CNN "The Lead" - TRANSCRIPT Rep. Michael McCaul, (R-TX), Is Interviewed About Ukraine, Withdrawal From Afghanistan, CHIPS Act, George Santos; Rep. George Santos Tapped To Serve On Small Business & Science CMTEs; McCarthy: FBI Briefing Convinced Me Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell Doesn't Belong On Intel Cmte; Murder Warrant Issued For Brian Walshe In Death Of His Wife, Ana; Six Dead, Including Infant, In Cartel Or Gang-Related Shooting; Indiana Man Arrested After Child Seen On TV Playing With Gun; Dallas Cowboys' Kicker Misses Four Straight Extra Points. Aired 5-6p ET

Interview

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Joining us now in studio is Republican Congressman Mike McCaul of Texas. He's the Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

Mr. Chairman, good to see you. Thanks so much.

REP. MICHAEL MCCAUL (R-TX), CHAIRMAN, FOREIGN AFFAIRS COMMITTEE: Thanks, Jake.

TAPPER: Congratulations on the new post.

MCCAUL: Thank you.

TAPPER: So Ukraine has received generous support from the U.S. under the Democratic controlled Congress. Now, of course, Congress has now under Republican control. Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, who seems to have Kevin McCarthy's ear, she suggested there -- that the US shouldn't be funding Ukraine at all. She has a group of like-minded Republicans who feel that way. Can Ukrainians count on the Republican Congress to keep funding the Ukrainian military so they can defeat Russia?

MCCAUL: No, the answer is yes. I think what she wants and others is oversight, accountability, where's the money going to? They'd like to see audits. You know, right now, we have Deloitte and three inspector general's looking at the funding going into Ukraine. But the fact is, we cannot give up this fight.

You see what's at stake here. The war crimes that are taking place, as we speak, are horrific. And I intend to call the inspector -- prosecutor general, to testify before my committee about these war crimes. Because when the American people see this, it moves the dial on public opinion.

TAPPER: And maybe you heard or maybe you didn't, but the Danish prime minister was on the show a few minutes ago. And he said, you know, Putin is not going to stop in Kyiv. Like if Russia is not defeated in Ukraine, he will go into other European countries, including potentially even NATO member countries. Do you agree with that?

MCCAUL: I do. And I just met with the prime minister of the Netherlands as well. I'm pleased to see that they're going to send a Patriot battery to Ukraine, but they need more. You know, Jake, every time we give them what they need, they win, the counter offensive. What do they need right now? They need the longer range artillery, they can hit the Iranian drones in Crimea. They're causing all this havoc, all this damage.

They cannot reach those Iranian drones and Crimea. And with Putin changing generals out now, right, not to wait out the winter but to go on the offensive in the winter. We know they're going to come the supply line to the south through Crimea north. Those attack hymns are so important. I've stressed this to Secretary Austin, General Milley, Secretary Blinken, I think agrees with me in this assessment, and it's time that we get that done.

TAPPER: Let's change topics because last week, you requested documents from the State Department for your committee's investigation into the withdrawal from Afghanistan under President Biden. I'm just wondering, just in terms of your investigation, is the deal that Pompeo and Trump that they cut with the Taliban, which the Biden administration points to as part of the reason why they withdrew as they did. Is that going to be part of the investigation?

MCCAUL: I mean, sure, we're going to look at all ties between the Taliban, the United States government. But you know, I set this 10 page letter, very comprehensive asking for documents that I asked State Department prior to this Congress when we did an investigation, State Department did not comply with that. I want to know about the dissenting cable from the U.S. Embassy. Why did 23 employees dissent from the policy the United States? I want to know why they turned over the evacuation in HKI (ph) Airport to the Taliban that led to the suicide bomber killing 13 servicemen and women.

I wonder why they gave up Bagram Air Base. Why did they defy the intelligence community and the generals out there saying it was going to fall really fast? And also, maybe we should have kept a residual force. There's so many unanswered questions, Jake. And who deserves this is the veterans and the Gold Star Mothers. That's why we're doing this for them.

TAPPER: You were in the meeting, as you noted, with the Dutch president, I'm sorry, the Dutch Prime Minister, Mark Rutte, and President Biden today. Biden was urging the Netherlands to support new U.S. restrictions on Chinese chip making technology. This is obviously a big issue. The CHIP Act was a big bipartisan push in the last Congress. Did the Prime Minister seem receptive to that act?

MCCAUL: Very.

TAPPER: Yes?

MCCAUL: This is great news. I know that the Japanese mirror in semiconductor, the tools to make the semiconductor advanced, we have them. Taiwan has them, Japan and the Netherlands, right? So if we curtail our sale of these machines or tools, we have to make sure that Japan does the same and the Netherlands. I introduced the CHIPS for America act, proud to say got passed, but it won't do any good if we can still send this stuff into China.

Now, the good news is the prime minister of Netherlands is very receptive right on board with Japanese that I talked to. And I think this is actually going to go forward. And to your point, if you want to look for some bipartisanship in this partisan town, I think you're going to find it on these issues related to China.

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TAPPER: Last question for you, just because so many of your Republican House colleagues have called for George Santos, the congressman who, I'm not sure if he's told the truth about anything at all, in his entire resume. People have been calling for him to resign whether newly elected Congressman Max Miller from Ohio, to so many members of the New York Republican delegation.

Former Speaker Paul Ryan was here a few days ago and said that Santos was a fraudulent candidacy. It wasn't just embellished, it was fraudulent. What do you think? Should he resign?

MCCAUL: Yes, we have an Ethics Committee. I served on that for three terms. He will not be assigned to that committee, I can assure you. But we have a process, right? He'll go through Ethics.

I worked at Public Integrity Department of Justice. It looks like there are things now that may get referred to DOJ, I don't know for sure. But he's going to undergo this review and investigation through Ethics and the Department of Justice, and they will do their job.

I don't personally like a candidate. I don't know how to get through the process. Being such an imposter. I don't know why his opponent didn't bring this out in the election or quite frankly, why he wasn't screened as a candidate better than he was.

He never should be in Congress with that kind of reputation. But I know our Ethics Committee and Department of Justice will deal with us.

TAPPER: The new chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Congressman Mike McCaul from the great state of Texas, thanks for being here. Good to see you --

MCCAUL: Thank you.

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