CNN "The Situation Room" - Transcript: Interview with Sen. Mazie Hirono

Interview

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BLITZER: Sure they are. All right, Jim Acosta, thank you very much.

Joining us now, Democratic Senator Mazie Hirono of Hawaii, a member of both the Judiciary and the Armed Service Committees. Senator thanks so much for joining us and I want to get right to the breaking news here. You heard it reported. The Office of Legal Counsel over at the Justice Department has just released this very lengthy and I have it here, 33- page opinion siding with the Treasury Department's refusal to hand over President Trump's tax returns to lawmakers, tax returns from the last six years. Does that hurt Congress' case right now? Where do you go from here?

[17:10:01] SEN. MAZIE HIRONO (D-HI): This is totally not unexpected. The law, the relevant law says that these returns must be turned over. The word must says must. So whatever Attorney General Barr and the Office of Legal Counsel is arguing does not comport with the plain meaning of the statute. But it's not surprising because you have an attorney general who continues to act like the president's personal lawyer and not lawyer for the United States. So once again, sadly, I'm not surprised because basically what the president wants are people around him who will protect him and who will make sure that he gets his way.

BLITZER: I just want to be precise. The law says that the Treasury Department shall hand over the tax returns. That's the argument that the Congress is making. But the letter from the Office of Legal Counsel over the Justice Department says Congress' request raises, in their words, a serious risk of abuse. Do you have any concerns about lawmakers abusing their power in cases like this, for example, releasing that confidential, that quiet information about someone's tax returns making it public?

HIRONO: The president said himself during his campaign that he would release his tax returns and he says a lot of things and he said a lot of things during his campaign but he hasn't delivered on very many of them. So here is another instance. The word shall is in the statute. Shall means - shall which means must. So that's how I look at it.

And again, I'm really disappointed. More than disappointed in the attorney general for not reading the statute the way it should be read. This is an attorney general who believes in what's known as a unitary executive which means all power goes with the executive, i.e., the president.

So, there's a lot of danger in that the perspective of the attorney general with regard to not just this but so many other issues that will come before Congress. And their attempt to get to the bottom of what this administration is doing in so many areas and including, by the way, continuing obstruction of the Mueller report and what that portends.

BLITZER: So what do Democrats do now?

HIRONO: We have to go to court. And I just think that every time that the Trump administration makes a decision or he does an executive order, somebody has to go to court. What a waste of resources and time. But that's what we're having to do. So that's one of the reasons that this administration is so intent on packing the courts with, by the way, the complicity of Mitch McConnell. So intent on packing the courts with people who will side with the president on this as well as so many other issues. That is their intent and the court packing that is going on and why Mitch McConnell sole intent on having as many judges being placed in their lifetime positions as possible, as quickly as possible because just about everything this administration does leads to a court battle.

BLITZER: Senator, let's turn to the president's stunning admission that he would be willing to accept foreign dirt on a political opponent including foreign dirt provided from Russia or China or other adversaries of the United States. You support opening an impeachment inquiry but many of your Democratic colleagues still very much reluctant to open a formal procedure. Do you think comments like this from the president will convince lawmakers who might be on the fence right now that it's time to begin impeachment proceedings?

HIRONO: I've said that it's time to begin impeachment inquiries which means that we're going to be very focused on all of their different aspects of what this administration is doing this including, by the way, the obstruction of justice claims that are examined by Mueller.

So, yes, I say it's time for us to be very focused on what we need to have the country focused on as we all know. And it's been said and framed this way, people are going to watch the movie. They're not going to read the book. They're not going to read the 400-page Mueller report. And particularly the part two which talks about and lays out the obstruction of justice activities that this president has engaged in and continues to engage in.

BLITZER: The Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is dismissing your concerns, the Democrats concerns about the president's latest comments. He says Democrats are trying to keep the 2016 election alive. What's your response to Mitch McConnell?

HIRONO: I think it's really sad that Mitch McConnell continues to support the president and everything he does. He is like a total apologist for the president. What I think should happen is that every single member of Congress should be asked would you take dirt, would you meet with the foreign country to accept dirt on an opponent. Every member of Congress should be asked that. And I noticed that Mitch McConnell couldn't even answer that. I consider that pathetic and I would say unpatriotic.

[17:15:01] BLITZER: Let's turn to another sensitive issue. You're in the Armed Services Committee. The attacks on these oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman, the Trump administration says Iran is behind these bombings. Have you been briefed on these attacks?

HIRONO: No. And I think Congress needs to be briefed because this administration's reputation for honesty is not exactly high. And so Iran could very well be behind these attacks but we need to know for sure. And I'd like to hear from the Intelligence Community and if we are creating a scenario where we could possibly go to war with another country, for one thing the president needs authorization from the Congress and he is certainly not moving in that direction. And as our European allies have said, this is a time for maximum restraint because we hardly need to be bungling ourselves into yet another Middle Eastern war.

BLITZER: Senator Hirono thanks so much for joining us.

HIRONO: Thank you.

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