CNN "Erin Burnett Out Front" - Transcript: "Interview with Rep. Denny Heck"

Interview

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BURNETT: All right. Thank you very much, Kaitlan. And I want to go now to Democratic Congressman Denny Heck who sits on the House Intelligence Committee. He's been part of today's deposition.

Congressman, literally, I know you just came out of the deposition. You've been in there for hours today.

REP. DENNY HECK (D-WA): Nine hours, Erin.

BURNETT: What have you been learning?

HECK: Nine hours.

BURNETT: Nine hours is a long time. That's a lot of questions. What have you learned?

HECK: Without a lunch break. Obviously, we're not going to comment on the specifics. As we've indicated with prior witnesses. I will give you my impression of Dr. Hill, however. I've been in Congress seven years and I can say in all candor that after thousands of hours of hearings I've never had a witness that came across this as substantive per minute as she did. There was an amazing amount of information provided and I think it will be very helpful.

Number two, if the woman doesn't have an idyllic memory, a total recall, then she's close to it. And thirdly, she had every bit as much energy in the ninth hour of her testifying today as she did in the first minute.

BURNETT: So it's incredible, one thing that you pointed out. You're saying if she doesn't have, basically, a photographic memory, it's close to it. After hearing from the former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine on Friday, you described her testimony, Ambassador Yovanovitch, as powerful and impactful. Those were your words, Congressman Heck. Did that occur today as well? Was this as important, as crucial set of testimony as the Ambassador's?

HECK: Well, yes, I would say that, Erin. And I would say that we're into the synergy zone here, by which I mean one plus one doesn't equal two anymore, it adds up to more. When you begin to add these pieces together, it becomes extremely important so there's an amazing amount of information being developed, an amazing body of knowledge being developed about what went on here.

BURNETT: And in terms of the questioning, I'm just curious how it's breaking down, you've got staff, experts as well as people like yourself, the Congress people, how it sort of breakdown? We're talking about nine hours out of curiosity.

HECK: Well, we share time, 50 percent, with the minority party and it rotates back and forth. These are staff led depositions by professional attorneys with ample opportunity for members to chime in and they do and ask their questions.

BURNETT: All right. Well, that's very helpful. I think for a lot of people to understand, especially this point of view that's shrouded in secrecy is coming out that you're laying out, it's 50 percent split. You've got expert - attorneys leading the process.

I want to ask you also, Congressman, about Gordon Sondland, the U.S. Ambassador to the EU. Of course, Trump's appointment. He is scheduled to meet with Congress Thursday for the impeachment inquiry after the White House blocked him from doing so last week.

Now, just to remind everyone, Sondland was the one that the senior U.S. Diplomat to Ukraine texted to say, "As I said on the phone, I think it's crazy to withhold security assistance for help with a political campaign." Sondland's text reply was quite formal. It was, "I believe you are incorrect about President Trump's intentions. The President has been crystal clear, no quid pro quo's of any kind."

Now, we're learning that the President may have literally told him to say that on a phone call, that they may have been a conversation about how to respond to that text. How significant is that if true?

HECK: Well, if true I think it's going to be very significant. But the truth of the matter is, Erin, based on the last three witnesses that we've talked to, we have a lot more questions to ask than just that one, namely, did the President dictate or instruct them specifically how to respond in that text so as to avoid responsibility.

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But as I said earlier, we're accumulating, frankly, a vast storehouse of information and knowledge about how this happened, how this developed, how it is that the President got himself in a situation where he literally violated clearly federal law when he asked for assistance from President Zelensky of the Ukraine to assist in the election.

BURNETT: Is it more black and white than it was in the transcript? I mean have you gotten information that made you say it's more damning than what you and the American people read in that transcript about a favor?

HECK: I obviously can't reveal specifics again, Erin. This is, in fact, an exercise in depositions. They're not hearings and we're attempting to follow best practices, best investigatory practices, that's what's at operation here. But I think an awful lot of the information that's available on open sources and that you've been reporting upon, whether it is what the President said in the call, whether it is the text that were released or the indictments of the two Ukrainian Americans who were tied up with Rudy Giuliani and are a part and parcel of all of this.

Clearly, the amount of evidence is building just counting that which is in the open source.

BURNETT: All right. Thank you very much, Congressman Heck. I appreciate your time tonight.

HECK: You're welcome.

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