CNN "CNN Newsroom" - Transcript: "Interview with Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz"

Interview

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MARQUARDT: Joe Biden's son, Hunter, announced today that he has resigned from the board of a Chinese-backed company. The former V.P.'s son also is now promising not to work for any foreign company again, if his father is elected president next year.

These announcements come after another baseless attack, we should say, from President Trump today. The president tweeting, where's Hunter? He has totally disappeared. Now looks like he has raided and scammed even more countries. Media is AWOL.

To discuss all this and more is, Democratic Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz of Florida. Congresswoman, thank you so much for joining me tonight. You, of course, serve on the House Oversight and Reform Committee, which as we all know, is leading these hearings into the impeachment inquiry of President Trump.

So, Congresswoman, I want to start with this Hunter Biden news and the former vice president's response today. Hunter Biden is resigning from the board of this Chinese company which he also owns a minority stake in. The fact that he's doing this, does that not imply that there is, at least, the appearance of impropriety or conflicts of interest on Hunter Biden's part?

REP. DEBBIE WASSERMAN SCHULTZ (D-FL): On the contrary, what it -- what it confirms, is that Hunter Biden is a person of integrity. And in an abundance of caution, just to make absolutely sure, that no question arises.

That he would resign from the board he was sitting on, and agree that going forward, he would not serve on any boards of foreign -- of foreign companies if Joe Biden were to be elected president. It makes sense. It demonstrates the, you know, lifetime of integrity that have -- that have been representing -- represented by the Bidens for their -- for their entire careers.

MARQUARDT: But he was also on the board of that Ukrainian gas company, Burisma, while his father was vice president. Isn't it a little bit too late?

[20:50:02] Isn't this the kind of thing that Joe Biden should have asked his son to do, years ago?

SCHULTZ: Again, I mean, as you --as you already noted, there was absolutely -- and has been absolutely no indication of any wrongdoing by Hunter Biden or Joe Biden. And so, serving on a foreign -- on the board of a foreign company is perfectly acceptable, and really, this is an extra step that Hunter Biden is taking, in an abundance of caution.

But the fact that he served on the board of a foreign company while Vice President Biden was serving in office, really is acceptable, and again, there was no wrongdoing.

But because -- unlike the president, who doesn't have a shred of integrity, and who pressured the president of Ukraine, abused his power, you know, asked for favors for his personal and political benefit, you know, there is no -- there is no caution.

Caution just gets tossed out the window with President Trump, and he compromises the United States' national security in the process.

MARQUARDT: Congresswoman, I want to turn to one of the highlights that is expected this week, and that is the potentially bombshell testimony of Gordon Sondland, who is the, of course, U.S. Ambassador to the European Union, he was one of the president's point men on Ukraine. He is scheduled to testify before your committee on Thursday.

And what we have learned in the Washington Post is that he is going to tell your committee under oath, that a text message that he wrote to Ambassador Bill Taylor, he is a top U.S. diplomat in Kiev, saying, there was no quid pro quo with Ukraine.

That message didn't come from him, but from President Trump. If that is indeed -- if that reporting does turn out to be correct, and that is what he tells your committee, how significant is that?

SCHULTZ: Well, I think it will be very significant. Particularly, because he's also expected to testify that the truth -- that the text message came directly from President Trump, through Ambassador Sondland, but that he cannot confirm that it is the truth, is incredibly damning and important information.

I mean, you know, the fact that -- the fact that Ambassador Sondland can't confirm, given the number of conversations he purportedly has had, as the -- as an interlocutor between President Zelensky and the State Department on all of this controversy, is really troubling.

Our ambassador to the E.U., who has been directly involved in this, cannot confirm that the president's statement that there was no quid pro quo is the truth, is actually the truth, that's just unbelievable. We have a -- and I, you know, Alex, I went to Ukraine with a Republican Senate delegation in May, met with Ambassador Yovanovitch, met with -- met with Ambassador Sondland, as a matter of fact.

And so, to have been there, communicating with the Ukrainian leadership about the absolute necessity, that the United States help them keep Russia at bay, and for President Trump to have compromised our national security for his own personal and political gain, is outrageous.

MARQUARDT: Congresswoman, I only have about 45 seconds left. But I want to ask you about Tulsi Gabbard, she is threatening to boycott the Ohio debate on Tuesday. She claims that the DNC is trying to rig the election against dark horse candidates like herself.

Back in 2016, you were the chairwoman of the DNC, and actually, you faced similar accusations from Bernie Sanders' supporters. So, how harmful is that, that there is this perception that the party puts its thumb on the scale for certain candidates?

SCHULTZ: Well, I'm pretty sure it doesn't matter whether Tulsi Gabbard participates in the debate or not. That's certainly her decision.

But, you know, speaking as a former chair of the Democratic National Committee, I'm sure Tom Perez is feeling the full impact of how difficult it is once you have candidates who are squeezed by the process, and are feeling concerned that they are really not going to be successful. They start throwing Hail Marys, and that's clearly what this is.

MARQUARDT: All right. Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz, thanks so much for joining me tonight.

SCHULTZ: You're welcome. My pleasure.

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