CNN "The Situation Room" - Transcript: Interview With Sen. Mazie Hirono

Interview

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Joining us now, one of the senators who was sworn in today for the president's impeachment trial, Democrat Mazie Hirono of Hawaii. She's a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Senator, thanks so much for joining us.

SEN. MAZIE HIRONO (D-HI): Thank you.

BLITZER: We watched you sign the oath book today as you were sworn in for the impeachment of the president.

Tell us about the gravity of that moment.

HIRONO: The chamber was unusually quiet. You could hear a pin drop, but the solemnity of the proceedings really was brought home to us as we took the oath and signed the book.

BLITZER: Take us inside the Senate chamber.

What were you thinking, Senator. What were you thinking, Senator, as those two articles of impeachment were read aloud by the lead House manager, Adam Schiff?

HIRONO: In my view, Adam Schiff, who read the two articles of impeachment, made a clear case for how the president abused his power and obstructed Congress.

And that's what this impeachment proceeding is going to be all about. And for the president to continue to call it a witch-hunt and a hoax, the man is in serious denial and in a deluded state.

BLITZER: The trial begins as new relevant information is being released.

Would you, Senator, like to have Lev Parnas, the indicted associate of Rudy Giuliani, testify in the impeachment trial in the Senate?

HIRONO: I'm still very focused on having John Bolton, who called this whole scheme a drug deal. I'm very focused on having him testify.

So, where -- you know, that's where I'm coming from. And as for Lev Parnas, he had a lot to say, and much of what he said is corroborated by the evidence that we already have and testimony we already have from people like Sondland, who is the president's guy, who said everybody was in the loop.

And then you have Parnas all the -- giving the names all the people who were in the loop, including, of course, the president, who was like the ringmaster of this entire scheme.

And, by the way, when the president said he did nothing wrong, well, the GAO, which is an independent government agency, said, no, with certainty. The president violated the law.

BLITZER: By withholding that nearly $400 million in military assistance to Ukraine.

HIRONO: Yes. He can't do that.

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BLITZER: Yes.

HIRONO: So he did what he did. And he continues to say he did nothing wrong. Well, the GAO says you did, you broke the law, and you got your people to break the law.

That includes OMB and everybody else who has continued to cover up for what the president did.

BLITZER: Because that $400 million had been appropriated by the House and Senate and then signed into law by the president. HIRONO: Yes.

BLITZER: That's why the GAO concluded there was a violation of the law.

HIRONO: Yes.

BLITZER: Some of your Republican colleagues, Senator, have raised serious concerns, though, about Parnas' credibility. He's under criminal indictment, as you know. Do you share their concerns?

HIRONO: As I said, it's not just his testimony, but there is evidence, such as the letter that Giuliani wrote to the president of the Ukraine, saying he's acting on behalf of the president in the president's personal capacity.

And there's all kinds of evidence of the e-mail trail between Parnas, and all the phone calls between Parnas and Giuliani, not to mention, by the way, going back to the July 25 phone call that the president had with Zelensky, I was very curious as to why the president at least three times in this phone call with Zelensky mentioned Giuliani and Attorney General Barr in the same sentence.

And I thought, well, that is very strange. Meanwhile, here's Barr. You would think that the attorney general would care that there's this illegal scheme going on, which the GAO has said is illegal. You would think that he might be more interested in finding out what's going on.

But then it turns out nothing is happening on that score because he is involved. He knew what was going on, according to Parnas.

BLITZER: Your Republican colleague Senator Susan Collins of Maine just released a new statement clarifying her position on calling witnesses during the trial.

She writes -- and I'm quoting her now -- "It's likely that I would support a motion to call witnesses at that point in the trial, just as I did in 1999."

She's referring to the Bill Clinton impeachment trial. After the opening arguments from both sides were made, then they had a vote on calling witnesses.

Are you optimistic you will have the votes needed eventually to call witnesses?

HIRONO: I would like her to say more than it's likely, and at least she's attempting to be consistent.

And I don't know if clarifying is the word for what she's doing, because the Republican position has been that the House should have done all of this, in spite of the fact -- get all the evidence -- in spite of the fact that the president has been comprehensively stonewalling the House's efforts at getting witnesses to testify and documents to be presented.

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And for the Republicans to take the position they didn't do their jobs, no, it's the president who stonewalled everything.

So she's going in the right direction. But using words like likely doesn't give me that much comfort. And, of course, we need three more Republicans to say we need a fair trial that includes witnesses and documents, relevant witnesses and documents.

BLITZER: Senator Mazie Hirono, thanks so much for joining us. Appreciate it very much.

HIRONO: Thank you.

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