CNN "The Situation Room" - Transcript: Yemen; Iran Deal; Baltimore Protests
Interview
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BLITZER: All right. Jim Sciutto, thanks very much.
Let's get some more now. Joining us, Senator Lindsey Graham, Republican of South Carolina, a key member of the Senate armed services committee and also a potential 2016 presidential candidate. Senator, thanks very much for joining us.
SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R-SC), SENATE ARMED SERVICES COMMITTEE: Thank you.
BLITZER: What do you make of the Saudi decision to limit their involvement, right now go to another phase. Do you understand what their game plan is?
GRAHAM: No. Strange at best. I thought they were going to do this until the Houthis were repelled. What does it matter to us? The average American is probably wondering, "Well, what does this matter to us?"
Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula is a terrorist organization the planned the attack in Paris. They're probably the most lethal group in terms of wanting to attack us. They reside in Yemen. They're running wild and free. And it really does matter that Yemen is out of control, from our point of view.
So I don't understand what's going on in the Saudis. BLITZER: The U.S. is now deploying, sending into the region,
what, nine battleships led by an aircraft carrier battle group. There are going to be at least 6,000 to 10,000 U.S. sailors and marines there.
You know, it wasn't that long ago and I want to show our viewers on Iranian state television not that long ago, they showed these pictures. We'll show our viewers, of a U.S. aircraft carrier being blown up, supposedly, by Iranian forces. I don't know what their intention was, but it's clearly sort of ominous.
Look at this video. Watch this right now. There's the aircraft carrier. This is what they showed on Saudi -- on Iranian television. There you see a missile going in and knocking out that -- you see something like that and you see an aircraft carrier moving off the coast of Yemen right now to interdict or stop Iranian arms potentially from going in.
What do you say? Is that just bluster on their part?
GRAHAM: All I say is that I support President Obama beefing up our presence. If we need to strike inside of Yemen to deal with al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula to make sure they're not planning an attack against the United States, he certainly has my permission.
Letting the Iranians know that you're not going to resupply the Houthis is a move in the right direction.
So, at the end of the day, I do believe this is a smart move by the president to have a more beefed up naval presence.
BLITZER: What's the Iranian end game here? What do they want?
GRAHAM: Well, I don't know what the Iranian end game is other than just listen to what they tell you. I think they're trying to spread their influence throughout the region. They toppled four Arab capitals. It's clear to me that they want to spread their view of religion throughout the region and wreak havoc, Yemen, Syria.
I mean, you'll never fix the Mideast until you fix Syria. Syria is the cancer in the region. We have no strategy to take Assad down and no Arab army is going on the ground in Syria to deal with ISIL unless you take Assad down because he's a puppet of Iran.
I don't understand our strategy at all. Syria -- there is no game plan to deal with Syria. You don't fix Syria, you never fix Iraq.
BLITZER: I call it compartmentalization right now what's going on. On the one hand, Syria's potential for conflict between the U.S. and Iran off the coast of Yemen right now with these battleships or whatever. On the other hand, there's negotiations about to resume in Vienna, Austria, over this nuclear deal.
On the one hand, there's diplomacy, on the other hand, there's some tension. GRAHAM: Number one, what would they do with the money that you
gave them under the sanctions relief? Given their behavior, they're going to build a bigger war machine. Why would anybody in their right mind give the Iranians more cash given their behavior?
I think the strategy dealing with ISIL and Yemen and all this other stuff is just to get the hell out of town. Do the least amount as possible and pass this problem on to the next president. And the reason we're not going after Assad, who's the cancer in the Mideast, because we don't want to upset the Iranians regarding the negotiations.
This is so convoluted. I can't begin to explain it to people in South Carolina.
BLITZER: Do you think there's going to be deal -- a nuclear deal with Iran?
GRAHAM: Secretary Kerry is trying very hard to find a diplomatic solution. But why in the world would we deal with the Iranians, talking about their nuclear program while they're disrupting the whole region? Slow down and tell the Iranians, we're not going to give you any sanction relief until you change your behavior toward the region, the world, Israel and act more rational.
BLITZER: Well, they're not even linking that directly with the nuclear negotiations.
GRAHAM: But why? What would they do with the money? They're not going to build schools and hospitals. They're going to put it in their war machine.
BLITZER: On a totally different note, I want to give you a quick reaction. We've been showing our viewers what's going on in Baltimore right now.
GRAHAM: Yes.
BLITZER: These protests, the young man, African-American man, died in police custody, his neck was severed, his spinal cord was severed for some reason, we don't know how that happened, but he went into a coma and he eventually died. These are protests going on. His family there, his mother is covering her face crying the whole time.
You guys in South Carolina, you have the problems in North Charleston as well. So, you're familiar with this. It seems like there's almost a crisis every week going on.
GRAHAM: Yes, it sure does. I can understand why people would be protesting. I hope the local community will do what we did in Charleston -- act swiftly, make sure justice is done and take decisive action in the face of clear facts.
How this man died in police custody needs to be answered, not just for the people in Baltimore, but the whole nation. If the local authorities don't act promptly, then, you know, appeal to our higher authority. So, I understand why the protesters are upset. They should be.
BLITZER: And the Department of Justice is now investigating what's going on.
GRAHAM: They probably should, too.
BLITZER: In North Charleston, too, you think this is --
GRAHAM: Well, I think we're doing a good job. We charged the man with murder and let the legal process go forward. I don't think you can say to the people in North Charleston -- ignore this. I think they acted pretty swiftly and we'll see what happens in the legal system.
He's been charged and that's about all you can do.
BLITZER: Yes. I know you spent more than 30 years in the U.S. Air Force reserves, a lawyer there, familiar with all of these issues.
[18:50:03] Senator, thanks very much for coming in.
GRAHAM: Thanks so much.
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