NBC "Meet the Press" - Transcript: Interview with Sen. Amy Klobuchar
Interview
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ANDREA MITCHELL:
And joining me now is Democratic presidential candidate and Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar. Senator Klobuchar, welcome back to Meet the Press.
SEN. AMY KLOBUCHAR:
Thanks, Andrea. It's great to be on.
ANDREA MITCHELL:
Good to have you with us. You're a member of the Judiciary Committee The Democrats say that the president is stonewalling. He clearly is saying, "No cooperation, no witnesses, either current or former aides." Does this amount to obstruction?
SEN. AMY KLOBUCHAR:
When you read that report in detail, and you start out with what happened with Russia, to me, it looks like obstruction. And especially the part, if we want to protect our nation, maybe Russia didn't use tanks, maybe they didn't use missiles, but they invaded our democracy all the same. They did it by meddling, and not just meddling, but actually invading our democracy. They actually got into voter rolls. We're finding out now that they got into some county in Florida, and they won't tell us. And every time that I have tried to do something about this, with our Secure Elections Act, the White House has squelched the efforts. They won't even pass the bipartisan bill for backup paper ballots. That would be a big help, Andrea, to ensure that, if one state goes bad, or one county is invaded, that we're able to have a successful 2020 election, where we actually have the American people voting, and not the Russians determining what happened.
ANDREA MITCHELL:
But the president says he's been exonerated. The Russia investigation is closed, case closed. It's over. So how does Congress get him to provide witnesses, documents, if he says that current and former aides will not be permitted to testify?
SEN. AMY KLOBUCHAR:
Well, that's what subpoenas are all about. And when I look at this, these witnesses, like Don McGahn, who we now know the president attempted to tell him to, you know, end this investigation and fire Mueller, Don McGahn spoke to the special counsel. That is now public.
So the American people should at least be able to know what Don McGahn says. We should be able to ask questions. And so that's what this is about, getting the full report, getting Mueller. We're going to see Attorney General Barr this next week, in front of the Judiciary Committee, on which I serve. And I'm going to be asking him not only, why did his administration decide to go to court to get rid of the Affordable Care Act and deny millions of Americans coverage, but also, why did he not allow this report to come out in full? And what is he doing about Russia? Because to me, that's the key thing. We have an election coming up in 2020. It doesn't matter if you're a Democrat or a Republican. You want to have a fair election.
ANDREA MITCHELL:
The House Democrats are in an argument, apparently, according to NBC News exclusively today. The Justice Department is threatening not to let the attorney general testify to the House committee the day after you see him in the Senate. Apparently, Justice is objecting to some of the conditions that they are demanding. They're demanding an opportunity to go into executive or private sessions, to go over some of the redacted material. What should they do, if he simply refuses?
SEN. AMY KLOBUCHAR:
Well, they're going to have to work that out. But he has to come before the House. He is the attorney general of the United States. We haven't seen him, in the Senate, since his confirmation hearing and since he did his four-page summary, which turned out to not reflect what was exactly in the report. I didn't support Attorney General Barr, just because I was very concerned about this kind of messing around with the facts, his views of an expansive role of executive power, which basically disses the power of the Congress to be a check and balance on the attorney general. And remember, this isn't, having gone all around the country, just coming back from Nevada, this isn't just about the Mueller report and what's happening with Russia, Andrea. This is about what's going on with immigration. This is about what's happening with the Affordable Care Act, where millions and millions of Americans, over 50% of them, are afraid they're going to lose their health insurance, because of preexisting conditions. He has to come before Congress and explain what in the world this administration is doing, when it comes to people's everyday lives.
ANDREA MITCHELL:
Now, I know that impeachment is not popular with the American people. Your -- one of your opponents, Elizabeth Warren, has said there's a moral issue here, having read the Mueller report, that you have to begin, in the House side, starting with impeachment. I know you've said that you, as a senator, would be a juror and you're not going to commit. But don't you have to say whether or not you should at least start the process?
SEN. AMY KLOBUCHAR:
The House is going to make that decision. And for me, the most-important thing is to hold this president accountable. And as Director Mueller, himself, pointed out in the report, there are many ways to do that. One is with the process through Congress, which includes these investigations, which the president is already stonewalling. The second is other investigations that are going on right now, including in the state of New York. And the third is pretty straightforward, Andrea. That is defeating him in 2020. And that's what I intend to do and will do.
ANDREA MITCHELL:
Don't you have an obligation to tell Democrats, in the primaries, whether or not you're in favor of at least opening up an impeachment investigation?
SEN. AMY KLOBUCHAR:
I believe that the president should be held accountable. And I think that's what people want to know. And I have been incredibly aggressive about pushing in hearings, pushing Attorney General Barr. I'm actually the ones that -- the one that asked the obstruction-of-justice questions. And now, I'm going to have another opportunity to have him go before me next week, where I say, "You know, when I asked you if it was obstruction to try to impede the integrity of a witness testimony, you said that it was." And now, we've got all kinds of evidence of pardons being dangled out. We've got evidence of the President's counsel being told to change his story, evidence of him being told to fire the special counsel. To me, this looks like obstruction of justice, which is exactly what Barr had told me in those questions. So I view this as an opportunity to really push him on what obstruction of justice is, why he answered the questions the way he did before, and expect answers this week.
ANDREA MITCHELL:
I want to ask you about Joe Biden, who entered the race. He had difficulty, on The View yesterday, explaining why he hadn't apologized earlier, why he hadn't called Anita Hill earlier, and what he really feels about what happened during the Clarence Thomas hearings. Let me play that for you.
[BEGIN TAPE]
JOY BEHAR:
You know, I think what she wants you to say is, "I'm sorry for the way I treated you," not for the way you were treated. I think that might be closer.
JOE BIDEN:
Well, but I'm sorry, the way she got treated. In terms of -- I never heard -- if you go back and look at what I said and didn't say, I don't think I treated her badly.
[END TAPE]
ANDREA MITCHELL:
He had the gavel. He was the chairman. He cut off the hearings before her witnesses could get on. What should he now say to Anita Hill?
SEN. AMY KLOBUCHAR:
That's going to be Joe Biden's decision. And I'm sure he's going to have to continue to address this issue, as we go through the campaign. Let me just tell you my perspective. I was a young lawyer, when this happened. and I remember being captivated by her, watching every moment of that hearing, never thinking I'd end up on the Senate Judiciary Committee. And it was actually the first letter I ever wrote to my senator. And I wrote a letter saying, "I want you to vote against Clarence Thomas. I believe Anita Hill." I sent that letter. And my senator ended up voting for Clarence Thomas. But it motivated me to get involved in politics, as it did so many other women. And now, we go from zero women on that Judiciary Committee to six.
ANDREA MITCHELL:
Let me quickly ask you about what you were presenting with Senator Coons in Nevada yesterday, which is a retirement plan. How are you going to pay for this retirement plan?
SEN. AMY KLOBUCHAR:
Well, that's simple. And the Republican tax bill did so much to help the wealthy build up a trillion dollars in debt. And all you have to do is make some changes to that that won't hurt everyday Americans. And you have the money to literally ensure that 49 million Americans, who have no retirement right now, Andrea, except for Social Security, can start saving. We call it UP savings accounts. And it is a great idea. 50 cents for every hour someone works in an account that they can take with them, no matter where they work, if they don't have a 401(k), where they can take out the first $2,500 for emergency expenses, when we've got four out of ten Americans that don't even have $400 for an emergency room bill. These are the things that I'm hearing out there, when I am in Nevada, or when I am in New Hampshire, Iowa. It is the same focus. People need help in their everyday lives. And as we look ahead to this next week, with the topics we just discussed, about the sanctity of our elections and about the Mueller report, we have to remember that we can do two things at once. We can present an optimistic economic agenda for the people of this country and still make sure we protect the law and protect the Constitution. That's what it is about, when you're representing America. And when I hear the president dissing the Constitution, when I hear him going after things the way he is, and when I find out that he doesn't even stand up for our country, because his Homeland Security secretary is afraid to go talk to him about Russia, that is not standing up for the security of America. And I will do that.
ANDREA MITCHELL:
Thank you very much, Senator Klobuchar. Thanks for being with us today.
SEN. AMY KLOBUCHAR:
Thank you, Andrea.
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