CNN "The Situation Room" - Transcript: Interview with Sen. Richard Blumenthal

Interview

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

BLITZER: All right, Manu, thanks very much, Manu Raju up on Capitol Hill.

We're going to talk about the disturbing chant at the president's rally and more with Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut. He's a member of the Judiciary and Armed Services Committee.

Senator, thanks so much for coming in.

SEN. RICHARD BLUMENTHAL (D-CT): Thank you.

BLITZER: All right, so, do you believe that this chant that we heard at the political rally, "Send her back," was any different than the president's tweet earlier, when he told Congresswoman Omar, go back to where you came from?

BLUMENTHAL: They were the president's own words. They were not original to that group.

And, in fact, Donald Trump gloried in them. He allowed the chant to continue until it died down on its own. And he owns that chant.

BLITZER: You know, he's now trying to distance himself from that chant, "Send her back," but he actually praised the people at the rally who chanted it. And he says, they love our country.

So what's to stop this from happening again?

BLUMENTHAL: Nothing is to stop it from happening again. In fact, it's part of a pattern, "There are good people on both sides," after the Charlottesville murder.

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And there are abundant evidence that he will glory in it again if it occurs. So I think it's time for my Republican colleagues to stand up and speak out.

BLITZER: Well, what do you say to your Republican colleagues who are defending the president? BLUMENTHAL: What I say to them is, I know it's hard, but we're at a

pivotal moment in history. The president is indeed playing with fire. This issue is as volatile and vile as it ever gets. And you have a duty to our country. You will be judged by history.

BLITZER: Do they say anything differently to you in private than we're hearing publicly?

BLUMENTHAL: Their take on Donald Trump is totally different in private.

Many are deeply repulsed by it. And they have to face the historic obligation that they have.

And we both know the poll numbers show the Republican Party is firmly under Donald Trump's control. They're behind him. That's why it takes courage and grit to stand up.

BLITZER: Let's get to the other major news we're following today, these new documents released in New York by the FBI and the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, these warrants involving the Michael Cohen investigation. He's serving a three-year prison sentence.

What does it tell you about President Trump's role, his involvement in these hush money payments?

BLUMENTHAL: Donald Trump lied to the American people. He not only knew about those payments. He directed Michael Cohen to do them.

In fact, there is abundant evidence to convict Donald Trump of many of the same crimes that Michael Cohen is serving years in prison for committing. And he would be, in fact, in handcuffs and a criminal defendant but for his being a sitting president of the United States and there being a Justice Department policy that a sitting president cannot be indicted.

BLITZER: So you think, if he loses his bid for reelection, he potentially could be indicted?

BLUMENTHAL: Very potentially could be indicted.

BLITZER: Once he's a private citizen?

BLUMENTHAL: Once he's a private citizen, no longer in the White House, he would be the same as anyone else, subject to the criminal laws of the United States and potentially indictable.

BLITZER: But is that realistic, you think, that they would go ahead and indict a former president of the United States over this issue?

BLUMENTHAL: Whether he will be is a different question. He could be, certainly.

And this evidence is beyond a reasonable doubt that he committed many of the same crimes that Michael Cohen was convicted of committing. BLITZER: You tweeted just a little while ago: "Congress must hold

public hearings about this criminal scheme to know about all his lies and criminal wrongdoing and whether the White House or Attorney General Barr has interfered in any way in this investigation."

Tell us what you're getting at.

BLUMENTHAL: What I'm getting at is Attorney General Barr's responses to me and others at the hearing we conducted on his confirmation.

He gave no firm commitment that he would not be in contact with the Southern District of New York, that he wouldn't exercise that he called supervision. For me, that raises questions about whether or not he may have influenced in some way the outcome here.

BLITZER: On a different subject, but still a very important subject, you're heading with a congressional delegation tomorrow to the southern border with Mexico.

What do you hope to accomplish?

BLUMENTHAL: We're going to be traveling to the border to see detention facilities, holding cells, the hygienic and nutritional treatment of these children, and trying to make sure that basic standards of humanity are satisfied.

And we have legislation that would enforce those kinds of standards, end separation, provide for toothbrushes and three meals a day. We want to give the voices and faces of those caregivers, the relief agencies, as well as the Border Patrol agencies, an opportunity to be heard and seen on Capitol Hill.

BLITZER: Senator Blumenthal, thanks for coming in.

BLUMENTHAL: Thank you.

BLITZER: We will speak to you after you come back from the border.

BLUMENTHAL: Wonderful.

BLUMENTHAL

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