Scott Ritter: RISKING NUCLEAR WAR: Judge Napolitano (6.12.24)

TRANSCRIPT (auto-generated)

0:31
hi everyone Judge Andrew napalitano here
0:33
for judging Freedom today is Tuesday
0:35
June 11th 20124 my dear friend Scott
0:39
Ritter joins us now Scott a pleasure uh
0:42
my friend thank you very much for your
0:44
time um is Joe Biden risking nuclear
0:49
war in
0:52
Ukraine uh the policies of the United
0:55
States
0:57
um uh are such that
1:00
conditions can be created U without any
1:03
stretch of the imaginations that would
1:05
be conducive to nuclear war and this is
1:08
something that should be avoided at all
1:10
costs but there seems to be um a a
1:14
feeling within the bid Administration
1:16
that U that deemphasizes uh the
1:20
potential of nuclear conflict uh
1:23
premised on the notion that Russia a
1:26
lacks the capacity to carry out um any
1:30
meaningful nuclear war and B that Russia
1:33
is bluffing that the warnings that are
1:35
coming out of Russia is just Bluster um
1:38
to be
1:39
ignored let's talk about uh capacity and
1:42
then we'll talk about will isn't it true
1:45
that Russia Russia's capacity is greater
1:48
than ours we're talking about nuclear
1:50
weapons yes Russia is the most powerful
1:53
nuclear Nation on in the world on the
1:56
planet uh their weapons are they're
1:58
they're more numerous
2:01
but uh more importantly uh they're more
2:03
capable they're more modern Russia has
2:06
modernized its nuclear Arsenal it has
2:08
cuttingedge technology Hypersonic
2:11
maneuvering Warheads
2:14
um giant uh Delivery Systems that can
2:18
deliver not just multiple Warheads but
2:21
the the decoy systems that make the
2:24
WarHeads even more um lethal because
2:27
they could penetrate any missile defense
2:29
Shield that United States might be able
2:31
to uh put up um the Russians also have
2:35
classes of missiles that we don't Road
2:38
Mobile missiles that are deployed in the
2:40
uh vast expanse of uh Siberia uh and
2:44
when they disappear into the Siberian
2:46
Forest are virtually impossible to uh to
2:49
Target and therefore become survivable
2:52
so yes the Russians have a um far more
2:54
modern far more lethal far more capable
2:58
um nuclear uh deterrent Force than the
3:00
United States does and how about Russian
3:03
will to use them how about Russian we
3:07
don't Bluff
3:10
guys well well you
3:13
know the good news is
3:16
um hopefully we never find out if the
3:18
Russians are bluffing because the moment
3:21
we can answer that question it's all
3:22
over right oh darn the Russians weren't
3:25
bluffing boom it's too late it's 10
3:28
minutes away right I'm I'm very happy
3:31
that you and I can continue to have this
3:33
discussion are the Russians bluffing um
3:35
that means that we haven't called their
3:37
Bluff sufficiently for the Russians to
3:39
demonstrate the will but I think when we
3:44
take a look at you know Russian actions
3:48
you know Russia has stayed the course on
3:51
the special military operation on its
3:53
Ukraine operations uh there there hasn't
3:56
been a massive deviation in terms of the
3:59
ultimate outcomes they have made
4:01
tactical and they have made operational
4:03
adjustments to this plan dictated by you
4:07
know emerging realities like the
4:09
delivery of hundreds of billions of
4:11
dollars of military equipment and
4:13
financial assistance to Ukraine that
4:15
enable them toh continue and sustain
4:18
this fight uh but Russia has stayed the
4:21
course um you know and I I think that
4:24
that is proof positive that when Russia
4:27
says it's going to do something it's
4:29
going to do do something um Putin
4:32
doesn't have a track record of um
4:34
speaking out of turn of saying something
4:37
than being compelled to backtrack and
4:39
say what the president meant to say was
4:41
x y and z um and so when you look at
4:44
this track record of consistency between
4:48
um stated policy and policy as
4:51
implemented I think we have Good Grounds
4:54
to say that when Putin talks about
4:57
Russia's nuclear deterrence and the
4:59
condition under which this deterrence
5:01
may be employed operationally um that
5:05
he's not making it up words are very
5:07
important to the Russians I learned this
5:09
a long time ago when I was working with
5:11
Russian diplomats at the United Nations
5:14
um they would chastise me and others and
5:17
say you have to be very careful with the
5:19
words you use because words have meaning
5:22
you can't just come out there and say
5:24
things um because people listen to what
5:27
you're saying and then they expect
5:29
certain things to happen um Putin as a
5:33
leader a Russian leader is very careful
5:36
with what he says his words are vetted
5:39
by him and his uh his staff to make sure
5:42
that the policies that he's speaking
5:45
about are consistent with the way he's
5:47
described the policy so I don't think
5:49
Russia's bluffing I think Russia has
5:51
been very straightforward about you know
5:53
what they can do and the conditions
5:55
under which they would be uh obliged to
5:59
do that
6:00
here's uh his latest uh
6:03
statement uh on uh nuclear weapons cut
6:06
number
6:07
three the use of nuclear weapons is
6:10
possible in the event of an exceptional
6:12
threat to the sovereignty and
6:14
territorial Integrity of our country in
6:18
exceptional cases I don't think this is
6:21
such a case right now there is no
6:24
necessity for that hasn't Joe Biden
6:27
authorized the ukrainians to use
6:29
American Weaponry to attack the
6:32
territorial integrity and thus the
6:34
sovereignty of the nation of Russia
6:37
absolutely this is a very dangerous
6:39
situation but what's important here
6:41
judge is that Vladimir Putin said this
6:44
after the um American policy was not
6:47
only announced but implemented um it
6:51
just shows the maturity of of Russian
6:53
leadership in general um he's the only
6:55
adult in the room right now um clearly a
6:59
case could be made and indeed there are
7:01
many Russian political observers and
7:04
commentators inside Russia who make this
7:06
case that the red line has already been
7:09
crossed by the United States by Ukraine
7:11
in attacking uh Russia with these
7:15
American weapons that Russia already has
7:17
a primacia case to use nuclear weapons
7:21
in accordance with its Doctrine um but
7:23
what Putin has done here is tone it down
7:27
to ratchet it down to calm things down
7:30
and to say no we we haven't met that yet
7:33
um this is extraordinary leadership this
7:36
is escalation management every American
7:39
needs to think VL thank Vladimir Putin
7:41
for his maturity because otherwise uh we
7:44
may not be here tomorrow so you know he
7:47
but the problem is in Washington DC
7:50
they're gonna say see we told you he's
7:52
bluffing he's bluffing he's all Bluff
7:54
all Bluster he's not going to do it um
7:58
we don't want to push that envelope uh
8:00
and I hope that there are people in
8:02
Washington DC that say Hey this guy just
8:05
bought us some time to get do a course
8:07
correction on our policy so that we
8:10
don't lead ourselves stumbling towards a
8:12
potential nuclear conflict let's hope
8:14
that reason prevails Well here here's
8:17
someone who does not understand what you
8:20
just said cut number four Chris from the
8:23
president's perspective this was common
8:25
sense um what was happening up around
8:28
Harkey which was new just in the last
8:31
couple of months was a Russian offensive
8:33
where they were moving from one side of
8:34
the Border directly to the other side of
8:36
the border and it simply didn't make
8:39
sense not to allow the ukrainians to
8:41
fire across that border to hit Russian
8:43
guns and imp placements that were firing
8:46
at the ukrainians so the president
8:48
authorized that the ukrainians have
8:51
carried out that authorization on the
8:53
battlefield and one thing I will point
8:54
out is that the momentum of that
8:57
operation in harke has stalled out now
9:00
harke is still under threat but the
9:02
Russians have not been able to make
9:03
material progress on the ground in
9:05
recent days in that area and the United
9:07
States will continue to support Ukraine
9:09
and holding the line and pushing back
9:11
against the aggressing Russian
9:13
forces does he know what he's talking
9:16
about no first of all let's I just like
9:19
to remind Jake Sullivan of a couple
9:21
realities one it was the ukrainians
9:23
actually using um Russian national
9:27
proxies uh Russians anti-putin Russian
9:30
forces fighting under the flag of
9:32
Ukraine trained and directed by the CIA
9:36
who carried out offensive operations
9:38
from the northern Kar region uh into Bel
9:42
garad region attacking Russia and we saw
9:44
this back in the uh in the spring um so
9:48
when we when we speak of who initiated
9:49
what understand that it was Ukraine with
9:51
the CIA that used uh their Russian um
9:56
Pro anti anti Putin proxies to attack
9:59
Russia
10:00
vigorously by the way so this attack
10:02
that Russia's doing right now is not not
10:05
designed to capture the city of kov or
10:07
to seek you know vast territorial gains
10:11
it's to create a buffer zone to push the
10:13
ukrainians back um so Jake Sullivan of
10:16
course has misread the scenario two you
10:19
know it's one thing for Jake to talk
10:21
about not allowing the Russians a safe
10:23
haven uh but what Jake doesn't
10:26
understand is that NATO is a safe haven
10:27
for Ukraine uh what does he think um the
10:31
Russians will think about the bases in
10:33
Poland in the baltics that are used to
10:35
repair uh damaged Ukrainian tanks do
10:38
this not now a Target what about the
10:40
warehouses that store the weapons that
10:42
are being staged prior to being shipped
10:44
into Ukraine are those not targets what
10:46
about the airfields where F-16 Fighters
10:49
that are being prepared for combat
10:51
operations are are staged in Pilots are
10:53
being trained are those not targets all
10:56
of NATO all of Europe is a safe zone for
10:59
Ukraine where Ukraine gets to do
11:01
critical tasks without fear of Russian
11:04
reprisal so for Jake Sullivan suddenly
11:07
say oh we can't allow Russia to have a
11:09
safe haven on its territory it cuts it
11:12
cuts both ways Jake but here's the last
11:14
thing he doesn't understand and this is
11:16
the stupidity of Jake Sullivan and the
11:18
Biden Administration Russia just sucked
11:21
Ukraine into a giant trap you remember
11:24
the Battle of bahmut everybody remembers
11:26
the Battle of bakut it was a meat
11:27
grinder operation that Russ
11:30
began and then trapped the ukrainians
11:32
and 90,000 dead ukrainians later bakut
11:35
was captured by the Russians the Battle
11:37
of of of uh of the Eva the same thing
11:40
the ukrainians got committed to a fight
11:42
they poured 60,000 reserves into that
11:45
battle they were destroyed now Russia
11:47
has moved on COV yeah the Russians
11:49
aren't advancing wasn't their intention
11:51
what they did is get Ukraine to suck up
11:53
all their reserves and they're now
11:54
launching counterattacks and the
11:56
Russians have stopped their dug in and
11:58
they're in the process of slaughtering
12:00
the Ukrainian reserves this is the
12:01
Russian way of warfare Jake Sullivan
12:04
doesn't get it he's too busy looking at
12:06
you know stupid dots on a map to
12:08
understand that he yet again has fallen
12:10
into a trap that is destroying Ukraine's
12:13
ability to sustain this conflict well
12:15
what is the significance of the latest
12:17
announcement to come out of the White
12:19
House which is the permission for the
12:23
the
12:24
neonazis some unique uh Battalion or
12:28
group in the ukra Ian military that have
12:30
swastikas tattooed on their bodies that
12:33
they can now use American offensive
12:36
Weaponry why would Biden do that knowing
12:40
as he should the Russian memory for
12:44
history and culture and attitude about
12:48
Nazis let's just remember that this
12:51
current situation Ukraine um grows out
12:54
of the February 2014 maidon coup right
12:59
poo that was carried out by Ukrainian
13:02
nationalists um violent extremists uh
13:06
who are loyal to the memory of Stephon
13:10
Bandera a Ukrainian nationalist Ultra
13:12
nationalist let me let me just stop you
13:14
the American CIA worked with the worst
13:18
elements in Ukraine these people you're
13:20
now talking
13:22
about uh Victoria nand and her folks in
13:25
the state department as well to pull off
13:27
this coup correct correct they pulled
13:29
off the coup and now these people are
13:32
the ones who went into Mari opal and
13:33
terrorized the Russian population there
13:36
they they they turned themselves into a
13:38
military unit they called it the aov
13:40
being the Sea of isol right off the
13:42
coast of the city of Mari opal um they
13:45
are 100% you know Neo-Nazi they as you
13:49
said the statesas his Hitler the whole
13:51
thing they glorify um Ukraine Ukrainian
13:55
nationalist linkage with uh with Hitler
13:58
um and it got so bad that in 2015 when
14:03
the United States started training the
14:05
Ukrainian forces uh United States
14:08
Congress passed an amendment to the
14:10
defense authorization act that said uh
14:13
we can give money to Ukraine but we
14:14
can't allow any of that money to be used
14:16
to train the AO Battalion because as the
14:19
United States Congress said they are
14:21
Neo-Nazi white supremacists and we can't
14:23
support this and the Congress passed
14:26
this amendment all the way up until 2022
14:29
uh when we started supplying Ukraine
14:32
with these weapons
14:34
um the people in Congress who signed
14:37
this uh Amendment calling the azov
14:40
regiment Nazis when Republicans stood up
14:43
in Congress said why are we funding
14:45
Nazis uh people like Jamie Raskin stood
14:47
up how dare you say there's Nazis there
14:50
are no Nazis he's the one who signed the
14:53
legislation that said we can't give
14:54
money to these Nazis they're the same
14:57
ones that allowed AAR members to come to
15:00
the United States Congress be FedEd uh
15:02
to be um you know treated as Heroes to
15:05
hold auctions in the people's house
15:08
selling memorabilia with the Nazi
15:11
symbology so we sold Nazi memorabilia in
15:14
the people's house to raise money for
15:17
Nazis which are what the aav regimen is
15:20
for the ukrainians right now the AO
15:24
Battalion which renamed itself because
15:26
became too much of a political problem
15:27
they're now the third assault regiment
15:30
um they are one of the few remaining
15:33
effective units left in the ukrainians
15:36
and they are used extensively to launch
15:38
counterattacks and plug holes in the
15:40
battlefield they need weapons um and as
15:43
long as the United States prohibits
15:45
American weapons from being sent to aov
15:48
this unit would not be effective so what
15:50
the Biden Administration has done is
15:52
said no we we're going to give weapons
15:54
to these people and it's not just them
15:57
it's now the Kraken uh regimen which is
15:59
a Nazi regiment it's the 67th armored
16:02
regiment which is a Nazi regiment
16:04
there's other units of that nature where
16:06
basically the the the surviving mobile
16:09
Reserve capacity of the Ukrainian Armed
16:11
Forces is 100% Nazi and we need to
16:15
ensure that uh Ukraine has weapons that
16:19
can allow these units to fight so yes
16:21
ladies and gentlemen you heard me right
16:23
a week after we celebrated the 80th
16:26
anniversary of the D-Day invasion where
16:28
where our American soldiers went over
16:30
the beach to fight and destroy the Nazi
16:33
Scourge that had occupied France and
16:35
push them back into Germany fighting
16:37
alongside our Soviet allies to
16:40
accomplish the same Mission yes this
16:42
America today is now deliberately
16:45
providing weapons to units we know are
16:49
Nazi
16:51
Affiliated the uh Soviets let's see the
16:54
French president for all of his faults
16:57
for all of his faults invited Vladimir
17:00
Putin to the dday Celebration and the
17:02
White House says if Vlad comes Joe is
17:04
not and of course we all know we all
17:08
know uh who was there how much longer do
17:10
you think this this can go on uh before
17:14
it either becomes World War III or
17:17
Ukraine
17:20
collapses the good news is that Russia
17:23
doesn't want World War II that's the
17:26
very good news and you saw this in final
17:29
um statement made by Vladimir Putin at
17:32
the plenary session of the St Petersburg
17:34
International economic Forum where he
17:36
didn't lead off by talking about
17:38
headline grabbing um situation nuclear
17:41
war conflict he he let off by talking
17:44
about the Russian economy and the growth
17:47
um I don't know if people been watching
17:48
but the uh the U World Bank I think just
17:52
came out with new uh estimates about
17:55
Russian economic growth and basically uh
17:57
they they admit they got their numbers
17:59
wrong that Russia is literally going to
18:01
have their economy grow at twice the
18:03
rate that the uh the uh IMF and the
18:06
World Bank had thought um unlike
18:08
Europe's economy which is shrinking um
18:11
the Russian economy is doing well he
18:12
talked about bricks he talked about uh
18:15
the transformation of the world away
18:18
from you know American hity into a
18:20
multilateral world um this is his Focus
18:24
he's looking down range uh that's not
18:27
the vision of a man who's looking for a
18:29
nuclear conflict and then of course he
18:30
finished with his statements and you
18:32
played a major part of it that said we
18:34
don't think the conditions exist today
18:36
he's trying to deemphasize nuclear
18:38
weapons so long as Russia is blessed
18:41
with a leader of this caliber um I
18:44
believe we we we can um avoid nuclear
18:47
conflict but it's not a guaranteed
18:49
outcome because if we push him long
18:51
enough this is the same leader who
18:53
stared in the camera and said all orders
18:55
have been issued all documents have been
18:57
signed there will be no warning or phone
19:00
calls if you cross the final boundary we
19:04
will do what we have to do and he said
19:07
yes we have nuclear weapons yes we have
19:09
a nuclear Doctrine yes there are
19:10
conditions under which nuclear weapons
19:12
can be used so the world would end but
19:14
um I think Putin is thinking long-term
19:18
strategically he didn't spend 25 years
19:20
rebuilding Russia just to throw it away
19:22
in a nuclear war so I I'm glad he's the
19:25
leader of Russia um you know
19:29
he just won an election that has him
19:30
staying in power for six years Joe
19:32
Biden's coming up for an election in
19:33
November that he may not win um Europe
19:36
just went through an election that U
19:39
showed that you know traditional power
19:41
bases that were supportive of a conflict
19:43
with Ukraine no longer have that support
19:46
uh Emanuel macron himself saw his uh his
19:50
support shrink to about 14% I think is
19:52
what he got uh he has to call Snap
19:55
elections for a French Parliament which
19:56
may put uh a right-wing government in
20:00
play that is opposed to uh going to war
20:02
against Russia so we see Europe curing
20:05
itself healing itself right now Russia's
20:07
smart they just have to buy time and let
20:11
the problem of these warmongers solve
20:14
itself I've said this many times on your
20:16
program I'll say it again all of the
20:18
plans that NATO is thinking about in
20:21
terms of expanding their forces and
20:23
building capacity to fight Russia are in
20:26
the heads of people or on paper but
20:28
there's nothing real there they can't
20:30
afford it and one of the reasons they
20:33
can't afford is because of the very bad
20:35
economic situation in Europe which has
20:37
manifested itself politically now in
20:40
demands for Change and so I do think
20:42
we're going to see change percolating up
20:45
through Europe changing the Strategic
20:47
focus of confronting Russia into how do
20:50
we peacefully live with Russia and when
20:52
that happens the United States is going
20:54
to have to make adjustments as well last
20:57
question is Putin sending
20:59
um offensive Weaponry via ships and
21:02
submarines to
21:07
Cuba as we speak there's a a Russian um
21:11
missile frig I believe and a Russian
21:14
missile submarine that have made a port
21:16
call in Cuba this port call has been
21:20
many months in the planning uh well
21:22
before the current crisis uh has has
21:25
manifested itself um but the important
21:28
thing is that the the message is the
21:30
same Russia is sending ships that have
21:33
long range uh Precision strike
21:36
capability to include uh ziron
21:38
Hypersonic missiles that can't be shot
21:40
down um and that these are cruising off
21:43
the coast of the United States you know
21:45
Bob Dylan wrote a song Like a Rolling
21:47
Stone and the one of the the main lyrics
21:49
There is how does it feel and I think
21:52
that should be the theme song of the
21:53
Russian naval tour how does it feel
21:55
America how does it feel to have ships
21:58
off your Shore that can destroy your
22:00
government that quick and there's
22:02
nothing you can do about it because
22:04
that's what you do to us when you send
22:06
your ships into the Black Sea and you
22:08
cruise around the Black Sea you threaten
22:10
us the same way that's how it feels when
22:12
you send your ships into the Baltic Sea
22:14
and threaten St Petersburg that's how it
22:16
feels when you have your destroyers do a
22:18
cruise across the northern Straits uh
22:20
threatening our missile silos with your
22:22
tomahawk missiles that's how it feels
22:25
it's not a good feeling is it and it
22:27
isn't a good feeling the Russians are
22:29
basically putting a you know a marker on
22:32
the table that says um the game's over
22:34
it's no longer a one-way Street you know
22:37
one of the things that we do again
22:38
America wake up people we send B52
22:41
bombers out of England flying down the
22:44
Baltic Sea in a direct beine towards St
22:47
Petersburg the second largest city in
22:49
Russia um beyond that is the cola
22:51
peninsula where the Russian uh Fleet is
22:54
and strategic capabilities are and we
22:56
send the B-52 on a strike flight it's is
23:00
a attack uh profile that if we're going
23:03
to launch cruise missiles and fire them
23:06
this is the profile it would do and it
23:08
goes right up to the release point and
23:10
then it turns away and we do this all
23:13
the time wow Russia in addition to these
23:16
two ships Russia is is deploying um I
23:19
believe a pair of uh of tup of um
23:22
strategic bombers um jet powered um
23:26
bombers and I would bet that sometime
23:29
during their tour of the Caribbean
23:32
they're gonna fly a strike profile
23:34
against Washington DC how does it feel
23:38
not very good does it America needs to
23:40
wake up that it's not a one-way Street
23:41
anymore that what we do will be done to
23:44
us and the Russians have the ability to
23:46
do it to us uh with the same lethality
23:49
or even more than what we can do to the
23:51
Russians I'm looking at Mr how does it
23:53
feel over your right shoulder at the pal
23:56
at The Palace Theater Scott of going to
23:58
let you go thank you very much my dear
24:00
friend best of luck tomorrow I think
24:03
it's tomorrow in h DC uh with the great
24:07
uh Ray McGovern where you gonna be the
24:09
press press Club we'll be at the
24:11
national Press Club correct oh I I've
24:12
been invited to join I can't get there I
24:14
wish I could be there I was going to
24:16
show up and surprise you but I can't but
24:18
you guys are in my head and in my heart
24:20
knock them dead we have one more quick
24:22
announcement if you might judge
24:24
September 28th oh yeah you and I are
24:27
joining Gerald SEL
24:28
for the rock show of Rock shows we are
24:31
going to stop nuclear war we are
24:33
promoting democracy saving America
24:35
saving the world we don't know all the
24:38
details yet but we're going to put a
24:39
million people into Kingston on
24:41
September 28th right correct Saturday
24:43
September 28th noon time uh Kingston New
24:46
York uh a major major argument for peace
24:50
featuring Scott and me at Gerald Cent's
24:53
um establishment which is huge uh thank
24:56
you Scott thanks for everything all the
24:57
best my friend thanks
25:00
judge wow fabulous as always got to go
25:03
5:15 this afternoon Mato judge Nepal
25:07
Tano for judging freedom

SOURCE: https://youtu.be/sM-boyvxgCo