Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) joined Wolf Blitzer Friday on CNN to discuss Paul Manafort pleading guilty to a series of charges and agreeing to cooperate with Special Counsel Mueller's investigation. Schiff called the indictment "quite a coup" for Mueller and recognized the "skill" of the Mueller team to pull off a "major indictment."



"It's quite a coup for the special counsel," Schiff said Friday. "He fessed up to everything and entered into a cooperation agreement. That means Mueller’s team can focus on other aspects of the investigation. Depending on the breath of that cooperation agreement, he could add a lot of value to our understanding of the issue of potential conspiracy between the Trump campaign and the Russians. Whether the cooperation agreement goes that far remains to be seen."



The ranking member on the House Intel committee said he believes there is a lot of anxiety now in Trump World.













WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: Let’s bring in Congressman Adam Schiff. He’s the top Democrat and the ranking Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee.



Congressman, thanks so much for joining us.



You have gone through the document and I have gone through this superseding criminal information document. What's your reaction?



REP. ADAM SCHIFF (D-CA): My reaction is he admits to all the allegations he contested in the first trial, those that the jury had hung on as well as the charges in the new indictment that he was facing trial. It's quite a coup for the special counsel. He fessed up to everything and entered into a cooperation agreement. That means Mueller’s team can focus on other aspects of the investigation. Depending on the breath of that cooperation agreement, he could add a lot of value to our understanding of the issue of potential conspiracy between the Trump campaign and the Russians. Whether the cooperation agreement goes that far remains to be seen.



BLITZER: Everything I’ve seen so far that I’ve seen in this document deals with allegations, criminal allegations against him long before he became the Trump campaign chairman. Over the years, the decades, leading up to this where he took about $60 million from pro-Russian, Ukrainian oligarchs and Ukrainian government officials. I don't see anything directly related to the Trump campaign.



SCHIFF: Some of the allegations of the money laundering go up through the campaign. Indeed, the witness tampering goes even beyond the campaign.



(CROSSTALK)



BLITZER: Yes.



SCHIFF: There are contemporaneous criminal allegations he’s pleading guilty to. The president can't say this is old news.



But here's what he has to offer and where it comes together. We know that at the time the Russians were offering dirt to the Trump campaign, dirt on Hillary Clinton, Manafort is reaching out through Russian contacts, Derip Peska (ph), among others, and offering information on the campaign in order to get money he believes was owed him for work in Ukraine. You have these two converging interests, the Russians in wanting a relationship with the campaign, the campaign, through Manafort, wanting something of value, money from the Russians. He could shed a lot of light on this. But, again, we have to be circumspect. This is someone who has been in a joint defense agreement with Trump, someone who still, I believe, wants a pardon, and someone who admitted to witness tampering and obstruction of justice. The extent to which he would be willing to cooperate, we will have to wait and see.



BLITZER: He won't be sentenced until the prosecutors, the Mueller team knows the full extent of his cooperation and if he is telling the truth.



SCHIFF: Yes, but, again, that will depend on what he’s agreed to cooperate about.



BLITZER: Supposedly he is willing to cooperate on everything.



SCHIFF: I would hope so. I would hope that cooperation agreement has brought enough to require him to testify.



BLITZER: His lawyer said --



(CROSSTALK)



BLITZER: -- he will fully cooperate.



SCHIFF: That are could be -- that could be very substantial. Again, he is a center player in that Trump Tower meeting. He could tell us what happened in the run up to the meeting, in the meeting, what happened after the meeting. He can tell us about Kilinick (ph), someone that Mueller said they believe is affiliated with the Russian GRU. The Russian GRU is the same outfit that was involved in hacking of the Democratic organizations and helping to put out these damaging e-mails or at least distracting e-mails.



BLITZER: Russian military intelligence.



SCHIFF: Exactly.



BLITZER: So how worried do you think the president, the president’s son, Donald Trump Jr, the son-in-law, Jared Kushner – they were all at that Russian meeting, not the president, but the son-in-law and son and were there. How worried should they be? How worried should the president be?



SCHIFF: Well, look, the president certainly knows at least some subset of what Paul Manafort knows. But the Trump defense team has been working hand in hand with the Manafort defense team for months. You would think that they would have some sense of their exposure. But they have to wonder, did Manafort told their team everything. What kind of value is he hoping to get from prosecutors? So, yes, I think there’s a lot of anxiety, unquestionably now in Trump world. Yet another key witness, a campaign manager for the president agreeing to cooperate, pleading guilty, admitting everything, that’s got to concern the president. Michael Cohen, Manafort and Gates --



BLITZER: We have a graphic. Let me put it up on the screen. I’ll show you. All the Trump associates so far are cooperating, pleaded guilty or are cooperating, or have been convicted in this particular case, including Paul Manafort, who has been convicted of those eight counts, potentially could spend up to seven, eight, 10 years in jail.



SCHIFF: I think we also have to recognize the skill of the Mueller team. This was a major indictment. When it was first returned by the grand jury, there were multiple indictments against a major figure in the Trump campaign, the very campaign manager. And to have him admit to all the conduct he has been charged obviating the need for additional trials, that's big for the Mueller team. And when you think about it, in the last trial, you had a hold-out juror. If that juror had held out not just on 10 counts but on all counts, it would have been a completely different world we’d be in right now. We wouldn’t be seeing this guilty plea, we would see this cooperation agreement. It’s been a big development for the Mueller team.



BLITZER: Huge story that’s unfolding right now. The ramifications could be enormous.



Congressman Schiff, thanks for coming in.



SCHIFF: Thanks, Wolf.