CNN "Wolf" - Transcript: Synagogue Attack and the Islamic State

Interview

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WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Back to our top story this hour, the brutal terror attack, the killing of four people, all rabbis, at a synagogue in Jerusalem, three of the victims, American citizens, one victim, a joint British-Israeli citizen, at the same time. Joining us now, California Democratic Congressman Adam Schiff. He's a member of the House Intelligence Committee.

Congressman, thanks very much for joining us.

The fact that three of the rabbis were dual American-Israeli citizens, one a British-Israeli citizen, is there any indication this is just by chance or was this a deliberate attack on westerners, if you will, Americans and British?

REP. ADAM SCHIFF (D), CALIFORNIA: I don't think we know yet whether this was just a target of opportunity, that they knew that there would be rabbis there and make good targets or that they knew there would be dual citizens there. In either case, it's a terrible escalation of the violence and a horrible tragedy. And what's most disturbing to me about this is to hear spokespeople for Hamas praising this and tweeting out pictures of the dead and injured in a gloating fashion. The whole world needs to condemn this act of violence. And, unfortunately, we see in Hamas reaction what Israel has to deal with, with a terrorist group like that.

BLITZER: So what does the U.S., what does the Obama administration do now? It's obviously an escalating, very, very tense situation, not only there in Jerusalem, elsewhere in Israel and the West Bank, but throughout the region. It looks to be exploding every place you look.

SCHIFF: Well, that's absolutely right. And this couldn't come at a worse time with the whole region literally up in flames. You know, I think the administration has to do what it is doing, which is, it has to condemn this unequivocally, this horrible act of violence, and talk about how this can never be condoned, there's never anything that can justify this. At the same time, the president has to appeal to responsible leadership among the Palestinian community to end provocative acts and also urge the Israeli government to, you know, work with restraint and not to continue this escalation. So it's a tough line to walk, but I think that's precisely what the administration needs to do.

BLITZER: Let's switch gears, talk about what's happening right now with ISIS. The latest ISIS video showing the beheading of another American hostage. President Obama now asking for an overall review of U.S. policy in dealing with these kinds of hostage situations, including taking a look at the military, family involvement. Do you think a hostage policy change is needed by the U.S. right now, specifically is it time for the U.S. to start paying ransom for the release of these hostages as some European countries do?

SCHIFF: No, Wolf, I don't think that would be wise for us to change policy and I'm not sure even that that facet of policy is being examined. I think it's the right policy. You know, certainly as a practical matter when it comes to, do we prosecute members of a hostage's families for trying to pay a ransom, I think we would never execute the -- exercise the prosecutor's rule (ph) discretion to do that. I just can't see ever bringing that kind of a case to court.

What I think is more likely to be the subject of review here is, how are we interacting with the families, what kind of efforts are we making to free hostages, is there anything more that can be done? And I certainly think in the area of coordinating our efforts and talking to the families of those who are hostages, there's a lot of improvement that can be made because I think a lot of those families feel very isolated, they feel very much in the dark. And within the confines of not releasing information that ultimately could harm their loved ones, I think we could do a better job in bringing them into our confidence about what we're doing to free their loved ones.

BLITZER: But you know - you remember, all of us remember, the U.S. was willing to engage in a prisoner exchange, releasing prisoners from Guantanamo Bay in exchange for Bowe Bergdahl, the American sergeant who was being held by the Taliban for several years. And at the time there was some serious criticism that this merely encourages the taking of American hostages, knowing they're going to get some of their own prisoners released in the process. What do you say about that?

SCHIFF: Well, look, I think there are a lot of fair questions, many of which I had also about the Bergdahl exchange. And I'm not sure that I would have made that same agreement were I in a position to make that decision. But there is a difference between doing a prisoner exchange where you have prisoners of war and they have prisoners of war. The Taliban, in this case, has every incentive not just to capture Americans but to kill them. So I don't think it changes the equation much for the Taliban. But when you're talking about paying ransoms to a terrorist organization that will use the money to fund other kidnappings and fund other acts of violence, I think that's a very different case. So I think the two are distinguishable, even though I think the Bergdahl exchange was highly problematic.

BLITZER: You wrote an article in "The Los Angeles Times" in which you said the president is acting outside the U.S. Constitution in regards to the current military operations against ISIS. You say this is a situation that has to be resolved by Congress and has to be done immediately this year. Go ahead and give us the gist of your message.

SCHIFF: Well, my message is that neither of the two prior authorizations to use force, either against al Qaeda or against Saddam Hussein in Iraq, neither of them apply to the current conflict. And because the clock that starts ticking when the War Power Act is invoked has already exceeded the time limit, now that means I think we are operating outside the Constitution in the sense that Congress has not authorized this use of force. And I think Congress shares much of that responsibility because there's nothing that prevented us from taking this up before the elections because combat was already underway, and there's certainly nothing preventing us except a lack of political will in taking it up right now. And I think that the Constitution requires us, it gives us the power alone to declare war, to take up this very important issue and either vote to authorize or vote not to authorize the president to go forward with further strikes.

BLITZER: Congressman Adam Schiff of the House Intelligence Committee, thanks very much for joining us.

SCHIFF: Thanks, Wolf.

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