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Warner - I see no path in the short term to settle the Strait of Hormuz · THE DAILY BRIEF

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  Speaker 1: And I'm joined now by Senator Mark Warner of Virginia,
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  Speaker 1: the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee. So I
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  Speaker 1: want to get to all of that with you. But first,
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  Speaker 1: the situation in Iran. We've seen two American service members
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  Speaker 1: killed by Iranian missile. Presumably what should the president do
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  Speaker 1: to respond to that?
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  Speaker 2: Well, first of all, I joined with all Americans and
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  Speaker 2: condolences to these soldiers.
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  Speaker 3: Remember, as we think about this five month war, this
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  Speaker 3: is a war of choice.
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  Speaker 2: As a member of the Gang of Eight, there was
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  Speaker 2: no imminent threat from Iran against America, so Donald Trump chose.
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  Speaker 3: To go to war.
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  Speaker 2: It took him two weeks to lay out what he
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  Speaker 2: thought his goals were going to be.
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  Speaker 3: Let's go through those regime change. How are we doing there?
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  Speaker 3: We got a worse crowd than before getting the enriched uranium.
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  Speaker 3: Well it's still there.
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  Speaker 2: A matter of fact, it would take a minimum of
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  Speaker 2: fifteen thousand troops on the ground for a week to
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  Speaker 2: try to take these canisters, which are quite volatile, out
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  Speaker 2: of they're bunkers, getting rid of Iran's missile and drone capability. Obviously,
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  Speaker 2: we've not been successful there. And the thing John that
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  Speaker 2: makes me completely crazy is Iran has both missiles, and
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  Speaker 2: they also have lots and lots of fifty thousand dollars
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  Speaker 2: drones that are very effective. We are using missiles that
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  Speaker 2: cost two and a half million dollars to shoot down
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  Speaker 2: those drone, those drones. President Zelensky, the only country that
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  Speaker 2: has devised a technique of counter Iranian drones at five
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  Speaker 2: thousand dollars. They've done it so effectively. They offered us
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  Speaker 2: all of that technology for free, and the Trump White
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  Speaker 2: House basically said to the Ukrainians, thanks, but no thanks,
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  Speaker 2: So we're behind on that as well.
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  Speaker 3: And then finally on the straight of hormones.
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  Speaker 2: That means I don't know what gas station the secretary
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  Speaker 2: is going to, but before the war, average price of
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  Speaker 2: gas lane in Virginia was two dollars in eighty one cents.
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  Speaker 2: It is now back to Ford dollar diesels at five dollars.
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  Speaker 2: I see no path in the short term how the
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  Speaker 2: strait is going to be settled. This war of choice
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  Speaker 2: has been a disaster. It has been a disaster militarily.
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  Speaker 2: It has been a disaster in terms of how we're
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  Speaker 2: viewed around the world. It has been a disaster to
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  Speaker 2: our friends and the allies who question whether we will
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  Speaker 2: keep our promises. I'm anxiously if it takes a classic
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  Speaker 2: Donald Trump move, declare victory tomorrow and be done. But
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  Speaker 2: the continuation of this war at this pace will be
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  Speaker 2: a continuing disaster.
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  Speaker 1: But you have a situation where the Iranians are firing
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  Speaker 1: missiles at ships going through the Strait. They're attacking a
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  Speaker 1: US basis in the region. I mean, the United States
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  Speaker 1: could walk away, the President could declare victory and leave,
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  Speaker 1: but the Iranian how do you stop what the Iranians
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  Speaker 1: are doing? Well, I mean how do you end it?
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  Speaker 2: In a normal process, you would have had a diplomacy
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  Speaker 2: negotiated by diplomats who actually knew what they were doing.
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  Speaker 2: There was a reason it took years with people with
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  Speaker 2: great expertise to negotiate what now suddenly looks pretty damn good.
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  Speaker 3: What was called the JCPOA that allowed.
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  Speaker 2: Us to have ionomass that was under Obama years to
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  Speaker 2: get there.
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  Speaker 3: The Iranians give them credit.
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  Speaker 2: They know about enriched ranium, they know about nuclear They
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  Speaker 2: have sent great negotiators. But we're not going to I
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  Speaker 2: do not believe anyone thinks that we're going to bomb
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  Speaker 2: Iran into submission, and I sure do not believe that
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  Speaker 2: short of troops on the ground, that there's any meaningful
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  Speaker 2: path to get out that InChI do.
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  Speaker 1: You agree with there's colleague, Senator Ed Markey who is
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  Speaker 1: calling for cutting off off funding to the war. Would
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  Speaker 1: that be a mistake.
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  Speaker 3: We have troops in the region. We have troops in
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  Speaker 3: the region. I would say this.
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  Speaker 2: The Defense Department will ask for additional funds, and we
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  Speaker 2: are running down some of our supplies. My response to
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  Speaker 2: that is there is eighty nine billion dollars of money
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  Speaker 2: that DoD is sitting on that is not been allocated
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  Speaker 2: to specific programs.
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  Speaker 3: There are shortages in the region.
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  Speaker 2: DoD use that money first to replenish our supplies. And
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  Speaker 2: if the President wants to continue this war, come to Congress,
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  Speaker 2: make his case to the American people and to Congress
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  Speaker 2: rather than continue what I think now is frankly an
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  Speaker 2: illegal action because he never went through that process.
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  Speaker 1: Let me turn to the election commerce the President made
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  Speaker 1: about the election security. First of all, you're the vice
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  Speaker 1: chair of the Intel Committee. Was was there anything new
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  Speaker 1: in what he released?
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  Speaker 3: I've been sharing a vice chair for the last decade.
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  Speaker 3: There's probably no issue.
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  Speaker 2: I've been more obsessed about going all the way back
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  Speaker 2: to the Russia campaign. Russia is very good at influence
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  Speaker 2: center elections. They have been far and away the most
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  Speaker 2: prominent player, usually on behalf of Trump. Iran has been
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  Speaker 2: very active as well, usually against Trump. North Korea has
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  Speaker 2: been active. China's got the capabilities, but they've been less
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  Speaker 2: about which candidate and more like and we just.
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  Speaker 3: Make Americans lose confidence.
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  Speaker 1: And the two hundred and twenty million voter files. Is
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  Speaker 1: there any concern there?
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  Speaker 2: Well, listen, I'm much more concerned about the fact that
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  Speaker 2: the Chinese hacked into the oh PM data a number
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  Speaker 2: of years back, and we've got personal information about.
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  Speaker 3: The government working on the federal government.
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  Speaker 2: I'm more concerned about the fact they've packed into many
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  Speaker 2: insurance companies and have got personal information about.
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  Speaker 3: All of us. They have incredible data capabilities.
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  Speaker 2: And again the Secretary respectfully, our cybersecurity activity is sise,
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  Speaker 2: it works with the private sector.
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  Speaker 3: He's cut it like mad.
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  Speaker 2: We have another part of election security, and remarkably, John,
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  Speaker 2: a lot of this election security apparatus was set up
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  Speaker 2: done under President Trump's first term. They did a good job.
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  Speaker 2: There was something called the Elections Assistance Commission. It is
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  Speaker 2: nobody knows about it, but it works with local registrars,
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  Speaker 2: state registrars making sure we vet voting machines. Recently, Trump
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  Speaker 2: fired all the senior leadership made the Republican quit fired
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  Speaker 2: the day. Democrats, you know, this guy is not looking
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  Speaker 2: for a secure election, because if we have a free
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  Speaker 2: and fair election, he and his allies are going to
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  Speaker 2: get beat.
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  Speaker 3: Historically this fall.
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  Speaker 1: Now, I understand that you, and I think every other
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  Speaker 1: Democrat opposed this so called Say of America Act, and
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  Speaker 1: there's a lot of reasons that you've put forward. But
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  Speaker 1: let me ask you very narrowly on the issue of
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  Speaker 1: photo ID, requiring photo ID to register to vote, to vote.
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  Speaker 1: Is this something that Democrats should get behind. We have
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  Speaker 1: very eighty percent of American seventy one percent of Democrats
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  Speaker 1: say they favor this.
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  Speaker 3: You know what, in Virginia we have voter voter ID
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  Speaker 3: and photo ID.
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  Speaker 1: I got to show my that's actually not the case.
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  Speaker 1: I mean, I'm a Virginia voter. You don't need to
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  Speaker 1: show a photo ID in Virginia, you are. There a
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  Speaker 1: wide range of things you can show for ID. And
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  Speaker 1: if you don't show, one of those who can sign
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  Speaker 1: an affidavit saying but.
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  Speaker 2: Not those becomes those become ballots that if you want
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  Speaker 2: to contest later, can be contested. But you are you
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  Speaker 2: do have a variety of documents, But we have voter
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  Speaker 2: ID of one form or another.
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  Speaker 3: What should should that be a national.
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  Speaker 1: Standard that you have to show an ID?
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  Speaker 2: Are you going to the irony? Here would be the case.
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  Speaker 2: If you can show any photo that is government stamped,
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  Speaker 2: would be fine. Certain states will say we're gonna let
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  Speaker 2: you see show your n R, a gun license, but
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  Speaker 2: you can't show you your student ID. If you're going
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  Speaker 2: to have a set of IDs, let's let have it
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  Speaker 2: across the board, as long as it comes from some
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  Speaker 2: official point. But this is not about voter ID. The
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  Speaker 2: Save Act is about voter disenfranchisement. The Save Act is
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  Speaker 2: going to take anybody that changed their name when they
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  Speaker 2: got married. They don't get to vote unless they can
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  Speaker 2: go back and find.
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  Speaker 1: And if you don't have an ID, if you don't
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  Speaker 1: have your.
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  Speaker 3: Passport, but John, just stay on instrument. Lisa Murkowski.
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  Speaker 2: A host of Republicans don't want the Save Act because
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  Speaker 2: they know it's voter But the folks who have mail
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  Speaker 2: in voting Utah's this Republican estate is anyone they've done
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  Speaker 2: mail in voting for decades. Donald Trump wants to decrease
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  Speaker 2: voter participation, so an undermined confidence in our system.
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  Speaker 1: We're out of time. Before you go, though, you're going
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  Speaker 1: to vote for Jay Clayton to be the Director of
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  Speaker 1: National Intelligence.
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  Speaker 3: I've known Jay for a long time.
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  Speaker 2: I like him, but after his performance before my committee,
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  Speaker 2: his inability to answer the question about who won the
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  Speaker 2: twenty twenty election, or commenting on Gabbard's the previous DNI's
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  Speaker 2: effort to interfere in the Fulton County elections, I am
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  Speaker 2: not going to vote for him.
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  Speaker 1: Now if he doesn't get confirmed. Bill Poulti remains that.
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  Speaker 2: That is a rock and a hard place, But I
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  Speaker 2: think Jay Clayton will get confirmed, and God willing, I
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  Speaker 2: hope the guy that becomes d and I is the
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  Speaker 2: guy that I've known and liked and work with.
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  Speaker 1: All Right, Mark Warner, thank you very much for being here.