possibility that putin does not move forward from where he is now and what does he get from that if he backs down from this position? well, i think that one of the big questions that we have to face right now is what does the off ramp look like for vladimir putin? is it acknowledgment of his takeover of crimea and the donbas region? is it some way the clawing back of the right of ukraine to potentially self-determine to joining of nato in the future? i think that unfortunately we are in a position now where having squandered so many of the opportunities that were there for us to deter this kind of effect, we are in a new reality where putin is, as mara said, bent on redrawing the lines according to the former soviet lines there. bret, i m very reluctant to in
their cell phones urging them to defect, et cetera, et cetera. russia has more than two dozen warships in the black sea tonight with cruise missile capability, long range targeting capability. half of those amphibious landing ships with marine on board. military hardware, the ballistic missiles and significant armer and special forces units that have assembled and appear to have their sights on all of ukraine that has led u.s.s. officials to say this invasion, once it starts and it could start any minute would be significant. the pentagon said today putin now has 100 percent of the military force that it expected him to use in this operation position and ploys to strike now issues like weather come into play, bret. bret: jen, you have followed putin since living in moscow, is he a former kgb agent honed his skill deception for years and did very dark things in the past. absolutely, bret. putin has used poison to kill and maim his political
opposition. even targeting dissidence in london. going back to 2007 when his agents use pallone yum to poison and kill a former lee tenant commander in the kgb then there was the poisoning in london. he even tried to assassinate and disfigured victor yushchenko in 2004. just moments ago i spoke to a friend of alexyal van any who putin poisoned and now keeps in the modern equivalent of a russian gulag. putin has annihilateds opposition. brutal a&e authoritarian held power with iron fist 20 years now about to wipe a sovereign nation off the earth. bret: worth remembering. jennifer, thank you. the ukraine crisis is taking a toll on wall street. the dow lost 465 today after a big loss yesterday. the s&p 500 is down 79 in what s called correction territory. nasdaq plummeting 344 today.
people. bret: a lot of doubts from democrats and republicans about how sanctions can effect vladimir putin with what they see is program happening on the ground. just moments ago, with the russian threat growing the ukrainian president zelenskyy gave a speech in which he spoke in part in russian he was calling for peace. he said he called the kremlin to talk to vladimir putin but putin would not accept the call. and he said if the russian leadership won t accept the call i want to talk to the russian people. calling for peace. whether that works or not, we shall see in coming hours and days. let s bring in our panel. ben domenech publisher of the federalist. mara liasson national public radio and matthew continetti fellow at the american enterprise institute. we have already seen matthew some tanks and transport military vehicles going into the donbas the eastern part of ukraine where there had been russian separatists for 8, 9
that just didn t turn out there. has been reassessment of that comment by romney. also, republicans are in a difficult position because they want to be able to say biden is weak. the sanctions are too little beings too late, instead they have voices in party like josh hawley why won t we say ukraine will never be in nato which is what putin s or saying putin s move was genius. this is a party that is split now, which is kind of shocking thinking about how the republican party used to be the one tough on foreign policy and stood up for america around the world. bret: matthew, what about that? i think in the main republicans have supportive of ukraine s independence and many of the voices who mara cites are part of a long standing tradition in the republican party that looks very skeptically towards foreign intervention. i will say, this bret, on the romney thing, it s a reminder to