Kaine: Russia, Iran wouldn’t tell US if they knew of impending terrorist attack

Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) said Sunday that the difference between democratic and authoritarian regimes is that Russia and Iran would not tell the United States if there was going to be a terrorist attack in the U.S.

Host Shannon Bream asked Kaine on “Fox News Sunday” whether the southern border can lead to “real danger” within the U.S., pointing to the attack in Russia that has left more than 133 dead in a Moscow concert hall. He first reiterated that the U.S. warned Russia about this kind of attack earlier this year.

“Well, Shannon, first, my heart goes out to the families in Russia that were affected by this. The U.S. did warn Russia. And Vladimir Putin gave a speech on Tuesday discounting the warning, saying we were trying to meddle and create confusion,” he said, referring to the Russian president.

“We also warned Iran a couple of months ago about a potential attack by ISIS-K there. If you want to know the difference between democracies and authoritarians, we will tell nations if we’re worried about their civilians. Russia or Iran would never tell us if they had news that there was going to be a terrorist attack in the United States,” he added.

The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the attack Friday. The New York Times reported that the U.S. had intelligence that Islamic State-Khorasan, also known as ISIS-K, had been planning an attack on Russia’s capital city, Moscow, citing a U.S. official.

The U.S. Embassy in Russia issued a security alert earlier this month warning that “extremists” are planning an attack in Moscow and urged U.S. citizens to avoid large gatherings, including concerns.

Kaine then discussed the southern border, describing it as a “challenge.”

“That’s why, you know, since I came to the Senate, I’ve been part of bipartisan efforts to fix it again and again and again. But each time, whether it was bipartisan immigration reform in 2013, a bipartisan deal in 2018, or the deal we put together just last month in February … each time the Republicans torch it, [with] Donald Trump even making plain the last thing they want to do is fix the border,” he said.

“They just want to, you know, raise a ruckus about the border. We need to get serious about fixes,” he added.