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Dems Attack GOP over Benghazi Committee; Fear of More Violence in Israel; Searching for Way to End Syria's Civil War. Aired 1:30-2p ET

Aired October 19, 2015 - 13:30   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[13:30:00] ANGELA RYE, POLITICAL STRATEGIST: Bernie Sanders did not say anything convincing about, number one, his foreign policy experience, and how he would handle that as commander-in-chief.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Angela Rye, thanks very much for joining us.

RYE: Thank you.

BLITZER: And, Kristen Soltis Anderson, thanks to you as well.

KRISTEN SOLTIS ANDERSON, POLITICAL STRATEGIST: Thank you.

BLITZER: The credibility for a key congressional committee is on the line. Critics say the Benghazi Select Committee is about politics and not justice, and that is setting up a major showdown between Hillary Clinton and the committee later this week. I will ask the top member of the committee what he is going to be asking Hillary Clinton when she is up at Capitol Hill.

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BLITZER: Welcome back. The Senate and the House of Representatives gavel back into session this week with a full agenda. Action in the House is headlined by a search for the new speaker of the House and by the Select Committee investigating what happened in Benghazi, Libya. The committee is going to interview former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Thursday. This is the next step in their long investigation.

This is what Hillary Clinton told our Jake Tapper about her impending appearance.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[13:35:11] HILLARY CLINTON, (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE & FORMER SECRETARY OF STATE: I really don't know what to expect. I think it is pretty clear that whatever they might have thought they were doing, they ended up becoming a partisan arm of the Republican National Committee.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: On the other side, the committee chairman, Congressman Trey Gowdy, is defending his work, and he's also telling fellow Republicans to stay quiet. He used the words "shut up," and especially Republicans like Kevin McCarthy, the majority leader, and Richard Hanna, the Republican congressman from upstate New York, who both linked the committee's work with efforts to degrade Secretary Clinton's political future.

Here's what Congressman Gowdy said on CBS's "Face the Nation."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. TREY GOWDY, (R-SC), CHAIRMAN, HOUSE SELECT COMMITTEE ON BENGHAZI: I get that there's a presidential campaign going on. I have told my own Republican colleagues and friends shut up talking about things that you don't know anything about. And unless you are on the committee, you have no idea what we have done, and why we have done it, and what new facts we have found. We have found new facts, John, that have absolutely nothing to do with her.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: And just a little while ago, Democrats on the Select Benghazi Committee released a damning report with includes excerpts from the committee's interviews. It also says that there was "no evidence" -- their words -- "no evidence" of Republican allegations about Hillary Clinton.

Democratic California Congressman Adam Schiff, the ranking Democrat on the Intelligence Committee as well, he said, "After 17 months and millions of taxpayers dollars spent, the Select Committee on Benghazi has uncovered nothing that answers our core understanding of the facts. It has no new answers for the families of those killed that night or for the American people"

Joining us know is Republican Congressman Mike Pompeo, of Kansas, a member of that committee.

Congressman, thanks for joining us.

REP. MIKE POMPEO, (R), KANSAS: Great to be here, Wolf.

BLITZER: You will not be accepting the advice of the committee chairman to shut up? You'll speak?

POMPEO: Well, he said that the folks on the committee could say that we could talk about getting answers for those Americans who were killed. We had the first ambassador murdered since 1979, and so this week, we are speaking with Secretary Clinton it is one of dozens and dozens of interviews that we will hold to put together the mosaic to tell the American people the whole story.

BLITZER: And what is the charged statement that Kevin McCarthy, the majority leader, made, and Congressman from Indiana Hanna said that this is more politics to weaken Hillary Clinton as a Democratic candidate than getting more information about what happened.

POMPEO: They got it wrong. I was in the Army and active duty and I understand what mission is, and we have been focused on the core mission that the House of Representatives gave us. And actually, when this was formed there was no candidacy of Secretary Clinton and we are focused on the mission and how did we get there and have four Americans killed. Senator Feinstein said it was preventable incident, and so it is our task to find out how to prevent it again.

BLITZER: What have you learned?

POMPEO: More context of how the security was set up, and what the decision-making was for that security, and how the case of days and weeks afterwards that it was not known to the American people that it was a terrorist attack. She was the senior diplomat whose duty is to keep them safe, and we have to provide the American people with the context of how it unfolded.

BLITZER: Because the Democrats will say, she had a responsibility, and the State Department had a responsibility, and the CIA had responsibility, and the Defense Department had responsibility, and so far, you have made no effort to bring in Leon Panetta, the secretary before the panel, or David Petraeus before the panel.

POMPEO: And, Wolf, we have a long ways to the go, and for the media, it may die down for this thursday, but for this committee, we have a lot to do, and we will be bringing a lot of folks before the committee, and we have a lot to do, and I'm committed that we will make sure that the Department of defense did what they were supposed to do and the intelligence committee, but this tragedy began at a State Department facility that was under secured and so it should not surprise anybody that we need to know how the State Department allowed it to happen?

BLITZER: But wasn't it a covert operation that the officials were engaged in Benghazi, and not really a State Department, but the ambassador was there and he obviously reported to the secretary of state, but other officials there were working with the intelligence community and the Defense Department, for that matter as well.

POMPEO: Well, I have to be careful of what is classified and not, but it is clear that there were other officials who were not part of the State Department when it was attacked. So it is critical to all of the investigations be questioned to find out more.

[13:40:00] BLITZER: And why hasn't Leon Panetta and General Petraeus been called as the secretary of state has been called.

POMPEO: We still have a lot of work to do, Wolf.

BLITZER: But they are going to be called, is that what you are saying?

POMPEO: The sequence has been turned in great deal to get documents, and in many, many cases, we would have preferred to call her for months ago, but she had a private server to hide e-mails from American people, and it has taken a long, long time on the e-mails to find out what really happened, and so we are going to call her in spite of the fact that we didn't get Christopher Stevens' e-mail, and we got a batch of them 72 hours ago, and we have been working on this since May of 2014. I have heard the Democrats say, well, seven other committees, and none of them were able to get a hold of the e-mails and, gosh, it has gone on a long time. And, yes, we have been stonewalled and obstructed and we will continue until we uncover as many facts as we can.

BLITZER: You believe it is more important than the Watergate investigation is?

POMPEO: In many ways, this is worse than Watergate, because, remember, four Americans were killed in this incident. And Rosemary Woods only erased 18.5 minutes of tape. And in this case, we have had 30,000 e-mails destroyed without any third party having a chance to review the e-mails and we had a server system set up with the intent, with the intent to deny the American people official records that belonged to the secretary of state. And it is important. And we intend to get the answers for the American people.

BLITZER: And we are going to be looking forward to the hearing.

It will be eight hours?

POMPEO: I don't know how long it will take. We'll start sometime in the morning. And when we have completed the questions, Secretary Clinton and each of us will go our separate ways.

BLITZER: I am told it is going to start 10:00 eastern time, and a lunch break, and resume for hours afterwards. We'll see what happens. I know you're well prepared.

POMPEO: Thank you, Wolf.

BLITZER: And I can tell just now talking to you.

POMPEO: Thank you, sir.

BLITZER: Congressman, thanks very much for coming on.

POMPEO: Thanks for having me on today.

BLITZER: Don't leave yet.

Congressman Adam Schiff is one of the Democrats on the Select Committee on Benghazi. He'll join me live in "The Situation Room" at 5:00 p.m. eastern.

The Israeli were already on edge after a string of stabbings. But the latest attack is the most troubling. It's leading some to fear the threat of yet more violence. We will have more details when we come back.

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[13:46:46] BLITZER: Yet another violent attack against the Israelis, and this time, outside of the West Bank in Jerusalem. An Israeli soldier shot and killed, and at least 10 other Israelis attacked in Beersheba. Israeli police say that to a gunman was killed along with a bystander that was mistaken for the shooter.

CNN's Phil Black has details.

But we want to caution you that this video does contain graphic video.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PHIL BLACK, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): On the floor of the bus station, the man underneath the white sheet is the dead Arab Bedouin shooter. He attacked an Israeli with a knife and a gun and then took that soldier's gun to fire into the crowd, and wounding 10 others, and in the terror that followed bringing about yet another death.

(SHOUTING)

BLACK: This security video is showing the panic of the people running from the shooting. In the upper right, you also see a man crawling away. Moments later, he is shot by a security guard who mistakes him for a second attacker.

(SHOUTING)

BLACK: Gripped by fear and rage, the crowd turns on the wounded men. This video shows people kicking him as he lays injured and bleeding.

"Break his head," a man is heard screaming repeatedly.

He later died in hospital.

It turns out, he was not a terrorist, not involved in the attack at all. Police identified him as a 29-year-old Eritrean migrant. And now the police are trying to find those who beat him. The spokesman adding that the police are viewing this in a severe light, and will not allow people to take the law into their own hands.

The terror attacks are designed to instill extreme fear and rage, and in the death of the Eritrean migrant, this attack has claimed another innocent victim.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: Our international correspondent, Phil Black, is joining us.

Phil, Israel was on edge following the five knife attacks on the West Bank and eastern Jerusalem, and this attack happened outside of the West Bank and Jerusalem, and I assume that tensions are growing throughout the country? BLACK: Yes, they are, Wolf. From this attack, it is doubly shocking

partly because of the nature of the attack, but also because of what happened the innocent bystander, and the Eritrean man, and the one newspaper carried the headline, "Only because of his skin color." It is not how all people feel, but some do. And this man, the way he was treated, the nature of the brutal death, it is part of the national conversation today. And people are also now closely following that police investigation as it works to determine how and why he died and who ultimately was responsible.

BLITZER: The Secretary of State John Kerry is expected to meet on Wednesday with the prime minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, in Germany. And then later, Kerry is going to meet with the Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. Is there any optimism that the meetings will be able to dial back the tensions right now?

BLACK: There is not a lot of optimism, Wolf. Some Israelis hope John Kerry can persuade the Palestinian leadership to denounce some of the violence taking place here, but the reality is that both sides are of the view that the other is using language and behaving in ways that exacerbates the tension, causing further conflict. And another thing they both have in common is they don't believe John Kerry is likely to change that in the near future -- Wolf?

[13:50:17] BLITZER: Phil Black, thank you very much. Very disturbing situation over there.

Meanwhile, diplomats agree on the need for a political solution to end Syria's civil war, but that's all they agree on. Secretary of State John Kerry is hoping to get the major players on the same page as they look for answers. We'll talk about that with new information when we come back.

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BLITZER: U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry says he wants to get all the big players with a stake in the Syrian conflict together for talks over the country's future, emphasizing today that a political solution is now the only way.

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[13:55:04] JOHN KERRY, SECRETARY OF STATE: Everybody, including the Russians and the Iranians, have all said there's no military solution. So we need to get about the effort of finding a political solution. This is a human catastrophe unfolding before our eyes, and it's a catastrophe now threatening the integrity of a whole group of countries around the region, not just to the West and Europe but also East. It's important for us to respond.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Both the Russians and the U.S.-led coalition are continuing talks on airstrikes on targets across Syria.

Lieutenant Colonel Rick Francona is a CNN military analyst who served in Damascus, Syria.

Colonel, thank you for joining us.

What can Secretary Kerry hope to accomplish in these talks if the Russians -- they're main goal seems to be keeping Bashar al Assad's regime in power?

LT. COL. RICK FRANCONA, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: And they are having pretty good success with that. We have seen reversals on the ground. They have been able to retake some of the territory because of the Russian air support and intervention. I think everybody realizes that at some point all these sides are going to have to come up with a political solution, so the secretary is right. Everybody wants to stake out their position before they come to the table. The Russians are there to prop up Bashar al Assad. There will be an Assad contingent where some fall into the new government, whatever form that takes. In the past, the rebels said we won't continence a role for Bashar al Assad or his party in the future. I think that's going to change. If we can get all the players together, there's a chance.

But the military option is still on the table because people have to stake out their positions. But I think the secretary needs to also remember there's another component to the Syria problem and that's the ISIS-controlled territory. I don't see a political solution, including is.

BLITZER: ISIS is not going to agree to any political solution, that's for sure. The Saudi foreign minister said just today that it was hard to see a role for Iran in these peace-making efforts in Syria because of its military role there. And U.S. officials tell CNN there are about 2,000 Iranian forces around Aleppo alone in Syria. Does Iran have enough clout to put themselves at the table? Should they be there?

FRANCONA: I think they are going to be there. The foreign minister would like to keep the Iranians out. That's their goal. I think the Iranians are part of this. And the Iranians have a stake in this because Syria is their key to their support of Hezbollah. They are going to play a role in this. We see the Iranians, Iraqis and Russians forming this axis. They are going to have a role.

BLITZER: The U.S. and Russia supposedly are close if they haven't yet reached a basic technical agreement to hopefully avoid serious mishap in the skies over Syria. Russian planes are flying. Other ally planes are flying. Is it enough what's going on? Or is it only a matter of time before something really awful happens?

FRANCONA: If they don't come up with some coordination or de- confliction scheme, there will be an accident. There's too many aircraft up there in too confined of a space. And it only takes a split second for somebody to make the wrong decision. I think they will come up with something time based. You operate in these hours, you operate in those hours. If you look at what's going on, on the ground, in Aleppo, we have U.S.-supported rebels being bombed by Russians. So are we going to support them? Big question here as to how we do this de-confliction. They have to do it before an airplane goes down, and then the political solution becomes much, much harder.

BLITZER: Certainly does. Good point.

Rick Francona, thank you very much.

The Pentagon is confirming that it the leader of an al Qaeda-linked group has been killed in an airstrike by the U.S.-led coalition. U.S. military officials say Sanafi al Nasr was a Saudi citizen. He led the so-called group Khorasan Group, a collection of veteran al Qaeda jihadis bent on attacking the West. It took place in northwest Syria. He was the fifth senior member of that group killed in the last four months.

That's it for me. Thank you for watching. I'll be back at 5:00 p.m. eastern in "The Situation Room".

For our international viewers, "Amanpour" is next.

For our viewers in North America, "NEWSROOM" with Brooke Baldwin starts right now.