CNN "The Situation Room" - Transcript: Interview With Connecticut Senator Richard Blumenthal

Interview

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BLITZER: Looks like Thursday morning, that is when it is going to happen.

All right, thanks very much, Jessica Schneider, for that.

Joining us now, Senator Richard Blumenthal. He's a key Democrat who serves on the Judiciary Committee.

Senator, I know you have got a vote, but let's get through a couple of substantive questions before you run off.

Is it appropriate, do you believe, for Judge Kavanaugh to go on FOX News ahead of Thursday's hearing?

SEN. RICHARD BLUMENTHAL (D), CONNECTICUT: Judge Kavanaugh has the right and the freedom to explain or make his case in whatever forum he wishes.

The important place that he has to be truthful and completely accurate is before our committee on Thursday. And there is simply no way, Wolf -- and here is the really important point -- that the United States Senate in good conscience can vote on this nomination without a full, fair FBI investigation.

There is no way the United States Senate should proceed to a vote without an investigation conducted by professionals who are trained in investigating sexual assault cases, and a hearing where all of the witnesses, not just Dr. Blasey Ford and Deborah Ramirez, should come forward, but also other witnesses who can offer facts and evidence.

That's what is important here.

BLITZER: So what options do you have to get that done your way? It looks like the committee chairman and the Republicans, they're not going along with a full-scale FBI investigation, for example.

[18:25:06]

BLUMENTHAL: My hope is that our Republican colleagues, and mostly the Republican leadership, will realize that these claims about smearing the nominee really are designed to smear the survivors and the survivor community.

Think about the nightmare that these two women face, the public shaming, character assassination, and even threats to their public safety in coming forward. They have everything to lose, nothing to gain.

Their credibility is really very powerful, and that's why I hope our Republican colleagues will heed the message that they receive from the key Republicans whose votes are necessary, as well as the American public.

BLITZER: What does it tell you, Senator, that this new allegation by a Yale classmate has led Judge Kavanaugh and his supporters to double down?

BLUMENTHAL: They're doubling down with claims about smears and about lack of corroboration, but remember that each of them has named potential witnesses who can be interviewed by the FBI if there is an investigation.

That's what needs to be done here, so that we have an impartial, objective inquiry by trained professionals. And the courage of these two survivors to come forward, facing these threats, I should -- I think should inspire, not just the Republicans, not just Democrats, but really all of us to come together in support of the survivor community.

BLITZER: And that former Yale classmate, Deborah Ramirez, has acknowledged the gaps in her own memory of the incident that she describes. How credible do you think she is?

BLUMENTHAL: I believe that she is very credible.

She's come forward to tell her story with sufficient detail that it merits investigation.

And I believe Dr. Blasey Ford. I believe the survivor. And the question is, why are they blocking an investigation? What do they have to hide? Why are they rushing to judgment? And why are they preventing us from seeing millions of pages of documents that could bear on Judge Kavanaugh's credibility?

The stain and the cloud will be not just on Judge Kavanaugh, but on the entire Supreme Court. BLITZER: Do you think eventually your committee chairman, Senator

Grassley, will accept Senator Collins' call, for example, for a staff interview with Deborah Ramirez, the Yale classmate?

BLUMENTHAL: More than a staff interview is required. It has to be a full, fair FBI investigation.

And, by the way, reopening investigations is done routinely. Since June of this year, 10 background investigations have been reopened for judicial nominees before our committee.

So it is entirely routine for the FBI to go back, do more interviews, conduct an investigation. That's what is needed here, not a staff interview.

BLITZER: Senator Blumenthal, I know you got to run and vote, but thanks so much for joining us.

BLUMENTHAL: Thank you.

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