Warner says he'll "take a look" at Trump funding request for Iran war

[0:00] We turn now to Senator Mark Warner. He's the top Democrat on the Intelligence Committee, [0:03] and he joins us from Charlottesville, Virginia. Good morning to you, Senator. [0:08] Good morning, Margaret. [0:09] I want to pick up where we just left off with the ambassador when he was talking about [0:13] his country's intelligence estimates versus ours. He said he was in that room that day when [0:19] Prime Minister Netanyahu pitched President Trump on this war that the U.S. is now in. [0:26] He said these press accounts were wrong. In your understanding of U.S. intelligence, [0:31] is it true the CIA disputed the Mossad's assessment as farcical? [0:36] Well, Margaret, I was not in that meeting. I know two things. One, having seen all the [0:45] intelligence, there was no imminent threat from Iran against the United States. And two, [0:51] I take my former colleague and now Secretary of State Marco Rubio at his word when he publicly [0:58] said, well, we knew the Israelis were going to strike Iran, so we felt we needed to go ahead [1:04] and strike first since Iran would attack us. So we are where we are, but let's — no [1:10] Americans should forget, this is a war of choice chosen by the president. [1:15] And if we just quickly look at the goals, regime change, frankly, the new leadership is more radical. [1:20] Getting the enriched uranium out would require 10,000 troops minimum, guarding a perimeter around a [1:30] bunker where our troops would have to go in and get this very volatile uranium out. The Iranians could [1:37] bomb that. We've taken down a lot of their ballistic missiles, but as we've seen, they still have many [1:42] left shooting down our planes. Thank God our military is world-class and got those pilots out. But they [1:48] literally have thousands of drones left. And this question about what the president's going to do [1:52] with closing the Strait of Hormuz, the Iranians have hundreds of speed boats where they can still [1:58] mine the strait or put bombs against tankers. In closing the strait, how is that going to ever bring [2:04] down gas prices? Well, two things on that. Just to follow up, that 10,000 troop requirement, is that [2:09] an official government estimate? And is that in the midst of combat or is that with Iranian government [2:15] permission to have boots on the ground? This has been, this has been known for, [2:18] there is a reason. The Iranian regime is awful. I agree with the ambassador on that. [2:23] They've been awful for 47 years. But there was a reason why previous presidents, including [2:29] President Trump in his first term, didn't choose to go to war because this is extraordinarily [2:35] complicated. The fact that the president acts like he's surprised the Iranians closed the strait [2:40] or would attack our Gulf allies. Anybody would have read the intelligence would have known [2:44] that was first. The ability to protect our soldiers would require every estimate I've seen, [2:53] at least 10,000 troops guarding a perimeter, sending troops into these bunkers for days on end, [3:00] very vulnerable. The Iranians still have ability to bomb their own bunkers. [3:04] That is, again, a reason why I think action like this has not been taken before. [3:10] So CNN is reporting in the New York Times that China is set to deliver new air defense systems [3:16] to Iran within the next few weeks. The Israeli ambassador previously has acknowledged [3:22] that China was considering helping, helping Iran. How significant would you describe Beijing's support at [3:30] this point? I would describe it as significant, but they try to hide themselves. China says, [3:41] well, this is their private sector. We all know there is no such thing as a true private sector in [3:46] China. Every company in China has to have its first loyalty to the Communist Party. But what we've done, [3:52] let me also point out, Margaret, by the Trump administration releasing sanctions on Russian oil, [3:58] that's $10 billion to Putin. More crazy is by releasing sanctions on Iranian oil at sea. [4:05] We have literally funded the Iranian government $14 billion that they're using to buy from China and [4:12] elsewhere weapons to attack our troops. That is insanity in my mind. [4:18] But you're talking there about President Trump's efforts to try to, you know, lower oil prices through [4:24] those measures. I want to ask you, though, on the broader point, in our polling, we see broad [4:30] dissatisfaction with how the administration's handling the war. But as for, you know, the aspirations, [4:36] Americans broadly support them. 87 percent say Strait of Hormuz needs to be reopened. 81 percent want to [4:42] ensure freedom for the Iranian people. 76 percent want to permanently stop Iran's nuclear program. 55 percent [4:48] want the current leaders ousted before we end the war. Do you sort of want to see us finish what [4:56] America has started here? Can you really just hit the brakes? Margaret, I agree with all of the goals [5:04] of the American people. But when you take ask the next question, are you willing to put your sons and [5:09] daughters in a ground war in the Middle East to get that enriched uranium out? I've not found any [5:16] volunteers on that. The Strait of Hormuz was open before this war started. Gas in Virginia was $2.81 [5:23] 40 days ago. It is over $4 now. Even if President declares victory tomorrow, those high gas prices will [5:31] be with us for months. And it's natural gas, not just gasoline. Asian countries are shutting down [5:37] their economies one day a week because the price of oil has skyrocketed so much. We buy a lot of stuff [5:42] from Taiwan, South Korea and countries around Asia. All those prices are going up. And we're going to [5:47] talk about that with the IMF director later on. But just to put a fine point on it, does this mean [5:52] you would not vote for a supplemental funding request if the president needs more money to finish [5:57] what he started? I'll take a look at anything. I want to make sure our troops have done magnificently. [6:06] But this president should have come to the American people in Congress first and say, [6:10] I'm going to choose to go to war. Here's what I want to try to accomplish. Those four goals of [6:15] regime change, uranium, missiles, and the Strait of Hormuz. We only got those goals about 10 days into [6:21] the war. And on any honest assessment, I don't think we've accomplished any of them so far. [6:28] I want to ask you on another topic, and that is basically congressional inaction. We're on day 58 [6:36] of the shutdown of Homeland Security in terms of this standoff in regard to funding. Republicans are [6:42] preparing a plan to fund ICE and to fund a CBP on a party line vote through a process known as [6:50] reconciliation. Democrats had the standoff to demand policy changes that never happened here. [6:57] What did Democrats actually get out of this? Well, Margaret, what we got out of it, [7:03] at least in the Senate, is we got 100 to 0 vote saying, let's fund all of the rest of DHS, [7:12] except for ICE. That should have, we assumed, you had every Republican senator vote for that. [7:19] And then the Speaker of the House, who can't seem to decide what he wants, rejected it. I am glad [7:26] that the president has gone ahead and paying the salaries. But I think if you ask your same [7:32] poll questions, do the American people want ICE running around cities, frankly, [7:37] arresting not only undocumented, but Americans and putting Americans' life in jeopardy, [7:42] as we saw in Minneapolis, I don't think they want that going on as well. [7:45] Okay, Senator, I have a hard break. I got to take care. Thank you very much for joining us.