CNN "CNN Newsroom" - Transcript: Interview with Rep. Mike Turner

Interview

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

HARLOW: Nick Valencia, reporting for us, I appreciate it.

Joining me now is Congressman Mike Turner, Republican from Ohio. He's headed back to Washington this afternoon. He will meet with the president today in all this.

It's nice to have you.

REP. MIKE TURNER (R), OHIO: Thank you for having me.

HARLOW: Thank you for being here. I should note in that polling it's interesting that 58 percent of Republicans, though, support this policy of separation at the border, the practice I should say.

You just heard the children. The president points to Democrats and says, this is the fault of the Democrats. Is it?

TURNER: Well, you know, I think the president's going to have to defend his own banter on this issue.

HARLOW: But do you defend it? Do you say -- would you point to Democrats and say it is their fault?

TURNER: I'm not going to defend a policy that I don't agree with, and I think the American public does not and certainly other Republicans in the House on that issue as you and I were discussing before the show opened.

HARLOW: Yes.

TURNER: The bill that's currently being proposed by the speaker would end this practice. So, you know, obviously the leadership of the House is moving and taking action to change it. But I think what's important for us to do is to talk about what are we going to do moving forward.

HARLOW: Right.

TURNER: You know, there's an excellent article at NPR in January of this year that talks about the polling data of what Americans believe. 80 percent of Americans are opposed to an open border over half, overwhelming want some sort of barrier or closure to the border. Overwhelmingly over half want those individuals who are brought here, what we call the Dreamers, brought here as young people to be able to stay and to have a permanent ability to stay here.

Also, over -- you know, overwhelming numbers are for shifting to go a merit based system in immigration as opposed to the lottery system. That's actually what's in the bill that the speaker's bringing forward. I think that's what's important. No one's talking about keeping the system the same, whether you're Chuck Schumer, the administration or the House. HARLOW: Right.

TURNER: You know, everyone is talking about how do we move forward and overhaul the system.

HARLOW: The way that the system has been through the past two presidencies has been the same policy that exists now. It's just that the Trump administration has implemented the practice of actually following through on all of these criminal prosecutions and separating the children from their families at the border as they ensue that. Lisa Murkowski --

TURNER: But wait a minute. There were separations in the other two administrations.

HARLOW: Not nearly the number. So we've seen --

TURNER: But the American public believe --

HARLOW: Hold on.

TURNER: -- that catch and release does not work.

HARLOW: Hold on one second. I understand that. But it's 2300 separations since April according to DHS' own numbers. That is far more than in the past two administrations. Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski says to blame the previous administration for a wrong committed today is not acceptable. Republican Senator Ben Sasse calls these separations wicked.

What will you say to the president today in this meeting?

TURNER: Well, I think it's inappropriate really to talk about blame. It's appropriate to talk about what are we going to do. And I think that --

(CROSSTALK)

HARLOW: Why is it inappropriate to talk about blame when --

TURNER: Because --

HARLOW: When it's an administration enacting a practice and the president --

TURNER: Right. We're talking about the administration talking the prior administration --

HARLOW: Right.

TURNER: The president's going to have to answer that himself. But I think when you talk about today, which is why he's coming to Capitol Hill, which is why you asked me on your show.

HARLOW: Yes.

TURNER: Was to talk about what do we do.

HARLOW: So what would you tell him?

TURNER: And I believe that the bill that the speaker has brought forward that would address this issue end the separations, that would allow a path for Dreamers to be able to stay in the United States, that would -- as majority of Americans support -- close the border, that would also shift to a merit based immigration system is where the American public are.

I think it's where we need to be and I think it's part of our debate. No one is talking about leaving the immigration system the way it is. No one.

HARLOW: But you call the --

TURNER: Everyone's talking about how do we reform it, how do we reform it appropriately.

HARLOW: If given the opportunity, will you call the president out on pointing his finger and saying this is solely up to Democrats to fix, yes or no?

TURNER: Well, I think our meeting today is about a bill that the House Republicans and the speaker has so clearly it's not --

HARLOW: I hear you but if he --

TURNER: -- solely Democrats, if we have the speaker bringing forth a bill that in his bill -- before there was 72 hours news coverage on CNN on immigration the speaker already had on his bill ending this practice.

HARLOW: The president keeps --

TURNER: So this is not an issue of what -- it's an issue of what do we do.

HARLOW: All right. So then listen to what Attorney General Jeff Sessions said on FOX News last night.

[09:10:001] He was asked by Laura Ingraham about some comparing it to Nazi Germany, for example. Here's the response from Sessions.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

HARLOW: Do you agree with him that those comparisons, comparisons made by the likes of former first lady Laura Bush are exaggerations? TURNER: Well, I think the attorney general needs to defend his own

statements and I'll defend my statements and my statements are about what do we need to do to fix this?

HARLOW: You don't --

TURNER: And this is incredibly --

HARLOW: You don't agree with that?

TURNER: I think that again the attorney general is going to have to defend his own statements. I'm not going to be part of his own discussion, his debate. The debate that I'm in is the one in Congress on how do we find a bill that fixes this, the bill that the speaker brought forward addresses this and I think it's consistent with -- again, if you go to NPR's article in January that lists out where the American public are, that's where the solution is and that's the bill that we're trying to move forward.

HARLOW: So one example is what Republican Senator Ted Cruz from Texas, a border state, has proposed on this. It would mandate the kids stay with their parents, it would expedite the immigration proceedings that these asylum cases would be heard within 72 hours, entire cases decided within two weeks. Is that legislation you would support?

TURNER: Well, I think, you know, components of that are certainly very important. But I think the start is the bill that the speaker's brought forward in the House. This is going to be a debate that is going to be ongoing, but again, everyone's talking about fixing the system and that's where our debate needs to be.

HARLOW: But these are specific.

TURNER: How do we fix the system.

HARLOW: I mean, is this right?

TURNER: Right. I agree.

HARLOW: I mean, is this right? Is that --

TURNER: I think that's certainly is a sound proposal but we have to go through this process of the House bill and then the Senate bill. I think the crux of this, which is why this is so moving to Americans, is immigration is the strength and the heart of our country. And we know -- unlike any other country, when you raise your hand and become the United States citizen, you become an American and from day one, equal to all other Americans, and what we want to preserve is that spirit of immigration in our country at the same time that we have a system that's absolutely broken.

HARLOW: Republican congressman also from Texas, Will Hurd, said this to Anderson Cooper last night. Listen.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

HARLOW: So your meeting with the administration, the president today, will you call on the president to change this policy, quote, "right away," just as your fellow Republican congressman said, Congress can and should?

TURNER: I think there's a lot of calls for that. And certainly I think the president, if he has the ability to do that should do that. But I think it's more important --

HARLOW: But I'm saying will you --

TURNER: I'm going to call the president to do --

HARLOW: Congressman, you get to be -- hold on one second. You get to be in the room.

TURNER: You ask this question --

HARLOW: We don't get to be in the room.

TURNER: I get to answer, right?

HARLOW: But you're not answering it.

TURNER: The question was --

HARLOW: Will you call on him --

TURNER: What will I call the president --

HARLOW: -- to end the practice?

TURNER: It is to support the House bill that I think reflects the American's sentiment on --

HARLOW: I hear you.

TURNER: -- immigration which includes ending the separation of families at the border. Now that's important. That's what do we do next.

HARLOW: It is. It is.

TURNER: That's what do we do next.

HARLOW: But as you know legislation takes time especially now to get through both chambers.

TURNER: Well, without the president --

HARLOW: So in the interim --

TURNER: Without the president stepping forward --

HARLOW: But let me ask you. In the interim --

TURNER: He supports this legislation, you still have the gridlock that you have.

HARLOW: OK. OK. So let's --

TURNER: So that's important.

HARLOW: Let's say he says he supports it, in the interim before it maybe makes it through both chambers and gets enough votes, will you call on the president to stop the practice, his administration's practice right now that is effectively resulting in these separations?

TURNER: Well, I'm opposed to the practice.

HARLOW: OK.

TURNER: If the president has the ability certainly the president should end the practice.

HARLOW: OK.

TURNER: But I think more importantly we have to talk about what are we going to do moving forward.

HARLOW: OK. He does --

TURNER: And the president needs to help us --

HARLOW: He does have the ability.

TURNER: -- go through the process of legislation and I think that today, I hopefully, he will support the speaker's bill.

HARLOW: OK.

TURNER: That's a way out of this that reforms immigration.

HARLOW: One final question to you, Steve Stivers, from your great state of Ohio, who chairs the Republican National Campaign Committee, came out yesterday and called on the administration to, quote, "stop needlessly separating children from their families."

Now that was a sign some analysts said to more vulnerable Republicans in their districts to say, it's OK, to break with the president on this issue. Are you concerned about the optics of all of this and what it means for your party heading into the midterms if this practice is not stopped very soon?

TURNER: Well, again, the bill that's in the House that the speaker's bringing forward has in it language to end this practice. So there's no --

HARLOW: I understand but it just takes a long time if you can actually get it through Congress.

TURNER: There's no one -- and there's no one, wait. Wait, wait. If you asked me about their position clearly --

HARLOW: I asked you about the optics if this practice doesn't --

TURNER: In the Republican House --

HARLOW: Hold on.

TURNER: -- is that this practice ends.

HARLOW: I asked you about the optics if the practice doesn't stop soon.

TURNER: I think that people have to stand on what their own positions are. My position is, is that I don't support this.

HARLOW: Right.

TURNER: And if there's a bill in the House that I support that would end the practice and I think certainly everyone has, who is opposed to the practice, would support the administration to the extent that they can of ending the practice.

HARLOW: We've got to wrap --

[09:15:00]

TURNER: I don't see how that's different other than today the president's coming forward and I hope he endorses the bill.

HARLOW: It's different because the president endorsing the bill doesn't mean the practice stops.

Finally, yes or no answer -

TURNER: If the president can end the practice -

HARLOW: Does it hurt the party? Does it hurt the Republican Party if this practice of separating families from children doesn't end in the near term?

TURNER: I don't think this is a partisan issue. I think it hurts families and I think it hurts our country. And I think that's what's more important. And that's why the president should end the practice if he's able to, but he should endorse the bill that ends the practice legislatively also and that reforms immigration because that's where we need to go.

HARLOW: Final line from you is the president should end the president if he's able to. He is able to. It's his administration's practice. Let us know what comes out of the meeting. And thank you for being here.

TURNER: Thank you for having me.

HARLOW: You're always welcome. We appreciate it.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source