welcome back to "face the nation." we want to pick up where we left off. before the break you were saying you think the president needs to do more on the border. the president did say this weekend he wants to make major changes. he has negotiations going on. are you saying put aside that

deal and just take an executive action? >> i'm saying put a deadline. if it doesn't happen this week, this is such a crisis and it is a dangerous crisis at the boarder. the president might have to take executive action, declaring a national crisis. and do what needs to be do to shut that border down and secure until we could get a handle and the legislature could come to an agreement. but leaving it all and thinking we're all going to be kumbaya, is not the prudent course to take. >> so you think he needs to get more directly involved. to unlock ukraine and israel and taiwan aid. >> the crisis at the border is the greatest crisis we face in america. and i believe very strongly that border needs to be secured and to close it down if you can't get a pathway that the legislature agrees on. i think this week would be a deadline because were we told before christmas it would be done. and we were told come back and it would be done and it is still not done and who knows.

>> you're an the armed services committee. as of this morning, secretary of defense is still in the hospital. >> right. >> we learned this week he's receiving treatment for prostate cancer and been if the hospital since january 1st and the president didn't find out until we were told january 9th. a democratic congress, seth moulton former marine said this is a break down in the chain of command. austin should be fired. do you agree? >> there has been a breakdown. we need to find out more on the facts. we're supposed to be briefed this week. and my prayers are with lloyd austin and his family for his full and speedy recovery. this is a man who dedicated his entire life to the defense of our country. if a mistake was made, we could fix that and if we were a break down and left rutterless, we'll find out. but you don't change right now and throw a person out that has dedicated his entire life and done a good job of giving everything that he has to it.

he said he's -- he made a mistake and shouldn't have done it. >> president biden said it was a lapse in judgment. but in terms of national security, the fact that there seems to be this confusion or lack of kpcommunication by the white house with the pentagon, does that trouble you? >> we saw the attacks on the hu houthis back. this took coordination. before i'm going to draw fire on that or make a decision, i want to see the rest of the facts and is corrections being made and has it been there and just happen to come up at this time when a person who is very private and made a mistake and thought he had a procedure and wasn't as serious as it turned out to be. but his health and well being is what i'm most concerned about and his dedication to our country. i think we owe something to make sure we have the facts before we put politics. politics are going to go for someone's head and this toxic

atmosphere is what people don't like any more. so just have some civility to how we handle ourselves and the concerns for our people. >> we're for civility. you're welcome back any time. >> thank you margaret. >> we'll be right back. you need weathertech all year round! come on, protect your investment laser measured floorliners and cargoliner will shield the carpeting from sand and snow for your interior, there's seat protector and sunshade plus, mudflaps and bumpstep for the exterior order american made products at weathertech.com surfs up yeah, right

today marks 100 days since hamas led a brutal attack on israel. our charlie d'agata errors on the growing conflict in the middle east. >> just days after the massive u.s.-led red sea assault, involving american f-18 fighter jets and british typhoons taking off from cypress. houthi militants carried out drills in yemen yesterday. a serious military flex than a show of defiance. the head of israel's military intelligence and a former fighter pilot would flew several missions behind enemy lines. i >> i have a suspicion it is not

enough, to destroy the capabilities. it may effect the intention. >> reporter: the very escalation the u.s. had sought to avoid, a direct military confrontation with iran-backed adversaries. four months into this con frick that started over the tiny strip of land that is gaza has now commanded to a more global arena including here on the red sea. retal retal retalliation for weeks. 100 days into that war, the fight rages on. almost 24,000 people have been killed according to hamas health officials. many children among them. winter now piling misery on the hundreds of thousands of displaced residents and hungry and aid agencies say, some facing starvation. amid growing international condemnation, that the toll is

too high, israeli officials say the world needs reminding hamas started this fight. this morning thousands gathered in tel aviv for 100 seconds of silence. including the families of those still held hostage, not knowing whether their loved ones are even still alive. amid increasing pressure for even a temporary cease-fire, benjamin netanyahu addressed the nation last night saying we will continue this war until the end. we're on a path to victory and we won't stop until we achieve victory. >> charlie d'agata in israel. we are joined by admiral john kirby of the white house national security council. it is good to have you here. >> thank you. >> we received that report about two navy s.e.a.l.s missing off the coast of sammalia. they t they were aemt itting to board a small chip carrying weapons from

iran to yemen. >> that search is still ongoing for those two sailors that have in the water. and we hope to get some updated information today. but we're obviously watching this very closely. >> this is directly related to what going on. >> this is not related to the strikes in yemen. this was normal interdiction to try to disrupt the flow of weapon supplies to yemen. so it is not related to the strikes to the houthis. >> but in this region, the houthis, say the motivation here is they're trying to get back at israel's allies. this that is a justification. do you think this will deter the houthis or are you bracing for an open-ended conflict. >> i think it would be polianish not to think there could be a strike by the houthis. we've taken the ness precautions in the region if that should

occur. the strikes were meant to disrupt and degrade their ability to con duck these strikes. and so we think that we had good effect on that. we're still assessing the battle damage assessment of those strikes but we think we will good effect. the houthis have a choice to make here now and right choice is to stop the reckless attacks and no matter what they say, it is not about punishing israel. one of the ships they took a shot at yesterday was a panama flag that was taken russia oil. so it had nothing to do with israel. >> so it may be an open-ended conflict. >> we're not looking for a conflict with houthis or yemen. w're trying to get the attacks to stop. >> so you used to work closely with the defense secretary lloyd austin and we were just talking about everyone is hoping he pulls through this battle with cancer healthy and strong. but why is he still in the hospital? if he's still at walter reed?

>> i'm not his physician, but my understanding is he's following his doctor's orders in terms of what kind of additional care he needs and we'll see when he could get released. but they still feel like he may need? additional care. i understand that part of that is just physical therapy. >> so, okay. does the president talk to him on a daily basis, because i think that one of the things that surprised a lot of people knowing what a tinder box the middle east and the europe is and the concern about china, was how infrequently there was direct contact between the white house and the defense secretary for the entire period of time at the end of december through january? >> there is routine regular communications between the president and the secretary of defense. >> how do you know that he -- >> and normally, like for instance, some of the strikes that we took on christmas day and christmas night and a few days later were preapproved. secretary austin was part of

that discussion when he took the sites from the houthis a couple of nights ago and he's actively involved and engaged and they don't have to talk every day. a lot of the work is done at the staff level. >> but there is a chain of command and the commander-in-chief didn't know that his defense secretary was ill. >> and that is a problem and the president has spoken to that. nos not the way it is supposed to be and something we need more answers to and the pentagon is investigating this and we'll see what comes out of that. but that is not the way the process is supposed to work, that is right. >> as we acknowledge, it is 100 days since the hamas attack that sparked where we are now. does the u.s. need to press israel harder to move into the low intensity conflict they say they intend to move toward? >> i could tell you, secretary blinken just came from the region, that we have been talking to them intensely about

a transition to low intensity operations. we believe it is the right time for in a transition and we're talking about doing that. now they've done some precursor a steps to get to that point. they're pulled some troops out and relying less on air strikesment and any military k campaign is to get to lower intense and we believe it is time to make that transition and we have had that conversation. >> tike to make that because it is giving them cover for this long. >> because it is the right thing to do in this mimt campaign against hamas. we're not saying let your foot up off the gas completely and don't keep going after hamas. it is still a viable threat, and they have every right and responsibility to go after that. we believe the time is coming here very soon for a transition to the lower intensity phase. >> right. because you know, even

democratic senators like chris van hollen has said that every juncture the netanyahu government has given biden the finger. that the white house is being told we don't care. >> we have had intense conversations with the israelis. we know that they have had effected, margaret. they went into gaza with a much smaller force because we gave them advice for mosul and fallujah. and we've seen them drop leaflets telling them where to go and not to go. that is telegraphing your purges. not a lot of modern militaries would do that. i'm not saying it is perfect. and we're certainly not walking away from the need to reduce civilian casualties and get more humanitarian aid in. but it is getting in a couple of hundred trucks a day, not enough and we're going to keep having those conversations with them. >> thank you so much for joining us in studio. we'll be back in a moment.

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seurity. and you ran the dea. you were a member of congress. but donald trump has remade your party. how do you define who your supporters are? >> well first of all, you're correct. he has redefined the republican party. and not in a good way. and whenever you look at what i'm trying to do, is draw attention to the fact that donald trump is a weak candidate for us going into the general election. i think the cbs poll that you cited today reflected that. the one person that ought to enjoy that poll is joe biden, with trump having that kind of a lead in the primary. my responsibility and other candidates is to take on the front-runner if you don't agree that he's the right one. we've been doing that. and there might be a short-term price for that. but long-term fear, fear-mongering and grievances only take you so far. and so, that is the sign of a weak candidate as you go further

into this election year. so, the voice is critically important to alert people that we can't mislead our voters and say january 6 was a patriotic act. it was an if attack on our capitol and the rule of law in congress and we cannot buy into that misleading by donald trump. >> so, sir, our cbs polling shows 81% of republican primary voters say they agree with the statement that immigrants are poisoning the blood of country. what do you think of that statement? and why is that resonating with self-identified republican voters? >> well, because there is incredible concern about the border. as you talk to voters here in iowa, they're number one concern is the economy and equal to that is border security. and, so, i don't like his inflammatory language. i would never use that.

immigrants are important to our country. but we have to have the legal process and people are upset with the biden administration and the porous border. that is why i could make the case that i'm the only one that is running for president that has the responsibility of securing the border and i would talk about it in terms of what we need to do versus the rhetoric that misleads and hurts people. >> fentanyl is driving one of the deadliest drug crisis in this country's history and most of that, i think you know, comes in through the legal ports of entry into the united states. but most of your competitors are squarely blaming china, squarely blaming mexico. they do have rules here as you know. but how would you deal with the overall crisis in america? >> well, you have to do it by partnering with mexico to go after the cartels, who are

responsible for bringing the fentanyl in. they should be declared foreig terrorist organizations. but you're point is very well taken. their smuggling there through the port of entry and i saw senator manchin talking about closing the border. is he talking about the ports of entry or went between the ports of entry. it would hurt america if we shut down. so we have to use better technologies and you have to partner with mexico and use economic pressure to accomplish that. and then we have to -- we could not neglect the importance of warning young people of buying a percocet on the street and that could be laced with fentanyl and increase our drug treatment resources. all of that is part of my plan as head of the dea. >> when you say economic pressure on mexico, are you talking about shutting down temporarily transit between the

two as president biden had to do in december? are you talking about putting tariffs on mexico like donald trump said he wants to do? >> well neither. we're going to be returning manufacturing back from china. and the president can help lead and say, some of that is going to wind up in mexico and our economic partnership is important. but as president, i will discourage that return of manufacturing to mexico if they don't support the rule of law and partner with us. so there is a different -- a different level of economic pressure and sure, i think that we have to take strong measures to get their attention to help us. but i think you could do that without hurting american businesses that rely upon that cross border commerce. >> all right. asa hutchinson, thank you for joining us today. and we turn now to governor and nikki haley supporter chris sununu who joins us from new fields, new hampshire. good to have you back with us. >> you bet. >> so, governor, donald trump

won new hampshire's primary in 2016. it legitimized his campaign and launched him into presidency and is this about nikki haley potentially coming in second place? >> no, not at all. look, the media and has told the world that donald trump would win every state and run away with this. it wasn't even going to be a race. it is a race. nikki haley is the only candidate surging in iowa and in new hampshire. the fact that if nikki could post a strong second here, that is great and we're going to do that. now but there is a chance of shattering the presumptions that donald trump will run away it and that happens right here in new hampshire. and she could challenge him to win the state and go into her home state with a nearly a month of campaigns there. she knows how to win there and that again just breaks down this as assumption that it is trumps to be head. so by doing that, you hit a

re-set on the entire campaign narrative and put nikki at top of the heap. >> so you said recently that if your candidate doesn't win the nomination, you would still support the party nominee. but back in june, when you said you personally decided not to run for president, you said if trump wins, republicans will lose again. he didn't deliver on his promised to drain the swamp and secure the border and he has numerous investigations and peddling conspiracy theories. so why do you no longer have such a strong conviction? >> i absolutely do. look, but i would -- >> but you would support. >> i never said i wouldn't support the republican nominee. but then -- >> but you said he would be harmful. >> but i didn't say i wasn't going to support him. republicans are going to support him. this is a nail biter race come november. with nikki haley at the top, she's wins by ten points. it is a fundamentally different argument because you get the senate, you get the house and

the governorships and down the ticket, the republicans win. donald trump is simply the weakest candidate and so again that is the opportunity that nikki brings to table. >> okay. i'm sorry, you're saying you would still support the weakest candidate even though it would hurt your pard party in down ballot races to be -- >> we're talking about the general election here. trump versus biden. do you think i'm going to video for joe biden with what he's done with this country and inflation and crushing middle american families. i think trump is the weakest nominee and have a tough time beating biden but we're going to support the republican nominee. and that is why nikki haley is surging and so many people are getting behind. i tell the folks in iowa and new hampshire, you could sit on the couch and wait to see what happens or go caucus for nikki haley in iowa and make sure you vote in new hampshire. the higher the voter turnout, the ab the better chance it is to get

trump. that is going to happen at the ballot box. and that is the opportunity over the next ten days. to turn this entire narrative around that trump is going to run away with this thing. the opportunity for the republican party is nikki haley. >> 2022 was the most dangerous year for overdoses in new hampshire since 2017 which is the same time trump called your state a drug infested den. what is happening in your stace that has had addiction specifically now with fentanyl only continued to be a problem through these administrations? >> well, yeah, again, you're looking at small data. since 2017, fentanyl driven deaths in this country had have seen a 60% increase. ow numbers will be lower than '22 this year. so our model is breaking the national trends.

our model provides rural access to care. we're not just pump money in old systems. we used to be number one, number two in eterms of drug and fentanyl, we're now around 23 and 24. so we have a lot of work to do. the entire country does. but they are skyrocketed where we've gone down and broken that mold. i think we have a terrific model here and it is working and it is going to take time and then implement that around mental healh services as well. you immplement that service. and they are focused on the inner cities. it is wrong. it is not the best way to do it. you have to have the rural access to care around fentanyl and over doses and the other new drugs that are kind of coming on to the mark. we've been on the forefront of that stuff. >> governor, we wish you luck with that. thank you for your time this morning. we'll be right back. the back and stick it to any surface, and there's no damage to your walls. go to mixtiles.com and pick sizing, filters and it really makes it

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that is it for us today.

thank you for watching. for "face the nation," i'm margaret brennan. a lawson, cbs n

new york. >> announcer: this is the "cbs overnight news." as we come on the air tonight, nearly 100 million of you are under wind chill warnings or advisories as an