CNN "The Lead With Jake Tapper" - Transcript "Interview with MN. Sen. Amy Klobuchar"

Interview

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TAPPER: Now, we're still learning all the details of what happened in Philadelphia so you don't need to weigh in on that. But I do want to ask you as a former prosecutor, what is the way to stop the kind of gun crime they had in Philadelphia? Here you have somebody who cannot legally buy a weapon. He would have been flagged, but he's able to buy them illegally.

KLOBUCHAR: Well, the first thing is just not to point fingers and blame, and I'd say that. We've tried to come together across the aisle on criminal justice reform, I think that's a good thing.

But one thing we know for certain, and I'm here in Arkansas where we had a major event on gun safety laws with a number of leaders here, including a legislator from a very red district who had beating a Republican in part on this issue, talking about the fact that there are too many guns in the wrong hands.

And common-sense gun legislation would be universal background checks, something that unites rural and urban voters. That is true. Over 90 percent of Americans want to see those done. They're sitting on Mitch McConnell's doorstep, that bill, waiting periods that make sense so that law enforcement can ferret out with people who have bad, bad records.

And then you've got my bill, I'm closing the boyfriend loophole, which basically says right now the law says if you've been convicted of a serious domestic abuse charge, then you can't go get an AK-47, if it's your wife. But if you're convicted of one involving a girlfriend, you can. That is just ridiculous. And that's why a number of Republicans voted to close that in the House, again, on Mitch McConnell's doorstep.

TAPPER: Well, let me ask you. If you are president in 2021, it is still likely that Mitch McConnell will be the majority leader. And if he is not, Republicans will still be able to, in all likelihood, use the filibuster to keep gun legislation like what you're proposing from even being voted on. So, how do you get through that barrier?

KLOBUCHAR: First of all, I don't concede any of that, Jake, because what I've seen is a sea change on this issue, the economic issues you were just talking about. People have had it out there.

And when someone can gun down and kill nine people in 30 seconds, despite the best efforts of the police who got there in one minute, which was unheard of. They were there on the scene and got rid of this guy in a minute, but in 30 seconds he still killed nine people because of the high-capacity magazines and the capacity of that military-style assault weapon.

When you've got the Republican congressman from that district now coming out to ban those weapons and to get rid of those kinds of magazines for sale to the public, I think you've got a sea change. And so I don't concede that we're not going to take back the Senate, especially if they keep resisting all these common-sense measures that the vast majority of American people support.

[16:35:10] And whether you're in a duck bind in Arkansas or you're in Minnesota like my uncle in his deer stand, when you look at this, people are starting to talk about this in a different way and see that this will not interfere with hunting, but it will save Americans' lives.

We are one America, whether we're in Philadelphia with those police officers who were so brave, or whether we are in rural Arkansas.

TAPPER: Israel today followed President Trump's suggestion and banned a visit by Congresswoman Ilhan Omar from your home state of Minnesota, as well as Congressman Rashida Tlaib of Michigan. What was your reaction to that?

KLOBUCHAR: I was actually pretty stunned and the fact that the prime minister did this right after a tweet from the President. I'm a strong supporter for Israel. I believe that they are a beacon of democracy in the Mid-East.

But you know what a democracy, a great democracy should do? A great democracy allows for vociferous debate on issues that is true, but they don't shut out American elected congresswomen from visiting. And that's what they did. And the President in precipitating this with his tweet, again, conducting foreign policy by tweet, which will end when I'm president, is just the worst.

He is literally exporting intolerance and I'm glad that the major Jewish organizations have come out against this and as well they don't agree with the words, as I do not either of these congresswomen on this subject. You don't ban them from visiting Israel. That makes you weaker, not stronger.

TAPPER: Senator Amy Klobuchar, running for president, Democrat from Minnesota, thank you so much. Good luck out there on the campaign trail. Have fun.

KLOBUCHAR: Thanks, Jake. It is great to be on.

TAPPER: Changes are a foot in the race for president. One candidate is returning to the campaign trail while another one is getting out of the race for good. Who am I talking about? Stay with us.

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