On this “Face the Nation” broadcast, moderated by Margaret Brennan:
- House Intelligence Committee chairman Rep. Mike Turner, Republican of Ohio
- Sen. Mark Kelly, Democrat of Arizona
- Sen. Thom Tillis, Republican of North Carolina
- Catherine Russell, executive director of UNICEF
- Ret. Gen. Frank McKenzie
Click here to browse full transcripts of “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan.”
MARGARET BRENNAN: I’m Margaret Brennan in Washington.
And this week on Face the Nation: Officials here and abroad are bracing for more conflict as we approach the one-year anniversary of Hamas’ brutal attack on Israel.
And President Trump goes back to Butler, Pennsylvania, 12 weeks to the day of the first attempt on his life.
Just six days into the month, and the October surprises are coming at a fast and furious pace, giving the candidates plenty of attack material for the final month on the campaign trail.
The Hurricane Helene recovery continues, and the death toll mounts, with both sides making multiple trips to the hard-hit area, home to two key battleground states.
(Begin VT)
DONALD TRUMP (Former President of the United States (R) and Current U.S. Presidential Candidate): People are dying in North Carolina. They’re dying all over. There’s five, six states. They’re dying, and they’re getting no help from our federal government, because they have no money, because their money’s been spent on people that should not be in our country.
(End VT)
MARGARET BRENNAN: We will fact-check that talking point and tell you why disinformation is rampant in the region.
Then: Can Vice President Harris tighten the gap between her economic record and Trump’s following a surprisingly strong jobs report and a drop in unemployment?
(Begin VT)
KAMALA HARRIS (Vice President of the United States (D) and U.S. Presidential Candidate): America lost nearly 200,000 manufacturing jobs when he was president, including tens of thousands of jobs in Michigan, making Donald Trump one of the biggest losers of manufacturing jobs in American history.
(CHEERING)
(End VT)
MARGARET BRENNAN: We will talk to two senators from battleground states, Arizona Democrat Mark Kelly and North Carolina Republican Thom Tillis.
Plus: On the eve of the one-year anniversary of the Hamas massacre in Israel, where does the war stand today, now that Iran has entered the conflict?
We will have the latest from House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Turner, former CENTCOM Commander General Frank McKenzie. And Catherine Russell from UNICEF updates us on the impact of the war on the region’s children.
It’s all just ahead on Face the Nation.
Good morning, and welcome to Face the Nation.
As we begin this broadcast, the airstrikes from Israel into Gaza and Southern Beirut are ongoing, and there is no end in sight to the war that is about to enter its second year.
The question of just how effective U.S. leadership has been and potentially would be in a new administration when it comes to Israel is one raised frequently on the campaign trail.
For a special election edition of 60 Minutes that will air Monday, our Bill Whitaker sat down with Vice President Harris and asked her about U.S. influence with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
(Begin VT)
BILL WHITAKER: We supply Israel with billions of dollars in military aid, and yet Prime Minister Netanyahu seems to be charting his own course. The Biden/Harris administration has pressed him to agree to a cease-fire. He’s resisted.
You urged him not to go into Lebanon. He went in anyway. He has promised to make Iran pay for the missile attack, and that has the potential of expanding the war. Does the U.S. have no sway over Prime Minister Netanyahu?
KAMALA HARRIS (Vice President of the United States (D) and U.S. Presidential Candidate): The aid that we have given Israel allowed Israel to defend itself against 200 ballistic missiles that were just meant to attack the Israelis and the people of Israel.
And when we think about the threat that Hamas, Hezbollah presents, Iran, I think that it is without any question our imperative to do what we can to allow Israel to defend itself against those kinds of attacks.
Now, the work that we do diplomatically with the leadership of Israel is an ongoing pursuit around making clear our principles, which include the need for humanitarian aid, the need for this war to end, the need for a deal to be done which would release the hostages and create a cease-fire.
And we’re not going to stop in terms of putting that pressure on Israel and in the region, including Arab leaders.
BILL WHITAKER: But it seems that Prime Minister Netanyahu is not listening.
VICE PRESIDENT KAMALA HARRIS: Well, Bill, the work that we have done has resulted in a number of movements in that region by Israel that were very much prompted by or a result of many things, including our advocacy for what needs to happen in the region.
BILL WHITAKER: Do we have a real close ally in Prime Minister Netanyahu?
VICE PRESIDENT KAMALA HARRIS: I think, with all due respect, the better question is, do we have an important alliance between the American people and the Israeli people? And the answer to that question is yes.
(End VT)
MARGARET BRENNAN: The special prime-time election edition of 60 Minutes airs Monday night at 8:00 p.m. on CBS.
After initially accepting 60 Minutes’ request for an interview with Scott Pelley, former President Trump’s campaign has decided not to participate.
Yesterday, former President Trump held a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, three months after he was injured in the assassination attempt that killed retired firefighter Corey Comperatore and injured two other attendees. Mr. Trump paid tribute to the victims and thanked first responders and Secret Service agents who protected him on July 13.
Despite the somber tone, Mr. Trump, his son Eric and running mate J.D. Vance all implied that their political opponents were responsible for the attempt on Mr. Trump’s life.
(Begin VT)
DONALD TRUMP (Former President of the United States (R) and Current U.S. Presidential Candidate): Over the past eight years, those who want to stop us from achieving this future have slandered me, impeached me, indicted me, tried to throw me off the ballot, and, who knows, maybe even tried to kill me.
ERIC TRUMP (Executive Vice President, Trump Organization): And then, guys, they tried to kill him. They tried to kill him. And it’s because the Democratic Party, they can’t do anything right. They can’t do anything right.
SENATOR J.D. VANCE (R-Ohio) (Vice Presidential Candidate): To Kamala Harris, how dare you talk about threats to democracy? Donald Trump took a bullet for democracy. What the hell have you done?
(CHEERING)
(End VT)
MARGARET BRENNAN: We turn now to the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, Ohio Republican Mike Turner.
Good to have you back with us.
REPRESENTATIVE MIKE TURNER (R-Ohio): Thanks for having me, Margaret.
MARGARET BRENNAN: I want to get to the Middle East, but first on this issue of concern regarding political violence.
Would you agree that language like what we just heard there is unhelpful?
REPRESENTATIVE MIKE TURNER: Well, I think it certainly characterizes the reality that Donald Trump has had two attempts on his life.
And I do think that there is work that needs to be done both by the administration and by Vice President Harris. The administration has come out and publicly stated – Matt Olsen from the Department of Justice on CBS News acknowledged that there is an active, ongoing threat from Iran to kill – actively plotting to kill Donald Trump.
You have had no statements from the administration towards Iran as to what that would be, which would be an act of war. And you don’t have any statements from Vice President Harris condemning this or even recognizing that there’s an active plot from a foreign nation to kill her opponent.
I think there’s certainly a role for her to play and for the president to play in this in both identifying that there are threats against Donald Trump that need to be acknowledged and responded to deter. I think all the candidates need to de-escalate certainly in their language.
MARGARET BRENNAN: But it is the Biden/Harris Justice Department – Matt Olsen works for them – who laid out those charges about the Iranian state.
You don’t mean to imply here anything that would suggest Eric Trump’s allegations that Democrats are trying to kill him, correct?
REPRESENTATIVE MIKE TURNER: No, of course not.
MARGARET BRENNAN: OK.
REPRESENTATIVE MIKE TURNER: But I do think that Vice President Harris needs to actively state and acknowledge that her administration is saying a foreign power, which would be an act of war…
MARGARET BRENNAN: Sure.
REPRESENTATIVE MIKE TURNER: … is actively trying to kill her opponent.
They have…
MARGARET BRENNAN: OK. That’s a different question.
REPRESENTATIVE MIKE TURNER: This administration has made stronger statements about Iran’s hacking activities than they have about the active plot to kill Donald Trump, which the administration acknowledged is ongoing.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Well, because of the concern in regard to anti- government violence in this country and domestic violent extremists, the language specific to who is carrying this out, I think you would agree, is important.
REPRESENTATIVE MIKE TURNER: Well, I think I absolutely agree that there needs to be a toning down on rhetoric on both sides.
But there has to be an acknowledgement, which has not happened from Vice President Harris, that there’s active plots from a foreign nation to kill her opponent.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Do you want the FBI to release the results of its investigations prior to November 5, as Senator Rubio on Senate Intelligence has called for?
REPRESENTATIVE MIKE TURNER: Its investigations into the assassination attempts?
MARGARET BRENNAN: The two assassination attempts, at this point…
REPRESENTATIVE MIKE TURNER: Yes. Well, they…
MARGARET BRENNAN: … which are not substantiated to have any ties to the state of Iran or to political actors at this time.
REPRESENTATIVE MIKE TURNER: Well, actually, then it really can’t be said that they’re – saying that there have been no substantiated ties doesn’t mean that the investigation has concluded that there are no ties.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Right.
REPRESENTATIVE MIKE TURNER: And I want those investigations to come to a conclusion and determine whether or not either of these plots have any nexus or connection to the active plot the administration is saying that Iran is plotting and attempting to kill Donald Trump, which, again, this administration needs to make clear to Iran that would be an act of war and needs to have a very strong response from the administration.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Well, before the investigation is concluded, because it may not wind up before November the 5th, would you like the FBI to make public some of its findings to rule out some of the conspiracy theories like we just heard from that stage, that the political opposition is responsible?
REPRESENTATIVE MIKE TURNER: I don’t think they’d be able to do that.
MARGARET BRENNAN: You don’t think they would be able to?
REPRESENTATIVE MIKE TURNER: I think they need to conclude, and they need to get to truth. I don’t think they would be able to get to a point to release information that would conclusively indicate that either of those individuals acted completely alone.
MARGARET BRENNAN: I want to turn to the Middle East.
You have already taken us there in talking about Iran specifically, but the – where we are right now is nearly exactly a year from that terrorist attack on October the 7th. You called that a huge intelligence failure from the Israelis when it happened.
Given all that has happened in recent weeks, I wonder what you assess about Israeli intelligence now.
REPRESENTATIVE MIKE TURNER: Well, the United States is working cooperatively with Israel in ways that we were not necessarily working prior to October 7.
And I do think that Israel has changed its focus in its intelligence collecting and its assessments of its intelligence. I mean, they certainly have risen to the occasion to understand that they’re in an active conflict and looking to ways to diminish the capabilities of their adversaries.
MARGARET BRENNAN: That nearest adversary at the moment appears to be the government of Iran.
What should the 40,000 U.S. troops that President Biden has deployed to the region be bracing for? Are you concerned that the United States will get drawn into this conflict if Israel carries out strikes on Iran?
REPRESENTATIVE MIKE TURNER: Right, so this is another area where the administration has not risen to the occasion.
President Biden said that the nuclear program of Iran is off the table, it should not be a valid military target by Israel and or the United States.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Do you think it should be?
REPRESENTATIVE MIKE TURNER: Absolutely.
In fact, the president himself, President Biden, has previously said that the United States would not allow Iran to get a nuclear weapon and that he would use military action if necessary. His own secretary of state has said more than two weeks ago that Iran’s breakout time to become a nuclear state was two weeks.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Right.
REPRESENTATIVE MIKE TURNER: So you have Iran now actively…
MARGARET BRENNAN: But it’s still not weaponizing. U.S. intelligence has not said Iran has made the decision to create a weapon.
REPRESENTATIVE MIKE TURNER: They have not publicly stated the current status of the program, other than what Blinken has said, that the breakout time was two weeks.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Right.
REPRESENTATIVE MIKE TURNER: The – looking to proportionality, where Biden says that Israel can only respond in proportion, is as if this administration says, Iran – Israel can send 200 missiles into Israel, and as long as we have missile defense that takes them out, we won’t look at Iran’s provocation there, trying to kill and destroy individuals and towns in Israel.
That should be the response. The understanding should be that Iran has moved beyond their proxies, Hamas, Hezbollah, and Houthis, to have direct attacks to Israel, and Israel needs to be able to defend itself, and Iran needs to pay a price.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Well, the CENTCOM commander is currently in Israel helping to advise some of the Israeli military.
But, just to be clear, the United States really only has the equipment that could take out the kind of underground facilities that are essential to the Iranian nuclear program. Are you advocating for the United States to be involved in offensive action?
REPRESENTATIVE MIKE TURNER: I believe it’s completely irresponsible for the president to say that it is off the table, when he’s previously said it’s on the table. For him to give Iran the comfort that their actions of attacking directly Iran will not have any consequences for their nuclear weapons program is irresponsible.
MARGARET BRENNAN: So, not a yes or no?
But I want to ask you about something that’s happening in your district, because you have a vested interest in what’s happening in Springfield, Ohio. This is the town that’s gotten so much attention in the past few weeks because of the Haitian migrant population there.
Going all the way back to February, you have been sending letters asking for federal help. You have brought some of the local officials here to Washington to advocate and how to deal with the strain of the population growth.
Have you gotten the federal help you have asked for Springfield, Ohio?
REPRESENTATIVE MIKE TURNER: No.
And Mayor Rue has done an excellent job in Springfield, both in advocating and in trying to pull the community together. He’s come here. We have taken him to the federal agencies that have the type of funding that should be released for what is a federally created problem.
The Biden administration, through expanding the parole program, I believe illegally, brought 500,000 people here from Cuba, Venezuela, Haiti and others. And 15,000 to 20,000 people settled in Springfield, Ohio.
But then the administration did something even more shocking last week. They indicated that they were not going to extend the temporary protected status that these individuals have…
MARGARET BRENNAN: Right.
REPRESENTATIVE MIKE TURNER: … which could result in their going into an illegal status.
And Springfield would have – these individuals would not have any direct federal support, and the community would get no additional assistance as to how to handle this almost 10 percent of the population of the city…
MARGARET BRENNAN: Yes.
REPRESENTATIVE MIKE TURNER: … that now would fall into an illegal status as a result of the administration terminating their protected status.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Which may happen in the coming year.
REPRESENTATIVE MIKE TURNER: In months.
MARGARET BRENNAN: So this could be an issue for the next president, whoever that president is.
Congressman, thank you for explaining.
REPRESENTATIVE MIKE TURNER: Thank you.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Face the Nation will be back in a minute. Stay with us.
(ANNOUNCEMENTS)
MARGARET BRENNAN: Joining us now is Arizona’s Democratic Senator Mark Kelly. He’s in Detroit this morning on the campaign trail for the Harris campaign.
Good morning to you, Senator.
SENATOR MARK KELLY (D-Arizona): Good morning, Margaret.
MARGARET BRENNAN: I want to talk to you about Arizona, but let’s start in Michigan, which is where you are right now. And it is going to be such a key state to a potential Harris or Trump victory.
Vice President Harris is facing challenges among black men, working-class people, as well as the Muslim and Arab population skeptical of the White House support for Israel’s wars. What are you hearing on the ground there from voters?
SENATOR MARK KELLY: Well, my wife, Gabby Giffords, and I have been out here for a couple days.
We have been campaigning across the country. Michigan. I have been in North Carolina, Georgia as well. I will be back to Arizona here soon. The vice president was out here speaking to Muslim organizations and the Arab community about what is at stake in this election and addressing the concerns that they have.
Well, we’re hearing issues about the economy, about gun violence, about supporting American families and the difference between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris, Kamala Harris, who has a vision for the future of this country, Donald Trump, who just wants to drag us backwards.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Today, in Dearborn, Michigan, there’s a funeral service for an American man who was killed in Lebanon by an Israeli airstrike.
It just underscores how that community you’re talking about out in Michigan feels some of what’s happening in a personal way to their community. Given how close this race is, do you think this war and the expectation it could escalate could cost Democrats both a seat in the Senate and potentially the presidency?
SENATOR MARK KELLY: Margaret, nobody wants to see escalation. And it’s tragic when any innocent person, whether it’s an American or a Palestinian, lose their life in a conflict.
Tomorrow is one year since October 7, when Israel was violently attacked. Israel has a right to defend itself, not only from Hamas, but from Hezbollah and from the Iranians.
But I and my wife, we feel for the community here who’s been affected by this. And that’s why the vice president was out here earlier, a few days ago, meeting with that community.
MARGARET BRENNAN: But it’s a live issue.
SENATOR MARK KELLY: Yes, sure. I mean, there is an ongoing conflict in the Middle East.
Israel is fighting a war now on, I think it’s fair to say, two fronts, and then being attacked by the Iranians as well. And they need to defend themselves, and we need to support our Israeli ally.
At the same time, when women and children lose their life, innocent people in a conflict, it is tragic.
MARGARET BRENNAN: You do sit on the Senate Intelligence Committee, and so I know you know how intense the efforts are by foreign actors to try to manipulate voters going into November.
Just this Friday, Matthew Olsen, the lead on election threats at the Department of Justice, told CBS the Russians are – quote – “highlighting immigration” as a wedge issue. That is such a key issue in Arizona.
Are you seeing targeted information operations really focusing in on Arizonans right now?
SENATOR MARK KELLY: Not only in Arizona and other battleground states. It’s the Russians, the Chinese, the Iranians. And it’s significant.
And we need to do a better job getting the message out to the American people that there is a huge amount of misinformation. If you’re looking at stuff on Twitter, on TikTok, on Facebook, on Instagram, and it’s political in nature, and you might think that person responding to that political article or who made that meme up is an American.
It could be – it could look like a U.S. service member. There is a very reasonable chance – I would put it in the 20 to 30 percent range – that the content you are seeing, the comments you are seeing are coming from one of those three countries, Russia, Iran, China.
We had a hearing recently…
MARGARET BRENNAN: Yes.
SENATOR MARK KELLY: … with the FBI director, the DNI, and the head of the National Security Agency.
And we talked about this. And we talked about getting the word out. And it’s up to us. So, thank you for asking me the question, because it’s up to us, the people who serve in Congress and in the White House, to get the information out there that there is a tremendous amount of misinformation in this election.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Yes.
SENATOR MARK KELLY: And it’s not going to stop on November 5.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Understood. And we will do our best to help parse that for viewers.
But on the topic of the border, President Biden did announce just this past week new regulations to keep in place that partial asylum ban that he rolled out back in June. That’s what’s credited with helping to bring down some of the border crossing numbers in recent weeks.
It was supposed to be a temporary policy, dependent on how many people were crossing at a time. Do you think this is the right long-term policy or is this just a gimmick to bring down numbers ahead of the election?
SENATOR MARK KELLY: Well, the right long-term policy is to do this through legislation.
And we were a day or two away from doing that, passing strong border security legislation, supported by the vice president, negotiated by the vice president and the president and his Department of Homeland Security with Democrats and Republicans.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Right. But this is not legislation.
SENATOR MARK KELLY: This was bipartisan.
This isn’t. But the legislation was killed by Donald Trump. We were really close to getting it passed. That’s the correct way to do this.
When you can’t do that, Margaret, when a former president interrupts the legislative process, the way he did, which is the most hypocritical thing I have ever seen in my 3.5 years in the Senate…
MARGARET BRENNAN: Mm-hmm.
SENATOR MARK KELLY: … after that happened, the only other option is executive actions.
And this has gone from what was chaos and a crisis at our southern border to somewhat manageable.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Yes.
SENATOR MARK KELLY: And if you’re the Border Patrol, this is – this – you need this.
I mean, otherwise, it is unsafe for Border Patrol agents…
MARGARET BRENNAN: OK.
SENATOR MARK KELLY: … for CBP officers, for migrants, for communities in Southern Arizona.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Yes.
SENATOR MARK KELLY: So, it’s unfortunate that this was the step – these were the steps that had to be taken.
MARGARET BRENNAN: OK.
SENATOR MARK KELLY: But that’s because the former president didn’t allow us to do this through legislation.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Senator, we have to leave it right there.
Face the Nation will be right back.
(ANNOUNCEMENTS)
MARGARET BRENNAN: We’re joined by North Carolina Republican Senator Thom Tillis. His state is among six recovering from Hurricane Helene, and he joins us from Charlotte.
Senator, I am sorry for the losses that you have experienced, 116 dead, your state hit the hardest here. What does North Carolina need?
SENATOR THOM TILLIS (R-North Carolina): We need increased attention. We need to continue to increase the surge of federal resources.
I’m glad to see finally we’re getting movement out of Fort Liberty and out of Kentucky with the 82nd Airborne, 101st. This is unlike anything that we have seen in this state. The scope of it is the size of the state of Massachusetts.
MARGARET BRENNAN: OK.
SENATOR THOM TILLIS: And we need all hands on deck.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Senator, I want to talk in depth about exactly what you need on the other side of this commercial break.
Stay with us.
(ANNOUNCEMENTS)
MARGARET BRENNAN: Welcome back to FACE THE NATION. We continue with North Carolina Republican Senator Thom Tillis.
Senator, before the break you were telling us that you had finally seen some movement from the 82nd Airborne. I know President Biden ha approved 1,000 U.S. Army personnel to supported the National Guard. What is happening as of today? Are those resources reaching who needs them?
SENATOR THOM TILLIS (R-NC): They are beginning to move. I think they’re moving a little bit more slowly than I had hoped. That’s why we have – why we’re working with the ground.
I want to thank all the local, state, federal responders out there. They’re doing extraordinary work.
But we’ve got to plus up the resources out there into some of the hardest hit areas. Areas that we haven’t even reached yet. And I, for one, think that can be done through the – through the leadership of an active duty DOD personnel, working with the state and – and with the National Guard. We just need to surge more resources.
We’ve got to clear roads. Most roads you still have to assume are closed in western North Carolina. I’ve been out there twice this week. I’ll be out there every day – last week, every day this week. But just the basics of debris removal, the rescue operations, things that the Department of Defense, the 82nd Airborne, the 101st are accustomed to doing in battle situations are exactly what we need in western North Carolina.
MARGARET BRENNAN: So, you would prefer the military be in the lead and not FEMA, is that right?
SENATOR THOM TILLIS: What I believe is that it has to be a coordinated response. And FEMA knows how to do this well. And they’ve done it in other major disaster events.
The – the American people and people in North Carolina need to understand, the scope of this storm is more like Katrina. It may look like a flood to the outside observer, but again, this is a land mass roughly the size of the state of Massachusetts, with damage distributed throughout. We have to get the maximum resources on the ground immediately to finish rescue operations and then, sadly, be there for recovery and rebuilding.
MARGARET BRENNAN: I notice that a state senator in North Carolina named Kevin Corbin (ph) had been posting on Facebook asking people to stop conspiracy theory junk, as he called it, including claims the government’s controlling the weather or stealing donation money.
Who or what is fueling that kind of misinformation, and do you think it’s harming recovery efforts?
SENATOR THOM TILLIS: Well, Margaret, when – when people – I’ve – I’ve been involved in a number of storm responses. And this is when, I believe, discipline is absolutely essential. Kevin is a friend of mine, and he’s right to call out people. Many of these – these observations are not even from people on the ground.
I believe that we have to stay focused on rescue operations, recovery operations, clearing operations. And we don’t need any of these distractions on the ground. It’s at the expense of the hard working first responders and people that are just trying to recover their life. So, I think they should listen to Kevin’s advice and do the same.
Look, if there are any challenges, call my office. We’ll track them down if they’re real issues. But, quite honestly, most of what I’ve seen out there is a distraction and not helping the core of the effort right here, which is to save lives and start rebuilding.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Former President Trump claimed the federal response in North Carolina was terrible and emergency funding is being spent on immigrants. Do you know what he’s talking about?
SENATOR THOM TILLIS: Well, here, let’s – let’s stipulate the fact that –
MARGARET BRENNAN: Is he right?
SENATOR THOM TILLIS: I think that the president is right to say that billions of dollars is being spent as a result of Biden’s failed immigration policies and border policies. However, we have the resources that we need. We’re going to have to go back and pass more resources. We could have a discussion about the failure of this administration’s border policies and the billions of dollars it’s costing. But right now, not yet is it effecting the flow of resources to western North Carolina.
MARGARET BRENNAN: It is not a factor, to be clear. OK.
SENATOR THOM TILLIS: Not at this time.
MARGARET BRENNAN: OK.
Homeland Security is projecting that FMEA can meet the immediate needs. But they’re not sure if we can make it all the way through hurricane season without more federal help. You’re asking for federal help, but the speaker of the House has – has said he’s not calling people back early to vote for approve it.
Are you going to try to persuade him otherwise when he comes to North Carolina this week?
SENATOR THOM TILLIS: Well, I think we have to look at it, because, Margaret, we’ve got a storm that’s about to hit Florida that’s going to occur – have additional FEMA surge resource requests over the next week or so. I mean we’re talking about a – a major rain event that’s forming down in the Gulf Coast. It’s supposed to hit the – two-thirds of the state of Florida. Other events could actually draw those funds down.
I’m in the camp of, let’s go back. We already know that we need additional resources. Let’s make sure that there’s never a second – there – there’s never attention drawn to whether or not they can move accounts around to – to respond to all these floods. Not just in North Carolina, but the storm events.
So, I’m in the camp of, let’s go provide some certainty, and then we can come back and do more after the election.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Well, that election is coming soon. And it’s not the federal government that administers it, as you know. But we do know in your state there are some concerns that Helene could impact the ability of North Carolinians to either vote in person or via absentee ballot. What is the state doing at this point? Does there need to be more attention to that?
SENATOR THOM TILLIS: The state’s doing a great job. I’ve spoken with Leaders Berger (ph) and Speaker Moore (ph) and – and others in the legislature. They’re coming back this week. They’re taking lessons from Louisiana, a number of other states who have had to provide ballot access and voting access in difficult situations like this. They will be passing legislative matters this week to address it. I think that North Carolina will be prepared to make sure that everybody who wants to vote will have access to the ballot and vote before Election Day or on Election Day.
MARGARET BRENNAN: All right, Senator, a developing story. We’ll continue to track.
We’ll be right back.
(ANNOUNCEMENTS)
MARGARET BRENNAN: We go now to our Imtiaz Tyab in Lebanon, who reports that after one year of fighting in the Middle East, the toll on civilians, especially women and children, remains high.
(BEGIN VT)
IMTIAZ TYAB (voice over): It’s been one year since Hamas’ brutal October 7th attacks. Since then, Israel has been waging a war on multiple fronts. In Gaza, which is now in near total ruins, over 41,000 Palestinians have been killed, mainly women and children. Close to 97,000 have been injure and nearly all hospitals have been destroyed as Israel’s war with Hamas shows no sign of letting up.
While in the West Bank, Israeli forces have carried out massive raids across the occupied territory.
IMTIAZ TYAB: Well, we’re here in one of several villages in the Israeli occupied West Bank. Palestinian villages, where the situation is extremely tense following Israel’s decision to launch what’s being described as one of the largest operations it’s conducted here in the west bank in decades.
IMTIAZ TYAB (voice over): Since October 7th, 741 Palestinians, including 163 children have been killed in the West Bank and east Jerusalem.
But it’s in Lebanon where Israeli attacks are only intensifying, following the wave of booby-trapped pager explosions, targeting Hezbollah members. Then, the assassination of its leader, Hassan Nasrallah, just over a week ago, triggering violence that seen more than 1.2 million people displaced and over 2,000 killed.
IMTIAZ TYAB: This was once a five-story building. And it’s pretty much all but obliterated. OK, we don’t know exactly what that was. That, clearly, a very loud strike in the distance. And it really just underscores the situation across southern Beirut as Israel continues to strike it heavily.
IMTIAZ TYAB (voice over): Some fleeing that violence have found shelter at Beirut’s Blue Mosque, like 14-year-old Mustafa Elmuso (ph), who showed us the pet birds he couldn’t bear to leave behind.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A rocket fell so close to us, he says.
IMTIAZ TYAB: You must have been so scared?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
IMTIAZ TYAB: You were?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
(END VT)
IMTIAZ TYAB (on camera): And over the past week Israel has also targeted the Houthis in Yemen, various groups in Syria and Iraq, and is now confronting Iran directly as the region braces for Israel’s response to the Iranian ballistic missile attack this week following the assassination of its key alley, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah.
Now, overnight, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel will win with or without the support of its allies.
Margaret.
MARGARET BRENNAN: That’s Imtiaz Tyab in Beirut.
The Israeli death toll, civilian and military, standing at nearly 1,700 in the last year according to the U.S. funded National Defense University.
The impact of the war will be felt for generations, which is why we want to take a closer look at children in conflict. In Gaza, at least 14,000 kids have died, another 12,500 injured according to the U.N.
Catherine Russell is the executive director of UNICEF, the U.N. agency that helps disadvantaged children around the world.
Good morning to you.
CATHERINE RUSSELL (UNICEF Executive Director): Hello, Margaret.
MARGARET BRENNAN: I know you’re deeply concerned, you have said, by what is happening right now in Lebanon. Thousands of children on the streets or in shelters because they’ve had to flee without supplies.
What is the speed of this escalation do to your ability to help these kids?
CATHERINE RUSSELL: Well, I think the speed and intensity is shocking, honestly. And it does make it challenging for us.
However, we have been in Lebanon. We’re on ground there. We are doing a lot of work moving in tons of supplies, medical supplies and other supplies.
But I think the challenge is that the – the population, about a million people, have been displaced. And so that kind of movement makes it very challenging to try to provide the services that people need.
But I think, you know, we’re there. We’re doing it. Obviously, we need more resources. That’s always a challenge. But I think I feel confident at this point that we can – we can meet the needs, but it – it’s take – it’s taking a tremendous amount of effort on our part to do it.
MARGARET BRENNAN: The U.N. refugee chief, one of your colleagues, said today that the strikes on Lebanon had violated international humanitarian law. Is that effecting your workers?
CATHERINE RUSSELL: You know, it’s – I would say, for humanitarian workers, the last year has been so challenging. I mean we have lost a record number of humanitarian workers around the world. There are so many conflicts going on in so many places where they’re so vulnerable.
And, of course, you know, as the – as the head of this, my operation, I worry constantly about our teams there and our staff there. And I think UNHCR, who you’re referring to, they did lose two staff people in Lebanon. And that’s a crushing thing to happen because these people are so amazing and they risk their lives every day to try to help children and – and – and desperate people. And to see that happen is – I s really crushing.
MARGARET BRENNAN: UNRWA told CBS that they are heading down the track to, quote, “a manmade disaster again in Gaza. I was told the food deliveries have been continuously declining since May. There are law and order challenges. That’s part of the problem. One million people didn’t get food in August. That number now is 1.4 million.
How bad is the malnutrition and the hygiene and the mental health of kids there?
CATHERINE RUSSELL: Yes. It’s all terrible. And I think if you look at Gaza, really through the eyes of a child, it’s a hellscape for children. They’ve been moved multiple times. They know people, their family members, who have been killed. They’ve been injured. They don’t have enough food to eat. They don’t have enough water. They don’t have clean water. I think these children, you know, you mentioned it earlier, they’re so traumatized by what’s happening. And I think the notion that we even – even if we can get more supplies in there, the trauma that these children are suffering is going to have lifetime and even post generation challenges for them because it’s just so profound and it’s been almost a year of this. They really – it’s hard to imagine what that’s like for a child, you know? You – you – you can’t really imagine anything comparable for them. And I think they have no security, they have no certainty in life. They’re just really suffering every single day.
MARGARET BRENNAN: But you were able to get polio shots into kids.
CATHERINE RUSSELL: Yes.
MARGARET BRENNAN: How come you can’t get them food?
CATHERINE RUSSELL: Yes, it’s such a good question. I – you know, we had – I mean first, I would say, it’s terrible that we had to go in and do polio vaccines, right? There hadn’t been polio in Gaza for years, decades really. And, of course, we started to see some cases of it. That’s because they – they’re living in such terrible conditions. The water is dirty and all the rest of it.
So, we were able, with other U.N. agencies, to go in and vaccinate children for polio. We vaccinated well over half a million children. I mean 500 million children. It was a – it was a real success story. And I think the important point about that is it shows that if the authorities there help us, make it possible for us to do our work, we can do it. We can definitely do it, but we need more support so that there’s security. As you say, there is not security right now. It’s very dangerous to move things around. The roads are a mess. We get stuck at checkpoints. I mean it’s just one logistical problem after another. And I think the polio lesson is, we can do it, and they can help us do it, if they choose to.
MARGARET BRENNAN: If there’s coordinated international pressure to allow for it.
CATHERINE RUSSELL: Yes. Yes.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Moving away from the Middle East and to Africa. I know Sudan is an issue you have been trying to put on the world’s radar for some time. Nearly 4 million children under five are acutely malnourishes, and there’s a cholera outbreak.
CATHERINE RUSSELL: Yes.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Can you break through there, another war one?
CATHERINE RUSSELL: Sudan is – is the most alarming place for me at the moment because of the scale of it, right? It is the largest displacement crisis in the world and the largest hunger problem in the world. We have already declared that there is famine in part of Sudan, right? Children are grossly malnourishes, and children are on the verge of famine in many places where it hasn’t already been declared. There’s also incredible violence. Children are moving constantly. They’re very vulnerable.
I was there, you know, several months ago, and the stories I heard were heartbreaking of what children had seen and experienced of this eight – 19 million children who live in Sudan, 17 million have been out of school for over a year.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Seventeen out of 19 million children are out of school?
CATHERINE RUSSELL: Out of school, yes.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Wow.
CATHERINE RUSSELL: For over a year. Right, what kind of life is this? They can’t get medical supplies. It’s really challenging for them.
But I will say this, I met with some children in a – in a camp that UNICEF supports. And the amazing thing was, they could still talk to me about the future, their hope for the future, which I – you know, I’m always struck by this, that children are children everywhere. And even in the most desperate places, they can have hope. But the international community has got to do better. And in Sudan, everyone has got to put pressure on the parties to stop the fighting and to stop making lives so miserable for children.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Catherine Russell, thank you.
CATHERINE RUSSELL: Thanks.
MARGARET BRENNAN: We’ll be back in a moment.
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MARGARET BRENNAN: To discuss the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, we go now to retired General Frank McKenzie, who was the former commander of U.S. forces in the Middle East.
It’s good to have you back with us, General.
We saw –
GENERAL FRANK MCKENZIE (Ret., Former Commander, United States Central Command): Good to be with you, Margaret.
MARGARET BRENNAN: We saw the U.S. and Israel say there would be severe consequences for what Iran did with those 180 missiles fired at Israel. President Biden said he doesn’t support an Israeli strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities and he’d be thinking instead about alternative targets to oil fields.
What do you expect the U.S. to do and what do you expect to happen in the next few days?
GENERAL FRANK MCKENZIE: Well, Margaret, let’s begin by saying, Iran is the country that’s in a corner. Their strike against Israel of several nights ago was not particularly successful. Their principle ally in the region, Hezbollah, has been decapitated and its own offensive capability is greatly limited. Hezbollah’s is greatly limited. So, Iran’s on their back heel.
Israel has a lot of choices here. They can choose for something that would be very escalatory in terms of a strike against the supreme leader himself perhaps or against the nuclear program or against the oil infrastructure, or they could look at military intelligence targets. They have a wide variety of options that they can choose from. They have the capability to execute most of those attacks.
I will say this, the nuclear target is a very difficult target. It’s large and complex. I held the plans for that when I was the Central Command commander. I’m very familiar with it. There are a lot of other alternatives to that target that perhaps you could go after first, then hold that in case you get into an escalatory ladder (ph) with the Iranians. But the Israelis are certainly going to hit back. And I predict it will be larger than the very restrained, very modulated response that we saw in April after the first large Iranian attack on Israel.
MARGARET BRENNAN: You heard the Republican chair of the House Intelligence Committee not advocate for an attack on nuclear facilities, but say it shouldn’t be taken off the table. It’s been widely reported for some time, General, that it’s only the United States who could effectively take out the underground facilities that Iran has. Does that remain the case?
GENERAL FRANK MCKENZIE: Well, let me begin by saying, you should never take a potential target off the menu. You want your adversary to have to plan to defend everything. So, giving – giving him assistance and not knowing – and not – and not having to defend against a particular target is probably not the best way to establish this kind of deterrence.
Having said that, the Iran nuclear target is a difficult target. We have special capabilities that allow us to get at it. The Israelis do not have all of those capabilities. They can certainly hurt this target if they choose to – if they choose to strike it. But again, because of its size, complexity and scope and how it’s expanded over the last ten years, it’s a very difficult target to take out. It would be very resource intensive. And I would just – I would argue, just from a purely military point of view, there are perhaps targets are more productive to hit in an initial response.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Do you want to give us some options?
GENERAL FRANK MCKENZIE: Well, again, I – you know, we talked about some of them. I think oil infrastructure is certainly a possibility. And the oil infrastructure can be very broad. You can look at refineries. You can look at storage facilities. You can look at locations where the oil is onloaded onto ships. So, within the oil target, it’s not monolithic. You can – you can be escalatory or less escalatory as you look at targets there. That might be something to take a look at.
But I’ll tell you, the other thing, Margaret, is, the Iranians made a big show of targeting the Mossad headquarters in – in urban Tel Aviv. Israel certainly has the capability to go after IRGC, Islamic Republican Guard Corps headquarters and intelligence buildings all around Tehran or anywhere else.
Again, as we know from April, Israel has the ability to operate, not with impunity, by with great force over Iran at a time or place of their choosing. And I’m sure they’re thinking about all those options right now.
MARGARET BRENNAN: There’s also that risk of unintended consequences. Since you’ve characterized Iran as cornered here, are you at all concerned that this could be the kind of event that would trigger them to actually pursue a nuclear weapon? They’ve given themselves options, but they’ve never fully pursued it in the way that U.S. intelligence has said the supreme leader would have to make the ultimate decision to do.
Could this be the trigger event?
GENERAL FRANK MCKENZIE: Margaret, it’s always been my belief that the Iranians flirt with breakout, with getting fissile material to create a bomb in order to extract concessions from us, because we dance, we’re very eager to come to an agreement with them on a nuclear issue, so they know they can get stuff from us.
They also know, if they cross that line, you can’t go back. That’s a Rubicon that can’t be recrossed. But even if they – even if they do develop the fissile material, which they could do within a matter of days or weeks, they still have a delivery problem. They’ve got to create a missile and an entry system that will allow it to take the missile to Tel Aviv, or whatever target they choose. That’s a matter of many months. And that’s the valley of death for Iran because you’re in that period of time they will have declared nuclear and they will be vulnerable. It’s not a physics problem then, it’s an aeronautical engineering problem. And the aeronautical engineering systems in Iran are going to be vulnerable to attack.
So, it’s not as easy as you might think for them to just declare, you know, we’re going nuclear, or to go nuclear.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Right.
GENERAL FRANK MCKENZIE: They’ve got to balance a number of things as they do that.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Important context.
If I can ask you, sir, former President Trump, as you know, faces an ongoing assassination threat as revenge for ordering the killing of Qasem Soleimani, that Iranian general. You played a key role in that, and I know you face threats as well.
Mr. Trump recently said, “big threats on my life by Iran. The entire U.S. military is watching and waiting.”
The Biden White Houses has condemned the threats, but some Republicans say it’s not loud enough. How do you think this should be messaged? Do you think Iran is getting the message not to go through with this?
GENERAL FRANK MCKENZIE: So, whenever we look at Iran, we need to look at, what’s their basic motivation. The principle goal of Iranian state craft is regime preservation. They view the election of President Trump as a direct threat to that regime preservation. So, I have no doubt believing that Iran is very active in its attempts to go after the former president, as well as other officials, of which I am keenly personally interested as well.
But I think that – that’s what’s driving their behavior is desperation, Margaret. It’s actually the same sort of desperation that drove the massive attack on Israel of three or four nights ago. They’re in a corner, and they – they really don’t have any good options. But they don’t want to sit still and do nothing. They do view President Trump as worse than – than – than the alternatives that could be elected.
MARGARET BRENNAN: General, thank you for your analysis.
That’s going to do it for FACE THE NATION for today. Thank you all for watching. Until next week. For FACE THE NATION, I’m Margaret Brennan.
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