CNN "Anderson Cooper 360" - Transcript: Interview with Sen. Jack Reed

Interview

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COOPER: That was Rhode Island Democratic Senator Jack Reed from yesterday's hearing. We spoke about the fallout earlier today.

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COOPER: Senator Reed, you heard President Trump say today that he agrees with Attorney General Barr's claim that there was spiking the 2016 campaign. The president saying it was, quote, illegal spying and unprecedented spying. I'm wondering what your reaction is to that.

REED: Well, I think the attorney general was completely off base in

characterizing an FBI counterintelligence investigation as spying. He knows enough not to use those kind of high voltage terminology. In fact, when I pressed him and asked for does he have any evidence to support this suggestion, he said no, I don't. So, again, this seems to be either coincidentally or deliberately synchronized with the president's descriptions going way back to witch hunt now to spying. And I don't think the attorney general did himself or the office of attorney general any service.

COOPER: I mean, Attorney General Barr is no novice to giving testimony. He's been the attorney general before. I mean, he is a well thought of attorney.

So he certainly knows how to pick what words he wants to use. He uses in president Trump's vernacular, the best words. It's not an accident it seems that he used that word.

REED: Oh, it's not an accident. It's a very highly charged word, spying. It has a negative connotation.

And if you have any evidence of that, which he said he has none, well, then you might think about using it. But when you're talking about an investigation into the operations of the federal agency, that's too highly charged a word, and it didn't appear to be accidental. He's too -- again, too well-educated and too well-informed to be using it casually.

COOPER: I talked to David Gergen and Carl Bernstein last night, both of whom said they have talked publicly about kind of giving him the benefit of the doubt through his confirmation process, and once he became attorney general about how he was going to fill out the responsibilities and the duties of attorney general.

I know you voted against Barr's confirmation. I'm wondering, do you see a shift even from what he said during his hearing back then to how he is handling the Mueller report now?

REED: No, I think he has been fairly consistent. He's signaled many months ago with his unsolicited memorandum to the president about how charges against him could not be substantiated as someone who would be I think not only cooperative with the president as a cabinet member, but protective.

And the attorney general has a very virtually unique role. They are not only the president's attorney, they're the people's attorney. They're the ones who are charged with, you know, protecting the constitution and the institutions created by the Constitution. And so, I was not surprised.

I was a bit disappointed, because, again, I would hoped he would have rose to the task and been much more faithful to his duties rather than appear to be coordinating with either implicitly or explicitly with the president.

COOPER: The president also said today of the Mueller investigation, he said, you're just lucky I happen to be the president because a lot of other presidents would have reacted very differently than I've reacted. Do you have any idea what he actually means by that? Obviously his reaction has already shattered countless norms.

REED: I have no idea. Director Mueller conducted one of the most professional investigations that I think I've ever seen. There was no comments by Director Mueller. There was no leaking of material.

And then finally, he concluded, at least so far that we can understand from Attorney General Barr's letter, that there was no charge of conspiracy between the campaign and others, although it was interesting in the Barr letter, said Mueller could not exonerate the president from obstruction of justice charge, he also could not establish a crime.

[20:10:05] So, you know, I think the Mueller investigation report to date has been a model of what you expect from a dedicated public servant like bob Mueller. Letter, said Mueller could not exonerate the president from obstruction of justice charge, he also could not establish a crime. I think the Mueller investigation report to date has been a model of what you expect from a dedicated public servant like bob Mueller. And by the way, a decorated war hero to boot.

COOPER: Senator Reed, I appreciate your time. Thank you.

REED: Thank you, Anderson.

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