Ep. 525 — Amb. Michael McFaul

The Axe Files with David Axelrod

CNN

News

4.6 • 7.7K Ratings

🗓️ 9 March 2023

⏱️ 61 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In high school, Michael McFaul developed an interest in the Soviet Union that would eventually lead to him serving as US Ambassador to Russia from 2012 to 2014. Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last year, McFaul emerged as a vocal supporter of Ukraine. McFaul joined David to talk about his work advising on sanctions against Russia, why he believes that the US should go all-in on military aid to Ukraine, how Russian President Vladimir Putin could claim victory, how much time Ukraine has to turn the tide of the war, and his skepticism that Putin will resort to using a nuclear weapon.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Music
0:06.0	And now, from the University of Chicago Institute of Politics and CNN Audio, the Axfiles with
0:12.6	your host, David Axelrod.
0:15.9	I've spoken with former US ambassador to Russia, Mike McFall, twice before on the Axfiles,
0:25.1	once to share his own remarkable story, and a year ago to assess the nascent war in
0:30.0	Ukraine.
0:31.0	Well, the year has passed and that war still rages, so I thought it was time to invite
0:35.2	McFall back to assess where this wady conflict stands and where it's headed.
0:40.4	Here's that conversation.
0:41.4	Music
0:50.1	Ambassador Mike McFall, great to see you again.
0:54.1	This is the third time you've been on this podcast that's very, very rare.
0:58.9	I think Nancy Pelosi may be the other.
1:01.3	Wow.
1:02.3	I know.
1:03.3	The two most powerful people in America or, but anyway, you know, a year ago I asked you
1:07.7	to come back because of the war in Ukraine, which now appears to be, it was in its infancy
1:15.9	then.
1:16.9	Right.
1:17.9	We're now a year later.
1:19.7	And I really want to check back with you and see what calculations you're making now.
1:24.0	Well, what is different than you anticipated?
	...

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