CNN "Erin Burnett Outfront" - Transcript: Interview with Bennie Thompson

Interview

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REP. BENNIE THOMPSON (D-MS): Well, we are prepared, Erin, to move forward. We hope to have a fully populated committee. But under the rules, we have a quorum of the committee and we'll go forward. Our first hearing will be from the rank and file of Capitol Police, some who you saw in the opening video there.

Nobody's had a chance to talk to those individuals and we think it makes a good statement for the committee to start off, making sure that those individuals put their lives on the line to protect all of us that day, that they are appreciated and we need to hear from them.

BURNETT: Well, I think that's crucial and we do want to hear from them. All of them. And each of these videos as disturbing as they are is showing horrible events and horrible things that happen, even in the context of knowing that this was a horrible event we didn't know about. And yet this committee, obviously, even though McCarthy went to Pelosi with his full list of everything he wanted about a Select Committee all have it was (inaudible) yes to and yet still wasn't on board. Here's his latest criticism about your Select Committee.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) REP. KEVIN MCCARTHY (R-CA): This is the least bipartisan committee you

can find. Think about the structure. There's not an equal number of Republicans or Democrats. She appointed Adam Schiff and Raskin. This is a impeachment committee. Only Democrats have subpoena power. The speaker has control over anyone who is appointed.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: I mean, again, I just want to emphasize for anyone watching that McCarthy did oppose a bipartisan commission with equal representation, completely opposed to that. So this is what Pelosi did in lieu of what McCarthy said he wanted.

But now you're in a tough spot, Congressman.

[19:25:00]

I mean, if you move ahead without Republicans at all, does it help fuel McCarthy's narrative that the panel is political?

THOMPSON: Well, it fuels the fact that McCarthy didn't do his job. As you know, I negotiated the other agreement that McCarthy wanted done. We accepted everything he put on the table and at the last minute he opposed it.

So Speaker Pelosi and the leadership on the Democratic side, we're left with no choice. We can't walk away from what happened on January 6th. We have to make sure that it never happens again. So whether McCarthy comes forward or not, the committee has a quorum. We've had two meetings. We've decided to have hearings and other things necessary.

We have to protect the Capitol. We have to protect the workers. We have to protect the members of Congress and everyone who utilizes that facility. So it's important for us to go forward. So we would hope to have McCarthy's nominations, but he's proven not to be trustworthy in the negotiations.

So I think the speaker is correct to have the final approval on who goes on the committee. We will produce a product. Our challenge is to look at the circumstances and facts surrounding January 6th. It won't be a sideshow. It will be a deliberative effort for this committee to get to the facts. We'll hire the best professional staff that we can find to help us figure out for the sake of this country of what went wrong and then recommend the fixes necessary so that it will never happen again.

BURNETT: All right. Well, Chair Thompson, I appreciate your time. Thank you.

THOMPSON: Thank you for having me.

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