CNN "CNN Newsroom" - Transcript: "Interview with Rep. Gregory Meeks"

Interview

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HARLOW: All right. Welcome back.

Bill Taylor, the top U.S. diplomat in Ukraine, appeared to directly refute the president's claim that there was no quid pro quo in his dealings with Ukraine.

With me now, New York Democratic Congressman Gregory Meeks. He serves on the Financial Services and the Foreign Affairs Committee.

Sir, thank you for being here.

You were in the room yesterday for Bill Taylor's testimony. Your fellow Democratic congressman, Stephen Lynch, called his testimony, quote, a sea change that he believes will accelerate matters.

Is he right, will this accelerate matters? Is this the smoking gun for you guys?

REP. GREGORY MEEKS (D-NY): Look, the transcripts are out there. And I just urge the American people just to read it. He had --

HARLOW: Well, not the transcripts, the opening statement is out there.

MEEKS: The opening statement. I should say, the opening statement is out there, and I would just urge the individuals, American people, to read it.

He was a career diplomat. An individual who was weighing whether or not he should go back into Ukraine and serve. And he went to an advice -- and asked the advice for a friend who said, if you can help your country, you do it.

He went there only for one reason, to help the country with reference to our relationship with Ukraine because Russia was attacking it. And he made a statement to the secretary of state saying that, as long as we have this clear, then I will do this job.

And then to hear what was taking place, these -- this separate group that was going on talking about U.S. policy where 2020 elections, political elections interest was taking place, led by Mr. Giuliani, it was absolutely stunning as to what took place in his testimony. Stunning.

HARLOW: OK. So the White House is pushing back on this, right, calling it a smear campaign. Obviously, you know, Bill Taylor's resume is just -- says it all. I think his career in public service. But the White House, Jay Sekulow, making the argument that due process is being ignored here. He says the American people are smart enough to know when someone is being denied due process. Not just the president, but the presidency. You mentioned the transcripts. We don't have the transcripts from any

of these behind closed doors, you know, sets of testimony in this inquiry. Should the American public see it?

MEEKS: Let me just say first, one of the things that I want to say, talking about a smear campaign, looks like anybody that's a patriot to this country must be anti-patriotic. When you look at all of the generals and people who have put their life on the line for this country, they are all saying something. General Mattis, just the other day.

So it is clear that what the president wants is individuals who will just go with him no matter what he does. He thinks he is above the law. No one is above the law. No president, no one with his abuse of power.

And to direct answer to your question, there will be a time where there will be an opportunity for folks that have the view (ph) transcripts and open hearings.

HARLOW: OK.

MEEKS: Right now this is an inquiry. And just as -- and we're doing investigations into what did or did not happen.

HARLOW: So, Congressman, part of the reason I asked you that is because when you look at the polling specifically in some key swing states, the majority of voters are not convinced that impeaching and removing the president is the right call.

Look at this "New York Times"/Seneca (ph) poll just out in the battleground states of Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Florida, Arizona, North Carolina. Let's pull it up. Fifty-three percent of voters there do not believe -- do not believe that impeaching and removing the president at this point is the right call.

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So should more of these hearings be in public? Should transcripts be released quickly if you want to change their minds?

MEEKS: Which is why we have to do our investigatory work. We don't make assumptions. This is not a game. This is not something that we're just playing out to the public. We are doing our work in a very similar manner that, you know, you had special prosecutors in the prior impeachment investigations.

In this case, clearly, Mr. Barr, based upon the other (ph) testimony, he's part of that other crew that's working behind the scenes for the president and not for the American people. So it is our job to now do the same kinds of things. And I would dare say it is fairer than it was in the past because the Republicans are in the room, their attorneys are in the room. When you had the others, there was nobody in the room.

HARLOW: Are you referring to Benghazi? What are you referring to? MEEKS: No, no, no, I'm referring to other -- the other impeachment

proceedings, whether it was with Nixon or whether it was with Clinton, when we had independent prosecutors that was there.

HARLOW: Well, you actually had rules -- you had rules then that actually gave the minority party more power, and that's what's -- many Republicans are calling for now.

I want to get to FaceBook with you because you're heading in to listen to FaceBook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg testify today that the hearing is about Libra, their, you know, digital currency push.

But my question to you is, there's so many other things going on with FaceBook right now, airing false political ads being one of them. What are you going to ask Mark Zuckerberg today?

MEEKS: Yes, I'm very concerned. I'm going to ask him and I'm going to listen to his testimony also. But I'm going to ask him, what are they doing to secure our democracy and not allowing the kinds of false postings that are going on in FaceBook that has divided us or that caused -- divided us as a nation with the Russian bots and others that are trying to get involved in our public elections.

HARLOW: OK.

MEEKS: There's a danger there. And I want to find out what they intend to do about it.

HARLOW: It's important testimony. We'll be watching it. We'll bring our viewers some here when it begins at 10:00 a.m.

Let me ask you finally, you condemned the president's use of the word lynching to describe the impeachment inquiry yesterday, but back in 1998, Congressman, here is how you described the impeachment of President Clinton.

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MEEKS: What you are doing and what we are doing here is not a prosecution. It's a persecution. And, indeed, it is a political lynching.

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HARLOW: Sir, were you wrong to use that word back then?

MEEKS: No, let me tell you something. Number one, if you come from my persuasion, my parents came from the south. Those were individuals that would have been victimized and threatened by lynching. I can say certain words that an individual like Donald Trump, who has a history of associating himself with reference to the Charlottesville people that he talked about were good people who would have lynched my folks, when you talk about the discrimination in his company in New York, when you talk about the creator of the birther movement. No, he cannot say the same things I say because he keeps catering to the ugliest people of our society and the context of the word is completely different when it comes out of his mouth than when it comes out of mine.

HARLOW: Congressman Meeks, I appreciate your time. I'll let you get into that hearing with Mark Zuckerberg.

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