Connecticut representative on Afghanistan, ISIS supporter’s arrest, and Russia

(CBS, KYMA/KECY) - Representative Jim Himes (D-CT), ranking member of the House Intelligence Committee, spoke with Margaret Brennan on Face the Nation Sunday about the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan three years later.

Brennan asked what Himes makes "of the Republican argument that this reflects on Vice President [Kamala] Harris's abilities to serve as commander-in-chief" following President Biden's decision to withdraw from Afghanistan, which Himes agrees that "was one of the darkest days of [Biden's] presidency to date."

"Any time we lose service members, it's a very dark day, and the 13 that we lost at Abbey Gate are rightly remembered...that there were also almost 2,500 others killed in Afghanistan over a 20-year period. What Chairman McCaul is going to offer to the American people, though, is...it's going to be about Vice President Harris. It is a politicized, cherry-picked report designed to do one thing, not shed light on a tragedy, which, by the way, I would support 100%. And by the way, let's also look at the 20 years and the four presidents that doubled down on Afghanistan policy. It is going to be a nakedly partisan campaign thing. Chairman McCaul said it at the end there. You know, what the military issues that he was raising? You know, he didn't mention the fact that when he said that President Biden came with an agenda to withdraw from Afghanistan, President Biden did not come with an agenda. He came with a binding agreement negotiated by President Trump, who also released 5000 Taliban. And by the way, and here's the key point that didn't come up, who also left President Biden with 2,500 troops in Afghanistan...When we were attacked on January 6, on the Capitol, in the days after we had more than 2,500 National Guardsmen guarding the Capitol, that's the tools, and that's the agreement that Donald Trump left President Biden with."

Rep. Jim Himes (D-CT), Ranking member of the House Intelligence Committee

During the interview, Brennan and Himes talked about the arrest of a 20-year-old ISIS supporter from Pakistan, residing in Canada, who was planning on a mass shooting attack "on or around" the one year anniversary of Hamas invading Israel to kill as many Jews as possible.

When asked if he has "any insight into whether this individual was self radicalized" or directed, and what "the threat picture" is, Himes said:

"We've been out of session for some time, so it's been a little while since I've had a classified briefing. So I probably can't specifically answer the question about that individual. What I can tell you is two things. Number one, ISIS is dedicated, as is, by the way, Iran and any number of other groups, to trying to strike the United States. That is a fact, and that is why it is so important the- the work of the intelligence community and the FBI to stop that stuff. And they're pretty good at that. You saw the arrests, of course, of the eight people who were affiliated with- with terrorist groups. They're very good at what they do. It's very hard for them to be perfect, but it's also important that we not over exaggerate the threat here. We have come a very long way, I'm actually just back from a 9/11 ceremony on the 23rd anniversary celebrating, or memorializing that hideous attack. The intelligence community, the military, the FBI, have come a long way since 9/11 and as a consequence, we learn about these things, and hopefully we'll be in a position to obstruct as many of them as possible.

Brennan and Himes then talked about the intelligence community and the Justice Department saying there is a "sophisticated scheme to interfere in the election by setting up fake news sites, paying $10 million to a Tennessee based company to launder Moscow's propaganda" by using podcasters, well-known personalities on YouTube."

Brennan and Himes then talked about the intelligence community and the Justice Department saying there is a "sophisticated scheme to interfere in the election by setting up fake news sites, paying $10 million to a Tennessee based company to launder Moscow's propaganda" by using podcasters, well-known personalities on YouTube "to trick American voters in swing states."

When asked how effective has the campaign been, Himes said:

"Well, that's a really hard question to answer...ecause that gets into the question of, you know, 'Gosh, are these crazy right wing websites and right wing journalists who, evidently, their money came from Russia, are they actually having an impact on the election?' It's sort of hard to believe, in a 50/50 election, that's going to be played out in sort of four or five states, that it's not going to have some impact on the margin, which is why two things are really important. Number one, back to the FBI, back to our intelligence community. They need to double down on identifying, naming and shaming those countries that are doing this. And Chairman McCaul was right. It's primarily Russia, Russia has really pulled out all the stops, but it's also China. It's also Iran. There's even some other countries that are thinking about it. But...I feel very passionately about this. They can only succeed if American citizens hand over their autonomy, their sovereignty, their critical thinking abilities, to the Russians or to the Chinese. And so what I always tell my constituents, if you're looking at some random social media site and you are getting hotter and hotter and angrier and angrier, and people who disagree with you are not just the opposition, but they're traitors? You know what you're doing, you are being manipulated. And it may just be by Facebook's algorithms, but there's some chance it might actually be the Kremlin or the Chinese or the Iranians who are manipulating you. And if you're going to be manipulated that easily, guess what? This country is going to get the democracy that we deserve."

To watch more of Brennan's interview with Himes, click here.