CNN "The Situation Room" - Transcript: Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard on the DNC and the Middle East

Interview

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

BLITZER: We're following a very surprising controversy that has sprung up just ahead of tomorrow night's Democratic presidential debate here at the Wynn Hotel in Las Vegas.

Democratic Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii, a vice chair of the Democratic National Committee, says she was disinvited from this debate after calling for more debates among the Democratic candidates.

Congresswoman Gabbard is joining us now live from Honolulu.

Congresswoman, thanks very much for joining us.

What happened? Because you were supposed to be here as a leader of the DNC and all of a sudden, you're still in Hawaii.

REP. TULSI GABBARD (D), HAWAII: Thanks, Wolf. Aloha. It's good to talk with you and your viewers today.

As you know, I have been pretty vocal about calling out for more debate debates. I have been calling for more debates to give the American people more opportunity to hear from these presidential candidates, to listen to what they have got to say, to hold them accountable for their views and their positions.

Because that differentiated from the decision that the chairwoman made from the DNC, I was told that I was no longer welcome to come to the debate.

BLITZER: So, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, the chair of the DNC, what you're saying is she ordered one of her aides to call up your staffer and say, you know what, don't come? Is that what happened?

GABBARD: There was a conversation between her chief and my chief.

Debbie's chief had called mine and basically spoke about an interview that I had had talking about the need and the call that the American people are having for more debates, for democracy, for increasing the engagement that we need in our society as we look to see who will lead our country into the future.

[18:25:09]

And the prevailing message of that was because I continued to call for more debates, that I should not go to the debate there in Las Vegas. But, really, Wolf, that's really the issue here. The issue here is not about me saying boo-hoo, I'm going to miss the party.

The issue here is one of democracy, of freedom of speech and defending that which so many have sacrificed and given their lives for.

BLITZER: Have you called Debbie Wasserman Schultz? She's a congresswoman. She's the chair of the DNC.

GABBARD: You know, I reached out to her after I got that message and didn't really get much of a response from her directly.

She said she would talk about it in person, but the message that her chief delivered to mine stood. The thing that I would really like to focus on, though, is not one of personalities. It really is one of the issue at stake here, which is about democracy. It's about how our Democratic Party should actually represent democratic values.

Wolf, I just came from this Punchbowl National Cemetery of the Pacific where I had the privilege and honor of being promoted from captain to the rank of major by the Hawaii Army National Guard, and being there in that place, being reminded of the sacrifice so many have made, some people who I have known and so many who came before us fighting for freedom, fighting for democracy, this is why I feel so strongly about this, that each of us, no matter if you served in the military or not, should be standing up and speaking out for what is right and for the strength of our democracy.

BLITZER: The DNC put out a statement, spokeswoman Holly Shulman saying, among other things, saying: "All that was asked of Ms. Gabbard's staff was to prioritize our candidates and this important opportunity they have to introduce themselves to the American people."

It went on, basically suggesting that you should just keep on the positive and not talk about what you may disagree with the party chair on and you were also quoted as saying: "When I signed up to be vice chair of the DNC, no one told me I would be relinquishing my freedom of speech and checking it at the door."

Those are strong words on your part.

GABBARD: Those comments were not the comments that I got from my chief of staff from that conversation.

But I can think of nothing more positive to talk about than the strength of our democracy, the strength of the freedoms that we cherish and we celebrate here in our country, and calling for more opportunities for the American people to be able to hear from those who are offering to lead our country into the future. We have got some very important, huge challenges that are facing our country today that are taking us into the future, domestic issues, national security issues, issues relating to foreign policy.

And the American people deserve more opportunities to be able to hear from those who are asking them to hire them to be president, to be commander in chief.

BLITZER: Could you see yourself being chair of the DNC?

GABBARD: That's not a job that I'm interested in and that's not what this is about.

This is about making sure that our party and making sure that our country represents the Democratic ideals that I feel so strongly about and that so many have served to fight and defend.

BLITZER: Bernie Sanders' campaign manager said on CNN earlier today, they have a ticket, they have a seat for you if you still want to fly over here to Las Vegas for tomorrow night's debate. Would you like to take them up on it?

GABBARD: Yes, you know, I'm grateful to Senator Sanders for offering to give me a ticket to the debate. I politely declined to accept it because I think if I were to do that, then this would turn into a political conversation, rather than a conversation about our principles, our Democratic principles, our ideals as a country and really what I think is most important for us to be focused on.

BLITZER: Why is the party leadership, the DNC so fearful of having more debates? They have only scheduled six so far. Why are they so scared of that?

GABBARD: I can't speak for anybody else, Wolf.

But I think that the more we have these debates, the more opportunity that we have to increase the conversation, to really forward the goals of the Democratic Party, to increase Democratic engagement, to allow for this discourse between our presidential candidates and the American people, so that we have got a very clear path and a clear idea of exactly who is offering to serve as president, what they represent, the kind of judgment that they will have on these important issues that we have going forward, and, frankly, whether or not the American people will trust that person to be able to lead us into the future.

[18:30:07] BLITZER: All right. Tulsi Gabbard, I want you to stand by. We have much more to talk about, including what's going on in Syria right now. You're a veteran of the war in Iraq. You're in the reserves and congratulations on being promoted from captain to major on this day. Much more from Tulsi Gabbard when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:35:14] BLITZER: We're back with Democratic Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard. She's a member of the House Armed Services Committee and Foreign Affairs Committee. She's also an Iraq War combat veteran, promoted today from captain to major in the Army Reserves.

We want to talk to her about the twin suicide bombings at a peace rally in Turkey, whose government suspects ISIS is to blame. Let's go to our Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr.

Barbara, do the Turks think they know more about who was behind this horrible terror attack?

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Horrible attack, indeed, Wolf. Ninety-seven people in Turkey killed, some 250 wounded. A terrible scene in the aftermath of this peace rally attack.

The Turkish government has not yet seen a formal claim of responsibility but strongly believes at this point, according to a officials, that ISIS is behind it. Turkish officials saying earlier today the method of the attack, some of the things they saw, and how the attack was carried out matches ISIS attacks that happened in Turkey earlier this year.

So a lot of concern. And Turkey an important NATO ally, U.S. war planes flying over northern Syria out of Turkish air bases; and it looks like Turkey has been hit very badly here, Wolf.

BLITZER: After canceling that train-and-equip program last week that was clearly a failure, you're now learning about a new U.S. effort to try to arm the so-called moderate Syrian rebels.

STARR: Yes, Wolf, overnight we know now that the U.S. air dropped from C-17 aircraft some 50 tons of ammunition across that Turkish border into northern Syria to help out about 5,000 rebels in a coalition on the ground.

These are rebels that are already fighting ISIS. They were running out of ammunition. The U.S. made the decision to help them and continue to help them.

The hope by the Pentagon is this time it will work out, because these rebels are fighting ISIS. The program that got cancelled, those were rebels that were more interested in fighting the Assad regime -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Barbara Starr reporting for us. Thank you.

Let's go back to Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard.

Congresswoman, in the interview that the president gave to CBS, he said -- he said president -- he said the Russian president, Putin, he acknowledged that President Putin was doing what he was doing in Syria, that the U.S. actually knew what his intentions were and that the U.S. was not caught off guard. Is that your understanding, as well?

GABBARD: Wolf, you know, there's been so many different accounts of this, of who knew what and when and whether people were surprised or not. I think the real issue is what are we doing about it? What's the strategy on the ground in Syria? Because that's something that I'm find very confusing.

There's no clear -- there's no clarity on exactly who our enemy is as the United States and what kind of mission we're trying to accomplish. We're seeing this very contradictory statement, saying that from administration saying that they're going after ISIS.

But in the same token, they are allowing Turkey to bomb the Kurds, who have been our most effective, trustworthy ground allies, fighting against ISIS both in Syria and in Iraq. They are saying that they are focused on getting rid of Assad and both directly and indirectly helping these rebels, many -- vast majority of which are made up of al Qaeda, al Nusra and other Islamic extremists groups, including ISIS. People who are sworn enemies, because they are working to overthrow Assad.

There are so many issues here with what's happening on the ground that I think have to be dealt with. Otherwise, we're going to continue to see what we're seeing, which is ISIS and the Islamic extremists groups getting stronger. And if Assad is over thrown, then we're going to see the establishments of an Islamic caliphate and a greater threat to the people there and people around the world than we've seen so far.

BLITZER: So what would you like to hear these Democratic candidates here tomorrow night at this Democratic presidential debate, Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders and others? What should they say on this sensitive issue?

GABBARD: There's a lot of ground to cover here. I think a recognition, first of all. I think many, if not all of them, have called for a no-fly zone in Syria. That's something that I actually agree with President Obama on that it would be a very bad thing to do. I'm strongly opposed to a no-fly zone because of what it would entail.

And this is where people should have to answer the question: are you willing to send American and coalition troops on the ground in Syria to enforce a no-fly zone? Are you willing to have American planes and service members from our Air Force there enforcing that?

If you think Syria and Russia are going to allow a no-fly zone and just lay down and let this thing happen without fighting back, I think that's a big mistake.

And so what we'll see, then, is kicking off of a major conflict that folks who are advocating for have not clearly explained what are the after effects of this? There are so many other issues with the no-fly zone that those proposing have not addressed that I think they should be put on the record to explain why they support it.

BLITZER: Yes. Hillary Clinton supports the no-fly zone. Bernie Sanders opposes the no-fly zone. That's one of the areas I'm sure will come up in the debate tomorrow night.

Tulsi Gabbard, thanks very much for joining us. Once again, congratulations, Hawaii Army National Guard. You've been promoted from captain to major on this day. Thank you for your service.

GABBARD: Thanks so much, Wolf. Aloha.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source