MSNBC "Hardball with Chris Matthews" - Transcript: Interview with Sen. Amy Klobuchar

Interview

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MATTHEWS:  I`m a fan of yours. 
 
So, I`m asking you the toughest question I give anybody.  What can you, a Democratic senator who is very well-known and respected, do to bring this country, despite the fact we have Trump as president -- is there any way the country can improve, despite having him as president?
 
Or does he continue -- does he have the power to keep bringing us down by himself? 
 
KLOBUCHAR:  I think that already started, Chris, with this last election, where you saw record turnouts of people that came out and said, enough is enough, moderate Republicans, independents, Democrats, young people.
 
MATTHEWS:  Women.
 
KLOBUCHAR:  Women.
 
They said, we want a different America, we want civility.  And look at the numbers.  Look at the new people we elected.  So, I think that`s the first step. 
 
The second is to continue, despite the bad tweets, despite the statements, to look not just for common ground, but to have that bring us to a higher ground. 
 
And we can do something right now, like right now, in the next two weeks.  We can pass criminal justice reform, something that has support on the left and the right and is long overdue.  We can get that farm bill done.
 
MATTHEWS:  Have you talked to the president about that?
 
KLOBUCHAR:  I actually have -- I don`t think I have talked to him directly.  I have certainly talked to his family members about it.  I have talked to his staff about it. 
 
I have had dinner with people on his staff about it, with Senator Durbin and others, because I feel so strongly that it needs to get done.
 
MATTHEWS:  I`m a big Durbin fan.
 
Anyway, meanwhile, on the sleaze side, Roger Stone said today, in response to a request from the Senate Judiciary Committee, of which you`re a member, ranking member Dianne Feinstein, to her, he says he plans to plead the Fifth Amendment, saying he will not provide documents or appear for an interview before the committee. 
 
What do you make of that?  This is the guy that is at the heart of a lot of this stuff with Russia and WikiLeaks and the whole works.  And he says, I`m not talking. 
 
KLOBUCHAR:  Yes, we`re trying to figure this out, because this request actually came many, many months before, over a year before, and this was out of the blue -- I have talked to some of the staff members about this -- that he sent this response in. 
 
So, the thought is, why is he suddenly saying he will plead the Fifth?  Well, maybe he`s trying to send a message to Adam Schiff in the House, if they start hearings. Maybe he`s trying to send a message to Mueller.  We really don`t know. 
 
But what I do know is that we have to allow this investigation to continue.  This is an investigation of a foreign power that tried to influence our election, that tried to hack into our equipment.  And this is about our democracy.  And so that is our number one goal right now.
 
MATTHEWS:  Speaking of democracy, this election coming up, it`s going -- for president is going to begin. 
 
We all know, from history, it starts next January.  It`s a couple months from now.  That`s a year from the primaries already.  It seems to me that everybody knows that the fight is going to be in the battleground, the middle of the country.  It`s going to be Minnesota, which almost went for Trump by a point-and-a-half.  Of course, Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania, Ohio all went for Trump. 
 
How do you win it back?  You have the personality to do it.  But how do -- do you have the toughness?  You got to take on Joe Biden maybe.  He says he`s the best prepared.
 
KLOBUCHAR:  All right, well, first of all, let`s -- let`s start there. 
 
Joe -- everyone loves Joe.
 
MATTHEWS:  He said it today.
 
KLOBUCHAR:  He was an incredible vice president. 
 
And what he said was that he was experienced.  That is a true fact.  And he said he`s going to talk about to his family about it.
 
MATTHEWS:  He said he`s the best prepared, the best.
 
KLOBUCHAR:  OK.
 
He has a lot of experience for this job.  And that`s all he said.  And I`m not going to go criticize this guy, because he`s an incredible patriot.
 
We go to the next thing.  There`s going to be a lot of people running.  But I do think it`s important that there are people running from the Midwest.  The Midwest came roaring back in 2018.
 
MATTHEWS:  How about you?
 
KLOBUCHAR:  I`m considering it.  There`s a number of people considering it.
 
MATTHEWS:  What would stop you?
 
KLOBUCHAR:  Look, it is a daunting task to make that decision.  You have to decide that you would be a good president, that you could bring the country together, that you would be able to beat Donald Trump or whoever the other party put on.
 
But to do it right, I really think you have to do what I said at the beginning.  You have to find common ground -- and I do have that track record -- but for the purpose of bringing this country to a higher ground. 
 
When you think of George H.W. Bush, you think of what he did, I saw that clip of Bob Dole.  I hadn`t seen it until I watched it on your show.  It was George H.W. Bush who then pushed for the passage of the American With Disabilities Act, against a lot of the people in his party who didn`t want to do it.
 
MATTHEWS:  For Bob. For Bob.
 
KLOBUCHAR:  Mm-hmm.
 
You look at what he did on the environment with the Clean Water Act.  You look at what we`re facing right now. 
 
And we need leadership that`s willing to take on those tough causes, like climate change.  George H.W. Bush, he did that.  He saw his party as a party of conservation, a party of not just people who are fighting off change.  He saw it as, you have got to find your moments and reach across the aisle and get things done.
 
So, that`s what I think we need to do right now, when you look at this major challenge of climate change and everything else we`re facing. 
 
So, when we pause for a moment tomorrow at this funeral, we have to remember that this is a person that we have to recognize not just in words, but we then have to go back and do the deeds, which is passing these important bills.
 
MATTHEWS:  Do you think you convinced -- do you think you convinced me?  You do? 
 
(LAUGHTER)
 
KLOBUCHAR:  OK.
 
MATTHEWS:  Well, you just did.  I was very -- I`m going to read that statement again, what you -- I do think that`s the exact tone to beat this guy, if he runs again.
 
KLOBUCHAR:  OK.
 
MATTHEWS:  Exactly.  And I do think come from the part of the country that seems to be more important than any other part, because the South is going to stay Republican.  The West -- the Left Coast will stay Democrat.  The East will stay, but it`s the middle America, of the Midwest and the industrial northern Middle West that is going to decide these elections. 
 
And you have the accent and the manner and the personality and the politics. 
 
KLOBUCHAR:  And I think you need a little humor to take this guy because I`m telling you, you just take this guy and go down every rabbit hole, that`s --
 
MATTHEWS:  I want you to come up with a nickname for him. 

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