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Transcript: Sen. Richard Blumenthal on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan,” Aug. 30, 2026

2026-08-30T11:42:00-0400 / CBS News

The following is the transcript of the interview with Sen. Richard Blumenthal, Democrat of Connecticut, that aired on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan” on Aug. 30, 2026.

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MARGARET BRENNAN: And we turn now to Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal, who joins us from Westport, Connecticut. Good morning to you, Senator.

SENATOR RICHARD BLUMENTHAL: Good morning. Thanks for having me, Margaret.

MARGARET BRENNAN: Well, I understand that there was the deadly- deadliest attack that we have seen so far this year in Ukraine. Their officials say Saturday, a Russian drone attack west of Kyiv killed at least 38 people. You were just in Ukraine. I understand you went out east to Dnipro, close to the front lines. What can you tell us about the situation there?

SEN. BLUMENTHAL: This trip was exhilarating because Ukraine is clearly making progress. It’s turning the tide, but it was also heartbreaking to see the toll that this war is taking. The latest attack is only one of every night’s bombardment of hospitals, homes, schools. Putin is killing Ukrainians in cold blood with his missiles and bombs. And I went to Dnipro where I visited a military hospital where the most seriously wounded from the front were brought. I went back to Bucha where, at the very beginning of the war, Putin’s army murdered hundreds of civilians and buried them in mass graves, and I visited with some of the children who have been abducted. But President Zelenskyy had some priorities. I called it a homework assignment that he gave me. Number one, the Russian sanctions bill. Number two, air defense to protect against exactly the kind of bombing that you–

MARGARET BRENNAN: Yeah.

SEN. BLUMENTHAL: –just mentioned. And third, Starlink so that he can hit targets within Russia before they launch those deadly missiles and drones.

MARGARET BRENNAN: And- and we will see if the White House helps deliver on any of that. This past week, the president sent John Ratcliffe, the director of the CIA, to Moscow, and CBS has learned he told Russia not to attack NATO member states. Meanwhile, the- the Prime Minister of Poland is out there saying that NATO assesses Russia is about to escalate, and he cannot rule out provocations from Russia against a NATO member state. Have you been briefed on this? What should we expect in the coming months?

SEN. BLUMENTHAL: Without going into any classified information, I think the Ratcliffe mission could well be empty and ephemeral unless it is backed with a real show of strength. Putin is a mob thug. He understands only force and strength. And so, to send the CIA director, as President Biden did, Director Burns, to warn or try to persuade Putin with words, actions speak louder than words, largely going to be ineffective, and the Europeans understand that right now, what’s needed is more air defense, the PAC-3 interceptors, more long range artillery in the HIMARS, and the kinds of aid that Ukraine needs to hit those launch sites and drone and missile manufacturing–

MARGARET BRENNAN: Yeah.

SEN. BLUMENTHAL: –sites with Starlink that will really send a message to Putin that the United States and Europe means business. But they sense a danger of escalation that can’t be met by just words, and in fact–

MARGARET BRENNAN: Yeah.

SEN. BLUMENTHAL: –is contradicted by Elbridge Colby’s mission, he’s the chief under secretary for policy in the Department of Defense or War, when he went just last week and said we’re reducing our troop strength.

MARGARET BRENNAN: Right. Well, he hasn’t revealed any details of what that reduction in presence could be. I understand there’s a floor set- about 76,000 troops, right? Otherwise, they have to get congressional permission. Is there- is that happening?

SEN. BLUMENTHAL: I doubt that Congress will approve, at this critical moment, reduction in force structure in–

MARGARET BRENNAN: Okay.

SEN. BLUMENTHAL: –Europe when Putin is more dangerous and threatening than ever.

MARGARET BRENNAN: You mentioned Russia sanctions. You were a part of that team alongside the late Senator Lindsey Graham, pushing for that punishing package of financial measures against those who buy Russian oil. It passed through the Senate, but there are reservations, as you know, in the House, including from some of your fellow Democrats. Greg Meeks, the top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said it’s a Trojan horse for tariff authorities he has repeatedly abused. He’s concerned about giving President Trump more power here. What’s your message to these skeptics?

SEN. BLUMENTHAL: First and foremost, this bill was the result of painstaking, sometimes painful negotiations with the U.S. Trade Representative, the White House, my colleagues in the House and Senate on both sides of the aisle. It passed the Senate 86 to 11. Not many measures doing that kind of successful passage these days, and it has increased authority for the president to impose scorching sanctions on the oligarchs, the financial institutions. It has measures to crack down on the shadow fleet, and it has tariff authority, but narrowly constrained to the five largest purchasers of Russian oil and gas.

MARGARET BRENNAN: Yeah.

SEN. BLUMENTHAL: None of our European allies would be tariffed. And here’s the main point, it is a moment of extreme urgency, for the reason that Putin may try to escalate, but also because Putin is on his heels economically. His economy is on the verge of major crisis. He has a deficit looming of $125 billion, 5% of his GDP, an interest rate of 14% on his national debt, and this kind of sanctions bill, throttling the flow of revenue to his war machine, could undercut completely his ability to wage this–

MARGARET BRENNAN: So you think–

SEN. BLUMENTHAL: –brutal murderous war.

MARGARET BRENNAN: You think you can get enough Dems in the House to move this through?

SEN. BLUMENTHAL: I’m very hopeful–

MARGARET BRENNAN: Okay.

SEN. BLUMENTHAL: –and I urged President Zelenskyy, when we met, to come to talk to members of Congress, just as he did in the Senate–

MARGARET BRENNAN: Yeah.

SEN. BLUMENTHAL: –and I’m very hopeful that he will, because he’s Ukraine’s strongest advocate.

MARGARET BRENNAN: I want to ask you about what’s happening in the state of Connecticut. Nationwide, ICE arrests have increased significantly in June and in July. This past week, the governor of Connecticut said, despite President Trump saying to governors he would not send in ICE to cities that did not ask for help, they detained dozens of people in Danbury, Connecticut, in Bridgeport, and Stamford. ICE did not inform those cities in advance. You’re seeing footage of some of those arrests. What have you learned? Has this operation concluded? How many people were arrested? And was it timed to back to school, as your colleague, Senator Chris Murphy, alleges?

SEN. BLUMENTHAL: We’ve learned nothing from ICE, but we know that probably about 100 were detained and arrested. Very few of them, only a fraction, maybe six or seven, have any kind of criminal history. So the administration saying that it’s detaining the worst of the worst or deporting people with serious criminal history is absolutely belied by the facts. That’s not what’s happening. In fact, they are seizing people. Many of them have legal status–

MARGARET BRENNAN: Yeah.

SEN. BLUMENTHAL: –in this country. They may have come here seeking asylum, and they are doing it in a way that is repugnant and inhumane. The point is cruelty. They are trying to spread terror and sow fear in a way that is destructive of those communities.

MARGARET BRENNAN: Yeah.

SEN. BLUMENTHAL: I’m going to be walking through Danbury tomorrow with the mayor, and I hope to have a forum. The Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations has been doing spotlight forums on these abuses by ICE. I hope to have one in Danbury or in Connecticut later in the week.

MARGARET BRENNAN: Okay, and- and Homeland Security hasn’t provided detailed information to us about that. I want to quickly ask you about- you have made this push for more online safety for kids. This past week, we saw Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram and WhatsApp, they agreed to pay $17 billion to the states that sued them to try to institute child safety measures. They want YouTube and TikTok to put the same measures in place, and they’re being asked to, you know, turn off access at night, they said they’ll have a two-hour daily time limit, notif- notifications during school hours. Do these measures do enough to, you know, sort of obviate the need for legislation? What do you make of this settlement?

SEN. BLUMENTHAL: This settlement is a very commendable and welcome step forward, but it is incomplete. First, because it covers only Meta, and Meta, understandably, wants YouTube and TikTok and all of social media to be covered by it. It limits only some of the addictive, harmful features that are driving toxic content at kids. It lasts for only 10 years, and it relates only to some of the addictive product design features that are so terrible. And it will not keep pace with an evolving technology. So, we still need the Kids Online Safety Act. In fact, more than ever–

MARGARET BRENNAN: Okay.

SEN. BLUMENTHAL: –I’m going to be pushing with my partner, Senator Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee, who has been a staunch advocate with me, and–

MARGARET BRENNAN: Okay.

SEN. BLUMENTHAL: –we’re hopeful that we’ll get our bill through the Senate and the House.

MARGARET BRENNAN: We’ll watch for that. Senator, thank you for your time this morning. Face the Nation will be back in a minute. Stay with us.