'THEY GOT THE PICTURE': Sen. Tom Cotton praises Trump's 'long overdue' Houthi airstrikes

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Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., joins 'Sunday Morning Futures' to discuss the CR bill passing to fund the government through September and President Donald Trump launching strikes against Iranian-backed Houthis.  Subscribe to Fox News! https://bit.ly/2vBUvAS  Watch more Fox News Video: http://video.foxnews.com  Watch Fox News Channel Live: http://www.foxnewsgo.com/    FOX News Channel (FNC) is a 24-hour all-encompassing news service delivering breaking news as well as political and business news. The number one network in cable, FNC has been the most-watched television news channel for 18 consecutive years. According to a 2020 Brand Keys Consumer Loyalty Engagement Index report, FOX News is the top brand in the country for morning and evening news coverage. A 2019 Suffolk University poll named FOX News as the most trusted source for television news or commentary, while a 2019 Brand Keys Emotion Engagement Analysis survey found that FOX News was the most trusted cable news brand. A 2017 Gallup/Knight Foundation survey also found that among Americans who could name an objective news source, FOX News was the top-cited outlet. Owned by FOX Corporation, FNC is available in nearly 90 million homes and dominates the cable news landscape, routinely notching the top ten programs in the genre.    Watch full episodes of your favorite shows  The Five: https://www.foxnews.com/video/shows/the-five  Special Report with Bret Baier: https://www.foxnews.com/video/shows/special-report  Jesse Watters Primetime: https://www.foxnews.com/video/shows/jesse-watters-primetime  Hannity: https://www.foxnews.com/video/shows/hannity  The Ingraham Angle: https://www.foxnews.com/video/shows/ingraham-angle  Gutfeld!: https://www.foxnews.com/video/shows/gutfeld  Fox News @ Night: https://www.foxnews.com/video/shows/fox-news-night    Follow Fox News on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FoxNews/  Follow Fox News on Twitter: https://twitter.com/FoxNews/  Follow Fox News on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/foxnews/

Transcript

00:00Joining me now with more on all of this is Arkansas Senator Tom Cotton.

00:03He is chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee and a member of the Senate Armed

00:06Services Committee.

00:07Senator, thanks so much for joining us this morning.

00:12Thank you, Maria.

00:13First, I want to get your take on what you just heard from Chris Wright, the Energy Secretary.

00:18Where do you see the priorities in terms of President Trump's executive orders and what

00:23you can do as a leading senator in terms of codifying those into law so that they cannot

00:29be undone in four years?

00:32Well, Maria, first, I'm glad we closed out last year's business on Friday, passing spending

00:38bills that will keep the government funded through September.

00:40Chuck Schumer really has no one to blame but himself.

00:43The Senate Appropriations Committee last year passed 11 of 12 spending bills.

00:47More than half of those were unanimous, and he didn't bring a single one up for a vote.

00:50So Chuck Schumer right now is reaping what he sowed last year.

00:55By finishing out last year's business, it allows us now to move on and focus on the

00:59big budget bill that we plan to pass that is going to make the 2017 tax cuts permanent.

01:04It's going to improve on other tax cuts, going to fund our military, fund border security,

01:10and as Chris Wright was talking about, fund some of the president's energy initiatives.

01:13It's going to unleash American energy production and lower costs for hardworking Americans

01:18and businesses, not just at home and your electricity bill, your heating bill, but everything

01:22you buy at the store has to be produced and it has to be shipped there.

01:25That uses American energy.

01:27We want to make it less expensive so the prices you pay at the grocery store are lower.

01:33And in terms of the priorities, in terms of which executive orders you believe Congress

01:38needs to codify?

01:40Well, there's a lot of them, Maria, especially when it comes to the spending cuts that President

01:46Trump has identified with the help of Elon Musk and his team.

01:50We can pass those at a simple majority level.

01:52I hope that they'll be submitting a package that will make those permanent.

01:55Also, as we move past the major budget legislation that will cut taxes, secure our border, rebuild

02:01our military, and unleash American energy production, as we move into next year's spending

02:05bills, I also expect that we'll be providing more of the resources that we need to keep

02:09Americans safe and prosperous, while also cutting back on a lot of the waste that we've

02:13seen in the news over the last couple months since President Trump took office.

02:18It seems like President Trump's second term here is different on the foreign policy front

02:24because you've got this intertwined relationship with Iran, China, Russia, and North Korea.

02:31What do you want to say about last night's Yemeni strikes and what that message is to

02:40Iran and how that intertwined relationship of the four hostile nations is different this

02:45time around?

02:47Well, what all of those adversaries want is to upend the United States-led order that

02:53has benefited our citizens for so long by keeping America safe and prosperous.

02:58The strikes against the Houthi rebels in Yemen last night was long overdue.

03:03Going back to the October 7th attacks against Israel, they've been shutting down shipping

03:07in the Red Sea.

03:08That's dangerous not just for America's sailors who are there, but also it's bad for your

03:13wallet here in America.

03:14It drives up shipping costs, which drives up the prices you pay.

03:17Yet Joe Biden let our ships, let our sailors just sit in the Red Sea like sitting ducks.

03:22President Trump made it clear that it was long overdue.

03:25We're not going to allow it anymore.

03:27We are going to protect our interests.

03:29And he also made it clear to Iran that we know what they're up to.

03:32Where did a bunch of goat herders in Yemen get one-way attack drones and cruise missiles?

03:37They got them from Iran.

03:39So while we're degrading those rebels' power right now, we're also sending a signal to

03:44Iran that they need to knock it off.

03:46They also, as President Trump said to you last week, have to end their nuclear weapons

03:50program.

03:51We'd love to have a negotiated deal in which they surrender that program, but we can also

03:55do it, as he put it, the other way.

03:58It seems to me that it was a serious message to Iran, but are you expecting retaliation?

04:06Well, those rebels in Yemen have been striking shipping and been aiming at U.S. naval ships

04:12for some time.

04:13I suspect after last night, they got the picture that Donald Trump is not Joe Biden.

04:17He's not just going to have our sailors on the Red Sea like sitting ducks.

04:20And if they continue these strikes, then he'll hit back even harder than he did last night.

04:24Same thing with Iran.

04:26You think they would have learned a lesson over the last 18 months after what Israel

04:29has done to Hamas and Hezbollah in Lebanon and directly to Iran with the United States

04:35support.

04:36But if they don't get the lesson, then, of course, I believe President Trump will strike

04:40back even twice as hard.

04:42And once again, the most important threat is the threat of Iran's nuclear weapons program.

04:47It's not just a threat to Israel or our friends in the Middle East.

04:50They're also building intercontinental missiles under the flimsy cover of a space launch program

04:55that could strike the United States in just a number of years.

04:57So this is a direct and imminent threat to the United States.

05:01That's why President Trump has said repeatedly, we're in the final days of this dispute over

05:05Iran's nuclear program.

05:07It's really up to them how it ends.

05:10Senator, what is China's role?

05:12How much of China's participation do you see here?

05:17Well, China has been supporting Iran in numerous ways, for instance, for four years under Joe

05:23Biden, China bought Iran, Iranian oil in violation of sanctions against Iran.

05:29Joe Biden looked the other way.

05:30Donald Trump is not.

05:31He's imposed maximum pressure back on Iran.

05:33That's squeezing both Iran and China.

05:36But as I write in my new book, Seven Things You Can't Say About China, their ultimate

05:40goal is to replace the United States as the world's dominant economic and military superpower.

05:46And that's why they continue to show up around the world supporting countries like Iran or

05:51North Korea or Russia, because they are trying to keep America on the back foot.

05:55All right.

05:57We will leave it there.

05:58Senator, it's great to see you this morning.

05:59Thanks very much for being here.

06:02Thank you, Maria.

06:03Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Tom Cotton.

06:07Hey, Sean Hannity here.

06:08Be sure to subscribe to Fox News YouTube page and catch our hottest interviews and most

06:13compelling analysis.

06:14You will not get it anywhere else.

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