Battleground, President Biden and former President Trump both campaigned in georgia saturday night, a state that in the last president ial race went blue for the first time in nearly 30 years. I really want to do it again. 70 miles north of bines event, trump said it was not fair to compare him to his opponent. Two very unpopular people are running for office. Why am i unpopular . I just knocked off 12 people in the quickest time that its ever happened. That opponent still wigds riding a wave of positive reviews leaned in to a tougher approach in the israelhamas conflict privately vowing a come to jesus talk with Prime Minister netanyahu. He must, he must pay more attention to the innocent lives being lost as a consequence of the actions taken. Hes hurting, in my view, hes hurting israel more than helping israel and i think its a big mistake, so i want to see a ceasefire. Will it call for a sixweek ceasefire to start with be enough for the progressives in his party . Well ask vermont senator Bernie Sanders. Well talk with House Democratic leader hakeem jeffries. Then, could americans dim assessment of the economy finally be looking up . Well hear from gary cohn, a former trump economic adviser. Senate Intelligence Committee chairs mark warner and marco rubio join us to discuss the worldwide threats facing america. Its all just ahead on face the nation. Good morning. Welcome to face the nation. We are coming off a big week in politics, but there are challenges ahead, particularly with the war between israel and hamas reaching a critical point, as the holy month of ramadan begins. We turn to the crisis in the middle east and renewed fears of violence in jerusalem. I dop want to note that we have an extensive bipartisan conversation with the chairs of the senate Intelligence Committee that will be coming up in a moment. Were going to begin with senator Bernie Sanders from burlington, vermont. Good morning to you, senator. Good morning. You have long been a critic of israels Prime Minister benjamin netanyahu. The other night President Biden was heard on a hot mic after the state of the Union Address saying he has to have a come to jesus talk with netanyahu about letting humanitarian aid in to gaza. Have you spoken to Presidnt Biden about whether hes had this conversation . If he hasnt, what is he waiting for . If he already had it, has it made any difference . Ive spoken to people very high up in this administration. Heres the bottom line, margaret. What we are seeing in gaza today is literally an unprecedented crisis. Its not just that 30,000 people, twothirds of them are women and children, have already been killed. We are looking at the possibility of hundreds of thousands of children starving to death. The United States of america cannot be complicit in is mass slaughter of children, so it is one thing to talk to netanyahu, to pressure netanyahu, but here is the bottom line. Year after year, we have provided billions of dollars to military aid to the government of israel. Right now you have a right wing extremist government under netanyahu. There are plans to provide him with another 10 billion in unfettered military aid. What you can say to netanyahu, stop the slaughter, allow the massive amounts of humanitarian aid that we need to come in to feed the children, please, please, please, by the way, if you dont do it, heres another 10 billion to continue the war. Yeah. We have written a letter to the president. It turns out that israel is in violation of the law. Stopping American Humanitarian aid is in violation of the law. That should be clear. No more money to netanyahus war machine to kill palestinian children. You said israel is in violation of the foreign assistance act, as have a handful of other democratic senators. They may be in violation of the leahy act. The presidt himself has the National Security powers to suspend. Do you really think, though, in a president ial election year, that the president of the United States would halt or pause or condition aid to one of the closest allies in the middle east . Well, i think it is the right thing to do. You be cant beg netanyahu. You have to tell him if you want any money, you have to change your policy. Allow the trucks to come in to feed the children. By the way, in terms of politics. Yeah. Which is secondary in my mind to this issue, the truth is whether youre a conservative, republican or progressive, you do not want to see children in palestine starve to death. I think its good politics and the moral and right thing to do. Do you stand by your view that a full ceasefire with hamas is unrealistic because that terror group seeks to destroy israel . Look, what you have what you need right now is a ceasefire tomorrow so that the trucks, the massive amount of humanitarian aid can come in to feed the people who are starving. But you have hamas is dedicated to destring israel. You have the netanyahu government which is designted to destroying hamas. At the end of the day hamas cannot be continuing to run gaza and netanyahu government cannot continue to run israel if were going to ever bring peace to that region. But a temporary ceasefire is sufficient for you . To feed the children right now is what weve a got to exactly do. Yesterday, President Biden was asked about israels plans to launch an operation into the Southern City of rafah in southern gaza. Listen to what he said. Would invasion of rafah, which you have urged him not to do, would that be a red line . It is a red line, but im never going to leave israel. The defense of israel is still critical. Theres no red line im going to cut off all weapons so they dont have the iron dome to protect them. Theres red lines that if you cross, you cannot have 30,000 more palestinians dead. Was that clear to you in terms of where that red line is, and what do you make of it . Look, margaret, 1. 7 mill been palestinians, 80 of their population, have been driven from their homes and displaced. Many of them end up in rafah. To go in there and displace them again and start a Major Military campaign would be an unmitigated disaster. So my view is, of course, we cannot support an attack of that kind on rafah. Bottom line is, though, netanyahu has got to be told no more money for his war machine unless there is humanitarian aid coming in to feed the people. That will be in the hands at the moment of the house of representatives, which hasnt scheduled a vote. On the politics of this, more than 100,000 voters in michigan went uncommitted to protest mr. Bidens policy. In the state of minnesota in the recent primary there, you saw a similar boycott, almost 20 went uncommitted. Given your moral objections, your personal issues here, can you n good conscience, ask your supporters to vote for mr. Biden . Look, the contrast that i think President Biden made very clear in his state of the Union Address, if you believe the Climate Change is real, you have to vote for President Biden. If you believe that women have a right to control their own bodies, you have to vote for President Biden. If you think that a time of massive income and wealth inequality, you dont give trillions of dollars in tax breaks to the 1 , you have to vote for biden. If you want to lower the cost of prescription drugs you have to vote for biden. If you believe in democracy and involving people in the process rather than keeping people from voting you have to vote for biden. Youre saying progressives need to put this aside . We have to come not put it aside. The fight continues to change bidens policy in gaza, but the contrast between biden and trump is day and night. The election of trump would be a disaster for this country, and in my view the world. We have to come together, reelect biden, but at the same time we have to demand that we have a progressive agenda, where we have an economy that works for all, not just a few. Youre standing by your endorsement of mr. Bidens election, despite the current policy . Well, no, i am not supporting mr. Trump. No, no, no. Mr. Biden. The election of trump yes, thats right. Senator Bernie Sanders, thank you for your time this morning. Thank you. Tomorrow the senate Intelligence Committee will hold their annual worldwide threats hearing. We sat down for a bipartisan conversation with chairs mark warner and marco rubio thursday, just before the state of the Union Address, to discuss some of the challenges facing america today. Through the u. S. National security lens, how concerned are you about the rising risk to u. S. Interests in the middle east because of the close alliance with israels war in gaza . I think its a mistake to view october 7 lts simply through the lens of a palestine hamas question. The broader native, the broader objective that iran has to drive the u. S. Out of the region. It is why theyre conducting attacks in iraq and syria, they want a u. S. Troop presence out of the region completely. Should it stay . Huh . Do you believe 2500 troops in the region should stay . Sth i do. Theyre not only there on a counter isis mission, but the reason iran wants us out of there we are stationed at key points that tie damascus and baghdad and all these that iran wants to dominate. If we were gone these proxy groups would be at the border of jordan, be able to threaten jordan and israel as a result. But i am concerned whether its hezbollah in the north of israel, whats happening in gaza, whether its whats happening with yemen, the risk of conflict is very real. Its a dangerous and tenuous situation. No doubt about it. President biden is reviewing whether to keep those troops in iraq. I will be anxious to see what he says. Do you think they should stay in. Terms of current basis, yes. President biden wants to establish a port in gaza to try to bring humanitarian aid in. Its not exactly clear the cost, the u. S. Military role. Do you think that is a good decision . The United States has been the largest single donor to humanitarian efforts for years in the region, and i think it is important that we continue to show that. I mean the airlift approach is more symbolic than actually getting relief to most folks. I think the right thing to do in terms of as we go into ramadan, lowering some of the tension, but showing americas concern for humanitarian costs in the region. I would add one thing to this, its important to understand why. Everybody is in favor of helping innocent civilians caught in the crossfire of any conflict. Its important to understand why aid cant get to them. Hamas has built a system of tunnels. Its expensive. I dont care if they got a deal on the concrete its expensive to build the tunnels. Millions of dollars. Thats money that could have gone to create an economy, feed people, serve civilians. They didnt do it. Theres real concern and legitimate reason to believe that any aid that goes in will be grabbed by hamas and used for their purposes at the expense of the civilian population. Hamas has a track record of zero when it comes to caring about the lives of civilians or society in general. You know that u. S. Ambassador David Satterfield who is handling that, has said in written letters to congress they have no evidence that hamas is stealing the aid. Certainly not defending hamas at all, but saying that aid can continue to be pushed into gaza without hamas stealing it. The issue is i will respond personally. I dont know what hes talking about. Hamas does not have an economy. Everything hamas gets comes from abroad from iranians and what they take. The evidence is in place that they have existed as an organization without any means of generating revenue other than what they are able to capture. Thats common sense. Now with the aid getting in now i think the food and water and other relief aid you have to make sure you have a distribution system. I agree with ambassador satterfield. Lets step back, this tunnel network, which is close to 500 kilometers, i dont think any of us fully expected that. They have been able to secure that. The fact that we are 140 days roughly into this invasion, i think most of us, even in the region, thought the Israeli Defense forces would be able to take out hamas. 140 days in. They basically have taken out only about 35 of the hamas fighters. They really have only penetrated less than a third of the tunnel network. We brought in some of our experts to say if this was us trying to take out this tunnel network, could we do it quicker, more efficiently . Candidly the answer was, maybe we can be a bit faster, but when hamas is gruesomely holding the hostages to prevent some of the take out of the tunnels this is one of the lessons, this and the lesson of drones in ukraine, are two of the things in terms of military doctrine we have to learn from both of these conflicts. When benjamin netanyahu, the Prime Minister, says total victory is within reach, weeks away, you are not describing total victory within weeks. I have not youre saying the impact is tiny. Meetin with folks in israel in the military community, in the intelligence community, the idea that youre going to eliminate every hamas fighter, i dont think is a realistic goal. And you agree with that . I think that it is possible to achieve a situation in which hamas does not have the capability to do what they did on october 7th. That doesnt mean hezbollah doesnt step in and take over. That doesnt mean a new hamas offshoot wouldnt be recreated. This is an ongoing challenge. The head of this entire snake is the iranian regime. They provide the weaponry and funds. Theres no hamas fighter starving to death. No hamas leader to death. They are fed thevgs medical care and assistance they need to do the things they do. Well be back in one print with more of our conversation. Stay with us. Type 2 diabetes . Discover the ozempic® trizone. I got the power of 3. I lowered my a1c, cv risk, and lost some weight. In studies, the majority of people reached an a1c under 7 and maintained it. Im under 7. Ozempic® lowers the risk of major cardiovascular events such as stroke, heart attack, or death in adults also with known heart disease. Im lowering my risk. Adults lost up to 14 pounds. I lost some weight. Ozempic® isnt for people with type 1 diabetes. Dont share needles or pens, or reuse needles. Dont take ozempic® if you or your family ever had medullary thyroid cancer, or have multiple endocrine neoplasia syndrome type 2, or if allergic to it. Stop ozempic® and get medical help right away if you get a lump or swelling in your neck, severe stomach pain, or an allergic reaction. Serious side effects may include pancreatitis. Gallbladder problems may occur. Tell your provider about vision problems or changes. Taking ozempic® with a sulfonylurea or insulin may increase low blood sugar risk. Side effects like nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea may lead to dehydration, which may worsen kidney problems. Living with type 2 diabetes . Ask about the power of 3 with ozempic®. We asked the senators what the greatest National Security threat facing our country is, and there was quite a list. In terms of the longterm challenge, both agreed its china. Last year you told me Technology Competition with china is the issue of our time. How far ahead is the u. S. Versus china in ai . One of the things that senator rubio and i have done on a bipartisan basis is try to go industry by industry in america and warn them of the potential theft of intellectual property, 500 billion a year, the fact that china is investing in quantum computing, in bio engineering and activities china is taking. We need to compete against that. On ai its a little bit, i believe, a little bit of a better story. A couple years back when we thought the country that had the most data and the most compute and engineers might purely win, thats not proven to be the case. The vast majority of innovation is still taking place in this country. If you look at all of the major ai companies, theyre virtually all american. I dont underestimate china but we have the nine innovative economy that benefits with us and the chinese regime is reluctant to allow Large Language Models to be used by their population because, frankly, they might find the truth about what the regime has done back to tee yen man square. There are reports that china lags the u. S. By about a year. That is consistent . I dont know how to characterize a timeframe. Thas not the issue. Were clearly i think ahead simply because they steal our stuff. Were not interested in stealing their stuff. I think the bigger concern is, how it woud be utilized. China is ramping up its military spending. Absolutely. Senator rubio, you recently voted against the National Security supplemental that would have sent 5 billion to the indopacific and help taiwan. Why do you think that money can wait . I dont think it should wait. I just dont think it should be held hostage on the issue of whether or not we will deal with our border. You are saying that aid to taiwan is being held hostage to the border, but you are saying the border needs to be handled first. If we would have done a bill that would have voted for the money to taiwan and the indopacific and money to israel i would have voted for that. They want ukraine in exchange for the border and the same way theyre Holding Israel funding hostage. They wont do israel without ukraine. I support helping ukraine. I believe our National Security begins in our own country at our border where you have thousands of people a day walking into the country, many we do not know who they are. That has to be a priority. How do you get aid to deal with taiwan now . Lets vote for it. Put up a bill that votes on taiwan. It has to be a standalone doesnt have to be. If the president tonight at the state of the union, were tap