CNN "Erin Burnett OutFront"- Transcript: Interview with Congressman Ed Royce of California and Congressman Andre Carson of Indiana

Interview

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ERIN BURNETT, CNN HOST: And OUTFRONT now, Congressman Ed Royce, Republican chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, and Democratic Congressman Andre Carson on the House Intelligence Committee.

Good to have both of you with us.

Congressman Carson, let me start with you on this news that the president just made, that he will not make this deal contingent on Iran recognizing Israel's right to exist. This is very, very basic thing and obviously relevant to the deal, right? If Iran recognizes Israel's right to exist, then it's essentially saying they are not going to try to destroy it.

Why wouldn't the president -- why would the president not do that? That doesn't make sense, does it?

REP. ANDRE CARSON (D-IN), INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE: Well, I think the president is wise in this regard. It's no secret, without a doubt, that America stands with Israel. We support Israel's right to exist and Israel is an important and critical ally in the region.

What is more important is that Iran does not obtain a nuclear weapon and I think this deal keeps our country safe, it keeps our allies safe, and it keeps the region safe.

BURNETT: Representative Royce, what do you say to that? I mean, the president says, look, I don't have to put this right to exist thing in here because I know it's going to blow the whole deal up, because Iran doesn't want any parts of it, but this is a once in a lifetime opportunity and I don't trust Iran but I'm going to verify, my inspectors are going to go in, go ahead and pass this deal.

REP. ED ROYCE (R-CA), CHAIRMAN, FOREIGN AFFAIRS COMMITTEE: Well, as the head of the military in Iran said, head of the Basij, he said the destruction of Israel is nonnegotiable in this deal. Israel will be destroyed.

And the message from the supreme leader a week ago was death to America. He has told -- he has told the Iranian military, I want you to mass produce ICBMs and they are less than a year away from having the capability with these ICBMs.

Now, the question is, will -- will the inspectors be able to go in and actually inspect these sites, especially the military sites? Because, remember, the ayatollah has sided with the military here and, so far, Iran has cheated the IAEA on the ability to get those answers in terms of it is nuclear bomb work and to get access to places like Fordow. And the reason Fordow exists is because they cheated. They made a military site on a military base.

And so, this is going to be the question. And this is why Congress is interested in what's in this deal.

MADDOW: Now, I know, look, they say they are going to get access to Fordow. They're going to get access to Parchin, these sites that you're referring to.

But, Representative Carson, Representative Royce raises a key point, which is, this all started from a baseline of the United States saying Iran could not have a nuclear program at all. And now, all of a sudden, they get to keep their research and development, keep their centrifuges, don't have to destroy anything.

I mean, here is President Obama when he was running for re-election in 2012.

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OBAMA: The deal we'll accept is they end their nuclear program. It's very straightforward.

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BURNETT: Congressman Carson, does it give you pause in supporting him that he has done such an about-face?

CARSON: Well, I think -- I think under the current proposal, Iran has agreed to cut their centrifuges from just over 11,000 to around 6,000, which is roughly two-thirds in many ways, or at least half. And so, I think that's a step in the right direction.

What I'm comforted by is that the IAEA will be allowed to do regular inspections without intervention and what is critical and for people to understand is that the current sanctions that are in place, Erin, from terrorism sanctions that are in place, to the human rights abuses sanctions and ballistic missile sanctions that are in place will not be impeded or will be interrupted. So, that's critical for folks to know.

And once this deal, if it is a solidified, once it progresses, the other sanctions that are in place will be ultimately phased out during a series of seasons, if you will.

[19:35:01] But the other sanctions, terrorism, human rights abuses and ballistic missiles will stay in place.

BURNETT: All right. That's a fair point. They get some of those key banking paths to open up.

CARSON: Absolutely.

BURNETT: But Congressman Royce, are you sold at all by the issue -- you know, I was talking to the head of the IAEA on Friday and he said there's a couple sites, they can't get into all. Under the deal, they'll be able to get into all of the sites, he says, if it's observed and he also said, now, they have to give 24 hours notice and now they will only have to give two hours notice. He seemed to think that was enough, that was enough for just a sudden visit, the U.S. could just show up, Iran wouldn't be able to hide stuff in that amount of time.

Does that optimism convince you? I mean, this is a guy after all who said, look, Iran has been lying to us for years and years and years. And now, he's optimistic.

ROYCE: Well, remember, we went through this with North Korea. I remember the North Korean trade framework agreement and I remember the way the North Koreans cheated, and the upshot was we found out that because we didn't have anytime/anywhere inspections -- and let me explain, we don't have anywhere/anytime inspections. We run these by the Iranians and then they decide whether they're going to let us in.

And remember, the military has a real say with this. They are the ones with a real connection with the ayatollah, who ultimately decides. If the ayatollah decides to hold us up from getting inspectors in or if the ayatollah decides to open up new sites, like they did with Fordow, on other military bases, remember, they are saying, we don't want you to be able to come in and just do snap inspections everywhere.

So, we could find ourselves in the same situation as we found with North Korea, where we find out they've got a dual program, plutonium and enriched uranium, and all of a sudden, here's the bomb, here's the deliverable capability with the ICBMs and it's too late.

This is why most of us favored more pressure, 265 members of Congress two weeks ago sent a letter to the president, laying out all of these points. We have passed a bill 400-20, which I had authored, to put more pressure -- more pressure on Iran in order to get the concessions -- the real concessions that we need in this agreement. And this is why so many members of Congress are concerned at this moment on both sides of the aisle.

BURNETT: And as you heard Jim Acosta tell our viewers, it looks like they may have a veto proof majority to shoot it down. Thanks very much to Congressman Carson and Congressman Royce.

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