MSNBC "The Rachel Maddow Show" - Transcript

Interview

MSNBC "The Rachel Maddow Show" - Transcript

MSNBC "THE RACHEL MADDOW SHOW" INTERVIEW WITH SENATOR AMY KLOBUCHAR (D-MN)

INTERVIEWER: RACHEL MADDOW

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MS. MADDOW: Joining us now is the entire existing Senate delegation from the great state of Minnesota, Senator Amy Klobuchar.

Senator Klobuchar, great to see you. Thanks so much for coming on the show tonight.

SEN. KLOBUCHAR: Well, thank you, Rachel. It's great to be on again.

MS. MADDOW: Do you and your staff actually have tons more work to do because you are Minnesota's only senator?

SEN. KLOBUCHAR: We actually do. In Minnesota, where we do our case work, this isn't just people calling in about votes. It's people calling in and saying, "My baby that I'm trying to adopt in Guatemala has been stalled in bureaucratic red tape," or "I just came back from Iraq and I can't get a job" or "I'm having trouble with my Social Security benefits."

So these are real cases, and we've seen a doubling of our calls since early December, when people were uncertain about who their senator would be. And then we also got from Norm Coleman's office a number of his existing cases when he had to close his office down. And it was all handled professionally, but the fact is we have doubled the case work.

I'm so proud of our staff. They've been working double-time. We've put more people on the front line. But it is a load, and we are looking forward to this getting resolved. As you know, Rachel, the trial has been going on for quite a while now here. I think someone noted today that it's almost as long as the Lindbergh baby trial, the kidnapping case, and the many trials of the century. It's now exceeded that time period. So we're hopeful that we'll get to the end of it. And my prediction, Rachel, is that we will have a new senator by the time the ice melts on Lake Minnetonka.

MS. MADDOW: Which usually --

SEN. KLOBUCHAR: That is predicted to be --

MS. MADDOW: Yeah, go ahead.

SEN. KLOBUCHAR: -- April 11th.

MS. MADDOW: April 11th.

SEN. KLOBUCHAR: April 11th.

MS. MADDOW: All right. Is that the sort of thing where you guys throw a cinder block in it to really help things along?

SEN. KLOBUCHAR: Well, oftentimes people dive into it to show how tough they are in the cold.

MS. MADDOW: Okay.

SEN. KLOBUCHAR: But anyway, hopefully we will get this done in about a month or so, because the trial has been going on. It could be even sooner, but I'm hopeful we'll get this done and we'll have a new senator from Minnesota.

MS. MADDOW: Well, let me ask you a little bit about that timing, though, because Senator Cornyn from Texas, who's the chair of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, he says he wants Norm Coleman to keep pressing these legal challenges however long it takes. The NRSC is holding $5,000-a-plate fund-raisers for Mr. Coleman to keep up his legal challenges.

How do you feel about that? Do you feel like there is a fair fight going on here, or do you think they ought to back off?

SEN. KLOBUCHAR: Well, first of all, this was an incredibly close election. I think the recount was fair. The people of our state, when you ask them and you look at how they respond to polls, they all pretty much -- something like 70 percent of them think that the recount was fair.

Now, Senator Coleman has a right to pursue his legal challenges. I have never quarreled with that. And my hope, though, is that they get resolved soon. So I would hope that if there is a decision made by this board that still shows Al Franken ahead, these three judges, after a bipartisan canvassing board has already found him to win the recount, that it will end there and that we won't go on and on and on.

MS. MADDOW: One of the reasons that the Republicans have decided to sort of take a stand on the Franken and Coleman fight here is because they believe that having Al Franken in the Senate will really change the dynamics of how politics work through the Senate right now. Do you think that it would be a big difference to the Democrats to have 59 versus 58 Democratic senators?

SEN. KLOBUCHAR: You know, we were just able to pass a major bill with 58, but it would certainly be nice to have an additional senator. It was very clear that every vote counts with this major first step that President Obama took to restoring our economy, getting it back on track. And as you know, there were some prolonged negotiations. So I think having an additional senator would be a good thing; certainly a good thing for our state.

MS. MADDOW: In Minnesota -- last question here -- are you experiencing sort of national pressure as leading lights from the Republican Party try to weigh in here? Have Democrats been weighing in as much as Republicans have?

SEN. KLOBUCHAR: People have on both sides. But for the most part, our state believes in our system. We let the recount go as it should. A bipartisan group made decisions. And now the judges are doing the same thing. They're not political judges. We have faith we'll get this done. We are counting the votes here, which is important. The recount was very thorough. So we believe this is going to get done on a state basis without a lot of outside interference.

MS. MADDOW: Senator Amy Klobuchar, the entire Senate delegation from Minnesota. (Laughs.)

SEN. KLOBUCHAR: Rachel, you know the good thing? There's not a lot of friction in the delegation.

MS. MADDOW: (Laughs.)

SEN. KLOBUCHAR: We don't have a lot of fights.

MS. MADDOW: If you do have a fight --

SEN. KLOBUCHAR: We have a lot of unity.

MS. MADDOW: -- I will mediate. You call me. (Laughs.)

SEN. KLOBUCHAR: Okay, thanks a lot.

MS. MADDOW: Thank you, Senator Klobuchar. Take care.

SEN. KLOBUCHAR: Thanks for having me on.

END.

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