13, the whole area had been liberated. >> watch american artifacts sunday on c-span3. tuesday morning, we are live in springfield, illinois for the 41st stop of the c-span bus capitals tour. .im butler will be on our bus it starts at 9:40. >> at the state department friday, secretary of state mike pompeo accused one of his predecessors of undermining u.s. policy. when asked about reports of former secretary of state john kerry meeting with iranian officials. secretary pompeo spoke about election security, north korea, and hurricane response efforts. this is 15 minutes.

sec. pompeo: good afternoon, everyone. before i get started, i want to let our fellow americans know who are affected by hurricane florence that our prayers are with them. i understand there may well have been loss of life. our heart goes out to them. thanks, too, to all of the first responders, military, civilian and the like, who are doing such good work. the federal government's help is there, and we still continue to encourage every american who's in the threatened path to listen to government officials and take

heed to their words. we're also aware that there's a typhoon in the pacific ocean right now which will take a toll on our friends in the philippines. our prayers are with them as well. state department teams are are ready to deliver the appropriate help to the region at the right time. as you all know, on wednesday president trump signed an executive order that made clear that our administration will not tolerate foreign interference in our democratic processes. elections are the foundation of our democracy, and preserving their integrity is a matter of protecting sovereignty and american national security. foreign malicious actors opened new fronts in their efforts to undermine our democracy and our core institutions. these actors want to turn americans against one another and convince us that our institutions, our ideals are defective. but we're resolved to defeat these efforts and make clear those who interfere with our liberties will pay a price. in the last few years, russia's been particularly aggressive in using its cyber capabilities, disinformation and other covert means to attempt to sow instability in america. as this executive order makes clear, any other foreign government or persons acting on their behalf interfere in the united states election, there will be swift and severe

consequences. the order provides for mandatory sanctions against foreign persons determined to have participated in interference in our elections. it also provides provisional measures that could be capable of devastating or interfering in our country's economy. and if the government of that country authorized director, sponsor supported election interference, we're going to come after them. the state department will continue to work closely with other agencies to identify, expose and expose foreign interference directed against the american electorate no matter which entity initiated it. we'll also continue to work with our partners around the world to stand against these threats to democracy wherever and however they rear their head. i want to spend just a few minutes on this friday afternoon talking about the team here at the state department as well. yesterday was a great day, it was a proud day. after senate confirmation, president trump conferred on four officers the position of career ambassador. four of the state department's finest, philip goldberg, david

hale, michelle sissen and dan smith. this is the highest and most prestigious rank in service, they should be proud. the american people, too, should be proud for them representing our country. they have all proven over many years of service that their outstanding diplomatic skills and leadership qualities are much needed and that they're delivering. they're an inspiration too. they're great leaders. i congratulate them all on behalf of all of my state department colleagues. this is a good step towards strengthening the state department's leadership, something i've put at the top of my priority set in my first, now, several months here. i know that american diplomacy is most agile and most effective when we have our entire team in place. we need to have that senior leadership team empowered. to that end, we do have some new leaders already making an impact. i mentioned david hale, my undersecretary for political affairs.

we also have director kiron skinner who i have not mention before, she is a highly distinguished academic, knowledgeable across a broad range of issues. she's going to make sure the best foreign policy ideas rise to the top here at the state department. when i went before the senate foreign relations committee, i only made a couple of to promises, but one was that i would get the team on the field. i knew this was critical to strengthening the finest diplomatic corps in the world, and that's what i said that day. i told them i'd do my part, that i would fill those positions, i would work with the president to get the individuals nominated, and we have made great progress getting confirmable positions filled, and we need that progress to continue. the places where we still have gaps, places like western hemisphere where we have challenges in venezuela and nicaragua and in mexico and the northern triangle, important areas, we need a leader.

we haven't had an undersecretary for management here for quite some time. we need a confirmed person. and a place that i have spent a great deal of time, we are still looking for an assistant secretary. the list is long, i could go on, and i am just hopeful that we can finish the process so that both the executive and the legislative branch will have what it is i know each of us want, a fully-filled, capable team executing america's foreign policy. and with that, i'm happy to take a few questions. >> good afternoon. i was going to ask you about your interior decorating plans at your house, but i thought i would start with something more mundane, a policy question. last night president trump

tweeted about one of your predecessors, secretary kerry, saying he was having illegal meetings with the iranian foreign minister, and what , thes have said undermined iranians how to get around or avoid tougher policies. i wonder if you share the presidents view that the meeting is illegal, and whether you do or not, if you have noticed that getting the europeans on board with u.s. policy, and that efforts by secretary kerry or any other former official is interfering or undermining your efforts. sec. pompeo: as to the legal determinations of others, what secretary kerry has done is unseemly and unprecedented. state secretaries of

engaged with the world's largest state sponsor of terror, and according to him, you do not have to take my word for it to my these were his answers, he was telling them to wait out this administration. you cannot find precedent for and theu.s. history, to engage inht not that kind of behavior, it is inconsistent with the form policy of the united states as directed by this president, and it is beyond inappropriate. i saw him in munich at the security conference. eyes.them with my own they met with their counterparts, although one can ask secretary kerry if my

recollection is accurate. i was not in the meeting, but i am reasonably confident he was not there in support of u.s. policy. this week the islamic republic rockets towards the united states embassy in baghdad, and took actions against our consulate in bosnia -- basra. >> hasn't hurt your efforts? i think you i wish former secretaries of state from either political party should not be engaged. policyy undermining u.s. as a former secretary of state is literally unheard of. >> good afternoon. i wanted to reach out to you regarding russia and china are

suggesting at the security council that you should be, the united states and others should be easing sanctions against north korea given progress in their eyes so far in the denuclearization process. what signs are you seeing that they are perhaps not sticking to the sanctions, and is how is it damaging your efforts at trying to get full denuclearization from north korea? sec. pompeo: so, two things to say in this regard. one is that i spoke with ambassador haley about this earliered today. russia has actively attempted to undermine the u.n. security council resolutions, the work of the 17-18 committee, the committee at the u.n. that evaluates compliance with sanctions by attempting to change the language there. i hope that the 17-18 committee will do what it has historically done, remain independent and report on the facts as they know it and not allow a single country, in this case russia, to draft language and have it inserted. i hope they will publish the

original document that they intended to publish which shows, it shows clear activities related to sanctions and sanctions violations. it's important, data set that underlays not american sanctions, but the world sanctions from the u.n. security council. your question was broader than just the that. -- than just that. the united states is as committed as ever to continuing to enforce those u.n. security council resolutions. we believe they are central to president trump's efforts to convince chairman kim that full, final denuclearization of the korean peninsula is necessary and that it needs to be done in a way that the world can see that there's been this strategic change in chairman kim's core understanding of how he will provide a better future for the north korean people. he said it at the summit in

singapore, and we are still continuing to have many conversations with the dprk about how to effectuate in achieving all of the commitments that were made during the singapore summit. >> thank you. good afternoon, mr. secretary. by september 30 the administration has to give a determination or a decision to congress about the levels of refugees that will be admitted into the u.s. for the next fiscal year, and there seems to be a debate or a discussion among some who are thinking of it as more of a national security issue and want to keep the levels consistent at a level around 45,000 while there are some that think it should be significantly lower, in the 20,000's. i'm not sure if you want to give a specific amount, but could you talk about your thoughts about how you're seeing the level of refugees that should be coming in in the near future? sec. pompeo: so there will be an

announcement soon. the date, the deadline is, in fact, this fiscal year. and so i'm confident that the national security team will deliver the president's recommendation. he'll make his decision about the appropriate level. it is absolutely a national security decision, and it is also worth everyone here remembering that this is the most generous of nations when it comes to accepting persons from outside of our country. i am incredibly proud of what we have done, and how the trump administration has built with this issue. i'm confident the decision that comes out of this issue with respect to refugees or the next fiscal year, america will remain among the most generous nation's with respect to taking persons outside our country. we always have, and i expect that will continue. >> what are your thoughts to

numbers? sec. pompeo: i share thoughts with the president and when a decision is made we will announce it. >> do you think this effort with beyondoa goes secretary carry, and are there others advising the iranians? will the administration sanction members if they continue to process iranian transactions? sec. pompeo: second question first, i do not know and respect -- there are a number of decisions pending for the november 4 deadline about waivers or potential waivers, and we are working our way noough those, but make mistake, come november 4, there will be a fundamentally different set of rules with respect to anyone that deems it necessary to engage with an

economic activity with the islamic republic of iran. many countries are already taking actions to move out of discontinue doing business with them in advance of the november 4 deadline. they are seeing this activity is supporting the exact kinds of malign activity that president trump has been talking about since he took office, whether providing missiles to launch and airports in the goal state, activities we have seen taken by shia militias against american interests, with assassination efforts in the heart of europe, i think the world is seeing the challenges bigger than anything the jcpoa pretended to have addressed. i think there are statements like the iranians made this week, if we end up withdrawing, we will start at a higher level.

i have the quote off a bit, but i am close. what does that say about the agreement? they are going to start from a higher level, it tells you that the agreement itself did not stop all of the past to nuclear weapons in the weight it was sold to the american people. >> other anymore previous administration officials influencing allies and iran, and secretary kerry said the policy of this of menstruation is regime change. sec. pompeo: that is not the policy, that is not u.s. policy in repeated sets of remarks. we are supportive of the iranian people having the leadership they want. as for former administration officials engaged in a behavior, i will not say today, only to the extent they are the admonitions i suggested toward secretary kerry would apply to them as well.

thank you wall. have a great weekend. >> on newsmakers, the guest is vermont senator patrick leahy, the top democrat on the appropriations committee. he talks about the push to pass spending bills to fund the government beyond september 30. he has asked about the nomination of judge brett kavanaugh, which the judiciary committee is expected to vote on next week. you can watch the interview sunday at 10:00 a.m. and six at 1 p.m. eastern here on c-span. washington post reporter bob

woodward is our guest talking about his new book "fear: trump in the white house." on tuesday, ken starr discusses watch nextontempt." week on "washington journal." >> what does it mean to be american? that is this year's student cam competition. we are asking middle and high school students to answer it by producing a short documentary. defines theit american experience. we are awarding $100,000 in total cash prizes, including a grand prize of $5,000. is january deadline 20, 2019. for more information, go to our