The following is a transcript of an interview with Rep. Mike Turner, R-Ohio, on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan” that aired on December 8, 2024.
MARGARET BRENNAN: We’re joined now by the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee from Ohio, Congressman Mike Turner. Just an impressive turn of events in such a short period of time. The US has no diplomatic presence in Syria. Our visibility here is somewhat limited. What do you think Americans need to know about this turn of events?
REP. MIKE TURNER: Margaret, that was an excellent report, because you certainly laid the groundwork for what has been an incredibly brutal civil war with hundreds of thousands of people killed, including the use of chemical weapons. And of course reminding people that the Obama administration had said that this would be a red line, that we would use military force to stop the use of chemical weapons, and then we wouldn’t. This is an Islamic militia that has risen and continued and is now successfully overthrowing the Assad regime. As your report indicated, it is Al Qaeda in its origins, but opposed to ISIS. It has turkish support. This is a blow to Iran, a blow to Russia. We are seeing what is likely to be a disintegration in Syria. The big questions will be, what does this mean for the US? What does it mean for Iran, Russia, Israel’s neighbors and Jordan, who are strong allies of the United States?
MARGARET BRENNAN: So you mentioned it there, and we showed the photo of Abu Muhammad al-Golani. He is the leader of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, people call HTS. You’ll be hearing a lot about it in the coming days and weeks, the rebel group that seems to be taking control. But they are also working with the Prime Minister. The United States government has a ten million bounty on Jolani’s head. Do you think America should still keep it? Should Americans be concerned that this means anything in terms of impact on terrorist threats in the United States?
REP. TURNER: This is a terrorist organization and group, but this is not just going to be a power and authority move. could be Obviously we’ll have to keep an eye on it. You know, one of the things that we see here, though, is that this is a diplomatic failure with respect to the United States and Turkey. You know, the US has troops in Syria. This is on the border of Turkey. Turkey is a NATO ally. The United States is working with the Kurds. This really could have been an opportunity for the United States to work to try to resolve the issue between the Kurds, Turkey, and the United States and work with Turkish interests in Syria. Hopefully this can be an opportunity where there can be some diplomatic support there that hopefully can help with that transition in Syria.
MARGARET BRENNAN: There are 900 American troops in southern Syria. Donald Trump in 2019 pulled US troops out of northern Syria, abandoning our allies there. Do you think it will stay with the 900 US troops that remain? Or should he consider removing them when he takes office?
REP. TURNER: Well, I think, you know, one of the things that Donald Trump is going to make clear is that any threat to us, the troops are going to be incredibly responsive. So everybody should understand, absolutely, that the troops of the United States have to be safe. The second thing is that he absolutely supports the Kurds and that he will seek a diplomatic solution. I think an assessment will be made as to whether these troops should remain or not. But, you know, I think there’s an opportunity here for the parties, especially now that the roles of Iran and Russia are going to be reduced. They have been brutal in their support of Assad, the hundreds of thousands of people, including the use of chemical weapons that have been killed, have been under Russian influence there. Russia still has two bases, a naval base and an air base there that will be, you know, both at risk to Russia, but also to the people of Syria because they could, they’ve been used before to attack the Syrian. population We’ll have to see what Russia does there. But this will be an area that will be very volatile and in transition.
MARGARET BRENNAN: And you have no idea where Bashar Al Assad might have fled?
REP. TURNER: No, not at this time.
MARGARET BRENNAN: I want to ask you, since we’re talking about the incoming administration, Donald Trump has chosen Tulsi Gabbard, former congresswoman, former Democrat, now Republican, to be the director of National Intelligence, overseeing 18 intelligence agencies. Not only did he go to meet with Assad, but he publicly doubted the high-confidence assessments of American intelligence that he was doing what we showed you pictures of him doing, using chemical weapons there. Do you trust that she could really represent the intelligence community, lead it, and be trusted to report to the commander in chief?
REP. TURNER: Well, obviously I differ greatly in a number of areas with both his judgment and his background and experience, but what I do trust is…
MARGARET BRENNAN: – You’re smiling when you say that –
REP. TURNER: The Senate is the Senate process, and I think that — the senators will put it through a process. She has been nominated. She will go through the process and I think there will be significant discussion and evaluation. I think that–
MARGARET BRENNAN: – Don’t you think they will confirm it?–
REP. TURNER: — that Donald Trump has assembled in his last term, and I think he will in this term, a great national security team. I think CIA Director Radcliffe and Mike Waltz as Director of Homeland Security are both great examples of people who will be instrumental. I think you’re going to see a great national security team.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Well, this is a community that you also control, so maybe you don’t vote in the Senate, but she doesn’t seem to have your trust. What about Pete Hegseth to lead the Pentagon at a time of global instability?
REP. TURNER: Yes, I think the chairman of the armed services in the Senate made a great statement. He said, we certainly support the process, and he has his support during the process, and we’ll have to see how it goes. One thing that is absolutely clear is that the Pentagon needs to be reformed. We are not keeping pace with what Russia and China are doing in advanced weapons systems. At the same time, we’re seeing the advanced technology weapons systems that are being used on the battlefield in Ukraine, and our acquisition systems and our accounting systems, our spending systems are not working in the Pentagon …
MARGARET BRENNAN: – This requires experience…
REP TURNER: – We need a reform. We need a reform. Someone has to be able to lead this, and that will be the debate in the Senate.
MARGARET BRENNAN: I love it when I ask congressmen, and they remind me that they don’t sit in the Senate and they don’t want to comment. I sense some uncertainty on your part, but I don’t want to put words in your mouth. I want to ask you, though, about what’s going on in Congress right now, and that’s something that there’s a scramble later this year to get a lot of work done. Your Democratic colleague in the Senate, Mark Warner, said that “addressing the cybersecurity gaps in these final weeks is an urgent priority.” Is it a priority for you to do something about this massive breach by China of US Telecom?
REP. TURNER: You know, one thing is — it’s very disappointing, and we’ve seen from this administration, this discomfort of this impasse where they can’t move as a result of the president’s inability to make a decision. Here we have this massive breach, this hack that has come out of China, but we’re hearing nothing from the president himself, no action from this administration on what the consequences are going to be. This is not, it does not need only a technological solution. This also needs a diplomatic solution, nation to nation, consequences for China…
MARGARET BRENNAN: – What would the consequences be?
REP. TURNER: Now, in the Obama administration, in the Obama administration, China hacked the US government’s personnel management system, and there were no consequences, and now we see China hacking everything the system of the nation. There must be consequences. They can be cheap. They can be in several ways. But right now we have zero, nothing comes from the administration. What we need to talk about is not technologically how do we fix it? But as we address it, which is what Donald Trump is doing, he comes in and says that China is our most serious threat. How do we address the fact that China is aggressively attacking the United States and they are doing it to our telecommunications?
MARGARET BRENNAN: Question for the incoming administration to pick it up. Thank you, President Turner. “Face the Nation” will be back in a minute. stay with us