The following is a transcript of an interview with Rep. Mike Turner, Republican of Ohio, on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan” that aired December 8, 2024.
MARGARET BRENNAN: We are joined now by the chairman of the Ohio House of Representatives Intelligence Committee, Congressman Mike Turner. Just an astonishing turn of events in such a short time. The United States does not have a diplomatic presence in Syria. Our visibility is a little limited here. What do you think Americans need to know about this turn of events?
REPRESENTATIVE. MIKE TURNER: Margaret, that was an excellent report, because you certainly laid the groundwork for an incredibly brutal civil war with hundreds of thousands of people dead, including from the use of chemical weapons. And of course, reminding people that the Obama administration said that this would be a red line, that we would use military force to end the use of chemical weapons, but they failed to do so. . This is an Islamic militia that rose up and carried on and is now succeeding in overthrowing the Assad regime. As your report indicates, it is originally Al Qaeda, but it opposes ISIS. He is supported by Turkey. This is a big blow for Iran, a big blow for Russia. We are witnessing what is likely disintegration in Syria. The big questions will be: What does this mean for the United States? What does this mean for Iran, Russia, neighbors Israel and Jordan, who are strong allies of the United States?
MARGARET BRENNAN: So you mentioned it here, and we showed the photo of Abu Muhammad al-Golani. He is the leader of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, commonly known as HTS. You’re going to hear a lot in the coming days and weeks about the rebel group that appears to be taking control. But they also work with the Prime Minister. The United States government put a ten million dollar price on Jolani’s head. Do you think the United States should still keep this? Should Americans be concerned that this will impact the terrorist threats facing the United States?
REPRESENTATIVE. TURNER: This is a terrorist organization and group, but it’s not just going to be a transfer of power and authority. This could be the case. We will obviously have to monitor this. You know, one of the things we’re seeing here, though, is a diplomatic failure with respect to the United States and Turkey. You know, the United States has troops in Syria. It is on the border of Turkey. Turkey is a NATO ally. The United States is working with the Kurds. This really could have been an opportunity for the United States to try to resolve the issue between the Kurds, Turkey and the United States and work with Turkish interests in Syria. Hopefully this could be an opportunity where there could be some diplomatic support that could hopefully help with this transition in Syria.
MARGARET BRENNAN: There are 900 American troops in Syria, in the south. Donald Trump withdrew American troops from northern Syria in 2019, abandoning our allies there. Do you think he will support the 900 American troops who remain there? Or should he consider removing them when he takes office?
REPRESENTATIVE. TURNER: Well, I think, you know, one of the things that Donald Trump will make clear is that any threat to us, the troops will respond in an incredible way. So everyone must understand, absolutely, that American troops must be safe. The second thing is that he fully supports the Kurds and he will seek a diplomatic solution. I think there will be an assessment as to whether these troops should stay or not. But you know, I think there’s an opportunity here for the parties, especially now that the roles of Iran and Russia are going to be dominated and diminished. They have provided brutal support to Assad and hundreds of thousands of people have been killed, including with chemical weapons, under Russian influence. Russia still has two bases, a naval base and an air base that are going to be, you know, both a risk to Russia, but also a risk to the Syrian population because they could – they have been used before to attack Syria. population. We’ll have to see what Russia does there. But it will be a very unstable and transitional field.
MARGARET BRENNAN: And no idea where Bashar Al Assad could have fled?
REPRESENTATIVE. TURNER: No, not at the moment.
MARGARET BRENNAN: I want to ask you, since we’re talking about the new administration, that Donald Trump chose Tulsi Gabbard, former congresswoman, former Democrat, now Republican, to be director of national intelligence, overseeing 18 intelligence agencies. Not only did she go and meet with Assad, but she publicly doubted the very reliable US intelligence assessments that he had done what we showed you pictures of him doing, using chemical weapons there. Do you believe she can truly represent the intelligence community, lead it, and be trusted to brief the commander in chief?
REPRESENTATIVE. TURNER: Well, I’m obviously very different in a number of areas, both in his judgment and his background and his experience, but what I trust is the…
MARGARET BRENNAN: –You smile when you say that–
REPRESENTATIVE. TURNER: The Senate is the Senate process, and I think this: The senators are going to put it through a process. She was nominated. She will follow the process and I think there will be significant debate and evaluation. I think-
MARGARET BRENNAN: – You don’t think it will be confirmed?–
REPRESENTATIVE. TURNER: …that Donald Trump has built in his last term, and I think he will in this term, a large national security team. I think CIA Director Radcliffe and Mike Waltz as director of national security are both great examples of people who are going to play a founding role. I think you’re going to see a great national security team.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Well, this is a community that you also monitor, so you can’t vote in the Senate, but it seems like she doesn’t have your trust. What about Pete Hegseth to lead the Pentagon in a time of global instability?
REPRESENTATIVE. TURNER: Yes, I think the Chairman of the Armed Services in the Senate made a great statement. He said we certainly support the process, and he has his support throughout the process, and we’ll have to see how it plays out. One thing is absolutely clear: the Pentagon must be reformed. We are not keeping pace with what Russia and China are doing when it comes to advanced weapons systems. At the same time, we see that advanced technology weapon systems are being used on the Ukrainian battlefield, as well as our acquisition systems and our accounting systems, our spending systems are not working in the Pentagon…
MARGARET BRENNAN: -It takes experience–
REP TURNER: – We need reform. We need reforms. Someone has to be able to lead this, and that will be the debate in the Senate.
MARGARET BRENNAN: I love it when I ask members of Congress, and they keep reminding me that they’re not in the Senate and don’t want to comment. I sense a certain uncertainty on your part, but I don’t want to put words in your mouth. I want to ask you, though, about what’s happening in Congress right now, and that’s something where there’s a rush at the end of this year to get a bunch of work done. Your Democratic colleague in the Senate, Mark Warner, said “there is an urgent need to address cybersecurity gaps in recent weeks.” Is it a priority for you to do something about this massive Chinese breach of US telecommunications?
REPRESENTATIVE. TURNER: You know, one thing that’s very disappointing, and we’ve seen from this administration, this malaise of this stagnation where they’re unable to move forward because the president is incapable of making a decision. Here we have this massive breach, this hack that happened from China, but we hear nothing from the president himself, no action from this administration as to their consequences. This doesn’t just require a technological solution. It also requires a diplomatic, nation-to-nation solution, with consequences for China.
MARGARET BRENNAN: – What would the consequences look like?
REPRESENTATIVE. TURNER: Today, under the Obama administration, China hacked the U.S. government’s personnel system, and there were no consequences, and now we see China hacking the entire US government system. nation. There must be consequences. They can be economical. They can be done in several ways. But right now, we don’t have any, we don’t have anything coming out of the administration. What we need to talk about is not technologically: how to solve this problem? But how do we deal with it, which is what Donald Trump is doing, saying China is our biggest threat. How can we deal with the fact that China is aggressively attacking the United States, and doing so in our telecommunications?
MARGARET BRENNAN: Question for the new administration to take this back. Thank you, President Turner. “Face the Nation” will be back in a minute. Stay with us.
