MSNBC Interview - Transcript: Nomination of Judge Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court

Interview

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ANDREA MITCHELL: Democratic Senator Amy Klobuchar from Minnesota has just wrapped up her first meeting with Sotomayor and joins me now.

Okay, what were your impressions, Senator?

SEN. KLOBUCHAR: Well, she was very engaging, Andrea, smart, as we all know, but really a warm person. I found out a few facts I didn't know. She likes to bicycle. I like to bicycle.

We had a amusing discussion about how she came to Minnesota, at the invitation of some of our federal district judges, in the middle of the summer, and brought a parka, because she thought it would be too cold, still maintained she needed it.

But mostly we talked about her time as a prosecutor. I had been a prosecutor for eight years. And so we talked about what you learn from that job, how you learn how the law really impacts people's lives and victims. She showed a clear understanding of the difficulties of that work and how you really learn a lot from that.

So I was really impressed by that discussion, as well as the discussion we had about how she does her decisions, how she writes decisions, how she lays out the law in clear terms and then applies the law to the facts.

MS. MITCHELL: You've been able to talk, I know, with some of your colleagues, who don't feel as favorably and kind toward her as you are.

Do you think that she can persuade them? How will she be as a witness, at confirmation hearings to come?

SEN. KLOBUCHAR: I think she'll be very strong.

I have talked to a few of my colleagues, on the Republican side, that met with her in the last few days. And they have said that they thought she was a very strong person, that many of them thought she was a warm person.

So I think that she will do well in those confirmation hearings. She is a no-nonsense person but yet has -- I don't know -- talks about interesting things in our lives.

I think she will do very well and will be very well prepared. She's someone who does her homework. Everyone that knows her says that. And I know she'll do her homework for those confirmation hearings.

MS. MITCHELL: Senator, the Obama speech today in Cairo; he is taking a much harder line on Israel than almost any previous American president. You have to go all the way back to Jim Baker's really well-known comment to Congress, years and years ago, when they were so angry in the first Bush White House at Israel.

And he said to tell Israel that if they want peace, they know my number, (202) 456-1414, citing the White House number. And you know, it set back -- I mean, the relationship with Israel was very tense back then.

This president is taking an even harder line. Do you have any concerns that Israel does not have an equal seat at the table right now?

SEN. KLOBUCHAR: Well, Andrea, he certainly didn't say anything like that. And in fact, he talked about the fact that the relationship between the United States and Israel is unbreakable, that this is a bond that is unbreakable. And he talked about --

MS. MITCHELL: But privately with Netanyahu and others and Barak when he came through town, privately they are saying very tough things to Israel. They say it's long overdue; that in the long run, it's better for Israel to have this kind of frank discussion, and -- (inaudible) -- the Arabs to be more helpful, to Israel, by realizing that settlements will be curbed.

But do you have concerns at all that Israel is being put too much on the defensive here?

SEN. KLOBUCHAR: First of all, Israel is the beacon of democracy in the Mideast. And I think what the president is trying to do here is to just push some diplomacy. And what he says privately to leaders, I think, is one thing, as we try to get the parties to agree to talks and to get closer to diplomacy.

There has been so much bloodshed on both sides here. People would like to see peace. There's clearly going to have to be concessions made on both sides. But I think the president's message today was very clear that the bond between America and Israel is unbreakable. And he said that to an Arab audience.

MS. MITCHELL: All right. Thank you, Amy Klobuchar.

SEN. KLOBUCHAR: Thank you. Appreciate it.

MS. MITCHELL: Thanks so much.

SEN. KLOBUCHAR: Thanks, Andrea.

END.

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