Virginia and Florida senators on Middle East, border funding and more

(CBS, KYMA/KECY) - Senate Intel leaders Mark Warner (D-VA) and Marco Rubio (R-FL) spoke with Margaret Brennan on Face the Nation, saying U.S. troops should stay in the Middle East and that the risk of the conflict in the region is "very real."

Rubio said, "It's a dangerous and tenuous situation. There's no doubt about it."

Rubio and Warner also talked about President Joe Biden's plan to establish a port in Gaza to bring in humanitarian aid.

"The airlift approach is more symbolic than it actually getting relief to most folks. But the idea and I've discussed this with some of the folks in administration, of using Cyprus as a staging point where the aid can be checked to make sure nothing else gets in, the potential then of having that aid moved from Cyprus, to a place where we can set up the equivalent of a field hospital that could help provide the particularly in North Gaza, the humanitarian relief, that is both the right thing to do. And I think the right thing to do in terms of, particularly as we go into Ramadan, hopefully lowering some of the tension, but also shows America's concern for some of the humanitarian costs in the region."

Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA)

"I would just add one thing to this. And that is, it's important understand why. Everybody's in favor of helping innocent civilians who are caught in the crossfire of any conflict. I think it's important to understand the reason why aid can't get to them. And the principal reason why is Hamas has built this system of tunnels, it's expensive. I mean, I don't care if they got a great deal on the concrete, it's expensive to build this extensive system of tunnels, millions of dollars, that's money that could have gone to create an economy, to feed people, to build hospitals and, and serve civilians. They didn't do it. And there's real concern, and I think, very legitimate reason to believe that any aid that goes in there will be grabbed by Hamas used for their purposes, at the expense of the civilian population. Hamas has a track record of zero when it comes to caring about the lives of civilians or of society in general."

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL)

During the interview, Brennan, Rubio and Warner talked about the War in Ukraine, with Warner saying f the U.S. doesn't aid Ukraine now, "the rest of the world should never trust us again," adding, China's Xi Jinping "will take lessons from that."

Rubio said the U.S. southern border should also be a priority, citing "a migrant crime wave."

Later in the interview, Warner and Rubio talked with Brennan about TikTok, saying TikTok is "a national security issue," arguing the Chinese government's access to American data is "what we need to confront."

"It has an algorithm, a recommender engine, which is one of the best in the world," Rubio says.

To watch Brennan's full interview with Rubio and Warner, click here.