CNN "The Situation Room" - Transcript: Troops in Iraq and Iran Nuclear Program

Interview

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BLITZER: All right. Barbara Starr at the Pentagon, thanks very much.

Let's get some more now from Republican senator and presidential candidate Lindsey Graham of South Carolina. He's a key member of the Senate Armed Services Committee. He's also, by the way, author of a brand-new memoir, a very revealing e-book entitled "My Story." We'll talk about that story. It is an amazing story.

SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R-SC), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: And it's for free. So you can't -- it's not a bad deal.

BLITZER: You're not going to make a million dollars on the book. But it is a very revealing story. And I've known you for a long time. A lot of the stuff you review is brand-new to me and I'm sure to a lot of our viewers. We'll talk about that.

You just heard Barbara's report, that the defense secretary, the chairman of the joint chiefs saying they were ready to train 24,000 Iraqi troops. Seven thousand of them show up.

I'm told also, of those 7,000 that actually showed up to be trained, a lot of them, they just desert and run away as soon as they're trained. What's going on over here?

GRAHAM: I don't blame anybody for not joining us after we cut and ran on them. I mean, at the end of the day, people in Anbar province rose up against al Qaeda and Iraq with our help. The surge did work. We pulled out. The places collapsed, and nobody trusts America anymore. And there's no substitute for American leadership.

As for General Dempsey's statement about the Iraqi spine, you know, you're presiding over the collapse of the entire Mideast. You have no strategy. If this is what you're recommending to the president, shame on you. If the president has put you in this box where you can't do better, shame on him.

BLITZER: So it sounds to me you have little confidence in General Dempsey. [17:10:01] GRAHAM: I would fire everybody.

BLITZER: Including the chairman of the joint chiefs. He's retiring.

GRAHAM: General Dunford (ph) I met with today. And he says if we don't get control over this, there will be a tsunami of ISIL fighters throughout the region, coming here, Lebanon and Jordan, that the effect of the status quo continuing for another year is a tsunami of home-grown terrorists and fighters joining ISIL all over the world, because they're winning.

BLITZER: But if the Iraqis themselves don't have the will to fight ISIS, why should the U.S. go in there and fight ISIS?

GRAHAM: Well, we know what works. The surge did work.

BLITZER: But then the U.S. left. It collapsed.

GRAHAM: Guess what? I said if you leave too soon, it will collapse. Everybody who knew anything about Iraq told President Obama that if you leave too soon, this is a fragile moving in the right direction state. He was applauding Iraq in 2012.

But everybody, including me, said if you leave and pull all our troops out, the place will go to hell. He's got nobody to blame but himself, because he turned down sound military advice. General Dempsey, to his credit, recommended 10,000 troops to follow on.

BLITZER: You want 10,000 troops there now. There are about 3,500 either there already or on the way. You wanted to go up to 10,000.

GRAHAM: Yes, I want to -- I want to contain and eventually destroy this threat.

BLITZER: You think the U.S. could do that with 10,000 troops in Iraq?

GRAHAM: I think if you had -- if you had more American troops, it would help the Iraqi army fight, even take the fight to ISIL more effectively. It is in our national security interest to destroy these guys.

BLITZER: What about the other regional players, like the Saudis, the Emiratis...

GRAHAM: Absolutely.

BLITZER: Why aren't they -- they have an interest in defeating ISIS.

GRAHAM: They don't need to go into Iraq, because you're opening up a can of worms if you send the whole region into Iraq, but they're the key to Syria. If you don't look at Iraq and Syria as battle station making a mistake, you can never hold Iraq unless you deal with Syria. So the region should help create a force to go into Syria. You've got to look at it as one unit.

BLITZER: Here's what a lot of people are worried about right now. Haider al-Abadi, the new prime minister of Iraq, you know where he is this week.

GRAHAM: Iran.

BLITZER: He's meeting...

GRAHAM: That's where I would be if I were him.

BLITZER: He's meeting with Rouhani and the ayatollahs. And there's a lot of concern that Iran is emerging as the major strategic winner in Iraq, despite the U.S. effort over this past decade plus.

GRAHAM: I said, when we pulled out in 2011, the Iranians would be dancing in the street if they believed in dancing. Everything is predictable. Everything that's happening, people predicted. It's no surprise to me this is happening. Iran is clearly the biggest winner.

BLITZER: So is he a close ally of the Iranians right now, Haider al- Abadi? Like Nuri al-Maliki, his predecessor?.

GRAHAM: The only thing between Baghdad and ISIL is really the Shia militias. The Iraqi army is a sectarian army; it's disintegrated in terms of capability. The only effective fighting force on the ground is Shia militias controlled by Iran.

BLITZER: Senator, stand by. We've got more to talk about, including your new memoir. I want to talk about this Iran nuclear deal. I know you spoke out on that earlier today.

Much more with Lindsey Graham when we come back.

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[17:17:50] BLITZER: We're back with the Republican senator and presidential candidate Lindsey Graham of South Carolina.

You spoke out today on this proposed Iran nuclear deal. Are you there with the president?

GRAHAM: Well, I want a good deal. If he got a good deal, I'd be with him.

But Secretary Kerry -- Secretary Kerry called me today and tried to walk back the statement yesterday. He said that the possible military dimension of the Iranian nuclear program has to be disclosed to the international...

BLITZER: He said yesterday that you shouldn't be fixated on that. Time to move ahead.

GRAHAM: What he called me to say that that quote was taken out of context, that he's standing by the idea of this and non-negotiable part of the deal, to find out what they've done militarily. Because you don't know the past dimensions of it. You don't know what kind of program you have to control.

BLITZER: You're still open-minded? GRAHAM: Well, I hope it's a good deal, but it better be any time

there were inspections. That's for darn sure.

BLITZER: Let's talk about your new e-book, entitled "My Story." A very personal account of your life. A lot of stuff I didn't know about. You detail, for example, what it was like growing up in the segregated south, that African-Americans couldn't buy a beer. They could buy a beer in your parents' bar, but they couldn't actually drink it there. You were a little kid growing up seeing that.

GRAHAM: Yes, you know, I grew up. We had a liquor store, a bar, restaurant and a poolroom. I ran the poolroom later on.

But yes, back in the '60s, you know, it was a local bar. But African- Americans would come in and buy the beer and leave.

I never went to school with a black kid until I was in sixth, seventh, eighth grade. So, you know, times have changed for the better in South Carolina. We've got Temp Scott (ph) and Nikki Haley. So I've seen from the worst of times to better, we're not there yet, but we're moving in the right direction. I'm proud of my state.

BLITZER: And you also tell a very moving account. You were in college. You were in your 20s, early 20s. And all of a sudden, both of your parents within a relatively short period of time, they pass away. And you have a young sister who was, what, 12 or 13 years old?

GRAHAM: She was thirteen. My mom died in '76. My dad died in '77. Neither one of them finished high school. They were the greatest people. They loved us unconditionally. We lived in the back of the liquor store till I was in high school, all in one room.

But things were pretty good in '75. We went on a vacation to Disney World, which was just like going to the moon for us: a plane ride, going to Disney World. And a few months after that, my mom was diagnosed with Hodgkin's Disease, and she passed by June.

So I went from, like, the best of times to completely absolutely devastated in about 18 months. If it wasn't for my family, friends or faith -- and faith, I would not be sitting here today.

BLITZER: You helped raise your little sister.

GRAHAM: Yes, she was 13. And yes, we're close. More like -- real close. But I had an aunt and uncle help me. The story is life is fragile. We're all one car wreck away.

And what do people do without aunts and uncles? My family was very supportive. I went from a high to a low like you wouldn't believe. My we were wiped out. 15 months after my mom dies, my dad dies, my sister is 13. I felt really sorry for myself. I was very angry, but the more I've done in my live, the more I look back and say it's not what I've lost. It's what I had. I'm a lucky man, to thank my parents, a loving family, and so many friends who lent me money when I was broke. You know, that's the story of Lindsey Graham. BLITZER: You also tell us, for the first time about a love affair you

had with a Lufthansa flight attendant. If you were elected president, you would be the third bachelor. James Buchanan, Grover Cleveland got married. He came in as a bachelor, got married while he was president in the 1880s.

GRAHAM: Yes.

BLITZER: You would be the third.

GRAHAM: We're due.

BLITZER: What happened to that flight attendant?

GRAHAM: Well, she -- her mother was elderly in Vienna. I wanted to go back to South Carolina, and she wanted to stay in Vienna.

But that time in my life, you know, I was raising my sister. I had gotten through law school. The Air Force had stationed me in South Carolina so my sister could finish high school.

When she was in college, for the first time I had some time to myself. And I enjoyed being a prosecutor, traveling all over Europe. I met Sylvia, some other nice people, young ladies over there. That was probably the best time in my life.

But you know, at the end of the day, everybody's got a story. A lot of people have had it worse than I have. Check it out at LindseyGraham.com.

The one thing I've learned: life is fragile. You can be up here one day, down here the next, and if I get to be president, that will -- that will stick with me, I promise you.

BLITZER: You've got some excellent personal stories in here, and I recommend people read it. They'll learn a lot about you. I learned a lot about you, and as I've said, I've known you for a long time.

Senator, thanks very much for joining us. Good luck on the campaign trail.

GRAHAM: Thanks.

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