Transcript for One-on-one with Sen. Marco Rubio

Here to discuss the latest developments on the summit is Republican senator Marco Rubio. A key member of both the senate foreign relations and Intelligence Committees good morning senator rubio. Morning mark thank you said. You 100%. Support president Trump's decision to pull out of the North Korean summit then a surprise meeting the leaders of north and South Korea this weekend. And the president has now expressed optimism the June 12 meeting in Singapore could still happen do you think that's a good idea. Well and all the patents that it depends on exactly what it is that we should expect that the back and fighting the first thing we ought have to do. The stop pretending that we're dealing with the Soviet Union the old Soviet Union or that we're negotiating with Italy or France. This is a very erratic and I'm regime that's very that's to say you know paranoid about the rest of the world. Distrustful of the rest of the world it never dealt with outsiders they don't happen and established diplomatic corps they've never done that on the air and they have no history of at and number two we have a leader and Kim Jong Hoon who has the house almost an emotional attachment. At a personal psychological attachment to these nuclear weapons they make him feel for stages they make him feel powerful. And they have quite frankly been what his regime has been known for since he took over seven years ago. The third is an and the most important of all of it is can he really get rid of them. Because this is a man has to figure out how to survive in power for fifty something years as a dictator. And it's probably afraid that if he gets of these weapons at some point someone's gonna take him out at thoughts why I think you're seeing this back and forth from our perspective. You know the north Koreans ghost of us here for about two weeks after all this happened waiting to hear from him there was no talk you can't walk into the summer where that are there advance team didn't even show up. They can do in that stuff you're you're really wasting your time and more importantly. Perhaps elevating them in a way that makes the situation even more dangerous. And you knew tweeted something on Friday that was interesting along those lines Kim Jong Hun stays in power through force of deception of believes nukes give him prestige and reduce chances of the US attack he never wanted a new deal he wanted as much sanctions relief is possible. Without giving them up unfortunately the options on dealing with him are narrowing. What do you mean by that that the options are narrowing. Well if you don't think you're ever going to be able to reach a deal where he gives up its missiles and gives up its nukes. Then you're gonna have to make a decision which is where we've been the whole time and that is are you prepared to live in a world where someone like him possesses not just nuclear weapons. But the ability to hit the mainland of the United States. And if you're not then you're gonna have to do something to go after them at some point and I'm not in favor of that it's not something that I relish or just take lightly. I'm just telling you doctor very well be the option we wind up with at the end. Because ultimately I remain convinced that he does not want to do nuclear are in fact. He will not in nuclear arrive but he wants to give up this perception that he's this open leader that he's peaceful that he is reasonable. And that's why you see debris basically stopped talking to us for two weeks. The president makes his decision and all of a sudden he shows up and has this meeting with the president of South Korea and and now they're talking peace again. And now suddenly he didn't senator he did blow up. It appeared parts of his nuclear facility so in released three Americans it's all show it to show. The release three American there were innocently there. Blew up a facility that was probably already damaged. With plenty of other facilities plus here's the bigger point the facility he blocked with a testing site. He can test the senate where the crap out of town hall meeting in North Korea to decide whether the test weapons he contestant anywhere in his mind. He thinks he has already proven not only that he's in nuclear power but that he possesses long range missiles and that alone. Has given him no global standing in meeting with the president of the United States is something the North Korean a dictator. Elevates them to the status of world leadership elevate some internally. In a time when he's probably facing some significant internal discontent what you call him senator you call him a tyrant and a dictator you've heard president trump talked about him is he appeasing him too much in your view. I think president trop is trying to figure out how to get this guy don't negotiating table so they can negotiate. And it and and I think its strategy by and large has unbalanced. Basically about the north Koreans off balance they are usually the ones that are out there doing the sort of dramatic action. And and now the sort of unpredictable action that set everybody off the president has given them a taste of his own medicine. You know it's a style we've never seen in a presidency before but it seems to have at least. You know knock them off a balance I can imagine that day for all these years North Korea's been used to do in the traditional politicians like give the president credit for that. But ultimately there's got to be a deal that may be what sets the conditions but ultimately now that the have to be a deal. That have to be verifiable as a very difficult thing to accomplish when a country in North Korea that has no history of diplomacy no history of negotiations. And no one around that's ever done this before. I want to get to China and put up a Washington. And post headline from this week rubio emergence it emerges as one of trump administration's wildest critics on China. Let's talk about CTE that large Chinese Telecom firm. The trump administration wants to lift sanctions on CT eve because president she appeal to them to do that even those ET. Had sold equipment to Iran and North Korea. Is he appeasing China to. Show I talked to the president at length on Friday night and I think I understand kind of where we're coming at this in different ways for the president and for a summit and and his administration. The ZTE issue is we're going to punish this company for breaking US sanctions. And the punishment on one inflict on them as more than anything the previous administration did more than any other administrations ever done. And of this was just a month enforcement function I would agree with him. But the difference between myself and the administration and is I don't just view there's the TE issue as a punishment on the TV I view it in the context of the larger China issue. China is trying to overtake the United States as the world's most powerful country they're not doing a buyout innovating out throughout competing house they are doing it by stealing. They steal our intellectual property they force our companies to transfer the stuff over and the only way that we are going to stop them. If that they face significant consequences for continuing what they are doing is putting up out of business a company like the ATP is the kind of significant consequence. The China would respond to understand that we're serious. And so while the administration is viewing it solely as. Re calibrate the punishment on ZTE for sanctions on viewing it as an opportunity. To impose a real cost on China for everything else that they're doing. And I think that's where the difference of opinion at and you think congress will pass a bill prohibiting the administration for lifting the sanctions. Well I think congress should pass a bill that goes further than just the TV I've already proposed the bill and I'll propose language and I think we can get past that basically prohibits this continuing transfer of US technology. To the Chinese. By our companies under duress in key industries China's told them with what those industries are called made in China 20/20 five. It's a quantum computing five G technology in all the major industries that will dominate the century they told us what they are there is no way that our American companies that it should be legal for them. Have to transfer port or to transfer key technologies in those sectors to the Chinese. At and senator rubio just quickly here in the end on the on the so called FBI informant. Up president trump says that the FBI. Had a spy. In his campaign I know you're in you're not in those classified meetings this week but based on what you have seen. Is the president telling the truth. So I think the president. It's facing these and and his lawyers are react than them that there they're responding to what. That what they're facing them and that are happening to them I can tell you what I know number one if there is an FBI informant. Or any sort of an appropriate action that's been taken targeting a political campaign the president's or any we want to know about it and it should be punished as far as what I have seen to date. It appears. That there was an investigation not of the campaign but if certain individuals who have a history. That we should be suspicious that predate the presidential campaign a 20152016. And when individuals like that are in the orbit of a major political campaign in America. The FBI who is in charge that counterintelligence investigations should look at people like that. But they're not investigate in the campaign they're investigating those people in fact so you're going to president trump was wrong. I have seen no evidence that they're that those people weren't part of an investigation. On the campaign. He of that exists I would want to know about it we should all know about it and that that would be wrong and we should we should do something about it. But Upton out what I have seen as evidence that they were investigating individuals with a history of links to Russia that were concerning. And that was appropriate if that's all that happened. Thanks very much for joining us this morning senator or via thank you.

This transcript has been automatically generated and may not be 100% accurate.