Rex Tillerson

Tillerson Sets Up Clash With Beijing

... immediately respond to a request for specifics on how China might be blocked from the artificial islands. Tillerson also said Washington needed to reaffirm its commitment to Taiwan, which Beijing regards as a renegade province, but stopped short of Trump’s questioning of Washington’s long-standing policy on the issue. “I don’t know of any plans to alter the ‘one China’ position,” he said. Tillerson said he considered China’s South China Sea activity “extremely worrisome” and that it would be a threat to the “entire global economy” if Beijing were able to dictate access to the waterway, which is of strategic military importance and a major trade route. He blamed the current situation on what he termed an inadequate U. S. response. “The failure of a response has allowed them just to keep pushing the envelop on this,” Tillerson said. “The way we’ve got to deal with this is we’ve got to show back up in the region with our ...

Rex Tillerson Questioned About Trump's Ties To Russia In Confirmation Hearing

... other issues, we're going to be adversaries. KELEMEN: Tillerson says he understands that NATO allies are alarmed by Russia's actions in Ukraine, but he argues it was a lack of American leadership that left open the door to a resurgent Russia. That raised the question, what would he have done differently after Russia annexed Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula. (SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING). TILLERSON: I would have recommended that the Ukraine take all of its military assets it had available, put them on that eastern border, provide those assets with defensive weapons that are necessary just to defend themselves, announce that the U. S. is going to provide them intelligence and that there will - either NATO or U. S. will provide air surveillance over that border to monitor any movements. KELEMEN: He says Kremlin leaders would have gotten the message. Florida Republican Marco Rubio tried to get Tillerson to go further and call Vladimir Putin a war criminal for Russia's bombardment of the Syrian city of Aleppo. (SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING). MARCO RUBIO: It should not be hard to say that Vladimir Putin's military has conducted war crimes in Aleppo because it is never ...

Rex Tillerson Pressed On Views On Russia Relations In Confirmation Hearing

... presidential campaign Russian intelligence services directed a campaign of active measures involving the hacking of emails, the strategic leak of these emails, the use of internet trolls and the dissemination of fake news with the goal of denigrating a presidential candidate and also undermining faith in our election process. REX TILLERSON: Senator, I have had no unclassified briefings because I've not received my clearance yet. However, I did read the interagency report that was released on January the 6. That report clearly is troubling and indicates that all of the actions you just described were undertaken. DETROW: And Tillerson's been pretty careful in this hearing. He said a lot of times that he needs to look at classified documents answering different questions. MARTIN: There have also been broader questions about where President-elect Trump and Rex Tillerson himself stand on Russia's role in the world. How did Tillerson respond to that. DETROW: Well, yeah, there have been ...

Secretary Of State Nominee Rex Tillerson Calls For 'full Review' Of Iran Nuclear Deal, Not Ripping It Up

... cited any significant violations by Iran since the deal was implemented last January. Tillerson also said he favored “empowering” women in the developing world. In December, the Trump transition team had raised concerns when it requested information on State Department staffing and budgets for foreign aid programs intended to help women and promote general equality. Many of the programs were begun when Hillary Clinton headed the State Department. Under questioning from the lone female member of the committee, Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N. H.), Tillerson committed to continuing those programs, not rolling them back. Tillerson also was questioned about fears that the Trump administration would conduct a “witch hunt” of Obama-era officials who worked on programs aimed at reducing climate change. “That would be a pretty unhelpful way to get started,” Tillerson said, to laughter. Asked his personal views on ...

Rex Tillerson Faces Questioning In Confirmation Hearing For Secretary Of State

... the U. S. President-elect. Time. 52 of 59. TRUMP IN TRANSITIONPriebus Tapped as White House Chief of Staff | 0:52. President-elect Donald Trump has chosen Republican Party Chairman Reince Priebus as his White House chief of staff and conservative media executive Stephen Bannon as his senior counselor. (Nov. 13) AP. 53 of 59. TRUMP IN TRANSITIONDonald Trump plans to deport up to 3 million immigrants | 0:42. President-elect Donald Trump said he plans to deport about two to three million undocumented immigrants, speaking in a pre-taped interview that will air Sunday night. Time. 54 of 59. TRUMP IN TRANSITIONTrump campaign manager discusses transition | 2:12. Without offering details, Donald Trump's presidential election campaign manager, Kellyanne Conway said Trump will build "a fabulous cabinet, filled with people who are qualified to do this job and understand very clearly what his goals are." (Nov. 12) AP. 55 of 59. TRUMP IN TRANSITIONDonald Trump says he’s willing to preserve parts of Obamacare | 0:48. President-elect Donald Trump, who had repeatedly campaigned on a promise to repeal the Affordable Care Act, said Friday ...

Rex Tillerson Is Pushed On His Ties To Russia

... its European allies imposed penalties in response to Russia’s seizure of Crimea in Ukraine. Critics say the Texas oilman also has been slow to accept the science that blames global warming at least in part on human activities. Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.), who chairs the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that is scrutinizing Tillerson’s appointment, voiced full support for Tillerson. "We must also be clear-eyed about our relationship with Russia,” Tillerson said. “Russia today poses a danger, but it is not unpredictable in advancing its own interests.". Tillerson was introduced by two fellow Texans. Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) praised Tillerson for his ability to lead the world’s largest oil company while maintaining a sense of humility. Tillerson “understands how to separate friendships and business,” Cornin said. “He knows who he works for.”. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) said Tillerson would help  “restore” American leadership worldwide, putting U. S. interests first. He indirectly blamed the Obama administration for what he depicted as diminishing U. S. stature. “Many of our ...

Questions Senators Should Ask Rex Tillerson

... here is that Tillerson is probably the only influential person President-elect Trump would ever nominate as Secretary of State who supports both a carbon tax and—more importantly, because it falls within State’s bailiwick—the Paris Climate Agreement. CEI is not opposing Tillerson’s nomination but we have concerns about his endorsement of the Paris Agreement as “an important step forward by world governments in addressing the serious risks of climate change.”. At the confirmation hearing, Senators should ask for clarification on two key issues. First, will Tillerson work to restore the Senate’s shared power in treaty making under Article II, Section 2 of the U. S. Constitution. Even though President Obama boasted that the Paris Agreement is the “most ambitious climate change agreement in history,” which is tantamount to acknowledging that its costs and risks exceed those of any previous environmental treaty, he refused to submit the Agreement to the Senate for its review. Why he did so is obvious. Mr. Obama knew that even under Democratic leadership, the Senate would not have given its consent to new international climate commitments. What is Tillerson’s ...

Senate Confirmation Hearings Enter Second Day With Rex Tillerson, Jeff Sessions, Elaine Chao

... his tax returns — which Trump said again on Wednesday he won't do, because they're under audit, prompting Colbert to imagine the IRS agent with big enough nerve to audit the president. He ended where he began — talking about Obama's farewell speech — and with one last Russia dossier joke, and the band played him out with The Beatles' "Golden Slumbers." Watch below. Peter Weber. 3:06 a.m. ET. Several Western intelligence sources say that Russia has gathered comprising personal and/or financial information on President-elect Donald Trump, according to the BBC and CNN , but Buzz Feed News' publication on Tuesday night of an unsubstantiated Trump dossier compiled by a former British MI 6 agent has gotten most of the attention. And one claim in particular has captured the public imagination. On Wednesday night, Late Night's Seth Meyers and Samantha Bee at Full Frontal dove right in to this salacious claim — and yes, it's mildly NSFW, especially the Full Frontal segment. Meyers was rightly skeptical. "Look, nobody wants to ...

Sen. Jeanne Shaheen Responds To Rex Tillerson's Confirmation Hearing

... his chances of becoming secretary of state. SHAHEEN: You know, I think, as you pointed out, he got very tough questions both from Democrats and Republicans. I think, as I said, there were some areas that I had concerns about. I was disappointed that he didn't seem willing to answer some questions about positions that he had taken when he was CEO at Exxon. I found that disappointing, but I also appreciated his commitment to our democratic values, to America's leadership in the world, to our former. MCEVERS: Thank you very much. SHAHEEN. International partnerships. MCEVERS: Democratic Senator Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, thank you very much. SHAHEEN: Thank you. Copyright © 2017 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at __link__ for further information. NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by Verb 8 tm, Inc. , an NPR contractor, and produced using a proprietary ...