Fox News "The Story with Martha MacCallum" - Transcript: Interview with Sen. Tom Cotton

Interview

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SEN. TOM COTTON, R-ARK.: Martha, I don't want to get into what's happening at a classified level about troop level debates. But the president is right. If the local commanders in the Middle East say that they need more personnel, then that request will be passed up through the joint chiefs and on to the president and he'll make the decision as the commander in chief.

We've already sent more aircraft carriers and bombers and patriot missile system. It might need that. There are weapons there needed to deter an attack by Iran. Those systems don't operate by themselves. They need pilots. They need mechanics. They need support personnel.

So, any request coming from commanders in the Middle East would be very well considered given the threats they face and the president would ultimately make that decision as the commander-in-chief.

MACCALLUM: So, you know, I mean, at the heart of all of this, it's about Iran having or not having nuclear weapons. That's what the whole Iran deal was about, to prevent that from happening. We pulled out of that deal. Now we have sanctions on Iran, to put pressure on them with that, to that end.

Where do you see all of this going? You know, if the goal is that, is this going to get to us that goal and can we do it peacefully?

COTTON: So, Martha, the greatest threat in the long run is a nuclear Iran. But the more immediate threat the intelligence has indicated over the last three weeks are attacks against American personnel or facilities in places like Iraq or Saudi Arabia against our civilians there at the Middle East, a maritime attack in the Persian Gulf itself.

That's why we've sent those troops and those weapons to the Middle East already. Not to launch an attack against Iran but to deter an attack by Iran in the first place. And if necessary, to retaliate ferociously should Iran's leaders miscalculate.

MACCALLUM: Yes. And the word is that that has happened to some extent. That some of that has been deterred according to the defense secretary and the secretary of state.

I want to ask you one more question about a brand new story that came out this evening from The New York Times and also reporting from the A.P. that the White House may be looking for a national security waiver that would allow President Trump to circumvent Congress to send $7 billion worth of weapons in the form of precision guided munitions and also combat aircraft to Saudi Arabia that is likely to, you know, sort of, to upset some members of Congress. Potentially on both sides of the aisle.

COTTON: Martha, I can't speak to what the administration may do in the future or not. I don't know about the truthfulness of those anonymously sourced articles.

I will say this. Our arms export laws do have provisions that allow the president to declare an emergency. President Bush did that for Israel in 2006. We should a long ago approve the export of many of these munitions and aircrafts not just to Saudi Arabia but also to the United Arab Emirates, one of our closest allies in the region. two countries that are squarely in the crosshairs of Iran.

It's really Congress' fault for not having approved these transfers of weapons to two long standing allied much earlier than now.

MACCALLUM: All right. Thank you very much, Senator Cotton. Good to see you tonight. We hope to see you soon.

COTTON: Thanks, Martha.

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