MSNBC "The Beat with Ari Melber" - Transcript: "Dems now two votes away from impeach. majority."
Interview
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MELBER: Welcome back to special coverage on THE BEAT. I want to welcome Texas Congressman Joaquin Castro. He`s vice Chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee and is on the Intelligence Committee. And I know sir you`re just rushed into a camera. I`ll mention to our viewers that we`re following a very unusual day that touches on your committees, which includes the really unusual release of notes taken of a White House phone call. That appeared on their face reveal potential abuses of power by the President, and his attempt to involve Rudy Giuliani and Bill Barr in that plot. As well as what your committee, I believe just received, which is the, as I understand it, non-public whistleblower complaint. And this comes on a night when the number of people packing impeachment of the House is within a vote or two of a majority. With all that said, what do you think is the most important thing that has been learned today? And what can you tell us, if anything, about the nature of the process here on that whistleblower complaint your committee has.
REP. JOAQUIN CASTRO (D-TX): Well, the first thing is you`re right. I just took about 36 votes in one committee and then came over to the House floor to vote here. So as soon as I`m done here, I`m going to go into the skiff, the Intelligence Committee and read over the whistleblower complaint. But what`s been most remarkable so far publicly today is that transcript or semi transcript or memorandum of transcript, whatever it was, that was released by the White House that shows a President abusing his power, trying to pressure the Ukrainian President to dig up dirt on a political rival. But also in doing and releasing it implicating Rudy Giuliani, he basically confirmed all of the nefarious things that have been reported about Rudy Giuliani and his conduct. And also implicating, I think the State Department and the Secretary of State, as well as the Attorney General. The Attorney General, I never believed that he should have been put into that position. But he should recuse himself and he also has to be called, I believe, as a witness in this matter. So there are there are so many different things that have gone on today - very significant things that I think add up to an abuse of power by this President.
MELBER: What would you ask Bill Barr and how soon do Democrats intend to make him speak?
CASTRO: Well, we`re obviously discussing that right now. But the Speaker said very clearly that she wanted this process to move expeditiously and so I expect that that will probably be in the next few weeks.
MELBER: Do you think that you`re now at a point where the President is openly orchestrating international collusion to go after Democrats. And if so, who`s to believe that it would stop only with Joe Biden? Do you think others are in danger? What is the level of risk to democracy in your view tonight, now that unlike yesterday, we`ve actually seen the darn notes and they`re pretty serious?
CASTRO: Right. Well, this is the first time that we`ve seen notes or a partial transcript. So we don`t even know that this is the first time. This is the first time that we`re actually getting something in writing on paper. But there`s a lot of investigation that has to go in to this incident that may bring up other occasions where the President, for all we know, has done the same thing before.
MELBER: Yes. Congressman--
CASTRO: --also disturbing.
MELBER: --as you mentioned, I appreciate you spend time with us. Before you go into secure facility, and you have an invite to come back on this program and tell us what you can as these proceeds. Thank you for fitting us in.
CASTRO: Thank you.
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