CBS News
Transcript: Oksana Markarova on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan,” Dec. 15, 2024
The following is a transcript of an interview with Oksana Markarova, Ukrainian ambassador to the U.S., on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan” that aired on Dec. 15, 2024.
MARGARET BRENNAN: And we’re joined now by the Ukrainian ambassador to the United States, Oksana Markarova. Good to have you back with us.
UKRAINIAN AMBASSADOR TO THE U.S. OKSANA MARKAROVA: Thank you for having me and blessed Sunday to all.
MARGARET BRENNAN: No Western Power, as you know, is sending troops to Ukraine to help Ukrainian forces, but Russia’s got North Korean troops now who are fighting on their side. Yesterday, President Zelensky said Russia has been using a significant number of North Koreans. How are they fighting?
AMB. MARKAROVA: Yes, so and we are not asking for other troops. Ukrainians are still capable of defending our own country. We’re asking for the military support. Yesterday, we have seen those tens of thousands of troops that we were warning the word about. We have seen hundreds of them on the battlefield already, and we are successfully fighting with them as we are fighting with the Russians. I mean, look we we see them now in Kursk Oblast only, and our brave defenders were not only able to kill a lot of them, but also keep the positions. So it’s difficult, of course, to see the reinforcement from this axis of evil, but it will not change anything for us. We will continue defending the very long line, whether it’s in southern eastern Ukraine or whether it’s our defensive operation in Kursk.
MARGARET BRENNAN: And in the meantime, the North Korean troops are getting trained in Modern Warfare, and they’re learning in Ukraine- I mean, right there.
AMB. MARKAROVA: Absolutely. And we also have to worry about what is it that Russia is promising or even delivering to North Korea in exchange for this and Korean missiles.
MARGARET BRENNAN: But I also raised the manpower issue because it’s a problem for Ukraine as well. Military Recruitment is tough right now in Ukraine. There has been pressure on your government by the United States to lower the draft age so that you can boost the number of fighters. This is arguably a bigger issue than the weaponry itself. Is it affecting the ability of Ukraine to keep up this fight?
AMB. MARKAROVA: I wouldn’t agree that it’s a bigger issue than the equipment itself. We still have, first of all, we have a number of young people fighting for Ukraine, and they are volunteering, and women are volunteering. Ukraine is one of the countries that lifted all restrictions for women, for example, and we have 60,000 of women in the armed forces. With the recruitment, the last changes to the law on mobilization already allowed us to create new brigades, which we are training now. And the problem is to have enough equipment to train them on, so that we can actually not send to the battlefield like Russians do, right, unprepared, whether it’s North Korean to unprepared Russians, but to send soldiers who can do and deliver on a mission. And it’s very important for us, because every person matters for Ukrainians. Of course there are challenges, and we have the plan and we know how to do it, because again, this is our home we are defending. So when it’s necessary, all of us are going to be defending our country, but weapons and having more weapons, especially long range, especially something to counter this 3000 Glide bombs every month that Russians are sending against us.
There’s missiles for both Russian and North Korean missiles. I mean, it’s still a question of artillery and weapons and air defense, most importantly, and the more we can have, the faster we can- the more efficiently we can defend.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Well, the Biden administration has been releasing more weapons just in the last week alone. But Donald Trump gave an interview to Time Magazine, and he said the United States is escalating by allowing for weapons- missiles to be shot into Russian territory. He specifically focused in on that. He does not like that Ukraine is doing it. What does that mean for you on day one of the Trump administration?
AMB. MARKAROVA: Well, let me say, start by saying thank you to all American people, really, for standing with us all this time. Let me thank President Biden and his administration for all the support. Let me thank President Trump. He is the one who made a historic decision to provide us with Javelins, actually, to provide us with lethal aid in the first place–
MARGARET BRENNAN: –back in 2017.
AMB. MARKAROVA: Yes. So right now, we have to do everything in order to stop Russia. And we know it’s- it could be stopped. It was recently stopped in Syria. We liberated more than 50% that they have taken. We actually kicked them out from the Black Sea, just with our own naval drone capabilities. They could, they- we can stop them the more equipment we have, especially including the longer range equipment in order to be able to degrade the attack capabilities faster, the faster they will either come to the table, because, again, Ukraine wants peace. Nobody wants peace more than us. Ukraine was never a problem. We never initiated this conflict, and we negotiated at the first sign- remember, in 2022 when Russians started negotiations, they, of course, did not negotiate peace. They negotiated the pause. As we just heard Congressman Waltz, who absolutely rightfully said, it has to be peace, not a pause.
MARGARET BRENNAN: He was careful. He didn’t give a lot of specifics as to what the Trump policy will be but we do know that Viktor Orban was at Mar-a-Lago this past week, and he talks to Vladimir Putin, and he’s talking about a Christmas pause. Do you see a chance for a Christmas ceasefire and prisoner exchange?
AMB. MARKAROVA: This is very difficult winter, after Russia destroyed our- a lot of our energy infrastructure. And after you know, we are going through this difficult fights, both on the front line, but also civilians suffering from the deadly missile attacks–
MARGARET BRENNAN: –Just this past week.
AMB. MARKAROVA: Yes, at the same time, you know, every time Russia is talking about some ceasefire, they are lying. Russians are lying, and we see they were not able to defend their body- terrorist body Assad, and he fled to Russia. And we see horrible atrocities in Sednaya Prison, like we see in Ukraine everywhere. It reminded me isolation prison in Donetsk–
MARGARET BRENNAN: Right.
AMB. MARKAROVA: Which still is operational. So look, you know, if Russia wants seriously to stop it, they can stop it anytime.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Ambassador, I have to leave it there. Thank you so much for joining us.
AMB. MARKAROVA: Thank you.
MARGARET BRENNAN: We’ll be back in a moment.
CBS News
Waltz says federal agencies are “pointing at each other” to figure out mysterious drone sightings
A series of mysterious drone sightings around the East Coast has lawmakers grasping for solutions to an unfamiliar problem and federal agencies “pointing at each other” to figure out what’s going on, Trump’s likely incoming national security adviser said Sunday.
“We need to know who’s behind it,” said Rep. Mike Waltz, a Republican from Florida who is President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for national security adviser. “But right now, I think law enforcement seems to be…the Department of Homeland Security and the Defense Department are kind of doing this and pointing at each other.”
Speaking on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan” on Sunday, Waltz said he believes the drone issue — which sparked outcry and demands for answers from civilians and leaders alike — highlights lapses in authority between local law enforcement and federal agencies like the Department of Defense and Department of Homeland Security.
“I think Americans are finding it hard to believe we can’t figure out where these are coming from,” he added. “It’s pointing to gaps in our capabilities and in our ability to clamp down on what’s going on here. And we need to get to the bottom of it.”
Sen. Amy Klobuchar, a Minnesota Democrat, echoed the congressman’s concern in a separate interview Sunday on “Face the Nation.” In addition to a briefing for members of the Senate to discuss the situation, she also called for “more transparency” and “new regulatory rules in place” for drone use.
“We’ve got to figure out, do we really want all these drones? Because while these may be safe, who knows what happens in the future?” said Klobuchar. “They have to be within 400 feet [from the ground], so these things are going to be what? Flying over people’s family picnics and over their homes and over beaches? This is not going to be a good future if we see too many of these.”
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, Democrat of New York, announced Sunday that he is working to pass a bill in the Senate that would give local authorities more resources for drone detection. He also asked Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas to deploy drone-detection technology to New York and New Jersey.
“The laws on where and when and who can fly drones are rather limited. This legislation will help,” Schumer said at a briefing. “We’ve talked to the Homeland Security and the FBI and we told them we need answers quickly.”
I’m pushing for answers amid these drone sightings.
I’m calling for @SecMayorkas to deploy special drone-detection tech across NY and NJ.
And I’m working to pass a bill in the Senate to give local law enforcement more tools for drone detection.
— Chuck Schumer (@SenSchumer) December 15, 2024
Amid the comments from lawmakers, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said Sunday on ABC’s “This Week” that he had seen drones from over his own house.
“Two mornings ago, over my house at 6:15 in the morning, I saw them myself,” Christie said. “So did my wife, and so yeah, they’re there. And I’ve been traveling around New Jersey, as I normally do, all week. And I can’t tell you the number of people have come to me concerned about it.”
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said Sunday that her state would be receiving a drone detection system from the federal government.
“I am grateful for the support, but we need more. Congress must pass a law that will give us the power to deal directly with the drones,” the governor said in a statement.
Drones have been spotted in New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and other eastern states, sometimes flying near military installations as well as near Trump’s golf course in Bedminister, New Jersey. A federal official said Thursday that the FBI was leading the investigation into the sightings. An FBI official told CBS News the same day that the agency had received several thousand tips, and local law enforcement was also investigating.
Republican Rep. Jeff Van Drew of New Jersey suggested last week that there was an Iranian “mothership” off the East Coast of the United States launching the drones, which Pentagon spokeswoman Sabrina Singh refuted.
Two people were arrested in Boston Saturday night on trespassing charges, after police said they were involved in a “hazardous drone operation,” CBS Boston reported. An officer spotted a drone flying close to Logan Airport and found the drone’s location, altitude and flight history in order to trace the machine back to its apparent operators, Robert Duffy, 42, and Jeremy Folcik, 32, according to Boston police.
Watch CBS News
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.
Washington — Sen. Amy Klobuchar, a Minnesota Democrat, said Sunday that the entire presidential pardoning process “cries out for reform” following some controversial commutations and pardons made by President Biden, including when the president issued a blanket pardon of his own son, Hunter.
“This whole process cries out for reform because otherwise you undermine the justice system,” Klobuchar said on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan.”
The White House announced early Thursday that President Biden was commuting the sentence of nearly 1,500 people, marking the widest reaching clemency granted by a president in a single day. Among the individuals, many of whom had been placed on home confinement during the COVID-19 pandemic, were some who have sparked controversy in recent days — including a judge involved in a so-called “Kids for Cash” scheme.
Klobuchar interjected that she “did not like that one,” adding that she did not agree with all the pardons and commutations.
“I have no doubt there were some righteous pardons in this group,” Klobuchar said. “But there were a number that I think make no sense at all.”
CBS News
Further, she said she didn’t agree with Mr. Biden’s pardon of his son, Hunter, earlier this month.
Klobuchar noted that she has also disagreed with a number of pardons that President-elect Donald Trump made during his first term. And the Minnesota Democrat said that while the pardon ability is part of the Constitution and has a long history that she said wouldn’t be changed, she would advocate for reforms.
“We should have some kind of an outside board that governors have,” she said. “Governors have the ability to give mercy to people after years have gone by, but a lot of them have boards that make recommendations and other things, instead of people just doing it in the middle of the night.”
Klobuchar suggested that over a year-long period, a board could look at individual petitions rather than large groups, which she argued undermines the work of FBI agents and prosecutors who took on the cases.
“Might you want mercy 10 years later?” Klobuchar said. “Yes, you might. But let’s at least look at these on a factual basis and a risk basis, instead of just in the middle of the night a month before a president leaves.”
Waltz says federal agencies are “pointing at each other” to figure out mysterious drone sightings
Volunteers keep Christmas alive in shuttered church with a Nativity scene with a live baby and carols in German
Ambassador Oksana Markarova says Ukraine is “not asking for other troops”
Waltz says federal agencies are “pointing at each other” to figure out mysterious drone sightings
Volunteers keep Christmas alive in shuttered church with a Nativity scene with a live baby and carols in German