CNN "The Situation Room" - Transcript: "Interview with Sen. Richard Blumenthal"

Interview

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BLITZER: CNN's Fred Pleitgen in Moscow for us -- Fred, thanks very much.

Joining us now, Senator Richard Blumenthal. He's a Democrat. He serves on both the Armed Services and Judiciary committees.

Senator, thanks so much for joining us.

Let me get your immediate reaction this report we just heard. Are we starting to see the start of an arms race?

SEN. RICHARD BLUMENTHAL (D-CT): We're certainly seeing Vladimir Putin taking advantage of weakness that has been demonstrated by President Trump.

His efforts to curry favor with Vladimir Putin are simply emboldening the Russians to continue their buildup of armed forces. They violated the INF. They're building more submarines. They are seeking to rival us militarily and diplomatically and divide us.

And the big winner of the G7, in fact, maybe was Vladimir Putin, because all of these reversals and walk-backs and dodges not only sowed discord among our allies. They are so many pirouettes, it's almost as if Donald Trump was auditioning for the Bolshoi Ballet.

And Vladimir Putin has become his best friend. But, militarily, diplomatically, economically, that counts for nothing to Vladimir Putin.

BLITZER: The president is clearly very much open to inviting Putin to the summit here in the United States next year.

Do you think he would follow through with that kind of invitation without the formal approval of the other G7 members?

BLUMENTHAL: Predicting what Donald Trump may do is pretty hazardous. It will be in the United States.

Donald Trump wants to do it at the Doral, his own property, which would benefit him economically and financially, to the tune of possibly millions of dollars. Self-enrichment is a constant theme.

And Vladimir Putin, as the star of that show, might be an additional attraction. But the point is that the majority of G7 members voted Putin and Russia out. Inviting Russia without their approval, our allies' approval, would be a catastrophe.

BLITZER: How do you come up with millions of dollars that potentially they would make if the G7 were held at the Doral Country Club down in Florida?

BLUMENTHAL: The Doral Country Club is owned by the Trump Organization. Donald Trump is the owner of that organization and the direct beneficiary.

And the expenditure of a lot of dollars, possibly in the millions, as a result of their having to stay there with security, with their aides, and accompanied staff would possibly be in the millions of dollars.

But one way or the other, it would be an enormous financial boost to the Doral, already has been in Trump touting it as one of the best sites to have that kind of meeting. And it is and would be potentially a direct violation of the Emoluments Clause, the chief anti-corruption clause of the United States Constitution.

And we might well make it part of our lawsuit against the president, which is currently pending in court.

BLITZER: Let's get to China.

The president first admitted that he had some second thoughts about the trade war. Then the White House said he actually wanted higher tariffs on China. Now the president sounds optimistic about striking a deal. Do you see an actual strategy here unfolding?

BLUMENTHAL: There is no strategy, Wolf.

And that is the really deep defect in our current policy or lack of policy. I have spent the last couple of weeks going to businesses in the state of Connecticut, just this morning, one of the global companies here with transactions and business around the world.

And they are deeply concerned about the apparent lack of strategy, the confusion and chaos, the whiplash in our policy, first calling Xi an enemy, now he's a great friend. They're back at the negotiating table, but who knows where it will go.

And they have to make decisions about future investment. Many of them are inclined to support Donald Trump because of his apparent success in economic policy, but, right now, there is increasing chaos and confusion in that policy, especially in the trade war with China.

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And as one of them told me, trade wars are not easy to win, whatever Donald Trump thinks.

BLITZER: Your Republican colleague Senator Lindsey Graham, the chairman of your Judiciary Committee, he says the country just has to, in his words, accept the pain that comes with standing up to China.

How do you respond to that?

BLUMENTHAL: He's right, there's pain, because these tariffs are, in fact, a tax on our consumers and our businesses.

But what's lacking, in fact, is a strategy. Pain without a strategy is unproductive and wasteful and a deep disservice to our country. So I would think that businesses and leaders of our economy, as well as consumers, will be increasingly unhappy with that pain.

BLITZER: The president says there's a good chance he will meet with the Iranian president, Hassan Rouhani.

But President Trump has met personally with Kim Jong-un three times, as you know, and nothing much seems to have come of that, at least not yet. Would anything be different, do you believe, with Iran?

BLUMENTHAL: Certainly, I would hope so, because diplomacy is always preferable to fighting and military use of force.

And if there is a prospect for some kind of successful negotiations, we should welcome it. The chances of success, given the history of this administration, whether it's in North Korea or the Mideast or elsewhere, seems pretty dim.

But diplomacy and talks is always preferable to fighting and the threat of arms.

BLITZER: What does it say to you that the president skipped the G7 session on climate change? The other six leaders were there. There was an empty chair where he was supposed to sit.

BLUMENTHAL: The power of television in the visual was so graphically demonstrated by that picture.

You know, a picture is worth 1,000 words. The empty chair at a climate change meeting, when literally the planet is burning in Brazil, when climate change is uppermost in the minds of many, many Americans, who truly believe that it is caused by man and has to be addressed by all of us, that kind of abdication and absence of leadership is a profound disservice to our nation and our national security.

Because, as our military leaders will tell you, and I know from my experience on the Armed Services Committee, climate change and global warming are a national security threat to the United States. That empty chair speaks volumes about the absence of leadership.

BLITZER: Senator Blumenthal, thanks so much for joining us.

BLUMENTHAL: Thank you.

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