Transcripts For WUSA Face The Nation 20140223

Dickerson. Well bring in Time International editor and cbs News State Department correspondent margaret breman for analysis on syria and ukraine. 60 years of news because this is face the nation. Captioning sponsored by cbs good morning again it is fairly quiet on the streets of ukraine this morning, but the situation is far from settled. For latest were going to cbs news correspondent holly williams. Good morning, there has been a week of bloodshed here in kiev weve seen deadly clashes between antigovernment protesters and riot police which led scores of people dead. Yesterday the demonstrators woke up to discover that they were suddenly in control of ukraines capital. The riot police had simply melted away interior Ministry Says it was now on the side of the protesters. Ukraines president ian has fled the city now in Eastern Ukraine there. Is a biggy graphic divide in the east, they tend to favor close ties with russia but here in the west the protesters i yanukovych is corrupt. During these three months of demonstrations, russia has traded insults with the eu and u. S. , they accuse each other of interfering in u cranes politics. The parliament voted to then there were extraordinary things as protesters took over the lex our just president ial residents. The demonstrators do seem to have a very problem for them is that yanukocjch refuses to go. He says there has been a coup he would still president he compared protesters to nazis. With Ukraine Security forces now apparently on the side of the demonstrators, it seems just matter of time until yanukovych will acknowledge that he has been de. Schieffer who is running things right now, or is anyone . Its a very good question. The parliament voted yesterday to elect if you talk to some of the protesters in the square they will tell that you they are in charge. And yanukovych thinks he is the president. He has to admit enthat he has been beaten. The protesters will probably stay out on the square until the elections that are scheduled for may. Schieffer all right. Holly williams, thank you so much. And joining us now from his home state of arizona, republican senator john mccain. Last time you talked to us you were actually in kiev. Addressed the crowds in kiev. So, i understand you have talked to the former Prime Minister and some of the other officials, what are they telling you . Ive talked to them including Yulia Tymoshenka and mr. Dysunic they are of course over void, but theres sobering reality here that they recognize. Remember in 2004 i was there when they had their first opportunity and obviously it didnt succeed. Theyre aware of that. Their Economic Situation is so dire that literally the economy is on the verge of collapse. Theyre going to need help immediately. Second issue i think that is not clear is what does Vladimir Putin do. The eastern part of ukraine is especially with older people more prorussian. Putins major naval installation is there and what does putin do here. I think the message has to be sent to him, let the ukrainian people determine their own future. And a partition of ukraine is totally unacceptable we need to act immediately to give them the economic assistance that they need based on reform so theyre going to have to be required as well. Tough sledding. Schieffer so we give them economic assistance, is there anything else that the United States can do . I think to speak out, make the message clear to Vladimir Putin that partition the country would not be acceptable. The ukrainian people will determine their own future. They want to be western. Thats what this whole now hundreds of thousands in the square was all about. They dont want to be eastern. By the way, if i were Vladimir Putin today at the end of the olympics id be a little nervoun have watched this transpire and they are tired of the crony capitalism that governs russia today. If i were him id be a little bit nervous. Schieffer i want to ask you about something else, senator mccain, susan rice, the National Security advisor hasnt been on sunday tv much since that sunday when she told us that the violence in bin gazi grew out of spontaneous menstruation, that violence took the lives of four people. Americans. You came on after of susan rice and suggested shy really didnt know what she was talking about. To put it bluntly. Well this morning she was on meet the press sheer is what she said. That information turned out in some respects not to be a hundred percent correct. But the notion that somehow i or anybody else in the administration misled the American People is patently false, i think thats been amply demonstrated. Schieffer do you have any reaction this time, senator . Im almost speechless because its patently obvious first of all that susan rice had no reason to be on the program. She had no involvement in it. Second of all, she had talking points that were now beginning to believe came from the white house which were absolutely fails. We ug that the cia station chief on the ground sent a message immediately saying not spontaneous demonstration. And of course, the information was totally misleading, totally false and for susan rice to say such a thing, i think its a little embarrassing to tell you the truth. Schieffer senator i want to ask you about something you said, you said that president obama, i believe these are your words, the most naive president in history. Did you mean that literally or how did you mean that . I meant it in my time in public life, when you look at the socalled geneva farce that was just a terrible joke where we expected for to arrange for his own transition from power, when he was winning on the ground was ludicrous. We now find that it was as far as inian nuclear situation, theyre not going to dismental a single centrifuge. The palestinianisraeli peace talks are obviously going no where. And american influences on the wing throughout the world. Best example is yesterday the day before the president said that this had nothing to do with a cold war. The issue, the situation in ukraine. In the eyes of vat mere putin it does. He wants to restore the russian empire. He said the worst thing to happen in the 20th century was the fall of the soviet union. And he continues to want to push that reset button and not realize what kind of people we are dealing with. And finally the best example i can tell you my friend is that we lost 96 Young Americans in the second battle of fallujah, soldiers and marines, 600 wounded. We now have black flags offal kite da fly over the city of fallujah. Schieffer all right. Senator, its always good to have you with us, thank you so much for joining us. Were going to turn to the home front, the nations governors have descended on washington this week, were pleased to welcome two of them. Louisiana governor bobby jendl and governor who didnt have to travel quite as far as the rest of them, maryland democrat martin omalley. Governor jendle i want to get right to it, right after the 2012 elections you said, ill just play what you said. Weve got to stop being the stupid party. New Republican Party that talks like adults. Time for us to articulate our plans and visions for america in real terms. Schieffer you said, weve got to stop being the stupid party. How is that going . Thats exactly that was rnc audience there was nervous laughter when i said that. Ive got op ed as party we cant just be the party of no. Weve got good solutions. Were going to be meeting with the president , i want to share with him that this administration has a chance to be laser focused on job creation. Were not doing that. This president feels like he can act union rat lally with the pen and phone he can make decisions without congress, i dont agree with that, if hes go to make those decisions, lets increase Domestic Production of energy creating hundreds of thousands of good jobs. Obamacare is such a job killer in our economy, were at 36 year low in terms of Labor Force Participation rate. Why not approve the Keystone Pipeline today. In five years of study, tens of thousands of jobs obama administrations own folks have said, no, this is not going to do damage to the environment if we approve it versus rejecting it there are specific things the president can do to create jobs. Republican party needs to be all about growth, opportunity, creating good paying private sector jobs much were now in the middle of one of the weakest recoveries since word war ii. My party needs to do that, we have Real Solutions on education, be for School Choice, tenure reform, Democratic Party stopping teacher unions, give every child chance to get a great education. Schieffer what about i am breaks . Ive said people want to come in to this country, work hard, get an education thats good for them and us theres nothing wrong with republicans in congress saying lets secure the boarder first. If this president was serious about moving forward with comprehensive approach hedaq start by securing the boarder. Dont need a thousand page bill. Its no the complicated. We have low walls and narrow gate. That is opposite what we need. We need a high walls and wide gate. So that more people can come in to this country legally. Schieffer let me ask you this, after since you said we have to stop being the stupid party, the government was shut down. People blamed the republicans for doing that. We have had republicans undercutting their own leadership in both the house and the senate. Do you think there is some sort of disconnect between people, republicans outside washington and republicans at the National Level those those in washington . Absolutely. I think there is disconnect between American People outside of washington and the folks in dc, republican or democrat. Schieffer talk about your side. If you want to see real conservative principles you see it at the state level. You see governors, for example, in florida, ohio, south carolina, michigan, state after state with republican governors uncomplete rate going down, private sector jobs being created. Republican governors taking on public pension reform to tackle long term debt. Embracing School Choice and tenure reform. See republican governors cutting taxes, creating good jobs, balancing our budgets, doing fiscally responsible things. If you want to see conservative principles being applied you see them outside of washington, d. C. Washington, d. C. Is the one recessionproof economies the last several years unfortunately you do see type of crony capitalism in our national capital. Obama administration continues to give favors, breaks to favored industries and companies, out in the real world, you see republican governors balancing their budgets and growing their economies. Schieffer what do you think of ted cruz and impact hes had on your party . I think hes passionate. Im not one that wants to engage, woe dont need to beat each other up. There are tea party and other conservatives active. Think what hes trying to bring to the attention of the president and leadership of congress. Our debt was 9 trillion when the president took over. He criticized president bush now debt is over 17 trillion. Not projected to be balanced at any point over the next ten years. Our children and grandchildren have to pay that get back at the state level. In maryland and louisiana and other states we have balanced budget requirements in our constitution. You cant raise taxes without a super majority. I think its right that folks in dc need to stand up and say, we cant just keep spending more money thanere taking in. Schieffer are you going to run for president . Are you going to explore it . Honest answer is, i dont know. We have 36 governors races, we have to control the senate, the house. Ive started organization focused on winning those war of ideas called america next, were developing detailed policy ideas. Not a pac, not one paid policies, detailed policy ideas on how do you replace obamacare, what is energy plan for the country. What is Education Plan so every child gets a great education. Schieffer its a pleasure to have you here today. Good luck while youre here ill be interested to see what you do say to the president to how that comes out. Thank you, bob. Schieffer lets go to the other side of the table, Maryland Governor martin omalley. Let me start where he left off. Are you thinking about running for the democratic nomination for president . Im looking at that. But the most immediate responsibility i have is to govern maryland well. And through difficult times weve made our Public Schools the number one in the country and have achieved the best level of job creation of any state in the mid add ran particular. Thats really what its about. Whenever state succeeds then america succeeds. And democratic governors believe in doing the right thing, the things that work to strengthen our middle class so that we can grow our economy. Schieffer one of the things that does not appear to run or had hard time even getting off the floor getting started, was the president S Health Care plan. Theres no other way to look at it. This roll out was a disaster. Where are are you on that and how much do you think thats going to hurt democrats . Well, as a state we were looking to sign up 260,000 people. Right now were about 200,000 that have signed up. The kick off of the websites was certainly rocky,. Schieffer it was more than rocky. Absolutely. But the main goal here, bob, im sure with any new program whether you go back to the start of Social Security or medicare or medicaid, there are always problems. But the goal is to cover more people so that we can improve the wellness of our people and not have the constantly escalating costs of health care. Schieffer where do you think it is right now . Health care reform is . Schieffer this whole plan, is this going to work. Its going much better. It will continue to improve. Look, the main goal here and larger battle is to bring down the costs of health care which is keeping us from governor, you have those on the left who would take the party as far as that way as some of the Tea Party Folks want to take the Republican Party on the right. When the president comes out and says hes not going to touch entitlement reform thats like waving a red flag in front of a bull to the republicans. Have we given up on trying to get anything done, compromising on anything . No, i think there are good things that we can still do. Recently they were able to enact at least a budget deal for the next year. They were able to pass a farm bill. But the fact of the matter is that president obama has reduced average annual spending increases to smallest levels since 2008 eisenhower. The problem is not that somehow seniors are getting too many about women easily we doughs, for example. When that kind of thing happens, democrats are gleeful. Exactly the kind of fodder that they want and especially on mid term year turn out typically drops to elevate their own base, african americans, hispanics, young voters, women. Those are the kind of comments that you see Party Leaders like jindal cringe. They want this election to be entirely about obamacare implementation. State of the economy, president obamas overall popularity. Any time they have opportunity to change the topic it scares the republicans. Yet makes it great for somebody like governor bobby jindal to have the focus on how dysfunctional they are. They get to make the case, this is why you need to elect a governor in 2016. Forget all those guys trying to run from washington, were the people that are solving the problems we arent making the same mess takes. One of the reasons you see so little happening in congress. There are two w seeing in these races you mentioned democrats want to talk about degree to which the economy is improving. And yet they want to run against governors, republican governors for not doing enough o the economy. Both sides are conflicted in the way theyre delivering the messages. The other shoe to drop is in october and september people who have employeesponsored health care they get their rates for 2015. Right before the election youre going to get something in the mail. Schieffer let me ask you about this. Do you think that republicans can take the senate, dan . Where do you think that is right now . I think there is distinct possibility that they can. I had thought earlier that they had even more of an uphill slog to do it. I think the map now is such that they can certainly do it. There are plenty of races available that we see that are well within play. So, yes, its very liberals are disappointed with. Part of the problem with the debates last time they were a lot of, lets put it nicely, jv players on the field. Not a lot of varsity athlete. You put a very see athlete on debate stage thats good for republicans. The debates were terrible because it brought out the worst of what the republicans were trying to be or trying to promote. Schieffer all right. This has been a lot of fun, glad to have all of you well be back with analysis on the international news, next. Its important for us to see that democracy is taking hold in the ukraine. When it comes down to direct National Security interests, hard to make that argument but for russia this is their back yard, have naval base in the ukraine, tremendous trade, they have a shared border its in their direct interest. When the tv cameras leave they are going to have a lot of influence. For the u. S. We are hamstrung, the unanswered calls for a week from secretary hagle to his counterpart in the ukraine, that just shows that issue that u. S. Doesnt have a lot of leverage. We do through the eu. 28 countries who are threatening to really punish those leaders financially if they dont follow through where some of these reforms. Even in europe not a lot of europeans want to be part of the european union. They sympathize with the people in the street. But your opinion has plenty of problems of its own, economic problems. It does not want another basket case within the fold