William Cohen on Trump, Putin, September 11

A FREQUENT REPUBLICAN REFRAIN WE HEAR IS THE U.S. ENTERED NO NEW WARS WHEN THE DONALD TRUMP WAS PRESIDENT. IF HE WAS SO DAMAGING TO UKRAINIAN SECURITY, WHY DO YOU THINK VLADIMIR PUTIN INVADED UKRAINE WHILE JOE BIDEN WAS PRESIDENT. MR. COHEN: I THINK PUTIN INVADED UKRAINE BECAUSE HE FELT THE U.S. WASN'T TAKING HIM SERIOUSLY. WHEN HE WENT INTO GEORGIA AND CERTAINLY WHEN HE WENT INTO CRIMEA. I THINK HE FELT THE UNITED STATES WAS SO INTERESTED IN NOT ENGAGING IN ANY KIND OF CONFLICT THAT RUSSIA THAT HE WAS FREE TO GO ABOUT HIS BUSINESS. I THINK ALSO MANY OF US SAW WHAT PUTIN WAS UP TO GOING BACK TO 2007 AND WHEN HE GAVE THAT FAMOUS SPEECH IN THE MUNICH SECURITY CONFERENCE THAT HE THOUGHT THE FALL OF THE BERLIN WALL AND THE END OF THE SOVIET EMPIRE WAS THE GREATEST STRATEGY OF THE 20TH CENTURY. AND HE WANTED IF HE COULD TO RECONSTITUTE THE SOVIET EMPIRE UNDER THE RUSSIAN FLAG. THAT'S WHAT HUGHES TRIED TO DO IN UKRAINE. FORMER PRESIDENT TRUMP NEVER CRITICIZES VLADIMIR PUTIN. HE SIDED WITH PUTIN IN HELSINKI. WHEN THE ISSUE CAME UP WITH PUTIN INVOLVED IN OUR ELECTIONS, OUR ENTIRE INTELLIGENCE COMMUNITY SAID HE WAS AND DONALD TRUMP SAID I BELIEVE PUTIN. I THINK THE QUESTION IS THAT PUTIN BELIEVES THE UNITED STATES WOULD NOT RESIST WHAT HE WAS ABOUT, BUT HE IS ABOUT TRYING TO RECONSTITUTE THE FORMER SOVIET EMPIRE UNDER HIS FLAG, THE RUSSIAN FLAG. JOE: I DON'T KNOW IF YOU THINK DONALD TRUMP HAS ANYTHING, IF YOU THINK THIS WOULD HAVE HAPPENED UNDER HIS PRESIDENCY, BUT IT IS WORTH NOTING THAT EVEN AT THIS DESK WHEN WE'VE TALKED TO FOR INSTANCE THE UKRAINIAN AMBASSADOR TO THE U.S. OR EVEN THE PRESIDENT OF POLAND, WE ASK ABOUT THEIR THOUGHTS ON POTENTIAL 2.0 AND THE EXTENT DONALD TRUMP MIGHT COMPROMISE UKRAINIAN SECURITY. HE WAS GIVEN SEVERAL TIMES LAST NIGHT TO SAY HE WANTS UKRAINE TO WIN THE WAR, HE WOULD ONLY SAY HE WANTS THE WAR TO END. BUT THEY REMINDED US THE DONALD TRUMP PROVIDED LETHAL WEAPONS UKRAINE WHEN OTHERS WOULD NOT, DOES HE DESERVE CREDIT? MR. COHEN: HE GETS CREDIT FOR THAT. ANYTIME WE PROVIDE WEAPONS TO UKRAINE TO STAVE OFF A RUSSIAN ATTACK, THAT PERSON DESERVES CREDIT. BUT THE FACT IS DONALD TRUMP, HE WANTED TO SELL UKRAINE OUT. HE'S HAD MULTIPLE OPPORTUNITIES TO SAY UKRAINE SHOULD BE DEFENDING ITS TERRITORY, THAT WE SUPPORT THEM DEFENDING THEIR OWN TERRITORY, THAT WE SUPPORT OUR NATO ALLIES, HELPING THEM TO DEFEND THEIR TERRITORY. HE REFUSES TO SAY IT BECAUSE HE'S TRYING TO CURRY FAVOR WITH A DICTATOR AND THAT IS VLADIMIR PUTIN. I THINK THERE'S NO QUESTION THAT HE WOULD SELL OUT UKRAINE IN A NANO SECOND RATHER THAN SAYING WE WILL CONTINUE TO WAGE THIS CAMPAIGN. JOE: HE WOULD SELL OUT UKRAINE. HARRIS SAID LAST NIGHT THAT IF DONALD TRUMP HAD BEEN ELECTED THAT PUTIN WOULD BE SITTING IN KYIV RIGHT NOW, IS THAT RIGHT? MR. COHEN: I THINK KYIV WOULD HAVE FALLEN VERY QUICKLY UNLESS THE U.S. AND OUR WESTERN ALLIES HAD NOT ASSISTED. THEY HAVE SUFFERED TREMENDOUS LOSSES BUT WE ARE DOING BETTER AND SUPPORTING THEM AND I THINK THEY ARE PUTTING UP A FIGHT FOR THEIR LIVES BECAUSE THEIR LIVES AND THEIR NATION ARE AT STAKE. JOE: YOU ARE WATCHING THE SITUATION IN THE MIDDLE EAST, AND HAVE TALKED ABOUT IT SINCE OCTOBER 7. DONALD TRUMP SAID LAST NIGHT THAT HARRIS IF ELECTED, THAT ISRAEL WOULD NOT EXIST WITHIN TWO YEARS. DO YOU SEE ANY DAYLIGHT BETWEEN KAMALA HARRIS AND JOE BIDEN WHEN IT COMES TO POLICY ON ISRAEL? MR. COHEN: NO. AS A MATTER OF FACT, I'VE KNOWN JOE BIDEN FOR ALMOST 50 YEARS. I KNOW THAT JOE BIDEN HAS BEEN ONE OF THE STRONGEST SUPPORTERS OF ISRAEL DURING HIS ENTIRE CAREER AND UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES WOULD JOE BIDEN EVER SACRIFICE ISRAEL'S RIGHT TO DEFEND ITSELF AND OUR ABILITY TO HELP THEM DEFEND THEMSELVES. THE NOTION THAT JOE BIDEN OR HIS SUCCESSOR, KAMALA HARRIS, WOULD SELL OUT ISRAEL IS ABSURD. IT'S ANOTHER ONE OF THOSE PROVOCATIONS DONALD TRUMP IS TRYING TO PERPETRATE ON THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. ISRAEL HAS THE STRONG SUPPORT OF THIS COUNTRY AND IT ALWAYS WILL. WHAT WAS IMPORTANT LAST NIGHT IS WHAT THE VICE PRESIDENT SAID, WE HAVE TO BE CONCERNED ABOUT INNOCENT LIVES BEING LOST AS WELL. HOW YOU CONDUCT A WAR IS IMPORTANT AS WELL AS THE FACT THAT WE ARE SUPPORTING YOU. HOW YOU DO THAT IN TERMS OF MINIMIZING THE LIVES OF THE INNOCENT PEOPLE, THAT'S ALSO IMPORTANT AND I THOUGHT SHE MADE THAT POINT VERY CLEARLY. JOE: WE ARE MEETING TODAY ON THE 11TH OF SEPTEMBER, A REMARKABLE 23 YEARS LATER TO WAKE UP THIS MORNING, THOSE OF US WHO LIVE BETWEEN BOSSING 10 AND WASHINGTON, D.C. METOO NOTE THE WEATHER -- WASHINGTON, D.C., TO NOTE THE WEATHER, IT FEELS EXACTLY LIKE IT DID 23 YEARS AGO. IT WAS EMPHASIZED WHAT WE NEED TO DO TO STAY VIGILANT AS WE MARK 23 YEARS. >> ON THIS GORGEOUS WEDNESDAY, IT'S ALSO ABOUT PROPER REFLECTION, COMMEMORATING THOSE WHO PERISHED, AND RELATIVE TO HOMELAND SECURITY, THAT IT IS MORE THAN JUST A MONIKER. 9/11 CAN BE NOT JUST ABOUT COMMEMORATION ALTHOUGH THAT IS THE LION'S SHARE OF THE EMOTIONAL ASPECT, STAYING ON TOP OF HER HOMELAND SECURITY GAME AND REMAINING VIGILANT IS ESSENTIAL AS WELL. JOE: PEOPLE UNDER 25, MAYBE EVEN 30, DON'T HAVE GREAT MEMORIES OF THIS, IT WASN'T PART OF THEIR LIFE AND THEY DON'T HAVE THE WORLDVIEW OF SOMEONE WHO MAY HAVE EXPERIENCED THAT, REMEMBERS THE FEAR AND CONFUSION OF THE DAY, THE DAY THE WORLD CHANGED FOR A LOT OF AMERICANS. I REMEMBER TO THE EXTENT WE TRY TO ADVANCE THE LESSONS LEARNED ON 9/11, IF THE GREATEST TO BRUTE -- LATEST TRIBUTE TO THOSE WHO LOST THEIR LIVES THAT DAY AND THE FIRST RESPONDERS WHO FOLLOWED IS TO CONTINUE THE VIGILANCE THE GOVERNOR TALKED ABOUT. MR. COHEN: ABSOLUTELY. IT'S WHY MEMORY AND MEMORIALS ARE SO CRITICAL TO OUR LIVES. IF WE DON'T REMEMBER WHAT HAS HAPPENED IN THE PAST, WE ARE LIKELY TO HAVE IT HAPPEN AGAIN. THAT'S WHY IT'S IMPORTANT TO REMIND PEOPLE, THOSE NOT ALIVE AT THE TIME, LOOK AT THE FILMS, LOOK AT WHAT HAPPENED IN THE ATTACK, LOOK AT WHAT HAPPENED WHEN THE PENTAGON WAS ATTACKED, WHEN THOSE BRAVE FIRST RESPONDERS GOING INTO THAT RUBBLE, THE FIERY COLLAPSE OF THE TWIN TOWERS AND THE COURAGE THEY SHOWED RUNNING INTO FIRE RATHER THAN RUNNING AWAY FROM IT. WE HAVE TO REMEMBER TO ALWAYS KEEP IN MIND THAT THE WORLD IS DANGEROUS AND THERE ARE PEOPLE IN THIS WORLD THAT WOULD LIKE TO REPLICATE WHAT HAPPENED ON 9/11 AND WE HAVE TO REMAIN VIGILANT AND WE HAVE TO REMEMBER AND REMEMBER THOSE WHO LOST THEIR LIVES IN THE PROTECTION OF OUR SECURITY. IT WAS A SOMBER DAY TODAY AND WHEN WE HAVE TO KEEP REPEATING AND REMINDING OURSELVES.