[Keilar:] It's really been a roller coaster few days in Switzerland as negotiations over Iran's nuclear program blew past the original deadline yesterday. But all signs pointing to progress are a reason to keep going. CNN global affairs correspondent, Elise Labott, is following all of this in Lausanne, Switzerland, where the negotiations are going on. Elise, because this is changing almost moment to moment certainly between the wee hours of the morning and even now, tell us where we stand right now.
[Elise Labott, Cnn Global Affairs Correspondent:] Well, Brianna, we're about 20 hours past that deadline of last night. And the negotiators are still going. U.S. officials saying there's been some progress but still those sticking points remain unresolved and it's unclear if there's going to be anything to announce at all or when it might come together. But the German foreign minister has already gone a bit further saying the talks will go into tomorrow. And I've also heard similar from other diplomats. Clearly they feel there's enough progress, they're not completely deadlocked to say it's all for naught and go home. But clearly, there are unresolved issues. If there is an announcement, and we don't know there will be, it seems like it will be something very vague and general with a lot of issues unresolved, which is going to make it even harder for the president to sell to Congress to prevent them from imposing sanctions on Iran.
[Keilar:] Are the sticking points still the same, where you're talking about how quickly sanctions would snap back into effect if Iran were to violate the agreement, and also the later years of this 15-year agreement, the nuclear activities that Iran would be able to participate in? Is it all the same at this point what they're hammering out?
[Labott:] That remains the big those are the big sticking points. How Iran could resume its nuclear advanced technology. But also the snapback of those sanctions. It's not only Iran that doesn't want the snapback of the sanctions. The Russians don't also. Once those sanctions are completely lifted, they're gone. It's really hard to re-impose them without getting around the Russian veto at the U.N. Security council. The Russians aren't so eager to let them go. So it's not just those issues about Iran's nuclear program but also there are the geopolitical issues of all the other countries, the U.S. with Congress, the Russians with their insecurities in the U.N. Security Council that fit into it, that's what makes this so complicated. But they are still going and we do understand the talks will continue into tomorrow Brianna?
[Keilar:] And so it goes on. Elise Labott for us in Lausanne, Switzerland, thank you so much. Let's talk more about those negotiations and Iran's increasing role in the volatile Middle East. Here with me to discuss all of this is California Democratic Congressman Adam Schiff, the ranking member of the House Intelligence Committee. You really have the message from the White House here that getting no deal might actually be better than getting a bad deal. Just moments ago, White House spokesman, Josh Earnest, said the U.S. is prepared to walk away if necessary. Can the U.S. really walk away? We're hearing this from the U.S. side of things. But Iran and Russia are much more optimistic about a deal.
[Rep. Adam Schiff, , California:] We can walk away and we would have to walk away if we don't get a good deal. It's very important for the president to come back to Congress to sell this to point to concrete things that have been delivered in terms of being able to snap back the sanctions you were just talking about. That's important because otherwise it could take months or year to try to re- establish the same kind of economic stranglehold on Iran if necessary. And it's important that inspectors have unfettered access not just to the sites we know about but other sites that Iran may begin clandestine efforts.
[Keilar:] It's been years in the making of getting Iran economically to a point where, the U.S. would argue, it doesn't have a choice but to come to the table and try to get relief from some of these sanctions. Elise spoke about the possibility that the sanctions could go away, Iran gets what it wants. If it violates this agreement, Russia stands in the way of putting those sanctions back in place at the U.N. level. And then the U.S. could have been played for a fool, right?
[Schiff:] Well, it could happen. And Russia certainly wants to have that kind of leverage over the United States, over the other European powers that it would get by having a veto again in the Security Council to new Iranian sanctions. You can imagine how that would factor in, for example, if we had the same fight over Ukraine three years from now when Iran is cheating and we're dependent on Russia to reinstate sanctions. That's a problem obviously we need to avoid. So it's tough. But you can see a scenario very well playing out in the future where the United States and our European partners very much suspect that Iran is cheating. We have evidence that Iran is cheating but then going back into the United Nations to get those sanctions again would be very tough.
[Keilar:] Let's talk about Iran in terms of some of the leverage that it has. In Iraq, big news today. You see that Iraqi forces were able to retake Tikrit. But only with the help and they wouldn't have been able to do it without the help of these Shiite militias that are Iran- backed. Is Iran feeling emboldened here that since the lesson that we've learned from this situation with Tikrit is that Iraqi forces aren't strong enough without these Iranian-backed militias? Is Iran thinking we can throw our weight around, we're needed here?
[Schiff:] I think Iran is feeling very emboldened by several things, by the fact that you have this Shia rebel take over of Yemen, that you have a very close relationship with their arch former enemy, Iraq, where they can control a lot of the Iraqi defense services. In Tikrit, it's more of a mixed bag. The al Quds leader had to leave the area. That was a loss of respect and face for Iran. So I think a mixed picture in Tikrit. But I think it will be very important for the United States to continue to insist that these militias not play an outsized role in the taking back of Sunni towns because they could win the battle but lose the war if other Sunnis feel that they're endangered by these militias.
[Keilar:] There could some reprisals. Talk to us about Congress' role and what you want to see in terms of Congress' involvement when it comes to sanctions and these Iran nuclear talks.
[Schiff:] Well, I've been keeping an open mind about a deal. Whether it's good or bad, it makes sense to wait to see if we, in fact, have one because sanctions will pass in a heartbeat if we don't. If Iran either reneges, walks away, I will support them. There will be overwhelming bipartisan support for a new round of sanctions. The question is, where will that leave us? I think this is what makes these negotiations so vexing. It's not like we're choosing between having a great deal or a poor deal. We're choosing between having what I hope will be a good deal or Iran going back to spinning up its centrifuges, back to enriching uranium, coming close to a red line, and having a discussion with our Israeli allies, are they getting close to your red line and how far are they from our own red line? We have to choose between these alternate futures and no one has a crystal ball.
[Keilar:] And we're talking about U.S. sanctions, a slice of the pie when you talking about all of the sanctions on Iran at that time. Congressman Schiff, thank you for being with us.
[Schiff:] Thank you.
[Keilar:] Coming up, there is a call for a fix. The governor of Arkansas refuses to sign a religious freedom bill viewed by many as a license to discriminate. The changes that he wants made before he signs it into law. We'll talk about that.