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Interview

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MELBER: I`m joined by the senator you just saw there in that clip Jeanne  Shaheen who is leading the push to find out what happened behind those  closed doors. Thank you for your time. I realized you have a very busy  schedule and you are working with.

SHAHEEN: Thanks to be with you.

MELBER: Nice to have you. Why should this type of information go to the  Congress and potentially become public?

SHAHEEN: Congress has an oversight responsibility for our foreign policy.  We are an independent branch of government. If we can`t get the  information to do our jobs, then the American people are the ones who are  hurt. So it`s very clear that we`re not getting readout from the  administration about what happened in that meeting.

The interpreter is the only one, as far as I know, who knows what actually  happened. And it`s not acceptable to have the Russian government tell us  what happened in that meeting. It`s the defense ministry and Russia that`s  put out a statement about what was agreed to in that meeting. It`s just  not acceptable for Congress to take that as what happened in the meeting.

MELBER: Did you ever make this kind of request of an interpreter working  for a previous administration, say the Obama or Bush administration?

SHAHEEN: No. But we have also never had this kind of an unprecedented  meeting where the President of the United States stood up and took the side  of our aggressor, the Russian government against the American people and  our own intelligence agencies.

MELBER: Do you see this, then, as an exception or a potentially new rule?  Because, senator, as you know, there may be many viewers who hear what you  are saying, that this seemed really bad, and thus -- and thus is a reason  to do something. But what if then all private meetings between heads of  state are going to have this kind of -- this kind of potential leaking,  wouldn`t that be bad for U.S. diplomacy?

SHAHEEN: Look, I can`t address all those other meetings that may happen at  some point between Presidents and heads of state. What I`m telling folks  now, and what I believe now, is that Congress needs to understand what  happened at that meeting.

We saw, as I said, an unprecedented performance by an American President  undercutting United States interests, taking the side of Russia, which is  not a competitor as it was described by President Trump, but is an  aggressor nation. We have seen what happened in Ukraine. We have seen  their meddling in our elections in 2016. We have heard from Dan Coats, the  President`s own DNI that they are doing it again in advance of the 2018  midterm elections. And yet the President, in the face of all of that  evidence, took the side of Vladimir Putin. That is just not acceptable.

MELBER: And the final question for you broadening out to I think what you  just raised, and we have been reporting, and I think viewers have heard a  lot about the theories, the mainlining of the questions, what the "New York  Times" today was looking at as the treason question, do you have any reason  to believe or are you concerned that the reason that Donald Trump did, as  you say tonight, undercut U.S. interests in this meeting is somehow elicit,  is for some nefarious reason?

SHAHEEN: I have no idea why he did it. But the point is Congress needs to fulfill our responsibilities of oversight of our foreign policy, and as a separate independent branch of government. And to do that we need 
information.

MELBER: Senator Shaheen, joining us between other activities on the hill.  Thank you for joining us about your effort tonight.

SHAHEEN: Thank you.

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