CNN "Anderson Cooper 360" - Transcript: Interview with Sen. Chris Murphy

Interview

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COOPER: There's breaking news tonight. A source tells CNN the British ambassador to the United States has been disinvited to a dinner this evening with President Trump, the treasury secretary and emir of Qatar. The president has tweeted that his administration will no longer deal with the Ambassador Kim Darroch, this after a series of leaked cables to Downing Street from the ambassador which in blistering language described the Trump administration as, quote, inept and clumsy, unquote.

The cables also said the president's career, again, quoting, could end disgrace and described conflicts in the White House as knife fights.

[20:20:07] A spokesman for British Prime Minister Theresa May says she has whole faith in the ambassador but does not agree with his comments.

Joining me now, Connecticut Senator Chris Murphy, Democratic member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Senator Murphy, I wonder your reaction is to the president saying he will no longer due to the British ambassador? Is that the appropriate response to these leaked cables? Because it does seem like this is the kind of thing, you know, probably State Department ambassadors, you know, send in cables all the time describing other folks.

SEN. CHRIS MURPHY (D-CT): Yes. I mean, the news here is that pretty sensitive cables call leaked, the news is not the ambassador of the United States is making an assessment that there is a dysfunction at the White House. If the president refused to deal with everyone in Washington who privately assessed his White House as dysfunctional, he would have no one to deal with because Republicans and Democrats alike, of course, share that assessment.

So, yes, maybe he is going to disinvite the ambassador from a few public meetings but, of course, we still have a important relationship with Britain that has been as dysfunctional as any bilateral relationship under Trump. But this really isn't news, the ambassador was doing his job, assessing a White House that is spiraling out of control and he needs to tell that to his bosses back in London.

COOPER: Does it impact U.S.-British relations long term?

MURPHY: Well, I mean, our relations with Europe are pretty miserable right now and the president is in the process of attempting to blow up the European Union, cheerleading Britain out of that economic association. He has been critical of NATO threatening to walk the United States out of that alliance, he has withdrawn from the Iranian nuclear agreement. Britain was a party to that, Britain has to stay in.

So, this is a relationship that has been in big trouble for the last two years. I don't necessarily think that this is going to inject any more instability into the relationship that the president has made pretty unstable for a while.

COOPER: You mentioned Iran. I was to talk about that. How concerned are you that Iran has breached the uranium enrichment limit that was set in the nuclear deal and are apparently prepared to go even further?

MURPHY: So I'm concerned but I think that it is entirely predictable when the president pulled out of this agreement, there was really no reason for the Iranians to stay in it. Now, it is important to note that what the Iranians said is they're going to move from 3 percent enrichment to 5 percent enrichment, not the 20 percent level that would get them to a nuclear weapon.

And what they are telegraphing is that they desperately want to reengage, now just with the United States but with the world community. They want to find a way to have an economic partnership with the United States and once again for safety or nuclear agreement. But the president sends mixed signals to them. Some days he says he's going to blow them off the face of the earth and other days he says he wants to engage and talk to them.

So I think the Iranians are making a clear that they are going to take steps to restart this program, but they're also sending a message that they would rather be in an agreement than outside an agreement.

COOPER: It is also interesting to imagine what Iran he's thinking imagining the president embrace Kim Jong-un in the way that he has and, you know, quote, you know, talk about love letters that essentially have been sent to the president and how great these letters are and the floating idea of accepting a nuclear North Korea at the level they are right now.

MURPHY: Yes, part of the reason why the ambassador assesses the White House is completely dysfunctional when it comes to foreign policies is because there is no consistency about anything we do in the world, we are wrapping are arms around one rogue nuclear regime in North Korea, while we are spurning and refusing to talk to another would-be nuclear power Iran. Iran looks at this cozy relationship between Kim and Trump and says, well, I guess the only way that you get the year and the love of the president of the United States is to get a nuclear weapon outside of the international nonproliferation regime.

And so, if I'm Iran, I certainly think to myself, well, maybe, I'm better off outside the agreement. I think it's remarkable that the Iranians are still telegraphing to the United States and the world community that they would rather be without nuclear weapons even given the signs that Trump is sending with these cozy relations with North Korea.

COOPER: Interesting. Senator Murphy, I appreciate your time. Thank you.

MURPHY: Thanks.

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