'Your World' on border crisis, Russia-Ukraine

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Border Patrol Chief Raul Ortiz provides updates on agents' morale and the border crisis on 'Your World.'

This is a rush transcript from "Your World," February 11, 2022. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAKE SULLIVAN, U.S. NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: If you look at the disposition of forces in both Belarus and in Russia, on the other side of the Ukrainian border, from the north, from the east, the Russians are in a position to be able to mount a major military action in Ukraine any day now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDRA SMITH, FOX NEWS ANCHOR: Russia is in position and could attack any day now, that from National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan just moments ago, who says a Russian invasion of Ukraine could take place while the Olympics are still going on.

Fears of a Russian invasion hitting stocks on Wall Street today, the Dow falling 504 points, after initially starting the day in positive territory.

Welcome, everyone. I'm Sandra Smith, in for Neil Cavuto. And this is "Your World."

Retired general Keith Kellogg making some dire predictions from what he is learning today. We will speak with him in just a moment.

We have got FOX team coverage for you, though, first with Lucas Tomlinson. He's live in Kyiv, Ukraine, where Ukrainian forces have been placed on high alert there, and Jacqui Heinrich at the White House on how the administration is responding.

We begin with you, Jacqui.

You had an opportunity to question Jake Sullivan multiple times with Jen Psaki as well in the White House Briefing Room.

JACQUI HEINRICH, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Sandra.

It felt a little bit more tense in there than we have heard over the last - - the course of the last several weeks when we have been talking about this Russian troop buildup on the border of Ukraine.

Sullivan shot down reports that Russian President Vladimir Putin has made up his mind to invade Ukraine and has relayed that information to his military, Jake Sullivan saying that we do not know that that's a decision that he's made, and saying that he has not seen any intelligence to suggest that.

But he did nevertheless tell Americans in Ukraine emphatically they need to get out of that country within the next 24 to 48 hours, really spelling out in detail what that country could look like if Putin does decide to move in, saying that air and rail and road will not be an option in order to get out of that country.

It could deteriorate, conditions could deteriorate very quickly. So it was just no apparent effort, though, that we heard of to get Americans out, to pull them out from the State Department. We have heard these warnings coming from the White House that folks need to get out of there. And we have been told that anyone who doesn't have financial assistance to get out of there, the State Department is helping them, but we have been warning that the military is not going to go in and rescue Americans and it is on them to find their way out of their commercial flights while they are still available.

Now, this, all this rhetoric does feel like an uptick from what we have heard over the course of the last several weeks. And I asked Jake Sullivan if any of this is evidence that the U.S. didn't take action quickly enough to deter this.

Take a listen to what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HEINRICH: Did the U.S. wait too long to arm Ukraine, especially with respect to weapons that could defend against an airstrike like you laid out? Did they wait too long to move U.S. forces to NATO countries? And does the president still view the idea of pre-invasion sanctions as a stupid question?

SULLIVAN: So, as to the question of waiting too long on arming the Ukrainians, over the course of the past year, the United States has provided more than half-a-billion dollars, $650 million in defensive assistance to Ukraine.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HEINRICH: He did not answer my question pre-invasion sanctions, which has been a really robust topic of discussion between lawmakers on the Hill, who are trying to hash out a sanctions package, but there's disagreement on if they should wait until after an invasion or do it ahead of time.

So I asked Sullivan again. This is what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SULLIVAN: The president believes that sanctions are intended to deter. And in order for them to work to deter, they have to be set up in a way where, if Putin moves, then the costs are imposed.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HEINRICH: So, the president has left the White House now for Camp David. He will remain there over the weekend. He did not take an opportunity to speak to reporters or relay a message to President Putin.

But we are told that we can expect a conversation by phone between the two leaders sometime soon, Sandra.

SMITH: And we will be watching for that.

Jacqui Heinrich live at the White House for us.

Jackie, thank you.

Now to Lucas Tomlinson in Kyiv, Ukraine, on whether the urgency is starting to sink in there with the citizens.

What are you hearing, Lucas?

LUCAS TOMLINSON, FOX NEWS PENTAGON PRODUCER: Well, not necessarily with the citizens, Sandra.

But I just spoke to a U.S. official close to the Ukrainian military who says -- quote -- "Ukrainian military is on edge tonight. I have never heard them more stressed than during calls today."

And that's a far different story than we have been hearing here on the ground in Ukraine for weeks, Sandra, where from President Zelensky on down to top Ukrainian officials, from the foreign minister to his spokesmen, to all -- many officials saying, don't panic, keep calm, and many doubting a Russian invasion would be even possible, if it would happen at all.

And, of course, a far different story than we heard from White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, who says there's a good chance of an invasion here in Ukraine.

And that is why officials here at the U.S. Embassy are not just -- they're calling American citizens, some of the 30,000 American citizens on the ground in Ukraine, and urging them to evacuate the country in the next 24 to 48 hours. They're saying, time's up. You can wait.

We heard from President Biden in an interview with NBC, saying the U.S. military is not going to come in to rescue them; 3,000 paratroopers from the 82nd Airborne have been ordered from Fort Bragg to fly to Poland to help in any potential evacuation efforts. But that's not going to happen here in Ukraine. That's going to be on the border.

But, right now, tonight, a much different story than what we have been hearing. Now, walking the streets of Kyiv just a short time ago, 30 minutes, 45 minutes ago, the restaurants are packed. It's a Friday night here in Kyiv. People are out. They're having a good time. It just hasn't set in.

But that's what we have been seeing here on the ground for weeks, people saying: We have been war for eight years with the Russians in Eastern Ukraine, in Donbass, of course, after the Russians annexed Crimea. We're just not as concerned.

But of course, a far different story than if the Russians launch a full- scale invasion with fighter jets, short-range ballistic missiles. You have seen these Iskander missiles being moved into Belarus. There's some 30,000 Russian troops doing joint exercises. They're supposed to end on February 20, when the Olympics end.

We heard from Jake Sullivan saying, the warning now is that the Russian military could launch a full-scale invasion here in Ukraine and take a significant amount of territory.

Now, I spoke yesterday to a retired lieutenant general, Ben Hodges, former U.S. -- head of U.S. Army Europe. He thinks the invasion will come from the sea. You look at Mariupol, you look at Odessa, the Ukraine's third largest city. These are lightly defended areas along the coast.

We saw the Russian navy put out a notice to Mariners, essentially blocking large chunks of water in the Black Sea, in the Sea of Azov, for missile shoots, testing weapons. The big concern here is that this Russian invasion could come from the sea. And there's really nothing anybody can do to stop it.

Certainly, it does not appear that these sanctions that the Biden administration has threatened, that the NATO and European Union and others in Europe have threatened just does not appear to be thwarting President Putin from doing this.

Remember, recall, Sandra, Russian President Vladimir Putin has never recognized Ukraine. He thinks that Ukraine and Russia are one and the same. And he feels very threatened by NATO. Recall, in 1999, when NATO expanded to include Hungary, Poland, the Czech Republic. In the West, people thought this was great. These former Warsaw Pact countries are becoming part of NATO.

Putin didn't see it that way. He saw it as a threat. And three weeks later, NATO launched airstrikes in Serbia. He felt threatened by that. In 2008, George H.W. Bush wanted Georgia and Ukraine to become members of NATO. Four months later, Putin invaded Georgia. That's what we're dealing with here on the ground.

So, so far, all is calm, but top Ukrainian officials are very nervous here tonight. And we're finally seeing some cracks in the Ukrainian military this evening -- Sandra.

SMITH: All right, Lucas Tomlinson the ground in Kyiv for us.

Lucas, thank you.

Meantime, NATO Chief Jens Stoltenberg says Europe is facing a dangerous moment for security. So, what should President Biden's next move be?

Former national security adviser to V.P. Pence Lieutenant General Keith Kellogg joining us now.

Since the last time you and I spoke, which was in the 2:00 hour, when these -- when Jake Sullivan was speaking live at the White House, General -- and thanks for being here -- we did learn the president did proceed with his plans to go to Camp David. He obviously has the ability to monitor all these events from there.

We're left wondering if we wake up to a completely different situation tomorrow morning or even Sunday morning to learn that Putin has indeed invaded Ukraine.

What is your estimate about what is about to happen?

GEN. KEITH KELLOGG (RET.), FORMER ACTING U.S. NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: Yes, thanks, Sandra. Thanks for having me.

Look, like I said at 2:00 hour, all the indicators are there that he's going. And if you look at it -- and I know Ben Hodges, and I disagree with him. He's going after the Eastern one-third of Ukraine. He's arrayed his forces that way. He will have a supporting attack to pin down Ukrainian forces to the north coming out of Belarus.

But he is clearly heading for the Eastern portion of Ukraine, because that one-third of Ukraine, which is bordered by the Dnieper River, is really primarily Russian-speaking. The rest of Ukraine is not.

And here's a big concern I have got. We're heading towards a major miscalculation. Putin does not understand the West. We have known that for years. The furthest west he ever went when he was in the KGB was actually into the eastern part of Germany. And he was never assigned to Britain or the United States or anywhere else.

So, he really doesn't understand America. And he doesn't operate that he really cares about what America thinks like. His -- there's a term in Russian that, based on my broken Russian I learned in college, called (SPEAKING RUSSIAN).

And what that means is without security. And his concern is, if you don't have security, then you don't have a protection of the homeland. And he thinks Ukraine is critical to that. And I think he's reached a point where everybody's talking past each other, the diplomatic efforts have failed.

And now we're going -- as we said earlier, we're going to a kinetic stage, which is an invasion stage, and he's ready to go.

SMITH: All right.

KELLOGG: He's put everything in position to do it.

SMITH: So, that kinetic stage that you are describing, Jake Sullivan took that up in the briefing and said: "If a Russian attack on Ukraine precedes, it is -- will likely begin with aerial bombing and missile attacks that could obviously kill civilians without regard to their nationality."

Very important point there, as the White House is urging any Americans in Ukraine to leave now, within the next 24 to 48 hours. What is -- what do you believe is the stance of an administration that doesn't send a message to Russia, saying, don't hurt any of our citizens, if you do, we will come after you, and anybody left behind, we will come for you, but, rather, if you're on the ground there, get out now, because we're not sending any troops in to save you?

KELLOGG: Yes, I think we have reached a point where we're beyond talking.

And, by the way, I think the first indication you're going to get of a Russian assault, there will be a very, very heavy cyberattack on all of their command-and-control and the communications networks to shut them down.

SMITH: Wow.

KELLOGG: Once you see that, once you see the cyberattack, then you're within hours of a major hit.

Look, I don't think he's going to go after the cities. I -- that's -- I can disagree with a lot of people, because the cities really do tie you down. That doesn't mean he's going to try to -- try to change the government. But he doesn't have the force structure to occupy major cities.

But he has enough forces to carve out a significant part of Ukraine. My frustration with what the administration said, you're just abandoning Americans again. If the president wants to send a strong signal, he said, I have got U.S. Marines protecting the embassy. I'm going to reinforce them with a whole lot of people, with paratroopers or whatever else it takes out there, and you're not going to mess with Americans.

Because if you change -- if you hit Americans, you have changed the whole dynamic of our relations going well into the future.

SMITH: And as far as what we just learned from the White House and Jake Sullivan about the timing of this, you and I have been going back and forth on that. Some believe it would happen, and Putin would wait until after the Olympics.

KELLOGG: Yes.

SMITH: The White House is now saying and warning that the risk of a Russian invasion is now high and immediate, and could indeed, in fact, happen before the end of the Olympics.

KELLOGG: Yes.

SMITH: Moving on to what you just said, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has ordered an additional 3,000 U.S. troops to deploy to Poland in the coming days to shore up NATO's eastern flank.

We know that an additional 1,700 U.S. troops are ordered to Poland, 300 deployed to Germany, 2,000 repositioned from Germany to Romania last week. Are you seeing enough buildup of support in the NATO countries? And would you ever support sending U.S. troops into Ukraine?

KELLOGG: No, Sandra, I wouldn't, because then you're -- then you activate, if that happens. You're starting to go down the road of activating Article 5 of the NATO -- of the London treaty or NATO treaty, which is, an attack on one is attack on all.

This is something that -- it's now we're looking in hindsight, but we should have been working on this issue well over a year ago to figure out what's going to happen to Ukraine, and try to prevent Putin from going into Ukraine.

But I think they're doing it -- it's almost we're talking apples and oranges. He's not going to attack NATO. He's not poised to attack NATO at all by his force posture. The other -- to me, that's an extinction level event.

If you want to go after NATO, he doesn't stand a chance on fighting NATO. We're too big. We're too powerful. So that's not going to happen. So, when we're building up forces NATO, I really am not too sure why we're doing it, because he's not going to go to NATO.

All of it -- he's got 70 percent of his army, Sandra, 70 percent of his army is now focused on Ukraine. It's not focused on going anywhere else. So, the big issue is in Ukraine.

SMITH: We did learn the U.K. -- that the U.K. is now warning its citizens to get out as well.

And just a final thought to you on the implications this has for the rest of Europe.

KELLOGG: Yes.

SMITH: As Boris Johnson says, this obviously puts Europe on edge.

KELLOGG: Oh, look, my frustration with Europe and parts of NATO is, there are partners who have not been partners.

And I'm going to single out Germany as a great example, when they have just refused to build up their military. When I was in Germany years ago, their army was 500,000. And it was a great army. They're at 60,000 troops right now.

SMITH: Wow.

KELLOGG: They're not even putting one -- over 1.4 percent of their GDP into defense.

They have just squandered a wonderful opportunity to help NATO and help the West. And, instead, they're kowtowing Russia with the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, getting 30 percent of their energy, at a minimum, from Russia. They have not helped at all.

SMITH: General Keith Kellogg, always appreciate your time, sir. Thank you very much.

KELLOGG: Thanks, Sandra.

SMITH: All right, well, the breaking developments on Russia and Ukraine having big implications on Wall Street, stocks selling off late in the day on that news from the White House as the briefing was taking place, the Dow eventually falling 1.4 percent, just over a 500-point drop there.

All three major averages did close sharply lower, the Nasdaq losing the most, down 2.2 percent, tech-heavy index obviously taking the biggest hit. And we will keep watching those markets for you. Quite a tumultuous week on Wall Street.

Much more on preparations the Pentagon is making. What Jennifer Griffin is now learning.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SMITH: More details coming in as the situation between Russia and Ukraine looks to be reaching a tipping point.

To FOX's Jennifer Griffin. She's at the Pentagon. She's got the very latest from there.

Hi, Jennifer.

JENNIFER GRIFFIN, FOX NEWS NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Hi Sandra.

Well, my sources tell me that it is wrong to suggest that Vladimir Putin has taken the decision to invade Ukraine and has communicated that to his generals.

But, at the same time, the sense of urgency increased after a Situation Room meeting last night and a series of phone calls to NATO allies that an invasion could come at any time.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SULLIVAN: We encourage all American citizens who remain in Ukraine to depart immediately.

We want to be crystal clear on this point. Any American in Ukraine should leave as soon as possible and, in any event, in the next 24 to 48 hours.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRIFFIN: Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has ordered an additional 3,000 U.S. elite paratroopers from the 82nd Airborne to deploy to Poland to join the 1,700 U.S. troops who deployed there from Fort Bragg last week under the command of Major General Chris Donahue, this as a Stryker brigade of U.S. forces began arriving overland from Germany in Romania, which, like Poland, shares a border with Ukraine.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SULLIVAN: They are not going to war in Ukraine. They're not going to war with Russia. They're going to defend NATO territory, consistent with our Article 5 obligation.

They are defensive deployments. They are non-escalatory.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRIFFIN: The chairman of the Joint Chiefs, General Mark Milley, spoke with his Russian counterpart, General Valery Gerasimov, the brutal Russian general already sanctioned in parts of Europe for killing more than 1,000 Ukrainian soldiers during the 2014 invasion.

He oversaw the brutal Russian invasion of Chechnya. General Gerasimov traveled to Belarus this week to oversee the largest Russian exercises to date, 30,000 Russian troops just a two-hour drive to the Ukraine capital, Kyiv.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SULLIVAN: As we gain more information, our view that military action could occur any day now and could occur before the end of the Olympics is only growing in terms of its robustness, so that I can stand here and say that is a very, very distinct possibility.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRIFFIN: It's important to remember that the peak freeze in terms of the ground that those tanks would need to cross over occurs, if you look at any almanac, on February 15. That would be on Tuesday.

President Biden held a video teleconference call with the prime ministers of Canada and Britain, the chancellor of Germany, the presidents of France, Poland, Romania, the E.U. and E.C. presidents and head of NATO today to prepare for swift sanctions.

General Milley and Defense Secretary Austin spoke to the military heads of seven key NATO allies, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Poland Romania, and the U.K., indicating just how serious the allies view this current crisis - - Sandra.

SMITH: OK, Jennifer Griffin live at the Pentagon for us.

Jennifer, thank you.

Let's get more reaction from the Hudson Institute's Rebeccah Heinrichs. She joins us now.

Rebeccah, great to see you. Thanks for being here.

We're all watching this situation unfold. The world is watching. There's two things that could happen.

REBECCAH HEINRICHS, THE HUDSON INSTITUTE: Yes.

SMITH: Putin's already built up his forces along the border there. He could either move in and invade. Or he could back down. We're left wondering, what could change his mind if he's already decided to invade, or what could push him over -- push them over the edge and actually move in?

What are we left wondering could change in the next 24 to 48 hours?

HEINRICHS: You know, the situation is grim.

I mean, every time you hear Jake Sullivan talk about the situation, it's more troops are ready. One of the things that has developed over the last 24 hours is these large exercises in Belarus. And so the Russians continue to build up their troops and increasingly surround Ukraine.

I mean, at this point, all the threats have happened, words have been exchanged between the United States and the Russians. You saw the U.K. foreign minister with her counterpart, Lavrov, the Russian counterpart. They had a very bad press conference in which the Russian walked out on her.

And so you have U.S. intelligence, you have British intelligence, other ally intelligence confirming really the same thing, that we believe that there is a credible threat of a real invasion about to occur. And, really, like I said, all the threats have been made, threats of sanctions. To the extent that the NATO is willing to impose sanctions, those threats have happened.

At this point, Vladimir Putin has to decide, is it going to be worth it to him to have those sanctions? And then he's going to have to make a decision. There's really nothing else we can do. It's just up to him.

I still am inclined to believe that it makes the most sense for him to wait until after the Olympics. I don't think that Xi Jinping would want him to steal some of his spotlight with what he's trying to do in Beijing. And those two countries are increasingly a de facto military alliance against the West.

But the situation is grim. I'm disheartened to see that those -- these urgent calls to evacuate Americans and to not offer them help. I wish that our administration was warning Russia not to touch a hair on the head of a single American, that the priority of American security and safety should be foremost.

And we're not seeing that or hearing that being conveyed by the Biden administration. And that is concerning, Sandra.

SMITH: As far as geographically, a final thought on this, as you can see the map on the screen right now, as we just heard from the White House, they do believe that, if the attack happens, it'll likely begin with aerial bombing and missile attacks.

That could obviously kill civilians without -- kill civilians without regard to their nationality, said Jake Sullivan just a short time ago.

Do you believe, as General Kellogg just detailed, that this initial attack would not involve the cities, while also noting that Sullivan said subsequent ground invasion would involve the onslaught of a massive force?

HEINRICHS: Yes, with respect to General Kellogg, I mean, I would just say the honest answer is, I don't know. I would warn people not to fall for this mirror imaging, is what we call it, whenever we think that because we wouldn't do it, because we as Americans wouldn't do it, because it's so horrific, we can't even imagine another rational country doing it, that doesn't mean that they share the same principles and values and risk assessment that we do.

And so I would be -- I would caution against thinking that the Russians wouldn't make that calculation. We know that the Russians will do assassination attempts with prohibited nerve agents on U.K. territory. We know that the Russians treat their people so terribly.

And so we know that they have a disregard for human life in a way that we don't. And so it is concerning. I do take these threats seriously. Again, they're corroborated by allies as well. And so we're pull -- I'm pulling for our administration and for our allies to convey the right kind of message.

But, unfortunately, Sandra, I'm just not seeing that it's going to be enough. And, again, we're going to see what Vladimir Putin ultimately decides to do in the next couple of days, possibly, if not the next week or so.

SMITH: Amazing to hear from Lucas Tomlinson, who was reporting just a moment ago on the ground and Kyiv, saying it's Friday night there. The restaurants and the bars, they're packed.

But he said the Ukrainian military is on edge tonight. He said he's never heard them more stressed than during calls today. That was according to a U.S. official telling FOX News and Lucas Tomlinson.

Appreciate it, Rebeccah. Thank you.

HEINRICHS: Thank you.

SMITH: We will bring you more developments on this as they come in.

Coming up: Remember when agents were giving Border Patrol Chief Raul Ortiz an earful over those migrant flights? Chief Ortiz admitting morale was at an all-time low. What is being done to change that? We will ask him.

And FOX has the latest from Ottawa, Ontario, as truckers there are not backing down until they get what they want.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PROTESTER: I don't know what Mr. Trudeau is thinking, but we're holding the line. Just drop the mandates, and we're behind you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SMITH: Morale among border agents dropping, as there is still no sign of that migrant surge slowing.

We will ask Border Patrol Chief Raul Ortiz about all of it, including that video of his tense exchange with frustrated agents.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SMITH: The truck stops here, as protests in Canada continue over vaccine mandates.

Now American businesses, especially automakers, are starting to feel the impact, as demonstrations limit access to border crossings.

To Alexis McAdams now. She's in Ottawa with the very latest from there.

What a day you have had, Alexis. Hi.

ALEXIS MCADAMS, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Sandra. Yes, a very busy day. That's right.

Last time we talked, you could see kind of atmosphere can change at any moment. Right now, though, behind me, you can check out. You can see lots of trucks here, about 400 trucks out in front of Parliament here in Ottawa, Canada, and they say they're not going anywhere, even though it's now under a state of emergency here in Canada.

Check it out. This is where Parliament is right over here. This is where all the actions have been going on throughout the day as well, as the prime minister has been speaking about exactly what his plans are to clear people out.

And they want everyone out of here within the next 40 hours, about. By Sunday, they want these people out of here. And if they don't leave, they could get about $100,000 in fines and even a year behind bars.

Ottawa police tell us the truckers are using sophisticated tactics, like flooding the 911 dispatch system with phone calls, that call -- and those calls rather coming in from the United States, according to officials. It's an issue Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says he's been discussing with President Biden.

Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JUSTIN TRUDEAU, CANADIAN PRIME MINISTER: The U.S. based flooding of the 911 phone lines in Ottawa, the presence of U.S. citizens in the blockades, and the impact of foreign money to fund this illegal activity.

President Biden and I both agree that, for the security of the people and the economy, these blockades cannot continue.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MCADAMS: But the blockades are still here. And, as I mentioned, the truckers say they're not going anywhere. For them, this is about their freedom. And they feel very strongly about this, people coming in from all parts of Canada, telling me they're not anti-vaccine by any means. Most of them are vaccinated.

I mean, 90 percent of Canadians, Sandra, are vaccinated. But take a look behind me. You can see still that heavy presence. The truckers say the government relied on them to work throughout the pandemic, said that they were heroes. They have kept the supply chain moving, but now they say the government has moved the goalposts.

Now, take a look here at this screen. This is exactly what the truckers are saying they want. They're demanding the end of vaccine passports, contact tracing programs, vaccine mandates, and divisive rhetoric. The group is protesting Canadian rules requiring cross-border truckers to be fully vaccinated.

Once again, a live look back out here. You can see now there -- you can pick up, once, it's kind of quiet out here and then people start blaring their engines -- or revving their engines, rather, and blaring their horns, which they're not supposed to do. But they want everybody to know they're here, which people across the country definitely know they are.

And people are watching closely to see how this is going to impact what's going on in the United States too, where people are also fed up with restrictions -- Sandra.

SMITH: As we mentioned, a lot of action all around you there. And I also told you earlier, I was looking at the weather. It's about to drop into single digits in the next few days there, which obviously changes a lot out of that environment.

Stay warm. Stay safe. Thank you, Alexis.

All right, the Ontario government freezing millions of dollars in donations to the trucker convoy, the money raised on the GiveSendGo fund-raising platform. We have been watching the story unfold. And the question is, is this legal?

Let's get the read from FOX News legal contributor Andy McCarthy.

Don't -- aren't they entitled to this money?

ANDY MCCARTHY, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: Well, Sandra, the interesting thing is, you probably know the French end of this better than I do.

But the Canadian -- we always think of Canada and us as so binded close together. But,, Canada's traditions are more British and French than they are American. They don't have a robust tradition of free speech and free political expression like we do.

They're advanced Western countries and all that stuff. But they're not -- they don't feel the same way culturally or legally, frankly, about government authoritarian moves to crush protest, as far as that goes. So, I think they have more leeway legally.

The question is, do they really want to go to the mat and go to DEFCON 5, like the rhetoric sounds, over something as stupid as this. I mean, it just seems so small to have this kind of a confrontation over.

SMITH: Yes, it is really something, though.

It was millions of dollars that were raised by the Freedom Convoy 2022 and Adopt a Trucker campaigns on the site. But then government officials, to your point, stepped in to stop organizers from assessing and doling out those funds.

In a statement about this decision, the company said that, while it initially supported what it believed was a peaceful protest, evidence from authorities showed that the Freedom Convoy had morphed into an occupation involving unlawful activities.

Wouldn't they have to prove that is the case to stop the money from flowing, Andy?

MCCARTHY: Well, no, because they're not the government. And they have terms of service that say, basically, you can't use our platform in order to finance illegal activity.

So they have the ability, as a private business, to make an assessment that their platform is being used for illegality, and they can shut it off. And, of course, the government, on the other hand, can go into courts and get orders that force them to shut it off.

So I don't think -- again, Sandra, I don't think the big thing here is going to be the legal issue. They will have plenty of authority to do what they're doing. The question is, is, this really worth doing it over? And I have a very hard time with that.

SMITH: Very interesting.

Well, there was obviously a lot of money flowing to the cause, a lot of people supporting it.

MCCARTHY: Yes.

SMITH: Andy, great to have you here today. Thank you very much.

MCCARTHY: Thanks, Sandra. Have a great weekend.

SMITH: And you too.

The U.S. stressing urgency, as Russia prepares an invasion of Ukraine, a U.S. official saying the Ukrainian military is on edge.

We will have the very latest.

And morale among border agents dropping, as there is still no sign of that migrant surge slowing. We will ask Border Patrol Chief Raul Ortiz about all of that, including that video of his tense exchange with frustrated agents.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RAUL ORTIZ, U.S. BORDER PATROL CHIEF: Every day, I wake up and I'm committed to this organization, and I'm committed to each one of you all.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We say the same thing, but it seems like the policies contradict us doing our job.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SMITH: FOX News Alert now.

We are just getting word that President Biden will be having a phone call tomorrow -- tomorrow with Russian President Vladimir Putin. They will speak tomorrow, this after we are told -- and this is confirmed via the NSC -- that Russia proposed a call on Monday. The United States counterproposed that this call take place on Saturday.

You do know, of course, that President Biden left for Camp David just a short time ago. So, one can assume that phone call will take place while President Biden is at Camp David. So the news is, Vladimir Putin and President Biden will be holding a phone call tomorrow, after Russia initially wanted it on Monday. The U.S. pressured to move it up. And that is what will be happening.

The read from retired Army Lieutenant Colonel Danny Davis now.

Colonel, thank you for joining us.

What does it tell you that this phone call will now take place tomorrow?

LT. COL. DANNY DAVIS (RET.), U.S. ARMY: Yes, this tells you that we're absolutely in the 11th hour.

And even more than this phone call, the U.S. officials have been now openly calling for all U.S. citizens in Ukraine, not just embassy staff, to leave within 24 to 48 hours. We're starting to withdraw the U.S. troops that we have in the western part of the country. Other nations are pulling their people out.

Everything on the ground shows you that something is about to happen and that we have a pretty high confidence level that it is. And this is probably Biden's last chance to try to negotiate this or to solve it with negotiations, instead of letting Ukraine get carved up, which it looks like it's about to happen.

SMITH: Some have suggested, based on the show of force Putin is showing on the border there, that it's too late for diplomacy.

But does the fact that this phone call is taking place and that Vladimir Putin is actually going to take the call with President Biden suggest there is room for optimism that the U.S. could de-escalate the situation?

DAVIS: Absolutely, it does.

And look, here -- there's a couple of hard truths that have to be accepted here by President Biden and really everybody in the West. And that is, number one, we just got to acknowledge, Ukraine is never going to come into NATO. We don't want them into NATO. It would be bad for the alliance. And all it would do is raise the prospect for war for all of us on a perpetual basis.

That is the worst thing we want. Concurrently, Putin has shown, since 2008, he is willing to use limited military force to prevent his border from being -- hosting a NATO country. And he has now shown very graphically he's willing to do the same thing here in 2022.

So what that should tell President Biden is, look, just acknowledge reality. Ukraine is not coming in. So let's don't hold a staunch position that the door will remain open, when we know that that's likely to be Putin's last chance to go ahead and invade.

Let's take that off the table, so it dramatically lowers the chance that Putin may want to, because it sounds like that Putin is still willing to not go into a wartime situation if he can accomplish its objectives with diplomacy.

SMITH: In order to talk him down from this, we have to understand why he's doing it, why he's lining up that show of force on the border, why he's not saying this, in fact, will not happen and move those troops and tanks away from the border.

Why do you suppose it's gotten to this point? As you just pointed out, you believe this phone call that we just reported indicates that this has entered the 11th hour.

DAVIS: Yes, I don't think there's any suspicious or guesswork involved here.

Putin has been extremely clear. And all the Russian leaders have been very, very vocal about saying, we will not stand by and allow NATO to come right up to our border. And, look, everybody in the United States could understand that. We would be doing the same thing if Russia or China was going to have some kind of military alliance with Mexico, for example. There's no way we would accept that.

And it's not reasonable for us to expect that Russia would have a different reaction. The fact is, we don't need Ukraine in NATO for our security. This has nothing to do with our security, and we should not press this issue, when we're probably going to lose.

SMITH: All right, and we will be covering every minute of it with that phone call taking place tomorrow between the two world leaders.

Colonel, as usual, appreciate your time, sir. Thank you.

DAVIS: Always my pleasure. Thanks.

SMITH: OK.

Meantime, think the tensions over there aren't directly affecting us right here? Then look at this, oil prices surging past $93 a barrel today, inching closer to $100. That means gas prices will be heading even higher. of course.

Economist Steve Moore says this is why we need to be energy-independent.

Steve, I go back to us initially reporting several weeks ago, when the situation was getting worse, that Russia is now number three on our list of countries from which we purchase and import oil. That is a drastic change from where we were in 2017, where Russia was nowhere near top five.

STEPHEN MOORE, FORMER DONALD TRUMP CAMPAIGN ADVISER: Yes, boy, how depressing is that, Sandra?

A year ago, just a little over a year ago, when Trump left office, we're importing no oil from any -- from virtually any country. We were, on net, exporting more oil than we were importing. We were completely energy- independent.

And what a difference a year makes. Now we have to go hat in hand to the Saudis and the Russians to produce more oil. If you look at the report that came out yesterday on inflation, Sandra, the number one highest increase in prices was, guess what, energy prices, which were up about 35 or 40 percent.

This is an unforced error. This was a result of a Biden policy that has stopped pipelines, stopped drilling on Alaska, environmental regulations that are trying to kill our oil and gas and coal industry.

SMITH: So, where do you stand on the pipeline? Where...

MOORE: And the biggest winner...

SMITH: Yes, go ahead.

Where do you -- yes.

MOORE: I was just going to say, the biggest winner is Vladimir Putin.

SMITH: Yes.

So where do you stand on this pipeline Nord Stream 2 being leveraged or not? In the current situation, as it stands today, as many of these military leaders in the White House continue to point out, the gas is not flowing. That's not a current revenue source for Vladimir Putin.

So is it leverage or not, knowing how badly Germany wants and needs that pipeline to happen and to bring in that gas? If it were not to happen, Germany would then have to eventually rely on energy to come from a lot of other places, could cause a an energy squeeze in crisis to happen in all of Europe.

MOORE: Well, there's two pipelines that are in the news right now. There's that pipeline you're talking about from Russia to Western Europe.

But then there's also the pipelines here in the United States, including Keystone.

SMITH: Yes.

MOORE: And that's not the only one that the Biden people have tried to shut down.

So, my answer to your question is, we should be building pipelines here in the United States. After all, these are infrastructure, vital infrastructure projects. And in terms of that pipeline in -- that goes from Siberia down to Germany, I mean, my goodness, there was a Financial Times story just the -- a couple of weeks ago that basically declared Western Europe is now -- quote -- "held hostage" to Russia for their energy, when we have -- we could liquefy -- use liquefied natural gas.

And we could be transporting our natural gas over to Europe. We should be doing that.

(CROSSTALK)

SMITH: Well, and that -- we should be working in that direction anyway, liquefied natural gas, being able to ship that over, to help the situation.

I always wonder where all that oil that the Keystone XL was going to carry down to Texas and the coast there, where is all that oil going, if we're not bringing it down here?

MOORE: Yes.

SMITH: Somebody else is going to get it.

I will do a little homework over the weekend.

MOORE: That's exactly right.

By the way, $95 a barrel -- or $94, $95...

SMITH: Yes.

MOORE: ... which is what it is right now, and we're producing two million barrels less a day under Biden than we were under Trump.

Do the math. That's $180 million a day we're losing as a country.

(CROSSTALK)

SMITH: And that's why gasoline prices are where they are.

I have got to leave it there. Steve, thank you. Good to see you.

MOORE: Thanks, Sandra.

SMITH: And this just in. A Canadian judge says he will order protesters to stop blocking access to that bridge between Canada and Detroit.

This just in. We will have more for you on that as we get it.

That surge at the Southern border, meanwhile, not stopping, 2,000 apprehensions in two days.

Border Patrol Chief Raul Ortiz is next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SMITH: To the U.S. Southern border now.

No end in sight for the surge, with the Del Rio sector alone seeing 2,000 apprehensions in just a two-day period.

FOX News correspondent Bill Melugin is in La Joya, Texas. He's got the very latest from there.

Bill, hi.

BILL MELUGIN, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Sandra, good afternoon to you.

It's been a busy week for border agents here in the Rio Grande Valley as well. Just on Monday alone, they arrested three MS-13 gang members and a convicted child sex predator with convictions out of the state of New Jersey.

And then you take a look at this video this morning, a busy day for them out here as well. They partnered up with the Texas National Guard and we saw them hunting for runners out in the brush. These are the guys who typically dress up in camo or dark clothing and are looking to evade, get further into the country. We did see them catch a handful of these migrant runners before they could get further into the Texas area.

Meanwhile, a massive gun smuggling bust. Take a look at these photos right here. This is an operation run primarily by HSI, ATF, in partnership with DPS and Border Patrol. They stop a car going through the Hidalgo port of entry. In the back of it, it looks like there were boxes of trampolines. They open those boxes up, 44 rifles, a disassembled M249 machine gun and 2,900 rounds of ammo.

It was a U.S. citizen driving that truck trying to smuggle those weapons into Mexico. She has now been arrested and is now facing federal charges. Last thing to show you, another sex offender arrest.

Take a look at this, Border Patrol's Tucson sector, a Mexican national with a previous conviction for unlawful sexual intercourse with a child under the age of 16 out of the state of California.

We will send it back to you, Sandra.

SMITH: OK, Bill Melugin in La Joya, thank you very much.

We want to get right to our next guest on all of this.

U.S. Border Patrol Chief Raul Ortiz joins us now.

First off, thank you very much for being here, sir.

How would you currently describe the conditions and the state of the Southern border as it is today?

ORTIZ: Yes, thank you, Sandra, for having me today.

I will tell you that, across the Southwest border, from San Diego all the way down to South Texas, our agents are doing a phenomenal job of interdicting, rescuing, and certainly addressing some of these migration surges that we have seen really over the last eight years.

A lot of people want to talk about that this is a recent migration surge. But I was deployed in South Texas in 2014 through 2019, and we saw surges of unaccompanied children and family units. And we continue to see some of that same traffic across all nine of our Southwest border sectors.

SMITH: Chief, we know that morale has been a problem. We have seen the video of the back-and-forth between you and border agents voicing their frustrations.

I want to get your response to that, but first for our viewers to take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ORTIZ: I have been doing this job as long as you all.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's the problem.

ORTIZ: What is that?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's the problem, Chief. For evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing.

ORTIZ: I can't hear you.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's what happening. For evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing. That's exactly what is happening here. Good men are doing nothing. You're allowing illegal aliens to be dropped off in communities.

ORTIZ: You are doing something.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, sir, we're not.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SMITH: For evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing.

What has come of that since we all were able to see the frustrations firsthand with that exchange?

ORTIZ: Yes, it certainly was a tense exchange, but it was also a very productive exchange.

I will tell you that Secretary Mayorkas and I were able to visit our teams in Yuma, El Paso, and Laredo sector over that three-day period. And we were able to dialogue and have conversations with our front-line officers and our mission support personnel.

And we understood that we were going to hear some of the frustrations. But we also got very productive feedback. Just in this last week, the secretary issued two memoranda really focused on that trip. One centered around making sure that the Department of Justice prosecutes anybody who assaults our agents out there. And we have had 182 of those assaults.

And the second one was making sure we got our processing coordinators into those processing centers, so our Border Patrol agents could get back out on the front lines. And that was a big part of those frustrations, is those agents want to be able to get out there and do their job each and every day.

SMITH: Chief, I'm happy to hear you say some progress came out of that show of frustration there.

How would you describe the morale today?

ORTIZ: Yes.

So, the morale is certainly going to be a challenge for us, not just because we're dealing with this humanitarian push that's coming us -- at us from 140 different countries, but also because we're dealing with it in a COVID environment. On any given day, I may have 400 or 500 officers that are in a quarantine status.

So, when a lot of departments and agencies out there are still managing in this office environment, my officers and agents are exposed out there to these migrant populations who -- we're dealing with this in a pandemic.

And so it really puts an extra strain on our work force. This -- over these last two years, I have lost 19 officers to COVID and two contractors. And, as a whole, CBP has lost over 60 officers. So, that really has put us in a difficult situation.

But I do think that, as an organization, we have shown tremendous resilience. And I'm awfully proud of the work that they're doing each and every day.

SMITH: I thank you very much, Chief, for joining us here. Appreciate your time. Appreciate your efforts.

As a country, we say, thank you for keeping us safe. Thank you.

ORTIZ: I appreciate it, Sandra. Thank you.

SMITH: All right.

So that will do it for this week. Thank you very much for watching.

"Cavuto Live" tomorrow at 10:00 a.m. Eastern time, the latest fallout from inflation and a potential Russian invasion. We will be watching it closely.

And I will be anchoring "FOX News Sunday." We have got John Kirby on the very latest developments on the Russia-Ukraine situation and that phone call with Vladimir president -- Putin and the president tomorrow. We have also got Colorado Governor Jared Polis on more Democratic states lifting mask mandates, and Louisiana Republican Senator Bill Cassidy.

Thank you so much for joining us here. I'm Sandra Smith.

And "The Five" starts now.

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