with your friends.

Rick Grenell coming up. We're taking your calls at 800-684-3110. We're staying live during the breaks for our social media audience, so we want to encourage you to share it with your friends.

Back with more in just a moment. The challenges facing Americans are substantial. At a time when our values, our freedoms, our constitutional rights are under attack, it's more important than ever to stand with the American Center for Law and Justice. For decades now, the ACLJ has been on the front lines, protecting your freedoms, defending your rights, in courts, in Congress, and in the public arena. And we have an exceptional track record of success.

But here's the bottom line. We could not do our work without your support. We remain committed to protecting your religious and constitutional freedoms. That remains our top priority, especially now during these challenging times. The American Center for Law and Justice is on your side.

If you're already a member, thank you. And if you're not, well, this is the perfect time to stand with us at ACLJ.org, where you can learn more about our life-changing work. Become a member today, ACLJ.org.

Only when a society can agree that the most vulnerable and voiceless deserve to be protected is there any hope for that culture to survive. And that's exactly what you are saying when you stand with the American Center for Law and Justice, to defend the right to life. We've created a free, powerful publication offering a panoramic view of the ACLJ's battle for the unborn.

It's called Mission Life. It will show you how you are personally impacting the pro-life battle through your support. And the publication includes a look at all major ACLJ pro-life cases, how we're fighting for the rights of pro-life activists, the ramifications of Roe v. Wade 40 years later, play on parenthood's role in the abortion industry and what Obamacare means to the pro-life movement. Discover the many ways your membership with the ACLJ is empowering the right to life.

Request your free copy of Mission Life today online at ACLJ.org slash gift. Welcome back to the broadcast. We've got breaking news. The President of Ukraine that to expect a full scale invasion by Russian troops into Ukraine within 48 hours. A cyber attack is currently underway. Additionally, the US is reporting, this is from the same US official, that aircraft observers have indicated that Russia violated Ukraine's airspace earlier today, flying possible reconnaissance aircraft for short periods of time over Ukraine. Colonel Smith, if there has in fact, if this report is true, that there has been a incursion into Ukraine's airspace by the Russians, what are they doing? They are looking for real time troop displacements. Where is the Ukrainian military? Where are their field headquarters?

Those kinds of things. A reconnaissance mission like this is designed to pick out key targets when an actual battle begins. They're looking for targets.

They're looking for headquarters placement. They're looking for where the Ukrainian troops are. And by the way, as we said during the break, it's not that Russia will not have any resistance.

The Ukrainian army will resist, perhaps valiantly, but they will lose. Okay. So, Van Bennett reported during our break that there is reaction coming from Capitol Hill.

Now, if you're new to our broadcast, if you're on Rumble, you may be newer to our broadcast of the ACLJ. Our offices are right next to the Supreme Court and a block away from the US Capitol. You see the Capitol and Supreme Court from our offices, clearly. Van, you've got a report. It's interesting. The speaker, Nancy Pelosi, has commented or issued a statement on this.

What is it exactly? Yeah, it's really telling, Jay. I mean, she started out by saying, I think President Biden did the right thing with sanctions, but then she moved pretty quickly into a concern that you raised just a moment ago, Jay. You ask about what the role is of US troops in Eastern Europe, particularly in Poland. That's almost verbatim what Speaker Pelosi said during her presser today.

Here's the quote that I'm seeing reported. She said, members have questions about the role of US forces in Eastern Europe. What is the scope? What is the geography?

And what is the timetable? That has been controversial. Jay, I can't stress this enough. This is the third most powerful Democrat in Washington, D.C. You've got the President, the vice President, and you've got the speaker of the House. And she doesn't know, Jay, what the role is of the US troops that have been stationed in Eastern Europe at a time as pivotal as this. That's very troubling. If Russia invades, as the report's indicating, actually as a military invasion of Ukraine, which has been the fear. Here's my concern with this, Andy. You've got troops, US troops about 8,000 in Poland, but you look at this map.

We'll put it back on the screen. It is, they are surrounded. They're totally surrounded. What about Ukraine? Ukraine is surrounded in the north by Belarus and heavily armed from what the map shows, the Russians themselves on the northeastern border and then to the southeastern border and the Crimea, annexed again by Putin.

Don't think he doesn't remember. He did that without any problem from the Obama administration, didn't he? I mean, looking at them from the south, the only place is- But this is a lot bigger than Crimea. Oh yeah, of course it is.

Of course it is. This is taking over a country, basically. This reminds me, as I said during the break of September 1, 1939, when Hitler basically broke the borders and invaded Poland and the Polish army, valiant though they were, were no match for the Nazis. You know, there was no question when Putin gave that speech the other day that he was very clear in saying that he wanted to reestablish, Harry, the Soviet Union. I mean, that was his, that what he said that, you know, and in fact, he went back to the Bolsheviks. He said they were rough the way they did it, but that there was this empire and now Ukraine, he views as part of Mother Russia.

Now here's the problem. The sanctions that have been put in place are economic sanctions. We don't want to put troops there. Everybody agrees with that, but Europe has to be on heightened alert right now. Absolutely. But also keep in mind that we are in winter in Europe.

What does that mean? That means that at any moment, to the extent that we ramp things up, and so our failure to ramp things up earlier may leave us with few options because if we ramp things up, then this gives Putin an opportunity to cut off natural gas supplies to much of Europe. So I also would add this particular point, and this is in support of what Andy said. In addition to reminding us of September the 1st, 1939, it's important to keep in mind that Ukraine is already an ethnically divided country, so there is significant sympathy within Ukraine for Russia. And so one of the things I would worry about if I were a Ukrainian general is how many of my troops are loyal to me as opposed to Putin.

So this is a real issue. So there are reports, surveys basically, polls, that showed sometimes up to 50% of the Ukrainian population view themselves as Russian. Now that's stronger in different regions of the country, Andy, but this is something that Putin is fully aware of and will play into in his intelligence gathering.

That is. It's not a homogeneous nation. It's not like invading Greece where there is this positive solidity and homogeneity in the population. There are people, and Putin knows it, and Putin thought about it, and he was in his mind before he did this, that are still committed to the idea of the Greater Russia and Mother Russia, and that is in the Ukraine. Some are Orthodox, some are Catholic, and they are still committed to the Moscow Patriarchate. There are competing Orthodox churches, Jay, in the Ukraine. One that is still under the jurisdiction of the Patriarchate of Moscow, and another one that is in the jurisdiction of the Patriarchate in Constantinople and Istanbul.

That should tell you right there when you have competing churches, one recognizing Moscow, the other recognizing the ecumenical Patriarchate, that not only politically but spiritually and morally, the country is not solidified. So this is going to play very interesting. Let me take your calls. 1-800-684-3110. Jerry's calling from Rhode Island. If you want to talk to us, 1-800-684-3110. Jerry?

Hello, team. Colonel West, former War College grad and instructor. I'm assuming ever since 14, since all those troops are there, various plans have been made available to Secretary of Defense and the Commander-in-Chief. Is that correct? That would be absolutely correct, but there is no chance that we're going to place U.S. forces in direct conflict with Russian forces.

However, I will say this, Jerry. We have one Florida National Guard unit still in Kiev, and we have special operators. They're training the Ukrainian Army.

I mean, Florida. These are Florida National Guard, but the danger of this. What does that danger mean? They are in harm's way. Yeah, if you launch airstrikes against Ukraine's capital city, we have troops there. Lots of bad things can happen. I certainly, Jerry, hope that the administration and the Secretary of Defense does indeed have contingency plans.

Perhaps they're already pulling our guys out. All right, we're taking your calls at 1-800-684-3110. If you're watching our social media applications, we encourage you. Rumble, others, share it with your friends right now.

I want to play this bite. This is with Vladimir Putin from his speech. I think this really says it all.

Take a listen. Once again, I would like to underscore that Ukraine is not just a neighboring country to us. It is an inherent part of our own history, culture, spiritual space.

They are our comrades, relatives, not only colleagues, friends, but also our family, people we have blood and family ties with. So there you have it. I mean, Andy, that underscores what you were saying. Yeah, that's the argument from history. I mean, there is an alternate history that says the Ukraine has its own separate identity for a thousand years.

But I keep coming back to the importance of the religious aspect, Jay. Remember that the Christianization of the Rus. Yeah, but also remember there's international law and those borders of Ukraine are recognized under international law here.

I want to be clear. That is his argument. That is his argument and that's what he said. But he's already also part of the Minsk agreement that says this is a separate country, that he is torn to shreds and disregarded.

But he cannot, with impunity, do what he's doing and assume that the international community is going to support him. You talked about the Minsk agreement. Antony Blinken, the Secretary of State, mentioned that yesterday. Here's what he said.

U.S. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield underscored that President Putin has now torn to shreds the Minsk agreements, which sought to end the conflict in the Donbass region of Ukraine peacefully through diplomacy. President Putin himself essentially declared those agreements null and void.

So while there is an argument that Putin makes on their history, there's a counter-history argument as well, but the fact of the matter is under international law, Ukraine's borders are recognized as a sovereign nation. So if you're talking about within 48 hours a full-scale invasion, and we're going to get into more of what that means in the next segment of the broadcast, we're talking about a war. So Fan, very quickly here with just a minute left, what's kind of reaction coming in? I know this is a horrible development, which should have been anticipated. Well first, the main reaction is if this is part of your country, Jay, you don't have to invade with tanks to take it. So that argument's going to be dismissed out of hand. But the argument from Washington, D.C., next week, Jay, when they return to town, they're going to look at these sanctions and they're going to add to them. They're going to send more to President Biden's desk. It may be too late, Jay, but they're going to want to put their stamp on it. So the problem is, when they return to town next week, Vladimir Putin could be having a meeting in Kiev. That's what the problem is. I mean, we need to be realistic here.

The Ukrainian military, if this is a full invasion, and we've got to really define what that means, is going to have a tough time defending their homeland, their country from Russia. We'll take more of your calls and comments, 1-800-684-3110. Make sure to share this feed with your friends right now on social media applications.

We're going to be back with more in just a moment. Thanks, Jay. Thank you. Thank you.

You're welcome. Jerry Hutchinson did a very effective job of talking about how those are really too little too late and they can work around those, but then also reports that our intelligence has notified Zelensky in Ukraine that expect a, quote, full-scale invasion of Ukraine in the next 48 hours. Secretary of Defense, our Secretary of Defense has ordered a Florida National Guard unit out of Ukraine. Evidently, what, they're still in there?

They are completing the move as we speak. He issued the order several days ago to pull the guard out. So this has been in the news. What's your read of the situation here, Rick? Look, I'm troubled that what's clear is that President Biden is not utilizing all of the options that are afforded to him. We should be having sanctions, serious sanctions like banking sanctions or Nord Stream 2, permanent sanctions in a lead up to what he clearly is messaging is a bloody war around the corner. I'm troubled by the politicization of intelligence where we are trying to literally scare the Ukrainians into submission of somehow to say that the Russians are coming in and they shouldn't fight. It seems to me like the Biden team is trying to message to the Ukrainians that there is no possible way to fight back against the Russians and that they should just let the Russians roll over. I don't see how you can look at the situation and say that Joe Biden is somehow defending the Ukrainians or helping the Ukrainians in any substantive way. It seems to me that this emotional response from the entire Biden team is an acquiescence to Putin and Putin sees it like that. There's no question that he is undeterred. Yeah, I want to follow that up, Rick, with two things.

One is Colonel Smith. So Rick brings up a good point and that is there's almost this defeatist attitude and it may well be that the Ukrainian army can't withstand this. The political risk you would think of Putin invading Ukraine and taking Ukraine over, taking Kiev over would be so significant that he wouldn't risk it. But they've obviously, the Russians have made a calculated decision here.

A very calculated decision. Putin, as he did in Crimea and in Georgia before that, he thinks he can do this with impunity, that he can literally get away with it. And the division on some of our European allies gives him some hope that that might actually be the case. So Rick, you were the ambassador to Germany for the United States and the Nord Stream gas line is a big deal. And of course, we closed, the Biden administration closed down in a gas line that we had here, the Excel pipeline, so that now we're energy dependent upon other countries, which is ridiculous.

But how significant is this whole issue of Europe's kind of acquiescence, or at least not real unity on this? They didn't close down the pipeline. They, they, they temporary halted the certification.

What does that really mean? Well, look at what's really interesting and we get into the nuts and bolts here, but the new coalition government in Berlin, the German government includes the Green Party. The Green Party has been largely against the Nord Stream 2 pipeline on the grounds that it's dirty energy. And so when, when the Germans decide to say, we're going to halt certification of the implementation of Nord Stream 2, what that really means is that they're not certifying it as clean energy yet.

And so this is a very temporary move. If they wanted to, to shut down the pipeline, they wouldn't be doing a, a halt on the certification. They would be sanctioning the actual builders of the pipeline. Remember the pipeline is not implemented yet.

It's not up and running. There is still time for the Americans and thank God for Ted Cruz. He's out front trying to get the sanctions, uh, to be permanent, to shut down this pipeline.

Remember the pipeline is not just gas for Germany. It's influenced into Europe by the Russians. So let me ask you this question, and this is kind of the heart of it. If in fact there is a, which Newsweek is reporting that the United States intelligence agencies have notified Zelensky, the President of Ukraine, that in fact to expect a full, what they're calling a full scale invasion of Ukraine by Russian troops within 48 hours, what happens, Rick? Well, well, first of all, let's be clear. The intelligence analysts who say that they know exactly what Putin is doing. This is an estimate. This is not a verified intelligence. This is an estimate of what the analysts believe the situation, uh, how it's evolving.

That's really important. And you wouldn't have a former director of national intelligence just for our new audiences that are, are, are coming on here, but go ahead. I didn't mean to interrupt. And there's, and there's one other point that that's really important here is remember that there are reports that the Germans and the Americans, the Biden administration and the new German government went to the Ukrainians and said, why don't you announce that you're never going to speak membership in NATO? They tried to take the NATO membership off the table for the Ukrainians. Now, whether or not we want, uh, the Ukrainians and NATO, that's a separate argument, but the Ukrainians should always have the right to speak membership.

Of course, we don't have to accept it. And, and there's a lot of reasons why they are not ready now. And certainly we're not going to add, we shouldn't be adding new NATO members when the current NATO members can't pay their bills. But the point is, is that going to the Ukrainian and saying, okay, to the Russians by removing the idea that you're ever going to join NATO, that's an outrageous policy that the Biden team, uh, gave to the Germans. The Germans just want to sell cars everywhere in Moscow and Beijing. They're not interested in war.

They want to be Switzerland when it comes to foreign policy. Their policy is how many BMWs and Mercedes can we sell? Got it. Rick Rinnell, senior advisor to the American center for law and justice. Rick, thanks for your insights. Uh, I'm going to go to Andy first on this, you putting in what everything Rick just said, uh, looking at the situation as it is, um, and a very interesting point in the intelligence.

And this was the guy that was the director of national acting director of national intelligence. So it, it, I'm sure it's the best estimate, but that's what it is. But it's a very dangerous situation for Ukraine. It's a very, it's extremely dangerous situation. The analyst, as he said, have, have given their projections and I think Putin has made his analysis and his view of this thing. And I think he's going forward full speed ahead. Is there quickly here, is there another next move sanction immediately that would could do something here?

Well, I think just to pick up on, uh, Rick's suggestion, you block Nord stream two permanently and that should be done expeditiously immediately. All right, then in Washington, they're out. What do you, you're shaking your head. I see it on the screen.

Go ahead. Well they're out. It looked Rick's right.

Harry's right. But the, the permanent sanctions on Nord stream two were on the floor of the United States Senate three weeks ago. And it was the white house that came to the United States Senate and said, we're opposed to these block these. Jay, they had a bipartisan majority and support even with the white house lobbying against them. They still got 55 votes in favor. Jay, if the white house had been in favor of them, they would have been enacted three weeks ago.

20 seconds. Wes, you know, if you're, if you're a military generals in the United States now, what are you thinking? Uh, we're thinking that a war is about to start and that Putin believes that our lack of will and unity means we will appease him. Unfortunately, I hope that's not the case, but also don't want American troops put in harm's way on this. You can't do it.

You can't do it. So this is, this is, uh, Europe is in a mess right now. I mean, if that's a fair way to say that we're gonna have more analysis on this tomorrow. Obviously it's a changing situation. Don't forget ACLJ lawyers in federal court right now standing up for life.

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