CNN "Newsroom" - Transcript: HealthCare.gov

Interview

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COSTELLO: Americans at large also have doubts. According to a CBS News poll, 56 percent of Americans say the price was too high, among veterans, 65 percent disapproved. And in that same poll nearly three in four Americans say President Obama should have notified Congress before the deal was made.

With me now by phone is one of the lawmakers who attended last night's briefing, Democratic Congressman Adam Schiff of California.

Good morning, Congressman.

REP. ADAM SCHIFF (D), CALIFORNIA (via telephone): Good morning. How are you?

COSTELLO: Good. Did you get answers as to why the Obama administration didn't consult with Congress?

SCHIFF: We did get answers but I'm not sure that they were completely satisfying. Clearly, in my view anyway, the president had the authority to do what he did as commander in chief under Article 2, as a prisoner transfer. But at the same time, for reasons of relations with the other branches, and clearly what Congress wanted and intended, this administration really should have advised the leadership in Congress. There was really I think no reason not to. They have advised our leadership of our very sensitive matters before they took place. We understand the risks of disclosure so that notification really should have been made.

COSTELLO: Representative McKeon is really upset because he's accusing the administration of now trying to pass the buck for this swap. Apparently Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel ordered the swap yet President Obama as we all know stood in the Rose Garden with the Bergdahls, without Hagel. In your mind, is Mr. Obama trying to pass the buck for this?

SCHIFF: I don't think that's the case. I'm not sure that we have the full story on that. You know, what I would expect is, that the president ultimately made the decision to go forward with the trade, but that they may have fallen to the secretary of defense to make sure that all the logistics were in place his troops could be safe in making the exchange, that when it became operational, it was his call to make that the logistics were correct in that it could take place.

But I have to think that the president made the decision to make the trade and that it was more likely that the secretary only made the decision and put it into implementation.

COSTELLO: Well, it's just curious that we didn't know of Chuck Hagel's intimate involvement before this hearing?

SCHIFF: You know, I'm really not sure how much to read into that answer that we got yesterday. Again, it may have been more the logistical decision about when to pull the trigger was made by the secretary, but I have to think that the president would have approved this deal. So I'm not sure that anything that we heard yesterday necessarily contradicts that.

COSTELLO: And we'll probably learn more tomorrow when Chuck Hagel appears before lawmakers to answer some questions.

Another note. Republican representative peter king is also upset. He said, quote, "probably the most distressing thing or the most disturbing thing I heard was at least 80 to 90 people in the administration were aware of this proposed deal, and yet they couldn't notify anyone in Congress."

Does that disturb you?

SCHIFF: You know it does. I think, again, I think it was a mistake of the administration not to have notified Congress. The leaks traditionally have not come from the Congress. The leaks have come from the administration itself, and the fact that the administration often leaks information is not a reason not to share that with Congress.

I can fully appreciate the sensitivity of the matter and not wanting the deal to fall apart, or concerns over Mr. Bergdahl's safety and security, but I don't think that was the justification for not informing certainly the leadership of Congress, even if they didn't fully inform all of Congress.

COSTELLO: Congressman Adam Schiff of California, thanks so much for being with me this morning.

SCHIFF: You bet. Thank you.

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