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Transcript: Sen. James Lankford on “Face the Nation,” Jan. 28, 2024
The following is a transcript of an interview with Republican Sen. James Lankford of Oklahoma that aired on “Face the Nation” on Jan. 28, 2024.
MARGARET BRENNAN: And we’re joined now by Oklahoma Republican James Lankford. He’s in Oklahoma City this morning. Good morning to you, sir, it has taken you two months to get this bipartisan deal. Do you have the support of your fellow Republicans to actually vote this through?
SEN. JAMES LANKFORD: Well, actually, I wish it would have taken only two months. It’s taken about four months to be able to go through this, we started in October. Everyone’s looking to be able to read the bill at this point. That’s the key aspect, we’re working on the final aspects of it to try to be able to get it out. So everyone can get a chance to read it. Right now, they’re all functioning off of internet rumors of what’s in the bill, and many of them are false. So people want to be able to just see it, read it and go through it. And to be able to see the dramatic change that this really makes and how we handle our immigration system, and how we work to be able to secure our border completely. That’s been the simple request of Americans, whether you’re Republican, Democrat, or independent, people just want a secure border, where we have legal immigration, but we’re not promoting illegal immigration. And that’s what we’ve seen in the last three years.
MARGARET BRENNAN: So you don’t have a vote count yet?
SEN. LANKFORD: Do not have a vote count yet on this because everybody’s got to be able to read it to be able to go through. But I do feel very positive about it because even the initial feedback has been good.
MARGARET BRENNAN: So you just heard the details laid out there by our immigration correspondent, how do you balance the shutdown power that would be in these new authorities versus the right to claim asylum?
SEN. LANKFORD: Yeah, this is similar to what we had to under Title 42, during the pandemic time period, where we reach a crisis point to say we can’t actually operate. So we don’t have that authority. Right now, as the United States, we’ve reached crisis points. For instance, when we got four or 5,000 people crossing the border, we can no longer process those individuals. So right now, the Biden administration is just releasing them into the country. That’s what’s driving the mayors in Denver, in Chicago, in New York City and other places around the country crazy to say, when the border gets crowded, you just release them to our cities, and it causes all the chaos in these cities. This is a new authority to say, when we can no longer detain and deport, when we can’t process the people and actually make a decision right there at the border, then we’ll actually turn those folks back around to Mexico and say, “We can no longer do this.” That gives the authority to the United States into law enforcement, rather than the authority, just the criminal cartels. Right now. The cartels can just rush our border, they’ll get through as many people as they want to be able to get through. We can not have criminal organizations running our southern border, we have to be able to run our southern border.
MARGARET BRENNAN: So parole authority has been a sticking point for Republicans throughout. I know the administration has used it in a novel way to resettle 1 million people. So how are you changing that authority?
SEN. LANKFORD: Yeah, humanitarian parole is still- is still an issue for us. But it’s been an authority that every President has had to have basic humanitarian parole, but as you mentioned, this administration has used humanitarian parole in a way no other administration has. They’ve said, if you’ll just tell us in advance that you’re coming, come to a port of entry, the first day you get here, we’ll hand you a work permit, and we’ll release you into the country under parole. Well, that’s actually attracting more people, of course, people from around the world are going to want an American work permit to show up. So instead of deterring immigration, they’re literally incentivizing illegal immigration,. They’re handing people a parole and a work permit day one. That has to stop, we can’t just have a system where we have that. In between the ports of entries, when it gets crowded, they’ll just release them under a parole authority there. And they’re just released in the country. We don’t know if they qualify for asylum. We don’t know where they are. By the hundreds of thousands people are just being released in the country. And we have no tracking on them at all. That has to stop. This is a national security issue for us. May I remind you that we’ve had 50 people come across our border that we’ve interdicted, that are on the terror watch list. Just in the past four months, we’ve had tens of thousands of people that came across our border that were identified as a national security risk. Those individuals should not just be waived into the country.
MARGARET BRENNAN: So the conservative Wall Street Journal editorial board called this the best chance in years to fix asylum law and parole loophole. But Donald Trump, who is the front runner to be your party’s nominee in 2024 is telling Republicans not to support this. Here’s what he said last night in Las Vegas.
(SOUND ON TAPE)
FORMER PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: A lot of the senators are trying to say respectfully they’re blaming going to me– I said that’s okay. Please blame it on me, please, because they were getting ready to pass a very bad bill. And I’ll tell you what a bad bill is– I’d rather have no bill than a bad bill.
(END SOUND ON TAPE)
MARGARET BRENNAN: Can you get this passed without Donald Trump’s approval?
SEN. LANKFORD: Well, I’m looking forward to President Trump having the opportunity to be able to read it like everybody else. There’s a lot of misinformation out there right now that I hear this comment that it waives in 5,000 people, it hands out work permits that- all those things are not true. There’s just a lot of internet rumors that are running around on this right now. We’re looking forward to getting the information out and I can say, there is no question no matter what your political persuasion is, we would not have had the immigration crisis we’re experiencing right now, if President Trump would have been president the last three years. There’s no way we would have had 8 million people illegally cross our border, because he would enforce those different authorities and would have made sure that we actually secure a border. But even while he was president, he was specifically asking Congress to change the standard on asylum to be able to tighten up, to be able to give them additional funds for deportation. All of those things are in this bill. So if he were to be president, this would be new authorities that he had actually asked for when he was president before.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Right. And I just- you just said that he has not read this bill. He doesn’t essentially know what he’s talking about. So this deal–
Sen. Lankford: — Well, I’m not saying that. I’m just saying there’s just a lot of rumors that are out there about the bill. And I want to make sure everyone has a chance to be able to read it before they make a final judgment.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Right. So the deal you just said would give any future president and the current one new authorities. So on the trail, Trump has vowed to block legal immigrants based on their beliefs to end birthright citizenship, to carry out mass deportations, and he has not ruled out separating kids from their parents. Would you trust Donald Trump with these new authorities?
SEN. LANKFORD: I would actually because these are not only new authorities that had been asked for by multiple presidents, whether it be President Trump, President Obama, President Bush before that, this is a basic thing that we have to have for our national security. When we talk about asylum, right now you cross the border, and you literally say, I have fear in my country, and you’re released into the United States and await a 10-year hearing. No one thinks that actually makes sense to have a 10-year backlog for just saying the magic words. I have fear in my country. We don’t really know if they qualify for asylum. We don’t know their criminal record. We don’t know anything else about it. That absolutely has to change. That’s been an issue for a very long time that changes this in law.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Well, we will have to see where we are on the vote count. But I want to ask you, back in 2022, Donald Trump endorsed your reelection. And in that endorsement, he said, “James Lankford is strong on the border.” Has anything changed with your thoughts about endorsing Donald Trump for president?
SEN. LANKFORD: No, it hasn’t at all. Obviously, he’s been very engaged, as I’ve mentioned already on it, none of the things that are happening in the last three years in the border would have happened if Donald Trump was actually president. He knows I’ve been very passionate about the border. This is an issue I’ve worked on for a very long time. He and I worked together when he was in the White House on some of his border policies. And when he did his big proposal, that was a legislative proposal, because again, President Trump proposed new laws and new issues on this, because we know that we have gaps in the system. So if you want to be able to secure the border, you can have President Trump to be able to come in to actually secure the border, because he’s going to focus in on that. But if he comes in and is elected by the American people to come this November, he’s going to want these additional authorities in this because it will help every president from here on out.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Yeah, but you’re not endorsing him?
SEN. LANKFORD: I actually haven’t endorsed anyone on it. But he’d be a much better president than what we’re dealing with right now, definitely on national security.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Okay. Before I let you go, I want to get your reaction to the news that he was ordered to pay $83 million to a person that a jury found he defamed after a separate jury found that he had sexually assaulted her. Does it give you any pause about him returning to office?
SEN. LANKFORD: It doesn’t. Obviously, these are legal cases. I don’t want to jump in the middle of a legal case. It’s been interesting the number of legal cases that have come up against President Trump and then have failed and had been dropped or had been kicked out of the courts on it. This one’s actually went through. He’s already said he’s going to challenge it. So let the courts actually make their decisions and let the American people make their decisions. We got states like Colorado that are trying to be able to block the people of Colorado from being able to choose who they vote for. Let the American people decide this in November.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Well, the Supreme Court might decide on that one. We will have to leave it there for today, James Lankford. We will be focusing on what progress you were able to make. We’ll be back in just one minute.
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Former Israeli hostages released in truce 1 year ago call for action to release those still held
Former Israeli hostages who were freed from Hamas captivity during a week-long humanitarian pause in fighting exactly one year ago Sunday called for immediate action to secure a deal for the release of those still held.
The only truce in the ongoing Israel-Hamas war on Nov. 24, 2023 – fewer than two months after fighting began – led to the release of 80 Israelis held by militants in Gaza. They were freed in exchange for 240 Palestinians detained in Israeli jails.
Repeated efforts since then by mediators from Qatar, Egypt and the United States to secure another truce and hostage release have failed. Qatar early this month said it was suspending its mediation role until the warring sides show “seriousness.”
Mostafa Alkharouf/Anadolu via Getty Images
Gabriella Leimberg was kidnapped during the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack and was released along with her daughter, Mia, and sister Clara.
“For 53 days, the one thing that kept me going is that we, the people of Israel, the Jewish people, sanctify life — we don’t leave anyone behind,” she said.
Leimberg added: “Everything has already been said and now action is required. We don’t have any more time.”
Around 100 hostages are still in Gaza, and at least a third are believed to be dead.
“I survived and I was fortunate to get my entire family back,” Leimberg said. “I want and demand this for all the families of the hostages.”
Hamas wants Israel to end the war and withdraw all troops from Gaza. Israel has offered only to pause its offensive.
The Palestinian death toll from the war surpassed 44,000 this week, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants in its count.
Maya Alleruzzo / AP
Danielle Aloni, who was kidnapped with her five-year-old daughter, Emelia, and freed after 49 days, spoke at the ceremony of the “increasing danger” those still being held face every day.
She said those still in captivity “suffer physical, sexual, and psychological abuse, their identity and dignity crushed anew each day”.
“It took the Israeli government about two months to secure a deal for me and 80 other Israeli hostages. Why is it taking over a year to reach another deal to free them from this hell?” asked Aloni, whose brother-in-law, David Cunio, and his brother, Ariel Cunio, are still being held.
She emphasized that, even though she and the other hostages gained their freedom a year ago, “we haven’t really left the tunnels,” — referring to Hamas’ underground tunnels where many of the hostages were held.
“The feeling of suffocation, the terrible humidity, the stench — these sensations still envelop us,” Aloni said.
“If people could truly understand what it means to be held in subhuman conditions in tunnels, surrounded by terrorists for 54 days — there’s no way they would allow hostages to remain there for 415 days!” said Raz Ben Ami, who was released in the deal a year ago.
Her husband, Ohad, is still among those being held.
Ben Ami called for a ceasefire to “bring back all the hostages as quickly as possible”.
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Couple charged for allegedly stealing $1 million from Lululemon in convoluted retail theft scheme
A couple from Connecticut faces charges for allegedly taking part in an intricate retail theft operation targeting the apparel company Lululemon that may have amounted to $1 million worth of stolen items, according to a criminal complaint.
The couple, Jadion Anthony Richards, 44, and Akwele Nickeisha Lawes-Richards, 45, were arrested Nov. 14 in Woodbury, Minnesota, a suburb of Minneapolis-St. Paul. Richards and Lawes-Richards have been charged with one count each of organized retail theft, which is a felony, the Ramsey County Attorney’s Office said. They are from Danbury, Connecticut.
The alleged operation impacted Lululemon stores in multiple states, including Minnesota.
“Because of the outstanding work of the Roseville Police investigators — including their new Retail Crime Unit — as well as other law enforcement agencies, these individuals accused of this massive retail theft operation have been caught,” a spokesperson for the attorney’s office said in a statement on Nov. 18. “We will do everything in our power to hold these defendants accountable and continue to work with our law enforcement partners and retail merchants to put a stop to retail theft in our community.”
Both Richards and Lawes-Richards have posted bond as of Sunday and agreed to the terms of a court-ordered conditional release, according to the county attorney. For Richards, the court had set bail at $100,000 with conditional release, including weekly check-ins, or $600,000 with unconditional release. For Lawes-Richards, bail was set at $30,000 with conditional release and weekly check-ins or $200,000 with unconditional release. They are scheduled to appear again in court Dec. 16.
Prosecutors had asked for $1 million bond to be placed on each half of the couple, the attorney’s office said.
Richards and Lawes-Richards are accused by authorities of orchestrating a convoluted retail theft scheme that dates back to at least September. Their joint arrests came one day after the couple allegedly set off store alarms while trying to leave a Lululemon in Roseville, Minnesota, and an organized retail crime investigator, identified in charging documents by the initials R.P., recognized them.
The couple were allowed to leave the Roseville store. But the investigator later told an officer who responded to the incident that Richards and Lawes-Richards were seasoned shoplifters, who apparently stole close to $5,000 worth of Lululemon items just that day and were potentially “responsible for hundreds of thousands of dollars in loss to the store across the country,” according to the complaint. That number was eventually estimated by an investigator for the brand to be even higher, with the criminal complaint placing it at as much as $1 million.
Richards and Lawes-Richards allegedly involved other individuals in their shoplifting pursuits, but none were identified by name in the complaint. Authorities said they were able to successfully pull off the thefts by distracting store employees and later committing fraudulent returns with the stolen items at different Lululemon stores.
“Between October 29, 2024 and October 30, 2024, RP documented eight theft incidents in Colorado involving Richards and Lawes-Richards and an unidentified woman,” authorities wrote in the complaint, describing an example of how the operation would allegedly unfold.
“The group worked together using specific organized retail crime tactics such as blocking and distraction of associates to commit large thefts,” the complaint said. “They selected coats and jackets and held them up as if they were looking at them in a manner that blocked the view of staff and other guests while they selected and concealed items. They removed security sensors using a tool of some sort at multiple stores.”
CBS News contacted Lululemon for comment but did not receive an immediate reply.
CBS News
Former Trump national security adviser says next couple months are “really critical” for Ukraine
Washington — Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster, a former national security adviser to Donald Trump, said Sunday that the upcoming months will be “really critical” in determining the “next phase” of the war in Ukraine as the president-elect is expected to work to force a negotiated settlement when he enters office.
McMaster, a CBS News contributor, said on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan” that Russia and Ukraine are both incentivized to make “as many gains on the battlefield as they can before the new Trump administration comes in” as the two countries seek leverage in negotiations.
With an eye toward strengthening Ukraine’s standing before President-elect Donald Trump returns to office in the new year, the Biden administration agreed in recent days to provide anti-personnel land mines for use, while lifting restrictions on Ukraine’s use of U.S.-made longer range missiles to strike within Russian territory. The moves come as Ukraine marked more than 1,000 days since Russia’s invasion in February 2022.
Meanwhile, many of Trump’s key selection for top posts in his administration — Rep. Mike Waltz for national security adviser and Sens. Marco Rubio for secretary of state and JD Vance for Vice President — haven’t been supportive of providing continued assistance to Ukraine, or have advocated for a negotiated end to the war.
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McMaster said the dynamic is “a real problem” and delivers a “psychological blow to the Ukrainians.”
“Ukrainians are struggling to generate the manpower that they need and to sustain their defensive efforts, and it’s important that they get the weapons they need and the training that they need, but also they have to have the confidence that they can prevail,” he said. “And any sort of messages that we might reduce our aid are quite damaging to them from a moral perspective.”
McMaster said he’s hopeful that Trump’s picks, and the president-elect himself, will “begin to see the quite obvious connections between the war in Ukraine and this axis of aggressors that are doing everything they can to tear down the existing international order.” He cited the North Korean soldiers fighting on European soil in the first major war in Europe since World War II, the efforts China is taking to “sustain Russia’s war-making machine,” and the drones and missiles Iran has provided as part of the broader picture.
“So I think what’s happened is so many people have taken such a myopic view of Ukraine, and they’ve misunderstood Putin’s intentions and how consequential the war is to our interests across the world,” McMaster said.
On Trump’s selections for top national security and defense posts, McMaster stressed the importance of the Senate’s advice and consent role in making sure “the best people are in those positions.”
McMaster outlined that based on his experience, Trump listens to advice and learns from those around him. And he argued that the nominees for director of national intelligence and defense secretary should be asked key questions like how they will “reconcile peace through strength,” and what they think “motivates, drives and constrains” Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Trump has tapped former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard to be director of national intelligence, who has been criticized for her views on Russia and other U.S. adversaries. McMaster said Sunday that Gabbard has a “fundamental misunderstanding” about what motivates Putin.
More broadly, McMaster said he “can’t understand” the Republicans who “tend to parrot Vladimir Putin’s talking points,” saying “they’ve got to disabuse themselves of this strange affection for Vladimir Putin.”
Meanwhile, when asked about Trump’s recent selection of Sebastian Gorka as senior director for counterterrorism and deputy assistant to the president, McMaster said he doesn’t think Gorka is a good person to advise the president-elect on national security. But he noted that “the president, others who are working with him, will probably determine that pretty quickly.”
