CNN "CNN Newsroom" - Transcript: Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) is Interviewed about Impeachment

Interview

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We're joined now by Democratic Senator Chris Van Hollen of Maryland.

Senator, thanks for taking the time this morning.

SEN. CHRIS VAN HOLLEN (D-MD): Jim and Poppy, good to be with you.

SCIUTTO: So where do we stand now? Where does the Senate stand after this process? Where does the president stand? I wonder if you're concerned that he will be emboldened to do more, rather than less, of what he was accused of in the impeachment articles?

VAN HOLLEN: Oh, I'm very worried for the country, Jim. The Senate will be lowering the bar on presidential misconduct, giving Donald Trump a green light to abuse his power. And I should say that while the final decision on the president will come on Wednesday, the verdict on the United States Senate is in. And the United States Senate is guilty, guilty of dereliction of its constitutional duty by failing to hold a fair trial. And when Republican senators voted to deny a single witness or a single document, they did become complicit in that cover- up.

And that's not good news for the country because that means the final outcome is tainted. And I think it will not be accepted by many in the country, not because of what the ultimate decision is, but because of the way it was arrived at and the fact that the whole process was tainted.

HARLOW: You know, Senator, it's not just Democrats who are saying that the president acted inappropriately or it wasn't a perfect call or they wouldn't have done it. Joni Ernst said as much. Lamar Alexander said as much. But they're going to acquit the president.

We're interested in whether you think there is a Republican appetite to censure the president, right? You've had Congress censure Andrew Jackson, Joe McCarthy (ph). Is there a Republican appetite to do that?

VAN HOLLEN: Well, that's a very good question because while we've seen some statements from some Republican senators that the president did not behave appropriately, that sounds like a speeding ticket compared to the gross abuse of power we've seen.

I mean claiming that he had lapses in judgment just really gets him off the hook. If they were serious about punishing misconduct, and they don't want to vote to impeachment and remove, at the very least -- at the very least they should have enough respect for the system to introduce a resolution of censure after Wednesday.

I don't see that happening right now, but these kind of whispers about, you know, inappropriate conduct only give the president a green light. And the fact that more Republicans are not standing up and actually condemning his conduct is very alarming.

SCIUTTO: Let's talk about 2020. I'm curious as you have the first official voting now in the caucus today for the Democratic challenger to President Trump. In your view, do Democrats emerge stronger or weaker from impeachment in challenging Trump but also senators, right, in those key races?

VAN HOLLEN: So, overall, this was a moment where everybody had to do their constitutional duty. The House of Representatives was right to move forward given the president's abuse of power. In terms of the election, I don't see a major difference one way or another except very possibly in some of the Senate races where you had Republican senators really failing to do their duty by participating in the cover-up. It could make a difference there. As we know, 75 percent of Americans recognize that a fair trial requires witnesses and documents.

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And, you know, when Republican senators voted to deny the public and that information, that could have an impact.

HARLOW: Senator, I'm not sure if you heard your colleague Senator Lindsey Graham yesterday on Fox News, but he -- I mean, when he was speaking to Maria Bartiromo, he said they're going to do a lot to basically strike back against the Bidens, the whistleblower, et cetera. He called on Jim Risch and Chairman Burr, of those committees, to call these witnesses and he said, we'll deal with the whistleblower, we'll deal with Joe Biden's conflict of interest, we'll deal with FISA. What do you think Americans should expect now from your Republican counterparts?

VAN HOLLEN: Well, I think it's absolutely disgusting to hear Republican senators now doubling down on the president's abuse of power and to try to succeed through the United States Senate at doing what the president tried to do by getting a foreign power to interfere in our elections. That would be simply abusing the process of the Senate, the institution of the Senate, for purely political purposes.

I don't know what we're coming to here. But to use the powers of the United States Senate to interfere in the 2020 election would be a real abuse of power by the United States Senate. People can go out and conduct their own opposition research. That's fine. They can do that. But to use the instruments of government --

SCIUTTO: OK.

VAN HOLLEN: For these purposes would be another abuse of power by the United States Senate.

SCIUTTO: Final question before we go, who is the best Democrat to challenge Trump, to beat Trump in 2020?

VAN HOLLEN: Oh, I don't know. I think that's going to be a decision for the voters, which, of course, the first round begins tonight in iota. I think the key thing is that whoever emerges from this process, everybody has got to come together, they have to unite, to make sure that we defeat President Trump in November.

SCIUTTO: All right. We'll be watching. Senator Chris Van Hollen, great to have you on the program this morning.

VAN HOLLEN: Good to be with you.

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