CNN "CNN Newsroom" - Transcript: "Interview with Rep. Adam Schiff"

Interview

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPTJIM SCIUTTO, CNN ANCHOR, NEWSROOM: Welcome back to El Paso, some 2,000 miles from Capitol Hill, where, right now, several halls are empty for the summer break. But will that soon change amid growing calls for action on guns in the wakes -- in the wake of these horrible crimes?

With me now is Democratic Congressman Adam Schiff of California. He's chairman of the House Intelligence Committee. Of course, California suffered its own mass shooting just last week in Gilroy.

Congressman Schiff, thanks so much for taking the time this morning.

REP. ADAM SCHIFF (D-CA): Good to be with you.

SCIUTTO: So here we are, again, frankly, three shootings in the span of eight days, two in the span of 12 hours. We were asking the question, "Would this be different?" Would you see movement on the Hill on gun legislation?

It does not appear to be that way. The president raised and backed off background checks. I just spoke to the chairman, the director of communications for his 2020 campaign, repeating those same talking points about no one law would prevent these shootings. Is anything going to move this time, in the simplest terms?

SCHIFF: Well, Jim, it has to. And we just can't put up with this anymore. People need to vote those people out of office that are part of the problem instead of part of the solution.

And you know, we're hearing the same thing, as you point out, from the Trump campaign spokesman. You know, the same tired argument that because no single law would stop all shootings, therefore we should do nothing. That is just not an answer. We are seeing this dramatic rise in white supremist violence, these terrible mass shootings.

We've had this epidemic for years and years of young, angry men going out with assault weapons, with high-capacity ammunition clips, and killing people in short order.

And even when police respond with great alacrity, it's still not enough when you're using that kind of a weapon. And we're not powerless to do something about this. We can do

something about it. Indeed, the House of Representatives sent a universal background check to the Senate, and it has languished there. Mitch McConnell, proud of his status as the Grim Reaper of legislation like that.

They ought to go back in immediately and pass that legislation. And you know, I'll tell you one thing, though, Jim, that does give me encouragement. And that is in the midterm elections in these purplish districts, Democrats ran towards the gun issue and they won on it, rather than running away from it. And that is a big change historically, so I do think we're getting to a tipping point and it can't come soon enough.

SCIUTTO: You know, "Politico" had a piece today that said that in private, Republican lawmakers, your colleagues on the other side of the aisle, will say that, "Listen, we're open to some of these gun control measures, but we need presidential leadership."

I wonder, do you have private conversations with your Republican colleagues to say, "Hey, we can get on the same page on universal background checks or banning high-capacity magazines." Do they say that to you in private?

SCHIFF: Well, in private, they -- you know, they express their deep misgivings about the president generally, not necessarily on this issue. But I'm tired of people's private misgivings.

And if they're going to wait until Donald Trump shows leadership on guns or anything else, they're going to be waiting until the cows come home. They need to show some leadership themselves. And that's the only way we're going to get something done on this.

We've seen this pattern before with the president, where he will make these forced statements -- he looks like a hostage when he's reading these statements, expressing condolence or condemning white nationalists -- and then he'll go back to the same racist tweets and taunts at his rallies.

[10:35:04] And, you know, for my GOP colleagues to expect anything different at this point is preposterous. They need to show some leadership. There's a perfectly good universal background bill that has passed the House, that is simply waiting to be taken up in the Senate. It would do a lot of good.

You know, bans on high-capacity ammunition clips, a ban on assault weapons. It's not going to stop all these shootings, but it's going to make them far less lethal and it's going to save lives.

SCIUTTO: Is there a give-and-take on this issue? The president very briefly, in his tweet yesterday, raised the possibility of trading immigration reform for universal background checks. He didn't follow through on that in his public comments.

But is there, when you have these discussions, is there something that you can give to the Republican side to get action, for instance on universal background checks?

SCHIFF: There have been long negotiations over universal background checks. But frankly, for the president to bring up immigration reform in the context of this shooting in El Paso, I just find terribly offensive and counterproductive. It's as if he's saying that the cause of this shooting is the failure to enact immigration reform, that somehow this justifies this horrendous act of violence.

You know, that's the implication, that if we don't pass immigration reform, more people are going to go out and do these mass shootings. That's not how you condemn this horrific racist motivation of the shooter.

Similarly, when the president blames the press in a tweet and if the press doesn't change how it --

SCIUTTO: Yes.

SCHIFF: -- reports these things, we're going to see more of these shootings as if, you know, the fact that you're reporting the president's words and his actions, and how they parallel the words of the manifesto of this El Paso shooter, somehow makes the press responsible.

You know, this, I think, is where you really see the president, not in the canned statement written for him, but in his own words and his own tweets. And so, again, if my colleagues are going to wait for him to show leadership here, then we're going to just continue to see these kind of terrible tragedies.

SCIUTTO: Another opportunity during his visits to Dayton and El Paso tomorrow. We'll see what he says. Congressman Adam Schiff, we appreciate you coming on this morning.

SCHIFF: Thanks, Jim.

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