CNN "The Situation Room" - Transcript: Security Concerns at the 2014 Winter Olympics

Interview

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BLITZER: Let's dig a little bit deeper right now with Republican congressman, Michael McCaul, of Texas. He's the chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee. Congressman, thanks very much for coming in. You just come back from Russia. You say these are the most serious threats to an Olympic game you've ever seen. What's your deepest concern?

REP. MICHAEL MCCAUL, (R) HOMELAND SECURITY CHAIRMAN: A suicide bomber. I think the proximity to where the terrorists are in the northern caucuses and threats that we've seen come out of there already and most recently Zawahiri, the top al Qaeda leader basically joining these efforts, calling for attacks. And so, this thing is ratcheting up, not ratcheting down.

The perimeter of my judgment is very secure from a military standpoint. What I think is vulnerable are the soft targets outside the Olympic village which if they can hit those, it's still a victory for the terrorists.

BLITZER: Would you let your loved ones go to Sochi?

MCCAUL: Listen, I think there's a real security concern, but if we don't send our athletes and don't attend and support them, then we let the terrorists win. And I think that's the worst thing that could happen.

BLITZER: You think the Russians are up to the job of making sure that everyone is safe?

MCCAUL: I'd like to see better cooperation. I know that the diplomatic security services working with the FBI, Homeland Security, but quite honestly, intelligent sharing is not what it should be. Our military has lot of jamming (ph) devices for IEDs, weapons of choice for these terrorists. And I'd like to see better cooperation between us and the Russians, but I can tell you this. I know that President Putin is throwing every resource he has because there's so much at stake.

You know, the eyes of the world are going to be on these games. And these Chechen rebels know that and they want to make a political statement to the world against the Russians and that's what it at stake here.

BLITZER: And the fact that the athletes and their family members, other spectators, fans who are going are being told, you know what, maybe you shouldn't wear any American flags, anything suggesting you're an American. That's so sad to hear that, but that's a fundamental fact if you want to be safe, don't advertise you're an American citizen.

MCCAUL: Well, I do think that their beef is more with the Russians than the Americans, but -- you know, I would not, if I was over there and my loved ones, I would not go outside the ring of steel, if you will that Putin calls it, the ring of steel around the perimeter of the Olympics. I would stay within the Olympic village and not go outside.

BLITZER: And as far as precautionary measures, erring on the side of precaution, has the U.S. -- do you believe the U.S., the military, the security services, the intelligence community within limits of what Russia allows the U.S. to do, have they done everything to worry about that so-called worst case scenario?

MCCAUL: Yes. We have contingency plans. I went to the operation center in Sochi. That's manned by our officials. We do have carriers in the Black Sea that could respond in the event of attack, you know, an emergency response-like situation. But remember, this is Russia. It's a sovereign nation. They have a lot of nationalistic pride, and so the cooperation is probably not as good as it should be because the Russians feel that they have it under control and they don't need our help.

BLITZER: Congressman Michael McCaul, the chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee. Let's hope none of this happens and it's smooth sailing all the way through. Thanks very much for joining us.

MCCAUL: Thanks for having me. And I hope it's safe and successful.

BLITZER: Yes, we certainly do.

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