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Transcript: National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan on “Face the Nation,” Feb. 4, 2024
The following is a transcript of an interview with National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan that aired on Feb. 4, 2024.
MARGARET BRENNAN: We’re joined now by White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan. Jake, it’s good to have you back here with us. The White House described Friday’s response as a multi-tiered plan, not one and done. Is this an open ended military campaign and how are you going to define success?
NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER JAKE SULLIVAN: Well, it’s true, Margaret, that what happened on Friday was the beginning, not the end of our response, and that there will be more steps, some seen, some perhaps unseen, all in an effort to send a very clear message that when American forces are attacked, when Americans are killed as three service members, tragically were at Tower 22, we will respond and we will respond forcefully. And we will respond in a sustained way. I would not describe it as some open ended military campaign. We have a concept of how we intend to respond. I’m not going to telegraph it on the show. But we will execute that concept with the kind of professionalism that only the US military can bring to bear.
MARGARET BRENNAN: So the US officially has not assessed that Tehran directed the attack, but has Tehran done anything to rein in the militias that they fund and arm?
JAKE SULLIVAN: Well, we know that Iran is behind these militia groups, they train them, they fund them, they arm them, as your question suggests. And they do have influence with them. And I can’t sit here today and tell you that Tehran has shifted its policy. What I can tell you is what the United States’ approach is going to be, which is that if we continue to see threats and attacks from these militia groups, we will respond to them. And we will hold those responsible accountable.
MARGARET BRENNAN: There are reportedly civilian casualties in Iraq and in Syria as a result of these strikes. Does the US assess that any of those hit in these strikes were actually Iranian Al Quds Force personnel? Or did the fact that this was so telegraphed in advance, give those personnel time to go to ground?
JAKE SULLIVAN: Well, first of all, Margaret, on the telegraphed point, President Biden has been saying for months that he would respond to attacks, we have responded to previous attacks, and when three service members were killed, of course, Iran knew that the United States would respond. So the idea that somehow this was telegraphed, I think is a bit more of a political talking point than- than a reality. Secondly, the targets that we hit, we believe with conviction, were valid military targets. They were ammunition depots and command and control centers. They were the instruments that Iranian backed Shia militia groups were using to attack American forces. We are looking at the casualties, who precisely was killed. I don’t have anything to report to you this morning publicly on that. But we will continue to make our assessments.
MARGARET BRENNAN: But no one, for example, in IRGC leadership and Iranian leadership, no one of significance was targeted?
JAKE SULLIVAN: As I said, we are continuing to assess the battle damage. And when we are prepared to share that publicly, we’ll do so. I am not prepared to do that with you today.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Okay. Jake, half of US adults, according to the AP, say Israel’s military campaign in Gaza has gone too far. And 31% approve of Biden’s handling of the conflict. At what point is this open ended Israel conflict in Gaza, not just a political problem, but a national security one for the United States to be so closely associated with the Netanyahu government’s war with the civilian casualties that we’ve seen to date and the starvation of women and children in Gaza?
JAKE SULLIVAN: Well, first Margaret, I’m glad you put the question in those terms. Because, you know, we don’t design our policy towards Israel, or Gaza or the Middle East based on politics. We do it based on the national security interests of the United States. And we’ve been clear from the beginning that we believe that Israel has a right to respond to the horrific attacks of October 7, and to deal with the threat that Hamas continues to post Israel, as it asserts that it wants to conduct another October 7, and then another one, until Israel no longer exists. But we’ve been equally clear that we have to look out for and respond to the immense and terrible suffering of the Palestinian people. And that means pressing Israel on issues related to the humanitarian assistance that we have helped unlock and get into the Gaza Strip and there needs to be much more of it. Secretary Blinken is on his way to the region as we speak, and this will be a top priority of his when he sees the Israeli government that the needs of the Palestinian people or something that are going to be front and center in the US approach and that we want to ensure that they are getting access to life saving food, medicine, water, shelter. And we’ll continue to press until that is done.
MARGARET BRENNAN: But it’s still not the degree to which you are asking for. Today, Prime Minister Netanyahu said Israel will not agree to a deal that is related to the release of terrorists. His National Security Minister Ben-Gvir gave an interview to the Wall Street Journal saying he’d oppose any deal with Hamas that would end the war or free Palestinian prisoners, and said Donald Trump would be better for Israel than Joe Biden. Does Benjamin Netanyahu have control of his government? And are these right wing ministers risking blowing up a hostage deal that the United States is trying to put together?
JAKE SULLIVAN: Look, I’m gonna let the Israeli government and Israeli politicians speak for themselves, they certainly have no trouble doing so as you just related. We’re only going to speak for ourselves and from our perspective, a hostage deal, that brings out the hostages, including the American hostages, that gets a sustained pause in hostilities so that life saving assistance can more easily get to the Palestinian people. This is in the national security interest of the United States. And we’re going to press for it relentlessly as the President has done, including recently in calls with the leaders of Egypt and Qatar, the two countries that are our central brokers in this effort. So it is a paramount priority for us, the Israeli government can answer whether it’s a paramount priority for them. And depending on that answer, they’ll also have to answer to the Israeli people.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Well, do I understand you saying there then that Israel’s government has not signed off fully on the proposal that the US is backing? I know, Qatar has said they’re waiting on Hamas.
JAKE SULLIVAN: No, no, you haven’t, you didn’t hear me correctly, Israel has in fact put forward a proposal. And as Qatar has indicated publicly, the ball is in Hamas’ court at this time.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Okay. Because this minister was threatening politically the prime minister in regard to a hostage deal and saying he would vote against it.
JAKE SULLIVAN: Well right, there seems to be obviously an ongoing debate spilling out in public within the Israeli government. And again, I’m not going to speak to that debate. They have to decide for themselves and they’ll have to work through their own political system.
MARGARET BRENNAN: And do you stand by your statement you made on the show previously, that Palestinians in Gaza have a right to return to their homes? That’s also an issue of conflict right now.
JAKE SULLIVAN: I do stand by my statement. It’s not Jake Sullivan’s statement. That’s a statement of administration policy, Secretary Blinken has laid it out now in full. We do not want to see a circumstance in which Israel occupies Gaza or where there is an effort to permanently displace Palestinians from their homes.
MARGARET BRENNAN: I want to ask you quickly about Ukraine as well. And the ongoing war there. President Zelensky has visited the frontlines today. Did his government inform the White House that Ukraine’s army chief is going to be fired and would the loss of that top general really impact the success of that war?
JAKE SULLIVAN: The personnel decisions in the Ukrainian Armed Forces are a matter for the Ukrainian government. That is not something the US government should be weighing in on one way or the other. And so we have stayed out of that set of personnel decisions. And of course, it’s the sovereign right of Ukraine and the right of the President of Ukraine to make his personnel decisions. We’ve been clear, we’re just not going to get embroiled in that particular decision. We have indicated that directly to the Ukrainians.
MARGARET BRENNAN: All right. Jake Sullivan, thank you for your time this morning.
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Rep. Mike Turner says all “candidates need to deescalate” after Trump assassination attempts
Rep. Mike Turner, an Ohio Republican who chairs the House Intelligence Committee, responded Sunday to Eric Trump’s implication that his father’s Democratic opponents were responsible for the attempts on former President Trump’s life, saying the innuendo was “of course” inaccurate but political candidates on both sides of the aisle “need to deescalate” their rhetoric.
“No, of course not,” Turner said in his latest appearance on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan,” after being asked whether he believes there was truth to claims made by the former president, his son Eric, and his vice presidential running mate, Sen. JD Vance, at a rally where each either implied or suggested Democrats tried to kill him.
Trump returned Saturday to Butler, Pennsylvania, to speak to supporters gathered at the Butler Farm Show fairgrounds, the site of the July 13 assassination attempt against him. A gunman facing Trump on the podium at that rally opened fire into the crowd, grazing Trump’s ear, killing one attendee and injuring two others, according to authorities. The gunman was killed by a Secret Service sniper, officials said.
Another apparent assassination attempt happened in September when a suspect pointed a gun in Trump’s direction on the Florida course where he was playing golf. The FBI has opened probes into both incidents.
CBS News
Trump, his son and Vance all acknowledged the assassination attempt in Butler at Saturday’s campaign event.
“Over the past eight years, those who want to stop us from achieving this future have slandered me impeached me indicted me tried to throw me off the ballot and, who knows, maybe even tried to kill me,” said the former president, while Eric Trump claimed his father’s political opponents “tried to kill him, and it’s because the Democratic party, they can’t do anything right.”
Vance, in his remarks, addressed Trump’s Democratic challenger in the presidential race, Vice President Kamala Harris, and suggested that the Republican nominee “took a bullet for democracy.”
Brennan asked Turner: “You don’t mean to imply here anything that would suggest Eric Trump’s allegations that Democrats are trying to kill him?”
“No, of course not,” Turner responded. “But I do think that Vice President Harris needs to actively state and acknowledge that her administration is saying a foreign power, which would be an act of war, is actively trying to kill her opponent.”
The attempts on Trump’s life came after a citizen of Pakistan with ties to Iran was arrested and charged with allegedly planning a murder-for-hire scheme targeting Trump, among others. Although the timing of the charges coincided with the first attempt, there was no indication that the two incidents were related.
Turner criticized Harris for what he viewed as a failure to openly condemn the alleged plot.
“I think there’s certainly a role for her to play and for the president to play in this, in both identifying that there are threats against Donald Trump that need to be acknowledged and responded to, to deter,” he said. “I think all the candidates need to de-escalate, certainly in their language.”
But the congressman did acknowledge that a Biden-Harris Justice Department official, Matthew Olsen, the head of the national security division, said the U.S. government has been “intensely tracking Iranian lethal plotting efforts targeting former and current U.S. government officials — and that includes the former president.”
“I would say that we are very concerned — gravely concerned — about Iranian plotting,” Olsen told CBS News in a recent interview.
Hurricane Milton rapidly intensified into a Category 1 storm on Sunday, and it has set its path on Florida’s Gulf Coast.
Forecasters predict Milton will make landfall around the Tampa Bay area on Wednesday, bringing with it upwards of 120 mph winds and drenching an area still reeling from Hurricane Helene.
As of 2 p.m. ET on Sunday, Milton was centered about 290 miles west-northwest of Progreso, Mexico, and about 815 miles west-southwest of Tampa. It had maximum sustained winds of nearly 80 mph and was inching north-northeast at 6 mph.
Path of Hurricane Milton
A map from the National Hurricane Center shows Milton continuing to strengthen into a major hurricane as it approaches Florida’s western coast.
“Milton is forecast to rapidly intensify during the next couple of days and become a major hurricane on Monday,” forecasters said.
NOAA/National Hurricane Center
The storm is expected to remain north of Mexico’s Yucatan peninsula, with heavy rainfall expected as Milton makes its way northeast toward Florida. Tropical storm watches are currently in effect from Celestun to Cancún, Mexico.
NOAA/National Hurricane Center
The hurricane center said hurricane and storm surge watches could be issued for parts of Florida later Sunday.
Florida officials prepare for more impact
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said Sunday that while it remains to be seen just where Milton will strike, it’s clear that Florida is going to be hit hard. “I don’t think there’s any scenario where we don’t have major impacts at this point,” he said.
“You have time to prepare — all day today, all day Monday, probably all day Tuesday to be sure your hurricane preparedness plan is in place,” the governor said. “If you’re on that west coast of Florida, barrier islands, just assume you’ll be asked to leave.”
NOAA via AP
DeSantis expanded his state of emergency declaration Sunday to 51 counties and said Floridians should prepare for more power outages and disruptions, making sure they have a week’s worth of food and water and are ready to hit the road.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency, meanwhile, coordinated with the governor and briefed President Biden Sunday on how it has staged lifesaving resources.
“I highly encourage you to evacuate” if you’re in an evacuation zone, said Kevin Guthrie, executive director of the Florida Division of Emergency Management. “We are preparing … for the largest evacuation that we have seen, most likely since 2017, Hurricane Irma. “
As many as 4,000 National Guard troops are helping state crews to remove debris, DeSantis said.
“All available state assets … are being marshaled to help remove debris,” DeSantis said. “We’re going 24-7 … it’s all hands on deck.”
An American climber was rescued after she and another alpinist from the U.K. were stranded for two days at more than 20,000 feet in the Himalayan mountains.
Michelle Dvorak, 31, and Fay Manners, 37, went missing on Thursday after their equipment and food tumbled down a ravine while trekking up India’s Chaukhamba mountain, CBS News partner BBC reported.
The pair sent an emergency message but search and rescue teams were unable to find them.
INDIAN AIR FORCE/Handout via REUTERS
Manners told the BBC they were “terrified” as they tried to make part of the descent down the treacherous mountains without supplies.
“I watched the bag tumble down the mountain and I immediately knew the consequence of what was to come,” she said. “We had none of our safety equipment left. No tent. No stove to melt snow for water. No warm clothes for the evening.”
The terrifying ordeal intensified when it started to snow. They took cover on a ledge while waiting for rescuers.
“I felt hypothermic, constantly shaking and with the lack of food my body was running out of energy to keep warm,” Manners said.
The rescue was made difficult because of the conditions, including bad weather, fog and high altitude.
“The helicopter flew passed again, couldn’t see us. We were destroyed,” Manners told the BBC.
INDIAN AIR FORCE/Handout via REUTERS
On the second day, the pair began to cautiously abseil down the mountain. They spotted a team of French climbers coming toward them. Manners said they shared their equipment and food and contacted the helicopter company with an exact location.
“I cried with relief knowing we might survive,” she said.
The Indian Air Force said in a post on the X social media platform that their helicopter airlifted the climbers from 17,400 feet after “battling two days of bad weather.”
Chaukhamba is a mountain massif in the Garhwal Himalaya in northern India.
Rep. Mike Turner says all “candidates need to deescalate” after Trump assassination attempts
Maps show track of Hurricane Milton as forecasters predict landfall in Florida this week
American and U.K. climbers rescued after 2 days stranded on Himalayan mountains in India
Rep. Mike Turner says all “candidates need to deescalate” after Trump assassination attempts
Maps show track of Hurricane Milton as forecasters predict landfall in Florida this week