CNN "Erin Burnett Outfront" - Transcript: Rep. Mike Turner (R-OH) is Interviewed About the Trump Impeachment Investigation

Interview

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Republican congressman from Ohio, Mike Turner, has been in the room with David Holmes. He was also in today's hearing with Ambassador Yovanovitch.

I know this has been a very important and busy day for you, Congressman.

Let me start with Holmes. You were in the room for his testimony. What was your reaction?

REP. MIKE TURNER (R-OH): You know, Erin, what is so important about the testimony of Holmes today is that it also occurred in secret. You shouldn't be on television reading a script of Holmes testimony. You should have it up on the screen.

You should have been able to be there. There was nothing classified that's happening and it's continuing Schiff's process of going in secret and having these witnesses testify and having a dress rehearsal, if you will, and then bringing them out in the public.

Now, I can't -- because he had it in secret, I can't confirm or deny that the transcript or opening statement that you have is in fact the hoping statement, and I can say this. There was no new information that Mr. Holmes brought forward and everything he has is second hand.

BURNETT: How is it secondhand if he heard the president of the United States say it?

TURNER: Well, if you keep going on your show to say is, further what Holmes says about Ukraine, about the money being withheld. So, all of that is secondhand and he has no real knowledge of anything with respect --

(CROSSTALK) BURNETT: Well, he heard the president of the United States that he's going to do the investigation, end quote. That's from President Trump's mouth.

TURNER: Well, that's what he says and he says it three months later and he says he took copious notes about everything else that happened except that.

But even so, Erin, let's take everything he said it's true and there's a question as to its accuracy, but let's take it as true. He's not saying anything that the president didn't say with Zelensky with the telephone call notes that we have that the president himself has said. There's no new information here.

There's not one thing that he says that the president said to Sondland that you don't have in the transcript --

BURNETT: So the president did ask -- you now -- you're saying the president did ask for an investigation into the Bidens by Zelensky?

TURNER: In the telephone notes that we all have, he asked him to take a look at it and that's no different than what Holmes is saying that he supposedly overheard a day later. We'll have to find out if that's true, and we'll have to see what Sondland says.

But even if we take it as true, he didn't say anything that the president said anything that goes beyond from what we already know and from the president's own release of the transcript of the notes of his telephone conversation with Zelensky.

BURNETT: So when Ambassador Sondland, when he will obviously testify next week in front of all of us and supposing as you say, let's suppose that he's going to come out and say indeed, this is true that he did call the president of the United States and the president says are you in Kiev and he says yes, and the president said, OK, so -- and Sondland tells the president that Zelensky loves your ass and the president says great, is he going to do the investigations and Sondland says yes, and he says, I know that meant Biden. You're OK with all of that?

TURNER: No, I'm not OK with any of that. But what I'm saying, because you said, what is the difference? Holmes isn't coming forward and saying anything different than what the notes that had been released that you already know of the conversation between President Trump and President Zelensky. There is no new information there.

[19:45:01]

BURNETT: I hear you. I guess I'm just confused because I keep hearing that there's hearsay and it's secondhand, but now you're saying, OK, it's not hearsay and it is the president and he said it before. It says are sounds like the defense is completely changing.

TURNER: No, what I said was that you are reporting additional things that Holmes supposedly said in secret testimony that's happening that should be happening in public. BURNETT: Uh-huh.

TURNER: That relate to the funds that are being withheld from the Ukraine or they were held from Ukraine with the intention of the president and all of that hearsay.

With respect to the telephone itself, if it did happen, and the way that he reports it happened, there's no new information other than the information you already have. So, it's not some bombshell and it's exactly just a day later the exact same information.

So I -- I don't know that this changes much. And by the way, they can parade out 20 other people who can say the same thing and unless they get some either direct knowledge or direct testimony from people who have new information, this is just the same thing.

BURNETT: Yes. I guess -- I guess, first of all, the president of the United States is -- he heard his voice and Sondland will be direct. So let me just cut to the very bottom of this because you and I know each other a long time --

TURNER: Yes.

BURNETT: -- let's just say that Ambassador Sondland comes out next week and says, yes, the president did tell me to do this, I was directed to get an investigation into Joe Biden and I was and we were holding up the aid.

(CROSSTALK)

TURNER: OK. That's not what Holmes said, though. I mean, that's not what Holmes says.

BURNETT: No, but hold on. But Holmes is giving what he heard. I'm saying you're going to talk to Sondland next week and let's say Sondland says that, that's what everybody says happened.

TURNER: Well, Erin --

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BURNETT: Hold on, but, Congressman, if he says that, what are you going to do? Are you going to say it's bad and I don't like it, but it's not impeachable or would you consider it being impeachable?

TURNER: I'm not going to speculate on something that's not happened and that -- there's probably ten other things that Sondland could say that could be damaging or devastating, but what I'm saying, which you know to be the case, the testimony that you are currently reporting of what Holmes says supposedly happened on this conversation that he overheard of the president of the United States with Sondland, there's no new information in that. Everything he's saying that he supposedly overheard the president say while he was on the phone with Sondland and it wasn't on speaker phone.

BURNETT: No, no, he was holding it away from his ear. TURNER: Right, but you had a person on before he who said he was on

speaker phone.

BURNETT: Uh-huh.

TURNER: There's nothing different than what the president himself has released from the White House in his conversation with Zelensky. There's nothing new. It's the same, and if Sondland confirms that that occurred, it's still -- I mean, it's a day later and it's the same phone call.

BURNETT: I think saying he loves your ass and he'll do anything you want him to do, and the president saying so there will be investigations is very significant. I think it's hard to argue that isn't significant, Congressman.

TURNER: That's -- well, no, let's unpack that for a second. First off, he apparently won't do anything that he wants him to because there were no investigations that were opened. None. Zero. So it didn't happen and he didn't do anything that the conversations were happening.

BURNETT: OK.

TURNER: And the second thing is that you're supposing that, like, that there's some other conversations that have happened which we don't have any information about.

BURNETT: All right. I will leave it there and I appreciate your time as always, Congressman. Thanks for being with me.

TURNER: Thank you.

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