NBC "Meet the Press" - Transcript: Tariffs/Russian Election Interference
Interview
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CHUCK TODD:
You got it. All right, joining me now from Brunswick, Maine, is the Independent Senator who caucuses with the Democrats, Angus King. Senator, welcome back to Meet the Press.
SENATOR ANGUS KING:
Chuck, good to be with you.
CHUCK TODD:
I want to get you to respond to Secretary Ross on the tariff issue first, and then I want to get into some other things. Are you reassured by what you've heard from the secretary about number one, that these are definitely going to happen, and number two, that it isn't going to have the impact on the economy that others fear?
SENATOR ANGUS KING:
Well, I think you made the right point. We don't live in a static universe. You can't make a change of this significance and assume that nothing else is going to happen as a result. And that's what worries me is second, third, fourth. You know, the only thing I can think of is Smoot-Hawley, the tariff in 1930 that many economists believe contributed significantly to the worldwide depression. I'm not suggesting that's going to happen, but what I'm suggesting is the results are hard to determine. In the last 24 hours, I've heard from two small companies in Maine that use steel. One of them has already seen about an 8% increase in the price that they're going to be charged for the steel that they use to fabricate things. Another is a company way up north in Fort Fairfield, Maine, right near the Canadian border. They get their steel from Canada simply because of the proximity. And they're very worried about the impact. So, you know, you want to do these kinds of things with a scalpel, not a chainsaw. And, and what worries me is, you know, the whole world that -- he said 25% and 10% on the whole world in the name of national security. I don't think we need to block Canadian steel in the name of national security. They're annoying, but you know, they're nice, they're too nice. But we don't fear a war with Canada.
CHUCK TODD:
I'm curious, I know a lot of Republican colleagues of yours were shell-shocked by the decision not just in sort of the, the turn in orthodoxy, and yes, Secretary Ross makes a point, Donald Trump the individual has been talking about this frankly for 40 years. Not just for 40 months. But the way it was sort of announced is -- how concerned are your colleagues about this White House?
SENATOR ANGUS KING:
Well, I think there's a concern because as you, as you mentioned earlier, at least as far as anyone can tell, there wasn't a great deal of consultation outside of the Commerce Department. And even there was significant dissent and surprise, as I understand it, within the White House when the announcement was made on Thursday. So there is a concern. I mean, this is a very, very important decision and it's one that could have long-term ramifications. And it was announced in this kind of shorthand way. And by the way--
CHUCK TODD:
Do you want to roll back--
SENATOR ANGUS KING:
I think the president has a point about trade.
CHUCK TODD:
Senator, do you want to roll back, do you think he shouldn't do this?
SENATOR ANGUS KING:
Well, I think he should do it much more carefully. I think it should be refined and say, "Okay, for example, there's a difference between steel and, and aluminum." We do have a significant problem with aluminum. Steel, and for example, China, my understanding is supplies 4% of the steel in the U.S. So we need to-- it needs to be more carefully tailored. And I'm hoping based on the secretary's final comments there that that may happen this week and it will be a much more narrow and, and, and a directed effort.
CHUCK TODD:
You're a big part of the Senate Intelligence investig-- Senate Intelligence Committee and the investigation that you guys are doing in a bipartisan basis of Russian interference. We are reporting here that the special counsel has been looking into whether Jared Kushner's discussions with various, during the transition, with various foreign entities, how much did -- was it mixed with his personal business? I'm curious, what have Sen-- what has your committee looked at when it comes to Jared Kushner during the transition and his interactions between his business concerns and for instance, Middle East -- and Middle East policy?
SENATOR ANGUS KING:
Well, I'm not going to comment on the internals of our investigation. We're really trying to keep it under control, not do a lot of leaking. So I'm not going to really talk about that. I can tell you that we are looking at all aspects of this. And, and Chuck, a lot of it is-is pretty well done. We're going to issue a report hopefully within the next two or three weeks about the Russian, Russians' effort to get into state election systems. That's a crucial part of it. Then there'll be something on what the Russians did in the election generally. The hardest part and the most contentious part, frankly, is is the final piece, which is, as you suggest, to talk about connections between the Trump campaign and officials surrounding the president with with foreign entities leading up to the election and after.
CHUCK TODD:
Do you have any reason to believe that the Trump administration has made any policy decisions based on a personal financial issue for either Mr. Kushner or Mr. Trump?
SENATOR ANGUS KING:
I, I, I have no reason to believe that. But I am not prepared to comment on it one way or the other.
CHUCK TODD:
I've got to ask you about your friends on the House side of things. I know it's been reported that Senators Burr and Warner went to Speaker Ryan about the behavior, apparently about the behavior of the House Intelligence Committee. And-and something that may have leaked out from the Republican side about Senator Warner. How bad is the relationship between the Senate Intelligence Committee and the House Intelligence Committee?
SENATOR ANGUS KING:
Well, I would say there's not much of a relationship at this point, to tell you the truth. We're trying to just continue on on a bipartisan basis. You'll notice there haven't been all the memos and counter memos and that kind of thing. And-and there really isn't that much of a relationship. We're only a couple hundred yards apart. But it's uh it's worlds apart in terms of the way we've approached this.
CHUCK TODD:
I'm curious what you think of Tom Rooney's comment, Republican from Florida, he's on the Intel, House Intel, he said this, he goes, "Hey, I want this House investigation to end because we have gone off the rails of being able to objectively do our job." Do you agree that the House Intelligence Committee is off the rails? And they can't do their job anymore?
SENATOR ANGUS KING:
Well, I thought that was a really interesting comment, because he wasn't talking about the substance.
CHUCK TODD:
No.
SENATOR ANGUS KING:
I at first thought he was going to say, "Let's end it because I don't like where it's going." But he basically is saying, "We're just not getting anywhere." Again, that's, it's not my position to comment on, on what they do. I'm going to concentrate on doing our role as as best we can. And so far, we've been able to maintain a bipartisan approach to this and we're certainly going to continue to try to do that.
CHUCK TODD:
All right. And do you believe that Devin Nunes was trying to harm Mark Warner? Do you believe he leaked this information to harm Mark Warner?
SENATOR ANGUS KING:
I don't have any evidence to-to justify that conclusion. Somebody did. And Mark Warner, by the way, made clear to the committee, to the Republicans on the committee, to Chairman Burr what had happened. We were trying to chase down Christopher Steele and Mark Warner was trying to further that effort. And and so, we don't know where it came from. But it appears, there is evidence that it came out of the House side. And that's uh that's disturbing.
CHUCK TODD:
Senator Angus King, the Independent from Maine, thanks for coming on and sharing your views. Much appreciated.
SENATOR ANGUS KING:
Always a pleasure, Chuck.
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