CNN "Erin Burnett Outfront" - Transcript: Sen. Maggie Hassan (D-NH) Discusses About The President's Claim That Four Embassies Were Targeted By General Soleimani

Interview

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BURNETT: All right. Kaitlan, thank you very much. Obviously, some crucial questions here. I want to go out front now to Democratic Senator Maggie Hassan, who sits on the Homeland Security Committee. Senator, I appreciate your time.

Were you aware that four embassies were being targeted by Iran and General Soleimani?

SEN. MAGGIE HASSAN (D-NH): Look, I was in the classified briefing and I'm just going to start by one; thanking you for having me on, two, reiterating that General Soleimani was an enemy of the United States, had American blood on his hands. I'm glad he's no longer on this earth to orchestrate attacks against Americans.

That being said, the briefing and now the lack of consistency from the administration just has been begging more questions than it is answering. We need to have additional briefings from the National Security team so that we can drill down on the intelligence. As you know, the briefing was interrupted well before we all got a chance to ask the questions that would have helped us ...

BURNETT: Yes, I do.

HASSAN: ... understand the full picture. And we need a strategy from this administration.

BURNETT: So did they tell you that there's four embassies or three embassies or two embassies or one embassy or anything about the plot? I mean, did you have any of this information or did you learn it from Fox News?

HASSAN: I have been very concerned. I'm not going to discuss details of what I heard in the classified briefing. But I am going to say that there has been this evolving contradictory set of stories which again speaks to not only the needs for us to have a full briefing, but it speaks to the importance of having a full-fledged discussion and debate about the War Powers Act.

BURNETT: And I'm sorry to keep pushing on this, but I'm sure it's really trying to understand.

HASSAN: Yes.

BURNETT: I know you can't share it, it was in a classified briefing, Senator. But you keep using the word contradictory.

HASSAN: Right.

BURNETT: So at least you're letting us know that there's something in here about what he's saying and what you heard that is inconsistent, just to make sure we understand.

HASSAN: That is, in fact, true. Yes. BURNETT: OK. All right. So with this being said, so he briefs - yes,

go ahead.

HASSAN: Yes. We were pushing for details that would have allowed us to assess whether we thought the threat was imminent, for instance. There is no question that Iran is a malevolent force that it has and its proxies have attacked and sponsored attacks on U.S. troops, and our allies, and Americans and our interests. And all of those things are true.

But when you are looking at whether the President was acting within his Article Two powers to go after an imminent threat to prevent our troops or whether this was rightly something that he needed to come to Congress about, so that we could be clear not only as members of Congress, but so that the American people can understand what the threat is and what the mission should be and whether we're going to have a sustained conflict, and what the strategy now is for preventing Iran from getting a nuclear weapon, deescalating.

BURNETT: OK. So in terms of - yes.

HASSAN: Yes, go ahead.

BURNETT: The nature, in terms of the nature of the threat itself, there's contradictory information from what you're saying and what he's now saying. There's also this issue which you just raised, Senator, about imminent and the reason this word matters for people who wonder why there's such an obsession about it is exactly what you say.

If something is imminent, the President has the authority to act without the approval of Congress in a potential act of war.

HASSAN: Right.

BURNETT: So that's why the word matters. Senator Chris Murphy tweeted today in part, "Either Fox News gets higher level briefings than Congress or, wait for it, there was no such imminent threat." Referring, of course, to the interview which I just played a portion of with Laura Ingraham where the President talked about the attack on four embassies. Do you feel confident that you've been given any information that proves imminence?

HASSAN: That would be what I would want to be able to go back to a second briefing about. There is no doubt that we can talk about Iran being a threat to the United States. It has been for years. It continues to be.

BURNETT: Right. But that's different than a specific attack with the imminent ...

HASSAN: But we need to understand what - that is exactly right and that is why this whole conversation is so important. And that is why it is so important for us to have a discussion in both chambers of Congress to make sure that we understand what the threat is that the administration sees, what its strategy is going forward. We all agree Iran is a malevolent actor, but we need to make sure we

have a strategy working with our allies to keep it from getting a nuclear bomb, to protect our U.S. troops, and our U.S. interest in the Middle East but all around the globe, and that's what we are not hearing from this administration and that concerns me greatly.

[19:10:08]

So The Wall Street Journal reports tonight, Senator, "Mr. Trump, after the strike," I'm reading from the paper, "told associates that he was under pressure to deal with General Soleimani from GOP senators he views as important supporters of his in his coming impeachment trial in the Senate, associates said."

Are you comfortable at this point saying that his decision to do this strike had something to do with impeachment or do you think that is a bridge too far?

HASSAN: I am concerned about what The Wall Street Journal reported, but I think that report and the question that is suggested in that report is precisely why the National Security team of this administration needs to come to Congress first to brief us with specificity on the intelligence that gave rise to their assessment that they told us that it wasn't imminent threat.

Although as you have pointed out, we are hearing contradictory accounts about that very issue. But it also speaks to why it is so important to fully include the American people in a discussion about a sustained conflict and a war against a foreign power. Our founders understood that if we were going to have a sustained war against a foreign power, that the American people needed to understand because it is their blood and treasure on the line there, and they need to be fully participating so they know what the mission is, and that would alleviate some of the concerns raised by The Wall Street Journal.

BURNETT: All right. Thank you very much, Senator Hassan. I appreciate your time on this Friday.

HASSAN: Thank you.

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