'Special Report All-Star Panel' react to Joe Biden's handling of Ukraine crisis

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Biden says no Nord Stream 2 pipeline if Russia invades Ukraine

'Special Report' All-Star panel reacts to the president's meeting with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.

This is a rush transcript from "Special Report All-Star Panel," February 7, 2022. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, (D) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Today, the chancellor and I discussed our close cooperation, developed a strong package of sanctions that are going to clearly demonstrate international resolve and impose swift and severe consequences if Russia violates Ukraine's sovereignty and its territorial integrity.

OLAF SCHOLZ, GERMAN CHANCELLOR: To our American friends, we will be united. We will act together, and all the necessary steps will be done by all of us together.

SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL, (R-KY) SENATE MINORITY LEADER: There is no question Germany could do more given its influential role. Back during the Cold War, the West German military was truly a capable fighting force. But Germany's military has been allowed to atrophy in the decades sense.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BAIER: Well, the president and the German chancellor speaking, it seemed, from the same sheet of music, except one key parted, and we will talk about that in a minute. But also, the Russian President Vladimir Putin met with the French President Emmanuel Macron today. During that he pitched it a different way, Putin did. He said if Ukraine joins NATO, then everybody would be drawn into this war. He says "Russia is one of the top nuclear powers. There will be no winners in this war, and you will be drawn into this conflict against your will. In a blink of an eye you will be implementing Article five." Article five is the NATO, that one is attacked and they're all attacked. And there we are. That sets the stage.

Let's bring in our panel, Mara Liasson, national political correspondent of National Public Radio, former Education Secretary Bill Bennett, and Kimberley Strassel, a member of the editorial board at "The Wall Street Journal." Mara, the one key thing that was not specifically agreed to was the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, and that's a pipeline that will eventually provide energy, oil, to Germany from Russia.

MARA LIASSON, NATIONAL POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT, NATIONAL PUBLIC RADIO: What was really interesting about that press conference was Joe Biden said if Russia invades Ukraine, Nord Stream 2 will never become operational. But Olaf Scholz did not say those words. And there is a lot of concern about Germany's reliability. Of course, both leaders said that Germany is a reliable ally. But German has not committed to not using the Nord Stream pipeline gas. It has not committed to giving military equipment to Ukraine. And there are a lot of questions about just how strong Germany would be as an ally against Russian aggression.

BAIER: Bill?

BILL BENNETT, FORMER EDUCATION SECRETARY: Yes, a couple things under lying this. First of all, I agree, I think there is still light between the two of them, between the German chancellor and the president.

But second, we are an importer of Russian oil. That seems extraordinary. When we could be supplying all of Europe, all of Germany, and all of Europe with our liquified natural gas, and this dilemma would not be faced.

But I think the larger perspective that we all need to think about some, and you brought it up earlier in the newscast, Bret, is this alliance between -- new alliance between Russia and China, this new world order that they are talking about, because this, to me, is very ominous. And we need to look at these events with that as an important background.

Also, Putin is chipping away. We already know the degree to which Germany is dependent on Putin and Russia because of current circumstances. But now, France is talking to him as well. Will this alliance hold up? I have my worries and doubts.

BAIER: Kimberley, it does seem like Emmanuel Macron is trying to assert himself as sort of the speaker of European leaders with Putin.

KIMBERLEY STRASSEL, "WALL STREET JOURNAL": Well, somebody has to. And it is actually good to see Europe stepping up. It was good to see Scholz giving that press conference today because Germany has been incredibly quiet. And it isn't just the things that Mara talked about in terms of not supplying weapons. But if you go all along, first of all, don't forget all of Europe and the United States were pressuring Germany not to sign this Nord Stream 2 deal, and they did so anyway. And then we've had leaks about them not being willing to pull the plug on that, about not supporting, for instance, U.S. sanctions that are proposed to cut Russia off from the swift monetary system. So I like the fact that he said that he was willing to stay in lockstep with the rest of Europe. Let's hope that Macron really does offer some strong leadership and keeps Germany on board.

BAIER: And Mara, quickly, it's the position that Germany put itself in, getting 70-plus percent of its energy from Russia.

LIASSON: And getting -- yes, and deciding that it would not have nuclear power. That was a fateful decision made by Angela Merkel. It put Germany more dependent on Russia.

BAIER: Panel, stand by, if you would. Up next, cancel culture, Spotify, Joe Rogan, and some truckers in Canada.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAREN ATTIAH, "WASHINGTON POST": The more disturbing part about this is that Spotify knew and said we are going to proudly resource Joe Rogan and these types of guests.

JOHN COOPER, MUSICIAN: Every artist that cares about authenticity should drop this nonsense about pulling people off of social media platforms.

JOE ROGAN, HOST, "THE JOE ROGAN EXPERIENCE": It's not my word to use. I'm well aware of that now. I do hope that this can be a teachable moment.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BAIER: Joe Rogan is getting a lot of TV time, in part because there are calls for him to be pulled off of his podcast, a very popular podcast. The CEO of Spotify putting out a letter, saying "I strongly condemn what Joe has said, and I agree with decision to remove episodes from our platform. I realize some will want more. And I want to make one point very clear. I do not believe that silencing Joe is the answer. We should have clearer lines around the content, take action when they're crossed, but canceling voices is a slippery slope."

We're back with the panel. You know, Bill, we see this battle across our country, the cancel side and the fight against the cancel side. Who is winning?

BENNETT: Well, this is a big win for the free speech side. And can I say it looks like two adults in the room here, Mr. Ek and Mr. Rogan. I don't know Spotify and wouldn't know how to find it, and never listened to Joe Rogan. But he said, look, I made mistakes, I said the wrong thing and I'm sorry. It's not my place to do it. Mr. Ek said we regret what he said. It's terrible, but he gets to stay because he is extremely good at what he does, very popular, and obviously brings in a lot of revenue. Let this be an example to other corporations. This is, I think, a really good moment, and maybe indeed a teachable moment.

BAIER: Mara, meantime, you have these truckers in Canada doing their own protests, and now Canadian government is actively arresting some, giving tickets, passing ordinances in different places. They're protesting vaccine mandates up there. The site GoFundMe was raising money for this effort, the truckers, and then kind of shut it down. Take a listen to Ted Cruz.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. TED CRUZ, (R-TX): I sent a letter to the Federal Trade Commission asking that the FTC open an investigation into GoFundMe. If anyone did that, that is theft.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BAIER: What do you think, Mara?

LIASSON: Look, there's a lot of cancel culture on the left and the right. There are a lot of snowflakes on the left and the right. These are private businesses. If Spotify wants to keep Joe Rogan on the air, they can do that. If GoFundMe wants to raise money for one person and not another, they can do that. The NFL didn't want to give Colin Kaepernick a job. I think it's too bad. I think there are other ways to deal with this. But canceling somebody you don't like seems to be the easiest go-to measure.

As far as the truckers in Canada, they have the right to protest. I don't know if they are violating any laws or public ordinances. That is a whole different matter.

BAIER: Yes. And as that continues, Kimberley, they are making a statement. But Jim Jordan, a Republican from Ohio, says "GoFundMe promoted the Antifa occupied CHOP zone in Seattle, but they shut down fundraisers for truckers protesting COVID mandates. We've got questions." Of course, he is on the Oversight Committee.

STRASSEL: Yes. Well, there's two issues here. I agree with Mara, because these are private companies, obviously they have some say in what they do. I think one issue, though, that obviously caught everyone's attention was the GoFundMe and truckers issue is that they initially said they weren't going to give the money back to the people who donated it. And that is a big issue. Now, they seem to have reversed themselves and that is changing. But the notion you could just give this money and then this corporation and just takes it and, what, repurposes it for what it wants? That's the kind of crazy.

The second issue is what you just mentioned with Jim Jordan, and that is the apparent double standard here, which is that we have these giant tech giants, and they seem to have one standard for one political persuasion and one for the other. I'm not quite sure whether that rises to the level of an FTC investigation or some of these attorney general investigations, but it certainly is something that people need to analyze, especially when some of these guys have the power not just to throw one person off but to de- platform entire apps and services like we saw with Parler during that episode a year ago.

BAIER: Or the early days of Hunter Biden stories, or the possible lab leak theory from Wuhan. Last word, Bill. I've got 30 seconds.

BENNETT: Well, just this cancel culture on the right is a feather compared to the 10-ton truck ever the cancel culture on the left.

The other thing is California ends the mandate you just told us, but keeps the mask mandate in schools. Must they get everything backwards in California?

(LAUGHTER)

BAIER: That's the big one. The schools are going to be the fight in a lot of states across the country. Panel, thank you so much.