'The Ingraham Angle' on Ukraine crisis

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Biden’s New Lockdowns

Biden will use every bit of this Ukraine crisis to take your money and your freedoms, Laura Ingraham says.

This is a rush transcript of "The Ingraham Angle" on March 9, 2022. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

LAURA INGRAHAM, FOX NEWS HOST: I'm Laura Ingraham. This is THE INGRAHAM ANGLE from Washington tonight. At a Senate hearing yesterday seemingly by accident, U.S. Under Secretary of State Victoria Nuland admitted that Ukraine has biological research facilities and further. Now that she has some grave concerns about the materials falling into the hands of Russian forces.

Well, tonight, there is more concern about what we know about these facilities, and what role the United States might have had in their creation or their continuing management. We're going to have a full report ahead and another positive development tonight and hope for an end to this conflict.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba has just arrived in Turkey for the first round of talks with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov. Now these are the highest level talks between the two countries since the war began. As the New York Times puts it, leading up to the meeting, both sides have softened their public positions, though they remain far apart. Russia has narrowed its demands to focus on Ukrainian neutrality and the status of its Russian occupied regions and declared Wednesday that Russia was not seeking to overthrow Ukraine's government.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine on Tuesday suggested he was open to revising Ukraine's constitutionally enshrined aspiration to join NATO and even to a compromise over the status of Ukrainian territory now controlled by Russia.

The changes are noticeable, Ivan Timofeev says the Director of Programs at the government funded Russian International Affairs Council, he said this evolution in Russia's negotiating position. Well, it's become more realistic. We'll have a report on all of this in a moment.

But we begin tonight with Trey Yingst live in the capital city of Kyiv, where we learn there has just been a number of loud explosions outside of the city. Trey, what can you tell us?

TREY YINGST, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Laura. Good evening. Throughout the night, we've heard loud explosions around the capital of Kyiv. Even some small arms fire just a few moments ago. This capital is still under attack from both the ground and the air throughout the day, we saw Ukrainian Air Defense firing, trying to shoot down Russian planes overhead. This is significant, but we come with another tragic story today out of Ukraine.

In the southern city of Mariupol. We are learning 17 people were wounded during a Russian strike on a maternity hospital in this city. It's a city of about 400,000 people and there was supposed to be a ceasefire there today to let people leave. But these devastating images, pregnant women, expectant mothers just really injured in this strike by Russian forces.

And today, we are also learning that those evacuation corridors that were supposed to ensure the safety of civilians trying to get out of this city and four other locations across the country are still being shelled by Russian forces.

The Ukrainian government once again appealing to the international community for more weapons and support, as they say, not only are civilians being targeted, but also nuclear facilities. Another concerning development out of the northern part of Ukraine today at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, you saw today it was actually taken off the power grid, and officials there said they have about 48 hours until they find a solution. Otherwise, this could spell some level of disaster in this part of the country.

Today, the International Atomic Energy Agency confirmed that Chernobyl is no longer transmitting data, but wanted to note they see no critical impact on safety at this point. Again, Laura tonight, everyone in this capital city of Kyiv, bracing for what could be very bloody urban battle in the days to come. Russian forces do look like they're trying to somewhat surround the city, trying to cut it off from the outside world and then hit it from both the ground and the air. Laura.

INGRAHAM: Trey, thank you. And now, Biden's new lockdowns. That's the focus of tonight's angle. Are we about to face another lockdown? Another period of time where Americans feel like they can't travel. They can't even maybe go to work or see family. Well, not travel for pleasure anyway, only for essential activities.

Remember, it was two years ago. Can you believe it? It was the COVID lockdowns, the foolish closures that had zero basis in science. But today, it's not a virus that may keep us from jumping in our cars and doing and going anywhere we want. It's high gas prices and inflation caused by Joe Biden's suicidal green agenda. And like with COVID, they're asking you to sacrifice for the greater good.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JENNIFER GRANHOLM, U.S. SECRETARY OF ENERGY: Americans agree that they are willing to even sacrifice themselves by paying more at the pump.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They're OK paying higher prices, if it means holding Russia accountable.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: People at the pump, who maybe can't even afford it saying, it's OK though, if I have to pay more at the pump to help the Ukrainians.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

INGRAHAM: Now, this should be no surprise to any of us, because for decades, Washington has been asking hardworking Americans to sacrifice for the politicians' awful policies. So, sacrifice for wars in the Middle East, sacrifice because of the housing crisis, sacrifice for the pandemic. And now they're told to sacrifice for Ukraine and climate change.

But the results are always the same. The government gets bigger, spends more, while the middle class ends up poorer and more despondent than they were before. Now, I'm old enough to remember when Democrats used to believe in things called hope and change. But now they pretty much dropped all that.

With Democrats, all they've done and to derail America, Biden's long, dark winter is turning into a painful spring. And next, he's going to bring us a sweltering miserable summer. And Lord knows how depressing a fall it's going to be.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This, this war by Putin is not going to be costless. It's not going to be painless.

JEN PSAKI, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: I think it's also true that the world needs to be prepared for a very long, difficult road ahead.

JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: There will be cost as well here in the United States.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

INGRAHAM: You know what the truth is, they believe the planet cannot sustain your standard of living. And most importantly, that you don't deserve your standard of living. They think it's high time that you, your kids, your grandkids get used to living with less. This is all rerun of the 1970s. When we were told we had to drive more slowly, we has to turn our thermostats down in the winter and up in the summer. And back then, Jimmy Carter blamed the energy crisis.

But remember, there was no energy crisis, we had plenty of energy in the 70s. Just like we have plenty of energy now. This crisis is self-inflicted, created by leaders who seem to be enjoying punishing Americans instead of serving them. And they certainly don't think that the people deserve answers to any questions about this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Any comment on Saudi Arabia, Secretary.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You cannot take the question.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi, I'm the press secretary, so I can answer the question?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Senator Granholm is it time for more pipelines in the United States to help with the energy crisis?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

INGRAHAM: She's the energy secretary and won't answer questions about Americans concerns about energy. Think about that for a minute. But Biden, his puppet masters are going to use every bit of this Russia Ukraine crisis to take your money and your freedom. This is going to happen through another massive expansion of government, I promise you, we're told now that we need to immediately spend what $14 billion and send that to Ukraine. But who believes it's going to stop there?

Americans will always rush in to help those in need. That's what makes us so great. We're so compassionate and we're so generous. And I know so many of you are, you're donating right now. But we cannot let this horrific tragedy in Ukraine allow us to forget what matters most, preserving the American way of life. Remember what the flight attendants say, before you take off, secure your own oxygen mask before attempting to help others. Yet the left hopes that Americans, I think kind of give up and give in and just accept a lower standard of living, the high gas prices, they're just going to be - that's the new normal. It's the cost of progress people. It's a new way to virtue signal, living with less and sometimes not having children.

What am I talking about? Well, Raymond Arroyo went out to talk with folks in Virginia today. They're facing high gas prices there. We're going to show you more about this later. But listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm grateful I can work from home. I know I have some, you know, friends who are seeing if they're double, let them work from home maybe a couple more days a week, if not just to kind of figure out those numbers. I'm grateful, I don't have kids. So, changes like this, the marginal change, it doesn't affect me so much.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

INGRAHAM: Wearing the mask outside, it's always a tell. Well, this is called conditioning, priming you to believe that the old way the whole kids, just getting in your car and driving wherever you want. That was the wrong way, you selfish person. If you're truly compassionate, you will tolerate and even like high gas prices, because it'll help the Ukrainians.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There is an understanding of that this is an essence a small price to pay, particularly if you look at what's going on in Ukraine and you put yourself in their shoes, that's a cost of defending freedom.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

INGRAHAM: They want you to believe that this is all inevitable. The truth is, it isn't, none of it ever was. Three years ago, we actually had a president in power who showed us that middle America is not consigned to inevitable decline. Wages were rising and so his optimism. But the globalist hated that, they hated the fact that wages were going up for the blue collar workers, they had to dump Trump, because he showed that informed nationalism, patriotic nationalism can lead to more prosperity and more freedom. That's better lives for everybody, who would want that. This crowd that's who.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: To shape our common future, in collective and constructive ways.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The recovery cannot be a mere restart. So, reconstruction must be a transformation.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Every country, city, financial institution and company needs to adopt credible plans for transition to net zero emissions by 2050.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

INGRAHAM: You give up your private jet first, buddy. Well, Biden is answering to these people, the globalist, the Davos crowd, not to you and your concerns. That's not democracy. It's not the American way. And it's not acceptable. This is our country. It belongs to the American people, not international bureaucrats. The salaries of every single person in the Biden administration are paid for by you and by me.

So, going forward, the key issue for every voter should be this. Who will put your interests first, who is going to work for you, your family, your hopes, your dreams? We know it's not Biden, and the Democrats. But I think they're on the way out. I think they know that. The future belongs to political leaders who help American's triumph, not delight in their suffering. And that's the angle.

Joining me now is Tennessee Senator Bill Hagerty, who sits on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Senator Hagerty, the American people are once again being forced to live less freely, if this plays out the way it looks like, it's going to play out and with a lot less prosperity as these prices keep climbing. But we're apparently told this is going to be the new normal for a while.

SEN. BILL HAGERTY (R-TN): Well, it's the Democrat playbook. Again, as you say they delight in taking our freedom, our liberty, I think that's why you see Zelenskyy really take the imagination of the American people who have certainly people around the globe, we've been locked down for over two years, Laura. And when they see someone stand up to fight for liberty and freedom, it inspires them.

We need that sort of liberty and freedom here right now. And that's not the Biden administration.

INGRAHAM: Now we're not done with this Energy Secretary Granholm, because she was - before she was running away from reporters today, she made clear that she sees high gas prices as an opportunity. Watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GRANHOLM: We are on the cusp of the most important transition that human society has ever seen. And I hope that we'll look back on 2022 as the year that the world took giant steps to improve energy security, and to tackle climate change.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

INGRAHAM: Senator, this isn't about making cars or fuel more affordable. Is it really?

HAGERTY: No, I don't think so at all. They talk about going electric. We don't have the ability to go electric. We need Russia. We need China to provide the raw materials for that. What they're doing is they're going to Venezuela and Maduro. They're thinking about maybe announcing that Iran will come to our rescue and release more oil into the markets.

They want dirty oil from countries that are international killers. They will not deal with American drillers.

INGRAHAM: What is it like when you want to like don't go - let's say you want to go on a road trip. Last minute, we'll go in - you and your buddies, let's go - we're going to go fishing. An electric car you can go for 300 miles, if you're lucky, if it's a warm weather environment, but you're not doing - I mean people have to understand what this means. I'm not against electric vehicles, I think they're really cool. And if you want it, great, but at least not now. That's not technology that gives you the freedom to go wherever you want, whenever you want now.

HAGERTY: Exactly. And the infrastructure isn't there to support it. Infrastructure is not there to support it. But to think that that's their call right now. The electric vehicles aren't available. Yet, we're coming up on this gas shortage. You're right. Biden is locking us down. Because before I go on that trip, I've got to think twice about my budget. Can I afford to go there?

INGRAHAM: Now beyond energy the Democrats want us to get back in the business of nation building. Watch Nancy Pelosi today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA): The call with Zelenskyy was for me, a great honor. He wants the planes, the planes, the planes, you know that, but he also said that we're going to need everybody's help in rebuilding Ukraine soon as we end this war. We want to be as helpful as possible.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

INGRAHAM: Now, Senator, how many more billions are going to have to send overseas that could be used to help our country get back on its feet are going to be spent in this current crisis.

HAGERTY: This seems to be a priority that's very hard for me to understand, Laura. We've got desperate needs at home. If you look at my home state of Tennessee, fentanyl is killing our kids. And we won't spend a dime to secure our own border. Yet, the call here in Washington is that we need to rush to the aid of other nations and spend billions of dollars to secure theirs.

INGRAHAM: Most favored nation status, the House had moved to strip most favored nation status from Russia earlier this week late last week. The administration came in as put most favored nation back in the bill. I mean you're not going to strip it out. What about the Senate? Why does Russia and China have the same trading privileges as the UK today, given everything they're doing to the world?

HAGERTY: It's absolutely shocking. And China has fallen down so pathetically on all of their commitments and trade, Russia, given what they're doing right now, I can't imagine this could even be considered.

INGRAHAM: Biggest trade deficit we've had ever last year with China.

HAGERTY: China is laughing all the way to the bank yet again.

INGRAHAM: Biggest beneficiary of this Ukraine war is Xi. Senator, great to see you tonight. Thanks so much.

HAGERTY: Thank you so much, Laura.

INGRAHAM: And the other big development as it relates to the war in Ukraine is the debate over transferring fighter jets to Ukraine that won't ramp things up at all. While Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said Sunday that the plan with Poland had the green light the Pentagon today said unequivocally it was opposed, and for nation, nation, NATO nations to provide further help there to Ukraine.

Now the Pentagon says the planes wouldn't help Ukraine's defense as much, but would risk a significant Russian reaction. This is obviously a huge embarrassment for the U.S. and further alienates our ally, Poland. But don't worry, because the Biden administration secret weapon has just parachuted into Warsaw to help smooth things over. For more on that, let's go to Fox News White House Correspondent Peter Doocy, who's live tonight, working late at the White House, Peter. Kamala Harris, is known for her ability to calm things down. Right?

PETE DOOCY, FOX NEWS WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, this is a moment that the Biden administration is hoping that she really can, because the polls yesterday sprung this in public on the Biden White House. They came out without consulting any of the folks here or at the Pentagon and said, hey, we'll give you all these fighter jets.

Meanwhile, we learned today that the - and basically they were going to give us fighter jets to keep it to U.S. based in Germany and then give to the Ukrainians. Well, apparently overnight, our intel chiefs got together. And they assessed that Putin would interpret that as an escalation. And basically the U.S. getting involved, and then it's World War III. So, we've got a copy of the vice president's schedule, she's going to go talk to the people who did this, the Polish president, the Polish prime minister, they are going to have private meetings tomorrow in Warsaw to try to figure all this out.

And it's a big ask that Biden is making them as vice president because she's already the point person on voting rights, on space and on the root causes of migration. So now they are adding essentially a preservation of world peace to her already very big portfolio. And remember, back when her big focus was immigration in the southern border, Lester Holt in an interview asked her several months into the term, why haven't you ever gone to the border? And she said, well, I never been to Europe, either. And now she makes her second trip in the last couple weeks with a lot on the line. Laura?

INGRAHAM: Peter, thank you. Good to see you tonight. And while most Americans with a pulse laugh at the idea of Kamala on the world stage. One enterprising CNN employee thinks otherwise. Just five days after asking whether we were seeing the beginning of a Joe Biden comeback, crystal is a pondered in a piece today, is this finally Kamala Harris's moment.

Here now is Charlie Hurt, Fox News Contributor Washington Times Opinion Editor, Charlie, you must admit, we are now seeing Kamala's big break unfold.

CHARLIE HURT, WASHINGTON TIMES OPINION EDITOR: Yes, you have to kind of admire (inaudible) for being able to, to pull that one out at this point in the game. It's pretty extraordinary. And obviously, things are fraying over the White House, and they're fraying among Democrats and you're starting to see real daylight between Democrats in Congress, with Biden, consider, based on all of - his wildly unpopular handling of things, and you'd like to think that this is just sort of another anvil that the White House is handing to Kamala Harris to sort of take care of, because she's been such a disaster to everything else and, and she's kind of like the bad bank to pile all the terrible portfolio onto.

But the truth of the matter is, she's probably the best the White House - this White House has to offer. She's probably not going to screw things up as badly as Joe Biden would, if Joe Biden went over there.

INGRAHAM: Now Biden isn't just sending her to Europe, Charlie. He also noted that general white rage himself was sent over there as well. Watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BIDEN: General Milley was also in Europe, meeting with his counterparts and allies on NATO eastern flank. To reassure them those countries bordering Russia, NATO countries that we will keep our NATO commitment, second commitment article of Article Five. The Vice President Harris is going to be traveling to meet with our allies in Poland and Romania later this week as well.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

INGRAHAM: Now Charlie, he thinks our allies are going to be reassured but the guy who botched Afghanistan withdrawal and then Kamala. What? This is insane.

HURT: It really is insane. And you know, from the beginning, just as an aside, it's sort of amazing how much discord there is between the Biden administration and all of their supposedly allies in Ukraine. I mean, at every turn, these two, our administration and Ukraine have been at odds whether it's Joe Biden talking up the war in the weeks leading up to this, or this whole catastrophe involving the Polish jets.

But one person who is very clear about all of this, Vladimir Putin is sitting back laughing and all of this, whether it's General Milley or the president, he's just licking his chops.

INGRAHAM: Charlie, thank you. It's good to see you tonight.

HURT: Good to see you.

INGRAHAM: And apparently, the Biden administration does not trust Kamala to handle any actual issues because Politico is reporting. Administration officials say that she's not there to make any deals. This is a strange. Her role is to serve as an emissary and an emblem of the administration's commitment to the country and the Transatlantic Alliance more broadly.

So, none of this makes any sense. I guess, Charlie, you're still there. That's a shocking - I mean, it gets more shocking by the moment.

HURT: Yes, it really does. And the thing that is so disturbing, I mean, it would be great to sit back and laugh about all this, Laura. But as you have pointed out, tonight, and every night, this is not a laughing matter. This is the world's greatest beacon of hope in the world collapsing before some of the most wicked enemies that have ever been arrayed around this world. And this because of the Biden administration, because of their hell bent desire to weaken America here, make Americans less wealthy and enrich people like Vladimir Putin and empower people like Vladimir Putin.

They have stood back; America has stood back and allowed these people to take over. And I honestly I don't see a way out of this, that that doesn't involve more people dying and more pain around the world, and more embarrassment and cost for the American people.

INGRAHAM: As a cost to incompetence. Charlie, thank you.

HURT: Yes.

INGRAHAM: For more on the issue of that MIG transfer. Let's go to Lviv, Ukraine. Fox's Lucas Tomlinson standing by with the latest developments on it. Lucas?

LUCAS TOMLINSON, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Well, Laura, when you walk around the city, you keep hearing resident say the same thing over and over again, close the sky, a reference to a no-fly zone to get protection on the ground. Poland offered to do that by sending their MIG-29s here to Ukraine. Now, the Pentagon today closed the door on that and said it's not happening.

JOHN KIRBY, PENTAGON PRESS SECRETARY: We assess that adding aircraft to the Ukrainian inventory is not likely to significantly change the effectiveness of Ukrainian Air Force relative to Russian capabilities.

TOMLINSON: In a move that surprised the Pentagon poll announced, it would send those MIG-29s to a U.S. airbase in Germany before flying them to Ukraine. But the Pentagon shot down that proposal and went even further today, Laura, saying no jets would be delivered by Poland at all because it would be viewed as a high risk maneuver and inflame tensions with Russia.

Pentagon officials say their way to destroy Russian forces inside Ukraine is by delivering 17,000 anti-tank missiles and thousands of stingers to destroy Russian armor and helicopter gunships. And as you mentioned this afternoon, Vice President Harris arrived in Poland for meetings with the country's leadership and to rally the international support needed to handle over 1 million refugees that have come to Poland from Ukraine.

That UN says over 2 million people have fled Ukraine including 1 million children, many stopping through here in Lviv before leaving the country. Even before today's attack of the Children's Hospital in Mariupol, the UN said over three dozen children have been killed and 50 injured in two weeks of war.

Now there's also about 100 workers in Chernobyl being held at gunpoint by Russian forces. We spoke to the daughter of one of those hostages, said she wants them freed. Laura.

INGRAHAM: Lucas, thank you. And when it comes to Ukraine, the Biden administration keeps assuring us that Europe is totally in our corner. But is that true? Or will they cave to the wishes of Beijing?

At a virtual summit yesterday, Xi Jinping warned European leaders against sanctioning Russia. Joining me now is Mike Pillsbury, Director of the Center on Chinese Strategy at the Hudson Institute, author of The 100 Year Marathon. Mike, Xi clearly doesn't think that our allies are as united as Biden is claiming.

MIKE PILLSBURY, THE HUDSON INSTITUTE: That's right. I think Xi Jinping is trying to undermine the sanctions in a variety of ways. He's almost an enabler of this invasion. He won't use the word invasion and if he succeeds having the French and Germans to take it easy and slack off on the sanctions, it shows more power has flowed to China during this crisis. China may be the number one beneficiary of this crisis.

INGRAHAM: There was an analysis done late today a trade group sent me the report, it was just published showing that China indeed is going to be least harmed.

PILLSBURY: Yes.

INGRAHAM: By this conflict, it's GDP might dip 0.2, if that US would go all the way down 2.8 percent loss of GDP because of this conflict. So, the idea that China was going to suffer that was just pie in the sky thinking?

PILLSBURY: Well, he absolutely refused to abide by the sanctions. This is really quite a shock for the pro-China people in our wonderful city of Washington, D.C., who thought China would somehow say, oh, you can't invade a UN country. But China did not. It just absolutely came out said no, we won't abide by these sanctions. They are wrong. And they've even been echoing some of the Russian themes that there are Neo Nazis in the Ukraine who need to be taken care of. So, China has made a mistake, I think.

They've alienated a lot of what their few remaining friends. They have--

INGRAHAM: Wait a second, when they alienate the Chamber of Commerce, Mike, when they alienate the business roundtable, then you can tell me that they've really alienated a lot of people. All right, Mike, following up on a topic you brought up. You were so good on this. This was late last week, was China's alternative to the SWIFT banking system.

PILLSBURY: Yes.

INGRAHAM: So, the South China Post notes that banning Russia from SWIFT is likely to accelerate the expansion of Beijing's own system of cross-border payment and settlement, which has gained some prominence. And it also threatens to decouple its own economy from China. So, Mike, what about this replacing the dollar as the world's reserve currency, ultimately, that could stem from this?

PILLSBURY: Yes, this is the ultimate Chinese game to have their own China's centered global order. Part of that has to be financed. So, they can supplant or replace the SWIFT system and have digital transfers and most of the banks of the world using their system. That's sort of a green light to them, that they we've now taken over control of the world. They making progress so far, their system might call the China's SWIFT system for short.

It's about 20 percent of the major SWIFT, but they may boost that just by helping Putin in this crisis.

INGRAHAM: I mean, do you really think a lot of our investment banks wouldn't jump to the Chinese system, if they I mean - I mean, maybe not. But I mean, at this point--

PILLSBURY: No, no, they have been very clear.

INGRAHAM: Right.

PILLSBURY: A lot of our banks are actually investing in this new Chinese system.

INGRAHAM: Right. And so--

PILLSBURY: They talk about Jamie Dimon is the leader, he talks about, we need to get used to be number two in the world now. Larry Fink, David Solomon, the rest of them, they're expanding their investments in China, our trade is increasing.

INGRAHAM: So just like with the coming lock downs, because of high, not lock downs, but soft lock downs, because we're not going to travel as much with gas prices, get used to being number two, everybody gets a trophy in that world, right, Mike. It's great to see you.

PILLSBURY: Bad news.

INGRAHAM: Managing our decline. Mike, thank you. It's good to see you tonight. And if what happened in Wuhan was a sign that we need to stop funding dangerous virus experiments. What about these biological research labs in Ukraine that are now under threat?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VICTORIA NULAND, UNDER SECRETARY OF STATE: Ukraine has a biological research facilities, which in fact, we are now quite concerned Russian troops, Russian forces may be seeking to gain control of.

SEN. MARCO RUBIO (R-FL): If there is a biological or chemical weapon incident or attack inside of Ukraine. Is there any doubt in your mind that 100 percent, it would be the Russians that would be behind it?

NULAND: There is no doubt in my mind, senator.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

INGRAHAM: Well, now according to U.S. officials, these are basically public health plans that are owned and operated by the Ukrainians. The U.S. provided them with technical support as part of a 2005 agreement on preventing infectious disease outbreaks. But now that Russia is on the march, what should be done about these facilities? And why don't we know more about them? Where's the transparency? She seemed a little shaky on that topic.

Here now with me is Jim Hanson. He served in the Army Special Forces, conducted exercises relating to recovery of biological and nuclear weapons. Jim, should we be concerned here? And if so why?

JIM HANSON, FORMER ARMY SPECIAL FORCES SERGEANT: We absolutely have to be concerned. I think the risk of the Russians getting a chance to use this as rationale for their whole Ukraine invasion is probably a bigger threat than the biological research facilities themselves. They want a reason to justify what they did. And the Chinese, in addition, would love to pretend that this is something that everybody else was doing to distract from the fact that they were the ones building things in Wuhan that they don't want us to know about.

So, I think there are things going on, but the bulk of them are not biological weapons related. They are related to things that were still there from the Soviet era, and as Victoria Nuland was saying, as some of the stuff we were trying to do to stop things like the COVID outbreak.

INGRAHAM: I want to read the 2005 State Department document, Jim, that appears to address the purpose of these labs. It said "In order to assist Ukraine in preventing the proliferation of technology pathogens, and expertise that are located" in Lviv, Odessa, Kyiv, "and other facilities in Ukraine identified by the ministry of health, and that could be used in the development of biological weapons, the U.S. Department of Defense shall provide assistance to the Ministry of Health of Ukraine at no cost."

So Jim, the intentions here, it looks like they were good intentions, but nevertheless now that the region is in conflict -- Russia and China, whatever, they can say this is a weapon of mass destruction. We have to go in and make sure these are secure. It gives them, as you said, a pretext for more propaganda, more anti-Americanism, and justifying this hit on Ukraine.

HANSON: And we should have been doing exactly what we started in 2005. There is always a risk that some of the biological weapons in existence and others being developed in places around the world could be used. And so the idea of doing it is not a bad thing.

The problem now is when you've got a U.S. official like Victoria Nuland looking so uncomfortable in discussing this, and the Biden administration having a terrible track record with telling anybody the truth about any of the biological issues with COVID or anything else that has been going on, it's hard to take them at their word. So I want to believe them, but the problem is they are right now by their incompetence helping the Russians and Chinese make a bigger deal out of this than it really ought to be.

INGRAHAM: Jim, we certainly know right now tonight that -- we still haven't heard the truth about Wuhan. We'll never probably going to know the truth about Wuhan, and apparently China is just never going to pay any price for that. We're going to just keep trading with them like they are the U.K. We are going to keep doing deals with them, M and A word. We're going to keep doing all this other medical research with them, 370,000 students in the United States, Chinese. So there is never any, there's no price to be paid for not being transparent about something that killed 6 million people worldwide. That is stunning to me. No accountability at all for China. Jim, close it out.

HANSON: And they destroyed any chance we had to find out about that. And some of the other mistakes the Biden administration is making in attempting to attack Putin are literally, like Mike Pillsbury said, driving China deeper into control of the world's financial markets and everything else. They have done nothing right in attempting to slow the spread of the dragon-bear alliance, which is something none of us should really want to see, and yet the Biden administration is facilitating the rise of.

INGRAHAM: Dragon-bear is better than Russo-Sino. You win.

HANSON: All right.

INGRAHAM: Jim, good to see you.

In moments, Raymond asks people at the gas pumps who they believe caused these price hikes. And the arts declare war on Putin. "Seen and Unseen" with Raymond Arroyo next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

INGRAHAM: It's time for our "Seen and Unseen" segment where we explore the stories behind the headlines. And for that we turn to FOX News contributor, Raymond Arroyo. Raymond, as gas prices go up, up, up, Biden claims it's not his fault. Blame Vlad.

RAYMOND ARROYO, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: Well, the president is also calling on Americans to embrace the suffering at the pump. So we went to northern Virginia today and we talked to those at the gas pumps about those rising prices.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They're the highest I've seen in my whole life, actually.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It makes me think twice whether I really need to drive somewhere.

JOE BIDEN, (D) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I'm going to do everything I can to minimize Putin's price hike here at home.

ARROYO: Do you believe that?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, I don't believe it. It is not Putin. I believe that the president has to do something about gas prices.

ARROYO: Who do you think caused it?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think that the president discontinued some major contracts that need to be signed with the Keystone Pipeline. I think that was one of the major causes of the gas price hikes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If we don't get so much from Russia, why are we getting the price so high?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think there's a reason for it, and so I'm willing to accept that. But I have a partially electric car.

ARROYO: I see that.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So I don't fill up very often. And I hardly ever use gas to go.

ARROYO: But you use natural, it's takes natural gas and coal to fuel the grid, which powers your car.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, I understand that, but I would rather not have it --

ARROYO: The president says that this is the Putin price hike. Do you believe that?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No.

ARROYO: Why not?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Because I don't believe anything President Biden says.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ARROYO: Laura, all but two of the folks I spoke with today were not happy about those prices and they blame the president. A little fact-check here. Gas was $2.38 a gallon on average when Biden took office. It was $3.58 a gallon just before the Putin invasion. So those prices were rising long before Putin rolled a tank into Ukraine. But it has exposed our energy vulnerabilities here at home, Laura.

INGRAHAM: I love the woman who said I have a Volt and I don't care --

ARROYO: I'm not concerned at all.

INGRAHAM: And I'm not going anywhere. OK, well, that's good, but I think everyone else wants to go somewhere.

ARROYO: It's going to be a lonely spring.

INGRAHAM: But don't worry, because the arts and the business communities are launching a full-frontal assault on Putin. The Cardiff Philharmonic Orchestra has removed Tchaikovsky -- gosh, what did he do? -- from the repertoire over the Ukraine invasion.

ARROYO: Laura, next I guess they're going to have to remove Prokofiev, Rachmaninoff. Everyone is out. This is absurd. The Guggenheim Museum in New York, 15 guerrilla artists staged a flyover with paper planes. The paper plans are made of fliers urging a no-fly zone over Ukraine. I have an idea for these guerilla artists, Laura. They really should collect now, that's fake blood, which if we tried to set up that no-fly zone over Ukraine, that's what it would take to ensure that it was maintained. It's going to be a lot of bloodshed and maybe a war that drags all of Europe and the United States in. It's not a good idea.

The Starbucks and Pepsi-Cola are shutting down in Russia, Laura, as our McDonald's, 850 Russian stores closing. No fructose, no fats for the Russians. It took a war for the United States to make Russia the healthiest country on the planet.

INGRAHAM: Our own producer Tom Elliott (ph) does such a great job. He tweeted out the most hilarious list of woke responses to Putin. It's like, lighting the Kennedy Center blue. That's nice. That's a nice gesture --

ARROYO: All your monuments are lit with the Ukrainian colors. They never do red, white, and blue.

INGRAHAM: That doesn't do anything to help the Ukrainian people, but it makes people feel better.

Biden was at it again today, pushing a $52 billion semiconductor bill for big tech.

ARROYO: He held the summit at the White House, Laura, with CEOs. But I hope they use some of that money to build an automatic translator. You'll see what I mean.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, (D) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It's interesting that I think it has been a -- unfortunately -- you know, a -- it's been a reality that the American public realizing that a semiconductor mattered a great deal whether or not your washing machine functioned.

We don't need to propel most of what we have in the future by -- with regard to oil products, or -- you know, and -- anyway. But I don't want to get off on that. I want to get you going.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ARROYO: Dear lord. This is an American tragedy.

INGRAHAM: That's sad. No one has seen that. I did not see that anywhere else today.

ARROYO: They didn't cover it on any of the networks, because they are worried about Ukraine. So they're not covering the United States.

INGRAHAM: We have a president, we have a president who is, I'm sorry, but he's doddering there. It's doddering.

ARROYO: We warned about this during the campaign.

INGRAHAM: It's really sad.

ARROYO: It's the perception of weakness and senility, that's how it looks to our adversaries.

INGRAHAM: It looks that. That's what sad.

ARROYO: And if you want to know why they're so emboldened these days, Laura, look no further than video like that. We may not be looking at it, but our adversaries are. And if you notice and look very closely, they are using Biden less and less. They drag him out once a day, he does a very short address as he did here, 10 minutes, he introduced. And you heard what happened when he went off script. And then they took him out of the room, and the governors and one of the cabinet members had the rest of the meeting. This was very sad. But something has to be done here, and I'm at pains to --

INGRAHAM: But he does this thing where he -- but then he says, I don't want to go -- I don't want to get on it.

ARROYO: Or he says, "the fact is." It's very sad to.

INGRAHAM: It is sad, sad for the country, too.

And you are in New Orleans at the book festival?

ARROYO: New Orleans book festival this weekend, 2:00 Saturday, talking about children's literature and how important that is with our friend Mary Matalin.

INGRAHAM: Great. That will be a great event.

ARROYO: I'll be tweeting.

INGRAHAM: Raymond, great to see you in studio, as always.

And just moments ago, the House passed both appropriations bills which total $1.5 trillion. This includes the nearly $14 billion to Ukraine they had for that Ukraine aid supplemental. And if you're hoping what's happening overseas would refocus leaders here, you will be mistaken. Again, we're going to bring you developments as they come.

But up next, it's official. Democrats have become the party of grooming, grooming children. How else can you explain their outrage over a bill working its way to Governor Ron DeSantis's desk? We're going to explain it to you. We have details in moments.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Get down with yourself. Explore your own body. Masturbation is really healthy. And I recommend it to people of all ages, all ages. As soon as my nephews could talk, they were doing that.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This has been my first year in preschool with a class of my own teaching alongside other queer, nerd educator. And we been rocking our class. We've been talking about gender and skin color and consent and empathy and our bodies and autonomy. It's been fabulous.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

INGRAHAM: My gosh, when did our public schools, any schools, become what are essentially grooming centers for gender identity radicals. As a mom, I think it's appalling, it's frightening, it's disgusting, it's despicable. Florida just passed a bill to keep this type of sexual brainwashing out of schools.

Democrats, though, claim the bill is bigoted, branding it as the "don't say gay" bill. Nice try. The real controversy, though, isn't this bill. It's that schools are peddling gender ideology when our international rankings in math, science, and reading are down across the board.

Joining me now is Quisha King, Florida mother and executive director of Moms for America. Quisha, is this a battle that is turning what we used to call the soccer mom vote into the culture mom vote?

QUISHA KING, FLORIDA MOTHER OF THREE: Laura, I think what's happening is that parents are being pushed aside. It is changing culture, and it's definitely, what I am seeing is that parents are not being considered when these ideologies and these changes are trying to be made. They want to take control of our children. That is definitely what I see when I see these types of -- this pushback for bills like this.

I do not understand why teachers or administrators would come out so strongly against something as simple as saying we don't want sexual identity and gender identity to be taught to kids as young as four and five years old. This is simple comprehension. We've known this for decades, and I'm not sure why there is such pushback now.

INGRAHAM: Disney CEO Bob Chapek has reversed himself. He came out against the bill with this statement, saying "I called Governor DeSantis this morning to express our disappointment and concern that if the legislation becomes law it could be unfairly used to target," the LGBTQ kids and families. Quisha, Disney is basically saying five-year-olds should be talked about all of these very complex issues of gender identity and perhaps sexual transformation, et cetera.

KING: I think that that is absolutely absurd. If I heard you correctly, they are saying they should be taught these things? Since when? If you are certified as an early childhood educator, since when have we decided that children can comprehend these very, like you said, these very complex ideas and situations -- since when? I really would question who is doing the certification of these educators, and these pundits who are saying that children should be able to learn these things.

INGRAHAM: But you see, they brilliantly brand the bill what it is not. It's not "don't say gay." I don't believe anyone is saying that. That's not what anyone is saying. We're saying that children are innocent, and their innocence should be protected. And that, to me, this is the parents' roll. If parents wanted to have different types of educational experiences for their kids involving gender identity, that's their prerogative. You might disagree with it, I might disagree with it, but that's their prerogative. But for a teacher to come in and say this is the way we perceive things in the sexual world, to me --

KING: Yes, that is absolutely correct. It is asinine to think that you should be able to teach my kids about these things. That is my responsibility as a parent, and it does not say anything about gay -- I stand against this, heterosexual, sexual education --

INGRAHAM: Quisha, thank you. I'm sorry to cut you off, but we thank you. You made a very strong point.

When we come back, the Last Bite.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

INGRAHAM: A "New York Times" reporter spills the beans on January 6th.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MATTHEW ROSENBERG, JOURNALIST, "NEW YORK TIMES": The left's overreaction - - the left's reaction to it in some places was so over the top. But me and two other colleagues were there, who were outside. And we were just having fun. Dude, come on, like, you were not in any danger.

We're the ones, not FOX, not Breitbart, who actually went and uncovered the fact that there were a ton of FBI informants amongst the people who attacked the Capitol. That was us, not the right-wing guys.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

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