CNN "CNN Newsroom" - Transcript: "Interview with Sen. Raja Krishnamoorthi"

Interview

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BALDWIN: Francesca Chambers at the White House, Francesca, good to see you. Thank you very much.

Democratic Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi of Illinois is a member of the House Oversight and Intelligence committees. He was inside that room when that protest broke out today.

Congressman Krishnamoorthi, thank you so much for joining me.

REP. RAJA KRISHNAMOORTHI (D-IL): Thank you, Brooke.

BALDWIN: And, my goodness, I have a lot of questions for you.

But, first, let me just get your reaction to CNN's reporting today that the action by all these House Republicans storming in that that SCIF was actually set up a week ago and that the president knew about it beforehand.

So, Congressman, we have heard a source describe the scene as a mob. How would you describe it?

KRISHNAMOORTHI: I think it was an appalling display.

It was -- it looked like an act of desperation to me, Brooke, because, quite frankly, none of the people who came wanted to talk about the substance of the allegations. Instead, they made the allegation that the process was unfair, despite the fact that more than 40 Republicans are participating in these proceedings, despite the fact that they have equal time to question the witnesses as the Democrats, and despite the fact that they can question the witnesses about any area that they would like.

So I think that this was really a pathetic display this morning. And it doesn't reflect well on them.

BALDWIN: And the fact that -- according to our reporting, that the president had a heads-up and presumably, since they carried on, didn't tell them no? Your response is what?

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KRISHNAMOORTHI: I hope that wasn't the case. I hope it was not orchestrated by the president.

But, at the same time, I know that his comments are very inflammatory. And the way that he tweeted about this process is blatantly inaccurate. And I think that it would only encourage more such antics going forward.

Hopefully not, but that type of tweeting can incite people.

BALDWIN: One -- Congressman, one committee official tells CNN that the House parliamentarian has ruled that those Republicans violated House deposition rules, and that official also says that bringing electronic devices, bringing cell phones in was a major security breach.

KRISHNAMOORTHI: Right. Correct.

BALDWIN: Do you agree?

KRISHNAMOORTHI: Yes, it is.

So, just for your viewers' benefit, we are not allowed to enter this SCIF, this secured, compartmentalized information area, with any personal devices of any kind, whether it's an Apple Watch, or whether it's your cell phone.

And the reason is that there's very sensitive information about our intelligence community stored within that area. And so, if some adversary, some foreign government, were able to tap into our cell phones, and potentially listen in on the deliberations, or, worse yet, get images of what we see, that would be a security breach.

And that would be very serious.

BALDWIN: As you point out, Republicans sit on these committees. If there's an issue with the process, they're in the room.

But, at the same time, Congressman Krishnamoorthi, at what point do you need to start holding these hearings in public, do you think, for voters and also for some of your colleagues so that they can start drawing their own conclusions?

KRISHNAMOORTHI: Well, Chairman Schiff has said that he wants to hold public hearings.

Right now, we're in the process where basically we're trying to elicit witness testimony. And we want to make sure that it doesn't somehow get aligned with each other from different witnesses.

That being said, I believe that Chairman Schiff wants to try to publish these transcripts in short order, and then hold public hearings. And I think that that's what -- exactly what he's going to do.

BALDWIN: I mean, Congressman, when you have a scene like this, right, when you have these members of Congress, these Republican members of Congress, live-tweeting in this secured area, I'm sure a lot of people were wondering, well, how do you protect the whistle-blower, when lawmakers are doing this blatantly just disregarding the rules?

KRISHNAMOORTHI: Yes, I think that this was a security breach this morning. And I think that it has to be handled appropriately. And I think there should be some sanctions for it.

That being said, going forward, I hope that we can focus back on the substance of the allegations, because, at the end of the day, these allegations are very serious. That is that the president actually invited foreign assistance with his domestic reelection campaign, and that there might have been a quid pro quo, as well as the fact that there might have been a cover-up.

So these are very serious allegations that we have to get to the bottom of.

BALDWIN: And that Bill Taylor testimony yesterday, at least one Democrat says that his testimony was a -- quote, unquote -- "sea change," and that it could accelerate things.

How do you see it?

KRISHNAMOORTHI: I can't comment on the specific testimony.

However, the statement which Bill Taylor did acknowledge was accurate, the one that was shared with the public, is corroborating evidence for the whistle-blower's claims, as well as Mick Mulvaney's admission last week, or his statement last week, that there indeed was a quid pro quo, that military aid was conditioned on political investigations by the Ukrainians into the president's domestic rivals.

And so that's very serious. And I think Mr. Taylor's testimony is -- at least his opening statement definitely corroborated that.

BALDWIN: Congressman Krishnamoorthi, you have a lot on your plate, as do the rest of the members of Congress. Thank you so much.

KRISHNAMOORTHI: Yes. Thank you.

BALDWIN: I appreciate -- I appreciate the time.

KRISHNAMOORTHI: Thank you, Brooke. Thank you so much.

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