On this “Face the Nation” broadcast, moderated by Robert Costa:
- Sen. Tom Cotton, Republican of Arkansas
- Retired Military Basic Stanley McChrystal
- FEMA administrator Deanne Criswell
- Retired Lieutenant Basic H.R. McMaster, former Nationwide Safety Adviser
- Larry Hogan, former Maryland governor
Click on right here to browse full transcripts of “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan.”
ROBERT COSTA: I am Robert Costa in Washington.
And this week on Face the Nation: Israel assassinates the top of Hezbollah, probably increasing the warfare within the Center East, because the candidates begin to really feel the warmth of one more world disaster.
Israel’s strike on the Iranian-backed terrorist group has put extra gas on the hearth within the Center East. As we strategy one yr because the Hamas assault on Israel, what’s the affect of this new entrance?
(Start VT)
QUESTION: Is a floor incursion into Lebanon inevitable?
JOE BIDEN (President of the US): It is time for a cease-fire.
(Finish VT)
ROBERT COSTA: With 5 weeks till Election Day, nationwide safety and U.S. international coverage are more and more a part of the dialog on the marketing campaign path.
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SENATOR J.D. VANCE (R-Ohio) (Vice Presidential Candidate): Good American diplomacy is what retains the peace. We’re not going to have it with Kamala Harris.
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ROBERT COSTA: We’ll converse with Trump ally Senator Tom Cotton and former Trump Nationwide Safety Adviser Lieutenant Basic H.R. McMaster.
Plus, we’ll hear from retired U.S. Military Basic Stanley McChrystal about why he is supporting Vice President Harris.
Maryland Republican Senate candidate Larry Hogan may even be a part of us, as we preview Tuesday’s CBS Information vice presidential debate.
Plus, we’ll get the most recent on the flooding and devastation following Hurricane Helene, the monster storm that swept by means of the South, from FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell.
It is all simply forward on Face the Nation.
Good morning. I am Robert Costa. Margaret is getting ready for Tuesday’s vice presidential debate. That could possibly be the final time this season that nationwide candidates face off in particular person.
And with simply over a month till Election Day, the highlight is now on how the following administration will cope with challenges throughout the board. Developing, we’ll have a look at the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, however we start with mounting fears of an all-out warfare within the Center East.
Our Imtiaz Tyab stories from Lebanon.
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(MAN SPEAKING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
IMTIAZ TYAB (voice-over): On this just-released Hezbollah video, the obvious burial shroud of Hassan Nasrallah inscribed in Arabic with the phrases “He was martyred on the way in which to Jerusalem,” as grief gripped supporters of the assassinated Hezbollah chief following the affirmation of his loss of life.
Many wept as they stood amid the jagged concrete and twisted metallic left by huge bunker-busting bombs used to focus on the towering determine, who was seemingly invincible.
However Nasrallah, who had been in hiding for years, was in the end no match for Israel’s navy may or its breathtaking intelligence capabilities after Israeli forces discovered and assassinated him at a time of sky-high tensions.
On the streets of the Iranian capital, Tehran, extra sorrow. Hezbollah has lengthy backed by Iran. And Nasrallah’s killing can also be a significant blow to his key ally, the supreme chief, Ali Khamenei, however for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who authorized the strike that killed him, a significant victory.
(PRIME MINISTER BENJAMIN NETANYAHU SPEAKING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
IMTIAZ TYAB: “Residents of Israel, these are nice days,” he stated. “We’re at what seems to be a historic turning level.”
That turning level hangs on how Hezbollah will now reply. However following the assassinations of Nasrallah and a number of other of the group’s prime commanders, its management has been decapitated and its preventing forces in disarray.
RAMI KHOURI (Distinguished Fellow, American College of Beirut): When the enemy kills the management or captures it or decapitates it, the motion comes again stronger and extra militant and subsequently extra of a risk. So, I feel the Israeli individuals are not essentially going to be safer or really feel safer.
IMTIAZ TYAB: On this still-smoking wreckage of the Beirut neighborhood the place Nasrallah was killed, the size of Israel’s actions right here and the concern of what it may set off noticed President Biden and Protection Secretary Lloyd Austin each insist they weren’t warned of the assault upfront.
The White Home has lengthy feared a significant escalation between Israel and Hezbollah may set off a regional warfare that might not solely attract Iran, however probably the U.S., as Israel continues to devastate Gaza for almost a yr now, with Hezbollah nonetheless insisting it will not cease firing rockets at Israel till there’s a cease-fire there.
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ROBERT COSTA: And Imtiaz joins us now from Beirut.
Imtiaz, has Israel delivered a deadly blow to Hezbollah with these strikes?
IMTIAZ TYAB: You recognize Bob, I used to stay right here in Beirut and have been reporting on Lebanon and Hezbollah for years now.
And Hassan Nasrallah, whereas cherished by many and hated by some, nearly all right here strongly admired his fierce resistance to Israel. However his assassination in that huge Israeli strike is probably going not a deadly blow to Hezbollah.
Now, that is as a result of Nasrallah did not rule as an autocrat. And, as we speak, it seems Hashem Safieddine will emerge as his substitute. Now, Safieddine is a primary cousin of Nasrallah and bears a hanging resemblance to him. The 60-year-old led the group’s Government Council, and he’s a staunch supporter of the Palestinian trigger and is extraordinarily near Iran, signaling he might rule fairly equally to Nasrallah.
Now, again in 2017, the U.S. additionally added Safieddine to the terrorist blacklist – Bob.
ROBERT COSTA: Imtiaz Tyab, thanks.
We’re joined now by Senator Tom Cotton, an Arkansas Republican. He sits on the Senate Armed Providers and Intelligence committees.
Good morning, Senator. We recognize you being right here.
What’s subsequent, Senator Cotton? Do you consider there might be an expanded warfare between Israel and Iran on the horizon?
SENATOR TOM COTTON (R-Arkansas): Nicely, Bob, I am unsure that Israel is increasing the warfare, a lot as it’s making an attempt to finish the warfare.
I feel it is vital to emphasize simply form of enormous blow the final two weeks have been in opposition to Hezbollah. Iran is behind all of those terror networks, however Hezbollah is its most potent weapon. Hezbollah has over 100,000 rockets and missiles and mortars geared toward Israel. Iran has used that risk to discourage Israel for years, going again most likely 20 years or so.
And now that Israel has completely devastated the complete management construction of Hezbollah, whether or not it is on the assaults that got here simply late final week, killing not solely Hassan Nasrallah and all the opposite leaders, or a few of their different actions, or hitting their weapons depots and manufacturing websites in Syria, now just isn’t the time for a cease-fire or to de-escalate, as Joe Biden and Kamala Harris need.
Hezbollah is on its knees. The US ought to assist Israel drive Hezbollah to the mat and choke it out and end it off as soon as and for all. Which means, for the primary time in many years, Iran could be uncovered on its flanks with no terror proxy succesful – able to devastating Israel or our troops and our pals within the area.
That is what we should always do, not demand that now we have a stop hearth, de-escalate at a time when Israel is making an attempt to win. We should always let Israel win.
ROBERT COSTA: Senator Cotton, if you say, drive Hezbollah to the mat, would that imply a floor invasion of Lebanon by Israel? And would you help that type of incursion?
SENATOR TOM COTTON: If that is what Israel must do to get rid of the remnants of Hezbollah’s management and its arsenal, then, sure, in fact.
Once more, Hezbollah had over 100,00 missiles and rockets and mortars. Now a variety of these have most likely already been destroyed. Israel must destroy all of them. A variety of Hezbollah’s management has been destroyed as properly. This man that you simply all simply cited there, possibly he is the chief. I do not know who’s in command of Hezbollah. I am unsure anybody else does both.
It is most likely somebody who wasn’t vital sufficient to have a beeper or a walkie-talkie as just lately as two weeks in the past. However all of Hezbollah’s management must be eradicated, similar to all of its arsenal must be eradicated, similar to the US must be far more forceful in attacking Iran’s terror military in Yemen, the place Joe Biden and Kamala Harris have had our sailors resting like sitting geese on the Crimson Sea for months.
Once we end mopping up all of those terrorist proxies, which means Iran as soon as once more is completely uncovered. It now not can threaten Israel and the US and our pals all through the area. That is why we have to again Israel to the hilt and let Israel win, relatively than proceed to make these feckless calls for for cease-fires and de-escalation that Kamala Harris and Joe Biden have been doing for a yr now.
ROBERT COSTA: You sit on the Senate Intelligence Committee. Is there an alarm sounding in your ranks about any potential threats to People within the Center East or to U.S. targets at this level?
SENATOR TOM COTTON: Nicely, from the minute Joe Biden and Kamala Harris bought to the White Home, there have been threats to People. Iran and its proxies have attacked our troops over 100 instances.
ROBERT COSTA: However within the wake of this newest information?
SENATOR TOM COTTON: And we barely ever struck again. There’s been continued assaults on us.
Once more, similar to we should always help Israel in hanging again in opposition to these terrorists, we needs to be hanging again tougher once more. However that is not Kamala Harris and Joe Biden’s coverage. From the very starting, they’ve appeased and conciliated the ayatollahs. Kamala Harris, for example, opposed Donald Trump’s strike that killed Iran’s terrorist mastermind in 2020.
Over the past 4 years, they’ve given away tens of billions of {dollars} in sanctions reduction. They’ve regarded the opposite method as Iran violates sanctions. They’ve frequently put extra strain on Israel than they placed on Iran’s terrorist proxy. That is why Kamala Harris is the ayatollahs’ handpicked candidate, and why the ayatollahs are hacking into Donald Trump’s marketing campaign and making an attempt to kill him.
ROBERT COSTA: Turning to Ukraine, former President Donald Trump, you are an enormous supporter of his.
He met with President Zelenskyy in current days in New York. He talked a couple of potential deal to finish the warfare. What sort of deal would that be? How wouldn’t it precisely look? You are near Trump and this course of.
SENATOR TOM COTTON: Nicely, he hasn’t been particular, and I feel that is for a cause.
One, he does not know what the world goes to appear like in one other three months when he takes workplace. He does not know the way far more Joe Biden Kamala Harris may screw issues up. However here is what we do know. This by no means would have occurred on Donald Trump’s watch as a result of it did not occur on Donald Trump’s watch.
Vladimir Putin has invaded Ukraine twice, each instances with Joe Biden within the White Home, first as Barack Obama’s understudy, second with Kamala Harris within the White Home with him. That got here only a few months after the disastrous collapse in Afghanistan. These issues usually are not unrelated.
While you challenge weak point, as Kamala Harris and Joe Biden have, and also you recommend to your enemies that they will push you round and stroll throughout you, you get the type of conflicts we see in Europe and that we see in Israel, and also you get the chaos we see at our southern border.
Bob, the administration – Bob, the administration simply acknowledged…
(CROSSTALK)
ROBERT COSTA: I do know, however – Ukraine for a second. Simply pause on this for a second, Senator.
Senator Vance, who’s going to be on the vice presidential debate on Tuesday, hosted by CBS Information, he is talked about on a current podcast a demilitarized zone as part of a possible peace deal between Ukraine and Russia. He stated it may appear like one thing like the present line of demarcation between Russia and Ukraine that turns into a demilitarized zone, closely fortified so the Russians do not invade once more.
The main points matter right here. Would a demilitarized zone be one thing as a part of a peace deal that you’d be snug with as a Republican senator?
SENATOR TOM COTTON: Nicely, the – the main points do matter.
However Donald Trump has stated he isn’t going to barter in opposition to himself or in opposition to Ukraine upfront. As soon as he takes workplace, that is the time to start out hammering out the main points in non-public and to ensure that one thing like this may’t occur once more, which did not occur when he was president after the primary invasion of Ukraine.
However, once more, I simply need to say the chaos that Joe Biden and Kamala Harris have unleashed throughout this world is not restricted to the opposite aspect of the world. It occurs proper right here. The administration simply acknowledged that they launched greater than 13,000 convicted murderers who illegally entered this nation, greater than 15,000 convicted intercourse offenders.
That is 28,000 rapists and murderers who illegally entered our nation who Kamala Harris and Joe Biden have let roam our streets. That is the type of chaos that they’ve unleashed for the final 4 years and that Donald Trump will put an finish to.
ROBERT COSTA: You are confronting the Democrats right here on this present. You are mentioning your entire totally different arguments.
Former President Trump, despite the fact that there are only a few weeks left within the marketing campaign, has to date stated he doesn’t need to take part in one other debate with Vice President Harris. Is {that a} mistake? Do the American individuals deserve to listen to extra from former President Trump and the vice chairman about their views?
SENATOR TOM COTTON: Nicely, I feel they deserve to listen to much more from Kamala Harris, as a result of she’s been mendacity to them for the final three months. Should you have a look at her document…
ROBERT COSTA: However why not debate once more?
SENATOR TOM COTTON: … she’s been making an attempt to run – she’s been making an attempt to run away from it from the very second she took the nomination from Joe Biden.
She desires to ban gas-powered automobiles. She desires to provide reparations primarily based on race. She desires to ban fracking. She desires to remove non-public medical insurance on the job. These usually are not positions that she took as a youngster in highschool. These are positions she took as a 54-year-old girl working for president in her personal proper.
That is the true Kamala Harris, a weak, harmful San Francisco liberal. Kamala Harris is the one who owes the American individuals much more solutions. Donald Trump can merely level at his document and say, for 4 years after I was president, we had peace, prosperity, a safe border, and we had been revered all over the world.
That is what the American individuals keep in mind. That is what they’ll get once they elect him once more to the White Home.
ROBERT COSTA: However ought to Trump debate once more?
SENATOR TOM COTTON: There isn’t any – he is already debated twice.
ROBERT COSTA: OK.
SENATOR TOM COTTON: And J.D. goes to debate Tim, and he’ll do an ideal job telling his story and declaring what a radical document Kamala Harris and Tim Walz have.
The American individuals know what Donald Trump will do in workplace. Kamala Harris continues to be making an attempt to idiot them.
ROBERT COSTA: Senator Tom Cotton, Republican of Arkansas, thanks for being right here on Face the Nation. We recognize it.
And we might be again in a single minute. Stick with us.
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ROBERT COSTA: We’re again with retired Military Basic Stanley McChrystal.
He did endorse Vice President Kamala Harris final week and is showing as we speak on Face the Nation as a Harris marketing campaign surrogate.
Good morning, Basic. We recognize your time.
Basic McChrystal, you simply heard from Senator Tom Cotton right here on Face the Nation. He stated, the US, in relation to coping with Israel in its – its battle in opposition to Hezbollah shouldn’t de-escalate., ought to take Hezbollah to the mat. Do you consider that is the correct course for the US within the days and weeks forward?
GEN. STANLEY MCCHRYSTAL (RET.) (Former U.S. Commander in Afghanistan): Nicely, I spent a very long time in counterterrorism. We killed lots of people.
And what I discovered was, until you may have an consequence, a political consequence that’s sturdy, that every one of these sorts of actions do not final.
So, I might urge either side, Israel and Hezbollah, to check out the far ridgeline. Now, I do know that is exhausting to do, as a result of as soon as you have shed this a lot blood, the emotion runs deep. You kill individuals’s dad and mom and youngsters and brothers and sisters on either side.
And so I feel that the place we at the moment are is, simply spiraling the violence is unlikely to supply an excellent consequence. And but I can sympathize with either side the visceral need to go after the opposite.
ROBERT COSTA: What’s your evaluation of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, how he is dealing with this second and his technique?
GEN. STANLEY MCCHRYSTAL (RET.): Nicely, I feel he is bought a method to attempt to push Iran right into a nook, and he could also be doing that.
However the long-term consequence in Palestine writ massive goes to be from a statesmanlike view. And so if he is taking a wartime view solely, I feel, in some unspecified time in the future, he is both going to need to widen that aperture or take an extended view of it.
ROBERT COSTA: You consider the Israelis and Prime Minister Netanyahu pushing Iran right into a nook, as you set it, does that imply warfare with Iran, between Israel and Iran, is on the horizon, probably, and what does that imply for the US if true?
GEN. STANLEY MCCHRYSTAL (RET.): I feel something’s potential on the horizon, however – however I do not know.
ROBERT COSTA: What are you watching now, although, to see if this – this motion with Hezbollah assassinating Nasrallah escalates into one thing far wider within the area? What are you watching? What are the important thing factors?
GEN. STANLEY MCCHRYSTAL (RET.): Nicely, I feel the important thing factor is, the extra you press the struggle, the tougher you go for the jugular, the extra you create scar tissue that is going to final for generations. And that is an element.
ROBERT COSTA: You endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris this week. You endorsed President Biden in 2020.
In your op-ed in “The New York Instances,” you discuss character. What’s it about her character versus former President Trump that so satisfied you to take this public stand and endorse her?
GEN. STANLEY MCCHRYSTAL (RET.): I feel character is what an individual does once they’re underneath strain.
It’s a mixture of their deep-seated beliefs, the issues, their core values, and the self-discipline they need to execute these, to stay as much as them. So, I feel, once we have a look at Kamala Harris, we have a look at her historical past, she got here up as a prosecutor, an legal professional basic into the Senate.
She has lived quite a lot of experiences that I feel construct in somebody the type of character that is going to be essential within the presidency. However let’s be certain, we do not elect a president primarily based on insurance policies. We should not. We should always elect them for the character, as a result of we do not know what is going on to return up.
We did not know that one-term Congressman Abraham Lincoln was going to have the ability to lead the US by means of the Civil Struggle. We by no means knew that the clothes salesman Harry Truman was going to have the ability to make the choice to drop the atomic bomb or to cope with the disaster in Korea.
These issues come right into a presidency in a method that checks the mettle and the character of the particular person in that workplace.
ROBERT COSTA: The presidency actually checks, and it could forge management over time. However what convinces you now, forward of a doable presidency, that she’s prepared, particularly on nationwide safety and international coverage, areas you understand properly?
GEN. STANLEY MCCHRYSTAL (RET.): Sure. What can we find out about anybody earlier than a job like that?
Younger President Kennedy, when he was elected, was a younger senator. He did fairly properly. He struggled first by means of the Bay of Pigs, then did fairly properly within the Cuban Missile Disaster. Donald Trump had no background in it.
What we have seen from Kamala Harris convinces me she has the power, she has the values to cope with the unsure crises which might be inevitable.
ROBERT COSTA: What’s your view of how she and President Biden dealt with the withdrawal from Afghanistan?
GEN. STANLEY MCCHRYSTAL (RET.): Afghanistan is troublesome. There was 20 years of American involvement in Afghanistan, and a variety of the bricks had been put in place within the path that that went.
There had been a call made with the Doha accords within the earlier administration that the Biden administration needed to decide to cope with. I did not like the result in Afghanistan. I put a variety of my life there. And the younger People who gave a lot of themselves, I do not suppose did it in useless.
I feel they did it in a worthy effort that made Afghanistan a greater place. However issues do not all the time prove like we hope they’ll.
ROBERT COSTA: You wrote in your op-ed that it is largely about character, however you linked in your piece character to coverage, particularly on America’s function on the earth.
Do you consider that Vice President Harris is, in a way, a continuation of President Biden’s international coverage, an embrace of Western establishments like NATO, conventional American alliances? Is that one of many driving elements of your endorsement, extra than simply her private character?
GEN. STANLEY MCCHRYSTAL (RET.): I feel Vice President Harris’s character goes to drive insurance policies primarily based upon values, however very commonsense values.
She’s a sensible particular person, and I feel that that may come out.
ROBERT COSTA: However there’s an actual debate on this nation about America’s function on the earth.
GEN. STANLEY MCCHRYSTAL (RET.): Mm-hmm.
ROBERT COSTA: Trump, the previous president, continually talks about America first, has skepticism towards how NATO capabilities in some respects. Do you are concerned that, if Trump wins one other time period of the presidency, that America’s function on the earth would change in a basic method?
GEN. STANLEY MCCHRYSTAL (RET.): I feel America’s function on the earth is important.
Take, for instance, the warfare in Ukraine. You can also make an argument that Ukraine just isn’t a strategic nationwide curiosity for the US. I can’t settle for an argument that Europe just isn’t. And but, if Ukraine falls to Russian aggression, even a major a part of it, the Baltic States and our NATO Alliance goes to be more and more threatened and, I might argue, weakened.
And I feel, long run, that is a lot in opposition to our curiosity.
ROBERT COSTA: Is it credible that – as Trump says, that he may minimize a deal to finish the warfare in Ukraine?
GEN. STANLEY MCCHRYSTAL (RET.): I might doubt that. But when he stated – if he has a deal, let…
ROBERT COSTA: Nicely, he does not discuss particulars, as we simply mentioned with Senator Cotton, however he is claiming he can – he can minimize a deal.
Would Vice President Harris, you suppose, be capable to finish the warfare between Russia and Ukraine?
GEN. STANLEY MCCHRYSTAL (RET.): I feel it’ll be troublesome to finish this warfare. I personally suppose we have to help Ukraine as robust as we will, in order that their sovereignty is protected as we come out.
ROBERT COSTA: So many former navy officers, prime leaders who’ve served women and men in uniform, have come out in opposition to former President Donald Trump.
There are these, in fact, like former retired Basic Keith Kellogg, who do help former President Trump, however high-profile individuals like your self have raised considerations. I take into consideration Basic Milley. I take into consideration – Basic Milley had considerations within the last days of Trump’s presidency about how he was dealing with his work. And you’ve got considerations.
You may have endorsed Vice President Harris. It comes down to at least one core query right here. Basic McChrystal, do you consider former President Donald Trump is match for workplace?
GEN. STANLEY MCCHRYSTAL (RET.): I consider that Vice President Harris is match to steer the nation within the presidency. I feel she has bought the character.
ROBERT COSTA: Nicely, let’s go proper to the query of Trump. Is he match for workplace or not? You are a former prime chief of the US navy.
You are supporting a presidential candidate. You may have a former president now working for the presidency once more. You appear to have core character questions. Is he match for workplace or not?
GEN. STANLEY MCCHRYSTAL (RET.): OK, Bob, let’s be trustworthy. Why would a retired navy officer come on to endorse his opponent?
ROBERT COSTA: You inform me.
GEN. STANLEY MCCHRYSTAL (RET.): As a result of I feel character is essential, and so I am voting for character. I am voting for Kamala Harris.
ROBERT COSTA: Basic Stanley McChrystal, we recognize you stopping by Face the Nation and sharing your views. Thanks very a lot.
And we’ll be proper again with much more Face the Nation. Stick with us.
(ANNOUNCEMENTS)
ROBERT COSTA: CBS Information will host what’s prone to be the one vice presidential debate between Senator J.D. Vance and Governor Tim Walz on Tuesday in New York.
Be part of us for stay protection of the talk moderated by Margaret Brennan and CBS Night Information anchor Norah O’Donnell beginning at 4:00 p.m. Jap on CBS Information 24/7 and at 8:00 p.m. on CBS. You may also stream it on Paramount+.
(ANNOUNCEMENTS)
ROBERT COSTA: We might be proper again with much more Face the Nation, together with the most recent on the restoration from Hurricane Helene. The loss of life toll from that huge storm stands at 63, and the damages are staggering.
We’ll discuss to the top of FEMA developing, plus former Trump Nationwide Safety Adviser H.R. McMaster and former Maryland Governor Larry Hogan. He is now working for Senate.
Stick with us.
(ANNOUNCEMENTS)
ROBERT COSTA: Welcome again to FACE THE NATION.
We flip now to the devastation of Hurricane Helene. She made landfall in Florida early Friday and swept by means of southeastern states. The injury has been huge by way of the loss of life toll and lack of houses and companies. FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell joins us now for an replace on the restoration efforts.
Administrator, thanks for being right here.
What are you able to share concerning the newest loss of life toll from this devastating hurricane?
DEANNE CRISWELL (FEMA Administrator): Good morning, Robert.
Proper now I am right here in Florida. And I consider yesterday, as I traveled with the governor to evaluate damages there, he accounted for 11 deaths right here. However I might seek advice from the states for the particular numbers as a result of there’s – they’re those which might be monitoring this.
However what I can inform you is, we’re getting stories of a number of fatalities throughout the 5 states.
ROBERT COSTA: Which areas have been hardest hit?
DEANNE CRISWELL: So, this has been, Robert, a real multistate occasion. We now have seen, I’ve seen, my crew on the bottom has seen, important impacts in Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, and Tennessee.
I noticed the impacts right here in Florida yesterday. I am touring to Georgia as we speak so I can see the impacts firsthand there. And I will be in North Carolina on Monday so I can assess the impacts there.
However we’re listening to important infrastructure injury to water methods, communication, roads, important transportation routes, in addition to a number of houses which were simply destroyed by this. So, that is going to be a extremely difficult restoration in every of those 5 states which have had these impacts.
ROBERT COSTA: And the place has the flooding be worst? The place – the place do you see actual downside areas nonetheless at this second?
DEANNE CRISWELL: Nicely, right here in Florida, they’d as much as 15 ft of storm surge in Taylor County, which is the place I used to be at with the governor yesterday. These are document storm surges throughout the large bend space. I heard stories of as much as 9 ft of storm surge within the St. Pete Seashore space.
In North Carolina, we’re nonetheless in lively search and rescue mode. They’re nonetheless having flooding points and landslides. And so we’re nonetheless actively engaged on search and rescue missions up in North Carolina. We have had important wind and flooding injury, once more, in all 5 of those states.
ROBERT COSTA: Was North Carolina, particularly, ready for this degree of flooding? The place – have they ever handled something of this magnitude?
DEANNE CRISWELL: That is actually, Robert, historic flooding up in North Carolina and particularly this western a part of North Carolina. I do not know that anyone could possibly be totally ready for the quantity of flooding and landslides that they’re experiencing proper now. However now we have had groups in there for a number of days. We’re sending extra search and rescue groups in there. Water is an enormous concern proper now as properly. And so now we have despatched bottled water in, however we even have the Military Corps of Engineers that is on the brink of begin assessments as we speak to see what we will do to assist get these water methods again on-line rapidly.
And we’re additionally shifting in satellite tv for pc communications, Starlink satellites, into the world to assist facilitate the shortage of communication that that a part of the state is experiencing.
ROBERT COSTA: What are you seeing by way of well being penalties from this hurricane, by way of water high quality, entry to meals, entry to drugs?
DEANNE CRISWELL: All of it’s having actually important impacts. We all know that many well being care methods have been impacted. And so we even have well being care evaluation groups which might be assessing the hospitals and the power to help the individuals which might be experiencing impacts from this storm. There are a number of boil water notices throughout all 5 states. And in order that’s why we’re bringing in groups to assist assess these water methods to see what we will do to get them again on-line as rapidly as we will. However we’re additionally, once more, bringing within the commodities.
ROBERT COSTA: How do you conceptualize this storm within the broader query of local weather change?
DEANNE CRISWELL: Nicely, I feel what we’re seeing, Robert, is, you understand, this storm took some time to develop, however as soon as it did, it developed and intensified very quickly. And that is due to the nice and cozy waters within the gulf. And so, it is extra storms which might be reaching this main class degree than we have seen up to now. It is also creating better quantities of storm surge within the coastal areas. It is creating better quantities of rainfall because it strikes up north. And so, up to now, once we would have a look at injury from hurricanes, it was primarily wind injury, with some water injury. However now we’re seeing a lot extra water injury. And I feel that could be a results of the nice and cozy waters, which is a results of local weather change.
ROBERT COSTA: And right here in Washington, the query now turns to sources. Does FEMA have what it must cope with this degree of storm, this second in historical past, with this type of hurricane?
DEANNE CRISWELL: Nicely, we completely have sufficient sources from throughout the federal household. FEMA’s one a part of the crew, and now we have the power to herald all of our crew members from many different federal businesses to help this response. As we transfer into restoration, we will pivot these sources to assist help that restoration portion. Restoration might be difficult. These 5 states are going to have very difficult recoveries. However we’ll proceed to convey these sources in to assist them, technical help as they’re making an attempt to establish one of the best methods to rebuild.
ROBERT COSTA: Administrator Criswell, we recognize your time and finest needs to all of these serving to these in want on this space of the nation. A tricky second.
We’ll be proper again.
(ANNOUNCEMENTS)
ROBERT COSTA: We’re joined now by retired Lieutenant Basic H.R. McMaster. He did function nationwide safety adviser within the Trump administration, however he has not endorsed both candidate within the presidential race this time round. He is additionally a CBS Information contributor and the creator of a brand new guide “At Struggle with Ourselves.”
Good morning, Basic. Thanks for being right here.
LIEUTENANT GENERAL H.R. MCMASTER: Robert, nice to be with you.
ROBERT COSTA: You simply heard from retired Basic McChrystal. He has made an endorsement. You haven’t. Why not?
LIEUTENANT GENERAL H.R. MCMASTER: Nicely, Robert, I respect his – you understand, his skill to – to make that call, and proper to make that call. However what I – what considerations me as of late is the navy is getting drug in to partisan politics. And also you hear actually each events making an attempt to contain the navy.
Now, in fact, Basic McChrystal is endorsing Vice President Harris as a person, however I – I feel generally it is troublesome to distinguish between a person endorsement and the navy getting drug into partisan politics, proper? You hear – you hear this narrative as of late, you understand, from some individuals on the far proper that the navy is woke or from the far left that the navy is extremist. Hey, the navy’s not woke or extremist, proper? The navy is doing its duties underneath the Structure and for whoever’s elected commander in chief.
So, that is been an enormous a part of my reticence. After which the opposite function is, I feel, Robert – I imply the opposite cause is, I do not suppose anyone wants me to inform them the right way to vote, proper? I – I, within the guide, and in different venues, I – I lay all – all of it out, proper? The great, the dangerous, the ugly, you understand, of – of the Trump administration, however I achieve this in context of the eight Obama years that adopted it and the 4 – or that preceded it, and the 4 Biden years that adopted it.
So, I feel voters ought to make their very own choices. And what I’ve tried to do is assist inform voters it doesn’t matter what they’re – which method they’re leaning.
ROBERT COSTA: Let’s flip to the Center East. What’s your view? You heard from Senator Cotton. You heard from Basic McChrystal. How do you see a doable warfare on the horizon, if any, between Israel and Iran, or is there one thing that may be completed, particularly by the US, to comprise what is occurring?
LIEUTENANT GENERAL H.R. MCMASTER: Robert, I might say there already is a warfare between Israel and Iran. And it is a – its’ a – it is a warfare that Iran has been waging for four-plus many years. Nasrallah, who was there firstly of Hezbollah, who was there when, you understand, they killed 241 Marines in Beirut and started a marketing campaign in opposition to not solely who Nasrallah known as the cancerous boil of Israel, however the nice say Devil of the US. And Nasrallah, keep in mind what his catch phrase was on the finish of like nearly, you understand, most of the speeches that he – that he gave, which was, “the Jews are weak as a result of they love life. We will take the away from them. We’ll win as a result of they love life and we love loss of life.”
And so the Israelis have had actually no alternative. Bear in mind, proper after the heinous assaults of October seventh, that is when Hezbollah launched rockets at Israel in solidarity with – with Hamas. That resulted within the evacuation of 10 p.c of Israel’s territory, about 70,000 Israelis are out of their houses. And so, I feel Israel is taking the correct strategy to escalate in opposition to an enemy who has been in a position to escalate actually on their very own phrases with impunity and I feel more and more the US has to behave like we all know what the return handle is in Iran. Now could be the time to double down on the strain on Iran, to dry up the money circulate obtainable. So –
ROBERT COSTA: What does that imply, although, simply in – simply by way of monetary motion, or do you count on there may have to be a U.S. navy function down the road for the US and the Center East?
LIEUTENANT GENERAL H.R. MCMASTER: Nicely, there already is – is a navy function.
ROBERT COSTA: By way of floor troops or air strikes?
LIEUTENANT GENERAL H.R. MCMASTER: Nicely, I feel – I feel each. All of this needs to be type of on the desk. And I feel we should always act like we all know the place these rockets are coming from. The 150,000 rockets that Hezbollah has pointed at Israel. The – the 40,000 or so members of Iran’s proxy military in Syria. The – the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and Hamas within the West Financial institution, what stays of – of Hamas in Gaza, these had been all skilled, geared up, provided by Iran to create this ring of fireplace round Israel and to destroy Israel and kill all of the Jews.
The precursor to that’s to behave in opposition to us. Robert, 175 assaults in opposition to U.S. forces and U.S. installations by Iranian proxies since October eighth of final yr.
ROBERT COSTA: Basic, you say the US and Israel needs to be in lock-step or at the very least aligned as they transfer ahead. However the Pentagon has stated the Biden administration has stated they weren’t knowledgeable about these assaults forward of time. So, what does that say about the true state of play between Israel and the US?
LIEUTENANT GENERAL H.R. MCMASTER: I feel what Israel has decided is that it needed to shield its safety and secrecy round this operation. If you concentrate on the blows that they delivered to Hezbollah up to now week, ten days, it is actually unprecedented. You recognize, simply killing so a lot of them, wounding so many with the beepers after which the walkie-talkies. After which once they could not discuss securely, they met at a location in Beirut, struck that concentrate on. So, you understand, Nasrallah has been taken out however so has all of the cadre round him.
These are many years lengthy of relationships and information. And so I feel now’s the time to placed on the monetary sanctions. Why did the Biden administration not implement the Trump-era sanctions in opposition to Iran and allowed about $100 billion to circulate to that theocratic dictatorship. Now could be the time to reverse that coverage.
ROBERT COSTA: In order that Israel has taken out navy targets. Lebanon is saying that many civilians have been killed. What ought to the U.S. do by way of defending civilian deaths shifting ahead?
LIEUTENANT GENERAL H.R. MCMASTER: Sure.
ROBERT COSTA: Speaking to Israel about that difficulty. What must be completed on the civilian entrance?
LIEUTENANT GENERAL H.R. MCMASTER: Nicely, what you need is, you want hearth energy to overwhelm this enemy, however you additionally need to apply that firepower with discrimination. And –
ROBERT COSTA: Is that being completed?
LIEUTENANT GENERAL H.R. MCMASTER: And – properly, it relies on the calculus on the time. Bear in mind, the bunker during which Nasrallah was killed was underground, a number of tales underground, beneath, the place? An condominium complicated. And so it is Hezbollah – keep in mind, he stated, we love loss of life. Bear in mind what Hamas management stated simply earlier than the October seventh assaults. The aim – one of many functions of that assault was to get a few of their very own individuals killed, you understand, so they may use that in opposition to Israel. So, it is actually vital, I feel, at this stage to proceed to impress on the Israelis, apply hearth energy with discrimination, but additionally to acknowledge that these terrorist organizations are the precept causes for the violence and destitution and the struggling of the individuals in Gaza and the individuals in Lebanon.
Take a look at the nice promise of Lebanon. It is a lovely nation. Take a look at what Hezbollah has completed to that nation with their alliance with the Syrians kind the 2000s. Bear in mind, we had the Cedar Revolution in 2006 after Hariri’s assassination. I imply the Lebanese individuals are destitute in massive measure due to Hezbollah.
ROBERT COSTA: And simply lastly right here, former President Donald Trump, who you understand properly, he met with President Zelenskyy in current days. He retains speaking about having the ability to dealer one thing between Zelenskyy and Putin. Do you purchase it?
LIEUTENANT GENERAL H.R. MCMASTER: You recognize, I do not actually purchase it by way of, you understand, hey, in 24 hours there might be – you understand, I feel it is an actual – it is an actual fable, proper? It is an actual misunderstanding of warfare. To imagine that you may get a positive political consequence with out a favorable navy consequence. That is by no means actually occurred in warfare.
And so I feel the correct plan of action is, if you wish to speed up towards progress towards a settlement is to persuade Putin that he is dropping the warfare. I feel that is the one method you get a positive settlement. How do you try this? You reveal our resolve to proceed to help the Ukrainians as they defend themselves in opposition to this continued onslaught by the Russians. That is the way you get to possibly, you understand, favorable circumstances for negotiation.
ROBERT COSTA: Basic McMaster, we recognize you approaching FACE THE NATION. Hope you come once more. Thanks very a lot.
LIEUTENANT GENERAL H.R. MCMASTER: Thanks.
ROBERT COSTA: And we’ll be again in a second.
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ROBERT COSTA: We flip now to the previous Republican governor of Maryland, Larry Hogan.
Governor Hogan, thanks for being right here.
LARRY HOGAN (Former Republican Governor of Maryland and Maryland Senate Candidate): Thanks for having me.
ROBERT COSTA: In one of many key Senate races within the nation, you aren’t working alongside former President Donald Trump in your race, however he is entrance and heart. How can you distance your self, if in any respect, in such a contested, heated political atmosphere?
LARRY HOGAN: Nicely, you understand, I feel I have been one of many main type of voices of opposition in my get together for fairly a while, and I am persevering with to try this. We’re truly working 20 or 30 factors forward of Donald Trump in our state. And, you understand, I feel I – we – I’ve a totally separate id after, you understand, being governor for 2 phrases within the bluest state – or one of many bluest states in America, you understand, now we have a separate, you understand, id. We – I stand as much as him most likely extra than simply about anybody, and I am going to proceed to.
ROBERT COSTA: He is endorsed you, but it surely’s not such as you’ve welcomed that endorsement. However at – if you go in that voting sales space, I do know it is non-public, however who’re you going to vote for?
LARRY HOGAN: Nicely, look, I’ve stated neither one of many two candidates has earned my vote. And the voters within the nation are going to have the ability to make that call. I (INAUDIBLE) –
ROBERT COSTA: So, there isn’t any probability you vote for Trump?
LARRY HOGAN: I am not going to. I did not vote for him in 2016 or 2020. And I’ve made that fairly clear. However, look, I am not working only for the Republican Celebration or the – you understand, it is not nearly purple versus blue, which is what my opponent desires it to be about. I am involved concerning the purple, white, and blue. And I am keen to place nation over get together. And I hope that the voters might be keen to do the identical factor.
ROBERT COSTA: I requested retired Basic McChrystal this about former President Donald Trump, who, in current days on the marketing campaign path, has attacked Vice President Harris, he is stated she has psychological points. He has stated factor after factor, questioning her intelligence, her skill. Do you consider former President Donald Trump is match for workplace or not?
LARRY HOGAN: Nicely, I feel all of that’s – is outrageous and unacceptable. And I’ve already known as him out when he had the one interview the place he was questioning her racial id, and now he is questioning her psychological competence. And I feel that is insulting, not solely to the – to the vice chairman, however to individuals that truly do have psychological disabilities.
And, you understand, I’ve stated for years that Trump’s divisive rhetoric is one thing that we may do with out. I feel he is his personal worst enemy. And I feel, you understand, I am very involved concerning the poisonous and divisive politics that appears to proceed actually forwards and backwards. That is what individuals are so fed up with. It is why they need to change Washington, and it is why I am working.
ROBERT COSTA: While you had been governor, you may have typically stated you didn’t attempt to go in opposition to abortion rights in any important method, however the U.S. Senate is a completely totally different place than being governor, as you understand.
LARRY HOGAN: Sure. Sure.
ROBERT COSTA: In case you are elected to the US Senate this November, would you help eliminating the filibuster to safe abortion rights?
LARRY HOGAN: Nicely, I’ll, on day one, help the compromised invoice to safe Roe and shield abortion rights all throughout the nation in order that no – nobody ever comes between a girl and her physician.
I am not – I do not agree with each my opponent and Donald Trump about making an attempt to cast off the filibuster –
ROBERT COSTA: Why not?
LARRY HOGAN: So we will jam issues by means of on a partisan foundation on one vote, so we will have the pendulum swinging forwards and backwards and create extra divisiveness. I feel we have to discover buy-in and – and bipartisan cooperation, simply as I did in a state that has a 70 p.c Democratic legislature. However we did issues like minimize taxes and decrease the price of well being care and to, you understand, go a legal justice reform act. We bought to discover a method to get individuals in Washington to cease simply title calling, cease making an attempt to jam issues by means of on the left or the correct. And the filibuster permits – it requires bipartisan cooperation and consensus. And that is precisely what I feel we desperately want in Washington.
ROBERT COSTA: What do you say to that blue, that Democratic voter in Maryland, who says, I appreciated you as two phrases as governor, I am a Democrat, however I voted for you, however I want you to go additional on abortion rights than saying, I am not going to the touch the filibuster. They need you to interrupt the filibuster.
LARRY HOGAN: Nicely, I am unsure there are various of these. Look, I am very supportive of girls’s proper to make these choices, to not come between a girl and her physician. I’ll sponsor a invoice on defending Roe. I’ll sponsor a invoice on IVF. I ran for governor promising that I might not change – that I might – wouldn’t do something to restrict entry to abortion. I stored that promise for eight years, and I am now promising them once more that I’ll struggle for that after I’m in the US Senate.
ROBERT COSTA: In case you are in the US Senate, what sort of Republican Celebration would you be a part of? You all the time have solid your self in our conversations through the years as a conventional Republican. You’ve got praised former President Ronald Reagan. It is Trump’s get together.
LARRY HOGAN: Nicely, you understand, that is one of many the reason why I am working. You recognize, look, I feel we have to get – get the nation again on monitor. I am standing up. I am going to stand as much as the present president, the previous president, or the following president after I suppose they’re improper. I am going to work with them after I suppose they’re proper. I am going to stand as much as the Democratic Celebration and the Republican Celebration. It is what I’ve completed my total profession. I have been a number one voice in America to attempt to do one thing about this, you understand, very divided nation the place all we do is struggle with each other and nothing ever will get completed. I am a man that likes to get issues completed. I like – you understand, I am going to work throughout the aisle in a bipartisan method, as I did for the previous eight years. And I feel that is – that is what we actually want in Washington. I feel it is what most individuals need.
ROBERT COSTA: However is it doable? I imply, your individual document, you – you considered – flirted with a doable No Labels or unbiased run for president over the previous yr or so. And former Congresswoman Liz Cheney, for instance, from Wyoming, a Republican, she’s damaged with Trump. She just lately steered, as I am positive you have heard, that they are – it is perhaps time for a brand new get together. Do you consider that is proper? Is it possibly time for the standard Republicans, the non-Trump Republicans to say, sufficient, time for one thing new?
LARRY HOGAN: Nicely, I am not keen to surrender. You recognize, I actually consider {that a} wholesome and aggressive two-party system is vital for – for our nation. I am very involved that I consider my – each events are method off monitor from what they – they’re – their type of base core values was once. I feel the Democratic Celebration’s shifting too far to the left. I feel the Republican Celebration has, as you stated, turn into extra of a Trump get together. However I am not keen to surrender. It is why I am working. It is also why I stepped up.
You recognize, I bought on this race when the bipartisan deal fell aside to safe the border, provide help and funding for Israel, Ukraine, and Taiwan, and other people voted in opposition to it as a result of they did not need to give a bipartisan win.
My complete emphasis has been about how we discover consensus, how we discover widespread floor for the widespread good. And that is – that is what I primarily based my complete profession on. And so, I am hoping that the voters will truly need that type of management in Washington. In the event that they resolve simply one other partisan, you understand, rubber stamp politician, they simply need a vote primarily based on purple or blue, I am not going to be within the Senate. But when they need to change Washington, I feel I am precisely the type of particular person that may make a distinction.
ROBERT COSTA: If former President Donald Trump calls you up on the telephone within the subsequent few weeks and says, Larry, I might wish to go to an Orioles sport with you, then possibly have a marketing campaign rally, would you seem with Trump in Maryland?
LARRY HOGAN: No, I do not suppose I’ll. I do not suppose he’ll spend a lot time in Maryland as a result of he is – he is down, you understand, by about 30 factors and, you understand, he isn’t going to essentially be campaigning in Maryland, however he ought to – you understand, he ought to go watch a sport a while, sure, positive.
ROBERT COSTA: However there isn’t any – you haven’t any curiosity in showing with him in any respect?
LARRY HOGAN: No.
ROBERT COSTA: And you have served with – lastly right here, we’re all trying ahead to seeing Margaret do the vice presidential debate with Norah on Tuesday night time on CBS.
LARRY HOGAN: Sure.
ROBERT COSTA: You recognize Governor Tim Walz. You had been governors collectively.
LARRY HOGAN: Sure.
ROBERT COSTA: Is he a robust debater? Are trying ahead to seeing what he does?
LARRY HOGAN: You recognize, I’ve by no means –
ROBERT COSTA: And do you want him?
LARRY HOGAN: I’ve by no means – I’ve by no means seen him debate. However, look, I feel it is – everyone’s going to have an interest to tune in. I am – I am simply hopeful that on this debate we will have an actual wholesome debate on the problems that individuals care about. You recognize, individuals are involved concerning the financial system and inflation, affordability. They’re involved about crime and the border. Hopefully these candidates will discuss it as a substitute of simply typical politics.
ROBERT COSTA: Governor Larry Hogan, thanks for being right here. Operating for Senate in Maryland. We’ll be proper again. Thanks.
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ROBERT COSTA: That is it for as we speak. However earlier than we go, we need to say glad birthday to former President Jimmy Carter, who will flip 100 on Tuesday.
And likewise on Tuesday, CBS will host the vice presidential debate, moderated by Margaret and Norah O’Donnell. Be certain that to tune in to CBS for the pregame, the talk, and the after-debate evaluation.
For FACE THE NATION, I am Robert Costa. Thanks for becoming a member of us.
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