CNN "CNN Newsroom" - Transcript: Interview with Rep. John Garamendi (D-CA)
Interview
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JIM SCIUTTO, CNN ANCHOR, NEWSROOM: This morning, Democrats are outright rejecting the president's plan to end the government shutdown by offering temporary protections for some undocumented immigrants in return for $5.7 billion for the president's desired border wall.
Joining me now is Democratic congressman John Garamendi of California.
Congressman, thank you for taking the time this morning.
REP. JOHN GARAMENDI (D), CALIFORNIA: Good to be with you on this very special MLK day .
SCIUTTO: Absolutely. We saw Representative Carlos Curbelo tweet at the Democrats -- he's somewhat recently left, lost his seat in Congress but has worked with Democrats before -- he said, "Why don't Democrats make a counteroffer instead of rejecting the president's -- this new White House proposal?"
TEXT: Good point by @RepLizCHeney on #MTP: If Dems really care about #DREAMers and #TPS beneficiaries, why don't they make a counteroffer instead of simply rejecting the new White House proposal?
SCIUTTO: Is he right? Why not a counteroffer from Nancy Pelosi and other members of the party like yourself?
GARAMENDI: Well, there certainly will be a counteroffer when this government opens up. It's just unconscionable that the Republicans continually hold the U.S. government hostage for something that they want.
Think back about Newt Gingrich back in the '90s, and then Ted Cruz over the Affordable Care Act, and then the various fiscal cliffs.
Every time there is some sort of opportunity for leverage, the Republicans use the American government as a hostage. And we just think that's not proper.
We're happy to --
SCIUTTO: I hear you.
GARAMENDI: -- sit down and discuss things.
SCIUTTO: I hear you, and it's a point Democrats make and I know a lot of folks who've been furloughed as well, and this is a tough time for them.
But just in terms of ending the shutdown, would Democrats back away from their demand to reopen government before further negotiations if they were to get something more from the president?
For instance --
GARAMENDI: Yes.
SCIUTTO: -- instead of three years of protections for Dreamers, how about permanent protection for Dreamers? Is --
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GARAMENDI: Well, that's --
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SCIUTTO: -- there something the president could offer that could stop the shutdown?
GARAMENDI: Well, certainly there is. Open the government. You want a deal with Dreamers, fine. But let's keep in mind that the Dreamer problem is one that the president created all by himself.
SCIUTTO: Understood.
GARAMENDI: The Dreamers were protected in the Obama administration. The president ended that, and now he's really offering to go back and solve the problem that he had already created.
The same thing with the temporary protective status individuals that are here in the United States. He created the problem.
He's not offering anything. And by the way, the $5.7 billion is still out there for an undefined wall somewhere along the 17, 1,900-mile- long border.
TEXT: What's In Trump's New Offer; $5.7B for border wall; 3 years of protection for 700,000 DACA recipients; 3 years of protections for 300,000 immigrants with expiring temporary status; Money for drug detection technology, humanitarian assistance; More border agents, immigration judges
GARAMENDI: These are things that can be negotiated. But I cannot understand why this president would hold the government of the United States -- presumably the most important government in the world.
I've got to believe that Putin is sitting back there in the Kremlin, going, "Go with it, Mr. President. Go with it, Trump. You're absolutely right. Shut it down."
What more could Putin ask for than the shutdown of the American government? Well, I guess --
SCIUTTO: Let me ask you this --
GARAMENDI: -- he could ask for the termination of NATO.
SCIUTTO: Let me ask you this. Because the president seems to calculate that he loses political leverage, frankly. I mean just in the starkest terms, if he reopens the government and then negotiates. He considers this leverage here.
So I'm just asking if there's something that would change the Democrats' position that you must reopen first and then we'll negotiate.
I mean, is there a sweeter, as you call it, that would put things over the edge beyond the three years of temporary -- we should emphasize temporary -- protections for Dreamers?
GARAMENDI: Yes.
SCIUTTO: Is there something he could offer --
GARAMENDI: Well --
SCIUTTO: -- that would change the Democrats' position?
GARAMENDI: Well, I suspect there is. And that is, let's go through the various elements. That compromise would take some time to negotiate.
I understand that Mitch McConnell -- Senator McConnell -- was going to offer some sort of a deal. Well, now he's going to hold the victims of the Paradise fire in California hostage for his discussion, in addition to the U.S. government. All of those things.
It's just unconscionable that you would shut down the government of the United States for more -- what, 31 days now, so that you could get $5.7 billion for an undefined border wall. It's just -- it makes no sense at all.
Is there something the president can offer? Sure. Open the government. Sit down and negotiate.
Tell us where you want to put that wall, Mr. President, and tell us exactly why it is necessary in that particular location.
And by the way, 80 to 90 percent of the drugs come through the ports of entry. They come on airplanes, they come on trains and cars and containers. One out of five cars is checked.
You want safety? Open up this government. If you're concerned about the security of America, put our government back to work. Put those coastguardsmen. Give them the pay that they need. The TSA. All of the people that keep us safe in ways that most people just don't appreciate until it's gone.
SCIUTTO: Let me ask you on a different topic, if I can, because --
GARAMENDI: Sure.
SCIUTTO: -- you've been outspoken on Syria, and we had another attempted attack on U.S. forces in Syria today, just five days after those four Americans were killed.
[10:35:07] Do you believe that the administration's decision to withdraw U.S. forces from Syria -- leave U.S. allies there, in effect -- that that has put U.S. forces still on the ground there in greater danger?
GARAMENDI: Absolutely. There is absolutely no doubt about it, that the president's statement of withdrawing now was a great rallying cry for ISIS.
"Let's toughen up," they said to themselves. And they have. They've become much more aggressive. That war with ISIS is not over.
And when you pull out, you leave a vacuum. Who's going to take over that vacuum? Well, certainly ISIS, for starters. And then Assad from Syria, and then Russia and Turkey and Iran.
It creates a very serious problem in the area. Already we've seen the effect of that, with four Americans being killed.
But those troops on the ground were critical in eliminating ISIS or in the process of eliminating ISIS, and in setting up a negotiation for the future of Syria.
Right now, we're pulling out. It makes no sense whatsoever. There was no plan. There was no political agenda laid out. There was no diplomatic agenda.
The president woke up one morning and then God knows what he had on his mind. He said, "We're out." Well, he's the commander in chief. But it is a very, very serious and, frankly, stupid move.
SCIUTTO: Congressman John Garamendi, thanks very much.
GARAMENDI: Thank you. Jim.
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