CNN "The Situation Room" - Transcript: "Interview with Rep. Ro Khanna"

Interview

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ACOSTA: All right, Kaitlan Collins, thank you very much.

Joining me now, Congressman Ro Khanna, a Democratic member of the Oversight and Armed Services committees.

Congressman, thanks for joining us tonight.

Let's go back to El Paso.

The El Paso shooter told authorities that he was targeting Mexicans. What's your reaction to that?

REP. RO KHANNA (D-CA): Well, it's horrific.

And we have had an increase of these hate crimes. They are motivated by absurd ideologies, the ideology of the great replacement, a French author who talks about the replacement of white people.

We need to call this for what it is. It's domestic terrorism. And we need the Justice Department to put the resources and the expertise to tackle this, just like they have kept us safe from international terrorism.

ACOSTA: And do you believe the president has done enough to reassure the Mexican community, the Mexican American community here in this country, or to address that motive of the shooting, in your view?

KHANNA: No, I don't.

I think the president needs to give a speech about this. He needs to identify what this ideology is. It's the great replacement ideology. There's a French author, Camus, who has propagated this.

It led to the Christchurch shootings in New Zealand. It led to those awful shootings in Norway. It's proliferating on the Internet, on 8chan. The president needs to give a speech. Any other president would say, this is an awful ideology, we need to expose it, defeat it.

And this president hasn't done that. Just one line in a speech isn't enough.

ACOSTA: Why doesn't he do that, in your view?

KHANNA: I have no idea, other than to say that he doesn't get it. I mean, he doesn't understand, perhaps, how pernicious this ideology is and how contrary it is to the very founding of America. Our nation was built on the idea that we aren't a nation of blood,

we're a nation committed to the Constitution and to philosophical principles. This ideology is about the most anti-American ideology you could have.

ACOSTA: And the president says he wants to take action on background checks and he says that the Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is -- quote -- "totally on board."

Democrats are skeptical, as we know.

Do you think this represents some kind of narrow opening? Is there any room for optimism here, do you think?

KHANNA: I'm hopeful, but I have been burned before.

I mean, 90 percent of Republicans want this. Here's the irony. Wayne LaPierre, the NRA actually testified in support of background checks in 1999, after the Columbine shooting. So, if I were the president, I would ask the NRA, what has changed? Why are you 20 years later still not supporting this?

The country wants it. And I think it would be politically disastrous for any person in the Republican Party not to vote for this at this point.

ACOSTA: And the White House organized an event today on the rise of violent online extremism. You represent Silicon Valley. Do you think anything productive will come from this? Is Silicon Valley doing enough on all of this, do you think?

KHANNA: We need to do more.

Certainly, there are some sites, such as 8chan, that clearly need to do more. I mean, they have propaganda on there that incites violence. They need to be regulated, and that type of content shouldn't be allowed.

But it's a complicated issue. I mean, when you have Mitch McConnell putting a video on his own campaign site about violence threatening him, then you have questions of First Amendment speech.

And, you know, Twitter was criticized for removing it. So we need well-crafted regulations that will remove content that incites violence, while protecting the First Amendment.

ACOSTA: And let me ask you about those immigration raids in Mississippi this past week.

The White House is actually directing ICE, from what we understand, to conduct more of those raids. What does that tell you?

KHANNA: Jim, it was heart-wrenching.

I mean, like so many Americans, I saw those kids in tears with their parents being pulled away. And you ask, why the inhumanity of it? First of all, if we're going to go after folks, why aren't we going

after the companies? They're the ones with the help wanted signs on our border. They're the ones who are hiring folks who don't have documents. Let's crack down on the companies that are doing this.

And, second, why are we doing it in such an inhumane way, where you have people being hauled and detained when their kids may be U.S. citizens and their kids crying in schools? There was not an ounce of empathy. It seems that's what's missing in our politics, our governance.

Where is the empathy for other human beings?

ACOSTA: And, Congressman, I know your committee is going to be looking into this. We appreciate your time.

Congressman Ro Khanna, thanks so much for joining us tonight. We appreciate it.

KHANNA: Thank you, Jim.

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