CNN "CNN Newsroom" - TRANSCRIPT Rep. John Garamendi (D-CA) is Interviewed about Biden's Re- Election Bid; Decision in "Rust" Shooting; 911 Call from Renner's Accident; U.S. Tracking Russian Spy Ship Near Hawaii; Americans Unhappy with Health Care. Aired 9:30-10a ET

Interview

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JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Morning we have new CNN reporting that the president still intends to announce he is running for re-election soon after the State of the Union Address next month. This despite the special counsel investigation into classified documents found at his office and his home.

With me now is Democratic Congressman John Garamendi of California.

Congressman, thanks so much for being with us.

You said that the discovery of those documents at his home and his office for President Biden was an embarrassment. How do you feel it should impact his decision about whether and when to announce he's running for re-election?

REP. JOHN GARAMENDI (D-CA): It shouldn't. This is a news cycle issue. The special counsel is going to investigate it. I suspect at the end of that they'll find that, yes, he had documents that you shouldn't have. But you take a look at the overall work that has been done in the first two years of his administration, and it's extraordinary. Everything from the Chips Act, to the infrastructure, and then the effort to really get this nation on a track to deal with climate change. The Inflation Reduction Act. Extraordinary legislation that positions the United States for a very good economic future. And all of that trying to spread the opportunity in this country to every part and every individual in the country. It's an extraordinary record. He'll run on that record.

This business of the documents, yes, it's embarrassing, but he's going to move on and I suspect you and I and all the others will move on to the really fundamental issues that confront this nation, including his trip to California, dealing with a climate change issue. We've never ever had four storms, which we used to call pineapple expresses or atmospheric rivers, hit this state. That has never happened before. Why? Climate change.

BERMAN: We'll talk about that in just a second. But I also want to say, because there was a little bit of a technical glitch here. You said that it should not affect his plans to run for re-election, the documents there. I want to move on to the debt ceiling, if I can. You had an

interesting response. Republicans, of course, still insist that they would like to see spending cuts before they agree to raising the debt ceiling. Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, your Republican colleague, wrote -- was in an interview and she said, I will not sign a clean bill raising the debt limit. You had a rather interesting response to that. What was that?

GARAMENDI: Well, first of all, what in the world has this lady become the talking head for the Republican Party? Do we really understand who she is, what she stands for, QAnon, all of those things. Nonetheless, the reality is the Republicans, during the Trump administration, three times just signed off and let the debt limit increase even though it was $7.8 trillion of additional debt that occurred during the Trump administration. Now that we have Biden in the White House, gee whiz, a big problem.

This should be a routine thing. This is not new spending. This is past spending and it is the obligation of the United States and, frankly, the Constitution says that the debt of the United States shall not be unincumbered. So, here we go.

This is going to get done. We're not going to negotiate this. This is routine during the Trump administration. It should be routine now.

Now - now, they want to deal (ph) with threats, they control the appropriations. They, the Republicans, control the appropriations process in the House of Representatives and appropriations always start in the House. So, if they want to make a cut, they've got the committees. Let them make the cuts there and see what happens.

BERMAN: So you say this is going to get done. At the same time, you say there will be no negotiations. How do you square that circle?

GARAMENDI: Simply. We're not going to negotiate the debt limit. That's something that the Republicans did routinely during the Trump administration. They didn't object to increasing the debt limit there. Why are they doing it now? Well, because they want to play a political game risking - risking the world economy, and certainly the American economy, increasing interest rates for everybody so they can play a game.

I'm just saying they don't have to do this. They control the appropriations process. If they want to make cuts, they've got the committees. Don't appropriate the money. That's how it should be done. The debt limit should not be the game that's being played.

BERMAN: The president is on his way to California very shortly to take a look at areas around your district and other places where the storms hit so hard. What do you want him to see?

GARAMENDI: Right. Well, I want him to see the destruction that's been here in this area. I have no doubt that he is aware of what has gone on. He's been in and out of California for more than 40 years. (INAUDIBLE). He'll see the destruction and the federal disaster program is in place. It, frankly, needs to be extended. Only, I think, five counties are included in the present disaster declaration from the federal government.

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All of California counties are affected and so that should be extended. And hopefully he'll do that on this trip.

But what we need to do is to prepare for the future. And I think that's where the president's going to go. How do we deal with this? In the infrastructure act, as well as the water resources development act, which we passed over the last two years, there is an extraordinary amount of money for flood protection. Also, particularly important for the west and for California are the development of water resources programs, reservoirs, off-stream reservoirs, dealing with our aquifers, as well as recycling and conservation -- water conservation programs. He will, and he should, talk about all of those things that we need to do to deal with tomorrow. Yes, we'll deal with the current problems, as we have in the past with the help of the federal government and the state and local agencies, but we need to really build for the future. And that means that climate change, that means we're going to have droughts, we're going to have floods, we're going to have atmospheric rivers. All of those things require us to use the legislation that was passed the first two years of the Biden administration and build the necessary flood protection, as well as the water resource programs that are essential, not just for California, but all the way across the United States.

BERMAN: Congressman John Garamendi, we appreciate you being with us this morning. Thank you.

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