CNN "The Lead with Jake Tapper" - Transcript: Interview with Joni Ernst

Interview

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

TAPPER: Jeff Zeleny at the White House, thanks so much. Joining us now to discuss, Iowa Republican Senator Joni Ernst who served in Kuwait and Iraq and was the first, though not the last female combat veteran elected to serve in the U.S. Senate.

Senator Ernst, good to see you. Thanks for joining us.

So, I want to ask you, just I want to start off with the emotion of this moment because General Milley, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, he talked fairly candidly about the pain and anger he feels at the end of this war. He reflected on the more than 200 of his troops killed in battle. What are you feeling as we see the end of the war? We can talk about the evacuation and the exit and the SIVs in a second, but just the war is over, this has been a big part of your life.

SEN. JONI ERNST (R-IA), ARMED SERVICES COMMITTEE: Yes. Yes, Jake. And thank you so much.

And this is the way I've described it. It's surreal. It is gut wrenching. It is so disheartening.

And as I visit with other veterans, as I have talked to those Gold Star spouses, those Gold Star families, many feel that they have been left behind. They're not even part of a discussion anymore.

And what I have not heard from this President is a thank you to those veterans who have served in the Global War on Terror. Not once has he expressed empathy and gratitude to the men and women who have put the uniform on and have fought so bravely overseas the last 20 years to keep our homeland safe.

And I feel that by not acknowledging his gratitude for them is diminishing their service. And so, from the bottom of my heart, I am so grateful for all of those that have served in the Global War on Terror and have protected our nation because we haven't seen another 9/11 during the past 20 years.

TAPPER: I have heard President Biden express gratitude and praise veterans. It may be that he hasn't done it enough for people. And in fact, you know, we don't have a monument for the veterans and the KIA and the WIA from the Global War on Terror. And maybe we need to have that, maybe we need to have more of a national moment of recognition. But I -- this is a factual matter. I have heard him talk about this.

ERNST: I have heard him say, Jake, that he is grateful for those at the Kabul airport. I've heard him mention that many times in his press briefings and various speeches, but he hasn't acknowledged as far as I know. And you might be right, but I listened very carefully, he always acknowledges those that are doing service or have done service at the Kabul airport during the evacuation, but not over the greater Global War on Terror.

And in his speech the other day, he was very defensive and basically stated we should have been out of Afghanistan 10 years ago. And by saying that, what does that say to those veterans who have served in the last 10 years in Afghanistan, that their sacrifice wasn't worth it? I think it was. So, I do hope that President Biden stands up, stands forward and tells those veterans, thank you from the bottom of our heart.

[17:20:22]

And you're right about a memorial. Matter of fact, I was the lead sponsor of the Global War on Terrorism Memorial Foundation, it was established, we are working on that. We just have to find a place to locate memorial. And I'm really, really hopeful that it will be on our national mall (ph).

TAPPER: Yes. Let's talk about this new phase of the evacuation efforts, because obviously, people were left behind. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan told me yesterday that the administration is working on two ways to get American citizens out of Afghanistan. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAKE SULLIVAN, NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: One would be by air and we're working closely with other countries to get charter air flights going in the short term, second is by ground. And we're working with neighboring countries to be able to accept American citizens or legal permanent residents travelling by ground across borders to get them processed, and then get them safely out of the country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: Are you confident, Senator, that the right plans are in place to get the remaining American citizens or legal permanent residents out of Afghanistan safely?

ERNST: I am not confident at this moment in time, Jake. I do think that we need to have those discussions with the administration. I would love to know how those plans are going to be executed. Because as we saw with the evacuation of those Americans and SIV holders out of the Kabul airport, it did not go well.

And it was not a great success that President Biden proclaims that to be. We lost 13 service members in that effort. So, I would have to know who is executing this. Are we relying on volunteers, as we have heard across the radio waves and airwaves over the last few weeks, volunteers going into the country, and maybe not even with authority to help evacuate those civilians, those SIV holders, those refugees.

So, I think there's a lot of unanswered questions at this time. And I certainly am not one to trust the Taliban to allow for safe passage of Americans or those Afghans that stood beside our service members over the course of the past 20 years.

TAPPER: In terms of Afghan refugees and the Special Immigrant Visa applicants and their families, I know Iowa historically has been a welcoming state when it comes to --

ERNST: Yes.

TAPPER: -- individuals like that. I have heard some fairly xenophobic and racist language from conservative voices. And I'm wondering what you say to people like that when you hear from them, whether it's your Senate colleagues or at a town hall?

ERNST: Yes. And there is a lot of concern out there. And, folks, I just need to say we are vetting people that are coming into the United States.

And the governor, Governor Kim Reynolds and I have both stated publicly many times over that we would welcome those refugees coming in from Afghanistan. So, it's important.

I'm sorry about the light there.

TAPPER: It's OK.

ERNST: But it is important that we bring those refugees and these are men and women that have stood beside our soldiers, our Marines, our Airmen over the course of the past 20 years. And certainly they deserve a place in the United States. And I would offer up Iowa to them any day. I would certainly love to see them thrive and prosper in our beautiful state.

TAPPER: One of the rare good things that I've seen in the last couple of weeks, and I'm sure you feel the same way is just the outpouring of support from veterans and soldiers for their Afghan brothers and sisters and their families trying to help them because of all that those Afghan allies did for the U.S. at great personal risk.

Republican Senator Joni Ernst of Iowa, thank you so much for your time. And of course always --

ERNST: Thank you, Jake.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source