CNN "CNN Newsroom" - Transcript: Interview with Rep. Adam Schiff

Interview

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SCIUTTO: Joining me now is Democratic Congressman Adam Schiff, he is the ranking member on the House Intelligence Committee.

Congressman, thanks very much for taking the time this morning.

REP. ADAM SCHIFF (D), RANKING MEMBER, INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE: You bet. Good to be with you, Jim.

SCIUTTO: So first, you heard CNN's reporting there that Turkish authorities said they have both audio and visual evidence of what they say was a murder inside the Saudi consulate there. Now you have been briefed on the intelligence that the U.S. has, without getting into classified information, I would just ask you this.

Based on what you've seen, does the evidence point to the Saudi government being responsible for Khashoggi's death?

SCHIFF: I think that's certainly the likely outcome here. We're still seeking corroboration of what the Turks have to say. We're still seeking answers in terms of precisely what happened to him. But we fear the worst, that he was killed inside that embassy. And it's hard for me to imagine that the rendition, if not more, came from the highest levels of the Saudi government.

This is not a step you take without making sure that you have, you know, this on the highest authority. So this is going to have very serious repercussions in terms of the U.S.-Saudi relationship, and it should.

SCIUTTO: The administration, the Trump administration's response so far has been conservative, you might say. The president said he's going to stick with U.S. arms sales to Saudi Arabia. The Treasury secretary has announced he's still going to attend a conference in Saudi next week that a number of organizations, including CNN, are pulling out of, and John Bolton, the president's National Security adviser, hedged his bets, it sounded, this morning in an interview with Hugh Hewitt, I want to play that for you and ask for your reaction.

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SCIUTTO: Did you hear not only in Bolton's comments but the president's comments, Mnuchin's travel plans, do you hear the administration hedging here on how far it's going to go with Saudi Arabia?

SCHIFF: Absolutely. And you know, look, I think there are several things at play here. The first is the president has financial interests with the Saudis and has for a very long time. And we know the president's financial interests drive a lot of his thinking and decision-making. But they've also invested so much in the crown prince. They have backed him, I think, quite without restriction in terms of prosecuting the war in Yemen.

They have backed Saudi in the conflict with Qatar, so they put a lot of their investment in the Middle East in the House of Saud. And if that house comes falling down or they're forced to acknowledge that that has been a failure, it's a big problem for the administration. But you know, we also have to consider the fact that the president seems to have no problem maintaining a good relationship with people who are murdering others around the world.

Certainly that's true of Putin. And the president's relationship, it's true of his relationship with Kim Jong-un, who says he loves, who there's every reason to believe murdered one of his own family in an airport in another country. So this doesn't seem to be a deal- breaker, sadly, for the president of the United States.

SCIUTTO: What can Congress do without the president -- some of your Senate colleagues, including Republicans, have mentioned the Magnitsky Act.

SCHIFF: Well, I think sanctions should be applied under the Magnitsky Act if the evidence supports what we believe took place inside that embassy, but more than that, we may have to fall back on what we had to do over the president's opposition vis-a-vis Russia and Putin. And that is we may have to pass measures in Congress to exact a price. And what will really get the Saudis' attention even more than the Magnitsky Act is cutting off support for their campaign in Yemen.

That, I think, will send the strongest message. But I think we should put a pause on things as we get the full facts. And I certainly think that means the Treasury secretary doesn't go to Saudi Arabia for this conference. And that we demand answers, and that we're willing to suspend support, military support, to the Saudis until we get those answers. And if those answers are ultimately that the Saudis ordered the murder of a U.S. resident and journalist, then I think the repercussions are going to be far reaching.

SCIUTTO: And Secretary Pompeo of course recently recertified U.S. arms sales of Saudi Arabia after evidence of this attack that killed children there in Yemen.

I want to ask you about another story CNN is reporting this morning, that the president's lawyers are preparing written answers to some of the Special Counsel Robert Mueller's questions, specifically relating to the question of collusion. In your view, are written answers rather than a face-to-face interview with the president sufficient? SCHIFF: Absolutely not. When you ask for written answers, you're

essentially getting the lawyer's testimony, not the president's testimony.

[10:25:05] It may be that with certain foundational questions you can dispense with them in writing, but this is no substitute for bringing a witness in, being able to ask questions real time, being able to follow up on those answers in real time. And on certain key issues like what was the president's intent when he fired James Comey, was he intending, as he said to Lester Holt, to have an impact on the Russia investigation, you can't get a written answer to questions like that and be able to rely on it in any way.

So I certainly hope this is not an indication that the special counsel does not intend to press forward with subpoenaing the president if necessary for his testimony because I think that will be necessary.

SCIUTTO: Congressman Adam Schiff, thanks very much for joining us.

SCHIFF: Thanks, Jim.

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