CBS "Face the Nation" - Transcript: Foreign Affairs

Interview

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SCHIEFFER: And we turn now to the other big stories of the week, the hacking of Sony and the repercussions, and, of course, the president's surprise announcement about changing relations with Cuba.

And we welcome Senator Marco Rubio of Florida.

Senator, let me ask you first about this Sony situation. You, last week, asked the president -- quote -- "to undo the damage to freedom of speech and expression" caused by Sony's decision not to release this movie.

What exactly do you want him to do?

SEN. MARCO RUBIO (R), FLORIDA: Well, first of all, I think the president in his end-of-year press conference alluded to the fact that there will be response and a strong one and a measured one, but one that's reciprocal. And I will support that.

Now, obviously, the tactics of that is something I probably wouldn't discuss on air, but suffice it to say that I do think this needs to be responded to in multiple ways, first, obviously, to the response that the president is thinking through.

But, second, I think it's important that that movie be played, that that movie be seen. I don't even know if it's a good movie, but I think it's now important that that happen, that we figure out way to get that out there so Americans can watch it.

It's unacceptable that this attack not just on our country, not just on a business located in America, but on our constitutional freedoms, if it's unresponded to, if it stays the way it is now, it is going to be an incentive for others to try and do the exact same thing in the future.

SCHIEFFER: Well, the head of the Republican Party, Reince Priebus, said the Republican Party will ask people to buy a ticket to that movie. Is that a good idea?

RUBIO: Yes, I think as many Americans as possible that can show that we're not going to be deterred by these sort of attacks, the better off we're all going to be.

Now, the problem Sony is saying is that no movie theaters want to show it because of that threat that was made about hurting people at these movie theaters. but I think it's critical that whether it's downloading it on a streaming video platform or actually having people open up their facilities so that folks can watch this movie, I think it's an important part of our response that we show that we're not going to allow these attacks to infringe upon our First Amendment -- our constitutional rights.

SCHIEFFER: The North Koreans have warned that there will be repercussions if we take any kind of action in response. They're saying they should -- that we should join them in investigating this. Should that be taken seriously?

RUBIO: No, it shouldn't.

Look, the North Koreans, first of all, it's not even a government. It's a criminal syndicate that controls territory and need to be treated as such. Now, unfortunately, they possess nuclear weapons and are led by an irrational leader. So, all that needs to be taken into account.

You North Korea is going to be a growing problem for the foreseeable future. You have a person running that country that is mentally unstable, but also someone that is fully capable of overestimating his own strength and ends up miscalculating and creating a real catastrophe, not just vis-a-vis South Korea, but also Japan and the United States.

This is a very serious threat. It's not just a cyber-threat. I think North Korea has the potential to become a source of huge instability in the next few months here.

SCHIEFFER: Let me ask you about Cuba. You obviously are very much against this and have made that known. You were the first person out to say the president is wrong in doing this.

You have opposed it for a long, long time. but can you and other Republicans who oppose this, can you stop this from happening? And how would you do that?

RUBIO: Well, first of all, it's important to understand why I oppose it.

I am not opposed to changes in Cuba policy. I think we constantly need to examine our foreign policy. I'm opposed to changes like this that have no chance of leading to the result that we want, which is more freedom and more liberty for the Cuban people.

This change is entirely predicated upon with false notion that engagement alone automatically leads to freedom. And I think we have evidence that that is not the case. Look at Vietnam and look at China, countries that we have engaged. They are no more politically free today than they were when that engagement started.

Now, our job is twofold. One, it's important to have oversight how these changes are made. There is existing law that has codified the U.S. embargo. And whatever regulations are now written to implement the president's new policy have to live up to that law.

And beyond it, I think we need to examine, as Cuban the government doesn't make any changes to their human rights record -- they're going to arrest people today. They arrested people yesterday. They're going to continue to crack down on opposition in the island.

We need to hold this administration accountable for these policies changes and if in fact that Cubans do nothing reciprocal to live up to or to open up political space, constantly challenge and reexamine these policy changes the president has made.

SCHIEFFER: Rand Paul, who, like you, is considering whether to run for the Republican nomination for president in 2016, is one of the few Republicans who came out in support of what the president did. He said he thought it was a pretty good idea. What was your reaction to that?

RUBIO: Well, obviously, I disagree.

And he has the right to become a supporter of President Obama's foreign policy. But I think it's premised on the same false notion that engagement alone leads to freedom. It doesn't. We have engagement with Vietnam and China. And while their economies have grown, their political freedoms have not.

Look what China is today 30 years after that engagement. China steals our military and commercial secrets, obviously actively conducts cyber-operations against the United States. And, internally, their people have no religious, no freedom -- freedoms, no freedom of speech, no unfettered access to the Internet.

SCHIEFFER: Let me just ask you this question then, Senator. Do you think it would be a good idea for us to break relations with China?

RUBIO: Well, first of all, comparing China to Cuba is not really a comparable analogy, because China is the second largest economy in the world. They have the third largest nuclear arsenal on the planet. They are the most populous nation on the planet.

So, obviously, from a geopolitical perspective, our approach to China by necessity has to be different from a small impoverished island of 13 million people. When it comes to Cuba, a neighbor of ours, our foreign policy actually has a very realistic opportunity of helping further the cause of freedom and liberty on the island. And, in fact, what Cuba offers that China and Vietnam did not is the opportunity to engage with a real and vibrant civil society on the island. And they were not consulted. They were completely ignored and left out of this equation and they rightfully feel betrayed.

SCHIEFFER: All right, well, Senator, thank you so much. We appreciate it.

RUBIO: Thank you.

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