HERE ARE THINKING ABOUT THE
MOST.
>> OKAY, CHRISTINA, THANK YOUFOR CHECKING IN WITH US.
STAY SAFE.
Reporter: THANK YOU.
JOINING ME NOW, IS MICHAEL,
HE IS A NEWS DIRECTOR, WHICH
COVERS MAJOR GEOPOLITICAL
EVENTS, AND THEIR IMPACT. MICHAEL, WELCOME.
RUSSIA INITIALLY SAID THEY WOULD NOT TALK TO UKRAINE, UNTIL THEY STOPPED DEFENDING THEMSELVES.
TELL US WHAT HAS CHANGED.
RUSSIA HAS NOT BEEN DOING VERY WELL IN THIS MILITARY CAMPAIGN.
THE UKRAINIAN ADMINISTRATIVE
DEFENSE HAS POSTED VIDEOS SHOWING TURKISH DRONES TAKING OUT BOOT CANDY AIRCRAFT SYSTEMS, THAT IS THE FAMOUS AIR DEFENSE SYSTEM THAT TOOK OUT IMAGE 17 IN 2014, THE
WUKRAINIANS HAVE BEEN PUTTING UP A VERY FEROCIOUS FIGHT, THEY ARE RESISTING, RUSSIA'S MILITARY ADVANCE HAS SLOWED TO A CRAWL.
I HAVE SEEN MORE VIDEOS THAN I CAN ANALYZE AND FIVE AT THE MOMENT OF DEAD RUSSIAN
SOLDIERS, BURNED OUT THE CLAIMANT, AND FRANKLY CAPTURED POWS ON THE RUSSIAN SIDE WHO
ARE SAYING WE DIDN'T KNOW WE WERE BEING SENT TO UKRAINE. THEY ARE CALLING THEIR MOTHERS SAYING MOM, WE DON'T KNOW HOW
WE GOT HERE.
WE THOUGHT WE WERE GOING ON A TRAINING EXERCISE. THE UKRAINIAN MORALE IS VERY
HIGH.
THE RUSSIAN MORALE IS QUITE
LOW.
WITH RESPECT TO PEACE TALKS ON
THE BORDER OF UKRAINE AND BELARUS, I WOULD TAKE THIS WITH A PINCH OF SALT.
IN FACT A GIANT HEAP OF SALT. I THINK THIS IS PUTIN'S WAY OF TRYING TO BUY SOME TIME, SO THAT HE CAN RE-STRATEGIZE HIS
PLAN WHICH IS NOT GOING PARTICULARLY WELL, JUST TODAY I SAW THE FORMER RUSSIAN FOREMAN
MISTER TWEED OUT THAT THE DELEGATION THAT THE RUSSIAN STANDINGS, THAT THE RUSSIANS
ARE SENDING FOR THESE TALKS, IT IS A RISIBLE CAST OF
NONENTITIES.
IT DOESN'T SEEM LIKE PUTIN IS SERIOUS ABOUT SUING FOR PEACE AT THE MOMENT.
>> WE HAVE HEARD HIM CLAIMING
THAT NATO'S AGGRESSIVE
STATEMENTS HAVE PROMPTED HIM TO PUT RUSSIA'S NUCLEAR FORCES ON HIGH ALERT, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY, JEN, SAYS THIS IS
PUTIN MANUFACTURING THREATS THAT DON'T EXIST IN ORDER TO JUSTIFY FURTHER AGGRESSION.
TELL US, BECAUSE AT FIRST BLUSH, THAT SOUNDS LIKE A VERY SCARY HEADLINE, SO WHAT IS THE
ACTUAL SIGNIFICANCE OF READYING
NUCLEAR FORCES?
>> IS WHAT WE ARE DOING RIGHT
NOW, WHICH IS WE ARE TALKING
ABOUT THE THREAT OF NUCLEAR
WAR.
WE ARE ABSOLUTELY TERRIFIED, PANICKING, THIS IS FAINT ON THE PART OF LIVING WHERE PUTIN IS.
SHANE IS AN EXCELLENT NATIONAL SECURITY REPORTER AT THE WASHINGTON POST QUERIED OTHER
U.S. OFFICIALS WHO SAID THEY ARE NOT ALARMED BY THIS. THEY THINK THIS IS PART OF THE
PLAYBOOK OF TRYING TO TERRIFY EVERYBODY INTO BACKING DOWN, DE-ESCALATING, MAKING CONCESSIONS.
I THINK IT IS A GOOD THING THAT THE WHITE HOUSE IS COMING OUT
AND NOT INSTILLING FEAR THAT WORLD WAR III IS IMMINENT.
THIS IS A LONG-STANDING TROPE OF THE KREMLIN, WHENEVER THEY FEEL LIKE THEY HAVE BEEN
CORNERED, OR THAT THE WESTERN RESULT HAS BEEN STRONGER THAN THEY ANTICIPATED.
>> I WANT TO GO EVEN DEEPER, IF
WE CAN, INTO WHAT IS HAPPENING IN RUSSIAN POLITICS, BECAUSE HE RECENTLY SPOKE WITH A FORMER
CHIEF OF THE CIA, SOVIET SECTION, HE SAID SOMETHING THAT MIRRORS WHAT WE HEARD FROM
GENERAL HR McMASTER ON FACE THE NATION THAT PUTIN HAS REASON TO BE CONCERNED ABOUT HIS OWN POPULARITY, AND HIS OWN POWER
IN RUSSIA.
TELL US MORE ABOUT HOW THOSE DOMESTIC FORCES COULD BE AFFECTING PUTIN'S MINDSET.
>> LOOK, GIVEN THE ABSOLUTE
TORRENT OF INTELLIGENCE THAT
HAS BEEN LEAKED ABOUT THIS
IMPENDING WAR FOR THE LAST
SEVERAL MONTHS, IT HAS ALWAYS
STRUCK ME AS VERY LIKELY THAT
THE U.S. AND BRITISH IN
PARTICULAR, HAVE GOT HUMAN
SOURCES AT VERY HIGH LEVELS IN
THE RUSSIAN GOVERNMENT, MEANING
SPIES, MALLS, RUN BY THE CIA. IN ADDITION TO OF COURSE, INTERCEPTING COMMUNICATIONS
THAT ARE SENT WITHIN MOSCOW. I SPOKE TO AS YOU MENTIONED, GERBER, WHO SEEMS TO BE A
LEGEND IN THE CIA FOR REVOLUTIONIZING THE WAY THAT
THE AGENT THE RECRUITS OR RECRUITED ASSETS ESPECIALLY WITHIN THE KGB FROM ACCESS
DENIED AREAS OF THE WARSAW PACT IN THE SOVIET UNION AND HE SAID
TO ME, AND I QUOTE, THAT THE
TERRAIN AND NOW SEEMS TO BE MUCH MORE AMENABLE, FOR RECRUITING PEOPLE INSIDE THIS
REGIME BECAUSE YOU NEVER MEMBER WHEN THE SOVIET UNION COLLAPSED THERE WAS THIS PROMISE OF
DEMOCRATIZATION, ALL OF THAT HAS BEEN ERODED.
AND ROLLED BACK, UNDER PUTIN'S
REGIME.
WHILE RUSSIA IS BY NO MEANS TOTALITARIAN, THE WAY IT USED TO BE, THERE ARE A LOT OF
PEOPLE WHO FEEL DEMORALIZED LIKE THEY HAVE BEEN PROMISED THINGS THAT HAVEN'T BEEN
DELIVERED AND IF YOU WATCH THAT SECURITY COUNCIL MEETING, PRECEDING THE ANNOUNCEMENT OF
THE INVASION, I HAVE NEVER SEEN ANYTHING LIKE A RUSSIAN LEADER, DRESSING DOWN HUMILIATING HIS
OWN SPY CHIEF, THE GUY LOOKEDLIKE HE HAD BEEN, LIKE A DOG
WHO HAS GONE THROUGH THE DOG WASH, THAT SHOWS TO ME THAT
THERE ARE A LOT OF PEOPLE IN PUTIN'S INNER CIRCLE WHO HAVE BEEN ADVISING HIM, POSSIBLY TELLING HIM, THIS ISN'T SUCH A
HOT IDEA.
BUT AGAIN, HERE IS THE WORRY. PUTIN IS INCREASINGLY COMING ACROSS LIKE THE MAN IN THE EYE
CAST HE DOES NOT WANT TO LISTEN TO COUNSEL, REASON, OR ANY KIND OF COUNTERVAILING AND
CONTRADICTORY SENTIMENT FROM THE PEOPLE HE IS ENTRUSTED TO PROVIDE HIM WITH A VIEW OF THE
WORLD.
THE PARISH HAS GOT VERY GOOD INTELLIGENCE CAPABILITY, AND MY GUESS IS, THERE ARE QUITE A LOT OF RUSSIAN SPIES WHO ARE SAYING UKRAINIAN SENTIMENT IS NOT WITH YOU, THEY WILL NOT BE GREETING
YOU AS AMANDA PETERS WITH CHOCOLATES, THEY WILL PUT UP A REALLY NASTY FIGHT, WHICH INDEED IS EXACTLY WHAT WE HAVE BEEN SEEING IN THE LAST FOUR
DAYS.
>> I FIND THAT ASPECT OF WHAT
IS HAPPENING SO FASCINATING.
MICHAEL, ONE LAST QUESTION FOR
YOU.
BEFORE THE ACTUAL ATTACK ON UKRAINE, THERE WAS A LOT OF
COMPARISONS TO RUSSIA'S FORCIBLE ANNEXATION OF CRIMEA BACK IN 2014, IT SEEMS NOW THAT
THESE ARE VERY DIFFERENT SCENARIOS, THAT ARE PLAYING OUT, I WOULD JUST LIKE YOUR
REFLECTION ON THAT.
>> CRIMEA HAPPENED, IT WAS SORT
OF A PLAYLIST COUP, OR SEIZURE OF A PENINSULA THAT FRANKLY HAD A VERY HIGH PERCENTAGE OF ETHNIC RUSSIANS WHO WERE
SUPPORTIVE OF MOSCOW, RUSSIA HAD GARRISON, THE FLEET WAS STATIONED THERE, SO IT WAS A MUCH EASIER CAMPAIGN.
SINCE 2014, UKRAINIANS HAVE HAD
EIGHT YEARS, TO PREPARE FOR EXACTLY WHAT WE ARE SEEING NOW.
I HAVE SPOKEN TO SEVERAL UKRAINIAN INTELLIGENCE OFFICIALS, MILITARY OFFICIALS,
THEY SAY LOOK, 422,000
UKRAINIANS HAVE FOUGHT AGAINST
RUSSIAN ARMED PROPHECIES AND RUSSIAN CONVENTIONAL FORCES OVER THE LAST EIGHT YEARS.
THAT IS ABOUT 1% OF THE POPULATION.
THIS IS ONE OF THE MOST BATTLEFIELD TESTED MILITARIES
IN EUROPE.
GOING UP AGAINST THE PURE CONVENTIONAL MILITARY FORCE. NO OTHER NATO COUNTRY HAS HAD THIS EXPERIENCE PREPARING FOR A CONFRONTATION WITH THE RUSSIAN
MILITARY.
A LOT OF PEOPLE IN HAVE SORT OF PADDED UKRAINIANS ON THE HEAD, THEY ARE JUST BEING NACVE, THEY WILL BE SLAUGHTERED.
WELL AGAIN, TURN ON YOUR TELEVISION, OPEN THE NEWSPAPER AND SEE.
KYIV HAS NOT FALLEN AFTER FOUR
DAYS.
IT IS APPARENTLY NOW ENCIRCLED, OR MAYBE NOT ACCORDING TO DIFFERENT SENTIMENTS COMING OUT
OF THE MAYORS OFFICE BUT THEY
ARE PUTTING UP A FEROCIOUS
FIGH
