CNN "The Situation Room" - Transcript: Russia, Syria, and China, and Cyberattacks

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BLITZER: And Russia now also stepping up involvement in Iraq, as well, just as the Iranians have a lot of influence over there in Baghdad, no doubt about that. Jim Sciutto, thank you.

Let's get some more on what's going on. Joining us, the chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, Republican Congressman Mike McCaul of Texas. He also serves on the Foreign Affairs Committee.

Mr. Chairman, thanks very much for joining us.

I want to talk about Russia and what's going on right now, but very quickly, this -- this news today that WikiLeaks has now released the CIA director, John Brennan's, personal e-mails that were hacked. First of all, do you know who was responsible for this hack?

REP. MIKE MCCAUL (R), TEXAS: Not at this point in time, Wolf. But the idea that John Brennan's personal e-mails could be vulnerable to a cyber-attack like this, to a hack, is very disturbing.

Of course, there's been a lot of discussion about personal e-mail servers as of late, and you know, the idea that they could get his information. And I know that Jeh Johnson, the secretary of homeland security who testified before my committee, talked about some of his private information being stolen, as well.

This is -- the breach at OPM, 20 million security clearances stolen by China. There are various nation states like China that engage in espionage. I wouldn't be surprised if China was behind this one.

BLITZER: Behind this one? Because it seems like this hacker claims to be under 22, a young kid who's stoned all the time. You think that...

MCCAUL: I apologize; you're correct about that. This was actually -- this was a young sort of anonymous-type figure that did claim to be stoned at the time he did that, which is remarkable, given what he accomplished.

BLITZER: But you're saying that China was responsible for the hack of all that personal data from the Office of Personnel Management, the government's agency?

MCCAUL: That is my -- my opinion, because it was a big data theft. A big data theft is not done for criminal purposes. It's not like a credit card breach. It's to get big data, to exploit that data and then compromise individuals in the federal government.

[17:45:03] So this is a classic case of espionage.

The attribution, it goes back to the same source of the Anthem Blue Cross attacks into China. The Chinese of course are saying it wasn't. They had nothing to do with this. But the way it was done, the fact it was espionage all fingers, all roads point to the PRC as being responsible.

BLITZER: Let's talk about what Russia's up to right now. The fact that Bashar al-Assad has shown up today in Moscow for this meeting with Vladimir Putin, the Russians stepping up their influence not only in Syria with these airstrikes but now moving into Iraq as well, a country where the U.S. devoted a lot of blood and treasure to try to build up that post-Saddam regime.

How worried are you that Russia is now extending its influence throughout the region?

MCCAUL: This is a big power play. I think, look, the president has -- hasn't had a policy, a strategy, been a failed foreign policy. And I think that Russia's filling the vacuum now. It's a big geopolitical power grab. And we're seeing Iran now through the Shia militias in Iraq, we're seeing Iran in Syria, we know the Quds Force are in there, and the Russians are in there, and the Cubans are in there.

This is changing the whole geopolitical balance in the world right now. And I believe that, you know, we're losing. He's calling checkmate on us.

BLITZER: That's a pretty disturbing development. While I have you, Mr. Chairman, today in a hearing it was revealed there, what, there have been more than 300 cases of small scale cyber physical attacks against power grids here in the United States since 2011, and not one suspect from these attacks has been identified let alone arrested.

Why can't these suspects be tracked down?

MCCAUL: Well, they can be. An attribution can take place and we can tie it back to the actors, the problem that you saw at the hearing was we have no response. There's no proportionate response to these attacks. There's no responsibility. If you don't have consequences, bad behavior will continue. I have five teenagers and if there are not consequences to bad behavior, they're going to continue.

That's the same thing, I think what's happening with China, Russia, Iran, is carrying out cyber breaches. And there are no rules to the game here. It's not defined what cyber warfare really is at this point in time. And again the president met with the leader of China and I know they're talking but I haven't seen any response to the OPM breach whatsoever.

BLITZER: Mike McCaul is chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee.

Mr. Chairman, thanks for joining us.

MCCAUL: Thanks, Wolf.

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