CBS "Face the Nation" - Transcript: New Jersey Port Authority Scandal, Unemployment Benefits, and Robert Gates
Interview
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SCHIEFFER: And good morning again. Well, Florida Republican Senator Marco Rubio joins us from Miami. And senator, I want to just start with the story that's been getting so much attention over these past few days. And that is this mess that New Jersey Governor Chris Christie finds himself in. What is your reaction to this? Do you think he's still a viable candidate if he decides he does want to seek the Republican presidential nomination?
RUBIO: Well, first of all, good morning, thank you for having me on and happy New Year to you and those that are watching. You know, I think it would be a mistake for me and others like me to comment on this. First of all, we don't know all the facts. I think this is story that is still developing and we should reserve judgment. Beyond that I'm just not -- I don't know that much about it other than what I have seen reported in the press. So, I really don't have much to add other than that. And I wouldn't delve in to the political speculation as well, that would be a mistake.
SCHIEFFER: Have you -- have you decided one way or the other whether you're going to explore running for president?
RUBIO: You know, interestingly enough in 2016 I'm up for re- election if I want to choose to stay in the Senate. So, I'll have to make a decision around this time next year about whether I'm interested in running for another office or re-election or becoming a private citizen.
SCHIEFFER: Well, senator, as you well know this month marks the 50th anniversary of Lyndon Johnson declaring war on poverty. You made a big speech where you laid out some proposals on alleviating poverty this week. And I want to talk to you about the substance of those proposals. But first, I just want to ask you this, coming off an election where the Republican candidate lost and polls suggest many people say one of the reasons he did not do well is because he kind of wrote off lower income people, seemed indifferent to them. In light of that, why was it good politics to go to the Lyndon Johnson room in the U.S. Capitol and say that Lyndon Johnson's programs had been a failure, his programs to alleviate poverty.
RUBIO: Well, first of all let me say that I understand there was going to be a political analysis done of this issue, but for me I've been talking about this now better part of decade going back to my service in the Florida legislature. And the reason is I myself am but a generation removed from poverty and despair. And the reason why I live a better life is because my parents had the opportunity to come to a place where people like them had the opportunity to improve their lives. I think that is still true for the majority of Americans. But I think it would be wrong not to recognize that there are significant number of Americans that do not have equality of opportunity. That is not a political issue, that is something that threatens what makes us exceptional and different from the rest of the world. We need to address that. We need to address the fact that we have 40-some odd million people who feel trapped in poverty and do not feel like they have an equal opportunity to get ahead. And I don't view that as a partisan issue or an electoral one. I think it goes to the heart of it means to be America. As far as the war on poverty is concerned, its programs have utility they do help alleviate the consequences of poverty, but they don't help people to emerge from that poverty. And that's why I feel like the war on poverty has failed because it's incomplete. I think we have to take the next step, which is to help people trapped with inequality of opportunity to have the opportunity to build for themselves a better life. And that's what I hope we'll be able to accomplish.
SCHIEFFER: Well, you are not saying that program that Head Start were a failure because I took that from your speech that that is what you were saying, is that what you meant?
RUBIO: Well, that's not what my speech said. Actually, I think programs like Head Start are geared in the right direction in the sense that they're trying to get children educational opportunities as young as possible. I think where those programs can be completed and improved is that we create flexibility in them at the local level. So, I'm not saying we should dismantle the efforts, I'm saying that these efforts need to be reformed and I believe the best way to reform them is to turn the money and the influence over to the state and local level where I think you'll find the kinds of innovations that allow us to confront an issue that is complex, and quite frankly diverse. For example, rural poverty looks different than urban poverty. And there are different approaches to it.
SCHIEFFER: Well, that was one of the major proposals that you outlined, just turn these programs over to the states. But I tell you, the question I had when I heard you say that is I know some of the states when they had the opportunity opted out of federal programs like Medicaid, especially some where there were conservatives like yourself running the local government. What if these states opt out of these programs? Then what happens to these children and these people in poverty?
RUBIO: Well, here is the distinguishing factor. Under Obamacare, when you turn Medicaid over to the states what you're saying to them is the money will be available up front for the expansion for a few years, then the money will go away but you get stuck with the unfunded liability. I'm not saying we should do that. I'm actually saying that what we should do is take the existing federal funding that we use for some of these programs, and we're still working through which ones those should be, collapse them in to one central federal agency that would then transfer that money to fund innovative state programs that address the same issues. But it would be funded, it wouldn't be something where states are told you get the money for a few years then we'll back away. And it should be revenue neutral.
SCHIEFFER: Senator, do you think there is any way that congress or even the senate is going to come together and find a way to extend these unemployment benefits? I know you're going to vote on it next week. What do you think the outlook there is?
RUBIO: I do think there is an outcome that we can arrive at. And if you look at it, I there is a general consensus that these programs need to be extended, but they need to be paid for. And in addition to that, maybe not as part of this effort right away, but in the long term we need to figure out way to reform those programs so that we get more people back to work.
SCHIEFFER: Let me ask you about another big story. Bob Gates, the former secretary of defense, had a book out this week. And a lot of people were surprised he had some pretty harsh things to say about Joe Biden, said he was wrong on boast everything. A lot of people have been around here for awhile like I have, were a little surprised to see not so much what he said but the fact that Gates who is always been the ideal -- the person of ultimate discretion, what did you think about him making these disclosures?
RUBIO: Yeah, I have two thoughts, Bob. The first is my preference would be that people would refrain from writing these sorts of things until the president is out of office. Because I it undermines the ability to conduct foreign policy. That being said, I don't think we can ignore what is in that book. And I think for many of us it confirms our worst fears. And that is that this is an administration full of people that either have the wrong convictions or in the case of Former Secretary Clinton, lack the courage of her convictions. You see that for example the motivations in Afghanistan was primarily political. And the idea that the president had that this is not his war. And you saw that reflected in the decision that he made at the same time that he announced the surge, he also announced an exit date and strategy, thereby emboldening Taliban to believe they can wait us out. And the result is now evident across the globe. Our allies see us as unreliable and our enemies feel emboldened. And I think that this is -- confirms our worst fears that this is an administration that lacks a strategic foreign policy and in fact largely driven by politics and tactics.
SCHIEFFER: What happens now in Iraq? It look like it may fall back in the hands of the rebels. Has this war going to turn out to be a tragic waste?
RUBIO: Well, first of all we need to understand that much of what has happened in Iraq lately has been the result of poor leadership within Iraq. I think contributing to that is the fact that U.S. does not have long-term status in Iraq. As a result, you know, air space used by Iranians and others to do all sorts of things. Ultimately whether it's Afghanistan or Iraq, future of those countries is in the hands of their own people. And the U.S. can't rescue them from themselves. But I do think we have a strategic interest in what happens there. And it poses a real challenge, because if you start adding it up now, Bob, you have an ungoverned space in Iraq, ungoverned spaces in Syria, potentially ungoverned spaces if Afghanistan begins to fall back, ungoverned spaces in Africa. This is all fertile territory for al Qaeda and other radical elements to set up training camps and plot attacks against he homeland and our interests around the world.
SCHIEFFER: Let me just ask you, what should we do now? Is there anything we can do now?
RUBIO: Well, I think that I'd be open-minded to providing assistance to the Iraqi government in terms of training and equipment to allow them to deal with the challenges. I would not underestimate the impact that these rebels al Qaeda-linked forces in Iraq -- I'm sorry, in Syria are now having cross border in Iraq. I think's going to be a growing factor. Some have asked me this week if I would support another invasion of Iraq, of course not. I don't think that's a solution at this point. But I think we're going to be dealing with this for some time. But ultimately, the only way to solve this problem is for the Iraqi government to be able to solve it. They need the military and security resources in the short-term. But in the long-term, they need a stable political process, otherwise this is going to be an ongoing problem forever.
SCHIEFFER: All right. Well, Senator, we want to thank you for sharing all this with us today. And when you do make that decision about whether you're going to run for the Republican nomination...
RUBIO: I'm sure you'll hear about it, yes.
SCHIEFFER: ... we hope you'll come here and tell us about us.
RUBIO: Thank you, Bob. Thanks for having me.
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