CNN "Anderson Cooper 360 Degrees" - Transcript: "Interview with Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi"

Interview

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COOPER: But it doesn't seem like his allies in Congress agree with him, especially considering so much testimony from multiple officials appear to confirm the original whistle-blower's allegations of a quid pro quo.

Fore more on all of it, I'm joined by Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi, who sits on the House Intelligence Committee, which is now planning to have open hearings as part of impeachment.

Congressman, why take this vote now? What changed?

REP. RAJA KRISHNAMOORTHI (D-IL): Well, I think that this vote is not necessary for the impeachment inquiry to exist. Indeed, as you pointed out, Judge Howell last Friday in the D.C. District Court said as much.

However, we do need a vote in order to do a few things. One, publish the transcripts of the closed door proceedings. Two, transfer this evidence to the Judiciary Committee for their consideration later. And then, three, among other things we need to have staff-led questioning in the open hearings, something which currently is not the norm in most public hearings.

COOPER: So, in the public hearings it's -- the questions are going to be, what, from attorneys on the staff as opposed to from members of Congress?

KRISHNAMOORTHI: I think it's going to be primarily led by staff. I think one of the problems that your viewers might notice with our public hearings is that most times, we as members each get about five minutes of questioning and although you can pack a lot into five minutes, there's -- there's kind of an abruptness to the way that they start and end and so, we hope to have lengthier question periods, and also done by folks who are probably going to get into even more details than is normally the case in member questioning.

COOPER: And also, I mean, you know, to be frank, in the five minutes that many members of Congress have, oftentimes a lot of that is eaten up by them making a statement first and sometimes those statements are very long.

How much --

KRISHNAMOORTHI: Oh, I don't know what you're talking about, Anderson.

COOPER: Yes, not you. Certainly never you.

How much of this is in response to former National Security Council official Charles Kupperman's failure to show, because afterward, after he didn't show, Chairman Schiff made it clear he doesn't want to spend anymore time litigating this in the courts.

KRISHNAMOORTHI: Yes, I actually think these aren't really linked because this had to be done anyway in order to go to the next stage, the opening hearings. The one thing I can say about Mr. Kupperman is he obviously is not complying with the personally directed subpoena, but as you can see, there's been a stream, a parade of witnesses who have come forward.

These are career public servants, oftentimes appointed by Donald Trump's administration, who have come forward at their own expense putting their necks on the line to tell the truth and that's very much to be commended.

COOPER: The House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy, he has responded to what Nancy Pelosi put out today, saying -- he tweeted, saying, quote: Today's backtracking is an admission that this process has been botched from the start.

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Obviously you don't agree with that, but do you see this as at least in part a desire to sort of meet Republicans -- some Republican's criticism that there should be a full vote on this?

KRISHNAMOORTHI: Well, what I can say, it reaffirms what's already occurred. But I mean, there are claims that the process has been unfair, are totally unfounded. You know, more than 40 Republicans have participated in the closed door proceedings. They've had equal time to question the witnesses. They can question them about any topic they want and they get to make opening statements as well. And they've used that opportunity on an ample basis.

So I think their claims of process are unfounded. Interestingly, they don't want to talk about the substance of the allegations and that's what we really need to consider at this point. So, going to a public hearing will really allow the American people to see the substance of the evidence and really decide for themselves, you know, what they think about where the evidence should lead us.

COOPER: So will all the transcripts of the closed-door meetings, will all of those be released? And what percentage do you think of the people who have come forward so far to be witnesses or to give testimony will be called back to do it publicly?

KRISHNAMOORTHI: The answer is I don't know. I don't think that has been decided. Obviously I don't want to get ahead of my chairman, Adam Schiff, on these particular questions.

But I think that probably short of redacting for certain maybe sensitive or classified information, my hope would be there would be maximum transparency. In my humble opinion, it was very powerful, incredible, compelling testimony such as by Bill Taylor just the other day.

COOPER: Yes, as I mentioned, at the top of the program, Speaker Pelosi says the Democrats are taking these steps to, quote, eliminate any doubt as to whether the Trump administration may withhold any documents, prevent witness testimony, disregard duly authorized subpoenas, or continue obstructing the House of Representatives.

Do you actually expect this will change how the White House responds to your threats?

KRISHNAMOORTHI: I'm not sure. I'm not holding my breath based on the obstructionism they've provided up to this point, but at this point, I think that we have to do the right thing. We have to hold open hearings, provide maximum transparency into what's happening and like I said, allow the American people to actually see the witnesses and hear for themselves what they have to say.

It's extremely important for this process to unfold the way it should.

COOPER: Congressman, appreciate it. Thank you very much.

KRISHNAMOORTHI: Thank you, Anderson.

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