ENTANGLED. BUT THAT'S EASIER SAID THAN
DONE, ESPECIALLY WITH ATROCITIES ARE INVOLVED OF.
>> I'M JOINED BY BOB CORK HE OF TENNESSEE, CHAIR OF THE WILL
SENATE FOREIGN RELATIONS COMMITTEE.
TALKING TO YOU ABOUT SYRIA. IT FEELS LIKE WE'VE DONE THIS
QUITE A FEW TIMES. >> SEVERAL TIMES.
>> I WANT TO GET YOU TO RESPOND, IN PARTICULAR, WHAT YOU THOUGHT
OF PRESIDENT TRUMP'S ANSWER WHEN HE SAID IT'S THE FOLLOWING.
LOOK WHAT HAPPENED CROSS AD LOT OF LINES FOR ME.
MANY, MANY LINES BEYOND A RED LINE.
THEN HE SAID, I'M NOT SAYING I'M DOING ANYTHING ONE WAY OR THE
OTHER. A, YOUR REACTION, AND B, WHAT'S
YOUR ADVICE? >> I HAVE TO TELL YOU, HAVING
BEEN IN THE REFUGEE CAMPS, MEETING WITH SYRIANS, EVEN
YESTERDAY, SEEING THE PHOTOGRAPHS THAT THEY'VE PUT
FORTH OF TORTURE, THE ABSOLUTE TORTURE THAT ASSAD HAS PUT
AGAINST HIS PEOPLE. THE BOMBING OF HOSPITALS.
I THINK IT IS A VERY, VERY GOOD THING THAT THIS HAS REACHED THE
CONSCIOUSNESS OF OUR PRESIDENT, IF YOU WILL.
THOSE OF US LIKE YOU WHO HAVE BEEN AROUND THIS FOR MANY YEARS
WANT TO SEE THAT MORAL CLARITY ABOUT ASSAD.
IN MY OPINION, AS A WAR CRIMINAL, I THINK WE OUGHT TO DO
EVERYTHING WE CAN TO MAKE SURE HE IS CONVICTED.
HOPEFULLY THIS WILL GO FROM A MORE SANITARY APPROACH TO SYRIA,
SOMETHING THAT HE IS INHERITING, TO SOMETHING THAT IS MUCH MORE
HEART FELT OF THE I THINK THIS IS A VERY POSITIVE DEVELOPMENT.
>> YOU INTERVIEWED, YOU WERE ONE OF THE PEOPLE WHO INTERVIEWED,
IF YOU WANT TO CALL IT THAT, TO BE SECRETARY OF STATE, OR AT
LEAST SPOKE TO HIM ABOUT IT. DID HE ARTICULATE WHAT HIS
FOREIGN POLICY WAS TO YOU? WHAT HE EXPECTED OF HIS
SECRETARY OF STATE ON SYRIA? >> YOU KNOW, WHAT A GREAT POINT
TO BRING UP, CHUCK. BECAUSE WHAT I'VE SEEN UNDER
THIS PRESIDENT FROM THE TIME, NOVEMBER, DECEMBER TIME FRAME,
WHERE THESE CONVERSATIONS WERE TAKING PLACE UNTIL NOW, IS AN
EVOLUTION. WE'VE SEEN A VERY POSITIVE
EVOLUTION ON CHINA, A POSITIVE EVOLUTION ON ISRAEL, A POSITIVE
ISRAEL ON NATO. AND YOU'RE RIGHT.
I MEAN IN FAIRNESS, NOT TO GET INTO CONFIDENTIAL CONVERSATIONS
BUT SYRIA WAS SORT OF A DISTRACTION.
SOMETHING THAT WAS BEING INHERITED.
AND NOW I THINK YOU'RE SEEING FULL ENGAGEMENT.
THIS IS THE KIND OF THING THOSE OF US WHO HAVE WATCHED THIS
CRIMINAL ASSAD DO WHAT HE'S DOING WITH THE STANCE OF PUTIN
AND IRAN, THIS IS A GOOD DEVELOPMENT.
I REALLY DO BELIEVE THAT. SOMETHING THAT SHOULD BRING BOTH
SIDES OF THE AISLE TOGETHER. NOW HE'S FOCUSED ON IT IN A
DIFFERENT WAY AND SEEMS TO HAVE SOME OWNERSHIP OF IT NOW VERSUS
INHERITING THIS MESS THAT WAS, LET'S FACE IT, HAS BEEN
MISMANAGED BUT NOW IT'S HIS OF. >> I'M CURIOUS.
DO YOU GET THE EXPENSE MAYBE HE REALIZES HE MADE A MISTAKE WHEN
THEY SHIFTED POLICY WHETHER ASSAD SHOULD STAY OR GO?
>> I THINK THAT THAT POLICY IS SOMETHING THAT CAN BE EASILY
REVERSED. >> DO YOU THINK IT SHOULD BE?
>> IT IS NOT LIKE ANY ACTION HAS BEEN TAKEN.
I THINK, YOU KNOW, WE'VE DONE A TERRIBLE JOB IN OUR NATION ON
REGIME CHANGE. WE'VE ENDED UP CREATING A LOT OF
PROBLEMS. I GOT THAT.
I THINK WE NEED TO ASSURE WHERE HE'S GOING ON WAR CRIMES.
WE'VE GOT PLENTY OF WORK TO DO IN RAQQAH AND OTHER AREAS
DEALING WITH ISIS. BUT I THINK WORKING WITH OTHERS
TO ENSURE THIS GUY COPS WILL TO TRIAL AND IS CONVICTED OF ALL
THE DASTARDLY THINGS HE'S DONE TO HIS OWN PEOPLE IS WHERE WE
OUGHT TO GO. AND I THINK WE CAN LEAVE THE
OTHER, IF YOU WILL, TO LET IT EVOLVE A LITTLE BIT.
>> A BIG PART OF THIS WILL HAVE TO BE DEALING WITH RUSSIA.
YOU WROTE A TOUGH OP ED IN AUGUST OF '14 UNDER A HEADLINE,
OBAMA IS AN UNRELIABLE ALLY. ON SYRIA.
YOU WROTE THE FOLLOWING. YOU SAID WHEN FACED WITH THE
DIFFICULT CHALLENGE WITH THE REST OF CONGRESS, OBAMA REVERSED
COURSE AND SAID HE NO LONGER WANTED THE AUTHORITY.
INSTEAD THE PRESIDENT JUMPED IN THE LAP OF RUSSIAN PRESIDENT
VLADIMIR PUTIN WHO OFFERED A WAY OUT FOR ASSAD TO SURVIVE, EVEN
THRIVE, WHILE TURNING OVER SYRIA'S DECLARED STOCKPILE OF
KEPT WEAPONS TO THE UNITED NATIONS.
PRESIDENT TRUMP SEEMS TO HAVE MORE CONFIDENCE IN PUTIN DOING
THE RIGHT THING IN SYRIA THAN EVEN PRESIDENT OBAMA DID IN YOUR
CRITICISM THERE. DO YOU THINK HE WILL HAVE HIS
MIND CHANGED? >> I HOPE SO.
LOOK. I'VE SEEN HIM EVOLVE IN A
POSITIVE WAY. CHUCK, WE SEND AS MANY FOREIGN
MINISTERS AND PRIME MINISTERS TO THE WHITE HOUSE AS WE CAN.
WE THINK, WE'VE GOT A NEW PRESIDENT COMING IN.
HE HASN'T HAD A BACK GROUND IN THIS AREA.
ALL OF THAT INFLUENCES THEM IN A POSITIVE WAY.
I THINK REX TILLERSON IS A STRATEGIC THINKER.
HE HAS THE OPPORTUNITY AND I HOPE HE WILL FULFILL IT IN MY
OPINION TO BE AN HISTORIC FIGURE WITH ALL THE ISSUES THAT ARE
BEING DEALT WITH RIGHT NOW AND HIS ABILITY TO THINK IN
STRATEGIC TERMS. HE'S ADDRESSED OUR COMMITTEE.
I THINK WHAT'S BEING ADDED TO THIS ELEMENT, I HATE THAT IT IS
HAPPENING WITH DEATHS TO CHILDREN AND OTHERS, BUT WHAT
YOU'RE BEGINNING TO SEE THE ADMINISTRATION FEEL IS THAT
MORAL CLARITY THAT AMERICANS, THOSE OF US IN THE FOREIGN
POLICY ARENA CARE SO MUCH ABOUT AND SOME PEOPLE HAVE FELT HAVE
BEEN MISSING AND THE HEARINGS TAKING PLACE.
SO AGAIN, I THINK HE'S EVOLVING ON RUSSIA.
LOOK, THERE'S NO WAY THAT HE CAN EVEN POSSIBLY ATTEMPT TO ACHIEVE
THE RELATIONSHIP THAT HE TALKED ABOUT BEFORE WITH PUTIN.
WE'VE HELPED POISON THE WELL THERE.
PUTIN HAS POISONED THE WELL. BUT AGAIN, HOPEFULLY HE WILL
BEGIN TO SEE THE KIND OF PEOPLE THAT PUTIN SUPPORTS AND THE
EFFORTS THAT HE SUPPORTS AGAINST INNOCENT PEOPLE.
I MEAN, THIS IS A TERRIBLE THING THAT HAS HAPPENED.
BUT MAYBE A WAKE-UP MOMENT FOR THIS ADMINISTRATION RELATIVE TO
PUTIN. >> ARE YOU AT ALL CONCERNED THAT
WITHIN A WEEK OF THE UNITED STATES, OFFICIALLY REVERSING ITS
ASSAD POLICY, HE DOES A KEPT WEAPONS ATTACK?
>> HE'S BEEN DOING THIS FOR SOME TIME.
I'M NOT SURE THAT I CAN DRAW A RELATIONSHIP THERE.
HE'S BEEN DOING THESE THINGS. THEY'VE BEEN STARVING PEOPLE ON
PURPOSE. THEY HOLD ENVOYS OF MEDICINES
FROM PEOPLE ON PURPOSE. THEY BOMB HOSPITALS ON PURPOSE.
I DON'T KNOW THAT THERE'S ANY RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE TWO.
BUT HOPEFULLY THIS WILL MEAN THE PRESIDENT AND THE TEAM AROUND
HIM WILL LOOK AT ASSAD FOR WHO HE IS AND PUTIN FOR WHO HE IS.
>> TODAY, PRESIDENT TRUMP SOUNDED LIKE SOMEBODY, FRANKLY,
IT SOUNDED VERY SIMILAR TO ME, THAT PERIOD OF THAT THREE OR
FOUR-DAY WINDOW WHEN PRESIDENT OBAMA, SECRETARY OF STATE KERRY,
WHEN THEY WERE PREPARING THE COUNTRY FOR A MILITARY RESPONSE.
PRESIDENT TRUMP SOUNDED LIKE THAT WAS ON THE TABLE.
DO YOU BELIEVE HE CAN DO IT WITHOUT AN AUTHORIZATION FROM
CONGRESS IF HE CHOSE TO DO SO? >> WELL, THE PRESIDENT HAS
AUTHORITIES THAT HE CAN UNDERTAKE FOR 60 DAYS AND THEN
HAVE A 30-DAY EXTENSION. I WILL SAY THAT I DO HOPE,
UNLESS THERE IS SOME ELEMENT OF SURPRISE THAT'S NECESSARY FOR
SOME REASON I'M UNAWARE OF, I HOPE HE WILL COME TO CONGRESS
AND I THINK HE WILL FIND CONGRESS VERY WILLING TO
AUTHORIZE APPROPRIATE MEASURES IN THIS PARTICULAR CASE.
I GO BACK TO THE OP ED IN 2014. LOOK, I'M SORRY.
CHUCK, IT WAS ONE OF THE LOWEST MOMENTS IN FOREIGN POLICY.
WE DIDN'T EVEN NOTIFY THOSE THAT HE WERE GOING IN WITH US AGAINST
ASSAD OF WHAT WAS HAPPENING. IT HURT OUR CREDIBILITY.
WHAT I HOPE DOESN'T HAPPEN IS WE LAY OUT SOME RHETORIC, IF YOU
WILL, THAT MAY SOUND LIKE SOMETHING IS GOING TO HAPPEN
WHEN IT ISN'T. HOPEFULLY PRESIDENT WILL COME TO
CONGRESS IF THIS IS WHAT HE WISHES TO DO.
AND HE WILL FIND SUPPORT. >> FINAL QUESTION TODAY FROM THE
NEW YORK TIMES, PRESIDENT TRUMP ACCUSED THE FORMER NATIONAL
SECURITY ADVISER OF COMMITTING A CRIME.
THE PRESIDENT SAID, DO I THINK, ASKED IF SHE COMMITTED A YIM
THIS, DO I THINK, YES, I THINK IT WILL BE THE BIGGEST STORY.
APPROPRIATE FOR THE PRESIDENT TO ACCUSE HER WITHOUT PROVIDING
EVIDENCE? >> WELL, LOOK, I DON'T KNOW THAT
SHOULD I SPEAK TO THOSE COMMENTS IN PARTICULAR.
I DO HOPE THAT THE NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER RICE WILL COME
TESTIFY BEFORE CONGRESS AND CLEAR UP, IF I THINK SHE SHOULD
TESTIFY UNDER OATH BEFORE CONGRESS.
>> THE BURDEN ON HER? IS THE BURDEN ON HER OR THE
PRESIDENT WHO JUST WENT TO THE "NEW YORK TIMES" TO ACCUSE HER
OF A CRIME? >> I THINK ANY OFFICIAL WHO HAS
BEEN IN THIS WIDE ARRAY OF DISCUSSION THAT'S TAKING PLACE,
I ENCOURAGE OFFICIALS TO COME IN AND TESTIFY AND CLEAR THINGS UP.
IT IS GOOD FOR THE AMERICAN PEOPLE.
I THINK, YOU KNOW I'M MORE PRONE TO MEASURE COMMENTS AND I'M NOT
THAT ENTERTAINING TO YOUR AUDIENCE BECAUSE I'LL A MORE
MEASURED PERSON AND I APOLOGIZE. I DON'T WANT TO RESPOND TO THE
OTHER. >> SENATOR CORKER, AS
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