CBS "Face the Nation" - Transcript: Election Security and Trade

Interview

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BRENNAN: But few, other than the president, believe that.

And there are still more questions than answers about what was agreed to behind closed doors.

There is also growing evidence about Russia's continued attempts to interfere in our elections.

Two key Republican senators, South Carolina's Lindsey Graham and Florida's Marco Rubio, both criticized the president for his Helsinki performance. We will see where they stand after a week of presidential backtracking.

Former Secretary of State John Kerry will tell us about the Obama's administration efforts to challenge Putin on meddling.

Plus, a look at a fresh face in the Democratic Party, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who pulled off a stunning upset against a top House Democrat in her primary last month. She is joined by a familiar face, Vermont's Bernie Sanders, as they campaign for Democrats in unusual territory. We will talk to both of them.

We will have plenty of analysis on all of the political news this week just ahead on FACE THE NATION.

Good morning, and welcome to FACE THE NATION.

We begin today with South Carolina Republican Senator Lindsey Graham.

Great to have you here, sir.

SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R), SOUTH CAROLINA: Thank you.

BRENNAN: This morning, the president is again accusing the Justice Department and the FBI of misleading courts and illegally surveilling his campaign. He's pointing to these documents that were just released about Carter Page, who was a campaign associate...

GRAHAM: Right.

BRENNAN: ... and has admitted to having advised the Kremlin at one point.

You sit on Senate Judiciary. Is the president wrong?

GRAHAM: No.

I think the whole FISA warrant process needs to be looked at. The warrant on Carter Page was supported mostly by a dossier that came from Michael Steele, who was being paid by the Democratic Party to do opposition research. And the dossier was collected, I think, from Russian intelligence services.

And if you ask the FBI today, how much of the dossier on Trump has been verified, almost none of it.

BRENNAN: But you say mostly, not entirely. Therefore, was the surveillance justified?

GRAHAM: No, not at all, in my view.

If the dossier is the reason you issued the warrant, it was a bunch of garbage. The dossier has proven to be a bunch of garbage.

BRENNAN: So the president is correct?

GRAHAM: In my view, that the warrant, the FISA warrant process needs to be looked at closely by Congress.

The main reason they issued the warrant was the dossier prepared by Mr. Steele. They never told the court he was a paid operative of the Democratic Party. The substance of the dossier to this day is a bunch of garbage.

BRENNAN: I am pressing you on this because you have expressed some concern about the president's skepticism about his own intelligence community and this specific criticism of the FBI.

GRAHAM: This is completely different than whether or not the Russians interfered in our election. They did.

The Carter Page warrant is whether or not the Trump campaign colluded the Russians. I haven't any evidence of it. But I think the president gets this confused. If you suggest that Russia -- Russians meddled in 2016, he goes to the idea that, well, II didn't collude with them.

You didn't collude with the Russians, or at least I haven't seen any evidence. But, Mr. President, they meddled in the elections. They stole Podesta's e-mails. They hacked into the DNC.

It could be us next. It could some other power, not just Russia. Harden our electoral infrastructure for 2018.

Mr. President, Dan Coats is right. The red lights are blinking. Get your entire government, which is doing a lot of good work, but nobody knows about it, sit down with Congress and the administration, and you lead this nation to hardening of the 2018 election process before it is too late, not just from Russia, but from others.

BRENNAN: Well, it sounds like you are saying, after a week of, you know, some conflicting statements, that you still aren't sure the president is fully believing what his intelligence community is telling him.

GRAHAM: He says, but he is not acting. It is not what he said. He has changed his mind four times this week.

I am glad that he is willing to walk things back and say he misspoke if it makes us stronger. I would have given anything if President Obama were have changed his mind when it came to withdrawing troops. He was told, if you do this, it will be a disaster. He did it anyway.

President Trump at least is willing to change. But what I think he needs to do is lead this nation to make sure that the 2018 election is protected. And he needs to be the leader of the movement, not brought to the dance reluctantly.

So I hope he will direct his government, working with Congress, to harden the 2018 election before it is too late and if he meets with Putin.

BRENNAN: This fall, he has been invited to the White House. Should that happen?

GRAHAM: Well, if he does show up, you need to have new sanctions hanging over Putin's head.

BRENNAN: What do those look like?

GRAHAM: Well, you need to get with Rubio and Van Hollen, myself and others and come up with a set of sanctions that would be a hammer over Russia's head if they continue to interfere in the 2018 election.

BRENNAN: Aren't they?

GRAHAM: They are. Just have sanctions that can fall on Russia like a hammer. Don't meet with this guy from a position of weakness. You need to do two things. We need to harden our electoral infrastructure, and you need to be the leader of that movement.

And you need to work Congress to come up with new sanctions, because Putin is not getting the message. You have been tougher than Obama. I will give you credit for that, Mr. President.

But it is not working. If you were really tough on Putin he would not be doing what he is doing. So being tougher than Obama doesn't get me to where I want to go. I want this man to stay out of our election and quit disrupting the world. We need new sanctions, heavy-handed sanctions, hanging over his head, then meet with him.

BRENNAN: I knew you were just in Syria.

GRAHAM: Yes.

BRENNAN: Vladimir Putin has said there were a number of agreements that he reached with this President Trump in this private meeting.

Do you have any assurance as to what the president agreed to when it comes to the presence of U.S. troops there?

GRAHAM: None. But here is the one thing that would be a disaster for the region, if he agreed to withdraw our forces.

Russia will never get Iran out of Syria. They did take Assad's chemical weapons way. If you are writing a -- relying on Russia to be the policeman for Iran, that is the biggest mistake you could ever make.

We need to keep our troops in Syria, protect the Kurds, who helped us destroy ISIS, make sure that the place doesn't fall apart and ISIS doesn't come back.

BRENNAN: It took the White House four days to respond to Vladimir Putin's offer on Ukraine. They did send another $200 million in security assistance.

GRAHAM: Yes.

BRENNAN: Does that satisfy you? Why did it take so long?

GRAHAM: I don't know. I don't know what deals were cut, if any, in that two-hour meeting. And I don't mind with the president meeting with Putin again.

You don't get a mulligan in this business, but you do get another start. You know, when Kennedy met with Khrushchev in Vienna, it didn't go well, but he eventually got his footing with Russia.

I hope Trump will get his footing with Russia. He has been tougher than Obama, but he hasn't been tough enough.

BRENNAN: On North Korea, has the president's rhetoric gotten ahead of where we are in this process?

GRAHAM: I worry that China is pulling North Korea back.

Here is what I would do. I would put deadlines in terms of when I want North Korea to deliver the remains of our POWs and missing in action. And I would restart the military exercises.

Mr. President, North Korea is playing the same old game with you they played with every other president. You are being tough on China, and you should be, but China is pulling North Korea back. You need to make sure that China and North Korea know and believes that you are different than everybody else.

Restart these military exercises, and put on the table removing our dependents from South Korea as a real stern warning to North Korea of what happens if they play you.

BRENNAN: I want to ask you a little bit about how the president's trade policies are impacting your home state of South Carolina.

BMW's the largest exporter of cars in the U.S. Their biggest plant is in South Carolina.

GRAHAM: Yes. Yes.

BRENNAN: How much damage is this tariff war doing?

GRAHAM: It's hurting.

But the biggest damage will be if we allow China to continue to cheat. They can build a luxury car that will be just like the X5 in China. They can build Boeing -- they can build wide-body jets, just like the 787, if we don't stop China from stealing intellectual property and having business practices that no other country would accept.

All these companies that are complaining about the tariffs today will be driven out of business. I'm willing to accept some pain. I'm willing to push back hard against China. But we need to get a -- get a good outcome.

Start with Mexico and Canada, Mr. President. Let's don't fight the whole world. Let's get our backyard in a good spot.

BRENNAN: But the tariffs that he's threatening on automobiles are coming from Europe, not China.

GRAHAM: Well, China put a 40 percent tariff on BMWs going into China from the United States.

They make 81,000 cars in Greenville, South Carolina, sold to China, the X5. There's a 40 percent tariff on that product. It's hurting us in South Carolina.

I don't know how you get China to change if you're not willing to experience some pain. The European markets need to be opened up. But the Europeans are not our enemy. Mexico and Canada are not our enemy. When it comes to trade, China is our enemy.

BRENNAN: And we know European negotiators coming here this week. So we will be watching that. Senator, thank you very much.

GRAHAM: Thank you.

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