Transcripts For CNNW State 20240703

Morning. Well stay on top of this breaking developing story. State of the union is next. Mighty vengeance. Israel responds. After a brazen and brutal hamas Terror Attacks. Citizens of israel, were at w w war. Antony blinken joins me next. And how could it happen. Israeli civilians killed and ab ducked as the world scrambled to understand how hamas pulled off such a surprise attack. House minority leader Hakeem Jeffries and House Foreign Affairs Committee Michael Mccaul and former Vice President mike pence join me ahead. Plus rock solid. President biden voices strong support for israel. Israel has the right to defend itself and its people. Full stop. And congress rushes to condemn the hamas attack but without a speaker of the house, could that hamper any u. S. Response . Announcer this is cnn breaking news. Hello, im dana bash in washington where the state of our union is standing with israel. Breaking news just in to cnn, israel formally declared a state of war. And cnn is reporting more than 500 israelis are likely dead after a surprise Terror Attack by hamas. Today is the Jewish Holiday of sim caw torah, people are usually dancing and celebrating, instead israelis are in mourning. Mourning the hundreds who were killed and looking for their kidnapped babies, grandmothers, sisters, brothers and husbands. Captured by terrorists in their streets and in their homes. Desperate parents are still praying for information about their children who are hamas hostages. Terrorists now and they are so young [ inaudible ]. They were 16 and 12, so it is very, very hard to hear. And that was the last time i heard from them. As we speak, israeli tanks are rolling toward the gaza border. Ize raely Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warns of a long and difficult war to come. Joining me now is the u. S. Secretary of state Antony Blinken. Thank you so much for joining me. I really appreciate it. First, what could you tell us about what is going on on the Ground Inn Israel and in gaza right now and how worried are you about how rapidly and how widely this could escalate. The first thing to say is this, this is the worst attack on israel since the Yom Kippur War. But there is a big difference. That was a conventional war between countries and armies. This is, a massive Terrorist Attack, on israeli civilians. Indiscriminate fires of rockets against civilians. Thousands of rockets. And men and women and children dragged across the border into gaza, including a holocaust survivor in a wheelchair. People gunned down in the streets, civilians. So you could imagine the impact this is having on israel and it should be something that revolts t the entire world. Right now what were seeing is relative calm throughout most of israel but intensifying continuing to go on in the gaza area. We immediately reached out to President Biden President Biden reached out to Prime Minister netanyahu and spoke to him on the phone yesterday and i spoke to thei israeli president and weve been on the phones throughout the last 24 hours engaging everyone in the region and well beyond. Both to make sure that there is support for israel and that every country is using every effort to pull hamas back and to prevent this from escalating. Well how concerned are you about that last point that you made . That this will escalate beyond what is happening in israel and in gaza . Well our first focus is to make sure that israel has what it needs to deal with the situation in gaza. To deal with the some thousand militants that came into israel again attacking israeli civilians in their homes an their towns. As of now, they seem to have been pushed back for the most part into gaza. But we want to make sure that israel has what it needs. At the same time President Biden was very clear in sending a message to anyone in any other area who might try to take advantage of the situation, not to. And whether that is in the north, with hezbollah, and lebanon, whether it is in the west bank, or whether it is elsewhere. Weve send the message clearly and directly and through other countries. When you spoke with your counterpart in israel when the president spoke with the Prime Minister, did they ask specifically for help from the u. S. . So, we, as you know, provide significant assistance to the israelis. We have since president obama signed a memorandum of understanding to provide 3. 8 million a year in military assistance. Were looking at specifically additional requests that the israelis have made. I think youre likely to hear more about that later today. You could give us a preview . Let me not get ahead of it. But again we want to make sure that President Bidens direction was to make sure that were providing israel everything they need to deal with the attacks from hamas and as i said, i expect there to be more than on that later today. Before we go, i want to ask is there any indication that americans were killed or kidnapped by terrorists . Yes. We have reports that several americans were killed, were working overtime to verify that. At the same time. There are reports of Missing Americans and, there again, were working to verify those reports. It does seem like this very coordinated attack came out of nowhere. I wan our viewers to listen to what the u. S. National security adviser Jake Sullivan said just nine days ago. The middle east region is quieter today than it has been in two decades. Now challenges remain, Irans Nuclear weapons program, tensions between israelis and palestinians but the amount of time that i have to spend on crisis and conflict in The Middle East compared today to my predecessors going back to 9 11 is significantly reduced. That obviously has changed dramatically. Not just for Jake Sullivan, but for all of you. And this is this isnt about anything that jake missed but more broadly about the Intelligence Failure, not just about about the israelis but about the u. S. What you could say about that . Well, two things, dana, first what Jake Sullivan said is right. If you look at the relationship among countries in The Middle East, you saw with a lot of work by the United States, countries come together and the region integrating. Hostilities diminishing and weve been very engaged in pursuing normalization between israel and its neighbors, building on what has already been done and including with saudi arabia and other conflicts like in yemen where weve had a truce now for two years have made a huge difference. What happened over last 24 hours doesnt go to state to State Conflict where jake is exactly right, it is diminished. This goes to a Terrorist Attack by a Terrorist Organization. At same time, we have been intensely focused on tensions between israelis and palestinians. That is why we brought them together. To try to get both sides not engage in acts that could preci precipitate hostility and violence and that does not include hamas because it is a Terrorist Organization and it took action as we have seen over the last 24 hours, that has had a terrible impact. But that is what was going on. In terms of the intelligence, there will be plenty of time in days to come to look and see what anyone missed, what might have what we could have done better. Right now the focus is on helping israel to deal with this attack. I understand. The u. S. , you mentioned saudi arabia. I want to ask you about that because the u. S. , your administration has been, would working to craft a deal between israel and saudi arabia. Do you think this attack was in part to disrupt that and could that be successful . Certainly that could have been part of the motivation. Look, who opposes normalization. Hamas and hezbollah and iran. And part of the motivation may have been disrupt efforts to bring saudi arabia and israel together. Along with other countries that may be interested in normalizing relations with israel. So that is certainly a faker. And i think it speaks to the fact that if we could achieve normalization, which is incredibly difficult, there are a lot of hard issues to work through, but if we could, it would bring greater stability to the region and move the region away from decades of turmoil and conflict and at the same time what weve been very clear about and others have been very clear about is normalization could in the be a substitute for resolving differences. In fact, it ought to be able to reinforce it, to strengthen it. So there are two paths for the region. One is a path of much greater integration, much greater stability. And a resolution of the challenges between israelis and palestinians including equal measures of democracy and of opportunity and of justice and dignity for both israelis and palestinians or the path that hamas has engaged in, a path of terror and wreaking havoc in people lives and doing nothing to better the lives of the palestinians. On the the contrary, every action is making it worse for palestinians as well as israelis. Do you have evidence that iran directed this attack . There is a lot relationship between iran and hamas. In fact, hamas wouldnt be around if the way that it is without the support that its received from iran over the years. In this specific instance, we have not yet seen evidence that iran directed or was behind this particular attack. But there is certainly a long relationship. It is one of the reasons why we have been taking action against iran and the supportive tor terrorists and terrorist proxies. We sanctioned more than 400 iranian individuals and entities precisely because of their support for things like hamas. While were talking about iran, i have to ask you to, if you want to respond to what were hearing from republicans who are over and over since this happened using Word Appeasement when it comes to iran and they criticized the decision to unfreeze 6 billion in iranian funds. And i know and want to state that that money has not yet been unfrozen. Iran does not yet have it. But the accusation is that irans posture excuse me that the u. S. , your administration posture towards iran has helped contribute to this. I want to give you a chance to respond. Well, there are two things here. First, with regard to the funds that you mentioned, that were made available to iran for humanitarian purposes. As part of getting americans back who were being held or detained in iran. Lets be very clear about this and it is deeply unfortunate that so many are playing politics when israel is under attack. The facts are these. No u. S. Taxpayer dollars were involved. These are iranian resources that iran has accumulated from the sales of oil that were stuck in a bank in south korea. They have had from day one the right to use these monies for humanitarian purposes. They were moved from one account to another in another country to facilitate that use. As of now, not a single dollar has been spent from that account. And again, the account is closely regulated by the u. S. Treasury department. So it could only be used for things like food, medicine, medical equipment. That is what this is about. And by the way, the Previous Administration set up a very similar mechanism so enable iran to use its oil proceeds that were blocked in various places for humanitarian purposes. So, people are either misinformed or theyre misinforming and either way it is wrong. Before i let you go, ill ask you about the United Nations saying that they have detectived rockets from coming lebanon toward israel and hezbollah is taking responsible. Have you seen intelligence that hezbollah is contemplating a more folsom attack in the north of israel and would get help from the groups like taliban or iran as weve been talking about . Well one of the reasons President Biden was very clear from the very first moments that no one elsewhere should try to take advantage of this situation. It is precisely to do everything we can to ensure that there is not another front in this conflict, including hezbollah and lebanon. We saw some limited firing of missiles coming from lebanon. That seems for now to have stopped and the israeli responded immediately and as of now that is quiet but it is something were watching very carefully. Secretary of state Antony Blinken, thank you so much for your time this morning on this very dark, dark day. Appreciate it. Thanks, dana. And up next, well get a live report from the ground in israel, Nic Robertson is there and will join us in minutes. Ill also speak with the top democrat in the house, Hakeem Jeffries about what the u. S. Is learning about the attack and chaos in congress. The House Of Representatives is at a standstill while all of this is happening in The Middle East. Welcome back to state of the union. Israel and the world is reeling from yesterdays shocking Terror Attacks by hamas. Cnn analysis sulggests that the death toll is likely to surpass 500. Many of them are civilians, including women an children, hundreds more are wouned and israeli Officials Say a significant number of israeli civilians have been taken hostage inside of gaza. For more on all of this, lets go Nic Robertson in sderot, israel. Reporter the situation that were seeing here in sderot is just really hours after theize raely Defense Forces took back control of this town from hamas. Hamas was holed up for a while in the Police Station here. You could see the level of destruction, The Fire Fight by israeli Defense Forces to take that building, so youust that building alone back last night was intense and going on into the early hours of this morning. But as you drive into this town here, everywhere along the road youre finding smashed cars, cars shot up, this burned out and shot up vehicle here. There is a big pool of blood on the other side of it. It is this sort of thing all across it town with just a couple of miles from gaza. Were Hearing Drones and fighter jets. Were Hearing Explosions as well going on in the area of gaza. And i was speaking with an Israeli Defense force spokesperson just a few minutes ago about that issue of all of the hostages that have been taken and i asked him, how will you get them back and i said were not going to leave anyone behind. This presents a huge political challenge at the moment. The situation in sderot, the israeli Defense Forces may have control of it, but as the spokesperson was telling me, just a few hours ago they picked up a gaza resident in the town here. Hes come out with the militants and come in here to loot and rob in the town and had been stranded and left behind. And across this area, still in Southern Israel today, there are till contested areas with hamas militants and the area, the whole area around here is on a very, very high level of security. You go through checkpoints here and the soldiers have the safety catches on their weapons. You dont see that normally. And that gives you an idea of just the heightened sense of alert here because of the reality that all hamas militants are not back in gaza or as the Defense Forces here say, neutralize captured or killed. Dana. That is such an important point. This is very much an ongoing very fluid situation. It could not be over given the fact that there are still terrorists inside israel. Nic robertson, thank you. Joining me now is congressman Hakeem Jeffries. The House Minority leader, the democratic leader in the u. S. House of representatives. Thank you so much for joining me this morning, sir. First question, what information do you have . I know you were briefed about the situation going on in israel. Well it is a very heartbreaking situation, a tragic situation. We mourn for the loss of life that has taken place and for those israelis who are current by being held hostage in Southern Israel or in gaza. I had a conversation with white house as well as the National Security counsel yesterday, and the most important thing that needs to be said is that the United States will continue to stand strongly behind israel. Americas bond with israel is unshakeable and unbreakable. We have stood strongly behind israel during the first 75 years well stand behind them for the next 75 years and beyond. You are part of what is known as the Gang Of Eight. And this is the top eight leaders in the house and the senate who get very sensitive intelligence information. Was there any indication that any of this was on the horizon or even a possibility, this kind of Terror Attack inside israel . Well that remains to be seen. We have not had a Gang Of Eight briefing yet. As weve been scattered throughout the country. I do anticipate that well have an opportunity to have a secure briefing as some point next week. But our commitment to israels security is ironclad. The most important thing that could take place right now is that we make sure israel has all of the resources that it needs to secure the situation on the ground, to bring about a more amenable permanent Security Situation within the region. And, of course, to rescue the hostages that are in place. Im confident that at some point down the road, the israeli officials will undertake a complete analysis of what happened, why it happened, and how do you present or prevent this time of Security Situation from ever happening again. The Biden Administration is now mulling, asking you and congress for additional aid and support for israel. It sounds like what youre saying is that you would very much support that. How much and in what form should additional u. S. Support take . Well it is my understanding that there are some things that the Biden Administration has the ability to do on its own without coming to congress. And i certainly urge the administration and expect that it will provide whatever assistance it can to israel and to the idf at this moment in time. Short of congressional action, there will likely be a need for some additional appropriations with respect to iron dome or david arrow, davids sling, some of Israel Defense systems that will need to be bolstered given the likelihood of a prolonged engagement that is going to take place in the region. And congress should certainly be prepared to do that sooner rather than later. I dont need to tell you that the United States does not currently have a speaker of the house right now. A moment of global peril, the u. S. House is frozen and cant respond until that happens. How big of a problem is this for america and globally . Well it is my hope that our republican colleagues get their act together, could settle on a speaker, who could receive 217 votes, and that we could move forward to get the business of the American People done, both as it related to our domestic needs, solve problems on behalf of the American People, as well as our National Security considerations in terms of being there for israel, being there for the ukrainian people, being there for our allies all throughout the free world. Now, to the extent that my republican colleagues are unable to resolve the ongoing republican civil war, weve made clear as democrats that we are ready, willing and able to find Common Ground. To enter into a bipartisan path forward. So we could govern the house in an an enlightened fashion that ensures that bipartisan priorities that have significant support from democrats and republicans in the house can receive an up or down vote. So that we could move forward and get things done for the American People as opposed to allowing the extremists within the House Republican conference to continue to dominate the agenda. And youre talking about doing that even if there is no formal speaker . Meaning even if the temporary speaker, patrick mchenry, is still in the chair . Well well be back in washington on tuesday or wednesday, and we have said from the very beginning of this congress, as house democrats, we are willing to find Common Ground with our republican colleagues in a bipartisan way whenever and wherever possible and weve demonstrated our willingness to do it. Democrats provided a majority of the votes necessary to avoid a catastrophic default on our debt that would have crashed the economy. Democrats provided a majority of the votes necessary to avoid a Government Shutdown default and make sure that we were able to fund the government in a way that addressed the help and safety and the economic well being of the American People and so were ready, willing and able to continue to find that bipartisan path forward. Under the current moment that were in, as we move forward as the republicans are able to elect a speaker. And you published an oped this past week stating just that. Just really quickly, are you having conversations with moderate republicans about how to achieve what you just said . I have not had a conversation over the last day or so with my republican counterparts in leadership. There are ongoing discussions and i believe are taking place between democrats and republicans at Different Levels across the House Democratic caucus and the House Republican conference. Those are conversations that hopefully will bear some fruit. At at some point ill talk to my republican counterparts in leadership and we are there and we are ready and willing and able to find the Common Ground necessary to solve problems on behalf of the hardworking american taxpayers, not as democrats or republicans, but as americans. Leader jeffries, former President Trump endorsed jim jordan for speaker. Former congresswoman liz cheney said, quote, if the republicans decide that jim jordan should be speak of the house, there would no longer be any possible way to argument that a Group Elected of republicans could be counted on to defend the constitution. Do you think jim jordan is fit to be speaker . Well it is not my job at the moment to weigh into the politics that are taking place in the House Republican conference other than to make sure that it is time for the gop to end the republican civil war. In order for us to be able to come together and in Ann Enlightened and bipartisan way to get things done for every day americans. Hakeem jeffries of new york, democratic leader in the House Of Representatives, i really appreciate you coming on this morning. Thank you. The israeli flag is flying across europe as the world weighs what comes next for israel. The chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee Michael Mccaul will join me next about what hes learning about the attacks and the House Republicans messy path forward. Were looking at the Brandenberg Gate in germany, lit up last night in blue and white in solidarity with israel. Welcome back to state of the union. Israel has a long and grinding war. The next guest is promising american aid and the question is how quickly will congress be able to deliver. Here with me now is republican chairman of the House Foreign Affairs committee, michael mccaul. Thank you for joining me. You have been to this region many times. Have you spoken with any there about the attack, what could you tell us . You know, i have. Ive been to the gaza border many times, there are tunnels that go floor gaza, hamas tunnels. And the civilians that live there are always terrorized by balloons that have bombs attached to them. Or fires, also they have drones that fly into their homes and videotape them. So it is an ongoing struggle for them. And sadly i just got a text from this beautiful woman who toured us around the cabutz in gaza and her parents were killed yesterday in this massacre. So it is real. It is such a tragedy to hear about this. As the secretary said, this is not about armies going to war against each other. This is really been act of terrorism and invasion of israel with terrorist kidnapping children and killing people and indiscriminately and unfortunately this is going to be a long, drawn out struggle because theyre going to have to go housetohouse in gaza clearing the houses. They cant just indiscriminately bomb the homes and the buildings in gaza. No question about that. And begin what you just said, how worried are you that this is going to become a full blown war, not just in this area and in gaza and israel, but in the broader middle east, in fact other nations like hezbollah or even the taliban might get involved. Ive seen indications that the taliban wants to come to liberate jerusalem in their words. To fight the zionist. It is very concerning. And hezbollah to the north, they have 100,000 rockets in lebanon, and so we dont want this to escalate. I think that is where the diplomacy is very important between egypt and jordan and surrounding nations. Even talking to the saudis and arab nations to try to bring this to an end. Because we dont want to see it escalate. We dough know that iran is behind this. They have financed this. Every step of the way. And theyve trained the terrorists. This must have been planned for months to strike on the 50th Anniversary of yom kippur, the war in 1973. And that is very evident. Im also concerned about the 6 billion in lifted sanctions that have now gone into iran. I dont think it played a part in this event, but it certainly could play a part in any future terror activities. You heard secretary blinken made clear on that, i have other follow ups to what you just revealed but on the 6 billion in frozen money that iran had that the u. S. Is going to unfreeze, it hasnt happened yet. He argued that there are guarantees an it is traceable that it will only be used for humanitarian assistance and that this is something similar, maybe not at this scale, but something similar to what the Trump Administration did. Right. If i were doing this, i would send humanitarian aid from south korea rather than wiring cash to doha and then trusting the ayatollah with that cash. We heard from the president of iran, hes very clear in his words that im going to do whatever i want with that money. I believe his words, im not real sanguine about this socalled money transfer, laundering operation through doha. The fidelity to that seems to be a little uncertain. The jcpoa was half a billion and this is 6 billion in exchange for five hostages. That is about A Billion Dollars per through passport and im worried about that kind of money in the hands of the largest Terror Sponsor in the world. Yeah and just to reiterate, what the Secretary Of State said, that there is a lot of misinformation out there about this money. What you said about the taliban, sir, what information do you have that the taliban is actually planning to get involved and planning an attack of their own when it comes to israel . Well, my hope is that they cant make it to jerusalem. But weve seen through their posting that their intent and their desire is there. If we have a call for jihadism if jerusalem, that is what really concerns me. As it stands right now, Theize Rael Why Im Israeli Military will take time to go housetohouse, but if this lights up into a larger sort of war on jihad, or jihadist war against the zionist, if you will, that is what always keeps everybody up at night. I dont want to see it escalate to that point. Could you and your fellow lawmakers provide more congressional aid to israel when you dont have a speaker of house . Well it is not ideal. Is wasnt my idea to oust the speaker. I thought it was dangerous. I look at the the world and all of the threats that are out there, and what kind of message are we sending to our adversaries when we cant govern and when we dysfunctional and we dont even have a speaker of the house. How does chairman xi in china when he said democracy doesnt work. How does the ayatollah look at this knowing that we cannot function properly. And i think it sends a terrible message. Now with respect to funding, we have appropriated 3. 3 billion in Foreign Military financing that is available to the present through a drawdown, he could drawdown that authority. But i we have to get a speaker elected this week so we could get things on the floor like replenishing the iron dome. Get a resolution that chairman or Ranking Member meeks and i have been working on, bipartisan resolution for condemning hamas and we want to get that an owe the floor by unanimous consent, whether or not we have a speaker in place. Because i think we cannot wait. We have to get that message out as soon as possible. Well, to do that, you and your fellow republicans will have to coalesce in a way that has been very difficult to do since you took the majority in january. Who will you support . Will you support jim jordan . My delegation will be making a decision and after that candid ate forum. We cannot paralyze democracy, especially when we have these hot spots all over the world and again, dana, i just worry about the messages that were sending to rift of the world. Are one of the two candidates, jim jordan or steve scalise, going to be the next speaker . I believe so. I think the concern is could they get to the floor and get the votes to pass. So you remember with kevin mccarthy, it took 15 ballots, i dont think i of us dont think any of us want to go through that and we want to unify around one speaker and not have this civil war, this was mentioned and disrupt the legislative process. And were into too dangerous of a time to be playing games with National Security. And i think that is what i worry about the most. Just last question, youre not ready, you could say who you personally will support . I think either one can provide the solidarity that we need to stop these motions to vacate from hitting the floor. Okay. And so theyre both strong candidates and well be making our decision on wednesday when we vote. Michael mccaul, the chairman of the House Foreign Affairs committee, thank you for your time this morning. I appreciate it. Thank you. And up next, well head to the magic wall to break down the military strategy. And then he has some sharp criticism for his fellow republicans, also running for president , including his former boss in the wake of the israel attack. Mike pence is coming up. Welcome back to state of the union. As we follow the unfolding roar in The Middle East, i want to go to retired Major General spider marks at the magic wall to help us with some context. General. Thank you, dan a. What we see right now is the area thats under attack is this area right here. This is gaza and by way of context, there have been a number of references to the 73 war which really was a conventional fight that took place here and then israel was saved up in this area. But, what were looking at right now is this area specifically in the vicinity of gaza, where the various engagements have taken place, there have been a number of engagements, there have been close to 500 casualties. What hamas did, which is quite unique in this case, number one, it is a Terrorist Attack, but they used all manner of Synchronized Warfare in order to achieve the surprise attack. What they did is they tried to do some amphibious assaults and though were picked up by the israeli navy and they did a number of Drone Attacks that came in and in excess of 2,000 rockets were fired. If all of these locations which was completely a surprise to the israelis, certainly on the 50th Anniversary of that Yom Kippur War back in 73. And, general, this was a massive Intelligence Failure on the part of israelis. Perhaps the United States, too. What went wrong . Yeah, i think it is a number of things. First of all, Iran Supports Hamas clearly. We need to underline that and not talk around it. And what took place obviously, hamas has been able to achieve tremendous support from iran an the planning for this probably took place over the course of years. Israel exercised some tremendous restraint back in may of 21. Youre not going to see that element of restraint here because of the amount of support and the amount of damage that has been taken place. And the confidence that hamas now has. I dont know that this is going to expand any further. But were going to see fighting in gaza that will be quite extensive. Thank you so much, general marks, i arereally appreciate t. And the war in israel is prompting a lot of concern. It is also revealing a split among republican candidates who want to be president. Lets talk to one them. Here with me is now former Vice President mike pence. Thank you so much for joining me. How worried are you that this could turn into a broader war that pulls in other countries in the region . Well, first, i want to condemn this massive and unprovoked Terrorist Attack by hamas, against our most cherished ally israel. So hear the stories, to my wife and i have been to sderot, a Beautiful Community that has never been really free from Terrorist Impact as chairman mccaul just said. But nothing on this scale for 50 years has happened. And i think now is the time for all of us to speak with one voice and say that America Tands with israel. And not just only say that well provide them with the resources and the means, but also that we will stand with them through the difficult days ahead. I think the fact that the American Embassy is jerusalem initially issued a call for restraint, that weve heard some more equivalence, look, israel has got to be given the support from the United States and countries around the world to crush hamas and to defend themselves in this moment. And i think it is extremely important that we send that we send that message that we will stand with you today, we will make sure that israel has the resources to defend themselves, and that the United States will send a message to countries around the world that they need to stand down and let israel do what it needs to do to end this Terrorist Threat against them emerging from gaza or anyone anywhere else in israel. Im not sure if you heard earlier in the program, Antony Blinken told me there are missing and dead americans as part of this Terror Attacks. So the question is, whether or not you, if you were in the oval office right now, what would you do given that situation . And these are reported dead and Missing Americans. Well, i would want answers. Y but i want to make sure were putting into israels hands the ability to go and do the hard work that needs to be done. You know, it was back in the Bush Administration when they turned over gaza to hamas. I knew that would be a disaster then. It is been an utter historic failure. But in the wake of this unprecedented Terrorist Attack, land, sea and air coming out of gaza city, it is just time for us to give to give israel what me need to hunt down, to save those hostages, but also to recognize, dana, look, i just know the way that world and Global Opinion turns so quickly against israel and i just think now more than ever we have to call on this president , we have to call on the congress to make it clear that america stands with israel. I want to focus sort on what you had to say about some your fellow republicans. You said that this is what happens when leaders in the Republican Party signal american retreat as leaders of the free world. Weakness aroused evil. Are you talking about your former running mate . Well, i am, but let me begin where we ought to start. That disastrous withdrawal from afghanistan is emboldened the Enemies Of Freedom Around The World and now war is raging in Eastern Europe and president joe bidens kowtowing to iran, lifting sanctions, begging them to get back into the Iran Nuclear Deal and paying 6 billion in ransom for hostages, i think set the conditions for this unprecedented Terrorist Attack by hamas against israel. But i also believe this is what happens when we have leading voices like donald trump, visitic Eck Ramaswamy and ron desantis Signaling Retreat from americas role as leader of the free world. What happened in ukraine was an unprovoked invasion by russia. What happened this weekend was an unprovoked invasion by ham yas into israel and i believe now more than ever, both the debate within the Republican Party and within america is whether or not were going to once again stand without apology as the leader of the free world, as the arsenal of democracy, the heartbreaking images coming out of both of these theaters of operations remind us that america is the leader of the free world and if im president of the United States, well lead from american strength. When it comes to iran, i should say that there are some really intense sanctions imposed on iran and the Administration Notes and they write, it didnt koum out of the u. S. Treasury. These are unfrozen iranian funds which hasnt even happened yet. But i want to ask you about the praise but, dana, it is all about the posture. Our administration isolated iran as never before. We put punitive Tangsanctions A got out of the Iran Nuclear Deal and from day one of the Biden Administration, theyve pursuited a policy of appeasement toward iran. And there is no question in my mind that iran is behind and has subsidizes and approved and applauded this extraordinary Terrorist Attack by hamas against israel. What we need to be doing is have leadership in the white house that will once again bring a maximum Pressure Campaign on iran, isolate them as never before. I mean when you see an agreement between saudi arabia and iran, when you see the China Brokering that agreement, it is evidence that there is a vacuum of American Leadership on the world stage, china, russia, iran, and north korea are going to make an effort to fill if im president of the United States, and that is the debate here. Is whether were going to shrink from our role as leader of the free world or whether were going to lean in in this moment in israel and also in Eastern Europe to say well not tolerate violence against authoritarian regimes and terrorist regimes. Were going to stand strong with our allies and stand up to our enemies. Former Vice President , mike pence, were out of time. Thank you so much for joining me this morning. Thank you, dana. And thank you for joining us. I will be right back here at 11 00 a. M. Eastern for two more hours of state of the union. We have a lot more people to talk to, including israels Strategic Affairs minister ron dermer, who is furious at his coll colleagues and much, much more including to go to our excellent recorders on the ground in israel. T stay with us. Fareed zakaria is picking up right now