CNN "The Situation Room" - Transcript: Possible Terrorist Attacks, The Iran Deal

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BLITZER: Barbara Starr reporting for us, thank you.

Joining us now, Senator Angus King. He's an independent senator from Maine, a leading member of the Armed Services and Intelligence Committee.

Senator, thanks very much for joining us. How vulnerable are these so-called soft targets like universities

here in the United States, especially since Al-Shabaab, as you well know, Al-Shabaab has actually threatened U.S. malls in the past?

SEN. ANGUS KING (I), MAINE: I think that's an issue, Wolf, for sure.

And combine it with other news today of the two women that were arrested in New York for plotting a bombing attack somewhere in the U.S., the so-called lone wolf, the people who have been radicalized over the Internet or through friends, something like that, and these women were connected apparently to AQAP, which is one of the most dangerous groups.

They are the ones that seem to be working on the most advanced bomb technology. You know, we have an open society, Wolf. We can't have a policeman by our side at every stop and every place we go. But I think the good news is that this plot in New York was in fact thwarted by our counterterrorism efforts. The bad news is, we don't know who else is headed in that direction.

BLITZER: But Al-Shabaab, do you believe they actually are interested in and actually capable of launching an attack here in the United States?

KING: Well, I think that would be a stretch for them.

It's hard to say whether they can do it indirectly through radicalization of people who are here or through connections they already have in the country. I think AQAP is frankly a greater danger in this country.

But what kind of people are these that divide people by their religion and just arbitrarily murder people? We haven't seen anything like that in the West for 500 years. It's shocking. And to do it in the name of some kind of God, there's no God I know of that would countenance anything like that.

[18:15:02] BLITZER: Yes. Don't forget, though, as I'm sure you won't, during the Holocaust, the Nazis took the Jews and slaughtered the Jews. They separated the Jews out from the Christians.

KING: That's right.

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BLITZER: And that was, what, only 70 years or so ago. That is part of history as well.

KING: Sure. Absolutely.

We are -- civilization isn't easy, Wolf. It takes a lot of work. And it has to go from generation to generation. And it can slip away mighty fast. So, we have just got to keep our guard up. It's a combination of intelligence, military and all the efforts. But we can't -- we can never breathe entirely freely, I don't think. But that's -- again, that's part of who we are as a free people.

BLITZER: Senator, I'm going to have you stand by. I want to talk about this framework for an Iran nuclear deal. We're getting lots of reactions, some positive, some negative. I want to get your reaction, what you are learning about it.

Much more with Senator Angus King right after this.

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[18:20:31] BLITZER: We're back with Senator Angus King of Maine. He's a member of the Armed Services and Intelligence committees.

Senator, President Obama says the Iran deal isn't based on trust; it's based on verification. He says, if Iran cheats, the world will know it.

You are on the Intelligence Committee. Will the world know it if Iran cheats?

KING: Well, it certainly looks that way from the agreement.

I think it went right to the heart of the agreement, Wolf. It's all about verification and inspections and international inspections and accessibility that goes on for quite some period of time. I frankly think the deal looks better to me than I expected.

There's some caveats there. Right -- one of the first principles is nothing is agreed until everything is agreed. And there's a lot of detail to be worked out in the next three months. But the limitations on getting rid of their enriched uranium, the limitations centrifuges, but, as you say, the heart of it really is the inspections.

And it's not a matter of anybody trusting or being naive. That's what's going to make it happen and that's what really is the heart of blocking Iran's path to a bomb. But it looks to me like they have taken these negotiations seriously. You have already seen the reaction there. They want to get rid of those sanctions.

But, also, Wolf, the sanctions don't go away until Iran performs. And the way I read it, the sanctions will snap back if Iran violates any part of the agreement. So, so far, what I see is, as I say, somewhat better than I expected. The duration, parts of it are 10 years, parts of it are 15. I think one part is actually 25 years.

And it's the framework for a deal. The other thing you have to ask is, OK, what's the alternative? If this isn't done, what happens then? And I think that makes this -- that focuses on what the real terms are here.

BLITZER: All right, you are clearly impressed by what you saw today. Here is a question. The role of Congress, the Senate, the House of Representatives, as you know, the president says he is going to go for a vote before the United Nations Security Council.

But White House officials say the only role that Congress will have -- you will be briefed obviously on it -- will be when you have to go ahead and ease the congressionally mandated sanctions.

Then you will have to vote on that. But he doesn't want to see this as a treaty, no two-thirds majorities, no real resolution, voting for it. What's your reaction to the really restricted, limited role that the Congress will have?

KING: Well, interestingly enough, the way you just stated it is essentially what the Corker bill is.

Bob Corker, the chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, has been working on a bill. I'm a co-sponsor. I think it has got 18 or 19 bipartisan co-sponsors. And what it focuses on is the congressionally mandated sanctions.

And you have got to remember, Wolf, we -- all this discussion acts like it's just us and Iran. The truth is, there are five other major countries involved in this. And it is their sanctions of places like India and China and Japan and Europe that have really bitten, as far as Iran is concerned, into their economy. And they are part of this deal, too.

And they have to be -- they have to go along as well. But the Corker bill talks about the congressional sanctions, not the entire deal. And I think that's important to remember. He is going to be having hearings on that bill in a week-and-a-half. And I think there's going to be a lot of discussion and debate.

My position, as I said, I'm a co-sponsor of the bill. But if I see this slipping toward pure partisanship and we're going to try to embarrass the president, I'm off the bill. And I have told Bob Corker that. If we can -- I think Congress should have a role, but it's a role that should be played responsibly and soberly, not based on politics and trying to make trouble for the administration. This is just too important for that nonsense.

BLITZER: All right, Senator Angus King, he's the independent senator from Maine. He caucuses with the Democrats.

Always good to have you here in THE SITUATION ROOM. Senator, thanks very much.

KING: Thank you, Wolf.

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