CNN "The Lead with Jake Tapper" - Transcript: Interview with Ro Khanna

Interview

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TAPPER: All right, Sam Kiley in Doha, Qatar, thank you so much.

Joining us now to discuss, Democratic Congressman Ro Khanna whose California District is home to one of the largest Afghan American populations in the U.S. He's also on the House Armed Services Committee.

Congressman Khanna, thanks so much for joining us.

So, I do want to get your reaction to this news that the Taliban has named four former Gitmo detainees to senior leadership positions in the Afghan government. These are individuals freed by President Obama in exchange for Bowe Bergdahl.

REP. RO KHANNA (D-CA), ARMED SERVICES COMMITTEE: Well, it's deeply concerning. It shows that you can't trust the Taliban to have human rights. I still believe, though, we need it to withdraw because it was an ugly civil war.

[17:05:03]

And Anand Gopal has a brilliant piece in "The New Yorker" saying that women and children were being killed in rural Afghanistan, many who wanted an end to the war. So the decision to end the war was right, but we should be clear eyed about what the Taliban is.

TAPPER: Yes, it's a very powerful, very powerful piece about why women in the countryside, 70 percent of the population of Afghanistan is in the countryside, why they turned against the U.S., turned against the Afghan government.

There are at least 100 American citizens right now remaining stuck in Afghanistan, they're trying to get out. Today, Secretary of State Tony Blinken insisted he's doing everything he can to help rescue any American who wants to leave, in addition to legal permanent residents and Afghan allies. Take a listen.

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BLINKEN: We're working with NGOs, with advocates, with lawmakers around the clock to help coordinate their efforts and offer guidance where we can.

We made clear to the Taliban that these charters need to be able to depart. And we continue every day, virtually every hour to work on that.

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TAPPER: Was that good enough for you?

KHANNA: Well, Jake, first of all, there are American citizens. I know we have cases with American citizens still there, we have 600 requests that we're still working on.

Here's what I know --

TAPPER: All from American citizens?

KHANNA: Not all. About a dozen from American citizens. And so, there's still many of them who can't get out. And the idea that they don't want to leave is not true. We have cases of people who want to leave and are unable to leave, who were beaten getting to the airport.

And here's what I don't understand on the documentation. When we evacuated people after Vietnam, we took them to Guam and then we worried about the paperwork. Why are we doing that -- are not doing the same thing now? Why are we worried about so much of the paperwork? Get them the documentation, take them to a different site, and then we can worry about resettlement, but no one should be stuck there because they don't have the proper documentation.

TAPPER: Well, who's objecting to the documentation? Is it the Taliban? Or is it the Department of State?

KHANNA: One, there's no clarity. I mean, when you hear Senator Blumenthal, he's saying, well, the State Department is slow in getting the documents, some of the children don't have the documents. The Secretary saying it's the Taliban. Well, we need clarity. Is -- does everyone have the documents? Is that the burden?

Because if that's the burden, why aren't we doing what we did after Vietnam, taking them to a separate place, and then worrying about the resettlement? Let's not get caught up in bureaucracy. And then if the Taliban isn't allowing this, what is our leverage? People have said, we have this leverage on the Taliban. Well, why aren't we using that leverage to say, let the charter flights out? I mean, that's the most basic thing, rescuing the Americans.

TAPPER: Well, that's just it. I don't understand why the United States is acting as though we're powerless here. Unless, of course, we are.

KHANNA: Well, we're not. I mean, you know, Boris Johnson says, we have diplomatic, economic military pressure. Jake Sullivan says that. So let's use that pressure.

I mean, the Taliban needs -- they want to be recognized. They want aid, then this is the time to use it. The most basic thing, the fundamental thing is we've got to rescue Americans and American families.

And if they're not letting American sitting on an airplane fly out, I mean, how are we not saying you must do that, or you risk the wrath of the United States. You can't keep American citizens hostage.

TAPPER: Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal, as he just noted, he's a pretty partisan Democrat from Connecticut. He's not one to raise his voice much at the Biden administration. He said, he's deeply frustrated, even furious at the government's delay and inaction. That's the Biden administration's delay and inaction, he's saying. Do you echo that frustration? KHANNA: Look, I give the President credit for the withdrawal. But to pretend that everything went perfectly, I think defies reality. We ought to be honest, we ought to say where were some of the mistakes? Not just, by the way, last 20 days, but the last 20 years.

One of the mistakes was that we overestimated the Afghan army. I mean, Anand Gopal talks about it. Why don't we talk to people like Anand Gopal who would have told you no one is going to fight for the Afghan army? And then we would have had a better sense of withdrawal. Why don't we have more planning in how we were going to evacuate our citizens?

So, I give the president a lot of credit for withdrawal. But I think we -- what American people want is transparency. And to say everything went perfectly is just not the right approach in my view.

TAPPER: We've heard conservative talking heads and some Republican lawmakers, they've shifted from Biden abandoned our Afghan allies. And now they are saying things along the lines of Biden wants to let all these dangerous Afghans into the country. Obviously there needs to be vetting done wherever it can be done. But you have one of the largest Afghan American populations in your district. What's your reaction when you hear that?

KHANNA: It's deep hurt. I say come to my district, you'll see the vibrant Afghan American community. It's a little Kabul in Fremont. They are doctors. They are engineers. They are tech leaders. They've got brilliant restaurants.

I mean, and it said, I read Hillbilly Elegy by J.D. Vance. I like the book. And then I see him on T.V. saying that we're concerned that someone Afghan would be in a mall and you would look at their wife the wrong way and he'd blow up the mall. I just -- I mean that stuff is offensive and it's hurtful and it's wrong and it's not who America is.

[17:10:07]

If people were good enough to fight with us on -- in Afghanistan, you're saying they're not good enough to come live with us? That is wrong. And he should be ashamed of that. And I say that as someone who was an admirer of his book.

TAPPER: Congressman Ro Khanna, thank you so much for your time, sir. Really appreciate it.

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