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

Interview

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BURNETT: All right. Thank you very much, Pam. And out front now, Democratic Congressman Denny Heck who sits on the House Intelligence Committee. Congressman, I appreciate your time.

So Yovanovitch said when she was recalled, removed from her job, she was told, "This is about your security. You need to come home immediately." Get on a plane, she was asked, does that mean her physical security? She was told, I don't get that impression, but you need to come home immediately. What sort of security do you think they meant?

REP. DENNY HECK (D-WA): Well, one is only left a conjecture to determine that, Erin. I think it was Carol Perez that told her that. And obviously, Ambassador Yovanovitch felt threatened and felt physically unsafe and who wouldn't, especially when you read what the President said in the phone call later that she would be going through some things. That's obviously as it were a pale form of witness intimidation.

It's not surprising, however, this is the same guy who's probably engaged in the parallel of jury tampering by upping very considerably his financial support of key Republican U.S. senators who are running for reelection. He's trying to taint the jury pool as it were in the event that articles of impeachment are voted out of Committee and out of the House.

BURNETT: So now that the transcript is out there for Public to read, do you want Yovanovitch to testify publicly as well now that we've seen - I mean, it was many hours that she was behind closed doors with you and your Republican colleagues. We've all been able to read it. Do you want her publicly to?

HECK: Personally, I would. But frankly, I don't think that's a decision that should be made until we've had an opportunity to see just what exactly is the entire pool of people that have been able to be deposed is determined and we don't know that yet. But I think she'd be a prime candidate, but there will be others as well and that decision will be made, again, after we've had an opportunity to look over all those that have come forward thus far and see who it is that actually has the most materially significant content to offer.

BURNETT: Right. And in some of these cases, obviously, we know a lot. I mean we know it was in the opening statements. We don't know the full back and forth questioning and I know that your chairman, Chairman Schiff, says or House Intelligence Committee Chairman Schiff says the transcript of the Ukraine former special envoy Kurt Volker, and the U.S. Ambassador to the EU Gordon Sondland that that was going to be released tomorrow.

Do you think when people get a chance to see those full transcripts, and again, we're talking with Volker, it was eight, nine hours if I recall correctly. But do you think that releasing those transcripts is going to change anyone's mind?

HECK: Well, I hope so because the fact of the matter is that in almost every material instance, every person who has come forward has corroborated what the others have said. So there's a pretty high definition picture that has been brought into focus by all of these.

Frankly, Erin, I've been sitting here thinking it must be completely exhausting to be President Trump to stand up and have to answer the questions about the content of this witness testimony and basically to mislead the American public so clearly in each and every regard. And I look ahead at all of the other witness testimony that will be revealed, Dr. Hill, Ambassador Taylor and I could go on and on.

This guy is going to be completely exhausted when this is over with. It would be so much simpler for him if you were just to acknowledge the clear truth of the fact.

BURNETT: So look you said you need to know your witness pool before you know who could testify publicly. Obviously, one key witness could be John Bolton and we don't know whether he'll testify or not. NBC News says Bolton will be willing to testify if the court orders his longtime deputy Charles Kupperman to testify.

And, of course, Kupperman is fighting it, filing a lawsuit to determine whether he has to testify. And it's possible, it looks like now we may not get an answer on that from the courts until January. So will you move forward with a full vote on articles of impeachment without testimony from people like John Bolton who really was obviously at the core here of every other testimony we've gotten thus far?

HECK: Well, that remains to be seen, Erin. But I'll tell you what we're not going to do. We're not going to play rope-a-dope with the administration in their continuing effort to withhold all of the documentation that we have subpoenaed and to instruct administration employees not to come before us. That's obstruction of Congress.

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That to me is a tacit acknowledgement of guilt and will be included in any deliberation about whatever report we may submit to the Judiciary Committee when they get to the point of drafting articles of impeachment. But just, again, as we've reminded the American public so many times of, obstruction of Congress and abuse of power were articles of impeachment in the time before last that we went through this, so that was with President Nixon.

BURNETT: So obviously, Judiciary Committee, as you point out would draft those former articles, but the initial public hearings will be conducted by your committee, the Intelligence Committee. That's where we're all going to see them.

CBS is reporting tonight Republicans are thinking about moving an outspoken defender of the President, his close ally, Congressman Jim Jordan, temporarily to your committee so that he would be there to question. What do you make of that?

HECK: Of them transferring Jim Jordan to the Intelligence Committee temporarily so that he can be the lead?

BURNETT: Yes, so that also that he could ask questions.

HECK: Right. Sounds like a great big fat vote of no confidence in Devin Nunes to me. That's the only other way I can interpret that since Devin Nunes has been the ranking member of this last year and was chairman previous to that. Truth of the matter is and we don't like to reveal too much about who comes in who goes in those close sessions, but I'll say this for Jim Jordan, at least he's been present.

BURNETT: All right. Well, thank you very much. Are you contrasting that to Devin Nunes, specifically?

HECK: I'll leave that to you and the viewers to interpret, Erin.

BURNETT: OK. All right. I appreciate your time as always. Congressman Heck, thank you.

HECK: THANK YOU.

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