The following is a transcript of an interview with House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, on “Face the Nation” that aired on July 28, 2024.
ROBERT COSTA: Welcome to Face The Nation. We now have the Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Michael McCaul. Mr. Chairman, thank you for being here.
REPRESENTATIVE MICHAEL MCCAUL: Thank you, Robert. Thank you for having me.
ROBERT COSTA: It’s a rather somber morning in Israel, following the fallout from the strikes on the Golan Heights. Secretary of State Blinken told reporters this morning that “all indications” that the rockets did indeed come from Hezbollah or were somehow linked to Hezbollah. A U.S. official also told CBS News that there was no real doubt that it was Hezbollah. Have you been briefed on the situation in the Golan Heights and what can you tell us?
REP. MCCAUL: Yes, I did. And it was Hezbollah that attacked within the five-mile zone, which the U.N. Security Council resolution says Hezbollah cannot operate within the five-mile zone, killing 12 children on a playground. Interestingly, these were Druze Arabs, a minority religious sect. I don’t understand why they would target these people. And now they’re pretending they had nothing to do with it. Maybe that’s why.
ROBERT COSTA: So for someone who’s been following this issue closely, we’re hearing about Israel’s war against Hamas, and now we’re hearing about Hezbollah’s attack on the Golan Heights. And you just heard Senator Lindsey Graham on Face the Nation. He warned of potential nuclear threats if this situation escalates into a broader conflict. What’s the broader picture that threatens this situation to get worse in the days and weeks ahead?
REPUBLIC MCCAUL: We don’t want escalation, that’s for sure. I think it’s important to note that Hezbollah, Hamas, and the Houthi rebels were all proxies of Iran. They’re sort of the tentacles of the head of the snake, if you will. And so they’re not acting without Iran’s consent. And so what’s happening, I think, to be honest with you, is that while they’re debating the ceasefire, Iran doesn’t want normalization, and that’s the process with Saudi Arabia and Israel that they started before October 7th. So that’s a very important point. Once Iran saw that, I think it culminated on October 7th. So it’s not in their interest to have a ceasefire, you know, an agreement that would somehow maintain – they want Sinwar to stay in power. They want Hamas to stay in power or they lose power and the Saudis have made it clear that in order to achieve the peace process of normalization, Sinwar has to go. Hamas has to go. And we need a new form of governance for the Palestinian people.
ROBERT COSTA: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu came to the United States last week. What did you hear, what did you hear about his request for accelerated delivery of more weapons shipments?
REPRESENTATIVE MCCAUL: Well, I approve all foreign military sales, and I approve all the ones that have been made to Israel, and I approve all the ones that have been made to Ukraine and Taiwan. The fact is that those deliveries have been intentionally delayed. The four corners, meaning the chairman and ranking member of the House Foreign Affairs and Senate Relations, we approved those weapons and for whatever reason, the administration has withheld those weapons…
ROBERT COSTA: — What is the reason?
REPRESENTATIVE MCCAUL: I think it may give them leverage over Israel and over decision-making processes. But when I spoke to the prime minister and his cabinet, it creates a distance between the United States and Israel. And I think it’s very dangerous, especially right now, for us to kind of put a distance between ourselves and our most important ally of the United States, democracy in the Middle East.
ROBERT COSTA: Let’s move on to the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump. What will your role be on a possible task force investigating that assassination attempt? Have you talked to House Speaker Johnson about playing a role? You’re focused not only on foreign policy, but also on homeland security. What do you want to do and what should happen now?
REPRESENTATIVE MCCAUL: What I want to see is kind of like the way I ran the Afghanistan investigation that we’re starting to wrap up. We’re going to have a report on the anniversary of the Abbey Gate bombing. Professional. That professionalism is very important. Experience. So you want people who have, you know, special operators who know how snipers work, federal prosecutors like myself who know how the process works. You know, I ran national security events when I led the Joint Task Force Counterterrorism. So I want this to be an investigation that’s experienced, but also very professional, without a lot of drama, if you will. I think you want it to be credible…
ROBERT COSTA: Will you be in there?
REP. MCCAUL: — more than anything, he deserves it.
ROBERT COSTA: Will you be part of a working group?
REP. MCCAUL: I have no idea.
ROBERT COSTA: Would you be willing to do that?
REP. MCCAUL: If asked, I would serve, but there are many other very qualified people.
ROBERT COSTA: Is it possible to get a report on the assassination attempt by the end of the year?
REPUBLICAN MCCAUL: I think so. I went there. I went up on the roof. This guy should never have gotten that close to the president of the United States. He was very, very close. And the fact that he even got there was a failure. He should have been arrested. The interesting thing, Robert, is that he had a detonator on him and two bombs in the car. His plan was to assassinate the president, create a diversion by blowing up his vehicle on the other side of the property, and then be able to escape.
ROBERT COSTA: Do you have confidence in the Secret Service to protect former President Trump, President Biden and the other protected individuals at this point? Yes, the director just resigned. But former President Trump goes back to Pennsylvania for rallies, and the Secret Service is still there with him. Do you have confidence in the Secret Service at this point?
REPUBLIC MCCAUL: You know, I chaired the Department of Homeland Security for three terms. And I have faith in them. I didn’t have faith in their leadership. And I’m glad that Director Cheattle did the right thing and resigned, as did President Reagan’s Intelligence Director. Any time there’s an assassination attempt, it’s a failure. And she said so herself. I think the agents are good. The problem is that the president is under a lot of threats, obviously. And a threat from Iran as well. They asked for additional agents, and they haven’t gotten them. So if…
ROBERT COSTA: — Do you think Congress should step in and provide more resources, more agents? Should Congress play a role in solving the secret service problem?
REPRESENTATIVE MCCAUL: I would be happy to do that, but I think overall they have the resources. It’s just that this particular event and the Trump campaign itself has failed in their responsibilities.
ROBERT COSTA: In terms of foreign policy, the border is also an issue. What is your assessment of the current situation in terms of U.S. border policy and the threats to national security, particularly in light of the increasing number of arrests at the border in recent weeks?
REPRESENTATIVE MCCAUL: Well, in addition to the aggravated felons and the fentanyl, and I could go on and on, what worries me most for Robert is that you had the fall of Afghanistan. Thousands of ISIS-K came out of these prisons in Bagram, ended up in an area called the Khorasan region, which is Pakistan, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, and went through the country. They went through Mexico and came into the United States. ISIS. When I was chairman of the Department of Homeland Security, we worried about it, but we never saw it. Now we have ISIS in the country. Thankfully, the FBI arrested all eight individuals. But the question is, how many are still here?
ROBERT COSTA: Thank you, Chairman McCaul of Texas, for coming to Face the Nation. We always appreciate your time.
REP. MCCAUL: — Thank you Robert —
ROBERT COSTA: — Thank you, we’ll be right back.
