CNN "Erin Burnett Out Front" - Transcript: "Interview with Rep. Brad Sherman"

Interview

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OUTFRONT tonight, Democratic Congressman Brad Sherman. He sits on the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

Congressman, we appreciate you taking the time tonight.

REP. BRAD SHERMAN (D-CA): Good to be with you, Jim.

SCIUTTO: So, your reaction to the move, is this a -- is this a weakening of America's position towards Russia?

SHERMAN: Well, it's terrible foreign policy. McCain, Mattis, Rubio, Graham have all recognized how important it is that we help the Ukraine defend itself. Two parts of the Ukraine are now occupied by Russia. And more will be if the Ukraine can't defend itself.

[19:40:04]

It's also a twofer, though, for Trump. He can reward Putin for interfering in our last election, and he can try to pressure the Ukraine into interfering in our next election. It's terrible foreign policy and an electoral policy that makes us wonder whether Trump is trying to win the Electoral College votes in Pennsylvania or -- or figures that Putin has Electoral College votes.

SCIUTTO: Do you genuinely expect that president Trump is seeking Russian help here to interfere again in the 2020 election?

SHERMAN: Well, it's clear Russia will interfere in our election. It's clear that Trump has welcomed their interference in the past. And it's clear that the interference that Russia will perform next year will be in an effort to help Trump.

There is also an ongoing investigation or on again off again investigation in the Ukraine that Trump hopes will embarrass Joe Biden. And so he is trying to pressure the Ukraine to go in that direction as well.

So, he wants the Ukraine to hurt Biden, just as he got Russia to hurt Hillary Clinton in the 2016 election.

SCIUTTO: And it is true. Rudy Giuliani has been going to Ukraine seeking out dirt on Biden as 2020 advances.

Now, there is a different explanation being offered by Trump's national security adviser John Bolton. He is warning Ukraine against allowing a Chinese company to buy a Ukrainian aerospace company and that that is, he says, the cause of holding back this military aid.

Would that be a reasonable concern and a justifiable concern for holding back this aid?

SHERMAN: It would be something that we would want to change. But clearly, this aid has not been expended the way Congress intended over the last 11 months. And the Chinese interest in this aerospace company is far more recent than that.

No, I think that the real attempt here is to reward Putin and to encourage him to interfere in the next election. But you can always come up with a red herring and say that's the reason, don't pay attention to Trump's demonstrated desire to have Eastern European countries help him win American elections.

SCIUTTO: There is one Republican lawmaker who is pushing back against the president on this. He's Congressman Adam Kinzinger.

He tweeted the following: This is unacceptable. It was wrong when Obama failed to stand up to Putin in Ukraine. And it's wrong now.

Do you hear opposition from your Republican colleagues who have -- and we should note this in the past when the president tried to water down U.S. sanctions on Russia, et cetera, Republicans along with Democrats have stood up to him. Do you expect the same now?

SHERMAN: I expect some to push back privately and some to push back publicly. It's good to see Kinzinger, a member of our committee, come forward. But so many leading Republicans have talked about now important it is that we give the Ukraine the weapons it needs to defend itself. And I went through them before. Rubio, McCain when he was alive, you know, the Secretary of Defense Mattis, et cetera, have all recognized how important that is.

And I think that this Chinese interest in an aerospace company in the Ukraine is just a red herring. What's really going on here is a president trying to help Putin and pressure -- pressure the Ukrainian government.

SCIUTTO: It's quite a charge. Congressman Brad Sherman, great to have you on the program tonight. We appreciate you taking the time.

SHERMAN: Good to be with you.

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