- Mr. Secretary, thanksfor joining us on CBN News.

- Yeah, it's great to bewith you again, Chris.

- You're here in Jerusalem.

Tell us why you're here.

- I came here for the openingof The Friedman Center

and he presented me awardfor The Friedman Center

Peace Through Strength,

but mostly to remindpeople of the great work

that had been done and ouradministration to build out

a regime of peace here in the Middle East.

And then I have a chance tomeet with some old friends

who helped us along the way.

There were many hands to getto get to the Abraham records

and I want to get a chanceto come back and say

thank you to them as well.

And then who can passup being in Jerusalem.

I had a chance to get to Shiloh yesterday

and then to visit someChristian sites today.

It was been a wonderful trip.

- Tell us about the Abraham records.

What do you see for the future?

- I am still so happy thatthese amazing leaders,

Mohamed bin Zayed and the Emirates,

the crown prince and theleadership in Bahrain,

and Sudan, Morocco.

And then of course President Trump

and Prime MinisterNetanyahu were able to take

this bold decision and put in place

this set of understandingswhich will make life better

for people throughout the region.

So, I think this changed history.

I don't think it's going to go back.

I think the people ofthese nations can see

that this is the rightful Jewish homeland.

It ought to be recognized as I should.

It's not good foreign policyto have the destruction

of Israel at the center ofhow you think about the world

and the commerce, the trade,

the defense work that willbe done between these nations

will create prosperity forpeople in every one of them.

And I think that's why ultimately,

there'll be many other nations

that will see this asboth right and righteous.

- Yeah, that's one of thepositive things happening here

in the Middle East,

but the U.S. pull out ofAfghanistan back in August.

What ramifications do yousee here in the region

after that pull-out?

- So, I've heard over these past few days

while I've been here in Israel,

I've heard from manyof the Israeli leaders,

security establishment.

They're very concerned.

They're concerned not onlyabout the increased terrorist

that there'll be roomfor Al-Qaeda, for ISIS,

or for both to grow inthe region in Afghanistan,

and that this will embolden Iran.

But also they're worried.

They're worried because theysaw America executed withdraw

from Afghanistan that can onlybe described as a debacle.

Not only did we have 13Americans killed so tragically

but we still have Americanswho are behind enemy lines.

It made no sense to me theway the Biden Administration

executed that withdrawal.

And I think America'scredibility in the world

was damaged as a result of that.

I pray that we're able toget that credibility back.

The people of Israel knowhow important that is.

- You went to west point.

Does that violate the military code

of leaving no one behind?

- It certainly does.

They violated the central principle

which is that you make sure that you have,

if you're going to execute a withdrawal,

you make sure you have anadequate military force

to actually deliver againstthe withdrawal requirement.

You know that your adversaries will press

when the decision is clear.

And President Biden said,he set an arbitrary date,

and he said, "By September11th, the 20th anniversary

of the death of nearly 3,000 Americans

were going to be all out."

You know the bad guys willsee that and they'll press

and they did.

And they rolled up in the provinces,

then rolled up into Kabul,

and every step along the waythis administration backed up.

It's absolutely tragic.

It didn't have to be this way.

We had as a mission toget all of our young men

and women out of Afghanistan.

No one can be surprised by that President.

I have tweeted about itas early as 2015 and 16

during his campaign,

but we measured and we were thoughtful

about the conditions required.

And so while we drew down

from about 15,000 US military personnel

to a little over 2,500.

Each time we pause we took a step.

We made clear to the Talibanthat there would be real costs

if you moved against an America.

We'd established deterrence.

This administration chose tohave an arbitrary deadline

and you can see the results.

- One impact of the pull-out seems to be

a more belligerent China would have seen

that the violating Taiwaneeairspace right now.

How would you describe thethreat of China right now?

- All of these things are interconnected.

Leaders around the world watch

how American Presidents behave.

Think about this within a couple of weeks

of this administrationarriving on the scene,

the Uranians are firingmissiles into Israel

from the Gaza strip.

Even today, there's rocketsbeing fired from Yemen,

from the Houthis who were de-designated,

declared not terroristby this administration

firing rockets into Saudi Arabia.

All in places whereAmericans are traveling

and then Afghanistan, right?

They can sense American weakness

that America is not preparedto honor the red lines

that it has drawn to protectAmerica's vital interest.

And so I think what you're seeing

from the Chinese CommunistParty is precisely

what you'd see follow from that.

They're going to test,they're going to push,

and the first place we're seeing this test

is 150 plus aircraft flying into

the Air Defense IdentificationZone for Taiwan.

I hope the Americanministration is prepared to do

the right thing to supportthe people of Taiwan.

So that, that place, that democracy,

this place with suchimportant democratic interest

and commercial interest tothe United States of America

has the resources itneeds to defend itself

in the event that Xi Jinping makes

a tragically dangerous decision.

- One of the big changesin the administrations

is your administrationgot out of the JCPOA.

It seems like the BidenAdministration is eager

to get back into it.

What would be the consequencesif the Biden Administration

renews the Iranian nuclear deal?

- Yeah, you'll be that much closer

to an Islamic Republic of Iran.

A kleptocracy, a theocracy,

now led by a fellow named Ebrahim Raisi,

a complete butcher.

You'll have a nuclear weapons program.

And it may be a year,

it may be two years before they get it,

but they will have a clear lawful pathway

to a nuclear weapons program.

That is unacceptable.

Second thing is you'll seea wealthier Islamic Republic

of Iran regime.

You'll see them with moremoney, more resources.

What does that mean?

That means more terror.

That means more bombs blowing up in places

like Brussels and Paris.

That means more maliciousoperating inside of Iraq

and has BLA more well-armed.

We had put real sanctions in place

that were putting the Iranian regime

in the difficult position about having

to make hard decisions,

about how they were goingto resource their country.

This administration appearsto be prepared to unlock that

and give the regime billionsand billions of dollars.

I pray that that's not the case

and I can assure youthat nations all across

the Middle East feel the same way.

Not only the Israelisbut the Gulf State Arabs.

We had isolated Iran.

The other nations were in onan alliance that understood

that Iran was the world'slargest state sponsor of terror,

and that stability in the region depended

on pushing back againstIran not against Israel.

- How would you assess theincreased threat to Israel?

And do you see the U.S.ever helping Israel

if it decides to do amilitary strike against Iran?

- Oh, I've always been anamazing security partner

for the United States.

I pray that that's still the case,

I'm confident that it is.

But it's more than justthe military alliance.

It's more than just intelligent sharing.

It's a central understandingof our two peoples, right?

We have a Judeo-Christianheritage in the United States.

This is an importantdemocracy in the Middle East.

We have an obligation to have a deep

and important relationshipwith the people of Israel.

I traveled here not onlyto renew friendships,

but to visit these importantthese Christian sites

here inside of Israel.

I pray this administration will keep up

that strong relationshipwe've build on it.

And as there are decisionsmade about how to push back

against the Islamic Republic of Iran,

that the United Stateswill be in full partnership

with Israel and how toprotect not only Israel,

but the United States as well.

- One of the priorities ofthe Trump Administration

was religious freedom.

You played a key role in that.

You had events there at thestate department as well.

How would you assessreligious freedom right now

in the region as well as around the world?

- I have one of that biggestregrets of the changes

in foreign policy isthat the administration

doesn't place that as a priority.

When they're around the world talking,

they put climate changeat the top of the list

where we had this idea ofhuman dignity and human rights,

and religious tolerance and freedom.

So many people live in a condition

where they can't practice their faith.

We were determined toevery place we could to use

the appropriate American influence,

to increase the capacityfor human beings to worship

in the way they want it tofor them and their families,

just to live their own lives.

We made progress in many places,

there was still a lot ofwork to do by the time

we were no longer in office.

I regret that this administrationis not as forceful,

not only rhetorically as we were,

but in gathering people around the world

to come together thatunderstand that nations,

that practice religioustolerance are more secure

and more prosperous.

I fundamentally believethat as you empower people

to worship in the way they desire

that the nations become stronger,

and that the leaders ofthose countries are rewarded

for permitting thesethings to happen inside

of their own countries.

- You've been the CIADirector, Secretary of State,

what keeps you up at night?

- You know, the singlebiggest thing that keeps me up

at night today is thefact that we are teaching

our kids in school,

things that are so deeply disconnected

from the American traditionthat it is in comprehensible

for me to understand.

Right where we now have teacherswho want to tell our kids

that our nation wasfounded on a racist idea.

They want to tell childrenthat because of their race,

they may well be the powerful

and the other group be the victim.

This is not the America that I have known.

It's not the America that I've read about.

It's not the American tradition.

We had a noble founding.

We are the most exceptional nation

in the history of civilization.

And if we refuse toteach our children that,

then the Republic is at riskbecause it is that grounding,

it's that central understanding

of our Judeo-Christian heritagethat has empowered people

to innovate, to create,to protect their families,

to say yes I want to sign up

but I'm going to sign theset up for the U.S. military.

I want proud to representthe United States of America.

If we lose those things, Chris,

our country's at real risk.

- Yeah, as Secretary youare Evangelical Christians.

You're here in Jerusalem.

What does Jerusalem mean to you?

- Yeah, it's the center of allthree Abrahamic traditions.

And for me we had the chanceto go out and see Shiloh.

I mentioned that we sawwhere Hannah prayed,

where the tribes came together.

We know these histories.

I was at the Church of theHoly Sepulchre yesterday.

Right where Jesus wascrucified, died, and buried,

and then rose from the tomb.

This is at the center ofwho we are as Christians.

And to get to onceagain to walk this place

is a reminder of how centralChristianity is to humanity

and how important it is thatas we enter public life,

that we keep Christianity andour faith at the center of it.

And we never fear, we are disciplined,

we are true, we are tolerant of people

of other faiths as well,

but we know who we are asbelievers in Jesus Christ.

- Mr. Secretary, thanks for joining us.

- Thank you very much, sir.

It was wonderful to see you again.

Thank you.