Haley. Defense, ash carter. A Top Republican critic, senator john mccain. Fromthis week. Here now, coanchor martha good morning. In the tenth week of his presidency, after the disastrous collapse of the obamacare repeal, donald trump needed a rebound. But instead of bouncing back, trump is still stuck in the russian mud. The endless questions. The shapeshifting investigations. Mike flynns attempt to cut an immunity deal. The swirl of suspicion and distraction. Now the gray cloud looking more and more like an oncoming storm. By saturday, instead of moving forward with his America First agenda, trump was right back where he started. Digging in deeper on his baseless charge that president Obama Wiretapped trump tower. Asking when the media will Start Talking about the obama surveillance scandal, and stop with the fake trump russia story. All this comes as trump prepares to face a week of serious and urgent global challenges. From the raging battles in syria and iraq with u. S. Lives on the line in the fight against isis, facing a fullblown crisis with north korea. And with a critical meeting with chinas president days away, this hour, well dig into the dangers the russian investigations pose to the president. And well confront how trumps struggles could affect americas place in the world. With three influential voices. Ash carter joins us exclusively. Hes the highest Ranking Member of president obamas cabinet to speak out since trump took office. And Armed Services committee chair, senator john mccain, now breaking with trump on a range of critical issues. We begin with the first sunday morning interview with a member of Donald Trumps core Foreign Policy team. U. S. Ambassador to the United Nations nikki haley. Ambassador haley, thank you for joining us this morning. Good morning, martha. I want to start with russia. President trump has been tweeting again this week end, calling the trump russia story fake news. Do you think its fake news . Phony . A total scam, as the president says . I can tell you, martha, that things are very busy at the United Nations. What im focused on is the chatter that the International Community is saying. Not the chatter going on in d. C. And so what i can tell you is that i talk with countries, whether its the arab states or in the middle east, they talk about how theyre glad to see us fighting against iran. I talk with Different Countries in reference to syria. We talk about getting the iranian influence out. North korea the pressure we need and china. Theyre happy were finally beating up on russia for what theyve done in the ukraine. Those are the focuses and conversations ive had. People are talking to me that theyre very happy to see the United States lead again. Ambassador haley, this has to affect the u. S. Relationship with russia. What are you seeing . Well, i can tell you that in my dealings with russia, in particular at the United Nations, we beat up on them because we thought what they did with crimea and what is happening in ukraine is wrong. We called them out for it. What weve said is that theyre not being helpful in the way that they and iran are covering up for assad. We dont think thats helpful. We need their pressure in dealing with isis. We need their help in dealing with china and north korea. There are things we work with russia on. There are things when they do something wrong, i have no problem calling them out on it. What do you think should happen to russia for hacking into the u. S. Election, for trying to influence the u. S. Election . First, the facts need to come out. That whole process needs to take place. What facts havent come out . 17 u. S. Intelligence agencies said they did that. Do you believe them . Certainly, i think russia was involved in the election. Theres no question about that. I think when they finish with the process, yes, they need to address russia. They need to act. And they need to make sure theyre loud about it. We dont want any country involved in our elections ever. So once that information comes out, i expect that that will be handled accordingly. What everybody at the United Nations is talking about is what will happen with north korea. How are we going to deal with the crisis in syria . What are we doing to wage the war on isis . Lets stay on russia. President trump says he respects putin. You say you dont trust him. Youve said the u. S. Needs to take hacking seriously. President trump has been dismissive of it. Which one of you should our allies and adversaries believe . I think were both saying the same thing. Its just being reported differently. If you look at russia and us calling them out. President trump has agreed, this administration agrees russias involvement in ukraine is wrong. And i think that if you listen to what he said about the elections of course we dont want any country involved in our elections. I think that russia is very aware that theyre on notice when it comes to certain issues. Theyre very aware that we do want to try to defeat isis together, if thats at all possible, along with our allies. But theres no love or anything going on with russia right now. They get that were getting our strength back. That were getting our voice back. Were starting to lead again. At the United Nations, thats the number one comment i get. Theyre so happy to see the United States lead again. You really think that you and President Trump are saying the same things . Let me tell you one thing President Trump recently said. He defended putin after fox news bill oreilly called him a killer saying, there are a lot of killers. Do you think our country is so innocent . How does the u. S. Maintain its role as the moral conscience of the world, to use your words this week, if the president wont condemn what is happening inside russia . Well, martha, this is what i can tell you. The president has not once called me and said, dont beat up on russia. Has not once called and said what to say. But he isnt beating up on russia. Should he be beating up on russia . Again, how does i am. So he doesnt need to . Hes got a lot of things hes doing. Hes not stopping me from beating up on russia. Hes not stopping me from talking about the pressure china needs to be putting on north korea. Hes not stopping me with how were working together to defeat isis. Right now, general mattis and i are working on stability. The president has not disa with one thing ive said. That means he supports everything im saying. Adnistrat believes in. You take over the rotating presidency of the u. N. Security council this month. Let me read some things you say you want. You say you want to emphasize the role of human rights. You intend to challenge members not just to talk the talk but walk the walk. Russia is going to be at that table having supported syrias president assad in killing syrian civilians which you have called war crimes. Putin has jailed and killed dissidents in his own country. You talk tough. But again, doesnt President Trump have to Start Talking tough . He has his people talking tough. And th whatever we need to say. Look, hes the president. He can say what he wants when ever he wants. The direction weve gotten is to do our jobs. Make sure the United States is strong. Thats what well do. Human rights is very important. If you look at the syrian conflict, how did it start . It was a group of teenagers that were the ages of 10 to 15. They went and spraypainted graffiti about their government on a wall. With that, the police came in, picked up those boys. Beat them up, pulled their nails out. Kept them overnight, and returned them bloody to their parents. Their parents went to the streets and protested. Other parents saw that and responded. That led to the overall conflict in syria because the government wasnt treating their people well. You say your team human rights is a big important part of how to prevent conflict in the first place if we focus on how the governments are treating their people. So what will you do about russia . What will you do about them not just walking the walk but not just talking the talk but walking the walk . How will you hold them accountable . You say you have a resultsoriented team. How will that manifest itself with russia . The way that we already have. We called them out on ukraine. Were having this human rights hearing. Im sure there will be a vote of who wants it, who doesnt. We expect to watch and see what countries dont want to have it. We fully expect this hearing will take place. This is not about keeping countries happy. This is about keeping the United States strong. In order to do that, we have to have the backs of our allies. We have to call out wrongs when we see them. We have to try to move policies. Thats what were doing at the United Nations. Its a new day at the United Nations in that were not afraid to talk. Well say what we think. Well move the ball. Thats what this is about. Im very excited to be taking the presidency of the security council. Because i think we can even more push how the United States feels about issues in the world and we can show how strong we are. Lets talk about syria more. You and secretary of state tillerson have said that assad leaving power is no longer a priority. Let me return to your comments about human rights and your charge that assad has committed war crimes. Do we just let that go . Assad is always a priority. That is not an issue. Hes a war criminal. Hes done terrible things to his own people. Hes used chemical weapons on his own people. He continues to be a hindrance to peace in syria. That is something the administration strongly believes. In addition to that, we need to start putting pressure on russia and iran in terms of the fact that we need to get iran out of there. We need to get the iranian influence out of there. But assad can stay in power . Assad can stay in power. Thats not a priority . No, our goal is we want to bring assad to justice. We want him to pay for the crimes hes done. Were going to continue to let russia know how dangerous it is to keep assad in power. In addition to that, were going to fight isis. Were going to try to bring stability back to the area. You dont have to have one or the other. We have a lot of important issues. Assad is not going away. Were not going to stop beating up on him. Not going to stop saying the way he treats the people in syria is wrong. That hes killed his own people. And america will never stand for that. That sounds like talk. Ambassador haley. That sounds like talk. Not walk. Oh, no. The walk is there. If you go and look at what were trying to do in syria. Its only been two months. Look how much difference we have made in the United Nations in two months. Were calling out russia when we need to. Were working on pushing iranian influence out when it comes to syria. Were talking about the pressure on china that needs to happen with north korea. Were also moving things. We have changed the israel bias. Its happened at the United Nations. Making sure we call out anyone that focuses on that as opposed to focussing on the conflicts. We made sure that a ridiculous report comparing israel to apartheid state was pulled down. The director resigned. Were changing the culture at the United Nations, with that, were changing the culture in the world. In the discussions that were having. Were going to be strong. We have already started leading as it comes to this administration. Were going to continue to do that. Im very confident. I walk the halls of the United Nations. I talk with my colleagues. I know what the ambassadors are saying. An what and what theyre saying is, theyre happy to see us leading against iran. Happy to see us putting pressure on china when it comes to north korea. We have a couple more minutes, sorry to interrupt you there. I do want to get to north korea. North korea is supposedly just about to do its sixth nuclear test. What should we do about north korea . No longer take the excuses from china that theyre concerned, too. They need to show us how concerned they are. They need to put pressure on north korea. The only country that can stop north korea is china. And they know that. And i think that you saw when secretary tillerson went to beijing, that was a way of putting pressure. Youll see President Trump meet with president xi. And a lot of conversation. And the most important conversation will be how were going to be dealing with the nonproliferation of north korea. If china doesnt cooperate . Oh, no. They have to cooperate. Do we want to see these attacks from north korea . Or does china want to do something about it . And this is all about the fact that they need to have action. Were going to continue to put pressure on china to have action. That will be shown in multiple ways. What were going to do is say, china, you know that youre the only one thats doing this. We appreciate that you stopped coal go into north korea. At some point, we need to see definitive actions by china condemning north korea. President trump has said in the past he views china n economic. I think what you have to loo very different roles. Theyre both getting involved across the world in all different pockets. Their tentacles are everywhere. Russia is doing it in elections, military actions. Trying to get involved in conversations. China is doing it economically. If you look at their infrastructure, theyre everywhere in the world now. They want to continue to do it. So they have a stronghold. We need to say thats fine, if theyre going to continue to do that, theyre going to have to be accountable for the things they are responsible for. We think north korea is one of those that they need to be held accountable for. Thank you, ambassador. Thank you. Thanks so much. Lets take all of that to former defense secretary ash carter, the highest Ranking Member of president obamas cabinet to sit for an interview since donald trump took the oath of office. Hes now a professor of technology and Global Affairs and the director of the Belfor Center at harvard university. And secretary carter joins us now. Good morning, secretary carter. Great to be here. Great to have you here. Lets go right to the interview with Ambassador Haley. You heard Ambassador Haley talk about what to do with north korea. She says china has to take steps to contain north korea. Does the president s criticism of china putting the Missile System in south korea make this more difficult to get china to take action . China, i have been working on the north korea problem since 1994. We have consistently asked chinese leaders, i have spoken to chinese leaders, because they uniquely have the historical and the economic relationship with north korea to make a difference. They havent used that influence. And, so, its hard for me to be optimistic that it didnt work with the Obama Administration. Nor the Bush Administration before, or the Clinton Administration before. And this is on china. And theres a reason why they dont do that. And i think, pause i am rather pessimistic that they will take that course, i think we need to stand strong. With deterrents and defense there. We have 28,500 u. S. Troops there. Our slogan there is fight tonight. We dont want that. But we need to be ready to do that. But theyve been there the entire time but defenses like that. But in order to defend ourselves. And the territory of our friends, and allies. Back to the question about what the Trump Administration is doing. Theyre clearly being quite afwresz aggressive about this. Donald trump has essentially made a red line. Saying north korea will not get a nucleartipped missile capable of reaching the United States. What do you see happening from here because of that aggressive stance . Well, i were not the cause of north korean aggression or their missile program. I mean, were not the cause of that. This has been going on for quite some time. We have to protect ourselves. At the same time, i think its worth while to put pressure on china. To play this role. Its been unwilling to play. Now the reason its unwilling to play this role is even though they see in the long run this leads to danger in the short run, theyre fearful of the collapse of north korea. Or a war on the korean peninsula. Which would result in, since we will defeat north korea and would destroy the regime, would create a unified korea allied with the United States on their border. Would you support military action . A preemptive strike by the Trump Administration . Is that a good idea . If it comes to the necessity to protect ourselves, we have always had all options on the table. I wouldnt take any off. But preemptive strike . Were talking about. We had in 1994, i worked on a preemptive strike plan, which we did not need to carry out at that time, on the research facility. We have those options. We shouldnt take them off the table. How do you think north korea would respond . To a a preemptive strike on a launch pad, say. Its quite possible, as a consequence of that, they would launch an attempted invasion of south korea. As i said, im confident of the outcome of that war. Which would be the defeat of north korea. But martha, i need to caution you. This is a war that would have an intensity of Violence Associated with it. That we havent seen since the last korean war. Seoul is right there on the borders of the dmz. So e