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00:00 with Republican presidential candidate
00:01 and former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie.
00:03 You just met with President Zelensky in Kiev.
00:06 What was your impression of him?
00:09 -Very bright, very committed, and very detailed
00:13 about the things that he thinks have gone well,
00:16 both in the war and in his relationship with the West.
00:18 -I assume this news of assassination plot --
00:20 I mean, it's nothing new.
00:21 There have been plenty of it,
00:22 but it probably doesn't surprise you.
00:24 -It doesn't surprise me, especially because,
00:26 you know, I did this work as a prosecutor for seven years.
00:31 Your senses get, you know,
00:32 much more sensitized to this kind of thing.
00:35 As I was walking through the presidential office building,
00:39 all the lights were out in the place.
00:41 There were big drapes over the windows and sandbags everywhere.
00:46 And it was clear that it was very hard, even for me
00:51 and people in my party, who they were expecting.
00:53 The security was extraordinary.
00:56 More than I've ever seen at the White House, for instance.
00:58 And so, when I heard this now today about the plot,
01:02 I'm not surprised.
01:03 I think they were aware of what was going on and on guard.
01:06 -You were also in Bucha.
01:07 I know you met with families
01:09 whose kids have been taken into Russia.
01:11 We've done a lot with Kareem Khan, the ICC prosecutor.
01:14 Do you think anybody will be brought to justice
01:16 on the Russian side for the kidnapping of Ukrainian children?
01:20 -First, the Ukrainians have to win the war
01:23 before I think there'll be any justice for this.
01:25 Think about this.
01:26 And I don't think a lot of people in our country
01:28 have focused on it.
01:30 Over 19,000 children verified --
01:32 and it's probably more, but over 19,000 children verified --
01:35 taken from their homes and their families.
01:38 Imagine for anybody out there who's a mother or father,
01:41 and they've lost their child.
01:43 Their child is taken away.
01:44 They don't know if their child's dead or alive.
01:46 They don't know if their child is being cared for
01:48 or being abused.
01:49 And they know they're being programmed to be told
01:52 that Ukrainians are awful people
01:54 and that they're really Russians.
01:56 This is not a territorial dispute.
01:59 In Bushehr, they were talking of soldiers
02:03 going on one particular street, and we were talking about this,
02:05 going door to door, taking people out of their homes,
02:07 men, torturing them, first while alive,
02:10 gouging out their eyes, cutting off their ears,
02:12 then tying their hands behind their back
02:13 and shooting them in the back of the head,
02:15 and then going back into the homes and raping the women.
02:18 I mean, this is barbarism.
02:21 And by the way, it's barbarism authorized
02:23 and encouraged by the man that Donald Trump calls excellent
02:27 and a genius and brilliant in Vladimir Putin.
02:30 Well, if that's brilliance,
02:32 we don't need brilliance on the world stage.
02:34 - You know, we hear from a lot of, you know,
02:36 the extreme House Republicans
02:38 who don't believe the US should be involved,
02:41 don't think there's too much money going to Ukraine,
02:44 don't see this as anything more than a territorial dispute
02:48 that the US shouldn't be part of.
02:50 What do you say to, I mean,
02:51 do you hear that in New Hampshire voters?
02:53 Do you hear that in Iowa voters?
02:55 Is that the majority out there or is that an anomaly?
02:59 - I don't believe it's the majority.
03:00 I believe it's a significant minority,
03:03 not a, you know, so it's not a small amount either.
03:06 But I think that it's because, quite frankly,
03:08 President Biden has failed in articulating
03:12 why it's so important.
03:13 He's doing things that are more
03:15 than what President Trump was doing,
03:17 but he's not articulating the argument.
03:19 What I would say to the American people is,
03:21 you can pay me now or pay me later.
03:23 If we are willing to supply the Ukrainians
03:27 with the weaponry they need,
03:28 think about this, Anderson,
03:29 I heard this this week that per day,
03:34 the Ukrainians are being outgunned in artillery
03:36 by the Russians by a count of 11 to one.
03:39 If we give them the artillery they need,
03:42 we give them the F-16s
03:44 that they should have had quite some time ago, in my view,
03:47 and let them win the war against Russia,
03:48 we'll never have to have that fight.
03:50 And China's watching.
03:52 And if we cut and run, like some people on this stage
03:57 that'll be with me August 23rd are gonna advocate for,
04:00 we cut and run, the Chinese are watching,
04:03 and the next step will be Taiwan.
04:05 Now, if you don't care about atrocity against Taiwan,
04:07 I guess I can understand that.
04:09 But how about let's make it practical.
04:11 Two thirds of the world's semiconductors
04:14 that run everything from the phones we have,
04:16 computers, our cars, are manufactured in Taiwan.
04:20 Who do you want to control that?
04:21 The United States of America and a free country of Taiwan,
04:24 or another group of folks who are controlled
04:28 by the Communist Party of China.
04:30 These are the stakes that are up there right now.
04:33 And I don't think Joe Biden's articulated that.
04:35 And I think it is his fault,
04:37 in addition with some Republicans
04:39 who are being negative about it,
04:41 his fault that he hasn't made a better case
04:42 to all of the American people.
04:44 I went over there because I wanted to see for myself.
04:48 And now I've seen, and I've seen a shallow grave
04:51 with 160 people buried in it,
04:53 civilians who were murdered outside a church in Bushehr,
04:57 and then the church was ransacked by the Russians.
05:00 Vladimir Putin's doing this,
05:02 and America needs to stand up for this.
05:04 'Cause if we don't, then we're gonna be sending
05:06 American men and women to fight and die
05:09 someplace else in the world,
05:10 'cause we didn't arm the Ukrainians now.
05:11 - Governor Chris, I appreciate your time.