Sec. Pompeo well, i am here. Moderator you became secretary of state in april, 2018. Are you happy with the job . Is it what you thought it was going to be . Sec. Pompeo every day. Moderator what are the most significant Foreign Policy issues for you . What do you think are the Biggest Challenges we have in Foreign Policy . Sec. Pompeo i get asked this question about ranking the order of challenges. Moderator you mean thats not an original question . Sec. Pompeo its a question of where you allocate resources and time, how you think about problems. From 1617 months ago, having been cia director, my First Priority was making sure the team was ready and a time of crisis. What happens when something really bad happens thats unexpected . Is your team capable . Do you have the people who can respond . In terms of priorities, every morning the first thing i do is read about china. I take time to talk about the broad array of issues that provide opportunities for the United States and challenges to the United States. Moderator can you make any progress in nontraded issues until the trade issue is resolved . Sec. Pompeo yes, and we have made some. There are other places where we have gone backward. The chinese have been very helpful on north korea. They have done more to enforce the u. S. Security Council Resolutions on north korea than at any time in history. They are helpful on afghanistan. So far so good with respect to respecting sanctions on iran, although we sanctioned a Chinese Company last week and the week before for violating those sanctions. There are lots of diplomatic fronts where we have overlapping interests and we can work on those. Moderator one area the chinese were involved in was hong kong and the protests there. Sec. Pompeo i never answer hypotheticals about what we will or will not do. Well played. [laughter] moderator having said that, weve been preclear. Protest is appropriate. We have that in the United States. I drove past it today. You have been to north korea and benton north korea on two occasions when the president has met with two occasions when the president has met with. What type of person is he . Does he have interesting thoughts, as he speak english . Do you communicate in english with him and can you summarize your impression of the leader of north korea . Sec. Pompeo i have spent more time with him than any american. I surpassed Dennis Rodman on the last trip. [laughter] he is bright. He has managed to rise to the level of leadership in a difficult environment. He was a very young man when his time came. From my very first interaction with him, he has been very candid with me about the things that are important to him. He has repeated that he is prepared to denuclearize and it is time to execute. I am hoping we can unlock the rubiks cube. It is a challenge he has presented with as the leader of north korea as well. We hope he can see his way clear to get us the Brighter Future President Trump has talked about. Mr. Rubenstein do you have any meetings scheduled for the future . Sec. Pompeo there is nothing in the works. Nothing planned. Mr. Rubenstein why did the last summit abruptly end . Sec. Pompeo to put it in economic terms, we had a number of conversations about a broad range of issues in the runup to that. My team had worked very hard, and it turned out the idea that the leaders could bridge that gap in that moment turned out to not work that day. Mr. Rubenstein would you be willing to consider having the north koreans keep whatever Nuclear Weapons they have now and then sanction more than they have now or is that too much of a hypothetical . Sec. Pompeo to hypothetical. I will say this. I have talked about this publicly a couple of times. This is a very difficult challenge for each of us. We have to remember that these are not u. S. Sanctions. They are security Council Resolutions. They are global sanctions from every country. We are mindful that we are the steward for endorsing this. Mr. Rubenstein lets go to an easier part of the world, the middle east. [laughter] are we committed to keeping open the straits of vermouth open . Sec. Pompeo we are going to keep them open. I am confident the world understands that its important and that we need countries from all across the world to assist us. Mr. Rubenstein but your position, i presume is that if the u. S. Ship were taken, we would do something militarily. What about is a ship is taken that is a british ship . Are we not committed to recovering a ship or doing something to defend ships . Sec. Pompeo we have seen it. We have seen them take a british ship. Its not a hypothetical. I am working with my third British Foreign minister since i became secretary of state. We are working with the british to find solutions to and to prevent this. Mr. Rubenstein when he was in the United States, where there any indirect or direct talks with him or the state department and anything you could talk about . Sec. Pompeo no talks. He spoke. The American Media gave him a microphone and the chance to lie vociferously to the American People. I look forward to having a chance to speak to them honestly about whats going on in their own country. So far, they have not taken me up on that offer. Mr. Rubenstein do you think iran is on the negotiating table or not . Sec. Pompeo remember the objective. The National Security strategy that was laid out two and a half years ago with respect to the middle east. We tend to focus on the tactical. We need to step back and think about what we are doing more broadly in the middle east. Iran is the Worlds Largest state sponsor of terror. It has the capacity to work toward developing a Nuclear Weapon system. Although we are very concerned about that as well, our chosen strategy is to take a 180 turn from what the Previous Administration has done. It created enormous opportunity for kleptocrats and those who even as we speak are preparing to continue their attacks on saudi arabia. We decided to go the other way. And we have been incredibly effective. I am sure no one in this room but many here in washington said american sanctions alone wont work. Well, they worked. We have taken over 95 of the crude oil being shipped all around the world when i checked when i came in, crude is 17 18 lower than when we withdrew. We have managed to protect Economic Growth while doing our best to deny resources to iran. Mr. Rubenstein the prospect of another iranian agreement is happeny to happy this year or can you predict . Pompeo i dont do time. Timelines are a fools errand in my business. Mr. Rubenstein but the iranians are now enriching uranium at a greater level than they were before. Are you worried about that . Sec. Pompeo yes, they are enriching more than they were under the agreement. But they are moving in the wrong direction. We are urging them to think about that. Its not about the levels set in the jcpoa. Its about the capacity to build a Nuclear Weapons system in the previous agreement did not remotely touch that. Mr. Rubenstein do you see any possibility for peace between israel and the palestinians . There has been talk of a plan. Do you see any progress being made . Sec. Pompeo there is a reason it has not been solved for 40 years or more. In the end this will be the , decision of the Prime Minister of israel and the leadership. I have been deeply involved in mr. Kushners efforts there and my team will be traveling with him in the coming days to flesh out our path forward. In the end, we can present our vision, our plan, what we hope they will engage on. In the end, the decision about whether to make this progress is up to those two countries. Mr. Rubenstein is our position that we see a one state solution or a two state solution . Sec. Pompeo you will see our plan shortly. Mr. Rubenstein will you give us a hand . Sec. Pompeo no. [laughter] mr. Rubenstein any progress between qatar, saudi arabia and the uae in resolving their disputes . Are we in the middle of that . Sec. Pompeo there has been some. We think gulf state unity is the issue. Mr. Rubenstein what about the yemen . Pompeo theyve got to decide if they want to go down the path of being disruptive. Mr. Rubenstein negotiations are underway with the taliban in the middle east. Do you see any progress with that . Sec. Pompeo real progress. Im trying not to do timelines, but im optimistic. We are not just negotiating with the taliban. The truth of the matter is we are talking with all afghans. I spoke to the president friday night or friday morning. We are speaking with opposition, folks not inside the government. We are speaking with taliban officials. I met with ngos. I met with womens groups. A broad swath of afghanistan. We want them to take their country back. We think there is a path to reduce violence and achieve reconciliation and make sure the american counterterrorism effort in afghanistan has the potential to reduce risk in the United States. Mr. Rubenstein before the next election, do you expect to reduce our troops in afghanistan . Sec. Pompeo those of you have served no there is a Resolute Support from countries across the world. We hope the overall need for combat forces in the region is reduced. That would be job enhancing. [laughter] mr. Rubenstein what about russia . You have met with mr. Putin many times. Any impressions of him . Is he very smart, very tough . Does he understand english . Do you convey your thoughts to him in english or does he have an interpreter . Sec. Pompeo i think he speaks english very well. He is clear about the things that are in russias interest. We had a dialogue on a broad array of issues. We hope china will join not set of conversations. We think in todays world, these agreements need to have china be part of them. And i think i hope president putin will be part of that and i think he will. Mr. Rubenstein anything related to ukraine or is that off the table now in terms of discussions . Sec. Pompeo we are engaging with the new government in ukraine. They just finished parliamentary elections last week. I hope that will engender a more creative set of ideas about how to solve these problems. Mr. Rubenstein crimea you think is never going to return to ukraine . Pompeo the u. S. Condition is that that is unacceptable. Crimea must come back. Mr. Rubenstein a protester has been arrested. Do you have any communication about what is occurring . Sec. Pompeo i have read the reports. I dont have anything to add this morning. I think everyone understands the u. S. Position. This goes to what you asked about hong kong earlier, russia, all of those places. We support freedom of expression, freedom to live up to ones conscience. And we hope that for every citizen of the world. Sec. Pompeo you were the head of the cia at the beginning of this administration. Do you have any doubt that the russians interfered in our election . Sec. Pompeo none. And the one before that, the one before that, and the one before that. And the one in 2018. We have to protect 2020. The people who ran in 2018 about us protecting that. We did so very effectively. I know this town and i know exactly what will get reported. Just so you know, it aint just russia. Bad english. I will try to correct it. There are more nations than just russia who are trying to great nation. We have to be vigilant. Mr. Rubenstein there is legislation in the house that has not passed the senate. Sec. Pompeo we have the authority. We have the money. The burden is on me to execute it. Mr. Rubenstein have you communicated to mr. Putin that you do not like what he has done on he shouldnt do it again . Sec. Pompeo on a number of occasions. Mr. Rubenstein and what is his response . Sec. Pompeo noted. [laughter] thats a diplomatic term for i hear you, brother. Mr. Rubenstein he doesnt want to admit anything, i presume. With respect to england, there is a new Prime Minister. You have met Boris Johnson before. Sec. Pompeo i have. I believe he was foreign secretary at the time. Mr. Rubenstein does the Trump Administration support brexit or would you prefer remain or do you not take a position on that . Sec. Pompeo i have confidence in the british people. Mr. Rubenstein you tell your ambassadors they should be more careful about what they say to you because somebody should leak what they are writing. Is that a worry . Sec. Pompeo not at all. If i did they would ignore me. , they have a duty. Our task is for them to tell us what they are seeing. The power of the state department is that we have these officers on the ground. Many places can do policy in think tanks, but we want them to give us the granularity they can only get with those interactions and we expect them to report accurately, truthfully, candidly. Our mission is to make sure they dont end up in the washington post. Mr. Rubenstein are you confident the Mexican Government is doing what it can to keep more people from not coming over the border . Sec. Pompeo they are. Mr. Rubenstein they are doing enough . Sec. Pompeo no, its not enough. We still see the high side of 2000 every day. Its unacceptable. We need to do more to converse the change two create the change. It has to be the case that those who want to come here illegally can and those who want to come by some other mechanism choose not to because they will not find a way. When i was a member of congress, people would call my office and say we live in pick a country and we want to come here and get citizenship. I wont tell you the joke, but the best way to do it is to go to mexico and come on in. But what you want them to do is file the paperwork and go through the lawful process. We are the most welcoming nation in the world. We always will be. But we cannot have our sovereignty broken through this mass immigration. There is a National Security risk. Very broadly speaking, when i speak with my counterpart in el salvador, he understands its their challenge, not ours. We have to get this right. Mr. Rubenstein are you worried Congress Might not pass that legislation . Sec. Pompeo i hope they will. The president is doing everything he can to create growth here in america. I hope they will pass it. I dont do vote counting anymore. I did that for six years, so i am out. Mr. Rubenstein venezuela. With the u. S. Ever send troops and if necessary to keep further violence from occurring there . Sec. Pompeo you tried to get me at the beginning. Now you are trying to get me at the end. The president has said pretty clearly, we are going to do everything we can to get democracy back. We are closer today than we were several months ago, but in the end, we will do our part and the nation will be rebuilt with a great coalition. 56 or 58 other countries are joining us. They understand maduro is not the duly elected president. Mr. Rubenstein President Trump has sometimes tweeted things that are unfavorable about people working for him. He has not tweeted anything unfavorable about you. Sec. Pompeo its early. [laughter] mr. Rubenstein what is the secret of your success in your relationship with the president . You didnt know him before you worked with him, did you . Sec. Pompeo i did not. I did not meet him until i became the cia director. Mr. Rubenstein who recommended you for that job . Sec. Pompeo im not sure. Mr. Rubenstein you mean the cia doesnt have the ability to figure out who recommended you . [laughter] somebody recommended you. Sec. Pompeo i think the Vice President was likely the person who i had known and served with as a member of congress. Mr. Rubenstein did you say i like the cia but i would like to be secretary of state or did this come as a complete surprise to you . Sec. Pompeo it was a surprise and i was honored to serve as director of the Central Intelligence agency. Some people say you should run for the senate, from kansas, i think Mitch Mcconnell has twisted your arm a few times. You say definitively that you will not run. So would you consider that or are you putting that off the table for a while . Ng that off the table for a while . Off the table. Im going to serve as the secretary of state every day that i get the chance to do so. The director that i have enormous respect for busy time for everyone and i hope i get to do this for a while longer. My experience is sometimes when people get close and see the job of close they think i can do that job. Has that occurred to you and would you have any interest in running for president at some point in your life . Ive never been able to predict with my next gig will be. Almost 20 years now in my time in the army in congress and now the executive branch it has been a blessing and i do feel america has given me an awful lot and theres nothing i wont consider doing for america. Would you be willing to service the secretary of state for one, two, three, four terms as the secretary . Havent thought about it. The real question is what they want him as the secretary of state. When you have decisions are there oral communications, written, what is the process by which they are made . I always preferred to have a document the way that i preserved. I preserve to a computer to receive information so im always bringing something that says heres the outline of what i think the priority is our health we should frame this particular problem and then with the president does like to engage in the exchanges and i found them to be elucidated for myself ive also learned a thing hes focused on where the money is. When Henry Kissinger was secretary of state and adviser at the same time, there had been tension between secretary of state and advisers. How is your relationship with john bolton . Theres tension between the organizations. We come at these things from a different viewpoint. He has his responsibility to make sure all of these ideas are better. Secretary of treasury, secretary of energy, Intelligence Committee each have their missions. We have robust debates. I agree with each of them often and disagree with most of them sometimes. We have a few dozen ambassadors. What would you give them as insight on the Foreign Policy matters . Its what you do every day in your business. Its not about the seem like mike or al or alice, its about did you show up within informed database theory that can deliver and if we do that and show up with the best answer we will drive the policy. If we dont, there are reports today that the new head of the Central Intelligence will be john radcliffe. Some people say hes too political for that position. Do you believe that he is too political for the position . Im very confident he will does a good job. I remember people saying i would be too political for the cia director. I hope that history will inform us all that that was not the case, that i did my job and delivered on behalf of the American People in an appropriate way. You were first in your class at west point. How do you become first in your class at west point, that is pretty tough. What happened to all the other people that were second, third, fourth, did they become anything . One is the secretary of defense. I gave him a hard time about the finish. [laughter] you went to harvard law school. Why did you abandon the practice . I had a great partners i worked with and i enjoyed my time. I had the chance to start with my best friends in the whole world and spend the next you said you ar were negotiag with somebody on the opposite side, and that person your wife. You had to say that otherwise to help understand what we are trying to do in an environment where fewer of their kids have to be in conflict. That is the mission to get the outcomes through diplomacy. What is the worst part of being secretary of state . I havent figured that out yet. The state department itself, are you involved in a lot of the Foreign Service officers to encourage them to be more involved in the state department or how do you deal with the Foreign Service officers . One of the things i love doing is leading the organizations when i ran in the beginning we had plans on how to make the Foreign Service officers and local employees staff better, so we have real Training Programs in the work weve developed on what he callewe callthe events, the 21sy diplomat, each of which is aimed at making they will be there long after im gone. They came here before me and they will be here after im go gone. We have an obligation to take care of and make sure that they get good education as well. I noticed you have very colorful socks on. [inaudible] after the first photo that was a picture. You are leaving. How do you deal with jet lag when the you are the secretary of the United States . I am fortunate i can sleep just about anywhere, get a couple hours of sleep and it doesnt bother me. Thank you very much for your service and for coming here today. Thank you. Announcer cspans washington journal, live every day with news and policy issues that impact you. Coming up this morning, we will look at campaign 2020 and efforts by democrats to boost turnout with justin myers, ceo of the super pac for our future, plus american conservative editor james antal shares his view on campaign 2020. Be sure to watch cspans washington journal, and look for podcast week this week starting at 9 00 a. M. Eastern. On monday, we will talk with larry oconnor, host of examining politics. Tuesday the producer of the daily will join us. Wednesday, mark leon goldberg, host of global dispatches. Drywall, wills tell you. The host ofy, congressional dish. Announcer this morning at 10 30 eastern on cspan, the second round of democratic president ial primary debates in detroit hosted by cnn. Watch today at 10 30 a. M. Eastern on cspan, cspan. Org, or listen with the free cspan radio app. Announcer this weekend on American History tv, today at 6 00 on american artifacts, a preview of the 19th amendment exhibit at the national archives. Women in new jersey who are americas first voters beginning in 1776 when new jersey became a the new jersey state constitution made no mention of sex when discussing voting qualifications, that only had a property requirement. So women who own enough property, primarily widows and single women, not all women in new jersey, could and did vote in elections at the local, state, and national level. Announcer and that it 00 p. M. , author john farrell talks about nixons early life and career. In early 1947, he campaign for the marshall plan. He went to every rotary club, every chamber of commerce, every vfw and American Legion hall. Every crow that would take him. He told them he owed them his best judgment, not his obedience, and he convinced them, and when the Party Primaries were held in california in december 1988, Richard Nixon did not just when the republican nomination, he won the democratic nomination. He wagered everything and carried the day, running unopposed in his first reelection campaign. Announcer explore our nations passed on American History tv every weekend on cspan3. Announcer on thursday, the Senate Judiciary committee met to consider legislation that would change the rules governing adjudication of asylumseekers cases and establish Processing Centers outside of u. S. Port. The committee voted 1210 along party lines to send the bill to the full senate. Chairatic members opposed Lindsey Grahams proposal and accused him of breaking the rules of the committee. This is about an hour and 20 minutes