CNN "Anderson Cooper 360 Degrees" - Transcript - Syrian Civil War

Interview

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COOPER: Yes, David Gergen, John King, thanks for being on, appreciate it.

New outrage tonight over what's happening in Syria. What you need to know about a brutal assault that's been raging for a week and what Senator John McCain saw in Syria on his visit. It's his first interview since leaving Syria.

Also ahead, an update on the newborn baby rescued alive from a sewage pipe in China. How the baby is doing and now what his mother is telling police.

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COOPER: Welcome back. Senator John McCain joins us shortly. It's his first interview since a brief but symbolically powerful visit inside Syria. He's the first U.S. senator to set foot in the country since the civil war there began.

He came back more convinced than ever that America should play a greater military role in support of the Syrian opposition. Others worry the wrong opposition forces might come out on top and that deeper American involvement could backfire. There are, of course, legitimate concerns.

Before you decide for yourself what's best, though, you ought to know what's at stake on a human scale, because Syria is not just a geopolitical puzzle for the world to solve. It's a place; it's home for 22 million people, many of whom who have been living and dying in terror for more than two years.

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COOPER: That's an air strike today on the city of Kusar (ph), a Syrian fighter jet bombing Syrians in Syria. They've been at it for more than a week with support from Hezbollah gunners who are siding with the Assad regime, pouring in artillery fire from all directions.

As always, the youngest pay heavily. These are the faces of that city, wounded child after wounded child. Even kids who escape physical injury are being punished to the breaking point.

The psychological states of children are terrible, this doctor says. Fear, terror, wetting themselves, loss of balance, hyperactivity. They'll either be wounded, he says, die, or go crazy.

And the people there, young and old, are trapped, same as the people of Homs were when the regime leveled it, same as the people who may have come under chemical attack, or the people in the suburbs of Damascus. This is the same terror and helplessness in cities and towns all across Syria.

More than 80,000 people killed so far, according to the U.N.

Today in Geneva, the U.N. Human Rights Commission condemned the siege of Kusar (ph). Monday, the European Union lifted the arms embargo on the Syrian opposition with Russia objecting to both moves, threatening to send sophisticated anti-aircraft missiles to the Assad regime, upping the ante in case the Obama administration decides to order air strikes or help set up a no-fly zone.

Senator McCain believes President Obama should be doing more. He notified the administration in advance of his trip. He says he was provided security for the visit by the State Department, as well as some opposition forces.

Senator McCain, former presidential candidate and senior senator from Arizona, joins us tonight.

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COOPER: You were the first U.S. senator to travel to Syria since this conflict began more than two years ago. What was it like, first of all, to be there?

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), ARIZONA: Well, it was a very moving experience to meet these fighters who have been struggling now for over two years, and they're very aware of the battlefield situation. And it's very disturb -- they're very disturbed about the traumatic influx of Hezbollah fighters, more Iranians and, of course, stepped up activities of Bashar Assad.

COOPER: Which rebel group or groups did you meet with and what specifically was their message to you?

MCCAIN: General Andress (ph), who as you know, is the overall commander of the Syrian resistance, was my escort, and I had a long meeting. They selected the people that we met with, which was a group of battalion commanders, who were fighting as far away as Aleppo and around Syria.

Their message was, to be frank with you, they do not understand. They do not understand why we won't help them.

COOPER: In terms of arming the rebels, though, as you know, one of the concerns, certainly, that the administration has, is that weapons will fall into the hands of terrorists or extremists who are there now. House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Rogers told Wolf Blitzer on Tuesday that, he said every flavor of terrorist is operating in Syria right now. You know there's the al-Nusra Front, one of the most well-known, probably well-equipped groups, is actually aligned with al Qaeda in Iraq. So how do you prevent weapons from falling into their hands?

MCCAIN: Well, by identifying those people who are on our side. General Andress (ph) has a very sizeable force. He has battalion commanders that he's in communications with.

Is it a perfect organization? Of course not, because they're fighting as an insurgency. No insurgencies are perfect.

There is a point that Congressman Rogers has, and that is every single day, more and more extremists flow in. Whether it be from Iraq, whether it be from Yemen, whether it be from Libya, they're flowing in all the time. These extremists. But they still do not make up a sizeable portion. For example, there's about 7,000 al- Nusra. There's about a hundred thousand who are fighting as we speak in Syria. So we can identify who these people are. We can help the right people.

Is there some risk involved? Absolutely. But is the status quo acceptable? Bashar Assad with the Russians' equipment and the Hezbollah leader announcing that they are all in? And, of course, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard on the ground, supplying them, not only supplying them, but training Syrians in Iran and sending them back. This is a terrible, unfair fight.

COOPER: There are a lot of people who watch this, as you know, and who say, "Look, this -- this seems like another Iraq. This seems like it could be a quagmire, another Afghanistan." To that you say what?

MCCAIN: No one that I know, including General Andress (ph) and his battalion commanders, are asking for American boots on the ground. In fact, they believe it would be counterproductive to do so.

Second of all, I think that you can look at a national security aspect of this. General Mattis (ph), head of our Central Command, once stated that the fall of Bashar Assad would be the greatest blow to the Iranians in 25 years.

And believe me, I just came from Yemen. The Iranians are meddling everywhere in the Middle East. They are doing a lot of mischief and are trying to destabilize other nations.

And finally, we went to -- everybody talks about Iraq and Afghanistan, and that's a legitimate concern. I'd also like them to consider that we went into Bosnia and we went to Kosovo, and we were able to, without too much difficulty, to be able to stop genocide in those places.

COOPER: Has being there -- has, you know, shaking these people's hands, looking them in the eye, being on Syrian soil, has it changed or intensified your feelings in any way?

MCCAIN: It's intensified. Because when you look at the faces of these people and hear their stories, so many of them have lost family members. So many of them have lost friends. This is a pretty bloody, bloody business that they've been in.

And, of course, it's been, as you might imagine, identified. Intensified. Because these are human beings that are trying to achieve the same thing that we have shed American blood and treasure here for well over 200 years.

COOPER: Finally, just on a lighter note, I know your trip was a surprise to a lot of people, your daughter included. On Twitter, she said, "Nothing quite like finding out on Twitter that my father secretly snuck into Syria and met with rebel leaders."

I think she even called you a bad ass, which for a child to call a parent that is a high compliment, indeed. You didn't even tell your own daughter?

MCCAIN: I think one of the-- one of the prerequisites of a trip like this is not to tell anyone, as you know. Because it just is -- being -- having it compromised -- look, I've seen a lot and done a lot, and I'm not so important. But, you know, there was a lot of men and women that worked for our country that helped out. And as well as Syrians that we would have put their safety in jeopardy if it had leaked out. And so I'm grateful for all of them.

And again, I would like to thank you for your coverage of this massacre and tragedy. And I believe that the United States can still intercede with our allies, and I think we can get rid of Bashar Assad and give these people a chance.

COOPER: Senator John McCain, I appreciate -- appreciate your time, and I'm glad you made it back OK.

MCCAIN: Thank you.

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