Transcript: Rep. Mike Turner on "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan," Nov. 30, 2025

The following is the transcript of the interview with Rep. Mike Turner, Republican of Ohio, that aired on "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan" on Nov. 30, 2025.

NANCY CORDES: We're joined now by Ohio Republican Congressman Mike Turner. Congressman, thanks for being with us. Happy Thanksgiving.

REP. MIKE TURNER: Thank you, Nancy. Happy Thanksgiving to you also.

NANCY CORDES: So, you heard what Sam Vinograd just had to say about the vetting process. You've also heard what administration officials are saying about it. Do you believe that this was a failure of vetting, or do you believe this is someone who just became radicalized or became mentally disturbed here in the United States?

REP. TURNER: This is very difficult, because, I mean, this is classic terrorism. And this is where an individual who tries to break the heart of a nation who doesn't enact a murderous act right before Thanksgiving and the- I think what Samantha is missing in all of this is that we didn't go to Afghanistan to bring Afghanis here. We went to Afghanistan to kill Osama bin Laden, to dismantle and destroy al-Qaeda, to avenge 9//11, to dismantle and to overthrow the Taliban and to ensure that Afghanistan was no longer a safe haven for terrorism. What occurred is that the Biden administration allowed Afghanistan to fall and fled, and in doing so, then found itself in a situation where those who had been aiding us were then at risk, and in doing so made the decision--

NANCY CORDES:-- You don't think they would have been at risk either way?

REP. TURNER: No, they were- their intention was that they would be still there. That Afghanistan would no longer be a safe haven for terrorists, that it would not be a return to the Taliban, and there would not be a need for those people to be evacuated. You wouldn't see American planes on the tarmac, as you showed with people running to try to get on them. By the way, those planes wouldn't be being chased by people if they were on their way to China or Russia, they were on their way to America, and those people were fleeing what the Biden administration was allowing to unfold, which is that it would once again be a nation that would be at risk to us. And so, you know, that's how you get to the situation where those individuals are at risk. Now, obviously the vetting was flawed. By your own report, you showed that individuals who were on our known terrorist watch list made it into this country through that process. So obviously that the vetting process–

NANCY CORDES:-- But then- then they were identified--

REP. TURNER:-- but they made it in. They made it in, right? They made it into this country. So obviously the process was flawed, and it was also a process that should have been unnecessary, if there hadn't been this hasty fall of Afghanistan. In which the Biden administration had promised us all that they were not going to run for the exits. And they not only ran for the exits, they did so at night. You know, Congress was, you know, after hearing, after hearing, you know, raised the issues of the manner in which the Biden administration fled and what the consequences would be. And we're all living with this consequence now, the investigation is underway.

NANCY CORDES: Weren't their hands tied in part by the fact that Trump had cut a deal with the Taliban promising to leave by a certain date?

REP. TURNER: No, their hands were not tied. The manner in which they did so, and Congress did a number of investigations, at a number of hearings, and filed a number of reports that showed that it was the actions of the Biden administration, a manner in which they completely withdrew. But that investigation is underway. It's going to be underway as to this individual, and I think we all need to wait for that investigation to be concluded.

NANCY CORDES: The President has called for 500 more National Guard troops to be sent to the nation's capital. Your state has already contributed 150. Do you believe that more troops being deployed is the answer, or do you think it's time to wind this deployment down?

REP. TURNER: When you ask this, is that the answer? You have to first talk about what the question is, and the question is, is there a national issue of- of crime and safety? And certainly the American people, by all polls, indicate that people are experiencing it and report that there is. And certainly in the nation's capital, there has been- there has been unbelievable reports of just the- the criminal activity, though, the- those individuals who have succumbed to, you know, violent crime. And certainly, there's been a reporting that the National Guard presence has made a difference.

NANCY CORDES: Right. No question, I think crime is down 30% something like that in DC in the last four months. I want to turn to Ukraine now, another issue very important to you. A team of Ukrainian negotiators is meeting right now in Miami with Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Special Envoy Steve Witkoff. What's your understanding of where the negotiations stand right now. There were concerns initially that the White House plan was too pro-Russia. Do you still have those concerns?

REP. TURNER: Well, I think we all have those concerns. The- the- you know, the President's goal of peace is incredibly important, and we saw today with Secretary Rubio his statement of, you know, we have to have a strong and sovereign Ukraine, and I- and that's everyone's goal, and the- and certainly a prosperous Ukraine. And we saw the Ukrainian representative there, who is, you know, committed. And we certainly think, and I think everyone thinks that President Zelenskyy is committed to peace. But you know, one thing that I think everybody understands is that you can't have- you can't be America first and pro-Russia, because Russia has- is a self declared adversary of the United States. It's fielding new, advanced nuclear weapons that are specifically targeting the United States. It's constantly attacking the United States with offensive cyber. It continuously identifies both NATO and the West, the United States as its adversary. So in this and of course, when it identifies Ukraine as its adversary, it does so in identifying the West and the United States as its adversary. You have to understand that the balance of this- this peace arrangement has to be one where you have to look at Russia as a skeptical adversary.

NANCY CORDES: Speaking of the question of being pro-Russian, this week, Bloomberg got a hold of this transcript of a call between Steve Witkoff, the special envoy, and a Putin advisor, in which Witkoff appeared to be coaching the Russian on how to win over President Trump. And there are several Republicans that have great concerns about that. Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania called it a major problem. Don Bacon of Nebraska said Witkoff fully favors the Russians and should be fired. What do you think?

REP. TURNER: Well, the part that concerned me most is that there appeared to be an orchestration of giving Putin an opportunity to speak to Trump before President Zelensky was on his way to the White House. And I wouldn't want any orchestration of lessening President Zelenskyy's relationship with Trump, because it's very important when you have negotiations that, especially as you have, you know- in this instance Russia is being, you know, obviously, unbelievably murderous of the Ukrainian people. It is an aggressive authoritarian regime in this it's killing civilians. It is- it is not just this. Is not a military against military action. They are bombing into Ukraine and murderously killing civilians in Ukraine. The- the Ukrainian people are being subjected to this, and the President Trump needs to be able to hear Zelenskyy's voice clearly, and not just the authoritarian murderous Putin.

NANCY CORDES: So given your concerns, should Witkoff continue to serve as one of the main US negotiators here and should he be sent by President Trump to Moscow this week to meet with Putin?

REP. TURNER: I think you can't take just one slice of someone's conversation during a long, stretched out aspect of negotiations as reflective, but I think it's certainly important that when we do get that opportunity, that our voices are heard of caution and concern. And the orchestration of inserting Putin's voice before Zelenskyy is very concerning, and I think the White House should be very concerned about any efforts to orchestrate Putin's voice at the White House before Zelenskyy's because Ukraine's sovereignty and security needs to be preeminent. And we heard that this morning from Rubio, and that needs to be the focus.

NANCY CORDES: President Trump said this was just regular deal making. I want to turn to Venezuela, because you're on the House Armed Services Committee. We've all been watching the military buildup in the waters around Venezuela. Just yesterday, the President said airlines should consider Venezuelan airspace closed. Do you take that to mean that a military operation is imminent?

REP. TURNER: Well, the President did not say that, and the President certainly has not given Congress any notice that that is going to occur. And he certainly has not made the case. There is a buildup that the President has not explained in a way that relates solely to the actions that are currently going down in the Caribbean, and with respect to the drug trade that the President has been discussing with Congress, it is certainly a significant concern in Congress.

NANCY CORDES: The Washington Post is reporting that before the strike on the very first suspected drug vote in September, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth ordered that everyone on board be killed, and then when two of the 11 people on board survived, a follow-on strike was ordered to finish them off in the water. Now some law of war experts are saying that that was illegal, that killing people who are no longer able to fight is a war crime. What is your view and what questions do you have for the Pentagon?

REP. TURNER: Congress does not have information that that had occurred. Both the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, and ranking members have opened investigations. Obviously, if that occurred, that would be- be very serious, and I agree that- that- that would- would be an illegal act. That is not the legal opinion or the information or the legal justification, the acts that have been described to Congress that are being undertaken in- in this. There are very serious concerns in Congress about the attacks on the so-called drug boats down in the Caribbean and the Pacific, and the legal justification has been provided. But this is- is completely outside of anything that has been discussed with Congress, and there is an ongoing investigation.

NANCY CORDES: Very interesting to hear you say that this might be an illegal act. I know your committee is asking more questions. We'd love to learn what you find out. Congressman Mike Turner of Ohio, thank you so much for being with us.

REP. TURNER: I appreciate it.

NANCY CORDES: And we'll be right back with a lot more Face the Nation. Stay with us.

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