Arkansas senator on Israel-Iran conflict and ICE raids in L.A.
WASHINGTON (CBS, KYMA/KECY) - Senator Tom Cotton (R-AR), Senate Intelligence Chairman, spoke with Margaret Brennan on Face the Nation Sunday about the latest on Israeli strikes against Iran.
Brennan asked Senator Cotton to clarify President Donald Trump's comments saying the U.S. had "nothing to do with the attack on Iran," but said "this is not America's fight, unless Iran hits the U.S."
"What the President said in his overnight post was a clear message to the Ayatollahs, that if you hit America in any way, whether our troops or our citizens or our ships, for instance, then you're going to feel the full force and strength of the U.S. military in a way no one's ever seen. That's a clear deterrent message, setting aside the threat that the nuclear program poses to Israel and to the United States, because let's remember, the Iranian regime has been terrorizing Americans. It's killed thousands of Americans. It's taken them hostage. It still chants 'death to America,' it's building missiles that can strike not just our troops or our friends in the region, but soon enough here in the United States as well. And that's why President Trump has been consistent for his 10 years in political life that we cannot allow Iran to have a nuclear weapon. We cannot allow them to have a path to a nuclear weapon with uranium enrichment. That's the deal that he was trying to negotiate for the last two months. But as he said early last week, Iran was simply too stubborn. They weren't willing to come to the table and negotiate. And I have to disagree with the reporter who said that Israel strikes in Iran ended those negotiations. It was Iran's stubbornness that ended them. President Trump was clear about that, and he is still clear that there is time if they want to come back to negotiate an end to the uranium enrichment program, that he would accept that. But he's given them chance after chance, as he said."
Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR), Senate Intelligence Committee
When Brennan asked if he shares President Trump's assessment the way "to finish this is through negotiating with the existing regime that the Israelis have called for the Iranian people to rise up against," Cotton said, "I think there's multiple ways to eliminate Iran's enrichment capability. They are today what they were Thursday morning, before these strikes started. As the President has said repeatedly, they can make a deal, or there's going to be bombing."
During the interview, Brennan and Cotton talked about the ICE raids happening in Los Angeles and the president's decision to deploy the National Guard.
"When you see left wing street militias who are throwing bricks and frozen water bottles at police officers and shooting them with fireworks, and unfortunately, you have mayors and governors in some places that won't allow police to maintain order, the next step is to call in the National Guard, and if the governor won't call on the National Guard, then the President has to federalize them. We always hope that the local police are allowed to do their job and have sufficient numbers to do their job to maintain order and protect innocent life and property. But if they can't, or they're not allowed to, the National Guard has to be on scene to restore civil order."
Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR), Senate Intelligence Committee
Earlier in the interview, Brennan asked Cotton if he supported President Trump's decision to pause raids on hotels, farms and restaurants, to which Cotton said, "I think we need to have robust worksite enforcement. I don't think ICE is going to show up at one or two restaurants where they have an illegal migrant working. Usually, it's unscrupulous employers who have large numbers of illegal immigrants working in their work sites. And whatever work site it is, whatever industry it is, ICE has to be able to go and enforce our immigration laws and remove illegal immigrants."
To watch more of Brennan's interview with Cotton, click here.
