Interview with Rep. Trent Franks and Rep. Brad Sherman; Official: Surveillance Flights Begin Over Syria; CIA: ISIS Has Up to 31,500 Fighters
CAMEROTA: I want to show you a live look at Lower Manhattan right now. Tonight, on the anniversary of 9/11, these Twin Towers of light shine up into the night sky from the World Trade Center. And a ceremony, honoring the victims was held at the site earlier today. It's still so emotional to hear all of those names read out by their loved ones. Meanwhile, the fight against ISIS grows. A U.S. official tells CNN that the Pentagon has begun surveillance flights over Syria in an effort to gather intelligence before any possible air strikes. Let's talk about the president's strategy with Congressman Brad Sherman. He's a California Democrat and member of the Foreign Affairs Committee. And Congressman Trent Franks. He's an Arizona Republican on the Armed Services Committee. Gentlemen, thanks so much for being here.</s>REP. TRENT FRANKS (R-AZ), HOUSE ARMED SERVICES COMMITTEE: Happy to be here.</s>CAMEROTA: Congressman Franks, let me start with you. The president laid out, in his speech to the country, a four-pronged approach to destroying ISIS. He said more air strikes in Iraq and Syria; support for local fighters on the ground; cut off funding of ISIS; and provide more humanitarian aid to innocent civilians. Do you agree with his strategy?</s>FRANKS: Well, you know, the president said many things that we shouldn't do that I think was a mistake. But the things that he said we should do, ironically, were very much in keeping with the Bush Doctrine. And I find it incredible, because you know, George Bush warned that, if we left Iraq before our commanders said we were ready, that we would see horrific killings on a mass scale. And that we would have to return to Iraq with troops at some point, perhaps to face an enemy that was even more dangerous. And I really believe that Barack Obama owes George Bush an apology. Along with the men and women who fought in Iraq and watched their blood-bought gains evaporate as the president of the United States stood idly by with a golf club in his hand.</s>CAMEROTA: And will you support his plan now for air strikes?</s>FRANKS: I do support his plan for air strikes, yes.</s>CAMEROTA: Congressman Sherman, what are -- what are your thoughts on the president's plan?</s>REP. BRAD SHERMAN (D-CA), FOREIGN AFFAIRS COMMITTEE: Well, first in response to how we got here. It was the last administration that installed Maliki in office. And this is a man who, ruling from Baghdad, created the ground in which ISIS grew. Maliki expelled us from Iraq. Maliki would not negotiate an agreement to keep our forces in limited numbers in Iraq, past -- I believe it was 2011. And George Bush couldn't negotiate that deal with Maliki, and George Bush had installed him. To blame the president for not being able to deal with the problem that had been installed in Baghdad, it -- any way that's ancient history. I support the idea of using our air power to degrade and confine ISIS. But what I don't want to see are thousands of American troops on the ground. Unfortunately, with just air power, we will not be able to completely obliterate ISIS any time soon.</s>CAMEROTA: Uh-huh. I want to play for you an interesting moment in Saudi Arabia today, where Secretary of State Kerry was asked if, in fact, the U.S. is now at war with ISIS. Here's what he said to that.</s>JOHN KERRY, SECRETARY OF STATE: I think that's the wrong terminology. What we are doing is engaging in a very significant counterterrorism operation. And it's going to go on for some period of time. If somebody wants to think about it as being a war with ISIL, they can do so, but the fact is it's a major counterterrorism operation that will have many different moving parts.</s>CAMEROTA: Congressman Franks, why not call it a war?</s>FRANKS: Well, we should. ISIS certainly believes it's a war. Mr. Kerry also said that ISIS has nothing to do with Islam, which would come to a tremendous surprise to ISIS. This president can't seem to even call terrorism "terrorism." He called terrorism at Fort Hood "workplace violence." He called terrorism across the world "overseas contingencies." I mean, next he'll be calling drug dealers "unlicensed pharmacists." We cannot engage an enemy that we can't understand or even say what they are on a strategic level. And I think that finally this president is beginning to understand how dangerous this enemy is. Unfortunately, how many beheadings, and crucifixions, and rapes, and torture, and murder did it take before he finally got a clue?</s>CAMEROTA: Congressman Sherman, are we at war?</s>SHERMAN: I think we're at war. I think we ought to follow the War Powers Act and have separate votes in Congress on whether we should arm and train the Syrian rebels; whether we should authorize air strikes against ISIS; and whether we should authorize -- and I wouldn't be for this -- ground operations against ISIS. But Congress ought to vote on this and not have the president say, well, since in 2001, 13 years ago today, it caused us just a couple weeks thereafter to get, to pass an authorization to go after al Qaeda. ISIS is not al Qaeda, and we ought to have a separate vote.</s>CAMEROTA: Gentlemen, thank you. We've run out of time, but thanks for taking the time to give us your perspective tonight.</s>SHERMAN: Thank you.</s>FRANKS: Glad to be here.</s>CAMEROTA: All right. We have not heard many voices against the president's plan to destroy ISIS by using air strikes. But we're about to talk to one vocal opponent. What happens when we put her together with a terrorism analyst? We'll find out next.