CNN "Wolf" - Transcript: Middle East

Interview

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BLITZER: -- stay on top of this story. The head of the U.S. intelligence -- the National Intelligence Agency

says that he hasn't yet -- he's not yet ready to rule out terror in this particular explosion, this crash. California Congressman Adam Schiff is joining us now from Capitol Hill. He's the ranking member of the House Intelligence Committee. Congressman, thanks very much for joining us. What are you hearing about this crash?

REP. ADAM SCHIFF (D), RANKING MEMBER, HOUSE INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE: Well, you know, I -- wolf, I was in the Sinai just a few months ago, and, obviously, we have seen a real escalation of the violence there. But the likelihood that I think this plane was shot down from the ground is probably remote. It's not impossible but given its altitude, it's probably remote.

I think it's more likely there was a problem on the aircraft, whether that was a structural problem with an aircraft that had problems in the past or whether that was a device planted, we don't know. And I think it'll still take some time to tell.

BLITZER: If it were, though, some sort of surface to air missile or a shoulder-fired missile, either the U.S. or the Israelis, who are really close nearby, not far from Sinai, they would be able to detect -- to detect that, right?

SCHIFF: You know, I think we would have a pretty good chance -- I'm not sure that it would be infallible, but we'd have a pretty good chance of seeing something like that happen or one of our allies would see something like that happening. But, again, I -- you know, I think that the likelihood that ISIS would have the kind of manpads (ph) necessary to reach an altitude like that I think is still improbable. But, at this point, I don't think our intelligence agencies are ready to rule anything out.

BLITZER: As you know, in recent years, Sinai has become really, really destructive, not just ISIS establishing a foothold there but other terror groups as well. So, when you say ISIS might not have the ability to launch this strike, other terror groups, whether Al Qaeda affiliate or Al Qaeda related, potentially, they can't be ruled out, could they?

SCHIFF: Well, that's certainly possible, Wolf. But I -- again, I think very improbable for any of these irradical isthmus (ph) groups in the region to be able to take down an aircraft at that kind of altitude.

[13:10:09] But you're absolutely right, it's become a real cesspool, in terms of militant activity and violence in the Sinai. You know, a lot of this is in the wake of the crackdown by the Egyptian government on the Muslim brotherhood which, I think, provided a lot of fuel for these terrorist organizations to really ramp up their operations.

So, increasingly, seeing a lot of problems there. We've had an active participation in the region, in the Sinai as a result of the peace accord with Egypt where we and others, European allies, to try to help monitor the peace along the border between Israel and Egypt. But now, given the violence, we've had to curtail a lot of the -- that participation.

BLITZER: All right, Congressman, don't go away. We have more to discuss. I want your take on what's going on in Syria right now with the U.S. beginning to deploy ground forces. At least about 50 U.S. special operations' forces in Syria right now. What's going on on that front, standby, the U.S. military involvement in that war.

Plus, on politics, President Obama mocks the Republicans presidential candidates for their complaints about the upcoming presidential debates. We'll have more details on what's going on on that front as well.

[13:11:25]

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[13:15:27] BLITZER: There is some confusion coming out of Russia today on the government's stance on the Syrian president, Bashar al Assad. A foreign ministry spokesman in Moscow says keeping Assad in power wasn't necessarily a matter of principle for Russia, but quickly tried to clear that up -- that statement up, saying it's up to the Syrian people to decide Bashar al Assad's fate.

Let's bring in our -- the Democratic Congressman Adam Schiff of California, our guest this hour. He's the ranking member of the House Intelligence Committee.

As you know there were talks last week, multilateral talks, with all sorts of countries, including Iran and Saudi Arabia, dealing with the future. Syria -- or Russia now calling for more talks next week in Moscow, bringing Syrian officials in there as well. Is there some sort of diplomatic end to this that you could see, congressman, that would remove Bashar al Assad from power despite the objections of Russia and Iran?

REP. ADAM SCHIFF (D-CA), RANKING MEMBER, HOUSE INTELLIGENCE CMTE.: Well, that's certainly the hope because I think as a practical matter, until Assad is gone, this civil war is going to churn on. There are just so many millions of Syrians who are never going to live under Bashar al Assad again. So I think his removal is necessary to end this and necessary to put an end to ISIS. I don't think Russia is ready yet. I don't think Iran is ready yet. But we're already a month into this Russian military intervention and we're not seeing a dramatic change on the battlefield yet. And I think the longer you see Russia and its resources being sucked in, and the same with Iran. The more they may start to look with favor on a transition away from Assad, but I don't think we're there yet.

BLITZER: We're hearing that U.S. and Russian aircraft successfully carried out what's being described as a communications test today to make sure that they avoid each other in these kinds of air strikes and accidentally don't knock off one of their respective aircraft. What can you tell us about this?

SCHIFF: Well, this is certainly in our interest and in the Russian's interest. We don't want to have a direct confrontation. It's already having this proxy confrontation in Syria. But to have an American plane shot down or a Russian one, or to have a plane hit by a cruise missile because we have no idea what the Russians are doing, that would set off potentially a very dangerous chain of events. So I think the communication is certainly an improvement from the beginning of the Russian military involvement where basically they gave us about an hour's notice and said, we're just going to do what we're going to do. We are still not prepared to completely de-conflict because we're not about to tell the Russians where the moderate opposition are because that turns out to be target number one for the Russian air force. But, nonetheless, I think the de-confliction is improving.

BLITZER: The president, as you know, last week authorized the deployment of fewer than 50 special operations forces on the ground in Syria. So does that really change this mission? Is it too little too late. What's your assessment?

SCHIFF: Well, my assessment is that the administration needs to do something because the battlefield now has been static for a long period of time. Certainly static in Iraq. And apart from the -- the small gains the Russians have made, pretty static in Syria as well. You know there's a -- I think a realistic question about how much 50 special operators can do even among the most capable operators in the world. They will certainly make the Kurdish forces and the air forces in the region more effective and to the degree they engage in more operations like we saw targeted against Abu Sayyaf to gain intelligence. It will also make the effort more effective. But it's unlikely, I think, in and of itself to move the needle very much. So we do have to keep an eye out to whether this is part of a continuing escalation. But I think the administration is responding both to the Russian assertiveness, as well as to the static nature of the battlefield.

BLITZER: And I just want to be precise. You agree -- you believe that the president should come to Congress and seek formal congressional authorization for this new phase in the war against ISIS?

SCHIFF: Well, absolutely. And I should say, not just for this new phase, but certainly the addition of these special operators makes it more imperative than ever because we're going to now have more pilots and more people in harm's way. But this is something Congress should have taken up over a year ago when this conflict began and our military participation began. I don't think it's supported by the two pre-existing authorizations to use force. The one against Saddam Hussein's Iraq, and the other in the wake of 9/11. And I think the administration is on very tenuous legal ground in relying on that as the basis for this and the -- the war that's been going on for the last year.

[13:20:04] BLITZER: Congressman Adam Schiff, thanks for joining us.

SCHIFF: Thanks, Wolf.

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