CNN's Erin Burnett smacks down Mitch McConnell adviser for defending GOP attacks on Ukraine whistleblower

On Monday's edition of CNN's "OutFront," anchor Erin Burnett clashed with Mitch McConnell adviser Scott Jennings over the GOP attempts to discredit the whistleblower on President Donald Trump's Ukraine scheme.

"Scott, off camera Republican Sen. John Cornyn told reporters, 'Is it a whistle-blower or is it a leaker, I don't know which,'" said Burnett. "Now look, this seems strange, right? Trump's hand-picked intelligence inspector general says it's a whistleblower with an urgent and credible report of an ongoing threat to national security. Trump's team blocks this person — well, blocks the inspector general from sharing the report. So details leak. Cornyn is blaming the whistleblower?"

"I think Republicans are in wait and see mode," said Jennings. "Frequently these stories happen in the Trump era and then they tend to change. Some of them melt down completely ... That doesn't make the issue at hand unimportant, it doesn't make it unworthy of investigation. It does mean before you have a transcript, before you have an interview with a whistleblower, it means I think Republicans are going to wait and see if this happens like some of the other stories have happened and changes over time, it didn't quite what it was made out to be."

Burnett quickly pointed out that Republicans are not, in fact, in "wait and see" mode so much as full-blown denial.

"Do you have disappointment how some Republicans are handling this?" said Burnett. "Cornyn is a smart, sophisticated guy, been around a long time. By doing that he's trying to discredit the whole thing. He doesn't know what it is, all he knows is Team Trump has stopped it getting out there. Why not say, 'I can't wait to see the facts?'"

"Yeah, that would be my position," admitted Jennings. "I think if I were on the intelligence committee or if I were in some protected capacity like some senators are I would want to see the facts," adding that "If it gets more serious, maybe you could see changes in attitude. But not until they get more information."

Former Congresswoman Mia Love (R-UT) suggested that Democrats should slow down or risk having a move for impeachment blow up in their faces — but agreed. "I think that the best thing that anybody can do right now, before they even move forward, is get a clear understanding of exactly what was going on in that conversation. And if the president abused his seat," she said.

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