NBC News " Hardball" - Transcript : Shasheen Statement on Cuba's Removal From Terrorrist Watch List

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MATTHEWS: Both Rubio and Senator Cruz are part of a bloc of Republicans
also trying to derail the president`s nuclear agreement with Iran, and
tonight`s big news on Cuba comes on the same day as the Senate Foreign
Relations Committee voted unanimously to approve legislation giving the
Congress the authority to review and potentially reject any final Iranian
deal. The full Senate could vote on the legislation as a body as early as
next week.

Let`s get right to it. Senator Jeanne Shaheen is a Democrat from New
Hampshire and a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Senator
Shaheen, thank you so much for joining us.

SEN. JEANNE SHAHEEN (D), NEW HAMPSHIRE: Thank you.

MATTHEWS: I`ve got a lot of respect for you as a political leader and as a
senator. I just wonder, do you think that this means, in the end, that the
Senate and the Congress as a whole can kill an Iranian deal that the
president has signed? Can you kill it, ultimately?

SHAHEEN: No, I wouldn`t characterize what the Foreign Relations Committee
did today in that way. I think what we did was to say that we have a vital
role to play. And I would point out that the Foreign Relations Committee
voted 19 to zero, so it was unanimous, a unanimous vote that we should be
able to review the -- any negotiated deal with Iran and weigh in on that.

And in order to -- we could do a resolution of approval or a resolution of
disapproval, and it would require a significant number of senators in order
to disapprove any deal.

The important thing about what we did, I think, is that we continued to
assert the role that we have, and it`s an appropriate role for Congress to
play. We also said that we should get reports on what`s happening with
Iran with the negotiations every six months, and that was beefed up.

And we had a review period -- we have a review period, so we`ve asked the
president -- as part of the legislation, the president would submit any
final deal to the Senate, and within about five days of the negotiated
deal, and we would have 30 days to review it.

So I think this was an important step forward. I think the fact that it
was bipartisan was very important.

MATTHEWS: Yes.

SHAHEEN: We`re all -- we all believe that we need to keep Iran from
getting a nuclear weapon, and having Congress weigh in in a bipartisan way
in support of continued negotiations I think is important.

MATTHEWS: But haven`t you opened the door for the Republicans, the
partisans on the Republican side -- and there are a majority in your body -
- to simply vote -- after you`ve done this, to use this opportunity you`ve
created here to condemn the plan? And that means what? Does the president
have to veto that to make sure he can continue with his effort to find an
arrangement with Iran?

SHAHEEN: Well, I think we`ve done just the opposite. I think we`ve put in
place bipartisan support for continued negotiations. It would require at
least 34 votes to -- only 34 votes to keep the deal going...

MATTHEWS: I see.

SHAHEEN: ... so a significant number to kill the deal. And I think that`s
very important.

MATTHEWS: I got you.

SHAHEEN: So a resolution of disapproval would be very hard to get the
votes to go forward.

MATTHEWS: So you`d still have the -- so you would still have the option of
sustaining a veto. You still can stick with the president.

SHAHEEN: I think so.

MATTHEWS: Let me ask you -- let me ask you -- I mean, I hope (INAUDIBLE)
Let me ask you about this Cuban thing. The president made history today,
maybe bigger history than your committee did, when he said that we`re going
to take Cuba off the terrorist list.

does that -- are we really getting toward regular relations with Cuba? Is
that where we`re headed -- just any other country, we`re going to treat
them like any other country in Latin America?

SHAHEEN: Well, I hope that`s where we`re headed. I think it`s long past
time that we normalized relations with Cuba. Now, that doesn`t mean we
will not continue to oppose any human rights violations, to raise those
issues with the Cubans.

But the fact is, our policy in Cuba hasn`t worked. If you look at how it
compared to our policy in Eastern Europe, where with the fall of the Berlin
Wall, we saw dramatic change, and we continued to talk to the Russians
throughout...

MATTHEWS: Yes.

SHAHEEN: ... the Cold War.

MATTHEWS: Yes.

SHAHEEN: We haven`t done that with Cuba. And, as a consequence, we`re
where we are today.

Now, I think the moves to normalize relations are very positive. And I
believe that, as the result of that, we will see real changes for the
people of Cuba.

It will not only open up their economy, but I think it will make a huge
difference in terms of the human rights and civil rights violations that
have gone on in Cuba.

MATTHEWS: You know, we`re a free country, and I can feel the freedom a
lot, but I wonder why we`re not free to visit Cuba.

Do you think every American who is watching right now should be allowed to
go to Cuba, if they want to, just to take a look at the place or get a tan
or what -- any reason they have? Why shouldn`t Americans -- well, I will
ask you. Should Americans be allowed to go visit Cuba? We`re a free
country. Can we -- shouldn`t be we able to do it?

SHAHEEN: I think we should be able to do it.

I`m old enough to remember before Castro took over Cuba. I was a child in
the `50s, but I remember when people traveled to Cuba. So, I think that
opening up, normalizing relations provides that opportunity and Americans
should be allowed to do that.

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