CNN "The Situation Room" - Transcript: Interview with Sen. Mazie Hirono
Interview
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BLITZER: All right, Barbara, thank you, Barbara Starr the Pentagon.
Let's get some more on all of this.
Democratic Senator Mazie Hirono of Hawaii is joining us. She's a member of both the Judiciary and Armed Services committees.
Senator, thanks so much for joining us.
SEN. MAZIE HIRONO (D-HI): Good evening.
BLITZER: I want to get to Iran in a moment.
But, first, let's discuss Robert Mueller's testimony on Wednesday. We know he was reluctant to testify to begin with. What are you hoping to hear from him on Wednesday? Does he need, for example, to go beyond what's in the written Mueller report?
HIRONO: Well, it would be good if he did, but even the portions in the written report would be enough for him to emphasize.
And, basically, what I think a first line of question would be that the president has said that the Mueller investigation showed no collusion, no obstruction, total exoneration.
I would ask Mr. Mueller, is that so? Is that what your investigation shows?
And, of course, it does not. Anybody who's read his report would know that that is not the case. So, for Mueller to go over some of the things that he emphasized, including, of course, Don McGahn, the White House counsel, being asked to fire Mueller and then being asked to lie about it, I think that all goes to the obstruction issue.
BLITZER: Do you think are there are Americans, though, out there who still haven't made up their mind on this issue of impeachment, obstruction of justice, collusion, and all of that?
Have the American people moved on?
HIRONO: I think that, if the American people -- when the American people learn of all of the things that the president did that, in my view, obstructed justice, but for the Office of Legal Counsel opinion that says a sitting president cannot be charged or indicted, I hope that the American people will realize that Russians interfered with our elections big time on behalf of President Trump, two, that this Office of Legal Counsel opinion prohibited, pretty much prevented any indictment of a sitting president.
And, third, Mueller said that if the president didn't do anything wrong, they should have said. And he did not.
So, when the American people learn these things, I hope that they will say, well, they should at least, as I have called for, the House should at least begin an impeachment inquiry.
BLITZER: Well, speaking of the House, the Judiciary Committee Chairman, Jerry Nadler, says there's very substantial evidence the president is guilty of what he calls high crimes and misdemeanors.
Will Mueller's testimony be a tipping point for Jerry Nadler, for example, the chairman of the Judiciary Committee, to formally launch an impeachment inquiry?
HIRONO: I hope so, at least an impeachment inquiry.
And I think it's really important at this point for the American people to know that Russia is going to continue to interfere with our 2020 elections. They have a president who thinks that they did nothing wrong, basically, and who probably welcomes further support for his reelection.
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So I hope that Mueller will testify to the effect that all of these things happen, they're still happening. And I hope the American people will want us to pursue the truth and justice with regard to the president and hold him accountable.
BLITZER: Let's turn to the growing tension with Iran right now, Senator.
You're on the Armed Services Committee. Have you been fully briefed on this very tense situation?
HIRONO: We have been briefed.
But what's very clear -- and things change. So our last briefing was over a week ago. But it's clear that the tensions are increasing, and that we should be de-escalating tensions.
All of this began, of course, when the president unilaterally pulled out of the Iran nuclear deal, leading to Iran to take certain actions. So this is a perfect kind of climate for miscalculations to occur, miscalculations that could end up with us doing something and getting involved in a war in that part of the world once again, and not being able to get out of it.
Have we learned nothing from Iraq? Have we not learned anything from our other encounters, shall we say, in that part of the world?
So I think the president needs to make sure that we are indeed de- escalating. But, as you noted, he said he's not maybe wanting to get into a negotiation. So what is he talking about, then? Are we just going to keep ratcheting up, tit for tat? That's not where we need to be.
BLITZER: Iran claims it's captured 17 Iranians who were working for the CIA.
Is the president correct, is the president right to say that this is simply Iranian propaganda and lies?
HIRONO: For one thing, anybody who deals with the intelligence community knows that one should never even say anything along those lines.
But this is the president of the United States, who says whatever comes into his mind.
I don't even know if he was advised. I would say the intel community would have advised him not to say anything. But there you have that.
But it just, again, points out how tensions are ratcheting up. We need to de-escalate the situation. We do not want to blunder into a war with Iran, which, by the way, has so much more firepower, that there would be just so many people who would die as a result of this kind of conflagration.
So, I know the diplomatic aspects need to be strengthened, and I'm not sure that that's what's happening.
BLITZER: Senator Hirono, thanks so much for joining us.
HIRONO: Sure.
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