CNN "CNN Newsroom" - Transcript: Interview with Sen. John Barrasso

Interview

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[09:15:00] HARLOW: All right, show us the plan. Republican Senator Lindsey Graham says he's not worried about the president's decision to pull back on that almost attack on Iran, but he says we need a plan moving forward. Graham tells CNN's Manu Raju, quote, "we're working on one", and quote, "we'll see if they adopt it."

Well, Republican Senator John Barrasso joins me now, he sits on the Foreign Relations Committee; he's also the chair of the Senate Republican Conference. It is so important to have your voice on all --

SEN. JOHN BARRASSO (R-WY): Thank you --

HARLOW: Of this, this morning, senator, I appreciate you being here. So, let me ask you about the president this week in a new interview. He said he appreciates the input from Congress, but essential he doesn't need the approval of Congress if he were to strike Iran. Do you agree with that?

BARRASSO: Well, I agree. I think under the More Powers Act, the president has that authority, but I think the president has also shown he wants to continue with maximum pressure without military action, and he's done that by increasing the cyber attacks. He's done that with increasing the sanctions against individuals, and we've seen it with the sanctions on oil as well as the sanctions on metals and petrol chemicals. The pressure continues to be ramped up.

HARLOW: Are you comfortable with this president or any president launching an attack on Iran without consulting Congress first?

BARRASSO: Well, I think any president would have that authority under the War Powers Act, especially if we are attacked. We know that Iran has had 40 years of bad behavior, it needs to stop because the threats are increasing with their desire for nuclear weapons, their increased ballistic missiles, their increased funding of terrorism.

It is time for them to change their behavior, and the president is taking the right approach.

HARLOW: Foreign Minister Zarif just said Iran will never pursue a nuclear weapon. This was just in the last five minutes. Do you believe that? Should the U.S. believe that?

BARRASSO: No, we shouldn't believe that. Don't listen to what they say, watch what they do. And what they have been doing has continued to be pursuing a nuclear weapon. It has been a stated goal through the years, but Iran with a nuclear weapon makes the world --

HARLOW: So if --

BARRASSO: Makes the world less safe and less secure and less stable. We cannot allow that to happen.

HARLOW: So if the U.S. should not believe that and not believe what they say, then what is your response to National Security adviser John Bolton who just this morning said, quote, "the combination of sanctions and other pressure will bring Iran to the table".

If we shouldn't believe what Iran says, then what good is this diplomacy, right? John Bolton saying we're opening the door to diplomacy, let's see if they walk through it. But it sounds to me like you're saying, senator, you can't believe a word the Iranian regime says.

BARRASSO: Well, the old trust but verify. We need to make sure that they're not developing a nuclear weapon. We know in the past they had hidden sites where they were working to develop and use the centrifuges --

HARLOW: Right --

BARRASSO: To develop a nuclear weapon. We know what their ballistic capacity is. So we're going to continue to pursue economic pressure --

HARLOW: Yes --

BARRASSO: Cyber pressure. But my goal is as the president's is to not do this in a military way, but --

[09:20:00] HARLOW: Right -- BARRASSO: To get them to change their behavior through other

pressures. And we know their economy is suffering, we know that the screws had been tightened. There's -- their economy in many ways is on life support. They are now not able to fund some of the terrorist activities because they're feeling the pinch at home, and it's because of the sanctions from the United States that had made --

HARLOW: Right --

BARRASSO: That possible.

HARLOW: For example, do sanctions against Foreign Minister Zarif, as we heard Treasury Secretary Mnuchin talking about this week. Do those make sense, right? Because what the U.S. is doing there essentially makes it harder for them to come to the U.S., come to the U.N., to sit down for negotiations, et cetera. Are those the most effective sanctions?

BARRASSO: The most effective sanctions are the ones that are really hitting the economy the hardest which have to do with the specifics of oil. And I think the president has a wonderful opportunity this weekend as he heads to the G-20 meeting, as he meet with leaders from around the world including the leaders from China to say we need to have peace and stability in that portion of the world --

HARLOW: Yes --

BARRASSO: And let's all weigh in and work --

HARLOW: Wow --

BARRASSO: Together collaboratively to make sure that Iran stops its bad behavior.

HARLOW: We know China is Iran's largest trading partner, so, yes, the U.S. needs Xi Jinping onboard with this. Let's see what can come off that conversation at the G-20 between the president and President Xi. Listen to your fellow Republican Senator Tom Cotton who was very hawkish on Iran. Here's what he told Chris Wallace on "Fox News" Sunday.

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SEN. TOM COTTON (R-AR): I think retaliatory strikes are warranted when we're talking about foreign vessels on the high seas. I think they're warranted against an American unmanned aircraft. What I see is Iran steadily marching up the escalation chain. It started out with threats, they went to attack on vessels in ports, they went to attack on vessels at sea and now it's an unmanned American aircraft.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: Are retaliatory strikes warranted right now?

BARRASSO: Well, I think the president has shown leadership of strength by raising the efforts in terms of the cyber attacks on their missile capacities, and specifically --

HARLOW: But senator, and --

BARRASSO: Their missiles. So, that to me is -- go ahead --

HARLOW: But what about retaliatory strikes, and are you supportive as Senator Tom Cotton is of military action, retaliatory strikes for Iran taking down that drone?

BARRASSO: Well, I'm saying that you don't have to have a military attack --

HARLOW: OK --

BARRASSO: To up the -- to up the ante in terms of additional pressure on Iran. I want political pressure, I want economic --

HARLOW: Yes --

BARRASSO: Pressure, I want diplomatic pressure, all of those things before you would ever go to a --

HARLOW: Right --

BARRASSO: Military action.

HARLOW: OK, so, that's a no for now on that. Finally, let me --

BARRASSO: Yes --

HARLOW: Ask you about Jamal Khashoggi; the journalist who was murdered as you know at the hands of this -- of the Saudi regime. You have been very forceful of this, you walked out of a briefing a few months ago from the Trump administration on his murder, saying I'm not happy with the results. The president was asked in an interview this week whether or not he spoke to the Crown Prince about the murder on this phone call.

And he did not. And then there was this exchange in the "NBC" interview.

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CHUCK TODD, MODERATOR, MEET THE PRESS: The United Nations said they'd like the United States to order the FBI to investigate Jamal Khashoggi's death and possibly MBS' --

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Well, I think it's --

TODD: Involvement in it.

TRUMP: I think it's --

TODD: Will you allow the FBI to do that?

TRUMP: I think it's been heavily investigated -- TODD: By who?

TRUMP: By everybody. I mean, I've seen --

TODD: By the FBI?

TRUMP: I've seen so many different reports.

TODD: What about the FBI?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: Senator, do you think it would be helpful for the FBI to investigate the murder of Jamal Khashoggi?

BARRASSO: I'm not sure that, that would tell us anymore, but you know, this did come up in the Foreign Relations Committee just last week in the hearings for the president's nominee Kelly Craft to be the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations.

People on both sides of the aisle continue to be very concerned about what happened there in that murder, and we cannot let it rest.

HARLOW: So, you -- I mean, it sounds like you want more answers. So to the extent of the FBI could help with that, you don't oppose it?

BARRASSO: I don't oppose it. I don't know that it adds anything. I've had all the -- I've seen the evidence, and I'm convinced of what is happening.

HARLOW: Senator John Barrasso, I really appreciate your voice on all of it this morning. Thank you so much.

BARRASSO: Thank you, Poppy.

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