demonstrations supporting
anti-government protests in Cuba have
expanded from South Florida to
Washington D.C groups gathered outside
the White House and the Cuban Embassy
Saturday many came by bus from the Miami
area limited social media posts indicate
anti-government protests are still going
on in Cuba Havana and other places
Saturday former president Raul Castro
joined thousands of people in a
pro-government rally in Havana pushed of
course by the Cuban government Pope
Francis is calling for peace and
dialogue in Cuba following these
protests another fact though Cuba now
has the highest rate of coronavirus
infections per capita in Latin America
joining us tonight Florida Republican
senator Marco Rubio member of the Senate
intelligence and also Appropriations in
foreign relations committees Senator
thanks for the time tonight thanks Brett
a lot of topics to get to let's start
where we left off there Cuba where you
see these anti-government protests going
and what do you think is possible next
well first of all Cuba today is
basically in a state of Martial law in
many of the major cities across the
country troops are stationed security
forces are stationed and the message is
clear they're also continuing to
repressed people with these horrifying
reports we've seen and have gotten of
people being tortured of people being
abducted from their homes and and family
members not knowing where they are they
try this is the model they have followed
for a long time the only difference
between now and in the past is some of
it is being documented and posted on
social media for the world to see as far
as where it goes next look something
changed on the 11th of July it's I don't
think it's going to happen from one day
to the next it's the beginning of a
process but what is clear now is that
the rupture between the people and the
regime is complete and that they've lost
their legitimacy to govern and and
that's the point that needs to continue
to be driven home they no longer no
matter how you feel about them
ideologically they no longer have a
legitimacy and it's time for a change to
begin on the island of Cuba and I think
from our end the most important thing we
can do is help provide internet free on
federal internet access so the people of
Cuba can continue to communicate educate
with the world and with each other you
know critics I'm saying Beyond
congresswoman Alexander ocasio-cortez
and others say that for more than five
decades every sanction the U.S has
imposed on Cuba really has not changed
uh the party down there and the
leadership and there have been sanctions
that the critics say have hurt the
island overall but didn't make the
change how do you address that when it
comes to the Embargo sanctions going
forward and what else we can do
well I would say most of the people that
give those opinions don't even know what
the Embargo is or how it works the only
embargo is there's only two embargoes
here the Embargo against
government-owned companies and the
Embargo that the Cuban regime imposes on
its own people right now if an
independent business operator of a small
farm owner if a consultant or a
independent contractor in Cuba wants to
do business with Americans they can
there is no restriction on that it's the
Cuban regime that doesn't allow it
because they do not want humans to own a
hardware store they don't want Cubans to
be able to grow food on a farm and
provide it directly to the market they
don't want independent contractors and
Consultants to have American clients
because they want to control how much
money people make every month it's the
leverage they hold over their heads the
people who give these opinions don't
know what they're talking about they
don't know what they don't even all they
know is they're just spewing off a
left-wing talking point because if you
notice these are the same people that
over and over again it's always
America's fault no matter what problem
there is in the world America's to blame
for it America's done something wrong
they don't know what what the heck
talking about yeah last thing on Cuba
five days ago you you were on this
channel you were talking about the
possibilities of what may happen there
here's what you said about other troops
possibly going in
horrifying this is a bloodbath 90 miles
off of our Shores it's destabilizing and
I want to know what Joe Biden's going to
do when a thousand Special Forces from
Russia arrive on Cuban territory to help
the Cuban regime because that's what's
coming next that's what's coming next do
you have any evidence that Russia's on
the move there or that that may happen
well Russia's already there I mean they
have a they have an intelligence signals
intelligence station so do the Chinese
but it's the model they followed
everywhere in the world and it may not
even be directly Russian troops maybe
with these private contractors that are
basically Russian troops that they send
around the world but this is what
they've done in place after place in
Venezuela and Syria and other part in in
eastern Ukraine and so there's no doubt
in my mind that if the Cuban government
requests it the the Russians will
provide that you're the top Republican
on the intelligence committee we just
did this piece about China and the
concerns about its cyber activities
should the U.S retaliate militarily or
otherwise to combat ransomware attacks
or other attacks from the Chinese well I
think we certainly have to have the
option to retaliate retaliate in kind in
a proportional way that sends a message
about what our red lines are I'm not
sure yet that there is a clear
understanding by even either the
Russians or the Chinese about what the
American red lines are with regards to
cyber intrusions you pointed a moment
ago to this Microsoft intrusion and
there are others like it we're entering
an era now where you're not going to be
able to attribute it to a nation-state
even though they're behind it there is
nothing that keeps a nation statement in
fact they didn't have every incentive
like China or like Russia to go to
criminal networks and say we want you
guys to do this hack if you do it of
course we won't arrest you we'll even
let you keep the money you have but if
you get caught there's not attribution
you can't say it's the government you
could say it's a criminal organization
but here's the bottom line we are seeing
a massive transfer of wealth out of the
U.S economy into the hands of these
groups that furthers the foreign policy
objectives of both Russia and China this
needs to be dealt with and there needs
to be clear it needs to be clear that
there are there are economic costs
associated with continuing to allow this
to happen in the case of the Chinese
they are conducting the most extensive
Espionage operation against the United
States in in the history of our country
and it is in every domain electronic and
cyber but also in our universities
everywhere you can imagine all they do
is scoop up data every day and steal our
technology our intellectual property and
collect on our U.S government as well
Senator we're one of the only channels
really that that follows the situation
along the southern border it has not let
up the illegal immigration continues at
PACE you made an effort on a
comprehensive Bill years ago to try to
to pass one the president talked about a
path to citizenship today possibly using
the budget Bill to get that through take
a listen I want to get your reaction
we need to find Pathways to citizenship
the budget bill is an appropriate way to
get around the filibuster to be able to
make a judgment as to whether or not
they should have a pathway that's for
the parliamentarian to decide though not
not for Joe Biden to decide
I mean the fact that he's throwing that
out there do you think that's even
possible
I'm not sure if it's possible I think
it's a terrible horrifying idea let me
tell you why I think the overwhelming
majority of Americans would say yes if
someone's been here for a long time and
they're not criminals we need to figure
out a way to incorporate them into
American Life legally but now is the
wrong time to do it simply because we
have an all-out border crisis today
there are reports now of you know state
troopers down there facing you know
these efforts to rush the border and
things of this nature and and a lot of
that is driven by a misunderstanding of
what our laws actually are you know in
the early days of the vine
Administration and even during the
campaign his rhetoric sent the message
to people in Central America that the
laws were changing and they were allowed
to come in the same has been true with
things like DACA it sent the perception
even when we've done TPS and I've
supported tps's but when you've done TPS
people misunderstand what that means or
they are lied to about what it means
that's what's that's what a a
citizenship bill would do it would
create the perception that our laws
would become more permissive and these
trafficking networks use that to create
this information to encourage more
people to undertake this very dangerous
Journey it would be perhaps one of the
worst things they could do right now
given the crisis we're facing On the
Border
Senator Rubio we appreciate your time
welcome back anytime thanks Brad hi
winner Brian Kilmeade I want you to do
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