The following is a transcript of an interview with Representative Mike Turner, Republican of Ohio, on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan,” broadcast December 8, 2024.
MARGARET BRENNAN: We’re joined now by the Chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, Ohio, Congressman Mike Turner. Just a stunning turn of events in such a short time. The US has no diplomatic presence in Syria. Our visibility is somewhat limited here. What do you think Americans should know about this turn of events?
REP. MIKE TURNER: Margaret, that was an excellent report because you certainly laid the groundwork for this incredibly brutal civil war that killed hundreds of thousands of people, including the use of chemical weapons. And of course to remind people that the Obama administration said 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 indicates, it is originally Al Qaeda, but opposes ISIS. It is supported by Turkey. This is a blow to Iran, a blow to Russia. We are seeing what is likely a disintegration in Syria. The big questions will be: what does this mean for the US? What does this mean for Iran, Russia, Israel’s neighbors and Jordan, which 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, as people call HTS. You will hear a lot about that in the coming days and weeks, the rebel group that seems to be taking over power. But they also work with the Prime Minister. The United States government has placed a bounty of ten million on Jolani’s head. Do you think the United States should still keep that? Should Americans worry that this will mean anything in terms of impact on terrorist threats against the United States?
REP. TURNER: This is a terrorist organization and group, but this will not just be a transfer of power and authority. It could be. Of course we have to pay attention to that. You know, one of the things we do see here is that this is a diplomatic failure with regard 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 could have been a real opportunity for the United States to try to resolve the issue between the Kurds, Turkey, and the United States and work with Turkish interests in Syria. Hopefully this could be an opportunity where there could be diplomatic support that could hopefully help with this transition in Syria.
MARGARET BRENNAN: There are 900 American troops in Syria, in the south. Donald Trump withdrew US troops from northern Syria in 2019, leaving our allies there. Do you believe he will support the 900 American troops who remain there? Or should he consider pulling them out if he comes to power?
REP. TURNER: Well, I think one of the things that Donald Trump will make clear is that any threat against us, our troops, will be responded to incredibly. So everyone absolutely needs to understand that U.S. troops need to be safe. The second is that he absolutely supports the Kurds and that he will look for a diplomatic solution. I think there will be a judgment as to whether or not those troops should stay. But it’s, you know, I think there’s an opportunity here for the parties, especially as the role of Iran and Russia is going to diminish. They have been brazen in their support of Assad; the hundreds of thousands of people killed there, including the use of chemical weapons, have been under Russian influence. Russia still has two bases there, a naval base and an air base, which, you know, will both be a risk to Russia, but also a risk to the people of Syria because they could have been used earlier to attack the Syrians. 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 no idea where Bashar Al Assad might have fled to?
REP. TURNER: No, not at this time.
MARGARET BRENNAN: I want to ask you, since we’re talking about the new administration: Donald Trump has chosen Tulsi Gabbard, the former congresswoman, a former Democrat, now a Republican, to be director of National Intelligence, which oversees 18 intelligence agencies. Not only did she go to meet Assad, she publicly questioned the high level of confidence of US intelligence that he did what we showed you in photos of him, using chemical weapons there. Do you trust her to effectively represent and lead the intelligence community and brief the commander in chief?
REP. TURNER: Well, I obviously disagree in a number of areas, both in terms of her judgment and her background and experience, but what I do trust is the…
MARGARET BRENNAN: –You’re laughing when you say this–
REP. TURNER: The Senate is the Senate process, and I think the senators will put it through a process. She has been nominated. She will go through the process and I think there will be a lot of debate and evaluation. I think-
MARGARET BRENNAN: –You don’t think she’ll be confirmed?–
REP. TURNER: – that Donald Trump put together a large national security team in his last term, and I think he will do the same in this term. I think the Director of the CIA, Radcliffe, and I think Mike Waltz as Director of National Security, are both great examples of people who are going to be fundamental. I think you’re going to see a great national security team.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Well, this is a community that you also oversee, so you don’t get to vote in the Senate, but it sounds like it doesn’t have your trust. How about Pete Hegseth to lead the Pentagon at a time of global instability?
REP. TURNER: Yeah, I think the chairman of the Senate made a great statement. He said, we certainly support the process, and he has his support in going through the process, and we’ll have to see how that goes. One thing is absolutely clear: the Pentagon needs reform. We are not keeping pace with what Russia and China are doing in advanced weapons systems. At the same time, we see the weapon systems of advanced technology being used on the battlefield of Ukraine, and our acquisition systems and our accounting systems, our spending systems are not working in the Pentagon.
MARGARET BRENNAN: -That takes experience–
REP TURNER: –We need reforms. We need reforms. Someone has to be able to lead that, and that will be the debate in the Senate.
MARGARET BRENNAN: I like it when I ask members of Congress, and they keep reminding me that they’re not in the Senate and they don’t want to comment. I sense some uncertainty in you, but I don’t want to put words in your mouth. However, I want to ask you what’s going on in Congress right now, and that’s something that we’re struggling to get a lot of work done by the end of this year. Your Democratic colleague in the Senate, Mark Warner, said, “It is an urgent priority to address the cybersecurity gaps in these final weeks.” Is it a priority for you to do something about this massive intrusion by China into US Telecom?
REP. TURNER: You know, one thing is, it’s very disappointing, and we’ve seen from this administration this malaise of this stagnation of where they can’t move because the president is incapable of making a decision. Here we have a huge breach, this hack that has taken place from China, but we’re hearing nothing from the president himself, no action from this administration about what the consequences of that will be. This does not just require a technological solution. This also needs a diplomatic solution, from country to country, consequences for China –
MARGARET BRENNAN: –What would the consequences look like?
REP. TURNER: Now, during the Obama administration, during the Obama administration, China hacked into the U.S. government’s human resources management system, with no consequences, and now we’re seeing China hack into the nation’s entire system. There must be consequences. They can be economical. This can be done in different ways. But right now we have zero, nothing comes out of the administration. What we need to talk about is not technological: how can we solve this? But how should we approach this? That’s what Donald Trump does: he comes in and says China is our biggest threat. How do we deal with the fact that China is aggressively attacking the United States, and they are doing so in our telecom?
MARGARET BRENNAN: Ask the new administration to address that. Thank you, Chairman Turner. “Face the Nation” will be back soon. Stay with us.
