CNN "Anderson Cooper 360" - Transcript: Interview with Rep. Jackie Speier (D- CA), Member, Oversight and Intelligence Committees, on Latest Witness Testimony

Interview

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Earlier I spoke to Congresswoman Jackie Speier, who sits on the Intelligence Committee. We talked about what we have heard so far from the witnesses, including about Gordon Sondland.

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COOPER: Congresswoman Speier, I'm wondering what the most important thing was to you was that came out of the hearings today.

REP. JACKIE SPEIER (D-CA), MEMBER, OVERSIGHT AND INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEES: I think one of the most important things that came out of the hearing was that Ambassador Volker gave a very strong character support for Vice President Biden and the fact that everything he did as vice president in Ukraine was consistent with the policies of our government.

I would also say that Mr. Morrison's reluctance to come forward and say there was anything wrong with the phone call but he went directly to the National Security Council lawyers after the call raises interesting questions.

Certainly Lieutenant Colonel Vindman's testimony this morning was truly remarkable. And he made it very clear that he wasn't going to have a character assassination go on by the Republican members and had great answers when they tried to suggest that he wasn't a team player.

And then he pulled out the performance evaluation from Fiona Hill, that suggested that he was among the top 1 percent, brilliant, outstanding people in that post.

COOPER: Did you believe or find credible Mr. Morrison's assertion, as you said, that he's on the call?

He hears the president doing something which he, you know, would not -- that the NSC didn't suggest the president say he didn't approve of and he goes directly -- he doesn't go to his supervisor, Mr. Kupperman, who is refusing to testify.

He goes straight to the attorneys for the NSC. And his explanation was that he hadn't seen the attorneys monitoring the call, which, he said, sometimes they don't do.

But what he was really concerned about was that possibly the information would leak out, which is only of concern if you are concerned and unhappy with what is on the call and you think it's inappropriate.

SPEIER: You know, he subsequently said they wanted to lock down the information.

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SPEIER: Again, it shows consistent efforts by the White House and others for a cover-up. We don't have all the documents we should have. In fact, we have very few documents because the State Department has not cooperated at the request of the White House.

But the effort to lock down the summary of the call, I think, was for the purpose of not letting it get out.

COOPER: Do you think that Volker and Morrison were the witnesses that the Republicans were hoping that they would be?

SPEIER: Well, they certainly were good witnesses for both sides. And I would say that they did not -- they did a very good job of being supportive of Vice President Biden and putting to rest this whole myth about the 2016 Ukrainian involvement in the election and the server. So they were certainly very good for the Democrat narrative as well.

COOPER: Once again, the former national security adviser, John Bolton, came up numerous times today. It was made clear once again just how integral a part of this he was and how important, in the best of worlds, it would be to hear his testimony.

I'm wondering if you think it's a mistake for Democrats to not be trying to secure an appearance from him.

SPEIER: I think that we would like to hear from Mr. Bolton. But there has been a reluctance for him to come forward without first going to court. And we don't want to have this linger in the court for six months before we hear from Mr. Bolton.

I would say, too, that he also recommended to Mr. Morrison, take this to the attorneys. So Mr. Morrison went to the National Security Council attorneys. He went to the White House attorneys.

There was clearly, in a number of circumstances, a concern about linking aid to Ukraine to the investigations that the president wanted on Joe Biden, his son and the 2016 election.

COOPER: The other thing that was made clear is just how important Ambassador Sondland's testimony is going to be tomorrow. It's certainly -- I mean I'm not sure what his approach is going to be.

I don't know if he's going to, you know, say he doesn't remember stuff or if he's going to try to amend some of the testimony he's already given.

I'm wondering for you, what questions do you need him to answer tomorrow?

SPEIER: I think he's got to be very specific, which he has not been. There's some 200 times in which he does not recall. But he's got to have a refreshed recollection around phone calls he had with the president of the United States. I think it's hard to believe that he doesn't recall specific conversations he has with the president and I think we're going to want to confirm what we're going to hear from Mr. Holmes, who was the person having lunch with him on the 26th of July, right after the phone call had taken place, in which Mr. Sondland called the president.

And the president's first words were, are they going to do the investigations?

COOPER: Congresswoman Speier, it's going to be another fascinating day tomorrow. Appreciate your time. Thank you.

SPEIER: Thank you, Anderson.

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