We changed regimes in egypt we cant crosstalk we hear you. 14 passionately partisan strangers. How you been, sweetie . Now, they greet each other like old friends. What has being in this group meant for you, outside of the group . I dont have access to trump voters outside of this group. So, this has helped me to understand perspectives that i would not have had access to. crosstalk they may know each other a lot better now. However their political views. Id argue that you hate liberals. I do. Have not changed. Were just never going to agree on 80 . So 20 , we need to figure out a way to come together on. Im steve kroft. Im lesley stahl. Im scott pelley. Im anderson cooper. Im oprah winfrey. Im bill whitaker. Those stories, tonight, on 60 minutes. Each day justin chooses to walk. At work. And after work. He does it all with dr. Scholls. Only dr. Scholls has massaging gel insoles that provide allday comfort. To keep him feeling more energized. Dr. Scholls. Born to move. So i trust nature made vitamins. Health and life. Because they were the first to be verified by usp for quality and purity standards. And because i recommend them as a pharmacist. Nature made, the 1 pharmacist recommended vitamin and supplement brand. And with ancestrydna liveson sale for just 69, now is the time to discover yours. You can find out where you get. Your precision. Your grace. Your drive. And now, with more than 150 ethnic regions to connect to, only ancestrydna can put your greatness on full display. Save 30 now at ancestrydna. Com. Tonight, White House Correspondent margaret brennan, on assignment for 60 minutes. Brennan Rex Tillerson admits he was an unconventional choice for secretary of state. He had no prior government experience, but as c. E. O. Of exxonmobil, he had crisscrossed the globe, striking deals with foreign leaders. Secretary tillerson, a man who still considers himself a boy scout, and follows what he calls the code of the west, is fiercely private, and has shied away from interviews. But he agreed to do a rare, wideranging one with us. With the olympics underway and north korea very much on his mind, he talked to us about what may be the toughest deal he will ever work on. In his new years day speech, kim jongun said the entire area of the u. S. Mainland is within our Nuclear Strike range. Thats got to make you nervous. Rex tillerson it does make us nervous. It it also it also stiffens our resolve. That kind of a threat to the American People by a regime like this is not acceptable. And the president s meeting his responsibilities as commander in chief of asking our military, secretary mattis at the defense department, to ensure we are prepared for anything. Brennan and those military options are there in case you fail. Tillerson in case i fail. I say to my chinese counterpart, you and i fail, these people get to fight. Thats not what we want. Brennan but you are willing to work with, and potentially negotiate with kim jongun. Tillerson well, thats who we will have to work with to achieve this diplomatically. What we have to determine now is are we even ready to start . Are they ready to start . And if theyre not, well just keep the Pressure Campaign underway and we will increase that pressure. And we are doing that every month. There are new sanctions rolled out. The world wants north korea to change. Brennan well, theres some questions about how badly china wants them to change. Youve really needed their help to put economic pressure on kim jongun. What reassurances have you given to china so that they actually follow through . Tillerson what i think we got a common understanding with china is that north korea represents a serious threat to china as well. And weve been very clear with them, that they are going to have an Important Role to play once we get to the negotiating table. Brennan so, i hear you saying there, these wouldnt be oneonone talks. China would be at the table. Tillerson early on, they might be oneonone discussions for the u. S. First and north korea to determine, is there a reason to begin to put the construct for negotiations in place. Brennan what is the carrot that youre dangling for north korea, to convince them to talk . Tillerson were not using a carrot to convince them to talk. Were using large sticks. And that is what they need to understand. This Pressure Campaign is putting is having its bite on north korea, its revenue streams. Its having a bite on its military programs. Brennan but to say full denuclearization, why would they agree to give up something theyve already got, that they think is an insurance policy . Tillerson because it buys them nothing. It buys them more of being the hermit kingdom, isolated, isolated from the world diplomatically, isolated from the world economically. Brennan senator bob corker, chairman of Senate Foreign relations committee, said every one of us should pray Rex Tillerson and jim mattis are successful over the course of the next eight to ten months, diplomatically, or our nation is going to be facing one of the greatest military decisions that we face. Eight to ten months. Thats how much time you have to get this done . Tillerson im going to use all the Time Available to me. Our diplomatic efforts will continue until that first bomb drops. My job is to never have a reason for the first bomb to drop. And we dont know precisely how much time is left on the clock. Brennan you seem to have convinced the president that diplomacy is the way to go on this, but it wasnt always so clear. Back in october, you said you were working to get a dialogue going with the North Koreans, and the president tweeted, rex, stop wasting your time trying to negotiate with little rocket man. Have you asked him not to call him little rocket man . laughter is that a diplomatic term . Tillerson the president s going to the president s going to communicate the way he communicates. My job as chief diplomat is to ensure that the North Koreans know, we keep our channels open, im listening. Im not sending a lot of messages back, because theres nothing to say to them at this point. So, im listening for you to tell me youre ready to talk. Brennan how will you know . Tillerson they will tell me. They will tell me. Brennan that explicitly . Tillerson we receive messages from them, and i think it will be very explicit as to how we want to have that first conversation. Whats the latest . Brennan as we saw during this meeting with top aides about the crisis in yemen, the whole world is now his portfolio. Tillerson i think i saw some reports of further missile attacks. Brennan but Rex Wayne Tillerson comes from a family of modest means in north texas. He was named after actors rex allen and john wayne, because his parents loved westerns. We actually have a photo of you back in your boy scout uniform. I understand you rose to eagle scout . Tillerson yes. Brennan so how old were you here . Tillerson i think i was 14 when that was taken. Brennan you look very proud. Tillerson i am very proud. laughs and was very proud. I still am. Brennan i can tell. I mean, boy scouts, you reference it a fair amount. That played a big, formative role in your life. Tillerson it really shaped who i am. Brennan you still think of yourself as a boy scout . Tillerson yes. Brennan really . Tillerson absolutely. Brennan you dont get to be the c. E. O. Of exxon mobile as a boy scout. Tillerson i did. Brennan you talked a lot about something that you call the code of the west. What does that mean . Tillerson well, you know, the code of the west, as the west was unfolding, there wasnt a lot of law enforcement, and people basically relied upon each others word. And my word is my bond. And ive used that throughout my life as well, even at exxon mobil. I would sit down with the head of state for that country, or the c. E. O. Of that company, and wed look each other in the eye. And id say, all i need to know is that youre going to live up to your side of this deal. And i give you my word ill live up to my side of this deal. And then, a lot of the code of the west was, people were very loyal to their organizations. And the phrase, riding for the brand is a phrase thats always stuck with me, that brennan riding for the brand . Tillerson riding for the brand. When a cowboy signed on to a ranch or or to that organization, he was committed to that organization. Brennan and what is the brand for you now . Tillerson the state department of the United States government. The American People are my brand. Brennan so, one leader you hadnt met before december of 2016 was donald trump. Tell me what that First Encounter was like. Tillerson we met in his office in trump tower. And he just began by asking me, you know, i want you to just kind of talk about how how you see the world. So we just we walked around the world for about an hour. And then after that, he kind of went into a little bit of a sales pitch with me, and said, i want you to be my secretary of state. And i was stunned. Brennan you didnt know it was a Job Interview . Tillerson no, i didnt. I didnt. I i thought it was just i was going up just to talk to him and share with him, which ive done with previous president s. I did with president obama, i did with president bush. So i really thought thats all it was. laughs brennan do you have any sense of what you were getting yourself into . Tillerson so, by and large, i did. Brennan youve won some policy arguments. When it came to keeping troops in afghanistan. You prevented the president , in some ways, from tearing up the iran nuclear deal, like you said he was going to do. You lost a few arguments too. The paris climate agreement, the president exited. The transpacific trade partnership, you cautioned against ripping up a deal america had committed to, and you cautioned against moving the u. S. Embassy to jerusalem on the timeline they laid out. Do you think thats a fair accounting of your record . Tillerson i think the American People have won, with the decisions the president has taken. And its not about agreeing or disagreeing. Because hes hes the decision maker. Brennan tell me what its like to work in an administration where the u. S. Has walked away, or threatened to walk away, from a number of commitments. That has to be hard for someone who believes in the code of the west. Tillerson well, some of those, i think its important to keep in mind what the level of commitment was. We have agreements that the Congress Never had the opportunity to weigh in on. And so, President Trump was elected by the American People, and many of these were issues that he ran on. Reporter white house officials have said that you are going to be pushed out. Brennan in the past year, tillerson spent a lot of time denying that he was being outflanked by others in the president s inner circle, and that he was either going to resign or be fired. Tillerson thats ridiculous. Brennan . After reports he called the president a moron. Brennan why didnt you deny calling the president a moron . Tillerson you know, thats a really old question. Brennan you understand that by not answering the question, some people thought you were confirming the story. Tillerson i think ive answered the question. Brennan you think you answered the question. Tillerson ive answered the question. Brennan did you call the president a moron . Tillerson im not going to dignify the question. We got so many bigger issues that we could be talking about. Im not from this town. I understand this town likes to talk about a lot of things that are really not important. Brennan do you think you have enemies in this town . Tillerson i dont know. Brennan where do you think those reports came from . That you were resigning, or being fired . Tillerson i i i have no idea where they come from. I really dont. And i dont give it much thought. Brennan i mean, you walk into Ministry Meetings and reporters are shouting, sir, when are you resigning . Tillerson i never hear those questions. laughs you know, the only person that knows whether im resigning or not is me. Brennan so, one of the other challenges that you have here is sometimes the president s message doesnt jive with your own. I think youd acknowledge that. Tillerson well, as i said, the president communicates in his own style, his own way, his own words. And from time to time, i i will ask him, are you changing the policy . Because if we are, obviously, i need to know, and Everyone Needs to know. Brennan well, you wouldve thought hed talk to you about changing the policy before he tweeted. Tillerson and and to finish the thought, that has never happened. Every time ive talked to him, he says, no, the policy hasnt changed. And i say let then im good. laughs thats all i need to know. I thought today wed just have a chat. Brennan within the ranks of the state department, there have been complaints that secretary tillerson is dismantling american diplomacy by embracing major budget cuts, and being slow to fill crucial jobs. Brennan there are 41 embassies without confirmed ambassadors, and thats even in places where there are crises. No ambassador in south korea, saudi arabia, in turkey. How do you explain that . Tillerson well, theres been no dismantling at all of the state department. Weve got terrific people, both Foreign Service officers, civil servants, that have stepped into those roles around the world brennan on an interim basis. Tillerson and have stepped in here. It is an interim basis. So clearly, it is not with the same kind of support that i wish everyone had. But our Foreign Policy objectives continue to be met. Brennan but some of these dont even have nominees. I mean, 41 embassies without ambassadors in them. Tillerson well, some of these are in the process. Its not a question of people being, are neglecting the importance of it. Its just the nature of the process itself. Brennan youve said you had a very close relationship with vladimir putin. Youve done huge deals with him. Photos of you toasting him with champagne. And all that closeness raised eyebrows. It even inspired a saturday night live skit. Did you ever see that skit . Tillerson i did. My kids pointed me to it. Putey . Oh, my god rexy, baby zadida brennan did you laugh . Tillerson absolutely. Absolutely. I laughed out loud. Brennan it made light, though, of of this concern that you have a friendship with vladimir putin, and that because of that, you and the president arent going to hold him to account. Tillerson the relationship that i had with president putin spans 18 years now. It was always about, what could i do to be successful on behalf of my shareholders, how russia could succeed. Brennan how different was it walking into the kremlin as secretary of state . Tillerson it was different. Because and i had to think very, very carefully about that, and the only thing i said to him was mr. President , same man, different hat. Brennan but the dynamic changed. Tillerson the dynamic changed because the issues were different. What he is representing is different than what i now represent. And i and i said to him, i now represent the American People. And and i think it was important that that be said right up front. And he clearly got, i mean, he clearly understood that as well. Brennan but since youre secretary of state now, youve accused him of violating Nuclear Arms Control agreements, of cheating on north korea sanctions, letting assad continue now to use chlorine gas chemical weapons on civilians. He doesnt seem to be particularly concerned about the warnings youre giving him. Tillerson well, i dont know. Well see if hes concerned or not. Brennan there were six chlorine gas attacks in the past 30 days. Tillerson thats correct. And we have called them out for the fact that russia has special responsibilities, in our view, because of commitments they made, to destroy chemical weapons and ensure they knew that there were none. Brennan that sounds a lot like the last administration. That doesnt sound very different. Tillerson well, when it comes to killing people with chemical weapons, it shouldnt look any different. I think the only difference is the consequences for it, and President Trump has already demonstrated there will be consequences. Brennan does that mean military action is still on the table . Tillerson as it was brennan for chlorine gas attacks . Tillerson as it was in april last year, we are serious about our demands that chemical weapons not become regularized or normalized as a as a weapon in any conflict. Brennan why not implement the sanctions that Congress Overwhelmingly says they want to see put on russia . Tillerson we have and we are. Weve taken steps that have already prevented a number of Russian Military sales as a result of the legislation. And we are evaluating additional individuals for for possible sanctioning. Brennan so, now we are under time constraint. Near the end of our interview, we were interrupted by a phone call from the president. Tillerson be right back. Brennan afterwards, the secretary took us out for a brief stroll on his terrace, before heading to the white house. Brennan how often do you talk to the president . Tillerson we typically will try to talk every day, even if its only for a few minutes. A lot of times, ill call from the the road when im on a trip, just to let him know how its going. Brennan Rex Tillerson enjoys the view from the top of the state department. He seems to be one of the few people in washington not surprised hes still here. If i believe the press reports that came out about you in the past year, you would not be sitting here talking to me as the secretary of state. It seems like reports of your political death were premature . Tillerson well, i hope with this little bit of exchange weve had, you understand the man better. Thats why im still here. Those things dont bother me. Im here to serve my country. I committed to this president. My word is my bond. I ride for this brand. Thats why im here. And nothing anybody else says is going to change that. Cbs money watch sponsored by lincoln financial, helping you protect those you love most. Quijano good evening. T