CNN "Newsroom" - Transcript: Interview with Rep. Krishnamoorthi

Interview

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JIM SCIUTTO, CNN ANCHOR: Two weeks from today the government could, believe it or not, shut down again if a border security spending deal does not happen. And President Trump is already calling bipartisan talks to avoid that shutdown a waste of time, in his words.

Joining me now, Republican Congressman Tom Reed from the great state of New York.

Congressman, thanks for taking the time this morning.

REP. TOM REED (R), NEW YORK: Great to be with you, Jim.

SCIUTTO: So you heard the president's comments. It's a waste of time. He already seems to be telegraphing an executive action or an emergency declaration here. Would you support the president declaring an emergency if Republicans and Democrats don't reach an agreement?

REED: Well, first, I understand the basis for the president to act, but I don't support that. I believe we should fix this legislatively. This committee should be given an opportunity to come to an agreement. And I -- I share the concern the president's articulating.

Do I have a lot of hope that we'll actually get something here? Maybe not. But at the end of the day, we need to fix this through the legislative process because that's the way it should be done. And Congress should be held accountable for failing to lead and solve this problem.

[09:35:13] SCIUTTO: Fair enough.

Could it truly be a national emergency? I mean you heard the intelligence chiefs, appointed by this president, on Tuesday. They did not list a crisis at the southern border as a top national security threat to this country. If that's true, how can the president call it an emergency?

REED: Well, I think, obviously, the commander in chief, as fundamental as well as me as a member of Congress, our fundamental pledge and oath is to protect our fellow American citizens. And everyone agrees, the border on the southern border is broken. It needs to be fixed. There are risks with drug traffickers, human traffickers, death to our fellow American citizens. So I think there's a national emergency claim there. I just don't think that's the appropriate way to resolve this.

I think the appropriate way to resolve this is just hold those negotiators in the -- in Congress, on this committee, in the room in perpetuity and maybe dangle 24-hour, 48-hour CRs over their heads to keep the government open and force Congress to do its job. Congress is failing in this effort.

SCIUTTO: What would you support conceding to Democrats to get money for a border barrier or wall? Would you support, for instance, granting not just temporary protections but more permanent protections to those known as dreamers?

REED: I think there's a huge opportunity here, Jim. You've got 1 million to 1.5 million dreamers and temporarily protected status individuals. These are real people. These are kids that you have an opportunity -- the Democrats have been saying for decades that they stand with these dreamers and folks. I think there's a path there in regards to giving them lawful permanent status. That is the compromised position in my humble opinion that could be there and that you could get to yes on with border security as part of the negotiation.

And I would just hope that Democrats -- don't be hypocritical. Stand here, seize this opportunity to get to yes. You won't have it. And it's -- it's right before you. The success is here.

SCIUTTO: But to get to yes, you would need Republicans, like yourself and the president supporting giving that quid pro quo as it were. Are Republicans prepared to offer that to Democrats, permanent, not temporary protections?

REED: I believe there's enough of us on the Republican and Democratic side. Because, remember, we need 60 votes in the Senate. So it's going to have to be a bipartisan deal. I think the silent number of members are there to support such a deal.

SCIUTTO: Let me ask you this. The president, we now know, is sending thousands more troops to the southern border. There are already about 2,400 there. Possibly as many as another 3,000. When that happens, there will be almost three times as many troops at the southern border as there are fighting ISIS in Syria. And those 2,000 troops fighting ISIS in Syria are about to leave.

Is that where members of the active U.S. military should be fighting now? And does that say that -- that the southern border's a threat but ISIS is not?

REED: I don't think it says that. I think ISIS is always going to be a threat in the foreseeable future. And we will use resources and tools and technology to attack that. But there is a threat at the southern border. It's not a one or the other type of answer. It is both. And I think at the southern border you've got a threat there.

SCIUTTO: But the president is making it that because -- well, the president's making that because there's going to be zero troops fighting ISIS in Syria and some 5,000 more at the southern border. REED: Oh, but, Jim, don't -- make no mistake, there will be -- still

be troops and military resources to take on the ISIS threat across the entire world, in other areas of the world, as well as using technology to disrupt their operations. So I'm very confident in our U.S. military to be able to handle the ISIS threat. But, at the same time, we do have to address the threat coming through the southern border.

SCIUTTO: Let me ask you about the president's tax returns. You're, of course, a member of the Ways and Means Committee. Next week your Democratic colleagues on the Ways and Means Committee, they're going to hold a hearing on the president's tax returns. Why don't Americans have a right to see what their president's income is and whether he's paying taxes or not?

REED: Well, this is going to be an interesting debate. You know, this authority that the chairman of the Ways and Means Committee has to pull anyone's tax returns, now, we ought to be careful we're not going down a slippery slope here of just picking for political purposes someone's tax returns for a political process or political gain. And so I'm very concerned about this.

SCIUTTO: But we're not talking about anyone's. We're talking about -- we're talking about the leader of the free world, the president of the largest economy in the world, following what has been an established protocol for decades by Republican and Democratic presidents. I just wonder, for you, as a citizen, who I assume pays his taxes, don't you and I have a right to know whether our president pays taxes?

REED: Well, this is the slippery slope. So, where do you draw the line, just the president? Do you do that for the speaker of the House? Do you do that for the majority leader in -- in the -- in the House and in the Senate?

SCIUTTO: Yes, draw the line at the president. Why not -- why not just draw -- why not just draw the line at the president? Don't Americans have a right to know that their president -- whether their president pays taxes?

[09:40:01] REED: Well, I think the president has made it very clear as to where he stands on his tax returns. And that is his right to do so as a citizen of America and have that privacy right protected.

Now, what -- we're going to engage in the debate. Let's see what they ask for in the Ways and Means Committee. Let's see what happens as they go through the process. But, at the end of the day, you know, the president has been clear with his tax returns, in regards to that, and the American people elected him and that -- that is the process, that is the system.

SCIUTTO: But he's been clear saying that there's an audit -- he's been clear only in saying that there's an audit and he's not going to release.

I'm just curious, to you, as an American, I mean, again, you pay your taxes. If a self-avowed billionaire pays a lower tax rate than you, how does that make you feel? Would you be comfortable with that? REED: Well, you know, that is a fundamental debate of the tax code

that we had and that's why we're so pleased that we got tax cuts on the books to reduce taxes for everyone. You know, everyone should pay their taxes. There's no question about that. But do you really want to give one person, chairman of the Ways Committee, the unilateral authority to pull anyone's tax returns for whatever reason, for whatever purpose? That is a tremendous amount of power that could be potentially abused. And if we just say, oh, it's OK for the president but no one else. Well, then the next chairman could say, well, how about the next -- how about my political adversary? How about the guy down the street that I'm having a neighborhood dispute with? This is the privacy debate that we'll have loud and clear in D.C. on this issue over the next couple of week.

SCIUTTO: You could stop -- you could stop at the president, but we'll see. And I know the debate's just beginning.

Congressman Tom Reed, thank you, as always, for joining our show.

REED: It's always great to be with you guys.

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