Here. Good morning. Thanks for having me. Senator, were 49 days away from the election. You serve as chairman of the Senate Select committee on intelligence. From that seat, what is the biggest threat to our president ial election in terms of foreign interference . I think first we have to break up foreign interference into two categories. One is meddling in the architecture and mechanics of the election. And then the other is sort of the messaging, sort of the psychological operations and warfare design to get us the divide against each other. Let me talk about the second one for a moment, in terms of putting out messages and the like, thats year around. What their adversaries do is look at all the preexisting fractures in our society and seek to push on that. On social media, what youre seeing is that theyre using theyll create a website somewhere. They may even hire americans to write on that website and put that out there as real news content. So, thats an ongoing challenge. And thats year around all the time. I think thats going to continue to be developing over the years to come. And the theory behind it is if you get a country to fight against each other internally, which we do a pretty good job of by ourselves, maybe the drive that, it weakens that country and society overtime. Thats the first part. The second and its related to the first is can i mess with the elections. A lot of people think is can i go in and change votes . Thats probably the hardest thing for them to do to influence the outcome of the election. More concerning to me is the situation where you could get into a countys election system, delete a bunch of voters from the voter rolls and do it strategically so all the voters are from a party. Pick a Democratic Party where democratic Election Officials but republicans are the ones when they show up to vote arent allowed. Even though you get a provisional ballot and the vote will get counted, the narrative will get out that republicans werent allowed to vote or vice versa. If its a close operation, you use your influence operation to promote the narrative that in certain parts of the country in certain counties, partisan Election Officials were prevents democrats or republicans or people from a certain ethnic or racial make up from voting, all of that designed to create chaos and questions about the legitimacy of the election. That would be their dream. That would be the biggest achievement that any adversary has ever scored against in an election cycle is to bring us to the point where people honestly believe, have the country believes, that the person whos going to be sworn in was not legitimately elected. Its a grave threat to our republic. And its you know, the way i tell people is think about the 2000 election but on steroids. And, you know, but 50 times worse than that, breaking out in multiple places. And it wont be about hanging chads. Itll be about whether somebody was cheating on purpose. Its a deep concern and there are multiple adversary who is have the capability to do it and at least three who have the intent to do it to some level. You mentioned fake websites and fake accounts being created. Facebook recently removed some of those things that were created by russian operatives. What new can you share in this final lap of the campaign about what russia is up to in terms of meddling . Well, i think its evolved beyond that and its evolved beyond russia. Its not just about a fake account where its a plot that has a name on it and a facebook accountment im talking about you create a website. You create some news agency of some sort on the internet and it really is promoted and sponsored by a state. And then you hire some americans who wittingly or unwittingly use it to write up storys that look like news reports. And then you get people to organically spread it online as real news. And that spreads. So, i think that is thats one of the challenges that all of us need to be aware of. Just because it looks like a News Organization doesnt necessarily become one. But, you know, weve reached a point now where its very difficult to distinguish, and ill be frank, and with all due respect, a lot of americans view them as places to promote narratives, not places to promote news stories. So, its a huge muddle where people are naturally drawn to reports, to news, to stories that further their preexisting notions and affirm your preexisting beliefs and become attractive tif for people to read articles even if its a source youve never heard of, to read articles that confirm your preexisting bias on politics. Thats an ongoing threat, but its one that i think were going to see in sort of a difference from what weve seen in the past. Is the russian government stoking Racial Division at this time on social media . Yeah, i dont think theres any doubt that russia, iran, china, particularly iran and russia in this case, are constantly in search of what are fractures . What are things that get americans to fight against each other. It helps them on two fronts. It helps them by weakening us internally. They figure the more were at each others throat in this country, the less capable we are of governance around the world. It also helps russia and iran domestically where they say these are the people that are lecturing about democracy and freedom, theyre chaos. Theyre destroying each other. This is what socalled democracy at least their version of it, western version of it, looks like. So, its a twofer. It helps them by weakening us and helping them geopolitically. But it also helps them domestically by saying our system of government is better than the american system because look whats happening over there. They have riots. Theyre incapable of doing anything. Theyre fighting with each other all the time. Theres no doubt if theres anything thats deeply divisive in america, they dont createite it they will do everything they can to drive it. Beyond russia, youve mentioned, china and iran, weve done a lot of coverage of russian interference, some on chinese interference. Can you share any specifics to help us learn more about the extent of chinese interference in the election . I think when it comes to china, i would look at their tactics and their goals are a little different. Chinas goal ultimately, i dont have any doubt in my mind, that china doesnt want donald trump to be reelected. I think the measure that against a concern that their involvement is revealed, they will that would be counterproductive for them. But ultimately, chinas approach to this, and its not new theyve lobbied for years. Using american corporations and big begun us interest in china, they unleashed them on the american political process. And they use leverage to in that regard, but the chinese goal ultimately is to try to influence american policy towards chinas preferred position. That could eventually extend to going after individual candidates in an election. It takes all sorts of forms, from punishing a Congressional District that would trade measures all the way they have the capability of doing everything russia does and more so. They have hacked and leak capabilities, you can see that you can foresee them using that one day. China hardliners and what have you. They certainly have the ability to do it, its just a question of, and we really wouldnt see the intent to do it probably until after its been done. But they have the capability to do everything russia does, and more capabilities than russia in many cases. Certainly more capability than iran, and its just a question of deciding how far they want to go because i do think not that theyre more measured, but because they worry more about backlash if their hand is revealed. They can be more cautious. They were aggressive, we probably wouldnt know about it till after the fact. Senator rubio, ive been reading many of your speeches, theres a common this phrase common good capitalism. If you took this phrase, and applied it to you work as chairman of the intelligence committee. Side should social Media Companies like facebook be more regulated, with all of these threats from abroad . Thats a great question, because its a new question. Are they a publisher, or are they a content site . I think they have and thats a good question. Heres the problem, heres the complexity that it raises. What is the fine line between foreign interference, and narratives on social media that are domestic . But that may not be true . The truth of the matter is, as an american, the First Amendment does give you the right to say things that are not true. Obviously there are limits to that, if its going to cause a panic or cause people to hurt each other, the proverbial sea screaming fire in a movie house. But that said, the problem now becomes, when you start going after the speech of political figures because they dont agree with their political narrative, then it gets complicated. So its a tough issue to talk about. I certainly think that eventually its going to grapple with. My view of it is, for the most part they have tried to be aggressive about going after some more than others. Facebook has been more aggressive of identifying foreign sources, of false information, and trying to illuminate them from those platforms. Whether regulation will make it closer, is something im always cautious about because im not sure in the end we can define or closely regulate how that content is dealt with. I would much prefer to enter with a collaborative compact with them, that clearly delineates the difference between domestic political speech, and foreign efforts to interfere with spread of propaganda. I dont have a this is a 21st century issue. And a tough one to work through. I do think however that, social Media Companies are going to get into the business of being publishers, where theyre going to headed out information they want in. And then they should be treated as a publisher, including for purposes of liability. So its something were going to have to grapple with, i dont have all the answers on it. I certainly recognize the problem i think for making some headway on some spots. You brought up just now, the challenges on the domestic front. Which are happening in your own state, this qanon Conspiracy Theory, i was reading an article the other day. International university in your set state, said the Latino Community in florida is dealing with an onslaught of issues relating to this qanons conspiracy that spreading around florida. Are you alarmed about that in your state . More broadly, in the u. S. . I would say two things, the first is i dont think that those conspiracy theories have anything to do with the outcome. In many cases, the things that are being promoted out there all they are doing as i said a few minutes ago, they are reaffirming peoples preexisting positions on politics. As far as conspiracies are concerned, and this one in particular yes its ridiculous. Its stupid to some extent and very dangerous. One thing is, to see these things out there and take it for what it is. Another is you have someone who already has some challenges, and then sees this stuff out there and decides to take action and someone could get hurt. That part im concerned about very much, my deeper concern is that we are a society and a country in which people are vulnerable to the sort of thing. At the core of every Conspiracy Theory is fear, the fear that fear is what drives it. And weve reached this point of fear and insecurity in our country, where people are likelier to believe some ridiculous Conspiracy Theory, then they are what they see reported or what the leaders tell us. It really is our warning to both leaders and those to report to news and how important it is that they do Everything Possible to build up, and protect, and secured their credibility. For those of us in public service, and for those of us who report on our work. Because in the absence of it, you do leave a section of our population vulnerable to what could in some cases be very dangerous. In some cases stupid, but in many other cases very dangerous conspiracy theories that could lead in an already deranged person to take violent action against someone because they believe that person is a pedophile, or is running us child sex ring or something along those lines. Senator rubio i, one more question here on election security. You have seen this complaint, a whistleblower complaint from a senior dhs official saying that, in short. He was pressured by the white house by the dhs, to stop providing intelligence analysis on the threat of russian interference. You are here in this interview today, having a candid conversation about interference. As chairman of the intelligence committee, have you ever heard about the white house, or acting secretary wolf dhs pressuring officials are analyst, to not say certain things on russian interference . No. I havent, i havent seen it in the reporting either. All the work done by all of the agencies. Pretty straightforward, and to the point on all of these things. Including the public to disclosure about mr. And been enough, identified by many. And sanctioned in ukraine, that said there is a process in the law for how a whistleblower whistleblower complaint is handled, when its revealed to congress. The committee who has jurisdiction, in our case the intelligence matter, we have a process for handling it. Weve already gotten that process as i said, we will handle it the way we would handle any whistleblower complaint that comes forward. Were going to take it seriously, were gonna run it by the book, our staff is already working on. It will get to the end conclusion on it after weve done that work, so will treat any whistleblower complaint that way. And that process has already begun. Lets turn back to this pet tension between the free market conservatism, that shaped the early part of your career and still does to some extent. And your new focus on china. When you speak about this idea of common good capitalism, and you look at the pandemic. Should the u. S. Be doing more to ask pharmaceutical companies and ppe manufacturers to produce goods and products in the United States . First of all, i think the final question is, why do we have a market and an economy. The purpose of our country, and our people to serve the market and economy. Or is the purpose of the economy and market to serve the people. I think the answer self obvious. The economy is the means, the ends are the wellbeing of our country. Im a supporter of Free Enterprise and capitalism, because i believe it is the best system to deliver the best results for our people. And for our country and for the come on common good of our nation. That said, i recognize that the free market one of the things i love about Free Enterprise, it would always reach the most sufficient outcome. It will allocate capital to the most sufficient use. And oftentimes, thats a great benefit to the United States of america. Every now and then, it is not. It is not in the best interest of our country, the most efficient use a capitalist to make pharmaceuticals and china, or to make certain manufacturing combats happening overseas. Thats not always in the best interest of the United States of america. Its not in our best interest to depend on china, or any other country for that matter, for an overwhelming percentage of the active pharmaceutical in key ingredients in our generic medicines. Or personal protective agreement. I would its not in our best interest to or are manufacturing an installation capabilities and telecommunications. In those instances, and which the most efficient outcome is not in the best interest of our country, that is where the government has an obligation, in my view, to create incentives for the private market and for Free Enterprise to do that activity within the United States. Sometimes that best interest is because of national security, sometimes that best interest is because of the jobs that industry creates are the kinds of jobs that allow people to raise a family and have strong communities, that they are part of, and thats good for the country to. But senator rubio lets say you have these tax breaks, or incentives for companies, pharmaceutical companies the stain United States. And working american says why do these Companies Get enormous tax breaks now, in my Small Business doesnt get those same kind of tax breaks. Well again, not necessarily geared towards a large company. For example, one of the things weve tried to do through my chairmans ship in the Small Business committee. Is find ways for more of our fta programs to be about making a possible for smaller, and new companies to enter that space and create competition. But i would argue those incentives are already in place. There are laws, incentivize Large Businesses to do things. We have for example, incentivize them to move manufacturing overseas. And then schiff things back into the United States for this free trade agreement, and very low prices. So may goods less somewhere else, and send them into the United States for sale. Were already have incentives, im just saying the incentives are the wrong ones. If were going to incentivize behavior behavior it should be a behavior thats good for americans on american jobs. Because thats whats going to help our country be stronger, our communities be stronger. I absolutely believe that there is a role to play, for example, by modernizing as i try to do what were trying to do, through reauthorization of the Small Business administration. Into a 21st Century Agency that tries to create a pasta way to help smaller and new Company Center those spaces where they can provide either as their primary manufacturer, primary company, or as a sub crime subcontractors to the Larger Company involved in that deal. Senator rubio, youve made china a real concentration, the u. S. Ambassador to china, terry branstad, who youve known over the years. Hes stepping down, who should be the next ambassador, and should it be