VIDEO: John McCain Talks Syrian Crisis on CBS THIS MORNING

Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) said of U.S. aid to Syria, "To say that we're really going to change the equation with non-lethal aid is not going to do it," in an interview that was broadcast today, March 1, 2013 on CBS THIS MORNING on the CBS Television Network (7:00 AM-9:00 AM). Watch the appearance in full below!

"We are raising a generation of Jihadists in these refugee camps," McCain told co-hosts Norah O'Donnell and Charlie Rose.

McCain also discussed the sequestration cuts and the impact on the military. "Our uniformed military leaders have been warning about this, and the cuts are disproportionate on defense," he said. "To do this to the men and women in the military, an all-volunteer force, the best we've ever had, is unconscionable."

Excerpts from the transcript are below.

SEN. JOHN McCAIN: Good morning, that's my friend Lindsey Graham, as usual. We were having a colloquy on the floor, but Lindsey is exactly right. Ronald Reagan would be appalled at our Republicans who are saying, "Well, let's just give the President flexibility." Well, of course that takes away from my responsibilities if we did that, but second of all, I believe Gen. Odierno. You just had Gen. Odierno on. You don't have to believe a politician, but I think we should carefully consider the views of our military leaders. Our uniformed military leaders have been warning about this, and the cuts are disproportionate on defense. I don't know the mechanics of it, but they're disproportionately enacted on defense.

ROSE: And you believe the administration designed them that way?

McCAIN: I believe the administration and Congress designed them that way. I put a lot of blame on the administration, but we went along with it.

O'DONNELL: I'm glad to hear you say that, because there's as you know this current Washington parlor game of he did it, he devised it, but –

McCAIN: As far as the idea is concerned, obviously that's a huge issue, especially inside the Beltway – it was the president's idea, and it was obviously, that was not what the president said. In the campaign the President said "sequestration won't happen," and that it was Congress's idea. Neither of those statements were true.

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