CNN "The Situation Room" - Transcript: On Claim that Jordanian Airstrike Killed American Hostage and on Ground Forces Against ISIS

Interview

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BLITZER: We will see what happens Monday when Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, is here in Washington for meetings with President Obama. We will stay in close touch with you, Jim Sciutto, in Ukraine.

Let's bring in a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, also a member of the Foreign Relations Committee, Senator James Risch, Republican of Idaho.

Senator Risch, thanks very much for joining us.

Let's talk about 26-year-old Kayla Mueller. I assume you have been briefed. What can you share with our viewers about her fate?

SEN. JAMES RISCH (R), IDAHO: Well, I think pretty much what you have reported already.

And that is, there is great skepticism. Certainly, our hearts and prayers go out to the family. But having said that, their claim, the claim that's made is made by people who are murderers, they're rapists, they're robbers. They burn people alive. There's no reason to believe that they have any credibility whatsoever, that this isn't just simply propaganda in order to try to stop what's going to be a real barrage on them.

They have made the Jordanians very, very angry. And the statement that was made earlier, I'm hearing now, which I haven't heard up until the last six months, with Arab nations saying, this is our war. Yes, West, we want your help, but this is our war.

BLITZER: Yes, Jordan is certainly stepping up in the aftermath of the brutal killing of their pilot. It's awful to think about it. Is it the working assumption right now that Kayla Mueller may have been killed by ISIS a while ago, but they only announced that she was dead today for propaganda purposes, alleging that a Jordanian airstrike killed her?

RISCH: You know, I wouldn't say that that's a working assumption. I would say we don't know.

And even if they produce, heaven forbid, her deceased, that doesn't tell you anything about what happened, when it happened or anything else. And so, obviously, the intelligence community is sifting through what they can go through to try to make some confirmations. But you can't -- you can't go by anything -- you can't use anything that they say to help make this decision.

BLITZER: Do you know when...

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RISCH: When I say they say, I mean you can't go by anything that ISIS says.

BLITZER: ISIS, you don't believe a word they say, for good reasons, as you point out.

But when was last time, if you know, they actually provided proof of life that Kayla Mueller was alive?

RISCH: You know, Wolf, it has been some time since I have seen that. I wouldn't want to say at this point, without being sure about that. It has been a while.

BLITZER: We heard from our own Tom Fuentes, the former assistant director of the FBI, those still photos of that building that was bombed that ISIS claims was bombed by Jordan and that Kayla Mueller was inside and she was killed, supposedly by Jordanian airstrikes, there was no smoldering, no smoke, even though that would have been going on for days.

And as a result, he and so many other analysts are now saying, this was just phony. These were destroyed buildings and ISIS just put them up there to make this allegation. I suspect you agree with that analysis.

RISCH: Well, I do.

I think underscoring all this is, how in the world could she have been killed without any ISIS people being killed? That just doesn't make sense at all, that somehow they were all out of the building. So, it just -- that doesn't make sense.

And the identification of the aircraft that did it, the Jordanians are not the only ones that are running sorties in there. It could be any one of a number of countries that ran a sortie that was in there at the time.

BLITZER: I assume the U.S. military, the U.S. intelligence community, the entire national security apparatus is now going through all sorts of collection means, if you will, to try to determine the fate of this young woman, right?

RISCH: Well, yes, and they have been. I think the report that had you earlier was that there was a lot of focus on this is correct.

I can tell you though that there's a lot going on as far as what's going to happen in the immediate future. There's a lot of talk going on about that right now. There has been for some time. But over the last few weeks, things have started to come to a head. And I think next week you are going to see some -- you are going to see Congress involved in this.

BLITZER: I want to pick up that thought. Hold that thought for a moment, Senator. We have a lot more to discuss. We will take a quick break. We will resume the breaking news coverage right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) BLITZER: We're back with Senator James Risch.

And we're following the breaking news, the new claim by ISIS that an American hostage, a young American woman was killed by a Jordanian airstrike. Lots of skepticism. No confirmation at all. Most people believe ISIS is simply lying.

You mentioned, Senator, that you expect next week new action by the Obama administration to deal with this war on terror, this war against ISIS. What are you driving at?

RISCH: Well, you know, Wolf, myself and a lot of others have been very critical of the administration, because we haven't seen any -- a strategy, a real objective strategy for dealing with this.

The administration has heard this. But they are also hearing from our allies in the region that think that we as the United States need to do something about this. Nobody wants to do this. But having said that, every once in a while you wind up in a position where you have to do something.

We all know that ISIS has had aspirationally the desire to hit the homeland and to hit Europe. We have reason to believe today that it is moving beyond aspiration and we're going to have to do something. And the administration has been talking with Congress. And that's a good thing, because, in the past, as you know, that hasn't worked as well as it should have.

BLITZER: So, what I'm hearing, correct me if I'm wrong, Senator, pretty alarming that you are getting information that ISIS may be plotting attacks here in the United States? Is that what you are suggesting?

RISCH: Well, Wolf, probably as far as I want to go is that we all know that it has been aspirational. We have reason to believe it is moving beyond aspirational.

And as a result of that, we're going to have do something, as much as we don't want to do something. We're probably going to have to. Obviously, there's a huge debate in Congress about the -- quote -- "boots on the ground" -- end quote -- aspect of this.

I'm one of those -- and you have heard me say it before -- that you don't really need the boots on the ground as much as you did in conventional wars, as did you in the past. The Arab nations are now talking providing the boots on the ground. They have said that before. We will see if they step up.

ISIS has really misjudged the reaction of the rest of the Arab world. They are angry. They are becoming scared. And I have heard -- in the past, we have always heard when we sat down and talked with the Arab leaders, we talked about al Qaeda, they would wring their hands. They would say, well, I hope you can do something about it.

They have moved beyond that. And the word is no longer you. The word they use now is we. And they also use the term, as you heard me say before, that this is our war, although they certainly want our assistance.

BLITZER: I'm hearing that certainly from Jordan, which is a close friend and ally of the United States. But what other Arab countries are stepping up to the plate right now?

RISCH: Well, you are hearing it from the entire region. Over the last week, myself and other members of Congress have met with the head -- obviously, I was with the king of Jordan last week and also with heads of state from Qatar, from Saudi Arabia, from other -- the UAE. The Arab states in the region are concerned. They are worried.

BLITZER: And so they are getting ready to step up. And do you anticipate a significant acceleration by the United States, a major shift in strategy in the coming days by the United States as a result of not only what the Arab allies are doing, but as a result of what has happened?

RISCH: I do.

The strategy, as I said, we have been very critical of. The administration now is vetting some possible strategies, I think trying to get members of Congress on board. And once that happens, I think if the president comes to Congress, obviously, if he asks for a authorization, Congress is going to have to wrestle with that, but I think at the end of the day, does give them the authorization. What that looks like, we will see in the coming days, the coming days and the coming weeks.

But once that happens, I think the president will be in a much, much better position to go to our allies in the region and coalesce them to go and do what has to be done.

BLITZER: Because what I have heard -- and correct me if I'm wrong, Senator, because you are on the inside. You know this better than I do. I have heard the White House is now finalizing language for a new resolution authorizing the U.S. military to use force in this war against ISIS and other terrorist organizations.

I assume you would support that language, that legislation if it comes before you.

RISCH: Wolf, it's going to depend on the exact language. But there have been detailed discussions along the line that you have just suggested in very recent days.

And I suspect you are going to be reporting on this in-depth next week.

BLITZER: Yes, I suspect you are right. Certainly, that's what -- that's what we have been hearing now for days, that the administration, even though the president has said he doesn't think he legally requires new authorization to use military force, he would like a bipartisan voice, a bipartisan level of support from the House and the Senate authorizing the use of military force.

And what I hear you saying is, if he gets it, then we can see a stepped-up U.S. military action against ISIS, right?

RISCH: I think that's a fair statement. I wouldn't say it exactly that way. But I think that's a good general characterization of what's going on.

I think the administration has learned the hard way that when you are talking about using military force, it really needs bipartisanship and it really needs the first branch of government being heavily involved, as well as the second branch of government. They need to come together on this.

We're all Americans. This is not a partisan issue. This is an American -- this is an American issue that we need to work together on.

BLITZER: Because a lot of the military experts say, certainly airpower alone will degrade ISIS. But to really destroy ISIS, which is the U.S., the Jordanian, the UAE, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, all those countries you mentioned, to do that, you really need ground troops.

Certainly, the Iraqi military has proven they are not up to it. Kurds, while they are ferocious fighters, very courageous, they need help. The Free Syrian Army, that doesn't seem to be going anywhere. Is there in the works, Senator, a ground invasion, if you will, being planned right now to go ahead and destroy ISIS?

RISCH: Probably planned is too advanced a word. It is certainly being discussed.

But, as I said, most members of Congress are reluctant to sign on to a full-scale putting boots on the ground in this fight. Having said that, the other Arab nations are talking much more boldly than they have in the past about actually putting boots on the ground there.

Going along with what you said before, airpower is great. Airpower can do a lot of powerful things. But a lot of times, to get completely cleaned up, you are going to need boots on the ground.

BLITZER: Yes. Certainly, when I spoke to Jordan's foreign minister last night in Amman, Nasser Judeh, he made it clear that Jordan is ready for all of these options, including Jordanian combat troops, if necessary. But what they also want, obviously, is a coalition. They don't want to go in alone. They want others to be involved, and certainly the United States.

I assume the U.S. would be there in a supportive role, right?

RISCH: Clearly, a supportive role.

And you are absolutely right. The Jordanians right now are champing at the bit. The ISIS really miscalculated with what they did with that pilot. The king reported that his country has really, really come together as a result of what happened. The pilot, as you maybe reported, was a member of a very large tribal group that is quite powerful in Jordan. And those people are very, very unhappy. BLITZER: And Jordan does have a good military, good intelligence

service. And they are very courageous fighters, right?

RISCH: Yes, that and, most importantly, they have been a strong, reliable ally of the United States.

BLITZER: Senator Risch, thanks very much for joining us.

RISCH: Thank you, Wolf. Thank you for having me.

BLITZER: Thank you.

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