MSNBC "All in with Chris Hayes" - Transcript: Interview with Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand

Interview

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HAYES: For more on what happened today and where Kavanaugh`s nomination  stands I`m joined by Democratic Senator Kirsten Gillibrand of New York.  Senator, your reaction to what you saw today.

SEN. KIRSTEN GILLIBRAND (D), NEW YORK: Well, I thought Dr. Blasey Ford`s  testimony was incredible. I thought she was so heartfelt. She spoke her  truth so passionately with such a candor, with such emotion. I was really  inspired by what she did today. I thought the second half though was so  discouraging. I thought the way Judge Kavanaugh started with partisan  attacks, it really made me question his fitness for this office for the  fact that he does not have the temperament or the character or the honesty  or integrity to be a Supreme Court justice. I was really disturbed by the  second half of the hearing and disturbed by my Republican colleagues and  how they acted and what they said.

HAYES: That opening by Judge Kavanaugh, have you ever seen a nominee for  judicial position particularly Supreme Court nominee speak in that kind of  way using language like Borking, talking about a kind of Clinton conspiracy  etcetera.

GILLIBRAND: I never heard about it and I never -- I could never even have  imagined it. And it really makes me question his absolute unfitness for  this nomination. I just -- I cannot understand how he could turn something  so important as this hearing into a -- into finding out the facts of a  credible accusation of sexual assault into some kind of political hit. And  the way he talked, he was so arrogant and how he spoke to senators and  dismissive. I was -- I was really offended by how he behaved at the  hearing.

HAYES: There was a strange format in which a woman had been brought in, a  prosecutor was brought in to cross-examine essentially the woman who Dr.  Ford, who was making this allegation. She started to ask sort of similarly  kind of pointed procedural and prosecutorial questions of Judge Kavanaugh  and then was stopped, and then the Republicans took the gavel back and ask  the questions the rests away. What did you think about that?

GILLIBRAND: Well, I thought her role in the first place was highly  concerning. The fact that they a prosecutor to ask questions of Dr. Blasey  Ford as if she`s on trial. She`s not on trial. She was bringing forth  credible allegations that this committee needed to assess and then look at  Judge Kavanaugh and assess his credibility. And then the fact that she  starts to question Judge Kavanaugh and then cut off by the Republican  senators and dismissed, I mean, it really wasn`t fair and it just goes to  the heart that this hearing was never set up to be fair. It was never set  up to get to the bottom of it.

The fact that again Judge Kavanaugh could not answer the question, five  Democratic senators asked him, will you ask for an FBI investigation and he  could not say yes, not once. He continued to obfuscate, to pivot to  different issues, to filibuster and talk about things that was not being  asked about. I just thought his behavior and the content of the testimony  was absolutely inappropriate.

HAYES: Do you think he was lying?

GILLIBRAND: Yes, I think he lied several times. The fact that he kept  saying oh yeah, I love beer, I love beer. I mean honestly, and then couldn`t possibly say no there was no evening when I drank so much I didn`t 
remember even though he made jokes about it when he took his road trip with his buddies to watch the baseball game. I mean, it`s really shocking to me that he could be so direct and not telling the truth about his drinking and how it affected him.

HAYES: Do you think he was lying about the core substance of the  allegation? Dr. Blasey Ford says he assaulted --

GILLIBRAND: He do.

HAYES: -- he said he`s innocent. Do you think he remembers that night and  is lying about it?

GILLIBRAND: I believe Dr. Blasey Ford and I believed her testimony. I  think she spoke from the heart as someone who was reliving the worst moment  of her life. You could see it on her face. This was something that was  traumatic, deeply troubling for her for her whole life. She told the truth  and that was very clear. And I don`t see how possibly what he said could  possibly be truthful given what she said. So I think he was telling the  truth and I don`t believe him.

HAYES: You know, we`re at a moment, obviously, in the country the sort of  profound reckoning and awakening around questions of patriarchy, sexism,  gender inequities, what was today? What was the spectacle today that all  of those men on the Republican side of that that day as Brett Kavanaugh,  Dr. Blasey Ford, what message did it send?

GILLIBRAND: Well, in some ways it was a tragic day for America because to  have those Republican senators disregard Dr. Blasey Ford`s testimony, to  have them speak as if she didn`t just tell them what happened so honesty --  so honestly and so forthrightly, and then to try to turn this hearing into  a spectacle and accuse Democrats of being partisan and that this is some  conspiracy, I mean, it was shocking to me and I think for a lot of women in  this country particularly for survivors it was a really low moment.

I think a lot of women are suffering and feel that this country does not  have their back. That in fact, these Republican Senators are disregarding  them, disregarding their truth, disregarding their value and their voices  for how they behaved and by how they treated Judge Kavanaugh and as if he  is the victim here. He is not the victim here. He is someone who is  hoping to be able to serve on the Supreme Court in a lifetime appointment.  He is being given an extraordinary opportunity and he shows so little  humility and so little gratitude for the opportunity he`s been given. And  he turned this entire hearing into a sad story about himself that he`s  somehow the victim here. That`s not the case.

And I just want to say that to Dr. Blasey Ford, her courage, I mean, she`s  the hero and she`s the one who spoke truth to power in a powerful way and  in a truthful way that I think inspired people across this country. It`s a  tough day.

HAYES: Yes, I think that`s inarguable. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, thank  you for joining me. Thank you joining me.

GILLIBRAND: Thank you.

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