CNN "CNN Newsroom" - Transcript: "Interview with Rep. John Garamendi"

Interview

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BALDWIN: All right, as we continue our breaking news this afternoon, the president has fired his National Security Adviser John Bolton.

The reaction from within the Republican Party thus far is pretty mixed. Republican Senator Mitt Romney calling Bolton's departure a -- quote -- "extraordinary loss," saying that -- quote -- "His point of view was not always the same as everybody else in the room, and that's why you wanted him there. The fact that he was a contrarian from time to time was an asset, not a liability."

Senator Rand Paul sees it this way, telling CNN that: "The chances of war worldwide go greatly down. He has a naive view that believes we should recreate the world in our own image by toppling countries by violent overthrow and somehow democracy will prevail."

So let's ask a Democrat what he makes of John Bolton's departure.

With me now, California Congressman John Garamendi. He sits on the Armed Services Committee.

So, Congressman, a pleasure sir. Welcome.

REP. JOHN GARAMENDI (D-CA): Good to be with you.

BALDWIN: What -- your thoughts on Bolton's departure, and what does what does his leaving do for the country as a whole?

GARAMENDI: Improves the country as a whole. Good thing that he's gone.

This is a man who had very radical ideas about how the United States ought to act in the world and, basically, it was to bomb everybody out of existence and then rebuild.

Rand Paul is much closer to the truth as I see it than Romney on this one. The fact of the matter is, he was a very aggressive hawk and one that was quite willing to take on the entire world.

But what really concerns me is, when he had a chance as national security adviser to push back on the really crazy things that the president is doing to build his wall -- right now, the president is taking $771 million out of the defense of Europe to build his wall.

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And you go, what in the world and where was Bolton when all of that was going on?

BALDWIN: You know that this is the third national security adviser in three years, which is pretty extraordinary, in and of itself.

Who do you think could even get through the confirmation process to become the fourth?

GARAMENDI: I'm not sure it makes much difference. This president has a mind of his own. Often, we wonder exactly what is in that mind. And he seems to want to go do it by whomever he talked to last. That may be the national security adviser. It may be somebody on the street or somebody that wants to know the latest stock price or where the stock price is going to go with the next tweet.

The reality is, nobody lasts long in the chaos of the Trump administration. They seem to come and go. And the lack of continuity, the lack of a significant notion of where you want to go, what is the strategy, what is the plan, what is the outcome you're looking for, doesn't seem to be part of the Trump administration at all.

Chaos rules the day.

BALDWIN: Let me pivot to something else, Congressman Garamendi. Just stay with me here. I want to ask you about this story...

GARAMENDI: Sure.

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