CNN "CNN Newsroom" - Transcript: Interview with Rep. Ro Khanna

Interview

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Congressman Ro Khanna, I'd like to go to you, because you happen to be one of those lone members who are actually on the Hill. You're in your car. Tell me where exactly you are and then how you heard about all of this.

REP. RO KHANNA (D-CA): Well, Brooke, I had just stepped out of my Cannon office, and I was going to get Chinese food.

And when I came back, I had a frantic calls from someone on my staff saying, get away, get away. There's an incident. And, honestly, it did bring back memories of January 6.

BALDWIN: Of course.

KHANNA: And I'm so very grateful to the Capitol Police for what they have done.

And then I talked to one of the officers, and they said, go into your car and everything is shut down. And so I have just been in my car.

And there are members. I mean, I'm heading back to my district early next week, but there are a few people still here. And it's really sad, because I had thought, once the barriers were removed, that we were moving back to some sense of normalcy.

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But this just shows the level of risk that there still is, and really sad that this is happening at the Capitol.

BALDWIN: What -- just, if you can, elaborate more on that, because we know, just recently, some -- a lot of these barriers went down. And this Capitol, your office, has apparently a massive target on its back.

And what does that feel like as a member of Congress?

KHANNA: Well, for a few weeks, coming to Congress literally was like going into a war zone. You had barbed-wire fence all over. You had troops all over.

And used to tell folks, if I have such a difficult time as a member of Congress getting in, what hope is there for the public to get in? And I really felt that I hoped that was temporary and that we could start getting back to normalcy.

What often has happened is, when there is a recess because members are not here in the same numbers, I think there's less security, less groups. Different members go back to their districts at different times. And, unfortunately, we -- there was a breach. And there is a sense that now going -- just simply going to work is something that has become dangerous.

And I can't imagine saying that, that going to the United States Capitol to represent your constituents is actually a dangerous thing in the United States of America. It's just deeply sad.

BALDWIN: Yes, it is. Congressman, I know you're not going anywhere. You are stuck in your

car until the situation changes. So we will come back to you in just a bit. I appreciate you jumping on TV with me.

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