Fox News "The Story" - Transcript: Interview with Sen. Marco Rubio

Interview

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

MACCALLUM: Russia and China is showing a string of blistering messages directed at the United States. They are telling us that we need to stay out of the power struggle that is now underway in Venezuela. This is lives were lost in deadly protests there, as the U.S. recognizes the opposition leader, Juan Guaido as Venezuela's rightful interim president.

My next guest argues the socialist Maduro's regime is guilty of crimes against humanity. Florida Senator Marco Rubio, Republican, and member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, joins me now.

First of all, the threats coming from Russia and also China, not happy that we have "intervened". What do you say to that?

SEN. MARCO RUBIO, R-FL: Well, Venezuela owes China a bunch of money. They just want to get paid. Russia is different. And obviously, they want to have control of the oil fields. They want to own them. And they want to have a base of operation to threaten America and leverage us in the Western Hemisphere.

And -- but, I think it's funny that Vladimir Putin lectures anyone about not interfering. This is a guy who messed with our elections, who invaded Ukraine, who took Crimea, who's in up to his neck in Syria.

MACCALLUM: Good point.

RUBIO: So, it's a joke. And now that's said, we're not interfering. Here's what's important, it's being missed. And I hope more people are reporting it this way. This is not a unilateral U.S. action. This, number one, is a constitutional action by the people of Venezuela under their constitution. The constitution put in place under Hugo Chavez. The election that happened in May is it would be the equivalent of President Trump ordering an election next month and getting a four-year term out of it. The elections are every four years.

And likewise, up so, it wasn't a constitutional election. That means there's a vacancy. Under their Constitution, when there's a vacancy in the presidency, the Speaker of the National Assembly becomes the interim president and has 45 days to call for a new election, a new democratic election. That's what's happened here. Not only has the U.S. recognized that but 16 other countries in the Western Hemisphere have recognized that, and I mean virtually everyone from Chile to Peru to -- I mean everyone.

And then on top of that, European countries have jumped on board and the OAS has done so. This is not some unilateral U.S. activity, this is a broad coalition.

MACCALLUM: Absolutely. I mean, there's no doubt that there is a tremendous amount of support for this new interim president but the big question is whether or not Nicolas Maduro and his henchmen or his top brass in the military will accept this. And here's Secretary Pompeo speaking about the danger that exists here moments ago. Let's watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MIKE POMPEO, SECRETARY OF STATE: We call on Venezuelan security forces to ensure the protection of interim president Guaido's physical integrity and his safety. We've seen reports that a number of protesters were killed yesterday and that more than 100 were arrested. So I reiterate our warning about any decision by remnant elements of the Maduro regime to use violence to repress the peaceful democratic transition.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MACCALLUM: Very strong words there from Secretary Pompeo about ensuring the safety of this interim president, but will that happen?

RUBIO: Well, let me tell you something. The administration has been pretty clear about this. If something were to happen to him or God forbid to our diplomats or members of the National Assembly or the general public who's peacefully protesting, there's going to be swift and immediate and significant consequences. And I can tell you that it's not for me to decide what they are or to announce them. I'm just telling everyone, believe me when I tell you that there will be very significant consequences for that for Maduro. There'll be no future for him.

And some people don't like the president, some people love the president. I work very well with the president, especially on this issue. The one thing I can tell you about the president States Donald Trump, he doesn't usually like bluff or play games. If he says he's going to do something, he will do it.

He said he would end the Iraq deal -- Iran deal, he did. He said he'd moved the embassy to Jerusalem, he did. He does these things. He's serious about it and he'll do it. And so I just think they need to pay attention to that and be very, very careful about what they do. As far as moving forward, I think our focus is first and foremost about providing humanitarian assistance.

People in Venezuela are starving. They're dying of preventable diseases and Pompeo has already announced $20 million. I know they're working through how to deliver it, but that's the first step and that's going to be delivered through the legitimate government not through the Maduro regime.

MACCALLUM: So just to be clear, as a Senator, you would support military action if it came to that? I know everyone hopes it doesn't come to that and that you want to see a peaceful transition and that's what the pressure is. But if it doesn't come to that, would you support military action on the behalf of the United States?

RUBIO: What I support is having every option available to us. It is always an option. I'm not saying that this is the case here. It's not for me to decide that. It's not for me to speak to that. I'm telling you though, the U.S. has always had the right and continues to have the right to act in our national security interest if our national security or that of our allies we have compromises with is threatened.

That said, our goal here is a peaceful transition of power, is a reestablishment of democracy, elections very soon, and in the meantime an interim government that can help improve the quality of life and deal with a humanitarian crisis and prevent another two or three million Venezuelans from having to flee.

MACCALLUM: All right, but on that front, you know, you look at a situation where we're pulling out of Syria, most likely pulling out of Afghanistan, and the question that you just touched on which is what is in America's interest and what is any interest of our allies is a permanent one. People look at these situations they say, well, how come we're leaving there and now we could potentially be going into Venezuela if needed. How do you answer that question?

RUBIO: Well, I think anyone who's talked about going into Venezuela is getting ahead of themselves. The only thing we've done is support the constitution of Venezuela and the hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans that are demanding that it be followed.

The second point I would make is the things you've described, I didn't agree with some of those decisions but they're far away. This is in our own hemisphere. It has a direct impact on us. Already, millions of Venezuelans, the largest migration in Latin America's history have poured into Colombia, poured into Ecuador, poured into Brazil, and particularly in the Colombia front, the government there is -- does not have the resources to take on another million migrants that are being forced out by Maduro. All that money's coming out of the counter drug program. All those drugs that they can now not fight, all those drug dealers the Colombians can't go after, all those drugs are destined to come to the United States. Not to mention Maduro has openly and invited Putin to open a military facility in the Western Hemisphere and that's not allowable either. So we have multiple national interests and it's in our own hemisphere. We should care about them.

MACCALLUM: Senator Marco Rubio, thank you, sir. Good to see you.

RUBIO: Thank you. Thanks.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source