Virginia senator on ongoing war with Iran

(CBS, KYMA) - Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) spoke with Margaret Brennan on Face the Nation Sunday about the ongoing war with Iran.

Brennan brought up her previous interview with Michael Leiter, Israeli Ambassador to the U.S., who said he was in the room the day when Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pitched President Donald Trump on the war, and said the press accounts were wrong.

When asked if this was true, Sen. Warner said:

"I was not in that meeting. I know two things. One, having seen all the intelligence, there was no imminent threat from Iran against the United States. And two, I take my former colleague, and now Secretary of State Marco Rubio, at his word when he publicly said, 'Well, we knew the Israelis were going to strike Iran, so we felt we needed to go ahead and strike first, since Iran would attack us.' So we are where we are, but let's- no American should forget this is a war of choice, chosen by the president, and if we just quickly look at the goals regime change, frankly, the new leadership is more radical getting the enriched uranium out would require 10,000 troops minimum, guarding a perimeter around a bunker where our troops would have to go in and get this very volatile uranium out...the Iranians could bomb that. We've taken down a lot of their ballistic missiles whether to be seen. They still have many left shooting down our planes. Thank God our military is world class and got those pilots out, but they literally have thousands of drones left. And this question about what the president is going to do with closing the Strait of Hormuz. The Iranians have hundreds of speed boats where they can still mine the strait or put bombs against tankers in closing the strait. How is that going to ever bring down gas prices?"

Regarding the 10,000 troop requirement, Brennan asked the senator if it was an official government estimate, or if it was with Iranian government's permission to have boots on the ground, and Warner said:

"This has been known for. There is a reason, the Iranian regime is awful. I agree with the ambassador on that they've been awful for 47 years. But there was a reason why previous presidents, including President Trump in his first term, didn't choose to go to war, because this is extraordinarily complicated, the fact that the president acts like he's surprised the Iranians closed the strait or would attack our Gulf allies. Anybody would have read the intelligence would've known that was first. The ability to protect our soldiers would require every estimate, I've seen at least 10,000 troops guarding a perimeter, sending troops into these bunkers for days on end. Very vulnerable. The Iranians still have ability to bomb their own bunkers. That is again a reason why I think action like this has not been taken before."

During the interview, Brennan also brought up a report from both CNN and the New York Times saying China is set to deliver new air defense systems to Iran within the next few weeks, with Ambassador Leiter acknowledging that China was considering helping Iran.

This prompted Brennan to ask Warner how he would describe Beijing's support at this point, to which the senator said:

"I would describe it as significant, but they try to hide themselves. China says, well, this is their private sector. We all know there is no such thing as a true private sector in China. Every company in China has to have its first loyalty to the Communist Party. But what we have done, let me also point out Margaret, by the Trump administration releasing sanctions on Russian oil. That's $10 billion to Putin. More crazy is by releasing sanctions on Iranian oil at sea, we have literally funded the Iranian government $14 billion that they're using to buy from China and elsewhere weapons to attack our troops. That is insanity in my mind."

To watch more of Brennan's interview with Warner, click here.