CNN "CNN Newsroom" - Transcript: Interview with Representative Ted Lieu

Interview

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JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: And to this company that has ties to a Russian oligarch.

First of all, what do you make of that?

REP. TED LIEU (D), FOREIGN AFFAIRS COMMITTEE: Well, this shows that at the very least it is pay-to-play on steroids. And it shows that the Trump administration is really involved in a culture of corruption. You already have a Cabinet of corruption with Cabinet officials wasting taxpayers' money, and doing things for lobbyists, and now you have the president's own attorney who is involved in this pay-to-play scheme.

Part of that money was at least half a million dollars from a Putin aligned Russian oligarch. That is deeply suspicious and we need to see if that money went anywhere else other than Michael Cohen.

BERMAN: We don't know, though, and Rudy Giuliani who is working as the president's counsel just spoke to our Dana Bash. We don't know if the president knew anything about this. Mayor Giuliani told Dana that he had -- he spoke to the president about this fact and the president said he wasn't aware of that situation until now. In the developments about AT&T and Novartis, Rudy Giuliani said he doubts that the president knew about it.

LIEU: You're right, we don't know what the president knew. We do know that Rudy Giuliani has gone on national TV, and then 48 hours later had to correct his statements so it's not clear what Rudy Giuliani is saying is true.

I also find it interesting that the White House, specifically the White House Press Corps, when they asked Sarah Huckabee Sanders questions on this they refused to answer, they simply keep deflecting to Rudy Giuliani. So I think that is also suspicious.

POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: There is no question that it is, you know, the swampiest of swampy things to do in the history of the swamp administration, but do you think it was illegal?

LIEU: There is nothing particularly illegal about companies paying a lot of money for access. That's what happens. And that's what we're trying to stop, those of us who do really want to drain the swamp for real. But what you're seeing is a huge amount of money to one individual, Michael Cohen, and that is troubling and then when some of it is coming from a Putin aligned Russian oligarch, that's even more troubling.

Donald Trump could actually clear up a lot of this by making statements on the record or simply releasing his tax returns.

BERMAN: I would not hold your breath for the tax returns, Congressman.

The CNN poll, the generic congressional ballot test, the Democratic edge has shrunk considerably over the last few months. It was 16 points. Now it is down to three points. A three-point advantage for Democrats. Why do you think it has shrunk so much?

LIEU: I don't know the reason for that. I know that polls go up and down, but what is more concerning to me are there are individual districts that we need to flip and CNN just reported today that they shifted four House races towards Democrats. So what we need to focus on are the swing districts, districts like the district that Conor Lamb won in Western Pennsylvania and Democrats are running on a message of a better deal, better wages, better jobs.

HARLOW: Yes. Except on the economy the president is doing remarkably well, really no matter who you ask. We got 84 percent of folks in the new CNN poll saying the economy will be extremely or very important to their vote. You've got unemployment below 4 percent and you've also the graphic we have up here is also important because you've also got one in three Republicans saying that they're very enthusiastic, it's something different, but they're very enthusiastic about the midterms, that was back in March.

Now 44 almost half of Republicans are very enthusiastic about the midterms. So what does that tell you about how your Democratic colleagues need to run to win?

LIEU: So that's why we're running on a better deal. We're not saying the economy is not doing particularly well. What we're saying is the top 1 percent in massive corporations are getting all these benefits. The GOP tax law, under analysis by the "Washington Post," 83 percent of the benefits go to the top 1 percent in large corporations. So your ordinary American is not seeing their fruits of the economy.

BERMAN: Congressman Ted Lieu of California, thanks so much for being with us.

LIEU: Thank you.

HARLOW: Thank you.

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