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I'm Margaret Brennan in Washington, and this

0:41

week on Face the Nation, the high

0:43

stakes diplomatic drama over

0:45

the Chinese spy balloon is intensifying

0:48

as we learn more about what the Chinese

0:50

may have discovered from their so worrying

0:52

surveillance. In the end,

0:55

it took a missile fired from an f

0:57

twenty two fighter jet flying over the South

0:59

Carolina coast to shoot down the gigantic

1:02

surveillance balloon that had floated across

1:04

the US sixty thousand feet above ground.

1:06

Boom. Whoa. Recovery

1:09

efforts are underway to determine asked

1:11

what the Chinese had attached to that balloon.

1:14

The Saturday shoot down marked the end of

1:16

a tenth week for the Biden administration you

1:18

were saying the recommendation

1:20

from your was from your national I told them

1:22

to shoot it down. On Wednesday. On Wednesday,

1:24

the recommendation They said to me, let's wait

1:26

to the safest place to do it.

1:28

We'll ask Texas Republican senator Ted

1:30

Cruz how the incident will impact

1:32

our already strained relationship with

1:34

China. Then, following

1:37

the brutal beating of Tyria Nichols

1:39

by the Memphis police, we'll take a

1:41

look at efforts to renew police

1:43

reform with New Jersey senator Corey

1:46

Booker. Plus, how will the

1:48

new fifty three year low unemployment impact

1:50

the Fed's moves to lower inflation? We'll

1:53

hear from Gary Cohn who led the national

1:55

economic council under former president

1:57

Trump. Finally, ahead of

1:59

Tuesday's state of the union address, four

2:02

new house members weigh in on the prospects

2:04

of action on crime, immigration, and

2:06

spending in this divided kong

2:09

Chris. It's all just ahead

2:11

on Face the Nation. Good

2:25

morning. Welcome to Face the Nation. Well,

2:27

it was a drama that had all the signs

2:30

of a Hollywood movie. The end of

2:32

the Chinese spy balloons journey was somewhat

2:34

predictable, but what happens next

2:36

is still very much up in

2:38

the air. According

2:41

to the White House, the balloon was detected

2:43

a week ago in Alaskan airspace

2:45

and was not assessed to be an intel

2:47

risk or threat. It then drifted

2:50

through Canadian airspace moving southeast

2:52

and was spotted in Montana. Home

2:55

to a US nuclear missile base, where

2:57

it turned into a very public

2:59

diplomatic crisis. Beijing

3:01

insisted the balloon was an airship

3:03

GATHERING WEATHER DATA THAT HAD JUST DRIFTED

3:06

OFF COURSE. SECRETARY STATE

3:08

BLINCEN ABRUPTLY CANCELLED HIS TRIP

3:10

TO CHINA VISIT INTENDED TO

3:12

THOUGHT I. C. RELATIONS BETWEEN THE TWO

3:15

COUNTRIES. MANY LAWMAKERS, MOSTLY

3:17

REPUBLICANS, EXPRESSED frustration with

3:20

the administration for not taking

3:22

action earlier. But the

3:24

president stuck with the Pentagon's recommendation

3:27

TO WAIT UNTIL THE BOLUN MOVED OFFSHORE

3:29

AND AWAY FROM CIVILIANS STILL

3:31

WITHIN U. S. WATERS. NOW

3:33

THE DEBRIEF from that balloon as well as

3:35

what the Chinese learned from the mission

3:37

is of huge interest. The

3:40

Chinese government issued a scathing reaction

3:42

to the shoot down stating they strongly

3:44

disapproved and that it was a clear overreaction

3:47

and a serious violation of international practice

3:50

and warned that Beijing reserves

3:52

the right to make further responses.

3:55

I'm gonna bring in our David Martin for

3:57

more on this story. David, depending

4:00

on says this is part of a fleet of

4:02

balloons and that it was surveilling sensitive

4:05

military

4:05

sites. Do we have a sense of the damage? Well,

4:09

the Pentagon claims that there was no

4:11

real damage because most

4:13

of this intelligence, they already

4:15

collected with the satellites that

4:18

China sends over the U.

4:20

S. Every day. But

4:23

it eloittered over an

4:25

American Intercontinental ballistic missile

4:28

field in Montana. And

4:31

it was fitted with what the

4:33

Pennagon says were cameras

4:36

and antennas. And you

4:38

have to believe that they picked up

4:40

something, or it wouldn't have been worth

4:42

all of the risk

4:45

that they ran in sending

4:47

a balloon over here that

4:49

they knew. Was going to be detected.

4:51

There's no way they could have believed that they could

4:54

sneak that balloon across

4:56

the United States. So I think

4:58

you have to assume that they got some

5:01

intelligence value out of it. Now I think

5:03

you have to assume that the US got

5:05

some intelligence value out of it

5:07

because they sent planes up to

5:10

photograph that

5:13

sensor pod that was on the balloon, and

5:16

they've got videotapes of it. So they

5:19

the US was essentially watching China

5:21

-- Mhmm. -- watch ups. And

5:25

it's all spy versus spy stuff.

5:27

And, you know, over time, the spy versus

5:30

spy stuff just tends to cancel

5:32

itself up. One day you're up, the next day you're

5:34

down.

5:34

Well, what can you actually see from sixty

5:37

thousand feet? What's the advantage? Well,

5:39

you know, back in the day,

5:41

I actually went up to sixty thousand

5:44

feet in a the back seat of

5:46

a U2. And up there,

5:48

it's not just like being in an airline

5:51

or only higher. You can actually see

5:53

the curvature. Of the earth. And

5:56

you're at a plane that is filled

5:58

with cameras, which have obviously

6:00

a much higher resolution than the

6:02

human eye. And they're not looking just straight

6:05

down. They're looking out and

6:07

all around them. And they're sending

6:09

those pictures up to a satellite,

6:11

which is then relaying it down

6:14

to a ground station where an

6:16

intelligence analyst is watching

6:18

in real time. The U2

6:21

is a great intelligence

6:23

collection platform. It's got one problem.

6:26

Anybody with a missile that can get up

6:28

to sixty thousand feet can

6:30

shoot it

6:31

down. And, of course, that turned out to be the

6:33

balloons problem as well. Which

6:35

indicates this this could be a problem. But,

6:38

you know, the message from the administration to

6:40

date has been that this wasn't

6:42

really a threat. It did throw off that attempt

6:44

to reset relations with Beijing. And

6:47

that could have some big implications. If

6:49

diplomats are really trying to lower the tension,

6:51

but you see in that Chinese statement,

6:54

there's some edge.

6:55

Well, they say we reserve the right

6:57

for further responses. So let's see what

6:59

those further responses are. They're gonna

7:02

send another balloon is

7:04

the US going to shoot it

7:06

down right away? Or I think more importantly,

7:09

are they going to start some serious harassment

7:12

of these American reconnaissance planes

7:14

that fly around the periphery of

7:16

China. They've already been buzzing them

7:18

in the the US has already been filing

7:21

diplomatic complaints about it.

7:24

I would not want to be flying the next mission.

7:27

Around the periphery of China. And the question is,

7:30

will the US provide armed escorts for

7:32

those reconnaissance

7:33

planes?

7:34

No. And what happens if some

7:38

Chinese fighters show up and you

7:40

have a confrontation.

7:41

David, always sobering, to talk

7:44

to you. Thank you. For your reporting. We want

7:46

to go now to Dallas,

7:47

Texas, where we are joined by Republican senator

7:49

Ted Cruz. Good morning to you, senator. Good

7:53

morning,

7:53

Margaret. So this balloon traversed

7:56

eleven states, but

7:58

the Pentagon says they were able to mitigate

8:00

some of its impact. Do

8:02

you think there is upside to

8:04

the fact that this was captured

8:07

this

8:07

time? Well,

8:09

listen, I I wanna start by doing something

8:11

that I don't do very often, which is commending

8:14

Joe Biden for actually having the

8:16

guts to shoot this down. That was the right thing to

8:18

do that is absolutely what

8:20

the president should have done. Unfortunately,

8:23

he didn't do that until a week

8:26

after it entered US airspace. He allowed

8:28

a full week for the Chinese to

8:30

conduct spying operations over

8:32

the United States over sensitive military

8:35

installations exposing not just

8:37

photographs, but the potential of intercepted

8:40

communications. And and more

8:42

broadly, I I think this entire episode

8:45

telegraphed weakness to

8:48

Xi and the Chinese government. And and

8:50

to illustrate why I I would just ask one

8:53

one hypothetical question. Imagine

8:55

how this would have played out. If

8:58

nobody had taken any pictures of the balloon.

9:00

If nobody in Montana had looked up and

9:02

noticed this giant balloon, if

9:04

it wasn't in the news, we know,

9:06

yeah, when the Biden administration knew

9:09

about the balloon, they said nothing. They did.

9:11

Nothing. They didn't shoot it down. And

9:13

at the end of the day, I think the only reason

9:15

they shot it down is because it made it into

9:17

the news -- Well -- and they felt forced to

9:19

as a matter of politics rather than national

9:21

security. That's a bad message. For the Chinese

9:23

government to hear. Well, the Pentagon has since disclosed

9:26

that it's apparently happened four times before,

9:28

never quite like this. BACK

9:30

IN twenty twenty, TRUMP ADMINISTRATION SHUTTERED

9:32

THE CHINESE CONSULATE IN HOUSTON AFTER

9:35

DETECTING ASVIA

9:36

NOGGE. DO YOU THINK THERE NEEDS TO BE MORE DIPLOMATIC

9:38

FALLOUT ON THAT SCALE NOW? LOOK,

9:42

THERE DOES WHEN THE TRUMP

9:44

ADMINISTRATION SHUT THE CHINESE consulate in

9:46

Houston. I spoke with secretary of state,

9:49

Mike Pompeo, about it, and what they

9:51

had discovered about the espionage activities

9:53

being carried out in the state of Texas

9:56

by the Chinese government was horrifying.

9:58

Right now, there is a text in Mark

10:01

Swedad. Who is a political prisoner.

10:03

He has a hostage in China. He's been

10:05

there for ten years. This past

10:07

week, I introduced a resolution on the floor

10:09

of the Senate along with John Cornyn, calling

10:12

on China to release Mark Swaddan. He's

10:14

wrongfully in prison. He's been there ten years.

10:17

They've sentenced him to death on charges

10:19

for which they have little to no evidence.

10:21

And and I had been urging Tony

10:23

Blanken when he was going to Beijing to

10:26

raise Mark Swedan's case and to make

10:28

the case for Mark to be released China,

10:30

if they wanna demonstrate that

10:32

they're not bad actors, if they wanna

10:35

demonstrate that they can aspire to

10:37

being a great nation, they should release

10:39

Mark swood and because great nations and

10:42

great powers don't hold political

10:44

prisoners. And

10:45

he is wrongfully detained according to the state

10:47

department. This was raised to Xi Jinping in

10:49

November. And there there hasn't been a release

10:51

to date. Thank you for mentioning that.

10:53

But I wanna ask you about your role. You are

10:55

the top Republican on the senate commerce

10:58

committee. You're also a dad. I know

11:00

you know how hard it is to keep kids offline in

11:02

this app called TikTok. It's

11:04

been downloaded two hundred million times. I

11:07

know you think it does, espionage. Are

11:09

we at the point where

11:11

we're past a ban, where

11:14

this is just so embedded that

11:16

you can't get rid of

11:16

it? Yeah, look,

11:18

TikTok is incredibly concerning. You're

11:21

you're right with our kids. If

11:23

you have teenagers, if you have kids

11:25

in junior higher high school, they're all

11:27

using it. And the degree to which they

11:29

have infiltrated our children is really

11:32

disturbing. There are lots of problems with

11:34

it. There are problems in terms of the messages

11:36

that they're pushing on young kids, body

11:38

image messages where for for girls,

11:40

in particular, you problems with eating disorders

11:42

where they push one message after another.

11:45

Do you have messages of self harm

11:47

where the algorithms push self

11:49

harm messages on on young girls, and

11:51

we're seeing really disturbing figures among

11:53

teenagers. And then on top of

11:55

that, you've got the espionage risk The Chinese

11:58

Communist government has access to

12:00

all of the information TikTok collects.

12:03

I think it is a serious, serious threat.

12:05

I'll tell you on the commerce committee. I I've

12:07

already sat down with each of the Republican

12:09

members on the committee to ask them their

12:11

priorities, and there was consensus

12:14

on this side of the aisle that focusing

12:16

seriously on TikTok is a

12:18

real

12:19

priority. And I think there are a lot of Democrats who are

12:21

very concerned about it as well.

12:22

As a ban or to force sale of it,

12:26

Well, III think all of the options

12:28

are on the table, and I and I will tell you I encourage

12:30

Maria Catwell, the Democrat chairwoman

12:33

that I think it makes sense early

12:35

on for us to have a hearing on TikTok

12:37

and examine these harms very directly,

12:40

how it's hurting our kids, and how it's

12:42

undermining national security. As I said,

12:44

both Republicans and Democrats are very

12:46

concerned about the impact of

12:48

TikTok. Should

12:49

America restrict U. S. Companies

12:51

from investing in Chinese industries and

12:53

key technology sectors? Well,

12:57

I think we should be doing a lot to

12:59

delink our supply chain from China,

13:01

to make it so that we are not dependent

13:04

on China. We saw during the pandemic

13:07

when one of the major Chinese state owned

13:09

newspapers threatened to cut off

13:11

lifesaving pharmaceuticals, things like

13:13

heart medication that that people

13:15

depend upon AND IT MAKES NO

13:17

SENSE FOR US TO LEAVE THE LIVES OF AMERICANS

13:21

AT THE WIM OF THE CHINESE GOVERNMENT.

13:23

I'll tell you in the last congress, I introduced

13:26

an amendment on the floor of the Senate to

13:28

block the United States government from

13:30

purchasing electric vehicles or batteries

13:33

that were manufactured using slave

13:36

labor in concentration camps

13:38

in China. China has over one million Uighurs

13:41

in in concentration camps and

13:43

Margaret, sadly, when we voted on it,

13:45

every Democrat but won. Every Democrat

13:47

but Joe Manchin voted

13:49

no. And right now, the Biden administration

13:52

It is one of the largest customers

13:55

in the world for the concentration

13:57

camps that are carrying on murder

13:59

and torture right now in

14:01

China.

14:01

That doesn't make any sense that it's not right.

14:03

No, senator, I want to ask you about something here

14:06

at home. You also introduced a bill to limit

14:08

terms to two six year terms

14:11

in office for

14:11

senators. Why don't you hold yourself

14:13

to that standard? You said you're running for a third

14:16

term. Well, listen,

14:18

I'm a passionate defender of term limits.

14:20

I think that Congress would work much better

14:22

if every senator were limited to two terms,

14:25

if every house member were limited three terms.

14:27

I've introduced a constitutional amendment

14:29

to put that into the

14:30

constitution.

14:30

But you're still running. If and when it passes,

14:33

if and when it passes, I will happily

14:35

happily comply. I've never said,

14:37

I'm gonna unilaterally

14:38

comply. I'll tell you what when the

14:40

Are you running for president's swamp? Are

14:42

ready to leave Washington I will

14:44

be more than happy to comply by the same

14:47

rules that apply for everyone, but

14:49

until then -- Yeah. -- I'm gonna keep fighting for

14:51

thirty million detectives because that's too wild. They've

14:53

asked me to do.

14:53

THINK YOU HARD ME ASK IF YOU'RE RUNNING FOR PRESIDENT?

14:57

I'M RUNNING THE RE ELECTION TO THE SENATE. THERE'S

14:59

A REASON I'M IN TEXAS TODAY. I'M NOT NATIONAL.

15:02

I'M IN TEXAS. AND I'M FIGHTING FOR thirty MILLION

15:04

TEXAS. Reporter: ALL RIGHT, THANK YOU VERY MUCH. SENATOR

15:06

CRUISE FOR YOUR TIME TODAY. WE TURNED NOW

15:08

TO DEMOCRATIC SENATOR Cory BOOKER IN

15:10

NEW WORK New

15:11

Jersey. Good morning to you senator. Good

15:13

morning. Thank you for having me on. I

15:15

want to start on the news of

15:17

the moment. Mark Warner, fellow

15:19

Democrat, chair of the senate intelligence committee

15:21

tweeted there is no way the Communist

15:23

Party of China would allow a balloon like

15:26

this to fly over the Chinese heartland.

15:29

I wonder if you personally are concerned

15:31

that it was allowed to enter

15:33

U. S. Airspace at all.

15:36

Well, again, a Mark Warner is right.

15:38

We should not have had this

15:40

kind of incursion into the United States.

15:42

And we have a real problem with China

15:44

on a number of issues from their

15:46

human rights violations to their violations

15:48

of international business

15:50

law to even the challenges

15:53

we've had with them on overt spy So

15:56

I'm grateful that the military took decisive

15:59

action when they did and how they did,

16:01

but we obviously have issues here.

16:04

And and the issues with espionage is you

16:06

just indicated go into a

16:08

number of different areas. Due

16:11

to national security concerns, Congress had

16:13

banned KikTok, for example, the social

16:15

media app on federal devices. Your

16:17

home state of New Jersey has also put restrictions

16:19

in place, but you still use

16:21

it personally. Does

16:23

that mean that you think

16:26

it's too late to go ahead and

16:28

ban this? It's already on two hundred million

16:30

American devices Is

16:33

it just so integrated that espionage

16:35

is something we have to live

16:36

with? No, absolutely not. And I

16:38

think there's two ways to approach this. One,

16:41

the proactive step of banning it on

16:43

government devices is something that

16:45

the United States federal government's doing, states,

16:47

and even localities are doing. But

16:49

the other way to go about this is going directly

16:51

to the company. They are now working with

16:54

US intelligence folks to try to make sure

16:57

that the proper precautions are taken

16:59

so the Chinese cannot get access

17:01

and use it for

17:02

spying. So this is something we

17:04

have to take seriously. I wanna ask you

17:06

about the meeting you had with fellow Democrats at

17:08

the White House on Thursday in regard

17:10

to police reform. What agreements

17:12

did you all come up with AND

17:14

IS IT ANYTHING YOU CAN GET REPUBLICANS TO

17:16

SIGN ON TO?

17:17

Ian: WELL,

17:18

FIRST OF ALL, I WANT TO, AGAIN, EXPRESS MY CONDOLENCES

17:21

TO THE FAMILY OF TYRIAN NICKLE. THIS

17:23

WAS a really horrific murder.

17:26

We saw a man on the ground,

17:28

handcuffed, being beaten, and eventually

17:31

die as a result of his wounds. This

17:33

should not happen in the United States

17:35

of America. And so I'm

17:37

I'm grateful that the president has taken decisive

17:40

action in last Congress with a

17:42

executive order, but it falls to

17:44

Congress to find a bipartisan

17:46

way forward, to make sure

17:48

that we are doing what is necessary SERIE TO

17:50

RAISE POLICE STANDARDS AND PROFESSIONALISM

17:53

TO CREATE MORE TRANSPARENCY AND ACCOUNTABILITY

17:56

IN AMERICAN POLICING I believe we

17:58

can find way forward. It is gonna be more

18:00

difficult in a divided congress.

18:02

Yeah. But I believe that a moment like

18:04

this, a moral moment like this, REQUIRES

18:06

DECISIVE ACTION? WE'VE BEEN

18:08

THROUGH MORAL MOMENTS BEFORE AND

18:11

DEGOTIATIONS HAVE FAILED AS THEY DID WHEN

18:13

YOU WERE TALKING TO YOUR REPUBLICAN COLLEAK Tim

18:15

Scott back in twenty twenty one.

18:17

He says that this house progressive police

18:20

reform bill, I assume he means George Floyd

18:22

acted. Won't go anywhere. But he

18:24

has given him passion speech saying

18:27

he wants solutions that would have made a difference,

18:30

specifically more grants, more de

18:32

escalation training, AND DUTY TO

18:34

INTERVENE

18:34

TRAINING. IS THIS A STARTING POINT

18:37

FOR TALKS? Reporter: ABSOLUTELY,

18:40

I MEAN, I'VE BEEN TALKING TO people on

18:42

both sides of the aisle, on both sides of the Capitol,

18:44

on the House of Representatives, and in the Senate,

18:46

there is a pathway forward, and I'm gonna

18:48

be tireless and not stop until

18:51

we do significant things to make

18:53

Americans safer and to make our

18:55

policing standards

18:56

higher. And I'm not standing alone on

18:58

this. The fact that we have police

19:00

leaders, the largest union that

19:02

represents the majority

19:04

of police that we've been able to come

19:06

together on bipartisan ideals

19:08

I THINK THERE'S A PATHWAY FORWARD, THOUGH I'M VERY

19:10

SOBARD IN A DIVIDED CONGRESS ABOUT

19:13

OUR ABILITY TO GET IT

19:14

DONE. Reporter:

19:14

ARE YOU TALKING TO TIM SCOTT NOW ABOUT THIS?

19:17

I don't think Tim Scott and I have stopped

19:19

talking. Let's be clear. Tim and I have been

19:22

a proven partnership.

19:23

We walked away from the from the talks

19:25

a year ago. So so you did stop negotiating.

19:28

Are you renewing those negotiations?

19:31

Again, Tim and I have not stopped

19:34

talking. We're guys that have gotten the

19:36

Opportunity Zone legislation done. We've

19:38

gotten criminal justice reform done.

19:41

We may have stopped formal negotiations, but

19:43

he or I are actually friends. We

19:45

may be in different parties and disagree on host of

19:48

stuff. But the reality is we're two black

19:50

men in America who've had really awful

19:52

experiences

19:53

with law enforcement, that law

19:55

enforcement leaders say are unjust. We're

19:57

motivated. One issue you put to

20:00

the side back in twenty twenty one was that really

20:02

hard issue of qualified immunity. Which

20:05

is whether to hold individual officers accountable

20:08

for or the entire police department

20:10

accountable civil for

20:12

police misconduct, Lindsey Graham tweeted that

20:14

holding department's accountable makes

20:16

sense. Because in America, if you run

20:19

a business and produce a product, you're responsible

20:21

for your act. The same should be true for police

20:23

departments. Is he offering you

20:26

the start here of something? You

20:28

know, I've I've had conversations meetings with Lindsey

20:30

Graham. In this Congress as well.

20:32

He is somebody that agrees with me

20:34

that there is common sense here.

20:36

You you can't have accountability without

20:39

consequences when things go wrong.

20:41

And we should definitely agree that

20:43

the things we're seeing too often now because

20:46

of body cameras and other filming

20:49

have to stop in our country. This

20:51

is wrong, and I'm happy that

20:53

I have Republican colleagues

20:55

that agree. This is wrong, and we're

20:57

trying to work something out. And I'm gonna

20:59

continue with it, and I'm grateful from the president of the

21:01

United States to members of the House of

21:04

Representatives like the congressional black caucus. We're

21:06

determined to try to get something done.

21:08

May it be a big comprehensive of bill.

21:10

On this

21:10

Congress, that might be hard,

21:12

but we

21:12

can find ways to do things that

21:14

make things better.

21:15

Howard Bauchner: Senator Booker, thank you for time this

21:17

morning. We'll

21:19

back in a minute. Stay with us.

21:24

We've got some good news this week,

21:26

hiring surged last month, but

21:28

there may be a

21:29

downside. Mark Stossman reports.

21:32

Not since the Nixon era, May

21:35

nineteen sixty nine. As

21:38

an American president watched Unemployment

21:41

dwindle so low, three point

21:43

four percent. Despite Big Tex

21:45

latest bloodbath, Pink slips Scholohr,

21:47

at Amazon,

21:48

Google, and Microsoft, American Labor

21:51

overall added more than a half million

21:53

jobs last month. We're gaining jobs, which

21:55

is great. But in terms like,

21:57

inflation, interest rates, definitely

21:59

would love to see that improve over the next year.

22:01

But the sizzling job market complicates the

22:04

Fed's mission, bludgeon inflation with

22:06

higher interest rates. Inflation's now

22:08

at six point five percent compared to

22:10

this time last year. Down from the June

22:12

peak of nine point one percent.

22:15

The Fed raised its benchmark rate by another

22:17

quarter point last Wednesday, its eighth

22:19

hike in eleven

22:20

months. Expect rates to go up again

22:23

in the months ahead. We will need substantially

22:25

more evidence to be confident that inflation

22:28

is on a sustained downward

22:29

path. Those latest economic developments

22:32

do little to calm millions of

22:34

Americans. Ahead of Tuesday's state

22:36

of the union address, our new CBS

22:38

news poll shows ripples of

22:40

anxiety. Six in

22:42

ten Americans believe the economy's condition

22:45

is bad. Pessimism that has been

22:47

in place over the last year. Among

22:49

all America's challenges, our poll says

22:51

the top priority lowering

22:53

inflation. Three and four people

22:55

said they worry about it the most. I

22:57

think you never fully stopped holding

22:59

your breath when you see prices going

23:02

up. Over the next year, our poll

23:04

shows roughly six in ten Americans expect

23:06

the economy to be in recession or

23:09

slowing. Many everyday Americans

23:12

are sweating this economy. Instability

23:14

generates insecurity. I think

23:16

it's kind of falling apart. We need

23:19

to rebuild it up. don't know

23:21

what the exact answer is. It's

23:23

vexing because of all the guesswork

23:26

involved, for economists, for

23:28

all of us, for face the

23:30

nation, I'm Mark Strouseman in

23:33

Atlanta,

23:34

and we'll be right back with lot more face

23:36

the nation. Stay with us.

23:41

Be sure to tune in for special coverage of president

23:43

Biden's state of the union address Tuesday,

23:45

starting at eight PM eastern on our streaming

23:47

network and nine PM on the CBS

23:50

broadcast network. We'll be right back

23:52

with Gary Cohn, who led the National Economic

23:54

Council under former president Trump.

24:05

Welcome back to Face the Nation. We want to

24:07

turn now the economy and that surprising

24:09

jobs report for the month of January were

24:11

joined by former top economic adviser

24:14

under the Trump

24:14

administration, Gary Cohn, who is now

24:16

the vice chairman of IBM. Good morning.

24:19

Good to have you back here. Thanks

24:20

for having no worry. So five hundred and

24:22

seventeen thousand new jobs but

24:25

a lot of companies particularly intact are

24:27

announcing

24:27

layoffs. So exactly where's the

24:29

economy headed? So so it's interesting.

24:31

We did see the five hundred thousand plus new

24:34

jobs was quite surprising, I think,

24:36

to many of us. But I think what we're actually

24:38

seeing here is a renormalization of

24:40

the new economy. A lot of the jobs

24:42

that we saw were jobs in the

24:45

service industry. The service

24:47

industry is coming back very strong because we're

24:49

starting to see the economy go back to

24:51

what we historically think of the economy. For

24:53

the first time, we've seen occupancy rates

24:56

in offices in major cities over

24:58

fifty percent. When you see occupancy

25:00

rates go up, you need the service

25:02

sector to work. Think about people going

25:05

back into the office. They need parking

25:07

attendants. They need people to work in the buildings.

25:09

They need security. They need people to clean the

25:11

buildings. People stop for coffee when they go

25:13

into the buildings. They go out to lunch. They go

25:15

to bars. For that

25:17

to happen, you need the service sectors

25:19

to come back to work. So the hundred and twenty eight

25:21

thousand service sector employees that came back

25:23

to work, that a hundred percent correlates

25:26

with people going back to what is the new normal.

25:28

It may not be five days a week in the office,

25:31

but it's enough days in the week in the office

25:33

where you need the service sector to come

25:35

back to work. The interesting thing

25:37

about last month's unemployment numbers

25:40

is we brought people back to work, but we

25:42

did not have to entice them with

25:44

pay. So the monthly the month

25:46

over month number in wage gains

25:49

was thirty basis points. The prior month

25:51

was forty basis points. So we're seeing

25:54

we're getting people back into the labor

25:56

force for a lower wage

25:58

than we were prior to this. And that's a

26:00

little bit hopeful for you on the inflation front. Yeah.

26:02

And I think this is natural. I think what

26:04

we've seen is after all the stimulus

26:07

that was put in the system over the last three months,

26:09

People are running out of stimulus monies. We

26:11

saw that in the fourth quarter of last year.

26:14

We saw consumer spending slowdown. We

26:16

saw a debit down design credit cards go

26:18

up. We started to see delinquencies go

26:20

up. And you know what happened? People actually

26:22

did the right thing and they went back to work. They

26:24

reengaged and they reentered the workforce.

26:27

And I think we saw a lot of that in January

26:29

numbers. Howard Bauchner: So these

26:31

more positive signs of led Bank of America, for

26:33

example, to say recession still in

26:35

the cards, but not until after after March.

26:38

I wonder what your thoughts are on that. And

26:40

as CEOs warn about borrowing

26:43

costs going up as a result of the Fed

26:45

hiking, they are tightening belts.

26:47

So how far off is this

26:49

recession? Well, we we've got a

26:51

couple of the phenomenons going on. Interest rates have

26:54

been going on. So borrowing costs have been going on for companies.

26:56

On the flip side, dollar has been weakening.

26:59

So the multinational corporations in the United

27:01

States who repatriate earnings from offshore.

27:04

Those repatriated earnings have become

27:06

more valuable. I think the people

27:08

that have been really worried about recession in

27:10

the first and second quarter of this year.

27:13

I think after what we've seen this

27:15

week with both chairman Powell's announcements

27:18

and the data in unemployment,

27:21

I think that recession is off the table

27:23

for Q1 and Q2 of this year.

27:25

We're going to get another employment

27:27

report before the next Fed meeting. And

27:29

we'll see where the economy is going. But it

27:31

does feel like we're in relatively good

27:34

shape here. The question is going to

27:36

be, how does the Federal Reserve? Handle

27:38

what's going on in the economy.

27:39

Yeah. Are we gonna continue to have

27:42

to increase wages to

27:44

draw people back in the labor force? Or

27:46

are people coming back in the labored force

27:48

because they need to and we're not

27:50

gonna have wage

27:51

inflation. If that happens, the Federal

27:53

Reserve is actually in a very good place. Let

27:55

me ask you about something the Fed chair

27:57

said this week. He said Congress has to lift

27:59

this debt ceiling. I'm throwing one of the things that could

28:01

screw up your your rosy prediction at

28:03

you. He said no one should assume

28:05

that the Fed can protect the economy from the

28:07

consequences of failing to act

28:09

in a timely manner. He's warning.

28:12

He's not making plans for a default. You're on

28:15

your own if it happens. Yes. Should

28:17

there be a plan for the Fed to step in? I mean,

28:19

I know legally it's in question here, but

28:22

I talk to people on Capitol Hill who say

28:24

Wall Street's not taking this seriously enough.

28:26

The politics are really bad around the debt ceiling.

28:29

The politics are very bad. You know, the one

28:31

thing is every American, every

28:33

American is holding

28:35

the US government to raise the debt ceiling.

28:38

The full faith in credit of the US dollar

28:40

and the US dollar being the reserved

28:42

currency is imperative to

28:45

our economic well-being as

28:47

a country. We ultimately have to

28:49

get the debt ceiling raised. That

28:51

said, what's going on here is

28:53

not something out of the ordinary. If

28:55

you look at debt ceiling raises over

28:57

the last forty or fifty years, no

29:00

matter which party is in the minority. About

29:03

fifty percent of the time, debt ceiling

29:05

razors come with some amendments attached

29:08

attached to them from the other

29:09

party. So this is quite normal,

29:11

the process that we're going through.

29:13

You don't sound overly concerned. Like,

29:16

I'm always concerned when we're dealing with that

29:18

ceiling, but I have a feeling that we

29:20

will get there in the end when we

29:22

have no other choice. You had this you had

29:24

this speaker here last week. And and he

29:26

felt confident that we would get there when

29:28

we had no other choice. The speaker met with

29:30

the president of the United States this week the two of

29:32

them came out of the meeting relatively confident.

29:35

I feel they both understand, there is

29:38

no choice. In the end of the day, we

29:40

have to raise the debt ceiling. The question

29:42

is, can the Republicans get

29:44

something in the legislation attached

29:46

to the debt ceiling legislation that they want that

29:48

they feel like is a win and the Democrats

29:51

are willing to give it to

29:51

them. Historically, that is what's happened

29:54

numerous times. Yeah. And and the risk

29:56

there is real. I wanna

29:58

ask you as well about China. Mark

30:00

Warner was here with us last week,

30:02

and he said technology competition

30:05

with China is the biggest issue

30:07

of our time. He's worried about things

30:09

that Like, your company does IBM

30:11

in terms of quantum computing. It

30:13

is enough being done to keep America competitive

30:16

on that front.

30:17

Well, we're starting.

30:19

If you look at where we've been this year,

30:22

we passed the chips Act in the United

30:24

States. Which, you know, is

30:27

is is something that's not a normal motion

30:29

for us in the United States for the federal government

30:31

to pick any shoes. And in the in the

30:33

industry and to subsidize. It it really is not normal

30:36

action. It's an action that, you know, historically,

30:38

I probably not would have been have supportive. I

30:40

was extremely supportive of

30:42

the chipset. We at IBM, we're extremely

30:44

supportive of the chipset. If we learn

30:46

nothing else from the pandemic, we

30:49

learn that there are certain goods,

30:51

that are necessity goods for this country to

30:53

have. And we are overly reliant

30:56

on places like China. And if we

30:58

don't find ways to change

31:00

the manufacturing system in the supply

31:02

chain and move it back to the United States,

31:04

where we can take care of ourselves. We

31:07

have made a a catastrophic miscalculation.

31:10

Chips are one of those areas where

31:12

we cannot depend on the rest of the world.

31:14

And run our manufacturing business and

31:16

continue to grow our economy. Pharmaceuticals

31:19

is another area where we really have

31:21

to move that industry and that manufacturing back

31:23

to the United States. So I think we really

31:25

have to evaluate what are the most

31:27

crucial and sensitive businesses

31:29

or industries that we cannot live

31:32

within the United States and we're gonna have

31:34

to make real investments in those here

31:36

in this country.

31:37

And we'll keep talking about it with legislators

31:39

of to figure out how to pass some of those laws.

31:42

But we're gonna take a quick break. And when we come

31:44

back, we'll be talking with four members of the freshman

31:46

class and the one hundred and eighteenth congress.

31:50

Joining us

31:52

now for a look at the new Congress, a

31:54

group of freshmen house members. Congressman

31:57

Robert Garcia is the president of the Democratic

31:59

freshman class. He's from the state of California.

32:02

Gentlemen next to him is New York Republican

32:04

congressman Mike Lawler. Congresswoman

32:07

Summer Lee is a Democrat, and she is

32:09

from the state of Pennsylvania. And congressman,

32:12

Zach Nunn, is a Republican, from

32:14

Iowa. So I wanna talk about some of things you all

32:16

think you can get done here in Washington. Congressman

32:19

Lawler, the former speaker Nancy

32:21

Pelosi recently told New York Times

32:23

that Democrats could have held onto

32:25

the house if New York

32:27

politicians have realized earlier on

32:30

that crime was such a key motivating issue.

32:33

In the last Congress, they agreement about four

32:36

billion in grants for local law

32:38

enforcement. Do you think that money

32:40

now needs to be accompanied by some kind

32:42

of

32:42

reform, something more on crime.

32:44

Here in Washington, there's a lot of

32:47

bipartisan support, I think, for

32:49

especially making sure that law enforcement

32:51

has the resources they need and

32:54

the training that they need to do their

32:56

jobs effectively. I

32:58

think obviously the situation in

33:00

Memphis with Tyria Nichols is

33:03

a horrifying example. But I think there's

33:05

a lot of area where we can work together

33:07

to address the rising crime and

33:09

why we are seeing such a rise

33:12

across the

33:12

country.

33:13

Like what? You have to look at what are

33:15

some of the root causes of why, you

33:18

know, we're seeing such an increase in

33:20

crime, gang activity, Obviously,

33:23

you see the scourge of fentanyl pouring

33:25

into our communities, drugs being

33:27

dealt that are having a devastating

33:30

impact. So I think there is a lot of

33:32

area where we can work together --

33:34

Mhmm. -- to address these challenges.

33:36

What about you, congressman? This is your party

33:38

in the majority four billion in grants just went

33:40

to lock local law

33:41

enforcement. Does commerce need to do anything more

33:43

to address crime? When I was chair judiciary

33:45

at the state level, Iowa moved very aggressively

33:48

after the George ployed homicide.

33:50

We immediately said that we were gonna allow our attorney

33:52

general to investigate crimes directly so

33:54

that we weren't waiting on county attorneys. We

33:57

made sure that bad law enforcement officers

33:59

couldn't be cycled through without some kind of a background

34:01

check. We made sure that we made a direct investment in

34:03

mental health across the state and made sure that our

34:05

regional, both our urban, but also our rural communities,

34:07

had access to that. And ultimately, we

34:09

also worked with our law enforcement to make

34:12

sure that law enforcement had a better relationship

34:14

with the community rather than one of conflict

34:16

There's some tangible successes we've seen at

34:18

state

34:18

levels. Let's bring those up to the federal level and make

34:20

sure they can work the same way. Howard Bauchner: So

34:22

you do want to see more. Legislation

34:24

on. Yeah. think there's absolutely more than needs to be

34:26

done this. What doesn't need to be done are what I

34:28

will call these fig leaf grants. The idea that

34:30

we can just hire more MINORITY OFFICERS

34:33

IN RURAL IOWA. THAT IS A VERY CHALLENGING

34:35

THING TO DO. WE SHOULD BE IDENTIFYING AND

34:37

WE SAW TRAGIC LEAVE AND IN MINTHUS, that

34:39

that loan is not a silver bullet solution.

34:42

We've really gotta get to the effort of, you know,

34:44

good policing, but also recognizing when there

34:46

is good law enforcement, We hold that up as partner

34:49

in a community. That's where this money could be going

34:51

and it needs to be accountable. I think far

34:53

too much of this has gone to some

34:55

major metropolitan

34:56

areas, which have seen actually crime spike

34:58

in those neighborhoods?

34:59

Howard Bauchner: Congresswoman, you said it

35:02

would be good to revive the George Floyd

35:04

Policing Act, but we're so far

35:06

past that right now. We really need to kind

35:08

of escalate the conversation faster. What do

35:10

you mean? What are you calling for? So

35:13

let me be really clear. There is a

35:15

proliferation of disinformation and bias

35:17

and conversations about crime and conversations

35:19

about policing. And to be very

35:21

clear, police violence is crime.

35:24

We cannot say that we care about crime,

35:26

but then do nothing. Choose to do nothing over

35:28

and over and over when the crime is committed by

35:30

police officer. There are statistics that

35:32

show that less than two percent of police

35:35

officers who were engaged in a misconduct are

35:37

ever indicted at all. And while we can all

35:39

celebrate that five black police officers,

35:41

right, and it let not escape us that

35:44

it was only when they were black that there

35:46

was swift action and there was a six who

35:48

was not black and there was not swift action

35:51

that we can say that Tyree should

35:53

be alive. So should Atatiana Jefferson.

35:55

So it should Antoine Rose, the second from my district.

35:58

So it should Mike Brown. So it should Rolando

36:00

Castillo, they should all be alive.

36:03

So when we're talking about crime, when we're talking about

36:05

how we're going to solve it, when I say that we

36:07

need to change the conversation, we need to acknowledge

36:09

that Public safety does not begin

36:11

with policing. Public safety begins

36:14

with investments. It begins with addressing

36:16

our own implicit and explicit biases

36:19

in policymaking, and

36:20

education, and appropriations. So

36:22

when the president talks about reviving George

36:24

Floyd, policing act, you're

36:26

saying, not as it's currently written,

36:28

you want more measures. Absolutely.

36:31

I want us to be intentional

36:33

at every step about addressing racial

36:37

bias about addressing poverty, about addressing

36:39

crime, and about addressing police violence.

36:41

think representative Lee is absolutely right. And

36:43

so I would vote the George Floyd Police Act if

36:45

it was on the floor tomorrow, but more needs to be

36:47

done. Additionally It

36:48

won't be put on the floor tomorrow until Republic

36:50

and later

36:50

Tuesday.

36:50

That's why I want to be clear also with our when our colleagues

36:53

bring up that more should be done around this issue.

36:55

The truth is that you look at places like California most

36:57

of the country. We are actually safer

36:59

today than we were fifteen, twenty,

37:02

or thirty years ago. Statistically.

37:04

And so there's a lot of concern

37:06

to run crime, and there should be, we all wanna be safe.

37:09

But I also we also gotta look at the data and actually

37:11

look at the facts. The truth is that every

37:13

single election cycle, it just seems that there is

37:15

a lot of focus on crime and

37:17

inner cities. And and the truth is

37:19

that we are for

37:20

them, we worked twenty or thirty years. there

37:21

wasn't even violent crime.

37:23

In New York State in particular, the reason there was

37:26

a focus on crime by voters is because they

37:28

didn't feel safe. You had people being pushed

37:30

in front of the oncoming subway cars. You had

37:32

people being stabbed in the street. By

37:34

the way, the vast majority of victims

37:36

of crime are black and brown people. So

37:39

to act as though it there there's

37:41

not a crime issue, I

37:43

think is is dismissing the fact

37:45

that it is serious

37:48

and people do not feel safe. And

37:50

so, yes, we need to address the

37:52

root causes of why someone may turn

37:54

towards crime or why they may find themselves

37:57

as part of a gang. But we also

37:59

need to hold people accountable with the decisions

38:01

that they make. And I think part of the problem here

38:04

is that oftentimes, it

38:06

is very easy to go

38:08

say law enforcement bad. But The

38:11

vast majority of people who are in law enforcement

38:14

are good people. I come from a a community

38:16

that has strong law enforcement presence.

38:18

Fifty percent of of households

38:20

in my district have a

38:23

cop, a firefighter, a first responder, or

38:25

a veteran in them. They're good people, and they

38:27

wanna do right by our

38:28

communities. So that's a majority of people

38:30

in poor working class neighborhoods are good people.

38:32

They are right. And they are victims of

38:33

crime. That we don't -- Say

38:35

anything about this president. -- say, we're like

38:37

you're president. There is no police presence when

38:39

they're when they're a victim of wage theft.

38:42

Thank you. We

38:42

we're not seeing anybody

38:44

in February. Just like my past legislation.

38:46

And I would like to see it happening here, but it

38:48

should be Josh T when we're talking about crown.

38:50

We're really talking about white collar crown. We're

38:52

really talking about ways in which we're going to hold corporate

38:55

criminals accountable. We're really

38:57

make taking any strides in any

38:59

level of government to do anything about

39:00

that, but we continue to talk about the crimes of desperation

39:02

and particularly the crimes in marginalized communities.

39:05

I wanna ask you about some other issues.

39:08

Immigration and border security. It

39:10

has been years and there

39:12

has been a failure to legislate

39:15

on

39:15

this. What's going to be different in a

39:17

split congress now. Do you see hope for this?

39:19

I do. I I really do. The challenge right now

39:21

is until we secure the border We have a really

39:23

poor situation where the folks who are coming here

39:25

illegally are jumping ahead of the folks who are coming

39:27

here legally. The folks who have set up shop in America

39:30

and want to be good citizens are finding themselves

39:32

outfoxed by people who are being encouraged

39:34

to come here

39:35

legally. And it's not like everybody has the chance.

39:37

It's those who can get here. Most Republicans

39:39

in this congress have been disingenuous on immigration.

39:41

I'm an immigrant. I can't know the US when I was a young

39:43

kid. I had the privilege and honor of becoming

39:45

an American in my early twenties. I am grateful

39:47

to this country. I love this

39:49

country. Immigrants love this country. They

39:51

just want an opportunity to be here, a

39:53

path with the citizenship. But

39:54

you're talking about

39:55

just program. You're talking about border security.

39:57

Right. Yeah. I mean, they're different aspects of this.

39:59

You can what part of this can get through in

40:01

this

40:01

Congress? Which piece? So I what

40:03

I would like all of you to vote. Could be. Yeah. I it's Congress.

40:06

Done. I hear what you're saying. The thing is is that,

40:08

unfortunately, we there's this myth that

40:10

Democrats somehow are concerned about a secure

40:12

border that we don't want an orderly process. But

40:15

we also want to ensure that we want

40:17

secure everybody wants to secure border, but we also

40:19

want to ensure that we're talking about the humanity of

40:21

people. These are people that are coming to this

40:23

country, that are desperate, that are suffering.

40:26

And so this idea that we can't

40:28

give these people justice, we can't support and

40:30

help them. I think he's anti American. And I

40:32

am hopeful, like some of you, I have talked to

40:34

some Republicans on the other side that have

40:36

an interest any broader immigration reform

40:38

package. And that that's something that I hope that we can all work

40:40

on. My my wife is an immigrant as

40:42

well. And she came to this country

40:45

about a decade ago in search of economic

40:47

opportunity. She comes from Eastern

40:49

Europe, a former Soviet satellite

40:52

state. The

40:54

bottom line here is this. We embrace

40:56

immigration. Alright? But

40:59

we have to have a legal process. You need

41:01

to secure the border. We need to increase

41:03

border patrol. We need to increase the number

41:05

of judges and court personnel to hear asylum

41:08

cases. Nobody should be waiting two to three

41:10

years to hear an asylum case. With the

41:12

hope that they may come back for the court hearing.

41:14

That's insane. And then we need to fix

41:16

the legal immigration process so that

41:18

people who want to come here. Mhmm. Can

41:20

do so legally and contribute to our

41:23

communities, to our culture, to our economy.

41:25

And I think there can be broad bipartisan

41:28

agreement on this if everybody is

41:30

willing to kinda give a little. Both

41:33

sides have failed on immigration -- Mhmm. -- for

41:35

years. For years. This is not one

41:37

party or the other. Both sides have failed miserably

41:40

here. And we have a situation that

41:42

is unsustainable. Wanna move on

41:44

to to governance and dead. Can I see

41:46

a show of hands? Are you all confident

41:49

that America will avoid defaulting on

41:51

its debt? Yes. Yes. I'd

41:54

like to think so. I hope so. You are you're

41:56

confident we will avoid the cliff. We

41:58

we absolutely will. The bottom line

42:00

is this. We have incurred debt

42:03

previously. We have an obligation to

42:05

pay

42:05

that. We will lift the debt ceiling. Do you

42:07

believe that some of your Republican colleagues

42:10

who have been very, in a very

42:12

different place on

42:13

this, will come along,

42:16

and that's the part I get. Absolutely. But here's

42:18

the point I would make. Over over the

42:20

past many decades. Major spending

42:22

reform has been tied to the debt

42:24

ceiling. Okay? So The White

42:26

House needs to recognize one thing. One

42:28

party rule in Washington is over.

42:30

They need to negotiate with the speaker

42:33

in good faith. To come to a

42:35

long term agreement that puts us on

42:37

the path to fiscal solvency.

42:39

Social Security, healthcare, including

42:41

Medicare, Medicaid, and then defense

42:43

are the three biggest line

42:44

items. Where do you cut? If you have to have this

42:46

conversation, where do you cut? Defense. The

42:49

reality is is that we can't keep asking the same

42:51

people to compromise over over and over. When

42:53

we talk about these conversations, we have to humanize

42:56

them. We have to be very clear what

42:58

we are proposing to cut who are going

43:00

to be impacted by

43:01

it. Well, we've actually been spending all this money

43:03

on is actually getting our country back on track. We just

43:05

went through the single largest loss of

43:07

life event in in the modern

43:09

era of our country. We lost over a million Americans.

43:12

We spent money trying to keep people alive. We

43:14

spent money trying to keep businesses afloat. We

43:16

set money to ensure that people were housed,

43:18

people that needed support. And so, yes,

43:20

we spent there was significant

43:22

spending, but it was spending to respond

43:24

to this incredible pandemic. And so

43:26

let's say you respectful and say You're saying government's

43:28

a solution for this. I'm saying states like, how are there?

43:30

But I got

43:30

people we're the solution. We're we're in the business

43:32

of

43:33

Twenty bucks

43:33

covered. It's gonna Absolutely. So so let's

43:35

-- Which was fine. -- as far as the

43:38

this this unity among Republicans around the desk feeling

43:40

the truth is there is no unity. We're not the

43:42

Democrats are you're not gonna We're not

43:45

gonna cut Medicare. Mhmm. And and so I'm interested

43:47

to know how we're gonna get to this resolution so that because

43:49

we know that this this issue at the end of

43:51

the day impacts working people the

43:53

most. So

43:53

the discretionary spending you would cut is also

43:55

in defense. It was it was

43:58

if it was up to me, we'd be raising taxes on bill on

44:01

on billionaires and corporations. That's how we'd be

44:03

getting more more more support. But I think a representative

44:05

Lee is right. I think we have to be able to look at

44:07

an institution

44:09

like the Pentagon. So let's be very clear here.

44:11

If somebody is looking for an opportunity to go

44:13

to college, they have the opportunity to serve in the military.

44:15

And it will help pay for them to have the privilege of going

44:17

to college. But I will not do to see members of the

44:19

military who are on the front line defending our very

44:21

opportunity to even go to college have

44:23

their paychecks

44:24

cut, are there opportunity to defend themselves

44:26

cut because of lackluster equipment? Well,

44:28

because there isn't a matter of price

44:30

to drink? No. That's brands

44:32

versus military. Let's humanize this.

44:35

Let's humanize. There's a difference between sending our

44:37

our troops somewhere

44:39

defenseless and then looking at

44:41

our defense budget. Right.

44:43

Which is the

44:44

highest of the next twenty countries

44:46

combined.

44:47

Right. They're not saying that we're annually forced

44:50

to defend the war. Right. That's right. Endless wars.

44:52

Well, endless

44:53

wars. But you know Speaker minority, endless

44:55

program last week said when it came

44:57

to cutting discretionary spending, actually

44:59

one of the places he would look to trim

45:02

fat, was the defense department

45:04

you

45:04

Margaret, I don't sound like you're okay with that. So

45:06

let's let's take First of all, what he did say is

45:08

take things off the table. We're gonna protect Social

45:11

Security. People have paid into that. They deserve to

45:13

have that back. Republicans are committed to that.

45:15

Let's take the Medicare that has gone

45:17

out there to make sure that people have access to the

45:19

healthcare they need to be successful off the table.

45:21

When it comes to defense spending, what I just heard

45:24

was cutting things across the board. If there's

45:26

a

45:26

review, everything should have the opportunity

45:28

to be assessed. So

45:29

you're on board. No. You're on board. Doing a cut. What

45:31

Yeah. I think I should be looking across the board. And

45:33

I would also say, here's where we have been successful

45:35

in a state like Iowa. It has the number one growth rate,

45:37

is that we don't spend more than we take in. But we

45:39

don't spend No. It's not because she asked me.

45:42

Who are we cutting? Here's here's how about we grow the

45:44

economy to begin

45:44

with? That's how we grow the economy. Had a real budget. I think

45:47

it's been a very

45:48

long time. And you have to go

45:49

line by line. And you

45:51

need these departments and agencies to justify

45:53

their spending.

45:54

They have not

45:54

had to do that

45:55

in a

45:56

very long time. We need a real budget

45:58

process as part of this negotiation. Sure. Which

46:00

takes time. We're gonna have to leave it there. Thank

46:02

you all for coming in. And I wanna thank

46:04

each and every one of you joining our panel.

46:06

Thanks, Mark Hughes.

46:07

Thanks for having us. Thanks.

46:12

That's it for us today. Thank you for watching.

46:14

For Face the Nation, I'm Margaret

46:16

Brennan. Today's guest were Republican senator

46:19

Ted Cruz of Texas Democratic senator

46:21

Cory Booker of New Jersey, former topic

46:23

economic advisor under President

46:25

Trump, Gary Cohn, and a bipartisan

46:28

panel of new members of Congress with representatives

46:30

Robert Garcia, Zach None. Somarly

46:33

and Mike Lawler. The executive

46:35

producer of Face the Nation is Mary Hager.

46:38

This broadcast was directed by Shelley

46:40

Schwartz. Face the Nation originates

46:43

in CBS News in Washington.

46:45

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