This segment originally aired Jan. 11, 2016, on VICE News Tonight on HBO.
On January 11, Rex Tillerson, the former CEO of ExxonMobil and President-elect Trump’s nominee for Secretary of State, faced grilling in his confirmation hearing about his record of dealings with Russian president Vladimir Putin, and what U.S.-Russian policy might actually look like.
Videos by VICE
“Is Vladimir Putin a war criminal?” Florida Republican Senator Marco Rubio asked Tillerson at his hearing. Tillerson claimed he did not have enough information to support using that term.
Tillerson’s business connections to Russia have been in the spotlight in part because of President-elect Trump’s friendlier tone toward the country.
