CNN "The Situation Room" - Transcript: Interview with Rep. Raja Krishamoorthi

Interview

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BLITZER: We'll see what happens on that front. Alex, thank you very much.

Joining us now, Democratic Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi of Illinois. He's a member of both the Intelligence and Oversight Committees. Congressman, thanks so much for joining us and as you know we have a lot to discuss.

[17:10:00]

But let me get your reaction to the president's statement this afternoon that his administration will no longer deal with the United Kingdom's ambassador to the United States after the leaks of those messages, those cables to London in which the ambassador called the Trump Administration inept and clumsy.

CONGRESSMAN RAJA KRISHNAMOORTHI, (D) ILLINOIS: Well, you know, as a member of the Intelligence Committee, it is become clear to me that we need to be close with our allies and we need to hold our adversaries at bay and one of the most troubling aspects of the Trump Administration's foreign policy is that we push away our allies and sometimes we cozy up to our adversaries like Russia and so forth. In this particular instance, I do think that it is troubling to say the least that the U.K. ambassador would have these views of the Trump Administration.

One part of the excerpts of the cables that I read that caught my attention is that the ambassador from the U.K. said the worst cannot be ruled out with regard to the Trump Administration's possible collusion with the Russians or Donald Trump's collusion with the Russians which really bothered me. And so I think at this point we should probably return to diplomacy 101 and try to repair the bridge and try to bring the government of the United Kingdom closer to us rather than pushing them away.

BLITZER: I know the ambassador -- the enormous - has enormous national security foreign policy experience and that is why the British government sent him to Washington to begin with. Let's move on to discuss the president's continued efforts now to include this very sensitive citizenship question on the 2020 U.S. census despite a significant setback from the U.S. Supreme Court which rejected the administration's rationale last month. At this point, do you believe there is any legal pathway that would allow the administration to include this question on the census which is going forward right now?

KRISHNAMOORTHI: No. Thanks to the leadership of Chairman Cummings on the oversight committee, we got to the bottom of why they actually added the citizenship question to the census which is that they wanted to suppress the count of minorities. And the offered reason, namely that they quote, unquote, "wanted to enforce the Voting Rights Act provision by adding the citizenship question" was clearly shown to be protextual and that is what the Supreme Court found.

At this point any move to issue an executive order or something along those lines to put that citizenship question back on the census in my opinion would be unconstitutional and in any case we should remember there is a trial that is about to unfold in Maryland if the Trump Administration continues with the litigation and I'm convinced that that trial will show the true discriminatory intent behind putting this citizenship question on the census, if that is the way they want to proceed.

BLITZER: As you heard in our report, the House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said the push for the citizenship question is an attempt in her words, "To make America white again." Do you agree with the speaker's suggestion that this is all racially motivated?

KRISHNAMOORTHI: Well, I would actually go back to the information that the republican gerrymandering specialist was -- he conceived of in recommending to the Trump Administration in adding the citizenship question to the census which is that he thought it would help with republican gerrymandering efforts for as far as the eye could see and I think that that is potentially a reason for adding the citizenship question.

In any case, suppressing the count of minorities and others is illegal, unconstitutional and I think that it goes against the spirit of what the constitution commands which is that every person has to be counted, regardless of whether they're a citizen and regardless of whether they vote, for instance children and others.

BLITZER: Speaker Pelosi reiterated her threat to hold a contempt vote on the House floor against members of the Trump Administration over the issue. You sit, as we know on the Oversight Committee which already voted to hold the attorney general and commerce secretary in contempt for not complying with subpoenas. Should Speaker Pelosi make good on her most recent threat?

KRISHNAMOORTHI: Potentially, yes. I think that we'll have to see in the next day or two what the Trump Administration does with regard to the census. But at this point, I think that any attempt to put the citizenship question on the census even at the time that -- by the way, millions of the forms are being printed without the citizenship question, would be illegal and unconstitutional, Wolf.

BLITZER: You also sit on the Intelligence Committee and as you know the former Special Counsel Robert Mueller is scheduled to testify publicly in front of your committee next week in front of the Judiciary Committee next week as well.

[17:15:00]

This afternoon the Attorney General Bill Barr called the subpoena for Mueller an attempt to create some kind of public spectacle. How do you respond to that criticism from the attorney general?

KRISHNAMOORTHI: Well, I definitely think there is going to be tremendous interest in what Mr. Mueller has to say. I think there is a Super Bowl-sized audience for what Mr. Mueller testifies to with regard to his report. I think this is our first chance to hear from him directly what is -- what is the contents of the report and to answer a number of questions about it. I think there will be intense public interest.

BLITZER: Let me get your reaction also to the latest developments involving Iran and its claim that they -- they're going to breach the uranium enrichment limits set by the 2015 nuclear deal that the Obama Administration put together with the European allies among others. How worried should we all be about this latest escalation and tensions between the U.S. and Iran?

KRISHNAMOORTHI: We should be -- we should absolutely be worried. I think at this point the Iranians should not go beyond the limits that were set in the agreement. I don't see how that could possibly help them with the economic misery they find themselves in. That being said, at this point we should work with our allies and others in the region who want to see Iran basically abandon a nuclear weapon and we have to get away from that children's game of operator where we talk to Iran through intermediaries and thereby send potentially confusing signals to them and potentially signals that could lead to miscalculation by them or us.

I think we should speak directly to them, make it clear what our demands are, and we should come back to the table and we should hash out another agreement ASAP. There is no appetite for war, Wolf, among my constituents or anybody else that I talk to and yet if we go down the path of escalating rhetoric and other actions, then we're going to potentially go to armed conflict.

BLITZER: But very quickly, Congressman, the president said he's willing to speak directly to the Iranian leadership, it is the Iranian leadership who said as long as these sanctions continue they're not going to speak to the U.S.

KRISHNAMOORTHI: Well, I think that there might be ways to communicate with them in a way that doesn't involve tweets which is kind of the extent of what I've seen at this point and I've seen some ridiculous tweets on that score. I think at this point, our diplomats, our seasoned professionals should be brought back to the forefront of leading our discussions and actually talking to the Iranians and others and trying to hash out an agreement. We cannot go to war. That is absolutely clear. I and others have included language in the appropriation process making that clear. That we're not going to allow funds for offensive hostilities we can't allow that to happen.

BLITZER: Congressman Krishnamoorthi, thanks so much for joining us.

KRISHNAMOORTHI: Thank you.

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