ABC "This Week" - Transcript: Interview with Joni Ernst

Interview

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RADDATZ: It is indeed. Our thanks to Secretary Austin.

Now, let's get a response from Republican Senator Joni Ernst, a member of the Armed Services Committee and the first female combat veteran elected to the Senate.

Good morning to you, Senator.

You heard Secretary Austin say they're looking at every possible way to get Americans and Afghans out. They're now activating that civil reserve air fleet. But the problem is getting to the airport itself.

You're a veteran. Do you think they should be sending convoys into the city?

SEN. JONI ERNST (R-IA), ARMED SERVICES COMMITTEE: Yes, Martha. And thank you so much for having me on.

Absolutely. We should be doing everything possible to get Americans safely to the airport for evacuation. We are the strongest military on the face of this planet and we should be exercising those authorities to make sure that we're flexing our military muscle, especially when it comes to evacuating Americans.

MARTHA RADDATZ, ABC NEWS HOST: You have tweeted about this. You have said you want the administration to immediately evacuate Americans, ensure the safety of our Afghan partners, and secure U.S. assets and military equipment and now get them out of there with convoys.

I know you were part of a bipartisan effort to speed this up. But how do they do that safely without even more troops and secure the airport at the same time?

ERNST: Well, that's the key, Martha, is that we do have to have the right number of troops to execute that mission. But, of course, we can do that. And I know that Secretary Austin, the president, they keep referring back to the Taliban and agreements negotiated with the Taliban. The Taliban needs to understand quite clearly that we have the right to get our American citizens out of Afghanistan. And if that means we need to escort them to our airport to get them out, then we will do so.

There should be no reason we cannot exercise our authority to evacuate those that have not only supported our American troops, but also our very own citizens. They deserve to be evacuated safely.

RADDATZ: So you would advocate for sending in more troops to do this, no matter how many it took?

ERNST: Well, I would. But, again, evaluating the situation on the ground. If the Taliban is saying that Americans can travel safely to the airport, then there is no better way to make sure they get safely to the airport than to use our military to escort them.

We have heard that other military forces from other countries are doing that. Americans, we should be able to do that as well. I think it's important that we make sure we're upholding our commitment to our very own citizens to get them back to the United States.

RADDATZ: You know, we -- we all want to get those interpreters out and -- and those who helped Americans. But there is this Catch-22 right now, some of them had their paperwork destroyed or their passports because the embassy was evacuated and they did that to protect them. But now they don't have that paperwork. And -- and some of the people trying to get out are just regular Afghans. So how do you vet them?

ERNST: Well, that is the question, Martha. We know that, of course, this is one of the -- the biggest debacles that we have seen in the last several decades. And the fact that we had to evacuate our embassy, the -- the heart and soul of our consular activities and -- and vetting process, all of that has been pulled out from under us. So it is much more difficult to vet those that need to continue through the vetting process, and to make sure the Americans have safe passage to the airport.

We have been on the administration for months now to be working on the vetting process, to make sure we're working with those interpreters to get them safely out of the country. The State Department, it has drug its feet. It has moved so slowly. And now we're at a point where these Afghan interpreters, other partners are in deep jeopardy with the Taliban because they weren't able to get their vetting done on time.

So it is important that we continue pressing on with this. If there are Afghans that need to be evacuated that aren't fully vetted, we do have third country partners that are working with us in this effort. We can evacuate these Afghans to those countries, continue the vetting process from there. And I think we should be doing absolutely everything we can to assist those who assisted us for the past two decades in the global war on terror.

RADDATZ: You talk about those third countries. There aren't a whole lot of countries that want to take these Afghan refugees. They have a back-up in Qatar. And -- and where they'll resettle them. Would you or your Republican colleagues welcome them here?

ERNST: Well, we want to welcome those that are fully vetted. That is extremely important that we make sure they are vetted before they touch down on American soil. And that is why it is so important that we continue working with these third country nations, providing them whatever support we can within those countries. And this is where President Biden, unfortunately, has really -- he has messed it up.

I'll -- I'll just put it out there. Of course, with our international community, with his haphazard withdrawal. If we had been working with those allies, those partner countries, this would have been a lot easier.

He knew this day was coming and yet, again, was very slow to respond to the needs of not only our American citizens, by pulling those troops out before we had them safely out of Afghanistan, but he's also, again, jeopardized those that were partners to us through an extended war on terror.

RADDATZ: OK. Thank you so much for joining us this morning, Senator.

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