i'm margaret brennan in washington. this week on "face the nation" -- both presumed nominees turn the page to the general election. president biden stepsp up the pressure on israel to tone down the violence in gaza. ahead of tuesday's primary in a crucial general election

battleground, president biden and former president trump both campaigned in georgia saturday night, a state that in the last presidential race went blue for the first time in nearly 30 years. >> i really want to do it again. >> 70 miles north of bine's 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 it's ever happened. >> that opponent still wigds riding a wave of positive reviews leaned in to a tougher approach in the israel-hamas 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. he's hurting, in my view, he's hurting israel more than helping

israel and i think it's a big mistake, so i want to see a cease-fire. >> will it call for a six-week cease-fire to start with be enough for the progressives in his party? we'll ask vermont senator bernie sanders. we'll talk with house democratic leader hakeem jeffries. then, could americans dim assessment of the economy finally be looking up? we'll 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. it's 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. we're going to begin with senator bernie sanders from burlington, vermont. good morning to you, senator. >> good morning. >> you have long been a critic of israel's 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 he's had this conversation? if he hasn't, what is he waiting for? if he already had it, has it made any difference? >> i've spoken to people very

high up in this administration. here's the bottom line, margaret. what we are seeing in gaza today is literally an unprecedented crisis. it's not just that 30,000 people, two-thirds 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 don't do it, here's 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 netanyahu's 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 presidential 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 can't 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 you're a conservative, republican or progressive, you do not want to see children in palestine starve to death. i think it's good politics and the moral and right thing to do. >> do you stand by your view that a full cease-fire with hamas is unrealistic because that terror group seeks to destroy israel? >> look, what you have -- what you need right now is a cease-fire 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 we're going to ever bring peace to that region.

>> but a temporary cease-fire is sufficient for you? >> to feed the children right now is what we've a got to exactly do. >> yesterday, president biden was asked about israel's 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 i'm never going to leave israel. the defense of israel is still critical. there's no red line i'm going to cut off all weapons so they don't have the iron dome to protect them. there's 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 hasn't scheduled a vote. on the politics of this, more than 100,000 voters in michigan went uncommitted to protest mr. biden's 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 don't 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. >> you're saying progressives need to put this aside? >> we have to come -- not put it aside. the fight continues to change biden's 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, re-elect 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. >> you're standing by your endorsement of mr. biden's election, despite the current policy? >> well, no, i am not supporting mr. trump. >> no, no, no. mr. biden. >> the election of trump -- >> yes, that's 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 israel's war in gaza? >> i think it's 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 they're 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. they're 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 it's hezbollah in the north of israel, what's happening in gaza, whether it's what's happening with yemen, the risk

of conflict is very real. it's 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. it's 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 america's concern for humanitarian costs in the region. >> i would add one thing to this, it's important to understand why.

everybody is in favor of helping innocent civilians caught in the crossfire of any conflict. it's important to understand why aid can't get to them. hamas has built a system of tunnels. it's expensive. i don't care if they got a deal on the concrete it's expensive to build the tunnels. millions of dollars. that's money that could have gone to create an economy, feed people, serve civilians. they didn't do it. there's 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 don't know what he's 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. that's 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. let's step back, this tunnel network, which is close to 500 kilometers, i don't 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 -- >> you're saying the impact is tiny. >> meetin with folks in israel in the military community, in the intelligence community, the idea that you're going to eliminate every hamas fighter, i don't 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 doesn't mean hezbollah doesn't step in and take over. that doesn't mean a new hamas offshoot wouldn't be recreated. this is an ongoing challenge. the head of this entire snake is the iranian regime. they provide the weaponry and funds. there's 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. >> we'll be back in one print with more of our conversation. stay with us. type 2 diabetes? discover the ozempic® tri-zone. ♪ ♪ 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. i'm under 7. ozempic® lowers the risk of major cardiovascular events such as stroke, heart attack, or death in adults also with known heart disease. i'm lowering my risk. adults lost up to 14 pounds. i lost some weight. ozempic® isn't for people with type 1 diabetes. don't share needles or pens, or reuse needles. don't 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 long-term challenge, both agreed it's 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 it's 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, that's 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, they're virtually all american. i don't 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 don't know how to characterize a timeframe. tha's not the issue. we're clearly i think ahead simply because they steal our stuff. we're 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 indo-pacific and help taiwan. why do you think that money can wait? >> i don't think it should wait. i just don't 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 indo-pacific and money to israel i would have voted for that. they want ukraine in exchange for the border and the same way they're holding israel funding hostage. they won't 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? >> let's vote for it. put up a bill that votes on taiwan. >> it has to be a standalone -- >> doesn't have to be. if the president tonight at the state of the union, we're taping this, he announcing he's going to put back in place the policies that allowed us to detain single adults, until their removal proceedings were done, i'll vote for that bill. >> it requires a lot of funding. you know that. >> it doesn't require a lot of funding. that's the law of the country. >> border security says it needs more funding. >> let's do the funding for that. starts with the xexecutive orde which allows our laws. it would require him to admit trump was right about the border. >> so because of -- >> i'm sure mark agrees with everything i said. >> i will say this. >> yeah. >> the border is a mess. yeah. there are certain things the

president can do. >> the president says the border is not secured. >> president trump said change the law so i can do more. i respectfully believe that what senator langford put forward was as tough a border deal as could get passed in this congress and next congress because unless there is a, you know, 80 member shift one way or the other in either political part. politics is the art of the possible. i think it was a good deal. i agree with marco we need to get the money to china and taiwan. we need to get the money to humanitarian and for israel. but i think the issue that i have been -- is most wrapped around is if we walk away from the people of ukraine at this point, after in the last two years the ukrainians with our help and the europeans' help literally the cost of less than 3% of our defense budget have eliminated 87% of the russian preinvasion ground force, 63% of the tanks, 32% of the armored personnel carriers if we don't stand by ukraine right now, the

rest of the world should never trust us again. this notion that these authoritarian nations are watching each other, people say xi is a threat and don't believe if presidents putin is successful in ukraine and that will put nato and american troops in harm's way, xi will take lessons from that. i think there is enormous linkage. if we don't stand by that commitment then i think this will be a mistake of -- as historic as some of the mistakes made in advance of world war ii. >> we have 7.2 million people in this country over the last three years. some of them we don't know who they are. new york deployed national guard troops to the street because of a migrant crime wave. we have a problem here at home. i think that we have to go to americans and say okay, first and foremost our priority is to deal with our issues here. all i'm asking is that be made a priority equal to around the world. >> if president biden said tomorrow i'm going to put in an emergency action to -- >> he's already said he might. >> mimic remain in mexico fine here's $60 billion for ukraine?

>> sure. that's what i've said from the beginning. we have a migrant wave that began in mid-january of 2021 because people calculated that if they got here, they were going to be able to stay and 85 to 90% of them were right and it's drawing more people to come here and it's unsustainable. >> most americans polling back this up believe this is an issue that needs to be dealt with on the border but you are linking them right now. >> sure. >> you are. >> and no different than the people linking israel aid to ukraine. >> okay. >> they won't vote for stand-alone israel bill unless we do ukraine. i won't do ukraine unless we secure america's border. >> you, senator, helped to spearhead an effort with senator cain on a bipartisan basis to prevent any president from unilaterally withdrawing from nato. did you write that with donald trump in mind? he's the only president that has ever threatened -- >> i can't speak for nor cain. i wrote it it's an important alliance, if nato didn't exist we have to create it.

it's one of our strengths we have in the world because china doesn't have these alliances or the russians for that matter or the iranians for that matter, but i believe congress needs to play a role in deciding whether we're going to remove ourselves from that. despite what people may say is rhetoric because i acknowledge that donald trump does not talk like a member of the council on foreign relations on these issues, he increased troop levels in poland. i was there when that happened. >> drawing trying to draw down from germany into poland. president biden reversed that. >> the point being is i don't believe donald trump will remove us from nato. i think he is going to do admittedly in an unorthodox way what every american president has done since the onset of nato, demand that some countries do more. >> we'll continue our conversation in a moment. stay with us.

feeling sluggish or weighed down? could be a sign that your digestive system isn't at its best. but a little metamucil everyday can help. metamucil's psyllium fiber gels to trap and remove the waste that weighs you down and also helps lower cholesterol and slows sugar absorption to promote healthy blood sugar levels. so you can feel lighter and more energetic. lighten everyday the metamucil way. feel less sluggish & weighed down after just 14 days. sign up for the 2 week challenge at metamucil.com i have moderate to severe crohn's disease. now, there's skyrizi. ♪ things are looking up, i've got symptom relief. ♪ ♪ control of my crohn's means everything to me. ♪ ♪ control is everything to me. ♪

feel significant symptom relief at 4 weeks with skyrizi, including less abdominal pain and fewer bowel movements. skyrizi is the first il-23 inhibitor that can deliver remission and visibly improve damage of the intestinal lining. and the majority of people experienced long-lasting remission at one year. serious allergic reactions and an increased risk of infections or a lower ability to fight them may occur. tell your doctor if you have an infection or symptoms, had a vaccine or plan to. liver problems may occur in crohn's disease. ♪ now's the time to ask your gastroenterologist how you can take control of your crohn's with skyrizi. ♪ ♪ control is everything to me. ♪ ♪ learn how abbvie could help you save. overnight the u.s. military evacuated some diplomatic personnel from its embassy in port-au-prince haiti and flew in

marines to reinforce security as the country faces a threat from gangs occupying most of the city. we will be back in a minute. ili, discover a different first treatment. immunotherapies work with your immune system to attack cancer. but opdivo plus yervoy is the first combination of 2 immunotherapies for adults newly diagnosed with non-small cell lung cancer that has spread, tests positive for pd-l1, and does not have an abnormal egfr or alk gene. opdivo plus yervoy is not chemotherapy, it works differently. it helps your immune system fight cancer in 2 different ways. opdivo and yervoy can cause your immune system to harm healthy parts of your body during and after treatment. these problems can be severe and lead to death. see your doctor right away if you have a cough; chest pain; shortness of breath; irregular heartbeat; diarrhea; constipation; severe stomach pain; severe nausea or vomiting; dizziness; fainting; eye problems; extreme tiredness; changes in appetite, thirst or urine; rash; itching; confusion; memory problems; muscle pain or weakness; joint pain; flushing; or fever. these are not all the possible side effects. problems can occur together and more often when opdivo is used with yervoy.

tell your doctor about all medical conditions including immune or nervous system problems, if you've had or plan to have an organ or stem cell transplant, or received chest radiation. your search for 2 immunotherapies starts here. ask your doctor about opdivo plus yervoy. a chance to live longer. [dog whimpers] [thinking] why always the couch? does he need to go to puppy school? get his little puppy diploma? how much have i been spending on this little guy? when your questions about life turn into questions about money... there's erica. the virtual financial assistant to help you spend, save, and plan smarter. only from bank of america. okay everyone, our mission is to provide complete, balanced nutrition for strength and energy. yay - woo hoo! ensure, with 27 vitamins and minerals, nutrients for immune health.

and ensure complete with 30 grams of protein. (♪♪) (upbeat music) - this is the new pix+ with the only 8:00 and 9:00 pm news, the primetime edition: weeknights on the new pix+. 44 cable 12. (bell chiming)

welcome back to "face the nation." we continue our conversation with senate intelligence committee chairman mark warner and vice chair marco rubio. >> if i could. >> against it. >> you're