NBC "Meet the Pess" - Transcript: Interview with Rep. Chris Coons
Interview
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CHUCK TODD:
And joining me now is Democratic Senator Chris Coons of Delaware and member of the Senate Judiciary Committee. Senator Coons, welcome back to Meet the Press.
SEN. CHRIS COONS:
Thanks, Chuck. Good to be with you.
CHUCK TODD:
So let me just start with-- what we're -- what you'd like to see from a Senate trial, but try to address it this way. It feels like that many Americans -- we already know what the outcome is going to be-- and in fact, it feels as if the process in some ways -- the leaders in Capitol Hill, both on the, the House Democratic side and the Senate Republican side have decided to try to shorten everything, right? Shorten the investigation process, shorten the trial. Where does that leave us?
SEN. CHRIS COONS:
Well Chuck, that's a great question. What needs to happen next, now that it's clear that the House is going to vote out two articles of impeachment, and we will likely for only the third time in our history have President Trump on trial in front of the Senate early next year, Majority Leader McConnell needs to sit down with Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and negotiate over exactly what the terms of this trial will be. The American people deserve the truth, not political theatre. And so I think all of us know what would constitute a fair and a reasonable, a serious and an open trial. In the House we saw lots and lots of evidence, witnesses and documents -- that supported the charges against the president. And the president really stonewalled making any defensive case. Those of us who will be sitting as jurors owe it to history to keep an open mind, and if the president participates to give him a chance to make his case. But this has to start with Senators McConnell and Schumer sitting down and beginning a real bipartisan negotiation about what rules will govern this trial.
CHUCK TODD:
Let me play for you something Senator McConnell said. Senator McConnell said he's -- is working -- he's not negotiating with Senator Schumer, but with lawyers at the White House. Let me play the bite right now.
[BEGIN TAPE]
SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL:
Well, exactly how we go forward, I'm going to coordinate with the president's lawyers. So there won't be any difference between us on how to do this, 'cause we all know how it's going to end.
[END TAPE]
CHUCK TODD:
Do you see any problem with Mitch McConnell coordinating with the president's lawyers?
SEN. CHRIS COONS:
Well, I certainly think what he should start by doing is trying to show the American people and history that this is a serious trial. Try to imagine a typical trial in a typical courtroom where the person who is the foreman of the jury is literally talking to the defendant's attorneys day in and day out. I, I just think in the, in the best interests of the Senate and of the American people, what we need here is a small number, four or more, of Republican senators who go to Majority Leader McConnell and say "Instead of simply coordinating with President Trump you should work across the aisle. Try and get unanimity, as happened in the Bill Clinton trial, about what these rules should be going forward."
CHUCK TODD:
Are you comfortable with a trial with no witnesses?
SEN. CHRIS COONS:
Look, there's lots of evidence that's already been presented in the House. I think this is something that ought to be worked out between the two parties and that Schumer and McConnell should come to an agreement as to exactly what the scope and length of the trial will be. If it's dismissed on the first day, obviously that's not a full and fair trial. But the details, that really ought to be up to the majority and minority. You know, Chuck, I really miss the voice of John McCain in these moments. He was the sort of senator who was able to call his colleagues to put our national security and our country over party.
CHUCK TODD:
You know, our politics has become so tribal now. Think of this, you -- you have a Democratic member of Congress who's now going to switch parties, and it may be simply because he couldn't politically survive in the Democratic party by opposing impeachment.
SEN. CHRIS COONS:
That's right.
CHUCK TODD:
Is that -- what does that tell you? Should the Democratic Party be a big enough tent that you can vote against impeachment and stay a good standing member of the Democratic Party, or not?
SEN. CHRIS COONS:
Well, I do think we need to have a wider aperture for our politics in America and less purity test. But that particular case is someone who is underwater, as you referenced by I think 26 points -- among his own constituency, among the Democrats in his district. It's a very conservative district. I do think that Leader Pelosi wouldn't be moving forward with impeachment if President Trump hadn't forced her hand by committing an unprecedented and pretty striking act of dangling military aid over a vulnerable ally to try and get out dirt on his strongest political opponent. And whether or not one or two members of the House caucus vote against it, I think it will come out of the House with an overwhelming vote.
CHUCK TODD:
Let me ask you this, though. Do you think it's an odd picture to paint, if you're making -- if you're impeaching the president of the United States you believe he's an existential threat to the republic, to the Constitution, and then literally the next hour you're cutting a deal with him on USMCA and NAFTA 2.0. Is that sending a mixed message to the country?
SEN. CHRIS COONS:
Well, what I hear up and down the state of Delaware as I've done town halls this year is that folks expect me to, to remain a principled Democrat, to stand by the core principles that I ran on when I first ran for office, but to also work across the aisle and to try and get things done, to try and pass laws that deal with the kitchen table issues that affect most Americans, whether it's high prescription drug prices, or gun violence threatening our kids at school, or the opioid crisis. And the fact that we are able to continue legislating together I think is encouraging to the average American.
CHUCK TODD:
Let me ask you this. Kyle Cheney at Politico wrote the following, and I'd like you -- to get you to respond. "What happens when a remorseless president commits the same behavior that got him impeached in the first place, only this time after the House has already deployed the most potent weapon in its arsenal?"
SEN. CHRIS COONS:
That's one of my real concerns, Chuck. The only reason that Speaker Pelosi changed her position and supported moving ahead with an impeachment inquiry was because what Donald Trump is alleged to have done, and all evidence points to him having done it, which is to invite foreign interference in our next election, undermines the very core of our democracy, which is free and fair elections where foreign parties aren't influencing the outcome. If he is ultimately exonerated in the Senate, if the Senate Republican majority refuses to discipline him through impeachment, he will be unbounded. And I am gravely concerned about what else he might do between now and the 2020 election when there are no restrictions on his behavior.
CHUCK TODD:
Before I let you go, what lessons do you take from Labour's crushing defeat in the UK?
SEN. CHRIS COONS:
Well, you know, we have a lot in common -- language, culture, legal systems -- but we are different countries. But I do think it shows that an electorate even in this difficult and divided time is looking for concrete and clear plans that they think are achievable and enactable and Labour got just too far out to gain the support of a majority of Britons. I do think that's a cautionary note. That's why I continue to support Joe Biden, who I think is our most promising Democratic candidate for president.
CHUCK TODD:
All right, Senator Chris Coons, Democrat from Delaware, Joe Biden's home state as you just mentioned there. Thanks for coming on and sharing your views, sir. I appreciate it.
CHRIS COONS:
Thanks, Chuck.
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