CNN "CNN Newsroom" - Transcript: Rep. Steve Cohen (D-TN) is Interviews about Barr Testifying before House

Interview

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POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: You brought a bucket of chicken to make a point.

REP. STEVE COHEN (D-TN): Yes.

HARLOW: Sounds like Bill Barr is going to show up to testify at the end of March.

What's your most pressing question or him as we sit here today?

COHEN: Well, the most pressing question is going to be what he's done with President Trump to change the plea agreement, the -- not the plea agreement but the suggestion on a term for Roger Stone and what else has he done to influence maybe Michael Flynn's sentencing and other prosecutions in the removing of prosecutors from cases, the removing of Ms. Liu from being the U.S. attorney in the District of Columbia. Just the actions he's taken that has politicized the court.

And, again, you say he's going to come -- we thought he was going to come last time.

HARLOW: Yes. No, I get that.

COHEN: He --

HARLOW: We'll see.

COHEN: George Jones has a better record for showing up.

HARLOW: All right, we'll see.

So let's go back to January 15, 2009. This is during his confirmation hearing before the Senate. He said this.

Listen.

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WILLIAM BARR, ATTORNEY GENERAL (January 15, 2019): I feel I'm in a position in life where I can do the right thing and not really care about the consequences in the sense that I don't -- I can truly be independent.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: That was in reaction to some of the previous memos that he'd written, et cetera, that came under scrutiny during his confirmation process. What's your reaction to that now?

COHEN: Well, I thought it was wrong when he said it. You have to understand what he thinks is right. And I think he expressed what he thought was right at Notre Dame. And there were some very right wing theories, some very unusual theories and suggestions he was probably from the same group, which I always thought he was, that gave Trump nominees for the court.

And he was being put in by that same group to make sure that Trump was there to deliver on more nominees like that to the court, which questions people's freedom of religion, questions certain standards of the court on cases that have been around for years and give people individual liberties and individual rights. You know, Barr has made clear that this is his opportunity to make an impact, and I think the people didn't understand just how far right wing he was, and he'd make Cohen look like a saint.

HARLOW: Do you think he lied then under oath? Do you think he perjure himself? Is that what you're saying?

COHEN: No, I'm not saying that. It just depends how you interpret what he thinks was right and said I'm going to do what's right and I'm not worried about anything else.

HARLOW: OK. So -- so on the issue of impeachment, OK, because I think it -- people should know, it's notable that you came out in favor of impeaching the president a long time ago, you know, back in the spring of 2017. That was actually before the conclusion of the Mueller investigation. Certainly even before the Ukraine call.

Do you believe that these actions by the president in the last week are impeachable offenses and that you believe Congress should move once again to impeach the president?

COHEN: I think that impeachment has been done. I don't think that Speaker Pelosi and I don't think the American people want to go through another impeachment.

HARLOW: OK.

COHEN: I think we know that the jury's rigged and no matter what we had, if he shot the man on Fifth Avenue, no matter what he did, you might get Mitt Romney, and that would be the only senator from the Republican side you'd get.

HARLOW: Well, you know it's interesting you bring up Mitt Romney. You're right, he -- not only is he the only Republican who voted to convict the president on one of the counts, he's the only, you know, person ever from a party to convict their own party's president in an impeachment proceeding. But listen to this from your colleague in the other chamber, Senator

Lisa Murkowski, just yesterday.

Here she was.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did the president learn any lessons from being impeached?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are you concerned that he learned the opposite lesson?

SEN. LISA MURKOWSKI (R-AK): Well, there haven't been very strong indications this week that he has.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: It's hard to hear, but those words matter. She said, there haven't been any strong indicators this week that he has. That he has learned anything. You say impeachment's out the door now. So now what with some Republicans feeling the way she does?

COHEN: Well, Lisa Murkowski's got a mixed record and she's had some good votes where she stood up to Trump. She didn't do it in the impeachment trial. And so she needs to say that. And she's right.

But the fact is, Trump has not learned a lesson from anything in life. Obviously military school didn't do him any good and he's been a man that has not listened to any statute, any rules of contract, any material vows, any constitutional prohibitions his entire life. He is uncontrollable. He is lawless. He is reckless. This is nothing new. This -- there's -- probably the reason why he went to military school in the first place, this conduct, the child is father to the man and you're seeing the child.

HARLOW: Final -- I have 30 seconds left, but I do want to get to the move.

You voted in favor of this legislation to try to ban the president's expansion of the travel ban.

[09:35:02]

It's not likely to succeed, obviously, in a Republican-controlled Senate. But your fellow member of the House, Doug Collins, a ranking member on the committee, says that this bill effectively eviscerates the ability of the administration to take quick and decisive action to protect the homeland.

What do you say to him?

COHEN: He's running for the United States Senate. He wants to have President Trump's support. And it's obvious that he continues to support President Trump in every way he can. The fact is, my relatives came here from eastern Europe. Many of us

had relatives who emigrated. We're a nation of immigrants. We should not close our doors to immigrants in a blanket way from in -- all these countries. This is a Muslim ban which the president's been in favor of for years.

HARLOW: Congressman Steve Cohen, appreciate your time. Come back soon.

COHEN: You're welcome, Poppy. You're welcome. Thank you.

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