CNN "The Situation Room" - Transcript Interview with Adam Schiff

Interview

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We're joined now by the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, Congressman Adam Schiff.

Congressman, thanks so much for joining us.

How much of a national security threat is the president's decision to actually return to the White House? Because, potentially, it's exposing other administration officials, White House staff, White House workers.

REP. ADAM SCHIFF (D-CA): It's a big problem, and potentially a grave security problem as well.

You already have public reports of the West Wing essentially being vacant, with so many people who are quarantining themselves, either because they're sick or they're afraid that they might be sick.

And so the decision-making at the White House is already impacted. And, of course, there have been a lot of questions about the president's decision-making and the clarity or lack of clarity in his own thinking right now, when he's battling this virus.

And then not far from the White House, at the Pentagon, they're dealing with their own potential outbreak. And so, cumulatively, it has a big impact.

And, of course, our adversaries are watching all this very closely.

BLITZER: You heard the speaker, Nancy Pelosi, tell House Democrats in a phone conversation today that she questioned whether the president taking the steroid that he's taking, dexamethasone, was impacting his thinking, raising serious questions about his thinking.

She said, "Believe me, there are people who think that steroids have an impact on thinking."

What do you think?

SCHIFF: Well, in my view, Wolf, on the best of days, the president's thinking isn't too sound. So, if there's any impairment, it's a real problem.

[18:25:01]

To me, this hearkens back to the president to proudly boasting that he's going to take responsibility for shutting down the government. Well, he's now proudly taking responsibility for denying the American people help in their time of crisis.

Basically, today, Donald Trump told the country, if you're a small business person and you're going under, too bad for you, I'm not going to bother with it until after the election. If you have lost your job and you're on unemployment compensation, and your benefits have run out, that's too bad, that doesn't affect me, I don't care, I will deal with that later.

You know, this is so irresponsible, when millions are suffering. And, of course, politically it makes no sense for him to do either. So it does call into question his judgment, certainly, but whether he's being impaired by these drugs.

BLITZER: You know, it's really strange, because, in the past few days, we were all getting encouraging word from Steve Mnuchin, the Treasury secretary, Nancy Pelosi, the speaker, others surrounding him, that they seemed to be making some progress on this coronavirus stimulus proposal.

They seemed to be getting a bit closer. But then, out of the blue, the president announced today, it's over, no more negotiations. How do you explain that?

SCHIFF: Well, I think it is -- the president, in a moment to pique, deciding, I'm done, I'm not going to be part of this, I can't be bothered with the problems of millions and millions of Americans.

Look, this is a guy who promoted himself as the master of the art of the deal. We have since discovered during the course of his presidency he's a terrible deal-maker. He's apparently a very good marketer. He markets himself well, but he doesn't know how to make a deal.

And I think you're right. It certainly seemed like the speaker and Secretary Mnuchin were getting close. Their numbers were coming together. They were working on the right language to make sure whatever funds were appropriated were actually spent in the right way, the surge testing to make sure we could get quick turnaround on tests, that we could really crack down on this virus, that the money going to small businesses would go to those that need it, not large businesses that are set apart in franchises.

So, it looked like there was a real chance to get to yes. And the president, for whatever reason, basically said, no, I'm not interested anymore, and those that are in trouble, be damned. I'm just going to do my own thing. And, right now, I think, politically, the best thing for me is to try to stack the Supreme Court. So, millions can suffer. I'm just going to do what's good for me.

It's another vindication, Wolf, of what we have learned over time about this president. He doesn't make decisions on the basis of what's best for the country, only what's on the basis of what's best for him.

BLITZER: And we did hear from Jerome Powell, the chairman of the Federal Reserve, today saying, unless there is another economic stimulus package, millions of Americans are going to continue to suffer from the impact of coronavirus, millions of Americans still unemployed.

And they're desperate to pay the bills, pay their rent, get food on the table for their kids. This is a serious problem right now, getting worse and worse.

Congressman Adam Schiff, thank you so much for joining us.

SCHIFF: Thank you, Wolf.

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