MSNBC "The Rachel Maddow Show" - Transcript: Interview with Rep. Pramila Jayapal

Interview

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HAYES:  We continue to cover tonight`s big breaking news, special counsel Robert Mueller wrote to the Attorney General William Barr to complain that Barr had characterized his report in a misleading way.
 
I want to turn now to Democratic Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal of Washington, who is a member of the House Judiciary Committee.
 
What does this do to your sense of William Barr`s performance as the attorney general of the
United States?
 
REP. PRAMILA JAYAPAL, (D) WASHINGTON:  It`s completely shocking.  And I have to say, I have been studying what Barr has said, first when he released the four-page report, his report.  Second, when he did the press conference before he released the redacted report and that was going to be my line of questioning for Thursday, was the inconsistencies between what he said and what the report says.
 
Now with this news, it is just very, very clear that Barr had one goal, and that was to cover-up and reinterpret Mueller`s report. 
 
Now to see that Mueller has sent a letter.  And that in fact, Barr said in his senate testimony, that he didn`t know whether Mueller agreed with his conclusions or not, when he had already received the letter from Mueller, I think this is really deeply, deeply serious, where the attorney general is trying
to mislead the public and is trying to cover-up for the president.  He`s clearly the president`s attorney and not the people`s attorney.
 
HAYES:  Do you think Robert Mueller should be before your committee, the Judiciary Committee, to give his side of things?
 
JAYAPAL:  Absolutely.  We need Robert Mueller to come forward.  I mean, clearly, Robert Mueller felt that he had to speak up when he sent this letter.  But then, for Barr to even after that go on television, before releasing the redacted report -- and we don`t know, Chris, whether the redactions that
Mueller proposed are actually the same redactions that we got.  I have a feeling that Mueller intended for that report to not be as redacted, but let`s see.  We need to see the full report.  We need to hear from Mueller. 
 
But for Barr to go on television at that news conference and then try to still say that there was no evidence, that Robert Mueller had essentially exonerated the president, that`s not -- I read the whole 400-page report, that is not at all what is in the report.  So, really, it is a huge disservice to the American  public.
 
HAYES:  I have you here.  You`re on the Judiciary Committee.  You were also involved today in
what was a fascinating moment on Capitol Hill, the first hearing ever on Medicare for all, if I`m not  mistaken.  And it was -- you had Republicans and Democrats there.  What was the purpose of that  hearing that happened there today?
 
Am I right that it`s the first time that there`s been a hearing on it?
 
JAYAPAL:  It`s the first time, Chris.  It was historic.  I mean, this is a wonderful thing to talk about.  It was an historic moment where for the first time, ever, in the history of congress, we had a
real debate and discussion on a Medicare -- on my Medicare for all bill. 
 
And it has 109 co-sponsors and the witnesses were phenomenal.  And I just want to give a  the witnesses were phenomenal.  And I just want to give a particular shout-out to Ady Barkan, who you know has been a brilliant activist, has been diagnosed with ALS, and made a trip that was seriously threatening to his own life in order to come and testify and really give the crucial moral question, put that question at the forefront, which is, life-and-death issues of health care.
 
Why can`t we be a country that provides universal health care? 
 
My bill details a plan, and it was a detailed discussion, a really civil discussion, with excellent
testimony.  And Audi`s (ph) testimony was life -- was game-changing in terms of the whole context of the hearing.
 
HAYES:  You noted civil discussion.  I was watching some of the highlights, I was reading some write-ups, it was sort of surprisingly that.  I wondered if because it`s so distant from -- it`s not going to in the next year-and- a-half, right, there`s a Republican Senate, there`s a Republican president, does that just take the heat off that you guys can have a conversation?  Because it really did seem oddly civil.
 
JAYAPAL:  Well, I think it was a combination of a few things.  I think Chairman McGovern did a fantastic job. 
 
I think the witnesses were -- even the Republican witnesses agreed with us on a lot of the points about how much the health care system cost us today, and that Medicare for all would actually save us money.  And so, I think that it was a great opportunity to have a dialog, with one or two exceptions on the Republican side.  I think the Republicans agreed with us and asked questions, some of which we didn`t agree with, but it was a great discussion.
 
HAYES:  All right, Congressman Jayapal, thank you so much.  

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