CNN "CNN Newsroom" - Transcript: Interview with Raja Krishnamoorthi

Interview

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BROWN: And back now to our breaking news out of North Korea. State media there says the country has successfully test fired new long range cruise missiles.

Let's bring in Democratic Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi of Illinois. He is on the House Intelligence Committee.

Congressman, thanks for joining us.

REP. RAJA KRISHNAMOORTHI (D-IL): Thank you.

BROWN: These tests apparently happened this weekend. How concerned are you after hearing about this?

KRISHNAMOORTHI: I'm concerned. I think, first of all, we have to verify that this actually happened. Secondly, I think that, as you know, these cruise missiles are different than ballistic missiles. The United Nations has put sanctions and we have worked with our partners with regard to trying to tamp down developments in the ballistic missile arena and now we have to do the same with the cruise missile program.

And then third, we're going to have to work with the Chinese government, which has maximum leverage with North Korea to do everything possible to first end this cruise missile program and stop with the provocative measures and then perhaps begin some type of talks, although we can't rush to, you know, have our leader meet with their beloved leader Kim Jong-un, similar to Donald Trump's overtures. It has to be very structured and there has to be concrete goals that have to be met before further developments.

BROWN: And so often as we know historically from North Korea, these tests are an attempt to send a message. And in this case, it happened over the anniversary, the 20th anniversary of the September 11th attacks. On that note, do you think America is safer today than it was in 2001?

KRISHNAMOORTHI: In some ways, yes. In other ways, probably not. And I think that with regard to counterterrorism, I think that our homeland is safer. However, as you know, we have new threats on the agenda, including domestic terrorism, which is a big concern for many of us. North Korea remains a big challenge for us, as well as other threat vectors. But this is something that we have to deal with in a concerted way and in a multilateral fashion as well.

BROWN: As a congressman on the Intelligence Committee, though, what is the national security threat that keeps you up at night, that worries you the most?

KRISHNAMOORTHI: Well, gosh, I think that, you know, certainly what's happening in East Asia is very worrisome. I think what happens with the Chinese communist government is very worrisome, especially them throwing their elbows around in the neighborhood, whether it's with regard to Taiwan or the South China Sea or India or whether it's their moves in Hong Kong. And now we see more volatility introduced to the situation when North Korea, you know, tests their cruise missiles and make these provocative moves that further destabilize the neighborhood. Those are the types of threats that really concern me quite a bit.

BROWN: And then you have, of course, Afghanistan. Intelligence officials are predicting that al Qaeda could reconstitute in Afghanistan in as little as 12 months. As someone who has seen the intelligence, how concerned are you about the potential of al Qaeda reemerging in Afghanistan?

KRISHNAMOORTHI: I'm very concerned. They've had long standing ties, al Qaeda and the Taliban, and although the Taliban says that they're not going to allow al Qaeda to find safe haven there, at least use it as a base to launch attacks against the United States, I think we have to see because, you know, they've been known to lie in the past. And quite frankly, them naming this Mr. Haqqani who's a known terrorist as their minister of the interior, in this interim Taliban governor is a bad sign. And we have got to not just watch what they say but see what they do and hold them to their actions.

[18:25:01]

BROWN: You've been critical of the U.S. handling of the exit in Afghanistan. And I want to play a clip of President Biden defending the exit once again yesterday. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Seventy percent of the American people think it was time to get out of Afghanistan spending all that money, but the flip of it is they didn't like the way we for out. But it's hard to explain to anybody how else could you get out. For example, if we were in Tajikistan, we pulled up a C-130, and said we're not going to let, you know, anybody who was involved with being sympathetic to us to get in the plane, you'd have people hanging on the wheel well. No.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: So do you agree that the chaos we saw in Kabul was inevitable as the president was trying to argue there?

KRISHNAMOORTHI: I respectfully disagree. I think that the biggest question that folks like myself and others have is, you know, we knew about at least 20,000 special immigrant visa applicants for months. It's not a year since Donald Trump announced that we were going to be withdrawing from Afghanistan.

I agree 100 percent with Joe Biden that the American people want us to withdraw our military presence from Afghanistan. But the manner in which we withdrew and then brought our Afghan allies along matters. Those 20,000 SIV applicants along with their dependents could have been evacuated much sooner. And quite frankly, we have a lot of people still in Afghanistan that we're trying to get out, including vulnerable populations.

My office alone is trying to track the cases of 198 individuals that are still in Afghanistan and for whom we have not received information from U.S. CIS, the State Department or other authorities. And so I think that is a big problem for a lot of us right now.

BROWN: And you say these individuals, are they Afghan allies, U.S. citizens? Can you give us any more information? KRISHNAMOORTHI: Well, it's mainly going to be Afghan nationals. It's

going to be people who are in vulnerable populations, some SIV applicants. I was able to get three SIV applicants out of the country, thankfully, but that's just not enough. I've got 198 other people that I'm responsible for at least trying to get them out. And, you know, we do still have leverage here and we've got to use that leverage to get these people out expeditiously along with accomplishing our other goals, which is making sure Afghanistan does not become a safe haven for terrorists and that we make sure that we do everything possible to also try to guard the rights of women and girls, vulnerable populations like LGBTQ folks as well as the media.

BROWN: All right, Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi, thank you for joining us tonight.

KRISHNAMOORTHI: Thank you so much.

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