RUBIO: Climate & sea level rise, these are measurable things. So it's not even a scientific debate. At some point, it's just a reality debate. You can measure whether sea levels are higher than they used to be, warmer than used to be and the like. As a policymaker, the fundamental question is, what can we do about it? And if, in fact, humans are contributing to that, what public policy can we pursue that does not destroy your economy and can be effective.
Q: Are there are mitigation efforts you can take with greenhouse gases?
RUBIO: The increases come from the developing world and in other places. We're not a planet, we're a country. The debate has not been always about whether or not it's human contribution. It's about whether the public policies that are being advocated would be effective, in light of the fact that in other places carbon emissions continue to grow.
(BEGIN VIDEO) TRUMP: They come in illegally and in many cases the children aren't theirs. If they feel there will be separation, they don't come.
(END VIDEO) Q: Is the president making a mistake here?
FLAKE: Yes, he is. We shouldn't bring that policy back. That simply is un-American and I think everybody recognized that. The president seemed to. So I hope that we don't return to that policy.
RUBIO: In Congress right now there is no pro-Saudi element that's going to stick with our relationship with Saudi Arabia as it's currently structured if they lured this man into this consulate, and killed him. As far as the options that are concerned, people talk a lot about the arms sales.
Q: The President said, basically, because there's $110 billion arms purchases on order from Saudi Arabia that that has to be weighed in the response.
RUBIO: It's not about the money; I would have phrased it differently. There are plenty other countries that would want to buy arms from the U.S. But when you sell arms to Saudi Arabia, it gives you leverage over them because they need replacement parts and training. You can't sanction a country by cutting them off of something if you never provided it in the first place.
FLAKE: Well, severe action needs to be taken and I think the Congress will take it upon themselves to take that action if Saudi Arabia was involved.
Q: The president has ruled That involvement barely survived in the last go-round with the National Defense Authorization Act. It certainly won't survive with this kind of accusation
Q: You say if it is true. Is there any other explanation at this point?
FLAKE: There sure doesn't seem to be. There's just no good explanation and I think they know it. I wouldn't be surprised to hear different explanations that frankly won't make much sense, that it was done by lower level folks. That's what I would expect to come next.
RUBIO: Well, I don't have a problem with the president meeting with Putin. On the contrary, I think it's an important thing that we engage him. I just think it's important that any conversation we have with Vladimir Putin is with the person who he really is. This is a guy who clearly does not believe in a win-win scenario with the U.S. He's a big believer in zero sum game. He thinks the way to make Russia stronger is too weaken America. And as long as we're clear about it, I think it's important that the nations speak to one another and that our leaders speak to one another. But it is only productive if we clearly understand who he is and what he wants.
Q: Russia continues to try to influence our elections system, so there is some sensitivity to having Vladimir Putin here around the time of the upcoming elections.
RUBIO: I have been warning consistently that I believe they will do this again.
RUBIO: I think their assessment of 2016 is 100% accurate. The Russians interfered in our elections. Not only that, I believe that will do so again in the future. And it presents a unique situation. On the one hand, the Trump administration's policies on Russia have been tougher than anything anyone could have imagined. They provided offensive capabilities to Ukraine. Their sanctions have exceeded what many in Congress have even asked for.
Q: But Trump seems incongruous on Russia. His comments don't match that.
RUBIO: Right. The rhetoric can undermine policy. But we need to focus on now is deterring future attacks by putting in place immediate sanctions that take hold if they do this again.
Q: And you have got a bill proposing something along those lines?
RUBIO: Yes. We should never be tolerant of any country in the world coming into our own country and trying to pit us against each other.
RUBIO: The ideal scenario is that families be kept together and return expeditiously back to their country of origin. America is the most generous country in the world. And, ideally, you wouldn't put people through additional trauma once they came into the US.
Q: Will you try to change that law?
RUBIO: I would be open to changing that law. But the better law to change is to secure our border and to send a clear message that you cannot continue to enter the US illegally. It is actually inhumane not to secure our border, because we are sending out a message that is encouraging people to come here. A lot of these people that are crossing with children are being trafficked here. They are being brought here by criminal groups that help guide them and often take advantage of them. And the ability to cross that border is a magnet that is drawing this behavior.
RUBIO: The president views ZTE as a company that broke sanctions, and he wants to impose sanctions on them and penalties that are stronger than anyone has ever seen before.
Q: A $1.3 billion fine, he said.
RUBIO: Yes, correct. And this was just a company that did something wrong and needed to be punished, the president is right. The difference is, I don't view this just as a ZTE issue. I view it in the broader context that China that is trying to steal all of our intellectual property. And there has to be consequences for that. And the only thing China is going to respond to is consequential actions over a sustained period of time, like putting a company like ZTE out of business.
RUBIO: It depends. North Korea is a strange place. They're playing a game. Kim Jong-un, these nuclear weapons are something he's psychologically attached to. They're what give him the prestige and importance. We're not talking about him because of his global and economic power. We're talking about them because they have nuclear weapons and long-range missiles. And he knows that. And so for him to give that up is going to be very difficult. So, my suspicion remains that he is going to try to get as much sanctions relief as possible without having to give up his weapons. And I think it's going to be a lot of twists and turns along the way to try to get there, if it's even possible. But I hope I'm wrong. I would love to see them denuclearize. I'm not very optimistic about that.
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The above quotations are from CBS "Face the Nation" interviews during 2018 (John Dickerson & Margaret Brennan interviewing candidates for 2018-20 races). Click here for other excerpts from CBS "Face the Nation" interviews during 2018 (John Dickerson & Margaret Brennan interviewing candidates for 2018-20 races). Click here for other excerpts by Marco Rubio. Click here for a profile of Marco Rubio.
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