Transcripts For CSPAN Key Capitol Hill Hearings 20240622

Pardon me . My hard pains for congressman, what you need to think about is our security. We are better off with iran not having a Nuclear Weapon. No question. Our primary objective here was to have a negotiation because they were already at 19,000 centrifuge already with enough material for 10 to 12 bomdz, already enriching at 20 and they were a step away from a plutonium react thats true could produce enough material for one to two bombs a year. How we stepped into that. I get that. And we rolled that back. You said that. How long before we knew about fordau. We discovered it. We blew the whistle. How long was it there before we discovered it. I dont know a precise amount of time. Ten years . But congressman, we discovered that and we also im sorry, you let me just say, in 2003 we discovered they were actually trying to make a bomb and we did it without inspectors, without this regime. Youve said all that. This is about the trust you keep saying were going to have. No theres no trust. Well, youre implying that we can catch them at what theyre doing and get fordau uncovered for 10 or 12 years. Thats not trust. We can supply that information. Let me do this. Sir, we can classified environment, well be happy im running out of time. Are you aware of the fact that today today, iran to united nations, new sanctions could kill the nuclear deal. Theyre still uttering threats against us. I may remind us. Were not the bad actor here. In a letter to a 15member body u. N. s embody said to iran, quote, may reconsider its commitmentings end quote, if the pact if lifted under the deal are quote, impaired by continued application or the imposition of new sanctions with the nature and scope identical or similar to those that were in place prior to the implementation date, irrespective of such new sanctions are introduced on nuclearrelated or other grounds unless the issues are remedied within a reasonably short time. Today theyre threatening to walk away from this deal if we implement other sanctions. On even other grounds. Youre saying the hostages are different. We have to go to Tulsi Gabbard of hawaii. With the u. N. Security Council Voting to unanimously support this deal with iran the toughest what is the status of this u. N. Resolution and implications if Congress Disapproves this deal and overrides president ial veto . Well, congresswoman, we built into this a process that was kind of a compromise because our friends, our allies, thought they should immediately go to the u. N. Because congress had already voted to have a review period, we persuaded them to have a 90day period during which time it could not be implemented. They had their vote, but there is a grace period. That was a balance between the desire of our friends to exercise their own sovereignty and do what they wanted under the u. N. Versus our desire to try to protect congresss right to review. So, if congress does go through the review process and disapprove of the deal at that point, what happens with the if congress were to override a veto and disapprove the deal there would be no deal. That u. N. Resolution that was passed unanimously would no longer stand . The entire deal dies because we cant lift the sanctions without the ability to wave. Thats been taken away. That would be part of the vote. We would see this deal die. Thank you, secretary. Die without any other option. Secretary moniz, what evidence or materials could potentially be cleaned up or hidden within the 24day period listed in the inspections regime . There would be an attempt presumably to replace flooring to all kinds of cleanup and, as i say, we have experience in the both unclassified, classified arenas in terms of being able to detect very very small amounts of uranium. So, using Nuclear Materials, theres there would typically be a strong signature. And if iran fails to allow inspectors entry within that 24day period, what consequences would they face and under what timeline . If they fail to do it they are in material breach of the agreement. We can snap back all the sanctions and, obviously, all options are available to us that are available today. So immediately after the 24day period f theyve still not allowed if they fail to live up to the 24day period and provide the access they are in material breach of this agreement. If we had cause to have gone and ask for access to an undisclosed facility about which we have deep concerns, everybody will join with us in ratifying that concern and we will be operating with the consent, if you will, of the International Community because of irans noncompliance which is one of the reasons why i believe we have huge leverage for compliance. After termination day when the snap back mechanism will no longer apply, airan will still be subject to the Additional Protocol. If they violate that Additional Protocol after termination day . We have power to bring unilateral sanctions. Congress can join us. We can go back to square one. Or we have obviously, other options available to us. I think the concern is the time it takes for those kind of unilateral sanctions to apppply whether they be from the United States or Global Community as weve seen from the past. What other immediate consequences would there be if they are immaterial, noncompliance in a way that is threatening, obviously were in a much more serious kind of situation and confrontation with the potential, needless to say, of the president taking the most dramatic options. I would add this exactly as senator kerry said, it would depend upon their motivation, what they were doing. Certainly in my view, anything that shows Movement Toward a Nuclear Weapon would have to be responded to quite forcefully. I would also go back to something congresswoman meng asked, i think its relative to your statements as well is the p5 1 by definition have a special role in the npt and a very, very strong interest in seeing its integrity maintained. Thank you. Thank you, mr. Chairman. Mr. Scott perry of pennsylvania. Thank you, mr. Chairman. Thank you, gentlemen. We certainly appreciate your indulgence. We know its been a long time. In the context of these statements is how id like to ask my questions. 1994 not too long ago 11 13year context for this deal for the most strict portion of it, so from 1994 the entire world will be safer as we slow the spread of Nuclear Weapons is one statement, and also the United States and International Inspectors will carefully monitor north korea to make sure it keeps its commitments. We all know thats, of course quotes from president clinton that none of that happened. I mean, north korea is what it is. We are where we are. In that context, secretary kerry, reading your quote recently with a reporter from al arabiya. I dont know how to interpret at this oint in time except to take it at face value in relation to chants of death to america, death to israel, were going to continue our policy. And then its very troubling its very disturbing, very troubling and well have to wait and see. What will we have to wait and see, secretary kerry . Before you answer, 1979, 52 u. S. Hostages, 144 days. 1983 the u. S. Marine barracks 241 americans killed. 1992, the Israeli Embassy in argentina bombed. 2011, the attempted assassination of the saudi ambassador in d. C. The killings and maimings of hundreds in iraq and afghanistan, not to mention support of assad, hezbollah, hamas and activities in iraq, syria and yemen. What will we have to wait and see . What was your to see the implementation of the plan, congressman. I dont want a speechoff. We can have a competition about who is angrier about the things iran has done historically. We understand theyve killed americans. We understand what they did. We understand all of this. But they were marching towards a Nuclear Weapon. Mr. Secretary, you must understand no no. You must understand americans see iran as a crocodile or shark that does what it does. Were saying, were going to with all due respect, it is not congresss job. This is the administration. If you would use the treaty process as provided by the constitution, maybe we wouldnt be in this situation. Furthermore, you know, you say, well, this is the only deal we can get. Theres no better deal. Congress has a long history of instituting better deals. For example 280 treaties, unilateral accords including the arms control agreement s. A. L. T. 2 and the threshold Test Ban Treaty that failed to reach a vote and were modified. So, there is a history for that, of getting a better deal. If the ayatollah doesnt like it and doesnt want to negotiate it, oh boohoo. Were here for america. We stand for america. You represent america. With that having been said you know, its in another interview, if you dont get a majority in congress, doesnt that undermine the deal . In your statement, they dont care over there. Im assuming you mean iraq. As long as the deal is implemented. Thats what we care about. That this deal being implemented. So, do you care more about this deal or the u. N. s approval or american sovereignty and the approval of the American People through their duly elected representatives, mr. Secretary . Congressman, i dont need any lessons from you about who i represent. Ive represented and fought for our country since i was out of college. God bless you for your service. Dont give me any lessons about that, okay . Let me make it chris cal clear to you. This is americas interest. Because america is the principal guarantor of security in the region. Particularly, with respect to some of our closest friends. We believe iran was marching towards a weapon or the capacity to have a weapon and weve rolled that back congressman. Thats your opinion. Thats indisputable met me ask you thats a fact. Is it possible iran will acquire Russian Air Defense missiles in relation to the arms embargo lifting to protect Nuclear Sites . Possible or not possible . Say is that again. Is it possible that iran will acquire Russian Air Defense missiles to protect Nuclear Sites . Those are not in the agreement. They have a300s in relation to the arms embargo lifting. No, theyre not banned by the arms em ba bar goe. Theyre outside of it. Were going to Brandon Boyle of pennsylvania. My intention is to keep going to give our junior members an opportunity to ask their questions. Thank you. I want to ask my question to secretary moniz and im probably going to be boring here but a technical question. When i ask the white house and the president specifically, he directed it to you saying youre one of the top ten experts in the world on this. So, with that buildup, there is a report about six days ago in the New York Times that really question this issue of the 24 days. There are some, such as youve said look 24 days, its not exactly like youre flushing a whole program down the toilet. That certainly wouldnt be enough time in which to hide illicit behavior. Former Deputy Director of the iaea contradicted that. Saying while its true with some of the larger scale operations some things such as manufacturing uranium components as well as triggers, toolactually could be covered up. Im trying on get an answer because i think its a key component trying to look at this in an intellectually honest way to see if we have a verifiable deal here. Yes, i spoke with mr. Mr. Hinenan, up the river at harvard these days. The issue i want to emphasize what ive always said is that work with Nuclear Materials, we have very very high confidence in terms of finding microscopic amounts there. When you go to things like triggers things that do not involve Nuclear Materials but are important for a nuclear explosive, then that gets into a higher stage of rirmentd. As ive said in a classified environment, we could talk more about it. Even there there can be some signals, some signals that are quite interesting and certainly may be quite detectable. But certainly one gets further away from the Nuclear Materials, then there are more possibilities of both coverup and for at least maybe semicredible explanations for pursuing other activities. For example, any military does work with conventional explosives in chambers. So, the question is was that work around certain hemispherical shapes with multipoint nation and that requires more and more investigation. But nuclear material, to leave quite significant signatures typically. I wanted to with only a couple minutes let me switch because this is something the israeli ambassador raised in my office and has been raised a couple of times. Again, i think is a legitimate i realize some of this is bash the administration and that this part of politics but there are those of us on the democratic side who do have real, genuine concerns. The 24day is one of them. The other is the question of how exactly we bring forward and what we have to reveal in terms of our intelligence to demand or request that a site is being inspected . It has been pointed out we would have to reveal exactly why we suspect a site. Meaning we would have to compromise where we got intelligence and why we suspect it. Can you talk about how that process would work and how much we would have to reveal to the iranians just to inspect the site . Thats something you should ultimately get from the Intelligence Community, and personal protecting sources and methods is particularly important. Now, having said that, clearly in the past, intelligence agencies from many countries have been able to share information. Also note, of course, four out of the seven countries involved in the talks are very Work Together quite closely. Namely the europeans and United States. I think we would do all we could to provide the iaea with relevant information that would point to a suspicious site no matter where it was. Could i ask secretary kerry to weigh in on that point. Yeah, congressman. Ive been through this kind of thing a little bit on occasion. Were very careful not to disclose sources and methods. And we have ways of providing information in making it available and ways that dont have that. I can assure you that will not happen. Its not something our Community Feels stopped by. You mentioned the israeli ambassador was in there talking to you about these concerns. Sandy levin is the longest serving jewish member of the United States congress. He came out today i read his statement. Well, he was asked about it. He said, israels security has and always will be of critical importance to me and our country. I believe that israel, the region and the world are far more secure if iran does not move towards the possession of a Nuclear Weapon. I believe the agreement is the best way to achieve that. Er with going to mr. Ron de santos of florida. A vote on. Two minutes remaining. Secretary moniz, with respect to the agreement between iran and the iaea for possible military de mentions have you read those documents or agreements . No, sir, i have not seen them. And you to your knowledge nobody in the u. S. Government has a copy of the agreements . To my knowledge we do not have a copy. Have you again, in vienna we had very broad oral i had at least a broad, oral briefing but i never saw any paper. So, you were briefed in vienna before the vcop was announced . Shortly before, yes. Who briefed you . D. G. Amano. Do you have any plans to request that those documents be provided to Congress Consistent with the Iran Nuclear Deal act . I dont know if it is kebt consistent so ill check with our folks and make a determination. I dont think we judge that it is consistent, but well, as weve said, we will certainly brief the contents if appropriate class if you could provide us the rationale for why you dont think the definition of agreement would encompass i said, i dont know. Congressman be i just said i dont know. No, im saying if you would make that determination, if you could provide us kind of the legal justification for well of course wed have to. Of course, wed do that. Very good. There was a report in the Associated Press today that the agreement between iran and the iaea may not be impleetd. Something that iran may be the one to take soil samples. Can you guys comment . Is it, in fact still being negotiated between iran and the iaea . In session here, we cant discuss what the methology is. Were happy to take this on in classified session. Can you confirm the ap story . Have you seen it . Absolutely not i cannot. You cant i cannot confirm it. I havent seen it among other things. Secretary moniz we get into a very complicated agreement. Very important. I know you guys worked hard on it, but sometimes i like to take a step back and just a few years ago it had been the policy of the United States that an agreement iran gives up Nuclear Program no enrichment. The president when he was debating governor romney in 2012 said the deal will accept, that they end their Nuclear Program. Its very straightforward. Secretary moniz, i mean do you acknowledge this agreement i know you think its good. Put that aside. Do you acknowledge that this agreement doesnt meet that standard of where theyre ending their Nuclear Program that they are allowed to maintain a significant Nuclear Program in the International Community will be helping them to develop Nuclear Technology . I know you guys are going to say youre confident you can dweblgt thats used in a military capacity, but that does represent a change, does it not from where we were just a few years ago . Congressman, ive had conversations with members of the prior administration. And its inappropriate for me to tell you who or speak for them. I think if you talk to them you will learn that they had come to a conclusion by the end of that administration that that policy wasnt working and that they were going to need to in fact, have some structure of enrichment and some structure of the program. Theres a distinction here between irans Nuclear Weapons capacity and a peaceful Nuclear Program. Unlike north korea which pulled out of the ntp, iran is still a signatory to the npt. Iran has not exploited an ordinance. Iran has not gone forward to make a weapon even though they had enough material for 10 to 12 bomdz. So iran is stating in this agreement its willingness to comply with and live within the nonproliferation treaty. Under the nonproliferation treaty, countries have a right to a peaceful Nuclear Program. So just so i get clear with the question, youre acknowledging there has been a reappraisal in kind of the gold posts and its been shared with the Bush Administration and the obama administration. I dont think they shared it publicly but they shared it with us privately so, to that may i add the construct going in then, this was among the p5 1, that our basic construct quoob to get the oneyear breakout time secretary kerry, just real quickly, because this is not going to be ratified as a treaty, there are a lot of states florida in particularly where state legislatures have enacted sanctions against iran in various capacities. Do you acknowledge that this deal will not affect states abilities to do it since its not going to be approved as a treat y its not going to be considered extreme law. Land . More of an executivetoexecutive agreement . Thats correct but weve urged to take steps not to interfere with that. Mr. Ted of florida and dont feel compelled to use all your time. Yes, sir. I appreciate it. Mr. Secretary i want to ask you a simple yes or no question. The iran sanctions act expires on december 30th or 31 2016. Will this Administration Support legislation we obviously are committed to the isa but i dont think any decision has been made on timing or what steps the president will take. Can we do the snapbacks without this . Yes, we can. According to this we cant because of the iran sanctions act expires. Those are necessary to no, we have other existing authorities where we could snap back both financial and can you guarantee this body those acts are facilities are in place so snap back works without an act of congress . Yes. I have a problem with the secret deals going on, and youre asking us to support this deal without ng arings august to rye it read it. Youre asking us to vote on something. We dont know whats in that deal. You will. I think its disingenuous as representatives of the United States citizens to vote on a deal that we dont know whats in it. Were not. Ive said to three or four congressman i heard that. Its not clear the information will be forthright. Were going to get briefings but briefings is not the same as being able to read the actual agreement i realize its the iaea with iran but were paying 25 of the budget of that place. I think we as the representatives of American People, we deserve that. Zoo congressman, on sanctions act. First thing, it doesnt expire until the end of 2016. Now would not be the appropriate time. Its premature to take action. I think respectfully, we know if theres a problem in 2016, it wont take very long for congress to act. Saw its premature to take action. This is my last question or statement. You say this is the best deal we get. If we walk away from the table we walk away alone. I feel that you this negotiating team put america in that situation because of the way you negotiated this from the very beginning. If we go back to the very beginning, iran will not be allowed to have a Nuclear Weapon. You said, mr. Secretary i heard it come out of your mouth, anywhere, any time, anyplace. Thats been passed on. Were beyond that point. Its beyond the point of trying to prevent iran from having a Nuclear Weapon. Were trying to prevent something we cant instead of preparing that for which we will have. Weve been boxed into a bad corner because you negotiated from weakness instead of as a super power and you go into the u. N. To get their approval first so we look like the guys. This is a bad deal. I think if we operate from a level of strength, iran will come back to the negotiating table. To think theyre going to come back to the negotiating table a year or two from now, i think thats a fallacy and disingenuous to america. Congressman i urge you i urge you, congressman, with all respect, to spend time with the intel community. I think youll hear a different no disrespect we get those people in here all the time. We hear intelligence briefings. We hear this as a bad deal. If you say, president obama is going to make america safer congressman wait a minute. The Intelligence Community is telling us to build Missile Defense systems on the east coast, bolster the ones on the west coast and alaska because this is a great deal i think we should run away. The Intelligence Community is not saying that. The Intelligence Community supports this deal, congressman. Whats more, they were an integral part of helping shape it. Furthermore, the reason we were able to get the good deal we got is because we did operate out of position of strength, which is why theyre dismanteling twothirds of their program, undoing their stockpile, living by restraints on enrichment and have accepted Additional Protocol as well as 25year restraints on their uranium and so forth. Just to add the agreement, is the iaea and iran the iaea will complete its pmg. Thats the agreement. Thats the protocol. Thank you. Secretary kerry earlier you had had countries in the future will not trust negotiating with the u. S. State department because theyre now negotiating with 535 individual members of congress. For 228 years the constitution provided a way out of that mess by allowing treaties to be with the advise and consent of 67 u. S. Senators. Why is this not considered a treaty . Congressman, i spent quite a few years ago trying to get a lot of treaties through the United States senate. Frankly, its become physically impossible. Thats why. Because you cant pass a treaty anymore. And its become impossible to you know schedule. Its become impossible to pass. And i sat there leading the charge on the disabilities treaty which fell to basically ideology and politics, so i think thats the reason why. I may not disagree with that. Political world around here is pretty challenging for both parties, certainly the congress and the president. I will say one of the concerns voiced to me by my constituents is the fact in the president s press conference about this agreement, he threatened to veto the Congress Action if we didnt agree with him anyway. So, there was this arbitrary poke in the nose of the congress when it was unnecessary and so my folks back home are saying, i want to have some say in this. My only say is through you. I think that maybe could have been handled a little different. Secretary moniz go ahead, secretary. Yeah, i understand. Secretary moniz, is it not billions of dollars cheaper to build a natural gas power plant rather than a Nuclear Power plant . Why do you think iranians have gone down the nuclear road . Typically a Nuclear Plant has lower operating costs. In this case, the natural gas quoob would be free to them. Im not sure its free. Certainly in the sense im not arguing one way or the other but just what the argument is is that its more valuable than as an export product where of course, with lng prices for example, in parts of the world theres quite a bit of rent to be captured. Yeah, sure, sure. Secretary lew, appreciate your patience today. You havent been called on that much. But in light of the how tantalizing the sanctions have been on this economy, it still strikes me odd that iran would continue to move toward this very, very expensive construction project as opposed to other alternatives. Does it seem odd to you . I mean billions and billions which expense . The actual expense of constructing Nuclear Power plants. Theyve been under great stress economically. I think that they have been under enormous stress, like any government, they make decisions based on their short and longterm needs. I cant question why theyve chosen one form other another. Inadequate in order to have a foundation for economic growth, they do need more power. And thats going to require investment. Its one of the reasons that i believe they have domestic needs. Their domestic infrastructure is in pretty bad condition right now. It seemed to me one of the possible solutions to this whole deal would have been for the p5 1 countries to 1 countries in building alternative sources of electrical power to meet that need as opposed to setting this canard up they can go ahead and nuclearize. Ill hand back. Thank you. If you can keep these comments brief, theres votes going on on the floor. Thank you, mr. Chairman. I want to thank the witnesses for being here and for your service. Secretary kerry you said in your opening statement, there have been major distortions and president obama actually said yesterday that there have been no factual arguments on the other side worth scrutiny. Simple yes or no. These are the facts that are basing the negotiations off of at the outset. Theyre Holding American hostages sponsoring terrorism, calling for death to america on israel wiped from the face of the earth. Guilty of egregious Human Rights Violations and creating instability around the world. Are those facts true . Yes or no . Yeah. They are. But would you say those facts looked in collectively would suggest that iran is guilty of bad behavior . Well, i think its more than just bad behavior. Theyre destabilizing countries and blowing people up somewhere is beyond bad behavior. Ill take that as a yes. How would a deal lets say i wanted to sell my business to lee. Back when i was in the business world, we were doing an acquisition. I would say to my team, you cant do a good deal with a bad guy. So can you just sort of understand our concern about this deal because it sure looks like if were doing a good deal as you suggest, its with a bad guy. I understand exactly what youre saying, and its its, you know, we confronted questions about what could be achieved and not achieved in the course of these negotiations ourselves and came to the conclusion, therefore, that nothing is based on trust. That we are going to set up something that you can read, we can read everybody can understand what the expectations are. And thats one of the reasons why from a position of strength we believe we achieved something that really helps establish some level of confidence over the years, and thats the level to which they will reduce their Current Program reduce their stockpile, live by limitations on enrichment, which are absolutely ascertainable and so forth. So weve created we think a dynamic here where you get over the hurdle of the things you dont like and bad behavior because youve created something that is verifiable and has certainty in it. Any chance that irans strategy is to get the deal signed, get the 50 billion and a year or so down the road start to violate the agreement knowing that as we said earlier. I know, thats the challenge of going last or next to last, but i appreciate you staying. Isnt there a chance a year from now, its going to be a whole lot more difficult for us to get the band back together and be able to put in place some protections. Not if theyre breaking the agreement. Russia and china are going to go along and say gosh, the United States, we understand your concern and what can we do to get . Were convinced about the seriousness of purpose of all of our five other partners in this effort. You know, hindsights 20 20, and im not asking you to necessarily evaluate how we got to this point. But any credibility to the concern that i think someone earlier mentioned that maybe decisions by ambassador rice or the administration or your negotiating team really put us in a position now where if we dont sign this deal, were really left without any good options . Any concern in hindsight we couldve done things differently . Maybe resolution 1929, other decisions that were made along the way that put us in this box in terms of having no great options . Well, we think we have a great option. The great option is the agreement that we came to and we did not create the box. By the way. You know you guys decided you wanted to review it and now youre reviewing it. And im sorry about the consequences of that review, but thats not our creation. The consequences of the review are the reality that this agreement can, you know, not go forward. And there are consequences to that. I have no regrets, sir about having the responsibility of reviewing this agreement. Im not arguing with you about your right to do it. But we are arguing that the consequences when you weigh the benefit of this agreement going through versus the consequence of not doing it are serious. But and you know one last question, sir i appreciate your time. But you said earlier that this was never about making sure iran did not have a Nuclear Program, but rather making sure they did not have a Nuclear Weapon. The capacity to build a Nuclear Weapon or get one. What did president obama or candidate obama mean in the debate with mitt romney in 2012 when he said the deal we will accept is they end their Nuclear Program, its very straightforward. He really was talking about the capacity to create a Nuclear Weapon, not having played mitt romney for him in preparation for that debate, i can assure you thats what he meant. Thank you for your time. Hope youre doing all right with your crutches. I spent a lot of time over the year on crutches. Theyre not any fun. Thank you very much. Thank you, mr. Chairman. Mr. Kerry, just now in response to his question i want to understand with regards, this isnt a treaty because it was difficult to pass. Is that is that correct . Well its not there are a lot of other reasons. We felt, we dont have diplomatic relations with iran. Its very complicated with six other countries. Its just very complicated process. So we thought that the easiest way to get something that had the leverage had the accountability, could achieve our goal was through a political agreement. And mr. Secretary, if you would be able to submit for the record just a little bit more background as to why this is not treated as a treaty. I think it would be helpful for us. Absolutely, sure. Okay. And you said a little earlier the reason iran came to the table is because they wanted the relief from the sanctions. The iranian Supreme Leader said the Islamic Republic of iran will not give up support of the frepds in the region, the oppressed people of yemen the oppressed people of bahrain and fighters in lebanon and palestine. There is so much state sponsorship of terror in that list a hezbollah leader said this past weekend, the United States remains the great state in both before and after the nuclear accord. The leverage that brought the iranians to the negotiating table was the sanctions relief. Let me just recap some of the stuff that wasnt part of the negotiations. Iran developing icbms overthrowing foreign governments, sponsoring terror, unjustly imprisoning United States citizens including a marine a pastor a reporter pledging to wipe israel off the map. None of that was part of the negotiations. Irans neighbors who know them the best trust them the least. Its just something for us to think about. Id also ask if you can submit for the record just for the sake of time a little bit more in the plan. As for stopping all the other iranian terror that wasnt part of the deal. I think it would be very helpful for congress to have a better sense of what the plan is regarding everything that wasnt part of the deal. And mr. Secretary if we remove the sanctions, were removing the leverage that brought the iranians to the table. Over 70 years ago, a leader of the free world held up a document declared it peace for our time. Im afraid that many years from now if the American People through the representatives in congress accept this bad deal that just like the munich agreement of 1938 this iranian agreement will prove to not be in the best interest of American Security or the stability and safety of the free world. There is an alternative other than war. Its a better deal. Now, you say getting a better deal is fantasy land. Some other stuff i would consider fantasy land is believing that you have access to military sites when the iranian leadership tells us we dont. Fantasy land is agreeing to a threemember Advisory Board where one of the members is declared an independent member. But theres no details in agreement whatsoever as to how that independent member is selected. Fantasy land is saying theres a secret deal with theres no secret deal with iran and the ia ea even though were acknowledging there is an agreement and that its secret. Fantasyland is saying this deal provides 24 7 saying that iran does not want to destroy the United States, dismissing their death to america pledge is just rhetoric. I dont believe that this is a great option as you just said to the last person. I know it the American Public knows it. That there is an alternative other than war and its a better deal. America got played like a fivestring quartet. Mr. Secretary, a lot of americans have fought and died to make our country the greatest nation in the world. And you, sir, respectfully, you dont have the power to surrender our greatness. And i would strongly, you know with all of these hypotheticals that if Congress Rejects this deal that everything falls apart apart you have not yet answered what you would do next. What would you three secretaries do if Congress Rejects the deal . Because the answer on the next day is no one shows up to work. No one is working with the International Community to try to protect america and their free world. So if Congress Rejects this deal deal when you wake up the next morning, sir, what would you do . Well congressman, you threw a lot out there all at once. All of us take affront at the comments that are made publicly by many people in iran, whether its in general or a leader of one or another, or the ayatollah ayatollahs comments. Whats important is what iran does. Not what it says, what it does. For two years now iran lived by a deal that many of your colleagues here called an historic mistake. But they live by it. Theyve actually rolled their program back. And president obama is the first president in the United States who has challenged this issue who has actually rolled the Iranian Program back significantly and stopped them from the path to get a weapon. Now with all due with respect, for sake of time. What you would do the next morning. You have not answered the question of what the administration. Theres a vote on and your time has expired. Thank you, mr. Chairman. If you could submit that for the record. I think its important for congress to know what you would do next. Sure. I want to thank our witnesses. For being with us today. These are not easy issues. Congress will be taking an historical vote on this agreement in september. The committee will continue doing its job before that vote and after and i thank each of our witnesses, again, for being with us today and staying through the process of having all of the members ask their questions. We stand adjourned. We will likely hear more about the Iran Nuclear Deal when Ashton Carter and Martin Dempsey appear in a hearing. Energy secretary monez also provides testimony. Plenty of reaction on our facebook page. A post from lee miam says, i think this is a historic moment. Meanwhile, we should not trust the Islamic Republic. This from byron. It doesnt matter if i support it or not. Iran will never follow through on their end of the agreement. You can leave a comment and see what others are saying by going to facebook. Com cspan. On the next washington journal, the process for congress to review the iran nuclear agreement. A discussion on puerto ricos leadership efforts to resolve its debt. Later, as part of our spotlight on magazines, a story about how the south drives the lowwage economy. The editor at large of the magazine will join us. Washington journal is live every morning. You can contribute to the program by phone, on facebook, and twitter. The cspan cities to her visits cities across the country. We are joined by comcast to learn more about augusta and georgia. He was awarded the Carnegie Medal at age 19. Also were awarded the medal of honor. A decision was made to do a military display on our jimmy to honor jimmy. I went through 9000 Carnegie Mellon recipients. It turns out hes the only person to have earned both awards career he would have said almost for sure he did not deserve it. He might have wanted out someone more heroic. He never talked about the Carnegie Medal. People knew him well. They said, what about the Carnegie Medal . They didnt know anything about it. I have known a lot of medal of honor recipients. Most of them will tell you, i didnt deserve it. It should have in given to somebody else. It is a piece of humility we learn from and i think he would have been in that category. The boyhood home of woodrow wilson. President wilson moved to augusta as a child. And then moved to this house when he was three. President wilsons first memory was november, 1860, before he was four years old. He was standing on the front gate in front of the house. Two men came by in a hurry with they said Abraham Lincoln was just elected president and there is going to be a war. He ran inside to ask his father what is war . Why were they so excited . We think it is remarkable his first memory was about another resident, Abraham Lincoln, and another war, the civil war. Wilson would have to leave the country through world war i. See all of our programs from augusta on book tv. And American History tv, on cspan3. Coming up next, a conversation with republican senator marco rubio of florida. And then a look at the latest images of pluto. Later, another chance to see the House Foreign Affairs hearing on the iran nuclear agreement. Florida senator marco rubio was in greenville tuesday talking about National Security and Foreign Policy. The candidate set down with former Deputy Assistant secretary of the army for a conversation that included the iran nuclear agreement, isis and cyber security. This was organized by the Group Americans for peace and prosperity and comes as part of cspans road to the white house coverage. [applause] thank you all for being here. I believe, senator 2016 is about electing a commander in chief who is prepared to do what it takes to keep the country safe so we can remain free. You have been a vocal and outspoken outspoken in your criticism of the iran deal. How do you do with iran if you are president . Mr. Rubio i will tell you why the deal is no deal at all. The first thing about the iran deal is it releases billions of dollars of frozen assets into the hands of iran. What will they do with that money . Are they going to build roads and bridges . No. They will do what they do with money. Invest it in terrorism. Sponsorship of has law, shia militias in iraq. Of has the hezbollah, shia militias in iraq. They will develop the conventional technologies, the ability to destroy an american Aircraft Carrier and purchase Chinese Technology to do it. They will develop longrange rockets. Why would you build longrange icbms . Only one reason. To opput a nuclear warhead. That alone should tell us everything we need to do. The u. S. Congress imposed sanctions on iran and individuals and the banks. Though sanctions are in the books today. But what this president is going to do is he is going to use the National Security waiver to lift the sanctions. When i am president , we will reimpose though sanctions. We will remove that waiver. Countries around the world will have a choice to make. They could have access to the iranian economy or american economy. But they will not have access to both. I hope we can add additional tariffs and banks to that list. We will continue to do that until iran realizes they have a simple choice. They can have an economy or a Nuclear Weapon program but they cannot have both. That is the position we need to find ourselves here over the next couple of years. Coming about the nuclear threat, intercontinental ballistic missiles, we have no landbased Missile Defense capability. What would you do to strengthen . Mr. Rubio i think it begins in europe. That is the first opportunity to intercept a launch. Helps us not just against iranian missiles but also against a russian attack. Which today, we are on the verge of a second cold war, by Vladimir Putins choice. The ability to protect our allies begins with Missile Defense. I believe an east coast system is important as well. We are living in an era will here the proliferation of longrange missiles will increase. It is also an era of Missile Defense and we need to be prepared to bit the russian bear is back. How do you work with key allies to confront putin . Mr. Rubio it is important to understand economically russia is not a global power. Militarily they are. The quarrel is not with the russian people, it is Vladimir Putin. He has decided the way to reposition russia as a global power in his mind is to split undermine europe. Try to undermine nato and challenge the u. S. He has to set of the way to become prominent is by obstructing, being against us. The other thing he has begun to do is create problems only he himself can solve. He arms and equips the syrian regime. When they conduct chemical attacks, only he can get them to abandon their weapons. Which by the way they have not done, they are using chlorine gas. This president has fallen into that trap. We went into social media asking people to send in questions. We received a question from sweden. We have gotten some interest to read the question is this. How do we stop the expansion of isis . Mr. Rubio you stop the expansion of isis the way you do any radical Jihadist Group. You deny them a safe haven. In order for a Jihadist Group to grow, they need a place to operate. Isis needed syria, the instability. Now iraq. In and other places. We have deny them operational spaces. The next place ices will focus on is afghanistan. You already see within afghanistan a battle between isis and the taliban to become the predominant sunni radical movement to as america retreats, isis is moving in. We have to target them in their safe havens. Obviously, syria and iraq but that has to be expanded to include areas in libya. I think we have to begin to think about confronting them in afghanistan as well. Not to mention these groups that have pledged allegiance. Confronting them means ultimately confronting them on the ground. I believe we need to increase aerosols and that has been an important integrating their logistical capabilities. In the short term, we need to subject them to some highprofile humiliating defeats so we can reverse the global narrative that isis is unstoppable. That is how they are attracting recruits. They put up well produced videos on social media. The message is, join us, we are unstoppable. I think some special operations attacks and come nation with increased airstrikes is important in the short term. Longterm, they must be defeated on the ground and ideally by local forces including sunnis themselves. Who will confront them with turley militarily with our help. Intelligence support, logistical support, airstrikes which will allow a combination of egyptians, jordanians, sunnis, and kurds and others to defeat them on the ground and take back the territory they control. Lets talk about social media. How do we fight isis on social media . Our facebook and twitter doing enough . Mr. Rubio part of it is defeating it as defeating them in their propaganda. Vladimir putin invests heavily in propaganda throughout the world. There was a Television Network called russia today. On some cable systems. It is basically run by the kremlin to spread propaganda. It is important for the u. S. To win the information battle. It begins with subjecting them to humiliating defeats. We also should target them online. There is no reason we should allow them unfettered access to facebook and twitter and other platforms they use not just to attract recruits but inspire attacks. It is reported isis may have as many as 100 youth jihadist camps. What can we do with regards to mr. Rubio you mean domestically in the United States or around the world . Both. Mr. Rubio we have people that have been radicalized online for a lot of different reasons. Some of them are disenchanted losers who are looking to be part of something, and this movement has attracted them. Others have been radicalized and isis is the most high profile on the planet. And they seek to join it or carry out attacks inspired by it. That is why this whole instance i pointed to, the idea that we need to defeat them in the information wars is important. It is important to deny them the operating spaces. It is so important that sunnis themselves participate in the defeat of isis. It finds strength from disaffected sunni youth. It is important for us to work with allies in the region. People need to see that they are being defeated by fellow sunnis. This is not just a western crusade against islam. This is against sunni muslims themselves against a radical violent, abhorrent system. We have four dimensions of warfare. Now we have cyber. It is killing us. How do we win the cyber war . Mr. Rubio we have to improve the quality of defenses. Most Government Agencies do not employ 21st century is practices. If you compare the private sector to what most federal agencies have, we are well behind. In fact, two or three generations behind. One of the challenges for the next commanderinchief is to improve the Cyber Defense. I hope we passed the cyber bill in the next few weeks in the senate. It is rapidly evolving, once you solve one problem, five new ones are being created. Buy some new development that is being made, that will require us to share best practices and information between government and the private sector. I also think we need to improve the mutually assured destruction on the Nuclear Front to be something important in cyber, as well. It will be effective when it comes visavis to china and russia. It is not the deterrent itself, but it is important we have the cyber capability to knock out the ability of a radical group like isis or a transnational criminal group to conduct operations in cyberspace. You talk to other areas, critical of that is how advanced our technology maybe. If they can destroy or blind our satellites, Communication Systems do not work. We lose the technological high ground that is so dependent on cyberspace. This recent cyber attack on the office of Personnel Management by the chinese how would a Rubio Administration deal with the chinese . Mr. Rubio this administration has flat out said the chinese for conducting these attacks. I expect a reciprocal sponsor. We have to show the willingness to do the same. Again, i do not want to get into a cyber war. But unilateral disarmament only encourages other nations. The chinese believe the cost of cyber warfare is not outweighed by the benefits. They think they gain more than lose. And they can get away with it. It is great that we are indicting senior officials that are conducting warfare, but the truth is we will never get our hands on them. We need to go further. And for each a cyber attack we can verify, there needs to be a reciprocal response that lets others know if you attack america, we will respond. It is an emerging issue of National Importance that we improve our ability to defend our data. It exists in the private sector, mechanisms that are superior to what our government uses today. Our top cyber experts tell us we need to spend 30,000 experts really have 1000. How do we have the kind of Recruitment Campaign . Mr. Rubio the good news is that this new generation of americans is the most tech savvy that has ever lived. In fact, they have no notion of what the world looked like before social media or the ability to access instant information. We have the ability in this country to create a Cyber Defense force and recruit for it. Much like we have done in the past for the army, navy, air force, marines. Millions of americans would be interested in joining that. We are not going to hire millions of people. But to go out and begin to recruit people to become part of Cyber Defense is something that will appeal to millions of Young Americans thousands of whom we will find qualified to prepare that role. It is another way of serving our country in the way people have served in uniform. King abdullah of jordan complained to congress that members of the senate were putting up bureaucratic road block. S. What kind of role would he play in your Foreign Policy . Mr. Rubio jordan really does not have a welldeveloped economy. They are not an oil country. They are sustained by foreign aid from the gulf kingdoms and the United States. We need to confront that. They also have a significant portion of the population that feels disconnected and disaffected by the Current System of government and economics. Longterm, that is a toxic brew that could lead to rebellion and instability. Those are issues we need to help them deal with. The most immediate threat is they have a refugee cap on their border that houses hundreds of thousands of people. They have a major problem. I think it is important that jordan be a willing partner in this effort. It is important for us to allow them to improve their military abilities, were our commitment to that. I think it is important for us to help them deal with the crisis they are facing at the border. The truth is that the aid has been slow in coming from the u. N. And the u. S. To provide what they need to gain control of the border that is being flooded by refugees most of whom are not radical jihadist. But as i said, just a small percentage if they infiltrate, you have a major problem in jordan. Turkey has been called our least dependable nato ally. How do you deal with the turks . Mr. Rubio it is a real challenge. Turkey was admitted when away their government was behaving differently than it was today. Theyre currently her has taken them on a more radical islamic traditional islamic approach. It makes it harder to work with them. It was not long ago they were an ally of israel. That is no longer the case as it once was. It is important to reexamine that relationship. Quite frankly, but to the test. Here they will allow us to use airspace and bases, they will not. I think it is important to express a willingness to participate in an antiisis coalition that goes on their worries about the kurds. Its because of their need to come back and say, we are concerned. We dont think the challenges will be solved unless you get rid of assad and isis. There is some legitimacy to that. As long as a side is in power as long as assad is in power even if we wipe out isis tomorrow, a new group will emerge. Which is already i frankly that is the group people thought would be isis. They are gaining strength. As long as there is instability in syria, it will remained primed for violence and for radical Jihadist Groups to grow. When the turks talk about the need to deal with assad hopefully we can put together an agenda that includes that part of the situation. That we can encourage them to be more active in the fight against isis. He says he has open files for people connected to isis. They are here on our soil . How do we deal with that fight american radicals on our soil . Mr. Rubio with the notion that someone would come from abroad and attack, we were worried about those the traveled. Now we are worried about people never leaving the United States and a radical lies online or at a local mosque. And that is the nature of the threat. Unlike 10 years ago, it is not a longterm plot that requires planning. It increasingly involves an individual who watches videos online, is inspired to take action, buys a gun or a bomb, goes out and kills 10 people. That is a much harder challenge. We need to be vigilant. And we need to understand, as the fbi director has said, will not be able to get them all. There will be attacks on american soil by terrorists because of the nature of this. We need a more Robust Intelligence Program that us to understand this new threat, that allows them to monitor online before they can organize and carry out these attacks. Everyone that we are able to disrupt is a major success story. Over time, it will involve the defeat itself. That is what is feeding radicalism today. The content online that is inspiring people in this direction. His predecessor, robert mueller, testified that we apprehended 59,000 people from countries other than mexico illegally coming in the country. These countries included somalia, iran, pakistan all of the usual suspects. How does the Rubio Administration keep bad things and that people out of the country . Mr. Rubio the majority of people crossing the border from mexico are not from mexico. There from latin america Central America honduras, el salvador. Theyre coming from all over the world. If you can get to mexico, you can get to the United States. You can cross the border. Mexicans realize this, as well. Mexicans have become really serious about security on their side. They recognize these are people coming into their country and if they cannot make it across, they will have to stay in mexico. There is now the opportunity to work with mexican authorities to increasingly secure those borders that remain porous. Create infrastructure on the ground, the sensors, the cameras that cut off the crossing points to only those authorized points. We transact a lot of business every day. There are people that come across the border every day with millions of dollars of goods for trade and economic commerce. We do not want to shut that down. If we can close off the illegitimate corridor doors, we cans, we can improve our capabilities of finding a container that has weapons or smuggling people. A radioactive material. One of the things we will have to do is work closely with partners in mexico who today have an increasingly vested interest in securing the border, as well. Because they understand it is acting as a magnet or millions of people to sneak into mexico for they sneak into america. Does a fence come into play . Mr. Rubio it is successful. We have seen it work in places like san diego where the numbers have diminished greatly. We are talking about illegal immigration, we have to understand that half of the people in this country illegally did not cross the border. They came on the airplane with a visa and overstayed. Border security means airports and seaports. And a tracking system that allows us to know when people have overstayed. There are sections of the borders we can secure with fencing through sensors with other technology. It will funnel more and more of that traffic the places that are easier to monitor and control. We have no capability on the entire east coast or gulf coast what would you do to improve Harbor Security . Mr. Rubio the federal government creates these mandates, but it does not offer funding. We have improved our capability in many borders. Ultimately, we live in an era of global commerce. Every single day millions of material is coming in. As always, our efforts to continue to improve what is inside of a container something that we dont want in this country, it is an ongoing challenge. It will never be 100 . In the history of the world, we have never sealed a country off. We can make it harder, improve protection, deal with the root cause so that they can diminish numerically the amount coming in. Whether it be weapons or people or a weapon of mass instruction. Pretty good evidence that the russians have a nuclear warhead. How do you use an electromagnetic pulse warhead . Mr. Rubio it has been described to people, it is not science fiction. It is reality. The next president will have to harden infrastructure, meaning that our electrical grid and key Government Operations over time will allow us to harden other things like airplanes. You dont want them falling out of the sky because of an electromagnetic pulse attack. This is a real threat that doesnt receive nearly enough attention. It is in Fact Technology available to countries, an increasing number of actors around the world. Potentially a terrorist organization could create tremendous havoc. I do believe it must become a proiority. We have the technology now that would insulated from much of that attack. We have cut the u. S. Army to preworld war ii levels. We have more admirals than ships. How does the u. S. Military work under a Rubio Administration . How big an army, air force . Mr. Rubio a number of years ago, a Bipartisan Group of experts look at longterm defense needs and came up with the gates funding level. They set a number, this is what it will cost. We have about 50 billion under that each year. We are underfunding our military by about that amount. Earlier this year, i tried in the budget to pass in the senate to restore funding for the military back to the gates number. It would have been for one year. We need to make that permanent. As president , i will make defense a priority. It is not about spending more, it is about spending it on the right things. Developing research and technology that we will need to defeat chinas antiaccess capability. They have developed a 4 million rocket that can destroy an Aircraft Carrier. We have to have countermeasures to defeat that. We have to defend our space at ssets from attack. We have to defeat our Critical Infrastructure from cybertek whichattack. The way i described to people, whoever the commanderinchief is 10 years from now, when they face a threat and military officials come to them with options, what those options will be our decided right now by what we are developing. If we do not develop cuttingedge technology that allows us to keep our promise to our men and women in uniform that they will always be the best trained, best equipped, and best informed fighting force in the ground and air if we dont invest, we will not be able to keep that promise. We can train roughly three or four National Guardsmen for every active soldier. How they fit in . Mr. Rubio they provide a service to our country that extends beyond military issues. We see them respond to every national crisis. In florida, every time we have a hurricane we had a number. There there first. The National Guard provide a service. What has changed is a number deployed. I continue to believe they are a critical part of the backbone, in fact we find ourselves in a crisis situation, we quickly call of individuals in a uniform for defense. They are part of the overall defense as an important critical system. The biological threat has been consistently ranked as one of the top threats from a security standpoint. How would you deal with it and prepare for it . Mr. Rubio first of all, we want to be ahead of the curve in terms of any adversary developing the capability. The things we worry about first are terrorist organizations developing a biological agent in the air. Or water supply. This falls into the terrorism effective. When you talk about some of the biological pandemic threats, i do think the centers for Disease Control play a Critical Role in ensuring that our country is wellstocked with the antiviral or the antidote necessary to protect us from an attack. And the ability to quickly deliver that. The ebola crisis about a year ago exposed some weaknesses around the country. In terms of the ability to rapidly respond to an incident, should it occur. I think part of our overall strategy is the ability to quickly respond to a biological and chemical attack by ensuring that the right medicines or antidotes or responses are available quickly. In any Major Community in this country that experiences Something Like this. The 9 11 Commission Said that 9 11 was a failure. Responding to the last terrorist attack, how would a Rubio Administration prevent that next terrorist attack . Mr. Rubio the National Security council plays a Critical Role. Unfortunately, this president has turned them into a sort of hyper state department instead of an operational one. We desperately need people in our government that are costly thinking i had about the next threat. Around the world, there are terrorists causally thinking of ways to defeat us. I promise you, terrorists are not figuring out how to get a box cutter on the plane. They know we are looking for that. Theyre developing other things we are not prepared for. Understanding is critical, and our intelligence can abilities have eroded. Some of them because of snowden. Some of them are selfinflicted. I think that is part of it. Part of it is having people sitting around constantly figuring out our vulnerabilities. A group consulate thinking, i was them, this is what i would do. Thinking about ways to prevent that the stay ahead of the curve. It is so important to have people in government particularly in the Security Apparatus who are trying to game out what the other side myay do. Mr. Snowden traitor. Mr. Snowden absolutely. We know for a fact there are enemies of us today who changed the way they communicate specifically by the information he has released. There were multiple different and proper channels he could have gone to. He did not have to go to the russians and turnover by what information. You may agree or disagree with our intelligence program. But the fact today is there are many women in uniform that are in danger because of the information he released. Some of the things he has released are flat out lies. And much of that information he has manipulated to turn himself into this heroic figure. He is not just a traitor. But the information he has delivered has had dev a devastating impact. He has done terrible damage to this country and for the lives of real americans in danger because of it. Thinking outside the box to the next attack, boko haram recently began border attacks on niger. They have one of they largest reserves of uranium. Mr. Rubio we need to continue in that endeavor. Boko haram has pledged allegiance to isis. Their part of the network that isis is establishing that range all the way from africa to the caucuses. We need to view boko haram within the wider context of the war on terror, particularly the war on prices. I do think that i local african governments are doing their best. In an ideal world, these threats are best defeated at the local level. I believe the notion that we simply cannot and will not invade or be involved in the ground in every country but incapacitating and getting an interested militarily is important. It can provide assistance. We have the worlds greatest intelligence. Even though it has been diminished by what i just described, we can identify the satellite and intercept things that would allow us to provide for these countries. We need to spend time investing in the counterterrorism, both in terrorism weaponry and strategy to defeat these insurgent terrorist armies. Almost every time we buy energy overseas, some portion goes to finance terrorism. How do you view energy as a National Security issue, what would a rubio Energy Policy look like . Mr. Rubio what i dont want people to think is that if we produce all of these barrels of oil, some that are benefiting will produce less. The truth is every single day people join the middle class. I do think it has been nordic Economic Impact enormous Economic Impact. It allows us to have a manufacturing renaissance. But ultimately, there will continue to be Resources Available to other countries. It will continue to be siphoned off and used by terrorists groups. Isis themselves so oil because they have seized refineries. But i do think Energy Independence is critical to this country. Geopolitically, it will allow us to help break some of the stranglehold that putin has on much of europe. Europe relies on natural gas that they get from russia. And the russians can threaten to cut that off. It makes them vulnerable to pressures from putin and the russian federation. In that realm, it helps geopolitically, as well. We will be taking questions. We have written questions that have come in. Jonathan is over here, please get those to him. What is the senates general opinion of the israels defense can ability capability . Mr. Rubio they have never asked us to invade or send ground troops. If they run out of rockets or bullets, we should supply them. We stand firmly on their side and deeply committed to their security. I think it is in our national interest. I have a moral connection that i believe is in and of itself justified. It was created in the aftermath of the all holocaust. I think that is a deep moral commitment that our country must honor. We have to remind ourselves geopolitically that israel is the only proamerican democracy in the middle east. If more countries look like israel, the world would be safer. This conversation would be shorter. There is at least one country that is a proamerican Free Enterprise country, and we should ensure that they survive and prosper. Part of that is to continue to supply and resupply if they become under assault. Not when the in ministration desert for weeks dithered for weeks. It is not turning over billions of dollars to iran who will use it to improve hezbollah. Hezbollah launches a bunch of rockets, but they are aiming anywhere in israel. These rockets become tactical weapons that they can specifically target laces within israel. It is important for us to continue to honor the commitment to any of these other defense mechanisms. But if israel gets in a crisis, a world is to know we will help them with money weapons intelligence whatever it takes to help israel defend itself. What are the odds that the new deal with iran is overturned in congress . Mr. Rubio there is no doubt in my mind they will vote against his. It. It would take 67 senators to override a veto. We need to get at least 13 14 democrats to vote with us. Can we convince enough of our democratic colleagues that this is not a good deal for the future of the country or the world . That is where public pressure is increasingly important. August will be important. We will have another round tomorrow, it is important we be engaged in public advocacy. Every pressure our senators and the Democratic Party not to sign on. They need to know that in a couple of years from now, if israel comes under assault from hezbollah, many if not all of the rockets were funded the money this deal loosened up and made a available to the government. Is it true that the iran deal commits more money than we have given to the state of israel . Mr. Rubio i dont know how you measure that other than it does not provide direct u. S. Aid. My microphone was hacked by the iranians. [laughter] what it does do, you have all of this iranian money frozen and Bank Accounts across the world. The money will be released under this deal. It provides the administration 100 billion cash which is a significant portion of gdp in iran. It is a massive infusion of money that they will use, i believe, i know they will use to sponsor terrorism. Which they have eventually done throughout the Islamic Republics existence. And now opens the way for more companies to do business, which will also prop up their coffers. Suddenly, you have germans italians, and others chomping at the bit to get back and do business there. This deal makes it possible to do that. If they did that work for, they could not do that work in the u. S. If you were Deutsche Bank and you decided to provide Financing Rate is the, you would lose access to the marketplace here. Under this deal, you will not provide lines of credit and capital. The iranians will use that to rebuild their capabilities. The administration insists they will use it to take care of domestic concerns. I bet you that is not what happens. I guarantee you this money will be used to develop terrorism capabilities for their proxies around the region. What are the three greatest National Security threats facing the United States. And the person who asked this has a footnote that says please dont say climate change. [laughter] mr. Rubio there are more than three. But the one we are immediately confronting is a threat militarily posed by russia. As i said a few minutes ago, it is a real threat. Between United States and russia, we control 90 of the worlds nuclear arsenal. When you have a military that has changed since the First Time Since the cold war ended to contemplate the use of tactical weapons to defeat and nato assault, you run into danger. When you see them take aggressive moves, engine is convinced putin is is convinced nato is a paper tiger. He is trying to make to them that if we decide to move on the baltic states, the u. S. Is not going to go to war over that. If he can convince them of that, nato becomes a piece of paper. The notion that he could miscalculate and actually do that is a tremendous risk and threat between a hot war starting. That is a major risk when you have the two largest arsenals in the world facing off. That rapidly escalate in a way we find unpredictable. We are dealing with a Vladimir Putin was much more unpredictable and dangerous than we used to see in some of the former soviet Union Leaders 35 years ago. The second threat is radical islam. It spreads throughout the world. It proposes a new risk that is not totally unlike that of a nationstate. They dont have a capital city, although isis claims it has one. I dont have an economy we can target. They dont have a commensurable military force. They dont include local fighting forces who behead people and do these things, but also people they are inspiring around the world who do not carry a membership card. They go in line and become inspired and they can launch attacks against us. The risk of that continuing to spread israel. And the third, longer picture the one that will be the dominant 100 years from now when people look back, the one they will look at and say that is what shape the world is a relationship between United States and china. That will determine what the next century looks like. China is a rising power, the largest country in the world. They are expanding military capabilities, facing significant headwinds internally. They will grow as a country. How does china positivist rise balance with americas standing in the world . The status hopequo now is posing risk already. They act on the claim they own the South China Sea and have built artificial islands. They can claim territorial rights that extended 12 miles. And if you concentrically put those circles together, china claims they own the most important shipping lane in the world. We cannot allow for any country to dominate an International Shipping lane. We dont do that. And much of the success of the 20th century was because of the freedom of navigation in the seas. It is important for a set challenge that notion and ensure that the chinese understand the cost of doing that are going to be much higher than any benefits they would generate from it. We live in an age when technology is increasing so rapidly, but our government is so stovepiped. It is almost as if the technology increases, the threats are increasing exponentially. How does president rubio deal with that so we can respond quicker . Mr. Rubio most of the people running for president have no idea what you say. They have no idea what you just said. Look how much our economy has changed. I rattled off some facts that will blow your mind when you think about it. Number the old economy . In the new economy, the largest Hospitality Company in the world does not own a single hotel room. The largest Ground Transportation uber, doesnt own a single car. The largest retailer, amazon, doesnt own a single store. That is how it has changed. It did the telephone 75 years to reach 100 million users. A took instagram and kenny crush did it in a year and candy crush did it in a year. There is no way the old world could deal with these changes not to mention how fast they are moving. One of the most important issues is whether or not we will elect people to the highest office in the land who understand this. That you cannot regulate uber like a taxicab, and you cannot treat isis like a threat from the 20th century. We need a government that can think ahead and realized that by the time youre done regularly and something, it does not exist. Something new has replaced it. If you overregulated, you will end up costing yourself that economic opportunity. When i talk about the need to turn the page, this is what im talking about. We better start electing people that understand the 21st century. What is your view of foreign aid . Mr. Rubio it is less 1 of our budget. I supported. There is foreign aid is been successful, and there is for it is not. Columbia was a failed state colombia is the strongest ally in south america. They partner very closely with us. If you look at their special operation forces, they were the same uniforms, training zach same way as our special operations do. I was in colombia, and you talk to the americans and work with them, they will go into battle anywhere with them. We trust them. The colombians are now authorizing special forces to defeat narco terrorists in guatemala and el salvador. They have offered to help the mexicans. That is an example how foreign aid has turned the country into an ally. Heres number one, south korea. 30 years ago, their economy was smaller than north koreas. 15 years ago, they were still a recipient of foreign aid. Today, they have a developed economy one of the largest in the world. They are a donor, not a recipient of foreign aid. There is strong ally in the region, made possible by american assistance. We put millions of dollars into haiti. And we find out that for all the money we put in there, no progress has not been made. We still fund foreign aid some of which is being siphoned off. We do need to redo foreign aid. But i will put one more point forward. It gives us leverage to change the world. About a month ago, i passed a bill in the senate. It says that if you received foreign aid, you must give little girls birth certificates. If a little girl is born anywhere in the world and they do not have a birth certificate and makes him a prime target for trafficking, slavery and not receiving education. Half of the worlds population, young girls do not exist in the rules of government. It is easy to kidnap them and sell them as laborers or sex slaves. American foreign aid says that if you want to receive it, you must take concrete steps to paste change that. Im proud i passed it. I am proud of president signed it. To increase our standing in the world for millions of people. Looking back on your life experiences, what you think best t prepares you to be commanderinchief . Mr. Rubio some americans have never been comfortable with the idea that we must be the most influential country the world. Most of us would rather focus on issues here at home. Start our businesses, raise our family, retire with dignity. America has no desire to conquer any more territory. Were not interested in invading the 51st state. That is not what we do. For reasons we do not fully understand, america has been charged with this task of being the most influential nation on earth. I would say to you, the world is always going to have an influential country. And that will help shape and determine what the world looks like. It is not a coincidence that democracy and freedom and liberty and peace has broken out through the world. Do you know why . Because the most powerful country in the world was a Free Enterprise and peaceful country. That is why we did not have a third world war. We have a choice. Either we remain the most powerful country in the world or we will be replaced by another country like china that does not respect human rights, religious liberty, does not allow unfettered access to information. That tells churches with their bishops and pastors can be. Is that will be wanted to be . A nation that does not respect the dignity and rights of their own people . Not imagine others. The world will change. And every single one of us will feel the impact of it. Im guided by that believe, by the understanding that america is not indispensable, it is exceptional. Guided by the reality that while the world crumbles, when we do not, they complain even louder. When we do not lead, ks breaks out because we are not leading. I believe im qualified because i know for a fact that over the last five years of being engaged in these issues, i know what happens when america does not lead. It happens to be chaos war radical jihad. That is not the world i want to live in. That is not the world i want to leave our children. Whether we like it or not, this extraordinary nation has been tasked with being the leader of the free world. It is not a role we should give up because the alternative is darkness. It is not what i want to leave for our children. North korea and south korea the missile that kim jongun has looks a lot like the missal of iran. How do you decrease the range and the regime today . Mr. Rubio north korea possesses a rocket that can hit california. They are not good at aiming. But they will hit something. That is why it is so important that japan has continued to develop its defense abilities. Japan has a capable navy, probably the fifth best in the world. The first time in their history they will be able to provide collective selfdefense. For years after world war ii, japan can only get engaged if they were directly attack. That meant that if an American Ship or missile was launched, they could not do a thing about it. Now they will be able to do some in about it, a significant multiplier for us. It will improve our capability to provide defenses on the front line of the conflict before it even crosses the pacific. We can figure out a way to get japan and south korea to Work Together, we will multiply our defenses further. To ensure that any rocket that is launched by north korea will be shot down before it strikes japan, south korea, or the continental United States. With the current government in afghanistan and iraq, how would you work with them and how it differ from the a ministration . Mr. Rubio we was stop this artificial timeline. Afghanistan needs to be turned over to the afghan people. If we leave too early or irresponsibly, we will undo all of the gains that have been made. There are significant challenges there. Do not know the full brunt because when you tell the taliban we are leaving, they will wait until you leave. Here is what we know. Every time we leave the province, the taliban gains. I think we are going to have to be committed to security unless we want afghanistan to become a rock. Iraq. The president pulled out without working harder for a status of forces agreement that allowed us to have a presence there. If we did that the government would be less conducive to what happened. When we pulled out of afghanistan, the sunnis felt oppressed. When isis came in, they initially greeted isis as liberators. They dont feel that way anymore, but it is too late. I think it is important for us to figure out a way to work with the iraqi allies to create a country that includes christians kurds, sheias. Were coming to the end. And i want to thank you on the half of americans for peace prosperity, and security. We know how busy you are. We thank you for coming to South Carolina. Any question, is or anything that we ask that you want to tell the people of South Carolina . Mr. Rubio u. S. A lot of questions. You asked a lot of questions. [laughter] we do a lot of things that we should do, but the one thing we must do is provide for National Security. If a nation is not secure, it cannot prosper. The American Dream cannot reach people at this is a nation under threat or duress. And the next president of the United States and the leaders you elect to Congress Need to be people that clearly understand this. That clearly understand the world as it is, not the way we wish it was. And understand that america plays an indispensable role that when america fails to lead, the world is less prosperous stable, and peaceful. I hope this election will give us an opportunity to restore our prestige on the world stage and reinvigorate the role to lead the free people of this planet. [applause] thank you so much for an enlightening conversation on the half of apps and Furman University thank you and have a good day. Mr. Rubio thank you very much. [applause] senator rubio will be one of the candidates attending the Voters First Forum at next weeks saint insulinanslem college. All current and likely the and candidates have been invited to dissipate. We will have a live on monday at 7 p. M. Eastern on cspan. Cspan gives you the best access to congress. Live coverage of the u. S. House bringing you the events that shape public policy. And every morning, washington journal is live with elected officials, holidaymakers, and journalist. And your comments by phone facebook, and twitter. Cspan created by americas Cable Companies and brought to you by service providers. Coming up next, a nasa briefing on the new horizon space briefing. And secretary of state john kerry on the iran nuclear agreement. Nasa scientists recently unveiled new highresolution images of plutos surface which shows evidence of ice and mountains. This is the latest in a series of briefings nasa has held to discuss its new horizon Space Mission with reporters. From headquarters in washington, d. C. , this is over an hour. Good afternoon. Welcome to nasa headquarters in washington, my name is doing wayne brown. Nasa is back to reveal even more science that continue to be returned following the historic flyby pluto. It set the stage for todays briefing. Please welcome to the podium, where new horizon is almost 100 and the portfolio, dr. John grimshaw. Thank you very much. This week has been a phenomenal week. Monday rereleased the first polychromatic image on the discovery mission. This is our first true blue marble of the earth since the apollo 17 astronauts to the famous blue marble image of the earth. A really paints an incredible image of our home planet. And how lucky and precious planet earth is, especially when you compare it to the amazing views we have recently gotten from the spacecraft. Witches a somewhat hostile world which is a somewhat hostile world. We Just Announced a parallel cousin solar system two hours where a star much like our sun and exoplanet right in a habitable zone. It is truly amazing what we are doing. The images we have been getting the science we have been getting from pluto is really just been more than amazing. It proves definitively a scientific theory that science never sleeps. And if you look at our panel here, they look pretty cheery for a group of scientists that have not been sleeping for the last few weeks. They are here to tell us about the most recent amazing results. From the pluto new horizons mission, im just thrilled to hear those results. [applause] ok, so, before i introduce our panelists for this afternoon, obviously, the National Council social media buzz with this mission and the resulting images, follow us on twitter, youtube facebook, and other accounts. And send your questions ask nasa. We will try to answer those as quickly as possible. Keep them coming in. You can follow the conversation there is still a lot all over the world. Plutoflyby. All of the information today and in the future can be obtained by going to www. Nasa. Gov newhorizons. First up, you will hear from jim green. Alan stern the Principal Investigator at Southwest Research Institute in boulder, colorado. Michael sommers George Mason University fairfax, virginia. Kathy olson, deputy scientists also at the Southwest Research Institute. And William Mackinnon Washington University in st. Louis. With that, i will turn it over to jim. Jim july 14 was very historic for nasa with our very success ful flyby of pluto. We have only had about 5 of the data. As many know, we store that data on board. It is just now starting to come back. Each and every day, the science team has been huddled looking at the data as it comes back. It is always a surprise. It is quite a pleasure to be part of that, to look at the data when it comes in. And see new discoveries coming out. Today, we are going to talk about the latest data that came in the last few days. This is a spectacular set of data. It is also data that was taken on board prior to the encounter. And it is postencounter. After the spacecraft looked back as it was hurtling away of more than 60 kilometers per second. These are amazing discoveries. Without further ado let me turn it over to Principal Investigator alan stern. Alan as jim said, last week, the United States through nasa explored the farthest frontier ever explored by humankind the pluto system. We cannot tell you how happy we are to be back and tell you what we are discovering. We came back last friday and gave a report about just the first couple of days, the first reactions we had to it. Now we are 7. 5 million miles from pluto, weve had more time to think about the data sets on the ground. We have about three times as much data on the ground now. As jim said, it is not very much of the total load. We have about 5 back, 96 of it or so is still on the surface. We have some great discoveries to tell you about. We also want to tell you that besides the data sets, there is one way to know where we have done the expiration, that is this Bumper Sticker that is inspired by our deputy systems engineer. It says my other vehicle is exploring pluto. That is how you know. I like to call up my first graphic, which is a hauntingly Beautiful Image of the double planet system pluto is sharing. Pluto on the left, charon on the right. With color added from our instrument. As i tell you about where we are in a mission just feast your eyes on this. We have never been to a double planet system before, it is a scientific wonderland. We have now finished the first phase of downlink. That was an intensive, 10day. Period just to whet our appetites. The discoveries you will be hearing about by myself, mike, kathy, bill, report on the findings we have artie made in the past few days. We are moving into a second phase that is a bit different but it is important that everyone understands the difference. We will be transferring data from the flyby as well as our in situ instruments. The next couple of months, until we reach midseptember, there will only be occasional new images on the ground available to release. Starting in september, the spigot opens again. After about a year, maybe more, the sky will be raining presence. It is going to be quite a ride. We are happy in the amount of interest. Were excited to share with all of you. Were going to do some of that right now. We will get into the science. For some of you, if you are seeing a cardiologist, you may want to leave the room. There are some mind blowing discoveries we want to talk about. If i can have my second graphic i want to show our mosaic twice the resolution of the best global image. It is really mouthwatering. The level of detail is spectacular. This image has a resolution of about 2. 2 kilometers per pixel. You can tell as our science team can that pluto has a very complicated story to tell. Pluto has a very interesting history, and theres a lot of work that we need to do to understand this very complicated place. I want to stress that. I want to drive it home by showing you this image of higher magnification. If i can go to the next set were going to look at just the northern half of that image. We can easily blow it up even further, and you can see across the northern terrains here which include the north pole, by the way this is a true color image. Essentially true color as your i might see it a whole range of geologic expression. Kathy and bill will be talking about this quite a bit more, so i will not steal their thunder but just let your eyes gaze from the left across the disk over to the east. You can see different geologic units, different kinds of features telling that complicated story again, which is there for us to unravel. If i can have the next set of we go to the south, you see a still more cup located story with the great equatorial regions