CNN "The Situation Room" - Transcript: Russian Cyber Attack on the State Department; Yemen; Iran Deal

Interview

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

BLITZER: Yes. The skeptics of this deal say that's the least the Iranians could do, given about $150 billion in revenue they can expect once the sanctions are suspended. It's going to really generate a lot of economic growth in Iran. They would like Iran to suspend its terrorist support, but that's not part, specifically part of this nuclear deal.

Michelle, thanks very much for that report.

Let's talk about all of this and more. Republican Congressman Darrell Issa of California is joining us,. He's member of the House Foreign Affairs committee.

We have a lot to discuss, Congressman.

REP. DARRELL ISSA (R), CALIFORNIA: We do.

BLITZER: Let's off with the CNN reporting. You heard Evan Perez, our justice reporter, break the news here. We knew there had been a hacking job done over at the State Department, but today we learned that the hackers were working for the Russian government.

The hackers also, through the State Department, managed to penetrate White House computers, not necessarily getting classified information, but sensitive information, including the president's private travel activities, stuff like that. Were you aware of this?

ISSA: Only recently and from the same reports.

Ultimately, it's more than just sensitive. Who the president meets with, where, when, even if it's retrospectively, quite frankly, is material that is kept from Congress in many cases. So this is very sensitive information. And it's indicative of the fact that Russia is reassembling its evil empire in many ways.

It's expanding, it's involved in espionage and, of course, it's backing countries that are destabilizing other countries like Iran.

BLITZER: So is this a new Cold War? We are on the verge of a new Cold War, the U.S. and Russia?

ISSA: I think we have been in a new Cold War, actually, since Putin and Bush times.

What is different now is that Iran and other proxies are actively involved in wars. Obviously, we're working with Turkey to a certain extent, we're working with Saudi Arabia. We have put a lot of money into other countries, including Lebanon, to try to stabilize them. Well, as we speak, with the limited resources Iran has, they are destabilizing the same countries.

If they get that $150 billion bonanza, will it go to their people or will it go to all-out war in the region?

BLITZER: Is the U.S. really vulnerable to these kinds of cyber- attacks?

ISSA: We are. We are.

Unfortunately, one of the challenges with cyber is, once you open a door and you provide a port, the most insidious little things can get you. And the best way to look at it is, if I only took e-mail from people I knew and places I knew and they only took e-mail from people they knew and so on, you wouldn't have a problem.

[18:15:08] But as soon as you open the world up to port 8080, to Web surfing, everybody is likely to pick something up. And quite frankly -- and this came out publicly so it's no longer classified -- the fact that you can embed into a hard drive the basic malware necessary to read and send means in some cases the real trick is to be involved in the equipment when it's delivered.

BLITZER: I want you to stand by, Congressman. We have much more to discuss, as we mentioned, the whole region and whether North Africa, the Middle East, South Asia seems to be on fire right now, especially in Yemen.

Much more with Congressman Darrell Issa right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [18:20:10] BLITZER: We're following the violent collapse of Yemen.

It was a critical ally to the United States in fighting the al Qaeda affiliate in that country before the government was ousted by the rebel Shiite forces, the Houthis.

We're back with Republican Congressman Darrell Issa of California. He's a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

The fact that the U.S. now has no diplomatic civilian presence, no military presence in Yemen, this is the home of AQAP, al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, how much has that undermined this opportunity, this ability, in effect, to prevent AQAP from launching terrorist strikes against U.S. interests?

ISSA: It's not just U.S. interests.

And you're right. We're blind there. Obviously, even the CIA had to pull out or substantially pull out. Except for drones, we have no eyes there. It means that a large area that we could operate from on land now has to be moved to 40 acres aboard an aircraft carrier that is already overtaxed.

Look, the reality, though, is you said the United States. This is an existential threat to Saudi Arabia. If they move from where they are into Mecca, Medina, it's a win for Iran. And that's what will happen if they consolidate their power.

Now, obviously, you have got both al Qaeda and the Houthi. So you have a civil war even if the government falls, but, quite candidly, this is a Shia country predominantly enough that they will win out if they topple the government.

BLITZER: Because I spoke yesterday with the Saudi ambassador to the United States, Adel Al-Jubeir. He says Iranians and Hezbollah fighters, they are directly backing these Shiite Houthi rebels in Yemen. What do you know about that?

ISSA: Hezbollah are the best-built, best-backed militants anywhere in the world.

They have been hardened. In '06, they fought against Israel relatively successfully on their own turf and they have been fighting in Syria in large numbers. Quite candidly, that's one of our challenges, is to stabilize Lebanon and, at the same time, recognize that we have got to keep Hezbollah from crossing freely across the border, resting in Lebanon and fighting in Syria and other places such as Yemen.

BLITZER: Where do you stand on this proposed nuclear deal with Iran?

ISSA: A real nuclear deal, one that absolutely stops their ability for the foreseeable future to start again, would be of great value.

Anything less than that, less than a disarmament, creates a situation in which we will be hoping that they are not cheating, while all along, you will see that, quite candidly, going after Iran for other wrongdoing will be impossible. And I think that's where Iran has been very smart. They realized that they could stop at this point and get all the benefit of a nuclear weapon when it came to continuing their terrorism.

And I think that's where Senate Republicans and Democrats are saying, no, you can't have a terrorist nation that gets the equivalent of a nuclear weapon, may cheat to get a nuclear weapon. That's not a good deal for America, not when Americans are dying because of those terrorists that they are backing.

BLITZER: Because the administration says, and I'm paraphrasing, obviously, don't let the perfect be the enemy of a good deal.

ISSA: And that's a good statement.

But when you're going to give $150 billion of funds very quickly released that can buy tanks, that can buy all kinds of weapons and technology, just as a decade ago you and I saw Iran improving the ability to kill Americans in Iraq with better IEDs that came from Iran, Iran can fund and support terrorists who cause Americans and their allies to die.

So you can't just separate the two. I think that really saying nukes are off the table is a good start. That's not what the deal seems to do. And certainly no pushback from terrorism of the sort that Iran has been guilty of around the world, I think it's worth the Senate saying it's a package and we at least need to talk about it and be sold on it. The president needs to sell, not order the Senate to do this.

BLITZER: So you're not yet convinced to support, because you want more information; is that what you're saying?

ISSA: I think that the negotiating process will make it better. If the president says to Iran, I have got to get a good enough deal to get through my Senate, he gets a better deal in these last few, eight weeks or so than he's going to get if he says, what does it take to get this deal done? I need it for my legacy.

This isn't about legacy, because the president and Secretary Kerry will leave in less than two years. Those senators and members of the House will be a sustaining body that have to worry about Iran for decades.

BLITZER: But the administration says this is strictly a nuclear- related deal. They are not talking about other issues, like Iran stopping its support for terrorism or recognizing Israel's right to exist or freeing American prisoners who are still being held in Iran.

Those are separate issues. They deal separately with that. This is strictly a deal to prevent Iran for the foreseeable future from having a nuclear weapons capability.

[18:25:00] ISSA: And I believe that Senator Schumer and Senator Grassley and Corker and others, if this were like it was in Libya, where they backed up a boat and they took the nuclear components right out of Libya, we wouldn't be having this discussion.

BLITZER: During Gadhafi's regime right after the war in 2003.

(CROSSTALK)

ISSA: Exactly. We caught him red-handed. He capitulated.

I was there and got to see some of the nuclear assets. The fact is, he totally capitulated. The nuclear fissile facilities left the country. That's not on the table. So, we're not talking about somebody backing away. We're talking about somebody who says they won't continue as fast.

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

ISSA: Thank you, Wolf.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source