MSNBC "All in with Chris Hayes" - Transcript: Interview with Sen. Mazie Hirono
Interview
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HAYES: General, what do you think of this letter? I guess we do not. Let`s put a pin in that and come back to the general in just a second, if we may be able to. Can we get Senator Mazie Hirono? Do we have -- do we have the Senator? Senator Mazie Hirono, you there? You are there, senator.
SEN. MAZIE HIRONO, (D) HAWAII: I am here.
HAYES: You were on -- you are on the armed services committee. What do you -- what is your reaction to the resignation of Jim Mattis?
HIRONO: I was very distressed by it, of course. He made it very clear that he and President Trump were not on the same page in terms of their world views. And of course Trump`s world view is very -- how shall I say, out of whack because he comes up with it himself.
And these last two days I feel as though we have been on a roller coaster with him at the controls. Because first there`s the announcement that we`re getting out of Syria where we know he didn`t discuss it with anybody, including General Mattis and now giving a huge Christmas present to Putin and to Iran.
Then, because I`ve been very focused on what`s going on at the border they make an announcement that people who are coming through for asylum purposes have to wait on the Mexican side where there are huge safety concerns for so many of the children.
And then, of course, the Senate did the responsible thing last night by keeping government running and passing this bill by a voice vote. And only to have President Trump get all worked up because he`s got some right wing loud people yelling at him on Fox News and suddenly he says, "Well, I don`t think I`m going to sign it".
So it is very true that he will bring on the shutdown and he has to take responsibility for it. Any effort on his part to blame the Democrats will be such bullshit that as I said before I would hardly be able to stand it.
HAYES: Do you ever get assurances from Jim Mattis`s staffers or Mattis himself in your role as a senator on the committee that provides oversight that he was essentially working to contain the President, particularly in regards any nuclear issues?
HIRONO: I had tremendous faith in Jim Mattis because one of the first things he did when he became Secretary of Defense was to go to the Asia Pacific area because he knows that that AOR or the area of responsibility is hugely important to our country and he wanted me to know that the first countries he visited were in Asia, Japan for example. And so, as he was flying back from those visits he called me from the plane to let me know that he had touched bases with Prime Minister Abe and others.
And therefore, I knew that he was a person who saw the world in an accurate way, where our allies are very important. And as he said in his letter, we need to treat our allies with respect, especially at a time when China and Russia are definitely making their moves.
HAYES: One more --
HIRONO: And they are near peer competitors to us.
HAYES: One more -- one more question I want to ask about this and then I want to turn to the shutdown. What do you say to people who say, look, generals never want to withdraw troops, every president comes in and we`ve now passed along the Afghanistan war for 17 years basically with the dynamic of we have to stay, we have to stay. And we have 2,000 U.S. service members in Syria it`s unclear how long they`re going to stay. The president wants to withdraw them. And this is just essentially the kind of institutional force of the Department of Defense which never wants to get out of anywhere exerting its will on the Democratic prerogatives of trying to get out of the conflict.
HIRONO: Well, having served on the Senate Armed Services Committee now for about six years, I wish things were that simple. I realize how complex the world is. And therefore if we`re going to have any kind of withdrawal, I would like it to be a thought through one, not one that the President just comes up with in a tweet and then he --
HAYES: Right.
HIRONO: -- tries to justify the next day. These are serious times, and we have to make serious decisions. And that is not what this President engages in at all.
HAYES: Final question. The House just passed a bill, is to fund the government, but with the wall funding, it`s now going to, I guess, come back to you in the Senate, like what`s the next move there over in the Senate?
HIRONO: Sadly, the House of -- pretty much, you know, that the -- all the people who voted for this bill are not exactly profiles encourage because as I said the Senate last night did the responsible thing to keep government running. Every expectation was that this bill was going to pass the House and that the President would sign it. But then the President puts a wrench in the works. So, it will come back to the Senate. And I would expect, as many of you are saying that it will not pass.
Therefore, the President will own the shutdown. And apparently he`s happy to own it in spite of the fact that hundreds of thousands of federal workers will be adversely impacted. And you see the stock market already going down.
There are all kinds of impacts to a shutdown. And he doesn`t care.
HAYES: Senator Mazie Hirono, thank you so much for your time tonight.
HIRONO: Thank you.
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