WERE MILITARY PERSONNEL. NEIL. NEIL: THANK YOU FOR ALL OF THAT, STEPHANIE. IN THE MEANTIME, I WANT TO GO TO THE FORMER U.S.S. COLE COMMANDER WHAT HE MAKES OF THIS. I KNOW I ASK YOU THIS A LOT, COMMANDER. BRING ME UP TO SPEED. HOW DOES THIS EVER END? >> I THINK, NEIL, WHAT WE REALLY NEED TO DO IS TAKE A LOOK AT THE LONG RANGE STRATEGICS OF THE U.S. AND ALLIES. SOMETIMES THAT MEANS TAKING PREVENTIVE MEASURES TO PREVENT RUSSIA FROM CONDUCTING THESE ATTACKS, KILLING INNOCENT CIVILIANS, MEN, WOMEN AND CHILDREN, WHO HAVE NO PART IN THE CONFLICT. CONSEQUENTLY SAYING WE DON'T WANT TO BE ESCALATORY, WHY ARE WE ALWAYS IN THE REACTIVE MODE? PLANS IT'S TIME FOR N.A.T.O. AND PARTNERS IN EUROPE TO GIVE UKRAINE A FLEXIBILITY THEY NEED TO ACT DEFENSIVELY BY TAKING THE WAR TO RUSSIA? >> DO YOU KNOW IF DONALD TRUMP BECOMES PRESIDENT AND SHARES THAT VIEW AND ENDS UP QUICKLY. I DON'T KNOW HOW HE PROPOSES TO DO THAT. WHAT DO YOU THINK? >> NEIL, I'LL BE HONEST. I'M CONCERNED ABOUT DONALD TRUMP, WHILE HE LIKES TO TOUT THE AMERICA FIRST LOGO, WHEN IT COMES DOWN TO IT, AMERICA FIRST DOES NOT MEAN AMERICA ALONE. THIS IS THE LARGEST CONFLICT ON THE EUROPEAN CONTINENT SINCE WORLD WAR II, AND THE REALITY IS, THE EUROPEAN COUNTRIES, AS MUCH AS THEY ARE DOING FOR UKRAINE NEED TO STEP UP. SPECIFICALLY GERMANY. THEY'RE NOT DOING ENOUGH. THEY NEED TO GIVE THEM MORE ARMAMENTS AND UKRAINE HAS BEEN INNOVATIVE, BUT BY THE SAME TOKEN, THE UNITED STATES SHOULD RELEASE SOME OF THE RESTRICTIONS WE'VE PUT ON IT TO ALLOW UKRAINE TO CONDUCT THE WAR IN A MANNER THAT'S PREVENTIVE IN NATURE AND STOPS RUSSIA FROM BEING ABLE TO TARGET THEIR INFRASTRUCTURE, ESPECIALLY AS WE'RE IN THE FALL AND GETTING READY FOR A WINTER AGAIN AND THE ELECTRIC GRID IS GOING TO BE A PRIME TARGET. NEIL: WELL, AS PART OF THAT STRATEGY, UKRAINE IS TAKING THE FIGHT TO RUSSIA AND ATTACKING POSITIONS IN RUSSIA AND THAT'S WHAT PROMPTED, VLADIMIR PUTIN'S LATEST COMMENT ABOUT NUCLEAR WEAPONS AGAIN. IT COULD BE JUST SABER RATTLING, BUT WHAT IF HE MEANS IT? >> WELL, NEIL, THIS HAS BEEN A DILEMMA BECAUSE IT USED TO BE BACK IN THE DAYS OF THE SOVIET UNION WHEN RUSSIA AGAIN COLLECTED ALL THE NUCLEAR WEAPONS FROM THE FORMER STATES. NOBODY BLUFFED WHEN IT CAME TO NUCLEAR WEAPONS POLICY. VLADIMIR PUTIN VIOLATED THAT WHEN HE STARTED THE INVASION INTO UKRAINE, AND AT THIS POINT, HAVING BLUFFED A NUMBER OF TIMES, AT SOME POINT HE MAY FEEL COMPELLED TO DO THAT, BUT I THINK IN NUCLEAR WEAPONS WE WOULD CLEARLY SEE THE COMMUNICATIONS THROUGH TENSE SOURCES AND METHODS AND GIVE US THE HEADS-UP AND NOT THE BACK CHANNEL TO DO THAT. BY THE SAME TOKEN WE NEED TO LOOK AT THE COUNTRIES THAT ARE SUPPLYING RUSSIA, WE CLEARLY KNOW IT, CHINA, NORTH KOREA. WHY NOT THE COUNTRIES THAT ARE SUPPLYING RUSSIA ACCOUNTABLE. MAKE RUSSIA PAY A PRICE. MAKE CHINA PAY A PRICE. WE DON'T HAVE TO GET INTO A WAR FIGHT, BUT AT THE SAME TOKEN WE NEED TO STEP UP AND STOP WEAPONS SHIPMENTS TO RUSSIA THAT ARE TARGETING UKRAINE. NEIL: COMMANDER,