CNN "The Situation Room" - Transcript: Interview with Rep. Ro Khanna

Interview

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BLITZER: Yes, they can do two things at the same time, if they want to. Thanks very much, David Chalian, for that.

Joining us now, Democratic congressman Ro Khanna of California. He is a member of both the Oversight and the Armed Services Committees.

Congressman, thank so much for joining us.

REP. RO KHANNA (D), CALIFORNIA: Thanks, Wolf, for having me on. I agree with everything David just said.

BLITZER: All right. Well, I'll let him know. I think he is still listening. Let's begin with your reaction to what we just heard from the

president of the United States. He is calling the House Speaker, Nancy Pelosi, crazy. He's saying she's lost it.

What was your reaction when you heard that?

KHANNA: My reaction is Nancy Pelosi is the only politician in this country who has gone toe to toe with Donald Trump and won. And the reason she is so effective is she doesn't get in the mud with him. But she expresses --

[17:10:00]

KHANNA: -- the same disappointment she has as a mother of five kids. She says, look this is just silly. It's sad what he's doing. It's sad for the country. And Trump really doesn't know how to handle her. And that's why I think he's lashing out.

BLITZER: Is there any remaining hope, Congressman, for Democrats to pass legislation with this president?

KHANNA: There is. We're always going to try. Unlike Mitch McConnell, who that said he wanted Barack Obama to be a one-term president and was unwilling to do anything, we're willing to pass legislation on infrastructure and reach a compromise with the White House on lowering the cost of prescription drugs, on having universal broadband.

We've already passed a number of bills in the House. And we still would be happy to work with the president. It's he who is saying that he doesn't want to do anything.

BLITZER: At least 35 Democrats, one Republican, they've publicly called for either beginning impeachment proceedings against the president or said he has committed impeachable offenses. Yesterday was 29. Now it's up to 35, probably more.

Where do you stand?

KHANNA: I support the Speaker and the leadership. I think we need to have all our committees investigate, get the facts out and also focus on the legislative agenda. I was in a meeting yesterday morning. And I'll tell you, the vast majority of the caucus is behind the Speaker and the leadership. Whip Clyburn said if there was a secret ballot, the majority would vote for the Speaker's approach and I think he's right.

BLITZER: You sit on the Oversight Committee; your chairman, Elijah Cummings, says he's, quote, "getting there" on the issue of impeachment.

Do you think the president's attempts to resist oversight are making impeachment more likely?

KHANNA: I think he's making it more likely that more House members are going to feel that way. The irony is the one person that he should be most gracious toward or most cooperative toward is Speaker Pelosi.

Speaker Pelosi is trying to be methodical and every time he snubs the Judiciary Committee or the Oversight Committee, he is really forcing the hands of Congress to escalate the conflict. If he were more transparent, if he cooperated, I believe actually it would be in his interest to avoid impeachment.

BLITZER: The Mueller report contains hundreds of pages of information documenting the president's behavior.

What more do you need to see before you make a decision on whether the House of Representatives should formally begin impeachment proceedings?

KHANNA: Well, Wolf, there is no doubt in my mind that the president committed misconduct or that there were serious misconduct in terms of violations of the law. The question, though, impeachment is a political question. And what the Speaker has said and what I believe is you have to have the American public with you.

You can't do something that the majority of the country doesn't believe in. So I think we have to make the public case. We have to have Mueller testify and McGahn testify and then see whether the public is convinced.

BLITZER: How do you respond to those of your Democratic colleagues, some of the critics out there, who say you're putting politics over principle?

KHANNA: I don't think it's putting politics in an electoral sense. There is a principle of not ripping this country apart. There is a principle of finding a way to heal this nation and if you're doing something that doesn't have the support of the majority of Americans, then that is doing further damage to a body politic that is already polarized.

That's why our founders wanted this judgment to be made in Congress. And we are aggressively investigating. We're willing to have people come and make the case. And Watergate, as you know, it took almost a year and a half. And I believe that the American people may get there.

But it would be irresponsible in my view to act before we made that case to the American people.

BLITZER: Congressman Ro Khanna, thanks as usual for joining us.

KHANNA: Thanks for having me on, Wolf.

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