CNN "The Situation Room" - Transcript: Request for Authorization of Force Against ISIS

Interview

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BLITZER: The latest U.S. Embassy to be forced to shut down, not only in Yemen, but in Libya, Somalia, Syria. And we know the U.S. Embassy in Iran has been shut down since 1979.

Jim Sciutto, thanks very much.

The president's war powers request is taking some heat from all sides. Let's get the latest from Senator Bernie Sanders. He's the independent senator from Vermont.

Senator Sanders, thanks very much for joining us.

SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (I), VERMONT: My pleasure.

BLITZER: You say you cannot support the president's proposed legislation in its current form. That's the words -- those are the words you used.

Why?

SANDERS: Look, Wolf, I remember the war in Afghanistan, which was supposed to last a few months. The war in Iraq was going to be very easy. We were in those countries for over 10 years. We have lost close to 7,000 brave men and women. The country has spent trillions of dollars.

At the end of the day, if ISIS is going to be defeated -- and this is a brutal, horrible organization that needs to be defeated -- it is going to have to be defeated by the Muslim nations in the region.

Saudi Arabia has the fourth largest defense budget in the world. You've got billionaire families in Qatar, in the UAE. They have got to be increasingly involved in providing security in their region. The U.S. can be supportive. Western Europe can be supportive. But they're going to have to do the hard work.

BLITZER: What did it say to you, if anything, because I couldn't help but notice, remembering the lead-up to the war in Iraq in 2003, at the end of 2002, there was that resolution, that war powers resolution authorizing the use of force to go to war against Saddam Hussein.

When the president walked into the Roosevelt Room to make that speech, you see who's with him, the vice president, Joe Biden; the secretary of State, John Kerry; the secretary of Defense, Chuck Hagel. Now, they were all U.S. senators at the end of 2002. They all voted in favor of that war authorization. You opposed it at the time.

But what does it say to you that the president is surrounded by men who supported going to war at that time?

SANDERS: Look, I think the president is doing everything that he can in trying to defeat ISIS. But when I hear words like "enduring conflict," it makes me very, very nervous. I think it opens the door wider than it should be. I think we've got to continue airstrikes. I think we've got to use Special Operations Forces when we can.

But I do not want to see a never-ending quagmire in the Middle East where our troops die, come back with terrible illnesses and we end up spending trillions of dollars.

Once again, this war is a battle for the soul of Islam. And it's going to have to be the Muslim countries who are stepping up. These are billionaire families all over that region. They've got to get their hands dirty. They've got to get their troops on the ground. They've got to win that war with our support. We cannot be leading the effort.

BLITZER: Well, when the White House says, as you just heard the White House press secretary, Josh Earnest, tell our own White House correspondent, Jim Acosta, that the president wants this language to be, in his words, "intentionally fuzzy" -- fuzzy, F-U-Z-Z-Y, what does that say to you?

SANDERS: Well, it says that the president and I have a disagreement on this issue and the language. And I will work very hard to try to change that language.

BLITZER: Specifically, what do you want to change?

SANDERS: I want to make sure that our young men and women are not fighting a never-ending war in the region and not getting killed. And I want to make sure that the leaders of the effort are, in fact, Saudi Arabia and Qatar and Jordan and the UAE. I want the Muslim nations to take the lead. I want their troops to be on the ground. I want them to be aggressive. I want them to be spending the money necessary to defeat ISIS. I want us to be in a supportive role, but not leading the effort. BLITZER: But you -- you don't believe, do you, because you've studied this area for a long time, Senator, that any of these countries, whether Saudi Arabia, UAE, Qatar, Kuwait Bahrain, any of these moderate Arab countries are going to take the lead without the United States right at the front of that lead?

SANDERS: Well, but what you're saying is they've got these billionaire families and they're saying, hey, why do we want to sacrifice our kids?

Why do we want to spend our money?

We've got Uncle Sam there who is going to do the work for us. Let's just sit back. American troops will take out ISIS.

I disagree with that philosophy. I think they've got to jump in. We support them. And I believe that strongly.

BLITZER: All right, Senator, I want you to stand by.

We have much more to discuss.

Senator Bernie Sanders is with us. We're talking about the president's proposal. He's seeking war powers authorization for three years to fight ISIS, to launch this war, to continue the war and potentially expand the war in Iraq and Syria.

Stay with us.

Much more right after this.

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BLITZER: Let's get back on the breaking news. President Obama formally asking the United States Congress for authorization to use military force against ISIS. We're back with Senator Bernie Sanders. He's the Vermont independent. He opposes the president's war powers request as it currently stands. There would have to be major changes for him to vote yea, in favor of this legislation.

If the legislation isn't approved, Senator, what happens next? Because in your statement that you released today, you did say that ISIS is a brutal and dangerous terrorist organization that must be defeated.

SANDERS: Absolutely. Look, these guys, it's literally unspeakable the things that they have done, the thousands of innocent men, women and children, including Americans, they have killed. They have got to be defeated.

But after ten years or over ten years in Iraq and Afghanistan, I hope we have learned a lesson, that the people in the region, the people who are most threatened by ISIS, they have got to step up to the plate. These are not poor countries. Wolf, these are countries without exception run by multi-billionaire families. And they can put their military forces on the ground. They have got to lead the effort to take on ISIS. We have got to be supportive.

I support the airstrikes that the United States Air Force is now doing, and I think they've been reasonably effective. But the Muslim nations themselves are going to have to step up and defeat ISIS.

BLITZER: Let me quickly, Senator, turn to the situation in Yemen right now, which is turning out to be a total disaster. The State Department basically shut down the United States embassy in the capital of Sana'a today amid enormous security concerns. The Shiite- led Houthi rebels are taking charge over there.

And as you know, AQAP, al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, is based in Yemen. What's going on over here? Because this is yet another failed state in this part of the world.

SANDERS: I mean, that just talks about the instability in the region and the need for, again, in my view, the countries of the region to play a much more active role.

BLITZER: So obviously, it looks like Yemen is a failed state now. Libya, remember what the U.S. did launch a Tomahawk cruise missile to get rid of Gadhafi, spent a few billion dollars in U.S. taxpayer money to do so. So look what's going on in Libya right now. The U.S. embassy is shut down. The rebels are swimming in the swimming pool of the U.S. ambassador's residence. Take a look at these videos. Look at this video. They're diving into the pool, having a good time. This is the United States embassy residence in Tripoli.

Senator, go ahead.

SANDERS: You know, it is what it is. And it's a very, very bad and difficult situation. And it's going to require the entire world and the Muslim countries in the region to step up and address this issue.

The only point that I make is that the United States cannot continue to do it alone. The other countries cannot sit back and say, "We don't have to worry, because the soldiers of America and the American taxpayers will do it all."

BLITZER: One final political question, Senator, before I let you go. I know you're thinking about running for the Democratic presidential nomination. When do you think you will decide?

SANDERS: Well, as soon as I have to. We are going around the country. We're talking to a lot of people. We're getting a lot of support. But when you take on the billionaire class, that ain't an easy assignment. So I got to make sure the support is there, and that's what we're trying to ascertain.

BLITZER: When you say you're taking on the billionaire class, you would be taking on Hillary Clinton as your main Democratic opponent. As far as I know she's not a billionaire.

SANDERS: Well, no, I would be taking on the Koch brothers and Wall Street and the pharmaceutical industry and the private insurance companies. My job is not to run against Hillary Clinton. My job is to take on the political, economic and media establishment which have so much power in this country.

BLITZER: Senator Bernie Sanders, the independent senator from Vermont, as usual, thanks for joining us.

SANDERS: Thank you.

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