MARCO RUBIO ON FACE THE NATION

 

Marco Rubio discusses ISIS, Russia, Syria and other foreign policy issues.

He discusses the job of a President, the role of commander and chief. Barack Obama does not understand the risk in the world today. Talks about Jeb Bush attacks.

Marco Rubio United States Senator for Florida

 

0:31

says a Sunni coalition so I do think it's it's an important tactical step

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forward and needs to be backed up with increased airstrikes and so forth so I

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don't have a problem with the tactics of it and the numbers might even have to be

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larger at some point but

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issues can arrive at a strategy and that's why I think the administration is

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still struggling to outline we're gonna special forces in Syria but the russians

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are also operating in Syria do you worry that there's any conflict potential

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problem there whether there is always that potential is one thing that

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concerns us is that there is an air strike of some sort that may end up

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eating forces that are americans are in bed alongside again that's one of the

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issues is deeply concerning about miscalculation but on the other hand

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Isis will not be defeated

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unless they are confronted by a organized anti I since Sunni movement

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and that won't happen without american assistance at some significant level

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like what you're saying proposed now Donald Trump says no american assistance

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he says let the russians fight ice and that's fine with us what the problem

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with it is number one the russians are necessarily targeting Isis right now

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they're targeting on Isis rebels and it's part of an effort to wipe out any

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non Isis fighters on the ground so they can turn to the world and say that the

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only choices are either side or Isis and the second point is that the growth of

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Isis will continue in Iraq their spread now into Libya where they become a very

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significant presence increasingly in Afghanistan as well and they're using

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all these operating basis not simply to conduct regional efforts but also to

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grow recruit people online to attack us here in the united states how much the

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united states you worried american voters be worried about the russian

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presence in the Middle East increased presence in Syria what their goals are

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very different than ours our goals are primarily threefold one or domestic for

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russia may he wants to put wants to be viewed as an important international

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leader on par with the United States part of it is about deflecting attention

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away from Ukraine but part of it is about becoming a regional power that

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replaces the United States in terms of a power broker in the region its direction

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and its interest at the end of the day are largely to prop up Assad who is

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provided for them a foothold into the region and so they're stepping into a

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vacuum we've left behind in an ideal world you would be able to work with

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Russia to defeat radical jihadists but that's not their goal immediately their

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immediate goal is to propping up the side because it's a client state for

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them

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let's switch now to talk about executive experience in 2008 republicans run

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talking about the democrats are running there were some senators running Barack

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Obama Hillary Clinton constantly I heard republicans say they've never run as

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much as a lemonade stands they don't have executive experience ever met a

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payroll they haven't got her and why doesn't that apply to you now as a

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result the president is not a bookkeeping job I mean it is not some

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glorified accounting job it isn't the leader of the United States both of its

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people and the nation and the government and the job of a president is to craft a

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vision for america's future to put the right people in the right position and

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hold them accountable for carrying out your agenda but also to rally the

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country behind because entitlement reform is a huge undertaking it'll never

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happen without presidential leadership not to mention national security patrol

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commander in chief is the most important job of the president in the context of

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Barack Obama he has now been president for seven years he has significant

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executive experience and he's still making mistakes in my opinion and so

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it's clear that the issue with him is not that he didn't have executive

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experience is that his ideas do not work and and and that's why I think it's

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important to elect someone to the presidency with the right ideas ideas

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that allow the private sector to succeed because that's where good job creation

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and economic prosperity but also someone that understands the risks in the world

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today and what america's role in the world needs to be but I guess when and

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this is obviously something your opponents are bringing up jeb Bush's

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said in a fundraising appeal he says you have no credible experience beyond

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governing I guess the question is have you been in a position where you've had

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to make tough calls where there are real consequences and where do you get that

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strength from when you if you wanna make the presidency will you be in those kind

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of decisions all day long multiple times it is true that the presidency is not

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like being aus senator but it's also not like being a governor there is no office

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in the world like the United States President see what I have shown over the

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last five years especially his judgment good judgment and understanding of the

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major issues before America particularly on foreign policy I do not believe

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there's anyone else in this race that is shown better judgment on the issues

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before america today than I have and and better understanding them especially on

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the foreign policy ground which is at the end

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most important obligation of a president presidents don't run the economy what

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you do is promote policies that allow the private sector to succeed the bush

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campaign called you the republican Obama is that an insult or compliment I don't

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think they mean it as a complement and I certainly wouldn't take it is that look

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campaigns are gonna say whatever they think gives them an advantage and

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obviously someone has convinced jab that attacking me is going to help us

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campaign it won't change the way we run our campaign we're going to continue to

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get people serious candidacy that's optimistic but also realistic about

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america's future about our challenges about the direction our country needs to

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go that's what I'm going to focus on and someone else uses to go in a different

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direction you know I think it's one of the reasons why Barack Obama was

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re-elected in 2012 because too many candidates spend a tremendous amount of

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time attacking fellow Republicans and really undermining that Romney before he

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was even the nominee I hope we don't repeat that mistake and 2016

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jeb bush in the in the debate there was this big moment between the two of you

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he mentioned earlier missing votes insanity set as a constituent he wanted

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to be there more you came back at him not just on substance but you question

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his motives you basically said you're just doing it because your advisers have

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told you is there nothing genuine hidden in his critique of you and your

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attendance and this one is no record of having criticize anyone else in the past

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that's found themselves in the same position the truth is I don't like

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missing votes but I would really hate is to wake up on the first Wednesday of

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November to the news that hillary Clinton has been elected president of

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the united states so we're not continue to serve the people of florida we have

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we do I think a very good job and our offices are serving our constituents in

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their actual government will most certainly be there for most votes in

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many votes there will be some I will miss and I will miss him because I'm

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campaigning so that in future those votes actually means something far too

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many votes today in the senate are predetermined we know what the outcome

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is going to be it's being done for messaging purposes but it's never gonna

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pass because even if you could find enough votes to pass it the president

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would veto it I want to become president so we can actually start turning some of

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these ideas into law and policy and so when we're away that's what we're doing

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fisherman told her he was a big part of it I don't know about labels like that

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but he was most certainly a big part of my career and I have tremendous

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admiration I said that a debate never gonna hear me bad mouthing me was a

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great governor of Florida and he's someone I have tremendous personal

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affection for my issues not with Jeb Bush I'm running for president because I

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honestly believe that our party and our country needs to turn the page and allow

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people to a new generation of leadership understands the issues before America

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now I know there are people running that have more experience than I do on the

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issues we face seventeen years ago but on the issues before america today

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that's what we should be debating and I just don't believe there's anyone out

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running who has a better understanding of the issues before us now than I do

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our people wrong who say that the reason that was such a moment for you in the

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debate is because you're you have this relationship this friendship with him

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and you could basically called him on his motives and that that created this

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drama that everybody's talking about people who support you say you put jeb

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bush in his place

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well I don't know what I mean he said something I had to respond and I feel

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obviously what I said something that i believe i do believe that jeff has been

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convinced by people around him that he needs to attack me in order to be more

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successful I don't personally agree with it but I'm not running his campaign but

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I but I controlled my campaign my campaigns that can be attacking him or

8:01

any other Republican either a policy differences we should debate those

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that's a legitimate issue but I'm not going to bed now that the republicans I

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want to be the nominee but someone on that stage is going to be the republican

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nominee I'm not I don't want to do anything that makes it easier for

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hillary clinton or whoever the democrat nominee as to defeat the Republican

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because we truly as a nation cannot afford another four years like the last

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eight let me ask you only on the senate attendance question in Iowa Senate

8:26

campaign there that the Republican Senatorial Campaign Committee ran a

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bunch of ads against the democrats saying he missed a bunch of votes and it

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was devastating for him do you worry about it worked against the Democrat in

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that state that it could cause you any political not a political strategist on

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the candidate I can tell you what hurt me more and that is never coming to hire

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one interacting with voters here and I think people understand that if I do

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miss

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not because I'm on vacation that's because I'm here interacting with the

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voters in the hopes that they'll give me a chance to be the republican nominee

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and the president again unfortunately in the senate today the majority of votes

9:00

that are taken

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are not going to pass their being voted on for messaging purposes and an

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important message purposes in many cases I'm running for president so that in the

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future when we vote to repeal Obamacare or or reallocate the money from Planned

9:13

Parenthood to another entity we can actually turn that into policy into law

9:16

Senator Marco Rubio thanks so much thank you

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