MSNBC "The Beat with Ari Melber" - Trump Campaign

Interview

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MELBER: Right. And Mr. Miller famously was involved in the letter --  initial draft regarding the removal of Comey and said on television that  the President`s powers would not be questioned, which is not true.
I`m going to get to a senator. So thank you both, Francesca and Joyce.

I turn you to the Hawaii senator Mazie Hirono.

Senator, Hi. Your views of these reports that the President who is  literally under review for obstruction was talking to these witnesses.

SEN. MAZIE HIRONO (D-HI), JUDICIARY COMMITTEE: Well, the chaos continues  with the President and in the White House. And there are regular  practically daily, hourly revelations that point to a pattern of behavior  by the President and those around him that have to do with obstruction of  justice, possibly witness tampering, any number of very, very concerning  behaviors. But there`s definitely a pattern.

I think it`s hard for the President to keep track of, you know, the lies,  the outright lies and the obfuscation that he has been engaging in.

MELBER: Are you suggesting that perhaps the list of lies has even longer  than the list of staff departures?

HIRONO: Well, that`s how -- you know what? With so many senior people,  mature people leaving the White House, Trump is left basically with himself  which is a very scary proposition for the country.

MELBER: That`s also a fair point.

I want to play for you another Democrat who like you has raised some of  these concerns, Congressman Adam Schiff talking about that news today with  former Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski.

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MELBER: That was his readout at least of things that they did not find out  from that testimony, your view, Senator?

HIRONO: Ari, this is why the Mueller investigation has to continue, has to  go forward, because as I say, there are revelations on a regular basis.  And they point to conspiracy, obstruction of justice, all are very  concerning areas that the Mueller investigation has to get to the bottom  of.

And by the way, as I said on the armed services committee, it is very clear  from the testimony before that committee over the last few days, is that  the Russian interference with our elections and their efforts to really  question our institutions or have people question our institutions  continues. And we do not have a whole of government strategy that will  enable us to counter these efforts, which are continuing.

Everybody acknowledges that they are continuing, but nobody is taking the  lead. And there are fingers saying that, you know, they are saying, well,  the President ultimately has to bring everybody together, but clearly, he  wants this investigation to totally go away.

MELBER: Right. And you say that on a day when the House Republicans have  said, this should be their last witness after a fairly bungle filled set of  memos and other things coming out of that.

HIRONO: Yes.

MELBER: I want to ask you about something totally different, if we can  turn from some of the national security problems that you have elucidated,  to something brighter, which is the contributions that women have made to  American history. This is international women`s day, as you know. There`s  a lot of issues you have led on. I want to get your view on that. Also  play for you something we put together here and thinking about this which  is some of the firsts from women throughout history. Let`s take a look.

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MELBER: I wonder what this day means to you and what you think policy  should continue to advance, a year or I would say, maybe two years here?  There`s been a lot of discussion about the role of women in public life and  power.

HIRONO: International women`s day means a lot not just to me but to women  all across the country and the world. And what`s great is that women are  coming forward in our country as well as in other countries, stepping  forward to speak out and to really stand our ground.

And I want to say that in your clip, you talked about the abortion, well,  equal rights amendment, Hawaii was the first state of the union to ratify  the equal rights amendment. And Hawaii was also the first state in the  union to make abortion legal.

So, you know, it`s great for me to have been part of many of these firsts,  when Hillary Clinton accepted the nomination, Patti Mink (ph), my friend  and predecessor in Congress was the first woman of color to get elected to  both the House and the Senate.

So we are making progress. We have 22 women in the Senate now, more than  ever in the history of our country. The Me Too movement, all of this is  coming to the fore. And we need to get moving because we are certainly not  equal yet, in terms of pay, in terms of power, but our voices are getting  stronger every day. And I`m going to do my part to make sure that our  voices remain strong and heard.

MELBER: Senator, Mazie Hirono, thank you for joining us. Thank you for  that.

HIRONO: Thank you. Aloha!

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