CNN "Newsroom" - Transcript: Interview with Sen. Rubio

Interview

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

CABRERA: Venezuela. Crippling poverty and political unrest there created a full-blown humanitarian catastrophe. And this weekend, U.S. Air Force cargo planes are again delivering food, medicine, and relief supplies to areas just outside Venezuela's border.

Joining me now, in a U.S. network exclusive, Senator Marco Rubio of Florida. He is in Cucuta, Colombia, where U.S. humanitarian aid just arrived yesterday.

Senator, tell us, what are you doing there on the Venezuela border today, and why was it important for you to be there?

SEN. MARCO RUBIO (R), FLORIDA: Well, I mean, the first thing is, obviously, the United States has made a big contribution, thanks to USAID, in prepositioning all of this aid that's ready to go to help the people of Venezuela who desperately need it.

The second, obviously, is to thank our Colombian allies who have done a phenomenal job. I cannot say enough about President Duque and how the Colombian people and the Colombian government have stepped forward and just done extraordinary things for their neighbors.

And third is to speak to the people of Venezuela -- we're just, you know, less than a mile away from the Venezuelan border -- and to be able to let them know not to give up, that the world is with them. That we will stand with them, the United States and the international community, every step of the way no matter how long this takes until freedom is restored in Venezuela.

But this really -- the number one issue right now is how do we get food and medicine to people who are dying of preventable diseases and starving to death because the regime and the dictator do not allow humanitarian aid to reach them.

CABRERA: And so on that note, Nicolas Maduro has said he believes the U.S. aid is a Trojan horse intended to oust him from power. What happens if he doesn't let that aid through?

RUBIO: Well, look, the aid is going to get through, and I think, ultimately, the question is whether it gets through in a way that he's cooperative with or in a way that he's not. But there's no way you're going to stand, ultimately, in the way of a people whose children are starving to death, whose families are dying in hospitals, because of preventable diseases and they don't have the medicine for it.

So, obviously, tactics are something I'm not going to publicly announce to allow the regime and their allies to do -- make efforts to block it, but I would say this. Imagine for a moment if you're a member of the National Guard or the Venezuelan military.

Your own family is hungry. Your own family is starving. Your own relatives are dying because they can't get dialysis or HIV medications. And you're going to follow an order to block that from reaching the people?

I think the bigger threat comes from these criminal bands that he's empowered. These -- literally, these street thugs that he's given guns to. They're the ones that present a greater danger, but I will say this to you.

We know -- if there is violence next week and people are harmed here, we know who is responsible for it, and every single one of them will pay a price. They will face justice and they will spend -- or they would spend the rest of their lives worried about justice catching up to them.

CABRERA: President Trump has said nothing is off the table. Would you support any military intervention, and do you believe it will come to that?

RUBIO: Well, the only military intervention that's happening now in Venezuela is the Cuban government, the Cubans that are controlling everything that's happening, the security forces and everything else.

The United States retains the right to utilize military force in its national security interest anywhere in the world. That's not just Venezuela. That's anywhere on the planet. But that's not what we're here to do today.

There is no military aid here. This is food. This is high-energy bars for starving children. This is rice. This is beans and lentils. This is sanitary kits. This is medicine. That's what we're here to do, and none of that has anything to do with military intervention.

CABRERA: Right.

RUBIO: Feeding people is not anything to do with the military. And, in fact, it is a crime against humanity to deny food and medicine to unarmed and innocent civilians.

[19:05:04] CABRERA: I understand that and I agree with you on that, but would you support military intervention ultimately?

RUBIO: Well, it's not my decision to make. I, ultimately, will tell you I support defending the national interests and the national security of the United States anywhere in the world where that's being threatened. And ultimately, I'll leave it at that because that's not what we're focused on right now.

CABRERA: OK.

RUBIO: I will say this -- and I won't go any further than to say this to you -- there are certain lines and Maduro knows what they are. And if they are crossed, there will -- I am confident, based on everything I've heard from this administration and everything I know about this administration, that the consequences will be severe. And they'll be swift. And he's aware of that.

But, again, our focus here is nothing to do with that. It has to do with food and medicine. That's what we're hoping will happen and we expect to happen starting next week.

CABRERA: You're at the Colombia/Venezuela border. President Trump just declared a national emergency to build a wall to protect the southern U.S. border. It's a move I know you have opposed. Would you vote for a resolution disapproving the emergency declaration?

RUBIO: Well, let me tell you something I did since the beginning of my time in the Senate. And that is, when I'm overseas, I don't care -- whether President Obama was president or now, a president from my own party, I don't discuss, debate, or in any way attack any administration when I'm overseas doing work that's overseas.

I'm on the record talking about how I feel about that. I refer you back to it. I'm not trying to -- you can ask me on Monday when I'm back stateside, and I'm more than happy to answer it there. But when I'm overseas, I just don't criticize our government nor do I speak about domestic political issues while we're here.

CABRERA: You don't have to criticize the government. Are there enough Republican senators to get a supermajority overriding a potential presidential veto?

RUBIO: I don't know. As I said, I have no idea. I mean, we'll find out. And maybe we won't but, as I said, right here today, we're here focused on Venezuela and on this bipartisan support that exists for this.

It's another important point to make. There is extraordinary bipartisan support for what U.S. policy towards Venezuela is, and that's important for the Venezuelan people to know.

CABRERA: You are still a U.S. senator, and the President just declared a U.S. national emergency. Is there a national emergency happening right now in the U.S. at the U.S. southern border?

RUBIO: Well --

(LAUGHTER)

RUBIO: Well, that's the third time you asked me the same question, and it's going to be the same answer. I've made public statements on this. They're out there. I've tweeted about it. I encourage you to refer to those.

And I'm more than happy to talk about it again on Monday when I'm back, but when I'm overseas, I just don't talk about domestic politics. It's a practice that, frankly, has been a tradition of U.S. office-holders for a long time.

CABRERA: OK. Before I let you go back to Venezuela, for one more moment, you said there is a red line in this situation in Venezuela. What is that red line?

RUBIO: Well, I think some are obvious. We have U.S. personnel still working inside of Venezuela. Should any harm come to them, they'll be -- I believe, based on everything I know about this administration, the consequences will be severe and swift.

We expect the legitimate government, the National Assembly and its Interim President Juan Guaido's freedom and liberties to be respected, not to mention his life. And, of course, innocent people, people that are doing nothing -- if

you come -- if you're walking down the street carrying humanitarian aid peacefully -- food, medicine and nothing else -- you should not be the target of violence. And if you are, I don't just think the U.S. would respond to something like that. I think the world would, and -- but, obviously, we hope it doesn't come to it.

Because, at the end of the day, I think there are, hopefully, enough good people left in that regime or around it, I should say, in the security forces at the ground level, at the rank and file level, who are not going to deny their own parents, their own neighbors, their own mothers and fathers, their own children, food and medicine.

CABRERA: All right, Senator Marco Rubio, again, joining us from the Colombia/Venezuela border. Thank you very much for taking the time.

RUBIO: Thank you.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source