This is a rush transcript of "Tucker Carlson Tonight" on March 4, 2022. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

WILL CAIN, FOX NEWS CHANNEL HOST: Good evening, and welcome to TUCKER CARLSON TONIGHT.

I'm Will Cain filling in for Tucker.

So much of the news we're hearing out of the Ukrainian and Russian war has turned out to simply be false. Whether because of the fog of war or pure propaganda and in war, propaganda is a tool, a tool used by both sides. Nobody has a monopoly on falsehoods or the truth, but you, you deserve the truth.

For example, the story of the ghost of Kyiv, flying over Kyiv and shooting down MiGs -- not true. Or the loss of 13 soldiers at Snake Island, false, verified by the Ukrainian Navy. But it's doubtful that many know the truth.

And it's my job, it is our job to get you the truth.

Last night, we heard that a nuclear power plant in Ukraine, the single largest nuclear power plant in Europe nearly melted down because of a Russian attack. Is that true? How do we separate fiction from truth in Ukraine?

The American people, you, are faced with a decision, a decision hopefully made not emotionally, but rationally that could potentially lead to nuclear war and you should be armed with the truth.

So to figure out what's really happening, I want to begin tonight with FOX's Lucas Tomlinson. He's in Lviv, Ukraine and he joins us now.

Hey, Lucas.

LUCAS TOMLINSON, FOX NEWS CHANNEL PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Will.

The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency says last night, there was no damage to the six nuclear reactors to that plant. There was no radiation leak. But last night a battle raged at Europe's largest nuclear power plant.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RAFAEL MARIANO GROSSI, DIRECTOR GENERAL, IAEA: The situation is naturally, continues to be extremely tense and challenging because of the circumstances.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TOMLINSON: The circumstances are this, Will. As you can see from this tracer fire, the battle between Russian and Ukrainian forces was close enough and serious enough that President Biden immediately called his Ukrainian counterpart for an assessment of the situation.

While Ukrainian scientists are still operating the six nuclear reactors of the plant, Russian forces have completely taken it over. While there was no significant damage the reactors, this administration building not far away caught fire after taking a direct hit. The fire took longer than expected to extinguish because the firefighters were initially held up from getting to the building by Russian forces.

Now, officials of the plant say the fire did not affect the essential equipment, including the six reactors, which are built with reinforced concrete and containment systems of much more modern design than Chernobyl.

Now officials say the Russians are the ones that fired that projectile that struck that administration building causing the fire -- Will.

CAIN: So, a serious situation, but perhaps not the nuclear meltdown we feared last night.

Thank you, Lucas, for that report.

So several lawmakers in Washington seem intent on escalating America's involvement in the war in Ukraine. You can virtually hear the drumbeat towards war and many Members of Congress are agreeing with Ukraine's demand that the U.S. enforce a no-fly zone over Ukraine, which would mean, to be clear, shooting down Russian jets, and you can play out the dominoes from that point forward. They're not hard to see.

Today, Congressman Adam Kinzinger endorsed a proposal to kill Vladimir Putin.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. ADAM KINZINGER (R-IL): You know, I actually agree with him. And the reason is, it's not saying the United States needs to do it. I think we have always said that, you know, Putin is isolating himself.

The hope in some of these sanctions and the sanctions against the oligarchs is that the population does turn on him. I don't know if I had to put it quite the colorful way that Lindsey Graham did, being how, you know we have to play a bit -- be a bit more professional.

But I think he is saying the truth.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAIN: Now, to be clear, this drumbeat, this willingness to push us closer to a conflict with Russia, it is bipartisan.

Today, Democratic Congresswoman Chrissy Houlahan called on Joe Biden to transfer ground attack jets to Ukraine, and what would happen if these lawmakers had their way? How close are we to crossing red lines or imposing red lines on Russia that they may inadvertently or willingly cross and now, we are too far gone on our way to World War Three.

Let's ask some critical questions before this train leaves the station. Daniel Davis is a retired U.S. Army Lieutenant Colonel. He's also a Senior Fellow at Defense Priorities. He joins us now to assess.

Thank you for being with us. As I listen to these various measures, in a week's time, it's changed. A week ago we heard about Article V and NATO, and Russia crossing a red line should they invade Poland.

Now, we're hearing about war crimes and humanitarian crises or arming the Ukrainians or imposing a no-fly zone. It seems like we are making the red line tighter for Vladimir Putin.

LT. COL. DANIEL DAVIS, (RET), U.S. ARMY, SENIOR FELLOW, DEFENSE PRIORITIES: Yeah, and you know, you get it understandable that when you see Russia invade a country, when you see all of these civilian buildings being destroyed, people dying, civilians, I mean, it's horrible, and everybody wants to help.

But we have to be sober and cold about this in terms of understanding where America's interests lie. And nothing is gained by even coming close to a potential red line to where a NATO Article V would be initiated and we would have to fight because of where this could end up. And if anybody has any doubts about what this would be, like Harry Kazianis published a piece today in "The Federalist" that talked about a 2019 simulation he took part in that was eerily similar to this with Russia invading Ukraine.

NATO wanted to put in a no-fly zone. Things went sideways, and it ended up in nuclear holocaust. And we've got to make sure that that part of the simulation doesn't happen here, and it is all too possible.

CAIN: Well, I think that's exactly right. We all feel the humanitarian crisis that you referenced. We need to make a rational, though not emotional decision. And when we just throw around no-fly zone, you bring up the simulation. From a no-fly zone, we're shooting down Russian planes, and now on our way to nuclear holocaust, according to the simulation, which you just shared with us.

DAVIS: Yes, that's exactly right. And of course, it could happen in any number of ways. You know, if we send in too much weapons, if some of these people who are coming in from NATO countries happened to be NATO fighters that are on their own, but then they all start killing Russians.

I mean, how many -- how much of this is Putin going to allow before he starts interdicting these arms and weapons coming in and maybe kills Western military people?

I mean, you see, there are so many things that could go sideways, and we just have to make sure we don't even come close to that line because expanding would be the worst of it all.

CAIN: Lieutenant Colonel Daniel Davis, thank you for highlighting those issues, and helping us understand the truth that Americans -- Americans should be making decisions for their future.

All right, our next guest is L. Todd Wood. He just returned from Ukraine, he had to walk across the Moldovan border and then hitchhike to Romania. L. Todd is the founder of CDM.press. He's also a former Special Operations pilot, and he joins us now.

Todd, thanks for being with us. You heard some of what we were just discussing about this train leaving the station. You were there. You were in a war zone. The question that comes at some point is, what you saw, does it call for American intervention?

L. TODD WOOD, FORMER SPECIAL OPERATIONS PILOT: Look, I arrived in Kyiv on the 19th because I've been reporting there for about a decade and I wanted to access my network on the ground and tell the American people really what was going on.

I didn't think Putin would invade past the four line of troops of Donbass, but he has, and so the question is, should we get involved, in my estimation? Absolutely not.

Ukraine is not an ally. They are not part of NATO, and this is the Russian near abroad, it is their sphere of influence, and I just don't believe American troops should get involved in this area. It would be a tripwire to a much bigger conflict.

CAIN: Well, and I think the American people should be empowered to make that decision. But as part of that empowerment, we have to share with them what is actually happening.

They have to be able to access the truth. You were on the ground, as I mentioned at the outset, it's really hard, and some of it is understandable, Todd, because of the fog of war. It is really hard for us to see what is true.

What is the truth of what you saw on the ground between Ukraine and Russia?

WOOD: Look, initially it was very common to sit there in the city. I mean, once the invasion started, we decided to move out and moved west about 150 miles drove all night, and then we made a run south to the Moldovan border, because we thought going towards Poland would be a little more dangerous.

The people there are fantastic. You see, you know, everybody is extremely helpful to foreigners on the ground. You do see a lot of men arming themselves in the towns and villages to protect infrastructure. There's a lot of Russian saboteurs that have been in place probably for a long time, sleeper cells, if you will.

So these locals are taking it upon themselves to defend their towns. But other than, you know, the Ukrainians are going to fight back hard. I don't think Putin has the force structure to occupy and to hold this territory for very long. I think that's pretty obvious from what's going on.

He has a lot of forces but he can't project power. That's his issue, his logistics and things like that. So I think the best thing for Ukraine could be a negotiated settlement, where they Russia get some kind of security guarantees, and you know, the U.S. can rebuild the country or the West.

But there is also an issue of corruption in Ukraine that has to be rooted out from the roots.

CAIN: It's not so clean and simple. It is not so neat as we want to believe when we make a righteous role decision, which is understandable when we see the humanitarian crisis, but it is much more complicated, and we appreciate you shedding some light on that, Todd, tonight. L. Todd Wood, thank you for your time.

WOOD: Thank you. Thank you.

CAIN: All right. Well, look, it's been a while since we've seen Tony Fauci. He may have fallen through the couch cushions in a greenroom at MSNBC. We're not sure, but he's not on mainstream media. We noticed his appearances. They've fallen off -- off a cliff. Where'd they go? That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CAIN: The war in Ukraine has dominated cable news coverage in this country for the past week for obvious reasons. As a result, across all networks, the usual in-studio guests are getting bumped left and right.

And when troops are fighting near a nuclear power plant and people are dying, the focus shifts to reporting on the ground and that is not surprising.

But there is one cable news mainstay, a fixture, who has disappeared so abruptly, and with so little fanfare that it's worth taking a closer look.

For more than two years from the beginning of the pandemic, Tony Fauci was everywhere. No matter what happened in America -- BLM riots, January 6, the presidential election -- Tony Fauci was still on television, around the clock screeching about COVID.

[VIDEO CLIP PLAYS]

CAIN: And no matter how many times he changed his opinion on masks or how much we learned about the gain-of-function research he was funding in Wuhan, Tony Fauci remained omnipresent. No one else on cable news had the same presence. Here is how Tucker described the phenomenon.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TUCKER CARLSON, FOX NEWS CHANNEL HOST, TUCKER CARLSON TONIGHT: In Washington, human power is worshipped as the living God. You'll see temples to human power throughout the city, as well as smaller shrines to its saints.

The latest Holy Man to be beatified there is a diminutive Federal bureaucrat called Tony Fauci.

Fauci is the high priest of the COVID cult. A paper mask is his sacred garment. Cable television is his pulpit.

The people of Washington bow before father Fauci. They throw their Patagonia fleeces before him to ease his way as he passes like palm fronds in the streets of Jerusalem. They consider him holy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAIN: That clip was from December 2020.

Now, this went on for more than a year. Then, suspiciously, this February before the invasion of Ukraine, the mood changed. All of a sudden our political leaders stopped worshipping Tony Fauci. Instead, now they are pretending he doesn't exist.

Take a look at this side-by-side. You see the Tony Fauci pillow behind the Governor of Michigan, Gretchen Whitmer. Now, that shot is from last year, the next shot, that one is from February. It's in the exact same location in Gretchen Whitmer's house. Do you notice anything different? No more Tony Fauci pillow.

Presumably the blue and yellow Ukraine pillow is on the way from Amazon to take Tony Fauci's place at the Governor's residence. That's cold Gretchen, though. That's cold.

But not the coldest treatment Tony Fauci received. Our media has completely iced out, poor Tony.

On his "Substack," journalist, Jordan Schachtel looked into this and he found that Tony Fauci's agency, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases has stopped uploading his media appearances to their website.

The agency has a section on their website called "Dr. Fauci in the News." And after receiving near daily updates throughout the pandemic, as of yesterday, that section hadn't added a new appearance since February 17th. That date, of course, by the way, well before the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

So the media is done with Tony Fauci, and not because of Vladimir Putin.

Joe Biden's internal pollsters told him last month to declare victory on COVID and move on, and that is exactly what he is doing. But it's a really sad moment for Tony Fauci, and it seems it's a moment he can't move on from.

He still clings to fame hoping to appear on just one more magazine cover, throw out one more first pitch at a Nationals game. So he's still doing whatever media appearances he can get, including the lamest podcasts and comedy shows you can find on the internet.

Here, for example, is Tony Fauci on something called the "85 South Comedy Show" explaining why we aren't vaccinating bats. As you watch, I want you to imagine what's going through Tony Fauci's head.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Funny as this question may sound, how come the focus hasn't been getting better bats vaccinated? Because it seems like a lot of bats and animals and all of these type of things. So you heard that and you think, well, wouldn't it be more prudent to just worry about getting the bat population under control before it hits the human?

DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: Well, that's not an unreasonable question, except logistically, it's impossible. There are trillions of bats in the world. How are you going to be able to capture them and vaccinate each of them?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAIN: Impossible, but funny to picture Dr. Leana Wen sitting out there in a cave trying to inject a bat with the Moderna vaccine, a little bit of a comedic image in your mind.

And look we're poking fun but to be fair, I give those guys some credit. The host of "85 South Comedy Show," they're at least, you know, thinking independently and asking Fauci original questions that make him think on his feet. Look, he never -- he never had to do that on CNN.

But now that he is reduced to "85 South Comedy Show," he's got to do some improvising. Why don't we vaccinate the monkeys, Tony Fauci? Explain it to us slowly.

He doesn't like having to answer questions from an independent media, not one bit. And you can see that by the way, you can see it in what's left of Tony Fauci's dying soul as he answers that question, but he has to do it. He has no other choice now.

The mainstream media doesn't care about him anymore. And as you'd expect, that's made Fauci a very bitter man. He is getting angrier by the day. To be fair, he's not the only one.

According to the AP, North Korea's leader Kim Jong-un also feeling left out, minutes ago, fired at least one suspected ballistic missile into the sea towards Japan. He needs some attention, too.

But no one wants attention more than Tony Fauci, and if you doubt that, check out the latest "Woke AF Daily" Podcast. By the way, if it means woke as the F word. I'm here for you.

Now, if you're not familiar with the "Woke AF Daily" Podcast, it's not surprising, it gets an audience of around 700 viewers on YouTube, but yesterday Tony Fauci was the podcast featured guest and Fauci wanted "Woke AF's" 700 viewers to know that the unvaccinated Americans are very, very, very bad people.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FAUCI: There are many people for a variety of reasons, many of them are politically, I wouldn't say motivated. I don't mean motivated, but have a political tinge to it, about not wanting to get vaccinated saying, I worry about myself, and I'll take care of myself and I'll take the risks.

But when you're dealing with a transmissible virus, you have a personal responsibility to yourself, and to your family, but you also have a responsibility to society.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAIN: It's not clear exactly what stage of grief Tony Fauci is in. It is probably somewhere between denial and anger. And that means, you know, what's next, bargaining, depression, and finally, acceptance. But it is going to be a tough one for Tony Fauci to admit that his masters no longer need him, that his worshippers no longer revere him.

So we're going to call it about two weeks to flatten the ego. We're confident Tony Fauci will get there even if it takes a little longer than two weeks.

As Tony Fauci come to terms with his fall from grace, some members of Congress are still doing their jobs.

Representative Chip Roy of Texas is one of them and he has just asked the C.D.C. to turn over data on COVID hospitalizations that they'd been withholding.

Congressman Chip Roy of Texas joins us now.

Congressman, great to have you on the program tonight. Boy, this is a big job, finding out the truth on the number of hospitalizations and deaths that truly were attributable to COVID. How will you get to that truth?

REP. CHIP ROY (R-TX): Well, Will, appreciate you having me on.

And, you know, I was a Federal prosecutor in the U.S. Attorney's Office. I started in Sherman, Texas, I think you know, that place well.

CAIN: My hometown.

ROY: And -- it is, yes. And you know, when I was a prosecutor, we had to pursue the facts and that is one of the things that the C.D.C. and Anthony Fauci as you just so eloquently kind of led into this, they want to sweep the facts under the rug, because the simple reality is, as we are all, you know, looking at what's happening in Ukraine and our hearts go out and we're trying to help. I was on phone calls all day today, helping people, orphanages, people that are dealing with the ravages of what Putin is doing to those people.

The fact of the matter is, we're looking at that and we're talking about war crimes. I want to talk about the crimes against humanity that has been perpetrated by Anthony Fauci, the C.D.C., and the Federal government against the American people.

I want to talk about the dead Americans. People who have myocarditis, people who had a reaction to the vaccine. I want to talk about the Americans who have lost their job because of vaccine mandates, whether they are military or healthcare workers, or maybe a Border Patrol agent, Federal worker who had been forced to lose their job if they didn't take a jab.

I want to talk about the children who can't actually enunciate their words because they now need speech therapy, or they had mental health issues, or we've got drug addicts, people who have died because they've had mental health issues.

I can go down the list after list. When are we going to have accountability for Anthony Fauci?

Look, he is missing right now, for one reason and one reason only. The Democrats are looking at the polls. It wasn't dead Americans that made Democrats move. It wasn't dead Americans that made Fauci go away, it was polls.

And I want to hold Anthony Fauci accountable, and if you're watching this, Dr. Fauci, look out, because when the Americans give us control in the House of Representatives, God-willing, we're going to get some answers on behalf of the American people.

CAIN: Well, that is very good news to hear, Congressman, and we hope that there is a day of accountability.

Before you leave, really quickly, we only have about 30 seconds on this, but it's an important story.

The Surgeon General of the United States of America has apparently instructed big tech to turn over information that they deem to be misinformation on COVID.

Now, this is terrifying. And I'm sure by the way, it would encompass this segment you and I are discussing now were it to be uploaded to social media.

So I don't know what can be done within Congress, but it is a terrifying proposition that the United States government is now telling big tech, turn over the names.

ROY: Yes, well, this relates to what you just talked about with the C.D.C. We have the C.D.C. who is saying: Hey, we are worried that it would be misinformation if we put out the actual data, the actual data about hospitalizations and vaccines because we thought you might misinterpret it about vaccine effectiveness.

That's your government at work and Big Tech is colluding with them in corporate cronyism. Our job is to knock the knees up right under them and defend the American people and that is what we're going to try to do. Stand up for the average American getting screwed by big government and big corporations.

CAIN: All right, Congressman Chip Roy, great to talk to you. Great to have a shout out back to the hometown of Sherman, Texas. Thank you for your time.

ROY: Thanks, Will.

CAIN: All right, all of a sudden, Democrats are admitting they don't care about COVID, and New York City's mayor is the latest example.

FOX's Kevin Corke has the story -- Kevin.

KEVIN CORKE, FOX NEWS CHANNEL WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Dub-C. Good to be with you, my friend.

It's about damn time. You know, in Florida. They've been that way for months. And what took you so long? Just some of the reactions to New York City's mayor's decision, Eric Adams, of course, to end the Big Apple's mask mandate on the seventh.

Beginning next week, no more requirements for masking in public schools and vaccination passports, if you will, and restaurants and entertainment venues and cultural venues as well.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYOR ERIC ADAMS (D), NEW YORK CITY: We have become so boring as a city. I want all my parades back, every one of them.

It is time for us to enjoy our city again. All of these no's, no's, no's. We've become a city of no's. I want to become a city of excitement. And we're going to look to reinstate every parade, every festival, every block party.

People need to get outdoors and enjoy our city again. And so if you've received a no that we're not doing a parade, I need to find out why.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORKE: Nice hat. By the way, Los Angeles is taking a similar tack, relaxing mask wearing rules beginning today -- Will

CAIN: All right, Kevin. Great. Thank you so much. It's about time, as he said.

CORKE: Yes, indeed.

CAIN: All right, politicians in both parties are telling Americans to shut up and accept higher gas prices, just the latest thing you're supposed to shut up and take, if you really love democracy otherwise, by the way, of course, you're supporting Putin. That's straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CAIN: This is a FOX News Alert. Russian forces are making significant inroads into Ukraine tonight. FOX's Pete Hegseth is looking at the maps right now -- Pete.

PETE HEGSETH, FOX NEWS CHANNEL COHOST, "FOX AND FRIENDS" WEEKEND: Will, you're exactly right. Now this is a map that if you look a couple of days past and forward, it doesn't change all that much in the red, but that does not change the calculus of the Russians, who have to deal with right now even more sanctions, how they will deal with that is interesting.

They are calling for reinforcements from as far as the Pacific Ocean. Our border almost with them in Alaska, and you've got new reports from ABC tonight that potentially additional weapons are coming in -- anti-tank, anti-aircraft weapons on behalf of the Ukrainian, so dynamics always changing.

But ultimately, the Russians continue to make gains and they're bogged down in Kyiv. But the airstrikes continue across the country.

Let me move it forward, if I may, to the next map, which is pertinent to some of the things you broke down tonight, which is so important. It's the fog of war, but do our best to break down fact from fiction of what's actually happening.

Here is what we know about what's happening in the south. So you've got specific flash points which are important. Mariupol is a city that would connect the land bridge here, they're being bombarded. They're turning off the lights, they are turning off the water, they're turning off the heat, they're turning off the electricity, they're turning off the internet. It's a total siege there.

In Kherson, which is the first major city to be taken, Will, ultimately the Russians have not attempted to occupy it. What they know they can't do is occupy city centers. They've committed almost 90 percent of their combat force around the border to Ukraine so far, and they can't occupy it.

So they've put a Ukrainian flag there, but they are not trying to stay there. They're moving on.

And ultimately, I love when you talked about as far as the nuclear facility. Yes, there are nuclear reactors. That would be consequential. But the bombing that happened was on an administrative building, which had no impact on those.

The impact that will happen, Will, is whether or not Vladimir Putin decides to use this energy as a weapon against the Ukrainian people as he continues to lay siege.

So he is moving forward, city centers they can't control them. They're trying to move to Kyiv ultimately.

CAIN: That's really enlightening, Pete, and as we've talked about off camera and on "FOX and Friends," we are a little too quick to dismiss Vladimir Putin in the opening days of this war, too quick to dismiss Russia.

I'll see you in a couple hours.

HEGSETH: You've got it.

CAIN: On "FOX and Friends."

All right, Democrats and Republicans rarely agree in Washington, but now they agree on one point. If you truly love democracy, you will shut up, and you will pay more for gas. Watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAVID FRUM, STAFF WRITER, "THE ATLANTIC": The increases that are coming now are Putin's doing and any politician of any party who tries to make domestic political hay of the sacrifices that Americans are about to feel is undermining support for Ukraine.

REP. ADAM SMITH (D-WA): Now, here in America, we've got to be ready for the fact that will drive up oil prices, that will drive up gas prices. And if we're really standing with Ukraine, we have to be prepared to absorb that.

BOB CORKER, FORMER U.S. SENATOR: It is a small price, you know, it is a small price to pay for supporting a country that wants to move our way, that have the same dreams and aspirations that we have as a nation have.

RON KLAIN, WHITE HOUSE CHIEF OF STAFF: Standing up for freedom has a cost, standing up for democracy does have a cost, but we have designed the sanctions specifically to impose damage on the Russian economy without much blowback damage on ours.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAIN: Robby Starbuck has Republican congressional candidate in Tennessee, and he joins us now. Robby, how do you think people are reacting to this assertion that it's their patriotic duty to pay more for gas?

ROBBY STARBUCK (R); CONGRESSIONAL CANDIDATE IN TENNESSEE: You know, Will, I think people are tired of being gaslit. This is almost as ludicrous as the State of the Union where Joe Biden went out there and said that Democrats believe in funding the police.

I think that when you treat the American people like this betrayal after betrayal, eventually there's going to be a reckoning. You know, to the elite gas prices, raising $2.00 doesn't have the same effect that it has on normal people.

I was just down in Lewis County, part of my district, where there's, you know, maybe you know, tens of thousands of people down there and they are all feeling these effects to a different degree than the elite.

For them, it's choosing between medicine or gas. When that's your choice, it gets real very fast, and to pretend to these people that this is about freedom is a slap in the face, especially coming from the same people in the uniparty establishment, who went out there, and they forced masks on little kids for two years, they fired some of our bravest soldiers, because they wouldn't allow the government to inject something in their body that they weren't comfortable with. They fired nurses and you can go on and on down the list.

To pretend it's about freedom is just -- it's beyond comprehension, and you know, I think the American people are going to send a message in 2022 that this is not acceptable, and it is really RINO weakness that's allowed this and it's why we need people who are going to D.C. to fight.

CAIN: Well, that American -- the voice of the American people that you point out is what I find so fascinating. It's hard to stomach.

You know, David Frum, or former senators telling me exactly what the American people should be willing to sacrifice. I would for one, when we are talking about war, like to hear from the American people. And I guess our first chance for that will be in the midterms in 2022.

STARBUCK: Absolutely. And you know, right now, what they're asking you to sacrifice is your wallet. But what's next? Next is going to be them asking us to sacrifice our children, our boys and girls -- to send them off to some war that the elite will all profit from. And that's the truth a lot of people try to avoid, but that's where this goes. And it's why it's so important for the American people to stand up now and elect the right people in primaries who are going to fight, no longer do any of this stuff that the RINO establishment has done.

CAIN: And look, it maybe that the American people make that choice, but it's a little hard to stomach these people speaking so authoritatively in the place of the American people.

Robby Starbuck, always great to talk to you. Thanks for being on tonight.

STARBUCK: Thank you, Will.

CAIN: All right, this afternoon, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said the Biden administration is quote, "Looking at options to stop all exports of oil and natural gas from Russia." So what effect would that have on gas prices here in America?

Ray Mettetal the CEO of the San Antonio Refinery, and he joins us now to assess. I think, you know, Ray, many people are having the conversation about whether or not we should or should not shut off oil from Russia. Is it a geopolitical answer?

But for the American people right now, how would that affect everyone making their way to work tomorrow?

RAY METTETAL, CEO, SAN ANTONIO REFINERY: So I can tell you from the San Antonio Refinery's perspective, we run crude oil that's in our backyard, and we sell finished products that's in our front yard. And then suddenly, in December, the E.P.A. came out with some change in the way they've used some regulations, and those changed in the way they view the regulations would effectively put us out of business.

So I can tell you on that front that domestic energy independence is not in the forefront of the current regulatory environment.

CAIN: So depressing our domestic potential -- depressing our domestic production, putting us in a position where we sit today where in order to keep prices palatable for the American driver out there, we are buying oil from Russia.

So we can have the conversation about when that we should or should not shut off that tap, but why is that tap open in the first place? Why are we not maximizing what as you described it in our own backyard?

METTETAL: Yes, the production has been curtailed significantly over the last year in our backyard, in large part due to regulatory efforts and permits not being issued and the like.

CAIN: Yes, regulatory issues permits being issued, suppressing our own production. If you're not careful, you wake up one day and you're like Germany. You've leveraged away your own, not energy independence, let's translate that. You've leveraged away your own National Security.

Ray Mettetal, we wish you the best of luck with your business in San Antonio, and thanks for being on with us tonight.

METTETAL: Thank you.

CAIN: So a biological male named Lia Thomas has been dominating women's swimming. You've probably heard that story. What you haven't heard honestly, that much protest from the other women's swimmers.

Our next guest though, is one of the only politicians who has been willing to defend the concept of women's sports. She's released an ad doing just that and guess what? She's been suspended from Twitter. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CAIN: University of Pennsylvania swimmer, Lia Thomas is killing it. He's setting a slew of collegiate women's swimming records. Lia Thomas just posted the NCAA season best time in the 200-yard freestyle and the 500-yard free.

But Lia Thomas' success has angered many swimmers at UPenn because he is biologically a male. But UPenn has defended Lia Thomas, and now Lia is eyeing a spot on the U.S. Olympic team.

One member of Congress is speaking out against this.

Vicky Hartzler of Missouri just released this ad. Watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. VICKY JO HARTZLER (R-MO): Meet William Thomas ranked number 462 in men's swimming. Meet Lia Thomas ranked number one in women's swimming.

Only one problem, it is the same person.

Some people are afraid to talk about it. Not me.

I'm Vicky Hartzler. I ran and coach girls track and I won't look away while woke liberals destroy women's sports.

Women's sports are for women, not men pretending to be women.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAIN: Vicky Hartzler was suspended from Twitter for her stance on this issue. And she's now running for Senate and she joins us now with reaction. Vicky, thank you for being with us. I would love to ask you a question that I've wondered aloud at various times.

Whenever we hear someone has a problem with Lia Thomas, meaning other swimmers, other women in the pool, other woman on the team, it is anonymous.

Why have women's swimmers -- why have women athletes not stood up in unison against what's happening with Lia Thomas?

HARTZLER: Well, it's really sad. The 16 women on his team or her team, anyway, the swimmers team wrote an anonymous letter through a lawyer before the Ivy League Championships protesting that he would be on the team and they said they had to do it anonymously because they were told if they spoke out against their teammate, they would be kicked off of the team and they would never get a job.

Now who is speaking up for these female swimmers on the team? It's sad that they have to be anonymous, or else they're going to get kicked off the team. You know, the adults in the room should be making the hard calls and should be standing up for these female athletes that have been getting up and practicing for an hour every morning since they were 10 or 12 years old to have the opportunity to get to swim on a collegiate team.

And now to have that opportunity to win a medal to get a scholarship to achieve their dreams taken away by a male who thinks he's a woman, it is just wrong.

CAIN: Right.

HARTZLER: And we need to speak up for these female athletes and that is what I'm doing.

CAIN: Yes, potentially an Olympic spot to your point. And this entire conversation is always filtered through the prism of empathy, those that want to show empathy to Lia Thomas, but what about the empathy to all the women that are now deprived of what you just said, potentially a scholarship, a medal, an Olympic roster spot.

But you were banned from Twitter for the conversation we're having right now, for that ad. I want to show you this, Vicky. This is a list of items now, subjects, which basically are verboten on social media that will get you in trouble like you got in trouble, and it of course includes trans- issues, the 2020 election, of course not that 16 election by the way, you can question that one, and not the gubernatorial election in Georgia. You can question that one.

But the 2020 election, vaccine skepticism, masks, and of course, Hunter Biden, you can't talk about Hunter Biden.

You know, I guess you pointing out these women have are afraid. I guess they shouldn't be afraid.

HARTZLER: It's really sad when we have this woke social media platforms and the elitists who are determining what messages deserve to be heard and they think they're the arbiters of truth and our free speech rights are just totally being trampled on, and that is why those of us have to speak up and say: This is wrong.

And I'm not going to be quiet. Yes, Twitter suspended my account. They said that we will not reinstate it until you agree to take down the ad. And then after a 12-hour pause, count down, we will reinstate you.

And I told them, they could have their account back because I'm not going to be silent. Female athletes have worked too hard to get where they are and they deserve to have these opportunities.

I mean, a lot of news is going out about this particular swimmer and the records that he has set, but who is having the media coverage of the female swimmer who was denied the opportunity to even go to this championship because of this person?

CAIN: Right. Yes, you're absolutely right and it is hard not to come to the conclusion. It's not an exaggeration to say this is the potential end of women's sports if we allow this to continue.

Vicky Hartzler, thank you for jumping on the show tonight and talking to us about this issue.

HARTZLER: Well, thank you can go to standwithvicky.com and help me out. Support me.

CAIN: Okay, thank you.

So income inequality has increased by about 20 percent from 1980 to 2016. And what caused that jump? What can we do about it?

Well, to answer that question, Tucker recently sat down with investigative journalist Chris Leonard, who here, part of their conversation on "Tucker Carlson Today" laid it out.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHRISTOPHER LEONARD, INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALIST: It is probably one of the most important features of our economy today, the growing widening gap between the very, very rich and everybody else, not the rich and the poor. But you know, that great middle of Americans who earn a living through a paycheck rather than owning assets.

CARLSON: Wage earners.

LEONARD: Wage earners have fallen so far behind the very top of the very top, and let me say it's not some kind of philosophical argument or opinion to say that the Fed has widened income inequality. It's a mechanical fact, it's a reality of how the Fed creates money.

When the Fed creates money, it doesn't create it in the checking account of normal Americans, okay, it creates it in a set of 24 accounts on Wall Street, okay. These are the accounts of the exclusive club of financial institutions called primary dealers -- Goldman Sachs, Wells Fargo, JPMorgan, you name it.

CARLSON: Citibank. And there are just 24 of them.

LEONARD: That's exactly right, and they actually have a license. So it's - - you know, a license from the government that allows them to do business directly with the Fed.

And so when the Fed wants to create money, it has to create it in those 24 accounts on Wall Street.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CARLSON: It is an important issue, income inequality, and you can find Tucker's full conversation with Christopher Leonard on FOX Nation. Just head over to tuckercarlson.com.

So we're continuing to monitor developments out of Ukraine. It's nearly 4:00 AM in the morning there. We have a live report from Kyiv, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CAIN: Explosions continue to go off in the Ukrainian cities of Kyiv and Kharkiv. We go now to FOX's Trey Yingst. He is live in Kyiv with the latest -- Trey.

TREY YINGST, FOX NEWS CHANNEL CORRESPONDENT: Well, good evening.

Fighting continues to erupt across Ukraine. We'll look at a few different areas as we report here.

In the southern part of this country. There is a real concern that the port city of Mariupol will be totally surrounded and cut off from the outside world. We're talking about 400,000 civilians caught amid the crossfire.

Now, the Russians want this area of land because it will allow them to connect their Eastern and more central fronts in the southern part of Ukraine, and it will also give them control of an industrial zone that they'll ultimately flood with Russian occupiers to control this part of the country.

When we look further north in Kharkiv, we continue to see this frontline shifting back and forth. Reports in the local media here indicate Ukrainian forces are launching a counter offensive at this hour, trying to take back some of that critical territory along the Russian border.

And here in the capital of Kyiv, we have heard explosions in the distance tonight. Air raid sirens also sounding throughout the city. There is a real understanding that the Russian troops just 15 miles away from the city center could at any point try to push forward their offensive deep into the city.

This could cause severe civilian casualties here as they try to work their way into this capital -- Will.

CAIN: All right, so we'll be watching that throughout the night and into the morning. Trey Yingst, thank you for that report.

And that about does it for us tonight. Have a great weekend. Tucker is back on Monday, this time next week. Perhaps you get back to "Final Exam," but in the meantime, go check out "The Will Cain Podcast." It comes out every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.

This week, by the way, we go deep on Nazis, death squads, Soviets, and the history of Ukraine and we war game out a potential World War Three.

I think you'll enjoy it.

Go subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.

So Tucker is back on Monday. You have a great weekend. I'll see you tomorrow morning on "FOX and Friends."

Sean Hannity is up next.

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