CNN Newsroom: Rep. John Garamendi (D-CA) Is Interviewed About Russia's War On Ukraine

Interview

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Well, it is certainly brazen, and it is no doubt that Putin is trying to justify by his presence the takeover of that particular area. I'm often reminded of a dog in a fire hydrant here. His presence is trying to convince the world that this is his. Interesting that they didn't show the whole town. They probably found one apartment complex, some place in that entire city in which he could tour that wasn't destroyed by the Russian army. Bottom line of this is, this is Ukraine territory as is Crimea and that ultimately this must end with Ukraine regetting -- reacquiring its territory and that is all of it that Russia has occupied for the last seven, almost eight years now.

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Well, if China were to increase its assistance, which basically seems to be mostly economic and some humanitarian, although the humanitarian aid borders on military. But if they were to increase, as a result of this visit, it would be a very serious diplomatic problem for China. They would become even more isolated by Europe as well as the United States.

Keep in mind that China is heavily dependent its economy on Europe and the United States. So, Xi Jinping is going to have to be very, very careful here and the advice from all of us would be, do not, do not go further in supporting Russia. I know he wants to be the peace maker. But what is a peace deal thus far is one in which it would be advantageous to Russia, that you would have a ceasefire, giving Russia advantage to rebuild its troops and at some point continue its aggression.

So -- but we could be optimistic that perhaps Xi Jinping would tell Putin, back off, this isn't going to work for you, it's not going to work all the way around, and by the way, you are an international pariah now, having been accused of war crimes.

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Well, I think it really is. Certainly, with regard to Silicon Valley Bank, the federal government and particularly the Biden administration stepped in very forcefully, very quickly, within 36 hours, they devised a mechanism to secure the depositors at that bank. Other banks were weakened probably by the same situation.

They invested in what they thought were the most secure investments in the world, U.S. government bonds. They didn't account for the very rapid rise in the interest rates and then the potential runs.

Beyond Silicon Valley Bank, there is security for every bank in this country. So, I think that the depositors, big and small, need to recognize that the federal government is not about to allow the American banking system to crater as has happened in 2008 and '09. Similarly, across the world in Switzerland, the Credit Suisse has been banked -- backed up by the Swiss government and now in the process of being taken over by another very strong bank.

So, I think the entire western economic system is working very diligently, very quickly and I would say correctly to address the concerns that the banking public has.

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Good to be with you, Fred. Thank you.

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