MSNBC "All in with Chris Hayes" - Transcript: Interview with Sen. Amy Klobuchar

Interview

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HAYES:  One indisputable take away in the Mueller report is that Russia interfered in our last
presidential election, in systemic and sprawling fashion.  It`s something the 2020 presidential candidate and Senate Judiciary Committee member Amy Klobuchar was quick to point out, quote, "first page of Mueller report says the Russia government interfered in 2016 presidential election in sweeping and systematic fashion.  So despite the endless doubts cast by the president, this happened.  A case made for backup paper ballots and post- election audits."
 
And Senator Amy Klobuchar joins me now.
 
Senator, let`s start to talk about that.  The part of the report that just collusion aside or coordination or obstruction or the president`s actions, just what Russia did, your reaction to that part
of the report, and what you think it means for how congress and the president should act going forward.
 
SEN. AMY KLOBUCHAR,  (D) MINNESOTA:  This is an intense part of the report.  And I hope people read it.  If you are not into getting into single every legal detail, you can get into this, because this shows that Russia, maybe they didn`t use tanks, maybe they didn`t use missiles, but they invaded our election.  They invaded our democracy.
 
And my problem is when you look at what they did with the problem propaganda they put out and tried to sow discord among people, about what they did when they tried to break into our election equipment and then actually did break into Hillary Clinton`s campaign and leaked those emails everywhere to stop their momentum, all of that happened.
 
But what I want to know now is why the Trump administration has been stopping the bipartisan bill the Secure Elections Act that can fix this going forward with back up paper ballots and audits of our election?  We were ready to go.  I have that bill with Senator Langford.  He`s a conservative Republican and the White House made calls and stopped that bill from advancing.  That`s wrong.
 
HAYES:  The White House made calls and stopped the bill from advancing?  Why did they do that?
 
HAYES:  Tell me, because there is another election coming up in 2020.  So, when you read that report, and this is why I think it is so important that we have Robert Mueller come before the Judiciary Committee so we can make clear what went on here, so at the very least in addition to everything else that`s going on and other investigation that we can fix this going forward and that they can`t hide behind this report anymore.
 
And if you notice, part of the redactions are interestingly enough with this.  And that means there are national security concerns.  And the congress should see the entire report.
 
HAYES:  You have talked about Mueller and you`ve talked about Barr.  You had an interesting exchange with him when he came before your committee seeking the position.  I want to play it for you, because it`s an exchange about obstruction, what ends up being sort of the core or the heart of the matter, get your reaction to what has developed since then.  Take a listen.
 
KLOBUCHAR:  OK.
 
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HAYES:  Well, he tipped his hand a bit.  What do you think?
 
KLOBUCHAR:  Well, I was thinking about some of those questions and what the report showed, right, that he changed the press release to take things out, that he tried to get his counsel to make things up.  And those were all the things I was getting at, and of course Barr didn`t answer them at the time, but I think this report answers them.
 
HAYES:  Well, what is your level of confidence in Bill Barr after his performance?
 
KLOBUCHAR:  Again, I did not vote for him.  I did not support him.  I voiced these concerns at the hearing.  I voiced them on the senate floor.  I think that he does not see himself as the people`s lawyer, which he should be under our laws and under the constitution.
 
Instead, he seems to think that he is the president`s lawyer, that`s why he did that 17-page job application to when he applied to talk about the executive power of the president and how the president literally can do anything he wanted.  Well you see that reflected in how he handled this from the very  beginning. 
 
He didn`t put the report out first, no, he put out this four-page summary, and then today with the press conference.
 
We need to hear directly from Robert Mueller, the former Republican appointed FBI director, that clearly had issues with what the president did when you read this report.
 
HAYES:  I had -- your colleague on Senate Judiciary Committee, Kamala Harris on earlier, and I asked her about this, and I want to get your reaction to it.  It is a statement from the number two in the House, Steny Hoyer, the house majority leader, who says based on what we have seen to date, going forward on impeachment is not worthwhile at this point.  Very frankly, there is an election in 18 months
and the American people will make a judgment.
 
Do you agree?
 
KLOBUCHAR:  We are in the senate, both Senator Harris and I, and so our job if there is impeachment brought, and that is up to the House, our job is to be the jury.  So, I have been really careful about talking about what we would do if an impeachment came before us.
 
But I will tell you this, Chris, this is deeply troubling.  There are investigations going on around the country that we have to make sure continue, specifically in New York.  And of course the concern that Barr is going to do something to impede those investigations and we have to get the facts out before congress in a public manner.
 
HAYES:  Well, the president took an oath to take care the laws are faithfully executed.  What is revealed in the report and in public reporting, is that he is fundamentally lawless in some way.  He does -- he is careless about the law.  He does not take care.
 
Do you have any confidence that`s changed, or that will continue and perhaps bring about a larger crisis?
 
KLOBUCHAR:  I don`t have confidence in that.  As you`ve noted, it`s like he kept trying to get people to do things that were illegal and they didn`t do them.  And I was thinking as you have been
asking questions about what would you do as president, I was thinking about what one of my mentors, Walter Mondale, said when he looked back at his four years with President Carter, it wasn`t a perfect four years, but one thing he said which was true, he said we told the truth, we obeyed the law, we kept the peace.  That is the least we should expect from a president of the United States, that they tell the truth, obey the law, that they try to keep the peace, and that is not what we are seeing with this president.
 
HAYES:  All right, Senator Amy Klobuchar from Minnesota, 2020 presidential candidate, thanks for making time on a busy day.  I really appreciate it.
 
KLOBUCHAR:  Thank you, Chris, it was great to be on.

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