CNN "Anderson Cooper 360 Degrees" - Transcript: Interview with Rep. Mike Sherrill
Interview
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Joining us right now is Democratic congresswoman and former navy helicopter pilot, Mikie Sherrill, who serves on the House Armed Services Committee.
Congresswoman, as I mentioned, you're a navy veteran. As a veteran, what is -- and as a member of Congress, what's your reaction to this attack tonight by Iran?
REP. MIKIE SHERRILL (D-NJ): Well, as a veteran, I think -- my first thoughts are really for the families. A lot of us have signed up in the past to go serve our country. We know that we might put ourselves in danger, but it's the families often that are sitting home, waiting for news from their loved ones, and right now, I just keep thinking of all of those families who are just waiting to hear from their service member.
COOPER: Are you confident that the Pentagon would have seen these attacks coming. That U.S. personnel equipment would have been protected in cases of something like that? I mean, I'm not sure what the hardened capabilities are on either of these bases.
SHERRILL: Well, we certainly weren't expecting an attack from Iran. And I know we were moving troops to try to protect them as best we could. And so, I know we've been very thoughtful about that.
I'm just hoping that we hear that there are no casualties. Certainly, you know, right now, seeing the number of missiles being shot at the bases there, you know, I have a great deal of concern, but I'm still very hopeful.
COOPER: The -- we've been talking about the fact that ballistic
missiles were fired from inside Iran, according to the Defense Department, as opposed to smaller scale rockets fired from Iranian proxies. What -- what do you believe should happen next, could happen next?
SHERRILL: Well, Anderson, that's why we in Congress have been saying we need all of the information that the administration has so we can help make good decisions for our country. As you know, we are the body from the constitution that declares war. I certainly want to make sure that we don't end up from this administration finding ourselves in another unending war.
We want to make sure that we're very thoughtful that cooler heads prevail and we don't simply see escalation after escalation after escalation, and we find ourselves in a situation that we didn't thoughtfully and strategically determine was in the best interests of our country.
COOPER: Congresswoman Sherrill, I appreciate your time. Thank you very much.
SHERRILL: Thanks, Anderson.
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