Congressman, thanks for joining us. Mr.
Chairman, I want to start on the news
this morning.
The Israeli military says
it has withdrawn
some ground forces from Khan
Yunis in southern Gaza,
though a significant force
remains in other parts of Gaza.
How significant is this move?
Well, I think you're certainly seeing
some efforts
to respond to the White House's
vocal criticism
of the operations of Israel in Gaza.
You know, as you indicated,
Jake, this is the sixth month
a demarcation of the horrific attack
that occurred October 7th.
And then the subsequent declaration
by Israel
that they would enter Gaza
for the purposes of eliminating Hamas.
Today, the Palestinians in Gaza remain
hostages to Hamas, and Hamas
has not been eliminated.
We've seen,
I think, an overconfidence of Israel
on its intelligence, both
when it failed to see October 7th end
when it went into Gaza
to eliminate Hamas.
That has been,
I think, part of the the out
come that we've seen of
the both has haphazard and dangerous
military operations
that resulted in
unacceptable civilian deaths.
And certainly the
the food crisis that you described.
This comes
as more negotiations
for a cease fire
and release of
the hostages are beginning.
Does this move by Israel to withdraw
some some troops from Gaza?
Does it make you more optimistic?
The news that Israel
is sending a delegation to Cairo?
And what's your position
on the urgency of a cease fire
with the return of hostages?
Well, the CIA director, Director
Burns, has done
an excellent job
in shuttle diplomacy
in trying
to bring all of the parties
together to get the
the hostages released
and to get a cease fire.
And quite frankly,
it seems that almost President
Biden has been asleep at the wheel
as he has not responded
to the crisis as it's unfolded
and now making public statements
criticizing Netanyahu, criticizing Israel
when this has been been going on
for some time as director,
Burns has has tried
desperately to get a cease fire
and to get the hostages release.
I think he's done an excellent job.
Certainly the last ceasefire and hostage
just that were
released were a result of his efforts.
I think, you know,
I put a great deal of faith
in the work that he's doing.
And I'm certainly hopeful
that that will result in both hostages
release and a cease fire
so additional humanitarian
aid can get to the Palestinians.
Meanwhile, the U.S.
is actively preparing for Iran to strike
after Israel killed a high ranking
Iranian military officials
who were at a diplomatic facility
in Damascus, Syria.
Can you be any more specific
about the nature of the threat from Iran?
Are Americans in danger?
Well, I
think
Americans in the area remain in danger.
Remember,
I bring in proxies
have continued to attack U.S.
troops in the area.
Again, with the Biden administration
being slow to respond
and ultimately responding
to those attacks.
And, of course,
the United States has moved
additional capabilities and assets
in the area to deter
Iran from
entering into
this conflict directly with Israel.
Although their proxies, Hamas,
which the conflict is,
is directly with, and Hezbollah continues
to be a threat to Israel in Lebanon.
And but I think what we're seeing here
is certainly the consulate in Syria
was a legitimate target from for Israel
because I ran certainly is the source
of which all this is coming.
At the same time,
it still is very unwise as we were
as we were trying to put pressure on Iran
to keep them out of this conflict,
both with U.S.
presence and with our response
to the attacks on our own troops.
This certainly does
escalate the issue
throughout the entire region.
Let's turn to Ukraine, an issue
that's important to you
and your fellow Republican chairman,
Michael McCaul,
who runs the Foreign Affairs Committee.
Congressman McCaul
made a comment this week about
what he says
sounds like Russian propaganda
from some conservative media
and why it's so difficult
to explain to Republican voters
why supporting Ukraine is important.
He told Julia Yaphe, quote,
I think Russian propaganda
has made its way into the United States,
unfortunately, and it's infected
a good
chunk of my party's base
and singled out primetime
shows on conservative channels.
Do you agree with him?
And how big is this problem?
Oh, it is absolutely true.
We see directly coming from Russia
attempts to mask communications
that are anti Ukraine
and pro-Russia messages,
some of which we even hear
being uttered on the House floor.
I mean,
there are members of Congress today
who still incorrectly say
that this conflict
between Russia and Ukraine is over Neda,
which of course, it is not
Vladimir Putin having made
it very clear
both publicly and to his own population,
that his
his view is that
this is a conflict of a much broader
claim of Russia to Eastern Europe
and including
claiming all of Ukraine
territory is as Russia's now.
To the extent
that this propaganda takes hold,
it makes it more difficult for us
to really see
this as an authoritarian versus
democracy battle, which is what it is.
President Xi of China,
Vladimir Putin himself,
have identified it as such.
We need to stand up for democracy.
We need to make certain that
that we know
that authoritarian regimes never stop
when they when they start an aggression.
Ukraine needs our help
and assistance now,
and this is a very critical time
for the US Congress to step up
and provide that aid.
Speaker Johnson's
leadership is in trouble
if he puts a bill funding Ukraine,
providing aid to Ukraine on the floor,
according to Marjorie Taylor GREENE,
your colleague from Georgia,
who's already threatened
a motion to vacate.
How worried should Speaker Johnson be?
I don't think he's at any risk.
I think that that what,
you know, what people have been
referring to
is the chaos caucus, those individuals
who are seeking attention for themselves
and trying to stop
all of the important work in Congress
are now seen as merely disruptive.
Hakeem Jeffries,
minority leader on the Democratic
side, has made it clear
that the Democrats
will not join with efforts
to unseat Johnson.
As we this year
approaching the election, undertake
the most important work of Congress,
which of course is,
you know,
making certain
we fund the government,
make certain
that these
national security packages pass,
and of course,
that our Foreign Surveillance
Reauthorization Act passes.
Yeah.
Let's talk about that,
because Speaker Johnson
announced this weekend
that the House is going to vote
on that four four surveillance bill,
the to reform
and extend authority for spy agencies
for them to be able to conduct
surveillance of foreign intelligence
on domestic soil.
It's known as Pfizer.
There have been abuses in the past.
I know this has been a contentious issue
between you and House
Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan.
You have different views on this.
Are you going to vote for this
latest version of the FISA bill?
And do you think it will have
the votes to pass
until, you know,
the Intelligence Committee
was instrumental in drafting the bill
that's going to the House floor?
And, Jake,
I appreciate you raising this issue,
because the
this is
a surveillance surveillance of foreigners
who are abroad.
They are we're not surveilling
foreigners in the United States.
We're not surveilling Americans.
The United States, those individuals
who say that there's
a warrantless search of Americans
data are just not telling the truth.
These are foreigners abroad.
They're a select group of individuals
who are a national security threat.
If you're an American
and you're corresponding with ISIS, Yes.
If we're
if we're spying on ISIS,
your communications
are going to be captured.
And you would want us to do that.
All Americans would want us to try to
to make certain
that we keep ourselves
safe from these terrorists,
outside terrorist groups, organizations.
We are not spying on Americans.
This is not a warrantless
surveillance program.
This is foreigners
who are abroad
only and this needs to pass.
And do you think it has the votes?
It will.
I think it does.
I think it will.
I think that the those
who mischaracterize
this are small compared
to those who understand that
this goes
to the heart of our ability
to get intelligence
that allows us to be able
to keep Americans safe.
This is not a warrantless
surveillance of Americans.
All right.
Chairman of the House
Intelligence Committee,
Congressman Mike Turner of Ohio,
thank you so much, sir.
Appreciate your time.