CNN "The Situation Room" - Transcript - The Boston Bombers

Interview

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BLITZER: We're following the investigation into the Boston bombings. Word today that the two suspected bombers were actually planning on driving from Massachusetts to New York and blowing up a bomb, a pressure cooker bomb, in Times Square. We heard that from the mayor of New York. We heard it from the police chief in New York.

Lindsey Graham is joining us now, the Republican senator from South Carolina. Senator, thanks very much for joining us. How serious do you believe this alleged Times Square bombing follow-up, if you will, really is?

SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM, (R) SOUTH CAROLINA: I just think they were trying to go out in a blaze of glory. I think it was deadly serious. The only reason they didn't make it is because of the good police work and the people of Boston stopped them.

BLITZER: You caused quite a stir today when you suggested that the Obama administration must have a great deal of the blame for what happened at the end of the Boston marathon because they didn't do the right thing whether it was the FBI or the CIA in following up with those Russian leads. I want you to explain to our viewers what you were -- what you were driving at.

GRAHAM: Absolutely. Well, the blame goes to the two terrorists. They're the ones that bear the responsibility but, you know, when we got Bin Laden, that was a great operation, gutsy call by the president. A lot of praise. Here's my concern. The system clearly failed to me.

When you have Russian intelligence services informing the FBI and the CIA that you have a radical Islamist in your midst and we put him into whatever system there is, he goes to Russia, Dagestan, the homeland security people, know he leaves, but they don't share it with the FBI or the CIA and he comes back in July of 2012, goes on the internet, YouTube videos, expressing radical thoughts and hatred and following radical Islamic websites, the rest is history. Clearly, the system failed.

BLITZER: When you say the Department of Homeland Security, they knew he went back last year for six months to Dagestan which is in Russia, but they never notified either the FBI or the CIA. But, I guess, the argument they make, Janet Napolitano, the secretary of Homeland Security is, he was going back to visit his mom and dad.

(LAUGHTER) GRAHAM: Well, all I can tell you is that when the Russian intelligence service points out to you to the FBI and the CIA that we believe after 2010 he's become a radical Islamist and he is tied to maybe unspecified terrorist groups that you would want to, if you put him on a list, that it pinged twice. It pinged when he left and pinged when he came back.

What is the use of the ping if you don't follow him? The system is not working. When Homeland Security knows he leaves and he comes back, they don't tell the FBI or the CIA. Clearly, the watch list is not working.

BLITZER: Because I think you could make the argument that maybe the FBI and the CIA should have told the homeland -- the Department of Homeland Security about this guy.

GRAHAM: They did.

BLITZER: Did they tell them all the details of what they learned from Russia?

GRAHAM: As I understand, based on the inquiry from the alert from the Russian intelligence service, both agencies put him in at a data base that was under the control of Homeland Security and there's a joint task force where Homeland Security is part of the custom border patrol group. And when the system alerted about this guy going and coming, it was never shared with the FBI or the CIA.

But here's what gets me the most. Giving all this information about the guy, how could we miss the fact that he went on websites and was telling the world he hates America and he's going to try to kill Americans and we missed that? And after the bombing, when we have his photo, how could we not put two and two together?

Surely, if you're on a watch list and there's a photo available, we should be able to put two and two together. There's a lot of failure here, and it's not about so much blame as it is fixing it and, clearly, our system 11 years after 9/11 is not working.

BLITZER: You believe these two brothers were acting alone or they were part of some other group, they had other individuals who were helping them?

GRAHAM: Well, we now know of a third person. The young man tells us they were self-radicalized by watching videos. Now, we're looking for somebody that was close to the elder brother. I really don't know, but I can tell you this.

The reason I've been wanting a national security interrogation and not a criminal law interrogation is to have time with this second suspect to ask him questions about what they know, terrorist organizations involved, other people that may be involved. I'm not trying to solve a crime. I'm trying to enhance our security and prevent a future attack.

None of the information can be used in the criminal law system. So, I think the Obama administration made a mistake by not looking at this man, given his ties and the radical Islamic attack Boston faced as a potential enemy combatant so we could have time with him without the criminal justice system being involved.

I don't want to undercut his rights in court. A first-year law student could convict this guy. I want to make sure we're gathering intelligence, and now, we've lost that.

BLITZER: Do you know anything about this individual named Misha (ph) who may have brain washed the older brother at least according to the ex-brother-in-law with whom I spoke yesterday?

GRAHAM: Well, you know, the plot thickens because the young man said, hey, you know, nobody was involved. We watched videos. We came self-radicalized. Well, Dagestan, and you've been all over the world, Chechen rebels, fighters, have joined al Qaeda in Afghanistan and Iraq. That is a really very dangerous part of the world.

So, it doesn't make sense to me. I'd like to know who this third person was. Clearly, they did more than watch videos according to the brother-in-law and why we do not have time with this suspect not to torture him, not to undercut his day in court on the criminal side, but to gather intelligence is a mystery to me.

BLITZER: Well that's all moot now (ph) since he has been given his Miranda rights.

GRAHAM: Maybe not but maybe so.

BLITZER: Well, you know more about the law than I do.

GRAHAM: I don't know.

BLITZER: Quickly on Syria, because I know you're deeply concerned. The intelligence community now believes small amounts, they say small amounts of chemical weapons, sarin gas probably were used by the Syrian regime of President Bashar al-Assad against Syrian rebels. The president previously has said that would be crossing the red line, that it would be a game changer. What should the U.S. do?

GRAHAM: Rally the international community, Jordan, Turkey, the international community to bring this war to close by giving safe havens to the rebels, putting together a no fly zone to ground the Syrian air force and neutralize their tank advantage to allow the rebels to fight back. There are a bunch of radicals in the midst of the rebels, right arms to the right people.

But the thing I worry about the most, Wolf, and always have is the chemical weapons. We need to have a plan the day after Assad falls to go in and secure these chemical weapons sites and destroy those weapons before they get in the wrong hands. And if the war doesn't end soon, the king of Jordan is going to be a casualty of this war.

BLITZER: Let's hope he's not. King Abdullah who's here in Washington right now, a very good friend of the United States. GRAHAM: Absolutely.

BLITZER: That would be an awful situation.

GRAHAM: Yes it would.

BLITZER: All right. Senator, thanks very much for joining us.

GRAHAM: Thank you, Wolf.

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