From Fox’s Special Report with Bret Baier Monday, February 7, 2012

On Russia and China’s veto of a UN Security Council resolution on Syria:

We finally called the Russian and Chinese bluff. They had been protecting Syria… We forced them into vetoing the resolution, although we had watered it down it a tremendous extent. The resolution that the Russians in the end rejected is one not even requiring explicitly that Assad step down, not even requiring an arms embargo, and including a clause which said there should be no outside intervention. The Russians still refused because they objected to the clause that asked for the Syrian army to return to the barracks. In other words, the Russians wanted a resolution which would have the U.N. endorsing the slaughter of civilians.

So in the end the Obama administration drew the line. Thank God for that. At this point the Russians are outside any consensus…

The one [encouraging] thing we’ve heard from the secretary of state [is] about working without relying on the U.N., the way her husband did the in Balkans, where the entire operation was carried out without U.N. approval under NATO.

Here we have all of Europe against Assad. Turkey against Assad. The Arabs against Assad. And us. That’s a strong coalition. I think what we need to do is to funnel aid, including military aid — the secretary of state spoke only about humanitarian aid — including military aid, because it is a civil war, through Turkey to the rebels in Syria. That’s the only hope that [there will be] at least a fight that the people can win.

On the detention of 19 American citizens by Egyptian authorities:

If we cut off all of the aid [to Egypt], we have no leverage. And that means that we have no way to influence a government, meaning the military government, which is now completely incompetent. It doesn’t know how to run a dictatorship. And, of course, it’s beholden to the Brotherhood, the Islamists, who won three-quarters of the seats in parliament and will inherit the government in the end if the military collapses.

All of our eggs are in the basket of the urban liberal [demonstrators] who are out to the street and demonstrating in Tahrir Square. The problem is they’re a weak minority who got only 10 percent of the vote.

So I think what we have to do is cut off perhaps some of the aid and put pressure on the regime. But we have to maintain some leverage, otherwise we could end up … with the military completely eliminated and … a government run by the Muslim Brotherhood, the Islamists. [This] would put all our positions in the Middle East in an enormous amount of jeopardy.

On Tuesday’s GOP Primaries:

If you assume, in Missouri, Santorum will pick up the bulk of the Gingrich percentage [because] he’s not on the ballot, that gives Santorum a real shot at a significant win in Missouri. Now, there are no delegates at stake, but it’s a big state, it’s a microcosm of the country and I think [winning] would be the Santorum claim: I’m the anti-Romney….

I think that Tuesday is Santorum’s one shot at becoming that and changing the story of this campaign. If he does well in Minnesota and Colorado and beats Gingrich in both, and comes out ahead of Romney in Missouri, I think he makes the case that Newt isn’t the one: “I’m the one who can go head-to-head [with Romney], a true conservative”…. Now, he [Santorum] doesn’t have a lot of money. I’m not sure how he makes it. But I think if there’s going to be a change in the story, it will happen here.