The following is the transcript of an interview with Republican Rep. Mike Turner of Ohio that aired on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan” on Aug. 2, 2026.
MARGARET BRENNAN
And we’re back with Ohio Republican congressman Mike Turner. He joins us this morning from Dayton. Good morning to you.
REP MIKE TURNER
Good morning, Margaret.
MARGARET BRENNAN
You serve on the Armed Services committee. Back in March the republican chair of it said the administration is not giving enough detail. That was March. It’s now July. Are you satisfied with what you’re being told? Excuse me—It’s August.
REP MIKE TURNER
Yes. The–I–you know, still the administration could be sharing more with congress. I don’t think anybody is satisfied with the level of information we’re receiving, although it is a dynamic conflict. I think also that that’s true, even as the administration is looking to its review, both in Europe, the conflict in Iran, the issues with Ukraine, across the board, both the House and the Senate have registered that the Pentagon needs to be sharing more information with congress.
MARGARET BRENNAN
Well, on Friday, out at Camp David, it was all on camera, the president’s team gathered. They talked about initiatives they’re working on and all praised him. Secretary Hegseth said Iran has shown no willingness to honestly negotiate. Here’s what President Trump said. Listen.
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP SOT
I’m losing faith in them because they do lie and they do misrepresent. Well the other day, the five missiles we shot, we knocked them down. But we were in the midst of the negotiation // Well they always want to talk but they break their word so often. They’ve been very dishonest, very dishonorable to deal with but that makes no difference.
MARGARET BRENNAN
So that was the president laying out why he doesn’t trust diplomacy with Iran. Last night, he said there’s a diplomatic opening and a deal may be within reach. Will you support it sight unseen? Are we at risk of the president cutting a flawed deal just to end this unpopular conflict?
REP MIKE TURNER
Well, I don’t think it’s cutting a flawed deal. I mean, this is this is part of a process, obviously, of where Iran has to be in a position where, as the president has set out, that the two goals and that is one—that they abandon their nuclear ambitions and certainly restarting their their nuclear enrichment programs and certainly the issues of an open Straits of Hormuz and so that we return back to a an open Straits where commerce and the flow of oil and natural gas can can resume.
MARGARET BRENNAN
So the war should continue until there is some diplomatic deal regarding the nuclear program, because right now they’re just talking about the Strait.
REP MIKE TURNER
Well, well, it’s it’s not really as you as you know, this began with with Epic Fury where the the president went in, which you know we’ve described as as an inevitable conflict, as a result of where Obama left us with, the you know watching until Iran began to get closer and closer to enough nuclear material to to have an opportunity for nuclear weapon. The International Atomic Energy Agency said that they were weeks away as a result of where they, where they were left before Epic Fury. Then we have—
MARGARET BRENNAN
In terms of enrichment capacity. Not weaponization.
REP MIKE TURNER
Well yes. They would have the opportunity to be able to do so, and then with with the with the straits and they’re closing the straits, you know, and then the we had the Memorandum of Understanding where it looked as if they were going to come to a deal, and then now the president has been trying to enforce the opening of the Straits. Now, if Iran, where all metrics would show that Iran is, is in a position where they’re going to have to come to a table, whether it’s economics, whether it’s energy production, whether it’s the the loss of critical infrastructure, military infrastructure, the loss of of their military capabilities, all metrics would show a declining capability to continue. They’re going to have to be in a position where ultimately they’re going to have to concede to the opening of the straits and returning to commerce.
MARGARET BRENNAN
Well, we’ll see. The president said they’re perimeters. I think he meant parameters of a possible deal, but we’ll track that diplomacy. Let me ask you though about what’s happening on U.S. soil. The FBI warned cyber actors are attacking water utilities in at least seven states. CBS is reporting that U.S. officials are probing to determine whether it’s Iranian hackers behind it. They’ve done something similar back in 2023. President Trump was asked, and here’s what he said.
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP SOT
You know who’s behind it? Minnesota, because they’re grossly incompetent. I think the Governor’s behind it. I don’t think there was an Iranian cyber attack.
MARGARET BRENNAN
I know it takes a while to officially attribute an attack, but has Congress at least been told which states are impacted? Is Ohio? And is this an attack on U.S. soil amid a war?
REP MIKE TURNER
Well, not not—we certainly have not been informed at this time. But I think you’ve correctly pointed out, Margaret, that Iran has attacked our critical infrastructure previously. There have been reports, obviously, of China hacking and Russia hacking. Well, one thing that we have to acknowledge is that our adversaries—Russia, China, North Korea, Iran—look at the critical infrastructure that support our civilian infrastructure, like water, are seen as valid military targets by our adversaries, and so these need to be monitored. They need to be hardened. These are things that that we do not do, we would not do, and Iran certainly has been doing this well before this conflict, and this is something we certainly need to be aware of—
MARGARET BRENNAN
Well, we are at war now.
REP MIKE TURNER
We need to be diligent. Well, we’re certainly in a conflict where we would expect that they would continue that which they were doing to us before.
MARGARET BRENNAN
I want to get to a bit of politics out in Ohio, your colleague Max Miller, according to the latest court filing, he’s been accused of domestic abuse. The court filing says he shoved his then wife, held a gun to her head, poured hot water on her, and had concerns he may have broken their two-year-old daughter’s collarbone according to both police reports and court documents that were filed. He just went live in a social media stream and denied these allegations within the past hour. My question is not about his marriage or his personal life, but I’m asking about the politics here and the party. Should there be an ethics probe to look into this?
REP MIKE TURNER
Well, Margaret, what you just said when you began this question is that this is a matter of litigation. This is best handled in a courtroom and not in a TV studio. And this is, you know, that type of speculation is better for TMZ than CBS.
MARGARET BRENNAN
Well, we’ve covered with other lawmakers, including in the other party, the Democratic Party, credible allegations against people running for office. We take those allegations seriously. When it comes to Mr. Miller, he was previously accused in 2021 by President Trump’s former spokesperson of abusing her when they dated. So, given these two instances, is it at least something Republican leadership should look into?
REP MIKE TURNER
Well, again, this is this is an issue that is currently part of a divorce and part of litigation that’s in a courtroom, and the court should be handling this, which is clearly ongoing, and that’s where this needs to be, not in a television studio.
MARGARET BRENNAN
So it doesn’t matter to you.
REP MIKE TURNER
It’s not that doesn’t matter to me. This is this this is where the court needs to handle this. The court has filings, which is what you just said. You were reading that there were court filings.
MARGARET BRENNAN
Right, there is also an election.
REP MIKE TURNER
The court needs to handle this issue as to whether or not it is the truth and where truth will then be resolved, which is where things belong in a court where people file papers in a court, as you just read.
MARGARET BRENNAN
So you want the court to handle it before Republican leadership looks into it. (CROSSTALK)
REP MIKE TURNER
This is litigation. This is litigation. This is—this is a court matter, not a television matter.
MARGARET BRENNAN
Right, and not one for Republican leadership is what I hear you saying.
REP MIKE TURNER
I’ve said to you that this is not one for you and I to handle in a television studio. This is one that’s in court.
MARGARET BRENNAN
Okay, we handle these allegations seriously, regardless of the political party, and these are not media allegations, as you said. They’re court documents. Congressman Miller claimed that it’s a media construct—
REP MIKE TURNER
And it’s being handled in court, which is where it belongs.
MARGARET BRENNAN
I got it. You don’t want to comment. I understand. In terms of your portfolio on Armed Services, I do want to ask you about what has happened within the past few days. Russia fired a barrage of ballistic missiles at Kyiv. Only one of them was intercepted. President Zelenskyy said that’s because there are no interceptors left. I know you’ve asked the president to allow for him to be able to produce Patriots. We had thought there was a breakthrough. However, President Trump seemed to backtrack on that Friday. He said, “We’re talking about it, but it’s a hard thing to do to give away that kind of technology.” Is it on track or is it not? Are we letting Ukraine license Patriot interceptor production?
REP MIKE TURNER
Right. Well, the actual quote that he said he was talking in that in that paragraph, he was talking about tomahawks and patriots. They also went on to say that the negotiations were ongoing. It is very, very difficult on Patriots, which are defensive. In the in the quote, actually, it included Tomahawks, which are also offensive. I do think that there are ongoing negotiations concerning providing a broader opportunity for Ukraine to have access to Patriot technology to be able to have production and defensive technology. This is going to be very important both for allies and for Ukraine. This technology, because it has become so central around the world, because missile technology is proliferating, so defensive technology needs to proliferate. We have the most advanced technology, and there is high demand for it. And the president stepping up and saying that we need to look to being able to license this technology is really going to be important both for Ukraine, our allies, and really, I think, for the United States.
MARGARET BRENNAN
But you think it’s still in process?
REP MIKE TURNER
I think it’s still in process. I think it’s incredibly important, and I encourage the president and the Pentagon to move as swiftly as possible to ensure that Ukraine can. You know, every night there are people who die in Ukraine because Russia is sending missiles into Ukraine and hitting defenseless civilians, not military targets, but defenseless civilians. There was outcry because a missile landed in a field in Poland. Every night there are missiles that lie that land on people and kill them in Ukraine. We need to help them.
MARGARET BRENNAN
Yes, understood and NATO did call out those instances. We have to leave it there, Congressman Turner. We’ll be right back.