CNN "Anderson Cooper 360" - Transcript: Interview with Sen. Mark Warner

Interview

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COOPER: Senator Warner, the special counsel closed his remarks today, reiterating, quote, there were multiple, systemic efforts to interfere in our election and that allegation deserves the attention of every American. I don't think anybody would disagree with that. But does that allegation have the attention of the president and the members of his administration that it needs to have?

SEN. MARK WARNER (D-VA): I don't think it does, Anderson. And it frankly blows my mind that we had a few weeks ago, the FBI director say that the Russians will be back.

Mueller today, both at the beginning of his statement and at the end of his statement said, hey, don't take your eye off the ball. Russians massively intervened. They did it with weaponizing of information. They did it by manipulating social media, they did it by undermining our very voting process.

And we've got a White House that, at least according to press reports, a number of weeks back when the then homeland of security director said let's have a cabinet meeting about 2020 election security, was told don't do it because it might offend the sensibilities of Donald Trump. I mean, that is a remarkable, remarkable item.

So what I would hope, and I would hope would be in a bipartisan way, we could disagree about whether Mueller was fully right or not on obstruction, but what we ought to do, when we come back is past at least legislation, and it would be bipartisan, that would secure our elections to make sure there's an audible paper trail after every vote. We ought to make sure that there are some rules of the road around Facebook in particular, so there's not the ability of Russians or others to create fake identities, to manipulate our political process.

And frankly, I've got legislation, as well, that says we ought to say if a foreign agent, a foreign government tries intervene in our elections on behalf of anyone, anybody that receives that kind of attempted intervention ought to report it to the FBI or the police. Those basic points, there ought to be some broad agreement about that, so that even if the White House won't step up and defend our country, we in Congress should.

COOPER: I mean, it is -- it is kind of -- it's a workaround, I get. But for the president of the United States, you know, everybody I've talked to, every national security official, former national security official have all emphasized, if the president is not the one setting the agenda on something like this and ringing the bell on it, all of these agencies and Congress can do what they can, but it doesn't get the marching orders that it would if the president -- I mean, I can't even remember anytime that he's actually held a press conference to specifically address, you know, what the U.S. is doing and to tell Russia publicly, don't do this.

[20:20:24] It just hasn't happened.

WARNER: Anderson, you're right, and at the same time, the folks that he's appointed in his administration constantly come back and warn us time and again, his FBI director, his director of negligence, the CIA director, have all indicated that what the Russians did in 2016, it was effective, it was cheap, they used the same tactics in the Brexit vote and the French presidential elections.

This is, in a sense, how conflict is going to take place in the 21st century. And we in our country have not done enough to protect ourselves on a going-forward basis.

COOPER: You know, Mueller was very clear today. He wants the report to speak for itself. He's said all he has to say in the report. It's all in the words, he said.

Do you expect him -- do you still want him to testify? Do you think he would testify?

WARNER: Anderson, I still think he would provide a great service. As much as I would like every one of the 320-odd million Americans ought to read the 400-page report, I don't think they all will.

I think Mueller with his credibility, simply testifying to what's in the report, what I think one, drive home the point about what the Russians did, but also raise the legitimate questions that have been arisen about the president and others potentially obstructing justice.

COOPER: Senator Warner, thank you so much. Appreciate it.

WARNER: Thank you, Anderson.

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