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.