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[00:00:01] Joining me now by phone to discuss this [00:00:02] and more, Senator Lindsey Graham of [00:00:04] South Carolina, chairman of the Senate [00:00:06] Budget Committee. He is also a member of [00:00:08] the Senate Appropriations Committee. [00:00:10] Senator Graham, welcome back to [00:00:11] Washington Watch. Thanks for joining us. [00:00:13] >> Thank you, Tony. [00:00:14] >> All right, I I I want to talk about in [00:00:16] just a moment. I want to save some time [00:00:17] here because I want to talk about the [00:00:18] serious threat to Christians and other [00:00:20] religious minorities in northeast Syria. [00:00:22] But first, I got to get to the to the [00:00:24] latest on this funding drama on Capitol [00:00:26] Hill. Where do we stand? Well, um, we [00:00:29] had a bipartisan agreement on six bills [00:00:33] to fund the government, including the [00:00:35] Department of Homeland Security. 20% of [00:00:39] DHS is ICE and border. The rest of it is [00:00:43] FEMA, the Coast Guard, a bunch of [00:00:45] things. Because of what's happened in [00:00:48] Minnesota, Democrats are now saying we [00:00:51] will not support DHS funding. So this [00:00:55] six package, six bill package is [00:00:58] becoming five. If you have to change it [00:01:01] at all, it will go back to the house. [00:01:03] The House will not accept leaving DHS [00:01:06] out. So, what's going to happen is that [00:01:09] Democrats have gotten so crazy about [00:01:12] sanctuary city policy that they're going [00:01:14] to refuse to fund [00:01:17] Department of Homeland Security in a way [00:01:20] they had previously agreed to, which is [00:01:22] a disaster for the Coast Guard, disaster [00:01:24] for FEMA, disaster for border security. [00:01:27] My belief is that the crazy wing of the [00:01:30] Democratic party has completely taken [00:01:32] over and the deal we had before is going [00:01:35] to crumble because Democrats hate Trump [00:01:38] more than they love the country. [00:01:41] >> So where does that leave us? [00:01:43] >> It either the government shuts down, we [00:01:46] do a continuing resolution, or you got [00:01:48] to have some Democrats say this is [00:01:50] crazy. Maybe they can do some things [00:01:52] with Trump to lower the temperature, but [00:01:55] if we change the bill at all, it will [00:01:57] not go through the House, [00:01:58] >> right? [00:01:58] >> This is previously agreed to, right? [00:02:01] >> They're they're pulling a fast one on [00:02:02] us. I don't know where it goes, but I [00:02:04] know this. I cannot support [00:02:07] not funding DHS, [00:02:08] >> right? [00:02:09] >> The world is on fire, [00:02:10] >> right? is I I heard some conversations [00:02:13] that there might be a short-term [00:02:15] extension of uh Homeland Security in [00:02:19] order to come back and do some [00:02:20] legislative adjustments as it pertains [00:02:23] to ISIS conduct like uh making sure [00:02:25] there's warrants for arrest, federal [00:02:27] agents wearing identification, body [00:02:29] cameras, things that, you know, quite [00:02:31] frankly sound pretty reasonable. [00:02:33] >> Yeah, I hope that I hope that will [00:02:35] prevail, but that means you got to do a [00:02:37] deal with Trump. I just don't know if [00:02:39] there's any space. I think the the [00:02:40] hatred for Trump and you know the [00:02:42] insistence on keeping, you know, [00:02:45] sanctuary city policy may win out, but [00:02:47] that sounds good to me. We'll see. I [00:02:49] know this. I think it's very important [00:02:53] that we fund the Department of Homeland [00:02:55] Security given the threats we face at [00:02:57] home and abroad. [00:02:59] >> Uh as to uh abroad, northeastern Syria, [00:03:03] uh that's the home of the Kurds, [00:03:05] ancestral home in many ways. The Syrian [00:03:08] Democratic Forces who defeated ISIS were [00:03:11] mostly Kurds working with our military. [00:03:14] The idea that we would abandon them and [00:03:17] let the new Syrian government run by [00:03:19] al-Shara, the former al Qaeda guy, would [00:03:22] destroy American credibility uh for [00:03:24] generations. I don't believe President [00:03:26] Trump's going to let that happen. Saudi [00:03:29] Arabia uh is a big supporter of Alira, [00:03:33] the new Syrian government, a former [00:03:34] al-Qaeda guy. I've told them, I'm [00:03:37] expecting you to make sure that he does [00:03:40] not make a run on the Kurds. They helped [00:03:43] us. They fought for us. We need to have [00:03:45] their backs. You can't have a one Syrian [00:03:48] policy by force of arms. I worry about [00:03:51] the Drews. I worry about the Christians. [00:03:53] Uh the Al Qaeda wing, you know, the al [00:03:56] Qaeda movement wants to destroy [00:03:58] everything that's not uh their view of [00:04:01] God. Christians, Jews, [00:04:03] >> right? [00:04:04] >> Other Muslims. [00:04:06] >> So, here's my question, Senator. When [00:04:08] you look at [00:04:09] >> Al Sharia, the the new president of of [00:04:13] Syria, [00:04:14] >> he first off, the infrastructure there [00:04:16] is just almost non-existent. He He's [00:04:18] having difficulty managing what he has. [00:04:22] Why is he moving up to northeast Syria, [00:04:24] driving out the self obtain the the [00:04:27] self-governing region that's been doing [00:04:29] quite fine, frankly? Why is he wanting [00:04:31] to take over that area when he can't [00:04:33] even control what he has? [00:04:34] >> Well, number one, I would like to help a [00:04:37] guy control what he's got. Why is he [00:04:39] doing that? Well, there's an agenda by [00:04:42] Turkey. They hate all things Kurd. [00:04:45] Um, uh, the Kurds, uh, have been [00:04:48] friendly to the United States. Um, all I [00:04:52] can say is Erdogan is had a real [00:04:54] problem. And to me it seems like instead [00:04:57] of trying to unite Syria, he's enacting [00:05:00] a very uh sectarian agenda. Look [00:05:04] >> further dividing it. [00:05:06] >> Well, it makes it I don't think there'll [00:05:08] ever be one Syria under him. Look what [00:05:11] happened in Sweda. So even if he wanted [00:05:13] to, he'd have a hard time. But now I'm [00:05:15] doubting whether he wants to or not. Why [00:05:17] are they expending the energy to go [00:05:19] after the Kurds rather than trying to [00:05:21] build the country up? Well, it tells me [00:05:23] they got an agenda inconsistent with one [00:05:25] Syria. [00:05:26] >> Right. Right. I mean, when you you [00:05:28] mentioned Sueda, that's down in the [00:05:30] southern part. That's where the Drews [00:05:32] are. [00:05:32] >> The Drews got just slaughtered. [00:05:34] >> I I I'll have to say, you know, I I uh I [00:05:37] really appreciate the Israelis. You [00:05:39] remember when when Assad was falling and [00:05:43] everything was imploding, [00:05:45] >> even though the Americans didn't really [00:05:47] want them to do it, they went and [00:05:48] destroyed the munitions that Syria had. [00:05:51] Can you imagine now with what we see [00:05:53] these trends having taking place that if [00:05:56] Alra had all of the arms and munitions [00:05:59] that the Syrians had before and even [00:06:02] chemical biological possibly? [00:06:05] >> That's a really good point. You got to [00:06:07] assume the worst in in the Middle East [00:06:09] and hope for the best, you know, fight [00:06:10] for the best. But you know what happened [00:06:13] with the Drews is Israel came in and [00:06:15] saved them. They got a quarter from [00:06:17] Israel into U STO which is a Drews [00:06:21] community in Syria. There are a lot of [00:06:22] Drews in Israel. If it hadn't been for [00:06:24] Israel, they would have killed them all. [00:06:25] >> But but again, the United States holding [00:06:27] them back, holding the Israelis back [00:06:29] from providing that relief. [00:06:31] >> Yeah. We got to understand that this [00:06:35] idea that all these people are going to [00:06:36] live together happily [00:06:39] away. But it's contrary, it's also [00:06:42] contrary to the the the vast amount of [00:06:45] history of that region. I mean, this [00:06:46] idea of nation state is a relatively new [00:06:48] idea. [00:06:50] >> Yeah. Yeah. It's kind of a fiction after [00:06:51] World War I. This is a religious war. [00:06:54] Um, you know, the people on radical [00:06:56] Islam, Sunni and Shia, want all of us to [00:06:59] bend to their will. Uh, you got [00:07:01] Hezbollah and you got Hamas, you got [00:07:04] Iran, you got al Qaeda. There's Sunni [00:07:06] Shia versions of this. and they all are [00:07:09] drunk on their religion. They will kill [00:07:12] in the name of God. This is very [00:07:14] dangerous. And so I've been talking to [00:07:16] President Trump. The worst possible [00:07:18] thing for America is for people to come [00:07:20] to our aid, help us fight, uh keep our [00:07:23] casualties down, and we abandon them. [00:07:26] Biden did it. Obama did it. I am [00:07:28] confident Donald Trump won't. To to your [00:07:31] listeners, pray for our Kurdish allies. [00:07:33] They've been great to Israel. They've [00:07:35] been great to us. Uh, I'm talking to [00:07:37] Saudi Arabia. I'm talking to Turkey. We [00:07:39] need to hold them accountable. If things [00:07:41] go bad. So, very dicey time for [00:07:44] Christians all over the Middle East, for [00:07:46] the Drews, for the Kurds. Uh, pray for [00:07:49] them. But we got to do more than pray. [00:07:50] We got to act. [00:07:51] >> Right. I just want to make clear for our [00:07:53] folks, the listeners and viewers that [00:07:55] the Kurds have been a large part of the [00:07:58] military forces that have protected the [00:08:00] Christians and the others in that [00:08:01] region. So, [00:08:03] >> they're they're it's like all one. [00:08:05] They're working together, living [00:08:06] together, practicing what religious [00:08:09] freedom really looks like. Probably one [00:08:11] of the strongest points in uh in that [00:08:13] part of the world.