CNN "Anderson Cooper 360" - Transcript: Interview with Sen. Amy Klobuchar
Interview
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
COOPER: That was CNN's Gloria Borger. Now, returning to the very latest chapter on all of this and joining us now by phone is Senator Amy Klobuchar, Democratic presidential candidate and member of the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Senator, I'm wondering what your reaction to this letter is. You're going to question Barr tomorrow. Does it change what you want to talk him about?
SEN. AMY KLOBUCHAR (D-MN), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Well, I'm going to ask the question about this, because I think it's just one more example of how this four-page letter that he sent out was political. And this is not about politics, it's about protecting our democracy.
And this is someone who has just pointed out, you know, tried out for this job with this 19-page memo that was executive summary of what he thought should be about a broad, broad interpretation of executive power. He then gets into the job and no surprise he is political.
And what really bothered me about this is that this is about protecting our country, Anderson. This is about (INAUDIBLE) intrusion. And when you look at the 448-page report, there was literally a roadmap to how a foreign country invaded our election. They might not have done it with missiles or tanks or ships, but they did it all the same. They tried to hack influencing equipment and they certainly hack into Hillary Clinton's campaign, got all those e-mails out, slowdown her momentum. That happened in the United States in America.
So no one should be playing politics with this, and that's why tomorrow I'm going to be asking the attorney general, of course, about Russia and about what they're doing about it and why they (INAUDIBLE) secure Election Act which was a bipartisan bill, as well as what's going to happen with --
COOPER: Yes.
KLOBUCHAR: -- going forward with the number of these points. Yes, you had a question.
COOPER: Yes, another presidential candidate, Julian Castro, said tonight that Barr should be impeached or resigned. Do you agree with him?
KLOBUCHAR: Well, I didn't support Barr to begin with so, you know, it's clear I don't want him there.
COOPER: Do you think --
KLOBUCHAR: I mostly want to have a Justice Department that has just and represents the American people.
COOPER: How critical now is it given what we now know Mueller wrote to Barr and said to Barr in conversations that Mueller himself testify and how possible will it be? I mean, can -- well, I've had legal people say the White House can't exert executive privilege or claim it in relation to Mueller. Is that how you see it?
KLOBUCHAR: Exactly. So, you know, we might not be able to make people resign here, but what we can do is push Mueller to testify and then allow these other investigations to keep going. Of course, the House has subpoena power.
And I think it's pretty apparent when you have witnesses like Don McGahn who were interviewed for reports that was made public, things that were not redacted for security reasons, then we should be able to have those people come in and testify. And that's the fight that's going on in the House.
Meanwhile in the Senate, what we're trying to do because we know the House will pass these bills, is to do work to protect our election in 2020 and get these Republicans on board.
[20:50:02] COOPER: Yes.
KLOBUCHAR: Because you just -- listen to the words of the FBI director, he said 2018 was a dressed rehearsal. The President's own intelligence adviser had said Russia is getting bolder. Why would you not take action?
COOPER: Yes. KLOBUCHAR: And you can't let the President's ego get in the way.
COOPER: Senator Klobuchar, appreciate your time. Thank you.
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Source