CNN "Erin Burnett Out Front" - Transcript: "Interview with Rep. Ilhan Omar"
Interview
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BURNETT: All right. Thank you very much, Pamela, from the White House. And let's go now to Democratic Congresswoman Ilhan Omar of Minnesota. A member of the Foreign Affairs Committee. And Congressman, I really appreciate your time. Thanks so much.
REP. ILHAN OMAR (D-MN): Thank you so much, Erin, for having me.
BURNETT: So when the President tweets locked and loaded, do you have any idea what he means by that?
OMAR: I don't. A lot of people don't and I don't think even Iran really fully cares about that and I don't think a lot of world cares about that. I think what this President and this administration does is they say a lot of things and they don't really understand the consequences it has on the world stage.
When you think about what has happened in regards to the relationship with Iran, we've worked really hard to improve relations to make sure that we were bringing them to the table. And one of the first things this administration did was to take us out of the Iran nuclear deal and none of this would have really have happened if we didn't put further sanctions that devastated the middle class in Iran and now has put our two countries in the brink of war.
BURNETT: Should a military strike be on the table right now as an option against Iran by the U.S. specifically, Congresswoman, or do you think no?
OMAR: Congress has the constitutional right to declare war. The President doesn't have it. Secretary of State doesn't have it and Saudi Arabia certainly doesn't have it. I think we need to make sure that the American people understand that this administration that lies about weather maps or crowd sizes cannot be trusted to give us the full information.
We need to be able to make a decision whether we should be going to war or not with Iran. We are not in a position to think about another endless war and I really hope that my colleagues in Congress are going to pressure this administration to take a step back and figure out how we use diplomacy in the escalating the situation.
BURNETT: So Congressman, President Trump, you mentioned Saudi Arabia, he says that he trusts Saudi Arabia on this and I wanted to just play for you what he said on the White House lawn about that. Here he is.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Can you trust Saudi Arabia when it comes to what they say about Iran?
TRUMP: Oh, I think so. Look, they want to find out also and I think they probably feel they know. But we're going to know very, very quickly. We have pretty much all the material we need. We'll know very quickly.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Now, Congresswoman, we understand tonight that U.S. intelligence does believe the attack originated in Iran as well. But are you comfortable with that that when the President's asked, "Do you trust Saudi Arabia's intelligence?" "Oh, I think so. They want to find out also." That he has confidence in their assessment.
OMAR: I mean, this is a president, if you'll remember, Erin, who talked about how Saudi Arabia buys apartments from him and spends lots of money on his businesses and that's why he's friends with them. I think it's really important for us to remember that Saudi Arabia is actively engaged in war in Yemen.
They attacked Yemen. The Houthis have taken responsibility on this particular attack and we have to be very cautious about the way that we move forward and I think that's why it's important for Congress to be able to investigate and take the lead on whether it makes sense for us to engage. It's really important for us to remember this is a war. Our intelligence is war tainted towards Iran.
And we can't forget our involvements in Iraq and how there are people who beat the drums of war and ultimately make us regret a decade or so later.
BURNETT: So President Trump in the Oval Office today said that the Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and others in his team are going to go to Saudi Arabia. They're going to meet with officials there behind closed doors about this attack and they're going to meet with some of the same people that Trump with over U.S. intelligence when it came to the U.S. intelligence conclusion that the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia personally directed the murder of The Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi, less anyone forget the President clearly took their side. Here he is.
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MIKE POMPEO, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: There is no direct reporting connecting the Crown Prince to the order of the murder of Jamal Khashoggi. That's all I can say in a classified setting.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: That Trump obviously also said that directly himself. Do you - yes.
OMAR: Yes. I mean it's easy for them to cite information from our intelligence community when it fits with the outcome that they want.
[19:10:02]
And it's easy for them to say, "We're not going to listen to what the intelligence community has to say when they it doesn't fit." Even Saudi Arabia today is asking the United Nations to investigate what has taken place and they themselves were saying that they weren't going to allow the United Nations to investigate in the ways that they butchered journalist Khashoggi.
And so it's really important for us to take a step back to remember who we're dealing with. Saudi Arabia is not a friendly regime. There has been credible evidence that they are sharing some of the weapons that we have been selling to them to al Qaeda and others. And so we have to make sure that we are really cautious in this situation.
And again, that's why I remind people that Congress has the right to declare war and Congress needs to be informed and briefed in this particular situation.
BURNETT: You have also come out in favor of impeachment proceedings against President Trump, Congresswoman. And today, the Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee Jerry Nadler spoke out about that and about where he is. And obviously there's been this whole semantic old game going on about what we're going to call this situation going on, on the Judiciary Committee.
But here's what he said today.
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REP. JERRY NADLER (D-NY): Personally, I think the President ought to be impeached. We cannot impeach the President against the will of the American people.
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BURNETT: Now, the reason I play that for you is that a recent Monmouth University poll which is the most recent we have, Congresswoman, found six in 10 Americans say they oppose impeaching the President. So what does that mean for Jerry Nadler? He's essentially saying he's not going to go ahead with this because of polls and do you think he's right?
OMAR: No. What he is saying is that there are people like him or myself who've said, it's not. If we are going to impeach this president, it's when. And so if you think back to what was happening with the Nixon impeachment, majority of Americans were against impeachment. And within few months of that investigation taking place, majority of Americans were on board.
And so as Nat Little (ph) was speaking today, he talked about how he personally thinks the President ought to be impeached, but he wants to make sure that everything is at the table, so Americans can move along with us as well.
BURNETT: So is your understanding of where he is that he believes that these hearings will accomplish that, that's how you see this, not as giving in but as that's where he's going.
OMAR: Exactly. I mean, I think for us it's really important to share with the American people what we know and to bring them along in this process. If you'll remember with the Mueller report, majority of Americans did not read that report and so they were getting piece here, a piece there, Members of Congress organized a read in to make sure that Americans were tuning in. A lot of them did not.
And I think it's really important that as we have conversations with the people who entrust us to make a decision on their behalf, that we are fully informing them and we're telling them about the crimes and misdemeanors that we believe this president has committed and why he deserves to be impeached.
BURNETT: One more question, you've introduced a bill along with Senator Cory Booker, obviously, who's running for the White House, you did this today. It would create a pilot program to guarantee jobs for anyone who wants one. That's ambitious. It would cost a lot of money. What is the number one thing you would do to pay for that?
OMAR: Yes. I mean, this is an idea that has a long legacy and was proposed by Franklin Roosevelt. It was supported by Martin Luther King, Jr. It's a pilot project, pilot program that is going to allow 15 communities within this country to create this program. And I think ultimately, when these jobs are created and people are pleased in these jobs, it will pay for itself.
BURNETT: All right. Well, thank you very much for your time, Congressman. Thanks.
OMAR: Thank you so much for having me.
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