MSNBC "The Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell" - Transcript: "Trump denies assault allegation."

Interview

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O`DONNELL: Continuing our discussion now is Democratic Congressman Jim Himes of Connecticut. He`s a member of the House Intelligence Committee and the House Financial Services Committee. And, Congressman Himes, who did you alert that you were going to make this announcement? Did you talk to the speaker about it? Did you talk to the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, Adam Schiff?

HIMES: Well, you know, this was obviously a decision taken in my own head in consultation with my constituents. You know, I heard from constituent after constituent who were enormously frustrated about what are very legitimate questions, which is how does impeachment affect the politics? When will courts rule to enforce subpoenas of the Congress? And eventually I just developed the conviction that as you played in that speech I made on the floor that one of the things that could most sort of galvanize the American public, educate the public would be if we set aside the calculation in favor of really clear statements of right and wrong, and, of course, in favor of an impeachment inquiry, which would be a public airing of the facts, a fair public airing of the facts so the American people could learn about some of the things that most of them did not read in the multi-hundred-page Mueller report, but this was really an issue of sort of satisfying, I think, a call for clarity on the part of my constituents.

O`DONNELL: What do you think the timetable for impeachment proceedings has to be?

HIMES: Well, you know, fortunately, since I`m not the Democratic leader of the speaker of the House, I don`t need to make that decision. But it is certainly true that there probably is a clock ticking right now because there will come a moment in 2020, and I don`t know if that`s in the spring or the summer, at which point people`s attention and much of what happens in American politics will be given over to the November 2020 election. So I can`t tell you it is absolutely now. I defer to the speaker of the House. She`s forgotten more about electoral politics and about, you know, how you get out to the American people in order to shape sentiment than I will probably ever know. But you`re right in sort of implying that there is almost certainly a clock ticking on this issue.

O`DONNELL: Is the speaker just letting members makes their own choices on this? Is she trying to persuade members to wait for more time in making decisions about this?

HIMES: She is not. I gave her the courtesy of telling her what I intended to do. I believe in sort of being a good team player, so I didn`t surprise her with this. And I know the story of others who have done the same. At no point has she discouraged anybody from doing this. Look, I think -- sometimes the story is that, well, now we`re up to 70, or whatever the number is, of a caucus of 225. When that number hits 120 or 130, at that point, is she under tremendous pressure? Look, Nancy Pelosi is already a historic figure, the first female speaker of the House. She, I think, understands that this moment, the next two years, is probably, along with the passage of the Affordable Care Act and all the stuff that happened in the first term of the Obama administration, her legacy. So, this is not a question of numbers, this is a question of Nancy Pelosi doing what she believes is right for the American people, and in fidelity to the Constitution of the United States.

O`DONNELL: And, Congressman Himes, let me get you on your reaction to what`s been happening to the children of the southern border. We`ve had a new string of reports last week in the same week when the administration was in federal court arguing that it is perfectly humane and perfectly safe and sanitary to not provide children with beds to sleep on, forcing them to sleep on cement floors. They don`t need soap, they don`t need toothbrushes, they don`t need toothpaste in order to be sanitary according to the Trump administration.

HIMES: Yes, Lawrence, I`m very much on the same page with Adam Smith who you just interviewed. We can have and should have a long and vigorous debate on the nature of our immigration system. But put that aside. I was in Texas probably nine months ago, and I saw some of those facilities, and it was some of the toughest hours I`ve had in the United States Congress. And I`ll just say this, Lawrence -- again, we should have a vibrant discussion over how we best control our border. But the treatment of children, and these are largely children, the knowledge that as we go to bed comfortable tonight there will be five-year-olds sleeping on concrete floors under metal blankets, that will be a stain on the moral history of this country. And, look, I understand that my Republican colleagues have other interests with respect to this president, but you would think that that story and the sight and the thought of children suffering in that way would set everything else aside. As Adam Smith said, we`ve got the money. Let`s at least make sure we are doing what we are doing today with some decency and with some moral fiber. But that, of course, is not what is happening right now.

O`DONNELL: Congressman Jim Himes, thank you very much for joining us tonight. Appreciate it.

HIMES: Thank you, Lawrence.

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