CNN "CNN Newsroom" - Transcript: Interview with Sen. John Barrasso

Interview

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[09:33:07] POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: All right, this morning, tension is escalating with Iran. U.S. officials have confirmed five armed Iranian boats unsuccessfully tried to seize a British oil tanker in the Persian Gulf. This is just as it was crossing into the Strait of Hormuz. Iran denying the incident but the U.S. says it has video.

With me now is Republican Senator John Barrasso of Wyoming. Not only does he serve on the Foreign Relations Committee and is the number three ranking Republican in Senate leadership, he was just there on the USS Abraham off the coast of Iran.

So, sir, such an important voice to have this morning. I appreciate you taking the time.

SEN. JOHN BARRASSO (R-WY): Thanks for having me, Poppy.

HARLOW: Of course.

You have said vis-a-vis Iran, quote, I'd rather do this diplomatically than militarily. And I'm interested in, given what you've just seen, the service members you've just spent time with, and what Iran has just done to that British tanker, has your position changed vis-a-vis diplomacy versus military escalation?

BARRASSO: No, not at all. No one wants war, but we are prepared, if necessary. And I saw that with the Wyoming National Guard in Kuwait, as well as with our sailors who are right there off the coast of Iran. We are prepared if need to go.

What I also heard in the region, because we're dealing really with 40 years of bad behavior by Iran, is that the president, his action last week, by showing strength but not attacking actually increased the resolve of other nations in the area against Iran. So it was a very well received what the president has done.

HARLOW: That's interesting.

OK, so let's talk about another critical country in the Middle East and a complex relationship with the United States right now, and that is Saudi Arabia. Just this week a bipartisan bill has been introduced in Congress,

including from Republicans James Risch and Marco Rubio, to examine the Saudi-U.S. relationship given the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, the White House's failure to meet the legal requirement to report to you guys about whether they think Mohammad bin Salman is the mastermind of that, and the ongoing humanitarian toll from the war in Yemen.

[09:35:09] Are you supportive of that legislation to have a review of the U.S.' relationship at this point with Saudi Arabia?

BARRASSO: I am supportive of that. I told Chairman Risch yesterday I'm going to co-sponsor that legislation. We need to really reevaluate our long-term relationship with Saudi Arabia, that we have a strategic interest in terms of working closely with them, but they are in complete violation, and specifically the crown prince, of our American values. And that is the issue.

We've had a relationship with them over 70 years. We're going to need to have a relationship with them in the future.

HARLOW: Yes.

BARRASSO: But we need to see how that relationship works in terms of the way they behave, in terms of their neighbors, as well as for our own citizens.

HARLOW: Right. And we'll all remember John McCain's words, our interests are our values and our values are our interests as a nation.

Ted Cruz -- Republican Senator Ted Cruz blasted the administration this week on arms sales to Saudi Arabia and some Middle Eastern countries without the approval of Congress. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. TED CRUZ (R-TX): I voted with the administration on the substance because of the threat of Iran, but I'll tell you, from my end, if the administration does it again and there is not a live an exigent emergency, you will not have my vote and I predict you will not have the vote of a number of other Republicans as well. The simpler process is follow the damn law and respect it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: Senator, are you one of those fellow Republicans who agrees with Ted Cruz?

BARRASSO: I support the sale of arms to Saudi Arabia. There are no perfect actors in that part of the world. There are some that have our interest and some who --

HARLOW: Hold -- hold on, Senator, it's not --

BARRASSO: So I am going to support the sale of the arms to Saudi Arabia.

HARLOW: But it's not a question -- it's -- and I -- I hear that, but

it's not a question of supporting the sale, it's -- it's a question of doing it without the approval laid out in the law that is needed by Congress. That's the question.

BARRASSO: Well, I think there's been an effort to block the sale, and the president's going to veto that and I'm going to vote to override the veto -- to sustain the president's veto.

HARLOW: OK.

Why do you think the president should be able to have unchecked authority to do that?

BARRASSO: Well, I don't think any president ought to have unchecked authority. I think you have to take into consideration the national security interests of the United States at a time when Iran is being so belligerent and so active, as they are today in terms of continuing to move toward development of a nuclear weapon and as well as offer -- efforts to slow down the flow of oil to the rest of the world because of the Straits of Hormuz, that's 20 percent of all the oil flow. That would shake up the world economy.

HARLOW: No, I hear you.

BARRASSO: So I want to make sure that Saudi Arabia is prepared to deal with the Iranian threat. They are our military allies in the area.

HARLOW: OK.

I hear you and we're going to move on in a moment.

I would just note that if you dig into the details, as I'm sure you have, sir, about this arms sales agreement, some of those orders, especially by Saudi Arabia for some of these arms, are for years out from now. So they don't actually address the current Iran threat.

But let's move on to the census.

The president will go to the Rose Garden today and CNN has learned that he will likely take executive action to add that citizenship question to the 2020 census after the Supreme Court ruling that the legal argument for the administration now is not enough to allow them to do that.

Are you supportive of the president taking executive action to get the citizenship question on the census?

BARRASSO: I am supportive of having the citizenship question on the census. I think the more information that we can have makes us better able to make decisions in Congress, especially in light of the fact that Democrats in the debates are saying we want to provide free health insurance for all illegal immigrants. I think as you make policy decisions, we need to know how many people you're talking about, where they are and what they're doing. HARLOW: OK. So we've learned -- we've learned the administration may

use that, Democrats, as an argument as to why they should be able to do this with executive action.

I just wonder, because you were so vocal, sir, as a senator during the Obama administration against the executive action that President Obama took. But now you're comfortable with the president, despite the Supreme Court saying, look, your legal argument isn't good enough, come up with something else. Why are you comfortable now with this president taking executive action on this?

BARRASSO: Well, I'm of a view that additional legal arguments are going to be made. But if you're asking me, is it important to have this in the census, I believe it is. I have, from the beginning, and I continue to support including it in -- in the way that the president wants it to be done.

HARLOW: It's -- OK, I hear you. That's not -- fair enough. So, fair enough. That's your view.

What I'm asking you is, are you comfortable with the route? Are you comfortable with the president doing it on his own through executive action, not waiting for this to play out through the courts?

[09:40:00] BARRASSO: Yes, I'm -- I'm comfortable with what the president is doing. I think they are going to continue to pursue the legal arguments along those lines. And we'll wait to see exactly what the president has to say this afternoon.

HARLOW: OK. All right, we've got to go, but I have to get this in very quickly.

Your fellow members of Congress, you've got two bills that came out this week to try to force equal way for women athletes following the U.S. women's amazing win at the World Cup. Joe Manchin has one. You've got Democratic female senators with another.

Do you -- do you support that legislation?

BARRASSO: Yes, I -- I haven't seen it yet, but congratulations to the soccer team. They were absolutely amazing. As I was flying back from the Persian Gulf, I was trying to follow it, you know, on my iPhone, and great, great victory for America and the American women.

HARLOW: OK. So in a -- in a simpler way, should the women's soccer team make as much as the men?

BARRASSO: Well, I would think so. Certainly they play better.

HARLOW: There you go. Thank you, Senator John Barrasso, we appreciate it.

BARRASSO: Thanks.

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