CNN "Erin Burnett Outfront" - Transcript: Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) Discusses About His Take of Lamar Alexander And The Democrats' Push For Witnesses
Interview
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BURNETT: All right. Phil, thank you very much and as we get more, you hear more in these few minutes that we have before the break ends and those senators go back into the chamber, we'll go back to Phil. I want to right now, though, go to Democratic Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon. He's been in that Senate trial afternoon.
And Senator, what did you make of that moment of Senator Alexander's question and where he stands? Obviously, when it comes to your pushes Democrats for witnesses, Lamar Alexander is central.
SEN. RON WYDEN (D-OR): He certainly is. And, Erin, my take is there are a number of Republican senators that are wrestling with this question of how you can go forward with a fair trial without having one witnesses who can make firsthand accounts.
[19:05:03]
I also think that what Adam Schiff was trying to do was to be conciliatory. There are a lot of ways to get there. You have a vote on a witness that Justice signs off on a subpoena. You can be off to the races.
So there are a lot of senators who I think are going to be up late tonight, really thinking through a bit of history because years from now, people, I believe are going to say, did you have a fair trial. That's what I got at home in places Donald Trump won, in places Hillary Clinton won.
BURNETT: So the witness vote is coming, right?
WYDEN: Right.
BURNETT: That's what it is about right now. Should there be a 50/50 tie? Your colleague, Senator Richard Blumenthal, says that Chief Justice Roberts should break that tie. And your colleague, Senator Chris Murphy, also a Democrat says Chief Justice Roberts should not break that tie. Where do you stand, Senator?
WYDEN: My sense is and I have tried study John Roberts, so the Chief Justice, for a number of years. My sense is because he feels so strongly about not affecting political judgments, my take his he would be very reluctant to break a tie and I based that on having studied him for a number of years.
BURNETT: So you're going with a will not should not.
WYDEN: And it is more a watch his style, you see his reluctance to get immersed in politics to be the political decision maker, that's coloring my judgment.
BURNETT: Rand Paul wrote a question today, Senator Paul. And in that question, as you know, Senator, he named the whistleblower. Now, Chief Justice Roberts refused to read that. He has read questions which describes some things about the whistleblower. He refused to read a question in which that name appeared.
So Rand Paul then went back and the senator read his question aloud to reporters in the halls of the Senate. We obviously are not reporting on that name. Should Senator Paul face any consequences?
WYDEN: I am co-chair of the whistleblower caucus, so I feel very strongly that it's important. It's critical to protect whistleblowers. And I will tell you, Erin, on the basis of what has happened over the last couple of months, whistleblowers are certainly less likely to come forward. The Chief Justice made a ruling, I think, that disposes it.
BURNETT: And a final question, Senator. Today, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said President Trump wouldn't be acquitted if the Senate trial does not include witnesses. It's sort of at the heart of, well, it can't be a meaningful vote if it did not actually include all of the information. If the Senate votes to acquit without calling witnesses, Senator, will you accept that result as an acquittal?
WYDEN: My concern is and we're still in a period where things are very fluid that I'm going to spend all my time, every bit of time trying to approach our Republicans and talk about the historical impact of this. This is going to set a precedent. This is going to set a precedent that a lot of senators are going to have to face for years to come.
And I'm going to focus on trying to get Republicans support for key witnesses, witnesses with firsthand knowledge.
BURNETT: All right. Thank you very much, Senator. I appreciate your time. And, Laura, I'm going to go right to you. We're going to joined in just a few moments by member of the President's defense team to talk about some of this.
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