CNN "Erin Burnett Out Front" - Transcript: "Interview with Rep. Maxine Waters"

Interview

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BURNETT: All right. Evan, thank you very much. And I want to go out front now to the Democratic Chairwoman of the House Financial Services Committee, Maxine Waters. Chairman, thank you so much for your time.

I mean, the President Chief of Staff, Mick Mulvaney, I know you're now seeing this kind of desperate attempt to change what he said. He's now saying he didn't say what he very clearly did say about a quid pro quo on Ukraine. What do you think is going on here?

REP. MAXINE WATERS (D-CA): Well, that's typical of Trump and all of his minions around him. They say what is on their mind and then when they discover they've messed up, they tried to so called walk it back. So Mulvaney has said exactly what was going on. There was a quid pro quo, absolutely. He can try and walk it back all he wants.

But just think about this, this President is talking about the reason he's into this all together is because simply he's trying to get the president of the Ukraine to investigate corruption. He's the most corrupt man in America, the President of the United States, who has cheated contractors, subcontractors, won't show his own tax returns to Americans, who has cheated students who were in the fake university so called - up in New York, the Trump University and he's talking about he's going all the way to Ukraine so that he can get the President to investigate corruption, give me a break.

They're liars. They're cheaters. These are con men. So Mulvaney said exactly what was on his mind and he discovered he messed up. So you messed up, but you told the truth. And guess what, you're all going to get caught.

BURNETT: So I want to play again what he said when Mick Mulvaney, that is, Ms. Chairwoman, what he said in defense of his original admission, that the U.S. held up the aid to push for an investigation into Democrats. Here's some of his explanation for it.

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MULVANEY: We do that all of the time with foreign policy. I have news for everybody, get over it. There's going to be political influence in foreign policy. That is going to happen. Elections have consequences.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: Does he have a point on any of that?

WATERS: It doesn't get any clearer than that. We do that all of the time, get over it. This is what happens in politics. He knew exactly what he was saying. He didn't just make a mistake. He was very clear and very deliberate.

So Mulvaney you just outed the President of the United States and all that's going on around him with you and Giuliani and all of you involved. And so we get it and it's on record now and you can't take it back.

BURNETT: Mulvaney also defended the President's deployment of Rudy Giuliani, Trump's personal lawyer on Ukraine and all Ukraine issues, point person as the President, of course, said in his transcript of that call with President Zelensky. Here is what Mulvaney said about Giuliani.

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MULVANEY: You may not like the fact that Giuliani was involved. That's great, that's fine. It's not illegal. It's not impeachable. The President gets to use who he wants to use. If the President wants to fire me today and hire somebody else, he can.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (Inaudible) from the actually like ...

MULVANEY: The president gets to set foreign policy. He gets to choose who to do so.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: Is it illegal or impeachable, Chairman Waters, for the President to involve Giuliani?

WATERS: Well, the President of the United States has basically said in so many ways that he can do anything that he wants to do.

[19:10:04]

Remember when he started up in the campaign saying he could stand up on Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody and nothing would happen to him, essentially nothing could be done to him. But the Constitution of the United States says you're wrong. You can be impeached.

When the Members of Congress believe that you're not in the best interest of the country, that you've undermined your nation in some way, that you've disregarded the Constitution, that you have lied, that you have put us all at risk, that you are not a good person that should be in that office leading this country, when we decide any or all of those things and move forward with impeachment, that's what the Constitution gives us a responsibility to do.

So despite the fact he thinks he can do anything that he wants to do, the Congress of the United States has a responsibility to stop him. And I want you to know that Mulvaney is wrong. What they did was undermine the whole State Department, confuse the Ukrainians, didn't know who they were supposed to be listening to, Giuliani had no business representing all of us in another foreign country.

We didn't elect him to anything to do that and no it is not the right thing to do. Don't tell me about it's not illegal. There's nothing you can do about it. Oh, yes, it is not illegal, not only illegal, it's immoral and it should not have happened.

BURNETT: Congressman, before you go, I want to just say I'm so sorry about the loss of your dear friend Elijah Cummings, the House Oversight Chairman. I know he was integral in the impeachment proceedings. He was so committed to holding this administration accountable.

I don't even know if all our viewers are aware, he signed two subpoenas just hours before he passed away early this morning. And I know you said in a statement, you considered him a brother and a cherished friend, what does his great loss mean to you, Chairwoman Waters?

WATERS: Well, we are in mourning over here in the Congress of the United States on both sides of the aisle. His wife said, Maya said he worked until the last breath. We had members who had been talking to him the day before.

Not only is he going to be missed. He was a shining example of what a good public policy maker is all about, how to conduct yourself, how to be adamant about that which you care about at the same time be respectful. And so, yes, he's going to be missed and the example that he has set.

We have people now who were saying that they're going to try and follow that example, try to be better persons and I hope we can all live up to it. I loved him. He was my brother, he was my friend and he told everybody I was his mentor. And he appreciated the years that he had worked with me getting to the place that he had become as Chairman of Oversight and investigations.

BURNETT: Well, thank you very much. And again, I'm so sorry for your loss, in your deeply personal loss.

WATERS: Thank you. Thank you.

BURNETT: Thank you, Chairman.

WATERS: Thank you very much.

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