"face the nation," president trump's national security team takes his maga movement to europe. we will talk to secretary of state marco rubio in his first sunday show interview since taking office. newly confirmed trump administration officials took the president's shock and awe

tour overseas last week. in munich the vice president blasted some of america's closest allies about their style of democracy. >> the threat that i worry the most about, vis-a-vis europe, is not russia, it's not china, it's not any other external actor. and what i worry about is the threat from within. also on the agenda, pushing those same allies to make europe great again by stepping up their efforts to protect ukraine, while the administration says they will begin direct talks with russia to end the war. secretary of state marco rubio joins us from israel as the negotiations with hamas to end that conflict enter a crucial stage. back home, more pink slips for federal employees go out and the scrutiny of elon musk's role as the hatchet man for those agencies intensifies. meanwhile, inflation is up. we'll talk with the president's chief economic adviser about

what the administration can do to curb it. it's all just ahead on "face the nation." ♪ good morning, and welcome to "face the nation." we want to begin today with secretary of state marco rubio who is in jerusalem on the second leg of his trip through europe and the middle east. mr. secretary, i know it's the evening hours there and you have had a long day. we appreciate your time. you've got quite a busy schedule. you met earlier with prime minister netanyahu, he said he's lockstep with the trump administration, but he can't share details on, quote, when the gates of hell will be open if all of our hostages are not released. did he tell you he wants to keep talks go to get to phase two of this hostage deal?

>> well, i think we share a common goal, we want to see every hostage released. frankly i think -- and the president has said this -- we want to see them out as soon as we possibly can, and certainly, you know, the world has watched these images of people -- and it's just heart breaking to remember that some of them have been now almost two years there. it's a horrifying situation. so we coordinate and work very close with them, we share the goal that every hostage needs to come home, every single one, without delay. obviously there are details of how we're pursuing that and coordinating that we are not going to share publicly because we don't want to en dinger the hostages and we don't want to endanger the process. suffice to say every one of these hostages would be home right now and we want it to happen as soon as possible. >> okay. so the deal stands? >> again, we want every hostage out as soon as possible. >> okay. >> and we want to see them home. there are some that are supposed to -- under the deal there are some that are supposed to be released coming up next weekend.

we expect that to happen, but we'd like to see them all come out. we are not in favor of waiting weeks and weeks. now, that may be the process at soe place because of the deal, but we would like to see them all out as soon as possible and we continue to coordinate. that's what we'd like to see as the outcome. who wouldn't want all of these hostages to be home and with their families? >> understood. i want to ask you about iran as well. president trump says he want a diplomatic deal with iran. are you reaching out to them? and alongside that, does the u.s. support a preemptive strike by israel on iran to take out its nuclear program? >> well, first of all, israel will always have to act in what they believe is their national interest and national defense, so i'm not going to speak about whatever strategies they may have on this or any other topic. i will say that we don't have any outreach from iran, we haven't seen any, and ultimately we've seen in the past that efforts that iran has undertaken diplomatically have been only about how to extend the time frame that will continue to

enrich and in addition to sponsor terrorism, in addition to build these long-range weapons, in addition to sowing instability throughout the region. there's been zero outreach or interest to date from iran about any negotiated deal. ideally i would love to wake up and hear the news that iran has decided not to pursue a nuclear weapon, not to sponsor terrorism and reengage in the world as a normal government. we have had no indication of any of that, not just now, but for 30 years. >> you head from israel to saudi arabia next, i know you will be talking about gaza, but we've also learned that saudi arabia is trying to facilitate this diplomacy with russia about ukraine. which russian officials do you expect to be meeting with, and what will the focus of your talks there be? do you actually believe vladimir putin is ready to negotiate and make concessions? >> well, here is what i know, i know president trump spoke to vladimir putin last week and in

it vladimir putin expressed his interest in peace and the president expressed his desire to see an end to this conflict in a way that was enduring and that protected ukrainian sovereignty and that was an enduring peace, not that we're going to have another invasion or three or four years. that's a good call. obviously it has to be followed up by action. so the next few weeks and days will determine whether it's serious or not. ultimately one phone call does not make peace. one phone call does not solve a war as complex as this one, but i can tell you that donald trump is the only leader in the world that could potentially begin that process. other leaders have tried, they have not been able to do so. he ran in his campaign and was elected as president one of his promises was he will work to bring an end to this conflict in a way that's sustainable and fair. obviously, you know, this is the first step in that process, but we have a long ways to go, again, one call doesn't make it, one meeting wouldn't make it. there's a lot of work to be done, but i thought -- you know, even the longest journey begins with the first step. so we will see what happens from

here. hopefully good things. >> who will you be meeting with? >> well, knowing has been finalized yet. i was scheduled to be in saudi arabia anyway, we announced that trip a week ago, a week and a half ago. so ultimately, look, if at any point in time there is an opportunity to continue the work that president trump started last week, to begin to create an opening for our broader conversation that it would involve ukraine and would involve the end of the war and would involve our allies all over the world, particularly in europe, we're going to explore it if that opportunity presents itself. i don't have any details for you this morning, other than to say that we stand ready to follow the president's lead on this and begin to explore ways, if those opportunities present itself, to begin a process towards peace. now, a process towards peace is not a one-meeting thing. this war has been going on for a while. >> right. >> it's difficult, it's complicated, it's been bloody, it's been costly. it will not be easy to end the conflict. there's other parties at stake that have opinions on this as well, the european union has

sanctions as well, the ukrainians are obviously fighting this war, it's their country and they are on the front lines. one meeting isn't going to solve it but i want to reiterate the president made clear he wants to end this war and if opportunities present themselves to further that we're going to take them if they present themselves. we will see what happens over the next few days. >> but to be clear, keith kellogg, who is the enjoy appointed to help with these talks, says these are going to be parallel negotiations, meaning the ukraine nance and russians aren't talking to each other yet. when you meet with your russian counterpart, whoever that is, are you going to be sitting there arguing ukraine's position? >> well, first of all, i think that we have to understand right now there is no process. >> right. >> what we have right now is a call between putin and president trump in which both sides expressed an interest in ending this conflict. i mean, i imagine there will be follow-up conversations to figure out what a process to talk about that would look like and then at that point perhaps we can begin to share more

details. it's a bit premature, i know there's been a lot of reaction to it because there's been no conversation or any serious conversation. i want to go back to the point i made, president trump ran, he was very clear, he thinks this war needs to end and if he sees an opportunity to end it, which is what he's looking for, whether there is an opportunity or not we're going to pursue it. ultimately it will reach a point if it's real negotiations and we are not there yet, but if that were to happen ukraine will have to be involved because they were the one that were invaded and the europeans will have to be involved because they have sanctions on putin and russia as well. and they contributed to this effort. we're just not there yet. we really aren't. but hopefully we will be because we would all like to see this war end. >> no doubt. the last administration did have contact through the intelligence agencies with russia, but they didn't believe there was any proof that vladimir putin was interested in talks. you know the history with vladimir putin, he likes to use diplomacy as a cover to distract while he con to wage war. do you trust that this time is

different? >> yeah, i don't think in geopolitics anyone should trust anyone. i think these things have to be verified through actions. i said yesterday that peace is not a noun, it's a verb, an action, you have to take concrete steps toward it. i know of no better negotiator in american politics than president trump. i think president trump will know very quickly whether this is a real thing or whether this is an effort to buy time, but i don't want to prejudge that. i don't want to foreclose the opportunity to end a conflict that's already cost the lives of hundreds of thousands and continues every single day to be increasingly a war of attrition on both sides. i think everyone should be celebrating the fact that we have an american president that is seeking to promote peace in the world, not start wars, but end them in a way that's enduring. that's something we should be happy about. whether it's possible or not, we're certainly willing but it's not entirely up to us obviously but we will find out. >> you did speak in a phone call with russia's top diplomat sergey lavrov.

the russian side claimed that you discussed restoring trade which seemed to be a nod to sanctions, easing restrictions on diplomats and other gestures like a high-level leaders meeting. are you actually considering -- is the trump administration considering lifting sanctions on russia? >> well, the phone call was to establish communications that are consistent with the call the president made last week with vladimir putin because if we are -- if there is going to be the possibility of progress here towards peace, we are going to need to talk to the russians, that is going to have to happen and we will have to be to do it across our channels. >> about sanctions, though? >> well, we didn't go into any details. what we discussed is basically the ability to begin communicating. i have never spoken to mr. lavrov in my life so it was an opportunity for us to begin to open that channel of communication, which, again, if there's the potential for peace here, that's a channel that has to exist. but let me add one more thing, i also raised the issue of our embassy in moscow which operates

under very difficult conditions. i raised that because it's important. it's going to be very difficult to engage in communication with russia about anything if our embassy is not functioning. and he raised concerns about his diplomatic mission in the united states. so at a very basic level if, in fact, there is going to be an opportunity here to pursue peace by engaging with the russians, we're going to need to have functional embassies in moscow and in washington, d.c. and that's certainly something foreign ministers would talk about as a matter of normal course. >> i want to ask you about what happened in munich, germany, at the security conference. vice president vance gave a speech and he told u.s. allies that the threat he worries about the most is not russia, it is not china, he called it the threat from within and he lectured about what he described as censorship, mainly focusing, though, on including more views from the right. he also met with the leader of a far right party known as the afd which as you know is under investigation and monitoring by

german intelligence because of extremism. what did all of this accomplish other than irritating our allies? >> well, why would our allies or anybody be irritated by free speech and by someone giving their opinion? we are after all democracies. the pun nick security conference is largely a conference of democracies in which one of the things that we cherish and value is the ability to speak freely and provide your continues opinions. i think if anyone is angry about his words -- they don't have to agree with him but to be angry i think actually makes his point. i think it was a historic speech. whether you agree with him or not i think the valid points he is making to europe is we are concerned that the true values we share, the values that bind us together with europe are things like free speech, democracy and our shared history winning two world wars and defeating soviet communism and the like. we fought against censorship and oppression and so forth and when you see back sliding and you raise that, that's a very valid

concern. we can't tell them how to run their countries. he's simply expressed in a speech his view of it, which a lot of people frankly share. i thought he said a lot of things in that speech that needed to be said and honestly i don't know why anybody would be upset about it. you don't have to agree with someone's speech. i happen to to agree with a lot of what he said but you don't have to agree with someone's speech to at least appreciate the fact they have a right to say it and that you should listen to it and see whether those criticisms are valid. i assure you the united states has come under withering criticism from many leaders in europe and we don't go around throwing temper tantrums about it. >> he was standing in a country pwhere free speech was weaponizd to conduct a genocide and he met with the head of a political party that has far right views and some historic ties to extreme groups. the context of that was changing the tone of it and you know

that. that the censorship -- >> i happen to disagree with you. >> -- was specifically about the right. >> i have to disagree with you. free speech was not used to conduct a genocide, the genocide was conducted by an authoritarian nazi regime that happened to also be genocidal because they hated jews and minorities, they had a list of people they hated but primarily the jews. there was no free speech in nazi germany. there was none. there was also no opposition in nazi germany. that's not an accurate reflection of history. again, i go back to the point of his speech. the point of his speech was basically that there is an erosion in free speech and intolerance for opposing points of view within europe and that's of concern because that is eroding -- it's not an erosion of your military capabilities, not an erosion of your economic standing, that's an erosion of the actual val lies that bind us together in the transatlantic union that everybody talks about. i think allies, friends and partners that have worked together now for 80 years should be able to speak frankly to one

another in open forums without being offended, insulted or upset. i spoke to foreign ministers from multiple countries throughout europe, many of them probably didn't like the speech or didn't agree with it but were continuing to engage with us on all sorts of issues that unite us. again, at the end of the day i think that people give -- that is a forum in which you're supposed to be inviting people to give speeches not basically a chorus where everyone is saying the exact same thing. that's not always going to be the case when it's a collection of democracies where leaders have their rights to speak in forums such as this. >> we are out of time. a lot to get through with you. we appreciate you making time today. we will be back in a minute.

we want to turn now to the economy and inflation, which compared to last january ticked up about 3% last week. kevin hassett is the director of the national economic council and he joins us now. good morning to you, director. >> good morning, margaret.

good morning. >> so i don't have to tell you, but the rest of the country saw their egg prices at the grocery store go up, we are now at a record high due to that bird flu outbreak but also labor costs and that's contributing to food costs overall. when will the administration get that outbreak under control? >> right. well, what's going on, right, as you know, is that there is an inflation problem that's very large. we saw the consumer price index come out and we found out that the stagflation that was created by the policies of president biden was way worse than we thought. over the last three months across all goods, including eggs, the average inflation rate was 4.6%, way above target, and an acceleration at the end of the biden term. you know, this is really not just us, you could go look at jason furman, larry summers, economic advisers of president biden kept saying don't do this, you're going to cause massive inflation. in fact, jason furman has a thought provoking piece in foreign affairs right now

calling the biden economic record a tragedy. this is them, not us. we've got -- >> you're talking about fiscal spending there. >> excuse me? >> you were talking about fiscal spending there. >> well, where does inflation come from, right? what we're doing now is we've got really a multi, multifaceted plan to end inflation. i will go quickly because i want to end with what we're doing with egg prices. we have an macro economic plan that has more supply and we will reduce government spending through what doge is doing and congressional action. the macro economic forces are going to be reversed, that's a good thing. we're also going to have a lot of energy production, a lot of deregulation and finally when needed we're going to focus on the individual thing by thing pieces. so, for example, you mentioned ave i don't know flu. president biden didn't have a plan for ave i don't know flu, brooke rollins and i have been working with the best people in government, including academics around the country and around the world to have a plan ready for the president with what

we're going to do next week with ave i don't know flu. i promise not to filibuster. the question is why did we do? that's what everybody is talking about. the thing i start with when i'm looking at what we're doing is why did they do that? why did they do that? there are too many times when it feels like nobody thought about that that in the press. >> oh, gosh. >> why did biden print so much money. >> kevin, we talk about that on "face the nation" quite a lot. >> i don't mean to criticize you. >> next week we will see the plan on how to get bird flu -- >> i can talk about it now if you want to. >> sure. what is the plan? what are you going to do? >> again, the biden plan was to just kill chickens and they spent billions of dollars randomly killing chickens within a perimeter where they fond a sick chicken. so i just went to the grocery store, i shop for our family, i love to look at prices and there were no eggs at the store yesterday, just a few. so that happened because they

killed all the chickens. what we need to do is have better ways with bio security and medication and so on to make sure that the perimeter doesn't have to kill the chickens. we have a better, smarter perimeter. having a smart perimeter is what we're working on and we're finalizing the ideas how to do that with the best scientists in government. that's the kind of thing that should have happened a year ago, if it had egg prices would be a lot better than they are now. >> okay. >> the flu is a real thing. they're killing chickens to stop the spread but chickens don't fly. the spread is happening from the geese and ducks. why does it make sense to have a big perimeter of dead chickens when it's the ducks and geese that are spreading it. >> well, the department of agriculture policy has been to kill those chickens, as you know, but we will watch for the details of that. >> sure. >> but let's get back to something the president said. higher interest rates as you know are part of that battle against inflation that the

federal reserve has been waging, but this past week the president called for interest rates to be lowered. why does he think that's going to lower your grocery prices? >> well, first of all, i want to say that i just this weekend have arranged to begin once again regular lunches with jay powell at the federal reserve and jay and i have a long relationship and i'm going to go over there with him and the other governors and we will talk about our views about what's going on and listen to his and that has been going on for four years when i was here before and the president very much values that. >> but that's not to influence. >> well, jay is going -- jay is an independent person, the fed independence is respected and the president's opinion also can be heard, he is the president of the united states. here is the thing that i think is interesting, that if we get inflation under control, then that takes the pressure off the fed. one way to tell whether markets think are we getting inflation under control is to look at longer-term interest rates that the fed doesn't affect directly. if you look at it the 10 year

treasury rate has dropped about 40 basis points over the last couple of weeks while we announced our plan to control inflation. that saved the american people about $40 billion. about $40 billion just from talking about the stuff that we're about to do. >> okay. >> it's pretty good. >> right. but the president's statement contradicts economic policy as you know -- >> no, inflation rates -- i'm saying the interest rates are already lower by 40 basis points. interest rates are lower. >> you're briefing the -- >> the 5 or 10 year rate are the ones that matter the most. >> i want to get to you on tariffs, that will be added on to consumers and what they pay. how are these reciprocal tariffs going to work? the president was treating he wants to put them on 175 countries that have a value-added tax. >> we are talking to leaders of other countries all the time. last night into the wee hours of their morning and kind of a late night for me i was talking to minister reynolds from the uk

about this very matter. here is the way i'd like to think about it, right now u.s. companies are spending -- are paying foreign governments about $370 billion a year in tax and foreign companies are paying the u.s. government about $57 billion in tax. a lot of it is because of the vat, but if we didn't have to pay the foreign government's tax over ten years it would be about $5 trillion of tax that u.s. citizens don't have to pay. that would more than pay for the tax cuts that we're debating right now. so if we get some of that money back, either through tariffs or obviously if they reduce the tariffs of v.a.t. that's good for americans, it will put more money in their pockets and that's what president trump is trying to do. >> kevin hassett, i'd like to have you come back, sit at the table and talk through this in more detail at another time. we have to leave it there for today. >> thanks. happy to be here. >> take care. a lot more "face the nation" in a moment. ® tri-zone. i got the power of 3. i lowered my a1c, cv risk, and lost some weight.

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foreign leaders from munich, and here at home, seven federal prosecutors resigned on principle last week, we will tell you why. stay with us.

welcome back to "face the nation." the munich security conference is an annual gathering of heads of state and international security policymakers, it's one of the biggest conferences and one of the biggest topics this year was the war in ukraine. we spoke to two lawmakers earlier from