CNN "The Situation Room" - Transcript: Interview With Texas Congressman Marc Veasey

Interview

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ACOSTA: They used to be fierce rivals, President Trump and Rand Paul. Now they're somewhat aligned on this issue of Russia.

Manu Raju, thank you very much. Appreciate it.

Joining me now, Representative Marc Veasey, a Democrat who serves on the Armed Services Committee.

Congressman, thanks for joining us.

Do you view the president's security clearance threat, getting back to that, as possible obstruction of justice or witness intimidation? What do you think?

REP. MARC VEASEY (D), TEXAS: Oh, I think that the president was obviously wrong in him revoking Brennan's security clearance.

And I just think that it's a distraction, obviously. I that he's trying to distract from what's going on with Omarosa and all of these tapes.

But as far as an obstruction of justice is concerned, I would definitely need to see more of that. But I think that there's obviously a lot of evidence out there, whether it's the -- trying to get rid of Rod Rosenstein, or -- and the other way that he's handled the Justice Department, that there's obviously -- it's clear to me that there's been some obstruction of justice that's taken place.

And hopefully Mueller thing get down to the bottom of it quickly.

ACOSTA: And what does it tell you that all of these former intelligence and national security officials have signed onto this letter condemning the president's action?

We have them up on screen right now, Congressman. They're not just Democrats. The president likes to say that he's being attacked by Democrats. They're Republicans and Democrats from the intelligence community who have signed on to this. What does that say to you?

VEASEY: Oh, that to me, that says that it's clear that he was wrong and what he did.

I mean, you think about Admiral McRaven, who was just our chancellor of the University of Texas, just someone that's served in the Navy with distinction. And for him to pin that letter to "The Washington Post" saying, hey, revoke my security clearance also, I mean, that says a lot.

You're talking about someone that's very apolitical and someone that had very strong words for the president. It's clear that he was wrong, that he doesn't have the temperament to be president of the United States. And I wish that we could revoke the president and the rest of his term.

Obviously, it's too premature for that right now, but I hope that, in 2020, when we have another election, that the American public just gets sick and tired of this, and that we're ready to move on, because, I mean, this gentleman, this man that's in the White House right now, he does not have the temperament, he lacks the leadership qualities and the skills to be president.

And what happened in Helsinki, to him using the N-word with Omarosa -- of course, that rumor has been out for a long time now -- that he's just not fit to serve. And if someone needs to be just honorably discharged, it needs to be the president.

[18:10:12]

ACOSTA: And President Trump says he's going to be revoking more security clearances.

Congressman, what impact do you think that could have on national security? Is that a worry to you?

VEASEY: I'm confident that, whatever the president does, that the national security of this country is going to be fine with the people that work at the Pentagon.

But, again, it just shows me that the president, again, just he lacks the temperament. I mean, why go and revoke all of these security clearances, just so you can distract from something that you said that was very embarrassing?

I mean, Jim, I'm not sure if you have read about some of the outtakes on "The Apprentice." I mean, they're saying that he may have used the N-word maybe 20, 30 times, that he was very, very mean towards his -- the way he described intelligence of his children in some of these outtakes, and that this video was an absolute disgrace.

And so he's going to continue to try to use his office, to try to use his platform, hi billy pulpit, to distract the American public. But I don't think that is going to work. I think that if you look at the polls, and you look at how Democrats are doing around the around the country and seats that we thought that we were never going to be competitive in, quite frankly, I think that it just shows that the American public is just sick and tired of this and that they want a backstop against the remainder of his presidency.

ACOSTA: But, Congressman, you would agree that that has not been verified yet, that there are these tapes that exists of the president using that language? Isn't that right? We haven't proven that yet. That is that is something that has been speculated upon for sometime now, but until Omarosa produces some evidence of this, or Mark Burnett, for example, the executive producer of "The Apprentice," we don't know for sure that the president did that.

You're convinced that he did, but...

(CROSSTALK)

ACOSTA: ... we don't have that proof, is what you're saying.

VEASEY: I'm convinced that he did.

But if you -- if you think about how long this rumor has been out, and you think about what Sarah Sanders said at the press conference, that she could not guarantee the American public that the president did not use the N-word 20 or 30 times on some of these outtakes, to me, that's proof that there were things said on that tape that were absolutely reprehensible and not becoming of a United States president.

And, again, it is just...

(CROSSTALK)

ACOSTA: Would you call on Mark Burnett to release those tapes? Would you call on that show producer to release those tapes? If anybody has tapes, would you call on them to release those tapes?

VEASEY: I absolutely call him to release the tapes.

I know that what I have read in the past, that there are some confidentiality agreements that don't allow the producers of the show to release the tapes, but they own the tapes. They can release them to the American public. And I absolutely think that they should.

I mean, it's, again, just an embarrassment. And if he wants to put it to rest, he should call on the tapes to be released. If he's never said these words, he should go ahead and call on these outtakes from "The Apprentice" to be released.

ACOSTA: Right.

VEASEY: He can do that right now.

ACOSTA: And, Congressman, I want to talk about the Paul Manafort trial, because that obviously is a critical part of the Mueller investigation.

The jury did not reach a verdict today. But what do you think the verdict will say about the Russia investigation when it comes down?

VEASEY: Well, obviously, there's a lot that's going on in the Ukraine, even right now.

I mean, there were -- I know that when I was in the Ukraine a couple of years ago, that there was -- we were told there was Soviet agent -- I'm sorry -- Russian agents that were crawling all over the place, and that we needed to be very careful as we moved around the country.

And I think getting to the bottom of who he communicated with while he was in the Ukraine, and if there is the conviction, I think it will just be -- again, just more smoke and a lot of evidence that the president and his team, his campaign team, colluded with the Russians on the 2016 campaign.

In my opinion, based on what I have been seeing and reading in the news and the things that I'm hearing on Capitol Hill, there's no doubt in my mind that that's happened. I think that for the American public that there -- that we need to obviously wait for Mueller to complete his investigation.

But I think that one of the reasons why the president is trying to say that Jeff Sessions needs to fire the assistant attorney general and that he needs to end this investigation, I think it's clear that he knows that something illegal took place in 2016.

ACOSTA: OK. And we will have to wait for the end of that investigation to find that out.

Congressman Marc Veasey, thank you very much for joining us. We appreciate it.

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