CNN "The Situation Room" - Transcript: National Security and Relations with Russia

Interview

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BLITZER: Joining us, the Democratic Congressman John Garamendi of California. He's a member of the Armed Services Committee.

Congressman, thanks very much for joining us.

Do you believe this visit by John Kerry to Russia -- he met with Putin, met with Lavrov, the foreign minister -- was productive?

REP. JOHN GARAMENDI (D), CALIFORNIA: Oh, absolutely. You have to be talking. If you're not talking, you're likely to get into much, much more deep trouble, and we have had plenty of trouble.

The Russians need to know very, very clearly in direct communication, as Kerry provided, about what our position, also about what their options are to deal with sanctions. And we have got work to do. We're still working very closely on the Iran situation, which is extremely important to both Russia and us and the entire Middle East area.

And, of course, Syria remains out there. The world is rapidly changing and we need to be working, at least communicating, and hopefully find those areas where we can work together. Obviously, there are very difficult conflicts ahead of us, and we have got to talk about it, at least, and find the path to resolving those problems.

BLITZER: You heard Elise report that Kerry asked the Russians to kill that sale of an air defense missile system to Iran.

The Russians say they're going forward with it. We heard Senator James Risch of Idaho the last hour say that's a game-changer as far as the U.S. is concerned. What is your analysis?

GARAMENDI: Well, it is a major issue for us.

If the Iran program fails, and we do not get a nuclear deal, then the next thing on the table is an airstrike. An airstrike against the present defenses that exist is possible and certainly will have some downside. But you bring that new air defense system in, and it becomes even more problematic.

And so we do not want that air defense system in there. What we really want is a successful negotiation with Iran. Get them away from the nuclear weapons. Move back to a different situation where they're not moving forward on a nuclear weapon. And then we don't have to worry about that S-300 air defense system. But it is a game-changer. It is extremely important. And we do not want it there as these negotiations move towards their conclusion over the next couple of months.

BLITZER: Are the Russians going to cooperate with the U.S. in this war against ISIS?

GARAMENDI: They certainly should. They're at much as risk as any place in the world. They have a very large Muslim population. They have plenty of issues, a long history, Chechnya, other places where the Muslim population is located.

They have had very serious terrorism attacks, hundreds, if not thousands of people killed over the last decade by terrorists, Muslim terrorists mostly. So, yes, they should be very, very concerned. And, in fact, the leader, Baghdadi, actually spent a lot of time in Chechnya. So, yes, they better be concerned and they ought to be working with us on that particular issue, because they are at risk.

BLITZER: We're getting new information, Congressman, about ISIS threats specifically against a couple or three U.S. military installations, bases in the United States, maybe one of the reasons why the U.S. military went on a higher state of alert.

Stand by. We're going get to that right after a quick break. We will be right back.

GARAMENDI: Certainly.

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[18:19:03]

BLITZER: There is new concern tonight about terror attacks on U.S. military bases. Republican Senator James Risch, he is a member of the Intelligence Committee. He just told me a little while ago that ISIS has specifically named some U.S. bases as targets.

We're back with Democratic Congressman John Garamendi of California. He is a member of the Armed Services Committee.

I know, what, you have a couple of Air Force bases in your district, Congressman. Senator Risch says he knows that at least two or three specific bases were targeted, were mentioned by ISIS as targets. May have been one of the reasons why all the bases in the United States went on a higher state of alert in recent days. What can you tell us about this? What information can you share?

GARAMENDI: Well, we do know that all of the military bases in the United States are on a much higher alert, the Bravo alert. And that will continue for some time and maybe continue on into the next year and beyond.

We need to make sure our bases are secure. And it's not just those who might enter the base with some nefarious activity in mind. But it could also be employees from the military to civilian that are on the base that we need to be aware of.

[18:20:10]

We certainly saw the situation in Texas, the tragic shooting that occurred there. So, yes, we have to be on the alert. We do know that ISIS is using the social media, particularly Twitter. And that's a problem for us.

But we're also seeing Twitter beginning to shut down some of these really radical Twitter accounts. That's good. And they're doing it without the government telling them to do it. So we avoid the free speech issue. But Twitter really has a responsibility here. And I want to see them continue to monitor and to shut down those sites that are preaching this radical jihadism. Also, we need to understand that the use of Twitter also gives

our FBI and police agencies an opportunity to know where the problem is coming from. We're able to trace back where that account is and identify at least the location, if not the individuals. And we know who they in the United States may be responding to those Twitter invitations.

And so we're watching this very closely. The local police, the FBI, other agencies need to be very much aware. And later, to this week, we're going to be voting on the USA Freedom Act, which actually rolls back some of the more onerous stuff that was in the national security act, the Patriot Act, and provides some additional powers that are appropriate to deal with this kind of social media activity that is going on.

BLITZER: You were referring, that massacre in Texas a few years ago at Fort Hood, Texas, where that soldier, that Major Nidal Hasan, went out and started just killing fellow soldiers.

And what you're suggesting is, your fear is that could happen again? Is that what you're saying, somebody being inspired by these ISIS or al Qaeda terror organizations?

GARAMENDI: Well, it happened once. And it was tragic. And there were a lot of lives lost.

So we should be aware. You should never forget the past. You got to remember history, recent history here, and be aware. We need -- we know that there's enormous pressure on military personnel, and some of them will break under that pressure. So the military is watchful. It was a wakeup call for them. They're watchful. They're looking and observing and dealing with the mental health issues that do occur.

We know that we have these men and women that are returning that have issues. Whether they're going to attack their brethren or not, we hope not. But we need to be aware and we need to be providing the services to deal with the combat traumas that have occurred to more than almost two million Americans that have been deployed for a decade or more overseas.

So it's all part of what we need to do as Americans to protect ourselves. The bases themselves, they need to be aware. They obviously have increased their security and their observation. But the same thing applies in our communities. All of our communities need to be aware that this is going on, this invitation for radical jihadism, particularly among the Muslim community, that have heretofore been very, very helpful in alerting the police agencies when they are aware or perceive that there may be one amongst them that is going on to the dark side.

BLITZER: Congressman Garamendi, thanks very much for joining us.

GARAMENDI: Always. Thank you.

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