Pentagon Investigating Flynn; WH Blames Obama Administration For Flynn's Security Clearance; Pentagon Investigating Flynn Over Foreign Payments; Comey, Rogers To Testify In Closed-Door Hearing Tuesday.
WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: We're following the breaking news. There you see air force one just moments ago landing in Atlanta. The President of the United States will head over from the Atlanta Airport over to the National Rifle Association's convention in Atlanta. It's an effort to reenergize his conservative base, no doubt about that. He's going to be speaking in Atlanta. Soon we're going to have live coverage of that once it begins. In the meantime, the White House says it's not to blame for failing to improperly vet its former National Security Adviser, Retired Lieutenant General Michael Flynn. Instead, it's blaming the Obama administration saying it was the President's - former President's administration that approved Flynn's security clearances, renewed those security clearances in 2016. General Flynn was pressured to resign for lying to the Vice President about his conversations with the Russian diplomat. Now the Pentagon's Inspector General has opened an investigation into Flynn for apparently failing to disclose payments he had received from a Russian television station. Those payments were for an event that included dinner with the Russian President Vladimir Putin back in 2015. I want to get reaction to all these late-breaking developments with one of the leading investigators of the Russian interference in the U.S. Presidential election, Democratic Congressman Adam Schiff is the ranking member of the House Intelligence Committee. He's joining us live here in the studio. Congressman, thanks very much for joining us.</s>ADAM SCHIFF, UNITED STATES CONGRESSMAN FROM CALIFORNIA: You bet.</s>BLITZER: So when the White House yesterday, Sean Spicer says, you know what, it's really the Obama administration's fault that Flynn got his security clearances renewed in 2016, the administration was still in office. They renewed his security clearances even though a year earlier, he went to Moscow, there was all that video of him having dinner with Putin. What do say?</s>SCHIFF: Well, this is a continuation of what we saw in the early days of the Trump Presidency, when they felt the Yemen raid hadn't gone well, they said it's Obama's fault. Obama cleared this operation. Now they're saying it's Obama's fault that we didn't vet him better. The reality is, they have the responsibility as the new administration to vet people they want to place in senior positions. The security clearance forms we have requested on a bipartisan basis in the Intelligence Committee, we haven't received them yet. I look forward to going through them. But there's a question, did Flynn report any moneys that he received? That may have impaired the vetting process in terms of the agency for security clearance. But there's really no excuse for the Trump administration here and simply blaming Obama, that argument has really a shelf life that expired a long time ago.</s>BLITZER: If he didn't disclose the money he received from Russia and for Turkey for that matter, on those security clearances, his request to get his security clearances updated, renewed, that's a violation of the law.</s>SCHIFF: It is. So I think there are potentially three legal clouds that hang over General Flynn. One is whether his receipt of funds was unauthorized by law. Another whether he failed to properly disclose to receive these payments when he did a security clearance. And also whether he made false statements that are violate of a-of a privation of law. So, there are probably good reasons why he is now asking for immunity, but it is way premature for our Committee to be considering that kind request.</s>BLITZER: And we learned yesterday, the Inspector General of the Department of Defense is opening formal investigation into all of this. His lawyer has suggested he's got a story to tell and he'll tell it to members of Congress if you grant him immunity, he raised the issue. Are you thinking about that?</s>SCHIFF: Well, it's I think very early for us to be considering something like that. What we ought to be doing is interviewing each and every other witness.</s>BLITZER: Have you invited him to testify?</s>SCHIFF: We - I'm confident the point will come where we will be inviting him, but nonetheless, we have a lot of work to do before that, to bring in other witnesses that can shed light on the circumstances that led up to his firing or whether there were false statements in connection with any of these issues. We also want to discuss with the Justice Department their equities and we would want to receive a detailed proffer from either Flynn or his attorney as to what he would say before we would be able to even evaluate that kind of request.</s>BLITZER: You have hearings coming up next week. Tell us about what we can anticipate.</s>SCHIFF: We have a hearing, closed hearing coming up with General Comey -- I'm sorry, Director Comey and Director Rogers. Of the National Security Agency.</s>SCHIFF: Yes.</s>BLITZER: That's behind closed doors. That's on Tuesday, right?</s>SCHIFF: That is on I believe may 4th, but we also are trying to reschedule the open hearing with Director Clapper, Director Brennan, and Sally Yates.</s>BLITZER: That was supposed to be May 2nd, right?</s>SCHIFF: You know, I can't remember what the original date, I think we asked the two Directors to come in a closed session was the 2nd. I think they were available a later date that week so that, we anticipate is going forward.</s>BLITZER: It sounds like the schedule is changing now. Are there still problems with the republicans? Because we remember Devin Nunes, the Chairman, he has recused himself. Now, you've got a new acting Chairman at least as far as the Russian investigation. Is that cooperation back? Is it working or are there still partisan divisions?</s>SCHIFF: Actually it's been very good, very productive. I think Mike Conaway is doing his very best. We certainly are as well, to get this back on an even keel nonpartisan track. And I think we've largely accomplished that. We are inviting witnesses before the Committee. We're rescheduling hearings that were deferred or canceled. We're getting the documents that we want to get. We're working with the agencies to get the cooperation of the agencies we need. So we are now fully back on track.</s>BLITZER: So I just want to be precise. The FBI Director James Comey, the NSA Director Admiral Mike Rogers, they will testify behind closed doors later in the week, later next week -</s>SCHIFF: Yes.</s>BLITZER: - but the other hearing with Sally Yates who is the acting Attorney General, James Clapper, John Brennan, the former CIA Director, that will be an open session, it would be earlier in the week or is there a date - is that date still open?</s>SCHIFF: That date is still open. We - I believe we're going forward with the closed hearing towards the latter part of the first week of May. The open hearing we're still in negotiation with the Senate over who will be interviewing what witnesses in open session but we expect that to go forward as soon as we can pin down the date as well as get the schedules of the witnesses. But in all of this, we're working very collaboratively, democrats and republicans together. I think we've really turned an important page in the investigation.</s>BLITZER: Quickly on North Korea, that's a - you've been studying this very closely as all of us have. When the President of the United States says in his Reuters interview, there is a chance that we could end up having a major, major conflict with North Korea, absolutely, what's your reaction?</s>SCHIFF: My reaction is, if this was a statement made in complete isolation, it would be one thing. When it's a statement made while we have an aircraft carrier group headed there, when we're in the process of installing missile defense there, this is going to be read very differently. I'm all in favor of putting maximum pressure on China to really clamp down on North Korea economically. It's the only thing that will I think cause North Korea to think twice about moving forward on the nuclear and missile front, but I do worry about an excess of saber-rattling because we have erratic leader in North Korea and it puts the President of the United States in one of two positions. If the North Korean leader goes forward with nuclear tests now, what has the President locked himself into doing by way of response? But also, if the North Korean leader goes further, miscalculates based on what the President is saying, then we could have terrible conflagration. So pressure China, absolutely. Be very careful about the military saber-rattling.</s>BLITZER: One final, very quick question. Do you favor the U.S. opening a direct dialogue with North Korea?</s>SCHIFF: You know, I think in an appropriate point we should consider that. The alternative is a military confrontation. But I do think that we need to get some demonstrable show of progress by North Korea and if we ever do enter in a negotiation, the verification regime is going to have to be iron clad because they've cheated before. And if we don't have that kind of iron-clad inspection regime, they'll cheat again</s>BLITZER: Congressman Adam Schiff of the Intelligence Committee, thanks very much for joining us.</s>SCHIFF: Thanks, Wolf.</s>BLITZER: You're looking at live pictures over there. Air Force One just touching down at - in Atlanta. The President is aboard Air Force One. He'll be driving in a motorcade from the airport over to the National Rifle Association Convention. He'll be speaking later this hour. We're told we'll have live coverage of that coming up. In the meantime Republican Congressman Mo Brooks, he's standing by here. His reaction to the President's direct warning for North Korea, the one- week spending bill just passed in the House and Senate, and what's next for repealing and replacing ObamaCare. Lots to discuss with Congressman Mo Brooks when we come back.