CNN "Erin Burnett Outfront" - Transcript: Syria
Interview
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And I want to bring in a person whose vote is going to matter a lot, Democratic Senator Joe Manchin. He sits on the Armed Services Committee, met with the president today.
And, Senator, did he say anything to you that moved the needle with regard to Syria?
SEN. JOE MANCHIN (D), WEST VIRGINIA: Well, not to move the needle for me with an imminent strike, or I could support an imminent strike. I just don't believe that's a direction we should be going right now, Erin.
But what he did say -- first of all, I applaud the president for coming to Congress and getting our input. I really do. I think it's the right move. I think he is listening. I don't think he or anybody else wants war or a strike if we can avoid it. With that being said, there was a better way. Myself and Heidi Heitkamp last week, we just couldn't buy that there was an imminent threat to the United States of America. And it didn't get to that level for us to vote for an imminent strike.
But yet, we wanted to have an answer. There had to be better way.
So, we said that should not, if chemical weapons is what's got us to the brink, Erin, should we find a way to secure those weapons and take them off the shelf, if you will? So they'll never be used on anybody again. And that's what we came one, with asking Assad, not asking but basically saying, you have 45 days to sign up with this resolution, that you will join the chemical weapon commission. Then if you don't, the president has the ability and basically, the law behind him to do what he has to do to protect the country.
BURNETT: You know, and it's interesting plan. It seems like, honestly, you know, Senator, of course, he is going along with a lot of your plan now that he's saying he would go along with getting rid of the chemical weapons. But the logistics of that, as you know, are so difficult.
MANCHIN: Sure.
BURNETT: Not only did John Kerry dismiss it as a joke yesterday. Now, obviously, he is more serious about it. But Bashar al Assad, when he spoke to Charlie Rose in an interview wouldn't even confirm whether Syria has chemical weapons. And now, of course, he says he'll hand them over.
So, I mean, you know, there's all these sites, six sites, so many unknown sites. I mean, this really -- doesn't this mean you have to trust Bashar al Assad and Vladimir Putin, and isn't that a bad position to be in?
MANCHIN: The position is to allow the experts, the Chemical Weapons Commission has experts. They have people. There is a sequence and chronological order that they'll have to go through.
We have done this, 191 countries have signed this Chemical Weapons Commission. That's all we're saying. It is already in place.
So, this puts them in, international really, light, if you will. Everyone is starting to pick hole and say this won't happen and that won't happen. What we know that wouldn't happen if there was a direct strike from the United States, I truly believe the reaction was much greater for us to take a risk than what the inaction would be right now. And I always have believed that we should be moving down a diplomatic course.
BURNETT: Are you worried, though, that this is going to fail because of Vladimir Putin? I mean, you know, obviously, right, he's talked about this. Look, we want to get rid of Syria's chemical weapons. We have Syria onboard.
MANCHIN: Sure.
BURNETT: But he's put this caveat in there that's crucial. We will only do this if the United States takes the military option 100 percent off the table.
Here is Vladimir Putin today.
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VLADIMIR PUTIN, RUSSIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): You can't really ask Syria or any other country to disarm unilaterally while military action against it is being contemplated.
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BURNETT: I mean, obviously, the United States will not agree to that, right?
MANCHIN: Well, we should not agree to that. That doesn't make sense. We're not asking to disarm unilaterally. Just get rid of the chemical weapons which 191 countries have said this they won't produce, they won't use and are destroying.
That's not unilateral disarmament. And I think that's -- first of all, Russia, Syria, or none of these players should be negotiating. It should be the Chemical Weapons Commission which is what we've identified, and we're hoping that's diplomacy that our country goes down. I think it will work.
BURNETT: One final question for you, Senator. Here's what Secretary of State John Kerry said today about the repercussions of actions in Syria. This goes to the heart of what the American people care about. Here he is.
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JOHN KERRY, SECRETARY OF STATE: We're not going into Syria. I don't see any route by which we slide into Syria. I don't see the slippery slope. People say you're going to get dragged in. I do not see that.
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BURNETT: He doesn't see it but a lot of people. Of course, boots on the ground, Senator Manchin. The Pentagon has said it would take 75,000 troops to secure Syria's chemical weapons stockpile if it went that way. Obviously, there's a civil war, 100,000 people have been killed.
MANCHIN: Erin, let me --
BURNETT: Can you guarantee there's not going to be boots on the ground?
MANCHIN: There is no guarantee.
And the bottom line is this, what we do know, what my constituents in West Virginia, common sense Americans can say, if money or military might would have changed the direction of that part of the world, we would have changed it by now. $1.6 trillion, we've spent, been there 12 years, lost thousands of lives. We don't want to go down this road again or even the appearance of going down the road again.
The other thing is, Erin, a super power is more than just super military might that you can use whenever you want to, to show the rest of the world how strong. It takes super resistance, super restraint, it takes super negotiating, super diplomacy, most importantly, super humanitarian aid when needed. That's what we're best at.
And I think, and I really truly think in the last 24 hours, we're moving in that direction. I'm very pleased. I wasn't comfortable last week and I know we had to have an option. Heidi Heitkamp wasn't comfortable. We worked together. We put something forward. We hope they improve on it and make it better then.
BURNETT: All right. Senator Manchin, thank you very much.
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