MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
As vice president, Kamala Harris' foreign policy views generally matched President Biden's, at least publicly. But what are her own views? When she was in the Senate, she served on the Homeland Security Committee and the Select Committee on Intelligence. So we called her National Security Advisor at the time, Halie Soifer. Soifer is now the CEO of the Jewish Democratic Council of America, which has endorsed Harris for president. She's here now Good morning.
HALIE SOIFER: Good morning. How are you?
MARTIN: I'm good. How would you...
SOIFER: Good.
MARTIN: ...Say that Vice President Harris approaches foreign policy in general?
SOIFER: Well, she's the kind of leader that we need, not just here at home, but also around the world. She has a record of advancing our national security interests, of strengthening our alliances and advancing our values, including the defense of democracy, which is really key and foundational in terms of her world view.
MARTIN: So, let me focus on the two big wars the U.S. is involved in right now - first in the Middle East. Is there any way - well, let's just sort of contrast her views with President Biden's. I assume that there are ways in which they are similar, but are there ways in which they differ?
SOIFER: The president and vice president have been in lockstep on the U.S.-Israel relationship. There really is no daylight between them. And in advance of and in the aftermath of the horrific attacks of October 7, this White House, including the president and vice president, have stood strongly with Israel in its security, its right to self defense, and the vice president has been a leading advocate for the release of hostages, as well as ensuring that humanitarian aid continues to get into Gaza.
MARTIN: But as we know, President Biden - as we've been reporting, President Biden has grown increasingly frustrated with the number of civilian casualties in Gaza as in the course of this conflict, which, as you said, began with the October 7 attacks, these horrific attacks. She's not presiding over the prime minister's address to the joint session of Congress today because of the scheduling conflict. She is expected to meet with him in Washington later this week. Do you have a sense of what their relationship is?
SOIFER: She will be meeting with the prime minister, as you said. She's a strong ally and partner of the government of Israel. She's met with the prime minister before. She's met with and spoken with the president of Israel many times in serving in this role, and she has a strong relationship that reflects the ties between our two countries.
MARTIN: And what about the war in Ukraine, and, of course, the tensions between the U.S. and Russia as a result of that full-on invasion of Ukraine? What are her views there? And what is her sense of Vladimir Putin?
SOIFER: Well, actually, when I started working with her as national security advisor in the Senate, it was her first week on the job when all of our U.S. intelligence agencies concluded that Russia had interfered in the 2016 election. And at the time, she was one of the only freshman senators who was selected to serve on the Intelligence Committee. And in that role, she undertook and played a leading role in what became a three-year investigation of Russia's attack on our democracy. And that really served as a very strong foundation for what would happen later, as serving as vice president when she would serve as a leading voice on the global stage in terms of defending our allies, including Ukraine in light of Russia's attacks and its own and its attacks on its democracy.
MARTIN: So, you know, before we let you go, this is obviously a complicated topic. It's clear that the Republicans are going to make immigration a major issue, and they're going to - they've already started calling her kind of the immigration czar or the border czar and say that she's been a failure there. Obviously, this is a very complex issue. It has both domestic and international implications. But do you have a sense of how she views that sort of issue overall?
SOIFER: Well, it's an issue that she's been working on as the lead in this White House, and it's an issue for which the Republicans are actually solely responsible for killing a bipartisan border security deal earlier this year at the behest of Donald Trump. For months, the White House, including the president and vice president, have supported a comprehensive border security deal and pledged additional funding to address the issues at our borders in addition to immigration reform. And it was Donald Trump who earlier this year, decided to completely undermine and end that deal, despite the participation and inclusion and even agreement of many of his Republicans in the Senate and the House.
MARTIN: That is Halie Soifer. She's a former national security adviser to then-Senator Kamala Harris. Ms. Soifer, thanks so much for sharing these insights with us.
SOIFER: Thank you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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