Capital. Senator cardin it is hard to believe that it has only been two weeks. Its been an incredible pace. Every day there is a new breaking story from the white house. In many cases it is reckless comments that are made, whether it is our relationship with the Prime Minister of australia or building a wall with mexico. It is creating real challenges. I have met with many foreign leaders who are wondering what the basis of american foreignpolicy is. What are our values. It has been a challenge. We are looking to make sure our nation stays strong. We will do everything we can to make sure that happens. Susan lets send it over to kristina peterson. Kristina i want to get your thoughts on the approach the president is taking to iran. I know you were skeptic of the nuclear deal. What do you think he should be doing in response to the Missile Launch this week . I know you sent a letter, but can you talk about the concerns you might have. Senator cardin first, i hope the president will consult with the senior advisers at the state department on iran and the department of defense and meet , with members of both sides of the aisle and capitol hill who have a long history of dealing with iran. We dont trust iran. We know we have to watch the Nuclear Agreement carefully to make sure it is adhered to. But there are other issues. There are Ballistic Missile tests that violate agreements internationally. Actions should be taken. We urge the president to work not only with members of congress but our allies in europe so we have a consistent message of policy out about iran and take action against the various actions. Their nefarious actions. Kristina do you have any concerns that levying additional sanctions on iran could cause the Nuclear Agreement to implode . Is this something that you can realistically renegotiate at this point . Senator cardin we cannot renegotiate the Nuclear Agreement. What we can do is hold iran accountable for violations outside the Nuclear Agreement. The Ballistic Missile responsibilities are not part of the Nuclear Agreement. There are penalties for violating the Ballistic Missile obligations. The International Community and the u. S. Is fully within its rights to impose sanctions against iran for its Ballistic Missile test. We have to do it in a way that reflects the violations of the Ballistic Missiles and not trying to renegotiate the Nuclear Agreement. Kristina great. I wanted to turn to the president s executive order from last week that we saw play out over the weekend on immigrants and refugees, the visa travel ban from the seven dominantly muslim countries. And the 120 day ban on refugees. Im wondering if you tell us what kind of what is happening in your state . Are you getting individual constituents who are getting wrapped up in this . What kinds of stories are you hearing . Secondly we have reported, and , others have said that from some of the senior advisers in the white house, they say this is only the beginning. There are more of these types of orders in this space of immigrants and refugees coming, and it was also said this week that the existing travel ban could become indefinite. I am wondering, again, some of your stories you might be hearing from constituents, and what is the congressional is there a role for congress here . Is there a congressional response to any of this . Senator cardin there is clearly a role for congress. We are the policymakers. We can take action that can counter this executive order. This executive order is reckless, dangerous, makes us less safe and not more safe. I could give you specific examples of how it will be used for recruitment by terrorists. How it will make americans traveling abroad more at risk, how it will add to the self radicalization movement we have seen occur in the United States and other countries around the world, how it will turn countries that should be working with us, muslim nations, against us. I have heard that already from World Leaders in washington this week. Talking with us about the executive order. It has affected people in maryland. I have heard from our Academic Centers as to students who are at risk of not being able to continue in their educational pursuits here in the United States. I have heard from businesses who are not able to get the workforce to their jobs, which is going to affect our economy. I have heard stories about how we have had individuals come to the United States as part of our coalition against terrorism from muslim countries who now will not be able to come to help us in our war against terror. There are people that are caught. Families divided because they do not know if they will be allowed to come to the United States to reunite with their families. Even though they had visas to do that before this was put into effect. We have had many cases in maryland where people have been at risk as a result of this executive order. It is not only a travel ban, but it is also the refugee ban, which is also affecting those who had planned to come to america, not just from syria where the ban was made permanent, but other countries. It is against our interests and really hurting people. It is hurting our country. We understand we have heard from many members of congress on both sides of the they were really caught off guard when this order was released a week ago. Is the Administration Working closer with congress on its next orders in this area . Can you tell us anything . Are you hearing anything about what will the next in terms of visas or travel . Or Immigration Enforcement . Knowing how divided the congresses, i realized democrats have introduced some bills to repeal or amend these orders. Is any of that getting any support from the other side of the aisle and had any real life in congress . Senator cardin i am the ranking them across on the Senate Foreign relations committee, and i have had no reaching out from the administration at all on any of these issues. I have communicated with the administration of my views and willingness to sit down and work. But it is not just me. I dont know of any republican who is involved in the development of these executive orders. As a result, you saw how they were implemented in the chaotic format. You have to congress can do. First, i talked to my republican friends who agreed with the positions i am standing here. We are going to Work Together to try to convince this administration that going down this path is the wrong path. We need to look at the different way in order to keep america safe. This makes us less safe. We can also pass legislation. We are looking at legislation that would modify, eliminate this executive order. I quite frankly think there is a strong bipartisan support for Congress Taking action because we dont want to be associated with what President Trump has done on this immigration ban. Kristina senator, is there any bipartisan effort to limit what the president can do in regards to lifting sanctions on russia . It looks like there may be early steps he is taking. In general, this is an area of agreement between democrats and republicans that they dont want to lift sanctions on russia. What is happening in that arena . Senator cardin we have already filed Bipartisan Legislation with a significant number of democrats and republicans that goes a different way than the president has indicated with regards to russia. It would provide additional sanctions against russia because of their attack on our country, what they are continuing to do in ukraine, and their activities in syria. But there will be Bipartisan Legislation introduced that will require the president to get consultation and perhaps consent of congress before eliminating or reducing the sanctions against russia. That type of legislation is being considered. We did legislation similar to that on the iran Nuclear Agreement where he had to wait for congress to decide whether we could take action to stop it. We are looking at similar legislation with regards to the president eliminating or reducing sanctions in regards to russia. Kristina how do you think he is going to respond to that . Senator cardin i have never seen an Administration WelcomeCongress Engagement in regards their prerogatives. But i do think we have a constitutional responsibility here to work effectively in regards to how we engage with iran initially. We imposed strict sanctions, we got them to the negotiating table. That was initiated by congress, not the white house. The review statute was passed by congress, which gave the American People a much better view as to what was happening in regards to iran. It also allowed us to negotiate a stronger agreement and a stronger position in regards to iran. We need the same thing in regards to russia. Looking at how this administration is cozying up to mr. Putin, who is a bully, whose interests are different from ours, who attack us we need that , strength of congress to stand up to the president and say, we are going to weigh in. We are to require a much more transparent process before you ease sanctions against russia. Senator, it was the new secretary of states tillersons first day at the state department this week. What can you tell us about what you see as the top of his agenda . Also realizing that he was confirmed very narrowly in the senate. Just a few democrats, one independent came over to support him. And also faces some resistance in the state department. 800id all see the signatories to the dissent cable on some of his actions the other day. Separately, i wanted to also ask you about the president s statement on israeli settlements. Do you see that as a change in his position . What do you make of the statement the white house sent out the other night that they had concerns about additional settlements . Senator cardin on so many areas of Foreign Policy we dont know mr. Trumps coherent policy. We have seen his tweets and what and his oneliners. We dont have his policy. It is true in china and taiwan and so many areas of Foreign Policy. His policy with regards to israel is still something we want to find out about. His statement in regards to settlements is not inconsistent with former policies by the executive branch in our government with regards to settlement. It is hard to tell what his policy will be. Mr. Tillerson has a full plate. You mentioned the dissent cables. I have urged him to make sure that remains intact. We saw what the press secretary said, intimidating people not to use that dissent line of communication within the state department, which has been there since the vietnam war, and it is an important way for freedom of expression and different views within the state department. We have encouraged mr. Tillerson through his leadership as now our secretary of state to make sure that dissent line remains open without intimidation. But he has a lot of issues. He has north korea and their attempts to develop an intercontinental Ballistic Missile. That has to be high on his list. We have the iranian issue and the Ballistic Missile tests. We have what is happening in syria, the russian relationship. So much is going on. We need mr. Tillerson to set the climate for coherent u. S. Foreignpolicy. He is our chief negotiator. He is our person who has to bring about the climate where we can resolve these issues without the use of military force. And we will be working with him and urging him to use his office to achieve those objectives. Lisa you voted against his confirmation. Are you suggesting you will have an open dialogue with him . As he signaled to you that he will welcome your counsel . Senator cardin absolutely there will be an open relationship between myself and mr. Tillerson. As the ranking democrat on the Foreign Relations committee and his position as secretary of state. We want our country to succeed. Our country succeeds when we use every tool we have to deal with our international challenges. Diplomacy, development assistance, it is critically important to achieve those objectives. I will be working very closely with mr. Tillerson to make sure these tools are used most effectively to advance u. S. Interests. Susan there is 12 minutes left. Senator, i am interested and how you think democrats will approach the Supreme Court nominee. Obviously this is an area in which you hold real leverage in enabling or blocking the president s nominee, justice gorsuch. What are the democrats weighing right now as they approach this decision . Senator cardin this is one of the most important responsibilities that a member of the senate has. In the advice and consent. It is a lengthy process. Normally there is up to two months before we even start the hearings in order that we can get all the Background Information about the nominee. Not only cases that maybe he is involved in, but his writings, his views, his background. It is a very thorough process that has been followed by hearings, the opportunity to ask questions, and individual meetings. That is a process i will take very seriously before i reach my conclusion on judge gorsuch. Having said that, there is real concern as to the process. We cant look at this in a vacuum. We know that the Republican Leadership in the senate blocked president obamas opportunity to appoint a Supreme Court justice for 10 months. That was an affront to the president , the presidency and the court. We are concerned whether the public and leadership in the best Republican Leadership in the senate will deny the full opportunity for this debate to take place in the senate. We have reason to be concerned considering what they did to president obamas nomination. Secondly we know what president , trump is doing. We saw his executive order. He is challenging the constitution. We have to make sure we have an independent judiciary and judges and justices on the Supreme Court that will stand firm on these beliefs. We will be particularly concerned about the process that is used, as well as the views of this nominee because of what has happened in regards to last year in the senate and our concerns about the Trump Administration challenging the constitution. There will be deliberative process. Yes, we will make our independent judgment. That will be in context of what is going on. Do you think Senate Majority leader Mitch Mcconnell will change the threshold to 51, the socalled Nuclear Option if democrats vote to oppose judge gorsuch . Is that a factor in your decision trying to avoid the rule change . Senator cardin senator mcconnell will have to make his own judgments whether he makes the rule change or not. I know there are a lot of republicans and democrats that are very much opposed to changing the rules in regards to a Supreme Court nominee. Look senator mcconnell is going , to have to make his own judgment. Will we be intimidated . Absolutely not. Many of us believe we have to carry out our responsibilities. We will do it the best we can and senator mcconnell has to make his own judgment. We will not be intimidated. We see in the streets this outpouring of opposition from democrats, your base, progressives. Something we have not seen in a long time. A lot of it now appears to be coming focused on this court nominee, as well as other cabinet picks. We see what happened to betsy devos in the education department. Just protesters flooding the capital telephone lines this last week. Some people have compared this to the tea Party Opposition at the start of president obamas term. How is this influencing democrats . How is it influencing what you do next, as well as this question over the court nominate . Senator cardin there is an incredible energy, anxiety, concern out in the community. It is not just one group. Or one position. It is not just those who did not support mr. Trumps election. A lot of people who supported his election are joining in this protest as they see specific actions taken by the Trump Administration. It is spontaneous and growing. It is on many issues. We saw it in the womens march. We saw it in the protests for the repeal of the Affordable Care act. Which by the way has had an impact. Republicans are no longer talking about just repeal as they were just a few weeks ago because the public got engaged and says you are not going to take away our health care. It is working. Dont mess with it. We are seeing this is a democratic country. The views of the public make a difference. And people are really worried. They are getting engaged. They want to know how they can get engaged. When i walked down the streets of baltimore, people stop me and say, what can we do . People want to get their views heard. In this democratic country, their views will be heard. How do you channel that energy as democrats . You no longer have president obama in the white house as the sort of leader of the party. There is a lot of scrambling as to who will emerge as the next big name leader of the democratic party. How do you democrats work to channel that energy and not have to care the party apart . Senator cardin as leaders we have to channel the energy and we also have to set the priorities. Where do we need to really point out where mr. Trump and republicans are going astray . And i think the Affordable Care act repeal was a prime example of the right way to channel energy. That debate is not over. Dont get me wrong. We are still at great risk that people are going to lose quality Affordable Health coverage. Make a mistake about it. Weve seen that channeling that debate has made a difference. We have a lot of republicans saying we are going to maintain the preexisting conditions, on theireep people policies until age 26, children. We are making progress on that. We have to do the same thing on other issues. The Supreme Court is a key example. Supreme Court Decisions affect peoples lives. It is up to us to point out how that will affect peoples lives and why we are so concerned who the next justice of the Supreme Court will be. The immigration policy. We need to explain that better. Public opinion is too close as to whether they agree or disagree with the president s executive order. That is because they dont understand the refugee policy as well as we need to. Or that the president is trying to impose a religious test on people who come to america. We have got to put a big spotlight on it, and if we do, i think americans will be energized. If they are energized on this issue, the actions in congress will change. Five minutes left. Senator, i am interested. Has the Trump Administration and how they communicate changed how you follow Foreign Policy . We see major developments developments occurring over twitter. Have you had to modify how you track all of this . As reporters we are getting used to seeing Early Morning tweets and having to watch what is happening there on social media. Senator cardin we know it is a 24 7 job to track what the president is doing in regards to Foreign Policy. Every weekend im having conversations with my Foreign Policy staff. We have taken action on the immigration order last weekend. Yes it does cause us to look at , things differently. And we are having more and more indications with foreign leaders, with representatives of our International Organizations such as nato, and there is much greater conversation between democrats and republicans in the senate as to how we can be gffective in either influencin the Trump Administration or to counter that activity by what congress can do. I think you will see more unity in congress on Foreign Policy, particularly when it differs from what mr. Trump has said. That is clearly true on australia. You are going to see, i think, a lot of activity that will show that australia is our friend, a key partner in our war against terror, and it was unacceptable the way that conversation took place with mr. Trump. Is there anything else that you hear that is coming . Either in executive orders. We saw actions this morning on the dodd frank financial order. Anything coming on visas . Anything else on the of course, congress is busy looking into the role russia played in the election. With the ec see next item from congress or the administration that we might not be expecting . Senator cardin quite frankly, there is a long list of areas that could be of concern. We have not yet seen action taken in regards to china and taiwan. And the Maritime Security issues. That is a major area of Foreign Policy interests of the United States. We hope the president will work with us in developing that policy. There could be strong support on that. His trade policies, we are waiting to see. We heard he may be imposing tariffs. That would be very unpopular and cost consumers in this country a significant amount of money. What is he going to do in implementing his trade policies . That will be interesting to see going for. Going forward. What is he going to do in regards to strengthening our ties with europe . There is a major security conference taking place in in munich. What will be the message me from the Trump Administration to our european allies . We have already seen in individual cases Major Concerns raised. There are so many other areas. We have not even talked about our own hemisphere, south america, what is happening with the concerns of implementing the Peace Process in columbia. There are so many areas that could mushroom into major problems based on how President Trump handles the issues. We have one minute left. I will use that to take you in a totally different direction. Another area of great interest to you in the senate is Small Business. For many years Small Business community has been asking for regulatory relief. Is this an area where you feel optimism and opportunity to Work Together with the Trump Administration . Senator cardin absolutely. Linda mcmahon, who will soon be the administrator of the Small Business administration was unanimously approved by our committee. I serve on a Small Business committee. One of the areas were democrats and republicans agree is we need to pay more attention to Small Businesses. One area is revelatory relief. Regulatory relief. We are looking at ways we can provide help to Small Businesses in a sensible way. Not only regulatory relief, but how we can do with access to capital. How can we deal with Affordable Health insurance. Those are areas we hear frequently from Small Business owners. That is the growth of america. That is where job creation takes place, innovation takes place. There is bipartisan support to help Small Businesses in this country. Thank you for being with us. We have such a long list of questions and topic areas. 25 minutes seems like hardly enough time. Thank you for giving us your time on newsmakers. Senator cardin thank you to cspan for making this time available. I appreciate it. So, i dont know where to start. We had so many issues. We started out with the mood on capitol hill. You spent a lot of time talking to legislators. What are they saying, democrats and republicans about the state of things . At the beginning of week three. [laughter] i think republicans have been in damage control mode for a little while. The implementation of the travel ban clearly did not go well. I think they were managing that for the first part of this week and some of the fallout from these rocky phone calls with foreign leaders and provocative tweets. I think everyone feels like it has been a very action filled first two weeks. Obviously democrats have been much more critical than republicans. Republicans tend to say this is a heck of a new administration and every administration feels it will be interesting to see if, as the months pass, that the defense changes. One area republicans are likely to be more critical of our Foreign Policy because there are more defined differences, especially on russia. So another Rex Tillerson is in place im wondering the , questions you asked about israeli policy in particular, is there a sense he will have an influence now that he is at the table for these discussions . I think that will be interesting. Really to dovetail on that previous question, i think there is a lot of whiplash going on on capitol hill. As much as members of congress do not like the gridlock they have been mired in for the past several years, i think this pace right now is very difficult for lawmakers on both sides keep up with. There is a sense that once mr. Tillerson and these other cabinet choices are in place, republicans will say they believe things will be happening more smoothly and there will be more of a priority list of options steps else want to take, a sort of to do list. I dont know that is true. We have seen this is a president it was very much a chief executive and likes to call the shots. We see this morning tweets every morning. Even if we have mr. Tillerson at state and these other folks in their positions, i dont know if that will be a Strong Enough counter to his own impulses and desires to get things moving. We saw last weekend that the Homeland Security chief kelly was in place but was not briefed in time, but was in the process of being briefed as the executive order was being implemented. Point,derscore your having them in place is not a guarantee everything will go smoothly. General mattis is at the defense yet we see these conversations happening. , mr. Tillerson was pretty much having his first day at state, well, i guess that was the first day after the phone call with the australian Prime Minister. It will be difficult. To your question, we will see about Foreign Policy. I thought it was interesting the senator did agree that the Ballistic Missile tests, he thought that was a violation. I think that is something that counsel will be deciding on. Of one a result, yes. This is a tricky thing because iran says those additional sanctions would violate the agreement. U. S. Officials say it does not. That is a tricky line to walk for everyone involved. Turning to the last minute section on the nomination. One of the first actions was to found mary garland. Merrick garland. He signaled this would be a big decision for democrats on whether or not to support this nomination. Do you get a sense of whether or not they are open to this nominee . I think it is going to be hard for them. I think they realize that his record doesnt give them a lot of those names. I think the Opposition Forces in the progressive wing of the party will be pushing to unearth new findings in him. I was struck by the visible frustration you could see in democrats, including senator garden over what happened to america garland that to Merrick Garland last year what happened to Merrick Garland last year. I think that is a complicating to thein addition activist who want democrats to block this. A lot of these lawmakers are institutional lists. Vice president pence will be. Eeded on monday to break a tie it would be the first time in history they break on a highranking nominee. There will be a few more confirmation votes on a few more nominees. We will see Jeff Sessions and tom price. They are going to be dispatching with these nominees and a house is dealing with a lot of regulatory reforms, such as making their way over there. ToForeign Policy continues be unexpected and really interesting. Democrats will be having their retreat next as well. You for your questions, for being back here at newsmakers again. Cspan, where history unfolds daily. In 1979 cspan was created as a Public Service by cable cap Cable Television companies and is brought to you by your cable satellite provider. Cspans will washington journal cspans washington journal, coming up, real clear politics, White House Correspondent will give a preview ahead. Themamerican action for talks about the Trump Administrations effort to overhaul the federal rulemaking and reduce the cost of regulations. And the New York Times reported Danielle Ivory discusses what faces the Trump Administration has it fortifies the barrier on the southern border. Live. Washington journal join the discussion. Foreign secretary Boris Johnson was boris itnson assured a member that would not be affected by the recent executive order signed by President Trump. Who expressed concern about executive order and future relations with the Trump Administration. This occurred under the executive order and was temporarily stopped by a judge in seattle