Multiple updates coming in throughout the day on the situation in Ukraine.
Not long before we went live,
it was announced that Joe Biden would be deploying about 3000 additional
troops to Poland which is certainly a move of course he has also said multiple times
already that they will not be entering into Ukraine either in advance of or
in response to any sort of Russian aggression.
So I guess it's a thing you do as a sort of maneuver sort of bargaining thing.
We also know that Reporter for PBS News has been told that by three different
sources that the US believes that Putin has decided to attack.
That is the conclusion they've come to.
They didn't provide any information obviously to that end but that's what they
say they're going on at this point with all that said, we wanted to take a look
at a bit of video with joe biden being asked a question from Lester Holt and
look at how Lester Holt frames the situation given the size of this build up.
Has the inertia reached a point where it's inevitable that they have no choice but
to invade.
Well look, I've spoken with Putin, I've spoken with every NATO leader,
I've brought them together.
Like I think they've never been access coordinated in modern history,
NATO leaders about what to do if Putin moves.
The question is he knows he has to know that if he does the entire
circumstance for Russia changes worldwide changes overnight.
The cost to Russia both in terms of reputational cost and
economic cost will be profound.
Okay, so much of what biden said there isn't that dissimilar from the way that
he's been talking about the situation for several weeks.
>> But I am curious what both of you think about the way that Lester Holt framed that
there potentially was no other choice at this point.
Yeah. Well, so
look, I still don't know what the hell is going on here.
We've been telling you guys,
the Ukrainians are not overly concerned about an invasion.
That's because that's what their leaders are saying.
Yet America says the war is going to start in 24 to 48 hours or
you need to evacuate all americans from there Because
it at least is likely enough to start in the next 24 or 48 hours.
So I don't know if the US is lying on a mass scale here so
that biden can then turn around and say I averted the war and
I'm an american hero and I'm just like JFK.
But in this context John is right and
you're gonna see one more clip from Lester Holt.
What's not helping is the media, right?
The binds position.
I'm not entirely clear on, but
the media's position I am clear on everything is pro war.
So everything's just framed that way in this case.
I mean war is inevitable, right?
I mean, the defense contractors should get a couple more trillion dollars, right?
I mean it's a foregone conclusion, correct.
So Emma, what's your take?
>> Well, I mean, I think the media, to an extent, does take the State Department and
the pentagon's lead in this regard.
And the chest puffing is it seems performative as you say.
I mean, I hope that it's performative.
I do not want a war and I don't think the biden administration wants it as well as
they shouldn't, because obviously Russia is an immensely powerful
actor on the global stage and the consequences would be dire, he saw,
but said as much though, we're not going to engage in a hot war.
So then what is the purpose of this chest puffing except for
chest puffing in and of itself.
Now, to me in terms of where the biden administration's head is at.
My hypothesis is that they perceived that they were looked at as weak
when it comes to Afghanistan and withdrawing from Afghanistan.
That's why he made that big show about assassinating the ISIS leader that nobody
in the United States cares about about a week ago, which ended up killing at least
13 civilians and they're blaming it on the ISIS leader, blowing himself up.
There's no way to take the United States that their word in that area, because I
mean, come on, how much of a track record that they have to have to make that clear.
So I think this comes back to a theme with biden he believes, and
he's operating in this old school 1980s mindset that there is political
currency to be had here when you look tough, when the reality is that everybody
who's worried about biden's tough posture in this area is on the right wing already.
It's the same time.
I'm sure maybe we'll touch on this a bit the way that the administration
walked back the clean pipe proposal for drug users, they're so
terrified of this imaginary constituency that they think that they're
going to be able to gain if people are outraged over these little things and
the chest puffing on the foreign state on the international stage.
Or when it comes to the biden administration initiating and
incentivizing clean drug programs and
helping with harm reduction there already lost.
And it feels like the Obama administration and in that regard,
once over your twice over one more reason to get a progressive in office.
Seemingly every one of these so called centrist for
all of their other problems also is just to their bones terrified of everything of
the other side definitely of real attacks of hypothetical attacks of inevitable
attacks that they can't realize are inevitable on this situation.
I've been trying to figure out the same thing how likely is a conflict if
a conflict were to come.
How soon is it to come?
We had on the damage report earlier this week,
a Kiev based journalist who said that, he believed it was more
likely than is being presented by the Ukrainian government in terms of how Biden
is talking about this and the messaging from the US.
Which as Jang said,
seems to be like duck and cover this thing is probably coming very soon.
I think they're look, if you want to,
there are certainly reasons to believe that not only the overall build up, but
the fact that it has increased quite a bit just in the past few days.
They just a few days ago sent over some warships and a submarine.
But from Biden's point of view,
like it's almost irrelevant whether it happens immediately or not.
His messaging works to cover his ass.
Either way if nothing happens, he looks strong, like he was taking it seriously.
If something happens, it's definitely better to have seemed prepared for it.
And if your overall goal is to make sure that there's a reason or
at least what seems to be a reason to send a ton of money there to spend
a bunch of money at defense contractors.
>> Yeah. Whether you think it's gonna happen or
not, you're gonna want to want to make people believe that it could happen.
>> I agree with Emma.
I don't think that Biden like goes to sleep at night dreaming of a war with
Russia.
I don't, that seems like a crazy thing that a lot of people are saying,
I don't know why he would want that.
But then moving into Ukraine would also buttress military spending here.
I don't think that means he wants it.
But keeping tensions high and violence low,
that definitely serves sort of business as usual.
So I think I made the most salient point here and
we've got one tried from Lester Holt and I like you your use of the word buttress.
But to be fair, John I think her point was also more salient than mine.
So Joe biden is stuck in the 1980s.
We've all said that and I it's funny you said 80s because I usually say 70s or
90s, but he's stuck in time.
And and guys, what was really popular thing to do in the 1980s?
The Cold War, and seeming tough on foreign policy because you thought that was
going to get you a right leaning independence and some republican votes.
Now fast forward to present day America where Joe Biden has just
woken up from his, what is those chambers where your frozen,
you would know you're well, that's even better.
And I'm not used to the competition.
It could be a box a tank.
It could be a box to tank,
Biden Fed.
By the way, the least mobile fed character of all time.
But we've had a super strong Biden's like,
I'm gonna show you how strong I am by came into republicans.
>> He's like a bureaucrat from the terrible new Star Wars movies,
that kind of senator, that person, right?
Yeah.
>> But so go back to he wants to go back to the Cold War because he thinks that's
a winning strategy.
That's insane.
And then number two is this idea of, well, I'll appease the right wing.
First of all, you don't look strong when you're trying to appease the other side.
It doesn't matter how much you puff your chest,
it doesn't matter how many wars that you threaten.
You look weak because you're begging them for support, right?
And second of all, hello Mr Carbonite in this decade.
The right wing doesn't the right wing voters don't want more war Trump ran
against the endless wars and
it helped him in the primaries in the republican primaries.
But Joe Biden's like me tough on ISIS me tough on Russia.
That will get right wing votes.
No, it won't.
And by the way, look, that's ISIS and Russia.
Both happening when Biden's polling numbers are disastrous
is not a coincidence.
So they're pivoting to foreign policy.
So is Russia starting it by bringing the troops to the border?
Or are we starting it by saying, yeah,
we're gonna put you created our military alliance and dare you to do something
about it because we're pivoting to foreign policy to make biden look tough.
>> I don't know, but it doesn't look good for the Biden team and none of this is
gonna work politically last pull out when they asked what has Biden done for you.
I mean, nothing is is really harsh, right?
I mean,
he did pass two bills etc including the all the checks that went out.
56% of Americans said nothing.
He's done nothing for them.
56, that's not Republicans are about 40% of the country now.
That means there's a ton of independents and democrats saying he hasn't done
anything and threatening a war with Russia isn't going to help him with that at all.
But back to the media.
>> Yeah.
Well then let's make sure that we fit this in Leicester role.
Also asked Joe Biden about the situation in Afghanistan the pullout.
And let's take a look at that.
That army report, an investigative report that's come out about the lead up to
the withdrawal from Afghanistan interviewed many military officials and
officers who said the administration ignored the handwriting on the wall.
Another described trying to get folks in the embassy ready to evacuate,
encountering people who are in essentially in denial of of this situation.
Does any of that ring true to you?
No, that's not what I was told that you were told that
the US administration officials were prepared.
They knew it was time to get out.
Know what I was told, no one told me that there was no good time to get out.
But if we had not gotten out, they acknowledged that we would have had to put
a hell of a lot more troops back in.
It wasn't just 2,000 4000,
we would have to significantly increase the number of troops.
And we're back in this war of attrition and
and and there was no way we were ever going to unite Ukraine.
I mean, excuse me, a rifle, Afghanistan.
No way that was gonna happen.
And so this is a much wiser thing to do.
>> I just want to clarify.
Are you rejecting the conclusions or the accounts that are in this army report?
>> Yes, I am.
>> So they're not true.
I'm rejecting them.
Yeah. Look, to whatever extent he individually
made the pullout worse, he should be blamed for that.
But let's also not pretend that whenever it happened, if it was today,
five years ago, 15 years in the future, the media was going to whine about it.
They supported it going in,
they do not want us pulling out of conflicts like this.
So look, I think there's a lot of legitimate reasons to attack Joe Biden.
You can even find a bunch in the context of Afghanistan, but
they're just they're salty about the fact that the war finally ended.
Well, I'll find a way to criticize him with Afghanistan,
which is currently a story comes out today,
$7 billion Afghan government right now, the issue is in in Afghanistan.
They have a currency problem and there is just not enough money to go
around because the central bank there just doesn't have the funds.
The country has $20 billion $7 billion.
Even if it's going to the Taliban, which we knew would take over by the way.
So we can't clutch our pearls and say we can't bring money to give money to them.
Maybe they'll shave off some off the top.
But this is Afghanistan's money and it needs to go to people who are on the brink
of famine right now and the biden administration is splitting it in half,
apparently giving some of it to 9 11 victims as opposed to just, I don't know,
the federal government paying 9 11 victims, that could be great.
And so that's a valid critique here.
But he doesn't really go on the offensive to talk about why the Afghanistan
withdrawal was the right thing to do because really all he wanted to do was
wipe his hands clean of it and walk away not do the hard work of repairing their.
But as you say, junk, the media's framing of it, they're invested in.
Not even just American might because America maintaining some sort of power
would mean that we would withdraw from some of these endless conflicts and
preserve the country.
No, they're maintained in the perception of American might in the pageantry of it.
And it seeps through every question whether it's about Ukraine, Russia.
Afghanistan, Iraq, whatever the case may be,
that's all they want to portray is american strength.
Even if it's just surface level portrayal.
>> Yeah.
And so real quick on all of those.
First of all us taking Afghanistan's money is basically theft and
why are we doing that?
Because Biden doesn't want the right wing to yell at him and
say you're giving it to the taliban.
Okay, don't give it to the taliban to give it to an NGO.
That gives it to the people of Afghanistan because it's not our money,
it's their money.
But again,
a desperate desperate to Pisa right wing that he cannot possibly appease.
But to give credit to Biden on that answer.
Yes, he looks dazed and confused badly.
But his answer is correct on the substance know that there was no matter when we
withdrew from Afghanistan, everybody was going to criticize.
So that was one of the few things that Biden did really well and
always credit where credit is due and be honest, right?
But to me the most salient point of this exchanges,
no matter what happens Lester holt NBC news and
all the mainstream media is always for war Afghanistan we should have stayed Russia.
It's inevitable war.
War.
War always inevitable, always forever.
And by the way, did he ask the most important question.
How are we going to pay for that?
I mean, I hear it every time when it's health care for you guys or
higher wages for you guys or anything that helps you guys.
The Lester holt to the world screamed in fury, how are you going to pay for that?
And now he's like saying, yeah, we should start World War three, right,
it's inevitable.
And you should have stayed in Afghanistan for another 20 years.
How are you gonna pay for that?
Who cares?
That's our advertisers were all making money.
So I'm sick of the corporate media and the wars that they helped to start.