Transcript: Cindy McCain on "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan," May 25, 2025

CBS News

25-05-2025

The following is the transcript of an interview with Cindy McCain, World Food Programme executive director, that aired on "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan" on May 25, 2025.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Welcome back to Face the Nation. We turn now to the Executive Director of the United Nations World Food Programme, Cindy McCain. She joins us this morning from Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Good morning to you.
U.N. WORLD FOOD PROGRAMME EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR CINDY MCCAIN: Good morning.
MARGARET BRENNAN: I want to ask you about a few hotspots in Africa, but let's start first on the Middle East if we could. In Gaza, we have this man-made catastrophe with Israeli authorities blocking the entry of all aid from March until about May 18. The Trump administration said Israel needs to let in food. So are your deliveries consistently now getting through?
MCCAIN: Well, let's start with the fact that this is a catastrophe, and you're absolutely correct, and I'm very grateful that you are covering this issue. They have let a few trucks in. This is a drop in the bucket as to what's needed. Right now, we have 500,000 people inside of Gaza that are- that are extremely food insecure, and could be on the verge of famine if we don't help bring them back from that. We need to get in, and we need to get in at scale, not just a few dribble of the trucks right now, as I said, it's a drop in the bucket.
MARGARET BRENNAN: So how many trucks need to be getting in daily to address the scale of the need you see, and can they get into northern Gaza?
MCCAIN: Well, prior to the, you know, during the cease-fire, I should say, we were getting in 600 trucks a day. Right now, we're getting in maybe 100 something like that. So it's not nearly enough, and it needs to be going to the correct places. So the various gates, it's inconsistent as to how the gates are open. It's inconsistent as to the roads we can use. The roads that are the better roads, the ones that can get us further along, aren't open at all. It's complicated right now and again, I will tell anybody who will listen, we need to get in and get in at scale and be allowed to feed these people before further catastrophe occurs.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Your organization announced at least 15 of your trucks were looted when they entered southern Gaza en route to bakeries. Israel has consistently said that the looting is being carried out by Hamas. Have you seen evidence that it is Hamas stealing the food?
MCCAIN: No, not at all. Not- not in this round. Listen, these people are desperate, and they see a World Food Programme truck coming in, and they run for it. This- this doesn't have anything to do with Hamas or any kind of organized crime, or anything. It has simply to do with the fact these people are starving to death, and so we will continue to go in. We will continue to go in with food and the kinds of supplies we need to help the bakeries operate and make sure that we can continue to do that, and hopefully be able to do more of it. But again, we can't do this unless the world community puts pressure on this. We can't be allowed to sit back and watch these people starve to death with no outside diplomatic influence to help us. These- these- these poor souls are really, really, really desperate. And you know, having been in- in a food riot myself some years ago, I understand the desperation very well.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Well, five days ago, Prime Minister Netanyahu vowed to take control of all of Gaza, which seems to be a shift from going in, carrying out raids and then withdrawing. We've seen the Pope speak out. We've seen the leaders of France, of Canada, of the U.K. calling the cutting of aid egregious. Netanyahu said criticism like that is feeding Hamas and really feeding anti-semitism. What do you make of that pushback from him, that criticisms of the state are feeding hate?
MCCAIN: What I do know is you're not feeding people and the most important part of this is that's what we're supposed to be doing. I'm very grateful for anyone, the Pope, any of the folks that did, did shout out and say, listen, we need to get more in, but I can't tell you as to what exactly what Netanyahu is thinking or anything else. What I do know for a fact is that we need food to get into Gaza to avoid an utter catastrophe.
MARGARET BRENNAN: The Israeli army had announced aid will be distributed under what they described as an American plan. Prime Minister Netanyahu said it will be American companies giving food directly to Palestinian families in safe zones secured by the Israeli military. There's reporting in the Washington Post that these are armed private contractors doing logistics, Palestinians will have to submit to identity checks to be fed, and that would replace the U.N. coordinated networks, presumably also the World Food Programme. Do you know how much longer you will be allowed to operate in Gaza?
MCCAIN: I've not seen a plan from anybody. We continue to operate, doing what we do best, and we are the largest and the best at what we do, I might add. I- we've never been- a plan has ever been proposed to us. We really don't know what's coming around the bend. We will continue to operate. We will work with anybody, if it will feed people. That's the most important part here is that we can't turf off on things we will, we need to work together. We need to be able to feed these people and be able to get in consistently and at scale.
MARGARET BRENNAN: We haven't heard in- in the press, at least, from the administration any of the details either, but we do know that the U.S. ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, announced back on May 9, that this is going to be a U.S. initiative involving only Israeli security. The Israelis are not distributing food. Secretary Rubio was just in Rome. He said he did meet with you. Did you share with him any of your concerns?
MCCAIN: Well, we had a very frank discussion about exactly what was going on and what we could do to help alleviate a lot of this. Some of it- I'm not sure that they were completely clear on how we operate and the size that we are and the logistics ability that we have to be able to do this. So- so we had a very nice discussion. As you know, the Rubio family and the McCain family have been friends for a very long time. And so I was grateful that he would take the time to listen to what- what we had to say, and let us discuss exactly how we feel we should be able to operate. And I was very grateful for and for and honored to have the opportunity to speak to him.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Did he assure you that the U.S. supports the U.N. and the World Food Programme continuing to supply food in Gaza?
MCCAIN: We didn't really discuss the U.S. participation in any of this. He was really, really concerned with and really trying to understand how we operate and- and the need for what exactly what we do. Again, I will tell you, we will- we will work with anybody, as long as it feeds people and feeds people safely, I might add, on the ground, and keeps our people and people from other agencies safe as well.
MARGARET BRENNAN: You're speaking to us now from the Congo. President Trump claimed this past week, the administration was close to brokering a deal between the Congo and Rwanda to end their war. The numbers are staggering in terms of food insecurity. Do you have any sense that there is some kind of cease-fire that you're close to that could help feed people?
MCCAIN: Well, I'm hearing that there are some possible discussions going to take place in Qatar, some other discussions that have taken place in other countries and certainly other regions of Africa. What I do know is we need to hurry up. People are hungry and people have been displaced, and people- disease outbreaks are becoming more prevalent now because of some of the flooding as a result of the weather, the weather issues here. So my my purpose in this particular trip, I've been here many, many times, and my purpose in this particular trip is to see just exactly where we sit, exactly what kind of kind of foods are being allowed in number one and number two, what we can do better to help alleviate some of the, the, these, the issues that are going on here with regards to food. There's a large amount of people within DRC, Congo, particularly in the east, that don't have access to food, and if they do, it's not very much. So it's- it's my- my time right now is to make sure that we're doing the very best we can to make sure people don't go hungry.
MARGARET BRENNAN: We've spoken in the past about just how horrific the conditions are inside Sudan right now. This past week, the Trump administration put further restrictions on the government after it used chemical weapons against its own people, something they said happened in 2024. There's also a famine there right now. Is there any sign that you will be able to get in and feed people there?
MCCAIN: Well, we're in there right now. We're in there and you know, it's complicated to be able to, to be in there, but we're in there, we are feeding. But again, there is famine and being- being able to be able to feed, to travel freely, to distribute food, and to get into the places we need to go, is the issue here. And as you know, there's many factions that play on the ground in Sudan.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Cindy McCain–
MCCAIN: But, let me say this–
MARAGRET BRENNAN: Go ahead.
MCCAIN: –Sudan is the largest humanitarian crisis on the planet right now. It's the largest one, and we've got to- to pay attention to it and make sure that we can continue to get in there and other agencies be able to get in there to do just exactly what they need to do as well.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Executive Director of the World Food Programme, Cindy McCain, thank you for your time this morning.
MCCAIN: Thank you very much for having me.