CNN "CNN Newsroom" - Transcript: Interview with Senator Joni Ernst

Interview

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JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: We had a chance to Senator Joni Ernst of Iowa just a little while ago. She's a member of the Armed Services Committee.

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SEN. JONI ERNST (R), IOWA: Well, I think they should respond by reaching out to North Korea and to express how important it is that we make this meeting happen. I think we're on a great pathway to of course denuclearizing the peninsula, but also joining North and South Korea again in peace which is the ultimate goal.

BERMAN: You know, one of the things the president has said about Kim Jong-un during these initial discussions was that he has acted very honorably. Do you believe that this latest maneuver is acting honorably? ERNST: Well, I would say that I don't fully trust the North Koreans.

I don't know that any of us do, but we still have to go through the efforts of making sure that we're fostering discussions with North Korea, with South Korea and trying to find a pathway forward. I think that again is the ultimate goal. We want peace in that region. We want security in that region, and of course, trust is earned and we'll have to see how this goes.

HARLOW: You say you don't fully trust the North Koreans in this, and that most parties do not, but do you think that the president has been too trusting of North Korea when he said, for example, that Kim Jong- un had treated those three American detainees in an excellent manner when they finally were able to return to the United States? Is he too trusting and is he going into this clear-eyed enough?

ERNST: I think the president is going in clear eyed. I think of course he wants to be very complimentary of the North Koreans trying again to foster those discussions, but again, we can't trust them fully if we're not allowed to fully understand their government and what goes on behind that closed border, but again, I think that we are moving in the right direction and I think it is very important that we have these discussions.

I think trust, it is a two-way street. I don't know that the North Koreans fully trust us either, but again the ultimate goal is to find peace and security in that region of the world, and I think we have an opportunity to do that, and we should find a way forward.

BERMAN: Senator, if I can ask you about the Republican senator lunch that you had yesterday with President Trump. So many of you went into that meeting very upset about the fact that a White House staffer had said something offensive about John McCain, made a joke that wasn't in any way funny and was really hurtful. And many of you had asked for the White House to apologize for that. Yet, when you had the president in the room yesterday none of you brought it up with him. Why?

ERNST: Well, it didn't come up. The president was going through a number of other issues talking about trade, about NAFTA, about North Korea, a lot of other very important things. These are topics that I think can be addressed one-on-one and I have made myself very clear that I believe that John McCain is a war hero. I admire him very, very much, and understanding that the White House will have one position and we can certainly push in another direction, but again, my stance is clear. I admire John McCain. I think he's a wonderful American and I wish him and his family all the best.

HARLOW: But it matters to Meghan McCain, for example, his daughter, that the White House publicly apologize. She was promised that according to reporting from our Jake Tapper by the White House aide and no public apology has been issued.

You said earlier this week the White House needs to afford him, McCain, the respect that he deserved. You say it didn't come up in the meeting, but isn't it incumbent on you and other leaders in the Senate to call on the White House to do this, to at least ask the president about it when he's sitting with you for an hour?

ERNST: Well, again, he wasn't really sitting with us. He came in, he gave a presentation and he left. So a lot of the topics again were centered on things like North Korea, about trade. A lot of things that are very important to our state.

This is another matter entirely. It is one that has been made quite public, and I have been quite public about my stance on John McCain and the fact that he should be afforded, absolutely, the respect that he deserves and has earned through the years.

[10:35:11] But again, this is a matter that we've called the White House out on, and of course, while we have the president we did want to focus on things that were very important to national security that are important to our states like tariffs and --

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HARLOW: But on that front, on the national security issue, again, no senator brought up the issue of the Chinese tech giant ZTE which Congress has found to be a national security risk. The president this week saying he wants to help save that company, save Chinese jobs, you know, from Marco Rubio on down the line, Republican senators were complaining about that, concerned about it, yet no one brought it up to the president in the lunch yesterday. Why?

ERNST: Well, again what the president was doing is providing a very broad overview of the topics that are important to all of us and we have those conversations with the president privately and one-on-one. I know that whenever I do call about those types of issues and believe me, I have talked to the president about China, about tariffs, he was always very, very responsive and so I feel that I get a better discussion when I'm talking to him one-on-one and able to make the points that are important to Iowans, for example. I know many other senators have the president's ear, as well. So it wasn't --

BERMAN: Just to clear because we have to let you go. You haven't brought up with him one-on-one ZTE or John McCain, have you?

ERNST: No. Not one-on-one. Not yet.

BERMAN: OK.

ERNST: So we will continue to work the trade issues and the ZTE, obviously, will fall within the trade space, and so I do anticipate that when I'm able to speak with him next about the trade issue, of course, the Iowa agricultural goods, manufacturing, very important but we will have that opportunity to talk about ZTE because honestly Chinese workers, I'm not concerned about them.

BERMAN: Senator Joni Ernst, great to have you with us. Thanks so much.

HARLOW: Thank you.

ERNST: Appreciate it. Thank you. (END VIDEOTAPE)

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