CNN "CNN Newsroom" - Transcript: Interview with Rep. Madeleine Dean

Interview

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SAVIDGE: Joining me now to discuss all of this further, Democratic Congresswoman Madeleine Dean from Pennsylvania. And thank you for joining us. But let me begin by asking you your reaction to everything that we're learning about the attack and the shooting of the synagogue.

REP. MADELEINE DEAN (D-PA): Thank you for having me on. I think we're at an extraordinary crossroads in this country. My heart goes out to the synagogue, to the rabbi, to the family of Mrs. Kaye.

I've just come from the Greater Philadelphia Federation Holocaust Remembrance where he lifted up the memory and the lives and the stories and the untold stories of the 6 million who were killed during the holocaust and we also lifted up Mrs. Kaye. We are at an extraordinary crossroads in this country where we have to figure out where we stand in terms of our common humanity.

[15:10:03] We have to call out and stop bigotry, hatred, anti- Semitism, and we have to do the other part of this, which is gun control. A 19-year-old young man had his hands on an AR-style weapon and thankfully allegedly it jammed because he was armed to kill as many people as possible.

We're at a crossroads in this country, and strangely and importantly in part that crossroads goes through our Congress and goes through the very committee I sit on judiciary. We've passed gun violence prevention bills like background checks and the Senate is sitting on their hands.

Background checks save lives and at the same time we're going to be doing important oversight. We also had hearings on the rise of anti- Semitism, of white supremacy. We are just at an extraordinary crossroads and we have to find our common humanity.

SAVIDGE: What do you think is -- I guess, or how much does the climate, the political climate in this country play into all of this? And is there a role for Congress in some way besides just gun control to, I don't know, calm it down?

DEAN: I think there's a role to play for every leader in this country and it starts with the top. It starts with the President of the United States. The President of the United States needs to call out bigotry, not incite it. He should not and ever compare what happened in Charlottesville and say that there were good people on both sides.

He is a role model to others. He is a role model to children. I call upon him to call out hatred, bigotry of any kind, anti-Semitism, Islamophobia. I call upon the President, excuse me, I'm quite upset. I call upon the President to actually embrace love, to embrace the other, to build up community, not tear it down.

SAVIDGE: I'm going to make a very hard turn here, because I do want to bring in some other thing regarding politics while I have your experienced ear. And I want to talk about this big moment that's coming up next week for the judiciary committee and you're a member of that.

Attorney General William Barr I believe is scheduled to testify about the Mueller report, but there are sources that tell CNN that he's warning Democrats that he won't show -- he's warning that if the Democrats stick to the format that the chairman has proposed for questioning, can you sort of explain that a little better for us?

DEAN: Sure. It's a little puzzling to me, but the chairman, Chairman Nadler, has proposed that we would have our usual rounds of questions, five minutes each for every member, Democrats and Republicans.

But then also counsel for the two sides of the committee would have the opportunity to briefly also question Attorney General Barr and then the opportunity to go into closed session for anything that might be considered confidential or grand jury.

It is not unprecedented that this would be the way the committee would operate. It is not up to Attorney General Barr to tell our committee how to operate, and I will be puzzled if he actually decides not to show.

It would be strange to have an empty chair there when our top law enforcement officer owes the facts to the American people, certainly owes it to our committee. So I'm eager that he reverse course and do the right thing because we're a co-equal branch of government. We have every right to ask the questions.

SAVIDGE: What do you think the fallout would be if Barr doesn't show?

DEAN: We'll fully use our subpoena power. The chairman has subpoena power, and we'll have to go to a court of law and either hold him in contempt or have him come in. But I hope that cooler heads prevail. After all, it was this attorney general and was the President who said he wanted full disclosure, full transparency. Let the people see the report. So why wouldn't you want to come in and answer the questions? What does anybody afraid of?

SAVIDGE: If he does testify, you know, what's the big question or big questions you would want to ask?

DEAN: Well, I think what the American people know from the redacted report is that Russia systematically and sweepingly interfered with the 2016 election. The Trump campaign welcomed it, wallowed in it, celebrated it, called it out publicly. And then when the Trump campaign or Trump -- President Trump found out he was under investigation, attempted to obstruct justice in at least 10 different ways.

So I'd like to ask Attorney General Barr why it is that he mischaracterized the findings of the report, why it is that he chose to redact that which he chose to redact. Did he share the redactions or that process with the White House before we got it in Congress? And, again, why is the attorney general acting for the President as though to carry the President's water instead of standing up for the American people and our system of justice?

[15:15:02] Obstruction of justice happened here at the highest level, and we have to hold the administration accountable.

SAVIDGE: Hopefully you'll get a chance to ask those very questions. Congresswoman Madeleine Dean, thank you very much for being here.

DEAN: Thank you for having me.

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